It took me seconds to clone the administrator’s credentials and slip into the server. The security layer was slow to respond, and as it rendered I just sighed. “State of the art my ass,” I whispered to the aether.

It was a standard Cybertone dungeon model, using the typical stone wall visuals and imp security programs. It wasn’t even a maze, just a rectangular room. Off the shelf, and obsolete days after being released to the public. With such shoddy security, they should be suffering from constant security breaches, this shit might keep out amateurs, but not professionals.

I casually reached back into the access port, and whitelisted my partner so she could join me. A few seconds later, Kass materialized. The naga slithered around, her long snake-like lowerhalf coiling as she spun on the spot and assessed the situation. The look of joy on her face quickly turned to disappointment. “What is this? Lethis may not be a mega corporation, but they should have better security than this. I was expecting a challenge.”

“Fuck if I know. The job came directly from the boss, so there must be something here…” I glanced around, for a few seconds, then shrugged. “How about you train up your elementals on the locals, while I take a look around.”

“Well, if you insist,” Kass said, with a smile. She put her hand out in front of her, and triggered her intrusion summons. Magic and code merged, compiled, and manifested into two semi-translucent water elementals. The digital creatures rushed forward, and smashed into the closest imps. The digital trauma fragmented the defenders so badly they immediately broke down. The other imps, finally realizing there were intruders on the server, rushed forward to engage, only to be dispatched with ease by the elementals.

I walked past the melee, completely unconcerned by the defenders. I shut down the visuals, and inspected the security layer’s raw code. When I arrived at the port leading further into the server I stopped, and frowned. It didn’t look quite right.

I expanded the code, careful not to actually touch anything, and scrolled through it. “Cheeky buggers,” I muttered, before turning back towards Kass, “It’s a facade. The imps are just a cover for the real defender. Trying to pass through the port will lock down the dungeon, and summon a custom hydra construct.”

Kass whistled. “Nasty. Do you want to disarm it, or smash through it?”

I studied the code for another minute, trying to decide the best course of action, then sent a quick ping to my familiar. A moment later a mass of code self compiled, forming into a massive spider.

“Fuck yeah, if George is here, it’s smash time,” Kass cheered. She slid forward, cracked her digital knuckles, and reformed the little constructs. “Ready when you are,” she said with a smile.

I nodded, triggered the port, then immediately stepped back. Instead of opening into a deeper section of the server, the port locked down, and a huge mass of code compiled, manifesting into the shape of a multi-headed wyrm. The construct focused on the nearest entity, which was Kass and her elementals, and growled.

“Hello ugly,” Kass said, with a smile. She flicked her wrist and the elementals charged. The small elementals smashed into hydra, causing minor fragmentation, before the heads struck. The two lesser heads bit into the elementals, throwing the elementals around, but not causing instantaneous destruction. While the creature was distracted, both Kass and I made our moves. The naga raised her hands and activated her knife subprograms, sending short, disruptive blasts from both hands. It didn’t do a ton of damage, but kept the creature’s attention while I slipped around the side.

Reaching out, I found a weakness in the construct’s code and activated my glaive program. Within seconds the program tore huge chunks out of the hydra, destabilizing it. The main head swiveled around, trying to bite at me, so I simply stepped back out of range, and let George do the rest.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

When the hydra snapped at me, George brought one of his massive forelegs down directly on the construct’s head. The impact caused the entire hydra to flicker for a moment, as large parts of the code broke down. The creature staggered back, triggering some data repair subroutines in an attempt to recover, but George was too fast. The spider lunged forward and sunk its fangs into the hydra’s body. The toxic code injection ripped through the hydra within seconds. The auto repair failed, then the hydra’s secondary heads dissolved, sacrificed in an attempt to retain some level of coherence. The main body, and head thrashed for a moment more, before becoming too fragmented to operate, and dissolving into fragments of code.

“Easy peasy,” Kass laughed, as she dismissed her damaged elementals. “Now, all we need to do is find the data the client wants. Shall we see what’s behind the door?” she asked, with a short laugh.

“Lets,” I replied, as I smashed apart the security protocols, revealing the server beyond.

—

I rubbed my eyes as the projection booth opened, exposing me to early evening lights. Kass somehow managed to pull herself out of her own booth much quicker than I had, so she lifted me out of the bed and placed me on a nearby chair.

“You should come out of cyberspace more often Talia, take some breaks,” she said in concern.

“Cyberspace connections were designed by, and optimized for the arachne brain structure,” I replied, rubbing my forehead. “Which means I can be in there a lot longer than other people.”

“That doesn’t mean it’s healthy,” she replied with a frown. “Let me get you a glass of water.”

As she slithered away, the pink and aquamarine scales on her tail, and back of her arms, sparkled brilliantly in the fading sunlight. As she leaned over the small watercooler in our office, her hair tie snapped, causing her matching, long aquamarine and pink hair to spill out. I laughed.

“Bloody hell,” she muttered. Before returning with a small paper cup full of water. “What’s so funny?”

“You never fail to take care of me,” I said, with a small smile.

“Someone has to, you certainly don’t take care of yourself,” Kass leaned over, and looked me in the eyes. “Pupillary response seems to be normal. Are you sure you’re ok?”

“Fine, I was a little dizzy, but I’m good now,” I replied, seriously.

I slowly pushed myself to my feet, then turned back towards my bed. I stretched out, raising my arms up as high as I could, while flexing, and stretching the six arachnid legs emerging from my back. I wasn’t fond of my true arachne form, and preferred a more humanoid form. It was just more convenient, and I could almost pass as human, if it wasnt for the arachnid legs.

When I was done stretching, I laid my hand on the side of my pod, next to a little alcove. “Come on George, time to report in.”

There were a few tiny clicks, then a tiny mechanical spider emerged. It stopped at the edge of the cubby, disconnected a plug, and then hopped onto my hand. The tiny bot quickly ascended my arm, before settling on my shoulder, before making a mechanical purring noise.

“Yes yes, I love you too,” I said, gently petting the bot.

“I still can’t believe all that code fits into that tiny frame,” Kass said.

“Well, true AI is different from those digital summons you use. At least your skills are recognized by the system, since they’re magic-based. The fucking thing still doesn’t recognize most technology,” I grumbled.

“Yes, yes. Your stats may say you’re only a level ten trapper, but the people that matter recognize you’re more than the system says,” Kass replied, pulling me into a quick hug, and planting a quick kiss on my forehead.

I blushed slightly, and pushed her away. “We should drop off the data with Lanivia, get paid for the job.”

“Sure, gotta pay for your noodles somehow,” she replied with a laugh. She threw an arm around my shoulders and guided me out the door. “Come on cutie, let's get paid.”