Noa leaned back and rested her feet on the table. The chair she was on precariously leaned back as her hands moved in the air.
Her HUD was littered with documents and images as she copied and pasted different items on a long document template on the right of her HUD.
Lines snaked out of some of the images and notes. Her mind was filled with what she had seen and read. Video clips further clipped on what, to her, was significant to what she was trying to understand.
Yet, what she found both made sense and didn’t make sense all at the same time.
Bug Bunny’s communicator icon slid up to the upper left corner after Noa perused some documents that carried a different tone to most of the ones she had. This wasn’t the first time she had received these documents, but they seemed at odds with most of the official records and reportage from outlets.
“Yes, Noa?”
“Hey, Bunbuns, busy?”
“Two secs.”
There was a momentary pause before Bug Bunny replied.
“Not now, I’m not, was finishing up some codes for a new ICE-pick…. Anyway, Nee Tseme la?”
Noa chuckled at Bug Bunny’s response; her expression turned serious again as her fingers moved about, adjusting the documents on her HUD.
“Okay, I don’t remember you sending me these.”
Noa’s fingers moved in a quick wave.
FILES SENT
“Got them?”
“Mhmm, and I know why you don’t remember me sending them to you, wait... These… These are… meeting minutes and transcripts from a High-Rise House forum, but it's not the Council of Houses…”
“Bunbuns?” Noa sat up; Bug Bunny had suddenly gone silent.
“Oh damn… These… These are minutes and transcripts from Pax Aurea!”
Noa shook her head. “Pax, what?”
“Pax Aurea, they… hmmm, it was a rumor way back before the Wars of Rebirth became all hot and kinetic. Stories still go around among the more historically centric diggers today, but I’ll bet it's more myth than anything now.”
Noa shook her head and got up from her seat, walking over to the brewed coffee on the kitchen table of her apartment.
“I think I’m supposed to know this name. I remember a Pax something from the history lessons, but I think it was more of my instructor’s stories when I got bored from classing.”
Bug Bunny chuckled. “Okay, well, anyway. Pax Aurea was this temporary alliance between all the Houses, large and small, except for House Mallifar.”
Noa leaned against the kitchen counter and quickly sipped her drink. “Okay, I definitely don’t know this story. Tell me an abridged version, please.”
“House Mallifar controlled everything. They even had the streets ruled under the old Hyenas, and they controlled almost all corporate interests via their solid holdings through a multitude of shell companies; anyone singing a different tune was effectively snubbed out.”
Noa shrugged; this wasn’t as abnormal as Bug Bunny made it sound.
“Okay… and?”
“The other houses wanted more of the HUGE pie that Mallifar controlled, but every time a rival house would rise against them, that house would be wiped clean, and I’m saying, absolutely… wiped... Clean. You couldn't even find any records they existed, kind of clean.”
Noa’s mind noted all these down; it would be weird if this happened, wouldn’t people notice?
As if Bug Bunny had heard her thoughts, she continued,
“...and before you say anything, nope, people didn’t really know, or maybe even didn’t care, what happened to the Great Houses, whether they lived or not, or who ruled them or not, they were happy with what they have. The Department of Truth and Societal News? Not to mention the encouragement of the professional sports clubs and their weekly games. This was founded way before the Houses even became a thing, if you know what I’m talking about.”
Noa scoffed, smiled, and shrugged. “Well, keep the masses well-fed and happy, give them just enough problems, and they won’t care whichever way the pendulum swings; I know this, yes.”
“Okay, anyway, Noa, my dear… while this is all a nice conversational topic and all that… Do you know what’s most interesting... Well, intriguing about all these?”
Noa’s brows frowned as she shook her head. “No, what?”
“I didn’t send you any of those documents.”
Noa froze; she gulped the liquid in her mouth and placed her half-filled mug on the kitchen counter.
“Wait.. what? You didn’t send me those?”
“Nope, these documents are beyond classified; heck, I didn’t even know these existed until you sent them to me... These documents are usually stored in air-gapped storage units and are only accessed during and after meetings. Even then, this would be done with the level of security that would require, at minimum, a maximum effort from a digger of my skill.”
“That’s weird…” Noa’s hands moved up as she brought up the messages sent to her with the documents in question attached.
“It notes here that these came from you.”
There was silence on the other end as Noa combed through every message from Bug Bunny that had documents, images, and videos attached.
“It’s all you…”
Bug Bunny started chuckling on her end.
“What issit?”
“Give me access to your comms soft?”
Noa frowned. “Huh? Why do you need that?”
“Trust me, Noa. Gimme access, please?”
Noa’s fingers moved, bringing up the security settings for her communications software, which were embedded in her communicator implant.
“Okay, done; tell me when you’re done, and I’ll revert it to my settings.”
“Okay, gimme a few; stay on comms, please.”
Noa nodded and sighed heavily, turning to finish the rest of the liquid in her mug. She started humming a tune to accompany her foot, which started tapping.
A few moments went by before Bug Bunny’s voice came back.
“Okay, revert to your original settings, please.”
Noa did just that, reinstalling the security parameters designed to protect her while using the communicator.
“Okay, mind telling me what all of this is about then?”
“It's Mira; has to be. No one else has this level of skill, or at least, no one I know, and I know a heck of a lot of them… she bypassed your security and planted the documents in between the ones I sent you while using a very very close copy, or clone, of my ID so that your communicator wouldn’t flag it.”
“What?!?”
“Mhmm, exactly. I told you she was a tech-goddess.”
“Fuckin’ fat fuckin’ Augaow.”
“Just be thankful she just passed you documents and other files, and nothing harmful, at least; I hope she didn’t. A tracking virus would be flagged immediately by the soft you have and tweaked by yours truly, so it should be safe.”
“SHOULD? Fuckin diggers, man.”
“Mhmm, I know, right? Fuckin diggers,” Bug Bunny retorted with an equal yet sarcastic force in her words.
Noa chuckled “Ha ha, very funny Bunbuns, you sure it's safe?”
“Yes, I did a simultaneous scan of your soft, seems to check out.”
“What the fuck is her angle.” Noa mused aloud as she skimmed through the documents and vids on her HUD, most of which she had already gone through previously.
“No idea. Pin it to whatever you wanna talk to her about when the time comes, I guess.”
Noa chewed at her lip. Her mind surmised the histories she grew up with and the new information gleaned from everything she had just learned. Something about it all didn’t sit well, and it just added to the growing frustration of it all.
“OK, Eff it, guess you’re right... All these, and adding to your findings... It’s… I dunno, I really need to talk to Richard about this, and Mira, that freakin digger Augaow.”
“Still no word from anywhere on the feelers I put out about that, too, by the way.”
Noa nodded. “I figured so. It’s been days now.”
“More than a week for sure.”
“Has it? See? Why the fuck are they so fuckin quiet anyway.”
A sudden pang hit Noa’s heart; it was the same amount of time she hadn’t spoken to Anya.
“Noa? Still there?”
Bug Bunny’s voice pulled Noa from her thoughts. “Yes… yes, I’m here. Okay, so, we just do retrieval gig for Denis, then continue this.”
“Mhm, yes. Anya coming?”
Noa shook her head, taking a deep breath to subdue her frustration. “No, she’s still holed up at the Essedars.”
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“What?! Really? What’s going on there anyway? Do weddings take this much to prep?”’
Noa shrugged; more questions arose the more she thought about it.
“I’ll get this settled, one way or another. But we do this gig first; then I’ll go settle things with Richard.”
“Oh, oh, bad mood, daddy’s girl incoming.”
Noa giggled. “Oh, shut up, Bunbuns; I keep telling you Anya is; not me.”
“Ahah, sure, and I’m an Augaow’s ass.”
“Oh wait, you are? Dang, you must be a really clever one then, Bunbuns!”
Bug Bunny laughed on her end. “I’ll get prepped on comms, recon, and soft we’d need then.”
“Alright, Bunbuns, later then.”
—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Duke slid onto the passenger seat and fidgeted, looking around before he looked up at Noa.
“How do I adjust the seating?”
Noa shook her slowly and scoffed disapprovingly.
“Andy, can you please adjust the seat to my guest’s measurements please?” Noa suddenly spoke out,
“Certainly, Miss,” a soothing accented voice replied to her. Duke’s expression exhibited the surprise he was experiencing as the seat he was on started moving slowly, allowing him slightly more legroom and a different degree of lean to the seat. Noa looked at Duke as her hands rested on the steering column.
“Better?”
Duke was still incredulous about whatever was happening and nodded hurriedly, “Y… Yes, much, much better, thanks.”
Noa smirked as she started checking the navigation guide on her HUD. “Alright, here we go then.”
As they proceeded, Duke started gushing over the car's tech and how non-tech it looked from the outside.
“I didn’t know Dravanov cars had AI assist packages in them?”
Noa was focused on the road. This was unfamiliar territory for her. The streets they went through hardly had traffic, and the streetlights alongside them seemed more like ugly ornaments that weren’t worth the role they were erected for.
“They don’t; this is a custom L12.”
“They make customized cars?!?”
Noa chuckled and ignored the question.
“How many marbles did you bring?”
“Six, all prepped for recon.”
Noa nodded slowly, the plan for the gig replaying in her mind.
“OK, should cover it. Bunbuns has a gargoyle on stand-by within range if we need added firepower, but don’t count on it too much; she’s using it to piggyback her digging, so we’ll all be in range of her help.”
Duke breathed in deeply and nodded. “Got it.” He recalled the quick briefing Noa had given him on how she does things. All possible overwatch positions had been looked at and decided on.
Noa darted a look at him and frowned. “Nervous?”
“Who me? No? Not my first outing with you guys”, he tried to smile.
Noa chuckled. “Don’t worry, this is standard overwatch, and you being a rigger is helpful since we have so much ground to cover and lots of approaches.”
“I didn’t bring any rigs, though. Only the marbles.”
Noa curtly dipped her chin. " Exactly. Only riggers carry all that special stuff with them.” She darted a look at Duke, giving him a quick wink and a smile.
“The marbles are yours, right? Not bought?”
Duke frowned as he looked at Noa, perplexed, and slowly nodded. “Yes?”
She smirked. “See, the only marbles I use are for detonations, don’t have the skills to mod marbles like the guys in your line.”
He smiled and nodded slowly. “OK, but more than that, well…You have more experience - especially in your team sizes. I’m just used to having more people around.”
Noa scoffed softly. “Too many hands spoil the pie.”
“You mean broth?”
Noa glared at him. “No… pie.”
Duke shrugged as Noa chuckled at this response to her retort.
“Okay, your loc is coming up.”
—--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Noa rechecked the time. The truck that was supposed to drop off the contracted crates should have been on time. She looked toward where Duke was located. “Anything on your end?”
“That’s a neg.”
“What kinda dumbasses are these, so fuckin’ tardy.”
Bug chuckled on her end. “Not everyone is… sec… viks approaching on West approach, verifying.”
Her voice came back moments later. “Trucks, plural. ID tags check out; it's ours.”
Noa unslung her automatic rifle and checked its ammo count on her HUD.
“Prepped.”
“Prepped,” Duke’s voice came over the communicator as the sound of the group of trucks came within earshot of Noa while she knelt by the container she was sitting behind.
“Say when,” Bug piped in.
Noa's HUD's left column was filled with angles from the relevant drones in the air, with Bug’s gargoyle affording the best top-down view while she watched and waited.
The three trucks backed up to the loading bay of the warehouse, which they were stalking around, as auto-lifters started unpacking the crates.
“Thermal on, please, Bunbuns.”
“Copy. Thermal on.”
The camera from the gargoyle changed into a thermal view, and she could see the different heat signatures of the crates being offloaded onto the platform.
“Okay, the middle truck has the crates, will wait for the trucks to leave, then gonna move in.”
After several moments, the trucks departed, leaving the auto-lifters to continue their work.
“OK, moving in.”
“Jamming now,” Bug replied on the comms as Noa slid closer to the warehouse. Her weapon was ready, and her path utilized the containers around the warehouse to get closer.
“Wait one, something up with my marbles,” Duke suddenly piped up.
Noa stopped and knelt at Duke’s call-out, “What’s the matter?”
“I… losing control of them.”
“Bunbuns?”
“Someone’s trying to ICE-pick the gargoyle as well.”
“Fuck” Noa whispered as the camera views in the left column of her HUD turned to static.
“Blinded,” Bug and Duke almost said in unison.
A crackle came over their communicators before a new voice joined in. The HUD did not display a new icon to indicate the caller.
“Noa, Duke, Bug, stay calm; best we go through this night without anyone getting hurt.”
Noa recognized the voice and tone. “Mira?” Her eyes gazed around her location as her heart started beating faster.
“Yes, you reached out to me, and I’m answering.”
“Now?” Noa couldn't hide her annoyance.
“Who do you think put out the contract for this gig? Now, holster your weapons, and Duke, please join Noa down by the warehouse.”
“Noa?” came Duke’s reply.
Noa gritted her teeth, taking a deep breath as her mind pondered fast.
“Fine...Duke, it’s all good. Hang back closer if you want, but everything’s fine.”
“You got it, boss lady.”
“I’ll let Bug join us via her gargoyle,” Mira repeated.
Noa stood up and let her automatic rest against her front, still slung over her shoulder, as she unlocked the catch for her pistol on her hip. “No games, Mira. I just wanna talk.”
“I know, if I wanted to take out your whole team, I could have done it way before anyway,” came Mira’s reply, which somehow agitated Noa even further.
Mira stepped out from behind the warehouse entrance. The place was well-lit this time, and Noa could make her out better. She stood just under Noa’s tall stature. Her short, dark mohawk leaned to one side.
Noa’s eyes fixated on the chrome her approaching counterpart had wrapped around the back of her skull to the sides of her head; the rest snaked up from under her trenchcoat and the top she wore under it. Noting how her gait and mannerisms were more military than just some random street gangster, regardless of which group she was affiliated with.
Mira smiled at her, her arms up and to the side, indicating she had no weapons on hand. Not that she needed any, mused Noa’s mind, remembering what had transpired when they first met.
Her eyes never left Noa as she hopped down from the warehouse platform and leaned back, crossing her arms, revealing chrome on her arms as her sleeves hiked up.
With a confident smile, she dipped her head at Noa. “I have control of the entire area’s network, so it's just us…You wanted to meet and talk, so let’s talk.”
—-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Anya was growing more frustrated by the day. This had been too long; what was Richard trying to achieve with all these so-called ‘history lessons’ anyway?
She tried to call Noa again, but she kept getting a message that the line was busy. How could it be busy every time she tried to call?
Anya slammed a fist onto the table as she grunted, running a hand through her hair as her other hand slid on the keyboard. She looked at the list of highlighted files, and the folder names for each, then returned to another level of the folders, which showed a whole other list.
She scrolled down, shaking her head at some folder titles until she found one with a warning tag.
She raised her head and looked around, ensuring she was alone in the room.
Her eyes gleamed with a hint of curious mischief as she smiled wide. Her finger tapped as she opened that folder with the warning tag, revealing a slew of videos, images, and documents.
“Huh,” she muttered under her breath as she scrolled through each file until the pointer highlighted a video file with an entirely different title than the others in the list. A simple title of ‘1’ on it, yet it was tagged with a warning: ‘Secure Room only, DNA locked.’
Her brows frowned. ‘Secure room only?’ She looked around. She was in said secure room, she supposed. ‘And DNA locked?’ her mind continued to muse. ‘This should be really interesting,’
She chuckled almost mischievously to herself, shrugging and placing her hand on the DNA reader by her side on the table. She winced slightly as the reader pricked at her finger, extracting blood and scanning it.
She frowned as she looked at the reader, her mind reminding her how she disapproved of the older models that needed blood extraction to verify DNA.
USER APPROVED
She smiled, and the video played, which grabbed her attention immediately.
Moments passed as she viewed it, and a mix of emotions rose more and more inside her as she watched it again, then again. Her mood was changing, now far from what she was feeling just moments ago.
“What in the fuck is this??” One hand slammed at the keyboard as she got up abruptly, her personal-jack still slotted into the keyboard, pulling at it and the DNA reader by its side. She jerked her wrist back, tugging her personal-jack from the keyboard as the latter crashed onto the floor.
“Father!!” she screamed out loud, a mix of emotions in her scream, her voice cracking while tears welled up in her eyes as she stormed toward the door and tugged at it, locked.
“PAT!”
“Yes, mistress Anastasiya?”
“Open this door and locate Father.”
There was a momentary silence before the door unlocked, and Anya jerked it open, storming out into her father’s study. The ample space exuded a calm at odds with the storm of emotions that raged and rose inside her as she looked around momentarily and stormed toward its exit. Then, slammed open the door to the study into a large hall, screaming out again, “Father!?”
She stormed toward the west end of the vast hall, screaming out for her father again. This time, she heard footsteps replying.
Richard rounded the corner, and a fuming Anya greeted his view.
“Anya? What… What is this?” He demanded immediately.
Anya fumed, breathing in slowly and counting backward, trying to calm herself down. However, it didn’t help much with the rage that refused to back down. Her body began to tremble as she tried in vain to keep her rage in check.
Richard waited patiently and kept his distance, his hands at his sides as if waiting for Anya to pounce on him.
“Video 1, what the fuck is in it? Why have you hidden it all this time!?” Anya’s already large grey orbs were more prominent and seemed to reach out at him as she almost screamed at Richard, her rage palpable in her voice and tone.
Richard’s demeanor changed as she said that. He nodded sagely as if he understood what Anya meant. He scoffed softly, his attention entirely on her.
“Now you know why I can’t have Noa in the alliance with Xela and why I have something else that she must be ready for?”
His reply hit Anya unexpectedly. Her eyes blinked as she shook her head… It only served to push her rage over the edge as she screamed out in reply.
“WHAT?!? What the fuck do you mean by that? NO! That is not acceptable!” A hand curtly snapped downward as if it was a command to him; her body was already moving aggressively toward Richard.
“PAT, hostile move on Head!” Richard moved back as he shouted, ready to receive Anya's anticipated response.
“Initiating defenses.” came PAT's calm voice.
Immediately, a surge swept through Anya’s implants, and a sudden energy overload came over every chrome she had in her. Richard rushed to her side as she jerked, then caught her as she fell to the floor.