”Damnit!” Francis jacked out of his chair, his flesh senses partially returning as his perception of the Net faded away to a mere background buzz in the back of his mind. He idly watched the sublevels of Cold Moon Solutions on his chrome’s hud, inspecting for anything standing out.
As per usual, nothing but the occasional guards walked around down there. At least those levels still had power thanks to the backup generators installed. Cheap bastards couldn’t have wired up the rest of the building though. Anything to keep their precious projects safe from the slightest inconvenience.
His security room, supposedly one of the most secure rooms in Cold Moon Solutions, basked in darkness for several long seconds just as it had over and over again. Damn storm kept knocking the power out. After a while, the lights flickered to life, nearly blinding him. The cameras booted up a heartbeat later as his brain was instantly overloaded with way too much information.
”Gah…” The chair below Francis shifted, moving from a reclined state to something akin to a chair. He caught sight of his scrawny body in the dark screen of a resetting terminal. He used the reflection to guide his motions as he slowly unplugged a dozen cables inserted into his wrists and neck. The hundreds of cameras in his view faded as he fully returned to the flesh.
Once he was free of the wired embrace, Francis stretched out, hearing several pops from his joints. His body felt stiff as it always did. His head swam slightly as if muted vertigo wormed its way through his senses. Jacking out of the Net always did a number on his head-
He staggered back, his heart rate doubling as he noticed a shadowy form in the corner of the room. He barely held back a startled scream as his rationale returned. It was just his coat on the coat rack…
Really, he was so jumpy tonight. He tried to think back to when it started. Was it when that crow pecked at the roof’s camera? A shudder went down his spine. Now that he thought about it, the lightning strikes and power flickers started after that. What a bad omen.
He tapped around on a terminal set up near the Netrunning chair, adjusting it to send the camera feeds to his chrome eyes. He then reached over to a walkie that sat on the desk and pressed the button. “Control, this is Francis. I’ve jacked out with the power flickering like this. I’m gonna go get a coffee while I wait for everything to boot back up.”
The walkie remained silent for a few moments before a tired voice came across the line. Even with her voice droopy, Tera still sounded so beautiful. He was lucky to work alongside a woman like her. “Chek… wouldn’t want our runner to fry with the power fluctuations, eh? They really should let you get your own pot in there.”
”It’s just a relief they didn’t cheap out on the Netrunner chair. You’d be talkin’ to a corpse if they got one without a backup power source. Or if the coffee spilled over.” Francis chuckled wryly.
The night shift lead buzzed back a few moments later. “And I’d hate to see you go. Where else would I find someone to help stave off my boredom? Alright. Don’t take too long.”
”I won’t. Thanks, Tera.” Francis moved away from the terminal, his legs feeling momentarily weak before he forced some strength into them. He grabbed his phone on the way to the door, checking for any messages from family or friends. As per usual, none. Outside of Tera, that is. She sent him a bunch of cat memes.
A chill went down his neck, instinctively causing the scrawny man to glance over his shoulder as he slid his phone into his pocket. Nothing. Just a long empty hall. A light flickered off in the distance, the constant power outages probably frying something in it. He’d have to write up a maintenance request soon.
Francis habitually checked to cameras set up all around the facility, carefully looking through them all. Nothing stood out other than a few drops of water scattered around. Must have a leak somewhere. Yet another maintenance request he’d have to put in.
He sighed and ran a shaky hand down his face. Paranoia was a sign of Glitching. Maybe he needed to take a vacation again at some point? The constant stress was probably playing havoc on his health. Maybe Tera would join him again? The last one had been soooo relaxing.
For a moment, he almost wanted to return to his cozy room as the chill deepened. Then he remembered the sheer amount of security everywhere and shook his head. He was probably the safest person in this building. Well, outside of the sublevels, at least. There was nothing to fear outside of a drop in his caffeine levels. Right. Coffee it is.
Francis rubbed at his arms as he headed for a small room on the far side of the building. It wasn’t a full-on kitchen like the one down in the break room, but the other employees had turned it into a small collection of microwaves and coffee pots at some point. He was ninety percent sure the boss didn’t know, nor would anyone tell that hardass.
The lights flickered out as thunder boomed, shrouding Francis in darkness once more. The sudden explosive boom caused a tremble to go down his spine. “Damn storm… why can’t anything ever be-“
A bright light appeared from nowhere, blinding him as his chrome eyes struggled to adjust. He nearly leaped from his skin as the light menacingly lunged toward him. “Freeze- oh, sorry Francis.”
At that moment, the lights turned back on from the temporary power surge, shedding light back into the hallway. He was flashed once more as the cameras flicked back on in his vision.
Francis grasped at his chest, clutching at his heart propped up by far too many stimulants and caffeine to deal with the fright. He leaned against the wall as he looked up at the guard who nearly scared him to hell. “You trying to flatline me, Tommy?!”
”Sorry, I heard a voice, and I’m the only other one up here… freaked me out.” Tommy, a rather dimwitted guard by Francis's judgment, sheepishly rubbed at the back of his head. “You know how it is… thought you was maybe a ghost or sometin’…”
”Whatever… Fuck! Just- just don’t sneak up on me like that, man. You’ll give me a heart attack.” Francis pushed off the wall with a sour expression on his face.
Tommy dumbly nodded his head. “My bad. I’ll call out next time.” The guard turned to leave, pausing momentarily as he turned back and passed over a spare flashlight. “Here. Just in case, yeah? The outages are getting longer and longer.”
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“Thanks.” Francis took the light, mentally knocking himself over his head for not grabbing one in the first place. He split off from the guard, successfully pouring himself a cup of coffee. The hot caffeine did wonders to push off his frigid nerves and warm his cool hands.
The power switched off with a loud crack of thunder, causing Francis to light up his flashlight as he worked his way back to his office. In the darkness, the shadows seemed to swim. Paired with his frayed nerves made for a nerve-wracking experience as he panned from one side to the other.
Down one of the side halls running parallel with the one he headed down, he heard a light pattering. It sounded- sounded almost like wings. His mind flashed back to that creepy crow, though he shoved down the thought as soon it popped up. “Tommy? Tommy is that you?”
No response came. His nerves, slightly relieved by the coffee, returned in full, icy force. “C’mon, man. This ain’t funny.”
He waited for several seconds, his only source of comfort the light he held grasped in his hands. The halls of Cold Moon Solutions, which he’d walked thousands of times before, never felt more desolate than they had at the moment. If only he had brought the walkie-talkie along with him. Tera would know what to do.
The wing-like flapping changed direction as if he alerted whatever it was, coming towards him. Low, deep thunks as if some truly massive monster irregularly sounded off, followed by spine-chilling cries. They sounded like a crow, though if the crow was sized up a dozen times with a blade stabbed into its throat. “Khrawk! Khraw!”
Francis rushed back to his office, throwing caution to the wind as he ran to his safe space. Already, warped images seeped into his head of whatever it was chasing him. The sounds followed as he sprinted, staying just close enough for fear to hold him captive, and yet far enough back to stay out of view.
It was toying with him. He knew it. It was only a matter of time! If he could just get back and get out a warning, some of the guards in the basement could come up and capture it. Right, he panted harshly, regretting his choice to skip exercise. If he could just hold out, he'd be fine.
His flashlight bounced and bobbed as he ran, nearly slipping several times as shadows grew and shrank all around. He wasn't even sure what it was that chased him. Something felt very, very wrong. Did- did something from the sub-levels come up?
The company did all sorts of weird voodoo shit in the basement. It’d be right up their alley to summon some kind of monster that stalks the dark. Oh God. Tera. Was she okay? She had to be okay. He needed to call in someone. Anyone. Even the Crusade. His job didn’t matter if he was dead. Was- was Tommy still alive? Or did it already get him?
Francis raced back to the security room, locking the door behind him as if to lock away his terror. His head fell forward, slapping the door as the cool sensation helped calm down his erratic emotions. The deadbolt easily slid into place, as did the other three locks on the door. He turned back nearly getting a jumpscare from the coat rack in the corner as he headed for his walkie-talkie-
Wait. He froze, his entire body locking up. Francis’s head slowly turned as if possessed. His coat was supposed to be black-
A sharp pain traced his throat before he could fully turn, instantly spreading a numbing sensation through his blood. In mere moments he lost control of his face, then his chest, then his body. Without the strength to hold himself up, he could only watch in horror as he lifelessly dropped to the ground like a sack of rice.
His coffee, the only reason he left his safe hideaway, finally slipped from his hands, splattering all over the floor as the ceramic mug shattered. Bits of ceramic dug into his leg as what hadn't already spilled of the coffee scorched his skin, yet none of it registered over the cold seeping into every inch of his body.
Was this death? Was this how he’d die? Funny, he always thought he’d get fried by some Black ICE in the Net. Not- not this-
Francis frantically tried to move, tried to call for help. Nothing worked. As his heart grew more and more treacherous and fear ate at every part of his mind, his vision swam. Everything blurred and swirled together as if he were sucked into a deep, dark nightmare.
His flashlight—once his beacon of hope—rolled in front of him, shedding light to his side. The wall shifted, revealing a form hidden so well against it that he wouldn’t have even noticed if not for the head-turning his way. Darkness peeked at him, one he fell into as it ominously drew closer.
— — —
I looked down at the Netrunner. What’s up with this guy? A hand idly adjusted my mask, resettling it on my nose as my other slid the dagger back into my pocket. I barely even hit him with the jade dagger, and yet he reacted as if I laced it with poison or something.
I leaned down to check on him just as his eyes rolled up back into his head. Weird. Did the Neo-Joker guy react like this when I hit him too? No… I think he remained conscious the entire time… Was this guy just weak?
I nudged him with my foot several times. No reaction. I checked his pulse, finding a heartbeat going several times faster than normal, almost to a dangerous point. Thankfully, it was calming down as the Netrunner slumped over. Killing him really wasn’t my intention. Especially scaring the poor guy to death.
I picked the unconscious guy up, dragging his scrawny form over to the Netrunner chair. I set him up as if he were on the Net, loosely plugging wires into various ports in what I hoped was the right setup. I didn’t fully plug anything in, partially afraid to give him access to the Net where he could warn someone and partially afraid of killing him by plugging the wrong thing into the wrong port.
I then headed for his walkie-talkie. I tapped around on the voice modulator I brought, messing around with it to get a voice similar to how he sounded. It was rather easy since I trailed him for so long and heard his voice several times.
I’d initially just been planning to get in and paralyze him before anything could go wrong. Using the ‘power outages’ induced by my bola to create blind spots for the cameras, I got to his room rather easily. Imagine my surprise when just as I was about to break into his room I heard him talking to someone. It complicated my plans.
I tailed the guy ever since he left the security room, which had been a thrilling experience. Seriously. I thought he saw me at least a dozen times. Especially when he flicked over his shoulder like he’d seen a ghost. Terrifying.
Just as I was about to get him, that other guard came around. I was hoping for another opportunity, though last second I decided not to take him out in the small closet where they kept the coffee pot. I figured it'd be far easier to hide him in his security room.
And then, as I made the decision, he started to leave. I wasn’t quite in position, so I had Corvid stall for a bit on the way. I’d just gotten into the room when he came racing down as if a Jaeger chased him. Seriously, that birdbrain was supposed to stall, not prod him along.
“Test test.” I finally settled on one that sounded similar enough. I pressed the button on the walkie-talkie. “I’m back, Control. Anything happen while I was gone?”
”No… you okay? Your voice sounds a bit off.” The woman on the other side, Tera I think the Netrunner called her, asked.
Um… I looked around, my gaze freezing on the spilled coffee. “Sorry, Tera. Burnt my throat. Couldn’t wait for just a minute.” I forced a chuckle. “Alright, I’m jacking back in.”
”Good luck… hey, remember that time we finally got out of the city and headed for Velth?” The woman asked, her voice sounding… off. Maybe it was nothing… but the Cues suggested the opposite. It felt like a test. Hmm… what to say?
I quickly looked around, eyeing a postcard pinned up on a sponge board just above the terminals. I glanced over it quickly as I tried to add a wistful note to my tone. She said finally got out, so I imagine there weren’t too many places they could‘ve gone. “You mean Ironlake City? Where’s Velth? You eat something weird?”
“Ah, sorry. My brain must’ve blanked for a moment.” The woman replied. There was a vague note of relief hidden in her voice. Test passed? I hoped. I needed to speed things up just in case. “I’ll- uh- I’ll see you in a couple hours when our shift ends. Can‘t wait to get something to eat. Get away from this creepy place too.”
“Chek.” I tossed the walkie-talkie back onto the table. Okay, CCTV taken care of. For now at least. And my timer officially started. I had a little less than three hours before the paralysis wore off. Time to get a move on, yeah?