Chapter Text
“Hey, you cocksuckin’ motherfuckers! You ugly pussies, I'm here! Come 'n’ get me, you gonkbrains!” Valerie yelled at the enemy Netrunners, throwing wildly some ICE at them. They were weak attacks and easily blocked, but they weren't supposed to have an effect anyway, besides distracting them. And, though it seemed at first that they wouldn't take the bait, one of the Netrunners eventually followed her, which she marked with a grin of success.
She didn't look back, she didn't think, but just sped through the sub-net, hoping that So Mi now had the much needed edge to defeat the other two Netrunners before the other one would…
She stopped with a loud gasp as the hostile Netrunner was standing right in front of her, saying “Okay, kid, fun's over. Now come with me, or…”
Valerie didn't even want to listen to his bla-bla about consequences or some immoral offers. She was loyal to So Mi and would rather die than to betray her. So, she put all her focus into thinking about a plan to escape and remembered one of Songbird's lessons about moving in Cyberspace.
There were no physical laws inside the digital world unless you wanted it. Everything was formed of bits and bytes, zeros and ones, fragments of code. A real Netrunner could influence them all and build everything around them like they pleased, or change their properties. For example, giving a wall or floor no collision, making it possible to glitch through them.
She focused deeply, whereas her enemy was ready to pack her in some ICE. And right before the net of hard code could trap her, she glitched through the floor and fell on her butt a level deeper.
“Ouch!” she groaned and scrambled up from the ground, only to see the other Netrunner to follow her. Yet in contrast to her, he floated down like a feather, his demeanor being that of an angry parent.
Once again, she wanted to run. So she turned around and…hit a wall of solid ICE.
At first, the impact hurt like she had run against a concrete barrier, but then came the electric jolt that sent her flying through the air before she landed right in front of her enemy's feet.
“Game over, kid!” he plainly said before he gave the young girl a soft touch on her shoulder. Immediately, she froze and her entire body cramped up as she was getting entirely packed in ICE, rendering her unable to even move her pinky toe.
Effortlessly, he picked her up and carried her like a suitcase back to the core. She groaned, she fought, yet without any effect, besides that her digital bindings seemed to get even tighter.
“The more you fight, the higher will the pressure on your nervous system be until it gets crushed 'n’ your body dies from the stress 'n’ sensory overload.”
He was right. Valerie had been so distracted by trying to free herself and the cramping pain in her body that she hadn't realized how she was heating up. So, she did what she had always done before, waiting and thinking. She knew that she would never be able to break free from this prison by force. No, she had to make it like with any Datafort and crack the ICE.
And so she closed her eyes and tried to sense the code of the ICE around her.
The code was there, clearly visible on her inner eye. A string of data and sequences. Patterns of basic code that every Net-compatible software uses. If she was lucky, this ICE was based on some standard software. Something everybody used. Even slightly modified, it was very easy to realize and therefore to crack. However, if this was something self-made. Something new and unknown, she would need way too much time to find the right patterns and crack it.
“Hey, it's me. I got that lil’ cunt. Tell that other bitch that she's toast if she doesn't back down,” the enemy Netrunner said to himself, or rather into his com-link with the others.
They eventually ended up in front of a big cube of solid ICE, where Valerie got dropped on the ground like a bag of potatoes. She knew who had made this cube, saw the characteristic pattern and also knew that it was impenetrable.
However, a few seconds later, that gigantic structure of ICE dissolved, telling Valerie that So Mi had surrendered to save her. Surrendered because of her. But she didn't want that. She didn't want it to end like this. Didn't want that So Mi would give her life for a gonk girl like her.
So, she started to hack like she had never hacked before, going through all the sequences at lightspeed. E9, FF, 55, BD,… and so on. Always the same fragments, aligned in sequences she had to untangle and crack. The first one, the second one. Layer for layer, until she was able to infect it with some quickly written sequence that caused the ICE to explode, like it had happened to the barrier that used to guard the access to the Net, sending the Netrunner beside her flying.
A bit shell shocked by the explosion, yet free to move again, Valerie wanted to get up, but got immediately attacked by the second enemy. Fortunately, So Mi was right by her side and blocked the incoming attacks.
“You okay?” she asked the young girl, who struggled to get up.
“Um, ugh…! Y-yeah, I'm, uh… I'm fine… kinda…”
“Listen, you can't help me here. Not in your condition. Jack out 'n’ warn the others! I'll hold 'em back as long as I can. Now go!” she urged, and though Valerie would've loved to protest and stay, she realized the distress in her voice and that the others might be able to help her.
Therefore, she simply nodded and headed back to the realspace.
Valerie's avatar hadn't even dissolved for a second as the Netrunnen, who had been caught by the explosion, chuckled viciously as he got up again.
“You think she's safe out there?” he said with a mocking tone, now standing on his feet again. “I marked her. In a couple o’ minutes, a squad will storm her position 'n’ waste this lil’ cunt.”
So Mi couldn't believe what she just heard. Again Valerie had gotten marked. Not by her, but by the attacker. Yet, this time, nobody would be able to warn her.
President Myers had never been a woman to back down from anybody. Not when she had been a child, not during her time in the Militech armed forces, where she worked her way up to the rank of a Commander, and definitely not during her political career. She had always been and will ever be a woman of discipline and principals!
No wonder that she walked up to Hanako Arasaka with secure steps and self-esteem that would make even the hardest politician to get out of her way or bow in respect.
Hanako Arasaka, however, was a different kind of person. Composed and rational, yet also compassionate. A treat, Myers was lacking entirely. And even as the first gunshots echoed through the hotel, those two powerful women stayed calm, like rocks that were easily breaking the waves, while everyone around them tensed up.
“You mind tellin’ me what's goin’ on here?” Myers said towards the Asian woman, who was still very far away from any distress as her answer was plain and simple.
“I have nothing to do with this incident and thought you could shed some light onto this.”
“Oh, I think I can…” Myers replied, crossing her arms. “This is a ruse. You're fakin’ an attack to justify an all-out assault against our troops.”
Other politicians or diplomats would've blown a fuse just by hearing such aggressive accusations, yet not Hanako Arasaka. She simply told one of her personnel to clear a seat and signalled the President to sit down before she handed her a shard.
Suspiciously, she ogled the datashard, but eventually took it and put it into one of the slots behind her right ear.
Data, consisting of videos and texts were flashing over her corneas, while Hanako Arasaka explained the content.
“The day before this meeting, I assigned my best Netrunners to infiltrate the city's security system, as well as I asked the manager of this hotel to allow one of my dwellers to assist in securing the sub-net. Just as a precaution, of course,” she said, just before she sighed heavily. “However, merely minutes ago, I received a message from my security officer, telling me that every one of them is dead. Which, in return, raises the question, if this isn't a trap set by your FIA agents in order to kidnap me and use me as a bargaining tool.”
Hanako Arasaka was smart. Very smart. Not just an extraordinary Netrunner, but also a skillful diplomat. Yet, Rosalind Myers had already fought enough battles - both, on the battlefield as well as in dusty offices - to realize that this accusation was also a blunt provocation to lure her out of her cover and let her spill some information. Yet, this bold advance also told Myers that her adversary was as clueless as she was, and it was confirmed as Solomon Reed talked to her via a private link.
“Just got contacted by the kid. The sub-net has fallen in the hands of an unknown enemy. Both dwellers got wiped and So Mi's cut off and in need of assistance. Alex has confirmed multiple attackers in the lobby and is still awaiting orders.”
Nodding in confirmation that she had understood, Myers now tried to process the given information. So, this was indeed a full-blown attack and Hanako Arasaka's statement about her dead Netrunners had proven to be true. But who was the attacker? Who would be so insane to endanger the lives of two of the most powerful people of the two most powerful corporations on this planet and risk an all-out conflict with an indescribable number of dead?
And as much as it tempted Myers to win by force, a diplomatic approach and a common ground was needed to gain a partial win out of this. And was better for such a goal than a common enemy?
“Balance 'n’ order…” she mumbled while acting that she was still in deep thoughts, catching Hanako Arasaka's attention right away.
“I beg your pardon?”
“Balance and order,” she then repeated, precisely underlining these words. “Whenever the name Hanako Arasaka drops, those two words always chime with it. Isn't it true?”
“Without balance there's no harmony, without harmony, no order, and without order there's only chaos. Chaos leads to fraction and fraction to conflict. And conflict…”
“...makes everything go to shit.”
For a moment, Hanako Arasaka's calm voice paused as she seemed to be taken aback that her rather wisdom-filled words had gotten completed with some typical American profanity. Yet, she quickly gathered her composure again and cleared her throat before she continued.
“In a matter of speech, yes.”
“And now you should be able to understand why I'm fightin’ this war,” Myers said as she realized that she had found the right diplomatic angle. “Unification once made this country a great nation. A nation that was even able to defeat the great Empire of Japan. Fraction, however, makes us weak, and weakness makes us vulnerable.”
“Yet it doesn't give you the right to invade independent states,” Hanako threw in, not wanting to accept Myers’ war of conquest, which would have put her in a diplomatically difficult situation. “The will for unification must come from inside. You can't force it, or otherwise the so much wanted balance will quickly shift into chaos again, and therefore spark the next conflict eventually. This is why I'm here. I seek for harmony…”
“Then how about we seek for harmony right outside this door?” Myers then offered with a slight smirk as she was still trying to find a common ground instead of always being at a disadvantage. “Let's put the cards on the table,” she then said with some pressure in her voice as she leaned forward. “This commotion out there's neither ours nor your shit. We dunno who it is or what they want, but right now, they pose a threat to both of us, so…”
“You are suggesting that we should join forces and fight?” Hanako Arasaka continued the President's train of thoughts, bobbing her head slightly as she played the thought in her mind.
“The enemy of my enemy is my friend,” Myers added, luring out a conforming nod from the Asian woman. “My best 'runner's fightin’ those bastards in the sub-net, but needs assistance. And I got an agent out there, ready to attack. What about you? Ready to avenge your fallen 'runners?”
A few seconds passed. Seconds in which Hanako Arasaka just sat there as before. Elegant and precise like a princess she was, before she only said “Oda-san…”
The bodyguard behind her, a tall Asian man, who was obviously packed with combat implants, only nodded and left for the entrance, while Hanako snipped with her finger for one of the hotel's personnel, who then stepped beside her with a deep bow.
“Give me a secure access-port to the sub-net!”
Bowing once again, the servant pressed the buttons at a holographic console of the conference table, which then opened a small hatch with a data-cable behind it, which he then reached to the princess, who slotted it into her neural port before going into a state of meditation.
“Reed…” Myers then said towards the seasoned FIA-agent, a slight, playful smile on her lips. “Tell Alex to engage the enemy. The extraction has just turned into a combat mission. Reinforcements are on their way.”
“Yes, Madame President!” was everything he said with gritting teeth, before sending Alex the orders.
It was like breaking through the surface of the ocean when Valerie's mind returned from the sub-net and back into her body. Especially when doing an emergency break.
She gasped loudly and almost fell over from her sitting position if she hadn't caught herself on the wall beside her, where the panel with the access-port to the sub-net was situated. Slowly, the images of the digital space of the sub-net was dissipating from her retina and replaced by the reality around her.
Colors and textures were filling her sight again, instead of the monochrome blueish color of the data. Walls and floors were solid, and the scent of the sweat-drenched synthetic material of her netrunner-suit was filling her nostrils.
“Shit, So-Mi!” she groaned and immediately tried to access the com-link to the other members of her team. “Reed? Alex? Are you there?!”
“We're here, kid. Go on!” echoed Solomon Reed's voice in her head, which filled her with a mixture of relief as well as disgust.
“So-Mi…” she said with a hoarse voice upon her dry throat, which caused her to cough lightly, which also gave her a chance to gather her racing mind. “We…we got attacked in the sub-net. The dwellers…they're both gone. So Mi's still in there, fightin’ 'em. But she needs help! She can't…”
“Don't worry, kid, she can take care of herself. Just lay low for now 'n’ let us do the heavy work. I'll call you when it's over.”
“But…!” Valerie tried to add to the conversation, only to realize that Reed wasn't listening anymore. Only Alex opened a private channel.
“I'm glad you're okay, Val. But Sol's right, though. You did a great job 'n’ now it's time for you to let us do our job.”
“But I can help. I…” she tried to argue again, only to get cut off by Alex eventually.
“Val, this isn't for discussion. Your task was to watch 'n’ observe. That's what you did, splendidly. Your part's done. Now, please, don't fuck this up, stand back and wait, okay?”
Yes, there wasn't any room for discussion and Alex's strict, adamant tone made that clear as glass. So, she just groaned in frustration and slumped down on the suite's couch, where she tried to calm down. However, as she still felt the sweat and bodyheat trapped under the netrunner-suit, she couldn't relax at all, jumped up and stripped down the uncomfortable fabric. Naked as she was, Valerie then thought about taking a shower to soothe her sore body. Yet, she hadn't taken one step as she realized some commotion in the hallway, followed by a gunshot. She literally froze as another thought rushed through her mind.
Back in the sub-net, she had been caught by this other Netrunner and packed in ICE, where she hadn't been able to defend herself. Who knows what he had infected her with? Maybe a tracer-software or something, like So-Mi had done it?
Nevertheless, she immediately ran a detailed system diagnostic and pretty soon found a strange code-fragment.
Valerie knew her personal software and operating system inside out. Had tempered with it a lot on her own in order to optimize the data flow, even with her new Cyberdeck. And this code was definitely of foreign origin, and the more she entangled it, the more she became aware that it was radiating a faint signal, which she deactivated right away by altering the code.
Still, the enemy was at her door, closing in and ready to strike. And if it were more than two, she wouldn't have a chance. So, what should she do?
Calling Alex?
Out of question. She probably had her own problems.
So Mi?
No, she was still busy in the sub-net and still cut off from the com-link.
Reed?
Guarding the President.
So, who was there anybody left to help her?
No, she was on her own. All alone. Unless…
There was still Melanie Dunham, her cover identity. And it was the only lifeline she had at the moment. And if the enemy would kick in her door and start shooting before asking any questions, she was done for anyway.
Spinning together a quick plan in her head, Valerie closed the access panel, kicked the scrunched up netrunner suit under the couch, and quickly threw over the only clothes that were accessible without wasting any time, a violet hoodie with a zipper and some of Alex's way to oversized, rather loose fitting black sweatpants.
The pants had barely passed past her waistline as a commanding voice could be heard outside the door. Right in time, and without having closed the zipper of the hoodie, she had grabbed one of the hotel's offered BD-wreaths and put it over her head before an explosive charge destroyed the door and the enemy stormed in.
Fighting down her fear, Valerie tried to enter her role by imagining it like entering the Net, a different world with different rules. Barely she had managed to activate the BD-device on her head and was about to load the randomly already inserted BD-shard as the wreath was suddenly ripped from her head and the light of reality flooded her receptors again.
“Hey, what the he-... Shit!” Valerie blurted out while flailing with her arms, whereas the last word dropped out of her mouth as she looked down the barrel of a pistol.
She was waiting behind the counter, knives in her hands. Ready to strike if necessary. Alex knew that the attackers were right out there, combing through the entire lower level and probably wanted to enter the conference room.
“Hey, check the restaurant 'n’ make sure it's safe!” chimed someone's male voice from the lobby, whereas someone else confirmed the command, and a few seconds later, heavy footsteps entered the restaurant, probably searching every inch, yet hopefully not the bar.
“Hey, Chubs, you wan’ a drink?” asked another person as some single steps closed in on the bar.
“Dude, we're not here to get wasted. Spare it for when we get paid!”
Alcohol during a mission? Sloppy, unclear commands? Getting paid?
Listening to conversations had always been some of Alex's core skills, because they could always contain vital information about a mission. For example, she just had learned that these people weren't some sort of military or government agency. They were simple guns for hire. Mercenaries. Scum.
Yet, as much as this was important intelligence, it didn't help her at that moment, when one of the attackers eventually had reached the counter and spotted her behind it. Well, at least he spotted Heather Dunham and the very unconscious bartender beside her.
Time to go back to acting!
“Whoa, shit!” the rather young, black-skinned mercenary gasped as he spotted the woman, immediately pointing his SMG at her.
“P-please…don't shoot, hon!” Heather Dunham pleaded with a shaky voice as she was raising her arms.
“Hey, I found someone!” the young merc called out towards his colleagues before turning towards the scared woman again. “You, come out, bitch 'n’ don't make any sudden moves or I'll ghost ya!”
Cautiously, the slight chubby woman got up, her legs and raised hands shaking as she climbed clumsily over the counter while another, way older and more experienced mercenary closed in, barking “Who's this?!”
“I found 'er behind the counter with her sugardaddy, boss.”
Trying to cobble the pieces of the puzzle together, the older man checked once more behind the counter, finding the unconscious man while arching his eyebrow.
“Who the fuck are you 'n’ what in the hell happened to him?” he then asked Heather directly, his auto-shotgun slightly raised, which made it clear to Heather that the wrong answer could cost her her life.
“Listen, hon’,” she began to tell, still shaking. “I-I was sittin’ here at the bar, mindin’ my business 'n’ flirtin’ with that studd, as this darn alarm began. And… Hell, we thought it was just a fuckin’ exercise 'n’ got busy behind that darn counter. 'N’ as the shootin’ started, he just fainted, can you fuckin’ believe that?!”
It was a good story. Confusing and amusing. A story that only life could tell. Causing the enemy to scoff and chuckle. Causing them to relax.
“Alex, change of plans,” Reed's voice suddenly echoed in her mind. “We're gettin’ active. You're free to engage. Assistance is on its way. Copy?”
“Copy that!” she just murmured and scanned the current situation.
There were these two guys in front of her. Both not considering her as a threat. Then there were another two mercenaries at the entrance of the restaurant, chatting without paying the room any attention. Plus an unknown number of enemies in the lobby.
Her position wasn't ideal and neither was her situation in general. They were getting attacked on all fronts from an unknown enemy with unknown strength. Yet, with every passing second, the fight would become harder and the possibility higher that they would reach their goal or find out who they were messing with.
So, she decided to act immediately.
At first, she dropped her cover as she needed every bit of neuro-signal to use her combat implants. The show was over anyway, and as the two mercenaries in front of her realized that, it was already too late.
Alex was an expert in human anatomy and cybernetics. Yet not because she wanted to be a medic or ripperdoc, but because it made her an efficient assassin. She knew exactly where to injure a victim for a quiet kill.
In this case, the knives she had hidden in the sleeves of her jacket were now sticking deep inside her opponent's necks, where they had cut the stem of the brain as well as the neuro sockets and the close-by neuro-processor.
There were no screams, no noise, no blood. Just two clean, and inhumanly fast kills. Yet, it wouldn't stay unnoticed at some point. So, before the bodies had even hit the floor, Alex had pulled out the blades again and thrown them at the other two mercenaries. And again, they hit with precision and finished the job quickly.
However, one of the still remaining enemies in the lobby must've seen his comrades die and yelled “We got contact! Contact at the restaurant!” as he ran towards the restaurant with a raised gun and began to open fire.
Barely, Alex managed to avoid the bullets and took cover behind a thin wall that was separating two tables while still getting hammered by now multiple adversaries who had joined the fight.
Long story short: she was in trouble. Big trouble! Because there was no way out, no escape. But she was an agent. A professional FIA-agent, deadly and chromed to the teeth.
As the fire had stopped and the enemy closed in on her position, she cautiously took the cutlery of the next table and prepared for another attack.
Thanks to her implants, she was able to accelerate thrown objects up to the speed of a shotgun slug. Not as fast as a bullet, yet fast enough to make even a spoon deadly nonetheless.
One last time she took a deep inhale and tried to assess the enemy's position by listening to their footsteps, and then leaned out of her cover and started to throw the luxurious, gold plated cutlery towards the mercenaries.
They were three. Two men and one woman. All of them dressed in partially common clothes, mixed with some old, random tactical gear.
The first guy got hit in the head by a fork since he wore a plate carrier that would've easily stopped it. He fell and stayed down.
The woman's upper body, however, was only covered by a synth-leather jacket with studs and a top that was so much tethered that her rather big breasts had the potential to rip it any second. She got hit by a spoon that easily punched through the fabric and the tissue of her bosom before impaling her heart.
The second guy, however, must have had some sort of reflex-tuner, since he managed to intercept the knife with his arm and then immediately opened fire again.
Being surprised by this outcome, Alex failed to dodge two bullets, who were hitting her in the shoulder and her arm. It was thanks to the enhanced epidermis of her skin that the two projectiles didn’t penetrate, yet they still hit like a hammer and induced pain.
Gasping in agony, she fell backwards and hit the ground, where she stayed exposed long enough for the shooter to aim again at her, ready to kill.
“Gotcha, bi-...”
He couldn't even finish his sentence as another assassin appeared out of thin air behind him and cut him into three pieces from head to toe with a pair of red-glowing, thermal mantis-blades.
A projectile of ICE flew towards her and she deflected it easily. Then another attack from a different direction followed, and it too got repelled.
It was a stand-off, nothing more. Neither side had the upper hand, and as long as this was the case, the hotel's sub-net would stay under the enemy's control and any communication to the outside would be cut off.
So Mi knew about this predicament. Yes, she was able to defend herself against these two more or less mediocre Netrunners, but that was also preventing her from taking the initiative. Unless…
Out of nowhere, a sphere of ICE was forming around the two hostile Netrunners, engulfing them entirely until they couldn't move anymore.
So Mi knew that this wasn't her doing. And when witnessing the flawless coding and perfection, she knew that this was the doing of a top-tier runner. A Netrunner who was even above her when it came to knowledge and quality.
Enthralled by the making, So Mi stepped closer and examined the digital structure. A perfect sphere, without any ripples or gaps. Just a smooth, indestructible barrier.
“Fascinating, isn't it?” suddenly chimed a noble voice with a slight accent from behind. And even without turning around, Songbird knew who had just helped her… and she hated it!
“Never thought that the likes of you would leave their crystal palace 'n’ help the lil’ man,” she said defiantly and crossed her arms as she turned around.
“Desperate times call for desperate measures,” Hanako Arasake replied calmly as her golden avatar closed in on Songbird. “My Runners have been murdered by those people, forcing me to take matters into my own hands.”
There was a coldness between the two women. A hostility and antipathy that anybody who witnessed it could feel.
“You admire my work, yet you despise me,” Hanako remarked as she touched the surface of the ICE-sphere. “This ICE is of my own design. Flawless, impenetrable…”
“Like Soulkiller?” So Mi spat back and felt the need to spit on the noble woman's feet.
“Soulkiller isn't my own design, yet Alt Cunningham's,” she corrected her, now crossing her arms as well. “I merely improved and perfected it. Made it more efficient and the process less painful. I…”
“You're killin’ countless 'runners!” So Mi yelled at her, yet Hanako still stayed relaxed.
“Is it killing when the soul stays intact? Is it a worse fate than overloading the nervous system and cooking the body from inside? I think not.”
“You imprison ‘em for all eternity! That's worse than death.”
“Hmm, an interesting point of view. A problem that needs solving, eventually,” Hanako mused, yet only got a scoff in return.
“Whatever you say, princess. Now, if you excuse me, I have to take control back over the sub-net 'n’ save a friend who's gotten marked by those assholes.”
For So Mi, this conversation was over. She wasn't grateful that someone like Hanako Arasaka had helped her and would never accept this humiliation. At the moment, however, she had to focus on helping Valerie.
Ignoring Hanako Arasaka, she approached the sphere that was representing the core of the sub-net and touched it. Right away, a ton of data flooded her mind. Tons of data that needed to be processed, ordered and synchronized before accessing and using it.
And the first thing she did was to go through the security cameras and check the entire hotel.
“This is Songbird, I've got control over the sub-net again, copy?” she said into the reestablished com-link and then switched back to the cameras on Valerie's floor.
“Godammit, this is Songbird, I…”
“Please excuse my intrusion, but I cut all connection to the com-links for the moment,” Hanako intervened, and just now So Mi realized that she was touching the core as well.
Furiously, the younger Netrunner gave the noble woman an angry glare as a thousand thoughts about flatlining her went through her mind.
“Don't worry,” Hanako said with a soothing tone. “I've already taken care that someone will help your friend.”
Slowly, So Mi then retrieved the digital hand from the core, knowing that she didn't have the chance against this woman. Her gaze was still fixed at her as she asked “What the fuck do you want from me?”
Returning the question with a friendly smile, Hanako only replied “I just want to chat.”
“Don't move, bitch!” said the woman that was behind the gun. She was young, so much could Valerie tell beyond the numerous piercing and the tattoo at the shaved left side of her head. And…somehow, she looked familiar.
For a moment, both stared at each other, whereas the young woman's gaze soon traveled downwards, directly at the cleavage, where Valerie's belly and one half of her left small breast was exposed. And as she also bit her lower lip, her thoughts were becoming pretty clear.
Still, Valerie didn't dare to move and that moment seemed to last forever until it got interrupted by one of the woman's colleagues.
“Hey, Sanchez! Stop eye-fuckin’ this lil’ bitch 'n’ finally waste her!”
“You even sure it's her?” the woman asked back, already lowering the gun. “Looks pretty young for a top-tier 'runner.”
“I dunno,” the guy, who also seemed pretty young, replied insecurely. “Lost the signal some time ago. Just do it and…”
“The hell am I gonna kill an innocent girl!” she blurted back at him as she got up and didn't pay Valerie any attention anymore.
“How would you know if she's innocent?” the guy argued back. “Have you even checked her?”
“Alright…” Sanchez eventually sighed and faced Valerie once again, yet this time without pointing a gun at her. “Okay, tell us who you are and pray that it checks out!”
“Um, I-I'm…” the young girl began, gathering her wits for a short moment before continuing. “I'm Melanie Dunham. And I'm here on a business trip with my mom, Heather Dunham.”
“Melanie Dunham, huh?” Sanchez replied and picked up the BD-wreath from which she retrieved the shard and scanned it. “My-my, Soviet Whores Gone Wild, Part 3. Nice taste!” she then scoffed and tossed the memory device aside. “She's not our 'runner, c'mon, let's search the other rooms!”
Still not ready to believe that she might've jumped the blade, Valerie watched the attackers leave again, whereas the woman, called Sanchez, suddenly stopped beside the slightly ajar cover of the access panel and ogled it for some time before shutting it completely.
She then turned towards the young girl again, shook her head and scoffed “Melanie Dunham… I always found Valerie better.”
Wait, did she just call her by her true name?! How would she…?!
Suddenly a wild barrage of gunshots and screams sounded from the hallway, and a second later, Sanchez stumbled back into the room, fear written all over her face.
“Shit, shit, shit!” she cussed in panic as she crawled backwards, her shaking pistol pointing at an Asian man with red-glowing mantis-blades who was coming closer and closer, until there was only the panorama window in her back.
She released one shot, then another one. But no matter what, this unknown Asian man with the Arasaka emblem on his expansive suit just dodged the first one with inhuman speed while simply deflecting the second bullet with his blades.
Valerie just watched this show with a mixture of fascination and horror, knowing that this young woman was about to get butchered in front of her eyes. A young woman who could have easily ratted her out and got her killed. A woman, who seemed to know her from some past days. But from where? Who was she?
“STOP!” Valerie then yelled and jumped in between the woman and the assassin, who just looked at her without any emotion, as if he had no trouble to just slice her into pieces as well.
“Get out of the way, girl!” he said as his intimidating presence was towering above her.
“No!” Valerie replied defiantly with an edgy tone as she had to summon every drop of courage to face this man. “She… I know her, okay. And…she helped me. She's one of us.”
He stared at her, his threatening red-glowing blades still unfolded and ready to strike. She knew that, if this man wanted to kill them, he would do it without a second thought, and there would be nothing that could stop him.
Eventually, he said in Japanese “Hanako-sama, subete no kyōi wa haijo sa remashita.” And then retracted his weapons, turned around and left, leaving both women alone.
It was like time had stopped at a certain point. Everything was just quiet, all the noise from before gone. Especially when So-Mi's voice chimed through the com-link, Valerie couldn't do anything other than sob and shed some tears upon the heavy weight that suddenly fell off her slender shoulders.
“This is Songbird, sub-net ‘s clear 'n’ we're in the green. All threats eliminated.”
The threat was over, the building clear, and the conference was probably still going on like nothing had happened.
Valerie actually didn't care about that. She had cut all wires and was sitting on the couch, the mercenary woman, called Sanchez, beside her.
They were both sitting side-by-side in silence, their cheeks wet from tears, whereas Sanchez' custom-painted pistol was laying on the table in front of them. There was no hostility, no weird tension, just silence and the knowledge that the hallway must be a bloody mess.
“Val?!” somebody called from the hallway. “Valerie?!”
It was So Mi.
Valerie was actually happy that she was fine, yet couldn't get herself to answer. Instead, she stayed seated and just raised her side as her sister entered.
“Oh my god…!” was everything the grown-up woman gasped as she saw the young girl and immediately rushed towards her and took her in a tight hug, ignoring the other woman entirely. “Are you okay?! Did somebody hurt you?” she asked, and broke the embrace as she checked her from head to toe.
“I’m fine,” Valerie replied and was more than happy as So Mi hugged her again before she eventually stepped back and now gazed sternly at Sanchez, who was clearly feeling uncomfortable.
“She saved me,” Valerie immediately threw in before So Mi could make or say any wrong conclusions. Yet, the older Netrunner just deepened her glare, which caused the tension to rise.
“You're one of them…!”
“Hey, listen, I…” Sanchez wanted to say, but couldn't anything further as her body started to cramp and she collapsed onto the ground with a groan.
“So Mi, stop!” Valerie intervened right away, stepping in between the two women, causing the Asian Netrunner to stop. “Her name's Isabella Sanchez, 'n’ she's from my school. She could've off-ed me, but instead… She covered my ass from the others. Song, please… Enough with the fuckin’ killing!”
For a long while, So Mi just stared at the on the ground squirming, before she knelt down beside her and slotted her personal link into one of her neuroports.
“Don't worry, it's just a lying detector test,” she mentioned to none of the girls specifically. “I'm gonna ask you a few questions, and you better pray that you check out or it'll get pretty uncomfortable for you.”
“Song…” Valerie tried to intervene, yet got harshly dismissed with a hissed “Stay out of it, Val!”
“Your name's Isabella Sanchez?” she began to ask, getting an answer right away.
“Yes, Ma'am. And I'm sor-...”
“Shut up, or I'll fry your gonk brain!” Songbird blurted at her, asking the next question. “You're a merc?”
“Well…kinda, um… I-I just started a few da-…”
“I don't wanna know your fuckin’ bio. Who hired you?”
“I dunno…”
Quickly, Songbird gave the young woman a serious frown like she couldn't make any sense out of it.
“You don't know?” she asked back suspiciously, one eyebrow raised.
“Yeah!” Isabella Sanchez returned with a shrug, staying adamant. “After I got kicked outta school, I was livin’ on the streets, tryin’ to get by with some rando jobs. Then, three days ago, I was eatin’ lunch at my fav food vendor, some choom of mine sat down beside me 'n’ told me somethin’ 'bout easy money for a night of work, 'n’ bam, here I am!” For a moment, she paused, taking a few deep inhales before she continued. “Listen, if I would've known what shit I'm 'bout to walk into, I would've flipped this asshole off, okay!”
Another minute passed. A minute that felt like an hour for Valerie as she had to wait for Songbird's result about the lying detector test.
Eventually, So Mi retrieved the personal link from the other woman and said “This gonk brain checks out… Now, c'mon you two!”
At first, both watched how the Asian woman stood up and walked away, until they measured that they were supposed to follow.
As predicted, the hallway was a mess. Blood, sliced-off body parts, empty casings and bullet holes in the wall were making it seem like a warzone. Luckily, they were soon at their destination, a room just a bit down the hall.
“This room ‘s unoccupied, now it's yours. Clean yourselves up, get some food 'n’ sleep. We're leavin’ early tomorrow. I'll be downstairs again, watchin’ the sub-net. And you…!”
She then focused on Isabella, who had frozen on the spot.
“I put your ID onto the hotel's database, so you can leave now without any questions. However…” She was just about to leave as she turned around one last time and said with a warning undertone “You should skip town 'n’ hide in a lil’ hole where neither Arasaka nor the NUSA shall ever find you!”
Then she was gone and, once more, the two girls stayed alone, only silence between them until Isabella spoke up.
“So, you do remember me!”
Yet, all Valerie returned at first was a loud scoff and a stinky eye.
“How can I ever forget Izzy Sanchez, the queen bitch of the Heywood Arasaka school, who made it her hobby to bully me?”
“Yeah, that wasn't very nice o’ me,” Izzy returned sheepishly with a blush, taking some deep inhales. “Listen, Val, I'm really sorry 'bout all this. I… Those last months on the streets have taught me a lot. I thought about my past, tried to figure out at which point I fucked up, and…”
“Water under the bridge…” Val eventually sighed and got up. “Listen, I'm totally busted 'n’ gonna take a shower, 'n’ you… I-I dunno… get comfy, get yourself a snack or just leave or… yeah…”
She didn't know why she was stuttering. She didn't know why she was nervous or why she was somehow happy that her former nemesis had apologized. Or why she was blushing, out of a sudden. Sure, Valerie had never been a people person. She had always avoided them if possible and especially had none of them even close enough. But now…
Okay, maybe it was the adrenaline high from the combat or the result of the isolation from society at the FIA headquarters? Or maybe something entirely different?
She didn't know and her head was swirling. Even after she had stepped under the hot water of the shower, and all the sweat and tears got washed off, she still felt sick upon all this madness and confusion. It got even so bad that she couldn't hold back anymore and vomited, accompanied by some more sobs.
“Val, you okay?!” chimed Isabella's voice from the other side of the door, followed by a knock.
And yes, Valerie wanted to answer her. Wanted to tell her that she was fine. But that would've been an enormous lie. She wasn't fine and just wished that someone would be here to hold her tightly. A gesture she wanted from her mom, but awaited it from Songbird, yet only received it from Izzy Sanchez.
Frankly, she would have expected a lot from her former bully. Some chiding, mocking or even a beating. But comfort? No, definitely not. Maybe she really had changed? Maybe there was really more to her? Maybe… maybe she wasn't so bad after all?
The amber glowed in a bright orange as air flowed through the lit tobacco and paper of the cigarette.
President Myers was leaning against the railing of the balcony of the presidential suite of the Konpeki Plaza hotel, blowing out the bluish smoke as her mind processed the events of the passing day.
The negotiations had been going on until almost mid-night. And though the cooperative fighting against this wild bunch of mercenaries had been very helpful in solidifying the NUSA's position, Arasaka was clearly the winner of this conference, while Night City - poorly represented by a very incompetent Mayor and a councilman, who had his head deep in Hanako Arasaka's backside - was the big loser.
Though the contracts weren't signed, yet, Arasaka had regained the right to build new branches on NUS soil, yet was limited when it came to security forces and import of military equipment. Furthermore, the free states and Night City were forced to have seats in their governments reserved for NUS representatives in return for keeping their independence. And all Myers had to do to make all this happen, was to cease all combat operations.
It was easy and didn’t need any deeper though. So, the conference wasn't really the reason why she had to smoke her stress away. No, it was the attack that had occurred and who had been behind it. Or better said, who would be so crazy and risk another corporate war?
“Madame President, you wanted to see me?” chimed Solomon Reed's voice from behind, yet Rosalind Myers didn't even care about turning around, yet kept her sight fixed on the panoramic view of the city.
“What's the sich, Reed? Any news?”
“Songbird's still combing through the Net, trying to find any traces about the group that attacked us. Alex only got some bruises and has mixed under the remaining guests, just in case there are any sleepers…”
“And the kid?” Myers threw in, causing Reed to pause for a moment, clearly feeling uncomfortable about that topic.
“She's fine, considering the circumstances. But she has potential.”
“Good!” Myers replied, flicked the remnant cigarette over the railing and finally turned around, facing the tall FIA agent. “Reed, this attack wasn't the first and won't be the last. But they got close. Too close. And this tells me that this was probably an inside-job.”
“We already have a lead on the fixer, who contracted the gig. Just need a final confirmation,” Reed reported, receiving a nod from the President.
“Good. You 'n’ Alex stay back, ‘n’ as soon as you get confirmation, take care of it 'n’ clean this shit up. Don't wanna risk that some clown thinks that they can fuck with me without any consequences.”
“Got it!” Reed confirmed. “What about So Mi 'n’ the kid?”
“Seeing lil’ Miss Arasaka at work, I realized that we need a new edge in the Net,” Myers stated sternly, lighting a new cigarette. “I'll transfer So Mi directly to the White House, right at my side. The kid'll replace her in your team.”
“She isn't even close to being ready, Rosalind,” Solomon Reed remarked sternly and took a place beside Myers. A clear signal that he wanted to talk about a very serious topic. “Success at the FIA is a team effort. Me, Alex 'n’ Songbird, we worked well together…”
“Although, you rejected So Mi at first, too, Sol,” Myers returned, taking one last drag from the cigarette before flicking it away again. “You 'n’ Alex 'll finish up here 'n’ then go inactive for a while. Y'know, the drill. Exercises, mentoring, process-optimization, doin’ some side-jobs - while the kid'll go through the academy.”
“That'll be two years off the field, at least,” Reed remarked, not sounding too thrilled. Yet, Myers stayed relaxed and just scoffed as she patted his broad shoulder.
“You did a great job here, Sol. You earned a bit of a kickback. Now, if you excuse me, I'm gonna hop into the jacuzzi 'n’ enjoy the rest of my stay for once,” she only remarked, heading back into the suite. “And tell my assistant to join me, 'cause I need a fuckin’ backrub!”
It was somewhat in the middle of the night. It could be before mid-night or after. It could be close to dawn or still hours away.
Whatever the case was, however, Valerie didn't know and she also couldn't care less. She had gone to bed right after the shower and neither moved or said anything. At some point, Izzy had joined her and quietness had settled in once more. Yet, no matter what she tried, she couldn't fall asleep. And, obviously, Isabella had the same problem.
“Can't sleep?” she asked, more rhetorically, turning on her back and staring at the ceiling, whereas Valerie did the same.
“No,” the young girl answered, sighing deeply. “Can't really get all this shit outta my mind.”
“Gotcha there,” Izzy returned, switching her sight towards Valerie. “I think a lot 'bout the old days, and, well…you.” She paused for a few seconds, obviously gathering some courage. “To be honest, I actually liked you…a lot.”
“What?!” Valerie scoffed, now returning the other girl's gaze with a frown. “You fuckin’ bullied me 'n’ stole my freakin’ money. Where in the fuck’s name was that some sorta empathy?”
“I was a fuckin’ gonk, 'kay!” Izzy blurted back and was already about to get up, until she laid back down with a heavy sigh, her voice getting calmer. “Listen, I'm not good with this fuckin’ emotions-stuff, and… Shit, I had this stupid rep as a badass, 'n’ datin’ a young smut-runner…? Fuck! Why did I give so many shits 'bout that?!”
“'Cause social status 's all that counts…” Valerie answered this actually rhetorical question as she gazed at the ceiling again. “Everyone wants to be the best in everythin’. The best 'runner, the best merc, the best this, the best that. But that's just an illusion.” She then turned fully towards her, continuing “You think that you're in control until everthin’ goes to shit 'n’ people around you start to die. I used to think that hackin’ some smut Dataforts 'n’ sellin’ this shit would make me famous 'n’ rich, but…”
“You actually pulled really good stuff…” Izzy said sheepishly, causing Valerie to scoff again.
“Lemme guess, Taylor supplied ya,” Val remarked with a chuckle, enjoying talking about the way easier past with someone who was sharing it, “'cause I never had your name on any payroll.”
“Busted!” Izzy replied with some amusement. “At least, that way, I had the chance to give ya your money back.”
“So, what was your fav fetish? 'Cause Taylor only wanted the fetish-stuff,” the young Netrunner asked with curiosity, causing the other woman's breathing to hitch for a second. Yet, it took some more time for her to answer. Instead, she pulled her arm out from under the blanket and began to brush softly over Valerie's cheek.
“Y'know… Netrunner porn.”
She then shuffled closer to the stunned young Netrunner, their face now only inches away as she huffed into her face.
“Sex in ripped 'runner suits…”
She placed a soft kiss on her lips.
“...sex during deep-dives…”
Her hand wandered deeper under the covers until she had reached her butt cheeks, which she grabbed tightly and pulled her closer.
“...fake Valerie porn…”
Valerie was stunned, not able to resist or to think. Since they both hadn't taken any further clothes with them from the other room, they were both naked and every touch intense. Eventually, Izzy was laying on top of her, their naked, heavily heaving bodies touching.
“So…” Izzy whispered with a soft smile, her hand brushing through Valerie's short, dark hair. “What was your fav fetish, hmm? Maybe hot merc girls?”
A golden rule Valerie always valued was to keep business and privacy apart. She had never told people what to choose or what her preferences were. She simply delivered without any comments or questions. Of course, she had watched some of her merchandise as well and had given herself some pleasure, yet this had always been her private matter, nothing to share. And, honestly, she never really had focused on any preferences, yet. Men, women, chromed, un-chipped… She never had cared about categories.
“I-I dunno… Um,...”
“You don't know?!” was Izzy's coily reply with a ping of amusement and one quirked eyebrow. “Hmm… How about that?”
Chuckling softly, Isabella sat up and let the cover glide from her body.
For the first time, Valerie saw Isabella Sanchez’ exposed body. Her body had always been muscular and had a broad stature, and was covered with a bunch of tattoos. Her breasts were of mediocre size and her nipples pierced. And, if she would be honest, she was beautiful in her way. Piercings, tattoos, her wild hair and cute round face, and appearing to her wide smile, Izzy knew about the effect she was having on her crush.
Cautiously and with some reluctance, Valerie began to touch her, feel her. Every bump, every texture, which caused her breath and heartbeat to quicken. But it got even cheekier as the older woman leaned back and spread her legs. Now, she was completely overwhelmed and insecure, not knowing what to do or what not to do, though it was pretty simple what Isabella wanted, and she would deliver by brushing with her thumb over her sensitive spot, causing Izzy to moan and relax.
This was it. This was her first experience and it was completely different from what she had expected it to be. Izzy didn't even care, nevertheless mentioning that Valerie was entirely inexperienced. No, she just let them both explore each other and test out boundaries. They were moaning, smiling, gasping, tasting and kissing, without saying a word. It was just instinct and feelings, signals and signs. The purity of nonverbal communication.
During these hours, for this really special moment, both didn't think about the past or future. They didn't care about consequences or casualties. No, they were in the here and now, and they savoured every second of it.
The sun was dawning on the horizon, dipping the formerly obscure suite into a faint orange.
One last time, Isabella Sanchez glimpsed over her shoulder at the still sleeping girl she had just bonded with only a few hours ago.
“Bye, Val!” she whispered before sneaking out and straight towards the elevator. The whole hotel was still in deep slumber and no one in the still with blood from the day before sprinkled hallways, despite some personnel, who were either busy cleaning up the mess or were simply guarding the floors.
She entered the elevator once it had arrived at her floor and pressed the digital button on the screen for the ground level. At first, everything seemed normal. A calm tune was playing in the background, the numbers on the display dropped constantly towards zero, until the cabin suddenly stopped with a harsh jolt. Then, the elevator moved again, yet this time faster and didn’t stop at 0, but kept on going until reaching -1, the basement.
Already expecting to get gunned down once the doors would slide open, Izzy closed her eyes and waited for the inevitable. However, no shots chimed once the entrance was open. No, there was no deathsquad or assassin, but Valerie’s friend, So Mi, who sauntered in and remained silent until the elevator started to move again and then stopped between levels -1 and 0.
“So, you’re leaving without saying goodbye, huh?” the older Netrunner asked her with crossed arms, not even giving her a glimpse.
“I just wanted to spare her the pain,” Izzy replied, her sight fixed onto her shoes.
“Her or yourself?”
It was a good question. A question Izzy had asked herself the whole time when she had stayed awake after she and Valerie had slept together. A question she could only answer with the shrug of her shoulders.
“You lied to me…”
This one, however, wasn’t a question, but a fact. A fact she could only answer with a nod before she said “Dexter DeShawn. He hired us.”
This time it was So Mi, who just nodded in acknowledgment before she reactivated the elevator, which then really halted at the desired destination.
“Thanks for not ratting me out to Val!” Izzy said before she stepped out of the cabin, accompanied by So Mi’s last words towards her.
“Valerie deserved this time out. Thank you!”
Then the luxurious decorated doors slid close again, and the Netrunner was gone, probably on her way to Valerie, the girl she would miss so dearly. But she had to leave. They both were living in two different worlds right now, following two different paths that weren’t supposed to cross ever again.
Night City was under them, getting smaller and smaller the higher Space Force 1 accented into the sky.
Valerie was watching the city through the window. The city of dreams and nightmares. The city of opportunities and ultimate fails, of love and hate, of life and death.
She still couldn’t believe what had happened last night. That she had met Isabella Sanchez again after two years, and that they had this awesome night together. And she also couldn’t believe that she had left her without another word, only leaving her one last present.
Cautiously she pulled Izzy’s custom painted pistol out of her backpack and weighed it in her hands. It was a Tsunami Nue, painted with a pink-azzur camouflage pattern and Izzy’s initials.
“Nice piece!” sounded So Mi’s voice beside her as she took a seat beside her. Seats that were more like recliners than the typical seats in a plane. Comfortable and luxurious as everything else in this sphere of high politicians.
Not wanting to speak about this unusual gift or the person she got it from, Valerie just put it back in her pack and stared out of the window again.
“When were you gonna tell me that you’re gettin’ transferred?” she asked instead, causing So Mi to tense up a bit.
“Val…” she began, but got immediately cut off by the teenage girl.
“It’s fine, y’know. Just…just do what you have to do.”
“Valerie…” So Mi tried again, but only got an angry glare in return.
“I said, it’s fine. Geez!”
“No, Valerie, it’s not!” the older Netrunner then finally returned harshly as she had gotten annoyed. “You’re not fine. You…”
“I’m done, okay!” she however kept on blurting at her. “You want me to be a fuckin’ agent, then I am a fuckin’ agent. You want me to kill? Yeah, I’m fuckin’ gonna do it. Just stop pretending that everything’s gonna be fine, ‘cause it won’t. I’ll never see Izzy again. Never see my mom again. And you’ll ghost as well. So, just go!”
Again, Valerie turned her tear-filled sight towards the window and the city under them, which had become nothing more than a gray patch on the ocher-colored monotony of southern California. And while So Mi stormed off and gave her the much wanted peace, she imagined a faint figure in this gray mash of chaos that was looking at her as well.
Izzy sat at the farthest end of Dock 9 of the harbor, her legs dangling from the brim of the concrete platform, the lapping water surface of the ocean right beneath her, as she gazed at a very distinct aircraft that was slowly ascending from the city’s airport. She knew that Val was aboard it. Maybe even looking at her as well.
“Bye, Val!” she whispered, a tear rolling down her cheek that she didn’t even care to wipe away.
She then heard some steps behind her. They weren’t heavy or rushed, yet calculated and precise until they stopped beside her.
“I knew one of you’d come.”
The person beside her then knelt down and only for a few seconds, Izzy managed to rip her sight away from Space Force 1 and gazed directly into Alex’s stern glare. She had a silenced pistol in her hand, yet not even pointed at her. A detail that the young woman couldn’t care less about. Instead, she looked back at the plane that had now become nothing more than a black spot with blinking lights in the blue sky.
“I wonder how it is to fly so high?” she asked and closed her eyes and not awaiting an answer to that question, yet got a different one in return.
“Why didn’t you try to run?”
A shrug with her shoulders was everything that came into Izzy’s mind. She could’ve run, sure, but for what reason? Always hiding until someone would eventually off her? No, that wasn’t her style. And, actually, she wasn’t stupid enough to give in to such sentimental illusions. Never had been.
“I know when I’m done,” she said calmly, more tears running down her face. “My whole life I crawled deeper into the rabbithole, only to end up in a pile of shit. Until…until I met her again. So, I don’t regret what I’ve done ‘n’ will face the consequences.”
“I admire that,” Alex replied, a certain heaviness in her voice.
“Can you do me a favor, though?” Isabella asked with trembling lips as the plain was almost out of sight. She didn’t expect an answer, though. Yet only said with a faint voice “Tell Valerie that I’ll always lo-...”
The shot was silent, almost inaudible, and perfectly aimed. Izzy didn’t feel any pain, just the slight jolt as the projectile had penetrated her skull. Her mind was clear, accepting her fate, as she tipped over and the water surface came closer and closer.