A Hard Knock Life: Lost Days (ch. 13) (Patreon)

I sent Marquise his gift through the mail after dumbing it down considerably. In the end, it was the best option. Marquise lasted in this city for twenty years with some preem territory while being surrounded by numerically superior enemies. He didn't manage that by being stupid. As much as I liked the idea of strolling up to his front door, handing over the gift with a wink and a smile, I also knew that I'd just be giving them a gun to shoot me with when I refused any offer to join up.

A tinker walking into the heart of their fortress with an ungodly powerful rifle? Marquise would have to be an idiot to let an opportunity like that go. So, I just mailed it to him with a little note saying that I was sorry. Sorta. I said that I was sorry that his guys disrespected the law of finders keepers and that I had to electrocute their asses, but I wanted us to be cool so I gave him back one of the guns we stole.

But, that was yesterday and today was today. Monday. Still wasn't sure where Friday and Saturday had gone, but I spent Sunday making plans, fine tweaking things and hammering out exactly what I needed. From a mod perspective, there shouldn't be any reason that my plan to replace my skeleton couldn't work. My left shoulder and collarbone would be a good test, but my powers didn't work with biology. And considering what I was doing, I needed to consider the biological component.

So, I resolved that I needed two things before I could go all in on my skeleton -- two skill shards dealing with implant crafting and human anatomy. Secondly, were a few base mods to start off with like motor joints or finding a way to make sure that I didn't die of metal poisoning. Lastly, I needed to finalize the designs before I put them in my body. It was possible to remove them, but it would be difficult so it would be best to do it only once.

However, all of that was yesterday.

And today… I had school.

Walking up the steps felt different, I noticed. I could feel eyes on me everywhere I went -- from the groups hanging around the entrance straightening up when they saw me, to people staring in the halls. It felt different and it only took me a moment to figure out why. When I joined the flow of traffic to my first class of the day, there was no one bumping into me. There was no one shoving me to move a little faster.

I had a small bubble around me that seemed to drive people away. Like I was a leaper or something. Or… they were too intimidated to come close, I saw, seeing a familiar face flinch when we met eyes as he ducked his head.

I watched him hurry up for a moment before my feet came to a stop and the most incredible thing happened. People went around me. Like I was a rock in the middle of a river -- they just flowed around me, none so much as touching me. It was an incredibly stupid thing but it brought a slight smile to my face.

If I did that before, then I would have gotten knocked to the ground and trampled over. Now? Now no one even came close.

It was a powerful feeling, I reflected as I resumed walking. And I could see how it would be easy to get drunk off of it. It's why when people got their hands on a tenuous iota of power, they became total assholes. It was an addicting feeling. I almost wanted to spread my arms out wide, just to see if they would still go around or just find another hallway to walk down.

But I wouldn't. That, I decided, wasn't my style either.

I headed to class and spotted a girl hanging out at the door. Blonde hair, pretty face with blue eyes- my eye reacted the moment it saw her. She lit up, her outline marked… a perfect match for Tattletale. That wiped the smile off my face, but it just seemed to migrate to Tattletale. I came to a stop in front of her, ignoring the people that I forced to go around me.

"What are you doing here?" I questioned, looking down at her, a suspicion rising.

"I should be asking you that. After everything, you think you can just come back to school like nothing happened?" Tattletale questioned, cocking her head at me. "Or do you enjoy the idea that you're returning here as a conquering badass so much that you're willing to risk it all? V, your face is out there. People know how to find you. I did. The only reason I'm here and not a Corpo is because they think the last place you'll go to is school."

"Luckily you know me better than that," I remarked and got a cheeky grin in response. "Glory Girl passed on the message that I wasn't the tinker. If the Corpos were going to pick me up, then they would have by now. Gave 'em enough clues. If they haven't, then they have no interest in me."

Tattletale offered a slight inclination of her head, "Point. Still, why bother?"

"Because I told someone I'd graduate with straight A's," I answered somewhat tersely. "So, I'm graduating with straight A's."

It was easy to see that she didn't get it, and her power wasn't helping her understand either. That was fine, she didn't need to. Because if she didn't get it now, then she never would. Tattletale offered an uncaring shrug, and I took the opportunity to change the subject.

"Are you here to talk biz?" Actually, why come here at all? Why not just call? Why show me her face?

She nodded, "Yup. We have a gig that'll take your lunch period." She confirmed, but that didn't explain why she was here. Wasn't like that wasn't something that could be relayed through a text. "I'm here to keep an eye on you. Make sure that you don't try to double-cross."

I cocked an eyebrow, "And you were picked over Regent… because…?" I trailed off, not buying it for a millisecond. If Tattletale’s boss was worried that I would run, then he would have sent Regent. He could have stopped me from running and no one would have been the wiser. Me tripping over my own two feet would have looked like I just tripped, and with enough time… Well, in theory, he could control my body, but I would have started shooting by then.

Tattletale offered me a sweet smile and fluttering eyelashes. "Maybe I volunteered to spend more time with you?"

That actually got a bark of laughter out of me. "Nice one," I remarked. Then I shook my head -- Tattletale's strength was observation. It was her power and the implants she had supported that power. If Tattletale was here, then she was sent here to look for something. Or someone. “You’re here to find Skitter,” I stated, certain of it.

Tattletale had found out that Skitter’s power was bug related. The fine details were still unknown to me, but it seemed to be a manner of bug control. Wasn’t sure if she knew about the range or not, but Tattletale did know that a swarm of bugs was Skitter’s preferred means of contact.

It was all but confirmed when Tattletales smile went rigid, and that put a smirk on my face. “I’m not interesting enough for you?” I questioned, knowing that I was right. Tattletale was trying to learn the ins and outs of Skitter -- how they contacted me, where they contacted me, all to zero in on their location. So, Tattletale was sticking with me to learn exactly that.

Given that Skitter had helped me at school before, it was probably a good start for her. Still, by saying that aloud, I had tipped Skitter off. Hopefully.

Tattletale reached up and patted my cheek, “No, you’re not,” she decided in a tone as sweet as poison. “Let’s get to class. I can’t wait to watch you all day as you preen like you have the biggest prick in the world because some no-bodies look at you now. As if there’s anything to look at.” That was a little unnecessary. Though, with that, Tattletale walked into my Coding 101 class like she owned the place.

Today was not going to be a good day, I decided as I followed her in. I took my usual seat at the front of the class, and the first thing she did was sit next to me, a sharp comment leaving her lips before she even sat down. “Front of the class. Wow,” she remarked, her tone laced with sarcasm.

The action brought Mrs. Knott’s attention to us. Her eyes widened a fraction when she saw me, “V? I… you’re here?” She questioned, seemingly honestly caught off guard by the fact I was. I offered a thin smile, ignoring Tattletale’s muttered ‘teacher’s pet’ under her breath. Oh, it was going to be a real day, huh? “I- are you okay?”

“I’m fine. Nothing to worry about,” I dismissed with a wave of my hand. “Just happy to be back,” I added. I only realized I had waved with my prosthetic when I saw her eyes following it. A week later, and word had gotten out, I guess. It had to with how the ABB had tried to kill me in the halls. People knew I killed Lung. People thought I had killed Oni Lee. Even if they didn’t know…

Mrs. Knott failed to respond for a moment, “Happy to have you back, V,” she ultimately decided, though it did sound a bit fake. Tattletale scoffed next to me, making me shoot her a Look when Mrs. Knott turned back to her own work. In response, I got a grin that radiated smugness. People filed into the room while I got myself set up. Tattletale didn’t bring anything, so she was content to distract herself by annoying me.

“You know,” I remarked as I booted up my laptop. “You never followed through on your end,” I pointed out as I brought up my online class for electrical engineering. Tattletale looked at the screen, her eyes flickering up to me. I wonder what she made of that. What her power was telling her.

“You didn’t take the deal,” She remarked. I suppose that’s true. Still, it was needling at me. More so than her words -- what exactly was her power?

“But we are going to be working together. For better or for worse,” I added in a low mutter as class officially began. “You know me. You know what I can do. All I know about you is that you’re incredibly irritating.” Tattletale seemed to take that as a badge of honor rather than an insult because she seemed incredibly pleased with herself. Which made her that much more annoying.

“I’m flattered that the hotshot mercenary wants to learn about me,” Tattletale responded, sarcasm dripping from her tone.

I guess this is what I get for making it so difficult to get a straight answer out of me. “Is it because said you needed a power to keep up with me? Because I meant that,” I told her and without a mask covering her face, I saw a flash of anger. Then she seemed to realize that I had caught her, so she openly scowled. “Look, I don’t think we’re ever going to get along but if we’re working together… I need to know what I’m dealing with.”

Tattletale scoffed, “Sure, keep cranking up that nonexistent charm, V.” She dismissed, and I think I really did hit a nerve. What about that irritated her the most? That I was saying that I was smarter than her, or that she was dumb without her power, whatever it was?

It felt like if she was ever going to answer that question then I had missed my shot. Annoying, but I couldn’t turn back the clock. Wasn’t sure if I would even if I could. “Then could you at least tell me what we’re doing?” I asked, fishing for information. Tattletale offered a glare in response, telling me that I was out of luck. She wouldn’t cooperate with me at all. I’m guessing just to irritate me.

It was working.

“I’m going to shoot Jackie a text, see if he knows,” I told her and started doing exactly that. Impossibly, her scowl deepened. That was a red flag, but for what? Was this whole bitch act just something she was pulling or was it a plan to keep me and Jackie separated? Was Tattletale’s boss trying to pull a move, isolate me then try to kidnap me again? That wouldn’t be a bad plan… and if Tattletale was here, who was to say that Regent or Bitch wasn’t either? I didn’t know Bitch’s power.

No… no, I liked this less and less the more I thought about it. And, almost proportionately, the less that I liked it the more alarmed Tattletale seemed.

“It’s not a trap, V,” Tattletale reassured with a grimace. She seemed to realize that was a completely useless reassurance because she continued a second later, “Look… fine. You want to know? My power is deductive reasoning. Think Sherlock Holmes but better. I can take one look at you and know you’re every thought.” She half snapped at me, biting the words out.

Huh. That was simpler than I expected, but… huh. With her peepers, I’m guessing that was tailor-made to take as much detail as possible. With access to databases… huh. It wasn’t a brick package, but as far as powers went, it was a fairly good one. No wonder she had been able to read me like she had. And no wonder why she was so good at irritating me.

“Okay. And the job?” I questioned, taking a mile from the inch of rope that she gave me.

“It involves the ABB. They have a high class casino in Japantown. The job is to rob it." It felt like there was more that she wasn't telling me, but it was easy enough to see that she wasn't willing to give more.

I nodded, settling into my chair. I could work with that. “Whose all going?” I questioned, wanting to know what I was walking into. Not to mention, that sounded like they knew where to look if it was only going to take a lunch period.

“Me, you, Regent, Jackie and Grue. Our unofficial leader. His power is smoke generation -- blocks all sound and sight. Optics included.” Useful. Also, deductive reasoning, body control, and smoke generation. I still didn’t know what Bitch’s power was, but three out of the four weren’t heavy hitters. At least their powers weren’t. They could be enhanced with implants, much like I was doing to myself… still, at the very least, it meant that Tattletale’s boss had at least four capes on bankroll.

I nodded. Still, I sent a text to Jackie. Just in case.

…

By all rights, I should have had a great day back at school. Everywhere I went, it was like I was the center of attention. Whereas before… Lock and I had been completely invisible. The kind of invisible when you knew that you were an absolute nobody. The kind that you know that if you just stopped showing up to school then no one would notice nor would anyone care to.

But, Tattletale seemed determined to make me suffer for every word I had pulled out of her. Little needling comments that tainted the enjoyment I could have found in my newfound popularity. Every time a girl would look my way, Tattletale would make a snide comment about either me or her.

“Hey… you’re a mercenary, right?” A redheaded girl flanked by a brunette. There was a small posse of girls behind them, all of them looking our way. “V?”

It was towards the end of my second class that the girl approached, backed up with her friend. Throughout the Creative Writing class, the group of girls had thrown looks my way. I’m pretty sure that they were underclassmen, so I had no clue who they were.

I heard Tattletale swallow a cackling laugh, but I had no idea why. “Yeah?” I answered, looking between the redhead and the brunette. “Do you have a job for me?” This time Tattletale didn’t bother hiding her laugh. She just buried her face in her hands and slumped over the desk as her shoulders shook.

The redhead shook her head, a hand going to a lock of hair to push it behind her ear, smiling sweetly even as she shot Tattletale a dirty look. “No, nothing like that. I was wondering if you wanted to sit with us at lunch?”

“Nah, I already have plans. Sorry,” I answered with a shrug. That got me a real frosty look. It was almost impressive how she could go from sweet to glaring murder at me with her eyes even though her expression hadn’t changed much. Her eyes flickered to Tattletale then back to me. "Maybe next time…?"

"Emma," Emma introduced herself, seeming to take my disinterest as a 'for now.' "And that's Madison. We'll see you later V," she decided before turning around. I watched her go for a moment, something that clearly set off the group of girls that were able to see me. My attention was stolen by Tattletale snickering.

"Come on," I sighed, getting up and expecting Tattletale to follow. "What are you even laughing at?"

"You," Tattletale informed with no hesitation as we left the class. It felt like I had been stuck here for ages. Mostly because of Tattletale. "You can't be that dense?"

Maybe the money and skill shards weren't worth it. "I'm not. She's just not my type," I told her, another sigh in my voice. I walked towards the door, silently deciding that there wasn't anything I would like less than spending my lunch period alone with Tattletale. Even if there wasn't a job. "I'm not into that fake shit."

"None of that was fake," Tattletale pointed out. "Emma Barnes -- an up and coming Organic Model. Apparently not having endless amounts of mods is a selling point. Natural beauty is back in. Who would have thunk?"

Huh. Good to know. "Wasn't what I meant," I said, walking out of the building. "Where's the ride?" I asked, reaching into my bag and pulling out Cerberus. I couldn't use it yet, but the pistol was an absolute beast and I needed to get used to carrying it around all day.  Tattletale's eyes went to the revolver, a concerned expression flashing over her face as slid it into the holster that I wore at my leg. The receiver was thicker than a soda can so it stuck out a fair bit.

"Coming. And… oh, you are a romantic, aren't you?" Tattletale continued to tease, earning a flat look from me. "You want fame and glory and everything that comes with it. Except you'll turn your nose up at every perk of being a Legend." Not going to lie, the psychoanalyzing was getting old. "Hate to break it to you, V but becoming a Legend won't make you happy. It'll just kill you."

I almost started to believe in god when a car pulled up. I sprung to my feet, much to Tattletale's amusement, and walked towards it. The back seat door swung open, and inside was Jackie in the passenger seat. Sliding into the back, I sent him a look that he caught before I looked at the driver. Black guy around my age, solidly built in a black leather jacket. He looked at me as I slid into the back seat and offered a nod.

"V," I introduced myself.

He nodded, "Brian. On the job I go by Grue," he returned. He had a fairly deep voice and it was decidedly neutral.

"No hello to me?" Regent questioned, looking up at Tattletale when she opened the door on his side like he couldn't understand why she had. Without his mask on, I saw his face. Pale skinned with wavy black hair. Dark blue eyes and features that made him pretty rather than handsome. His expression could best be described as bored.

"Jackie?" I questioned, looking hard at Regent, who was shoved closer to me as Tattletale pushed him into the car so she could get the window seat. His eyes dipped down to the gun at my hip.

"All good, mano," Jackie said. "Got your text. Your gear is in the trunk."

"Alec knows better than to mess around on the job. I know you guys had a rough start, but he won't try anything," Brian offered as we pulled off. Alec. So, they were using real names? Or just code names?

Alec's head dipped into a nod, "Yep. Not that I would. You look like you'd shoot me, and the joke's not worth that," Alec remarked.

"Did Lisa give you the breakdown?" Brian questioned as we started to drive, taking us away from the school. And possibly Skitter. I shook my head, and Alec turned to tsk at Tattletale… or, Lisa.

"All I know it involves a casino and the ABB," I offered. Seems like I was supposed to get more info than that. Brian looked at Lisa in the rearview mirror, and I saw her shrug, thoroughly unrepentantly. "That, and it was only supposed to last the lunch break."

That caught Alec's attention, "Are you having something good today?" He wondered as if that was the biggest concern that he had. I heard Jackie take a breath -- I'm guessing that he was getting a similar treatment from Alec. Except more annoying than irritating.

Brian reached down and passed me a data chip. "The deetes are all there," Brian explained. "The casino got turned into a fortress now that the ABB is at war. They're using it as a safe for hard assets for convenience. The client wants the place ribbed to hasten the fall of the ABB." So that's what Lisa hadn't told me. This entire job… back by lunch my ass.

As he spoke, I slotted in the data chip to find that it was all there. Floor plans, security, numbers to expect -- the works. "So, your boss wants to make use of my netrunning skills," I remarked. I saw Brian nod beyond the screens that were cluttering up my vision.

"Speakin' of our boss, when are we going to see him?" Jackie questioned, glancing at Brian.

However, it was Lisa who answered, "We don't. My boss doesn’t handle things in person. The closest thing any of us have gotten is an intermediary. Usually, it's just dead drops," Lisa explained. I didn't believe that for a second. Unless Lisa had some serious authority, then her boss wouldn't leave it to her to negotiate. That conflicted with my theory that she hadn't exactly been willing to sign up in the first place. In a far more likely scenario, he was feeding her responses.

Jackie seemed to have similar doubts because she continued, "No one likes it, but we're deniable assets to him," she said. Still didn't fully buy that, but at this point, I think I would find a way to doubt everything Lisa said, even if it came with irrefutable evidence. Even if it made sense.

"It doesn’t matter. We just do the job we get paid to do. This one is higher risk than the ones we usually go on, so it pays more. Between the five of us, it's a five-way split to five thousand eddies each. Plus whatever we steal is ours to do what we want with." Where have I heard that before, I wonder?

I was already this deep in. Much like I had been during my first job. All I could do was to see it through and be prepared for a double-cross. The plan? Shoot Alec first, then Brian, and lastly Lisa. And assume that Bitch was somewhere nearby. Tattletale’s boss would be pissed, but I’d rather be his enemy than suffer what Bakuda had.

"Rules of looting?" I questioned, thinking about my set up at Jackie's place. I needed raw materials to breakdown. Preferably high-quality materials to get rarer materials.

"Whoever calls dibs first," Brian answered.

I could work with that.

…

The casino was a flashy place. The kind of flashy that stood out even in the afternoon sun. It was located deep in Japantown, nearly at the heart of ABB territory. It might be the ABB HQ with how it was unmistakably coated in their gang colors. The building itself was an old warehouse that had been repurposed at some point to make the casino -- three stories tall, and two deep. It had beefy security in the form of half a hundred guards scattered about, cameras absolutely everywhere, and heavy ICE.

I suited up. My shotgun rested at my ribs, about the size of a pistol with the new compact form I had given it yesterday. Lightweight steel reinforced with an E-carbon nanotube weave which made it sturdy enough to handle a full auto mode for the shotgun shells. I would have to use my prosthetic for it, though. Strapped to my thigh was Cerberus, ready to be tested out. At my waist and belt were tinker-tech grenades. Just in case. In my hands was a normal assault rifle for appearance’s sake.

Jackie grafted the charge rifle that he had apparently wrestled from me during my tinker fung in addition to his two pistols. He looked to me and I offered a nod -- we were in this together. If they tried something, or even if we thought they were trying something…

"Take these," Brian said, his voice modulated as he wore a mask. It covered the entirety of his face in the shape of a skull. Black wisps of smoke escaped from the vents built into the helmet. Added to the solid black eyes the skull had, it made for a creepy look.

At least, that's what I saw when he handed me a data chip and I slotted it in. After doing a system check to it, I saw it was just a gateway. Allowing me access to the system shared between the three capes.

"They're synced up with the systems in my helmet. When I do my thing, your optics are going to be useless, but my helmet makes up for that. It marks targets, and it outlines objects so you'll still be able to see where you're going," Brian explained. And that was a neat workaround. I nodded, accepting the explanation. Brian looked over us all, "Ready?"

He got a series of nods, some more begrudging than others. He seemed satisfied with that.

He strode to the casino, leaving us to follow him while black smoke began to roll off of him in waves. It thickened, masking our approach… sort of. True to what Brian said, my vision went so dark that I would have thought that without the warning, I would have thought my optics had shorted out. Also, true to his word, outlines appeared -- the guards standing at the entrance, the curb leading to it, the cars that were parked…

Almost as if it were a coloring book, of sorts. Waiting for more detail to bring the picture to life.

I raised my gun and pulled the trigger, shooting the guards in the legs. One thing that Brian forgot to mention was that there was no sound. If it wasn't for the recoil, I would have thought my gun had jammed. That, and if the red outlines hadn't fallen to the ground. Jackie and the others were all outlined in blue.

We reached the interior of the casino, rushing past the guards and I noticed a problem. My vision was reliant on Brian's. He looked around him as he entered, and when he looked left, the right was blacked out. Looking left, the right blacked out. Still, he could apparently see, so he identified the targets for us.

I saw red outlines, so I used a Ping. Their systems were breached, confirming that they were ABB and not civilians that Brian was trying to trick me into murdering. My gun was ready, but I didn't need to fire. The ICE they had wasn't enough to keep me from messing with their implants, and the members of the club had a lot of them. They shut down, glitching out. The red outlines hit the ground, some spazzing out. And with the breached system, I could piggyback off of Brian's.

I saw more detail with Ping pinging off systems. From the civilians that were panicking, to the gang members, to everything that was capable of giving and getting a signal. It made me not so reliant on what Brian saw, something I shared with Jackie.

Recalling what Skitter had said, I shot at the knees where I could. Not setting out to kill anyone. We made our way through the casino, heading to the lower floors. Through my view of the cameras, I could see the black smoke expanding, surging through the hallway and rooms, its progress marked by more and more cameras becoming useless.

Still, the camera's had use. With them, and the ABB breached system, I was able to clear out most of the opposition before we had come close to them. Their ICE was their weakness and it was becoming increasingly clear to me that I needed to work on my own ICE. It was good enough, but good enough was not good enough now.

We reached the bottom floor in a few minutes, the doors opening and granting us access. In practically no time at all, we reached the vault.

It was then that Grue killed the smoke. The vault itself had a lot in common with an old bank vault -- large thick doors and the need for a physical key as well as a cyber one. He turned to Jackie, who took aim with his charge rifle and fired once. The superheated slug tore right through the bulkhead door, ripping through the locking mechanism.

Inside was money. Stacks upon stacks of money. Enough money it was like a slap in the face to look at. Jackie let out a low whistle-

"Dibs!" Alec called out, skipping inside with his duffle bag at the ready.

"You can't call dibs on all of it. Try it again, and I'm going to make it mean one eddie at a time," Brian warned as we all stepped inside. It was a closet-sized room filled with money. There had to be a million eddies in here.

With that thought in mind, I walked forward and started filling up my bag as neatly as I could, trying to fit as many bundles as I could into the duffle bag. Jackie was doing the same, both of us lost in the concept of how much money was before us. I went a step further and tucked my long sleeve into my pants and started filling my shirt up with money. It was uncomfortable as all hell, but I couldn't have cared less.

"Alright, now for the real job," Lisa spoke, catching my attention. I reacted instantly, whipping around and in a blur, Cerberus was pointed in her face. She had her mask back on, making it impossible to tell what her expression was, but she flinched back a half step while her hands slowly went up. My hand had just gone for it. I couldn't pull the trigger without losing my arm… but I would pull the trigger. "Okay… I… can admit that I should have been a little more clear what I meant by that," Lisa admitted. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jackie pointing his gun at Alec, leaving Brian to point his at me.

My expression was flat, "And how would you clarify it?" I questioned, wondering if I was really about to pull the trigger. Not because of my lack of willingness, but if they were really going to do this.

"V, lower the gun," Brian snarled at me, jerking his own gun.

"I'm with V -- getting down here was a cakewalk. Why did we need the two of you, eh? Don't make no sense unless you were planning something." Jackie spoke up, making a very good point.

Lisa nodded slowly and gestured for Brian to lower his gun. "I'm here to read your intentions during the heist. If you were planning on killing and robbing us. Regent is here to make sure you couldn't when you tried." She explained, and that made a degree of sense. So, it was either the truth or bullshit. "The real job," Lisa continued, "is to breach the ABB data fortress that's located here."

My eyes narrowed into slits, "I don't believe you."

Lisa visibly winced, "Look, I've been… kinda a bitch to you. I can admit that. I don't like it when people call me stupid," she started. "And I haven't given you a lot of reasons to trust me, or us either. So, anything I can say now will sound like bullshit."

"But?" I said for her, knowing it was coming.

Lisa offered a small nod, "But, I'm asking you to give us a little trust. We aren't betraying you. We aren't planning to either. If you shoot me now with that… thing you're calling a revolver, then you're just murdering me. And that," Lisa added, "is not your style."

I held her gaze for a long moment. More out of frustration than anything. Because, as much of a risk as it was, as possible as it could be that she was just telling me what I wanted to hear…

She was also right. It wasn't my style.

"Where's the server?" I questioned, spinning my revolver before I slid it back into its holster. Jackie shot me a glance and lowered his gun as well, while the tension visibly eased out of Lisa. Brain still seemed tense, clearly ready to do something if I went for my gun again.

"I know where it is. Follow me," Lisa said, swallowing thickly as she gestured to the door, a silent question asking for permission to go. I offered a slow nod, my eyes sliding to Alec and Brian. I couldn’t see either of their faces, but Alec didn’t seem that bothered as he turned around and copied me by stuffing more money into his shirt after his bag had filled. I could feel Brian staring a hole in the side of my head.

I trusted Jackie to do something if Brian tried something. I followed after Lisa, leaving the vault. Brian’s fog still lingered, but it had faded a fair amount. “Anything particular we’re looking for in the server?” I questioned, wanting to know what I would be looking for… and seeing if I could poke a hole in her story.

“Evidence of someone bankrolling the ABB -- who they are, how they are, and why they are. It’s the only thing that can explain why the ABB hasn’t collapsed entirely. They’ve lost some territory and a few businesses, but nothing like they should have. By now? The ABB should be gone,” Lida said, echoing my own thoughts on the subject. So, I wasn’t the only one that noticed and now others were poking around to find out why.

“The client got us a BD of the server, so it should be right over…” Lisa said, leading me down a hallway before she spotted a door. She turned to me, clearly expecting me to open it. Only I couldn’t remotely. The door was a black hole in terms of my view of the casino’s systems. It was on an unrelated subnet.

So, the mantis blade popped out of my wrist and I jabbed it into the door. The metal gave way to the blade, letting me cut my way through the lock, which allowed me to force the door open. I was hit with a wall of cold air, almost to the point of freezing. Luckily, the money in my shirt offered some serious installation.

Inside of the room was servers. About a dozen of them -- six on each side of the room with each six being broken up into two rows of three.

This, I realized, was the real castle of the ABB. Information.

Before I even realized what I was doing, I walked into the room, spotting the main server. A thirteenth one that was facing the opposite end of the door. Lisa followed me inside, saying nothing. Thankfully.

“I’ll have to jack into the server,” I muttered, feeling… slightly intimidated by the prospect. Everyone knew about datacastles. Much like the castles of old, their huge firewalls protected the interior information from harm. Cracking them was meant to be the ultimate test of a netrunner. Even interfacing with them was dangerous because they usually were protected with Black ICE -- or lethal defense measures.

Even still, I walked forward, reaching the server. At the base of the server was a jack. I looked to Lisa for a moment, who watched me warily. My gaze slid to Jackie -- I would be leaving him in a bad spot. Three on one. But, as our eyes met, he offered a small nod. He was good with it. And… I really hoped that Lisa was telling the truth.

So, I grabbed the jack from the server, took a seat, and plugged it in.

Then… then my world became data.