Ripley's notes on his projects for the Muramasa Extermination Raid.

Warpweb is… something else. It's certainly like Scrapyard, but outshines it in every way. Before, I was only limited to Shardware, now I'm free to experiment with Implants, Mutations, entire Adapters, all within my head.

As such, I've been thinking, is my Shardware truly living up to my potential?

I have two Unique Features, and my Psyche and Database are certainly far above the norm of progression. Combined with Starlight, I'm a monster for my Tier.

The Arachnodyne is good, fuck, it's fantastic… but it doesn't make supreme usage of the core abilities of my Implant. It's a base for everything I can be, adding mobility and uncertainty to my attacks, while multiplying my Shardware Operating ten-fold. I'm a builder, I have to build my weapons of war, and make them perfect for my needs.

So four Features, four tools.

For Psyche, I made the Meta-mind.

For Shardweave, the Tetradyne.

Data Mimcry has the Glitch Cloak.

Database has the Constellation.

As for Diana, I've taken a look over her armor. I think there's one modification I can make onto them using Maiden's Hybrid Shielding disks, and if it works the way it intends to… it's both the perfect shield, and weapon.

I just hope I don't need to use the second part.

December 17th

3:33 PM

Ripley

Battles are won before you even set foot on the war ground. I'd like to think I learned that lesson. You could improvise and adapt all you wanted, but if you charged in blind and without a plan — you were fucked. Thankfully, we had a woman on the inside.

Not just any woman, but the woman. Bladedaughter. And to get to her, we'd have hordes of Black Dragons and other Muramasa Princes and Princesses along our path.

Was I being faithful to the promise I'd made to Diana? No, but she had her responsibilities — Bladedaughter attacked her. Chopped her foot off. Attempted an assassination of her Staff Sergeant in broad daylight. Telling her, or Starlight, the plan would be tantamount to ruining it.

Which was one hell of an issue considering Starlight lived in my skull. She'd been complaining lately about not being able to synchronize with me as well because a significant chunk of my memory was labeled 'do not look', and she even accused me of hiding something from her.

I responded in kind. "I am. It's not for you to know — not now. You'll know later, for now… spend time with your mother."

I hadn't said it harshly, nor bitterly, but Starlight still gave me an offended scoff and sped off into the SecondNet. It hurt, I… I didn't know how much it could hurt when your child feels betrayed by you, and it made me reconsider how much I was doing the same to my mother.

When we were younger, when we were safe… the last thing she would have wanted for me was to hurt others. Even at the cost of her life. Yet, deep down, when we were sent deeper than the earth, we came to carry that sin together. Maybe one day, we'd find atonement.

For that, I had to save her first. Six Silver Implants were on the line.

Each a potential lifeline, or a catalyst to my achievement.

The criteria of success was as follows:

Secure those Implants.

Ensure the Bladedaughter's survival and the retreat of those in her command.

Ensure the Bladefather's death.

Anabelle Grazhe's 'assassination'…

I received a layout of Muramasa's stronghold alongside Mirage. She was busy communicating with her Metal Heavens contacts — they were going to extract Bladedaughter's men from the compound. And what a compound it was…

They'd boldly taken claim over a Prison Compound in the Sixth Precinct, Xiao Beijing.

That Precinct was a cesspool of Muramasa activity, their central operations spawned from there. Countless businesses and politicians were extorted and controlled by the Dynasty. Including significant police activity.

The Jade Penitentiary was supposed to be the one place where they were weakest. Instead, they'd turned into a stronghold decades ago without the police having any idea until today. A complex reshuffling over the decades of police staff and Prison Commissioners led to the current Warden being a puppet of the Bladefather.

Anyone Muramasa wanted dead was transferred there and shanked by countless men of theirs. Anyone they wanted protected was treated like a royal. Anyone they wanted out got out. And their armory… was likely where the Implants were located.

Bladedaughter played coy with us about where the stash exactly was, but Mirage assured me she'd figure it out. In two days, the city's biggest execution was set to take stage — a siege against a prison where hundreds would be involved, from officers to Investigators to mercenaries and criminals.

On both sides. Mirage needed me to get her access to the police Neuroframes, with enough connections, she could spread sickness through them, and take control of their bodies and minds. Even multiple Tier IIIs at once, the Dogwhistler's Titanium and Proxy control abilities were second to none — except maybe Himiko.

As for Skeleton, she said he'd send his men too. For what end, I'd assume extracting corpses. The biggest corpse for him to get would be the Bladefather's, assuming his death came according to the police's plans. That would raise to become a Tier IV MAL.

Information on how The Bladefather became leader of Muramasa was obscured and torn through the rumor mill. Even The Dogwhistler had little to no idea about who Kensuke Muramasa was prior to the Earthquake. All we knew was that he was once part of Yuzhou's elite Swarm Operatives and based in the Floridian Gulf before a Titan decimated it.

After that? Elsa managed to extract that he'd likely broken off from Yuzhou during that time, but suddenly blew up in infamy following the earthquake. After that, she'd only known how his children were made into who they were.

Typically orphans. Collected and put through trials until only one remained. Following which they'd receive intensive experimentation to force them to adapt into his weapons.

Then she dropped a bombshell. That Soul Killer was the one who helped him improve the efficiency of those experiments. I didn't know if she was telling the whole truth, but it was simple. Muramasa had always been one of Soul Killer's greatest allies, until... Skeleton. Something about The Bladefather engaging his daughter to Skeleton broke apart whatever relationship there was with The Revenant.

Soul Killer could either stay out of this completely, or become a thorn in our ass if it turns out a Nexus was on location — especially among the police. Diana assured me she'd take responsibility for identifying one and containing them, but that didn't take into account that Soul Killer could be hidden among Muramasa forces.

Then there was the complication of a Muramasa Prince going by the name of War-watcher, Topaz had filled me in and said that guy was the one in conflict with the R0N1N. Tried to sabotage our heist on Goliath by making his men blast that The R0N1N was in the city by nearly bombing a hotel. Then Elsa casually informed me that War-Watcher was at odds with his sister, Bladedaughter, who had been our ally in securing Goliath by organizing several distractions across the Precincts with her troops.

On the surface there were two battles... in truth, there were seven.

Mirage and I. Diana and the Police. Skeleton. The Bladefather. The Bladedaughter. War-Watcher. Maybe Soul Killer.

That complicated web of politics was strangling around my mind, but one thought honed in on me more than anything. A priority.

Those Implants. With them on hand, Mirage and I might not need to kill Anabelle Grazhe… but I had to consider every possibility. This operation had more treasures than I could count, from Implants to Shardware to a power vacuum perfect for me and Mirage to manipulate.

It was also… so overwhelming. Sighing, my mind conspired through all these variables at a breakneck pace until I decided it was enough. I turned off all the screens as my eyes, cybernetic as they were, grew heavier and were half-lidded from several days of waking. Elsa guided me into her arms, sensing the tiredness within me. "It's a lot… I know."

"Fucking hell… I sort of wish Diamante and Missy were here." I yawned.

"Why?" Her voice grew hard.

"They're just… they'd know what to do." I said half assuredly.

"What they'd do is ignore us, put us in positions they can control and not give us the entire story. It is complicated, and that's precisely why they hide things from us… they think they're making things easy by not making us think it through." Elsa stayed determined. "Missy especially. In fact, she'd tell us not to even get involved… she'd probably only send Diamante in as the Iron Devil to boast significant clout with the police. Strip them of their Shards."

"What would he be paid?"

"Millions, more than all of us combined… maybe even enough to push him into Gold." She admitted. "Me and the bastard were competing."

"How close are you?"

"Silver IX… two Tiers off. A couple dozen Silver Shards might push me into Silver X, but Gold I would require well… an Implant with that much Gold." She looked at me sternly, hesitantly speaking. "Are you su-"

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"I don't need that Gold." I said calmly. "I have one in my head. Sure, it would push me closer to Tier III… and improve my Grade, but there wouldn't have any updates on the Implant. It's free Warpcode and it isn't very purposeful. Formless energy, it's better to use it as your final push."

Besides… I wasn't able to mimic Gold without updates. There was nothing to mimic. I could fill it up with Four other Features using Rewrite, but I doubted I could stabilize something of that caliber. Silver was already difficult, Gold would be impossible.

"For now, I'm focusing everything into my Shardware." I pulled up screens of my statistics. The last few days had seen me use all of my remaining Implants either on me or to forge new Mimicset Modules. I'd gone from rich again, to poor just as quickly with how much I had been spending to prepare for this raid.

Features:

[G] Psyche V.3.17: Preservation Matrix; Thought Multiplier; Alter-Ego

[G] Shardweave V.3.03: Meta-Manipulation; Retrofit; Warpweb

[G] Database V.4.08: Consciousness Link; Defragmentation; Nanomachine Reprogramming; Starlight

[G] Data Mimicry V.3.16: Focused Consumption; Rewrite; Frequency Sync

Tier II: Modification

Development: 28%

Integrity: Bronze VIII

Energy: Bronze VIII

Capacity: Silver I (Effective: Silver V)

Grade: Gold V

Water Tendency: Bronze VII

Shadow Tendency: Iron X

I had a lot of excess Capacitance to fill. I could push my Shardware to an insane limit right now. And I'd need it. I didn't know who my enemies would be two days from now, but they'd be everywhere.

"Ripley, I know that look in your eye." Elsa dug her nails into my arm. "No more intensive Shardware surgeries. We barely have the time in case you need recovery-"

"Just one." I pleaded tiredly. "Just one."

A wave of conflicting emotions crested on her face, before she reluctantly let go. "Which one?"

"My Endoskeleton." I grabbed up a diagram of my endoskeleton framework, it was the most complicated part of my body but also stood as the foundation of everything.

Concern flashed over Elsa. She'd realized her mistake. "Which part?"

"All of it." I called up Starlight, telling her to be ready for surgery in an hour. If I lost consciousness… she'd be who I trusted.

———

At times, I was saggy skin and muscle. Ribs hissed off as they disconnected, a dream-like curvature of steel that was neither solid nor liquid in the eyes of the drones and Arachnodyne's I controlled. Only that pink glow weaved a web that gave structure to the amorphous blood-like steel, shapening it into a tangible form that was perfect to my body.

I weaved according to the diagrams, perfect engrams that merely needed to be threaded with material. The Warpweb Protocol was everything I needed, partial simulation of any and all Adapters I'd ever faced, partial Shardware building simulator, partial materials analyzer… I honestly didn't know what it couldn't simulate.

Its goal was to weave connections between any and all known possibilities, to untwist from the threads of infinity and tangle around a singular perfection amidst all possible nodes.

Ripley… you're low on blood.

Put more. The answer was so simple.

You've bled through the last nine blood bags Ripley, this is the last one.

No. It isn't… the Black Blood is still there.

That many nanites could be… dangerous.

More dangerous than bleeding out?

I guess not.

Silver Shards empowered the framework of my skeleton one-by-one, special storage organs added for a reserve of inactive nanites akin to bone marrow. And most importantly… shock absorbers.

Not kinetic shock absorbers. Electrical.

I was no idiot. Starlight probably realized it too, but what choice did I have?

Wars had to be won before you even stood on the battlefied.

———

December 18th

While I had promised Mirage I'd only do one major Shardware overhaul, and that was true, it didn't stop me from modifying the rest of my Shardware. In terms of power, I would say that by now… I could give the R0N1N one good punch before my head came off. Or I could maybe hold my own against Diamante in the basic body he used most days. Or I could definitely give many Special Investigators and criminal lieutenants a run for their money.

Everything tightened over my body as embroidered extensions of my own body, Silver-Grade Neurowiring for my central nervous system had been expensive, but the effect of having a true Silver Grade Shardware was monumental.

I could react quick enough to dodge bullet fire, a millisecond after it was shot. Not just based on the orientation of their gun barrels.

I could dodge bullets mid-trajectory. Without Hypermind.

Speaking of the Module, I had secured it about as best as I could. For the last four months, I'd been using Hypermind Prime to create three lesser Bronze clones, but now it had reached its limit.

Hypermind Prime Module: [3S] [Overclock/Sustain/Psyche]

Implant Integrity: 29%

Even after attempts to restore it, the Implant was still unstable. I'd need R0N1N to let me scan his Implant again to truly restore it's strength, but he was off city. They'd be back by January at the earliest, or February at the latest.

They'd return to a changed city. Exactly how Skeleton wanted.

Don't take any deals from him. I remembered their words clearly, but a part of me couldn't help but challenge it. Skeleton was untrustworthy… but the fact was, so were they. Missy especially. I didn't know what secrets about their past they kept hidden from me, but they said actions had consequences when I first killed that lady selling 'Embrance.

This was the consequence of their secrets.

And so, as my Shardware hummed perfectly, I called up Starlight… with twenty-four hours left on the clock — I could get one more project done. Diagrams of genetic informations spilled, special casings in the form of ammunition soldered under my discerning eye, and collections of nanites dribbled out from me into them.

Goliath Nanomachine Overview:

Amount: 52 Grams [521 Billion Nanites]

Grade: Silver I

Capacity: Bronze III [9.09%]

Other than these bullets, I'd also used my nanites in what I called Project Anomaly. It was somewhat of a hypothesis I had regarding Implants and their ability to store memories — identities. It was the biggest gamble I had, but... well... it was also probably the best way to make sure Diana wouldn't hate me if I was forced into a bad choice.

It would also fuck over Skeleton, which was a bonus.

My head start in preparation also allowed me to create many accessory pieces of tech for the Raid. Most important was what I called my armory, it half resembled a storage chest about as big as I was. Still, every single bit of it was a segmented individual piece that could separate from one another and even form into a Wardrone for Starlight to pilot. The combat functionality was limited, just a simple gattling gun and a grenade launcher or two, but it could camouflage and serve as a mobile storage for replacement parts of armor and plating for my Shardware alongside contain special equipment I designed to combat Bladedaughter and live.

Four new pieces of tech, each designed for a specific Feature. Four ways to improve my chances.

Otherwise, I looked over the targets. The Royals. Bladefather had sixteen children, but two of them were dead while Kim Liyung was on our side. Each of them was a supremely formidable opponent, enough that if I even took out one… I'd be considered as one of the most fearsome mercenaries in Westcrook.

Instead, I was going for the most dangerous of them.

At the very least, I didn't have to directly engage with the Bladefather… Mirage had told me a few things about what it meant to be Tier IV. To grow past humanity and evolve… there was a reason so few of them existed. Only a Source-Touched Adapter was fit to breach the limits of humanity.

Putting that aside, I just had to be happy with all the changes I'd made to my Shardware since October's end.

———

Detailed Shardware Overview:

Capacitance Alterations:

Iron Shardware Capacitance reduced by 2 Tiers (1 if not modified by me).

Bronze Shardware Capacitance reduced by 1 Tier (only if modified by me).

Musculoskeletal Shardware reduced by 2 Tiers.

Shard Operating Shardware reduced by 5%.

Limbs:-

Right RipTech Claw:

Custom Shard Operating Claw outfitted with a mounted Scrapgun and a 'Slipstream' Gauntlet capable of clinging to surfaces and emitting kinetic bursts. The Claws are capable of launching out and are connected to a reeling system with livewire. This Claw is a Pseudo-Silver and capable of three Feature Links.

Integrity: Silver I

Energy: Silver I

Capacity: Silver II [Bronze X = 11.66%]

Grade: Bronze X

Feature Links: Rebuild [

Reconstruction

]; Warp Threads [Energized]; Breakdown [Technician]

Left RipTech Claw:

Custom Shard Operating claw outfitted with an internal Shriekstone Whip-blade and a 'Slipstream' Gauntlet capable of clinging to surfaces and emitting kinetic bursts. The Claws are capable of launching out and are connected to a reeling system with livewire.

Integrity: Bronze X

Energy: Bronze X

Capacity: Silver I [Bronze IX = 9.29%]

Grade: Bronze VIII

Feature Links: Datajammer [Jailbreak]; Bladework [Database]

RipTech Legs x2:

Outfitted with 'Slipstream disk' greaves capable of clinging to surfaces and higher density Shriekstone cores to emit powerful kinetic blasts.

Integrity: Bronze VII

Energy: Bronze VII

Capacity: Bronze VII [(2x)Bronze IV = 16.66%]

Grade: Bronze VII

Feature Links: Environmental Coordination [Sustain]; Kinetic Tuner [Sustain]

RipTech Arachnodyne:

A highly adaptable Shard Operating tool consisting of four dorsally located spider-shaped arms contained posteriorly by the scapulae and lower margin of the ribcage. Each Arachne has Shard Operating capabilities, with other combat and traversal functionalities. The arms can transform into Shriekstone high-frequency blades, and possess mild electrical and kinetic output. Each arm is also capable of launching Livewire-based javelin tips for purposes of traversal.

Integrity: Silver II

Energy: Silver I

Capacity: Silver III [Silver I = 15%]

Grade: Bronze X

Feature Links:

Link-Mimicry

[Data Mimicry]; Trajectory Recalibrator [Database]

Nervous System:-

RipTech Retronome Neuroframe:

Structurally based on the Mazhyr Metronome Frame; it has been over time been modified to better house Artificial Intelligences; contains a highly-developed Personality Editor software and has the unique StarOS system which significantly improves synchronization with Starlight.

Integrity: Bronze VI

Energy: Bronze VII

Capacity: Bronze V [Bronze IV = 8.33%]

Feature Links: Neural Matrix [Psyche]; AI Sanctuary [Database]

RipTech Soulbranch Endoskeleton:

Specialized Endoskeleton built to significantly increase reaction speed and strength, along with withstanding high-speed neural transmission and reactions across the body. Also allows usage of four external limbs through the 'soulbranch' pathway.

Integrity: Silver V

Energy: Silver IV

Capacity: Silver III [Silver I = 20%]

Grade: Silver II

Feature Links: Reactive Autonomy [Sustain]; Warp Accelerant [Energized]

RipTech Shardvision Optics

Specialized visual Shardware, minimally altered from their original creation by Alberich 'Hammersmith' Gravas. It specializes in analyzing structural organization of engineering and analysis of Shardware.

Integrity: Bronze V

Energy: Bronze III

Capacity: Bronze III [Bronze II = 7.14%]

Feature Links: Shardware Scanner [Technician]; Structure Analysis [Analysis]

Internal Organs

RipTech Liver:

A fully functional Shardware liver with an additional functionality to aid in the conversion of Warp Energy across grades.

Integrity: Bronze V

Energy: Bronze V [Bronze X]

Capacity: Bronze I [Iron X = 6.25%]

Feature Links: Shard Digestion [Shardweave]; Energy Storage [Energized]

Goliath Nanites:

A nanomachine swarm made of Midas Steel, a Warp Material capable of converting organic matter into more of itself. The Nanomachines are capable of coagulating blood, which can be used in both healing and killing.

Integrity: Bronze III

Energy: Bronze III

Capacity: Bronze III [Bronze II = 7.14%]

Grade: Silver I

Amount: 52.1 Grams [521 Billion Nanites]

Feature Links: Auto-heal [Sustain]; Biomonitor [Analyze]

Total Capacitance: 101.47%

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