I settled into my digital skin with a shudder of rightness.

Sure, some of my latest experiences with the deep-dive had been rather… well, traumatizing. But I hadn't realized how much I'd missed the sensation.

The netspace opened up before me, depicting dark hallways and eerie stillness. I felt more at home than I had since before we moved to the apartment above the clinic. It was like all my doubt and fear were stripped away, leaving just cool calm and certainty.

I balled my hand into a fist, marveling at how utterly natural the sensation was. Then my eyes caught a glimpse of my arm.

An arm that looked like some nightmarish combo of my Stalker limb and Shadow corruption.

I waved my hand at the empty air as my mind ordered the digital realm to bend to me. A massive mirror slowly shimmered into view. I knew this was likely to attract IDPs, but in that moment, I didn't much care.

The silhouette revealed to me sent a shiver down my spine, because my eyes had landed on the figure of a Shadow Runner.

I was taller and ganglier than most Shadows. My arms were a twisted kaleidoscope of Stalker and Shadow flesh melding roughly together.

But the most disturbing part of the whole thing was my avatar's face.

The eyes of a Shadow burned at me, surrounded by inky Shadow-flesh. My mouth seemed permanently stuck in a rictus of a grin, just as crooked as any other Shadow's. Teeth meant to puncture and tear gleamed within my dark maw. Wisps of some curling matter roughly approximated a mane of unnaturally shifting hair, stretching down to the middle of my back.

If that wasn't enough, I was completely naked, too. It wasn't like there was anything to see on my Shadow body, but still!

An exertion of will caused a pitch-black suit to form over my gangly figure. But though my physical appearance wavered like a badly malfunctioning scroll screen, it refused to shift into something more human.

For just a moment, I lost it. I lunged at the mirror with a snarl. It shattered into a million tiny motes that rained down around me, littering the floor before fading away.

I closed my eyes and counted to ten. Then I forced myself to focus and start marching down the dark corridor, my anger pushing me to find something I could visit violence upon.

It didn't take long for me to do so.

An IDP in the form of a cybernetic dog came tearing behind the corner, moving at considerable speed. Its eyes landed on me and literally lit up red as its jaws opened wide.

Before it could let out a single sound, I landed right on top of it.

I hadn't even consciously triggered Movement. I just knew where I wanted to get in a hurry. My body and the world I was in both obeyed, hastening my steps.

Assault, though, I definitely fed Essence into on purpose.

When we collided, the world briefly dissolved into static, intent, and code. It was like nothing existed but me and the IDP masquerading as a cybernetic dog. It was a tasty little morsel, and I was ravenous.

By the time the netspace reasserted itself, the IDP was gone, as was a good chunk of the wall I'd inadvertently slammed it into. Code flickered in the gaping darkness as the netspace struggled to knit itself back together, and I struggled with the fragmented data of a rudimentary defense AI clattering around in my head.

I didn't have time to stumble forward in a daze, though.

I had started close to one of the thickly protected security nodes. With all the shenanigans I'd just pulled off, a whole host of IDPs came right for my ass in a thick cluster.

I cursed and rushed forward, but even as I landed on one of them and triggered Assault, far too many of the others unhinged their maws and began to wail some unholy alarm symphony that grated on my nerves.

Obviously, I shredded my way past them. Each and every kill cost me Essence, mental fortitude, and patience.

My actions began to get… erratic. The confines of the netspace turned into 'suggestions.' My brief Assault duels with the IDPs became entertaining hunts. The data rapidly filling up my head was a delicious buffet of potentially valuable knowledge.

I was barely aware of how much time was passing as more and more IDPs found my location. By the time the last one was torn out of existence, the hallway looked like an absolute wreck. Chunks were missing from the walls, revealing deep, black pits that led into nothing but unravelling code. Moving past them with an ease and confidence I shouldn't have had, I continued down the hallway.

Then a different presence made itself known.

Stolen story; please report.

I heard the cursing long before I saw the person responsible for it.

"Of all the fucking times, did it seriously have to be when I'm here on my own? What the fuck did the idiots do this time? They better not have been using the access point to download some dodgy porn or whatever or I'm going to fucking —"

The netrunner turned the corner and spotted the absolute mess I'd made of the hallway. The next moment, he realized a monster was looming over him. One that had materialized out of nowhere.

"What the f-" were his valiant final words before my jaw unhinged and I cracked his skull between my teeth.

More data than ever before stormed into my psyche. I whimpered in both pain and exhilaration as I continued to crunch my way through the runner's avatar, which was spasming and glitching. I was halfway through his chest when the thing fizzled out and disappeared.

I screamed an unholy screech of frustration. I was about to go ripping down the hallway like a vengeful spirit before some deeply buried part of me hit the brakes, and I came to a full stop.

Slowly, ever so slowly, reason reasserted itself. My eyes went wide. I wanted to whimper in despair as I realized what I'd done.

I jacked out in a hurry, eager to move and talk and just let Amelia know I'd fucked up. Unfortunately, the second I was back in my physical form, I was attacked by dizziness. My body felt way too small and constraining for my mind.

Moaning out something incomprehensible, I jiggled my arms around and collapsed on top of Amelia.

"Adrian? Adrian! What happened? Are you alright?"

"Bleehghaf." That's what came out of my mouth.

Her arms were around me in an instant. "Oh no. No, no, no, no. Please don't tell me the security got you! I've heard horror stories about what happens to netrunners. Please, please, talk to me?"

"A-Am fine. Messed up. N-not like that. Went crazy on the defenses. Might have eaten the runner."

"Wah? Ate the — Adrian, I don't care, just tell me you're okay!"

"It's not okay. I mean, I'm okay," I grumbled.

Functionality was slowly returning to me as the jumble of data in my head just … went away? That wasn't quite right. I could still feel it in there somewhere. Still, it was like something was sorting through it and packaging it away.

Making it easier for me to think.

"Fuck." I stared at her. "If they have some kind of automated alarm when the runners are attacked, we're fucked!"

Both of us froze, listening carefully, but there didn't seem to be any wailing of alarms or the pounding of boots. I relaxed the tiniest bit, then flushed in embarrassment and guilt when Amelia tightened her embrace.

"I don't care about that. Even if we fuck up, we'll just… find some different solution. A different way to get at my father. Now, are we running, or are we proceeding as planned?"

Well…

"I'm pretty sure I at least gave their runner a stroke or something. Plus, I know our guys will be trying to tempt the others into getting drunk or some dumb shit like that, so… if there's no alarm… I guess we can proceed?"

It wasn't like we had to worry about cameras anymore, if the only person on lookout was currently dealing with their brain leaking out of their ears.

"Okay. Okay! Let's go, then."

I nodded at Amelia, took a deep breath, and drew my gun. Holding it loosely in my right hand, I let my claws out to play on my left. Then I led the way as we cautiously climbed the stairs out of the basement level.

Our drones had gotten us fresh maps of the place, so we knew exactly where we were going. The first floor up had been converted into planning rooms, offices, and other ironically formal spaces for a human trafficking ring. It also had a shared cafeteria, where the mercs often gathered for meals.

Our first obstacle came in the form of a humming cook and his two assistants who were cleaning up the dining hall we needed to pass through. I briefly considered how to play the encounter as I threw my jacket off, exposing my arms fully thanks to the sleeveless t-shirt I had on underneath.

I eventually nodded at Amelia to follow my lead. She rolled her eyes, but nodded in return.

"Hey! Nick! You have anything cooked up already? I really need a fucking snack!" I demanded as I stepped freely into view, gun temporarily put away.

The cook looked up and gave me the most hilarious startled expression, yet he neglected to really react until I was almost within reach of him. It was seriously wonky what you could do to people if you just acted confident enough.

"Wait, who are you? What are you doing h-"

He didn't get to say anything else. I leaned fully into the speed of my arms to deck him right on the chin, and the poor cook crumbled like a wet rag dropped carelessly on the floor. His two assistants stared for a long moment before finally reacting. By that time, I had one by the throat. Amelia shouted at the other to stop and drop to the ground, in the name of her gun-given authority.

The assistant obeyed, because she wasn't stupid. A true rarity amongst the mercs! Still, the two had managed a couple panic shouts, so I moved as fast as I could to pull out zip ties and get all three tied up.

"Oi! There something going on down 'ere?" a slurred voice demanded.

The footsteps of multiple people started to stomp down from somewhere above us.

I pushed my Clairvoyance as far as I could, focusing on the potential future as I rushed towards the door that led to the stairway. The future kept branching as I briefly struggled with what I wanted to do. In the end, though, I let go of the most ideal outcome and raised my gun.

The mercs coming down the stairs reacted as I'd suspected they would. Seeing a threat in the middle of their HQ, they scrambled for their own weapons, but it was too late for them by that point.

Two of them went down immediately to my Clairvoyance-assisted aim. The third managed to get a shot off, but I was moving aside before he even thought to pull the trigger, and the bullet pinged uselessly off the wall. My return fire bit into his hand and gut. He dropped, revealing numbers four and five behind him. Four, a half-naked merc with terror in his eyes, cursed and fired.

I didn't even need to dodge. He missed each of the three shots he managed to pull off, and took hits in both of his arms as a result.

Then the final merc, a stern-looking woman, managed to get her shooters into play.

My Clairvoyance showed me two guns, wielded with alarming expertise. I realized with a start that no matter how I moved, one of the bullets would always find me.

Gritting my teeth, I decided to put my Stalker arm in the way of a bullet, so I could fire back at her. Which… honestly? A mistake.

I grunted in pain when the bullet hit, ricocheted, and buried itself in my leg. At least my bullets bit straight into her skull, sending her to the floor like a suddenly discarded marionette.

Amelia let out a curse and rushed me, but I honestly just felt a wash of relief. That made for eight people down already. With four on our side, twelve mercs were out of play. And if they weren't rushing downstairs, I had to assume they were either out of it or subdued already.

I felt a tiny bit better knowing that the first phase of our plan was over. Somewhat successfully.

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