167

I was wincing internally as I was getting alerts from my netrunner chair about my temp.

My Cyberdeck wasn't made for shit like this! It specialized in quick hacks, for breaking and entering! Not… Video games!

Fucking Sasha! My GPU was ten years out of date, and you threw me into a next gen max graphic game!

I almost burst into laughter at the thought, but the Balrog coming through the trash pile to our left, literally blasting through junk data, burning a hole through everything in its way was rather distracting.

"Sasha! Balrog!"

"Bal-what? Oh. Yeah." She said turning from where she was… Cooling off.

This fucking! She really didn't do anything but the biggest most RAM intensive hacks she could! I was going to kill her! I'll drown her in her probably boiling ice bath!

"Relax kitten!" She said throwing me a smile despite the fact I was already preparing defenses for an attack I could see coming in.

She went to work, even as I blocked another barrage of missiles, and a newly growing squad of Daemon grunts. She activated her hack, that big energy attack prepped appeared, even as the Balrog charged at me. I put my faith in her and focused on keeping her safe, and just as the Daemon started melting my ICE walls the attack went out.

The destructive data wave hit the Daemon, and instantly ripped a hole through it, literally ripped apart, as its data was systematically merged into itself. To my eyes it looked like its insides had been blended, and that disrupted the Daemon enough it fell, instantly shattering into broken data.

"See? Nothing to worry abou-" Sasha mid sentence stopped. We both looked down, where through her chest there was now a large hole as wide as my fist.

I looked over at the netrunners. And one was pointing a finger at her, where the beam of energy had come from.

They had some sort of sniping hack? I couldn't help but wonder how that worked. How had it cut through my defenses? I could think of a few ways to do something similar. I guess it was definitely possible, definitely something I could make myself.

Sasha fell beside me and instantly burst into light.

*NEKO OUT!* A voice boomed out over the arena.

She wasn't dead.

She wasn't. She wasn't wasn't wasn't dead. I hadn't done what I could to save her, to have her die in this stupid game.

She wasn't dead, she said it herself. It was safe. I could see that she hadn't been sent out of the net, just pulled from the arena. That was definitely part of the system that meant she was alive.

Right.

Right.

Right.

Right!

"FUCKERS!" I roared aloud.

I wasn't an ace netrunner. I was good. Probably better than 90% of the runners out there, but I was limited in that I focused more on real life use from a cyberdeck.

My hacks weren't ones I made myself in here. My deck wasn't suited for it, these two absolutely should beat me.

But none of that entered my mind as I roared out every ounce of rage, and simultaneously activated my Sandevistan.

They had killed Sasha, I'd fucking end them!

—--

Sasha

"Ow ow ow ow!" She whined as she appeared in the waiting room. The hack that struck her was an altered overheat. So she was definitely going to be feeling that once she disconnected! From her system check she was bleeding from her eyes again.

Dangit! Maine always freaked when she did that, and Dorio would tease her about getting so emotional about the net she would cry blood again! She wanted to punch something. Preferably with her left arm her original left arm. With what was left of her actual flesh and blood and not the fucked up feeling of this chrome one, that she woke up some nights feeling as if it was crawling up her shoulder. Consuming more of her.

Like she had always thought her mothers chrome had consumed her.

But it hadn't been chrome, it was the medicine. She knew that now! She shook herself.

She didn't have a cyberware phobia! She had a cyberdeck! She installed scratchers! Her arms had mods for extra strength! It was just…

Her mother had cyber arms after the military…

She blinked, forcing herself to look back at the arena. With a flick of her wrist she changed the view to look at poor Kitten all alone without her senpai!

Shit she had really fucked this one up. She had just wanted some excitement! Being stuck inside all day, and Kitten was such a little noob! It was cute! To find someone at the start of their net journey after already being a badass? It was hilarious! Teasing material!

Of course Sasha only had Rogue's estimation, and little Becca's story to know how good Motoko really was. The kid was a bit of an enigma….

Also her crush was so cute! She hadn't gotten all stuttery again after that first time, but eeee! So cute.

She watched as Motoko reacted to her loss.

Sorry Kohai! You can do it though! Just fight on! You'll lose but as long as you look cute doing it it's okay!

Then Motoko screamed.

Sasha's smile dropped.

Sasha may be alone in her box, but there were easily hundreds of people watching this match. And Sasha knew that people would not be happy with her after this.

Motoko… Did Motoko think she was actually dead?

She had explained it right! That people don't die in this?

Shit. She had thought it would be cute to drag Motoko in while she was arguing against gambling, but now?

Motoko didn't know what was going on. No wonder she had disappeared for so long in the match.

Fuck.

The atmosphere in the arena shifted, as Motoko turned her eyes, once so full of life and delight and now? Now they were a glare of pure hatred.

Becca had told her that Motoko was a killer. Motoko being welcomed to the Afterlife, should have confirmed that.

But it was only now as Sasha looked into Motoko's eyes. Through the screen. Where Motoko couldn't see her back, she was sure.

Motoko was a killer, just like she was.

Then Sasha gasped, as Motoko blurred. Speedware!

The kid had activated speedware online. Not unusual, but it left a noticeable effect. Her body distorted, as the server was forced to try and keep up with micro movement of the sent data.

Then Motoko moved.

Sasha blinked in shock and then gasped, because in just a split moment, she had appeared behind the other netrunners.

That was high end breaching! Good shit! Right, Motoko had even breached the server on her own! Not something she would have expected.

A common strategy was to send out Daemons as a distraction, and Breach into the system to get the Minimap first, so you could hide your position from the opposing side. But that wasn't an easy task for anyone without a lot of experience.

Sasha herself didn't bother with it, as it took too long. Better to just blast the enemies into bytes and win!

But Motoko had done it solo, without ever seeing the server before. Which now that Sasha was able to think was… Impressive.

The girl didn't stop, her body glitching, she turned and Sasha flinched.

[HELL FLAME Anh. 2.132]

She had recognized the program. It wasn't bad, a bit out of date, but its ability to eat into data servers was well liked by runners that had to do anything against AI. Sasha had never done a Blackwall dive, but she knew how it worked. Often throwing up something that could cause server damage would distract the AI for a time letting the runner escape.

But she also knew the hack was pretty RAM intensive.

Around Motoko, in an instant multiple orbs appeared, right after a server jump?

The rezzers reacted, shields were brought up, but it hardly mattered.

A moment later Motoko buzzed around them. Multiple Breach jumps in a row? That was a high end trick, and it left Sasha burned out when she had to do it.

Doing that while also summoning in hacks, as fireballs slammed into each side of the runners shield.

Then before it was even done, she summoned more.

Hell Flame was already eating away at their shields, causing the runners to realize they were in trouble, but the kid wasn't done. More and more of the Hell Flame built up.

Finally they realized she had them properly pinned and did the smart thing.

They vanished, Breach jumping themselves to escape the flame filled zone.

Well at least Motoko had gotten them to split up, maybe she could-and Sasha gasped, as Suddenly Motoko was just there.

Both of them split up when they jumped, one ended up on the other side of the junk data terrain, while the other split farther off.

But it didn't matter, before the poor kid had a chance to breathe, Motoko was already there.

A modified Hell Flame, configured into a blade slamming through his defenseless form.

His body distorted.

*D3viant out!*

Fuck. That was fast!

Then Motoko was gone again. Breach jumping over and over until she ran straight towards the second runner.

Sasha was starting to feel more than a little worried. Motoko didn't have a deck capable of this sort of output. That meant she was overloading. The heat output would be intense… Fuck. Even as she watched she sent a message to Becca.

The second runner had used his moments to prepare, obviously spooked that his choom was taken out so quickly after the breach jump.

Then, Motoko was there.

Skidding to a halt, digital detritus kicked up at her feet as she appeared, already Hell Flame orbs spawned and ready.

He defended, Sasha recognized the shield hack. Some Militech piece of tech, it was alright. Solid defense, but it locked itself in place, no movement in it. It made sense why the rezzer used it. Between him and his choom they had a solid combo. Which is why they were giving her so much grief before.

Unfortunately Motoko had already found a method of cracking it.

Four explosions of fire arced up over it nearly instantly as Motoko breach jumped to each side of the shield, and then even as it burned down she readied a fifth.

"That won't work twice!" The rezzer yelled, and activated that missile strike attack.

It shot off.

Sasha felt herself stepping closer to the screen. At long range those missiles were just dumbfire data bursts, but with the rezzer right there they locked on.

Yet Motoko didn't seem to care. Even as the missiles fired off, she stepped back and despite the digital constructs aiming for her, she simply breach jumped through them. Blurring through the barrage of missiles as if dodging rain drops.

Fuck.

Fuck that was… Okay. So maybe Motoko might be a noob, but she certainly wasn't a rezzer.

That took skill, and Sasha knew for a fact she couldn't copy that.

She also knew that Motoko shouldn't be able to keep it up either.

Breach Jumps took a lot of hardware to pull off. Script kiddies couldn't hope to do it, and most high enders could only do it a few times.

Motoko was burning herself out.

Fuck. Fuck!

Rebecca you better have got her message!

And then it was over.

The barrage ended, and the Hell Flames continued burning down. The Rezzer tried to run for it, and before he could take a step after a Breach Jump that took a long few seconds for him to even activate, she was there cutting him down.

*Mod3d out!*

*Ghost wins!*

And then Sasha was moved. Both Motoko and her were back in the locker room.

"Motoko! Hey! Kid! Fuck!" She charged over, but Motoko took one look at her, and stopped Sasha flat.

She swallowed because…

And then Motoko logged out. The burst of digital static indicating a pretty nasty forced disconnect.

Motoko would have a nasty headache…

If she was even still alive.

Sasha jumped out herself, ignoring the fact she had eddies to collect for a victory. The only person who was supposed to be risking themselves was her! She had to make sure her kohai hadn't just burned herself alive.

—--

"Fugle." I cursed as I finally jumped out.

I felt melted, and I could smell burning pork, and I felt bad. Like heat stroke but worse.

I fumbled at my pockets, fingers feeling dumb and useless until I managed to get one into my mouth and huffed it down.

Instantly I felt better. Despite wincing at the heat coming off my neck. Flinching as the heat seemed to surge, but it was actually just my nerves coming back alive.

Weakly I flopped down. The coolant running through my suit was helping, but it was barely enough, I could feel myself still practically sizzling.

Dammit. I had probably damaged my Cyberdeck, and my new neural link.

Fuck, Vik was going to kill me. With that realization I stood up disengaging and hurrying across the room wincing with every step as I turned on the faucet to the sink and instantly just jumping up onto the counter and dunking my head under it.

The near sizzling of the water touching my chrome was really not a good sign.

Double fuck.

That was stupid Motoko, you gonk! You knew she wasn't dead. You knew she was fine…

I sighed just pressing my head against the cool metal almost wincing at how cold it felt to my definitely overheated brain.

Thinking was hard. Just cool down. I grabbed another MaxDoc, the last one I had on me, and only once I was sure the chrome had cooled off, did I pop it.

The brain fog cleared and I sighed in relief.

I needed to make a call.

*Ringing.*

*Ringing.*

*Ringing.*

*Kid? You alright?*

*Vik, I'm okay-ish. But I need a check up… I definitely overdid it with my cyberdeck. I overheated… It's bad.*

*Shit. Where are you? Do you need a ride?*

*No, I'm… Feeling better now. And I cooled down already, but I'm worried about my chrome… You in the shop?*

*I will be, meet me there, as soon as you can. Dammit kid.* Vik suddenly hung up, and I sighed partly in relief, and partly for knowing the Vik was going to chew my ass out.

Poking at the back of my neck I could feel the heat still there in my chrome, but it had cooled, now it just felt like I was using it too much.

Dammit. Now my neck felt stiff too, I tried to pop it and got nowhere, which only made the whole situation worse.

Rising up I nearly broke the sink with how quickly I slammed it off.

"Stupid. Fucking stupid." I cursed myself. I should have just given up. What fucking gonk does that sort of stupid shit!

I rose up and realized I didn't have a towel here. Sighing at how wet I now was, I just walked out. This day literally couldn't get any worse.

*Ringing.*

Hmm? Jun?

*Ringing.*

*Jun? What's up?* I asked as the elevator closed in front of me with a clatter.

*ARE YOU ALIVE!? MOTOKO!* Jun's voice came through making me flinch, luckily my own agent kept the noise down to a reasonable level, so instead of blasting out my ears, it just startled me.

*What? Jun, what's going on?*

*You're okay!?*

*Yeeees… Ish.*

*Motoko!*

*What is going on, who told you I was hurt?*

*I got a call from your choom, the little one Rebecca. She told me you were netrunning and to check on you right now!*

*Sasha is such a fucking tattle-tale… Yeah I overheated. I just spent a few minutes under a faucet cooling off, and I'm heading to-*

*Go to your ripper! Now!*

*That's where I'm going. I already called Vik and I'm on my way.* I assured him as I stepped out of the elevator ignoring the looks of some of the SLS kids hanging around and walked out. I didn't want to walk to my car. So I just called it.

*Fucking hell. Motoko! If you are going to do netrunner stuff, make sure you tell me! Or call one of your chooms! Someone that can cool you off or pull you out!* Jun ranted at me, and I nodded to myself, that was a good idea. If someone had been around to dunk water over my head or something I would have felt a lot better.

I didn't respond, instead just letting Jun rant as I waited for my Quadra to drive over from the parking space down the street.

It arrived and beeped before Jun had finished ranting at me.

*-this, you could just think a little before-"

*Jun!* I said loudly, cutting him off. *I'm climbing into my car to drive to Viks. If Rebecca calls again, just let her know I'm with my ripper. Don't say anything else for me okay? Lot of stuff is going on, and I'll talk to her soon to calm everything down.*

The line was quiet before Jun sighed. *Okay fine. But I want to see you once you finish up with your ripper.*

*Okay I'll head home after.* I promised, and we ended the call with some I love you's and then the Quadra throttled up.

"Well kid, I can tell you right now, I'm surprised you're still alive." Vik explained almost a little harshly, and I winced as he had me on my stomach as he examined my Neural link and Cyberdeck.

"Yeah, I overdid it. Definitely pushed too hard… Is my Cyberdeck okay?"

"Honestly? No." He answered back. "I'm seeing heat damage on the outer connections, some of the internals aren't going to be doing well. This is either an expensive repair job, or…"

"Or I buy a new one… Damn…" I muttered as I plopped my forehead into the cushion.

I had lost my cool at seeing Sasha 'die' and then… Why had I lost my cool so badly?

The question nagged at me, even as Vik slowly extracted the cyberdeck and I winced as I could still smell cooked meat coming out with it, I might have healed, but the smell would remain.

"Alright kid. Well… I'm not seeing any permanent damage in there." He muttered as he inspected my port with his eyes and his scanner. "But I'm not comfortable with the amount of detritus I pulled out with that deck."

"Yeah… I was probably cooking pretty bad. I had to use a MaxDoc before I could even get off the netchair."

"Shit." He muttered, as he settled down and rolled around until I could see him.

Fuck he was giving the the maximum dad glare.

"I know already. I messed up. I just… I thought my choom died… Even though I know she didn't, it was just… I freaked out." I admitted and I looked away unable to handle the shift from disappointed face to worried.

Why, though? Why had I acted like that?

I wanted to growl at myself, I had destroyed myself just to fight, and the whole thing was dumb. What was the point? I hadn't gained anything…

Okay so I had gained something.

*500 XP Gained.*

*100 Breach Protocol XP Gained.*

*Breach Protocol skill level up!*

*1 Perk Point Gained.*

*500 XP Gained.*

Breach protocol level 10. I had maxed it. As I realized it, the data drop activated and I gained an understanding of system architecture in a way I had never thought of before.

There was more to the net than just the ones and zeroes. More than just the level the net ran on. More than even the deep dives hit. It was like there was an under layer, a metaphysical layer.

One that I now had… Not an understanding, or a surety of, but I knew it existed. I knew there was more to the net than most netrunners ever realized.

I blinked away the information. I wasn't going to be exploring the underside of the net anytime soon.

And again, it came back to why.

Why had I acted like that? My Cool stat gave me self control bordering on the super human. Well, almost anyways. Yet, I had absolutely lost myself in the feelings from seeing Sasha die.

I shuddered out a breath and tried to shift my neck only to grumble as once again the stiffness made my upper shoulder muscles ache.

"Kid?"

"It's okay Vik. I'm glad I'm alive, and I did something stupid. Really stupid. I'll need some time, that's all… Just some time, and a new cyberdeck."

"Well… Alright. Listen kid, normally if someone came in with this much damage, I wouldn't even think of helping them get another deck, especially not so soon… But I also know you'll go get one regardless, and I'd rather help out." He sighed, rubbing a hand through his hair. "That and you are usually good about following my instructions, which is admittedly pretty nice."

"Heh. Glad I can help." I teased before just slapping my face back into the padding.

"I'm guessing you are going to want something a bit higher spec than this poor Seacho."

"Yeah."

"Well that'll be harder. I'll ask around my contacts, but if you want something truly high end? That's gonna take some leg work."

"Got anything short term?" I asked, looking up from the cushion, and he nodded.

"Yeah I got some older Paralines somewhere."

"Gross."

"Hah! That's what every runner I offer that old thing to says. Relax for now kid." Then he leaned in and whispered. "Miracle healing or not, you aren't at one hundred percent." Then he rose up. "Should I call your brother to pick you up?"

"Ugh. No, he drives like shit, and he doesn't have an actual car yet… I can drive. It's even soothing. Thanks Vik."

"Yeah yeah. Thank me by not showing up to my shop with your brain half melted or something next time."

I nodded, grabbed my jacket and threw it on, and then… Home.

—--

"Motoko!"

"Hey Jun." I greeted and then because he was looking a little frantic I walked over to him as he was getting up off the couch to see me and instead pushed into him for a hug, pushing him back against the couch. "There see. I'm fine."

The fact Jun held me tight probably meant he didn't agree, but it was still nice regardless.

"You alright?"

"I'll be okay. But I used a trick I don't want getting out, so if anyone asks, I'm okay but not up to chatting with anyone… I need a new Cyberdeck."

"What happened to your old one?" He asked, pointedly as his gorilla arms held me tight.

"It was damaged. Too much heat."

"Jesus, Motoko. I'm not a runner but I know what that sort of thing does to someone!"

"I'm alright. Vik agrees. Like I said, I used a trick I'm keeping on the downlow. So just… Play along? Please?"

"Of course." He agreed then sighed. "You need help getting a new one? I can reach out to Fujimura."

"Heh. No thanks. Vik is going to look for me, and after a few days I think I'll put the word out to some contacts I have."

"Heh. It still seems funny to me that you have contacts. Going to ask Wakako?"

"Maybe? Probably should. She'll probably make me do a gig first, but she might be able to get me in contact with someone with the good stuff… Or I could ask Sasha, it's sort of her fault this happened."

"What? Who is Sasha?"

"Oh." I muttered looking up from where I was burying my head into Jun's jacket. It was all fwuffy at the collar, and it was nice. "Sasha is a netrunner, and edgerunner actually. She's cool, but kinda a gonk. I was with her, she dragged me into a Netrunner arena thing… She lost, and I… I don't know Jun, I thought she was dead, but I knew she wasn't, and I just couldn't get over that."

"Sounds like she dragged you into a mess…" He rumbled and I laughed as it made his chest practically hum.

"Yeah a little, but it was my fault that I got hurt. I overreacted… I still don't even know why! I was just so mad, and angry, and sure she had died, after everything and I just… I knew she was alive but I couldn't get my brain to realize it."

"Sounds like me. When I was… struggling. That's how I felt. I knew I was going to punch you, and I couldn't do that, but I tried anyway." Jun offered bluntly, and I flinched.

I sat up and locked eyes with Jun because I was seriously shaken by his words.

It made sense.

A quick check of my system later I confirmed. I had 10 points of open adaptation right now. The last time I had even gotten close to that much was when I first got my arms, and I hadn't been doing well then either.

The ache in my neck brought myself back to focus.

Had I had a Cyberpsychosis fit? Was that how the effect manifested in me? Random bursts of surety of something that I also knew was false?

I had acted like Sasha actually died, even while knowing she hadn't, and yet… I had been sure I had just watched her die.

"Fuck." I muttered more than a little tilted. "I'm gonna go crash Jun. Thanks for the hug."

"Alright. Rest well. I'll make sure none of your chooms bother you?"

"Yeah, for a few days I'll need to rest." I agreed, mostly because I didn't want anyone asking me questions like how I'm okay after melting my old Cyberdeck.

Fuck.

—--

Eight hours later I was awake, but not sure what to do. I lay there in my bed, listening to the quiet noise of the Tachikoma's clacking walk as it moved around my room.

But I didn't want to get up.

I had a lot of adaptation points I needed to fill, and only one stat point. I closed my eyes and sighed. I felt okay right now. The sleep always left me feeling refreshed, and the aches and irritation that built up over time had disappeared thanks to my nap.

My neck didn't ache yet, but I knew as soon as I got up and started moving around it would start again. My shoulders would tighten up around the titanium bones, and overall I would just start feeling irritated and bad.

So I needed stat points, and I needed them stat.

Heh.

I sighed and finally rose up, I couldn't just lay in bed all day….

Well I could, being able to sleep at will was pretty handy, but I didn't want to. Instead I walked over to my laptop and settled in. Without my Cyberdeck I was limited in some things, but I could still work over some code.

I checked over the Tachikoma code and nodded. It was cleaner. The Tachikoma's development was going really well, and I guess… Since I was stuck inside for a bit I could get some work done on it, some focused development would be good for it.

"Let's clean up your learning subroutines, and maybe expand them a bit." I muttered as I settled in to start typing. There were some lines in the learning code, that I could clean up easily, and I really should.

The Tachikoma had figured out how to pick things up and move them around, and it had done it mostly on its own. The actual kernel that was its learning process was really starting to come together naturally. Soon the Tachikoma would be able to learn things on its own without my input.

With just a little more help anyways.

—--

"Motoko? You up?" Jun asked, knocking quietly on my door and I pulled back from the laptop that I had been in depth working through.

"Yeah Jun. Come on in. What's up?" I asked and he opened the door, looking me over and seemingly being satisfied.

"You sleep okay?"

"Perfectly. What's up?"

"Heading out. Got some work. You'll be okay?"

"Yeah I probably won't go anywhere, unless Vik gets back to me."

"Alright… Rest! Oh and your choom Rebecca called a few times. She's worried. Send her a message or something soon?"

"Oh… yeah I can do that. Thanks Jun." He nodded and then disappeared and I needed to do some damage control.

I stepped away from the laptop to flop on my bed. Bypassing the Tachikoma that was putting blocks of steel on top of eachother into a Pyramid.

"Good job." I told it, despite it not really being able to understand verbal commands yet.

Sighing into my pillow I sent out a text.

*Motoko: Hey Becca.* I waited and I was relieved that Becca responded back nearly instantly.

*Rebecca: MOTOKO! You okay choom? Sasha was freaking worried you melted your brains out of your skull!*

*Motoko: Yeah, I went overboard for sure. My cyberdeck was damaged, which, Yeah, not great. I was alright though. Had someone watching, and then made sure I didn't fry myself.* I lied with that, but it was the easiest explanation on why I didn't melt my own brain.

*Rebecca: Well good. I'll tell Sasha, she was freaking out. Like really freaking out. Wouldn't go into what happened, just that you had probably killed yourself. Scared the shit out of me.*

*Motoko: Sasha had me go to a Netrunner Combat Zone. Then while I was saying I'm not that interested in trying that out, especially since I've never seen it before. She tricked me into walking into the access Lobby, which threw me into the battle arena. Sasha isn't my favorite person right now.*

*Rebecca: Fuck Fuck! Sasha pulls shit like this sometimes, tricks people into shit. I'm sorry. Shit.*

*Motoko: Not your fault choom… And not Sasha's entirely either. I saw her get beaten, in the arena and I reacted badly. I thought she was dead, but I knew she wasn't. It's stupid I reacted bad, burned myself because of it. Tell her, it's not entirely her fault.*

*Rebecca: You should, maybe tell her yourself? She's really upset.*

I sighed, my face buried into my pillow. I brought my hand up and rubbed at my hair. The cool chrome felt nice. I wasn't sure if I wanted to talk to Sasha.

The feeling of betrayal wasn't entirely accurate. But I still felt it. After trying to save her life, and succeeding, she had pulled that shit on me.

It was a fact that I was going to have to decide if Sasha was still going to be someone I wanted to be around after this. The fact she threw me into a Combat Zone like that without warning wasn't okay.

*Motoko: I'll think about it. Tell her I'm okay for now. I just can't go on the net until I get a new Cyberdeck.*

*Rebecca: Shit, that's serious damage for a Cyberdeck, feel better okay choom? You need anything? I don't have a ride, but I can get around if I need to.*

*Motoko: I appreciate it Rebecca, but I have Jun around if I need something. And I'll probably call up Hiromi and the gang and let them know what's up. So I'll be flooded with people soon.*

*Rebecca: Okay. Okay I'll talk to Sasha, and bitch her out too. That shits not cool. See you?*

*Motoko: For sure! We'll hang out soon.*

I pulled away from the pillow. Sasha was bothered by what she had done? Good. She should be, but… Dammit.

*Motoko: I'm alive, and okay. Cyberdeck is wrecked… That's not your fault. Not entirely anyways. I'm not really in the mood to chat, so… We'll talk another time.*

There. I ignored if I would get a response to that and instead sent some messages to my chooms.

—--

I was sitting on my couch mostly just vegging out, when my front door opened.

"Motoko!" Hiromi's warcry echoed through the apartment and I sat up so she could see me. Then she rushed me.

"Hey, easy!" I said as she nearly leapt over the couch to pull me into a hug.

"You're okay? Not dead? No brain damage? Promise!?"

"I'm okay. Vik checked me over, and other than trashing my Cyberdeck, I'll be okay with some rest."

"Lucky! Lucky lucky! Idiot! To get your cyberdeck hot enough to damage it means it was hot enough to cause heatstroke if not worse! You are so lucky you are… Not drooling mindlessly!"

"I know. I know." I agreed and Hiromi looked me over checking to make sure before seemingly calming down when she didn't see anything wrong. Then she reached for my neck and I let her examine my Cyberdeck port.

"It's fine Hiromi."

"I took a class on overusing netrunners and the damage it causes! Considering how valuable a trained netrunner can be, it's something we are warned not to let them burn out unless necessary! I saw video Motoko! Heads catching on fire was one of the least horrible things!"

"And I'm okay."

Finally satisfied, she nodded firmly. "Lucky."

"I'll be even luckier if I can rely on my chooms as spotters in the future whenever I go into the net. I'll probably set up an emergency coolant in the future."

"Emergency coolant?" She asked with a look.

"Yep! A bucket of Ice water you can dunk my head into if I start overheating!"

"Gonk." Hiromi replied but she was acting, I could see the way her shoulders shook a bit to hold back her laughter.

"It's a good idea you know!"

"It's dumb. I'll put out word for some improved cooling systems, maybe a netrunning cap?"

"Ugh. Those are so ugly though. I'll look dumb with one of those on."

"Wha… You gonk! Armor isn't a suggestion it's mandatory! Isn't that what you told us!?" She said suddenly leaping at me, her fingers reaching for my throat. Yelping a bit I managed to fend her off as she leapt on top of me.

"Hiromi!"

"Wear your stupid netrunner armor you gonk!" She demanded trying to overpower me, but like…

Hiromi wasn't in the best shape so I easily held her hands off.

"Okay okay! You win. I'll wear the dumb Netrunner cap."

"Good! Those are meant to run coolant to your head you numbskull!"

I nodded and then since Hiromi was distracted it was time.

"A chance!" I cried out, surprising Hiromi as I maneuvered my foot up into her stomach and gently flipped her right off me.

She flopped onto the couch with a quiet oof, and then I kicked up.

I landed softly making sure not to land on Hiromi directly as I had flipped our position, pinning her to the couch.

"Heh! You are a thousand years too early to out wrestle me." I told her firmly and then winked as I stood up. "You want a drink? I'm not really planning on going out or anything today, so if you want to hang out, that's cool."

Hiromi was quiet. Sorry Hiromi! Gotta work on that body if you want to defeat me!

Sasha

She paced. What else could she do? She had taken a total noob, one that had some serious talent, but was still just a kid and nearly got her killed.

"Chill whiskers, Motoko is fine."

"I know more about netrunning and what a cyberdeck overheating does to someone than you do Becca. Motoko might be okay, but she isn't okay." She responded back, almost snapping as she continued to pace.

All because she had wanted to fight, to feel alive. Her arm twitched and she wanted nothing more than to smash it to pieces.

She hated the way it made her feel. Her mother had always told her how her arm was out to get her, that it was why…

Sasha shook it off. She didn't want to think like that. It was Securicine that had caused all of that. Her mother had always been so kinda before the war, and even when she came back. It had been the slow after effect that had left her…

Sasha reached up to touch her nose.

It wasn't bleeding. There was no blood. Her mother hadn't had another rage and hit her. But her arm, it terrified her, what if… What if she was like her mother, what if it wasn't Securicine that had caused her mothers fits?

What if it made her blank out and beat Rebecca to a pulp? What if it made her drag a perfectly nice kid, that had a so obvious crush on her it was the most adorable thing ever and drag her into a mess that almost got her killed?

"Fuck." She hissed wanting to smash something, but that was odd too, Sasha wasn't the physical destruction type. She hadn't wanted to be like how her mother was at the end. Smashing things because she couldn't control herself in her anger.

"Hey." A voice, deep and baritone and a strong hand on her shoulder made her stop. "Ease up Sasha. Ain't nothing wrong that can't be fixed."

"I almost got the kid killed Maine."

"Sounds like she almost got herself killed to me."

"She wouldn't have been there if I hadn't literally tricked her into it! She was even telling me that she wasn't interested! I just didn't care! I was so selfish I just wanted a fight! Something to do!"

"Sounds like an apology then. Nothing to get this worked up over." He rumbled but he also didn't understand. Maines entire perspective on Netrunning was action movie bullshit. Where the sexy femme fatal sidekick opened doors for the slick solo.

Sasha loved those movies, even if they were complete scop.

"I agree with Maine, Whiskers." Becca cut in. "I've only known Motoko for a bit so I can't guarantee nothin' but she's pretty chill, and she's not bothered by fuckups."

Sasha shook her head, it wasn't just what she had done.

Noobs were everywhere on the net, and when you took one under your wing, you're supposed to watch out for them. You don't kick them into a Combat Zone without even knowing their actual skill level!

That fucking fox was going to kill her.

"I can't apologize when she won't pick up." She admitted, and Whiskers nodded.

"It might take a bit choom. You betrayed her trust. Massive gonk move."

"I know." She flopped onto the couch and just stared up at the ceiling. What a fucking mess. "My arm itches." She whispered aloud, one of the first times she had admitted to the problems with her chrome.

Maine didn't get it. Even now he looked at her like he wanted to just tell her to scratch it then.

But Becca was smart. Surprisingly empathetic when she wanted to. She understood.

"Just a little longer choom. Then Bio-Technica will be off your tail, and we can swap you for some meat. Ease back on the chrome." Rebecca offered trying to be the mature young woman she was on the inside.

"I know." Just a little longer. Just a little longer.

Just a little longer.

—---

Ichi and Malcolm both reached out to check on me after letting my chooms know what happened, but I hadn't needed to have everyone over to look at how not injured I was.

Instead Hiromi and I hung out until she finally relaxed realizing I was okay, and then when she left that night I fell asleep early.

A day passed with me mostly tinkering with Tachikoma, lazing around, and avoiding going out. Giving myself a faux time to 'heal' from any damage.

I slept again mostly just to skip time

The next morning I woke up, stretched and forced myself up. I still could do more work on the Tachikoma, but what I really needed was to start searching for a new Cyberdeck.

As I hit the shower and got dressed I sent a message to Vik. Unfortunately when he got back it wasn't good news.

*Vik: I have some decks, and managed to source a Seacho Mk.1. Not as good as what you had, but it's workable. But I have a feeling that's not what you want. Suggest asking around and putting your ear to the ground. I'll keep checking for you.*

Not what I wanted, but Vik was only a miracle worker with one of his skills.

*Motoko: Thanks Vik. I'm going to look around.*

With that I sent a text to another source.

*Motoko: Hey Wakako. I had a thing, and I need a new Cyberdeck. Do you have any leads?*

I was just putting on my boots when I got a response.

*Wakako: You are more useful to me with all your tricks so I will help with this. Stop by.*

Well that sounded good.

I hurried out of the apartment, noticing that Jun was home, but sleeping. A few minutes later I pulled up to the entrance of Jig-jig street and headed inside.

The crowds were as dense as always. But my eyes kept being drawn over to the vending machines on the sides of the street.

I couldn't hack them. It was something I had grown so incredibly used to. It felt weird not having access to the net. Cameras around me were still noticed with my Kiroshi, but I couldn't turn them off with a thought anymore. I couldn't blind anyone I faced, or simply shocked them all unconscious.

I wanted to get a Cyberdeck ASAP.

Wakako's parlor was the same as always, and I walked right in. This time she wasn't on a call, or even pretending to ignore me. She pointed at the chair across from her and I sat.

"So you burned yourself out? Surprising you aren't dead." She said and I sighed as I realized she was going to grill me first.

Dangit.

"I had some plans in place in case I ever overheated. They saved me from any permanent damage. Although my head still hurts." I lied to her and she watched me with her sharp eyes for a moment before nodding.

"At least you were wise enough not to get your fool self killed. Truly, what a waste that would have been." She said and it took me a second to realize that was actually a compliment.

"Thanks."

"Hardly a compliment. Keeping yourself alive is the first step, fool girl. But you need a new Cyberdeck."

"Yep. I'm offline at the moment."

"Hmm." She responded, but didn't actually say anything more as she took a drag on her cigarette. "I don't have anything I can offer. Dr. Vector's request for information on a new high end deck has already been passed on. There are those that are happy to work with the Doctor, to find what he requests, but it's quiet currently."

"Oh."

"You will likely need to source one directly." She said puffing away and I frowned.

"I don't really like to take people's chrome." I said honestly and Wakako just scoffed.

"You are the oddest killer I have ever met." She nearly snapped, but still she seemed to calm herself. "Be careful fool girl. Without your usual equipment, death is around any corner. I've seen many netrunners die due to being in between equipment."

I looked at her.

She looked at me, and basically waved me off with her cigarette.

"Wait."

"You should leave girl." Wakako said noticeably as I came to a realization.

"You called me down here after I told you about me needing a deck, but you don't even have one! You just wanted to check on me!" I said finger pointing. Wakako took a breath and glared.

"I simply wished to make sure my agent didn't melt her fool brain out of her ears. When I was informed about what happened, I had started writing you off, believing you would need help going to the bathroom for the rest of your life." She said and I blinked.

"It's not that bad." I demurred.

"I was a doctor in my youth girl. I know exactly 'how bad' an overheated Cyberdeck is. Especially in some fools tiny head. Perhaps your lack of brains kept you alive?"

"Okay okay! I get it. You are grumpy. I'll leave." I said standing up with my hands raised, Wakako was getting nasty, but I stopped at the door. "Thanks for worrying." I told her and smirked as I walked out, because her answering scoff was great.

Okay in that case…

I needed to go see Yoko.

—--

"The resurrection of the dead was true." Yoko said to me bluntly as I walked into her shop.

"I didn't die."

"No you didn't. Good. I was cross when I saw what happened. Your battle strategy needs more work." She told me, but despite her monotone tone, there was a hint of teasing from the older woman.

"I'll work on it, especially when I was thrown in without any idea what was going on."

"Yes… I heard." Yoko's usual monotone was gone, and she nearly scowled which was unusual to see on her real face. "Sasha Yakovleva is not my favorite person at the moment."

I considered defending her, but honestly?

"Yeah me neither. I would have loved to take part in a cool netrunner battle if she hadn't thrown me in without any idea what was going on."

Yoko nodded. "I had considered introducing you to it myself, but you are like a cat that only dips its toes in the waters of the net when you must."

"I go into the net!"

She simply stared at me past her tiny dark sunglasses.

"Okay sure, I don't like hang out in it." I mumbled.

She smirked at me, a faint thing but it was there.

"You have been a unique apprentice to the net. I often have to shoo overly dedicated, but unskilled runners to take time to improve their skills. Not wait for far too long before a stray cat struts back into my temple."

I scoffed. "Don't you start either. I've already had to tell Sasha to stop calling me Kitten. I'm not a cat. Much less a stray one!"

"We'll see, I suppose." She offered but then frowned, her hand rose up and beckoned me over. Curious, I stepped0 close, and she gently placed a hand on the nape of my neck, feeling and confirming the obvious. "You lost your Cyberdeck."

"Damaged, more expensive to fix it then just find an upgrade."

"The damage you did to yourself is worse than I thought then… How did you survive?"

"I have good chooms, and I got lucky." She watched me from behind her dark glasses before pulling her hand away.

"Good medicine, and a skilled ripper too. Good. A Netrunner needs all of these things. You need a new deck."

"Yeah. Vik, couldn't find one, and I talked to Wakako already-"

"I'm aware. I do keep my ear to the ripper information network. Vik is a pleasing Ripper to work with. He is already well aware we are in the network and often throws out requests through it for cyberware." She said with a faint smile. "But what you are asking for isn't easy to find."

"I figured."

"Well, considering your performance, you certainly have the skills to use a higher end deck." She said and I felt a surge of hope because Yoko was looking like she was playing a trick.

"You know of one?"

"I have my ear to the pulse of the whole city. I know where many high end decks are that you could collect. Normally, I would tell you one of the more difficult locations. Maybe put you through a gig collecting something for me." She offered teasing, in that monotone way of hers.

But then she leaned in. "But you are my apprentice, and I won't let that stray cat with more ardor than brains stake a claim on you. I'll send you the deets. It'll cost you though, the owner isn't a runner, so it'll be in eddies."

"Eddies, I can do."

"Good. Go on then Motoko, go become the Ghost in the Shell again." She offered and I almost jerked.

"How did you know that? I only told Sasha that!"

"You think people weren't watching? It's a cute name. A good one." She assured me, and then waved her hand for me to get going.

Embarrassed despite myself I nodded as I got the text and headed out. Time to make a deal…

Then I realized that was a bad idea, and made a call.

*Hiromi, I can use your help once your class is over. I need to buy a new deck and-*

*Don't say another word. I'm in. Come pick me up, I'll be out of class in a few minutes.*

*What? Hiromi you should finish your classes, it's not that big a rush.*

*Nope! This is definitely important! You without a Cyberdeck is a weakness I'm not comfortable with! Come pick me up! Bye!* And the call ended without me being able to argue further.

I just sighed and shrugged. Fine.

—--

When I picked up Hiromi she had instantly asked for the message I sent, and had then gone on to make a call to the contact, to set up the meeting. Something I hadn't thought about…

I was just going to go there and meet them…

"Hmm. The details are set, and we got a location. Your netrunner choom seems to have come through." Hiromi added and I just shook my head at her antics.

"I mean, you saw what it was." The details had come with what I was going to collect, and I had been very surprised.

Yoko hadn't just found me a cyberdeck, she had found a top of the line deck that fit my speciality.

"Don't remind me. I don't even want to know how a Mk.4 Shadow got out of the company." Hiromi muttered.

The Arasaka Shadow. It was one of the specialty Cyberdecks made by Arasaka, and it was basically custom made for corporate espionage. Stealth, and data gathering, a lightning fast response time, and enough RAM to carry a plethora of programs and Daemons.

All usually locked up tight in an Arasaka agent's skull.

Honestly I was half way suspecting we were about to meet someone that had either flatlined an Arasaka corpo, or had shown up at the right time after one got flatlined. Either way it was a benefit to me, and if Yoko gave me the information, it wasn't likely going to end up as a trap.

Not that I wouldn't prepare anyways.

Especially with where we had to go.

Dogtown.

I almost called Hiromi back, telling her I wasn't picking her up when I had read through the details Yoko had sent me.

Instead I forced myself to relax. I had been there, Dogtown was safe enough. My instant reaction had been an overreaction. Just like the overreaction at Sasha's death.

So I was going to prepare, I would be safe, but I would follow 'common sense' that everyone told me, that Dogtown was fine.

"You have your gun right?"

"Of course. It's right here. I keep it in the armory during classes. Don't go anywhere without a weapon, Motoko." Hiromi said, showing her bag that had her Yukimura holstered inside.

"Good good… Make sure you put that on. Just in case." I said trying not to get twitchy with the idea of taking Hiromi to Dogtown with only a pistol and no armor. "You think we should call the boys in?"

"Motoko, it's just a trade deal. I'll be fine with you watching my back." She assured me, and that settled it. Even if the idea of calling in Jackie, Jun, the rest of Section 9, and even Rebecca sounded like a good idea to me.

My neck hurt.

I rubbed it lightly feeling that crick in my back again. I did have a stat point leftover still… As I drove I considered it. I was planning on putting points into my adaptation anyways. So I might as well do it now.

My own stat point disappeared and was dropped into my ODA Neural Link.

Arasaka ODA Neural Link Mk3 *Adaptation ODA Mk.3 1/2*

Yeah that looked better.

I played with my neck as I drove and frowned. The crick in my neck was still there, but as I worked it, it seemed to untense, and I almost sighed in relief.

At least if it came back I could relax my neck without needing to sleep to make myself feel normal.

"Motoko?" Hiromi asked, having been looking over at me, as I seemed to be rolling my neck around.

"Just a crick in my neck that finally let go." I admitted with a smile.

Then as we drove down the roads we finally reached the Dogtown entrance.

"Your pass still works right?"

"Yeah it should." Hiromi said and then as we pulled up we were scanned, checked, and allowed through without any issue.

And then once more I was on the roads of Dogtown.

"Heavy Hearts is over there." Hiromi added, reminding me of something I already knew, but I just nodded and turned left down the road from the entrance.

Hiromi often repeated things like that while nervous. So it seems despite her confidence in Dogtown she got nervous about coming here too.

I pulled up to a parking spot out front, and stepped out, eyes narrowed as I scanned everything around me, wishing once again I had my Cyberdeck already installed.

Hiromi stepped out and adjusted herself. She had slipped out of her Arasaka academy jacket, and was wearing one of her usual ones. Even if the slacks and dress shirt underneath hinted at her corpo origins.

I quickly joined her and we both walked towards the entrance. The concrete stairs were surprisingly empty of trash, as we walked up and into a small entrance area.

With a Barghest man leaning against the side of the door.

There were a few people idling around, some seemed to be waiting, some looked irritated, glancing at the guard over and over.

"Beat it kids." He offered as we approached, and I could see the way Hiromi's back stiffened at the insult.

"We have business in the club." I cut off, before Hiromi could give him a talking to.

"You and half of the Night City brats that come by wanting an easy drink." The guard replied back, barely even paying attention to us.

"We are not-"

"Hiromi, chill." I pulled back my choom who was getting heated up at treatment. "We have a number for our contact. I'll send them a heads up. Nothing to stress about."

Hiromi, continued to glare, but thought better of saying anything and nodded, straightening up her clothes as I led her off to the side.

I sent off a text. Letting them know there was an issue entering the club.

Then we settled in to wait.