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Cyberpunk 2097

Chapter 2 – "404: Hope Not Found"

The hideout was a rundown apartment in a sector of Nova Nexus City where even the gangs refused to hang out. The walls were scorched from old riots, the air stank of burnt circuits, and the only source of light was the flickering "NO FUTURE" neon sign across the street.

Zero crashed onto a busted couch, exhaling hard. "I'd say this place is cozy, but I'd be lying."

Alt-Del-F4 stood by the window, watching the streets below like a wolf on the hunt. "It's temporary. We won't be here long."

Zero sighed. "Yeah, yeah, I figured. You're not exactly a 'Netflix and chill' type, are you?"

She glanced at him. "I don't know what that means."

Zero blinked. "...Wow. That's both sad and deeply impressive."

She ignored him. "We need supplies. And information."

Zero sat up. "I'm guessing we're not hitting up the nearest convenience store for that."

Alt-Del-F4 smirked. "No. We're going hunting."

THE MISSION: FIND A LEAD ON PROJECT OVERMIND

Zero and Alt-Del-F4 moved through Sector 88, an industrial wasteland filled with abandoned warehouses, malfunctioning streetlights, and Black Market Tech Dealers. If anyone knew about Project Overmind, it was these guys.

Zero adjusted his mask. "So what's the plan? We walk up to one of these cyberpsychos and say, 'Hey, got any top-secret corporate nightmares for sale?'"

Alt-Del-F4 didn't answer. She just kept walking, boots clicking against the cracked pavement.

"Cool, yeah, love the communication in this partnership," Zero muttered.

They approached a neon-lit garage, the entrance guarded by a hulking cyborg with a steel jaw and LED eyes. His arms were layered in black-market augments, the kind you didn't install unless you wanted to punch through buildings.

"State your business," the cyborg growled.

Alt-Del-F4 stared up at him. "We need information."

The cyborg chuckled. "Yeah? So does everyone else. Information ain't free."

Zero stepped forward, holding up a hacked credstick. "How about we make it worth your while?"

The cyborg scanned the credstick, but before he could react, his entire cybernetic system shorted out. His eyes dimmed, arms locking up. Alt-Del-F4 had activated her EMF field.

The cyborg collapsed, twitching.

Zero whistled. "You really don't do 'subtle,' do you?"

Alt-Del-F4 ignored him and stepped into the garage.

Inside, the air smelled of burnt circuits and desperation. Rows of tech were scattered across tables—hacked neural implants, stolen security keys, and experimental augments ripped straight from dead corpos.

At the center of it all sat a woman with silver cybernetic arms, her fingers twitching as she worked on a dismantled drone.

She looked up. Her eyes weren't human anymore—just shifting lines of glowing code.

Zero muttered, "Well, that's not creepy at all."

She smirked. "If you're here to kill me, get in line."

Alt-Del-F4 stepped forward. "We need intel. Project Overmind."

The woman raised an eyebrow. "That's a name you don't say out loud unless you want to get erased."

Zero leaned against the table. "Yeah, well, we already pissed off the entire CorpSec army, so what's one more risk?"

The woman studied them for a moment, then nodded. "Alright. You want info? You need to earn it."

Zero groaned. "Of course. There's always a catch."

The woman grinned. "Ever heard of The Mindvault?"

Alt-Del-F4 narrowed her eyes. "That's a myth."

The woman shook her head. "No. It's real. And inside it? A black-market data cache—rumored to contain secrets stolen from every megacorporation in the city."

Zero crossed his arms. "Let me guess. You want us to break into it."

She smirked. "Now you're getting it."

Alt-Del-F4 glanced at Zero. "Can you do it?"

Zero cracked his knuckles. "Please. I was hacking corp firewalls when I was twelve. Let's go steal some nightmares."

BREAKING INTO THE MINDVAULT

The Mindvault was hidden deep beneath Sector 13, an abandoned subway station turned cyber-criminal haven. The entrance was disguised as an old metro terminal, but behind the rusted doors? A fortress of encrypted data, guarded by auto-turrets, drones, and cybernetically enhanced mercenaries.

Zero stared at it. "Okay, so maybe this is slightly harder than I expected."

Alt-Del-F4 handed him a small device. "Use this. It'll short out their electronic defenses."

Zero took it, grinning. "You do care."

She rolled her eyes. "Don't push it."

They slipped into the tunnels, moving between crumbling walls covered in old resistance graffiti. The deeper they went, the colder the air became—a sign that heavy-duty cooling systems were running underground, keeping the data servers stable.

Zero crouched near a security console. "Alright, time for me to do my thing."

His cyberdeck hummed to life as he launched a virus into the system.

"Give me a minute…"

Alt-Del-F4 watched as the security cameras flickered, then went dark.

"Nice," she admitted.

Zero grinned. "Told you. I'm a genius."

They moved forward, creeping past disabled drones. The data vault was locked by a biometric scanner.

Alt-Del-F4 cracked her knuckles. "Stand back."

She placed her hand on the scanner—and let her EMF pulse expand.

The entire lock system fried instantly.

Zero raised an eyebrow. "You are way too good at this."

The door slid open, revealing rows of data servers, glowing like miniature stars.

Zero stepped forward. "Alright, let's find something juicy."

He jacked into the system, lines of code flashing across his HUD.

Then he froze.

"...Oh, shit."

Alt-Del-F4 tensed. "What?"

Zero's voice was quiet. "This isn't just corp secrets. It's… everything."

Files on Project Overmind. Classified records on mass disappearances. Data logs of experiments on unwilling test subjects.

Then, he found something worse.

A video file.

He played it.

A corp scientist stood in a sterile white lab, speaking into the camera.

"Project Overmind is nearly complete. The AI has learned at an exponential rate. Soon, we will reach singularity."

Zero's blood ran cold. "Singularity? As in, 'machines replace humanity' singularity?"

Alt-Del-F4 clenched her fists. "We need to destroy this place."

Zero nodded. "Agreed. But first…"

He copied every file onto his deck.

"Insurance," he said with a smirk.

Before Alt-Del-F4 could argue, an alarm blared.

Zero groaned. "Why is it always alarms?!"

The mercenaries stormed in.

Alt-Del-F4 moved first. A pulse of EMF shut down their cybernetic augments, sending them crashing to the floor, twitching.

Zero pulled his gun. "Let's go!"

They sprinted for the exit, dodging bullets and leaping over debris. As they reached the surface, Alt-Del-F4 tossed a detonator behind her.

BOOM.

The Mindvault exploded, sending flames and data shards into the night sky.

Zero looked at her. "You know, for someone who acts all cold and ruthless, you really don't like seeing corps win, do you?"

She didn't answer. She just turned and walked into the darkness.

Zero followed, his cyberdeck humming with the stolen files.

And somewhere, deep in the city, Project Overmind was watching