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[CYOA] Trapped in Synth

By Wolvan
Created: 2022-09-23 10:04:27
Expiry: Never
cyoagoreviolencebatponytechnologycyberpunkdystopiaquestcyborg

  1. >Your eyes crack open as your earpiece goes off waking you up with your favorite alarm sound, I wonder what it is
  2. >The rancid smell of what you currently call your home for about half a week now assaults your nostrils, almost making you add to it
  3. >Fortunately, you are able to stop your non-existent lunch from coming up and instead opt to roll out of your sleeping area
  4. >Futon? Bar to hang off of? Hard floor? Bathtub?
  5. >On your way out into the main area of your place you stumble across multiple cans of Nighttime Sunrise that your hologem doesn't hide
  6. >"Makes you insane enough to just stay sane for a little longer", proclaims the colorful can with the symbol of the moon covering the sun
  7. >Yeah, you feel like sanity has been a lost cause in this day and age
  8. >Thankfully, as shit as the holo projection from the gem in the center of your room might be, it at least is better than the-
  9. >Welp, there it goes flickering out again and your run down living space becomes apparent
  10. >Torn wallpapers, stains on the carpet, some you don't even want to try and identify
  11. >Well, not like you are known to stay in places for long anyways
  12. >Not a great idea in your line of work
  13. >Just like it isn't really a great idea to keep your looks the same when going outside
  14. >Touching your bracelet you command it to open a holo mirror in front of you
  15. >Starring long and hard at every minute detail of your undisguised body, you see...
  16.  
  17. >Well, the scrawny frame of a batpony stallion stares back at you
  18. >Your fang pokes out of your mouth and you brush over it with one of your hooves
  19. >"Bucktooth baby", they used to call you as a little foal while pushing you around
  20. >Needless to say, you didn't have the best of childhoods, but who does nowadays?
  21. "Growing up in an orphanage really sucks", you muse to yourself with a smirk
  22. >Your eyes glance down on your ash grey mane, unkempt, unwashed, probably reeks worse than this dump of an apartment
  23. >It reaches way past your shoulders, down your forelegs and starts brushing along the floor
  24. >Not like you really have much credits to visit a barberbot and get this fixed
  25. >Your coat is equally as neglected, looking as stained as the floor of this place with, once again, things you don't even want to think about what they might be
  26. >Under all this grime you can't even see your natural coat color anymore, what was it again?
  27. >Oh yeah, brown, you think
  28. >With your smart contact lenses also currently offline, your true eye color that you usually try to hide... like most everything about you, is showing
  29. >Seriously, have you never heard of a bath, stinky? Phew
  30. >Not only that, but your eyes fall lower and your raging boner is at full mast
  31. >You may be small and scrawny, but at least the goddesses of this forsaken place have given you SOMETHING to be proud of
  32. >It is now that the smell of musk becomes more obvious and you scrunch your nose
  33. >Trying to remember what you've done last night it slowly starts coming back to you
  34. >Kicking one of the cans of energy drink you curse to yourself, this stuff really scrambles your brain
  35. >Your last project.... yes you managed to hack into one of the Big Four's subsidiaries and started siphoning credits
  36. >Not a big catch, but it'll keep you afloat for a while longer, at least
  37. >It should be done by now, if your calculations from yesterday, which where done fully sleep deprived, are to be believed
  38. >With a grumble your body also tells you that hey, dipshit, you need sustenance beyond cans of caffeine to survive
  39. >Finally, your lenses begin booting up- and glitching out immediately. Bootlooping, great
  40. >You've managed to extend their planned obsolescence by jailbreaking them, but after 3 years of usage you are seriously due for a new pair
  41. >At last, the loading progress bar shows and your usual HUD becomes visible in your periphery
  42. >You huff in annoyance as a countdown with 3 hours remaining comes up, telling you your program is far from done yet
  43. >Welp, guess there is some time to kill, maybe you want to go out and do something
  44. >There is a VR Cafe across the street, or you could look into food (with your almost completely drained bank account)
  45. >Going out would definitely require a mane change though
  46. >Blessed be your fiber-optic mane cybernetics you got when you were a young teen
  47. >Any color, in an instant
  48. >The nuns at the orphanage were pissed
  49. >What will you do?
  50.  
  51. >Oh right, there is something you should DESPERATELY take care of
  52. >A glance down to your stallionhood very much makes that an obvious necessity
  53. >That and if you are almost about to release your lunch from your smell, you can't imagine how bad other ponies would have it in your vicinity
  54. >Also, might be good not to give ponies any wrong ideas, bats already have somewhat of a bad name to them
  55. >The fangs very much terrify some ponies out on the street, which can lead to some fun but also some real annoying encounters
  56. >You head towards what some would call a bathroom but you just call it a broken piece of junk
  57. >It's more like a closet than a room
  58. >A cursory glance at the water allowance gauge tells you all you need to know
  59. >This building has received another water rationing order, leaving you with barely anything left
  60. >It always hits the poor districts, you bet your bat flank that up in the high-rise the elite doesn't have to deal with any of that shit
  61. >Placing your hoof on the screen, the water... or what you hope is water with how brown the liquid coming out is, starts flowing
  62. >At the same time your water allowance quickly begins to drop towards 0
  63. >Jumping in you make the best out of it, trying to be as fast as possible
  64. >Some of the water got in your mouth and you can taste a distinctive hint of iron
  65. >And right as you are trying to wash out the soap, the screen controlling the shower glitches and you are suddenly left with an empty water bar
  66. "Stupid, glitchy piece of shit", you start shouting at it, your entire body still soapy
  67. >This is the second time this week
  68. >Your computer bracelet lights up, giving you a status update on your hack that you launched last night
  69. >This does give you an idea, as you look between your bracelet and the terminal on the wall
  70. >Maybe.... just maybe...
  71. >Or maybe you decide to do something else?
  72. >One thing's for sure, this annoyance has made your fifth leg disappear
  73.  
  74. >You know what, screw this bullshit, you haven't honed your skills for years just to let some stupid terminal stop you
  75. >A double tap on your bracelet brings up your more sensitive files as it verifies your DNA and unlocks the biometric seal
  76. >Holding a hoof close to the terminal it flashes a couple times before glitching out, a smiling pony face bouncing up and down
  77. >It is a simple hack but it gives you full access to the water system of this building
  78. >Suddenly your HUD shows you the full information on all the water distribution
  79. >And there is something that you find very, very wrong
  80. >All of the water in this building has been redirected to a single apartment up on the highest floor
  81. >Clearly the biggest apartment in the entire complex, too
  82. >No wonder the water quality has gone down the proverbial drain, all the water filters have been moved to that one line going up
  83. >A little bit of hacking magic here and the water starts flowing like a charm
  84. >It's warm, even! This is what you would call true bliss
  85. >And slowly your fur receives its brown color back
  86. >Instinctively, your leathery wings flap and stretch on your sides as you rub away all the dirt and grime that has accumulated over the past couple.... you don't want to think about it
  87. >You're once more a pony instead of a walking dumpster!
  88. >And with that fresh smell, coming out of the shower just makes you really really aware of how stinky your apartment is
  89. >What now?
  90.  
  91. >You may only be a small time hacker, but every pony worth their salt knows that the first thing to do is clear any trace of them being in a system
  92. >This thing not being particularly high profile so just a log erase will do and nopony will be the wiser
  93. >Although while you are at it.... a tap here, a double tap there and a hoof on the terminal and boom!
  94. >With a smirk on your face you see how the entire water reserves of the building are now fairly being split up between all the residents
  95. >This is what you live for, taking from the rich and giving to the poor!
  96. >Something does interest you though and you go through the room registry, which is just a short privilege escalation away from the water reserves
  97. >Hopefully you didn't mess with somepon- oh no, it's just the landmare
  98. >You've never really liked here, everytime you've seen her for the past couple days you've lived here she has come off as a massive snob
  99. >...She was retching every time she passed you, even though you definitely think you used at least deodorant that day
  100. >Whatever, your stomach cuts your thoughts short and you log out of the system after making it look like a hard reset
  101. >Nothing unusual in these run down buildings, really
  102. >Food, food... you open the fridge and immediately have to hold your hoof in front of your mouth
  103. >Whatever was in there previously (probably from the previous pony renting this place) has turned into what you can only assume previously alive, dead and came alive again
  104. >Any kind of food chip that might have once been in there has become nothing but a party palace for growing fungi
  105. >You slam the thing shut, rushing over to the toilet and making sure if anything is coming up it hits its target
  106. >Thankfully, you manage to recover after a couple minutes
  107.  
  108. >Guess today is an eating out sort of day you feel as you cast a glance towards your fridge and your face contorts in disgust
  109. >But first you check on your hacking progress, wouldn't want any unexpected difficulties, now would you?
  110. >You swipe your bracelet, bringing your progress logs into view, pleased with what you see
  111. >Apart from the fact that it takes longer than you had initially hoped for, everything seems to be progressing quite nicely
  112. >That is also gonna be quite a bit of money you will have in hoof after all of this is said and done
  113. >Ideas of what to do with it start flooding your mind and you can't help but grin
  114. >Usually, the money from your hacks is mostly being split up and sent to multiple places like the few homeless shelters and orphanages around the city
  115. >Only a small part lands in your own pocket for rent and the like
  116. >While you're at it, you also check the national cyber crime database and begin scrolling through, somewhat anxiously
  117. >This is a big one, cleaning out the account of one of the big four's subsidiaries
  118. >A sigh of relief escapes you as all you can find is your alias that you go by during your online endeavors What IS your hacker name?
  119. >Another short glance to the fridge
  120. >You should.... clean that out lest you want that security deposit to go bye bye
  121. >Thankfully there is an incinerator chute almost right next to it
  122. >Quickly finding a (dirty) cloth you wrap it around your muzzle to hopefully protect yourself from that awful fragrance lurking in that cooling machinery
  123. >Slowly open the door, you could swear the contents are smiling back at you
  124. >By the stars, have the contents moved around since you opened it a couple minutes ago?!
  125. >You reach in and try to take one of the fungal infested plates out, having your other hoof ready to slam the incinerator chute shut as soon as it goes in
  126. >When you inadvertently end up touching the growth and a small jolt goes through your entire body
  127. >For a split second, you feel part of something bigger
  128. >Part of a massive network, spanning miles upon miles of this world
  129. >You feel the humidity and warmth of what you assume to be a boiler room
  130. >At the same time there is this cool breeze that you only ever experienced a few times when you were able to take a flight through the skies between the skyscrapers
  131. >"Welcome, kind visitor", you can hear a voice in your head
  132. >As quickly as the sensation appeared it passes and you jump backwards, shaking your hoof before looking at it and then the fungus, terrified
  133. >Part of you tells you to burn this place down to the ground but the other is arguing with you to just leave whatever this is alone and go get some food
  134. >Your belly is certainly one to agree to that latter idea
  135.  
  136. >What the absolute heck was that?!
  137. >Screw the incinerator, you don't want to end up on the bad side of whatever that is
  138. >Moreover, it called you kind visitor, there is clearly higher intelligence at play here
  139. >You look at the what used to be food and your belly rumbles again
  140. >It's decided, whatever this thing is, you'll bring it lunch, too
  141. >After all you're a good (albeit stinky) roommate, even if it is fore merely a couple more days
  142. >Your curiosity does get the better of you though and once again you reach in, slowly and shakily
  143. >One more touch certainly couldn't hurt, right?
  144. >...You feel disappointed as nothing happens apart from you touching a gross bit of rotten food
  145. >Making your way to the sink immediately you make sure to clean your hoof because that stuff felt disgusting to the touch
  146. >That brings up the question of lunch though
  147. >A glance at your hud indicates that...
  148. >A frown crosses your face, you barely have enough to get even the last scraps of food from the fast food place down the road
  149.  
  150. >For a moment you consider asking one of your pals for some money until you remember that you aren't really the social type
  151. >Bleh, this is a pain in the flank, but you promise yourself a big meal once your job is through
  152. >Welp, you already freshened up so why not make use of your new found cleanliness
  153. >Heading towards your door you say goodbye to your shroomie roomie and hold your hoof to the terminal near the door
  154. >The electric lock unlatches and grants you access into the hallway
  155. >Your way to the elevator is swift, you certainly don't want to spend any more time than necessary out in these hallways
  156. >This wouldn't be the first time where a pony gets stabbed from behind in front of their home by some kind of drug addict or thug
  157. >The lift thankfully arrives quickly enough and you strap yourself into one of the seats before holding on tight
  158. >As the metal cage goes into free fall down the next 52 floors your eyes move across the ponies sitting in the cabin with you
  159. >A posh looking unicorn mare looks quite disgruntled, fuming even
  160. >You recognize her as the landmare, owner of the complex and stealer of water
  161. >There is one thing you can imagine makes her this angry and you have to do your best to hold in a snicker
  162. >She glares at you, spots your wings poking out beneath your mane and scrunches up in disgust
  163. >Thankfully the ride is short, free fall does that to you and you exit, heading for the front door at a brisk pace
  164. >Looking outside, you let out a sigh
  165. >It's raining again
  166. >This is gonna sting, especially since you can't really purchase one of the disposable umbrellas
  167. >But hey, there is enough ponies out on the street that you probably can weave from one umbrella to the next
  168. >Eat that, acid rain!
  169. >As you enact your plan, you give a longing glance at the umbrella dispenser in the lobby
  170. >Short ways, you'll get through this you tell yourself while steeling your resolve and heading out
  171. >Merging with the horde of ponies walking up and down the sidewalk only occasionally a raindrop hits your flank
  172. >Still hurts every time
  173. >You pass the burger court and head into an alley, knowing this is where their trash cans are
  174. >Desperate times require desperate measures you say as you enter the (thankfully with a roof) trash area and open up one of the containers
  175. >Something edible has ended up here, you can smell it
  176. >Climbing in, you begin digging around, your belly eager to find that priced reward of maybe a few food chips that are still good
  177. >What you didn't expect to find was the face of a mare under all that trash....
  178.  
  179. >You are taken aback by the sudden sight of fresh mea-
  180. >The mare. You are taken aback by the sudden appearance of another pony
  181. >Subconsciously you already started licking your fangs
  182. >While batponies certainly CAN eat meat, the consumption has been generally frowned upon for generations
  183. >That and you just noticed that she still seems to be breathing, actually
  184. >It's faint but your batpony hearing (which usually just causes you sensory overload in a city this loud) can pick up the gentle rhythm of wind flowing in and out
  185. >The mare doesn't seem to be moving at all though, other than that and she certainly hasn't been woken up by you rummaging around the trash
  186. >You take a moment to examine what you can see of her (which is not much, since most of her except her neck and head is still buried under heaps of trash)
  187. >Her coat seems to be a pristine white under all the dirt, almost like what you believe snow would look like, at least according to the history books
  188. >A dark blue mane has been tied up into a ponytail, a bunch of garbage wrapped into it
  189. >There seems to be something covered on her forehead by her mane, but it certainly is not a horn
  190. >Something about her seems off, but you really cannot place it
  191.  
  192. >There is two primal urges that make themselves known to you at a sight like this
  193. >And you honestly can't tell which one disturbs you more
  194. >Well, she certainly is a beauty from what you see and you are just a stallion, so some reactions SHOULD be excused
  195. >Even in a situation like this
  196. >The second reaction very much is something you want to get out of your head as soon as it starts worming itself inside
  197. >"J-just a little nibble couldn't hurt?"
  198. >What the heck are you thinking?!
  199. >This is why ponies are terrified at the mere sight of batponies, you're about to play right into the stereotype
  200. >Vampires sucking the life out of the living, yikes
  201. >Instead, you opt to do what a good pony would do and check her pulse with your very sensitive teeth
  202. >It's there. Slow, but steady, which you with your limited knowledge interpret as a good sign
  203. >Starting to dig around with your hooves and using your wings to assist, you gently begin freeing the pony from her stinky grave
  204. >During your quite tedious excavation, you make a couple more discoveries
  205. >First of all, the pony is wearing a black full body jumpsuit, a very sturdy one at that. Military grade?
  206. >But that isn't the strangest part
  207. >Two of her legs are missing
  208. >Her front left and back right leg are just empty sleeves dangling around
  209. >She still hasn't woken up and just lies there on her back, sprawled out in the trash
  210.  
  211. >Your thoughts are all over the place, especially places that you don't want your thoughts to be
  212. >Thankfully, with the situation the way it is you are more than able to ignore them for now as curiosity gets the better of you
  213. >Which is a terrible idea because quite frankly this is some really fucking shady shit and there is just all matters of alarms going off in your head
  214. >Also shroomy is definitely waiting at home and you don't want to disappoint your new friend
  215. >The mare at least doesn't seem to be in total need of medical attention, at least from what you can glance right now
  216. >Still, you can't just leave here like this and begin to remove the jumpsuit, which turns out to be basically a perfect fit
  217. >You tug and pull to no avail, until you accidentally hit some kind of button on the collar causing the suit to losen so you can easily pull it off
  218. >It's hardly a hard task anymore as the clothing just slights off, revealing...
  219. >The parts where the two legs should attach to the body are clearly cybernetic attachment points
  220. >Her missing legs are meant to be prosthetics and judging from that interface advanced ones
  221. >Pulling the suit over her back reveals two more attachment points where the wings of a pegasus would be
  222. >Along her back you also find a reinforced spine, multiple lights blinking slowly, probably indicating some kind of status to her body
  223. >Following it upwards, you see a small what seems to be a direct diagnostics port on the back of her neck
  224. >Pushing away the mane another attachment port is visible on her skull
  225. >Whoever she is, she clearly is heavily modified and...
  226. >You didn't notice before in the stink, but there is a distinct smell of sedatives
  227.  
  228. >Such a nice jumpsuit would be a shame to just leave it here and have it go to waste
  229. >You try it on and it immediately shrinks down to accommodate your definitely smaller than her frame
  230. >It's quite comfortably, but definitely skin tight without impacting your movement too much
  231. >At least your thoughts of having a quick snack have been thwarted by the idea of just how much metal must be in her
  232. >You weren't honestly expecting to have to connect to a physical port when going out
  233. >Which means to interface with her you actually need to get home and get one of your physical jacks
  234. >But you also can't really leave her like this here out in the open... or the garbage
  235. >The idea of finding her missing limbs sounds crazy but might also net you quite the price on the black market
  236. >Unless you of course prefer to give it back
  237. >But that is a question for later, for now you gotta take her to a safer place
  238. >It won't hurt trying to scrounge through the trash again though, maybe one of her legs is there
  239. >5 minutes later you didn't come up with any legs
  240. >You DID however, find a half eaten veggie sandwich
  241. >Score!
  242. >Looking at the mare you imagine the best thing you can do is bring her home to your apartment
  243. >You doubt ponies will care much, they are way too busy with their own thoughts to bother with anything else
  244. >And so it shall be done, you tell yourself as you put the (really fucking heavy) mare across your back and attempt to trot home
  245. >...only to realize that she is crushing you under her weight and you probably won't get far like this
  246. >You need a better way to transport her, maybe something you can pull?
  247. >This alley might have enough stuff to put something together, or you can try and go home to find something to move her or a cable to interface
  248. >But leaving her alone like this also doesn't sit entirely right with you
  249.  
  250. >Well, you could try and steal a shopping cart if you had any grocery stores nearby
  251. >For some reason it feels really cliché to rescue somepony you have just met
  252. >That usually ends up with ponies getting wrapped up in the weirdest shit in sims
  253. >But hey, so is robbing the unconscious maiden, so you already broke one of the rules
  254. >You check the date and calender
  255. >Garbage collection isn't until in two days so you should just be able to put...her...back...into...
  256. >...the garbage pile you pulled her out from
  257. >Gently closing the lid of the container you call that good enough for now
  258. >Looking around the alley, you do find an old and broken scooter with a wheel missing
  259. >Ain't looking good unless you find a way to repair that
  260. >You do have a small cart at home that you use for getting groceries
  261. >It's just so much simpler having to take one trip every month than multiple weekly trips
  262. >She should definitely fit into it that easily
  263. >Could also just go and fetch the cable, although you aren't sure that will be enough
  264. >You sneak out of the alleyway and back towards your home when you hear sirens pass you by
  265. >The wagons are clearly station compliance vehicles
  266. >Turning your head after them, you are glad to see that they pass by the alley without slowing down
  267. >The rest of your trip is mostly uneventful, you did take the veggie sandwich with you at least though
  268. >Just gotta figure out how to best share that with Shroomy, if at all
  269. >What will you do once you reach your place?
  270.  
  271. >With a satisfying click the lock unlatches as your room opens up and you hurry your batty ass inside
  272. >Yeah, you clearly never had a mare over and anypony can smell it
  273. >Quickly you rush over to the window and pull it wide open, the air rushing past you immediately
  274. >And with it all the smog that is hanging in the city's air
  275. >You cough a bunch of times as you fall backwards onto the floor, waving your wings to clear out the smoke from your place
  276. >With mediocre success
  277. >Thank the moon that your smoke alarm is busted ever since you got here, otherwise you might have caused the entire complex to evacuate
  278. >Or be drenched by the emergency sprinklers, if they even work here
  279. >Closing the window you take a sniff and confirm: Yes, the smoke smell is very much hiding your bat musk
  280. >You open the fridge and greet your shroommate with a curt hello as you begin cutting the veggie sandwich
  281. "60:40", you tell her before you stop abruptly and look into the fridge
  282. "What? No! Look, you got to chill here in the fridge while I went out into the streets for this beauty, you can't just-"
  283. "Hey, hey I know you've been living here for longer than I do but still that doesn't excu-"
  284. "A bat has to eat!"
  285. >You shake your head and frown
  286. "55:45, final offer!", you firmly exclaim and wait for a moment
  287. >With a smile you nod and finish cutting the sandwich, putting the smaller slice next to the plate
  288. "I'll have a visitor over, so do me a favor and be on your best behavior, alright?"
  289. >You could have sworn the mass of growth gave you a wink
  290. >Is insanity beginning to set in?
  291. >Quickly closing the door you take a panicked breath
  292. >You head into your room and rummage around for your small cart
  293. >Good enough to transport her, good enough for her to sleep in
  294. >The bathtub is yours
  295. >As you exit your bedroom you pass the holo mirror and look at yourself
  296. >Should you change your mane and tail color? Your eye color? Both are possible thanks to your hardware
  297. >Or just leave as you did previously?
  298. >Anything else you are going to do before heading back to the alley?
  299.  
  300. >Looking around your room as a final check before you bring the mare here you decide that this is a pigsty
  301. >You pick up one of the energy drink cans off of the floor and look at your cart before tossing it in
  302. >There is so much trash here, this might actually very much work in your favor here
  303. >Going through the apartment you take everything you can find that looks even remotely like garbage and chuck it in
  304. >A couple minutes later you have what amounts to a decently sized mountain of garbage
  305. >Scurrying around the place you also find an old stained bedsheet that you put over it and fasten it to the cart
  306. >One last thing before you go, you stand in front of the mirror and tap your bracelet
  307. >Your mane color quickly shifts from the usual grey to a muted purple and your contacts turn your eyes into something less bat-like
  308. >A jacket over your back hides the wings easily enough, it's routine by now
  309. >Satisfied with your work you hook the cart up to your back with the harness and leave, taking the elevator down
  310. >Down in the lobby you pass by the reception and hear the tail end of a conversation from behind a locked door
  311. >"-with MY water will rue the day they crossed me", the angry shouts of your landmare are heard, no doubt standing behind a quivering technician
  312. >You hurry your step just ever so slightly as you make it out into the street
  313. >The acid rain thankfully has stopped and things are as uneventful as they could be
  314. >It doesn't take you more than a couple minutes to move back into the alley and you unload your trash into the container
  315. >While nopony is looking you pull out the mare who thankfully has not disappeared into the cart and use the bedsheet to cover her back up
  316. >It is at that moment where the sirens come back, getting louder and louder quickly
  317. >They are still searching, but they might again pass the alley like earlier
  318. >Or maybe you should try and make a run for it?
  319.  
  320. >Your head jumps between the now mare-filled cart, the dumpster and the entrance of the alley
  321. >With your build you are very much not outrunning a one legged, emaciated foal so you only really have one option
  322. >Doing what every pony in your situation clearly would have done you reenact your best homeless pony impression
  323. >Diving into the container you pull out some of the trash and cover the pony in your cart with it
  324. >Really, that shower earlier today comes biting you in the ass, you smell way too good for a hobo
  325. >No matter, you doubt station compliance, which is the main police force under the Big Four, will sniff you to figure that out
  326. >New Equestria is split up into smaller units of management, called a station, which a pony is stuck in unless they get a digital invitation to an adjacent station
  327. >Great way for keeping your population neatly split between rich and poor and under control
  328. >Covering up the trash pile in your cart that you really hoped you might finally be rid off you sigh
  329. >Thankfully, ponies going through garbage looking for things to use and sell isn't unheard off, especially in a slum station like this one
  330. >Another thing that comes to your mind is going ahead and checking what has gotten the security so up in arms
  331. >Their task queue has been basically unsecured for years, it is an open book to anypony willing to dig just a little
  332. >They know, but it makes for a nice intimidation tactic for anyone worried about the police being after them when they check
  333. >Small robbery, corporate espionage, nothing really out of the usual that would warrant this much of a task force presence
  334. >A voice rips you out of your thoughts
  335. >"Hey you, hooves up NICE AND SLOW", it shouts into the alley and you immediately jump up
  336. >You turn your head and a bright flashlight shines in your face
  337. >The seconds are tense and the cone of light moves around the alley for what feels like minutes, yet your HUD tells you it was just a couple seconds
  338. >"Just a street rat", the pony on the other end says into a radio before turning around and leaving
  339. >Your heart is thumping and you are frozen in terror for a couple minutes
  340. >Fuck this was close, you say as you glance back at the mare that got you into this situation
  341. >Should you wait? Just get the hell back to your home? Try and get more info on what's going on?
  342. >You take a deep breath to think about your next move here
  343.  
  344. >Absolutely no point dilly dallying any further, her life might be in danger
  345. >You're not a doctor so you can't really tell, especially without your interface cable
  346. >Who the heck still uses hardwired connections in the current day and age age?!
  347. >Hooking up the cart to your back with its harness, you begin pulling
  348. >Gosh darn she is HEAVY even with wheels under her
  349. >What you wouldn't give for an antigrave carriage right about now
  350. >Fortunately for you, nopony bats an eye as you pass the streets with a cart filled with trash
  351. >Just another day in the life of new equestria
  352. >The way to your apartment is a little strenuous but not eventful
  353. >What you aren't quite so happy with is what you see as you pass through the door to your complex
  354. >Just as you are entering the lobby, the door behind the reception opens and an angry landmare steps out
  355. >She spots you, spots the trash heap in your cart and starts to go even redder
  356. >"What is the MEANING of this?", she starts screaming at you
  357. >"A trash rat in MY apartment? NOT ON MY WATCH", she turns around and calls back into the room she just came out of
  358. >"Guards, someone call the guards and have this eye sore removed!", she demands before stepping towards you
  359. >She really doesn't look happy, not that you've ever seen her look happy anyways
  360. >Right now she is putting her hoof to her bracelet and your own contacts zoom in on her eyes, seeing a security HUD open up
  361. >Full view lenses too, interesting
  362.  
  363. >Oh shit, oh fuck what do what do whatdowhatdowhatdo
  364. >Blow up a pipe nearbie? Overwriting water pressure might work but could take too long
  365. >Retreat? Where would you even be going?!
  366. >In panic you fall back to natural instincts and screech like the bats of old
  367. >A defense mechanism that has been known to be quite effective on cybernetics, especially auditory ones
  368. >Something something your specific frequency of screeching interfering something something
  369. >It's not something you ever put too much dedication into learning how it works, just that it does
  370. >The landmare stops mid-movement and pins her ears to her head
  371. >No earpiece but she looks a little stunned for the moment
  372. >You quickly regain your composure though and begin to apologize
  373. >She seems still a little out of it, which might be working in your favor
  374. "This is... it is part of a modern art piece that I am working on, a comment on some aspects of current society, the potential future we might be barreling towards and the connections we lost"
  375. >You try and sound as pretentious as possible
  376. "This 'trash' signifies the lows that we go through", you begin to explain pulling something out of your ass
  377. >The mare just stands there, flabbergasted for a couple seconds
  378. >And then the unthinkable happens... she starts to smile
  379. >"Oh my gosh, I didn't know we had such a refined artist living in this place! I assume you were heading up to your room? My sincerest apologies!",
  380. >She gets kind of close and personal to you
  381. >"Darling, you must tell me more about your work! Perhaps even a private showing? I would oh so adore seeing a master at their work!"
  382. >This is getting weird, but she definitely ended up buying your lie
  383. >You glance back at the trash pile in your cart hiding the mare
  384.  
  385. Full view lenses just allow the lense to project an image over your entire field of view. There is partial view lenses which are way less expensive but also only have a very small portion of your FoV usable as a screen. FV can also overlay colors and stuff like that over your entire eye like we've done to hide our batpony eyes, PV can't do that
  386.  
  387. >You shake your head and give her a frown
  388. "Sorry, miss. No can do, I best work in private but I shall let you know where to see the piece once it is completed"
  389. >You mull over your response, trying to add that little bit extra to not get kicked out of your apartment
  390. "When one works on a piece like this, the mood needs to be just right, a certain bleakness being portrayed requires the same bleakness to be present during creation"
  391. >Looking her up and down you nod
  392. "Having your positive presence would unfortunately lead to a distraction from my goal that may taint this work, perhaps another time, when I work on a more positive project?"
  393. >"Oh, oh yes, I absolutely understand", she says, eagerly nods and steps aside, offering you access to the elevator
  394. >Pressing the button you wait a couple harrowing seconds before the elevator arrives with a ding
  395. >The ponies inside unstrap themselves and head out, leaving you alone in the carriage and you quickly press the panel
  396. >Outside the mare gives you a big smile and eager wave as the doors shut and you are once again alone and in peace
  397. >With the sudden urge to blow up a pipe, now that you are out of immediate danger
  398. >But why exactly would you do that and which pipe would you want to overload in the first place?
  399. >The thoughts keep you occupied until you finally arrive on your floor, step out and make your way to your room with a brisk pace
  400. >Nopony is around to see you enter and you shut the door with a sigh of relief
  401. >First things first, you get rid of all the garbage that you've dumped on the poor mare, making sure she hasn't suffocated under there in the meantime
  402. >Again, not a doctor but she is still breathing just as calmly as she did when you found her
  403. >Next you open the fridge and greet shroomie, noting that while the sandwich you left in there is still in the same position, the fungal growth is covering most of it already
  404. >Girl seems to very much be enjoying the treat you brought
  405. "Got someone over, so be good, ok?", you give the mold a smile before once again closing the door to the fridge
  406. >So...
  407. >You now have a sleeping, half nugget mare in your still quite frankly very dirty apartment
  408. >This is certainly not how you imagined your first time bringing a mare home would go...
  409.  
  410. >While you're currently in relative peace and safety you decide to check up on the progress of your hack
  411. >The countdown gives you an estimated 72 minutes and 13 seconds remaining until completion
  412. >After that you will have to start and set up a fake business, fake bank accounts and do all the re-routing shenanigans to make sure the money can't be traced
  413. >That and you should also decide where you want to send it to in the end or what you want to do with it
  414. >The longer a big sum of money is in your possession, the riskier it is and the higher the chance someone will find out
  415. >Would suck if you were going to get caught because of such a rookie mistake
  416. >For now, you have other things you gotta deal with
  417. >Namely a mare that is currently unconscious and possibly (but you believe not) in life-threatening condition
  418. >Hurrying into your bedroom you start going through a box of wires that you have gathered over the years
  419. "No, no, not it, not that one either, too big, WAAAYY too big, this one might break her, broken...", you dig and dig
  420. >Until you are at the bottom, a single cable remaining
  421. >One of the oldest but most sturdy pieces of connector hardware that you have
  422. >It's a simple one but you never had problems with that plug, it has fit into every socket so far
  423. >You wonder how compatible that mare's socket would be with your other connectors
  424. >Not that it really matters, you get back out and connect the one end of the wire to your hoofband and are about to insert yourself into her receptacle-
  425. >What the heck are you doing, you're better than this
  426. >Going back into your room you pull out a small dongle that you gently plop over the plug hanging off your computer
  427. >There, protection. No hacker worth their salt should ever connect to an unknown port without one of these
  428. >The HUD in your vision confirms the successful installation of a sandbox adapter
  429. >Alright, here goes... gently, gently
  430. >Why are your hooves shaking y-you have totally done this before many times!
  431. >A click confirms that you have successfully made contact
  432. >What happens next was unexpected as it was terrifying
  433. >Lines of information and code cover your vision and you fall backwards, still tethered to the mare you weren't going far though
  434. >Windows opening left and right, data being down- and uploaded, connections being secured, military encryption standards being installed
  435. >Fuck, this looks terrible, it looks like your protection was torn wide open
  436. >And just as suddenly as everything appeared, everything closes itself again and a single window remains
  437.  
  438. >Arcano-Harmonic Subcarrier Wave compatible device detected
  439. >SymCom Network initialized.... Done
  440. >Building subarcano link channel.... Done
  441. >Securing with encryption level FROST.... Done
  442. >Awaiting link confirmation from Mainframe.... Failed
  443. >Alternative link device connected, establish C&C?
  444. >Y/N
  445.  
  446. >The window can be moved aside and doesn't block you from doing anything, luckily
  447.  
  448. >You spent a moment trying to process what the heck just happened
  449. >Compromised...
  450. >That is the single word that keeps coming up in your mind and you can't help but to become pale
  451. >This might have just cost you everything you've worked for
  452. >Uploads and downloads, what the heck was that all about?
  453. >Quickly you scramble through your files and logs trying to understand what happened
  454. >Firewall reports one prevented attempt to contact a remote server which about coincides with the time of trying to contact that mainframe
  455. >The attempted link bounces a lot and you probably would lose track of it fairly quickly unless you really sit down and try to trace the path it would have taken
  456. >Regarding the data that has been transferred....
  457. >A lot of that seems to be local synchronization with your bracelet, genetic imprint data, time resync, positional data
  458. >There was also a download of recent news stories from multiple news feeds, nothing that would look suspicious to anypony
  459. >Multiple files have been loaded from the mare to your bracelet too, puppeteer, sdiag, scomd, to name a few
  460. >Curiously enough, none of these files have been run and your virus scanner returns clean results on all of them
  461. >No new background processes either, although that doesn't mean much
  462. >Something capable of overcoming the protection dongle might have very well messed way deep with your system files
  463. >You glance down at your ol' reliable, you've had this baby for a long, long time
  464. >Guess in addition to the new pair of lenses a new processor bracelet is in order
  465. >With a tentative nod you confirm the Yes option on the prompt and your lenses... crash
  466. >Your HUD disappears and the entire bracelet system re-initializes
  467. >The boot prompt is concerningly different now
  468. >A spinning snowflake, with the text Project FROST below it shows up in your peripheral vision
  469. >Your earpiece comes to live: "Preparing C&C environment, requesting level of available security... biometric security container detected, installing..."
  470. >A progress bar appears in front of you, "overwriting bio-secure..."
  471. >If it was possible to become even paler, you might just have done that
  472. >All your more sensitive work has been stored inside this biometrically secured partition
  473. >"Completed. Project FROST C&C loaded. Puppeteer ready to engage", your earpiece tells you and a new HUD returns
  474. >This one looks way more militaristic and simple
  475. >And right in the corner you spot a small illustration of a pony, two of the legs marked as missing
  476. >Multiple other warnings are also displayed
  477. >A status above notifies you that routine PERMAFROST is currently engaged, giving you the option to cancel that task
  478.  
  479. >A closer glance at the warnings brings up multiple things of note
  480. >Missing comm-link transceiver and arcano-focus is one alert that is visible next to the head
  481. >Missing Aerial mobility thrusters above the diagram's back
  482. >Seems like there is more than just her legs missing
  483. >Of course, missing movement units front and back
  484. >sdiag must be some kind of diagnostics tool you think, calling it with the help flag displays a LOT of options available to you
  485. >As you expected, it serves as a deep dive into whatever processes are currently running and whatever the sensors are currently picking up
  486. >A deep scan sounds like a good idea at first, you should make sure you know what you are getting into here
  487. >The diagram on your HUD begins to update, more warnings popping up
  488. >Movement unit front: PERF. DEGR.
  489. >A broken bone is displayed in the upper part of her leg
  490. >Arcanocore: PERF. DEGR.
  491. >Neuro-Stimuli-Level: Low
  492. >Neural activity: Lowered by external neuro-stimuli
  493. >Metabolism: Lowered by external neuro-stimuli
  494. >A list of processes can be called upon as well, most of them meant to run "mundane" tasks like interpret neurological signals to drive the many artificial muscles
  495. >puppeteerd can also be found in the list, a quick info call on the process tells you
  496. >"Surpression of neurological pathways and injection of external signaling"
  497. >The description makes you shudder ever so slightly, even though you aren't sure what that is supposed to mean
  498. >PERMAFROST controls multiple sub-processes, including a neuroinj process
  499.  
  500. >sdiag gives you access to her queue of commands she has been tasked to follow
  501. >There is only a single one: ESCAPE
  502. >Logs are harder to access... which is to say neigh impossible
  503. >The system doesn't seem to have any conventional memory banks to store information on, which greatly surprises and confuses you
  504. >Instead, trying to access any kind of system logs returns an error that just tells you SDTD, something you have no real clue what that means
  505. >You have to do something about her leg, though
  506. >If you just leave the break she might end up crippled for the rest of her life
  507. >Or you might cripple her for the rest of her life but a splint should not be that difficult to apply, right?
  508. >A quick search on the net give you an albeit simplified but hopefully sufficient guide
  509. >Need something to keep her leg straight... and something to tie it all up nicely
  510. >Maybe a couple of wires will do? No, no that isn't gonna stay tight enough
  511. >There is your bedsheets that you can use, not like you have really made use of them otherwise since you came here
  512. >Hard to hold on to a blanket while hanging down from a bar of metal
  513. >As for something to keep the leg straight, you glance at your table and going at it, smash it to pieces, using two of the legs
  514. >This proves difficult at first and you decide to just use a torch to heat up the legs and pull the molten plastic off
  515. >Splint materials: Check
  516. >You head over to the mare, and take a deep breath
  517. >The next part is gonna suck, you think to yourself as you read the instructions
  518. >Carefully you take her leg and begin jiggling it around until you feel the two pieces of bone fitting together
  519. >It feels wrong and all, it's hard to not just drop her leg and run away
  520. >But you absolutely can't take her to a hospital either, the feds would be all over here in minutes you're sure
  521. >After securing the leg in the (hopefully) correct position, you gently put it back down
  522. >You are about to deactivate PERMAFROST when you are reminded that she might be dangerous when she wakes up
  523. >A dead-man's switch should do, triggered on hostile attack or immobilization
  524. >Anything else you forgot to do before you wake her up? Or should you just bite the bullet
  525. >Maybe you should write a goodbye letter to Shroomie....
  526.  
  527. >Even with two legs missing and one broken, she might still be able to kill you with... sawblade teeth? Laser eyes?
  528. >You lift open her mouth just ever so slightly and it doesn't look like she has any kind of moving teeth that could cut you to pieces
  529. >puppeteer seems to allow you to modify the task queue that you've seen earlier
  530. >ESCAPE
  531. >You mull it over and decide it might be best to cancel that objective, lest you want her jump out of the window or something
  532. >For a second you consider adding a "DON'T KILL ME PLEASE" command to the list but maybe extending a hoof in friendship is the way to go
  533. >Better not mess with the rest of it until you have a good idea of what the heck is going on
  534. >Not like you can't go ahead and issue the command later
  535. >If you are not dead by then
  536. >Also you just remembered that shroomie probably can't read, what the hell were you thinking
  537. >You walk up to the fridge door and open it for him? her? it? to see what's going on
  538. "If I don't make it out of this alive, take good care of this place for me, a'right?"
  539. >As you look at the fridge you chuckle
  540. "You know, you'd make a really cool art project, all things considered"
  541. "What? No of cooourrrseee I'm not delaying, what the heck a-"
  542. "Oh my gosh, yes ok, I'll get it, I'll wake her up! Geeeezz, so impatient!"
  543. >You slowly turn around and look at sleeping beauty still lying in the cart
  544. >With a deep breath, you call upon puppeteer and disengage PERMAFROST with a shaky hoof to your bracelet
  545. >"INITIALISING NEURO-STIMULI, INITIALISING MOBILITY DRIVERS"
  546. >The warning from earlier about neural activity being subdued is replaced with "APPLYING COUNTER-MEASURES"
  547. >Throughout her entire body you can hear the quiet sounds of motors beginning to whirr and she starts shaking
  548. >Before after what felt like minutes she pops open her eyes with a gasp for air
  549. >An involuntary spasm of her leg sends you flying into the couch with an "Oof" and your breath being forced out of your lungs
  550. >Ouch, that'll be a bruise at least for sure
  551. >She tries to wiggle around and get up, her expression panicked and her breathing nearing hyperventilation levels
  552. >"What? Where?", her icy blue eyes dart around the room and fall on you
  553. >Something deeply unnerving is how they focus on you, as if they were staring right into your soul
  554. >Multiple warnings are flashing on the screen now, one of them saying "Mental Instability: PANIC. Apply countermeasures?"
  555. >But the words that stand out the most to you are "PROJECT FROST: ONLINE"
  556.  
  557. "Hey, hey please calm down you're back in the world of the living"
  558. >While trying to move your sides tell you a very decisive fuck you and you flinch
  559. >But this is important so you decide to power through the pain
  560. >She keeps trying to thrash about in the cart, making quite a ruckus
  561. >For a second you think about making use of your natural powers of eeEEEEE, but she might pick that one up as a war cry
  562. >....or a mating call, for all you know
  563. >Trying to get closer while avoiding her limbs you decide to sit down next to her and carefully reach out with a hoof
  564. >You put it on her side and gently try to radiate your own calmness in hopes it manages to make her feel safer
  565. "While this place may look and smell like a dumpster, I can assure you it won't get you compacted like the real deal", you attempt to lighten the mood with a joke
  566. >Her eyes are still glued on you but at least her panicked movements have stopped for now
  567. "Your hindleg is broken, so you should do yourself the favor and not move it too much, at least not until it is healed a little at least"
  568. >The mention of her broken appendage makes her glance down towards it and flinch as she moves it ever so slightly
  569. "I brought you to my place, found you in a dumpster outside... don't ask why I was looking through the trash", you look away, scratching your neck
  570. >The warning of Mental Instability has by now disappeared as she seemingly relaxes at least somewhat
  571. >"A... dumpster?", she asks, her voice sounding smooth and gentle, a voice you feel like you could trust immediately
  572. >It does have a certain... digital undertone to it though
  573. >"Memory access available", your HUD notifies you as the SDTD status is lifted
  574. >She looks around and puts her one good hoof to her chin. "Yes... I think I was... running"
  575. >The mare seems rather confused at her current predicament
  576. >Her gaze falls down onto your hoof and the wire snaking towards her neck
  577. >Reaching up with a hoof her face contorts into terror
  578. >"H-have I been captured? Who are you? Are you with them?! Oh by the stars please, l-let me leave I don't... I can't.."
  579. >She breaks out in shivers again as she tries to push you away with her front hoof
  580. >At least this time it is not a kick throwing you through the room
  581. >She at least seems receptive to your words right now, so maybe questions are in order? Or perhaps an introduction?
  582. >Or you could try something entirely different, your brain loves coming up with weird ideas and things to say recently
  583.  
  584. >Is getting high on mold a thing, could that be the cause for your sudden glints of genius?
  585. >You take just a quick glance at your fridge and give it a short frown
  586. >Certainly something you have to talk about later on, getting high off of your roommate sounds less than ideal
  587. >Sure hope Shroomie isn't the addictive type
  588. "Hey, hey easy there. You're not captured, even though I...", you look down at half of her limbs missing, "I doubt you'll get far on your own, the state you are currently in"
  589. >The prospect of not actually being in captivity certainly helps her relax just ever so slightly, even though she still seems tense
  590. "I jacked in so I could wake you up, you were out... well, cold. Here, let me just unplug this"
  591. >Gently reaching to her neck a shiver jolts through her body as you put your hoof down on the plug, pulling it out carefully
  592. >The HUD in your vision flickers and a lot of the diagnostics disappear, but the overview of her stays up
  593. >"Hardlink lost. Wireless link via arcano-subcarrier established" flashes next to it a couple times before disappearing
  594. >Putting the wire down you decide to help her up into a seating position, using a dirty bundle of clothes to support her from falling over
  595. >"Let's start with introductions, alright? I'm 2dr4c00l4sk00l", you proudly proclaim
  596. >She stares at you in disbelief at that name and a disappointed frown starts showing on her face
  597. >It takes you every bit of willpower to not break out in laughter but eventually you can't help but start snickering
  598. >"H-hey, are you making fun of me?", the mare asks, lowering her eyes at you with a scowl
  599. "O-oh gosh no, I was just making a joke! I went by many names, Shutin, HyperS0ni3, Crookuter.... Recently BitRot as well"
  600. >You hold out a hoof. "Nice making your acquaintance, who are you?", you give her a friendly grin, your teeth showing in the process
  601. >Carefully she takes your hoof and starts shaking it
  602. >"Fully Remotely Operated Subversion & Termination unit", she introduces herself formally, her voice taking on a slightly robotic undertone
  603. >The name makes your blood freeze in your veins and the kind of hardware she is carrying is beginning to make just ever so slightly more sense
  604. "Your uh... hardware and software sure is nuts. The wrong pony would love to strip you for parts for the blackmarket.... did you get your cyberware from... them? Who are they?"
  605. >"The identity of the Investors is not known to this unit as security clearance has been revoked"
  606. >"This unit's combat readiness is at.... calculating.... 37%. Missing hardware imposes penalty and must be corrected at earliest convenience"
  607.  
  608. >You cock your head at mare in front of you, her robotic demeanor seeming really fishy to you
  609. "You aren't an android by any chance, are you?", she very much sounds like one
  610. >She cocks her head at you before frowning at you, losing that robotic edge
  611. >"A robot? Heaven's no, how could you say something like that! I'm a mare, through and through!"
  612. >Looks like you struck a bit of a nerve there, nice going genius
  613. "I am... sorry, I didn't mean that", you try to apologize and your ears droop as you look away
  614. >"I.... I am a mare, right?", she sounds exceedingly unsure and you catch her staring at her one hoof
  615. >There is a silence between the two of you, a crushing one that lasts for minutes before you try and speak up
  616. >It's hard trying to find the right words in this situation, so you decide to scooch a little closer
  617. >Putting a hoof to her shoulder in a comforting manner, she glances at you, tears have started welling up in her eyes
  618. >Her hoof slowly moves to yours, holding it
  619. >You can feel a her heart beating, it's enough to give her a satisfying answer
  620. >A simple nod was all it took for her to give you a slight smile and she wipes her face
  621. "When I first jacked in and started reading your diagnostics I found a single command in your task queue... Escape", you start slowly
  622. "Can you tell me what happened? How did someone with this much tech in her brain end up in a dumpster, with missing legs?"
  623. >She looks down at the two slots that are supposed to serve as attachment for her limbs and looks hopefully at you
  624. "Didn't find them with you in the trash, unfortunately", shaking your head she deflates visibly
  625. >"Escape....", she holds a hoof to her head and presses her eyes shut, "I remember... running...."
  626. >"There is this lab, I remember them taking things from me, things that are me..."
  627. >The poor pony talks about waking up from stasis, just like the one you woke her up from, feeling like she lost another piece of herself
  628. >Then she woke up one final time, not to any schedule but to someone telling her to leave, to run...
  629. >She couldn't stay here, she had to get out
  630. >So she did what she was commanded to and she ran
  631. >Her memory is spotty but she remembers being followed
  632. >Flight, from a roof, gliding away
  633. >Shots from below and behind, fire, excruciating simulated pain where her leg is meant to be
  634. >Holding a hoof to her forehead she explains about data streaming into her head, someone desperately wrestling for control
  635. >But she was told to escape and she always fulfills her mission
  636. >And then she fell from the sky, like a rock as her thrusters were stripped from her
  637. >A roof, the edge of a roof....
  638. >Wind rushing past her ears
  639. >A loud thud and the smell of rot
  640. >This is where her memory seems to end
  641. >The poor thing is just staring at her hoof, her entire body violently shuddering as her memory banks...
  642. >Gosh, you just realized why you couldn't access her memory banks.... they used her brain to store the data, which is highly illegal...
  643.  
  644. >Someone as powerful as this probably doesn't have much regards for the law either
  645. >Especially if they are associated with the big four, they can basically do anything
  646. >Even having access to brain memory mapping is something highly dubious, there was a reason it was outlawed
  647. >Not only does it require part of the brain to be made completely inaccessible by the pony for normal usage
  648. >Which often means some functionality is impaired, many ponies who chose to get BMM tend to use their emotion processing part
  649. >But it also is almost impossible to extract information and doing so forcefully is more than just torture to the poor pony having the information extracted
  650. >That makes it very inconvenient for law enforcement to gather data of the ponies they are interrogating
  651. >It is also really hard to detect in the first place, especially if you've never had contact with something like it before
  652. >Certainly not an uncommon upgrade to get for data brokers vouching for the security of their secrets
  653. >Much better than biometric storage, too, because that is just an encrypted data partition on a computer unlocked via DNA trace
  654. "You know, you could have landed on the cold hard ground so... look on the bright side I'd say? You escaped!", you try and cheer her up
  655. >She gives you a weak smile in response but seems appreciative of what you are trying to do
  656. >Once again you apologize about mistaking her as an android, just the way she was talking about herself sounded very robotic in nature
  657. >Going as far as giving us a unit designation instead of a name
  658. >The mare gives a small chuckle and tells you most ponies have called her Frost up to this point
  659. >You can't help but remark on how fitting that name feels
  660. >Taking a good look at the sockets for the missing limbs, they seem to be... intact
  661. >If you had to guess she automatically disconnected the broken limbs... and horn.... and wings
  662. "Was there more like you?"
  663. >She cocks her head at the question
  664. "You know, more ponies like you at that facility? Did more of them break out with you?"
  665. >Her head shakes, "I... more like me, yes, I think... I think I was the only one to run... but I might not be..."
  666. >Looks like her memory is still spotty
  667. "You always fulfill your mission you said, do you have an choice in that?"
  668. >She tells you no, she has no choice in adding commands, but she has to obey them
  669. >Commands always come from her linked C&C though
  670. >Out of curiosity, you check the price on leg prosthetics
  671. >And have to cringe at how expensive some of the higher level gear is
  672. >If you find a shady blackmarket seller or doctor you might be able to get something for a couple hundred creds though
  673. >Not that you really have the money, Frost's C&C system basically wiped your hacking partition clean
  674. >A few viruses are safe in your backup but you need a new job, and soon
  675.  
  676. >At least you now have somewhat of an idea of what the error accessing her memory banks means
  677. >But it also dawns upon you that any kind of programming requires her to be conscious, which is a terrifying thought
  678. >You can't imagine that being a pleasant sensation in any sense of the word
  679. >At least her emotional parts seem to still be present, which on one hoof kind of surprises you
  680. >Or the fact that her C&C that has ended up on your terminal is able to confidently read her fear, reactions and interpret her physiological signals
  681. >Could mean there must be a complete personalized map of her entire systems somewhere in there, but it is not something you ever dealt with
  682. >No clue how to access that or what you would even do with that information once you have it
  683. >Fiddling around with your bracelet you take a deep look at your hack and the lost data from your biomatrix
  684. >Hacking in today's world usually requires you a complex chain of of exploits that are run by an assisting AI, an abort tends to set you back to zero
  685. >That and you siphoning credits is happening in small amounts as to not trigger security systems
  686. >One of the reasons why it takes such an absurd amount of time, really
  687. >Most of the funds have been directed away from your target but unfortunately, you lost access to the offshore account they have been sent to
  688. >Your last hope is running a data recovery process on the partition, can't hurt to try at least
  689. "Frost?", you look up at her and she cocks her head, "say, how would your... investors react to an escaped cyborg assassin pony? Deal with it, if you know what I mean?"
  690. >She lowers her eyes before whispering, "they'll sent teams out... usually including one of us, I think. Nopony ever escaped, but some had to be retrieved"
  691. >"I have... never had to retrieve anyone", she lowers her ears and looks away, sounding nervous as her eyes scan the apartment
  692. "Maybe we can jog your memory! Try and put you back to sleep and I can try to mess with- wait no, I have no idea how to work with actual grey matter...", you admit sheepishly
  693. "Could it help if I tried and get some drone images of the skyline from above? Maybe that'll help you remember!", you suggest
  694. >Her attention returns to you with a slight smile, "you would do that for me?", she asks with a bit of hesitation
  695. >All you can do is nod with a grin... until you hear your stomach grumble
  696. >Right, you had 55% of a half eaten sandwich, certainly not enough
  697. >You require a job, badly
  698. >Not only for food, which you need a lot more now considering you have a family of mouths and mycellium to feed!
  699. >And a way to find legs for this currently immobile mare
  700. >Part of you is playing with the idea of mugging a random pony for them, wouldn't be the first time that happens
  701. >Dum idea, stupid shroom high brain
  702. >As for jobs, you usually jack into the net and see what's posted and go from there
  703.  
  704. >Well, you already have a recovery program running over your partition, all you can do right now is wait and hope
  705. >Maybe one of the access keys to some of your credstores will turn up, the chance is not too bad considering how "small" they are
  706. >As they say, hope dies last
  707. >With Frost being rather immobile right now, you consider if there might be a possibility for her to get to explore the area safely
  708. >A drone might do, you know a couple ponies on the net that might be able to help you out getting access to one
  709. >Some netizens still owe you a favor or two that you can try and make use of
  710. >Looks like you definitely have to jack into the surrounding subnets and do a bit of digging if you want to bring something edible to the table tonight
  711. >You don't like diving from the same place multiple times and you've already hopped online from this complex a few times
  712. >Glancing at Frost, you try figuring out if she'd be ok on her own for a couple hours while you go and do your thing
  713. "Frost? I'll be... gone for a little while. I gotta dive and look around a little, find something to do and all that"
  714. >She gives an understanding nod and wishes you good luck before trying to stretch herself and falling over
  715. >"Eeep!", she lands on the carpet on her back wiggling her two hoofsies helplessly
  716. >You DEFINITELY have to do something about her mobility, you tell yourself as you help her back up in front of the cart, and trash
  717. "You know, if you need something to do... could you try and use this trash to make some art? A sculpture of some kind?"
  718. >A stare at you tells you all you need to know, you sound like you must have gone crazy
  719. >Which honestly, probably isn't too far off the truth, but whatever
  720. "I had to pull some crap out of my ass and pretended to use this trash I hid you in for an art project. Gotta need something to show now, at least"
  721. >Another grin and she starts giggling, "you are a silly pony, Mr. BitRot"
  722. >If she was stable enough, she would have certainly given you a silly pony boop for being so silly
  723. >Alas, that has to wait for a while longer
  724. >She starts trying to stack cans together, humming a small tune to herself as she does so and leaving you to your devices
  725. >Pulling out your Link-Unit from your bedroom you catch a glimpse of her flank as you walk back out
  726. >An icicle surrounded by what seems to be strong winds
  727. >Sitting down next to her on the floor, you put the couple electrodes of the diving gear to your temple and side of your head and lie down
  728. >Before you dive, you try to think of anything you've forgotten, and the kind of persona you want to take on in cyberspace today
  729.  
  730. >Well, with a certain mare's flanks on your mind you are feeling a little cheeky today
  731. >Or should you say ch33ky as you imagine what your avatar is going to look like
  732. >You snicker to yourself, way too easily amused over your own comedic talent
  733. >Someday you could try and make money with standup, for sure
  734. >Your new very artistic friend casts you a concerned glance at you giggling over nothing
  735. >If only she knew, maybe someday she'll get to enjoy your humorous side
  736. >For now, you like back down, and give the switch on your link box a flick
  737. >In an instance, the world in front of you goes white, your limbs go numb and your body stops moving
  738. >Your mind, on the other hoof, for now just a glowing orb, is being carried into the digital world
  739. >Quickly a body begins to construct itself around you and you use the chance to burn one of your proxies before arriving
  740. >Getting jerked away from your current data highway to the remote entry point you use the nanoseconds to finalize your form
  741. >A blue-ish crystalline and slightly translucent stallion, spikey mane and cold to the touch
  742. >C0ldch33ks is the name you are giving yourself, just as you are unceremoniously dumped into a rather gloomy sub-net
  743. >You were almost gonna call yourself 5exua1Fr0s7r4ti0n but you don't wanna come off as too desperate
  744. >The proxy you've chosen is a real trash heap, but it's a common entry point so it won't be too suspicious
  745. >A couple more ponies step out around the various gates that serve as entrances into this part of the net next to you, but pay no attention to you
  746. >And not just ponies, really
  747. >Creatures of all shapes and sizes, in this place only one's imagination is the limit
  748. >This place is modelled after an old train station from a long time ago, a fitting image for an entry point to the digital world
  749. >Neon signs flood your vision, trying to sell you some shady crap that most certainly isn't entirely legal
  750. >Places like this was where you picked up your first viruses
  751. >Both to use and used on you
  752. >Good times, you think to yourself with a smile
  753. >Something else that is certainly catching your attention though is the visible overview HUD of a certain mare in your peripheral vision
  754. >Well then, you got options now, almost limitless options, in fact
  755. >Visit the job board? Try to scout random networks?
  756. >Or hit up one of the many sellers? Look for drones or prosthetics?
  757. >Scout out some of the people that still owe you something and make use of it?
  758. >Your comm link is already showing you a couple of your acquaintances being logged into the Haven subnet, too
  759. >They might have something interesting to say
  760.  
  761. >Well, you can't very well buy anything from the various merchants if you haven't got any dough
  762. >And you can't get any creds by just talking to people
  763. >Unless you start pickpocketing their net accounts
  764. >Which is very much an option with a stealth worm program
  765. >There is plenty of ponies who don't keep their firewalls and AVs up to snuff and are somewhat easy to be infected
  766. >You could also try a bigger attack, every subnet usually has at least one controller system that serves the space and carries all the data
  767. >Usually they are hidden or protected, but getting to one of those gives you direct access to whatever is stored on that network
  768. >...or the chance to mess with the subnet as a whole
  769. >You've seen plenty of defaced spaces in your time online, a couple your own doing
  770. >Always a fun prank to pull on ponies
  771. >For now though, job board, you have a family to take care of now!
  772. >You step up to one of the platforms, entering the door of the waiting train
  773. >Immediately your surroundings change and you enter a huge room with monitors scattered all around
  774. >Apart from once again being flooded by neon signs of items "you should most certainly buy!" many of the screens show job offers of all kinds
  775. >This place is also extremely crowded, ponies pushing each other from one place to the next
  776. >There is many different tasks here, ranging from corporate espionage to physical world to ruining other ponies' lives
  777. >The latter is especially popular to be posted by corporations trying to tie up loose ends
  778. >Usually pays really well but comes with a heavy fee of morality
  779. >Tech Hunting is also quite lucrative but somewhat dangerous
  780. >A team of hunters assembles and tries to break into some old, abandoned places to get their hooves on pre-crash tech
  781. >Always sounded to you like some kind of action sim thing and many collectors pay lots of money for old gear
  782. >You'd lie if you didn't imagine being on a tech hunt with a crew someday and conquering vast underground dungeons in the search of treasure
  783. >Kind of every nerdy kid's dream, really
  784. >You keep looking around for more jobs
  785. >Enter corporate network and extract information, create valid fake identities for someone the usual kind of stuff
  786. >There is a couple jobs looking for a hacker to join a crew for a job of some kind
  787. >Never really did much crew playing, but you also never had a mare over or talked to a fungus
  788. >Lots of firsts lately
  789. >Anything you are looking for specifically? Anything that catches your eye?
  790. >Anypony you want to interact with? There is loads here of that, too
  791.  
  792. >You glance down at your virtual terminal that ponies here use to interact with all the job listing
  793. >Nervously you type in Frost into the search bar and let it run for a couple seconds
  794. >It comes up with a couple results but most of them seem entirely unrelated to a certain cybernetic mare
  795. >A second search for cyborg and anything related also comes up empty
  796. >Finally, you decide to just try and look for any mention of her design
  797. >The one result that comes up makes your blood freeze as you open it and start to read
  798. >"Extremely dangerous prisoner on the run, engagement not recommended"
  799. >"Armed and ready to kill without remorse"
  800. >"Any information that lead to capture highly rewarded"
  801. >The sum of money listed on the job description would make any pony salivate, you have rarely seen this many 0s
  802. >Information is supposed to be sent to an anonymous net-address but it was more or less common knowledge that the server belonged to one of the big four
  803. >From the address you judge it might be dark space, although you can't be entirely sure about that
  804. >Not that it really matters much, if one of them know, all of them do
  805. >That and it wouldn't be the first time where one of the corps used another corp to avoid suspicion
  806. >Quickly sending that mail to the trash you start looking again, a lot more cautious and worried
  807. >At least you hope that nopony here is gonna pay much attention to the job
  808. >Unless employed directly by one of the Big Four, a lot of your kind have a certain disdain for the megacorps in power
  809. >For now you need to find something quick to do though, hopefully something simple
  810. >You have to get food for 3 today
  811. >Browsing through, one of the jobs, while not high paying, promises to be quick and easy
  812. >Simple consulting on security, it's a gig that you've done a few times and usually barely pays anything but it will definitely be enough to feed you a couple days
  813. >Pulling the job to your local datastore you move back into the proxy net
  814. >Despite the traffic, the place looks like it's... missing something
  815. >An idea comes to your head and you quickly hack something together with a model of a sad clown you had stored on your system for some reason
  816. >Game of free shells, anypony passing by can play
  817. >Might serve as a bit of passive income from some naive ponies
  818. >Then you ring up the pony posting the job request
  819. >A small warm orange unicorn mare picks up with a slight hint of confusion as she spots you
  820. >Hiding one of her purple eyes behind her long, golden mane she looks at your ice persona closely
  821. >"Uh... yes, h-how can I help you?", she stammers, very much nervous
  822.  
  823. "First of all, a small bit of free advice, if you post any kind of job offer use a burner address. Ponies can gather a lot from just knowing your comm info alone"
  824. >The mare eeps and rubs her leg nervously as she thanks you
  825. >Morning Dawn, as she has introduced herself, tells you that she would like to join ponies like you in becoming cyber-vigilantes!
  826. >"There is so much good I see runners do and I want to do my part! Having ended up in the slums really gives a mare a new perspective!"
  827. >Thankfully you were able to convince her to start small and not go for the big fish immediately
  828. >That would probably get her killed real quick and that'd be a damn shame
  829. >About an hour later, you are done giving her advice on opsec
  830. >Before you go, she asks you if you'd be available if she needed help in the future, sending you her comm link contact
  831. >After that, she hangs up with a grateful smile on her face and leaves you to your own devices
  832. >Checking your creds account you notice something delightful:
  833. >You might even be able to order takeout today!
  834. >And a couple more days after that, too!
  835. >None of that nasty, low quality street shit either, some real actual food
  836. >Today feels like a good day
  837. >Or you could try and spend some of it on the cybermarket
  838. >It's been a while but you could stick around this place for a bit longer if you wanted to
  839.  
  840. >You are about to hit the logout button when you turn around to the train that takes you to the job board subnet
  841. >Maybe you can find a clue before you're going home as to where Frost comes from
  842. >Clearly she had help, somebody on the inside
  843. >A technician? Scientist? You wouldn't really know
  844. >But if they are on the run, which they must be if they aren't dead by now, then there is probably a job listing about them, too
  845. >Stepping once more into the trashy looking train car to arrive at your previous sub-net
  846. >Scouring the job board for another anonymous posting you look for anything that might be something to lead you in the right direction
  847. >There is multiple bounties, but at first glance nothing that seems interesting
  848. >Regardless, you download all of the files to your deck and decide to sift through it later today
  849. >You consider checking for a drone to buy or hack before you leave though
  850. >While it isn't super complicated to hack a drone, finding a good one that is hackable is another matter entirely
  851. >You have a few ponies that owe you something and might already have one or two under their control which you could probably get one from the
  852. >Why put in the work of having to find one if somebody already did the hard part?
  853. >It is a fun thing to try and do, but you don't wanna leave Frost hanging, too long
  854. >Oh my gosh, you forgot about the half nugget, you sure as heck hope she hasn't tipped over again and is wiggling like a turtle on its back
  855. >Quickly pulling up your virtual menu, you logout and your cyber-body dissolves as your world goes white
  856. >And all of a sudden your eyes snap open, barely able to see anything in your dingy apartment
  857. >The smell assaulting you seems worse than when you left
  858. >Maybe because you left the fridge open the entire time, at least shroomie probably kept good watch over you
  859. >Also, while you can't SEE much, you can sure as heck feel something
  860. >After a short moment of your eyes adjusting to the dark room, you see a mare that is using you as a pillow
  861. >Her ear flicks gently while she calmly snores quietly, her chest rising and lowering in the same rhythm as yours
  862. >In a sense, it is kind of adorable
  863. >Hopefully shroomie isn't getting jealous over this
  864. >Well, stuck under a mare like this is another first to check off from your bucket list
  865. >Could order takeout or maybe wake her up
  866. >Browse the web? Try and contact someone?
  867. >There is a lot you can do, the world is yours for the taking tonight!
  868.  
  869. >Well, if you were to order food for delivery you would have to still get up and get it from the door
  870. >And that would mean waking up sleeping beauty currently using you as a pillow
  871. >Glancing over to your other roommate, you realize that keeping the door open like that will probably break the fridge
  872. >Not that that thing was expensive in the first place, you guess, and the fact it even still worked was a miracle on its own
  873. >Your stomach growls angrily at you for even considering skipping out on another meal
  874. >Who knows, the clock says it's only 4PM, takeout won't close for quite a while
  875. >Maybe Frost here just needed a quick nap and is gonna be up and ab- awake, at least, soon
  876. >If all else fails, you promise your protesting belly that you'll be having the breakfast of your life tomorrow
  877. >Gently putting a hoof to her ear absentmindedly you begin brushing her mane
  878. >She shifts just ever so slightly but stays asleep, a small smile on her face as her head seems to lean into you
  879. >Might wanna get started on finding a drone for her, you doubt you'll be able to afford high quality legs that soon
  880. >Probably worth just jumping back into the net for that, you could also do some more exploration around
  881. >Chat up ponies, and the like
  882. >Your creds currently are... not the most riches you ever had but at least you aren't piss poor right now
  883. >Gotta try and think of what kind of drone you want to be looking into as well
  884. >Press the link box again? Just browse the net via your HUD and stay in real life?
  885. >How are you planning to go about acquiring a drone? Talk to some of your business partners or fellow runners?
  886. >Buy one? Try and find/hack one?
  887. >Or, once again, just waking up Frost is an option if you want to get free
  888.  
  889. Thanks anon. It was as draining as ever, but I fixed a problem I was fighting with for fucking MONTHS
  890. >Just pulling up your normal HUD for now you decide to skip out on a deep dive
  891. >While the practise of diving isn't inherently dangerous, all your senses get disconnected completely from reality
  892. >Or rather, get overwritten by the digital sensations, which amounts to about the same
  893. >As fun as a direct mental uplinks are to experience, they also leave your body completely vulnerable
  894. >That and you can't really feel what's happening outside always makes you a little nervous
  895. >It wouldn't be the first time a pony died of hunger or thirst because they've stayed too long inside the net
  896. >Some say when your body dies while connected to the otherworld your ghost will haunt the net for the rest of eternity
  897. >The thought alone makes your neck hair stand up straight and wonder how many avatars you met might be actually dead
  898. >More sophisticated link boxes tend to be able to recognize pain of the physical body and at least warn you inside the simulation
  899. >But that is high end gear that can monitor vitals, like a diving pod and similar
  900. >Frost... her cybernetics could probably become useful in the future, even more so if you actually do decide and get a crew to Tech Hunt with
  901. >Especially if you end up finding some high grade cyberware, you can certainly check in with a local ripperdoc
  902. >Never really considered getting yourself augmented so you don't know any personally, but your fixer can probably set you up
  903. >Is your foal's dream actually on its way to become reality? It's hardly believable to you
  904. >As you open up the catalogue for drones you decide to actually get food ordered for later, about 3 hours from now sounds ideal
  905. >Chinese sounds nice, there is this supposedly real good and cheap china place around the corner
  906. >Maybe you could try and hack your way into the place and get some food for free tonight, a simple worm should do and you'd keep your creds for important stuff
  907. >The list of drones is vast and goes from ground only to burrowing to flying drones, some with weapons and some with cameras
  908. >Others are rescue drones that you've seen deployed by emergency services before
  909. >Crawly things that can get under and together are able to lift things a lot heavier than them
  910. >A lot of them are way out of your price range, but there is a couple really trashy looking ones that might be affordable
  911. >You glance to the wagon and see that Frost has tried and stacked up, crushed and smashed together a couple of the cans into what seems to be a small pony figure
  912. >All in all, it looks way better than anything you could have done and is probably enough to satisfy anypony that is questioning your artistic genius!
  913. >Maybe you could add a bit of shroomie as the figure's mane and tail?
  914. >Make her an art piece too, that might even help you keep her from being forcefully removed by your landlady
  915.  
  916. >It finally occurs to you that there is a mare.
  917. >Sleeping on your chest
  918. >Your face starts becoming red like a tomato as you realize what that usually means
  919. >Oh gosh, please don't get the wrong idea here, shroomie
  920. >You look over at the fridge and put a hoof to your mouth, shushing your fungal friend
  921. >A huff escapes you as feel like you are being mocked by the mycellium creature
  922. >Looking around for something you pick up a can that Frost has left lying around and throw it at the fridge door, hoping to close it
  923. >While you do end up hitting the door with it, which makes a pretty loud clang as it impacts, you fail to close the door
  924. >Frost shifts and her eyes slowly and groggily open as she yawns
  925. >She looks you straight in the eyes before nuzzling her face into your neck fluff
  926. >At the same time, you receive a message from Morning Dawn, the header subject having SEVEN!!!!!!! exclamation marks
  927. >"I found a fixer like you told me! And she already has a job for me this is so cool, thankssomuchagain!"
  928. >You can almost hear the excitement coming from this message, and can only imagine how giddy she must be
  929. >"Big Cash (that's my fixer!!!) told me it's an easy task, just right for someone starting out like me!"
  930. >"But she still gave me the advice to go find a capable pony who has some experience to show me the ropes!"
  931. >"Since I... don't really know anypony else yet, would you be alright with helping me?! I'LL PAY YOU OFC!"
  932. >"Also, it would be cool if we had a team, right? Is that something we do in /the biz/?"
  933. >"Love <3, Morning Dawn!"
  934.  
  935. >By the stars above, is mold spores all you needed to be a hit with the ladies?
  936. >Why haven't you tried this a long time ago
  937. >Actually you know exactly why, mold is a gosh darn health hazard and you'll probably have mold grow in your lungs or something
  938. >Whatever it is, you sure as heck can't complain as you enjoy the sensation of another pony so close to you
  939. >It's at this point where you notice how absolutely starved for physical contact you have become over the past couple years
  940. >The mere fact that someone is enjoying your chest fluff like this is giving your entire body the tinglies
  941. >And your fifth leg is starting to want to make an appearance
  942. >Not today, old friend, not when having someone over for the first time in your life that is not a work relationship
  943. "Rise and shine, sleepyhead", you smile at her as she pulls her face out of your neck and tries to sit up
  944. >She succeeds with a little bit of your help and she gives you a grateful smile
  945. >Your HUD pops up with a status update of the mare telling you that her emergency energy cells were able to recharge to 75%
  946. "Real good job on that thing by the way", you gently pick up the small pony statue that Frost managed to somehow make with one hoof
  947. >You didn't notice it before, but she used a torn up can to make tiny little bat wings attached to it
  948. >It dawns upon you that this is supposed to be a figure of you
  949. >All in all, it really does warm your heart to a degree that you aren't used to
  950. >Something that definitely catches you by surprise though is how comfortable and relaxed she seems to be around you
  951. >In her position you would be jumping at the slightest movement
  952. >You wonder if she is so advanced that she can feel danger approaching even while asleep? Something to inquire about
  953. >For now though, you finish up ordering food and get up to close the fridge, gotta keep shroomie cool and all that
  954. >And like a good citizen you actually pay for your meal with your newfound "fortune", thanks to Morning Dawn
  955. >Speaking of her, you should probably answer that mail of hers
  956. "Be careful when it comes to finding your fixer, Dawn. There is a lot of ponies out there pretending to do the job but just getting you in trouble"
  957. "Or worse, hoof you over to the first corpo that begins to ask questions"
  958. "A good fixer is able to keep secrets, not ratting out anyone even if their life depends on it"
  959. "That is a quality we runners share. We rather burn everything than to give out information"
  960. "Find their reputation. What do other runners say about them? Scout as somepony unrelated to them in any way"
  961. "Make sure you don't hit a copycat. It would be a shame for you to get screwed over before you even had the chance to start"
  962. >Frost cocks her head as you dictate your words, not being used to having company
  963.  
  964. >"Who are you talking to? Fixer? Getting screwed over?", she curiously asks
  965. "A mare I met earlier that is... well, she is excited to get into my world and become a runner"
  966. "Seems like she has a job lined up and asked for my help. Should get me at least a bit more cash"
  967. >The cyborg nods understandingly. "Well, let me know if I can be.. helpful", she trails off as she starts wiggling her one front leg and then frowns
  968. >"Sorry, I guess I'm more dead weight than anything", she sounds a little dejected and her ears lower but you can see her trying to do her best to hide it
  969. "You're a mare of combat, right?", you ask her to which she slowly nods
  970. >You think for a moment before giving her a nod, "I'll look into getting you legs, and after that you can make it up to me, how about it? "
  971. >This does cheer her up a little and she gives a slightly enthusiastic nod
  972. >"Until then I'll... provide intel? Keep a lookout for trouble I suppose?", it is obvious it doesn't sit right with her that she is currently unable to really do anything in her state
  973. >In the corner of your HUD a message flashes: "Remote SubArcanoComm session requested, allow? Y/N"
  974. >Frost looks at you with a hopeful smile before asking you to tell you about the other members of your crew
  975. >It is a little unfortunate to admit, but you don't really have one... except Morning Dawn who might make a decent fit if you ever wanted to go more... social
  976. >As excited, novice and naive as she might be, she is clearly motivated to do the right thing and especially pick up the tools of the trade
  977. >From the bit you managed to talk to her she is also quite clever, and picked up on most of the concepts you explained to her exceedingly quickly and able to extrapolate from there
  978. >She told you she is a bit of a math head and really good with numbers and puzzles, which brought her into an accounting job of a big corp
  979. >It didn't take her long to see how they kept screwing over ponies, especially the already poor ones and it made her sick
  980. >So she decided to mess with reports to assist the firm's clients to not be screwed over, which ended up with her being relocated into the slums and subsequently fired
  981. >Unfortunately, she isn't the best when it comes to technology, never really done a full dive either
  982. >Nor has she ever fired a gun
  983. >The kind of mare that usually ends up coming up with the plans the group follows, you'd say
  984. >While you are at it, you also decide to do some recon on Big Cash yourself
  985. >Information is a little spotty and she seems new on the scene, but she has been quite successful with recent newbies
  986. >Has become known to take on the ponies who just started out and helped them get set up
  987. >Some runners began calling her Big Momma, especially since her avatar in the net has always been a rather big earth pony mare
  988. >Sounds good enough, but also perhaps too good to be true....
  989.  
  990. >From all the things you can find as of right now, it seems Big Cash seems the be a pretty good starting point
  991. >Part of you kinda wished you had someone like this when you did your first run
  992. >At first you consider pretending to be a newbie to see how good "Mom" really is, but judging from what you've heard, she'd figure that out
  993. >She clearly has to have experience, you suspect she might be a former runner or something similar
  994. >Corpo perhaps, if she has that many powerful connections that she can pull on already?
  995. >Or simply very successful in her previous time
  996. >A mystery that might be worth being uncovered, eventually
  997. "Hey Frost, you can full dive, right?", you ask her as you consider your options on what to do here
  998. >The mare perks up at your question and nods, somewhat hesitantly
  999. >"I can, I think... not that I've ever tried or have been allowed to", she admits, "but I have a lot of data on how runners operate loaded into my head"
  1000. >"All theoretical, of course. I have only ever encountered runners in the real world and uh... well...", she trails off, getting somewhat quiet
  1001. "If you were to jack in with me, would you be willing to meet someone and help me check them out?"
  1002. >That seems to have piqued her interest and she gives a court nod, waving her hoof for you to continue
  1003. >She actually even seems somewhat excited at the prospect of getting to enter the virtual world for the first time
  1004. >That settles it, once you've given your unicorn protégé the good news the two of you are going to meet "Mom"
  1005. >For now you decide to coach Dawn probably be with her for her first Fixer meeting too
  1006. >You doubt she has done that yet, considering she hasn't told you any job details in the e-mail
  1007. >It's definitely what you would have expected a fledgling runner to do
  1008. >Many of them send clear emails with job details and get them busted early
  1009. >Or maybe she is pretending to be inept to lower your guard?
  1010. >You furrow your brow in thought as you consider the implication of a corporate spy
  1011. >But for now you give her the benefit of the doubt and chalk it up to her understanding of your lecture from earlier today
  1012.  
  1013. >It's time to hope and see
  1014. >The Comm you send back to her is concise: "Proxyport, 20 minutes from now"
  1015. >While you're getting ready for the dive with Frost, you trace the location of Big Cash
  1016. >Which turns out to be quite a lot harder than you have anticipated, she seems to be the kind of mare that doesn't want to be found
  1017. >She finds you instead, so it looks like you just have to hope that your friend is able to coax her out
  1018. >Or rely on Morning Dawn to lead the proverbial way
  1019. >Food is still a couple hours out, you should be able to handle this no problem
  1020. >Wait, is stuff with a lot of preservatives gonna be bad for shroomie? You don't want to hurt your shroommate
  1021. >Then you remember the kind of stuff that (judging from the packaging) was in the fridge previously and relax
  1022. >Also, chineighse doesn't have too much preservatives anyways, right?
  1023. >Someday you should pick up cooking classes and learn that shit
  1024. >Telling Frost to get ready you walk into your bedroom, which you should really just rename to storage room at this point and pull back out the ol' reliable
  1025. >While frost is still somewhat apprehensive of the idea of having something plugged in, she lets you do your thing
  1026. >As soon as the connection is made, her entire body shudders at the sensation
  1027. >You wonder if a connection to implanted cyberware feels that intimate or something
  1028. >Thankfully, your apartment has multiple network ports you can physically link up to, so you run the wire over to the socket and plug in
  1029. >Frost jolts up before dropping to ground with a soft thud, limp
  1030. >You stare in horror at your friend and rush over to her, trying to check for a pulse
  1031. "Frost? Frost, hey, wake up!", you try to shake her, starting to panic
  1032. >The HUD shows her vitality information operating at (for her) normal levels
  1033. >Nothing screams for her to be in any kind of danger or drugged state or anything
  1034. >PERMAFROST is also not active so your level of panic just doubles at not knowing what the hell is going on
  1035. >Time is running out as well, you're supposed to be at the proxy station in about 10 minutes
  1036. >A warning catches your attention on your HUD "unknown entity in local subnet"
  1037. >Fuck, this is just getting better and better, isn't it?
  1038. >You need a plan of action. Stat.
  1039.  
  1040. >Hold on a fucking second
  1041. >Did you just connect a mare with cyberware running who knows how much pieces of proprietary firmware to the web
  1042. >This is probably the most basic and dumbest mistake you have done in recent years and things like that is what cost runners their freedom or even lives
  1043. >Who knows how many servers she has broadcast her location to as soon as you plugged her in
  1044. >Trying to calm yourself slightly you tell yourself that she is a mare made for stealth
  1045. >Just phoning home as soon as she connects to a network is anything but stealthy and would probably get her and her employers busted immediately
  1046. >Not that that is important right now because getting your... friend? Salvage? Mare?... back is what you need to focus on right now
  1047. >Pulling up the diagnostic details that the C&C provides you with it tells you that her vitals are stable and so is all of the sub-processor chips' operation
  1048. >Wow, she has a LOT of coprocessors scattered over her body, most notably directly neural linked processors responsible for movement
  1049. >Something that her cranial cyberware does report though is an established deep uplink though
  1050. >It starts to dawn on you that she might have ended up on the other side as soon as you plugged her in
  1051. >This is the first time you deal with implanted cyberware used to make a connection
  1052. >But you do know that as soon as you turn on your link box you feel literally being dragged away into the otherworld
  1053. >Lying down next to her you put on the electrodes and close your eyes as you flip a switch hoping you are right with your assumption
  1054. >A flash, your senses going numb and you find yourself in... what looks to be your apartment
  1055. >Just a lot more clean and... yeah this is nothing but marketing propaganda for any potential buyers wanting to "visit" the place beforehoof
  1056. >It's bright, cozy, the furniture looks brand new and you have a sunshine view outside and flowers scattered around
  1057.  
  1058. >None of this is as intriguing as the glowing ball of light in the center of the room
  1059. >It is pretty obvious to you what this is, it's a consciousness that hasn't manifested an avatar yet
  1060. >You walk up close to it and you can absolutely feel her presence here
  1061. >A poke and the ball of light begins to swirl around, slowly materializing into the shape of a mare
  1062. >White coat, dark blue mane in a ponytail, wings as fluffy as you expect clouds to be
  1063. >As she opens her eyes, she looks at you with the coldest, ice blue eyes you have ever seen
  1064. >But that smile on her face is warm and comforting as the mare stands in front of you in full digital flesh, no cybernetics at all
  1065. >She takes a few careful slow steps around before falling into a canter around the room
  1066. >It takes you back when she stops right in front of you and gives you a quick hug
  1067. >"You can't believe how nice it feels being able to walk around", she exclaims and then ruffles her wings
  1068. >"Well then, I think we are a little pressed on time, right? I already advertised myself as a new runner looking for a fixer"
  1069. >She pulls up a virtual screen in front of you, "and look who's decided to bite"
  1070. >On the list you find the name "Big Cash" highlighted, a location listed next to her for meeting up, if Frost so desires
  1071. >That was... a lot easier than you thought it would be, some would say too easy
  1072. >Another message comes in telling you that Morning Dawn has arrived at your meeting point
  1073. >The message to Frost says that she only has a couple minutes to show up or Cash is going to dip out and she can kiss her chance at a fixer goodbye
  1074. >Looks like you have to make priorities here
  1075. >That and you should be prepared for any eventuality, especially if either Morning Dawn or Big Cash aren't who they seem to be
  1076. >Gotta make a plan here and it sucks because you didn't used to be the brain of the few groups you have run with before
  1077.  
  1078. >Fuck, looking at the mental personification of the mare in front of you, you can't help but notice how gorgeous she is
  1079. >In another life you could imagine her being a super mode or something the like
  1080. >Definitely high society who would take every stallion's (and probably a couple mares') heart in the blink of an eye
  1081. >And she is standing here, with you, a pony that has spent most of his life stuck in the dirty slums
  1082. >If this is currently a dream, you don't want to wake up
  1083. >And if this is the setup to a cruel joke then you know it will cut you deep
  1084. >Unfortunately, you don't have time for idle thoughts like that right now
  1085. "You really need to change", you tell the mare sternly, to which she replies with a sigh
  1086. >She looks down at herself and her colors begin shifting, her wings disappear in a small burst of light
  1087. >Her mane and tail shrink to a short, somewhat spiky mane
  1088. >She now has a dark green mane, a leaf green coat but sticking to her blue eyes
  1089. >That should definitely keep her from being an obvious target by anyone who has read the bounties on the job board
  1090. >While you are hesitant at leaving Frost alone, you decide that you should definitely also go and pick up Dawn
  1091. >It would be rude to keep a lady waiting, or so you have been told
  1092. >Not really a surprise why you, so far, have not been a hit with the ladies
  1093. >Being Frost's C&C brings a couple of helpful tools you have realized
  1094. >One of those being a secured link to send and receive messages over, even messages of audiovisual nature
  1095. >At least you doubt you'll lose each other anytime soon
  1096. >"Hey, chin up. I'll be alright, ok?", she gives you a gentle smile
  1097.  
  1098. >Are your emotions that obvious?! Or...
  1099. >Wait, you haven't noticed before but you can... there seems to be the feeling of hope coming through the comm link
  1100. >This is a really weird feeling, but it is certainly there
  1101. >You can't help but smile in return and nod
  1102. >With that, Frost leaves the door and vanishes into the twisted web of sub-nets that make up this world
  1103. >The link you share weakens slightly, but you can still feel excitement coming through it
  1104. >Well, you have 5 more minutes until you are supposed to meet your potential brain
  1105. >One deep breath and you step through the fake apartment door, feeling yourself being dragged through the data highways at lightspeed
  1106. >Just to be unceremoniously dumped in a junction hub like the proxy train station
  1107. >From here it should just be a short jump to get to your destination
  1108. >As you walk through the groups of ponies that are around one of them bumps into you
  1109. >A jolt is sent down your spine as he glares at you and moves on with a huff
  1110. >What a weirdo, you think to yourself
  1111. >You move on, but something feels way off and you feel... heavier
  1112. >It is a strange sensation, but you are kind of in a hurry so you keep moving to get to your next gateway
  1113. >And just like that, you drop into the train station, exiting another one of the train cars
  1114. >The platform is almost empty, apart from a few random ponies milling about
  1115. >You glance around before you freeze up as you feel something being pressed against the back of your head
  1116. >"Are you the netrunner?", a distorted voice asks you from behind
  1117.  
  1118. >Of course you haven't forgotten anything about being a runner
  1119. >The first thing you did immediately after that bump in was verify that all your money was here
  1120. >And a full system scan, but so far that has come up empty
  1121. >Whatever that was, it doesn't seem to be any kind of worm or virus
  1122. >A piece of surveillance software that has been installed on you?
  1123. >There are no new running processes and your system logs also seem clean
  1124. >The system scan should be complete in approximately 15 minutes, you hope that that will shed some light on things
  1125. >But you certainly feel like there has been data added to you, which is not something you've previously heard of being possible
  1126. >Anyways, there is different matters to deal with right now
  1127. "I am /a/ netrunner", you say in a calm voice, not making any rash movements, "and if you have a job, you'd probably have an easier time posting on the job board"
  1128. >While dying in cyberspace ends up with you merely being forcefully locked out, it hurts
  1129. >It really, REALLY fucking hurts like a bitch and it is NOT a sensation you want to experience. Again.
  1130. >You also heard of cases of the pain being so strong that it knocked ponies out in the real world
  1131. >Which lead to their capture and probably termination, if you had to guess
  1132. >Corps don't exactly tend to take prisoners, and all that
  1133. >You slowly turn your head and find that there is not a gun in your face, but a piece of virtual metal pipe
  1134. >Having that be swung at your head would not kill you but would give you a massive headache for sure
  1135. >It is floating in the grasp of a small unicorn mare, her colors muted gray but you recognize the mane style
  1136. "Miss Dawn, I presume?", you take a guess
  1137. >The stoic face on the grey ponikin slowly disappears and is replaced by a wide grin
  1138. >"You must be C0ldCh33ks then!", she is clearly trying to not break out in laughter at your chosen alias
  1139. >Your cheeks are burning and you flap your ears, why the heck did you think THAT was a good name, holy shit
  1140. >What are you, 12?
  1141. "Uhm... yeaaaa", you admit to which the mare pulls you into a crushing hug that is way stronger than you would have given her any credit for from her looks alone
  1142. >"I am so glad you could come! Trust me I am super duper excited to actually do my first run ever! And I already have an idea what I wanna do with the money!"
  1143. >"Oh, oh, I've already been told where to meet Big Cash, it's only a couple sub-nets away!", Dawn sends you over the address of a subnet
  1144. >A look at the coordinates makes you frown, it is a busy section of the web, a (legal) market place that is known to have a lot of high society and corpos walk about
  1145. >The stuff you can buy there is bar none, top notch gear but it is also a common place for corperate netrunners to shop around
  1146. >More importantly, it is completely different from the address Frost headed off to
  1147. >You have a TERRIBLE feeling about all of this right now
  1148.  
  1149. >OK, yes you might just be 12, in a metaphorical sense
  1150. >Being a child isn't exactly something you get much opportunities for while living in an orphanage
  1151. >Anyways, Cash wasn't going to wait for Frost, you've known about that from the message Frost got
  1152. >While it is only logical for the fixer to move on to the next meeting place and not stick around forever
  1153. >But that doesn't soothe the unease you are getting
  1154. >You use your comms channel to shoot Frost a quick message, asking if everything is alright with her
  1155. >The link is strangely silent, but you can tell confidently that it is still there
  1156. >What you can tell us the emotion of nervousness on the other end
  1157. >Something must be going down where Frost is and you don't like it
  1158. >"No interference", is a court responds that comes back a couple seconds later
  1159. >Does big cash know you are connected to both of her new clients?
  1160. >Is one of them fake? Are both fake?
  1161. >The questions keep piling up and you turn to Morning as you narrow your eyes
  1162. "Alright, listen. I've done a little of recon myself and while Big Cash on the seems good, I sent a friend to check her out before meeting you"
  1163. "I am not sure how that has gone so far but I am nervous. Especially with Big Cash requesting a meeting space that is this... open and filled with runners"
  1164. >Morning Dawn cocks her head at you in curiosity, "What's this place like?"
  1165. "It's massive. Most ponies believe it is a cluster of multiple different corp servers linked together. Part of the profit sellers make going directly to them"
  1166. >Giving the mare a quick rundown, you tell her that the place is heavily crowded with a lot of ponies
  1167. >She needs to make sure to watch out, there is a lot of people using the opportunity to cause... bad things to happen to an unsuspecting netizen
  1168. >It isn't dangerous per se, she just needs to be careful of who she talks to and what she is saying
  1169. >Information in this world is more than powerful in a lot of ways, ways that surpass the digital and reach into the real
  1170. >The corpo netrunners are the worst, but in there you explain they are at least somewhat easy to spot
  1171. >Usually dark suits, often times with their company's logo clearly visible on it
  1172. >They carry themselves with pride, thinking they are hot shit
  1173. >Also the reason why it is so fun to mess with them, you pulled a couple of jokes on them in the past
  1174. >They are also the ones always buying top of the line gear on any market, easy to filter out
  1175. >After that, you go silent for a moment, browsing your file directory as you keep looking at Morning in thought
  1176. >Ah, there it is: "Ejector Seat", a small but useful tool that has saved your ass a couple times before
  1177. >While it is possible to hold somepony in cyberspace, which as illegal as it is, is a common tactic of runners trying to get intel,...
  1178. >...it is just as possible to eject a pony from the network with a different computer program
  1179.  
  1180. )
  1181. >You rig up a trigger container and set it to either activate on a specific voice command ("Mathematics") from you or your ejection from the network
  1182. >Payload: Ejector Seat
  1183. >As you tell Morning Dawn that things are gonna be alright as long as she stays vigilant, you give her a pat on the back
  1184. >She jumps from the small feeling of an electric jolt she has gotten
  1185. >"W-wow, I didn't know ESD was a thing in cyberspace!", she looked surprised but also in awe at figuring out something new
  1186. "Y-yeah, electric discharge", you agree with her, being glad that she probably has never felt a data injection
  1187. "Make sure to tell me if you end up getting shocked again sometime during our visit to the market, ok?"
  1188. >She eagerly nods, "well, Cash said to meet her in the subnet in.... about half an hour from now!", Dawn exclaims, "should we get a move on?"
  1189. >Confirming with a nod, you set off towards the train gateway taking you to your proper destination
  1190. >All the while you check on your system scan
  1191. >Something doesn't add up: The size of your cyber avatar has grown by about 34% and a quick look at it tells you why
  1192. >There is a bunch of encrypted data attached to it, piggy-backing off the end of it
  1193. >You turn towards your rear in curiosity and find that it has, in fact, not increased in size
  1194. >Whatever the additional data is though, it seems to be just that: Data
  1195. >Not marked as executable, nothing that looks even remotely like a virus
  1196. >Unfortunately you aren't the most experienced when it comes to crypto, you always either paid someone for decryption or relied on your crewmate to handle that
  1197. >Needless to say, you make a copy of the attached data and place it somewhere in a secure section of your rig's storage
  1198. >Have to deal with that later, eventually
  1199. >For now, you step through the train door and find yourself coming out of the outside of a train terminal in a bustling city marketplace
  1200. >Morning Dawn steps out next to you, in absolute awe at what she sees and her mouth hanging open
  1201. >Ponies looking at market stalls with digital price signs floating above, Neon ads for the newest tech and gear, both for common ponies as well as ponies like you
  1202. >A digital assistant comes over to you, "Welcome, Mister, Madam! May I offer you to check out our Royal Tech store? The best tech for the best homes, now conveniently located near you!"
  1203. "Can it, tincan", you push the AI aside and move past, with Dawn following you
  1204. >Unfortunately, the robot isn't willing to give up and keeps walking after you, telling you to please check out all the beautiful machinery!
  1205. >They have a sale on kitchen stuff! Refrigerators, ovens, and everything like that!
  1206. >Just ignore the damn thing, eventually it will have to let up, right?
  1207. >The robot gets ever and ever closer to you, until he is basically right next to your ear as he keeps talking up sales and things like that
  1208. >"I am not going to wait forever", the sales AI whispers into your ear before courtly turning around and leaving you alone
  1209.  
  1210. Apologies, I am but a simple ESL-kun. Thanks for the heads up though.
  1211. >Them talking about refrigerators makes you think shroomie has sent them, but that would be utterly ridicolous
  1212. >She's a mushroom, for gosh's sake, she can't dive into the net or send ema-
  1213. >...
  1214. >Moving on, what the heck was that about?!
  1215. >You turn around to look after the cyber salespony but they have already disappeared into the crowd
  1216. >Did some other pony mistake you for someone you are not?
  1217. >It dawns on you that this might have been some kind of clandestine meeting
  1218. >What store did they say they were part of? Royal Tech?
  1219. >Morning Dawn moves up to you as you stopped and looks at you with a curios expression
  1220. >"What's the matter? Something on your mind?", she asks as she looks after where the robot has disappeared in the crowd
  1221. >You glance around looking at the different store fronts and digital signs up and down
  1222. >A small looking store stands out to you, a golden crown floating above the doorframe with a fancy type reading Royal Tech: For all your monetary needs
  1223. >Strange slogan but who are you to judge, especially if this really just a front
  1224. >As you do so, you open up a secured comm channel with Morning Dawn, hearing her go "Huh?" both next to you as well as in your head
  1225. >"Shh, there is a reason I opened comms and am not directly talking to you. Think, not speak", you explain to her
  1226. >Her response is a quick nod as she seems to be listening to what you have to say
  1227.  
  1228. >"Earlier while getting here I have... gotten my hoof on some data. I'm far from a crypto specialist but figured your knack for numbers might be hoofy"
  1229. >If Morning isn't who she pretends to be, this might help you uncover who or what is playing games with you
  1230. >Because somepony is and that is without question
  1231. >Sending her part of the encrypted pieces of information you can hear her hum in thought
  1232. >"Well, it certainly is encrypted, I can tell you that much", she glances towards you and then frowns, "but I never really... had to crack an encryption before. I am not sure I can help you"
  1233. >The mare sounds dejected at having to admit this and you place a hoof on her back and give her a small, reassuring smile
  1234. >Giving Morning Dawn a nod, you make your way through the crowd and walk in through the antique looking door
  1235. >You have to manually push it open compared to the automatic sliding doors that have just become absolute common place, basically everywhere nowadays
  1236. >They weren't lying when they said monetary needs are covered here
  1237. >While the gear looks absolutely top notch, the prices are there to match
  1238. >But gosh, you know a lot of ponies that would absolutely salivate at the selection here
  1239. >They offer prosthetics (including some real high quality legs that a certain somepony could probably make use of!), cyber implants, software
  1240. >The section for hoof rigs is especially inviting and you wish you could stick around to browse more, this place is a treasure trove
  1241. >You walk up to the cashier and give him a good lookover
  1242. >He looks absolutely bored, playing around with a pen, not even casting you a glance
  1243. >Standing there what feels like a minute he finally decides to look up at you and with an annoyed grunt asks you if you need help with something
  1244. >Talk about good customer service, you huff to yourself
  1245. "Hi there, I'm... well, not Big on Cash, do you take credit?"
  1246. >His bored face shows a sign of a smirk as his entire demeanor shifts into a much more professional attitude
  1247. >"I believe there might be something in the back of the shop that could be of assistance, sir"
  1248. >He steps aside and shows you a door behind him, that opens into a hallway with a door at the end
  1249. >It's obvious to you that this is highly likely a gateway linked covertly to another subnet that is off the grid, a backdoor if you will
  1250. >Your unicorn companion looks at you and the cashier, her face that of worry
  1251.  
  1252. >The cashier certainly didn't behave or look like a scripted AI, you assume it was a real pony
  1253. >Probably the best idea if you are trying to hide a secret passage and everything
  1254. >Well, not much you can do other than take a leap of faith
  1255. >You stand to the side of the door, and give a wave to Morning, "Ladies first", you bow
  1256. >She snickers, "what a cavalier you are", she passes you by with a giggle, touches the door's handle and disintegrates
  1257. >Stealing your nerves, you follow the mare to wherever she has been taken to
  1258. >Touching the handle, you feel yourself being whisked away into the deeper reaches of the network
  1259. >You open your eyes back up and are surprised at the absolute magnificent décor that you are greeted with
  1260. >The walls are lined with golden inlays, the floors have golden carpets on the otherwise well polished wood floor
  1261. >Chandeliers hang from the ceiling and bath the hallway in warm, bright light
  1262. >It looks like a place fit for nobility almost
  1263. >The carpet leads to a big double door at the far end that you have the feeling is where you are expected
  1264. >Next to you, Morning Dawn "Oohs" and "Aahs", never having seen anything like this before
  1265. >She sticks close to you as you get a move towards the front, clearly intimidated by the display
  1266. "Don't worry. Stuff like that in the net is basically free and usually just means whoever designed this place potentially has too much of an inflated ego"
  1267. >She looks at you before relaxing a bit, moving away from you and snickering
  1268. >As you place your hoof on the handle, you try and push open the door which is quite a lot heavier than you thought it would be
  1269. >Or maybe you are just weak
  1270. >Thankfully, together with Morning, while still a tough task, is able to be accomplished and soon you stand in a throne room
  1271. >At the end of it, a black dark purple earth pony mare is sitting on a throne
  1272. >Her long blue mane flows like silk down her side and onto the floor as she watches you with a gleeful smile
  1273. >She is big. Real big
  1274. >"A pleasure making your acquaintance. Mrs. Morning Dawn?", she gives the unicorn a CURT nod and then turns to you
  1275.  
  1276. >"And you must be... her companion, or perhaps mentor? I believe we haven't been introduced, although I believe we have a mutual friend"
  1277. >Out behind the throne room a mare comes out, a leafgreen pony that looks at you with her icy blue eyes
  1278. >As she sees you, she comes running up to you and pulls you into a crushing hug
  1279. >"I'm sorry", she whispers into your ear as she gives you the chance to breath again
  1280. >"My name is Big Cash, and I heard somepone is in need of some money? Well, do I have the job for you!"
  1281. >Cash smirks as she waves a hoof and a screen pops up in front of you three
  1282. >"Let's call this a test run to see if our... mutual cooperation has any future, shall we?"
  1283. >On the screen you can see a building, it's a looking like a small office
  1284. >"CoreTechs. Small place, but rumors are they have made a breakthrough in AI-ware. One of my employers would love to have a little peak, if you know what I mean"
  1285. >Her smile is ever growing as she studies all three of your faces
  1286. >"Of course, you'll be rewarded appropriately. I don't foresee too much trouble, but I assume you know how it is", she speaks to you directly
  1287. >The office building doesn't seem too complex, a mostly standard building that, according to the map, is located near the gate of the adjacent station, new manehatten
  1288. >According to the information on the job, the R&D server is completely disconnected from the global net and only accessible locally
  1289. >Which means you'll need to somehow get through the border control, if you were to take on this job
  1290. >Security doesn't seem overly strong, though, which is always a plus on runs like this
  1291. >The reward is 6k creds in total, certainly not the highest you have ever seen but nothing to scoff at for a beginner group of runners
  1292. >"So, do we have a deal?", Big Cash is now leaning fowards, holding her head up with her hooves as she closely keeps an eye on you
  1293. >Morning Dawn is looking over on you, clearly unsure about this and hoping on your input on it
  1294. >"And if you need anything before the run, we can just... go ahead and deduct that from your payout. So just tell me, need anything, honey?", her voice is sweet as honey
  1295. >Now the question is, what do you need for the job? What do you have? Any questions you want to ask or do you just accept/refuse?
  1296. >Maybe talk it through with your two companions and perhaps consider expanding the crew?
  1297. >This is a run, so danger is sure to follow, which makes being prepared paramount
  1298.  
  1299. "If we could have a moment, Miss Cash? Outside?", you request and she waves with a hoof and nods
  1300. >Leaving the room with Frost and Dawn in tow, you close the door
  1301. "Ladies, I introduce you to each other: Morning Dawn, this is Frost. Frost, Morning Dawn"
  1302. >The two mares shake hooves, Morning taking well to Frost while the latter is somewhat apprehensive
  1303. >A message pops up on your HUD, saying "real name?"
  1304. >You reply back, mentally, "Crews are built on trust. Names are some of the most powerful sign of trust a runner can give"
  1305. >"I hope you know what you're doing", she replies after a few seconds of thought, "even if you haven't even told me your name yet"
  1306. >That last bit definitely stung a little and you hope it is something you can remedy later on back in meatspace
  1307. "Alright, Dawn. Remember the quick overview I gave you about crews?", you start out
  1308. >"Well, a lot of jobs are dangerous and ponies tend to have their own strengths, so sometimes runners come together to pull bigger jobs"
  1309. >You wave for her to continue
  1310. >"Each pony in a group has a specific role. Netrunner, techie, medtech, muscle, gunner... mastermind", she tries to recall everything you told her
  1311. "Right. And as much as it pains me to admit, I am not exactly the best when it comes to planning. Dawn, if you are really serious about putting together a crew, I think you might make for an ideal mastermind"
  1312. >Her eyes widen at your revelation to her and she begins to tremble
  1313. >"You'd be... really? You and Frost and me?", she starts tearing up ever so slightly at the idea of having a crew to be part of
  1314. >You just smile in return, glancing at Frost who decides to match your smile, for now
  1315. "You do know that comes with the responsibility of planning and directing us. So, what do we need, boss?"
  1316. >The mare puts a hoof to her face and hums in thought before looking at you
  1317. >"Well, if this really is a job that requires our physical presence... we need transportation. A way to get in and even more importantly we need to know where to go. Blueprints of the office will be invaluable"
  1318. "Not bad, not bad... what else?"
  1319. >"Access to their guard posts and rotation. Perhaps an insider we can bribe, so let's try and get our hooves on a an employee list to cross-reference"
  1320.  
  1321. >"Something to take out a guard if we were to be spotted would be nice too non-lethal and amnesia inducing, of course"
  1322. >She is really starting to get into it now, and keeps going to plan out
  1323. >"Weapons are probably harder to get in, but perhaps we can pick up some concealed carries. Do we have a muscle? We should absolutely have a muscle"
  1324. >Frost raises her hoof to which Dawn lets out a satisfied sigh, "that's one worry of my chest for sure"
  1325. "Well, actually, we're gonna have to... get some upgrades before Frost is able to help out"
  1326. >Dawn perks up at what you're saying and you shrug
  1327. >"Well, if this is a 6k for the job, that is 2k for each of us. You think that'll be enough?"
  1328. >Might be worth checking out the store in front for gear
  1329. >"I'd like to run simulations to train our path to the target", the small unicorn continues on with her plan
  1330. "A simulation should be pretty easy to set up once we have blueprints", you mention and she clops her hooves together gleefully
  1331. >"Wonderful! We'll use that to practise then. Say, anypony got an idea what we can use as a reason to be there? Or should we just... sneak in after hours?"
  1332. "Personally, I am more comfortable not having to deal with talking to anypony, but you're the boss, Dawn."
  1333. >"Well then, we might not even need the employee list, then. Although being able to copy somepony's access credentials would probably make a break-in much easier. So let's try to get our hooves on it"
  1334. >It is terrifying how confident she is with planning all of this out, as if it was second nature to her
  1335. >"Oh, oh yes we also need a way to cross the border. Fake passports? Do you runners have any underground tunnels that you use to smuggle things?"
  1336. >"Big Cash might know about that one, now that I think about it...", she puts a hoof to her chin
  1337. >"I believe us three should be enough for that job, all things considered. So if you guys are good with it, I'd say we accept Big Cash's job!"
  1338. >She looks at the two of you expectantly, "how did I do?", she asks gleefully and clip clops her hoofsies on the floor in excitement
  1339. >How would you go about it? Does Dawn's plan sound acceptable or is there anything she missed? Any more gear you think you might need?
  1340.  
  1341. >You are a little stunned at how quickly she has come up with things you need and how she started putting things together
  1342. "Well, I think you've missed a slight detail, we'd need someone able to break the encryption on the files we're stealing"
  1343. >A cryptographer might come in hoofy for you as well, you still want to know what that block of encrypted data attached to your avatar is
  1344. >She sighs but you stop her before she can say anything else
  1345. "But other than that, that is some spot on pre-planning. Clearly not a full plan or a backup plan, or a backup to that backup plan,"
  1346. >A glance behind you at the door and you furrow your brow
  1347. "That is usually how the first phase of a mission goes, initial contact with a fixer and prepwork to get real planning underway"
  1348. >She feels a little relieved at what you're saying as you step aside from the door
  1349. "Well then, mastermind, I think it's time for you to make the call here, go in there and show what you can do! And don't forget. Confidence.", you give her a hooves up
  1350. >She is shaking slightly but takes a couple deep breaths and holds her head up high walking towards the door and pushing it back open once more
  1351. >As she passes you, Frost casts you a glare and you feel annoyance, if not even anger coming from her end
  1352. >"Hoofing out personal information sign of trust? Yes. I don't trust this mare. No sign of trust from me, Mr. I-don't-share-my-name", she almost spits via your mental link
  1353. >She then walks past you, "next time, let me decide who I introduce myself to, and how. Subterfuge and Infiltration 101", she huffs
  1354. >You are a little stumped as you follow Frost inside, hearing Dawn beginning to speak
  1355. >"We'll take the job. But there is a couple things we need before we can get to it", she begins listing out the information you guys talked about
  1356. >Big Cash nods thoughtfully at each of them, "While there are smuggling tunnels, I believe they wouldn't fit a car. Meaning you'd certainly have to walk a fair bit"
  1357. >"Speaking of, that car will set you guys back a couple thousand, you I can assure you, you'll be pleased with what I can scrounge up. I believe... 3000 creds of your contract and I can pull something off"
  1358.  
  1359. >"For the blueprints, employees and guard rotation I'd charge another.... hmm, let's say 500 and we have a deal. Can't help you with the access credentials though, that'll be on you to figure out", she grins
  1360. >"Passports, that is usually a tough one. 500, from each of you, I think that should cut it for some temporary access passes to the other station"
  1361. >Steep price, but you know just how hard it can be to get your hooves on valid documents to facilitate inter-station-travel
  1362. >"When it comes to a cryptonut, for 100 creds I can certainly put an ad out, might get somepony to bite"
  1363. >That would certainly be an option, although you definitely should still have a couple of former encbreaker contacts that you might be able to pull on board, if just temporary
  1364. >"And prosthetics?", Frost speaks up for the first time, Big Cash giving her a grin
  1365. >She points to the door, "you know, I am feeling generous today, I'll get you a buy 2, pay 1 deal out in the shop. Just talk to Cash Register, he'll know"
  1366. >Frost nods in agreement
  1367. >"Well, if that is everything, I think you ponies can get to work? Whatever you need I'll have shipped to your hideout"
  1368. >Morning Dawn seems to be in thought and mumbles "only 300 credits each...", a little downtrodden from the sound of it
  1369. >"If we skip on the car we could.... and no access passes", she is running through calculations under her breath for a moment and then looks at you expectantly
  1370. >Anything you don't need? Anything else you want to ask? And you completely forgot about the hideout part, should you just ship it to your home for now?
  1371. >Maybe you have to run some recon around your neighborhood after logging out, you know a couple abandoned buildings and a couple easily accessible sewer access points and the like
  1372. >That and you gotta decide how to handle the encbreaker hiring
  1373. >Could just temporarily give them access while you are inside and only pay them for that time
  1374. >Lots of questions, but you gotta start somewhere, sometime
  1375.  
  1376. >You put a hoof to Dawn's side and tell her that for a first job big expenditures like this are absolutely normal
  1377. >For future missions you already have at least part of your gear already prep'd, meaning you're able to keep more for yourself
  1378. >While you would certainly wish for a higher pay yourself, the materials you get out of this aren't just gonna be thrown away
  1379. >As for the passports, those have a chance to be revoked if you are not careful or if you make use of them too often, but otherwise aren't a terrible investment either
  1380. >The feasibility of a car might be questionable, to a certain degree
  1381. >While the slums have an absolutely rotten transit system that is barely usable, you wouldn't doubt that higher class stations are much easier to get around
  1382. >With a perfect stealth run, you wouldn't even need to rely on a car to get your butt back out
  1383. >But all this hinges on things going like planned and you going in and out in a jiffy
  1384. >From experience, runs are never that nice and always end in trouble
  1385. >To get the data you definitely have to access the inner networks on-site
  1386. >The entire place is completely disconnected from the outside, there is no just breaking in remotely
  1387. >You could pass through the smuggling tunnels into other stations without the passports, but you wouldn't be able to fit a car through it
  1388. >The place are a narrow maze of hallways and sewer ducts, a vehicle simply won't have enough space
  1389. >Thinking about the ad, 100 creds is definitely robbery and not a deal you are willing to take
  1390. >Sadly, with the current pay you're making you won't be getting any self respecting cryptonut to help you out
  1391. >You've seen prices start at 500 and up, usually leaning to 2.5-3k for fast decryptions of sensitive data with a no questions asked policy
  1392. >That means you'll have to blackmail or rob employees for that
  1393. >Digging up some dirt on one shouldn't be too hard, you believe
  1394. >You'll definitely pick up the intel, the work wouldn't be worth it for the pay
  1395. >Weapons would be nice, but you'd want to get something decent that doesn't blow up in your face and you just don't have the kind of money for that right now
  1396. >A glance at your cybernetic companion makes you hope her physical prowess is gonna be enough
  1397. >Which, with the level of security the mission assumes, should not be an issue
  1398. >No guns, just batons and hoof-to-hoof combat
  1399. >Legs, though
  1400. >666 creds should make for a good pair of legs and keep a little bit left over for food for the next couple weeks
  1401. >As much as you would prefer buying from different vendors, a 2-for-1 is just really hard to beat
  1402. >Thankfully, none of the bounties have listed any missing limbs
  1403. >But you'll need to also repair her defective leg
  1404. >Well, no better time than now, you give Big Cash a list of the things you need and a nearby drop point that is reachable from your apartment
  1405. >It is often used by runners for occasions just like this
  1406.  
  1407. >That will also be where you'll have the legs delivered
  1408. >Better safe than sorry with ponies knowing where you (temporarily) live
  1409. >You give Morning Dawn a nod and she looks at Big Cash, "we accept. We'll skip out on the ad, though"
  1410. >Big Cash gives a hearty laugh, "as you wish", she smiles and you send her the drop point coords
  1411. >She gives your merry band a wave and you leave back the way you came from, Frost in tow back into the Royal Tech store
  1412. >"I hope you have found what you were looking for", the stallion now known as Cash Register gives you a bow as you step back out into the shop proper
  1413. "We did, thank you. Say, we've heard there is a sale on cybernetic legs? 2 for 1?"
  1414. >Cash beams before showing you towards the right section of the store
  1415. >While there is a lot that are way out of your league in terms of price (but which make Frost look at them in absolute awe) a couple much more basic, but sturdy ones are also on display
  1416. >A pair made out reinforced titanium and arcanium seem to be quite promising, one of them costing 200 creds
  1417. >They don't have many bells and whistles, but they are supposed to be very light and very durable
  1418. >A set of all 4 legs would bring you to 400 creds, which is a basically must buy level and you quickly authorize the transaction
  1419. >With a full set at once, Cash will also not know which legs are missing, that can only be good in the long run
  1420. >"We'll take care of payment for you, Mr. I'll have the legs sent to a ripperdoc of your convenience, you merely must provide me with the address", he says with a smile
  1421. >There is a couple ripperdocs around, one you've been to before, after one of your jobs went... a lot more south than you would have hoped
  1422. >It was a miracle he was able to stitch you back up into one piece again and the scars are still visible under your fur
  1423. >While he probably not remembers you he sure knows what he is doing and is probably your best bet
  1424. >Giving the address, the store clerk nods and walks away from you
  1425. >Morning Dawn looks around and then looks at you, "so, what now? Do we do anything or do we have to wait until we got our gear?"
  1426. >You could stick in cyberspace for a while longer, you still have about an hour until food for you and the nugget arrive
  1427. >Or you could log out, do some more prep work, maybe just relax a bit instead
  1428. >A message from an anonymous sender comes up, telling you that requisition will take approximately 4 days
  1429. >That is a lot of time, but not unheard of
  1430. >"Is there anything you would like to have me do while we wait, by the way?", Dawn starts before looking away and continuing to talk
  1431. >"And uh... when are we... you know..... going to meet in pony?", Dawn shuffles on her hooves a little nervous
  1432. >She then blushes and holds up her hoof waving it around, "N-not in that sense of course, you know what I meant justtostartworkingtogetherokimmagobye"
  1433. >Swiping up her hoof she presses a to you invisible UI in front of her and disappears in a blinding light
  1434.  
  1435. >With confusion on your face at the quick logout of your mastermind you turn to Frost
  1436. >She just shrugs, slides her hoof up and also disappears
  1437. >Standing alone in the shop you take one last look around and make the jump back into realspace
  1438. >Just in time to watch Frost trying to unplug the cable from her neck, failing more or less spectacularly as she flails about with her one hoof
  1439. >Removing the electrodes from your head, you smile as you sit next to her and pull the plug out
  1440. >As you sit next to her she leans into you and puts her head on your shoulder and closes her eyes
  1441. >"This is nice", she quietly whispers, more to herself than you, "thank you, for all of this", she addresses you more directly
  1442. >You're just glad you are able to help her out
  1443. >It's weird how attached you have grown to her already, part of you worrying that the installed C&C might have something to do with it
  1444. >But in a couple days you should be able to visit the local clinic and get her mobile again
  1445. >Gonna have to think of how to best get her there
  1446. >And a normal doc isn't good enough, that is very much true
  1447. >Which is why the doctor your crewmates have taken you to is a trustworthy ripperdoc
  1448. >There is a reason they chose this place, Bonesaw is not one to ask questions and very quick to forget
  1449. >Especially considering that he, just like a lot of doctors with a certain questionable side-profession, is using not digital but paper records
  1450. >Which often might just accidentally disappear
  1451. >While you haven't had to deal with him more than a hoofful of times, his reputation among runners is quite excellent
  1452. >If there is one doc you doubt is gonna mess try and sell Frost, it'd be him
  1453. "Hey Frost, mind if I ask you a couple things?", you start to which she just gives you a "mhm"
  1454. "Remember when you came out behind Cash? You said you were sorry about something, what did you mean by this?"
  1455. >Her ears go flat and she looks away before starting to speak
  1456. >"Big Cash... she was exceptionally suspicious of me when we met. Was about to immediately turn me away"
  1457. >She sighs, "I didn't want to disappoint you, so I asked her what she wanted to trust me"
  1458. >"The mare knew that you, me and Morning Dawn were connected. She had been keeping tabs on Morning ever since the unicorn made first contact"
  1459. >"I am sorry for berating you when you told Morning Dawn my name earlier, yet here I did basically the same thing"
  1460. >You nod, not mad at her or anything
  1461. "What about Dawn? What do you think of her?"
  1462. >Frost looks at you, furrowing her eyebrow and frowning
  1463. >"She is good at planning, smart. Scarily so. It's like she's done this before, many times. She understands how runners think, despite claiming to have never run"
  1464. >"Something like her is what you'd call a naturally born talent, and I don't believe in such things. That and my training has made clear to never trust anypony", she huffs
  1465. >Any other questions? A conversation you want to spin up? Something you want to do? Or timeskip?
  1466.  
  1467. >For a moment, you fall into deep thought at what Frost has told you
  1468. >It's impossible that she would have known, you've been together in cyberspace for what is mere minutes
  1469. >In a closed subnet to boot, well, as closed as an apartment net could be
  1470. >You pale at the idea of Big Cash already knowing exactly where you live, and that is not even the scariest implication
  1471. >Frantically tapping on your bracelet you begin to search through your files and connections
  1472. "Hey, Frost, can you do me a favor? I believe we might have a major information leak, do check your coprocessors and perhaps files for any abnormalities for me, ok?"
  1473. >She cocks her head, but nods and you see her eyes dull over as she becomes motionless
  1474. >Clean, clean... more clean files and no hidden services
  1475. >There hasn't been any heavy modification of your files since you've bumped into that other pony
  1476. >But you saw that that was only added data, nothing executed or anything
  1477. >Other than that the last time something could have gone wrong, which would also imply that Big Cash might be involved with....
  1478. >You navigate to the C&C partition and start skimming logs
  1479. >"Found previous Sub-Arcano Signature. Initiating SAS Imprinting... SAS Imprinting finished successfully, C&C Ownership Claim authorized on imprinted subject <<Frost>>"
  1480. >What the heck is a Sub-Arcano Signature, you've certainly heard that before somewhere
  1481. >A quick lookup on the web brings up a page explaining SAS are unique to each and every pony
  1482. >Something special about SAS is that, due to the nature of how a full dive makes use of SA-Harmonics it can be found on cyberspace avatars
  1483. >This is the way that transactions, ownership and authorizations work in the otherspace, it's like a hoofprint
  1484. >"Everything seems to be right on my end", Frost tells you as she snaps back awake from her diagnostics trance
  1485. "Hey, Frost? How exactly does this whole... C&C thing work? How are we this... well, connected I guess?"
  1486. >She puts her hoof to her chin and thinks, before giving you a shrug and a sad look, "sorry, I've never been told that part"
  1487. >If your assumptions are right, your "hoofprint" might be all over here in the digital world
  1488. >That also means that ponies are able to track your connection to Frost, as long they have contact with both of you to compare signatures
  1489. >You are not quite sure how to feel about that, if you are being honest, but that is something you don't know how to deal with right now
  1490. >For that you might have to look into someone specializing with that kind of stuff
  1491. >Your doorbell rings and a knock comes from the door: "Chineighse Express, your order!" a voice calls over from the door
  1492.  
  1493. >With a grumble of joy your stomach forces you to get up and walk over
  1494. >Help, belly has assumed DIRECT CONTROL
  1495. >Peaking through the little hole in your door you see a delivery mare holding a small plastic bag and you open the door
  1496. >She hooves it over and you give her a small tip which she graciously accepts and then turns around to quickly leave before she gets mugged in this building
  1497. >Sitting down next to Frost, you start unpacking and begin digging in
  1498. >The cyborg looks at you doing that and down at the food you set up in front of her
  1499. >She wiggles her hoof, trying to get a grip on the chopsticks but that is... not exactly happening in her current state of things
  1500. >You can't help bit giggle at her desperately trying to get her food before she flops over in defeat and just starts lying in front of the plate, munching on it
  1501. >She grumbles and frowns which makes you break out in full blown laughter
  1502. >At first she harrumphs before a smile creeps onto her face and she starts laughing with you
  1503. >Setting down your own plate, you help her back up, take the chopsticks and pick up some of the food on her plate, holding it out to her
  1504. >Hesitantly, she takes it and starts munching
  1505. >Nom nom nom, after a couple minutes you helped her clear her plate
  1506. >Finishing your own food, you decide that you should really properly introduce yourself
  1507. >That is, after all, paramount to any crew's trust!
  1508. >So, who are you?
  1509. And what are you gonna do after you're done with introductions? Cyborg cuddles, or perhaps even hoofholding?
  1510.  
  1511. >Quite frankly, that is a tricky question, all things considered
  1512. "While I'd love to give you what I know for sure is my real name, I don't really... have one"
  1513. >She looks at you, cocking her head and looks at you incredulously
  1514. >"Are you trying to pull my leg", she asks with a bit of a frown, clearly thinking you are trying to make fun of her or something
  1515. >Shaking her head you try to convince her as you start with your life story
  1516. "You see, I've grown up in an orphanage. I've never met my parents and I am not even sure they even gave me a name to begin with"
  1517. >Shrugging, you see Frost look at you with a sad looking smile, but she lets you continue talking
  1518. "At the orphanage, the people watching us kids there usually decided to just call me Buffy... for obvious reasons"
  1519. >Taking a short moment to ruffle your leathery wings at your side to prove your point
  1520. "That or Batty Mcbatface. Neither of which haven't given the other foals plenty of chances to make fun of me. 'Bucky', was quite a favorite of theirs"
  1521. >The memories make you shudder ever so slightly, foals are monsters and pure, distilled evil
  1522. >Pushing those thoughts out of your mind for now you keep talking
  1523. "I was out there as soon as I could. Became a hacker because I wanted to find out where I came from... not that I really had much time to ever look for my ancestry since I left"
  1524. >Another shrug as you finish your story
  1525. "Fact is, I got myself a... not entirely legal ID and just put Buffy Mcbatface on it. While sounding dumb, it's enough for most ponies to not question it"
  1526. >Frost seems.... confused at all of this and not ENTIRELY on board, but she seems to believe you for now
  1527. >Maybe you got something you want to talk with her about?
  1528. Had to cut the post short because of work, imma try and write and after I'm back
  1529.  
  1530. >"Buffy Mcbatface is a horrible name. That name stinks", she stares at you in disbelief
  1531. >Unfortunately, you definitely can't deny that, it IS a stupid name
  1532. >Not that many ponies actually know or care about it, you aren't exactly the most outgoing pony
  1533. >Quite frankly, you use your online aliases way more than your real name anyways
  1534. >Only times you have use for it is renting an apartment and shit like that
  1535. >She mulls something over as she rubs a hoof on her chin in thought
  1536. >"Echo... echo..", she mumbles to herself, "Lost Echo, Terminated Echo, Dropped Echo.... Echo Return?"
  1537. >During all this she deeply scrutinizes you
  1538. >"Hmm, maybe not echo.... Shell Shock?", she claps her hooves together in joy
  1539. >"How about that for a name? Shell Shock?", she smiles gleefully
  1540. >Certainly rolls off the tongue quite nicely, all things considered
  1541. "Hmm, maybe. Maybe...", she smiles warmly at you and you pull her into a quick hug
  1542. >She seems real surprised but uses her one hoof to hug you back regardless
  1543. >Letting go you continue on with talking about yourself
  1544. "While initially I wanted to find my family when I started hacking, I admittedly kinda... put that on the backburner"
  1545. "If the stories are to be believed, I was dumped in front of the orphanage unceremoniously by a deliver drone in a cardboard box", you snicker
  1546. "It turned more into messing with the nuns raising us and even more importantly helping other ponies around"
  1547. >You put your belly before frowning
  1548.  
  1549. "It was certainly helpful having a bit of an idea of how to access water pump controls, just occasionally", you trail off
  1550. >If there is one things the nuns have taught you, it's be kind to those around you, help others whenever you can
  1551. >And a good chunk of that involves fighting the system in place to ruin ponies like you and perhaps your family
  1552. >Another sad smile from Frost that you dispel by waving your hoof dismissively
  1553. "No need to feel bad, I'm alright, I'm over it", you assure her, "that being said, what about you? With you being free now, any plans with your future?"
  1554. >This question seems to catch her off guard as she seems to be having trouble coming up with an answer
  1555. >"I... don't know. I've remembered being in the lab for... forever. I stopped counting the days a long, long time ago", she retells and swallows
  1556. >"Wake up, train and study or be sent out on... certain kinds of missions.... return home and perhaps get 'upgraded'", the memories clearly weigh on her
  1557. >"I want to.... I want to see what the world is like, the world outside of the compound... And I also... I want to know who I really am...", she trails off
  1558. >Cheering up a little more, she tells you "and I want to meet ponies! All kinds of ponies!"
  1559. >I've been told everypony outside of the compound was a hostile, an enemy, but you have been nothing but nice to me... saved me, even..."
  1560. "Oh, that reminds me! I haven't introduced you to my roommate yet!", you get up quickly and head over to the fridge
  1561. "Geez, where are my manners", you open up the fridge and proudly display the fungal mess, "Frost, may I introduce you to Shroomie?"
  1562. >Her mouth drops open and she stares at you, "did you... hit your head? Really really hard?"
  1563. >She steps up to the fridge and sticks out her tongue in disgust
  1564. >"Shell, this is... I think this is a really really big hazard to your health and I really must insist on this being cleaned out... or us finding a..."
  1565. >She looks around and scrunches her nose, "...nicer place to live"
  1566. "Ssshh, she didn't mean it, Shroomie", you whisper to the fungal amalgamation
  1567. >Is there anything else you wanna talk about or do?
  1568.  
  1569. "You know, nice places are bad for hiding. That is a health hazard, too!", you harrumph
  1570. "Alright, alright listen, I know this sounds ABSOLUTELY insane, but please do hear me out!"
  1571. >The cyborg motions for you to go on, still not entirely sure if you haven't gone completely insane
  1572. "So, when I first opened the fridge, shroomie was already here. Of course, being rationally I tried to clean it out"
  1573. >You motion yourself reaching inside before jumping back
  1574. "When I touched it, entirely by accident by the way I think for just a split second I reached enlightenment. I was one with the universe!"
  1575. "There was this voice speaking to me in my head, it was terrifying, but it was also one of the most amazing sensations I ever had!"
  1576. >"You are trying to tell me... this thing is is sentient? And telepathic? And one with the universe?", her voice oozes with disbelief
  1577. >Eagerly nodding, you tell her that, while it is VERY MUCH A CHANCE that you are suffering some kind of hallucinogenic side effects from mold spores
  1578. >You really don't to risk the slim chance that there is of a nascent telepathic fungal sapience living in your fridge to be angered by anything you do
  1579. >Also, telling shroomie that Frost didn't mean the things she said, JUST IN CASE
  1580. >You close the fridge and Frost stares at you
  1581. >"Please get your head checked out when we get the chance to see a medical professional for my legs", she sounds worried
  1582. >Perhaps she's right, and you really have gone insane over hallucination spores
  1583. >Unfortunately, your time to think about that has been cut short
  1584. >Some of the cameras that you've hacked into around the complex have picked up something to worry about
  1585. >Alarms go off as on your HUD as a picture of the lobby is shown to you
  1586. >Multiple ponies in black jumpsuits are talking to the receptionist
  1587. >While you can't hear what they are saying, you can definitely see that the mare checking her computer looks nervous
  1588. >Terrified, even, with the ponies being pointed towards the elevator
  1589. >They very much do not look to be up to any good
  1590.  
  1591. >You freeze up at the prospect of unwelcome company and look around hastily
  1592. >"Something's the matter? You seem tense", Frost remarks, looking worried
  1593. "We've got company", you whisper as you bring up the camera feed from downstairs up on the vidscreen in your room
  1594. >At the sight, your friend tenses up just like you did, scrutinizing the jumpsuits the ponies are wearing
  1595. >"With how unmarked they are... corporate hired guns?", she concludes and you are inclined to agree
  1596. >Opening the fridge, you say a heartfelt goodbye to your trusty fungal friend, telling her you hope that you'll see her again
  1597. >Holding back tears you close down the fridge when as you tell Shroomie to hold the fort down
  1598. >And no snitching, you tell her, runners never sell their kind out
  1599. >It almost looks like the mass inside is frowning, but that can't be, right?
  1600. >Closing the fridge door, you pick up the small bat statue that Frost has made for you and put it into a small bag you picked up
  1601. >There isn't much you have, but what you can fit you put in
  1602. >Another glance at the monitor, it seems to be 5 ponies
  1603. >"That's looks like a retrieval unit", Frost growls as she watches the ponies getting ready to shuffle into the elevator
  1604. >"Two teams of two, with a team leader that is usually... very heavily capable of taking out targets on their own. Quietly and quickly"
  1605. >She points at herself, "I've led some of these before"
  1606. >Great, that doesn't exactly reassure you and you need to buy some more time
  1607. >Accessing the network port of your apartment, you link to the apartment's mainframe
  1608. >It controls everything here, including the elevators, which should allow you to...
  1609. >"Access granted", shows up on your HUD and you smirk as the elevator controls are available to you
  1610. >The fact that the ponies who have now gotten into the lift have selected your floor makes your blood freeze
  1611. >Once the metal box has gotten in motion you begin your plan to buy some time
  1612. >First, slow down the car by a little
  1613.  
  1614. >Override target floor, take control of the digital indicator and.... BAM.
  1615. >That should trick them to search the wrong floor and hopefully buy you at least a couple precious seconds
  1616. >Next you make sure to lock down the elevator after it arrives, getting it moving again will take additional time
  1617. >As you unplug, you look around for anything that might be missing
  1618. "Frost, on my back, quickly", you say as you pull her up and heave her up
  1619. >Holding on to you as tight as she can, the two of you walk over to the window of the apartment
  1620. >You turn around, ready to buck but Frost knowing what you are planning is first and smashes the glass with a well placed, hydraulic buck
  1621. >You look outside and down, jumping out of the window of the 68th floor will be painful
  1622. "Please, by the stars let my wings carry us", you pray to Luna's moon in the sky and jump
  1623. >Just to fall like a brick
  1624. >The ground is getting closer quickly and you hear screaming from one of the floors below yours as you pass it
  1625. >Gunshots too
  1626. >Thankfully, not at you
  1627. >Against the rushing wind, you do your best to unfurl your wings which is hard when they keep getting pressed against you
  1628. >A terrified screech escapes your mouth as you are mentally getting ready to become paste on the asphalt
  1629. >In the last second, your wings manage to open and catch an updraft, shaking you to the core
  1630. >While you can't fly, gliding seems to work with the mare on your back
  1631. >You move across the street in what feels like freefall right towards one of the windows of the opposing building
  1632. >If, by a miracle you survive this, the sewers would probably be the best option to hide
  1633. >A loud crash is all you hear as you smash right through the glass of the other side, into a couch on the far end of the room
  1634. >You hear movement from one of the rooms behind a closed door, which you assume to be the bedroom
  1635. >It was painful having the cyborg mare crush into you, but you both seem to at least be alive
  1636. >A gunshot rips through the air, hitting the wall in front of you
  1637.  
  1638. Sorry for the late start, having to take care of 3 big dogs tends to cost me 2 hours after work
  1639. >Part of you knows that you should just run and get the hell out of here
  1640. >But you doubt you'll be able to effectively carry Frost away, she is still quite heavy
  1641. >The door of the bedroom opens up and a stallion with a shakey gun in his magic stares at you
  1642. >A small filly hides behind him shuddering as she sees you and your cybermare
  1643. >"D-daddy, the-they're hurt", she peeks out behind him and looking down at yourself you have multiple cuts from the glass
  1644. >Judging from the pain in your side, at least one broken or at least bruised rip too
  1645. >It feels hard to breath and it worries you a little bit, unfortunately you don't have time to think about it
  1646. >A shot rips through the air, hitting the wall above you and you scramble to get out of the way of the window
  1647. >The filly screeches in panic and hides behind the her father once again
  1648. "You better stay back, things might get ugly", you warn the parent and he quickly picks up his daughter slamming the door shut
  1649. >Judging by what Frost said, the squad leader is probably at least as if not even more heavily augmented than she is
  1650. >Something you might just be able to use to your advantage as you reposition yourself next to the window
  1651. >Your sensitive bat ears are able to pick up the sound of gliding wings from the outside of the window, just as you would have expected
  1652. >The short moment that you wait for your assailant to come through the window you use to jack into a nearby network port
  1653. >Spiking the apartment network's mainframe you take control of the elevator network in this building too
  1654. >3 elevators, what luxury, but unfortunately, all of them are the super fast kind
  1655. >Locking out 2 of them, you call the third one to your floor, hoping to use it for a brisk exit strategy
  1656. >One thing you know for sure is that your McBatface's ID is completely burned
  1657. >You're lucky that your new name is gonna be Shell Shock, thank you Frost
  1658. >Just as the confirmation of the elevator going into motion appears, you hear another crash through the window onto the floor
  1659. >A small crater in the floor as a unicorn stallion with mechanic wings stands in the center of the room, glaring at Frost
  1660. >His body is a fiery red, with a yellow, short mane and tail
  1661.  
  1662. >"There you are, it's time to come home", he hisses at your robotic friend
  1663. >Her eyes look terrified as he steps closer to her, waves of heat coming off of him
  1664. >It's now or never you tell yourself as you take a deep breath and "eeeeEEEEEEEEEE" the loudest screech you have ever screeched
  1665. >The squad captain pins his ears to his head and shakes before a couple seconds later he goes stiff
  1666. >And drops to the floor with a thud, his cybernetic processors probably going haywire and trying to reboot
  1667. >In addition to being in pain, you are now also out of breath from eee'ing
  1668. >But you have to keep going, get out of here
  1669. >The elevator has arrived on your floor and is waiting, you just need to know where to go
  1670. >You could try and ride it all the way up but would there be a point to going to the roof?
  1671. >There is also the lobby, which is probably swarmed by guards at this point
  1672. >Maybe you can find a way out from the basement level?
  1673. >Or it might just be a dead end
  1674. >One thing that is clear is that you have to hurry, as the legs of the other cyborg are already starting to twitch again
  1675. >You need a plan, and you need it fast
  1676.  
  1677. this looks sick, anon
  1678. >You take a glance at the HUD that displays Frost's vitals to you and then back at the stallion
  1679. >Perhaps the C&C software you have running on your end could be used to keep this one of your back?
  1680. >That would require you to know or figure out how to actually link yourself to another cyborg
  1681. >And unfortunately you don't have the time for that and if the logs mean anything the C&C can only take control via imprinting
  1682. >His cybernetics do look mighty juicy though and if he comes from the same place that Frost came from, they might be compatible
  1683. >Sadly, you are not a ripperdoc and taking off his legs or wings probably isn't a timely task for you
  1684. >His systems are already rebooting so you need to get your ass in gear if you want to survive
  1685. >Maybe you can buy a bit more time via deception
  1686. >With a flick of your hoof, you set the elevators into a spastic up and down, making sure that the one on your floor stays right there for you
  1687. >Jacking out you pull Frost back on your back you make for a dash for the door
  1688. >The grumbling behind you makes you step it up a notch, very much aware what is going to happen to you were he to wake up
  1689. >Thankfully the hallway is currently clear of anypony and you have a clear way to your hopefully way out of this mess
  1690. >With the door of the elevator already open, you make for a slide into the cabin, mashing the buttons to go down
  1691. >Just as the door closes, you see that the cyborg has run out of the door, ready to make a sprint towards you
  1692. >The cabin, thankfully, is faster and you feel yourself going into freefall
  1693. >Gotta admire these speed transportation capsules, but you now know why you should be strapped in as you are basically floating
  1694. >Frost feels as light as a feather on your back right now for the couple seconds the ride takes
  1695. >The return of gravity is even harsher though as the mare on your back crushes you into the ground
  1696. >She gasps, terrified at the sensation and you can feel another broken rib for sure
  1697. >Your leg also doesn't feel as good as it used to
  1698. >But you still have the door open to the second floor and your adrenaline pumped body carries Frost out of the cabin
  1699. >Before you leave, you send the elevator straight back up to the top
  1700. >Right in time too, as you hear a loud crash on the ceiling of the elevator as you step out
  1701. >Frantically looking around you see one of the apartment doors next to you and turn around
  1702.  
  1703. >She uses her one good backhoof to kick the door, making it fly inwards and impacting against the opposite wall
  1704. >Thankfully, the place currently seems empty
  1705. >Judging from no confused screaming at least
  1706. >Dragging yourself into the place, you start looking around for any place to hide
  1707. >The bathroom door is open a dirty clothes chute looking really fucking inviting right now
  1708. >You breath in and make a run, or by now nothing but a slow slog towards it, dragging the mare on your back around
  1709. >Gosh, you really, REALLY need to get a hold of those legs
  1710. >"Shell, I am so sorry this is happening to you", Frost is shaking and it looks like she is tearing up in frustration over not being able to help
  1711. >Shushing her you apologize for what you are about to do you dump the whole mare down the mood
  1712. >In surprise she screams and tries to hold herself with her hooves but the metal on metal is very slippery and she soon disappears into the dark below
  1713. >The dark which you follow into as you hear an explosion from outside of the room
  1714. >It isn't a long trip down but the landing isn't any less rough for what it's worth
  1715. >The cyborg below you keeps her mouth shut but she glares at you
  1716. >You two found yourself in a dusty basement in a cart full of stinking jump suits that you quickly try to get out of
  1717. >But it gives you an idea, the cart having wheels might make it easier for you to get Frost around
  1718. >If you can manage to get that cart out of here, that is
  1719. >There seems to be a way out of this basement through some kind of loading bay that probably leads to the street
  1720. >But with how many pipes and stuff there is here you might also be able to find a maintenance access to the city's maintenance tunnels, or the sewers
  1721. >Down the chute you can hear screaming of orders that even with your bat hearing you can't really make out down here
  1722. >Maybe you can find something to disable anypony coming down here with?
  1723. >Crowbar to the head seems to work in movies, usually
  1724. >Or you can just try and hide out here, make them think you are gone
  1725. >Frost looks at you sympathetically
  1726. >And once you are out of here, what then anyways?
  1727. >Both your apartment and identity are burned
  1728. >Perhaps you can find an abandoned place a bit further out from the city, a hideout perhaps?
  1729. >You do know that there is a couple places that netrunners usually use as temporary bases and hideouts
  1730. >A map like this is part of every runner's emergency information, usually with a couple bits offshore that can be used to tide one over
  1731. >Or see if you can crash with one of your few contacts you have?
  1732. >Definitely need a plan here
  1733.  
  1734. >Well, while you have multiple ways of getting out of this place, you'd be basically sitting ducks
  1735. >The crowbar is a dumb idea, at least if it is you doing the crowbaring
  1736. >It might be a different matter if Frost was the one knocking out ponies, but alas that has to wait
  1737. >You know one thing, though, and that is that the streets are too open, you'd probably be outnumbered
  1738. >And carrying a pony is gonna slow you to a point where you get easily outgunned
  1739. >The sewers will be your best bet, even if the smell is probably gonna be unbearable
  1740. >Not like you haven't been through worse, all things considered
  1741. >But you need a distraction, a way to get them off your backs
  1742. >Scrambling towards a junction box you rip open the cover and look for a network port to link to
  1743. >Jacking in, you call for multiple taxis to the building, one to the roof, one to the loading bay and one to the front door
  1744. >And you call an ambulance, just for good measure, maybe you can make them think you're trying to steal it
  1745. >While you're connected you also scroll through your relatively tiny list of contacts
  1746. >There's Morning Dawn, being your most recent acquaintance
  1747. >Hardware Crash, one of the best techies you've ever had the chance to run with
  1748. >You know she lives mostly secluded at the far edge of the slums but not exactly where
  1749. >Coffee Cup, the owner of the local runner-caffee is also on there
  1750. >You know he lets runners use his connection no questions asked and isn't the kind of stallion to rat anyone out to the corps
  1751. >But would he be able to give you a place to rest?
  1752. >There is also this mare that you tried to have... well, not much happened but she seemed to like you
  1753. >Maybe you could try one of the many homeless shelters?
  1754. >Your ears swivel as you think you can hear hoofsteps in the staircase
  1755. >Gotta make this quick, fortunately you can also hear the sirens of what you assume to be the ambulance
  1756. >Scrambling you look around, discovering a manhole cover in the far back end of the room
  1757. >Pushing the cart with Frost in it next to it you sigh as you pull her out and in the process pull out a pair of scarlet panties
  1758. >Thank god her jumpsuit that you totally only borrowed has pockets
  1759. >She helps you get the cover open and while she climbs down you give her support from below
  1760. >Would be a nice view if you weren't in danger
  1761. >The manhole cover has been covered by the cart and you closed it as well as you could
  1762. >You hope nobody follows you as you hear heavy boots in the room above you
  1763. >Question is, where to now, or maybe you should stay and listen for if they try to search for you or take the bait?
  1764. >Gosh it is dark as all heck down here and it stinks even worse
  1765.  
  1766. Sorry for the late post, had a pretty shit day
  1767. >The two of you need to get your asses in gear if you wanna get out of here alive
  1768. >While you do worry a little that they have advanced cyborg hearing, the stream of sewage water should hide your sounds
  1769. >The reason you were able to hear them as clearly was because they are using heavy duty combat boots, not light clippy cloppy like you do
  1770. >It's very useful for intimidation purposes or so you've been told at least
  1771. >Sadly, you also have disconnected from a network so you don't exactly have the ability to start something to make noise to cover your tracks
  1772. >There seems to be no network ports accessible down here in immediate reach either that you could jack into
  1773. >So you are stuck to simple wireless comms and browsing the net right now
  1774. >Slowly trudging your way downwards, following the water stream, you have pulled up a map of the underground tunnels
  1775. >Neither you nor Frost dare say a word until you are confident you are out of hearing range of any of the military ponies
  1776. >Quite frankly, you are surprised that nopony has found the access to the sewers, maybe your ruse has really worked out?
  1777. >Whatever it is, you take the time to catch a much needed mental (and physical break) as you trudge along the disgusting brown water next to you
  1778. >If you fell into there, you'd probably be dead in minutes, either from being pulled underwater by the heavy currents or being poisoned with mares know what
  1779. >A couple of times you would have almost slipped and fell in but thankfully, Frost was always there to catch you and a stray pipe on the wall
  1780. >Being far away out from your previous point of entrance, you think on your next steps from here on
  1781. >However they found you, it is highly likely they will do so again, especially since they know what you look like now
  1782. >Any public space or hideout you go to will end up either burned or completely ruined
  1783. >Likewise, any netrunner will surely be careful in takin gin somepony with heat on their back
  1784. >Very bad for business, you add
  1785. >While you rather not, that leaves only...
  1786. >Ring, ring, you use a proxy to dial your crush's number, who ends up picking up after a couple seconds
  1787. >The video of a dark blue batpony mare with a white mane and freckles in her face that make her look like a starry night sky
  1788. >"Nightly Comet here, who is th-", she looks at her own screen more closely, "Buffy?", she raises an eyebrow
  1789. >"We haven't talked in months, what gives me the pleasure?", she asks sweetly, genuinely surprised and happy to hear from you again
  1790.  
  1791. >"...you need a place to lay low?", she completes your sentence, as if it was the most natural thing in the world
  1792. >You blink in surprise at her warm, and welcoming smile
  1793. "H-how?", you stammer, confused at how easily she figured that out
  1794. >She giggles, sticking out her tongue at you
  1795. >"You're a runner, any filly could have figured that out with the way you look and sound when talking about tech and networks"
  1796. >With a smile, she tells you that you are welcome to make your way over for a couple days
  1797. >This mare is a kind ray of sunshine in a dark and unloving world and if more ponies were like her the world would surely not be as bleak
  1798. >You can't thank her enough which she starts to blush about profusely before saying to just get your batflank over already and hanging up
  1799. >With a marker on your map you begin the long walk towards your destination
  1800. >You have to stop multiple times and take a breather, your entire body screaming in absolute agony by now
  1801. >How long will you be able to continue on?
  1802. >Thankfully, the map marker confirms your arrival after what your clock says were about 3 hours of subterranean marching
  1803. >Finding the closest access hatch out of here you are thankful it is an automatically activated one
  1804. >Listening to the outside there is the light sound of traffic, but you don't think the ponehole is in the middle of the street
  1805. >Activating the mechanism, gears start spinning and you see the orange light of the street lamps shining down
  1806. >Using the last bit of energy you have left in you, you help Frost up the ladder and follow suit before collapsing on the ground in a small alleyway
  1807. >You recognize the high rise that you landed up next to in an instant, it is one of the nicer places you ever had the chance to be invited into
  1808. >According to your clock it is... geez, 1AM
  1809. >But that just means more ponies being asleep and less commotion or prying eyes
  1810. >You just lie there, for a couple minutes, enjoying the comparably cool nighttime air
  1811. >Deciding you aren't able to move you send Comet a message, asking her if she has a cart that you could borrow
  1812. >Because quite frankly, you are definitely not able to carry Frost any further
  1813. >The mare looks apologetically at you, it seems to weigh on her that you had to go through all of this for her
  1814. >A couple minutes later, you hear the sound of wheels and hoofsteps approach the alley and a gasp before someone is rushing over
  1815.  
  1816. >"Oh my gosh, oh mY GOSH, what happened to you two?", a panicked bat mare screeches as she leans over you
  1817. "Please, make sure she is alright, first", you quietly whisper as every breath you take spikes a shock of pain through your body
  1818. >While Comet looks worried, she does as you ask and helps Frost onto the small grocery wagon she has brought
  1819. >"This is something I always liked about you, Buffy. You put others over yourself, at every step", she says as she helps you on your hooves
  1820. >While supporting you, you make your way into the building and up the elevator
  1821. >The place is a lot more clean than the dumps that you have been in for the past weeks
  1822. >With a click, the electric look opens and you fall face first on the carpeted floor
  1823. >Unfortunately, you don't have the time to enjoy it as you feel yourself being dragged away by your tail
  1824. >Right into the bathroom where you are unceremoniously dumped on the floor with a huff
  1825. >"First of all, you stink. Go take a bath, stinky. And then go ahead and tell me what's going on.... and what your plan is from here on out"
  1826. >She then glances back at Frost who is glancing at the two of you from the cart in the living room, clearly somewhat distrustful of the other batpony
  1827. >Comet turns around and leaves the bathroom before closing the door and leaving you to your devices
  1828. >Stepping into the shower, you turn on the hot water and let it flow over you
  1829. >It is, quite simply said, absolute bliss to your mind and body
  1830. >Even though you are still in pain basically everywhere the warmth relaxes your muscles
  1831. >It would be a good time to think of what to tell Comet and what your next plan is from here on out
  1832. >It is then when you break out into a cough and look down on your blood covered hoof as the red lifeblood is quickly washed away by the shower
  1833. >That doesn't seem good and all you can do is stare at it with a terrified expression as you keep having thoughts of everything run through your head
  1834.  
  1835. >It is then that you realize that you are on the brink of probably dying right here
  1836. >With the abuse you have taken you wouldn't be surprised if you had internal bleeding
  1837. >And that means that you are likely not surviving the night
  1838. >You ought to get to a doc, right fucking now
  1839. >Drying yourself with a towel that is hanging nearby you can smell the soft fragrance of lavender
  1840. >And you yourself have rarely smelled this nice, which is funny in a weird and fucked up way
  1841. >It might be your last day on earth and you've never looked and smelled better
  1842. >Once you are dry enough you step out, trying to keep a smile on your face
  1843. "Hey girls, I have to go out again, it's.. urgent. Don't wait for me and get some sleep", you tell them before heading to the door
  1844. >Both Frost and Comet look at each other, concern in their faces
  1845. >"What's going on, Buffy?", Comet asks and takes a step towards you, lifting her hoof trying to stop you
  1846. >But you just step away from her and look at Frost
  1847. "Do me a favor and tell her as much as you deem safe and worthy to tell her", you instruct Frost
  1848. >She looks after you, tries to get up and stop you but fails due to her partially limbless condition
  1849. >As you step out of the door, you hope the two of them will stay safe
  1850. >You shoot Frost a message: "Make sure to take care... while I'm gone. If I'm not back in time, ask Comet to help you pick up your new legs. And don't jack in. Might not be safe."
  1851. >Attaching the address of the pickup point you head towards downstairs and pull up a list of docs open at night
  1852. >Frost messages you back and you almost don't even want to open it: "Shell, what are you doing? You're worrying me"
  1853. >With a sigh you step out into the fresh night air a breeze catches your stiff feeling wings
  1854. >In the distance you can hear police sirens and you start to panic
  1855. >But they don't seem to be coming your direction right now, thankfully
  1856. >Getting into a slow canter as to not put too much strain on your body you move your butt towards the closest doctor's office
  1857. >You really hope that they won't question your lack of ID, or maybe you can use one of your couple fake IDs instead
  1858. >If not... maybe dig up some dirt and blackmail them?
  1859. >You definitely need to get out of Comet's apartment soon so it has to be a quick patch up
  1860. >....That might mean cybernetics
  1861. >You cough again, blood splattering on the asphalt in front of you and in bigger quantities than before
  1862. >And you need a longer lasting hideout
  1863. >And a new ID, Shell Shock sounds nice
  1864. >Changing your appearance is gonna be hard, unless again, you mess with more cybernetics or plastic surgery
  1865. >Turning your mane and eyes a different color is the best thing you can do for now
  1866. >You're not rich but you have a few backup reserves of money that you can tap into, unmarked accounts with emergency funds
  1867. >Every netrunner has those prep'd
  1868. >You stand in front of an unassuming clinic, the lights inside bright and glaring
  1869. >How should you proceed?
  1870.  
  1871. >A quick mane change is certainly in order
  1872. >Activating your fiberoptic mane you change both mane and tail to a light blue after confirming nopony is around to see you
  1873. >You take a deep breath and make your way into the clinic while stumbling around
  1874. >Partially to pretend you are confused or dazed, but but in big part because you really feel like you are about to keel over
  1875. >Having your vision start going black in front of you, you attempt to make your way over to the reception desk
  1876. >It is about halfway there where your body decides to give up, your vision goes black entirely and the last thing you hear is what sounds like panicked screaming
  1877. >"...D....Cross...-rry", a stallion seems to be shouting and you want to bat him away as you just want to rest
  1878. >But this is nice... maybe you can just lie here forever, your body certainly doesn't seem against the idea
  1879. >As your consciousness decides to finally slip away you think of Comet. Of Frost. Even Morning Dawn.
  1880. >Will they be alright with you?
  1881. >Probably, so far they've been fine without you, so why would that change now
  1882. >Morning is going to be a great Mastermind for a runner group, you're sure of that
  1883. >Comet... her unmatched sweetness and kindness really deserve better than you anyways
  1884. >And even though it hasn't been long you can't deny that you've grown fond of your cyborg friend
  1885. >Once she has her legs back you're sure she can handle herself without problem
  1886. >And with that, you simply... shut down
  1887. >..........
  1888. >A terrible pain in your chest makes you crack your eye open, only to be assaulted by a very bright light
  1889. >You hear a rhythmic beeping around yourself and the sound of what seems to be air pumps
  1890. >Something is strapped to your face and at the edge of your vision, you can see the silhouettes of what appears to be ponies
  1891. >There isn't much time to say anything as you can smell something and once more become sleepy
  1892. >Restless dreams, or rather nightmares, are your constant companion with the additional feeling of something being severely wrong
  1893. >..........
  1894. >The rays of sunlight tickle you awake as you scrunch up and pull the blanket over you again to avoid the unwanted intruder
  1895. >Certainly not the most comfortable bed you've ever had but it will do
  1896. >While the stinging pain in your chest is now gone, there is still a weird sort of feeling that you can't quite make out
  1897. >A noise outside makes you crack open an eye, noticing your contacts have decided to shut themselves down
  1898. >Trying to fiddle with your bracelet, you notice that it is missing
  1899. >Moreover, a needle is stuck in your right forehoof attached to an IV bag hanging next to you
  1900. >Hoofsteps outside of your door that your ears are picking up announce that you are about to have visitors
  1901. >It opens, a gray earthpony with glasses stepping in, carrying a tray with bread and water
  1902. >She notices you are awake, quickly sets down the plate and leaves again post-haste
  1903.  
  1904. >Your body is in pain but other than that you seem to be here, more or less, of your own volition
  1905. >No hoofcuffs, no ropes or cages to lock you in and no sign of any police force either
  1906. >You are cautiously optimistic about this and look yourself over
  1907. >The fact that the mare just quickly left the room without looking worried or panicked is a good sign too
  1908. >Looking yourself over you see your wings wrapped up in bandages, likewise most of your legs
  1909. >Your back leg has a splint keeping it straight and is surrounded by a cast
  1910. >To your horror, there is a massive scar going across your entire chest
  1911. >Every bit of moving or stretching it hurts, but it is the kind of pain that you can bear without feeling like you're dying
  1912. >Your breathing is... more clear then it was yesterday night, at least so that is a plus
  1913. >On your side something is really itchy and you start scratching before freezing up
  1914. >Right there, on your side, is a small port for a plug which only means one thing
  1915. >Celestia please don't let the thoughts that are coming to your head be the case
  1916. >Wishing you had your deck bracelet on you to at least be able to load the contacts you sigh
  1917. >Remote wiping is unfortunately not possible but considering that the C&C is locked behind DNA verification should be enough
  1918. >Nopony should be able to mess with her head except you... hopefully
  1919. >As on queue, the door opens up and an old, gray maned from age stallion enters
  1920. >He has a warm smile on his face and wears a white coat before sitting down next to you
  1921. >"You gave us quite the scare, young lad", he takes a peak at the clipboard before a small frown appears on his face
  1922. >"Whatever you've been through must have been quite the pain in the behind", he gives you a sympathetic look
  1923. "I'm... yeah I suppose so...", you try and to sit up but he quickly holds you down
  1924. >"Woah, woah take it easy lil guy. Ponies aren't meant to move around much after their lungs have been replaced", he says in a joking manner
  1925. >At his words, your face begins to pale and you check your chest again, and the port that you've noticed
  1926. >"I'm afraid so", the doctor frowns, "oh I am sorry. Oh where are my manners, I'm Precise Cut, but everyone just calls me Doctor Cut", he laughs a hearty, warm laugh
  1927. >The kind of laugh that you just know you can trust and rely on
  1928.  
  1929. "Where's my...", you point at your hoof and the doctor immediately lights up
  1930. >"Oh yes, of course. You young kids and your toys", he winks at you knowingly before calling for a nurse
  1931. >"Fetch this young man's gear, would you please?", to which she nods and hurries out
  1932. >"Now then... so far the emergency surgery seems to have gone... pretty alright. But I have to warn you: The lung we had is... not the best quality", he looks sad
  1933. >"We don't really tend to have the budget to keep high quality parts on hoof. We gave you the best treatment we could but..."
  1934. >He points at your chest, "if I were you, I'd try to get a hold of a high grade lung as soon as you can. This one might last you a couple weeks, months at best before you need to have it replaced"
  1935. >"Of course, we're willing to help you out getting that thing in there, once you have acquired something", he gives you a gentle nod
  1936. >The nurse opens the door again and brings you your bracelet, which you eagerly put on
  1937. >"I'll leave you to your own devices a bit, I am sure there are ponies you wish to tell that you're alright", he gets up and slowly makes his way to the front door
  1938. >Either he doesn't know about the price on your head or he doesn't care
  1939. >You really, REALLY hope it is the latter
  1940. >As soon as you put on your deck though, you begin the process of initializing your lenses
  1941. >To your dismay, one of them ended up cracked and doesn't seem to load anymore
  1942. >The other one is thankfully (after a couple of restarts) ready to go
  1943. >After log on to the network, you are bombarded with worried messages... messages spanning over 2 days
  1944. >You've been out of it, for almost 3 full days, with Frost having sent you worried comms almost constantly
  1945. >There is a couple from Morning Dawn in there as well, and two or three from Comet
  1946. >A delivery update tells you that Frost's legs are supposed to be delivered to the ripperdoc you specified the next morning
  1947. >What are you doing from here on out?
  1948.  
  1949. >You owe these three mares one HELL of an apology and you are gonna make good on that
  1950. >But first you would like to check how bad your... well, new lungs really are
  1951. >Fortunately, a nurse you called has given you a cable that you can slot in
  1952. >You also understand why Frost wasn't exactly a fan of you getting near her port
  1953. >Plugging something into your body has to be the most weird and most depressing thing you have ever felt
  1954. "Let's see.... come on, give me something good", you glance at the diagnostics that your new mod displays
  1955. >And quite frankly, they could have hardly given you anything worse
  1956. >This is not some kind of planned obsolescence without any future system updates and the like
  1957. >This thing is straight up not meant for long term usage
  1958. >"DTech™ TempLung 4020", according to the web this is meant for ponies waiting for a replacement lung
  1959. >You can underdrive it, which would definitely gimp you pretty hard, from what you'd guess
  1960. >Oxygene IS important, or so you've been told, you think to yourself sarcastically, thinking of how bad the air in the slums is
  1961. >Next though, you hope you get to ease some ponies' worries
  1962. >Dawn probably doesn't need to know too much, you'll just shoot her a quick message
  1963. "Hello Morning Dawn, just a short update: I have ended up under the blade and... there might be a slight delay in our plans. Not too long, I hope, I'll tell you more once I know more"
  1964. >That should do it for her at least, hopefully she is satisfied with that
  1965. >Next you swallow as you dread the call you are about to make
  1966. >You dial the number from your contacts and have it ring for a couple minutes
  1967. >She finally picks up with that sweet "Hello, Comet here, who's speaking?", you see her picture pop up on your one remaining lens
  1968. >To actually properly use it you have to hold your other eye shut, it is quite the annoyance
  1969. >The mare is wearing a cute little pink apron, "Kiss the mare" it says and she seems to be in her kitchen as you can hear something sizzle in the background
  1970. "Hey...", you more whimper than say as you are prepared for a shitstorm to break loose
  1971. >Instead, you see the mare tear up and in the background you hear Frost's voice asking if Comet is alright
  1972. >At least they seem to be getting along alright by now, you're glad Frost had someone to keep her company
  1973. >Comet looks past the virtual screen and nods at assumingly Frost
  1974. >Squealing wheels coming closer and you end up seeing her head poke into the screen
  1975. >She too, begins to have watery eyes, "Shell, where are you? You've just out and left, Frost was devastated", Comet sniffles
  1976. >To which Frost shoots her a glare that warms up into a small smile quickly and both mares begin to giggle together
  1977. >It warms your heart to see them get along
  1978.  
  1979. "I'm sorry, Frost. I had to see a doc and I had to do that really, really quickly", you use your camera to show the mares your chest
  1980. "Guess I am a little closer to you now as well, Frost", you smirk but you see both mares frown at you
  1981. >"Shell", Frost starts out and Comet takes over, "you worried both of us sick. Seeing you with... this is just making us more worried. Where are you? We'll come over there, immediately"
  1982. >"I'm working on tracing his location right now", Frost is saying from the side and you immediately terminate the call
  1983. >From outside you hear hooves rushing to your room and open up, a nurse standing there out of breath
  1984. >"Is everything ok? Your heart rate has gone up quite considerably, are you having a heart attack?", she asks and you wave a hoof
  1985. >She sighs in relief before leaving you to yourself again
  1986. >While you are alone again, you think of what to do next while you absent mindedly scroll through the news
  1987. >If you had drank something, you might have spit something out as you read about an entire apartment complex that has burned down... your complex
  1988. >Multiple casualties and many, many more hurt, allegations of Darkside Net being involved have been repeatedly shot down by the corp
  1989. >The doc comes by telling you that you're probably gonna be bed-bound for a week, which you really don't feel is possible
  1990. >Not that you'd be telling him
  1991. >As he leaves, he once again recommends you to look for a better lung, and fast
  1992. >He also told you that you do have quite the sum of money that you owe him now, but payment can be discussed later and he doesn't expect you to pay all of it at once
  1993. >For now, you are left to your own devices, in your bed, and have a lot of time to think of your next step the next couple days
  1994.  
  1995. >You wonder what happened to your old lungs, but judging from the way you felt they've probably more hole-y than cheese
  1996. >From what you know, damaged organs get incinerated immediately as to not pose a health risk
  1997. >A really disgusting idea plops in your head when you remember what one of the nun's at the orphanage kept telling you: "You are what you eat"
  1998. >Waving your hooves in front of your face you try to get rid of these thoughts immediately and are kinda disgusted at them in the first place
  1999. >For now you lean back into your pillow though, a little bit of rest will definitely do you well
  2000. >Even though you absolutely hate not being able to do anything, it is nagging at you like crazy
  2001. >Mindlessly playing around with your bracelet you take a glance at the thankfully still available diagnostics screen of Frost
  2002. >Her heartbeat is gentle and you imagine lying next to somepony and listening to it in absolute peace and silence
  2003. >It's a nice thought that you maybe someday will be able to realize
  2004. >You fail to keep a straight face and break out into laughter at the idea of you ever settling down someplace nice with a nice mare, not you
  2005. >The debt you have terrifies you though and easily pulls you away from your daydreams
  2006. >According to the doc it comes to around 15 grand which is... a considerable sum
  2007. >But he did tell you that you can pay it in small portions, clearly understanding that you aren't exactly a well off stallion
  2008. >The ponies in this clinic have been nothing but hospitable and you want to very much pay them back everything you owe them
  2009. >Perhaps this place is a good place to... help out monetarily from time to time, when a job goes well and all that
  2010. >A couple donations might do wonders when it comes to having emergency organ transplants required out of the blue
  2011. >Accessing your emergency funds, you have about 3500 credits to your name scattered around multiple smaller accounts
  2012. >While that sounds a lot, it is usually barely enough to recover from a full on burn... which you basically have to do as well
  2013. >You still have your deck, thankfully, but you lost your identity, deep diving gear, your home and anything you really had in terms of possession
  2014. >Darkside, these fuckers, but if they are on the screen you've really messed with one of the big four almost directly
  2015.  
  2016. >Nobody really knows what Darkside does, but many believe them to be the Big Four's dark ops branch, the ponies you sent to make problems disappear
  2017. >Rumors, but with what you've seen the past couple days you wouldn't be surprised if those were true
  2018. >Even worse, they've taken Shroomie... a fungal gone too soon, you mourn and hold a silent minute to remember this sacrifice
  2019. >Out of curiosity, you decide to look up what a lung would cost you
  2020. >And you almost spit out your drink again, if you had one, at the prices you are seeing
  2021. >For one of the most basic lungs out there one of the cheapest, non-subscription ones comes to around 2500 creds and that is a no bells and whistles thing, functional but probably planned obsolescence like your contacts
  2022. >Since you already have a chrome lung, you might want to consider making use of the chance
  2023. >Perhaps smoke filtering or increased lung capacity? Toxin-gas filter, whatever else you can think of while you upgrade
  2024. >It would probably set you back a couple thousand more, if you don't just manage to steal one or something, but it would probably get you set for a while
  2025. >Or you can buy a subscription based one and try and wipe your record off their company servers
  2026. >Maybe you could do that to everypony in the list? Free them from their usually extremely restrictive contracts
  2027. >As long as you don't fuck around with wirelessly connected cyberware (the WORST invention, organs don't need to be on the net!), the potential of some script foal stopping your lung from sending oxygen to your brain is basically non-existent
  2028. >It pains you that you've lost such a big part of your equinity but at least you are still... alive you suppose
  2029. >Still enough flesh and blood in this pony!
  2030. >All of a sudden you see the diagnostics screen of Frost spike in heart rate and seconds later your batty ears pick up a voice outside
  2031. >"...a batpony, long mane", that voice is very familiar to you before you hear hoofsteps and the sound of wheels
  2032. >The door opens up and you see a white mare step in, covered by a long trench coat which she throws off as she sees you
  2033. >Her mid section seems awkwardly balanced on a small plastic table with wheels
  2034. >She has tears in her eyes as she rushes up to you and swinging her front hoof around you, almost crushing you in a hug
  2035. >The mare is followed by a batpony mare who gently closes the door before heading up to you and giving you a quick nuzzle
  2036. >"You're a real stupid stallion, do you know that?", Comet frowns and looks between you and Frost, displeased
  2037.  
  2038. >You raise your hooves up in defense, trying to explain yourself here
  2039. "Not at all! I might have made a couple mistakes, here and there, but I am witty, handsome and at least 80% biodegradable!", you try and joke
  2040. >That explanation nets you a slap to the face by Comet, who also is tearing up now, "You could have died on the street, you dumbass"
  2041. "OK, OK, I'm really sorry about letting you girls worry like this, but I really didn't plan to collapse the moment I set hoof into the clinic"
  2042. >She looks at you sternly and turns away, walking over to the window and looking out of it while giving Frost and you a moment to yourself
  2043. "Is it safe for you to be here, Frost? Last time you plugged in we had black ops on our butts real fast"
  2044. >Frost still holds you and has her face buried in your (now damp) neck, but she shakes her head
  2045. >Her voice is muffled and you can hear an occasional sob while she talks
  2046. >"I don't have a... a wireless link. Not anymore", she points to her head, where the port for what you assume her horn would be is located
  2047. >So her horn does serve as a wireless transmitter, but otherwise she is hardline only, good to know for the future
  2048. >"Shell, I was really really worried", she whispers in your ear between sobs, "you're the first pony that has just been... kind to me and I would hate to lose that"
  2049. >"Please don't be stupid and get yourself killed", she sounds hurt as she pulls away from you and joins Comet by the window, looking outside
  2050. >Trying to change the topic you look around the room before cautiously approaching a different question
  2051. "Is there... well", you try and find your words before swallowing a lump in your throat, "do they know who I am? Is there a bounty on our heads?"
  2052. >Not looking at you, Comet shakes her head, "I've been keeping track of the bounty boards, thanks to Frost showing me the ropes. Your description hasn't appeared, not publicly at least"
  2053. >"When are you going to be able to get out of here?", Frost asks, her back being rubbed by Comet in comfort
  2054. "A week from now, if the doc is having his way. Which I hope he won't, I'd like to be out here by tomorrow, honestly", you sigh
  2055. >Frost glares sharply at you, "are you insane? You've passed out in front of the clinic, had emergency surgery and are thinking of going back out in the field TOMORROW?"
  2056. >She stands next to you in an instant and pushes you back down onto the bed, with painful amounts of force
  2057. >"I'll take care of things", she says and then passes by your bed, putting her trench coat back on and leaving with a huff
  2058. >Comet looks at you apologetically, before following the angry mare out
  2059. >Great. You really blew this one, didn't you.
  2060. >Gotta certainly be more careful when you talk to her next time... and find a way to make it up to her
  2061. >In the meantime, you need to think of how to make it up to both of them, they were really worried and all that
  2062. >Watcha gonna do?
  2063.  
  2064. I can tell you that the C&C connection isn't as simple as a normal network connection
  2065. >You're stuck in this place for the foreseeable future so you might as well listen to the pair of mares
  2066. >Lest you are in for another couple hooves to the face and upsetting more mares
  2067. >For now you do the usual necessities, logging into the local net and setting up warnings and defenses
  2068. >Don't want to get your ass caught and hauled off to some chamber to be questioned before your body is found in a ditch
  2069. >Escape routes and floor plans, of course
  2070. >Then you decide to dive into the offers of cyberware-as-a-service, looking for something particularly scummy
  2071. =============================================================================================
  2072. "Stupid colt getting himself almost killed, for me", you cuss to yourself while awkwardly walking with the mobility contraption Comet has helped you out with
  2073. >You're not the one who negotiated with Big Cash, but you decide to take over operations for now while Shell is recovering
  2074. >Thankfully you're training has you made a very capable negotiator and middlemare of business
  2075. >You message Big Cash and "request" an extension of the deadline, demanding a week more
  2076. >A reply doesn't take long, and sounds very much like a warning, "make sure to bring me something juicy"
  2077. >That went... better than you would have expected but that might just be cash going easy on novice runners
  2078. >Not that you'd consider Shell a novice by any means but Morning Dawn certainly is
  2079. >You still don't trust that pony, not until you get to see her in action
  2080. >And by then you will be able to protect Shell Shock, just like he made sure to keep you safe through all of this
  2081. >Shell Shock... the pony that proverbially and literally pulled you out of the dump when you've basically given up
  2082. >While you've known him for a day at best his kindness and willingness to risk himself for you has been proven over and over again
  2083. >For what it's worth, once the reclaimer group came knocking down his door he could have just hoofed you over
  2084. >But he didn't, he instead pulled one of the most idiotic stunts you've ever seen anypony do
  2085. >If this is how he used to do his runs you are honestly surprised, confused AND impressed at the same time that he is still alive
  2086. >The last pony you've felt this... close and almost intimate with was your... well, you are having a weirdly hard time remembering... her?
  2087. >Yes, definitely her. Earth mare? No, no... Pegasus... you think.
  2088. >If only you could remember her name, but anytime you try to think of her name or what she looks like a stinging pain in your head sets in
  2089. >You stop and hold your hoof to your head, growling quietly
  2090. >A hoof on your side makes you snap your head around, a concerned looking Comet by your side
  2091. >"...ok? Are you feeling sick", she asks and you quickly put down your hoof and shake your head
  2092.  
  2093. "No, thank you for asking, Comet. Let's just... I need to get things going for an upcoming...", you catch yourself, as your training kicks in
  2094. >Never tell bystanders anything under any circumstances, keep details of any mission to yourself and the ones involved
  2095. >Once again you start moving, ignoring Comet's please for you to wait up
  2096. >"Hey, you can talk to me, you know?", the batpony mare says as she frowns at you giving her the cold shoulder
  2097. "I need to see a certain doctor", you continue as you walk down the road on your makeshift mobility device
  2098. >Comet keeps up with you and thinks for a moment, "new legs?"
  2099. >You glance at her and just give her the must curt of nods you can muster
  2100. >The next thing she says surprises you greatly though: "I'll install them for you", she whispers, more than anything
  2101. >That stops you dead in your tracks and you look at her in absolute disbelief
  2102. >"Just because I live in a relatively nice place doesn't mean I don't have my share of history", she frowns at you
  2103. >"Most ponies in this station do. We're all made from something special, even if some of us are better at hiding that than others. Don't judge books by their covers"
  2104. >She passes you by and stops a couple meters away from you
  2105. >"You coming? We've got a pair of legs to fetch", she turns around and heads down the road
  2106. >It doesn't take long until you reach the place that Shell mentioned to the cyber clerk
  2107. >But Comet stops you before you walk into the front door and points into a side alley
  2108. >"Business like this never happens in the light"
  2109. >While you might have been trained to handle basic runner tactics to know how to best infiltrate and terminate, this goes way beyond what you've been told
  2110. >But the confidence your companion displays does give you a certain bit of trust in what she has to say
  2111. >Following her across the street, you two sit down at a conveniently located Caffè right across the street and she orders the two of you a herbal tea
  2112. >Occasionally she glances towards the alley next to the clinic and you spend about 20 minutes until a black van drives up
  2113. >The pony getting out is a gruff looking stallion, well defined muscles who looks around once or twice before opening the back of the van and pulling out a small container
  2114. >Electric locks make it clear that this is more heavy duty than just a simple delivery
  2115. >He walks over to a door on the opposite building of the clinic in the alley and places it down, knocking twice and then leaving
  2116. >Once a couple more minutes pass, the door opens and you see a pair of hooves pull it inside just as quickly
  2117. >"They're probably connected via underground tunnel, or perhaps you're being relocated into that building", Comet nods towards the door
  2118. >"Don't get up just yet", she whispers to you and takes another sip of her tea
  2119. >She then watches you closely before asking what your next plan is supposed to be, not just your legs but in general
  2120. >"And keep talking. It looks less conspicuous. Go ahead, ask any question you might have"
  2121.  
  2122. >You mull it over as you glance around the place for a quick second
  2123. "You and Shell-- err, I mean Buffy... you seem to really care about him, but he never really explained the nature of your relationship to me"
  2124. >She giggles and has that warm smile on her face that you've come to know rather well over the past couple days
  2125. >"We've met at night, maybe a little bit of a cliché considering...", she stretches one of her leathery wings and chuckles
  2126. >"He was hooked up to a network junction box, cursing to himself the entire time", she starts swearing like a sailor, trying to imitate Shell's voice
  2127. >"Now, an ordinary pony would probably not have taken notice, but being nocturnal isn't the only boon a batpony has", she tells you and her ears flick as she smiles a fang-y smile
  2128. >"I went to check it out, curious as I was and startled him to the point where he accidentally ripped his cable in half"
  2129. >"'Oh I am just doing... uhm.. s-system maintenance, yes!', he told me while blushing like I have rarely seen other ponies blush"
  2130. >She then winks at you before continuing her tale: "Told him I won't tell anypony if he'll take me out for a coffee the next day. We really just kind of... hit off at that point"
  2131. >"Buffy... or rather Shell as you seem to keep calling him, I guess his identity was burned?", she asks and you nod, telling her you decided to call him "Shell Shock" from now
  2132. >"Shell Shock, he is a very kind stallion. A great listener, willing to lend an open ear and just be there for the ponies he is close to."
  2133. >"Kind. Always putting others above himself, as you might have noticed. He isn't well off, but from what he told me he keeps giving most of the money he makes on 'jobs' to orphanages and homeless shelters, or other ponies in need"
  2134. >"Not stuck up or with a massive ego the size of an entire apartment complex"
  2135. >"Clever as well. On occasion at least, but can't be perfect all the time", she thinks for a moment, putting a hoof to her face
  2136. >"Good in bed, too, lots of stamina", she gives you another wink and you can't help but blush yourself
  2137. >"It's exceedingly rare to find a stallion like him in today's world", she finishes off, satisfied
  2138. >Quite frankly, a lot of what she said about Shell Shock you feel applies to her as well, judging from the past couple days she has been there for you
  2139. >Kept you company, helped you not to go crazy with worry over your mutual friend and has just been one of the most generous hosts imaginable
  2140. >An entire, soft bed, just for yourself, a warm meal every evening and company that doesn't yell at you every minute of the day
  2141. >The idea seemed so outlandish to you just a week ago and it is blissful to get to enjoy this
  2142. >Considering she seems to have a background in either cybernetics or medicine, you assume the clever part is just as covered
  2143.  
  2144. >Part of you feels kind of bad, not only are you just out here abusing her hospitality like that, now she also offers to attach (and probably recalibrate, which is important!) your new pair of legs
  2145. "You know, just interacting with Shell and me might net you some serious trouble, right? There has been... casualties before we came here", you look grimly at her
  2146. >She frowns and looks away, as you continue, "ponies burned alive, just for living in the same apartment complex as Shell", and it is all your fault
  2147. >"I know", she just simply says before smiling, "but if I wasn't helping you I don't think I could look Buff- Shell Shock in the eyes anymore. He does so much for ponies and it is... inspiring? I want to do more, help more!"
  2148. >Unbelievable, is this lack of basic self-preservation inherent to bat ponies or something?
  2149. >Nevertheless, you very much appreciate her offer of assistance
  2150. "Well, regarding plan, for now it's mostly sit back and lick my, and now also Shell's wounds. Try and recover some strength before we head out for a mission"
  2151. >You look down at yourself and frown, "sadly, my legs aren't the only missing part. The most crucial, sure, but there is a reason I have this and this", you point at your head and at your side
  2152. "Finding quality components is gonna be tough. Oh, we need a new place to stay, long term as well"
  2153. >Comet raises a hoof, "there is this abandoned block of housing a couple minutes down the road. Not much, but there tends to be a lot of homeless ponies in there and nopony bats an eye"
  2154. >You look at her and raise an eyebrow, and she rolls her eyes before continuing
  2155. >"It means you can go there, find an empty room and would probably fit in without any pony batting an eye. Lots of chromed up ponies, too. Be careful though, drug addiction runs rampant there"
  2156. >"Other than that... I suppose there is an a bit nicer couple flats nearby, not as nice as my place, but at least not run down. All automated too, which keeps costs manageable"
  2157. >She then leans in closer to you, "rumors have it a couple ponies like Shell have gottem themselves an easy permanent and free residence by getting access to the central control core"
  2158. "That would... be an interesting idea to bring up. We're admittedly just north of broke which isn't an ideal situation. Especially not with the medical bills that Shell has accumulated"
  2159. >Maybe you could try hacking in sometime this week, have a place ready for Shell to get home to?
  2160. >Perhaps checking out the more run down place could proof more fruitful though.
  2161. >"We've been here for long enough. If you want, we can leave now", Comet whispers, glancing around, "or if you feel like staying a bit longer and chatting, I am all ears!"
  2162. >She once again wiggles her little tuffed ears and smiles at you warmly as she sips from her coffee
  2163.  
  2164. This is pretty dope, thanks anon. Might just use that.
  2165. >You admittedly never really felt so happy before, just having the chance of sitting down and conversing with somepony
  2166. >Nothing work related, mission debriefing or being yelled at for not completing an assigned task or training to absolute satisfaction
  2167. >You're not a tool right now.
  2168. >You're a mare, for the first time in your life and it just hits you how much you've been starved for social interaction
  2169. >In this current moment, as you take a sip of your coffee and chit chat and laugh with this mare, you forget for one second where you came from
  2170. >Not that you have much in the line of experience on how to hold a non-work oriented conversation for the life of you, but Comet doesn't seem to mind
  2171. >The afternoon quickly passes by and the street lamps turn on, bathing the road into artificial orange light
  2172. >You've seen a couple more of those black trucks drop by every so often and deliver something to the same door
  2173. >This place must be pretty busy, you wonder how they haven't been caught yet
  2174. >Comet gets up after finishing a cup of tea she ordered a little bit ago and sends a couple creds to the place
  2175. >"Let's go, it is starting to get a little late and we don't wanna be here when it gets dark, trust me"
  2176. >She begins to get a move on and you get back on your table to follow her
  2177. >At a cross section, you decide to split from her telling her you'll be back at the apartment a bit later
  2178. >While she isn't entirely on board with the idea of you being out on your own, you tell her that you are very much able to handle yourself
  2179. >She doesn't exactly look convinced and glances at your half-nuggetness but you aren't going to let that stop you
  2180. >Really, you are just gonna check out the automated flat's building, not much trouble you are expecting there
  2181. >Comet reluctantly agrees and lets you go, telling you to give her a call if there you smell trouble
  2182. >You nod in agreement before making your way towards the building, which looks quite unassuming from the outside
  2183. >Staying a little bit away, next to an alley you can duck into if needed you watch the entrance for a little bit
  2184. >A couple ponies enter and leave and entering always seems to require a keycard from the looks of it
  2185. >Unless you can somehow override the door mechanism from the outside, getting your hooves on one of these is gonna have to be first order of business
  2186. >That means getting one from one of the residents, most likely or have one of them get you in at the very least
  2187. >Nothing a bit of pressure couldn't accomplish
  2188.  
  2189. >Although you might wanna go a more stealthy route and try to find the building's local network node
  2190. >Nopony should be able to trace you if you hardline into it and just stay in the building's local subnet
  2191. >You'll have to jack in eventually though, or find somepony able to do that for you, if you want to take on a more permanent residence here
  2192. >After sticking around for a while longer, you are satisfied with recon and consider taking a look at the abandoned building too
  2193. >But with the way you are currently limited in the hoof department you doubt that is gonna go well if there are really as many druggies as Comet suggested
  2194. >They'd probably try and scrap you for the next fix and while you are good, you are severely handicapped right now
  2195. >The other thing you have planned is finding out as much on Morning Dawn as you can
  2196. >You've been using Comet's terminal at her home to try and do some research and did find a couple juicy bits about the other pony of your possible crew
  2197. >She seemed to be part of a smaller subsidiary to one of the big four before she ended up in the sprawl, for some reason
  2198. >It makes you nervous having to deal with a corpo, and you definitely need to keep an eye on that mare... for Shell's safety's sake, of course
  2199. >"Hooves up, right where I can see 'em", a voice pulls you out of your thoughts from behind you
  2200. >What you assume to be a gun barrel of a small caliber is pressed to your head
  2201. >The voice is shaky and riled up and you can only imagine either how nervous or how drugged up they are
  2202. >And if it is the latter, you're in basically the exact position you've hoped to avoid
  2203. >But hey, this pony might just have given you a weapon on the house or something like that, you just gotta find a way out of this
  2204. >Even with only 2 legs, beating him to a pulp shouldn't be that hard for a trained operative like you
  2205. >Or maybe you can try and make use of him somehow?
  2206. >It pays to be creative and think outside the box during your missions, after all
  2207.  
  2208. >Getting yourself snuck up like this?
  2209. >Wow, you really are starting to slip when it comes to your training
  2210. >Calculating your best move forward, you take a deep breath before raising your front hoof in the air slowly
  2211. >And with an unmatched speed in part attributed to your cybernetic enhancements you spin around and sit on the chair you use to support you for ability
  2212. >A precise kick with your back legs knocks the stallion of his legs, in fact, you knock him straight into the opposite wall
  2213. >The kick's momentum pushes your wheeled walking assistance careening into the wall behind you
  2214. >Quite frankly, you expected there to be quite a bit more force than you figured as you crash into it
  2215. >Thank goodness for your reinforced spine and you are back on your (two) hooves in a matter of seconds
  2216. >The other stallion didn't fair as well as you did and is limply sitting on the floor
  2217. >He is still breathing, so at least you didn't immediately kill him but he is definitely knocked out for now, his small and crudely built pistol next to him on the floor
  2218. >It doesn't surprise you either that he was able to sneak up on you as you look at his hooves, they are strongly padded with soft fabric
  2219. >Common way to cheaply mask your step, at least in a slightly noisy environment
  2220. >His tattered trench coat has certainly seen better days and you can see the rings under his eyes from the lack of sleep
  2221. >Looks to be a clear case of crunch, that stuff is pretty common for ponies because it can keep you up for days on end
  2222. >It's officially supposed to be illegal but a lot of corps turn a blind eye towards it as it very much improves the output of their stressed workers
  2223. >At the detriment and quick expiration to their health as it turns out, ponies DO, in fact, need sleep to stay sane and most of all to stay alive
  2224. >Judging from the way this pony looks, he is right about at the limit of what he can take regarding no rest
  2225. >Luckily, you did sent him into a long nap for now, so unless he gets stabbed or something he should wake up a lot more reasonable
  2226. >Maybe you can dump him into a trash heap and hide him for a while, worked for you after all!
  2227. >At least while you focus on getting into the place
  2228. >Doing just that, you put a bunch of trash bags over him and move towards the door of the apartment building
  2229.  
  2230. >That is where waiting begins, either for somepony to come in or hopefully somepony to go out
  2231. >All the while you keep glancing towards the alley, seeing if your drugged up friend ends up waking
  2232. >Not that you expect that to happen anytime soon, crunch can make you sleep for days when you finally do fall asleep
  2233. >After about give or take an hour, you hear the door slide open and a pair of young mares trot out, happily chatting about their plans for the night
  2234. >Slipping in behind them, you manage to reach the lobby without them really taking any notice of you
  2235. >The cameras in the lobby, on the other hoof, began tracking your movement the moment you stepped into the simple, but tastefully decorated interior
  2236. >Near the far end of the room, right next to the elevators is a small desk with a terminal facing towards you
  2237. >Must be the controls for the residents here, if you'd have to guess and is probably connected to the rest of the network here
  2238. >Even has a link cable directly attached for ponies who prefer interfacing via implants
  2239. >A keycard locked door to your right (that doesn't look all too sturdy) has a large sign saying "MAINTENANCE" and a staircase sign on it
  2240. >Perhaps this will lead you down to the central mainframe, if you had to guess?
  2241. >Other than the slight whirr of the fans that seem to pump (judging from the smell) recycled air through the air vents this place is entirely quiet
  2242. >Speaking of air vents, it seems like those might be big enough for you to crawl through as well, given you'd find a way to get into them
  2243. >They have to be sizeable at least to push so much air through a building like this
  2244. >Your scheming is interrupted as you hear one of the elevators starting to move and see the floor number above it rapidly count down
  2245. >Gotta plan quickly here or perhaps just get the heck out and back to Comet, if you've seen enough
  2246.  
  2247. >You are definitely going to pick up that pistol once you get back out and make your way for Comet's place
  2248. >While you are definitely used to.... higher quality standards when it comes to your mission loadout, this pistol certainly just feels kind of fitting for you right now
  2249. >A crudely built pistol for a crudely built mare-table hybrid, the irony certainly is not lost on you
  2250. >Part of your mind drifts back to your training and how important tying up loose ends tends to be, so maybe...
  2251. >Holding your hoof to your face you realize how fucked up this thought is, yet something just keeps driving them into your mind
  2252. >It takes a lot of effort but you are able to push them away, back into the depths of your cybernetic mind
  2253. >For now, you quickly head over to the terminal, the wheels of your makeshift transportation squeaking in protest at the abuse they have taken earlier
  2254. >Starting to tap the interface you turn your head away from the elevator, just in time for it to arrive with a *ding*
  2255. >The doors open and you hear heavy hoofsteps walk out, perhaps reinforced leather boots
  2256. >Your trench coat certainly doesn't make for the most unassuming disguise so the pony stops for a moment and you can feel their eyes take your covered form in
  2257. >Seconds pass, but then the hoofsteps continue and you hear the door open and leave and you let out a breath that you didn't know you were holding
  2258. >The terminal itself only offers limited functionality, that being a map of the building with navigation to each room, granted you have a keycard, and the ability to pay
  2259. >It also offers a maintenance mode, but that is locked behind credentials that you quite frankly aren't equip to handle
  2260. >While in theory you could store cracking programs in your system you have no such thing at the moment
  2261. >Best you could do is try and find out who made this and brute force the password, or rather hope they use a default password
  2262. >And while bucking down the door seems exceedingly appealing, you can't really erase the camera's feed to hide that
  2263. >Instead, you make your way back out of the building, being happy with what you've seen so far
  2264. >If Shell Shock can take control of this system and get you two a spot here you'd probably be set for a while
  2265. >Walking outside you already miss the filtered and freshened air from the building
  2266.  
  2267. "I'll be back for you", you take a longing glance at the complex before returning to the alley
  2268. >The pony under the trash is snoring, fast asleep even though he has a bit of dried blood dripping stuck to his coat where he hit the wall
  2269. >And the pistol is exactly where you left it, next to the wall in the shadow of a trash can
  2270. >Picking it up you put it in one of your trench coat's pockets and make your uneventful way back towards Comet
  2271. >Half an hour through the city you finally arrive and ring the doorbell, the batpony mare letting you in
  2272. >And your mouth hangs open in surprise, confusion and awe
  2273. >The living room had its furniture pushed aside to the walls, instead a metallic operating table replaced the place where the couch has previously been
  2274. >Multiple tools are scattered around on various tables surrounding it, a lot of wrenches and screwdrivers, but also multiple scalpels and scissors and the like
  2275. >Out of the bathroom comes Comet, looking at you and then a smirk grows on her face, "welcome home, Frost. I decided to... redecorate a little in your absence"
  2276. >"Everything should be about ready for your new legs, we just have to pick them up earliest thing in the morning", she happily exclaims and her wings flutter in excitement
  2277. >"Personally, I recommend we might try and get the shipment before it arrives at the clinic, although that would require figuring out which ones contain your legs"
  2278. >"She sits down in the kitchen, pulling out some freshly roasted vegetables out of the oven and places it down on the table, with 2 plates already set up
  2279. >Sitting down, you find Comet look at you with a concerned face as she furrows her eyebrows
  2280. >"So, I've talked about my relationship to Buffy... what's your take on him? At least of the bit that you've gotten to know him so far", her tone becomes serious
  2281. >The next thing she says sounds somewhat distrustful, threatening even: "And are you going to protect him? Are you able to do that?"
  2282. >Thoughts of his apartment getting raided, and later burned down come to mind
  2283. >"And what's your plan, once we've got your legs back tomorrow, and attached? Your whole plans", she states
  2284.  
  2285. >You frown at her as you think the question over more closely
  2286. >It's true, you've known him for about a day, realistically, but it already feels like forever
  2287. >In this short amount of time, he has stuck out his neck for you more times than you would have ever be able to imagine
  2288. "I owe this pony my life... multiple times, in fact", you start out while taking a breather, "while I may be trained in combat, my current situation kind of leaves me a bit..."
  2289. >You wave your single front hoof and give the mare across a shrug, to which she nods understandingly
  2290. "At this point I really don't know if my companionship will make him more or less safe, but you can bet your hindquarters that I'll do what I can to keep him safe from here on out"
  2291. >Comet on the other hoof looks a little skeptic at your explanation, raising an eyebrow: "I am not entirely sure how much I can trust you, but keep going"
  2292. >It stings a little hearing her distrust you, but quite frankly you aren't ENTIRELY surprised
  2293. >Shell almost bit the bullet multiple times in just the past week because of you
  2294. >And Comet seems very much invested in his safety, just like you are
  2295. >AND you are presumably a killer operative of a shadow-y corp somewhere out there, you are certainly what some would consider a threat
  2296. >How come you've just started trusting him out of the blue?
  2297. >Was it really just him saving you?
  2298. >From your training you would have expected to know better than just outright trusting somepony with your life
  2299. >Case in point, you are still somewhat wary of the batpony mare in front of you, even though she has been nothing but kind and hospitable
  2300. >Trust is not a currency you can hoof out en masse
  2301. "He is... a kind stallion, as you mentioned he keeps putting others' wellbeings way ahead of his own, and far too often if I may add"
  2302. >Comet can't help bit giggle as she nods in agreement, "well said, Frost, now if only he'd decide to listen to a mare's advice for once"
  2303. >You feel a bit more relieved as her laughter seems to lessen the edge of the atmosphere a slight bit
  2304. "I do believe he is quite a capable, although certainly a bit rusty from what I've seen, netrunner. I unfortunately haven't gotten the chance to see him take on a real system"
  2305. "But he seems capable of adapting to circumstances on the fly... to a point where his ideas might not ALWAYS be the best ones to make. But so far they've worked."
  2306. "Then again, there are times where he just seems... absent minded. Klutzy even. I am still having trouble figuring out what to make of him"
  2307. >Then you glance around, even though you full well know it is only the two of you here right now, you lean in and whisper
  2308.  
  2309. "Did you know he tried to have me make friends with a mold infestation in his fridge? One he believed to be sentient? I fear for his mental well being and hope that is a temporary shroom-high or something"
  2310. >Gosh, you really hoped that he isn't actually mentally cracked of some kind, although in today's world you wouldn't be surprised
  2311. >The other mare looks horrified at your revelation before her face becomes worried
  2312. >"Oh dear, I think that is something you ought to keep an eye on. WE ought to keep an eye on that"
  2313. "All in all, I just hope I can be as good to him as you've been to me up to this point. It's...", you are trying to look for words
  2314. >Falling silent for a couple seconds you repeatedly attempt to open your mouth before closing it again
  2315. "I hope I get to meet more new ponies. Ponies like Shell and you, ones that are nice and selfless. Kind to others"
  2316. "It is not something I knew was really... how do I say that, a thing I guess? Not until I came across Shell. Probably another thing I owe him for", you chuckle
  2317. >Comet scrutinizes you, real closely for multiple seconds and you can feel her gaze bore into you and her ears keep twitching
  2318. >And then all of a sudden, her serious demeanor disappears entirely and she has a broad smile on her face
  2319. >"Either you are an EXCEPTIONALLY good liar or you are telling the truth. And I'd love to think it's the latter"
  2320. >For some reason she sounds extremely confident in her assessment of your ability to lie, it strikes you as odd
  2321. >She seems satisfied and begins to get back to her food, which you quickly follow suit
  2322. >This is mouth wateringly good, and nothing like the grey, tasteless goop of nutrients that you've been given all your life
  2323. >It is the small things that almost bring you to tears, you think to yourself as you wipe your damp eyes
  2324. >With that discussion over, you both are quick to finish your meal and Comet apologizes as she heads towards her bedroom, yawning
  2325. >You too decide to head to bed and get some rest for tomorrow, excited at the prospect of finally being able to walk again normally
  2326. >And with that, you quickly close your eyes and feel your movement co-processors fall into standby, your body going limp and cybernetic muscles allowed to rest
  2327. >....
  2328.  
  2329. >As you open your eyes, you barely see anything but a massive bright light shining in your face
  2330. >Trying to move results in you noticing that your hooves have been strapped to the table you are lying on
  2331. >A really uncomfortable steel table, no padding, if you may add
  2332. >"Prepare detachment and replacement", a distorted voice of a stallion rings over some kind of intercom and glancing to the side you see what seems to be a big glass window
  2333. >Shadowy figures glance down at you with what you can only guess to be frowning faces, but it's hard to make out with the current light situation
  2334. >A multitude of hooves shuffle around you and your heartbeat starts to increase drastically
  2335. >Terror. Sheer terror is all that is currently pervading your entire mind
  2336. >One of the instruments, a sharp saw is starting to float towards your head in the glow of a magical aura
  2337. >They don't seem to have noticed that you've woken up yet, whoever they are
  2338. >And the leather straps securing you don't seem to be the most sturdy things out there
  2339. >Moreover, a weird sensation on your forehead and your sides can be felt
  2340. >Something familiar, yet also foreign
  2341.  
  2342. >This has to be a flashback or memory, or a dream, you try to reason to yourself
  2343. >But it feels way too real for your liking, it is a terrifying cold sensation of dread that is setting in
  2344. >What if this is real and you've been found while you were at Comet's place?
  2345. >Has she reported you to the authorities?
  2346. >How did you not notice getting caught?
  2347. >No, no this has to be just a dream, a nightmare you fail to wake up from despite your best efforts
  2348. >So for now, you do what any mare in your situation would do and you form a plan of escape
  2349. >There will be no violation of your body occurring today
  2350. >Especially since you haven't felt as complete as you have for a while
  2351. >A glance down reveals why: You have a full set of four legs stuck to the table
  2352. >Moreover, that sensation on your side are a mechanical set of wings that has been connected back to your body
  2353. >Unfortunately, they currently don't seem to be tied into your neurological control system so they are limply tied around your body with another leather strap
  2354. >You are not a cybernetic expert, but you assume they first have to integrated by a medtechie to properly function
  2355. >Not something you have the knowledge for yourself, sadly
  2356. >But the thing on your forehead, that is very clearly a WAND (Wireless Arcane Network Device) and even more importantly a WAND that has been connected to your arcano-neurological circuitry
  2357. >That means the thing on your forehead is fully ready and capable at casting at moment's notice
  2358. >You can't help but smirk just ever so slightly, trying not to have anypony notice before you put your plan into motion
  2359. >Glancing up once more you look between the lamp and the window and begin your escape
  2360. >The light is wrapped in your icy magic aura and directs itself to the window, in the process lighting up the side of the room where you see a couple of ponies in medical masks standing ready
  2361. >One of them is carrying a syringe, that might be the anesthesiologist
  2362. >The room quickly erupts in chaos as you hear the pony from the speaker screech and see them behind the window covering their eyes with a hoof
  2363. >Turning your attention to the saw hanging in the air it rotates, whacking the unicorn besides you right in the face
  2364. >He stumbles back as the bone saw clatters to the ground and other ponies around you also take two terrified steps back
  2365. >Only the pony with the syringe is walking closer, but you are quick to notice and as your eyes adjusted to the different lighting situation a lot of scalpels around you that might just be perfect
  2366. >One of them floats in your magical grip and precisely makes it's way at high speed at the approaching stallion
  2367. >While he tried to avoid it by jumping to the side, it imbeds itself straight into his leg, making him drop what you assume was the thing that would have put you back to sleep
  2368.  
  2369. >The saw next to you floats up and slams down onto your binds with precision, giving you a chance to rip apart the leather
  2370. >With your forehooves free, you manage to tear the shackles holding your back hooves in place open and jump off the table
  2371. >All of this happened in just a couple seconds but by now the observing ponies have recovered and are scrambling orders into the room
  2372. >Most of them some for of "subdue her", "stop her", "don't damage the goods"
  2373. >With a final glance around the room, you see a bunch of things on tables that you assume would have been added to you
  2374. >A mechanical set of ears, quite an assortment of what seems to be bio-mechanical computer chips that you couldn't even begin to comprehend the usage for as well
  2375. >Not on your watch
  2376. >An alarm starts blaring as you kick the door of the surgical room out of its hinges and step into a sterile looking hallway
  2377. >The fluorescent lamps glare down on you as you hear the sirens howl through the entire complex
  2378. >Red lights flash in regular intervals and you can hear boots thunder from one of the hallways that crosses with yours
  2379. >Assuming this is a military compound, you are probably about the be charged by plenty of armed ponies
  2380. >But that also means there might be an armory around here?
  2381. >Or maybe you should just try to hide somewhere, could always attempt to hide in a vent or some room nearby, the sleeping quarters or mess hall perhaps?
  2382. >You do feel like you have at least some idea of the layout of this complex so you are quite sure you should find most rooms and routes that you can remember
  2383. >Out of one of the doors next to you a pony with a small pistol steps out, a green pegasus mare with blue mane in a suit frowning at you as she aims
  2384. >"Subject, stand down or I will be forced to use lethal force on you!", she threatens, with a bit of shakiness to her voice
  2385.  
  2386. >You glance at her, not really threatened or anything by the pony as you try and intimidate her
  2387. "Well, you're a brave one, aren't you? Gotta hoof it to you, I wouldn't have expected anypony to stand in my way, especially as lightly armed as this"
  2388. >She flinches for a second before steeling her resolve and taking another step forward, "I repeat, stand down or I WILL be forced to use lethal force"
  2389. >She steadies her aim, pointing the barrel straight at your head with a frown
  2390. "Do you... even know how much I am worth?!", you cock your head in disbelief at that mare trying to end you right here, "The implants I was supposed to get today alone are worth more than you'll ever earn!"
  2391. >"And implants can and WILL be reclaimed, just like they have been many, many times", she snarks back and it dawns on you that your threat might not be as effective as you hoped
  2392. >Instead, you attempt to toggle the safety on her gun.... just to find that you can't exert any control over it
  2393. >Attempting to pull the gun away from her results in an equal amount of your magical energy just not finding any grip on the gun
  2394. >The mare glances down and locks eyes with you again, "nice try, but ponies way smarter than me thought of unicorn magic in gun fights"
  2395. >That throws a bit of a wrench into your gears, you didn't expect anti-magical guns to be hoofed out to ponies like this
  2396. >Weighing your options, there isn't much you can do but...
  2397. "Listen, I don't want to hurt anypony...", you start out, taking a step forward
  2398. >She aims the gun at the floor below you and shoots a warning shot before glaring at you and hissing: "Surrender"
  2399. >There seems to be no reasoning with her, so you really just have one more option now
  2400. >Hanging your head, you put your cybernetic legs into action, bringing in as much force as you can muster
  2401. >The floor underneath your hooves cracks as you thunder down the hallway at breakneck speed, slamming into her before she has any chance to react
  2402. >The momentum transfer flings her off her hooves, down the hallway as her gun goes flying even further
  2403. >She manages to stop herself thanks to her wings and hovers in the air at the end of the corridor, dazed from your charge
  2404. "I'm sorry, but this place has to blow and I'll make sure it will. Evacuate anypony that isn't willing to lose their life here", you threaten before rushing down the hallway to your right
  2405. >Now, if you were to really try and blow this place up you would probably head down to engineering, overload the reactor and have an arcane explosion that is gonna encompass this whole building in a matter of half an hour or so
  2406. >Which means you probably want to get upstairs, get away from here via the roof which... for some reason fills you with dread
  2407. >The sound of bullets whizzing by you, the pain in your cybertronic legs...
  2408.  
  2409. >You feel yourself lock up for a split second before you can convince your movement processors to set your legs back into motion
  2410. >You try to consider what you can do on your way out of here in terms of causing chaos
  2411. >Sadly, anything that has to do with the system or network is downstairs as well, near engineering
  2412. >You do know that you could make your way towards the crew quarters which are also somewhere near the holding cells
  2413. >Maybe you can figure out what happened to Comet?
  2414. >You wouldn't be able to forgive yourself if you let something happen to her
  2415. >But you'll probably be met with quite a lot of resistance on your way there, as the crew quarters is mostly likely where most ponies would have been at this moment in time
  2416. >Bullets coming from behind you make you instinctively dodge into a doorway as you look back and see 3 ponies with full barding and automatic rifles attached fire in your direction
  2417. >The sight you end up with terrifies you, to no end
  2418. >A glass tube about 2 ponies wide filled with green glowing liquid
  2419. >Inside you see a mare float, she's a zebra from what you can gather from the stripes on her face but there is hardly anything organic left visible of her
  2420. >Tubes and wires of multiple sizes snake their way into her back, attached to ports
  2421. >She seems to be peacefully asleep, her leg occasionally twitching
  2422. >A screen in front of the tube displays her vitals
  2423. >SUBJECT: Zarasia
  2424. >C&C: Crushing Heartbreak
  2425. >You can hear the unit outside thundering with their boots outside, getting closer
  2426.  
  2427. >Another glance at the tube makes you flinch once again
  2428. >NOT BECAUSE SHE WUZ CYBORGZ IS A ZEBRA THOUGH, OK?!
  2429. >Y-you're not racist! R-right?
  2430. >Stepping up to the terminal you attempt to activate it with a hoof, hopefully able to...
  2431. >The idea of using another pony like you makes you sick to the stomach
  2432. >But you HAVE to get out of here, at any cost... your mission demands it, you have to escape
  2433. >Unfortunately, the system doesn't respond to you, you assume it is biometrically locked to the C&C user
  2434. >Having somepony to take out the guards about to fuck you up would have been a welcoming bit of respite
  2435. >Alas, there is nothing you can really do for the mare currently stuck in her stasis-like state
  2436. >Using your quick thinking and realization that, quite frankly, you've got nowhere else to go, you head over towards a grate in the wall
  2437. >Holding on to it, you steady yourself and tug at it, screws being ripped out of the wall easily enough and the grate is in your hooves in a matter of seconds
  2438. >Slipping in you pull the grate shut behind you again, crawling deeper into the vents as quietly as you can
  2439. >You are surprised they haven't broken down the door yet, perhaps they are waiting on something?
  2440. >Whatever it is, it only works in your favor as you are freely able to make your move deeper into the compound
  2441. >The recycled air of the scrubbers below is a welcome feeling as it helps you cool your nerves ever so slightly
  2442. >Trying to recall the more exact details of this place you try and find your way through the labyrinth of metal tubes
  2443. >Unfortunately a lot of ways are locked off to you as the pipes become too narrow for you
  2444. >You're a large horse
  2445. >While trying to think of ways to cause mayhem here, the thought of disrupting command structure comes to mind
  2446. >Unfortunately, this is just a research complex to your knowledge, meaning any of the higher ups responsible for this fucked up bullshit likely aren't present
  2447. >All you could do is threaten or take out some of the scientists here, which you assume would be quickly filled again by other poor souls
  2448. >As you pass by multiple vents to look out of, you keep hearing ponies running past, in a hurry
  2449. >With the alarms blaring you are sure that those are combat units
  2450. >A voice is making your blood curl: "Find that defective piece of trouble. At any cost"
  2451.  
  2452. >A glance out of a nearby vent confirms your fears, a unicorn stallion with a cybernetic ear and eye combination is leading a group of mercinaries
  2453. >The cobalt blue fur stands in stark contrast to his sandy, buzz cut mane
  2454. >Captain Sandy Beaches, not a combat unit like you but certainly what you could describe as the template to the project that brought you
  2455. >His responsibility is security on the entire compound and he doesn't take his job lightly
  2456. >In fact, he is as ruthless as they come, ready to kill anypony that crosses him or his higher ups in the blink of an eye
  2457. >They say that his enhanced eye is actually capable of predicting the future, but you can only assume that to be bullshit to terrify ponies here to obey
  2458. >Anyways, he keeps moving while his squad splits up into groups of two and you are once again left alone
  2459. >Unfortunately for you, the vents ahead become way too small for you to quietly fit through, but you know that the holding cells are nearby
  2460. >You could try and double back, which would require turning around in here, or you could leave the vents behind entirely
  2461. >And with how many patrols are around by now, you aren't entirely sure how to proceed without being spotted
  2462. >Maybe if you can take the ponies out before they can call for reinforcements?
  2463. >You start to shake as you think of how scared Comet might be, if she is really here
  2464. >Or Shell Shock, you pray that he is alright
  2465. >A picture of another pegasus mare, golden coat with a brone mane comes to your mind
  2466. >She laughs with you, sitting across you from a table in what you assume to be a caffeteria
  2467. >You fail to hold on to the picture as it disappears from your mind's eye, leaving you confused
  2468. >Anyways, focus, Frost. Focus on the mission.
  2469.  
  2470. >At least they seem to have lost track of you for now, which quite frankly feels surprisingly incompetent to you
  2471. >Wouldn't the guards from earlier have eventually raided the room and found the broken grate?
  2472. >Perhaps they aren't allowed to enter and that is why they haven't raised alarm yet?
  2473. >Hopefully that is the reason and they aren't just trying to set up a trap somewhere out there
  2474. >For a moment, you mull over your current situation
  2475. >Groups of two at a time should be possible for you to take on, given the element of surprise
  2476. >But it sure as heck is gonna be risky beyond measure, especially since you know the ponies with Sandy tend to be the most capable and well trained guards here
  2477. >Two of those, or so you heard, could count for as much as a whole squad of 5, they are extremely capable and watch each other's back like hawks
  2478. >Without a weapon, you'd probably have a hard time taking on one of the pairs, or Sandy himself even
  2479. >Killing him would... certainly be something that would cause a LOT of confusion, he is a pillar of this compound, in a sense
  2480. >You definitely can't just get to his handler and use that as leverage, as he doesn't have one, considering he isn't really a part of this project
  2481. >Cyberware has become quite common in military applications and you assume that is how he got to it before he joined this place
  2482. >If you could somehow get control of the lift system or cut the wires if he steps into one, maybe have an elevator crush him?
  2483. >That would require either hacking skills or you getting into the elevator shaft with a way to cut the cables, but more importantly it would require Sandy to use one of the elevators
  2484.  
  2485. >Considering how strongly they are patrolling this place, you assume they still at least know that you are down on this floor
  2486. >He's probably roaming the halls alone though, looking for you to beat you into a stain on the floor, that sounds like him
  2487. >Easily angered, that stallion, and once he is you better duck and run for cover if you hold any merit for your bodily integrity
  2488. >No, you'll just get towards your destination and try and get out of here for now
  2489. >Since you are no longer able to get ahead in the air ducts, you silently unscrew the grate that is below you and push it aside
  2490. >The landing is a little less graceful as you might have liked, but the noise you made fortunately was minimal
  2491. >Quietly clippy-cloppying your way through the hallway you keep your ears perched for any other ponies coming down
  2492. >The feeling of being watched the entire time won't leave you alone and you start speeding up a little
  2493. >Thankfully, you manage to avoid most patrols or hide when you came across one as you made your way to the cell blocks
  2494. >They are quiet, the entire area is really quiet as you enter through the heavy steel door
  2495. >Slowly you pass by one empty cell after another, wondering where everypony has been taken to
  2496. >At least you expect more ponies to be here, but who knows, the cells look rather pristine
  2497. >So far, there is absolutely no sign of Comet, which on one hoof gets you a bit hopeful but on the other...
  2498. >You freeze as you look into one of them
  2499. >An untouched tray of food and water stands in front of a bed that is hung up on the wall with two metal bars
  2500. >On the really uncomfortable looking bed you see a pony turned to the wall and curled up
  2501. >Golden fur, bronze and disheveled mane with her wings bound tightly to her body
  2502. >Occasionally you can hear quiet sobs and hiccups coming from her shivering form
  2503. >She hasn't noticed you yet, at least, your stealth being your saving grace, once again
  2504.  
  2505. >The feeling of having eyes on you the entire time just doesn't want to leave you, but you choose to push that aside right now
  2506. >For now, you need to imagine this is real and serious, because if it is, you could very well end up dying here
  2507. >You pray to the stars that you are just having a terrible mix of lucid dream and nightmare because this place just drums up horrible emotions in you
  2508. >Glancing back between the bars you focus back on the mare with uncertainty, questioning why she seems so extremely familiar to you
  2509. >Making sure there is nopony around you head towards the small cell control room in the back, which is just as empty
  2510. >Sitting down in front of the computer you tap the terminal, bringing up the door lock section
  2511. >A couple taps later and you get asked to swipe your authorization to confirm the action of unlocking the doors
  2512. >Shit, guess that idea was a bust, but that won't be enough to stop you as you head back to the cell
  2513. >Putting a hoof to the cell's reinforced glass door you consider where to strike it most effectively
  2514. >The tap makes the ears of the mare inside perk up, but she doesn't seem to care too much
  2515. >Pulling back your hoof you accelerate it forwards, once again your cybernetics serving you well as the door shatters with a loud crash
  2516. >That makes the mare inside shoot up from her bed, her head whipping around at you as she stares at the mare that has come to her rescue
  2517. >The silence between you two is crushing and seems to last an eternity before you see her lip begin to tremble
  2518. >Her eyes begin to grow moist as she takes in your proud form standing in the doorway
  2519. >"F-frosty...", she whispers as she slowly takes careful but very shaky steps towards you, reaching out for you
  2520. >Something in you compels you to share the tears of this reunion as an exceptional amount of happiness and relief washes over you
  2521. >She means so much to you, so, so much, even though you still don't quite understand it
  2522. >All you know is that you are glad to have her back with you
  2523. >The words Golden Sunrise pop into your mind and just make the tears roll down your cheeks even more numerous
  2524. >"Frosty", she keeps advancing, a little faster by now
  2525. >But something feels off here, really really off and your gut feeling tells you to back off and run
  2526. >Why? Why are your alarm senses screaming at you? You've just got her back, why now?
  2527. >The conflicted feeling in you feels like it is tearing you apart, but you also have the nagging feeling that you are... forgetting something
  2528. >Everything is getting so confusing, what are you supposed to do?
  2529.  
  2530. >As much as your mind is screaming at you to embrace the mare stepping towards you, you take a decisive step back
  2531. >You are in control.
  2532. >It's a phrase you have to repeat in your head over and over again until you are finally able to tear your head away from the mare
  2533. >The clippy cloppy of her hooves stops immediately and her voice waivers, "F-frosty, what's the... m-matter?", she says
  2534. "I'm being hunted", you tell her as you move back into the hallway with the cells and start looking around more closely
  2535. >No guards, no alarm when you when the door got busted and no sounds of anypony coming for this place
  2536. "Stay back, they could make you hurt me at any moment", you tell the other mare cautiously
  2537. >"Frost... I-I'm not like.. like you, you know that!", she whimpers between sobs, "I'm.. we belong together, just you and me!"
  2538. >For now, you pay no mind to the mare's desperate sounding outcries as you focus on the task at hoof
  2539. >Hearing her like this feels like someone is tearing your heart out of your body and crushes it into a pulp
  2540. "Are there other prisoners here?", you glance around at all the other cells, not having seen anypony but her
  2541. "Any bat ponies in particular?", you ask while taking another look at the terminal, hoping to find a list of prisoners
  2542. >Sunrise has decided to follow you out into the hall, keeping her distance from you though
  2543. >Out of the corner of your eye, you can see her shake her head with a confused look
  2544. >"Batponies? No, not that I know of", she quizzically looks back at you
  2545. "And why are you in here?", you keep interrogating her, trying to keep your voice calm and collected, emotionless
  2546. >She frowns in return, "what would you think happens when I am trying to make one of their projects run away?"
  2547. >The pegasus sounds hurt, her sobbing has stopped but has been replaced with disdain
  2548. >You keep tapping at the console, when suddenly your hoof is stuck to it as an electric shock of unimaginable proportions shoots through you
  2549. >It keeps going and hurts painfully, you can only scream as the pain runs through your entire body
  2550. >From a bit away, you hear the other mare scream your name: "Frost! FROST, FROSTY! WAK- -P"
  2551. >Your vision is fading fast as are the rest of your senses
  2552. >You know you are still screaming, but you neither see nor hear as you collapse on the floor
  2553. >.......
  2554.  
  2555. >"E UP! FROST, BY CELESTIA PLEASE SNAP OUT OF IT!", you hear a familiar, screeching voice
  2556. >The electric shocks are still there but have ended up lessening in intensity and have come at regular intervals
  2557. >You try to scream but you find your mouth has been gagged
  2558. >The sensation of a heavy duty wire coming out of your backside is the next thing you notice
  2559. >Finally, you can tear open your eyes to stare into the concerned face of Comet
  2560. >She shows sights of relief as you look at her and runs over to a small piece of machinery, pressing a couple buttons
  2561. >The shocks subside and you notice you had been tied down to the bed with ropes
  2562. >Slipping out of them isn't too hard and you remove your gag from your mouth, catching a breath of fresh air
  2563. "C-comet, what's...", you can't even finish your sentence properly as she comes over to pull you into a tight embrace
  2564. >"Ssshh, i-it's alright now, y-you're back", she whispers comfortingly into your ear
  2565. >You don't quite understand but she starts explaining
  2566. >"You woke me up a couple hours ago, you were... screaming terribly", she tells you, sounding exhausted
  2567. >"Something was wrong, but I had to make sure you aren't causing a ruckus to get the neighbors or security to check on us, so I...", she throws a sock behind herself with a sorry smile
  2568. >She then helps you pull out your wire from your port and you shudder as you feel the instrument that was hooked up to you disconnect
  2569. >"I ran diagnostics. Your mental processing and memory circuitry went absolutely haywire, I've never seen anything like it.... all I could do was try and overload the chip to force a reboot"
  2570. >You glance at a clock on the wall, it was 9 in the morning and Comet has bags visible under her eyes
  2571. >Looks like she didn't get much sleep thanks to... that
  2572. >"A-are you feeling alright? Do you recall anything?", she helps you get up back on your hooves and on the table
  2573. >Her belly rumbles and she blushes, "w-we should probably talk about this while getting some food, and perhaps get ready to fetch your legs, too"
  2574. >She is clearly trying to offer you a change of subject, in case you don't want to talk to her about what just happened
  2575. >That being said, if you want to get your legs, you still need to figure out how to best approach that
  2576.  
  2577. >Out of body experience? Terrible memory or nightmare?
  2578. >You are pretty darn certain you don't have a second body that you are linked to, at least you hope you don't
  2579. >And copying a pony's mind is highly theoretical and lawfully forced to stay this way
  2580. >...not that you really think that would stop whoever is responsible for you would care that much for what the law says
  2581. >The thought of a second, or maybe even a third and fourth you in their clutches is absolutely terrifying
  2582. >An image of the laughing golden pegasus pushes itself in your mind again and you feel yourself tear up again
  2583. >Wheeling over to Comet, you stretch out your front hoof while she stands next to the oven, preparing something to eat
  2584. >Pulling her into a half hug, you bury your snout into her neck as you let your tears flow freely
  2585. >At first she freezes up but quickly returns the hug and nuzzles you in return, just being there for you right now
  2586. >"Hey, it's alright... everything will be alright, ok?", she whispers into your ear as she rubs your back like a mother would to her foal
  2587. >The small sobs take a little, but eventually they subside and you pull away, wiping your eyes dry with your hoof
  2588. "T-thanks", you shakily start, "I was... back there, you know?", you try and start out
  2589. >She perks up and looks at you curiously, willing to hear you out as she cocks her head
  2590. "Back at the... the lab. Where they did this to me", you point at your cybernetic parts
  2591. "They were... trying to upgrade me again, I think. They were gonna take away even more of me", you shudder
  2592. "But I fled, I broke out. There was one thing on my mind and it was trying to escape at all costs!"
  2593. >You remember that command given to you clearly, right before you ran
  2594. "And... and I saw her. I think I saw her", you try and explain, but the picture of the pony you are trying to recall quickly fading away
  2595. >Something in your head is pushing the image away now that you have come back to being awake
  2596. >Was she... a unicorn? You think she had golden fur, right?
  2597. >You grunt as trying to remember brings on a massive headache
  2598. >"Saw whom?", she raises an eyebrow quizzically
  2599.  
  2600. "I.. I don't... I can't remember", you finally give up, deflating a little as any attempt of recovering what you saw seemingly disappeared
  2601. >It is then that you notice a LOT of mail in your peripheric vision
  2602. >All of them come from Shell and you are sure you haven't been connected to any network recently
  2603. >You are certainly not on any network now but... you can still feel a connection, now that you think about it
  2604. >Something that goes beyond the spiderweb of connected nodes, something more direct, more... magical
  2605. >You've never thought about it, but you're sure there has to be magic at play here
  2606. >One of them says that your legs are scheduled to arrive at the ripperdoc at about 1pm
  2607. >The others are voice messages, really concerned sounding ones at that
  2608. >"Frost! Frost what's going on, are you ok? Your diagnostics are all over the place, alarm warnings everywhere! FROST!", the all more or less contain the same
  2609. >The first message started at around.... 12:30AM, you guys that might be when you slipped into your nightmare
  2610. >You initiate a message back, telling him you're fine, before wheeling yourself over to the table that has now had fresh steamed veggies sitting on it
  2611. >Digging into it ferociously, you didn't even realize how hungry you were before
  2612. >A message pops up again, "please stay safe, you nearly gave me a heart attack >:c"
  2613. >You giggle at the message before dismissing it with a hoof wave
  2614. "So, 1PM is the scheduled date for my leg drop off", you start conversing with the mare, hoping to break the silence for now
  2615. >It is now that you notice just how much she looks like she just crawled out of hell, the mare looks completely exhausted
  2616. "Do you think our fixer is gonna be offended if we just take them and get out?"
  2617. >Comet mulls it over real quick, hoof to her chin, "I mean, you paid for the legs, right? That's it for her, most likely", she shrugs
  2618. >Sure enough, it was Shell that said he'd like to use this ripperdoc, Cash didn't insist on it
  2619. >Unfortunately, you doubt the courier is just gonna hoof the goods over to you asking nicely
  2620. >Gameplan? It is currently around 9AM
  2621.  
  2622. >While a heist sounds very much like quite the fun time, you doubt that trying to steal something you've paid for is such a great idea
  2623. >Well, not you specifically, but those are STILL your legs, and you are gonna get them one way or another
  2624. >So why go and make things difficult when you can just walk in and have them hoof them over to you
  2625. >Probably should bring some way of confirming that it is you they belong to though, they might not give them to you otherwise
  2626. >For now though, you are polite and finish your food, like a civilized mare that you clearly are and not a machine of death and terror
  2627. >After you are done, you get up and look at the plates you left behind as a tired Comet picks them up and starts washing them
  2628. >You'd like to help but... one hoof isn't exactly ideal for that, and you don't have a WAND attached to your forehead either
  2629. >As you get ready to leave, putting on your "disguse" again, your batpony friend is standing in the doorway to the kitchen, looking quite terrible
  2630. >"Hey, Frost... If you don't uh mind....", she longingly glances towards the bedroom and you can clearly understand the message
  2631. "It's alright, Comet. I'm not out trying to cause trouble today, I promise! Just a quick there and back!", you smile at her to which she nods graciously
  2632. >And with that, you are out of the apartment and soon out of the building as well
  2633. >With squeaky wheels, which cause some ponies to give you a weird stare but no problems, you get your flank moving down the road in the crowded streets
  2634. >The sun is out in full force and you can't help but enjoy the feeling of warmth it brings you
  2635. >According to your clock it is currently around 10Am, still PLENTY of time to make your trip, so you decide to relax a bit and slow your pace
  2636. >A brisk trot turns into a leisurely stroll as you take a couple detours to go window shopping to pass the time
  2637. >Passing by a fancy cloth store you take a glance inside, your sight falling onto a beautiful white dress with teal highlights
  2638. >You give a wistful sigh as you imagine what you might look like in one of those
  2639.  
  2640. >Perhaps someday... someday you get the chance to don one of these and dance with somepony special to you under the pale moonlight
  2641. >Getting back towards your goal you come across something you didn't expect to find: A small park with real trees and grass, a somewhat unfitting sight considering the area surrounding this place
  2642. >Foals are playing while other ponies, usually adults, lie under the shade the trees give them and either watching what you assume to be their kids or having an early morning nap
  2643. >Something draws you towards that place and you step on the greenery with your hoof for the first time
  2644. >The feeling is... magical to say the least, this is your first ever time that you've touched grass
  2645. >Under your hoof it just feels... right in a sense
  2646. >And if you weren't bound to your shitty table, you would love to go further in, maybe join some of the ponies napping or playing
  2647. >Out of the corner of your eye, you spot something though
  2648. >Or rather, somepony
  2649. >The what you assume to be a stallion is wearing a full on jumpsuit, similar to yours... which Shell still has, actually
  2650. >You feel kinda naked without it, but that is currently besides the point
  2651. >Whoever that is, they are trying to hide behind a tree as they keep a close eye on you
  2652. >Their eyes are hidden behind shades and their mane covered by a big hat
  2653. >Now that you notice it... you believe they have been following you for quite a while now, you believe you've seen that hat
  2654. >...in the reflection of the fashion store, if you recall correctly
  2655. >It gives you really bad vibes and you try and glance around for another pony that might have been following you
  2656. >A little ways down, you see someone at the corner of a road, keeping their gaze in your direction
  2657. >You should probably play this cool and not make a ruckus, try and ignore it, right?
  2658. >Or perhaps engage, take out any threat before it can take you out?
  2659. >You still have the gun from last night in your jacket after all, although there are quite a lot of civilians around that might end up hurt
  2660. >Your mind tells you that your training taught you that casualties don't matter, as long as your job is fulfilled to satisfaction...
  2661.  
  2662. >The irony of Shell still using your jumpsuit isn't lost on you, as it's usually the filly keeping the colt's clothes
  2663. >You'd giggle at the thought, but unfortunately you have more pressing matters at hoof
  2664. >Especially if their training has been similar to yours in regards to civilians around you
  2665. >No hurting innocent ponies, Frost, neither you nor Shell, who is TECHNICALLY your master, not that he acts anything like it
  2666. >Did your previous handler?
  2667. >No, no you don't think she did... you two were... extremely close, at least that is what you think you remember
  2668. >Neither of them would want you to hurt anyone if it isn't necessary, that much you are sure of, and you would like to agree on that
  2669. >That requires you to get somewhere out of the open, especially since after glancing around you noticed that there is plenty of spots for a sniper
  2670. >Turning around your wheels get caught and you curse as you push it back into the crowd
  2671. >At least the ponies around you will give you SOME cover, you hope at least
  2672. >Once again if they share your training you are going to probably get quite a few ponies hurt or worse
  2673. >Fortunately, nopony is starting to shoot at you as you try and make a swift exit
  2674. >But you do see the two ponies beginning to move, merging with the crowd a little ways behind you
  2675. >Curse your obvious trench coat and your squeaky wheels
  2676. >Sorry, Comet, but this table really is a cheap fucking piece of trash, but you have to admit it DID help you so far
  2677. >You do kind of consider fighting them but you aren't entirely sure what your chances with only two hooves are
  2678. >Especially if these ponies are numerically superior and better equipped, which is a possibility of course
  2679. >Perhaps you could set up an ambush?
  2680. >An alley or maybe one of the apartment buildings might work out, a lobby should be a decently quiet place
  2681. >On the other hoof, with the way you are currently handicapped, maybe just trying to hide and wait for them to pass by could work
  2682. >Perhaps there is another way to get to the doctor unseen?
  2683. >You heard of netrunners sticking to back alleys and some even using rooftops to traverse the cities undetected using specifically built paths
  2684. >Although catching them by surprise might be enough for you to overpower them, you are somewhat confident in your ability, given you plan it out well
  2685. >How would you go about an ambush, or a direct fight somewhere?
  2686.  
  2687. >As much as you aren't a fan of the odds of taking on a couple mercs with two of your legs missing
  2688. >With the thing that keeps you upright right now hiding probably isn't much of an option either
  2689. >If they don't find you when you give them the slip now, you don't know if they don't already know about Comet's place
  2690. >And if they lose you, she might be in danger when they decide to wait for you there
  2691. >What does confuse you a little though, is certainly the fact that they work sloppily enough that you were able to notice them
  2692. >Sheer ineptitude? Unlikely
  2693. >Diversion? Perhaps
  2694. >You keep walking down the street in the crowd, occasionally stopping to look into a window of a shop and taking the chance to glance around the area
  2695. >Yes, they are still a little ways behind, walking in your direction
  2696. >Quick to think you notice what seems to be a small but otherwise mostly empty store, hard to look inside too with the dirty windows
  2697. >It seems to be a small grocery store, the shelves probably serve as a good visibility shield too
  2698. >A small smirk appears on your face as you make your way inside, the door sliding open for you until it gets stuck about halfway
  2699. >Thankfully, the gap is big enough to squeeze through
  2700. >A bored looking cashier mare who from the looks of it is in her mid teens is chewing on gum while reading a magazine about hooficures
  2701. >She doesn't even seem you to be worthy of a glance
  2702. >Another quick look around and you see a single camera pointing at the room, which seems broken though
  2703. >You squeak your wheels behind one of the shelves and begin to wait
  2704.  
  2705. >1 minute.... 3 minutes.... 5.....
  2706. >After around 10 minutes, you hear the door open once again
  2707. >It's 2 sets of hooves and they move quite carefully from what you can hear
  2708. >Turning around and getting in bucking position, you ready yourself to deliver a kick that can shatter thighs
  2709. >Well, it probably would were you in once piece, but your current strength should be enough to at least score a knockout
  2710. >The clippy cloppys are coming closer and closer, you brace yourself and take a peek behind you
  2711. >A pony's head rounds the corner, looking into your aisle
  2712. >And is greeted by a kick straight to the chest, that makes him fly and crash right into the counter with the now terrified cashier screaming and huddling down behind
  2713. >The momentum of your hooves once again carry your little table, but this time you are faster to react
  2714. >Spinning around you use your hoof to stop and instead begin barreling down the aisle back to where the second pony is now holding a gun up in his magic
  2715. >He looks absolutely terrified: "S-stop i-in the name of t-the law!", he commands, but you are too fast on your wheels
  2716. >Taking the desk and you head on, he skids across the floor with a wince and comes to a halt
  2717. >His weapon went flying and clattered somewhere out of sight
  2718. >Defensively, he immediately raises his hooves and starts shaking
  2719. >"P-please don't hurt me I d-don't want to die", he whimpers and looks away from your perhaps somewhat imposing looking form
  2720. >It's now that you notice a small badge on his jacket, LPPD, the lower ponyville police department
  2721. >One of the few, even though very small and basically powerless, police departments not under control of a big corp
  2722. >His eyes fall on his companion and he immediately shrinks together, even more terrified
  2723. >The mare behind the counter is still huddled up in a corner, keeping her eyes and ears covered
  2724. >Looks like you got one alive, at least, what are you gonna do now?
  2725.  
  2726. >You raise your eyebrow at the sight of the officer in front of you
  2727. >While it is common knowledge that the LPPD is both underfunded and undertrained you still feel a... disappointed
  2728. >This is quite frankly an absolutely pathetic display, but you shouldn't be surprised
  2729. >The force is only kept around to make it seem like there is still somepony running security that isn't tied to a corp
  2730. "You know, that's the exact reason why uniforms are a thing, they're not just there to make a pony look sexy", you glance away and quietly add: "not that you're my type of fuzz anyways"
  2731. "That being said, you were trailing me. I want to know what the fuzz wants with me? How many more are waiting outside? Answer, and fast, or you'll be eating from a tube for the next few months"
  2732. >The stallion shrinks together and his pinprick eyes stare at you in panic
  2733. "I'm waiting", you impatiently tap your hoof on the table
  2734. >"W-we were called a-about an assault case one that happened yesterday near t-the new autopartments block", he stammers, trying to scoot away from you
  2735. >His back is against the counter of the cashier though, so that is a bust and as he realizes there is no way out he looks away from what must look like a murder stare to him
  2736. >"Witnesses were talking about a suspicious mare, walking around in a trench coat", he continued on, "slinking around the place and then attacking a stallion, knocking him clean out"
  2737. >Ah.
  2738. >You guess someone ended up noticing
  2739. >"P-PLEASE DON'T HURT ME", he begs as he notices you glare at him again, "T-THERE IS JUST D-DONUT SLICK AND M-ME, NOPONY OUTSIDE"
  2740. >You are pretty sure he isn't lying to you right now, way too scar-
  2741. >A puddle forms below him and you can't help but make an "ewww" noise at it
  2742. >Taking a few steps back you consider your next option with the stallion on the floor, who by now has started crying and shaking
  2743. >Could just leave him here? Or ask a few more questions? Tell him to back off?
  2744. >It's doubtful that the ponies he belongs to really have any chance of taking you in anyways if you just decided to leave right now as well
  2745.  
  2746. Holy shit that is a lot of replies to wake up to. Thanks, I love to see that!
  2747. >You glance at the cashier in the corner and then back down at the stallion who just pissed himself in front of you
  2748. "Cleanup in aisle 3", you sigh as you step past the scared stallion, who has now gone from a light purple to a bright red face and hold a hoof to his knocked out partner's chest
  2749. >There's a heartbeat, and considering you can't really find steady footing thanks to your walking aid, the kick was way less powerful than they usually are supposed to be
  2750. >Donut just hit his head and got knocked out cold, you're sure he'll be find in a couple hours... hopefully
  2751. >Patting the police officer down, you find a holster on his leg that you quickly unstrap and take a good look at the gun inside
  2752. >Certainly way better than what you have, but clearly old hand me downs... reliable ones though
  2753. >The LPPD doesn't get much new gear, but the gear it has from when they actually stood for something has quality like hardly anything else nowadays
  2754. >Strapping the holster to your own back leg you smile, this'll certainly do
  2755. >Another pocket contains a few bullets, looks like they really are forced to conserve ammo judging from how little they are carrying
  2756. >While stowing everything you are attempting to engage in conversation with the stallion behind you, who hasn't moved an inch yet
  2757. "So, how's he doing?", you ask, as you walk past the colt looking for the other gun that has gone flying during your scuffle earlier
  2758. >"Huh?", he cocks his head and watches you warily as you pick up his gun and check the magazine
  2759. >3 bullets remaining, why wouldn't he have refilled it?
  2760. "The mugger that tried to rob me? Stallion was high as a kite on stimulants, so I... well, helped him sleep off his crunch. By the moon he really needed a nap, I can tell you that much"
  2761. >"M-mugging? Crunch?", the stallion with the weak bladder looks at you, confused as you stow his weapon in your pocket
  2762. >You pull out the gun you've taken from the drugged pony and take out the bullets before throwing it in front of the cop
  2763.  
  2764. "Tried to threaten me with this thing", it clatters on the floor, the small bit of force already denting the cheap piece of junk
  2765. >The stallion carefully takes the gun and inspects it, "h-he's in.. he's a little bruised and has a concussion, but he'll be alright according to what we know", he stammers as you pull out his gun on him
  2766. "Don't get any wrong ideas. Your bullets", you hiss before he has a chance of loading the jury rigged weapon and shooting you in the back
  2767. >He scrambles, going through his pockets before pulling out a SINGLE bullet and throwing it to your feet
  2768. >Wow, these guys are REALLY strapped on equipment
  2769. >Should you... really take their guns? That might get them in much more trouble than you can imagine
  2770. >Especially if their department is so strapped on gear
  2771. >You frown as you take a look at the gun in your hoof and you press the mag release, sliding it out and bagging it
  2772. >Throw the one weapon back to the awake cop you turn around before noticing a small clock hanging on the wall
  2773. >12:30PM, almost time for your leg pickup
  2774. >Looking over your shoulder you glare at the stallion
  2775. "I'll leave it at that. The fact that you're trying to help ponies to the degree you do is commendable and I hope there is more ponies like you, but..."
  2776. "Don't come after me again, Urine Trouble. Next time I won't be holding back like I did now", you give him the scariest look you can muster
  2777. >He shrinks together and scooches back towards his KO'd partner, letting you peacefully exit the store
  2778. >You aren't entirely feeling out of the clear yet, you should probably get away from here before they can call reinforcements on you
  2779. >...if they even have any to spare
  2780. >Go straight to the doc? Make a detour? ...go back and tie up loose ends?
  2781. >Part of you has the morbid thought of taking their legs for yourself and you are terrified at the depths of your mind
  2782. >Thankfully, nopony seemed to have noticed the commotion inside of the store so at least that probably won't bite you in the ass
  2783. >Perhaps you should give Comet a heads up that you might have been watched, although you have the feeling that the two of them worked alone
  2784.  
  2785. >absolutely harem
  2786. >No brain, not even one leg per pony, stop trying to follow that train of thought
  2787. >And you don't have to terminate any loose ends here either, you really don't think he'll foll-
  2788. >Biological legs won't even work with your current sockets, Frost just get your ass out of here
  2789. >Counter to what your head is telling you about having to make sure there is no witnesses, you really don't think they deserve that fate
  2790. >They were simply trying to do their job and helping a pony.... well, in a way at least
  2791. >...Although that horn on bladder bobby's head seemed mighty entici-
  2792. >STOP!
  2793. >You knock a hoof against your head in frustration, trying to deal with these intrusive thoughts that quite frankly, you can't make out the source of
  2794. >That does make you curious though, is there some way to actually use bioware, even (or rather especially) lab grown with your current limb connectors?
  2795. >And is there even a point to do that?
  2796. >You think you remember reading something about the more cyberware your body has, the less magical power you are able to utilize
  2797. >Admittedly though, you've never really looked deeper into this, not like you had a choice with your modifications.... or did you?
  2798. >Your memories are more than just fuzzy in that regard and quite frankly you really don't like it
  2799. >For now though, since you managed to get your head out of trying to mutilate other ponies and steal their limbs, you check the gun you've taken
  2800. >You have... 15 bullets that you've managed to take from the two cops and you put 10 into the mag before sliding it in
  2801. >Locked and loaded, that should at least be of some assistance, even though it will be a little unwieldy right now in an emergency situation with only one front hoof
  2802. >Stowing the pistol, you set out to fetch your actual limbs and the way towards the clinic is... much less exciting than you would have expected
  2803. >More or less making a straight beeline towards your destination and there is no gun to try and stop you
  2804. >In the meantime you give Shell a heads up that you're picking up your legs
  2805. >He replies with he can't wait to see the new look and you smile
  2806. >Arriving just in time to see one of the black trucks drive off behind a corner
  2807. >That may just have been the thing you've been waiting on, but the alley is empty already
  2808. >Walking up to the entrance, you are kinda glad that this is not gonna be the place that attaches your legs
  2809. >Rarely have you seen such a run down looking and scrappy building
  2810. >It's dirty, it's grimy, the doors have seen better days and the glass is stained with.. things you don't want to think about what they are
  2811. >Entering the place doesn't inspire any more confidence in you
  2812.  
  2813. >The dirty carpet has seen years of abuse from hooves, claws and other appendages and it feels like it sticks to your hooves and the wheels
  2814. >Around you, a couple of ponies are seated waiting to be called
  2815. >They look at you with empty eyes, a couple of them smoking, including the receptionist
  2816. >The stallion seated behind the front desk looks old and worn, barely having any mane left but yet also seems weirdly young
  2817. >It is a dissonance you can hardly make sense of but it certainly gives you the creeps
  2818. >The other ponies waiting glare at you, a griffon right next to the entrance spitting in front of your hooves and makes a disgusted squawk at you
  2819. >Some of the others around look like they are drugged up beyond repair, their fur often times splotchy and clearly visible needle insertion points visible on their legs
  2820. >One thing you are very certain of: This place absolutely fucking sucks and you hope you get out of here soon
  2821. >Thankfully, your trench coat is covering most of your body and especially your cyberware, otherwise you are worried some opportunistic patient would be ready to tear you apart right here
  2822. >....or the ripperdoc themselves
  2823. >Slowly walking up to the desk you keep a close eye on your surroundings
  2824. "Hi, I've come for a pickup? A package that should have been delivered just a few moments ago?", you say as confidently as you can
  2825. >"What the fuck do I look like, the post office?", he growls at you as he spits out his cigarette and rubs it on the table
  2826. >Judging from the burn marks, that isn't the first time he's doing this
  2827. >"Get lost, we don't have get mail here", he leans forward and glares menacingly at you
  2828. "I feel like you misunderstood me", you try and explain, but he cuts you off
  2829. >"I didn't misunderstand jack shit. Get out or I'll kick your butt outta here, we don't serve your kind here"
  2830. >"Go suck your fat corpo cock, bitch", he screams in your face and you have to take a step back at the spit flying towards you
  2831. "Listen, I've got something that has been sent here and I won't leave until I got it", you glare back, sounding threatening
  2832. >"Is that so, missy? What could a high and mighty corporate pet like you want here? And what would stop me from just blowing your brains out right here"
  2833. >From under the table, he pulls out a rusty looking sawed off, pointing it in your direction while keeping it relatively hidden to the rest of the ponies here
  2834.  
  2835. >Your eye twitches at her response, but you try and keep your composure
  2836. >Try being the keyword here
  2837. "You really think a corpo would come to this... dump just for a fucking package? Why the fuck would I have a fucking package sent here of all places?", you yell back
  2838. >The sawed off comes out beyond the table, now directly in your face, "say that again, corpo bitch?", he screams back at you
  2839. "Gosh, no wonder this is such a fucking run down dump if this is the service you provide to ponies. Fuck, I WISH I had an excuse to go all kill squad on your right now, fuck me with luna's horn"
  2840. "That being said, would a corporate pet do this?", you head up towards the catbird who leans back from you, his earlier courage all but vanished as you stand in front of him
  2841. >One glare later, you pull back your hoof and give the half cat half bird a hook into the beak that quickly causes the room to erupt in panicked screaming as the bird is knocked out of his chair, nursing his beak
  2842. >Turning back to the receptionist, you frown at her, "now where is my package?", you thump your hoof onto the desk
  2843. >Chaos around you as ponies try to get up and leave, knowing that there probably is hell about to rain down on this room as you have a standoff with the actually really scrawny looking receptionist
  2844. >Shortly after the entire place is empty and you still stare down the other pony, a back door slams open with a mare stumbling out
  2845. >"What IN THE FUCKING HINDQUARTERS OF THE PRINCESSES' NAME IS GOING ON HERE, CAN A MARE SLEEP IN PEACE FOR ONCE?!", she screams
  2846. >The short unicorn with a white lab coat stained with red splotches what you can only assume to be dried blood from the color
  2847. >She is wearing crooked glasses that have been fixed with tape at multiple points and a couple scalpels stick out of a chest pocket
  2848. >A stethoscope hangs around her neck, dragging on the floor behind her and her short mane is a mess
  2849. >She stares between you and the receptionist and facehooves
  2850. >"For fucks sake, cranky, can't you behave at least ONCE in your fUCKING LIFE?!", she yells at him and he dejectedly puts the shotgun back under the table
  2851. >"But this corpo bitch thinks she can just waltz in and-", the unicorn is next to him in an instance, speed that very much doesn't seem normal
  2852.  
  2853. >And puts a hoof to his mouth: "Shush. I don't wanna hear it", her voice has taken on a threatening tone
  2854. >Now that she stands a bit closer, you can see that the entire mare seems to be... vibrating
  2855. >Every so slightly but noticeably so
  2856. >Her eyes dart around quickly and every movement she makes is extremely quick, but accurate, supernaturally so
  2857. >"What can I help you, miss?", she is in front of you in the blink of an eye with a big smile on her face
  2858. >"Excuse my receptionist, we don't usually get ponies as.... clean and nice smelling as you", she leans in and takes a sniff before smiling and leaning back, "mmmhhh, lavender!"
  2859. "I uh... came here to pick up a package... containing a set of... legs, miss...?", you ask the strange mare
  2860. >Your hoof is held by hers in a split second and violently shaken, "Fast Incision, doctor and chemist, at your service!", she gleefully exclaims before disappearing in thin air
  2861. >A couple seconds later a box floats in her magic, a little bit wobbly but she doesn't seem to mind
  2862. >Up close you notice multiple injection points on her neck, small pin pricks and her dilated pupils
  2863. >"So, when can we get started, I'll have them on whoever asked for them in a spiffy", her smile grows to uncomfortably looking levels as her vibration seems to intensify
  2864.  
  2865. >Whatever the fuck she is having... you want some of that as well
  2866. >Quite frankly, you aren't quite sure the mare can even sleep like that, that seems like a miracle to you
  2867. "First of all... are you alright?", you cock your head slightly to which she blanks at you for a quick second
  2868. >"W-what?", she sputters confused, before her eyes light up in understanding
  2869. >"Oh, that!", she zips around the room a couple times before arriving back in front of you
  2870. >Then she waves a hoof, "oh absolutely! It's one of my most genius creations!", she proudly exclaims and disappears for a moment
  2871. >When she is back, she holds a syringe with a green-ish looking liquid in it that seems more toxic than anything
  2872. >"Bitta crunch, bitta dash, a hint of other stuff to stabilize and enhance the mixture", her eye twitches as she takes the syringe and stabs it into her neck in one swift motion
  2873. >It drains and you are greeted by an even more vibrate-y mare, her speech quickening considerably
  2874. >"IncreasesbrainpowerandmuscularsignalsaswellasalotofotherthingsandbasicallyitsamiracleandIhavebeenusingitforaweekstraightandtherehaveyettobeanysideeffectsIcouldnotice"
  2875. >You are having a LOT of trouble understanding her, so you just pick up your package
  2876. "You wouldn't have to have any hoof sanitizer around? I uh.. had to get my hooves dirty a bit to be taken seriously by your...", Cranky casts you a glare and you decide to stay civil
  2877. >Before you can even finish your sentence, Fast Incision has pushed a bottle in your hooves which you carefully apply
  2878. >You then pick up the package and thank the unicorn, telling her you have someone else who'll install them
  2879. >Turning around and making your way to the door, you are almost out when suddenly you hear a click and the unicorn stands in front of you with a big smile
  2880. >"Oh, but I", she emphasizes the next word quite clearly, with a very unnerving smile to boot, "insist!"
  2881.  
  2882. "I have... a couple more questions. While I don't doubt your skill or competence, clearly, just a question that you might be able to help me with!"
  2883. >She cocks her head at you but then shrugs, "hit me!"
  2884. "So I uh... got this pony I know... she can't connect to any network because certain coprocessors installed in her tell a couple of assholes her exact location once she does. What can she do about it?"
  2885. >The unicorn mulls your question over for a moment before narrowing her eyes: "Well... that really depends. How important are those coprocessors to her?", she raises an eyebrow
  2886. >You shrug in response, telling her "very?"
  2887. >"Well, in that case most of these things have a direct link to whatever that pony uses as external link. That is meant to facilitate the ability to do things like firmware upgrades, communicating with other processors and all that"
  2888. >"Kind of like a big spiderweb, you know? In THEORY, a skilled surgeon may be able to cut that link, which would force all information to be routed through the poor pony's brainstem... which can easily cause an overload"
  2889. >"Unless of course a new central point of connection, one not connected to the external interface would be introduced into the system.... quite frankly, this is one very interesting use case and I would... love to get my hooves on this pony you are describing"
  2890. >There's that unnerving smirk and eager stare in her eyes again as you swallow a lump in your throat
  2891. >You look around before your eyes are once again drawn to that injection spot on her neck
  2892. "You wouldn't... have some of that chem stuff around that I may try? It seems certainly quite useful", you then whisper more to yourself than her, "might help your secretary with his attitude problem, too"
  2893. >She either didn't hear it, or she doesn't really care
  2894. >Instead her eyes brighten for just a second before she disappears and is back in seconds, holding up a syringe to you
  2895. >"CDash! I am so glad somepony else is as excited about this invention asIamimaginehowrichI'dbecomewhenImanagetosellthis!"
  2896. >Once again, her speech goes into overdrive as the injector shakes in her outstretched hoof
  2897. >As you reach for it, she pulls it away: "4200 creds!", she smiles brightly
  2898. >Ouch, that is one hefty price tag, one you certainly can't afford
  2899.  
  2900. I am fucking retarded, bear with me
  2901. >She frowns at you before smirking again, "Mare, I wasn't asking", she takes a quick step up to you
  2902. "Hey, you have nopony else around right now, which means with me gone you can take that long deserved nap, r-right?", you step back slightly
  2903. >Her face is now... straight up in your face and she stares directly into your eyes
  2904. >"Now be a good mare and move over to my... office", she stretches a hoof invitingly towards the door she has come out of
  2905. >In your panic, you do the first thing your instinct tells you to do
  2906. >You wrap a hoof around her neck, pull her close and give her a deep french kiss, at first she squeaks and attempts to fight it
  2907. >But a little bit of force and your tongue finds its way into her mouth, beginning to wrestle with hers
  2908. >The passion you put into it overloads the mare and she melts into your kiss, her own tongue now prodding your lips
  2909. >A moment of true ecstasy washes over you as you embrace the other mare
  2910. >...And then her eyes roll backwards into her head and she goes limp in your hoof
  2911. >Fuck you with Luna's horn, what a RUSH!
  2912. >Pulling your head back, you hear her lightly... snore?
  2913. >She's snoring. Sleeping tightly as you keep a hold of her, still
  2914. >You slowly set her down on the floor and out of her hoof rolls the vial of CDash, is what she called it?
  2915. >Glancing back at the stallion on the desk, he just stares at you in disbelief
  2916.  
  2917. >That was certainly one very stimulating sensation, the sweet taste of Incision's lips still in your mouth
  2918. >Picking up the vial you give it a good look over, it seems undamaged at least
  2919. >You wouldn't want to know what it's like when this stuff spilled out or something, a concoction like that should be locked up
  2920. >Part of you just wants to take the vial, head out and get your legs installed already, being a half nugget really, really sucks
  2921. >Then you realize that burning ripperdocs is probably not a good idea, runners very much depend on ponies like the doc
  2922. >Especially considering that this seems to be one of the few "reliable" ones that Shell trusts, otherwise he wouldn't have sent the legs here
  2923. >And while you believe that your kisses do have a certain... potency to them you doubt they are worth 4200 creds
  2924. >Otherwise you'd probably be pretty easily able to cover a certain looming hospital bill quite quickly
  2925. >Definitely not the level a professional killer should step down to and you aren't planning to become a sex worker as your career
  2926. >Looking down at the snoring mare on the floor you sigh, lock the door and do your best to pull her up from the floor
  2927. >It doesn't work as well as you hoped and you turn around to Cranky
  2928. "Hey, do me a favor and help me out, let's get her to an actual bed", you motion to his boss
  2929. >He wordlessly looks between the two of you before shaking his head, looking tired as he makes his way over to you somewhat slowly
  2930. >As he turns the corner you notice why, his back left leg is a cheap prosthetic, just a piece of metal to keep him upright
  2931. >Nothing even remotely as advanced as your (future) legs will be
  2932. >Walking up next to you, he helps you heave the mare on your back, keeping her steady
  2933. >"There are a couple free beds for patients in the back. Should be good enough", he rolls his eyes as he takes another look at the sleeping mare
  2934. >Quietly he leads the way through the back door and you follow
  2935. >The run down reception gives way to a pristine looking hallway, no stains, bright and steady fluorescent light and the floor and walls covered in white, sterile looking tiles
  2936. >It is in stark contrast to what you've seen or would have ever expected from the front
  2937.  
  2938. >He leads you through a couple other hallways and unlocks a door at the far end
  2939. >A clean looking hospital room, reminiscent of the one you found Shell in greets you, a freshly made bed standing in the center
  2940. >He motions for you to put her down and you do as your told, putting the mare down who decides to curl up on the soft feeling mattress
  2941. >Gently he pulls the blanket over her and tucks her in like a father would do his foal
  2942. >"Nothing but trouble, this one, ain't she?", he sighs as he smiles a bit seeing her sleep, in a voice that is the complete opposite of what you've gotten to see of him before
  2943. >"Sorry 'bout that earlier, hun. Station Sec has gotten rowdy lately and I didn't wanna take any chances of 'em seein' her like this"
  2944. >He walks back out, his metal leg clicking on the floor tiles and he motions for you to follow him
  2945. "You should really give her a stern talk about experimenting on herself", you say as you shut the door behind you, "Who does that?!"
  2946. >The stallion gives you a hearty laugh, "lassie, can't tell ya how often ah've tried. She ain't the type to listen' fer long"
  2947. >"She'll be fine, probably. Couple hours'o'sleep and she'll be right as rain. Mare's got a knack for coming back from tha strangest things, ah tell ya"
  2948. >You reach the front of the place again and he locks the door behind him picking up the vial that the doc has left on the floor
  2949. >"Ah'll be takin' this, take care of yerself, lassie. Hope dem new legs gunna be werkin out fer ya", he gives you an encouraging smile
  2950. >"And if ya need some maintenance done, feel free ta get back here anytime. Doc may look a lil' crazy and she may just be, but lass knows what she's doin. Real talented, tell ya. Seen her fix ponies brought in in pieces"
  2951. >He starts cleaning up the room after the mess the other patients left, "I'll be closin up shop fer a couple hours, give her a chance ta get sum rest"
  2952. >You pick up the box with your appendages and consider what to do next, going over a couple questions in your head
  2953. >Anything left that you've got to do here or any questions?
  2954. >Is there another place that you want to go to before heading back to Comet?
  2955. >Anything on your bucket list that you have left to do?
  2956.  
  2957. >You take a glance at the heavy box with you, four legs which you only really need the front left and rear right
  2958. >Tearing open the packaging you find 4 factory sealed high durability legs, just as you would have expected
  2959. >Pulling out one of them, the box containing one of the legs you still have anyways, you put it down next to you
  2960. >During the entire thing, Cranky has been watching you with a raised eyebrow and cocked head
  2961. >"Not up to snuff?", he asks, sounding somewhat confused as you close the box again
  2962. "Don't need it", you shrug and push it over towards him with a hoof, "I think you can make more use out of this than I can"
  2963. >He stare at you and then the box with his mouth standing wide open and you nod towards the box
  2964. >"Ya serious, lassie? Ain't no leg ya pullin' of mine?", he fails to process what you are saying and you can't help but giggle at his dumbfounded expression
  2965. "I've got a... well, not perfectly functioning back leg", you remember the splint strapped around it, "but functional enough for my purposes. Really, take it. I'm sure the person who paid for this would agree"
  2966. >With that, you leave him to his own devices and head out of the clinic and start walking down the road you came from
  2967. >...before realizing that for someone being hunted by authorities you make a LOT of noise and you'll expect ponies to come sniffing about real damn soon
  2968. >Hopefully cranky can handle himself, but from what it seemed like he has experience running a front for the clinic
  2969. >For now you turn around, heading down the opposite way towards the apartment that you've been spending so much time in the past couple days
  2970. >You sure hope that the two cops who's ass you kicked are smart enough not to rat you out to any of the megacorps
  2971. >Going at a brisk pace with the flow of other pedestrians, you pass by the automatic apartment complex you've been at just a day ago
  2972. >It still seems quite a compelling place to stay, all things considered
  2973. >As you walk down the road, you look across the street and lock eyes with a familiar looking pony just exiting one of the buildings
  2974. >Your robber friend, a cast around his front leg, hobbles away at as high of a speed as his condition allows
  2975. >Narrowing your eyes, you hurry up trying to get away from here as you expect the cops to show up at any moment
  2976. >But let them come, more free guns, you muse to yourself with a smile
  2977. >Thankfully, everything stays silent... well, as silent as it can be in a crowd of other ponies
  2978. >And soon, you are multiple blocks away on your zig zag way through the streets to reach the apartment
  2979. >While taking routes not straight to Comet's place, you pass by a small corner shop that sells utility jumpsuits
  2980. >Could come in handy, especially if you want to hide your robotic legs
  2981.  
  2982. >Which is the reason why ponies with cybernetics are often found wearing full jumpsuits, in addition to just being less identifiable when you have your talent hidden
  2983. >The rest of your way is unspectacular, outright boring all things considered and soon you enter the elevator back up to comet
  2984. >Knocking at the door, you start to wait... and wait..... and wait even more
  2985. >There is no reply coming from the inside and you decide to knock again
  2986. >Once more the place stays gravely silent inside
  2987. >Fear and panic starts welling up inside you and you hammer at the door more incessantly
  2988. >From inside you can finally hear something, something that sounded like a thump on the floor and then quiet cursing before the place returns to silence once again
  2989. >A couple seconds later, you hear the door unlock and slide open, to see a horrifying sight:
  2990. >Comet with the most chaotic bed mane in existence and a glare that could kill ponies
  2991. >She glares at you, out of it before after a couple seconds her mind seems to catch up and she realizes who is standing in her doorway
  2992. >Her frown melts away in embarrassment as she quickly steps to the side and lets you in
  2993. >"I-I'm so sorry, I think I o-overslept", she stammers as you step past her
  2994. >Dropping the package in front of her, you grin at her
  2995. "Don't worry, no harm done. I'm just glad nothing happened to you, I had one heck of a morning!"
  2996. >She looks at you, seizing you up and down to look for any injuries as you take off your trench coat
  2997. >Started to get real stuffy under there and you're glad you're finally free of it again
  2998. >Oh how you miss your jumpsuit at times like this
  2999. >Quickly getting to the package, she opens it and you can confidently say you have never seen a happier batpony mare in your life
  3000. >Her eyes open wide at the shiny new hardware, her wings flutter in excitement and you can see her tippy tapping with her hooves while a quiet "eeeEEEeee" is building up in the air
  3001. >And before you can react, you are pushed over to the already prepared medical equipment and told to lie down
  3002. >She saunters over to the box again, pulling out the two missing legs before looking confused, "only three legs?"
  3003. "Long story", you chuckle, "let's say I made a small donation", you reply with a chuckle
  3004. >Comet shrugs as she carries over the gear towards you and places it down on a table she prepared
  3005. >"Alright so... usually this is done under anesthetics because... and you may or may not know this, attaching cyberware hurts. A lot", she frowns at you
  3006. >"Unfortunately for you, I don't have any, especially since I wasn't expecting to perform cybersurgery anytime soon"
  3007. >She then uses a bunch of straps to tie you down to the table, using them to align your body properly to a bunch of movable pieces attached to the table on rails
  3008. >Onto those, she straps the two legs that you'll be needing, eyeballing the fit before giving it a satisfied nod
  3009.  
  3010. >"Alright, go ahead and start telling me about your day, wouldya?", she says as she picks up a couple of wrenches, pincers and other gear you would consider to use when trying to repair heavy machinery
  3011. >"Sorry, this'll hurt you more than it will hurt me", she adds in a whisper, more to herself than to you
  3012. "Alright, so at first I was taking a bit of a stroll around the market district since I had a lot of time. Turns out I was- YEOOOOWWWWCH", you scream up
  3013. >You are interrupted by an extreme jolt of pain as Comet pushed one of the legs against the socket and you can feel the bio-technological nerves make a connection
  3014. >Sensory overload is an understatement as the rush of feeling reaches your brain, an unbearable pain akin as if your leg is put into a burning fire and at the same time being squashed by a hydraulic press
  3015. >Comet is quick to react and sticks a towel she had prepared in your mouth to muffle you
  3016. >This entire endeavor forces your eyes to tear up and you try and push yourself away, but the straps of the table hold you down way too tight
  3017. >The batpony is using her wrenches and screwdrivers to secure the limb to your socket before moving on to the next leg
  3018. >You stare at her in terror and she gives you an apologetic smile as she slams the second leg home
  3019. >Once again, it feels like you are being burned and crushed at the same time, the pain of two limbs making you force your eyes shut and almost pass out at the torture you are going through
  3020. >And once more you hear ratcheting as the mare ensures a proper fit of your legs while you bite down in the towel to grit your teeth
  3021. >If there is anypony divine out there, please please let this end soon, you pray in your mind being gagged for now
  3022. >The uneasy feeling of something sliding in your cyberware port can be felt through the immense amount of hurt and the tapping on a tablet next to you
  3023. >Seconds later, every bit of pain has disappeared, just like that, as if it was never there to begin with
  3024. >You carefully open your eyes and see Comet smile at you as she pulls out the plug and the towel from your mouth
  3025. >She gently opens the straps that tie you down and you are free to move again
  3026. >Making sure everything works, you start wiggling one leg after the other, surprised to find that you can move them without issues
  3027. >Carefully hopping down on the floor, you are still a little shaky but your coprocessors automatically correct your movements as you take a couple steps
  3028. >These legs don't really have any bells and whistles, and your HUD tells you so, but they definitely feel high quality and durable
  3029. >Comet smiles at her hoofiwork, seemingly satisfied with her job
  3030. >"So, hows it feel being mobile again? What are you gonna do with that newfound freedom?", she is giddy as can be
  3031.  
  3032. >You do a little tippy tappy dance of joy, noticing how you are perfectly balanced, as all mares should be
  3033. >Comet has her eyes closed and smiles at you, seeing how happy you are
  3034. >She'll never expect what comes next
  3035. >Thanks to your new legs, you are next to her in but a single leap
  3036. >The mechanical muscles and control you have over them is astounding, your movement processors must really be working overtime
  3037. >And with that, you rear up and scoop the mare into a tight cyberhug
  3038. >Part of you is surprised at the level of feeling you have coming from your legs
  3039. >These must have quite a lot of sensors, as you can perfectly feel the batpony mare's coat brush up against your mechanical leg, just like you can feel it against your biological leg
  3040. >You're overjoyed at finally being able to walk again, now all that would be missing is a WAND and a set of cybernetic wings, perhaps with thrusters?
  3041. >That would be really cool, you've seen the things thruster enhanced wings can do, nobody could catch you!
  3042. >Comet, in the meantime, wraps her own legs around you and you can feel her heartbeat as she calmly "eee"'s
  3043. >After a couple moments, you let off of her again and she sits down, clapping her hooves
  3044. >"Good! Looks like I still got it", she beams the widest smile at you
  3045. "Do these still need to be... calibrated?", you ask as you look down and do another little jig to test out your legs
  3046. >Comet shakes her head: "All done already. If there is one thing I am pretty good at it's making sure cyberware is attached properly!"
  3047. >This is wonderful, you've gotten the basics of your mobility back!
  3048. >That means you should basically be ready for the job that Big Cash has given you
  3049. >Which also reminds you, you might want to go and pick up the gear
  3050. >Or take a look at who Morning Dawn really is
  3051. >OR look for a new apartment to stay at, so you don't have to take advantage of Comet's hospitality much longer
  3052. >....and you definitely want to get a jump suit, your chrome legs are really, really obvious
  3053. >Is there anything else that slipped your mind? What should you do first?
  3054.  
  3055. >Your shiny metal legs are an absolute thing of beauty and the excitement of no longer needing your walking aid really is a level of freedom you didn't believe possible
  3056. >Four. Functioning. Legs!
  3057. >Well, 3 and a half you'd say, your biological back leg still has the splint keeping it straight
  3058. >But even with how much use you got out of it the past 2 days, the way Comet made sure to steady it a couple days ago working wonders
  3059. >A couple more days and everything should be right as rain again, but you should still be pretty capable of handling most situations thrown at you
  3060. >It takes you quite a lot of will power, but you're finally able to get your emotions under control, "Whew, filly, cool your jets", you say to yourself
  3061. >It reminds you, you walk up to Comet and bow your head before her, to which she looks at you somewhat confused
  3062. "Comet... I really have to thank you again, for everything", you start out, pulling the mare into another hug
  3063. "You've not only helped out Shell, you took me in, a complete stranger and saved my bacon more times than I can count. Your generosity knows hardly any bounds and your skills are some of the best I have seen"
  3064. "Even though they are a little painful", you chuckle to which you hear the mare in your hold chuckle
  3065. >"A friend of Shell is a friend of mine! You're welcome, Frost. I'm glad I could help you out a little after all that you must have gone through."
  3066. >"And it was nice having another mare around, it gets quite lonely on my own sometimes", she pulls away from you and winks, which leads you to, for some inexplicable reason, to blush furiously
  3067. >You can't help but notice that Comet has... some really nice hips and a really really cute smile
  3068.  
  3069. >Quickly doing your best you pull your thoughts away from how nice the batpony smells, a hint of sweet berries, your eyes fall on your legs again
  3070. >Which is good, because you notice that you definitely need to pick up a new jumpsuit, especially now that you have these nifty little metal kickers
  3071. >The pristine finish on them shine like what you could almost believe to be a star, a perfect mirror of your surroundings
  3072. >Hopefully, these things don't get too dirty too quickly, cleaning them might be a pain
  3073. >'nother reason for a jumpsuit, and you know just the place where to get it
  3074. >Until you realize that you are flat out broke and really don't have any resources to actually go and buy yourself anything
  3075. >You wince, gosh darnit, money sure is a cruel mistress keeping you under her hoof
  3076. >But if you WERE to acquire money, perhaps you could also go for a new mane and tail style?
  3077. >Perhaps a mane extension might look good on you, you start to fantasize
  3078. >Oh, and your jumpsuit should be simple, yet elegant!
  3079. >Should you ask Comet to lend you something for a while, you wonder?
  3080. >...once you have money, calm down, Frost
  3081. >You'll probably have to scour the job board again, you doubt Shell will be ready for another few days
  3082. >He still has your clothes, why spend money when you have a functional one already
  3083. >That and you should really check in on the poor stallion, you're almost sure he must be bored out of his mind
  3084. >Could visit him and demand back what's yours, at least until you can get something better
  3085. >Or try and find a way to get some cash
  3086. >Job board? You aren't exactly the greatest of hacker mares, but you could probably do some security work for a quick buck, or some manual labor
  3087. >Glancing over at the box containing the remaining leg, you realize you could potentially pawn that off too
  3088. >You'd say it'll probably get you 250-300 creds, give or take and Comet confirms there is a cyberware shop nearby that might buy it from you
  3089. >Lots you could do with your newfound freedom, just a matter of how you want to spend your time now
  3090.  
  3091. >As much as it pains you, you guess you're stuck with your trench coat just a while longer until you can find something better
  3092. >For now though, you look around the... absolute mess Comet has set up for you to help you out with your legs
  3093. >She has already started gathering together tools and various objects scattered around the room, dutifully putting them back into cases all around the apartment
  3094. >The tables and chair she works on next, starting to unscrew the pieces and also putting those away
  3095. >Walking over to her and picking up one of the screwdrivers you begin assisting her in the teardown, it's the least you can do
  3096. >She pauses for a second before giving you a warm smile and gets back to her own disassembly of the impromptu doctor's office
  3097. "Hey, Comet?", you start talking as you remove one of the screws of the operating table assembly, "I know you've done a lot for me already, but uh... can I ask one more favor?"
  3098. >She perks up and holds her progress for a second intently looking at you and cocking her head, "sure, what's on your mind?"
  3099. "You... wouldn't happen to have anything I can use to disguise myself a little? These things", you wave your front hoof, "aren't particularly stealthy"
  3100. >Asking her for even more help makes you wince but what terrifies you even more is the smile creeping up on her face
  3101. >"Mare... I think I've got something", you almost like to call the smile she is wearing devious as she gets up and rushes into her bedroom, slamming the door shut
  3102. >Pausing you listen closely as you hear multiple drawers being opened and assumingly searched through
  3103. >About 5 minutes later you hear the door click open and a hoof wave you inside the completely dark room
  3104. >Carefully, you follow her instructions and step inside, your eyes having no chance to adjust to the darkness before the door is shut behind you
  3105. >With no more outside lighting, you see... absolutely fucking nothing
  3106. >"Raise your leg", you hear a voice behind you command and you do as asked
  3107. >Without a second to spare, you feel something being put on your leg, something you would consider quite comfortable and soft
  3108. >"Next leg", Comet demands and just as efficiently, your second front leg is covered in a soft piece of fabric
  3109. >Next up, you feel something being draped over your back, a piece of clothing that snuggly fits your form
  3110. >But certainly isn't a jumpsuit of any kind, it is also way lighter and more breathable than a jumpsuit usually is
  3111. >It covers your backside and flows down above your tail the fabric feeling as light as clouds
  3112. >From under you the batpony mare pulls the other part of the outfit in question between your front legs and connects it to the part on your back
  3113. >The sound of a zipper signifies the connection being made and Comet turns you to the left a little bit
  3114. >She then bounces away and seconds later you are blinded by a flash of light
  3115.  
  3116. >As your eyes adjust to the sudden influx of visibility, you stare into the mirror that stands in front of you
  3117. >A velvety dress is covering your backside, flowing down your withers like wispy trails of mist surrounding your withers
  3118. >Every small movement makes the snow white dress flow and ripple softly in an invisible breeze
  3119. >Teal floral patterns are sown into the white, and the trims of the dress are accented with a teal hem
  3120. >The front covering your chest has a small teal bow as part of the design, ribbons flowing down from it
  3121. >Your legs are covered by white and light pink socks covering both your front legs to a point that the metallic leg is basically impossible to notice
  3122. >"Still gotta look into getting your mane fixed a little, but I feel like this thing fits you a lot better than it does me", Comet sheepishly grins
  3123. >Quite frankly, you don't know what to say and just decide to blush furiously
  3124. >On the other hoof, this feels wonderful to you, you feel like... a mare
  3125. >A normal mare that can put on a pretty dress, and look pretty
  3126. >It... will do as a disguise if things come down to it, but you also aren't sure if you even want to dare go out with this into the dirty streets
  3127. >Panhandling with an outfit like this is definitely not gonna fly, you chuckle to yourself
  3128. >You do imagine what Comet would look like in this dress and your blush just decides to deepen
  3129. >Stupid sexy batpony mares, you sit down and hide your face behind your hooves as your white face turns pink and then red
  3130. >Definitely can't rob a store with this outfit for a quick buck either, even if the irony of using a policepony's weapon for a robbery isn't lost on you and makes you chuckle
  3131. >Should probably look into some physical work for bits, get some use of your legs before diving back into cyberspace
  3132. >That and you've always been more of a fighter than a nerdy hacker type
  3133. >You'll pawn of the remaining leg later when you have to move out to wherever you are planning to go
  3134. "Comet, can you bring me your datapad?", you ask the mare as you marvel at how cute you can actually look
  3135. >Your friend hurries out and comes back a minute later, hoofing you the device which you use to begin browsing jobs
  3136. >Bouncer at a night club, 150 creds per night
  3137. >Protection services for some minor VIP pony, 450 creds
  3138. >Helping with moving of heavy objects, 50 creds per hour
  3139. >Nothing too unusual
  3140. >Scrolling through the bounty board you thankfully don't see your picture or name show up
  3141. >Which can change in moments, but for now you're fine. Probably
  3142. >One offer does catch your attention: 1500 for taking out a small gang's base, their leader having pissed off another gang from the looks of it
  3143. >The job is asking for as much mayhem and destruction as equinely possible, which could sound fun, but also sounds a little dangerous
  3144. >Good gosh, you can't stop thinking about the dress and your smile at this current moment is as wide as a mile!
  3145.  
  3146. >One and a half grand for cause a little bit of a lot of mayhem?
  3147. >In addition to all the other bits and bobs of loot you can find while inside
  3148. >Sending the employer a a message you put the tablet aside and turn your head to a frowning Comet
  3149. >She looks actually somewhat worried, "are you... really planning to do this? Alone?"
  3150. >Her voice is shaky as she asks the question and looks at you with concern
  3151. >You can feel how she doesn't consider this a good idea, at all
  3152. >And while under usual circumstances a single mare against a group of armed and potentially dangerous gang is more of a suicide mission
  3153. >It's not like you're an ordinary mare in any sense of the idea
  3154. >To prove a point to her you rear up on your hindlegs, your movement processors keeping you balanced as you punch an invisible foe in front of you with your hooves
  3155. "I'll be fine. This, quite honestly is...", you try to find the words, "it is a routine mission for me", you deadpan
  3156. >Yeah, that's not too far off, you've invaded military compounds before and came back out to live the tale
  3157. "I'll be fine, Comet", you assure the mare and your confidence seems to at least ease her mind a little bit and she gives you a slight smile
  3158. >"I just installed these legs, so if you come back with them broken, you'll get an earful, you hear me?", she sternly warns you before her face turns into a smile again
  3159. "I promise", you give her a nod before returning back to the datapad, reading the reply you have gotten
  3160. >The reply reads "Attached is location. Take picture of gang leader's detached head for payment"
  3161. >Opening the coordinates on the city map, you find it to be close by to an old and now abandoned building of a night club, a couple blocks from the decrepit building you were considering for a hideout
  3162. >Sources on the web that you thankfully still have a way into basically all but confirm your suspicion of this place being a drug den for the area
  3163. >Ain't a big loss to the city, if you are being honest
  3164. >While you don't have access of the building's blueprints, what you can garner from a quick bit of research there is the front entrance, a small back entrance on the opposite of the building
  3165. >There also seems to be a roof access that you might be able to reach, perhaps from an adjacent building?
  3166. >If only you had wings
  3167. >Judging from the fact of what it used to be, you assume that the place has a big central party area and probably a couple private VIP backrooms
  3168. >A basement too, where they used to store the booze
  3169. >Upstairs are probably rooms for... ponies who wanted to have a good night
  3170. >What's your gameplan? When and how to attack, and the like?
  3171. >A glance in the mirror reminds you that you are still wearing this gorgeous dress and while fighting in this dress would be wonderfully kill-mist-esque, you would not dare risking ruining this
  3172. >Guess your old trench coat will have to do, at least you don't have to deal with squeaky wheels anymore
  3173.  
  3174. >OK, to be fair it isn't exactly the most moral high ground destroying a gang at the behest of another one
  3175. >But the less drug cartels around the city there are, the better it is for anypony, even if you do that for what you assume to be a rival
  3176. >They'll probably get what they deserve eventually, it's usually how things like this go
  3177. >And you've... worked for a just a bit better funded gang for... you don't know how long, but a while for sure
  3178. >So where's the difference here, really?
  3179. >The statement made you wince, trying to justify this entire thing comes way harder than you hoped for
  3180. >Detached head, that should be doable you think, you're sure to find something around the place that can help you with that
  3181. >A meat cleaver might be a nice thing and you have half a mind asking Comet for one, but you think she has done enough to help you
  3182. >Gotta stand on your own four (eeee!!!!) hooves for once, you're a big mare after all, you snicker to yourself
  3183. >And the request for maximum mayhem has one very obvious answer in a place like this for you: Molotovs
  3184. >If you go and sell your leg, you can easily buy a couple bottles of booze and rags to burn the place to the ground
  3185. >Or you could hope for the place to have alcohol you can take advantage of, if you want to skip out on buying
  3186. >A silencer for your pistol would be nice would be nice and you are sure one would fit, but they tend to be expensive and you don't have one
  3187. >According to what your contact tells you, they are a small time gang, fledglings really, that decided to fight the wrong bull
  3188. >While they probably won't let just anypony in, courier ponies and fixers seem to have an easy time asking to distribute and being able to see the operation inside
  3189. >You should also bring a backpack of some kind, in case you find any nice loot for yourself to keep
  3190. >Once again checking the maps around you see that there is plenty of buildings around and reaching the roof while jumping from one of them (especially with your new legs) should be doable
  3191. >This place surely has a roof access, and if it doesn't you can probably make one to get into the upper floors and work your way down
  3192. >The basement might be an interesting approach vector, too, and you quickly pull up the public records you can find scattered on the net or left behind as trails for other runners
  3193. >The underground tunnels do run pretty close to the building's basement, but you don't see any connection points
  3194.  
  3195. >Part of the back corner of the room does come close enough to the basement to what you assume is sharing a wall with the room
  3196. >Breaking that down could make for either a good entrance or exit strategy
  3197. >Another way to leave would be out of the front door after you set the place ablaze using that as a distraction
  3198. >Which does sound fun, if you're being honest, you've never committed arson in your career before
  3199. >And if this really is a drug cartel, a fire would probably react nicely to all the volatile chemicals such a trade requires
  3200. >The beginning of your mission should be done stealthily though, as you want to catch your prime target before they can flee
  3201. >A place like this is open enough with multiple escape routes, for example the front doors, the staff entrances they usually have, windows on the upper floors
  3202. >If your mark slips, you'll probably won't get paid
  3203. >And that would suck, bigtime
  3204. >Before you undress to get ready, you use the socks and velvet dress to pull Comet into another hug
  3205. >She blushes at your closeness and then whispers into your ear: "Come back safely, alright?"
  3206. >Nodding at the mare, you begin to undress and neatly fold up the clothing, putting them back on the room's dresser
  3207. >Judging from the time, it is mid afternoon and you definitely want to wait until nightfall
  3208. >Which does still give you plenty of time to go and prepare things or buy stuff you might need for this mission
  3209. >Or you could just wait in the apartment until the darkness has filled the streets and go straight there, guns proverbially blazing
  3210. >Another glance of your mark's mugshot reveals it to be a fat and yellow unicorn stallion, a scraggly beard and tussled red mane hanging into his face
  3211. >Should be easy enough to find... you hope, and if not you can always "ask for directions"
  3212. >Pain always tends to be a good motivator
  3213. >And judging from the name of the gang, the "pinheads", you assume that most ponies you encounter are going to be unicorns
  3214.  
  3215. >First things first, gotta get rid of your leg to get a couple of bucks in
  3216. >The leg you don't need you would never give up being quadruped again
  3217. >Putting on your trench coat, you tell Comet goodbye and make your way out of the apartment and towards one of the few cyberware stores nearby
  3218. >If any place is going to buy your brand new hardware and in return sells you something good against unicorns, it's gonna be one of these
  3219. >Your navigational system leads you through the streets and even with the trench coat on, the squeaky wheels make you stick out much less than previously
  3220. >Ponies don't even pay you any mind anymore and you have a much easier time weaving through the crowd
  3221. >Which also means it doesn't take long until you stand in front of "Cyberports Cyberperium", with the windows displaying plenty of the newest cyberware
  3222. >From external to implants, you can see anything laid out neatly with exorbitant price tags attached to it
  3223. >You can't help but flinch at the amount of credits even the most basic bits and bobs of tech seems to cost you here
  3224. >Partial lenses for 750 creds is what any normal pony would consider an absolute ripoff
  3225. >The owner inside the window is staring at you with a predatory grin that makes your neck hair stand straight
  3226. >Earth pony stallion, looking quite young and rubbing his hooves together as he keeps a close eye on you
  3227. >Poking out of his ash grey mane you see a small metal horn, a WAND, strapped to his forehead
  3228. >With a sigh, you enter the place to which the store employee greets you with a "Welcome, WELCOME to the one, the only Cyberperium! The only place to buy high grade cyberware", he puts a "legally" inbetween with a cough, "in this place, guaranteed!"
  3229. >Stepping up to his counter, you dump the leg on the table for him to see, still pristine in its original packaging
  3230. "I want to sell this, how much can you offer me for it", you really aren't in the mood for entertaining him too long as you furrow your eyebrows and give him a deep glare
  3231. >If he is scared of you, he very clearly doesn't show it and his grin stays up, although you could have sworn his eye twitched at the mention of selling something
  3232. >"I'm sorry, miss, but we're not buying", he smirks, "but we would love to have you buy, our wares are out of this world and our selection is bar none the best!"
  3233. >You push the leg a little closer before glaring at him once again, holding your frown at him
  3234. >Seconds of silence pass between the two of you as your stare of annoyance intensifies
  3235. >"N-no can do", he replies, starting to get a little bit nervous at your insistent glare
  3236. "I'm selling this", you slam your metal hoof down on the counter in frustration, to which he jumps
  3237. >"M-maybe I can make an exception", he says as your glare stays on him and a droplet of sweat rolls down his temple
  3238. >Picking up the leg's box, he spins it around in his telekinesis and glances at the factory seal
  3239.  
  3240. >"75 creds", he replies with a more business-like demeanor as he places the lag back down, "take it or leave"
  3241. >Part of you feels like he is lowballing you massively here, but 75 creds is 75 creds, right?
  3242. >Maybe there is a way to up your offer a little bit more pressure
  3243. "I know when I am being taken for a fool", you frown at him before once again stomping on the floor and giving him your most terrifying frown
  3244. "150", you reply your voice devoid of emotion as you lean closer to him
  3245. >He glances between you and the leg, "100. I won't go higher than that", he firmly replies
  3246. >You consider that a deal and nod to which he holds out a credstick that he pulled from under the desk
  3247. "You got anything that works well against unicorns?", you ask the stallion after the transaction is completed
  3248. >At first, his eyes go wide as he leans back, but then he moves in closer to you and whispers: "You know, stuff like that is either mil or illegal. You're gonna be in biiiiig trouble if anypony finds out you got something like that, or even look for it"
  3249. >There is that predatory smirk again, "for 200 creds I might be able to help you out a little. Let's call it a friendly offer"
  3250. >Cheap fucking bastard
  3251. >"An arcane disruptor is known to work wonders when corps have to deal with unruly horned pests", he smirks what you can only call deviously at you
  3252. >200 creds you don't exactly have on you, but it might be worth looking into
  3253.  
  3254. >The pony puts a hoof to his face and thinks for a moment before eagerly nodding, "it's a deal, lady", he smirks
  3255. >And with that, you make your way out of this place faster than he can wish you a nice day and go straight up towards your target building
  3256. >Sticking to the other side of the road, you weave with the crowd, staying in motion as you take closer looks
  3257. >The front door has 3 unicorns in purple jumpsuits hanging around outside of it, all of them the symbol of a unicorn horn on their jumpsuit flanks
  3258. >There is a house right next to it that you might be able to use to get on the roof with, it has a fire escape
  3259. >Which sadly is clearly visible from the main entrance though
  3260. >Out of the windows above the decrepit night club formerly called "DeeJay's" you see multiple ponies with the same colored jumpsuits glare out of the window down on the road
  3261. >As you expected, the alley next to the place has a single guard stand in front, currently smoking a cigarette
  3262. >The door opens and two more come out, likewise lighting themselves a smoke
  3263. >Once the first pony is finished, they knock on the door in a certain pattern and a small slit opens up before it closes again
  3264. >Looking up higher, you find 2 ponies on the ceiling, one with binoculars and the other what you would assume to be a hunting rifle glancing down at the street
  3265. >All unicorns, of course
  3266. >A pony with a small messenger bag walks up to the front, clearly nervous
  3267. >He doesn't seem to be older than his late teens but keeps a tight grip on his cargo
  3268. >The guards look at him, each other and then shove him inside, causing the colt to trip and hit his snootle
  3269. >He seems like he is about to cry as he heads inside the dark interior
  3270.  
  3271. >3 knocks, 5 knocks, 1 knock, 1 knock, the pattern was easy enough to remember quite frankly
  3272. >It may come in hoofy later, you could use that as an entrance strategy as backup if your next idea doesn't work out
  3273. >As you make your way across the street a little further away from the Deejay a certain store clerk comes to mind
  3274. >And how you should just rip off this slimy asshole's dumb cyberhorn off his head and shove it up his ass
  3275. >That should wipe his smug grin off his face and you could probably get a couple more things from the store while you're there
  3276. >Waltz in, flip the sign to closed and tear it off, they're usually just strapped to the head anyways
  3277. >Not the most efficient way to channel magic, but good enough for basic TK and manipulation of simple devices
  3278. >You freeze in the middle of the road at your thoughts and are only ripped out of them by a car aggressively honking at you multiple times
  3279. >Hurrying across the driver uses his wing to flip you off as he drives off with a big frown
  3280. >Where the hell did that thought come from, you can't just go around hurting random ponies you don't like
  3281. >Even though they probably deserved it, you grumble to yourself in frustration
  3282. >The ideas coming into your head sometimes really just outright terrify you, are your emotions getting out of control?
  3283. "Frost, you are better than this", you quietly whisper to yourself as you try to banish the idea of walking out the Cyberperium with a bag of new toys and satisfaction
  3284. >These invasive thoughts are starting to get really out of hoof lately, to a point where you can't even be sure anymore if you aren't just a psychopath
  3285. >A murderhobo, if you will, or maybe a murdercouchsurfer?
  3286. >Not that you would like to carry either of those labels, not in a thousand years
  3287. >For now, you really gotta focus on your mission a misstep could mean the end of you
  3288. >That focus thankfully helps you push away the suggestion of getting more cyberware in a less than ideal way
  3289. >A couple minutes later, you arrive at the building next to the DeeJay and are surprised at how far you've wandered away from it
  3290.  
  3291. >Nopony here should be the wiser, that's for sure
  3292. >The adjacent building with the fireladder on the front won't help you out from the outside, but you should be able to get in, the door sliding open for every passerby
  3293. >As easy as stealing the lollipop of a young filly, you say as you go with the flow of the crowd just to dive into the building the next moment
  3294. >You see a couple bored teenage ponies loitering around the lobby of what you assume was a hotel at one point
  3295. >The walls are graffitied all over and the floor littered with trash
  3296. >One of the mares lazily looks at you before blowing a bubble gum bubble that pops and she begins chewing again
  3297. >She quickly stops giving a shit about you and turns back towards the wall instead
  3298. >There's a staircase in the back of the room, going both down and up
  3299. >Perhaps this connects to the underground to make use of
  3300. >Or you can try and follow the previous plan of making your way to the roof
  3301. >Stepping deeper into this place, a colt comes up to you, sliding right up and putting his hoof on your chin
  3302. >"Ey there, cutie, what's a pretty mare like you doin in a dangerous place like this, he smirks a very predatory grin
  3303. >A couple more young stallions come out behind two of the pillars next to the entrance, blocking your way back out
  3304. >One of them is carrying a baseball bat in his magic while the other seems to hold on to a knife with his mouth
  3305. >"Gonna be my birthday present? And it's not even my birthday!"
  3306.  
  3307. >You frown at the opportunistic youth trying to stand in your way here
  3308. >They clearly don't seem too experienced and don't take you for a fighter either, otherwise they probably wouldn't have engaged you
  3309. >The lead colt turns around and winks at one of the mares who gives him a disinterested glance before rolling her eyes
  3310. >"This is the third one this week, Hunt. Just scare her off like usual or something, not like you have the guts for more than that"
  3311. >Wow, that was downright savage and you see the colt first turn slight pink and then full blown red
  3312. >His head whips around and snaps back to you, giving you an angry glare, "You!", he shouts and takes a step towards you
  3313. "Really, I wouldn't do this if I were you, kiddo", you try to advise the foolish colt as he is trying to impress the mare
  3314. >"Shut uP!", he grows red from anger as he keeps advancing, hoofsteps behind you tell you that he is not alone at closing in
  3315. "Really, boys, one more chance", you tell them while grabbing a hold of your coat, pulling it a little tighter
  3316. >From behind you, the pony with the bat is going for a swing, as you would have expected, at the sign of the lead stallion
  3317. >Your trench coat flies off as you spin around, parrying the bat with your metallic front hoof in midair
  3318. >The unicorn in front of you just stares, his mouth hanging wide open in surprise at your swift movements
  3319. >You can't help it, but your face is forming into a smirk as you marvel at the durability and speed you have once more
  3320. >It doesn't take the other two long to recover from their stupor and the knife is beginning to wildly slash at you
  3321. >This pony has no idea of how to handle a weapon, your instructors back at the lab would be embarrassed at this sloppy display
  3322. >Dancing around him with your nimble motions, you keep smiling as he misses every slash he tries to make
  3323. >Occasionally, the bat tries and comes in for a swing but once again your metal hoof is ready to parry every strike
  3324. >The entire charade is mostly you just playing with the colts, much to the dismay of the leading colt who has yet to dare engage you
  3325. >On the other hoof, the mares in the back are laughing their flanks off at the display and even started cheering for you
  3326. >"Go, metalmare, give 'em hell!", they call to you as they now decided to intently watch your display
  3327. >The swinging knife is starting to get annoying, so you decide to take that colt out first
  3328. >Ducking under the next swing, you come in close, smiling at him from below before headbutting his chest and making him go fly
  3329. >"Were your parents Pegasi?", the bubble gum chewing mare hollered at the colt who has come crashing down on the floor a couple meters away from you
  3330.  
  3331. >Poor guy seems pretty dazed as he is trying to get to his hoof but keeps tipping over
  3332. >He cradles his head with his hoof, groaning
  3333. >His weapon has clattered to the floor and quite certainly would make a good stealth weapon for your actual job
  3334. >In the split second you were distracted, the bat comes down on your back, hard
  3335. >...and splinters into two pieces as your reinforced spine takes the brunt of it, easily dispersing the energy across your body
  3336. >While you are sure that is going to be bruised at least, you aren't particularly worried about any lingering damage
  3337. >The colt pulls the now halved bat back to himself with his magic, inspecting it as it dawns on him that he may or may not just be severely outclassed
  3338. >And with a clatter the wooden object falls to the ground and he turns tale, running up the stairs in panic and leaving you with the leader alone
  3339. >He takes a few terrified step back as your head snaps to him with a grin
  3340. "Happy birthday, pal", you say as you set into a leap, landing right in front of him
  3341. >Using the kinetic energy your quick hop has given you, you spin around on your forelegs and slam into him with all your biological and mechanical bodyweight
  3342. >He too, is sent flying and slides towards the now hollering mares
  3343. >Picking up the knife and your trench coat, you put the weapon into the clothing's pocket and walk up to the heavy breathing colt
  3344. "Trying to be the bad guy ain't a good look. Ain't what mares are into, you know?", you give the bubblegum mare a wink, "Don't wanna see you trying to mug anypony else, ever again, you hear me?"
  3345. "Otherwise I'll have to come back and geld you. With your own teeth", you threaten with an angry glare
  3346. >With a shiver in his voice he meekly replies "Yes", barely audible over his whisper
  3347. "I can't hear you", you shout at him to which he sits up straight (as he can)
  3348. >"Y-YES MADAM!", he replies, his eyes forced shut as his whole body shakes
  3349. >If these kids live here, they might know a way to get to the other building?
  3350. >Or you could just make your way through this place on your own
  3351. >The basement might still be a good idea to sneak into the area without being seen
  3352. >But you are pretty sure that the ceiling is a sure-fire entrance, given you manage to take out any guards up there
  3353. >Going up would definitely require you to take the staircase here though, who knows what you can expect on your way up there
  3354.  
  3355. >As you consider your next move your eyes glance down at the still terrified colt in front of you
  3356. >Looking down on him, he shrinks and gets ever smaller, as you seize him up, then look back at his friend who is still splayed out on the floor, groaning
  3357. >And up towards the stairs where you have seen the last colt of the group run up to, crying for mommy
  3358. >Rubbing your chin you start to formulate a plan in your head
  3359. >Considering you need to get in somehow and a distraction might be useful, you address the colt again
  3360. "You", you point at him with a hoof and he screams like a little filly while shrinking down and getting into fetal position
  3361. "You know the place next door? DeeJay's?", you ask, raising an eyebrow at him questioningly
  3362. >He dares not make a sound and instead only nods ever so slightly while staring at you, eyes wide in terror
  3363. "Are you good at making noise? Lots of very distracting noise?", you have the hint of a smile on your face
  3364. >The colt looks unsure and for the first time his eyes drift away from you, back on his fallen partner and the staircase
  3365. >Mr. Batty unicorn is peeking into the room from the staircase, quickly slipping back behind the door frame as he notices you looking
  3366. >Once more, he nods ever so slightly as his eyes return back to you and you give him a quick smirk
  3367. "Alright. Cause a ruckus, a distraction, anything. Maybe have him", you point towards the staircase, "try and lead the group. Might lower the chance of getting shot"
  3368. >The prospect of a bullet to his face makes the poor colt freeze up, his blood surely ice at this point
  3369. >It takes you a second to realize what you've just said and did and you quickly amend your sentence
  3370. "Not that they'll be having much time to shoot you, by that time I should already be in causing chaos myself. Should give you enough time to turn tail and get back here"
  3371. >While it doesn't do much to ease the colt's worried face, he still nods and waves the other colts over to him
  3372. >The reluctantly listen and head over to the two of you, as you decide to make your way upstairs in the meantime
  3373.  
  3374. >Catching the tail end of their conversation, you hear the leader's voice, sounding scared as heck, explain the plan to his friends
  3375. >You enter the staircase and look upwards, a massive frown forming on your muzzle as you see what feels to be an endless set of stairs
  3376. >Gosh what you wouldn't give for a pair of wings right about now
  3377. >Giving the colts a heads up to start their thing in approximately 20 minutes from now, you engage in your long, long track up the stairs
  3378. >Climbing, climbing, ever fucking climbing
  3379. >Goddesses, you hate stairs with such a burning passion, they need to burn to the ground
  3380. >An eternity later, you finally reach the top part of the staircase, a big metal door in your way that says "EMERGENCY EXIT"
  3381. >While at one point in time, this door would have been locked with an alarm, the decrepit state of the hotel has disabled that in its entirety
  3382. >The door's handle has broken off but it is also standing slightly ajar, a little bit of a push and it swings right open
  3383. >No warning sirens or anything like that going off, that is a good sign
  3384. >Carefully you sneak out onto the roof, trying to keep as low as you can
  3385. >At this point, the sun had already started to set, disappearing behind the horizon at a quick pace
  3386. >Night time is about to approach and you see lights begin to turn on, judging from the glow coming up from the streets
  3387. >Hiding behind an ac unit on the ceiling, you peek over to the other roof
  3388. >The gap between buildings is definitely something you can jump, that is something you aren't too worried about
  3389. >8 guards, you spot them all across the roof of the other building, all in pairs of two and covering one side of the complex
  3390. >Each pair consisting of a spotter and a sniper, as you've already noticed earlier during your lookout
  3391. >Most of them look really tired at this point, which you assume could mean that there might be a shift change happening soon-ish
  3392.  
  3393. >Tired guards? That'll make your job quite a lot easier, especially once the distraction team downstairs comes in
  3394. >Which judging from your feeling should really just be any moment right now, the sun has completely set and covered the roofs in darkness
  3395. >Putting down your trench coat to make sure you won't end up getting caught on anything, you check the holster that your pistol is in
  3396. >It's tightly strapped to your leg and the gun is snuggly secured inside
  3397. >Not that you plan to use it unless you absolutely have to, considering your first target is gonna be to take out the boss, quietly
  3398. >After that you can go in guns blazing, or molotovs blazing if you are able to put some together while you are inside
  3399. >The seconds drag along as you are waiting for something to happen, keeping a very close eye on the spotter closest to you
  3400. >He is busy scanning both the streets and skies for any potential thread, but from what you can glance he isn't particularly enthused about it anymore
  3401. >Putting down the binoculars he puts a hoof in front of his face in what you assume to be a yawn
  3402. >Then he starts talking to the other guard who looks equally as exhausted as he stops looking through the sniper's scope to converse with his partner
  3403. >You wish you could hear what they were saying, but your ears are the few pieces of you that haven't been augmented
  3404. >Shell would probably be able to listen in with his bat hearing and you feel just a little jealous
  3405. >Your ears flick as you hear yelling from down below on the streets
  3406. >"Oi, Twobits, pal, you know me!", you hear a voice carrying up, a really loud one
  3407. >The reply of the pony the colt is addressing you can't hear but by his reaction you imagine it was something along the lines of "Piss off"
  3408. >"Come on, Two, I've told my pals here about the stuff y'all selling, can't just leave em hanging, can I?", the colt whinnies
  3409. >Once more you can't hear the reply but the colt shouting seems to draw attention from the ponies occupying the roof
  3410. >You spot one of the two ponies get up on your side of the building, heading over to the side of the building with the main entrance with a scowl
  3411. >The sniper just slumps down on the roof's wall next to his gun, idling looking around the small alley that is between this building and your own
  3412. >Seizing your chance, you get to the edge of your own roof and take a running start towards the other one, your legs carrying you with grace as you kick off the ledge of the place you were just on
  3413. >An inner instinct tells you to extend your wings as the air is rushing past your face, naturally you are missing those which at the moment feels a kind of wrong, actually
  3414. >The freedom of semi-flight you are experiencing invigorates you
  3415. >Touching down, you get into a roll to take out the kinetic energy of your jump without breaking (another) leg
  3416.  
  3417. >Unfortunately, you weren't exactly used to the full strength of your new legs yet and your jump went on for.. just a little longer than you had hoped
  3418. >You get up a couple meters from two confused looking ponies staring at you as you've rolled right into the arms of another pair of guards
  3419. >They seem to be unable to comprehend what is going on and you use the small frame of time to dash forwards with incredible speed
  3420. >With your knife already at the ready, a clean slice of the spotters neck makes him tumble as you've taken his ability to scream out for help
  3421. >All he can do is hold his neck in vein as his blood is pumping out in spurts and he becomes more and he starts to stumble
  3422. >...right across the ledge of the building, falling down while flailing to his death
  3423. >You can only imagine the splat that had to make downstairs, not that you want to think about the stain on the street
  3424. >The other pony has recovered from the initial shock and pulled out a pistol using his magic, trying to take aim at you
  3425. "Not so fast, hun", you give him a smirk, trying to pull of your best femme fatale, which quite frankly didn't come out as sexy as you hoped
  3426. >You'd say comet would probably be much better suited in that role, if that mare ever decided to pick up the mantle of a runner, if she hasn't already
  3427. >Oh right, can't get distracted right now, you notice the floating gun still pointing at you
  3428. >Rushing up you use your knife to knock it away from being able to shoot you in the face, the unicorn decides to shoot
  3429. >The bullet (from a thankfully silenced gun) thankfully misses you by a wide margin and you practically flash step to the side of the guard
  3430. >Once again putting your momentum in a spin, you kick the pony into the side and make him sail through the sky
  3431. >Following his colleague down the side of the towering club building with a terrified scream
  3432. >It doesn't last long before he impacts on the ground below
  3433. >Well, you assume that definitely counts at least a little bit towards mayhem
  3434. >Unfortunately you also have alerted 3 more pairs of guards to your location
  3435. >In the darkness they can't really see you, thanks to your augmented eyes you have the advantage here
  3436. >But you can see them all closing in on you, little pistols drawn as they carefully head towards your exposed location
  3437. >Perhaps you could sneak your way past them using the pipes and air conditioning units on the ceiling as cover in the darkness of the night
  3438. >Thank luna for it being a new moon tonight
  3439. >It also doesn't look like they have called on reinforcements yet, although how long it'll take them to do so is anypony's guess
  3440. >Great job, Frost, so much for going in for stealth, your instructors would be really disappointed
  3441. >You really need to get used to those legs, or perhaps get their power turned down just a little when you get the chance
  3442. >For now though, you need a plan and to get further into the building too
  3443.  
  3444. >While ponies call it a silenced gun, that isn't an entirely accurate term, of course
  3445. >Most silenced guns are only quiet because of unicorn spell cast
  3446. >Either continuously cast by the unicorn holding the gun or via an attachment that has been enchanted and is usually ridiculously expensive
  3447. >Government black ops level of ridiculously expensive, that is
  3448. >Since these ponies are all unicorns, you would bet money on it being the former
  3449. >Which quite frankly sucks, you'll probably have to stick to the cheaper, shittier variant that everyone else is using if you ever wanted to get one
  3450. >Not that it matters much anyways, the gun's been flung over the edge together with your two adversaries
  3451. >Also, mission related, you assume to bloody splotches on the street floor do count at least as the beginning for some real mayhem
  3452. >...yay, murder instincts?
  3453. >If your training is one thing, it's reliable at giving you the ability to defend yourself... or go on a killing spree
  3454. >Well, may as well let your practice take over, this is what you've been made for, after all
  3455. "Oh murder, how I've missed thee", you sigh to yourself with a bit of a frown on your face, but it really can't be helped
  3456. >You are pretty sure the insides of the building is not yet privy to your antics up on the roof
  3457. >Otherwise they would be rolling up with backup for sure by now, you assume the commotion coming from the other side of the building served its purpose well enough
  3458. >Quite frankly, with how sloppy you've been so far you clearly have had luck on your side to fall back on
  3459. >The question is just how long that luck will last and when you have to go back to actually knowing what the heck you are doing
  3460. >For now, you know who you are and why you are here and that you know that you must kill
  3461. >Since they haven't spotted you yet and don't know what happened to their colleagues, if you can avoid them just long enough they might split up
  3462. >It's definitely your best chance at this, all things considered so you get low and start crawling along the ducts on the ceiling
  3463. >Tracing the ponies' movements closely from your location a little away from the former sniper nest, they all converge
  3464. >Seeing the abandoned post they look at each other before looking around and talking for a minute before nodding and each of them heading off into different directions
  3465.  
  3466. >While ponies call it a silenced gun, that isn't an entirely accurate term, of course
  3467. >Most silenced guns are only quiet because of unicorn spell cast
  3468. >Either continuously cast by the unicorn holding the gun or via an attachment that has been enchanted and is usually ridiculously expensive
  3469. >Government black ops level of ridiculously expensive, that is
  3470. >Since these ponies are all unicorns, you would bet money on it being the former
  3471. >Which quite frankly sucks, you'll probably have to stick to the cheaper, shittier variant that everyone else is using if you ever wanted to get one
  3472. >Not that it matters much anyways, the gun's been flung over the edge together with your two adversaries
  3473. >Also, mission related, you assume to bloody splotches on the street floor do count at least as the beginning for some real mayhem
  3474. >...yay, murder instincts?
  3475. >If your training is one thing, it's reliable at giving you the ability to defend yourself... or go on a killing spree
  3476. >Well, may as well let your practice take over, this is what you've been made for, after all
  3477. "Oh murder, how I've missed thee", you sigh to yourself with a bit of a frown on your face, but it really can't be helped
  3478. >You are pretty sure the insides of the building is not yet privy to your antics up on the roof
  3479. >Otherwise they would be rolling up with backup for sure by now, you assume the commotion coming from the other side of the building served its purpose well enough
  3480. >Quite frankly, with how sloppy you've been so far you clearly have had luck on your side to fall back on
  3481. >The question is just how long that luck will last and when you have to go back to actually knowing what the heck you are doing
  3482. >For now, you know who you are and why you are here and that you know that you must kill
  3483. >Since they haven't spotted you yet and don't know what happened to their colleagues, if you can avoid them just long enough they might split up
  3484. >It's definitely your best chance at this, all things considered so you get low and start crawling along the ducts on the ceiling
  3485. >Tracing the ponies' movements closely from your location a little away from the former sniper nest, they all converge
  3486. >Seeing the abandoned post they look at each other before looking around and talking for a minute before nodding and each of them heading off into different directions
  3487.  
  3488. >They seemingly are getting into position to comb the roof, each of them has drawn their weapon in their magic and is using their horns as a flashlight
  3489. >For second rate gangers they are surprisingly well organized, but nothing you can't handle
  3490. >You've hunted down unicorns before and while their magic may be a pain in the ass, especially with how easily they can keep you at range where they tend to have a clear advantage, you trust your abilities
  3491. >A WAND would be useful right now, but just like your wings you can't rely on that, so no point in thinking much further about it
  3492. >With them split up like this, you can easily pick off one after the other, for sure
  3493. >The idea of blinding one of them with your trench coat comes to mind, until you remember you took that off and left it on the other building's roof
  3494. >No matter, this is routine
  3495. >Making yourself as small as you can while hiding behind an AC unit on top of the roof you peek out and watch the group of ponies move up to your height in a coordinated line
  3496. >Effective search pattern, but they don't deviate from their path which means you should be able to get around them and stab them in the back. Literally.
  3497. >It doesn't take long until you hear hoofsteps starting to approach your location, the clippy cloppy on the concrete becoming like drums in your ears
  3498. >Your heartrate rises as you press yourself against the metal unit tightly, counting the seconds
  3499. >Clip. Clop. Clip. Clop. Clip. Clop....
  3500. >Now is the time, you open up your eyes and get into a very short sprint, your new legs giving you an extraordinary boost
  3501.  
  3502. >Which then culminates in you getting low and sliding under the surprised unicorn's legs with a screech of metal against concrete
  3503. >The knife in your mouth out in just the right way, you use it to slice into the stallion's front legs, making him buckle and faceplant into the ground
  3504. >Blood is squirting all over your face as his heart rate rapidly sends out spurts of red life force out of his cut open legs
  3505. >You managed to cut the tendons in his legs, which is going to make this guy immobile for probably the rest of his life
  3506. >The shock of blood loss and the surprise of the attack makes his magic falter, his gun clattering to the ground and his light extinguishing
  3507. >Over from your side you hear calls coming over, "Charcoal? Buddy, what happened?", one of the other guards is calling out
  3508. >The pony next to you is visibly panicking and starts going pale as a puddle of red is forming under him
  3509. >"H-help!", he calls out, much more weakly than you assume he would have wanted
  3510. >Enough for the two guards on his side to take notice though and you hear thundering hooves coming your way
  3511. >Dealing with this one quickly, you slice his throat so he can't speak anymore and pick up his gun
  3512. >Fully loaded, that's good
  3513. >Not silenced by physical means, not so good
  3514. >A bullet quiet whizzes past your face and you can feel the sting where it grazed your cheek
  3515. >Trickles of blood roll down your face and you put a hoof to your face
  3516. >Quickly reacting, you duck low and trace the remaining 5 lights on the roof
  3517. >4 of them are heading carefully towards your direction while the fifth seems to make a sprint for the roof's access door
  3518. >For now there is enough cover you can hide behind to not get immediately shot
  3519. >And you have a gun to shoot back, and a better idea where the other ponies are
  3520. >But your gun is also gonna make a lot of noise
  3521. >There is 3 coming from the front and 1 coming at you from behind, while 1 is running
  3522.  
  3523. >The runner is definitely has to be taken care of before he reaches the door
  3524. >Despite his small cone of light from his horn, he's slowed down by the darkness and trying to avoid tripping on pieces of ducts and the like on the roof
  3525. >An estimate guess gives you about a minute to reach him and you can't help but smirk
  3526. >More than enough time, all things considered, especially since you'll be able to take the long way around and deal with the rest
  3527. >Holding on to your knife with your mouth tightly, you judge the distance between the runner and you, taking a close look at the obstacles in front of you
  3528. >Getting a running start, you vault onto one of the AC units and use it as a jumping board stretching out your front hooves into what a pegasus flying would look like
  3529. >If only you could flap your wings right now, you wistfully sigh as the time around you seems to slow down to a crawl
  3530. >A couple bullets zip past you, going wide as the guards have issues taking aim at your quick and nimble form
  3531. >While your white coat is very obvious against the dark backdrop of the night sky, your trench coat would have likely just ended up getting you caught somewhere, or made you trip
  3532. >It was there to keep your legs hidden while out in the crowds, and unlike your jumpsuit it very much wasn't made to embrace your form
  3533. >Still, even with being quite obvious the ponies fail to even lock on to you with their probably somewhat low quality pistols
  3534. >You're not dealing with a high class mob here after all, according to your contractee
  3535. >Something that does surprise you a little bit is that they haven't dropped the silencer spell
  3536. >But the most likely explanation for that is that they don't want to catch the local's attention
  3537. >A loud shootout right in open space is bound to attract other gangs trying to take advantage of confusion or even the station security guards
  3538. >This would certainly not be the first case of something like that to happen, not even on one of your missions, you've seen it before
  3539. >Anyways, enough thinking, you are about to land... right on top of him
  3540. >With a sickening crunch, you slam your hoofs down on top of him and you are pretty sure you've ended up breaking a LOT of bones in his body
  3541. >Probably also squashing something vital inside from how forcefully you've came down onto him
  3542. >....are you fat? Gosh, mare, stop thinking like this, you just have... heavy bones. And metal. Especially metal
  3543. >He wheezes hard, barely able to get any air
  3544.  
  3545. >Injured lung, perhaps? Should keep him alive enough to interrogate later
  3546. >For now, you round the corner of the entrance down and sneak your way back around on the side with the single stallion
  3547. >And blending in, you jump from one piece of cover to the next, rapidly approaching the lonely pony who has his back turned to you
  3548. >He and his colleagues are trying to look for where you've disappeared to, having lost sight of you as they slowly make their way towards the already wounded guard
  3549. >Which means they aren't paying attention to each other right now
  3550. >A well timed sprint here, another well timed slide below one of the ducts and you are standing right next to the solo guard
  3551. >His eyes snap to you and open wide in surprise as you use the force of your slide to slam a hoof into his face
  3552. >He is knocked off his hoof and slides along the floor, his jaw seeming dislocated from your punch
  3553. >Can't call for help anymore, at least!
  3554. >To his credit though, he is getting back up on his hooves gun in his magic gripped trained on you
  3555. >You barely have any time to duck as 3 shots are fired and slam into the ground behind you
  3556. >The distance between you two is quickly closed though and the knife makes its way into his throat
  3557. >With a practiced slight down, you cut open his neck and part of his chest to which he quickly flops over on the ground in a pool of his own blood
  3558. >Points for style, you'd say at least
  3559. >5 down, 3 to go
  3560. >You'd like to think of yourself as able to take on 3 ponies at once, but you aren't entirely sure if that is gonna be the right call
  3561. >Reinforcements don't seem on their way at least, so that is a certain plus in your books
  3562. >Perhaps you should just bite the bullet and rush them down, from behind, they are pretty clustered up by now after they've seen you jump away
  3563. >They certainly aren't doing a good job at covering each others back, so much for the coordinated approach of searching from earlier
  3564. >The three gangsters are snapping their heads left and right in what you can make out to be absolute terror
  3565. >For some reason you can feel a a sort of sick and twisted enjoyment from all of this and you can't help but smirk, despite the feeling giving you shivers
  3566. >Tracking them as they make their way towards the fallen runner you follow them on quiet hooves, until you are confident in the distance
  3567. >Calculating the required trajectory, you take the handle of your knife and...
  3568. >...notice the metallic taste on your tongue and a glance down at you shows that your usually pristine white coat is splattered with red
  3569.  
  3570. >Moreover, as you put a hoof to your face it leaves equally as red
  3571. >Mare, you need a LOOOONG shower once you get back to Comet's apartment
  3572. >You look more used than a sanitary towel, hopefully none of these ponies has any kind of disease
  3573. >Back to the job at hoof though, you give your adversaries another glance before pulling back your neck and giving the knife a good throw
  3574. >With your aim being as true as ever, the knife soars through the inky blank night, occasionally shimmering in the reflections of the light from down below
  3575. >And strikes one of the stallions straight up in the back, his last sound being a surprised and afterwards painful whiny as he rears up on his hindlegs and falling over on the ground
  3576. >The other two stallions jump to the side as their companion attempts to lift his hoof at them for help before going limp
  3577. >Looks like you've hit something vital, probably one of his arteries if you had to guess from the distance
  3578. >Their shock gives you time to close in and your running speed is carried into a flying kick at one of the stallions
  3579. >A sickening crunch and the twist of his head announces to you very clearly that this pony is very very unlikely to get up again as the body slides away from its former position
  3580. >One clean snap of the neck tends to take a pony out of commission rather quickly and with your knife currently out of reach you'll have to deliver the same fate to the one remaining stallion
  3581. >A straight kick to your face tells you that he was much quicker at recovering from the shock than his friends were
  3582. >The next kick you are thankfully able to anticipate and able to block with your one flesh and blood hoof, before trying to counter
  3583. >Skillfully the unicorn dodges you and starts going into a low stance, attempting to get you from below
  3584. >You notice his body is enveloped in a soft glow of his horn, runes shimmering all over his coat
  3585. >And with terrifying speed, he is right in your face, delivering a hook from down below that knocks you into the air and makes you sail backwards
  3586. >Sliding on the concrete hurts, but thanks to your reinforced spine you're probably gonna be good... sans your scraped up and now bloody back
  3587. >Although you are pretty sure your wounds are superficial at best, they still sting like a motherbucker
  3588. >Barely having time to get back to your hooves and raise another hoof in defense, the unicorn is on you with his incredible speed and a sadistic smile on his face
  3589. >Rearing up, his hooves come down with strength much stronger than reasonable and cracking the floor, right where your head had been just a mere half a second ago
  3590.  
  3591. >You in turn, rear up and start delivering punches with your front hooves while at the same time trying to keep him from getting past your guard
  3592. >Slowly, he is gaining ground though and keeps forcing you further and further back, a glance behind you telling you what you feared: He is leading you right to the edge of the roof
  3593. >Step by step you are getting closer to the fall and you can't help but start feeling terrified
  3594. >This can't be the end of it, right? Falling down to your death from a building isn't how you expected your story to end
  3595. >Below you can still hear the colts arguing with the guards, at least those are occupied
  3596. >Not that that helps, you've reached your final destination as you are but a couple meters away from the ledge
  3597. >The assault from the other stallion is relentless and his overdriven movement makes you unable to keep up
  3598. >It is then, that you get the final idea that you can muster to maybe save yourself out of this, it'll be risky, for sure
  3599. >His attacks continue without mercy but a slight opening you have noticed lets you duck below one of his punches
  3600. >The punch goes wide, right over you and he loses balance, sailing over you
  3601. >Using your hindlegs, you give that much needed push to his barrel... and see him sail over the edge
  3602. >A scream is all you can hear before you hear a splash on the street below, that erupts into terrified yells, shouting and whinnies
  3603. >Peeking over the edge, you see that the stallion's body ended up squashing one of the guards down below, both of them having been turned into stains on the asphalt
  3604. >One of the remaining guards rushes into the building, outright screaming while you see the 3 colts you had help you run off back to their own apartment complex in horror
  3605. >Getting away from the ledge, you lie down on your back and breath heavily, already being sore all over from that rapid attack
  3606. >So much for being stealthy, you guess, gotta plan your next steps carefully
  3607. >You also still have that one stallion near the entrance that you've hopefully are still able to interrogate
  3608. >But what are you even going to ask him anyways? Maybe you should just make your way down into the building proper
  3609. >You've taken out 9 ponies, can't be more than 35-40 remaining, if you had to make an educated guess
  3610.  
  3611. >As you turn around to get back up and head over to your pancaked friend still heavily breathing next to the door where you left him, your eyes fall on the sniper riffle
  3612. >While not milspec, it should at least cause a little bit of confusion and chaos
  3613. >Heading over you pick the weapon up and while it is decently weighty you don't have a hard time maneuvering it and aiming
  3614. >Unfortunately, it is a gun built for unicorns and you are currently not exactly in possession of telekinesis
  3615. >Actuating the trigger proves a little harder than you would have hoped at first, but you are a creative mare and use the strap of the binoculars lying around from the spotter
  3616. >Attaching the leather strap to the trigger, you take the other end in your mouth to get ready to pull on it once you are lined up
  3617. >Probably not going to be the most precise, but you should at least get a couple shots down and have one or two hit
  3618. >Glancing through the scope, you line up onto the head of one of the guards down below, and you pull
  3619. >To your dismay, pulling on the strap moves your mark and makes the shot go wide, embedding itself into the road next to the stallion
  3620. >He jumps to the side and frantically starts looking around
  3621. >In the meantime, your ears are ringing from the volume of the gun, this thing DEFINITELY packs a punch
  3622. >The shot could probably be heard at least a block or two down, which means you are probably about to have a gang war coming
  3623. >Confusion from bottom to top while you can make your way down from top to bottom
  3624. >You definitely are not satisfied with your first shot though, so you try again
  3625. >Taking aim, you now see all the guards hiding but one of them is sticking his head out just a little to check if everything is clear
  3626. >Careful, careful..... aim and FIRE
  3627. >Once more your ears are ringing, but this time the bullet flies true, slamming into the stallion's head right between his ears and probably going clean through
  3628. >He flops on the floor, unmoving
  3629. >In response multiple guns float out from the other guard's hideout and start firing up towards you blindly
  3630. >That'll hopefully keep them busy for a little while you say as you return back to the final roof guard
  3631. >Still lying there, wheezing, you can see blood trickle out of his mouth, but he seems still alive
  3632. >Leaning down in front of him, you hold up his head to face you and smile
  3633.  
  3634. "So, I'd like you to tell me a bit about this place and maybe, just maybe I'll make this quick. Dying to internal injury is one painful way to go!"
  3635. >"Fuck.... you", he manages to say in between labored breathes and uses the last bit of energy to spit a glob of bloody spit right into your face
  3636. >You jump back as you wipe it off, just in time to see him attempt to cast some sort of spell
  3637. "No you fucking won't!", you say as you bring your metal hoof down hard on his horn, crushing it underneath and grinding for extra measure
  3638. >The screams of blood curdling pain reaches your ears but you don't let up
  3639. >With tears in his eyes, he starts begging for your mercy and after a couple seconds you are satisfied
  3640. "So then, where were we? Oh right, you were telling me about your little base of operations!", you give him the most sickly sweet smile you can muster
  3641. "Escape ways, armories, drug stashes, labs, anything that might even just remotely be interesting", you tell him as you get closer to him
  3642. >It looks like he doesn't even have the energy to lift his head anymore, in a way you actually feel a little pity for him and his suffering
  3643. >"Armory... 3 floors down... Vault in the basement", he croaks out more and more quietly with each word, "Lab... 2nd floor..."
  3644. "And your boss?", you raise an eyebrow at him
  3645. >"Offices, m-most likely. 2 floors down... heavily guarded...", the light fades from his eyes before you could ask another question
  3646. >His breathing stops and you do what you feel is right and shut his eyes with your hoof
  3647. >From a little ways away, you can hear gun shots coming closer and closer
  3648. >Sounds like the bait has been taken, which means everypony in this place is soon going to be sitting ducks, if all things go as planned
  3649. >If things go south, the mob boss probably has to make his way up to the roof, especially if his office is this high
  3650. >Or there could be a secret passage down and out, you could hardly know
  3651. >How nice it would be to have an op somewhere in contact with you that could hack into the security cams or blueprints to hoof to you
  3652. >But sadly you are on your own and you probably want to act fast, right now the mob bosses guards might still be scrambling to get protection set up
  3653. >Or you could way it out, have him come to you when the lower part is inevitably stormed by other gangs trying to take a piece of the pie
  3654. >Would that be mayhem enough, gangsters killing other gangsters? You ARE supposed to send a message here, after all.
  3655.  
  3656. >Well, one thing you can say for sure is that your interrogation is still as efficient as it ever was... and as brutal to boot
  3657. >The vault on the other hoof sounds like an exceptional place for you, especially if you can somehow break down the wall to the sewers
  3658. >Which with your metal hooves and a good buck really shouldn't be much of an issue, escape route got!
  3659. >One final glance down at the dead mobster you notice the horn dust under your hoof
  3660. >The disturbing thought comes up that ground up unicorn horn is supposedly used in magic enhancing drugs
  3661. >Some mobsters are even supposed to snort their victim's cut up and ground up horns
  3662. >Just thinking about it makes you shiver at the cruelty of having a poor pony have to watch their own body piece used as a stimulant
  3663. >You rather... not get into the drug ingredient dealing trade if you can help it
  3664. >One thing you are reminded of is that spotters usually carry some shorter range weapons to protect their snipers, so you make haste to check out the 4 sniper nests
  3665. >On your way you also pick up the knife that you left stuck in one of the ponies, you still need that for getting a certain pony's head
  3666. >Thankfully, your instinct was pretty spot on and you end up finding a carbine next to one of the sniper riffles
  3667. >Surprisingly it is only the one though, everypony else was carrying the pistol you already had the pleasure of making their acquaintance with
  3668. >Well, you should get going, as you can hear howling and screaming coming from down the road, you want to avoid getting caught in the crossfire
  3669. >That and you also start hearing what you assume to be cop car sirens in the distance, things are gonna get uncomfortable real damn soon
  3670. >Trotting over to the door quickly, one buck knocks the thing out of their hinges and crash it into the spiralling stairwell leading down
  3671. >Peeking over the railing you can see a horde of ponies, you'd assume at least 20-25 or so flood into the stairwell at the lowest floor
  3672. >Fuck, you forgot the trench coat on the other building, should you go back and grab it?
  3673. >That might lead somepony who finds it on to figure out that you are involved, or even worse, get on comet's trail
  3674. >Maybe you could try disguising yourself as one of the hench-ponies that you've killed up here?
  3675. >Wait no, they weren't really wearing any clothes and you doubt this group would be big enough for that to work anyways
  3676. >For now, you have to get into the armory, you'll have to look into the trench coat later
  3677. >With certainly not enough time to run down the stairs and a group of 8 ponies already halfway up the stairs in rushed panic you decide to do something dumb, Shell Shock style
  3678. >Mounting the railing, you glance at where you assume the floor of the armory is
  3679.  
  3680. >One deep breath, the count to 3.... and you can feel air rush past you as you've entered free fall
  3681. >First floor passes by at extreme speed but time around you seems to slow down ever so slightly as you concentrate on your target
  3682. >Spreading out your legs for more surface area, you use air resistance to slow down ever so slightly and steer yourself towards the staircase again
  3683. >Downstairs you can see ponies stop and stare up at you in what looks like awe and disbelief
  3684. >The next floor has passed and you only have microseconds to react
  3685. >Unfortunately, you misjudge the jump ever so slightly and miss the piece of metal you hoped you could hold on to
  3686. >Instead, you crash down onto solid ground a floor below, everything feeling sore as you groan in pain
  3687. >From above, you hear shouting of two guards and hoofstomps, coming towards you from the front
  3688. >"There's the intruder!", you hear a stallion shouting from three flights of stairs up
  3689. >Immediately followed by the sound of a fully automatic barraging your position with bullets
  3690. >Their trigger discipline is lacking as from the sound of it they just keep dumping bullets into the place where you are hiding behind the concrete part of the railing
  3691. >From your position, you can't really hit them without peeking out and risking getting shot if you look too long
  3692. >You do manage to sneak a quick look in, seeing an orange coated unicorn with a lime green mane who is very, very quick at switching mags and taking aim at you again
  3693. >And a second, smaller red unicorn mare with a pinkish mane who seems a little more hesitant at shooting you up, probably trying to calculate her chances you assume?
  3694. >Which is when another genius idea strikes you and you wait for your chance as patiently as somepone under heavy time pressure can
  3695. >As expected, bullets soon stop to fly and you can hear the telltale sign of a couple of mags clattering to the floor
  3696. >Quickly ducking out of cover, you use your back hoofs to kick yourself off the ground, onto the railing with your front hoof, having your back legs carry you over the edge
  3697. >Your calculations were spot on as you basically spin in mid-air, hooking your legs into the steel rail a floor above you
  3698. >The momentum of your jump carries your body upwards, rocketing your face right into one of the mobster's face
  3699. >This high velocity boop maneuver breaks this poor guy's snootle and he drops backwards, clutching his hooves to his blood covered face
  3700. >Next to you the unicorn mare clicks in the new mag and lowers the gun in your direction
  3701. >Too late for her, though, as you've already fluently moved below her and came back up in front of her, using your hooves to pick her up and push her body over the railing
  3702. >She drops the gun in panic and starts flailing as you hold her over the 14 story drop which almost gives even you vertigo
  3703. >Her terrified face is pleading to not drop her and you give her a smile
  3704.  
  3705. >While she doesn't seem to entirely believe you, she is willing to take hold of any potential lifeline she has
  3706. "This situation? What's the plan. You gotta keep your boss safe when shit goes south, right? Where is he going to hide, and how many guards will be with him"
  3707. >The cherry colored unicorn mare is visibly shaking and her voice is stuttery as she starts talking: "I-I don't.. I don't know!", she begins crying
  3708. >You raise an eyebrow and slide her a little further over the edge, which makes her squeak in terror
  3709. >She is starting to cry now, "P-please I really d-don't know!", she begs, keeping a tight hold on your hooves with her front hooves
  3710. >"I-I n-never wanted this", she sniffles as you push her even further over the edge
  3711. "Tell me what I want to know!", you demand of her to which she just forces her eyes shut, tears streaming down her face
  3712. "How do I get into the vault!", yelling at her you hope that she knows the answer to that at least
  3713. >"A-a keycard! G-granite has it, a-always!", she yipps in desperation, "h-he's the one to unlock it, s-says it's his stuff after all"
  3714. >This Granite pony is what you assume to be the big boss in this case
  3715. "Not so hard. Why are these ponies coming up here?!", you ask her and force her face to look down at the steadily advancing gansters
  3716. >Who, by now, have started training their weapons up to you as you notice
  3717. >Shortly after, shots start bursting out from below, threatening to tear you and the mare apart
  3718. >She shrieks when one of the shots goes straight through her shoulder, disabling her hold on your hooves
  3719. >You pull her back into cover while she clutches her shoulder with her face in a grimace
  3720. "Well, I'm waiting for an answer!", you stand in front of her and she looks at you with puffy eyes
  3721. >"I-I think to gear up... I-I was told to protect the armory", she takes her hoof off just for a split moment to point behind you before applying pressure to her wound again
  3722. >"A-and then to hide out in the offices above... th-they are reinforced, I think", she replies, her voice terrified
  3723. >Good, you should be able to gear up and maybe you are even able to pick off a few of them while they are stuck in the stairwell
  3724. >Have to be quick on your hooves though, you don't have much time
  3725. >Taking the two SMGs of the guards, you make your way to the steel door that is the entrance to the armory
  3726. >While the door itself seems solid, the part that anchors it to the wall not so much
  3727. >Not something that can really stop you and you easily break the door out of the hinges
  3728. >While not the best quality, you see all kinds of short and long range weapons
  3729. >Even a couple frags remaining in a box in the corner
  3730. >So, now it stands to reason what you should pack and how you should plan to go ahead with your mission
  3731. >Below in the stairwell, you can hear shouting and shooting, not in your direction but down
  3732. >Looks like the party has begun
  3733. >Before meekly hearing the pony from behind you whimper: "P-please don't leave me here!", she begs, in tears
  3734.  
  3735. >You afford a quick glance behind you as you rummage through the arsenal of weapons with a gleeful smile
  3736. >The mare looks at you, absolutely terrified as she is shaking in fright at the impending doom she is expecting
  3737. >Honestly, you can't help but feel just a little sorry for her, especially when you consider what would happen if the rival gang got a hold of her
  3738. >Your eyes pass over the grenades, and you get an idea that just perfectly seems to fit with one of your mission objectives
  3739. "So, the basement... any secret tunnels there? Or any secret tunnels out of the upper levels of the building?"
  3740. >The mare considers your question for a moment before shaking her head, "nope, the vault only has one entrance, for security", she replies
  3741. >Picking one of the round shaped objects up you toss it to her, which at first she fumbles with before she manages to catch it
  3742. >She looks at you and then back down at the explosive in her hooves before once again looking up at you and cocking her head in confusion
  3743. "Go on. Show me what you got", you nod towards the stairwell, "we don't have all day"
  3744. >She shakily gets up and glances over the railing before pulling the pin of the grenade with her magic
  3745. >Getting up to get a better look at her trajectory she slightly leans over the edge, the grenade floating next to her
  3746. >And at that moment, you give her a kick in the back, making her in addition to the grenade in her magic tumble over the steel pipe
  3747. >The horrified scream is followed shortly by an explosion at what you assume to have been close to the ground floor
  3748. >Followed by panicked shouts from a multitude of mobsters
  3749. "I never leave behind witnesses", you call after her with an ecstatic grin
  3750. >Picking up another grenade, you look at the body of the unicorn stallion that you've given a new muzzle shape
  3751. >While still clutching his snout in pain he looks at you, outright terrified at your maneuver you just pulled
  3752. >And once he sees you approach with another grenade, he tries to scramble away from you
  3753. "Not so fast, hun", you say as you step on his tail to hold him in position
  3754. >His hooves try to find purchase on the floor, to no avail
  3755.  
  3756. >The contrary even, as it gives you a perfect view of your intended target
  3757. >With a powerful shove, you take one of the more elongated stick grenades you have found in the armory and shove it up where the sun don't shine
  3758. >He howls in surprise, pain and perhaps a little bit of pleasure, you don't quite know but something about him gave you a bit of a gay vibe
  3759. >Pulling the pin, you heave the screaming and kicking stallion over your head and then dump him down after his colleague
  3760. >If only these ponies were pegasi, flight would probably be very helpful in a situation like this
  3761. >You instinctively ruffle your wings... until you realize you don't have any
  3762. >Once more diving into the armory you start digging through the many guns in the gang's position
  3763. >Quite frankly, you are both stunned and surprised at how plentiful this place is and as much as you'd love to raid it all, you definitely don't have the time or space to take too much
  3764. >Which is why your excitement just reaches new heights as you find an old machine gun buried in a crate
  3765. >It looks slightly rusted, but only really on the outside and a cursory glance gives you the affirmation that by all accounts this thing still works fine
  3766. >A maniac smile forms on your face as you are glad that your spine is reinforced because this thing would shred your back otherwise
  3767. >Picking up a couple more round frags you head back out of the room and turn around
  3768. >Hmm, you should probably try to rig up a trap for anypony dumb enough to go in there to try and fetch some weapons
  3769. >There certainly are still enough grenades left for a nice firework if done correctly
  3770. >Sadly, you aren't entirely sure how to trap this place, especially with the door kicked in and you don't have any string for a tripwire
  3771. >Something to think about while you give these ponies coming up heck
  3772. >Putting a belt into the feed of the gun, you put it down on the railing and tilt it before actuating the trigger
  3773. >The belt-fed monster gets to work and begins pulverizing stairs and walls with extreme prejudice
  3774.  
  3775. >More screaming from below as you hear commands of getting into cover shriek out over the noise of the what you decided to call the annihilator for now
  3776. >First things first, the 8 ponies that were about to reach you are taken care of and shredded to a bloody pulp as you shift the gun's muzzle into their general direction
  3777. >From below, the other mobsters on the stairwell attempt to shoot at you but your barrage forces them to stay in cover
  3778. >You feel your gun go dry shortly after and before they can react, you toss a 'nade down the shaft, having it cooked just the right amount
  3779. >It explodes, taking out a section of the staircase and 5 or 6 ponies with them
  3780. >Moreover, it cut off most of the horde from their boss and just about 7 other ponies serving as his personal guard now
  3781. >While they digest what just happened, you refill the gun's ammunition and begin shooting again, this time using the shots to lead the bosses' group up the stairwell towards you
  3782. >Gotta get to them eventually, after all, or rather, get them to you, you have a head to claim
  3783. >Further below, you see the ponies standing in front of the now broken stairwell as the rival gang starts engaging them from behind
  3784. >A brutal firefight breaks out, costing many lives on both ends and drenching the rest of the steps down with crimson color
  3785. >Once you notice that the 8 remaining ponies you have set your eye on are just a few floors below you, you stop your shooting to conserve some of the ammo and start thinking of a game plan on how to get his flank
  3786. >Him and his companions probably plan to stop by the armory which might serve as a nice chokepoint but is also most certainly going to be an issue when it comes to them being heavily armored
  3787. >And the stairwell isn't exactly the best place to cut off someone's head in piece and take a nice picture of it
  3788. >The offices upstairs were said to be their goal, maybe you can go and set up a trap there?
  3789. >With grenades perha- wait no, you might run the risk of blowing up your mark to smithereens, which would probably mean no pay
  3790. >Anyways, your position isn't going to stay too defensible for long, especially with multiple ponies in close quarters coming for you
  3791.  
  3792. >Boobytrapping you unfortunately don't have the time for, but that doesn't mean you are just gonna give them easy access to gearing up
  3793. >Before you take one of the 4 grenades you have remaining and toss it in, you notice that somewhere down the line you've dropped your carbine from earlier
  3794. >Well, plenty of chance to restock, even though time is of the essence
  3795. >Thankfully, while searching around you've had plenty of chances to take a look at the rest of the stuff inside
  3796. >Quickly producing a semi-automatic rifle from the pile of guns you strap that over your head and leave the room, readying up one of the grenade
  3797. >Before you pull the pin though, you realize that maybe with the kicked down door the blast could cause a lot more harm to the outside of the room (and you) in the process
  3798. >Thinking fast, you half-ass the door back up to at least block the main blast somewhat
  3799. >It has cost you a couple seconds and the gang is getting closer, but anything is better than blasting yourself into bits by accident
  3800. >Arming the grenade you toss it in through a small gap the door has left and you hear it bounce around inside while you leg it up the stairs
  3801. >Getting your ass out of the way was definitely the smartest idea you had all day, the explosion ringing from inside massive
  3802. >It propels the door right out of the doorway, through the wall on the opposite side as it rips a new window out to the outside world
  3803. >While it may be a nice escape route if you could fly, it currently doesn't really help you
  3804. >It is also followed by a blast of fire coming out of the former weapon storage and you are pretty confident that there isn't any more weapons left
  3805. >You begun rushing up the stairs but take a careful glance down the stairwell and to your astonishment, the rival gang seemed to have done a LOT of cleanup
  3806. >They are now attempting to cross the gap you've made while still filing in from below
  3807. >From the outside (probably through the hole you've made) you can also hear the faint approach of sirens
  3808. >That'll add to the chaos, you think to yourself with glee
  3809. >Rapidly ascending you make your way to the "office" part of the building, which quite frankly is just another set of what seem to be small 1-room flats
  3810. >Probably for the ponies that find somepony they want to spend the night with down on the dance floor in its hayday
  3811. >Most of them have their doors just been broken open but there is one that is oddly secured with a keycard reader blinking red
  3812. >The door seems reinforced in addition and you are quite sure that this might be the spot that they will be trying to defend
  3813. >Being at the end of the hallway, the corridor serves as a perfect chokepoint to pick ponies coming in off
  3814. >While you could probably break down the door to Granite's office, that would certainly give you away
  3815. >Could you try breaking through another room?
  3816. >Lay a trap somehow?
  3817. >Judging from the sounds of hoosteps, they are a minute or two away
  3818.  
  3819. >For now you need a place to hide so they won't get to shoot you as soon as they round the corner
  3820. >Your eyes dart around the hallway as you are assessing your chances, letting your training and mental conditioning
  3821. >The rooms are mostly barren but a couple of beds and desks do remain, which gives you an idea
  3822. >Pulling out one of the heavier pieces of furniture that you can fit through the door, you drag it over to the entrance of the locked door and prop it up
  3823. >That should at least buy you a little bit of time before they can get in
  3824. >A few more beds and desks are pulled out of the rooms to serve as potential barricades or hurdles for the mobsters to climb over to reach the door
  3825. >Finally, your eyes fall on the ceiling... specifically the fact that it is made up of multiple panels and it should not be too hard to hide up there
  3826. >One jump is all it takes for your powerful legs to carry you into the ceiling, pushing away one of the panels and landing you in a rather tight crawlspace
  3827. >It thankfully is big enough for you to be able to crawl through while down on all fours
  3828. >Pushing the panel into place, you move over closer towards the entrance of the stairwell of this hallway
  3829. >One of the panels you lightly raise and use a piece of metal you found to prop it up slightly so you can see down
  3830. >Returning back closer towards the middle of the hallway, you lay down and wait, keeping your ears trained on the downstairs area
  3831. >Finally, the tell tale noises of hooves reaches your ears and you hear them stop in what you assume to be the beginning of the hall
  3832. >You can only imagine the confused looks on their faces as their safe room is scattered with random bits of used plastic and wood
  3833. >"Wh't da fuck are yous waitin' for? Git a move on", you hear one pony bellow in anger and you have a good idea who that might be
  3834. >Ever so slightly lifting the panel in front of you, you glance down into the dinky corridor and at the end see a group of 9 ponies
  3835. >4 of them are currently climbing over your first obstacle at the behest of one stallion pointing his hoof, a grey unicorn with a black mane and black fedora
  3836. >With a fashion sense this tasteless, you assume that is the "big boss", of the operation
  3837. >The 4 unicorns being sent forwards carefully peek into each room they pass until they are about halfway through
  3838. >Satisfied, the boss begins climbing over the barricades as well while the 4 last ponies keep an eye on the way to the stairs behind
  3839. >Once Granite made his way to the first 4, they continue on moving and you finally take the chance you've been waiting for
  3840. >Lowering the panel, you pull the pin on one of your last grenades and with precise aim you roll it through the propped up ceiling panel to drop down onto the unsuspecting group below
  3841. >They hardly have any time to react as the explosion fills your ears, blowing away part of the ceiling panels ahead of you
  3842.  
  3843. >The hallway erupts into screeching as Granite desperately orders his 4 remaining guards to protect him
  3844. >Shots can be heard fired from their pistols and SMGs below you, but none of them seem to consider the ceiling for the source of the commotion
  3845. >This makes it easy for you to crawl right above the source of the noise unnoticed and with a push of your legs drop down on the unsuspecting crowd
  3846. >Two of the guards suffer heavy casualties as their heads are crushed under your hooves
  3847. >It's nice being heavy sometimes
  3848. >Shocked, Granite turns his head and is now face to face with your sadistic grin, something in your brain giving you gleeful enjoyment at the carnage you are causing
  3849. >The other two guards are able to quickly react to your new presence and begin their barrage of bullets in your general direction
  3850. >A couple of the shots grace you, some hitting your metal legs and deflecting all over the room
  3851. >One in particular deflects in such a nice way that it hits the boss in his leg, having him collapse onto the floor and groaning in pain
  3852. >He is cussing at the incompetence of his employees as he clutches his wound and screams bloody murder
  3853. >One of the guns you've picked up earlier comes out and with a couple well practiced moves they end up between the eyes of the two remaining guards
  3854. >On the floor, the stallion looks at you with anger in his eyes, "wazzit you want, bitch?", he spits, venomously
  3855. >"'s it money? Power? I canz give ya dat, if ya askin... if ya decide t' work fer me, ah can make ya dreams cum tru'!", he attempts to bargain his way out of this
  3856. >Any questions you got for him? Or should you just end it and get this job over with, you still have a picture to take and all that
  3857. >Could also try and get into his office and have a look around after, or you could make an exit through the roof again
  3858. >On the outside you can now clearly hear sirens and the intercom of the building begins to crackle: "This is StaSEC. We have you surrounded, come out and surrender or you WILL be seen as hostile"
  3859. >"You have 10 minutes to comply"
  3860. >Ah yes, the common Station Security threat of becoming a hostile target... which implies death at all kinds of advanced weaponry
  3861.  
  3862. >This guy has nothing left to offer you, especially with his entire gang being taken out of commission
  3863. >Really, what you are about to do is nothing but merciful, considering who is about to knock down the door on the outside
  3864. >You've only ever heard stories, but StaSEC isn't known for the most equinitarian of treatments of their prisoners
  3865. >The rumors of forced labor camps for the corps do come to mind for anyone unfortunate enough to find themselves in their clutches
  3866. >Come on, Frost, just finish this job so you can go home already, before breaching happens
  3867. >But then something comes to mind as you look down at the basically entirely helpless stallion now
  3868. >The knife you were about to use on him goes back between your leg and the one gun holster you have and you stretch out a hoof to him
  3869. >At first he glances between your hoof and your face but his grin widens into a wicked smile as he takes your hoof and you pull him up
  3870. >Keeping your grip and tightening it a little you glare at him before speaking in a low voice
  3871. "Let's... discuss our terms of partnership in your office, where we hopefully stay undisturbed for a while", you nod your head towards one of the speakers
  3872. >It takes a moment for him to catch on but he uses your hoof to pull himself up on the ground and you step aside for him to walk
  3873. >Keeping him in front of you you make sure to not let any of his movements and especially his horn out of sight, lest you wish to become potential swiss cheese
  3874. >He limps on his 3 good legs past you, giving you a cursory glance as he pulls out a keycard out of his pocket
  3875. >"Ah knu yas kind canz be reasonable coulda been bought fer da right price", he mentions with what you can only feel to be an absolutely smug aura of self satisfaction
  3876. >Hobbling over to the door, he pulls a small keycard out of his vest and slides it over the reader
  3877. >It beeps and a light turns to green, in addition to the click of the electronic lock disengaging
  3878. >The green light turns to red almost instantly again though, as it is covered in the former gang bosses' life force
  3879. >A gurgling comes from the body which is slowly sinking to its knees and desperately putting a hoof to his neck to try and stop the bleeding, to no avail
  3880. >The stallion tumbles over and falls flat in front of the now open door, keycard down on the ground for you to swipe
  3881.  
  3882. >Turning it over in your hooves, this seems to be some kind of master key, which probably means that is going to give you access to the vault as well as basically any other room here
  3883. >Stepping past the rapidly growing puddle of blood that comes from the still barely conscious pony you drag him inside and let the door close, clicking shut as the lock reengages
  3884. >"You's a... lying bitch", he wheezes out as the light begins to fade from his eyes, "you's gunna... git what yous deserve"
  3885. >And with that, his chest rises and falls one final time and he goes completely still
  3886. >Getting to work you use your small but trusty knife to cut off the monster's head, which proves to be a lot harder than you had hoped
  3887. >Nevertheless, your cybernetic strength allows you to sever your price from the rest of his body and you set it down on his table
  3888. >...just to glance behind it and see a machete hanging on the wall behind him
  3889. >You take a glance at the knife you are holding and grunt in annoyance as you position the "trophy" to be presentable
  3890. >Thanks to your augmented eyes, you are able to take a picture to send to your employer
  3891. >The message receives a reply rather quickly, offering you another 1000 credits for taking a video with you saying "Never be caught messing with the rock crushers or you will share his fate"
  3892. >While that would be a nice bit of money, something about this request seems... off
  3893. >You decide to think it through as you make your way through the office
  3894. >They weren't lying when they said that this place is reinforced, the walls being made out of solid steal and you'd say it's at least half a meter of that stuff on the walls
  3895. >Most of the office turns out empty though, a couple of documents that you assume to be forged for money laundering and fake shipping jobs in the desk
  3896. >A tablet is sitting on the desk that unfortunately is locked for now, but you are very sure you'd find the most juicy details on Granite's personal and secured tablet, basically a jackpot all things considered
  3897. >As you are about to get your move on to get back out, you notice a giant painting on the wall opposite of the desk
  3898. >Taking it off, you find a safe embedded into the wall and you smile with glee.... until you see it is locked with a number combination and not a keycard
  3899. >You aren't exactly the most skilled safe cracker and aren't sure how long it would take to get that thing open
  3900. >Quite frankly, you should probably consider leaving, the fuzz is gonna burst down the doors here any minute now
  3901. >And hopefully only the door downstairs, you would hate if they ended up trying to follow your plan of entry, you wouldn't be surprised
  3902. >But perhaps this room holds more secrets if you start searching more thoroughly?
  3903.  
  3904. >Something in the back of your head is screaming at you how many international laws you must have broken this last hour
  3905. >But the voice is quickly silenced by something else in your noggin, overriding any kind of protest or remorse that you could have had here
  3906. >For now you comply with the request of taking the video, giving it your most professional but threatening aura as you record yourself
  3907. >Not wanting to have your real voice leak out, you decide to store it for now and later try to somehow modulate or fake your voice
  3908. >Your employer will get his video eventually, that's gonna be an easy 1k more in your pockets when you get back home later tonight
  3909. >After you're finished your eyes fall on the mobsters fedora and you are quite sure that he won't need that thing anymore
  3910. >Could you perhaps try and get some more money for another rival gang out of this?
  3911. >Certainly won't hurt to try later when you send the video back and demand your money
  3912. >Bagging the tablet and keycard, you make your leave but stop in the doorway
  3913. >Quickly hopping over to the wall, you pull down the machete and the holster it was in and strap it over your barrel
  3914. >While the head of granite might make for a good club, it wouldn't be exactly great to carry around, even if it would be a nice price to keep
  3915. >Where would you even put the head when you get back, or how would you get that back to the apartment unnoticed in the first place?
  3916. >Passing by the corpse on the floor, you consider throwing it out of a window at StaSEC for a little bit of fun and confusion, but that probably would draw more unwanted attention to you than is worth
  3917. >Swiping the keycard you open the door and step through and with a final glance back to the head, you sigh
  3918.  
  3919. "I'll CUT you some slack though, it was me who you were dealing with after all, even though you certainly weren't the SHARPEST tool in the shed when trusting me."
  3920. >This was really bad but you have a hard time containing your laughter, in movies the protagonist always has some witty final remarks, right?
  3921. >Right now the way is clear and you carefully make your way to the staircase again, where the sounds of heavy gunfire can be heard way downstairs
  3922. >Some kind of big fight is still going down there and you assume that to be between StaSEC and the rival gang
  3923. >Peaking over the banister ever so carefully, you can see that most of the gang members have holed up in the staircase and use the entrance as a chokepoint they repeatedly fire down
  3924. >Looks like the corpos ain't getting in through there anytime soon and neither they nor the gang members should be coming after you anytime soon
  3925. >With a satisfied smile you make your way up the stairs towards what you expect to be an easy walk back out into freedom
  3926. >...until the sound of hoofsteps coming from above you stops you dead in your tracks
  3927. >Not only that, from the sound of the hooves they are made out of... metal, followed by more pairs of hooves and from the sound of it you assume it to be 3 ponies
  3928. >You recognize a typical strike team formation with an augmented soldier leading the charge
  3929. >The blood in your veins is freezing cold at the thought of potentially one of your former... colleagues being here and you do your best attempt to calm your nerves...
  3930. >...before a wave of calm hits you hard and you finally notice the little flashing message in the corner of your HUD
  3931. >Neurostimulation engaged, Neural Override active for 00:38:12. WARNING: Extended usage detected!
  3932. >From what it sounds like, they have just entered the building and are currently securing the top floor and are probably trying to back up the ponies outside from above
  3933. >So much for your quiet exit and you have to figure something out fast, before they see and are able to report or identify you
  3934.  
  3935. >Being stuck between a rock and a hard place isn't how you hoped this mission would end, but where would the fun be in an easy way out
  3936. >You feel a bout of panic coming on but that is washed away as your neurostimulator that you have now finally become aware of sends out a flood of neurotransmitters
  3937. >There isn't really much time to think about all of that though, as you weigh your options carefully
  3938. >Down? Leads to combat against at least 50-80 ponies, some well trained, the others probably less so, but still a tough nut to crack or sneak by by
  3939. >Up? 3 ponies, assumingly highly trained specialists in this field perhaps even matching your training
  3940. >You might be able to take them on if you can manage to surprise them on their way down here if you play your cards right
  3941. >The final option would be... you glance down the stairwell a little opposite of the former armory
  3942. >Still there is that hole in the wall that you've expertly managed to break through with your jury rigged, door shaped wrecking ball
  3943. >About 2 floors above you you can hear voices call out "all clear", followed by heavy boots descending the staircase and a door being kicked open
  3944. >The ponies above you hurry into what you assume to be the corridor right above you and you know you only have precious little time remaining
  3945. >Thanks to your augmented eyes you are at least able to look through the hole in the wall from your position
  3946. >And while you can't see down into the alley, you can spot windows facing this building on the opposite wall
  3947. >Three of the windows are smashed in from where you assume the door has hit the other apartment complex but it hasn't broken through
  3948. >If bad comes to worst, you could probably take a page out of Shell's book and take a leap of faith into the other building
  3949. >That should at least get you out of this two-front-assault
  3950.  
  3951. >For now though, you decide to attempt hiding, at least in the hopes of getting the drop on an unsuspecting member of the assault team
  3952. >Thinking fast you head back into the now ruined by a grenade hallway and quickly jump back up into the ceiling, where you crawl as far to the end of the little cavity that you can
  3953. >Reading one of your last two grenades you push yourself low against the ceiling and slow your breathing as much as you can
  3954. >Thanks to your augs, that doesn't end up too difficult and you listen closely to the carnage happening below
  3955. >Until the dreaded noises of hooves come thundering down the stairs that stop outside of the entrance to the stairwell
  3956. >"What in the princesses' name happened here?", a gruff voice of a stallion says, none that you recognize though
  3957. >A mare answers him in a low voice: "I don't know, but whatever it was must have had some real firepower"
  3958. >"Ewww, what the heck did I step in- are those guts?", the mare eeps in surprise and disgust
  3959. >"Shut up. Both of you", you hear the last of the trio, another stallion, but still not a voice that rings any bells to you
  3960. >"Follow me, and carefully", the same voice says and you hear metallic hoofsteps climbing over half assed barricades that you've put together
  3961. >Guns click as the other two presumably lock and load before following their leader
  3962. >You begin to hold a breath, almost starting to shake at how worried you are
  3963. >The three are getting closer and ever closer, probably checking every side room carefully
  3964. >Until you hear them come to a stop right below you, their guns clattering as they look around carefully
  3965. >One of the three seems to start fiddling with a bag and then you hear something being quietly attached to the door
  3966. >A few seconds later, you hear a small bang and the door being kicked down, with two of them storming inside the office
  3967. >The third is probably out guarding the door for nopony to come in
  3968.  
  3969. >From inside you hear a shocked gasp, "what in the everloving fuck is this?", the lead stallion asks quietly, sounding disturbed
  3970. >"I-I think I'm gonna-", you hear the mare reply, before you can hear her wretch, "what sick individual would... do something like this?"
  3971. >"A psychopath. Something we have to make sure won't cause us anymore trouble", the leader threatens
  3972. >It is then that something in front of you starts to move in the darkness, something small
  3973. >In the dim light you can barely make out it's form, a small rat that has crawled out of a nearby vent is now skittering across the ceiling panels
  3974. >Below you, you can hear a gun clatter as it moves and then fires a single bullet through the ceiling panel in front of you, much too close for comfort
  3975. >"Gale, what the fuck!", you hear screaming out of Granite's office and 8 hoofs rushing out
  3976. >"Think I heard something. In the ceiling!", the pony named Gale whispers, to which you hear more guns being aimed at what you assume to be you
  3977. >The seconds feel like tense hours that are interrupted by more shots, one hitting the terrified mouse and splattering her into red guts that decide to land right on your face
  3978. >You got some in your mouth and have to desperately suppress the instinct of spitting
  3979. >The panels in front of you crash down to the floor and multiple more seconds of silence pass before one of the ponies lets out a relaxed sigh
  3980. >"Just a rodent. You shoot up this place for a FUCKING rodent?", the lead stallion hisses in disbelief
  3981. >"Sorry, gear. Coulda been something, right?", the stallion replies, sheepishly
  3982. >He only gets a sigh in reply before the leader announces an "all clear" and begins to make his way back down the hallway
  3983. >The other two follow and once they seem far enough away, you let out the breath you were holding
  3984. >Just in time to hear their boots stop
  3985. >"Did you... hear that?", Gear is asking and you hear hoofsteps coming back again
  3986. >This shapes up to be so much more tense and difficult than the movies you sometimes watched while you had nothing to do on the old screen in your old breakroom
  3987.  
  3988. >A grenade will just catch you in the blast zone and you aren't exactly ready to lose two more legs
  3989. >How could this guy even hear you, especially with all the fighting going on downstairs?!
  3990. >The only reasonable explanation you can come up with at the top of your head right now is that he may not only have augmented legs but also ears
  3991. >For some reason the idea of augmented ears make you excessively squirmish and the feeling of your legs bound tightly suddenly comes to you and your legs don't move anymore
  3992. >Probably for the better as once again you hold your breath once more, not daring to move a muscle anyways
  3993. >In your HUD you count the seconds that pass with your eyes staring down at the ceiling panel that has been shot down in front of you
  3994. >After a minute of absolute silence (apart from the fighting coming from downstairs), the cyborg turns around, "'s was nothing, I guess" and gets back to moving
  3995. >This time, you don't make the same mistake and wait until you hear them trot down the stairs and away from you
  3996. >Feeling confident that you are alone, you gently drop down from your hiding spot and spit out the while former rodent that has made it's way into your mouth as you gag
  3997. >Still, rude of them to call you a psychopath, you're not..... are you?
  3998. >Worry creeps in as you carefully creep out of your corridor and peek around the corner of the entrance, down the staircase
  3999. >From a floor below you you can hear the same procedure that you heard coming from above, the assault team clearing out floor for floor
  4000. >You rather not stick around and decide to make your way upwards towards the roof, although the idea of throwing a grenade after the squad does come to mind and sounds... rather appealing
  4001. >Maybe the cyborg has some gear that you can make your own?
  4002. >Military grade augs are known to be able to take a beating and a half
  4003. >Or you could try making your escape as you don't really hear any more noise coming from the ceiling, you assume things are about as clear as they can get from here on out
  4004. >Any specific way you want to try and get your ass out of here, though?
  4005. >Perhaps tricks to avoid confrontation or the like, or just make a run for it?
  4006. >Or actually try and get some more hardware for yourself without exorbitant prices
  4007.  
  4008. >While the idea of potentially more loot is an interesting one, you aren't sure if you are willing to further exhaust yourself today
  4009. >That and the chance that you could end up discovered or hurt really isn't worth the risk...
  4010. >...especially not for augmentations, the idea of losing more of your equinity drives a cold terror into your heart and forces images to mind that you'd rather forget
  4011. >On silent clippy cloppy hooves you make your way over the barricades that you have set up and back out into the main stairway
  4012. >If the cyborg leader really has augmented hearing you need to do your best to play it stealthy... even though you are distinctly aware of how well that worked out for you so far
  4013. >Silently creeping towards the staircase you attempt to glance down and see the firefight below still in full force, multiple times one of the gangsters taking a bullet to the head and dropping like flies
  4014. >Looks like StaSEC has finally managed to at least gain the upper hoof ever so slightly, but they are still barely capable of making a push
  4015. >Below you, you hear another "all clear" and your targets starting to make their way down the next floor
  4016. >They got their backs turned to you which is making what comes next hopefully a lot easier as you turn tail and creep up the stairs, back to what hopefully is going to be an easy exit
  4017. >The way up the stairs is a harrowing one and you keep finding yourself looking over your shoulder, expecting a metallic hoof in your face any moment
  4018. >Thankfully, none of that comes true and you soon reach the final landing on the stairs, the door to the outside being busted wide open
  4019. >Outside you can see a few search lights from flying vehicles calmly pass over the roof, they should be easy to avoid if you stay careful and to the shadows
  4020. >Trotting out of the building you duck into the shadows and creep along the floor, avoiding the spotlights that probably mean you'd be screwed if they fell upon you
  4021. >Slowly making your way to the edge of this building you repeatedly come close to one of the security vehicles spotting you
  4022. >The one thing you are really glad about is that they didn't bother putting any actual ponies onto the roof, staying content with just keeping visuals on it
  4023. >They clearly expect nopony to actually get past the armed forces they sent in from the top
  4024.  
  4025. >Waiting for the next spotlight to pass by you take a short distance and make your jump, your hoof kicking you off the ground to send you flying
  4026. >Right in that moment, a spotlight moves to intercept you, but you send out a small thanks to the princesses as it misses you by a hair's breath and you duck and roll onto the other roof
  4027. >Quickly hurrying back to get your trench coat you left you put that on and start running from roof to roof in the dead of the night
  4028. >You at least wish to get a little away from here, lest you want to walk out right into the hooves of some really riled up station security
  4029. >With each jump, the chems that had been pumped into you through the entire ordeal lessen and lessen in potency...
  4030. >And what catches up with you isn't just physical exhaustion...
  4031. >Without the neurostim's influence, your mind returns to a clarity you didn't know you were missing and the weight of what you had just done comes back crushing in in full force
  4032. >Your conscience is going into overdrive as you mentally review the job, your cold brutality and efficiency at killing...
  4033. >Oh by the stars, you've pushed her over the railing without even a hint of remorse.... then
  4034. >Tears well up in your eyes as the realization dawns on you that you may really be a psychopath as the squad leader said
  4035. >Is this... you can't recall you've ever remembered what happened after a mission had been completed when you were still... on a leash
  4036. >Have those memories always been stripped from you or your mind been messed with?
  4037. >Just what did these ponies do to you?
  4038. >One one of the roofs that you have now gotten to, you just fall down to your hooves and feel the tears roll down your face
  4039. >Breathing heavily you lay on your side and bury your head in your hooves, trying to push the thoughts of what happened today out of your mind
  4040. >What will Comet think? What about Shell?
  4041. >Will they... they won't just leave you, will they?
  4042. >The thought of once again being on your own terrifies you, almost as much as the idea of losing more of yourself
  4043. >But maybe that is exactly what makes you so worried, the fact that you're losing not only your body but also your self... or those that through the short time you've known them but already mean so much to you
  4044. >The urge to return back to Comet's apartment has all but disappeared, the thought of engaging her after tonight unbearable
  4045. >On the other hoof, she may be worried about you.... right?
  4046. >Scenes of her screaming you out of her apartment after seeing you or hearing what you did drive themselves into your heart like sharp daggers
  4047. >What are you going to do? Can you somehow smooth this over? Should you just... leave them before they find out who you really are?
  4048. >So much are you in thought, that you don't notice the door to the roof opening a couple meters away and a figure coming out of it, freezing as they see you lying in a heap, a small pistol trained on you
  4049.  
  4050. >Heaving sobs escape your shivering form on the ground until your ears perk up at the sound of hooves coming closer to you
  4051. >The police, they are coming for you, clearly, is the first thing that jumps to your head and just as quickly you are on your hooves, drawing your own gun at the newcomer
  4052. >A couple meters away from you a mare stands, hooves up in the air with a bottle in her left as you keep your gun trained on her
  4053. >"W-woah, easy there sister", the tired looking figure says with the voice of a pony that smokes 2 packs a day
  4054. >You narrow your eyes at her to which she flinches and takes a step back carefully from you, her eyes going between your gun and your tear streaked face
  4055. >She gently puts her hooves down, before keeping her eyes on yours, "you alright, hun? Because you really don't look alright at all"
  4056. >Either she is very good at reading ponies or you look like that much of a mess, which you really just hope it is the former
  4057. >Carefully taking steps closer to you, she tries to act as none threateningly as possible but you keep your weapon trained on her
  4058. >She eyes it as she walks past you, sitting down near the edge of the roof and putting the bottle down on the wall
  4059. >The mare glances back to you, before patting the spot next to her with her hoof
  4060. >"What's the holdup, hun? Don't got all night now, do I?", she tells you in her scratchy voice, but something just seems right about following her request right now
  4061. >Carefully tucking away your gun, you slowly move over while keeping a scrutinizing gaze on the mare looking for any kind of trouble
  4062. >Sitting down as she asked she smiles a small, welcome smile at you before picking up her bottle and taking a swig straight from it
  4063. >She holds it out to you and at first you are a little hesitant but a couple more nudges on your arm with the bottle convinces you
  4064. >Putting the bottle to your lips you lean your head back, the liquid flowing down your, which you now just started realizing, completely dried out throat
  4065. >It burns all the way down and you fall into a coughing fit to which the mare next to you breaks out in roaring laughter
  4066. >She takes the bottle, another swig vanishing down her throat, "pretty good, that firewater, innit, sister?", she smugly smiles at you
  4067. >"Rumor has it that stuff's distilled by actual kirins, with how hot it is I'd almost like to believe it, eh?", she nudges you in the side as you recover from your coughing fit
  4068. >While it might burn, it at least numbs the voices in your head a little so you reach over to take another swig
  4069.  
  4070. >Being a bit more careful, you can hold it this time around and feel a comforting warmth spread through your body radiating from your core
  4071. >"Girl, you look like you've been through tartarus thrice", she says, looking out over the city from your vantage point as she lights up a cigarette
  4072. >She offers one to you and while you never did try before, to your knowledge at least, you graciously accept
  4073. >You've already been introduced to the magic of firewater, why not try a couple new things tonight while you're at it
  4074. >....you regret that as you realize that cigarettes actually taste like absolute shit, but you do decide to power through and start mirroring her
  4075. >Something you just now noticed is that she is using one wing to hold the smoke, the one facing away from you... the other one missing which is why you took her for an earth pony at first
  4076. >Inside you, something very much resonates with her loss and she seems to catch you staring
  4077. >"Accident in my younger years. Worked a butcher job, ended up getting butchered myself", she shrugs and returns to her smoke
  4078. >"What about you, mare? You look like you could use a hospital... the fact that you are walking around with how you look seems to be a miracle"
  4079. >Glancing down at yourself, you see just how splattered in blood and everything you are and you shrug, "most of it isn't mine"
  4080. >She chuckles at that and gives you a half assed shrug
  4081. "Killing isn't all that great, y'know", you tell the mare with a long drawn out sigh as another swig of firewater goes down your thirsty throat
  4082. "And looks like I've still got that pesky thing called morality with me remaining. So much for being a psychopath", you huff in annoyance and take another drag form your cigarette
  4083. >The world seems so grim, especially with the past couple hours behind you and the next few hours ahead
  4084. >Falling into silence, you just follow the mare's gaze and watch the lights of the city dance as the time goes by
  4085. >Not... having to talk feels nice, even though there is so much you would just love to get off your chest
  4086. >More firewa- oh, the bottle's empty, you frown as you hold it up to your lips and try to lean back
  4087. >You have to chuckle at the world around you seemingly shaking, like on a boat, even though you've never been on a boat
  4088. >Getting up, you stumble around the roof before face planting and starting to giggle
  4089. >The half pegasus is quick to your side to prop you up
  4090.  
  4091. >"Ey there, easy, sister. You're alright there?"
  4092. >No.
  4093. >No you are anything but alright, but you want...
  4094. >You want to see Comet again.
  4095. >And Shell
  4096. >And maybe even Morning Dawn, that has yet to be determined
  4097. >You wonder what she smells like?
  4098. >Wait what, what the heck are these thoughts
  4099. >...what would comet taste l- FROST!
  4100. >You mentally knock your head against an imaginary wall
  4101. >Part of you can't help but giggle
  4102. >"First time drunk?", your new friend asks with a bit of a chuckle
  4103. >All you can do is nod with a goofy smile
  4104. >Guess you found out what kind of drunk you are
  4105. >"Come, you can.. stay on my couch today", the mare tries to pull you towards the entrance back down but you pull the other direction
  4106. >But you pull into the other direction, "n-no, I want to... I wanna get home to comet", you whine like a young foal
  4107. >Thinking about all the shit is for tomorrow frost to deal with... just like the hangover you've been promised by the mare next to you
  4108. >"Home... at this hour, in your condition?", the mare sighs
  4109. >"Hun, by the stars are you sure that is a good idea? Do you... want me to take you home?", she carefully asks
  4110. >Options, options
  4111. >Take her up on the offer to take you home? Or stay with her for the night?
  4112. >It might be nice having somepony to talk to, therapist style
  4113. >Or maybe you could just call Comet to pick you up, that would be nice
  4114. >Oh you could call Shell and tell him the good news!
  4115. >And the guy who hired you for the money, gotta debrief after all!
  4116. >So much to do, so little to time!
  4117.  
  4118. "Noooooo I can go alone!", you whine as you get up before looking around and having the sudden realization: Your trenchcoat, you gotta go back and grab your trench coat!
  4119. >Flexing one of your cyber hooves you show her how strong you are by flexing your chromium-coated cyborg muscles with a satisfied grin, "I'm really strong!", you slur out
  4120. >The pegasus just raises an eyebrow at you casting you a scrutinizing glance but doesn't say anything as she just looks at you confused
  4121. >You turn around and it is at this moment that you trip over your trench coat that you are wearing that you are already wearing, faceplanting once again
  4122. "Ouchie", is all you can get out as you sit back up and rub your snoot, the mare breaking out into bellowing laughter
  4123. >Great, now not only your nose is hurt but also your pride now, but her laughter is contagious as you soon join in and the pain has all but disappeared again
  4124. >While it doesn't do away with what you've done and the last couple hours haunting you, the laughter helps you driving the storm clouds away from you, for now
  4125. >....The alcohol doesn't exactly hurt either... not mentally at least you think as you rub your snoot, still
  4126. >Something that you do notice after you remove your hoof from your face you notice how much dried and crusted blood is sticking to it
  4127. >That sobers you up enough to regain some of your lucidity and you frown, the sudden shift in mood like a chilly blanket to the point that your new friend notices
  4128. >She puts a hoof to your side cautiously, looking at you in concern, "Hey, you alright there, girl?"
  4129. >Shaking your head you sigh before glancing at her and while still a bit slurry, "Do you mind if I use your shower? And... I think I'd like to stay the night, if you don't mind of course"
  4130. >Nodding instantly, she is to your side to lead you downstairs into the apartment building, "of course, hun, a nice hot shower always improves my mood too, so take as much time as you need"
  4131. >Leading you down through the dirty halls it kind of reminds you of the apartment building that Shell has brought you into... which subsequently got torn up
  4132. >Anger rises in you and you really hope you can pay back whoever caused this a hundredfold
  4133. >Also in the light you finally are able to catch the mare's looks properly, her coat a light purple and her mane like silk and white as snow
  4134. >On her cutiemark you see what looks like a steel pole and you can only imagine how she got that
  4135. >Unlocking the door with actual, physical keys, it opens up and you hear tiny hoofsteps rushing up to the front door
  4136. >Screams of two young ponies reach your ears as two almost identically looking fillies round the corner into the tiny apartment entrance and jump into the pegasus' arms, "Mommy, I finished all my assignments"
  4137.  
  4138. >She pats one of the fillies on her head, "Good work, Berry, what about about your sister?", she gives the other filly a warm smile who turns her face away, "assignments are dumb!"
  4139. >"Now, now, Fruity, you'll know your teacher gets mad when you don't do her tasks!", the mother gives the filly a frown but starts smiling again as she boops her daughter
  4140. >"But moooom... I... I really don't get them", the filly, Fruity, whines, "a-and Berry is so much better why should I even try", she once again looks away from her mom
  4141. >"Come on, honey, give it another try, for me?", she ruffles the filly's mane to which the young one desperately tries to push her mother's hoof away and replies "o-ok mom..."
  4142. >"Oh, and before I forget it, you two will have somepony to watch you tonight!", she steps aside, letting them see you for the first time
  4143. >"Girls, this is...", she looks at you, realizing that she hasn't even asked your name yet
  4144. >Thankfully, you catch on and give them a small smile: "Frost. You can call me Frost"
  4145. >"Now what do we say, girls?", their mother sternly reminds them to which the two little pegasus fillies reply: "Good afternoon, Miss Frost!"
  4146. >One of them, Berry, bounces up to you, "Miss, why is there Ketchup all over your face?", she asks with a curious look
  4147. >You are a bit taken back and quickly try to come up something reasonable to satisfy their curiosity, "I-I've been in... uh... a food fight! Yeah, that! The other ponies had mustard all over them!"
  4148. >Trying your best to giggle, her mom seems satisfied with your response, "now, now girls, go to your room and Berry? Please help your sister out with her homework, alright?"
  4149. >"Yeeeees mom!", they say in unison, a little bit protest-y before scampering off into a room again
  4150. >The mare smiles after them with a happiness that only the most important things in a pony's life can bring
  4151. >She then remembers something before quickly pulling you inside and closing the door behind her
  4152. >"Alright, bathroom is that door over there. It's not big but it should suffice. I have to get ready for work, if the small ones bother you too much, just tell them to go to their room... and to sleep", she looks at the clock
  4153. >Her movements become more erratic as she starts pulling clothes and shoes from various spots of the small flat, quickly and in from the looks of it practiced motion putting them on
  4154. >"I'm Dancer, by the way", she says as she puts on her shiny stockings and then her shows before heading to the door, "I'll be back by morning, sorry for pushing them on to you, but you can't believe how much I appreciate this"
  4155. >She then waves at you before hurrying out the door and leaving you alone
  4156.  
  4157. >Deciding to use the chance you head into the bathroom, locking it behind you and looking at yourself in the mirror
  4158. >You have bags under your eyes, your face is covered in red splotches and your hooves are shaking as you look into those empty eyes of yours
  4159. >Yet despite all that, you're smiling, if only ever so slightly
  4160. >Talking to Dancer has done you at least a little bit of good to the point where you are able to face at least Comet tonight... hopefully
  4161. >You dial her number, hoping that she is still available at this hour and willing to talk
  4162. >With how fast she picks up, you can only assume she was expecting this call all night
  4163. >"Oh thank the stars, you're alright, I was super worried, Frost!", the concerned voice and accompanying picture of the batmare pops up in front of you
  4164. >She stares long and hard at you as her eyes go wide and her mouth hangs open, "Frost! What happened to your face, are you ok?! Where are you?!"
  4165. "Most of it isn't mine", you wave a hoof at her trying to calm her down, "and I just... wanted to inform you that I'll be laying low for tonight. I'll get back to the apartment in the morning, alright?"
  4166. >"Frost, what's going on? Where are you? Do you need me to come get you?", her concern in her voice is obvious...
  4167. >You can only assume news haven't gone out yet and you let out a breath you didn't realize you were holding
  4168. >"I found a place to stay for the night and... I'm a little drunk so I'll stick here for now. Really I see you in the morning, I'll be safe until then!", you promise her
  4169. >She looks long and hard at you, worry written all over her face, but then she nods, "alright. I'll see you in the morning...."
  4170. >"Oh, and Shell called... he was worried, talked something about diagnostics going crazy... to the point where the nurses ended up sedating him mid-call"
  4171. >She can't help but chuckle, "poor guy is probably taking a long sleep until tomorrow, you might want to check in on him, ok? Have a good night, Frost"
  4172. "May Luna grant you sweet dreams", you reply, to which Comet flinches almost unnoticeably before ending the call
  4173. >For now, you take a long and drawn out shower, the hot water washing over you and the grime and blood and guts on you staining the shower drain red
  4174. >You use the time to try and think of what to do tonight and what you want to do tomorrow morning
  4175.  
  4176. >You finish up your shower and get out, drying yourself off with a towel hanging on the rack and stare into the mirror once more, collecting your thoughts
  4177. >Was your earlier mention of Luna... offensive in any way?
  4178. >She was the guardian of the night and dreams, using her name to invoke beautiful dreams is normal.... right?
  4179. >You sense there to be a bigger story behind Comet's reaction, perhaps you should press that tomorrow...
  4180. >Moreover, what the heck kind of mother would leave her children alone with someone who has just drawn a gun on them
  4181. >"That's right, you're a killer. A psychopathic, unstable murderer", a voice interrupts your thoughts and you stare into the mirror, your image grinning back at you
  4182. >"Yeah, you. Enjoyed bucking that mare of, didn'tcha?", your reflection asks with a smug grin and stares you down
  4183. >Mirror Frost puts a hoof to her chin and starts humming, "how many ponies do you think died because of you tonight, that's oughta be a new record, eh?"
  4184. >You can only stumble backwards and trip over your own hooves, sitting on the floor the reflection glaring down at you
  4185. >"A couple more tonight wouldn't be such a bad idea, would it?", the smile on her face grows to an unnatural size exactly the moment as you hear two fillies outside the door giggle
  4186. >Cold sweat starts forming as your other self pulls out the gun from her trench coat and aims it at you before aiming it at the door
  4187. >Looking over to it in terror, you still see it shut tight and when your eyes return back to the mirror, the reflection is gone
  4188. >Breathing heavily you take a couple seconds to compose yourself again before shakily getting up and walking to the door, the giggling outside still audible
  4189. >"Ssshhh, be quiet sis, or we might get busted!", one of the fillies says before you unlock the door and open it up to the two ponies trying to head towards their room with a cookie jar
  4190. >They freeze as they see you before glancing at each other and then at the cookie jar they are carrying before hiding it behind their backs and blushing furiously
  4191. >Hiding it behind their backs REALLY badly, you might add
  4192. >Deciding to play along, you do as if you hadn't noticed anything and smile at them
  4193. "Oh dear, what are you two girls doing out here? Didn't you have homework to do?", you crouch down on their level to which they look at each other
  4194. >"Yes, missus Frost", one of the two answers, you honestly can't really tell them apart with how similar they look and sound
  4195. >They try and sneak the cookie jar with them into their room and you look after them before following in
  4196. >It is a small and simple bedroom, a single, run down bed for what you assume both of them, a small desk with two chairs pulled up to it and multiple books scattered around
  4197. >One set of books has been closed already, the other still wide open with what you can see some algebra questions
  4198.  
  4199. >While one filly sits down in front and stares down at the book, the other one heads over to a small radio and puts in a music tape before turning it on
  4200. >(YouTube) - MG Shuffle - Turn the Page (Bob Seger Cover) starts playing and it takes you a moment but you recognize the voice clearly
  4201. >Dancer, if that is her real name is singing as Berry lies down on the bed, closes her eyes and slowly hums away to the music
  4202. >For now, you sit down next to Fruity on the empty chair and look at one of the notebooks she has scattered around her, filled with doodles of all kinds
  4203. >You let out a whistle, this kid has some real talent, multiple drawings of her mother, her sister and herself
  4204. >One of them hits you much harder than any of the others, the three of them flying through a blue sky looking like they don't have a care in the world, smiles as wide as a mile on all their faces
  4205. "Your mother has a wonderful singing voice", you say a little absent mindedly to which both fillies perk up and the one on the bed begins to speak
  4206. >"It makes us feel like less alone when she has to go to work", Berry starts explaining, "we remember when she sang to us like this every night", Fruity finishes her sister's explanation
  4207. >Both their faces falter and they look away as the song reaches its climax and you can see tears starting to glisten in their eyes
  4208. >You quickly pick up Fruity and carry the confused filly over to the bed where you lie her down next to her sister
  4209. >They both look at you questioningly as you decide to lie down with them and pull them closer to you, putting a wing over them... that you realize you don't have
  4210. "How about I tell you two a bedtime story? I can't sing like your mom, but I know some really nice stories!", you put a hoof to your chest and beam at them
  4211. >Their teary eyes dry up as the excitement of hearing stories gets through to them and they snuggle up close, listening intently
  4212. "Alright, so there was once 6 ponies, a long, long time ago..."
  4213. >...
  4214. >You wake up to keys jingling at the front door, the lock of the door unlocking
  4215. >...with two fillies tightly snuggled to you and sleeping like two little rocks, gently breathing in unison as if they were one pony
  4216. >Carefully extracting yourself out of the cuddle pile you rub the sleep from your eyes and sneak your way out into the hallway, closing the door ever so quietly
  4217. >In that moment, it opens and dancer steps inside, her coat dirty, mascara streaking down her face and bags under her eyes
  4218. >She sees you and gives you a weak smile before looking around and cocking her head as she seems to be looking for something
  4219. >You whisper to her "Ssshh", and point towards the bedroom
  4220. >Once more she flashes you a tired smile and a nod before heading into the bathroom and you can hear the shower turn on
  4221. >You notice small streaks of red on her flank and can only try to piece together what happened.... and you start to have an idea of why Berry was asking about Ketchup earlier
  4222.  
  4223. >Part of you starts contemplating and considering Dancer's butcher story to be just a little fishy
  4224. >As you stand here, you hear the door behind you open and two pairs of eyes glance through slightly ajar door up to you
  4225. >"Miss Frost, is something the matter?", one of them asks you with wide eyes
  4226. "I uh... just greeted your mother!", you tell them to which their eyes lighten up and you can almost see the stars in them
  4227. >They rush out, looking around the apartment for their mother, before you point towards the bathroom door
  4228. >Sitting down, they wait patiently until they hear the door unlock and open, jumping up to tackle hug their mother as their little wings flutter in excitement
  4229. >"Mommy, mommy!", they exclaim and nuzzle their parent's neck, to which the tired mare responds with a nuzzling of her own
  4230. >"Miss Frost told us a bedtime story! It was really nice... but I think I didn't catch the ending", one of them confesses and takes a guilty glance towards you
  4231. >"It was about the sun and the moon and friends and we really hope we can make some friends like that someday", the other one says before they finally let off and let their mother move
  4232. >She gives you a warm smile, "has she done that now? I guess I'll have to thank her for that, you two go run along, I'll prep us all breakfast, alright? Pancakes, your favorite!"
  4233. >With two YAY!s the two of them scamper off into the bedroom, doing what kids do when left to their own, you assume
  4234. >Dancer motions for you to follow her into the kitchen/living room and starts pulling out pans and ingredients
  4235. >"I knew I could trust you", she says between putting things into a bowl and starting to mix them with her one wing, "thanks for spending the night with the girls"
  4236. >She gives you that tired smile, "these two really are my whole world, my everything. I am glad they could have a night of... normalcy, I suppose"
  4237. "You're... welcome?", you start and cock your head at her
  4238. "Is Dancer a stagename?", you ask her carefully while she works to which she stops stirring for a moment, catching her breath and the continuing
  4239. >"More or less... more less than more, nowadays. Melodic Harmonies is what my name used to be", she sighs before starting to dump some of the mixture into a pan and flipping it occasionally
  4240. >"Could you put plates on the table?", she nods towards one of the cupboards and you comply, starting to set up the table for breakfast
  4241. >"I'm sure you have questions, so go ahead and ask...", she seems at the verge of tears as she says that
  4242. >Maybe you should... not? You could always try hit up Comet, Shell or your employer to report a job well done?
  4243. >Perhaps entertain her girls until food is ready?
  4244. >On the other hoof, she seems sincere about willing to answer your questions and she might be happy to have someone she can open up to

[CYOA] Trapped in Synth

by Wolvan

/mlpmg/ - 10 year anniversary shitposts

by Wolvan