Diamante's message to Ripley regarding therapy:

[So the way I see it, you had problems before your Implant, only possible conclusion with that Personality Editor inside of you. Now… this therapist can explain it better, she's an expert in her field. And believe me, I've seen cases like yours spiral out of control, and typically it ends up with heartless bastards who end up on the wrong side of a gun. It's not too late for you, and from what I'm seeing, you're relatively well adjusted. Now, I'm not gonna ask you to go off the deep end and switch it off completely, things like this need to be handled delicately, a process is involved. Just follow it, that's all you need to do.

And yes. This is where the damn therapist's office is. Don't ask questions.]

6:01 PM October 4th

Ripley

The hour struck, the gym closed and the blinds went on. My Arachne spurned to life, rivers of Warp Energy soaked into the machine, thin branches and estuaries drowning the wires in Golden glory as I pried open a box containing a set of mechanical intestines and got to work.

Intestines were by far, the worst organ to manipulate into Shardware. Not only were they huge, but they were also notoriously intricate due to how precise they needed to be. You couldn't make them absorb too much, for the threat of upsetting your body's nutritional balance, but you couldn't inhibit them much as well. Not to mention, they were big as all hell.

It was all about having it react to the biomonitor installed within it, which was enough of a hassle to reprogram already, but when your clients were gym junkies who knew exactly how much protein they wanted to digest down to the microgram…

Ugh, I hated guts.

I could finish up any other organ in the better part of an hour, but intestines took me thrice as long and it was only around 9PM that I left. All that for a Bronze II grade Shardware. I might have missed out by not being paid on the hour for overtime.

Still, a net income of 10k from that piece alone was worth it. I heard the client had paid up to 30 thousand for it, some Interflame gang rising star who was determined to climb up the gym's leaderboard.

Of which, I was also getting pretty high up. I'd broken into the top 300 in most categories of physical strength. And the top 100 in shooting. (Though I had my cheats for that ie. Database and Thought Multiplier).

I probably could have climbed higher, but I was determined to make it through as Ripley Donovick. Bronze Shard Op' of Harold Anderson. Dreadwire the Gold Merc could easily push into the top 100 of physical strength and top 50 of shooting. (Assuming I was using my cheats).

Alas, my job was done for the day, I closed up shop and made my way to…

I stared at the location Diamante had sent, there's no way that was where my therapist stayed.

———

Walking down the streets of this demented boulevard for the deranged, I couldn't believe that my therapist's office was in a Crimson Souls owned brothel in Little Requiem of all places.

The Hellfire Club. Not just a brothel, but probably one of the most infamous brothels in all of Westcrook and New California. This was the place that brought in the suits, that truly satisfied every twisted desire your mind could think off.

I wasn't sure to wait in the long line or not, but I took my chances and approached the bouncer directly.

"Back of the line or my boot goes up your ass. Literally." He didn't entertain another step past one meter. Exact.

"Um, I'm here for… a therapy session?"

His eyes blanked out, the reflection on them glowing before he nodded at me. "Andressa is by Pleasure room seven, don't keep her waiting."

I didn't question him anymore, and strode into the pits of hell.

Red seemed to be the theme. The walls, carpet, lights, costumes, paintings, celing, and floor were all various shades of crimson, scarlet, blood, or even pink that somehow never clashed with eachother. It was like I'd really entered a club made of fire itself, the entire place seemed to shift with every thrumming note of music blaring from the dance hall.

My brain, though, had readily adapted to ignoring the sonic assault thanks to years of abuse from Shaun's club. I strode through the grand hall, where tens of dancers of varying genders and sexualities all focused in on the seemingly innocent Shard Operator looking for a quick fix.

A masked woman hanging from the ceiling with a serpent-like tail licked her lips, exposing fangs and a slithering tongue. "Now you look like you want your blood sucked, I'll make sure you get it from all the right places."

A thong-wearing man flexed his muscles as he artfully portrayed the his skin changing shades and textures all at once. "I can be as soft or as hard as you want me to be, baby."

A woman's arms mechanically adjusted to reveal various… toys. "Take your pick."

Uh… "I'm just here for therapy."

They all ignored me after that, though my heart was certainly not beating the way it should be. It was made all the way worse when I crossed Pleasure rooms one through six… some of the doors widely opened to expose…

God. Why? Why would you want to do that to yourself?

Stammering my breath still, I found an astonishingly beautiful woman with pink- sorry, it was fiery red. Guess the lights must have tricked my eyes for a moment, I looked her up and down… really wishing she was wearing more, but resigned myself to stay calm with the help of Thought Multipler.

'I have a girlfriend' X 'Not aroused'

The conflicting streams of data merged, a memory of Elsa accidentally forgetting to switch to her non-sharp hands when she reached for my-

Yeah that was enough to get me out. I focused on the woman. "Andressa, if I'm right. I'm here for… therapy."

"Oh, you must be Ripley. And here I thought you were about to ask me for a dance… eh… would have given you one if you were a woman. You would make a good woman."

I wasn't sure how to respond to that, but it did remind me of a conversation with Hoaqin about the topic. It seemed like she agreed, so I would take it… positively. I guess.

"Follow me, if you will." She opened the door to Pleasure Room 7, to my thankful surprise it didn't lead to a heart-shaped bed and a cabinet of sex toys. Instead, it was an ominous staircase that had literally no light coming off it.

Maybe I preferred the sex toys.

Walking down after Andressa, her hair began to glow with a soft fiery candescende the deeper we left the light above, the music softened too, until I had to rely only on the sound of her footsteps and the faint light of her hair to guide me.

"Why did you take the front door? Typically, those who come here for this service take the underground route." Her warm eyes smoldered over me.

"I… wasn't aware that was an option. My reference never said so."

"Ah, a joke then." We continued falling into the depths, but she didn't mind conversation. "Your eyes, I love their color… they would look wonderful under my hair. Maybe I'll test it out one day."

Yeah, I used the Thought Multiplier again.

Finally, after minutes of walking, the sound and bass from above was silent. We were so deep it was like the shadows had devoured me, muffling all my senses to better focus in on the one stimulant that now appeared.

A red door. It was entirely visible to me despite the lack of light, a phenomenon my mind couldn't quite wrap around. "How…"

"Ssshhh." Andresa raised her finger up to her mouth. "We have reached the boundary between truth and falsehood. Understand that what lies ahead is wisdom, and many things older than it. Blood, and older than that — fire. Pass, if you have to, into the realm where your words have no meaning if my lady says so. Let your heart be exposed, for all that it is worth."

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

Andressa didn't open the door, but her steps slowly got fainter as she disappeared up back into the swallowing darkness. The door was still visible, and now a fear unlike most got the better of me.

What lies beyond this door? The unknown. The abyss.

Despite all the warnings in my head, I turned the knob, and was consumed by the fiery Energy inside. The room was red, as everything else had been, but the shade of blood here was grounding. It spoke in its wavelength, a tale of life and death interwoven into the paint that ravaged my senses. Yet, it wasn't overwhelming, it was humbling in a way that grounded me.

Reminding that beneath all this steel, I was born as a human, made of flesh and blood.

But the most primal of the color were in the two eyes of the woman seated in the center of the room. Her entire body covered in magnificent silk veils of that same color with the exception of her hair and eyes.

She was the source of this madness, of this serenity. It was true, stepping into the room was like stepping into fire. Parts of me felt reduced, but what remained was nurtured by the other energy in this room. A surging flood of water that filled it with a harmony I didn't know I yearned for.

Fire and Water Tendency. Both from the woman seated across me.

Though, I would be an idiot if that was how I knew she was a Gold Adapter. From the second I entered, our powers clashed and harmonized in a paradox of competition and balance. I knew who she was, while she was secretive and very little was known about her, all of this strange phenomena was proof that I was staring at Westcrook's most powerful Esper.

The Crimson Heart. One of the two leaders of Crimson Souls.

And one of the puppeteers of Westcrook.

Before I could say a word, she spoke, and the world listened to her with obedience.

"Be silent. Ripley Donovick."

The air seemed to rush out of my lungs, preventing a single vowel from forming.

"You are talented to have sensed our shared power. Now sit."

My Shardware seemed heavier, like gravity had emboldened to grab them with chains as I took my seat on the pillow. "It's… a pleasure to meet you."

"As is mine."

Her eyes seemed to twinkle behind that veil, and it comforted me just enough to feel relaxed here. That was a paradox as much as everything here, she was… definitely not Tier III. The aura exhausting over her was archaic and beyond an understanding I could grasp at right now. It seemed almost fundamentally different from the Adapter's I'd met so far.

Each syllable of her voice carried a power different from Jacob or Anthony Grazhe, it held a grip not on just my mind but… well, the Crimson Heart said it best. "Know that my words are more important than yours to the wills of the world, should you choose to be here and accept the aid I offer, it has to be your choice."

I strained my voice, it was difficult fighting her off, but… not entirely impossible though I discerned she wasn't using her full power. "I… don't even know what's happening to me. I'm forgetful of things that the people around me… who knew me, seemingly think I should find important. Names, faces, events, sometimes I remember a shadow of what it was, but there's no emotion there. It's blank, because I have a…"

"Personality Editor. Yes, your reference explained it to me."

I was a bit sullen at that, I didn't exactly want Diamante going around telling people — especially someone who was as important as her — arguably one of my weaknesses.

She raised her hand, which I noticed was made of a pale gold metal… So then, she was a Dual Adapter? I held my breath in, trying not to feel overwhelmed, but it was so easy to.

That hand was soon wrapped in a velvet haze of red that stretched off her arm like rubber, before detaching and molding into a detailed model of the human nervous system from the brain to the spinal cord.

On the base of the brainstem was a round bulge with small tendrils snatching into the flesh. A BUG. And on top of that was a Neuroframe, humanity's greatest tool in understanding Implants.

"We shall start with a field you no doubt have expertise in considering your profession as a Shard Operator. The science of what is happening to you."

"I… have a pretty damn good suspicion."

"Let me explain. First.

"The human mind or ego of the modern Adapter is spread across three pools of thought. The first is of course, the brain. Organic and sublime, it is the birth of consciousness for all complex lifeforms.

"The second step in our evolution was Mazhyr's Neuroframe. Through a complex array of neural translating chips and a basic Warpcode and Mutagen deciphering mechanism derived from redundant Implants, Mazhyr pioneered a tool that can both enhance the mind's capability and give it an insight into Implants. Neuroframes are a computer at their core, one directly interfacing with the human nervous system. Signals are received and transmitted back, allowing both response and modification of thoughts should the necessary program be installed.

"The third is the Implant. Which symbiotically merges the human and frame into one pool of thought, however, it is more complicated as the process that forms this balance differentiates in magnitude as the Adapter progresses up the Tiers."

The showcase of the Implant on the brainstem began to alter, the thin vines blossoming from it burrowed deeper through the flesh of the brain and spinal cord, elongating through the complex matter. I gnashed my teeth as a deeper understanding set in. "That's it going from Tier 0 to Tier I. From Convergence to Foundation."

"Correct." The Implant seemed to shrink, or perhaps it was better to say that it was sinking into the brain itself, becoming one as it's proceeding tendrils swelled and curled around gray and white matter.

"Modification. Tier II." I was pretty damn sure about my hypothesis now.

And then the Implant was gone, a large network of metallic tendrils slithering across every inch of the nervous system like a second set of veins. I whispered. "Tier III… Metamorphosis."

"And finally… Tier IV. Evolution." Her hands squeezed and the red image shook as the symbiotic tendrils shrank down until the nervous system looked completely normal at a first glance, but there existed a fine rhythmic glow swelling beneath the flesh. The Implant becomes you, and you become the Implant... it was known as the stage where Compatibility mattered most to be achieved.

And that was why so few were worthy of being called Homo Ascendens.

My voice became the vessel for my thoughts. I'd always read about this, but now seeing it happen in front of me explained quite a lot. "This has to do with Implant-Coded Data, it's not just about the Features within it… the further it develops, the more your mind becomes the Warpcode that passes through the BUG — until there's no difference between thought and data."

"Correct. This circuitry is what allows Implant updates, particularly for the Psyche Feature, to have massive repercussions on the Human mind. The Implant becomes a vital portion of your nervous system itself, assimilating various features from your Neuroframe and brain to become a central nucleus that dominates the tracts in your nervous system.

"Now, as for what exactly is happening with your Psyche Feature… remember that the Implant's primary function is to adapt and ensure survival at the moment. Neuropathological disorders such as PTSD or Depression are viewed through the lens of the Implant as threats, and as such, it can perform course corrections that aren't necessarily healthy for the Adapter in the long term. It can result in emotional inhibition to prevent the Adapter from being overwhelmed with anxiety resulting in a feigned stoic behavior — a common case for many police Investigators — or lead the Adapter to lose their ability to feel sad in those with depressive disorders, in fact it might turn many triggers of mental disorders into positive reinforcement."

"Then you add a Personality Editor onto that…"

"And the effect magnifies. Even low-grade Daemons such as it can be incredibly effective under a Gold Grade Implant. The memory inhibition that was used on your Limbic system is strengthened to act both subconsciously and consciously. In seconds, you could lose access to core memories that have formed your personality. Even perhaps creating entirely false ones for the sake of-"

"Preservation." I scratched my frame, feeling nervous about the very Matrix that had that name.

I'd had a good idea about what was happening, but I'd overlooked it for too long. The more I developed up the tiers, the more my mind became Warpcode — allowing greater access to the Personality Editor. I'd already felt it, deja vu was a common feeling I had around many aspects of my life. Hell, walking through this club felt like I was looking back into a kaleidoscopic view of The Toxin Club.

Except it was all hazy, certain memories were clear, but others were fogged up by an unnatural breath. What had I forgotten? I couldn't even remember what I should be looking for, but this empty void within my heart only grew.

And how long would my Matrix even allow me to feel this way? What if it made me forget that there was something very wrong in the first place? What if something… really bad happens in the future? I didn't want to think about it now, which only further proved my point because future me would be feeling even worse.

And if the Implant updated to make me forget then… it would probably save me. Get me back on my feet, but I'd lose a part of myself in the process.

Glancing at her heavily, I became much more aware of my own mind, of what I was feeling and thinking. This entire room was stuffed with her Psionic Energy… and it was affecting everything. I realized why that door was so visible despite the darkness.

It didn't emit any light. My eyes were just tricked into believing there was something there, just like this entire room. The very warmth in my hands, the soft pillow I sat upon, the images she showed me. None of it was real.

I opened my eyes. Only to be met by darkness and cold, damp air.

I hadn't been scared of the dark in a long time.

Then when I blinked, the room was back, the warmth returned but it didn't stop feeling wrong.

Psyche V.3.03 has updated to V.3.05

Effects:

Minor Resistance to foreign Psionic Manipulation

Reduced fear of the dark.

There it goes again, changing the way I thought. There was a time my dad used to tell me stories in the pitch black, his hand resting on mine to let me know he was there. He'd shown me how the dark couldn't stop us from having a good time, but now I had to be thankful for a damn update.

My feelings were complicated, it was both instant… yet ungratifying now. But also damn helpful when it came through.

I'd been learning alot about myself lately, I knew I was strong and capable, that I could hold my own in a fight and that my wits were a leap above many others. But I'd always been… sad.

I just couldn't remember why. But it was a fact.

One step at a time, but the wrong one could send me stumbling off the edge like a fool. And hell, if something bad were to truly happen to me — I would welcome the momentary bliss of Psyche resolving it all.

"How do I stop myself from… forgetting. How do I begin to make myself remember? Should I just turn it off? The Personality Editor?"

"No. The damage is done. Turning it off wouldn't recall any of those lost memories back to you, but it would sever the wall keeping your emotions in check. Such a magnitude of stimulus could pressure your Psyche Feature into becoming a Personality Editor itself, if it hasn't already. Even worse, depending on how severe these emotions are, the updates could result in a massive readjustment of your ego to appear normal. You would feel fine, but you would be a very different person."

I shuddered, it would be like setting off a bomb in my head and my Implant cutting off my lobes to make a shield.

"So then how do I fix this?"

Even with those veils, it seemed like the Crimson Heart was smiling. "By going fishing."

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