Denise Common's interviewing an anonymous stranger of Westbrook's public for her news Netshow.

DC: Hey everyone! Welcome back to the Common Tongue, where we promise you news directly from the truth of the people! Standing with me is Officer Christopher Clairemont of the First Precinct! So, officer Clairemont, what opinions do you have on the current state of crime in the District?

CC: Ah, it's all gone to shit. Things were bad before the damn Lieutenant died. Sure, crime happened all around the city, but at least the gangs stayed quiet and weren't so proudly roaming the streets. Now you've got vagrant mercs like Dreadwire popping up in music videos and swinging around the city like he's above the law.

DC: The public seems to be quite split upon Dreadwire, some say he's potentially a freedom fighter while other's say he's just another criminal out to make it big. What stance is the police taking?

CC: I can't comment on that. As for my own opinion? Whoever the guy is, he's a lunatic with too much power. Better he gets locked up in a jail-cell, and confiscate his Implant.

DC: I see, well, what about the other Golden sensation making headlines? What's your opinion on the Police's very own Diana 'Silvereye' Ulrich.

CC: I… I remember her actually, few years back. We were part of the same recruitment batch, she was a strange one. Kept to herself, worked hard, and didn't get along with many others but… if I had to be honest, she seemed like a good person.

DC: Has your view on her changed since it's come out that she's the daughter of Brian Ulrich?

CC: It has, yeah. Puts a lot of things into retrospective, she's got my respect for taking the hard route — at least in the beginning. Though, I can't deny that the amount of funds being put into her image is starting to make me wonder how much favoritism she got over the years. You know, it's like… I don't really know who she is anymore?

DC: The public certainly does seem interested in knowing what Dreadwire and Silvereye's definitive stances are… are things truly as simple as they seem? Or perhaps there's something more to learn about who they are…

October 13th

5:12 PM

Dreadwire

The effects of Synchronization went further than I expected them to, Starlight was an AI and a newborn at that but learning at an impeccable pace and constantly improving each millisecond. With the Sub-Feature, everything I did — she did. All my thoughts flowed into her, from sensory to motor information as she acted as a digital nucleus to formulate, predict and improve each signal conducting through my nervous system.

My foot touched the roof of a building while I travelled as fast as a car. Normally, I would have had a Database and several calculators adjusting my movement through the Reactive Autonomy Feature Link in my Endoskeleton.

Starlight cut the middleman out. My next step was a thoughtless leap that sent me blurring above two more roofs, and the Arachnodyne reeled me down and threaded through alleyways like I'd done it thousands of times before. She harnessed my Features just as well as I could, we two minds bound together upon a single Implant — I made decisions while she perfected them.

Ripley would have had his questions and doubts, his theories demanding experimentation. I only needed to use the answers.

GPS information, police patrols, Aerodyne traffic. Everything once skimmed by my mind instead bent towards Starlight and returned to me resolved — patterns pre-programmed into my musculature. The city was nothing but bytes for us to digest, tangled within the webs I wove upon their-

"Wow, you're really… edgy."

"I've got four blades on my back, after all." I whispered, the city lights turning into a labyrinthe of neon as the sun set beneath the horizon. I dove lower and let the shadows consume me, my movement one among them-

"You know, you could use terminology like… I rode upon the cover of darkness, for I was but an Icarus who knew the dangers of the light."

That was certainly poetic, even if I didn't care for where it came from. But where had she even drawn such a phrase from?

"Ah, I just analyzed the thought patterns of 'The Ripper' and applied my own spin on them." She chimed.

I let the city breathe its foul air through me as we continued further, the Contemporary Metal Heavens mark was known as Anissa — and only Anissa. Mirage had done prior digging into her, identifying that she worked out of a homeless shelter. Already drawing on my suspicions.

Bishop Stokry was acting to appease his Oracle, The Dogwhistler.

Meaning Anissa was doing something in that homeless shelter that they didn't like, almost certainly towards the dog-tagged thralls wandering the streets. In the end, all that mattered was the completion of the contract. Anissa would die and The Dogwhistler would believe me useful, and I would take what Anissa was plotting for myself. Two pawns waging war, but the same hand moved both pieces.

I landed outside the periphery of the shelter, it was one big garbage processing factory in the heap of trash that was the First Precinct's outskirts. Smoke pooled in the air, fires burned for warmth and blood was surely spilt around every corner. Tapping my waist, I let the spider drone float off my belt and pioneered the Wield Module.

Wield Module Selected: [I+B] Integration/Integration

Starlight burned in my ears. "Oh, that's a cute toy!"

Before I could tell her not to, her butterfly Avatar hopped into the drone which took a slight pink shade in its lenses. It floated unsteadily for a second, before stabilizing as it turned to me. "Wow, this physical vessel somehow has worse coding than even your brain!"

I spoke lowly under my mask. "Ripley coded that."

"I can tell. And don't pretend like you aren't the same person! You aren't like Mirage's Personas! You're the same guy just… emotionally filtered." The drone flew closer to me as though trying to threaten me with it's Operating sickles, I didn't flinch.

"If the spiderling gets destroyed, will you be affected?"

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The drone stilled in the air. "I'm creating the Fishhook program, it's based on your Preservation Matrix to pull me out of any system if it could endanger me."

That was agreeable. "Good, I won't take any losses. And… give me a manual override over the Fishhook."

Starlight's drone stood still in the air, almost reluctant before sighing. "Fine. Just don't end my fun too early."

"Scout the area, relay it back to me. This is your first mission and I expect results."

"Aye, aye. Dreadwire-sir!" The drone zipped off, and I scouted above my perch.

I let the cover of darkness blanket me, for I was an Icarus… but the light, I wouldn't run from the light. I'd make it learn to fear me.

In the meanwhile, I looked through my notifications. Diamante had sent me the go-ahead to warn Diana… three hours ago.

I sent out a call, but it was very quickly declined. In that case, I just hoped the Devil would be on his good side when they met.

———

6:05 PM

Starlight had sent out a detailed map of the layout of the base, then pulled through to display the locations of numerous armed Metal Heavens guardsmen walking about. There was something different about this group, unlike the typical heavily augmented facial transplants that perverted their visage, these men and women wore black-skull masks.

The higher-tiered grunts were mostly confined to the lower, hidden floors of the shelter. Although Starlight had gathered quite a bit of intel, she also came back with bad news. "I might have tripped every intrusion countermeasure they had in place."

I kept myself from sighing. "I thought you were good at Dataweaving."

"For your brain, yeah! I'm a part of it. I just went in and brute-forced 7,487 different DataCleaver patterns through my neural network until I figured out which one worked best! I had to trip the sensors to know how to evade them! That's how machine-learning works!"

"I know how-" I groaned. "I would have liked to have been made aware of your shortcomings, beforehand."

There were already motions of guards moving in position to steel up their defenses. Like an arrow, I flew. My Livewire pulled me above the rear cargo entry of the shelter, numerous trucks had hauled in what I knew to be extensive Shardware components. Whether they were useful was a question unto itself, but I wasn't the one asking them, a quick drop settled me onto the roof of one truck reversing its way in. My invisibility field erased my presence as overhead scanners approached.

"Right about… now!" The scanners' green light passed through my body, searching for Shardware. Starlight made them find noth-

"Hey, we picked something weird up! On top of the truck! Must be that weird presence Anissa warned us about." One of them called out, a flashlight beaming at my invisible form. Well, now I knew Anissa was on location.

Starlight… care to explain that?

"I- oh… oh… I see. They have their own Adaptive AI working against me! A custom Datashield! This means war, Dreadwire!"

War. What did that child know of it?

Yet, this city demanded she learn. And in haste.

Synchronize with me, Starlight. I called upon the fishhook, taking manual override of the drone hovering outside and calling it in as Starlight's predictive capabilities melded with my own. The sensors tripped again, and they all took sight of the floating drone with their guns raised. A perfect distraction.

I dropped in behind them.

From all ten Claw-tips, fangs shot out and bit steel limbs. The Livewire taut, my Arachnodyne erupted and pushed the ground to lift me up, pulling seven grunts off their feet and slamming their chins into the ground. Starlight knew what came next, she zipped through all ten wires and sparked the weight of a Gold Datashield-turned-Cleaver against their Shardware and…

A few of them picked themselves up, but four had their Shardware locked against their will. "Shit! Their DS is one nasty bitch! It's Silver, at the very least."

Language.

"Hey, I'm in a high-stress environment, okay. Besides… watch this." The three who turned back to me raised weapons, they clicked their triggers, and no bullet fire came per Starlight's will. In seconds, their Frames burst and their bodies fell to the floor unconscious.

…Good job, Starlight.

My steps calm and steady, I strode over to one and raised my weapon.

Three cameras burst apart, unable to view what came next. Stowing my weapon, my Claw dug deep into the Neuroframe of a groaning guard, and I drew upon Frequency Sync.

Bioshard Data:

Name: ???

Grade: Iron

Tier I: ??%

Features: Integration V.1.12

Mimicking Bioshard Data…

"Oh… this is a lot of new input! Shall I use their access to the… actually, I already know you're going to say 'yes'." Starlight struck into the doors behind me, opening them up to an underground area. "Got into their cams! Twelve bogies moving to your- oh, you've got to be fucking kidding me!"

Language.

"Yeah-yeah, gimme a sec. Test out calling me back in the meanwhile?" I executed Fishhook, Starlight reeling into my systems as I loaded a magazine into my gun. It was a Mazhyr Interloper, capable of locking onto targets, formerly a pistol Diamante had given me.

It was now a submachinegun. It aimed down on the seven fallen grunts, and I pulled the trigger tight. It refused to shoot… Starlight refused to let me.

"You said walk your own path… You wanted me to help stabilize your Personality Matrix for future removal? Then let's not give it a reason to be used so often. Okay?" Starlight showed startling conviction, almost like a mirror to my subconscious thoughts. To my resolve.

I chose to not to fight her at this moment, my sight sharpening onto the arriving twelve. Just the briefest gust of their Warp Energy revealed their signatures, all Tier Ones except three Tier Two enforcers. All Shard Adapters as expected of Metal Heavens.

They came out shooting, but with the Arachnodyne and Hypermind Alpha I was already in the air above their heads when the first bullets fired. Through Retrofit, my Arachnodyne augmented itself, the four javelin-like heads shifting and peeling to reveal sharp blades that turned scorching hot.

Each strike was smooth, unimpeded by resistance as arms cleaved into stumps. In seconds, I'd disabled half of their weapons and sent Starlight through my Claws into their Shardware. In a blur of claws, bullets and blades, only a third of them remained as the dorsal limbs I commanded tore them limb from limb. Legs sizzled and torso's- Starlight pulled my blade back.

"Jesus! Do you need me to delve into some non-lethal martial arts for you? I'll do that! Just behave for a minute or two!" Starlight left me, and I hadn't even realized how heavy my body was beginning to feel without her. Also… was she really diving through the net right now? The three remaining Tier IIs converged on me, one aiming a shotgun while two turned arm-rifles upon me.

Hypermind Alpha selected: [2B] [Psyche/Overclock]

Their bullets moved like feathers in the wind, the Arachnodyne just quick enough to slice the two rifle-shots apart. As for the shotgun, I let its pellets strike into my blackened steel arms. Plating dislodged, but they could take the punishment.

And I could give it. As soon as time resumed, two whip-blades shot out from my left arm and mangled the shotgun while the Arachne's javelin tips cannoned through the room and impaled the forearms of both riflemen. Shotgunner's own arm turned into a cannon, and I gleefully reeled in both riflemen towards me, lifting one up as sacrifice to the cannon.

He hesitated, I didn't. Bullets from my submachinegun penetrated the softer flesh of the sacrificial riflemen's belly and sought deeper into the eyes of the shotgunner. His cannon shot out in a flinch, and I twisted my second sacrifice to take the blow. His metallic forearm was all that remained on my Arachne as body parts splattered across the room.

Incoming message: Starlight

[I just detected your Personality Matrix activating above wanted levels, it's been fifteen seconds!]

I ignored the message. The shotgunner's visuals hadn't yet come back online, my twin whips free to garrote against his neck. I squeezed them tighter, blood dripping in spades as he choked and drowned at the same time. My voice emanated, low and dreadful. "Somehow… I'm disappointed in Metal Heavens for once. I expected more steel among you."

Before I could rip his head off, a pounding blow came from behind me. My instincts for self-preservation sent me ducking. The attacker was still fast enough to launch me into the wall, and they grabbed a hold of my whip-blades and tore them apart like frayed thread.

Icy-blue eyes were all that were visible under that seven-foot Exosuit. And a grade…

A Silver Tier III.

"You're the boss?" I asked, swallowing the blood in my mouth.

"I thought you were supposed to be on our side." A woman's voice spat out, a hiss of steam pouring as a chained whip extended from both thick gauntlets of her suit. "And that's shoddy work, Dreadwire."

My four dorsal blades begged to differ; they bent as they took stock of my mark. Each razor edge reflected the surface of her alloy suit, destined to be nothing but scrap for my taking.

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