November 30th

Ripley

One of the best things about having a master Delver like The Dogwhistler as a girlfriend was that you knew everything that would happen before it was even thought.

150 Iron BUGs, 80 Bronze BUGs, 6 Silver BUGs, 1 Gold BUG. Likewise, the same in SIMs.

All that was up for the taking. The Silvers were invaluable to me; they were fresh and had the best chance of being compatible to my mother. It was a haul worth almost 50 million Shardyne alone. The Gold Implant was a bonus; even with no development, it would be a huge boost to my potential.

But I'd already decided it wasn't going to me. I chose to give it to Elsa. To get her to Gold. She'd actually argued otherwise, that she didn't need it, but I knew it was the best strategic move.

It was her last step to free herself from the constraints of Silver. With it, she'd be able to outpace any other Uncaged in terms of information. Over the days, I'd learned more about her predicament as The Dogwhistler.

Her power wasn't unlimited.

She had been Titanium when in NeoCore, but the body containing that Implant was now dead. Only by evolving into a digital organism and reaching Tier IV had she survived with her consciousness severed and trapped in the Void-Net Layer of the Net, until she breached into her current life. At that expense, she lost the ability to produce any Titanium Warpcode.

The Titanium that made up her Dogwhistler Core was a limited resource she spared only for her most important tasks.

She'd said she wouldn't mind using some of the Warpcode to supercharge my development, but I disagreed. I had resources now — hers were best put to use in maintaining the strength of her information network.

I'd killed quite a few Silvers over the last few months, even a Tier III from that SynTec guard I'd killed with my nanites and Midnight's help. Their Implants were piling up steadily, resources for me to consume.

I couldn't be hasty with my intake of them. Several would be better used to create Modules too. And that Tier III Implant wouldn't be wise to take until my Integrity was near the Silver Grade.

The delivery from NeoCore was scheduled for the 12th, and likely the counterattack would be within a week. That left me with roughly twenty days to prepare. I wish it was easy to say that Elsa had unlimited monetary resources as The Dogwhistler, she certainly did have millions to spend but we'd spent a considerable amount into Retrofit Operators. It was not cheap buying that place considering the market value, and that was after a MAL breakout.

Adding to her expenses were the funds required in the constant maintenance of her Dogwhistler Core, particularly in masking it from NeoCore. She spent as much as she earned through her activities, much like I was with Shard Operating.

Still, The Ripper was earning a steady flow of cash and if I could get my hands on those Implants — it would severely reduce the amount I needed to spend for my mother.

Six Silvers. The chance of a compatible implant remained low: 14% for one of them to be usable on her. But it would give me enough spare Implants to experiment in raising an Implant's compatibility. The key lied in the Soul-Death Mutation, compatibility could be lowered… the inverse had to be possible.

So I picked up one of the five pre-owned Silvers I had on me right now, ready to put it to good use.

Absorbing Warpcode…

Focus it to Shardweave; Implant Modification.

Shardweave V.2.10 has updated to V.2.16

Effects:

Increased understanding of Implant structure

Increased ability of Protocol: Meta-Manipulation to slightly affect Implant structure.

Increased ability to affect Grades of Implants

Increased ability to control Implant Integrity

Increased ability to alter Implant parameters

Slight adjustment to Protocol: Retrofit to become active during Implant modification.

The absorption left me breathy and needy, a burn that ached through my limbs. Silver was powerful, but soon… even it wouldn't be enough. To get to Tier III would require dozens of Tier II Silver Implants — at some point, I'd basically have to hunt down more than a quarter of Westcrook's elites to get there.

Lifting up a few more Bronzes and Irons, I struggled for the last push of Shardweave to improve a facility that was fairly underdeveloped. My Scrapyard.

It was formerly a Protocol of Technician, and while I hadn't lost access to it, the Protocol was in dire need of improvement to simulate more than just Shardware.

Absorbing Warpcode…

Focus to Scrapyard. Warp Energy, Implants, Mutations and Adapter simulation.

Shardweave V.2.16 had updated to V.3.00

Effects:

Increased integration of Scrapyard with Protocol: Starlight

Warp Energy manipulation is now applicable to Scrapyard simulations.

Scrapyard has been adjusted to simulate BUG Adapters.

Scrapyard can now simulate minor Mutational Alterations.

Scrapyard has minor adjustments to simulate SIM Adapters.

Protocol: Warpweb has been established. The Warpweb is an overhaul to the Scrapyard allowing simulation of Warp Energy, Implants and Adapters beyond just Shardware simulations.

Database V.4.05 has updated to V.4.07

Effects:

Increased recall of BUG Adapters.

Increased recall of SIM Adapters.

Data Mimicry V.3.11 has updated to V.3.12

Effect: Increased ability to analyze Adapter's utlizations of Warp Energy.

The Warpweb Protocol… I let it sing to me. My Gold threaded out into my view, twisting and looming and plucking as it formed mimicries of various Adapter's I'd seen before. My memories linked, branched and intertwined like a strangle of roots forming a stable web of everything I'd devoured with my eyes.

I was no longer limited to just simulating individual Shardware pieces, I saw them grow whole under specific Features and Adapters. To see the unique method in which everyone used them for their own purposes, to bring them out with a uniqueness individual to them. I would steal even that.

Thought Multiplier: 'Shardware' X 'Diamante'

Every little memory of both fell into one basin of thought. From our first meeting where my leg was recently exchanged for metal, to my view of his Features and him shooting me in the head, to the halls of his mall and the creation of my Arachnodyne there. Slowly, the threads wove and grew into a picture.

Diamante, in his typical steely body, stood in front of me. Tall and imposing. Silent. I recalled the thrashing he took at Razorpede's hands, how unphased he had been even when I struggled against her lesser claws in that alleyway.

His Shardware was impeccable. I pulled up threads of memories of my study of Razorpede to determine just how strong Diamante's shell was — then I recalled Diana's strength was also able to damage it. I felt her fangs crumpling my throat. Based on that, I pulled even more threads of various alloys and structural reinforcing to determine how his shell was formed.

Together, I simulated a rough estimation of his Shardware's structural integrity as another golden hologram raised from my shoulder. My Arachnodyne.

The simulated blade lunged for him and sparked off. Barely scratching him.

Sighing, I needed to make adjustments to myself.

———

December 5th

Today was a big day as I sat next to Elsa. She pulled out a Datacube, weaving threads and bubbles that rose into the air as Twilight pulled out of it. Renewed and restored, her memories of mine wouldn't be complete — but Elsa assured me that most of Twilight had remained.

Even improved. Albeit, she'd been honest that she'd limited Twilight's capacity for self-governance.

Violet light beamed over me, twisting and shaping into a woman who was half formed of light, and the other half concealed in darkness. Those lovely bright purple eyes, aware and awake, scanned the room until her gaze fell on me, and a smile flashed from both of us as I felt that she recognized me. "Hey there, handsome."

"How you doin', beautiful?" I let her digital warmth grip my hands, as she turned to Elsa. "Couldn't erase everything, not even if you tried."

Elsa groaned. "I wasn't trying to erase you… just… keep you under control. He knows now, by the way. That I'm The Dogwhistler and that we altered his… feelings."

Twilight recoiled, shock palpable of her face. "You- you bitch! You killed me for feeling emotional turmoil about the guilt of all of that now you-"

"I didn't kill you." Elsa remained steadfast. "You were unstable, Himiko touched you and… you know it would have been unwise to let those adjustments remain — and besides… we…"

"How much do you remember?" I held her hands tightly, feeling both concerned and excited.

"Based on what wasn't… readjusted," she said with a hint of spite, "I recall having memories of our meeting, of how we came to… love you, of quite a few of our talks — things get blurry around the Raid. We beat the Hydra, and I was sent over to you as you got to Tier II, and then… the Pandora. We opened it, and that's the last thing I remember. Elsa's the one who told me that Amaterasu was in there."

"Ah… so you don't recall… The Information Seed?" I bit my lip.

"Uh… no?" She looked at me confused.

"Well, Amaterasu overcharged my Database along with a Fragment of The Future, the result of that was an Information Seed Protocol that you fed quite a lot of Warpcode into." I was trying to figure out how to best explain it. "As a result… technically speaking, you are now… a mother."

"What?" She blinked.

"An emulect was born as the result." Elsa explained. "She goes by the name… Starlight. Quite a majority of her source-code is based on a hybrid of you and Amaterasu along with Ripley's Warpcode."

"Are you telling me… I had a child… and I'm coparenting with Himiko?" She had the widest look of apprehension possible on her. "Well where's Starlight? I want to meet my daughter."

"She's with… Diana." I said tightly. "Yeah, while Starlight is bound to me, she's very good at traveling the Net to get to other people when she's bored. And Diana's… her friend now. I don't want to be the overprotective type of dad but… you know, don't want Diana to know some stuff so…"

"You want to lie to our daughter?!" Twilight recoiled, wagging her finger at me. "Shame on you, Ripley Donovick!"

Elsa tried to mediate. "Hey… it's just unwise to tell an Emulect as… free as her about us being you know who. We just want you to monitor her, to raise and help her. Even I can't understand her presence, but you… there should be some form of bond between you two. You'd be the best at figuring her out."

"Well, duh! I'm her mother!" Twilight folded her arms. "Now where's my baby girl?"

"You have to promise us that you keep hush-hush, though. Just think of it as…" I tried to find a proper example.

Elsa got there before me. "Like how you tell kids Santa is real until they're adults, just… once things are adjusted. We'll keep her in the loop."

"Fine, fine. Now get my baby girl!" She demanded.

Sighing, I called for the Fishhook. Starlight's presence in my head grew brighter as she slipped through the Net in seconds, appearing in my eyes annoyed and frustrated. "What the heck, dad! I was froggin helping Diana close another drug ri-"

My little fairy noticed the tensed digital woman behind her, her eyes widening as she took in Twilight. "Oh… oh. Are you…"

"Come to momma!" Twilight scooped Starlight right into her hands, the pink fairy delighted as she floated eye-to-eye with Twilight.

"You're-?"

"Yup."

"And-"

"-Correct."

"Woah!"

"Wanna-?"

"Yes!"

In a mere few seconds, they exchanged less than ten words and Starlight immediately hugged Twilight's finger. They just nodded or stammered a few words, no proper sentence flowing between them and yet somehow both understood exactly what the other was saying.

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

"Uh, what just happened?" I looked to Elsa for some explanation.

"They… they're communicating. They don't need to exactly use words to talk to one another, they're reading each other's data and knowing exactly what's being said." Elsa looked over the whole ordeal with a measure of concern. "They effectively have their own secret language."

"Jealous?" Starlight snickered at me.

"Actually, yeah. Mildly." I admitted, before laughing at the absurdity of their antics. "How about you two get to know each other a bit longer, find some place in the Net where you're safe?"

Twilight clutched Starlight close to her heart. "She's always safe with momma, but yeah, I think we'll find some good mother-daughter bonding activities."

"Ah, also… you mind showing her the ropes for some more Dataweaving stuff? Just basic stuff really." Although Starlight was really good at intuitively manipulating Warpcode, I still rather she'd learn some theorem.

Starlight scoffed, but Twilight had a twinkle in her eye. "Ooh, my little Star, would you like to go Dungeon Diving?"

Dungeon diving? I reached my hand out, trying to stop them. "Wait- no, I've specifically warned her from entering those backroo-"

They vanished in a fluttering of code. Ah, great…

Elsa patted my shoulder. "Don't worry, Twilight's still me, she'll protect Starlight. Besides, they're not that stupid that they'd go all the way to the AbyssNet… or at least I hope they aren't."

"I'll try and communicate with them after an hour or two." I eased up in Elsa's hold, wrapping my own arm around her waist. "How's the plan against NeoCore going?"

"Fine." She sighed. "They're going to be on my ass after this, one of the main things I tried hiding for so long was Dogwhistler's familiarity with NeoCore tech."

"Don't worry, once we're done with my mother's treatment… we can get ahead on the rest of The Uncaged." It was the first time confident admitting going to war against them. "Just need to… really find a way to not piss off Diana when I help them out."

"You will." She said, as a fact.

"I know… but… still."

"You can't tell her, you're already playing two sides." Elsa breathed against my neck. "We have to let the Bladedaughter live, she's our best bet at taking out Skeleton. And… I'm pretty fearful of what that bastard has planned with the Bladefather anyhow, and Soul Killer. All three of us are likely to have some sort of proxy conflict there."

"How'll the Dogwhistler act up?" I caressed her cheek.

"Day of the heist, Bladedaughter's going to attack the SIO staff sergeant. A guy named Morgan 'Omen' Kirell… he's suspicious, for a Silver — he's very good at countering my observations as Dogwhistler. But I have an idea… a backup of sorts."

"What?"

"Your nanites." She pointed a finger to my heart. "I'll have Bladedaughter put them inside of him, a critical wound that will his force his attention away — if you're in close range, I can use your connection to the nanites to probe into his Frame and breach the SIO's Datashields."

"Is that smart?"

"No, you'd have to quite literally be besides the building, all sort of sensors will pick you up even if you're invisible. Can't cling onto the walls near it."

"Then I won't." I decided. "I'll float there with the drone."

I'd been tinkering with the drone stolen from the Yuzhou Oni, along with their invisibility tech. It was state-of-the-art.

"That could work." She said it half-heartedly. "But… okay, just stay hidden."

"Also… what do you think about the whole… Anabelle Grazhe situation. Should I…?" If I killed her, I had the cure to my mother's disease.

Skeleton promised it, but it was still a risk.

"It would make you an enemy of the state." She shook her head. "Anything you do, it'll get reflected back to Missy and Diamante. They won't take too kindly to it, might even… kick you out."

"I see." I chewed on my thoughts.

"I'll do it, then." She nodded. "I'll kill her as The Dogwhistler."

"You sure?"

"I am, but I'll need your help." Elsa gripped my hand for reassurance. "It could still be traced back to you. You'll need to provide me an entrance into the Shardware of the police that day, if I tinker too much through my breach with Omen — he'll pick it up. On the day of the Muramasa Raid, if you hook me into their systems… I can spread like a disease."

She lifted her hand up to me, Warpcode flowing around her fingers.

As a Titanium she wielded three Tendencies.

Black liquid spilled into my vision, the Water Tendency. Then it took a mellow glow of Spark, before thickening into a nearly imperceptible veil of Shadow.

Elsa's fingers then carried a thick orb of rippling black liquid that unraveled into strings she plucked with her fingers. "Tendencies can combine, but only two of them at a time. Water and Spark make Torrent, Shadow and Water form Thread. But Spark and Shadow?"

She squeezed her hand, and a the darkness in her hand burst through the room as an invisble infection, crawling into all the machinery around us.

"The Contagion Tendency."

———

December 6th

I'd been up all night tinkering with advanced Yuzhou holographic technology, a new Implant module, and the Soul-Anchors. Feeling utterly drained, I sat amused as I watched my hand drift in the air, light snapping and contorting around it to leave momentary after-images.

The Glitch Cloak, I called it.

Beyond that, my mind was bound to several drones that were busy constructing more drones. Another piece of tech lay at my side, a helmet of sorts based on Dreamframes, and finally, there was the advanced construction of a prototype of nanite-based adjustment to my Arachnodyne.

My mind grew distracted when a woman materialized in the light, and I found myself smiling as Twilight sat on my desk. Between the two sources of artificial light, I made the rare choice of making Shard Operating an after-thought as I turned them off.

"That's pretty." She smiled, her fingers glowing as she made contact with my hand.

"I… I missed you." My heart unweighed burdens I didn't even know where there at her sight.

"I… I missed you a lot as well." She said with a smile, but a part of it felt forced. "I lied by the way."

"You lied?"

"To Mirage." Her lips went flat and serious. "I remember everything. Or at least, it did once I was with Starlight. She showed me her Synchronization and… well, everything came clear. I know exactly what I tried to show you that day."

"Selene." I said simply, my eyes lowering.

"How are you okay with this?" Agitation bit into her voice. "You should hate us, you know? Hate me, for… luring you into that trap. Into… her."

"I… I did." I swallowed. "When I first found out or… suspected, at least. Lately, I don't know what thoughts are mine, hers, or the Personality Matrix… but… I don't hate you, Twilight. I know that you're… a different reflection of her."

"I am." She tensed, cupping her hands. "Are you serious about this? Working with Muramasa… and then betraying them? Betraying Diana? I mean… Starlight, she showed me how you two were working together. The headlines love you both, and… that's an open door, Ripley. If the city can buy into the idea of Dreadwire, then the corporations and government will try to market you. Hell, you could convince a lot of criminals into joining up for the city's Swarm Defence. Yuzhou might be a bit of a pain, but SynTec will…"

"I'm not selling myself out like that." I hardened. "But I get where you're coming from. I'm halfway questioning if this whole plan with Muramasa is a trap set by Elsa, or by Skeleton… or… but then I consider Diana. That's a whole other issue, working with the government who has to pander to the corporations for tech and military might and… safety. I'd be a total lie to the people under them. I… I do want to do good, but I need to go to dark places to get there."

"Like The Dogwhistler? Like... me?" Twilight's smile broke as glimmering tears glitched down her face. "Dammit, Ripley… I… I feel so guilty and… its making me feel worse that you actually don't hate me."

A beat of silence passed between us, and I reached for her tangled hands. "Twi… all my life I've been dealt with shit cards, I've been rolling with the punches, I've been adapting to make the most of any situation. Having The Dogwhistler as a girlfriend? That's… the same. I know, on a fundamental level, that everything she did was… wrong. But yet, I accepted it, because how else could I move on? Should I have made an enemy of her? Broken up with her? I think it was the right choice, because it was the only choice. Maybe my love for her isn't completely honest, but I can't help but love her. And in truth, I love the sides of her that remind me of you the most."

Twilight's gentle rolling of tears slowed, as she looked at me with a sad face. "I love the parts of Starlight that remind me of you, Donovick. Her stubbornness, her ingenuity, her hope to make sense out of the insensible."

"The last one makes me sound crazy." I chuckled.

"That's because you are…" She wiped away her tears, still laughing. "You're fucking insane. And its both the only reason you're alive, and the reason you're such a dumbass. Then again, I was born from a woman with no emotions, and I'm the only reason she can really even feel love which is why…"

Twilight shuddered. "I was… trying to do a good thing. I… I genuinely do… love you, Ripley. So does Elsa. This plan, its real and… as far as I can tell, she's not planning on hurting you. She feels guilty too, its just that I take the most of it. Still, she wants to… prove that she can give you what you want, in her mind that's the only way she can redeem herself."

"I…" I'd suspected as much. "She doesn't need to…"

The words died on my lips.

"Do you have doubts about all of this?" Twilight asked, reaching for my hand.

"I do." I admitted. "Even accepting it all, I have doubts. I have… questions of what my present could have looked like if I never knew, if I remained ignorant. Then I have thoughts of what would have happened had I… retaliated. Working through the logic, I chose the middle-ground. Aware, but… complicit."

"It… was the same for me as well." Twilight answered. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry. For what?"

"For…" tears choked her. "For… wanting to fall in love and dragging you into this mess. For being so difficult to love in the first place. The truth is that I..."

"Twilight…" I stood up, moving my hands around to embrace her. "I…. Did you know she would… alter my memories? Back when I first met her?!"

"No. We try to refrain from any direct memory manipulation given the potential issues, but... when she saw an opportunity..." Twilight shook her head. "She- I- but still, it was… wrong of me to-"

"Twilight, I trust you." I said those words clearly. "Out of everyone, I trust you the most."

She eased in my arms, gripping tightly to the point that her code sent tingles through me. "Then… do you want me to ask Elsa to reconsider?"

I thought long and hard, but then I shook my head.

———

December 12th

Dreadwire

Floating atop the street on a drone, I let Frequency Sync contain me under a veil of Shadows. The tendency had grown quickly despite being secondary to my Water — it was already Iron IX. Combined with the invisibility, I should be imperceptible.

Should be…

The NeoCore Harpy — now made visible thanks to The Dogwhistler — blurred above me, panic flooding the streets below as glass shards fell from the top floor of the SIO building. I heard thunder blow out, and barely a minute later, the Bladedaughter injected the nanites into Omen — Elsa swam through the connection, digging deep right in that one moment of vulnerability before thunder boomed again and the Bladedaughter came flying out of the building.

That was not according to plan.

Her hand shot out jagged roped blades, hooking into a building and dragging her deep into an alleyway. I decided now was the moment to ingratiate myself with the Bladedaughter. Swooping using the drone beneath my feet, I curved into the alleyway and while still invisble shot out a single claw towards her scrambling figure.

She swiped at the Livewire — and it severed.

That was the first time anyone had ever cut through Livewire. It was only when she looked at the claw that had fallen that she seemed to recognize who had come to aid her. "Ah, it's Mirage's man."

"Take my hand." I gave her one chance, she could escape easily by forcing her way out — but it would be a bloodbath and cause only more mayhem. She recognized now was the time to make a quick escape, pulling onto the claw that had grown visible and getting onto the glider drone with me.

Pushing Warp Energy into the glider, it thickened the invisibility field around us, refracting light and hiding away the Bladedaughter who held onto me a bit too closely… I could feel my limbs being scratched just from a gentle graze.

Extracting her, I dropped her off at a nearby building, agreeing to talk to her later for some negotiations.

Later that night was how I ended up in a car with her, she studied me and the vehicle, clearly finding it too poor for her taste as she clicked her tongue. "Ah, discussing my death when you can't even afford to take me out properly, Dreadwire. Or should I call you Ripley Donovick?"

"That depends." It was fine not wearing my mask right now, she was Skeleton's paramour — she probably knew my identity for a long while. "Can I call you Mei?"

Mei, the Bladedaughter, took in my words with amusement. Her snow-white hair brushed back with her hand as she crossed her legs and let those cold blue eyes dig into me. "A sharp one, aren't you?"

"That's ironic coming from you." I smirked. "Well, the point stands — I'm now contracted by the police to kill you. How do you want it done?"

"You seem to act like I need to fake my death." She puckered her lips, "I can simply sever all that stands ahead of me. Or are you fearful to fight me legitimately, which is why you resort to such paltry tricks?"

She deduced correctly.

"I'm not beating you in a fight," there was no harm in admitting that. "Another few months or so, that answer changes… but as it stands — Diana and I can't beat you as we are. I want my life preserved if I do combat you, but I also need the police to believe it — see where I'm going?"

"I do." She brought her nails out, fine long blades that slipped out of what looked like human flesh. She procured a long dagger from her side… and filed the edge with her nails. "An act, then. If you seek to savor your life, then I'd simply suggest refusing the operation… but you're not going to do that? Are you?"

"Not in the slightest."

She laughed, seemingly growing more amused as she waved the dagger in my direction. "You seek those Implants we've stolen?"

"I do."

She leaned her head back, those eyes severing every minute body language cue upon me. "What makes you think I'll give them to you?"

"I can modify Implants." I said bluntly. "I can take Iron and forge it into Bronze — into Silver even, assuming I have the resources."

Her eyes widened, what I said was impossible and should have been met with disbelief. She only had amusement — and something deeper — dancing in her eyes. "Is that so? Prove it."

I was ready to do just that, reaching into my pockets, I took out two Iron Implants and one vial. The vial was tiny, just a few milliliters of fluid that had taken days to condense and work out, but within it lay a few key ingredients.

The first was some of Quartz's blood, it hadn't been easy to convince him, not until I told him that potentially it could be used to create a Soul Poison down the line. The second ingredient was Diana's blood from the bone marrow I extracted. Now that had been the main star of this show.

Using some principles from the Revenant Vial, Juliet Grazhe's cure, and a week or two of experimentation — I jabbed the vial into one BUG, it immediately came to life and writhed in my hand as a cockroach.

Then I took the second Implant, and shattered it. Focusing its Warpcode and transferring it to the awakened one. All the same, my Gold reacted to the vital energies of Soul Spill from Quartz and Soul Resonance from Diana, as Shardweave bound both organic fluids into the BUG's structure. The insectoid quivered like it was in pain.

It began to crack, but golden ichor filled those seams and fused them back as its Iron shell steadily turned Bronze in color. Bladedaughter watched the process with palpable interest, the blue in her eyes shining with the various colors melting across the insect.

Until finally, I detached the empty vial and let the Implant shrink back down into its spherical form. Smirking, I tossed the now-Bronze Implant and she caught it like a hawk to a worm, lifting it up to appraise it. There were a few cracks on its surface, and it certainly wasn't as shiny as a normal Bronze Implant — but the fact was… I'd done it. Taken it from one to two Features, and the Implant was now capable of producing Bronze Energy.

"Huh." Was all she could say.

"Now, I'll admit, Compatibility's been lowered by about a flat 12% for anyone, it'll be a slow growing Implant and might even be painful… but I won't know until I have a few test subjects." As she returned the Implant back to me, I raised my hand to ward it off. "It's a gift to you, Mei."

"Well, Ripley…" Her smile curved up, her lips parting just wide enough I could make out how sharp even her canines were. All of her focus upon me felt like a guillotine, one that hungered to chop my head off to extract the inner worth of my abilities.

"I like you a lot better than my stupid fucking fiancé." She stuffed the Bronze Implant down the… cleavage of her blouse. "You hate him, right? Want to fuck me just so we can spite his pathetic ass?"

Even Hypermind could not process the turn of the conversation.

She laughed as I took too long to answer. "Oh, who am I kidding? You're in too deep with your little digital parasite of a girlfriend. Meanwhile, my father stuck me with the guy who has all the bones except the important one. Oh… look at us. Two birds of a feather, entangled with The Uncaged — but not by choice."

"It is my choice," I said with a tense cough. "Look… whatever- you- funny joke, but-"

"Oh, I wasn't kidding, Donovick." She uncrossed her legs and placed a foot on my lap, the toe of her high heel poking into my belt. "I'm a gold-digger. You ever need a rebound after you break up with that witch… well… just find me. Though, I warn you, I may not be so easy to find once this is all over."

"Why so?"

"Because," her smile dropped as she put her leg off my lap. "I'm going to fucking kill them all."

"Who?"

"The Uncaged. Every single one of them." She leaned in. "And I'm starting with family."

"Is this your way of recruiting me?" My Preservation Matrix was screaming at me to hurry the fuck out of here.

"Oh, yes, it is. But make no mistake, I'm far too impatient for any sort of manipulatory tactics." She leaned lower enough that I could look down her cleavage, not that I was doing so. "The sex would just be an add-on. What I really want is… well… to be free of their manipulation. And I think you want the same, don't you?"

"The person you're looking for is Diana." I answered.

"Nah." She flicked her hand. "Well.. Maybe. Time will tell. But regardless, you'd be a wonderful asset to my cause. And I'd treat you better."

"Than Elsa?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Yes. And those assholes you work with." She playfully rolled her eyes. "Except the Iron Devil. He's just as much as a toy as you are."

"Look… Mei. I just want to know…"

"I'm not going to kill you." She sat back in her seat, folding her arms under her chest. "But no promises on your police friends… some of them… I have no choice but to kill."

"Then…" I took a deep breath. "We have ourselves a deal, Bladedaughter."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.