"They said they'll send reinforcements in a week". Brad quickly spilled the beans.

"In a week?" Talia's heart sank but she didn't show it on her face as she looked down on the NetRunner. "Did they give a reason?"

"Yes," Brad nodded frantically. "They said they've been embroiled in another resources battle against the Omnicore Federation, so most of the field forces have been sent to the borders of Drift Haven".

'A resources battle?' Talia frowned.

She knew how invasive the Omnicore Federation could be, they were like an invasive species going after every and anything that caught their fancy in the world.

Her face darkened. 'I hope they're alright'.

With that though, she confirmed that reinforcements won't be coming on time. A week was still far away, and the showdown was already scheduled for tomorrow.

The reason for Cell taking the risk to hide here also didn't escape her notice. 'He had his suspicions, and he came to confirm that I'm now an E Rank NetRunner'.

To her though, it was an exchange that she benefited from. 'Exchanging that information with the life of an F Rank NetRunner,' she smirked. 'I think I won in this game of wits'.

She quickly recovered and said. "Follow me".

"Yes my Lord". Brad stood up but kept his head lowered.

'Yes my Lord? This again?' Talia frowned indiscernibly. 'Is this some weird fetish that he has or is it because of influence from Parasite?'

She led the way to the door of this office, then she opened it and entered a long corridor illuminated by bright lights.

Through the corridor, she approached the door leading outside and when she opened it, she saw blood and black oil dying the ground of this base red and black, including the corpse of dozens of Synths and Geneforms.

A single Synth with a dagger on his right hand and a pistol on his left hand, who was in a black coat and black undertaker hat approached them as soon as they opened the door.

Brad shuddered at the sight of this man. 'Damnation! I thought the Freegrid Collective is supposed to have sane people, are they all psychopaths?'

He shuddered in fear. 'Am I about to jump from a f*cking frying pan and into fire? I suddenly feel that Parasite is better'. He felt like crying.

During the little time that everything transpired inside his office, Ghostwire had singlehandedly slaughtered all the thugs guarding this base!

With no Ascended present, it was easy for him.

There was no need for pretenses anymore with the uprising picking up momentum. By killing thugs of the Zmer gang now, Ghostwire was simply reducing the number of enemies that they would face tomorrow.

Ghostwire quietly walked to Talia's side, then he said in a cold mechanical voice. "I couldn't stop him".

He was referring to Cell.

"I know". Talia nodded in a calm manner.

Then, Ghostwire stared at Brad, then back at his boss with a questioning look in his eyes.

Brad noticed this stare. 'Dogsh*t!' He cursed. 'What do you mean by that look you f*cking psychopath?' He truly felt like crying.

Talia was still in the AR state.

She didn't answer Ghostwire though, instead, she looked at the enemy NetRunner again. "I'm going to ask you a few questions, and I want you to answer with all honesty. Trust me, I'll know when you're lying so don't test my patience".

She wasn't lying when she said she would know if Brad lied.

Talia had a passive trait called Neural Empathy. With it, she had a natural deep understanding of emotions and at times an understanding of the thoughts that come with certain emotions.

Originally, this trait was a hit and miss when it comes to understanding the thoughts of people, but in this AR state, heavily suppressing the lower-ranked NetRunner, Talia felt like all his secrets were like an open book in front of her.

In this state and paired with her Neural Empathy trait, she was reasonably confident that she'll know if Brad lied.

Talia looked down at the short and pitiful NetRunner. "Are you willing to change factions and become a rebel of the Freegrid Collective?"

Brad's face twisted in agony as he almost started crying again. "Um, will I get resources and receive funding to continue in my research?"

Talia stared at him coldly.

He quickly relented under that glare. "Yes, I'm willing, but if possible please fund my research". He pleaded. "My research is my life".

'What a passionate fool, he's still thinking of his research when his life is on the line. I wonder what his research is,' Ghostwire thought silently as he stared coldly at the NetRunner.

Talia's face turned even more serious as she looked at Brad. "Have you taken any innocent life for the Zmer gang?"

"No". Brad answered resolutely. "I'm only focused on my research. The only thing they need my help with is setting up cyber nets and helping them with keeping an information grid network".

Talia nodded. "Have you raped any girl?"

"No," Brad almost cried. "I'm only focused on my research, I swear".

Talia looked at him with her glowing neon green eyes like her eyes could bore a hole through his body.

Brad shifted uneasily under that glare.

"Have you knowingly participated in facilitating any slave trade?"

Brad's face twisted again as he seemed to waver between lying and telling the truth, then he sighed. "Yes. How can I not when I'm in charge of their information grid network?"

"I establish contact between them and their sponsor's representative, Mr. Representative Ben".

'Mr. Representative Ben?' Talia's eyes gleamed as she finally found a clue to the identity of the sponsor behind the Zmer gang's slave trade.

"Good". She finally nodded. "Welcome to the Freegrid Collective".

"Huh? Just like that?"

Talia didn't answer him as she walked back into the cell tower base, Ghostwire followed her and he was already bringing out his computer to work.

Brad followed them in a daze.

"Install back the stealth barrier," Talia ordered as she walked. "From now on, this base belongs to the Freegrid Collective".

"Y-yes my Lord".

"Call me Talia". She said coldly.

"Yes my Lorrr… sorry, Talia". Brad's forehead was quickly filled with sweat. 'This f*cking mouth of mine, you'll kill me someday!'

…

Community G, the Zmer gang's secret underground bunker…

In a desolate area outside the borders of the community was a hidden underground vent. At this moment, there was a clicking sound and then the vent was pushed open from under.

A man with a square-face, a shaven chin, and a receding hairline climbed out of the vent and stood as he faced the dark night sky.

He took a deep breath of the fresh air, then he placed a cigar on his mouth and lit it as he started smoking.

He stayed like this for about 30 minutes as all his vexation and worries dissipated with every puff of smoke.

He thought of his investment. 'I spent 80 Neo Credits for those materials, f*ck and I'm going to lose them just like that'.

'What a failed investment'.

Cain dared not tell Parasite about the investment that he made after what happened. At that point, when Parasite realized that his subordinate literally just armed his enemies, Cain may just end up being the scape goat.

He sighed and cursed. "I've been so unlucky these days, maybe I should meet a fortune teller to tell my fortune and maybe increase my luck?"

As he lampooned, his sharp eyes suddenly noticed a black shadowy dot approaching from the sky.

His eyes narrowed then relaxed.

It was a bat and as it approached it suddenly turned into a human and landed just beside him.

"Where did you go?" Cain asked without batting an eye at the sight of the bat turning into a human.

"I went to confirm a certain suspicion of mine".

"Did you confirm it?"

"Yes," Cell nodded heavily. "Talia is an E Rank NetRunner now".

"Really?" Cain was taken aback, then he smiled cruelly. "What a twist, now I understand the reason for their sudden boldness".

"Heh," he smirked. "Who knows? Maybe your Lord will die tomorrow".

Cell glared at Cain but the later was unfazed.

The Gene Augur took a deep breath and asked. "Where's the Lord?"

"He's still asleep in his room," Cain released another puff of the cigar. "What do you intend to do? You want to wake him up?"

"He needs to know about this". Cell said zealously.

Cain laughed. "Said like a true psychopath who doesn't love his life. Heh, don't worry, if he kills you, I'll inherit all your assets".

"In case you've not realized yet, I know where you stash your money". He winked.

Cell ignored his counterpart's provocation and solemnly entered the underground bunker through the opened vent.

A few minutes later, inside a large room…

Sitting on top his large king-sized bed, a naked Parasite snorted as he pushed all 5 female bodies on his bed to the ground.

They jolted awake and panicked, then they scurried out of the room.

He smiled coldly. "A frog in a well".

"No wonder she's confident," he smirked. "She thinks because she's E Rank now, she can fight against me and survive?" He slammed his right hand against his chest. "Me? Parasite, the Immovable? Warlord of the Wastes?"

"Hahaha," he laughed. "I can't wait to f*ck her!"

He revealed a crazy smile. "Stubborn girls like her at the best, she must be sweet!" he licked his lips lecherously.

"Leave".

"Wait," Parasite raised a hand. "Tell Swain to come underground. Tomorrow morning is a delicate period, we have to make sure the slave trade goes well, then we'll properly deal with these insolent bastards".

"Yes, Lord Parasite". Cell bowed and turned into a shadow before slithering out of the room.

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