I stood still for a second after Sasha disappeared around the corner. How the hell did she do it? No alerts, no spikes, no warnings, yet she hacked me again.
It shouldn't be like that. I checked every new installation, of which there were none. My system was scoured for signs of a hack, and I found none. The air in the shop buzzed faintly from the holo lights, the smell of burnt rubber and hot metal mixing with my irritation.
Then I opened sub processes, just in case, and saw a new one running under a false label. I killed it fast. Too late, it already had root access. My pulse spiked, like the system's betrayal echoed through my nerves.
I shot her a text right after.
"HOW?"
"Scanner subroutine. I slipped in the moment you tried scanning my face."
I groaned. Man... I had to. Sasha Yakovleva had a surprisingly low bounty, but it was for traffic obstruction, surprisingly. But I didn't even try to scan her the first time we met, so it must be something else she used or is using.
In a moment, she sent a follow-up.
"Or maybe you saved pics for later? Pervert."
"The hell? No. Testing my new scanner, that's all."
"Creep :3"
"Piss off."
I then decided to compile a list of questions so complex she would spend all her days answering them, as revenge.
That day I did not sleep a second. High on caffeine, I wrote an obscene list of things I wanted to know about. The cursor blinked endlessly, reflecting my sleepless eyes.
...
After two days, Sasha finally replied. Her message popped up in the corner of my eye.
"Log in."
I was halfway through changing a pickup's tires. The thing was more rust than metal. Still, I booted up the BBS link and ran a multitask sim while I worked.
Once the virtual room loaded, I skipped the main lobby and joined her directly. The connection shimmered into focus, replacing the flicker of real lights with soft digital glow.
"Hello," said Sasha in her more cartoony cat avatar.
"What's up?"
"Catch." And then she threw a batch of files my way like a baseball.
I caught them. Inside were docs, text, all about overclocking, exactly one of the topics I'd been pestering her with.
"God damn, you are fast. Thank you."
"Right I am. But Yoko helped out too. But I didn't say that."
"Didn't hear a thing."
I sat down on a holographic couch and accidentally slipped a bolt in real life and hit myself on the nose with the tire iron.
"SHIT!"
Sprocket shouted across the shop, "That's the spirit!" in a mocking tone.
And Sasha looked confused as I was holding my nose both in real life and in the BBS. No multitasking for now. Luckily, it didn't even draw blood.
Sasha tilted her cat head. "What's going on?"
"Meat world accident."
"You good?"
"Yeah, no worries. Just a sec."
I leaned against the tool cabinet, one hand still on my nose. "Anyway, what's this exactly? Is this like a universal guide?"
"Oh no, this isn't really a full guide on overclocking your deck."
"What?" I opened the file again, and it was huge.
"That's just your deck's base kit. Raven Microcyber Mk 3, right?"
"Hey, I didn't tell you that."
"Yoko did."
I looked over the space and remembered that I'm technically in her space, where she is nigh omnipotent. Everything shimmered faintly, tinted pink-blue from the environment filters.
"Okay, fine. You overclock your own deck?"
Sasha's avatar turned human again. "Rude to consider that I don't. Won't share my settings though."
"Information is power?"
"Yep." She made a popping sound with the P.
"How do you use it then?"
"Break data walls faster."
"Data walls?"
She spawned a holographic brick in the air. "These. Disposable firewalls for your system. Sell for about 500 eddies apiece, better ones for a thousand."
"Security feature?"
"This is a disposable firewall for your internal system. You can make them at scale and sell them for around 500 eddies. Really great ones go for a thousand."
"How long do they hold?"
"For me? Ten seconds. You want real protection, you stack them."
"And overclocking cuts that down?"
Sasha flashed two fingers. "Two seconds. Maybe less."
I whistled. "Overclock that good, huh?"
"I tuned it to breach data walls specifically. Ones on larger systems usually take tens of minutes, so I overclock a little when in a pinch."
"Why not use it periodically? Every few minutes or so."
She placed her head on her hand.
"That's dumb, isn't it? You'll brick it, and when you need it, it'll be unavailable."
"Just curious. This happened to you before?"
"Yeah. A few months back. My crew was in a tough spot; I went full burn. Deck overheated even in an ice bath. Maine got shot in the ass; he yelled at me for a month."
I laughed. "Who's Maine? I feel sorry for his ass," I said, in my most confused tone.
We then chatted a while about her job. Sasha seemed happy to share, and I collected bits of information about how she does her job and shared a bit about what I'll need to do. Her digital space flickered like a lazy aquarium while she talked, bubbles and lights reflecting off her avatar's hair.
"You still don't have a legal identity in Night City, do you?" Sasha asked.
"I found a guy who advertises to make them here, but I don't need one for now, I think."
"There's a workaround, you know."
"Let me guess. Spoofing scanners?"
"Yeah. Tedious, but NCPD doesn't care if it works in the end."
"Or your sister covers for you?"
"Wouldn't dare ask Stella. She's drowning in work."
She leaned closer. "Actually, I got something for you. Need footage from a store cam. Outside view only. Data'll purge soon."
I glanced over at the data package for overclocking. It seemed like a fair trade, but one thing annoyed me.
I frowned. "Would've liked a day's notice."
"Don't pout. It's simple. You've done similar for Yoko. Just a corner shop. No heat."
"Ok, damn. Send me the address. I'll do it."
"Good boy."
In a rage, I quickly disconnected from the BBS. I got the address right after, Little Japan. Not too far. The streetlights turned on as I looked outside.
By then, Sprocket was getting ready to leave and passed by me, throwing a dirty rag under my feet.
"Clean it up later."
"Sure."
I looked over the remnants of her work. Oil spilled all over the floor. Sprocket messed up the oil change somehow.
"Five eddies," I said.
"I can charge you for electricity and water."
"On it."
I cleaned the floor in a hurry and left the shop with all the gear, including the new mask. I'll finish the tire change tomorrow, who cares.
On the way there, I walked to the back of the bus, cleaned the seat of trash, swept it onto the floor, and began tweaking my cyberdeck. The bus rattled on every bump, and human filth caused chaos inside, but it was far enough from me.
Overclocking was hard even with documentation. You basically had to uproot the original protocols, inject a custom one into specific inputs and outputs, redo all the frequency syncing, convince your deck it was still on factory settings, and then turn it all back in time.
The highest my Raven could do was 1.6 times on the RAM and 1.4 on the CPU. But that was good enough and stable in the short term judging by the documentation. Going further would risk overheating and melting me from the inside. I wondered how much further I could take this with a netrunning suit. I could afford it. A thousand was hefty but nothing I couldn't spare for a really good suit.
Luckily, the store I needed to go to was just on the opposite side of the road from the stop. Flashing ads blasted over every surface.
I quickly ran a ping and found a camera outside, and the computer just behind the counter that was connected to it. I put on my mask, since cameras can' detect my face but people could.
The bell chimed when I pushed the door. Holo-menu panels blinked behind the counter: cigarettes, instant braindance snacks, neon pills that promised to show you a new color. The place looked like every corner store in Night City, except it sold considerably more drugs.
I walked slowly, pretending to browse.
Three cameras inside. One above the door, one angled at the register, one tucked behind the drugs. The clerk was a kid—huge fake glasses, sleeves rolled up, tattoo crawling up his neck in jagged pixels. Two customers at the back, one bored and scrolling, another an old man picking at a scratch-off ticket. Good so far.
I grabbed a soda from the cooler. Cracked it open, pulled my mask up, and took a long sip. Blueberry. My beloved. The cold fizz cut the tension for half a second.
I pinged the cams. Quick, clean. Raven hummed in my skull as the deck laid out the feeds. Latencies. Super old firmware versions. But no real way to get the data without touching the computer. Running extract data didn't allow me to download the footage.
Looking over the other customers with a camera feed in the corner of my eye, I began.
I walked to the counter. Smiled the smallest smile at the kid. "Can you check the back for more of this soda?"
He blinked. "Everything we have is on the shelves. Can I help you with something else?"
Plan C.
"Yeah." I set the soda down and grabbed a shopping bag. "Gimme all cash in the register. Now."
I didn't raise my voice. Didn't slam the gun. The barrel rested against the counter rim, just enough to see. His eyes widened. He was clearly nervous.
"Wait, what?" he mouthed.
"Register. Now."
He moved in a hurry. Hands shaking, he tapped the screen. The register opened with a ding. I slid the bag forward. He dumped bills into it; crisp and cheap. I scooped. It was a mix of small ones, but it amounted to a decent chunk of change.
"Now go."
"Me?"
While he fumbled, I hopped over the counter and inserted a blank shard into the computer, quickly accessing the camera recordings and downloading the one on the outside.
My insertion looked like routine network housekeeping. I toggled the scrub to grab the last 72 hours of camera cache, just in case someone wanted to see what I'd been sent to look for, so my robbery would appear unrelated.
The kid ran out of the store.
I turned and hopped the counter again. Door in reach. Cashier kid standing just outside, to the side of the road.
That's when glass went from clear to mirror in matte, the lock announcing itself with a soft pneumatic sigh. I shot three bullets, but it didn't shatter, only left marks as small craters appeared on the surface.
I pushed at it with all my strength and tried hacking it open, but it did not budge even a little.
In a rush, I looked for any other escape I had. But other windows were the same as the door.
Other people began panicking, so I had to act fast.
"LIE DOWN OR YOU DIE!" I pointed at two of them with a gun. They settled back to the floor, but they were the least of my worries.
Sirens began blaring as precious time slipped. My heart raced as did my mind.
"Shit."
I threw out the bag with money; it was needlessly occupying my hand. One of the customers crawled for it, snatched it up, then tripped over a shelf.
I checked every corner. The back door was also closed and much too tough to break. I shot at the lock, but it was held down in other places. Even with my feet on the walls, it didn't budge.
Then I noticed a toilet room, door wide open, where a small ventilation window led outside. Fuck it.
I ran at full speed and dove through it, hoping even if it was reinforced, it was small enough for my body to break through.
Holding my breath, I sprinted, stepping on the lid of the shit-stained toilet.
Glass shredded into my forearms. Pain was immediate, but adrenaline made it momentary. I rolled out into the alley, bit down on a sharp breath, and ran. Sirens were a blunt noise behind me, but closer were footsteps, voices, and commotion. I was in an alley that led to another street.
I didn't waste time thinking. Feet hit concrete as I jolted upright. I pushed through parked bikes, slipped under a low pipe, and bumped a metal scrap so it toppled into the path of the first pursuer.
When I reached the street, a cop car was blaring from the right, but far enough. I ran left, toward a path between residential buildings.
Then I heard drones buzzing behind me. I turned just in time to see one fly past the alley and start scanning.
Its lens burned white, smoke curling from the edge. It jittered midair, spinning half a turn before rebooting. The light flicked red, tracking again. I ducked behind a dumpster and threw a ping. The feed stuttered, static lines cutting its sight just long enough for me to move.
I loaded short circuits one after another, scanning for an escape, but the alley was a dead end.
Luckily, one of the buildings had old scaffolding high enough to climb.
The bars groaned like they'd collapse any second. My fingers slipped once, tearing skin. I pushed harder.
Looking down, the drone broke into pieces and smoked, but flashing cop lights filled the alley and heavy footsteps echoed. They sounded close. I climbed faster.
"Suspect located!"
Having no time to think, I jumped down and crashed through a window feet first. Glass shattered easily, but inside was dark, the only light from the NCPD flashes. Small shards embedded in my legs.
I found myself in a dilapidated room with an awful stench. In the blue light, I saw a decomposing body full of maggots on the bed and a door next to it.
A drone hovered nearby.
I ran straight to the door, yanked it open, and burst into a corridor full of identical rooms. My feet felt something disgusting and wet as I ran.
Then I searched for any exit.
Eventually, I found an elevator, pressed for the highest floor, then took the nearby stairs down, hoping the cops would take the elevator.
As I ran down the stairs, I leapt over heaps of trash and the homeless. The elevator passed by going down. Shit.
When I saw the number 2 on the wall, I turned into the flats. I ran to the opposite side from where I'd entered and used my shoulder to break into another apartment. The slide door bent enough for me to force it open after a few pulls.
"Kyaaaa!" a little girl screamed as soon as I entered.
The entire room was full of anime paraphernalia and merch. But what I was looking for was a window.
The Japanese girl in pajamas was in terror and stood up from her desk.
"WHERE IS THE WINDOW?"
She slowly pointed toward a poster of a half-nude anime girl.
I ran to it and tore it off as the girl screamed.
After a second, I saw a locked and painted-over tinted window and broke it with the handle of my gun, clearing the edges hastily so I could leap through.
Jumping down, I landed in the trash, enveloping me up to my head. I crawled out, now covered in the most disgusting substances.
After I got out, I heard heavy footsteps again, this time from the side street.
"This is NCPD! Stand down!" shouted one of the two cops.
I turned toward the other side of the alley and jumped the fence toward a parking lot.
Shots were fired, flying past my head, and I felt a sting as a bullet hit my lower back. I hit a corner, slid behind a van, and fired two blind shots back and uploaded cyberware malfunction on the first cop. Just to keep them back for little bit longer.
I ran behind the cars as breathing became difficult with the mask on. I pulled it enough to breathe for a second, just enough to hear the effects of my quickhack going off as the cops shouted in pain and confusion.
Standing up, I felt my back wasn't moving properly, but enough to keep going. I ran until I heard no footsteps.
Looking at the map, there was a market nearby above the street, one you had to meet Takemura at. I shot toward the elevators to get there.
I jumped inside the elevator, pushing people aside and furiously punching in the destination.
Once there, I ran into a busy crowd and took off my mask, turned my jacket inside out, and sat down at an empty stall.
Soon enough, drones flew by, scanning the crowds, but eventually passed on. My heart beat like crazy, making me feel like I was close to a heart attack.
I checked myself for injuries and found the bullet wound straight in my ass cheek. Preem.
After letting myself breathe for a second, I felt a hand placed on my shoulder.
"Young man, are you happy with this world? A person of your talents could make a difference."
I scanned the face through the reflection of the glass counter. Old wrinkly man with round glasses.Who was dressed in long robes that made him look like a priest.
It came up as Wig Firth. Its the leader of the Tech Ortodoxy. What the fuck does he want with me?