Chapter 9

After leaving the lobby, Lucy found herself back in the parking lot. One hand on her waist and the other holding a soft drink, she looked up at the sky and muttered, "Seriously, what is wrong with me?"

There were more important things to do than waste time on this shit. Like helping track down the crew's supplier who'd ghosted her boss after getting paid upfront. The supplier had claimed she needed the eddies to deal with some problems at home, but that, of course, turned out to be complete bullshit. 

She could've been out in the city doing something more productive—like stealing data shards to make some eddies.

Instead, here she was, stuck doing a favor for her ex-boyfriend without a single eddie to show for it.

To top it off, they had a third wheel tagging along. But, so far, it wasn't as bad as she'd expected. As she thought back to the moment she bent down to grab the drink and saw the look on Lucas's face, a smile tugged at her lips.

From the way he looked at her, it seemed like he was still interested—or more specifically, interested in her body. Maybe there were some lingering feelings too. But no, Lucas had probably forgotten about her by now. He was most likely seeing someone else. She wouldn't be surprised at all, especially considering how easily she had fallen for him.

Still, Lucy couldn't help but mutter, "Would've been better if it was just the two of us."

Her cheeks flushed red the moment she realized what she'd said—and what she'd been thinking. Quickly, she opened the drink and took a large gulp, but the cool liquid did little to calm her growing frustration.

With a sigh, Lucy tossed the half-empty can toward a nearby trash bin, only to miss. "Great, this day just keeps getting better," she muttered, shaking her head.

Trying to push her embarrassment aside, she scanned the parking lot and activated her optics. Her vision shifted to a greenish tint, instantly highlighting the electronic metal shutters on a window across the building, streams of 1s and 0s flickering in her view.

Looking around the parking lot to ensure there were no people or active cameras watching her, Lucy then walked toward window and used her optic to scan the interior.

After confirming the room was empty, she effortlessly overrode the lock. The shutters whirred open, revealing a small window. She grabbed the ledge and hoisted herself up, slipping through and landing softly on the other side, which was a room filled with shelves of medical supplies and equipment.

Walking over to the door, she slowly opened it, peeking into the dimly lit hallway. Seeing no one, no guards, no staff, she moved swiftly yet cautiously, her footsteps almost silent on the concrete floor.

She hugged the walls and as she rounded a corner, a camera came into view. Acting quickly, she stepped back and pressed against the wall to stay out of sight. Peeking around the corner to avoid being seen, she initiated a ping quickhack. Within seconds, the network was compromised, displaying the positions of guards, staff and any connected devices.

As expected, there were plenty of guards throughout the building. Even though she had anticipated this, she couldn't help but feel a little more irritated. 

This had basically confirmed that the people in this hospital were hiding something. She had her suspicions to what it was, but guesses were just— well, guesses. 

But there was no use speculating, as she would soon uncover the truth when she gets into their system.

To achieve this, Lucy needed to find an access point. Unlike quickhacks, which could be deployed remotely for immediate effects and were pre-programmed for specific functions, accessing the building's local database required a physical connection. This direct connection allowed a netrunner to break through the system security much easier and remain undetected.

Of course, this was only part of the process.

While she would bypass the outer layers of security designed to block remote attacks, this would let her perform tasks otherwise impossible from the outside. The remaining challenge was her responsibility: she needed to break through and disable the local security protocols.

However, one wrong move could fry her nervous system. It was one of the worst ways to go, often described as feeling like "a hundred thousand knives stabbing you at once."

It was a scene Lucy was all too familiar with—something she wishes she could forget. 

That being said, Lucy knew wasn't up against Militech or Arasaka-level security. If she were, her current cyberware would make it a suicide mission—like running headlong into a car speeding at 300 km/h.

Her current situation was a little more like cramming for an exam the night before, confident she could pass but still unable to shake the nagging anxiety of potential failure.

Fortunately, she knew exactly where to go: the second floor, which was swarming with more guards. The access point was located was in one of rooms upstairs where a pair of guards were stationed right at the door. 

It was straightforward process getting there since she had every guards' positions on her optic display. The problem was getting through them without being caught.

Unless Lucy wanted to go the old-fashioned route—either frying their brains with a quickhack or putting a bullet in their heads, both of which would risk blowing her cover, there was not much she could do. She considered quickhacking a nearby device for it to malfunction and distract them, but doubted it would fool these guards. 

There was no chance both guards would leave their post. One might ask the other to investigate, and one would still be guarding the door. If she triggered two devices to malfunction, it would look highly suspicious.

If those guards reported it, the whole building would be on high alert. Then, it would be her with bullet in her head.

Yep, it seemed Lucy's best bet to remain undetected was to rely on Lucas and David's distraction to draw the guards away from their post.

But before that could happen, she needed to move. Still on the first floor, she knew that if—'and that's a big if'—their distraction worked, there'd be no way to reach the second floor if she stayed put. She'd be surrounded in all sides. 

With that in mind, Lucy began to move again. She passed by several guards by observing their patrol routine—timing when they'd turn to walk away or shift positions before darting past them.

She soon reached the second floor via the stairwell, and after sneaking past more guards, she then spotted the ones stationed in front of the room she needed to access. She then quickly hid in an empty operation room just a few doors down.

Everything had been straightforward so far. But now, this was where luck would play its part—where she needed to rely on someone else.

Standing by the door, Lucy hesitated for a moment, her mind racing through the possible fuck-ups, but quickly pushed those thoughts aside. There was no use worrying about what might go wrong now. Just gotta stay positive. 

Finally, after making up her mind, Lucy sent a quick thought command to Lucas: "Make some noise."

Then, she accessed the camera she had hacked earlier in the lobby while she had been buying her drink, curious about the distraction they would cause.

In the corner of her optics, a live feed of the lobby blinked into view. She saw Lucas receive her message, and moments later, the fight began just as planned. It was working. She could hear the guards from the second floor walking past her the room she was hiding in, but she didn't think it was enough. 

From the sound of the guards' footsteps as they passed by the door, they didn't seem to be in much of a hurry. Did they actually care about the commotion downstairs? Or were they just bored, looking for an excuse to watch two idiots go at it? 

But just as Lucy finished that thought when suddenly, David landed a punch that sent Lucas flying into the metal doors leading deeper into the hospital, his body comically flailing like a rag doll. 

Neither of them could believe it. David stood frozen, fist still extended, wearing the same 'what the fuck?' expression as Lucy. 

Lucy: "☉_☉"

David: "\ ( ﾟ Дﾟ) /"

Lucas: "(—_☉)"