Chapter 98

"Scribes, you go ahead, I'll cover for you."

"Roger that, Tihonja..."

Becca moved forward, and I walked about five meters away from her, watching her closely. It wasn't that I didn't trust her, but it was necessary to cover her, because the opponents might surprise her unexpectedly. Especially considering that she had a Sandy, even though it was a military model, but it was old and not experimental in any place.

"I see the enemy..."

"Work with a warranty, your sandi doesn't allow the same antics as mine."

"I know."

Becca was slightly annoyed.

"I'm sorry, I'm a little worried."

"Uh-huh... we forgot.

Becca was already near the entrance to Malstrom's base and immediately drove a knife through the uncomprehending bandit's chin upward, straight into his brain. Before he could fall, a second guard was on the ground beside him.

"The entrance is clear..."

The door slowly opened after we inserted a chip into the maintenance connector. I wish I could say that, but this time the control panel had apparently been severed from the system by cutting the cables completely. In short we had to find a new passageway.

However, Malström is a gang, not a corporation, and it was not that difficult to find a gap in their defenses, and after a dozen minutes we found ourselves inside the building through the window. Naturally, we didn't just break in, but peeked inside with my optics and made sure there was no one inside. After that, I picked up the metal blinds and just rolled them up.

"We're in..."

"I see. Put a chip in some computer already, it's like we're blind..."

"Quiet?"

I nodded at Becky's question and snapped out of my seat, turning on the sandi at a higher power, so that soon a couple of comps and access points had been found and even slivers inserted, but I decided not to go back to Becky. She might take offense if I had to tail her through the whole mission. She's not a little girl and not a green newbie...

Although if you take it specifically quiet penetration and operation without noise...

Though I have to admit, if she had no experience at all, I wouldn't have been afraid to offend her and would have dragged her around for the entire assignment.

"Bookwoman, I'll go to the upper floors while you clear this one."

"Roger that."

I quietly found the stairs and began to climb up. The building was three stories high, so I decided to start at the top and move toward Becca.

Once on the third floor, I turned the sandi on the usual level of acceleration and quickly zeroed all the representatives of Malstrom, and then stood next to the stairs thoughtfully looking at the descent to the second floor.

Fuck. so I'll do it all myself, as usual, and Becca will be out of a job. Why did I encourage her to take the quiet job?

I sighed and decided to walk around the floor using my optics to the max, but I didn't find anything interesting and after ten minutes I returned to the stairs.

"Scribes, how's it going in there?"

"Finishing up the first floor..."

"Id."

"Have you cleared third and second yet?"

There was sadness in Becky's voice.

"No, I decided to leave the second floor to you, and in general, I'm thinking that we should probably divide the team into such simple tasks. It's too much of a--

"Just for you?"

"Uh-huh... although you know that it's jobs like this that are the foundation of our livelihood.

"Well, I can't argue with that, but I'd rather work with Snowflake!"

"Hello?! Why don't you ask me?!"

"You're against it?"

There was sadness in Becky's voice.

"No. it's just that being confronted with such an important issue isn't very nice."

"But you're okay with it, right?"

"Yes, Bookwoman, I agree."

"That's great! And Cherry's going to join us."

"I agree."

"Well, go to hell, and Mentor and I will work perfectly well in the company of Tikhoni..."

Judy's voice held a touch of resentment.

"Scribner, you seem to have offended our Clever Girl..."

"Hey, it's nothing like that! It's just that I personally feel more comfortable and convenient working with Snowflake and Cherry..."

"Yeah, yeah. I got it."

"Okay, Smarty, stop sulking. What, you're not happy about working with me?"

"Satisfied..."

"Then what's the problem?"

"It's the fact that they put me in front of the fact and don't let me choose or draw lots. I mean, we're a family, and it's such a blow. almost a spit in my soul..."

Though it was clear from her tone that she didn't think so.

"Overplaying it..."

I shook my head and took a seat on the stairs.

"Okay, I found my way to the basement..."

"Then the second floor's on me?"

"Uh-huh. we're on it.

I turned on the sandi and went down to the second floor, and there in one of the rooms was a panicked Hal, literally pacing the room from corner to corner. I even turned off the sandi.

"What the hell is going on here?! When are these degenerates gonna get a connection?! What's wrong with their network that they can't reach anyone on the first or third floor?!"

His eyes lit up, but immediately faded and he turned pale...

"Shit... it's got to be him. but he doesn't take zeroing orders... why is he here?! Okay, Hal, calm down, he hasn't come to you yet, so there's still time. And, uh. she couldn't have figured me out that fast! She couldn't! Which means he's here because of Malstrom."

Hal froze, and his hitherto panicked face smoothed.

"...fuck, it's bad luck to run into him, but he's a clean-cut guy you can play. I doubt Regina gave him all the details. And that broad. I'll find something to put in his ear. Yeah, the important thing is to get him to get close to me.

I still hadn't deactivated the cloaking system and it would have been hard to spot me, especially given where I was standing, so I watched with interest, and given that my optics kept recording...

I think my girls will be excited to see how the target binds itself.

Hal, meanwhile, had indeed found some rope and had quickly gathered some clever knot and thrown it over the battery, then found a knife and hid it so that it could be pulled out, and then threw some clever knot over his hands which, judging by his checks, would allow him to untie it with a quick jerk of his hands and thrust the knife at me.

And the guy's really good at tying things up.

Activating the sandi, I slipped out of the room for the sake of interest and went inside again, but this time with the cloaking system turned off.

"Hal?"

I pretended to be very surprised to see him in this room.

"Quiet! It's so good to see you! Can you help me?"

I smiled.

"Of course I can."

I grinned catching his gaze, with my gaze being quite unkind.

"...as soon as you explain why the fuck you reduced the poor girl to cyberpsychosis."

"It was an accident!"

"Yeah, yeah..."

I nodded my head.

"...read more."

"Well, uh. she turned me down, and I got really mad. She's Helma, you know."

He wiggled his eyebrows, as if he was hinting at something, but he was hinting at something. The Helms have a reputation for being a bit sex-crazed, but that's only because they have Lysis and they actually run the pimps, as well as selling brans with sex. In reality, not a single hooker working in the industry is in a gang.

Helms isn't a prostitute, so it's just a rumor. But all in all, for a shallow kid, which for some reason Hal thinks I am, his story might work.

"Well... that's not the reason."

"Come on, I offered her money, status, a lot of things, and she blew me off. Me! So I freaked out a little bit, it wasn't supposed to end like this, I mean, the girl would have slipped into a coma. It wouldn't have been a big deal, but she was too unstable and--

"I see..."

I sighed.

"So it's an accident?"

"Quiet, it's about time, isn't it? You don't think he's telling you the truth, do you? You can't put Brainiac into a coma. but you have no idea how hard it is to get the brain load right. So difficult that with all my experience and knowing you like the back of my hand, I wouldn't risk doing that to you..."

"Good girl, don't interrupt. there's a whole play going on here. and I want to see what else this guy comes up with to try to lure Tycho to stab him in the heart."

"Uh, uh. are you talking literally or figuratively about the knife?"

"Of course it's direct!"

"Uh..."

"You just didn't watch your surroundings from the beginning, Tihonya stood here under the disguise for a while, looked at the way this one was rushing around the room and talking out loud about his plan..."

"Uh, uh. and I missed it?"

"Uh-huh. but the fun part is, you know what?

"Uh..."

Judy's voice was tinged with doubt.

"...that others haven't seen it?"

"Almost... that the Bookwoman didn't see it."

"Pfft!"

The whole conversation didn't take long, and I kept drilling Hal with a suspicious look.

"I'm not lying! I really just wanted to send her to a coma! It wouldn't take long. She'd lie there for 24 hours, then wake up, and the chrome would be a little malfunctioning for another week. Nothing more!"

"Are you sure? You know, I don't know much about hacking, but when my runners are free from hacking systems, I'll ask them..."

"Yeah, that's right, that's right! Untie me already!"

The words that I'm not working alone and I have someone to clarify such information had an effect on him... Anyway, it made him rush me into action.

"Okay..."

I take a couple steps toward Hal, seeing the look of triumph in his eyes, and freeze.

"...are you sure you're not fucking with me?"

I look at him suspiciously.

"That's right! You've got the Runners, they'll tell you if I'm lying, and I won't have time to go anywhere!"

"Argument..."

I nodded thoughtfully and stepped even closer to him.

A dash!

I didn't even have to activate the sandi, I calmly intercepted his hand in which the knife was clutched, by the wrist, forcing him to tighten his grip on the knife, and then twisted it to a very loud crunch.

"A-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-ah!

"Oh, sorry, I think I broke your arm..."

I examined the hand with an optic.

"...in two places."

"Bitch!"

"I'm not a bitch..."

I shook my head.

"...I'm a cable. I'd even say a dog. You know, I can understand a lot of things, anger at the girl, wanting to get back at the lady who dynamited you, although I wouldn't do it that way... I'd do a couple of little things... or maybe I'd put her out of my mind, just dreaming about how she'd suffer..."

I sighed.

Fuck you, I can't understand or accept it, but still... why the fuck would you risk your job for a momentary revenge?

"What the fuck are you talking about? Aaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

I tugged lightly on his arm, which I never released from my grip.

"You don't touch my mom."

I frowned slightly and shook my head.

"...and my girls... This is a warning for the future. Do you understand me?"

"Got it! I got it!"

"Great, now tell me why. Answer my question?"

"I don't understand!"

"I guess you still think I'm here by accident, huh?"

I grinned.

"Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you, I'm here because of you, you've been booked..."

"But you don't do zeroing!"

"For an asshole like you, who almost drove a girl crazy just because he wasn't allowed to, I've decided to make an exception. But since you won't talk."

I hit it knocking it out, after which I inserted the splinter into the socket.

"Ladies, work. Get everything out of that body."

"Got it..."