Chapter Thirteen.

She, Ginger forced me to go with her. The place she brought me to was "A tool shop?" I asked as we entered.

"What are we doing here?"

The place was old and didn't seem to have very many customers, infact the owner didn't even seem to have cleaned the shop for a while as a thick layer of dust had gathered over the counter.

She didn't answer.

We were no longer in the city and as I realized this, I figured out why she was able to walk around without being apprehended by the police.

This town was small and that was why it was the perfect hideout, that and the fact that, "are all the people in this town supporters?" I asked her trying to confirm my suspicions.

Again she didn't favor me with a response, but instead made her way to the back of the shop with me in tow , where there was a narrow stairway that lead down.

She stepped aside, "you first."

I didn't question her, seeing how she still had her gun in her coat pocket.

She gave me a key-card which I assumed was for a door of some sort and then gave me a less than friendly shove towards the stairs.

After about a minute of walking down the steep stairs lit by dim florescent blue lights I came to an opaque glass door with a neon-green panel off to the side.

"Open it," she stated in a somewhat annoyed tone. "I'm already late."

Quickly I opened the door and stepped in.

"Whoa!" The words escaped before I could think.

"Surprised?" She asked "everything here is apart of my personal computer." She stated with a smile while hinting at the large room with server towers against the walls extending all the way to the roof. And in the center were two chairs modeled so the users could lie back, almost like reclining armchairs but without the large arm rests and a lot taller.

"This is were you connect to the NVN..." I thought out loud.

"It's more than that," she stated, "have a seat." Suddenly the room lit up with H.U.Ds (heads up displays). I knew it was done via my retina display but I didn't have my

Neuro-link , since ginger had caught me at that warehouse and took it. So how was this possible?

"You look puzzled," she stated seeming to enjoy my bewilderment "how is this possible? How am I able to see this without my neuro-link? - is what your thinking right?" She asked.

I turned in her direction and cast her an unfriendly glare "why did you bring me here?" I asked.

Her smile seemed to brighten, "Well I want you to do something for me, you are after-all, a script kiddie right?"

She stepped closer, took out her gun and let her coat fall.

"I'll give you this and your freedom if you succeed," she held up her gun the light-blue over head light gently reflecting off its edges. "this is the gun I used to kill that homeless person, and my finger prints are on it now... however... After you've completed this task, I'm not so sure you'll want leave my side.

You'll fall in love with me again, I'm sure of it."

"Again, why did you bring me here?" I asked.

She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, then walked over towards the chairs. "These are special items," she caressed the cracked, black leather décor of the chairs.

"They allow you to connect to the un censored version of the N.V.N, thinking about it if I were to compare it to something it'd be astral-projection but I don't wanna bore you with crude details or my take on the tech, so... It enables offline rendering for your retina displays which in turn allows augmented reality..."

As she stated those very words "augmented reality", I remembered how 001 had come to my room as her avatar.

"From your reaction I'm guessing it's safe to say, that you've experienced it before," her brows knitted making her look almost anxious "do... you remember?"

Huh? "Remember what?" I asked.

For a second she looked disappointed and then, "have a seat … you're gonna kill for me."

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