There is one universal truth I’ve found whenever you’re outnumbered and surrounded.  The guys behind you are always braver than the ones in front of you.

So, if there is a standoff?  The ones behind your back will make the first move.

[Gunkata is a combat art of evasion, counters, and-  Pivot ninety degrees.]

Obediently I follow Nina’s voice as it says and shows what I should do.  Even rates my move according to how much it follows a heavily jointed stick figure appearing in my mind’s eye.

“Ha!”

Two of the gangers have charged my back.  One coming in with a knife low and the other swinging down a pipe high.  Neither aim for Digger.  Everyone sees that I am the real opponent here.

Pipe guy is the yeller.  Idiot.  Never announce your sneak attack.

[Grab arm and pull.  Strike as passes.]

A second stick figure has appeared and I can see how my body is supposed to move.

“Uegh!”

My knee buries itself into pipe guy’s guts.  Causing him to throw up everything in his stomach along with a good deal of blood.  Then launching him like a catapult.  Think I even heard some of his organs popping.

(Shit, only an eighty?)

At the same time I’m trying to follow my stick figure self.  I’m being graded on how well I do.  It's a percent scale and every joint not matching the stick lowers my score.

[Draw.  Aim.  Fire at the second attacker.]

*Bang*

Before I fully register it, my Renalin 5mm was in knife guy's face and added a new hole to it.  The now ex gang banger wannabe’s corpse, faceplants and slides by me.

Has even a second passed?

The rest of the motley crew aren’t quite sure what’s happened.  Several beginning their own charges, stumble at the unexpected scene in front of them.

Naturally this event’s miniboss is better prepared.  Screaming as he throws himself to the side.

“Tsow!  He's wired or juicing!  Keep firing assholes!”

His boys may not be bright, but they know to follow orders.  Plans for a one sided beatdown, canceled.  Plans for a gunfight, uh, loading?

Yeah.  The various knives, pipes, poles, sticks, and even hatchets, are clearly the weapon of choice for these thugs.  Those who have guns are fumbling to get them out while also wondering what to do with the implement of destruction already in their hands.

Wisely, Miss Tutorial knows now is not the time to dilly dally.

[Sprint to third target.]

More stick figures appear, showing me who is target three and how I should move.  Again try to line myself up with the motions and my score climbs a bit to eighty-four.

[Strike throat, take firearm, pivot to third target’s back, dual wield under arms.]

Three’s almost got his pistol up when my hand knife’s into his throat.  Fucking up his larynx and causing him to drop the pistol in his hand.  It looks meaner than mine but also in worse shape.

[Pull third target back.  Pivot left.  Fire.  Fire.  Pivot right.  Fire.]

*Bang* *Bam* *Bang* *Bang* *Bam*

With two pistols my arms are now sticking passed his sides, I tighten them to pull the choking goon backwards.  Using him as a shield I start opening fire on the rest of the gang.

Digger has run off and leaped behind a pile of trash.  Somehow he’s picked up a pistol too and starts firing wildly.

Five more hoodlums drop.  Four of the few with firearms.  Not all of them are dead though.  A couple are screaming and rolling.

(Dammit!  Seventy-eight?)

My aiming didn’t line up exactly.  I still hit them but they were not all the fatal shots they could have been.

*Boom*

Feel a sting in my left arm as my poor shield gets shoved into me.  Old old memories come back.

(Shotgun?)

[Adapting…  Correct.  Augmented opponent detected.  Run left.  Aim at ninth target.  Fire.]

(Fuck!)

Do my best to follow my stick alter ego as it wall runs, yes really, across the building.

*Boom* *Bang* *Bam*

[Error…  Roll right.  Fire. Fire.]

Do my best and unload four slugs at the guy with the cyber arm one handing what’s got to be an automatic shotgun.

Don’t quite make the wall run and fall to the street.  Luckily Miss Tutorial adjusts on the fly and my stick figure rolls behind rubble.  My score dropping to sixty-three.

[Fire left at ninth target.  Fire right at tenth target.]

*Bam* *Bam* *Bang*

Like a toilet at halftime.  Said pile of rubble is already ocupado.  Never expecting someone to flop in from up above?  Thug ten is momentarily confused.

His last moment, as blood pours out the new hole in his face and the rubble gets splashed with his underused brains.

Cyber boy himself clearly didn’t get a smarts upgrade with the arm because he stupidly stays in the open.  Becoming a bullet magnet for me and Digger.

Like a scene from Police Squad this gunfight at the cyber corral is happening at stupid close range.  Most of the gunless running for it while the gunned are all in cover now on both sides of the street.

Can't stay here and get pinned down.  Fortunately Nina also knows it and spits out more tutorial right before I make my own move.

[Wait.  Hold.  Move now.  Jump.  Twist.  Strike.]

Do my damnedest to copy stickman.  No fucking way am I leaving my score in the sixties.  Instead of wall running, Nina has me leaping over stairs this time.  Right into-

*Bang* *Click*

Feel the punch in my side as there are two baddies waiting for me instead of one.  God I miss my Super Senses cheat.  Gunner gets a quick shot into my side.  At least I get lucky with him being out of ammo or his gun jamming.

(Fuck!  Don’t stop!)

[Priority eleventh target.  Strike.  Pivot.  Counter twelfth target.  Punch.]

Dead if I stop or run so just have to wade into them.  

*Bam* *Bang*

Return the favor and put a round into eleven’s shoulder and leg.  He’s fast.  Enhanced like me maybe?  We get super brutal as I take a couple of blows in order to switch targets and drop knife wielding twelve with a hit to the throat.

[Counter.  Counter.  Strike.  Leg.  Fire.]

The tutorial’s shortcomings become clear once up against someone as fast as me.  Maybe faster.  Have to make different moves several times as Nina’s prediction gets it wrong.

Ugly close quarters combat as I try to line up shots and gangster tries to deflect or evade.  All the while bullets continue to fly in from the other bangers. Finally get a knee in.  Driving him just out of arm's reach for a second.

*Bang* *Bang* *Bang* *Bam*

Two in the chest and one in the head from my Renalin 5mm ends eleven.  One from the, ID'd as, VAP 7.5mm ends the still struggling to breathe twelve.

Only three shooters left now but, fuck, they are all on the wrong side of the street.  This fact is not lost on the other side either and the shooting stops.  The block suddenly silent until the don of dipshit street starts yelling.

“Joe!  Torez!  Still there?!  …Sheiss!”

You can hear the wheels spinning in his head.

“Hey killer!  Uh…  My mistake!  Really tsowed up.  Sorry?!  Let’s stop this here!  Okay?!”  A pause.  “Dammit!   You listening?!”

[Error.  Stop.  Withdraw.]

(Sorry Miss Tutorial.  You may know the moves but you don’t have the instincts.)

Nina is sounding a bit peeved because while miniboss is negotiating?  I’m moving.  His boys aren’t that bright so chances are as soon as boss starts talking?  They stop thinking.  Keeping their heads down and waiting to be told what to do.

Meanwhile, I’m running top speed towards the middle of the street.  Target?  Cyber arm.  Specifically, cyber boy’s automatic shotgun.

Scoop up his, ID'd as, Bozh 15mm with ten 100 shot shells left in the mag, god I love this hi-tech stuff, and run straight towards the dapper don’s voice.

“Come on killer!  We don’t have to die here today!”

*tach*

With my augmented muscles its an easy hop up to get too the top of the stairwell wall.

“You do.”

*Boom*

Baddies terrified face as he looks up from the stairwell wall, he’s hiding behind, as I land on top of it?  Check.  Badass line delivered?  Check.  Bye bye bad guy?  Priceless.

About to head too number fourteen but him and fifteen are done and run away as fast as they can.  Probably should kill them too but, I just had a gun battle.  Need to loot and get the fuck out of here before the cops show up.

[Tutorial complete.]

Looking at the carnage left, again, in my wake.  I ponder.

(Does this world even have cops?)

---

The hum of the maglevs and grinding of the car links dominate the sound in the railcar.  Unlike the packed kitchen and shower cars, this one is spacious and open since it is designed for officers and officials.

Now that the train has crossed the outer wall.  The shudders have opened and a beautiful green landscape is revealed.  The pride of the city-state and result of generations of effort.

Especially the church’s effort.

The passengers in the car look left or right to marvel again at their achievements.  All except one.  A tall proud woman with a regal and strong bearing.  Product of centuries of genetic tampering.  Wearing white silver armor with flowing blonde hair and deep blue eyes.

She has a very rare expression on her face.  Actually unheard of, for her.  Her cheeks are flushed.  The red tint is undeniable.  While one hand holds a helmet.  The other’s fingers are lightly touching her lips.

On any other woman such a face would be easy to identify.  Confusion, and arousal.  Someone caught the lady’s eye and she’s unsure what to do next.

“Lady Kirova?”

But for this proud warrior woman?  Veteran of a dozen campaigns, a hundred battles, and countless skirmishes?  For such a face to be shown?  In public no less?

A matter of significant concern for her, owners.

“Paladin Sister.”

The voice from someone far too close to her ear startles the female.  Surprise over not noticing someone that close deepens her confusion.

“Ah!  F-father Khurgan?”  Composing herself.  “W-what can I do for you sire?”

The robed priest gives the soldier a kindly look.

“Sister.  Wouldn’t it be better to ask what I can do for you?”  Adds a gentle smile.  “You seem distressed.  An unusual demeanor for you.”

Realizing she’s caught but unsure why it's embarrassing her, her blush spreads.

“F-father.  I…  I saw something today and I’m not sure how to explain it.”

The reverend nods.

“Was it a mutant?  The more impure they are, the more bizarre their appearance can be.”

“I suspected that but the Eye of Cleanliness reported a purity of ninety nine percent.”

The pastor expresses doubt.

“Ninety-nine percent?  In the slums?  What an unusual specimen.”

The Paladin nods her head.

“Even more unexpected.  The construct first reported a purity of one hundred and eighty-four percent.”  A slight giggle.  “Of course that’s impossible.  I scanned again and the result was ninety-nine percent.”

The priest could tell there was more.

“And then?”

The woman visibly hesitates.  Almost like a child with its hand caught in a cookie jar.

“S-since the eye was ma-malfunctioning?  I d-decided to make sure and… t-touched his mindscape.”

A male in robes beside Father Khurgan gasps while the priest takes an admonishing tone.

“Sister Kirova.  You know how dangerous that is.  Opening your mind to another can be dangerous even in controlled environments.  Trying to link to a stranger in the middle of the slums?”

The paladin looks humiliated and deflated.  Despite her high rated psionic defense.  Such an act can expose you to attack from more than just your target.

An audible sigh comes from the fatherly figure.

“What’s done is done.  You will be punished and advised to curb your recklessness, again.”  Raising his eyebrows.  “So.  What did you find?”

“A-an ocean.”

“An ocean?”

The embarrassed girl nods her head.

“Since I began refining my mind, I have never experienced anything like it.”  She gets a distant look.  “It was like they say the old world’s oceans were.  Deep.  Blue.  Endless.  Not green and foul, like ours now.”

The other priest speaks.

“Sister-?”

A motion from his superior stops him from saying anything more.  While lost once again in the memory, the lady continues.

“But.  Were the oceans in the lost time warm?  Because this one was.  I was swimming in a vast sea but felt so safe.  So comforted.  Even with the others there-”

“Others?”  Father Khurgan asks.

“Y-yes.  So many.  So different.  But so far away.  And, so sad.  Like they had lost what I found.  Found his power.  Found his l-lu-”  She shakes her head.  “Apologies Father.  That was all I could get.”

He nods sagely.

“It is alright my child.  You have been working so hard and encountered an anomaly.”  He pats her shoulder and gently guides her to the exit.  “Please.  Complete your inspection and then go get some rest.  We will discuss this more later.”

The warrior woman absentmindedly nods and leaves after putting her helmet on.

Left alone now the senior clergyman turns to his subordinate.  But the junior speaks first.

“Father Khurgan.  I have never heard of the eye making a mistake before.”

“That is because it never has.”  His expression turns serious.  This means the one she saw can fool the Eye of Cleanliness or…”

“Father?”

His senior shakes his head.

“Y-yes.  Have the sages review all records and footage from today’s dinner.  We should find this irregular as soon as possible.”

Outside, the inner wall passes by and a gleaming cityscape appears.