Can’t leave you hanging with an update without actually offering a real chapter with Lisa, now can I?

#---------------------

Lisa was facing an armored person in a dark and narrow back alley. Trash piled up against the walls, a large garbage bin further behind Lisa was overflowing. The air was hung with steam coming from a sewer grate between them, mixed with the early morning fog that would sometimes claim the city. It was quiet, the sounds of traffic far away. Only the humming of a dim streetlight that barely clung to one of the walls high above them, and the buzzing of insects feasting on waste was audible. Lisa was wearing her gym gear, a wine-red tank top and a pair of black shorts. Her opponent was covered from head to toe in black military gear. Light armor protected their torso and joints, and a sleek helmet obscured their head and face. From their bulk it was hard to tell if they were a man or a woman. Lisa was already in a combat stance, her chrome arm turned toward her opponent, intently looking for even the slightest twitch. She was especially weary of the knife the operative was wielding. They were brandishing it in their left hand in a forward grip, ready to strike. Both seemed frozen in time as they held their standoff.

In an instant, they were upon Lisa. Three quick steps closed the distance, knife striking out lightning quick toward her neck. Lisa stepped backward out of the weapons reach, but her assailant followed. A delicate dance ensued, Lisa maintaining a careful balance between keeping the knife out of range and always being ready to instantly close in for a grappling match and turn the tables. A stab toward her left shoulder made her turn away and plant her left foot securely behind her. Flexing her core, she readied herself to step forward, but she didn’t get the chance, her opponent did not overextend, and another swipe forced Lisa to back away again. In this way, she was forced to move around in the narrow alley, but Lisa made sure she would not corner herself against a wall. They struck quickly and often, and Lisa dodged again and again. [You know, the best thing to do against someone with a knife would normally be to just run away.], Conny idly commented. Not with reflex enhancers being a thing, throwing shit accurately is really fucking easy with the right chrome. Another swipe towards her neck, another step backward, but this time her assailant had enough. With a sudden flick of their wrist, the knife was switched into a backward grip and they blitzed forward, their empty hand threatening to grab her. Lisa went for a gambit.

Planting her feet squarely against the ground, her chrome arm went to intercept the knife, ready to sacrifice some metal fingers in exchange for disabling her opponents weapon. If it was just a simple knife there would be nothing to worry about, but special alloys or a thermal blade would cut right through her unmodified digits. In an instant the knife clipped through her fingers as they closed around her opponents hand, gripping the sharp object. Having handled the dangerous weapon for now, Lisa’s left arm snaked below the grasping hand of her enemy, trying reach their neck, but they turned away and used her own arm against her by dragging it along with the knife hand, blocking her strike. A lightning quick front kick struck Lisa’s abdomen. Lisa was barely able to flex the yet invisible six pack she had been cultivating for the last five days in time, and had to let go of the knife hand as she was kicked back, her opponent opening distance between them. She regained her footing as the operative took another step back and whipped out a gun with her empty hand. Lisa’s eyes widened a fraction. Now! Do it! They fired and Lisa’s chrome arm moved, jerking with each shot, in front of her chest, her shoulder and right collarbone. Lisa didn’t feel the bullet impacts, but she was sure she had blocked them. Her cyberdeck gained some more heat as Conny manipulated her arm. It wasn’t game over for her yet. [GO GO GO!] Her opponent had frozen at the sight of her blocking bullets with her shiny bare hand, Lisa could imagine their eyes widening behind the opaque faceplate. She would not let such an opportunity pass. She pushed herself forward as fast as she could, closing the gap quickly with three steps. Two more and she would be close enough for her fists to reach her assailant. They recovered from their stupor just in time and Lisa desperately grasped toward the gun, trying to turn it away, but she was too slow. This close there was no way to dodge or block. “Bang.”, her shrouded opponent said, as they pulled the trigger.

Large letters floated in her vision. ‘Game Over’ they read. Lisa sighed as the whole scenery, the alleyway, the morning fog, the distant city sounds, flickered and phased out of existence, the illusion projected onto the gym’s martial arts matt fading away. Only the slight heat of her strained cyberdeck remained of the simulated environment. As Lisa terminated her daemon, her opponent changed from an anonymous armored operative, gun and knife in hand, into her mother in her workout clothes, the full helmet and faceplate vanishing to reveal the subdued but giddy smile her mom was giving her. She was putting away her unloaded Nue and flipping a short metal rod in her left hand that her deamon had used as an anchor to project a knife onto. [Damnit! Mom OP! Not even catching bullets phases her! Devs pls nerf!] Lisa rested her hands on her hips and caught her breath, a slight frown of disappointment on her face. …I was really hoping I could get her with that. Her mom came up to her. “That’s so much more fun than using aug-glasses!” Her eyes were shining. “You could make a shit-ton of eds if you sell the tech.” They had used the daemon Lisa was developing to change up the scenery a bit during their spars. Lisa sighed again. “…Maybe. It’s really heavy on hardware though. And it’s more a gimmick really.” Lisa could feel the start of a headache as her cyberdeck recovered from its heavy workout. Her mom hummed. “Yeah… Needs a good neural link too or the effects are crap…” Lisa nodded dejectedly. “And with the level of access it needs there’s more useful hacks to push. Its more effective the better your tech, but the better your tech the harder it is to deploy. Nobody’ll have good brain chrome without the ICE to back it up…” Barbara crossed her arms and tilted her head a bit in contemplation. “That’s not really surprising, it’s a daemon after all, not a quickhack. Maybe it could use some more streamlining, but really, it’s pretty nova.” She smiled. “Still, just selling the environment generation would make you a fortune, no need to use it in a hack.” Lisa just sighed again and dropped her head.

Barbara eyed her daughter for a moment and narrowed her eyes in amusement. “Don’t be so down Lisa, I’ve seen people parry full auto weapons with a katana and those had chrome worth at least 50k chipped in.” She grinned. “Catching bullets was a really neat trick. Is it the same thing as with the rock paper scissors?” Lisa shook her head. One step up the mountain but still far from the top. "Yeah, it’s the same. I was really hoping to get you with that.” Barbara cocked a hand against her hips and lightly poked Lisa’s forehead. A warm confident smile had blossomed on her face. “You’ll get there.” It was a statement, not a shadow of doubt in her words. Lisa couldn’t help but smile. She still clicked her tongue and swat the poking digit away. Barbara chuckled as Lisa shot her a glare with narrowed eyes, a smile tugging on her lips. “Didn’t you say you had some other fun stuff prepared with the deamon?” Barbara changed the subject as she quirked an eyebrow. Lisa’s eyes gained a dangerous glint. [She just asked for it, didn’t she?] Conny grew excited. [Oh, she really asked for it!] He cackled. “…Was that a request for a demonstration?”, she asked with an ominous voice. “It’s not for the faint of heart you know.” Barbara crossed arms gave Lisa a cocky smirk. “Come now, don’t leave me all hot’n bothered.” Lisa straightened her back. “You still have it running?” Barbara scoffed and raised her eyebrows in challenge. Lisa gave her a cold, toothy smile. [She asked for it! Let’s go! Engage full roleplay mode!] Ugh, don’t call it that.

#-----------------

Barbara scoffed and raised her eyebrows in challenge. She watched her daughters smile grow cold and toothy. This is gonna be fun, isn’t it?, she thought. Lisa lifted her chrome hand. “Well then… I’ll let you experience what my grimoire…”, she snapped her metal fingers, “has to offer.” She opened her hand and the air above it seemed to flicker, a void opening above it, like a hole had been cut in her vision. Was that a voice command? Probably combined with the snap. Lisa grinned as she lowered her outstretched arm and a scuffed, leatherbound tome coalesced out of the twist in reality, consuming it as the worn book materialized. Barbara’s eyebrows filled with wonder at the illusion, until she gave the tome a closer look and became a bit apprehensive. It was bound in what seemed to be diseased human skin and sealed shut with a rusted clasp. Blackened warts and pustules riddled its surface, a flattened lump adorned the side that was facing her, two white orbs were set into the warped leather and a large tear had been roughly sewn shut and mended, the leather swelling and bulging around the rusty steel wire that held it together. Barbara frowned a bit. It’s… not just going to be horror-gore, is it? Did she make a full-on splatter illusion? Oh god, the possibilities… Lisa’s smile grew. “From the darkest corners, from the shadows of the night.” As Lisa started chanting, her voice gained depth, sounds beyond the range of human hearing sending a shiver down Barbara’s spine, like the sound of raw fingertips scratching bloody trails on rough concrete, or the deep, guttural growling of a beast to large to exist resonating in her chest. Her eyes widened as her brain finally recognized what Lisa’s tome was actually bound in. The grimoire was bound with a human face, twisted and warped. The misshapen lump was its nose, broken and flattened beyond recognition as the skin was pulled over the cover, the two white orbs were its eyes, staring into her, the eyelids stretched and tearing, and its mouth was swelling with infection and oozing puss around the rusted steel wire it was brutally sewn shut with. It was trembling, trying to scream and wail, failing to make its misery and pain known to the world, straining against its cruel bondage. “Out of places unseen, bringing terror and blight.” Barbara’s smile slowly vanished as the sounds of the outside grew distant, still clearly audible but suddenly so far away. The light falling in through the windows somehow dimmed, becoming diffuse, shadows becoming sharp and distinct. Alright, this is getting creepy. Pretty impressive though, the visuals, the audio… She eyed the windows behind Lisa, where the outside seemed to dissolve into a dense fog. It’s really great special effects work, I wonder if… Something caught in the corner of her vision. She snapped her head to the side to see something large and hairy skittering into the shadow below a rowing machine, the darkness stretching unnaturally to swallow it as it hid in a place it should never fit in. “Cursed by gods,” Barbara eyed the rowing machine warily. Okay, damn. That is fucking disconcerting. She looked back toward Lisa, her daughters smile now looked wrong somehow, though she couldn’t put her finger on why. Before she could take a closer look, her mind reeled as she suddenly recognized that she was being watched, eyed with a hungry gaze. Her breathing grew strained as her eyes darted around the gym and its equipment, her mind recognizing shapes in places they shouldn’t be, gaze snapping to the shadows that held eyes that weren’t there, catching glimpses of long black legs in the corner of her eyes only for them to vanish when she whirled her head toward them. “Your humanity forfeit, I will offer you mine…” Barbara’s head snapped back toward Lisa. Her eyes had turned into deep black orbs, and as she blinked, more eyes opened on her forehead, temples and cheeks, a second mouth opening on the side of her neck, crooked, with razor sharp teeth, as her original mouth and jaw morphed, bones cracking, skin turning black and shiny before being covered in thick bristles. Her jaw broke apart in the middle with a final crack that sent a violent shiver down Barbaras spine, as large fangs grew from Lisas upper lip and the lower part of her face changed into the maw of an arachnid, thick saliva dripping from the quivering mandibles. “And your brood will feed,” The mouth on her neck grinned maliciously as it chanted. Barbara stared in horror as, slowly and silently, eight spindly black legs revealed themselves from behind Lisa, or from what had once been Lisa, spreading out and bracing against the floor and ceiling as she took a slow step forward. The body of her child had morphed into a monster, having seemingly offered her humanity as sacrifice for twisted dark magic, pure black orbs fixed onto Barbara as they eyed her with otherworldly hunger. Barbara shivered as her neck gained some heat. No… Lisa… The locked tome that had been hovering above her, no… its hand warped and twisted out of existence as it dropped its arm. The mouth on the side of its neck vanished as all visible skin grew shiny and taught, tearing in a few places, revealing the hard black chitin that had grown below it. “Bite for bite.” Lisa’s voice had no source and had lost all sound, more an otherworldly whisper drilling itself into her mind than spoken words, a final echo as Barbara’s daughter, her most treasured prize, was replaced with a cruel monster. In her peripheral vision she could see more spider legs in multiple sizes creep out of shadows, the absolute silence with which they revealed themselves making Barbaras scalp tingle, her breathing coming quick and hard, eyes fixed on the horrible abomination Lisa had turned herself into. No… Lisa, you can’t… Don’t leave, don’t… Its mandibles twitched as they opened, and a string of saliva and venom drew a long line as it trailed toward the ground and…

Barbara terminated Lisa’s deamon. She held her breath as, in an instant, the world snapped back to normal. The sound of the city outside returning to its usual volume, the light streaming into the gym once again only casting diffuse shadows as they should, no longer dense and impenetrable. Everything’s fine. She blinked as the monster returned to being her daughter, spider legs turning into air and extra eyes vanishing, left only with the lovely two she had since birth, backlit with an almost imperceptible pink glow. It was just an illusion, Barbara had to tell herself. Lisa’s mouth and lower jaw were back to normal, drawn into a cheeky smile, her transformation into an arachnid abomination having been just an illusion. Holy fuck… Barbara closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to calm her racing heart, feeling her body drenched in cold sweat. She’s still here, everything is fine. She blinked a few more times, confirming that it had indeed all been an illusion, that her daughter had not changed into a man-eating monster, and rubbed her face with a groaned sigh. …really, I know it was just an illusion, but fuck if she didn’t sell the ‘casting a spell’ and sacrifice thing, chanting and everything… “...Was that too much…?” Barbara could feel hints of moisture build up in her eyes as her anxiety faded. She glared at Lisa with narrowed eyes. Lisa avoided her gaze, her smile sheepish. Barbara’s racing heartbeat slowed as she sighed and massaged her eyes. Lisa’s smile vanished as a frown of concern grew on her face. “…Sorry.” Barbara huffed. “Don’t be. That was fucking terrifying, well done.” Lisa snorted, a small smirk making its way back on her face. “You like the look of the grimoire? I think its really disgusting, but that’s kinda the point.” Barbara took some more deep breaths. “Yeah it is disturbing, but the sounds really hammered it home. What gave you the idea for the chanting?” Lisa cringed. “Urgh, I can’t believe I let Conny talk me into that…” She sighed. “It’s from greek mythology. You know, the talented weaver Arachne, who was cursed by Athena and committed suicide, only to be revived as a spider.”

Barbara shook her head, banishing the last of her anxiety. Lisa hadn’t been replaced with an abomination straight out of her worst nightmares, it was all just an illusion, she hadn’t left, she was still here. “Offering your humanity to Arachne, huh. Did you have fun rhyming?” Lisa grimaced looking extremely uncomfortable. “Please don’t say that…” Barbara smirked mischievously at her cringing daughter. “From the darkest corners, from the shadows of the night. Out of places unseen, bringing terror and blight. Cursed by gods, your humanity forfeit. I will offer you mine and your brood will feed, bite for bite.” She hummed as she watched her daughter writhe in discomfort. “You should rhyme more often, kitten!” Barbara smirked as she forced herself to shake off the last dregs of dread that still clung to her mind, and Lisa placed her hands on her hips and gave a long suffering sigh. Barbara chuckled. Don’t you dare think you’ll live this down any time soon. I’ll make sure to pay you back for that scare… She changed the subject. “Anyway, if you plan on catching knifes and bullets you should really get some upgrades, at least something that reinforces your fingers so they won’t be damaged so easily.” Lisa huffed. “The list of things to see Vik for keeps growing, huh. I could even get claws while there.”, she snarked. Barbara smirked. “Can’t have a kitten without claws.” Lisa just glared at her mother.

Barbara sighed as she nudged her cyberdeck for the time. Fun time’s over. Need to meet with that Maelstrom bitch. She had been busy coerc- befriending people, getting to know who was who, and making sure nobody would try anything stupid, trying to convert her treasure into eddies. She frowned at the thought. The meeting today was to rope in the Maelstrom to inform her if any new unknown was skulking about. She didn’t want to ask for protection, not from a group of cyberpsychos. Being warned if somebody could be coming after them was enough. Once that is done I’m going to have some choice words with Regina. Her eyes gained a dark glint. Her thoughts were interrupted as a towel was tossed at her chest. She grabbed it and narrowed her eyes at Lisa, who was using her own towel to dry her face, looking at her innocently. Barbara huffed a laugh.

#------------------

DAVID: Sorry Becca, I can’t come to the Totenzert.

REBECCA: What? Why? I thought you liked [flesh]reactor and BJ. They don’t play everyday you know?

DAVID: I know, and seeing them live would be preem, but that was the only timeslot the neurosurgeon had open...

REBECCA: Fuck, why didn’t you say that earlier?! Who cares about a stupid jam session, get your mom to the fucking doctor, you dummy!

DAVID: Thanks, Becca.

REBECCA: Idiot.

#------------------

A few minutes later, Lisa emerged from the gym, the midday Californian sun embracing her in its unforgiving gaze as she left the partially airconditioned building and emerged into the side street. Her hair was pulled into a ponytail, still damp from a short shower, the all-encompassing dry and hot wind blowing in from the Badlands surrounding Night City were already claiming any leftover moisture. She took a moment to look around and turned toward the main street where moderately heavy traffic was barrelling toward unknown destinations. Her mom had left while Lisa had taken her time in the shower to take care of some things and had told her to call immediately if something happened. It was a very short walk home, but her mom nonetheless worried. [Mom hid her anxiety well… I don’t think she took the illusion as well as she said she did.] Barbara hadn’t never been pleased to leave Lisa out of her sight, and Lisa could tell that showing her the ‘Sacrifice to Arachne’ hadn’t helped. She sighed as she shrugged the small backpack with gym clothes into a more comfortable position. Get stronger and don’t worry mom, that’s the plan. She scoffed. And get rid of you. [Yes! That’s the plan!], Conny answered gleefully. Lisa rolled her neck a bit, loosening her shoulders as she rounded the corner of the block onto the main street, only to stop in her tracks. A little down the sidewalk there was a police car, blue and red lights flashing, though the siren was off, parked haphazardly on the side of the road in an attempt to not disturb traffic. A truck skimmed dangerously close to its back fender as it drove by and blared its horn. There was a small plaza were the police vehicle stood, nothing more than some outside space for street stands and vending machines, a tall chain-link fence marking the line between the plaza and the sidewalk. Nothing but a small concrete-paved corner, cast in the shadows of the tall buildings beside it, one of the many nooks and crannies in Night City where it was easy to be lost in, like falling through cracks in the pavement. [Oh-oh. That’s an encounter if I’ve ever seen one.] Lisa glared at the police car. The cops were out of sight, but she could hear a scraping voice that seemed to be gloating, its rough laughter coming from the small plaza.

Lisa clenched her jaws. Fucking hell, can’t I go a week without shit happening around me? I’ve gone to school for 14 fucking years without anything mayor happening and suddenly everything goes to shit. She looked around once again. The intersection she emerged from did have traffic lights and pedestrian crossings. [Well, it might just be nothing, for all you know you could walk right past it without anything happening.] Lisa watched the light for the pedestrian crossing turn from red to green, but the traffic didn’t stopped. Two more behemoth trucks barrelled past the intersection without even slowing down. Lisa quickly saw why and scoffed. Well I’m definitely not crossing the road through that traffic, most definitely not with the traffic lights shot and riddled with bullet holes… She was stuck on this side of the road, and rounding the block the other way just meant more distance for shit to happen. She groaned a sigh as she faced the police car once again. [No way around it, though I’m pretty sure we can handle whatever happens.] Lisa swallowed hard, her left hand brushing against her Kenshin, secured to her thigh. It had gotten her out of hell once before and she had to believe it would do so once again. It was with her, waiting to be used, a tool for her to wield however she wanted. She huffed, an angry frown flashing across her face. Fuck it. Whatever it is, if it wants to be shot, so be it. She strode forward. [That’s the spirit! If it can burn, burn it! Also, we still have the pingbomb to test, perhaps somebody will volunteer themselves?] Conny started cackling. Lisa grit her teeth. She passed the police car and glanced through the chain-link fence into the plaza. There were small stalls against the buildings that ringed the small space, nothing more than a few tables with some tarp as a roof, most were peddling food, others were displaying small knick-knacks. A few vending machines were interspersed here and there, some still brightly lit and singing advertisements for whatever they contained, others broken and battered, a few riddled with more bullet holes. One had been tipped over and had been assimilated into a sitting area, currently occupied by a Maelstromer fiddling with a shotgun.

Lisa’s gaze was drawn to the commotion that had attracted the NCPD. The plaza was completely deserted, the vendors and customers wisely having fled the scene, giving up the space to a group of gangers and two cops. The two officers were surrounded by four Chrome Jocks, their bare arms displaying sickly skin marred with scars and metal. All of them were armed and ready to some degree, with assault rifles and handguns, but weren’t actively threatening the cops. The laughter Lisa had heard came from one of the gangers, his lower face missing and replaced with metal mandibles that clicked and snapped whenever he laughed. His eyes were two red glowing orbs, and his chest harness did little to cover his abdominal muscle replacement. He was waving a large and bulky revolver through the air, a Burya, while he taunted the cop that stood before him. A kid, maybe 12 years old, was kneeling at his feet, frozen in fear. The cop was standing ramrod straight with his shoulders tensed beneath his heavy-duty bullet-proof vest that covered his whole torse and flared into a high neck. His tightly balled fists were shaking, Lisa could imagine the daggers the officer was glaring at the Maestromer. His partner was standing a bit behind him, detached and professional, her composed gaze sweeping the gangers around them. The woman reached out from behind to place a hand on the shoulder of her coworker, perhaps to reassure him, perhaps to hold him back from doing anything stupid. They were to far for Lisa to make out what exactly they were saying. [Oh, maybe this won’t involve you, 10 quid the cops get it though.] Lisa made her way past the plaza with large strides. The policewoman glanced her way, but otherwise didn’t react as she hurried past. She turned her gaze away from the plaza. Not my business, I’m just a bystander on my way home, nothing to see here. Her hand brushed past her Kenshin.

A gunshot rang out, sounding like a canon had gone off, making Lisa flinch. The body of the kid was lying still on the ground, the blood and gore of what was once his head framing the crater the bullet had ripped into the concrete after mangling flesh, bone and brain matter without resistance. Lisa paused at the gruesome sight, the Maelstromer laughing loudly, taunting the cop to do something. The police officer was looking at the crumpled corpse, but he didn’t make a move. [Holy shit, that’s disgusting! And it splattered all over his shoes and pants! What the fuck! Urgh!] Wretching noises filled Lisa’s mind. Oh well, time to delta. She returned to hurrying past the plaza. The ganger with the Burya called out. “Ha! look boys! There’s the next one! Hey, bitch! Get over here! Piston, bring’er here!” Lisa frowned, but before she could start running, one of the Maelstrom was standing in front of her, shotgun lazily slung on his shoulder. The skin on his face was peeled back around the rugged chrome that replaced his eyes and nose, his red optics glowing menacingly. She glanced toward the tipped over vending machine where he had been sitting just a moment ago. That’s a sandi. Shit, running isn’t an option. She looked back at the ganger blocking her way. He just jerked his head to the plaza with a smirk. [Oh well, we’ve got some test subjects then! Game time started!]

#---------------------

Barry was having a real shit day. “Ha! look boys! There’s the next one! Hey, bitch! Get over here! Piston, bring’er here!” A really shitty day. Before him lay the headless corpse of a kid, shirt splattered in red, as his blood pooled into the crater of the bullet that ended his life. He and Nadia had gotten a call to head to a nearby location to manage some gang activity that had gotten out of hand. A handful of Maelstromers were terrorising some street vendors. It had all gone to shit so quickly once they arrived, and a kid had been caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. And there was nothing he could do about it. “Barry…”, Nadia called him, warning him to not do anything drastic. Nothing I could do about it my ass! Fuck! Her voice was hollow, detached. How the fuck could she be so unaffected! He turned to throw a hateful glare at his partner. She was stoic, the perfect picture of professionalism, but Barry caught the quiver as her jaw clenched, her perfect façade cracking for but a moment. His raging frown lessened a fraction, but his anger only grew hotter. He just domed a fucking kid right in front of me! I… I can’t-, I won’t just stand here and do nothing! But really, what could he do? He couldn’t touch the Maelstromer, he was ordered not to, ordered to stand down. Cruise patrol was never an easy job, but it had never been this hateful. He was told to stand by and do nothing.

Glancing past his partner, he saw a girl walk up, barely a woman, flanked by another ganger with a shotgun and he felt hot tears of rage and despair welling up inside of him. “Yeah! YEAH! THAT’S the look I like! Fucking pigs comin’ here, thinkin’ you own SHIT!” His laugh was grating and Barry hated it. He was shaking in anger as he turned back to his tormentor. The way his red glowing eyes crinkled in twisted glee, the way his facial muscles connected to his metal mandibles twitched with ever laugh, it felt like somebody had plunged a knife in his gut and was slowly twisting it. “Yeah that’s right pig! She’s next!” He shook his Burya revealing the bullet chamber and slowly, carefully, replaced the spent bullet. The young woman came up next to him. She was maybe half a head shorter than Barry, about the same height as Nadia, black, damp hair pulled into a loose ponytail. “Oh, and why won’t the officer do anything?”, she asked, sounding disinterested. It was off-putting, as if she had already accepted her fate. Barry couldn’t help but huff in anger. The ganger lifted his gun and pointed it into the sky. “Because its not the pigs that own these streets.” With a snap of his wrist he chucked the cylinder back into the bulky gun. “The Maelstrom do!” He spread his arms as if welcoming her. “And you are here to prove my point!” His mandibles clicked in excitement. He cocked the hammer of his revolver. The girl chuckled. “Pathetic.”

The Maelstromer paused. He lowered his arms and his eyes gained a dangerous glint. The girl took a step forward and kicked the body on the ground. “It’s pathetic, isn’t it.” She turned toward Barry, ignoring the Chromer with the gun behind her. “The NCPD, the protectors of the city, unable to save a single child.” Barry stared at her in disbelief. The girl stared back, no hint of emotion on her face. The slight red glow of her black eyes seemed to penetrate his soul. Her voice was harsh. “What use are you if you don’t even move when a child dies right in front of you.” Turbulent indignation rose in Barry as he glared at the girl. She sighed while holding his gaze. “I wonder why you even became a pig.” She looked back down toward the body. “Do you have a backstory, I wonder. Somebody close to you died, perhaps? Wanted to stop something like that happening again? Perhaps you dreamed of bringing justice to those that deserve it?” She looked back at him. “Or maybe you just wanted to stop kids from dying.” She huffed. “Useless crap.” Fucking BITCH! He was starting to breath heavily. Barry was shaking as he watched a beautifully cruel smile bloom on her lips. “Oh-ho.”, she laughed. “That was it? You wanted kids to be able to play in safety? Oh the irony…” She chuckled maliciously.

Mandible-jaw laughed uproariously. “Oh fuck! DAMN girl! Ha!” Something flickered in the girls eyes. “You hear that boys?! This ones HARD!” The other goons joined the heckling. “Go on, keep it up!” He laughed again. Fuck! I’m gonna kill him! I don’t- “Barry.” Nadia had her hand on his shoulder again. He glared at her. You can’t be fucking serious! She held his gaze unflinchingly, shaking her head imperceptibly. “What’s wrong, Barry.” He whirled back toward the girl. She stared at him with a neutral gaze. “Can’t stand to do the right thing? Did you enjoy watching maybe? Why did you do nothing, Barry?”, “Because he-“, he clenched his jaw and growled. He’s got a fucking corp watching his back! Fuck! He wanted to scream, to rage. “That’s right, Barry, why didn’t you do nothin, huh?!”, “Ha! Fucking pussy!” The Chrome Jocks joined in. “You have no balls or what, pig?!” Delicately and with great care, she put her left hand on his cheek. He was stunned for a moment. What…? The jeering of the gangers intensified. “Oh Barry. I know its hard to witness a kid commit suicide.” The kindness in her voice was a harsh contrast to her cold eyes. His blood froze. “W-what?”, he asked in disbelief. She blinked innocently. “Suicide. Did you not see? Its what’s going to be in your report. The kid committed suicide.” She smiled. Barry was horrified. “You can’t be serious…”, he whispered. “Oh yes. I’m very serious.” She gave him another sweet smile. “And do you know what?” Her smile vanished and Barries breathing grew laboured. “It’s going to happen to me too, I think.” Her voice was even, neutral, as if she had told him what she had for breakfast. His lips quivered. “And the best part?” She leaned closer, whispering in his ear her hand still on his cheek, warm, comforting. “You’re going to stand by and do nothing. Again. Right?” A tremor ran through his body. No, that’s not true. He took a deep breath and held it, searching for something, anything, to say. There must be something! I can’t- The girl pulled back. Her expression was cold, empty and calculating. There was nothing in those eyes, her gaze was one of a dead person. Am I really this powerless? Is there nothing…? The Maelstromers had gone quiet. “Pathetic.”, she spat with a quiet voice.

For a moment, Barry only heard the blood rushing through his veins and the frantic beating of his heart. There’s nothing. Tears welled up in his eyes. Its going to happen again. The warmth of the hand on his cheek felt wonderful, her touch so delicate and careful. Fuck, I’m powerless. Who was she? Did she have family? What were her dreams? Her goals? None of those questions would mean anything in a moment, just like they didn’t mean anything anymore to the kid lying dead on the ground. The Maelstromer would shoot her, and the person she is would flow with her blood down the gutter. And I won’t do anything… Something broke. He couldn’t take it anymore. Tears welled up in his eyes. Because the fucker knows the right people in the right places. And I don’t. He hung his head and her hand fell away from his face, its sudden absence causing dread and despair to rise up his throat, the lingering feeling of her touch ripping something out of him as it faded. He let out a shuddering breath as his cramped hands unclenched. I’m pathetic. The damm broke and his tears flowed freely.

#---------------

[Did you… did you really have to do that to Barry…?] Lisa watched with cold eyes as the bulky policeman hung his head and chocked back a sob. What. Did I say anything wrong? Barrys shoulders hung in defeat, arms hanging slack by his sides. [I mean, no… but you could’ve… I mean…] Conny sighed. I need time to setup the daemon. Their ICE may as well be wet paper, but I still needed to buy time somehow. The Maelstromers around them started laughing and sneering at the broken pig. His partner’s jaw was tightly clenched. [I know, its just… Ugh, I hope he still has his turtle to talk to…] Lisa scoffed. Oh, is this another one of your precious game characters? Would you have preferred if I just turned over and let myself be shot in the head instead?! [No! He was just a side character anyway, nothing more than set dressing really.] Lisas jaw quivered. Fuck you, Conny. Side character? He’s a person! Fuck, why am I the one to say that, I just broke him! And what does that make me, huh?! I don’t even exist in your precious game, do I?!, she snarled in her mind.

“Back the fuck away from my partner or I will have you for assault on an officer!”, the policewoman hissed. Lisas gaze snapped onto the woman. She snorted. “Oh, will you really?”, Lisa said mockingly. “You think the metal heads here are going to let that fly?” The gangers shuffled awkwardly their laughter dying down. Mandible-jaw started chuckling. “Ho, you’re fun, meatgirl! I think I like you!” The gangers chuckled with him. [Well, at least everything’s ready now.] Conny sounded defeated. Lisa turned toward her would-be executioner. “Well the feeling’s not mutual, shithead.”, she said in a cold voice. The Maelstromer just raised an eyebrow. “What a preem doll you are, been a long time since I found someone this nova! I think I’m going to keep you!” He  jabbed his Burya toward her in a pointing gesture. Lisa scoffed and placed her left hand on her hip. “Whatever. Playtime’s over.” She snapped her metal fingers. “Go die.”

In an instant, Mandible-jaw’s red eyes rolled up into his head as he convulsed and dropped to his knees. The rest of the Maelstromers didn’t fare any better, erupting into groans of pain and stifled screams of shock as they all fell to the ground, twitching and curling in on themselves. Holy shit… From one moment to the next, the gangers dropped with their eyes and ears bleeding. Lisa watched in a daze, as soon, the last one stopped twitching and grew still. Lisa didn’t notice the policewoman growing alert, ready to draw her gun. [That’s one hell of a bomb…] “Yeah fuck, that was… effective…”, Lisa couldn’t help but mumble.

Her hand dropped from her hip next to her holstered Kenshin. Won’t even need to double tap them… [Well… Pingbomb is designed to brick systems… but shit, if that didn’t look like a Synapse Burnout, then I don’t know…] Lisa looked down to the Chromer with the mandible jaws. The red of his previously glowing eyes was now running down his face in bloody tears. I just didn’t think it would be this deadly… She shivered slightly. Planting her daemon in the gangers had been so easy, with but a glance she had torn down their ICE without them having time to even notice and uploaded it. She had infested their systems one by one, and all that was needed to sentence them to death was a voice command and a snap of her fingers. That program is just sitting in my head, without any notable safeguards… And my daemon has been carrying it around, primed and ready. A cold shiver ran down her spine. I could have killed mom on accident. One wrong command… or a single unfortunate bug… Without her explicit consent, the hack wouldn’t run, the built-in safety features of her cyberdeck making sure she couldn’t fry herself, but she had made that hack, she knew just how flimsy those safeties were, how easy they were to disable. I need to secure this shit more, I could have fried moms brain. She took a deep breath to calm herself. [Yeah, would be weird if killing somebody would affect you, of course you’d rather worry about mom.] Lisa had to snort. Oh Conny, you sweet innocent child. Also, fuck you. “What the fuck just happened!”, the policewoman demanded. Lisa turned her head toward her. Oh, right. The cops are still here. The woman was hunched over and ready to draw her gun at even the slightest twitch, laser focused on any of Lisa’s movements. Barry was just staring blankly at the dead bodies that surrounded them through teary eyes, standing in a daze. Lisa slowly lifted her hands, trying to calm the twitchy cop. “Well, since you wouldn’t do anything, I saved myself.” Barry let out a shuddering breath and dropped to his knees. “Fuck, what did you do?! Barry-“ The policewoman drew her gun at Lisa.

Lisa flinched and slowly raised her hands further. “I’m not doing anything.”, she said calmly. Shit, fuck, of course the calm and collected one snaps! [Get to breaching! Shut her down! Quick!] The woman frantically glanced at her partner, who was staring at Lisa with teary eyes and a blank expression. “Barry! Talk to me!” The policewoman kept her eyes trained on Lisa, face full of anxiety. Barry looked at his partner, glanced between her gun and Lisa, horror and despair warping his face. “Nadia...”, his voice was a shuddering whimper, “Don’t… please don’t…” He started crying again. Nadia’s face twisted in anguish, before it flashed to cold fury. “What did you do to him?! What hack is this?!”, she roared. Lisa took a measured step back and slowly shook her head, heart hammering in her chest. Come on… come on! Just a bit more. It turned out the NCPD sponsored their cops with solid ICE. “I didn’t hack him.” Nadia’s breathing was accelerating and so was Lisa’s. Barry crumpled forward and sobbed. “Please… no…”, His partner glanced at him in panic. “Bar-!” She shouldn’t have looked away.

In an instant, Lisa pushed a reboot optics and a sonic shock on the policewoman, her neck growing hot from the sudden strain of bulldozing through the last dregs of the woman’s ICE, and darted to the side. The cop flinched in surprise as her hearing and vision cut out, but her training kicked in and she fired her gun blindly, three times, but Lisa had been faster. Leaving one broken and one blind-and-deaf officer behind, she sprinted back home.

#--------------

LISA: So, uh, I flatlined a bunch of Maelstrom and fled from the NCPD.

BARBARA: …What?

LISA: I ran across some Maelstrom toying with two officers on my way home. Couldn’t dodge them so I tried to just pass by, but they had a guy with a Sandy who intercepted me. I stuck my daemon on them and once I had them all I waxed them.

LISA: One of the officers spooked and I tripped her up with Reboot Optics and Sonic Shock and fled.

BARBARA: Fuck, Lisa, its been what, 10 minutes?!

BARBARA: What about the other officer?

LISA: He was… out of commission.

BARBARA: What? Did a cop get iced?

LISA: I needed some time to stick the daemon on everybody, so I toyed with him a bit.

BARBARA: …

LISA: Mom? Everything ok? I’m completely fine, really, not even a scratch, just a bit out of breath.

BARBARA: No, everything’s fine Lisa. Good job getting out of there. How did you manage to plant your daemon on so many gonks?

LISA: Honestly? It was stupidly easy. They barely had any ICE, which meant my deck had very little to do other than just upload the thing… Searching for any access points took longer than breaching.

BARBARA: Ha! Well the bulk of most gangs is made up of riff raff and posers, I guess I don’t need to be worried about you…

LISA: Yeah, don’t worry! Even smashing the NCPD ICE was simple.

BARBARA: Stay indoors for few days or hide your face or something, alright? Maybe they ID’d you. I really need to get our NCPD database entries fixed, its too easy to just scan someone and have a name to the face.

LISA: Aw, no more back alley brawls? Or seaside scuffles? Or rooftop ruckus’? Gonna put training on pause? ‘Cause you’re just saying that 'cause I’m close to beating your ass.

BARBARA: Oh kitten, you’re so precious.

LISA: Grrr.

LISA: On a sidenote, I saw some really freaky chrome today. One of the Maelstrom gonks had his jaw replaced with mandibles. Looked impractical as hell.

BARBARA: …okay this will sound weird, but that gonk didn’t just happen to be this guy? (Rufus_Patron.img)

LISA: …uh, yeah, that’s the one. He’s on the ground in the plaza that’s just around the corner from the gym, all stiff and smelly. Why?

BARBARA: Well… I was supposed to flatline the worm in exchange for a favor. Because, you know, politics. Oh this’ll be fun, I barely left the room, I wonder what kind of face she’ll make when I come back in and tell her job’s done.

LISA: Okay? Where are you? Your meetings already finished?

BARBARA: You need to spend less time in the shower…

LISA: Sue me!

BARBARA: Wait, how did you ice them? I didn’t know you had a lethal hack?

LISA: Oh, uh…

LISA: Did I ever tell you why the TV stopped working?

BARBARA: …no?

LISA: Well, uhmm, funny story…

#----------------

Corrections/edits:

‘Cause you’re just saying that I’m close to beating your ass. -> ‘Cause you’re just saying that 'cause I’m close to beating your ass.