HANNA: FINALLY! I found her!

RAHUL: You did? Good job!

HANNA: Haha! She led me by the nose! She had me fooled completely! Hahaha!

RAHUL: It did take even somebody of your talent this long to find her. Good job!

HANNA: Ha, fuck. She always was perfect. I was only ever able to catch up to her in short bursts…

RAHUL: She really is incredible. So, how did you finally find her? Did she slip up?

HANNA: That’s the best part! She doesn’t appear on ANY cameras, so I checked on the Delamain they were taking on a whim. It went into the garage and left seven minutes after!

RAHUL: That’s… not that strange. The AI can probably peg its customers well enough to plan that far ahead.

HANNA: Yeah, but still! I followed the car with the cameras I had, and one of them caught a lucky glimpse of the passengers when it passed a streetlight! Here!

RAHUL: …

RAHUL: Damn, that IS lucky! And some impressive image manipulation. Aren’t those windows supposed to be one way only? Preem work, Hanna, I knew you could do it!

HANNA: I know! Thanks!

RAHUL: Did you find where the cab was headed?

HANNA: No… I only have footage of the Delamain turning left at the end of the street, heading deeper towards Northside.

RAHUL: That’s fine! That’s all I need to convince my father to give me more resources for the search.

HANNA: Really?!

RAHUL: Yes! I’ll work on posting a bounty gig to find her right away.

HANNA: Thanks Rahul.

RAHUL: Of course, Hanna. You know you can count on me. I’ll make sure you get your happy end.

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

Like usual, Lisa woke up in a warm hug. The weather outside was still shit, but it was getting better. [At least I think it is. Or maybe not. Hard to tell…] She braced herself, preparing for any weirdness resulting from nudging her brain for a status update. The stinky finger poking holes in her grey matter was still fresh in her mind but thankfully, the ghost rummaging in her brain had decided to do a manicure while she slept; no smells, no scraping nails, just a soft touch that tickled parts that shouldn’t feel. She let out the breath she was holding. [|70 : 25 : 5 , 0.35| Minus two for team Lisa from yesterday evening and day 13 after hell.] Lisa blinked, trying to get the sleepiness out of her eyes. [13, huh? I should probably just stay in bed…] Whaaat? Don’t be such a kill-joy! Yesterday went great! At least most of yesterday. Lisa snuggled deeper into the warm mattress. [You DO remember Vic telling me that I nearly died?] Psh. Add one to the tally. Lisa sighed. [No, Conny, I won’t actively make mom worry. I’m not risking it with unlucky numbers.]

“Lisa? Everything alright?” She was startled by the sleepy voice of her mom. The hug encompassing her loosened. “I’m fine, mom.”, Lisa answered. [Did she wake up from me shifting slightly? Was mom’s sleep always this light…?] She could feel her mom pause behind her, before she felt a sigh tickle the top of her head. “Good. Good…” The hug tightened again and Lisa was drawn in deeper than before. “Don’t suddenly start dying on me again…” Barbara relaxed and Lisa could feel her breathing growing calm and steady again.

A knot formed in Lisa’s stomach, a blackhole of dread that took a while to digest. Listening for the rain-muted sounds of traffic from the street below, the pit slowly dissolved over a few minutes, turning into a sour feeling. [Fuck. So that’s why mom woke so easily. Because she had to cart me to Vic last time.] Lisa resolved herself. [No more worrying mom. No more taking risks. I need to start planning.] Her mind flashed back to yesterday evening and Lisa couldn’t stop Conny from interjecting. So some actual planning? So you won’t be a hypocrite next time you tell somebody to ready the fuck up? Like yesterday with Jackie? She clenched her jaws. [Yes, Conny. Thanks for your comment.], she snapped back. Higher mixing was nice. The discomfort of involuntarily hearing voices was easier to bear when they felt more like an inner critic that you can’t help but voice.

Speaking of worrying mom, I remember somebody prompting a certain piece of chrome while watching a bunch of boxing matches. Wonder what that was about? Lisa mentally sighed. [More bearable, but not any less annoying, huh…] Lisa had grown quite bored while the old men talked. [Although Vic could be the dad of Jackie and V…] Oh, there’s some nice fodder for some fanfictions! Having Vic as your dad! Who would be the mom though? [Yeah sure. You go think about that. And be silent while you do.] While the older people had worked on emptying their beers, Lisa had killed time by watching the boxing matches that always ran on Vic’s terminal. And boredom led to her doing some testing. [And it went well. Either the beta-blockers worked, or I will need to get my hands on some hypohonthapryme.] Lisa yawned. She had felt quite smug at the time, still feeling salty from being chastised by Victor. She was doing exactly as they had said after all, using the doll chip only while her mom and a ripper were present. Now, it only left a bad taste in her mouth.

So we’re going to Vic for more testing? Or, official testing? Lisa took a moment to consider that. [I don’t know. Sure, Vic is a competent ripper, but he’s barely an acquaintance. I don’t think I want him knowing that I could potentially earn his medical degree in a few hours. Watching somebody piss on any effort you afforded to learn anything might make people grumpy.] Lisa snuggled into her mom’s hug, trying to be extra slow, so to not wake her again. You have every body modification possible out there, just running and prancing about, replaced limbs, extra limbs, but enhanced learning is where you draw the line? Lisa sighed. [The corpos have every possible modification. You think getting useful reinforced ankles is cheap? Most stuff on the streets is just cosmetic.] Is that an observation or the corporate brainwashing talking? She frowned. Arasaka Academy having skewed her perception in favour of corporate employment was a definite possibility. I bet there’s a bunch of stuff out there! You could ask Vic, maybe he has a sandevistan or kerenzikov! Lisa rolled her eyes. [Both of those mess with your brain. Sounds like a great idea for me. And do you know how hard basic interactions become with a kerenzikov? Speeding up your own time only sounds good on paper, you have to relearn talking to be understandable.] Eh, not like you talk with many people anyway. She clenched her jaws and frowned. [No, Conny. Just no.] She returned her mom’s hug, as best as one can return a hug from behind.

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

“Tsuyuka-san! Yusuki-chan! Good morning!” Lisa followed her mom through the entranceway into Bob’s foods. I still find it weird that you’re using false names… [Eh, its just business as usual. Just that mom went for the full japanese vibe this time.] She could have gone with Sakura for you! Lisa sighed internally. [Really. Cherry blossoms. ‘Cause of the pink eyes? ‘Bit on the nose.], she deadpanned. But Yusuki sounds so boring… They entered from the staircase in the building and not through the main entrance facing the street. The rain was still going strong after all. “Hey Jan. Good morning.”, Barbara greeted back. The young man manning the counter doubled as one of the cooks for the food joint. The sleeves of his red turtleneck were rolled up. His easy smile showed off an assortment of chrome teeth and his square jaw was rimmed by thick mutton chops that flowed into his short, spiky hair. The change from dark brown beard to blond hair was accentuated by a synth skin inlay running from one of his ears to the other, right over his nose, neatly dividing his face into a top and bottom half. I still really hope that seam on his face belongs to some sort of liquid thrower. I looked it up and there’s actually something called the Cyphire Dragon’s Throat that let’s you spit fire, just like a dragon! [And the guy on the phone at a food place is definitely somebody that would have military grade cyberware. Right.] “Here for breakfast?”, he asked, leaning on the counter. They walked up to him. The bottom floor of the food joint was mostly filled with the kitchen in the back. There was some seating at the storefront windows, but most of the seating was located on the second floor.

“Yup, just like every day.” Barbara smiled back. “How’s the morning going?” Jan grinned. I’m telling you, if he could spit fire then it makes sense that his teeth are chromed! Look at those chompers! Lisa gave a light sigh. [Sure. Is that why his mutton chops are brown and not blond like his hair? ‘Cause they get covered in soot?] Now you get it! Lisa refocused on the conversation. “For me? Preem! The pot of coffee this morning is nova!” They made their coffee by the gallon, which apparently ran out pretty quickly. Maybe they just got that many orders for coffee, or Jan had an addiction. The bell at the front door jingled and the sound of falling rain intensified for a moment. A boy a bit taller than Lisa wearing a see-through plastic parka entered, a large box for food deliveries in each hand. With his hands full, he had to push the door inward with his back. He was slumped over and his face was a mix of annoyance and resignation. Jan chuckled. “For him? He’s had a very bad week.” The boy gave an annoyed huff, dripping like 100 leaky faucets combined, while turning to face them. He straightened his back when he saw Barbara. “Mornin’ Jacob.” The woman said. “Hi…”, he answered. He stared at Lisa. “…hi Yusuki-san.” Lisa stared back. [That parka reminds me, I need new threads…] And we need to look for some holo-emitters! Jacob was starting to fidget while Lisa’s gaze wandered over his clothes. [Yeah sure, whatever, but I really need something else to wear then this old yellow hoody.] Shopping! A perfectly safe activity for day 13! [I’m still on the fence about that...] Jacob was blushing a bit by now. Lisa’s expression hadn’t changed the whole time.

“So, what do you have going for breakfast today?”, Barbara asked Jan. Lisa also refocused on the man. “Well, I can make you something from the menu. Burgers, sandwiches, or!”, he gave his voice more gravity. “I can make you… some special mystery wraps!” Barbara squinted her eyes, unimpressed. “Sounds more like you need to empty something and will just mash whatever into a wrap.” He awkwardly chuckled. “How does pineapple and salted scop seasoned with cinnamon sound?” The two women stared at him for a moment, until Lisa spoke up. “Absolutely disgusting. How about just sandwiches and a coffee?” Jan slumped onto the counter in defeat, the twitching of his lips betraying his amusement. “Can I at least put some extra pineapple in the sandwiches and make your coffee with some cinnamon?” Lisa shrugged. “Just don’t ruin the apparently preem coffee.”, “Sure thing, sugar.” Jan was back to his easy smile. He started making a large cup of coffee. “Come on Jacob, give me those boxes. We got some more chow to ship out.” Jacob shook himself from his stupor and put his delivery boxes on the counter. “Aww, geez, I told you not to put the wet boxes on the counter! Urgh…”, Jan chastised him as he frowned in annoyance at the growing puddle on the countertop. “Oh, uh… sorry…” Jacob’s eyes darted around the room, gravitating towards the girls in the room.

“Here, Yusuki-chan, your coffee.” He handed Lisa a large paper-plastic mug, filled with a light brown liquid. “Now, let me find a rag.”, he mumbled as he went to work making their sandwiches. The mug smelled of coffee and cinnamon, but also of soy milk and corn syrup. Ugh, this is slop. Who drinks their coffee with that many additives?! Virgin black is still the best… [I, for one, am glad that I’m not adopting your habits and turning into you.], Lisa shot back with venom. She took a sip from the enticing drink. [So, fuck you Conny, black coffee is disgusting.] She made her way over toward the seating by the window, where her mom had taken point. The seating consisted of a shined plywood board, bolted against the window frame, acting as the table, with some barstools for seating. Barbara was sitting on a stool, her head supported by one hand, looking out into the rain. She had the look of somebody doing stuff on the net, but Lisa knew that her mom was still fully aware of her surroundings. Says the person who never liked coffee before? The additives are just so you can say the like is your own, now that you’re aware of it, aren’t they? Lisa clenched her jaws and took a deep measured breath. [Yes, Conny. That is exactly why I hate black coffee.] Her mental voice carried heavy loads of danger and intimidation. A moment later Lisa felt ridiculous, trying to cow her own thoughts into submission. She took the barstool to her moms right. She sighed as she too stared out into the rain, sometimes following the traffic flowing by. Now that the hurricane had let up, cars and trucks once again populated the streets. There were even a few pedestrians, some hurrying along, wanting to get out of the rain quickly, some slowly trudging through the puddles, having accepted the fact that they would be soaked.

Conny once again spoke in his british commentator voice. And so… after the cleansing brought by the rain and wind… ushered in by the cold and wet season of winter… the city revives. Its denizens once again searching the ground for food… while the apex predators have yet to reemerge… sleeping in their shelters... having perhaps already turned in for their long winters nap. Jacob awkwardly made his way over with a mug of his own. “H-hey, Yusuki-san. How was your week?” He left plenty of space between Lisa and his sitting place, sitting down not too close but also not too far away. Lisa tossed him a glance out of the corner of her eyes. “Fine.” She focused back toward the window. She started planning. [I shouldn’t make my deamon rely on the holo-emitters… removing myself from the vision of anybody looking at me is nice but… I shouldn’t limit it to just that.] Make different versions maybe? We did think about more ways to control it. Like voice commands or remote network triggers.

Jacob took a sip of his coffee. His face twitched in disgust, but he quickly schooled his expression and glanced at Lisa’s mug. He placed his own on the table. “W-well… I didn’t have a good week… There wasn’t any d-delivery going on with the hurricane.” [Maybe first make it recognise my pink eyes...] Oh! To have the deamon do stuff when you look at the victim! [Would be fun for specific situations. But I really need variety.] Jacob was growing uncomfortable on his stool. Lisa absentmindedly tossed him a bone. “Sounds rough.” His eyes lit up. “Y-yeah. At least now that it’s over I can make some eddies, but…” He fidgeted with the mug, clearly unwilling to take another sip. “The rain gets everywhere.” Jacob laughed awkwardly. We better start training up some more neural nets! What were you thinking of? [Something for intimidation, invisibility of course, and something for offense or crowd control.] Ooohh, I have THE idea for some DEBILITATING crowd control! And also something long lasting! Conny cackled. Jacob had finished awkwardly laughing by himself. “I need to clean my bike everyday and put on a new coat of oil just to keep the rust at bay.” He puffed up a bit wearing a proud smile when he mentioned his bike. Lisa sighed in her mind. [No, it’s not you who had the idea Conny…] We could train a deamon to slowly turn an image into spiders! Or add them! You could have somebody see a spider as massive as an AV with a snap of your fingers! [Yes Conny. The horrors of the dark, unleashed with the snap of my fingers.] Jacob’s smile faltered when Lisa didn’t react.

“Alright here’s your sandwiches!” Jan came out from the back with some boxes. One he placed on the side, the others he began filling into the delivery containers. “C’mon, kid, help me get these sorted.” He called Jacob over to help him. The boy threw a glance at Lisa, before abandoning his coffee mug on the table and going over to help. Barbara stood up and got the box containing their breakfast. Her eyes glowed blue for a moment as she paid. “Thanks, Jan.” The man returned her smile with a nod. “See ya around girls!” Lisa and her mom made their way back through door to the staircase. “See ya later!”, Barbara said as she left. Jacob called after Lisa. “S-see you around Yusuki-san!” She glanced at him before exiting through the door. Conny spoke up as they climbed back to their apartment. He tries every time, huh. [Yes, and I don’t care. I’m polite enough.] Stringing him along. Poor fucker…

#----1 gallon is about 3.8 liters ----

A few minutes later, they were in their kitchen, eating sandwiches with too many pineapples. [There’s pineapple on each and everyone of these…] She looked at the peanut butter sandwich, with pineapple, in her chrome hand. A pineapple a day keeps the ripper away? Lisa snorted. [This would keep Vic away for a month.] Barbara squinted at her. [Oh, right.] Lisa called her mom. Hey mom! Conny greeted. Her moms face went blank. “Hey… Conrad…?” We were thinking to go shopping for threads today! Get some new drip! “Yeah, I really need some new clothes. Though I don’t want to go out today…” Lisa took another bite. Barbara’s blank look turned into one of confusion. Lisa swallowed. “Because today is day 13 after… you know…”, she explained, but the confusion remained. “Lisa, why…” She hesitated. “Why does Conrad have your voice?”

Lisa paused. “What?” What? She froze. [No, wha… holy shit!] Her sandwich dropped onto the table and her eyes widened. [Why…how…] Oh my god! This is so cool! A shiver ran down Lisa’s spine. [Since when…] The events of the morning flashed through her mind. Waking up, checking her statistics while immersed in her moms safe hug. Oh man! I need to… Conny started playing with her voice. [Since I woke up…?] Uwu. He laughed. This is so weird! Uwu! Lisa started panting. Her left hand went toward her head, palm pressing on her forehead. “No… what…?” A headache was building. Conny kept uwu’ing and laughing. “Lisa?” Barbara’s voice was laced with concern. With the sounds of a chair scraping over the floor, her mom made her way to Lisa. Lisa clenched her jaws, a frown drawing deep creases on her forehead. [Stop it… No... This isn’t…] She pushed her chair away from the table and slumped forward. “Lisa!” Barbara kneeled next to her, one hand on Lisa knee, one on her metal shoulder. Conny kept laughing in her voice. It echoed in her head, growing louder and louder. She groaned as the headache began to pound against her temples. [Stop…] She wanted her voice back. She needed her voice back! She screamed. “[Give it back!]” Her headache flared. Ara ara. Ara [ara! Aww…]

She was panting, hands buried halfway into her hair. Did I… Oh thank god. She exhaled a shaky breath. Tears of relief shimmered in her eyes. “Hey, everything okay?”, her moms voice was soft. “Yeah...” Lisa drew her nose. Her voice was shaking. She held her chrome hand against her forehead. The cold seeping into her skin was soothing. Her head was still pounding, but everything felt so clear, as if layers of fog had ripped away all at once. Her mind felt sharp and the world around her felt more real then a moment ago. It was as if she had just awoken from a dream. What the fuck is going on… She nudged the dollchip. |70 : 25 : 5 , 0.23| Oh thank fuck, the mixing went down. She sighed. And by a lot at once… Her mom pulled her into a hug. “Maybe just stay inside today… Rest.” Lisa returned the hug.

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

REGINA JONES: Alright, who are you and how did you get this number.

RAHUL: Good evening, Ms. Jones. I am Rahul Tau. I am searching for somebody and need help.

REGINA JONES: And?

RAHUL: Who I’m looking for was last seen in Watson. I was at my wits end when a friend of mine told me of you.

REGINA JONES: And?

RAHUL: I was told not to say from who…

REGINA JONES: …

REGINA JONES: Make it quick.

RAHUL: On the 8^th of september, a friend of mine, Lisa Schmidt, vanished. I tried to find any trace of her, but she had vanished from the face of the earth. She owes me and a few friends a significant amount of money, so I assumed she bailed. Three weeks later, on the 26^th, I saw her at Lizzy’s, but she ran away before I could confront her. I tried to follow her, but lost her near H11, heading towards Northside. I need to talk to her face to face.

REGINA JONES: Alright, you got a pic?

RAHUL: Here.

REGINA JONES: …

REGINA JONES: So just reconnaissance or retrieval too? What about payment?

RAHUL: I have 1k for a location. Double for delivery.

REGINA JONES: Alright. I charge 20%.

RAHUL: 20? That’s not what my friend told me…

REGINA JONES: If you want a merc to search for her, you’ll pay regardless of results. 1k is maybe going to give you a week for a decent merc. Or I can have my contacts have their eyes open. Either you pay in full for a merc or you pay me upfront plus the 1k once she’s been found. Your choice.

RAHUL: Alright, 20%… Please tell your contacts. Let me send you the deets for delivery.

REGINA JONES: Good. I’ll write a contract.

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

 |78 : 27 : 5 , 0.23| Minus two for team Lisa, day 14 after hell. The sandwiches for breakfast were not contaminated with tropical fruit today. Lisa and Barbara sat once again at the kitchen table and the rain, a well known companion by now, was still falling, but by now its rage had significantly lessened. Waking up this morning, Lisa took extra care that she was thinking in her own voice and that Conrad and her hadn’t switched again. With 0.23 I doubt that will happen though. She sighed wistfully as she took another bite. She glanced towards her mom, who was leaning back in her chair, working on her own sandwich in content.

Lisa liked these simple moments. Moments of quiet happiness and safety, the rain for once not unwanted or obnoxious, but instead a welcome addition, masking and covering the otherwise ever-present racket of traffic, and giving the city skyline an impressive misty glow, the steel and concrete and glass of the city scape gaining a clean shine. A beautiful view of progress and wealth, visible through the living room window. The bead curtain between the kitchen and living room was annoying though, separating Lisa from the beautiful skyline. I wish this illusion could last forever… Reality wouldn’t allow it. [Nah, that would be boooooriiiiing.] Lisa sighed. For a small moment, she wished for the power that higher mixing afforded her over her unwanted alter ego, the increased influence to silence him at will. She quickly discarded the thought with a horrified shiver. Not worth losing my sense of self, my identity. The stark difference from before and after the outburst yesterday was unnerving. Conrad chipped in. His voice sounded more mature than usual. [I’m gonna have to get you used to the idea that some things will change.] Lisa clenched her jaws. [The past doesn’t necessarily define you, but it does shape…] Shut! Up! She sat up and leaned her elbows on the table edge. I define who I am! I decide! This is MY brain! Conrad fell silent. Lisas angry huff did a good job suppressing her fears and convincing herself. She took an angry bite out of her sandwich.

Her mom tried to distract her. “Well, Lisa. What do you want to do today?” Her face carried an upbeat smirk, hoping to infect her kid with her fake optimism. Lisa sighed and her expression softened as she tried forming a small smile. “Dunno… Go shopping for threads? Electronics? Spit on the effort normal people need to learn anything?” Her mom snorted, her mirth now genuine. A shadow of worry remained though, Lisas crash after her learning session still all too fresh in Barbara’s mind. But it was something they would need to face, needed to understand. “Wanna do some testing? Shall I call Vic to warn him?”, Barbara asked. Lisa paused. This is gonna suck… “Mom, I don’t want Vic, or anybody, to see how I use the chip to learn or do anything else.” Her mom stilled. For a tense moment, they simply stared into each others eyes. “Lisa, I know I said to only use it when I’m there, but you are not using that… that chrome without a ripper being nearby and monitoring you.” The mirth was gone, replaced by steel. “Not until we know exactly what it does and how to stop it from melting your brain.” Her moms tone was final, the argument was done, but Lisa didn’t let up. She did not let herself by cowed this time. Her voice rose. “Mom, I can potentially earn his degree in a few hours! I’m not letting anybody see that! I don’t need any corporation getting wind of it, of the potential!” The anger on Lisas face met the cold, blank expression of her mom. For a tense moment, only the rain disturbed the silence. “I’m not having the next dark truck ship me to a lab.”, Lisa spat. Barbaras intimidating gaze sent shivers down Lisa’s spine, but she didn’t back down.

Without breaking eye contact, Barbara worked her jaw and took a deep breath that she released in a slow sigh. Slowly, the intensity she radiated calmed down. “Let’s talk about this later.”, she said in a soft voice and took a bite out of her sandwich, finally looking away. Lisa scowled in resignation and took one too.

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

Shopping was cathartic. Something about changing one’s outfit was like a hermit crab switching its shell. You enter with a worn out look and old clothes and leave as a brand-new person. Some would say shopping is draining, but that only applies when you don’t know or don’t find what you want. Having done some research before leaving the house, Barbara and Lisa only needed to find the right sizes. The store they chose sold neo-militaristic clothes, stuff ranging from unassuming but functional to things that wouldn’t be out of place in a warzone. Most clothing articles were lined with an appreciable amount of kevlar or other armor materials. The store was within walking distance. They didn’t get a Delamain and didn’t care that they got wet; they would be leaving with dry clothes anyway.

Lisa quickly found an outfit she liked. One thick metallic blue turtleneck shirt, patterned with what looked like scales as large as a fingernail. Essentially, it was kinetic scale armor. A pair of dark grey pants of the same material, the scales varying in size, went quite well with it. Annoying that they only have womens pants in skinny and slim fit… [Fashion enslaves all…] Maybe I should get some suit pants instead… She chose the slim cut.

The highlight was an overcoat Lisa found. It reached down to just above her mid thigh and had a hood made from a stiff material that would make sure it stays up, even if she moved quickly. It was also tight enough to not catch the wind. Its sleeves were long and the whole thing was a rather tight fit, but didn’t restrict movement. But the best thing was the high-tech material it was coated with. When dry it would be pure black, almost swallowing the light, but when wet, the material would gain a dark iridescence. If you could even get it wet. The material was pretty hydrophobic. It also had armored lining. She completed everything with a pair of overengineered sneakers.

She stood in front of a full body mirror. Zipping up the overcoat and pulling the hood over her head she thought she looked rather unassuming. I would hate getting holes in this though. All in all, the outfit clocked in at just over seven hundred eddies. That’s a lot of eds for threads… But this is basically armor. It even had slits at her thighs in just the right places to make drawing her kenshin a breeze. [But its perfect! You look so cute!] Lisa narrowed her eyes. In the mirror, the dim pink glow of her eyes narrowing gave her a dangerous look. Uh-huh. I won’t be asking you for any opinions on taste…

Her mom came up beside her, wearing a mean looking black flack-jacket with a stiff, high collar. It had plenty of pockets and latches. Together with her tapered, thick black pants, her black hair in a high ponytail and a new pair of fingerless gloves with knuckle protection, Barbara looked dangerous. The outfit made a shiver run down Lisa’s spine. Amusement danced in Barbaras eyes, when she saw the look Lisa gave her. Once Barbara had taken her own good look at Lisa though, her eyes narrowed. “I’m gonna have to start getting you stuff on loans…”, she mumbled, when she calculated the price of Lisas outfit. Lisa blinked. “That bad?” Worry flashed through her eyes. Don’t tell me we’re running out of funds… Her mom lifted an eyebrow. “Na, there’s enough for us to live like we do right now until we grow old. And the bounty on Jan would make for a good cash injection.” She sighed. “But this is night city.” The unspoken words hung between them. Anything could happen. Lisa had to ask. “What do you mean the bounty on Jan?” Her mom smirked. “Oh, his actual name is Petrov Fiala. He had an unfortunate falling out and both millitech and biotechnica have a hit out for him. About 50k in total.” Lisa simply stared in disbelief for a moment. [I told you he can spit fire! Oh boy, that’s so cool!] Conny cackled in her mind. Lisa sighed. “So he’s got an actual dragon’s throat.” Her mom confirmed it. “Jup.” Lisa turned back to the mirror. “Anyway. I’ll get useful soon. And Jan makes good sandwiches.”, she said in an even voice. Barbara smirked and turned too. “Oh, I know you will become useful.”

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

They didn’t find anything they could miss-use for its holo-emitters at the clothing store, so they made a stop at the electronics store they had watched getting raided. After the short walk, Lisa was already in love with her new overcoat. The raindrops didn’t even make a sound when falling on her and the shimmering lines each drop trailed after itself on the way down looked nova on the black material. Her mom had gotten a small parka against the rain. Of course, it was black. Lisa was carrying the small bag containing their other clothes. They had gotten some lighter threads too, some long sleeve t-shirts, a few pairs of pants, all of it either made or lined with kevlar or something similar. Why was Lisa carrying the bag? Mom knew I would get useful, huh. Yeah. Immediately useful. Its not heavy or anything, but still. I was thinking of maybe finding a job, or become a merc or something. There’s plenty of people with NCPD-bounties running around, get useful ed’s rolling in…

At least Lisa could distract herself from her grumblings with all the shiny things in the store. There were some tools and appliances for the more casual person, like microwaves and a few tv’s and terminals, but the store also had microelectronics for sale. Capacitors and resistors in all shapes and sizes, rolls of cables, ink and filaments for printing, and many more small electronic nick-nacks. It was stuffed to the brim with a techie’s wet dream. Lisa found herself enamoured with the specs of the chips and microcontrollers on display. So much fun stuff… But she had to refocus. She sighed. Nothing I need at the moment. Its good to know what’s available though… She searched for some holo-emitters.

Within a few minutes she had gathered the stuff needed to whip together a prototype to support her imaging deamon. Tools for soldering, some cables, the few emitters and controllers, and some power cells. Lisa had spent a few minutes getting sidetracked and studying the material-printers available. They had some generalised printers for small things such as small commercial sales or repairs, but Lisa liked the models meant for hobbyists more. Those came in much smaller boxes and contained construction kits, meant for self-assembly. Lisa caught herself thinking about how she could use one of them to print upgrades for itself. Later. First, I want a proof of concept, then I can do some designing to make it look good and maybe I’ll actually need a printer at that point.

The clerk wasn’t very attentive. Her counter looked more like a workbench, everything was covered in cable scraps and electronic components. Most of the visible countertop was littered in scuffs or burn marks. Currently, she was engrossed in assembling some sort of box, working tiny screws into the freshly printed metal frame. Lisa tapped the counter and the clerk looked up. She was in her twenties and relatively thin. Her face had some faded bruises, but her sharp eyes were framed by short, frazzled, brown hair. Damn, those Maelstrom gonks got her good. Look at those bruises… “Yes?”, she asked tersely. Instead of placing what she wanted on the counter and risk losing it in the chaos, Lisa sent the woman a list of what she was holding. The woman tilted her head a bit and focused on what Lisa had gathered from her store. Her eyes returned to look at Lisa. “25.”, she said. Lisa’s eyes glowed blue for a bit, as she sent the eurodollars. A moment later the woman nodded and returned to hunching over her project. “Thank you. Come again.” Her tone was polite, but not friendly. Lisa turned away to herd her mom, who had gotten quite interested in the different terminals on display, back home.

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

Barbara sighed once they had trudged up the stairs into the third floor and closed the apartment door behind them. Lisa did too. They shrugged out of their rain protection and shoes. Barbara’s stomach rumbled. Oh, damn it… “Urgh… should have gotten lunch on our way up…” Lisa quickly fled. “I’ll sort the new stuff.” She hurried away with the bag. Barbara watched her move away with squinted eyes. Look at her, running away with her new toys. She ultimately sighed and made her way back down to Bob’s.

After securing two lunchboxes, Barbara went to hunt after Lisa, searching for where she had set up shop with her new toys. She saw the clothes she had bought on her own bed, and Lisa’s on hers. Barbara found her daughter on the living room floor. Barbara smiled. Good, she didn’t clutter the kitchen table. She had hooked up the controllers to the power cell and jacked in, checking out what she was working with. “I guess we should get a tinkering table, huh.”, Barbara commented. “Eh, maybe if we start more projects…”, Lisa distractedly mumbled. Maybe one of the neighbours has a table they don’t need anymore. Barbara hummed and let herself fall onto the couch, taking care to not shake the boxes to much. She opened one of them and fished out a warm burrito.

Barbara spent some time working on her lunch and watching Lisa set up the holo-emitters. It didn’t take long until there was flickering, and shapes made of light began to take form. Well, time to work Lisa a bit… For a while longer, she watched as Lisa tweaked some things, before she spoke up. “I’m telling Vic that we’re coming tomorrow morning.” She watched her daughter attentively. The colors coming from the emitters kept changing. Barbara saw Lisa subtly clench her jaws and sigh. “Look mom, Vic can be the nicest person in the world, but I barely know him. I wouldn’t sit anywhere near his ripper chair if you weren’t there. I don’t care how good of a ripper he is, his setup is just way to shady.” Lisa huffed. “And I don’t want anybody knowing that the doll chip can help me learn anything I want.” She fell silent. Barbara sighed and took a bite from her burrito. It makes sense, of course, but… Lisa’s slack form on the rippers chair flashed through her mind. She hardened her resolve, but a strange thought crossed her mind. Wait. “Anything? Anything you want?” Lisa locked eyes with her. “Anything.”

Barbara frowned. There are no limits? Fuck, that’s horrifying. That’s not just ‘learning’ anymore… And all of that with what should be broken chrome. If somebody can get access… Lisa focused back on her project. “Who…”, “Only me.” Lisa interrupted her question with the answer. For a while, only the rain filled the silence with its constant murmur. I understand where she’s coming from, but I can’t have Lisa get that close again. Barbara sighed again.

“Regardless… we’ll need to test it more. See how it works.” Barbara paused to see if Lisa would interject, but she didn’t react. Barbara decided to take a different angle. “Assuming you want to use it, what would be the next things you would want to learn?”, she asked. Lisa sighed and stopped playing with the holo-emitters. “CQC would be good.”, she said. “I’d like to go for snipers and such, and learn to do overwatch, but you said I need to workout for that, to handle the recoil.” Barbara continued working on her burrito, before interjecting. “Vic could have tips for that. He probably has some recommendations on proteins and such. For faster gains.” Lisa threw her an annoyed glare. “Oh, another convenient reason to go see him.” Mirth danced on Barbaras face. Oops, she caught on. Lisa sighed. “Other than that, breaching.” Lisa gestured toward her emitter setup. “If I want to actually use this for anything other then giving people cat ears,”, Barbara had to suppress a smile at Lisa’s annoyance, “I’ll need to get better in pushing it on people or systems. Ideally, get good enough to use the deamon like a quickhack.” Barbara crossed her arms, holding the last bite of her burrito ready. Using a deamon like a quickhack. That’s a tall order. She huffed a short laugh. Usually, that kind of skill would take years to acquire… She has been working on that though. Pushing something as large as a deamon past good ICE took significant effort and time. Quickhacks were easier, since their size was much smaller, they were subsequently much easier to use in the heat of the moment. Deamons needed more setup, but once they were deployed, they could wreak havoc on their own without further input from a netrunner. What Lisa was developing would be one such deamon, one that, once deployed, nestled itself deep into infected systems, causing trouble for long periods of time. She ate the last bite of her burrito.

So, close quarters combat would cover more bases, shoring up a weakness, but breaching would mean the most useful right now. And shooting is at a point where she needs actual experience. We’ll need to experiment with using that learning ability in short bursts maybe. It’s just to useful to ignore. Barbara supressed the knot in her stomach when she thought about Lisa once again using the doll chip. And test if her shooting skill is just a one time thing. I really need to convince her that she needs Vic there when we experiment… Barbara rummaged in her lunch box for more food. Well, how would she even learn breaching… She frowned and slowly a smile grew on her face. “Say, Lisa. The problem is others witnessing your rapid progress, right?” Lisa looked at her and squinted her eyes in suspicion. “…Yeah?” Barbara took a bite from another burrito and continued while chewing. “So if he meownitors”, Lisa suppressed a groan, “you practicing breaching by hacking, say, me… He wouldn’t actually be able to track how much progress you make.”

Barbara watched Lisa closely as she thought. After finishing half of her second burrito, Lisa sighed, leaning backward on her hands, staring at the ceiling. “Yeah, sure, that could work…” She turned her head toward her mom. “But today, you’ll help me with the deamon?” Barbara smirked. “Well, you better come here and get some food first, before I finish everything.”

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

Day 15, |79 : 26 : 5 , 0.23|, plus one for team Lisa. They had taken a Delamain to Vic’s clinic first thing in the morning. Misty greeted them and led them down into the dark ripper-cave, before returning to her shop. “Hey Vic!”, Barbara greeted with a smile. Victor turned from his boxing match. Jeez, does he do nothing else all day? [Wanna bet that’s actually some sort of double screen, one running boxing matches, hiding the other that’s running porn? And his ever-present shades let him see through the boxing?] The ripper smiled when they entered. “Ah, Barbara, Lisa! You’re here.” He turned towards them. “How are you doin’? No more headaches?” Lisa rolled her eyes. “No, otherwise the other motherhen would have shipped me here already.” Victor chuckled and exchanged glanced with her mom. “We’re here to do some testing with the doll chip.”, Barbara said. Victors settled back into his professional face. “Right. I did wonder last time how the broken chrome helped her learn…” He wheeled himself over to his medical chair. Lisa made her way over and sat. “Ah, nice threads by the way.” Barbara was wearing her new flack jacket and Lisa was covered in her snake scale turtleneck. Barbara flashed him a smile. “Thanks.” Lisa sighed and leaned back on the chair. Her mom got another stool from somewhere and sat next to Lisa. Vic placed a high-tech looking dish behind the headrest of the chair. “Alright, the MRI is up and running…” He grabbed something from beneath the chair. [Damn, is that a cyberpunk rubiks cube?] Yeah. The faces are screens. Choose a difficulty and it arranges the colors accordingly. [Cooool! And unnecessarily overengineered! It’s a fucking rubiks cube, jeeez.] It also makes funny sounds. [Oh well in that case…]

“Alright. As I understood it, you can activate the chip to help you learn. Somehow. Even if it should be broken.” Urgh, that’s already more deets than I like him having… Lisa nodded. “Okay. Then you do just that and I’ll monitor your brain, look what it’s doin’.” He gave a disarming smile. “Is there something else that you need? I still had an old rubiks cube lying around, incase you needed something to learn…” He held the cube up. “Thanks, but we thought to compete in hacking.”, Barbara said. “Oh! Good idea.” Victor unhurriedly put the cube back. Lisa pulled her data jack from her neck and offered it to her mom, who took it and put it in her own neck. “Let’s get this test going. First without any medication.” Victor turned to his screens. Lisa looked at her mom. [Time for homeschooling!]

“I’m starting.”, Lisa said. She prompted the doll chip. ‘Find ways to make me breach better.’ That should do it. [We did discuss that prompt at length yesterday.] Lisa focused her attention on the data connection to her mom. Instead of looking through the surface information her mom had given her access to, Lisa began to look deeper, breaching into her system, vying for more access. Part of her vision filled with a screen Conny knew. [Hey! That’s just like in the game! The grid where you select your code snippets and the symbol strings you want to input!] Uh huh. Sure. Just like the game.

To the left of the screen was a grid, her code matrix, sized nine by nine, to the right the buffer and upload sequences. The rows of the code matrix were numbered numerically and the columns labelled alphabetically. Instead of the spots in the matrix being properly labelled with their row and collum, the labels were shuffled and some labels were present multiple times while others were missing. To breach her mom, Lisa would need to select parts of her code matrix, taking turns moving along the rows and columns, to put a string of characters into the buffer matching the upload sequence of whatever she wanted to achieve. Uploading a deamon would require a different upload sequence than accessing any cyberwear or cameras in the system. If she stringed along enough characters into the buffer, Lisa would be able to upload multiple sequences and gain multiple access rights at once. [Hah! It’s really just like the game!] Yeah, yeah…

Lisa started stringing together characters from her code matrix. Since she was working towards full access to her mom’s system, the upload sequence was impossibly long. It went well past 100 characters, the string of them wrapping around into the next line over and over, but she was working through it with incredible speed. But after she had selected the first few characters, the upload sequence changed and she lost two thirds of her progress, since the characters she had put in the buffer didn’t match the upload sequence anymore. [That was different. What just happened?] What do you mean? The sequence change? [Yeah, the shuffling! That shouldn’t happen!] Shouldn’t happen? That’s moms’ ICE. [What?! That’s so unfair! That just erased all your progress!] Lisa snorted in derision. What, you thought ICE was just some fancy word? You thought breaching was just a game? [Yeah, but… I mean…] It’s called defence, Conny. Countermeasures. It’s in the name. Intrusion Countermeasure Electronics.

Lisa got into a rhythm. Flying across her code matrix, filling up the buffer, only to have at least half of her progress reset, rinse and repeat. After maybe a minute, she reached a wall. She couldn’t get much further than 20 characters in her buffer. Every time she did, her mom’s ICE would set her back and the further she got past 20, the more she would be set back. Even as her speed was ramping up as she got into a groove, the ICE would set her back more frequently. [This is stupid! How are you supposed to hack anything?! ICE is cheating!] Oh, shut up. The imaging deamon would only need 35 characters to be instant. I could push it onto mom right now, it would just take time. [Oh. So how much would a quickhack need?] Maybe 10? It’s a matter of size. Our ping-bomb would probably take 13. 11 if you hadn’t insisted on sticking it into the bios. [Hey! You’ll thank me eventually when somebody’s tracking you because of it and there’s no evidence because it bricks the system!]

 

Another minute passed. Lisa got a bit faster, Barbara’s ICE a bit more ruthless. Lisa’s thoughts drifted as the buffer was in constant flux. The way the upload sequence changed gave her thought. That isn’t exactly random, is it… The way the characters were changing, alternating. There were patterns. It was like staring at a picture for so long that something different just popped out. Lisa grinned. This is gonna be fun!

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

REGINA JONES: How’s my favourite ripper?

VICVEC: Regina, how’s my favourite fixer?

REGINA JONES: Listen, got a request for you.

VICVEC: Got another merc needing chrome? I have a patient at the moment…

REGINA JONES: There are a few that have said things, but nothing definite.

REGINA JONES: Look, I got a bounty request. Some gonk is looking for a girl and came to me offering money for any info.

VICVEC: And why are you telling me this?

REGINA JONES: Because I got money to spread his request to my contacts. Besides, this way I have an excuse to ping my favourite ripper.

VICVEC: Regina, we talked about this before.

REGINA JONES: Chill, Vic. I’m joking. I know you don’t leave your man-cave.

VICVEC: It’s not a man-cave…

REGINA JONES: Anyway, I’ll send you the pic. Girl’s name is Lisa Schmidt. Guy’s offering a k for info and double for delivery.

VICVEC: …

VICVEC: Alright. And I’ll just ping you when she shows up in my clinic? You know I don’t get around and look at people as a hobby.

REGINE JONES: Na, I don’t expect you to. Would kinda ruin your reputation if you did. She’s not supposed to be in your neighbourhood anyway. Let me just vent for a moment about a fucking rich corpo kid, thinking he’s clever.

VICVEC: Sounds like there’s quite the story.

REGINA JONES: Dipshit told me he was after her because of debt and thought he was clever using a false name. Said she gave him the slip at Lizzy’s and fled toward Northside.

REGINA JONES: Did the idiot think I don’t talk to my neighbours? I got my shop right next to Lizzy’s, dammit!

REGINA JONES: Anyway, I told them the story and asked if anything happened and wouldn’t you know. Mateo told a much different story about how things went down.

REGINA JONES: Turns out, the girls got one hell of a protector, probably her mom from the looks of it. From the footage I saw, even 10k wouldn’t be enough to take on that chick. And the gonk corpo kid didn’t even mention her!

VICVEC: Heh. Ah well, we all started green didn’t we. Everyone tries to bullshit a fixer at some point. In the end its just bizz.

REGINA JONES: Yeah… In the end, it’s just bizz.

VICVEC: Out of curiosity, what’s the rich kids name?

REGINA JONES: Rahul Shi. Why?

VICVEC: Just in case he ever knocks on my door.

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

Lisa scoffed and Conrad groaned in her thoughts. [She was going easy on us…] She sighed. It makes sense, actually. It would be ridiculous to beat her in under half an hour. She studied her breach protocol. By now it had changed greatly. Six code matrices, nine by nine in size, all filled with smaller three-by-three’s in each position, dominated most of the interface. Instead of a single code buffer she had three, which she could fill simultaneously in an attempt to predict the shuffling’s her mom would undertake. When Lisa decided to expand her code matrices, the regular ICE her mom was using to defend could no longer keep up, and Barbara had started to fight back manually. Which ended rather one-sidedly. Even with three buffers that she could switch between, essentially allowing Lisa to build three different attack angles at once, her mom kept beating her back. I could probably clown on any average merc or cyberpunk right now, but mom is still just playing with me. [Kinda depressing.] Lisa snorted. She was a covert operator in arasaka CI, deemed to dangerous to be left alive after the takeover. She could probably clown on any decent corpo security. That’s a pretty high bar to pass in half an hour. [Actually, what happened with that kill order?]

“Alright, let’s stop here.” Victor drew the women’s attention. He ran a hand over his freshly shaven chin while they disengaged from their netrunning wrestling match. “It looks like the beta blockers are doing what they’re supposed to do and are limiting the increase in brain plasticity.” He looked at Lisa. “So they will stop you from melting your brain when you play around with your broken chrome…” His voice trailed off. After a moment his ever-present frown relaxed a bit and he sighed. “I’d advise you not to keep poking at the doll chip, since whatever it’s doing, the boost to your learning speed seems more like a side effect. But… that’s just more doctor’s orders.” Lisa couldn’t help but scoff and a self-deprecating smile twitched across Vic’s face. “This isn’t exactly a textbook problem you have, so take my advice with a grain of salt I guess.”

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

They stayed for another half hour of so to be sure that Lisa’s brain chemistry was not going to spiral out of control again. They passed the time with mundane conversation. Barbara asked the ripper if he had some recommendations for supplements and proteins for exercise and Victor went on to endorse or caution certain brands and he and Barbara talked a bit about how the ratio of exercise to rest influenced muscle and endurance gains. The conversation turned to the large mixing that Lisa was experiencing last time and how that progressed. Lisa glossed over many details when she gave a short recount of how Conny and her had switched mental voices. Once they had successfully wasted almost an hour and there wasn’t anything concerning on Vic’s screens, they left the clinic.

On their way back towards the street, they passed Misty’s esoterica. Her mom stopped for a while to make small talk with the woman. Lisa tried to stay out of the conversation, but when Misty transferred a few meditations over, her mom’s glare made sure Lisa thanked the woman properly without grumbling. Apparently, Misty picked up on Lisa’s frustrated resignation, because a smile twitched across her face. Not a smile filled with schadenfreude, but an amiable and disarming one, filled with understanding amusement. Lisa clicked her tongue at Misty’s smile, but couldn’t be angry at the woman.

Finally standing a bit down the alley, waiting for the Delamain, Lisa turned to look at the sliver of grey clouds peaking out between the high rises surrounding the back alley, partially shielding it from the rain. The situation felt weirdly familiar. “Lizzy’s isn’t open yet, is it.”, she asked. It was still early in the morning. Her mom answered her, a smile twitching on her lips. “No, they only open in the evening.” Lisa sighed. For a while they quietly listened to the sound of rain hitting the pavement, they themselves protected by a sky bridge, a dry strip of street where the rain didn’t reach. “I’ve been thinking.”, her mom spoke into the silence. “Vic gave you the BD upgrade for the chrome right? To measure some statistics.” Lisa nodded. “Well, if it’s not as broken as it seems… maybe there’s other upgrades available. Something you could use in some way or another. Maybe you wouldn’t need a MRI for more monitoring…” Silence fell between them. Lisa took a moment to digest her moms idea. I don’t think I want to use any of the available ‘upgrades’ for the doll chip. The way it’s working right now is so far removed from it’s… commercial… use. Lisa still felt a hot lump of hatred rise up from her stomach when she thought about it. About what it meant that she was chipped a doll chip. [Well, let’s say fuck you to the proper use then. Maybe there’s some way to outsource something? Maybe you don’t need to ‘save’ what you learn in your brain…] Lisa’s eyebrows rose. Wouldn’t that alleviate the largest downside? Put everything I learn onto a separate chip so I don’t melt my brain? She took a moment to think the idea through. What would happen if I removed that chip though? I imagine putting everything I learn on one would build at least some form of dependence for my brain… Lisa noticed her mom looking at her with a raised eyebrow. She sighed. “Might be useful. I’ll need to look into it…”

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

Corrections/ edits:

Changed chapter number from 9 to 8...

dominated most if the interface. -> dominated most of the interface.