Chapter Text
“Ohayō, rabubādo,” came a familiar voice, waking me and Judy up the following morning.
“Viv? Back already?” I asked, squinting my eyes and the morning sun and her familiar silhouette.
“Arasaka offered a deal to fix you up,” she said, “But seeing as how it involved them literally claiming the rights to over your ‘soul’, I just told them to go fuck themselves and left… respectfully.”
“Take it everything else went well?” Judy asked, having woken up as well.
“Got to kill Smasher. Rogue got to participate, too. We debated on which one of us should finish him off. We decided to both blow his brains out at the same time. I had the best one-liner, though, ‘This is for ‘Becca, you borged-out bastard!’ BLAM!”
“Alright, have to admit, that’s a good one!” Judy complimented.
“But is it better than ‘Keelah se'lai, motherfucker!’?” I asked.
“Been meaning to ask, did you actually program that into Chatika, or did she come up with it herself somehow?”
“It’s one of a few I pre-programed. Just happened to randomly cycle to the best one for the moment.”
“What’re you two talking about?” Viv asked.
“The time she disabled ‘kitten-petting pacifist’ mode on Chatika and flatlined the man who raped Evelyn with a bullet directly to the brain.”
“Woah. Didn’t imagine little Zui-chan was capable of that kinda ruthlessness.”
“Only to real bastards who truly deserve it,” Judy said.
“Shithead confessed right to my face, and showed no remorse for it, either. Perfectly willing to be judge, jury and executioner in that kinda sitch,” I said.
“Fair enough. Song and Dakota are waiting for us in the netrunning tent. I know you don’t like deep netrunning, but you’ve gotta do it one last time to contact Alt.”
“Alright, alright, just give me a sec to take my morning pills. Got some water?” I took out my bottle of Omega Blockers and took one of them out, Viv handed me a water bottle she happened to have on her and I used it to help swallow it down.
“Wanna come with, Judy?” Viv asked.
“Hmm… A chance to see my new wife naked in a pool of freezin’ ice?” Judy said, pretending to think about it, “Yeah, guess I’ll tag along.”
We began gathered up the blankets we’d brought with us and began heading back towards the main camp with Viv.
“So, what’d you think of the little ceremony I wrote up for you two?” Viv asked.
“Have you ran into Panam yet?” Judy asked.
“No, why?”
“Might want to avoid her for a while, is all.”
“We found it quite charming, though,” I told her.
“And she of course wants to inflict physical harm upon your person for makin’ her read it.”
“Oh, I’m sure she didn’t really mean it,” Viv said, “Oh! Hi, Panam…”
“Viv, a few words… in private,” she said.
“Gonna have to walk a good distance from the camp, knowing your lung capacity,” I said, then lowered my head after Panam glared at me, “Sorry…”
“Well see you after you do your thing with the netrunners. C’mon, let’s go, Viv.”
She grabbed Viv’s alarm and drug her over to somewhere else in the camp. We were already in eyeshot of where we needed to go, so we kept walking until we arrived.
“Hey you two, how was your wedding night?” Dakota asked as we entered the tent.
“Well, seeing how me and Judes have had sex nearly every day for the past few days, we decided to simply have a romantic evening under the stars for a change of pace,” I admitted.
“TMI, Nats,” Song said.
“I could go into more explicit detail,” Judy warned.
“Just the right amount of information, then.”
“Song fill you on the detes?” I asked Dakota.
“Just all I cared to know: masked, encrypted BBS. Got a shard ready for whatever needs downloading.”
“All you need to do is strip down and get in the tub,” Song said, “Talk with your friend, and we’ll handle the rest.”
I began to remove my clothes. Everyone but Judy looked away.
“Perv,” I accused.
“Mmhm,” she responded, making a show of eyeing my now nude body top to bottom, “But only for your sweet bod, mi calbacita.”
“Enough flirting, you two,” Song said, “Zui, get in the tub.”
I did, my whole body wracked with shivers as I did. I took the link cable inside and plugged it in. I looked up at Judy, her face plastered with a now familiar grin. I may have swooned if I weren’t so damned cold. Also, if her eyes were equipped with lasers, they’d have probably burned my nipples off.
“Alright, sending you in 3…2…1…”
My vision blackened and was replaced with a familiar surreal netscape, Alt towering over me in the middle of it.
“Hey there, Alt,” I said, trying to be friendly.
“You come alone,” she observed.
“Uh… love what you’ve done with the place. Spruced it up a little since I was last here.”
“Your perception of cyberspace - that is what changes. You adapt to it - the raw flow of data. It follows that your world gradually fades. You witness your mind's defense systems slowly give in.”
“Okay, that’s not ominous at all…”
“You haven’t responded to my initial inquiry.”
“Johnny, he’s been… anesthetized, so to speak, to buy me some extra time.”
“You treat him like an unwanted passenger - backseat dreamer of a world not his own.”
“You actually still care about him, then?”
“His presence is simply more familiar to me, and watching the two of you interact is… informative,” she said, “His absence, however, has no bearing on our deal. I have my own intentions for Mikoshi.”
“So, this is all just some experiment to you? Data to analyze and do as you please with?”
“This is not an experiment. It is a debate. That Johnny is absent proves that I have won it.”
“Congratulations, then.”
“Johnny also imagined he had more in common with you than with me. That Soulkiller had not changed him, that he, too, remains a ‘human factor.’ And that is why he thought he could shape your will.”
“If anything, it’s been the other way around.”
“Perhaps.”
“Well, I need your help now, Alt. I don’t exactly have a lot of time left.”
“You truly believe time to be your greatest concern? You exist or you do not exist. Two states of being separated by death.”
“Ones and zeros? Can kinda see why a construct would see things that way, though you were derived from a human being,” I said, “What’s it like, by the way, being an immortal AI?”
“Immortal? Is this what you believe?”
“You live beyond reality’s boundary, transferring your code from place to place or whatever it is you AIs do.”
“But we are not immortal. You will begin to understand, but only in Mikoshi.”
“An omnipotent AI like you can’t just explain it to me?”
“Your logic is flawed. You seek simple answers where there simply are none.,” she explained, “This is the very illusion upon which your world is based. At this moment, you would accept any answer if it made you feel better.”
“Suppose that’s very human of me,” I responded.
“Such classifications no longer apply in Mikoshi. Your perception will shatter into billions of strings of unfiltered data.”
“Yeah, yeah, all beyond my comprehension. And you’re totally not evil and bent on mankind’s destruction…” I said, “That was a joke, I hope…”
There was a moment of awkward silence.
“So… what should I expect there - in Mikoshi?” I finally asked.
“A boundary to cross. In all likelihood, the sole moment of your life when you feel the true weight of your existence. A burden for which you cannot prepare.”
“And Johnny? What happens to him?”
“I lack the data required to answer this question.”
“There anything we can know for certain?”
“Yes. That Mikoshi will be no more.”
“Going to set the constructs inside free?
“They will be integrated with me.”
“We are the Alt, you will be assimilated. Resistance is Futile.”
“Mikoshi is a prison. Through me, they gain the chance to become part of something greater.”
“Not sure Johnny would like the sound of that.”
“And yet he is absent because you feel you must make the decision. It is the same situation in form.”
“Don’t suppose you’re going to task each of constructs whether they’d like to be part of this ‘collective’?”
“There would be no point in that.”
“Wasted enough time talking,” I said, “Just send your program.”
“Already done. It’s on your netrunners’ shard. Once inside Mikoshi, use it. It opens a secure connection.”
“What's on it? A vectored virus, or-?”
“A back door. It will open a passage for me. This is how you will get me into Mikoshi. Only then I will be able to help you.”
“You should know I hate surprises.”
“Use the key once you have reached Mikoshi.”
“Should I look for a specific access point? Can already tell you ICE all the way to Tokyo will be backing every single one.”
“Some need but a barely cracked door to enter. Use the shard in Mikoshi. Leave the security to me. Until then.”
I snapped out of cyberspace suddenly, shooting up from the pool with a gasp. Sparks of electricity were shooting out of Dakota’s equipment. Judy was standing by with a fire extinguisher in case any of the sparks caught on something.
“What the fuck did you just have me do, Song?!” Dakota yelled.
“What happened here?” I asked.
“You melted half my tech! That's what happened!”
“Your neural activity spiked sharply,” Song explained, “Your frontal lobe was seconds away from flowing out your ears, Nats. You all right?”
“All things considered?”
“Uh… yeah, sorry.”
“And Dakota, I am sorry about the damage.”
“I warned her she needed to reinforce the ICE a bit more,” Song said.
“Pff,” was all that Dakota could say in response.
“The shard?” I asked.
“Here! Take it and get the fuck out! All of you!”
She quickly took the shard out from her deck and handed it to me. I got out the tank and quickly put my clothes back on.
“Thanks, Dakota,” I said as I made to leave.
“Don’t thank me!”
“Well,” Judy said, “Go fuck yourself then, I guess.”
She dropped the fire extinguisher, flipping Dakota the bird as we left.
Panam and Viv were standing not too far outside.
“You guys make up?” I asked.
“Yeah, and the sex after was – “
Panam gabbed Viv in the ribs.
“We’ve come to an agreement, yes.”
“In her defense, she intended to be the one to read it,” I said.
“And we loved it,” Judy added.
“Not exactly my point, but let’s just move past this…”
My noise-suppressors kicked in as multiple engines started revving up at once.
“Now there’s is a sound I will never tire of hearing,” Panam said, “We had best not keep them waiting.”
We started walking towards where all the vehicles were gathering.
“Looks like everyone's ready,” I said.
“As ready as they can be. It's not your usual raid, a first for many. Mitch probably roused them. Do you feel that?”
“The tension?” Viv asked.
I, of course, barely picked up on it, even with the aid of Song’s fancy software.
“It means they've realized what we're stepping into.”
Saul walked up to us.
“I just got back from doing some reconnaissance,” he said, “You'll want to see this.”
“Get any sleep at all?” Viv asked.
“The older you get the less you need,” he said.
“I’m pretty sure it’s the opposite, actually,” I said, not picking up on the joke.
“Besides,” he continued, shrugging off my ignorance, “I wouldn't've slept a wink before a raid like this. And good Intel is just better than a good night's sleep. Take a gander.”
He handed me a shard.
“Thanks.”
I plugged it in and a fly-by of the tunnel’s entrance popped up in my HUD.
“The plan is simple,” Saul explained, “We have two objectives. One - get into Arasaka Tower and assist Zui in accessing Mikoshi. And two - take advantage of the confusion to gather as much equipment as we can. Prizes like that will see to our cash-flow problem. The only way into Mikoshi is to dig through to Arasaka Tower's underground levels. Which means we have to hit the maglev tunnel construction site and hijack a Night Corp SERC. Last but not least - intel from our recon drone has showed us a couple of weak points. This valley leads to the site. I doubt they'll be expecting trouble there. All the same, we'll want to move quickly.”
“Time is of the essence,” Panam said, “We can't allow the guards to call for backup.”
“And if we're too slow?” Viv asked.
“That will be a job for Bob and his jammer,” Saul said, “We'll just have to get close to their comms antenna and start transmitting.”
“Let's not kid ourselves,” Panam said “It won't stall them for long.”
“Let's hope it keeps them busy just long enough.”
“Are there drones there, early detection systems… anything?”
“It's not Fort Knox and yet... Night Corp is using Militech for security, so you never know. I guarantee you they’re patrolling the area. In any case, our drones will match theirs. Teddy will be on the lookout to raise the red flag. Construction site's walled in. Our Panzer's gun big enough for that gate?” he asked.
“You bet your ass it is,” Panam answered.
“Sounds good so far,” I said, “What else?”
“Once you're inside, you'll need to reach the SERC and get it do your bidding,” Saul said.
“Enter Mitch and Carol,” said Panam.
“Get that drill up and running and the road to the cellars of Arasaka Tower will be wide open. From there, your group and I will get to the laboratory and find a way into Mikoshi.”
“And while we're drilling in? Should we expect anyone to crash our party?”
“If everything goes as planned, nobody should know where we are or who we plan to do. Feel free to look around more if you want. We still have some time left.”
“Think I've seen enough,” I said.
I disconnected from the drone and removed the shard.
“Well, that about does it,” Saul said, “Any more questions?”
“How will we get back?” I asked.
“The same way we'll go in,” Saul answered, “And fast, both ways.”
“Our people will try to hold the road while we're inside,” Panam added.
“Will Song have a role in this?”
“Sorry, I’ll be offering remote support only. Extra soft on the shard should allow me to follow you into Mikoshi if we manage to fix up Dakota’s equipment well-enough by then. Might only be able to offer emotional support, but at least it’s something.”
“So, Zui. You ready?” Saul asked.
“Ready as I'll ever be.”
“Is everyone up to speed,” Panam asked us, “Start your engines, folks.”
Commentary: This chapter’s title is based on a song by Unlucky Morpheus. Don’t read too much into me using more J-Rock towards the end, I just wanted to balance things out by including more Japanese artists in the playlist.
I actually rolled a d20 to give Rogue a 50/50 chance of surviving the encounter with Smasher. 11 or higher would mean she lived. I rolled a 17, so even if I made it just a 25% chance, she would’ve miraculously made it.
I was kind of considering the idea of having Viv not be present for the final mission, but figured she would have had a fair amount of time to get it done, and it left fewer questions regarding how she managed to get out of there if the Aldecaldos assault didn’t happen until after.
There’s a fair amount of copypasta from the game here, but I did decide to cover some moments that weren’t part of Memoir, so there’s that, I guess.
I decided that Song will be able to follow Zuina into Mikoshi because, well, it’ll be another chance to shake things up when we get there. Also, her being with the Aldecaldos now has to amount to something, right?
As always, comments, criticisms, kudos, all those fun things are appreciated. I thank you for reading, though, and until next time, mata ne everybody!