27. Redwick Line

27 – Redwick Line

Later that night, when Lemon succumbed to sleepiness and cheap alcohol, curling up on one end of the couch to fall asleep, Hector reviewed some messages Evie had prepared for him in a window of his AUI:

//Here’s my official flavor text for the new archetype I discovered.//

//Berserker Archetype – restraint severed, fury awakened—shock assault, breaker, annihilator.//

//Transfer archetype from Brawler to Berserker: 30 potentia with a 5 point reduction for each additional Brawler level.

Would you like to see transfer costs to other archetypes?

Awaiting input…//

Hector read the text, gently scratching at the sparse stubble on his jawline—his new skin didn’t have much of a beard yet.

Evie, any idea what abilities will open with the Berserker archetype?

//Not yet, though the flavor text I provided should give you an idea of the direction of the pathways I’ve discovered.//

I still have the other archetypes as options?

//Conduit, Watcher, Bulwark, yes. Bulwark would be the cheapest transfer at the moment at only fifteen potentia.//

I’ll keep working on Brawler for now. I need to buy an ability for my trip to Redwick, though.

//Aura Blade?//

Reading my mind again, hmm?

//When you’re already thinking of it, there’s no challenge…confirmation incoming.//

//Aura Blade ability purchased for 10 aura potentia…

Initiating aura pathway propagation. This process will be relatively mild; go about your business as usual. Integration will be complete in 5 to 6 hours.//

Hector smiled, leaning back into the couch cushions. His new ability would be ready long before he reached Redwick Station, and that meant he’d be ready for just about anything. It wasn’t that a standard Aura Blade was considered a devastating weapon; it was an entry-level ability, after all, but like all aura weapons, it took on different aspects based on the wielder’s aura type. On a blue aura, it might be little better than a scalpel—very sharp, very precise, but small. He’d seen a yellow create something like a set of elongated claws—again, sharp and quick, but useless against decent armor, and difficult to use against another weapon-wielder.

Sometimes they wouldn’t even be blades. Hector had seen a rust aura—sort of a dirty orange—who created a set of aura-charged knuckledusters. He’d fought a pink aura whose ability had summoned a handful of darts. He supposed it had something to do with archetypes as well as a person’s aura color. Not that those were the only factors; one had to consider the system, after all, taking into account its creativity and intelligence.

The point was that Hector had seen pretty much everything, and he knew that his red aura, combined with Evie’s talents, produced an excellent blade. It would be short—there was only so much she could do with an entry-level ability—but it would have a savage edge that would tear through most armor types. That was why he wanted it for his upcoming “job.” He knew he’d be up against some decent mercs, the kind a magistrate with royal connections could afford.

He found his eyes getting heavy, and he might have joined Lemon, drifting off to sleep there on the couch, but then Evie spoke again, interrupting his nascent slumber:

//I’ve cracked the bit-locker!//

Hector’s eyes snapped open, and he yawned hugely. It took him a moment to process Evie’s words, but then they clicked into place.

The necklace.

//Yes! It has almost a thousand bits on it. Now that I have control, though, if you place it against the other bit-lockers you stole, I can use their contact transmission to apply the cracking algorithm I purchased.//

Hector frowned, reaching into his pockets to retrieve the various bit-lockers. It’s that easy?

//It’s not easy, Hector. I have more processing power in this gold-tier neurodeck than many professional netjackers can bring to bear. I can’t take credit for this clever protocol, and there’s a good chance that more well-maintained bit-lockers will have patched the vulnerability.//

Well, don’t let it impact your other jobs. Managing the aura system is priority one, and—

//I promise! Now put the rings on that necklace.//

The “necklace” was a pendant, shaped like a half moon, and it wasn’t large enough to hold both rings. Still, he arranged the bit-lockers on the coffee table so that the rings were each resting on one pointy end of the moon. As he did so, Lemon stirred and yawned.

“Oh man. I think I’m getting the spins,” she said with a groan.

Hector stood, took her wrist, and pulled her to her feet. “Come on. Drink some water and then get into bed.” He led her to the sink, holding her shoulders to keep her steady. Then he poured her a large glass of filtered water and watched as she gulped it down. “Good. Come on.” He guided her around the corner to the sleeping alcove, and she collapsed onto her blankets. Hector pulled the topmost one free and then draped it over her.

A few minutes later, after a quick shower in the tiny plastic-lined alcove, he stretched out on the floor beside the wall and immediately fell asleep.

###

Hector ground his teeth as another shatter-bomb rocked the concrete bunker.

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“Oh S-Saints!” Jack cried, clamping his hands against his helmet and squeezing his eyes shut. “They’re dropping nukes!”

Hector shook his head, pointing to the narrow slit in the meter-thick concrete wall. “Look at the sparkles. Can’t you hear the secondary explosions?” He certainly could—crackling repercussions that sounded almost like fireworks. “They’re clearing the streets.”

He checked his aura report:

//Aura Pool: 67/122

End Report.//