Chapter Text
There wasn’t a sound in the room, I had made sure of that. The dampeners installed into the soles of my shoes did their job well, as did the nanoligaments that I had used to enhance my legs. I looked around the room I was in. It was an incredibly messy place, barely any floor space clear, and incredibly full. In about twenty square meters were an old moth-eaten mattress with no sheets, a falling-to-pieces sofa, a small kitchenette, and a desk with four monitors, connected through a mess of wires to a bunch of computers underneath. Unlike everything else in the dingy room, these were expensive, top of the line. Someone with access to this had access to any server in the EUA netspace, and probably further too if they were lucky. I suppose, they did. That was why I was there.
It was meant to be a simple hit. My bookie had sent over the details: a lone hacker, with no corp or gang affiliations. No details about the asker, but over three million in payment. Enough to get me through the next year and treat myself to those new reflexo implants. Still, it was pretty obvious that there was going to be a complication. That’s why I had taken all my tools.
A small beep rang out in my mind as a warning appeared in my vision, pointing left. I looked at it, but all that seemed to be there was an open window, the wind blowing in the curtains. I could see the target smoking on the tiny balcony, calling someone.
That gave me plenty of time.
I felt my muscles tense as I jumped silently to the ceiling, attaching myself using the needles in my fingers. Once I was up there, I waited, knife slightly unsheathed for an easy draw. I slowed my breathing down, and waited silently, like a spider waiting to strike.
This had always been my favourite part of any hit. I’d get into position, right under my target’s nose, and then lie in wait. It had become my speciality, my call sign. They called me Tripwire. By they, I of course meant my bookie, and a few of my professional colleagues. My close friends just called me Sira.
I thought back to the instructions I had received. Find Miss X. Eliminate her, and destroy any and all belongings. It had taken a while to find this Miss X, as she was a very cautious woman. She had to be, after all, she had single-handedly sunk one of the corps using a concoction of viruses, AI corruption and actual honest to god terrorism. It was undeniably an impressive résumé, and if I wasn’t this desperate I would have certainly let her be. Sadly, these enhancements did not come cheap, and neither did the medical bills of installing them. My job was a vicious cycle, in a way. I earned money so I could keep doing my job, so then I could earn more money. I suppressed a chuckle. I’m no better than a suit.
The figure on the balcony had been talking for a long time. I couldn’t make out the conversation, though from just her posture and tone it seemed not to be too serious. She had been smoking while I hid here, and she was getting to halfway through her cigarette. I still had plenty of time to kill. The needles under my fingers gripping into the ceiling could hold for hours without issue, and my batteries were always charged. I took the chance to do a quick diagnostics check. After ten seconds or so, all my enhancements and software were listed and in the green. I had skimped on the OS, it was a few generations behind, but it ran smoothly and efficiently, and one day I’d get around to changing it. The enhancements were more important. It didn’t matter how good my software was, if my reflexes were a moment too slow, or I didn’t notice something, or if my arms gave out, I would be dead before I could blink. Besides, the only important thing in the OS changes were aesthetics, I was pretty sure, and I was used to this.
Another quick check outside. The cigarette was almost out. She was nearly done. She’d hung up while I was doing my check, and she was leaning tiredly on the railing. For a moment, I felt pity. She seemed tired, like she wanted a break, God knows I could relate to that. The pity vanished after a second though, it was much too late to back out now. The room definitely gave the impression she was tired, or struggling. Empty ramen packets, burnt cigarette ends and fast food packets were littered on the floor, along with a few empty bottles of beer and soju. The air was mildly stale. The kitchenette was completely full of dishes, and in the corner there was a large pile of dirty clothes. If this had been my place I would never have let it get this bad, no matter how busy I was.
I fought off the urge to get down and at least tidy certain parts. It was odd. I’d been in messy places, but I’d never felt the urge to clean. It was mildly frustrating, seeing a place in this much disarray, like an itch I couldn’t scratch. I kept my needles in the ceiling. Once this was done, I’d destroy the room, burn it all. It couldn’t be messy if it was gone. Feeling a little reassured, I held myself in position, and breathed slowly. Yes. I’d fix this.
There was a noise from the balcony, as the figure extinguished her cigarette and opened the balcony. A chill rushed in as the night air flowed into the room. For the first time, I got a good look at my quarry, as she entered the room and headed towards the chair. She was tall, with her bubblegum pink hair, half shaved and half reaching down to her chest. She had surprisingly few visible enhancements, her eyes seemed a natural brown, her skin smooth and untouched by scars. She was wearing a crop top with straps that formed a star symbol around her neck, and boxers. She walked carefully back to her chair, avoiding the debris all over the floor. I had started holding my breath the minute she walked in, preparing myself for the strike. I plotted out my movement. I’d drop down, step forward, over that bottle, take a step left to avoid being seen in the reflection of the monitor, then stab the knife into the neck. I rehearsed the movement in my head, visualising every step as best as I could.
She put on a pair of AR glasses. She doesn’t neurosync to the net? It was rare a hacker would refuse to do that. It required a certain amount of enhancements, but with her skills she should have been able to afford it.
One more time. Down, step over, left, stab.
The needles in my fingers retracted silently as I landed on the ground, not even making the smallest noise as the shoes hit the floor. I took my step forward, stepping over the bottle. The sidestep was next, as I swivelled left, avoiding the reflection silently. As I did so, I reached for the knife. Unlike the rest of my body, this was a normal, basic, unconnected knife. Biology made mistakes, and could be enhanced and perfected. Steel was perfected over three thousand years ago.
The strike. The critical part. I prepared my arm for the lunge, prepared to dig it into her neck. It wouldn’t take more than a second. I pushed all my weight behind the small blade and…
“That’s quite enough.” The voice from the chair was calm and firm, speaking with an absolute certainty.
I couldn’t move.
I tried moving my arm.
I couldn’t move. Shit. Had I been too slow? She had hacked me? She never knew I’d be here! It was impossible, she never had the opportunity.
“So let me get this quite straight, dumbass. You, a fully enhanced bounty hunter, decided to go up against a hacker, who currently has control over four countries, and you decided to use an OUTDATED OS?” She was rolling in her chair, laughing hysterically. “I knew you were here the moment you got within a mile of this building!”
I tried to speak, but nothing came out. She laughed. “So you gave me basically unfiltered access to your brain. I managed to get in while I was having my little smoke break. I could see all your little reminiscing about your plan and your life, your enhancements, everything. It was a riot, I can tell you. She whipped away her tears. “So yes, Tripwire, or Sira, or…” She spoke, and her next word was garbled. My eyes widened in panic.
I had installed a personalised mod into my auditory enhancers that scrambled any audio that sounded like my deadname. It had led to certain similar words being scrambled, but I preferred a little discomfort to the pain that name had caused me. I had spent a lot of money trying to delete everything to do with that part of my life. She had found it all. Her smile faltered as she winced slightly and looked away.
“I’m… sorry. I didn’t mean anything like that- I didn’t know. I should probably have guessed though. You didn’t deserve that, even if you were trying to kill me.”
“Anyway, Sira. I don't usually take kindly to people trying to kill me. You're not the first idiot to try this, and I have much meaner and more dangerous tricks than this one.”
My thoughts hit a snag. According to my intel, no one had ever tried to score a hit on her.
“Well your intel was wrong. I've had plenty of people try, but I guess they were completely deleted. I wonder who could have done that. Now, be a dear and drop it.”
The knife clattered to the floor.
“Good choice. Now let's discuss what I'm going to do with you, once you've slept.”
There was a snapping like a lightbulb going out, and I felt the world around me fade to black.