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Chapter 76 – Planning the next move
🕑 Added 2024-11-05 00:55:36 +0000 UTCJace sat down at the table in his apartment. Shhiv was seated next to him, and the rest of his friends and allies – minus Quinn, who was there but he did not consider a friend or ally – were just finishing their meal. “Alright. Shhiv, Missy…I’m pretty sure that you shouldn’t hear what we are going to be talking about.”
The door opened right before Shhiv could reply, and Xera – aka Sera, as Jace reminded himself to call her – walked in. “Yes, this is appropriate only for Signers of the Star Council, Dark Between Stars, and Greg as a contracted bodyguard. Ladies, if you would please.” Xera gestured to the doorway, and Shhiv gave Jace a quick lick on the cheek before leaving.
Quinn leaned forward and her mechanical eyes whirred in their sockets…but almost in an erratic fashion. “I knew you were part of the hidden faction,” she said softly to Xera.
Xera looked back at her, “Good observation. I am indeed a representative of the Dark Between Stars. Now, quiet.” Xera tapped her wrist-panel, and a holographic representation of Earth appeared.
The various Wayfinders all floated up above the planet. Ollie stroked his little chin as his whiskers wiggled, “There are fifty portals. 20 in Asia, 2 in Australia, 10 in Europe, 8 in Africa, 5 in North America, 5 in South America.”
Sera nodded and tapped her cosmopanel as the glowing, blue dots appeared. “For the next 30 days only Signers for the Star Council, Dark Between Stars, and Greg are able to come and go through The Cosmic Corridor.”
Jace raised his hand, “Question. If there’s 50 portals, do they all dump out in the same place in The Cosmic Corridor?”
“Yes,” Quinn replied before Sera could. “All 50 empty out into the same general, larger portal.”
Sera nodded, “Yes – please do not interrupt.” Quinn was quite obviously upset but crossed her arms. Sera continued, “The five megacorporations are in various countries. They all share commonalities in their structure – but they can be taken down.” She reached into a hidden pocket on her pants and handed a weird, glimmering, silver stick to Jace. He felt a seam, and when he ran his finger along it, the stick split into five, flatter ones.
“The central server,” Quinn stated. “It is going to be hellishly difficult to get to the central server.” She looked to Sera, “I’m guessing that you have a virus on those?”
Sera smirked and crossed her arms, “Virus? Please. That’s child’s play. Those sticks will upload the best tech-plague I could come up with – and I know a lot about technology.” She gestured to the world hologram, “Your whole world is interconnected with this Webnet. But it is supported by the five megacorporation servers, and some government-run servers. Those ones won’t be afflicted. Everything else though? Completely wiped away.”
Jace frowned, “That could hurt a lot of people, couldn’t it? Like I was in an Enduralife Enterprises charity hospital, and they used some tech running off their server – I’d assume – and it kept me from bleeding out.”
Sera pinched the bridge of her nose, and Jace barely made out a sound of frustration. “I planned for that. I said plague not virus. It’s going to leave surviving protocols and programs intact – such as those that provide life support. Just…trust me. I came from a high technology world.”
Greg nodded and his voice rumbled out with no cheery tone, which was quite unusual for him. “We’ll take each one down, one at a time.” He looked around the table at Quinn and then Jace. “I’ve got a score to settle with Myscape Industrial. Let’s knock them out first.”
Ollie waved his paws, and the world hologram rotated. “The five megacorporations are located in large cities. Myscape Industrial has their headquarters in New York City, on the North America continent. General Logistics has their headquarters in Beijing, on the Asia continent. Enduralife Enterprises is in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea in the Europe continent, on an artificial landmass-”
“That one will be the toughest nut to crack,” Greg stated. “They completely control the artificial island. We’ll have to infiltrate somehow. Can’t brute force it.”
“I didn’t plan on us using brute force,” Quinn interjected. “I have relationships with fixers. We can get some jobs for the various corps as a Streetrunner crew. Build up our goodwill with the megacorp, and then use that to get in.”
Jace frowned, “I don’t want to work for them.”
Quinn’s eyes snapped to him, and he could see the irises whirring in her skull in a near-frenzied state. “It’s the best way. They have Tier 3 operatives, the megacorps, thanks to the Nebula Alliance getting their fingers into Earth’s geopolitics. We need to be discreet. Can’t just barge into each headquarters and make a beeline for their main server rooms – which are going to be heavily guarded.”
“Why not? I can quite literally become impossible to detect.”
Sera looked over at Jace and nodded, “That’s true, but Quinn’s plan is sound. Form a Streetrunner crew of Aspirants, which will definitely catch the megacorps attention. Just make sure everyone is wearing gloves to hide your faction affiliation. Make them think you’re all free agents. That will open up doors for you.”
Jace shook his head, “I don’t want to work for those bastards, even if its to get inside to take them down.” He felt that festering anger in his stomach, and felt like shouting, screaming at the people around the table that working for the enemy was unforgivable – channeling his hatred.
Greg walked over and put a hand on his shoulder, “You need to calm down, Jace.”
Priam, who had been silent up until this point, raised his hand. “Excuse me! Can I talk?”
Sera looked over at him, “Go ahead.”
“How about this – Jace and I go off and do our own thing. Greg and Quinn can do the whole Streetrunner thingy. We can approach it from two angles. Those two get in with the megacorp, while we go and just start wrecking their infrastructure. That way, they will need to rely more on outside operators – meaning you two will get into their good graces quicker. And Jace gets to avoid his moral quandary.” Priam crossed his arms and looked quite proud of himself.
Sera nodded, “A sound plan. Thoughts?”
Quinn huffed, “A two person Streetrunner crew is not going to be taken seriously.” She pointed at Priam, “If its you, myself, and Greg – we can pull off a three-person crew easily enough.” She looked over at Jace, “Which means you’d be off on your own.”
Ollie flew down and wrapped around Jace’s neck. Jace felt the anger subside as he scratched Ollie’s head. “I’m never alone,” Jace replied.
Priam frowned but nodded, “If that’s how we want to play it. I’m all in. But I’ve never been to a fully tech world.”
Quinn looked down at him, “You’ll be fine. Greg and I will teach you the ropes.”
Sera nodded, “Continuing…Pheracorp is in São Paulo, on the South American continent. Cybronics Research is in Tokyo, on the Asia continent. You need to decide where you want to start your mission of destroying the megacorps.”
Greg squeezed Jace’s shoulder and went back to his seat. “Out of the five, the one that is the least militarized is Pheracorp in São Paulo. Plus, they have a lot of their industries on the same continent, in nearby cities. Campinas has the majority of their industrial sector. Down on the coast a few miles away, Rio de Janeiro generates most of the power from tidal generators. Plenty of stuff for Jace to fuck up, and lots of opportunities to work for the megacorp and integrate ourselves as a crew.”
Quinn nodded, “I agree. A good starting point. And, there is a portal in that city. But…we probably want to arrive in a different city, and get there by train. Be more discrete.”
Priam raised his hand, “What about this dot here? On this narrow strip of land between this North and South America.”
“Mexico City,” Greg said with a nod. “A good place to enter. It’s…the best way to put it is it is a free city. No megacorp in particular – or government, for that matter – has a hold on it. The old cartels from the pre-megacorp days all banded together. It’s a lawless place. Perfect for us to get on the world and trek south on the old highways.”
Sera tapped her wrist pad and the hologram faded. “Sounds like you have a plan. I’ll be in touch via your Wayfinders,” she pointed at Jace and Priam at that last word. “Take the night and get ready to depart tomorrow evening. You want to arrive on Earth during their night cycle. Easier to go undetected.”
The group nodded and stood up. Priam smiled at Jace and waved, “I’m going to read a book in my study. See you all tomorrow!” he left, as did Greg with a slight hand-wave; but the man had a serious look on his face.
Sera snapped her fingers and vanished into thin air, which elicited a shocked gasp from Quinn. “She can warp?”
Jace smiled, “Yeah, she’s pretty cool.”
Quinn walked over to Jace, and her expression softened, “I’m…I’m sorry that I came off so harsh.” She winced and held her head, “I need to fix my cyberware. Like, yesterday.”
Jace sighed and scratched his head, “Why not just use a Boon?” He tapped his head, “I got a bunch of body parts replaced, I’m sure Boons could replace yours.”
“I don’t have any,” Quinn whispered. “I…Star Daddy – the leader of my faction – he’s…very strict. Gentle, but strict. I haven’t had any Quests that would let me replace them. And every bit of Stardust has gone to leveling up to hit Tier 3, so I could go back to Earth.” She looked up at Jace with a resolved look. “I have a safehouse in Syndey. If I can get there, I can get a bunch of creds and gear.”
“You want us to pop to Australia first so you can get your stash?”
She nodded, “We can be in and out, nice and quick.”
Jace sighed, “Sure. Fine. Now, please leave. Have a good night.”
Quinn had an odd look on her face and Jace couldn’t tell what she was thinking or what she wanted to say. Quite frankly, he did not care much. She was there only because Xera thought that she could be used against Jace somehow.
He followed her out, and after she pressed the button for the elevator, he tapped Shhiv’s keypad. The door slid open, and he was greeted with a pajama-wearing shark-lady. “Hey handsome. Ready for movie night?”
Jace nodded and walked inside.
>>>---<<<
The ride down the elevator was unnerving. Quinn felt the constant pain in her temple and pulled out the bottle of pills she had gotten from the hospital district. Popping them into her mouth, she felt the pain dull slightly.
Valerie flitted around her, “It made sense, having the stealthy Aspirant go off on their own for sabotage-style missions.”
Quinn nodded and sighed, “It lessens the impact of a Streetrunner crew, having only three people. But I won’t complain about this Priam guy joining us.” She leaned against the elevator for a moment, feeling the cool metal on the back of her neck as she pulled her hair aside. He’s smitten with Shhiv. No way that I can try to manipulate him via romance. She felt a bit of relief at that.
Sure, he was attractive and quick on his feet. But she really wanted to focus on her, and not worry about emotions getting caught up in her plans.
Yes, her safehouse in Syndey had creds and gear – but it also had something else. A series of computers that she had been working on for most of her life. Maybe it’s enough, she thought as she entered the hallway and went to her apartment.
She walked into her bedroom which looked like a calm, Zen flower garden with a square bed in the center and clapped her hands. The lights dimmed and candles floated in the air around her as the soft sound of rushing water resonated through her ears.
Laying down, she breathed a sigh of relief. “Soon enough I’ll have my computers,” she muttered.
“What’s on them?” Valerie asked.
“Ideas and plans.” She raised her hand and pulled up her status screen.
<<<<<>>>>>
Name: Quinn Cipher (Aspirant, Tier 3)
Power [Class Level]: Star [Broker 52]
Skills: Skill Name (Rank) [Evolutions]: Universal Translation, Environmental Adaptation, Broker's Instinct (Rank 8), Broker's Contract (Rank 20), Broker's Fee (Rank 16), Cosmic Infusion (Rank 10)
Stardust: 50
Equipment: Broker's interface, Broker's starting gear, Webwalker Implants, Cybereyes Mk. 3, Cybermind Mk. 4
Boons: None
<<<<<>>>>>
The Star Council wants to take over Earth? Fine by me. They’ll want a local administrator. Someone who is fully tied into the inner workings.
She grinned as she closed her eyes. And I think I should fill that role.
>>>---<<<
Jace’s night ended as expected – with him and Shhiv back in his bedroom depicting the Starlit Sea. He had told her about the meeting after watching their movie – something about monkeys taking over the Earth that Ollie had suggested after perusing the Webnet which had some level of integration with The Cosmic System.
There were plenty of buffers and firewalls, he assured Jace. No one would be able to go from Earth’s Webnet into The Cosmic System without a cosmopanel – which were fully monitored by Xera and her Civilian employees.
As he brushed Shhiv’s hair and she curled in on his torso, he couldn’t help but think about his impending return to Earth. Fighting against the corpos. He lightly chuckled as to not wake his sleeping companion. I’ve stolen from them. I’ve distracted them.
He raised his left hand and looked at his Cosmic Power symbol. I finally have power. I can make things right. I’ll take them down. Even if it means killing them. They’ve sold their souls to the corpos.
He looked over at Shhiv and gave her a kiss on the head before he nestled into the covers and pillows – reaffirmed in his resolve.
I’m going to take down every single megacorp.
>>>---<<<
Hey everyone! Thanks for reading Dark Matter Ascension! Book 1 is done as of this chapter, and Book 2 starts tomorrow!
Huge thanks to everyone who chose to stick around post-Ruinous Return to support me on this new project.
I'll see you all in the Next Chapter >
