[Wednesday June 17th, 2076, King William Pub, London]
Snow Crash returned the nod, a look of surprise flickering over his face as looking up M4g!( on Jackpoint redirects him to Solo's more recent exploits, his jaw tightening slightly as he reads over the magical talents he'd known nothing about. Fragging magic, knew there was something odd about that one! that run back in Berlin, yeah. Figured was just lookin' green 'cos I geeked that Spider with Biofeedback.
Most runners just run from Spiders. Then again most runners forget that corp Deckers tend to be weak, lazy, slobs. The don't think to overclock their attack co-processor then run Decryption, Hammer and Biofeedback and ram those signals down the Spider's throat until the weakest link, the Spider's body, breaks. In this case the high-tech corp decks work against the Spiders, actually being able to take more abuse than the Spider's themselves tend to be able to. It had earned him a reputation in the Matrix, and like all such things, it was both useful and detrimental.
Dreck... magic and Matrix, just ain't right. Still, least someone around who knows how the handle the subtle stuff int he Matrix. Things where going good on that run until that Spider showed up... then things got very interesting very quickly...
[Ash Wednesday, March 4th, 2076. Corporate Lab, East Berlin]
They'd gone in on Ash Wednesday, corps where always careful on long weekends, but a midweek holiday threw any schedule into chaos. They where going in quiet, not exactly Snow Crash's strong suit, but he was there for muscle, both in the Matrix and meatspace if the dreck hit the fan. It was just a two man run thanks to their timing, the place was almost abandoned during the day and security was lax, letting them get in place to put datataps and break into the Host via a backdoor... thankfully not literally this time.
Snow Crash was running full stealth, sleeze co-processor overclocked and and running silent. Tailing M4g!( and keeping an eye out for problems, letting the other decker focus on blending in to the regular operations of the Host. Everything had gone to plan until they'd copied the data.
M4g!( <Alright, got the data now lets*>
Snow crash cut the other decker off as alarms sounded and another persona rushed at them, the icons a typical sleek corp Spider... basically a wannabe trying to look cool and special while also conforming to corp expectations and regulations.
Snow Crash <FRAGGIT! Spider! Keep the IC off me while I deal with this guy!>
In an instant Snow Crash had gone from a hidden observer to what could best be described as the Matrix equivalent of a one-man blitzkrieg. Stepping up into Hot-Sim and slamming the deck from full sleaze to all-out attack the orc decker dropped any pretense of stealth or subtlety. Looking like a cross between his meat-world body and some kind of digital banshie he rushed the Spider head on, a straight razor leaving a pair of marks on the persona as well as jolting the Spider's body with their Biofeedback laced signals. His own deck starting to overheat from the overclocking and counter-attack before he started smashing the Spider with Hammer and Biofeedback reinforced Data Spikes until the persona suddenly vanished.
Snow Crash <Alright, done! Jac*> M4g!( <You killed him!> Snow Crash <Fastest way! Jack out, NOW!>
In the real world only a couple of seconds had passed since the Spider had raised the alarm, they could still get out if the moved fast! As soon as he was conscious he leaps to his feet and starts hauling the other decker to their feet. Mentally keeping time as his heavily augmented brain studied the situation and calculated every way to shave nano-seconds off their escape.
As soon as the other decker was conscious he pushed them towards the door, only a step behind as he send a command to fry the two datataps. Time since alarm raised: 6 seconds.
Getting out the door and running towards the nearest exit, a service entrance with only a single startled guard just coming to his feet. The confusion at what the alarm was about evident on his face, being replaced by shock as he pieced together that the two janitors running down the hall where responsible. Time since alarm raised: 12 seconds
The albino orc didn't even break his stride, a hand vanishing into his overalls and coming back out with his Ares Crusader II, drawing, aiming and firing in a single fluid motion. The gas vented machine pistol barked loudly and repeatedly in the narrow hallway, the gel rounds knocking the stunned guard back into his chair and toppling over it. Moments later the orc body-checked the door and they burst into the alleyway. Time since alarm raised: 21
seconds.
Grabbing the other decker's arm he sprinted for their ride. The albino Orc jumping behind the wheel and hit the gas as soon as his passenger was inside. He was no rigger, but the augmentations that helped him in combat also served well behind the wheel.
M4g!( "That guard*" Snow Crash "Gel rounds, unless he smashed his skull when he hit the floor he'll be fine. Now just hold on and let me concentrate.
Barely 30 seconds after the alarm was raised the two deckers where speeding off in a screech of tires and into the chaos of Anarchist East Berlin.
[Wednesday June 17th, 2076, King William Pub, London]
Shaking his head a little to clear the memory the albino orc refocused on the conversation at hand.
That was a wild run... have to wonder what's coming up with so many of us here.