In the Matrix the digital battle raged on, and 0day grimaced as he recognized the corrupted code of the fault sprite. Thoughts of the crash virus running rampant flooded his mind, and for a nanosecond he was brought back to the seemingly infinite amount of time he had spent in an ultraviolet host. This was a kind of enemy he knew only too well.
He took a deep breath and focused on defense, inviting his opponents to strike at him. The corrupted technomancer did not disappoint and snarled loudly as he launched pieces of garbage code in 0day's direction. The decker waited until the absolute last moment and expertly cut apart the malicious code with an upward swing of his glowing katana.
Without a moments rest the matrix anomaly that was the fault sprite rushed in to swing it's monstrous claws at 0day's digital form. The decker thought he could feel the warped resonance coming at him along with the rage it embodied, but this was not his first rodeo and the black-clad samurai persona danced in deadly lockstep with his foe, ducking and weaving to avoid its blows.
After blocking a swipe that threw the sprite off balance 0day went on the offensive. The attack program manifested in the form of several long bursts from a void black SCK 100; the dwarf had long since mastered the art of balancing offense and defense, and the digital rounds struck home with devastating effect. Recall took a full six round burst to the face, and 0day watched in smug satisfaction as the red light in his opponents wild eyes winked out. The sprite managed to partially sidestep the last round of bursts but was still almost entirely shredded by the code bullets.
With damaged code dripping from it's digital form, the sprite launched a desperate attack that almost caught 0day by surprise. Despite easily dodging the attack his own retaliation almost missed it's intended target entirely; only through concerted effort was he able to turn an overhead swing of his blade into a glancing blow. Fortunately, the effort proved enough as the edge of his sword connected with the sprite's link to its master, severing the last remaining pieces of it. With a tortured scream the digital apparition disintegrated, and 0day breathed a sigh of relief.
> Matrix threat eliminated, ladies and gentlemen. Recall came to play, and if my suspicions are correct I think I might know why the Reapers are going after the Tribe
With one last look at the Matrix surrounding him, 0day took a deep breath as he jacked out of the Matrix and returned to his physical body.
Once everyone had gathered near the vehicle the dwarf recounted his experiences.
"We know that Recall is involved with the Reapers, and we just got jumped on their turf. Suffice to say that this guy dabbles in highly corrupted code; if you're not familiar with Dissonant Technomancers, think of them like toxic shamans. In other words, bad news bears. Dissonance is the opposite of Resonance, and corrupted technos like Recall are drawn to resonance like moths to a flame. They seek to corrupt it, and to use it for their own nefarious means. Guided perhaps by a more sinister intelligence, or just because they're all fraggin' broke in the head. Who knows."
Somewhat uncharacteristically, the dwarf spit on the ground to emphasize his disgust.
"Good riddance, I'd say, but Recall still lives; I was only able to knock him unconscious, and he'll only be out for a short while. An hour, maybe less. I say we capitalize on this moment, take the initiative and bring the pain to the Reapers."
The dwarf looked around at the group and jumped slightly, as if noticing the scorch marks from the nearby rocket impact for the first time.
"Jeez, how about a heads-up next time! Launcher must have been offline, as I never even saw it on the matrix. Good job taking that thing out, guys, thanks for having my back. We should probably let the Tribe know they've got a dissonant techno creeping in on their turf, though, if only so they can be prepared."
He realized he was rambling, and took a deep breath to calm down.
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