Prologue

She ducked under a swinging chain, slid to the next node, gripped a rotating cog, and held as it turned her to the direction she needed to go. Hacking into the Smithy posed a lot of restrictions on a carp, but with the right gameplan the bottlenecks could be turned to one’s advantage.

If she were detected she could make the NetGuard monitors think she intended to go in one direction and then trap them in their own gridlock while she made her escape. Not that she intended to be detected, but even the best laid plans could get derailed.

The cog moved her into position, and she dropped off. Landing on another gear, this time she ran against its momentum and grabbed a hanging chain. She climbed to its node and checked her tether. As expected, she had just a few more maneuvers to get to her portal. It was always a good idea to check the tether, even a veteran like herself could get lost in the Smithy…or the Tianlong…or even the Krelnet for that matter. These webs were not meant to be traversed the way carps used them- jumping from net to net to steal information.

It was a dangerous career, but one that both paid well, and afforded her ample opportunity to stick it to the powers that had oppressed her and her people for centuries.

Those powers seemed to be closing in though. As she made her final moves to the exit, she thought about the close calls she and the team had lately. Someone somewhere was starting to catch on to their tricks. It was only a matter of time unless they found a way to change tactics. Maybe that was why she was being so careful tonight.

She made it to her portal. With the practiced habit of a seasoned carp, she slid through the hole, into the PubWeb where she could safely disconnect, and then logged off back to the real world.

It was on fire.

Opening her eyes, she saw the flames on the roof of the van. Her senses returned with a lurch as her partner made a hard turn at the wheel. She closed her eyes, took a breath, and fought the panic welling up in her chest. Opening them again, she unhooked herself from the chair and made her way to the front of the van joining her team’s neuro sync while she moved.

“What’s happening?”

“Welcome back! They found us. Dunno how?” The big man was calm as ever, even amongst the chaos.

Their partner flying the drone above chimed in, “The jiju was on me first, but it wasn’t expecting the flares. Scared it off, but not before it detected the van.”

The driver spoke, never taking his eyes from the road. “We got some tricks left, but we’ve never fought a jiju before. Should be interesting!”

The final word came out in a pained shout as a tentacled pincer smashed the windshield and struck the driver in the right shoulder. He kept the van on the road, steering somehow with his right hand and knees. Gripping the tentacle in his left hand, he pulled the pincer out– augmented strength from old military upgrades making the move possible.

“It’s on top of us.”

She made her decision. “I’m gonna hack it.”

Already moving back to her chair, the driver yelled out. “Bad idea. The security protocols on those things are nuts. You’ll be booted before you even get to the first node.”

“We’ll see. Got a few tricks of my own.”

The driver turned his attention back to the road. “Whatever you’re gonna do, you better make it fast. A whole NetGuard contingent is up ahead. Got nowhere left to run.”

“Roger that.” She said as she hardlined back in, already forming her plan. I’m gonna sick that spider on them then make it self-destruct…somehow.