Just a bit of a break from writing Twisted Reflections. Hopefully the lore is correct.

It was supposed to be a simple job.

Granted that was false hope in this profession. To anyone but newbie runners the phrase 'should be a milk run' was often taken with a large grain of nutrisoy - Anyone who survived long enough to be considered an actual runner knew that it was never just a milk run. Expecting things to go according to plan was the first, and often last, mistake that would-be runners committed.

Adapt and overcome; that described the life of a Runner in a nutshell. Anyone who'd been in the 'business' long enough learned to never trust their Mr. Johnson's completely or to expect unforeseen circumstances in every run. If you were told that security would be light, pack extra firepower just in case. If a Johnson tells you the specific company he's working for, then he's clearly lying. Lies upon lies upon lies; trust never came easy in this line of work, if it ever came at all.

Robin had only been a runner for a scant few weeks, but these 'cardinal rules' had already been ingrained in her. She didn't have a specific Fixer she kept in contact with or a crew to run with, so she had to trust her instincts when picking her jobs. All this time she'd taken simple assignments - A quick package drop-off, scaring off some rowdy kids (the drones helped) or even escorting the occasional businessman who'd gotten stuck in the barrens without a taxi - The jobs that most self-respecting runners considered 'beneath' them.

It wasn't glamorous, but it put the meat substitutes on her table. She had been lucky enough to find refuge in the Seamstress Union - God only knew that she could barely afford to stay at coffin motels with the money she was making right now and Mrs. Kubota's generosity ensured that she wasn't merely breaking even with every job.

This was her first foray into an actual corporate-affiliated run...well, her employers worked in a relatively high step in the corporation's ladder, but she counted it all the same.

A quick snatch and grab. Her clients were a husband and wife, both working in middle management at Renraku - She was pretty sure that was simply a cover for something else but she'd never heard of Johnson's coming together in pairs, so the the frag knew. Regardless she was hired to...'recover' a young human male by the name of Henry Jamison. The Johnson's claimed to be his parents and that they wanted their son back, though she was pretty sure that was a load of drek.

Still, a job was a job, and this one actually went to four digits so she wasn't in any rush to refuse it.

Supposedly their 'son' had found religion and acceptance with the Universal Brotherhood but had recently changed his mind. When he had tried to leave the UB had detained him and they weren't about to take that lying down hence her current assignment. Her clients had told her that he would come willingly and that there would have been no need for excessive force.

So of course she brought a tazer with her when the guy would inevitably resist.

She wasn't stupid; while she couldn't exactly figure out how the Universal Brotherhood fit into this she was pretty fragging sure that her clients weren't concerned parents. He was likely a former corp worker who blew the whistle. Why they bothered with the family sob story she had no idea, but a payday was a payday. She'd get this done easy and then she'd be able to actually afford some decent alcohol or a new drone.

Or at least that's what she thought.

Sneak in through the back entrance, taze the guy, grab him and then meet his 'parents' in the agreed upon location. Despite rumors to the contrary Johnson's rarely ever betrayed their runners - No one wanted to work for a known backstabber, after all.

Simple enough, right?

"Frag, frag, frag!"

Of course not.

The young Japanese woman ran through the sterile halls of the Brotherhood's chapter house, her drones barely catching up to her. All around her she could hear the screams of the would-be acolytes of the order interspersed between the screeching wails of the insect spirits. Well, at least now she knew that not everyone in this damn place had drek for brains.

"Lockdown initiated. Lockdown initiated."

The doors around her began to seal shut. Robin's eyes widened from beneath her goggles and she quickly doubled back as the doors to the exit sealed themselves.

"Drek, which way...?" She looked at the split in the hallway and went left. Already she could hear the shivering sound of the inspect spirit's many legs running to catch up to her, "Vector, go!" She sent her first drone back and rushed through the double doors at the end of the hall. It wouldn't be able to hold them for long but she didn't have much of a choice.

"Where the frag am I?" She looked around the room quickly. An auditorium of some kind, or at least that's what she could assume given the chairs and podium bolted to the front. These types of places always had a backstage of some kind; that would be her ticket out.

She bolted through the curtains and came face-to-face with the concrete wall at the end, "Of course..." She smacked her first against the wall in frustration. Any normal building would have a back exit, but this was the fragging Universal Brotherhood; clearly sanity wasn't high on their list of priorities. She briefly considered doubling back before the piercing shriek of the insect spirit echoed through the large room.

She was trapped.

"If only I had my deck with me..." She stared at the terminal ruefully; the damn thing was practically mocking her. She had to leave her deck behind when the insect spirits had been summoned and she didn't fancy her chances of survival in going back to retrieve it. She bit her lower lip and drew her SMG, aiming it in front of her. She knew it was pointless - insect spirits couldn't be killed with conventional weaponry - but she sure as hell wasn't going to give them an easy meal.

She should have known something was fishy about this job, but how in the frag was she supposed to know that Henry Jamison was monitoring the Universal Brotherhood and their involvement with the insect spirits?

She'd walked right into a fragging ritual to summon the damn things. Jamison was dead...or, more accurately, one of those fragging spirits was using his body as it's new skin. She could definitely consider the job a colossal fragging failure, but she'd be lucky if she could escape with her life rather than simply suffering a blow to her nonexistent reputation.

And then everything went to drek. The 'Queen' was found lacking and the spirits began rampaging, attacking anyone and anything that crossed their paths. If she'd stayed at the safehouse tonight then she'd have been safe and the news would explain away the events of the chapterhouse as a gas leak or some other drek. She would have shrugged and moved on, living to fight another day.

Her hands began to shake as the shambling footsteps drew closer. She took a deep breath and forced herself to keep calm. A part of her - a part that was growing larger with every second that passed - was tempted to turn the gun on herself and blow her own brains out. At least then it would be quick and clean; she wouldn't have to worry about being cocooned and slowly eaten alive like a fly in a spider web.

Just as she began to turn the gun on herself she was startled by what sounded like a large burst of static. She stepped back and pointed her gun at the large green portal that was now covering a large chunk of the wall, "More fragging inspect spirits!? Come the frag on!" She stepped back until she felt her back bump into the wall. Great so she was stuck between hungry inspect spirits on one side and more hungry inspect spirits on the other.

This wasn't exactly how she'd imagined going out.

But to her surprise it wasn't more inspect spirits that had come out of the portal, but a human. Her eyes widened as the 'doorway' spat out a pink haired girl wearing what appeared to be a uniform of some kind before suddenly closing again. She stared down in confusion at the moaning figure before another screech nearly sent her barreling to the floor.

Now wasn't the time to be gawking.

"Hey, come on!" She grabbed the girl by her arm and tried to lift her up. She had no fragging clue what was going on here, but she was pretty sure little girls getting ejected from portals wasn't what one could consider normal...though she supposed that at this point 'normal' had left long ago.

"Wh-What?" The younger girl looked up at her through dizzy eyes. Robin barely took note of the pink irises that stared up at her; must have been customized cybereyes.

"Get up!" She pulled her up roughly, ignoring her squeak of pain, "You just teleported in here, right!? So open that portal again and lets go!" She shook her roughly. Teleportation was impossible even with all the advancements of magic, but she knew what she saw - Barring her remaining drone she had been utterly alone, and yet this girl had somehow gotten here through what looked like a portal.

"I-I don't-"

Too late.

Robin tackled the student forward and barely avoided the scraping pincers of the inspect spirit charging at them. Her drone wasn't as lucky, however; it could only manage a pathetic whir as the pincer stabbed through it like tinfoil. Robing grit her teeth and unloaded her gun on the monster's underside - It reeled back briefly, letting out a small screech of pain, giving her a chance to get back on her feet.

Louise's eyes widened and she let out a loud scream. The...thing in front of her turned its multiple eyes to stare at her, its mouth dripping some sickly green fluid. Her hands shook and she almost let go of her wand in her fear. The woman was yelling something at her and the...gun (if she could even call it that) continued to fire bullets at a far too fast pace.

What in helheim was going on!?

"I'm running out of ammo!" Robin yelled. She saw Louise looking up at her, her mouth hanging open dimly. The Decker clicked her tongue in frustration and let out another burst with her machine pistol. The younger girl scrambled back, pointing her wand - or at least that's what she assumed it was supposed to be - at the spiritual horror, "Are you going to use that thing or what- Ahhh!"

Robin''s scream of pain nearly caused Louise to faint altogether. She saw the creature tackle the older woman to the ground, its maw opening wide enough to swallow her head. Louise tightened her hold on her wand and did the first thing that came to mind.

"Fireball!"

One second death was staring Robin in the face, and the next she found herself being crushed by the massive weight of the insect spirit's dead husk, "Ugh..." Letting out a groan she pushed and kicked the grotesque corpse out of the way and grabbed for her machine pistol once more. It was only a temporary reprieve; soon the insect spirit would recover and then they would be doomed.

Nothing. Warily she walked closer to the husk and kicked it, "What the frag...?" Her brows knotted together worriedly. This...wasn't normal. They'd destroyed the body but the spirit should have been eager to eat them regardless. Not that she wanted to be eaten, but this was getting even weirder - First teleporting schoolgirls and now magic that sent these fragging spirits back to where they came from with one hit?

She shook her head. Whatever, she wasn't going to question it now.

Turning back to Louise she found her still staring in fear at the dead husk, her hold on her wand shaky. Robin knelt in front of her, "I don't know what you just did but I think you're the only way we can make it out of here." She waited a moment but she didn't reply, "Look, I have no idea where you came from but if we stay here any longer we're going to be insect food. Do you want that?"

"N-No..." Her voice was soft. Robin barely heard her, "Wh-What...were those things...?"

"Spirits, and not the good kind." Louise blinked. That...wasn't much of an explanation, "Look, I'll give you the whole fragging history on these things once we get out of here but now's really not the time to talk." As if to emphasize her point the lights began to dim. They didn't have much time, "Listen, whatever it is you just did killed those things...and I mean actually killed those things. If you wanna make it out of here we need more of that."

"U-Uh...I should still have some willpower left..." She mumbled.

"Right, I'll take what I can get." She stood up and pulled the younger girl to her feet, "Come on, we need to get out of here. Stay behind me."

Her theory had been proven correct: The insect spirits they had ran into were killed just as easily as the one who came after them in the auditorium. It was slow going, especially since her companion seemed to be having a panic attack (not that she could blame her), but eventually they'd both made it to the entrance.

She looked back at the Mage worriedly. She was wobbling on her feet and her gaze was unfocused, "Hey, you okay?" She snapped her fingers, but the girl could only blink slowly in response. Whether it was due to the fatigue of spellcasting or trauma from what she was seeing it was clear that the teenager couldn't hold on much longer. They had to get out of here now.

"Come on, come on..." She turned over the corpse of one of the 'Fathers' and rummaged through his pockets. He had to have a keycard or something- Got it. She allowed herself a smile and swiped the card at the terminal next to the door. She cracked her fingers and focused on the screen; overriding the lockdown would take a while but after this they would be home free.

She was halfway through the crack before another scream caused a chill to run up her spine. She turned her head back and cursed as she saw a particularly large spirit bounding over to them, its carapace slathered with a disgusting mixture of viscera and blood. Through the blaring sights she could make out Jamison's face, stretched unnaturally long, staring back at her from its place on the insect's front.

"Of course it's him..." She looked back at Louise. The Mage was pointing her wand at the large monster, but no spell came, "Hey, kid, you might wanna cast a spell!" She ducked under the acid it had spit at them. Louise let out a weak yell as she fell on the ground, "Hey, cast a spell now or we're both spider chow!"

Louise clenched her fists and focused the last of her willpower, "Fireball!"

Robin looked away from the explosion, ignoring the sounds of squelching flesh as the husk was blown apart. She saw Louise fall on her back, her eyes closed, "Good job, kid..." She turned back to the console and, after another minute, let out a sigh of relief as the metallic doors were finally pried apart.

She was already halfway out the door when she turned to look back at Louise. The girl was unconscious, her breath shallow. It was only because of her that she could make it out of here and she owed it to her to get her out of her. But...taking an unconscious person with her would only slow her down. Lone Star would be arriving at the scene soon enough along with any clean-up crews and they'd shoot first ask questions never.

"..Ah, frag it..." She turned back and took the small girl in her arms. She was a lot of things, but she wasn't an ungrateful drekhead.

In her rush she didn't notice the camera focusing on them until she finally disappeared out of sight.

Swimming back to consciousness, Louise let out a pained moan as her eyes slowly fluttered open. Her head was ringing and more than anything she felt vomiting out her breakfast, but at least her nightmare was over, "Ugh...what a horrible dream..." She sat up on the bed and placed both palms against her face. She knew that she was worried about the Familiar summoning, but what could cause her to have such nightmarish visions?

It was only after she saw that the bed wasn't hers that she quickly realized it wasn't a dream.

"What? No, no, no, no, no!" She looked around frantically, her breathing panicked. Upon closer inspection the bed was clearly not hers, being nothing more than a dull mattress atop a dingy silver frame. The rest of the room was just as unfamiliar, made up of metallic structures and furniture that was of a design that she'd never seen before.

This definitely wasn't a dream.

"Where...Where am I?" She swung her legs over the edge and shivered as her bare feet made contact with the metal floorboards. She took deep, calming breaths and tried to stop herself from panicking. Alright, so the previous events weren't a dream and she was in this alien place surrounded by giant monsters...Brimir take her, she was panicking again. She leaned against the wall and breathed rapidly.

Her wand..where was her wand? She turned back to the bed and felt a small hint of relief as she saw her foci half-covered by the blankets. She grabbed it and pressed it against herself as if her life depended on it.

"H-Hello?" She called out weakly.

No one answered, though she could hear faint sounds from behind the curtains of the room's exit. Swallowing nervously she slowly walked towards the cloth barriers, her wand aimed in front of her and ready to cast a spell at a moment's notice.

"You brought her here? What were you thinking?" The voice was cold and soft, but undoubtedly masculine.

"Well where else was I supposed to take her? Leaving her out on the streets is practically a death sentence!" There was a voice she recognized; her impromptu guide through the nightmarish landscape of...whatever in Helheim that was.

"I would expect you to know not to bring civilians to a Runner safehouse."

"There was nowhere else I could take her! Lone Star and Universal Brotherhood goons were hounding us and if I left her behind I might as well have shot her myself!"

"And your solution was to bring her here? Do you see how old she is? She's a child. Putting her here is just as risky."

"Child or not she's the only reason I made it out of there! Look, I'll get her SIN and take her back to her family when she wakes up but until then stop being a fragging drekhead, Strelok."

"You wouldn't have gotten her involved if you actually bothered to screen your damn runs-"

"Stop acting like my fragging dad, dandelion eater. Look, if you want to kick her out so bad talk to Mrs. Kubota - She agreed to house her here and last I checked she was the the one who owns this place, not you. So back the hell off."

The arguing continued. Louise continued her hesitant walk to the curtains before pulling them back slowly.

She noticed her 'partner' immediately - Long black hair and some kind of light blue see-through glasses (?) covering her eyes. Her attire was an odd mix of black and blue, the material she could assume to be some kind of leather given its appearance. She probably wasn't that much older than her - In fact she looked to be close in age to Big sis Catt.

The person she was arguing with was different. Pale blonde hair cut short with some kind of 'hole' at the side of his head that appeared to be made of metal. His entire body was covered in a gray longcoat, gloves and other fabrics that hid his flesh from view. Contrasting to her previous 'ally' she couldn't really tell his age - His gaze was harsh but the rest of his features were soft.

Oh, and he had sharp pointed ears.

Louise wanted to be quiet, she really did. She wanted to keep calm and not draw attention to herself.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

But that was really damn hard when she was a few feet away from the devil.

The woman jumped at the sudden scream and turned to face her, one arm already pointing what appeared to be some oddly designed flintlock at her. The Elf was more calm, only raising an eyebrow at her loud intrusion.

Louise gripped her wand with both hands and aimed it at him, trying to stop herself from shaking. The Elf raised another eyebrow at the 'threat' before letting out an annoyed breath, "...What exactly do you plan to do with that?" His voice was soft, devoid of any emotion, "Last I checked I didn't do anything to you and I think I would remember running into pink haired schoolgirls."

"Y-Y-You're an Elf!" Her voice raised a pitch higher.

"Figured that out all on your own, did you?" He rolled his eyes, "Look, if you're going to attack me just because I'm an Elf then could you not act so scared? I didn't file my teeth into pincers or anything."

"Hey, kid, you alright?" The woman holstered her pistol and raised her hands in a calming gesture, "Look, what's the problem? Strelok's a dick but he's not going to attack you for no reason so why don't you just put the wand down before anyone gets hurt?"

"B-B-But he's an Elf!" She replied frantically, "How are you even talking to him!? He's a demon!"

"Huh...that's new." Strelok scoffed, "Been called dandelion eater a lot, but that's the first time someone ever called me the devil." His gaze shifted to the Japanese woman, "You sure know how to pick them, huh, Robin? First you get involved with insect spirits on your first real shadowrun and now you're bringing back delusional schoolgirls. You plan to make a deal with a dragon next?"

"Shut up." She punched his side, ignoring the dull metallic cover that met her fist, "Why don't you go bug Cherry Bomb or something? I'm sure she's one of the few people here who actually likes your sour ass."

He gave her the middle finger with a gloved hand and left, disappearing into the elevator. Louise watched the door close behind him and let out a breath of relief as he finally disappeared from view.

"How...How did you do that?" She looked at the woman in slight awe. She'd talked back to an Elf and survived- No, not only that, she'd made him leave!

"What, him? Ah, he's just a drekhead who loves being a prick to everyone. Don't worry, unless you actually do something to warrant getting shot at he's harmless. Kind of like Mr. Kluwe upstairs, but more of an ass," She gave her a toothy smile, "Anyway, what was up with you? I could understand being freaked out about his Cyber or something but you were screaming your head off because he has pointy ears?"

"Yes. Elves are demons. Why wouldn't I be scared?" Louise replied.

"What, bad experience with Tir Tarngire or something?" The girl merely looked confused, "Listen, whatever happened to you and Elves you mind keeping it down while you're here? Mrs. Kubota doesn't like prejudice in her home and I only called him a dandelion eater to make him back off."

"B-But Elves are Firstborns! They have powerful spirit magic!"

"Spirit Magic? What, you mean a Shaman? Maybe some Elves, sure, but Strelok has so much Cyber on him that his essence is barely clinging to his body. That guy wouldn't be able to toss a fireball, let alone have a Spirit take interest in him."

"Cyber? Essence?" Louise parroted. She didn't understand; was she implying the Elf couldn't cast magic? That was like saying an Ogre was a vegetarian.

"Look, we need to get some explanations out of the way so I'll start off quick - Whatever you think you know of Elves from watching bad trids or whatever isn't true. They're not magical prodigies - even if some say they are - anymore than the other metahumans. They're not immortal either, least as far as we know. So calm down and stop worrying about 'demons' or whatever."

"But-"

"Now that we have that out of the way." She interrupted with a clap, "I think introductions are in order. My name is Robin; not my real name but that's all you're going to get." She pointed at her, "Now it's your turn."

"I'm Louise Francoise Le Blanc de La Valliere." Robin gave her an odd look, "Just...call me Louise."

"Alright, Louise." She smiled, "Listen I have no idea what happened back there or how you appeared out of thin air but I owe you my life so tell you what - I'll take you back to your family if you just tell me where they are."

"M-My family's estate is at the Valliere lands, on the border to Germania. It should be two days horesback travel from the Tristanian capital."

Robin's smile faltered. Drek...either this girl was delusional or she'd been hooked on one too many BTL's, "Uh...alright, lets start over from the beginning." She gestured to the couch and they both sat, "I'll start asking you questions and then you can walk me through the details. Got it?" She nodded, "Alright, lets make this one simple: How old are you?"

"Sixteen years old."

She nearly called the girl out for lying, but her expression made it clear she was being serious. Either it was the truth or she believed her own lies, "Uh...right. Okay, so where's your home?"

"The Valliere Estate, as I said. Right now I'm attending the Tristain Academy of Magic for nobles and have been for the past two years."

...Either this girl was a chiphead or she was an alien, and she was more inclined to believe the former over the latter, "...Alright, lets get one last question then - How did you appear at the Universal Brotherhood chapter house?"

"I...I'm not sure..." She stared down at her lap, "We were preparing to summon our Familiars and during the summoning ritual I...well, all I remember is casting the spell and the next thing I knew was that you were trying to shake me awake."

"Great..." She brought a hand through her face and groaned. This was harder than she thought, "Alright, lets just get this out of the way - You have a SIN, right? I mean you're wearing a school uniform and assuming that's not cosplay that means you're a registered citizen. We can just bring that up and find out where you live."

"A...sin? Beg pardon but this really doesn't seem like the time for confessions and you are no priest."

"...Someone just kill me..." She pinched the bridge of her nose, "Louise, I'm going to be honest - It's either you're a chiphead that can't tell that she's off her BTL's or, God help me, you're actually telling the truth and you're some kind of fragging alien. Do you have a datajack?" Another look of confusion, "That answers that question, I guess. So...I dunno, welcome to our planet? Do you come in peace?"

"What?" She just looked even more confused.

"Haa..." She sighed, "Look, point is as far as the world knows you're dead. If you're telling the truth then you either don't have a SIN or you lost your memory and you're actually not an alien. Either way without your system identification number I can't help you get back home...wherever that may be." She leaned back on the couch, "That means your SINless and stuck here."

"Wh-What?" She let out a choked gasp, "B-But I can't stay here! I have a family back in Tristain! I need to tell them I'm okay!"

"Louise, listen: There's no such thing as Tristain here. Not even in any Trid I've seen. Either that's a code for something or your home here doesn't exist." She pursed her lips, "Either way you're stuck. I assumed you lived here in Seattle but if your home is some uncharted island in the middle of nowhere there's nothing I can do for you."

"But..." She looked down and let out a frustrated breath. This was...impossible. Surely this was nothing more than a delusion, yes? An extended nightmare? She pinched her wrist; no, definitely not a dream.

"Hey, listen, I still owe you my life and all so I'm still gonna help you." She leaned closer to the younger girl, "I can't promise you that I can take you back to your home but I'll do my best to keep you safe. You can stay here for now and...I dunno, I guess I can try searching the extranet for teleporting schoolgirls with pink hair." God she sucked at comforting people. It was a trait her entire family shared, "But until then you can just take it easy down here. Mrs. Kubota isn't the type to kick helpless little girls out on the street and I can make enough money to buy two packets of nutrisoy so there's no problem in that department.

Louise wanted to shout back that she wasn't helpless but biting the hand that fed you was never a wise course of action, "Thank you..." She tucked her legs into her chest and placed her arms around them. This truly was a nightmare - She was trapped in an unknown land where apparently Elves were not only present but also tolerated. Meanwhile her only ally was a woman who dressed as if she was the main character of a comedic play who she'd first met in the middle of nearly being eaten by giant insects. To top it all off her homeland apparently did not exist or she was being lied to; neither of the two explanations really appealed to her.

She was wrong; she had nightmares more pleasant than this.

Robin looked at the younger girl with obvious pity before hesitantly ruffling her hair. That was comforting, right? "Hey, listen. I know this isn't for the best but you'll be safe here. Better than being out on the streets, right? Trust me that I don't exaggerate when I said that out there you'd have to sell one of your kidneys just get some medicine. Just ask Strelok if you don't believe me." Her shoulders sagged, "Just take it easy for a couple of days. I'll bring back some books on magical theory or something and you can take a crack at it."

"Hmm..." Louise responded despondently.

"Uh...right." Robin looked around her. What could cheer teenagers up... "Oh hey, I know there's this new show on the trid, forgot the title. Wanna watch?" She gestured to the the screen, "Or you just wanna watch some Maria Mercurial? I heard she's starring in that new movie about the Seattle Ripper killings."

Louise finally looked up at her, "What's a...trid? Is that another word for theatre?"

"...God, I have a lot to tell you about."

End of Chapter 1. We'll see where this goes.