CHAPTER ONE

Do cyborgs dream of electric sheep?

Sam Gibson's safe house

NightCity,2000 hrs

Darkness...it always begins in darkness ,then come the sounds ,muted and faraway at first then clearer, louder but it's the images that haunt him the most. Surroundings that are familiar and yet oddly unknown, sounds and voices from the past seeking recognition but none is found. The faces...oh god the faces ,dancing in and out of his view , men and women ,young and old ...some smiling while others are twisted in anger or pain.

''Oh god, who are you people? How do i know you? Where are you now? I don't know , i don't remember''.

The faces shimmer out of sight to be replaced by a single solitary figure...a man standing in the distance looking at Sam. The experience begins with darkness and it always ends with this man standing before him, looking at him with those eyes, those pale blue eyes.

Frustration wells up in Sams chest ,eager for release.

''Who the hell are you?''

The man does not answer, in all the times he had tormented Sam he never answered, he just looked at Sam with those damn eyes.

''Do you Know about my past?''

GIBSON!...

''If you know about my past then stop screwing around and just tell me!''

GIBSON!...

''Just tell me Goddamn you! ''

GIBSON!...

Sam sat up with a jolt, his hands reaching for his twin Arasaka handguns, synthetic adrenaline pulsing through eyes quickly took in his environment in the space of a few seconds.

''The safehouse...I'm at the safehouse''

Sam holstered the pistols and set his feet down from the bed, disconnected the wires from his cranial nodes and placed them beside the bioscan monitor on the deckstand.

''A dream , another damn dream''

In the old days Sam would never have thought full body cyborgs to be capable of dreaming and yet he couldn't think of a better word to describe what he had just experienced. Tonight would be the third time in as many weeks and there wasn't anything to say it would change anytime eyes made a cursory sweep of his safehouse lingering for a few seconds on familiar areas ; the crimson twilight filtering in through the window ,a munitions cachebox in a corner holding various weapons, attachments and ammo clips. The closet which held several change of clothes occupied the wall facing him and not too far from that was the door leading to the other rooms of the eyes finally came to rest on the deckstand and his com' unit which was flashing brightly in the near darkness of the room. Sam reached over to pick it up and place it to his ear. The com' units display screen showed the digital I.D of the person trying to reach him but Sam didn't bother to look because only one person in the world knew the digital I.D of his personal line.

''Kaena, i'm here...what's up?''

A husky but decidedly feminine voice responded on the other end of the line.

''Well it's about time you answered was actually starting to think i had called a wrong number! What took you so long?''

''Uhn...sorry about that. I just came out of sleep mode a few minutes ago, guess i just needed a little time to clear the cobwebs from the ol' clock...heh heh''

Kaena was silent on the other end of the line,Sam had not told her about the dreams(How could he?He had only just admitted to himself that they were dreams tonight!) but in his usual manner Sam had tried to deflect Kaena with an attempt at dry Kaena could see through his facade she did not give it away.

''Yeah...whatever! I called to remind you to drop by my place for the new fix i've been telling you about and the sparring session you promised me.''

Sams lips formed a smile, Kaena was giving Sam lessons on console hacking and data extraction but in return she asked (demanded more like) that Sam drill her in hand to hand combat. Sam had finally agreed to this bargain when Kaena argued that a chain was only as strong as its weakest link and that their partnership would be strengthened by an exchange of their skills. Sam would attain basic netrunner skills and Kaena would learn how to take on opponents twice her size.

''Right...Don't worry i'll be there like I promised.''

Another few seconds of silence from Kaenas' end of the line

''Gibson ...is everything ok?''

Translation; is there something wrong you're not telling me about?

''I'm perfectly fine. I'll see you in a little while ok?''

The lie came out smoothly enough. Sam was almost surprised at himself.

''Ok Gibson...Don't be late.''

The line went dead from Kaenas' end as she terminated the removed the com' unit from his ear, placing it back on the deckstand and got up off the bed.

Moping around in the safehouse wasn't going to do him any good ,just need to get out and walked over to the closet and picked out his biker jacket from a hanger, slipping it on quickly. Reaching into the jacket pockets he fished out his black gloves which he put on one after the other,his tactile sensors told him that the gloves fit snugly which was further confirmed by the straining sounds produced when he made his hands into a fist.

Sam moved over to the munitions cachebox and entered the unlock cachebox clicked open to allow Sam access to the rows of ammunition clips stored selected several clips for his twin Arasaka handguns, slipping them into the pockets of his combat trousers.

Satisfied that he was now adequately armed, Sam moved through the door into the next room which was almost empty except for a large full length mirror and another the deckstand Sam retrieved a roll of credit notes and his shadow account credit that used by most residents of nightcity ,Sams credit card would not be flagged by conventional E-security programs installed on a majority of Nightcitys credit card consoles, allowing him to access his shadow account funds without detection or trace but even with this advantage Sam refused to leave home without raw cash in his average citizen of nightcity might well be satisfied with paying for goods and services with a standard credit card but nothing motivates a streetkid to act first on your behalf and never ask questions or an underpaid corporate security gaurd to look the other way while you slip in through the back door of a guarded building to carry out a termination contract on an unsuspecting corporate boss like waving a hand full of credit notes in their faces.

Sam started walking towards the door but just before reaching the exit he passed the mirror and stopped dead in his tracks. The reflection that stared back at him was not his own but of that man, the one from his dreams.

The man stood there were Sams reflection ought to be and for the first time Sam could view him up close. He was the same height as Sam but with a smaller man was dressed for combat; Armour jacket, ammo clips hanging from his utility belt, combat trousers and face was oval shaped and looked young, maybe early twenties with ears close to the side of his head which was framed by smooth dark hair. His lips were closed in a straight emotionless line but his eyes glinted with an emotion that Sam could not quite identify.

Sam closed his eyes with a frown.

''Goddammit, what's happening to me!''

It was bad enough that he was having dreams after putting his cyberbody into sleep mode but now he was dreaming while on full active mode.

Sam slowly opened his eyes again and looked into the mirror however the man was gone; replaced by Sams own reflection.

''Dammit Gibson, pull yourself together!''

Sam took another quick look at the mirror before reaching the door and opening the lock to let himself out of the quickly past the dusty hallway and down a flight of steps, Sam passed through a darkened alleyway to a row of secure garages where one of Sams prize possessions was located his garage and entered the unlock code into the door which opened to reveal the single large object bathed in the glow from the fluorescent lights in the ceiling.

The Mitsubishi 2020 power bike was truly a thing of beauty and function; a two seater with power steering,metalic alloy body and an engine that pushed the bike from 0 to 100 mph in 10secs flat.

Sam settled himself into the seat and activated the engine which came to life with a low pitched kept the Mitsubishi finely tuned and the control display showed all systems were good to wheeled out into the alleyway, closing the garage door behind him and gunned the engine till the alleyway echoed with the sound of the metallic beast emerging from its lair into the cold night.

Sam looked out past the alley to the skyline of nightcity, the city coming to life against the backdrop of a crimson sunset.

''Ok Nightcity...ready or not, here i come.''

Sam cut loose on the engine and the Mitsubishi shot out of the alleyway like a bullet out of a gun barrel towards a major highway leading to the heart of the sprawling metropolis.