Run 06 : Jackknifed (based on the mission written by Mark Edwards; posted 2014/09/30)

Skyler groaned as he tried to right himself. His head felt as if someone had hit him with a hammer. Considering the force necessary to jar their car ride like it did, maybe the hammer would not have been so bad.

"Everyone alright?" Nocturne asked.

"I think so." Athena said.

"Are we spinning?" Skyler asked. Now upright he was feeling like he had been on some speedy, twisty carnival ride for three hours straight.

"No."

"Great."

From what little Skyler could see, his vision a bit blurred at the moment, it looked like the paranoid gentleman that was going to be Mr. Johnson for a job had been killed where he sat in the limousine. For a moment Skyler remembered that this was not even the first time a Johnson had died on them, even before the job, or even inside of a limousine.

"I think we should try and get out of the limo." Nocturne said. "No sense staying in here with a dead man."

Roadblock had their exit under control. With a well placed kick he dislodged one of the passenger doors from the Nightsky limousine, and was quick to get out.

With help from Mina, Skyler was able to climb out of the wrecked limo.

Outside it looked like many large chunks of the Throgs Neck Tunnel had collapsed across the road. Besides the Nightsky limousine they had been riding in, several other cars had also gotten caught by large chunks of fallen debris, with their passengers also now slowly working their way out of their cars.

There were no other light sources beyond various headlights, at least those that were not smashed. At least Skyler's eyes were able to work with the poor light, though the spinning sensation in his head, fading as it was, was not helping. Nor did the dank, stale smelling air laced with automobile exhaust make anything better.

"Well this is turning out to be a shitty day." Athena complained.

"Crap." cussed one of the other drivers, a female ork. "Is anyone getting a signal?"

"Good luck getting anything down this shit hole." Skyler said, feeling nothing but commlinks and damaged cars desperately trying to connect to something.

"What's the range on your little drones?" Nocturne asked. "Can't you send them down to get a signal to us?"

"Normally about a thousand meters, but it won't do any good." Skyler said.

"Why's that? Tunnel's nearly a straight shot for two kilometers to Queens."

"It's the shit they made this tunnel out of. It's fucking with…"

"Watch your mouth!" cried the ork woman.

"everything wireless. I'll be lucky to get a hundred meters off 'em." Skyler finished. Glaring at the woman he loudly added, "Why don't you fuckin' make me!"

It looked like the ork woman was about to say something when a gunshot rang out, striking the roof of the tunnel somewhere further down.

"Shit, we've got company." Athena muttered.

Groaning and rolling his eyes, Skyler pulled out both of his Predators. Ignoring the shocked look on the ork woman's face he hustled around a wrecked and a few piles of debris to get a look down the tunnel.

"Take that, mother fucker!" someone yelled from down the tunnel.

Skyler was blinded by a flashing strobe light aimed their way. The compensators in his contacts tried to protect his eyes, but the chaotic flashes still left him seeing spots. Just after he turned his back to the strobe light, slipping down to use a pile of debris as a shield, another gunshot rang out.

"Fuck this, I'm getting outa here!" yelled another of the other car owners.

It did not surprise Skyler that no one wanted to stay. What normal person would want to stay and risk getting shot at?

Mina was next to him almost right away, keeping low to try and stay hidden. "There's about a dozen of them." she told him.

Switching his goggles over to ultrasound only cleared out the blinding flickering, but also left him seeing everything in a form of black and white. Peeking around the pile of debris, it was easy to tell who of the approaching antagonists was using something to blind them.

As soon as someone lifted a hand up high, Skyler shot that person. He ducked back, narrowly avoiding several retaliatory gunshots.

"What're you two doing? Get back here!" yelled Athena.

"We're negotiating!" Skyler yelled back, chancing another peek around and squeezing off a round at another person with an upraised hand. Just like last time, he ducked back before more bullets were sent back his way.

Then something clattered near them and started hissing.

"Gas!" Mina yelled.

Skyler was quick back to his feet to run, but not quite quick enough. His nose and mouth quickly started burning, and he barely heard the clatter of something else landing behind him.

He did, however, hear the explosion that knocked him off his feet.

Coughing and groaning as he rolled over onto his back, Skyler could barely make out the appearance of one of Mina's spirits. Blazing intently, the bottled hellfire that was Astorath advanced heedlessly into the people that were attacking them.

A pair of hands hooked under his armpits, and Skyler found himself being dragged around behind another pile of debris. Behind him more gunfire rang out.

"Here, hold your breath." Athena told him.

Without waiting, Skyler felt ice cold water hit his face. He held his breath as more water washed over him, doing a little to stem the burning sensations.

"Feel better?" Athena asked once the bottle had gurgled its last bit of water.

"A little." Skyler said hoarsely. "What about Firefly?"

"Dousing herself with some water right now." Athena answered. "Lucky you that was a frag grenade and you wear armor." she added, plucking a chunk of shrapnel from the sleeve of Skyler's coat.

Behind them things became eerily quiet, and dark. Then Skyler heard two sets of footfalls approaching them.

"Relax, it's just the guys." Athena told Skyler.

"Girl, remind me to never piss you off." commented Nocturne. "You've got one mean fire elemental there."

"Why not remember it yourself?" Skyler asked.

"Would you please chill out?" Athena asked him.

"So who the fuck attacked us anyway?" Skyler asked, ignoring Athena.

"Rampers." Nocturne answered, "I think they were trying to claim the tunnel as theirs. And it looks like everyone else that got stuck here ran off already."

With the burning starting to subside, Skyler tried standing back up. With Athena's help he was back up on his feet.

"Not everyone." came a strange voice with a slight accent that suggested someone of Eastern European descent. "From what I saw I think I could use your help."

Looking through ultrasound only, Skyler figured the person was a human male, mostly from his height and lack of pointed ears. Switching his goggles off to let his eyes do their own work proved his guess right.

"Maybe, but we don't come cheap." Nocturne said.

"Beg your pardon?" the man asked.

"Why not first try telling us what you're wanting from us." Athena said, "Then we'll see if we want to haggle over our fee."

"Ah, yeah, right." the man, their new Mr. Johnson said. "I need you to guard the truck, help get it moving again, and protect the cargo until it's delivered. I've got almost five hundred nuyen I can give you now, but I can get you payment equal to thirty-five hundred nuyen each."

"That's all?" Skyler asked.

"If money's the problem…" Mr. Johnson started to say. "Wait, you're just a kid?"

"No shit, Sherlock." Skyler said harshly, "And fuck, no, it ain't the money. It's the job."

"Easy 'nough." Mina said.

"Are they serious?" Mr. Johnson asked.

"Should be. He's a wiz hacker, and that fire elemental you just saw was hers." Athena said.

"A hacker, oh dear." Mr. Johnson said.

"Problem?" growled Skyler. He then felt Mina take his right hand in hers.

"As long as you don't hack into my truck." Mr. Johnson said. "There are safeguards that'll just make things worse if you try."

"If I try?" Skyler asked. Was Mr. Johnson serious?

"You can avoid hacking it, I know it." Athena said.

"Sure thirty-five's enough?" Nocturne asked, "I'd think you'd call this charity work for that much."

"If you're broke, it's your own fuckin' fault." Skyler snipped back. "And if you'd done your research you would've…"

"Okay, that's enough!" Athena butted in, stopping Skyler from mentioning the debacle of their last job almost three weeks ago.

"So it's a deal?" Mr. Johnson asked.

"Maybe. Just who's gonna be payin' us?" Nocturne asked.

"My boss." Mr. Johnson said, "He's ultimately responsible for the cargo, and I'm sure he'll pay."

"And if not?" Nocturne asked quite sternly.

Mr. Johnson swallowed, his gaze bouncing between everyone. Finally he answered, "I… I've got enough to cover about twenty-six hundred for each of you."

Nocturne scowled.

"Fuck it, let's just move on." Skyler said, slipping his hand from Mina's as he started looking for his Predators.

"Where're you going?" Mr. Johnson asked.

"Getting my guns." Skyler said, tracking them down by their wireless signals. At least the tunnel was not too bad with the WiFi that he could still find them at such a short range.

"So what's wrong with it?" asked Nocturne.

"One of the security measures against… er, shadowrunners." Mr. Johnson said. "When it's in an accident it reports back to home base before the engine will start again."

"So someone trying to do a smash and grab sends up a flare that something's happened to the truck. Got it." Nocturne said.

Once his pistols were holstered Skyler caught up with the others as they were walking to a large semi tractor-trailer, a GMC Hauler, that had jackknifed when trying to stop.

"And if I tried to hack it?" Skyler asked.

"Then it completely shuts down." Mr. Johnson answered.

"Bet I still could hack it and not trip an alert." Skyler muttered.

"Never mind that now, just check and see about the rest of the truck." Athena said.

As Skyler started walking around the massive semi, Mr. Johnson asked, "Why him?"

"Kid's really smart. Not just a hacker but a good mechanic too." Athena answered.

Skyler tried pinging the semi for a status request. It rebuked him with a big red "Access Denied" icon. Then he scanned Mr. Johnson's commlink for its access ID and tried again. At least this time he got something a little more promising, the node telling him he was not authorized and to contact someone higher up.

"Shit." Skyler cussed, fiercely kicking one of the semi's tires.

"What is it?" asked Athena.

"As far as I can tell, the truck's just fine." Skyler said, "The thing's a fuckin' stubborn son of a bitch and won't do shit 'till it reports its accident and get's a reply that it's okay to go."

"And that's next to impossible 'cause of the tunnel." Athena added.

"So how're we going to get the truck moving?" asked Nocturne.

"Either it makes its report, or it thinks it makes its report." Skyler answered.

"Oh no, no, no, no." Mr. Johnson went, "No hacking the truck."

"Shit, did I say hack?" Skyler asked, scowling. "I said make it think it made its report. Means I pretend to be whoever it needs to talk to to tell it it's okay to get going again. Sheesh!"

"You can do that?" Mr. Johnson asked.

"Him or me." Athena said, "We'd just need to get an access ID or something and I'll bet we can get the truck going again."

"And how're we gonna manage that?" asked Nocturne.

Athena said, "Either we hike to one end of the tunnel and back, find an emergency exit, or figure out something to string a bunch of devices to bring the signal in here so it can do this legitimately."

"We could try another truck, too. Couldn't we?" suggested Mina.

"True, but we'd have to find something like this one." Athena said.

"Well, if Mr. Johnson's got a tool kit or something I can start tearing apart these cars for something usable." Skyler said.

"What're you thinking?" asked Nocturne.

"Make earrings." Skyler said harshly. "What do you think? I'm gonna pull out a bunch of the nodes from these cars so we can string 'em up down the tunnel to get the signal here!"

Mr. Johnson did have a tool kit to use, and Skyler worked on the various vehicles as he hacked into and physically removed the nodes from several of the cars.

During this time the others did not get to take it easy. Devil rats seemed to be attracted to the truck and had tried attacking the truck at least three times. Even Skyler was starting to get sick of the squishing sound Roadblock made when he managed to stomp on a devil rat.

It was when Skyler was almost ready pull out the node from the fifth car he heard Athena say, "Roadblock's found us an emergency exit."

"Hopefully it's a straight shot up." Skyler grunted as he reefed the node from its housing. With the electronics in hand he walked over to the pile of others to grab one of them, and headed over to where Athena and Roadblock were.

Turned out the emergency exit found was a few meters away from the GMC Hauler itself, on a raised walkway that was probably three meters above the road itself. Using the truck as an impromptu ladder made it easier to get to the walkway.

Roadblock was already at the door, forcing it open with a sickening sound of screeching metal.

"That anxious to get out of the tunnel?" asked Athena.

"You don't know the half of it." grumbled Skyler as he placed one of the nodes by the door.

Once the door was open wide enough for them, Roadblock stepped aside to let them through. Inside Skyler could see that trolls and such had been considered, with the ladder and passage up being more than large enough to allow for the largest of trolls to climb.

Without hesitation Skyler started working his way up.

At least as far up the ladder as he could get, anyway. Stuck in his path was the remains of a dead person, likely a dwarf. Long dead, all that remained were ragged clothes, bones, and cyber. Skyler had no idea if the person had been dumped down the shaft or had somehow got stuck and died without help.

"Shit." Skyler cussed.

"What is it?" asked Athena.

"Someone died in here, and their body's blocking the path." Skyler answered.

"Should try and be careful." Athena advised.

With one arm wrapped around the ladder, Skyler reached up with his free hand to try and dislodge the skeleton. As soon as the body began to move it exploded.


Mina dropped the nodes she was holding, jumping back when she heard an explosion from the emergency exit. When things seemed calm she quickly scrambled up the truck to get onto the walkway where Skyler and Athena were.

"What happened?" she asked as Athena was pulling Skyler out onto the walkway.

"Looks like something exploded in his face." Athena said, carefully easing Skyler down and pulling his goggles off.

Skyler's face was crisscrossed with many minor cuts and splotched with burns, but nothing that seemed to look too serious. However, Mina knew better than that.

Shifting herself to the astral, Mina looked over Skyler's aura. The normal blue-white brilliance was crisscrossed with so much red it looked more like a strawberry. There were also many black spots, including some large ones in his legs, and one in his chest.

Her vision returned to normal in a snap and she went straight to opening his jacket.

"What's wrong?" asked Athena.

"His heart stopped." Mina answered as she frantically pulled up his shirt. She hoped that the body armor he wore underneath would have enough give for her to perform chest compressions.

"You're gonna do CPR?"

"When I tell you, pinch his nose and blow twice." Mina ordered, finding the center of his chest and bracing herself over him. She hesitated for a moment before she started, finding the first few chest compressions were the hardest to do.

After about twenty compressions she paused and said, "Now!"

Athena did not seem to hesitate as she blew air into Skyler's lungs. Skyler's chest rose and fell each time, but there was nothing.

"C'mon you fucker." Mina cussed as she began the compressions again. This time she did not need to say anything for Athena to blow air into his lungs again.

"Don't you leave me!" Mina cried as she started doing more chest compressions. After another twenty she stopped and again Athena blew air into his lungs.

This time Skyler coughed, and it looked like he was breathing on his own.

But she was far from done. If what she had seen in his aura was right then Skyler was still at death's door. Silently she called to one of her bound spirits, an earth elemental she called Gabriel.

I am here, mistress, the spirit said.

I need your power to save his life, Mina told it, mentally indicating to Skyler.

What you ask will be two services, the spirit told her. Before Mina could respond it added, you will need more than just my guarding.

What I demand is your power in magic, not a watchdog. One service, Mina ordered.

My power is yours, mistress.

Mina touched the choker at her neck, activating the power focus she wore. Through it she could feel the surge of power as she began drawing up mana for a healing spell, gathering up much more than she normally drew upon. Mina could feel her body beginning to burn from the gathered power, but she refused to let it go, and instead gathered as much as she possibly could.

Touching her hands to Skyler's chest again, Mina focused her mind, calming herself as she shaped the gathered power to speed Skyler's healing. Gabriel lent its own power, guiding her efforts and infusing more power into Skyler's body.

Her eyes closed, Mina knew that her spell would be more than obvious, her hands glowing in a blue radiance that would be expanding to envelope Skyler's body. Shaping her spell, she funneled the regenerative magic into the core of Skyler's body, forcing it to heal at an accelerated rate and hoping that it would be enough for him to be able to pull through on his own later.

Time seemed to crawl as the spell did its work, knitting bones and repairing hemorrhages. Still, the amount of power she drew upon was not without its own cost, and Mina had to fight to keep conscious as she held the energy while it burned her own body from within.

The magic faded when the spell was completed, though traces of it would still be on Skyler for at least a third of a day. What mattered more to Mina was that he was alive again, his heart beating and breathing on his own.

Its service done, she let Gabriel return to where it came. Then she nearly blacked out from exhaustion.


The blackness of being unconscious was nothing new to Skyler, nor was the disorientation when he came back around again.

His whole body ached, but it was not the same kind of pain all over. The bones in his legs hurt, his lungs burned with every breath like the air was laced with acid, his chest felt like a troll had tap danced on him, his head pounded and his ears rang like he had been used as a clapper in a bell, and his arms felt like they had been run through a meat grinder.

It felt like his goggles had been removed, and even then opening his eyes brought on a world of pain and not because of any light. Something in his eyes seemed to burn the wider he opened them.

It was also hard to look around. It hurt more to try and open his eyes, and when he did his neck did not want to cooperate to move his head. It felt like he was lying down, at least that much he was certain of. Though most of his body was on something hard it felt like his head was on a pillow.

As the ringing in his ears began to fade he thought he could hear voices. Things were muddled, though, like trying to clearly understand what someone was saying when your head was underwater.

Maybe he was out of it again, slowly opening his eyes when he felt something cool and wet touching his forehead.

"Still with us, kiddo?" asked Athena. He could make her out somewhat, a blurred blond kneeling next to him.

"Yeah." groaned Skyler. It was surprising how much effort it took just to say that simple word.

"Try not to talk or move too much, okay?"

"Yeah." Skyler managed to say again.

Then she was gone.

"Roadblock…" he heard Athena say, but everything beyond that was an incomprehensible garble of noise.

Then he heard Mr. Johnson ask, "You sure it's wise to move him?"

"I did my spell." Skyler heard Mina say, sounding quite tired. Looking up he saw a red blob that must have been her hair.

"But was it enough?" asked Mr. Johnson, "I mean, look…"

"Yes!" Mina shrieked, "I know!"

"Mr. Johnson, if I could have a word?" Athena asked. She sounded like an extremely upset mother that was just about to scold her child as loudly as possible.

Not feeling very energetic, Skyler let his eyes fall closed again.

It was almost as if he started floating, but he could feel two thick arms underneath his body. There was some jostling, nothing that really hurt him, and then he was laid to rest on something a lot softer than concrete. Then there was some movement beside him.

"Still awake?" he heard Mina ask softly.

"Yeah."

"We… We're gonna get you to a doc when we can." Mina told him. Something was bothering her pretty badly.

"What… happened?" Skyler managed to ask.

"Athena thinks you tripped a bomb or something." Mina said, "It went off… And you fell…" It sounded like she was sobbing.

A new wave of pain erupted from his chest as Mina tightly pressed her arms around him. His right arm felt stiff as he tried to return her embrace, his hand feeling strange as he touched her back. Apparently feeling his touch helped put her at ease, and his ribcage along with.

Feeling strangely at ease, Skyler relaxed, his eyes closing.

Skyler woke when he heard doors closing. It was not any easier opening his eyes again, but it looked like the others were in whatever room he and Mina were. Then he heard and felt the rumble of a diesel engine and realized they were in the back of the sleeper cab of Mr. Johnson's truck.

"Everything work?" Mina asked, sitting up and turning around to face the others. Considering how she sounded Skyler figured he had been asleep for quite some time.

"Damned lucky it did." commented Nocturne.

"Told you the kid would be right." Athena said.

"Right? What?" Skyler hoarsely asked.

"Ah, still with us?" asked Athena as the truck slowly lurched forward. "That bomb that nearly killed you wiped out some of those nodes you got. After we figured out how to get out we found there weren't enough to chain a signal down, so instead we went up and I got us the data for it to think it made its report."

"Means they have no idea what happened." muttered Mr. Johnson.

"Doesn't matter. Once you get your delivery made you can tell them everything about the wreck." Athena said.

Skyler's mouth and throat felt like cracked leather. "Got any water?" he asked.

"Yeah, there's a cooler back there." Mr. Johnson said.

Mina carefully helped Skyler to a sitting position, which once he was upright realized he would not have managed on his own. If his head had been spinning after the limo crash, now he felt as if he were riding inside a centrifuge spinning at top speed.

Athena had worked her way back, found the cooler, and already had a bottle of purified water open and ready. It was when Skyler reached for the offered bottle that he saw his hand.

His right hand was completely wrapped up in gauze, each finger individually and completely covered in white wrappings like a mummy.

"Hey, how you feelin'?" Athena asked.

Skyler said nothing. Instead he took the water bottle and started slowly drinking from it. He downed about half of it before setting it back down.

"What happened?" he finally asked.

Athena looked down and away from him.

Glancing at Mina told Skyler she did not want to say anything either.

"Better say something, else I'm gonna tell him." Nocturne said.

Athena took a deep breath and sighed heavily. "We think you might've pulled the pin on a grenade or something." she said, still looking at the floor, "The explosion, and the fall, almost killed you. Actually, it did."

Skyler felt his strength drain from him, the water bottle slipping from his hand to drop onto the floor.

"You've got one hell of a girl." Athena continued. "Didn't hesitate to do whatever she could to save you."

Mina was right behind him, slipping her arms around his body as she pressed herself against his back, one hand up over his heart. He could feel it beating in his chest as she more gently squeezed him.

"I was… dead?" Skyler asked.

Mina tightened her grip just a little.

Athena looked back up for the first time. "Clinically, I guess. We did CPR to get your heart going again, then Firefly called up one of her spirits to aid in a healing spell. And she really pumped in the power for that one, too. So much even Mr. Johnson saw it."

Was that why Mina seemed so worn out? Did she nearly kill herself in a healing spell for him?

Light suddenly poured into the cab through the windshield. It looked like they were finally out of the Throgs Neck Tunnel. It was strange, but Skyler had to focus his mind to feel the pervasive signal of the matrix that the tunnel had blocked from him.

"Can't say enough how nice it is to see daylight again." remarked Mr. Johnson.

For Skyler, the daylight was nothing compared to the signal of the matrix he now felt and sought for.

"Look, there's something you should know." Athena said softly. "I did some checking while I was getting what we needed to get this truck going, and GridGuide got hacked earlier today. I believe it's related to our job."

"Why's that?" Skyler asked, his mind feeling like it was entering a fog bank.

"There's not much traffic for the tunnel, not when the Bronx is such a hell hole." Athena said, "And when you add in a lack of matrix coverage and the value of the cargo…"

"Hey, um, there's something wrong with…" Mr. Johnson started to say, right before the driver side window shattered.

The truck's autopilot immediately kicked in as soon as Mr. Johnson's hands left the steering wheel. Seeing the bloody remains of his head made Skyler almost vomit.

"Shit!" yelled Athena as she jumped to the front of the truck.

"No bringing this guy back." commented Nocturne.

"Right. Cypher, you got the strength to hack this truck?" Athena asked.

"What?" Skyler asked, feeling his heart pounding as he looked up from Mr. Johnson's body. Last time something like this happened a criminal syndicate had placed a substantial bounty on his life.

"Hack this truck." Athena said slowly and sternly. "Even money says who put this truck in the tunnel's gonna be hacking into it to take control right now!"

Mr. Johnson's commlink was still active, and Skyler could just feel the flow of data between it and the truck they were in.

"Better get to it." Nocturne said, "I'd like to know when and where we're gonna be getting' off."

Staring at the commlink, Skyler connected his mind to it while shifting his mind towards the virtual world. Instead of splitting his perceptions he ended up falling wholly into VR. Regardless of that he immediately went to forcing his way into the truck's node itself.

It took all of three seconds for Skyler to breach the truck's firewall. Maybe impersonating Mr. Johnson's commlink made it easier, he was not sure.

The node was sculpted to look like the inside of a research lab, and running about frantically was a female fox-woman wearing a lab coat. He could tell it was an IC, and it was looking for whoever had set off an alert.

Just as he was about to thread up his disarming form to neutralize its analysis program a new icon came into the node, an ethereal looking ghost of an elf reminiscent of the ghosts from the old Harry Potter vids. Along with it were a randomly spinning icon made of a dozen blue crystal shards fused at a singular point, and a white vaporous disk that looked almost like a shield. These two he knew right away were technomancer sprites, which meant that the ghost was a technomancer.

The fox woman turned at the ghost, growling, and every Bunsen burner icon erupted with a jet of fire that turned on the ghostly icon. The shield interposed itself and took the blasts of digital fire.

The spinning crystal formation sped up its rotations and began buzzing about the Bunsen burner icons.

Skyler threaded up his black hammer attack form, drawing the gleaming sword, and with a double handed grip swung for the ghostly icon.

The shield was there to take the attack, digital sparks flying until Skyler drew back.

"Don't misunderestimate me, plebe!" yelled the ghostly icon.

One hand on the sword's grip, the other at the flat of the blade, Skyler took a different approach with the vaporous shield. "Go fuck yourself." he said, his voice a chorus of people as he went straight for the sprite's source code.

Certainly in no mood for pleasantries or witty banter, Skyler's newfound anger expressed itself as he forced his willpower into the spinning disk that was a paladin sprite. The shield quickly began to warble like glass, turning red like it was being heated up from its core, and shattered, spraying digital bits all over the laboratory.

"You! You!" screamed the ghostly icon, turning its full attention on Skyler.

Silvery blade met ghostly talon in the first blow, but when Skyler took the second hit the ghost grinned. Despite the necromantic chill Skyler could feel in his arm, the ghost never saw the silvery blade coming up through its ribs.

"Resistance is futile." Skyler said, his voice a chorus of many people talking at once. Already he was tracing the other technomancer's connection back to him.

"You haven't won yet, squeeb!" yelled the ghost, quickly getting over his own shock of being stabbed. "Fuck you and the borg cube you rode in on!"

The spinning ball of spiked crystals came rushing around at Skyler. Rather than let it hit him and buzz off, Skyler caught it by one of its blue crystal spikes. It buzzed and groaned like an electric motor desperately trying to spin, but was held fast.

As the trace resolved itself, Skyler forcefully decompiled the other sprite. It began to vibrate extremely violently in his digital hand as it desperately tried to free itself. Then it self disintegrated into a cloud of blue dust, with the shard Skyler held the last to disappear.

"I know you." Skyler said to the ghost as he started to identify other nodes close to the technomancer, "I know what you are."

The ghostly icon tried to slash out at Skyler again. A quick swing of his silvery blade severed the ghost's arm, and he screamed in pain.

"I also know where you are." Skyler said, now feeling the ghost trying to log himself off of the truck's node. With his free hand he grabbed the ghost by the good arm, its incorporeal appearance belying its solidity against his black armored fingers. "And I am extremely pissed off!" he yelled, squeezing the ghostly arm like it was twisted newspaper, his chorus of voices resonating throughout the digital lab.

The ghost screamed in new pain. Had the icon been flesh and blood then Skyler's squeezing hand would have crushed bones to pulp.

The other technomancer was in a vehicle just behind their truck. As Skyler held the technomancer prisoner in the GMC Hauler's node, he began forcing his way into the other vehicle.

Something changed in the signal, and Skyler could feel the shift in his connection to the other's vehicle as other connections started popping in to maintain their link. It seemed like it would be a good time to cut the other loose.

Shoving the ghostly icon aside as, Skyler traded his sword for one of his pistols, a regular attack form. "My name is Cypher. Remember it." he said, aiming his pistol at the ghost and unloading several blazing shots of disruptive code into it. He was not sure if the other technomancer had managed to log off in time or not, but it did not matter to him now.

Keeping his connection to the truck he was in, Skyler shifted his mind back to the real world. "Mother fucker." he muttered as he painfully pushed himself back upright, the explosion of pain in his arm making him regret that decision.

"Glad you're back." commented Athena. "We've been a bit busy."

"Busy? With what?"

"Someone sent a spirit after you." Mina said. Skyler noticed she was holding her head and looked like she was in quite a bit of pain.

"Relax, lover boy." Athena told him. "Her spirit did more than kick a little ass out there."

"I… I sent Baradiel after… whoever sent the spirit." Mina said.

"They're fucked." Skyler said, falling back to relax on the bed again.

"And I thought that fire elemental was the dangerous one." commented Athena.

Baradiel was one of Mina's bound spirits, one of four that he knew of, and the most powerful of any of them. Mina pushed herself to her limit with Astorath, but the raging inferno of a fire elemental was not bound, let alone invoked as Baradiel was. While he had seen Astorath blaze a path through armored vehicles like an anti-tank round through aluminum foil, Baradiel could take said anti-tank round and deliver it back labeled "Return To Sender" like a fastball pitch turned home run hit. It was also rare for her to call on Baradiel for anything, preferring to just conjure up a lesser guardian for simpler needs.

"Oh, before I forget, think you can pull over so the guys can get off the trailer?" Athena asked. "I mean, since you're probably got the controls and all."

"Huh? Oh, sure." Skyler said, sending an order for the truck to pull over and stop at the next place it could legally do so. After his fight in the truck's node he was feeling too tired to ask why Roadblock and Nocturne were on the trailer to begin with.

It was a few minutes before the truck turned off the expressway it had been on before doubling back a little to pull into the parking lot of a shopping complex. Unable to locate a single parking space it could fit in, the truck instead pulled into a spot where it took up several parking spaces at once.

"Great place to park." commented Nocturne when he climbed back into the semi, "Would you like to pain something on the side next, like 'HIJACKED!'"

Saying nothing, Skyler held up his bandaged right hand, palm open and facing Nocturne.

"Chill, would ya?" asked Athena, "We've still got an option here."

"Peace Man?" Nocturne asked, "You serious?"

"You wanna earn some pay for this job?" Athena asked back, "Who else is gonna be able to unload the cargo? Besides, we can always hawk the truck and trailer for extra."

"Peace Man?" Skyler asked.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot." Athena said, "You and Firefly were in the truck, resting, when he came to us in the tunnel. Said we're hauling a lot of grain he'd like to give to the SINless in the underground."

"Got it." Skyler said, figuring that no deal had been accepted because of the late Mr. Johnson's job request. Since he was dead, then negotiating again with Peace Man was a chance to get some pay. And the way Skyler was feeling, his share was likely going to go to some medical bills.

"Are you calling him?" asked Nocturne.

Athena held up a hand. Apparently she was already having a silent conversation with the ork fixer. Finally she said, "Right, we might have a deal."

"How much?" asked Nocturne.

"That's still up for negotiation." Athena said, "But right now we need to get this truck moving.

From inside the truck's node, Skyler created a new account. "You take over, okay? User name 'Flash' and the passcode's 'speedy.'"

"What're you talking about?" asked Nocturne.

Still not feeling too well, Skyler instead let his mind slip from the truck's node. The connection felt like water being poured from the bucket as it left his mind.

"Forget it, let him rest." Athena said.

"Why should I?"

"You saw my spirit on the highway?" Mina asked. "What that van got was just a love-tap."

Skyler did not even have the energy to smile at her bluff. If she was as enraged as he thought she was, Baradiel would not have simply tapped anything.

It was a long and easy drive to wherever they were meeting with Peace Man. The spot turned out to be close to the Bushwick Inlet, in Brooklyn.

It felt like it had been forever since Skyler had stood on his own two feet, and even now needed Mina's help to keep upright. With her under one arm to help hold him, it felt like she was bearing more of his weight than he felt she should have.

Getting out of the semi was a small challenge, with each step an effort in of itself. Both Mina and Roadblock helped steady him as he took each one at a time until he was firmly standing on the pavement.

Peace Man was waiting for them, along with a dwarf in worn black leathers with spiky red hair. Coming out of various types of vehicles were more people who looked like they had seen better days.

"Glad ya could make it." Peace Man said as he walked up.

"Sure as hell wasn't easy." Athena replied, "And about our payment?"

"Yeah, sure. Twenty-six hundred each."

"What?" went Mina.

"Fuck that." Skyler muttered.

"Got a problem with that?" asked the dwarf.

"Yeah, I do." Skyler replied.

"Awe, man." groaned Nocturne.

The redheaded dwarf, nearly half a meter shorter than Skyler, carefully walked up to him. "Care to share with everyone?" growled the dwarf.

Breathing heavily, Skyler said, "I got to do… some thinking on… the way over. We were nearly crushed… shot at… and gassed… for this truck. On top of that… I was almost blown up once… and got blown up a second time… all for this… God forsaken… motherfucking truck."

As he spoke he forced his mind to connect to the truck's node. Athena had logged off, which made the account he had created accessible to use. It also meant that if Athena wanted to try and stop what he was about to do, she likely would have to hack the truck herself first.

"Sounds a little whiny to me, boy." the dwarf said.

"Hey man, we can still talk about this." Peace Man said.

"Yeah, sure we can." Skyler said.

"Maybe if we hadn't incurred some expenses in getting the truck here, maybe we'd be okay with twenty-six." Athena said.

"Let's cut the bullshit, okay?" Mina asked sharply. "No fucking 'round. Ten grand for each of us."

"You smokin' his shit?!" exclaimed the dwarf.

Even Peace Man, normally seeming mellow beyond belief, looked shocked and surprised.

"Hey, I'm pissed off 'bout this, too." Mina said, "And fifty tons of his California Catatonic won't chill me out!"

"Even that price's a little outrageous." commented Nocturne.

"Not really." Skyler said, closing his eyes as he sent an order to the semi to start up its engine.

The big diesel rumbled to life, surprising almost everyone there. Then with a hiss the air breaks released themselves.

"Athena!" yelled Nocturne.

"Kid's hijacked it! I gotta hack it!" She sounded desperate.

"Kick me off and it rolls." Skyler threatened. "Hurt me, and you're dead."

"Bullshit." the dwarf challenged.

"Now that ain't bullshit." Athena said, "If you caught the news on us, that spirit you saw was the girl's. Bet she'll sick it on you if you hurt him."

"Whoa, little thing like you did that?" Peace Man asked, sounding quite impressed.

"What're you saying, Peace?" the dwarf asked.

"Dude, that wasn't just any spirit whipped up on the spot. Had ta be invoked, and as big as that was that ain't easy."

"So, is it a deal?" Mina asked.

"I ain't got that kind of cred on me." Peace Man told them, "But ya know what? I'll do more than the thirty-five ya were promised."

"How much?" asked Athena.

"Four thousand each, and a little somethin' extra." Peace Man said, "Call it a bonus for pain 'n sufferin'. A four thousand group bonus."

"I'd call it good." Athena said. "And you get the cargo. We keep the truck and trailer."

"Sure." Peace Man quickly agreed. "It's gonna be too hot to take anyway."

"Um, how much you think we're gonna get for that?" asked Nocturne.

"Open market, maybe a hundred and seventy-five thousand." Athena answered. "I looked it up on the way over."

"But how much are we gonna get?" repeated Nocturne.

"Maybe ten grand for each of us." Athena said. "Will need to talk to a contact about that."

"Okay." Mina said, not sounding excited about the value of the truck.

"We good?" Skyler asked Mina.

"Good 'nough."

Skyler sent the truck an order to shut down, and his legs gave out from beneath him at the same time. At least he did not lose consciousness as Mina and the dwarf carried him off to one side, safely out of the way of everyone else so they could unload the cargo.

"You were serious 'bout being blown up." the dwarf commented as Skyler sat down on the ground.

"He's really a lot better lookin' than this." Mina said, kneeling beside Skyler.

"Oh, thanks." Skyler muttered.

"We were using an escape ladder to get to the surface when it happened." Athena said, coming over to join them. "Just got a text back from a friend, an explosives expert with the Knight. Figures it was a high explosive grenade, and a miracle that you're alive."

The dwarf looked as surprised as Skyler felt. Starting to feel faint he almost tipped over where he sat, though Mina was quick to help make sure he just lied down instead.

"Dang." the dwarf said, "Well, I really oughta go help unload."

"Right, thanks." Athena said as the dwarf walked off.

"I really don't feel good." Skyler said.

"Shit, we should get you to a street doc." Athena said.

Together Athena and Mina helped Skyler back to his feet. After five or six steps Skyler's vision began to blur.

Two more steps and his legs turned to rubber.

One more attempted step and everything went dark.

It was bright when he opened his eyes again. Sunlight was shining in through their bedroom window, and he was lying comfortably in bed.

Mina was at his side, asleep with an arm over his chest and her face resting close to his heart. Feeling her warm breath on his skin was probably the most welcome sensation he had.

That, and he did not have to focus his mind to create an ARO to the matrix. Though maybe not quite as quick as before, he was able to open an ARO clock to see that it was now Friday morning. He was also able to feel out the other wireless devices in their room, just like he always had before.

His right arm felt a lot better as he slowly moved it to place his hand over Mina's.

Stirring from her sleep, Mina softly said, "Mornin'."

"Mornin'." Skyler replied softly.

Mina shifted just a little, moving to be more comfortable as she curled up at his side. Feeling nothing but her body next to his, skin to skin, was feeling incredible.

"How ya feelin'?"

"Sluggish." He did feel a little stiff in some places, but guessed that this was probably from lying in bed for about three days.

"How 'bout some breakfast?"

"In a bit. I'd like to stay this way for a while."


Kinda sorry for the shortness of the chapter, compared to the others in this continuing story.

And, well, here it is. Do I do something radical in subsequent chapters, or move on as normal? I'm kinda leaning towards one answer right now, but any feedback will be appreciated.