Chapter 13: War Stories

V awoke in a cold sweat. He was somewhere else and it was dimly lit. He wasn't in the Iceberg anymore. He rubbed his eyes as he sat up and looked around. He was back in the AV. Jericho either hadn't decided to awaken him or had Hildegarde carry him back to the AV. They were currently in flight high above the frozen Alaskan wastelands. He looked around and found Jericho in his usual seat with his laptop-like computer open with data scrolling past faster than he could read. Hildegarde sat on the couch across from his cot and Asher and Scotch occupied the pilot's seats again. How long had he been out?

"You need to stop getting drunk, V. This is ridiculous, we already have one drunken crewmate, we don't need another one!", Hildegarde complained noticing that he was finally awake.

"Did you have to drag me out?", V asked half-asleep and still groggy.

"No, you were too drunk to walk, it was then that I carried you.", Jericho noted, not looking up from his computer.

"Eeeugh... I feel like shit.", V noted.

"You look like shit too. You handle your liquor worse than Asher.", Hildegarde noted.

"We have a long flight ahead of us to Neo-Tokyo, V, so you have nothing to worry about.", Jericho sighed, not looking up from his computer again. He wasn't paying attention to him either out of remorse or pity.

"Hildegarde, can I ask you something? Something personal?", V asked, half-expecting to be punched in the face. Instead the one-eyed outlaw just moved over to him on the cot

"Sure, V. How would you like to annoy me today? I'm almost certain you're not about to grab my tits and tell me you love me...", Hildegarde half-mocked.

"No, seriously...", V whispered. "If Jericho went rogue, do you think you could take him down?"

"Heh. V, I am his equal. I can definitely slow him down for a while...", Hildegarde noted.

"Slow him down, but not stop him?"

"V. My reactor is technologically better than his, but it has its limitations. It has a finite amount of power... Once its power is used up, my cybernetic enhancements fail, my reflexes return to normal and then Jericho tears me to shreds. Same goes for you since you don't have a core, albeit it's a much, much quicker demise..."

"But can anyone stand up to him?"

"No. So don't even try it, V. You're not that stupid, are you? His core is unlimited, worst case scenario, he fries us all with radiation. But he'll keep on fighting forever, the perfect weapon..."

"But how much do you really know about him? Asher said you've been working together for 15 years..."

"I know enough, V. Let me spin you a yarn...", Hildegarde sighed. She didn't like V, but then again she didn't like anyone who'd joined their team. V needed to know, perhaps then he'd understand why they did what they did.

"We met in Siberia, in a Sovietek research compound. I was young and stupid, like you, V. I was just another Mercenary, working jobs and getting paid. One day, some researchers offered me something I couldn't refuse...", Hildegarde mused, talking to V through the comms system. "A power core, one that could offer me near limitless power and strength. Of course I took it."

"That's when you got your Fusion Core?"

"Yes. The procedure was normal, for all intents and purposes just like any other cyberware. After its installation, I no longer got tired from fighting or sprinting. It did everything they had advertised. However, they also installed a killswitch with a passphrase. Sovietek used me for their own agenda, had me seek out and kill their competitors... It was fun for a while, but I yearned to return to the life of a Mercenary. I was bound to their will and if I left, then they'd simply destroy me."

"Where does Jericho fit into that?"

"Soon, V. A few months of running odd jobs for Sovietek, I returned to the research laboratory. A distress signal had been transmitted and I was required to return ASAP. When I got there, the front gates had been smashed, torn off their hinges and the front blast-door had been sundered. I didn't see any tanks or cannons, just a single set of footprints in the snow. I also detected high levels of radiation. Due to the nature of my own core, I am not affected by radiation and did not think much of this." Hildegarde continued, she looked at Jericho for a moment before turning back to V. "The lab had been ransacked, scientists and security personnel killed, cut in half, or crushed. At the end of the hallway stood Jericho with his nano-ceramic blade extended and his arm-cannon aimed towards me. Every circuit on him glowed blue with Cherenkov radiation."

"Jericho killed everyone? What happened with you?"

"Jericho offered me another deal. A second piece to the puzzle and a gift that would benefit from the Fusion Core. He had been looking for that core for a long time and was surprised it had both worked and was installed into another human being. He would remove my killswitch and give me a very special gift in exchange for helping him. I agreed, I was not going to be chained down by the threat of immediate and violent death."

"So that's it, then. He gave you the Chipset and removed your killswitch?"

"Not exactly. I took his deal, with the intent on immediately betraying him and heading for the hills. That turned out to be a mistake as he very easily showed me that he could both crush a steel pipe and tear it in half with his bare hands. Something that would be demonstrated on my throat should I decide to run away with his gift. He also kept my killswitch, removed and deactivated just in case. It was a fusion-grenade, since my core doesn't suffer from power spikes, it cannot be overloaded. He gave it to me as a reminder and a way out if I chose, at least he'd get the power core and Chipset back if that happened."

"So you were coerced into working with him?"

"No. I finally agreed to follow him, he had broken my chains after all and he did promise a good payout from all of this, which he has kept his word on. He kept his promise and I've kept mine. We traveled the world for a good seven years before Asher was even recruited, then came Scotch and Vostok, and finally you. Although he doesn't even look or feel human anymore, Jericho does have some left in him, as small as that amount may be. He is supportive and loving, perhaps seeing a bit of himself in me."

"If I've got this right, Jericho freed you from a dirty contract, gave you the Chipset, removed a killswitch and then showed you his strength. You fell in love with him and follow him no matter what?"

"That's one way of putting it, V. Our love is mutual, he truly showed that he cared three years ago over the Mediterranean sea after Vostok had betrayed us. I had a plan, as my reputation had grown infamous during our time together. I got too big and too noisy, it all had to end. I still had the fusion grenade, I'd recently been wounded and I knew I would slow the rest of the team down. There was only one option as I saw it, jump out of our AV and try to take out as many of our opponents in the following explosion. My core and Chipset would not be taken as they'd be destroyed along with my body and my reputation.", Hildegarde sighed, remembering the day. "Jericho had another plan. He took the fusion grenade and strapped it to one of the local gonks who had come with us, one who bared a passing resemblance to me in height and cyberware and tossed her out of the AV. He faked comms and told our opponents that I had failed them before he activated the grenade and killed my 'body double'. We were free, but I had to lay low until the heat was off."

"I guess you're more important to him than I thought."

"You have no idea, V. He told me I was far more important that I realized and that no sacrifice was worth losing me. I've lived an incredibly dangerous lifestyle, V, one in which you don't usually live too long. I like working alone, it gave me the freedom to do what I want, but sometimes you just need the warmth of another body beside you. Jericho and I are bound, until death do we part.", Hildegarde concluded. She just stared at Jericho as he worked at his desk. "Go talk to Asher about her story, it's even worse when you consider her options."

"I will. Thanks for the talk, Hildegarde.."

Hildegarde just got back up off the cot and sat back down on the couch near Jericho. V wanted to know a bit more about the crew, Jericho's own story coming to a close soon enough but Asher and Scotch still didn't seem like they had much purpose here. Scotch lived nicely with the Nomads and Asher was a skilled NetRunner who could be working high-level jobs for herself. He called over to Asher and asked the same question to her that he'd asked Hildegarde.

"Hi, V! What do you wanna know?", Asher asked happily.

"How did you end up here? You're more than skilled to run your own crew."

"Oh, that's kinda sad, really. Umm... Are you sure you want to know that?"

"Yeah. Tell me everything."

"Well, I was just a teenager, like maybe 16 or 17? I don't really know. I was an orphan just living in the streets of Stalingrad. I had my cyberdeck and a basic neural-implant, so I mostly spent time hacking ATM's or random gonks and stealing their pocket change. It was a hard life, most of the shelters were full of long-timers and I never could find a place to sleep. I ate mostly stale bread and anything I could buy with the small amount of Rubles I could scrounge up."

"That's rough. Can't imagine what it was like for a kid to live on the streets..."

"Oh believe me, V. If Jericho hadn't noticed me, I wouldn't even be here right now. It was winter, and the nighttime temperature was supposed to drop to like, negative 40. I had a little blue puffer coat and some ripped jeans and I weighed like half my weight right now. I was starving and freezing to death."

"And Jericho found you?"

"Well, not really. I saw him first, he looked like he had money so I quickhacked him. His Chipset has some kind of firewall protection on it, so it didn't even work. He pinged me immediately and chased me down an alleyway. I told him that killing me was pointless since my lifespan was already being measured in hours and I'd make a terrible output since I was like, super underweight and weak. Instead of killing me or selling me into sex slavery, he told me I had the skills he was looking for."

"From a starving orphan on the streets?"

"Yep! He said I knew the 'old ways' since I used a cyberdeck. He took me back to his AV and gave me some food, he told me I could stay for as long as I liked and that when I was healthy again, he had a special gift for me. Hildegarde didn't like me very much, said something like 'She's a stick, she'll break in half if you look at her wrong!'."

"Hildegarde doesn't seem to like anyone except Jericho."

"Yep, that's true. They have a weird connection. But once I got healthy again, he gave me the Chipset. It has unlimited RAM and allows me to use my cyberdeck as a proxy. It also allows for the use of Veil at long-distances instead of on a single person. Veil is how I survived for so long without anyone detecting me, but Jericho just saw right through it anyways."

"So you're with him because he saved your life?"

"V, I had two options... Go with Jericho and possibly have my cyberware scavenged and be sold into sex slavery by a creepy cyborg or die alone and cold in an alleyway when night fell. I decided to live no matter what happened. And besides, he said I could stay as long as I wanted, I don't have any reason to leave yet!"

"Asher... That's... I think I understand."

Asher just hopped up from the cot and motioned for V to come up to the cockpit. She motioned for V to sit down at the gunner seat behind Scotch. He asked Scotch the same questions he had been asking everyone else.

"Aye, my story be a bit more sad, perhaps."

"How?"

"V, I was at the end of me ropes. I'd decided to end it all before Jericho found me in a drunken stupor about to pick a bar fight between a bunch of gangers. I'dve taken them out as best I could before stumblin' out and finding a nice gutter to die in. Would've drank me fill of CHOOH2 and passed out, ne'er to wake again."

"Why?"

"Imma war vet, V. Fought in the Northern Conflict for the Royal Battalion. The UK vs. a horde of scavengers and nomads after the floodin' of London. I fought hard, but came back to ruin. My... My family had been killed while I was fightin' for their freedom. I had nothing left. My wee little boy was dead and me wife in the grave as well. I had nothing, no home, no family, not even a place to go. So I decided to get hammered. And I did tha until I couldn't stand meself anymore."

"Jericho found you and offered you a gift, right?"

"Yessir! He told me to calm down, that goin' out like tha were stupid. He told me I had better things ta live for and he could make it worthwhile. I longed for the feelin' o' driving a tanker again and he gave me the Chipset. After tha, every vehicle I connected to felt like heaven. Tanks, cars, trucks, AV's, you name it. It twas the best feelin' ever. Makes me remember the old times, honestly."

"Scotch... Asher... I think I get it now. You're all family here, with Jericho and Hildegarde. You had no future, but now you do and you fight for it no matter what happens. I- I did the same thing a few months ago, but it didn't work. Not until... Jericho found me.", V noted.

"Aye. I told ye you have a use here. If'n ye don't realize it yet. We're all just like you, faced wit death or survival. We've persevered."

"It's only what comes next, V. Now that you know my crew. I truly hope you make the right decision.", Jericho noted, appearing in front of V like a ghost. "You may still leave if you choose to and we will think nothing less of you if you do. Once you have fulfilled your end of our deal, you may leave with the Chipset."

"I know. I'm still thinking about it.", V concluded before going back to his cot and laying down.

V had a lot to think about right now. Should he stay with a bunch of other mercs like him with similar backstories or ride off into the sunset with Panam and the Nomads and leave everything behind for good? Everyone had experienced a life or death scenario like he did and had their reasons for fighting for something better, a life without corporations. What happened after that Revolution could only be speculated and that was if Jericho managed to succeed. V thought for a moment, he hadn't even seen Jericho at full power yet, only small bits of his true power. The cyborg had been holding back as to not fry everyone with radiation, but if push came to shove during a wartime battle, then there would be no reason to hold back. Jericho's reactor would go critical and his radiation output would spike, thousands would die from radiation poisoning alone. Maybe this was why he was so sure of a victorious Human Revolution.

"Jericho, just how much do you really know about what you're looking for? Your memories? These designs we've been hunting down?", V asked the cyborg. Jericho just turned to him, closing his laptop-like computer for the moment.

"I know more than I did back then. My earliest memory is of waking up in a laboratory deep underground. I didn't know where I was or how I had gotten there, or why I was how I was. I presume that I was fully human once, I never asked for this. I never asked to become a cyborg.", Jericho mused, remembering as best as he could. "The laboratory was empty, long abandoned. I tried to access its mainframe, but I did not have any bio-signatures left to even try my ocular or fingerprints on their scanners. I remember leaving, jumping into the sea and washing up in Korea. I remember traveling for an unknown amount of time into China, then into Russia. I had only a few designs of cyberware unlike anything else to go by and soon I discovered more. They were made by a company known as Sefirot, and not much was known about them. They had ideas that were dangerous, perhaps why the laboratory was abandoned, raided by someone else."

V just nodded, "But you're identifying yourselves as Sefirot. You're not, though?"

"I'm not sure yet. Jericho is the name of the Chipset and Janus the name of the AI or OS that it runs. Ouroboros is the name of the project that involved both. I do not know the name of the corporation that designed them, only that I was one of their creators as I am capable of replicating the cyberware, power cores, and Chipset if needed. My true name and role in all of this still eludes me, but I have come to realize that the designs were stolen by other corporations to modify into their own. These designs are dangerous and should be kept out of reach of those greedy enough to use them for petty corporate warfare."

"But why the Revolution? Seems a bit more than what's necessary."

"Vengeance, V. Those corporations stole my designs, they need to see what their intended purpose was for. Once they see what they have wrought upon the world, a new age will dawn. Sure, a pair of cyber-arms, or cyber-legs are useful by themselves. Perhaps a multi-core Chipset that can combine multiple separate pieces into one is efficient. And a nuclear-power core can increase battlefield performance to unlimited levels. But all together, they make a very dangerous weapon. A weapon that nobody was expecting to be used against them. And if I can do it, why can't everyone? There are more of us cyber-humans than there are corpo-kings, why don't we rise up and take the power back?"

"You're looking at complete chaos, Jericho. You think the booster gangs are going to hear your word and rise up against the Corpos? They've been doing that for years without progress!", V exclaimed.

"Chaos? Perhaps, but if more had a Chipset, then more would be more powerful. They would have the ability to resist their overseers. And the final Chipset has already been proven to be a success in those that are compatible. V, you have no power core, yet you can utilize the Chipset without issues. You are a normal human being. Think of what a Chipset would do for even the most basic cybernetic humans..."

"You want them all modified into beings like you and your crew? A Chipset for everyone and a Revolution by everyone who has a Chipset."

"I can only deam, V. That world would be perfect. We would become Gods among men. But if I have to do it alone and only with my crew, then I will. We are more than human, V. We are something far greater."

V just sighed. Jericho was insane, it was obvious at this point. A god among men, a Chipset for everyone willing to resist. The end of the age of corporations. A war. A Human Revolution. He just laid back down on the cot and decided to get some sleep. This was insane, this whole idea was insane. His decision to leave was looking better and better, but then if a war really did break out and Jericho did start some kind of chaos, what side would he fight on? Riding off into the sunset with the Nomads sounded great and ignorance was bliss, but was that what he really wanted? Let the world burn down around him as the Aldecados traveled the remnants of the world? He sighed and simply closed his eyes. Maybe tomorrow would be better.

Chapter End.