The Lights shined upon him as he was floating in iced water.
Cables and Wires connected all over his body as he watched his Cybernetics rise in percentage.
He could feel it.
The blood leaving every escape managable.
The extremely numbing sensations running through his body.
And his mind crumbling into darkness.
"1..."
As a switch was flipped and electricity scorched through his body.
"2..."
Another switch flipped as his newly installed enhancements dug deeper into his body as they began to meld into his flesh and course in his veins.
"3..."
His mind was being torn apart as he was seeing. Brightness and Darkness at the same moment, multiple objects that are the same but look like one.
"4..." he was seeing it, the deep black with red circuitry, he was in the web, and was absorbing anything and everything all at once as he was almost there.
"5..." Complete Darkness was all that was left.
"6..." Silence.
"The Ritual is complete, you 3 leave now, I will guide him from here"
The room was cleared as all that was left was a man with long dark hair and a raggedy black coat as he stepped foward toward the filled fridgerater.
He stuck his hands into the water and grabbed the individual by the shoulders.
The man felt hands suddenly grab his wrists, a weak grip, but it was a sign none the less.
He lives.
But yet the man continued as he slid his hands down under the individuals arm pits and pulled the body up.
And who he pulled up from the water was Rich.
"You did really well this time around"
"Bjorn, I can't feel my legs"
"Relax it's all part of the process" spoke Bjorn the man with the long dark hair.
"I am here to assist" as Bjorn helped Rich get out of the fridge one foot at a time as he brought him to the floor and then stuck his jack into Rich's Jack port in the back of his head.
"You have proven of your sigil, you should be proud, you are one step closer to reaching Brother Royce"
"He would shoot you if he ever heard you say that"
"Deny it, he will, but Denial is only the Rejection of The Truth's existence, not the Escape from it"
"How much can I access now"
"Almost 400%, and your resistance to Cyberpsychosis should have risen"
"You did not shut down immediately like your first time and you managed to get past level 4 without any movement what so ever"
"Your physical stress levels did reach its maximum at level 5 as the damage to your natural flesh took damages which is why I suggest you go out and relax, before you are required to do what must be done and reach authority high stress levelsagain"
"Anything else"
"I had taken the liberties of using your own homebrew Deamons you gave me and I passed them off to Micael and he has greatly approved of them"
"As long as they were able to serve someone well is all that matters to me"
"I'm taking your advice"
As Rich tried to take off to his car but forgot that he had no feeling in his legs.
He was also getting a nose bleed and he was becoming light headed
"Ever growing potential Maelstrom holds still, relief"
Bang, Bang, Bang
"Your still flinching at the recoil"
"No Shit"
"Fix it"
"Piss Off"
"I would but you called me and I feel if I try to leave, your just going to shoot at me, well...
attempt at least"
"Fuck You"
"Why are you doing this again, I thought you needed to get better with Netrunning and using Deamons"
"I do"
"And..."
"I need help and fast"
"Why"
"Susie wants to see how proficient I am with it and I told her that I would do a demonstration"
"And I kinda sorta told her that I could do 2 quickhacks at once"
"So you oversold yourself and now you got to prove it, funny"
"I really will shoot you"
"Bottles first, last thing we need is a stray catching a civi"
"Well don't you two get along swimmingly" spoke a familiar voice one that rich had not heard in a while as he turned to see Mateo with a small ice chest in arm.
"Finally you show up thought I was going to pass out from the heat, pass me my usual"
"I got you" said Mateo as he passed Rita a big closed purple bottle.
"And one for you" continued Mateo as he pulled out a golden closed bottle and passed it to Rich.
"I appreciate it" said Rich as it had been a while since he had seen Mateo and he was shocked to have recieved something from him.
"Just take it as my apology for what I said"
Rich was left a little dumb founded.
(What did he say that he needed to apologize to him for?)
Rich was thinking as he thought about the last time he and Mateo talked and the first thing that came to mind.
Was Susie putting the barrel of a rifle in his face...
"Don't worry about it, you saved my ass, if you didn't say anything she probably would have pulled the trigger"
"What did you do to piss Susie off that bad anyways, the only time I see her get that mad is when Claws show up and start causing a problem"
"I was Young, Ambitious, and Relentless.
Susie found herself in Maelstrom Territory so me and the patrol I was with wanted to make a statement
And so we did, the only reason she's alive right now is because of luck and pity"
"What, no details?"
"If you want to know the details, Ask Susie"
"Na, she'll just yell at me"
"What about a hint" said Mateo
"Not you too, Mateo"
"Hey, you threw the dog a treat, obviously he's going to want another one"
"I'm a Netrunner and Ripper Doc, I make homebrew Daemons, Quickhacks, Weapons, and tools.
And I also know every current Cybernetic off and on the market and know every Weakness and Strength to each Cybernetic to the point that I can take an Animal with a Berserk implant, a Tyger Claw with a Sandevistan, and a Voodoo Boy with any Cyberdeck in they're Disposal and make each and everyone of them beg for mercy.
Do the Math and get creative" said Rich after such a large rant.
Which set the bar too high because it wasn't as complex as more intimidation he used on Susie that day.
"Shit"
"Christ"
"Maybe I should give Susie a little bit of slack"
"Yeah that's the last time I question her decision making"
"Now with that settled, try the bottles again" said Rich as he finally took a swig of his drink and the sweet taste of lemon invaded his mouth as he had finally had a taste of heaven after being so long gone from it.
Rita took a swig of her drink and then stepped up to the plate as she took her Aim at the bottles ahead.
"If I nail all these you help me with my problem and make a Preem Netrunner"
She held the Revolver with 2 hands keeping her elbows loose but her grip tight.
Did she figure it out?
Was Rich about to run low on material to diss her.
Oh no...
He watched and paid close attention
Her stance was good, her hands were in the right place, her Aim was right on the dot.
She pulled the trigger, and the recoil of the gun wacked her right in the face.
But he heard the loud Shattering of a bottle as he saw that one of the bottles had been shot to nothing but shards.
The sound he didn't want to hear as he knew now he to take the Chump Rita was and try to make a Netrunner out of her.
"Fuck Yeah" said Rita as she was stocked as hell.
"Right on" spoke Mateo as he saw that his friend was progressing.
"Beginners Luck, do it again" spoke Rich as he challenged her again knowing that Rita would never turn down the challenge.
And she spilled some insults and took Aim again.
Rich noticed.
He was finally letting go and relaxing.
Lemonade in hand, chooms having fun, and for not getting shot at.
Call it a miracle but he felt Gravities Pull lessen on his heart and mind.
He was Fine.
To Be Continued.