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Coaxial

By Arcane Reno

Darkness and cold enveloped me, somewhere between reality and nightmare. Was I dead? I was blind, deaf, dumb. My whole body trembled, and no force of will could make it stop.

I couldn't die yet. I had too much left to do! I hadn't made my father see the person I was capable of being. I hadn't carved my place in the world. I hadn't found love... hell, I hadn't had my first real_kiss._

So damn cold. My lips, fingers and toes felt numb.

Thump. Th-thump.

My throat felt tight. I couldn't see my body, but I felt like if I could, it would be huddled up in a ball. If I died, would I become a shade? Leave the physical world behind and wander the net as nothing more than data?

I didn't want to die...

Th-thump. Th-thump. Th-thump.

What the hell was that noise? On the bare edges of my perception, a glimmer of heat wavered, battling the overwhelming cold. Stiff-limbed, I wiggled, trying to get closer to the teasing warmth.

Thump-Thump. Th-thump. Th-thump.

Pain, hot and sharp, pierced my heart. I tried to scream, tried to jerk away, but my body didn't respond. Heat flowed into me, thawing my frozen veins, sending my limbs into wild spasms.

The lance of fire vanished.

I woke, and the true pain hit.

***

Every muscle in my body, including the ones I hadn't known existed, ached like hundreds of tiny ice needles were slowly being shoved into them. I groaned--it came out hoarse and raspy--and blinked open eyes which felt glued shut.

My face was pressed close to a finely sculpted mass of muscle, covered in golden fur speckled with the odd darker patch. Beneath me was the welcome softness of cushioned fabric.

"Easy, kid," Dane's voice, sounding at once near and very far away.

"What the... What happened?" I croaked. Other bits of information trickled into my returning senses. I was shivering, but the sensation of cold was easing, replaced by glorious warmth surrounding me. An iron grip wrapped around my back held me in place, though I didn't much feel like trying to move. My nostrils quivered, teased by the faint, but unmistakable musk they were buried in. Dane's scent, incredibly masculine, and all around me like the life-giving heat.

"That fragger had a trap set in 'is av," Dane growled. I could feel the rumble, vibrating through his chest inches from my cheek. "It blew up, shredded your av before I could grab ya." I followed the sound upwards with my eyes, along the taut lines of the underside of his jaw, his head resting on a pillow.

Recollection was returning with everything else. I swallowed another groan of pain. It was the last thing on my mind at the moment. "You got me out?"

"No." The single word was harsh, tight with barely suppressed anger. "Told ya. You got scrubbed."

It took a second for the word to sink in. Getting scrubbed to most people would mean inconvenience at best. To a hacker with a higher than normal sync rate and a modded visor, there were some significant consequences. For me...

"I'm not dead."

Dane barked a harsh laugh. It shook the two of us, and I couldn't help a small hiss from the resulting outcry in my muscles. He immediately sobered.

"Sorry. Yeah, you ain't dead. I hauled ass outta the SZ and ported offline. Found ya stiff and out cold on your couch, breakin' out in a sweat." His grip tightened slightly around me. This time, I bit my lip to hold in the grunt. "I got ya into the bed, just before ya started seizin' up. Lucky I still have a couple Epi units in my service kit. Had to jab ya in the heart with one. Prolly still stings a bit. Sorry."

That explained the lance of fire I'd felt in my delirious haze. "You had Epi units? Just lying around?" Those were not merely hard to come by and expensive, but closely monitored, given that they were the best, most effective treatment for hacker sickness. Even medbots responding to emergencies could only administer them under advisement from a monitoring med-tech.

More shaking. That muscular expanse in front of me rolled --a shrug. "Not the best medkit, but I got a few handy goodies.

Good old Dane. Always another surprise. Much as I hated to do it, I had to bring up the obvious. "Please don't take this the wrong way, because complaining is not at all what I'm doing, but care to explain why we're cuddled up in bed?"

A pause. Dane shifted, coughed. A smile tugged at the corners of my mouth, despite the situation. If only I could see his face.

"Yer temp was still down. Had to warm ya up. Only way I could," he muttered. "Ain't like we got climate control in this place."

"Of course, and I'm grateful. Curious about the lack of pants though." I was still fully clothed, but my bare toes brushed fur, and against my thighs, I could feel a firm, unmistakable bulge, which was certainly not protected by Dane's usual heavy pants.

His response was even quieter this time, hovering somewhere between mortified and defiant. "Was fraggin' hot. Didn't wanna get all sweaty myself, keepin' yer ass warm. Had to strip down to briefs."

I swallowed hard, taking the delightful visual journey down, before the blanket covering myself and Dane's lower half brought my greedy appreciation to a halt.

Stupid blanket.

"I owe you one, Dane," I said softly, tearing my eyes away from those perfect abdominals for the time being.

"Yeah, well, keepin' you in one piece is my job."

"You're damned good at it, even when I'm not."

He chuckled. "I've gottta be. You're damned good at finding trouble to poke yer nose into."

"Poking my nose around is my job."

We lapsed into silence. The heat of the blanket and Dane's body were working against the ice needles, relaxing my stiffened muscles, chasing away some of the residual pain. I shifted myself to lie more comfortably on my side, grimacing at the protests of my body. It also brought me in a more convenient position to lie against Dane and make as much 'accidental' contact as possible.

Thump. Th-thump. Th-thump.

My ear twitched. That steady sound from before, beating its gentle rhythm. It came from Dane's chest, a bare hands-width away from my ear.

"Feelin' better? Yer warmin' up."

"Getting there. Almost dying sucks. I don't recommend it."

"Yeah. I'd rather not go through it again either."

His grip on me hadn't let up in the slightest, as if he wanted to be sure I wouldn't disappear on him. I drew in a deep breath, regretted it with the sharp stab of pain it brought to my chest, and let it out. I'd never been this close to my not-so-secret fantasy before. Despite what had happened (or, perhaps because of it) I ached to reach out, run my hands across Dane's spotted chest, explore, feel. If I asked, he'd probably say no, give his usual firm rebuff. Not asking would feel like a betrayal, breaking the established rules of our friendship.

A quote from Battlecraft floated through my mind.

"If an unexpected opportunity arises, do not hesitate--seize it. Regret is the only cup the indecisive leader drinks from."

Sure, the esteemed general had been talking about raiding enemy supply lines and the like, but...

Maybe the drugs Dane had given me were obscuring my reason, but, scrub the rules. If I didn't try, I'd regret it. Almost dying did funny things to the perspective, especially where missed chances were concerned.

I brought my leg forward, drew my thigh deliberately across the bulge in Dane's briefs. My hand crept to his chest, fingers twitching, sliding across the silken-furred surface of his right pectoral.

Dane grunted, a startled twitch shaking him. Had he been falling asleep on me? Damn, now that was a missed chance...

"Kid," he growled, "what the frag do you think you're doing."

My jaw tightened. "I'm seizing an opportunity." I slid my bare foot delicately, tracing his calf, attempting to slip my leg between his, but he kept them firmly clamped. I traced tiny circles on his chest, and despite the intimidating rumble in Dane's throat, I felt a stirring against my thigh.

"Cut it out. Now."

The curt words froze me for a moment, but then I slowly drew my fingers down the length of Dane's side. He twitched briefly, but when I tried to dip my hand beneath the blanket, he seized my wrist in an iron grip.

"Stop."

I couldn't help it. A frustrated sob caught in my throat. So close, he was so close! I wanted him more than I'd wanted anything else I could recall.

"Why!" I burst out, quivering with pent up frustration, as well as the releasing stress of the confrontation with Two-Tone. "Are you honestly saying you don't want this? That you can't accept it? When was the last time you had the real thing? You certainly haven't for the last three years! Isn't it obvious that I'm crazy into you? All I want is to... to... I dunno, maybe pay you back a bit if you must see it that way. Am I not good enough for that, even?

"It ain't-"

"I don't care!" I snarled, too wound up to give heed to my body's protests as I jerked away from him. He let me go, and I rolled over to the edge of the bed, putting distance between us and glaring up at him. "I've tried, and tried, and all I ever get is 'no'. Never a fragging reason. Is that too much to ask for? One simple, stupid reason why you won't have me? I've never seen you give a girl so much as a second look, and if you weren't into guys, you would've told me so the first time I flirted with you. I'm hardly fragging_subtle_about it!"

"Ain't that the truth," Dane muttered.

His ears lay flat on his head, and his scowl was pasted in place, but in his amber eyes, there was a glimmer of concern as he met my pent up emotion. For some reason, that halted my next planned onslaught cold.

"I nearly died, and I've never had the chance to... y'know. Not for real. I'm not talking a little fling, or one of those stupid hookups with a Skin-av user. I mean it when I say I'm into you." My voice broke. "One good reason, Dane. That's all I ask. Give me that, and I'll stop."

He stared at me for a long moment, weighing me with his gaze. I glared right back, feeling oddly relieved for laying it all out clear for the first time. Either he'd crack and accept my emotional and poorly worded confession, or he'd dash my hopes for good, but finally allow me to let it go, pick up the pieces and move on.

Dane let out a long, tired-sounding sigh. "All right. But only if ya tell me something in return."

The cold was seeping back, despite the blanket still covering me. "Fine."

"Why are ya so dead set on a surly bastard like me? I'm sure you could hunt down a better match."

I barked a humourless laugh. "You think so? What, from one of those stupid match-making prompts the Bureau of Intimacy sends out? I tried that, once. She didn't appeal to me when we met, and besides, they only send me female so-called 'matches'. Guess they didn't get the memo. As for finding others, I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm not exactly popular, and I haven't met anyone I'd take over you."

"So I'm yer last choice?" Dane growled.

"No! You're my only choice." Hastily, I added, "And not in a bad way. We've lived together for three years, Dane, but it only took me half that time to realize how I feel."

That silenced him for a moment. He looked away. Idly, he scratched his chest, the motion drawing my attention back to that broad expanse of sculpted perfection. My fingers twitched, and I mentally kicked myself for getting riled up and rolling away from him.

"Why guys?"

The question took me off guard, breaking me out of my quiet admiration. "That's... a bit more complicated."

"Indulge me. I'm curious. If you ain't done it before, how do ya know you don't like the ladies?"

"Breasts look funny."

"C'mon," he scoffed. "It's gotta be more than that."

"Okay, fine." I frowned at him, feeling my ears flatten. "There's a couple reasons, but I'm not sure if they'll make sense."

"Try."

"If it matters that much..." I took in a deep breath, steeling myself. "How much have I told you about my father?"

Dane's expression darkened. "That he used to beat ya. Strikes me as a bit of a coward, no matter who 'e is."

"Yeah, that. I was never good enough for him, never 'up to his standards', whatever those were, exactly. Honestly, I think he blamed me for my mother's death. She died shortly after I was born. Complications of the birth, or something."

"I see," Dane grunted. "No excuse, but whatever."

"Of course not. Anyway, he tried to set me up with a bunch of 'matches'. Make sure I'd carry the torch for him or some trash. None of the girls I met really... interested me. Even the ones who did it with me online. That's one reason. Tried it, and it was nothing worth going live-side for. Just didn't connect with them, and most of them seemed more interested in my cyc than in me."

"And that scrubs the whole gender for ya?"

I shrugged. "Maybe. The point is, I eventually told him to stop, which he wasn't too happy about. I was still the one who would have succeeded his position at Synctec, and he didn't see me as worthy. Not smart enough, not tough enough, not 'man enough' as he put it. Our relationship steadily unravelled from there." I closed my eyes, shivering. "We argued almost every day, for the times we were both offline. He started juicing. Only a little at first, but the mixes got heavier, and so did the beatings when he got riled."

Dane's rumbling growl rose, and I caught a whisper of, "Fragger." I opened my eyes to see his jaw set in a hard line.

I rolled onto my back, not wanting to see his reaction to the next part. "One night, he got really messed up. Dunno what he took, but it was bad. He came into my room, started yelling at me. Told me that if I wasn't going to be a real man, he'd have to show me how. At first, I thought he was just so blitzed, that I laughed when he took off his pants. Then he got on top of me, pinned me down." My voice trembled, my vision blurring. No, not now, dammit! I refused to let Dane see me like that! "I tried to fight him off, but he was bigger, stronger. I-"

Dane's hand rested lightly on my shoulder. "Kid, ya don't need to keep going. I get it."

If my ears could have flattened any further, they would have merged with my skull. "I left soon after that night. The crazy, stupid part is, despite the pain, despite how much I hated him, it started to feel good, in a way that I hadn't felt before. And ever since then, I've wondered if I wasn't interested in the girls because guys are more my speed. I wanted to know what it's like with someone I didn't hate, who I connect with, and who actually cares about me." I turned to look at him again, carefully schooling my expression. "And I thought I might have found that person." It came out in a near whisper, but the perk of Dane's ears told me he'd heard.

He took a moment to respond, his face an inscrutable mask. "Yer right, it don't make much sense to me, but I gotta respect yer reasons."

White-hot anger flared, searing away the shame I'd been stewing in. I bared myself to him, and got this? "Fine," I snapped. "What's your grand reason for rejecting me? Am I not man enough for you either?"

"None of that," he growled, letting his hand drop from my arm. "I ain't the sort of cowardly bastard who beats on a kid and tells 'im he ain't good enough."

I glared at him, prompting an explanation.

"Okay, okay," he huffed, scratching an ear. "It's like this. I ain't ever told this to anyone, so keep yer trap shut, y'hear?"

I nodded.

"I'm sure ya know how short the war was. Couple weeks of actual combat, which in itself was mostly posin' and growlin', before everyone figured out that New Absolam weren't gonna roll over and join up with the main net with a lil' intimidation, and that fightin' over it weren't gonna do anyone good. Still, there was trainin' and such before the battles, and the boys in my unit got pretty close, y'know?"

I shrugged, which seemed to be good enough for him to keep going.

"Anyway, there was this kid. A fox, like you, named Nevvin. Had yer attitude too, the cocky bastard. Dunno what it was, but we really clicked together. First day out in combat, he stopped me from chargin' out into what turned into a killzone for a strafer bot. Said he'd heard the thing comin' somehow." Dane shook his head. "Couple days later, I returned the favour. Got him away from a pinned position, along with a couple other boys from our unit."

He halted, looking somewhere over my head, posture and large ears stiff. I recognized that far away look too. Why would he be embarrassed about saving his friends?

"Daaaane," I prompted, poking him in the chest. "You promised to tell me."

He sighed, breaking from the stare at our covered window, though he remained rigid. "Yeah, I know. Not much else to say. Weird stuff happens when ya throw guys together in life or death situations. Somethin' about surviving together. Dunno how it happened exactly, but that night, me and Nevvin sort of... found some privacy."

So that was his big secret! I could feel the grin forming, chasing away my anger. I was going to have some fun with this all right.

"Wipe that smirk off," Dane growled. "It ain't like that. Not sayin' I didn't like it, but it was a one time thing. Specially seein' as Nevvin stepped on a sonic mine the next day, right in front of me."

My grin wavered. "Oh."

"Yeah." His expression didn't change, but some of the stiffness softened. A long, quiet moment passed. How awful would that be, to see someone you had feelings for cease to exist before your eyes? I shuddered.

Finally, Dane said, "Ya really reminded me of him, first time we met. Part of why I took the job."

"I see." The next words caught in my throat, but I managed to force them out. "I don't really get it though. If I remind you of him, and you two had that kind of thing going on..."

He glared at me. "I knew ya wouldn't see the point. Much of a pain in my ass you are, I don't wanna lose ya, kid."

"Lose me?" Was he deliberately being confusing? "How would becoming more than partners 'lose' me?"

"You're gonna think this is dumb," Dane said.

"Tell me anyway. You promised, Dane!"

He huffed a sigh. "Whatever. Last time I did that, he died. I don't wanna go through that again. Simple."

I stared at him, disbelieving. "That's it?!"

"Yeah."

"You're right, that is pretty dumb."

His ears flattened. "Maybe it is, maybe it ain't. It's still the reason I keep pushin' ya away."

"What if I promise I won't die tomorrow?"

Dane shrugged, tapping the side of his head. "Call it crazy, but it's hard to convince myself it ain't gonna happen. Maybe it's PTSD or some shit, dunno."

"So you don't secretly hate me or find me revolting."

"'Course not."

"And you're not strictly a ladies man."

A shrug of those massive shoulders. "Can't say I'm opposed to some soft curves, but I ain't so narrow-minded either."

"And you push me away because you think somehow that letting me get close will wind up with me being hurt."

And you as a result, I added silently.

His glance slid away from mine, his ears falling flat. "Somethin' like that. I shouldn't have said nothin'."

I couldn't help but grin, and punched him lightly in the shoulder. My muscles protested the quick movement, but I ignored the brief pain. "You surly, tough, amazing idiot. That's the sweetest thing you've ever said. Scrub it, that anyone's ever said about me." It was as if a bit of his hard outer shell had fallen away, exposing a person who was almost as vulnerable as I was.

Quick as it had dropped, the armor returned with a roll of his eyes and a snort. "Keep it to yerself, or I'll have to undo the work I put into savin' yer ass."

"Don't worry, I intend to keep that secret nice and close." I felt like my face would split from my smile. For a moment, we eyed each other from across the bed: him with apprehension, me with appreciation and rekindled desire. The express knowledge that he cared--far beyond his responsibility--was almost as good as the physical connection I'd desired. It was a step, however small.

After a silent moment, my grin faded. "Can we ... cuddle a bit more?" I said quietly. "Will you at least let me have that much?"

He heaved a sigh. "Shit, you really are like him. Look, kid. I ain't gonna change my point of view overnight. I get that ya want me, and damned if I ain't attached to ya myself. But it ain't easy for me to go against my gut feelin'."

I scooted a bit closer. "I know, and I'm not asking you to. I just want ..." A pang shot through me. That awful, frigid cold, so distant and dark. I gulped down the rising lump in my throat. "I was so scared, Dane. I don't want to feel alone right now. Please?"

Dane closed his eyes, shook his head, grumbled under his breath. "Dunno how ya talk me into these things." With a sigh, he lifted up an arm, looked at me, and jerked his chin. "Fine, c'mere, but keep yer paws to yerself."

I didn't waste time agreeing. I tucked myself into the protective warmth of his large, firm body, sighing as his heavy scent filled my nose. An arm fell across my shoulders, tugging me against his chest, and I returned the gesture, slipping my arm along the small of his back, dutifully keeping my paws above the waist. It was hard to ignore the raw seduction of his barely clothed state, and he could probably feel my reaction pressed against his thigh, but I wasn't going to push my luck. Later, maybe, he'd relent, and allow us to explore new possibilities together. For the time being, this was enough.

"Thanks," I mumbled.

He merely grunted, and I suppressed a chuckle. It had been brief, but his grip on me had tightened, and with my cheek nestled close to his chest, I could've sworn I'd heard the strong, steady th-thump of his heart pick up the pace ever so slightly.

Just then, my remote notifier chimed, informing me I had a new mail.

"Ya gonna get that?"

I shook my head. Great timing. Probably Sting, or the BI. "Whoever it is can wait. I'm not moving for awhile."

"Probably for the best," Danne muttered. "Fine. Try and get some sleep."

The day's fatigue was indeed taking its toll, urging my body to shut down and recover, despite my desire to stay awake and appreciate this a little more. I closed my eyes, content to rest in the cocoon of safety offered by Dane's embrace.

***

I should've checked the fragging email.

The pit of my stomach felt hollow as I huddled in a blanket and stared at my display, reading and re-reading the all caps message dominating my inbox.

A door opened behind me. Dane was smoothing down his ruffled headfur, changed into a clean shirt and pants after a few minutes alone freshening up with our portable sonic scrubber. He gave me a nod.

"Everything good, kid?"

"'Good' isn't the adjective I'd go with at this point, but you can see for yourself." I slid aside, nodding at the display.

"What're you on about? What's this?" Dane stepped beside me and peered at the bold message emblazoned across the display.

I'M GOING TO KILL YOU FOR THAT.

The sender was marked as 'unknown', but it wasn't much of a mystery. Two-Tone was back. Once again, the panda from hell had defied the odds of impossibility. I'd come close to dying, and I was only at a 75% sync rate, with Dane there to save my ass. Was Two-Tone a machine in truth? Some sort of crazy AI, programmed or misguided into hunting me down? Whatever the case, our perfect plan had failed, and Two-Tone was royally pissed.

But ...

A slow grin spread across my muzzle.

Dane muttered a curse, his hand balling into a fist. "All right, enough of this shit. Kid, we're wiping IDs and goin' off the grid for awhile."

"Ah ah, but wait!" I held up a finger, smirking. "Don't you see? He's messed up, Dane. I have him by the balls now."

Dane's jaw set, his arms crossing across his chest. He opened his mouth, but I cut him off before he could give his stonewall argument.

"No, wait, let me explain. How did he get my personal mail, Dane?"

Dane shrugged. "Shouldn't be too hard. He found one of yer ads."

I shook my head. "No. This came to my private account."

"So? This guy's a pro. He could've fished it, like he did our names."

"I doubt it. If he'd managed to fish that, he'd have everything, and be inside my personal pad already. Names are easy by comparison. You have any idea how hard it is to get a private account ID? Especially with my extra protections? He'd have to be in the room with my personal machine to do that. It makes getting into security central look like a breeze. How else might he have tagged it?"

Dane considered for a moment, ears flattening, his brow furrowing. I hid my grin. He looked cute when he was analyzing a problem.

"Someone gave it to him."

"Right. And only three people have that ID. You, me ..."

Dane's fist met his open palm with a meaty smack. "That fragger."

I nodded. "And Sting." Despite our ongoing rivalry, the two of us were, in a strange sort of way, friends. Now, it seemed, he'd sold me out. I probably should have been angry, but the intended betrayal had turned into a golden opportunity.

"How much do you suppose that information was worth to Two-Tone?" I asked, drumming my fingers on my desk. "Hundred thousand? Two?"

"Given the way that bug bastard fleeced us, prolly more," Dane growled.

"Probably," I agreed. "A piece of the puzzle for fishing me out directly, after failing to get what he needed from the fight? Gotta be worth a lot, right?"

"What are you getting at, kid? Spit it out."

I gave a theatrical sigh. "So boring. Fine. Two-Tone thinks he has a piece of our puzzle, which he does. But, he's given us two." I swivelled in my seat, grinning at Dane. "I'm guessing his primary av is still out of commission, which will lock his account for it." It was a security feature for avs, to prevent information from being stolen while the av data was corrupted. When an av's data was fragmented, it could create vulnerabilities in the user's account. "He sent this from his own private account, and I can backhack this mail. He only has an incoming ID to work on. I have an outgoing to trace."

"That won't do nothin'. You're just gonna run into the same walls he's probably runnin' into."

"Sure. But I'm also prepared to do something really stupid. Sting wouldn't have given that info for free, even if he was being threatened. If we backtrack that payment, cross-reference it with the mail trace, and pull the despawn data from the SZ, we have his personal info. I'll send Two-Tone a mail from my masked account, challenging him to meet me somewhere ..."

Dane stared at me, his muscles tightening in a way that made his shirt stretch. "You're right, that's pretty stupid. Even if ya do get into his personal pad, he's gonna have intruder-trips. He could hop live-side and trap ya there, scrub ya again like nothin', and have plenty of time to analyze your av. Ain't gonna happen. Hell, ya don't even know he'll take the bait."

"Sure he will," I countered. "Remember what you said about him being a cocky bastard? That's exactly what he is. He's too proud to resort to an impersonal method of confrontation, and he'll absolutely take the bait. He knows he can beat us in a straight up fight, and apparently he doesn't die from being wiped anywhere on the primary net, even at 100%. If I get into his pad, I can access his av data backups directly and wipe them, then shut off his home link." I swallowed, my stomach turning over at the thought. Despite the fact that Two-Tone was after me, this wasn't a pleasant prospect. "If ... if he survives the backlash, there won't be any way for him to get back live side. He'll turn into a shade, and I doubt he's prepped himself for that."

Dane's face might as well have been carved from stone. "Not if he catches on first."

"I only need a few minutes. And if he does catch me, it'll be an even fight." Personal pads didn't support the use of mods, even homemade ones. Any equipment donned in a pad was no more than a representation, though you could work on it and update the information cached on the main net.

"I don't like it."

"Of course you don't, but it's my ... our ... best shot at getting rid of him for good."

"Can't you get his live-side location? If ya do, I could go have a lil' talk with him."

"I might be able to ... but we're not doing that. We'd be no different from the corp goons." And, I added silently, from my father. The very thought was even more sickening than my plan. "Besides, who knows what you'd be walking into. We still don't know if he's a cog or not. There could be a corp enforcers waiting."

Dane scowled. "Yer leavin' a lot to guesswork, Kid."

I nodded. "Informed guesswork. Know your enemy, right?"

Dane barked a harsh laugh. "You're somethin' else, you know that?"

I gave a mocking bow. That was the closest I would get to agreement from him. "Duly noted. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a date with the sonic scrubber, and after that, let's go kick the shit out of a traitorous bug."

Dane smacked his fist into his palm, grinning despite the tension in his posture. "Now that, I like the sound of."

***

"Hello, Sting."

Sting jumped and whirled around, his insect tail flicking. "Oh! Hey there Wiz." The smile he pasted on looked as fake as the one I wore. "What's up? I'm kinda just about to ..." His gaze slid to the yawning cave mouth on our left, its opening hung with tendrils of purple moss, which spelled the words, "Wild Syde". All around, colorful birds fluttered through the steamy air, and unseen creatures hooted and grunted from the towering trees. Ads in this node were tastefully blended into the setting while still standing out; a painted boulder here, a carved tree there. Most of the avs passing by were appropriately geared, wearing filmy robes or loincloths. By contrast, Sting wore metallic clothing, trimmed with shifting hues of glowing neon.

"Yeah, I see that. High sub fee for that game, I hear." I took a step closer to the fidgiting lion. "Is it worth the cyc?"

He shrugged. "It's not bad I guess. High res Skins, y'know? Better than the average. Even a few Skin-avs work here."

"I bet." I was less than a pace away now. Close enough. Reaching up, I lowered the hood of my robe.

From the corner of my vision, a brilliant blue line sizzled, striking Sting in the chest. His jaw fell slack, his limbs dropping to his sides. Before he could recover from the temporary immobility of the feedback loop, I snatched his wrist with one hand, and snapped my fingers. A whip of energy sprouted around his wrist, curling to the ground in a sinuous, crackling chain.

"Hey! What gives!" Sting squealed, shaking his head and blinking after the brief seconds of paralysis. He tugged at the chain of energy, frowning. "What the frag, man?!"

Several passing avs stared at the commotion, but then continued on their way through the jungle. A blue wolf with a sleek doberman hanging on his arm avoided looking at us as they strolled past and into Wild Syde. Nobody wanted to step into a conflict involving a push-pin manacle. They probably figured I was undercover security. They were supposed to be the only ones capable of holding an av in a particular place.

"What gives," I said, "Is that you're a double-dealing fragger, and I have a few questions for you."

"We have questions," Dane corrected, stepping out from where he'd been skulking behind a nearby tree. He holstered his feedback pistol and strode over to join me.

Sting's leonine ears flattened, his fur bristling. "I dunno what you guys are talking about. The surprise worked, didn't it? I fragging told you I wasn't gonna get involved any more!"

"Really? So you're saying you have_no_idea how this got into my private mail?" I flipped open my data menu and pulled up the message from Two-Tone, drawing it out so Sting could see it. His snake tongue flicked, once, twice. His eyes slid away from my glare, but his tone carried genuine heat.

"He probably fished it. That's the problem with you, Wiz, you think you're the hottest shit, and you don't see your own shortcomings. Sorry, but you're following a dead end."

The words stung more than they should have, and I nearly snapped a comeback, until the slight motion of his free hand caught my eye. He was trying to distract me, buy himself time to unravel the push-pin. We only had a few minutes.

"So that tidy deposit in your account was a gift from your grandmother?"

A hiss, somewhere between feline and snake. "I don't have to explain my business to you, but if you must know, it was payment for a job."

I kept my expression neutral. I hadn't hacked his account--too risky--but he didn't need to know that.

"Cut the shit," Dane growled, stepping closer and looming over Sting. "We know ya sold us out, but if ya spill the panda's transfer number, we'll call it even."

Sting let out a chuckle. "And if I had this imaginary number of yours, you'd what? Scrub me? Send me back live-side with a headache?"

I let out a theatrical sigh, dialing open my inventory menu and selecting an item. "Give me a bit more credit, Sting." I tapped the icon, and a narrow glass tube with a screw on top fell into my hands, filled with black, scuttling shapes. "Remember that time in Dragon Maze? The boss that had you hiding in a corner?"

Sting's eyes widened, ears laid back, scorpion tail twitching. His furtive movements became a bit more pronounced, but to his credit, his voice barely wavered. "What about it? Cockroaches. Big deal."

Know your enemy. I held up the tube and placed a hand over the screw top. The insects within clambered over each other, desperate to escape. "Not just any cockroaches. These are special ones I programmed myself. I call 'em burrowers. Not av-lethal. Nothing so direct." I unscrewed the lid, tilting the tube slightly toward Sting. Insects seethed, scrabbling for purchase on the glass. Sting shrank back to the end of the push-pin's tether.

"Instead," I went on, "they literally get under your skin. Sink right through, actually, and they lock your sensation perception at max. Then they get to crawl around inside, until you manage to dig them all out. Not actually hurting, but can you imagine that feeling? I haven't even fully tested them yet. Who knows? Maybe they'll even merge with your av-data permanently." I tilted the tube, sending cockroaches tumbling closer to the open end.

"Okay okay!" Sting's tail was now lashing, and he was tugging frantically at the push-pin. "I'll give you the stupid panda's number, just... put that away!"

I shot Dane a triumphant look, before dropping the cockroaches back into my inventory. He raised a brow at me, shrugged, and crossed his arms. He hadn't believed me when I'd told him about Sting's phobia, but Dane hadn't been there to see him reduced to a quivering wreck in the middle of a game node. I'd always thought part of the reason Sting incorporated insect parts into his current av design was an attempt to conquer the fear. Seemed it hadn't worked very well.

"Promise me one thing," Sting said, his composure sullen. "If you're going after that panda again, either finish him off, or cook up some story about how you got his info." A shiver rattled the segments of Sting's tail. "He jumped me the day after I sent you the singularity; demanded I give him all the info I had on you guys. I dunno how he found out I had your private mail, but I didn't--and don't--wanna be next on his hit list."

"Lucky you ain't on ours, yet," Dane growled.

"Gimme a break, man! Bad enough that you got me sniffed out by that freak."

I frowned. "Wait, he came to you the day_after_you sent the singularity? That shouldn't be possible. That av was completely corrupted and scrubbed. Even with a backup, he'd have to fix the framework before he could use it."

"How should I know?! I never saw him before!"

I shrugged. Maybe he'd patched up his main av enough to function in an incredibly short amount of time, or found some way to skin his flesh-av? "Reasonable enough. Now, the number, if you please, and we'll call it even." I tried matching Dane's pose, crossing my arms and tucking my hands into my sleeves.

Sting's free hand moved, broader, sweeping motions this time. I saw the shadow of menus appearing in the steamy air. A moment later, my personal mail chime went off. I opened it to find a copy of the funds transfer. I let out a low chuckle of surprise.

"600k? Damn, that panda must really want us."

Sting glared. "I knew you were bluffing."

"Sure you did."

"Feel like letting me go now?" He raised his still shackled hand. "I could use a bit of alone time with some of the fine ladies of this establishment. I'm going to wipe this av if you guys don't come back from whatever craziness you're off to, so I'd like to enjoy it a little longer."

"As you wish." I snapped my fingers, dismissing the push-pin. Sting made a show of rubbing his wrist, even though push-pins only restrained, without pain feedback. For a moment, we stared at each other, not quite friends, not exactly enemies. I couldn't truly blame him for selling me out. In his position, I probably would have done the same.

Sting broke first, spinning and stalking towards the entrance of 'Wylde Syde,' his trendy neon-trimmed clothes flashing.

"Try not to die, Wiz," He tossed over his shoulder, just before vanishing through the portal.

"I don't plan on it."

***

My fingers gripped the edge of my desk. After all I'd been through so far, fishing Two-Tone had been almost absurdly easy. A quick ping of the Service Zone where we'd fought, pulling the data of avs which had recently been inside it, and filtering out his av's ID string. The trace of the mail he'd sent me, which told me his host server. Finally, the bank transfer info from Sting, giving me a user account of origin. All spliced together and tested out with a few dummy pings to eliminate false returns, and I'd gotten a hit. The address of Two-Tone's personal machine.

If I'd wanted to dig further, I could've started unravelling the webs of his ID masks, and determine his live-side location. It's what he was attempting to do to me after all--ferret me out and give me to his employers. But, I didn't have the option of calling a team of armed thugs down on him. Security wouldn't bother with anonymous tip-offs about supposed hackers. The thought of sending Dane after him, or the two of us going together, was stomach turning. It didn't need to get as personal as a live-side confrontation. This had started on the net, and would end on the net, one way or the other.

There would still be traps and his firewall to get through, but with the direct address of his personal machine in hand, it would simply be a matter of bypassing such security measures. Half the battle was obtaining the location to jump to, finding the one data stream among thousands that connected Two-Tone to the main net, and hitching a ride back to its source. Opening my messaging app, my fingers flew beneath the reader, composing a quick challenge in reply to Two-Tone's message.

You want another dose of punishment? Meet me in nexus 307, by the fountain. There's an SZ there. Let's settle this for good.

I made sure that the message would send itself from my primary av, not from my private account--no need to give Two-Tone any info for free--and sent it.

The sound of footsteps preceded a heavy hand falling on my shoulder. Dane's warm presence loomed over me. My tail twitched, and I fought the urge to grab the hand and hold it tight.

"How's it comin'?"

"It's done. I know where I'm headed, and the bait is set. I'm ready." The last words caught in my throat. I couldn't look up at Dane. Couldn't let him see the nervousness in my face.

Several heartbeats passed. "Kid ..." Dane said slowly, "You ain't gotta do this alone, y'know. I could jump in from my own unit, or if ya set a beacon, I could grab that and follow ya in."

"No." Surprisingly, my voice didn't shake. I stared at my empty inbox. "You told me yourself that source hacks aren't your thing, and Two-Tone's firewall won't be a pushover. I won't have time to make holes for both of us, and if you try on your own, you could get burned." Jumping straight from machine to machine took one outside the confines of the net, and even at a normal sync rate, there was a risk of direct backlash to the user from anti-hack measures. "Setting up a beacon once I'm in will only slow me down, and every second counts. No, I need you here, just in case." I forced myself to smile and look up at him. "Gotta have someone on hand to save my tail, right?"

He grunted, his expression stony, his large ears flat against his skull. He was shirtless again, and I longed to lean into the soft fur of his chest. "I'd rather your tail not need savin' in the first place."

"How do you know I don't do it on purpose, to be rescued by such a hottie?"

Dane eyed me, then snorted a laugh, shaking his head. He gave my shoulder a pat. "If that's the case, then I need a raise."

My machine chimed, and I looked to see a message flashing on the screen. As expected, it was terse and to the point.

On my way.

I pushed back from the desk and stood, picking up my visor. Two-Tone's address was already programmed in, ready for the jump. I'd go in, hit the firewall, dodge the security program and any additional surprises, and make an entrance. The tricks I could use in the source-space were limited, but I'd always had a knack for getting in.

Getting out would be the hard part.

"Kid."

I turned, and found myself surrounded by Dane. His familiar scent filled my nose as he folded me into his arms, crushing me against the warmth of his mottled fur. I awkwardly returned the gesture, one arm full of my visor, while my legs did their best impression of wet noodles, and my heart thudded wildly.

"Don't you dare go dyin'," he growled, before releasing me abruptly, making me stumble for balance. He spun and walked out through the door to the bedroom, and a moment later came the sound of him rummaging about. I stared after him, reaching up to touch the dishevelled fur of my cheek ruff.

As if I'd needed motivation to make it back in one piece.

Time, sadly, was the enemy. I lay down on my couch, slipped the visor over my head, and settled myself comfortably. In the corner of my limited vision, the blue 'Standby' light winked steadily. Best guess, I had five minutes before Two-Tone figured out the message was fake, and one minute after I got in to realize his machine had been breached. I took a deep breath. Dane's scent lingered, warm and solid, as if he were right by my side. My hand didn't shake in the slightest when I flipped the visor's activation switch.

Tiny pinpricks of light rapidly filled my view, drawing me closer, sweeping me away. My perception, senses, existence; all were sucked in, condensed, digitized and reformed. I fell into the familiar embrace, welcomed it.

This was_my_world.

Alarms shrilled before my vision finished clearing. A complex maze of shifting orange barriers floated in an endless sea of blackness. At their centre, a compact bunker, squares of welcoming light piercing the dark from its sides. Several of the barriers were already rushing to attack, morphing into spears that would punch anything unwelcome back out into the data stream.

A microsecond of concentration, and my sense of perspective shifted, diving straight at the oncoming spears. We flew toward each other, speed only a matter of relativity and calculation cycles. I had no real form here. Outside the confines of 'true' space, I was nothing more than a ball of neutral information packaged with a core of intelligent perception, my intent enacted by mental control. But without a passcode for Two-Tone's security, I would be treated like any standard virus or malicious invader.

The anti-virus spears closed, tightened formation, and accelerated. Microseconds before they connected, I puffed my essence into permeable mist. Blazing red filaments tore past, harmlessly squeezing through the gaps in my data, and vanished into the blackness behind me. I drew most of my perception in tight, forming a spear of my own, and leaving some of the data cloud to drift. So long as my core data stayed intact, I could actualize back into netspace.

One down.

Manipulating the source-net was second nature to me. While it was hardly subtle, and was a great way to draw attention to your activities, it was often the fastest way into a so-called 'secure' location, without the trouble of going through true space.

Half the distance to the bunker had vanished, but more of the orange barricades were rotating, flashing to red, and streaking my way. The firewall shards layered, interlocking with one another and sprouting wicked spikes. Good. It would've been a disappointment if Two-Tone didn't have any custom anti-hack protocols built in. I increased my relative speed, and the wall of spikes grew steadily larger, blocking my path to the safety of the bunker. Hundreds, thousands. An endless wall of crimson, pulsing like a living flesh.

Live-side, Dane would be keeping an eye on me, ready in case I ran into something I couldn't handle. Would my heart be beating faster out there?

"Wish you could see this, hot stuff."

Brilliant red filled my perception, jagged spikes prepared to skewer and rebuff the invader.

"All warfare is based on deception. When we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near."

The moment before impact, I_shifted_, yanking my perception and critical data away from the firewall, dumping it into the floating mass of inert data I'd dropped when I'd de-stabilized to dodge the spears. Immediately, I reeled in my extension of intent, rendering myself equal in activity to the undefined data packet.

Far, far above to my new relative perception, the wall of red blazed white hot, catching the ball of inert data I'd left behind and searing it from existence. My new trajectory was perfect. I floated, dark and invisible, beneath the wall, and straight into the beacon of light emitting from the bunker.

Guess you're not as good as you think, Two-Tone.

Even if the firewall somehow detected me in the flash of quarantining the 'virus', it was too late for it to repel me. I was in. A rush of air, light, heat, and I materialized into true space, standing inside a small, brightly lit room with blue walls and thick, fuzzy black carpet that crackled beneath my av's feet. Wooden dressers and wardrobes lined the walls--Two-Tone's manifestation of his filing system--and a single white door marked the wall opposite me. The primary link from his personal machine, most likely. It was surprisingly... ordinary. I'd expected him to go for a high tech decor, or something streamlined like my own.

On top of one of the dressers sat a framed holo-print of a middle-aged female fox wearing a blue robe, a hesitant smile on her muzzle. Something about it grabbed me, tickling the back of my mind. I hadn't seen an av like that recently, had I? Upon closer inspection, her smile was a bit sad, betrayed by the lack of perk in her ears, and a distant look in her eyes. Eyes the same colour as my own.

Shuddering, I spun away. I only had moments until Two-Tone would be alerted of the hack, and he would be back here in an instant. I began yanking open drawers, scanning quickly through the contents, and was met with glowing inventory bricks. No, his av data wouldn't be here, it would be isolated, stored in its own data-seg, one with high capacity.

I glanced at the wardrobes. Was he that obvious with visual representations? Striding to the nearest one, I yanked it open, and immediately froze, the fur on the back of my neck bristling.

The hell?

Tucked into the wardrobe, a red fox stared lifelessly back at me. Was this some kind of reflection script? I held up a shaking hand. No, I hadn't somehow spawned in my flesh-av. Haltingly, I reached out, and met with a grid of glowing green lines, walling me from the motionless form. The words, 'In Use' flashed blue over the fox's chest. Not a script, definitely stored av data. A perfect copy of my live-side self. My gaze dropped to the slight swell of the av's chest, and lower. Okay, a perfect female copy. A bit wider in the hips, and missing the obvious bits, but the coloration, placement of markings, shape of the face, even the off-green shade of the irises...

The shaking in my hands became spasms that vibrated through my entire body. This was Two-Tone's flesh av? His... or should I say,her, true self? If I didn't know better, I'd think it was a skin, fine-tuned to creep me out, but there was no_way_ Two-Tone knew what I looked like live-side, even if she had managed to de-corrupt her prime av so quickly. And not even someone of my skill could manage to get a third av from the Bureau of Net Protocol.

I needed to wipe this data, sever Two-Tone from the server connection, and trap her in this av and the net for good. But, first, I had to find out the truth. It would only take a minute. Half in a daze, I swiped a finger along the grid, scrolling past menus until I found the one for av-meta tags, user permissions and stored server data. Lines of text began to scroll across the grid, listing properties of the stored av data, and partially obscuring the creepy sight of my own face--or near enough--staring back at me.

REGISTERED USER NAME: Jo-Ann McLaren

SEX: Female

CITY OF ORIGIN: Jericho

No surprises there.

DATE OF BIRTH: 8.3.Q4.116 NE

I jerked like I'd been hit with a banning protocol. My own birthdate, right down to the day.

DATE OF AV CERTIFICATION: 2.4.Q4.132 NE

She hadn't waited long to register her flesh av and get her prime issued. Less than a week after her sixteenth, just like me.

ISSUING AUTHORITY: Net Protocol Admin 261

REGISTERED GUARDIAN: Mother, un-unionized

FATHER: Unknown

Interesting. She had the opposite situation from me in regards to parents.

MOTHER: Dana McLaren

SIBLINGS: None

DEPENDANTS: None

Wait. I scanned back up to the line for 'Mother'. The last name meant nothing to me, but Dana... That holo-print of the older female fox...

"It's always been personal," Two-Tone had said.

If the birthdate had been a banning protocol, this was a full scrubbing with a live-side ice bath. It was ridiculous. Impossible. My mother had died when I was an infant. I didn't know what she looked like! All I knew was her name, and that only from my father's tirades.

At least, my father had_told_ me she'd died. Implied that it was my fault, that he could've had other, more worthy successors. Maybe successors like the sister I apparently had?

I had a fragging_sister_?

The door behind me activated with a loud_click_.

I spun, just in time to be tackled by a snarling, clawing blur of russet fur. We hit the fuzzy carpet and tumbled, my vain attempts to ward off my attacker failing to prevent her ending up on top, pinning me with her knees. Her glare pierced me, and before I could react, her fist_cracked_ into my nose, bouncing my head off the floor.

"You low-life sneaky fragger! I should've known you wouldn't have the balls to come and face me down!"

She hit me again. It didn't hurt. There was no sensation at all in a personal pad, and our avs were about as powerless as they could be without the trappings of the full net. But, the sentiment stung, and so did the all-too-real memories of flinching away from my father's fist.

"I was right about you," she snarled, drawing back her black-furred hand for another swing. "You deserve what's coming. You and him both! What'll happen when I hand them your live-side ass, and the corpie toughs have to bust down daddy's door?"

"Huh?"

Crack.

Annoyed by the punches, I rolled, grabbing her wrist. She was smaller than my prime av, and with the live-side normal physics of a pad, the move flipped her off of me. We both hopped to our feet in an eerie mirror motion, and I matched her glare as she settled into a defensive stance between me and the wardrobe, knocking its door closed with an elbow. She was dressed in the simple white robe of a flesh-av. No secrets, no lies.

"What are you talking about," I growled. "Busting me won't do anything to_our_ father, not that I'd care if it did. And it's hardly a dirty trick to track you down after what you've done to me." My mind raced. If she jacked out, she could trap me here in seconds by simply pulling her net connection. Not all of me, but the extension of my data, which she could then trace.

She let out a mirthless laugh. "You parsed that bit out at least. Good. I'd hate to have an idiot for a brother as well as an asshole." Her posture remained wary, ears flat, tail stiff, but some of the fury had dampened. "Did you figure out the rest, oh high and mighty 'wizard'? Is that what stopped you from deleting little sister's av backups? Or did you just have a sentimental breakdown?" She bore a certain unfettered ferality, the kind brought on when the whole world was after you. It reminded me of the way I'd been, before meeting Dane. Even if she was irritating and insulting as always.

"News flash; I don't really want to fight you. All I want is to be left alone, and not have some crazy panda on my tail trying to scrub me!"

"Left alone to go back to poking the giant with a stick?" She sneered. "You and your tough friend, fighting a private little war against daddy's empire. Well, guess what--you woke the giant up, and he's pissed. If I didn't take the job, someone else would've. You're lucky they haven't put a public bounty on you yet; they still want it taken care of quietly. If I don't hand you over in a few days though, it's going to be open season on 'The Wizard'."

"Fine, it's business, I get it. What I don't get, is what's given you such a hard-on for my blood. You've known since the beginning who I was, just not where. Still not sure how you managed that much, but I'm really curious why you hate me."

Her tail lashed, and for a moment, it seemed she would lunge at me again. "I take it back. You_are_ an idiot if you don't know why it's all your fault. Getting your name wasn't all that hard. You're not as mysterious as you think. A bit of fishing gave me the pieces I needed to parse it out, and you confirmed it by jumping out of your skin at the backdoor club."

The circles were becoming extremely tiresome. "Look, Jo-Ann--"

"Don't you_dare_ call me that! You haven't earned the right!"

I rolled my eyes, but held my hands up in surrender. "Fine.Two-Tone, if you must. Credit where it's due, you've put me through a lot. In a fair fight, you had me beat, and I'm okay with admitting I have no idea how. But, surely you see that this isn't going to end well for either of us the way things are going. Either you'll succeed, lock me down, and hand the corpies my live-side, or I'll escape, and they'll come after you for failing." Frustration welled up, my fingers curling into a trembling fist. "I've just learned my mother's not dead, that I have a sister, and she wants to kill me! Why is everyone in my family fragging_insane?_"

"Not dead, but near enough. No thanks to_you._"

"What's_that_ supposed to mean?"

"You don't fragging get it?!" Her lips skinned back in a snarl. "Not all of us have the cushy life in the core towers, y'know. Just because nutris are free doesn't mean it's easy to keep sucking wind. There's shit out in the live-side lanes that'd make you piss your privileged pants. You could've helped, if you'd bothered to glance so far down at us. Floated a bit of cyc our way,something. Then maybe mom would..." She trailed off, shaking her head.

"How is any of that my fault? As far as I knew, our_wonderful_ father was the only family I had!"

"You never wondered? Not once?"

"No! Why would I? I thought mom was_dead!_ I had no evidence otherwise! Who stays up at night randomly thinking, 'I wonder if everything I've been told is wrong, and if I have a sibling I've never met before?'"

She stared at me as if I'd grown a second head, her glare piercing through me. I met her eyes, jaw set. After a moment, her shoulders slumped, her fiery gaze falling to the floor. "You really didn't know," she said, so softly I had to strain to hear. "He never told you. All this time, and you had no fragging clue."

"Who? Told me what?"

"Dad. About me and mom."

I snorted. "All_he_ ever told me is how I'd failed. I left him and his stupid corp behind years ago. You need to get with the times."

"And you didn't see it? Didn't go over your own birth records?"

"Never seen them. Never had reason to look at them, honestly."

All the fight went out of her so abruptly, she looked to be disconnected. She fell to her knees, burying her face in her hands. Her shoulders shook, a quiet sob ringing through the room.

"Uh..." Perplexed, I took a half step toward her, then halted, looking away. My presence wasn't going to be a comfort to her. True, supreme excellence was to subdue the enemy without fighting, but this wasn't what I'd anticipated.

"I hated you so much, the entire time," she mumbled. "It kept me going, gave me something to work for. It was supposed to be all your fault. It was_you_ who took everything from me. That made it so_easy_ to hate you. I still want to hate you! Why can't it be your fault?"

I shuffled my feet, avoiding looking at her, as if acknowledging her shame would bring out my own. After a moment, she composed herself, the sobs dying down to sniffles. Wiping her eyes, she looked up, got to her feet. A gleam of defiance burned in her gaze, daring me to comment. When I didn't rise to the challenge, she demanded, "Tell me why you left dad and Synctec. You had it easy."

A heavy sigh escaped me. "That's... a bit complicated."

"Oh, so now I'm too dumb to--"

"Shut_up!_" I snapped. Surprisingly, she did, her ears and tail both twitching. "That wasn't what I meant and you know it. You want the story? Shut up and listen."

She crossed her arms, huffing, but nodded.

My hands were shaking again. I held them behind my back, gripped my opposite wrist, and hoped the tremble wouldn't vibrate its way up to my shoulders. "Easy was hardly the word for it. Sure, living in the tower meant having nice gear and better food, but living there with dad wasn't exactly a party." Surprisingly, the words came easy. Maybe it was because I'd already told Dane most of this, or maybe it was because of the inexplicable notion that Two-Tone--Jo-Ann--would understand.

"He was a busy guy, as you'd expect, but whenever he talked to me, either on the net or especially offline, all I ever got from him was anger and disappointment." I shrugged, not feeling a shred of humor. "I think that was his favourite word. 'Disappointed'. I dunno who he bribed to do it, but he had my prof set to some sort of challenge level from the moment I was school age. Increased info dump rate, double the exams, and a lesson regimen that would've been a struggle for someone three years older than me. He wasn't too happy when I lagged behind, despite the fact I was passing grade, if barely." I shook my head, gritting my teeth. "I think I was eight the first time he hit me."

Jo-Ann's tail lashed, her hands clutching at the fabric of her robe.

"It never improved from there," I continued, closing my eyes. "I could never be good enough for him in any area. Too stupid, too weak, too soft. He started hitting me more often, telling me it was my own fault, that he couldn't afford to have a shoddy excuse for a son working in his corp, let alone running it. He told me if my mother was alive, she'd agree, and he had to beat the weakness out of me. Eventually, I got old enough to argue with him, but it didn't matter. There was no changing his mind, and arguing only made him hit me more."

"Sounds like a classy fragger."

"Yeah..." Opening my eyes, I stared at the wall above her head, willing my hands to stop jittering. "Things got worse when he started juicing. Needless to say, he wasn't much of a father, and I started figuring out ways around my prof, and around the AIs he set to keep tabs on my net usage. Pretty much as soon as I was old enough to reg my av, I got out. Took what I needed, slipped the Synctec security, and went dark as far from the core as I could get. He sent teams looking for me, at first, but after a while, I think he stopped caring."

"He cares now." Her muzzle twisted in a sardonic grin.

"Sure." I barked a laugh. "I dunno if he knows I'm 'Wiz', but if he does, it'd probably make his quarter to drop his goons on my head."

"So you've been hiding from him ever since."

"I guess you could call it that. It didn't take me long to figure out that if I wanted to make it out in the slums, I'd need help. Even when most people are jacked in, things can still be... unwelcoming. I guess you'd know that as well as anybody. That's why I hired a bodyguard."

We lapsed into silence again, sizing each other up like a pair of duellists in a 1v1 node. Despite the talk, neither of us was willing to admit that the fight may not be over yet. There was a slim chance she was stalling for time, trying to distract me while she pulled something sneaky.

Finally, I broke, and said, "All right, your turn. What happened to mom?"

Jo-Ann's expression drew to a mix of sorrow and disgust. "Yeah, I probably owe you that much at least, though I doubt it'll make you feel any better. She's alive, more or less. Ever since I was old enough to remember, she's never been all there. Space case, you know?" She tapped her temple, her ears flattening. "Sometimes, she'd just sit, staring at the wall for hours, not jacked in or saying a word. She used to tell me stories... well, more like the same story over and over, about how she'd met dad through work, and how much they'd loved each other." She barked a laugh. "Wasn't until later I figured out she'd worked as a skin-av. Still did, when I lived with her.

"Anyway, after a few sessions and a bit of sweet talking, I guess they met live-side, her thinking he'd take her in, give her a better life than the one she'd lead up to that point in the slums. She lived with him at Synctec for awhile, until eventually,_we_happened. That's where things get a bit more tricky. Whenever I tried to get more details, she'd space again, or break down into a blubbering mess. From what I gathered though, dad was less than thrilled about having twins. Something to do with, 'Not wanting to deal with three dependants,' and, 'Too many successors,' or some other trash. From what you've told me, I'd guess he probably beat on mom too, then, and likely other times."

Jo-Ann paced a few steps, her voice slowly gaining heat as she continued. "He told her he was going to turn her out, after we were born. When she was no longer_needed_." She all but spat the word. "Told her he'd keep us, but on his terms. He had her watched until she came to term, and would've probably tossed her right then, if not for the doc-bots. Not sure how exactly she did it--I don't know if she even remembered--but she managed to get out, and take_me_ with her. Vanished into the slums. Went so dark, even a city combing couldn't find her." Pausing, she fixed me with a hard stare that sent an inexplicable chill down my spine. "The one time she was lucid enough to tell me about that part, she said she'd been afraid of what dad might do to me, and how she regretted not being able to take both of us. She said she thought you would have a better chance at surviving in dad's world than I did. Think she was right?"

"Dunno," I said, frowning. I could picture it--the sad looking woman from Jo-Ann's holo-print, stealing away in the night, much like I'd done years later. "I guess I survived, but I got out when I could too. I'm not sure there's room in dad's world for anyone but him."

Jo-Ann gave a harsh chuckle. "Maybe. Whatever the case, mom would go on and on about 'her boy', and how she hated leaving him behind. She grew obsessed about you, talking to herself, trying in her half-lucid way to find out what had happened to you on the net. Eventually, it was all she'd talk about at all." She shook her head. "I don't know if she even knew I was there, in the end. It was like what that net-philosopher, Rushka, said, about things getting so splintered, the whole can never be parsed."

Her tail lashed, a tremble entering her tone. "I was so_sick_of hearing about you, and seeing what your existence had done to her, that I started to hate you. I'd figured out that dad wasn't so great, but I still envied you for everything you had in the tower. Mom wasn't exactly bringing in cyc, at least, not until recently, though I'm not sure the trade was worth it. I wondered why you, at least, didn't try to find us. I got by with the corp freebies for gear and food, and taught myself what I needed. You know, the things the profs don't teach."

I nodded, a tiny grin tugging at my mouth, despite the grim tale. "Story of most hats. Find a hole in the code, see what's on the other side, then look for ways to find more."

"Yeah. I learned how to do a few simple mods on my visor and av, and from there, I was hooked. Got my prof to load up all the programming material it would let me access, and when I was done with that, figured out a way to make it give me more. Probably could've gone uni level, if I'd had the cyc. I was taking on odd jobs by that time though, and digging up every possible way I could up my skills, as well as finding out what I could about_you._ It took a fair bit of work, but I parsed out that you were most likely one of four avs. The first two I tried didn't spark, but then, right around that time, the security at Synctec decided that 'Wiz' was too much of a problem, and sent out a request with a hefty reward for a tracer, something I'd gotten pretty good at already." She spread her hands in a gesture of surrender. "I was a bit surprised to be handed your name, and that little test in the club told me the rest. Worked out pretty well for me. All things considered? You're still an ass, but I probably owe you an apology. It's hard to keep hating someone who turns out to be an equal victim."

"Glad we share that particular opinion. I'm pretty fond of my own skin."

"I noticed."

A ghost of humour danced between us. Not quite trust, but growing to something similar. We were more alike than I could've possibly imagined.

"Where is mom now?"

Quick as her flash of light-heartedness had appeared, it retreated into the cold mask. "Yes, about that. A few years back, she decided she couldn't handle the world anymore. I jacked out one day, and she was gone. It didn't take much fishing to find out where. She went full on permanent cycler. Sold herself to Omninet to do with as they please, for life support and happy dreams. She's still around, and the money in her account started getting directed to mine. Heck, I've been to visit her a few times. The corp doesn't much care, so long as you don't try to mess with their 'property'."

I shuddered. Cyclers didn't exactly live like normal people. Some corps offered 'a worry-free life', hooking their 'assets' up to a special, isolated net server. Anyone working in a cycler facility lived in a perfect dreamland of their own making, their brain function limited to a fraction of its full ability, and kept on a heavy duty life support system designed for long term use. All the extra brain power was put to use as a living, high-capacity server, supporting major portions of the net. All cycler facilities offered term employment over a period of years, scaling up to lifetime. Some would also run additional 'services', if their applicants were willing. After all, if you were comatose, why not get paid a little extra to be a live-side sex doll, or an incubator? How about donating a bit of blood, or any extra organs you weren't using?

The idea of my mother in a place like that was less than thrilling, but it wasn't a problem I could solve right now. However, there was another that I could crack.

"One more question, that's been bothering me since our first meeting. What_is_ Two-Tone? I've never seen an av do what you did."

Her muzzle turned upwards. "Hat secret."

"Come on," I wheedled. "A hint, at least? How were you so fast? And no hacker sickness? The mask delving? Heck, how you apparently fixed it up in less than a day?"

She held up a finger, smirking. "I'll tell you_one_, but only if you tell me what you used to frag him so badly. I've spent fifteen hours reconstructing already, and I'm_still_ getting bugs."

I didn't hesitate. "Singularity trap, made by a specialist. Now, give."

She mouthed the words, 'singularity trap', then nodded. "Yeah, that'd do it, if it was a good one, and it must've been a real shredder. I got no inputs when it sucked me in, so I didn't know what was going on until it spat me out, barely connected, and with the self-destruct triggered from the damage. Speaking of bugs, I'll give you one answer for free since you're so eager. Scaring your bug friend into cutting a deal was easy enough. I got the framework back up with a default template and slapped a skin over it. He probably pissed himself when he saw me." She snickered.

I waggled my fingers at her. "Give."

A heavy sigh. "Geez you're persistent, but a deal's a deal. It's a military grade AI program I found buried in an archive. Slips over an av like a template and fuses with the framework. Gives a full layer between user and av, but the tech compensates for any lag with its autonomy protocols. The dev team's funding got cut at the end of the war, and they dropped the project unfinished, because they never managed to make it function with full autonomy. I worked on it for awhile, solved some of the key bugs. I run my inputs through it, and it reacts to threats. Turns out it kicks some serious ass, once it works."

"No kidding." I winced. AI speed, powered by a person's logic. Simple, in the end, though the mechanics of it were anything but. The selective overrides alone would be a nightmare to program.

Jo-Ann was studying me, a thoughtful look on her face. It hit me with some mild shock that this was probably the closest she'd come to having a live-side conversation in months, if not longer. Even if things between me and Dane weren't all that I wanted them to be--_yet--_I still had someone there waiting for me, another person around to fight the loneliness. I could recall the feeling; jacking out to a dark, lifeless room. Not something I'd willingly go back to.

Swallowing past the lump trying to form in my throat, I said, "What happens now? Are you going to keep coming after me?"

She shook her head. "How can I? You aren't responsible for all my problems... though in fairness, I should get to trash your av too." That brought a grin to her face.

I winced. "Fat chance. You know they'll start looking for you too. Corps don't like it when the hired help fails to deliver, and they like their dirty code going public even less. I could give you some data to turn over, throw them off your hide at least."

"No. It'd have to be legit data. They're not going to be fooled by a mask, and I don't think I'm up for doing even that to you."

"By the time they have it, Dane and I'll be so dark, they'll never find us." Probably. Dane knew a guy who could help us start over. It'd mean getting out of Jericho, crossing the badlands to Megiddo, or even New Absalom. But, maybe that wasn't so bad.

"Don't be stupid. It's way easier for me to go dark. They won't be fishing for me as hard--I'm just the help." She smirked, but there was no humour in it. "Besides, not much for me to abandon here. I've rinsed the cyc I get from mom and have it stored remotely. The av backups I can port. I need to fix Two-Tone anyway."

Smart. My sister thought ahead, even further than I did, it seemed. I found myself chewing my lip, and forced myself to stop. "What if there's a third option?"

She crossed her arms. "Say that I fragged you for good, and rig some 'evidence?' Unless it's a live-side bodybag, I don't think they'll buy it."

"No. You could go dark with us."

Her mouth snapped shut, eyes widening like I'd slapped her.

"I'm serious," I pressed, taking a step toward her and putting my hands on her shoulders. "You don't have to be alone out there. I've got Dane, but, it seems to me like we could also have each other. Scrub it, if we work together, who knows? We might even do something worthwhile. What do you say?"

"I..." For the first time, I had her speechless.

"That's a 'yes' then." I felt a familiar trembling in my hands, but this time, it wasn't coming from me.

"You'd want that?" Her voice was barely a whisper, but grew stronger as she raised her chin. "Your bodyguard would allow it? I've kinda been trying to kill you--both of you."

I shrugged. "Bygones, and at the end of the day, I still get to make the calls. Most of them. He'll deal. We may just need to... ease him into the idea."

She snorted. "You'll have to handle the easing, preferably before I say I'll join you live-side. I dunno if your bodyguard is anything like his av, but I doubt he's a pansy like you in the skin."

"Hey!" She had no idea. I released her, stepping away a pace, and fixing her with a ferocious frown. "Fine, but if we're going to work together, cut the putdowns, alright?"

"C'mon, I'm your sister, dumbass. If I'm not pricking your ego, who is?"

"Point." Usually Dane's job as well, but still valid. "How about this. We'll jump to my pad and talk to him now, fill him in. Let you two scan each other, then decide."

She squeezed her eyes shut, ears flattening, a paw rubbing at her forehead. For a long moment, I waited, tense.

C'mon. Don't frag out on me.

Finally, she sighed, nodded once. "I'll do it, so long as you can talk him out of trying to scrub me on sight."

"He's not_that_ bad..."

She shot me a level look.

"He had you that worried?"

"Only that his hard head would leave a dent in Two-tone's fist."

"Okay,for me, he's not that bad," I corrected. "You'll see. I think you two may even get along better than you think."

"I'll believe it when I see it."

I rolled my eyes, then mentally flipped open my av menu, scrolling down through the options. "Right. I'll set up link back to my pad. Mind giving me the permissions?"

"Sure." Her eyes went distant for a moment, then there was a soft chime in my ear, and several of my greyed out toolbar options lit up. I activated the option for a temporary 'home' link, and set it to post, eying an empty spot on the wall of Jo-Ann's pad. Seconds later, a shimmering metal door appeared, its outline hazy.

"Ready?" I asked her, as I stepped toward the door.

"No, but I have to be."

She moved beside me, and I reached out, pulling the door open. I looked at Jo-Ann, smiled, then stepped through.

***

I dropped into the center of my pad. The familiar white walls nearly obscured by displays were a welcome sight I'd almost feared I wouldn't see again. Jo-Ann dropped in on my heels, and immediately, Jo-ann stifled a giggle.

"What?!"

"Tech-minimalist? Really? That's_so_ last decade."

"And cy-mods aren't?"

"Nah. They're hot in the niche nodes still."

"Too bad. I_like_ tech-minimalist."

She shrugged. "Your pad, your rules. It seems so_you_, anyway."

Now what did_that_ mean? Was she calling me old? We were the same age for net's sake! Grumbling, I opened my private comms channel to Dane.

"Hey gorgeous, I'm back."

"Kid!" The booming shout in my head made me wince. "Thank fuck. Get yer ass out of net space."

"I will, but first, can you join me in my pad? I've got something you need to see."

Dane's tone instantly turned wary. "Kid? Everything okay?"

"It's fine, really. Just get in here."

He muttered something I couldn't quite catch, but sounded suspiciously like, "Grab my gear." Louder, he said, "Right there."

Cutting the connection, I turned to Jo-Ann. "Dane's on his way."

She merely nodded, but her ears flicked, and I could read the apprehension in her eyes. It was still eerily like a reflection. She could likely read me just as easily.

A moment later, Dane's voice in my head said tersely, "Open up."

I pointed at the door, waving it to unlock. Dane marched in, his expression stony, massive hands clasped behind his back. He came to a halt when he saw us, jaw tightening. He looked ready to chew concrete, and I recognized the look as his, "If this situation tips a hair sideways, a lot of shit is going to fly" face.

Jo-Ann shifted beside me. I cleared my throat, which was suddenly dryer than it had been a moment ago. If pads allowed for weapons, they'd be at a stand-off already. In a way, they already were, and it was up to me to break it. Good thing I'd had practice smoothing things over lately. I was likely to have great need of that diplomacy in the future.

"Dane," I said cautiously, "I'd like you to meet my sister."

Fin