Freezing Shadows, Chapter 42

Chapter 42: Dealing With a Dragon

I took a breath as I stepped off the elevator, and into the large open floor. The top floor of the Redmond Towers hotel was actually two floors put together. That was part of the reason why everyone knew this was a dragon’s lair, because Ivaeth hadn’t hidden the fact that she was remodeling the top two floors into her own personal penthouse.

The dragon looked just as I remembered her. During the beta, most people had to have a couple rude awakenings to get it through our heads that Shadowmen wasn’t your typical MMORPG. I had been part of a team that thought we were big and tough, and we had the idea to take on the ‘raid boss’ in Redmond, to get the XP. That was when I learned that trying to shoot dragons with regular ammo was a bad plan. Especially when the dragon had armor spells on top of their natural armor.

She was a Western dragon, looking like something out of a fantasy story. Four limbs, though could rear up on two if she wanted, wings on her back, all of that. Tip of her head to the tip of her tail was about 37 meters, with 17 of that being in the tail. Wingspan of 30 meters. Standing 3 meters tall at the shoulder. Forelimbs had opposable thumbs. Silver scales with a red dorsal fin, which was unusual since most western dragons were one color. Eyes of piercing gold.

And she was looking straight at us.

The girls followed me off the elevator, keeping a step or two behind me. We’d talked about this beforehand. Let me do the talking, since I had the most experience with dragons. Sure, most of that experience was getting eaten, or fighting the one from Mixsanto, but that was besides the point.

I followed Malone until he stopped, five meters from where Ivaeth was resting. Easily within striking distance, if she took offense. Malone bowed low, and said, “My Lady, your guests have arrived.”

Yes, I can see. And slightly early, as well. I see Alisha still does know how to pick her helpers.

I nodded my head, with a slight bow. Respectful, but not subservient. I was not one of her subjects, but I wasn’t here to be rude, either. “Your Lady, thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to see us. Alisha Cooper sends her regards, and says that you may be able to help us get out from under the ‘misunderstanding’ we found ourselves in.”

A ’misunderstanding’ is it? You invade a dragon’s lair, and call it a misunderstanding?

“Yes, Your Lady. A misunderstanding, because the information we had was that the target was a metahuman executive, not a dragon. Both the information we were given and what we could find on our own said that we were facing a metahuman. One with resources and guards, to be certain, but just a metahuman all the same. If we had known that we were facing a dragon, we would not have taken the job.”

And you ‘just so happened’ to be carrying weapons capable of wounding one of my kind?

“No, Your Lady. The nature of the job suggested that we were walking into a trap. But we did not have the type of reputation where we could afford to turn down a job just because of that. So, we made sure to get armor piercing ammunition, because we expected a corporate kill team. Which we did end up facing, later on.”

So, you couldn’t refuse a job where you knew that you were walking into a trap, but would have refused if you knew that you would be invading a dragon’s lair?

“Yes, Your Lady. Because, in our business, reputation is more valuable than nucred. A reputation for running whenever it looks like the job is going to go south is going to mean that you are not trusted with jobs that are actually important. But the best reputation in the world will not help you if you make an enemy of dragonkind.

“We fought the feathered serpent because he gave us no choice. When we understood what we faced, he was already between us and our escape. So, we fought, with what we had available, but we took care not to do anything that would cause lasting offense, either to him, or his kin. That is why we did not deliver a finishing blow, and took no trophies.”

And you thought that leaving a dragon with a wounded pride, knowing that he was at your mercy and you let him live, was healthier?

“Yes, Your Lady. Because we believed that a dragon would know that it is not the weapon, but the one who aimed it, that is to blame. But we do know that alone is not enough to sate them, which is why we are here, now, to try and get your intercession.”

Hmm. Tell me, Mage, do you know how Alisha came to know me?

“No, Your Lady. I expect that she crossed your path at some point in her former career, but I did not ask for details. Not only would it be rude, but anyone who works in the shadows knows that, although what you don’t know can hurt you, there are also things you are better off not knowing. And I judged that delving into her past too deeply would only alienate someone who has helped me in the past, as I’ve helped her.”

Yes, I think you’ll do nicely. In return for my intercession with Raoki, I require you to do a task for me. Nightelligence Solutions is a wholly-owned subsidiary of NETworks, operating in the Detroit sprawl. I have tracked rumors of a project that they are running to their facility in Wixom. This project has taken something from me, and I require someone to go in and acquire the files and specimens for this project, so that I can be sure that they are… properly disciplined.

Iceblade’s Judge Intentions test: 10d6 = 3 Hits, 2 Miss (Success)

There was a cold satisfaction in the dragon’s ‘voice’ when she first spoke. However, as she started speaking about the task she wanted us to do, that tone turned to steel. Wrath. The dragon was playing it cool, as only a dragon could, but she was pissed. Someone had stolen from her, and dragons didn’t take kindly to that, at all.

I paused to consider that. NETworks was one of the Big 10, the AAA corporations that made up the Corporate Court, and basically ruled the world without actually ruling it. They certainly ruled the corporate world. However, Detroit was commonly known as Mars Industries territory, since that was the AAA corp’s hometown.

Detroit was part of the UNAS, so you could get there without needing passports and the like, flying direct from Seattle, but no commercial flight was going to be terribly happy transporting a group of Shadowmen and all their gear. That would get flagged in a hurry. We would have to find a smuggler willing to take us, most likely, which would add to the costs.

Then, there was the fact that if Nightelligence was a wholly-owned subsidiary, they might be actually branded as part of NETworks, which would make the entire building extraterritorial, so that the only law that applied was corporate law. And that meant they could do whatever they wanted to intruders, including keeping them as ‘specimens’, if captured. And we’d be in an unfamiliar sprawl, without any of our usual support. That was going to make things much more difficult.

This also meant that we were going to be getting in between a dragon and one of the Big 10. That was not a safe place to be, at the best of times. When the dragon was angry, you definitely did not want to be in the line of fire.

“If I may ask, your Lady, what was stolen from you, and what specimens are we seeking? I ask because that will determine how we go about the task. Transporting artifacts is different from carrying chemicals, or biological material, after all.”

They captured a young child of the Matrix, who was under my protection. As I am sure the technomancer behind you can attest, the megacorporations have been most interested in finding how this new phenomenon of people being able to access the Matrix with their minds works, and how it can be… controlled. And NETworks is one of the companies with a reputation for being… less than hospitable to those they take as research subjects.

“So, steal or burn the data they’ve collected, and rescue the technomancer they took from you, or recover their remains, if they are no longer alive?”

Indeed. As much or as little damage to the building and others there as you wish, I care not, only that the task is done.

I nodded slowly. So, rules of engagement were ‘whatever it takes, so long as the job is done’? We could work with that. But there were still problems that needed to be addressed.

“As you no doubt suspect, we do not have much in the way of contacts for getting information and gear in the Detroit sprawl. Until this point, our actions were mostly focused on Seattle, after all, with a couple jaunts to nearby areas of tribal lands. And if we are limited to what we can take on a commercial flight, things will get troublesome, very quickly.”

Yes, I am aware that you are not powerful enough in and of yourselves to do this task without aid. Fortunately, I am not without resources of my own. According to my information, you typically use a pair of modified GMC Bulldogs as your primary ‘work’ vehicles, yes? The two out in the parking lot, as we speak?

“That is correct. They aren’t the only vehicles we have, but they have served us well, so far.”

The smuggler’s craft has the lift capacity to carry your team and your primary vehicles to Detroit. Their concern will be getting you there, and picking you up, when things are done. I will see to paying the smuggler for their time and troubles.

She paused, looking over us. Considering her next words. Given the flow of the meeting, I had a guess that this next bit would be about payment, and I was right, in a way.

I am well aware that this is an… inconvenient affair for you, just as dealing with the feathered serpent will be inconvenient for me. Naturally, most of your pay for this job will be in the form of me dealing with that situation. However, I am not blind to the needs of mortals. Instead of base nucred, though, I will give to each of you, something far more useful, introductions.

I couldn’t help my eyes from going wide. This… was better than nucred, in its way. The right introductions could open doors that would otherwise be closed. You could get better gear, or find rare materials. For the people who did cyberware or bioware, that was the key to getting the real high-grade stuff. And for a magician, like me? Well, there were options that I hadn’t dreamed of before.

“And may I ask to whom these introductions will be?”

The dragon laughed. Not just her ‘voice’, but with her physical form, as well, letting loose a brief spurt of flame from her jaws as she did so. I could hear the amusement in her voice when she spoke to me again.

Such cheek, while remaining respectful. I can see why Alisha likes you, mageling. I will not give away secrets so freely, of course. However, I will tell you that the introductions for you, the adept, and the technomancer will give you paths to increase your power, while the other three will gain an introduction to a supplier who can arrange a steady supply of restricted materials, and access to devices which can adjust difficult memories, psychological blocks in their behaviors, and so on.

I subvocalized into our group network, “She means that it will allow you to pay off or trade out negative qualities like ‘Addiction’, ‘Big Regret’, or ‘Incompetent’. You’d still need the karma to pay it off, but these devices do the job much faster than other ways. Plus, the ability to get high-end, restricted gear. The ‘paths to power’ probably means help with Initiation for myself and Shadowgirl, and Submersion for Twilight. Oh, and if we do well, she’ll probably keep our names in mind for future work, work that pays like, well, a dragon wants something done. We’ll talk later, but this is long-term big.”

Looking back to the dragon, I nodded, once. “Then we have an agreement. We will do our best to see your ward returned to you, or avenge them.”

I expected nothing less. Malone, give them the information packet on their way out.

Taking the obvious dismissal for what it was, I bowed slightly, like I had when we entered, and turned to follow the troll back to the elevator. The whole meeting, from entering the building to our being dismissed, had only been ten, maybe fifteen minutes. But we had a face-to-face with a dragon, in their lair, and weren’t on fire, so I was counting that as a win already.