Dynorion

Mind & Machine C.39

Chapter — 39

As it turned out, the Samurai System had nothing to say, which was somewhat strange. It hadn't even recognized her new cyberware yet, but Rei had a theory as to why this was.

Now alone — not counting any visible and invisible cameras — Rei forced the influence of [Merciless] from her thoughts. It didn't cause any panic as it left her, but visceral disgust from the memories of the surgery still left her somewhat dizzy. She didn't fee...

Mind & Machine C.38

Chapter — 38

It was the day after her call with River, also known as the first of July, meaning she'd just gotten her monthly UBI. It was another 500 credits into her SolBank cVault, but it didn't make the stab of her upcoming loss of credits hurt any less. She'd counted on those additional credits when purchasing her cyberware but hadn't considered the cost of installing it all.

Rei walked into the clinic, having gotten a message from River that mo...

Tired

EDIT: The delay has extended even further because I've been rewriting chapters in my backlog that I've not been especially pleased with after the fact.

I've been absolutely exhausted the past week, which is nothing strange to me overall, but it was been worse than normal. I'm still writing as my motivation hasn't waned, but it has slowed down somewhat due to this.

Just thought I'd give an explanation if anyone was wondering why my previous pace of pushing out chapters diminished. ...

Mind & Machine C.37

Chapter — 37

Before Rei called Ichiro, there was one last thing she had to check. It was something she'd done before, but long ago when her [Ego] and [Mind] weren't as high as they now were. Rei hoped that she'd now be able to glean more information on what made her [Body] attribute tick, so to speak.

Looking over her status sheet, still open from when she'd selected her perk, Rei focused on [Body], imposing her will as firmly as she could while doi...

Mind & Machine C.36

Author note:

I've been taking a short break to consider the future arc, and I think I have it all figured out. There will be another note at the end of the chapter.

Chapter — 36

Rei brought up her CIP as she walked through the tunnel leading to the arena she'd been slotted to fight in.

「[Colosseum Inc. Profile]
Name: Voidliac
Rank: F (50 / 50)
Ratio: 72%
Valid: 39 Wins, 15 Losses
Total: 54
Pers...

Mind & Machine C.35

Chapter — 35

Falling through the gravel-like substance felt strange to Rei. She picked up speed as she dropped, never coming into contact with the material beneath, which swiftly closed back up above her.

Then, she had a split second for her eyes and foggy brain to take in a dimly lit open space that looked about as long and wide as the arena above — if not as high — before she impacted with a gentle splash.

It wasn't the splash of water, ...

Mind & Machine C.34

Chapter — 34

Rei walked out into the arena through the less-than-lukewarm cheering from the stands, where one hundred or so people of all ages sat, shielded by plexiglass. Camera drones circled above the twenty-by-twenty meter square space before buzzing down toward Rei and her opponent.

Rei was unfazed by the camera lenses focusing on her proud posture. Thanks to [Athleticism], she moved with cat-like grace, her violet eyes burning with a chilly in...

Mind & Machine C.33

Chapter — 33

Bullet after bullet flew down the range at holographic targets as Rei and others opened up fire with various weapons.

Rei reloaded her Garland before continuing, doing her best to aim for the head of the blue-colored human projection. A few red dots were already present there and on other parts previously fired at. However, she'd fired many more bullets than the red dots represented.

Still, she was getting better, not missing near...

Mind & Machine C.32

Chapter — 32

The three siblings talked and laughed as the drinks were being delivered by drone, and they continued to order. They also had snacks -- some sort of crunchy and chewy stick in many colors and flavors that could be sour, bitter, or spicy. Rei preferred the sour ones -- like Miyo -- while Ichiro liked his ones bitter.

Miyo said it was because he liked "being macho."

A few people came up to try to join them but got rebuffed without i...

Short delay

No matter what my frequent posting might suggest, I don't have a fixed update schedule. That isn't what this post is about, though.

Someone at Royal Road made a comment about it not making much sense that all cyberware had open nodes connected to the mesh, and thinking about it; I have to agree with them.

It makes much more sense to me that all cyberware transmits data between the neural link and themselves. Then, that data may or may not go to the mesh through the neural link ins...

Mind & Machine C.31

Chapter — 31

Rei took a circuitous route on her way back to Miyo and Ichiro, stopping at every vending machine not surrounded by too large crowds and out of view of any obvious cameras.

She also stopped once in an alley where she waited for a quarter-hour to see if anyone was following, but that didn't seem to be the case.

As she waited, Rei called Ichiro and Miyo and told them the bad news, skirting over how close to death or capture she'd co...

Mind & Machine C.30

Chapter — 30

Even though she was injured, Rei decided against using her single medical nanite injector or whatever mystery spray she'd nabbed from Ben.

[Self-Repair] will fix me up eventually, and I don't know what lies ahead.

She rode the elevator up two floors before moving to the side as its doors opened, cautiously peeking out and seeing that the coast was clear.

Not bothering with stealth, she ran down the corridor, one par...

Mind & Machine C.29

Chapter — 29

Rei vaulted level after level of the fire escape placed in an alley on her way down from the roof of one of the shorter buildings around. It was exhilarating and excellent practice.

「Notice:
[Parkour] skill level has increased.
Level: 3 → 4」

New information flooded her mind as she vaulted the last two meters to the ground, the skill providing her with new ingrained knowledge throu...

Mind & Machine C.28

Chapter — 28

Midnight was approaching when Rei finally knocked on Miyo's apartment door, waiting to be let in. It barely took a few seconds before she was, and Rei did her best to answer the storm of questions her sister hurled her way as they embraced.

She didn't really feel like talking much, however, and Miyo seemed to sense it as she let off after only a couple more questions, asking if Rei was all right.

Thankful for her sister's tactfuln...

Mind & Machine C.27

Author note:
I don't know if it's an error or something, but I can't attach a PDF. Patreon says it's an invalid format and only image files seem to be accepted. EDIT: It's working again, so an error, it seems.

Chapter — 27

"Bro! Tell me she's kidding!" The unknown man said to Ichiro.

"I don't think she is, Esmond," Ichiro responded, most likely sending the text to all three of them as Rei also got his r...

Mind & Machine C.26

Author note:
I changed the perk name to [Merciless] in this chapter, and it looks fine to me. What do you guys think? EDIT: I've updated it for C.7, C.8, C.10, C.14, C.16, C.19, C.20, C.21, C.22, C.23, C.24, C.26

Cheers,
Dynorion

Chapter — 26

Going on the tram, snaking between highrises as it hung from a rail, was a new but pleasant experience for Rei. Each side of the tram had basic benches set against ...

'Deliberately' cruel?

I've asked around a bit for alternatives to [Cold-Blooded] as a perk name and Lazerus56 gave a suggestion that seems more accurate: [Merciless]

When I compared the definitions of the words, the most crucial difference was that cold-blooded is defined as someone who is 'deliberately' cruel, while merciless isn't that specified.

It should be evident that no matter how cold and calculating Rei becomes under the perk's effects, she's rarely if ever, shown any deliberate cruelty.

Mind & Machine C.25

Chapter — 25

"I don't know if I should be asking for more of those details you offered to share," Derek said apprehensively as he looked at Rei's new weapons and magazines strapped to her body.

"Nah, don't. It won't do any good either way. Miyo and I will start looking for a new apartment today anyway."

"We are?" Miyo asked, coming out of the bathroom, clearly newly showered.

"We are. We'll keep calling Ichiro until he answers, but if hi...

Mind & Machine C.24

Chapter — 24

Well, Miyo isn't wrong to say that Sally is essential. I don't know if Miyo realized that our old apartment might be out of reach forever. There's just no way of knowing if whoever is after me will think to look there.

They probably will, but the question remains on how long we'll have to stay away before they shift their focus elsewhere. At some point, getting a new home will be necessary.

There was also the iss...

Mind & Machine C.23

Chapter — 23

"Excessive biological fluids detected in the cabin. The cost of sanitation will be billed to your SolBank cVault. Should the passenger perish, yet another bill will be provided, and the corpse will be dropped off at one of EasyRide's retrieval stations for next of kin.

"Do you wish to provide information on next of kin should those services be needed? Your response to this question is crucial for us to ensure the smooth operation of our...

Mind & Machine C.22

Chapter — 22

Kiernan stood sweating in front of a desk that used to be his. With his repeated failures, the possibility of reversing his current situation seemed less and less likely.

Kiernan's right hand, a woman called Meira, who was nearly as cybernetically augmented as himself, suddenly opened the door into his office.

Meira was the only one except him in the whole of The Pistons gang who could sport so much chrome without being classified...

Mind & Machine C.21

Chapter — 21

Three people were rushing her in her direction with speed that she couldn't hope to outmatch. They were one man and two women, all of them having industrial-looking cybernetic arms that made their affiliation plain to see. They also had other cyberware on display.

"The boss was right. She went in this direction," One of the women said in a gleeful tone, oozing impatience.

Pistons? How the fuck did they find me?

Rei sl...

Mind & Machine C.20

Chapter — 20

Rei kept running for her life, as she had no doubt getting caught would put her life in jeopardy. She didn't know who she was running from or why, but it seemed like whoever they were, WolfMosh had known about them, and Wilma was somehow involved.

There was no frantic scrambling and tripping over her own feet as she ran through the long, two-meter high, and dimly lit corridor, though, all due to [Merciless]. It was the only reason her h...

Mind & Machine C.19

Chapter — 19

Having finished her guided tour with Wilma, Rei chose an orange-coded job from the board and walked toward the portal arch, the only way to move securely into and from their level of the atrium.

Upon seeing the archway, Rei felt like slapping herself.

It was so blatantly obvious all along. How did I not think of it sooner? Symbolism, Rei. Symbolism. How secure can a space be if you can enter it from wherever you please? 2024-05-30 18:36:56 +0000 UTC View Post

Mind & Machine C.18

Chapter — 18

WolfMosh let his mind glance briefly at the camera feeds that monitored the dive room as he walked toward the elevator going up from his underground facility. He watched as all four of his apprentices climbed in and connected to the mesh, another part of his mind seeing them all appear inside the local secure mesh.

Even when present in the physical, with his level of authority and cyberware, he was never truly gone from his own mesh whe...

Mind & Machine C.17

Chapter — 17

Eight months into her confinement, Rei had shown enough competency to be given some real work on analyzing data and decrypting stuff. Her programming skills would have remained stationary if not for the puzzles she still completed between jobs and her work on the private realm's security.

Rei could now anticipate WolfMosh's arrival two whole seconds before he appeared — the ICE not giving him much trouble but able to slow him down som...

Mind & Machine C.16

Chapter — 16

Rei had wondered how long it would take before WolfMosh thought her good enough to be given some actual work. The answer?

Several months.

She had worked herself to a near-burnout but never actually crossed over that boundary. Rei suspected it had to do with her System and its skills, as the number of puzzles she'd put herself through daily would have driven anyone else insane.

She now had a strange yet firmly rooted love-hat...

Mind & Machine C.15

Chapter — 15

Well, that answers the question of whether I'm being monitored or not.

WolfMosh stood in the doorway to her sleeping quarters that had just opened, his gaze fixed on her.

She looked a real mess, she knew, but that wasn't important. She didn't care what he thought of her in that regard. No, she actually preferred it if she came across as unappealing in his presence.

"How are you?" He asked, tone still flat.

"Just ...

Mind & Machine C.14

Chapter — 14

The target of her glare seemed utterly unimpressed. He just stared blankly back at her, his eyes chilly.

The look in those eyes made Rei's own shift away, but she couldn't keep a tiny scowl from forming.

She looked at the grass that now had an imprint of her body. The deformed grass rose with a thought until no trace of her slacking spot could be found.

"Three weeks, four days, twenty-one hours, and thirteen seconds," WolfMo...

Mind & Machine C.13

Chapter — 13

At Rei's eager nod, he extended his hand once more, but this time, instead of manifesting a virtual weapon of mass destruction, a simple cube of gleaming silver metal appeared without ceremony.

He tossed it casually toward her. 

Catching it, she held it up to eye level to study.

It was seemingly made of metal, and crimson pulsating veins of straight angles broke through the exterior. She supposed it was on point for his...