Chapter
1

The
flash of lightning just outside the glass doors illuminated the main
lobby of the Seattle Museum only before masking the entire place in
complete darkness once again. There was no movement inside of the
building, no living people venturing around thanks to the invention
of the automated security system, a system that would lock the
building down and contact law enforcement if anything with in the
building moved about past these closed doors. Many secure artifacts
could be found here, this museum having a large collection of various
things, both considered to be mystical and non-magical that with
various uses could unlock limitless power in the right hands. In the
history of the museum many people have tried to break in and get at
these items, but thanks to the security only a few have ever
accomplished their goal. This wasn't technically one of the hardest
missions to handle in this city, but it was one of them that people
tended to get. Breaking into a museum was not only considered to be
a low risk, low level mission, but in some small groups it was
considered to be a task to join a Shadow Running Team. Snatch and
Grab missions were among the most basic that any Runner would ever
have to deal with. It was a way of testing a person's
resourcefulness, their ability to get a job done, and even overcoming
basic obstacles. The museum's response to this was always simply to
upgrade their security meaning that Shadow Runner equipment also
always needed to be upgraded. This made the challenge stay at it's
basic level, and special consideration were given to teams that could
accomplish such missions with less and less of the upgraded equipment
needed to bypass the systems.

The
cameras that turned from side to side in the system, on a constant
read with the database that stored records for up to five years,
focused and shifted its focus easily while it scanned the grounds and
road in front of the building. They kept an eye out for anyone
coming towards the museum, the computer they where tied into reading
the faces and images of anyone that happened by, while it's primary
function was to insure that anyone approaching would be unable to
enter the building, and attempt to trap them inside should the
internal cameras about the building be able to find them. This
system was advanced, one of the most perfected computer programs
released to the public. It could locate issues with it's own
programming, would identify downed cameras and could even refocus
other cameras to those areas in case one went down. It was a
reactive system, always looking to respond to anything that peaked
it's pre-programmed interest, but this programming where this
programming failed was that it would always work on a predictable
bases. When a Runner makes a mistake with it word spreads, people
learn and soon others are coming up with solutions to get around such
things. This lead to a bit of a competition with the system, many
would take wagers on breaking in right after the coding had been
adapted and many people both won and lost large bits of money with
it. This wasn't one of those missions, the pair of foxes that moved
up towards the grounds by the corner weren't here for some bet, or
some prestige, they weren't going to share their findings, and
absolutely didn't plan their heist around the changing of the codes,
instead looking to avoid the "Renown Runners" in order to
focus on the task at hand. It was the kind of mission that most
people would do easily enough, but still be challenged while doing
it, but a team as skilled at these two manimals where more likely to
avoid only because they already had their names out there, given
their raid on Gencorp only a few months ago this couple of close
working runners had a big name was being both skilled and capable
regardless of the obstacles that were put in their way.

If
they were two slow and one of the cameras went out then a pre-alarm
would be released to the police and the cameras would be adjusted by
the mainframe in order to try and capture the subject, it made it
hard for anyone to get past the visual security of the machine
without sending the entire building into lock down. What Skie would
do instead is keep the camera intact, cutting into the rubber casing
of the cable and then easily shaving the video feet without damaging
the wire itself. That meant that the wire was live, but it also
meant that it wouldn't disable the camera feed from the computer.
Pulling a clip from his pocket the fox would fasten it on easily
before reaching the other end up to his temple, guiding the plug into
the slit found there and feeling his body go stiff for a second. His
mind was sucked into the computer quickly, at first he could see
through the camera, but as he grew deeper into this system the pale
vulpine quickly gained access to more and more of the cameras as
screens seemed to simply enter his consciousness, Skie's mind was
able to focus, look on at all of the things that the cameras were
able to see at once and soon those fingers started to move, the blue
illuminated light that grew under his hands forming a keyboard in
order for the white fox to start entering his codes. The first thing
that he'd do would be to record the footage from the scanning motions
of the cameras at once, taking around several seconds to get that
while the vulpine worked on other tasks such as entering the computer
database without being detected by the security system itself and
then replace the camera input with the long repeating clip of the
recorded footage, making it seem as though there was nothing going on
across the grounds despite the break in that was about to happen. It
was unfortunate that the pale fox couldn't do anything else in the
system from here, but if nothing else they didn't need to worry about
the internal or external cameras any longer. Those eyes blinked once
again, the blank and missing stare of the white eyes faded back into
his glowing blue gaze and just as he'd unclasp his connection to the
camera the easy nod told the dark vulpine he was with that they were
safe to go in and handle their task.

With
the cameras off that would make this mission much faster, the
security teams could come by some other time to remove that loop once
they learn what was going on, but for now these two could have their
way and approach the building with a quick and accurate pace. Easy
movements cross the grass would take the over the fence and soon up
to that glass door. It was never really dark in this city, street
lights, neon signs, many things illuminated the areas around these
two, but that was one reason that any Runner worth their salt knew to
act quickly when they were out on the streets. Being inside of the
building simply helped to prevent any wandering police patrols from
happening by, it gave protection to a Runner by making them harder to
spot thanks to walls and the like. With the glass double doors
coming in fast at them these two son found themselves resting on the
top of the stairs and looking over the locking system at the front.
There was no digital lock here, with so many different break-ins
happening so often the museum had decided to switch back to a more
archaic level of sealing and all that was left here was some kind of
slot for a key on the side of the door where the keypad should be.
Blue eyes met orange eyes, the two watching one another for a second
before Citrus moved to pull out a cloth bag, laying it out on the
ground his hands went to take the small curved needles that seemed to
exist here, forcing the thicker one in on top of the lock while the
other pressed into the back quickly along the button of it. An easy
and fast movement back and forth would jerk the pins inside of the
lock deep and jump the bolt in order to allow this lock to twist
quickly. Not the most accurate way of picking something, but it was
a dated solution to their dated solution. When the latch gave an
audible click to unfasten the two would enter easily, the flash of
lightening behind them being responded to with a loud roar of the
following thunder, giving light to this building for only a second,
but even that was enough for the two foxes. Skie once again entered
the computer information by way of a panel on the wall, only being
there for a second before the audible sight of red lasers turning off
called to them that the passage was once again safe.

Skie
smirked at the dark fox, moving to follow him down the hall, even
pulling his firearm into his Decker gloves just in case anyone
happened to be there. It was their own luck that nobody was and this
left the two vulpine with easy access around the corner to the west
wing where their prize awaited. If anything, it was an easy mission,
their skills were well above handling something like a building
secured by nothing more than a programmed system. If it wasn't for
the pay that they were getting for doing it then the two likely
wouldn't have bothered to take on such a mission to begin with,
leaving such things in capable rookie hands, but they were asked for
specifically to handle this, and were offered to be compensated for
both the job and their time. It was hard to say what kind of purpose
someone requesting an urn of ashes might possess for someone, but it
wasn't the Shadow Runner way to ask too many questions about these
kinds of things. With the dark fox looking around at the glass, his
hands easily passed along the rim, looking for some kind of wire. It
was to his surprise that there wasn't, but then again this urn wasn't
exactly the most sought after thing, and while it had been in the
building for years very few people even bothered to notice it existed
anymore. Instead the urn was on a side exhibit, having been placed
up against a wall on a stand more as decoration than an actual piece
to the museum, but that lead to being the entire reason why simply
lifting the glass would be more than enough to get the painted bit of
pottery, at least that was until the sound of shattered glass drew
their attention away from their current task.

***

In
a mission like this the sound of breaking glass could mean many
things, it could mean that someone dropped something, that somebody
had bumped into something, that someone could be breaking in a far
less covert way than these two foxes did, but what it absolutely
meant without any doubt at all was that these two were not alone,
that they were going to have to deal with company. Normally when
Shadow Runners venture in on the same location they keep moving, if
they were after the same item then it could turn into some level of a
fire fight, but this wasn't going to be the case today. What these
two were about to deal with would make the Runners wish that they'd
gotten themselves into a gunfight this night, but instead they were
never that fortunate. The sound of shattering glass drew their eyes
up quickly to the source of it, a high rise set window that showed
the sparkles raining down towards the ground like falling stars
dropping in time with a red clad figure. The movement of the red
leather flapped about from his hips like wings trailing behind him in
full span and when his feet hit the ground finally he'd drop to his
left hand, crimson eyes locked on the two with a deep and haunting
snarl that passed over his lips. The red glow of his gaze peaking
out under the sight of that hood that covered his face, but failed
easily to cover the sight of a white muzzle that stretched out past
the red brim. Brown pants covered the legs met wit black strapped
boots, but there was a clear lack of a shirt that the long coat he
wore made up for by covering a good portion of his body with it's
open front display of what looked to be muscles covered in a thick
coating of white chest fur that made up the underside of this beast
from throat down to blow that belt. The very display of him landing
like this after the twenty foot fall left the two vulpine stepping
back away and wondering what this creature was about to do. Citrus's
hand wrapping around that sword handle that he had at his back and
even Skie had his fingers wrapped around that pistol as they waited
to see what was going to happen from this sudden encounter.

The
movement of the canine looking creature was fast, swift, and burst
into speed in only a flash of a second. That speed was met with the
fast movement of that hand pulling up along the Japanese blade,
drawing it from it's wooden sheath, but before that arm could fully
extend the sword free the feeling of a hard punch crushing against
the dark abs of the black fox forced Citrus off of his feet and
backwards in a deep and long grunt. His hand released the hilt of
the still half pulled weapon even as it clanked on the ground leaving
itself alone on the floor while the bouncing vulpine ended up face
down and trying to claw his way to his feet. The urn that he'd been
holding in his hands lifted quickly into the air, falling in the same
time as the dark fox did and just when that body bounced across the
floor the clay pot also hit the ground, giving the high pitched call
of shattering porcelain and leaving the ashes to spill over the waxed
floor of this building. The loud call of Citrus's name from the pale
fox was responded to with a deep grunt to at least tell Skie that his
partner was still alive, the movement of those narrowed eyes helped
to draw the pistol quickly, lifting the firearm to aim right at the
fur covered monster that was already heading his way, and the
movement of that trigger coming down tight against the handle forced
the gun to kick back, arms absorbing the force of the recoil, but as
that bullet sailed through the air, cutting into it like a knife only
to hit the top end of that shoulder right beside the neck, the
movement of that bullet found itself colliding in on the canine body,
but as it scratched away the paint and fake fur all that was left was
the shine of metal that showed the creature's skin wasn't made of
flesh, and that the bullet fired didn't slow the fast approach at all
leading to the outstretched, black glove covered hands to take hold
of the white fox's body and force Skie down with a clear and audible
yelp from the impact alone.

With
Skie going down the dark vulpine was already on his feet once more,
the katana already gripped between the two hands and while he lifted
it over his head the fox gave a deep roaring bark of a snarl down at
the larger canine, bringing the edge of the blade down quickly along
the back of the canine that was now pinning Skie's body against the
ground. The loud clang of metal against metal sounded out clearly
into the air and while the movement of those hands gripping the hilt
of the weapon continued in a downward motion the other half of the
blade flipped through the air, the orange eyes of the dark fox turned
from a narrowed snarl to widen quickly just before that fast hand
lifted up, gripping around that black neck, holding it tight in his
gloved grip just before moving to tighten that hold. The hilt of the
sword had just enough time to be released from Citrus's hold, tapping
the floor three times before settling down, in an unseen location the
blade would also hit down, but while those hands were now vacant
they'd lift up to grip onto that wrist that followed the motion of
the canine's body, pulling the vulpine shaped being with him until
those feet left the ground leaving the Citrus helpless while his feet
dangled and kicked for footing. Now that they could see his full
height it was obvious the size difference between them. Both of
these foxes were just over five and a half feet, but the Wolf was
clearly a full foot taller than they were, twelve inches making the
difference here as they'd struggle against him. Skie already moving
to pick himself up, aiming for a fast punch into that firm and strong
gut, but like his bullet it did little good and only resulted in the
pale fox getting backhanded across the room, crashing into a display
that immediately fell over with him. And leaving the white fox
groaning across the ground while his body was laid out over broken
glass and ancient artwork.

***

The
item that these two had been sent to retrieve had been left without
an alarm, but the item that Skie was thrown into wasn't the same.
With that body smashing into the pedestal the pale fox found it give
way to his figure and soon that technology clad vulpine felt it crash
to the floor with himself. Sound of broken glass, missing connective
switches, and the sound of a stone tablet cracking across the marbled
floor in a dozen crumbled pieces fell into a quick and instant
silence that seemed to last for an eternity just before the call of
the building alarm sounded out. The canine that gripped onto that
dark vulpine's neck seemed to freeze in place suddenly, his eyes
going into a blank stare that then came back just as his tightly
gripped hand would release the fox. When Citrus fell to the floor,
his feet hit first, but didn't support him, that clothed butt quickly
squishing down against the hard surface while his breath was starting
to fill his lungs again, a hand holding his own neck and even while
his legs weren't yet letting him stand he'd still manage to kick his
way over to Skie. Reaching the other hand out to the white fox those
fingers wrapped around his partner's shirt, pulling him quickly in
order to get the dazed Decker to sit up to the best of his ability.
When he watched the pup blink a bit at the sudden movement those
orange eyes smiled softly that his friend was ok. Sore, worn down,
and beaten, the two knew that this alarm really only came to one very
basic fact, they both knew that the police would be on their way, and
sitting in a museum after two items had been destroyed was not the
best way to get caught doing Runner activities. As their senses and
balance came back to them the two would work to help one another to
their feet, only having the time to collect the broken sword and the
dropped pistol before the call of sirens started to outshine the call
of the alarms of the building, the sight of flashing blue and red
lights cutting the darkness and entering the windows of this building
which told these two that it was time to leave.

The
canine was already gone, seemingly vanished, but these two weren't
going to be caught so easily either. As they raced towards the back
door it was clear that the police were going to be trying to circle
this building, but as they burst through the rear emergency exit the
cops of this city hadn't yet gotten this place circled yet, giving
them the time that they needed to race away, to escape before the
police cars could encompass the entire building. Luck if nothing
else, but what helped was their vulpine enhanced speed and agility
that came with the changing that the two had been forced to go
through. Even if they managed to get away without pursuit it didn't
change the fact that the two had not only gotten their fetch
destroyed, but also managed to get themselves completely beaten down
in the process. It was going to take time for them to recover, for
them to find out what happened, and even to find out who that
actually was so that they could plan out any level of a retaliation,
but until they did these two were going to stay on the low, they were
going to keep themselves hidden away so that they could find out what
options they had for a next step. There likely wouldn't be any real
retaliation for failing the mission, maybe a bad review, maybe the
Johnson that sent them would get upset, but these two were tough
enough, they looked like two scolded puppies who were just told "no"
for peeing on the carpet, but even in this state the two could handle
their own against any Shadow Hunters that were sent after them if it
came to that. Instead they could spend their time planning out their
options, finding out who this guy was, and trying to plan how to
either avoid him to take him down entirely. The only place they
could do that, though, was going to be a reliable old friend's bar
that they often visited, a Runner hang out that could give the two
the cover that they needed to take their time with it.

Chapter
2

The
large orc hand pressed against the door of the bar, opening it wide
as these two moved their way inside. Eyes instantly turned to the
two vulpine figures that came to limb, hobble, and struggle their way
to the back. Their fur and clothing a mess, their bodies clearly
showing bruises where they'd taken the beating that they had, and
both knowing all too well that whoever this wolf was it left the two
of them completely outmatched. If it had been a matter of teaming up
on him then they would have won, but how do you fight something that
can shrug off bullets and swords? Citrus was badly battered, but he
could handle it, his body was built tougher, the bio-organic muscle
systems wouldn't damage so easily even if the skin does, but Skie
didn't have all that and the memory of seeing the white fox thrown
across the room was something that even now drew an easy growl to his
lips. His dark hands pressing to the pale vulpine's chest, helping
to sturdy his friend enough that they could make their way towards
their table once more. Even the bartender spoke up for them, asking
what happened but neither had the energy or patience to really
explain it, simply ignoring the man for now and leaving him be as a
sign to leave them both alone for a small time. They weren't trying
to be rude, though, they just weren't used to not only failing at a
mission but getting their asses thoroughly handed to them like this.
It wasn't until Skie was finally seated at their table that the two
were given a chance to relax, flopping down in their booth and
leaning their heads back against the non-existent headrest that was
actually the top of the booth seat itself. Their groaning breaths
now finally giving the two a chance to actually think about what had
just happened, giving them the final moment they needed to actually
try and figure out how they were beaten and what they should do about
it for now. That would all have to come later, it was one of the
first missions that they'd failed to accomplish, and so while they
dreaded the result of getting in contact with Johnson, the fact that
he wasn't hear any longer drew an even larger point of interest
between the two.

Why
would their contact not be here? Why would the man that sent them to
recover an item not be where they could find him in order to hand
that item over if they were able to recover it. It was slowly
starting to dawn on the two that there had to be a reason that the
wolf that attacked them had known right where they'd be, would be
able to crash through a window directly over them. They were asked
to go on a cheap quest in order to handle this mission and they'd
been suckered into doing it despite having a far better reputation
than what would usually push people away from those types of tasks,
but there they were looking for that extra bit of catch to drive the
points even. No, the plan had been obvious, send the two of them
after some random item in order to stall them long enough to be
attacked, it was a set up, a double cross, and now while they were
both starting to grow more upset about the sudden realization these
two foxes weren't in any kind of condition to do anything about it,
or even in a position to know where this particular Mr. Johnson had
run off to while they were out. Citrus moved to bring his hand up to
the side of his face, wincing at the pain that still existed in it,
and Skie was already simply set to pass out, his head resting on the
table, trying to keep his worn out body from leaving any openings
that these people around here might be willing to take advantage of,
despite none of them even coming across the mindset of betraying the
two foxes. A lot of Runners were in the game for profit, others were
in it for change, and those that were in it to help shut down those
corporate systems would always be willing to look out for other
Runners. Even if someone did want to try and pick pocket the pale
fox and Citrus somehow didn't catch them, there were plenty of people
in this bar alone that would speak up at them.

It
was when the bartender came over to them that their attention turned
up, both holding that it was their client despite that being a pipe
dream at this case. When those eyes turned up towards the man that
towered over their sitting position the movement of his body coming
to lean well against the corner of Skie's seat while he smiled softly
down to the two of them. His words rang with confidence, with
kindness, with compassion, a series of emotions that only came with
the presence of the fellow, no retired, runner standing over them.
The soft tone of his voice echoing through their minds while he moved
to easily wipe away at the smudge marks left on this table, those
words that called out with kindness and generosity. "You two
need a drink, I'll be right back."

***

It
was only a minute later that the bartender returned, the easy smile
on his lips to try and calm down their situation while he slide a
thick glass mug across the top of the table in front of each of them,
the soft brownish color only helping to distort the image of the
fox's partner on the other side of the table and the white foam that
rested on top to display that this drink legitimate. Even when they
gripped the handles it was Citrus that would start drinking first,
trying to begin by chugging the beverage, and leaving himself
coughing softly. Those eyes turned to Skie then who wasn't entirely
the best type of drinker, but would take down a sip anyway and
leaving some of that white foam to connect straight onto his lips and
forcing the Decker to lift the back of his hand to wipe it away. The
flavor was that of beer, the easy bitterness that ran through was one
thing, but these vulpine weren't going to be deterred, at least not
today after such a hard beating. With orange and blue eyes turning
towards the tender that still stood there his movements to bring up a
seat was something that they'd noticed quickly. It was a bit odd to
see him not behind his bar, the man didn't usually step out from back
there for anything, but here he was, and being relatively nice to
them, not that he was every really mean to them anyway.

"Looks
like you guys are in need of a little bit of bar top therapy."
He said with a smile drawing an easy chuckle from the fox duo. It
wasn't any real mystery that these two had developed a bit of a
reputation, and that meant that they had a good number of enemies
that found them threatening. Doing that raid on the medical research
corporation had changed a lot, and as word spread about their feats
only higher paying clients came by to speak with them. Such a style
of betrayal, a set up in this way, was bound to happen eventually and
the fact that they live such a dangerous life and yet they'd never
realized this hurt more than the punches that had been launched.

Bruised
ego aside the black and white fox looked to one another and then
turned their gaze at the person that was at least willing to listen
to them. Citrus was the first to speak up, giving an easy shrug and
had explained the situation, the entire mission to this man. Runners
didn't really have an issue with Client Confidentiality as such
things were nearly unnecessary and most Runners didn't tell stories
about their missions due to the range of how deeply each Shadow
Runner tends to break the law. It was a well placed theory that the
tender was one of them at some point, nobody had any real evidence of
this theory, but a lot of the general gossip of this place tended to
lean towards it with how he fully supported the newer generation
while providing the free and easy wireless port into the net, a safe
haven for clients and Runners to meet, as well as being able to
seemingly acquire better gear for many of the people that come by
here. All of this provided through one building that was kept on a
deep low priority list thanks to nobody being willing to ruin such a
valuable lifeline and betray this place. While Citrus spoke on about
the mission and how things simply went worse and worse, even touching
on the main fact that they'd gotten their butts kicked by one person
that they couldn't even hear, the brow of the man lifted only when he
heard them say that bullets and blades didn't even hurt him. There
were a number of components that could do such things, but they
tended to be more expensive than not, and what it really came down to
for this man was simply a very clear fact that a lot of Runners tend
to forget as they progress from one mission to the next.

"This
guy sounds pretty tough," he explained to them easily, his
words folding into a real point of what he was trying to say, "I
think you guys forgot the carnal rule of technology, that it's always
advancing. You two have been coming here for months now, taking
missions and what-not, but you're still using the same gear that you
were when you started. Yeah it was top of the line when you began,
but programs become more complex, tech advances, magic becomes more
powerful. You two need to upgrade to match what's out there now."

The
two of them had to think about this, it was really easy to believe
that the gear that you were given at the start was all you needed
when you're never really challenged to advance, but here it was, the
simple fact that things that they had been given were no longer the
best and that they'd need to advance. In a very clear reality their
funds didn't go to much and the duo had stored up enough money to be
able to purchase a few things that might improve their gear, but it
was just so weird to the both of them that they'd never thought about
upgrades before. Complacency could be to blame on this, but now that
the note was on the table it made more sense that they should improve
their gear and rigs over time. Of course, improvements were going to
be easier for one over the other, but that was a discussion for
another time, for now the tender smirked and stood up from his seat,
the sliding of wood over the floor gave an easy screech that was lost
across the hushed voices of the bar. Skie and Citrus moved to rise
from their booth as well, watching one another and then heading
around the corner and up to that bar once again. As the man moved to
step behind his bar the other two followed, an easy push of a button
under the bar top would move the floor itself, opening a sliding trap
door that seemed to lead only to darkness before the click of lights
turn on down below them.

***

Not
many had seen this place, only a few even knew that he was a vender,
but those that did were able to witness the stairs that they'd then
descend down. The sight of this room, was huge, bigger than the
building that it had been set on top of with a long line of guns
mounted inside of a cage from one end of the room to another and
packaged boxes marked with all styles of attachable upgrades for
those firearms, there were also a number of melee weapons, but most
important boxes piled high with various neronet upgrades, cyber
links, and even nano-muscular systems that were kept on ice. The
list of things that here available here would simply go on, and the
further that they went in the more their eyes widened, even the sight
of drool on Skie's lips could be found when his sights locked onto
data disks and drives, smaller components, but needed to upgrade his
rig, even other rigging models if he wanted to change out entirely.
Despite the different model's though, there was nothing as convenient
as the pale fox's hacker gloves, set with motion control and even a
holographic interface that he kept turned off most of the time. A
blue glow looks cool, but wasn't really needed when you've already
memorized how to use the keyboard. No, it was better for him to keep
his rig design, he'd grown used to it, but that didn't meant hat he
should keep it's insides the say. Small tweaks here and there would
do well to help with ram speed, processing capability, and... where
those anticipation drives designed to read the coding of attacking
security programs in order to warn the Decker of upcoming attack
styles so that he can plan around them? Oh, this place was heaven
and if there was room for a bed he might never want to leave. As the
white vulpine moved to take hold of a few certain components the he'd
smile easily under his breath, and even got a few adapter ports as
add-on's for his primary port, something that might help where it
gave access to multiple things at once. No longer will it be an
issue for him to have to select between security cameras and data
gathering, now he could do both as long as the two options are in
range of one another. It wasn't all about upgrading either, the fox
had lost a bit of gear in their tussle and now had to replace it, but
that was just the risk one took doing the work that they did.

Citrus
was more looking at the bio components, stuff developed and used to
replace muscle and skeletal tissues for improvements, even entire
limbs could be replaced if that was something that was needed. It
came to the dark vulpine's attention quickly that if someone ever
wanted to make a robot out of nothing but bio-mechanical replacement
parts then it might very well be possible. Regardless of this,
though, the dark fox knew that he needed a few things, one of the
most important was a replacement for his katana, a sword that he'd
had all this time, and a weapon that had saved his life more times
than he could count, but holding on to a broken weapon wouldn't do
him any good and even if he got it repaired the sword was far more
likely to break now. It was better to replace it, more professional
to do so, and while he looked through the different bladed weapons
that hung from racks it was when his eyes locked onto a black bladed
Japanese sword with a wooden hilt wrapped in a florescent orange
cloth. The sight of it looked grand, it was perfect for him, as
though it had been made just for him and even the that marked this
weapon indicated that it was a laser sharpened, unknown alloy that
had been forged with a molecular hammer press and strength treated
with a metallic bonding oil used to fuze different types of metals
together on a molecular level. This weapon was clearly one of a
kind, and above all these different treatments meant the entire
weapon was artificially created, not a single movement of a human
body could have been present in order to forge it. That alone sealed
the sword's fate, where others would pass this weapon up for that
same reason the fox opened the cage to pull it down, moving onto
other points of the building, gun improvements, and even taking hold
of a few nano-muscular systems that were better than the ones already
set in his body. The sight of the package though gave him a second
guess, stopping the fox in his tracks when he saw that the company
logo on the systems were listed as Gencorp. It was no clue to any
Runner that this particular company made some of the top line
bio-mechanical, and prosthetic components, but there was a history
between them and himself, his teeth gritting and for a second he
considered putting the system back, but as he swallowed that pride
the fox knew that he would need to up his game if he was going to
compete with whatever it was out there that had attacked them on
their last mission.

Their
trips down below proved to be very fruitful for the two of them,
bringing their costs up, but allowing them to improve on what they
had, bettering their strengths, and giving them the chance to really
compete with the other things that were out there. The improvements
that these two had picked up would be enough to give them that edge
that they had before, and even while they followed that path up the
steps the bartender looked back down at them, an easy red glow from a
scanner reading the carried devices that they had on them, anything
that was listed in inventory rang up on his computer and with the
total cost coming in the duo would pay their bill to him and start to
head back to their seat. Citrus was quickly stopped, though, a hand
placed on his shoulder from that tender who smiled easily at him.

"Actually,"
He'd inform his vulpine customer, "I'll need to send those
muscles over to a surgeon that will get them in you. That's not
something you want to do yourself, but don't worry, the cost of the
surgery comes out of the price. You two can go sit down and I'll get
the date and time to you when I get a hold of him tomorrow."

Chapter
3

The
new components to improve the Decker's rig had been easy enough to
install, the sight of those gloves turning on once more and sliding
over the pale vulpine's hand was something that drew an easy and
happy grin across the face of those white lips. With the gloves once
again hiding those hands the shifting of the fingers to the tips of
the rig would help them to settle in nicely. The gloves were the
same, the rig itself was the same, and the function was exactly the
way that it was before, but now when he turned it on the boot-up was
much faster, it got to it's primary functions in an near instant, and
even the diagnostic that he ran instantly with his fingers cross the
blue illuminated keyboard that appeared below his fingers showed that
this rig was far more functional than before. Already programs were
improving, code was being enhanced by the fast typing of the fingers
to quickly adjust what he'd learned in his time of hacking systems
and hijacking security cameras. Tweaks, improvements, adjustments
all of these went into effect and as the pale vulpine plugged in his
data disks the download to install all new code-lines would begin.
Usually a real hacker designs their own codes, but sometimes it's
nice to have that boost and use someone else's knowledge. Despite
that the new codes were put into an isolated file, to be run through
a combing program that will help to make sure that there are no nasty
surprises hidden away. Citrus also looked through his new gear,
looking at the armor and weapons that he managed to fine, even being
busy adding on some attachments to the firearm so that it would be
even more effective as a firearm. Specialty sights, target
identification, night vision scopes, and all levels of different gear
that would bring the dark vulpine into the realm of advantage once
again. He was also hoping that the higher density of the new sword
would help to get through whatever kind of armor that the canine
they'd face had in his skin, even the idea that he was able to shrug
off all attacks that they made against him kept the black fox on the
edge of his seat.

"We
need to find out who that was, Skie." Citrus said to him,
turning his glowing orange eyes up at the blue highlights in the
white foxes hair, "Is your rig net-ready yet?"

The
soft smile on the pale foxes face lead to Skie giving an easy nod and
moving to plug the updated rig into his side of his temple once
again. There were upgrades for attaching rigs to their owner's ports
wirelessly, and while that might seem like a great idea out on
missions the reality was that these were people who specialized in
accessing highly secure systems as a way of life. This created the
idea of someone being able to hack the fox's system as being a little
more cautious when considering getting even secure wireless links
despite the range of motion that they could create. The rule of
thumb when it came to Deckers was that if it was able to be accessed
then someone was accessing it. Hard-lining was simply safer, more
effective, and couldn't be turned off just because someone had an
agenda. The cable that reached from the gloves would be pulled
quickly, moved up to the port in his temple and with a quick push
those blue eyes turned stark white, glazing over entirely while his
mental consciousness immediately entered the network around him.
Eyes turned slowly to the red and black world, lines of light passing
through from the buildings and down to the ground below to all race
off in order to connect to one another. Data, information, it was
free here, but some databanks weren't as giving as these where. With
a movement of his hand to the line on the ground he'd open a fast
window above his head, his fingers typing into mid-air as his fingers
the real world followed suit, the window doubled multiple times as he
accessed a number of information searches with various wording
combinations about a white wolf with bullet proof skin that might
work as a shadow runner, or even an assassin or some kind. Several
searches came back with interesting results, gathering sights and
locations for manimals, a dating sight, and even a movie from over a
century ago, but none of the searches really hit what they were
looking for.

The
movement of the vulpine brought him further into the depths of this
web of data, the sights and sounds of it, and even different styles
of avatars scooting around. Skie knew to stay away from crowded
areas, though, wanting to keep more focused on what he was doing, and
even while a group of children hurried past the fox, laughing, and
joking amongst themselves the end of this long walk happened when his
blue eyes turned up to look on at the large glowing tower with
hovering text that clearly read "Gencorp" across it. In
most cases the lettering wouldn't be there, it would just look like a
black pillar with red lines running down from it and taking quick
right angles to double up on themselves, a private database with only
loose connections to the general net. Most of the time this would be
the end of the line for any normal web user, but Skie wasn't just
some typical online gamer, he wasn't here to go shopping and to find
his match on some random picture website. The fox was here to gather
the information that he wanted, and something told him that if he
could access his own files from the Gencorp building database then he
might be able to find out something about other companies that might
be doing similar experiments in splicing. The sight of the security
ghosts hovering about the building, though, told him that such tasks
might not be as easy as he'd hoped, but if information needed to be
gathered then he felt that the best place to do so was right where
all of their problems started.

***

Skie
stood right outside of the effective range of those security ghosts,
leaving himself in a position of being a non-threat by their sensors.
It would take some work to get their attention, but right now he
knew that he needed to figure out how to get past them all. Security
Ghosts were the names of the higher grade security programs that ran
across the cyber-matrix, their purpose was to provide protection from
hackers like Skie and keep them from gaining access to the database
where the company would normally keep important financial documents,
and personnel files. The database itself was linked across a more
private server, but not everything could be private, some of the
computers in the company needed to be attached to the internet for
both private and personal affairs, these were the gateway that the
pale fox, or any Decker needed to get in and access those records
that would otherwise be completely off the grid. It wasn't an easy
hack to make, and and the security seemed to be vastly improved from
the last time that Skie was trying to get into these systems, but
then again that time he was hard-linked into them and could bypass
most of these ghosts. Their image looked like shadows, specters of
what could be similar to human shaped, but without any
distinguishable shape or design. Their entire purpose was to shut
down and destroy any outside entrance that tried to gain access, for
a Decker who sent their consciousness into the matrix that meant
death for anyone that failed. Skie wasn't some new recruit, though,
he had the skills needed to get into the system, had the techniques
required to deal with a few ghosts as well, but with so many of them
being about it created a drop in his confidence that such a hack
could be done.

If
anything the white fox knew that he had to get in there, had to find
out what they knew about this canine that had attacked them, and even
though he didn't have any actual proof that such a beast had anything
to do with them, the vulpine had a gut feeling that they should know
something, a data report, an email explaining to the process to
another company, something, and the only way that he was going to be
able to do that would be to deal with the security programs first.
Moving his hand in front of him a screen opened up quickly to his
side, a look at the energy status of his rig in relation to the codes
that he had available at his disposal. The look of the information
he'd pulled up had another window under it that he'd scan over to his
right, it was one of his new components that scanned the security
type to tell him what brand and make it was as well as past
documented fights with these ghosts to map out their usual attack
strategy. In the past security programs looked entirely human, with
faces, or were fully armored like an old knight or a samurai. Many
had swords and things of that like, but as programming improved the
writers of these programs learned that most hackers were advancing
their codes to deal with these kinds of things specifically those
security writers decided that it was time to stop having their
programs follow the same laws of physics that the matrix was built
around. Ghosts could do far more than what knight programs could,
they could pass through data blocks without harm to either the block
or themselves, they could instantly rewrite their design after being
hit with a deletion code, digital swords and guns didn't effect these
programs and that made them nearly immune to the many attack codes
that Deckers had. For a long time people avoided the matrix after
that point, many of the freelance Deckers that had grown rich on
hacking high security networks and selling data were being found dead
thanks to this sudden jump in programming, but Skie had always played
smart, he didn't confront everything that he saw and he didn't go out
of his way to draw that unwanted attention that would draw the ghosts
on him like lighting a torch under his feet.

As
the scan completed there were many listed theories, the ghosts didn't
follow a simple path of protocol but where given options on dealing
with different styles of Deckers. As the fox thought about his
options here he'd start off his first code, keeping one to the side
for emergencies just in case he needed to get out quickly, but with
preparation aside it was time to close in, to do the damage and get
the data. His hands lifted into the attack listing screen, touching
it and just as he did his arm would suddenly draw a coat of ice
around it, pulling the freeze out onto himself so that the orb of it
could be held in his hand. In this matrix he could feel the cold,
feel the ice at his fingertips, and with a step forward his palm
turned to aim at the first two charging ghosts to launch the code out
at them, freezing them in place. Their bodies turned blue, their
figures quivering in place thanks to the data link being blocked and
them being trapped between sending and receiving signals to their
programming protocol, in time the program would overwrite this and
either delete the ghosts to rewrite them, or continue the process by
force, but until then it gave Skie the time he needed to focus on the
others. His hand lifting again to his coding wall, the code being
pulled free from it in order to take form. Usually this would take a
few seconds, but those upgrades made the transformation instant and
as it took the shape of a spear another ghost closed in. With a
ducking motion the pale fox thrust the spear clearly through the
chest of the program, these things were written without dodging
protocol because they could rebuild any corruption or damage
presented, but this spear wasn't there for that, with the stab made
clearly through that chest he'd launch himself forward, driving the
spear through another ghost behind the first and with a glow of light
the ghosts would start to shrink down, their programming being
absorbed into the weapon, trapped into an isolation file that then
deleted itself immediately and everything trapped within it. They
could repair themselves if parts of them were deleted, but they'd
need a segment of them left to initiate this subroutine, so if they
were deleted at once in an instant then there was nothing to send out
that signal for instant repair. The hand returned to that program
screen finally turning his blue eyes at that last ghost that was
approaching with a fast speed. The hand immediately threw that code
down at his feet, summoning the growth of a heated fire along the
ground in the form of a wall. As the ghost charged forth it could
collide with this wall and the sound of it screeching out loudly
echoed across the matrix in a cry, the signal for repair had been
cast, but this firewall wasn't like others and with a launch of
Skie's hand it would thrust out back at the program burning it down
instant just as it was being repaired, deleting the program and
continuing on towards the two trapped in ice do give them the same
treatment.

The
doorway was now vacant, but that didn't mean that the security
program wouldn't create more ghosts once it cycled back to check on
them, it also didn't mean that there weren't other security programs
to worry about. His rig had used a lot of it's codes, and while most
were reusable it would take time for them to rebuild in order to be
used again. The fast steps carried the fox towards the database, his
windows still open, the scanner looking for more programs, and his
weapons on standby if he needed to use them. The vulpine was finally
given a chance to relax and with that relaxation he'd touch against
the doors presented, the image of a password screen flashing in front
of his face. Password breaker programs were basic Decker codes and
with an easy tap at the bottom of his code screen the doors would
swing over and this white vulpine would finally be permitted to step
inside.

***

The
doors that he'd passed through to get here were no longer there
behind him, having entered into the database itself in order to look
around. The only way to exit from here would be to leave the network
all together, but that wasn't exactly a challenge to do. Outside of
the building it had looked like a black tower with the occasional red
line coming down it to show some level of connection to the matrix
with only very few of those red data lines actually connecting to the
streets. Inside, however, was a completely different case. The
sight of the black walls, floor, and ceiling was almost entirely
hidden by the glowing red, blue, and yellow lines that ran along it.
The colors had various meanings to them, but usually indicated some
level of security clearance to access. If Skie was here for random
information that went by faster than he could process it then sure
he'd try and hack into it, but that wasn't his purpose. The pale fox
was after a very specific bit of information, he wanted to know if
anyone had mentioned anything about a wolf manimal that was being
sent out into the streets. Skie wanted to know if they'd repeated
the experiments that this corporation had used to create them, and
then used that creation to hunt them down for termination. It was a
simple train of thought, and one that he hoped wasn't real, if
anything the vulpine wanted to believe that they were just in the
wrong place at the wrong time, that it was some kind of coincidence,
but then again it might not even have anything to do with Gencorp.
This company could have sold off those records to someone else, some
other company looking to make their own, maybe a company that Skie
and Citrus had been sent to run again in the past. There was no
telling, but this fox knew that it all started here.

The
sight of the ghost programs in the distance told him that he needed
to duck away and keep more hidden, moving towards a corner to keep
their line of sight off of him, not wanting to be identified so soon
after getting in here. There wasn't a problem with fighting the
programs, but if he did then the main security program would know
that he was there and might even send more ghosts after him, and
despite how skilled a fighter he was in the matrix there was no way
that he could fight off a large group coming after him in tight halls
like these, especially if they could move through the walls with
ease. As the fox moved to keep himself away from them he'd follow
the darker hallways, wanting to stay out of sight as much as
possible, the less data that moved along the walls and floor meant
that it was less likely that the area would be patrolled, and soon
with his steps bringing him down a long hallway the data seemed to
stop all together, turning itself around and away from the edge of
this point that left him feeling his hand along the wall just to make
sure that he didn't step head first into the end of this hallway.
Within time the vulpine found himself cutting a corner away from the
main halls and just before him rested a glowing red doorway. The
sight of it bringing the fox to a stop, watching it and looking over
it before his hand reached up to touch on the door itself. The
password request screen once again jumped up, displaying the request
easily. With his program code already running to crack this the
sight of dots showed up on the display one after another, each letter
getting decrypted from the password files and placed right into the
request line specifically. As the last dot appeared the screen would
vanish and the door would open and this vulpine stepped inside.

The
door closed behind Skie, his head turning and in an instant the image
of raining lines of light down around him all about the room.
Usually these lines were kept along the walls, but here they fell
like waterfall at all angles about his body. That white body of the
fox shown easily at this, being the only non-glowing thing in the
room, but if nothing else this proved to be one very important note,
this was some kind of designated private server attached to the
network mainframe. All companies had things like this, they were
like vaults that could hold information away from prying eyes, that
fact that Skie was able to get into it proved that the upgrades he
got were working well enough. Regardless, this was a great time for
him to get the chance he needed to poke around. His hand moving out
to the data stream that fell freely, and as he ran his fingers
through it the quick and passing sight of information would become
present to his eyes. A huge level of data flowing through him, but
none of it was at all identified over another. There was only one
real way to organize this and while he moved to open a search page
once again he knew that there was no connecting to the net in here
and instead designed the engine to read the data inside of this
private bank. The same key words as before, but this time it would
come back with something, a single document in the shape of an email.
The fact movement of his hand would bring that document forth,
allowing him to read it quickly. An easy smile touched on his face
while he learned what he needed to from here. The creature that had
attacked them was made in these labs just like they were, and he was
sent out to take these two down, but even as he failed to do so, the
pale fox had to lift a brow at the following bit of information. It
seemed that one of the upgrades to the wolf was a behavior control
system, but no data had been written to it, instead it was secured
with a long ranged, satellite based, high security signal back to
this particular private database.

The
email didn't hold any other useful information, but it was the first
clue that he needed and knew that if he kept digging here then the
fox could find even more information that he needed in order to find
a weak point, or a source, or something that the could use to defeat
this thing. What Skie was really hoping for was schematics, a guide
on what kind of upgrades that they used on that animal spliced body.
With a list of his additions they could find a weak point in order to
take him down if the wolf ever showed up again. His search running
once more brought the fox to look around the room slowly, the
darkness of the walls met with the many lines of data, some of which
seemed to shift and turn in ways that he'd never seen written into
databases before, it was clearly an odd storage of information, but
then as his eyes climbed up the length of the walls the sight of who
enormous red glowing eyes staring right back at him left the
vulpine's breath shuddering, freezing his figure in place. Skie had
been in the matrix a dozen times and to this day he'd never seen
anything like what he was looking on at now. For the longest time it
simply watched him, but then suddenly a loud pitched noise seemed to
pick up, the sound wasn't located around him, though, but in mind,
forcing those hands to reach up and grab hold of his head while he
gritted his teeth due to the pain of the sudden pulsating ring. He
couldn't think, couldn't move, and with a loud and sudden boom of a
mother toned voice the sudden call of "Get Out" burst
threw, blasting against the vulpine body in a force that made him
feel like his muscles were being torn from his very figure.

***

The
sight of the black walls and glowing streams of light that ran about
the floors and walls illuminating the room faded away, the hit that
crashed against him drove that vulpine in a body rending process that
tore him from the cyber matrix entirely. Those eyes would once again
focus on the wooden table in the darkly light environment of the bar
that he sat in, Citrus panicking with a hand gripping Skie's wrists
to try and pull them from his head. The pain that he'd felt inside
of the matrix had vanished instantly and while the sweat ran down
from his brow the blinking blue eyes found that he was once again
safe in this bar setting. Still that vulpine mind was locked on the
idea of those eyes that had been looking back at him, the vision of
something that took up the size of the full room. Could it have been
a person? A programmer? No, when people entered the matrix they did
so as themselves and they didn't have any real size differences.
Even the avatars that ran about could only get so big and that thing
was in some level enormous. Could it have been some kind of security
program? Maybe, but Skie had never seen a program that size before,
it was simply huge and with all those data-lines leading towards it
there was no clue as to just how powerful such a device could be,
even powerful enough to drive the pale fox's mind right back into his
body at will. Such a feat should be nearly impossible, but there it
was. It was only after a few seconds that the white vulpine turned
his blue eyes at the dark fox, seeing him calling out his name,
blinking quickly while those ears lifted and focused on the sound of
Citrus's voice.

"Skie!"
he called out for the seventh or so time, driving the white fox to
suddenly gasp at just how distracted he'd been from this, "Skie,
are you ok?"

"I
went into the Gencorp database... There's something in there, Citrus,
something big," The pale fox didn't notice just how shaken up
he still was until he heard his own whimpering tone, clearing his
throat quickly the white vulpine tried to regain his composure, "They
have information on this wolf, though, but if I plug back in that
program is just going to keep forcing me out of the cyber matrix. I
need to hard-plug directly into that database."

The
easy smirk that ran over those dark lips was followed by an easy nod,
"Sounds like we're raiding Gencorp again. Let's go."

***

The
loud thud that hit the door drew the attention of everyone, but even
as they worked at slowly standing up their eyes blinking slowly in
confusion as to what that could possibly have been. Some of them
worked to start putting a few things away, hiding some stuff, but
others were pulling their gear out, making it active and getting
themselves ready. The thud could have been a knock, a warning that
someone was on their way in like maybe a police planning some kind of
raid, or even a corporate commando team looking to get back at
certain runners for a recent run. At the moment nobody knew what it
was, but everyone had their own way of managing to such an ominous
sound. The eerie sound of silence washed over the bar easily and
just then the door swung open wide as the muscular orc bouncer hit
the floor on his back, a black gloved hand wrapped around his face in
order to hold him down while the canine that leaned into this room
easily looked around slowly with a deep snarl across his lips. Those
that looked on didn't know what they were looking at, but some turned
their view back to the battered and beaten pair of foxes that were
still recovering from their injuries before. The outfit on this
beast was still the same, the sight of that metal grey shining out
under that one scratch mark that Skie was able to give him made
itself obvious. With the two foxes slowly standing from their both
the two of them finally noticed the very poor positioning of their
usual seat. From this standing position the two could see a
completely uninterrupted view straight to that door, meaning that the
canine that now burst in had a clear shot right at them.

The
tensing of those muscles, the baring of the teeth, and the sudden
charging of his body directly at him and it wasn't the duo that
stopped his approach, but the sound of a clear mechanical catch
forcing a shell into the chamber and priming the bolt ready to be
fired. The sound was all too familiar to anyone and while the wolf
stopped in his tracks those red eyes turned slowly towards the source
of that sound from behind the bar he had been attempting to run past.
Other clicks, levers, switches, charging handles, getting set to
fire the weapons in people's hands, and while the canine stood there
looking to each one, the soft glowing movement of his eyes continued
to beep with every threat assessment that his body took in. When the
movement of those weapons started to close in the canine realized
that he would have to turn himself, rushing back the way that he came
even while the bouncer was grunting and picking himself up off of the
floor. The rushing movement out of the door left this place being
able to breath again, eyes turning towards the pair of foxes, one of
which was holding his sword in his grip while the other typed away on
his gloves looking on at the blue display that was brought up. Even
as it beeped and pinged the dark fox looked to see what he was doing.

"You
kids need to be more careful. Don't want draw in those kinds of
crowds. Corps and cops tend to follow." The tender explained to
them leading the two to providing a soft and sheepish grin to him.

"Sorry
about that," Citrus spoke up easily, but turned his attention
back to Skie once more, "What are you doing?"

The
pale fox didn't respond right away, instead looking to hurry up on
his lock before the bright smile came over his lips, "That wolf
has an encrypted wireless signal coming off of him, he wasn't here
long enough for me to crack it, but I was able to put in a marker
that will send a ping back to my rig and tell me where he's at."

"That's
great, Skie, but we need to hit Gencorp, remember?" The dark
vulpine reminded his partner drawing a rolling eye from the pale fox.

"How
many computers are in that company? If we can catch him and I crack
his encryption then I can find out where that signal is originating
from."

***

The
idea of tracking the wolf that had attacked them twice now in less
than a day seemed almost suicidal. The last time that they'd
actually fought him the beast almost killed these two with them
having nothing that they were able to do in order to stop him, but
now as they followed along the streets, passing in a hurry it was
quickly becoming aware that even on foot this monster was extremely
fast. There was no telling how much of the creature was still
originally organic, but so far they hadn't seen many points of them
that were actually lined with flesh and muscle. Sure the skin had
been replaced with some kind of armor, but there were words of such a
thing on the market called "Real Skin" that did the same
thing, provided a layer of light protection that looked like skin and
flesh. It was the improved muscular systems that got their
attention, the way that he moved, the instant adjustments, the speed
overall, even the enhanced strength lead the two to believe that
maybe he had been equipped with some kind bio-organic system,
something that would be easy for a company like Gencorp to get when
they are the ones that produce those leading lines of all
non-mechanical replacement parts. This had lead meany runners to
praise them as life savers, to give them rejoice in the fact that
they could develop something that had spared the lives of many Shadow
Runners that found themselves in horrible situations, but in a land
like this there were no good corporations, a company doesn't simply
improve the specs on equipment the way that they had without breaking
some laws of morality, and those laws were how Skie and Citrus, and
maybe even this wolf, came to be how they are today. Let them praise
Gencorp in their ignorance, but as long as they keep sending people,
units, false Johnson's to try and kill them these two where never
going to see them as being just another corporation ready to be taken
down.

As
the wireless tracker placed on the canine started pinging louder
their full on spring would start to come to a stop, maybe he noticed
them following, maybe he got was taking a break. Without knowing how
much of him was still organic, it was hard to say if he would even
need a break, then again with so many advancements in technology over
the last few decades it was hard to say if a company like Gencorp
even needed a person to start with. The thought had crossed both
their minds if the person they were fighting had ever been a live to
begin with, or if maybe he was simply some kind of android designed
to look like the way that he did. It drew questions, simply too many
questions to consider, but the idea was always there beckoning at the
back of their minds. It was something that they could shove to the
side for now, though, and while they closed in on that stopped signal
the the duo of foxes drew their rushing movement to a slow, keeping
themselves just on the tree lining of the park, looking inward and
watching the area as their eyes focused on the shadowed figure that
seems to only just barely be able to make out that it was a person
and not something else standing under the bright street light that
illuminated this location. The wolf was there, the signal that
locked onto his wifi receiver indicated so, and as they moved in
closer, towards the being, their careful steps kept them silent,
trying to prevent themselves from drawing notice just before the soft
snarl that wrapped around the canine's breath turned his head,
focusing those red eyes on these two once again. It didn't even take
a moment of processing time to indicate the threat assessment here,
his body jerked fast and hard in order to try and rush at the two,
wanting to close that distance as quickly as he could.

The
two foxes split off from one another, moving to separate in order to
divide his target space. The fast typing fingers of the white fox
would already open up a decryption program, wanting to hack into that
wireless signal that was specifically designed to this red long coat
clad creature. The hood had already fallen away from that head,
showing off the brown fur at the face and top of the head and leaving
the snout and throat in a snow white that ran down the length of that
open front and lack of shirt. His movements were quick, and
powerful, and even while the decryption program had begun that wasn't
the only thing that Skie was going to be doing today. His hand
gripped down at the pistol strapped onto his thigh, lifting it
quickly in order to aim it at the wolf. This canine wasn't going to
be deterred, but the white fox wasn't going to be his target, not
first. Between the two one was a Decker and the other was a modified
street samurai, that made Citrus the higher threat to him and this
canine had already decided in an instant that the dark vulpine was
going to be his first and primary target. The black fox also realize
this as well when the two separated and the canine was turning to
move towards him. His hand quickly moving up towards his orange
sword handle in order to draw it just as the other hand moved to draw
out his own pistol. A quick downward swing of the blade would lead
the wolf to lift his hand up, catching the blade easily against his
own palm, but this wasn't the same weapon as before and as that hand
stopped the blade a long trickle of blood ran down the length of his
elevated arm. Citrus wasn't done yet, though, and his other hand
lifted that firearm straight up towards the wolf's shoulder, the easy
pull of the trigger forced the pistol to kick back as the powerful
explosion of the bullet fired there at point blank range. Even these
stronger weapons and bullets didn't puncture through the armor that
made up this creature's body, but it did leave a huge dent in that
shoulder forcing the limb to convulse as the circuitry was damaged
leaving the canine to back away and grip his own shoulder to make the
movement of it stop. When the arm finally corrected itself Skie was
closing in, pulling the trigger on his own weapon only so that the
bullet to hit the ground to the side of them. A bare of those fanged
teeth from the white fox would leave him pulling the trigger again
and again, shooting two more heavy rounds at the wolf, both of which
hit clearly in his back. The sound of the reinforced body soaking
the attack sounded easily, but that didn't mean that the pain wasn't
there even if it didn't penetrate.

The
wolf delivered a loud call of pain from those attacks, his body
twisting quickly towards that Decker with his hand swinging fast.
With the speed of that movement there was no time for Skie to dodge
and with his body getting the full force of the blow this pale
vulpine found himself being lifted into the air and thrown for feet
at a time until the ground once again hit his figure and forced him
to skip across it's surface. Skie never released the pistol, though,
it stayed secure in his hand through all of it. The pale fox wasn't
the only one moving, though, and while the wolf focused on the white
vulpine his dark counterpart moved in fast, the blade of that sword
swinging in quickly with a direct aim coming in sideways to impact
the canine squarely in the back. The large, muscular, beat yelped
out loud in time with the sound of metal hitting metal and grinding
across it. The force of the hit was something that drove this rival
down to his knees, panting out from the pain of it, and even a trait
of his blood rolling from the wound. If it hadn't been for his metal
skin there was no doubt that half of the wolf would be skipping
across the grass of this park right now. The dark snarl from his
lips narrowed his gaze to the pain that he now felt, he was lucky
that his body still functioned after that, the blow from the sword
had been hard, but it wasn't at all deep enough to cut through the
skeletal system leaving him slowly moving to rise back to his feet.
Already the wolf's mind was starting to process threat assessment,
trying to figure out if he still stood a chance against these two.
There was only a few micro seconds that passed before the message
came back with the answer to this, and the order that he was going to
obey clearly read to escape. This canine obeyed in an instant, his
feet kicking across the ground so that he could make some immediate
distance between them, trying to duck his way through the forest
itself for the sake of use them as cover. Even injured his body was
very quickly paced.

This
dark fox ran off after the brown wolf, but only made it a few steps
before a white hand gripped his shoulder, stopping him clearly in his
place while the black vulpine looked back at him in a confused
expression. The look on Skie's face was a clear grin, a reassuring
smile that told him that everything was fine, "We've got the
source of the computer, let him go. It's time to stop this problem
at it's source." Of course there was only one place that such a
computer could possibly be and that place was once again the Gencorp
Main Headquarters, the same headquarters were they killed the last
CEO that crossed them, the only difference this time was that these
two were looking for someone a little more... digital.

Chapter
5

Once
again they they stood in the moonlight created shadows of the Gencorp
building, the sight of this structure before them was something that
they remembered, and likely always would. They hadn't originated
from here, but they had been here once in order to put an end to an
evil and horrible man that had not only abducted these two in order
to turn them into what they are today, but also attempted to kill
them when they got away from him, ending in an innocent Runner being
extinguished early. The sight of this building as one that they had
been hoping not to have to deal with again anytime soon, but it
seemed that the darkness of this corporation wasn't going to be
overcome so easily. This time their focus wasn't on the CEO, or any
of the employees that existed here, but instead some kind of computer
database, some kind of program that had linked itself with the
creature that continued to transmit mission information and
assessments with the sole purpose of trying to take down the pale and
dark vulpine.

As
the two looked on at the building that stood before them they both
knew quickly that there was no way for them to simply walk in through
the door, that they would need to handle this in a far different way.
The last time they'd just barged in, shooting the place up and
making their way to the top, but there was no way that such a tactic
would work a second time, there was no way that the security of this
building hadn't been compensated to handle such a brutal method of
entry, especially after having just hacked their systems only an hour
or so ago. Instead they needed to find another way in, another way
up to the roof that didn't involve having to go through what would
now be a shooting range, and potential suicide at the hands of some
guard that happened to get lucky enough to actually land their
constant barrage of firepower at them. It became the simple fact
that entering the building and climbing up the length of it wouldn't
be an actual option this time, well entering the building wouldn't
be, but that didn't mean that climbing it wasn't going to be
possible.

The
easy length up their smiles that crossed their snouts shown that they
were set to hurry their way through the fenced in area, the movement
was quick and effective, not worried about camera as much when they
could simply dart past them just after the guard had passed on his
patrol. The purpose of hacking into the cameras normally would be in
case they had to stop so that they couldn't be spotted, or worse
identified. If the two foxes ran quickly past any camera feeds, they
might be spotted for a second, but there was no way for the two to
have to worry about getting picked out from a blur, then again how
many fox styled manimals would be bothering to attack Gencorp to
begin with. It was likely that if they were spotted then not only
would security improve on the inside of the building, but they'd have
a pretty good idea as to who these two were. This duo had been
forced to make a pit stop at one of their safe houses, but it was a
good move on their part as the duo now held a black duffel bag in
their arms, when they came to the wall that forced the foxes to stop
the orange eyes turned towards the white vulpine that placed the bag
down quickly and unzipped it, moving to pull a riffle from the depths
of the sack and then another, handing the first to Citrus they would
both take quick aim up the length of this wall and with a fast and
sudden pull of the trigger the loud pop sounded, echoing across the
land just before Skie moved to take hold of that now empty bag once
again. The shots that they'd fired reached up the length of the wall
before finally arching over.

The
length of the distance that the round moved was tethered to a long,
thick, black cord that attached at the barrel of the gun. The sound
of the pop that was made that was used to launch this additional
weight had alerted a few people, and the two foxes knew that these
guards were going to be on their way to check it out soon enough.
The arch of the round had landed right near the top of the roof where
the spike that had been fired cracked into the side of the masonry
the barbs that jut out of the spikes made sure that it would be near
impossible to remove. The sound of thick souled boots hitting the
ground drew closer and these two would quickly jerk at their ropes to
make sure that they were secure just before pulling at the length of
the line to pull themselves up. As they moved up this rope quickly
they'd stop around fifteen feet in order to pull at the line and
remain in place. When those guards got there there was nothing left
to see except one another and asking about what that sound was. In
time they'd separate again in order to go back to their place of
duty, which allowed the foxes to continue their ascension up the path
of this wall once again.

***

If
these two remembered anything it was that there was a helicopter pad
set on the roof, and that the roof itself has access to the main CEO
office of this building. That gave these two a different entry point
than what they had before. While the two had entered up the length
of the stairs last time it was going to be more difficult and the duo
knew that more guards would be watching that so that other runners
wouldn't be trying the same thing all over again. With this increase
in security it left most without anyway of getting up to those
offices, but what most corporations didn't consider was someone
climbing up the length of a towering building along the outside,
people scaling their walls in order to enter it from the very top
instead of the finding access at the bottom. Sure people could
always gather their own chopper in order to arrive, but such things
were loud and could be detected quite a ways away giving them plenty
of time for a response team to get into position in order to
intercept. Smaller, human sized, creatures were far less likely to
show up on radar, and much quiet than something like that, leaving
this as not only being a near impossible feat for the two to
undertake, thanks to the height that they had to climb just to reach
that roof, but also a far safer one thanks to how little security was
going to be able to get in their way.

Most
muscles would be worn down long before anyone reached the full length
of the building, very few could handle the strain it took their
bodies to be able to scale something of this size, the dozens of
stories in the air that this building happened to be and yet these
two would managing, their breath grunting, their bodies wearing down,
but still they were managing. It was hard to say if this was due to
their determination, or had something to do with the alternate
make-up of their muscular systems because of the splicing, but just
as their hands came to the stone roof these foxes would pull
themselves over, finally finding a place to sit down as they worked
to catch their breath, and soon regain footing. A new helicopter
existed here, probably to replace the old one thanks to these two,
and it looks like someone had managed to clean up the mess that
they'd left. There was only so long that these foxes could really be
here before someone happened by to notice them, so they decided that
it was time for these vulpine to get to the bottom of this secret
database thing once and for all, their movements towards the doorway
leading them on a straight path in the direction of the wooden door
and with a fast turn of a handle their path brought them into the
office of the CEO. Normally most people wouldn't be here this late,
but with the previous CEO having been brutally murdered it left the
new member of that chair to have to catch up on paperwork meaning
that he was going to be pulling quite a few all nighters. With these
two barging in so quickly his eyes lifted from the pages, catching
the sight of the weapon armed half fox creatures and immediately his
hands lifted. A loud call of fear and terror lifted from him just in
time with the path of a firearm being brought between them under the
control of the dark fox.

"So
you're the one transmitting that signal?" Citrus asked easily,
giving off a deep snarl while the cowering man shook his head quickly
in response.

"What
signal? I haven't done anything!" His please reaching out
loudly and the figure in a suit was at near tears.

Skie
moved to take hold of Citrus's shoulder, helping to pull him away
from the death that he was likely about to cause, "No, it can't
be him, what I saw was in the computers, the signal is coming from
over here." The white vulpine moved to open his digital
display, looking over it and then moving away from them in order to
locate the source of this signal. Again and again the pale fox
received that pinging transmission until finally he'd come to face a
wall, looking up the length of it. "It's behind here."

Citrus
moved to lift his foot, crashing it against the wall again and again,
the drywall cracking and crumbling under his force while he continued
to open up a short hallways, a doorless vault, with only the image of
a beeping database standing there in the center of it. Even the new
CEO had to step his way over, wondering what they were up to and
slowly trying to poke his head into an area of his office that he
didn't know existed. He'd asked what it was, but these two simply
ignored him, stepping into this room where the Decker was able to
look over it, finding that the power source was non-removable and
instead they'd have to find a way to shut it down in a more
conventional way. Citrus's suggestion to simply destroy it was shot
down thanks to the white wolf that said that such an action may leave
their hunter with some level of brain damage, if not death, and so
this gave Skie the means to finally be able to handle this one
himself, to try round two against the AI that had dispatched him so
quickly last time, but if he was plugged right into it then there was
no where for the computer to disable his connection from, it would
just be the two of them, one on one.

***

It
had been a long road to get here, a distant set up in order to make
it this far and now they were near the end. It was up to Skie to be
able to access this database and put a stop to whatever the program
inside is. It was up to him, and while he held the cable in his hand
and moving his finger around that access port the Decker was waiting,
thinking, planning, already figuring that he'd be detected and
attacked the moment he went in. This was it for him, though, and he
needed to make sure that regardless of anything he pulled through
this and that determination alone required a bit of mental
preparation. Sometimes, however, preparation wasn't available, but
only because time wasn't available to do so. Even as the white fox
sat there thinking about his strategy the sound of a deep snarl
behind him drew his blue eyes away from it, locking onto the crimson
gaze of the brown wolf that had come to stand before them once again.
That alone told that the program was aware of them, that it was
panicking enough to actually try and send this very damaged beast
after the two, and even threaten to have it attack them. Regardless
the only efforts that could be made here was to plug the into the
system directly. Citrus already moving to draw his black sword once
again in order to hold this beast off for as long as he needed to as
Skie's eyes faded into a white while his mind was rushed into the pit
of this database once again.

It
looked exactly the way that it had before, the dark room illuminated
by stands of data flowing everyone in all directions at once. No
rhyme, no reason, only the movement of information from one synapses
to another within this creation of an interface. Already his hand
lifted, summoning his attack code screen for him to fetch what he
needed and the very first thing that he'd select was an old deletion
program. His hand ran over the code quickly, and with it lifting
from the window the coding wrapped, folded, twisted, and formed into
a single handed sword, ready for use. The sight of those eyes once
again glaring down at the creature gave way to the evidence that they
were eyes alone, no face, no nose, no mouth, and yet it spoke clearly
to the Decker, beckoning about his return in a near chuckle of an
announcement, even eying the weapon that the fox had selected for
himself. The sound of the program's words were loud, booming, but
impossible to understand drawing a lifted brow from that vulpine who
stood there ready.

The
sound of some system altering itself would allow the communication of
this database to slow down enough for the fox to actually understand
it, "This is not a fight you can win, hacker, you are better off
turning yourself over to my agent. He will delete your programming
quickly." The depth of the voice was nearly generic, the sound
of the pauses, of the dialect showed that this thing didn't often
talk to people or communicate with them as it's voice came across
robotic almost in delivery.

"You
started this, but we're not just going to lay down and be terminated.
You've brought this on yourself!" The fox moved his sword
quickly, slashing outward in an instant in order to swing that sword
down against the floor, the streams of data that hit would flicker,
large bits of it being deleted instantly from existence, and the
sound of a horrific growl arched out from over the vulpine, drawing
his attention back up on more.

The
walls shifted around the fox's body, their movement twisting just
enough to form what looked to be barrels, the program had started his
own deletion protocol and with a loud burst of constantly flowing
machine gun fire this pale vulpine was forced to jump out of the way,
landing in a roll that brought him back to his feet as the digital
bullets impacted the ground where he had been standing. Their fire
continued as the streams of bullets started to shift themselves in
the direction of Skie's movement, his body quickly adjusting itself
in order to start to run away from this and give him time to press
his hand against that screen once again, pulling from it a flame in
his hand that he'd quickly throw at the ground up against the wall.
The quickly rising fire would lift high into the air, and with a
flick of his finger that wall of fire began went from one side of the
room to the other, deleting all malicious content in it's path. This
helped to remove one of the guns that was firing at him, but even
then he'd quickly motion for this firewall to return to him, coming
around the other side of his body in order to catch and delete
bullets all the way up towards the next nearest wall, destroying
another of the guns. The flickering of that fire, though, showed
that the program had almost run it's course and before he could
direct it any further the code died out.

The
quick swing of his hand brought that sword into quick view, not only
cutting through the air, but throwing it fast with a hard movement so
that the it would waft through this digital space and impact another
of the guns leaving only one other motion for the fox to make. His
hand returned to his coding display and with a fast jerk the code was
lifted from the screen, taking the form of that spear once again.
Just like the sword it too would find itself rushing through the air,
the twisting spiral of the spear carved its way through the distance
between them easily and just as it impacted the wall that final gun
was sucked into it before the spear and machine gun vanished at once.
That left the fox safe, at least for a little bit while he moved
through his program database, looking for the next tactic he should
use, but just like that there was a shaking of the ground below his
feet. Many people that came in here found it easy to forget that
this land wasn't real, and with it being false it didn't need to
follow standard physics rules like the real world was bound to. This
world that the Deckers existed in where bound by the will of
machines, and while that's usually not a big deal it could become
very fatal if the machine actually did have will. With the sudden
movement of the ground the entire world would shit, throwing the fox
straight into the wall and forcing a loud bark from his body only for
him to soon feel another wall impact him on another side. The deep
gritting of his teeth driving the pain of these near constant impacts
out of his body the best he could, but even that wasn't working as
well as he'd like for it to. Just as his body impacted a side wall
he'd find himself twisting, crashing over and over into the very
world that he existed in. There had to be something he could do, and
finally when his hand reached up towards the code screen once more
his fingers would quickly graze over one of the codes, it was hard to
tell what it was, but then after knew that he needed to get out of
the program. His eyes closing quickly, and with a movement of his
fingers this fox would be out of the database once more, having
retreated again.

***

Skie
blinked, grunting at the feeling of having rushed his way out of that
database once again, but this time those blue eyes turned back behind
him, seeing Citrus preparing for the fight. Anything that happened
in the cyber-matrix happened at the speed of thought, so while it had
felt like he'd been in there a while the reality was that he'd only
been in there a second or two in the real world, but the sight of the
brown wolf standing there told him that he'd done what he could with
the gear he had available to him, the sight of this large and
muscular beat standing there, his body looking nearly limp, and his
voice no longer coming through in snarls and growls left the white
fox to smile out brightly at his work. It was Citrus that lowered
his weapon as well, recognizing the drop of a battle stance and
lifting his dark brow to it before finally turning himself towards
his partner for an explanation. If anything Skie would tell him what
he'd done, he might not understand it entirely, but that was a risk
that this fox was willing to take in order to find out what just
happened here.

"Skie,
what did you do?" he asked him easily enough.

The
pale fox smiled brightly, standing up straight and brushing off his
coat sleeves, "I reset the AI's wireless modem. It will reboot,
but until it is he wouldn't be connected to it." The white
vulpine was a bit proud of himself for thinking of this, it wasn't a
code that usually did much except get people out of an area he was
about to aggravate, but it was well worth it for the sake of taking
down this computer database.

The
sight of that wolf starting to come to left them turning towards him
once again, his snarling started up once more and just as he rushed
forward the duo would once again separate, spreading as they armed
themselves to have to deal with this canine once more. If anything
that modem would have had to reset very fast, something Skie hadn't
calculated for given the amount of time that it usually took, but as
they moved to spread out he didn't turn himself to go for either of
them and instead continued to straight into this room, his strong and
powerful fists crushing down against the beeping database. Again and
again the feeling of the metallic casing crumbled under his force and
sent the database into a hard blow over and over against as he
watched the device bend, and break under his power. That database
flickered, beeped out a few last times and then as the smoke started
to rise from it's circuitry the fight was over and the brute force of
the wolf had won out over the helplessness of the database that stood
there against him.

When
he stepped free from this small room those red eyes locked on these
two, watching them easily enough, and with a deep breath he opened
his mouth to apologize only to be quickly hushed by the white fox
that smiled up at him. The sound of a click as a weapon was brought
into aim could be heard to their side, the cowardly CEO had found a
weapon of his under the table and now aimed it with shaking hands at
the three of them. This wolf moved to scoop up the two, pushing them
behind his body as he moved to growl out deeply in a raging snarl
that left him taking steps closer to this man. Once after another he
climbed his way closer to the desk and while that shaking hand
pointed the gun he was only able to finally pull that trigger with
his eyes close and listened to it hit the alloy steel plates that
made up the skin of the canine creature. The easy growl from his
throat allowed this larger beast to reach his hand out quickly, but
he didn't hurt this horrified man and instead would take hold of the
gun, moving to ball his fist around it and in the motion would crush
that pistol under the weight of his strength just before opening the
hand again and allowing the ball of metal to clunk down to the floor.

Skie
moved in easily to pull the wolf away, wanting to leave this scared
man to himself, wanting to give him the chance to fix this company
from the shadows of the person that ran it before, but for now his
attention was on the canine, "Hey.. What's your name?"

This
red eyes turned towards the smaller white creature, watching him for
a second before starting to make his way towards the roof top in
order to permit himself an escape from this building, "My name's
Hunter."