First Real Combat
The thudding footsteps of armed guards charging toward me echoed loudly.
"Target spotted. Lab. Vaccine location, lower lab."
Even so, I didn't hide behind a wall or hold my breath. No need for that anymore.
The hulking armed guards swarmed in, aiming a barrage of weapons at me. Naturally, no one was crazy enough to draw a gun on a ship where stray bullets could be deadly. Yeah, that's more like it. Some psycho had fired an anti-materiel sniper rifle from inside a ship before. Sure, a desperate pretty girl pulling a pistol? That's forgivable.
I let out a sigh of relief and looked ahead. Cybercores everywhere, chips implanted in their heads. These guards had no idea I was a Netdiver. Their bodies were studded with glittering stars—especially the ones on their heads. I blew a breath toward one of them.
Hoo.
"Urk…!"
"Ughhh…!"
The creepy hulking creeps who had been leering at a frail girl with their ugly weapons started collapsing forward one by one, writhing on the ground.
"W-what the…!"
The remaining guards panicked and rushed me, but…
Whoosh…!
"Arrrgh! You traitor bastard…!"
"N-no! It wasn't me!"
The hands of the cybercore-embedded guards had already turned their blades on each other at my command.
"A w-witch…!"
Witch? Come on, that doesn't fit the sci-fi tone at all.
I narrowed my eyes and shut down every one of their brains. -Hahaha! Somewhere unknown, Theia burst into satisfied laughter.
…Good. Let's keep this up!
"Target spotted! Immune carrier! Floor 3, Sector 38!"
"Damn it! Why's that little shit…!"
Armed guard Roxell raised his visor and spat. Things were going sideways.
He'd figured that snagging the immune carrier or a Netdiver catalyst would let him negotiate with the regular army and survive.
"Go! Back her up, you morons!"
That judgment had panned out. For now. While other idiots got massacred by the government forces, Roxell and his merc underlings had kept their skins intact.
"Tch. Fucking dogs."
But his patience was wearing thin as reports from his subordinate mercs kept cutting out. The immune brat was heading straight for the escape route like she'd memorized the whole damn map.
At this rate, she'd slip from his grasp right into the government army's jaws.
Grit…!
How the hell was some lab rat punching through his men?! Gnashing his teeth, Roxell decided to grab the girl himself. He only needed her head for the vaccine anyway…
"Chop off the limbs, and it'll be fine."
The government forces would appreciate a neatly wrapped present.
Roxell hefted his massive gun. One shot would vaporize a kid's upper body… A beast unfit for indoors, but his eyes had cybercores to assist.
"Gotcha. Let's go."
Survival-blind, Roxell held nothing back.
Not passing yet.
"…Huh?"
You smiled too, you psycho bitch.
I couldn't hide my hollow laugh as I passed the twitching, trembling guards. Luckily, that bit of emotion didn't bother her; Theia just gave me a strict mid-evaluation like some tough teacher.
Too soft!
Zero kills? Kinda lame, right?
Evaluation my ass. She sounded like a bloodthirsty maniac. And she wasn't even a Netdiver, chiming in like that…
What if an enemy without a cybercore shows up?
"…."
No comeback? Thought so.
I nodded obediently. A ninja showing off water tricks without water. Or a pirate stronger on land than at sea—like those overpowered manga characters. Me? Less than an hour post-catalyst, I was a crybaby Netdiver. No cores to control? Useless. Just a bedridden girl.
Why not steal their weapons then?
"Ugh… too big."
The guards' gear was all too huge and heavy. And…
Steal the core, problem solved.
"How do I even detach it…?"
Figure it out.
Most cybercores were embedded in flesh, and without surgical know-how, I wasn't ripping one out cleanly. How'd tutorial Theia do it? Like this.
BOOM…!
Before the government troops swarming from a corner could aim, a cybercore-laden fire hydrant behind them exploded.
And when I tossed an electric grenade from the lab…
Zzt. Zzzzt.
"Arrrgh! Damn brat!"
The acrid smell of burning plastic filled the air as the bug-eyed hazmat-suited government troops all hit the deck.
"At least I can do this much."
Hmm… not bad. Where'd you learn that trick?
From you in the game, obviously.
The government troops came prepped for Netdivers, so they minimized cybercore use—heavy weapons only. My natural counter.
But head storage implants couldn't be yanked or should be, so "Urghhh…!" I stared each one down, wiping their memories clean.
"Huff… huff…."
Government storage implants are harder to hack. Why not just shoot 'em in the head?
"Can't… do that… they didn't… do anything wrong…."
Heh…
Sucker. She didn't push after my goody-two-shoes reply, just quieted down. Hmph. Knew she was baiting me. Every time I wiped memories instead of killing, her voice dripped with amusement.
I'd skipped most of the story, but I caught the protagonist's choices. My old character, 'BertupGaeChomKwonAHyun'… pure good alignment. Cleared every quest, saved all targets, never killed enemies even if they were foes.
So what about Theia right in front of me? Her psycho antics screamed neutral or evil, but… she hadn't killed me after I chugged the catalyst, and she got queasy when a kid went for a gun. At least a 'person.'
"Anyway, just escape. Killing's not the point."
Mm. Pass!
Hearing her satisfied hum (exclamation omitted), I finished memory-wiping the last government trooper.
Influenced by Theia, game Netdiver skills couldn't trigger 'death' judgments either. Sure, brain-dead close enough—and arguably worse—but whatever. Stray bullets made shooting tricky, and I didn't want to waste ammo on mere trash mobs like guards and grunts.
Just…
Your attack options are too limited. Deduct points.
"Ugh… this sword's too heavy…."
Unlike Theia, who wielded government merc weapons freely, my weak lab-rat girl body bugged me.
Then, something pinged my senses.
"Oh. This…."
Ooh, nice core.
I picked up a familiar-shaped cybercore. From the government squad leader's pocket: open-finger leather gloves.
"Hmm. Got it like this…."
The core I'd tweaked on a researcher during awakening. If the squad leader had it, no resistance left in the lab.
No attack function though. Deduct~!
"Sigh."
Trouble. At this rate, I'd be too passive in fights…
BOOM…!
"Agh…!"
Lost in thought en route to the exit, a massive blast erupted underfoot. I dodged sideways on instinct, but "Urgh…!" couldn't avoid the leg wound.
"Knew it. The rat chugged the catalyst too."
A voice from below. Familiar one. Didn't take long to place it. Only one guy used a gun dumb enough to punch through a floor and nick my leg…
"Now the gift's double value, huh?"
The psycho who'd blown off J's upper half when Dorothy and I hid in the OR.
"Damn… it!"
Oh no. Fight on, Tiara!
I ignored Theia's useless cheer and rolled forward fast.
BOOM…!
My spot exploded, bullet embedding in the ceiling.
"Good dodge. My boys'll be there soon."
Krahahaha! That bastard… Clutching my pistol tight amid the reloading merc's shitty laugh. The one who scared Dorothy? You're dead meat.
Roxell smirked as he swapped magazines. He'd long ditched the limb-chopping plan. Couldn't waste precious Netdiver blood like that. Sure, some surface scratches? Government would forgive.
His left-eye core outlined the limping girl. Desperate flight looked kinda cute.
BOOM…!
He deliberately missed to herd her toward swarming government troops. Hard to take down one by one.
Troops wouldn't kill the target outright. Once they bagged it for 'research,' he'd mop up small fry below and negotiate with brass himself.
"Uh… you sure, boss? That bitch… looks like a Netdiver now…."
Roxell snapped at the subordinate merc.
"Fuck off, you wanna grab her?"
His body, cybercore-riddled, lugged a caliber more suited to shells than personal firearms.
But… 'A lab rat less than an hour post-catalyst…'
Could she breach his secured cores? Her brain would fry first.
Kukuku…
Through a ceiling peephole, the target looked pretty. Fix that glare, good to go.
Herding slowly… Flicker…
"Huh?"
Left-eye vision blurred. No way… Instinct kicked in; he scanned for target.
"Fuck…!"
She'd vanished. Only twitching useless government troops left. On a busted leg how…? 'No… find the rat first…'
Flicker. Flicker. Pop…!
Left cybercore dead. One eye blind.
"Ah… you crazy…!"
Through all those dummies… how? Now targeting core lost, only right-eye reaction/ricochet aid left.
No way she aimed for it… right? How though…?
'Hows' piled in Roxell's head. Cracks spidered his battle doctrine.
BOOM…!
"Fuck you, come out!"
He blasted the ceiling, drew sidearm quick. New hole showed only shivering troops.
"Hey! Get upstairs, find the brat."
Calling subordinates, but…
"Hey, you fuck… my orders… huh."
Sub already knelt, head to floor.
Fuck… Survival sense screamed danger. Questions turned to terror.
Gripping pistol, Roxell scanned slow. She wouldn't drop below yet, right?
Then, SCRREEECH…! GRIIIND…!
Eerie noise; ceiling tore open. Unlike his peephole shot, cybercore-suited troop blade sliced steel like tofu.
"Fuuuuck…! Dieee!"
Roxell fired ricochet control through the gap. But…
Dropping from the hole: a sharp-eyed girl, not a single bullet wound.
Click… click…!
"N-no!"
Reload done, Roxell unloaded on the approaching girl. But…
"A b-barrier? How's that cybercore in your hands already…!"
Flicker flicker… Right eye fading too.
"Uaa… uaaaagh! Stay back…!"
Terror-firing wildly, Roxell's head heated up.
"Wha…? Whaa…?"
Above ear. Storage implant spot.
'How… through dummy cores without…?'
That thought last; Roxell's consciousness snapped.