Falling a Little Faster
Don't worry. I'm just an ordinary girl. I was falling very, very slowly. Just like every human does. Imperfect, doomed-to-fail beings. We're all humans who will one day either sink into the earth or shoot into the sky. So don't be scared. We, the ones called menhera, are just humans who drop a little faster than the rest. There's no reason to fear the fall.
"Whaaaaaaa...!"
No. I'm terrified. The wind's ripping scream echoed in my ears. Sky blue and sea blue swirled together, scrambling my vision. I felt like puking! Ahh... Even if I tried adopting that menhera mindset of "Watashi, I'm 'falling' right now... (physically)", it didn't change the fact that I had a crippling fear of heights.
"Ughhh... Theia... pleasegivepleasegivepleasegive..."
Theia had launched me, Tiara—the little girl—skyward with some trick on my cybercore. My first cybercore... the one people called the "shit-glove." Its new function was... high-speed movement! The third function after barrier and detection nullification.
'Huh? But isn't high-speed movement kinda OP?'
'It's essential for traversal in an open-world game.'
Someone might say. But here's the thing. Weapons only used in variety builds have a reason for it.
"Kyaah! Bird strike! Bird strike! Feathers grazed meee!"
While using it, all other functions deactivate, and you take double damage. That's why evasion builds and holdout builds can't use this "shit-glove." Too risky for dodgy tanks, and a waste for holdout tanks since you sacrifice a function! Plus... high-speed movement only reduces air resistance! If Theia hadn't blasted me with her insane telekinetic output and a force field... this wouldn't be a super jump!
"Auuugh...! Listen... to me...!"
I barely regained balance mid-air, struggling to control the force field. I activated my senses, staring at the flickering core functions. This tiny thing had a whopping four stars! Of course, only two were active, and one was barely hanging on, about to shut down.
"Get it together, Tiaraaa...!"
I shook my head and focused on the core. If I didn't fix this thing fast, I'd paint the ground red like Dorothy had dyed her hair black.
Faint threads between the stars came into view. They showed how connected each function was. Normally, the four stars would be neatly wrapped in pretty threads, with the main function supported by the others...
"Auuugh...! Are you sure you're a researcher? The threads are all tangled!"
Right now, it was like a single guy's messy PC cables. Thanks to that, I was forced into a girly hobby fitting my body's tone and manner: knitting. Focus! One stitch at a time... I pulled the threads up, wrapping them around the stars, creating my own pattern. My goal was the shit-glove's star pattern from the game—an hourglass weave crossing all four stars.
The sensation of grabbing and lifting the thread. The sensation of draping it over the stars. None of it was familiar, but...
"Done...!"
I managed it! I wove threads through all four stars, activating them. I'd restored the core shape from the game. With time left, I wrapped a few extra strands... and then blood trickled from my nose, staining my white dress. But it was fine. Better than becoming a blood pancake on the ground, right?
"Stoppp!"
Whoooosh...! A powerful force field rippled out, warping the air around nearby objects. High-speed movement halted, and the fourth function—mid-air levitation—activated. Still high up, I floated, panting heavily.
Below my feet stretched a vast wasteland like the American West.
"Huff... huff...!"
Thankfully, Theia had flung me toward land. Her sharp, upturned eyes and red gaze were scary enough to drown me anytime without complaint... but in the end, she'd helped me out big time.
"Haa... The popularity of this body, beloved by menhera..."
Thinking that made those sharp eyes a bit missed? She gave me catalysts, watched my combat like driving lessons, escorted me out when I got hurt, knew my destination and tossed me toward the City. She did everything! No adult had taken care of me like Theia.
"Adult, huh..."
Softening a bit at the first adult help since arriving in this world. Clap clap! I slapped my cheeks to harden up. Stupid, Tiara.
"Don't rely on others."
No matter if I'm the protagonist, she won't go easy next time our targets overlap. She's not my mom, after all. Build strength first, fight to protect what's mine. The kid I have to protect.
"Dorothy...!"
Stay put, doggo. Our meetup spot was a tall, massive tower. In the original game, where protagonist Theia hits her first checkpoint. Dorothy's pod was originally Theia's, so predicting it'd land near the tower wasn't hard.
...Please land as predicted.
"There it is."
The tower loomed visibly from afar. I clenched my gloved fist. High-speed movement and barrier activated, and I dove toward it at high speed.
Wait, high-speed and barrier together? Weren't they incompatible?
Yeah. But it worked. After fully repairing the glove's functions with spare capacity, I linked two stars that weren't originally connected. That was probably why. Of course, I remembered Theia's advice. Don't get cocky. Not everyone can hack like me—others might pull this off too. Keep in mind the differences from the game. Enemies might use skills unlike the game knowledge.
Forcing down my acrophobia, I skimmed the ground, but no Dorothy. Obviously. Still far off... Damn, Tiara. Don't rush. Dorothy's safe. She has to be.
Steeling myself again, after flying awhile... I finally found her.
"Dorothyiii!"
Fluttering gray dress, black dye faded to reveal fiery red hair. Covered in dirt. Covered in blood.
"Tia... Tiaraaa!"
The dumb puppy Dorothy whipped around at my voice.
"These fucking bastards."
She was being chased.
"We'll catch her soon."
The hacker watching remotely via comms reported confidently.
"Go easy, go easy."
Zero Pang, boss of the Dust Viper gang, waved dismissively while scraping his few remaining teeth with his dagger tip.
The boss's advisor, the hacker, ignored his apathy and focused on the hacking tool tracking the prey.
"Hey, advisor. So, who're we catching?"
Zero Pang scratched his freshly shaved bald head with the dagger.
The advisor sighed deeply, turning from the boss's grooming to zoom the screen.
"This bitch."
Zero Pang squinted. The advisor bowed his head, peeking at the boss's reaction. Please don't take the bait! Catching a young girl as prey was rare even out here. Far from the City in the wasteland, barefoot in a filthy dress. Perfect timing too—he needed a young, fresh brain for a new cybercore!
"Which one?"
"Huh? The black-haired girl."
"Which one?"
What kinda stupid question is that? Frowning, the advisor looked up—and saw two girls on screen, mirroring the boss's dumbstruck face.
"Wh-what?"
The girl duplicated? Comms glitch? But the advisor quickly realized they were distinct. The one with cat-like glaring eyes stared this way.
The girl mouthed on screen.
They gawked until the screen died. The recon core spat static, smoke, then broke.
"You little shit, even if you're pissed, don't wreck my TV!"
Zero Pang raged—she was exactly his type. The hacker advisor stammered, "H-how? How?!"—defeated instantly in hacker vs. hacker combat.
Hackers duel by seizing each other's cybercores via their own hacking implants in the brain.
'Couldn't last 2 seconds?'
The girl noticed the advisor's core and hacked instantly. He spun his brain-core desperately. And... pop. TV dead.
'N-no way... a Netdiver?'
City single-digit districts. Demon realm of monsters and horrific AIs scheming. Only there you'd find... ghost-like existences... Netdivers!
The words lingered. Blood trickled down Zero Pang's bald head.
"H-heck...! H-heck...!"
"Hey, idiot. It's just a dagger nick. Stop freaking."
The weak-hearted advisor clutched his chest as Zero Pang kicked his chair, berating him. Ignoring the spilled piss, Zero Pang stepped out and hopped atop the 4m+ monster truck, bellowing.
"You lot—!"
His voice echoed through the canyon. Trash bugs below stared silently. He didn't want replies, grinning as he said:
"Little girls! Two of 'em!"
"Black hair! All limbs intact!"
"First to catch gets exclusive dibs!"
"Follow if you're hunting!"
The bugs buzzed in unison: Go! Go! Zero Pang grinned, retreating into the truck. Inside, the advisor gaped, trembling with another cybercore in hand.
"Oh, right."
Starting the monster truck, Zero Pang glanced at the hacker. Come to think of it, recon squad was chasing first.
"What about the other recon team?"
The obedient advisor silently manipulated his core, popping a small screen.
"Tch. Idiots."
Zero Pang clicked his tongue. All recon signals dead. In under 3 minutes. Gulping, the advisor recalled what the boss missed.
Recon bullets freezing mid-air.
Recon team kneeling at the girl's gesture.
'One force field core...' Blocking bullets, subduing foes, jamming comms? Even Netdivers don't multiclass a single core like that. Netdivers' terror is controlling all cores including sub-brains. But not with one core for everything.
'What kinda force field play is that...'
Like a Michelin chef wielding every ingredient. That girl? A lunatic earning three stars with cup ramen. Recon cooked in 3 minutes... apt metaphor. Whose dish do you wanna be?
'N-neither.'
The advisor shuddered. Even from afar, an unhandleable psycho. ...Now heading close.
Dizzy, the hacker gripped his forehead, glancing in the rearview. Bugs kicked up dust chasing the boss's ride. He turned to the boss, who grinned with his scant teeth and shiny dome gleaming.
"What're you doing? Marked the position earlier."
Zero Pang slowed deliberately, letting bugs surge ahead. Yeah. Their firepower unleashed... even a hotshot hacker's brain fries. Then... that brain...!
The advisor's eyes sparkled like the boss's.
"Yes, boss!"
Dreaming of ripping the girl's brain for a new cybercore. Of course, dreams shatter at the City's edge. 70 District. The wasteland.