To Higher Places 3

Dozens of military hovercrafts lifted off in unison. They swarmed the research facility simultaneously, encircling it before disgorging combat troops en masse from within. The cyberware these soldiers wore ignored appearance entirely. After all, soldiers figured it was better to use life-welding tech for raw combat power and strength than wasting time on looks.

The one most rattled by this sudden assault was, predictably, the gang boss who'd kidnapped Neige—Drex.

"Fuck! How'd they find this place? This site's records were completely wiped during the Alphabet War! How the hell did they know already?!"

"But... Boss! The guards say ImmuneWire troops are blanketing the perimeter."

"Damn it, that girl and the ImmuneWire bastards checked out fine! Did info leak from inside? Who the fuck couldn't keep their ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠mouth shut?!"

The gang's mood plummeted fast. Being surrounded by a corporate strike force was bad enough, but even their boss's panic drove home the desperation.

"This ain't the time to hunt traitors...! Bring that stubborn little bitch here now!"

Gang members tore through the facility and quickly dragged Neige out. Despite the heavy tension, the girl was casually playing with her toys.

"As long as we've got the kid, we live. Got it? Everyone, stay sharp! And whichever dumbfuck leaked info—if I find you, I'll blow your head off myself, so watch your asses!"

"Yes, Boss!"

Their bellowing voices shook the facility like it might collapse, audible even to Svetlana outside. She smirked faintly. To her, they looked like bugs in their nest bracing for a last stand.

With ImmuneWire's combat unit fully encircling the site, Svetlana slowly adjusted her field of view. Overlaying reality and cyberspace using the map Neige had sent, she directed the infiltrating Ouroboros Protocol, planting seeds in key systems ahead of time. At the same time, she pinpointed not just Neige, but the other two prisoners' locations too.

'Miss...?'

Svetlana's eyes caught sight of Neige in combat. The girl was scaling the fortress walls of the maid's and pilot's ICE while trading fire with bitmancers.

'How are you doing that from inside?'

Genuine admiration. ImmuneWire's elite agents couldn't pull that off, yet Neige made it look routine.

'...And you've even copied my code.'

This genius for snatching enemy code and deploying it on the fly was becoming addictive. Svetlana nodded, truly impressed.

'I won't disappoint you.'

She grabbed a megaphone and called out.

"We are the ImmuneWire combat unit. You are surrounded. Release all prisoners inside and surrender, and we'll let you live."

In response, about three gang members emerged from the facility.

"...The boss wants to negotiate!"

"Speak."

"We'll hand over the hovercraft pilot and maid. Clear a path for us to escape. We'll deal with the girl later."

"All of them, or no deal."

"You..."

Svetlana wasn't focused on the negotiation at all. In cyberspace, her snake was methodically consuming the facility from within. She could see the guns and cyberware of the gang members in front of her—and those threatening Neige inside. Svetlana devoted 80% of her brainpower to piloting the snake and providing computational support. The grunts before her had no clue.

Not even when the security systems crumbled and control of every device inside flipped.

"You! Wanna see your precious miss die? Feel like delivering her corpse to your master?!"

"Who knows... would it even be a corpse?"

As Svetlana toyed with her holster, the gang members leveled their guns—prompting ImmuneWire troops to aim back. In this hair-trigger standoff, Svetlana fixed her gaze on one foe inside: their boss, decked in the priciest cyberware and gear. The moment her snake breached his gun's ICE and sank its fangs in...

Svetlana squeezed off shots in a blur, vaporizing three gang members' heads. Faster than the already-aimed grunts could react.

The troops were stunned too.

"Hah..."

Having witnessed her blistering barrage, they just stared blankly at the fallen bodies. Amid their awe, she spoke in a cold, merciless tone.

"We breach. Handle the outside."

Click-clack. Her heels echoed as she strode boldly into the facility's entrance.

"That woman just opened fire?!"

Drex, who'd relaxed thinking negotiations were underway, bellowed at the thunderbolt news.

"Yes, Boss. But... she's no ordinary markswoman."

"No shit! You think the strike team's rep shows up without skills?"

"Boss, she's entering the facility!"

"What?! The combat unit's breaching?!"

"No—just her, alone!"

Drex stared blankly at the messenger for a beat.

Alone? In a cramped, maze-like research building?

"Fuck! They think we're chumps! Everyone, battle stations!"

"Huh? Boss, you wanna fight the corp?!"

"You think we got bargaining power if we can't kill one bitch?! Go! Kill the woman first, then negotiate!"

"Got it!"

"It's ImmuneWire! Tell the bitmancers in security to brace!"

Members scattered with weapons drawn—precise movements through corridors, stairs, and passages hinting at drilled defensive tactics. Which implied serious firepower.

The heel clicks starting at the entrance crept inward. Vanguard gang squads ambushed from behind walls, waiting for an opening.

Svetlana paused to glance at a faded wall map.

'Chance!'

The first gunman leaped out—his weapon's electronics glitched, exploding and killing him.

"You bitch...!"

Fury drove another from the side—Svetlana's unaimed pistol punched through his skull.

Two more rushed out together.

"I... can't see!"

"Why won't the gun fire?!"

Their ocular implants and guns hacked, they dropped sequentially to her two shots.

Four ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠down in seconds, yet Svetlana resumed walking with emotionless calm, heels clicking.

"Crazy... what the hell are our bitmancers doing? We're getting rekt!"

As other squads hesitated, Svetlana monitored cyberspace.

One realization hit while watching the snake seize the entire system: overwhelming computational superiority just smashes through defenses. Like how I twisted through Cerberus—because raw math power loses.

But this snake brute-forced every ICE and took over.

Svetlana's brain was elite, her cyberware top-tier, and the program's efficiency godlike.

[Ouroboros Protocol: ImmuneWire Chairman's Secretariat exclusive.]

Considering the user, was there anything stronger? This was peak human programming in this era.

A gap so vast, normies had no shot at resisting.

Building 'hacking' knowledge bit by bit as the 'sudden third bitmancer,' a question arose—born from viewing reality and cyberspace simultaneously.

Svetlana was mowing down gang members outside. How did she relay urgent updates to bitmancers deep in cyberspace?

Simple: messages from the deep-dive chair's computer.

Key was the connection. Sending meant a live data stream somewhere.

"Found it."

I stood atop the network carrying that flow. A detached Ouroboros snake had its fangs in it already, blocking external signals.

I perched carefully on the snake's head; it glanced up.

"Svetlana nu—no, unnie."

The snake didn't reply, but my words reached.

"This is the bitmancers' external data link. Blocking it must guzzle compute power, right?"

Svetlana juggled realspace combat and system takeover. Per V, conscious bitmancers lose efficiency. With those facts and my guess, she was maxed out—proof: she bypassed the bitmancers' ICE, leaving them alive.

No reason to spare them if she had slack.

What if I eased her load?

"No signals for long, and they'll suspect. What if I take over here and spoof attack signals on their data fortress?"

The snake eyed me, then acted. A data block formed in its eye and floated over.

It was code for wrecking this network. I copied it into a dagger-shaped data weapon and stabbed the link.

The snake withdrew its fangs and dissolved.

Now, spoof the signal.

The fortress-attacking bitmancers cursed at the ping.

"Argh, how the fuck we crack ImmuneWire ICE quick? Even Cerberus was a bitch."

"Hey! Fuck, did you report that weird bitmancer intruder? Some psycho shooting at us?!"

I'll answer for you. Nope. I just blocked that info. Well... would it matter if you did? Outside messages outrank yours anyway.

Outside's hell right now.

Gang assault squad one: Wall lab gear explodes mid-run—total wipe.

Squad two: Ambush in room, vents malfunction with poison gas—total wipe.

Squad three: Charging corridor, spot her on CCTV, fire blindly at wall—penetrated by her shots—total wipe.

Next, two: Snipe through wall cam—it's friendlies; mutual kill.

Svetlana just walked. Or paused to puppeteer the snake. No cover, no basics.

Yet the gang neared annihilation.

Watching contacts drop, Drex's tongue dried up.

"Fuck, just one woman... one goddamn woman... what the hell is she?! Bitmancers got nothing?!"

He screamed into the radio—but replies spelled doom.

"What? Already dead?!"

[No. Brains intact.]

"Then what the fuck?!"

Too strong. Too weird. Did the world still let monsters like her hunt bottom-feeders like us? Hadn't rich and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠poor worlds split long ago?

Musing, Drex eyed the girl fiddling with toys—and it hit him.

Solo infiltrator's insane strength. Unnaturally calm amid gunfire and screams.

Drex drew his gun with venomous eyes, aiming at her head.

"Hey, answer right."

"...?"

Neige looked up blankly.

"Who are you? Why'd the secretariat mobilize? Only they pack this heat—and they don't move without Chairman business. You his hidden granddaughter or some shit?!"

"...Who knows?"

"All that acting till now? Why so calm? Why?! Wanna die?! Answer!"

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"Wanna try killing me?"

"...What?"

The girl smirked wickedly.

"You can't."

No five-year-old's smile.

"I'm your only hope."

Svetlana blasted through to the 'security room' in a flash. Gang defenders piling on to shield bitmancers died creatively, but harder: brains fried, self-inflicted headshots, screaming as bodies burned.

Enemy numbers thinned; with Neige guarding the other two prisoners and handling bitmancers, stronger hacks flowed.

She entered. Bitmancers lined in deep-dive chairs—headshot each, one by one.

No more bitmancers. Neige could quit her risky hacks.

Indeed, Neige went quiet in cyberspace.

Final room: boss and lieutenants.

The boss fled to the deepest room with survivors. All but Drex aimed at the door; he kept his gun to Neige's head.

But Neige saw it: a massive snake glaring coldly from behind them.

Click-clack. Heels at the door.

They tensed—then data streams flooded like a wave.

Every gang member but Drex lost body control. They drew pistols and blew their own heads off.

"Fuck..."

Drex muttered in despair as the door opened slowly.

"I've come for you, Miss."

Svetlana stood bloodless. Her smile before Neige contrasted her prior ruthlessness.

"You're too much, Miss. I hoped we'd kill together. But you prepped hacks too..."

"What the fuck are you on about?!"

Drex roared; Svetlana mock-plugged her ears.

"Nothing you need to know."

"What?!"

In cyberspace, Neige perched on Drex's data block.

"Hint: our Miss is quite the hacker."

Drex looked down. Met the chilling gaze of a girl no five-year-old should have.

"Th-this...!"

Terror surged; he yanked his jack, stumbling back.

Desperate, he pulled the trigger on Neige—

It didn't fire.

"Fuck... luck's shit..."

Drex dropped the gun, collapsing limp.

"Why us? Huh?! Insignificant girl gets protected by scum like you. Is this world's order—us dying pathetic?!"

"Insignificant girl?"

Svetlana scoffed at his rage.

"You're mistaken. The Miss isn't insignificant."

"Bull! Rich parents' spawn, right?!"

"Hard to believe, but she's an orphan."

"Fuck off! Why protect trash like her?!"

Drex was unhinged with injustice. Fair—routine cargo rip-off gone south.

"You lot act superior despite being same as us, just lucky parents. We just wanted a taste of your life once."

"Once..."

Svetlana eyed Neige, then knelt to Drex's level, brushing back her bangs to bare her forehead.

"One last wish before death. Shoot. Gun's unhacked."

"Wh-what...?"

"Time's short. Seize chances when foes overreach, right?"

"You fucking bitch to the end!"

Drex snatched the gun, smashed it to her forehead—bullet ricocheted, mangled, clattered harmlessly.

"Chitin cyberware...? Walking tank?"

"Yes."

"With that, you dodged every shot and—"

Svetlana's gun flashed.

"How's expensive cyberware taste? That's upper-class life. For criminal trash, you lived large."

All over.

Svetlana hugged smiling Neige, leaving the corpse.

"Glad you're safe, Miss. Prepped an extra hovercraft you like."

Hard to believe this warm voice massacred and toyed with men moments ago.

"Time to see the Chairman."