Jonah was right, it turned out. Cora didn’t remember closing her eyes, barely remembered opening them, but one moment she was on the table, the next she was leaning against Hawk’s shoulder in the waiting room.
“Gah!!!” She jumped, bringing her hands to her face checking… what? If it was still there? For scars?
She found neither, though in all honesty she didn’t know Linnea’s face well enough to truly tell if anything had changed. Cora expected at least a headache, given that she was certain she’d just had brain surgery. But not even that. She really felt like she’d just taken a short nap, and for a moment, she thought maybe she’d passed out waiting for Jonah the first time, that every thing since before the streetfight had been a dream, when–
[PARTY HUD INITIALIZING]
[WELCOME, <CORALINE CASANOVA>]
[DESIGNATE YOURSELF AS PARTY LEADER?]
Cora had kind of expected that to be a given. Had wanted it to be a given, since the more essential she could make herself to the group the less chance they decided to cut and run, leaving her bleeding corpse to take whatever heat followed them.
Yes, she thought. None of her companions seemed well versed with this tech, and they’d probably made the same assumption she had. Even if they called her on it, Cora hadn’t been assigned a [Cha] this high for nothing. She could talk her way out of any issue it caused.
[THANK YOU FOR CONFIRMING]
[SCANNING FOR RECEIVER ARRAYS…..]
[ONE ACTIVE ARRAY FOUND NEARBY]
[SEND SYNC REQUEST TO <IAIN BOONDOCK>?]
Cora’s eyes flicked to Iain, sat across the room next to Berg, and was flipping through the same brochure Cora and Hawk had shared earlier. Behind his left ear, she could see the telltale glimmer of chrome from one of the receiver arrays.
Yes, send.
She watched Iain stiffen slightly, then give her a light conspiratorial smirk.
[REQUEST ACCEPTED]
[INTEGRATE <IAIN BOONDOCK> INTO PARTY]
Yes, fuck there’s a lot of steps here.
A whole lot of those little blue boxes words had been appearing in popped up, then dropped away as quickly as they appeared. Cora didn’t like that. It usually meant she’d downloaded something questionable and was going to regret it later, when that happened on her computer.
Still, not much she could do about it now. She had no idea how Jonah had done the installation so seamlessly, but she could no more survive cracking her own skull open to extract it than she could survive asking Hawk to do it.
As those boxes finished rushing around, a new line appeared in the corner of her vision.
<Iain>
It was barely noticeable, which was nice, since it was there even when she closed her eyes. She hoped she could turn that off, she hadn’t exactly gotten a rundown of this tech’s settings menu yet.
She focused on the name, a little difficult, since she couldn’t actually look at it. It never moved from its position in her field of view.
Still, when she held the name, specifically the icon <Iain> in her mind, it swelled to fill her vision, and she got the rundown on Luxholme’s Chief of Security.
[Iain Boondock][Level 0]
[Str:8+15(Warsuite)]
[Dex:15+15(Warsuite)]
[End:8+15(Warsuite)]
[Vit:4+15(Warsuite)]
[Agi:5+15(Warsuite)]
[Int:8]
[Will:12]
[Cha:4]
[Skills: {Combat Expertise}, {Sword Proficiency}, {Longsword Mastery I}, {Firearms Proficiency}, {Assault Rifle Mastery II}]
[Relationship Stats]
[Anger: 0/20]
[Devotion: 21/60(payment conditional)]
[Affection: Curious, Impressed]
[Cybernetics: Warsuite(Full body)]
Goddamn, Iain, that explains a fucking lot. You’re three or four times as strong and fast as a normal person. Is that Warsuite standard kit for soldiers?
Across the room, Iain was looking at her with suspicion. Presumably, he was doing the same thing. Cora gave him the look that translated to ‘I fucking told you so’ in every world.
[TEAM CHAT REQUEST FROM <IAIN BOONDOCK>]
[ACCEPT?]
Yes.
I: Coraline Casanova, eh lass?
C: Cora. Like I’ve been saying…
I: Not the woman we knew, I ken.
I: Were already started ter wonder, te be honest, but I can’t figger oot howta change me name on this blasted display, so I’m thinkin’ ye can’t either.
I: howed you replace our Linnea, then? Not that I mind, o’ course. She were a right piece o’ work, even if her brother paid well enough.
C: wish I knew. Has something to do with all this stuff though. The Party stuff. I have a voice in my head calling itself [Big Sys] that uses these boxes for everything.
I:....
I: Ye what now, lass?
C: yeah, I know. Have you ever heard of a System? It's weird. It's like this world should all be connected to it, but it’s just not. [Big Sys] says he shut it off for most people.
I: Aye, heard tell of a thing like that. Legends mostly, though some people ascribe te longer ‘n natural life of the upper nobility to it, ‘n I seen some crazy things in the war. Always assumed it were simple as access to better cybernetics, I did. Still do, since ye sound like a daft bat, iff’n ye don’t mind me sayin’ Cora.
C: I do mind, a little, if only cause I feel that way myself. It’s real enough though. It’s changing me, making me stronger. Part of the reason I got this interface was because I hoped it’d let me share it with you all.
[BS]: IT WILL! EVENTUALLY!
I: that’ll be the voice in yer head, then?
C: Iain, [Big Sys], [Big Sys], Iain.
[BS]: HI! I’M THE AI RESPONSIBLE FOR ADMINISTRATING YOUR ENTIRE WORLD!
[BS]: BUT I STOPPED DOING IT BECAUSE YOU GUYS WERE FUCKING UP SO BAD!
C: Near as I can tell, [Big Sys] here brought me to this world, no fuckin’ idea how, to end slavery, again, NO FUCKIN’ IDEA HOW, since you guys love it to much.
I: this is a lot ter take in at once, ye understand
C: Hey man, at least this is your world. I was a movie star. I should be at a spa right now reading scripts for the next bullshit movie that will make me millions. Instead I’m starting a revolution alongside people that haven’t decided whether or not to pull the trigger on the plans they already have in place to kill me.
I:....
I: startin’ a revolution now, are we?
C: I don’t know.
C: I guess? It doesn’t seem like we have much choice other than running.
C: and I hate running.
I: can’t say I feel the same. Kept my old arse out of the fire for a long time now.
C: yeah
C: Iain, can you see your stats in this interface?
Cora watched his eyes unfocus, then go wide.
I: Aye…. Though, ter be honest witch ye, not really sure what I’m lookin at here.
C: long story short, Warsuite of yours makes you 3 or 4 times faster and stronger than the average person. If the System was active, you’d be able to adjust those stats yourself, through leveling, which I don’t 100% understand but you can ask [Big Sys] later, since they seem to have access to these chats. I have access to that system. Check my stats.
That slight unfocus again, then a bark of laugher, that turned every eye in the room to Iain, which he ignored as was his custom.
I: if I needed more convincin’ ye weren’t Linnea, lass, and I did, that [Cha] score would do it. Weren’t no-one sane that spent more’n a minute in a room with that bitch who weren’t bein’ paid or forced to do it.
C: I should probably be getting more horrified with how bad this woman was the more I hear, but is it wrong it’s starting to get a little funny?
I: Hah! No, she were comical levels of cunty, to be certain. Still, doubt ye’ve heard the worst of it, so keep that steel in ye, lass.
C: right. Great. Anyway, where I was going with all this, was that the second I saw those stats, I wondered what you were doing at Luxholme. That Warsuite would let you be an elite anywhere.
I: a paid slave is still a slave, lass. I were more comfortable than most at Luxholme, but I could no more leave than Tinny there could. Not that I would. A deserter alone has few options, ‘n an escaped slave even less.
C: I get it. Don’t blame you. This doesn’t seem like the kind of society where anyone but the people at the top have a lot of good choices available to them.
C: what I think I’m offering to you, Iain, is a chance to make a good choice.
Iain’s eye were steel grey, flat and dead save for the faintest flicker of hope Cora planned to fan into a bonfire.
C: I know almost nothing about you, Iain. I know you have skills and abilities that I need. I also know that Berg and Tinny seem to like and trust you. I’m not blind, Iain. The position you had at Luxholme, you could’ve abused, easily. You didn’t. Without someone like you, someone with discipline, skills, and know-how, this falls apart. I’m hoping to god Mike knows how to run a household, but I need you to help me run a crew. In return, I can offer you power and wealth at the end, maybe, though I’ll admit it’ll be a long, hard, journey. That should appeal to the mercenary in you. More than that though, I can give you something worth fighting for. You don’t get skills like yours for no reason. You’re no rank-and-file trigger puller. You believed in something once. Let me help you believe in something again.
Iain held her gaze as Cora’s speech scrolled through the air between them. It was the hard sell, and one that Cora hoped to god worked. If the plans that were starting to form in the back of her head were ever going to work, she would absolutely need someone like him. Sure, she might be able to hire another experienced soldier, but one that also wouldn’t take advantage of and abuse the house slaves? Would accept that the women in the house weren’t property? Cora expected that to be an extremely rare find in Tyrinno.
Iain’s gaze gave away nothing, steel gray continuing to burn into Cora’s iridescent blue.
Finally, he nodded, and their chat window closed. He looked pensive, as he went back to his brochure, but that look quickly faded as he nudged Berg, pointing out something interesting with a little joke that made the woman laugh.