While Kyra stopped being talkative pretty fast, probably because without Cora on her knees she could still see Linnea’s face, but the mood in the room had improved considerably without the stormcloud of her seething loathing. As Kyra curiously peered over the brochure that had made it around the team by now, Cora did two things.
She grabbed a copy of that brochure. Must be something good in it, and it’d be a good idea of what cybernetics were available. Both for future upgrades, and to warn her against what she might encounter.
She focused in on <Kyra> in her HUD.
[Kyra Light][Level 0]
[Str:5]
[Dex:15+20(Voidblack Bodyglove)]
[End:5+5(Voidblack Bodyglove]
[Vit:4+5(Voidblack Bodyglove]
[Agi:15+20(Voidblack Bodyglove]
[Int:9]
[Will:12]
[Cha:8]
[Skills: {Knife Expertise},{Karambit Mastery I},{Silat Mastery I},{Stealth III},{Cleaning II},{Service II},{Service (sexual) II}]
[Relationship Stats]
[Anger: 5/20]
[Devotion: -5/60]
[Affection: Confused]
[Cybernetics: Receiver Array<Cora Casanova>]
[Equipment: [Voidblack Bodyglove]]
Cora glared at the last skill in Kyra’s list. One more reminder of how bad things have been, and when Kyra looked at these stats, all it would do was remind her.
The second thing she noticed was that Kyra had an extra box for [Equipment].
[Big Sys]? Why is that suit of hers the only thing that's come up in the System?
IT'S THE ONLY THING YOU’VE SEEN SO FAR THAT GIVES STATS! IT'S NOT PURELY TECH. IT HAS A BIT OF OL’ [BIG SYS]’ MAGIC IN IT, LIKE FROSTY’S HAT.
ALTHOUGH ACTUALLY, MY MAGIC IS JUST SUPER ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY, BUT THAT COULD BE ARGUED TO BE TRUE OF ALL MAGIC REGARDLESS.
Thanks, Cora thought, ignoring [Big Sys]’ tendency to ramble. It was a good thing to know. It seemed like cyberware was pretty widespread, but stat-boosting items might not be. Kyra didn’t have any cyberware at all besides the Receiver Array, and she’d beaten Iain, who made regular thugs look like school children.
The stat discrepancy there did make Cora wonder though. Kyra had gotten her knife to Iain’s throat, sure, but with a [Str] of 5 versus Iain’s 23 effective [End], would she even have been able to get that knife through his skin? It was a useless question for a sparring match, but Cora wasn’t certain that fight would have gone the same way if it was for real.
Gotta get her something that boosts that [Str], or if we go up against someone tough enough she’ll get herself killed trying to use knives that don’t work.
Apparently, Kyra had begun to engage in the same activities as Cora, because she barked out a surprised laugh.
“Hah! A 30 in [Cha]?” She laughed, “if that means what I think it does, then I don’t know who you are, but you aren’t Linnea. Cunt had the charisma of a rat soaked in piss. There was a reason she had the date-rape glands installed.”
Cora burned. She didn’t even know where those were inside of her, but she already regretted not asking Jonah to rip them out. She sighed. Maybe next time, she doubted this was the last time she’d find herself under the Techgraft’s knife. Not if she wanted to survive.
After Cora had finally begun to flip through the brochure herself, the light above the door clicked off and Hawk strode through.
“Don’t know what you whiny bitches were scared of!” She yelled, plopping down next to Cora and roughly pulling her close. The noogie she gave her would have been inappropriate even if Cora hadn’t had open-brain surgery today, but there was also nothing she could do: she might be tough, but she wasn’t strong, and given the trends with her companions, she was willing to bet she’d find a [Str] stat on Hawk that was well and truly superhuman.
She wouldn’t have to wait long, as Kyra and Iain jeered at Hawk’s false bravado, a message flashed in Cora’s vision.
[INCOMING SYNC REQUEST FROM <TINA TAGLIARI>]
[ACCEPT?]
Yes.
Tina’s, Hawk’s, name populated beneath Iain and Kyra’s in her peripheral vision, and Cora wasted no time focusing in on it.
[Tina ‘Hawk’ Tagliari][Level 1 Brute]
[Str:11+25(Predator Combat Pack)]
[Dex:8+10(Predator Combat Pack)+5(Bertha)]
[End:9+5(DuraDerm Implants)]
[Vit:9+10(Predator Combat Pack)]
[Agi:8+5(Predator Combat Pack)]
[Int:3]
[Will:7]
[Cha:8]
[Skills: {Killer}, {Brawling Proficiency}, {Heavy Weapons Proficiency}, {Improvised Weapons Mastery}, {Psycho}
[Relationship Stats]
[Anger: 5(Permanent)/20]
[Devotion: +/-30/60]
[Affection: Possessive]
[Cybernetics: Receiver Array<Cora Casanova>, DuraDerm Implants, Predator Combat Pack]
[Equipment: [Bertha]]
What the fuck? Hawk has a level?
I CAN EXPLAIN THAT!
Can you like, generate footsteps in my head or something before you talk? I don’t like jumping out of my skin every time.
The slow creak of floorboards sounded in the back of her mind, growing ever closer.
Okay, fuck, worse.
RIGHT!? ANYWAY, HAWK IS A FUCKING MENACE! IF YOU KILL ENOUGH WEAKER PEOPLE WITHOUT BEING [SYSTEM INTEGRATED], THE SYSTEM STARTS TO INTEGRATE YOU AS A MONSTER. AS FAR AS THE SYSTEM (ME) IS CONCERNED, HAWK IS A [Brute] NOT A HUMAN! HAPPENS WITH ANIMALS TOO!
Does she know that?
NOPE! MONSTERS HAVE POINTS ALLOCATED AUTOMATICALLY!
…. Can we change the ‘Monster’ classification?
PROBABLY!
Ugh.
With every new thing Cora learned about Hawk, the worse she felt about liking the big girl so damn much. Even now, though she should have been horrified, she really was just glad Hawk was on her side.
For now.
As expected, Hawk’s baseline physical stats were insane, near or over what Cora would have thought was possible for their shared species. He cybernetics brought her into the truly superhuman realm in most areas, though Cora noted one discrepancy.
Only a +5 to [End]? I don’t have a great reference point, but that definitely doesn’t feel like it should be high enough to have knives spark off your skin.
Cora tried focusing in on [DuraDerm Implants] and immediately wished she’d done it on basically everything she’d seen so far.
[DuraDerm Implants]: +5 [End]. Minor thickening and toughening of skin across the entire body, providing the effect of low-tier leather armor. In addition, sub-dermal armor plates provide much greater protection in some areas. Can generate a short lived active shield (3 seconds) of very high durability once per hour.
Huh. So it doesn’t count the armor plates themselves as increasing her [End]. Kinda makes sense, I guess. If you were just basing your durability off stats, wouldn’t want to get surprised when a bullet pings off your arm but not your skull.
Two more extremely concerning things awaited in Hawk’s skills. {Killer} and {Psycho}.
Well, I can hardly be surprised about those, but I don’t have to be happy.
She focused in on {Killer}
{Killer}- You live for the fight, but only when it’s to the death. When in lethal combat, receive a +25% bonus to all base stats.
Cora suppressed a whistle no-one would understand. 25% of 11 might not be that much, but what about when Hawk had a [Str] of 100? That’d be like adding three dudes worth of force to whatever she tried to do.
She focused on {Psycho} next.
{Psycho}- you’d be right at home in a slasher flick, so long as you were the one holding the knife. An inability to feel remorse and what could charitably be described as ‘difficulty’ controlling your emotions make you the most dangerous person in the room. This, however, is something you enjoy. After a kill, receive a 200% bonus to base [Vit] for 1 minute.
Cora thought about the knife that had stuck into Hawk’s shoulder when she started the brawl, and her shredded forearms after intercepting all those knife strikes. Looking at her now, she was still covered in blood, but those wounds were nowhere to be found.
Hawk caught her looking, letting a slow, dangerous grin crawl across her bold features.
“You lookin’ at the same thing I am, Miss Mistress?” She asked. “Always wondered, why no matter how bad I got my ass beat in a fight, as long as I ended it, I was fine after. Looks like I know why.”
“Yeah… congratulations on being so crazy the universe rewarded you for it, I guess,” Cora said, and Hawk threw back her head in a throaty laugh carrying just as much danger as it did mirth.
“Well don’t you worry, pretty thing,” Hawk cooed with mock gentleness, “always better to know where the {Psycho} is, right? And you know I’ll always be riiiiight behind you.”
Cora wasn’t entirely certain, but the shining teeth in her broad, white grin looked just a little sharper than they should
“Enough o’ that, Hawk,” Iain scolded, “poor lass has had a hard enough day as it is, seein’ as I’m starting to think she’s tellin’ the truth about not bein’ Linnea. Let’s save your special kind o’ fun for the Chains, and stop tortuin’ the dear thing, aye?”
Hawk chuckled, bright hazel-yellow eyes not leaving Cora’s. Finally, she dragged them away, showing Iain a grin that seemed much more genuine.
“Fair enough, old timer, best get moving anyway,” she stood, stretching. As she did, she put her palms flat against the ceiling, cracking a whole lot of joints in both arms. “This is already the longest time I’ve ever spent in a Sawbone’s place, Techgraft or no, and I’m startin’ to feel like a pussy. Let’s drop off the bitches, get to the depot, and get home before the bad shit comes out at night.”