7. Neurocrawler #3
“Again, BB I love you, but learn to wait a zegging second. Yeah, I figured someone was targeting us, and that Cut’s devotees–Gongtide, Nichley, or anyone has a kill order for us…
but this… this weird. Yet another thing we’re all well acquainted with, but even so, there’s no lumen bounty.
No offer of employment, just a pass into a neurocore district. ”
“They have districts there like we do?”
“Somewhat, but they aren’t constrained by colors on the light spectrum. You can buy your own if you know what you’re doing and have it be your personal cognitive space. I can’t find any name, detail, or hint at what this admittance entails.”
“And someone has to kill us to get in?” I asked.
“I think so, but it doesn’t have any specific names. Your profiles are there for her, but I think we could get by with just one.”
“Get by?” Naoma’s eyes were wide. “I don’t want anyone to die, especially not knowing what this admittance is for.”
Ralia laughed. “No, of course I’m not going to kill any of you babes, but I can make it look like you’ve been killed.”
“Not me,” Boyband said.
Ralia snapped and pointed at him. “You don’t know what it entails and yes you. All we need is a quick neurospace down, get your sensors to show dead vitals, and the contract should trigger. All without losing consciousness.”
I nodded. “Once it works, we’ll have admittance to that neurocore district?”
“We should. Look, I know I might look like I have all the answers, but this is a lot of guess work. I know that’s most of what all of us are doing, but I need your input.
We can trigger it right now and hook someone into the access, or we can wake Kalacia and risk what that entails just to have the chance at seeing what this access might be. ”
“Is the neurocore just like a different neurospace?” Denji asked.
She shook her head. “You have to multitask when jumping between reality and your neurospace. One consciousness. The neurocore is different. It’s a realm of its own, completely digitized. You can be in both with a split mind.”
“Will one know what the other is doing?” Boyband asked.
“Yes, enough, kind of like you and me talking right now. Once your minds realign everything will be back in sync.”
“So you’ve done it before?”
“Babe, look at me. I’m half machine.”
“Now you are.”
She scoffed. “Like you know what I looked like on the inside before.”
“Focus, Ral,” I said.
She smirked. “Yeah, I’ve spent my time. Takes a good neuroset to tap in.” She pointed at the desk. “But once you’re in, you’re good until you return to the neuroset to disconnect. The world has digitized emotions. It shouldn’t surprise you that it has figured out how to digitize consciousness.”
“What if something happens to you on the outside?” Boyband asked. “Does the mind continue in the neurospace?”
She nodded. “If what I have heard is true. The mind continues as a file but loses memories with a disconnect from its host. The inverse though, that’s worse.”
“What do you mean?”
“Your mind can survive without the outer body, but if the inner mind dies, it’ll break a part of you. Met a couple of dus who went psycho after they died in the core, another who lost his memories, and a few who flat out died.”
“Zeg… so you’re the one going in for us, right?”
She shrugged. “Maybe you will. We’ll see.”
He turned to Kalacia. “I say we chat with her. The fewer risks, the better. You plug?”
Ralia cocked her head at me. “Whatddyou think, Pet?”
“Why me?”
“Because you’re the only one who’s seen the god in the ocean.
You’ve seen both assassination attempts.
You’re one of the oldest Imps. I’m not leading because I’m too responsible holding things up in the background.
BB isn’t leading us, Akna’s too new, Abbas betrayed us and once was enough, Naoma’s too precious–”
“Hey!”
Ralia grinned but kept her attention on me. “Haven’t we gone over this before? We need direction, Pet. You’ve gone the deepest into this hell.”
Again, the burden of their livelihoods weighed on me. I was a flawed man who felt he was failing to lead himself towards success, let alone others.
I had feigned confidence. Knowledge. Joy. All had proven themselves somewhat true on occasion. If they needed my direction, the least I could do would be to try.
Ralia was right. I had seen hell revealed. A hell. I would see it again if it meant saving them the pain.
Perhaps that was what they needed. Not an all-knowing leader, but someone who was willing to sacrifice himself for them.
“Let’s do it.”
“Pulse–”
He held up a hand. “But I want to say, if anyone has to risk themselves in this neurocore thing, I think I should do it. I’ve seen that feral god. If this has anything to do with the tide, I want to be the one to risk it.”
“If I can come with you,” Ralia said. “I think it’s smart to have you go, aside from this whole hero complex, but you should go with someone who knows what the core districts are like. You plug?”
I smiled and nodded.
“Can I wake her now?” Kuni asked me.
“Strap her down then let’s give it a shot.”