23.1

January 27, 2070, 0214

Rocky Ridge, Edgewood Farms, Farmhouse #6

Crystal was drained. It wasn't the toll on her body; her vampiric nature ensured she was robust beyond human limits. It was the psychological weight she bore. The task of tidying up after a monstrous individual like the Meatman took a considerable toll on her psyche. What made it graver was her heightened mental sharpness, which would have imprisoned those grotesque images in her mind permanently, had it not been for Nota. This eldritch AI provided her with a technique to erase memories, granting her the power to forget them.

Such burdens made the allure of eternal life less captivating.

Even after her frequent use of the Clean cantrip, a lingering malevolent energy haunted the space. It was this unsettling presence that drove her to prioritize honing her Technical Ability. The Blood Rites of Hematological Rituals and the Arcane Engineering’s application of Blood Mana Theory were versatile tools at her disposal. Given time, it was entirely feasible for her to purify the madman's lair entirely, drawing inspiration from the memory-erasing method introduced by Nota.

Over a week had elapsed, filled with mundane tasks that demanded her attention. She dealt with the logistics of the farmhouse sale, navigated the intricacies of tax registration, and began converting the lab to suit her needs. Additionally, she identified and removed the numerous security vulnerabilities present in the technology left behind. Crystal wagered the Meatman was blissfully unaware of just how compromised his systems had been. After all, fear was futile if one remained ignorant of the true dangers lurking.

Today was a day of rest and relaxation.

At least it would have been if not for the corpo hit squad en route up the road. All Foods clearly had lost patience with the Meatman no longer sending regular updates. From the chatter Crystal read listening in on their encrypted comms with Rune Eyes they planned on attacking before dawn.

Crystal eyed her companion suspiciously and said, “Did you just use shape changing to make yourself look thinner?”

A thin chicken stared back at her with a dead expression.

“You don’t really need to compare yourself to the other hens.” Crystal said needling Sgt. Fluffyfeathers. There was a noise in the kitchen and the electronic ping of an alert informing her the expresso machine had just malfunctioned. “Touche.”

“Ranged alpha strike?” Fluffyfeathers asked having access to the same data Crystal did being she was the Netrunner of the team.

“Are you just aching to try out the Laser Chicken Eyes?” Crystal said while grinning. Over the last few days her therapy poultry had figured out how to use the Eldritch Blast to full effectiveness. While her past precluded using most guns, she didn’t have any hang up on ranged weaponry especially as a vampire. Melee fed to her strength and speed, but sometimes range was a necessary part of the tool kit. To that end she had invested in extended range through minion supremacy.

"A chicken disguised as a sniper is only innocent until it lays its sights." Flufflyfeathers extolled.

“Not eggs?” Crystal rolled her eyes and chuckled, brushing some debris off her battle-ready clothing. "You know, sometimes I wonder if the world has gone mad. I mean, I'm teaming up with a sapient chicken Netrunner. Pacted to an Eldritch entity. Eating organic foods."

Fluffyfeathers tilted her head, feigning contemplation. "Well, maybe the world needs a little feathery adjustment to set things right. Have you seen that stuff they call food in the city? I don’t think I can go back after eating from the organic stuff here."

"Speaking of setting things right," Crystal said ignoring the disturbing fact of a chicken addicted to chicken nuggets, she glanced at the holographic datastream, "We need to send a clear message to those who sent them. This is the first hit squad, and I doubt it'll be the last. I can’t leave either as this lab holds the key to raising my bloodline from Commoner to Noble."

Fluffyfeathers hopped onto the table next to the interface. "Any ideas from the tech we disabled?"

Crystal nodded, pulling up a data file on the holograph. "Since they are from the All Foods Corporation we’ll need to be graphic."

The chicken fluttered her feathers thoughtfully. "All Foods... Aren't they the ones behind the dearly departed’s funding? Chatter on the Net says they're pushing the boundaries of what's morally acceptable. There never seems to be proof, but there’s no way they feed Noir City on love and kindness."

"They're not just pushing experimental boundaries," Crystal murmured, scrolling through files stolen from the farm’s previous owner. "They're smashing them. There’s nothing like desperation to have what is gifted by luck to others."

Fluffyfeathers clucked. "So, they're after abilities like ours?"

"Absolutely," Crystal replied. "I’m a walking biotech company’s wet dream and you aren’t far off either. Given the knowledge now that magic exists at the upper strata of society, it’s only logical they would want access to my Patron, too."

The duo worked fast, gathering intel on their attackers. Fluffyfeathers, surprisingly, had a wealth of knowledge about underground tech trades and rogue enhancements, yet very little on corporate gear. Her inhumane senses and knack for technology allowed her to infiltrate even the most guarded of networks, so the lack of information was quickly remedied.

As false dawn approached, they had formulated a plan. All Foods Corporation had overstepped into her territory, and Crystal and Fluffyfeathers were going to teach them a valuable lesson.

Crystal’s newly acquired laboratory-farm was buzzing with activity as dawn approached. While the farm's automated drones went about their assigned tasks, the duo finished preparing to welcome their guests from All Foods corpo.

Fluffyfeathers, despite her unusual nature, proved adept at crafting countermeasures. She tinkered with the farm's defense systems, fortifying them with custom enhancements that would blindside any intruders. The land mines turned from basic bombs into works of art complete with shredding shrapnel.

Crystal, meanwhile, finally finished in perfecting her link to blood, her vampiric abilities allowing her to manipulate the element with a thought. Drawing blood from her body, she could twist it into ever more mind-bending shapes. Her power was impressive, but she knew it wasn't enough on its own. She needed a system, a methodology that could be sharpened.

It was something to look out for in the future.

A digital ping from inside the farmhouse caught Crystal's attention. Fluffyfeathers had intercepted a communication between All Foods executives to their squad of loyal hounds.

"Crystal!" called Fluffyfeathers, "You need to hear this."

The two huddled over the holographic interface as a distorted voice came through. "The new local owner is at the designated farm. We cannot afford another misstep in acquiring the research data. Send in the elite squad. If they do not respond to negotiation, eliminate them and search for our missing resource."

The message ended with the unmistakable logo of the All Foods Corporation fading into view. Nothing like arrogance when committing a crime outside any sane individuals jurisdiction.

"It was only a matter of time before someone came looking," murmured Crystal. Ice flowed through her veins as her vampiric side took over. This was her tuf, her lair, they had chosen to walk in here.

They wouldn’t be walking out.

Fluffyfeathers ruffled her feathers and said, "Let them. We'll be ready each and every time. No corpo has a bottomless well of elites to spend. Once it becomes too costly, the executive will be replaced in the name of efficiency."

Loud engines rumbling denoted a fleet of black armored vehicles stormed the dirt roads leading to Crystal's property. Armed guards with biotech enhancements of their own disembarked, forming a perimeter just at the edge of the property.

Fluffyfeathers flew up and from her vantage point atop the farmhouse, clucked softly into the comm link. "Showtime." A jammer activated covering everything in electronic silence.

Crystal took a deep breath, focusing her energy. At her command, the ground trembled as tendrils of blood shot up from the earth, ensnaring some of the guards in a surprise attack. Those caught were temporarily immobilized, their biotech enhancements rendered useless by the iron-rich element. Tendrils turned to chainsaw blades of solidified blood in a stark machinery whine.

There was a moment of disbelief before the screaming started.

From beneath the soil, the farm's defense drones, modified by Fluffyfeathers, emerged like steel guardians. With blinding speed, they launched non-lethal pulse beams, disorienting and disabling several more guards.

Fluffyfeathers then initiated her concerted attack. Concealed turrets unfolded from hidden panels in the farmhouse's walls, releasing a mist that impaired the guards' vision. Unbeknownst to the guards, the mist contained nanobots that specifically targeted the tech in their enhancements, causing malfunctions. At the same time the chicken’s eyes glowed as she targeted and eliminated specific individuals.

She had access to their command chain chart after all.

While the mist created confusion adding to the screams, and she had taken out the command personal along with their seconds, Fluffyfeathers took to the skies, her feathers glinting with metallic enhancements. With precision, she dropped electromagnetic grenades, sounding the squad’s death knell.

Crystal, using her mastery over blood, created barriers, making it difficult for the guards to advance or retreat. She then shaped the blood remaining into a thin needle, controlling its flight and executing the final few enemies.

The elite squads of All Foods was not to be underestimated, though. A second wave of guards advanced, shielded from Crystal's blood attacks by an energy barrier. Their leader, a tall figure with biotech augmentations, stepped forward, raising his arm to reveal a pulsing device.

The device emitted a high-frequency wave that interfered with the farm's defense systems, causing drones to drop from the sky and the turrets to cease firing.

Realizing the new threat, Fluffyfeathers dived down, aiming to knock the device from the leader's grasp. The leader, anticipating the move, sidestepped, catching her in mid-air with enhanced reflexes far beyond human.

Crystal, sensing her partner in danger summoned her back through the Chainpact before she mustered all her strength. Her eyes glowed the crimson red of a hellish dimension as she called upon the blood reservoir from the very earth beneath them. One left behind by the previous farm’s owner through his victims. The power responded creating a massive surge of red that crashed toward the enemy like a tidal wave.

The second elite squad scrambled; their formation broken. The sheer force of the blood wave knocked several of them off their feet, their energy barriers crushed under the pressure.

The leader, struggled to maintain his ground. With a concentrated effort, Crystal managed to knock him down, sending the leader sprawling.

With the formation broken and Fluffyfeathers safe, Crystal summoned her eldritch blade of darkness. Demoralized as they were, the second squad was nothing but livestock to the culling of a butcher’s cleaving. Her two-handed sword flashed removing heads and spiking through skulls until nothing remained but a field of the deadly departed.

Cleaning up took most of the morning.

The drones were fine handling the meat, and Crystal couldn’t let herself leave all that chrome lying around. The mulch pile got a little bigger, and the dearly departed’s chrome got a Clean cantrip or five.

"I've been thinking," Crystal began after the work finished, gazing out at the horizon, "we need to be mobile. Maybe an armored vehicle or something that can transform and adapt to our needs. Or something in the air? We can’t be sitting ducks like this, not for long."

Fluffyfeathers tilted her head thoughtfully, her laser eyes reflecting the fading sunlight. "An RV of doom? An airship of excellence? Perhaps even the final frontier?"

Crystal chuckled, "Exactly. But it needs to be more than just armored. It needs to be intelligent, adaptable... perhaps even sentient."

This led Crystal back to Nota, the eldritch AI that had once assisted her. With Nota's capabilities and their combined technical prowess, they could design something beyond imagination. It would have to be done before the AI hibernated.

The initial blueprint could be an RV that could change its external appearance, fitting into any surroundings, be it an urban setting or a remote woodland. Internally, it would have state-of-the-art defense mechanisms, a mobile lab, and living quarters.

The following week was consumed with late-night planning sessions, acquiring parts, and tapping into various networks to keep the project off the grid. Fluffyfeathers proved to be invaluable during this time, not just for her laser eyes, but for her uncanny ability to source the most elusive components.

The bounty of chrome was turned into eddies via the Nomads.

By the end of the month, their masterpiece was complete. Dubbed "Old Reliable," the vehicular Frankenstein was a sight to behold. Its exterior was sleek and constantly shifting, while its insides were a harmonious blend of technology and comfort. Crystal and Fluffyfeathers had created the ultimate moving fortress.

But they weren't finished yet.

Crystal had one last trick up her sleeve: integrating a baby AI crafted via Fluffyfeathers directly into Old Reliable’s systems. With the AI's vast knowledge and processing power, the vehicle would become an extension of their thoughts, predicting their needs and adapting in real-time.

With their new sanctuary on wheels, Crystal felt a renewed sense of hope. The duo was no longer restricted to one location and could evade any threats with ease. Moving all the lab equipment from the farm into the RV was work, but it was good work.

Now she could return to Noir City in style with a moving fortress. Transport, security, and anonymity all in one.

Time to make Arasaka and Militech bleed.