Bio Weapon Dystopia

The Black Colby cruised through the streets of San Francisco. Vomi passed by Oceanview and couldn't help but feel a pang of nostalgia, though the city wasn’t quite how she remembered. Sure, this was Cyberpunk San Francisco, but something about the greenish fog clinging to the air gave everything an eerie vibe. If you didn’t pay close attention, you wouldn’t even notice it. Vanguard had already scanned for hazards and cleared it, so no need to worry.

LA’s air quality was way worse, so this was nothing new.

“We’ll be at the last known location of the corpo soon,” Vomi said, making a sharp turn.

“Who is this person again?” Vanguard asked, still piecing together details from the earlier chaos.

“Some analytics suit,” she replied, tapping through her Agent as she scrolled the HuscleNet for more details. “Works for M-Tech, higher up on the chain, but not so important that his disappearance sets off alarms. So either rescue or just an investigation.”

“His role isn’t described clearly,” Vanguard noted, catching glimpses of the vague job description.

Vomi scoffed. “Of course not. Corps never give out the full picture. They keep everything in the dark.”

“As they should, I suppose,” Vanguard agreed. “But we’re usually the ones digging for that info, aren't we?”

Vomi smirked. “Yeah, well, knowing too much about corps comes with its own set of nightmares. There’s a lot I wish I could unsee, but… I guess we’re in too deep now.”

“Affirm,” Vanguard echoed.

The Colby finally pulled up to the designated location, and Vomi let out a low chuckle as she took in the scene. If she were a corpo on a rare day off, where would she hide out? Granted that past Vomi was already a corpo, but she was female. What about makes though?The place looked exactly like the kind of upscale, corporate-safe zone she would’ve avoided back in the day: posh, quiet, and boring as hell.

However it was still a BD Bar.

"Looks like someone's been living the cushy life,” she muttered under her breath.

Vanguard sensed her amusement. “Perhaps. But cushy or not, we have a job to do.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Vomi sighed, stepping out of the car. She straightened her white coat and adjusted her glasses, giving the area another quick scan. “Let’s go see what this corpo’s been up to.”

She took only five or so steps before the bouncer put a hand in her way. He had a suit, probably way more expensive than his salary, but Vomi wasn't really interested in judging the poor guy.

“The place is full.”, He said in a grumpy tone, “And you don't look apart.”

“I think clothes are the least of anyone's problems.”, She said as she shared the gig file of her gig.

The bouncer raised an eyebrow at the sudden request to accept the file, but his eyes went blue, so that means he is at least inspecting it. After a few seconds of reading, he sighed.

“I am not paid enough to deal with this.”

“Does that mean I'm in?”, Vomi asked, unsure of what the guy meant.

“No. Not now. I'll speak with my manager. You are a Huscle, way more complicated to deal with than regular Corpos.”, He said as his eyes went yellow, probably making a call with his Agent.

“Corpos are easy to deal with?”

“Just tell what they want to hear on their day off work and you will sound like their best choom.”, He said offhandedly, almost unconsciously, “Hey boss, there's this Huscler here. She wants to do the job the SFPD offered.”

“It seems that this might be more bureaucratic than we previously thought.”, Vanguard whined in pain, already done with permissions.

“Take it easy. The more we deal with these kinds of gigs the more bureaucracy there will be.”, Vomi tried to see the positive side of this, which wasn't that positive.

The symbiote just groaned at that, but at least he remained quiet.

The bouncer’s eyes shifted back to Vomi, still glowing faintly from his conversation with the manager. He seemed frustrated, like he’d already had enough of this day before she even showed up.

“Alright,” he finally said, stepping aside with a half-hearted wave. “Boss says you can go in. Just… don’t make a scene. The suits are touchy.”

Vomi smirked. “Don’t worry, I’m only here for biz.”

As she stepped past him, her eyes scanned the upscale interior of the place. Everything screamed corpo money—from the polished chrome decor to the overpriced drinks and the fake smiles of the people lounging around in their designer outfits. A far cry from the dirty streets outside. The bouncer wasn’t wrong—these people were easy to deal with. They lived in their own bubble, isolated from the chaos that brewed in the rest of the city.

Oh yeah, and the occasional JoyToy working in some private booths.

Vomi purposely ignored that.

Some people threw glances at her, but they mostly ignored. It's not like anyone was abiding by attire etiquette here, everyone just wanted to get wasted.

“I don’t understand these people,” Vanguard muttered in her head, sounding as annoyed as she felt.

“Neither do I, but that’s what makes it easy,” Vomi replied, her voice low as she moved deeper into the lounge. “They think their money can shield them from everything. Makes them soft. Predictable.”

An occurrence far too common, even in the real world. It's amazing how pieces of paper with numbers made some people think they are invincible.

She navigated through the crowd, eyeing the suits with their synthetic cocktails and fake laughs, making her way toward the back rooms. She spotted the door where the analytics guy was supposedly last seen, a section cordoned off from the rest of the patrons. An office. Or rather, a fool room for… purposes.

Yes, purposes.

“Looks like we’ve found the place,” she whispered to Vanguard. The symbiote stirred slightly, sensing the subtle tension in the air.

As she approached the door, her cyberware pulsed faintly, scanning for any hidden surprises. Nothing major—just a few low-level security protocols. Vomi grinned, feeling the familiar rush of adrenaline as she bypassed the lock with ease. Amazing how a small chord can basically be your lockpick in these situations.

“Let’s see what the corpo’s been hiding.” She pushed the door open, stepping into the dimly lit room.

It was empty—too empty.

A single desk sat in the middle of the room, a data shard glinting on its surface under the flickering fluorescent lights. No sign of the corpo, but this wasn’t a coincidence.

"Trap?” Vanguard asked.

Vomi’s frown deepened. “I don't think so.”

She stepped forward, grabbing the shard and slotting it into her system. As soon as the data started flowing, her eyes widened in realization.

“This isn’t just a rescue mission,” she muttered under her breath. “This guy's knee-deep in something big.”

“What is it?”

Vomi’s heart raced as the data streamed across her optics. “Projects, cyberware, searches and missing personnel.”, She closed the files for now, pocketing the shard, “I will need to look at this later.”

The room was empty, yes, but why was it? There needed to be something else here, but before she could do anything, the manager showed up in the room.

“You shouldn't be here.”, She said, annoyed and angrily.

“I need to investigate.”, Vomi replied back, still looking for any clues, “If I needed to hack a door to get to my objective, so be it.”

“That's not what I meant…”, She groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose, “But fine. The suits are getting uncomfortable with your presence. Just do what you need to do and leave. Don't want to lose my eddies ‘cause a gonk like you showed up in my biz.”

“Relax.”, She said, finally finding something, “I am already done.”

She pocketed the thing and promptly left the BD Bar. Let them fake their orgasms with their wreaths or let the JoyToy’s make whatever they want to their brain.

BDs are so weird.

She entered the Colby and opened the laptop she found before, “The room was cleaned up before we went there.”

“I noticed that too. They want to cover up the disappearance of our target.”

“However,” She grinned as she connected her personal chord to the laptop, “They forgot this thing here.”

It was locked of course. And for the first time, it was an actual competent firewall. Corpo software tends to be good, after all.

Vomi smirked as the connection to the laptop's firewall lit up across her optics. The firewall was dense, layers of corporate encryption winding like a labyrinth. M-Tech didn’t skimp on security, and she could feel the weight of their efforts in each block of code trying to stop her.

"Alright, past Vomi. Please have the skills so my brain doesn't get fried," she muttered under her breath, fingers gliding over her keyboard interface.

First layer: a standard brute force deterrent, designed to lock out anyone without high-level access codes. The algorithm was complex, but Vomi’s system automatically began cycling through potential solutions, filtering out dead ends faster than human reflexes could keep up.

She triggered a worm, sending it wriggling through the maze of numbers. It darted between encryption nodes, searching for weaknesses. A pulse of green light in her optics—got one. A soft click sounded in her ears, signaling that the brute force barrier was down.

"One down," she muttered, more focused now.

Vanguard stirred slightly, sensing the activity. "Impressive firewall for a laptop left behind."

"Means there’s something good on here," Vomi said, her tone eager.

The second layer wasn’t so straightforward. M-Tech had set up a series of randomized decoy nodes, meant to trick the attacker into thinking they’d found the main system when, in reality, it would just be a feedback loop leading to a shutdown. One wrong move here, and she’d lose access entirely.

Vomi smirked as she activated her decryption programs. "Nice try, corpos."

She carefully scanned each node, her HUD lighting up potential paths. One of the nodes flashed a different shade, almost imperceptibly slower than the others. She quickly flagged it as a decoy and moved past, selecting the correct one and unlocking the next layer.

Behind the second wall was the real prize: the central data core. But it was guarded by something more lethal—ICE. A lethal program that could fry a netrunner’s brain if triggered. M-Tech wasn't playing games.

"Let me take care of this," Vanguard suggested, sensing the risk.

"No need, I’ve got this." Vomi’s grin widened. She coded a quick counter-ICE program, a sleek black sphere that slid into the system like a predator stalking its prey. The ICE flared, recognizing the intrusion, but her program moved faster. Within seconds, it had disabled the security measure, dissolving it into harmless fragments.

"Clear," she said triumphantly, removing her chord.

Vomi’s interface buzzed softly as the final layers peeled away. The data core was now open to her, all its precious contents laid bare. She immediately began downloading files, watching as encrypted folders filled her screen. Personnel files, project names, locations, and something else—a name she hadn’t seen yet.

Project Ouroboros.

“What the hell is that?” Vanguard muttered in her mind.

“No idea.”, She said, exploring the files, this time with no resistance as the software thought it was the owner looking over, “Looks like parts? Yeah, definitely parts.”

“Parts of what?”

She squinted her eyes, as if that would help her see better, “Cyberware, maybe. But I can see this is just a part of the full design.”

“My creator's knowledge is providing necessary insight.”, Vanguard hummed deeply, “What exactly are we talking about?”

“Hard to say. Can be a Keren, a Sandy, a Cyberdeck… All I can see here is nervous system replacements, so there are a lot of candidates.”, She said, closing the laptop for now.

“What do we do?”

Indeed. What could they do? They don't have clues about where he could've gone next and asking questions on the BD Bar would cause trouble, too much trouble to do this cleanly.

Vomi leaned back in her seat, staring at the flickering lights of the BD Bar through the windshield. She started driving away, the familiar hum of the Colby’s engine seemed distant as she mulled over the options. They didn’t have much to go on—just a few scattered files and an incomplete puzzle named Project Ouroboros.

Her fingers tapped the steering wheel rhythmically as Vanguard's presence shifted within her. His hum of curiosity echoed through her mind. “We’re at a dead end. Can't exactly walk into M-Tech’s HQ and start asking questions.”

Vomi rubbed her temple. “No, that'd get us flatlined in minutes. But... there's another way.”

“You’ve got a plan?”

“Sort of.” She reached into the glove compartment, pulling out a small set of parts, “We need to hack into M-Tech’s private network, deeper than the surface stuff we just skimmed.”

“M-Tech's private network? That's suicide. Just imagine their ICE programs.” Vanguard seemed apprehensive, though his tone was more intrigued than afraid.

“I never said I'd go there and jack into their systems. I like my brain where it is, thank you very much.”, She rolled her eyes.

“Then, what exactly do you plan?”

“Crafting our own laptop. I can code with my chord, but a laptop is way safer than a tablet. Besides I can put any quick hacks there, although they will work only with the connected server.”, She explained, already thinking how to exactly code the necessary hacks.

“That means we need to buy the necessary components.”, He pulsed a nod.

“Correct, Vang.”

“Vang?”

“A cute nickname. Why?”

“...Nothing.”

“Sure.”

Thanks to the previous work she had done, she had the necessary eddies to start building up a laptop from the ground up. It wasn't the best components, but she could build something solid enough to tank a minor corporation ICE. If it was to be put in 2077 terms, it was mainly built with green and blue components, but some people might digress. So all she needed was to code the software, firewall, ICE, quick hacks and…

Okay, yeah, it was a lot of stuff.

She was eating an XXL Burrito as she coded with her second hand, this time sitting on the passenger seat of the Colby, trying to multitask, but it was clear this gig wasn't going to be done today.

“I feel sleepy.”, Vomi commented, her mouth letting a few leftovers of the burrito fall on her lap, “Even though we don't need to sleep.”

“You are coding for the past three hours.”, Vanguard deadpanned, “Not even us can deal with this much mental strain.”

“But I wanna finish this…”, She whined, momentarily stopping to type in her laptop.

Vomi sighed, pushing the half-eaten burrito aside and staring at the lines of code cascading down her laptop screen. Her mind buzzed from the hours of constant work, but Vanguard was right—she needed a break, no matter how much she wanted to push through.

“Fine, fine,” she muttered, reclining in the Colby’s seat and closing her eyes. The hum of the car's engine was oddly soothing, vibrating through her body as the tension in her neck eased a little.

“You know,” Vanguard’s voice echoed softly in her mind, “this isn’t a race. We can afford to slow down.”

Vomi chuckled. “You say that, but I feel like we're always one step from being flatlined.” She stretched her legs, her fingers tingling from hours of typing. “I guess you’re right, though. Can’t do anything if I burn out before the job’s even halfway done.”

“Besides, I’ve analyzed the code you’re working on,” Vanguard offered. “There are a few improvements we can make once you’re rested.”

“Improvements, huh?” Vomi grinned. “What would I do without you?”

“Probably make more mistakes,” Vanguard said dryly.

She laughed, a genuine one this time, and let herself sink deeper into the seat. The symbiote had a point, even if it was annoyingly right most of the time.

“Alright, I’ll sleep for a few hours,” Vomi said, closing the laptop and setting it aside. “But if any corpos come knocking, you better wake me up.”

“Of course. I’d rather not deal with them alone.”

As her consciousness started to drift, Vomi felt the familiar presence of Vanguard shifting within her, like a comforting pulse that kept her grounded. In a strange way, it was easier to rest now that they were bonded. She didn’t have to face everything alone anymore, and that was something she hadn’t realized she needed.

Vomi woke up and stretched a bit, realizing her glasses weren't in her face, but quickly finding them afterwards. The sun made the interior of the black Colby a microwave, but that was hardly the problem now. She opened the windows and turned up the AC, the engine roaring a bit to get all the necessary stuff working. Then, she put the radio to work, this time some Japan-Pop songs making themselves known. She nodded at the song, checking her laptop and the half written code before driving to, hopefully a wash house.

After all, it's been weeks since a shower.

She drove quietly for about seven minutes before noticing something absent.

“Vanguard?”, She asked, looking at her hands.

“That's me.”, A voice said.

Although not in her head.

She checked the passenger seat.

There was a black cat with red eyes there.

“Vang?”

“Yes?”

She pushed the brakes so hard that the car's momentum shot front and back for a while.

“The fuck?”

Vomi’s heart raced as she processed what she was seeing. The black cat stared at her with those eerie red eyes, calm and unfazed by the sudden stop.

“Okay, either I’m still dreaming, or I just had a serious breakdown,” she muttered, gripping the steering wheel tightly. “Vanguard, is this some kind of joke?”

“Not a joke. This is me,” the cat replied, its voice smooth and nonchalant.

“Is it now?” Vomi shot back, still bewildered. “You look like a goddamn house cat! Where did you even come from?”

“I manifested,” Vanguard said simply, twitching his tail. “We’ve been connected for a while now, and I figured a new form might be useful. Plus, I think it suits me.”

“Suit you?” Vomi gaped, glancing back at the road. “This is insane! I need you as a symbiote, not as a furry distraction! What’s next, you’ll start purring?”

“Very funny,” the cat replied, a flicker of amusement in its tone. “But you know what they say about appearances. This form can allow me to blend in better if we need to be discreet.”

Vomi ran a hand through her hair, feeling the weight of the situation. “So you’re saying we’re rolling around in a corporate hellscape, and I’m supposed to feel safe with a cat? No offense, but I preferred you in your original form.”

“Give it time,” Vanguard replied, his voice calm and reassuring. “I’m still the same entity. Just… a different appearance.”

“Right.” She took a deep breath, shaking her head to clear the fog of confusion. “Let’s just get to the wash house before I start questioning my sanity again.”

She pressed the gas pedal and pulled back onto the road, but a nagging thought lingered in her mind. How could Vanguard change forms like this? It felt like something new—and not entirely comforting.

As they drove, Vomi glanced at the cat occasionally, half-expecting it to start batting at the dashboard or making some ridiculous request like a cat might. But Vanguard remained still, his red eyes focused on her, observing her every move. It was unsettling.

“Uh, can you still access our systems and all that techy stuff from there?” she asked, trying to wrap her head around this new dynamic.

“Absolutely,” he replied. “And I can still help you with your coding and hacks. The only thing that changes is my appearance. I’ll be your partner, just in a different package.”

“Great. Just what I wanted—my symbiote in a fur coat,” Vomi muttered sarcastically.

“You’ll get used to it,” he said with a hint of playfulness.

Vomi sighed, her initial shock giving way to acceptance. If this was how it was going to be, she’d roll with it. After all, the streets of San Francisco were still filled with danger, and she could use all the help she could get.

As she neared the wash house, Vomi glanced at her laptop, the half-finished code staring back at her. “Okay, let’s make a plan. I need to get cleaned up, then we’ll dive into Project Ouroboros. With the right approach, we might just figure out what M-Tech is hiding.”

“Sounds good,” Vanguard purred, jumping and landing on Vomi's shoulder much like a cat would. Graceful and perfectly balanced.

He was surprisingly light weighted.

“...Are you going with me?”

“Yes.”

“...”

“...”

“Just try not to scare anyone, okay?” Vomi said, smirking as she parked the Colby and hopped out.

==========

Vomi entered the bath house, the owner, a senior woman, glanced over with her chrome neck. Apparently an operation gone wrong and all. She saw the cat in her shoulder, purring in her ear and the lady clearly uncomfortable with it. But otherwise, she didn't question, not even stopped them both from entering the bath. The woman paid after all, and the cat was cute. It is hard to see cats nowadays.

Any domestic animals, actually.

Vomi undressed, still utterly awkward and weirded out. Again, a man on a woman's body did that, even more when said woman was jacked as hell. Muscular, but still attractive to the eyes of anyone. The man inside his head tried his hardest to ignore that and just relax in the bath, the hot water enveloping her body, releasing stress that they didn't know was there.

As for Vanguard, he just jumped on the water, his red eyes popping out once in a while.

Just like a cat.

…Yeeeeaaahhh, that's weird.

Vomi sank deeper into the hot water, letting the steam wrap around her like a comforting blanket. The heat was soothing, melting away the tension that had built up over the past few days. She watched as Vanguard playfully splashed around, the way his red eyes emerged just above the surface was equal parts amusing and surreal.

“You really are taking this whole ‘cat’ thing seriously, huh?” Vomi chuckled, trying to distract herself from the awkwardness of the situation. “You could’ve chosen any form—why this?”

“I thought it’d be fun,” Vanguard replied, paddling lazily. “And it’s less threatening. You know how people react to solos. A cute cat? Much easier to approach.”

“Yeah, but I’m still not sure how I feel about having a cat in the bath with me.” She couldn’t help but smile at the absurdity of it all. “What’s next? A litter box?”

“Not unless you want one,” he teased, doing a little roll in the water. “Besides, I’m not just a regular cat. I’m your partner, remember?”

“Right.” She leaned back against the side of the tub, closing her eyes for a moment. “Just don’t start curling up on my pillow at night.”

“Now that’s a thought,” he said, his tone light and playful. “But really, you should relax. You’ve been running on adrenaline for too long. Let me take care of the lookout for a bit.”

Vomi sighed, the warmth of the water and Vanguard’s calm demeanor easing her racing thoughts. “You’re right. I just feel so… on edge all the time. This whole gig is starting to weigh on me.”

“Breathe, Vomi,” Vanguard encouraged. “You’re not alone in this. We’ll figure it out together. Just focus on the task ahead after you’re done here.”

“Yeah, the task…” She opened her eyes and glanced at the laptop she had left on a bench nearby. The remnants of her work loomed large in her mind. “Project Ouroboros. What do you think it’s about?”

“From what I gathered, it seems like some kind of advanced cyberware project,” Vanguard replied, swimming back to her shoulder, his wet fur leaving tiny droplets on her. “But the fact that it’s hidden and encrypted means it’s probably something they want to keep under wraps. Dangerous tech, maybe?”

“Dangerous how?” Vomi raised an eyebrow, intrigued but also wary of the implications. “They already have enough tech that can turn people into walking weapons.”

“Precisely,” Vanguard said, his tone shifting slightly more serious. “But what if it’s something beyond just weapons? Something that enhances or manipulates human capabilities in a way that’s never been done before?”

“Like mind control?” she suggested, her stomach knotting at the thought.

“Exactly. Or something that could make a person more susceptible to commands. The potential for exploitation is massive,” he added, his voice low.

Vomi’s brow furrowed as she considered the implications. “If that’s the case, we need to be extra careful. We can’t just barge into their network without knowing what we’re dealing with.”

“Agreed. We’ll approach it methodically,” Vanguard assured her, sensing her unease. “After you’re finished here, let’s strategize. We can leverage my abilities to assist with any hacking.”

“Right,” Vomi said, feeling a renewed sense of focus. “But first, I need to wash off the grime and actually feel like a person again.”

With that, she leaned back, allowing the warm water to envelop her. For a moment, the world faded away, and all that mattered was the steam, the warmth, and the gentle purring of the black cat perched on her shoulder.

“Wait… are you actually purring in my ears?”

Vanguard paused, the playful light in his red eyes flickering with mischief. “Maybe. It helps with the ambiance, doesn’t it? Besides, you’re a lot more relaxed when I’m purring.”

Vomi rolled her eyes, unable to suppress a smile. “You’re ridiculous. You know that, right?”

“Bitch, I am adorable,” he replied with a flick of his tail, sending a few droplets of water flying. “And let’s be real, you could use a little ridiculous in your life right now.”

“Touché.” She chuckled, sinking deeper into the bath. The warmth seeped into her muscles, easing away the tension that had built up from days of stress and danger.

After the bath, Vanguard refused to not be near Vomi in some part a cat would normally be. And for some reason he chose to stay in her head the entire time. She went to a local food stand and ordered some kebabs that tried really hard to be like meat, but still tasted good, as she worked on finishing the software of her laptop. It looked clean, even more now with the insights of her trustworthy cat, of all things. Quick hacks were simple, not too offensive to be harder to detect and didn't cost too much RAM. All in all, a perfect starting tool.

“Aaaaaand, done.”, She said, finally running the protocols, no bugs in sight.

“Congratulations.”, The cat said as his tail flickered in Vomi's face, “Now we can work on M-Tech’s servers.”

“We just need to connect to them, that's the problem.”

“Right, and we need to be smart about it,” Vanguard replied, his tone shifting to something more serious. “M-Tech won’t take kindly to unauthorized access. Their security protocols are top-notch, and they have a reputation for being ruthless.”

“Ruthless is putting it lightly. But we’ve already seen their dirty laundry, so they’re not going to take any chances,” Vomi muttered, looking around to make sure no one was paying too much attention to her. “We just need to find a way in.”

“First step: reconnaissance. We need to gather intel on their network and see if we can find a weak point,” Vanguard suggested. “Maybe even figure out who’s in charge of security. If we can get some dirt on them, we might have leverage.”

Vomi nodded, pulling out her laptop and connecting it to a public terminal at the food stand. “Good idea. Let’s see what we can dig up online.” She opened her browser, fingers flying across the keys as she searched for anything related to M-Tech’s security measures, previous hacks, or even disgruntled employees.

“Look for employee forums or any whispers about their internal systems. People love to talk, especially when they’re unhappy,” Vanguard encouraged.

“On it.” As she scrolled through various forums and news articles, she noted the usual corporate jargon and vague statements about security. Nothing that seemed particularly useful, but she persisted.

“Hold on,” she said, her eyes narrowing at a thread titled “M-Tech Security Breaches.” “This could be something.”

“What does it say?” Vanguard leaned closer, his red eyes fixated on the screen.

“Apparently, there was a minor breach a few months ago. Some internal documents were leaked, but they clamped down on it fast. They’ve since reinforced their security protocols, but some employees claim there are still vulnerabilities in the network, particularly in the older systems they haven’t updated yet.”

“Perfect. Old systems often have outdated security measures. If we can find a way to exploit that, we might just get what we need,” Vanguard said, his excitement palpable.

“Exactly. If I can identify the architecture of their network, I might be able to craft a tailored attack,” Vomi replied, already sketching out ideas in her mind. “Let’s keep digging. We need more details.”

She continued to sift through the threads, spotting mentions of disgruntled employees and rumors of a recent employee evaluation gone awry. “Aha! Looks like there was a restructuring recently. A few people were let go, and some of them were pretty high up. If we can find any of them, they might be willing to talk—”

Before she could finish her sentence, another thing caught her interest.

Job application.

“That's… convenient.”, The cat said as he jumped from Vomi's head to the table, inspecting the article, “What do you think?”

“I think they want to replace their Analytics guy.”, She answered dryly, “But it works for us.”

“Exactly,” Vanguard purred, his tail flicking as he scanned the screen. “If they’re hiring for the position, there’s a chance the company is desperate to fill the gap. Maybe we can use that to our advantage.”

“Right,” Vomi said, her mind racing with possibilities. “I can pose as a potential applicant and dig for information during the interview process. If I can get access to the inner workings of the team, we might uncover more about Project Ouroboros and their security weaknesses.”

“Clever,” Vanguard acknowledged, looking pleased. “But you’ll need to create a solid cover story. We don’t want them sniffing out any fakes.”

“Good point.” Vomi pulled out her laptop again, tapping into the myriad of resources at her disposal. “Let’s see what kind of skills and experience they’re looking for. I can build a persona around that.”

As she browsed through the job listing, she jotted down key requirements: data analysis, familiarity with corporate software, experience with security protocols. It seemed manageable. “Alright, I can work with this. I have enough experience to back up my application, plus a few tweaks here and there should help sell it.”

“Just make sure not to overreach. We need to keep it believable,” Vanguard reminded her, his voice smooth but firm.

“Understood. I’ll keep it tight.” Vomi began drafting her résumé, pulling together her experiences and expertise. She included her hacking skills but framed them as a focus on cybersecurity, emphasizing her ‘dedication to safety’—a perfect ruse for someone wanting to work in a corporate setting.

Once satisfied, she opened her email and prepared to send her application. “Okay, that’s done. Now, I just need to find a way to connect with someone from their HR department. If I can get an interview, it’ll give us a chance to probe deeper.”

The symbiote cat hummed in agreement, “Now what?”

Vomi looked at his red eyes, Vanguard looked at her red eyes.

There was a big surge to just let him.

“We can waste time, code something useful or… do more gigs for the SFPD.”

“All are viable.”, He nodded, then licked his own paws, “I believe we should lay low, but I am down for anything you want to do.”

The urge to pet him grew larger. She needed to clench her fists to not do it.

Dammit, she ended up petting him.

“You gonk, you wanted that, didn't you?”, Vomi admitted defeat as she gave little scrubs to Vanguard's back.

He just purred.

Heh.

“Fine. You win this round, Vang,” Vomi chuckled, scratching behind his ears as he settled comfortably against her shoulder.