Cyberpunk - The Fall of Icarus

After connecting her rifle to the computer, the girl pulled out a TetraTronic Rippler cyberdeck from under the table. It was the best option available in Night City for the money. Getting it into the open market wasn't easy, and it seemed that Wakako had a hand in acquiring it. Capable of hosting up to six active daemons, this deck also boasted several other useful features. Every netrunner in the city dreamed of having one, while the other half coveted a corporate cyberdeck from NetWatch, which was even harder to obtain but truly worth the effort.

Sue didn't opt for a direct connection through her personal port or a crude hack with rapid scripts. With the right equipment at hand, she could afford to do everything neatly, without breaking anything in the process. Each hack was like a table of symbols that needed to be quickly navigated by selecting the correct sequence or else triggering the security system. It was a faster method than the good old brute force*, but far more dangerous.

The table was a series of letters and numbers that had to be entered in a specific combination. The cyberdeck's purpose was to speed up the runner's brain, allowing for that brute-force attack. The peculiarity of this method was that the hacked object felt the intrusion, hence the need for careful script selection. Hackers had only one chance to go unnoticed, which is why most preferred to hack the eye implants that 99% of the population had.

"Wanna give it a try?" Sue nudged me to the side, pointing at the computer screen.

"Aren't you afraid I'll mess up? It's quite an expensive piece of tech..." I said, uncertainly eyeing the table that appeared before me.

"If anything, I can always back you up."

"Alright, then I'll try." I took the cyberdeck from my mentor and placed it behind my right ear, connecting it to my visor. Assured everything was working properly, I finally decided to start my first real-time hacking attempt. I took a deep breath and pressed the start button.

The table appeared before my eyes in a relatively simple sequence. My current cyberdeck allowed me to send a standard icebreaker into the weapon's system. This set of programs facilitated the hacking process and, if vulnerabilities were successfully bypassed, granted easy access to all systems for modifications at will. To fully circumvent the security system, one had to solve ten such tables in twenty seconds - an absolute impossibility without a cyberdeck and a suite of auxiliary programs to weaken the defenses.

The first five tables flew by too quickly, but the remaining ones made me sweat. When the last table was solved, I finally exhaled and turned off the glasses' screen simulation. My head ached a bit, but overall, I liked it. The small rush of adrenaline added a thrilling edge to the hack, which was to my taste.

"So, how did you find your first full-fledged hack?" Sue asked curiously, glancing strangely at the computer screen.

"I think I'll be much faster next time. How many more of these guns do you have?" I asked cheerfully, turning to face my mentor, and looking into her thoughtful eyes.

"Well, little one... That was the last one, and you handled it too quickly and cleanly. I didn't think you'd manage to break the security completely on your first try without messing up anywhere," she said, nervously smiling and placing her hand on my head.

"What do you mean 'quickly'?" I stared at her, puzzled.

"Three seconds, that's exactly how long it took you to turn the weapon's security upside down." Mitchell smiled, patting my head a couple of times.

"And I thought I was being too slow..." Her words made me think. The deck accelerates the brain to its limit, allowing real-time hacking, but it seemed my acceleration was well above normal. To understand whether this was a fluke, I needed to gather more data by hacking something else in real-time.

"Do you ever do anything like normal kids?" Susan tragically rolled her eyes upward, massaged her temples, and then looked back at me. "Okay, if you've awakened such talents in netrunning, they need to be developed, but only under my supervision. Got it?" Sue grabbed my ear and pulled it upwards.

"As if I was planning to..." She pulled harder, and I hurriedly agreed. "Okay-okay, just hands off." I barely held back the word "woman," which would have only worsened my current predicament.

"Good, now pay attention…"

***

The Gathering of the Major Arcana

A mysterious figure in a white mask slowly shuffled the cards, meticulously observing each movement. The mask hid the man's emotions, rendering them unreadable, but if anyone could have seen them, they would have been surprised by their complete absence. The White One was undisturbed by anything. As a Major Arcanum, he had long come to terms with his fate, so long ago that only "Death" could recall those times. The second being worthy of the title "arcanum" Death had become a prisoner of his power. To avoid harming others, he accepted the offer of the Void. The Arcanum renounced his last name, becoming one among many.

The croupier, as he had countless times before, methodically laid out the cards, paying them no heed. He didn't need to look at them or try to interfere with the course of upcoming events; regardless of anything, the possible outcomes of fate would remain unchanged. It was up to the observed individual to shape their own life.

"The Wheel of Fortune," the first card was gently placed on the table, displaying a bizarre image. The woman named bowed gracefully, spun around her axis, and quickly vanished into the shadows.

For each sentient being, the card altered its appearance, thus reflecting the individuality of the person whose fate the Arcana was tracking.

"The High Priest." Hearing his name, the Arcanum slowly raised his head and looked at the card on the table. After several long seconds of standing still, he bowed gracefully and receded backward, never turning his back on his companions. Before merging with the shadows, the Priest bowed once more to the croupier and then disappeared.

"Justice." The third card was gently placed on the table, emitting a faint light. Unlike the others, Justice didn't hide his face behind a mask but chose to conceal it behind the visor of an unusual helmet. It served as a reminder of memories the arcanum didn't wish to forget. Like those before him, Justice retreated into the shadows, waiting for the ritual to end.

The White One continued to shuffle the cards, timing his monotonous movements with precision. When it was time to draw another card, the first among equals briefly paused, slowly extracting another with two fingers.

"An empty card..." The Arcanum allowed himself to be surprised once again, as he had never encountered a sentient being with such resistance to fate. With each passing moment, the power of the beings became less and less able to guide the chosen individual on their path. Usually, no fewer than six cards are drawn in each deal, with the rare exception of five. "This young man surprises me," the man muttered, carefully placing the deck on the table before smoothly merging into the shadows, leaving his companions.