Unity by Carl Stubblefield (epub read online books TXT) 📕

wonder if she even remembers what I look like. That’s something I have to fix. Plus seeing the look on Elaine’s face will be priceless.”

Chapter Forty-Six

Let’s Dance, Boys!

“Are you good to go, Yuki?” Tempest asked.

“I think so. Hospitals have pretty heavy encryption, so make sure I don’t get interrupted. That snapback disconnection is super bad, maybe not kill me outright, but I’d be a veg for sure.”

“You can count on us,” Aurora said, giving her arm a firm squeeze before they headed out of the small communications room, closing the door behind them.

Yuki was surprised they had found the equipment shed on the outside of the hospital, but when she saw the signal amplifier, the reason was clear. They needed some way to punch through the constant cover the weather provided and something this powerful would have disturbed the sensitive medical equipment inside.

She folded her arms and looked up at the wall of switches, ports, and modules. She had a couple of false starts before she finally cracked her knuckles in frustration.

You wanted to be a field agent, so buck up! And with that she threw her hands forward and activated Slice.

A bitter cold wind slapped Yuki in the face. She coughed as she took in a surprised intake of the freezing air, her lungs tightening in protest. She quickly swapped her outfit, and a warm white parka formed around her and blocked the wind like a wall of warmth. Occasionally, bosses would have accompanying suits that offered protection in their native environments, and Yuki was lucky she had obtained this Arctic Fox set years ago. She adjusted her goggles and with a start, began to turn in a complete circle as deja vu set in.

She had been here before. Or at least in the same AI construct. She squinted at the horizon and found a city there, standing as a bastion against the cold and the wind. Chuckling to herself, she knew that the city was a decoy. Anyone who attempted to reach it would find that it always stayed out of reach, like a mirage in the desert. Wasting the hacker’s energy fighting the elements until they had to drop out of the slice.

She swept her thigh-high boots back and forth, pushing aside snow drifts that shouldn’t be there in the wild windstorm that blew constantly across the ice field. As expected, a hairline seam was visible. She removed a glove, and with a lacquered fingernail lifted the handle from the smooth ice beneath her.

Bracing herself, she heaved on the handle and a large block lifted out, as if it were oiled on the edges. She swung to the side and dropped it, making a hollow *thunk* as it hit and scraped along the ice like a curling stone. Yuki stared into the depths below and could see dark cobalt water rushing by quickly. Its urgent *shush* as the underground river sped by in the depths.

This could be a trap. When things are too easy… What if I get trapped down there underwater?

No, she had to trust herself. Before she could overthink, she pinched her nose and pencil dove into the cerulean waters below.

There was a brief sensation of falling, then her boots crunched on some dry leaves in darkness.

Ha! I knew it.

Crickets chirped and a chorus of frogs sang in the darkness. Yuki could see an enormous moon hanging overhead, much too big to be natural, illuminating a nondescript forest. Reverting her suit to her default, she climbed a nearby tree to see where she was.

About a mile away, she could see a large compound complete with numerous watchtowers and spotlights scanning the empty space surrounding it, occasionally illuminating the treetops of the forest. A large wall topped with razor-wire encircled the compound, and she could see figures moving about atop the watchtowers, backlit by the moonlight as they occasionally changed positions on their rounds.

She tried using Data-mine, but the distance was just too far. Marking the nearest tower on her minimap, she opened up her bestiary. This job would take some infiltration skills, and she needed to be a ghost instead of rampaging in. There were at least twelve towers that she could see, and they were fairly close together. That could get dicey if she went in guns blazing. She climbed down into the canopy after she had narrowed down the possibilities to three and then made her final choice. Summon!

Gia “Cerise” Valleta

Raised by V’omarr monks since childhood, she is skilled in over twenty-one disciplines of death. Over a thousand kills are accredited to her, although no trace has been found of her presence in the vast majority. Some suppose that the number is actually much higher. The fact remains that no one is safe from her when she has been tasked to eliminate them.

Silk Stalkings: Sentient silk ribbons that respond to the user’s will. Have a reach of over one hundred feet and can be utilized as a weapon as well.

*Note: If any of the runes woven upon the ribbons are disrupted or damaged, control and utility of skill is drastically compromised.

Sheer Shear: Stealth kill up to two enemies using coordinated attacks with Silk Stalkings. Gia must be undetected by targets for ability to activate.

Shadowstep: Flit from one area of concealment to the next, avoiding detection in the intervening space.

Silhouette: Disappear into the environment by holding perfectly still. Active for one minute before a five minute recharge.

It had been a while since Yuki had used this avatar, but within a few steps she felt the feedback iron out. She felt agile and did a couple of deep stretches, moving with fluid ease. She admired the skintight black suit, emblazoned with gold highlights and mystic icons. The ribbons hung from her arms, connected from the wrist to elbow. They undulated in the air, suspended and waving as if they were underwater.

She thrust one arm forward and the ribbon shot out and severed a nearby branch, quickly catching it before it could