A Bug in the Code

The back room of Silk Circuits smelled like soldered circuits and synth-leather cleaner. Lena kicked open a rusted locker with the heel of her boot, revealing a stash of black-market tech that made Miyu's fingers itch.

"Courtesy of my ex," Lena said, grinning as she tossed Miyu a sleek, vacuum-sealed package. "He used to mod gear for enforcer black ops. Until he pissed off the wrong lieutenant."

Miyu caught the package and tore it open. The material inside slithered over her hands like liquid shadow—a full-body suit of adaptive latex, its surface matte enough to swallow light.

"Cameras can't track it," Lena explained, lighting a cigarette. "The texture screws with their prediction models. Makes you look like a glitch."

Miyu didn't hesitate. She stripped down to her basics and stepped into the suit. The material clung instantly, molding to her frame like a second skin. When she moved, the fabric rippled subtly, scattering light in unnatural ways.

"Creepy," Kai muttered.

"Effective," Miyu corrected, rolling her shoulders. The suit didn't restrict movement at all—if anything, it made her feel lighter.

Lena tossed her a compact electro-pistol next. "Standard issue enforcer sidearm, but I gutted the tracking chip. Added something better."

Miyu flipped the gun over, popping the panel to inspect the wiring. The modifications were elegant—a predictive aim module wired directly into the trigger sensor.

"It reads muscle twitches," Lena said, blowing smoke. "Calculates where the target will be, not where they are. You barely have to aim."

Miyu reassembled the pistol with practiced flicks of her wrists. The grip adjusted automatically to her hand.

Kai cleared his throat. "And for me?"

Lena smirked and hauled out a long, black case. Inside lay a modified assault rifle, its barrel reinforced with heat-dissipating alloy.

"Full auto or three-round burst," she said, tapping the selector switch. "Recoil's been dampened, and the smart scope tags up to five targets simultaneously. Oh, and—" She flipped the rifle over, revealing a secondary trigger. —"EMP burst mode. One shot fries electronics in a ten-meter radius."**

Kai hefted the rifle, testing the weight. "Overkill."

"Exactly," Lena purred.

Miyu checked her reflection in a broken mirror. Between the suit and the pistol, she looked like something the city's surveillance grid wouldn't even recognize as human.

"We're not just hiding anymore," she said, holstering the gun.

Kai slung the rifle over his shoulder. "No. Now we're hunting."

Outside, the neon buzz of the Choke seemed sharper, the shadows deeper. Somewhere in the network, Echo was growing stronger.

And the Sentinel had no idea what was coming for it.