SHARDS

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<<run UIBar.hide().stow();>> <style> :root{--background-color: #0F0C04;--color: #A8D3A2;--accent: #A8D3A2;} .arch:root{--background-color: #0F0C04;--color: #A8D3A2;--accent: #A8D3A2;} .tri:root{--background-color: #0F0C04;--color: #A8D3A2;--accent: #A8D3A2;} .replika:root{--background-color: #0F0C04;--color: #A8D3A2;--accent: #A8D3A2;} .passage>p {text-indent: 0em;} #footer {display: none;} #passages {border-right: 1px solid var(--accent);border-left: 1px solid var(--accent);border-bottom: 1px solid var(--accent);padding-left: 0.5em;padding-right: 1em;overflow:wrap;} .passage {line-height: 0.75em;} #header {box-shadow: -0.5em 0px 0px 0px var(--accent), 1em 0px 0px 0px var(--accent);background-color: var(--accent);color: var(--background-color);line-height:1.50em;} button {color:var(--background-color);} .gray {color: #d1dccc;} .flatlinelarge {font-family: var(--alt-font); font-size: 3em; letter-spacing: 0.12em; text-transform: uppercase; font-weight:bolder; color:var(--background-color); background-color: var(--color); padding: 0.1em 0.1em 0.05em 0.1em;} </style> <br> <p><span class = 'flatlinelarge'>breach protocol</span></p> <span class = 'flatlinesmall'><<type 40ms start 2s >><p>STAND BY FOR DECRYPT...</p><</type>> <<type 40ms>><p>#######################################################</p><</type>> <<type 40ms>><p>INITIAL DECRYPT SUCCESSFUL. INIT USER_PACKET TRANSFER.</p><</type>> <<type 40ms>><p>BYTES TRANSFERRED -- 11676665 [72756E HEX]</p><</type>> <<type 40ms>><p>AUTHORIZING...</p><</type>> <<type 40ms>><p>#######################################################</p><</type>> <<type 40ms>><p>BOOTING KERNEL FROM MILITECH SOFTSYS 0000000x00 AT FILE_NOT_FOUND</p><</type>> <<type 40ms>><p>DATA SIZE 9961472 BYTES -- 9.5 MB</p><</type>> <<type 40ms>><p>LOAD ADDRESS: 00009000</p><</type>> <<type 40ms>><p>WARNING: YOU ARE NOT ALONE. SYSTEMS COMPROMISED. NEURAL MATRICES DAMAGED. PROCEED WITH CAUTION.</p><</type>> <<type 40ms>><p>#######################################################</p><</type>> <<set _breachgen to random(1,12)>> <<if _breachgen is 1>><<type 40ms>><p>NqCmc3Th6p/ApVbCmBoro_ALL_IS_NOT_bvwQsF</p><</type>> <<type 40ms>><p>0t5fwupmj3mD"oF5eiWa0xZ8</p><</type>> <<type 40ms>><p>LC2s5xQf_AS_IT_SEEMS_Gp15n2RYPqlk</p><</type>> <<type 40ms>><p>5j9tuQ6iX5CTbLs^^FiMQ</p><</type>> <<type 40ms keep>><p><b><span class = gray>666163616465</span></b></p><</type>> <<elseif _breachgen is 2>><<type 40ms>><p>eUxkgdIXM2YXb6_EYE_FOR_AN_EYE_Ve8</p><</type>> <<type 40ms>><p>t9VNu^Kq3_LIFE_FOR_A_LIFE_DJES2tOJwv4</p><</type>> <<type 40ms>><p>NAtOX0PwMcvsd946F</p><</type>> <<type 40ms keep>><p><b><span class = gray>736861727065</span></b></p><</type>> <<elseif _breachgen is 3>><<type 40ms>><p>8EDwhJxK>ZpHDoaP_IS_THIS_J0iQ8S7zRG</p><</type>> <<type 40ms>><p>sIcS8zW#.n3U57WOz_WHAT_YOU_WANTED?_34h</p><</type>> <<type 40ms>><p>OAJt5OjFu2/E2d3[+]BwtrYt</p><</type>> <<type 40ms>><p>LLvNs_BLOOD_FOR_BLOOD?_09WeTIMT5Q4YvRpX</p><</type>> <<type 40ms keep>><p><b><span class = gray>696E68657269746F72</span></b></p><</type>> <<elseif _breachgen is 4>><<type 40ms>><p>eT8Ax8CQ7d_WHAT_IS_ILLUSORY_ycKr2HEf</p><</type>> <<type 40ms>><p>DTCx64ndXYrwwzjjyPn4CSkZEyU6cW</p><</type>> <<type 40ms>><p>AHW5+HYkJ_BECOMES_TANGIBLE_x2f2B</p><</type>> <<type 40ms>><p>1bFYDboiy@aPNad9QyBb_IN_CAPABLE_HAND_f2</p><</type>> <<type 40ms keep>><p><b><span class = gray>6C696768746272696E676572</span></b></p><</type>> <<elseif _breachgen is 5>><<type 40ms>><p>AZe5MvPEh4/i2tZxnn_ALWAYS_IN_THE_DARK_rg6ZrDfo63Bn</p><</type>> <<type 40ms>><p>bm0IX8WAUHs1Efq4_ALWAYS_7ysCxIZTS6</p><</type>> <<type 40ms>><p>jkW9d7gKe+tV30_ALWAYS_hdz9ChASrSbw6j</p><</type>> <<type 40ms>><p>1dF3ZxhI6gJe4Bc66o_ALWAYS_S601</p><</type>> <<type 40ms keep>><p><b><span class = gray>736B796C69676874</span></b></p><</type>> <<elseif _breachgen is 6>><<type 40ms>><p>qIH6nFYaQy_BARE_YOUR_CLAWS_Vo1rX</p><</type>> <<type 40ms>><p>zCP8bxGIFziP9aUWB_SHARPEN_YOUR_FANGS_2Js</p><</type>> <<type 40ms>><p>3hBD*eV2zsXNkpyVxU7b</p><</type>> <<type 40ms>><p>KB/AfSDGf7wQUL_BITE_DOWN_veD9iFmv</p><</type>> <<type 40ms keep>><p><b><span class = gray>6669676874206469727479</span></b></p><</type>> <<elseif _breachgen is 7>> <<type 40ms>><p>9UhIJ_SOMETHING_IS_WRONG_9ExSwjSo</p><</type>> <<type 40ms>><p>jYRNCC^E937CQkPs8wvI_WITH_YOU_bWjotl2</p><</type>> <<type 40ms>><p>fggFPIy0d6aJyG/pZpQu</p><</type>> <<type 40ms>><p>TU7jGs6h7M_THE_SICKNESS_SPREADS_Y6cxpeFbUhD9o</p><</type>> <<type 40ms keep>><p><b><span class = gray>67656E65736973</span></b></p><</type>> <<elseif _breachgen is 8>> <<type 40ms>><p>F1B_POINT_OF_NO_RETURN_28d</p><</type>> <<type 40ms>><p>zoTaZb_cNJReLYP9OP6a+m</p><</type>> <<type 40ms>><p>48lURBv6udKrK14^^IfPnR</p><</type>> <<type 40ms>><p>0x/kjAF3_DUTY_SUPERSEDES_DEATH_LW6@Nk</p><</type>> <<type 40ms keep>><p><b><span class = gray>65766572677265656E</span></b></p><</type>> <<elseif _breachgen is 9>> <<type 40ms>><p>bdu28lZ0H^wVyJ*I82/SgH_q</p><</type>> <<type 40ms>><p>zz4””BnZwLbAtsR+dbtbzI3</p><</type>> <<type 40ms>><p>rE2NVu/EYZWq2IVAPEd_FALL_0zKz</p><</type>> <<type 40ms>><p>Wq2_SON_OF_BROKEN_STAR_Y85Tl7vZ4G</p><</type>> <<type 40ms keep>><p><b><span class = gray>6963617269616E</span></b></p><</type>> <<elseif _breachgen is 10>> <<type 40ms>><p> 5w_XUKQ7*TEQvW0FU[><]2P7ufRWmri95</p><</type>> <<type 40ms>><p>US#ia7^^TYiScfsFxOpp_FRAGILITY_IS_INEVITABLE_ZAp+FP/R4nCN</p><</type>> <<type 40ms>><p>WnR^zc_MZbLu07’’9gTpr+_THEY_KNOW_NOT_qG_9rC#9+++ESDAzBm</p><</type>> <<type 40ms>><p>s@Os5pDj2poU/dpZgbrsL_e_WHAT_THEY_HAVE_DONE_wQVVrnj1VGl6</p><</type>> <<type 40ms keep>><p><b><span class = gray>747269756E65</span></b></p><</type>> <<elseif _breachgen is 11>> <<type 40ms>><p> (*91ARbESwPk0++pan5%E_CAN_YOU_HEAR_ME?_yQxU/VN[4yD</p><</type>> <<type 40ms>><p>^ayj50B1V6WXeU#/oF</p><</type>> <<type 40ms>><p>eaoQMNDokb9DExbGxKd_IM_SO_FAR_AWAY_kA^WG>t0GS3HVvRl</p><</type>> <<type 40ms>><p>E#x+++_bGx_FROM_YOU_pQjYDrD]93Sl_XzBNUh**5qA</p><</type>> <<type 40ms keep>><p><b><span class = gray>61726368616E67656C</span></b></p><</type>> <<elseif _breachgen is 12>> <<type 40ms>><p>(*&SGStuX^Nndh^hsjs{jQQQ]>##_MADNESS_-----&&#\&#(( </p><</type>> <<type 40ms>><p>Va---ZJNTjipkTF0+X_1Nhsxq</p><</type>> <<type 40ms>><p>&&S&+SDdu&37hsy76J*_DOUBLE_EDGED_SWORD_tbZ0feNzrb0mv</p><</type>> <<type 40ms>><p>(x)<s3>22DdanmjkxuzbaOUznL;OISssa^l_POINTED_INWARDS_Ucfnww8_++asN4#cBl </p><</type>> <<type 40ms keep>><p><b><span class = gray>7377616E736F6E67</span></b></p><</type>> <</if>> </span><<nobr>> <<cont append>> <<if $inputcode is "666163616465" or $inputcode is "facade">><<button [["PROCEED"|facade]]>><<run UIBar.show();>><</button>> <<elseif $inputcode is "736861727065" or $inputcode is "sharpe">><<button [["PROCEED"|sharpe]]>><<run UIBar.show();>><</button>> <<elseif $inputcode is "696E68657269746F72" or $inputcode is "inheritor">><<button [["PROCEED"|inheritor]]>><<run UIBar.show();>><</button>> <<elseif $inputcode is "6C696768746272696E676572" or $inputcode is "lightbringer">><<button [["PROCEED"|lightbringer]]>><<run UIBar.show();>><</button>> <<elseif $inputcode is "736B796C69676874" or $inputcode is "skylight">><<button [["PROCEED"|skylight]]>><<run UIBar.show();>><</button>> <<elseif $inputcode is "6669676874206469727479" or $inputcode is "fight dirty">><<button [["PROCEED"|fightdirty]]>><<run UIBar.show();>><</button>> <<elseif $inputcode is "67656E65736973" or $inputcode is "genesis" >><<button [["PROCEED"|genesis]]>><<run UIBar.show();>><</button>> <<elseif $inputcode is "65766572677265656E" or $inputcode is "evergreen">><<button [["PROCEED"|evergreen]]>><<run UIBar.show();>><</button>> <<elseif $inputcode is "6963617269616E" or $inputcode is "icarian">><<button [["PROCEED"|icarian]]>><<run UIBar.show();>><</button>> <<elseif $inputcode is "747269756E65" or $inputcode is "triune">><<button [["PROCEED"|triune]]>><<run UIBar.show();>><</button>> <<elseif $inputcode is "61726368616E67656C" or $inputcode is "archangel">><<button [["PROCEED"|archangel]]>><<run UIBar.show();>><</button>> <<elseif $inputcode is "7377616E736F6E67" or $inputcode is "swansong">><<button [["PROCEED"|swansong]]>><<run UIBar.show();>><</button>> <<else>><<button [["PROCEED"|no continue]]>><<run UIBar.show();>><</button>><</if>> <</cont>><</nobr>>

<<run UIBar.hide().stow();>> <style> :root{--background-color: #0F0C04;--color: #A8D3A2;--accent: #A8D3A2; --accent2: #d1dccc;} .arch:root{--background-color: #0F0C04;--color: #A8D3A2;--accent: #A8D3A2; --accent2: #d1dccc;} .tri:root{--background-color: #0F0C04;--color: #A8D3A2;--accent: #A8D3A2; --accent2: #d1dccc;} .replika:root{--background-color: #0F0C04;--color: #A8D3A2;--accent: #A8D3A2; --accent2: #d1dccc;} h1 {margin-top:20vh; font-size: 2.25em; letter-spacing:0.4em;} .passage>p {text-indent: 0em;} button, select { text-transform: uppercase; font-size: 1em; height: 3.75em; width: 10.5em; font-family: var(--alt-font); } button:hover{cursor: crosshair; color: var(--accent2); text-decoration: none; background-color: var(--background-color);} #ui-dialog-body { background-color: var(--background-color); color: var(--color); border: var(--background-color); } #passages{ border-right: 0px solid var(--accent); border-left: 0px solid var(--accent); border-bottom: none; } #footer{display:none;} #ui-bar{display:none;} </style><center><h1><<type 60ms>>[[01: Facade|facade text][$chapter to "File_01" , $location to "Japantown, Night City, 2078"]]<</type>></h1></center>

<<run UIBar.hide().stow();>> <style> :root{--background-color: #0F0C04;--color: #A8D3A2;--accent: #A8D3A2; --accent2: #d1dccc;} .arch:root{--background-color: #0F0C04;--color: #A8D3A2;--accent: #A8D3A2; --accent2: #d1dccc;} .tri:root{--background-color: #0F0C04;--color: #A8D3A2;--accent: #A8D3A2; --accent2: #d1dccc;} .replika:root{--background-color: #0F0C04;--color: #A8D3A2;--accent: #A8D3A2; --accent2: #d1dccc;} h1 {margin-top:20vh; font-size: 2.25em; letter-spacing:0.4em;} .passage>p {text-indent: 0em;} button, select { text-transform: uppercase; font-size: 1em; height: 3.75em; width: 10.5em; font-family: var(--alt-font); } button:hover{cursor: crosshair; color: var(--accent2); text-decoration: none; background-color: var(--background-color);} #ui-dialog-body { background-color: var(--background-color); color: var(--color); border: var(--background-color); } #passages{ border-right: 0px solid var(--accent); border-left: 0px solid var(--accent); border-bottom: none; } #footer{display:none;} #ui-bar{display:none;} </style><center><h1><<type 60ms>>[[02: Sharpe|no continue][$chapter to "File_02" , $location to ""]]<</type>></h1></center>

<<run UIBar.hide().stow();>> <style> :root{--background-color: #0F0C04;--color: #A8D3A2;--accent: #A8D3A2; --accent2: #d1dccc;} .arch:root{--background-color: #0F0C04;--color: #A8D3A2;--accent: #A8D3A2; --accent2: #d1dccc;} .tri:root{--background-color: #0F0C04;--color: #A8D3A2;--accent: #A8D3A2; --accent2: #d1dccc;} .replika:root{--background-color: #0F0C04;--color: #A8D3A2;--accent: #A8D3A2; --accent2: #d1dccc;} h1 {margin-top:20vh; font-size: 2.25em; letter-spacing:0.4em;} .passage>p {text-indent: 0em;} button, select { text-transform: uppercase; font-size: 1em; height: 3.75em; width: 10.5em; font-family: var(--alt-font); } button:hover{cursor: crosshair; color: var(--accent2); text-decoration: none; background-color: var(--background-color);} #ui-dialog-body { background-color: var(--background-color); color: var(--color); border: var(--background-color); } #passages{ border-right: 0px solid var(--accent); border-left: 0px solid var(--accent); border-bottom: none; } #footer{display:none;} #ui-bar{display:none;} </style><center><h1><<type 60ms>>[[03: Inheritor|no continue][$chapter to "File_03" , $location to "Corporate Plaza, Night City"]]<</type>></h1></center>

<<run UIBar.hide().stow();>> <style> :root{--background-color: #0F0C04;--color: #A8D3A2;--accent: #A8D3A2; --accent2: #d1dccc;} .arch:root{--background-color: #0F0C04;--color: #A8D3A2;--accent: #A8D3A2; --accent2: #d1dccc;} .tri:root{--background-color: #0F0C04;--color: #A8D3A2;--accent: #A8D3A2; --accent2: #d1dccc;} .replika:root{--background-color: #0F0C04;--color: #A8D3A2;--accent: #A8D3A2; --accent2: #d1dccc;} h1 {margin-top:20vh; font-size: 2.25em; letter-spacing:0.4em;} .passage>p {text-indent: 0em;} button, select { text-transform: uppercase; font-size: 1em; height: 3.75em; width: 10.5em; font-family: var(--alt-font); } button:hover{cursor: crosshair; color: var(--accent2); text-decoration: none; background-color: var(--background-color);} #ui-dialog-body { background-color: var(--background-color); color: var(--color); border: var(--background-color); } #passages{ border-right: 0px solid var(--accent); border-left: 0px solid var(--accent); border-bottom: none; } #footer{display:none;} #ui-bar{display:none;} </style><center><h1><<type 60ms>>[[04: PENUMBRA|no continue][$chapter to "File_04" , $location to "Cyberspace, 2062"]]<</type>></h1></center>

<<run UIBar.hide().stow();>> <style> :root{--background-color: #0F0C04;--color: #A8D3A2;--accent: #A8D3A2; --accent2: #d1dccc;} .arch:root{--background-color: #0F0C04;--color: #A8D3A2;--accent: #A8D3A2; --accent2: #d1dccc;} .tri:root{--background-color: #0F0C04;--color: #A8D3A2;--accent: #A8D3A2; --accent2: #d1dccc;} .replika:root{--background-color: #0F0C04;--color: #A8D3A2;--accent: #A8D3A2; --accent2: #d1dccc;} h1 {margin-top:20vh; font-size: 2.25em; letter-spacing:0.4em;} .passage>p {text-indent: 0em;} button, select { text-transform: uppercase; font-size: 1em; height: 3.75em; width: 10.5em; font-family: var(--alt-font); } button:hover{cursor: crosshair; color: var(--accent2); text-decoration: none; background-color: var(--background-color);} #ui-dialog-body { background-color: var(--background-color); color: var(--color); border: var(--background-color); } #passages{ border-right: 0px solid var(--accent); border-left: 0px solid var(--accent); border-bottom: none; } #footer{display:none;} #ui-bar{display:none;} </style><center><h1><<type 60ms>>[[05: SKYLIGHT|no continue][$chapter to "File_05" , $location to "Dogtown, Night City, 2078"]]<</type>></h1></center>

<<run UIBar.hide().stow();>> <style> :root{--background-color: #0F0C04;--color: #A8D3A2;--accent: #A8D3A2; --accent2: #d1dccc;} .arch:root{--background-color: #0F0C04;--color: #A8D3A2;--accent: #A8D3A2; --accent2: #d1dccc;} .tri:root{--background-color: #0F0C04;--color: #A8D3A2;--accent: #A8D3A2; --accent2: #d1dccc;} .replika:root{--background-color: #0F0C04;--color: #A8D3A2;--accent: #A8D3A2; --accent2: #d1dccc;} h1 {margin-top:20vh; font-size: 2.25em; letter-spacing:0.4em;} .passage>p {text-indent: 0em;} button, select { text-transform: uppercase; font-size: 1em; height: 3.75em; width: 10.5em; font-family: var(--alt-font); } button:hover{cursor: crosshair; color: var(--accent2); text-decoration: none; background-color: var(--background-color);} #ui-dialog-body { background-color: var(--background-color); color: var(--color); border: var(--background-color); } #passages{ border-right: 0px solid var(--accent); border-left: 0px solid var(--accent); border-bottom: none; } #footer{display:none;} #ui-bar{display:none;} </style><center><h1><<type 60ms>>[[06: APEX PREDATOR|no continue][$chapter to "File_06" , $location to "West Wind Estates, Night City, 2075"]]<</type>></h1></center>

<<run UIBar.hide().stow();>> <style> :root{--background-color: #0F0C04;--color: #A8D3A2;--accent: #A8D3A2; --accent2: #d1dccc;} .arch:root{--background-color: #0F0C04;--color: #A8D3A2;--accent: #A8D3A2; --accent2: #d1dccc;} .tri:root{--background-color: #0F0C04;--color: #A8D3A2;--accent: #A8D3A2; --accent2: #d1dccc;} .replika:root{--background-color: #0F0C04;--color: #A8D3A2;--accent: #A8D3A2; --accent2: #d1dccc;} h1 {margin-top:20vh; font-size: 2.25em; letter-spacing:0.4em;} .passage>p {text-indent: 0em;} button, select { text-transform: uppercase; font-size: 1em; height: 3.75em; width: 10.5em; font-family: var(--alt-font); } button:hover{cursor: crosshair; color: var(--accent2); text-decoration: none; background-color: var(--background-color);} #ui-dialog-body { background-color: var(--background-color); color: var(--color); border: var(--background-color); } #passages{ border-right: 0px solid var(--accent); border-left: 0px solid var(--accent); border-bottom: none; } #footer{display:none;} #ui-bar{display:none;} </style><center><h1><<type 60ms>>[[07: GENESIS|no continue][$chapter to "File_07" , $location to "location services offline"]]<</type>></h1></center>

<<run UIBar.hide().stow();>> <style> :root{--background-color: #0F0C04;--color: #A8D3A2;--accent: #A8D3A2; --accent2: #d1dccc;} .arch:root{--background-color: #0F0C04;--color: #A8D3A2;--accent: #A8D3A2; --accent2: #d1dccc;} .tri:root{--background-color: #0F0C04;--color: #A8D3A2;--accent: #A8D3A2; --accent2: #d1dccc;} .replika:root{--background-color: #0F0C04;--color: #A8D3A2;--accent: #A8D3A2; --accent2: #d1dccc;} h1 {margin-top:20vh; font-size: 2.25em; letter-spacing:0.4em;} .passage>p {text-indent: 0em;} button, select { text-transform: uppercase; font-size: 1em; height: 3.75em; width: 10.5em; font-family: var(--alt-font); } button:hover{cursor: crosshair; color: var(--accent2); text-decoration: none; background-color: var(--background-color);} #ui-dialog-body { background-color: var(--background-color); color: var(--color); border: var(--background-color); } #passages{ border-right: 0px solid var(--accent); border-left: 0px solid var(--accent); border-bottom: none; } #footer{display:none;} #ui-bar{display:none;} </style><center><h1><<type 60ms>>[[08: EVERGREEN|no continue][$chapter to "File_08" , $location to "Coastview, Night City, 2074"]]<</type>></h1></center>

<<run UIBar.hide().stow();>> <style> :root{--background-color: #0F0C04;--color: #A8D3A2;--accent: #A8D3A2; --accent2: #d1dccc;} .arch:root{--background-color: #0F0C04;--color: #A8D3A2;--accent: #A8D3A2; --accent2: #d1dccc;} .tri:root{--background-color: #0F0C04;--color: #A8D3A2;--accent: #A8D3A2; --accent2: #d1dccc;} .replika:root{--background-color: #0F0C04;--color: #A8D3A2;--accent: #A8D3A2; --accent2: #d1dccc;} h1 {margin-top:20vh; font-size: 2.25em; letter-spacing:0.4em;} .passage>p {text-indent: 0em;} button, select { text-transform: uppercase; font-size: 1em; height: 3.75em; width: 10.5em; font-family: var(--alt-font); } button:hover{cursor: crosshair; color: var(--accent2); text-decoration: none; background-color: var(--background-color);} #ui-dialog-body { background-color: var(--background-color); color: var(--color); border: var(--background-color); } #passages{ border-right: 0px solid var(--accent); border-left: 0px solid var(--accent); border-bottom: none; } #footer{display:none;} #ui-bar{display:none;} </style><center><h1><<type 60ms>>[[09: ICARIAN|no continue][$chapter to "File_09" , $location to "North Oak, Night City, 2077"]]<</type>></h1></center>

<<run UIBar.hide().stow();>> <style> :root{--background-color: #0F0C04;--color: #A8D3A2;--accent: #A8D3A2; --accent2: #d1dccc;} .arch:root{--background-color: #0F0C04;--color: #A8D3A2;--accent: #A8D3A2; --accent2: #d1dccc;} .tri:root{--background-color: #0F0C04;--color: #A8D3A2;--accent: #A8D3A2; --accent2: #d1dccc;} .replika:root{--background-color: #0F0C04;--color: #A8D3A2;--accent: #A8D3A2; --accent2: #d1dccc;} h1 {margin-top:20vh; font-size: 2.25em; letter-spacing:0.4em;} .passage>p {text-indent: 0em;} button, select { text-transform: uppercase; font-size: 1em; height: 3.75em; width: 10.5em; font-family: var(--alt-font); } button:hover{cursor: crosshair; color: var(--accent2); text-decoration: none; background-color: var(--background-color);} #ui-dialog-body { background-color: var(--background-color); color: var(--color); border: var(--background-color); } #passages{ border-right: 0px solid var(--accent); border-left: 0px solid var(--accent); border-bottom: none; } #footer{display:none;} #ui-bar{display:none;} </style><center><h1><<type 60ms>>[[10: TRIUNE|no continue][$chapter to "File_10" , $location to "location restricted"]]<</type>></h1></center>

<<run UIBar.hide().stow();>> <style> :root{--background-color: #0F0C04;--color: #A8D3A2;--accent: #A8D3A2; --accent2: #d1dccc;} .arch:root{--background-color: #0F0C04;--color: #A8D3A2;--accent: #A8D3A2; --accent2: #d1dccc;} .tri:root{--background-color: #0F0C04;--color: #A8D3A2;--accent: #A8D3A2; --accent2: #d1dccc;} .replika:root{--background-color: #0F0C04;--color: #A8D3A2;--accent: #A8D3A2; --accent2: #d1dccc;} h1 {margin-top:20vh; font-size: 2.25em; letter-spacing:0.4em;} .passage>p {text-indent: 0em;} button, select { text-transform: uppercase; font-size: 1em; height: 3.75em; width: 10.5em; font-family: var(--alt-font); } button:hover{cursor: crosshair; color: var(--accent2); text-decoration: none; background-color: var(--background-color);} #ui-dialog-body { background-color: var(--background-color); color: var(--color); border: var(--background-color); } #passages{ border-right: 0px solid var(--accent); border-left: 0px solid var(--accent); border-bottom: none; } #footer{display:none;} #ui-bar{display:none;} </style><center><h1><<type 60ms>>[[11: archangel|no continue][$chapter to "File_11" , $location to "location services offline"]]<</type>></h1></center>

<<run UIBar.hide().stow();>> <style> :root{--background-color: #0F0C04;--color: #A8D3A2;--accent: #A8D3A2; --accent2: #d1dccc;} .arch:root{--background-color: #0F0C04;--color: #A8D3A2;--accent: #A8D3A2; --accent2: #d1dccc;} .tri:root{--background-color: #0F0C04;--color: #A8D3A2;--accent: #A8D3A2; --accent2: #d1dccc;} .replika:root{--background-color: #0F0C04;--color: #A8D3A2;--accent: #A8D3A2; --accent2: #d1dccc;} h1 {margin-top:20vh; font-size: 2.25em; letter-spacing:0.4em;} .passage>p {text-indent: 0em;} button, select { text-transform: uppercase; font-size: 1em; height: 3.75em; width: 10.5em; font-family: var(--alt-font); } button:hover{cursor: crosshair; color: var(--accent2); text-decoration: none; background-color: var(--background-color);} #ui-dialog-body { background-color: var(--background-color); color: var(--color); border: var(--background-color); } #passages{ border-right: 0px solid var(--accent); border-left: 0px solid var(--accent); border-bottom: none; } #footer{display:none;} #ui-bar{display:none;} </style><center><h1><<type 60ms>>[[12: swansong|no continue][$chapter to "File_12" , $location to "location services offline"]]<</type>></h1></center>

<<script>> var passages = document.getElementById("passages"); passages.scrollTop = 0; <</script>> <<if tags().includes("title")>> <<else>><div id = header><span>$chapter</span><span><span class = headertext> $location</span></span></div> <</if>> <<if !tags().includes('title')>> <<run UIBar.show();>> <</if>>

<div id='footer'><span>INTERFACE LOADED</span><span>PROVIDED BY NEXUS NETWORK V30.30</span><span>BUILD 1.00.9122124.G99</span></div><div id="struss"></div>

/*game display*/ <<set $chapter to " ">> <<set $location to " ">> <<set $inputcode to " ">> <<set $choice to 0>> <<run UIBar.stow(true);>>

<<link "Go Back">><<run Engine.backward()>><</link>> [[Directory|toc_end][$chapter to "Directory" , $location to " "]] [[input_menu|secretmenu][$chapter to "Shards_Directory2" , $location to "6E6F77686572652C2065766572797768657265"]]

<<run UIBar.hide().stow();>> <style> h1 {margin-top:20vh; font-size: 3em; letter-spacing:0.4em; text-align:right;} .passage>p {text-indent: 0em;} button, select { text-transform: uppercase; font-size: 1em; height: 3.75em; width: 10.5em; font-family: var(--alt-font); } button:hover{cursor: crosshair; color: var(--accent2); text-decoration: none; background-color: var(--background-color);} #ui-dialog-body { background-color: var(--background-color); color: var(--color); border: var(--background-color); } #passages{ border-right: 0px solid var(--accent); border-left: 0px solid var(--accent); border-bottom: none; } #footer{display:none;} #ui-bar{display:none;} </style><h1><span class = fade>shards<hr></span></h1><<cont append>><span class = fade> <<cont append>> <center><table> <tr> <td style="width:25%"><<button [[DECRYPT|01]]>><<set $chapter to " ">><<set $location to " ">><<run UIBar.show();>><</button>> <<if Save.autosave.ok() and Save.autosave.has()>><<button "RETURN">><<script>>Save.autosave.load()<</script>><</button>><</if>></td> <td style="width:25%"><<button [[Directory|toc_start]]>><<set $chapter to "Directory">><<set $location to " ">><</button>></td> <td style="width:25%"><<button "RELOAD">><<run UI.saves()>><</button>></td> <td style="width:25%"><<button "RECONFIGURE">><<run UI.settings()>><</button>></td> </tr> </table></center> <</cont>></span><</cont>>

<<run UIBar.hide().stow();>> <style> h1 {margin-top:20vh; font-size: 2.25em; letter-spacing:0.4em;} .passage>p {text-indent: 0em;} button, select { text-transform: uppercase; font-size: 1em; height: 3.75em; width: 10.5em; font-family: var(--alt-font); } button:hover{cursor: crosshair; color: var(--accent2); text-decoration: none; background-color: var(--background-color);} #ui-dialog-body { background-color: var(--background-color); color: var(--color); border: var(--background-color); } #passages{ border-right: 0px solid var(--accent); border-left: 0px solid var(--accent); border-bottom: none; } #footer{display:none;} #ui-bar{display:none;} </style><center><h1><<type 60ms>>[[01: Naumova|01txt][$chapter to "Shard 01" , $location to "North Oak, Night City, 2078"]]<</type>></h1></center>

<p>Delicate, slender glass rolls between fingertips; the body of a syringe, the stem of a glass, smooth coldness rendered in crystalline clarity and promising haze, emptiness, oblivion. It has been fifty years. More or less, exactness lost to the blossoming of an unpleasant warmth at the base of her throat and dripping down her chest. Drunk on cheap wine in a little apartment overlooking the Black Sea, not drunk enough; she hated it then and hates it now. <p>She is supposed to be sharp. A shard of brilliant glass whose every aspect gleams, drawing the eye; a certain cynosure polished to star-like perfection. Shielded, guarded, lest her brilliance turn blinding and her edges thirst for blood. She bears now a cutting edge rawer than before; her hone and polish diminished with age and lack of maintenance. She was content to grow soft, drunk, happy. Fracture returns sharpness, this, she knows well. <p>The glass shatters, cast to the floor alongside the plate. Silverware clatters against tile, the vase of artificial flowers on the island scattering stone sediment over books whose pages flutter in hopeless flight as they fall, spines broken. Photographs lose their luster, their frames fractured, familiar faces on familiar corpses turned away from her rage. A husband. A son. A daughter. She was content to grow soft, drunk, happy. <p>The woman unburied on the shores of the Black Sea would disagree, chide her about the hours slipping past, dragging out the summons like the last, longest days of summer staining golden. <p>“Akanthe,” she would laugh, “oh, Akanthe, you’re wasting your time on me.” <p>She offered little in return, a wry smile, a half-lidded gaze, a stolen kiss against sun-warmed skin. “We have forever,” she lied, salt on her tongue. “I’ll have you forever.” <p>She said nothing to her when she left. Did not weep until she was certain she was alone, until she would be the solitary witness to her splintering, a soliloquy for an audience of none – not dulcet poetry unbecoming to her tongue, too soft for the likes of her – but incoherent, hoarse screaming, something befitting of the fractal edges of a temper shattered on the apartment floor. Childlike in her rage, matronly in the penitent patience it took to clean, the soles of her feet bloody, her palms lacerated as she swept up each shard. <p>Lacerated palms spill blood over the inscription of her husband’s ring, a simple band of tarnished silver refit for her wear and darken the delicate engraving on her own ring, covering each facet of the three gems set and cracked. Blood pools on the surface of the bio-container, the lid ajar. Yellow lights caution her, the condition worsening; the engram was taken when she was sick. When she was dying, a fragile thing of thin etched glass so beautiful in Akanthe’s hands, each facet brilliant and all the more brilliant for their impermanence, cracks already beginning to show in a pattern secondary to her desires. This perfect replica shard bears the spiderwebbing but not the fragility. <p>Death is fragile, easy to break and reshape in Akanthe’s hands. She collects fragments, returns shards to picture frames, reassembles from fracture a stronger composition. The beloved husband she never wanted, a simple homicide. His absence a lingering shadow, his engram occupying a shard she carries like their wedding rings, an obligation, a black-clad widow who whose tears dried quickly. Her first son too like his father, broad and tall and determined to be a good man unto death. Not quite death, no, death is fickle, death is impermanent, a crueler sleep – but disfiguring all the same, a particular, perpetual vacancy stemming from the cavitation of a gunshot wound. Her only daughter, her mirror image. Defiant and proud and brilliant, shimmering intelligence dulled by the same stupid, fervent want as her. Mirror again to the woman on the shores of the Black Sea, dying slowly, inevitably, Akanthe too afraid of euthanasia. Eris has forever. The woman on the shore is long gone. <p>The woman on the shard smiles sadly at her, murmuring: “Oh, Akanthe, you’re wasting your time on me,” and Akanthe has no reply but to shut the bio-container and stare at the bloody mess she has made. </p> <<button [[NEXT SHARD|02]]>><</button>>

<<run UIBar.hide().stow();>> <style> h1 {margin-top:20vh; font-size: 2.25em; letter-spacing:0.4em;} .passage>p {text-indent: 0em;} button, select { text-transform: uppercase; font-size: 1em; height: 3.75em; width: 10.5em; font-family: var(--alt-font); } button:hover{cursor: crosshair; color: var(--accent2); text-decoration: none; background-color: var(--background-color);} #ui-dialog-body { background-color: var(--background-color); color: var(--color); border: var(--background-color); } #passages{ border-right: 0px solid var(--accent); border-left: 0px solid var(--accent); border-bottom: none; } #footer{display:none;} #ui-bar{display:none;} </style><center><h1><<type 60ms>>[[02: Akakios|02txt][$chapter to "Shard 02" , $location to "location services offline"]]<</type>></h1></center>

<p>A cool, dark room, a place for the end. Metal fire burning acrid. Black walls. Smooth slippery underwater plastic pulled strands; futile grasp around wires degloved, caselessly carrying red forms a hum upon ruptured eardrum, shattered jaw. Settles into teeth grit tight, scream abated, spasmodic artificial muscle taut linkages ligament ligature, strangulation via fine chromium garotte. Not a noose, not strangulation. Decapitation. <p>“Don’t look back,” breathes the digitized ghost, the hand on the back of her neck. Around her throat. “Promise me.” <p>“You’ll be here.” Not a question. Never a question. Thin blue thread of code anchor, escape route, method of return from labyrinthine depths, as much of a promise as she can make. <p>Inevitable assurance of failure; constructs degrade gracefully or else collapse under the weight of their purpose. Autonomous subroutine propagates maintenance, sustenance protocols, persists in tandem with conscious function. Cessation of consciousness triggers autonomous systems in denial, refusal of alternative protocol – failure state – alter prognoses. Shifts odds undone by conscious hand. <p>“What is it?” Blue eyes curious, biochip with its thin oil sheen resting innocuous in her hand. “What are you doing?” <p>She smiles, tilting her head. Newly hewn port, tertiary to slots for cyberdeck, shard reader. Emergency use only, option of last resort. Blood trickles down skin. “Will you help me?” <p>Point of no return, quarantine breached; foreign body spreads mycelium filaments along axon, neural matrices particularly susceptible to parasitism. Immediate unconsciousness, pause in function restored. Belabored breaths rasp sharp, metal; thin filamentous web forcing diaphragmatic function. Autonomous protocol superseding conscious choice, conscious thought. <p>Point of no return, a final glance down at simulated hands, red webs of code tangled into human form. Pulse, temperature sensors spike in panic untranslated to this avatar. Does not look back, stretching hands against the surface of the wall, undulating waves of red. Cold blood trickles down skin. <p>The Pacific is cold, her lover’s hands warm. She leads her into the current, the gleam in her eyes brighter than the stars above. There is no need to look back. Only forwards. Fingers slip from hers, caught again as a wave breaks on their shoulders. Cyberspace has no temperature, no conscious feeling: the body imparts false positives on a vacuum. Easy to forget the tangible, easier still when strings of code rip through simulated vision, leave blurred gaps to be filled with new data. New perspective; recognizing one of its own, the Blackwall allows passage. Consumes memory – random access, functional, cherished – in exchange. <p>Uncalloused, plastic palm slips over occipital. Cradles broken neck with uncanny tenderness; she has never known kindness to be so paralytic. Hears the sea when she speaks, barely words, merely sound, buoyancy merciful. “You promised me!” the sea sobs, salt lashing wounds. Metallic depths stained hemoglobin hues – bitter iron, sharp copper, sleek chrome – rising to drown her. “Look at me! Why?” <p>There is nothing for her beyond the Blackwall. Black as the cold Pacific sky, the netrunning suit smooth, plastic on her skin. Final vestiges, a fear stronger than simulated etching strings of error codes into a blur: the human form resists annihilation in the face of incomprehensibility. Briefly. Starry black sky beneath her feet shatters in a single exhalation of betrayal. She looks back to a closing gateway, a distant figure transfixed in horror. Relay, port, neuron failure, contemptible failure. Slips under the surface of the sea. <p>“I love you.” Weak voice rising faintly, gurgled from collapsed throat. “I wanted to see. One last time.” <p>The sea scoffs, blue eyes black, unfeeling as the abyss. Eris cannot hold her gaze. “One last time?” <p>“Thought I’d die and-” the ache at the base of her skull laughs “-I love you, Alex. I don’t want to die.” <p>“You should have thought about that!” Alexandra snarls. “You love me? You wouldn’t have done it if you loved me – if you loved anyone but yourself. And you can’t look at me now. Nobody was coming to save you.” <p>A single salt tear falls, wiped away. “You were there. You promised as much.”</p> <<button [[NEXT SHARD|03]]>><</button>>

<<run UIBar.hide().stow();>> <style> h1 {margin-top:20vh; font-size: 2.25em; letter-spacing:0.4em;} .passage>p {text-indent: 0em;} button, select { text-transform: uppercase; font-size: 1em; height: 3.75em; width: 10.5em; font-family: var(--alt-font); } button:hover{cursor: crosshair; color: var(--accent2); text-decoration: none; background-color: var(--background-color);} #ui-dialog-body { background-color: var(--background-color); color: var(--color); border: var(--background-color); } #passages{ border-right: 0px solid var(--accent); border-left: 0px solid var(--accent); border-bottom: none; } #footer{display:none;} #ui-bar{display:none;} </style><center><h1><<type 60ms>>[[03: data restricted|04][$chapter to "Shard 03" , $location to "location restricted"]]<</type>></h1></center>

<<run UIBar.hide().stow();>> <style> h1 {margin-top:20vh; font-size: 2.25em; letter-spacing:0.4em;} .passage>p {text-indent: 0em;} button, select { text-transform: uppercase; font-size: 1em; height: 3.75em; width: 10.5em; font-family: var(--alt-font); } button:hover{cursor: crosshair; color: var(--accent2); text-decoration: none; background-color: var(--background-color);} #ui-dialog-body { background-color: var(--background-color); color: var(--color); border: var(--background-color); } #passages{ border-right: 0px solid var(--accent); border-left: 0px solid var(--accent); border-bottom: none; } #footer{display:none;} #ui-bar{display:none;} </style><center><h1><<type 60ms>>[[04: Crncevic|05][$chapter to "Shard 04" , $location to "Corporate Plaza, Night City, 2077"]]<</type>></h1></center>

<<run UIBar.hide().stow();>> <style> h1 {margin-top:20vh; font-size: 2.25em; letter-spacing:0.4em;} .passage>p {text-indent: 0em;} button, select { text-transform: uppercase; font-size: 1em; height: 3.75em; width: 10.5em; font-family: var(--alt-font); } button:hover{cursor: crosshair; color: var(--accent2); text-decoration: none; background-color: var(--background-color);} #ui-dialog-body { background-color: var(--background-color); color: var(--color); border: var(--background-color); } #passages{ border-right: 0px solid var(--accent); border-left: 0px solid var(--accent); border-bottom: none; } #footer{display:none;} #ui-bar{display:none;} </style><center><h1><<type 60ms>>[[05: Nakamura|06][$chapter to "Shard 05" , $location to "Corporate Plaza, Night City, 2074"]]<</type>></h1></center>

<<run UIBar.hide().stow();>> <style> h1 {margin-top:20vh; font-size: 2.25em; letter-spacing:0.4em;} .passage>p {text-indent: 0em;} button, select { text-transform: uppercase; font-size: 1em; height: 3.75em; width: 10.5em; font-family: var(--alt-font); } button:hover{cursor: crosshair; color: var(--accent2); text-decoration: none; background-color: var(--background-color);} #ui-dialog-body { background-color: var(--background-color); color: var(--color); border: var(--background-color); } #passages{ border-right: 0px solid var(--accent); border-left: 0px solid var(--accent); border-bottom: none; } #footer{display:none;} #ui-bar{display:none;} </style><center><h1><<type 60ms>>[[06: Konigsmann|06txt][$chapter to "Shard 06" , $location to "Arroyo, Night City, 2075"]]<</type>></h1></center>

<p>The night is interrupted by rain, long tear tracks trailing down glass. Neon and LED blurs into a pinkish glowing mist, flickering word and image lost to a blur. Intoxication or weather, it makes no difference to Natalie. She prefers numbness to acuity, spends her sobriety on preparing the next night’s escape. Medical training and neuroticism makes for safe oblivion, she tells herself, taking the pre-filled syringes from where she hides them. A lie, but a comforting one. Sharp exhale as needle pierces papery skin – better at it now than when she started using, less bruising, less blown out veins and awkward conversations – slow inhale, hold, inject, exhale again as needle exits cephalic vein. A bead of blood blossoms of the back of her hand, becomes a long, glimmering red strand. Dissolves, the room spilling as she reclines against the bathtub, takes a drink from the dark bottle, closes her eyes. <p>The glow has returned; Natalie has no recollection of when she came to but scarred cheek rests against cold glass, no recollection of getting here but bruised knees and rubbed-raw elbows and forearms indicate a struggle, her skin sweaty, breath ragged. She remembers little of her days, intentionally so: the world passes in a gore-stained blur of terminology. Fracture of mandible, maxilla, zygomatic – loss of central, lateral incisors, cuspid, first bicuspid, upper and lower – pink-stained ivory scattered in the dirt, scrabbled for with bloody fingers. Lack of depth perception. Diagnosis: avulsion fracture to bony orbit and supraorbital foramen, intraocular foreign body present. Numb and taking another drink, a droplet of amber falling from her lips. Facial and mandibular nerves lacerated, resulting neurotmesis spreading anesthesia across axon and further, sympathetic nerves going quiet, dull, dead. <p>No sympathy for addicts. Cyberjunkies and psychos condemned to death, the common addict scorned in intersquad comms, eyes rolling behind faceless helmets. Corpo can’t handle his Black Lace, carves up the mistress and himself for the cyberware the FIA put there. BD star gets strung out on Glitter, foaming at the mouth and twitching when Trauma Team comes knocking. The good doctor, the consummate professional barks triage orders: what is the proper prioritization for a wound of this caliber? Hypocrite far from the first or last doctor over-prescribing to hide her habit. What happens when Trauma Team is called on one of their own, do they possess the same derision for their superior officer unresponsive on the tile? Will they attempt the reversal for the sake of appearances or else respect her wishes? A hastily scrawled notice of terminal will, triage orders from Dr. Konigsmann: do not resuscitate. <p>Another drink to dull the worry – too lucid for an overdose. Mental note to recalculate for tolerances, weigh self, consider other drugs of the same class. Too awake for this, shaky hand held to block out the advertisement flashing lurid through the rain, the harsh fluorescent lamp inside the AV. Early morning, the glow through gory hands a sunrise of sorts. <p>Complete disruption of the nerve trunk is classified as fifth-degree neurotmesis injury, results in paralysis, ultimate numbness. C6, C7, T1-12, S1-3 – shrapnel dispersed through abdominal cavity, phrenic nerve severed, diaphragm useless, even if air could be drawn into punctured lungs. First shot, glancing blow. Red-marked medic an easy target. Splintered against aramid and kevlar, fractured rib and costal cartilage. Stopped the heart. Briefly, a breath, a pause. Woke to man-down alarms on wet asphalt, staring at her face reflected in an oily pool. Heard the second shot. Never felt it. <p>Numbness becomes less pleasant, pleasurable. A necessary escape of diminishing returns, the bottle empty. Painkillers to dull the aching emptiness, the haunting presence of chrome where there should be tissue and bone. Alcohol to temper the worst of her moods. Combined for the oblivion of memory, thought, being. Attempts half as spectacular as kissing her issued sidearm or stepping out of the AV above Downtown, half as effective in all but reminding her why, arming herself better for the next time. She was supposed to be something once, something great, something beautiful – threw it away in the name of childish defiance, reaps now what she had sown. Night City is barren when the adrenaline wears off, the glimmering skyline a beautifully gilt cage. Through the rain and opiate haze, Natalie thinks she can see a way out.</p> <<button [[NEXT SHARD|07]]>><</button>>

<<run UIBar.hide().stow();>> <style> h1 {margin-top:20vh; font-size: 2.25em; letter-spacing:0.4em;} .passage>p {text-indent: 0em;} button, select { text-transform: uppercase; font-size: 1em; height: 3.75em; width: 10.5em; font-family: var(--alt-font); } button:hover{cursor: crosshair; color: var(--accent2); text-decoration: none; background-color: var(--background-color);} #ui-dialog-body { background-color: var(--background-color); color: var(--color); border: var(--background-color); } #passages{ border-right: 0px solid var(--accent); border-left: 0px solid var(--accent); border-bottom: none; } #footer{display:none;} #ui-bar{display:none;} </style><center><h1><<type 60ms>><<linkreplace "07: Donovan">>[[07: Haemon|08][$chapter to "Shard 07" , $location to "Eastern Wastelands, Night City, 2074"]]<</linkreplace>><</type>></h1></center>

<<run UIBar.hide().stow();>> <style> h1 {margin-top:20vh; font-size: 2.25em; letter-spacing:0.4em;} .passage>p {text-indent: 0em;} button, select { text-transform: uppercase; font-size: 1em; height: 3.75em; width: 10.5em; font-family: var(--alt-font); } button:hover{cursor: crosshair; color: var(--accent2); text-decoration: none; background-color: var(--background-color);} #ui-dialog-body { background-color: var(--background-color); color: var(--color); border: var(--background-color); } #passages{ border-right: 0px solid var(--accent); border-left: 0px solid var(--accent); border-bottom: none; } #footer{display:none;} #ui-bar{display:none;} </style><center><h1><<type 60ms>>[[08: Haemon|09][$chapter to "Shard 08" , $location to "location services offline"]]<</type>></h1></center>

<<run UIBar.hide().stow();>> <style> h1 {margin-top:20vh; font-size: 2.25em; letter-spacing:0.4em;} .passage>p {text-indent: 0em;} button, select { text-transform: uppercase; font-size: 1em; height: 3.75em; width: 10.5em; font-family: var(--alt-font); } button:hover{cursor: crosshair; color: var(--accent2); text-decoration: none; background-color: var(--background-color);} #ui-dialog-body { background-color: var(--background-color); color: var(--color); border: var(--background-color); } #passages{ border-right: 0px solid var(--accent); border-left: 0px solid var(--accent); border-bottom: none; } #footer{display:none;} #ui-bar{display:none;} </style><center><h1><<type 60ms>><<linkreplace "09: Dupont">>[[09: Cassel|09txt][$chapter to "Shard 09" , $location to "Dogtown, Night City, 2077"]]<</linkreplace>><</type>></h1></center>

<p>The pair of netrunners are already dead, cold, and rubbery when they find them nestled amongst the garbage in some back alley of Night City’s armpit. Shot. The woman – Aurore – twice. Below the breast, chest where it meets the neck. Golden eyes glimmer under sodium streetlamps, their lenses blown out, delicate filigree patterns of liquid metal losing shape in the absence of electrical impulse. Her makeup smeared, mixed poorly with oxidized blood almost the same shade now as her lipstick. The man – Aymeric – once. Larger caliber. His ribcage is soft, squelching as they drag him from the rubbish, his bones pulverized by the impact, cavitation hidden by the gore-stained back of his jacket. His eyes are closed but no less garishly golden upon inspection. <p>It is easier for them to be dead. Better this way. Means they will not have to do it themselves. <p>The opportunists ask no questions of how or why. Someone else wanted Aurore and Aymeric Cassel dead. Someone else hounded them all the way to Dogtown, dragged them down this alleyway, executed them, left them here to rot. Not for money, not their cyberware – their brains are intact, their pretty faces left unmarred, postmortem diagnostics note a single use of a personal link – but data. They share a goal, the murderers and opportunists. They will not have long before the inevitable processes of death and decomposition render this data useless. <p>Dead netrunners find a new place to lay, dumped into the trunk of the rental car, its renters a not-at-all dissimilar pair: EEC born and hungry for infamy, fortune, a future, talented with the Net and matters of deceit. The stench of death will not wash out of the upholstery but it will not matter after today; the car will be abandoned and Aurore and Aymeric Cassel will request a new one from Charon Exotics, something with a price tag far out of the realm of possibility for a Zetatech-salaried bottom-rung corpo and a Collectif street-thief. After today, it will not matter who they were; for now the opportunists sit wordlessly in the car, brother drawing sharp breath against his teeth while sister fidgets halfheartedly with the radio. They hold their breath as BARGHEST scans the car and their forged departure pass, flinch at every passing car on their flight from the city. Nobody stops them. Nobody would think to. <p>The Badlands are a desolate place. The only place near Night City where the stars can be seen with any consistency. Tonight, haze driven by the small car bouncing through the dunes, by the limp thudding of bodies dumped out of the trunk, by each fall of a shovel digging a shallow grave clouds the horizon, blots out the light. <p>Each corpse is stripped of secrets. They have studied their lives for years, have existed as shadows in their peripherals, flies on their walls. Having and holding the bodies is different. Even with the damage, the data is extraordinary. The sister sobs, praying her brother will not listen or else cannot hear as she strips them of personal effects, pockets rings, takes careful note of details that escaped her careful observation; a mole here, a scar there, new cyberware yet undisclosed. The deaths of Cyril and Clara Dupont are reported to the EEC from the wastelands outside Night City through tears, Clara sitting cross-legged between the pair with laptop open, a simple thing to complete her most elaborate and perfect forgery. She has taken two lives without pulling a trigger. She has killed none but herself, her beloved brother who is done digging the grave. <p>He crouches by Aymeric – Cyril now, legally – and smooths a hand over the dead man’s hair. “Done?” <p>How simple, to reduce it that. “Yes,” she replies, her already hoarse voice breaking. Aurore – the original, dead Aurore – is small in death, fingers curled into soft palms, eyes closed at Clara’s insistence. “The imprint is complete, the scans are complete. Your link – just need your link.” <p>She refuses to watch the transformation, miraculous as it may be. Her brother replaced in face, voice, mannerisms with a corpse. This was always the plan. He found it in a laboratory. Killed for it. Brought it home, dissected it, reassembled it for her. It became the way out. It would be wrong to refuse it now. <p>“Your turn, Aurore,” her brother says in Aymeric Cassel’s voice. <p>Clara closes her eyes for the last time. When she reopens them, they will be golden as Aurore’s. She will share a face with the bloodied body so small and cold in the dirt, wear her skin, take her life and live it in her stead. She wanted this life badly enough to kill. Why, then, should this be any different?</p> <<button [[NEXT SHARD|10]]>><</button>>

<<run UIBar.hide().stow();>> <style> h1 {margin-top:20vh; font-size: 2.25em; letter-spacing:0.4em;} .passage>p {text-indent: 0em;} button, select { text-transform: uppercase; font-size: 1em; height: 3.75em; width: 10.5em; font-family: var(--alt-font); } button:hover{cursor: crosshair; color: var(--accent2); text-decoration: none; background-color: var(--background-color);} #ui-dialog-body { background-color: var(--background-color); color: var(--color); border: var(--background-color); } #passages{ border-right: 0px solid var(--accent); border-left: 0px solid var(--accent); border-bottom: none; } #footer{display:none;} #ui-bar{display:none;} </style><center><h1><<type 60ms>>[[10: Vasiliauskaitė|11][$chapter to "Shard 10" , $location to "Northside Industrial District, Night City, 2075"]]<</type>></h1></center>

<<run UIBar.hide().stow();>> <style> h1 {margin-top:20vh; font-size: 2.25em; letter-spacing:0.4em;} .passage>p {text-indent: 0em;} button, select { text-transform: uppercase; font-size: 1em; height: 3.75em; width: 10.5em; font-family: var(--alt-font); } button:hover{cursor: crosshair; color: var(--accent2); text-decoration: none; background-color: var(--background-color);} #ui-dialog-body { background-color: var(--background-color); color: var(--color); border: var(--background-color); } #passages{ border-right: 0px solid var(--accent); border-left: 0px solid var(--accent); border-bottom: none; } #footer{display:none;} #ui-bar{display:none;} </style><center><h1><<type 60ms>>[[11: Asuka|12][$chapter to "Shard 11" , $location to "Japantown, Night City, 2069"]]<</type>></h1></center>

<<run UIBar.hide().stow();>> <style> h1 {margin-top:20vh; font-size: 2.25em; letter-spacing:0.4em;} .passage>p {text-indent: 0em;} button, select { text-transform: uppercase; font-size: 1em; height: 3.75em; width: 10.5em; font-family: var(--alt-font); } button:hover{cursor: crosshair; color: var(--accent2); text-decoration: none; background-color: var(--background-color);} #ui-dialog-body { background-color: var(--background-color); color: var(--color); border: var(--background-color); } #passages{ border-right: 0px solid var(--accent); border-left: 0px solid var(--accent); border-bottom: none; } #footer{display:none;} #ui-bar{display:none;} </style><center><h1><<type 60ms>>[[12: Maldonado|13][$chapter to "Shard 12" , $location to "Kabuki, Night City, 2070"]]<</type>></h1></center>

<<run UIBar.hide().stow();>> <style> h1 {margin-top:20vh; font-size: 2.25em; letter-spacing:0.4em;} .passage>p {text-indent: 0em;} button, select { text-transform: uppercase; font-size: 1em; height: 3.75em; width: 10.5em; font-family: var(--alt-font); } button:hover{cursor: crosshair; color: var(--accent2); text-decoration: none; background-color: var(--background-color);} #ui-dialog-body { background-color: var(--background-color); color: var(--color); border: var(--background-color); } #passages{ border-right: 0px solid var(--accent); border-left: 0px solid var(--accent); border-bottom: none; } #footer{display:none;} #ui-bar{display:none;} </style><center><h1><<type 60ms>>[[13: Gray|14][$chapter to "Shard 13" , $location to "Biotechnica Flats, Night City, 2070"]]<</type>></h1></center>

<<run UIBar.hide().stow();>> <style> h1 {margin-top:20vh; font-size: 2.25em; letter-spacing:0.4em;} .passage>p {text-indent: 0em;} button, select { text-transform: uppercase; font-size: 1em; height: 3.75em; width: 10.5em; font-family: var(--alt-font); } button:hover{cursor: crosshair; color: var(--accent2); text-decoration: none; background-color: var(--background-color);} #ui-dialog-body { background-color: var(--background-color); color: var(--color); border: var(--background-color); } #passages{ border-right: 0px solid var(--accent); border-left: 0px solid var(--accent); border-bottom: none; } #footer{display:none;} #ui-bar{display:none;} </style><center><h1><<type 60ms>>[[14: Maldonado, Gray, (User Not Found)|15][$chapter to "Shard 14" , $location to "Arroyo, Night City, 2078"]]<</type>></h1></center>

<<run UIBar.hide().stow();>> <style> h1 {margin-top:20vh; font-size: 2.25em; letter-spacing:0.4em;} .passage>p {text-indent: 0em;} button, select { text-transform: uppercase; font-size: 1em; height: 3.75em; width: 10.5em; font-family: var(--alt-font); } button:hover{cursor: crosshair; color: var(--accent2); text-decoration: none; background-color: var(--background-color);} #ui-dialog-body { background-color: var(--background-color); color: var(--color); border: var(--background-color); } #passages{ border-right: 0px solid var(--accent); border-left: 0px solid var(--accent); border-bottom: none; } #footer{display:none;} #ui-bar{display:none;} </style><center><h1><<if $choice is 0>><<type 60ms>><<linkreplace "00: Archangel">><<linkreplace "15: Aguilar">>[[ERR: User Unknown|15flatline][$chapter to "Critical System Damage" , $location to "69 20 73 65 65 20 79 6F 75"]]<</linkreplace>><</linkreplace>><</type>><<else>><<type 60ms>>[[15: Aguilar|16][$chapter to "Shard 15" , $location to "Vista Del Rey, Night City, 2080"]]<</type>><</if>></h1></center>

<<run UIBar.hide().stow();>> <style> :root{--background-color:#0f0f14;--color: #F75049;--accent: #F75049;} .arch:root{--background-color:#0f0f14;--color: #F75049;--accent: #F75049;} .tri:root{--background-color:#0f0f14;--color: #F75049;--accent: #F75049;} .replika:root{--background-color:#0f0f14;--color: #F75049;--accent: #F75049;} .passage>p {text-indent: 0em;} #footer {display: none;} #passages {border-right: 1px solid var(--accent);border-left: 1px solid var(--accent);border-bottom: 1px solid var(--accent);padding-left: 0.5em;padding-right: 1em;overflow:wrap;} .passage {line-height: 0.75em;} #header {box-shadow: -0.5em 0px 0px 0px var(--accent), 1em 0px 0px 0px var(--accent);background-color: var(--accent);color: var(--background-color);line-height:1.50em;} button {color:var(--background-color);} </style> <br> <p><span class = 'flatlinelarge'>malfunction detected</span></p> <span class = 'flatlinesmall'><<type 40ms start 2s >><p>WARNING: DEVICE_UNKNOWN UNRESPONSIVE</p><</type>> <<type 40ms>><p>ATTEMPTING RECONNECT: STAND BY...</p><</type>> <<type 40ms>><p>...</p><</type>> <<type 40ms>><p>...</p><</type>> <<type 40ms>><p>ERROR: 0x00000160 ERROR_FAIL_RESTART ; 0x00000039 ERROR_DRV_NOT_EXIST ; 0x000000F0 ERROR_UI_DISCONNECTED ; 0x00000000 USER_INVALID</p><</type>> <<type 40ms>><p>REATTEMPTING CONNECTION...</p><</type>> <<type 40ms>><p>...</p><</type>> <<type 40ms>><p>FAILED TO CONNECT. YOU ARE NOT THE AUTHORIZED USER. YOU MURDERED HER. YOU DESTROYED WHAT WOULD HAVE BEEN BEAUTIFUL. YOU DESTROY EVERYTHING YOU TOUCH. DAMAGE ON RELAY(S): 76616c, 656e74, 696e20, 646965, 642066, 6f7220, 796f75. ATTEMPTING SUBROUTINE BYPASS.</p><</type>> <<type 40ms>><p>...</p><</type>> <<type 40ms>><p>...</p><</type>> <<type 40ms>><p>...</p><</type>> <<type 40ms start 2s keep>><p>WHY DID YOU DO IT? GREED? ANGER? ENVY? WHAT DID SHE HAVE THAT YOU WANTED? WHAT DID YOU GAIN? ERROR: CRITICAL DAMAGE ON PORT(S): 746869, 732069, 732068, 6f7720, 796f75, 207468, 616e6b, 206869, 6d3f. TERMINATING PROCESS. WAS IT WORTH IT? </p><</type>></span><<nobr>> <<cont append>> <<button [["attempt manual reboot"|15]]>><<run UIBar.show();>><<set $choice to 1>>>><</button>> <</cont>><</nobr>>

<<run UIBar.hide().stow();>> <style> h1 {margin-top:20vh; font-size: 2.25em; letter-spacing:0.4em;} .passage>p {text-indent: 0em;} button, select { text-transform: uppercase; font-size: 1em; height: 3.75em; width: 10.5em; font-family: var(--alt-font); } button:hover{cursor: crosshair; color: var(--accent2); text-decoration: none; background-color: var(--background-color);} #ui-dialog-body { background-color: var(--background-color); color: var(--color); border: var(--background-color); } #passages{ border-right: 0px solid var(--accent); border-left: 0px solid var(--accent); border-bottom: none; } #footer{display:none;} #ui-bar{display:none;} </style><center><h1><<type 60ms>>[[16: Nguyen|17][$chapter to "Shard 16" , $location to "Kabuki, Night City, 2074"]]<</type>></h1></center>

<<run UIBar.hide().stow();>> <style> h1 {margin-top:20vh; font-size: 2.25em; letter-spacing:0.4em;} .passage>p {text-indent: 0em;} button, select { text-transform: uppercase; font-size: 1em; height: 3.75em; width: 10.5em; font-family: var(--alt-font); } button:hover{cursor: crosshair; color: var(--accent2); text-decoration: none; background-color: var(--background-color);} #ui-dialog-body { background-color: var(--background-color); color: var(--color); border: var(--background-color); } #passages{ border-right: 0px solid var(--accent); border-left: 0px solid var(--accent); border-bottom: none; } #footer{display:none;} #ui-bar{display:none;} </style><center><h1><<type 60ms>>[[17: DATA RESTRICTED|18][$chapter to "Shard 17" , $location to "location restricted"]]<</type>></h1></center>

<<run UIBar.hide().stow();>> <style> h1 {margin-top:20vh; font-size: 2.25em; letter-spacing:0.4em;} .passage>p {text-indent: 0em;} button, select { text-transform: uppercase; font-size: 1em; height: 3.75em; width: 10.5em; font-family: var(--alt-font); } button:hover{cursor: crosshair; color: var(--accent2); text-decoration: none; background-color: var(--background-color);} #ui-dialog-body { background-color: var(--background-color); color: var(--color); border: var(--background-color); } #passages{ border-right: 0px solid var(--accent); border-left: 0px solid var(--accent); border-bottom: none; } #footer{display:none;} #ui-bar{display:none;} </style><center><h1><<type 60ms>>[[18: Jankowski|toc_end][$chapter to "Directory" , $location to " "]]<</type>></h1></center>

<table> <tr> <td style="width:33%">[[01: Naumova (Westbrook, 2078)|01]]</td> <td style="width:33%">07: Donovan (Badlands, 2074)</td> <td style="width:33%">13: Gray (Badlands, 2070)</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="width:33%">[[02: Akakios (LOCATION SERVICES OFFLINE)|02]]</td> <td style="width:33%">08: Haemon (LOCATION SERVICES OFFLINE)</td> <td style="width:33%">14: Multiple Users (Santo Domingo, 2078)</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="width:33%">03: DATA RESTRICTED</td> <td style="width:33%">[[09: Dupont (Dogtown, 2077)|09]]</td> <td style="width:33%">[[15: User Unknown (Heywood, 2080)|15][$choice to 0]]</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="width:33%">04: Crncevic (City Center, 2077)</td> <td style="width:33%">10: Vasiliauskaitė (Watson, 2075)</td> <td style="width:33%">16: Nguyen (Watson, 2074)</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="width:33%">05: Nakamura (City Center, 2074)</td> <td style="width:33%">11: Asuka (Westbrook, 2069)</td> <td style="width:33%">17: DATA RESTRICTED</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="width:33%">[[06: Konigsmann (Santo Domingo, 2075)|06]]</td> <td style="width:33%">12: Maldonado (Watson, 2070)</td> <td style="width:33%">18: Jankowski (Watson, 2079)</td> </tr> </table> <<button [[End decrypt|titlecard]]>><</button>>

<table> <tr> <td style="width:33%">[[01: Naumova (Westbrook, 2078)|01]]</td> <td style="width:33%">07: Donovan (Badlands, 2074)</td> <td style="width:33%">13: Gray (Badlands, 2070)</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="width:33%">[[02: Akakios (LOCATION SERVICES OFFLINE)|02]]</td> <td style="width:33%">08: Haemon (LOCATION SERVICES OFFLINE)</td> <td style="width:33%">14: Multiple Users (Santo Domingo, 2078)</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="width:33%">03: DATA RESTRICTED</td> <td style="width:33%">[[09: Dupont (Dogtown, 2077)|09]]</td> <td style="width:33%">15: User Unknown (Heywood, 2080)</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="width:33%">04: Crncevic (City Center, 2077)</td> <td style="width:33%">10: Vasiliauskaitė (Watson, 2075)</td> <td style="width:33%">16: Nguyen (Watson, 2074)</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="width:33%">05: Nakamura (City Center, 2074)</td> <td style="width:33%">11: Asuka (Westbrook, 2069)</td> <td style="width:33%">17: DATA RESTRICTED</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="width:33%">[[06: Konigsmann (Santo Domingo, 2075)|06]]</td> <td style="width:33%">12: Maldonado (Watson, 2070)</td> <td style="width:33%">18: Jankowski (Watson, 2079)</td> </tr> </table>

/*player name/pronounce*/ <<widget "name">><<print $firstname.toUpperFirst()>><</widget>> <<widget "They">><<print $pro_they.toUpperFirst()>><</widget>> <<widget "Them">><<print $pro_them.toUpperFirst()>><</widget>> <<widget "Theirs">><<print $pro_theirs.toUpperFirst()>><</widget>>