Lyra Nexus's Arc

Chapter 9 of 27

The credits sat heavy in Lyra's file, but a full pouch could not fight a virus for her. She stood at her window and stared at the dark street. Across the way, a lounge glowed. Its sign pulsed with a loading bar that filled and reset, filled and reset. Programs moved behind its glass. She had the money to hire help. She had no idea which of them would risk their code against the things hunting her. So she picked up her spear and went to find out. The door slid open and every head turned. Conversation stopped. A yellow program near the back went still, her running code freezing mid-shift. Lyra knew the look. They had heard of her already. The signal from her fight had told the whole network where she was and what she carried. A blue-and-pink program crossed the floor fast and caught Lyra's arm. Her skin scrolled with error logs, boot failures stacked line on line. "Same problem you've got," she said, low against Lyra's ear. "Come sit before a scan reads that pretty spear." She was Protocol, and she did not wait for an answer. She steered Lyra to a corner table. Three programs waited there. A red one leaned back, arms crossed. A white one sat still, watching Lyra like a clock she might slow. The yellow one from the back joined last, keeping distance from the others. "You hunt the viruses," the red program said. Not a question. "We know. The whole street knows." She was Drivers. "They're not just viruses. They rewrite us. Delete anyone who won't bend." "They got into my memory," the yellow one said. Aurelia. Her voice was flat. "Started with what I want. I felt it watching me." A pause. "I need it gone." The white program spoke last. "No creator signature on my code. No memory of who built me." Power Surge folded her hands. "Someone can end me. I want them first." Lyra looked from face to face. She had come to buy help. She saw now that help had already gathered, driven by the same enemy. "I was built to kill them," she said. "Three kinds. The ones tearing this network apart." She set the spear on the table. Its blue blade lit their faces. "I can't do it alone. I have credits. I need people who won't run." Protocol grinned. "I see every packet on every path. I'll see them coming." Drivers uncrossed her arms. "I run the systems they want. I'm in." Power Surge nodded once. Aurelia met Lyra's eyes and said, "Before the rewrite finishes me." Lyra pushed a stack of hex tokens to the table's center. Four hands came down over them. She had walked in with money and no partners. She walked out with a crew. But now every one of them carried a signal, and four signals in one room burned brighter than one.