The desert sun, as always, scorched the earth, evaporating twisted heat waves from the ruins of the abandoned town.
Inside the workshop, Osiris had just finished fine-tuning the transmission joint of a combat Servitor. A servo-skull floated silently nearby, its glowing blue eye sockets reflecting constantly refreshing data streams.
Just then, a familiar signal characteristic came from the outer monitoring network.
"Buddy, the Maine Team is inbound," Osiris' synthesized voice was steady and calm. His optical lens scanned the vehicle information marked on the visual interface. "Vehicle count: three. Thermal signature identification: all core members present."
He paused slightly, his sensors picking up a new detail. "Anomaly detected: one additional, faint biological signature with hyper-active neural signals... Identified as a Netrunner asset."
He wasn't surprised. As the depth and risk of the transaction increased, the Maine Team would inevitably deploy all its core members, including technical specialists who had not appeared before.
Soon, the familiar Goodwood, which had been repaired and reinforced multiple times, led two other equally weathered custom vehicles into the outskirts of the town, stopping within the safe zone cleared by the Servitor.
The car door opened, and Maine's tall figure was the first to get out, with Dorio close behind, her sharp eyes scanning the surroundings, she keenly noticed that the town seemed "cleaner" than the last time they visited, with some obstructive debris neatly stacked, like a silent, metal warning.
Falco, Rebecca, and Pilar also exited the vehicle. Pilar stretched his perfectly repaired shoulder, appearing somewhat excited, clearly appreciating being fully re-chromed.
Rebecca, as always, was the first to skip towards the workshop door, but this time she was accompanied by a strange figure.
It was a petite girl, even slightly more slender than Rebecca. She wore dark-toned, form-fitting clothing for easy movement, covered by a slightly oversized bulletproof jacket. Her hood was pulled low, obscuring most of her face, revealing only a delicate jawline and a hint of pale lips.
Her movements were light and quiet, like a cautious cat, a stark contrast to Rebecca's vivacity. Most notably, a high-quality data cable was connected to the back of her head, the other end tucked into an inner pocket of her jacket, one of the hallmarks of a top-tier Netrunner.
"Boss! We're here! And we brought a new choom!" Rebecca's voice was still full of energy. She pulled the girl's wrist, hurrying to the workshop door.
The rest of the Maine Team followed.
Maine's gaze met Osiris' crimson optical lens, and he nodded slightly in acknowledgment.
Osiris' gaze passed over Rebecca, landing on the new face.
His sensors quickly completed a scan: low muscle density, no obvious skeletal reinforcement, sparse chrome on the body surface, but abnormally active neural network activity, especially in the cerebral cortex region, with an energy metabolism rate far higher than normal. High-intensity encrypted data streams were also detected silently exchanging between her built-in interface and an external device.
Typical Netrunner characteristics.
"This is Sasha," Maine introduced, his voice low. "She's our team's netrunner. Some previous jobs required her to provide backend support, so she didn't come along. Rebecca said you might need... more 'technical goods,' and she thought Sasha should come to get acquainted with your operation."
His tone was steady but carried a hint of imperceptible scrutiny, as if observing Osiris' reaction to the appearance of this important team member.
Sasha slightly raised her head. From the shadows beneath her hood, a pair of bright, somewhat amber-toned eyes quickly and cautiously scanned Osiris' massive mechanical body, the writhing mechanical tentacles, and the floating servo-skull.
There was no obvious fear in her gaze, but rather a highly focused technical assessment, attempting to analyze the technical level and potential threats of the entity before her.
She simply nodded slightly, her voice very soft, yet clear and steady: "Gigs require specialized access. Good to meet you."
"Netrunner. A specialized field with high vulnerability and high value," Osiris' response was equally direct, without any pleasantries. "Your neural network activity is hyper-clocked, and your data encryption method is complex. I anticipate your abilities match your hardware configuration."
His tone sounded neither complimentary nor simply declarative, as if evaluating a piece of complex, valuable equipment.
Sasha's lips seemed to move slightly. She didn't answer, just nodded gently again, pulling her hood lower, seemingly unaccustomed to such direct "scanning" attention.
"Did you secure the assets?" Osiris turned his attention back to Maine.
Maine gestured to Dorio.
Dorio and Falco lifted a heavy, cold metal sealed box from the trunk of one of the cars.
There were no markings on the box, but its edges were stained with some dark red, sticky residue that hadn't been completely wiped clean.
The box was placed on the workbench Osiris designated. The latches opened, and cold air spilled out.
Inside, three pieces of Militech chrome were neatly secured.
Their design language was filled with the corporation's coldness and efficiency, with sharp lines, extremely high interface standards, and a matte dark gray surface finish to reduce reflections. Complex energy conduits and neural interface cables were embedded within them like intricate patterns.
One was a Militech-grade subdermal armor covering the entire spine and rib cage area, with an integrated micro-impact dispersion system and emergency hemostatic injection pump. However, there was a clear dent and tear on the metal surface, with dried tissue fluid and scabs still clinging to the edges. This was hot gear.
Another was an "Achilles" tactical Achilles tendon and lower leg reinforcement system, capable of providing explosive thrust and stable lower body support, but its connection port had burn marks, seemingly forcibly detached by some energy weapon.
The last item was a pair of "Optical Camouflage" system generators, usually installed in the scapular position, but the casing of one generator was shattered, revealing burned precision crystal components inside.
These cybernetics had clearly endured fierce combat and had been "brutally" removed from their previous owners, full of blood and violence, a true harvest of the black market.
The Maine Team members were silent, looking at this hard-won gear, their expressions complex. The process of acquiring these items was clearly far from pleasant.
However, Osiris was completely unconcerned.
His mechanical tentacles had already flexibly extended, carefully picking up the subdermal armor, and the sensors on his fingertips emitted a subtle scanning beam.
"Militech 'Fortress' series third-generation subdermal armor. Energy distribution efficiency is twenty-two percent higher than the commercially available model, and the neural interface utilizes a bidirectional feedback design. Acceptable quality."
A clear hint of satisfaction even permeated his synthesized voice. "Biological contamination is irrelevant to material analysis and structural reverse engineering. The organic residue actually provides valuable raw data samples of its neural interaction with the previous host, which is beneficial for my reverse-engineering gig."
He then examined the other two items: "Achilles system, linear accelerator shows catastrophic damage, but core structure is intact."
"Optical camouflage... primary core burned out, but the scattering lenses and diffraction gratings retain significant research value."
"Conclusion: high value. The quality of this batch of assets far exceeds the previous scrap."