The door banged open with a thud that rumbled the cheap frame.
"Honey, I'm home!" Keira's voice rang out in a mock-theatrical pitch, followed by the heavy clomp of her steel-toed boots on the apartment floor.
From the couch, Void didn't even look up from her laptop. Her magenta fringe glowed under the bluish light of the screen, mouth twisting into a crooked half-smile.
"Jesus, babe. That's so 2014," she deadpanned. "Next you'll be telling me I won't believe what happens when she opens the door."
Keira smirked, kicking her boots off with a grunt and leaving them half-tipped by the wall. Her scarlet hair fell into her eyes as she leaned down to scoop up Vector - a cat they adopted three months ago - who'd already trotted over with an indignant chirp at the noise. The cat immediately began purring against her oil-smudged coveralls.
"Don't roll your eyes at me, tech-witch," Keira shot back, blowing an exaggerated kiss across the room. "It's called classic domestic charm. You should try it sometime instead of roasting me like one of your customers."
Void closed her laptop with a deliberate click and finally gave her a look - half amusement, half challenge. "Sweetheart, I've spent my entire day trying to convince a finance client that rewriting their almost fifty-year-old COBOL monstrosity is not, in fact, optional. Charm has officially left the building."
Keira snorted, crossing the room to drop Vector onto the couch armrest and then flopping down beside Void with a groan that came straight from her spine. "Oof. You sound like you're about to file for divorce from your own career."
"Trust me," Void said, draping her arm lazily over Keira's shoulder, "if I could ghost it like an ex, I would've blocked COBOL on every channel years ago."
They both laughed - the sound rough around the edges, softened by exhaustion.
"Alright," Keira said after a beat, nudging Void with her elbow, "since you're clearly about to spiral into some kind of software-induced meltdown, I'm declaring dinner my problem. And by that, I mean: you're helping me cook."
Void groaned theatrically, flopping her head onto Keira's shoulder. "But I was going to order takeout and die quietly into my pad thai."
"Too bad. Real food. Something with vegetables that aren't drowned in MSG." Keira tugged Void's hoodie collar with a grease-streaked hand and grinned. "C'mon. You can chop onions while I tell you how I nearly got electrocuted today."
That got Void's attention. "Wait... What?"
The kitchen was cramped, a galley space with flickering under-cabinet lights and a perpetually humming fridge. Keira dumped a bag of groceries onto the counter: bell peppers, tomatoes, a suspiciously dented can of beans, and a pack of tortillas. "Fajitas," she declared. "Low effort, high reward."
Void grabbed the cutting board, rolling her eyes. "With a high chance of me cutting a finger off."
"You're a netrunner. Your fingers are digital scalpels. You can survive an onion."
As Void started slicing - clumsily but with determination - Keira leaned against the counter, pulling her hair back into a messy bun. "So yeah. Spent half the afternoon under a stripped-down electric SUV. Some genius had tried to rig a non-standard inverter themselves. Half the cabling was fried. I lean in to check the junction box, and pop. Arc flash right by my cheek. Nearly gave myself a new piercing."
Void froze mid-slice, glaring at her. "Keira, what the actual fuck."
Keira shrugged, unbothered. "Gloves on, visor down. I'm fine. Just a little singed hair." She leaned close, tapping her temple with a smirk. "Smell that? Eau de fried keratin."
Void snorted despite herself, shaking her head. "You're insane. One day you're gonna come home glowing in the dark."
"Hot and radioactive. Double threat."
Dinner slowly came together - sizzling peppers, onions caramelizing, the warm press of tortillas on the skillet. The whole apartment now smelled like comfort.
Void stirred the pan absent-mindedly, eyes still sharp. "You know, you could probably be making twice as much at a desk job with your skills. Instead of... Electrocuting yourself for fun."
Keira slumped against the fridge, watching her. "Yeah, but then I wouldn't get to crawl under cars, swear at stripped bolts, and come home covered in grease."
"You forgot the part where you flirt with danger like she's your second girlfriend."
Keira grinned. "What, jealous?"
Void shot her a look over her shoulder, smirk tugging at her lips. "Of electricity? Girlie, I already lose you to the socket on a daily basis."
They sat at the small table by the window, plates piled high. Vector leapt up onto the sill, tail flicking as though supervising.
Void took a bite and sighed. "Okay. You win. This is better than pad thai death."
"See? Trust the grease monkey." Keira shoveled in a mouthful, chewing happily. "Now your turn. Tell me how your day went, aside from threatening to banish COBOL out of existence."
Void groaned into her tortilla, then straightened. "Alright. Client has a payroll system from, like, 1987. Actual punch card ancestry. Their in-house guy swears it's fine. I tell them, 'Look, one more patch and this thing's gonna collapse like a dying star.' They tell me, 'But migration costs money.' I tell them, 'So does paying me every month to duct-tape your software corpse.'"
Keira nearly choked on her food laughing. "You didn't actually say that."
"I did. Maybe not the 'corpse' part, but close enough. Point is - they finally agreed to a rewrite. Which means I get to spend the next six months untangling the most cursed codebase I've ever laid eyes on. But this time - I'm the one who sets the rules."
"You thrive on cursed codebases."
"Do not."
"Do too."
Void raised a brow, but she was smiling. She chased it with a sip of water, then set the glass down slower than usual.
"...there was something else today."
Keira tilted her head, eyes narrowing in curiosity. "Oh?"
Void poked at her food. "Someone came knocking on the Binary Forge."
The words hung between them, heavy enough that even Vector's ears perked up.
"Another idiot looking for some cheap excitement?"
"At first I figured it was the usual - some newbie nosing around. I dug a bit, ran the check. Her name's Amy. Biochem undergrad, maybe four hundred clicks out. And, honestly? Barely scraping by. Not exactly prime runner material."
"Bold words from someone who never even finished her degree. Careful, hypocrite, your bias is showing."
"Cute. Anyway- she stumbled past the surface like a moth into a turbine. ICE lit her up the second she touched it. I was ready to watch her melt. But she didn't panic. Didn't thrash. Kept her distance, like she knew damn well she was out of her league. That's the part that threw me."
Keira leaned in, eyes bright, tortilla forgotten. "And?"
Void hesitated. "I... Booted her anyway. Hard. Crashed her rig. But-" she smirked faintly, "I left her a message in the memory dump. Contact string, simple key. Figured if she was smart enough to piece it together, she deserved a shot."
"Ohhh, so you did notice her."
"Keira..."
"Don't 'Keira' me. You totally did. The big scary ICE queen saw a baby netrunner trip over her own legs and went all soft."
Void snorted, shaking her head. "Soft? I crashed her rig."
"Yeah, but you also handed her your number like it was high school. 'Hey cutie, nice intrusion attempt, hit me up sometime.'"
Void pressed her fingers to her temples, groaning. "You're impossible."
Keira grinned, practically buzzing. "So what's her deal? Why's she looking for you?"
Void's smirk faded into something more thoughtful. "That's the part I don't know. She didn't say. No manifesto, no threat, no sob story. Just... Looking. Nobody's done that before."
Keira whistled low. "Well, shit. Either she's reckless, or she's desperate. Or both."
Void nodded, pushing food around her plate. "Yeah. And for the life of me, I can't tell which one it is."
Keira leaned back, smirking despite the weight in the air. "Guess dinner just got a whole lot more interesting..."
They finished the dinner, and Keira insisted on washing up while Void leaned against the counter, nursing a soda and watching. The sound of water running, the clink of plates, the small ordinary rhythm of home - it was grounding.
"You know," Keira said over the sink, "when I first moved in, I figured we'd last... I don't know. A few months? Maybe six. I was a mess. You were... Intense."
Void arched a brow again. "Thanks."
"I mean that in a good way." Keira shot her a grin over her shoulder. "Point is - we're still here. Almost a year." She glanced at Vector, observing the water pour from the sink tap. "With our own little feline beast. And I kinda like coming home to your snark every day."
Void's smirk softened. She set her soda down, crossing the small space to wrap her arms around Keira from behind, chin on her shoulder. "Careful, young lady. That almost sounded like sincerity."
"Don't tell anyone. Ruins my brand."
Later, they sprawled on the couch, Vector tucked between them like a tiny, smug barrier.
Keira rested her head in Void's lap, eyes half-lidded. "You ever think about what we'll be doing in five years?"
Void absently twirled a strand of Keira's red fringe between her fingers. "Hopefully not patching COBOL."
"I mean us, dumbass."
Void was quiet for a moment. "Yeah. Sometimes. I think... We really have a shot at building something that actually lasts. Not just code. Us. This."
Keira smiled, eyes slipping shut. "Good. Because I don't plan on going anywhere. Even if you do roast me like legacy software till we're eighty."
Void bent down, pressing a kiss into her hair. "Deal."
She looked at the clock.
"2AM. Still can't sleep. Might as well check what's going on in the net." Void muttered, staring at the blinking red digits on the wall.
Keira shifted slightly in the bed, one arm tangled in the blanket, mouth half open as she dreamed of whatever reckless nonsense her brain conjured up at night. Void stared at her for a second, softening for just a heartbeat, before her mind looped back into restless overdrive. Sleep wasn't happening, not with her head buzzing like a hive.
She swung her legs over the side of the mattress and stood very carefully, toes curling against the cold floorboards. One squeak from the wood made her freeze mid-step, watching Keira's face for movement. When none came, she tiptoed out of the room, posture hunched, hair messy, looking less like a netrunner and more like a sleep-deprived ghoul.
By the time she waddled into her workstation, the faint glow from her custom setup washed over her skin like a cheap ghostlight. Monitors blinked awake with the lazy flick of her fingers on the keyboard. The interface, all angular text and dripping glyphs, spread across the displays in deep magentas and hard greens. Her private message client booted in with a hiss of static. She didn't expect much - maybe some dead links, maybe junk packets drifting by. The line she'd left open for Amy was probably just another cold lead.
Oh how wrong she was.
A new message was sitting there, timestamped barely an hour ago. Void narrowed her eyes, leaned closer, and let a crooked grin slip. "Well, look at that. The moth came back to the flame."
Amy :: 14-Aug-2039 01:11:27
hi. im not sure youre even gonna see this. but thank you for not... you know. killing me
Void :: 14-Aug-2039 02:07:54
wow. straight to gratitude. either you're new or you've got a death wish.
Amy :: 14-Aug-2039 02:08:32
maybe both. im not here to mess with your system again, promise. i need help
Void :: 14-Aug-2039 02:09:01
i'll save you the suspense. i don't do charity work.
Amy :: 14-Aug-2039 02:09:58
i can pay. not much admittedly. but i bet you already know that. i just need to find... someone. or something. information, really
Void :: 14-Aug-2039 02:10:22
vague much? you realize this is how horror movies start, right? "a shy stranger slides into your DMs at 2am..."
Amy :: 14-Aug-2039 02:11:40
please. im serious. im looking for research. psilocybin derivatives. biochem work that isnt exactly... public
Void :: 14-Aug-2039 02:12:17
oh, so you're a mushroom girl. cute.
Amy :: 14-Aug-2039 02:13:05
its not like that. im not a fucking junkie okay. its... complicated. look i really dont want trouble. i just need someone who knows where to look
Amy :: 14-Aug-2039 02:13:40
the guys on the bbs ive found a lead to you seem to treat you like some kind of an urban legend so i thought what the hell. got nothing to lose anyway
Void :: 14-Aug-2039 02:14:03
let me get this straight. you nearly cook yourself on my ice, sneak into my net like a moth on fire, then show up asking me to help you score... black market neurochems?
Amy :: 14-Aug-2039 02:14:20
yes
Void :: 14-Aug-2039 02:15:07
you've got balls, i'll give you that. tiny, shiny noobie balls.
Amy :: 14-Aug-2039 02:15:33
look just tell me if youre gonna help or not. id rather not waste time. i dont have much of it left either way
Void leaned back, running her hand down her face. She wasn't sure if she wanted to laugh or slam the window shut. Everything about this screamed rookie mistake: the honesty, the hesitance, the way the girl's words were typed like someone afraid they'd be yelled at for every keystroke. But there was something else under it - not arrogance, not hustle. Desperation.
She tapped her nails on the desk before answering.
Void :: 14-Aug-2039 02:17:33
alright. i'll bite. i'm not saying i'll do it, but i'm curious: what the hell's a biochem freshman doing chasing after trippy brain juice at this time of day?
Amy :: 14-Aug-2039 02:18:11
i cant say
Void :: 14-Aug-2039 02:18:47
bold move, asking for favors while playing the 'mysterious' card.
Amy :: 14-Aug-2039 02:19:30
i just... i dont trust anyone. not even you. besides you already saw me at my worst, and you didnt burn me down. i guess that counts for something
Void :: 14-Aug-2039 02:20:22
breaking news: not torching your dumb ass was me being lazy, not merciful.
Amy 14-Aug-2039 02:21:00
still counts. im breathing and youre still here
Void :: 14-Aug-2039 02:21:23
christ. fine. what exactly are you looking for?
Amy :: 14-Aug-2039 02:21:40
journals. old ones. experimental papers that got pulled
Amy :: 14-Aug-2039 02:21:52
ive heard theyre archived in some chinese university servers
Amy :: 14-Aug-2039 02:22:15
but locked behind paywalls and their stupid great firewall or whatever. derivatives that modify receptor affinity. stuff not really shown to undergrads
Void :: 14-Aug-2039 02:22:41
mhm. and you're gonna do what, cook it in your dorm sink?
Amy :: 14-Aug-2039 02:23:00
im not stupid. i know what im asking for is dangerous. but i really need it
Void :: 14-Aug-2039 02:23:12
need or _want_?
Amy :: 14-Aug-2039 02:23:20
need. i wouldnt risk killing myself if all iw anted was getting high for fun
Amy :: 14-Aug-2039 02:23:28
i wanted*
Amy :: 14-Aug-2039 02:23:40
for someone regarded as a legend youre really shit at connecting the dots
Void squinted at the blinking cursor. There it was again. The rookie tone, but threaded with something sharper. Amy wasn't chasing a high. She wasn't chasing a payday. There was a reason, buried somewhere she refused to dig up. And Void, damn her, was starting to itch for the story.
She rubbed her temples and typed.
Void :: 14-Aug-2039 02:28:36
look kid.
Void :: 14-Aug-2039 02:28:43
people don't go sniffing around psilo-derivs for kicks. let alone ask me for help with that.
Void :: 14-Aug-2039 02:28:58
either you've got a terminally boring thesis advisor or you're hiding something bigger.
Amy :: 14-Aug-2039 02:29:14
both?
Void :: 14-Aug-2039 02:30:00
that's not an answer.
Amy :: 14-Aug-2039 02:30:49
its the only one i can give right now
Void :: 14-Aug-2039 02:31:18
you're really leaning on this whole 'mysterious waif in the night' act, huh?
Amy :: 14-Aug-2039 02:31:30
im just asking for directions, not your fucking soul
Void :: 14-Aug-2039 02:32:52
directions to restricted pharmacological research practical application of which could fry your neurons sideways.
Amy :: 14-Aug-2039 02:33:12
yes
Void :: 14-Aug-2039 02:33:19
...unbelievable.
Void pushed her chair back and let it spin half a turn before catching herself. This was either a headache in the making or the start of something she couldn't ignore. And if she knew herself - she couldn't ignore it.
Amy :: 14-Aug-2039 02:34:02
so? i hope its not much of a bother
Void :: 14-Aug-2039 02:34:35
you are. but since i'm awake and bored, congrats. you won the lottery.
Amy :: 14-Aug-2039 02:34:50
i dont know how else to say it. i need your help
Void 14-Aug-2039 02:35:12
you said that already. vague. non-actionable. try harder.
Amy :: 14-Aug-2039 02:35:50
i cant go to my professors. theyd laugh me out of the lab. i cant ask my classmates. they wouldnt understand. youre the only one who even looked at me instead of deleting me.
Void :: 14-Aug-2039 02:36:12
yeah, because you poked my ice like a curious toddler sticking a fork in a socket. should've zapped you, honestly.
Amy :: 14-Aug-2039 02:36:23
but you didnt
Void :: 14-Aug-2039 02:36:34
don't remind me.
Amy :: 14-Aug-2039 02:36:42
honestly maybe you really shouldve
Void froze, eyes narrowing at the message. That wasn't playful self-deprecation, not some brat whining about getting roasted. It was the kind of line that reeked of sincerity, the kind you only drop when you've been circling something darker for a long time. The cursor blinked on the screen, patient, while her brain caught up to the weight of it. She leaned back in her chair again and rubbed her eyes, unsettled. That "should've" wasn't just an offhand comment. It was a wish. It was too familiar. The sound of someone who half-wished they'd been erased instead of spared. And it landed in her chest like ice water.
Amy :: 14-Aug-2039 02:37:15
please. im stuck. i know what compound i need, i just dont know how to get the synthesis right. im not trying to get high. im not some junkie wasting your time
Void :: 14-Aug-2039 02:37:31
right. everyone says that right before they ask how to mainline bleach into their veins for a good trip.
Amy :: 14-Aug-2039 02:38:02
fuck!!! i swear its not like that. i want to make something clean, controlled. safe. the base compound is natural but it needs tweaking. if i can stabilize it, it changes everything
Void :: 14-Aug-2039 02:38:21
"changes everything" is the shit phrase cult leaders and techbros use. pick a side.
Amy :: 14-Aug-2039 02:38:46
im serious
Void :: 14-Aug-2039 02:38:51
so am i.
Amy :: 14-Aug-2039 02:39:18
look im not asking for a miracle. i told you already. i just need someone who knows how and where to look.i cant break into that shit. you can
Void :: 14-Aug-2039 02:39:31
you're flattering me into a felony. dangerous game, girl.
Amy :: 14-Aug-2039 02:40:03
i dont care if its dangerous. i cant stop thinking about this. i cant stop *needing* it
Void :: 14-Aug-2039 02:40:21
healthy.
Amy :: 14-Aug-2039 02:40:44
its not about fun. its not about profit. its about survival
Void :: 14-Aug-2039 02:41:12
survival? that's a dramatic word. care to unpack it, or are we still doing the cryptic act?
Amy :: 14-Aug-2039 02:41:50
i cant unpack all of it. seriously i dont even want to think about my motivation. i want to make something that fixes people like me
Void :: 14-Aug-2039 02:42:17
people like you?
Amy :: 14-Aug-2039 02:42:41
broken
Void :: 14-Aug-2039 02:43:08
vague as hell.
Amy :: 14-Aug-2039 02:43:36
thats really all i can give you right now. please
Void :: 14-Aug-2039 02:44:05
huh.
Amy :: 14-Aug-2039 02:44:28
fuck does that mean?
Void :: 14-Aug-2039 02:44:57
it means against my better judgement, i didn't immediately block you.
Amy :: 14-Aug-2039 02:45:19
does that mean youll help?
Void :: 14-Aug-2039 02:45:45
slow down, sunshine. i didn't say that.
Amy :: 14-Aug-2039 02:46:13
then what do i have to do?
Void :: 14-Aug-2039 02:46:44
convince me this isn't just another flavor of self-destruction.
Amy :: 14-Aug-2039 02:47:11
its not. its the opposite.
Void :: 14-Aug-2039 02:47:20
...
Void :: 14-Aug-2039 02:47:39
you're either the worst liar i've met or the most tragically sincere.
Amy :: 14-Aug-2039 02:48:04
then believe me. please
Void :: 14-Aug-2039 02:48:32
i'll think about it
Amy :: 14-Aug-2039 02:48:58
thank you. really
Void :: 14-Aug-2039 02:49:23
*don't* thank me yet. if i decide to help, you'll regret it at least twice. minimum.
Amy :: 14-Aug-2039 02:49:46
i can live with that
Void :: 14-Aug-2039 02:50:11
let's hope you actually do.
Void :: 14-Aug-2039 02:50:24
and we're not doing this online.
Void :: 14-Aug-2039 02:50:35
if you really need my help you'll meet me in meatspace first.
Amy :: 14-Aug-2039 02:50:47
meatspace?
Void :: 14-Aug-2039 02:51:03
yeah. where the air stinks and the signal drops.
Void stretched in her chair and flicked through satellite views with a predator's eye. Cafés were too public, transit hubs too noisy, abandoned warehouses too cliché. What she wanted was liminal: quiet enough for a real talk, open enough to clock an ambush, anonymous enough no one would care. Her cursor drifted over Szczecin's sprawl until she paused on Bohdana Zaleskiego Street - a tired neighborhood playground, near a public park. Metal swings rusting, paint flaking on the climbing frame. No cameras worth a damn, no foot traffic after midnight. Perfect. A neutral stage where she could see if Amy was all nerves and desperation, or something else entirely.
Void :: 14-Aug-2039 02:56:19
tomorrow. 4pm. szczecin. bohdana zaleskiego. playground. swings still creak if you breathe on them.
Amy :: 14-Aug-2039 02:56:44
what. thats almost 400km away
Void :: 14-Aug-2039 02:57:01
didn't say this would be easy.
Amy :: 14-Aug-2039 02:57:15
youre serious
Void :: 14-Aug-2039 02:57:30
dead serious. you'll haul yourself here. otherwise? keep poking sockets.
Amy :: 14-Aug-2039 02:57:49
i dont even know what to say
Void :: 14-Aug-2039 02:58:10
"see you there" usually works.
Amy :: 14-Aug-2039 02:58:33
okay fine. creaking swings. ill find it
Void :: 14-Aug-2039 02:58:58
good girl. don't be late.
>>> connection terminated <<<
As Void sent the last message, she watched the blinking cursor fade from her terminal, feeling the weight of what she'd just done. Some desperate kid was now willing to drag herself across half the northside just for the faint chance of being taken seriously. Void cracked her knuckles, the ghost of a smirk tugging at her lips, but underneath that veneer she felt the heaviness - Amy's words weren't just noise in the feed anymore. They carried teeth.
By the time she dragged herself back to the bedroom, the city outside felt muted, drained of its edge. Keira was still sleeping, tangled in the sheets. Void didn't bother with words; she just collapsed into the mattress beside her, exhaustion finally catching up. Keira stirred instinctively, and without opening her eyes she slid an arm over Void's waist, anchoring her, reminding her she wasn't all just circuitry and code.
Void let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding, staring at the ceiling until her vision blurred. Then, slowly, she let the weight of Keira's touch pull her under, into sleep.