I am a fool
I'm a sucker for lost causes.
So, I decided to write that damn cyberpunk. (funny, how every time I quit something, that's all I want to do.)
20K by Feb 1, for Samhain.
And it's het.
WTF am I thinking?
Mainly that this universe is too complicated for a novel. A series of linked novellas would serve it better, much like Theives' World.
I'm 7000+ words into it. And things are getting tense.
A snippet under the cut for those who like some intrigue. This is rough draft, so any problems will be fixed in a few revisions.
Erik Ezekiel was losing his temper. He hadn't quite lost it yet, since there were no corpses visible on the viewer. Zara watched impassively as Ariel negotiated with the chief of Ezekiel InfoTech. Erik's eyes flickered to her frequently in the course of the conversation, but he did not address her.
Zara simply smiled at him, as if she were decorative office staff and not the Technomancer herself, the runner who had put him in the wheelchair years before. She liked his nervousness and Ariel's calm.
“I'm having a bit of trouble with a runner who seems to be leaving your calling card at the messes. Is this deliberate or is someone playing 'let's you and him fight?' The icebreakers are the latest and the viruses left behind are particularly nasty. I lost two of my Immortals to a flatline virus that was masquerading as a rot-13 scrambler.”
Ariel paused and Zara tried not to shudder. The Wheelman's Immortals were every runner's nightmare. Quadruple amputees, they spent their time in life-support chairs, doing nothing but running the net in the service of EIT and its owner.
“A shame you didn't lose all the poor wretches,” Ariel snapped.
“Don't be ridiculous. They are hardly wretched. I give them the life they most desire, one where they never need log out to deal with the distractions of a body. Now about those messes.”
Ariel curled his lip and Zara breathed a silent prayer to Artificer, Programmer and Debugger that he would be wise with his next words.
“I think someone is playing us for fools.”
Erik nodded. “I suspected as much. Because I know that EIT has nothing Leda Tech wants, and also, I'm sure the Gemini is well aware that EIT, as a sovereign multinational, is fully nuclear capable. So, it would be in both of our interests to remove this tiresome pest, before LedaTech starts taking the blame from other companies as well.”
Ariel must have heard the threat under the words, for he gave his most charming smile and spread his hands in a universal gesture of openness. “I am very aware of that, Erik, and I will do everything I can, to control what is happening.”
“I have my immortals searching.”
Ariel nodded and reached for the cutoff switch. “We will do everything we can.”
“Put our sweet Niall on the trail. I do miss my pet Timberwolf, and you might remind him of that. I do hope I won't need to speak with you again.” He closed the circuit.
Tell me I'm not an idiot.
Or tell me I am.
But I WILL do this. And I will finish my pirates for EC, and manage the post-apoc for Samhain.
And then I will quietly lose my ever-loving MIND.
So, I decided to write that damn cyberpunk. (funny, how every time I quit something, that's all I want to do.)
20K by Feb 1, for Samhain.
And it's het.
WTF am I thinking?
Mainly that this universe is too complicated for a novel. A series of linked novellas would serve it better, much like Theives' World.
I'm 7000+ words into it. And things are getting tense.
A snippet under the cut for those who like some intrigue. This is rough draft, so any problems will be fixed in a few revisions.
Erik Ezekiel was losing his temper. He hadn't quite lost it yet, since there were no corpses visible on the viewer. Zara watched impassively as Ariel negotiated with the chief of Ezekiel InfoTech. Erik's eyes flickered to her frequently in the course of the conversation, but he did not address her.
Zara simply smiled at him, as if she were decorative office staff and not the Technomancer herself, the runner who had put him in the wheelchair years before. She liked his nervousness and Ariel's calm.
“I'm having a bit of trouble with a runner who seems to be leaving your calling card at the messes. Is this deliberate or is someone playing 'let's you and him fight?' The icebreakers are the latest and the viruses left behind are particularly nasty. I lost two of my Immortals to a flatline virus that was masquerading as a rot-13 scrambler.”
Ariel paused and Zara tried not to shudder. The Wheelman's Immortals were every runner's nightmare. Quadruple amputees, they spent their time in life-support chairs, doing nothing but running the net in the service of EIT and its owner.
“A shame you didn't lose all the poor wretches,” Ariel snapped.
“Don't be ridiculous. They are hardly wretched. I give them the life they most desire, one where they never need log out to deal with the distractions of a body. Now about those messes.”
Ariel curled his lip and Zara breathed a silent prayer to Artificer, Programmer and Debugger that he would be wise with his next words.
“I think someone is playing us for fools.”
Erik nodded. “I suspected as much. Because I know that EIT has nothing Leda Tech wants, and also, I'm sure the Gemini is well aware that EIT, as a sovereign multinational, is fully nuclear capable. So, it would be in both of our interests to remove this tiresome pest, before LedaTech starts taking the blame from other companies as well.”
Ariel must have heard the threat under the words, for he gave his most charming smile and spread his hands in a universal gesture of openness. “I am very aware of that, Erik, and I will do everything I can, to control what is happening.”
“I have my immortals searching.”
Ariel nodded and reached for the cutoff switch. “We will do everything we can.”
“Put our sweet Niall on the trail. I do miss my pet Timberwolf, and you might remind him of that. I do hope I won't need to speak with you again.” He closed the circuit.
Tell me I'm not an idiot.
Or tell me I am.
But I WILL do this. And I will finish my pirates for EC, and manage the post-apoc for Samhain.
And then I will quietly lose my ever-loving MIND.