Maniac’s Mayhem

"Why am I getting fined?"

"You quit your job without giving two months' notice. This incurs a fine of 1.3 million credits."

"That is some bullshit. Let me go get a lawyer I am not paying over two-year worth of salaries."

"I would recommend against all the judges are pro corpo."

"fine i will call my teacher then."

-- conversation between magenta and a friend after she quit her part-time job to become a Samurai.

(Joline)

“So this is her then?” Richard asks me as I join him in the observation room with the one way window.

“I have never seen her face before, but I guess. She is a bit uncanny,” I say, looking at the girl that is sitting at the table.

She is rather unremarkable for the most part shoulder length brunette hair, a smattering of freckles on her face, a light bit of make-up and a suit that looks a bit too big for her makes her look more like an adorable little kid than a hacker.

I do wish however, that she showed any emotions. She just has this cold look to her, not scared or happy to be here at all, which is a first. If I were being truthful, it makes the adorable little creature look a lot more unsettling.

The interviewer walks in, giving Crow a small nod before sitting down opposite from her. “Miss Crow, are you ready to begin?”

Crow nods. "Yes, but I am not a woman,” Crow says in a disturbingly monotone voice.

“Right, that is fine. Do you have any weapons on you? Our security system flagged some discrepancies?” the interviewer asks, looking slightly embarrassed.

“I do.” Crow confirms.

“I would like you to surrender those to us for as long as you remain on the premises,” the interviewer asks, gesturing to the table between the two.

“I can’t,” Crow says, lifting an arm. “I am a cyborg; they’re welded to my body.”

The interviewer pauses, seemingly unsure what to do.

“Just continue,” Richard announces.

“Right,” the interviewer says, nodding to himself, "Who did your cybernetics’”

“My sister.” Crow says, not making any note of the awkwardness.

The interviewer sits up at that. “Are you close to your sister?”

Crow nods. “We are triplets, humans seem to think that makes us close.”

“And you are not human?” the man asks with a quirk to his mouth.

“You tell me, I have a bunch of wires in my brain. I don’t think humans typically come with those.” Crow says unblinkingly.

“Where are the wires for?” The interviewer notes something down.

“Soul box.”

“Fuck that is something,” Richard mutters.

“What is a soul box?” I ask, not that aware of the slang.

“It’s a theoretical item that um basically imprints your brain in it,” Richard explains. “Basically if you die and the box can be recovered, you can technically be uploaded to the mesh or something similar.”

“How do you have that?” the interviewer asks in a whisper.

“Samurai gave it to me after I made their nudes disappear from the internet.”

The interviewer blinks. “And they just gave it to you?”

Crow slowly nods. “Yes, as long as I don’t ask for a weapon, most samurai are more than willing to give me something.”

“They are right. I gave them encryption software when they helped me,” I point out, not having thought much about it at the time.

The interviewer pauses. "Never mind all that. Why do you want this job?”

“For my sisters.” Crow says.

“How would you getting this job help them?” The interviewer asks. Making me worried, needing money for family almost always turns out bad.

“This job makes the world safer, so if I have the job, I make them safer as well.”

Richart leans forward, pressing a button on the dashboard. “The normal line of questioning does not work; ask her about her skill set.”

The interviewer pauses for a second. “Okay, mi… no uh, Crow, how about we talk about something else.” At the small nod of Crow, he continues. “What is your skillset?”

“I am a hacker.” Crow says subsequently.

“That is all?”

“I do have some knowledge about corporate environments and beekeeping.” Crow continues.

“Beekeeping is a bit unique, don’t you think? Why did you want to learn? Is it a hobby?”

“No, I read honey is a good natural remedy. I thought it could help the children.” Crow explains, still in the same montone with not even a hint of wavering.

“You have children?” the interviewer asks, leaning forward a bit.

Crow pauses for the first time, not immediately giving an answer. “I refuse to answer.”

“That was different.” I point out.

“Probably means that she does have children but knows that her job is dangerous, so rather keep them a secret.” Richard explains.

That made sense to me. Some people were always trying to exploit others, and threatening someone's kid was always an easy way to make them comply.

“Okay, moving back to the hacking part, how good of a hacker are you?” The interviewer quickly changes the subject.

“I would say that I am one of the best hackers that is not assisted by an alien AI,” Crow states.

“Do you have any way to prove your claim?” The interviewer asks.

Crow nods. "Sure, you are planning on failing me, not because of my skill but because this interview is cutting into time you could be spending with your daughter, at least if your text chain to Espinosa is anything to go by. Besides the two of us, there are two other people here behind that window.” Crow points right at us. “We are currently being watched by Samurai Ballistic Control and Lone Ranger.” Crow pauses, turning back to the interviewer. "Should I continue?

“Jyne how did she get in” I ask my AI a bit alarmed.

I think she might not be lying when she said she was the best. Instead of being stealthy and trying to access our network through backdoors, she pinged the server similar to how a Vanguard AI would do. The system, having been set up to allow access by other Samurai, just let her through.

“That's possible?” I ask in surprise.

Normally? No, but like she said, she is the best. Also, like she said, she has a lot of access to protector-grade equipment; all things considered, the fact that she got in is not that weird.

“Impressive indeed,” Richard muses. “Ask her how she would go about taking down Maniac.”

“You want to kill Maniac?” Crow asks before the interviewer could even speak.

“You're still in the network.?” I ask in surprise.

“Nobody told me to get out yet,” Crow points out. “Should I disconnect?”

“It’s fine for now,” Richard says, “and we don’t necessarily want to kill her, just, you know, control her, make sure she isn’t a problem.”

Crow nods. “Controlling her would be hard. She seems rash and impulsive, but given time, you might discover what sets her off and use that to send her in the direction you desire.”

Richard pauses. “That makes sense; you know ways to set her off.”

“Going over logs of her past appearances, it appears she hates having to remove her mask and being accused of crimes, guilty or not.” Crow answers.

“That does not sound useful.” I point out.

“Sorry, if I knew she was the target, I would have done more research”, Crow admits.

“It’s fine,” Richard says. “You are hired. Let’s get out of here so we can talk in a more personal setting.”

Crow nods and stands up. I nod as well and follow Richard out of the room.

“What happened to letting the interviewer decide?” I ask, a bit amused.

Richard shrugs. “Crow is scary. She will always find work, but I would rather have that work be for us than against us.”

I nod in agreement, even though Crow appears to be just a harmless little girl on the outside. Who knows what damage she could do if she actually tried. A small shiver runs through me just at the thought. We meet Crow and the interviewer on the other side of the hall.

“You can go home now. Spend some time with your daughter.” Richard tells the nervous man with a smile.

“Thank you.” The interviewer says as he quickly moves away.

“Joline, it’s good to see you again,” Crow says, making a face that could be considered a smile if someone were being generous.

“Is it?” I ask, not feeling that convinced.

“I don’t know, but that is what humans tend to say after not having seen each other for a while,” Crow explains, not making me feel better about the situation in the slightest.

“Let’s go to a private meeting room,” Richard suggests.

Crow and I both nod, and Richard starts leading the way through our headquarters all the way to the upper floor. We all end up in a small meeting room that looks more like someone’s living room than a place where serious discussion takes place.

“So, Crow, welcome to the Nachwächternetzwerk. I hope you found the interview process not too problematic for you,” Richard says once we have all sat down.

Crow shrugs. "It was my first time getting interviewed for a job, so I have no comparison.”

“You really are something, huh?” Richard says with a sigh.

“My sister's wife calls me a special little creature,” Crow adds on.

“Talking about your sisters, do they know you are trying to get a job here?” I ask, wanting to get to know the person better.

Crow shakes their head. “No, I thought it was safer if they knew as little as possible”

“Makes me wonder what your sisters are like.” I muse out loud.

“They are normal,” Crow says. “Had a normal job until recently; now they have kids and now their job is to take care of them.”

“So they have rich partners then,” I ask. No one can afford not to work unless they are loaded after all.

“Yes, really rich,” Crow confirms.

“But you said you wanted a job to keep your sisters safe; would their rich partner not be able to do that?” Richard points out.

Crow stays silent for a long time. “The children, they were tortured.”

I stand up. “What do you mean by ‘tortured’? Are their partners abusive? Do you need me to have a word?” I say, feeling my blood start to boil.

Crow shakes her head. “Not by them, no, someone used Samurai gear to torture them.”

I let out some air between my teeth. “Was it discarded gear or are we dealing with a Samurai?”

“Discarded gear.” Crow says.

“That's a relief. It means they have limits, and we just need to find them to take back the gear,” I say, already trying to plan the search party.

“I destroyed them,” Crow speaks up.

“You destroyed the gear?” Richard asks.

Crow nods. “Sorry, I did not know you wanted it back.”

Ritchard smiles. "Don’t worry, you did good. What happened to the people?”

“They have been dealt with,” Crow says.

“What does that mean?” Richard asks

“I made their body temperature reach equilibrium with the room’s.” Crow says without a hint of guilt.

Ritchard seems to relax at that. “Is any of that going to blow back on you?”

Crow shakes her head. “No, I am good at hiding.” She then looks between the two of us. “Samurai? Maybe.”

At this point, I also sit back down again. “Just to be sure, do you have any issues that need direct Samurai intervention?”

Crow shakes her head and then pauses. “Maybe?”

“What do you mean? Maybe” I ask the woman.

“There is a building in this city that I can’t crack into, but it’s different. Every algorithm is telling me something is there,” Crow explains.

“Right, if you give me the address, I will take a look.” I tell Crow, a second later a message pops up in my AUG. “How did you do that?”

“I am still in the system,” Crow answers

Ritchard laughs. “I am really looking forward to seeing you flourish in your time here, Crow.”

Crow nods, “I will do my best not to disappoint.”