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Finally, Lecky stopped, and she got off first, removing her helmet with an uneasy feeling.
“...I don’t understand,” she muttered.
“It’s alright,” Lecky smiled. “You’ll see soon.”
They had stopped in front of a tall, red brick building, the biggest in the area, and a former hotel, from what Eden could see. Lecky walked in right away, greeted by armed men at the entrance.
Once in the bare lobby, they reunited with A., who had somehow gotten there faster than them. The Hare nodded quickly as if to acknowledge their presence.
“...Where are we?” Eden finally asked, a bit confused and nervous.
“This is more or less my headquarters,” said Lecky, putting his hands behind his bald head. “It’s probably not as impressive as the Tiger’s, but it’s as secure...”
He and A. exchanged a look, nodded, and both went for the stairs that were going down to some underground floor. Eden was surprised by how much they trusted her... She could have turned around and fled this place right now, but neither of them bothered to check if she was following them down. She sighed, and went down the stairs as well, a bit curious as to what she was going to find.
As she descended, she heard a very high-pitched sound coming from farther down, which made her frown. It was so high-pitched, she felt like it was one of those sounds she may not have heard at all if she wasn’t young. She kept glancing around to find a speaker, but it came directly into her ear, troubling her.
“SIN neutralizer,” explained A., noticing her glancing around. “It blocks the signals of any SIN in and out with a parasite wavelength, basically. It keeps the SINs off the Ether’s length, so while we’re in the basement, nothing can come in digitally, nor go out.”
Eden was half-amazed and half-worried. This meant she was truly on her own if anything happened, no Loir to help and no Dante to come to her rescue... It also explained why they weren’t too worried about showing her what was downstairs. She soon heard voices, though, coming from ahead. Someone had called A. by a name in a tongue she didn’t understand at all, since her SIN’s translating function was cut off as well. Eden had rarely felt this vulnerable, and yet, something inside her, her instincts perhaps, let her know she wasn’t in danger here.
“Ah!”
She fell forward, and Lecky moved just in time to catch her.
“...Are you alright?” he asked, confused.
His eyes went to the stairs behind her, probably wondering if she’d missed one, but Eden shook her head, gripping his arm with an annoyed expression. She leaned against the wall next to her.
“I’m... a Part,” she muttered. “My legs... I can’t use them properly without my SIN.”
“Oh. Oh, shit, sorry... Let me help you.”
Her legs weren’t completely useless, but they didn’t respond as well as when her SIN was working. Eden had to drag and pull them to take another step, using the strength in her hips as if each was carrying a heavy load, one step after another. It was extremely annoying, and she hated having to lean on someone else to do something as simple as walk…
Because of that, she entered the basement at the same time as Lecky. It was probably the building’s former basement, split into several rooms, each door with an old-fashioned but efficient lock on it. Lecky used a code to open the first room, and A. opened the next one for them on a pad. None of the technology Eden saw was familiar to her, probably too old, or foreign. They crossed three rooms like this, making her realize how heavily sealed this place was. Finally, they arrived at a large room, which immediately reminded her of Loir’s basement; there were many screens scattered on each of the four walls and about as many keyboards across several tables. Not only that, but very old machines like a century-old printer or a hand typing machine were also there. Cables of all colors were scattered around, and large columns, which Eden recognized as data centers, were put against the walls.
“Welcome to my headquarters, Eden,” said A.
The five people that were in the room were staring at her with defiance or fear. She could tell they hadn’t seen the light of day in a very, very long while... A beautiful young woman wearing a white hijab came forward, with a gentle expression behind her brown glasses.
“Nice to meet you, Lady Eden. My husband briefed me about you. I’m Malieka.”
Eden immediately realized she was referring to A. ...So he had a wife? She wouldn’t have known at all. He looked young, and he didn’t wear a ring... Seeing that she was staring at his hands, A. understood, and as if to answer, pulled a thin necklace from his outfit, showing the ring attached to it. So he was hiding it...
“Everyone,” he said, “this woman is Ghost and the Architect’s daughter. She will be on our side, and leading the Edge for the attack tomorrow.”
Then, another woman stepped forward. Her appearance was surprising. She had white bandages all over her very dark skin, even on her face. Her hair was cut very short, and she only wore an old crop top with large jeans. She had piercings covering her ears and lip, though, and to Eden’s surprise, a tattoo on her neck, with the word Anarkia. Just like Loir. The woman, who was chewing something, extended her hand.
“Nice to meet you, partner. I’m Pratiti and the current Edge leader. My codename is Nebty.”
“...Nebty?” Eden repeated, surprised. “You’re the hacker Nebty?”
“Yeah,” chuckled Pratiti. “I guess that makes us partners instead of rivals now. Nice to meet you, Ghost.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Eden was a bit stunned. She had expected to meet other hackers, but not such familiar ones. If she was the top hacker in Chicago, excluding Pan, Ghost also had a list of rivals that took the following spots on the list of top-performing and just as expensive hackers to hire. Among those, Nebty easily ranked in the top five. The two of them had been opponents more than once, and although Eden had won almost every time, she still considered the hacker a notable rival.
