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“Well, maybe they really don’t care about 2123... or they don’t like you in their archives. Anyway, don’t stop. They sent a mean one.”
“Give me some weapons!” groaned Eden.
“Coming, coming...”
They suddenly heard it. A large, loud groan, coming from behind them. The System could send anything to try and scare intruders, and from the noise, they could tell this one was going to be big indeed.
“Greed!”
“There!”
Pink leather gloves suddenly appeared on Eden’s hands, with claws as long as daggers. She raised an eyebrow.
“Loir-craft?”
“Yeah. He left a bunch of stuff on your back data inventory... Just going through it now, I’ll send you more if I can sort it out.”
“Thanks.”
Eden was a bit glad Loir had left some weapons behind for her... He was a lot more meticulous than she gave him credit for, after all. As if he had everything prepared just in case.
The monster appeared. A large, monstrous reptile, its head shaped like a triangle, with impressive fangs. It had six legs and was moving like a mix of a snake and a spider, climbing on the shelves while making strange groaning noises.
“Ugh,” groaned Circé. “They don’t even bother to make them realistic now, they just go for ugly monsters.”
“They probably sent us a non-elaborated one,” said Eden, studying the monster.
She glanced ahead. They were only ten steps away from the box they needed. Unfortunately, the monster had jumped in between them and their target. Circé took out one of her swords.
“You run,” she said. “I’ll cover you.”
“Are you going to be alright...?”
“Yeah. Just a minute and I’m going to make a damn handbag out of this thing.”
“Got it.”
Dive Hacking required quick decisions and a lot of trust in her partner. Eden knew this thing was probably going to be a handful for Circé, but she was at least as experienced as her. They both knew the risks, and what they had really come all this way for. They couldn’t lose time, nor risk her getting injured so soon.
“Nekhbet is almost there,” said Malieka. “He’s in the previous file. You’ll get a sidekick in a minute, C...”
“I call dibs on the handbag. Eden, get ready to go.”
Eden nodded, preparing herself to run, claws up. She evaluated the space between the monster, Circé, and their surroundings; she could get to it in a high jump, only if the monster attacked Circé instead of her. They waited, for a second, and finally, Nekhbet appeared on the other end of the aisle, a long spear in hand. He attacked first, and the creature screeched in surprise, turning around to attack.
“Now!”
Eden and Circé jumped at the same time, each on their target. Eden’s hands grabbed the box, but she felt a vivid pain in her leg. She opened it.
She landed painfully on her butt, onto a strange grassy ground, and immediately rolled, prepared for another attack. This time, though, she was alone, and in a garden-like version of the archive.
“Greed?”
“...They are busy with that thing. Get to the floor below. Same aisle, green box at the bottom. Hurry, there’s more coming.”
Eden nodded and got back on her feet. She glanced down, annoyed. She was feeling pain in her leg... That damn SIN. She took a deep breath, forcing herself to remember it wasn’t real. She jumped to the floor below again, prepared to find the box. To her surprise though, there was a silhouette already there. Eden immediately lifted her claws, ready to fight.
This monster was different though. It had two legs and looked like a child, a simple child with a monochromatic, gray outfit. In fact, there was nothing monstrous about it, only an angelic face, and a body that looked entirely made of strangely vivid colors... as if lights were projected from all sides, almost blinding. The feeling Eden had in her gut made her approach cautiously. It was a feeling of déjà vu. Why did she feel like this? She knew she couldn’t trust one of the System’s illusions. It wouldn’t be the first time it used such a trick to suddenly attack her. There was definitely something odd about this one, though. She couldn’t even sense any hostility, and it seemed to be simply... waiting there, for her.
