“The comm’s hacked,” Gem said.
The Comm line was silent as Gem walked back. No one said a word for a long time, as Gem took her leave of the Princess and immediately went to the drinks. Grabbing the closest alcohol, a flute of champaign, she emptied the first, and half of another, before Twilight found herself wanting to break the silence.
She couldn’t, of course. The elephant in the room of exactly how she just did that without a deck dominated Twilight’s thoughts. She knew of the existence of technomancers, she knew that Harmony Inc. had a very large bounty just for information on them, and she was sure that the others knew that.
In fact, every time a tecnomancer has been turned into the company, a Runner’s been the one to deliver it. The largest, most widespread bounties across Canterlot ever posted by Corps were technomancer bounties. There was no way that the others didn’t know about them.
And, well, it was a lot of money. They could probably split the bounty five ways and still have enough to supply them for the next two jobs. After all, the last time they found a technomancer, Saddle-Krupp started at a million nubits. Grabbing one for auction would spike that price to ten times that.
The others were probably coming to the same conclusion. It wasn’t that big of a leap in logic, and well…
They had to know.
The silence lasted a second longer on the comm. “So can the plan move forward?” Web asked.
“It better,” Gem grumbled. “Let me just look through her messages real quick.”
The comm line went quiet once more as she began searching through the records, leaving everyone to their thoughts once again. Twilight quietly chewed at her lip and took a sip of her drink. Spikarunz needed her to complete the job, so he probably wouldn’t want her to be brought in yet. Then again, if it’s just retrieval jobs, then there’s no reason not to pull her in. She’d be a nice bonus at this point…
What was she thinking? Gem is a vital part of this team. She’s the unofficial leader. She’s the face and the decker, for crying out loud! Where on earth were they going to get anyone who could possibly replace her? This went beyond money, this was a matter of team coherency, and effectiveness. Turning in Gem was a terrible idea.
Right?
After all, the fact that the Matrix crash that happened a few years ago was caused by technomacers had to be coincidental at best, right? Gem wasn’t going to cause another apocalyptic event like that, was she?
Was she?
The thought of turning her in left a pit in Twilight’s stomach. Turning her in would be a massive help to Harmony Inc. It would help ensure a safer Matrix and lower the chance of another catastrophic event like the crash from happening again.
But...but Gem gave her a working SIN. Gem had the best connections. Gem convinced the others to take her in. Gem...Gem…
Gem was her friend.
She was, and she risked a lot here just so that everyone else could complete the job.
“I have some good news, ladies,” Gem’s voice said. “Miss Chip here likes to skip out on events like this to go meet with her friends. There’s a good chance we can get her to ditch her entourage without having to do any of the work.”
“That does make it easier,” Steel agreed, though it sounded to Twilight somehow subdued. “If we can get her outside, we can get the gem and get out faster than the original plan.”
“Sounds good,” Wingmare replied, also quiet.
“I don’t like deviating from a plan, but this does seem to be the better move,” Web said.
“Alright,” Gem said. “I’ll send the message, and we’ll rendezvous with her on the levels below. Let’s go.”
The line went silent, and the ponies in the team quickly began to move to meet up in the desired location, and Twilight once again found herself thinking.
What was she to do? Gem was a friend to her, and she had put so much on the line for just this job, but..but Gem was...well, she was dangerous. She probably didn’t even realize how dangerous she could be. Technomancers could manipulate the Matrix in ways it was never meant to bend, and breaking it could be disastrous.
But then...then that wasn’t even the real problem, was it?
No, the real problem was that Harmony Inc. wanted technomancers. They were willing to pay through the nose for them and missing on this opportunity could be devastating to her career. Then again turning her in, could make her career. She was already personal mage assistance to Spike, but with this, she could be set up as the Chief Analysis Officer easily. She’d be elevated to a real decision-maker, instead of being a glorified secretary.
Well, she wasn’t actually a glorified secretary. Spike held her opinion quite highly. He taught her so much, in ways that she’d never be able to find anywhere else. She owed him so much, and if he needed a technomancer, she’d deliver.
But he also needed to get these jobs done, and Gem...Gem was a good friend.
Twilight soon found herself next to Steel as they both made their way down to the rendezvous.
And this brought with it a whole bunch of other problems. “Even if I don’t turn Gem in, what about the others?” Twilight knew their living conditions, she knew that most of them were living paycheck to paycheck in warehouses while they stockpiled for the next mission. They didn’t have Twilight’s job security, they didn’t have her chance to go to a normal life if this running thing went through.
Gem might be one of the biggest paychecks they’d ever get, short of the wish that Spike was offering them.
Would any of the others turn her in? Would they be willing to go that far? Had Twilight been asked a few months ago, she would have been sure they would. Runners were vicious, selfish creatures according to her understanding back then, and while now she knew that they were more likely desperate individuals doing their best to act professional, that didn’t really give her an answer. It only made their intentions slightly nobler.
Soon they joined Wingmare, Web, and Candy, all of them coming up to the rendezvous with a somber, professional grimace.
“Web probably wouldn’t do it,” Twilight thought. If she were to turn in Gem, then it’d be fair play to turn her into Ahuiztech. She didn’t seem like the kind to make that call. Steel probably wouldn’t turn her in either. Gem was vital to helping Countess Coloratura back when they took that job, and Steel had said on more than one occasion that she’d never be able to pay that one back.
Then again, it would go a long way to paying off the farm.
Candy, on the other hoof, was a wild card. In these months working with her, Twilight still didn’t know what made that mare tick. She didn’t seemingly care about money, which was a point in Gem’s favor, but at the same time, she enjoyed chaos and causing a ruckus. Wingmare, likewise, could be a problem. Wingmare seemed only motivated by money. That was all she asked for when Spike gave her the job. Gem was a paycheck waiting to be cashed if she looked at it that way.
Twilight shook her head. Of all the sacrifices Gem could make, this one had to be the greatest.
Gem was waiting for them in the hall. “There you are,” she said, glancing between them. “Micro Chip is going to meet us down in the alleyway next to one of the maintenance elevators, it’s a favorite of her’s. Once we see her, we knock her out, grab the gem, and get her back inside unharmed. She does have a security retrieval locket, that, if activated will get a strike team mobilized on her location. We need to make sure she doesn’t activate it, understood?”
“Yes, ma’am,” the team replied in unison, though lacking their normal energy.
Gem nodded once and faced the elevator.
The seconds began to drag on, as an awkward silence permeated the air. It stuck with them even as they waited in the elevator, heading down to the street level. It hung with them as they caught Micro Chip, using illusion spells to convince her that she was among friends as they pumped her system full of anesthetics. It dragged on as they rode in the van to the meet up with Shining, who still acted as their go-between for the company. It even hovered over them as they parted ways that night, leaving everyone to their thoughts.
<><><|><><>
Twilight stared up at her ceiling, unable to sleep.
This wasn’t the first time she’d been left sleepless in the safehouse the girls gave her. The first few nights of living so close to the street had left her awake and staring into the ceiling more than once, as had the rumbling of garbage trucks and loading vehicles at unholy hours, but she had since learned to...well...appreciate was the wrong word, but she could certainly live with it.
No, this time she was awake because of Gem, and what that mare had done to her. In a single action, she had thrown everything she had thought she knew about Running out the window.
She needed to talk to someone about this.
Sighing, she rolled out of bed and descended the stairs, making her way to the small kitchenette, where a hot-chocolate substitute powder waited for her. Heating some milk with some magic, she quickly whipped up the drink and sat in front of the holotable that Gem had set up, before making a call.
Steel’s bleary face appeared over the table after a ring or two. “Huh? Wha? Who is it?”
“Hey Steel. It’s me.” Twilight said.
“Flashpoint? It’s four in the morning…”
“I know, are you up?”
If a look could kill through the Matrix, the Steel Research and Development team were close to a breakthrough.
“It’s important, Steel.”
The earth pony sighed before the background behind her shifted as she sat up. “Alright, fine. I’m up. What’cha need?”
“Did…” Twilight began, “did you notice anything...strange about Gem during the last Run?”
The effect on Steel’s face was instantaneous. Her lips pursed, her pupils shrunk, and her eyes immediately began darting around the room. “Strange? Nope. I didn’t notice nothing, especially nothing that might suggest she’s keepin’ secrets from us. Not at all, why?”
Twilight blinked. “Wow...when you said you were an awful liar, I thought maybe you were exaggerating…”
“I’m gonna hang up,” Steel said.
“No, wait! Steel, please! This was the only way I could be sure I was telling anypony who didn’t know! I didn’t want to air her out and get her in more trouble. I mean, if nobody noticed, then I could just keep it to myself, but I need to figure out what I'm going to do, please!”
The comm line held, and Steel stared back at her for a long second. "So you think you know what she is?" Steel asked.
Twilight nodded. "She directly manipulated the Matrix without a deck."
"She might've had a micro deck," Steel countered.
Twilight shook her head. "Then she wouldn't have bothered with smuggling the smaller deck in her dress. It would have been a pointless security risk."
Steel nodded, as though she already came to that conclusion. "She could have a nuerodeck implant."
Twilight shook her head again. "Her astral signature is way too strong for those kinds of implants. Beyond her cybereyes and datajack, I don't know if she has any other cybernetics at all."
"She has a bioware implant that gives off pheromones, but Web told me a long time ago that those don't cause as much damage to essence, whatever that is.."
"So she has to be…" Twilight began, before faltering. It felt like saying the word itself was somehow breaking her trust.
"It looks like it, huh?"
Twilight groaned. “What do we do, Steel? Turning her in for just money seems wrong.”
“You thinking about turning her in?” Steel asked.
“I don’t know...I really don’t. Just...Ok, ignoring the fact that she’s worth an unholy amount of nubits, she’s incredibly useful to Harmony Inc, my company, my home. When this is over, I’m going back there, but if I were to bring Gem in, it would...it would secure my career.”
“You’d turn her in for job security?” Steel asked.
Twilight glared at her through the hologram. “And are you telling me you wouldn’t turn her in to pay off your farm?”
Steel looked away. “I’d be lying if I said I didn’t think about it.”
“But...but I don’t want to…Gem’s…”
“Yeah, I understand that,” Steel slowly replied. “I owe her too much to do that to her.” The earth pony’s eyes then turned back to Twilight. “What about you though? You said it yourself, she’s useful to you.”
“But...but…” Twilight began. “I don’t want to turn her in! I owe so much to her too! I can’t just ignore that.”
“Someone from corporate with a conscience. I’ll be,” Steel said.
“Oh, hush. We’re Runners. We can’t afford a conscience.”
“Ya know, that’s fair,” Steel said.
“So what do we do, Steel? Do we turn her in or not?”
“It’s a good question, Flashpoint,” Steel said. “And honestly, I don’t think I have an answer for ya.”
“Well that’s not very helpful, Steel,” she said, exasperated.
“I know, but...but honestly, I’m not sure what to do either. Like ya said, she’d probably pay off at least a part of my farm, and that’s...that’s something I’ve been meaning to get my family for a long time…longer than I’ve known Gem, that’s for sure.”
“So what do we do?”
Steel sighed before she ran a hoof across her face. “Tell ya what, Flash. You come up with an answer, and I’ll back you up. No matter what.”
<><><|><><>
The team didn’t meet again for another few days. A fairly normal amount of downtime though cut a little short.
Meeting up at the Final Regret, their favorite bar in the sprawl, Twilight soon found herself sitting at a table with Steel and Web. Gem had yet to arrive, and Candy was going to be a touch late, picking up Wingmare.
In the meantime, they shared a drink, a laugh, a story of how dull waiting around was before Wingmare and Candy showed up.
“Oh, you’re here already…” Twilight said surprised.
“Yup, where’s Gem?” Wingmare asked.
“She’s not here yet,” Twilight said. “I just called her, though. She’ll be here in twenty minutes.”
“Cool, cool,” Wingmare said, nodding.
Candy said nothing, and Twilight was immediately suspicious of the fact.
The five ponies sat down, watching each other as the time slowly passed. Not a word passed between them as they waited, glaring at each other before occasionally glancing at the door.
The minutes ticked by, each one more slowly than the last, before finally exactly twenty minutes passed by.
“Hm...I thought you said she’d be here?” Wingmare asked.
“I did. I hope she wasn’t waylaid,” Twilight replied.
“I certainly hope not.”
The two glared a moment longer before the door opened. “Oh, there you all are,” Gem said. “This isn’t our normal table.”
“Thought a little change in scenery was in order,” Twilight said.
“Did you?” Wingmare asked.
“I did.”
Gem looked between the two. “Alright? Let’s get down to business, shall we?”
“Sounds good,” both ponies said in unison.
“Good…” Gem said. “So Web’s insertion job that she mentioned last time seems to have the most promise…”
As Gem continued, the two mares continued to glare, making the smallest movements under the table. Candy and Steel both set down their drinks, as the staredown progressed, leaving Gem to go on for another second or two.
“How does that sound?” the decker asked, before turning to the others. “Ladies?”
“Sounds fine,” both Wingmare and Twilight said, again, in unison.
Gem blinked.
“Is...something going on…?” she asked, as her eyes hovered over the door.
“Nope, everything’s fine,” they both responded.
Gem didn’t buy it for a second. She slowly began to back away from the table, and began to slide around the room, towards the door. As she passed behind Twilight, everything went crazy.
Wingmare drew steel, and Twilight pulled her own. Wingmare’s gun came up first, her enhanced reflexes beating the unicorn to the punch. Twilight answered with magic, a short burst of power sending her firearm to the side while she leveled her own. Wingmare pulled her second pistol, matching Twilight as they both leveled their guns.
Steel joined in, bringing up her mare’s leg, and pointing it directly at Wingmare’s head before Candy answered with her own sidearm. Web unholstered her Roc, pointing between Candy’s eyes, and Wingmare aimed at her with the pistol that went wide.
In the space of a blink, all five ponies were pointing guns at each other. “You’re not taking Gem!”
They all went silent after the declaration sounded, and Gem froze as she stood against the wall.
“What do you mean I’m not taking Gem?” Wingmare asked. “You’re the corporate agent. You have more of a reason to grab her than I do.”
“Me?” Twilight asked. “When offered anything you could ask for, you told Spike money. It looks to me like you’re the one looking for the biggest paycheck.”
“And you have Steel on your side, the mare with the debt to our good employer?”
“I ain’t gonna turn in Gem for my problem, Wingmare. That’s not how I operate.”
“What about Web?” Wingmare asked.
“What about me?” she asked. “If Gem goes, I’m next. Ahuiztechnology has a bounty on me that’s just as big as her.”
“Wait…” Candy said. “Are...are we all trying to save Gem from each other?”
Silence answered her.
Steel finally broke the silence. “That was our plan.”
Another second passed.
And then came the quietest little snort. All eyes in the room slowly turned to Candy as she giggled, her aim faltering before she dropped the gun on the table entirely. A moment later, her mouth was open wide as she gasped, taking deep, ragged breaths between guffaws.
Steel was next, chuckling at first, before she dropped her mare’s leg, before laughing as she joined Candy. Web lowered her Roc as well, before joining in with small, almost adorable laughs.
Twilight and Wingmare were soon all that was left of the Mexican standoff, before they too, lowered their weapons. Another second later, and they began to laugh as well.
Gem, meanwhile, stood on the edge of the room, watching everything unfold before her before all eyes turned to her.
For a second, she locked up, before all five ponies surrounded her, and wrapped her in a long, deep hug. As the panic subsided, she found herself enveloped by the whole team, in one massive embrace. The contact was...strangely unexpected to her, and felt terribly...comfortable.
“Gem, I think I can speak for all of us when I say, we love and care for you,” Twilight said. “More than any money in the world.”
And Gem, as she sat there between her whole team, cried. She cried as years of stress released and unwound, leaving behind a mare that was just trying to make it in the world. A mare who has been running and hiding, and keeping a terrible secret at bay for all these years, now finally finding true, incredible acceptance. “Thank you, Darlings. Thank you, so much.”
The hug lasted a second longer before Gem sniffed. “Now, break it up before any rumors start going around that we’re going soft. We have a reputation, after all.”