Cyber Mage

Agents of Fate

Chapter 1: Grieselda

“They’re getting bold,” Grieselda snarled.
Eyes glued to the virtual plans beaming from the palm of her mech suit.

“Hmm,” the captain murmured absentmindedly, seated across her, strapped into a four point seatbelt with the blank look of someone half-lost in the virtual network.

Grieselda studied the layout of the Rhodesia Waterworks once before dismissing the plans. She glanced out the window as the small carrier streaked through the sky. No clouds in sight, giving the harsh sun free reign to scorch what remained of the impoverished earth.

“A state transport carrier, BioWear’s lunar labs and now an old waterworks,” Grieselda said. “What do you think it all means?”

The hacker group known as Agents of Fate were the perpetrators in all three heists but to what end.
‘Profit? Perhaps.’

But from their manifestos online they behaved like No-chip sympathizers. Like many of the barbarian clans they claimed to provide refuge for No-chips, preached of privacy and all that other nonsense No-chips ate up.
No-chips acted like they were losing their freedom by getting chipped. Standard citizen chips were nothing more than traceable personal computers and where was the harm in being tracked and digitally surveilled?

Like her mentor used to say: only thugs and anarchists protested for privacy because they wanted to commit crimes and have the luxury to get away with it.

“They’re biding their time,” The captain said with blinking eyes, flushing out the remnants virtuality from his sight.

Grieselda perked up, leaned forward as much as her seatbelt would allow. “What do you mean?”

“Their amassing resources, accumulating power. Enough power to ignite a movement of epic proportions.”

Grieselda bobbed her head in agreement. She hadn’t expected such a response.
‘But it makes sense. I guess.’

This was coming from a cybermage whom according to Lieutenant Rafinya was the most knowledgeable when it came to the Agents of Fate. So she didn’t immediately dismiss his claims but she didn’t wholeheartedly agree either.
And as to what a movement of epic proportions meant.
‘Rebellion?’

It pointed to that but she couldn’t rid herself of the nagging suspicion the agents were different somehow from the other barbarian clans scattered throughout the Scorchedlands.

“However,” the captain continued his voice deep and hollow. “They’ve bitten off more they can chew this time.”

Grieselda met his dark uneven eyes.

He didn’t have a lazy eye or anything. One of his eyes was a cybernetic implant. Granted the fake eye had the same colour and size as his natural eye. The robotic eye was forever energetic, always wide open making his exhausted natural eye seem droopy.

His ominous look was further compounded by the dark rings under his eyes and light skin stretched tightly over his face.

Her infamous boss: Captain Ray Dawn Zappa. Who headed his own cybercrime unit and despite how sickly he looked, one of the sharpest minds she knew.
And if the rumours were true a dirty cop to boot.

Not you’re dirty to profit kind of dirty. A more dangerous kind of corruption. The do whatever it takes to complete the mission kind of mentality. The lawman unafraid to stray out of bounds of justice so he could save the day.
He oozed that noble for the greater good kind of attitude which magically justified all his unscrupulous actions. Grieselda sneered at such deluded self-righteousness.