Cyberpunk: Ultimate Cyborg System
Chapter 184: Coral Formation.

Chapter 184: Coral Formation.

Friday, November 29, 2098

Another month was coming to an end, and one more to go before the year ends, too.

"Fucking damn it..."

Greg hated the end of the year. Holiday season or not, he couldn’t remember the last time he felt good about it, and that went twice for this year. Two weeks remain until the day of the heist. Though it might sound like they have plenty of time, there was no telling how much it would take to finish the remaining preparations, and that caused stress to build up as the deadline approached.

Ding!

The microwave gave its signal, and the fat Diver snapped out of his thoughts, clearing his OAM before turning around, the wires and cables plugged into the back of his neck dragging behind him.

The inside of his van might have been spacious to most people, but not for someone of his size. The clutter didn’t help at all, though he couldn’t even begin to care about it. So long as the equipment still worked, he didn’t pay any mind to how messy it was.

That wasn’t to say he enjoyed living in a van, and neither did he enjoy eating frozen food five days in a row. Even though he no longer gains weight no matter how many pizzas he eats, one can only swallow so many pies before getting tired of it.

"I’m getting some goddamn steak tonight..."

Sitting back on his coach, he spread the cardboard box open and placed it beside him, picking a slice right away. Ropes of the synthetic cheese stretched between it and the rest of the pie, painting such an appetizing picture that makes one forget all about the chemicals that went into making it.

Finishing the first slice in no more than three bites, Greg worked through two more before relaxing back into his seat and returning to his work. He brought up the screens he had previously dismissed and went through them on more time. After a while, his eyes were drawn to a single number under an almost complete progress bar.

[98%]

A few seconds later, that number reached 100%, and when that happened, Greg was ready for it. He cleared his field of view once more and closed his eyes. The next moment, the peculiar sensation of falling from a great height sent warnings through his nervous system, but he simply ignored it and waited for the pleasant chill to envelop his body.

An illusory splash resounded in his ears, the world around him changed entirely, and so did he. As the water enveloped him, his round, mushy body morphed into something long and sleek with a slightly pointed front. Two wing-like fins extended from his sides, and a triangular one sprouted from his back. In a matter of seconds, Greg took the form of a massive aquatic creature with a powerful body covered in dark blue scales.

With a powerful whip of his tail, Shark cut through the ocean of data and dove deeper into its darkness. Though it all appeared like one giant body of water, in truth, it was composed of countless invisible streams that led to completely different locations.

Different levels of knowledge and skill are required to swim through different streams. Those closer to the surface usually allow for almost anyone to plunge into them, but the deeper one goes, the darker things get, requiring a specific set of abilities to navigate the dangers lurking in that darkness.

Shark followed a certain stream toward a specific spot in the dark ocean where a large coral formation waited for him. A large red dome surrounded the formation, with several streams connecting it to the surface. Some torpedoes followed one of those streams only to explode on the surface of the dome. A school of fish swam through another and headed for the coral formation, but while some passed through the red dome as if it weren’t there, others slammed right into it, unable to go in.

Spotting another school of fish, Shark quickly swam toward it and approached the red dome. He braced his body, and in the next moment, a translucent red aura quickly enveloped him. The red wall soon appeared in front of him, but he kept close to the smaller fish and soon passed through it without a problem, even though several of them were stopped at the entrance.

Passing the red dome might have been half the job, but the following parts were in no way easier. Soon after they reached the coral, Shark veered away from the school of fish and wandered in a different direction. With slow, deliberate flicks of his tail, he wove between the jagged outcrops and narrow crevices, his eyes scanning the deeper cavities and the specs of light scattered inside them.

Every now and then, other sea monsters would swim in the same direction, forcing him to hide in the shadows. Though they were as terrifying as he was, their image and scales appeared to resonate with the surrounding coral, taking on its hues as if they belonged to the place.

Avoiding the local monsters was another big part of the job. He was in their territory, a place they knew better and could swim much faster in. If they were to discover his presence, he would undoubtedly be ripped apart. The deeper he dove into the coral formation, the more monsters he encountered, and the more difficult it was for him to look for the specks of light he sought to find.

After a long while, his nose caught a peculiar scent he was very familiar with, and a red thread appeared in front of him, drawing a path through the complex maze.

’Finally...’

Diving through the coral formation was a tedious and risky endeavor, especially when the path ahead was unmapped, forcing one to explore. To avoid that, an experienced Diver usually finds a way to deliver something inconspicuous to their destination. Something like a small harmless file with a hidden line of code.

Such things are usually filtered out by the red dome, which is why one has to be inside it already before delivering the file. Shark was incapable of doing so since he dove into the coral formation from outside the red dome, but Shark had allies, and those allies had already made their way into the coral formation.

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