Cyberfall

Chapter I | XXX Days before

    We stand in the elevator of block C23, our five-person team. My partner and I play the roles of police detectives, accompanied by three armed officers from the CyberARMS strike unit.

    The block has been in need of renovation for many years, but I doubt it will ever happen. It stands as a grim example of neglect, its decay seemingly irreversible. Everything that could rust has rusted, slowly consuming every inch of the building. The paint that once adorned the walls has peeled away in massive chunks, leaving behind bare concrete, which seems to bear witness to unimaginable human tragedies.

    A dense stench hangs in the air, a mixture of mustiness and rotting garbage, filling every nook and suffocating everyone around. Through the metal mesh on the elevator walls, the yellowed sunlight struggles to penetrate, adding to the place's aura of darkness and desolation. I feel as though this place has absorbed the fear and dread of those who live here, who day by day try to fight against an unfriendly world.

    Time moves slowly, too slowly. I feel dreadful stress, my stomach tied in knots. I fear what we will find there... I fear that we are too late. I look at Meier, hoping to find something in his gaze that will contradict my forebodings. But all I see in him is emptiness.

    It took us several days to track down this address. It turns out that in the world of technology and cybernetics, the police have little say in these matters. Occasionally, there's an exception, but every CyberGhost, specializing in remote code breaking or cyberspace intrusion, and every NetRaider, utilizing their skills in the field and firearms, outshines us by light-years.

    I used to be a NetRaider myself, but I gave up daring actions and living on the edge when I joined the police force. It was then that I learned there was a bounty on Ivy Bludye and a sizable reward. Since then, I have avoided anything related to that. For the sake of ensuring that no one ever links me to it, I decided to take a drastic step. I transferred copies of memories related to it to an external memory, and then I had my memory wiped by an acquaintance biohacker, leaving only a vague outline that says almost nothing. I remember the moment I woke up, completely disoriented and terrified.

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    Light piercing through my eyelids into my retinas woke me. It was blinding. I wanted to shield myself with my hand, but at that moment, I discovered I was bound. I tried to remember where I was. The clinic. Stanley. Then I tried to recall events from a few days ago, a week, a month... but I couldn't. My mind was blank, unsure of who I was and what I was. I was terrified.

- Don't stress out. It's over now - I heard heavy breathing and an even heavier exhale, as if someone was either shedding a heavy burden or taking it upon themselves.

    I opened my eyes and looked towards the source. Stanley. My doctor and at the same time a biohacker. That I remembered.

- Over what? - I asked further, trembling with fear, even though I knew him very well.

- Well... – he replied, confused – What's your name?

    What's my name? I thought. That's a silly question.

- Daria Spolski. Why are you asking?

- Exactly... – he replied, puzzled – And what else are you called?

    I absolutely didn't understand what he meant. But after a few seconds, it felt like it was on the tip of my tongue, as if it got stuck somewhere in my head.

- I don't know... – I looked at him through tears that, inexplicably, suddenly welled up in my eyes. – Stanley! – I screamed in absolute panic. My heart was beating a funeral march by now. – Why the hell don't I know!?