The climb is difficult, and the snow and winds are piercing it is a very unpleasant walk but Fox chooses paths that keep you well-hidden nobody bothers you until the Core is within reach. It is a residential complex comprised of ten tall buildings with a shared communal space. The buildings are surrounded by a makeshift wall that was recently erected and guards that patrol the area. The wall is made out of junk, desks, tables, cars, plastic sheets, and wires.

"That wasn't there when I left, they must be expecting us. Buildings 3, the seventh floor, is where my contact would be. " he points, at the goal of a building with "3" denoted on it.

"Before we continue, we might need to clear some things up, before it gets hectic. Who in here should we assume an enemy? Can we just attack and possibly kill anybody who opposes us?"

Fox responds "I suspect that right now they are only looking for me, not for you. Barricading the complex seems enough to keep me out. With dwindling supplies, and winter I couldn't hide for that long. So this is our edge, you can kill people but it would make your existence obvious which would cause us problem physical side as it is not that difficult to find out about your guestroom."

"So, we should try and subdue them? I'm not talking about going on the offensive here, but when we have to fight."

"Can you think of any other threat than you they might be trying to fend off?"

Fox responds to bnc "Not inside the simulation. I shared with you some speculation about out-of-simulation goals, I honestly know very little."

To Nova "Subdue may be quieter especially if the physical body is in bed. Otherwise, it would be not much better than killing. Less permanent, but collapsing in a public place would raise suspicions. Since we do not where is everyone, I'd keep violence as a last resort - to avoid detection. "

"Without James, this is gonna be tough. But there isn't much of an option ... so let's go. You ready, Nov'?"

"Yeah, obviously, we will try to be undetected as much as possible. But at some point, I guess, that won't work anymore. So, since we cannot know where the person is in the physical space, it does not matter, whether they just fall unconscious or drop dead. Is that right?"

Fox sighs "Remember that I try to keep my workplace and my head attached in the aftermath, so less killing if you can avoid it. Some of these people are very important to this project. If it is life and death well you don't need my approval."

"Of course it matters. On the one hand, we may be lucky and their physical bodies may just doze somewhere and nobody will notice. Death is always more obvious. On the other hand, we're still talking about killing. Persons. Humans.
That being said, please geek everyone who tries to geek us."

bnc checks her ammunition. "Huh. These look a lot like gel rounds. So I can't kill anyone. In addition, these look like very few gel rounds so don't expect a hell of a lot of shooting from me. I guess I just turned into the party's wizard. Ugh, I need a wand!"

"That is what I want to know. You have been so vague and not really answering the question, that I had to ask it three times. See? That is why I wanted to clear it up before it is too late. I will change my ammunition to non-lethal then."

Nova switches the magazine in her handgun with one retrieved from her smuggling compartment. She also pulls out a pair of gloves and puts them on.

Nova's incredible legs pass the barricade without a hitch. Almost like there is no barrier, and she carries bnc and Fox with her. Nova moves toward the building, and Fox does as well but bnc struggles a bit, and as they move for the final lag to the building she hears a voice: "Hey!" it is a woman in a rain-coat "What are you doing outside?" asks astonished "Poor thing... Come drink some soup." she says and invites her inside.

bnc curses silently. She gets a little closer to make up a story. She explains:
"God-damn horrors chased me four full hours. I'm so fucking glad I made it. I just can't deal with them being inside. What retard would do such an awful thing?"

bnc does her best to act like she'd been walking for ages - which is astonishingly easy as she literally had been walking what's ages to her.

Nova whispers to Fox: "How many people are in here, like in total? It seems like a small village, where everyone should know everyone... would they immediately recognize us as outsiders?"

The woman whom now bnc sees is in her sixties says "Well, come in honey. I'll get you some warm soup"

Fox responds to Nova quietly "About 2,000 give or take - and yes most would know each other. There is circulation however so being foreign is acceptable here. "

bnc groans deeply as if soup was her salvation.
"Thank you, dear. If you could spare a blanket or two, I'd be shaken."

"No way I can escape now. Stay hidden and proceed. Maybe I can assist in a different way when I'm inside. I'm terrible at sneaking, shooting and all that stuff anyway."

The woman takes bnc to a small apartment on the third floor, it is warm and cozy if small one bedroom. There is a boiling steaming pot of some stew which comforts bnc just from smelling it, she offers her a warm coat and some blankets and pours her a bowl of soup. She introduces herself as "Christa", and shortly after would encourage bnc to eat and regain her strength.


Fox looks at Nova a bit confused as if seeking her guidance if they continue in the original plan or follow bnc. "I don't like it" he says to himself, and he seems struggling to contain some emotion. "Building three, seventh floor" he says to convince himself. (bnc has entered building 2).

"Following her in there would be awkward, so let's give her a few moments, and just wait for now, I guess. We should not split up, and she would not be able to find us, if we go now. Let's give her a bit, and if she does not come back out, we go looking for her."

Fox says "Shit... So we stay here in the cold?" he frowns and takes a deep breath coaching close the building to not be seen.

"We have been out here for a few hours, what's a few more minutes..."

bnc gratefully shovels some two bowls of soup, gingerly avoiding greasy junks of meat or other ingredients that would overwhelm her sensitive stomach.
"I'm Ruth", she responds, then makes a show of silently eating the stew.

(Does Christa stay and wait?)

<< @bnc: We are still outside. Can you get back out soon? Then we'll wait. I doubt it will be a good idea to split up in here. And we might need you, who knows what obstacles we will have to overcome. >>

<@nova <cant tell yet. right now im shovelling soup and being watched by the gran. but i thought it might actually be good 2 stay. that way, u can access places silently while i mite go sumwhere else publicly and help from there. wed hav max coverage from distant angles. besides, u got fox>>

Christa seats and handles bnc as much soup as she can goggle. "You are new, arent' you?" she asks eventually.

bnc nods. "Yeah. New. Frustrated. Irritated. Perplexed. Overwhelmed, too.
I ... whew. Thanks for the soup, ma'am. I'm so exhausted. And restless at the same time. Does that even make sense? Can I take a walk or something, see the 'core' or whatever myself? It's so surreal, everything..."

Christa laughs "It is not easy, you should practice Yoga with your other half. Breath in, breath out it really helps emotions travel both places, and here your emotions are strained to the core. I wouldn't suggest going out much, Core is insane since the last Horror attack, we had a glitch and then the bastard got in and they are too much to handle. Some people started going insane barricading themselves in, kidnapping people total chaos. If they don't regain their senses they would not continue with us."

At "Cori is insance since the last" bnc turns on her mic and relays the audio directly to Nova and Fox.

"Wait, what? It's supposed to be safe in here. Are you saying it's not safe here? What bastard got in? And don't you even think of going easy on me because I'm frustrated. I need to know what's going on."

"Oh dear, weren't you sent here to help? Why would someone bring you to this sinking ship otherwise? The shield protecting us from the Horrors has collapsed, any attempts to raise it have failed. Then Core became kind of lord of the flies - people attacking each other hoarding supplies the charismatic has people working for them. Few of us are more resistant to the horrors than the others, and we try to carry on with our daily routines and wait for the order to restore.

You know eventually, they'll either fix it or stop the simulation and restart it with the data collected as to why the shield failed. So we hang in here, make soup and try to keep relaxed and avoid the monsters. I suggest you do the same thing. That is unless you came here to help, but I was thinking they'll send soldiers... Not anxious young ladies. No offense Ruth but you do not seem like a beacon of emotional stability. You'll be in danger out there.

"That's what we are trying to do, right? Get the shield up?" Nova asks Fox.

"Anyways, it looks like bnc is not in any danger currently. Should we proceed then?"

Fox answers "No, we are trying to get the shield on the physical world down because there is no Horror attack on that world, and the awakened are being consumed by some sort of FAB. We've been walking for five hours have you seen any Horror? "

He sighs "Yes, let's go we need guns, armors, and so forth." He leads her to build 3 seventh floor which appears to be another residential apartment, the apartment is empty. Fox closes the door, and says "Okay, what kind of equipment do you want?"

"This is all very confusing, to say the least." Nova says. "Are you implying that there are no horrors here in the simulation?"

"Well, as long as I know what to do... get you into that room, wherever that is, and give you space to work, right? You will do the rest?"



Once they reach the apartment, where they are supposed to gear up, Nova answers: "Well, armor would be good, obviously. Anything, that offers good protection and does not limit my mobillity overly would be great. Not sure how subtle we have to be, so that is also something to figure in. As for weapons, I am trained in all firearms and unarmed combat mostly. I also know how to operate heavier weapons, like grenade launchers, rocket launchers, machine guns, but I am not nearly as experienced with those. Longarms are my favorite, sniper rifles, assault shotguns. What about modifications? Gas Vents, Smartgun, stuff like that. And what kind of ammunition can you provide? Armor-piercing? Anything Non-lethal? How many details do you need?"

"If you can provide us with chemically sealed armor, like security and military forces have sometimes, we could also consider gas grenades. Neurostun, for example."

Fox responds Feels like a perfect excuse to keep people inside and not at their workstations, keep the coup hidden for as long as possible. He responds Yes, ideally we'll rescue the right person to operate the shield but without intel on him, getting me there might do the trick.

He says I can get you a hunting rifle and flechette bullets used for hunting animals, and perhaps a pistol for security we do not carry heavy weapons in here. Though, if you are really interested we may salvage an assault cannon from one of the fortifications. We do not used these, but the idea is to keep them as a last resort.

Body armors I can do, even chemically sealed ones, awakened people must use these when they go near the barrier because of the FAB. So you earn, we do not use gas grenades but have flashbangs for riot dispersal, and high explosives to fight horrors. Rounds, armor-piercing or gel rounds is what we have. Either you want to shoot a spirit or you want to shoot a person. No other uses for guns here. Gun modifications, well only have smart-guns sadly.

Anything else? "

"Hunting rifle, two pistols, armor-piercing and gel rounds, and a couple flash-bangs, then," Nova says. "Plus the best armor you can provide."

"Smartgun is fine, not much accumulated recoil on those non-automatic weapons."

"Can't think of anything else right now. Do we have everything to get into the places we need to get into? Communications? bnc and I both have commlinks with us, that actually seem to work in here, which surprised me. Can you get something as well, so we can communicate silently, when necessary?"

bnc runs her hand through her hair. "Sheesh. Now I understand. You fuckwhole of a dickshit. Sorry, ma'am, I didn't mean you. I should also watch my language when with, uhm, grown-up, that is, I mean, life-experienced people." She exhales. "Things start making sense now. Thanks, you might have helped more than you'd think. I was not told I had been sent, because I wouldn't have come here, had I know. But it's certainly not happenstance I'm here. I might not be emotionally stable but I do have a keen mind and I'm exceptionally prone to solve irregular problems. Fucktard!
All right, uh, Christa, please tell me what you know about that shield, what has happened in the last, say, three weeks, who's in charge here and who's currently handling the shield."

<@team <might be able 2 gather sum intel. fox what exactly do u need. and please be clear for fucks sake. ur vague hints and cryptical descriptions are not helping. tell me fucking right now what exactly we want to reach within the sim and ill see it dun>>

Christa says "I don't know much, I was hunting in the woods, and when I returned my lovers hushed me in quickly and said that things went insane. Do you want to speak to them as well? Today, I was testing the outside to see how horrible it is and saw you - it all happened two days ago and today is the first time I left the building. I personally did not encounter any horror."


Fox responds >>What do you mean I need? I need you to gain control of the bunker. I don't know what I need tactic wise I am no soldier and I don't play video games of this particular kind.

Nova can see him move agitatedly.

Fox explains "The comlink was translated as an interface, I have a watch for that. The scanner is not as straightforward as you might think. It tries to understand the utility of your items rather than their structure. So the cyberdeck is translated as an unrestricted dev-mode interface to the simulation, and a comlink as a user-level restricted interface."

He fills up an order form on a terminal and says "The search algorithm would locate what we need in the simulation, but we might need to get it ourselves. It would take a few minutes so lets wait."

===

<< @Fox: So we can use this, great. >>

"Okay, we wait, then."

Fox comments "About working silently, you can actually do it. It seems like an invisibility spell. It makes you considerably slower and less effective thought. Sadly it is a restricted interface, which takes a lot of practice to gain control on. bnc can do it for her deck, but we cannot turn the comlink invisible even if we shut it off. It would still have an icon and that icon is still visible to people with unrestricted interfaces. Heck, we are icons as well and are always visible. "

Your lovers, huh, granny? This is certainly TMI for me.

Instead, bnc smiles as pleasant a smile as she can. Which is not too pleasant. Here cybereyes look too cool and sterile to bear much emotion. Her neuronal implants fucked up her emotional and empathic systems bad. When she upgraded herself to have nanites support her in cognitive tasks, that tipped the scales for good. Her smile seems fake and unnatural, her face is unable to carry sympathy or understanding.

"Yes, please, Christa. I would really like to talk to your, uhm, lovers.
Also ... say, do you know anyone who actually saw a horror in person? I need to talk someone who actually knows them. What I saw ... I can't make sense of it alone, yet. I need more data. First-hand experiences. Oh, and where exactly is that mission control bunker? Much of what I saw and heard indicate that there's a problem there."

"Don't feel awkward, it is a very different existence than what you might imagine. We have all seen digital Horrors and other mental abuse here. You need emotional support, you need a strong healthy body and a healthy and stable mind. Emotional support would save your life. Find someone to love hon, do a relationship, do more than one in case your loved one dies, have friends, family, and lovers. Do anything that lets you survive. It would give you someone to hug when you need the support, to cry with when you are sad, and most important someone to hold your hand when your simulation sides face the Horrors - and is often all alone. As for my lovers, Joe lives in apartment 42, and Tina in 301, I do not associate with them in here, only -out there- in the facility. "

She sighs and considers a minute and decides to comment on mission control. "Tina works there, right at the center of core - underground. I am not sure exactly from which building you enter, I've never been inside and she never goes out. I never saw her in here, and she never speaks about work much. All top-secret classified shit."

bnc is slowly running out of patience for her act.
"Yah, thanks for the advice, really. Find someone to hug, then the horrors won't be all bad.
Thank you for the soup and everything. I assume the apartments are easy to find?"

If the answer is no, bnc asks her for directions, she'll head for 301 straight away.

While on the move, she calls Nova and Fox.

"I assume you'd have been listening. I'm now gonna pay a call to this Tina person, maybe find something out. Would you use, in the meantime, try and find out about mission control? I assume it's easier for you to scout out security and stuff."

Fox looks tense: "We are not going to visit people in the physical too dangerous"

"What? You want me to just let this chance slip?"

Fox answers "I don't want you to get killed - send James"

"Are you fucking kidding me? You told me he couldn't enter the simulation"

<< He is talking about the physical world, not the simulation. This 'Tina' is not in here, right? >>

<< We aren't very far, yet, so if you want to meet up again, let's do that. >>

"Oh. I see. I'm still struggling with the concept.
All right, let's meet up."

bnc joins. While walking, she tries to feel her physical body.

bnc finds the apartment with a few directions without a hitch.

When she thinks of her body, she realizes that she is lying on a bed in the apartment, covered in a blanket, and her pants are still down. She vaguely remembers Fox covering her up some hours ago.

Nova is lying next to the bed, James is at the door, and Fox seems half-asleep in the kitchen. It is night, and she feels like she wants to sleep being in bed and having enough for one day. It takes some willpower to concentrate, but she is definitely in the room.

She barely hears Fox saying something about items and locations, and it is somewhere distant, which she is not completely grasping.


------

@Nova Fox says "We got a location, it is a strange location. I expected it to be in the bunker, but apparently, they moved the armory to a small hunting camp in the woods. It makes no sense, why did they take this stuff out of the bunker? It is five kilometers, are we going now - or getting some Zs? This apartment should be safe-ish. I am worried bout braving the outdoors again, not sure they'll be much fight in us when we finally get there. What do you gals think? "