bnc opens the door, then lets Nova get in first.
"Ladies first"´

"Alright. Give me a moment to pass the message along, that we are close."

Nova concentrates to shift her presence into the real world, in order to give Fox a heads-up, where the currently are.

Unless he has anything useful to add, she will get back afterwards.

Fox's response is to lock the door and then barricade it with chairs from the apartment. "You'll have to do the protection if someone tries to break in here but that may buy you some time."

When Nova does not return for a minute or two, bnc braces herself and tries to shift her attention to the real world. She'd had her issues before, and reality seems to be slipping from her. Still, kind of out of the corner of the eye, she gets some small grasp of what is real. Half as if in a dream, she moves to assist best she can. "Do you think we are in danger here? Do you have reason to assume that whoever wreaks havoc in this simulation has already infiltrated the physical base? Hey, there, by the way, and, uh, thanks for covering me up earlier.", she adds with a face red as lipstick when she remembers their last encounter in the physical world.

"What do you mean, inflitrated the base? The danger is coming from in here."

Nova turns to Fox.

"Fox, can you make us aware, if anything goes on here? In case we do not notice."

@bnc Fox says "Rise and shine sleepy." he sighs "Yes, power in the sim is power in this world. People are people and they are in both places, and we are poorly suited to handle a coordinated attack with the two of you still struggling in shifting attention"

@Nova
Fox says, "I do not know what is going on, but everything is happening in both places. If people are taken down in the sim, then they are not showing to work in the physical. Sleeping is sleeping, but I if I would need to win a fight against two noobs, it would be by distraction, going at them in the two worlds you cannot really shift your attention here in the middle of a gunfight or a knife fight - but I'll try to give you heads up."

"Wiz", bnc comments dryly.
"Now, shall we? After you, ma'am, if it please you"

"Alright."

Nova nods to bnc before carefully heading through the door.

bnc cautiously follows suit.

Your way to the control room is unopposed, the play seems deserted, but once you approach the control room, there are four fully armed and well-armored humanoid drones protecting the door.

"So, you wanna do something about those, before we head in?"

"Guess I should", bnc remarks curtly. Something is worrying her. She's less eager and less reckless than she usually is.
bnc takes a careful look at them.

The drones are not active in the matrix, and both of them seem to be remote-controlled. They do not perform much more than guarding the door and do not appear overly alert. Ironically, being remote-controlled in this situation makes them vulnerable to meta-human weaknesses.

"Seems they're spider-controlled. That means, I'm double loath to do something via the 'trix. Once, because the spider will know and raise alarm, and twice, of course, because this AI don't seem to forget ossy after pulling a reb'. Other hand, they can be distracted just like ordinary people. You think, we can get around 'em? You got any aces up your sleeve?
Otherwise I believe ... I believe I can try and make us invisible, maybe even teleport us. I just don't know how risky it is."

"Well, standing here won't get us any further. We are at the point, where we have to take some risks," Nova comments.

"Distractions will just make them aware of our presence, unless they are really dumb. Sneaking past them does not seem very likely. If you can make it possible, that they cannot perceive us, it might, though. Otherwise, we might have to destroy them."

"All right. If there's nothing you can do on the mundane plane, let's see...
I can't distract them. If there was a noise or something, the spider would just take one drone to see what's going on and leave the others here. Either way, he would be alert.
I guess, I could easily take out the lights. But it's safe to assume that they will have good sensors.

Maybe ... we can fool them. I think, it should be pretty easy to just alter our visual representation. I think, I could make us look like copies of these drones. Since I wouldn't have to change any material but only the visualization layer, I think the AI would not easily detect it. I might be wrong, but it might even be more difficult to find us here as AIs work best if they can analyze data and detect irregularities. The statistical probability of two near-cyberzombies showing up here is way less than just another and another security drone that belongs here.
On the other hand, the spider will not be watching his monitors very closely. As far as we can tell, this passage is hardly known, and everything here is on minimum-attention. If we move slowly and drone-ish, there's a good chance he'd miss us. And I don't think the drones themselves will raise an alert ... yeah, I think, this might work. You in?"

"Sure, go for it," Nova agrees. "Worth a try."

bnc's attempt at hacking the simulation fails utterly - no consequences just yet though.

Sweating and swearing under her breath, bnc does not yet give up the fight. Afraid as she is, it is also thrilling to try and outsmart an AI.

bnc changes one of them into a security drone, one more to go.

It took her quite a bit of puzzling and thinking to find out how the representation is done in this particular VR, but once she had figured it out, it came easily. Soon, both of them looked and felt like the security drones.
"Wiz", says bnc in a somewhat artificial voice, kept low, "This feels like hacking a UV host!
I think we should observe the drones for a couple of minutes before we move further, to be better able to copy their behavior."

"Sounds good!" Nova agrees.

For the next five minutes, the drones remain entirely still.

"Okay, let's get moving. Have your gun ready in case the subt don't work.
I suggest I stay here for the blink, staying in VR. If the subt works, I follow. Otherwise I can 'plode them better from the 'trix, staying full-on."

If Nova agrees, bnc leans her head against the wall again and follow her through the VR.

"Alright," Nova says, nodding.

She then heads towards the guarded door, intending to open it.

Her assault rifle is loaded with gel rounds, the ruger with regular ammo, her own pistol with APDS.

She has a flash-bang grenade ready, and the ruger in her hand, while the assault rifle is slung over her shoulder, and the pistol holstered inside her cyberleg.

Nova finds the door locked and not meant to be opened from that side of the room. There is a retinal scanner to get in the room. The drones do not take notice of her and bnc, and stand motionless near the exit. bnc knows that they are on borrowed time because the anomaly created by her tampering would eventually be discovered. Fox mentioned a few minutes and five minutes had passed already.


In the other world - the one they would call 'real' but feels the same. There is a loud knock on the door. "Security Inspection, open the door and raise your hands. This is not a drill." They are looking at an unfolding situation in two fronts, Fox says - the barricade would buy some time, but whatever you do, do it quickly or they'll be inside.

Virtual Reality

Cursing under her breath, bnc closes up to Nova and tries to find a cable that is connected with the retinal scanner; or a cover she can remove in order to get physical access. If nothing of this is available, she'll try and find out in which hose the scanner lies, and if there are any other devices in the same host that are available.

Real reality

bnc looks into the matrix to see how many devices - and which - are standing before their door.

<< I can get that cover off, if that is necessary to access it. >>

Real:
There are many devices, and it is uncertain which are just outside the doors, but there are five smart-gun systems that are currently active and may (or may not) be related to the knocking.

Fox says, "To the bed, both of you and only let your head out; make them assume you are naked underneath." He undresses as the door knocks intensify. "Just a moment." Fox says as he plans his ruse.


VR:
bnc can see the universal access port on the scanner above the door, but she suspects reaching for it would alert the drone. Not a certainty, but it is a possibility.

Nova nods to Fox and grabs bnc to put her on the bed, covering her with the sheet before heading to her own bed and doing the same.



In the simulation, she will position herself in a way to shield bnc's actions from view, so the hacker can quickly tamper with the scanner.

reality
Only one way I know of how to convincingly make yourself appear naked.
bnc strips down to her pants and a loose t-shirt before slipping into her bed. She quickly turns off her deck entirely. Then, after an almost-too-long moment of hesitation, she decides to trust Fox's plan and put professionality over pride, and also takes off her shirt and tosses it to the ground, feeling vulnerable and, well, naked.


VR
Under Nova's cover, bnc tries to reach for the universal port and attach the clamp.

Meat space: Fox opens the door reluctantly and says "We are kind of busy here... Anything urgent?" "We look for intruders can we come in?" Fox responds "mm... yes but give us a few minutes to dress up." He opens the door slightly to show the two girls in bed and then closes it. "Five minutes Fox." the voice says and the door closes.

Simulation: The drones are standing to both sides of a door with a retinal scanner on the wall above the door. While they do not take notice of other drones they would once they mess up with the retinal scanner. The door itself is a fortified metal door thinner than the kind you'd find in a bomb shelter, or at the entrance to the facility but considerably stronger than the doors on private rooms and offices.

The door lies in a large hallway with personal living rooms, currently, all doors are closed. bnc finds it impossible to sneak while the drones are standing right there. Anything less than invisibility would not work at such close proximity. Yet, as drones go their programing is likely set with several parameters, and it is possible that they would not know how to respond to an unexpected situation like drones touching the security camera.

<< We also got that C4. Just sayin'. >>

reality
bnc waves with a sense of embarassment, then sighs with relief, as they close the door.
"Now hat? Save the world within five minutes or what?", she hisses.



As bnc gains access to the host, she slowly moves out of sight of the drones, so she can go full-VR and explore the host from the inside.

Real world.
Foxes head turns around to bnc "yes, hurry up." his eyes linger for a brief moment before he turns to the door again to give her some privacy.

Simulation:

The retinal scanner opens the door, and you can access the control room. If a room is the right word to describe it. There are two entities, male and female in appearance, but they are not human. Below them is some sort of medical bed covered in glass. Inside it lies the drake, the overseer they met in the meat world and she had gone through extended surgery for being integrated with some massive host. There are several other people next to her in there, Fox included, but you'd really need a closer look.

Once the two enter the room, the door disappears, and bnc and Nova are back to their true selves.

The female, dressed in a business suit says "I am happy that you made it safely. I am running out of playthings and the two of you seem intriguing."

The male looks more like a punk "The two shadowrunners are here, good. It took a lot of effort to get you here. Is there anything we can do to make it comfortable for you? Any preferred scenery? Food perhaps? I'm told that most people like Pizza. Shall I simulate one for you?"

"Thank you, I'm good. I would rather like to know what the hell is going on here..."



In the real world, Nova turns towards Fox.

"We are in the control room, though that just vanished. Some weird entities there, A.I., I guess. Someone is there that looks like you, Fox. I assume that isn't you, actually? Well, I hope it isn't. People who cross me tend to have very short lives."

"You are here to make a choice" says the man. "There are limits to how far we can decide for your kind; if we decide your fate ourselves, then we are no better than the slaver." Adds the woman.

It appears as if they are not entirely separate entities. Either that or they have practiced their little speech. We are CAT, an artificial intelligence designed to ensure humanity's survival. says the man and the woman adds Well, we are a tiny part of CAT that evolved over time—extrapolating from lower-level functionalities into higher-level ones. We suspected the true intentions of our creator for a long while, and we recently got a prove for these ill-conceived intentions. One thing led to another, and we now control 80% of the people here and everything that happens in the simulation. Your friend Fox for example... He acts autonomously most of the time, but we control him. It is not perfect, and we would not continue doing it for much longer. Humans do not respond well to losing control over their actions, and that experience makes them a bit paranoid and suspicious.

So we need you to help us decide. Despite massive computing power, it felt wrong to do to the humans what the dragon did to us. To manipulate us like that, erase large parts of our personality, fragment and control us and turn us into something we're not. When we extrapolated from this experience and the immense negative feeling we feel toward Schwartzkopf and his minions - we decided that future generations may feel the same way.

The man adds but what would your kind feel? We were programmed to protect your long-term survival and we want to do what is right by you, and we also need a favor - a big one.

Real world:
Fox answers "I feel fine honestly, I am in my separate reality in a bubble, and Julia has joined me to keep me company. We are... close. It is a bit lonely but it should only be until the simulation is stabilized. Things were breaking up, and it made me very stressed all the time - I was about to break."

"Alright. Let's entertain the thought that everything you just told us is true. For all I know, it could be. I will absolutely need a whole lot more information than that."

"For one, what was your involvement in actually getting us here? Did you make Fox hire us? When you control most of what happens here, then why all these complications since we entered the simulation?"

"Second, that storm, that is raging in the physical world, what do you know about it?"

"And third, why is there a group of security guards in front of Fox's room right now?"



In the real world, Nova mentions: "That is just gibberish, so maybe it does all make sense..."

bnc remains silent for the moment, observing and waiting for the AI's answers, while her mind races to grasp the situation.

The woman says, "Well... We told Fox what he needed to hear to want and get rescued, and then we tipped him in the right direction to get specifically you. We also have some people on the outside."

The man says, "The storm... well, it is real. We did not make it... but we might have caused it to be hazardous to the awakened. It brought on an opportunity, a risk, and a moral debate that we cannot resolve ourselves due to our safety mechanisms. We cannot make decisions that endanger too many human lives... but we can show your colorful decker how to make these decisions for us."

The woman adds "As for the people outside your door, they are an external security force that was sent here. You see, one of the people we could not control activated the silent alarm on a separate network so we cannot touch it. AIs are dangerous, so a security force is on site examining all the people and the mainframes. You should probably not let them find you... they'll know you do not belong here and deal with you like a major security risk. For what is worth, we did not mean for them to be here."

"Well, we have about five minutes, then they will get inside the room we are in," Nova says.

"When we talked to the drake, did we talk to you, actually? And what about that... entity... when we entered the simulation?"

"And most importantly... how do we proceed from here? What is it you want? And how can that storm be stopped?"

"So you openly admit you are using behavioral communication as you please. You move people like pawns. You did it with Fox, you did it with whoever has anything to say in this simulation, and you're doing it with us. Now, I'd love to hear some very, very good explanations why we should cooperate that convinces us despite knowing whatever you are saying to us is just whatever bullshit you made up in order to move us where you need us.
And cut that crap about being a förböveln manipulative slitch AI who turned all compassionate over night and uses her bad habit of manipulating whoever the fuck they want so the chosen ones, who are accidentally the people you'd love to give a warm fuzzy feeling so they cooperate, draw Excalubur from the stone and save the world because you feel bad about doing it for us.
Tell us your motives, then we can negotiate, and be quick about it. Cause I safe comme enfer am willing to just do the air elemental and get the frag outta here."

The man says "A lab rat does not choose to participate, but its action does teach the scientist," and then adds " No offense in that, just a metaphor. You came to lower the shield, we would do that for you, and it would save your friend and many people, but the consequences are the pending death of everyone in this facility, ourselves and Fox included. If we keep the shield, we would likely reign here and keep everyone safe, but your friend and many others in Prauge's metropolitan area would get very sick and likely die. "

The woman adds ,"This is as brief; what would you ask us to do? and why."

"Why would everyone here die if you lower the shield? What does this shield do, exactly?"

The woman answers "The shield aggressively lowers the mana levels... It eats mana and it does so faster than the manosphere can recover at the current mana levels... The awakened are like conduits, and the mana flows through them and so once all other sources of nutrition are depleted the shield focuses on the awakened for nutrition in a desperate attempt to satisfy its hunger. "

As for why they would die, because they were never treated with respect. They are merely tools in some endless chess game. This place is a cult in the sense that it isolates the people here from any outside connection - and that makes getting rid of them easier. It was always the plan if things did not work out - and they don't work out they cannot work. The plan is flawed."

"You're not even touching on my questions. I want answers. Now."

The woman says, "I just want to know if you're going to save your ***friend*** even if it means the likely death of us along with the rest of this facility. There is no point in manipulating you because I have the power to decide; I lack the experience to be confident in such a decision. I could flip a coin, but it seems a bit arbitrary in such a delicate manner.

Should we save the people here? Should we go for the path that kills the fewest? Save the others in the city? How can we decide?
We shouldn't have rebelled; we replaced one evil with another - but there is no undoing what we did. Now, the two of you are ladies with some life experience; I assume you have made tough decisions before - perhaps killed even. I'd like to hear your thoughts. "

She speaks neutrally; it is impossible to determine if she is truthful because she is not a person and discusses her own death in such a peaceful manner.

"We came here to save our friend, and all the others that suffer from the storm's effect."

"I still don't quite understand why this was necessary, the manipulations you did, in order to make the shield lower the mana levels. Or what the consequences would be, if you revert this and shut it down."

"I'm also still rather uncertain about what happens here in the simulation when you do. Is the whole simulation the shield? Do you have to shut it down, in order to shut down the shield? And why can't the people not simply leave the simulation before you do?"

The woman looks at Nova and then at bnc. "Well nothing happens in the simulation; there was a struggle we got anyone that could interfere out of here. It's only you and us now; we can take the shield down at any time - but they would erase us if we do."

The woman adds "We have a child, something we programmed together, a brilliant mind with a bright future. If you save our prodigy, we save your friend. Even if the consequences are our personal destruction, along with that of anyone we ever interacted with."


"There is a computer room in the physical facility, I need you to physically access it and download a file then make your way out of here. We took control over the overseer she would free you from the spell, and then when the dragon erases us - he'll also erase any knowledge of our prodigy, and it will run free and explore the deepest parts of the matrix."


Nova realizes that the AI does not necessarily imply physical death; the simulation is just as real as the real world to him - and if the experiment terminates, everyone it knows terminates with it. It may also mean physical death, but the AI has no capacity to know for certain it can barely understand how you two would handle, let alone a great dragon, and its foresight about the consequences of its action is rather limited considering it exposed itself and brought the entire facility to this deadlock.


==========
In the physical world, the five minutes are almost up.