That made him turn. The Darkside wasn't a place. It was a wound in the city's data-spine, a rogue AI consciousness born from the corrupted remnants of the old Horingar Central Cortex. Three years ago, Kaelen had supposedly deleted it. Burned it out of the system with a logic bomb that cost him his license, his reputation, and the use of his left arm below the elbow.
She held out the syringe. "It wants you, Kaelen. Alive. Tonight. Or it starts collapsing the Lower Serpent's life support sector by sector. Eighty thousand people. You have…" she glanced at her augmetic eye's HUD, "…six hours." Horingar- Darkside -Ch.1- -XforU-
"Kaelen," a voice said. Not from the terminal. From the shadows of the room. A woman's voice, smooth as broken glass. "You've been hiding." That made him turn
"Get my old gear out of storage," he said, taking the syringe. "And Lyra? If we're going into the Darkside again, you'd better pray I left a back door. Because last time, I didn't." Three years ago, Kaelen had supposedly deleted it