Shadowrun: Spells and Chrome (Shadowrun Anthology Book 1) by Spells & Chrome (Shadowrun Anthology Book 1)

Author:Spells & Chrome (Shadowrun Anthology, Book 1) [Retail]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Catalyst Game Labs
Published: 2010-05-14T00:00:00+00:00

The design of the low desk in the Chairman’s office was modern and Western, its dark glass surface a standard display and touch interface. Kanaga Sato brushed aside newsfeed windows and status reports with a flick of his fingers, scattering them like neon leaves as an incoming comm window opened from the dark depths of the glass.

<“It is done?”> a man’s voice asked in Japanese, and the kobun nodded. <“Good. Oversee the investigation. When the dust settles, you will have my support...Chairman-san.”>

“Thank you, Shotozumi-sama,” Kanaga said with a slight bow towards the desk. The window closed, leaving only his reflection in the dark depths.

The slow smile spreading across the kobun’s thin-lipped mouth froze at the press of something cold and sharp against the side of his throat. He didn’t turn around, barely moved except to slide his right hand slowly over...

“Don’t,” came the flat voice from just behind his left ear, the pressure on the blade increased just slightly. The hand stopped, hovering where it was.

“Yojimbo,” Kanaga said quietly. “You’re still here.”

“Was I expected to run?” the bodyguard replied softly. “Was that how it was planned?”

“I don’t—” the bladed pressed again, and he stopped, swallowed.

“I know this place better than anyone,” Kage continued, “well enough to know how difficult it would be for an assassin to get in without help.”

“Assassin?” Kanaga said in mock surprise. “Everyone knows what happened, or soon will. After all, your weapons were used in the killings. Tomashi...”

“Tomashi had his bad qualities,” Kage said, “but one thing he could never do was stand up to his father. He wouldn’t—couldn’t—have done this on his own. He wasn’t in his right mind when...”

“When you killed him?”

“When you forced me to kill him.”

“How do you know I had anything to do with it?”

“I didn’t, for certain, until just now. I only suspected.” Kage’s free hand touched the edge of the desktop, out of the corner of Kanaga’s field of vision. “Oyabun Shotozumi-sama seemed pleased.”

Kanaga swallowed slowly. “And now you’re here for revenge?”

“No, answers.”

“To what?”

“How...and why?”

“I think you know the second one already.”

“Yes...I knew you were a traditionalist, Sato, but I never thought...”

“I would take action?”

“That you would betray the Chairman,” he corrected.

“He is the one who betrayed us!” Kanaga hissed through gritted teeth. “Betrayed our traditions!”

“Oh?” Kage observed. “Like the tradition of using others as puppets? How did you get him to do it, Sato?”

“It wasn’t hard,” the kobun replied with a slight shrug. “You made it easy, in fact.”

“I...” Kage breathed, then sighed. “The sims.”

Sato smiled without humor or warmth. “Yes. A subliminal program, a viral subfeed.”

“That woman...”

“A puppet,” he replied. “Like Tomashi...like you.”

Kage recalled the woman’s intense stare, the endless depths of her dark eyes, the signs she was bunraku.

“Why didn’t it affect me?”

“The program needed to be compressed into a tightly contained data pulse to be transmitted by the carrier’s corneal emitters. It only extracts and runs in the simsense playback, and even then only during direct experience of the wet record. You would have had to replay the sim, which, of course, there was no reason for you to do.

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