A door is yanked open causing the stray neon light of the city to flood into the house before it slams closed. Netty rushes into his home.. passing by the pitch black living room and racing down to the basement. His eyes glow red while he waves his hand over a very particular spot on the blank wall making it slide out of the way, revealing a hidden door that slides open.
He steps down into his dark basement... it's square foot radius is damn near bigger than the house itself. Clearly re-modeled, the space was a Netrunner's paradise... housing all the necessary and unnecessary bells and whistles needed to manage anything pertaining to netrunning. High-end system links, an automated security drone comfortably tucked away in it's housing, military grade hardware that you wouldn't find in just any hardcore runner's setup. He slowly reaches for his father's personal netrunning jumpsuit and stops midway... he looks down before stepping past it and placing his hand firmly on the arm of his father's large, custom designed runner chair. His eyes glow blue to turn the lights on in the basement, illuminating the space and turning on the various runner equipment. The heavy whirs and beeps of equipment powering on that hasn't been used in quite some time fills the underground space, slowly warming it. Netty takes a deep breath and pauses before hopping into his father's chair and jacking in.
The neurological surge of jacking into the net floods his brain and bones as he connects... briefly tensing his muscles before slowly relaxing into the seat.
As he enters the net... he traces back to the notification he received, forwarding him to an isolated and secure communications domain... a place him and one of his closest chooms setup ages ago as an emergency contingency. The text message he received: = Sweet wire causes cavities. Two Two late for depravities. = was an agreed upon cipher of theirs... only to be used as a form of urgent notification... when it was a matter of life and death... desperation has set in.. and events are imminent. Uncertain of what he might encounter, Netty has prepared his most refined and dynamic arsenal of counter-offensive and defensive programs. Prepping for deep net affairs? Its muscle memory by now... an unwaverable checklist of software priorities locked from point to point. Netaniel has always entered the net with the state of mind of someone preparing for war... where the matters of life and death take priority over exploration and discovery. It was and never will be a place he ever intends to let his guard down.
Netty enters the more than familiar domain and proceeds to slowly walk around it. The neon red hue of the digital landscape soaks the area contrasting his light-pink avatar. The place was pretty much exactly how he remembered. A large, grassy island platform in the middle of the Pacific ocean... looking out into a warm orange and red sunset. Although it was something they cobbled together a long time ago, it carried with it fond memories he holds onto tightly. In fact... the more he thinks about those memories, the more he realizes just how ridiculous it is for him to be back there.
Suddenly... he starts to hear the aggressive yet feint whispers of an unrecognizable voice echoing in and out of existence... tickling his sense of hearing.
"What Wicked Webs We Weave"
"What Wicked Webs"
"We Weave"
"Wicked Webs"
"What Wicked Webs We Weave"
Hearing the ominous whispers grow in aggression puts Netty on edge... they sound far too close for comfort. He quickly scans the area for traces of input activity but finds nothing.. further putting him on guard... raising the tension and making him hyper alert. He then feels the light sensation of a hand placed on his shoulder from behind, causing him to quickly turn around... he again sees nothing.
He places the palms of his hands together and slowly rotates them... emitting a neon yellow pulse covering a radius as large as the entire communication domain itself designed to ping any active avatars or traces of encrypted inputs and command codes.
As a result of the pulse... a lone avatar is revealed toward the end of the domain.
With its back turned to Netty, it overlooks the beautiful digitized rendition of the pacific ocean at the edge of the platform during sunset. The unknown avatar was a bright neon white and distorted beyond recognition... his passive attempt to scan them brings up an unknown error causing the code to just sperg out. He slowly approaches the avatar... causing them to glance back at him over their shoulder then back at the sunset.
The avatar finally speaks... their voice calm and cybernetically altered... distorted to the ear.
"This scene is truly beautiful... Its not very reflective of urgency or desperation i must say... I can tell this is an old ocean... long before it was tainted... so serene... so light."
"Guess it depends... what you consider urgent... or desperate" Netty responds in a softened tone... taking a few steps toward the avatar.
It glances back at him again briefly.
"I see you've shown up here prepared for a fight... unnecessary. I merely wish to talk... make an introduction."
"By using my dead friend's encrypted panic ping? Not a good first impression choom."
"I meant no disrespect. However... I guess there are any number of ways one could go about making contact."
"Who are you and what do you want."
"Your involvement with the Black Wall is... peculiar to say the least. I'd be remiss to say what you did isn't worth a meeting."
"No idea what you're talkin' about."
"A lie i'd be more than willing to accept... if I didn't witness you do it myself."
"What...?" Netty says in disbelief.
The avatar continues.
"I've spent... i'm not sure how long now... day in and day out watching runners use it for various purposes. Whether its the VDBs doing their weird rituals in front of it or the occasional suicidal shut in looking to end it all." The avatar finally turns to face Netty... up close, he sees nothing but a white, unidentifiable silhouette of a person shorter than himself.
"Then... one day... I saw you."
"Saw me huh.."
"You looked... empty... like so many i've seen before. Like you had nothing left... nothing to lose... the numbness in you was-"
"-I'm not speakin' on this with an anon. Could be anybody. Who are you?"
The avatar deflects and switches subject. "Noticed you've been poking around some Pacifica subnet these days. Did you do your DD while you were in there...? A pretty unsavory bunch. Might be walking into something dangerous... Something i think you nor your people are prepared for. Figured i'd tell you considering you took the time to meet... gesture of good will n all."
"How does that make any sense..? Thanks for the tip but in doing that, you're holdin' me here away from them and whatever 'danger' they're actively headed to... not answerin' any of my questions? I mean... is this the work of someone trying to help me or someone that needs to be moved out of the way..."
The avatar takes the kid's threat to the chest and sits in it unfazed... pausing for the first time allowing the sounds of a gently flowing ocean to take over briefly and fueling the unnecessary tension.
Their nature instinctually compels them to respond.
"If I wanted to hold you here. It wouldn't be a problem."
"You sure about that choom? Try me. Make a move." He quickly responds taking a step toward the avatar. His tone confrontational.
It takes a deep breath and sighs... The reaction of someone who's found themselves in this moment countless times.
"Mm... after all these years... you remind me so much of him y'know... your father Nathan."
"WHAT!?"
The avatar initiates a stasis program. Netty suddenly feels a shocking sensation course through his nervous system... his motor functions instantly begin to dramatically slow down... his vision begins to fade. As he strongly tries to resist with his defense, the program slowly begins to take over like sky blue quicksand leaving him nearly immobilized.
He falls to the floor of cyberspace stiff as a board, completely helpless as the constricting pressure bares down.
"The circumstances around us meeting aren't trivial... you and I have a lot that we need to talk about. You'll be fine... but you're coming with me... for now." The Avatar says as they begin to walk away atop the ocean and off into the sunrise... leaving Netty to use the last of his strength to helplessly resist with his vision gradually fading to black.
He suddenly hears the feint, muffled sound of BugBear's voice screaming through the voids of cyberspace. "NETTY!!!!"
BugBear rapidly types on the terminal connected to Netty's chair while her eyes glow red and his body twitches uncontrollably drenched in sweat. After a brief ordeal, she quickly turns around and disconnects him from the chair. His eyes open wide as he gasps deeply for air... as if re-surfacing from under water after nearly drowning. He coughs recklessly as BugBear catches his collapse... he struggles, gasping for air.
"NETTY!! Hey.. Shh, shh.. its ok.. its ok. shh.. its ok.. I'm here. I've got you... i've... i've got you." She whimpers... her voice frantic and whispered... filled with emotion while cradling his head and shoulders in her arms tight... pulling him in close and rocking back and forth.