[center][b][h1][color=#44F03E]𝔽[/color][color=#42E93C]𝕦[/color][color=#40E33A]𝕥[/color][color=#3EDD39]𝕚[/color][color=#3DD737]𝕝[/color][color=#3BD136]𝕚[/color][color=#39CB34]𝕥[/color][color=#38C532]𝕪[/color][color=#36BF31]:[/color] [color=#32B32E]𝕋[/color][color=#31AD2C]𝕙[/color][color=#2FA62A]𝕖[/color] [color=#2C9A27]𝔾[/color][color=#2A9426]𝕣[/color][color=#288E24]𝕖[/color][color=#268823]𝕒[/color][color=#258221]t[/color] [color=#21761E]𝔾[/color][color=#20701C]𝕒[/color][color=#1E6A1B]𝕞[/color][color=#1C6419]𝕖[/color][/h1][/b][/center]

[center][hider=How do you find objectivity amongst the shifting perspective? Against the Mechanical Winds? Around the Machines That Spark?][youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b--81VxYoyE[/youtube][/hider][/center]

[b][color=coral] “You wouldn’t believe the danger—the sort that doesn’t even bother hiding. Wolf in uniform. Wolf in body armor. Wolf in respirator. Wolf… Wolf with riot shotgun...”[/color][/b]

[color=#ffdf12][b][i]ℍ𝕒𝕣𝕥 𝕄𝕖𝕕𝕚𝕒 ℂ𝕠𝕟𝕘𝕝𝕠𝕞𝕖𝕣𝕒𝕥𝕖 
𝕋𝕨𝕚𝕟 ℂ𝕚𝕥𝕪 𝕊𝕡𝕣𝕒𝕨𝕝[/i][/b][/color]
[color=green]>>> …[/color]
[i][color=#ffdf12] “Tensions… In South City. Many eyes have been set upon Phoenetek and their worldwide operation of clinics as well as the production of the popular ‘super-drug’ Neurosynthase, said not only to reverse the symptoms of neural degeneration from cyberware integration, but completely reversing decay of neuron pathways. Many denizens of South City… Of the western seaboard have been affected by recent shortages. Silence from Phoenetek. In their last press conference, held three weeks ago, shipments were supposedly en route to arrive on the first of April, but no South City clinics have yet reported receiving shipments publically. The cause of this shortage is not yet known to Hart Media or the public...

And the shortages have affected more than just Phoenetek consumers it seems. The registration of Augmented Persons has skyrocketed in the past month, leaving some cyberware users to face jail time in order to acquire Neurosynth through legal, safe, and available channels. Of course, with the fear of neurodegeneration looming, many augged citizens have turned to more alternative methods…”[/color][/i][hr][hr]

[h3][color=orangered]𝔹𝕒𝕠𝕝𝕖𝕚 ℂ𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕚𝕔[/color][/h3][color=008000][b]ℝ𝕖𝕔𝕝𝕒𝕚𝕞 ℤ𝕠𝕟𝕖, 𝕊𝕠𝕦𝕥𝕙 ℂ𝕚𝕥𝕪 𝕊𝕡𝕣𝕒𝕨𝕝[/b]
[b]𝔸𝕡𝕣𝕚𝕝 𝟚𝕟𝕕, 𝟚𝟘𝟞𝟝 :: 𝕆𝕟𝕖 𝕕𝕒𝕪 𝕓𝕖𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕖 ℝ𝕖𝕔𝕝𝕒𝕚𝕞 ℤ𝕠𝕟𝕖 𝕕𝕖𝕓𝕒𝕥𝕖[/b]
[b] [𝕄𝕒𝕔𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕖𝕤 𝕋𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕊𝕡𝕒𝕣𝕜] 𝕃𝕠𝕒𝕕𝕚𝕟𝕘...[/b][/color]

[b] “Enter Baolei.”[/b] the monk said. There were many passers-by, but he didn’t seem to address any in particular. The Reclaim HyperHumans always seemed to have that distant-but-fixed gaze. Maybe it was a strange show of some sort of clairvoyance or omnipotence. They hardly needed to look at their surroundings. All in their presence were already observed. Others considered it a side-effect. If not of the ‘unity-with-the-machine’, then of the lack of abundant care for the cyborg sort, or of perhaps a more sinister aspect of indoctrination.

[b] “All those who seek care may find it within the temple, man or machine.”[/b] He gestured with a dark steel arm with hydraulics big enough to question how the thin man was even holding it up, reached out towards a passerby, spoke again:[b] “Chen Dao offers help. We offer help. The time is dire and those who harmonize with the machine will find themselves afflicted. This is not an accident. This—”[/b]


The downtrodden denizen of the Reclaim near-collapsed onto the monk’s arm. The monk hardly shifted his weight until those same desperate hands clawed up around his neck for support. Whispers eked out from his mouth—pleas for help. The monk stayed steady, and looked to the other orange-clad man flanking the temple gate. A simple gesture was all it took. Silence, eye contact, and somewhere in the void, a signal was understood. With the struggling augged man hanging on his shoulders, the first monk headed through the gate with as much a bow as he could manage. The other took his place.

[b] “My friends,”[/b] he began.[b] “There’s nothing to fear. In these trying times, forces beyond our control reveal their prejudice against [i]the Machine[/i]. Care, clinical, technical, or otherwise is greedily guarded. At the Temple of Baolei, all might find themselves safe. All can find a home. All can find peace…”[/b]

The Reclaim’s wayward sort was always watching. Everywhere. Baolei was no exception, and with the culmination of events—both in the Reclaim and beyond—that seemed to claw at the back of everyone’s throats, Baolei drew a particular crowd. They watched the monk. Some murmured replies, dissatisfactions, questions, conspiracies. Few dared to approach the monk, even those whose mechanical bodies were taking their toll. 

[b] “The Reclaim… It is a sickly population, but the Machine is here to repair. To uplift.”[/b]

[color=green][i]>>> 𝕊ℍ𝕀𝔽𝕋 ...
[indent]>>> ℝ ...
[indent][indent]>>> 𝔼 ...
[indent][indent][indent]>>> 𝔸 ...
[indent][indent][indent][indent]>>> 𝕃 ...
[indent][indent][indent][indent][indent]>>> 𝕀 ...
[indent][indent][indent][indent][indent]>>> 𝕋 ...
[indent][indent][indent][indent][indent]>>> 𝕐 ...[/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/i][/color]

The Temple was built with classical chinese architectural technique. It stood out like a backyard in the Detroit Stacks—pillars bearing all the load, and ambient lights of orange and yellow almost mimicking primitive lanterns. The mats throughout each room were, for the most part, immaculately clean beyond the front rooms where the clinic’s patients had overflowed and crowded their newfound shelter. You’d think the paper-thin walls accentuated the simplicity of the place, but beyond the groups of Reclaimers stuck in withdraw woes and death throes, Baolei Clinic seems to absorbs sound, leaving it eerie quiet.

[b][color=orangered] “This way,”[/color][/b] he said,[b][color=orangered] “Come. Learn of Mekanedo...”[/color][/b]

Dao always attempted to live on its periphery, but even with a step as light as air, it was difficult for the abbot to evade attention of every member in his presence. He guided the benefactor towards another pair of monks. They always seemed to be waiting in the wings, ready for the abbot’s commands, as though watching. 

[b][color=orangered] “The people of Baolei shall care for you. Allow them to show you our mission, our reach, our access.”[/color][/b] Dao smiled a warm smile, gently squeezed his benefactor’s hands with a pair of refined metallic hands. The South City clerk couldn’t help but feel a tinge of unease run through him. There was something that he carried—[i]the omnipresence of wires[/i]—the subtle wave functions they emitted or the quiet whir of their servos. Something… There was something about Chen Dao.

The gesture seemed to hold the clerk's presence long enough that he hardly noticed the trio of monks step by and into the bowels of Baolei. They carried a box, the three of them. Heavy, but their steps made no indication of such.

[color=green][i]>>> 𝕊ℍ𝕀𝔽𝕋 ...
[indent]>>> ℝ ...
[indent][indent]>>> 𝔼 ...
[indent][indent][indent]>>> 𝔸 ...
[indent][indent][indent][indent]>>> 𝕃 ...
[indent][indent][indent][indent][indent]>>> 𝕀 ...
[indent][indent][indent][indent][indent]>>> 𝕋 ...
[indent][indent][indent][indent][indent]>>> 𝕐 ...[/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/i][/color]

[color=green]>>> 𝕃𝕠𝕒𝕕𝕚𝕟𝕘...[/color]
[color=green]>>> 𝕎𝕖𝕝𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕖 𝕓𝕒𝕔𝕜 𝔽𝕝𝕦𝕩 𝕊𝕙𝕒𝕞𝕒𝕟![/color]
[color=green]>>> 𝕃𝕚𝕗𝕖 𝕚𝕤 𝕛𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕒 𝕤𝕖𝕣𝕚𝕖𝕤 𝕠𝕗 𝕚𝕞𝕒𝕘𝕖𝕤 𝕚𝕤𝕟'𝕥 𝕚𝕥? ℝ𝕖𝕡𝕖𝕥𝕚𝕥𝕚𝕧𝕖 𝕡𝕖𝕣𝕔𝕖𝕡𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕠𝕗 𝕧𝕒𝕣𝕚𝕠𝕦𝕤 𝕤𝕥𝕚𝕞𝕦𝕝𝕚... 𝕋𝕙𝕒𝕥'𝕤 𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕤𝕖𝕖, 𝕙𝕦𝕙? 𝔸𝕟𝕕 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕕𝕠𝕟'𝕥 𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕟 𝕔𝕒𝕥𝕔𝕙 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕞 𝕒𝕝𝕝, 𝕊𝕙𝕒𝕞𝕒𝕟… ℂ𝕙𝕦𝕟𝕜𝕤 𝕠𝕗 𝕞𝕖𝕞𝕠𝕣𝕪 𝕫𝕒𝕡𝕡𝕖𝕕. 𝕐𝕠𝕦'𝕝𝕝 𝕟𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕣 𝕘𝕖𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕞 𝕓𝕒𝕔𝕜. 𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕞𝕒𝕕𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕔𝕙𝕠𝕚𝕔𝕖...[/color]

[color=green]>>> ...[/color]
[color=green]>>> ...[/color]
[color=green]>>> ...[/color]

[color=green]>>> 𝔻𝕠 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕟 𝕣𝕖𝕞𝕖𝕞𝕓𝕖𝕣 𝕞𝕖? 𝔻𝕠 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕟 𝕜𝕟𝕠𝕨 𝕨𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦'𝕣𝕖 𝕕𝕠𝕚𝕟𝕘?[/color]

The Reclaim came and went in passing splashes. Fading glimpses of its derelict corners and alleyways blurred into malformed images of streaking gray and intersected with the black of shadows. Familiar locations flickered by but don’t quite register. The burning ghosts of neon lights lingered in her eyes.

[color=green]>>> ...[/color]
[color=green]>>> ...[/color]
[color=green]>>> ...[/color]

[color=green]>>>𝕊𝕙𝕠𝕔𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕝𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥 𝕗𝕣𝕠𝕞 𝕡𝕒𝕤𝕤𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕤𝕚𝕘𝕟𝕤...
>>>𝕆𝕣 𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕡𝕡𝕖𝕕 𝕚𝕟 𝕒 [color=#035096]𝕃𝕒𝕓𝕪𝕣𝕚𝕟𝕥𝕙?[/color][/color]

[color=#035096][i]Action or inaction?[/i][/color]

The sweat clung to her skin, chilled her, but her insides were boiling a boiling red mess. She could see, somehow, the constricted veins within. It didn’t quite matter. She managed to escape the memory chasms, and was sure of her destination. A soft hand contacted her and tried to enwrap her jacket, but she just walked past. He spoke after her.

The soft light was nice on her eyes. She could track things more easily, differentiate the maze splayed before her via various doorways. She could accurately choose and move to the one which would take her to her destination. No doors, just the frames. She nearly hit one in her investigation of each passageway. She would have moved on, too, but she saw them. [i]Unified[/i]. Divine formation, movements harmonized. Each robed figure stood rank and file in the dojo. Every stroke of movement flowed like water, but they carried the force of ceaseless electrons. Powerful servos, grinding motors, and sparking steel held a sort of hypnotic power unlike any other. Human and industry had combined.

Someone grabbed her shoulder. Instinctively, her hand cut around and threw his grip from her body. The colors were too warm. They melted together and her senses betrayed her, but she still had signals. [color=red][b]𝔸 𝕄 𝔸 𝕃 𝔾 𝔸[/b][/color] guided her way.

[color=#035096][i]Blindness?[/i][/color]
[right][color=#035096][i]Death in this world?[/i][/color][/right]
[color=#035096][i]Or resurrection in the next?[/i][/color]

[center][color=#035096][i]Guided by firing signals and wires...[/i][/color][/center]

[right][color=#035096][i]She did find him.[/i][/color][/right]

[color=#035096][indent][indent][indent][indent][indent][indent]ℙ
[indent][indent][indent][indent][indent][indent]ℍ
[indent][indent][indent][indent]𝔸
[indent][indent][indent][indent]𝕊
[indent][indent]𝔼[/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/color]
[right][i][color=green]>>> 𝕊ℍ𝕀𝔽𝕋 ...
[indent]>>> ℝ ...[/indent]
[indent][indent]>>> 𝔼 …[/indent][/indent][/color][color=#035096]
[indent][indent][indent][indent][indent]>>> 𝔸 ...
[indent][indent][indent][indent][indent]>>> 𝕃 ...
[indent][indent][indent][indent][indent][color=#035096]>>> 𝕀 ...[/color]
[indent][indent][indent][indent][indent]>>> 𝕋 ...
[indent][indent][indent][indent][indent][color=#035096]>>> 𝕐 ...[/color][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/color][/i][/right]

[b] “What are you—”[/b]

[color=#035096]Trying to 𝕖𝕤𝕔𝕒𝕡𝕖 the coming onslaught.[/color]

[color=#035096][center]Metal 𝕗𝕚𝕤𝕥
[indent][indent]put through paper wall.[/indent][/indent][/center][/color]

[right][color=#035096]Blurred shape. Colored [color=#3467eb]𝔹𝕝𝕦𝕖[/color] and [color=red]ℝ𝕖𝕕[/color].[/color][/right]

[color=green][i]>>> 𝕊ℍ𝕀𝔽𝕋 …[/i][/color]

Dao hardly turned when he heard the wall tear. He saw. The trio of monks present that weren’t hauling the payload let their bodies flow into a graceful, readied stance. A Way. A combination of liquid formlessness and machine rigid structure... 

[center][color=red][indent]ℙ[/indent][/color]
[color=#3467eb][indent][indent][indent]ℍ[/indent][/indent][/indent][/color]
[color=red][indent]𝔸[/indent][/color]
[color=#3467eb][indent][indent][indent]𝕊[/indent][/indent][/indent][/color]
[color=red][indent]𝔼[/indent][/color][/center]
[right][indent][indent][color=red][sub]Seeing ℝ𝕖𝕕…[/sub][/color][/indent][/indent][/right]

[color=#035096][b] “[color=red]𝕎𝕙[/color][color=#3467eb]𝕒[/color]t the hell are you doing here, Shade?”[/b][/color]

Delilah paused. The injured runner before her was stumbling and fumbling over his response. She was somewhere. She came for a reason, but everything only came back to her piece by piece.

[b] “Shaman, I—”[/b]

[color=#035096][b] “You’re a fiend. Hunting another fix. Clinics abandon you. Scam your friends, then go onto—”[/b][/color] She looked around. More details. More gaps filled in. [color=#035096][b] “This[color=red]‽[/color]”[/b][/color] 

[b] “What did you expect me to do? I’m dying. We’re all dying. Look around!”[/b]

They had drawn plenty of eyes by then—those patients and staff who were up to the task of sitting up, directing their eyes towards the commotion at least.

[color=#035096][b] “You owe me.”[/b][/color] Delilah’s brow was half-drenched in sweat. She didn’t wipe it away. Maybe she didn’t notice, just another detail [color=#3467eb]whisked as a wisp into infinite forgetfulness...[/color]

[b] “Another favor.”[/b]

[color=#035096][b] “For your tab? I just ran that job with—” [/b][/color]

[b] “Are you really gonna talk about that here?”[/b] 

[color=#035096][b] “[i][color=red]Fuck,[/color][/i] Shade. I lent you the last of what I had. You said you could get more. Where are your ‘connections to the city?’ ”[/b][/color]


[b] “Shaman,”[/b] he said and coughed. The force of his breath seemed to cause an explosion of sparks from his chest that trailed along his dirty sweatshirt. [b] “The city ruins everything…[/b]

[b] “Miss?[/b] One of the monks almost made the gamble of reaching towards the netrunner’s shoulder to calm her. His hand froze in air and he reconsidered.[b] “Your friend is in a dire condition. He may need treatment now.”[/b]

[color=green][i]>>> 𝕊ℍ𝕀𝔽𝕋 …[/i][/color]
[color=green]>>> …[/color]
[color=green]>>> …[/color]

[b] “Come one, come all…[/b]
[b] “Enter Baolei…”[/b]
[b] “All those who seek care may find it within the temple, man or machine.”[/b]