You make eye contact with Decima. Colder than blood.

She knows all about cats and snakes too.

Your Synskin locks up, all at once. Hits in multiple locations. No pain, just the flexing of neomusculature fiber strong enough to override your native strength. "Don't forget," she said, "[i]I[/i] am your opponent today."

She crouches down next to you. "That's my trick for this round," she said, silver hair cascading to the left as she tilts her head. "I was not sure it would work. Now that you know I'll need to go for a full alternate loadout if you wind up on the other team. But knowing if it worked on someone with your instincts was important. Look -"

She pointed to a series of small silver needles embedded into your armour. They had not penetrated, they were lodged in the plating far from your synskin. She touches the tip of one with a finger and a crackle of lightning passed between the network, jumping between the different spikes. "Electroneedles. My own design, new. Subtle, invisible, quiet. No muzzle flash like you'd expect from this big sniper rifle - which as I showed you, is just a case and not where I'm spending my energy budget. What looked and sounded like me just walking and maneuvering my gun around was me firing eight shots. Individually the charge in these things is too weak to do damage, but with enough of them built up I can create a current that the synskin will register as a full body blow. My answer to heavily armoured opponents with low situational awareness, especially Lios, Bit, Astra and Argeltia."

"Knowing this, how does it change your approach?" she asked. "If you can be shot without any sort of sensory feedback, what is your counter?"