Chapter 40: The Cyberpunk's Heart, The Vampire's Sparkle, and The Master's Return part-2
The music in the club seemed to stop as everyone looked at the convulsing corpo.
"REBOOTING..." Neo yelled. "LOADING DRIVERS... 10 percent..."
He started doing a robotic twitching dance.
"Is he... glitching?" Lucy asked, her eyes widening.
"He looks like he has a virus," David said casually. He reached down and grabbed the platinum chip from the table. He snapped it in half with his cybernetic fingers.
"David!" Lucy gasped. "That was..."
"A trap," David finished. "He was hacking your mood, Lucy. You do not feel safe because of him. You feel safe because he drugged your brain."
Lucy shook her head, the neural fog lifting as Neo's connection broke. She looked at the twitching man, then at David.
"You are right," she whispered. "I felt... numb. I do not want to be numb."
"REBOOT COMPLETE," Neo announced, snapping back to consciousness. "What happened? Why is my suit wet?"
"You had a malfunction," David said. "You should get that checked out. Maybe at a ripperdoc in the badlands."
Neo glared at them. "You... you hacked me! Security!"
"Let us go," David said, offering his hand to Lucy.
She took it. She did not look at the broken chip. She looked at David. "Take me to the moon, David. But let us take the long way."
"Nova," David grinned.
They activated their Sandevistans and vanished from the club in a blur of neon streaks, leaving Neo screaming at a bouncer who did not care.
[Incident Report: World 22][Target: David Martinez & Lucy.][Status: Moon Dream Secured. Corpo Rejected.][Villain Status: Rebooting every 10 minutes due to residual malware.][Reward: 1200 System Points.]
(High-tech romance is exhausting. I need something simpler. Something... moodier. Ah, I see a request in the queue. Vampires. But not the scary kind. The sparkly kind.)
[System Alert: Anomaly Detected.][World Designation: World 23 - The World of Twilight (Twilight Universe).][Setting: Forks, Washington (University Setting).][Host: Edward Cullen.][Target: Bella Swan.][Villain: "Damien Darkblood" (Transmigrator).]
(Damien Darkblood? That sounds like a username from a 2005 emo forum. Let us see what he is up to.)
[Initiating Transfer...]
.....................…..
World 23: The World of Twilight
Ethan arrived in a mind that was noisy. Edward Cullen could read minds, which meant Ethan was hearing everyone in the cafeteria thinking about algebra and lunch meat.
(Edward. Focus. Block out the noise. We have a target.)
Edward sat rigid at his table, crumbling a styrofoam cup. He was staring at Bella Swan.
She was sitting with a new student. Damien Darkblood.
Damien was wearing a leather trench coat (indoors), sunglasses (indoors), and had jet-black hair that hung over his eyes.
[Villain Identity: Damien Darkblood (Transmigrator).][Villain Type: The "True Vampire" Elitist.][Objective: To seduce Bella by convincing her that Edward is a "joke" because he sparkles. Damien claims to be a "Nosferatu Bloodline" vampire—dark, brooding, and non-sparkly. He says, "Real vampires burn in the sun, Bella. They do not turn into disco balls."]
(He is mocking your sparkle, Edward. Are you going to take that?)
Edward's golden eyes narrowed. "He is right. I am a monster. And a ridiculous one at that."
(Stop the self-pity! You are a predator! You are the apex of this high school—I mean, university! Sparkles are not a bug; they are a feature! It is camouflage! Or... a weapon. System Shop: Purchase Skill "The Solar Flare Refraction". It allows you to concentrate sunlight through your diamond skin into a blinding laser beam.)
Edward paused. "I can shoot lasers?"
(Basically. Now, go over there. Damien is about to show her his 'fangs'. Which are actually just dental implants he bought online. Expose him.)
Edward stood up. He walked across the cafeteria. He moved with that unnatural grace that made everyone stop eating tater tots to watch him.
Damien was leaning in close to Bella. "You see, Bella," Damien whispered gravelly. "I understand darkness. I walk in the shadows. Edward... he plays baseball. Is that terrifying?"
"I like baseball," Bella murmured, looking confused.
"It is a child's game!" Damien scoffed. "Come to my crypt. I have candles."
"Excuse me," Edward said, appearing beside the table.
Damien looked up. "Ah. The glitter fairy arrives."
(Hit him, Edward. With logic. And then with the laser.)
"You claim to be a 'True Vampire'," Edward said softly. "But I cannot hear your thoughts. Usually, that means a shielding power. But in your case... I suspect there is just nothing in there to hear."
Bella stifled a snort.
Damien stood up, flaring his trench coat. "I am blocking you with my ancient mind barriers! I am centuries old!"
"Your driver's license says you are twenty-two," Edward noted, glancing at Damien's wallet with his super-vision. "And you are from Ohio."
"Ohio is a land of darkness!" Damien defended weakly.
"Also," Edward continued, stepping into a shaft of sunlight coming through the window. "You say real vampires burn?"
"Yes! We are creatures of the night!"
"Then why," Edward said, unbuttoning his cuff and exposing his wrist to the direct sunlight, "is the sun so... illuminating?"
Edward's skin hit the light. Usually, it would just sparkle. But with Ethan's upgrade, it didn't just shimmer. It blazed.
A concentrated beam of prismatic light shot off Edward's wrist, hitting Damien directly in his sunglasses.
"MY EYES!" Damien screamed, clutching his face. "It burns! It burns!"
"It is just light refraction," Edward said dryly. "If you were a real vampire of darkness, you would crumble to dust. Instead, you are just... getting a tan."
Damien fell to the floor, rolling around. "The light! It reveals my acne!"
Bella looked at Edward. He was glowing, yes, but he looked confident. He looked funny.
"Did you just blind him with your wrist?" Bella asked.
"I decided to embrace my nature," Edward smiled, a crooked, dazzling smile. "Sparkling has its uses."
He held out his hand to her. "Do you want to go play baseball? I promise not to hit any home runs into orbit."
.....
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