1. Jules joins The Silver Claws

•	1050 words

Jules' lifelong goal was to join a faction. And not just any random faction. She wanted to join the best of the best. And to achieve that, she reasoned, she'd have to have some implants-which weren't exactly cheap. The past year or so had been spent chasing that goal; searching the streets for anything that might be worth something. And now, finally, after so long, she was confident she had enough credits to get everything she needed. Sure, she could have bought the implants in pieces, spreading out the costs, but that didn’t appeal to her. There was something satisfying about going all-in, getting it all at once.

She raced down the street, headed right for the mod parlor. She could’ve taken the cheap route-there were plenty of back-alley “modders” who would have fixed her up in no time, for a fraction of the cost. But she’d seen the results. Shaky hands, infected limbs, modifications that malfunctioned the moment things got heated. No, she didn't want to take any risks. When she entered the parlor, there were two people waiting. Jules took a seat and grabbed a newstronA newstron is a digital newspaper. When turned off, it looks exactly like a sheet of paper. from the table.

She mumbled a command and the logo of her favourite newsfeed appeared on the page. A few articles scrolled by, but none of them caught her attention, just the same old stuff. She set the newstron back down and leaned back, trying to calm her nerves. One of the guys ahead of her just wanted a checkup, which took all of ten seconds. The other one wanted her music system replaced. That took a little longer.

When she handed the augmentist a list of what she wanted, his eyes widened, "Are you sure about all this? These aren't exactly small upgrades. You could easily overtax your system if you aren't careful." Jules hesitated, and then nodded. "Alright then," he fed the paper into a chute in the wall. "Do you already have a nacting grid installed?"

Jules blinked, "A what now?" The augmentist facepalmed, "A nacting grid. It's sorta like a secondary, artificial nervous system. It connects you up to your implants and allows you to control them."

Jules frowned, "I thought the implants just... worked."

“They do,” he said, tapping a few commands into a nearby machine. "But the nacting grid is what makes it all work in sync. Without it, you're pretty much just a mess of wires."

"Oh. Well, add that to the list, too, I guess."

He nodded, feeding the final details into the system. "Alrighty then. The operation'll take a couple days to complete." Before she could respond, she felt a sudden mist hit her face. The scent was sharp and chemical, and before she could react, everything around her went dark.

Jules woke up a week later, head throbbing. For a moment, the world was blurry, her vision a complete mess. But as it cleared, three icons appeared in the corner of her vision: a cog, a shield, and a map. She "clicked" one of the icons and her vision was flooded with an overwhelming barrage of new data. Screens upon screens of graphs, statistics, and toggles that she couldn't make sense of.

"It can be a little overwhelming at first. You'll get used to it eventually," the augmentist said reassuringly. "I’m uploading the data on your new implants right now." Jules tried to focus on his voice, but the flood of new sensations kept pulling her attention in all directions. Her mind buzzed with new information, the stream of data flooding into her consciousness like a torrent. The nacting grid was providing detailed feedback on every system, every connection. It was dizzying. She staggered out of the parlor and made her way back to her apartment. Once inside, she collapsed into bed, overwhelmed by the sheer amount of new information flooding her system. She mumbled a command to her newly installed music systemThe standard music system is a complex web of phased acoustical arrays, embedded directly into the ears., and the soothing music helped calm her.