2 hours later, inside the cargo trailer…
The crew gathered in a circle.
A dry wind blew in from outside, hot but quiet, telling them that the siege of the cargo trailer was truly over and behind them.
"Boss, did you really spend 60 hours inside the Trial?" Rex asked with curiosity burning in his eyes.
'Good question Rex'. Leon thought as he stared at Talia.
They were all exhausted after the 6 hours of the Trial, or in Talia's case 60 hours, and so Talia suggested that they rest to recover their ADE and mental juices before embarking on the journey to leave the wasteland.
Talia wasn't bluffing; the ADE corruption in the fringe of the Wastes, this far in was too much for even Ascendants.
They could not afford to spend too long here, and having spent a few days here already, Talia was adamant that they leave the wasteland as soon as possible.
Of course, they didn't just rest. They told Talia about what they encountered and had to survive during the period of the 6 hours that her consciousness was gone, including the role that Leon played in their survival.
All of them were F Rank Ascended, they've never faced a Trial before. And curious, they immediately asked her about her Trial.
Afterall, maybe in the future, they would also attempt a Trial.
Learning that Talia was sent back to Year 068 A.G, Leon wanted to ask what year it was but remembering that the others didn't know about the true nature of his existence yet, he wasn't keen to reveal too much, so he only listened.
Still, he was amazed as Talia recounted the crazy scenario that she faced in her Trial. To him, fighting a cyber-war for 3 straight days was nuts.
He was not a NetRunner, he had no experience to make a direct comparison but he could easily imagine it by comparing it to the siege that they suffered.
If it was elongated to 60 hours, Leon was 100% sure that they would be rotting corpses by now. 'Uh, do Synths even rot? Maybe I should ask Kain'.
Talia finally answered Rex's question as she sighed. "Yes".
It was just 60 hours, but that period of time left a deep imprint in her. Afterall, those were people that she fought and almost died with. No matter how short it was, to her, they were comrades already.
'When I get back, I'll search the records to see what fate befell them in real history. I hope they survived'.
Talia once again spoke of the Trial, emphasizing a few points that she skipped previously, and at the end, she finally revealed something that every one of them had been curious about since, her current power as an E Rank Neo NetRunner.
Before the others, Leon already learned of her new power through the System's Snoop function.
~----~
[Snoop Function activated!]
Name: Talia Venn
Faction: Freegrid Collective – Wraith Cell-9
Race: Geneform
Class: NetRunner (Neo NetRunner)
Rank: E (Adapted)
[Attributes:]
STR – 118; AGI – 127; END – 140; INT – 155; WIL – 177; ADE – 151
[Derived Stats:]
ATK – 283; DEF – 420; SPD – 254
{HP – 8,180/8,180}
{EP – 8,365/8,365}
[Traits:]
>Neural Empathy (Passive): A natural deep understanding of emotions, and at times an understanding of the thoughts that come with certain emotions.
[Racial Trait- Geneform:] Bio-Enhanced Physiology (Passive): +15% END, +10% STR, -10% INT.
[Abilities:]
>Ping Scan: Detects nearby neural devices when activated.
>Ghost Line: When activated, it grants temporary invisibility on digital sensors.
>Firewall Bypass lv. 1: Brute force low-tier cyberwall security.
>Neural Projection: enter AR (Augmented Reality) overlays and interact with digital ghosts (AR overlays are digital elements like text, graphics, or interactive 3D models that are superimposed onto the real world as seen through a device's camera, like a smartphone or AR glasses).
>Data Lash: convert thought into concussive psionic whip (WIL-based).
>Mirror Mask (Passive): spoofs identity signatures.
>Overclock Mind (Passive): doubles mental processing for 10 secs, risk of burnout.
~----~
'Neural Projection… Data Lash… Mirror Mask… Overclock Mind…'
When he saw the changes in Talia's status the first time, Leon was amazed. It didn't take him long to realize just how much the 4 new abilities changed Talia's whole approach to combat.
Her HP and EP directly quadrupled, while her primary stats jumped from hovering from 10 to 50 directly to hundreds.
'So this is what it means to be an E Rank Ascended…'
Talia looked at her hands before explaining. "I think my body has fully adapted to ADE flow. It's no longer like something borrowed, now, it's like a function that my body was naturally born with".
"I think this perfect synchronization is the true core of being an E Rank".
"All my previous abilities at F Rank became stronger, and I gained 4 new abilities". She didn't hesitate to list out her new abilities, including their effects.
Brick threw a glance at Talia, then Leon, but then eventually kept quiet.
By revealing her cards in front of the newcomer, Talia was showing that she had fully accepted him and was willing to extend her trust to him.
To Talia, trust was the core to keeping her crew thriving.
"Of course, all my stats improved," she continued. "Before I could easily lift a 150kg weight, and if I push it, I can lift 200kg. But now, I feel that I can lift something that's easily 4 to 5 times that previous weight".
She looked at her palms. "My whole body feels light and brimming with energy. Before, I could sprint up to a speed of 40km/hour, but now," she revealed a rare smile. "I think I can go up to 100km/hour to even 110 and 120 if I push it".
"At F Rank, I felt like I was at the peak of what a regular Geneform could be physically. But now, I feel truly superhuman".
"I've exceeded the limits of what a regular Geneform or Synth can ever reach no matter the amount of training".
As a direct comparison, the regular speed of casual runners within human, Synth, and Geneform limits is between 13 to 19km/hour, while competitive athletes can reach 24 to 32km/hour, and the best athletes can only climb up to 36km/hour for short distances.
As an F Rank, Talia already shattered these standards as she could run at 40km/hour, but now, she directly blew those standards away.
The others were silent as they listened with rapt attention, soaking in the information that was being passed over by their boss.
Hearing all of this, Brick's mechanical face turned slightly complicated as he said. "You've really come a long way Talia".
She nodded seriously, acknowledging his words.
First-aid treatment could not fully heal the injuries that this Synth suffered in the siege. He and Daren would only fully heal after a few days of rest.
"We've rested enough," Brick said as he leaned against the wall of the cargo trailer. "Staying here further is dangerous, we should leave soon".
Talia nodded before looking at Leon.
Leon understood what she was trying to convey immediately as he stood up and followed her outside the cargo trailer.
Outside, Talia had that familiar calm look on her face like nothing could faze her, but Leon could sense the undercurrents in her emotions through her eyes.
After a few seconds of silence, she finally said. "Thank you".
"It's fine".
She looked at him silently, then pursed her lips. "I still can't believe that you managed to create a bomb. Due to my low rank, I've never met a Mechanist that could create one before, you're the first".
Leon smiled at her compliment, then he cautiously asked. "Do you know of an Ascended Counter?"
Talia was taken aback. "An Ascended Counter?"
That reaction was all Leon needed to confirm his suspicion.
This was something that he'd been thinking about since the System first showed it. At first, Leon thought it was a general trait, but he had the suspicion that the Ascended Counter was something unique to him and his System.
If not, it should have appeared earlier after he became a Mechanist and an F Rank Awakened, but it didn't. And now, he confirmed it.
'This is another System function to boost my growth, right?'
He understood what the Ascended Counter represented, it was a guide to track his growth through the ranks, and to also tell him when he was ready to take on a Trial to the next rank.
From what Kain said, for most F Rank Mechanists, creating blueprints is virtually impossible, and the things that he did were not normal at all.
Leon could not help but think. 'What if this is why Ascendants fail Trials?'
'The Ascended Counter increased by +111 and +80 respectively when I created a new blueprint and a bomb'.
'From what Talia says, she's never even met a Mechanist that can create a bomb and she has definitely met a lot of F Rank Ascended'.
'That means most F Rank Mechanists can never make it to 1000 in their own Ascended Counter unless they spend years or even decades practicing the trade'.
'When these kind of Mechanists attempt a Trial, is this the reason why they fail and become corrupted?'
Leon was not sure, but he felt like he was on the right track. Only time and further experiments would tell if he was right or wrong.
As for the ChronoSystem, he had mixed feelings about it.
On one hand, it helped him in various ways and it presented a clear ticket to help him get strong and recover his memories.
But on another hand, Leon didn't know its origins, neither did he know its intentions. It was his greatest secret, his greatest trump card, and maybe also his greatest ticking time bomb.
He almost wanted to ask Talia about it, but in the end, he kept the truth to himself. 'Even if the System is not unique to me, I doubt she's at the level where she knows about something like this'.
'I don't want to put her in danger due to my selfishness'.
'Also, I'm just not the kind of person to freely reveal my trump card and weaknesses to others'. Thinking of this, he felt guilty since Talia literally just revealed all her cards to him.
But he was not her.
He sighed, and then, he asked. "What about my identity?"
Talia didn't need an elaborate explanation, she naturally knew what he was talking about. "Brick is experienced. Even if he doesn't know now, he'll naturally come to the same conclusions that I came to with time".
"Afterall, you just can't hide it, a pure human in this era is abnormal".
She sighed. "Maybe this is a sign of changing times".
"Brick will naturally deduce the truth that you're from the past, maybe Ghostwire too, but Daren and Rex won't, so let's keep it like that".
"So, how do I explain this?" He pointed at himself.
Talia was calm. "Explaining it is easy. The Geneforge Clans call this era the era of surgery and synthetic skinning, and I don't blame them. 90% of Geneforms try to get a synthetic skin of their liking once they have the means, even Synths too, and now even some AI Constructs have inherited the culture in the digital network".
"Ghostwire is the same. Those tattoos of his, they were implanted in his skin through synthetic surgery, that's why they're so realistic".
"It's because they're a part of him".
"We can easily say that your pure human skin is in fact not a pure human skin, but a synthetic skin mimicking a pure human appearance".
She smiled as a thought crossed her mind. "I can easily see your appearance starting a trend of new cosmetic surgery and synthetic skinning".
Leon smiled, and inwardly, he heaved a sigh of relief.
Then, he asked. "You mentioned the year in your Trial, so I've been curious, what year is it?"
Talia was taken aback at first, but then she remembered his circumstances.
She replied. "We're in Year 714 A.G, and it's the month of June".