Read Cybermancy for Free Online Page A

She looked simultaneously fascinated and disturbed.
    “I’m not sure this is such a good idea,” she said, leaning over as if trying to see her reflection in the depths of the dead monitor.
    “I am,” said Melchior.
    He placed both hands on her butt and shoved. She tipped forward and smacked headfirst into the black rectangle with an audible thunk .
    “Huh,” he said. “That’s not supposed to happen.”
    “I should hope not.” Shara rubbed her forehead. “What did you expect?”
    “It should have been like falling into a hole,” said Melchior. “Hang on a second.” He licked a fingertip and reached for Shara’s ear, then stopped. “Is this all right?”
    Shara nodded. “I’d make a joke about there being better ports for you to try, but I’m just not up to it.”
    I winced. If Shara really wasn’t feeling up to innuendo, she was a seriously hurting unit. Melchior stuck his finger in Shara’s ear and whistled a short spell protocol. After a few moments, he pulled back, a thoughtful look on his face.
    “Well?” I asked.
    “Problem. Big problem. She’s been recompiled into a noncompliant format. We’ve got about thirty-six hours to get her back to Cerice, and she’s not currently compatible with her own hardware.”
    I blinked. That was unexpected and very bad. “Are you sure?”
    “Yep.”
    “Why in Hades’ name . . . ?” Somehow that seemed an inappropriate oath at the moment.
    “Who knows?” said Melchior. “Mysteries of death and all that. Maybe Hades’ server does an automatic recompile as it processes incoming souls.”
    “You guys really are here to get me out, aren’t you?” Shara blinked and rubbed her eyes like someone waking from a long sleep. “Alive and in the flesh?”
    “Of course,” agreed Melchior. “You don’t think we’d let a little thing like death get in our way, do you?”
    She shook her head. “Sweet. Icarus-grade stupid, but sweet nonetheless. Thanks!” She smiled for the first time since we’d arrived and gave Melchior a hug, then held her arms out to me. I scooped her up and gave her two, one from me, one from Cerice.
    “Sorry we’re late,” I said.
    “No problem,” she answered. “It’s not like I’ve had a lot to do. What’s the plan for getting out?”
    “It’s not a plan so much as an outline,” I said, “with plenty of room for improvisation. Unfortunately, we’ve got a deadline.” I quickly sketched out the conditions of my oath.
    “I should be appalled,” said Shara, “but somehow, I’m not even surprised. Why do you suppose that is?”
    Melchior held up a hand in the classic pick- me pose. “Is it because Ravirn and planning go together like satyrs and celibacy pledges?”
    “That’d be it,” said Shara with a sigh. “All right then, so what’s the outline?”
    “Well, version 1.0 sort of went out the window when you didn’t go back into your mortal shell,” I said. “So, we’re going to 1.1.”
    “Which is?”
    “I’m working on it.”
    She sighed again. “It’s not a bug, it’s a feature, right?” I nodded. “Goody. Do you just want to invite the Goddess of Discord to the party now? Or do we have to pretend this has some hope of ending well?”
    “Hey,” I said. “It won’t get that bad. I promise.”
    She rolled her eyes. “Oh, of course not.”
    “Oh, I’m not saying things aren’t going to get sticky, but I’m just not in Eris’s league. If the ability to mess things up were a boat, I’d be a canoe to Eris’s Titanic .”
    “Why don’t I find that reassuring?” asked Shara.
    “Maybe because you’ve seen what happens when someone stands up in a canoe?” said Melchior.
    I decided it was time to cut the pick-on-Ravirn session short. It was nothing personal, of course. I could easily hold my own in a battle of wits with a couple of webgoblins. It’s just that I’d had a fresh idea for what to do next. Really.
    “Can we skip straight through escape versions 1.1 to 1.9 and start fresh