Saints in Cyberspace

Chapter 1- The Hacker of my Heart


As always the dark grey clouds hung drearily over the city of Steelport. Mixed with the fumes of the many still operating factories even the cool afternoon air was thick with a hint of the fast depleting industry.

Brianna Dark, known only to the outside world as leader of the Stilwater street gang turned national franchise known as the Third Street Saints, power slid her modified Temptress sports car in tranquil Saints purple to a stop outside the building. She stepped out into the deserted street; the long tail of her jet black jacket trailing naturally behind her well toned legs was matched with accompanying combat boots and pants as well as a form fitting corset in dark Saints purple. The dark black tattoo of entwined serpents encircled her deep blue eyes, her long brown hair held neatly in place in an Asian style bun by two black hair pins.

Brianna walked casually towards the main shutter of the warehouse complex, clanging her gloved fist against the thin metal door. "Hey Kinzie, are you in there?" No response. Considering the former FBI agent and career arch nemesis of the Deckers was also a total shut in it surprised her when she did not get an answer. She tried again, louder. "Hey Kinzie-"

Her second attempt did finally elicit a response, just not one she would have expected. Out of the wall alongside the door emerged a bright red glowing orb in the centre of a computer panel. "Please state your passcode"

"What the fuck is this thing?" Brianna replied boldly.

"That is incorrect" an arm emerged from the wall, the extension brandished a charged plasma cannon. Brianna reacted on instinct, drawing her STAG Viper Assault Rifle and aiming it into the centre of the computers glowing red optic. She had 'secured' the weapon from a STAG operative before making a few black market 'modifications' herself. "You have one more attempt before you are disintegrated"

"Kinzie" she called out to her friend. "Get this thing out of my face before I fucking blast it!"

"Passcode accepted" the large pale white shutter rolled open to reveal the interior of the warehouse within. "Welcome Saints member"

Brianna stepped inside of the warehouse, the shutter door rolling down into place behind her. Despite having been occupied by Kinzie as her as her personal sanctuary for several weeks now the warehouse still managed to maintain its cold and dank ambiance. The Saints leader dared to venture deeper into the building; she found the Saints computer and hacking expert rolling on her wheeled office chair between several workstations spread across the far wall of the spacious room in the deepest corner of the building, illuminated only the array of monitors dominating the far wall.

"Sorry about the door" Kinzie didn't even glance up from the monitor in front of her. "There are still a few bugs to work out in the IFF and facial recognition software"

"Why aren't you-" Brianna looked past her at the array of monitors and noticed a streaming camera feed of her own stunned face staring back at her presumably emanating from the concealed security camera atop the monolith of monitors. "Kinzie, do you mind?"

"Oh, sorry" Kinzie deactivated one of the main monitors, swivelling around on her chair to face her visitor. "So what's up boss?"

"I just wanted to see what you're up too now that the Deckers have been kicked out of Steelport and you've got all of Cyberspace to yourself"

"I've been keeping busy, trying to assimilate myself into more normal society"

Brianna indicated the hackers' sanctuary with a wave of her arms. "Does that mean you'll finally get out of this dank hole and go more than five blocks away?"

"I'm not that normal. Besides I'm not going out there, there's far too much crime out there" Kinzie smiled through her cherry red lips. "However my new attempts to master social etiquette means that I should offer you a hot beverage"

Brianna collapsed unceremoniously into the only spare seat in the room, bracing her feet on one of the many boxes scattered across the room. "I'd rather have a beer if you've got one"

Kinzie rolled across the room on her chair, burying her nose into the fridge she had placed in the corner of the room. "Closest thing I've got to that is Saints Flow energy drink" Kinzie held out a large purple soda can in each hand, quickly throwing the spare drink to Brianna.

Brianna popped the cap and took a first sip. "You realize this is mostly made of what they throw out at the Nuclear Plant coloured purple right?"

"Oh yeah" Kinzie finished her first gulp. "But it helps keep me awake so I buy it by the crate" Kinzie indicated the rear of the warehouse with a turn of her head, piled up in the back of the warehouse were several packing crates inscribed with the glowing purple insignia of the Saints.

Brianna glanced around the remainder of the room. "Speaking of which I don't see a bed around here"

"Sleep is forbidden" Kinzie snapped sharply, a fire burning in her eyes. "That's when they get you. I should know, I was FBI, I practically ordered most of them"

"So besides ordering night time 'meetings' what exactly do you do in here all day?"

"You mean when I'm not hacking the secure databases of national criminals?" Kinzie took another swig of her drink. "I've really gotten into Angels Boulevard 3 for the XCUBE 720"

At this point Kinzie might as well have been speaking some new alien language for all the good it meant. "What?"

"It's a video game, you run around a city fighting gangs with plasma guns and a rocket launcher which shoots mind controlling squids"

Brianna sniggered beneath her breath. "That sounds utterly ridiculous"

"It is, but its fun. They wouldn't have been able to make three of them if it wasn't fun"

Brianna finished her drink and discarded the empty can aside into an unimportant corner of the room, rising to her feet she began to idly saunter around the dark room. "You really need to lighten up, Kinzie. Go out and have some fun, get wasted, get laid even"

"Oh don't worry about that" Kinzie smiled devilishly. "I've got plenty of electronics to handle that too"

"Yeah, we've seriously got to talk about that"

"Why?"

"It's not the same"

"How is it not the same?" Kinzie pondered. "You stick something in, it moves about a bit and then it's over. At least the tech doesn't spend the time afterwards asking 'What it all means?'"

"Yeah" Kinzie looked up to face her companion, noticing the small piece of electronics coated in saints purple clasped in their palm. "But you can't really expect this thing to give you a real pound-"

"Hey, put that down!" Kinzie leapt from her chair, charging forward she stopped a foot short of her visitor, her hand held at arm's length in abject fear. "It is a very sensitive piece of scientific equipment"

Brianna stared back with a cocked eye. "It's a vibrator"

"It's not just a vibrator" she could hear the poison seeping into Kinzies voice. "I spent the better part of my teenage years building that, it's tailored specifically to my-"

"Yeah" Brianna quickly intercepted her words before she could finish. "I don't want to know"

"Come on" Kinzie scurried forward, her hands lunging for her item held just beyond her reach, as she struck the other womans chest the taller woman raised it at arm's length high above her head. "Give it back" Kinzies voice descended into the piercing wail born through years of school life.

Brianna pondered the idea of simply returning the item, but suddenly a devious thought entered her mind. "Give me a kiss and I'll give it back"

"You're evil you know that"

"I'm not evil" Brianna smiled sinisterly. "I'm just a little bit nuts"