Chromed- Rogue Read online

  The Ezeroc Wars universe is big (and growing!). Get the reading guide here: https://www.mondegreen.co/ezeroc-wars-reading-guide/

  A colony world goes dark.

  When Grace Gushiken and Nathan Chevell of the Tyche are hired to deliver a new transmitter for a downed Guild Bridge, they find the Absalom Delta colony deserted, its people enslaved by the insect-like Ezeroc. The aliens have descended like locusts on humanity, consuming all in their path. No one is safe. Even the Republic Navy is powerless against them. The ship and her crew need to test their skill and their luck to survive. Will Grace and Nate be able to work together to get away? Or will fears and rivalries from the past destroy humanity’s hopes, ceding victory to the Ezeroc?

  Tyche’s Journey

  Book 1: https://www.books2read.com/TychesFlight

  Book 2: https://www.books2read.com/TychesDeceit

  Book 3: https://www.books2read.com/TychesCrown

  Tyche’s Progeny

  Book 4: https://www.books2read.com/TychesDemons

  Book 5: https://www.books2read.com/TychesGhosts

  Book 6: https://www.books2read.com/TychesAngels

  Tyche Origins

  An empire falls.

  Before there was a Tyche, the crew were scattered. Nate wore the Emperor’s Black. El helmed mighty destroyers. Hope joined the new Republic’s reclamation projects. Kohl fell in with the Yakuza. And Grace was a prisoner. Grab their origin stories as they become the heroes the universe needed them to be.

  Collection (origins 1-6): https://www.books2read.com/TycheOrigins

  Or get them à la carte…

  Origin 1: https://www.books2read.com/TychesFirst

  Origin 2: https://www.books2read.com/TychesChosen

  Origin 3: https://www.books2read.com/TychesHope

  Origin 4: https://www.books2read.com/TychesFury

  Origin 5: https://www.books2read.com/TychesGrace

  Origin 6: https://www.books2read.com/Gravedigger

  Future Forfeit

  Not sure where to start? Get the reading guide here: https://www.mondegreen.co/future-forfeit-reading-guide/

  It’s 2150AD. There hasn’t been a corporate war… until now.

  Mason Floyd is an augmented syndicate enforcer at the top of his game. His job is asset protection and acquisition, no questions asked.

  Company tech is stolen on Mason’s watch. Rival megacorps want it, and they don’t mind killing him to get it. Framed for the theft, Mason runs. He tangles with off-grid rockstar Sadie Freeman on the grimy seam between the powerful and poor. Together they uncover a secret an entire city died to keep.

  Hunted and desperate, they must team up to survive. Together Mason and Sadie can save the world. Apart, both are lost. They must trust each other or die.

  Megacorps. Cyborgs. AI. Gene-spliced monsters. Syndicate enforcers. Off-grid illegals. Supersoldiers. Rock music. Violence. Einstein-Rosen bridges. Liquor. Enhanced reflexes. Power armor and energy weapons. Full body replacements. Swearing. Mind control. Telekenetics. G-Men. Drugs. Neural links. Orbital cannons. THIS IS CYBERPUNK.

  Book 1: https://www.books2read.com/Upgrade

  Book 2: https://www.books2read.com/ChromedRogue

  City Stories 1: https://www.books2read.com/Consensus

  City Stories 2: https://www.books2read.com/Delilah

  City Stories 3: https://www.books2read.com/Meltdown

  Book 3: https://www.books2read.com/ChromedRestore

  Night’s Champion

  Could just one night change your life forever?

  Valentine Everard and Danielle Kendrick have the Night’s Favor: they are werewolves. There are many who would steal the Night’s dark gift from them. The Night’s Champions must face down the corporate interests of Big Pharma, battle with masters of dark Vodou, and make their last stand against both vampires and the Riders of the Apocalypse. Armies fall. Zombies roam the street, and no one is safe. The world is close to its final Judgment. What can a handful of souls do against the powers of the heavens?

  Book 1: https://www.books2read.com/NightsFavor

  Book 2: https://www.books2read.com/NightsFall

  Book 3: https://www.books2read.com/NightsEnd

  Glossary

  Abinal A planet ruled by telepaths. Masters use “demons” to control weather and people. The largest city on Abinal shared the name before its fall.

  Active camouflage Light-refractive tech where crypsis is achieved through cameras to sense the visible background. Peltier panels and other coatings dynamically change camouflage appearance, rendering the wearer nearly invisible to visible and thermal detection.

  Agent A syndicate field agent. Synonymous with enforcer.

  AI Artificial Intelligence. So-called expert systems and machine learning are a long way from true sentient AI. Some success in military applications, particularly friend-or-foe recognition, has given researchers hope for true machine intelligence. So far, success remains elusive.

  APC Armored Personnel Carrier. Designed to minimize risk to agents while transporting equipment and people into combat zones.

  Apsel Federate One of the three major syndicates. Apsel control the energy market through their high-quality, safe fusion reactors. A connected, always-on world needs clean, renewable energy.

  Bionics Life-like augments for the human form. Bionics can be arms, legs, hearts, lungs, eyes, and more. Human modification can be purely cosmetic (see: clinic) through to extreme (mil-spec augments to make humans faster, stronger, and much harder to kill).

  Cam Slang: camera, often for video surveillance.

  Chassis Slang: the part of the bionic frame total conversions associate with their missing body. While dependent on the agent and Psych profile, this is most often the torso component of the biomechanical structure.

  Chromed Slang: those equipped with obvious offensive bionics.

  Clinic Facilities for enhancing human attractiveness. Clinics can reduce or reverse obvious signs of aging, alter bone structure, and change hair and eye color. Clinic services are expensive, their clientele usually higher-paid syndicate workers. Many health-care plans include clinic services to ensure salaried employees can work longer hours.

  Coilgun Also known as a Gauss rifle, these weapons use electromagnets as a linear motor to accelerate projectiles. The resulting high velocity payloads deliver tremendous kinetic energy on their target. They are different from railguns; railguns require sliding contacts (“rails”) to pass current through their projectiles. These rails suffer wear.

  Company [wo]man An employee whose allegiance to their employer comes before personal beliefs, loyalty to fellow workers, or even family.

  Console A computer. See: deck.

  Construct A non-organic humanoid.

  Cybernetics see: bionics.

  Cyborg A human augmented with bionics.

  Deck Slang: a (usually portable) console.

  Decker Slang: a skilled hacker or handler.

  Dispenser Automated calorie dispenser, most commonly used for beverages and instant foods.

  Dropship In-atmosphere or sub-orbital mission deployment aircraft.

  Fixer Slang: a dealer and contact-broker.

  Handler Support operative for field agents, usually operating from safe company headquarters. Handlers are typically gender-preference compatible, leading to better bonding with their assigned agents.

  Hard link (see: link) Link connectivity established through direct rather than wireless connection. Hard links are more robust, higher bandwidth, and difficult to hack.

  HUD Heads Up Display.

  Illegal Slang: someone without a link.

  Keffiyeh (also: shemagh) Headdress fashioned from a square scarf.

  Klicks Slang: kilometers.

  Lamesh weed A narcotic plant found on Abinal. It grows in marshy areas.

  Language pack Tech to deploy languages to the brain. Memories as someone learns a language (or other skill) are tagged by a virus, then deployed to other brains by water-soluble code packs.
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br />   Lattice Tech hardwired to an agent’s nervous system. Outfitted with prediction and response routines, lattices allow faster-than-though threat responses. Interfaced via link to optics and overlays, they can yield precision combat maneuvers for ranged or close encounters.

  Link Slang: uplink. A tech interface allowing communications and data download to the brain. Links are used to order food, communicate on networks, install new skills, and have a range of military applications as well. Links serve as the information substrate for other modifications. Syndicates seek to make non-linked humans illegal (ref: Syndicate Registration Act) as links have certain direct-marketing advantages.

  Master A powerful telepath who can subvert human will with their mind.

  Medivac An emergency healthcare service, often military. Medivacs are usually armed and armored aircraft designed to take a near-death human to an optimal care facility.

  Megacorp Slang: syndicate.

  Memory sliver A portable data storage device, often very small. Slivers may be implanted into humans acting as data couriers. Data crystal, memplant, and data sliver are synonymous terms.

  Metatech One of the three major syndicates. Metatech specialize in mil-spec weapons and bionics. They often deploy agents as mercenaries, operating as a PMC (private military contractor). Their specialty is warfare.

  Mil-spec Slang: defense standard equipment, often called military standard. Mil-std, mil-spec, and MilSpecs are synonymous terms.

  Monoblade A bladed weapon with at least the edge forged from monomolecular structures (see: nano filament).

  Nano filament Slang: monomolecular wire (often a weapon) made from nanotubes of cylindrical nanostructure. These have properties useful to electronics, optics, and other materials science technologies.

  Nanotech Slang: nanotechnology. Describes tech manipulating matter on an atomic, molecular, and supramolecular scale. Often used for fabrication of macroscale products, especially (often weaponized) robotics.

  Off-grid Slang: referring to an area or person not in the linked world, not surveilled, lost, or missing.

  Optics Slang: ocular implant to replace visual organs (eyes).

  Overlay HUD displayed on optics.

  Overtime A mil-spec upgrade increasing reaction time. Overtime modules manipulate the body’s endocrine system while decreasing nervous system response time. They effectively “overclock” humans. Short-term side effects include light perception and other sensory stimulus issues; many agents complain of phantom flavors or sounds. Long-term side effects include endocrine overload, burnout, and brain death.

  Psych Slang: psychology assessment team, used to check field readiness of agents. Psych often use re-education to reduce the effects of PTSD or non-loyalist behaviors.

  Railgun A device that uses electromagnetic force to launch high-velocity projectiles. The payload is accelerated along conductive rails.

  Re-education (Often forced) Programming of humans to change allegiances, thought patterns, and behaviors. Re-education was perfected by the criminal justice system and has been adopted wholesale by syndicates as another tool in their arsenal.

  Real Slang: the real world, also called “the real.”

  Reed Interactive One of the three major syndicates. Reed control the entertainment market. Their products include digital holidays, virtual relationships, and an array of family-friendly network programming.

  Remote See: construct.

  Rogue An AI (non-sentient expert system, as true AI doesn’t exist) no longer under human control.

  Sat Slang: Satellite.

  Satcam Slang: Satellite camera or imagery.

  Seeker A zombie-like slave to a Master. Typified by all-white eyes and an altered body temperature.

  Sexbot or sex robot. Human-like, anatomically correct (or exaggerated) constructs for sexual pleasure.

  SMG Submachine Gun.

  Syndicate Compact Signed in 2087 between over a hundred syndicates, the Compact was designed to forestall war on a planetary scale. It allows for recovery of stolen assets in clear breach of intellectual property law, reparations between corporations, and a no-compete clause for senior company [wo]men. Signed into law in most geopolitical regions, it’s cited as protection against all-out syndicate conflict.

  Syndicate Large (typically global) corporation.

  Syndicate Registration Act A proposed legislative change allowing forced introduction of links into all humans from birth, plus retrospective introduction into non-linked adults. It is widely supported by all major syndicates and geopolitical entities. The proposal includes recommendations for non-compliance, which include a range of responses from incarceration to termination.

  Syndicate Riot Act Active legislation in most geopolitical regions allowing syndicate assets to disperse citizens if suspected of intent to riot.

  Tenko-Senshin Slang: Tenko-Senshin Intelligence Systems. Imaburi Tenko started a specialist weapons company before falling off-grid. His weapons are known as works of art, available only at astonishing sums. They run AI (expert systems) with a variety of features, notably to protect their owners. At least twelve were made before Tenko disappeared. Mason Floyd is in the possession of the twelfth Tenko-Senshin weapon, a small pistol that fires flechettes carved from a metal block by a laser. It then accelerates these using an internal railgun assembly, firing projectiles so fast they superheat air. Its internal AI has advanced friend-or-foe capabilities. Tenko was nothing if not creative.

  Total conversion Slang: a human mostly converted to bionics, leaving no visible trace of the original meat body.

  Tranqs Slang: tranquilizers.

  Uplink See: link.

  Vibroblade Slang: weapon with a thin blade that vibrates at a high frequency.

  Wireframe Overlays and HUDs commonly use wireframe models over the real.

  Acknowledgments

  Thanks to Greg for many, many conversations on AI. The art of the possible is constantly changing, and while Carter exists only in my head, others like her might draw breath one day. I hope by the time it happens we’re worthy.

  If you’ve enjoyed this book, Tiffany @ Eclipse Editing deserves at least five percent of the credit. She’s helped forge my hackneyed prose into something less hackneyed, and it’s only with her gentle encouragement and harsh red pen we’re here today.

  Finally, my Rae. Whenever I stumble, it’s always your hand helping me up. Let’s keep doing this crazy thing we’ve found until there’s no world to do it on anymore.

  — R. P.

  November 2018, Wellington

  EXCERPT: CHROMED: RESTORE

  The Beginning of the End

  “Leave me alone, Carter.”

  But she wouldn’t. No matter how often he pleaded with her, she came in his dreams. And lately, his waking hours. Back in Mason’s world, he’d be strapped to a chair in Psych. There was nothing like that here, but for a hot second he wished there was.

  Why did you let me die, Mason?

  Firelight danced between the legs of people and tables alike. Woodsmoke, rich and comforting, swam on draughts from poorly caulked walls. Nine others shared the tavern, heads down, some with hoods still over their heads from the insistent rain outside, but all with their eyes down. Dirt and grime smudged their features to sameness. Hope hadn’t found its way here.

  The storm hissed against walls of wood, teasing creaking boards with wet fingers. Mason glanced up from his meal. They’re not here yet, but it won’t be long. He returned to eating a bowl of fatty mutton and pale, straggly vegetation. It wasn’t anything like you’d get at a Michelin five-star, but it tasted better than it had a right to. Rich and comforting, with all the flavors nature intended. Mason picked up a spoon, noting the persistent tremble in his arm.

  It’d been a long time between clinic visits.

  Mason, I didn’t want to die. I only wanted to dance.

  He clenched his fingers around the spoon, the shaking forced aside as the lattice held him steady. Warnings cascaded on his overlay.
URGENT MAINTENANCE and NERVOUS SYSTEM DETACHMENT had no meaning. Not on Abinal, orbiting its dying sun. Mason gritted his teeth, clearing the errors. There was still work to do, for as long as he could.

  The tavern door slammed open, rain swirling inside. The night gloom gave nothing away, but Mason’s optics were designed for dirty work in dark places. The overlay rolled with static for a moment before enhanced vision showed a hooded figure cloaked against the storm. All arrogant shoulders, as if the rain were according to their plan.

  It might well be. Demons rode rain in the past. Mason didn’t know if there were others. Not finding them doesn’t mean they aren’t there.

  He almost laughed. Paranoia like that said he was overdue for that visit to Psych.

  Arrogant Shoulders strode into the tavern. Seekers scampered after, their white, sightless eyes combing the taproom. Mason huddled into his cloak, drawing his hood down. The rough cotton still held its own memory of the rain. Despite the damp, cold, and clammy material Mason chose a seat away from the fire. Far from the light and warmth, in a corner where dark huddled with him like a conspirator.

  They’re coming for you. They’ll leave you dead.

  “Not now, Carter.” Mason watched Arrogant Shoulders reach the bar, old wood floorboards creaking. The nine people in the taproom lowered their eyes. They all knew what this was, if not who. Mason knew, too. He was counting on it.

  Arrogant Shoulders beckoned the barkeep. A sweep of a hand drew their hood back, revealing a woman, face too used to looking down on people to be pretty. When she spoke, Mason’s overlay gobbled the words, translating on the fly. It’d been three months since arriving in Abinal, more than enough for speech to come naturally to the link. “Where are they?”

  The barkeep, a fat man in a world of thin, starving people, cringed. “No one came like you described, Master. No girls traveling with men.” An ingratiating smile. “We have hot food. Cold ale. Comfortable beds.”