Book 1 / defrag

Prologue

Excerpt from an interview transcript:

<:8Bit:> “Look, if Synthware has something their competition wants that badly, they’ll find Runners who can get to it.”

<:MIRIAM:> “You give Runners a lot of credit. In your opinion, what makes them different from any other criminal with cyberware?”

<:8Bit:> “You ever heard of a lady called Grace Mary Hopper?”

<:MIRIAM:> “Famous Runner?”

<:8Bit:> “Nah, she lived back before megacorps were a thing. Invented the first language compiler.”

<:MIRIAM:> “I really don’t know much about computers, sorry.”

<:8Bit:> “It’s fine. Hopper’s the one that recorded the first official computer bug. The system went down, and she went looking and found a moth stuck between the relays in the main frame. She taped the thing in the logbook with the comment, ‘First actual case of bug being found.’ Snarky lady. Wish I’d been around to buy her a drink.”

<:MIRIAM:> “I don’t think I see your point.”

<:8Bit:> “Runners are moths. Doesn’t matter how perfect a machine you build. There’s a weakness there, and Runners will find a way to exploit it. They’re resourceful in a way that wage slaves aren’t. Any organization is susceptible to them.”

<:MIRIAM:> “Well, not any organization.”

<:8Bit:> “Any organization. Doesn’t matter how much cred you throw at the problem. There’s always a bug in the system. There’s always a glitch.”