Decided to post a little teaser from chapter 4 of Blood Debts. In this scene Raven serial 4080 is giving a warning to Wolfe serial 4086 regarding a Corpo War. I wanted to capture some of the humanity beneath their training and add more depth to the character. ======================================= Vineland NJ – Wolfe's Estate It's early afternoon, and Wolfe's home office is a utilitarian space. A modern desk on it holds multiple monitors and a network access deck. A bookshelf packed with technical manuals, history texts, and esoteric books. A painting on the wall of a Gothic castle surrounded by dark woods with a plaque with the words "Castle Karnstein, Pădurea Neagră New Transylvania" sits on one wall, and on another, a still image of a moonlit moor with a pack of direwolves howling at the moon with the plaque with the words "Cântecul Sălbaticului". A radio playing EBM sits on a shelf nearby, filling the room with music. Wolfe relaxes, wearing black gym shorts and a tank top, and sits with his feet up on the desk. On one screen is Raven, an olive-complexioned woman with her long black hair in a braid, her alert dark eyes scrutinizing him. On the other screen is the ShadowWeb messaging page. "Hey Rave, what’s up? You reached out earlier while I was out on a contract. What’s up?" He asks as he reads a message. Raven groans with annoyance. "War rumors are out, and wanted to give you a heads up. Kit sent word to me confirming it. The Nakamora board went to a war footing. They hit a Tanaka Oil Platform last night." "I heard about it on WKILL earlier. What the fuck are they thinking, hitting that oil platform in the Sea of Japan? What is Kit doing on his end?" Wolfe shakes his head ruefully. "Kit is using his conflict of interest clause and ending his Nakamora contract. Also, it doesn’t fucking matter what the slags are thinking. They did it, now shit is gonna hit the fan. The question is, what are you going to do?" Wolfe shrugs nonchalantly. "Good to see Kit is being smart about it." As for me, nothing at all. Not my monkeys, not my circus. Unless it gets my company involved or some idiot from either side decides I am a target, there is no need to get involved." Raven's dark brown eyes narrow to slits. "So you are going to fucking stay there and wait for bullshit to go down around you? You are a fucking gonk!" "Fuck off, rage gremlin, give me some credit. If shit gets hot, I got places I can go and chill away from the corpo bullshit." He chuckles. "Dare I ask?" "You already know where, so I am sure you got some snarky shit to say," Wolfe says with a smirk. Raven rolls her eyes in frustration. "Great, just great, your idea of going somewhere to chill is popping onto a suborbital and going to Cronia to hook up with vampire chicks and play big game hunter looking for supes. As if that is fucking safer." The corner of his mouth tics up as he knows he is about to spin Raven up. "Someone’s jealous." "No, jackass, I’m not a masochist who thinks having a girlfriend use me as a chew toy is hot." Raven says in a low, growling tone. "No, you just pick the worst human beings to hook up with, then go into rage gremlin mode when they piss you off. It ends up with them needing an ER visit for multiple broken bones and emotional damage. Perhaps dating someone a bit more durable would be better for you." Wolfe says as his foot begins to tap on the floor, their sibling banter intensifying. "Very funny. So is there a type of supe you haven’t banged yet? Or are you filling out a supes I fucked bingo card or something? I mean, have you considered dating normal humans?" Raven's head shakes in visible exasperation. Wolfe briefly looks away from the monitor with a scowl, his fist clenching involuntarily. Raven’s face immediately shifts from aggravation to regret, her olive skin flushed from the sudden change of emotion. "Low blow, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that." She says as her dark eyes soften. "Exactly, Rave, you know that mundanes sense we’re different and that spooks them. Then the few we try to involve ourselves with eventually end it because they can’t come to terms with us being different from them." Wolfe says as he looks up at the ceiling as if seeking an answer to a question that can't be resolved. "Yeah, most normies wouldn't understand what it was like going to Tanaka's Little Murderers Kindergarten," Raven says as her jaw tightens. Wolfe sighs. "Exactly, telling someone you were learning how to effectively cut a jugular without making a sound at age seven tends to make people run fast." Raven looks away from the screen and asks softly. "Is it any better with supes?" "A little though that has its own problems. Especially with older vamps thinking you are property rather than a partner. For them, they can't seem to understand that love does not mean collecting." He shrugs. Raven bites her lip in reflection. "Seems like our only options are dating our own kind." "You know that is no bueno. There’s just me, you, Nightshade, and Kit outside the corp. Ariel and the others are still in bed with the corp." "Ariel is still there, yet you speak to that Tanaka ass kiss on here," Raven says, her anger once again flashing across her face. "Rave, you damn well know why. You know what she did, and that staying there is the price she pays for what she did to help us." He says in a brotherly manner. "She could have come with us. I feel like her staying betray..." Raven says softly as she looks down. "Hey, she didn’t betray us. She sacrificed her freedom. You need to understand that and make peace with it." Wolfe's tone softens as he always does when she dwells on the events from the defector war. "I know, just fucking hate that she had to do it and would love nothing more than to burn the entire Tanaka Corp to the fucking ground and get her and the others out." Raven snaps. "There’s my little rage gremlin coming back." Wolfe smiles as he sees her coming back to her normal personality. Raven rolls her eyes and bares her teeth. "I hate you calling me that, you fucktard!" "You say that, but we all know you secretly love it. Regardless, I’ll keep you in the loop on what I am doing, and if you need to come this way, you know the access codes and that there is always space here for you to chill. We should probably reach out to Nightshade as well to let her know. Also, we need to tell Kit to keep his head down." Wolfe says as he begins to make the mental notes. "Thanks, Wolfe, you’re the best, you asshole, and I'll try to get a hold of Shade and Kit stepped back so he should be good." Raven flashes a toothy smile. "Love you too, Rave, and I’ll try as well to get a hold of our ghostly sibling. I'll reach out to Kit later and let him know my door is open." He smiles. Wolfe ends the call and shuts down the computer system, then stretches with a groan. "Welp, I should get some rest before the Slaughterhouse tonight and that meet up with Ford. See what he wants." ======================================== #Writingcommunity #horrorwriting #cyberpunk #foundfamily #sundayvibes.

A pair of zonehunters looking for hidden treasures in the outskirts of the former city state of Cathar deep in the northern Plague zone. The Cronian council outlawed entry into the zone but zone hunters persist despite the kill on sight order. Image by ChatGPT #Zonehunters #plaguezone #zombies #saturdayvibes

Still working on a backstory to this picture

Sometimes ladies that belong to Assassin Sects in religious order that worships a blood thirsty god need a day at the beach. Lucinda, Amanda, Selena, Kate and Chloe are all enjoying a lovely day at the beach and surprisingly no one died.

Updated image: Sacerdotisa Valentina Olivera of the Iglesia de Mictēcacihuātl stands in her office overlooking the temple in Nueva Tenochtitlán Cronia. Image by ChatGPT #SaturdayVibes #SinfulSaturday

The women of Moxley Manor from left to right Flirt Goblin Tiff, Tech Mortia Kat, Chaos Gremlin Arya, Goth Koala Linders Moxley Manor is a safe haven for a mix of supernaturals and mundanes located near Grays Ferry Philadelphia. The manor is free from the drama of Cronian religious orders and the women there do their best to protect each other. Image by ChatGPT #GothGirl #Random #MoxleyManor

Let us sing Valhalleluja! youtu.be/S9WWz95ripA?si=-maV…

Countess Carmilla Von Carnstein of New Transylvania seated on her throne at the Torture Garden blood bar. Her blood knight enforcer Krystal at her left hand and on her right her faithful guardian Ebenhart Image by ChatGPT #AIArt #Vampires #DireWolf #Gothclub #TortureGarden

I had ChatGPT redo the Sisterhood of Lilith Wytch defending herself from the undead. The result was nice.

The Goddess Nyx appearing before her followers in her temple located in New Venus City. Nyx is one of the 7 Daughters of the Crimson Womb, founders of New Venus City. Image by ChatGPT. #Nyx #Goddess

One should avoid little scary goth girls with demonic familiars #AIArt

Time for the patron saint of WKILL - SUICIDE COMMANDO! youtu.be/DGESGUPOYK8?si=qsbg…

Tiff from Moxley Manor on the right and Raven Neo-Genesis Serial 4080 having a drink at the Raven's lounge. AI Short by @grok #RageGremlin #Vampire #Goth #random #Cyberpunk

Sacerdotisa Valentina Olivera of the Iglesia de Mictēcacihuātl stands in her office overlooking the temple in Nueva Tenochtitlán Cronia. Image by @grok #AIArt #FridayVibes