Interlude

In this interlude, Minus, a Syndicate operative, is briefed by Captain Fresh on a suicide mission to infiltrate the dungeon as a ghost-like presence attached to the fairy crawler and assassinate key targets. Minus learns that his estranged brother Linus, a wealthy citizen obsessed with the crawler Elle McGib, has been killed by the Syndicate, and Minus must impersonate him to board the dungeon and destabilize the system from within.

Captain Fresh of the Syndicate security forces recruits Minus for a covert operation, handing him a datapad containing five hundred hours of footage about the fairy crawler Elle McGib and posts from Minus's brother. Fresh explains that Minus will be onboarded as a half-corporeal, non-combatant presence tonight as the tenth floor begins. The footage includes fabricated evidence—snicks and investment records—designed to make Minus's intrusion appear legitimate to the AI overseeing the dungeon system. Minus discovers that his estranged brother Linus, whom he hadn't contacted in five cycles since their father's funeral, has been executed by Syndicate security. Linus had become wealthy through biological license engineering and moved to an orbital habitat, purchasing full citizenship, but remained lonely and obsessed with Elle McGib. Minus is wracked with guilt for not maintaining contact. Fresh acknowledges the mission is suicidal but emphasizes its critical importance: the AI system is spreading and unstoppable, and the Syndicate is losing. A surgical kill of a key crawler is meant to destabilize the group and trigger an early Ascendency game, allowing other Syndicate assets to act. Fresh makes clear the operation is a last resort to prevent extinction, and Minus accepts the order.