> > > s t a t s

STRENGTH (STR)
The firefight raged all around, tracers like fireflies. Marachek couldn't budge the door. I was dragging Zone's body, but it was getting heavy. Two guards came around the corner, their high-tech boots squeaking on lucite flooring. Marachek drove a strong left hook into the pointman's jaw and layed him out, quick as fastfood, one, two, down. I tried grabbing the WLI Covert-7 out of the other guy's hand, but he wrestled it away. Marachek saved me by grabbing the guy and pinning him against the wall...

ENDURANCE (END)
Reiber's mouth was as cracked and sandy as the Wastes that spread away in all directions. An empty canteen reminded him of how long he'd managed to go without water. He'd lost track of whether the horizon's shimmering was a mirage or aftereffects of the derm overdose he'd somehow survived earlier that afternoon. The tourniquet had come lose, and he was bleeding...

DEXTERITY (DEX)
Shar was cleaning her Sig Sauer P-10 pistol. She had long, steady fingers, she double-tapped a Crosspatcher from across the Docks in Nirvana the afternoon I met her. We waited through the rain for Sirus to get back with take-out from Jin's Noodles while she cleaned. I was finishing the fender on our NeoHonda Naga 450. I'd made short work of the bike. Shar said I had the hands for it.

AGILITY (AGL)
They circled each other, glare from the headlights of passing hovercars reflecting off the monomolecular blades of each combatant's katana. This was their dance: feint, parry, dodge and counter, a ballet. Sonoda was faster, his blade flickered and struck first, then twisted away as he dodged the challenging ganger. Sonoda had that kind of speed that makes the whole body fast, a rhythm that made him a natural in a streetbike race or an alley fight. And it allowed him to slip away when the NCSP SWAT goons arrived...

Mental Stats

INTELLIGENCE (INT)
Yeah, I modded this Gothix Mindseye III myself, right? So it's not like I need Krystal copping a major 'tude about it being hot when I bounced down to the Last Exit to plug in. So I tell her I don't know who's got a flatter chest, her, or the Android Barista. I installed the Gothix coprocessors myself, and custom programmed the defense software. I've got the record for the fastest run on the InterOrbital node, I've dodged every Netwatch trace attempt. Oh yeah. Did I mention I speak Mandarin Chinese?

WILLPOWER (WIL)
Some people have it. It's that fire in the eye. Like Raster, they say he's the only guy who's ever survived a flatline, got hit with a neural overload when he'd tried skimming data off Bancorp Financial in cyberspace. He just didn't want to die. Or this Slayer in a gang fight, last night. Covered in blood, still won't go down, and his aim's as good as if he'd just woke up and gotten a latte. No distraction at all. Plus he was wired, too many implants, a cyberpsycho. But he kept it in check, fought it back. Too bad he didn't have a clone...

EMPATHY (EMP)
I'm barely human anymore. There's so much chrome I can't tell where it stops and I begin. But Mira's always been there, even when I wake up in an alley with blood on my hands. (Whose blood?) She's always been the healer, always the one to talk things through, the one who makes it all better. And if we can rent that cybershop, she can pull some of the cyber out, and maybe that'll fix me.

PERCEPTION (PCN)
"Always watch the suspect's hands and eyes. Body language gives clues about what he's about to try. You need to notice the details. This allows you to spot where he's stashed the murder weapon, or find his partner who's hiding in the crowd. Be alert. Scan the area, aim at the target before he aims at you. Notice your surroundings, or become a part of the pavement."
--Excerpt from NCSP field manual.