DateTime Data:
June 28th, 2077, 10:15 AM
Song Choice: Love$ick – Mura Masa, A$AP Rocky
My eyes slowly inched open from a long night's sleep and as I leaned up in bed, eyes still blurry, I found that my head was killing me. I knew it…I knew I felt somethin' comin' on last night. I thought. I pushed the covers off of me and sat on my bedside holding my head and rubbing it, trying to massage out the dull pain. After standing up entirely too fast, I felt a sickness come up quick. Nausea set in and it felt like I'd been drinking an entire six-pack of beer, or was back under Arasaka stress. I stood still, hoping the dizziness would subside as my MEDTECH diagnostics brought up a panel on my optics that read:
Data Corruption: {System Compatibility-76.4%}.
Detected!
{Firmware Intrusion-Detected}.
{Antivirus Scan-Active}
{Seek Medical Assistance}
Statistics: {CNS/CPU Response Time-46352.85}
{Intersystem Response Time-0.02 S.}
{Synaptic Plasticity-67.91%}
Basic System {Adrenaline Release Control-Normal}
Diagnostics:
{Pain Editor-Normal}
{Inertia Control-Normal}
{Environmental Sensors-Normal}
{Response Time-Normal}
I sighed and scratched my itchy cheek and the back of my head, walking over to the vanity to brush my teeth before getting dressed. About ten minutes after waking up, I got a call display that popped up on my optics since I had my R.S.T implant linked to my phone. I answered as I looked at myself brushing in the vanity mirror, eyes flickering red. They were supposed to be solid, as a way for others to know if my emotional outbursts were getting out of control, a little piece of hardware I had installed after Arasaka. Since I no longer had access to the company cyberware, I had to get adjusted to the new normal of having to regulate my emotions and stress. First couple of months were…hard, but Jackie and the others made it easier on me. Now though? I'm pretty much doin' better than I ever have before.
"Woah, Alex! You get any sleep? Aa, no matter. Time you got up!" Jackie said excitedly, more so than I had seen him in a while. I washed out my mouth and looked up in the mirror one more time as I dried it, eyes still flickering between red and my natural blue. The flickering was a glitch I'd been meaning to get fixed for some time now. It would partially activate my V.E.D, emotional-visual display, whenever I used my radio transmitter implant to link to my phone. It looked like I would be getting my chance today, had to go to a doc to get this sick shit checked out anyway.
"Think I mighta caught somethin'. When I jacked into that corpo's biomon… Dunno, a nuerovirus or…" I reflected, trying to diagnose myself. "Need to see Vik. Let him tell me what's got my head reelin' and my stomach chrunin'."
"OK, lemme take ya. I have Morgynn and her ride, Sam's also here eating lunch with us. You should come grab a bite. Yeah, throw on some threads, meet me downstairs." Jackie ordered.
I walked over to my clothes locker and retrieved my leather jacket from the compartment. It was red and black and white with a specific embroidery design on the back. It was old, as it should be, since it belonged to my father in his younger days, but I'd had it refurbished and even remade 1:1 multiple times. Not sure where the thing came from or what it symbolized, it's location and message had been deluded over the years, like playing telephone with fifty people and listening to what the last kid got. Now the jacket was my calling card, not Arasaka's, not the military's signet, not Manhattan's, just mine, and mine alone.
I zipped up my grey hoodie over one of my business casual white button-down shirts, and slung my jacket over my shoulders until it wrapped itself around my torso. Afterwards, I walked over to my coffee table and picked up my last bottle of brandy and took a swig of it to warm me up a bit before leaving out of my apartment.
As I jogged down the apartment complex stairs, I saw Jackie, Morgynn, and Sam all sitting at the Thai food stand. Sam seemed to be extra hungry, as when I approached, he paid me no mind.
"Mm! Man of the hour! Heheh, sheesh – took you long enough! Worked up an appetite just waiting!" Jacked said, holding a paper box full of noodles.
I came and stood between Morgynn and Samuel's stools as he gave a quick nod and went back to eating.
"Damn Alex. Not like you to sleep in." Morgynn commented, finishing her food.
She was right though, when we were all living with Jackie and his mother, I'd normally be the first one awake, along with Mama Welles of course. We'd usually talk for about half-an-hour before one of the others would rise.
"I know, think somethin' might be up with my implants, gonna get it checked out by Vik." I replied.
"Siddown, let us finish this. Then we can drop in on Señor Vektor." Jackie said, pointing to the stool in-between Morgynn and Sam.
I sat in between the two and talked with Jackie as Sam finished engorging himself on his food and went to walk around the complex to get himself another Nitro-Cola.
"You mentioned something about a surprise yesterday. 'M I rememberin' right or…just had a brain fart?" I asked as I saw Morgynn hiding a cheeky smirk.
"Prolly both 'cause you usually forget shit. But it just so happens, I think I mighta bagged us a sweet-ass J-O-B." Jackie said, as I started to feel another wave of sickness come on. I stared into nothingness in the distance, not really paying much attention to his story.
"Go on…" I spoke
"I mean, maybe it's not as big as that, but… Just that it's fronted by a little-known someone named Dexter DeShawn. Only the top fixer in Night-fuckin'-City! Fat-assed Black Jesus of the afterlife. Three hundred pounds of partly gold-plated cool." Jackie said, revealing to me what they were all here for, and why they even bothered to call me down in the first place. I knew the name Dexter DeShawn, heard it in passing a few times, but actually knew next to nothing about the guy, other than his prominence in Night City as a fixer.
"Jackie, I'm happy and all, you know I am-but you never told us how you actually managed to pull this. You trade in your spleen or somethin'? Because far as I know, we're just not the type to get fingered by Dex." Morgynn said after taking a bite of her kabab.
"We're not. But T-Bug – she's the one who hooked us up, got us talkin'. Knew it was a done deal the second he laid eyes on me. 'Cause c'mon – a'int nobody who can resist this. Am I right?" Jackie bragged with a massive smile on his face.
Morgynn chuckled a bit at his enthusianum.
"Heh, sure, Jack. Whatever you say." She replied.
"So whats the gig? Are we even meant to come out in one piece?" I asked, wanting to know if this was the kind of job that is better for the fixer than it is for us.
"Our lord and savior wants to tell you everything himself. At least, one of you, face-to-face. Oh, and, no pressure, but, uh…this whole deal? 'S ridin' on you guys now." Jackie said, as he seemed to already have the person he wanted to meet Dex in his mind. He pointed towards Morgynn and she seemed to be a little taken aback by that.
"Why do I gotta go? You and T-Bug draw straws without me?" She responded.
"T-Bug and Dex go way back, she recommended you, specifically. And my face is yesterday's news. Aw, Dex said says he needed to check you, talk to you. Look, guys, it's his job, his rules. I can't blame 'im for takin' a personal approach. An' it ain't as bad as you think, OK? Trust me." Jackie said, seeing the apprehensiveness in our eyes.
"Guess I got no choice, then." Morgynn said finishing her kabab as Sam came back, fresh Nitro-Cola in his hand.
"Dex is the real deal when it comes to fixers. Don't get me wrong, don't got nothin' against the Padre or Wakako, but…Dex is in a league of his own. Know what I'm sayin'?" Jackie said, trying to encourage Morgynn a bit.
She scoffed and replied,
"Don't get me started on fixers. They catch a client, find the cheapest gonk to do the job, then drop their corpse at a landfill."
"Shit, hit the nail on the head, Morg." Jackie said, just trying to be agreeable at this point.
"Brought your wheels. Gave 'em to my guy yesterday after I dropped Misty off to smooth over the dents after our, uh, dust up with the scavs." Jackie said, putting the keycard on the food stand's table for Morgynn to pick up.
"Thanks, Jack. Much appreciated." She said, before calling her car to our location on the curb.
"Yep, some top-notch work, Miguel did. Rides like it looks – factory new." Jackie said, pausing to look at the car pull up to the curb. "So, we rollin' or what?"
"Alright, let's feel this factory-new ride." Sam said, walking over to the car's back seat. I was just glad that we could get to Vik's now, my stomach was really starting to churn now. I hopped in the back seat with Sam, as Morgynn and Jackie took the driver's and passenger's seats respectively.
"First stop – ripperdoc?" Morgynn asked us.
"Yep. An', Morg, easy on the gas, huh? My stomach is killin' me." I responded.
"Aa, this is it! C'mon, Al." Jackie said, calling Alex by his nickname as the group all exited the car.
They walked down the heavily neon-lit alleyway, passing all sort of stores and advertisements along the way, until the group came upon a storefront called, "Misty's Esoterica". Myself and Jackie entered first, and Misty responded with a wide smile at seeing us both.
"Hey, Alex. Doctor Vector will see you now." She said as Jackie walked up to her counter and laid his elbow on it.
"Alright, you guys come find me Vik's done dustin' your circuits. We'll hash out the deal Dex has cookin' for us. I'll sit tight over here. Me and 'n' Misty got some catching up to do." Jackie said with a playfully suggestive smirk.
Alex nodded and with Sam and Morgynn in tow, all went downstairs to where Viktor's unit was.
We entered and saw a wholesome smile appear on the aging ripperdoc's face.
"Viky, spry as ever, you old ripper! It's good to see you." Sam said giving him a firm handshake.
"It's good to see you all too. It's been a while. To what do I ow the pleasure today?" He asked, still fiddling with his old cybernetic hand in his seat.
"Last gig – had to jack into a client's neurosocket… Think I mighta gotten spiked." I spoke up, giving him the details.
He seemed to plaster on a perplexed look, or maybe it was an investigative one.
"Experiencing migraines, nausea, hypersensitivity to bright light?" Vik responded trying to locate issue and diagnose it.
"Whole kit and kaboodle." I replied flatly.
"All right, kid. We'll sort you out in a flash. 'Sides that, how're things?" He asked me.
"Met a new fixer, he gave us a job. Name's Dexter DeShawn." Sam said with stifled excitement.
"Known quantity, from the Afterlife. No denying you're movin' up, now…" Viktor said, trailing off towards the end, apprehensive.
"But…? Somethin' you're not telling us, Vik?" Morgynn chimed in
He stayed silent for a couple of seconds trying to find the right way say whatever it was he wanted to say.
"Keep your guard up, that's all. I've heard some things about Dex. He's not as "chill" as he makes himself out to be." He said, unearthing only a small fragment of his infinite street-wisdom.
"Anyways…Need some new kit – but tools, not toys, Vik. Time I bumped up my sights and got a grip." I said, getting to the real point of my being here.
He smiled…wider than I'd seen him do really ever.
"Heheheheh. Really? Now? Finally?"
"Vik, shit's getting' real. Got a job from Dex DeShawn – hittin' the major leagues. He needs tech that can perform." Morgynn said, nodding her head to the left, as if she was signaling something to Viktor.
"Well…I guess it's time then. Come'ere, I got somethin' for ya." He said getting up from his chair and walking over to his surgical chair, were I was to sit.
"Siddown, it's not ready yet, but you can peruse and choose to your liking for a grip all you want while I'm slaving away over here." Viktor said, as he took out an airhypo from his drawer and stuck it just above his cybernetic hand, assumedly making it limber.
I sat on the blue surgical chair as I saw Morgynn and Sam watching me…a little too intently. I was confused, but brushed it off as Viktor pulled a screen in front of my face so that I could choose a grip. I did so for a few minutes, choosing the one I wanted, as Vik rolled over on his chair with a black cylindrical case. He turned the handle on the top and I heard a sound, the sound of decompression. He pulled out what looked like…an eye? It must have been an optic, one of them at the very least.
He looked at me with a prideful grin.
"Kiroshi optics. Best I've got, and should be about right under the circumstances."
"Kiroshi?! Whoa! Vik, nothin' tops that on the market. H-how could you afford this?" I asked, bewildered.
"We all pitched-in for you, since we missed your birthday." Morgynn said.
"Look, I only pitched-in just so you could cease your bitching every time it glitched out on you." Sam said, as usual masking his emotions with humor.
I was completely dumbfounded; they had gone through the trouble of…helping me? Using their hard-earned eddies help me out. I didn't even want to think about how much this would have costed in total. At least—ballpark, probably fifteen thousand eddies. I'd known that Sam and Morgynn had spent their cash on clothes and some cybernetics, including their very own Kiroshi. But most of my eddies were spent on cyberware "toys" so to speak. The cool shit, like cyberware in my thighs that allow me to vault over a streetlight, or the Mantis Blades, which I got installed only recently, which are blades that come out of my forearms. But now it was time I focused on functionality, and not style. Out of all of us, I was the one most keen on cyberware. Sam only trusted the bare minimum, and was reluctant to do even that, while Morgynn was indifferent towards it, getting whatever she needed, but nothing more. I however, had been warned multiple times to pace myself with cybershit, otherwise I could develop a nasty case of chome-addiction and go psycho.
"T—thank you…It means a lot. I'll pay you guys back, I promise." I said, euphoria subsiding, guilt replacing it's void.
"No need, this was a plan we all were okay with from the beginning." Viktor comforted. "As for the grip, however, that has not been subsidized, we'll work somethin' out, but as long as you get back in one piece—eddies in hand…shouldn't have a problem."
"Now jack in." Viktor commanded so that he could put me under for the operation.
I sat there for a bit, astonished, as I looked at the stats of the Kiroshi optics, and Vik seemed to take notice.
"MK1, like I said. Decent enough scanner. Displays data on your cornea. Cherry on top's a built-in external lens disruptor." He said, pointing at my eye. "In layman's terms, any surveillance cam'll capture your face as a blur. Now just remember, your body'll still show up as crystal clear."
"I'm ready, Vik, carve away." I said, giving him permission to begin.
"Eeexcellent. Let's do this." Vik replied rolling his chair over to his workstation to pick up his tools. "Lay that major-league arm of yours right here." As he pulled up a special robotic armrest that would do the grip installation autonomously.
I laid it there and Sam asked to make conversation.
"So…what's new in the life of Viktor Vektor?"
He huffed and turned around to face him for a moment.
"Heh. Er, if I'm bein' honest? Not much. An' that's fine with me. I used to live in world where all that mattered was who's who, what's what and how's why."
"And what happened?" Morgynn asked.
"One day I just dropped it and never looked back. I'll never be a legend in this town…but been sleeping nights ever since." Vik finished, turning back around to turn the automated surgical device on.
"Now, a bit of anesthetic and I can start cutting." He said, grabbing his anesthetic gun and placing it on my non-organic forearm. Although they were synthetic skin and muscle, the manufacturers go through great pains to provide an experience that exactly replicates organic fibers. Sensation is not lost on the synthetic parts of my body, and therefore anesthetics are still required.
After pulling the trigger on the anesthetic gun, it left four bruise marks on my arm in a line, inserting the anesthetic fluid into my bloodstream. He turned on the device just after, and asked.
"Feel anything?"
"Play by play, though? Really, doc? Makes you sound like a dentist – always goin' on and on…" I teased, earning a scoff from him as he brushed it off.
"Don't be mean, now. 'Member, I'm old. I got a shaky, 'ganic hand. Could slip." He said, taking it in stride and returning with prods of his own.
He got up and tilted my head back to relax on as he took the Kiroshi optics out of the case again.
"Lights out for a minute, all right?" He said, putting me under.
DateTime Data:
June, 2077, 12:09 PM
I awoke what seemed to be a minute or two later.
"You might feel a little discomfort at first. Blurred vision, low contrast, glitches… Well, how's it look? Feel all right to you?" Vik asked seeing if my condition was stable.
I looked around for a moment or two as the blurriness cleared. I was amazed at what detail I was seeing in.
"Whoa, this is fantastic, guys."
"Haha, beautiful. Time for the scanner." He said, prompting me to use it.
As I did, I was impressed with how detailed the info was…very useful.
"It might take a few seconds to adjust, but…first time's rarely the charm, with anything. Scanner should eventually sync with your thought processes an' read your intentions. I also injected an NCPD file search. Run into any ne'er-do-wells, heh, you'll know exactly who they ne'er-did-well." He continued to inform.
The automated cutter turned off as it's job on the grip was complete. I pulled my hand from it and admired the craftsmanship. It reminded me of what my superiors would have implanted, back when I was in the military.
"Heheheheh. It oughta work like a charm…" Vik said, taking notice of my infatuation with it.
I sat there looking at it for a few more moments, before a spoiling thought ruined it for me.
"How 'bout the neurovirus, from the last job? Can ya check it?" I asked, trying ever-so-hard to recenter my mind on the reason I was here in the first place, and not get distracted by my new toys.
He laughed a bit at me and replied,
"Done and gone while we were puttin' in your implant. Ran a full sweep on your soft and circuits. Zapped the critter. You're certified bug-free." He said, to my surprise.
"Shit, Viktor, not bad. I dunno what to say…to any of you." I said, with genuine mix of emotions, happiness, sure, but guilt and scumminess as well.
Viktor didn't immediately respond, instead he grabbed a red inhaler off of his counter and handed it to me, still sitting in his surgical chair.
"Say you'll take this and remember the dosage. Two whiffs now and two in an hour."
"What am I lookin' at?" I asked, sort of suspicious of what he was givin' me. Though, don't know why I should have been.
"A mild stim. Should boost neurotransmission in the short term and muffle some of the side-effects while the implant takes." Viktor informed.
I took the inhaler and took two deep inhales of the mist. Coughing a couple of times as I got up out of the chair.
"Tha-khe-thanks again, Vik, you're the best. I owe you, all you guys."
He had a deep chuckle at that, seeming proud of us…almost like a grandfather would be to his grandkids.
"Hahahaha… Go on, kids. Show'em what you're made of. And once you hit the big leagues, don't forget where you came from." He said, bidding us goodbye as we walked out of his unit and back into Misty's Esoterica.