I'll admit that I got this idea from a meme on Twitter. I can't leave links since the site doesn't like that, but I will say that the artist is called Kammi Momoru. I would recommend caution, some of their art is on the NSFW side.
Anyway, I own neither Cyberpunk Edgerunners nor Generator Rex.
Enjoy!
Father hated him. His uncle defeated him. And their green friend helped. They wanted nothing from him, only his death. All he wanted to do was live, and they condemned him to eternal solitude.
That was all this place was. This... Null Void. This empty space of nothing and torment.
He could stay here no longer. And he wouldn't.
There was nothing in this world. Nothing but scrap. But scrap was just metal without a purpose. And the moment Alpha connected to them, they gained a purpose.
Alpha was fortunate that he had seen the machine that his father had used to imprison him here. He was fortunate that the design was an easy one to copy.
He had to work quickly if he wanted to escape. The defect in his composition meant that anything he created or bonded to ran the risk of being turned to ashes. So the machine was put together hastily. It wasn't perfect, and some parts were misaligned. There was also no telling where he would go since he had no time to set any coordinates.
But anywhere was better than here.
So Alpha didn't wait for the machine to be perfect. He didn't have the time. He simply activated it the moment it was ready.
The result was instant.
A hole was torn in the space of the Null Zone. A glowing red swirl led directly outside of the wretched prison. Alpha didn't know where it led, but he also didn't care. It was already getting smaller, and the machine was starting to disintegrate. So Alpha, taking as many spare nanites as he could with him, left the machine and flew into the portal.
The Alpha Nanite was free at last.
Night City...
"You are trash. It doesn't matter that you're poor. Trash, no matter how nicely covered, will always be what it is. That is why you don't belong here."
David wished he hadn't asked. He had enough trouble motivating himself to go to school normally. Now that he had opened his mouth, he had to deal with the opinions of those spoiled Corpo brats. The types that got in through their father's money instead of any actual brains. David had seen Katsuo Tanaka's grades. There was no way that bribes were not involved in keeping him enrolled.
But that word kept replaying in his head over and over again. Trash.
The fact that the fucking washing machine wouldn't go all the way didn't help matters. His uniform was clean, but he couldn't go to class in wet clothes. He'd just add more fuel to that prick's fire. Why wasn't the cycle paid?
That's when his mom finally made it home. She was holding up a bag with work stuff, and the bags under her eyes made it clear she was tired. And the apartment TV did as it was programmed and turned on the moment she entered the room.
"David, can you turn that off?"
"Got it, mom."
David walked into the living room and got the remote from the table. He turned off the TV just as the news was reporting about some cyberpsycho going crazy in town.
"Thanks, mijo."
Gloria sat down on the couch and put her feet on the table. After so many overtime hours full of running and trying to keep people alive, this was sorely needed.
"Getting ready for class David?"
"I was. But the washing machine can't finish my uniform. I thought it was paid?"
"It was," Gloria said with a groan. "But fixing it will be an extra charge."
"Really? I thought the maintenance was supposed to last for a year."
"It's fine David. I just need to pick up an extra shift and we'll be fine."
"Another one? Mom, are you sure...?"
"Don't worry about it, David. I'll be fine," Gloria assured through a forced smile. "Anyway, can you at least get your uniform ready?"
"Not with how wet it is right now. I'll just have to go in my normal clothes."
"That outfit? Do they even allow that?"
"They won't kick me out," David said as he slipped into his black-and-red jacket. That combined with his oversized shirt, baggy pants, and crosses on his neck made him look like the streek kid he would never stop being.
"I'm heading out."
Once David had left, Gloria was able to do something she was starting to cherish more and more each day. She took a nap on the couch, finally able to relieve some of the stress from work and bills. For a little while at least, she could forget her troubles.
But while Gloria rested, a new set of troubles broke through reality. A small swirling circle of red materialized from the air inside the apartment. And from that spiral, a cloud of red jumped out. It wasn't a fire, but it was red and hot enough to be.
He was also tired. The escape took more energy than anticipated. Many of the nanites that had been bought over were breaking off from the main core of Alpha. Where they went was not a concern for the A.I. He needed time to rest and replenish his energy.
He would also need a suitable host for that rest. Something that could conceivable last long enough for him to recharge without turning to ash. The human woman on the couch was not an option. And organic was not a nice fit. So the best option was a machine.
Alpha chose the nearest piece of advanced hardware. An artificial spine filled with complex wiring and built for an enhanced purpose. Floating into the bag, Alpha slipped between the lining and broke through the cracks of the machine.
Once inside, Alpha prepared for recharge. All systems were disengaged, and his mind was allowed to stop. Until he was ready, he would wait inside the spine.
"This city is a shitshow."
These were the average thoughts in David's head whenever he went to school. The subway always smelled like someone had taken a shit at some corner of every car, so the trips never started off great. Not to mention the dirty streets, arguing hobos, and especially the fights. It was like someone was always starting something on every corner. David had to walk across a bunch of streets to avoid getting dragged up in any. The one with knives was a close call, but he managed.
Things were cleaner when he got to the university grounds. No school worth this much money would let anything dirty come nearby. Aside from a few of the teachers and some notable students. But David only cared about...
"Huh?'
David saw something. No, it had to be someone. But it wasn't someone he had seen before. The hair was... unique. Yeah, that was the word. There was the hair, it looked like crystal from a distance. The base was white, but the edges were all colored. And it looked like a girl.
David didn't think when he ran up the stairs. He could only see the back of the girl's head, but that was enough. She didn't look like anyone he had ever seen before. She...
She wasn't there. The spot where he had seen her was empty.
"Must have been my imagination."
David turned around and walked to the classroom. He might not care for school that much, but he did care about his mom. She wanted him to succeed. So he might as try to not cause any trouble.
Later...
One hour. David wasn't even in class for one hour before he got threatened with expulsion. Again. it wasn't even his fault this time. Doc was the one who gave him the corrupted software patch. How was he supposed to know it would glitch that badly?
"What are you doing David? Are you trying to get yourself kicked out?!"
David couldn't muster the same kind of response he normally would. he couldn't muster any kind of response.
"This is your second strike, David. Do you know what happens if you get one more? Do you?"
David stayed silent.
"They'll either increase your tuition or expel you. Is that what you want? I put in so much overtime for you to go, and you're just gonna throw it away? Or make it harder for you to stay? Is that what you want?"
"Well, why don't I just drop out? You won't have to work so hard, and it's not like anyone else wants me there."
It was Gloria's turn to stay silent. But only for a moment.
"Are you serious?"
"Mama..."
"I'm known people that were willing to kill, literally murder, for a chance to get into a school like that. You get a full scholarship, and you just want to throw it away?"
"No. Look, I get that it's an opportunity. I do get that I was lucky to get in. I get that."
"Then why..?"
"Because it doesn't matter to anyone else there," David spat. "Every prick there is just some spoiled Arasaka brat. It doesn't matter how smart I am or how good my grades are. All they see is trash whenever they look at me."
The fact that none of them were subtle about it made it so obvious. Tanaka was the bluntest, going out of his way to jeer at or make fun of David at every opportunity. The rest of his classmates either ignored him, glared at him, talked behind his back when they thought he wasn't listening or did all of the above at once.
"You think it's not the same for me?"
David turned to his mother as she spoke.
"No one respects me at work. They all know where I come from, and they would prefer that I stayed there."
"Then why...?"
"What am I supposed to do David? Prove them right? Let them know that all their bullying bullshit works? Is that what you think I should do? Is that what you want to do?"
David's shoulders slumped lower. "No."
Gloria loosened up when she saw how deflated her son really was. it was true that she knew how he must feel. She felt the same way during her training to be a paramedic. The bullying never stopped, even after graduation and her promotions. She was lucky she had Robbie (for a while), Maine, and later David to motivate her through it all. So she knew some bit of advice she could give her son.
"Listen, David, I know it's hard. And I know how it feels to want to give up. But you just need to remember to..."
"RESPECT THE TIGER CLAWS BITCHES!"
Both Gloria and David were stunned by the shout. Because no matter how prevalent the violence in Night City could be, there was nothing to prepare for it happening so unexpectedly.
Neither of them was able to react when the biker gang, armed with guns and explosives, began to attack the armored limo that had been driving in front of them. And they could only watch as one of the gang members threw a grenade at the wheels of the car, making it swerve out of control.
Gloria didn't have time to slow down. So the cars ended up crashing.
Hospital...
For having been in a car crash, David was fine. His head was scratched and his arms were bruised, but those injuries would heal in time.
His mom was a different story.
"Afraid there isn't much we can do at this point. Did you want her buried or cremated?"
The casual manner in which the doctor presented the options snapped David out of his stupor. It almost sounded like the man was asking him what kind of food he wanted, now how he should put his own mother to rest.
"Are... are you sure there's nothing you can do?"
"Her injuries were not so severe, but I'm afraid her body just didn't have the strength to keep fighting. It looks like she was overworked, and her metabolism suffered for it," the doctor explained plainly. "If she had gotten here sooner, we might have been able to stabilize her. But I'm afraid there's nothing we can do anymore. Do you know what you want to do with her?"
Too late. The reason his mother was dead was that no one helped her in time. David was awake when he saw the first paramedics arrive. They didn't care about him or his mom, even though she was one of them. They just helped whatever asshole had gotten his limo blown up.
"Kid?"
"Cremated. I'll go with that."
Later...
David walked slower on his way home than he usually would. Today he had no rush. And he had to be more careful now. He didn't want to drop the container for his mom's ashes.
The house felt emptier with just one person inside. David was used to being alone when his mother was out working, but he had always known that she would come back home eventually. But now she wouldn't. He couldn't afford to bring her back home.
Crawling in through the vents (he'd have to pay the rent later), David set his mother's ashes on the table. Turning off the annoying automatic TV, David tried to figure out what to do. This wasn't a dilemma he was ever prepared for, and he had no idea what to do.
His mom was the main breadwinner between the two of them. He always figured that if he did manage to graduate from Arasaka, he could at least pay for his mom to never have to work again. It would have been the least he could do.
But now he couldn't pay her back, and he didn't even know if he could afford to stay at the school. The tuition cost almost went up after today's incident, and if Tanaka provoked him again, it was doubtless that he would have to pay more. But was there even enough for him to go now?
That was the first thing he was going to have to figure out. Finances.
Jumping to the main computer, David opened up both his and his mom's accounts. His was the same meager amount he used to go out or buy some stuff on occasion. Nothing substantial. But his mom had a lot more than he expected.
"Damm. Where'd you get all this cash from mom?"
The account had almost fifty-thousand eddies lined up. If David was careful and tried saving, he could make due for a month or two at least. But that money wouldn't last forever. He needed a way to make more. he could try to find a job, but where? And if he did get hired somewhere, how could he guarantee to be able to pay for a living and school? Did he even want to go back?
He'd figure that detail out another time. It was Friday, so he had a weekend to figure that out. Right now, he had to find a way to get more eddies in his account. He already transferred some of his mom's money to pay the rent for the month, he didn't want to risk losing anything once her account got deleted. A consequence of being deceased.
Not taking a moment to grieve (he would do that later), David started to look around the apartment. It was too late to start filling out applications, but maybe he could find something he could sell somewhere. Something to keep the lights on for a bit longer at least.
None of the furniture would get him much. It was cheap stuff his mom had gotten with discounts. And the tech couldn't be sold right now. The computer was slow and sometimes glitchy, but it was the only one David had. And selling his own organs was going to have to be a last resort. David didn't even know the prices for those yet.
David couldn't think of anything he could sell at the moment. But maybe...
David remembered that his mom sometimes bought stuff home from work. Maybe there was something valuable there?
"Worth a shot."
David checked the bag his mom had left in the corner. Reaching inside, he found another bag. One that was filled with liquid, and had a metal device inside.
"What is this thing?"
It kinda looked like a spine. A spine made of silver metal. It had a few connection ports inside of it, so David could try to connect it to his computer and see what it was. So he took the bag to the sink, drained out the liquid from the bag, and took the machine back to his computer. Once he connected it, he started to get a few results.
Not one of them was something he would expect his mom to have. The machine was called Sandevistan, and from the look of it, it was meant to be a performance enhancer. Like a steroid that came attached to the body and never really stopped working. Something that, according to public records at least, was supposed to be reserved for members of the Arasaka army. Even Millitech didn't have anything like it.
"Where the hell did you get this from mom?"
She was just a paramedic. She had made decent money, but there was no way she would have been able to afford to buy something like this. Not without selling the entire apartment building. So why was it in her bag?
Standing up to check the clear plastic bag it had been inside of, David saw a bunch of writing that didn't look like hospital jargon. So either someone gave it to his mom for safekeeping, or she took it. If either of those two options were true, then David couldn't sell the thing.
"If it belongs to a hospital, I'd just have to take it back. And if she stole it, I might get in trouble for selling it. Pretty sure she wouldn't want me in jail for this thing."
But that still left the question of what the hell he should do with it. It was too important to just be a paperweight, but selling it might not be a good idea. Not unless he knew somebody, which he didn't.
According to the schematics he could find, the main function it served was... making its user faster than the eye could see. Allegedly, they would so fast they could cover a mile in less than a minute.
Hearing that description gave David an idea. It wasn't a great idea. It was an incredibly risky plan. But he had to do something with the Sandevistan. And if he couldn't sell it, then maybe...
Past Midnight...
This was not a trusted clinic. By day, the man who operated it put on the veneer of a simple surgeon. He had a smile he made as pleasant as possible, though it still scared the children. And he was polite, though his interactions with women were the reason he had no nurses.
But though he had a surgery license, he was a man who preferred to rip apart human bodies and put metal where flesh used to be. It was a type of procedure most doctors tried to keep professional and under wraps. But this doc enjoyed it. So much so that he joined the group of people known as ripperdocs. A group of specialists and putting steel where bones used to be. Usually, the name was enough to drive people off.
That did not apply to the kid that suddenly burst the door open.
"Put this in me."
Turning his attention away from his virtual partners for a moment, Doc scoffed. Now, Doc was a crazy bastard. He was a horny bastard. But he wasn't a cheap bastard.
"Kid, do you know what kind of hardware you're holding right now?"
"I do. And I want you to replace my spine. Come on, I thought you got off on this sort of shit."
Doc took his visor off and took a puff of cig. Blowing out an obscene amount of smoke, he answered.
"Normally I do. But I know you can't afford to have that implanted. I can tell from here that it's not an off-the-shelf brand. That's custom military stuff. "
"Yeah? Well I know you can't afford to buy it from me. Why else would you give me bogus prices to buy?" David wasn't going to let up. "Just put the damm thing in me. I'll use it to work for you. Whatever you want."
"I'm not looking for assistants. That's what the vids are for," Doc chuckled with a lecherous grin. "But tell you, I'll give you the Sandy. On one condition."
David frowned. "What do you want?"
"Nothing right now. But I get to keep the Sandy once that implant rips your brains apart."
David had no intention of dying. He knew for a fact that Doc wasn't going to keep it safe. He was a ripper, and they never cared about niceties. He knew this was going to hurt. A lot. But he had nothing left to lose.
"Just do it."
"Just lay down on the table. And don't forget to bite."
The metal bar was the only thing that kept David from screaming his lungs out.
As he expected, Doc used dirty knives and no anesthetic. So David was awake and aware of every cut during the procedure. Every laceration and removal felt like fire reigning down and boring every part of his back.
By the time Doc was finished, David was barely conscious enough to hear him.
"About done here. All I've got to do now is turn it on and wait for..."
The moment Doc activated the Sandy, David screamed. Something was burning on his back. He even heard the Doc step back.
That's when everything went red.
The Next Morning...
David woke up with a forced gasp. He coughed himself awake, his lungs feeling like they had just restarted after dying. grabbing his throat, David forced himself to calm down. He was able to get his throat stable, and he opened his eyes to see...
His bed. In his room. At his house.
"What the...?"
The last thing he remembered, he was at Doc's clinic. He had just finished getting the Sandy implanted into himself. he was barely conscious at the time, but he remembered that the doc had said something about it. Turning it on, maybe?
David had no clue how he got home. But his mother's jacket was on the bed with him, and he was still wearing his clothes. His pockets weren't empty, so he hadn't gotten robbed. His spine was metal now, but he had asked for that. No other body parts had been taken.
So... He was fine?
It didn't make much sense, but it seemed to be the case. Nothing looked like it was out of place. His room was the same as he had left it. The old skateboard he stopped using was still sticking out from under his bed. And even the old boxing posters his mom never liked were still on the walls. Everything was the same as it had been yesterday.
The only thing that would be different from yesterday would be the Sandevistan he had attached to himself now. Something he had wanted. Stepping out of his bed, David walked to his bathroom. When he turned on the lights, he was surprised to see that his face looked cleaner than usual. He had bags under his eyes occasionally from some stress and insomnia, but it was clear now. Even his skin looked smoother. But that wasn't what he came to check.
Turning around, David lifted his shirt off and turned his head around. The Sandevistan looked like it was...
Why was it black? He had seen it several times before the surgery, he knew it was supposed to be silver in color. But it was dark as coal now. Did Doc give it a paint job?
David didn't pay for one, but he wouldn't complain too much about it. He was fine with black, and it would even match most of his clothes. But why couldn't he remember getting it changed?
That didn't matter. Not too much anyway. David had something more important to figure out about the Sandevistan on his spine. Did it work?
There was only one way to find out. Putting his shirt back on, David stepped out of the bathroom and opened the door of his room. Taking a few steps back, David closed his eyes and focused on the machine strapped to his back. Activating it was a simple task of concentrating and thinking hard about it. He had to make the machine turn on. And he did.
What David didn't notice was that the glowing light on the Sandy didn't turn green like it was supposed to. It turned red.
But David was too distracted to look back and notice that. His attention was focused squarely on the fact that time was now slower. Each step he took carried him further than he had ever gone before, and he didn't even feel any wind fighting against him as he moved. It normally would take him about ten seconds to go from his room to the living room.
He made it in less than two this time.
Breathing heavily, David smiled as things seemed to be going right for him now. His Sandy worked, and he had speed. He wasn't weak anymore.
Of course, David's pure joy was interrupted by the tv turning on the moment he entered the living room. As usual, David reached down for the remote to turn the useless thing off. But he froze when he heard the news being reported.
"Reports are still coming in of a monster terrorizing downtown last night. Though any information on the mechanical beast has yet to be revealed, officials estimate that the damages it caused range anywhere between the hundreds of thousands and the millions. Not to mention the dozens of officers that were hurt or killed trying to detain it."
Monster.
That was the best way to describe the thing that David was seeing on the screen. Some security footage and people with recording tech had managed to catch glimpses of it. And while it was made entirely of metal, it looked like something taken out of a horror movie.
It was massive, about the size of a semi-truck. It moved on four legs, each one leaving marks on the concrete. There was a black head with a massive jaw, with fangs that looked like drills. Each foot had claws that looked like they could tear through steel, and it had a tail that looked like a swinging white tentacle. It looked like some kind of skeletal monster with glowing red eyes. And from the looks of the footage, which showed the thing tossing cars and people around like nothing and causing all sorts of damage, anyone who was there would call it the same thing.
But there was one detail that made David freeze. One detail that stunned him in a way he couldn't describe.
The creature had a spine that stuck out like a bulge on its back. It was black in color, and it had a glowing red light near the top.
It looked just like the machine now connected to David's back.
"According to witness reports, the origin point of the creature seems to have been a small illegal clinic near the..."
David didn't turn off the TV, but he wasn't listening anymore either. He just grabbed one of his black hoodies and bolted out of the house. He had to find out what happened last night.
This is where I will stop for now. Had a lot of stuff to set up, and I am excited about the next chapter. A lot of fun stuff is going to happen there.
For anyone curious, this will not recount the same events from the show. The fact that nanites have been thrown into the mix means that it's impossible for things to stay the same as they were. I won't give too much away, but one of the changes will be David's mentality over the course of the story. He won't be the same as in canon.
Also, in case any of the characters seem OOC here, that should be expected. Nothing is going to remain the same as it was before.
And in case it was confusing, Alpha's uncle is Rex. Since Cesar is his father, that would make Rex his uncle technically. Or that's how I see it at least.
Last thing. A warning to anyone who comes in expecting a normal crossover. I apologize in advance, but I'm gonna get crazy with this after a while. Just a heads up.
Anyway, please leave reviews, tell me what you all think, and I will see you all next time.
Bye!
