"Get the fuck outta my sight, you thieving piece of trash!"

A limp body was mercilessly tossed out back of the ramen shop and into the dank alley. The furious line cook's chrome arm was powerful enough to give the street rat a fair bit of air time before they came crashing down amongst the rest of Night City's refuse. The forced landing was softened somewhat by a pile of smelly black garbage bags. Weeks old rancid synth meat and noodles oozed out from tears in the plastic.

Delta groaned, the putrid assault on the senses rousing the street kid. The constant ringing between the ears was soon paired with immense pain throughout the youth's brain box.

"I catch you tryin' to sneak a free meal from under my nose again and I'll be adding your ass in with the next batch of broth!" A door slammed shut, cutting off much of the light into the alley. The rainbow glow of distant neon lights from the main street still shone down into the shadows however, like a kaleidoscope, the colours shifted and swirled as foot traffic moved by the narrow opening.

No one out there even cared to lift an eye at the scene, even though Delta knew they could have heard the shouting. Unless lead was flying out of the alley it was a non issue for them. Background noise.

In Night City only a dull headed gonk would ever care about anything besides themselves and their eddies. That's how you survived NC; you kept your head down and nose glued to the gutter. You step outta line, mess with someone else's biz and soon your cyberware is in the hands of black market Scavs, what's left of your body rotting under the California sun in some landfill.

You didn't look up, you didn't fight back, you didn't dream of a better life. You try and always some bigger city predator will gladly snuff you. If only for the laugh.

The street rat pulled themselves up and dusted off the slime. All in all, it wasn't too bad, at least the cook hadn't used the iron on his hip. Frying pan grease was a lot easier to clean off than blood. A lot less painful too.

The leather was ruined, but that had been the case long before Delta had picked up the old Samurai jacket. Full of ancient blood stains and more stitches than fabric the dark brown band jacket had seen better days. It fit it's current owner well.

Great… And it took me forever to clean this jacket too…

A twinge along her cheek reminded the rat that they didn't escape completely untouched. A grimy hand reached up to caress the growing welt under their cerulean eye. The stinging caused a salty tear to form. Fuck, that gonk didn't need to hit me with his chrome fist.

A rumbled shook Detla's core, being punched out must have knocked the hunger out of her, if only for a moment. She was starving and now back at square one, with added bruises for her trouble.

Guess I'll have to find some scop elsewhere…

The walk through Watson was as to be expected, especially late at night. Neon signs and flickering street lights only lit up a fraction of the surrounding burrow of Night City. The rest of the cesspit was blissfully covered and hidden away by ever stretching shadows. Noisy advertisements squawked their company jingles on repeat, selling sex, drugs, and over processed junk foods. Delta had to look away from those last ones, she didn't need to be reminded of the empty hole inside her. If she only had a few eddies she could maybe get a burrito. If only she wasn't eddiless.

The sound of a heavy smack and sadistic laughter came from around the corner, the voice felt robotic as it emitted through cheap speakers set into a mask. Nervously Delta inched closer to the wall, up ahead was a disused basketball court, normally home to a group of bums that had set up shop there. Peeking around the corner confirmed her suspicions; Tiger Claw gangoons were holding up a group of helpless residents for a quick shakedown, each tattooed gang member dressed in flashy Kitch apparel. They came in a myriad of bright greens, neon pinks, and florescent blues. Their cyberware looked menacing, as spikes and blades jutted out from under their clothes.

The victims weren't homeless by the looks of their clothes, they seemed like your average passerby, nothing special, but at least had probably been able to afford a shower in the last month. They didn't belong in the camp, which left the question of where the actual tenants of the scattered nylon tents were, as none of them were on their knees amongst the hostages.

Looking at the floor of the ruined basketball court caused Delta's heart to stop. There were multiple corpses laying around in pools of their own blood. Their tattered clothing, individually unique sense of dumpster fashion, were unmistakable. Even as they lay face down, limp, in positions that nobody alive would make.

Uncle Xio… Gramp Gramps… Old Lady Ann…

Those old coots had been a few of the only friendly faces she had known in this city, taking pity on her and showing her how to survive this concrete hell. Some even treated her like their adoptive grand kid they never had.

Now they were gone. Probably murdered for entertainment, as she knew they didn't have anything of value that the Tiger Claws would want. Delta's chest tightened as grief flooded into her. Hot tears ran down her cheeks, washing away some of the soot stuck to her skin. A hiccup wracked the street rat's body, she wanted to wail and moan their loss, but her hands covering her mouth stopped her from making too much noise.

Unfortunately one of the Tiger Claws must have had a hearing implant, catching the slightest vibrations in the air. Her braided cyan pony tail swishing as her head snapped to where the noise came from. She spotter Delta peaking from around the corner, aiming her pistol she barked a command in Japanese. The girl flinched as the yakuza shouted again to her, this time in stilted English ordering her to come out. She was as good as dead now, with any luck they would at least make it quick…

With shaky legs the street rat complied, shuffling out of the safety of the concrete pillar with her hands held high above her head. When the woman with spikes for legs saw her fully she merely laughed and waved the rat away with the barrel of her gun. Not even bothering to catch Delta among their current victims, she had no credits and looked it too.

Delta felt boiling shame at that, she wasn't even worth a bullet to these monsters... Not even for shits and giggles…

She should have carried on then, continued walking the streets like a zombie In hopes of finding either edible trash or a new place to curl up in to sleep the hunger away. Just like every other night in this city, and every other from then on. Tired, alone, and starving to death.

It's what Delta's fate was, to be a rat among trash, and to die like it too.

A gunshot followed by a woman's scream drew Delta's attention back to the courtyard. One of the hostages was on the ground screaming their throat raw, a fresh bullet hole in their thigh.

"Anyone else feel like wasting our time? Huuuh!?" The mohawk Tiger Claw taunted the rest, each of whom trembled at the sight of the bleeding woman. Maybe she was their choom, but they were powerless to do anything to help, so they stayed put. Waiting for their turn to be butchered.

Delta really should have made like her namesake and gotten the fuck out of there. She couldn't do anything for these people, they were dead already and just didn't know it yet. It was just another fact of Night City, best not to get too attached to living a long life here.

But then, as the mohawk kicked the screaming woman again something disastrous happened: Her and Delta's eyes met.

Without saying anything she pleaded to the street kid to do something, to save her from the monster above her. Begging to live.

A memory flashed in the back of Delta's mind, of similar desperate eyes searching for salvation where none was to be found.

"ĐØ₦'₮ ⱠɆ₳VɆ ₥Ɇ ⱧɆⱤɆ!"

"̷H̷e̷l̷p̷ ̷m̷e̷!̷"̷

Y̶̢̛̦͓̲̩̳̫̝͔̍͑ó̶͔͇̗͖̯̗̆́u̴̧̍̋͆̇͘̚̚ ̵̡̢̛̱̬̳͇̯̖͍̜̐͂̉̀̌͝ǎ̵̖̜̺̹̿̑̚l̷͔̰̆̊̄w̸͉̣̖̬̝̰͓̅͊̓͆̔ḁ̶̼̑̂́̒ȳ̷̦̦͑ș̶̪̙̿̋ ̶̡̮̣̟̦̦̳̦̞̖͊w̵̱̯̻̪̏̑́̈̒͆ĕ̶̱̳̘̳̔͗̍̑̌̑̿̚͝r̷͙̣͍͈͖͇̣͇̤̽ë̶̡͙̺͖̭̟̼ ̵̨̧̨̱̥̻͔̖̦͓͌̅͊̈́͐̉̕͠͝ȧ̷̡̡̛̻̦̘͛̉̈́̿́͒̈́̃ ̸̛̪̿̊̆́̒̓͘̕c̴̢̨͈̗͖̘̙͔̅̋̿͊̈̆͠ơ̴̭͖̼̘̘̪͍̼̺̋̋͋̐͘̕͜ẃ̸̨̜̹͍̍͛́ǎ̶̻́͊̔̀̋̾r̶͇͍̤͍̃͊̒ḍ̵̻̹̳̼̝̺͇͋͆̏͝ͅ▓▓▓▓▓▓

Static etched across Delta's vision, lines of scrap code that should have been purged long ago. Pops and crackles broke her hearing momentarily, shutting herself off from the world as it came crashing down around her. Lightning arced in the edges of her blurry vision.

Fuck... Fuck! FUCKING FUCK!


The next thing Delta knew she was alone. Flicking her vision around she found herself dumped in a dingy back alley. Again. Bags full of abandoned and rotten trash beneath cushioned the street rat. Unlike the ramen shop this trash smelt less like greasy food and more like sweaty old laundry. The neon sign above her head read that she was in fact behind a seedy motel.

How she got here… The memory was blank, but the pain in her back and the familiarity of the enclosed space told her she was below the courtyard several stories up. Thankfully the old clothes broke her fall somewhat.

Must have blacked out after coming across those Tiger Claws… Might have fallen from there, or even tossed down.

The parts she could recall, of seeing what had happened to her friends… There wasn't anyone around in the alley to see a frail body writhe in agony. No one cared to check the pathetic sobbing coming from the trash heap.

It must have been an hour later before Delta pulled herself back together. Sitting amongst the refuse of another alleyway wouldn't get her anywhere, and certainly she wouldn't find anything to eat amongst sweaty socks and stained bedsheets.

The street rat's whole body hurt, sore joints popped as she experimented in reanimation. It took some motivation, but eventually Delta was making her way back to the main street. The lights and sounds of traffic guiding her out of her hell.

A chuckle, light like a synthfeather, echoed along the graffitied walls.

Caught off guard the street rat swished her head back and forth in a panic, unkempt greasy brown hair flailing about attempting to find the source. At first the alleyway had seemed abandoned, but now they weren't alone amongst the trash heap.

"Who the fucks there?!" The street urchin growled.

"Up here doll face."

Delta followed the mocking laughter as it trailed to the night sky, high above the walls of the alley. Several stories up there was a boy dressed in a dark grey suit, sitting with his legs dangling over the edge. Lazily he kicked his feet back and forth.

"You found me!" The boy giggled, obviously not bothered by the glare he received. "Looks like I lost that game of hide and seek!"

Something about the glint in his bright eyes unnerved the rat, they shone, as if they reflected all light. Human eyes didn't do that, ganic ones at least.

With a final swing of his legs the well dressed boy fell from his perch, Delta thought the Corpo had decided to end it all, but unfortunately he merely kicked off of several walls on his way down in order to slow his decent. With a final leap the boy flipped effortlessly in mid air, landing in a flourish amongst the trash. Uncannily he never got his suit dirty, it remained unsullied even as he stepped over the plastic waste bags towards a wide eyed Delta. The fact that he managed to keep himself clean of filth unlike herself irritated the girl to no end, especially as she noticed he made a point of picking a single speck of dust off his cuff.

It was then that the street rat noticed the Arasaka Academy's logo stitched to the lapel. A Corpo brat. Big league Corpo too, not like the cheap suits that commuted across the bridges out of Watson.

The Corpo kid must have seen her ogling the patch. "Is there something there? Oh thank you, too kind! I missed a spot it seems." He in turn dusted it off, as if to polish the threads, not that they needed to shine so brightly. His mocking grin told her he was just doing so to highlight the insignia, to draw attention to his brith right.

Never had Delta seen a cat in real life, but from the stories passed around a fire barrel this feline looking child was what she expected the almost mythical panther to appear as.

Dark, lean, and full of playful malice.

There was also an undeniable beauty, perfection in his appearance, cultured in enough eddies to buy a space station. Delta wanted to look away, but his cool attitude along with the perfect symmetry of his features drew her in. It was all underlined by a sense of danger, as if he was born from both dreams and nightmares.

Jet black hair darker than the evening sky fell around his head in loose waves. Lightly tanned skin, perfect with no blemishes upon his face curled as he grinned, revealing perfectly white teeth. Delta didn't miss the pairs of elongated canines. His eyes were cybernetic too, a bright yellow that drew in the light around them, she swore she saw his eyes narrow into slits, but as he stepped further into the neon glow they appeared normal again. And they were eyeing the rat up like a prime cut of synthsteak. "Ripper got your tongue? What's got you whiter than a bag of sythcoke?"

Delta felt sweat drip down her brow as she nervously edged closer to the street entrance. Even touching a hair on a Suit was as good as a death sentence, they held the reigns in this cursed city, a single word and she'd be unmade in an instant. He probably had enough chrome chipped in under the skin to put MAX-TAC to shame if his parents were rich enough. If his little leg tricks as he fell were any indication he might have a cannon or scythe hidden somewhere too, he certainly could afford the best. Any second he could pop one out and slice her to ribbons.

The thought of becoming minced forced a shudder out of the street girl.

The sneering face of the Tiger Claw woman crossed her vision. She at least had her weapons on the outside, for all to see and flaunt, this kid on the other hand kept his hidden. You never knew what could be aimed and ready to peel your skin off with just a thought. Delta eyed the Corpo's legs, his pants seemed to have normalish legs beneath, but there was nothing 'normal' about this creep.

Normally full blooded Corpos never showed their faces this deep in Kabuki, they stayed close to the ritzier neighborhoods of Night City, like Corpo Plaza or Westbrook. But, rumors had been spreading that a few of their hellspawn had taken to 'playing' with those unlucky enough to catch their attention. Delta gulped down the bout of anxiety that threatened to overtake her as she stared down the rich cyberpsycho.

"Pardon me, didn't mean to disturb your evening." She tried to duck back out of the enclosed space, twisting on her heels as she sprinted for the exit. The next second she saw the Corpo materialize out of thin air in front of her. Delta yelped as she fell backwards, toppling over a trash can to spill in her wake.

"Oh? Going so soon?" The boy purred, sadistic glee written all over his face. He knew he had her trapped like a rat in a cage. She could hear her heart hammering away inside her chest.

The freak leaned down over his prey, humming to himself as he eyed her over. Delta felt sick.

"I thought we could share a bit of the evening, pass the time, live it up a little." He firmly planted an arm on the wall above her head as he leaned in. "I'm a bit new in town, thought I'd get myself a guide to tour the city with. What do you say little doll?"

He was toying with her now, she knew it. He kept calling her a 'doll', which meant he saw her as a piece of meat to fuck over, like the girls who worked in the Dollhouses. He'd take advantage of her powerlessness and commit any number of unspeakable acts, before leaving her corpse to rot where no one would find her… Much like the tent encampment up above.

Fucker got tired of watching XBD virtus and wanted to try it for real I bet…

She didn't understand why it had come to this, she didn't have anything to her name. She was homeless, dirty, and didn't have the looks to even make it as a joytoy. How she had gained this cyberpsycho's interested she couldn't understand, it frightened her to be this close to him.

A growl from Delta's stomach answered the Corpo's question for her.


Delta stared down at the fresh bowl of noodles as if her life's meaning was held within the steaming broth.

"Please let me know if there's anything I can get for you sir." The waitress bowed deeply, as was the Japanese custom. Not low enough it seemed, judging by the twitch of annoyance in the boy sitting across from her, but he didn't comment on it.

The rest of the ramen shop staff had rolled out the red carpet as soon as they saw the Arasaka Academy logo come through the door.

This restaurant never had someone with pockets carrying enough spare change to buy a luxury yacht, and it showed. The floor was sticky, wrappers and dirt had only been swept to the side and not removed. Paint was peeling from the walls, covered up with out of date posters featuring rigged boxing matches and products that had already been pulled from shelves due to too much toxicity to even be tolerate by the masses. The rest of the crowd in the dive kept to themselves mostly, this late at night nobody wanted to mess around with strangers unless they had a death wish.

A few turned their nose up at Delta as she meekly followed in his footsteps into the familiar scop shop, but with a wave from her captor her presence seemed to vanish from their minds altogether. Well, except for the line cook in the back, who's glare bore into the street rat from over the counter. Whenever she looked over his way he seemed to be polishing his chrome arm, as if tossing her out before had contaminated it.

How did I end up here again? What sin did I commit to suffer like this?

"Well, eat up!" The boy laughed, picking up the chopsticks for his own bowl, "You're going to need your strength if you're to show me around. I wouldn't want you to fall over again mid tour!"

The street rat gave the Corpo a weary glance. She didn't see him put anything into the soup, but then again he could have paid off any of the staff to drug it for him. Her hesitancy must have been too obvious, as he smirked from across the table.

"It's not drugged… At least not anything I put in it."

"…That doesn't make it any better."

With a shrug the boy reached over and swapped their bowls around. "Better?"

"No."

It was honestly the best meal Delta had in recent memory. The first time she'd had a hot meal that wasn't stolen or out of a vending machine. The ramen vanished almost as soon as it was offered. She wouldn't admit it, but the Cheshire grin from across the table meant he somehow could read her thoughts.

"I can't read your thoughts though," yellow eyes twinkled mischievously as Delta nearly spat out her can of water. The death glare he got in return only made him chuckle. "You mumble sometimes, might want to watch out for that."

Delta felt some heat reach her face, and it wasn't because of the kimchi.

"Say, I've never got your name doll face." The boy propped an elbow up on the table so he could rest his chin atop his fist, "I know it's a bit late for introductions, but you can call me Ryuji."

"…Delta."

The Corpo blinked in surprise, his bright eyes going a bit wider as he raised his eyebrows. "…Are you telling me to get lost? Didn't think I could offend you that much with just a simple question." Ryuji placed a hand to his heart, as if wounded.

Dirty brown hair shook back and forth as the girl denied it. "No, I mean… My name is Delta."

Ryuji relaxed again, though he seemed a bit more interested in his companion across the table now. It was probably the first time he looked like he saw her not as an object, to mess around with, but maybe as another person. "Huh, odd name like that there must be a story behind it? Or, perhaps there were there Alphas and Betas too?" Then the moment was gone, and the annoying smugness returned.

Delta wanted to tell this creep to fuck right off, but seeing as how she owed him for her meal she'd at least hold her tongue… For now. "No, not that I'm aware of at least. It's just me."

Ryuji hummed at the info, but he mercifully didn't press the topic.

"Well Delta, now that we're fed and introduced I think the next order of business is to get you cleaned up. Can't have half of Night City slam their doors on us if you're to be my guide."


MAC-TAC was swarming all over the area before Regina got there. She couldn't blame them, the scene was a bloodbath. Bodies were everywhere, or at least what was left of them. Arms and legs were snipped clean off while the victim was still alive, if only to allow them to attempt to crawl away. Their decapitated body never went far.

Neither did the missing heads. They could be found skewered above on top of a chain link fence. Placed in a neat row, eyeless sockets watching.

Many other scenes played out much like this, of cruelty beyond even what most Cyberpsychos commit. There were over a dozen such scenes that had played out in or around an old ball court. All in total Regina counted thirteen Tiger Claws, and ten civilians stiffs.

Still though, it irked the former Media to have NCPD crawling around her neck of the woods. She needed answers, Corpo Gods save any soul that wouldn't give it to her straight.

The one eyed Fixer marched up to the cordon line where a couple of NCPD's bright and blues huddled around a squad car. They turned their heads up at Regina's approach, one of the younger badges was about to tell her to buzz off before one that Regina recognised placated them.

"Regina Jones, for what do I owe the pleasure of this visit." Lt. Sara Krakosky, the badge unfortunate enough to be forced into a TV interview with Ziggy Q greeted the fixer with a strained smile. "Out for a stroll tonight?"

"Cut the crap, you're not dealing with the media, you're dealing with me." Regina's only eye bored into the former NCPD's Spokesperson. "You weren't cut for bullshitting your way outta a paper bag then and you sure as shit aren't now. Now spill."

The Lieutenant's mouth gaped open before she closed it shut, this happened a few times as the cop floundered trying to find the right words. She repeated the process enough times Regina almost believed she was talking to one of those plastic fishes some dingy bars had hung up on the wall.

"There was a Cyberpsycho attack… Though I think you could already guess that part. We're doing evidence gathering and clean up now."

Regina nodded, then pointed to the hovering AVs still lurking overhead. "Then why the hell is MAX-TAC still floating around like flies on shit? Do you have them bagged or not?"

Lt. Karkosky didn't need to answer that, as over the squad car's radio came what the Watson Fixer needed to hear. "Attention all units. Please be advised, the Perp was last seen in Kabuki at Wan Min Noodles. Witnesses say they have one youth in-" The disgraced badge finally reached in and twisted the dial, ending the broadcast.

Sara's face was beet red as she extracted herself from the window. Regina's held nothing but a polite grin.

"I'll be in touch if anything from my network pops up. Until then, I'd advise you to keep your eyes peeled Lieutenant. The streets aren't nearly as friendly as certain mega celebrities."

Regina left the poor woman to seethe, she had to act fast before MAX-TAC burst in to create another bloodbath. Bringing up her holo she went through her contacts before selecting a Solo she knew could be discrete.

"It's Regina, I've got a job I think would be right up your alley. Sending you the deets now."


Author's Notes:

Going through the game, and especially after watching Edgerunners, I really felt that there wasn't enough stories here centering around your average citizen of Night City. Or at least, from their view on their bleak little world.

I started writing this on Ao3, which is where I will be more consistently updating, but I figure why not post this here too? I'll only be posting the chapters I feel are completely finished, as going back and forth to try and correct things on multiple sites can be a headache. Not that I can compare it to the one I seem to be giving Delta here haha!

As V you can run around at super speeds and slice anyone that gets in your way. The other guy going about his own business has no power against the Corpos, seeing no choice but to go along with their plans, or else they might disappear. Not gonna say I'll be breaking down those societal barriers, but outlining them instead. It's like going into the head of one of those poor pedestrians and seeing what makes them tick... And what they'll put up with before they snap.

Edgerunners started out like this, but David got a lucky break with the Sandistvan and then proceeded to remove himself from the bottom rung with it. I would have liked it more if they carried on that part of the plot, but what can you do with only 10 episodes? Hopefully we'll get more content like Edgerunners, but in the meantime I'd like to see where our little street rat runs off to!