Lucky You

April 20 2076.

Ernesto and David sat under the umbrella on the table. They had just finished the first drive lesson for David and it didn't end up with any accident.

"A few more lessons and you'll stir the wheel as good as me." the older brother quipped to ease the atmosphere.

David chuckled. "Doesn't take much, considering what I saw on the first gig."

The two laughed before silence descended and Ernesto could do the next thing he had met David for. He had two pistols in two different holsters today, and one was for his brother. He took it out and put it on David's side of the table.

"Take it. It's time you start defending yourself."

David looked at it with a doubtful face. "Can't I just stick with the Sandevistan?"

"When you can use it three times a day?"

The younger brother huffed, recognizing the point.

"I know some punks go for straight hacking or straight chrome, but the Sandevistan is a two-bladed sword even if you have a high tolerance. Until you start the genetic therapy and put a little more muscle and chrome in that body of yours, this piece will be your life saver, trust me."

David stared at the gun for a few seconds. Perhaps his first kill just a few days before was still making him doubt whether he was okay with using a gun or not, Ernesto knew that feeling very well. Even though David reached the pistol and dragged it to him, his older brother decided to help him by changing topic.

"How are things going with Lucy?"

"Uh?" David asked a bit surprised.

"Treating her right?" he quipped, knowing that in the last month the two had happened to go running a couple times.

"Am I interpreting you right?"

"What else should I mean?"

David waited to answer. "I ain't into her like that…"

"Come on, Dave. We all got eyes."

"Or…" he replied in a more resigned voice. "at least she ain't into me like that."

"Yeah, that's highly probable."

"She's the only one of the crew taking part in your revolution, right? Did you bring her in?"

"No. But she was sent by MI6, which actually surprised me."

"And do you know what she did before joining you?"

"I read her file. But for the sake of privacy, you'll have to ask her yourself and see if she's willing to tell ya."

"Fair enough, I guess. Though I'm sick of figuring her out."

"Meaning what?" Ernesto asked with curiosity.

"She said she wanted to go to the moon."

The answer caught Ernesto completely by surprise. Something Lucy hadn't told him yet? "The damn moon?!" he exclaimed.

"You...didn't know?" David asked even more surprised. "You two seem to communicate a lot."

"Luckily enough, we don't step on each other's toes and I taught her that every problem any of us faces are also the team's problems. But she never said me anything about that."

"I mean...she was probably just stalling me, but...she took me to the moon. Special BD she had." David said meekly.

Now that took the Captain by storm. If he needed any more proof of how Lucy felt toward David, this was the definite answer he needed. "You two went on a date to the moon?" he exclaimed with a smile. "Shit, bro. One hardly gets any more romantic than that in this damn city."

David stopped talking and seemed to ponder over his brother's words. Was he...hopeful? It was quite hard to read David's face most of the time, though Ernesto somehow always had a generic idea of what was going on inside that brain.

"Good. Aside from that, you good with the others?" he eventually said, resuming their conversation.

"Yeah. They're cool. Speaking of which, I have my part of training with Dorio, later today.

"We'll make sure you be ready for that moment. But first, it's time for you to enter the world of genetic engineering." and he suddenly showed a small syringe.

David's eyes became surprised. "What the…"

"We call it 'the schlop', it's a mixture of enzymes, immuno-blockers and other shit that will allow us to see if your body can undergo the genetic therapy our soldiers use, or not."

"And if I'm not?"

"At best you'll get a fever for a few days, nothing tragic."

The boy still seemed skeptic. "Are you even able to do use it?"

"What are you, a lawyer? Just stretch that chopstick you got."

David grunted under his breath but eventually complied. He took off the coat and laid his arm on the table. Ernesto took a bottle of disinfectant, cleaned the middle of his brother's arm and, after spotting the vein, carefully pierced it and injected the liquid. Good thing David still had to put on some additional chrome, or it would've been impossible to start this procedure.

"All right, I answered your looking into my life." David said as he stretched the arm a bit. "Now tell me...what's with you and that cop lady?"

"What do you think there is?" Ernesto asked in an amused tone.

"I mean...you're probably the only bounty hunter I know who works with the cops. And you work with her quite often."

"If you think there's anything romantic between us, let me put your mind to rest: Petra is an outstanding person that I respect very much. Also we happen to work very well together, so she keeps calling me whenever she needs a help with cases where bureaucracy tends to tie her hands."

"I see." David said, almost let down.

Then Ernesto added something else in a completely relaxed attitude. "Don't get me wrong, though: she is also hot as hell and I wouldn't mind a ride or two on those titties, but that's just fantasy."

David at first opened his eyes wide, then exploded in laughter.

Ernesto chuckled, pulled by the atmosphere and already with a clear idea over what was happening, but he still asked "What's to laugh?"

David managed to catch his breath and answer. "Nothing. It's just, you're always so serious and rigid, I didn't think you were hiding a gonk side all this time."

Ernesto simply shrugged. "I still have urges, my little choom." then he leaned his head backward on the chair as a bit of nostalgia caught him. "And I'm sure Luna wouldn't want me to just cry over her for the rest of my life."

That probably froze up the atmosphere quite a bit as the two stood in silence for a few seconds. Ernesto's gaze wondered on the skyline in front of him, the remembrance of that terrible day still lingering in a dark corner of his mind. He hadn't forgotten his need for vengeance, even if he had managed to set it aside and not lead his actions.

"I'm sure she would be happy." David said suddenly with a newfound confidence in his tone. His brother turned the head his way, surprised to see David's face renovated. "If you find happiness, no matter with whom. Cause sure as hell I would be, and so would mom. You deserve it, bro."

For a moment, Ernesto didn't how to answer. Then he chuckled softly and looked at David with pride and gratefulness. "I really appreciate it, Dave. But it's not about my happiness or anything. She's ten years older than me, she sees me as a kid. And then she has a daughter already, just half your age, and her ex-husband left her right before she gave birth. I don't want a family drama to distract me from the mission."

This time, David slumped on his chair. "Suit yourself."


May 22 2076.

Days went by. The crew went on with their gigs. Some were related to the Tanaka case, but most of them weren't. David kept maturing with them, with Ernesto sometime calling the group to assist in his own missions as the Director kept putting the federal pieces in place for the takeover. Soldiers of the army immigrated incognito inside Night City to join the Loyalists, at most two or three at a month, in order not to raise too much suspicion among the mega-corps.

Sure enough, one step at a time, the plan was coming together. Only one thing left to do to light the pyre and hopefully trigger a war between the mega-corps. Though creating or finding an opportunity for the catalyst was proving to be extremely tricky.

But it wasn't the time to lose one's mind over this. The gang had just earned a large bounty after taking out a small cult of crazy cyborgs that had also kidnapped Rebecca for a moment. Petra was on the scene, cleaning up the mess with her cops, and after taking the bounty, Ernesto and the others were walking together toward Minjung's. It was early, the sun was casting its last shade of red that was mixing with the neon and the first holo-insignias being lighted up.

As they all strolled, talking and having a good time, the hammering sound of liquid hitting the bottom of a metal barrel suddenly drew their attention.

"Hey, quiet down!" Pilar yelled in that direction. They all looked up and saw that there was a guy, skinny and with his skeletal implants visible through a ripped rib cage. A ghoul if there ever was one. "Damn it."

The guy kept pissing, seemingly with no end in sight, but Ernesto quickly noticed a much more disturbing detail: his black corneas and the fact that he was muttering something incomprehensible to seemingly no one.

"He pissing up there?" Dorio asked disgusted.

"Ugh, beaut." Kiwi groaned.

"Gross." Becca added.

Pilar grunted. "Fuck! What's your problem, choom?" then he gave him the finger angrily. "Why you gotta go pissing in the street?"

He then started beating on the container atop of which the pisser was standing.

"Hey, homie! Playing golf on that barrel?"

But still the guy didn't move.

"Leave him alone, Pilar." Dorio tiredly said as the rest of the group started moving again.

"Buh-bye, bro." Rebecca said.

Pilar then used his longed limbs to jump on top of the container and going to express his disagreement with the guy, who still kept going as if nothing was happening.

Ernesto's neck tingled like crazy. Something was far off. He cautiously reached for his holster on his right hip, turning just enough to hide it from the unknown and going quickly in the firing position.

"What are you doing?" David asked confused, next to him.

"Stay back." Ernesto whispered, gently pushing David slightly back.

Pilar was going on with his ranting, so the Legionnaire paced in a circular manner so he could go and see the guy in front. He was still muttering to nobody, his gaze void.

Then he saw it, the unmistakable sign: his pupils literally lagged.

"Pilar, get away!" Ernesto yelled and drew out his pistol.

"Uh?" Pilar asked, turning toward Ernesto. In doing so, he moved a bit away from the psycho...enough to dodge the shot of an arm-cannon that he had put under Pilar's chin.

The techie yelled in surprise and quickly dashed away. Ernesto opened fire and the guy all of a sudden stopped dropping fluid. The shot alarmed the rest of the crew as they all dashed to cover. Ernesto tried to advance, but with an unexpected speed, the psycho redirected his arm toward him and shot a missile. The Legionnaire dived out of the way just in time but he had to scrap the idea of a quick attack and find cover himself, especially because the pistol didn't seem able to pierce that chrome. And in the meanwhile, he made a call.

"Kennedy."

"It's me. We got a cyberpsycho situation." Ernesto replied.

An explosion just after that and the guns of the crew opening fire reinforced his claim.

"Damn it. I'm tracking your signal, just hold on!"

"Just be quick!"

Petra and her agents should have been ready with the crime scene, by now, and they were relatively close, that's why Ernesto made the call. But in the meantime, they would have to resolve the situation by themselves, if possible.

"Nesto!" David yelled as he reached his position with a sprint of the Sandevistan that caught Ernesto by surprise.

"Relax, Dave. Gotta take much more than that to hurt me."

"What's going on? Why that guy…?"

"That's a cyberpsycho, Dave. I don't think he even realizes what's happening."

David couldn't hold back a hushed gasp of surprise. So far, every time he got into a fire fight was because of a job, a situation he expected to happen. This one was just blind violence that he still didn't conceive in his still inexperienced view of the world.

The two were behind a short wall where they had to crawl on their knees in order to get cover. Ernesto quickly stepped on the opposite side and took a look at Maine, Dorio, Kiwi and Rebecca hiding behind a small warehouse. He also saw that Pilar had taken his own cover and was waiting for a chance to move.

"Where's Lucy?" he asked urgently.

"She's there!" David immediately replied, pointing at the opposite end of the container where the psycho was still standing. In the rush, Lucy had taken cover there, and now was trying to use her netrunner's abilities to short-circuit the gonk.

Indeed, he was suddenly caught by a violent electric discharge, but aside from a few circuits lighting up in fire, he didn't seem fazed. Instead, he turned his attention toward his nearest prey and shot another explosive round in her general direction, missing her.

Ernesto and David looked at each other and the plan immediately came up to their minds. The Captain didn't like it, but they had to take the shot.

With a nod of his brother, David jumped over the wall while Ernesto simply turned the corner and they ran toward the psycho.

"Hey, asshole!" David taunted him loudly.

"David, no!" Lucy's voice reverberated.

Ernesto dashed on another side, trying to divide the attention of the psycho. He took his SMG from his back and fired a burst that hit and caused a few holes on the psycho, but most importantly, it distracted him.

Using the Sandevistan, David made the last few meters, jumped on the container and took out his pistol. Even if he was moving at a ludicrous speed, Ernesto was so pumped up that his reflexes still allowed him to partially follow the movements of his brother, who danced around while everything seemed still, compared to him.

Then David took his pistol. In a moment that seemed to last an eternity, he blew a hole in the gonk's head.

Without even confirming if he was dead, David dropped on his four at the edge of the container.

"You okay?" he asked Lucy.

But Ernesto rushed toward him. For the psycho was not dead yet and was taking his balance back to aim at David.

The Legionnaire didn't hear what his two friends were saying, for he was focused only to stop the psycho. With a jump he stepped on top of the container and drew out his sword, cutting away the gonk's head with a swift slash. Finally, the guy was dead.

After the moment of tension subsided, Ernesto stood back up and quickly wiped the blade clean while the rest of the gang was gathering around. Dorio was taking a look at Lucy, who had been slightly grazed at the head probably from a splinter.

"You're hurt, need a booster?" asked the bulky woman.

"No, I'm fine." Lucy replied calmly.

A moment later, the sirens of the police could be heard in the distance and rapidly approaching.

"How the…" Kiwi asked, but then remembered about Ernesto's friendships. "You called them?"

"Just did my duty as a law-abiding citizen." the Legionnaire replied in a sarcastic tone before turning his head toward Lucy. "You should go get that looked at. Go to Doc, I'll handle the cops."

"Dorio, go with her." Maine added.

"Boss-men've spoken." Dorio said to Lucy, who grunted a bit and stood up.

Ernesto then turned toward his brother. "You too, Dave, stick with Lucy and Dorio."

"Uh?" the younger Martinez hesitated.

"I saw what you did, lil' bro, and I'm not happy. Next time you lose focus you may end up dead. Think about this in the meantime." he said with a severe but calm tone.

David felt the sting of his brother's disapproval and compelled with the order without question. While those three left the area through a secondary path, the police cars finally showed up. Three of them. Petra came out of the one at the head from the passenger seat and she needed only a quick look to understand the situation.

"Got any other victim?"

"No. David and Lucy got some scratch, I sent them to the doc but we're all fine."

"Well that's what counts the most." Petra said in a slightly relieved tone. "Where's the perpetrator?"

"What's left of him, ma'am." Maine intervened, pointing at the still standing body of the psycho. His head had instead fallen down from the container.

She sighed. "All right, then. Sergeant Connors, seal the area."

"Yes, ma'am." the cop behind her replied sternly and walked away.

While Petra headed to inspect the scene of the crime, Ernesto was about to follow her, but before he could do that, Pilar halted in front of him.

"Hey, uh…" the techie mumbled in clear embarrassment. Ernesto noticed that, not far from them, Rebecca was glaring at her brother, intimating him to say it. "Thanks for de tip. You really saved my chrome back there."

Ernesto had almost forgot that detail. To him, warning his comrades and saving them was just part of his identity. "You don't owe me anything, Pilar. I'm just glad you're still kicking." he said in a relaxed tone.

Pilar chuckled. "Ye. Still, I owe you a big one. If you ever gonna need my help, just ask."


After taking the testimony of everyone, the police filed the incident as a cyberpsycho case and decided to be done with it. Even though they all came out alive, the mood by now was far from festive, especially with David and Lucy possibly injured, so for that day they skipped Minjung's.

Ernesto was offered a ride back to the precinct and he took it, taking the chance to call David and be reassured that they were fine. Lucy was still under visit and Dorio had already headed out. Reassured by that, Ernesto accepted to go through all the paperwork, even if small, that Petra needed him for.

After they finished, the Inspector slumped on the chair and sighed tiredly. "Two hours of extra work. Thanks a lot." she said sarcastically.

"Sorry, had I know that I would've let that psycho blow my head off."

Even if it was a quip, Petra stiffened back and talked with a serious voice. "Don't say that ever again! I was honestly scared when you called me."

Ernesto was caught by surprise. "What, you didn't think I could handle a guy like that?"

"No...no, it's not that. It's just that recently there has been a surge of cyberpsychos, it's becoming a nightmare."

"I heard something about it. Is it that bad?"

"Just the other day one of those bozos flatlined two men on patrol. One of them was a rookie on his first day, just slightly younger than you." Petra said in an afflicted tone.

All of a sudden, the terrible reality of things hit Ernesto again. He and his mates might have walked out of this sudden encounter, but out there, people were suffering because they kept installing too much chrome into their bodies until their minds could not keep up anymore. And all that chrome was being pushed in by the greedy executives on top of the two highest towers of the city. Blood was flooding because a small group of rich pigs had to become even richer.

"I'm sorry." he said. "But we'll put an end to all of this soon. You'll see."

"I sure hope so." she sighed then stared at him. "I'm tired of seeing my friends die like that."

The always stoic Captain wasn't able to reply. Not in small part due to the fact that he had never seen Petra like that: discouraged, tired, vulnerable.

Behind that unwavering facade, the Inspector was just another human being who wanted to make her city a better place, but saw no end to the endless stream of problems afflicting it. And yet she was looking at him with a ray of hope, as if he represented that chance for a better future.

He let out a satisfied huff. "I understand it. But you and the boys are doing a great job. Just hold on for a little more time."

"Don't worry, I'm saying this cause I'm a bit tired. If the punks on the street think I'll go easy on them, they're in for a bad wake up."

Ernesto chuckled a bit absentmindedly. All of a sudden, the words David told him a month ago resurfaced on his mind. He spent a few seconds sitting on his chair, pondering what to do.

"Everything okay?" Petra asked with a point of worry.

He snapped out of his numbness. "Uh? Oh, yeah, I was just…" he hesitated again. But waiting around was not what he was taught in the Legion, for goodness sake!

"Say...tomorrow is weekend, you got the free time?" he asked as nonchalantly as he could but it seemed like an invisible hand was starting to reach his heart.

Petra at first seemed surprised, even if her expression remained quite neutral. Then she tilted her head while keeping her composure. "Nothing big, actually." she said in a carefree voice. Ernesto didn't lose a hint of hope in it and the fact that she quickly passed a hand to fix a strand of hair around the ear. "Why is that?"

The signs were unmistakable to him and he allowed a small grin to appear on his face. "Oh nothing...just remembered that you owe me a dinner."

Now Petra smiled openly as well. "Actually, I think I promised you at least five times. Took you some time to claim the prize." she said in a provocative voice while putting her knuckles under her own chin.

"Didn't want to appear like a man with second goals."

She chuckled, then thought for a second. "Ah, Stacy has a sleepover at a friend's house tomorrow. After I drop her I'm completely free."

"Nova. Mind if I stop to pick you up?"

She hummed pleased. "When have you become such an old romantic?"

"The moment I found someone worthy of it." was the phrase that escaped Ernesto's mouth.

He kept up a confident face, but the cringe was actually freezing his mind.

Still, Petra clearly blushed before replying. "Just let me know when to be ready."

"Of course. All right, I better head back." Ernesto concluded, noting that it was almost 10PM. "Good night, Petra."

"Good night, Ernesto." she said right before he closed the door behind him.

All of a sudden the world seemed much brighter and Ernesto was unable to remove a smug grin from his face, so much that he walked back to the car with his head lowered enough that people wouldn't see his mouth and think he was a psycho as well. The drive home was one of the most relaxing he had ever had recently and the only thing that made him snap out of his mental trip was the fact that, despite the hour, he didn't find David home.

He was about to call him, but then a suspicion came to his mind, so he decided to opt for the second option: the tracer he had slot into David's shard socket. It revealed that he and Lucy were inside the latter's home...and extremely close.

Chuckling, Ernesto decided to just go to bed, now having one more reason to be happy.