Chapter 6: Boredom, Bots, 'Borgs, Bonding, Breakdowns and Backstories

July 21st, 2067

Highway 9, Night City

I don't think I've ever been THIS bored before.

"Are you sure this is the only road there?" Annie asked for the 12th time.

"Yes! I don't know why it's fucking stuck bumper-to-bumper like this," Lucy answered for the 12th time.

After escaping from Arasaka Tower, they decided to just drive around for a while to make sure they weren't being followed. Once they had confirmed they were safe, they began making their way to Rocky Ridge to meet up with the rest of the crew, eventually reaching the southern highway out of the city. However, the almighty gods of automobiles did not deem their travel to be quick and simple on this day. The three of them had been sitting in the worst traffic Lucy had ever seen in NC for the past hour with no signs of improvement. Now, Night City was notorious for having an absolutely gonk-brain-designed motorway and transportation system, but an entire hour of almost no movement on a major freeway? Insanity.

Lucy was laying down in the backseat of the tiny plastic minivan, completely and utterly devoid of anything to do. Annie, insisting she be the one to drive since she'd been the one to steal the car, was sitting at the wheel and endlessly complaining. Faolan was clearly used to this, as he was laid back in the passenger seat with his feet up on the dash, not bothered in the slightest.

"Fuckin' Californian drivers, I swear," Annie said.

"Oh, because Ohio drivers are sooo much better, right?" Faolan commented.

Lucy perked up, sensing a conversation topic that was anything other than traffic, cars, and more traffic.

"Ohio? That where you from?" Lucy asked.

"Mmhmm, Ohio gal' born n' raised. Gonna be honest though, after seein' a lot more of the world, it's not that amazing of a place," Annie said.

"Faolan, what about you?" Lucy asked.

"Hm?" Faolan said, not really paying attention.

Annie slapped him on the arm, "Where ya' from, dumbass?"

Isn't Faolan her boss? Surprised she's so casual about hitting him. Thought his team would be all… I don't know, more military?

He groaned, "I'd rather not talk about it."

"Oh come on, even I don't know," Annie commented, moving the car forward another five feet until traffic stopped again.

"So? That's supposed to make me more inclined to tell you?" Faolan responded.

Annie just scoffed and kept driving.

"Can I order you to tell me?" Lucy asked.

Lucy's bodyguard turned to look back at her, "You can, but I won't hear it. Something to do with a thing called 'selective hearing'."

Rolling her eyes, Lucy realized she wouldn't be getting an answer out of him this time, so she switched back to Annie.

"So, now that we evidently have time for introductions-"

Fuck, that escape from the rooftop was so chaotic. I was dying of paranoia until Faolan told me they'd all made it.

"-, what are you? Team sniper?"

Annie chuckled, "You were right, boss, she does catch on quickly."

The car moved another five feet forward.

Come on people, just DRIVE.

"I'd call myself more of a hunter than a sniper," Annie continued, "but basically, I'm the team's sharpshooter."

"Sharpshooter? Annie, stop selling yourself short, you're a fucking magician. Do you not remember the mission in Cuba a while back?" Faolan said.

The auburn-haired woman sheepishly rubbed the back of her neck and looked away, saying,

"Yea, 'course I do."

Faolan turned to look at Lucy, "She hit a moving target that was on the back of a transport bus, through a window the size of a toilet bowl, from three miles away. Who the fuck can do that?"

Faolan's right. That's not shooting, that's magic.

Lucy just sat stunned for a moment until Annie shyly spoke up,

"Well, he was driving towards me, so it more or less lined itself up. I got lucky with the wi-"

This time, Faolan slapped her on the arm, "Would you just shut up and take the goddamn compliment?"

So, she's always out to push herself higher and is never satisfied with her accomplishments? Reminds me of a certain gonk Edgerunner I happen to love.

"Annie," Lucy said quietly, "you shouldn't push yourself like that. It's how you drive yourself off a cliff."

They were all silent for several moments as Lucy's advice hung in the air, eventually broken by the car in front of them suddenly beginning to move forward.

"Oh thank fuck!" Annie yelled.

Then it stopped moving.

Annie's forehead hit the edge of the steering wheel, and Lucy couldn't hold back her laugh. After a few seconds, the auburn-haired woman couldn't resist joining in. Their laughter eventually subsided, and they returned to their usual quiet, with the air feeling significantly lighter now. Lucy looked through the windshield to mercifully see cars beginning to move twenty, then thirty, even forty feet! As they accelerated and started using a vehicle for its intended purpose, they passed by a section of the freeway that had been cordoned off for 'road maintenance.'

They close five lanes of a six-lane highway to repair a fucking 40-foot section of asphalt? I can't tell who's worse sometimes, the corpos or the government.


One Hour Earlier

Rocky Ridge, Badlands

Fuck, now I have to go gun shopping again, don't I?

Rebecca was more focused on the loss of all her firepower than she was on whatever David had said to make their new acquaintance laugh so hard. She'd spent a long time tuning and tweaking those weapons to her liking, and now she could only see the charred mass of steel in the desert that they were part of. A part of her also regretted giving up 'Guts', but then again getting a new gun is probably the easiest thing to do in Night City, second only to flatlining.

She wasn't entirely sure where her fascination for firearms had started, sure the first time a pistol had been put in her hands was when she was 8, but that's actually pretty late for NC standards. Pilar had always been a solid techie for the crew, and she had wanted to be one as well, mainly since it paid well, but could never get the patience to work at a screen for twelve hours tweaking programs. Maine had actually been the one to suggest that she try gunsmithing, and it had just… clicked.

Now, she was no expert craftsman by any means, but there also wasn't anybody else that had been able to make a Carnage shotgun fire twice as fast and with a round almost twice the size of the original. Despite her disappointment at losing the duffle bag of iron, she was also partially excited at the prospect of getting to try even more crazy ideas for weapon mods.

Still gonna have to spend time painting them again though…

She got distracted by David just then, not just due to the fact that his abs were on full display at the moment, but also due to the strange change in his overall demeanor. It had been obvious to her the moment he'd walked into the hideout to help make this whole 'fake our own death' plan, but only right now was she able to really look at him closer. His eyes were different, less lost in thought and more alert, more alive . He wasn't just starting into the nothingness at random times and pushing people off, or at least didn't seem like it.

"Yo, choom!" Rebecca called out to him, bringing David out of the deep thought he'd been in.

"Yeah 'becca?" He asked.

"You on something? You seem… different, I guess."

"Sorta… got some new meds."

"From that sleazy-ass ripper of yours, I bet."

David shook his head, "Nah, Faolan gave 'em to me. Some special high-grade immunosuppressants. Make me feel… I guess just in control again."

Rebecca couldn't hold back her slight smile at hearing that, her worries slowly fading as she studied his face closely. She had always been pretty good at studying others, the movements of the slight muscles on their face, twitches of the lip, erratic movements of the eye, and whatnot. Always small signs that someone may be lying, or at least not telling the whole truth, but David's face was rock solid, no erratic movements, just a simple clean smile and a look in his eyes that the gun goblin hadn't seen in quite some time.

He's happy. Good.

"Nova! As long as you're not gonna go psycho on us now choomba."

David chuckled, "I won't. Promise."

She smiled and put her hands behind her head, resting her eyes as the AV continued its flight to Rocky Ridge. Rebecca had actually been to the badlands several times with Pilar. Usually, it was to try and scavenge parts from wrecked cars, but sometimes they went out to trade with some of the nomad markets that usually had some more… exotic firepower or 'ware. However, she'd never actually stayed in the badlands, especially at night. Too many rumors of what happened to people caught out alone at night in the badlands when the Raffen Shiv got to you. Falco must've been having the same concerns because he raised his voice and asked Kalina,

"So, how do we know for sure that this place is actually abandoned? I don't want to be walking into a turkey shoot here."

"Oh," the terrifying woman started, "Mark's got that covered."

"Mark?" Rebecca asked.

"Newest member of our team. Joined a little over a year ago. But don't underestimate him, he was born to kill. Dropped him off at Rocky Ridge before we rescued all of you. Either nobody is there, or he's cleared them all out by now," Kalina said.

One guy clearing a whole town? Yeah, alright choomba, whatever.

"Sounds like a hardass," David commented.

Garth shook his huge head, "He's the most friendly out of us all, pretty sure. Just that when he enters combat, he sort of goes on auto-pilot like a true machine."

Rebecca shrugged, "Aight, whatever chooms, as long as we aren't gonna get gangbanged by the Wraiths, I'm good."

"Word of warning though, try not to react too harshly to him. He has a… unique appearance," Kalina said while walking over to the AV's door.

The crew all exchanged the same wary glance, silence filling the interior until after a few minutes when they could see a town approaching through the window. It wasn't large, maybe the size of a small suburb really, and it was made mostly out of mobile homes and trailers. It appeared as though there had been plans for something major here since there were bus terminals, a few large concrete structures, and construction materials just lying around the area.

Rocky Ridge, huh? Think I remember hearing somethin' about that… wasn't it supposed to be some huge new urban center or something? Then the corpos just up and left, leaving all the people to fend for themselves, and most just delta'd. Can't say I blame them, place looks like shit.

The AV slowly began descending, the angle of the window obscuring the ground below them as they landed in the center of town.

Kalina hollered, "Alright, we're here. Unload and bring all your shit with you." She looked at Kiwi. "You're going first, Mark's also our medic, so he'll tend to your wound."


Kiwi groaned as she felt the sharp stab of pain in her shoulder, the movement of climbing down from the AV making it worse. David was still supporting her weight as they walked the short distance to the central building in town, a bar called the 'BD Shack'. Kalina's voice rang out behind her,

"Mark, is the town secure? Good, meet us at the rally. Got one wounded. GSW, clean entry and exit, no arterial bleeding. Copy, be there soon." Kiwi saw the clearly military-experienced woman catch up to them, "Mark's inside, setting up an area to treat your wound."

"He a good medic?" David asked.

Why do they all care so much about me being safe?

"Best you could be. He's MCFR trained, only other group that has combat medics of their skill level is Trauma Team," Kalina said.

"MCFR?" Kiwi asked.

"Marine Corps Force Recon. Marines, but get absolutely no supplies and are sent on the most batshit-crazy missions. They usually win."

Marines? Are all of these gonks veterans?

The BD Shack wasn't much to look at, especially in the rusted and trash-covered heap that Rocky Ridge had been left as, but it was definitely the best still-standing structure in town. Two stories, solar panels that made sure it still had power after all this time, insulation from the cold, and even windows that hadn't been busted open yet. The main entrance was adorned with a neon-red sign that bore the building's name, but the entrance itself was just a pair of standard metal doors. David and Kalina pushed them open and walked inside as Kiwi's eyes were glued to the crusty carpet under their feet.

Kiwi had plenty of experience in this lifestyle by now, had taken a stray round here and there before, and been tired after a job an infinite amount of times. However, right now, she felt more exhausted than ever before in her life. Most of her energy that day had been sent on breaking through corpo ICE with the 'saka van and then right after that, the Militech trucks. Even with the daemon Lucy had gifted her, holding back corporate and military-grade 'soft for as long as she had drained her completely. Combined with the loss of blood and the overall chaos her mind was in at the moment, Kiwi wasn't in the best of shape to really focus on anything.

That changed when she heard David gasp and yell,

"The fuck!?"

Kiwi was immediately alert, assuming that some corpo soldiers had followed them here.

She looked up to see a fucking security robot kneeling next to the bar's pool table, opening a first-aid kit. On instinct, she tried to short-circuit the monstrosity with a quickhack, but found that none of her breach attempts even worked. Whatever the fuck type of 'bot this was, it didn't have the shitty ICE you find on a mass-produced security drone.

It looked very similar to the security 'bots that Arasaka used, although painted entirely black with a few of the internals being gray. The body was slightly different from the standard models, with thicker limbs that added to its more overall human-esque bulk, yet still retained the distinctly boxy outline of a piece of machinery. The most telling sign of its robotic nature, though, was the slim and angular head that only held one blue orb for an eye.

I thought those things usually had a red eye?

Rebecca walked in just behind them, and shared a similar reaction, "Corpo security bot! Fuck!"

Then Kiwi felt a small form push her and David to the ground, large cybernetic hands forcing them to the floor.

Alright, in retrospect, this carpet's fucking disgusting. I'd really prefer to not actually sleep on it.

Kiwi looked up to see Kalina stopping their gun maniac from shooting the 'bot with David's pistol, which she had somehow taken without him noticing.

"Hold your fire! That's my teammate, do not point your goddamn weapon at him." Kalina's eyes were so intense that Kiwi considered having to ask her how she puts so much malice into a single look.

Kiwi moved her eyes back to the robot, who had heard the commotion and had stood up to its full height. It was wearing a military-green combat vest, which held multiple extra magazines for the Militech Ajax rifle in a sling along its back. There was a large combat knife held in a sheath on its upper torso, and next to that was a badge. A badge for the NUSA Marine Corps.

Wait… is the fucking robot… Mark?

David must've noticed this too, either that or didn't want Kalina beating the shit out of the still-pissed-off Rebecca, because he quickly stood up and held the small woman back despite her protests.

"Fuckin- let go of me, you gonk! You don't know what those things can do!"

The much larger edgerunner just held her in a vice grip, not allowing her feet to even touch the ground. Kiwi then felt a body grab her left arm and hang it over their shoulder, supporting her until she was able to stand. She looked to her left and saw the robot helping her.

"I've got you," came the surprisingly human-sounding voice from the machine.

From Kiwi's position, she could see the top of the robot's back much closer, and on it was a barely visible symbol painted in a faded white that read, "Mk. 4".

A part of her wanted to try and resist the robot, but she quickly realized it was significantly stronger than she was as it effortlessly picked her up and laid her down on top of the pool table, which had been covered with a towel of some kind.

"I need to cut away your jacket to get to the wound ma'am, is that ok?" the robot asked.

What? Is it being… considerate?

Kiwi stammered in confusion, "Uhm.. y-yes?"

Its singular eye nodded and then untied David's makeshift bandage, setting it aside before grabbing a pair of medical scissors. It quickly cut away most of the jacket's left shoulder and the entire left sleeve, exposing her wound to the dry air. Kiwi heard shouts from Falco, likely similarly surprised at the identity of this team's medic, as well as continued yells of protest from Rebecca. However, most of their yells were actually about not letting the robot near Kiwi specifically rather than just general fear of the automaton.

So it's not just David and Lucy that care about my safety… but why? Don't they know how much harder it makes this all for me?

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the robot's voice, which was yelling back to Kalina,

"Ma'am! I thought you said clean entry and exit?"

"I did."

"Well, with all due respect, but your eyes are terrible ma'am. There are still small flakes from a flechette round stuck in the wound."

Wait, what?

"Why didn't you tell me she got hit with a tech-rifle?" Kalina asked David, who was still struggling to hold back the teal goblin.

"Was sort of fuckin' busy at the time," David said, his voice colder than normal.

Kiwi didn't hear the rest of their argument as her attention returned to the combat droid that was now swabbing the bullet hole with disinfectant. It did slightly sting, but she's had far worse experiences than this. Ones that tickled at the back of the netrunner's mind, which she quickly suppressed, focusing on the here and now. She did feel the instinct to fight back against the robot, make one of its human handlers treat her instead, but in her exhausted state there was no way for her to physically fight him, and she already knew that there wasn't a way for her to crack his ICE. The best she could do was just to stay still and appease the 'bot as best as possible, hopefully, that way it wouldn't decide to just cut her neck open.

"Ma'am, I need to take out some of the residual flechette pieces from the wound. This basic kit doesn't have any pain suppressants, so this is going to hurt a bit," the robot said.

Its eye was staring into hers, and somehow conveying to Kiwi that it felt genuinely concerned for her, or at least was pretending to.

This thing must have some advanced emulation program, maybe it copies human emotions, and tries pretending to be one itself?

Kiwi hesitantly nodded, which the robot reciprocated before pulling out a pair of tweezers and began to slowly dig around within the bloody hole in her shoulder. Without a jaw to bite down on anything, the best the netrunner could do for the pain was to clench her fists as hard as she could. However, she barely felt any pain at all as she saw tiny piece after tiny piece of metal being pulled out by the 'bot. The small tweezers would go into the wound so carefully and precisely that it wasn't even hitting the exposed flesh, only grabbing the foreign objects and carefully prying them free.

Go figure. A robot doctor has more care for their patient than a human one…

The robot then set down the pair of tweezers and pulled out a small canister, sort of like a large syringe, but full of a fluffy-white cloth that was packed tight.

"XStat, it'll fill that wound and stop the bleeding for a good while," the robot said before inserting the tip of the canister into the wound and pressing down, causing the tightly-packed cloth inside to rapidly fill the hole and expand, effectively sealing the wound shut.

Damn, wish we had that sort of shit in NC. Best we get is a Bounce Back or MaxDoc, which sure helps, but they can't stop bleeding at all.

The robot put a hand on her shoulder, "You should be good now ma'am, but make sure to go to an actual doctor and get that stitched closed in at least 24 hours."

Kiwi nodded.

"Ok," it said, grabbing a roll of gauze, "just to be safe, I'm going to cover it up with a roll of gauze just like you had it before, and then we'll be done."

Most fuckin' professional medical care I've had in NC, and its from some robot while I'm laying down on a pool table in an abandoned dustbowl town.

The 'bot did exactly as it said it would, wrapping a roll of gauze around her torso, under her arm, and using medical tape to attach the two ends. As soon as it finished, Kiwi did her best to sit up and saw the 'bot extend a hand to help her get off the table. She took a much closer look at the 'bots finish now, and saw something odd: there were no corporate logos. No patent markings, stylized insignias, or badges of any kind. The only marking it had was the one on its back, which, now that Kiwi thought about it, must be where its 'name' came from.

This isn't a corpo bot.

This put a very slight amount of faith back into Kiwi's soul that this thing wasn't just going to rip her to shreds. There had been other drones she had seen which had been repurposed into less violent roles, sure, but none were ever so… human . Kiwi accepted the 'bot's outstretched hand and hopped off the table. As promised, as soon as she was down, it backed off immediately and began packing up all of the medical supplies back into the first aid kit's container.

The netrunner looked to the door to see the rest of the crew still eyeing the robot with suspicion, but quickly perked up when they noticed Kiwi walking towards them.

"Choom!" Rebecca ran up to the taller woman. "You alright? That damn machine didn't cut out your heart or sum' shit, right?"

Even she cares? Why?

Kiwi shook her head, "No, I'm good."


Rebecca had been feeling better on the AV, glad to see that David was healing. Now, though? Oh, she was pissed. No, not pissed, fucking enraged. These corporate security robots had likely killed thousands, if not tens of thousands, of people on a whim without mercy or remorse. They were emotionless killing machines, and nothing more. So when she saw a big, bulky one perform a medical procedure on Kiwi with ultimate precision and care, it confused the hell out of her. Robot doctors weren't unheard of, yes, but usually, they were given a set of pre-programmed instructions or were only used for the most basic of duties. This 'bot had actually emulated empathy for its patient, doing its best to minimize Kiwi's pain.

And Rebecca didn't give a fuck.

The rest of the crew didn't know about Sasha, their netrunner before Kiwi, who was killed by a group of Biotechnica 'bots when she tried to pull off some insane plot to reveal hidden data to N54 about a drug the corp was developing. Maine found her body on the highway, crumpled up on top of some random dude's car after falling out of the Biotechnica tower when she'd detonated a bomb in it. Sasha died with a smile on her face, but that didn't change the fact that if those corpo fucks hadn't sicked their metal hounds on her, she might've lived.

"Mark!" Kalina called out, pulling Rebecca out of her thoughts.

"Ma'am?" the robot said back.

I refuse to use that thing's 'name'.

"Need you to get the power back on in the town. This place has those solar panels up top, but they'll run out soon and I am not staying out in the desert at night without heating," Kalina ordered.

The military-esque 'bot stood up and nodded, making its way to the door. Rebecca glared at it as its mechanical feet brushed past the crew and out the front door.

I am not letting that fuckin' thing out of my sight.

"Hold up, drone, I'm goin' with," Rebecca said.

"Becca?" David asked.

He doesn't get it, none of them do.

"Just gonna keep an eye on that thing," she answered.

Rebecca followed the 'bot as it crossed the street over to an abandoned power station, which looked like it hadn't been turned on in nearly 50 years. There was a small office made out of sheet metal, and three large transformers filled up the side wall. She walked through a gap in the concrete wall surrounding the station, the small section having been knocked down by someone else a long while ago, leaving bits of rubble on the ground. Pilar had been a techie and had tried to teach her a few things about repairing electrical systems, but it'd never stuck with her that much, so she wasn't really sure what the 'bot was doing as she kept watching it.

The longer she watched, the more she noticed that this thing definitely was not your standard 'bot. It was more aware of its surroundings, its gait more human, the servos and gears inside having a far more natural movement to them. There was still that standard noise of electrical motors whirring within as it took each step, but it was like a human was wearing the skin of a machine. Which, in Night City you would think isn't that strange, but to Rebecca, it was disgusting.

Fucking thing thinks it's fooling me? I know what you are. One slip up, and you're goddamn scrap metal.

"Ma'am?"

It took Rebecca a moment to realize that it was actually speaking to her.

Did it just fucking call ME ma'am?

"The fuck you want?" Rebecca said.

The 'bot nodded toward the control room of the power station, "I may need a second pair of hands to make this work. Can you go on to the second story of that building and flip the control switch when I say?"

"Why?" she crossed her arms.

"I have the transformers mostly repaired, but this station hasn't seen power in quite some time. I need you to turn the power on right as I give it a bit of a jolt with my battery to jump-start it, ma'am."

There it is again!

Rebecca somehow was able to scowl harder at the robot but figured that getting more distance from the 'bot while still keeping an eye on it couldn't hurt.

"Fine," she said, making her way up the short set of steps to the left of the control room.

There was an exposed panel up there, with a large switch within it that read, "POWER", and was currently set in the "Off" position.

Creative naming scheme.

"Ma'am, are you ready?" came the 'bot's voice.

I swear…

"Stop fucking calling me that! And yes, I'm ready!"

"Flip the switch in three… two… one!"

Rebecca did so and watched as lights across the town lit up bright, including several in the BD Shack. She began making her way back down the steps and saw the robot enter the control room. Not knowing what it was up to now, she followed it inside and sat on top of the office table in the back of the small room.

It was standing at a terminal on the side of the wall and seemed to be going through files of some kind.

"What are you doing?" Rebecca accused.

"Making sure the local subnet is secure, so we aren't traced by some corpos, ma'am."

"I said stop fucking calling me that!"

The robot looked at her, the panels around its cyclops eye shifting until it looked like it was, well, sorry.

How the fuck does this thing manage to look sad? It's a goddamn hunk of metal.

"I'm sorry," the robot said, its posture oddly sullen, "if I upset you. I… do not know what else to call you."

"My name is Rebecca."

"And mine is Mark."

"You are a fucking machine."

The bot's head and shoulders sank lower.

"I… I know," it said.

Huh?

The bot turned back to the terminal and continued, speaking softly, "You are right to fear me. I've encountered the other security bots, so I understand why you feel the way you do."

Ugh, fuck this. Stupid thing thinks it's slick, trying to win me over.

Rebecca got up from the table and began walking out.

"Rebecca?"

The fuck does it want now?

She turned back to see it looking at her intently, and before she could lay into the machine, it softly said,

"I'm sorry for what happened to your brother."

Wha-WHAT? I…

Rebecca was just stunned for a moment, unsure how to react. It had been months since Pilar's death, and she had told herself plenty of times that she was over it, it's not like she really cared for the perverted bastard anyways. But… nobody had ever said sorry to her. No one ever said that it was ok to feel sad, that they were there for her in case they needed it. Death was an everyday occurrence in NC, especially for Edgerunners, so the rest of the crew probably had assumed she would be fine.

Then this stupid fucking robot had to go and apologize to her. He wasn't even there, he didn't even know Pilar!

So why do I feel so fucking sad all of the sudden?

The short woman wasn't sure how long she stood there silent, staring in shock back at the 'bot, but it was long enough for it to notice her silence.

"Uhm, Rebecca?" it asked, its tone sincere.

She came back to reality, "I… why did you say that?"

"I could tell you were sad. You appear happy and relaxed, but your brain chemistry indicates you've been suppressing some dark emotions. I thought humans usually told others that they were sorry when their relatives passed, so I just assumed…" its voice trailed off.

The room was quiet for a long moment, Rebecca still trying to make sense of this machine's behavior.

"How did you even know about my brother?" Rebecca asked, her eyes involuntarily feeling watery.

"I made sure to do some research before I met all of you. Wanted to make sure I didn't give off the wrong first impression. Clearly, I didn't do that well enough…" the machine said as its eye was trained on the floor.

Not a single other person said anything to me about it… except for this thing, this metal impersonation of a person, it tried to make me feel better. Fuck I hate this sappy shit.

It wasn't common for Rebecca to feel emotions like this, she usually did her best to either move on and not give such events a second thought, or to drown herself in alcohol and guns until she forgot about it. Now she was forced to come to terms with that pain, the feelings she'd suppressed for so long now. Sure, Pilar was an absolute dick that was into some weird shit, but he was still her brother. He was the one that had protected her when she was a kid, after all. Only now did she really think about the idea that he was gone, that she would never have to experience dealing with his shenanigans ever again. And it hit her like a fucking truck.

She turned away from the robot, wiping a few tears off of her face.

"Did I do something wrong?" the metal man asked, its voice full of concern.

When Rebecca turned back towards the 'bot, its central blue eye was staring straight through her. It was a machine without any facial features and yet looked worried that it had upset her.

Maybe… maybe I'm the one that did something wrong. Fucking puppy dog eye, how'd he know I'm a sucker for 'em?

"No, Mark , you didn't." Rebecca did her best to give a genuine smile. "Thank you."

Mark nodded and returned to working on the terminal, with the gun maniac sitting back down on the table until he was finished.

"And this rusted bit of junk is back online," Mark said as a slew of icons on the terminal screen lit up green, "we're good to go now, ma'am ."

"Oh, so you tell jokes huh? What, you experience emotions too?" Rebecca asked as they began to walk out of the power station and back to the bar.

"I do, Rebecca. I do. I carry the brain of a human farmer."

"Holy shit. Are you serious?"

"No ma'am, not at all," Mark said in the most monotone voice possible.

Rebecca was surprised by how hard she laughed.

Well, looks like I'll have to explain how I left pissed and came back happy. A good excuse too, I can't just say I fucked him after all. Unless he's got a vibration featu-no! Bad 'becca!


"You're joking," Lucy said unbelievably.

"Wish I was. Craziest job I ever did, and goddamn was it fun," Faolan said.

The three of them had been in the car for a small while since their blissful exit off of Highway 9, but the Mahir Supron's pathetic engine already felt like it was about to give out. So when they reached the rougher roads of the badlands, Annie had regretfully been made to drive a little slower so they didn't have to walk all the way to Rocky Ridge instead. During the downtime, they had somehow gotten onto the topic of the past jobs each of them had done. Annie talked about her time working with nomads in the northwest, Lucy discussed her pick-socketing of 'saka suits on the NCART, and then Faolan had made a claim so ridiculous that neither of the two women wanted to believe it.

"Alright boss, even I have to call bull on that one," Annie said, "there is no fucking way you stole Yorinobu Arasaka's motorcycle from the goddamn Arasaka Headquarters in Tokyo."

"You want proof?" He reached into a pocket and pulled out an old photograph with a devilish grin on his face.

"Here, look," he said gleefully, presenting it to Lucy.

The photo was of Faolan, in a far less sophisticated set of armor and looking much younger, standing next to the goddamn heir of the Arasaka empire, who was dressed in the most punk-rock outfit you could imagine. Right behind both of them stood what looked like a very vintage-looking motorcycle, probably not from this century, and far out of the price range of anyone except for someone of Yorinobu's status.

"Who do you think gave me that special shard?"

Lucy's eyes widened, "You mean the one I used to sneak through 'saka's net quietly?"

The daemon he'd given her did work wonders, there wasn't a single trace of the young netrunner in the corporation's system whatsoever, but it did exactly what Faolan said it would, only operating for a limited time. Early on in their car ride, Lucy had gotten a notification that the program had deleted itself, and so the armored merc had taken the now dead shard back for safekeeping.

Faolan nodded, "Who else would have a daemon specially made by the best netrunner in the country for the sole purpose of hiding within Arasaka's network?"

Lucy slowly nodded, "That's… actually a good point. Yorinobu did have that whole rebel phase with the Steel Dragons, after all. And you did say that when you broke into their Tokyo tower you had to get to the garage… fuck, Annie, I don't think he's lying."

"I can't believe this shit," Annie said, shaking her head, "and do you really keep that old-ass photo on you at all times, just in case someone asks about it?"

"Fuck yeah I do! Would you not?" Faolan said, putting the photo away and leaning back in his seat.

The two women fell silent in amazement. This meant that Lucy's protector had literally broken into one of, if not the, most defended places on the planet to steal a fucking motorcycle for the son of the most powerful man in the human race.

Lucy's daydreaming was broken when she saw them pass a sign next to the road that read, 'Welcome to Rocky Ridge!'

Oh, thank fuck, finally.

The small town didn't look like much, but Lucy wasn't focused on the town as much as he was on trying to locate David. As soon as the small car came to a stop outside the central bar in town, she popped open the door and moved as fast as she could to the entrance. She was met with a wall of abs as David ran out the door at the same time, the two lovers colliding with each other and falling flat on their asses.

"Ow, fuck…" David groaned, sitting up slightly.

"David!" Lucy yelled, jumping up and tackling the larger man back to the ground.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and held tight, never wanting to lose sight of him again. Sure, Faolan had said he was safe, but that didn't stop her from worrying.

"Unfh! Lucy, hey!" David said, struggling to breathe.

The two lovers held their embrace for a short moment, Lucy snuggling her head into David's neck as he held the square of her back. Technically speaking, it had only been at most ten hours since the two had last seen each other, but the chaos of the day had made it feel like years. Despite the planning and extra support from Faolan's team, Lucy still worried that something would go wrong. That some unforeseen complication would come up that would ruin everything, and take David away from her forever.

I can't lose him. I can't.

"Lucy," Faolan said, interrupting their moment, "we just got here and you're already mounting him?"

Neither of the two lovebirds got to respond as Annie just slapped the jackass upside the head in a move that looked like she'd done it a million times before.

"Ok, ok, I'm going," Faolan said, walking past the two of them and going inside.

Annie walked up, helping Lucy and David to their feet.

"If you two are goin' to have a moment," she said, "I recommend doin' it out here first."

Then the sharpshooter walked inside and closed the door, leaving Lucy alone with David in the deserted town.

"Lucy, I-" David started, being shut up when his output's lips met his.

Their embrace was passionate and felt like forever to Lucy, but she didn't care. The only one she really cared about was alive, safe, standing in front of her, and crashing his lips against hers.

They eventually broke apart, slightly panting, to which Lucy said,

"I think we both needed that."

The adorable smirk on David's face made her cheeks feel hot. "Not gonna' disagree, especially if it gets me more," David said.

She giggled and then noticed his lack of upper clothing.

"What happened?" she asked, pointing to the absence of his mother's EMT jacket.

David's face went sullen for a moment as he explained the events of the evac from the convoy job, and how they needed to provide evidence of their 'death'.

"David… I'm…," Lucy tried to find the right words.

"I know. Honestly, she would be happy for us right now, I think," David said.

"Really?"

"Mhm. She was always big on never getting too sentimental about an object. Mainly because if she couldn't make rent that month we'd end up selling whatever random junk we had laying around." he chuckled at the memory, that time feeling like ancient history by now.

"Sounds like a smart woman."

"She was, she really was." David smiled. "Lucy, I don't know if I've ever said this, but… I lov-"

Lucy shut him up again with a kiss.

She spoke softly after they broke apart, "I know. I feel the same, you gonk."

They embraced once again, just holding each other, and both felt a soothing warmth deep in their chests. Lucy glanced through a window of the bar, seeing the crew and the rest of Faolan's team mingling inside. She gestured her head towards the door, and David grabbed her hand as they approached it. Before they could though, Kiwi walked out with her head hanging low.

"Kiwi!" Lucy called out, causing her mentor to look up in surprise.

"Oh, Lucy, hey…" Kiwi said, sounding oddly shy.

Don't think I've ever seen her be nervous about something, at least not like this.

"How're you holding up?" David asked, gesturing to her wound.

Shit, looks bad. Gonna have to ask Dee about what happened later.

"Had worse. I'll be fine."

The elder netrunner tried to make it past them again, but Lucy stopped her,

"Kiwi, I know I said it before, but… thank you." Lucy gripped David's hand tighter. "You kept this gonk safe for me, and I can't thank you enough for that."

A strange look flashed on Kiwi's face, and the blonde's eyes were not daring to meet either hers or Davids's as her posture sank very slightly. Lucy saw the other woman's hand clenched into an incredibly tight fist.

"You're welcome," Kiwi said curtly before walking off towards the power station.

Weird… maybe she's just in need of a smoke break?

David had a similarly confused expression on his face, but after a quick silent exchange with Lucy, smiled. They opened the door and walked inside the bar.

Lucy had expected Faolan's team to be more 'militaristic', and in full they somewhat were, but that wasn't entirely accurate. Kalina was definitely what she had been imagining, disciplined to a tee and all about function over form, but still looking as if she could kill you with minimal effort.

Garth was somewhere in-between, being far too friendly than anyone reasonably should be in this shit world, but still terrifying the shit out of her when he effortlessly picked up the pool table with one hand and moved it out of the center of the room.

Mark was horrifying to Lucy at first, especially when the notion of him being a rogue AI entered her mind. The mere possibility of one of those monsters from her childhood, the ones from beyond the Blackwall, being put inside of a mechanical body and allowed to roam the physical world made her quiver slightly. She only calmed down when Rebecca had gone to bat for the 'bot, saying that Mark wasn't your standard corpo-coded soldier. Once Lucy had tried to calm down a bit and given Mark a chance, he was actually quite nice. Wasn't often you found someone, let alone a robot, that had the courtesy to still call everyone around them "Sir", or "Ma'am".

Then there was Annie, but, well, Lucy already had plenty of time to get to know her on the car ride here. That just left…

"Wait," Lucy asked, cutting into the card game that they had somehow ended up playing, "don't you guys have a pilot too?"

Kalina facepalmed, " Kurwa -

Why do I feel like I've heard that somewhere before?

"-I almost forgot Monarch was with us. Is he still hiding in the AV?"

"Think so, or at least he was when Rebecca and I were walking back over," Mark said.

Faolan stood up, putting his cards down on the table, "I'll go get him. Not gonna let him sit this one out."

"Oh, this will be good," Garth said, chuckling.

The armored merc walked out the front door and towards the AV, with everyone inside watching the exchange through the bar's windows. They couldn't hear what was being said as Faolan at first yelled into the AV's interior from the outside, and then got inside of it, walking down the small hallway towards the cockpit. After a moment of awkward silence, David asked,

"So, why's Monarch such a recluse?"

Kalina didn't look away from the window as she said, "Because he doesn't care about anything not going at least Mach 4."

"Mach 4?" Falco asked, taking a sip from an old whiskey bottle he'd found.

"Four times the speed of sound," Garth said.

Falco whistled, "He can think straight at those speeds?"

Kalina nodded, "Monarch's the best pilot on the face of the earth. Or at least the best any of us have ever seen."

"Apparently they call him the Demon Lord in a few underground flight schools," Mark said.

Rebecca chimed in, "So why the fuck haven't we heard him speak yet?"

Her question was partially answered a moment later when Faolan came flying out of the AV's interior, landing on his back in the dirt.

I've seen that merc do some crazy shit, what type of person casually throw- oh. Oh my god.

Monarch stepped out of the passenger compartment and began walking up to Faolan. David expressed the crew's overall thoughts on the legendary pilot's appearance quite well,

"Is that a fucking CYBORG?"

Monarch's entire body was very obviously mechanical, with uncovered screws and bolts littering it, but the actual metal was rounded and smooth to at least resemble a human being. There were obvious carbon-fiber muscles under the arm and leg panels, as well as several exposed interface plugs that ran along his back, which presumably connected to the AV cockpit's chair. The 'borg's head was robotic as well, but the face was replaced by a single black, featureless visor that was acting as a screen for him to 'talk' with. Right now though his 'face', if you could really call it that, only displayed:

[[ :( ]]

The crew watched as the 'borg walked up to Faolan, standing slightly shorter than the armored merc, yet still somehow feeling incredibly imposing.

Faolan walked backward until the bar doors opened, with Monarch following him inside.

"Monarch, stand down," Faolan said as the 'borg kept approaching. Monarch's visor flickered to show new text:

[[ u stupid fuckhead ]]

"Boss, what did you do to him this time?" Kalina asked nonchalantly.

This must happen pretty often then. Honestly, not that surprising.

Monarch turned and finally saw the rest of the crew sitting around the rather large table, halting his advance.

"I just told him that the F-14 wasn't actually that goo-"

Monarch whirled around to 'glare' at the team's leader once again.

"Alright, alright, sorry. Just wanted you to come and hang out for a change."

[[ -_- ]]

"Oh, because you would've come out if I had just asked?"

[[ … ]]

[[ fine. ]]

Monarch walked over and sat down in a chair at the table. He was crossing his arms and, despite not having any facial features, looking incredibly bored.

"Wait," David said, "I thought Adam Smasher was the only full cyborg?"

[[ nah ]]

"Yeah, that's a pretty common misconception you NC folk make," Kalina commented before continuing, "cyborgs actually used to be way more common in the 2020s, hell most megacorps would force some of their employees to use cyborg bodies so that they could work 18-hour shifts without issue. Well, also so they could control their neuron responses so they were always happy to work for the corp."

That seems about right. Hire some poor sap with offers of a new body, rebuild them into a corpo slave. Corpo dickery 101.

"So? The fuck happened to 'em?" Rebecca asked.

"Cyberware got better. No reason to put yourself in a premade cyborg body when cyberware can accomplish most, if not all, the same things and give you a slight sense of still being human. However, there are still some professions where the 'borgs beat out the chrome in every field." Kalina gestured towards Monarch. "Such as pilots, for instance."

David rubbed his chin, muttering, "I guess a body without blood wouldn't have to deal with G-Forces…"

How the hell does he kno-oh, right, straight-A 'saka student. Figures they'd teach kids about how to fly jets for the corp.

[[ :) ]]

Looks like dee's right then. Still doesn't explain one thing though…

"Where the hell do you even get a 'borg body though? Aren't they absurdly regulated now?" Lucy asked the pilot.

[[ yes ]]

The netrunner continued, "So… how did you get yours?"

[[ got it b4 they were restricted ]]

"Wouldn't that make you like 70 years old?"

[[ 95, actually ]]

Holy shit.

David was still stuck on 'saka's boogeyman though, asking,

"So what makes 'Smasher so different?"

Faolan answered, "Well first, he's a sadistic fuck. Secondly, he's one of the very few examples of someone who has gone from human to nearly full cyborg progressively . 'Borgs like Monarch or those that work in space-"

There's more of them in orbit!?

"-basically just get their brains and nervous systems implanted into premade bodies. Most of them usually don't have any crazy abilities that put too much strain on the mind and just enhance what's already there. Reaction speed, environment awareness, increased ability to interface with vehicles, things like that, but no mantis blades or ultra-powerful netrunning decks."

Rebecca scoffed, "Do they not come with a fuckin' voice box?"

[[ bitch ]]

Rebecca stormed up from her seat to go beat the dickhead pilot's ass but was stopped when David put an arm across her chest and shook his head.

Always the mediator of the crew. Even before Maine passed.

The little goblin sat back down with a huff as Kalina continued, "Oh, Monarch removed his body's voice synthesizer."

"The hell he go and do that for?" Falco questioned.

[[ more RAM 4 flying ]]

He removed his ability to talk just so he could be a better pilot? Pretty nova, actually.

"Anyways," Kalina said, "getting 'borged that way makes cyberpsychosis far less likely, at the cost of never being able to return to a 'ganic body. Smasher on the other hand put all that shit into him over time, and is probably the most high-functioning cyberpsycho on the planet. It's not that he's a cyborg which is the scary part, it's that nobody knows where his limit is for chipping in more chrome."

David nodded, satisfied with that answer, but the tan woman had one last request,

"Now, stop asking so many damn questions."

Lucy was quick to come to her input's aid, "If you would all stop being so fucking weird, we would."

[[ HAHAHA ]]

The rest of the table joined the 'borg in laughter until Faolan brought Lucy out of it when he whispered to her,

"Hey, where'd Kiwi go?"

"Across the street to the power station, why?" Lucy whispered back.

"No reason, just wondering. Gotta go make a call, I'll be back," Faolan said, quietly making his exit from the bar.


I don't belong here.

Kiwi was sitting on some crates that had been left at the top level of the maintenance tower overlooking the power station, staring out at the infinite expanse of sand below her. The world was covered in a slight golden haze as the sun slowly lowered and the moon crept into view over the horizon. She had not been outside of the city in a long time, sure she had made plans to leave and had seen the badlands plenty of times from the freeway, but seeing it from afar and sitting atop an abandoned town in the middle of it felt very different. Because within the city, on the street, she felt most at home with the person she'd become. The one who knew to never trust a soul in Night City; that gonks who did that got burned.

But out here in this wasteland, an old decrepit part of her desperately wanted to join the others in the bar. They were bonding, learning about one another, and growing closer. After all these years, though, the only thing she knew was how to grow more distant. So, here she sat. In a dry, dead desert, her soul splitting at the seams.

I betrayed them.

No, you protected yourself.

So? Does that justify it? Make it right?

That doesn't matter. What matters is that you survive.

But without them, I wouldn't have survived. Faraday would've probably killed me anyways since he was working with 'saka.

You could've escaped him.

I-

You cannot falter now.

But-

Do you not remember what happened last time?

Well?

I do.

And do you want that to happen again?

No. Never.

Then why are you just SITTING THERE? Run! Leave! Escape!

I… I don't know.

God, you're pathetic.

Kiwi clutched the bloodied bandage in her hand. The one made from David's jacket. From his mother's jacket.

Why did he help me?

Because he's one of those gonks who get burned.

Kiwi could still feel the special daemon Lucy had sent digging around in her cyberdeck, merging with the rest of her 'soft slowly and comfortably.

Then why did she help? I taught her that lesson plenty of times, yet she still trusted me with something of this level.

She's a failure, a lost cause. Too much of a dreamer to survive.

She's the one that just raided Arasaka-fucking-Tower and lived to tell the tale.

And what did she gain from it? A few more months of cover from 'saka's gaze, at best?

It gave her the chance to try and fight for the life she wants, not the one she's been given.

So?

I never got that chance.

"You alright there, choomba?"

Kiwi whirled around to see Faolan standing there, leaning on the railing to her right and looking out at the horizon as well. She never even noticed him walk up, let alone get right next to her.

"Yeah. Just needed some space to smoke."

"Kiwi," Faolan said, turning to her and opening up his helmet, "you haven't smoked once since our fight at the warehouse."

What the hell is he talking about?

No, I've… wait… did I?

"Some of our strongest habits get broken when our minds are in conflict with ourselves," he said softly.

Kiwi focused her eyes on the pale merc now, his face becoming more illuminated as the moon began to rise higher.

"What do you want?" she spat back.

"I want you to stay."

Kiwi didn't even blink, "Why?"

"Because those kids down there care a lot about you."

Kiwi sighed, "You can't trust a soul in Night City-"

"Then why did you?" Faolan interrupted.

"Wha-what are you talking about?"

"You could have left the crew at any time, worked as a solo. Wouldn't have had to trust anybody for anything. Yet you stayed for as long as you did. Even after Maine and Dorio died, you joined right back up with them when David took charge. Why?"

"Maine paid fair, and the work was solid."

Faolan crossed his arms and stared at her accusingly,

"You and I both know that working solo pays better, and a 'runner with your skills wouldn't have had a problem getting work. So why did you really stay?"

This dude is such an asshole.

But… he's right? Why did I stay?

Let me answer that.

Kiwi stared daggers at him, "So that I wouldn't have to work with some other asshole like you. Besides, Maine was better with fixers than I was."

Faolan didn't blink either, "Sure didn't have a problem talking to Faraday. Or talking to El Capitan to get the NCPD records scrubb-"

He knows about THAT too? How?

I've had enough of his fucking antics!

Wait, no-

Kiwi stood up from the boxes, her rage boiling over. She yelled, perhaps louder than she meant to,

"What the fuck do you know about me !? Nothing. Not a goddamn thing."

"I understand how you fee-"

"Oh, fuck off, no you don't."

"Kiwi, trust me, I've been where you are right no-"

"No, you haven't! You weren't sold like some fucking piece of hardware by the only person you've ever actually given a shit about."

Her entire body was shaking.

"You weren't forced to watch as your jaw was cut off, forced to endure feeling a saw going down your goddamn trachea as those Scav bastards nailed in some fucking chrome."

Water filled her eyes and she thought her heart was about to burst out of her chest.

"You have no idea what it's like to have a piece of you be ripped out and replaced with some fucking metal against your will, or how it feels to become an inhuman bitch that sells out the only people who have ever been kind to her!"

Kiwi couldn't stop her tears from falling as the adrenaline wore off. Her nails drew blood out of her palm from how hard her fists were clenched.

The air was still for a long moment as her breathing gradually slowed. Despite her outburst, Faolan didn't seem fazed in the slightest. He just kept looking at her with pain in his eyes and said,

"I wish that I didn't."

Huh?

He's STILL trying to act all tough, to make us feel afraid? I'm going to make him eat his words.

"Oh yeah? The fuck do you know? All you do is act tough and wear some fancy fuckin' armor, you haven't had to struggle like the rest of us." Kiwi said.

Faolan's face got less relaxed, "You have no idea what you're talking about."

"Think I've got a pretty good idea by now. You don't give a fuck about me, or anyone else, you just want to make sure your client's happy."

"You're wrong."

"How?"

Faolan turned and stared at the moon, "I don't have to prove shit to you."

Kiwi walked closer to him, "Then fucking leave, why did you even come up here? To rub my shitty past in my face?"

Faolan quickly rose to his full height, standing in front of her and matching her ferocity eye to eye. He growled out,

"Because you needed to see that your life is not as shitty as it could be."

"Oh, because yours is so much worse."

He gritted his teeth, "I'm just trying to fucking help you."

Maybe he's being serious?

No, he's not, he's still trying to play us for fools.

"And you're doing a wonderful job at that, thank you," Kiwi said sarcastically.

Faolan then suddenly reached up to his torso armor and pulled the front of it off, tossing it to the floor, and exposing the black cloth undersuit.

"Wha-" Kiwi tried to say, her anger turning into shock.

"Fine!" Faolan grabbed a knife and cut the undersuit near where his heart would be. "You want to fucking know so badly? Here!"

He pulled down on the cut cloth, exposing his upper torso.

What. The fuck. Is that.

Alright, I'm with you on this one, what the actual shit is that?

Faolan's heart was blue . More accurately a dark teal, but it was so pure that it could be seen right through his skin. Arcs of the same color branched out from the heart itself, going into every single vein in his body. It was as if his blood had been swapped out for an entirely different substance, yet the heart still pumped like it was totally natural. The two inhuman mercs stood there, Faolan staring into her eyes with malice and her staring at his heart in total confusion.

Kiwi then realized just how hard her own heart was pounding, and at the sweat pouring down her face.

I need to calm down, or the others will hear and find out.

No, you have your chance right now! Tear him apart, and then we're free!

The armored merc's more aloof nature couldn't be held back for long, though, and a tiny smirk returned to his face as he said,

"Care to sit down and talk now, or do you want to keep staring at my pecs?"

Kiwi couldn't hold in her chuckle at the absolute absurdity of the situation and agreed. They sat back down on the boxes.

I'm going to at least hear him out.

Goddamnit Kiwi, you can't do this again! Kiwi!

I need to know why he cares. Why they all do.

"So? What is it?" She asked.

"The reason I'm still alive. I'll spare you the fine details, however, I had an incident years before I got my contract with Lucy's parents. My heart had been hit with a poison dart, but it hadn't deployed the virus correctly. Instead of a quick death, the damn thing was slowly rotting my heart from the inside out. Some friends of mine were able to connect me with someone, a ripperdoc of sorts. He had been experimenting with some new concept for a hybrid system of biological augmentation and cyberware combined into one entity, in the form of a specialized heart.

I've tried to ask him what exactly it pumps, but the only thing he ever says is that it 'was found on an asteroid', that it's an element that doesn't grow naturally on this blue marble. Whatever the fuck it is, it's what allowed him to make my new heart. One of a kind model. Increases my strength, reflexes, reaction time, and even how fast I heal. Sure I'm no fuckin' superhero, but I can take a few rounds to a leg or an arm and not have to worry about it for the rest of my life. The only problem though is the drawbacks."

Kiwi raised an eyebrow, to which he continued,

"First, I can't have any cyberware in my body. At all, anywhere. Something to do with this mystery liquid shit not meshing well with other chrome."

Great, so he's got a fuckin' mystery goo heart, who cares?

Huh. That explains why I was never able to pick him up with scans, or at least not able to hack him. Most people usually get at least a slot or two for shards, but I don't think I've seen many people who are 100% organic nowadays.

Then we know how to take him down, now, right? Kiwi?

"However, the second drawback is the worst. I can't feel anything."

"What?"

"No touch, no heat, no cold, no pain. Can't feel any of it. At all."

Guess he really is like a ghost.

Kiwi considered the idea for a moment, but it was nearly impossible for her to rationalize the mere idea of having most of your senses turned off forever. Sure there was cyberware you could install that could limit or reduce pain, as well as stuff for cold and heat, but having all of it off, forever, sounded like torture.

"And you let them install this into you?" She questioned.

Faolan chuckled, "It was either that or die."

This guy still being a jokester? After all this shit?

Looks like we do have some shared life experiences, I suppose.

Hello! Are you even listening to me anymore?

No. I'm not. Fuck survival. I want to live again.

"I still don't understand though, why are you telling me all of this?" Kiwi looked back out at the horizon, the moon now slightly higher in the sky.

"Well," Faolan said, "honestly, it's because that girl I'm supposed to protect included you as part of my protection package. I have to count you as an extension of herself, remember?"

Right, back at the Afterlife.

She nodded.

"As I told you the first night we met, that includes mental trauma. I figured talking about my fucked up past might help you make more sense of yours. We're both a little inhuman, after all."

Kiwi couldn't resist the opportunity to get back at him,

"So, you're trying to get pity points with me so I'll sleep with you?"

Faolan broke out into a howling laugh, taking a moment to regain his cool before responding,

"Oh fuck no, besides, that whole 'intimacy' thing doesn't really work when you can't feel anything."

Huh? Oh. Oooooooooh. I think those 'drawbacks' are worse than I had considered.

"No," Faolan continued, "I just don't like seeing people tear themselves apart, and I wanted to make sure you wouldn't do that."

If she could, Kiwi would have smiled. Instead, her eyes just loosened slightly, shying away from the narrow daggers she usually gave off.

"Thank you," she said sincerely, for possibly the first time in years.

"Anytime."

They both sat in silence, just staring out at the desert for a long while. Kiwi still had one burning question though.

"Faolan?"

"Hm?"

"Do you know, uhm… all of the details?"

"Of what happened between you and the Scavs 7 years ago?"

Kiwi nodded.

"Mostly. I don't know your own personal account of events, or what exactly they did to you beyond your jaw, obviously, but I know the general gist of things."

Kiwi involuntarily shuddered at the memory.

"It's just that… how did you find out? I've been doing my best to keep the net clean of any info about it for years," Kiwi asked.

"Trick of the trade: always know a guy that keeps physical records of shit. You netrunners are good, but not good enough to hack a piece of paper," he answered.

Who the fuck in Night City keeps paper records?

"Before you ask," Faolan continued, "you won't find him unless he has a job for you, so don't go looking. He's a totally neutral party, so don't think he did it to specifically hurt you. He just keeps physical records of anything he deems worthy of potential future use, on anybody."

Kiwi huffed in resignation. The air was still for a long moment, eventually being broken when she began to ask another question,

"Have you, uh…,"

"Told the others? No, not even my team. It's up to you if you want them to know or not."

Kiwi nodded, and they sat in silence again for a minute.

She turned to him and said, "You do know by the way that if you tell anyone about how I'm acting right now, I'll set your cock on fire, right?"

"First, can't feel pain, remember? Second, what is it with you, Rebecca, and Lucy all threatening to destroy my genitals?"

Kiwi chuckled, "Force of habit, I guess. Best threat to make an asshole guy back off."

Faolan stood up and started putting his armor back on, "Well don't worry, what happens on the rickety old maintenance scaffolding stays on the rickety old maintenance scaffolding. Now, do you want to keep sitting up here and 'smoke' some more, or are you willing to come down and hang out?"

She turned and looked back out at the dry, dead desert. Her soul wasn't fully healed yet, but it was no longer in pieces.

"Alright, I'll come down," she said, getting off the boxes.

Faolan smiled, already starting to climb down the maintenance ladder. Kiwi couldn't help but take one last glance out to the horizon, but this time she saw more light sources aside from the moon, down on the road. Headlights. Lots of them.

Raffen Shiv.