Girl on Fire
May 30 2076.
"Hey, we nabbed Tanaka." David said on the comm.
"Good. Everyone ok?"
"Aside from JK, I think yes."
"Why that?"
"Tanaka fired some iron pricks to all of us. We all got through, but the gonk got caught right in the throat."
"Must have sucked to be him."
A brief silence followed, which made Ernesto suspicious. But before he could ask anything, David resumed speaking with a hesitant tone.
"Say...Nesto…"
"Yeah?" Ernesto replied in a comprehensive tone.
"Do you...think I will become a cyberpsycho?"
"What are you talking about?"
"I...saw some things...in a BD JK put me through before he died…"
"Woah, hold on, what happened?!" the Captain interrupted with urgency.
"Uh...the plan didn't exactly went smoothly." David confessed. "When me and Maine approached him he used some EMP blast and fried us out. When I woke up, JK was putting me through the BD, living as a psycho…"
Understanding where this was going, even if he was frustrated to learn that David had been in such a danger without him knowing, Ernesto replied firmly. "David, listen to me carefully."
"Uh?"
"Everyone handling cyberware is at risk of getting all psycho. Sure, some gear will send you over the edge faster, but it's all about knowing your limits and understand when it's time to slow down. And god fucking hell, bro, I won't let you go crazy. You get me?"
David waited, then huffed reassured. "Got it. Thanks, bro."
"You're welcome. Where have you put Tanaka?"
"That abandoned hotel on the Arroyo. They should've already jacked Kiwi in."
"Good. Now go get some sleep and don't worry about today, Dave. You'll see, everything will come out ok."
"Yeah...yeah I'll do it." David replied, clearly tired from the day. "I'll phone ya tomorrow."
The call was closed and Ernesto slumped on his sofa. The plan was in motion and he felt a pang of tension spiking inside his chest, especially after the conversation he just had with David. Sure, perhaps now David could stay out of the rest of the op.
Then he remembered he forgot to ask one important detail: had Tanaka seen David before passing out?
But the orders of the Director came back to his mind: he couldn't interfere. Getting a report from David was not considered as such, but he couldn't go and take a look at how things were going at the current hideout.
To free his mind from these thoughts came a few moments later a call from Petra.
"Hey, Trauma Team just signaled that tuner's death. I'm heading out with a patrol."
"Good. The crew should have covered all tracks, but I count on you to make sure. And tomorrow, when someone will denounce Tanaka's missing, make sure they check Arroyo last." he replied.
"You got it. Wanna join us?"
"Nah. I usually work alone for the police. Someone might get suspicious if I start rolling around with a patrol, but if anything happens, be sure that I'll be on the scene before you."
She huffed. "If that happens, you know someone will probably die, right?"
Damn right he knew. The thought was haunting him, but he couldn't let it hinder from doing his part. "I know. Let's pray things go as planned, but just as a friendly reminder: Maine is heavily armed and armored, so think twice before going in with just pistols."
"Copy that. I'll keep you posted." and she closed the transmission.
The captain lit up a cigarette. It was early evening, but hacking into Tanaka's personal implant wasn't going to be quick. Still, he hoped that in 30 hours at most they would have been done with it.
He decided to take a look at the reports from the network. It seemed like Arasaka still hadn't noticed anything, after all, the crew had waited exactly the hour when Tanaka had ended his daily tasks and was simply making a stop on his way home. This would give them some precious extra time. Inadvertently, JK's death was also helpful, cause now he couldn't testify that Tanaka had been kidnapped.
The Loyalists were still laying low after last week's raid. There wasn't much to tell as the members kept going on with their lives and waited for the next call. At least Militech was convinced that Arasaka was behind the sabotage ad Dross-Net, which would add a layer of suspicion between the megacorps once Tanaka's disappearance became public.
Ernesto kept scrolling, looking for news about the outer world, for a change. He found that the Emperor was making a state visit on the Citadel, apparently to bring the Federation in line with the many treaties and rules of co-living between the many species. There was a picture of him beside the Asari, Salarian and Turian Councilors.
Seemed absurd to Ernesto how much humanity was striving to become a responsible species in the new universe it had just entered, meanwhile Night City remained as a cancer on Earth's image, where her inhabitants suffered monstrous inequalities and law was barely respected.
But things would change. Ernesto could at least find some solace in this. The wild capitalism of Night City was an outdated system that would soon be replaced with the new system, one where humanity would be able to thrive and life would be regulated by fair rules.
With only that thought to give him some flicker of hope, Martinez decided to get out for a walk, pondering on what he was going to have for dinner.
May 31 2076.
28 hours had passed. Dorio had already pinged in, saying that everything was going as planned. Petra, too, reassured that the police had basically no real trail to follow in order to find Tanaka. Yet, Ernesto could not free himself of a terrible feeling that things may go off.
A call from David arrived almost at midnight, just in time to prevent Ernesto from going to sleep.
"Yo." he answered.
"Hey, me and Lucy are the hotel."
Ernesto was caught off. "What? Why?"
"It looks...it looks like Maine lost it and punched Kiwi out. Lucy is hacking Tanaka's head right now."
"Hold it, what do you mean Maine 'lost it'?"
David hesitated a lot before answering, which only built up a fear inside Ernesto. "Dorio said he might be about to go cyberpsycho and...I believe dat."
Ernesto made a silent grunt of frustration: of all things that could go wrong, this was the last thing he wanted to hear.
"Fuck that. How bad is he?"
"He...well, he slapped me for trying to cheer him up, so…"
"Ok, where are you now?"
"Tanaka's little cell. Lucy is in deep-dive."
"She just...accepted to do that?"
"Well, not quite. She wanted me to say she could do it and...wait, how did you know that?"
Ernesto sighed. "Because of her past. Listen, be careful of what's happening. I don't want you near Maine if he falls over the edge."
"I don't know how long it will take for her to…"
"I don't give a damn. If shit starts flinging around you yank her out and get the hell out of there, got it?" Ernesto said with an imperative tone.
He could hear David gulp on the other side before replying. "Roger that."
Ernesto closed the call and rushed to get his gear ready. Meanwhile he tried to reach Petra, but she didn't pick up. He grabbed his weapons, praying with every inch of soul that he wouldn't have to use them, got out of his house and into the car. As he started driving toward the abandoned hotel, he came up with another strategy and called Rebecca and Pilar.
The former was the first to pick up with a yawn. "Oi, ya know da time?"
"Sorry to wake you up, guys, but we got a situation."
"What now?" Pilar groaned.
"David just came through to me, said Maine is about to go psycho."
"UH?!" Rebecca screamed all of a sudden.
"You fucking with me?" Pilar also asked bewildered.
"Doesn't surprise me. He has had a few symptoms for a while, now, he just didn't want to tell us."
"Ugh, you always with your damn dirty secrets." Rebecca commented frustrated before turning serious. "So whatchu need us?"
"Head for this coordinates, I need you to keep the escape open in case things start going crazy and the cops show up."
"We're on our way." Pilar reassured before the call was over.
Rain started pouring down, as the weather forecast had anticipated. Driving fast, but just enough not to slip out of the road, Ernesto took a few minutes to reach his destination. He decided to park just in sight of the hotel, but waited inside the car, looking for possible signs that anything was going south.
And that sign came a bit later: an AV of Trauma Team started hovering over the roof of the building.
"Yo, Nesto. TT's here!" Pilar suddenly said in the comm.
"I see 'em. You covering the garage?"
"We're going in. If they get to the ride, we'll yank 'em out." Rebecca said.
"Alright, I'm going…" he was interrupted when Petra also sent a call. "The cops are coming. I'll go meet them and see if we can avoid a shooting."
"Too late for that, TT are landing on the roof." Pilar notified.
"Forget them. What's important is to avoid a bloodbath with the cops. Just secure the garage." he closed that call and answered to Petra. "Hey, you got the call?"
"Yeah. You already there, I suppose?"
"Yes. But listen, there is a critical update: looks like Maine is on the verge of a cyberpsychosis."
"Goddammit. So what do we do?"
"If you go in with just one-shots you'll be slaughtered. So...let me go in and negotiate."
"Have you lost your marbles?! If he has gone psycho, friendship won't save you!"
"Until further notice, he's just on the edge. There is a chance to pull him back in and perhaps make him surrender without a pile of bodies in between. You just block the entrance and alert MaxTac. Make the charade look good."
Petra grunted before the reply. "You better come out of there on your own two feet, you get me?"
"I will. I promise." and closed the call.
Ernesto checked the status of the nano-suit and its shields. If a firefight erupted, they should have been able to withstand at least a hit from Maine's shotgun. Praying that David would get out of there at once, Ernesto sprinted toward the building, getting soaked from the rain. Trauma Team was still hovering over the roof, probably because they had asked the intervention of the NCPD and were waiting for the cheap public reinforcements.
Which didn't take long. Three minutes after the last call, the wail of the sirens blew all around the neighborhood. So now Ernesto had another call to make. He waited until she picked up.
"Nesto?"
"Dorio, I'm just outside here, how's Maine?"
"He...he's fine. He just needs his meds." she said with clear doubt in her tone.
"No, they won't be enough. You got Trauma Team over your heads. I told the cops to simply seal the building, you have to go now before they block the garage, too."
"We won't make it in time with Maine like this."
Ernesto grunted. There was only one thing to do. "Dorio, just head for the ride. If you can't bring Maine, leave him there, I'll take care of him."
"What kind of game you playin'?" the woman said with suspicion and tension.
"There is still a chance to convince him to surrender peacefully and maybe give up some of his chrome. But I need you to trust me."
"You want him to surrender?!"
"We'll bust him out later, when all this mess tones down. For now just listen."
Dorio hesitated, but eventually conceded. Using the fact that Maine himself ordered her to go on, the woman rushed for the garage just as the first gunshots broke out. Trauma Team had decided to go in without support and Maine started shooting.
"Fuck that!" Ernesto cursed and dashed inside as the police cars formed a perimeter around the main entrance. Petra had made sure that the reinforcements would be slightly delayed from reaching the garage, which allowed David, Lucy and Dorio to be led out by Becca and Pilar. When his brother sent the 'all-clear' signal, Ernesto could finally ease up his mind and reached the floor where the gunshots were coming from. He didn't take long before he noticed the operators of Trauma returning fire from behind the threshold of a door.
"Hold your fire!" Ernesto ordered with such a tone that the agents compelled, if anything to look at his way.
"Who are you?!" one of them demanded to know.
"I'm a bounty hunter with the NCPD. You won't make a dent into the armor of that punk."
"And how do you know that?"
"Because I worked with him in the past. Listen, this guy is about to go psycho. You will only end up dead. Pull out and wait for MaxTac to handle this."
"He's got a Platinum hostage." one of the operators objected.
"You won't be able to do much for him when you're dead." Ernesto insisted.
Eventually, those guys decided that Ernesto was just spitting facts and decided to get away, leaving him alone to deal with the situation.
"Maine, you hear me?"
A blast of a shotgun resonated and the shredders flew past the door, but since Ernesto hadn't exposed himself, he wasn't hit.
"Nesto?" the voice of Maine arrived just a moment later.
"It's me, Maine. I'm not here to hurt you."
"The fuck ya doin' here, then?"
"I'm here to give you a chance."
"A chance at what?!" the punk said angrily.
"You're nearing psychosis, choom. You won't get out of here alive unless you surrender."
"Fuck that!"
Maine shot again through the door.
"Ain't nobody set my limits but me!" he screamed. "Nobody's gonna tell me when to stop running!"
Ernesto made a silent breather and regained the necessary focus to speak with a firm voice. "Maine, why have you started running?"
"Uh?"
"Why have you started this life? The life of a cyberpunk?" Ernesto calmly asked.
"I…" Maine groaned, completely caught off-guard by the request. His metallic hands started to tremble. "I got no choice." he declared. "You either run or get eaten in this city. Ain't no ground for be softy."
"I'm not asking you to be weak, man. I'm just telling you, there are alternatives out there. There is another world out of this goddamn place. A world where you don't have to run in order to survive. One where you don't have to fill yourself with chrome until you fall. There is another way, Maine. You just have to let me show you."
A tense silence followed, broken sporadically by Maine's grunts.
"No!" Maine yelled and his weapon cocked. "No way. I ain't a stupid child, man. There ain't no fairies or magic wand stitching up ma life. You really think I'd believe that?!"
"The only thing I know," said Ernesto. "is that I can't give you that chance, if you don't let me. Maine, I've put my life in your hands countless times. Now allow me to return the favor. Just drop the weapon and we can fix all of this shitshow."
Silence followed, only broke by the increasing clattering of the rain outside. Then finally Maine spoke up.
"Ok, son. Maybe you're right." he conceded.
Knowing that he couldn't draw his breath until Maine was finally sedated, Ernesto kept his cool and spoke calmly. He needed to act fast, because he could hear another AV approaching, and this was bound to be MaxTac.
"I'm coming in, ok?" he said.
"Fine." mumbled Maine.
Ernesto quickly put down his weapons and entered the room with his hands raised.
Maine was standing with Tanaka's naked body chained to a chair. Even with the scarce light, the Legionnaire's trained eye could spot that here was quite a hole in the CEO's back of the neck. Maine stood there, eventually letting his own rifle fall.
Passing past the corpses of two Trauma operators who had had the bad idea of entering first, Ernesto slowly approached his friend as a lighting briefly illuminated the room, anticipating a loud thunder.
Maine seemed exhausted, which was good enough for Ernesto. He knelt down to face his friend.
"Is it true…?" the dark-skinned punk groaned tiredly. "No more need to run…?"
"It's true." Ernesto said calmly. He put a hand on Maine's shoulder before reaching one of his own pockets. "Listen, I have to put you to sleep. But I promise, when you'll wake up, it will all be over. No need to run anymore."
Maine made a huffed in amusement. "Sounds great...go for it…"
With decision, Ernesto pulled out the sedative and injected it into Maine's neck. Then, before calling in the authorities, he turned toward Tanaka's barely breathing body and injected a disrupting poison that would destroy itself in three minutes, but completely block any chance to revive him.
Trauma Team could only confirm that Tanaka was already dead. It was still unclear why his neck implant had short-circuited, though Ernesto had his theory. With a raincoat gently lent to him by the cops, the Captain watched as Maine, held down by massive locks on his arms and continuously being injected a tranquilizer, was loaded onto a van of the special ops of the NCPD, where pretty much all of the agents were part of the Loyalists or had strong sympathies for.
"You were right." Petra said after walking right next to him. "That punk had a shitload of chrome. Had we charged in it would've been a massacre."
"Can you get him out of the city?"
"Don't worry about that. Think about informing the Director that your friend needs to remove some of that shit."
Ernesto groaned. "Right. The Director."
"What is it?" Petra asked surprised.
"Technically, I was ordered not to interfere with this Tanaka deal, to stay out of Arasaka's radars. He's not gonna be happy about this."
"Who cares?" Petra exclaimed. "I'm pretty sure this is the first time anyone talked a cyberpsycho and avoided a massacre. You made history today, Nesto."
"That's the point, I'm not supposed to stand out." Ernesto grimly replied.
Petra groaned. "Good point. But still, what you did was great." she reassured.
Ernesto made a smirk and looked at her. "Thanks, Inspector Kennedy."
The woman smirked back before asking if he needed a ride back, but Ernesto had his car waiting around, and he needed to rejoin the crew to make sure they were all right and tell them about Maine's condition, so he headed back. Twenty minutes later, he met the group at a hideout.
"Nesto, you all right?" David said, being the first to go greet him.
"I am. And so is Maine."
"What happened?" Dorio asked with urgency.
"Easy. I managed to talk him down before he snapped completely. The cops are escorting him out of the city, we'll try to smuggle him to the Federation, where some doctors will finally remove some of his chrome."
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness you were around." Dorio said.
"Just keeping an eye on my friends." Ernesto simply replied lightheartedly, then returned serious. "By the way, Dorio, if you want, I can get you out of the city with Maine."
Dorio at first hesitated. "Sure, that's great, but…" and she looked at the crew.
David then replied. "Don't worry, Dorio, we can do on our own. You go make sure Maine doesn't get into another mess." he joked.
Dorio huffed in a mixed of amusement and shame in leaving the crew like that, but it was true that Maine was going to need at least a familiar face for the imminent rehab. So the woman went to put her hands on Lucy and David's shoulders.
"Very well, then. Stay out of trouble while we are away."
"We'll be fine." Lucy reassured. "Go take care of Maine."
After saying goodbyes and all, Ernesto instructed Dorio over who to contact to assist in Maine's extraction from the city, then sent everyone back home and he, too, at 4AM finally returned back to his apartment. Sighing for the exhaustion, he still had to call the Director and make his report. It was a pain in the ass, but in Europe it was still early evening, meaning Pétran would still be awake.
"I must say, Captain, on one hand what you did is certainly remarkable. But you still disobeyed my order." the Director said after hearing the story.
"I take full responsibility for that, sir. But I didn't just do it for personal reasons: the firefight would have included Inspector Kennedy and many of our assets inside the NCPD. Figured I would try to solve this without risking their lives."
Pétran hummed in thought. "That is true. We can hardly afford to infiltrate another Inspector in Night City. I guess we'll have some extra work trying to cover your trail, now."
"I apologize for that."
"No need to. You have the final say over what happens or not in that city, Captain. Rather, take a good night sleep, because tomorrow we do need to talk about the future of the operation."
Ernesto wondered what that was about, but he was honestly too tired to turn down the invite to go to bed. "Understood, sir. I'll wait for your call." he said.
The Director closed the call and Ernesto could finally slump on the bed.