Cyberpunk: Cyberpsycho

A simple job

Six wanted to shoot their life coach in the face. It was only them in the counseling room, no other meat witnesses. The life coach was wearing a ponytail and baggy tank top. Talking over the sound of streams running through The zen gardens were meant to be calming, Small streams floated around with the trickle of tiny streams flowing through the perfectly combed sand with large rocks laying a path to an area in the centre where Six lay staring at the walls of the office all had projections of boundless fields under a light drizzle. It didn't lessen Six's desire to shoot this man in the face, opening his mouth and nothing coming out, blah, blah routine this blah blah meditation that. Six had recently been called up after a small incident to the life coach, to see what was up in their head. Six closed their optics taking a deep breath in.
"I get the feeling you're not listening."
"I'm not."
"Six, these one to one's are important. From the macro to the micro, for example have you been eating right? People do get irritable when they don't eat."
"I don't eat."
"Well you should."
"No Doc. I physically do not eat."
"Oh…right, sorry you're my first borg client, do you sleep?"
"If I can't help it."
"Maybe it's a lack of sleep?"
"Nope. I punched Collin because he was an ass, not a lack of sleep." Six had a gun on him, he could do it now. Decorate the walls with a spray of red, at least the blood would be real. How could they think about shooting his life coach? It would be too loud. Mantis blades would be easy, though not the cleanest He'd need to hide the body, or the remnants. Too much risk of it being claimed as a cyberpsycho attack as well. If Six wanted to properly get away with murder they'd need to pull the teeth out, chop the life coach into little bits, acid bath or feed them to some stray. The life coach looked at their sheet.
"Perhaps for anger, you should try breathing exercises?"
"I don't have lungs."
"Right, but you do something don't you?"
"What do you mean?"
"Something Human."
"I think, if that's what you mean, but the if you're looking for anything Ganic." Six poked his skull. "That's the best you're getting."
"Cogito ergo sum."
"What?"
"Famous saying. What do you think about?"
"How you're boring me." Also, if the docs body could reach terminal velocity before hitting the pavement.
"So let's change topic, is there something in your past, a happy memory?" Six's hand clenched into a ball, and the life coach recoiled. The coach reached to their desk and opened a draw, slipping their hand inside around a pistol's handle.
"Like what? Waking up in this body, light blaring in my eyes?"
"Anything before that?"
"Nothing from before half a year ago." No update from the last time, and still the same questions as the last life coach. If Six threw the desk out the window it would lead to a new question, the question would most likely be 'Why did you throw my table out the window' The life coach wrote down some notes. Six zoned out again, if he threw the life coach out the window, it could look like a suicide, plenty of those in Night City, and Six's fingers didn't leave prints, Six's optics looked around, scanning the office, finding a camera, that complicated things as well. He would have to ask one of the techies to scrub the footage and get another life coach after the information found it's way to the Boss, it always did. The coach had achieved something spectacular. It was harder to kill him than it was to let him live. The sack of meat survived, simply because their murder wouldn't accomplish anything, not even a reprieve from the same questions, it would just be a different person, reading the same script. Six was finally taken out of their fantasy by a yellow box appearing on their H.U.D reading out.
'carpark, important.'
"I've got a message, work. I'll see you later Dan." Six leaped up out of the chair, exiting the office of Donald Clark, almost punching the elevator screen to call it up. Six stared at the wall, tapping their foot, until their shoulder was grabbed, The Life coach tapped Six's shoulder.
"Our session isn't over, please if you'd just take a seat, fifteen more minutes."
"It's over."
"Arasaka state you need at least four hours a week with me." Six's vision began to glitch. Three hours and fifteen minutes more? All for punching Collin in the face? There was an easy way out…another ife coach. Arasaka could away find more. The elevator descended too slow as the drones of the coach began to drown out, under the sound of barking. Fragments. A black dog half machine snapping back, growling, barking. Six reached for their pistol and aimed it at the Life coach's head. Their look of shock frozen on their face as the bullet slammed into their meat, through the bone, and out the exterior. The head exploded, showering the room in red confetti, as the broken pinata fell to the floor. The room was finally silent. Six grunted, feeling a stinging in their neck before relief. Time rewound and they were standing against the wall, hand wrapped around their pistol. Their eyes turned to the Lifecoach, holding a hypostim applicator in their hand.
"Have you been taking your medication?"
"Yeah. I need heavier stuff."
"I'm upping your dosage."
"Good plan, put it on my desk when I get back." The elevator opened and Six was able to escape through the elevator.

The Arasaka life coach, was in the human resources section, low on Arasaka tower, la short elevator ride to the subterranean parking space revealed an empty carpark, it was only the overworked managers and agents that stayed in the building after sunset, and handlers. Wire stood against their van, waving to Six. They dressed in his night city university hoody over his mechanic's overalls.
"You Six?"
"Yeah, you my driver?"
"I'm behind the wheel but no, Told me to keep an eye on you."
"A little young."
"Gifted."
"Everyone thinks that, what's your chrome?"
"None."
"And you expect to keep up?"
"I don't need to, I just need to pull you back in line?"
"That what Arasaka told you?"
"They told me a lot in our briefing.
"I'm interested."
"How I'm your third handler in Six months, what happened to the others."
"Anything else?"
"To get you in a van." Six smirked and got inside the passenger seat of the van, it was economy, but anything more would raise suspicion, branded with the advert for the imaginary. 'Bob's beverage' The handler pulled a shard from the glove box, and began to drive.
"No shard with my target?"
"Shards leave evidence. Four's gone psycho, Escpaed with a Dr Tanaka, he's gone missing though your job is simple, incapacitation. Arasaka want their prototype back."
"Quit joking with me.
"No, it was Four." Six leaned forwards, closer to their handler.
"No joke?"
"Why'd I joke about that."
"Four's like me. Arasaka bought and owned, they didn't take his systems offline?"
"Dr Tanaka cut off the connection." The van drove up on the highway, past a wrecked car, still burning, filled with bullet holes.

The van turned on the highway, Six reached inside their coat and unholstered their pistol, only a company-supplied Tamayura. Six aimed out the window, towards the Badlands the van turning into the freeway leading to the border.
"Running never works."
"You tried?"
"If I did, they'd just turn my legs off."
"In deeper than me huh?"
"Wouldn't be working for Arasaka if not." The ride turned into bumps when the van went off-road, Wire following the instructions, leading up towards a trailer, surrounded by fences, barbed wire keeping anyone from climbing it, there was no gate in or out.
"So you're telling me four and Takeshi should be in there." Wire nodded, there had to be a tunnel somewhere, a way to get in.
"Try seeing I you can talk to him. Arasaka want as little damage as possible." Wire yelled out to Six though he had already leaped over the fence, wandering forwards to a lady tending to plastic flower pots, though the Badlands soil was too dry to grow any real flowers that weren't weeds, yet here she was watering plastic, though the water rolled off the roses, onto the dust below.
"I'm looking for a bot. Taller than me, struggles to fit through a door and a Japanese man, suited. Arasaka." The lady carried on watering, even as Six waved their hand in front of her face, waiting until all her ersatz plants had been given a drizzle of water before looking to six and smiling.
"Oh you must be Sam's friend, He's just getting ready."
"No, looking for a borg" The lady turned her head back to the caravan and called out for her Sam. The cabin door opened to reveal a Sampson model body, wearing blue overalls. Four had to hunch down and turn their body to get through the door. Standing upright to reveal themselves in blue overalls, almost as tall as the caravan behind
"Six! Perfect timing, I was about to have a drink with my wife After a job well done." Four might be able to pass off as human if the person was short-sighted and colorblind. He stood The clothes he wore barely fit, with large arms and legs shaped like pistons squeezed into the denim, misshaped and steelm without the luxury of synth-skin. The head looked mostly human though, A chin, eyes and what could appear as a bald head. It was all just faded silver. Four grabbed an empty bottle of beer and pretended to drink, like a child at a tea-party. Four even made the glugging sound, they passed Six a bottle, though Six just threw it to the side. Four observed the orange sky.
"It's meant to be a clear night, perfect for stargazing. Don't got the cities lights either."
"When did you get a wife."
"We're reaching our fifth anniversary soon." Four wrapped an arm around the wife, she was on her lap and pulled her closer, the size difference the same as a dog and its master. The wife placed her hand on Four's.
"Mhm. Just a couple of high school sweethearts."
"What school?"
"Highschool."
"Right. Takeshi do this, where is he?"
"He left to go buy groceries." Four brought the wife into a hug
"Know where he is."
"No."
"So want to help me find him."
"No. he helped me leave Arasaka behind. I'm a farmer now."
"Growing plastic plants and milking cardboard cut-outs of cows, wasting your time. Your wife even real?" Six scanned the wife. There it was, the golden lines trailing down her neck. A doll chip. "Even she's fake." Four's hand tightened around his beer, smashing it.
"Take that back."
"Or what?"
"I'll ask you to leave."
"If I refuse."
"I'm within my legal rights to kill you."
"Try me." Four stood up and shook their head.
"Holly. I'm going to grab another beer." Six followed inside the trailer, that was barely able to fit Four inside, watching the figure try and squeeze through the trailer. The doors to all the cupboards had been torn off, cans of raw bean's opened, leaving a mess on the desktop.
"I am up for a rematch Four." Four was throwing everything in the room around, searching for a weapon, throwing the piles of ripped clothes around.
"My name is Sam. Why can't you just leave me be Six?"
"Because Arasaka asked me too. Because you're wasting your time here as a farmer" Four slammed a fist into his bed, tearing through the sheets, and leaving a chest-sized hole.
"How am I wasting my time?"
"All those combat implants, farming isn't what you're built for." Six tapped their foot on the floor, when was Four going to find his shotgun?
"I was born. It was Arasaka that rebuilt me. Installed every implant." Four stood up and turned around, their steps forward made the caravan shake under their weight. "Arasaka gave me a purpose I didn't ask for." Four's fist shot out. Six's Kernzikov sparked sending electricity through the synaptic accelerators, but even then, the body was too slow. Only able to aim their pistol. The jackhammer impacted Six's outer shell. The force knocked them off their feet flying out of the trailer's window onto the floor. The force had pushed Six to the edge of the cage. Why didn't they have pain inhibitors? The sensation of a punch felt, though no bruise could possibly form. Six got, watching the hole they had made get forced wider to allow room for the Eight foot titan, Four held a carnage in his hands. "You come to my home. Ask for me to help the people who did this to me?"
"Gave you a new body"
"No, they took it from me!" Four shot at Six, but they had already gone to the side. The back of Six's legs raised to reveal a thruster, throwing them in directions in an instant, moving in diagonal lines, avoiding both shots, getting close enough to place their pistol right against Four's body and fire off two shots, the bullets tore through the clothing and then crushed themselves against Four's carapace. "Even my pain."
"Lucky." Six was bashed again, flying up into the air, their thrusters allowed them to control their fall, flipping back onto their feet. Six continued firing as every bullet crushed against the exterior, only at best dealing a dent. Four returned fire their arm opened revealing a barrel. Six twisted their body the grenade shooting past, the explosion going off just outside the cage, blasting an opening in the wire. Six let out a laugh.
"Now that's what I want to see. I was waiting for you to get out the heavy arms."
"This won't be like last time. I'll make it quick."
"Won't be as quick."
"Still cocky."
"You are looking at the latest model."
"The most inexperienced model." Four began to reload and that's when Six could attack, leaping off to plant their feet in Four's face, able to push the behemoth to the floor, making a skateboard, sliding behind the caravan. Four came to a stop by a pile of corpses, thrown in the fertiliser dumb, Arasaka suits and two people wearing the same clothes as Four, though much better fitting.
"You've gone Psycho Four?"
"My name is Sam!"
"What's with the bodies?"
"Fertiliser. The soil needs to be ready for winter."
"I'm not sure that's how it works?" Four stood up, foring Six to step back, once a distance was made between them. Six's arms opened, blades shot out, like a bullet. Six took the initiative, their blades sparking, scratching away at Four's shell, able to scrape shreds off, while Four's fists able to push the attacker back, an opening gave room for Six to hack at Four's arm, a clean cut, severing wires, before getting stuck, meaning Six was thrown through the caravan, again.

The doll was still watering the plants when Six came through the other end. Their optics began to glitch, Six looked up, watching Four step through the new doorway, staring at his wife, she didn't even notice the amputated limp, leaking black fluid and sparking with electricity.
"Holly, run away. I'll find you where we had our first date."
"The wife moved, while Four stomped over. The other side of the building, there lay the shotgun. Four raised their foot above Six's head.
"You could have left me with my wife." A jolt of energy surged through Six, like the body had been overcome with electricity making the thrusters move, the body moving without thinking, towards the shotgun. Reaching out, a Carnage was, enough to punch a hole through a truck, if it didn't jam and alive and intact weren't the same thing. Four charged as Six pulled down the trigger, hearing a click and no bang. Budget arms earned their name. No time to clear the blockage either. Four bulldozing closer. "I don't want to hurt you." Four's grip tightened around Six's elbow and tore Six's lower arm from their body, flayed circuitry sparked as it was thrown to the side. Six reached down to grab the falling carnage, placing it's butt Against the floor, to use one hand to pump it, clearing the blockage and loading in the next shell, one that actually worked. The bang filled the small garden with enough force to send Four off their feet, though they weighed too much to ragdoll. The power of the recoil launched the shotgun from Six's grip. Four held their chest, the carnage pellets could be seen, denting it, but not doing much else.
"I'm not asking too much. Just come with us."
"And give up my wife, my home? Not again."
"You've already wrecked your house. You want me to ruin your little doll to." Six, looked back for a second, there she was still getting ready, grabbing essentials and throwing them into a car with no wheels. Six jets took them back, racing in front of the wife.
"Oh, Are you-." She was cut off by Six's hand grasping her throat.
"Four, As much as I'd like to settle our differences easily. You're not coming back willingly, so I'll give you an alternative. Return to Arasaka, tell them where Tanaka is, what you stole or I kill your toy." Four froze, retracting their barrel back into their arm, and dropping to his knees.
"It's in the back of her head." Six turned the doll away, she was still smiling and pressed the chip pulling it out, watching the doll go limp.
"She flatlined?"
"No. Her brain just needs time."
"There, alive. Happy?"
"No."
"Great. So just chill while Saka get here." Six sat on the car, their foot placed on the doll's head. It was only a minute later that Arasaka truck barged in, opening to reveal soldiers wielding Masamune's circle around four. One of them jammed an E.M.P into his back. Six's body locked up, falling into the floor.
"Hey guys how's your day?" The soldiers were silent, their job was to pick up Four, throwing him into the back, and watching the suspension squeal under his weight. The pickup was less than a minute, as Six waved the guards off. "No? Just going to drive off after I do all the hard work?" Six looked down to the Doll and lightly rolled it over with their foot, still breathing. Then her eyes snapped open. She let out a scream and crawled back, The doll shielded
her eyes not wanting to face her fate.
"Please don't kill me, I swear I can get you more money than they offered."
"Now that's interesting." Six crouched down in front of the doll. "How's that?"
"Clouds, they must have put a gig out for me. They pay for returned dolls. Handsomely, if it's money you want. I know a ripper, Fingers. He can score you some good stuff." Six shrug and stood up offering the Doll their hand.
"I got no plans tonight."
"You're not going to Zero me?"
"Lady I got one arm, and my driver's never held a gun." Six wandered inside the cabin, flipped the safety on their pistol and placed it in front of The doll.. "If it makes you feel more comfortable." The doll reached out and pointed the weapon to Six as they walked off, grabbing their arm, they hadn't even flicked the safety off, that was comforting. Six placed their arm against their stump, as the metal from their body stretched over re-connecting the exterior, that was the easy bit. Six let go to watch the arm flop, totally numb while the nanites went about fixing the insides. Wire had already opened the back of the van for Six and stepped away as soon as The doll got in pointing a gun to Wire's back, if she wanted to kill she was being very inefficient.

Six sat next to Wire, their feet on the dash. Wire snapped to look at the rear view mirror, watching the doll.
"Six, when you invite a lady with a gun into the van, I'd like to at least have a say."
"You don't. Besides. Holly here, is going to get us some money."
"My names Jade, but yeah, I have friends in clouds. They'd have put out a gig, called the N.C.P.D. Sure one of the two will pay you."
"Ok, fine." Wire started the car and drove off. "But Can you at least point the gun away from me?" Jade peaked through the headrest to see the G.P.S in the truck. The line leading to Megatower H-8. clouds. Her gun hand turned to Six while she watched the map, staring for any deviation in the line.
"See, doesn't that make it better?"
"Well you still gave someone a gun and invited them in the back of the car."
"She wouldn't come without the gun."
"I'm starting to see why your last handler left."
"I think the official reason was stress."
"The real reason was because you let people with guns ride in the back of vans."
"Relax. It's low calibre."
"A gun is still a gun." Jade saw the Torii gates of Japantown, going the right way.

The van drove around the lower layer of Japantown. Megabuilding H-8 hidden behind the towers of Westbrooke, making the roads appear more like corridors between such colossal structures, Neon signs flickered making the stars in the sky impossible to see on the clearest night. Jade saw the stairs to her megabuilding as the van stopped. The back doors opened and she fumbled out onto the concrete, craning her neck up. In large holographic letters there it was the giant H-8. The same S.C.S.M machine. Outside getting urinated on by some drunk, the concrete stairs leading up to the main floor, decorated with graffiti like. 'Steve's Mom sucks sweaty balls.' Six scratched their head.
"Don't get what that looks for. Same as my tower."
"Waking up in the badlands. Didn't expect I'd end up home."
"We don't look like murderers, do we?" Jade turned to glance at Six. The cold breeze of the night made Jade shiver, her plaid clothes and denim overalls weren't made for the cold nights.
"Pass, Let's just get inside." Jade ran up the steps into the concrete corridor, The light of the moon was replaced by the sickly yellow and dull fizz of old electronics, drowned out by the shouting coming from the main floor. Jade entered the elevator that appeared more like a cage than anything a wire fence climbing up the interior of the building, with no specified shaft. It meant Six could look down and see what the ganics were doing on their weekend. Drinking it seemed. They all gathered around tables, in bars, mundane. Trying to inhibit their brain's thought for no reason, slowing their reactions. Not even fun to hunt, it would be too easy. The cage door opened; A tap on the shoulder pulled Six back to see everyone stepping off.

Navigating a megabuilding was easy, the saying you've seen one you've seen them all literally applied to every tower in N.C. Rings around the walls with apartments on each floor, observing the centre, the light from outside shone into the main building from the glass roof. Each floor had a variety of shops, and floor twelve had clouds. Impossible to miss with it's bright glowing pink sign and the outline of two dancing girls, inside Six was met by a receptionist and two dolls wielding budget arms. Six raised their hand, waving it infront of the face of one of the guards while Jade talked to the receptionist.
"I'm here to talk to Maiko." The receptionist didn't look up from their terminal.
"Mrs Maeda is busy."
"Great, but she just got a doll back."
"Sorry Jade. You're no longer a doll here?"
"What do you mean no longer a doll here?"
"You quit."
"That wasn't me, that was this damn chip. Someone took control of it. Please, C'mon Naomi. I'm back. I can get to work."
"Your position has been filled."
"Well make another one."
"I'll need to talk to Mrs Maeda."
"When?"
"A month." Jade's hands clenched into fists.
"None of you put out a search for me, or noticed something was off, what about Skye, Tom? Roxanne even." The guards were silent, and the receptionist went back to typing on her computer. Jade wandered out and pointed to the receptionist.
"I'll be back tomorrow, and Maiko had better cancel her appointments."
"Guess this means we aren't getting paid?" Wire folded their arms following Jade to the elevator.
"No…no you can get paid. I had a stash in my apartment." She wiped her eyes, maybe someone on her floor noticed her dissaperance.

Jade's mouth opened wide staring at the red letters at the top of her door. Unpaid rent. She raised her foot and slammed it into the door.
"Overdue, overdue! Bastard covered bastard I had the money It was in my damn apartment."
"This was a waste of time." Wire turned around. "Let's go Six."
"She said she had cash."
"Fine. Waste your night. Give me the chip and I'll report back to Saka." Six handed over the chip, or more, the compressed metal scrap.
"The hell."
"I guess I fought a little too much." Wire shook their head and retreated to the lift. When he left Six raised their foot and kicked the door, denting it. A few more to break the door.
"What the hell was thar for." Jade stepped back, watching Six pry their hand into the dent, sparks popped from the door as Six's arm tensed forcing the door open.
"You had money in here right, you hide it well?" Jade walked inside her apartment it had been completely stripped. The bed sheets were thrown in the bin. Jade pushed around, searching for any items the landlord might have missed. Empty wardrobe, sheetless bed, and barren walls. Jade vanished into the bathroom and pulled a tile off the wall, revealing a safe, when she entered a code,opening the safe to reveal a golden bracelet she snapped on her wrist and a stack of five hundred Eurodollars. She raised them to Six who snatched them, counting them out.
"Five hundred? That's all I get?"
"That's it. That's it all." Jade fell back onto the couch staring at the door.
"I need more."
"Arasaka don't pay you enough?"
"To survive. I need money."
"Join the club." Jade placed Six's gun by her side. Staring at the wall.
"You've got people. I don't."
"Again, Join the club." Six retrieved their weapon, falling into the couch, next to Jade, they managed a small chuckle.
"Does this club come with any perks."
"No, just being broke."
"Already got that. So guess you're joining my club?"
"How is someone as chromed up as you broke?"
"That happens when Arasaka take three-quarters of your pay."
"Even then, no merc work on the side?"
"I'm a borg, ontop of that a corpo? No one deals with Saka, not after Yorinobu."
"You need a fixer. Or like a fixer for fixers. A streetkid" Jade leaned forwards stroking her chin. "Like me. I find you jobs. You don't have to deal with anyone seeing you, I relay the job to you, money comes to me and we split it fifty-fifty."
"And why should I trust you?"
"Why should I trust you? What other options do we have? I can't get a nine to five that'd pay for rent fast enough to not die on the streets, and who else would make this kind of deal with you?"
"Someone desperate." Six extended their hand with a nod.
"Screw you, but deal?"
"Deal." Six grasped Jade's hand and was thrown around like a rag doll by the shake, finally pulling her hand away, and giving it a shake. "So what's our plan?" Jade felt her bracelet and left the room. She looked back to the door, unable to fully close until Six forced it shut.
"So how do we find jobs?"
"The afterlife. They usually hang around there."
"So we work with them." Six called out from the elevator, going down.
"They're in Watson. We're in Westbrook."
"It's a walk." Six leaped down the stairs into the street. Their H.U.D already calculated a route, showing the fastest way to get there walking.
"At this time of night, in this clothing. I'm just asking to get flatlined." Six threw their coat over Jade, the end draped down to her knees.
"Happy?"
"We're walking to the NCART."
"Fine by me."
"You never watched safe and sound, have you?"
"Don't trust pigs when they pretend to be dogs."
"Not a fan of cops?"
"Nope." Six placed their hand in their trouser pockets and wandered to where the map led him. "Relax. I've got my gun. Like you said, what other options do we have?" Jade buttoned up the coat and chased after Six to the Night city area rapid transport