Waking up to an unfamiliar ceiling isn't exactly comforting, I'm starting to see a pattern here, though hearing the static of a boxing match is reassuring in its own way. Twisting to my left, mom's EMT jacket nearly sliding out of my lap as I do, I can see Vik in his chair watching a boxing match with fighters I don't recognize.
"Oh, you're awake, good thing too I was starting to get worried." Shutting off the broadcast Vik stands, making his way over to me, picking a clipboard up off his desk as he does. "You've been out all night. Everything feel alright? Any pain? Discomfort?"
"A bit sore, but I think that's about normal." Vik nods as he jots something on his clipboard.
"Alright kid, I'll be honest with you, everything I know tells me this shouldn't have worked. The moment I began connecting nerves, you should have begun to suffer early stages of cyberpsychosis as your brain struggles to manage the new connection." Standing over me Vik's frown is prominent as he flips through pages on his clipboard.
"You said; should ?" I'm aware of the answer regardless, the weight on my back comfortable, like a piece of me that I'd been missing all my life, helping to bleed the tension set in my shoulders ever since I'd woken the day before. I'd never expect that a piece of chrome is what I needed to finally feel right.
"Yes; should, connecting the wires to your nerves had minimal effect, if I weren't keeping an eye on the readouts throughout I'm not sure if I'd even have noticed it having any effect at all." Vik flips the clipboard in his hands around, showing me two sets of data, which are… the same? They look the exact same, this supposed to mean something?
"Yeah, looks absolutely nova." My head bobs as he explains, spewing medical jargon I don't understand a bit of. "Mhmm, course choom."
"You don't understand a single word I'm saying do you?"
"Not a single one."
Vik's disbelief flashes across his face before he breathes out heavily, "Okay, well to sum it up, these charts look identical because they almost are. Implanting this sandevistan has had near to no strain on your mental capacity." I stop as I consider his words, that… was different from what I expected. If Vik notices my pause he pays it no attention, continuing on.
"Actually in regards to the sandevistan, I won't ask where you got it from, but I want you to be aware that it's far beyond anything currently on the market. It's fully capable of outperforming even military-grade sandys." He pauses to glance at me, gauging my reaction? "It's definitely experimental chrome, I've set a hard limit to how much the thing can speed you up for now, matched it to the projected numbers a military sandevistan can run at. We're gonna need to do a few tests before I can clear you for daily use, though if things go as I'm expecting it should be fine for me to remove the limit soon enough."
"That sounds seriously nova doc! Thanks a ton for your help." Seriously, if it wasn't for you I'm not sure what I'd do.
"It's no problem kid, and about your mom, they dropped her off last night, and I've set her up in one of my rooms. She doesn't seem to be in any serious danger, though I've been looking at what her previous caretaker wrote. There's a real possibility that she'll flatline regardless, I've set her up with life support and everything that I can provide, but I want you to be aware of the possibility, as unlikely as it seems right now." Vik nods at one of the other doors, presumably where he's set up mom for the foreseeable future.
Mom.
"Can, can I see her?" The words come out quietly, my breath catches in my throat.
"Yeah kid, go right ahead. I'll be out here when you're done." I can barely hear Vik, my eyes blur with unshed tears. The door slides open for me.
Mom.
She looks so relaxed, so peaceful. Her always pinched face is loose, the tired hunch to her shoulders nowhere to be seen. I- David hasn't seen her like this for years, not since David- I had been a child, when she didn't have to work herself to death just for us to attend corpo school.
"H-hey mom… it's me, I'm" My lips are dry, my throat parched. "I'm here now." Talking to her now, it's almost as though I can say I belong. In this crazy world, with danger at every corner, she had been an anchor. She'd kept David focused, and alive. In the short time I'd known her, I'd felt safe, happy.
"Hey, when you wake up you won't have to worry about me anymore. I'll be making enough eddies you'll never have to work again… I'll make sure of it, you can relax and get some time for yourself. I'll make sure you can live how you want! Y-you won't need to kill yourself just to give me a better life. I'll make sure you can live how you want! Whatever you want…"
The taste of salt stops me in my tracks, tears? I'm crying, crying for the woman that was David's -my mom, but also the anchor for who I was now. Not once in David's life had he cried like this, at least not that I- David can remember. In my previous life, had I cried? Had it ever hurt this much, this tightening, building anxiety. The desperate need to know that someone else would be okay? "I-I love you mom. I love you." It hurts, please don't leave me . I'm scared, I'll make sure you'll never have to worry about eddies again, so please. Please be okay mom.
Please…don't leave me here all alone.
"Alright David, let's get into the testing." Vik had been outside the room waiting for me. Once my tears had dried up, I'd approached him prepared to throw myself into my new life. I'll become an edgerunner, one of the best. This may not have been the life you wanted for me mom, but it's the life I want to live. I have things to do, people that I'll save from this city.
"Alright doc, what are we looking at?" My shoulders are loose, cracking my neck as I do some light stretches. I need to find my limits, I can't rush into this the same way David- I did.
"To start with I want you to chip this in." in Vik's hands is a chip, a small silver piece. "It'll be performing some scans; keeping track of your vitals and your cyberware capacity, relating it all to this tablet." Held in Vik's hand is a familiar tablet, one nearly identical to what had been used when chipping David into the Cyberskeleton.
"Ḋ̴̛̺̬̼̳̠̺̯̻̒̊͂̓͂̉̋̃͂͌̾͝a̷̧̡̛̹̭̘̙͚̬͕̫̳͇͓͒̃̿̿̊͂̔̃̔͌̍͠v̴̡͈͖̠̞̖̎̓͗͆̃͌͘͜͠͝ȉ̶̥̠̲͔̱̘̥̮͚̹̙͎̫̺̇̇̀d̴̛͚̍̆̄̀̊̄̿̀̿͐.̶̢͍̮̠̱̟̏̈́̉̈́̚̚͠͠ͅ.̸̲̺͖̝̼̼͍͋̒̂̊̂̀̌̀͠ͅ.̵͍͕̀̒ͅͅ
̴̹̚Į̷̡̡̲͙̮̪͍̫̮̟̱̮̃͆͐̐́̓̚͜ ̸̢͖͖͙̞̖̟̟̣̘͐̽͆͛͋̊̀̀̀̽b̸̗͓͇̙̯͎̯͚̗͙͚̚͝e̸̦̠͍̟̠͚̜̤̚͠l̸̦̯̬̻͉͕͎̮͖͍̜̲͇̣̿̈̏́̅̋̌i̴̲̭͇̲̙͊̋̅͌̃͝è̷̹̤̩̟̼̬̈́v̴̢͖̣̠͖̹̻̖̻͚̫͈́̃̏̊͑͛̈́̄̑̋͌̐͘ͅͅę̶̲̠̯̮̝̀̃̍̄̑̆̍̇̌͝ ̸͔̦̣̗͍̙̩̻͉̽̔͑͗͌̄̑̇̋̔̏̑i̷̢̹͇̫͙͕͚̝̭̿ͅn̴̡̢̯̩͚̓͊̓͒͘ ̸̝͉͖̮̹̦͔͖̙͓̩́y̷̛̳͈̦̪̻̩̜̭̬͎̙̻̖̒̿̃̃̇o̸̖̠͗̍̈́̓̉͋̓ů̴̥̺̖͇̬.̷̥͖̭̥̤͗͗͘"
"-VID, DAVID!" Huh? What, where? "David? Are you back with me?" Vik- testing, safe. Vik's hand resting on my shoulder, looking up shows only concern across his face.
"Yeah, I-I'll be fine. Was just thinking about somethin." The flashbacks, at least that's what I'm going to treat them as, are happening less frequently, hopefully they'll end soon enough. A grimace peels my lips, the fear of having to live with them for the rest of my life, a brief but insidious thought. It's fine it won't happen, not in this City, not with these people. "I just gotta chip this in right? No problem."
"Kid, be honest with me, what're you seeing?" Lifting me up, Vik guides me to sit in the operating chair. "From my side I'm seeing a kid, not even an adult, suffering from something scarily close to cyberpsychosis attacks right after implanting a sandevistan. The only reason I haven't pulled it out is because you aren't showing any of the other problems associated with it. No shaking, you don't seem to be getting violent either."
"No, no nothing like that, just- just some personal problems to deal with." Better to cut that problem down now. Don't need one of the few people I can trust thinking I'm going psycho.
"And nothing you'd want to share with me, I get it. Everyone in Night City has their own nightmares." He accepts my answer with little problem, tapping away on his tablet, "Well anyways to start with how about you turn the sandevistan on. We're going to need some basic numbers before we can start trying to put you through your paces." Setting his tablet down, Vik pulls a stopwatch out from his pocket, nodding for me to go ahead.
With a thought I trigger the Sandevistan. Seeing the world slow around me, the quiet hum of the sandevistan reassuring. "Woah…" Looking around I consider just how comfortable the sandy is. I thought this was meant to be tiring. The sounds of the world around me dampened. Taking note of the sink in the corner I watch as a drop of water falls from the faucet, falling, falling, falling.
I can use this , a grin stretching across my face, this is what I need, this is the ticket . Once more I can feel myself growing excited at the opportunities this opens. Being able to move at a speed far surpassing what others can manage, even chrome junkies, matched only by others with a sandevistan. "Hahaha." The elation bubbles from me, satisfied as I lean back in the chair, a giddiness overcoming me as I bask in this moment.
All too sudden the moment ends as the sounds around me speed up, the sudden shift surprising me. What happened?
"David!? What were you doing?" Vik's eyebrows are scrunched together, "I know you're excited to use it, but let it shut off when it starts to build pressure."
"Yeah, no problem, I was just taking a moment to relax, it was pretty comfortable."
"David, that… isn't something that should be possible. The Sandevistan is overclocking your body to get it to move at the speed that you were." Vik is typing into his tablet, adjusting sliders and switching screens. "That kind of strain would be enough to kill most people just by turning it on, it isn't something that should be comfortable to experience." His disbelief is almost funny as he furiously swipes through screens on his tablet. His eyebrows climb higher the longer he reads his tablet. "Though none of the data I'm receiving seems to indicate your body is under any duress." Vik's words only serve to reinforce my optimism.
"That's nova! That mean I can run it whenever?" Just having the sandy opened doors, being able to use it as much as I wanted? It's like being given the skeleton key to life!
"Yeah, kid you can feel free to run it as you want, I'll disable the limit in a few days so you have time to adjust. Though if you start feeling any discomfort or building pressure shut it off and come back here." Vik's expression isn't nearly as excited as mine, his lips pursed, like he had bit into a lemon. "Listen David, the sandevistan, it's an amazing tool it'll let you punch way above your level. But don't depend on it too much, it's just that, a tool. Don't get overconfident, it's usually the last thing edgerunners do." Vik's words are harsh, like a bucket of cold water.
That's right this isn't a game, I won't be getting any second chances, no revives. I get one chance, one I can't afford to waste.
"Yeah, I hear you, I'll try to avoid letting it get to my head."
"That's all I ask. Now if you don't need anything else, I'm going to go knock out, I've been up all night setting your mom up and keeping track of you." His goodbye is followed by the sliding door closing behind him.
I'm free to get started now, to make a name for myself and to get the eddies I'll need. No worries of mom flatlining out of nowhere, no building stress of needing the sandy installed, nothing. I can finally get out into the world and start making some edds. Only one problem, I have no fucking idea how to get in contact with any fixers.
Of course, I could always approach their offices, ask if they need help with anything… except that is an easy way to just get shot down the moment I approach. David's- my memories are helpful in knowing where those offices are, but it also tells me that those are the same streets where most people end up disappearing. Even mom had told me -David not to go near those streets. Seeing as I didn't want to disappear, I'd assume that fixers contacted mercs and not the other way around.
Then again there was the other route. I could try to make contact with Maine's gang, see them try to get in with them. See Lucy again . The thought sets my cheeks alight, my heart pumping faster in my chest. Though just as the thought comes I let it die, I can't risk them like that . Thinking about David's -my future, it hurt to think, but if I- David had never joined the gang maybe things wouldn't have gone the way they did. If I don't get involved, there's no reason for Lucy to flatline Tanaka, no reason for Maine and Dorio to die. No reason for Becca to die for me. No reason for Lucy to get herself involved with Arasaka . No reason for Lucy to get burned .
It's that last thought that hurts the most, that I had lied to Lucy, broken my promise to her.
I̶̢̛͎̜̮̙͓͖̯̘̹͔̥'̶̳̖̌̈͂̓̎͛́̊͘͝ḿ̵̤̟͉͚̞͈̜͔͇́̍̾̆̀͌͆͒̀ͅ ̷̠̪͎̫͎̰̫̫̳͕͈̌̄͊̿G̶̗̔̂͐̒ͅơ̶̟̠̣͕̍̂̎͂̑͗̀͗͘n̷̪̜̬̩͍͕̠̜͖̪̪͙̍̉͂̎n̴̳̟̣͚͎͌̒͂̍̊̆̾͊a̶͍͚̫͕̠̦̥̟̾̏̆́̓̉͆̒͂̾͋̇̚͝ͅ ̵̰̗̻̱̳͕̥̩̪̐̾̈͒͌̃́͊̓̊̎̒͘͜T̵̼̜͙̺̣͔̲̥͇͎̬̘̘̊́̔̍̽̃̇͆̍̈́a̶̛̰̎́̈́͑͑̏͒k̷̡̼̪̳͔͔̈́̐͌̄͐̿̑̂̏̋͋͊̍̄̓̕͜e̷̡̡͖̹̺̣̜̘͈͎̞͚̞͆̾̎́̿̏̒͘̕͝ͅ ̴̛̞̜̄̾̑̔̐̆̀Ỳ̸̳͈̣͚̏̈́̐͑̄͂̉̋͒̈́̐̈͒̄̚ȱ̸̢̧̧̮͖͉̺̙̘͖̣̙̠͑ͅu̵̺̤̪̝̜̙̭̟͍͔̣̖͆̈́̅͐̐̚ͅ ̵͎̇̀͗͘Ṫ̵̨̛̹̫͉̤̮͖̜̘͖̠͔̬͍̠̍͒͗̒́̔͒̌̾̇̔̒͠͝ͅh̷̡̛̖͇̝̗̞̰̫̳͎̓̃̅͂̌͗̄͒̓e̸̖͔̘̮̪͖͊̅̎̅͐̋̀̈́̑̋̑̈̚͘r̷͎͗̇̇̏̉̋͋̈́̔̿̔̕̚e̵̛̛̹͌͂̓̿̒̃̋̌́̎̚͜͠ ̴̹͊͒͛̓͐̾̿͒M̴̛̱̾͗̋͂̃͐̄͑̒͛̕͝͠͝ỵ̴̧̧̛̛͍̟̂̎̂͊̒̾̈́̃̎̃̿͝s̷̟̘̟͇̲̿̉͌̓͗͘͠ȇ̴͖̖̖͙͎̞͉̳̪̿̍̈́̔̓̿̿̈́̕l̴̩͔̫̺̝̠̐̄̒̏̍͑ͅf̷͚̘̠́̒̏̄̚,̵̨̗͔̬͎̠̈̄͐͆̋ͅ ̷̨̢̼̟̼̘̗̺̣͐̆̄̇F̸̧͕͎̬̟̿͌̓̈́́̾̽̀̄͝͠l̸̗̺̗̲̞̠̙͚̯͖͙̺̰͚̐ͅy̴̧̛͖̫͚͖̺̒̋̚͜ ̴̨̻͎͗͐̑̀̅̈́̋̚̕͝͝Ÿ̸̡͖̭̰̰͚̩̬̮͓̲̪̝͕̇o̸̡̰̻̫̙͈͉̲̤̱̮̰̜̝͚̽̅̈́̇̿̌̿͐͆͛̉̈́͛u̸̧̧̫̩̗̙̠̭̞̥͉̟͚̺͊͊̓́ͅ ̷̳͌͝Ṯ̶̨̳̜̤͙̤͔̗̠͓̹̯͍̗̲͊̾̿̇͝ỡ̸̠̟͚̝͖͋̐̓̍̿̐̃̃̿͒͗́̐͜ ̴̧̧̰̬̲̯̹̬̗̳̦̘̹̗̮̐̌͘͝T̷̞͖̞̍͐̆h̴̨̘͔̰͕͔͉̪͉̣̿̔̿̑́͒͛̋̚̕̚̚͝e̸̠̻̱̹̥̹̦̹̫̥̳͔̬̣͇͎͑̋́̏ ̷͎̅͛̏͛̃̿̿̽̔̿͐̕M̴̢̧̢̞̝̩̼̖̊͛͒̅̅̅͋͗̓̍̅̽͑̇̈́ọ̶̜̓̇̍̽̎̕̕ö̴̧͔͎̲̤̦́̌́̌̓͘̚͘ņ̸̹̣̗͕̺̟̦̮̖̇͆́͛̒̕.̸̨̡̨̛̛̛̛̬̤̫̖̫̥̥͚̜̬̓̉͊̐̾͐̿̈́̔̕̚ ̴̢̗̙̝̤̠̲̥̩͕̼̲́͊̃͛̈̉̎̐̕T̷̨͍̤͙̩̘̞̳̤̞̜̘̟̳̹͉̒̉̋̇́̈́h̷̢̡̡̨͕̰̫̻̟̳̅̀͜a̶̩̳͔̞̲̻͔̣̝̍͘t̶̥͓͎̐͘̚ͅ'̷̡̯̠̞̭̣̹̣͓̼̮͈̈́̓̂̆̽͛͊̂͗̎̂̆͝͝͝s̶͉̺̦̠͓̳̻̘͙̗͔̱̺̩̋́͗̾̉̒̽̍̈́́̌̄͜ ̵̣̳͝A̴̢̠͇̥͍̠͔̦͕͇̦̮̻̙͌̓̑̈́́̏͠͠ ̷̨͉̙̺̭̻̘̳͇̀̽̓̃̄̔̅̕͝͝͝͠Ṕ̵̨̨͕͉̰̮͉̭̗͔͔͋̍̿̑̕̚r̴̻͚̳̤̫̘͋̓̽̌o̵͔̟̪͓͌́̉͂̔̇̓͒̓̉̓͠ͅm̸̟̳̻̼̐͌̂͊̌̃̐̃̍̈́͘͘͝͝ǐ̸̛̜̰̳̻̼̝̙̱̖̩̱̇͗͑̓̈̎ś̵̢̲̳̣̒̅͛̀̋̚͠ḝ̶̧̛̛̝̖̮͙̣̤͔̼͇̹̗̞̱̒̾̓.̴̧̢̯̩̯̩͇̠̠̱̘̫̜̊ͅ
How ridiculous.
So... I gotta find something to do, something to make a name for myself. Looking through the glass of the NCART my breath came out in a heavy sigh, shoulders slumped. Not exactly an easy ask…though, maybe not as hard as I'm imagining? Just as the thought passes I catch sight of a street not far from my home. One that had recently been taken over by a gang, scavengers , if my- David's memory serves right.
Taking the next stop to get off the NCART there is only one problem, how do I clear out an entire scav den all on my own? The sandy makes things a hell of a lot easier for sure. Shit, will I even be able to shoot a gun, to kill?
"Well, no time like the present I guess."
Instead of the street, it was more like the scavengers had chosen one building to use as a base of operations. Though surprisingly the street was empty, usually there's at least one or two freaks jacking it to some BD or other in broad daylight, burning their lives away without a care , even when danger is right around the corner. But there wasn't a single person that I could see on the streets.
It's as close as I'll get to confirming that there are scavs around.
Though I could still hear them in their apartments, screaming and moaning. Guess their survival instincts only go so far.
Considering most of the people living on this street have no issue with jacking it in broad daylight I really don't want to know what they're doing behind closed doors.
With a grimace I turn back to the street making my way to the one building that stood out from the others. If only for how much worse it was than the others, nearly every single window smashed open without a single board to try to cover it up, trash heaped up in front of the doors, blood splattered all around. Clearly there was something a bit different about this building. At least the fuckers have the decency to make it easy to find them.
Making my way into the building was easy, almost offensively so. No cameras, no guards, the only thing keeping me from rushing in to test my sandy, to feel that thrill again, is the warning Vik had given me. That I only get one chance. Gotta do it right, mom still needs me.
Climbing the concrete stairs quickly, I ignore the sound of my shoes scratching and tapping against the concrete. Instead drowned out by the sounds of people arguing. Taking a quick look through a hole smashed through the wall reveals two people arguing, with a third sitting on an operating chair. The entire room is soaked in blood, with splatters across the walls, puddles forming at the feet of the arguing.
Oh, the one sitting in the chair, they definitely weren't here by choice if the blood pouring from their lack of limbs was any indication. A part of me offers a silent apology for not being able to help them, the rest takes in the room, the two arguing, ' scavs ', and considers how to come out of this on top. Neither scav has any chrome worth worrying about. The one closer to me, with his back to me, has iron in his hand. The other one, facing towards me, is holding a cleaver, probably what he used to cut that man's limbs off.
With one last deep breath the world around me slows, the angry words slurring, the gushing blood slows. Standing I walk over to the two, coming around the one with iron in his hands. I reach for it, harshly pulling it, a Unity my memories offer, out of his hand, uncaring as his fingers bend back, coupled with a sharp snapping sound.
The gun feels clunky in my hand, uncomfortable, it doesn't feel right. Cold, its edges dig against my palm. Regardless I bring it up holding it to the scavs head, pulling the trigger is easy, my eyes follow the rounded shape of the bullet as it leaves the chamber. Turning the Unity towards the other one, the ripper, my hand clenches, the sound of the trigger clicking is clear.
In this slowed down world, with everything moving so much slower I watch as the bullet flies, when it makes contact, as it drills its way through the man's head, inch by inch until it fully disappears from view. Letting the sandevistan on my back turn off, I take a moment to consider the spray of blood and brain matter as it falls around me.
The disgust, the self loathing, the regret, none of it is there. To David- me this is just another part of life. This is what it means to live in Night City, this is what everyone in this city risks everyday. They may not have realized it, the dead man sitting in the chair likely never realized it, but this is what you risked living in Night City.
B̸̡̛̘̗̞͕͉̐̐̋́͐̒̆͆̚͜ü̴̦̪̬͚͚̱̳̺̲̙̦̋̽̊͂̓̄̏͒̚͜͠t̶͖̹͉͚͕͌̒̋̐ ̴̡̗͖̙͔̼̝͍̜͉̣̿w̴̡̨̖̘͔̒͆̌͆̓͌́̌̅͊̒͘͘͝͝ĥ̵͕̓̄͊̽y̶̢͎̖̮̗̱̟̝͙̙̮͐̈́̐̈̈̌͠?̵̣̤́̐̈̅́̋͂͐͆͐͗̿͘͝
No, that- I gulp a breath of air. Filling my lungs. That isn't right, this city may be full of shit, but not everyone here lives their lives on the edge. These scavs, they got what was coming to them. But just living in this city doesn't mean you should have to live everyday like it's your last. My chest shakes and heaves as I draw in a deep breath.
More shouting followed shortly by a number of footsteps crashing down the stairs, pulls me from my thoughts. I have to move, there's no doubt now, I can't afford it. Quietly, the Unity in my hands is lifted, ten shots , more than I'd need for the rest of the bastards in here.
An instant is all it takes, three scavs burst through the door already lifting iron, prepared to shoot. Their eyes are crazed, wide grins smeared on their faces. Too slow . Watching the three as their hands slowly pull their guns up, as their eyes begin to scan the room looking for a target, the Unity in my hand is already raised. Three squeezes of the trigger is all it takes.