I'm kind of shocked that people are interested in reading my ramblings, but I'm happy that you all are having fun! As you probably guessed, the time in which this story is based is before 2077, and include some of the character from CyberPunk Red. Because of this, there will some characters that won't make an appearance until later on in the story, but they will come in.
As for those that are curious, this story's V is a female... and that's about all I'll tell you before she's introduced xD
Hope you like this chapter, even if its a little short.
Also, a quick nod to DrunkenFicker for using kanji in his story to transition, I shall be using it from now on, but so I'm not directly coping, I'll be using "移す" which means to move, or transfer.
Qubi
Chapter One
Dying? Sucks
Beep
Death wasn't exactly what Naruto would consider a nice place. It was dark, so damn dark that he struggled to see his hands, and there were these annoying beeps that pestered him every other second.
Beep
Having spent the last several days walking through a dimly lit hallway illuminated by a red hue in hopes of passing on, or at the very least, finding someone else.
Beep
"How….. ing." A voice echoed in the halls, it had been present for a while now but until recently, it had been hushed whispers. "…head….. blo…"
Beep…. Beep
Naruto sighed tiredly as he looked around, each second he felt more sluggish, and a faint headache that had been with him since he came here was getting worse.
Connection established….. 19%
Several codes, that Naruto quickly identified as source codes for a program, gently flowed in front of him, guiding him to an unknown location.
Beep.. Beep….. Beep
Determined to find out where the code was leading, the blonde walked on for what seemed like hours, all his mind willing to comprehend being the slow beeping.
01011001 01101111 01110101 00100111 01110010 01100101 00100000 01100101 01100001 01110010 01101100 01111001
Not completely aware of anything around him, Naruto could only look on and gape at the large strings of code covering all the walls, the floors, and even the air… it was very reminiscent of some of the more corrupt sides of the old we.
In the centre of the field of mess was a set of digits, "19 percent?" stepping close, he ran a hand over the numbers, jolting back when noises raised through.
"Come on you, blonde bastard, wake up!"
"I'm sorry Miss, but we've tried for long enough, he's not responding."
"P-please, he's stronger than this. Try again!"
"I'm sorry, but we've done what we can."
Grunting, Naruto shook his head to clear his thoughts, his mind racing as he processed what he heard. "Damn it," Focusing on the counter, which was still showing 19%, the blonde raised his hand and focused on pushing through the mud of thoughts bogging him down. "Come on Naruto, you're better than this!" Baring through sudden pain that surged from his right hip, up his spine, and finished at the back of his skull. "Come ON!" The beeping in the room blared, ringing his ears to the point of deafening, before a white flash blinded him briefly, white that bled into light blue.
移す
Moments before
移す
Jezz wasn't haven't the greatest afternoon- it had started out good enough, teasing Naruto and finding the potential location of a rouge A.I had only just it that much sweeter.
But it had been all ruined by the assault of their ride, she had been knocked up by the initial crash but was fortunate enough that she had somehow missed getting impaled, unlike her chain and the floor next to it.
However, she came to not shortly after with the sound of blaring alarms and what sounded like a firefight. Thinking quick, she retrieved Naruto's weapons and armour, as her locker was covered in fire and ruble, before heading out.
The day only got worse from there- the unwelcome scent of burning trash was terrible, but the sight of the trauma team huddled around a make-shift prop cover, a single female rep doing chest compressions on a downed all-too-familiar male body.
"N-naruto?!" Unfortunately for her, whilst the blonde was only a couple of feet away, the team handling the blonde wasn't about an unknown interfering with their paying customer's care. One of the six raised their gun in her direction, shouting commands. "I'm no threat, damn it!" Throwing down her weapons, Jezz stormed past the man, and growled angrily as she shoulder-shoved him out of the way. "What's going on?"
"Patient is suffering from several deep lacerations and two puncture wounds, one to the head and one to the shoulder." One of the combat medics replied, ducking behind cover as a barrage of bullets barely missed her head. "What's worse, his heart stopped a couple of seconds ago, but we have that under control. We need to evac him as soon as possible, or he'll bleed out."
Nodding in understanding, Jezz crouched low before moving towards the blonde, a worried frown on her face. "Naruto?" Gently whispering, she took a knee beside the woman straddling the blonde and pumping his chest.
"We need to move him," The woman on top, pumped away, remarked in a grunt, her arms weak from the constant force. "I can't do this for much longer." Nodding her head, Jezz rushed over to the weapons, picking and holstering them, before running back to Naruto's down from, wrapping her arms under his limp armpits. "When I say, lift and move him into the open pod." Seeing a nod of agreement, the female signed audibly before calling out to her team. "Prepared for evac in 10 seconds!"
"10,"
The team rushed to form a defensive line, firing several rounds into a crowd of black-cloaked individuals.
"5",
An armoured Zetatech Atlus descended in front of the squad in a burst of air, throwing trash and dirt in the air.
"Now!" As soon as the door opened, Naruto was hoisted onto the ship in no more than a couple of seconds before the rest of the team rushed in, and the vehicle took off. "We need emergency treatment!" Ripping a med kit from the walls of the car, the leading medic quickly connected the ship's neural connector into the blonde and injected him with a Maxdoc Mk3. "Paient is still unresponsive."
Jezz, unsure what to do, watched as the medical team worked their hardest to stabilise the blonde, a sense of dread causing through her body as they rapidly approached the medical centre.
"Eta 30 seconds, Category 1, Priority 2, clear room 3129." A voice over the intercom snapped her out of focus, her eyes drifting towards the team, whose expressions were hidden by their helmets. Shakily standing up, Jezz moved two steps forwards, now standing directly beside the blonde.
"Ma'am, you're in the way of evac protocols. Please step aside." Ignoring the request, Jezz leaned down slowly, whispering in the blonde ear to convey a message unheard by the medical team. "Ma'am?
Hissing in frustration, Jezz stepped back, glaring down at the still blonde. "Damn it Naruto, you crazy bastard, you promised me you'd meet my mum." Unable to control herself fully, she turned her head away from the team, not wanting them to see the tears slowly gathering.
The hissing and shouting was enough of a distraction for her to gather her emotions as, just before she burst out crying, the car jolted as the door opened, showing a team with a levitating stretcher waiting for them.
The next several hours was a blur to Jezz. Doctors scurried around in a fast but controlled fashion as they escorted the blonde to one of the 24/7 observatories, yelling as they tried to wake the blonde, only to stop at the 2nd hour. They managed to get a steady pulse, and all his vitals were stable, but Naruto had yet to wake.
"Hey you!" Intercepting the same lead doctor working on the blonde, Jezz planted herself between the exit, stopping the very busy doctor. "Why aren't you doing your job and helping my friend!"
"Miss, I understand you're upset…
"Upset? Upset! I'm not upset.." Jezz growled, her words snapping like a smack, causing the doctor to sigh gently. "I'm down right furious! My friend is laying there with blood pouring out of his skull, ready to meet his maker, and your off to god knows where?!"
"Jezz was it?" The doctor remarked, her tone gentle but left no room for argument. "Mr Uzumaki is as stable as we can get him; there is nothing we can do." Slipping a hand into her back pocket, the doctor handed the perplexed female her a paper business card. "If anything happens, give me a ring, but until then, take a breath, grab a complimentary coffee, and relax." Saying her peace, the doctor slid past Jezz and left in a hurry, no doubt off to save another person's life.
"Damn it!" Punching a wall in frustration, Jezz glared towards the room, her emotions weren't exactly stable. "I'm getting a second opinion, even if it kills me!" Rushing into the room, Jezz was prepared to find doctors working on the blonde but instead found a male doctor, this one not dressed in a Trauma team combat outfit but a regular doctor's grabs, waiting for her. "Hey, what gives?!"
"I'm sorry Miss, but we've tried for long enough, he's not responding." Almost like "what gives?" was command code for him to answer a certain way, the doctor replied in a bland, emotionless tone, his eyes seemingly looking through Jezz.
"What?" Jezz, taken aback by the borg-like reply the man used, stepped back a single step, her body naturally falling into a combat stance.
"I'm sorry Miss, but we've tried for long enough, he's not responding." This time, his tone was equally monotone, but the man's brow tugged down in disapproval, "clearly" annoyed at something, or more specifically, someone.
Glancing between the unnerving man and Naruto, Jezz felt her body go cold. The amount of tubbing was lot, and his pulse… well his pulse was barely there! It was like a slow dripping droplet of water from a faucet. The was barely a beat once every couple of seconds, seconds that felt like minutes to her. "Please," Jezz's worry for the blonde overrode her instincts, pleading to the man as she approached Naruto's still body. "I know you've tried hard, and worked hard, but he's stronger than this," Spinning to face the doctor, her face clearly showing fear and worry, Jezz pointed towards the downed blonde. "Please, try again!"
"I'm sorry," The doctor droned on, his eyes peering again through her as he turned away from Jezz. "but we've done what we can."
Growling, Jezz clenched her fist in anger as she stormed towards Naurto, her rage barely kept in check. Resting her head against Naruto's chest, she closed her eyes to the world, hoping to escape from reality.
"Naruto, please…. Please wake up."
"Y-you're w-way to loud."
A soft groan echoed in Jazz's ear, jolting her aware, her head towards the left, hazel eyes met natural ocean blue, her mouth dropping in shock.
"Naruto?"
Gently raising himself onto to his elbows, Naruto smiled as much as he could, a jolt of pain shooting up from his side to his forehead. "Who else?" A slap was the blonde response, making him groan in pain. "Sorry." Instead of hearing lip, the last thing Naruto was expecting was the soft sobs of his friend, her face buried into his bed covers. "Jezz?"
Before the female could answer, medics suddenly rushed the room, shouting words of warning and their assertiveness separating the two. "Mr Uzuamki, stay still; you're still injured." The same man from before spoke to the blonde in emotionless worry. Naruto, unsure of how to react to the man's approach, nodded as he leaned back down, his hand going to wrap around Jezz's, only for the doctors to block him. "You've got to rest, so I'm asking you to lay back and sleep." Following the creepy doctor's orders, the blonde glanced over to Jezz before nodding, her features softening before deciding to leave, her exhaustion hitting like a ton of bricks.
Naruto sighed internally as he let his eyes flutter closed- sleep claiming him.
移す
XxxX-Elsewhere-XxxX
移す
"Are you sure he's dead?"
Two well-dressed individuals sat in the corner of a poorly-lit room, their features obscured by a thick cloud of cigar smoke, a thin round table separating each other.
"A bullet to the skull is enough to kill anyone." The first figure leaned in, showing the scared face of a light-skinned man with several different cosmetic Cyberwear bending and twirling, eerily representative of a skull. "Plus, we leaked the location of the crashed ship to some local skavs, they no doubt have his body torn to bits at this point."
"Hmm," The second figure leaned back in thought, their head tilted back as they blew another cloud of smoke, a large ring forming. "And Trauma team?"
"…"
"You did plan for that, Vertex?"
Vertex cursed angrily as he threw his arm out, slapping away a close-by glass, that would have shattered if a hand didn't reach out of the shadows and caught it. Stepping out, a young female with hazel eyes glared towards Vertex, planting the class on the table before sitting across from the two.
"Our job was to make sure the shard was destoried, not to end the target; if he gets resurrected, that's not our issue, Mr Cotesy."
"Right you are," Grunting in acknowledgement, the figure across from leaned forward to show a middle-aged man with greying hair, green eyes, and a heavy frown. "But an unfinish job is still a unfinished job, so I'm only paying you 80%."
"The fuck you are!" Vertex, already on his feet, smashed his cromed hand against the glass table, surprisingly not breaking it. "I had to wear dogshit corpo gear, go to a shit-filled trash heap, and reap a motherfucker who could've zeroed me." His voice raised to peak whisper shouting as he grasped the corpo by the neck, his red eyes ablaze with anger. "You're lucky I don't zero your ass, now pay up!" Roughly shoving the man back, Vertex reached for his side, a nasty-looking revolver resting on his hip.
"Fine!"
A moment of silence later, a flash of blue and a soft scoff ended the meeting between the three, the women getting up and leaving without a word, Vertex quickly downed the Corpo's drink before leaving as well, ignoring the glare the middle-aged man sent his way.
Now out of the shadowy part of the room, the two mercs entered the main part of the building, Atlantis.
"I hate this shit hole," Vertex remarked as he glanced around, a couple of feet behind his temporary ally, his typically violent mind surprisingly free as the alcohol cleared the fog of rage away. "I don't know why you had us meet that corpo rat here, Knife?"
If the question was heard, the hooded female didn't bother to answer, not stopping her path towards the central hub, the "central hub" being the centre of information dealing, mercwork and professional favours.
Or, at least, it used to be. Nowadays, Atlantis is a shadow of its former impressive self, ironic seeing as this was the only place for Ronin to secure jobs, as they weren't exactly accepted; many still think they were Arasaka spies.
"At least it ain't Afterlife," Vertex continued, grunting as he took a seat next to the empty bar, a rough-looking bartender handing him a drink. "That place is even more of a shithole, full of posers and solo's thinking they're the next Silverhand." Snapping back the drink, the man hissed in pain; the liquid felt like he was chugging lighter fuel and tasted like shit. All in all, a sound drink if anyone was to ask him.
Not that someone was likely too, seeing as his drinking partner wasn't exactly what he would consider as talkative.. and so, the two sat in silence as they drank, the only sound in the room being the squeaking of the vending machine in the corner.
One couldn't help but note that Atlantis could have seen better days- hell, it couldn't even hold a candle to the atmosphere of authenticity it once boasted. The days where you'd encounter mercenaries and fixers with established street cred, but also rub elbows with con artists, swindlers, 15-minute celebs, long-forgotten legends, rockers, washed-out pop icons, off-the-clock cops, dream dealers, spies had long since past, now you'd be lucky to meet anyone that wasn't a corpo trying to get a covert mission done.
Back in those days, there was no rep-check to walk through that front door; whether you walked back out under your own power was a different matter. Vertex missed those days, he'd met some interesting characters back then, hell, he'd killed a few too.
"He saw my face," Knife broke the man from his daydreaming, her tone sharp as she took another shot, eyes glaring down at the table. "I'm going to have to make sure he's dead."
"The blonde bastard took a bullet to the skull, I doubt he'll be getting back up." Vertex scoffed as he span his chair to face away from the assassin, his eyes taking in the sights of the skyline of Night City, its blaring sun reflected on the building below, and the air was oddly free of vehicles, showing a somewhat nice overview. "Even if he doesn't die, I'm pretty sure he'll have brain damage."
There was no reply to the man, his mind elsewhere as he watched a gang fight take place several stories down, a large smirk coming to his face as he watched a member of Bozos blow up a Tyger Claw with a stick of dynamite- fucks knows how he got it, but damn was it a sit to see, before having his clown face blown away by a shotgun.
"Night City never gets old," Spinning on his chair to face his partner on to find an empty chair, Vertex laughed loudly before slapping the table and stood up- his blood pumped with chems as he left. "Welp, might as well have some fun, not every day you get to fuck with BOTH the clowns and claws."
His insidious laugh being the only sound in the long abandoned nightclub.
完成された