The crew had gone their separate ways after the gig was closed.
Lucy and David were the last to be dropped off. Falco stopped at a quiet road in Little China.
Waving as the nomad driver peeled away, they walked, enjoying each other's company as they made the trip to Viktor's clinic.
They waved to Misty as they went in, the older woman chatted with Jackie at the counter. Going past the secluded alley and down the steps, Viktor looked up at them from the screen screen by his desk.
"You two!" he greeted, "What can I help you with this time?"
"We uh..." David looked to Lucy, why had they come?
"Wanted to see if you had a Kerenzikov or a Synaptic Accelerator for David." Lucy said, Viktor tapped his chin thoughtfully.
"Interesting..." he hummed, "I see what you're going for..."
David blinked, confused.
"Why?" he asked, "Thought the Sandevistan covers those bases."
"It's true that all three cyberware have similar effects, and that the Sandevistan might be the most versatile of those." Viktor admitted, "But it places load on all of your body's systems, regardless of what you need it for."
David frowned, he guessed that made sense.
"It's like using a hand grenade for home defense, kid." Viktor chuckled, "Doesn't matter if you use the sandy to get in close, outrun a car or pull out your gun faster than the other guy, you're putting the same amount of stress on yourself and your sandevistan."
Viktor tapped a monitor, bringing up several selections of cyberware.
"If you had a synaptic accelerator, that gives you time to think." he said, several of the items on the screen in front of David lit up, "A kerenzikov will give you a little boost to your coordination on top of that, maybe let you adjust if your first shot is off."
David's eyebrows furrowed, matching his frown. He knew Viktor and Lucy wanted to give him options, a safety net. But did he really want to only be known as "the fast one"?
"Jackie? What's up?" Lucy's voice snapped him back to reality, "He's here at Vik's place. No, I don't think he'd be- Wait... the payout is how much?!"
David quirked an eyebrow, how much could a job possibly pay to turn Lucy's gaze of all people?
"If you need an extra hand, I'll do it." Lucy continued, "Alright, send me the location."
Ending the call, Lucy turned to Viktor and David.
"Vik, something's come up." Lucy said, squeezing David's shoulder, "I'll leave this gonk to you, ok?"
Viktor nodded, watching the woman leave.
"Be safe!" David called out behind him.
"Alright kid, so what are you thinking?" Viktor said, leaning back in his own chair.
"Vik... I dunno." David sighed, "I thought all of this was meant to make me less reliant on chrome, meant to be fast and smart. Now you're telling me I might not even be fast enough with the sandy..."
"That's not what I'm saying," Viktor said, patting his arm reassuringly, "I know you're fast enough, and smart enough too. So does Lucy."
"But...?" David asked,
"But there'll be borgs out there who run faster, hit harder and can take more of a beating." Viktor stated, "The only way you stay a step ahead is if you keep your distance, give yourself time to think and save your energy to land meaningful hits. Understand?"
David thought for a moment.
"Synaptic accelerator to think of a plan, kerenzikov if they try and get too close..." he said slowly, "and save my strength to hit them fast and hard with the Sandevistan, that's what you're saying, right?"
Viktor smiled warmly,
"Right," he said, "Spread the load wide and you do more for longer."
"Alright." David sighed, making two selections on the screen, "I'm ready."
"Let me just get some anesthetic and then-"
"And then lights out?"
Viktor chuckled
"Exactly."
David tossed one of Viktor's tools into the air, counting the seconds until it hit the table. As it clattered, he did it again, willing himself to slow down.
Immediately, the synaptic accelerator began its work, unlike with his sandevistan, David's limbs felt sluggish, like they were swimming through oil.
His mind, however, felt sharper than ever.
The rush of adrenaline that the sandevistan supplied him with was absent, instead giving David the focus to observe minute details around him.
He saw the something flicker on Viktor's screen, a playback timer.
Recorded?
He stowed that information for later. He turned his attention to several posters Viktor had put up on the walls, different types of cyberware, some he had never seen before.
David felt like laughing, a while ago, the thought of slowing his body down would have horrified him, the thought of being shackled driving him mad. He was wrong, being able to see the world in this way, being able to process everything this fast, it was liberating.
As the tool clattered to the tray once more, Viktor chuckled softly.
"Cut that out." he said, though his voice wasn't stern, "That's not a toy."
David laughed as well, stretching himself out.
Suddenly, he had an idea.
"Vik?" he asked, "Do you have any other chrome I could take a look at? Something for my arms, maybe."
"Thought you wanted Lucy to sign off on your chrome, kid." Viktor said with a stern look. David shook his head.
"Not gonna get anything without talking it out with her first." David reassured, "Just wanted to know my options."
Viktor, now confident again that David wouldn't slip into a spiral of excessive implantation, brought up several pieces of cyberware, talking through them almost surgically.
Mantis Blades, Gorilla Arms and the Projectile Launch System all were given a quick head shake of disapproval.
Viktor threw up a few "exotic" pieces of cyberware, blades that would extend from a person's fingertips, a storage system for a small pistol, embedded into one's arm.
"What about monowires?" David asked, Viktor grinned and tapped the monitor several times.
"Wasn't sure you'd spring for those." Viktor admitted, "thought you might leave that field to your Output."
David hummed, "Not trying to rip a car apart," he admitted, "and Mantis Blades and the Launchers need room to be useful. Monowires are my best bet."
Viktor chuckled, "Now that's using your head, kid!"
As he swiped through the various brands of monowires, David had a realization.
"These don't look like Lucy's ones." he said, brow furrowed.
"Don't think Lucy's got off the shelf cyberware." Viktor said, "If I had to guess, it's an Arasaka product. Heard rumors that they were prototyping high end monowires. Sleek ejection ports that almost blended in with the skin and a reworked wire design, so you could hold it in your hands without protecting your hands as well. Course, that made it ineffective in combat. Not many people have the patience or skill to get the edge alignment right every time, 'specially not during a firefight"
David frowned, that sounded like Lucy's chrome all right. But this troubled David, he knew about Lucy's past with Arasaka, he knew at least a majority of the cyberware she had installed came from that same corp, why had she not tried to replace it?
"Vik..." David searched for the right words, a way to ask without giving up Lucy's secret. "What reason do you think someone would have to not replace their cyberware for better options. If it came from a corp they didn't like?"
"Talkin' about Lucy?" Viktor asked, laughing as David spluttered. "I know my chrome, kid. And I've lived a couple more decades than you to boot. I know my people pretty well by now too."
The older man sighed, face growing more serious.
"If I had to guess," he began, "and I know it isn't really my place to. It might be the only choice about her cyberware she got to make."
The implications of that began to seep in, David swallowed a lump in his throat and clenched his fists, trembling with anger.
Fuckin' Arasaka.
"Some people..." Viktor breathed in deeply, "For some people, their cyberware is like a scar. A painful part of them that they can't escape, no matter what they chip in."
David nodded. Feeling more helpless and powerless than he ever had.
"Might be like that for Lucy. Definitely was the case for your old hero, Silverhand." Viktor said with a sad smile.
David closed his eyes, thinking.
What can I do for you. Lucy?
You've done so much for me, I need to do more to repay you.
What can I do for you?
"Alright kid." Viktor said, patting his arm, "Think I've shown you enough to give you an idea. You head on home and rest up now, alright? Give that burnin' chrome a chance to cool off."
"I will, thanks, Vik." he said, waving goodbye as he stepped out of the clinic.
He breathed in the warm afternoon air. Head feeling clear.
He began to think, formulating a plan.