l...l
Chapter Twenty Two
July 25th, 2077
Night City, Northern California
Viktor's Clinic, Little China
Viktor Vektor.
An odd man in an odd place, he wasn't the best ripperdoc in Night City, but he was one of the most reliable.
Cyrus could only wait as Viktor tended to V's injuries; her cyberware was significantly damaged by the EMP shot from Brooks' rifle. The round overloaded her internal cyberware, most notably the Kiroshi optic, which ended up being the sole perpetrator of V's unconscious state.
The ripperdoc handled her insignificant injuries admirably, but a black mark remained where the EMP round hit. Panam assured him that Viktor could get the job done, and he had no reason to doubt her.
With his worries tempered, Cyrus marched off to the desolate alleyway, seeking a moment of peace that the Aldecaldo granted him.
The Spartan's attention was now on the UNSC AI inserted in his MJOLNIR, an AI that was becoming increasingly reckless with her own safety. An argument had broken out between the two almost as soon as they arrived at the clinic.
"Are you really going to tell me I was wrong in saving Panam's life?" That laid the foundation for the issue at hand; Chamber wasn't supposed to talk to anyone else aside from Cyrus.
There were far too many variables involved, and he already gave her more than enough leeway. Chamber was given her free reign over 'the Net' and every telecommunications network in Night City without notifying Cyrus.
Contacting individuals of any kind was not part of the deal they struck up, and that had the Headhunter brimming with frustration.
"She shouldn't have been there in the first place, Chamber." Cyrus retorted sternly. "If you hadn't told her where the Phantom was, we wouldn't be having this conversation."
"I told her where the Phantom was because you were going off the rails!" Chamber's tone mimicked his own fury. "If I let you charge headfirst into that house of horrors, you could have gotten V killed!"
"I disagree."
"You are talking to an AI that thinks faster than you can even blink! I know what the fuck I'm talking about! You barely even acknowledged me while engaging the Forsaken, throwing away a clear advantage you had over those assholes so you could smash their faces in!"
"I also distinctly remember communicating to an AI who is supposed to be ruled by logic, not emotion! You know the security protocols in place should a Headhunter be separated from ONI for too long, and yet you have violated that directive!"
"The directive does not apply to our current situation!" Chamber hissed, and Cyrus remained an impassive statue.
"The time and place change nothing. We may no longer receive orders, but we are still members of the UNSC!" Cyrus snapped back. "We still abide by the protocols in place, even without a command structure to guide us. I am a Spartan; you are an AI, and we were both created to serve and protect humanity no matter the circumstances!"
"You were molded into a killer, Cyrus. Not created."
"Does it really matter?"
The duo had many arguments in their time together, but this was the first instance their personalities clashed so violently. Neither would ever truly back down when a war of words broke out, far too stubborn to admit to their own faults.
Where Chamber was a bleeding heart, Cyrus was a caged loner.
Where he was machine, she was human.
Two sides that completed the same coin, but both unable to come to terms with the other.
"The fact rem-" Cyrus savagely cutoff Chamber's point.
"The fact remains that you have violated contingency protocols. I allowed you the freedom to access information and every piece of this city without my direction, but that did not include contacting outsiders. Your safety is my highest priority, and you will not jeopardize that directive by going against my orders."
Safety.
God, she was an idiot; for all of Chamber's algorithms and processing power, she could not understand how straightforward his thought processes were. Cyrus wasn't dressing her down for disregarding his orders because of the letter of the law. He was overreacting to recent events and using Headhunter Contingency protocols to guide his current situation.
Cyrus was furious that someone he held close to his heart would disregard their own safety without hesitation.
It was too late to make amends nor change his outlook now; he'd fallen back into that impenetrable wall of black that she could never pierce.
"I did it for you." Sorrow was the only emotion she had left to express, and Cyrus ruthlessly ignored it.
"You have violated Headhunter Protocol Five. Should the existence of a UNSC AI operating in the Headhunter program be compromised in any way, a containment procedure must be performed until the acting Spartan deems the situation manageable."
"Cyrus." The pain in Chamber's voice went ignored, but it would be a lie to say it did not affect him at all.
The Spartan began enacting Protocol Five algorithms; they were hardcoded for use by a Headhunter while inside their MJOLNIR. Thereby preventing any UNSC AI from denying the protocol from taking effect. It was one of the few systems in his armor that only he had complete access to, and she didn't.
"As such, you are confined to your data chip until the next deployment."
"Cyrus, wait! Please!" Cracks began to fracture his iron will, but he could not entertain any other alternative.
"This conversation is over." Her heartbroken avatar winked off his heads-up display, leaving him to toil in his whirlwind of emotions alone.
Cyrus concluded that Chamber was incapable of protecting herself, and he was forced to deal a hand of discipline.
While, in practice, Protocol Five was little more than confining Chamber to his MJOLNIR for a limited amount of time, it was a tactic that would showcase his displeasure. No matter how juvenile or temporary the measure was.
Damnit all.
The Spartan found a seat for his weary body to rest on, a small staircase that led to an abandoned hotel. The establishment had run out of business months ago, and now only the most desperate resided in the failing structure.
Cyrus nodded off for a well-needed nap, arms crossed and legs resting on a railing opposite from him. He had quickly fallen into a dreamless slumber; the sheer emotional toll was enough to sever any chance of night terrors coming to fruition.
Predictably, his rest was cut short by one of the subjects regarding his and Chamber's argument. Panam emerged from Viks' clinic and had quickly made it a point to remove Cyrus from his nap.
Evidently, the woman wanted to exchange words and ignored his desire for sleep. Cyrus leaned his head backward, catching the Aldecaldos curious attention.
"Rough day?" The question went ignored.
"What's her status?" Panam motioned to share a seat with him, and Cyrus begrudgingly complied, shifting his frame to his right, giving the Aldecaldo enough room to maneuver. She made a point of brushing past him on her way to her new seat and entering his personal space without asking.
The Nomad's lithe legs were in line with his own set, and her thigh was practically brushing against his armored leg. The woman was clearly seeking to make him uncomfortable, and that was something he would rather not entertain.
"Still unconscious, but Vik's working on her the best he can." Panam leaned on her elbows, crossing her legs, and once again making contact with Cyrus. She ignored his pointed look and continued the conversation without provocation. "Don't worry so much, our girl's, a tough cookie she'll pull through this and be right as rain."
"I'm not concerned." Panam shot him an amused look.
"You're a bad liar."
"And you're irritating." That only made Panam's smile grow wider. "What do you want?"
"To talk." The Nomad was on her crusade, and it involved breaking down her favorite psychopath one vexing question at a time.
"About?"
"The weather," She bit out sarcastically. "What the hell do you think? You've been acting off ever since you found out V had gone missing."
"So, everyone keeps telling me."
"Does that include Chamber?" Cyrus should have known this is where her line of questioning was leading to; he made a mistake dropping her name in front of Panam. "Who is she anyway?"
"None of your concern." The Spartan moved to stand on his feet, but a hand wrapped around his left arm, keeping him in place.
"Woah, big guy, I'm just asking because I owe her one," Her expression changed into one of confusion. "At least I think I do, kind of weird to think about, but I have a good feeling that she's the reason I didn't get sliced up back there."
Cyrus gave away nothing, leaving Panam to stew in the awkward silence. She was desperate for any information on his little secret, but it was clear as day he wasn't going to budge on this subject.
The Aldecaldo filed away this topic for a different day and instead drummed up a conversation on a more relaxing topic. "That escapade on TV the other day; what was that all about?"
"Distraction." Panam waited for him to elaborate at first before realizing he was in a one-word sentence phase. She would have to lead the conversation until he felt like participating fully.
"Forrrrr?"
"Sixth Street." That was an eye-opener. Panam wasn't expecting her boy to shack up with those gangers in Santo Domingo, but there was a first time for everything she supposed.
"Didn't think you liked them all that much to help them out of a jam."
"I don't," Cyrus chided. "But they have their uses."
The Sixth Street gang's 'rehabilitation' was a means to an end. They would either be an asset to his campaign against this city's black heart or a footnote that was little more than an addition to his growing list of soon-to-be-dead organizations and people.
"Do I wanna know?" Cyrus's visor regarded her sharply.
"Do you?" A challenging smirk crossed Panam's face, and the Aldecaldo was one of the few people he met that was willing to challenge Cyrus at every opportunity. Either out of a desire to annoy him or keep him on his toes, he would never know.
Eventually, Panam stood on her feet, a finger trailing along his helmet's jaw before ending with her hand flexed out toward him. "Not really, but I got something that might settle your nerves."
Cyrus considered her offer carefully; Panam was a woman who lived on being spontaneous with her friends. V cautioned him on the Nomad's lack of respect for personal boundaries when they first met. He didn't really know what the hell V was talking about, but he's gotten a detailed understanding of what she was getting at over the last few weeks.
"What about, V?" The Aldecaldo took his inquiry in stride.
"Vik's got my number; he'll ring me up when he's done, and believe me, there's little else we can do but wait."
After a moment of tense silence, Panam felt a weight settle on her fingers; she could feel the burden and power in her grasp even as Cyrus tenderly clutched her extended hand. Even in a gesture as simple as this, the Headhunters lethality inflicted a sensation that was plain for her to feel.
Panam dragged her choom towards the Phantom, pushing him inside and hopping into the AV. She made her way towards the aerodynes console leaning forward, giving a scene to Cyrus that would have most warm-blooded males jealous. Her taut backside hung in the air, drawing in the Spartan who was staring but not for the same reasons as most males would be.
A nomad's lifestyle inflicted grueling punishment on the human body. Muscles were pushed to their very limit, and it would not be odd to say that some of the finest physiques came from those living out in the badlands. Panam would rightly flaunt her ravishing features if only to garner a reaction from Cyrus, and he was not willing to touch that with a ten-foot pole.
Cyrus's eyes were drawn to the skin-tight jeans she wore, allowing him to observe Panam's shapely rear and smooth, corded thighs. The threaded muscles exhumed strength and flexibility belonging to a woman who embraced the badlands' unforgiving challenges.
His gaze soon left her eye-catching lower body and focused on an outlier that stood out to him more than anything. A visible scar could be seen marring her caramel-colored skin just above the left hip and below her left ribs.
Panam's leather jacket and harness combination did a decent job of concealing the wound, but it exposed the scar for the world to see with it curled forward. At his best estimate, the injury was recent; she suffered it no more than two weeks ago.
"What happened?" Cyrus did not register his hand tracing the scar, nor did he hear the sharp inhale of breath from Panam.
The Aldecaldo went back to punching the coordinates even as her skin tingled from the Headhunters ministrations. Once the last pair of coordinates were set, the aerodyne shot forward, catching Panam entirely off guard and slingshotting her backward.
Firm hands saved her from a skull smashing headache and had the unintended effect of placing the Nomad in the Spartans gentle grasp. Despite his helmet, two pairs of eyes met, pulled together by an unexplained magnetism that practically locked them together.
It was so profound that Cyrus had to blink before realizing the position they were both in; he had caught the back of Panam's head with his right hand and placed his left underneath her knees.
The expression on her face was unreadable to him, and instead of waiting for a response, Cyrus reiterated his question.
"Panam," Her eyes lit up with activity. "How'd you get the scar?"
Whatever was going on in Panam's head was crushed, and her boisterous personality came to life with a flip of the switch. Her hands grasped the arm of the seat across from Cyrus, slowly extracting herself from his tender clutches.
Within seconds she responded to his inquiry with the same easygoing smile, "Got it during the Kang Tao raid. A little parting gift from one of the Mercs we took on at the crash site, bastard nicked me during the firefight. It wasn't bad, so I didn't make a big deal out of it."
"I never noticed." The Nomad snorted playfully at his statement.
"Think you and V were a little preoccupied with more important matters." That didn't justify his lack of attention; a team member, no matter how temporary, needed to communicate any injuries suffered in the field. Ignoring scratches is one thing, but a bullet wound can lead to unfortunate consequences in the field.
"You should have told me."
"I'll tell you next time," Panam's smile leveled his inner frustration. "Have a little trust in your chooms, Cyrus. They might not be anywhere near your level, but at the end of the day, you're only as strong as your friends."
Trust, a word that was a bitter reminder of his recent argument with Chamber. Cyrus's mood shifted, and Panam was quick to realize she had said something wrong. The man had been a walking pit of frustration since they met up at Vik's shop, and she was probably hoping to alleviate his troubles with some quality time together.
Whether Cyrus knew it or not, his moods often improve whenever he was around V and Panam. Most of the time, he was a walking pit of blankness, and for whatever reason, only they could drag him out of that hole. Nevermind the fact he was kicking and screaming the whole way through, but he figured that is what made it all worthwhile for both of them.
Panam chose to let the conversation die out without another word. A coiled Cyrus was a dangerous Cyrus to poke at, and even her stubborn and outgoing personality was unwilling to annoy that bear.
Thankfully the familiar jolt of a decelerating AV saved her from exploring any more sensitive topics. The cargo doors slid open, and Panam motioned for Cyrus to follow her lead. "Come on; you'll like this trust me."
She didn't wait for his response, jumping out of the aerodyne and landing on the dirt below. Cyrus followed in her wake, scrutinizing the fresh surroundings that Panam had decided to drag him to.
The Aldecaldo had brought him to the city outskirts; his GPS put them twenty kilometers northeast of Japantown. Well away from any human life and Vick's shop.
"Why are we here?" Panam simply motioned for Cyrus to follow as she trekked up a steep hill.
"Just shut up and follow me, fuckface." The Spartan would never get used to that nickname; he stored most of his weapons in the Phantom cargo hold. Leaving him armed with only a Copperhead and Kukri to boot.
Panam had taken her signature sidearm and left the body armor Cyrus had gifted to her in the Phantom as well. That, at the very least, informed him they weren't seeking conflict.
"Cyrus!" The Headhunter could only hope this wasn't another ploy to drive him insane. He followed Panam's trail, traversing the steep hill the best he could in his one-ton MJOLNIR armor.
His armor was perfect, but its weight made climbing steep terrain tricky. Thankfully, Cyrus didn't cause an avalanche and made it to the top of the mountain.
The Headhunters gaze fell upon Panam's familiar jacket; the woman sat at the edge of the cliff, legs dangling off the side. Her attention was entirely taken by a sight that he could describe in one word.
Magnificent.
Say what you will about Night City's poor reputation, but when the sun went down, its most prominent features stood out.
The sparkling city lights burst to life, shining a beacon into the cloudy night sky. Its gravity-defying skyscrapers consumed the skyline. Each structure pierced the heavens as a spear made of pure illumination, igniting the horizon for even the most distant of individuals to witness.
The traveling vehicles only added to its majesty; thousands of headlights crisscrossing one another in densely packed streets drew Cyrus's attention above all else. The scenery was a stark reminder of humanity's ability to create structures brimming with life.
It was a shame they were also capable of creating such horrors.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" Panam expressed as she nodded toward the spectacle below. "You wouldn't know how shitty this place was from up here."
"It's a remarkable city," he refused to declare that Ferax was a far more eye-catching metropolis. "A shame it's little more than a visual lie."
Panam barked in amusement and motioned for the Headhunter to take a seat next to her. "Pop a squat. I promise you can't smell the stench from up here."
Cyrus hesitated, surreptitiously glancing towards the Phantom below. He balanced the benefits between his desire to return to duty or spend time with one of the few people in the world he tolerated.
"We won't be here long," the Nomad could see the internal conflict brewing inside. "Just indulge me for a few minutes, will ya?"
Brown eyes watched as Cyrus came to a final decision; Panam let out a concealed sigh of relief as he joined her on the cliff edge. Step two of her master plan to shed some of his worries was complete, and now she just needed to get a conversation going.
Thankfully, Panam had a perfect topic to explore right in front of her.
"When I first came to Night City," the Spartan's gaze fell upon her. "I was rolling with Mitch and Scorpion on a supply run to Vista Del Rey, and I'd never been to a metropolis up until then. For nearly two decades, I roamed the badlands watching the beams of light from a safe distance, ignorant of all the troubles that laid inside."
Panam flinched as a passing memory of her late brother crossed the front of her mind. She still maintained echoes of phantom pain whenever Scorpion's name was brought up.
The clan held a fiery funeral worthy of his standing, but his passing was something she was still coming to terms with. She had to swallow back a choked sob that Cyrus either didn't notice or comment on.
"Mitch warned me of the rabbit hole I was falling into when I left the clan, and like usual, I ignored his sound advice and went in headfirst. Well, you know how that turned out for me."
"Do you regret it?" The question caught her completely off-guard. Panam had rightfully assumed that she'd have to pry open his mouth to get words to fall from them, but it seemed there was a first time for everything.
Recovering quickly, Panam was barely able to get out a single word without tripping over herself. "What?"
"Coming to Night City, do you regret walking through those pearly gates?"
An apt question, the city gave Panam plenty of headaches and a fair share of heartaches. She'd lost count of how many people this shithole had taken from her; young lives snuffed out without mercy.
"Yes, I do regret coming here sometimes, I could have gone to several different places, but in the end, I came here. This place wasn't like anything I was prepared to handle. It takes and takes and takes until there's nothing but shattered bones and broken souls." Panam ended her statement with a secluded look, mind rushing through a host of previously forgotten names and faces.
With her testimony presumably finished, Cyrus returned his attention to the city below, enhanced eyes falling upon a family of five playing in a park two kilometers west of their location. The parents maintained steady smiles, but he could see the burden of life weighing heavily on their shoulders. There was not a single human life that wasn't touched by Night City's corrupted heart, and therein lay his duty.
The corruption infesting Night City would be removed by any means necessary, and he would be the instrument.
"But."
Cyrus's brows furrowed, his gaze turning back towards Panam, whose expression was filled with an emotion he couldn't quite place. Simultaneously a twinkle flared in her eyes, and the corners of her mouth curved marginally upwards.
"If I didn't come here, I wouldn't have met you or V." He couldn't help the humor-filled snort that drew a raised eyebrow from Panam.
"Something tells me you would have met regardless of my inclusion."
"Maybe," Panam supplied. "But I doubt it would have been the same without you. Believe it or not, you do as good a job keeping us grounded, as much as we keep you on your toes."
"You call it grounded; I call it accountable." That drew a hearty laugh from the Nomad, a pleasant noise to his ears that he would never admit to her.
A blimp crossed Cyrus's heads-up-display, his MJOLNIR sent a missive, reminding him of the Protocol Five lockdown Chamber was still under. It was a standard failsafe installed to recap the Spartan of his AIs containment.
Protocol five was a directive that applied to a select few Headhunter teams and was rarely executed. Arguments between AI and Spartan weren't unusual, and the protocol's preliminary decree was to protect the onboard AI from capture. Its secondary purpose was to give the user and its custodian a moment of silence from the mental taxing of having two minds in one head.
Having a seven-foot-tall supersoldier driven by fatalism and an AI defined by logic in the same headspace made for an explosive combination. Even then, finding the correct Spartan that could handle a second voice in their head without losing their mind was rare.
It was one of the main reasons why he was granted a UNSC AI instead of Eliza after Casey's reassignment. She was overwhelmed by the mental faculties involved; her emotions were far more prevalent and easily swamped.
Cyrus dismissed the notification, opting to deal with Chamber later when he was in a more evident mindset. He knew keeping her locked to her data chip was a foolish act, but he was unwilling to let her actions go unpunished.
They would need time to sort out their issues, but Cyrus wasn't ready to deal with them anytime soon. At this very moment, he was craving the need to inhale oxygen naturally and not through an apparatus.
He grasped each side of his helmet, feeling the latches and parts shift through his mental commands. He could feel the curious eyes of his companion latching onto him, but he paid her no mind.
A cool breeze brushed against Cyrus's cheeks, giving him a stark reminder of Ferax's natural climate. The helmet was carefully deposited to his right, alongside his Copperhead and Kukri.
Oxygen traveled through his lungs and out of his esophagus; there was no feeling in the galaxy better than inhaling fresh air.
"And here I thought I'd have to pry you out of that helmet." Panam teased light-heartedly. "You must be having a bad day."
"You get used to it." Cyrus didn't know what constituted a good day anymore. He doubted saying 'alive' was a good day was the correct answer.
The pair fell into a comfortable silence, and the only audible sounds came from the sprawling metropolis below them. The hum of aerodynes and honking of irritated motorists pleasantly filled the atmosphere.
Panam wanted to inquire more about her stalwart companion, but she had neither the heart nor the desire. Cyrus was a straight shooter most of the time, and she found that to be his most endearing trait if only because most outsiders she ran into always had an angle.
As far as she knew, Cyrus didn't have a motive regarding the Aldecaldo after the Kang Tao business was completed. Panam was utterly taken aback when he willingly assisted the clan without compensation. V's assistance was a surprise as well, but not to the same degree as he.
V came off as someone who settled debts, so her assistance in rescuing Saul, while unexpected, wasn't too jarring. Night City Mercs didn't last long if they took forever to settle their debts; that wasn't a dig on her. It's just the way things are.
On the other hand, Cyrus seemed like the type who helped if he was able to no more, no less. Panam was forced to reevaluate her impression of the man after V saw fit to inform her that he practically dropped everything he was doing to assist her, no questions asked.
Time seemed to pass at a slow pace until Cyrus heard a rustle next to him and looked over, blinking as he watched the Nomad slide her frame closer to him, turning her back and leaning against his left shoulder. Panam exhaled a deep emotion-filled breath even as she used his towering frame as a crutch, leaving him confused at her change in disposition.
The Spartan flickered a few times, unsure why she was so close or what had occurred to cause her such distress.
"What is it?" He asked quietly.
"Are you angry at us?"
"No…" Cyrus spoke carefully. "Why would I be?"
"You were dodging V and me for a while, had us worried sick wondering what was going on with you after the NCPD debacle broadcasted for the entire city to see." She glanced with an easy smile. "Nice show, by the way, made for good entertainment up until the lights went out."
"I'm a busy man is all; I don't exactly have time to sit down and chat. It's not in my nature…" If Panam didn't know him any better, she would have thought that was an 'It's not you, it's me' spiel.
"So you're not angry at us?"
"Never." The confidence in his tone left little doubt in her mind. "It's difficult for me to interact with people that are...different from me. A flaw that I'm sure both you and V have noticed."
"Hm, it's kind of hard to miss, actually," the tension in her body subsided. "So wanna go drinking after this."
"Don't push your luck."
"Worth a try!" The jovial tone in Panam's voice subsided as she turned to regard him carefully, arms folded and expression firm. "Cyrus?"
"Yes?"
"If you were in trouble, real trouble, and if it were something you couldn't handle, would you let us help?"
Cyrus wasn't sure if the truth was the correct answer for this inquiry. In the unlikely event, he ran into something that neither he nor his AI companion could handle; he doubted Panam nor V could be of any assistance.
He could make a promise, a false promise all the same, but it would do the needed task of alleviating Panam's concerns. It was a stark reminder of the children Eliza had promised to save during an incursion on Meridian.
It was one of their last deployments to the outer colonies, and ONI tasked them to eliminate Elite Advance teams searching for forerunner artifacts. ONI had established outposts meant to monitor and gather data on these precious artifacts.
When the UNSC evacuated from the planet, they failed to utilize the scorched earth policy and left their data open for the Covenant to pillage. As a result, Cyrus and Eliza were deployed to the planet to prevent the Covenant from recovering the Forerunner technology.
Along the way, they ran into a group of street urchins, barely surviving the nuclear fallout. Eliza promised their leader, Zane, that help was on the way, implanting a white lie so that the scarcely fourteen-year-old child could ease the burdens weighing him down.
It was a promise that was not kept. By the time the Headhunters returned to their hideout, two hours after completing their primary objective, the children were dead.
Zane was hung from his throat by a plasma dagger, and their hideout was little more than a crater. Eliza never forgave herself for not getting them off the planet sooner, and the same guilt weighed down Cyrus.
Neither Spartan spoke of Meridian ever again.
Cyrus was seconds away from speaking a white lie, but he stopped himself. He was many things, but a liar was not one of them. His eyes connected with Panam's, and he spoke softly and with no deception.
"No," her expression fell. "I don't think I would."
It was a bitter truth to swallow, but Panam accepted it nonetheless. Her gaze shifted toward the city, watching an NCPD aerodyne dip behind a skyscraper and activate their sirens.
"Yeah," Panam replied sullenly. "I figured you'd say that."
The Aldecaldo returned to her former position, leaning her back against his shoulder and watching the city below. The atmosphere changed into one less comfortable but still maintained some semblance of ease. It was all the pair could ask for after the taxing day they had experienced.
It didn't last forever.
Panam had dozed off by the time her phone was lighting up like a Christmas tree. Cyrus had remained alert during her nap and had not moved an inch since then. She scrambled to pull the device out of her jacket and nearly jumped out of her skin when Vik's name scrolled across the screen.
She smashed the answer button and was immediately greeted with a soothing voice that didn't belong to Vik. "Hey, Panam, it's Misty."
"Hey," Panam shot to her feet. "How's V? Is she awake yet?"
The silence was all she received in return, and by now, Cyrus had his full attention directly upon her conversation.
"We uh… We can't wake her up." Panam exploded like a volcano; her voice carried across the wastes as fury reigned supreme.
"Can't wake her up!" What the fuck do you mean you can't wake her up. You told me she'd be just fine."
"It's hard to explain. Come back to the shop; it's better if we show you."
Panam disconnected the call and was seconds away from screaming into the heavens before Cyrus picked her up and tossed her onto his back. The Spartan had heard the entire conversation and felt that action was their only choice left; he nearly slammed into the Phantom at breakneck speed and placed Panam into the aerodyne carefully.
The Nomad would usually be cross with someone handling her so roughly, but now wasn't the time to bitch up a storm.
They needed to get back to Vik's.
Cyrus should have known this was too easy; fate itself had dictated that his actions were negligible in saving V. Panam viciously interrogated an ashamed Viktor and went to town on the man's inability to awaken their compatriot.
Misty tried her best to calm the imploding Aldecaldo, but that did little to temper her fury. It took Cyrus stepping in to get the raging Nomad to cool down so he could make sense of V's condition.
"What do you know?" The haggard ripperdoc motioned over to his comatose patient; Cyrus followed without hesitation.
A sheet of paper was wrapped around V's torso down to her thighs, concealing her ample chest and desirable features that could spin the world on its head. The peaceful expression plastered across her face was in direct contrast to the mood inside the shop.
It was a bitter pill to swallow.
"Last time she was on this table," Viktor motioned to a monitor to V's left. "She went into neurogenic shock four times in one hour, and her heart flatlined twice. I had to use up my whole medical supply just to keep her stable. In the end, she regained consciousness because of the Relic embedded in her back. All I did was keep the body stable."
"The tricky part was trying to keep her from entering a completely vegetative state. That thing is the only reason she even survived in the first place, but it's also killing her." A hand stopped the ripperdoc from going on a technical spiel that Cyrus did not care for.
"I already know this; skip the details and tell me what you know." His grim tone was enough to set Viktor straight.
"The Relic is in a standby mode of sorts, it's keeping V in a coma, and there's nothing I can do to get her out of it. The only humans in the world that know how to help her reside in Arasaka Tower and those fuckers are trying to kill her."
Silence.
Panam swore up a storm knocking over a tray of surgical tools and storming out of the shop. Misty curled in on herself, leaning against the stone steps and gazing off into space. The Ripperdoc was a pillar of sadness, sulking in his chair, his arms covering his face.
As for Cyrus, he fell into deep contemplation, ignoring the escalating wave of emotions that cracked all around him. An internal conflict brewed like a hurricane, and gradually he realized where all roads were leading towards. His hand slowly caressed Chamber's data chip and removed the object from its slot.
One could easily disregard how much power was held in the palm of his hand.
The culmination of human achievement and nearly two millennia of institutional knowledge lay at his fingertips. Knowledge that without a shadow of a doubt could save V's life and Cyrus still hesitated.
Because in Cyrus's possession wasn't a weapon of mass destruction or the treatment of an incurable disease. In his hand was a woman capable of incredible feats, a woman who was utterly devoted to him, sometimes to a fault.
It is a devotion that he shares wholeheartedly, regardless of the protocols he knowingly hides behind.
During his confinement inside Arasaka tower, Cyrus was in a coma, entirely at the mercy of those idiotic scientists. She watched over him like a mother hen, sitting in total silence as he stewed in the dark.
He couldn't have imagined what was going through her head during his timeless slumber. The fear, the anxiety of helplessly watching someone you care for toil in the dark.
Now, he didn't have to imagine what Chamber felt; it hit him like a freight train. The Spartan was lucky in a way; his custodian didn't have anyone to turn to in his darkest hour, but he did.
Cyrus had Chamber, and that was more than anything he could ask for.
Headhunter protocols were clear; an onboard AI was to maintain its anonymity and avoid contact with other sentient beings.
Human and Alien.
But the question remained was he willing to let V die to protect Chamber from the possibility of exposure. No, that was one line that he was not ready to cross on the altar of ONI.
Like always, Chamber was right. The protocols don't apply to their situation anymore; they were both already missing in action anyway. He only hoped his actions wouldn't be to cross with his recent decisions.
Cyrus inserted the crystal chip into its home and stepped closer to V's comatose body. The peaceful expression left a gnawing feeling at the bottom of his stomach, but it also gave him the proper motivation needed.
"What are you doing?" Viktor shot to his feet, tentatively advancing towards the seven-foot-tall super solider. Misty quietly observed their guest, eyes trying to gauge his actions before they lit up like a Christmas tree.
"He can help her." The statement was met with disbelief.
"Bullshit," Viktor replied. "Unless he goes storming into Arasaka Tower and holding one of their scientists by gunpoint, there's no one else that can help V."
"No, but he knows someone who can," Misty said with a small smile. "Don't you."
The Spartan said nothing, carefully extracting the unconscious Merc and laying her head against his chest plate. Viktor didn't say a word as he passed by, and Misty only watched with a light expression. She barely knew a thing about him, and she had complete faith in the man's ability a strange woman in a strange place.
Panam had torn apart everything she could get her hands on in the alleyway and was in the middle of a conversation with a heated discussion with Mitch.
"I don't give a fuck about the consequences, Mitch! I need ten of our top guns now! V's fucking life depends on it! Arasaka Tower. The hell do I need to talk to…." Panam trailed off as Cyrus marched towards the Phantom, V's slumbering form held timidly in his arms. She hung up the phone immediately and shot after him, leaving an incredibly bewildered Mitch in her wake.
"Get in," Cyrus instructed as the Phantom touched down in front of him.
"Cyrus, what's going-" Panam's inquiry was cut off as he carefully strapped V into the Phantom.
"Now." The Aldecaldo followed the Spartan's demand, climbing into the seat next to V and keeping her steady.
Confusion was paramount as Panam strapped herself in; at first, she assumed they were doing the unthinkable and storming Arasaka Tower. But a gut feeling told her that even Cyrus wasn't that reckless, especially with an unconscious V in the cargo hold.
A sudden jolt from the aerodyne shook the cargo hold, forcing Panam into her seat. The Phantom's console indicated the AV was moving all haste towards Charter hill, which only served to confuse the Aldecaldo more.
"Where are we going?"
"Home."
July 26th, 2077
Night City, Northern California
Hideout, Charter Hill
For weeks Panam could only speculate where Cyrus loitered in his downtime; there was the possibility he spent his entire day hunting raffen and gangoons, but everyone needed a place to rest their head. When she questioned V on his lodgings, she received nothing more than a whimsical smile.
'He's not homeless,' was all the Merc was willing to tell on the matter.
With that in mind, Panam was obliged to drum up her own assumptions on where Cyrus slept when he wasn't butchering the criminals of Night City.
It would not be a lie to say that a hole in the ground wasn't the first option on her admittedly long list of possibilities. Then again, it would be just like him to renovate an old fallout shelter instead of getting a regular apartment.
There was more gear in this bunker than Panam had seen in her entire life. Firearms filled gun racks, ammunition boxes were packed to the brim, and weapon modifications were laid on crafting tables, waiting for their owner to apply them to their desired weapon. Her boy had spent time either looting or shopping on 'the Net' without pause.
She wasn't even going to comment on the massive workstation that would have given Judy a techno orgasm if she laid her eyes on it. Panam could have spent the next hour marveling at Cyrus's hovel, but her attention was firmly fixed on the comatose woman laid out on a comfortable bed.
Cyrus assembled a mattress close to the workstation and deposited V with excellent care, treating the passed-out woman like a glass object. He immediately turned about, tinkered with his workstation, and hooked up a jack cable directly into his armor.
He completely ignored the befuddled looks Panam was shooting him, which only irritated her further. After several failed attempts to garner his attention, she opted to watch over V, scavenging a pullout chair and placing it to the Mercs left.
Panam never felt more helpless in her life; watching V toil away in a deep slumber she could not rouse made the Aldecaldo feel useless. She hated watching the people she cared about disappear into the all-consuming jaws of Night City.
First, it was….
No…she needed to stop that thought process of self-pity before she fell into a rabbit hole.
The best Panam could do was be present when V woke up, and she prayed to whatever gods existed that Cyrus had the solution to their problem.
Minutes passed by in a slow crawl, and the only sounds bouncing around the bunker were CPU fans working overtime, and the splash of water from the fluid drip hooked up to the unconscious Merc.
Panam was nearly pulled into the jaws of slumber herself when Cyrus finally started shifting. He disconnected the cable jack from the workstation and wrapped the cable around his left arm.
"V ever tell you about the Relic in her neck?" The Spartan inquired quietly.
Panam paused in thought, V never elaborated on the implant she was a hundred percent certain was a virus. All this Relic talk was flying over her head and usually that would annoy her, but she didn't care enough to ask about the details.
"No, never asked about it and Viktor didn't seem the type to divulge information that didn't pertain to him." Panam admitted. "Only thing I needed to know was that it's a double edge sword."
An amused chuckle graced the Nomads ears, a sound that was pleasant to her senses. "Your closer to the truth more than you realize."
"Cyrus, what-"
"You asked me why we came here." The Spartan palmed the back of his head, retrieving a data chip that brimmed with life. "We're here to meet the only person in the world that can help V now."
"There's no one else here, but me and you," Panam's discontent was taken in stride.
An uncharacteristic bark of laughter emitted from Cyrus's mouth, momentarily startling the Aldecaldo. "She's always been here."
"Who?" The chip sparkled with a pleasant blue hue, and a dainty voice answered.
"Me."
What Panam witnessed would stay with her for the rest of her life.
In a time where technology was reaching the perception of near magic, the most forefront of human achievement was Artificial Intelligence.
AI's are controlled by the most powerful corporations and governments in the world. They were capable of a great many feats, but they lacked the true intelligence needed to be their own person instead of a fragmented personality.
In Cyrus's palm was a small, glowing young woman, her body radiating with an azure glow. She was a breathtaking sight to behold, and Panam could only gawk in muted disbelief.
"Hello, my name is Chamber."
AI meets the crew next chapter, and the infamous rockerboy trapped in V's head.
Yeah kind of put the wrong date for this week's chapter, but here it is regardless of my failure to read a calendar.
As always I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and remember to review to your heart's content.
Reviews:
2Rule179: Their reaction will be an interesting section write out, you'll have to wait and see where they fit into the picture.
RickDeckard: I wouldn't go that far, but the praise is appreciated regardless.
Luxo11: Here is your fix for the week.
pittsacee: Chamber, but this Chapter kind of answered that.
tamagat: This was actually the scav mission, but I changed it because I found it ridiculous that a Merc like V would willingly insert something into their body so carelessly.
Thank you to everyone who wished be a good vacation, the parts I remember were amazing.
Have a great rest of the week and stay safe out there.
Next Chapter: April 4th