Big Trouble In Little Japantown

by Mr.Redgren

A lost soul is given a new chance at life, with a whole new bag of tricks. The catch? He has to survive in the hostile environment known as Night City. Good luck Jumper, you're going to need it.

1. Chapter 1

AN: Greetings and salutations, Please enjoy the first chapter of my first ever fanfic. I'm still figuring out just what I'm doing, so my formatting might be weird for a while, but I'll figure it out eventually. I'm a novice writer with a fantastic beta reader/editor, so I want to give Lockhartcambion a MASSIVE thank you for helping me polish and fine-tune my writing, and supplying your valued input.

I own absolutely nothing, you know how the rest goes.

Again, please enjoy this chonky chapter.

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Chapter 1

Breaking Fate

They say that when you die, your life flashes before your eyes. This is horse shit.

Death is just as metaphysical as it is physical, meaning that even if you're dead for just a moment, or even just on your way out the door of life, time loses all meaning. Whether you come back from the void, or you stay there, you are left with an infinite amount of time. Time where you have nothing better to do than process the stages of grief and look back on your life. Because in the end, that's all you have in the void.

That's just one of the many thoughts that roamed through my mind since I got here. I was pushed out of a fourth-story window by my brother's widow during Saturday night martinis. Real sad too, my brother went the same way. Lazy bitch couldn't even be creative with my murder, doing the same shit. Hope the inheritance was worth it, Karen, I always hated you.

I kinda wish I could haunt their asses. The bitch and her newest fuck buddy wouldn't know what hit em. Flickering lights mid conversation, dropping things heavy enough to wake them up in the middle of the night, pointy objects in strategic places for maximum effect. Hell, I wonder if I could mess with their dreams? Turn every happy dream into a goddamn nightmare. Oh well, such are the lofty dreams of a dead man, I guess.

/-/

With nothing better to do, and no desire to relive my memories for the thousandth time, I tried to busy myself with other activities. It…was challenging.

/-/

'14,098,875,987. 14,098,875,988. 14,098,875,989….'

/-/

'The FitnessGram Pacer Test is a multistage aerobic capacity test that progressively gets more difficult as it continues….'

/-/

Oh, I was definitely on the edge of going crazy. I invented a new language involving grunts and 'ook' noises like a monkey and a style of hockey where they wield pool noodles and wear frilly tutus, so basically hockey after 7 beers. I wasn't sure how much longer I could hold out. Thankfully, that question was answered when…

/-/

'There once was a ship that put to sea and the name of the ship was-a Billy-o-Tea. The winds blew up, her bow dipped down, oh blow my bully boys blow.-'

'HUAH! Soon may the wellerman come to bring us'…Why'd you stop? We were getting to the best part!

So, it finally happened, huh? I've finally lost it! I'm hearing voices in my head.

Oh, no no no. Don't worry my cosmically adrift friend, I can assure you, you are quite sane. It's actually quite impressive, if I do say so myself. Which I do. Being lost in the void, even for just a while, is a very precarious position to be in, especially for a mortal.

Great…I'm being told I'm not crazy by the voice in my head. I can just feel the padded cell waiting for me now.

Hey, at least the padded cell would be comfy. The walls are made of pillows, after all.

Not helping, Voice.

I have a name, you know. It's Rob.

Still not helping.

Hey…Would you like magic powers? They're free…

Okay, now I definitely know I'm crazy.

Nope. Entirely sane, buddy. See, I'm an R.O.B., and no, that's not why my name's Rob….It's just a coincidence.

Suuure it is….

Anyway, I'm what's known as a Random Omnipotent Being (™), and I've got an offer for you. See, being an R.O.B. born from the void, I am privileged to have a more… "open" point of view than most others in the multiverse. Sadly, there's not much in the void to do, in the end. I mean, you've seen this place, positively dull, compared to the multitude of worlds out there. Thus, now that I've come across something interesting, I.E. you, I have one simple question: How would you like to live once again, with a brand new body and a set of shiny new powers to mess around with?

Okay Rob, Rob, okay, Say that I actually believe you, and this whole conversation isn't just some isolation induced hallucination stemming from a mental break-

Which it isn't.

…Say you really mean what you say, What do you get out of it? There's no such thing as a free ride, In this or any other life. As I am now, I don't have the cash, grass or even an ass to pay with. So…. What's the catch Rob?

Why, Entertainment, of course!

Huh?...

As I said before, this place is painfully boring. Despite time not really being a thing here, you have no idea how many times I've wondered if minutes or aeons had passed between the next multiverse gazing party and the last. Thus, now that I've found you, I can alleviate this boredom and in the best way possible. By turning you into my acolyte and dropping you off in the nearest world that strikes my fancy, where I can watch your antics like the greatest of television programs. Isn't that grand!? You get another life, and I don't have to find out if gods can die of boredom.

….Huh.

…You know, could stand to be a bit more appreciative. This is a one in a quadrillion chance I'm giving you here. You could at least say thank you.

I mean, I guess?

You guess?

I…don't know. I feel…off. Like, I'm not all here right now.

Hmmm… That makes sense. I can see it: Your soul, it's frayed. Just around the edges, mind you, but damage is no less present.

Frayed? Why? How?

Well, that just happens to things in the void, souls most often. Mortals simply don't have the resilience needed to exist in the void for long periods of time. The fact that you're still so…together after so long is genuinely impressive. You've got a strong one there.

Thanks….I guess?

Say, I've never gotten to ask this question, but: What does it feel like, your soul being as it is?

….It feels….Cold. No, wait, not cold, more like… the absence of cold? And warmth. And touch. Everything is…..numb for a lack of a better word. But, more than anything, I just feel…Tired. I want to sleep, but I'm afraid to. Afraid I'll….

Not wake back up?

…Yeah.

Well, don't worry, my new friend, we'll get you fixed up in no time. Before you know it, you'll have that spark of life that all mortals have back in no time. And once we get your journey started, you'll never have to worry about taking a nap again: That's an R.O.B.(™) guarantee!

….Thanks, Rob.

Heh, there's the smile I was looking for.

I was smiling?

That's not important, MOVING ON!

[Congratulations]

[You have been granted access to the Celestial Forge Archive.]

Please select your first database.

[Cyberpunk 2077] [Mass Effect] [Naruto]

[RWBY] [ Warhammer 40K] [Starcraft]

[Star Wars] [Fallout]

Wow. That's quite the selection, the only problem is that I haven't got a clue where i'm going or when...still, I should make this decision count. Although, if I'm honest, I'm too much of a weeb to not take this one.

[Naruto] archive selected

You have been granted 1000 cp. You will be able to earn more to make further purchases at any time.

Please standby while the archive loads.

With the choice out of the way, my mind is flooded with all the options available to me. I have to say though, I'm glad I don't have a body right now, I don't think my grey matter could handle it.

Please select an Origin

[Drop in] [Genius] [Medic Nin] [Villain]

Now, this choice is easy. I wasn't an idiot in my old life, but nobody would ever accuse me of being a genius either. I think it's time to see how the other side lives.

[Genius] selected

Select your starting Chakra level

Oh boy, this is going to take a while.

-some time later–

Well, it took some time, and my friendly neighbourhood R.O.B. ended up giving me a 'bare bones' system to help keep track of it all, time to take a look at my shiney new character sheet.

Name: Akira Uzumaki

Origin:Genius

Race:Human

Strength: D-

Dexterity: D

Endurance: C-

Intelligence: F+

Wisdom: F+

Charisma: A+

Chakra level: Jounin

Chakra control: 1st year Academy student

Chakra nature: Wind

Ninja specialisation(s):

Ninjutsu (free)

Taijutsu (purchased)

Fuinjutsu (Uzumaki clan specialisation)

Genjutsu (Sharingan Kekkei Genkai)

Perks:

[Calm, cool, collected] (free for Genius)

Regardless of your situation or what you face, your mask of casual indifference will not fall unless you want it to. You are also granted a measure of mental resistance to stressful events.

[Crafty] Tier 2 (Max)

Not only are you adept at crafting your shinobi tools by hand, you make them with such quality that others are happy to pay you for them. This does not effect other crafting skills, however.

[Good looking] Tier 2 (Max)

You are a solid 11/10. For a mortal being, you are easily among the best looking people in the world. No, this does not mean you get free drinks at Applebees, you still have to pay for those.

[Academy training]

You have sat through the classes, taken the tests, so congratulations you have the bare minimum knowledge and skills expected of a freshly minted Genin. (Chakra control not included)

[Warehouse]

This personal transdimensional pocket is only accessible by you and contains any system purchased rooms and equipment.

Kekkei Genkai:

[Uzumaki clan]

You possess unusually high chakra reserves and incredibly strong life force, granting you a longer life, a slower ageing process and an automatic Tier 1 regeneration. You also have a knack for Fuinjutsu to rival the best in the clan, the ability to heal people by feeding them your Chakra, and chakra chains strong enough to bind the nine tails.

[Sharingan]

You possess the Sharingan eyes. When active, you are able to see the flow of chakra, photographic memory, able to predict movement and so much more.

[Regeneration] Tier 2

You possess the Regeneration abilities of Madara Uchiha at his strongest. Gaining a level of agelessness and being able to regenerate up to and including having half your body blown away and healing it away in minutes if not seconds.

Cp:0

Pp:100

Equipment:

[The Rising fighting Spirit]

You have the entirety of the Naruto soundtrack, audible to either just yourself or to any you choose.

[Ninja tools]

Added to your Warehouse is a Ninja tools supply room, Holding all your basic ninja supplies from Kunai to exploding tags, all of which restock each day. (Note: These things are considered worthless to anyone but yourself, value wise, so no breaking the economy.)

[Training journal] Tier 2 (max)

This book has been handed down from ninja to ninja, and now, it's yours. It contains tips and tricks of the trade, training methods as well as a list of jutsu to learn. Not only this, but every so often, it will add a new jutsu to learn, eventually adding every jutsu shown in the show. Although that will take years. (Item added to [Shinobi library.])

[Shinobi library]

This library is attached to your warehouse. It contains all the theoretical knowledge needed to learn and even create new jutsu. It even comes with a testing area for jutsu you are working on. You'll have to put in the leg work to learn it all however.

[Deep pockets] x 4

You gain a trust fund that pays out monthly forever. Each purchase of this is equivalent to $250,000 USD per year. Your yearly payout is $1,000,000, or roughly $83,350 per month.

Justu:

{Replacement jutsu}

Allows you to switch places with nearby objects.

{Transformation jutsu}

Allows you to change your appearance for the duration of the technique.

{Clone jutsu}

Forms a number of illusory copies of yourself.

{Shadow clone jutsu}

Form a number of solid clones of yourself. When dispelled, the clones transfer what they see, hear and learn to you.*

And ain't that just pretty as a picture. It was hard to decide what to get with my budget, but I think it should be fine as long as I've got time to learn.

Jumpers are rarely that lucky, but it's always a good idea to keep busy. You're supposed to be entertaining after all.

I guess that's fair. So, Rob, where are we going?

We're already there, bud, you just need to open your eyes. Don't forget to have fun.

Open my...

And with that I opened my eyes for the first time in what must have been an eternity. The moment that I do, I'm nearly overwhelmed by the influx of sensation. The overhead lights blinded me momentarily as I could see for the first time. The not-so-soft hum of electricity was drowned out by a blaring alarm that almost deafened me before I stumbled over to it to turn it off. And what an experience that was, from the feeling of the smooth plastic of the alarm to the feeling of the carpet on my feet. Oh the carpet, after feeling nothing for so long, I can feel every bump and thread of it with each step. Hell I could just taste the cleaning product in the air as much as I could smell it. And taking a breath for the first time once again was an experience all on its own, the sheer relief was like a balm on my soul.

Once I had control of my faculties I drank in my room. My room, I'm going to have to get used to having stuff again.

It is, in a word, Spartan.

As I started exploring the room, I found that it's obviously a whole apartment. There's a pair of windows with closed metal shutters, an alcove in the wall for a simple but very comfortable bed that I had to fight to resist the urge to jump on, a closet full of clothes that I absolutely didn't rub my cheeks on to feel the sensation of the fabrics on my face, and a desk with a computer in the corner. Walking to the center of the room I find another alcove with a toilet and shower, a fucking shower! I can't wait to break that baby in. A whole quarter of the room was sunk into the floor by about a foot with a couch that filled the perimeter of the square with what looked like a hologram projector in the centre, thankfully it was off. I doubt I could handle holo-T.V. at the moment. Finally I notice and count two doors, a door to the outside based on the thrum of muffled noise coming from it, and a smaller one that I can only assume is a second room or walk-in closet. The colour scheme of the room was a white and grey with black accents. To me, who is likely to have spent more time 'seeing' nothingness than is probably healthy, it was a work of art.

And the best part? I could decorate my living space however I wanted!

Eventually, The urge to look at myself in a mirror to see what I looked like became too much to resist, so I went to the bathroom to check if there was one.

Jackpot!

The [Good looking] perk was well worth the cost it seems, since what I saw in the mirror was enough to shock me. Where I had once been a Caucasian man of average looks, I now was a clearly Japanese teen, maybe 17-19. I have chiselled features and leaned in to get a better look at my amethyst coloured eyes. My hair was pulled into a ponytail, but I could see that My Uzumaki red hair had streaks of black. I must stand around 5'11'' and my body itself is packed with lean muscle, and no one will ever know that I spent a good 10 minutes posing and poking at my muscles. Said posing that DID NOT HAPPEN revealed a few things that stood out to me however. I ran my hand over my right temple. There seems to be a thin and faded horizontal scar with…wiring? In my body? My left hand also seems to have some sort of an extention cord of some sort at my wrist, I lifted the..plug.. And gently pulled, the roll of cord in my arm extending out. I must still be getting used to having fingers again, because the plug slipped from my grip and the wire disappeared back into my arm, the plug snapping back into place. That's weird.

Oh that, yeah. I decided to give you a standard civilian cyberware package to go along with your new identity. E-Bank, Data jack, internal communication, shard slots plus a basic cyber deck.

I feel like I should know what you're talking about, but for some reason, I can't put my finger on it.

Meh, it will come up in due time. By the way, just so you don't hobble your chakra system with extra cyberware later on, have this shiney free perk.

[Jumpers body]

The fact of the matter is that sometimes, the various worlds jumpers end up in aren't always compatible. Technology fails in the presence of magic, inner energies are diminished with missing body parts, even if they are replaced with technology. With this perk, you are able to mix, match and add any and everything with no negative side effects.

There. Now it doesn't matter how much you get chipped, your chakra system won't suffer for it.

Wow. Thanks man.

No worries my boi. Have fun.

You know, I'm glad that my friendly neighbourhood R.O.B is such a bro.

And don't you forget it.

'Ok. Time to make a to-do list.'

'First, I need to figure out where the fuck I am. Second, I need to get to studying. I don't know what this world has in store for me, but I now have a very versatile tool in the form of chakra. Now I need to learn how to use it. And third'…I shiver a bit as a stiff breeze from a nearby vent hits me right in the small of my back. '...I need to put on some pants.' I guess I'll have to get used to high and low temperatures again too.

After throwing on a pair of plain black jeans, a white muscle shirt and a leather jacket and shoes, I open up the smaller door.

Before me is a loading bench with brass casings, lead, primers, gunpowder with a dispenser and scale and a press, a few boxes of finished ammo along with a metric ton of other equipment like foam board on the wall with empty places for various guns and…swords? Not to mention all the supplies needed to clean and maintain said weapons…that I don't have.

The sight of the miniature armoury made the feeling of hazy half-recognition at the back of my mind just that much stronger. What catches my eye, however, is something that doesn't really belong. A rather ornate scroll, all nicely wrapped up and labled [Warehouse]. With no small amount of giddiness I unfurl it.

Inside the scroll was a collection of characters and what to others would be an eclectic array of squiggles, but I knew better thanks to my Fuinjutsu specialisation.

At first I tried to get my chakra to flow to my hand while touching the scroll, but getting the ninja magic juice to do what I want wasn't so easy apparently. Thinking for a moment I then put my hands in the ram seal and focused, I could feel my chakra inside me, just sitting there. Now all I should have to do is 'encourage' the chakra to flow how I wanted.

If I'm honest, it took me way longer to figure out how to channel my chakra than I would like, something I have every intention of fixing. Getting the energy to move how I want was like trying to pick up a bar of soap covered in oil, difficult but doable, if only just. But eventually I got the damn thing to work.

With a flash of red light I find myself in an endless hallway with two doors, one labled [Ninja tools] and the other [Shinobi Library]. Behind me, a wall with the same sealing formula from the scroll. Must be my exit.

I enter the [Ninja tools] door and load up. I leave the various tags alone for now. Knowing my dumb ass, I'd just end up blowing myself apart trying to use the damn things. Regeneration be damned. I went with the standard broke ninja setup: a few kunai in holsters hidden in my sleeves and a brace of 20 shuriken strapped to my lower back. It's not much, but it's better than nothing.

Now armed, I feel marginally better about walking out my door. Before that though, I had a brief debate with myself about taking my warehouse scroll with me. On one hand, I can't be sure it will be safe in my own home unattended. On the other hand, there's no guarantee I won't be pickpocketed once I'm out the door. Picking what I felt was the lesser of the two evils, I decided to hide it behind the ceiling tiles. Now, if anyone breaks in, it's not going to be something obvious to take.

Eventually, I want to make a storage seal on my body and carry it with me at all times, just to be safe. Gotta add learning Fuinjutsu to the list. Between the [Academy training] and Fuinjutsu specialisation, I can activate storage seals and explosive tags…barely, but making them or any other seal is just too complicated for my freshly dropped ass.

Mustering up the courage to open the front door, and isn't that just pathetic, the door slides open and I take a confident stride out.

Only to stagger back a step from the wall of air, sound and light pollution that awaited me on the other side. 'Sweet mother Mary, papa Joseph and baby christ!' I mentally scream while trying in vain to shield my face, completely unprepared for my second sensory overload in almost as many hours today.

The light of thousands of holographic billboards and dancing neon lights that covered buildings that reached high into the sky, hit me like a goddamn flash bang. The sounds of thousands of conversations all happening at once mixed with thousands of vehicles made my head hurt. And the air was so toxic that it made my eyes water and I swear that my nose hair curled.

I stumbled forward and somehow found a rail to lean on…and over, trying not to puke. Deep, burning breaths help me to quickly adapt to the sea of sensory input and try to make out what I can through blurry eyes. What I found made my metaphorical jaw drop. The light covered buildings rose up like pillar walls of a prison. The people down below came in all shapes and sizes, each one had ridiculously coloured and styled hair, wearing the most bizarre clothes I've seen. One chick was even wearing a hologram coat, booty shorts, and NOTHING else. I know where I am now, and I'm concerned.

SURPRISE! IT'S CYBERPUNK 2077, BABY! WHOOOO! Roared the now familiar voice of Rob in my head, which didn't do anything good for my mounting headache.

"Aww, Crap baskets."

Hey, don't be like that, Buddy. What's wrong?

"What's wrong?", I ask with no small amount of panic, "This is fucking Night city, home to some of the most fucked cults and megacorps I've ever seen. Some of them loan out organs that, if you can't keep up the payment, they can shut off whenever they want and send someone to 'Collect' it! And the worst ones won't even wait that long. Why the fuck did you bring me here?"

Hey hey hey, Buddy, calm down. Trust me, it could have been a lot worse.

"Worse! How could it have been worse?"

It could have been Halo.

"..."

Or the walking dead. Or DxD. Or, Me forbid, Warhammer 40k. There were many other worlds that I passed on the way to this one. Now tell me: Would you have preferred this, or a world doomed to die like Worm?

I actually had to think about that one for a moment. Despite my initial panic, he was right, It could have been much worse. Oh god, so much worse. There are a lot of fictional series I know of, some of which I think are so far gone that it's actually impossible to live in now. The thought of a world like Warhammer alone scares the shit out of me. Comparatively, Night City is actually pretty tame, all things considered. Just gotta make sure I don't get caught by those organ harvesting cultists while walking through the supermarket, and should be golden. Yeah... Yeah, I could make this work.

You... make a fair point, Rob. While not what I hoped for, it wasn't a bad choice.

Told you so. Now, stop dicking about, put on your big boy pants, and go fuck some shit up. I'm gonna go make some popcorn.

"Alright, alright.", I replied, leaning back and taking a deep breath to calm my nerves, a lung full that was probably about 30% air and 70% pollution. After a coughing fit that felt like I was hacking up a lung that was on fire, I turned and made my way down the corridor, Idly making note of my apartment number on the way.

It doesn't surprise me to find I that got dropped off in one of those massive apartment complexes that pepper the city, The ones that are used to house those in that nebulous area between the slums and the decent part of town. So close to the slum, no one's gonna notice an extra person here or there, after all. I manage to make my way down the labyrinth of concrete staircases to the ground floor, passing a number of people passed out in the corners, sleeping in their own vomit, and step out into the city proper. I made another mental note of where in Night City my Hab complex is. To my great surprise, I actually recognize the street names.

'So I'm in Japan town, huh? Neat. I'm going to have to explore the shit out of this place when I have some spare time. I think I remember a cache or two of loot from the game that I could pick up around here. If it's still there, that is.'

/-/

It's an almost surreal feeling, seeing so many people out and about in the city's streets. The game from my old life just didn't do Night City justice, not without a heavy amount of mods, anyway. Having grown up in a relatively smaller city myself, I was completely at a loss for words at the sight. Neon lights, people partying even in the early morning, speeding cars, Say what you want about the city: It certainly was lively. I could only guess what the city must have looked like from the skyscraper tops, up above. I could imagine...an ant colony, maybe. With such a high view, most of them probably did look like ants.

A nearly unending sea of people just… scurrying about, living their lives, dealing with the daily problems a city like this places on their shoulders. And now, I'm one of them.

For most of my first escapade into the city, I just ended up wandering around. While I'd played the game, I don't fully remember the layout of the city, and I didn't have a map of the city. Gotta add that to the list too, it seems. Embarrassingly, I ended up going down the same alleyway with the same passed out bum three separate times. Ended up talking to him on the third trip. Nice guy, name's Jimmy. It was around that time that I started getting hungry, and thankfully, Jimmy was nice enough to point me in the direction of a noodle stand that made a decent Ramen bowl for cheap. As thanks, I wanted to treat him to some lunch, but he declined, saying that he didn't want to put me out. Still sent him a thousand eddies as soon as I was out of sight so he couldn't protest. Accept my kindness or perish.

Not even a 10 minute walk later, I'm sitting at the noodle stand Jimmy pointed me to, steaming bowl in hand and paid for. It surprised me that using the E-Bank was pretty much instinctive, like a muscle memory I forgot I had, which was funny, considering that it was even easier than using my chakra. I guess What they say is true: spending money is easier than working hard."

"To the average denizen of night city, the noodle bowl that I held wasn't anything all that special. Synthetic meat, synthetic veggies and processed noodles and spices, a naturalist's nightmare. Me though, I had to stop myself from choking on my second serving. The meat was pleasantly hearty and oh so savoury, the veggies were crisp and accented the meat and broth in a way that almost brought me to tears. And the noodles? Oh god, The NOODLES! Not too chewy or soggy and just full of that processed flavour that reminds me of the Campbell's canned soups I ate as kid, during snowy days. Now the broth, the broth did actually make me tear up a bit. Despite its cheap flavour, which was still more than I was used to, it reminded me of the instant noodle broth from my old life. You know, the ones that come in a box with that little bullion cube. Thankfully, I had the presence of mind to discreetly wipe the tears away before they were noticed. Last thing I need is some gonk thinking he can kick my ass because of a couple manly tears.

I'm not completely sure if it was the fact that it was my first meal in... pretty much forever, or if it was just an Uzumaki thing, but my first meal since I got this new Life... was truly an experience."

Just as I was standing up to leave, the booming sound of gunfire drew my attention towards the main road. Not the first time I've heard gunshots, mind you, not even the first time in the last hour. This is Night City, after all, guns make up 1/4th of the population. But these shots were closer, much closer. I run towards the clear signs of havoc and chaos, ducking through alleys and jumping fences on my way. That wasn't a good idea, as it turns out, as whatever physical training I had in my old body didn't translate over to this one. By the last fence, I was wheezing just trying to catch my breath, and when I pulled myself up to the top, I didn't have the energy to lower myself and fell straight to the ground, face first. You can bet fucking cardio training is going on the to-do list now. Fucking ow. I ended up limping for a few feet until my regeneration kicked in, and my aches and pains steadily disappeared, even regrew the missing piece of tooth I chipped off.

I reach the main road just in time to see two cars, a boxy, expensive looking muscle car and a hot pink monstrosity that looked like the weird bastard child of a pick-up truck and a Humvee, speeding by, the latter chasing the former. I was just able to catch sight of one of the guys in the truck kick open some kind of hatch in the roof and crawl out of it. He was holding something in his hands that made my blood run cold...

"Oh fuck, that's a rocket launcher."

No sooner had the words left my lips did the mohawk-wearing gangster pull the trigger, a thunderous explosion rocked the city street as the missile hit its target: The back wheel well of the muscle car. The entire back wheel of the car was vapourized, the explosive force of the blast strong enough to launch the car up into the air, flipping end over end as it sailed further down the street. It finally came back down to earth a moment later, touching base for only a second before it crashed headlong into another car that had just been crossing the intersection at that moment. Both cars continued to tumble down the street, bleeding off momentum with each flip of the hood, until they finally came to a stop in the middle of the road: the Lime green car resting right up on the side, partially tipped over a guard rail, and the civilian car resting on its hood, all of it's windows shattered to pieces.

All the chaos finally came to a standstill after a few moments, and I let my legs carry me closer to the scene, wanting to see if I could possibly help. I ended up getting mixed in with a crowd of onlookers, all taking pictures and selfies of the crash sight from a distance away. It didn't take long for the trauma team to show up in their... I honestly forget what it's called, Their hover-bus-ambulance-thing and start pulling people out of cars. One of the people in the muscle car must have had a really expensive Medicare package, because it was barely a minute before they showed up. They were all piss and vinegar, guns out and ready, keeping civilians back while they worked. Only, For some reason, the people in the other car weren't getting any attention, They were being passed over by the medic team. From where I was, I could see two people that were in a bad position. An older woman clad in the brightest yellow jacket I've ever seen, who was laying on the ground a few feet away from what must have been her vehicle, and a young man, 15….maybe 16 at most, was still stuck in the car.

They were right there, clearly hurt, and the medic team was just passing over them like it's no big deal, like they aren't even there. The fuck is wrong with these people?

Fucking Night City, ladies and gentlemen: that's what's wrong. When it's good, it's good. When it goes bad, it's horrific.

What made it even worse though, was that the kid was still awake. He's strapped upside down in the seat of the wrecked car, calling out for his mom with panic rising in his voice, reaching out for her desperately. And all his desperate pleas, his cries for help, are being completely ignored by the trauma team.

It didn't take me long to make a decision.

"Right, Fuck waiting on the sidelines, I'm not sitting back."

As soon as the Trauma team flew away with their "Precious cargo", I started striding across the asphalt toward the car, ignoring the whispers and questions from the crowd behind me. The woman was technically closer, but I wanted to take care of the kid first, his cries and panicking about his mom clearly nearing the breaking point by now. Besides, if I can find a way to help the mom, the last thing I needed was a distressed kid losing his shit in the passenger seat. My intention to help, however, was lost on him, as when I got closer, he started freaking out even more. I duck down to the broken window, making sure not to accidentally kneel in any broken glass, and take a look in the car.

It looked like the airbags deployed, on the passenger side, anyway, but the driver side didn't. The driver side didn't even have its door still attached, or its seat bolted to the floor. I turned to look back at the mom, but she wasn't still strapped to it, so where did the seat go then? The kid, who shut up the moment I looked at him, was strapped by his seat by some weird kind of seat belt I've never seen before: It kind reminded me of those amusement park seat belts that go over the chest, with three straps that locked into the fourth's circular latch in the centre. It certainly explained how he was still here in the seat: Those things are nearly impossible to break.

I look back to the kid's eyes and speak in a low but calm tone, "Hey choom, Can you move?"

"H-huh?", The kid replies, clearly still frightened and worried.

"I said: Can you move?"

"Y-yeah, but the belt lock is broken, I can't open it!"

I clicked my tongue in frustration, "Then I'll have to do this the hard way.", I replied, before spinning out a kunai from my forearm holster, catching it in a reverse grip. Random side note: I've always wanted to do that. The kid clearly didn't share my enthusiasm, as his eyes went wide and he started to panic even worse than before. I'm probably gonna have to work on my bedside manner too... I'll add it to the list that keeps getting longer.

"Relax, choom, I'm just gonna cut you out of there.", I say, keeping my voice even and calm. He seemed to calm down a bit, but I know it wasn't because of the tone: I could see his eyes start to flutter and his breathing slow. He's starting to lose consciousness, he's been upside too long. That's definitely not good. I reach out and give a quick pat on the face, "Come on, Don't fall asleep on me now, we still gotta get you out." He starts awake, looking around frantically before settling on me. I crawl through the open window to start cutting at one of the straps, though it's proving to be a bit of a bitch."

I try to start up a conversation to keep the kid talking and awake, "Hey kid, What's your name?"

"It's... It's David."

"Alright, David, I'm Akira."

"Ak-Akira?"

"Yup." I reply, finally making it through one of the straps. "So, David, I gotta warn you about something."

"What?"

"You may wanna tuck your head a bit.", I say when I notice that the strap I was working on was already frayed.

"Why?"

"Because in about three seconds, you're gonna fall on it.", I say, making one last cut. With a quiet snap, the last few fibres of the belt break apart and David falls free. Sadly, he failed to follow my warning, slamming his brown-haired noggin on the roof, the rest of his body falling to the side.

"Fuck... Gravity is a PMS-ing bitch." A groan of pain was his rebuttal.

Yup...", I reply, without a hint of remorse. I reach out and grab him by the shoulders after putting away my kunai, slowly pulling him and myself out of the broken car. The kid was still rubbing his head when he crossed the threshold of the window, where I set him against the wheel well of the car, sitting him up to help the blood drain away from his brain. I gave him a quick once over, making note of any injuries he had. Thankfully, there were only some cuts here and there, a few bruises, and a particularly bad gash across his forehead. Aside from those, he was mostly fine. And a bit dizzy, but eh, you can't win 'em all. Next, time to deal with the mother.

I pat the kid on the shoulder, trying to reaffirm to him a bit, "Alright kid, you sit here till you stop feeling light headed, I'm gonna go check on your mom, Alright?" The kid has a concerned look flash across his face, a small muttering of "mom" escaping his lips as he tries to scramble to his feet, but I hold my grip firm and keep him in place. He looks at me, with a pleading look this time, but I just give him a stern look back and a head shake. He still struggled a bit, but after a moment, he sighed and reluctantly nodded his head, clearly still wanting to help his mom. I give him a nod of my own and stand back up, heading towards the mother still on the side of the road, still not moving from where she landed.

I very, oh so carefully turned the woman over so that she was laying on her back, so I could better examine her. I'm no Medic Nin, and at that moment, I was really regretting not taking that specialisation, as I couldn't fully understand and effectively treat everything that was wrong with her. Especially not in the middle of the road with no supplies. There were obvious things: There was blood starting to pool on her side from a puncture, but I couldn't see any debris sticking out, so maybe it was internal? A broken rib, perhaps? Then there was a good amount of bruises, much more severe than the ones that David had, hidden under the clothes, which I had to pull back to see. That was when I also saw how... Thin the woman actually was. That jacket hid more than the bruises: The woman was clearly suffering from some form of malnutrition, borderline gaunt in places. Judging from the bags around her eyes from me checking if her pupils were responsive, she's suffering from exhaustion as well. When I checked her pulse, It was low, faint, just barely there at all. This woman was at death's door, It was a surprise she wasn't gone already by that point.

'It's too public, can't risk exposing myself this early...', I thought. The potential ramifications of what I was thinking crossed my mind. It's a power never seen in this world after all, there's gotta be untold numbers of powerful people who would kill without question to get it. It was almost enough to make me back off... Then my gaze fell back to David, The kid still leaned back up against the car, looking on with hope in his eyes. His eyes, nearly bursting with tears, looked like they were trying to scream me a message, one that pulled at something in my chest, something that had felt numb up until that moment. "Please, save my mom." His eyes pleaded, "Please... Don't let him leave me all alone..."

God... Damn that look, it's entirely unfair.

I turn my attention back to the woman in my arms, a slight growl leaving my throat as my decision cements itself in my mind.

'Time for drastic measures...', I think, with no small bit of hesitation, Before shifting my jaw and... slamming down on the inside of my lower lip, biting through the soft flesh and filling my mouth with the iron-y taste of blood. "I sure hope this works."

I bring my head down to the woman's chest, checking for a heartbeat first, before I move it up to her mouth to listen for breathing. Both were very faint, much like her pulse. Gotta make sure it's believable first, just in case somebody is watching too closely. Then, with a turn of my head, I pressed my lips to hers... and began to blow. Drawing on the familiar feeling that I'd discovered back at the apartment, I channelled my chakra, My life energy, into the woman through my lips, each breath and drop of blood drawing more and more energy than the last. I break for a moment to catch my own breath, pressing my hands to the center of her chest a moment later, pushing down on her sternum in a rhythmic motion to stimulate her heart. After another moment, I go back to giving her mouth-to-mouth.

This idea, by any stretch, only has the slimmest margins of actually working. That is, if it even works like I think it does. See, In the universe of Naruto, there's a little known fact about the Uzumaki Clan, That I am now technically part of: Their chakra has natural healing properties. It was only ever used a handful of times in the series itself, in fact, I think it was just three times total, the most notable time of which was when Sasuke had to bite Karin in order to be healed. It's never really explained why he had to do this, or why they have this property in the first place, but hey, I wasn't about to question it now. Anyway, there's always been a fan theory I've subscribed to that stated that the healing ability, It's not actually the biting or even just the chakra that makes it work... It's the actual blood that's the key. The blood, when consumed while it's charged with the Uzumaki Clan's brand of chakra, stimulates and encourages the body's natural healing factor to an absurd degree. So, theoretically, the blood didn't have to come from the arm, it could come from anywhere... Or at least, that's the crack-pot fan theory. And right now, I'm hoping that pot ain't as cracked as it and forth I went with the faux-CPR routine, with each rotation trying to channel even more chakra into the woman's body. Thank Rob for Uzumaki genes and their massive broken levels of reserve. I was bleeding so much chakra doing this, I was sure I would have passed out long before the point I was at. But if fucking Karin of all people can do this untrained, I sure as hell can too. The moment's ticked on, and I was starting to lose my nerve, as she wasn't showing any improvement. I kept at it harder, pouring even more chakra with each breath, despite the pain of having to keep biting my lip over and over again fucking with my concentration.

Just when I was about to give up, just when I was about to throw in the towel, believing she was too far gone, I heard the most magical sound...

(Gasp)

The woman takes a gasping breath, one that quickly turns into a coughing fit, and considering where my face was, I got quite a bit of splashback. It's a weird feeling, having your own blood spit back in your face... and being happy about it.

The woman looked up to me when her coughing died down, clearly dazed and confused. "What... What happened?", she asked, voice noticeably hoarse.

"Quite a bit, Ma'am.", I reply, shimmying my arms under her shoulders to help her sit up a bit. She winced a bit at the contact, and sucked in air at the movement. "There's been a wreck. Your car was-"

Her eyes widened with panic and she lurched up, ignoring her previous pain, and began looking around the scene with a frantic pace. "David!", she called out at the top of her voice, pushing me to the side to look behind my back, and when her eyes landed on the sight of her son leaning against the car, she bolted from my arms and stumbled towards the car. Her calling his name did not go unnoticed by the boy in question, however, as the sight of his mother seemingly okay caused tears to rain down his cheeks, the look of pure relief positively radiant with joy. He also bolted from his spot, less shaky on his feet than his mother, but no less frantic. When they both met in the middle, they grasped onto each other in a tight embrace as then kneeled on the pavement, just trying to hug each other harder till one of them popped like a balloon. At least, that's what it looked like to me.

My attention was drawn away from the heartfelt reunion when the familiar rumbling of the trauma bus could be heard getting closer, eventually touching base on the street a little further up the road. Three more EMTs jumped out of the vehicle and started walking our way. Their stance got a little aggressive when they noticed I was there and went straight for me, once again ignoring the mother and son.

"Hey!", the head EMT yelled, getting up in my face like he was trying to teach me a lesson, "What are you doing here!? This is an active scene, all civilians are to evacuate the area." The guy on his left accentuated the point by levelling his gun at me, what looked like a sub-machine gun.

Now, normally, I would be shitting my pants right now, as I had no assumptions that he wouldn't fill me with lead as soon as look at me. A lot of the people in positions of power in the night city had a bad habit of letting the power go to their head, especially in the Corpo sect. But this wasn't normally: This was me after expending pretty much 99% of my chakra in an improper medical procedure, and the massive physical toll that took, In a city where the big guy pushes the little guy around if he smells the smallest bit of weakness, and with the [Cool, Calm, And Collected] perk. I was so past "Fuck it" that the only thing stopping me shooting all three of them in the kneecaps was the possible legal ramifications... and the fact that I didn't have a gun yet. Add that to "The List".

"I was here doing your job.", I say back to the EMT, my voice dry and humourless. The head EMT recoiled back a bit, as if he couldn't believe what I'd said. His friend levelled the gun at me even harder, clearly not taking the slight well. "Care to repeat that, Civilian?", he spat, the word "civilian" coming out like some great insult.

I crossed my arms and levelled a stare at the man, "I said: I was here doing your job.", I repeated, toneless. I level a finger at the muscle car that got hit with the missile, still on it's side, "You came and grabbed the assholes in that car first...", I shifted to point my thumb at the mother-son pair hugging behind me, "...While leaving an unconscious woman in the middle of the road and her teenage son screaming for help in an overturned car." My arm came back down to rest over my chest, but the empty glare that I levelled at the three men continued. "Someone had to step in, since you clearly weren't going to, dicking about somewhere else and all."

The gun-toting EMT took special exception to my comment and stepped even closer, actually placing the gun against my chest now, and I can hear a strangled growl escape his throat from under his helmet. I didn't look at him, keeping my eyes trained on the lead EMT, completely unphased. "Now listen, you cocky Red-haired bastard, I don't know who you think you are, But you're gonna-"

"I'm no one.", I interrupt, still keeping my eyes straight ahead, and based on the way the other two EMTs were backing away, they found my gaze unnerving. "The Woman suffered a mild cardiac arrest upon being launched from the vehicle, severe bruising, and several cuts. I performed CPR to restart her, and will be taking her to a proper medical facility for further treatment.", I rattle off, doing my best to seem official and as in charge as possible. And based on how they didn't speak for a moment, I stunned them silent with my stoic bullshit. I uncrossed my arms and turned around, pushing the gun barrel away like it was a toy, much to the befuddlement of the EMT holding it. Walking back towards the pair, I call out over my shoulder, "You're no longer needed here."

The funniest part: they didn't even try to stop me, they just let me go.

The pair, still hugging but watching the encounter, are just as confused as the EMTs when I walk up to the both of them, help them, and start walking in a random direction away from the scene. They, in their confusion, also just went along with it, completely unprompted.

God I love Charisma.

/-/

Standing in the middle of the road, three Corpo sponsored EMTs, as well as the nearby crowd of dozens of people looking on, And even one random security technician who just so happens to be watching the scene through the security cameras at that moment, All simultaneously had the exact same thought cross their mind.

"...What the hell just happened?"

/-/

"Hey there, Mr. Noodle man, Can I get three more beef bowls, and can you make one of them extra spicy?"I asked, standing back at the noodle stand I had left only ten minutes before. The look he gave me was... odd, to say the least. Like, I was the weird one between the two of us. He had hair with RGB lighting for fucks sake.

"Damn, Kid.", he replies, but nonetheless starts putting the bowls together. "Do you have a bottomless stomach or something? Keep eating at this rate, and I may run out of noodles."

I rolled my eyes at his grumbling, "Something like that.", I said back, the boisterous groaning in my stomach making its presence known. "Don't skimp out on the artificial Daikon, will ya?"

"Yeah yeah...", He grumbled again, but didn't continue the conversation further as he turned his focus to his craft.

Meanwhile, I was leaning on the stand with my elbows, chin resting on my fist, quietly lamenting the... unforeseen side effect of my new power set. See, as it turns out, there's a reason so many shounen protagonists can eat several times their body weight in calories: They fucking need to. Chakra, or whatever my weird ass version it is, not only makes me wanna nap like the dead when I've exhausted the reserves, it also makes me hungry enough to look at a whole cow and think, "...if I could just find a big enough bun." Yeah, this is my third trip back to the stand since leaving the crash scene.

Still leaning against the stand, my eyes wander off to the side, landing on my current company for the evening. The mother and son, who I had unwittingly roped into my "Fake it till you make it" act towards the Trauma team, were sitting on a concrete planter that got nowhere enough sun needed to actually grow anything, the mother, Who I found out was named Gloria, sat on the railing itself, while David sat on the ground, legs crossed and leaning back for support. They both were slurping on their own bowls, Gloria more enthusiastically than her son. She had initially been hesitant to accept my offer to buy them lunch, saying that I had already done enough, but when I set the bowl down in front of her and made it clear I wasn't going to eat it, she dove into it with gusto. David just started eating the second I handed him the bowl, not asking further questions. He is still a teenager, after all, he's allowed to be a little stupid.

I took them both to whatever the Cyberpunk equivalent of a "Doc in a box" was, which patched them up for a few thousand eddies. Gloria, despite the fact that she was almost dead before, was actually the one in better shape of the two. My chakra did a fucking banger of a job. Whatever puncture in her side I'd theorised she had was gone, along with the broken rib that most likely caused it. Aside from most of the bruising, and the preexisting malnutrition, she was perfectly fine. David was a little worse for wear, with a mild concussion that we have to look out for, some cuts from the glass, and more bruising. Doc just wrapped his cuts in bandages and gave him a puff of one of those healing inhalers that I recognized from the game. Turns out, they're pretty much just aerosolized painkillers with some other stuff in it to fight infections and swelling, not anything that heals you. Go figure.

"Order Up!"

My attention was drawn back to the noodle man as he placed three more bowls in front of me, each wafting off that heavenly aroma, though one had a bit more kick to it. Just like I wanted. I thank the man and flick him his money, with a bit of a tip, which get's a nod of acknowledgement and wry smirk. I load up my arms with the bowls and head back over to the duo, which grabs their attention as I sit back down on the wooden bunch just across from them. I set the two other bowls on the seat beside me, keeping the spice one in hand, and started digging in. As soon as the broth touches my lips... My god, I forgot how spice felt. The sensation of heat that coated my tongue was incredibly painful, yet wonderfully nostalgic. The heat only increased when I had finished the noodles and the fixings, leaving just the broth left. That is where the most spice lies, The broth. Most people forgot that when doing spice challenges in my old life: you always have to drink the broth too. I tipped the bowl to my lips and started gulping it down without remorse, the whole thing disappearing into my gullet in thirteen seconds flat. With one final gulp, I set the bowl down with a satisfied sigh, the quelling heat in my stomach filling me with a pleasant warmth.

I open back up my eyes, only to see Gloria and David looking at me, giving me the same weird look that the Noodle Man gave me. "What?"

"Dude.", started David, chopsticks resting on top of a bowl that was almost half empty, but was probably mostly broth. "That's your seventh bowl. How the hell have you not blown up yet?" He asked in equal parts confusion and awe. He held up the bowl for emphasis, "I'm only half done."

"Indeed.", his mother agreed, though her bowl was nearing empty by this point. She looked me up and down with an analytical gaze, "Eating like that, I'm surprised you don't weigh four-hundred pounds."

I gave a little chuckle at that. "What can I say...", I shrugged my shoulders, "I've got a fast metabolism." No sooner do I say that, then does my stomach let out another growl, and I wince at a flash of hunger pangs. "Really fucking fast, goddamn...", I grumble at the absurdity of the situation and grab one of the other bowls. The mother and son look at each other, before looking back at me, questions clear on their faces. I could only take the staring for a minute or so before I took a break from the delicious noodles, "What?"

"O-oh, I'm sorry.", stuttered Gloria looking off to the side for a moment before looking back. "I didn't mean to stare, Mr...", she trails off awkwardly, most likely just realising that we'd never actually introduced ourselves until now.

"His name's Akira, Mom.", chimes in David, a small smirk on his face as he takes another bite of noodles. He stops for a moment before quickly swallowing his mouthful, "Your name's actually Akira, Right? It's not like some weird alias, is it?", he asked, gesturing at me with his chopsticks.

I give him a nod, "Yup, That's my name, Don't wear it out..." I reply, taking another sip of the broth.

"Well, Akira-san-"

"I don't work for Arasaka, Ma'am.", I quickly cut her off, which catches her off guard, if her expression is anything to go by. "And I wouldn't care about honorifics even if I did. You can talk plainly.", I may be a self-titled Weeb, but I don't deal with that -san-chan-sama stuff. Never understood how sub watchers could keep all that shit straight. Fucking weeaboos.

"Are you sure?", she asked, her voice a little soft, "With how you talked to those medics, I had assumed..." She seems to take a moment to collect herself, before schooling her expression. "Very well. Akira, While I am very grateful for your assistance with our injuries and...", She trails off again for a moment, "A-anyway, I-I have some questions, if you don't mind.", she asked, just a bit too quickly, I noticed.

With a slight shrug, I said, "Fire away, ask what you want. There's no guarantee I'll answer 'em though.", keeping my expression neutral and uncaring. I had no idea what she might ask about, but I was confident I could make up something good enough that she'll accept.

She slowly nodded at my words, falling silent for a moment, probably trying to choose the right questions to ask. A moment later, she spoke. "Why did you help us? We're total strangers to you, yet you not only helped us at the site of the crash, you've also since paid for our medical bills and even paid for this meal. Why is that, if you don't mind me asking?"

It didn't take me long to formulate a response, as the reasoning was really simple, really. "Because I wanted to."

Judging by the looks on their faces, that wasn't the answer they expected. "You wanted to?", Asked David, incredulous.

I just shrugged again. "Yeah. I mean, what other reason would I need?", I asked, brow raised, "I saw the crash, Saw you two hurt and nobody was helping, so I stepped in. Not much more to it. Besides..." I stop for a moment, trying to be careful with my words, as they are both a little sensitive right now, "I could see the local flock, the vultures getting antsy and start to circle. I had to clear you both out of there before they... started swooping low, if you know what I mean." A sombre nod from the both of them showed that they knew what I was referring to: The Scavs. Just one of the many gangs that called night city home, The Scav's name is quite appropriate, as that's what they do: Scavenge tech and junk to make a quick buck. Quite violently, too. If you had something they wanted, there was pretty much no stopping them from trying to take it. And it wasn't just regular stuff they would take either, stuff like cars and weapons. Oh no, They also dealt in Chrome, the cyberware that everyone augmented themselves with in this city. Thing is; they didn't have any qualms about stealing from the living or the dead. It was a sad fact about Night City, nothing is too taboo for cash.

"T-then...", Gloria started, her face sunken and reluctant as she considered her next words. She averted her eyes as she spoke, "What sort of... 'Payment' are you expecting from all this, Akira?" I noticed how both Gloria and David subtly tensed at the question.

"Payment?", I echoed with a raised brow. I had a slight idea of what she was getting at, but I didn't want to jump to conclusions.

"There are no free rides in Night City, Akira, everyone knows this. Especially those from the slums, like us. No good deed goes without punishment or cost, and...", she paused, gaze shifting down to the bowl in her hands, "We're not very well of right now, and thanks to the wreck, we're no doubt going to be even worse off, needing to either pay for repairs or scrap it and find a new car with whatever cash that got us." Her voice started to sound very... Vulnerable, for lack of a better word, and I could see a small glimmer forming at the corner of her eyes. She looked back up to me, eyes locked onto mine, a well of resignation tinged with despair staring back at me. "B-But, if you seek payment, you can have whatever we get from the car if you want. It's not much, but it should be enough to buy us time to scrape the money together, right?" It was clearly painful for her to speak the words, and judging from the lump in her throat she'd just swallowed, along with her reaching up to tightly grip her jacket closed, my assumption had been correct. I was suddenly very uncomfortable in my seat, and from the death glare David was sending to the side of my head, he'd reached the same conclusion as I had. "I-If not, then-"

"Stop.", I held up a hand and interrupted her train of thought, because I could actually feel the bile reaching up the back of my throat at that point. She froze in her seat, slightly shaking a bit, David bracing himself to leap at me out of the corner of my eye. "This conversation has taken a turn into... territory that I'm not at all comfortable with. Ma'am, I'm not at all interested in... *that* from you. I'm not sure what kind of dealings you've had with other people, but trust me, that thought never crossed my mind.", I explained straight out. While I can admit, Gloria is a rather attractive woman for her age, The idea of... Coercion and blackmail for that kind of stuff just makes me deeply upset. I wish I could say I was surprised by the insinuation, but, and it's starting to sound like a broken record at this point, Night City is mega fucked up. Like, It may not be out of the question in thinking that burning the city to the ground and starting over somewhere else would be the best option. Either that, or going all Batman and beating the shit out of every problem child in the city until they start behaving.

Actually... That may not be a bad idea.

Gloria

To say that Gloria Martinez was elated when she'd heard the young man's words would have been the understatement of the century. Ever since she was brought back to consciousness by his... efforts, she'd been dreading having this conversation.

She and her son were poor, dirt poor. They'd only just been keeping their heads above water all this time, with those tuition fees for that blasted school only adding more pressure on her shoulders. When taking extra shifts wasn't enough to cover it, she'd secretly gotten a second job. When that wasn't enough, she took extra shifts at that other job, sacrificing all but two hours of her sleep in the process. When that didn't work, she started skipping meals, hoping the pocket change that saved would add up enough to matter. And when that didn't work, much to her shame, she let her desperation carry her to do the one thing she'd never wanted: She'd become a Scav, if not in name, then certainly in behaviour. Using her position as an EMT, she'd been secreting away whatever Chrome she could get away with, small things that no one would miss or could be explained away as being damaged for one reason or another, and selling it to a black market dealer she'd met years ago. It was the worst thing she'd ever decided to do, but even being smothered under the guilt of her actions did not make her forget the reasons why she did it; her son. Her baby boy, even if he hated being called that now, that is what he will always be to her. She loved her son, and wanted to give him the life she couldn't get, With a good education at a high ranked school, just dripping with job prospects to attract the corporate job offers. Once he got one and made a good life for himself, only then would she feel that her job as a mother would be done.

All that added up to where she was before she crossed that fateful intersection: Exhausted, malnutritioned, guilt ridden.

The explosion was so sudden, she'd only heard it a few seconds before the car that had been struck crashed into theirs. She'd heard the sound of screaming ripped from her own throat as she felt the bolts keeping the seat in place suddenly snap in the tumble, the rusted joints of the car door laughable giving way as it and she were launched from the car at high speed. When they slammed into the road the first time, she crashed into it with her back, the seat only serving to break her fall enough to snap the seatbelts on impact and flying off in a random direction once they were airborne again. From there, the forward momentum carried her even further until she hit the ground again, this time on her side, shattering her ribs and slamming her head into the pavement. She'd only conscious for a few more moments before she slipped into the veil of unconsciousness, just coherent enough to realise that she most likely won't be waking up again, not in the shape she was in. Her last thoughts were of her son, lamenting that she couldn't see him grow up into the fine man she knew he would. She wouldn't be able to meet the girl he brought home, wouldn't be able to give a toast on her wedding day, or even meet her beautiful grandchild someday. That part hurt the worst.

Then... She woke up.

With a startled gasp, she inhaled deeply, the sudden influx triggering her gag reflex and making her cough up a storm. She rolled over onto her side and did her best to expunge the fluid she'd felt had built up in her throat, and noticed it tasted iron-y, like blood. Though layered under the blood taste, there was a deeper flavour, a hearty flavour. A sweet, intoxicating flavour. One that, in her temporary delirium, she had longed for more of. So much more. She couldn't describe this flavour any better than that, it was so... Different, than anything she'd tasted before, and even now, she still couldn't describe it any better.

When her coughing fit died down, she leaned back, expecting to land on her back, but instead, she felt herself being held, wrapped in a pair of arms. She opened her eyes and saw the face of a young man that couldn't have been older than twenty, with short red and black hair, and a large splatter of blood on the lower half of his face. He wiped it off a moment later and his face was positively radiant, smiling down at her for a reason she couldn't think of. She had the clearness of mind to ask what was going on, and when he explained that there'd been a wreck, her entire world snapped into sharp focus as panic set in. She sprung up to a sitting position in an instant, still in pain, but nowhere near as much as there should have been, and whatever was there was completely forgotten in her search for her baby boy. She saw him sat on the side of the road, leaned up against the flipped over wreckage of their former car.

She stumbled to her feet and ran toward her child, who stood up on his own and ran the way to meet her. She embraced him tightly, genuinely scared to let go, afraid that this was some sort of deathbed hallucination, and that he'd slip through her fingers like dust. When she felt his arms wrap around her back and tighten just as desperately, she knew that it wasn't a dream: She was still here. Still alive. She didn't even try to stop the tears that rained down her cheeks, nor the incoherent sobbing gibberish that escaped her lips. Her son didn't voice any protest, as he was as impossible to understand through the crying.

Not long later, A commotion happening from behind drew her and her son's attention. They saw the young man now known to her as Akira talking to the EMTs that had apparently arrived while she was hugging her son, though the scene was quickly growing tense. She couldn't hear what they were saying, but with the way one of the men suddenly levelled his gun to Akira's chest, she feared the encounter would soon turn bloody. During her time on the job, she'd met many individuals who'd developed a bit of an inflated ego, inevitably abusing their power on everyone except the highest level of package holders in some form or another. When the man with the gun actually stepped forward and placed the barrel against Akira's chest, she felt that her fears had been correct. She subtly shifted her form to be completely in front of her son, acting as a shield in case of any stray fire. But, instead of a hail of gunfire like she expected, Akira simply... pushed the gun away. Like it meant nothing. And the part that made her brain stutter a bit was... the EMT just let him do it. No threats, no yelling, no trying to arrest him, nothing. None of them even tried to stop him as he started walking away from them.

She was mentally flabbergasted at the sight, not only of the audacity of the young man, but also the fact that it *Worked*. She didn't know what he had said to those men, but if his words alone had the power to shut down the *Trauma Squad*... She began to fear for her and her son's safety. Any person with that kind of influence had to be really high up the food chain of Night City's pecking order, and those so high up are notorious for abusing their power in... gruesome ways, the few times she'd been called to a CEO's residence to "clean up" after a party painted a picture that lived rent free in her nightmares. And that kind of person was walking towards her and her son with an annoyed look on his face...

For the next hour, she did her best to follow his orders without question, fearing what would happen if she'd angered him, While trying to find a way to get out of the situation as cleanly as possible. The tension started to mount in her stomach, however, when he brought her to a local clinic, one that proudly proclaimed that they did Chrome removal and replacements on the signage out front. When she was brought into a room, she braced herself for a number of awful things, but... they never came. When the doctor came into the room, she gave her a completely normal check-up. No funny business, no scoping out possible implants, just a normal health exam. She did have to take some blood to run some tests, but that was it. The results soon came back and, according to the doctor, she was perfectly fine... That should not have been possible. She clearly remembers the excruciating pain she felt when she hit the pavement, she remembers the sound of her bones caving in on impact. Yet, again, according to the doctor, Aside from the side effects of her work, some bruising that was still sore, and an abnormally high white blood cell count, she was perfectly healthy.

The doctor continued to talk for a bit after that, but her responses were canned as her mind was somewhere else. Her mind simply couldn't understand what was going on. People didn't just suddenly have ruined ribs mend themselves. At least, not normally. It wasn't until later that she was drawn out of her fugue by her son. They'd been dragged to some random concrete park somewhere once they left the clinic, one that looked like it'd seen better days. Akira was standing in front of her, holding out what looked like the most delicious bowl of ramen she'd ever seen. The aroma of it alone made her stomach growl in protest when she tried just to think about turning it down, given that it was the first full meal she'd had in weeks. Nevertheless, she tried to decline it, not wanting to put herself further in debt to the man, the several thousand eddies he'd already spent for their medical care hanging over her head. She had to reluctantly accept it, however, as it had been made clear that he would not let her say no to the food. They found some seating nearby and started to eat.

And, much to her shame, the next few minutes were a bit of a blur as she ate the meal with the ravenous fervour of the starving woman she was.

This brings us back to the current time, having their tension filled conversation with the young man they'd become indebted to, in more ways than one.

Gloria had to take a minute to compose herself, the admission from the young man before her truly did take a weight off her shoulders. "I-Is that so? Well, thank goodness for that.", she replied, quickly using the sleeve of her jacket to wipe her eyes. *That* option was something she dreaded taking, especially with her son sitting so close by. She didn't think she could bare the shame of knowing that her son knew she'd done something so... she wouldn't be able to look him in the eye anymore. She didn't think he would hold it against her, given how desperate a position they were in, but she would be able to live it down regardless. She cleared her throat before addressing the young man again. "So, What do you want, then?"

The young opened his mouth to speak, but quickly closed it and fell silent. She'd hoped, just for a moment, that he'd say that he didn't want anything and that they could just leave. That would be the best outcome, Gloria decided. It is the one that would cause them the fewest problems, financially at least. The young man continued his silence for a long moment, bringing his hand up to his chin in a classic thinking pose. He also had a very animated face, she noticed, as he was very honest with his facial features whilst thinking. He gestured with his eyebrows, tilted his head back and forth, even his eyes fwhipped all around rather quickly. It was a very deep thought, or maybe just as likely, he was talking to someone through . Or, at least, someone was talking to him, since he wasn't saying anything out loud at all. If that was the case, it wasn't doing anything to help her nerves. It was also somewhat rude, in her opinion. They were already having a conversation, after all, though she wouldn't voice her opinion out loud.

It was several moments later that the young man finally turned his attention back to the topic at hand, gaze focusing back on her. "You know...", He started, leaning back on the stamped metal bench, "...I'm not really worried about the money. Truth be told, I have more money than I need at the moment."

Gloria felt herself suddenly take a breath, the desperate hope that the best-case-scenario would come true filled her chest.

"But...", he started again, and she felt her breath hitch. Akira reached up and rubbed the back of his neck, "...I can get a good idea of how you people feel about debts around here, so how about a proposal?" He brought his hand back down and with a flick, a small blade slid out from his sleeve and into his waiting hand. The gesture set the pit in her stomach into overdrive, and would be well on its way to giving her a panic attack, but instead of attempting to stick her admittedly frozen form, he simply turned the blade around and started cleaning the underside of his nails. She let out a small breath in relief as he continued talking, still looking at his nails. "See, I'm new in town. Just got in Night City this morning, actually. I've had a pretty productive first day so far, wouldn't you say?", He asked with a smirk that, in any other situation, probably would have made her heart flutter a bit. Right now, It only served to put her on edge. "Anyway, Seeing as I'm new around here, and you're a couple of locals who just happen to be in the market for a new ride, Why don't we make a deal? I'll buy you a new set of wheels, and I'll hire you to drive me around in it, showing me the sights Night city has to offer and all that jazz. Interested?", He finished, that stupid smirk of his staring right back at her.

Gloria felt her mouth suddenly become very dry. He couldn't be serious, Right? He would buy them a brand new car, just like that? All just to play caddie for him around the city? No, it can't be true, It's too easy. There must be a catch, there's always a catch. No one would be willing to drop thousands of dollars on a couple of random strangers, even if he did plan on hiring her to be his driver. He would most likely just say that it's theirs, while it's actually in his name and he could take it away at any time, holding it over us to keep us indebted to him for years. That was probably it, he honestly wouldn't-

"Your salary would be 20K a month, of course."

... has stopped working, would you like to send a report?

Gloria doesn't know how long she sat there for, thousand-yard staring at the young man in front of her, face and mind completely blank. From an outsider's perspective, you would have seen her go stock still, eyes still and pupils wide, While her son was sitting only a few feet away, who was taking a sip of his soup at the time, do a spit take off to the side in a wide spray. He wiped his chin as he whipped his head back around, eyes also wide, only able to mutter a small, "H-Huh?", just as shocked as his mother.

Akira glanced at David, amusement clear on his face. "What do you think, David? Think that's a fair trade: A new car for a new job?", he asked, holding his hands out and mimicking the plates of a scale, raising one and lowering the other repeatedly.

"Fair?!", David asked back with a start, nearing a shout of disbelief, "Dude, What the fuck is that comparison? Do y-you know how much a new car costs? And that salary? What the fuck! Do you know how much 20k is worth?"

Akira sarcastically brought his hand up in a fake thinking pose, " Oh, I guess I'd say... 20,000$? I'm sorry, I never was all that good at this game. How close was I?", He snarked back, still smirking.

"Are... Are you insane?", He asked, barely a whisper, though still audible to Akira. The man in question shrugged his shoulders, "Eh, probably a little. I mean, you gotta be to make it in this town, right?" He raised a brow as he looked David up and down with a puzzled expression, before a look of realisation hit him, "And besides, I'd think my offer was more than fair, considering the uniform you're wearing." David starts, quickly looking down, only just remembering that he was still wearing his school uniform, only now it was dirty and very worn. "You go to Arasaka academy, right? That's their uniform. Mighty high-class school you're going to, there. The tuition fees for a place like that must be a right bitch, eh?" His eyes subtly shift over to his mother, who is still mentally rebooting, giving her an analytical look. "It would explain a few things..."

Before he can ask what Akira meant by that, his mom finally blinks.

"I'll do it.", She says resolutely, no hint of hesitation in her voice and a determined look on her face. "I'll become your driver."

"Wait, what!? Mom, you can't be serious?", David crows, incredulous.

"I am serious, Honey.", She admits, eyes falling to the boy with a look of sympathy, "He's right, Arasaka Academy is a very expensive school, and at the rate we're going now... I won't be able to keep up the payments anymore. If taking this job can make that easier, then I will absolutely do it."

"But mom, you don't have to-"

"I don't do this because I have to, David.", She cut him off, now using her patented "Mom Voice ''. David shut up immediately. "I do this because I want to. I do this because I love you, because I want you to have a better life in this god-forsaken city.", She continued, her voice getting slightly more emotional the more she spoke. She'd been bottling up these thoughts for a long time, not wanting to burden her child with unneeded stress. But right now, after what may have been the worst day in both of their lives, after nearly dying and not knowing how truly close she was to leaving her son behind, her control was steadily slipping. "I do this because I know that out of my entire family, you're the only one that has had the capability to make something of yourself, much more so than me. You have options, David! You're smart as a whip, strong, and have such an Oh-so big heart. That's the thing I love about you the most." Gloria slid across the concrete planter and wrapped her arms around her son, bringing him into a love-filled hug, holding his head to her chest and lightly stroking his hair with her fingertips. David was stock still, not expecting such an emotional response from his mom, ultimately deciding to return the hug, reaching around his mom and holding onto his back. It wasn't but a moment later that he felt something hit the top of his head. Despite the temperature, it felt so cold to him, because he knew what it was without having to ask, the restrained shaking of his mom being the only clue he needed. "...You're my baby boy...", She sobbed out, tears streaming down her cheeks, "A-And I almost l-lost you today. I c-can't bare the thought...", she trailed off, the emotion becoming too much to handle, breaking down into a sobbing mess holding onto her son for dear life once again.

As if spurred on by his mother's words, David tightened his grip on her, the emotion pouring out getting to him too. Before long, they're both crying once again. "I-I almost lost you too, Mom. I can't think of a life without you in it, not for all the eddies in the world." Her grip on him tightened even more, almost becoming crushing. The emotional turmoil of the scene was pushing David on, the under layer of his secret guilt becoming too much to bare, the words he'd been afraid to say for so long now spilling out like liquid butter. "Mom... I don't wanna go to Arasaka anymore."

"What?!", she cried with a start, pulling herself back from the embrace and looking her son in the eyes, "But Mijo, You-"

"I'm miserable, Mom.", He says, cutting her off with brutal honesty. She reels back like she'd been struck by his words. "I hate it there. I'm bullied almost every day by pompous, High-society fucks who think their better than me at every turn. They look at me like I'm something that someone scraped off their shoe. I haven't even made a single friend at the school because of rumours that were spread around, saying I was diseased...", with every word, the sadness on David's face steadily morphed into one of anger, venom dripping from his words. When he looks up and sees the look of shock on his face, he quickly drops his head in shame, afraid he's said too much. But with nothing that can be done about it, he keeps talking anyway, his voice especially fragile. "They hamper and harass me at every turn. I've come home with bruises that I've been too ashamed to show you. I know you work so hard mom but...", He leans his head forward, resting it on his mom's chest, "I can't take it anymore...", he quietly sobs, shaking, "I can't take it..."

For the third time today, Gloria was rendered speechless.

She had nothing to say, because there was nothing she could say. What could she say? Her son, her baby boy, had been suffering so, right under her nose. She'd been working so hard, too hard, that she never even noticed it. He'd always come home, saying that school was fine, that it was fun, just to put her mind at ease the littlest bit. All the while, she was oblivious to the pain he was going through in secret. It made her feel guilty about the things she'd done, the stealing, the overworking, the skipping meals, all that much worse. A very bitter feeling rose up at the back of her throat as she realised that all of it was for naught, that all the pain she'd suffered for her child's happiness was for nothing. In fact, it made it even worse, knowing that she was sending her son off to be abused by the place she was busting her back to get him into. She'd hurt her son, her own child, for nothing. Gloria once again brought her son in for a hug, though she was the one shaking, unable to hold her guilt in. "I'm so sorry, Mijo...", she whispered, "...I'm so sorry."

"I'm sorry too, Mom.", David whispered back, tightening the embrace even further.

"If you want to leave that horrid school, I will have a talk with the principals tomorrow. How does that sound?"

"It... It sounds great, Mom. T-Thank you..."

"No, Mijo, I'm sorry it took so long..."

The two continued hugging each other for a long moment, the emotional turmoil of such a harrowing day becoming just that much more bearable. They both soon let go, a matching pair of loving smiles shining, each looking like several tons of weight had been lifted off their backs. Gloria wiped away tears while David scooched a few feet down in embarrassment, his status as a teenager still peeking through, despite the touching moment.

"Well well...". Akira, who much to the mutual embarrassment of the pair, had gone completely unnoticed during their little breakthrough, looked just the littlest bit smug. Neither could guess why, and neither really wanted to at the moment. "I may need to make a dentist appointment, because that was way too sweet. Gonna lose all my teeth at this rate.", Both of them felt their cheeks flush with a rosy tint at his comments, Gloria's blush being slightly darker of the two, though she tried to hide it with the sleeve of her jacket, while David just looked away awkwardly. "Hey, no need to be embarrassed, It's cute. It's nice to see a mother and son who genuinely love and care for each other, you don't see too much of that nowadays. Not without someone getting shot, at least. Some people just can't show affection correctly, sadly."

"Well...", David started, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head, "It's not like we never get into fights...", he trailed off, lightly chuckling.

Gloria had to stifle a laugh at her son's admission, because it was so very true. They'd had some arguments, they had. "Indeed.", she said, bringing her sleeve back down when she felt her blush fade somewhat. Her gaze focused back on Akira, the tension in her body having all but left by now. "I apologise, Akira, it seems our talks have gotten derailed."

"They have.", he admits easily, giving a slight nod, "But that's okay. It probably wasn't the best idea to have such an important conversation so soon after the crash. Emotions were bound to be... unbalanced, to say the least. I... may have jumped the gun a bit.", he admits again, letting out his own embarrassed chuckle at the situation, one that Gloria returned. He then leans forward in his seat, propping his arms up on his knees, "Here, Why don't we put this conversation on hold for now?", he suggested, which earned him a raised brow from the both of them. "We can hash out the details tomorrow, so why don't you go home and get some rest, yeah? You both look like you could use a nap, and today has been long enough as it is.", he concluded, before standing up and stretching.

Gloria couldn't help but agree, the stress of today having already taxed her mental fortitude far more than she thought possible. She rose up to meet the young man, shortly followed by her son. "I think that's a wonderful idea.", she replied, taking a moment to hold out her hand to him. He curled a brow at the gesture, but accepted it easily, giving a firm shake that sent a shiver down her spine at how it felt, how rugged he loo- She mentally slapped herself in a panic, frantically questioning why her mind was going... *that* way. What was wrong with her, he's barely half her age for god's sake! "G-Gloria Martinez", she stumbled out, trying to shut down those traitorous thoughts before they could do more damage.

"Akira Uzumaki: A pleasure, Ma'am.", He introduced himself, that smirk they'd become familiar with plastered on his face, and the one that Gloria was cursing in the sanctity of her mind. With a quick swipe of his hand, she got a notification on her hud. It was a note with a number on it; a phone number. Akira then stepped back, disengaging the handshake, much to her relief, and started casually walking in the direction of the exit of the park. "Expect a call sometime in the morning, we'll talk more then. So for now, you both make it home safe, Alright?", He called out over his shoulder.

"D-Don't worry about us, we'll be fine.", She called out after him, to which he gave a reassuring nod back. Within a handful of steps, he turned a corner and was out of sight. Gloria let out a sigh, leaning over on her knees for support. Before she could properly relax, however, she received another notification; another note. It was from Akira.

Almost forgot...

Just then, two more notifications popped up, and she froze once more.

Here's your first advance. When you pick out the car, make sure it has a big back seat. I like to take naps.

E-Bank Deposit: 20,000$

"..."

"Mom?"

"..."

"You okay?"

"...(Thud)"

"MOM!"

Akira

I was strolling back towards the apartment when a familiar voice piped in again.

Sooo... Do you think it went well?

"I like to think so. They both looked less... nervous by the end. The mom certainly looked relieved, if anything. Though, that emotional episode came clean out of nowhere."

It's just like you said, Buddy, That crash really put them out of sorts. Still, that kind of drama is the stuff I live for! So much emotion! The regret, the heartfelt confessions, the tearful reconciliation!? I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. I ran out of popcorn I was shovelling in so fast.

"Yeah, I heard the crunching. Can you not make a habit of trying to commentate with your mouth full?"

No promises

"Ugh..."

...Do you think they'll take the offer?

"...God I hope so."

You messed with canon, Bud. I know it's not your fault, you were just doing what you thought was right, but you still changed things.

"I know... I can't even imagine how fucked things are going to get now."

That's the thing about changing fate, mijo, you can never predict how it will play out.

"...Don't call me that."

Alright, alright... You said both of them are supposed to die at some point, Right?

"Yeah... The mom was supposed to go in that crash. And David... It's a sad story. Heart wrenching, even. Forced to augment himself to protect the things he cares about... before ultimately succumbing to those very same augments in a final sacrifice to save the girl he loved..."

I see... Do you plan on changing that too?

"...You're goddamn right. That kid deserves his happy ending."

Then I hope you're ready to accept the responsibility... and able to face the consequences should things go wrong. There are no do-overs, Mi- Akira. Their fate is now in your hands, it's up to you to make it a good one.

I didn't say anything more on the walk home, as I knew exactly how right he was. See, I fucked up. Like, really fucked up.

David Martinez, future edgerunner and main protagonist of the Cyberpunk tv show. He's also an incredibly tragic figure in the cyberpunk universe, even more so than usual. Due to a experimental implant he gets, as well as a reckless habit he developed for modifying himself to gain more strength, he eventually succumbs to a disease known as Cyberpsychosis. It's a nasty side effect brought on by too much cyberware being implanted in the body, and there is no real cure for it. There's treatment for it, but after a certain point, you just become too far gone to be saved. The disease itself starts off slow: you begin to notice little things that feel different to you; noises that don't quite belong, scenery not looking quite right, stuff like that. Then, it's ramping up: you start to not like things you used to before, you begin having lapses in your memory, things become irritating for no reason. Then it gets worse: you start losing touch with reality, people you knew before start to become phantoms in your minds, hallucinations try to convince you what's real and what isn't. Then you start acting erratically, doing things with no rhyme or reason, with no sense of self-preservation, like stealing things from people even though you don't need them, or acting on random impulses, such as jumping off buildings to see if you can fly. Eventually, you become violent, aggressive. You start attacking people with reckless abandon and without care, with most often, your first victims being the very ones you loved and cared for.

It's a horrible fate to fall to; being doomed to eventually lose your mind, lose your sense of self, becoming a shell of who you once were as your body moves on its own, A sickly thing that only lives on for two things, violence... and destruction.

David was supposed to fall to this, The catalyst for his downfall though... Was the death of his mom, In a gang-related crash. It all stemmed from there.

And I changed that, I saved her. Now... I had no idea how things were going to turn out for them. Me saving her could lead them down an even darker path, an even worse fate down the road. if not just for them, but for the people around them. Hell, maybe night city itself. So, In a slight panic when I realised who they were, I asked Rob what I should do. His suggestion: take them under my wing, personally. Do what I can to make sure the change that I'd made in their fate was worth it, to make their lives worth it. And so, I did the only thing I could think of... I offered her a job.

Once I stepped through the front door of my apartment, the automatic lock clicking shut behind me, I finally felt like I could breathe again. The pollution outside that covered the city tore through my lungs like a cheese-grater, and if it weren't for my new healing factor, I would've probably been coughing up a lung every five minutes. Like, literally the whole lung. The air scrubbers in Hab complexes truly are something else, able to handle that level of smog.

The first thing I did after getting inside was rush to the shower, as I could still smell the outside on my clothes and it made me feel... unclean. Plus, showers are wonderful. One quick strip and a step into the shower, I was standing in a pelting rain of lukewarm water, enjoying the feeling of the droplets hitting my skin. I don't know how long I stood there, enjoying the sensation like a massage, but every so often, I ticked up the heat. Each change felt like a whole new experience to me. Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, as I still had a few things I wanted to do before I called it a night.

After shutting the shower down and towelling myself off, I threw on some grey sweatpants and a baggy T-shirt that I found in the closet, idly noting how they fit me perfectly. Most likely Rob's doing, If I had to guess. Next thing I did was check to see if my [Warehouse] scroll was still where I left it. I breathed a small sigh of relief when I lifted the ceiling tile that I'd stashed it in. It was untouched, if not a little dusty, considering where it was hidden. I grab it and hop back down, rolling it out on the nearby coffee table with a flick, Where I take a seat and make another attempt at accessing my warehouse. I'm very proud to say that it only took me around 15 minutes of concentration to crack it this time, as opposed to the... very long amount of time it did before.

Once inside, I find myself in the Shinobi Library section, perusing the shelves in search of something specific: anything on Chakra control. See, I knew of several different methods one could train their chakra from the series proper, namely: the leaf balancing exercise, the kunai balancing exercise, and even the water walking exercise, just to name a few. Problem was, even the most basic of those methods is beyond my ability at the moment. All of those methods involve manipulating your chakra flow to accomplish a specific task, training your control in the process. Me, However, I have no idea how to get the chakra to flow, period. Well, flow in a more timely manner that doesn't require 15+ minutes of concentration, moments of desperation, or bleeding myself dry, at least. What I needed... was to find a scroll or method for beginners, something they teach to those who are just discovering chakra in the first place. Sadly, the library itself had absolutely no sorting system whatsoever. I found an assassination manuscript right next to a recipe for strudel, it was that bad. My only real hope for now is to just wander from shelf to shelf and hope I get lucky. Not much else I can do...

/-/

About two hours later, I emerged from the scroll with dead eyes and a single book clutched in my fist. I was so fucking tired. The hunt for this one book had to be the greatest needle in a haystack mission ever, and when I say greatest, I mean the most excruciating and boring. After sorting through scroll after scroll, book after book, horrible romance novel after horrible romance novel(Yes, seriously. Ninjas are horny bastards.), I finally found something that I could use: An academy level chakra control manual. It's not exactly what I wanted, but It was better than nothing, and by the end, I was ready to call it quits. But I found it... I sure fucking did.

Wait…isn't there supposed to be a training manual in here too? WERE THE FUCK IS THAT?!

I unceremoniously plop face-first onto my bed a few moments later, the book I was holding clutched like a teddy bear as I pulled the covers over myself. I closed my eyes, just waiting for the lull of sleep to take me...

Hey theereee, Buuudyyy...

My eyes shoot back open, bloodshot and crazed. "...What?", I growl dangerously.

Had to catch you before you went all the way out. Just wanted to say: Good work out there today. You handled yourself better than most would've.

"...Thanks?"

No problem. In fact, you did such a good job, some rewards are in order...

"Rewards? What are you-"

[Cp awarded: +200]

{Diverging fate: 100}

(Your interference with fate has granted Gloria Martinez a longer life, altering the course of both hers and David's lives.)

{Good Samaritan: 100}

(Altruism in Night City is dead, until now. You have shown complete strangers a level of kindness so rarely seen that it's almost a myth.)

"...points?

Yeah, so you can buy stuff from the archive. I thought that it was fitting, considering. They're like achievements: do things, get points for them. Only, these points actually matter. Anyway, I'll let you get back to sleep. Pleasant dreams...

...I'll worry about those points tomorrow, I just wanna fucking sleep.