Danger was a constant in Night City.
But you can also associate it's Rate of Danger along with it's Free nature.
Like a Rose with Thorns.
Mesmerizing yet Dangerous.
And that was the perfect interpretation of the individual Rich was facing in this very moment.
He's had a taste of this Flowers thorns and he was for sure he could tame the bouncer this time.
But lucky for him that there was no bat in sight.
"If it isn't Scrap for brains" spoke the Bouncer as she had given him a cocky smirk.
A reminder of just how conceded the women could be but he already knew with such confidence came assurance.
From his past 2 encounters with her.
"First time we've talked during the day, thought you were a Cyber Vampire for a sec" spoke the Bouncer starting the conversation by insulting him and then followed it up by insulting him some more.
Fascinating Social Skills, this one.
"Pardon" spoke Rich having no clue of what the hell she just spoke of.
"You know, a monster that comes in the night and Jack's you of all your Cyberware" spoke The Bouncer with some excitement and a hint of Smugness.
"Ah, I see" said Rich as he simply began rubbing the back of his head with his left arm.
"You don't go out that often don't you"
"Apologies"
"No need to apologize, just picking your noodle a bit, or whatever's left of it" she spoke with a smile still.
Rich simply nodded his head in acknowledgment understanding that she wasn't being antagonistic.
Just curious is what he could tell and he felt he had to satisfy her tendency.
"I may not be sure of of The Vampires your talking about, but there was a group in NC at some point before the RED that filled the old concept of a Vampire" spoke Rich as he saw her eyes fully on him for he had her full attention.
"The Philharmonic Vampyres" spoke Rich which that got a gut busting laugh out of the bouncer.
"Pfft haha what a stupid name" she spoke while giggling at the new information he gave to her.
They were long gone out of the shop and were just chilling on the railing outside.
He didn't know how he did it but he was able to feed some of her curiosity by simply throwing around old NC history at her while also handling any little questions about them.
And right when he though he got out of her earlier question well...
"You still haven't said why your out"
"Is that really important" spoke Rich trying to avoid the question, it really wasn't a big deal but after catching heat a day ago from the current mox leader.
He wasn't really in the trusting mood when it came to mox, despite that situation being his own fault.
Rich knew he shouldn't have been there.
But his own selfish desires for normal outside human interaction was surprisingly becoming a craving he couldn't control well.
"Come on were both off the clock right now, what about this, you tell me your reasons and I'll tell you my reasons"
Rich didn't like where this was going but since it was just his own biz with Royce it wouldn't hurt, right?
"No" spoke Rich trying to endure his own desire but the women refused and eventually he caved in.
"Your a pain" Rich responded.
She laughed.
"My boss came to visit the spot where I work and since me and him are not on the best of terms, I decided to ditch"
"All the newbies are probably pissing up a rope right now"
"Ha"
Rich just kinda looked at her not understanding if she was laughing at him or his situation.
"Sounds like everytime the older girls introduce new people to Susie, they become as stiff as bricks and are way too worried about saying the wrong thing, or doing the wrong thing but the reality is that Susie can be tough like a house of bricks but she's got nothing but like any good house it keeps you warm and does right by you just like Susie" spoke the Bouncer trying to build a similarity between they're current situations.
Rich kinda understood what the bouncer was saying but Susie wasn't Royce.
Nowhere near as unpredictable, nowhere near as brutal, and nowhere near as a raging asshole.
But he understood her point, being a leader isn't easy specially when your in charge of so much going on.
Running a club, running a gang, and fending any who dare try to oppose.
"I guess that is something to take into consideration" spoke Rich as he already understood the necessities of a leader and what they do when the foot soldiers aren't looking.
Rich was not a Foot Soldier.
"Damn right it is, I've seen enough people barf and completely bale after meeting Suze to the point that I've learned to just deal with her when she's pissed because she either blames herself or she blames others" spoke the Bouncer trying to make it make sense.
Rich didn't notice until now but they had kinda walked and talked as she lead him down across the bridge from The Roundabout to now the apartment complex and market across.
Was he about to get jumped or something.
He activated his techgogs and Kiroshi's as he looked through all the walls to see if there was anyone waiting on them but there was nobody.
The Truth was that he was having a genuine conversation with someone that wasn't Maelstrom.
Refreshing, possibly. Life Risking, Possibly.
"Your turn" spoke Rich as he was now passing the explanation mic to the bouncer.
The bouncer lead him on for a bit but she ultimately told him.
"Suze wanted me to be more..."
"Resourceful" spoke the Bouncer as he could feel the discomfort in her speech.
"So she asked me to get more adept with Hacking and learn to be a pro with Deamons in specefic"
"That's why I was at the Netrunner Shop we met at but nothing appealed to me, to somebody else that place is like a candy store, but to me it was just shit I couldn't wrap my head around"
"You dislike Netrunning"
She didn't want to put it so bluntly but that was the answer, he could hear the slight aggravation in her voice, and see the Inconvenience in her eyes and demeanor.
A person's eyes can say alot, which is why he and most Maelstrom replace them makes it easier to work dealings.
That and active night vision is very useful in Night city and also look fucking cool.
But that was besides the point.
"It's just not me, and suddenly I'm asked to start using them and to be good at it,
What kinda sick joke is that"
Sounds like something Dum Dum would order one of the newbies to do.
Or any of the older Maelstrom members for the matter of fact.
"I've trained to handle my problems face to face, either to cave they're faces in or by shooting those problems away"
Rich could attest to that, even though he won the fight he was decommissioned for a while but he knew her tricks, her weakness, and if they had to fight again seriously he would put her out.
All he's good for is killing people and Locating people.
"Have you considered that hacking could institute better methods for dealing with problems"
"No, but that's not the point, it's not my style, that's not who I am"
"Then your at an impasse" spoke Rich as he knew the solution to her problem but it would cost her exatly 732,878 Ed's.
She would need a competent Cyberdeck.
Different assortments of Deamons
Camillo RAM Manager
Self-ICE
LSE (Limbic System Enhancement)
Ex-Disk
If she continues to fight the way she does against opponents who are more stacked with better equipment and gear she could be setting herself up for an early grave.
Animals are resilient to blunt force damage it's the reason they dominate and run the competitive combat scene in Night City.
Running illegal fight clubs, working with corporate fight promotions to set up big opponents for they're champions to chew up, it was all set up to work like clock work.
The Bouncer would get ripped apart.
Against people like 6th Street who are big into Smart Weapons, she would be made into a bleeding mass of flesh with holes all over.
VDB's would just hack her and fry her brains before she made the first move.
Tyger Claws have more people proficient with swords and that would for sure be her end if it came to it.
Never mind Maelstrom, Maelstrom veterans would eat her alive, Metaphorically and Literally.
Suddenly he noticed that they were at a slurp shop having a bowl of Ramen.
Seriously what the fuck, this is the second time she's led him somewhere without him even noticing.
He looked to her and she was slurping up a bowl like no tomorrow.
He saw the bowl before him and decided he would just sit on his thoughts as he unclasped his gas mask, and dug into the bowl of soup.
And from the slurp shop to the arcade.
They were now playing Cyber Warrior 6, competitively as he was just kicking her ass spamming fireballs at her as she was trying her best to maneuver to get to him.
This current match up was exactly what would happen to her with actual top of the shelf opponents.
He could be underestimating her.
"Damn it, damn it, damn it all"
Or not
The Bouncer and Rich didn't know but they were being spectated by kids as they've never seen adults play this hard at a game before.
The Bouncer was steaming like a mad women while Rich was as cool as a can of Nicacola.
It didn't take long for other to notice as the room got crowded by kids, Teens, Adults.
Everyone was looking at a gaming match that was on par with world pro teams.
But to Rich and The Bouncer.
It was just best out of 4.
She had figured out a way to get through his fireballs and be able to land shots but he simply sent her to combo hell.
She had gone 1-4 in the match up.
And she was completely shocked because she's beaten the best gamers in The Mox and among the current crowd.
She was the local favorite and she lost.
"Best out of fiv-"
"Out of coins" said Rich as he had zeltch after the times they played.
He made a move to go and she gave up taking her loss with a mixture of jealousy and frustration.
She wanted to kick his ass in real space now.
But she eventually got a call on the Holo.
"Yeah, talk to me"
Rich didn't hack her holo and stayed at a good distance so he wouldn't over hear her call.
About after a good minute she came back saying that she had to head back.
And that she was going to be in deep shit for not picking any Deamons out.
"Just take it" said Rich as he handed her a single Deamon titled under "Weapon Glitch", the first Deamon he started using.
"Pretend you bought it and show it as confirmation" said Rich as he was taking off back to the Roundabout.
He needed to get more components for the Schematics he bought and he would have to skip out on the The Netrunner store since it was already getting late and people should be expecting him back at All Foods soon.
But before he can head to his car a weight fell on his back.
"I need a ride back"
"Take the bus"
"The bus just left"
"Walk"
"No"
"Not my problem"
"Please"
"No"
"Please"
"No"
"Please"
"Shut up"
"Please"
"Fuck"
"Yay"
"I hate you"
Long story short the bouncer followed Rich back to Straight Shooters as he picked out the specefic components he needed for the schematic.
Why he did it so late, because he forgot.
He made the bouncer carry the components on the way to the car.
As she packed them in the back seat as she got in the passenger side.
She didn't complain or comment on his poor beat up yellow Galena.
As she messed with his radio and put on body heat radio.
He didn't mind as long as it wasn't Ritual FM, that shit was on blast 24/7 at All Foods and the Totentanz.
Eventually they made it too Lizzies but before the bouncer took off to the club she grabbed his hand on the wheel and and was adding a new number onto his contacts.
"Ring me when you want to have fun" said the bouncer as she took off inside the bar, apparently someone else was Bouncer for the night.
Rich checked his contacts to see what she put down.
Swear if it's the number for Buck-A-Slice he'll hack her the next time he sees her.
That was his thought until he saw a name he haven't seen before.
"Rita Wheeler"
He might still hack her for makings his whole day dissappear.
She just absorbed the rest of it.
Like a Vampire or something.
He drove off and on his way back to All Foods.
He noticed that he hadn't thought about Maelstrom or Royce the whole time he was with her.
Just, poof.
All his problems gone like that.
He looked at her name again.
Maybe he won't hack her.
Rich arrived at All Foods and saw shockingly there was no clean up of dead bodies, there was no blood on the floor.
Hell all the recruits seemed to be getting some good sleep.
Good on them.
Then it hit him.
Where's Royce?
As he speed to his office and sitting right down on his Ripping Chair was Royce staring him dead on.
"What Took You So Long"
To Be Continued.