I have a very specific, very violent set of skills; but that doesn't make you special in Night City. Especially not in north Watson. It does mean, however, you have a better chance at making it to tomorrow. Whatever that's worth. I haven't visited the columbarium to gather my friend's opinions in awhile.

Tonight, I thought I'd finally joined them. Flatlined before getting a drink in my namesake at the Afterlife.

Night City is nothing though, if not full of surprises. Tonight's jack-in-the-box sits cuffed in the NCPD aerial vehicle next to me. White hair covers all but a wry smile on her face. She can't be amused that we're being rocketed to jail. Could be early onset psychosis. It could also be psycho how easy I'm taking the whole thing. The fact we were extracted, instead of killed on the spot, bodes ill in a way that's too abstract for me grasp.

"What is with smirk, little girl? Do you enjoy gulag? Where we are headed, much worse." On the opposite bench sits some huge powerhouse. Maybe he's Animals? Cyberware's too fancy, though.

The jumble of ghostly hair raises her head. Neon sunsets encircle the black of her pupils. Her eyes almost seem too big for her head. They're full of something, not quite wonder.

"I've been chanting Awaken Samurai for twenty minutes." Her eyes moved slowly to meet my own. Crosshairs. "Finally he did."

The AV twists in flight. I adjust wrong, and bang my head on the wall. The million-eddy borg glares down at me. Even with cops taking all his gear, he's huge. He knows. He rocks in tandem with the shaking ship, like he's done this a million times.

"Maxtac did not blast hole through Megabuilding for either of you small fries." He flexes his right arm; chrome and gold, shiny even in the barely lit cabin.

The woman smiles and rolls her eyes, resting them on mine again, like we're chooms. I don't do chooms. Chooms want free shit. She leans toward the behemoth across from us as much as her restraints will allow.

"Graphene skeleton. Jenkins' tendons. Dual loads a Kerenzikov, and MK7 Sandevistan that won't hit market for three years. Saw a clip of you on the scream-sheets recently. Two scavs emptied their copperheads on you outside Yagami market. Point blank range. They didn't land a shot."

"My reputation precedes m-"

"Crimson Quick, or less pretentiously, Voris Yeltsin."

His look of amusement sours into an icy glare. "Tell me who let slip my name, and I will make your death painless. Nearly painless."

She faces me and smiles too wide. "Some people still argue if the video's fake. But it was the only way we could convince Wakako to call her 'last resort' merc that was even faster. Said he's some type of freak-show with no chrome."

I laughed and found myself returning the woman's smile. "The old bat can sure hold a grudge. Pretty honored, though."

The cabin tilts, and the AV's jets louden to a scream.

"She said trying to kill you got too expensive, so she put you on payroll."

"Is that what you're trying to do?"

"That would've been more simple. I wanted a face-to-face meeting, but Wakako said you'd refuse."

"She's right. Wakako's a fixer. I'm a roll of duct tape. I take eddies, not meetings."

Voris stomps the floor, denting the steel panel. "I'm still here! Stupid input! You took a hit out on me!?" He strains against the multiple bands holding him in place.

The white haired woman next to me doesn't seem to notice at all. She's still looking dead into my scarred face. Her smile's gone. Her pupils blink red. She's been on comms this whole time.

"We were behind schedule. Now we're out of time. Falco's drone is about to trigger an EMP. We'll crash. There'll be a brief window to delta before Arasaka outruns the NCPD to catch me."

One of the four AV jets shrieks to a crescendo, then explodes. The entire cabin shakes violently. Pilots panic, cursing through the door. Voris' screams fall on deaf ears.

"I have a gig for you. Eurodollars galore, of course. But I can also offer the one thing Wakako said you wanted." She stretches her arms, cracking intertwined fingers. "This is a guaranteed spot in the major leagues. To be a part of the NC leaderboards. The type of legend street-kids from Watson to Pacifica will whisper about."

Another explosion. The AV pitches and tumbles. No windows, but I can tell we're in free-fall. The overhead storage opens, sending its contents flying about the room.

"You think my life is pawn in your game! You think little Voodoo Boy faster than me!? I crush you both!" Voris almost sits up on the bench he's tied to.

"Damn! No need to take it there, Crimson Dick." I'd been thinking of calling him that for awhile. Not exactly a pun but-

In a few milliseconds, about a quarter of the time it takes to blink, Voris frees his right hand, grabs a pointy piece of the chaos flying about us, and lunges at the white haired woman. In less than a quarter of those few milliseconds, I reverse the path of Voris' shiv with two kicks. It now protrudes from his right eye.

I sink back into the bench, and tighten my restraints. "Looks like we're about to have a rough landing. I'd say tighten your seatbelt but, well- ya know" His remaining eye stares in disbelief, then terror.

Everything becomes a swirl of color, mostly red, as the AV careens into the ground.

My vision refocuses into smoke and fire. Considering I'm in a tin can that fell out of the sky, I'm in pretty good shape. Voris had no such luck. He now paints the cabin interior. The pilots didn't fare any better.

The van-like sliding door of the AV opens. Smoke hadn't even cleared from the crater we created, and I could already make out lights in the distance. They weren't cops.

She waves a pinky, and our double-encrypted restraints fall to the ground like toys. She stands before I do. Her hair's longer than I thought it was. And it's not white, it's more like a faded rainbow- I can't believe I didn't recognize her until now.

"Lucyna. The mutherfuckin' Lucyna from the fucking Edgerunners!" I simultaneously whisper and scream.

I hear the mad engine of what I hope is our getaway car approaching. The Lucyna extends her hand to me.

"Please, just Lucy. Wakako told me she's known you a long time. Tillman right? You in? I promise I'll explain more later-"

I clasp my palm into Lucy's. "Chooms call me Boyce, but Tillman's fine. Also, hell yes."

Shots from the approaching armada pepper the carcass of the AV . Our getaway car, a heavily armored Delamain, plows through the wreckage towards us, bullets hailing in its wake.

The car door opens. Lucy breaks for it. Doesn't see the hot lead screaming through the sky. I follow her. All around us dirt and concrete blast skyward. She makes it to the backseat. I'm right behind her. The car rips forward, and activates it's own combat mode, blasting our closest pursuers out of the sky. The Excelsior package. Not cheap.

I finally exhale after we shake our pursuers. Lucy's pursuers, rather. See how fast that happens?

"Lucy, I'm not gonna be stiff about it, like that snail Voris, but when we are doing mission stuff, use my callsign."

"Wakako still gets off on the riddles, and double-talk. She's reliable, but part of the problem. Told me I could guess, but didn't tell me what it was."

Sounds about right. I reach over slowly with a closed fist. She draws back slightly. When I open my hand, two warped pieces of still-hot lead meant for her skull fall out on the carseat. Her eyes widen. Unaware she'd been that close to death.

A bit of blood streams out my nose. Often does when I move that fast.

"When I'm on the clock, it's Bullet Time"