Huh, guess more people were interested in this idea than I thought….. Alright since we managed to hit double digit follows relatively quickly, I guess I'll keep this story rolling.

As has been my practice since I started on this site, I will now answer/respond to fan reviews.

Epic insanity666: And more you shall have.

Trainman-Captain Writer: Thank you my good man. I'll have you know that when I'm not watching anime and old 80s shows/movies, or reading books on science fiction, history, religion, or all of the above, I am partial to a good western, and Django is one of my favorite modern movies.

Please don't1: thank you, also I respect your profile pic.

Prof. Pancakes: more are on their way!

Soundblaster: always good to see you my friend, I'll try to live up to the hype.

Nantano: Thank you.

Inhuman Reactions: While I'm not so sure about the quality of my work, your comment is appreciated! Don't worry, more good stuff is on the way.

Kkyy: Thank you, here's that chapter.

SainthoodSaint14: So do I good sir/madam, so do I….

Chapter 2: Deep Conversations at The Waffle House

As was often the case throughout much of her life, Gloria Martinez woke up feeling as tired as she was when she went to sleep.

Fortunately, it seemed that instead of falling asleep on the couch with nothing but her uniform's coat to keep her warm, she (most likely with some help from David) had managed to collapse onto her rarely used bed with its warm blankets lying on top of her in addition to her EMT Jacket (definitely David). It didn't completely erase the deep ache in her bones, or the pounding headache caused by her habitual overdose of caffeine pills in order to stay razor sharp on the job, but it helped. With a quick look at her phone's clock that let her know that David was already on his way to school and that she needed to get going, Gloria let out a sigh and began to get ready for her "day off."

Quickly showering and downing a can of Cobra-Venom Brew™ to shake off the remnants of sleep still plaguing her, and made her way to her car. Unlike her son's less-than-sanitary approach to leaving their apartment, Gloria took the elevator all the way down, absently listening to the news as she noted that rain was thundering down from the sky in sheets this not-so-fine morning in Night City. Apparently a corp from the Midwest was laying the grounds to construct a new mega-factory in Watson as part of a partnership with Arasaka. The two companies were coming together to produce a new line of automobiles with integrated cyberware. As if the thought of a new corporation integrating itself into Night City's politics wasn't interesting enough, it was rumored that Lady Hanako Arasaka herself was involved with the project.

That last line got Gloria's attention, and she made a mental note to research the company later in the day to see if there was anything surrounding the deal that might peak David's attention. Gloria wasn't a fool, she knew that her son only did half as well as he did in the academy because he thought it made her happy to see the hours of backbreaking labor (and the cyberware harvesting, but she prayed he never found out about that) she put herself through so that he could go to Arasaka Academy was well spent… but he didn't seem to realize that what she did was meaningless if he didn't have a goal for himself in mind. Shaking these thoughts from her head, she got into her van and made her way to the restaurant Rebecca had chosen for this impromptu meeting, as well as her reasons for calling one in the first place.

"... All this fuss because a person was genuinely kind to her." She couldn't help but mumble to herself as she drove through the minefield that was inner-city traffic, made worse by the fact that every driver seemed to become an idiot when it rained. Don't get her wrong, Gloria was a Night City girl to her core, born and bred in the District of Heywood, and had learned at a young age to be on the lookout for wolves wearing the skins of lambs. But from little information she had, it seemed to her that wasn't the case with Becca, and the odds were that some stranger did the young woman a kindness simply because it was the right thing to do.

In seemingly no time, Gloria was parking her van in front of the local Tom's Diner, praying that she wasn't the first or the last of their group to arrive. Contrary to her agreement to "hang out" would suggest, she really only came to these kinds of sit downs out of some misplaced instinct to keep an eye on the two younger members of Maine's gang of 'runners (especially after what happened to Sasha). Before the memory of Maine's frantic holo call from that night could rear its head, she pushed it down with the weariness and perpetual ache in her bones as she spotted two familiar hairstyles sitting in a corner booth.

It looked like Rebecca and Lucy were engaged in a rather spirited conversation, though it was clear that Becca was clearly talking the younger netrunner's ear off. That quickly changed when the neon-girl haired girl finally noticed her and waved her over.

"Gloria! Right on time choomba! Pull up some faux-leather and have some coffee." The short edgerunner beamed at her while gesturing to a spot next to her. "Dorio and Kiwi are running late, so it's just you, me and Lucy here for now." At the mention of her name, Lucy briefly looked up from her cup of coffee and gave her a small nod and a mumbled "Mrs. Martinez," before turning her attention back to the mysteries hidden in the murky depths of her mug.

"It's nice to see you Lucy, and you as well Becca," Gloria nodded as she took off her rain-soaked jacket, "I'm also glad to see that you decided to dress appropriately." Indeed it seemed that the storm and the drop in temperature had forced the young woman to actually wear clothes underneath that jacket she loved more than anything besides her guns and maybe Pilar. Besides her near iconic jacket, Becca had decided to don a pair of black cargo pants, a green long-sleeved shirt that covered nearly all of her tattoos barring the one on her neck, and over that a black t-shirt that had "Smack My Bitch Up" written in bold white letters on it. It was a nice look, and a practical one for the weather, so naturally Rebecca responded to her comment with a look of feigned shock. "Seriously?! You call out my outfit but leave little miss "My shorts barely hide my underwear" across from me alone?!" She finished her retort by dramatically pointing her finger at Lucy, drawing half of the other diners' attention towards the young netrunner and causing her to shrink into her seat.

"Lucy wears leggings and boots," Gloria countered, "And that's besides the point. Now, do you want to tell me what you two were talking about before I arrived? or do you want to skip to your mysterious stranger and fill in Dorio and Kiwi later?" Their waitress finally came back with a pot of fresh coffee, filling up a cup that Gloria downed without hesitation. She relished the bitter taste while grimacing at the feeling of the scalding hot liquid going down her throat, then nodded for Rebecca to continue as she filled up Lucy's somewhat empty (and definitely cold) cup.

Rebecca's false grin went into a tooth filled smile that reminded Gloria of the cats who used to chase the mice and birds of the old cartoons her father loved. "Well mom, (oh mierda not this again), before you arrived I was telling our young netrunner that she should read "The Hanging Stranger,"by none other than one Phillip Kindred Dick."

"Isn't that the one you sent me a while back? About the alien invasion?" Gloria asked as she poured herself another cup. The fact that Rebecca loved to read old twentieth century science-fiction and fantasy novels was just one of the things that had surprised back in the early days of her partnership with Maine and his crew, such as the fact that Maine had a sister living in Pennsylvania that he had fallen out of touch with, and Lucy's childlike fascination with the moon and spaceflight.

"She compared me to the main character." Lucy pouted, giving Rebecca a glare that could kill one of the few remaining herds of elephants. Honestly it would have been adorable to see the two bicker if Gloria couldn't hear Lucy's cyberdeck boot up with whatever quick hacks she had available.

"Only because you're always twitching and fidgeting whenever you see an Arasaka logo." Becca countered, "I get it girl, they're into some shady shit, but odds are if you keep looking at every suit related to them like they're gonna get you, they will-"

The conversation had quickly crossed a line Gloria didn't know she had drawn in her mind when it came to Lucy, David, and anything regarding Arasaka. "Let's drop this discussion for now. Becca, why don't you tell us about your so-called "unicorn" encounter last night? Since we're burning daylight and I only have so much free time."

This caused Lucy to give her a grateful look and made Becca confused, "I thought you had the day off?"

"Yes, the day off," Gloria emphasized, "I still have the night shift and then I'm 'On Call' for the next two days." The looks of shock and horror on Becca and Lucy's faces almost made her upcoming loss of sleep and potential exhaustion-induced fever worth it.

"Still not too late to quit your job and come work with us full time." the familiar voice of Dorio interrupted as she and Kiwi finally entered the diner, taking seats next to her and Lucy respectively.

"I'll take the steady paycheck and bad hours over the high-risk/reward life of an edgerunner Dorio, though the offer is appreciated." Gloria responded quickly, hoping that she hid the fact that she wanted to keep the amount of time she spent working with Maine and the rest of his gang to an absolute minimum, "and with the two of you here Becca has finally run out of excuses, and now has no choice but to tell us all about her mysterious encounter last night."

After once again launching a pout at Gloria's direction, Rebecca finally began to describe the events of the previous day in full detail and with hand gestures that reminded everyone present of her brother. She started her tale with how she had ended up doing some small time jobs in order to get enough eddies to pay her half of the rent her and Pilar's apartment and buy the parts needed to supposedly perfect the brightly colored shotgun she named "Guts," and ended up staying in one of the few library's that hadn't been conquered by the homeless in order to in her own words "enjoy the classics as they were meant to be enjoyed," when a MaxTac noticed went out. Finally, she reached the point where she met the stranger with the broken cyberware in a black and yellow car who offered her a ride.

"The rest, as the old poets loved to say, is history." Rebecca said as she proceeded to take a small bow.

"... I can't believe you held a gun to his head…" Lucy muttered as her fingers reached into a jacket to pull out a cigarette, only to stop when she felt the glare of the redheaded EMT glaring at her with a look that said 'I am not your mother but you should still know better,' and putting it away for later. "Seriously, you have the nerve to call me paranoid when you're holding guns to people's heads while they drive?"

"There's a difference between being rightfully paranoid and jumping at the sight of a red and black suit!" the slightly older woman retorted, "So excuse me for being cautious when I'm out in Watson at night and don't want to rely on La Señora De La Noche to avoid being used as a blowup doll and living "Operation" board at some Scavs game night."

"Don't bring the Saint into this…" Gloria muttered as she placed her head in her hands at the absurdity of the conversation taking place. She left a few things behind when she finally left the Valentinos, but her faith in the gang's patron saint was not one of them (even if she hadn't gone to church as often as she or Padré Ibarra would've liked in recent years). The weight of Dorio's hand as she patted the EMT's back made her feel a bit better, but she still didn't bring herself to look at the others for fear of whatever nonsense they would unleash would give her a bigger headache. "Becca…. We've talked about this kind of behavior."

"Gotta agree with Gloria on this one Becs, seems like you jumped the gun on this one." Dorio commented, wincing as her unintended pun caused the rest of the table to groan. "At least tell us that you thanked and apologized to the guy afterwards?"

The silence from the otherside of the table was an answer all on its own. With an embarrassed look in her eyes, the green haired edgerunner activated her holophone implant and brought up the stranger's number, connecting her call with the four other women at the table so that she wouldn't have to explain whatever happened next to them later.

Silver Pixel Cloud Theater (Autobot Night City Base-Camp)

"I can't believe you let that girl put a gun to your avatar's head."

"Well excuse me, Princess!" came the soundbite of an old cartoon as Bumblebee laid prone on his charging bed/makeshift operating table, quickly switching back to Inter-Autobot Radio, +I didn't think she'd actually take me up on my offer, besides your dad built those things with enough armor that it'd take anti-tank rifle to put a dent in this thing.+

"They sell those over the counter now Bee," the voice snarked, her features hidden behind a shifting mask of metal as she worked on the components of his left knee, "Also you gotta take it easy during those street races you've been sneaking in, Ratchet did the best he could with the parts he had but the servos in this knee will give out if you're not careful." To emphasize her point, a jolt of pain shot up the bot's pain receptors as the young woman applied pressure to one of said servos.

Bumblebee's response was to unleash a recording of canned groans from a sitcom and then shift into a sitting position. +Alright-Alright Jeez, Sari, when did you become so responsible?"

"When my former "babysitter" showed up one day needing a cane because he didn't go to his regularly scheduled maintenance appointment." The metallic mask shifted apart as the figure stood up from her work, revealing a young woman wearing an orange and yellow dress with a short skirt and leggings with henna red hair and radiant blue eyes that most people confused for Kiroshi cyberware. The collection of wires and contact points that ended at her wrists quickly reverted back into fingers as the mixture of flesh and metal that was her skin reverted to its original color. "And with that you should be ready to drive me to my meeting downtown, and then the factory site, and then to Japantown…"

+What am I? Your chauffeur?+ Bee snarked as he stood up and transformed into his alt-mode. From the projection booth of the abandoned drive-in theater the android Bee had been assigned cam sauntering out, quickly adopting the facial features of his old holomatter avatar. Doctor Isaac Sumdac had officially purchased the Silver Pixel Cloud Theater under the guise of the nostalgia for classic Americana vehicle culture that infected most of the residents of Motor City, and justified it to his board of directors by renovating the property, building new add-ons such as a motel and six state of the art repair bays intended for "road weary travelers and nomads" as an excuse for the Cybertronians present in the city to park in their alt-modes and relax.

"You've been driving me everywhere since I was ten, of course you're my chauffeur." Sari countered as she got in Bee's passenger seat and turned on the radio to Body Heat Radio before being vetoed for Bumblebee's own collection of music, starting with Chuck Berry's "Johnny Be Good" as they took in the view of Night City in the rain.

While Sari seemingly danced in her seat to the classics, Bumblebee contacted the other bots in the area to make sure everything was going smoothly. Cliffjumper and Hound were the first to respond, reporting an upsurge in raids by the Wraiths and other Raffen Shiv groups in the Badlands, but that they managed to keep them away from the rail stations that ran to Chicago and by extension Detroit. Bulkhead and Trailbreaker were securing the construction site, while Medix, Hoist, and Trashmaster integrated themselves with their altmodes respectives fields within the city, while Mirage was just rolling around Corpo-Plaza as an extra layer of protection for Sari while her meeting with Arasaka went down. That left one just Cybertronian unaccounted for…. No, wait, there was Barricade, somewhat blatantly tailing him in vehicle mode to remind Bee that Cybertron's new government (especially Starscream and Prowl) was keeping an eye on his little excursion.

This continued until the halfway point of their drive, when Bee suddenly got a call from a number he didn't expect to see again. Sari snapped out of her musical revelry the moment she heard the ringtone, and immediately asked "Who's calling you?"

+Rebecca.+ he answered immediately.

"Rebecca, as in the girl who held a gun to your head Rebecca?" Sari asked, and when she saw Bee nod his avatar's head she added, "Put her on speaker, but don't let her know I'm next to you."

Technically she was inside Bumblebee, but Sari had spent nearly two hours explaining to him how that was disgusting the last time he pointed that out, so instead he responded with, +Why do you not want her to know you're listening in?+

"Cause she might change her responses if she knew she was being spied on and I want to know the kind of person you randomly offer to drive home." Sari countered, and seeing as how he saw no way of winning this argument, Bee answered the phone.

Rebecca: Hey-Hey-Hey Bumblebee! Didja miss me Choom?

Bumblebee: Morning Becca.

Rebecca: Just Becca? When did you get so friendly?

Bumblebee: When you called me Bee instead of my name.

Bumblebee: Not that I mind, honestly just glad to hear from you.

Rebecca: Really?

Bumblebee: Yeah, means you got home safely. Sari snickered at his "corny" reply and he made a note to put castor oil in her next milkshake.

Rebecca:... Yeah… That's actually why I'm calling..

Rebecca: I told some of my friends what happened and they pointed out how I didn't really say thanks for the ride and the fact that I held a gun to your head.

Bumblebee: I was the one who said you could do that.

Rebecca: Yeah…. But they still didn't like that fact.

Rebecca: So thanks for the ride yesterday.

Rebecca: If you ever need someone to show you a good time around Night City, just call and I'll be there faster than a speeding bullet.

Bumblebee: Again, it wasn't a problem… though I might take you up on that offer if I ever get any free time again.

Bumblebee: That friend's project I told you about? Turns out it might be more time consuming than I thought. That comment caused Sari to kick his upholstery.

Rebecca: Jesus man, what's your friend having you do? Deliver packages to everyone in Night City?

Bumblebee: Sorry, that's classified.

Bumblebee: Stay safe Becca, and have a good day.

Rebecca: You too Bee.

Rebecca: Don't go offering people to shoot you in the head and klep your wheels.

With her piece said Rebecca ended the conversation and looked down at her cup of coffee . "There, I apologized to the gonk, thanked him for the ride, and offered to show him around town, are you happy now?"

Gloria hummed as she took a long sip of her coffee, "How I feel isn't relevant to this Rebeccas."

"Gloria's right." Kiwi added, finally adding something to the conversation, "Honestly you got real lucky last night Rebecca."

"Why? Cause a guy offered to drive me home and accepted my apology for being rude?" Rebecca looked up from her drink to glare at the taller netrunner.

Kiwi sighed, and then spoke in a tone universally reserved for small children and idiots, "No. Because most Corpo's would've dumped your body in a dumpster for actually taking them up on their offers."

And with that said and done we have another chapter in the books! Nothing too groundbreaking this time around, just some more world building and character interactions. I don't have a plan for any major conflicts until around chapter 9 or 10, but hopefully it will be bloody enough to satisfy all of you tuning in. As always leave a comment/critique if you have any, and I'll see you all next time.