Chapter 12: City Center
Rebecca is at her ripper doc Marie who is in charge of the Nomad's Heavies cyberware and making sure to keep them maintained. "Seems like you are doing well for yourself here," Marie said as she checked her arms while Rebecca was sitting at the door.
"I am putting in the work and getting the eddies for the clan and myself," Rebecca said.
"Good, everyone can see you are doing very well. You are a trusted member of our family. Wiping our bandits like the Wraiths and doing gigs with the local government is pulling us funds and supplies. It will be needed when we hit the road again," Marie said as she looked at the screen to see her Cyberware capacity is only at 30 percent.
"I am thankful, I am not going to blow this," Rebecca said sounding very serious about this.
"You are and you are still 70 percent organic. Very impressive," Marie said as Rebecca has good Bioware like her skin weave, nanotech-infused skull, and bones helping keep her Cyberware usage sleek and efficient.
"I learned from experience what pushing cyberware looks like and it's pretty ugly," Rebecca said as she remembered Maine and David pushing their bodies way too far.
"Yes, you are quite smart with your usage. Always be wary, if you have any problem. Come to me, I will give you medicine and repairs to aid in your recovery if something goes wrong," Marie said.
"Thanks, doc," Rebecca said.
"Okay, you are okay. Come back next week to get a checkup," Marie said as Rebecca got off the chair.
"Thanks, see you later," Rebecca said as she went back to her home trailer sitting outside holding onto a book and reading it carefully. "Wow, this is getting interesting," Rebecca is really into it as Klunk hovers nearby.
"Miss Rebecca, what are you reading?" Klunk asked.
"Oh, it's called Fatal Frenzy. It's an action novel," Rebecca said.
"You have been collecting quite the set inside," Klunk noticed her buying books, eBooks, and audiobooks lately.
"I want to get back to my reading. I got some time to catch up on my stories," Rebecca said.
"How was the party?" he asked.
"It was cool but a bit boring. I dressed up nicely, Cortez was impressed," Rebecca said.
"Yes he can't shut up about how pretty and wonderful his girlfriend looks," Klunk said as Rebecca felt blessed to feel wanted.
"It's nice for a guy to see me like a lady," Rebecca said.
"Bad luck with men?" Klunk asked.
"Yes very much so. The last guy I liked only saw me like a big sister. He was too into Lucy to care despite my efforts to woo him," Rebecca said as Klunk was laughing at her. "Hey fucker, what is so funny?" she demanded.
"You can't be this desperate to go after another woman's man," Klunk said as Rebecca was getting flustered.
"Hey, like it went anywhere besides at the end. I let him go and now I have found someone who cares about me for me," Rebecca said as Klunk was just teasing her.
"Good for you, you two are quite the pair. V has chosen well to pair you two up. We are going to go far with the clan and bring our clan to new heights," Klunk said as Rebecca petted his metal head.
"Damn straight," Rebecca said as Cortez comes over from one of his missions. "Hey there big guy," Rebecca said to go up to him to get onto her toes to kiss him.
"Yo, got a lot of eddies from the last job. We can go to the city and do some shopping. My treat," Cortez said as Rebecca's eyes lit up.
"Oh, we should go to the Bookings book shop. I want to grab some new books I want," Rebecca said.
"Cool, I will pay for those," Cortez said as Rebecca gave his strong torso a big hug.
"Thanks, you're the best," Rebecca said.
"We can go now and head for San Francisco," Cortez said.
"Cool, I am dressed up already," Rebecca is in her nomad gear to has her Love and Blood gun in her crop jacket. "Let's go," Rebecca said.
"Behave yourselves," Klunk teased.
"Yes Mom," both of them said dryly.
The couple got into the truck to head back to the city. "We are going to get a new mission which will make us go into the sewers to clear out some bugs," Cortez said.
"You mean those mutants Biotechnica made?" Rebecca asked as Cortez mentioned them before.
"Yes, those things don't know fear like humans. Hey, are ruthless and give no corner," Cortez said as Rebecca cocks her Lexington.
"We can handle this," Rebecca said.
"Good woman, I got your back," Cortez said as they went on the road.
"So, are you going to tell me about that mission you went on if you are comfortable talking about it?" Rebecca asked.
"It's okay, you told me your story. Now I will say about myself. I want you to picture this. There is a mission in a combat zone in South America where Militech was giving support to a dictatorship. We were fighting 'rebels' in the jungles," Cortez said as he took a deep breath to stop him from getting too angry at those bad memories.
"There was a village we went to. They were barely able to fight back. My comrades went in and gathered all the women, children, and elderly to line them up in pits. Then they executed them all one by one like it's a damn sport. I watched all of it, helplessly to do anything," Cortez looks at the road not making eye contact with Rebecca showing shame and somber on his face.
"Fuck, Militech are real pieces of work," Rebecca said.
"That is not all, I aided in their evil. There was a mission where we were trying to take out a rebel compound. We used a mortar launcher loaded with fire rounds to burn out the enemies. We moved in and there were no rebels there," Cortez said as he avoided looking at Rebecca.
She felt a sting in her heart knowing what he was going to say next. "There were 200 civilians there. All of them noncombatants, bad intel my ass. The moment that broke me was seeing a woman holding her crying son in her arms like a morbid burned statue. I snapped and killed everyone that got in my way while I escaped the region," Cortez said in a somber tone.
"Oh baby, I am so sorry," Rebecca looks on very sad and going to hug him.
"That is Militech's mask coming off. A real plight in this world. They pay lip services to the red, white, and blue but they are nothing more than monsters. I wanted to help people but all I did was make things worse," Cortez said.
"Well, you put the past behind you and now you are working with Aldecaldos. I am guilty of doing bad things in the past, so I can't get on a high horse that doesn't exist. If we both go to hell, we will go together and keep each other company," Rebecca trying to cheer him up.
"That's supposed to make me feel better," Cortez said dryly as Rebecca laughed.
"Yeah," Rebecca said as he put his hand on her face to stroke it gently.
"Yeah, it did. We both left our old lives behind and now we are going to live on our terms," Cortez said.
"That's the spirit," Rebecca said as she placed her hands on his solid arm. "I know you are not a monster. You try to better yourselves and help people like me," Rebecca said.
"That is comforting, I want to try to leave a positive mark on this world despite all the bad shit I did," Cortez said.
"I know, come on. Enough depressing stuff, let's shop for some books," Rebecca said as they got near the city. She turns on the radio to hear that Night City is under the control of the NUS but the defenders are fighting back but losing against the overwhelming might of the American military along with Militech support.
"Damn it, speaking of war crimes," Cortez said as reports about Militech Cyber Commandos are going to Dogtown. "Shit, they are going to access the Cynosure labs. That is not good," he said.
"Dogtown," Rebecca said.
"Been there when you were an Edgerunner?" he asked.
"Hell no, Maine says Dogtown is way too dangerous to do a job in," Rebecca said.
"After what V said about it, smart move. Kurt Hansen was a former Militech Commander who was charged by the NUS to get a foothold to capture Night City in the Unification War. He went rogue and became a warlord of Dogtown where even the gangs, police even the Corps wouldn't fuck with him. His little kingdom in the chaos," Cortez said as Rebecca was so impressed that V managed to survive in there.
"V managed to survive all that," Rebecca said.
"Yep. He worked with the NUS's FIA to save the President and then save Songbird the President's right-hand woman. They managed to kill Hansen along with other things happening had V become an enemy of NUS and the president herself," Cortez said.
"Gee, sounds like V went through a movie script," Rebecca said as her former Edgerunner career was nowhere near as exciting as V's.
"Yeah, you are already seeing action as crazy as V's stories. You killed an FIA agent on the moon," Cortez said being impressed.
"Oh really, I was just protecting Lucy," Rebecca said.
"You did wonderfully. You have surpassed your old crew even your old boss. Killing an FIA agent is a big deal since there are Myer's best people outfitted with the best tech that is not even on the market," Cortez said as Rebecca blushed from the praise.
"Thank you, I am happy my efforts are paying off," Rebecca said with a soft smile.
"It's well-earned. Together we can take on the world," Cortez said as they gave each other a high five.
"Damn straight, we are a real Cyberpunk couple," Rebecca said as they go into the city to park and exit outside. "Oh boy, time to head for the Booking store," she said as they walked down the streets to feel the warm air and exciting atmosphere.
Cortez noticed something off in the Bay Area. "No way," Cortez said as he pointed to Rebecca to see a big fleet of Arasaka ships in the distance.
"Damn it, seriously Arasaka fleet is here," Rebecca said being dumbfounded by their presence.
"They even have the supercarrier Kujira here. They must have come from Night City, avoiding the NUS invasion forces," Cortez said as Yorinobu was making his moves to make Arasaka look bad.
"Ren is not going to like that," Rebecca said.
"He is cooking something with Miss Arasaka. We wait and see," Cortez said as they went into the bookstore to see all sorts of books lining up the walls.
"Goodness, nothing beats the smell of worn-out books," Rebecca said looking very excited.
"You smell books in your spare time?" Cortez teased as Rebecca playfully tapped him on the chest.
"Shut up, you know what I mean. Nothing beats a good book while enjoying some snacks," Rebecca said.
"Speaking of which, once we are done we should go get some treats at the street vendors. They got sweet potato fries which will knock your socks off," Cortez said as Rebecca was getting hungry just thinking about it.
"Sounds yummy," Rebecca said can see a ladder to use to look at the books up top. "Hold the ladder for me," she said as Cortez grabbed onto the ladder to look up to see something very pleasant.
"Damn Rebecca, sporting a good dessert for later," Cortez flirted as her hot pants are gripping her curvy round bottom and thick thighs on display.
"Oh, you are going to get this cake later babe," Rebecca is shaking her ass but she loses her balance. "Oh fuck," Rebecca falls with Cortez catching his little lady in his arms bridal style.
"You okay?" Cortez said as Rebecca glowed in the face.
"Yes big guy, nice catch," Rebecca said.
"Yeah I got a nice one right here," Cortez places his hand on her stomach feeling her tummy making her feel fuzzy in the chest.
"Gee, you are too much," Rebecca said as they heard something happening at the front of the store.
"Hey fucker, give me the money from the safe now," a thug said as the duo can see several Bozo members holding up the shopkeeper.
"These clowns are the Bozos huh?" Rebecca wondered as they were all wearing clown makeup and wearing colorful outfits. Rebecca is getting upset they are annoying her peace with her favorite novels. "Hey fuckers, beat it," Rebecca demanded as she gets shot by a slug in the head to send her flying across the room to crash into a bookshelf.
"Can it shorty," the Bozo thug said as they were surprised Rebecca easily gets back up. Her skin weave and reinforced skull blocked the slug but gave her a headache.
"Oh, that hurts fuckers. My turn," Rebecca rushes in and draws out her Overture Love to blast them in the head with blood spreading across the room.
"Kill the midget now," the leader said as Rebecca pistol whips a Bozo through a wall. She shoves her fist into the Bozo's chest to rip out her heart. She shoves the corpse into another group of enemies to get shot up by her Lexington in her other hand.
"You monster," the leader grabs his Crusher trying to shoot her but she dodges his shots. She fires her round into the legs of the leader. She goes on top of him to put her thighs around his neck to twist it hard killing him instantly.
"Okay but I look cute doing it," Rebecca said as she grabs the crusher to finish off the rest of the Bozos leaving 12 members dead on the floor.
"Indeed, you do. Death by thick thighs. Wish that was me," Cortez said.
'I bet, you can enjoy them later as warm soft pillows," Rebecca said in a flirty tone.
"Thank you so much, these people have been hounding me for some time now," the shopkeeper said.
"No problem, we are part of the Aldecaldos," Cortez said.
"Oh right, you are helping the city with its problems. You seem more reliable than some edgerunners around here," the shopkeeper said.
"Just happy to help out. Hate people like that," Rebecca said.
"Oh you can have a 50% discount on the house for all your books," the shopkeeper said as Rebecca was excited about this. She goes to buy all the books she wants.
"Oh going to need to steal their money shards. Not going to use them anymore," Rebecca said as she collected all the shards which had a good amount of Eurodollars on them. "Hot damn, we got 10,000 eddies in total. Not bad," Rebecca said as they went outside to walk on the sidewalk to head for the food stall. Rebeeca's nose smells the wonderful scents coming from the cart.
"Smell preem. We will have two large orders of sweet potato fries please along with some cirrus punch for me," Cortez said.
"I would get blueberry juice," Rebecca said as they took their snacks to sit at a bench nearby. "This looks so good and crisp. Sweet Potato fries are great when they are like this but when they don't. It's the worst," Rebecca said as the fries were baked with seasonings and dressing to bring out their flavor.
"Yeah, you got to cook them just right, or it's not worth it," Cortez said.
"I know right, it's so annoying," Rebecca said as they were chewing on their fries. "This is delicious," she said.
"What did I tell you," Cortez said.
"You are my preem tour guide here," Rebecca said lightly as they see more Bozos coming their way. "Not these fuckers again," she said as she puts her hand into her crop jacket to hold the pistol grip of her revolver.
"Hey, is that bitch from the bookstore," the lead Bozo with the red nose and green hair.
"looks like they got back up. Do your thing quick?" Cortez said.
"With pleasure," Rebecca said with a cheeky smile. "Hey there Chooms, you need something?" she asked in a mocking tone.
"We need you to put your head on a pike to be feasted on by our pets," the lead Bozo said.
"Oh, I am just a little lady trying to enjoy her meal," Rebecca said as Cortez used a quickhack to disable their Cyberware leaving them open to Rebecca's rapid assault. All her bullets cut through their skulls to kill them instantly.
"Good shots babe," Cortez giving her some praise.
"Thanks, baby. More money shards for us," she said stealing their shards to transfer them into their accounts.
They finished their meal as Rebecca patted her stomach. "That tastes great," Rebecca said.
"Glad you like it, I need to head over to Dead Aim to grab some new weapons," Cortez said.
"Oh cool, let's go," the couple head over to the gun store Dead Aim as they enter inside. The guard stops Rebecca from entering inside.
"Hey there little missy, you can't come in here," the guard said as Rebecca is pissed with this. "Is this your little sister?" he asked.
"She is my girlfriend," Cortez said as the guard looked at Rebecca to raise his eyebrow at this.
"I think you need some help," the guard said as Rebecca pulled out her ID to show she was 23 years old.
"Look dumbass, I am a grown woman. Let me through," Rebecca said as despite her short height her ID confirms she is a very short adult.
"Oh sorry about that. You can come through, we got sales on Precision Rifles with the reliable MX1 Garand precision rifle," the guard said as the shop is quite large with displays for weapons and a firing range to test them out.
"Speaking of that," Rebecca said as she grabbed the MX1 Garand which is an updated version of an American classic giving it a fiberglass and carbon frame with a thumbhole stock while keeping the ironic shape intact. "This baby is packing an armored piercing black-tipped 30-06 rounds. Very nasty," she said as the bullet was very large.
"You know your stuff," Cortez said.
"I don't mod guns to just look pretty," Rebecca said in a joking tone. She places the gun as she notices another weapon. "Oh, this is an AKR-20 which is a modern bullpup variant of the AKM to bring the Soviet workhouse into the 21st century. Being used all over the world including the Soviets themselves," she said as the AKR-20 has a medium-range scope and an underslung grenade launcher.
"I can use this," he grabs the weapon as Rebecca looks over to see a machine gun which is Russian-made.
"Oh yeah, that is some big guns. The BMG 500 machine gun is made with a classic 21st-century design. Chambered for the .338 rounds to give the gun power, accuracy and range to be asked in 150-round ammo boxes," Rebecca said talking about it in sheer detail and her voice getting very excited.
"I going to need this," Cortez said as Rebecca pulled out a machine gun variant of the AKR-20 called the AKR-20 LSW with a heavy barrel, a bipod replacing the grenade launcher, and a long-range scope.
"Or you can go for this machine gun/assault rifle hybrid. 60-round casket magazine, very mobile, quite accurate and reliable like an AK," Rebecca said.
"You make good points. Let's check them out," Cortez said as the couple brought in the weapons to put them on a table to be by the gun range. Everyone is enjoying themselves and practicing their shooting.
Rebecca grabs herself an AKR-20 to begin unloading rounds into the moving targets. She placed well-aimed shots to knock down her targets. "A fine piece of hardware," she said to blow the smoke coming off the barrel.
"Nice shooting Spitfire," Cortez said as he wielded his MX1 Garand to look through the scope to place shots onto his targets. He empties all 8 rounds and hears the famous Bing to draw another 8-round clip into the gun to keep shooting.
"Sharpshooting expert Choom," Rebecca said as Cortez noticed something.
"Oh Rebecca, your stance is a bit off," Cortez said to get behind her to adjust her shooting stance. Rebecca enjoys his strong hands holding her curves in different positions to let her hold her bullpup rifle better.
"Thanks, very handy," she said lightly feeling happy about it.
"No problem, always a pleasure to give a lovely lady tips," Cortez flirted back as they were having a good time shooting targets and learning gun facts with each other.
Cortez sets up the BMG 500 as Rebecca grabs the machine gun to let it rip tearing into targets with controlled bursts. Cortez is impressed by how good Rebecca is despite not being a soldier like he was. "You got a real talent, I am glad you are having my back," Cortez said.
"Thanks, baby. I will always have your back," Rebecca said as they kept enjoying themselves until the sun came down. Cortez grabs some weapons to take them to the truck to head back to the camp. "That was so much fun," she said as they put their stuff in the back.
"Yep, always a blast with you around," Cortez said as Rebecca kissed him on the lips.
"A pleasure as always Choom," Rebecca said with a lovely grin. They drive back home to get ready for their next mission.