["Hey David. Be there in five to help you finish packing and move everything."]
The message was so simple, yet David couldn't help but feel grateful for it. A couple of days prior, V had taken him to visit with his mother, and explained to the two that he was going to move them to a better apartment. Someplace safer and bigger than their current place. Gloria had argued that V didn't need to do that, and that she loved her little apartment. V in turn argued that he had to make up for not being there for her and David. And that, with his recent Corpo dealings, that it would better if they were closer to some of his allies.
In the end, V had won and David found himself in his soon to be old apartment, sorting and packing everything. While the rest of the crew had offered up boxes and bags, no one except Jackie had actually helped him with packing and getting everything ready to go. As such, David found himself in the home stretch on packing a day ahead of when they were supposed to have everything out.
"Hey sobrino, what's left?" Jackie greeted him, eyes looking around at the boxes they had already packed.
"Mostly the clothes, and the stuff in the kitchen and bathroom. There's some books and magazines in the living room that need to be packed as well." David replied, closing up the box he had shoved his and his mom's shoes into and added it to the small stack before returning to working on his clothes.
"Alright. I'll start in the bathroom, gotta go anyways." David rolled his eyes, hearing Jackie address him a few minutes later. "So how you feeling about the move?"
David had mixed feelings. On the one hand, him and his mom were finally going to be living in better conditions and there was no need to worry about rent, utilities, and the like. On the other hand, the small apartment in Arroyo was the only home he'd ever known. He chided himself for feeling sentimental about leaving the place, but moving out was always something that he knew he was going to do. He expected Jackie to laugh at him for it, but instead the man had simply nodded and agreed.
"Yeah, felt the same when I moved out. Sure I love my garage, but...No place like home, eh?"
"Yeah. Ugh, just wish packing didn't suck so much." He whined, wondering why he was bothering to fold his clothes before shoving them into one of the boxes.
"Can't argue that, it's a necessary evil." Jackie laughed, joining David in starting to fold up one of the piles of clothes he had on the floor. "Oh, should have brought Misty...Don't feel right handling the delicates of a woman I barely know." David sighed, seeing Jackie holding a bra out at arm's length like it was a used tissue.
"Want me to take care of the clothes? You can pack up the books and magazines and other random shit I've left in the living room. Or get the kitchen." David had long since gotten over the awkwardness of handling his mom's undergarments when it was his turn to do the laundry.
"Don't have to ask me twice." The big man wasted no time in stepping away from the closet, steps instead taking him to the kitchen. "Think I'll start here. You fine with the cups and plates being mixed with utensils?"
"Whatever gets the stuff packed up faster." David called, throwing the last of his socks in with his pants. "And don't forget to take the food out of the fridge."
"That'll be the last thing we pack." Jackie replied, gently picking up a stack of plates from the cabinets. The two continued to work until everything was either in a box to be driven to the new apartment, or in trash bags to be disposed of. Together, they brought down the boxes and stacked them in the trunk of V's Ragnar, which David couldn't quite believe that Jackie had been able to borrow. Still, he couldn't argue when Jackie pointed out it would have taken a lot more trips if they used his bike.
"Hey, I've got things under control out here if you want to head back up and make a final check of the apartment." The big man reached out and relieved David of the bag of trash he was holding. "Plus, leaves you alone in case you get all emotional about moving out of your childhood home."
"I'm not gonna get emotional...But I appreciate that." David gave Jackie a pat on his arm as he made his way back up to the apartment. He took a final look around, opening the cupboards, drawers, on the guise of making sure nothing had been forgotten or left behind.
In reality, he was wanting to spend just a little more time in the apartment his mother had worked so hard to maintain. The life that she had put together for them...that his dumb ass nearly ruined through stupid decisions. Not even finding a scrap of trash, David took a deep breath and moved towards the door. While he swore that he wouldn't get emotional, David had a sad smile on his face as he closed the door to the apartment for the last time.
"Everything good?" Jackie asked, making his way over to the driver's side.
"Yeah, we really cleaned the place out." He replied, hopping into the passenger's seat. "Just hope the new place has room enough for everything...Not that we have all that much to begin with." David laughed at his own stupid joke, before realizing something. "Say, where is this new apartment anyhow? I don't think V ever told me, or mom."
"He didn't, wanted it to remain a surprise for both you and your mom when she's out of the hospital." The driver reached into his pocket and removed a data shard, which he held out for David to take. "Also, before we go and I forget again, slot this in."
"Sure." David took the offered shard and immediately plugged it in.
"Damn, your dad wasn't kidding when he said you had no impulse control." Jackie shook his head, and David realized just how stupid his decision was. He reached up a hand, intending to eject the shard, but Jackie's hand came to rest over David's neural ports, blocking them. "Shh, just relax and let the shard do its thing."
"What?" David let out a hiss as the shard activated, some software or other program force installing itself into his Sandevistan.
"Aren't you wondering why your dad hasn't been around the last few days?" David felt Jackie's hand move just the tiniest bit. "Whose to say I didn't sell his ass out to Arasaka for some sweet eddies, and am now dealing with you for a bonus. Take your shit to a junk shop for some more scratch." There was a dark expression on the older man's face, one that seemed at odds with his usual excited personality. "What? Don't think I could have actually taken out your old man?"
"No...Just thinking you're full of shit about this whole situation." The younger man's eyes narrowed, trying to hide some of the fear he was feeling behind bravado.
"Well sobrino...You'd be right." The hand moved away from his neck and slapped the steering wheel with a laugh. "Seriously though, your dad got some bad news a few days ago. And now, he wants to nip a problem before it gets worse."
David blinked, "Huh? Why does it feel like my back is cooling off?"
"Oh good, that means its working." Jackie's eyes briefly lit up as he either sent or received a message. "Your father's better at the tech explanations, but all you really need to know is that that upgrade is going to be your best friend. Let me know when its all done downloading and updating and we'll start driving."
"It's done." David answered after a minute, stretching his back and arms as much as he could in the van. Apparently that was all Jackie needed to hear and he started the car and drove him to his new apartment. It wasn't too long of a ride, but David was more than a little surprised when he realized they had crossed into Heywood, in particular to The Glen.
"Alright, we're here." Jackie stopped before one of the buildings and motioned for David to get out of the car. The older man lead David inside and into the elevator. The control panel lit up and with a hit of the button, the elevator began to move. With a ding! The elevator came to a stop and the door opened. "Welcome to your new apartment."
David's jaw hit the floor. It was much larger than the apartment he had left behind, and everything of a much higher quality than he was used to. Enormous floor to ceiling windows let in natural light, while hanging lights kept everything illuminated in the evening. The kitchen was large and well stocked – the box of food David brought along seeming just a single shelf's worth compared to everything else. The coffee maker to rest on the counter was of a quality David couldn't fathom. Beside the kitchen, a table and four chairs had been set up as a dining room. There was also a pool table to the side of the dining table.
A small step lead down from the entryway and put you in the living room. A black leather wraparound couch sat before a large flat-screen TV. There was also a record player on the coffee table to rest near the couch. A set of stairs lead up to a loft area where the bedroom was.
"Wait, there's only one bed?" David raised an eyebrow. "Thought this apartment was for me and mom?"
"It was supposed to be for the two of you, but again, something happened and now...Well, this is technically your apartment and safe house." Jackie placed a hand on David's shoulder, the two of them looking down on the apartment from above.
"Mine?" He blinked, eyes glancing all around. "That's nova!" He cheered, throwing his hands in the air in celebration as he practically ran around inspecting everything that V had left the apartment stocked with. "Did V set all this up?"
"You could say that. Oh, think you should know; Myself, your dad, and Mama Welles all have access to this place as well. But anyone else has to be cleared by you before they can enter."
"Wait, why do you guys have access?"
"To keep an eye on you." Jackie grinned, "and to have another place to crash if needed. Sure, the Cojo and my garage is right down the steet from here, but its nice that we can come to you instead of you coming to us."
David couldn't argue. It was convenient that he had allies close by, but he didn't exactly like the thought of any of them being able to come and go as they pleased. Still, he wasn't the one who paid for this apartment, so while he could enforce house rules. He didn't quite know just how much control he really had over the place.
"Yeah, hey...Does the Cojo deliver?"
"Not officially, but I'm ninety-five percent certain that if you call up Mama and tell her you're hungry she'll have someone run you over a plate." There was a resigned look on Jackie's face that told David if he did do that, that Jackie would probably be the delivery driver. "Eh, come on. Let's get everything brought in and you can unpack at your leisure."
David nodded and joined Jackie in the elevator, the two of them making short work of bringing in David and Gloria's possessions. With Jackie's help, he put away the food they had brought along, and brought his clothes upstairs to the bedroom. Towels and toiletries were brought into the bathroom, while everything else was left in their boxes, neatly stacked in the area under the stairs.
"Think you're all moved in?" Jackie questioned, watching as David took a seat on the couch, glass of water in his hand.
"Yeah, still got to organize a few things but..." He shrugged and took a drink, seeing Jackie nod.
"Then here." David watched as Jackie moved under the stairs and returned with a fancy wooden gun case that David had noticed, but didn't pay any attention to. "A house-warming gift from your father."
David accepted the case and opened with, surprised to see a brand new, fully upgraded and scoped tech pistol. With gentle hands, David removed the pistol and studied it.
"It's an Apparition." Jackie answered after a moment. "A custom piece of iron only given to Arasaka's elites. Your pops wanted you to have something nice from him." He leaned in close, lowering his voice even though it was only the two of them. "And you didn't hear this from me, but I think he was just too scop-spined to give it to you with all that's happened."
"Oh man, look at the scope on this thing." David peered down the scope, taking aim at one of the trees he could see through the window. "Preem."
"Your pops outfitted that gun to be nearly identical to the one he carries. Aside from having to requisition the damn thing from his bosses. He's had it outfitted with three different Crunch Company part kits, and a countermass modification." Jackie pointed to the scope, "Also gave it a Kanone mini scope. Thing about the sight on that one is that it has a digital counter to show the number of rounds in the magazine. No need to keep count manually."
"Requisitioned? Shit." David turned the gun over in his hands, studying it. "Can't imagine how much this thing would cost on its own."
"I did the math once." A visible twitch ran through Jackie's body as he recalled the details. "Scope's the cheapest thing on there...Crunch parts of that quality will set you back a little over fifteen hundred, countermass mod was probably another twelve hundred...Base cost of the newest Kenshin is thirty-one thousand and change, double it because its a custom model. Works out to around seventy thousand give or take."
David's mouth hung open, his eyes wide at Jackie's final appraisal. "That's like the cost of this apartment!"
"Eh, know you're excited about your new place but..." The older man looked away, one hand rubbing at the back of his neck. "Hate to tell you this but that gun is worth more than this apartment."
"Fuck..." He looked down at the pistol, which seemed to shine in the light coming through the windows despite the matte finish of the red and black. "And he's just giving this to me? Is. Is it really okay for me to have this?"
"David, people have killed to get a gun like that." There was an air of seriousness in Jackie's voice. "There's only two or three people outside of Arasaka to have corporate-custom tech pistols like this one, and that's just the base model. Given that your dad went through the trouble of getting it for you, and then modifying it...Yeah, I'd say its okay for you to have it."
Unable to find words just from the various revelations about the gun, David simply nodded his acceptance of the grand gift he'd been given.
Jackie took a moment to stretch, "Anyways. If you're all settled in, I'm gonna delta and run a couple other errands I need to take care of."
"Oh, uh sure. Hey Jackie, if you see V before I do..." David placed the gun back in its case, watching as Jackie moved towards the elevator, "thank him for me?"
"Choom, you have his number." Jackie looked over his shoulder as he pressed the button to call the elevator. "You're a big boy. You can call your dad and thank him yourself." With that, Jackie stepped into the elevator, his laughter echoing as the door closed.
01010011 01100011 01100101 01101110 01100101 00100000 01000010 01110010 01100101 01100001 01101011
The Next day's trip to Vic's ripperdoc shop was a non-issue. A pre-gig check up for Maine, maybe Dorio, and David was to be their escort.
Only one problem came to the street kid's mind.
A small, little wiggling doubt. A sense that something was to happen.
Maine arrived on time, giving David a lift. Still, nothing came of it.
They had an easy drive from Heywood, across the city center, and into Watson. No traffic, no problems. Still the odd foreshadowing grew stronger.
David felt some serious Déjà vu building up by the time Maine's Quadra came to a stop. The sensation was bugging him, growing slowly but getting stronger. He just wasn't sure why.
It wasn't until they made it to the store front that he realized what was causing it.
"Misty's Esoterica?" Dorio raised an eyebrow, "you sure this is the place kid?"
David was more than certain that this question would haunt him every time he brought someone to Vic's. The foreboding feeling died with an exasperated sigh the moment Dorio asked.
"Yeah, Viktor's place is behind Misty's." David motioned for the pair to follow him, taking them through Misty's and out to the clinic.
"You sure this guy's reliable?" Maine questioned, trying to figure out why the clinic seemed off the beaten path as they moved down the stairs to the clinic.
"Both V and Jackie trust him," David took a moment to think, "and so do I."
"Shh, shh." Dorio shushed both of them. "Sounds like he's with a patient."
David cocked an ear, hearing Vik's voice, followed by...
"That's V's voice." David offered, seeing Dorio nod in confirmation.
"Wondered where he's been..." Dorio muttered.
"We don't hear from the guy for a week, and now find him at a ripper's?" Maine shook his head as David moved to go inside. "No, lets hang back. Let's see if we can't find out where he's been."
The three of them pressed up against the wall, ears turned towards the gate to catch what they could of the conversation while staying out of sight.
"You need to stick to that wheelchair for now. Installing so much cyberware at once is a massive load on your brain. Last thing you want to do is fry yourself." There was a cautionary tone in Viktor's voice.
"Don't worry. I'll take it easy." David could hear V's smile.
"Your definition of easy and mine are very, very different V. When I say easy, I mean body or cyberware. Pick one." Vik's voice had changed to the clinical tone David suspected he kept reserved for 'difficult' patients. "You cannot use both at the same time without straining something. You wanna take a piss on your own, you shut off your net-connections. Your organic parts have to heal or else."
"Lovely." The trio heard the sound of footsteps, and they all moved to hide inside Misty's as Viktor, V, and a woman wearing what appeared to be a worn-out Trauma Team armor appeared. The woman was quick to set up a wheelchair for V to sit in as Viktor continued.
"You know the old saying." The ripperdoc paused, "you want something fast, quality, and cheap..."
"Yeah, yeah. Pick two." V rolled his eyes as he sat down.
"Good to see your memory isn't fried yet." Viktor tapped at his own head, causing V to roll his eyes.
"So, am I good to go?"
The ripper laughed and gestured to the woman behind V. "Already gave your nurse the rules for your meds. You can leave any time."
"Good, I have a date with some painkillers and smooth jazz." V started to roll himself out of the way, but the Trauma woman was quick to step in and do the work for him.
"Say hello to your choomba while your at it." Vik called after the pair as he returned back into the clinic. David and the others watched as the nurse took V around the side to the parking lot, making him realize there was another way they could have come in.
"Well, that was interesting." Dorio stepped out and moved towards the clinic, Maine and David behind.
"So your old man's had some work done." Maine gave David the side eye, "sure you didn't know anything about that?"
"First I've heard. All Jackie said was that the suit had gotten some bad news." He walked down the stairs, seeing Viktor doing some cleaning. Hearing them, the ripper turned and greeted the three with a smile.
"Hey David, these some of the new clients your father promised me?"
"Uh yeah. Doctor Vektor, this is Maine and Dorio." He gestured to the pair, before continuing. "Say, saw my dad leaving here a moment ago...What did he come in for?"
"Told you to call me Viktor or just Vik. And your old man just came in for some body work. Want more information, ask him." Vik replied, his eyes going to where Maine and Dorio were standing. "So which of you is my next patient?"
"That would be me." It was not lost on David that the man had been slightly pushed forward by Dorio. "Everyone's telling me I need a check-up, so here we are."
"Are they now?" Viktor's eyes swept up and down Maine's form. "Well take a seat, plug in your personal and we'll see if everyone's right."
Maine did as he was told, and David had a flashback to his first visit with Viktor. Both him and Dorio waited to the side, watching as Viktor went about examining Maine.
"So...Maine, How long has it been since you've seen a real ripper for a tune up?"
"Not that long..." There was a defensiveness in Maine's voice that David hadn't heard before. He looked to Dorio, seeing her sigh at her man's response.
"That's an understatement..." She muttered.
"Uh-huh. So the sand clogging the joints of this arm is for..." The ripper gently flexed and bent Maine's left arm, causing some stray grains of sand to fall from it, "what, cosmetics?"
Maine shrugged as best he could. "Long may have been blurring it a little."
"No need to sweet talk me. This ain't like a kid at the dentist." Viktok's head tilted to the side, considering his patient. "Upkeep can be expensive and cyberware is bitch to maintain on a good day."
"Uh huh." Maine didn't seem pleased with the answer. "So how long will this take?"
"Probably all day, so if you got plans then cancel them."
Maine grimaced. "Thought most installations only took an hour or so?"
"Normally yes, but you've got a cyberpsychosis assessment to complete, and detailed medical history to give." Vik handed Maine a tablet. "Your 'original' chrome was the stuff designed to go in and stay in, so it needs to be uninstalled carefully first before I can even think of switching out your old parts for the new top-of-the-line models and updating your software. Also, probably gonna have to go over your connection ports with a cleaner too."
"Oh. Damn. What about if we got to eat?" Maine looked over at Dorio, who gave him a gentle smile. She opened her mouth to speak, but Vik beat her to the punch.
"V's already volunteered his boy to be our grub runner." There was a smile on Viktor's face that didn't fill David with confidence at the situation.
"Huh, what? Why am I the errand boy?" David looked at his seniors, all who stared back with various levels of amusement.
"Probably because you're the low man on the totem pole." Dorio patted his shoulder, "as such, you're mostly reserved for the grunt work no one else wants to do. Least until you start to prove yourself."
Much as it annoyed him, David knew she was right. He tapped his foot on the ground, shifting his weight from leg to leg as he muttered under his breath. Much as he wanted to continue to protest, he knew it would be a moot point.
"Well then, do you take requests?" Maine asked, his mood seeming to have improved somewhat.
Viktor took just a moment to think. "Do you mind me charging the suit paying for these extras?"
"Hell no."
"Then I don't see any problem." The ripper grinned, shifting his focus to his computer. From his place at Dorio's side, David watched the other three people in the room. He could see the exasperation on Viktor's face as he looked over the scans and gave Maine a physical exam. Saw the impatient twitch of Maine's hands as Vik poked and prodded at him and heard his grumbles.
Looking to Dorio, David felt a pang of sympathy for her. Though she was smiling, reassuring Maine that things would be okay, David noticed she kept fidgeting with her jacket, or adjusting her hair. All nervous tells he had seen his mom use on occasion.
The four of them were mostly silent, only Maine and Vik occasionally exchanging words over the beeping of equipment or the tapping of keys. With the ripper's blessing, Maine excused himself to go to the bathroom before starting the next round of examination. David watched him leave, before a concerning hiss to come from Viktor pulled his attention back. He saw Dorio move to the ripper's side, eyes drawn to the monitor he was staring at.
"So tell me Vik...How bad is he?" Dorio hugged herself, and it seemed to David that she was literally bracing herself for the worst.
"Bad. His software is decades out of date. His parts are all poor quality, and a good number of them are starting to break down." Viktor showed her something on the monitor. "Nothing major, but eventually they'll stop working all together. Worst of all, maintenance has never been properly done...if it was ever done at all. Summing it up: his body shows all the signs of not just cyberpsychosis but cyberware rejection syndrome."
"Cyberware rejection syndrome?" David echoed, unfamiliar with the term. He looked to Dorio, but she seemed just as confused.
"What does that mean?"
"Maine's misuse of chrome has led to his body developing an immune response. If cyberpsychosis doesn't lead to suicide by cop his body will start to rot as his body tries to force the implants out."
"Fuck...So what can we do about it?" The blond rubbed at her arms as a small shiver ran through her.
"Do about what? Somethin- woah baby, you're looking a little pale." Instead of returning to the examination chair, Maine took a moment to pull Dorio into a side hug. "Sure you don't want Viktor here to take a look at your chrome too?"
"Think I might just be a little dehydrated. David, mind getting me a soda? Any kind except the cirrus corn and lemon or nicola fire shit." She turned back to look at Maine and returned the hug. "And I'll get a check up some other day. Today is all about taking care of you."
"Alright. Just don't want anything to happen to those legs of yours." One of Maine's hands had wandered down to caress Dorio's thigh, and she swatted it away, mumbling about not doing that in public.
"Public's fine, just not in my office." Viktor gave both of them a look, and the pair took that as their cue to break apart. "Anyhow, a drink sounds nice. Bring me back a cirrus, would you?"
"Is it okay if I get something?" Maine returned to the exam chair. "I don't have to fast for any tests you might run?"
"Even if you couldn't drink it, I'd still let you order something just to put the kid to work." There was no apology on either of the man's faces as they both stared at David.
"Chromanticore – any kind." Maine answered, plugging his personal back in as David grudgingly accepted going out on a drink run. Finding Misty in her shop, he had asked her if she knew the location of any nearby S.C. .
"Right across the street, and about a block up from here there's a couple." Misty smiled, one hand reaching into her pocket. "Hey, If I spot you the eddies, would you bring me back something too?"
"Save your eddies, suit's paying for it all." David returned her smile and took her order. Might as well make his old man literally pay for having relegated him to errand boy. He had returned to the group with the requested items in time to hear the most ridiculous thing he could have heard come from Maine's mouth.
"Ha. Poop." Maine chuckled, causing Dorio to raise an eyebrow as she let out a tiny laugh of her own at hearing her man say that word.
"What the fuck?" She looked to Vik, who was hiding a smile of his own.
"Well, he's not a completely lost cause." He turned the smile to her, "one of the more important questions on that test."
"I'll take your word on that." She looked back to Maine, seeing him reading over his answers. "You better have been honest like Vik told you to be."
"Would you like to double check?" He held the tablet out, inviting her to take it. Dorio just shook her head, as he instead handed the tablet to Viktor. "That was...Interesting."
"Yeah, that one about the baby and the Delamain really made me think." David answered, watching as Viktor looked over Maine's results.
"So what's the final verdict?" Maine asked, adjusting his posture. "Short and no softening it."
Vik raised an eyebrow. "In short, you're fucked friend."
Maine grimaced, and David saw the quickest flash of wetness in Dorio's eyes as she turned her head away. "That bad huh? We talkin' a fade to zero or?"
"You're not that far gone." The dark-haired man showed Maine the results, adjusting the screen so Dorio could see too as she moved to his side. "Most of your problem as I suspected is bad hardware and bad software running it. A few rounds of heavy antibiotics and anti-inflammatory meds are needed too."
"That doesn't sound bad." Maine almost sounded relieved. "So, what's the bad news?"
Viktor sat back on his stool, fingers caged on his stomach as he studied Maine. "Almost all your chrome has to be replaced or removed. And I mean all-of-it."
"Not happening." Maine grunted, ignoring Dorio's hand on his shoulder. "Can't pull a job without my parts to keep me going. All of them."
"You asked me not to soften the blow, so I won't." The ripper gestured to the results, then to Maine's bulky arms. "You keep this up, you have months. At. Best. No stalling it, no extending the timer. Fuse is lit. You keep burning like this, you're a bomb waiting to go off."
The blond man crossed his arms. "You want me to sign myself into one of those cyberpsycho clinics then? That it? "
"I doubt you'd let me sign off on it before you'd snap and draw iron." Viktor matched Maine's posture. "No, I got a better idea than the do nothing bullshit other rippers will sell you. So drop the attitude and use that lump of gray-matter between your ears. The problem again is the wear and tear attached to you. We get rid of that, get some meds in you, then we can stall the problem."
"And again, I'm not getting rid of my chrome." Maine argued, and David was certain that it was only Dorio's hold on his shoulder that was keeping Maine from decking Vik right then and there.
The ripper sighed, shaking his head. "We're not getting rid of it. You're getting better chrome to replace it."
"I'm a dumb solo, explain it to me like I was the kid." David frowned, but didn't interrupt, curious how Viktor was going to handle the situation.
"I'll explain it like it's the old days. Your hand is gone. Cut off, never coming back." Vik made a chopping motion at his wrist. "What we're doing now will stop the arm from rotting off."
David started to see understanding working its way onto Maine's face. "Will I still be able to fight? This gonna slow me down?"
"You won't look like a moving wall anymore, you'll be slimmer. Probably move faster too without all that dead weight." Viktor's tone had changed back to that of a medical professional. "Though, I'm gonna have to make a custom order to replace your dermal layers. Too old, and most wont fit just right. Bigger problem is that I'm gonna need an order of Skinn. The stuff in stock is either the wrong color or just that black rubber crap I save for the cheap-asses."
"I'm not gonna go psycho then?" Maine sounded almost cautiously optimistic, while Dorio looked almost hopeful.
"Not sayin' that. The damage is done. Nerves are scarred, your brain has been damaged from strain. It's gonna take a load of neuroprocessors to make up for it and stall anything worse from happening. You going full psycho is still a possibility. However, if you keep to my treatment plan and don't get any more chrome then we can stall it til old age gets you first."
"Die of old age in Night City?" Dorio mockingly laughed, "when's the last time anyone's heard of anyone in our line of work pulling that off?"
"Just putting the option out there." Viktor started typing away at the tablet. "Now, let's discuss your options for upgrades, updates, and changes."
David hung back, watching as Maine and Vik took to discussing chrome and upgrades with Dorio occasionally offering her opinion. Most of what they were discussing went over his head, but David still found himself hanging close by and listening as Vik described various parts and their benefits. V had mentioned wanting to pay for David to get some more chrome, so he figured listening in was a good place to start.
Once Maine had decided on all his upgrades and updates, one of them being taking the 'black rubber crap' as a stop gap while waiting for the proper color of Skinn to come in. It was simply a matter of changing out the old for the new. This was the part David was most interested in; how someone was chromed up. He had never seen Doc actually work on someone, and his only experience with having chrome installed had been at his old ripper's mercy.
David almost hissed, recalling the feel of Doc's scalpel as it cut through his flesh. With amazing clarity, he remembered the taste of the metal of the bar he had chomped down on to suppress his screams. He wondered if Maine would have a higher pain tolerance than he did.
"Alright, we're gonna start with the most problematic parts, your arms." Vik laughed as Maine pouted, hands reaching for some type of injector. "Hey, don't look at me like that. You know it's true. Now, you might feel a little pinch..." The ripper jabbed the injector into the organic skin near Maine's shoulders. "We'll give the anesthetic a few minutes to take effect. Shouldn't feel a thing once I start swapping your chrome."
"What?" David's mouth fell open, and he was certain his eyes were going to fall out given how wide they were.
"Common courtesy," Viktor answered, "installing cyberware. Even something as simple as putting a smart link in your hand, can be painful with or without a pain editor. Hence the anesthetics."
"Oh...That, that makes sense."
"You okay kid?" David turned, feeling Dorio's hand on his shoulder and seeing soft concern in her eyes.
"Yeah, just realizing how much of an ass my old ripper was." He explained to the three of them how Doc had installed the Sandevistan, trying to ignore the pained expressions they were giving him. "What? Why are you all looking at me like that?"
"Kid, why didn't you tell me this when I first gave you a check-up?"
"It didn't seem important?"
"Okay, note to self...Check how development is going on that intelligence boosting implant. Maybe volunteer the kid as a test subject." Vik whisper-shouted, bringing chuckles from the other adults in the room. "I'd say file a malpractice suit against your old ripper, but since that would go nowhere. I'm just going to heavily advise you never seeing that guy again for any sort of work or medication."
"I'll...I'll keep that in mind." David nodded in full agreement of Viktor's assessment. He was about to say more, but Maine spoke first.
"Ugh, why do my arms feel like they're itchy while simultaneously feeling like they're not there?" Maine moved his left arm, frowning as he flexed his fingers.
"Oh good, means the drugs are working." Viktor grabbed the arm in question and went to work. Though the ripper was kind enough to explain what he was doing in between making conversation to distract his patient and observers, most of it went over David's head. He also didn't realize how tedious swapping out certain components could be. However, David had to admit he was impressed with the end result.
Gone were the bulky, mismatched and out-of-date arms from the Time of the Red, now replaced with the sleeker model Gorilla Arms of the current day. Even if Maine's arms were visibly thinner, they didn't look out of place compared to the rest of his frame.
"Damn, almost looks like I've got real 'ganic hands and arms again." David watched Maine flexing his fingers and moving his arms as Viktor directed, making sure everything was hooked up right. The kid looked then to a nearby table, seeing Maine's old bulky mech-like arms resting upon it. A squeak from Dorio brought his attention back to the other three. And while he didn't see what cause it, he was able to piece it together by the way Dorio was holding her jacket closed while playfully glaring at Maine. "The touch sensors are more responsive too."
"Got to admit... it's nice feeling synthetic skin and not metal blocks." The blond woman gave an appreciative nod. "Even if it just the cheap stuff."
"That's what happens when you get quality chrome." Viktor replied like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Your legs aren't as bad, so figure I'll work on them next. Shouldn't take more than another couple hours to get them up and running. Pun not intended."
Despite the ripper's words, both Maine and Dorio had chuckled at that while David groaned. He knew Viktor had said the process would take all day, but didn't think the rippermeant it literally. Much as he wanted to stay and observe another procedure, watching gorilla arms get removed and replaced wasn't as exciting as he hoped it would be.
"Hey, if you guys don't need me...Think I'm gonna go hang out with Misty for awhile." He gestured towards the entrance, seeing Maine nod while Viktor told him they'd call when they wanted lunch.
"Hey David." Misty greeted him warmly as he stepped into her shop, the book she was reading forgotten on the counter before her. "You okay? You look a little down."
"Little fatigued from the recent move. Also, kind of bored." He leaned on the counter, "and oddly disappointed."
"Hang on, let me fix us some tea and we can talk." She turned, picking up a small teapot that had been resting on a hot plate. He saw steam rise from the spout as she poured two cups of whatever blend it was and offered him one. "I can understand the first two, but why disappointment?"
David took a sip of his tea, and though it tasted like leaf water to him, he felt it help get his thoughts in order. "Thought I was being nice in coming along. Being a good...friend? And staying nearby for emotional support while Maine gets worked on."
"And now?" Misty prompted, taking a drink of her own.
"And now, seeing how simple the procedure actually is? How painless. I feel...I don't know. Cheated? Unneeded?" He looked to the woman, wordlessly asking if she understood.
"Ah. Did you think Vik worked like some of the less scrupulous rippers? Offering them little to no anesthetics or just giving them something to bite on to distract from the pain? Wait..." Misty face was gentle, her eyes seeming to see right through him as his own face fell even further. Before David knew what hit him, Misty had pulled him into a hug. One of her hands gently rubbed his back. "Is that what you when through when you got this? Oh, you poor thing."
"It's nothing..." David kept his arms at his side, not sure if he should return the hug or not. "Guess I'm just not as familiar with the world of cyberware as I thought."
"Said you were only seventeen, right?" Misty released him, and he was impressed that she remembered that little detail from the one short conversation he had with her when they first met. "And that a lot of this is your first exposure to life outside of the academy, and the reality of the city yeah? Oh don't look so surprised, Jackie told me about that."
He nodded taking another drink. "Yeah. I mean, I've watched the news. Heard stories from my mom about some of the shit she's seen. But, guess it's another thing getting the first-hand account?"
"Indeed." She nodded, picking up the tea pot and refilling his cup unprompted before refreshing her own. "Can't say I approve of V's method of exposing you to all this in such a short amount of time, but what do I know about parenting?"
"You probably know more than he does." That brought a laugh from Misty, and David found himself smiling, mood improving slightly. "What? V himself admitted he had no idea what he was doing in that department."
"Why am I not surprised?" Misty sighed into her cup. "Anyhow, cliché as it is, I want you to know that everyone is here to help you. Myself, Vik, Jackie – which do me a favor and call him uncle Jackie at some point? His whole face just lights up when he talks about you and how proud he'll feel when you accept him in that roll."
"He seems more excited about having a nephew than V havin' a son."
"Don't tell him I told you this, but Jackie loves kids. Given that his own siblings died either before he was born or that he wasn't old enough to remember them, Jackie stepped into the roll of being the 'older brother' for a lot of us growing up in Heywood. Being what he always wanted, but never had." There was a nostalgic smile on Misty's face. "Guess finding out that he has a nephew reawakened that side of him."
"I'm sorry?"
"Don't apologize, I think it's cute." She reached over and gently ruffled David's hair, giggling as he pulled away, hands moving to fix his hair as best he could. "Now that we've gotten some of the more dramatic stuff out of the way. Tell me more about yourself. I'd like to get to know you through you, and not just through the stuff Jackie tells me."
"Uh, sure." David answered after a moment, falling easily into a conversation with Misty about growing up in their respective parts of Night City. She heard all about how much his mom took care of the two of them, while he in turn got to hear some embarrassing stories about Jackie in his younger days. Their conversation had shifted to being about Misty's store, and he was listening intently as Misty discussed spiritualism with him when he got a message from Viktor.
["Hey, lunch time kid. Sending you the address. Check the specials when you get there and call me."] David sighed, amazed the message hadn't come in sooner.
"Let me guess?" Misty glanced at a nearby clock, "Vik wants lunch and is sending you to get it?"
"Yeah, from Tom's Diner." David looked over the address, "that far from here?"
"Not too far." She assured him. "If you want, I'll take the walk with you. Help you carry stuff?"
At that, David hesitated. He didn't want to take Misty away from her business, and didn't want the crew thinking he couldn't follow directions. But at the same time, even if he had bags to carry the stuff in, it would be easier having additional hands to help carry everything.
"Thanks, but I should be fine." He took a moment to adjust his jacket before tilting his head towards the door to the clinic. "Gonna call Vik when I get there to see what he wants. I'll tell him to get your order too, unless you know what you want now?"
"If the soup of the day is baked potato, a bowl of that. Otherwise, get me Tom's famous chick'n noodle soup?" She gave David a pat on the back, and followed him to the door. "Thanks in advance, David."
"You're welcome." He gave a nod of his head and stepped outside, a long sign escaping him as he got a lengthy message from both Dorio and Maine with their requested orders.
"Being the errand boy sucks." David thought to himself, feeling like that couldn't be further from the truth.
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David was becoming very familiar with Turbo's. The layout, the menu, and even the employees. Some would guess it was because of the food, the scenery, the location.
Everyone else would know it was because Maine was too lazy to pick a better meeting place.
Most of the crew were already there. Pilar and Becca were wrecking the scores on the arcades. Kiwi was gazing at some gadget's screen with a cigarette in hand. Beside her, Lucy was there a smoke of her own hanging from her lips. Falco was at his car, listening to the radio.
The only ones who were missing were Dorio, Jackie, and Maine himself. All of them over a half-an-hour late.
"Didn't even break a thousand. Come on David, thought you'd be better at this?" Becca taunted as David once again failed to beat the first level of Roach Race.
"Give me a break, haven't really played any video games since I was little." David grumbled, backing away from the machine as Pilar slid in to 'show him how its done'. He moved back over to the table the netrunners were occupying and sat across from Lucy.
"Don't let them get to you," Lucy reached across the table and placed a hand on his shoulder as a waitress brought over their drinks. "Getting their names on scoreboards all over Night City is a hobby of those two."
"I can tell." David picked up his coffee and took a sip.
Lucy took a drink of her own coffee. "Kiwi, any word?"
"Yeah, Dorio says they're almost here..." Kiwi replied, "though she also says for us to not be surprised?"
"Why would we be surprised?" Becca had come over to the table in time to catch that part of the conversation. David had a feeling he knew what Dorio was referring to, but wanted to see everyone else's reactions.
"Don't know but...Oh, there they are." Kiwi pointed to the door, and the group watched as the pair entered. While Dorio looked like she always did, Maine didn't seem to be the same person. He was thinner, his chrome sleeker...and a lot of his skin now black instead of his usual brown. Seeing them, the duo moved up to the table.
"Well that's... new..." Not wanting to be caught staring, Lucy ran a quick scan. "Huh, nice upgrades."
"Sweet, new chrome boss man?" Becca waved and shouted for Pilar. "Hey bro check it! Maine finally got some upgrades!"
"What?" Pilar quit the machine, no longer caring about his score. To David, it seemed Pilar had crossed the restaurant in a single stride. The techie stared at Maine a moment, laughter starting to escape from him. "All that shiny black!? He looks like a gimp!" His laughing intensified at the same rate that Maine's eyes narrowed. "What's the matter boss man? Corporate eddies can't buy enough skinn for you? Or is this some new fashion?"
A soft thud echoed through the diner as Pilar hit the floor, still laughing at his boss' darker and shining complexion.
"Yeah, I was trying not to say anything but..." Kiwi's head tilted to the side. "Hmm, whats the best way to put this?"
"This gig better not be a sneak job! He's reflecting light!" That brought a grunt from Maine, who responded by kicking Pilar in the side. When the techie rolled up into a standing position, Maine grappled him around his chest, a hand covering Pilar's mouth as he cried and protested as Maine hauled his ass outside. An unspoken agreement came from the rest of the crew, and they arrived outside in time to see Maine dragging Pilar behind the diner. Falco had the door to the Edgerunner open, and was sitting side-saddle in the driver's seat, watching the show.
"Yeah, that." Kiwi gestured to the scuffle with her cigarette, the group moving closer to Falco.
"Yeah, finally took Maine to see the ripper V checked for us." Dorio exchanged a glance with David, before looking back at Maine. "He does good work."
"Is there a reason why he picked the new colors?" Lucy winced as she heard a particularly loud cry from Pilar that was quickly silenced by a loud dull thump. If David had to guess, Maine probably backhanded him.
"Vic didn't have enough skinn ready in Maine's tone to cover him." The musclebound blond chuckled. "Our big guy was just too big."
"No need to brag about it!" Becca stood on her toes and leaned in, a flirtatious grin on her face. "We're well aware your late cuz' you were bumpin' uglies."
David couldn't help but laugh as watched Dorio's cheeks take on a reddish hue. She hadn't even batted an eye when Maine had to strip so that Viktor could work on his legs, so to see her blushing now was amusing.
"Sh-shut it you pint-sized pervert." Dorio poked Becca's forehead, pushing her back and down.
In reply, Becca shrugged and looked towards the corner of the diner for any sign of her brother and boss. She got an answer in hearing her brother scream.
"Not the trash can!" Pilar's cry was punctuated by the sound of soft flesh striking hard metal.
"So..." David asked after no one heard anymore of the fight, moved or said anything for a minute. "We gonna just stand around doin' nothin' or are we waiting for someone?"
"We're waiting on Jackie." Maine answered, carrying a dazed Pilar over his shoulder. He set the dark-haired man down on a nearby bench, giving everyone a view of the bruise starting to form in the center of Pilar's forehead. "Got a call from your dad. Says he's got some shards for us, to help with the gig."
"So what's taking him so long?" David looked up and down the street, hoping to see a sign of their missing member.
"Another cyberpsycho attack over in Heywood. Some sixth street shithead borged up to pick a fight with Valentinos." Maine dusted his fist off on his shirt. "Few streets in front of a bridge got blocked so he's havin' to take another route."
"Jeez." Once more, David was reminded of Vik's warnings to both him and Maine and asked another question that was on his mind. "That happen often?"
"In Heywood? Nah." Pilar answered, seeming to regain some of his senses. "Shit like that is common to hell and back over in Watson. Maelstrom gonks go cyberpsycho every week." The techie scratched at his bruising forehead. "Kinda off that it was in Haywood. Rancho-side maybe, but not likely. MaxTac usually takes care of psychos anywhere near city center."
"You guys ever deal with them before?" David met the eyes of the rest of the crew. "Cyberpsychos, I mean?"
"Yeah. It's never pretty." Kiwi took the final drag on her cigarette and tossed it away. "It's not always killers standing in the street, the worst psychos are the ones that are hiding."
"What do you mean?"
"I took a side gig once, a consultation. A thousand eddies to help spot anything of value while a guy cleans up a diver's den. Guy hadn't payed rent for a month, nobody saw him. So the landlord thought he ghosted." The netrunner explained.
David gave a tiny hum. "He didn't?"
"Nope. The Diver crossed the VDBs. They did him dirty. Spiked him good, got in deep. Don't know what they did to him, but he lived through it." The blond netrunner crossed her arms, one hand drumming on her arm as she recalled details. "Turned the entire den into a trap house; self-made bombs, network viruses, old school booby traps. The entire apartment was rigged. The moment the landlord walked in, we thought it was a mess of scrapped tech."
"So what happened?" He leaned in, curious about the idea of a building being trapped.
"Cyberpsychos may have different M.O.s but it doesn't change the fact they've lost it. Landlord set off one trap, got hit with a literal spike to the head and fell over into a bomb. Set everything off at once. Only reason I knew the psycho was still in there was I could hear him shouting, 'I got 'em, I got 'em', from somewhere behind all the fires." Kiwi shook her head, eyes closing in discomfort.
David looked at Kiwi, eyes lingering just a little too long on her cybernetic jaw mask "How'd you get out of it?"
"Didn't have to. Never crossed the front door." She replied, opening her eyes. "Saw the mess, got a chill and waited till the client walked in first."
"Why?"
"He paid in advance and I was creeped out by the place."
"Oh." David paused, unsure of what to say. Fortunately, Kiwi seemed to understand and continued.
"At the end of the day, I lived, he didn't. When the fires got put out I found a few clues to what went on, never used the tech. Sold it all for scrap. Just wasn't worth the risk."Kiwi let out a sigh, voice a bit more subdued than normal. Before she could say anything else, the crew heard the rumble of a motorcycle.
Nearly as one, the crew turned to see Jackie come riding up on a brand new motorcycle. Unlike his old bike, this one was a shiny black Nazaré with red and gold accents. Here and there, the bike had been decorated with Valentinos tags and insignias.
"Hola amigos." He brought the bike to a stop before the group, smiling proudly. "Like my new wheels?"
"That an Arch? Seriously?" David couldn't keep the envy from his voice at how preem Jackie's new bike looked.
"An unwitting gift from your padre, actually." Jackie laughed at something only he seemed privy to.
"Yeah, yeah, nice bike, V's your choom." Rebecca moved closer to him, annoyance clear on her face. "Can we get to the detes before I die of boredom?"
"Patience, chica." Jackie gave Rebecca a couple pats on her head as he dismounted his bike.
"Nuh-uh. We've been waiting here for half an hour already. Make with the goodies already." The green-haired girl made grabby hands at Jackie as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small stack of shard cases.
David raised an eyebrow, curious. "Uh Jackie? What are those?"
"Shards with the job detes on 'em. Only got five, so switch off after you've gotten a peek, k?" He held them out, letting whomever wanted to take them first do so.
"Looks similar to the plan I had forwarded to the group." Maine grunted, having taken one of the shards.
"Yeah, V took what you started and gave it an upgrade." Jackie grinned, one hand idly toying with another shard case he removed from his pocket. "He's already given me a shard with the data Faraday wants. But since the Pacifica spook has watchers on your crew, V wants to put on a show. You know, to make sure the four-eyed freak gets fooled."
"He's got watchers on us? Since when?" Falco raised an eyebrow as he accepted a shard from Kiwi, and David noticed the others sporting similar expressions to the driver.
"According to him, a while. Mostly street kids with dedicated BD implants from the looks of it." Jackie's eyes lit up as he sent a file to everyone. "He looked up security on a few places where you've done jobs. Spotted the same kids with chrome in the back of their head, media implants he said. Doesn't take much to figure it out if you spot the same faces at multiple crime scenes."
"That son-of-a-bitch." Maine grumbled, hands clenching.
"Yeah, if you spot a street kid with a shiny silver skull cap, nomad tattoos, and he's just lounging about...Yeah that's the usual."
"So what?" Pilar questioned, one hand twitching in anticipation. "V want us to zero him?"
"Nah, but smiling at the camera to let the faceman know you know is fair game." Jackie winked, making Pilar laugh and slap the other man on the back.
"Here David." Lucy's hand appeared in David's line of sight, the shard held between her fingers. She had a relaxed but pleased look on her face, and David couldn't help but wonder if it was thanks to the plan. Thanking her, he slotted the shard and started to review the data.
He was treated to a slide show of sorts as Jackie continued to explain.
"Alright, that's the driver...That's the car." David thought to himself as he looked through the other files as he idly heard Jackie talk about the car's security. "That's a boxing ring? A bar?" He looked over at Lucy, seeing her nodding in agreement with something Jackie had said about the ring and fighting."What's the rest of this data?" Jackie was now talking about the bar, and how best they could stage an attack. That one word brought him out of his thoughts and back to the group. "What?"
"So fix the fight, get the driver drunk, then fake a robbery?" Maine shook his head, seeming to ignore David's question. "Sorry, not seein' how this is any different from my plan?"
"Yours was a little too smash and grab. No foreplay, no safety net in case some part falls through." Jackie knelt down, matching Becca's height. "What was the idea to stall if the short-stack couldn't keep his attention?"
A snort escaped Maine. "Becca could do the job just fine."
"This isn't my first gig you know. I've been running distraction, taking names and kickin' ass since day one with this group." Becca crossed her arms and pouted, attention focused fully on Jackie. "Could probably distract you from this right now."
David watched Becca's hand move towards Jackie's face, but the man was quick to stand back at full height and step away before she was able to make contact.
"Not sayin' she can't but what happens if she ain't his type?"
"Fine." Maine conceded as Becca continued to pout and whine under her breath. "Next point."
"V's plans are always pretty detailed. No offense to the baby bait, but Kiwi's a better choice." Jackie traced Kiwi's form in the air. "She's got that...Mystery to her."
Kiwi's eyes moved up and down Jackie's form, head bobbing just slightly in approval of what she saw. "Not bad yourself big boy."
David saw a tiny hint of red on Jackie's tan cheeks. "Uh- hehe, sorry chica. I'm taken."
"Shame."
"Ha... anyways. Having her around to quickhack him has less chance of a mistake. The way V described it to me, having the runner right next to the target makes the upload easier to overwhelm the target's ICE." Jackie looked at both Lucy and Kiwi, and David followed his eyes. Both netrunners looked calm, and he could still see contentment in Lucy's eyes. "It's a risk most runners won't take, even if the delay is non-existent."
"Huh. Thinking about it, the spook is right in theory." Falco scratched at his chin, head tilting just slightly. "Less time for the signal to travel, and even if he does notice, who suspects the runner of being right next to them?"
"Anyone see any other problems with Mr. Spookypants' plan?" Pilar questioned, he had been smiling since getting his chance to review the shard. And while David didn't hear what Pilar's job was with the plan, he could tell the techie was eager to get on with it.
David looked to each of the remaining crew, curious what else they might have to say about it. Rebecca seemed to have cheered up as, short of killing or mortally wounding him, Jackie had given her carte blanche to handle the beat down as she saw fit. Dorio looked slightly bored with her job, but her eyes held a level of appreciation she wasn't voicing. Falco was wearing his approval on his face, smile just wide enough to show some teeth.
David's eyes fell on Kiwi and Lucy, most curious about their thoughts as they had key jobs in the plan. Kiwi was nodding, admitting the plan was sound, while Lucy praised the extra level of coverage V's strategy had bought not only for Kiwi, but for herself. Only Maine seemed a bit salty about the whole thing, but David suspected that it was more from using V's plan instead of his own than anything else as he hadn't offered anymore protests.
"Hey kid." Maine's voice brought him out of his staring. "You got any questions about anything in the plan?"
"Huh?"
"Know this is your first gig sobrino." Jackie gently punched David's shoulder. "Want to make sure it goes smoothly for you and everyone else. Don't care if it's a question, comment, concern. If you don't understand something, just ask. Even if you think its a dumb question, or feel you know the answer and want clarification."
"Right." David took a moment to think. At the end of the day, his part in the plan was pretty straightforward. Guard Lucy while she rigged the fight, and while she jacked the car. Kiwi and Becca would take care of knocking out the driver, and it would be his job to assist Becca in robbing the man of his valuables.
Once Kuznetsov comes to, give the man the story of how he scared off the robbers. It all seemed easy, especially since he was working with veterans, and he was about to say he couldn't think of any questions before he felt his stomach rumble. Apparently whatever blend of coffee they served at Turbo's didn't sit right with him. That thought made him realize something else, and before he could stop himself and think of the answer himself, the question rolled off his tongue.
"What if I have to take a shit during the gig?"
Ridiculous as it sounded, David justified that as this was his first gig, it was a fair question. Everybody else seemed to think it was an attempt at humor and started laughing. He looked at Lucy in particular, seeing her hiding her face in Kiwi's shoulder as she giggled up a storm.
Only Maine wasn't laughing, but there was a grin on his face that communicated his thoughts on the situation clearly. He took a step forward and placed his hand on David's shoulder and met his eyes. "That's when you clench your cheeks and pray, boy."
At that point, David thought his ass cheeks could crush diamonds.
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["Everyone in position? Sound off?"] Maine's voice came over the shared holo-call, commanding as ever.
["Escape route in position. Eyes are on the bar."] Falco replied, no hint of his feelings on the subject in his voice.
["Siren in position. Drinking on the corpo-dime."] A content hum accompanied Kiwi's words.
["Lil'bitch in position. Ready to cover the lovebirds if shit flies!"] Rebecca laughed proudly.
["Do I have to say it?"] David closed his eyes and sighed, knowing the answer.
["Yes."]
["Fine. L-lovebirds in position. She's already poking at their networks."] He looked over at Lucy, whose eyes were glowing as she started to play her part in their plan.
["High-up in position. Can't wait to shoot with my new Ashura."] David half expected to hear a gunshot punctuate Pilar's confirmation.
["And Reinforcements are roaming. Wishing the crew was a bit more professional."] Fond resignation laced Dorio's words
["Next time can we get better callsigns?"] David almost begged.
["No. Tradition says new crew can't pick their names."] David had his doubts about Maine's claim, but the glance Lucy sent his way told him the man was telling the truth.
["Speakin' of. Aren't we missing a callsign?"] Becca's question was laced with just a hint of suspicion.
["Pequeño dolor corto en mi culo."] David suppressed a laugh at Jackie's reply, and was having a harder time holding it as he heard the anger in Becca's reply.
["What was that?"]
A loud sigh,["Hot sauce. In position. Ready to intercept."]
["Why is his call sign hot sauce? I know Kiwi picked it but-"] He heard a small laugh come from his side, and noticed Lucy hiding her mouth behind her hand.
["How is the combination of Corpo-nightmare and street scraper so innocent?"] The level of curiosity in Kiwi's voice could be felt by everyone.
["Focus, people."] Maine grunted, and David had a feeling the man was probably shaking his head at them.
["Come on boss, we've got an hour before the final fights start. The target hasn't even arrived yet. Let us blow some steam by teasing the rookie."]
["Normally Pilar, I'd be all for it. However it doesn't matter when the dope don't get it."] Maine's laugh came over the holo, causing him to roll his eyes.
["Someone check him for radiation cuz that was some nuclear burn."]
["I got it!"] David shot back defensively, groaning and scratching at his head in annoyance. He stopped once he felt Lucy's hand resting on his arm, an apologetic look on her face that melted most of his frustration at the others away.
["And what did you get exactly?"] Kiwi's tone was playful.
["He's never getting laid, that's for sure."] Becca's started laughing, but it was soon cut off by Jackie.
["Might wanna cut the chatter, I got eyes on the driver."] Jackie's voice was calm, and everyone was quick to go silent and wait. David took a quick look around, but not seeing anyone fitting the description. He looked back at Lucy, whose eyes were still glowing as she worked.
"So, how long's this gonna take?" He asked, switching between watching her and watching the crowds around them. If anyone asked, he'd just tell them he was looking for a friend of his.
"Well, it's an Animals den that they use for a public and not-so-secret fight club." Lucy flicked her eyes up, and David followed their path to a security camera. "There's plenty of cameras and...jack shit for ICE. I kinda expected it but..."
She went silent, eyes dancing slightly as she worked on, whatever she was working on.
"But?" David prompted, barely receiving a glance from Lucy for another minute before she let out a small huff.
"Nevermind." She shook her head. "They didn't even apply anything hidden, special, or even have a secret subnet with some bullshit corpo-ICE."
"So you're in?" There was a small smile on his face, excitement in his eyes.
"David, I've been in, left my uploads in their system faster than Pilar and his macro-joytoys, and pulled out. All we need is to watch the fights and activate the bugs when the final round comes up." Lucy laughed, one hand reaching up to gently pinch his cheek. "I was just poking around, seeing what information I could find." She leaned in close, directing her words to his ear. "By the way, don't bet on Locke in the third match. Seems we're not the only ones fixing fights around here."
"Wasn't planning on placing bets, but thanks for the head's up." David gave an appreciative nod and let Lucy lead him towards the cage where the fights were being held. Finding a bleacher style bench, the two of them took a seat to relax while they waited for the first fight to start.
["Lovebirds landed. Seeds planted. No sign of driver."] Lucy relayed back to the group. ["Hot Sauce, you still got eyes on him?"]
["Still outside, east entrance. Apparently ran into a friend of his. Let you know when he heads in."]
Their wait wasn't long, and shortly after the referee announced the first match, Jackie alerted them to the fact that the driver had gone inside. David spotted him, higher up in the stands and had Lucy run a small scan to confirm.
"Yeah, that's him. Maxim Kuznetsov." Lucy confirmed, looking back at the ring where the first two fighters were having it out. "Look out for him every once in awhile, but don't make it obvious."
"Right." David agreed, attention shifting from Lucy back to the ring in time to see one of the two men within get knocked out. He hadn't actually picked a fighter to cheer for, but nodded in appreciation at the show. The more he watched, the more he heard the cheers and jeers of the crowd, the more David started to get into it. The current fight going on was between a musclebound member of the Animals and a man sporting the colors and tattoos of the Valentinos.
He watched with eager eyes as the Valentino ducked, dodged, and danced around the Animal. There was a certain grace to the guy's moves that David couldn't help but envy and comment on.
"Holy shit! Look at how he moves! If his parts weren't listed I swear he had a Sandevistan!" He grinned, punching the air as the Valentino hit the Animal with a haymaker.
Lucy gave an appreciative hum, her eyes on him instead of the match. "Well this is a new side of you."
David tore his attention away from the match to look at her. "You can't tell me this isn't awesome! The guy's not even the favorite to win and he moves like lightning!" He gestured back at the ring in time to see the Valentino jump out of the way of an ill-timed punch from the Animal.
"When you put it that way." Lucy saw what he did, eyes narrowing slightly. "You sure he doesn't have any speedware?"
"You've got the match lists too." David looked back at the match, cheering as the Valentino once again dodged a grapple attempt. "Or can't you scan him yourself?"
"Hang on..." He watched Lucy's eyes light up, noticing her mouth quirk up slightly as she completed her scan. "Well, I'll be damned. He's got nada for speedware. Those moves are all 'ganic."
That made David chuckle, and earned him a confused look from Lucy.
"Not really. See the gorilla arms he's got? He's been making them go-max as he throws a punch then releases the tension once the punch is launched." David threw a punch of his own, being careful to not hit the people in front of them. "Max force without the slowdown. He's gonna have to replace them tomorrow but he's pullin' every eddy its worth out of them."
"I'm impressed David. Didn't take you for a chrome-nerd." Lucy let her fingers walk up his back, and though she was following the line of the Sandevistan, the sensation made him shiver.
"I-I'm not. Not really. The suit's been offering to pay for my chrome and I wanted to do my research before getting chipped you know?" He left out the part that he had actually learned that from Vik when he was selling Maine on going for gorilla arms instead of the projectile launch system.
"'The suit?'" Lucy's eyes narrowed slightly, "not calling him dad yet?"
"No... I mean I guess not?" He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck tilting his head up as he did to check on their target. "Is it weird that it's been two weeks, give or take, and I still don't know how to feel about him?"
A loud cheer came from the crowd, and David looked back at the arena in time to see the Valentino flip the Animal over his shoulder before delivering a elbow drop to the bigger man's chest.
"Hey. Why don't we settle for: 'V's a dick' and enjoy the fights?" Her eyes briefly lit up as she checked the schedule she had downloaded. "We still have a few rounds to sit through before our guys are up."
"Yeah. That works for me." David smiled, before joining half the crowd in whooping and cheering as the Valentino was declared the winner. Beside him, he heard Lucy laugh and clap, though he couldn't tell if her reaction was for the fight or for his own reaction to the end of the match.
Sitting back down, David watched as the next set of fighters took their place in the cage, and prepared to face off. This fight wasn't as nearly exciting, but David could still appreciate the effort of the fighters. Every so often, David would steal glances at Lucy, noticing her watching him more than the fights.
"Lucy? Everything okay? You've been looking at me more than the fights or anything else."
"You are just too cute sometimes." She muttered, just loud enough for him to hear over the din of the crowd. "Seriously though, I've just been thinking. When all this is done," Lucy gestured to the fight and surrounding area, her action including their target. "We should get that dinner I owe you."
["Duh-dinner?"] Despite the warmth of being surrounded by so many bodies, David could feel the heat coming to his face. Distracted by her proposal, he didn't realize he had spoken both aloud and to the open holo call between the group.
Lucy's eyes went wide, hand hiding her mouth in what David thought was concern from his response. "Yeah, unless you're not comfortable with-"
["Uh no, it's fine. I-I mean who wouldn't want dinner with a woman like yourself."] David realized his mistake a moment too late.
["Focus kid,"] Maine's voice came over the comms, startling David, ["think with your head, not your dick right now."]
["Uh, right...Sorry everyone."] He sat down, cradling his head in his hands while Lucy rubbed soothing circles on his back, giggling every now and then. Hearing the latest match get called, David hoped it looked more like she was consoling him for losing money on a bet as opposed to comforting him for his own stupidity.
"Don't sweat it David. We all got to hear Maine...proposition Dorio once after a mission. And don't get me started on the time Falco started singing along with per-collapse era country music." He looked up, seeing her smile.
"Really?"
"Yeah. My point is, we've all said embarrassing things over comms. And..." Lucy tucked a few stray stands of hair behind her ear as she heard the next fight announced. "And our fight is next."
David looked towards the cage, seeing the fighters enter. One of them was a red-haired woman who looked just a little older than Lucy, and of a similar size but had a good amount of muscle on her. The other was their target's chosen champion; a woman who was even more bulked up than Maine before his upgrades. A member of the Animals, she was known as the Butcher. Built like a brick wall, David understood why she was the favorite.
"Shit, feel bad for her opponent." David's eyes briefly drifted up to Kuznetsov, seeing the man yelling encouragements to the Butcher. "So what? Just gonna short-circuit her or?"
"Nah, got to be subtle. Goin' old school here and just gonna mess with her a little." She yawned, eyes closing as one hand came up to massage her temple. Lucy lowered her head then, bringing it to rest on David's shoulder, "Sorry, got a bit of a headache. Just gonna rest here a moment."
A tiny gasp of understanding left David's mouth, and he wrapped an arm around her protectively. He turned his attention back to the cage, watching as the red-head charged in and began to throw punches at the Butcher's chest. He watched as the smaller woman peppered the Butcher's chest with punches, the hits seeming to bounce off her like nothing. Indeed, the Butcher had her arms held up, seeming to invite her opponent's hits.
With a grunt, the red-head aimed a little lower and struck the Butcher in her stomach. Though that blow also bounced off, he felt Lucy shift against his shoulder. With a roar, the Butcher threw a punch that sent her foe flying to the other side of the ring. A moment later however, David noticed that the bigger woman was holding a hand to her stomach, face seeming slightly green. He glanced down at Lucy, whose attention was focused on the match. The sound of running drew his attention back to the ring, and he noticed the red-head was once again peppering the Butcher's stomach with hits.
Though they still didn't seem to be doing much damage, he could tell something was off by the occasional grimace to come across the Butcher's face. More than one person near them started to comment on the other fighter, and David found his attention now going to other patrons. Hearing their shouts and seeing their reactions, he realized Lucy had been right to go with the subtle approach. To his untrained eyes, it simply appeared that the red-head had gotten a good hit on the Butcher's stomach, making her a little nauseous. An understandable and expected side effect of taking a bad hit to the gut.
He heard a rather loud groan, and looked up in time to see their target cursing and crying foul of the Butcher's opponent. By the faint huff he heard leave Lucy's nose, he figured she could hear him too. David glanced over at her, noticing her attention was focused on the match. Hearing a mixture of cheers and jeers, he had looked back at the ring in time to see that the Butcher had once again launched her foe to the opposite side. Before the dust had a chance to settle, the red-head charged out of the cloud and caught the Butcher under her chin with an uppercut.
"And that's my cue. Time for the finisher..." Lucy muttered as she got to work on the final part of the plan. David looked back at the ring, noticing that despite having tanked the punch, the Butcher seemed off balance. She let out a groan and tried to charge her opponent, who was bunny-hopping side to side, arms raised defensively. What normally would have been strong and sure steps of a brawler were replaced with the wobbly and unstable shuffles of a drunk. Her face was contorted in discomfort, one hand on her stomach while her eyes blinked in rapid succession, trying to focus.
There was a collective gasp from all sides as red-head lunged forward and hit her a few more times. With another strike just below her chin, and one to the side of her head, the Butcher fell. All was silent in the arena a moment, before the crowd erupted in a mix of cursing and cheering. Some praised the winning fighter, while others cried foul of her victory. More than one person cussed out the Butcher, who was still laying on the floor of the ring. He looked up, seeing Kuznetsov cursing and bitching before getting into an argument with a patron near him.
"Lucy, what did you do?" He asked, noticing some other members of the Animals had come out to escort the beaten Butcher from the ring.
"Classic combination. Spike 'em with a mild contagion hack, then follow it up with a case of vertigo." She whispered, making sure only he could hear. "Makes it look like they were sick, and the symptoms just hit...or were brought about by other natural means such as..."
"Getting punched in the stomach or hit in the head." He finished, making her hum in approval.
"Exactly. Something that's believable enough, and well within the possibilities of any fight." Lucy sat up straight then, taking a moment to crack her neck and looked for their target. "Alright, looks like he's realized he's lost his money this time...Shit, crowd shifted and I lost him."
"I see him...We going after him or?"
"Not just yet, give him a chance to calm down and to put some distance between him and us." She took a moment to stretch, before contacting the group. ["Fight's over, we won. Hot Sauce, target is on the move."]
["Got my eyes on the exits Lovebirds. Let you know when I've got visual."]
["Pack it up people, time to move."] Maine cut in, it was time to move on to the next part of their plan.
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["Round two. Hot Sauce confirms he's on the move. Everybody ready?"]
["'Bout time. There's only so much light booze and ad filled TV a person can take."] Though Kiwi sounded bored, she didn't seem upset about the situation as a whole.
["I'm still awake, nothin' like old school vidya to burn time."] Falco chuckled, mumbling about loving his job as a driver.
["With that mustache and those hobbies it's no wonder everyone thinks you're the oldest."] Becca quipped, making Falco scoff.
["You complain about my mustache time and time again, but I bet if I shaved it off you'd forget all about that corporate crush of yours."] The driven taunted, snickering as Becca started to bitch and complain.
["Ew. Yuck. Gross. No."]
["No need to be hurtful."] There was zero upset in Falco's voice, the man almost seeming amused at her reaction.
["Cut the chatter. Lovebirds, you on the way?"] Maine's vopice brought everything back in order.
["Yeah, we're laggin' so he wont think he's being followed. Don't want him spottin' us and getting spooked."] Lucy sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "Think I should cut it or dye it again? It does make me stand out in a crowd."
"No, I like your hair the way it is." David assured her even as the group continued discussing their plan.
["Hot Sauce, head to the bar, but keep your distance. You'll be supporting High-up. Don't think it's gonna turn lethal, but you never know with anything corpo."]
["Ningún problema. I'll pick up the pervert and we'll pick a spot nearby. Want eyes in the bar or outside?"]
["Outside. High-up can cover an escape."]
["Gotcha."]
["Anyone remember the description of that peeper Faraday uses?"] Falco questioned.
["Sí? Why? You think you see him?"]
["Spotted the same street kid circling the streets around the bar 'bout four times now. Just him in a junker. He keeps eyeballing the bar like he's scoping it for a robbery. Slowing down when he passes."]
["Nomad tats and the back of his head's chrome?"] Jackie offered.
["Yup."]
["Looks like the bastard has been keepin' an eye on us."] Dorio commented, a sigh escaping her.
["Guess V was right to put on a show."] Maine agreed as Jackie laughed.
["Don't tell him. He's ego is big enough as is."] David could hear Jackie shaking his head and feel the man's smile.
["Don't worry about his ego. I know how to make it go soft."] Becca offered, her tone playfully seductive.
["A day. Can you not go a single day without implying you wanna fuck my father?"] David pleaded, ignoring Lucy's hands as she pulled him into a side hug.
["Nah. That'd be too difficult."]
["Keep it to biz people. We can mock the rookie later."] Dorio stepped into the roll of Team Mom and tried to bring order back.
["Who's mocking? The moment he gives me a chance I'm gonna mount his dad like an Apollo and move like it's a Kusanagi."] The worst motorcycle impression anyone ever heard came out of Becca's mouth.
["Okay, 'prec the prem vehicle pun, but leader's right. Might wanna keep silent."] It was Jackie's turn to try and rein in the short-stack.
["Aww. I wanted to see if I could make our rookie break out the brain bleach or barf."] David groaned at Becca's words.
"Might get her wish...Just don't tell her?" He looked at Lucy, who gave him an apologetic look as she rubbed gentle circles on his back in comfort.
["So far all your doing is telling me to cut your pay."] Maine's voice was flat, no hint of humor or truth to it.
["Fine. Shuttin' up."]
Fortunately for David, Becca listened and kept silent, allowing him a chance to relax and enjoy the walk with Lucy. They were a good block or so back from Kuznetsov, giving them a clear view of him without being too close. When they saw the man duck into the bar, they continued past the door in favor of hiding themselves around the side of the building. Now it was just a waiting game for Kiwi to do her stuff.
Unfortunately, waiting patient and silently wasn't yet a strong point of David's, and he found himself asking a question that had been on his mind. "So do you think Kiwi can really charm this guy? I mean she's kinda..."
"Hmm?" Lucy turned to look at him, eyes curious where his thought was going.
"I dunno how to say it? Kinda cold?"
"Some guys are into the cold mysterious girls." She twirled a lock of her hair around a finger, holding his gaze. "The kind that keep 'em guessin' 'bout what they're thinkin'. The kind that make them want to know more, to have more."
Something about her words briefly turned off his inhibitions. "Like you?"
"Oh~ho. Well aren't you a charmer tonight?" Lucy batted her eyelashes at him, one hand gently stroking his arm. Her touch made him realize what he had done, and some of his smoothness went down the nearby storm drain.
"I-I mean, well, I hope so?" He stammered, making Lucy giggle and briefly squeeze his arm before releasing it.
["Driver's looking to delta."] Kiwi's voice came over comms. ["Give me the all clear and I'll lead our lamb to slaughter."]
["Watcher's got another couple of minutes before he'll be back."] Falco offered, ["but nothing says you can't get a head start."]
["Got coverage of the alleyway and the car. All clear."] Pilar confirmed.
["Lil'Bitch. Lovebirds, you ready?"]
["Hell yeah! Been ready!"]
Looking to Lucy, David saw her nod in agreement with the question and he replied. ["Ready."]
["Alright, on our way out."]
From their vantage point, David and Lucy had a perfect view of the car. They watched as Kiwi and the driver came around the corner, noting that the man's hand was resting on the small of Kiwi's back.
["You're clear."]
["Zapping him now."] From his hiding spot, David watched as Kuznetsov twitched, his cyberware shutting down with a burst of electric sparks, causing him to fall.
["Moving in."] Becca emerged from her hiding spot, pistol drawn and pointed at Kiwi's head. "Move it blondie!"
["Blondie?"] Kiwi raised her arms, backpedaling into the alley while Becca held her hostage with the gun. David meanwhile moved out and dragged the driver into the alley, Lucy serving as a look out before joining the three of them.
"What are we looking for?" David started to search the man's pockets as Becca holstered the pistol.
"Anything of value. Credit chips, cards, eddies, jewelry, and the like." Kiwi answered as she handed over her valuables to Becca who was happily storing them in the pockets of her jacket. "I better get that knife back." The blond threatened, blade pointed at Becca for a moment before she handed it over.
"Yeah yeah." The green-haired girl nodded, moving to pick up a nearby baseball bat. "Hey David, take his jacket too, and scuff up the ground a bit. We gotta make this look good." Becca moved to his side, bouncing the bat in her hands as David disrobed the driver.
"Oh nice." From an inside pocket, David removed a stack of eddies and a couple chips. "These any good?"
"Give me that one." Lucy took one of the chips, "gonna jack the stuff in the car."
"Good idea." Kiwi nodded, taking a moment to light up a cigarette as Becca started beating on the knocked out driver. David added to the staged chaos by ripping a trash bag and tossing a few others about to give the appearance of a struggle between parties.
"Alright, think that's good enough for him." Becca grinned, standing on the chest of the beaten man. Thanks to her, Kuznetsov now had a black eye, a torn and scuffed shirt, and more than a few bruises on his arms, legs, and chest that would show up later. "You ready Kiwi?"
"As I'll ever be." She flicked the remains of her cigarette away.
"Do you really need to beat her?" Much as he knew that was part of the plan, David couldn't help but wonder if there was a better way.
"Again, this has to look legit." Kiwi fixed him with a gentle gaze. "Not the first time we've had to beat each other up for a job. You get used to it."
"Yeah. Say, any preference where I hit ya?" As accommodating as Becca was being, David felt she sounded a little too happy about this part of the gig.
"Not really," Kiwi shrugged, arms at her sides. "Just not the face..."
"That's what she said!" Becca cheered, causing Kiwi to roll her eyes.
"On second thought, just knock me the fuck out." The blond bowed her head, giving Becca the perfect angle to whack her one on the back of the skull.
"Too easy. Sorry about this..." Becca swung the bat, catching Kiwi in the arm and causing her to stumble. She swung the bat down a couple times, leaving scuff marks on her legs. "Oh, and this is for beating my Roach Race score with cheats."
Becca swung the bat one more time, catching Kiwi on her chest and winding her. Lucy had returned to the group in time to see that last blow and hear the reason and visibly flinched.
"...Fair." Kiwi wheezed out as she rolled on the ground to dirty her clothes, giving Becca a thumbs up as the shorter woman stepped back to admire her work. "David?"
"On it." David reached into his coat and pulled out his new iron. He vaguely noticed Lucy's head jerk to look at it as he pulled the trigger. The target was the sheet-metal fencing at the end of the alleyway.
The Arasaka custom kicked with the force of a newborn infant, two rounds ripping out of the barrel and digging deep into the temporary structure. Three pulls of the trigger and six steaming holes in the barrier.
David glanced down at the gifted pistol with a sense of appreciation that he did the best to squash.
"That should do it." Lucy quipped, distracting David from his reluctant thoughts.
"Alright, and that's my cue to delta. Later chooms!" Becca waved and started walking away. "Oh, don't worry Kiwi, I'll give you your stuff back at the after party."
"You better..." Kiwi shook a fist at Becca as Lucy helped moved her so she could sit against the wall.
"She got you good, huh?" Lucy questioned, taking a seat beside her.
"She's done worse." Kiwi lit up another cigarette and offered one to Lucy who declined. "How's he doing?"
"Looks like he'll be out for a little longer." David replied, looking from the driver to Kiwi. "You gonna hang around until he wakes up or?"
"Yeah, it'll help the story." The blond replied, scratching at her chest.
"Lucy you can go, I mean, if you want?" David offered, looking between Kuznetsov and the girls.
"Nah, rather stay here with you." Lucy moved from her spot beside Kiwi and came to his side, one arm falling around his shoulders. "Besides, we can use this time to decide where we're going from here."
"Becca mentioned an after party." He blinked, "aren't we meeting up with the crew after this?"
"Told you when we first worked together that its not good to hang around and hit the same area so soon again. Forgot to tell you that you also don't want to be seen with the same people." She smiled, and David found himself returning it. "We all split after this for a day or so while Maine makes the delivery to Faraday. Only once that's done will we all meet up again."
"Ah, so...It's just you, me, and Kiwi tonight?"
"No, it's just you and Lucy." Lucy narrowed her eyes at Kiwi, and David raised an eyebrow at the playful tease in the older woman's voice. "Soon as we're done, I'm gonna go home and take an ice bath."
"Don't you mean a nice bath?" David asked, bringing light laughs from both girls. "What? What I say?"
"Oh, you still have so much to learn abou-" Lucy started, but stopped as a groan came from the driver. "Oh, he's waking up. Showtime again..."
Lucy left David's side and moved back to Kiwi's. The older woman quickly wrapped her arms around Lucy and started crying into her shoulder. Lucy returned the hug and started gently stroking Kiwi's hair as Kuznetsov started to stir in earnest.
"You okay? Can you hear me?" David placed a hand on the man's shoulder, other arm moving to help him sit up.
"Uh, wha-what happened?" The older man rubbed at his head, looking around. "Where's...Where's the girl?"
"Right here." Lucy called, one hand waving to catch Kuznetsov's attention. All three of them saw the man visibly relax upon seeing her.
"You okay sweetheart?" Kuznetsov asked, eyes looking at the two women.
"She's got a few bruises, and is pretty shaken up." Lucy offered as Kiwi nodded and leaned further into the embrace Lucy had her in. "Shh, it's okay."
"They took everything." Kiwi fake sobbed. "Fucking vagrants."
"Some vagrants or posers jumped you and the girl as you left the bar." David explained, "I saw them beating on the two of you and managed to scare them off, but I wasn't able to get to them quick enough to save your stuff." He bowed his head, seeming regretful at that.
"Kid, you saved two lives." The man gripped his arm, using it for support as he tried to get to his feet, "and that's something more valuable that the things I lost."
"Huh?" David rose with him, helping him stay steady.
"What? I can always take another driving job and make back the eddies I lost." He looked over at the girls, watching as Lucy helped Kiwi to stand. "But despite the claims of Trauma Team, Arasaka, and a few others, lives can't be replaced."
David glanced at Lucy and Kiwi, seeing both of them with similar disbelieving expressions to his own. While David didn't have as much experience with suits as the two, he knew people who thought like that were few and far between.
"Hey, don't look at me like that. Sure I work for Arasaka, but I'm just a driver and hired muscle for the suits who can't be bothered to drive themselves." He tried to smile, but grimaced at the pain it caused. "Shit, hate to ask but you got any painkillers on you?"
"Sorry, fresh out." David made a show of patting down his pockets.
"Same, though I did find this on the ground near you." Lucy reached into her pocket and took out the chip she had taken from David earlier. "Yours?"
"Yeah, that's the chip for my Delegate. Saved me a headache there. " He accepted it gratefully. "Though speaking of headaches, guess I'll see if the bartender has anything. Why don't you come along with me? Let me buy you both a drink as thanks." David glanced over at Lucy, who was still supporting Kiwi, silently asking her what to do.
"Sure, think we could all use one after that." Lucy answered for him, something David was thankful for. The three of them fell in step behind Kuznetsov and returned inside the bar. Seeing the bartender's eyes on him, Kuznetsov signaled for a drink.
"You had the black Russian, and I believe you had a few beers?" He queried the two returning customers, both of who nodded their agreement as they took a seat at the counter. "And for the two of you?"
"Shot of vodka for me, please." Lucy answered.
"I'll just have some water." David replied as the bartender turned and began to prepare the requested drinks.
"Heard some gunshots out there." The bartender spoke as he set down their drinks. "Glad to see you two are still alive. Doesn't look good for business when you've got the street scrapers cleaning up a body outside your establishment."
"Yeah, we got jumped leaving this place." Kuznetsov took a swallow of his drink, "kid managed to scare 'em away before they flatlined us."
"Not surprised. There's been an influx of homeless clustering around behind here recently." The bartender started to wipe at a stain on the counter. "Asked one of them about it, said the Valentinos had moved them out from their usual haunts."
"And they're taking it out on everyone else. Typical." The driver shook his head, taking another swallow of his drink. His eyes looked over at David, seeing his glass of water. "Not drinking?"
"Boy can't hold his liquor, and we've got a date tonight." Thankful as he was for Lucy's answer, he couldn't help but glare at Kiwi as she cooed at that.
"Ah, young love." The blond closed her eyes, hiding the smile in them.
"In that case, here." Kuznetsov reached down and pulled a shard from within his shoe. He smiled as he held it out for David to take. "There's a good two-thousand eddies on that credit chip. Take your girl someplace nice as thanks. Ah, hey. I see that look. Don't worry about it. I got one in each sock." He pulled out another chip from his other shoe, stalling David's protests.
"Uh, thank you." David looked down at the chip, trying to hide his smile. They were already getting paid by Faraday, and through what they klept from Kuznetsov. This final credit chip was just gravy on the already loaded synth-steak. "And thanks for the drink."
"No problem kid. Name's Maxim by the way." He held out a hand, which David was quick to shake.
"David. And this is Lucy." He gestured to the white-haired girl, who gave a polite wave. "We should probably get going."
"Yeah, it was nice meeting both of you." Lucy placed a hand on Kiwi's shoulder. "You gonna be okay girl?"
"Yeah. Called my brother to pick me up shortly after I sat down. He doesn't live to far from here an...Oh, speak of the devil." Kiwi sent an apologetic look towards Maxim as the door to the bar opened, revealing Falco standing in the frame. "Sorry that I'm not going home with you tonight but..." The blond slid something across the counter to Maxim, who was quick to pick it up as she stood up. "Call me."
Kiwi twirled a strand of hair around a finger as she winked and walked over to where Falco was waiting for her. David and Lucy followed her out, watching as both her and Falco climbed into the Edgerunner.
"Thanks for saving my sister. Give you two a ride?" He asked as the door to the bar opened and Maxim came walking out and over to his car. ["I can pick you two up a couple blocks away if you want?"]
"Thanks, but we'll be good." David answered, giving a wave to Kuznetsov as the big man got into his own car. ["Don't even know where were going yet."]
"Alright then, ya'll have a good night." Falco closed the door to the van as the two of them started walking away.
["Kiwi, did you really give him your number?"] Lucy queried as she heard the Edgerunner pull away.
["Does a burner count? What? He seemed nice enough even before you 'saved' his ass. At the very least, he'll be good for a round or two of stress relief."] Kiwi's voice had taken on a sort of sing-song tone.
["Fair enough."]
["Stress relief?"] David blinked, he'd heard the term before, but didn't quite know the meaning.
["Oh my god."] A breathless laugh escaped Kiwi. ["Good luck with him girl."]
["Thanks Kiwi. Later."]
With that, the call between the group was dropped, leaving David slightly confused at the conversation he had just been a part of.
"Burner's a disposable line." Lucy offered, ignoring his eye roll. "And stress relief is a polite way of saying sex."
If asked, David would argue that his shoe was untied. Or that there was a dip in the sidewalk. Or some type of trash that got under his foot and caused him to trip. It had nothing to do with embarrassment over hearing the girl he was crushing on use that word.
"Alright then..." He picked himself up and brushed himself off, adjusting his jacket. The sight made Lucy smile so brightly, and David decided that the embarrassment he was feeling was more than worth seeing that. In an attempt to recover some of his dignity, he straightened up and started walking. "Anyhow, let's get moving. You promised me dinner and I'm hungry."
"I can tell." Lucy whispered close to his ear, making him nearly trip again. Letting out a hum, she shifted their conversation. "So, where did you want to go for food?"
"Uh." David thought for a moment, mind trying to think of any place he could name. Only one place came to mind, and he offered it up without much protest. "El Coyote Cojo. Its a bar here in Heywood that's uh, got some really good food. And I, I know the owner so we should be able to get a table if they're busy and-"
"Just joined the Edgerunner scene and, your sperm donor aside, you've already got connections?" A laugh escaped the netrunner. "I'm impressed."
"It's uh, really not me...I mean, I only know her because of Jackie." He rubbed the back of his neck, not sure if that really counted as having connections.
"Got to use what you can, when you can." She dropped an arm around his shoulders, before telling him to lead the way.
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Taking Lucy to a place he knew served quality food seemed like a good idea at the time. His thoughts on that quickly went south however as upon entering the Cojo, David saw Jackie sitting at the bar, talking with the bartender. Not a minute later, he caught sight of Mama Welles smiling at him and saw her give an approving nod. The older woman's eyes were shining as she moved to intercept them.
"Please don't make this awkward. Please don't make this awkward." David chanted in his mind, foot tapping nervously at the ground as she stopped just before them. Fortunately, it seemed that Mama Welles understood his thoughts and decided to hold back her delight...for now.
"Table for two?" Mama Welles asked as Lucy nodded. "Right this way." Mama lead them up the stairs to one of the unoccupied booths on the second floor and gestured for them to take a seat. Lucy slid in first, but before David could even think to go for the other side, Lucy pulled him in so he was sitting next to her. He grimaced as he heard Mama Welles chuckle, but tried not to show any displeasure beyond that.
"Thank you." Lucy smiled as Mama Welles handed over a menu before excusing herself. "You're right, this seems like a nice place. Any recommendations?" She looked at the menu, seeing a small assortment of traditional Mexican cuisine being offered, along with a couple more traditional bar foods.
"Oh uh, if it's on there...the southwestern omelets are really good." He smiled, thinking back to the breakfast he shared with V and the Welles family. "And Jackie says the syn-beef fajitas are pretty nova."
"What about the Birria Tacos?" She pointed at the menu, and David shrugged.
"Haven't had them yet."
"They're very popular. So popular that I'm out of the broth to make them. Apologies." Mama had appeared back at their table, two glasses and a pitcher of water in hand. She poured each of them a glass, asking if they knew what they would like to order.
"No worries m'am." Lucy looked back at the menu. "Thinking we take Jackie's suggestion then and get the fajitas for two." Lucy was giving him such a soft expression that he found it impossible to argue against her. "That alright with you David?"
"Yeah, sure." He nodded, reaching for his water. He downed half of it to try and calm his nerves, and Mama was quick to refill it.
"Fajitas for two? Excelente. That comes with two sides of rice and beans and salsa, okay?" The way Mama was smiling told David that she was probably going to go all out on it. "Anything else? Drinks?"
"Uh, I'm fine with water, thank you." He turned to look at Lucy, "but if you want something else..."
"Water's fine with me too." She flashed David a smile as Mama Welles left the pitcher, picked up the menu and left them alone. "What? Don't look so surprised puppy."
"Puh-puppy?" He stammered, eyes darting around to make sure no one else heard. Never mind that there was only three other people on the second floor, and they were in the booth furthest way from them.
"Yeah, you're my little puppy." Lucy smiled, amused by how flustered he had become at the name. "I mean, you've been following me around, and while not openly, your eyes have been begging for my attention."
David couldn't argue with her reasoning, but it was still embarrassing for her to give him a pet name when they weren't even together. Actually, even if they were together it was embarrassing, he decided to voice his opinion on the matter.
"Really? Do you not want me to call you that?" The small frown to mar Lucy's face made David reconsider his decision.
"No, you can...Just not in public, alright?" The light that shined in Lucy's eyes at his compromise cemented his resolve that he made the right choice. "And try not to use it around the rest of the crew either."
"What about if we're visiting your mom and it's just the three of us?" She ran a finger around the rim of her glass, smirking.
"Especially not then." David retreated into his jacket, "don't need her teasing me anymore than everyone else does."
"Aw, but I think your mom would like to see her little puppy get flustered by a girl." He felt Lucy's foot nudge against his leg. "Hasn't she bothered you about grandkids?"
"Gah! No! She wanted me to focus on my studies." He argued, face visibly red even under the soft lights of the Cojo.
"Oh relax, I'm kidding...Puppy." She whispered the last part, and David would have raised a fuss over it if Mama Welles hadn't appeared with a serving tray loaded with food. Two plates of rice and beans, a cup of salsa, and a bowl of tortilla chips. There was a covered clay pot filled with flour tortillas, and four bowls. Three of the bowls were filled with synthetic meat, while the fourth contained a mixture of grilled vegetables.
"This looks delicious." Lucy beamed as Mama Welles started setting down the items before the two of them. "Thank you."
"Yeah, thanks Mama Welles." He caught sight of Lucy's expression at his informal addressing of the older woman. "Oh, that's what everyone calls her, Mama Welles."
"And you need to learn your manners and to introduce your friends, chico." Mama Welles poked him in the arm, rolling her eyes before looking to Lucy. "But yes. I am Guadalupe Alejandra Welles, though David is correct that everyone just calls me Mama Welles."
"Lucy. It's a pleasure to meet you." The two women shook hands, and David let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding.
"I'll leave you two to enjoy your meal," Mama Welles leaned in close, her eyes flicking to David. "Oh, do make sure that he finishes his dinner. I suspect he'll need the energy later." She winked, making Lucy laugh as David laid his head down on the table and covered it with his hands.
"Mama!" He grumbled, hearing the older woman laugh as she left them alone. With his head still on the table, he reached out and grabbed a chip. Dunking it in the salsa, he brought it back to his mouth and munched on it.
"That the owner?" Lucy asked, starting to put together a fajita using the syn-chicken and vegetables. "She seems nice."
"She is," David sat up and ate another couple chips. "Don't tell him I told you this, but she's probably one of the few people V's actually afraid of."
"I like her even more now." The white-haired girl smiled, before taking a bite of her creation. "Mmm...correction. I love her."
"Yeah, Mama Welles is a great cook." He started to put his own fajita together, going for the syn-beef option that Jackie had raved about. He took a bite and his tastebuds danced in pleasure. "Oh fuck, Jackie wasn't lying. Lucy, you gotta try this!"
He held up the wrap he made for Lucy to take a bite, his only clue as to how intimate a gesture it was the faint blush on her cheeks. Still, she complied and took a small bite, humming in approval.
"Then here, try mine." She returned the gesture, and David eagerly took a bite. The two of them shared a laugh, conversation flowing between them as they continued to eat and share their various culinary creations. By the time they were finished, all that remained were a few stray grains of rice and other scraps of food.
"Didn't realize we ordered so much." David looked over the remains of their dinner. "Then again, I'm almost certain Mama gave us a little extra."
"I can't believe we ate all of it." Lucy replied, taking the last sip of her water as Mama Welles once again came to visit.
"I can. Jaquito told me you came here from a gig." She started gathering up their empty plates. "Oh, don't look so surprised. He has the same appetite as you after working all day."
David gave an appreciative nod. "That how he got so big?"
Mama Welles laughed, gently swatting his arm in mock offense at him ragging on her boy. Lucy let out a polite chuckle, not sure how to feel about the display she was seeing. Mama seemed to understand her feelings and shifted gears. "Did you enjoy my cooking?"
"Everything was delicious. Thank you." She gently dabbed at the side of her mouth with a napkin. "Can I get the bill please?"
The air around the table suddenly seemed to change, the smile on Mama's face vanishing. "No."
"No we can't get the bill or?" Lucy shifted uncomfortably and David gulped. He expected Mama to raise a fuss about Lucy requesting the bill. For her to make some comment about him not being a gentleman and paying for the lady. What she said instead was far worse.
"No, why would I make my nieto pay for the food I give him and his date?" Mama Welles smiled so warmly as she reached out a hand and ruffled David's hair. Once more, he groaned and pulled away in embarrassment, opting to try and hide under the table this time.
"Grandson?" She raised an eyebrow as David tried to defend himself.
"It-it's not like that!" Quickly, he explained how Mama Welles basically adopted V thanks to him being friends with Jackie, and how that 'adoption' extended to him.
"Well, I think its cute." Lucy copied Mama Welles and further messed up his hair as she got up from the booth. Letting out a huff, David followed behind her. "Thanks again for dinner Mama Welles."
"No trouble at all nietos." Mama placed a hand on David's shoulder and pulled him in for a hug, whispering so only he could hear. "You better take good care of her, you hear?"
"Yes abuela." He nodded, powerless to do anything except return the hug. Releasing her, he motioned for Lucy to follow him as Mama took to finishing cleaning up the table. The two made their way down the stairs, Lucy looking around at the bar as they moved.
"So where we going now?" She asked as they moved towards the exit.
"I want to show you my new apartment. It's not too far from here." Just a second too late, David realized he had made the offer right behind Jackie. Grinning like a drugged out glitterhead, Jackie turned and raised his glass in a small toast, eyes briefly lighting up as he sent a message to David.
["Use protection sobrino."]
All of David's blood rushed to his face, and he grabbed Lucy's hand and practically pulled her out of the bar, ignoring the roaring laughter to come from behind him.
01010011 01100011 01100101 01101110 01100101 00100000 01000010 01110010 01100101 01100001 01101011
David was batting a thousand.
First, he brought his date to the bar owned by his adopted grandmother. Second, his uncle and grandmother were both there to see him on and with said date. And third, he brought date back to his new apartment.
Where he currently lived alone.
"Nice place you got here." Lucy nodded approvingly as David finished giving her the tour, which ended with them sitting on the couch. "So what's the plan?"
"Figure we can just relax and watch a couple movies." He turned on the TV and pulled open one of the sliding drawers on the console. Inside were dozens of chips containing movies, tv shows, and other media. "Any requests?"
"This is your idea, you pick." Lucy kicked off her shoes and leaned back on the couch as she watched him look for something to watch. Unsure of what Lucy might like, he decided to let fate take the wheel and closed his eyes. At a count of five, he struck out a finger and opened his eyes to see his finger hovering over a movie called 'One-Eyed Jacks'. "This looks like a good one...Pre-corporate war era too." He commented, picking up the chip.
"Sure, we can give it a go." She rose from her spot and moved into the kitchen, browsing his cabinet for snacks and drinks as he set up the movie. Setting everything on the table before them, the two got comfortable as David started the movie playing.
It was an old western about some bank robbers and how one of them was betrayed by the other. It had just reached a point in the movie where the main character was spending a night on the beach with his newfound lover and David flinched slightly as he felt something dig into his side. He looked away from the screen to see Lucy had shifted so her legs were on the couch, and her head was nestled on his shoulder. One of her arms wrapped around his back, helping to support her and keep her close.
"Uh...What are you doing?"
"Hmm? Cuddling." It seemed the romantic moment of the film was getting to her. "You make a great pillow."
"I-I-uh. Thanks?" He stammered, trying in vain to reach for his drink.
"Don't be nervous puppy." She gently patted his other shoulder, trying to get him to lay down just a little more. "Just lay back and enjoy the wonders of the silver screen."
"Y-yeah." He followed her instruction and shifted so that her head was now resting on his chest. The two continued to watch in silence, the only sound the occasional crunch of a snack or sip of a drink. Only when the movie came to an end did they break apart. Lucy being the one to get up first this time.
"So, wanna watch another?" She moved over to the open drawer and started looking through it. "You've got a nice selection here."
"Yeah." He nodded, "V had the apartment loaded with books and movies before I moved in."
"He might be a shit father, but at least he has good taste in movies? Or he just grabbed everything from the top hundreds lists... Except the Bushido series." She offered, holding a chip in her hand. "That's just mindless action scenes."
David suddenly found himself feeling offended by her appraisal. "The Bushido flicks are great!"
"Yeah, yeah. Explosions and chicks with nice tits. A cinema masterpiece." She rolled her eyes, putting the chip back.
David got up from the couch and moved to her side, picking up one of the chips. "How about this, we pop-em in and you can point out everything you see wrong with them?"
Lucy ruffled his hair, "you could just say you want to watch them puppy."
"Nuh-uh. I know this trick. You pick the next flick. Even if it was a guess, I picked the first one." He pointed at her, then to the collection. "Now, your turn."
"Fine, then I pick this one."
"'Crime and Punishment and Zombies'?" David shrugged as started the movie playing, before returning to the couch. Once more, Lucy snuggled into his side as the movie opened with a student shooting and killing an old woman running a junk shop. As the student left, the camera zoomed in on the fallen woman's corpse which started to twitch.
"Think they'll explain how she's turning into a zombie?"
"Yeah, want a full spoiler? A hint? Or do you just want to wait and see?"
"I'll wait. Want to try and figure it out before its revealed." He smiled and pulled Lucy just a little closer as the student character shot his sister. Despite the b-movie quality of the effects, David was genuinely interested as the student struggled with the consequences of what he had done. Lucy also seemed to be enjoying herself, though halfway through she excused herself to go to the bathroom.
"You want me to pause or?"
"Nah, told you I've seen this movie a few times." She gently pulled away from him, and David watched her until she had stepped into the bathroom. He picked a good point to look back at the movie, the action at the height of a fight. On screen, the hand of a zombie reached out, trying to grab at one of the men fighting it.
Suddenly, like the kill on the screen, David felt something's hands wrap around his throat. Fingers digging into soft, yielding flesh as a smoky voice taunted him in his ear, the sound sending chills down his synthetic spine.
"Gotcha!" Lucy proclaimed, making him jump off the couch.
"Los que viven al amparo del Altísimo encontrarán descanso a la sombra del Todopoderoso! Declaro lo siguiente acerca del Señor: Solo él es mi refugio, mi lugar segu- Lucy!" He cursed, turning around to see the white-haired girl laughing her ass off at his sudden lapse into prayer. "Fuck! Thought you just went to the bathroom?"
"I did," she wheezed, "but then...I came back, an-and you, you were so focused...I couldn't help it." There were tears in her eyes from how hard she was laughing, breaths coming in short gasps as she tried to calm down. "Sorry puppy, really didn't mean to startle you that bad."
"M'not a puppy!" He whined as Lucy wrapped her arms around him and pulled him back to the couch. In a mirror to their original position, his head was now resting on her chest as she started to stroke his head.
"Then why are you whining like one?"
"Fine, whatever..." David took a few breaths of his own, calming his heart rate. "Got to admit...You got me good." He chuckled, wrapping his arms around her as his heart rate continued to slow back to normal. A few more chuckles were shared between the pair before they went silent to finish the movie.
"So wait? They weren't really zombies? Just nightmares he was having about the people he killed?" David questioned as the movie came to an end. "Seems like a cop out to me."
"Maybe, but it does give you an idea on how some people perceive the world." Lucy took a moment to stretch, puffing out her chest in such a way that it gave David a great view of the 'pillows' he had been snuggled into.
"Uh huh. So he didn't see himself as a monster, just everyone else?" David shook his head, seeing Lucy shrug as they looked through V's collection. "Anyhow, got time for another one?"
"Got all night," Lucy replied, holding up a chip. "Another horror or?"
"Nah, in the mood for something lighter." David shook his head and continued to look through the collection.
"Hey, how about this one?" Lucy held out a chip which David raised an eyebrow at.
"Really? The twenty-seventies remake of 'Some Like It Hot'?" Much as he tried to sound indifferent, he couldn't hide the smile on his face. "You're picking a rom-com with drama?"
"Yup?"
David rubbed the back of his neck. "After that last movie, I didn't take you for a fan of-"
Lucy shushed him with a finger to his lips, looking at him through half-lidded eyes. "Every girl likes a little romance in their life puppy."
"It's not that. I'm just surprised is all..."
"Not your taste?" She pouted, making him raise his arms in defense.
"No, I've watched it a few times- Uh, I mean I've seen it before." The color of his cheeks told a different story than his words.
"A few times huh?" Lucy gently elbowed him, and he broke.
"Okay, it was one of the better things to watch we had at the old apartment." David couldn't bring himself to look her in the eyes. "I may have watched it often."
She popped the chip in and gently pulled him back to the couch. "Then you won't have a problem watching it with me, will ya?"
"N-not at all." David put his feet up on the coffee table, allowing Lucy to fully stretch out on the couch and use his lap as a pillow. His breath caught slightly as her head brushed against his crotch, but he distracted himself from the sensation by reaching for the remote and starting the film.
"So is this remake like the original at all?" Lucy asked as the movie opened with a shot of a kid being interrogated at a police station about something he had seen or done.
"I think I looked it up once, the original was about cross-dressing criminals on the run or something?" David closed his eyes, thinking. "This one still has the cross-dressing in parts, but they've changed a lot of the characters and parts of the plot."
"I remember when they advertised it. The director said he wanted to make a film modern audiences could relate to." Lucy added, rolling over to better look at David instead of the screen.
"And their idea on how to do that was to make it about a vigilante teen on probation who wants to fuck his night job working high-school teacher?" He blinked, suddenly realizing how ridiculous that seemed compared to the original.
"What can I say? Classics don't hold appeal for stimulation addicts." Lucy shrugged, shifting back to look at the screen. "Come on, let's just watch the film."
David nodded as the movie started to pick up, with both of them making the occasional quip or comment at some part or another.
It had just reached a turning point in the plot. The student was sitting in the apartment he was renting from a family friend, teacher standing before him. The two were having a conversation that Lucy couldn't help but speak along with.
"You're a student and I'm your teacher." Lucy sat up, turning David's head to meet her eyes.
"That's the best part." David replied, making Lucy's eyes shine as she realized he knew the lines too.
"Why are you so okay with this?" She gently pushed at his chest, moving away just slightly.
"I dunno. You're kinda one of the best things that's happened to me." Something about her actions stirred something in David, and he gently reached out and pulled her back.
"That's not the line puppy." She didn't resist, instead letting him pull her close.
"I know...It's...It's how I feel." He admitted, meeting her eyes. David got exactly three seconds of warning with the sight of Lucy's eyes widening before she surged forward and caught his lips in a desperate kiss.
The movie was quickly forgotten. The rest of the world soon followed.
It was just the two of them, and in that moment, it was all David needed.