Chapter 4

1 month later

Padre had really come through for him. David was finishing his final preparations to finally install his cyberware. Currently filling his bathtub with a gelatinous medical liquid. He'd be submerging himself into it to stem the inevitable bleeding that will occur.

The nanobots will be breaking down his remaining arm and leg along with space along his spine to allow for the installation of his cyberware. The biomass they break down will then be redistributed through his body. Reinforcing his abdominal and back muscles, increasing bone density, reworking his nervous system for faster response times. After the space is cleared the bots will begin integrating the cyberware with his body. Once the cyberware is integrated, the bots will continue to stay in his body continuing to make improvements. Helping to facilitate healing and cyberware repairs. Even having them knit a subdermal armor. The possibilities were endless.

Around the tub were multiple machines. Some with vials full of the nanobots that would be injected into his body. Others meant for moving the cyberware into place. A neural link cord so he could manage the procedure and a breathing tube. He had the whole 9 yards for a risky procedure happening in a bathroom.

With the tub full he was ready to start. David plugged his neural link in and put on the breathing mask. Once he lowered himself in, David initiated the procedure. The first thing that happened was he became very numb. This would hurt and he didn't particularly want to feel it so all feeling from the neck down was shut off. Next the nanobots were injected all around his body. Once injected they went to work. It looked as if his remaining arm and leg began to dissolve. Also the scar tissue that covered where he had lost his arm and leg was broken down making it look like a fresh wound. He couldn't see his back but he assumed a similar thing was happening there.

As the bots broke down parts of his body they also built up others. Visible muscle began to bulge and strengthen along his shoulders, chest, back, torso and hips.

Once that was complete his cyberware was moved into place. Arms, legs and modified sandy all with a matching matte black look. Once secured the bots began the integration process. Connecting sensors to nerves, fusing metal to bone, attaching ligaments and tendons to small strands of metal alloy cable. He'd be spending the rest of the night in the bathtub. The whole procedure and giving his body time to recover would take till morning. That's okay, the risky part was over. He could get some shuteye now and let the bots do their work.

David slept through the night and woke up naturally the next morning. Doing a quick check on his vitals everything looked great. Better than usual in fact. Now it was time for the trial run. Giving himself back his feeling he wasn't hit with any pain which was a good sign.

Lifting himself up with both of his new arms he emerged from the gelatinous liquid. He pulled himself up so he was standing and got out of the tub. The smile on his face could have lit up a room. Everything was perfect, it felt so natural even better than the arms and legs he was born with.

It was time to get cleaned up and dressed so he could head out. He hadn't been outside his building in a month. Living off vending machine food and drinks sucked. It was time to start living again.

Uncorking the drain in the tub and running the hot water had all the medical gelatin draining down. Once gone he hopped in and washed the rest off his body. After he was done cleaning himself off he went and got dressed. A pair of black pants, light blue hoodie, and white sneakers were his choice of outfit.

He gave Padre a call before he left.

"Hello David"

"Hey Padre, you around? Got something to show ya."

"I'm at the basketball courts near my church conducting some business, feel free to stop by."

"Nova, see you soon Padre."

Hanging up, David made his way out. Excited to test his new chrome. Just like he did before he lost his leg he jumped off his floor landing in a big pile of trash. Everything looked good, the diagnostics showed almost 0 stress on the legs from the landing. Time to test the speed out. Taking off in a sprint David raced to the metro station. His new legs taking him there faster than he ever thought possible. Scanning his card he entered the station and waited for the NCART for Heywood to arrive.

Getting on his tram David stood by a window he'd done enough sitting for the last month and he wanted to see the city again. He was minding his own business for the majority of the ride till something, well someone caught his attention.

The first thing he noticed was her hair, a captivating rainbow color overlaid on polished silver. He couldn't get a good look at her face but he could see practically everything else. She wore a skin tight white and dark gray outfit. She was tall with long legs and a killer ass.

Beyond her appearance though it was what she was doing that drew his eye she was pick-socketing unaware passengers. She was good, quick and efficient. Also really tough to track. He'd lose her as she moved through the crowd. Must be a real pro.

Losing sight of her after a while he went back to watching the city. Most pick sockets only targeted suits. Wasn't worth their time to steal from the poor. At least that's what he thought before. He felt his chip socket activate and eject his data shard.

It almost felt like instinct activating his sandy. Time slowed, reflexes and perception enhanced to an inhuman degree. He spun around and saw his chip flying through the air as if it was in slow motion. The woman's outstretched hand reached for it. One of his hands went for her wrist, the other to the chip. Securing both he powered down the sandy. The surprise in her eyes was clear, she certainly didn't expect anyone to catch her. He slotted his chip back into his socket and shoved her hand back.

"Back off, and keep your hands away from my shards." He'd honestly be more upset if he wasn't so thrilled about using the Sandevistan for the first time. He knew he wouldn't be able to fire it up all that often because of the strain on both his brain and body but that was awesome.

Sadly though, his warning must not have been all that intimidating. Instead of walking away the woman sauntered real up close to him pressing her body against his.

"Well well, does boyo not like it when I get close." Jesus H Christ this cannot be his first interaction with a woman in over a month. Like seriously first she tries to rob him and now she's seducing… oh there it is. David was notified that an unauthorized scan was taking place. She was distracting him and honestly it worked a little too well.

A firm push separated them, and he tried really hard not to think about all the other things he could be doing to her when grabbing her by the hips.

"Quit fucking with me, keep your hands and hacks away from me. Or I'll report you to NCPD for assaulting a minor."

Thankfully he finally arrived at his stop and made a hasty exit. David figured he'd be safer on the streets of Heywood than stuck in the metro with a net-runner who had no sense of boundaries.

The basketball courts weren't far from the metro station. Instead of basketball games, however, it looked like they were having boxing matches. Padre was seated in the bleachers surrounded by his people and what looked like some 6ers. As David was walking up Padre spotted him and waved him over to take a seat.

Not wanting to interrupt any of the business they were conducting David took a seat and listened to them talk.

"We know you got a soft spot for your old Chums in the Valentinos Padre, but get this through your head Heywood is gonna be 6ers territory soon enough and you need to get on board."

The very clearly Valentinos around certainly didn't appreciate that.

"I may have been a Valentino in my youth, but now I'm nothing more than a priest and fixer. Doing what I can to keep the peace. I can't keep the peace if the only jobs I'm organizing for the mercs of this city are hits between 6th street and the Valentinos. If this keeps up eventually someone else might get involved in Heywoods affairs. No one wants Maelstrom or the Animals making a home in Heywood."

"Cut the moralist bullshit Padre, fixers don't keep the peace. They're nothing more than glorified middle men. So be a good middleman and do what we pay you to do. Get mercs on the jobs we pay for and we won't have an issue."

The 6ers made their exit, probably a good thing. Valentinos aren't prone to handling disrespect for long. With Padre's business concluded he waved David closer.

"Look at you David standing on two feet again, how'd you manage that?" An understandable question as far as Padre knows David was broke as hell and had been getting paid in gold. While valuable, eddies were the lifeblood of the city, no one wanted to get paid in gold.

"A project of mine actually, it's why I needed the gold. I won't bore you with the details, so let's just say nanobots. The arms and legs I built myself, Arasaka academy might be full of some of the shittiest baby suits in the city, but they were a treasure trove on cyberware manufacturing."

"I'm not much for technical jargon anyways, but I can tell it's impressive nonetheless. Congratulations David I'm sure your mother would be proud of you."

David hoped so too.

"Thanks Padre… well I won't take up anymore of your time. Let me know if you need any more work done. I'm mobile now so I could broaden my portfolio if you need me too."

"Many of the other jobs I provide come with the inherent risk of danger David, are you sure you're ready for that?" That's a good question, was he ready? No he wasn't, he didn't even own a gun. He'd get ready though you didn't make it in Night City by being a soft target.

"Not yet I guess, gimme a week and I will be though. You can count on me Padre. Whatever you need I'll get it done."

"I believe you David. I may have some more computer work for you in the meantime. You still want to be paid in gold?"

"Eddies are fine now, but if you have some extra in the future, you want to get off your hands. I'll buy it from ya."

"Sounds good David."

"Thanks again Padre, I'll see ya later"

"Salú David."

David decided he at least should take this time to go and scope out some gear he may need. There was a Second Amendment over in Vista so he'd start there to see if anything piqued his interest. Instead of walking on the sidewalk like a normal person, this would be a great opportunity to test his mobility. Taking a running jump David latched onto a fire escape and proceeded to scale the side of a building. Grabbing a hold of water pipes, AC units, and the occasional window ledge he was cresting the side of the roof before he knew it. With the Second Amendment input into his gps he ran and jumped from roof to roof. Clearing distances he never thought possible with ganic legs.

The trip wasn't a long one and he ended it by returning to street level using a water pipe to slide down like a fireman's pole. Crossing the street to the Second Amendment he was greeted by walls and walls of guns, ammo, blades, body armor and explosives. This place really had everything you needed to kill someone.

Walking around he wanted to see what would fit him best. David could build most of these things on his own but didn't want to build something he'd end up hating. Starting at the pistols he looked through the models. The unity and nue's were discarded. They just didn't pack much of a punch and he wasn't looking to mug people in the streets. He was leaning towards the overture, heavy duty, simple and easy to modify. It'd also take an act of god to make one of them misfire.

"Can I take a look at this overture?"

"Sure thing kid."

Once he got it in his hands he went about taking it apart. David wanted to get a good idea how these things operated. Once disassembled he took a good look at all the individual parts. Yeah he could make one of these. Putting it back together he handed it back.

"Thanks."

After that he went over to the blades. Knives and katanas all over the place. He just needed to find the style he wanted to copy. The katanas were all pretty lackluster gaudy blades that looked like they could break with a good hit. Same with the knives, nothing worthwhile beyond the basic tungsten throwing knife. Guess blade work wasn't their specialty.

Continuing on he went over to the shotguns. David wasn't sure if he wanted to become a solo, but chances are he'd have to be. The one thing he knew about the best solo's though was that they used shotguns. At least Morgan Blackhand did and if you can become Arasaka's worst nightmare with nothing but a cybernetic arm and a shotgun, well that sounds like a lesson worth learning. The smart and tech ones wouldn't really work for him, both of them would be too slow. The DB 2- Testera seemed like the best option. It packed a wicked punch and was more compact compared to the other double barrels. Taking it off the shelf he messed around with it for a bit, opening and closing the barrels. Dry firing it so he could get an idea of the trigger squeeze. There would be a few changes to the one he made but it was definitely the model he'd base his off of.

With that decided It was time to go see what they had for ballistic protection.