"Sorry everyone, one sec." I said as my eyes blinked yellow.

M: This is Motoko.

W: There is an issue. The vehicle you just collected? It was stolen out of my storage unit. Some fool is attempting to step on my toes, or they are so foolish they didn't realize what they have done. I need the vehicle recollected. Now.

M: That's… Someone really is dumb. What do we have?

W: I am sending you what I have so far. I am aware of your little group. You did an acceptable investigation for Fujimura. Complete a second one for me. Find the vehicle and return it to the storage unit. And send a message to whoever did this.

I considered it for a moment. I had been wanting a gig with more killing for XP.

M: Okay, I'll take it. Send me the deets.

The line hung up which I couldn't help but smile and shake my head at. That's Wakako alright. I thought with a laugh escaping me.

"Kid something good?" Sasha asked, noticing my amusement.

"Wakako hung up on me again." I replied and laughed, "I have to go, surprise gig, you know how it is. It was nice to meet all of you!" I said as I stood up and hurried away.

MOTOKO

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Holdup!"

I paused as Rebecca powerwalked up to me, hands on her hips, chickenlegs in a wide powerstance, "You can't just leave us hanging like that! Wakako? Wakako Okada, Lady of Westbrook? Hung up on you?"

I nodded absently, and kept going, "Yeah, she's a bit of an old vulture. I klepped a car for her, and it got klepped back, so she wants me to send a message."

Rebecca glanced back at the others, who had all mostly lost interest. Not Rebecca though, "What kinda message?" There was a suspicious look on her face, as if she was trying to suss out exactly what angle I was working. Well, there was no angle here, just plain honesty. And from what I knew about Rebecca...

I smiled at her innocently, "How much iron you got on hand?"

I could see her struggling with an inner conflict on how to answer that question. Before she could, however, I caught a flash of familiar paint. That motherfucker... he wouldn't. He did. The Type-R was right there! He was just brazenly driving it back to his conapt?! I cued the Quadra to start, and pull out of the parking space, while I started spiriting toward it without another word. I dove in, and landed in the driver's seat, only to narrowly avoid the compact mass that followed me in.

CH-CHAK

Blinking innocently from the passenger seat was Rebecca, as she grabbed my holdout Carnage from the footwell and gave it a pump, "Plenty, now! Now this is how you ride in style - even Maine doesn't keep an armoury in his front seat, he keeps it in the trunk like a lame-oid." She made a face, which was supposed to mimic Maine somehow, "No Rebecca, we can't keep guns in the front, that wouldn't be safe." She blew a raspberry, "Psh, let's hear him say that next time he gets into an overpass drive by."

No time to kick her out, I had to get that car back! "Seatbelt!" I stomped on the accelerator, and peeled backwards out of Turbo's.

She rolled her eyes and buckled in, "No fun, seatbelts are like minus five style points. Everyone knows that."

I shook my head as I pulled a reverse skid out of the lot, through the intersection, and threw the Quadra into drive, "Safety first!" My passage left a six car pileup, two gunfights, and lots of blaring horns. Rebecca just laughed as she lowered the window and stuck her head out, establishing a link with me via holo.

R: Which sled we after?

M: The Quadra in the Claw wrap. Don't damage it too much, it's Wakako's.

We had the same baseline vehicle, but he had to deal with traffic. Which meant that on a straightaway, I was dead set on catching up. I ripped up onto the sidewalk, as pedestrians started scattering in fear.

R: Boo, boo I say! Who gives a shit about that piss scented granny? They're Claws! Let's fuckin' roast 'em!

M: I dunno, my burrito eater of a brother'd be pretty pissed if...

R: Fuck him too! You think I give a shit what my bro thinks? And I have to live with 'im!

M: Yeah, but I have to live with mine too, and he likes to drop his fat ass on me.

R: Just shoot him?

M: I can't just...

Jun did have subdermal. I swerved back onto the road, as the T-R turned a corner. Rebecca took a potshot at one of the wheels, and was nearly thrown out of the window by the recoil. Only the seatbelt saved her, as she cackled and braced herself against the window frame with her feet, "Let's go, let's go, let's go!" Fortunately, she missed scrapping the car, but unfortunately, he noticed us, judging by the panicked moves he was starting to pull. He realized the strengths he had too, but I could just as easily drift to keep my momentum around turns.

M: Okay, I guess I could use a low calibre? But I'm trying to de-cyberpsycho him. Shooting him doesn't help.

R: Pfff, just stuff him full of food and rent him a bit of joytoy ass. It worked on Pilar, it's what all guys want anyways, and he'll cool down on his own. EezyBeef.

Ew, Becs. I didn't want to think about Jun or Pilar that way, so I wasn't gonna dignify that with a response. Damn, if only I had a perk or hack to remotely disable vehicles, because chasing was a hell of a lot less fun than running. A notification popped up on my HUD, but I passively flicked it away. Car combat wasn't really the time to mess around with my menus. Clearly, he was getting sick of my mad drifting skills, so he decided to lose me by pulling onto the Ring Road's on ramp. I followed.

I wasn't the only one though, as a pack of bikers ripped out of a nearby alley, and followed me. Guess I spoke to soon!

M: Becca, Bōsōzoku on our ass! Blast 'em!

R: Shotty's dry!

M: Check under the seat! Grab something else if you can't find a box!

R: Ooo, I get to pick? Don't mind if I do!

As bullets started pinging off the rear-body of the T-R, I dug into the space between the seat and the centre console, and pulled out the Overture that had fallen in there at some point. I had to get rid of these posers before they became more than a nuisance. Rebecca was shooting at them, but she didn't have a good position with the car's rear blocking half her shooting arc. I'd built up a decent amount of speed, so I could sacrifice a few seconds to deal with this trash.

M: Gonna pull a drift!

R: Bitch, are these grenades?

Guess she found the box. Huh, I really should clean out this car at some point. Whatever, I shook myself out of my motoko-brain, and focused on the brrrr. I toggled open the door, at the same time I jackknifed the muscle car, feet pumping the pedals to maintain positive control. The Overture roared in my chrome hand, as I managed to pick off four with carefully timed shots. I could hear empty casings hit the roof, interspersed with Rebecca's crazed laughter, as she turned a few more into meat crayons. I pulled out of the drift, closed my door, and put the pedal to the floor.

Explosions sounded from behind us, as the rest of the gogangers turned into something slightly more complex than scop. Welp, guess she put those grenades to good use. No matter though, because we were closing in on our prey now. Just had to get close enough to zap him, and we could recoup the car pretty safely.

Problem was, it looked like he got himself involved in a street race? Why did all the crazy shit in Night City happen at the same time? Right, because it was Night City. Go big or go home, or something. Fuck it, maximum effort!

M: Alright, time to thread the needle. Ready?

R: Born ready! Where's the NOS on this whip?

M: That's a work in progress.

R: Are you kidding me? What a snore! You have a preem ride like this and it doesn't have a big red button?

M: Why you gotta do me like that, Becca? You know how many side-gigs I have simmering?

R: Shut up, you love it.

I did. I loved it. I loved the neon, and the chrome, and getting kicked out of skyscrapers. I loved never fully committing to a single thing like a real connoisseur of cultivation, and having multiple unfinished projects. I loved -

The thought got cut off, because a big honkin' truck just sideswiped me! They'd brake checked me, the nerve! It was a gunmetal grey mixed with jetblack, a beast of a suped up Mackinaw. Trans pride, cool, but why did it seem so familiar? Not the time to reminisce, because they were coming in for another hit! If they got lucky, not only would I lose the target, but my ride would get wrecked!

And I wasn't about to pony up for insurance when xp for fixing it was at my fingertips, damn it!

M: Becca, take 'em out!

R: Don't have to ask me twice!

Her voice joined the sounds of gunfire, as she cleared a jam out of the Copperhead. I managed to juke the sideswipe, and accelerate until we were parallel. It was enough for Rebecca, "Eat lead, scopshitters!" The driverside window spiderwebbed, then blew inwards at the same time a spray of blood painted the interior.

"Dean, no!"

I ignored the panicked scream, and pulled forward as the Mackinaw spiralled out of control behind us. That was self defence, fully sanctioned self defence. They were coming right at us. Rebecca had the right to bear arms, and I had the right to bear Rebecca. Wait, that didn't sound right. Whatever. The road was clear now, and the target was in sight. With the amount of horsepower the Quadra had, it was only a matter of time before I managed to slip close enough, and I had the perfect tool to disable him.

M: Gonna zap him.

R: Aww, it's over? I wanted to rip and tear some more.

Rebecca... might have been a bit more bloodthirsty than I anticipated. Though maybe she'd seen my XBD, and been partially corrupted by it. Was that possible? To go cyberpsycho from an XBD? In the anime, Jimmy Kurosaki, a pretty renowned BD tuner - probably on the same scale as Judy - had been convinced it was possible. He had been planning on making David pop, before he'd been interrupted...

Something to ask Judy later. This gonkass chase had gone on far too long, and it was about time it ended. I managed to get into range, and flicked my newly minted Long Circuit script at the driver. I could see him start to spasm cycle, and the T-R lost a bit of speed. Enough for me to pull ahead, and gently brake check it until it slowed enough for me to gently guide it onto the shoulder and out of immediate danger.

As the dust settled, I stepped out of the car for a breath or relatively putrid Night City air. Gonkass would be out for a bit, feeling the aftereffects as every internal battery he had discharged in sequence. Rebecca hopped out too, and folded her hands on top of her head as she leaned on the front of my T-R, "Whew. That good for you as it was for me?"

I'm pretty sure I didn't hear that right, "Huh?" Careful Becca, you're tempting the mods.

Rebecca shook her head, and wiped her fivehead, "Stuff what the rest of those old fucks say, even Sasha. You're not half bad for a kid. We gotta do this again sometime." She pulled out a pack of smokes, and popped one in her mouth, before offering one to me too.

I waved her away, "I don't smoke."

She blinked in confusion, "It's gum." Then she chomped down on the cigarette to prove her point.

With a shrug, I accepted it, then took the moment of quiet to reload my Overture, "Err, thanks." Man, this was a lot easier than going on a whole sleuthing expedition with the rest of Section 9. I mean, they were my chooms and I loved them... but Rebecca. And this gave me an in to the rest of Maine's crew! I could actually pull meaningful change this way! Save some lives that needed saving! Good thing it actually happened canonically!

Traffic moved past us, seemingly uncaring for the fire-fight or resulting bloodshed, "Gotta ask, what's up with these pushes?"

I blinked in confusion as I chewed on the gum. Hmm, cotton candy flavour? "Pushes?"

Rebecca blew and popped a bubble, "Notifications, yeah. Party? Xp?"

Uh oh. I thought there wasn't a party mode? "Uh..."

Rebecca grinned, "Don't worry about it. We're best chooms now, plenty of time to explain."

HIROMI

I shuddered at the cold chill that had just gone down my spine.

A great disturbance, and it involved Motoko. I checked my messages, but nothing of note stood out, before I moved towards the window. From the high vantage point, I looked down at the glimmering City below. A familiar looking Quadra was stopped on the Ring Road, a trail of destruction behind it. I pulled out my stalker-scope, and zoomed in on my prey. Motoko wasn't alone, and I didn't like look of the small woman beside her one bit.

Not one bit. My fists were shaking with barely suppressed rage. Motoko was too big of a useless gonk sandwich to figure things out on her own. I'd have to defend my claim, using whatever means necessary. I licked the crusty blood off my yandere-knife, and narrowed my eyes.

Someone was pressing in on my turf, and that was unacceptable.