《Ghost in the City: Cyberpunk Gamer SI》


 Chapter 1

    ¡°Unfamiliar ceiling.¡± I muttered, staring upwards as I slowly woke up. The faint beeping of a heartbeat monitor and my own absolute weakness told me that something serious had happened. I didn¡¯t go to hospitals, ever.


    I blinked.


    I could see the ceiling¡­ I wasn¡¯t wearing my glasses. I hadn¡¯t seen anything this clearly more than a foot from my face without my glasses in a decade.


    Too many years staring at a computer screen would do that.


    ¡°What?¡± I asked, my throat raw and dry, but instantly, I was even more on edge than before.


    That wasn¡¯t my voice.


    I jerked upward, gasping as I realized I could barely move. I exhaled, a shocked gasp escaping me. The heart rate monitor started beeping, as my heart rate skyrocketed.


    Moments later a doctor wearing the strangest clothes I had ever seen entered my room, his face covered in a plastic face guard I couldn¡¯t see through! He quickly went to work on me. My gasped questions were ignored with clinical detachment. Until suddenly I felt myself passing out. The Doctor¡­ He had drugged meeeee.


    ¡ª--


    I had learned a few things since I woke up from a coma.


    One. I wasn¡¯t me. Or I was a me that wasn¡¯t me. It got complicated so I stopped thinking about it. I¡¯m a me that was me. Good enough.


    Second. This wasn¡¯t my earth. My home. My people.


    The first time I had a doctor enter my room after I woke up for the second time but his entire right arm was a twitching monstrous looking limb full of needles and grabbers had me damn near jump out of bed from him.


    I definitely didn¡¯t cry though. Fuck you.


    Third. The thing that explained all of it. It was the year 2075. I wasn¡¯t in the United States. No this was the Free City of Night City. Something a doctor had explained gruffly after they all realized I had ¡®amnesia¡¯ from my stint in a coma.


    Night City though? That was something I knew about. Cyberpunk. I knew all about Night City. That alone scared the shit out of me more than anything, because that meant I was in danger. My body was worse than atrophied. The doctors refused to explain what had actually happened to me, simply telling me that my family would explain when they arrived.


    That it wasn¡¯t their job.


    It made me feel even more helpless. Realizing that these doctors taking care of me, they literally didn¡¯t care about me. Didn¡¯t even pretend to.


    Thankfully my ¡®family¡¯ arrived about four hours after I woke up for the second time.


    I had been laying in my cramped little room fingers weakly picking at my neck where I had an actual USB style port into the back of my head.


    It felt weird. But also kinda cool.


    My eyes were also crazy good. Perfect vision, and the ability to telescope a bit. I spent most of the few hours laying in bed unable to raise myself into a sitting position playing with my vision.


    Until the door suddenly burst open. The noise from the hallway suddenly reached in through the soundproofing.


    Although I realized the soundproofing was probably meant more to keep the noise from inside the rooms from the outside rather than the other way around.


    But a man entered the room practically pushing past one of the doctors, cursing at him in Japanese that my mind instantly translated into english without a thought.


    ¡°Bastard! Get out of my face! Don¡¯t think I won¡¯t cut you down!¡± He cursed as the doctor seemed to finally back off a bit. The man that entered, well the older teenager. I could still see the youth on his face, as he was trying to grow a pretty crappy beard.


    But it was the outfit, the style. The fact he was wearing an Oni mask around his neck obviously having taken it off as he entered that twigged in my mind hard.


    Tyger Claws? This guy was a ganger. A Japanese gang straight out of Akira.


    Hell they even had the bikes¡­


    ¡°Imouto.¡± He said his voice going a little soft as he noticed me staring.


    I blinked, raising my hand up to point at my face. ¡°Me?¡±


    He blinked in return looking surprised. His hair which glowed in different colors as if made of fire kept catching my attention even as the boy turned to the doctor.


    The fact he had a damn sword on his hip probably the reason the doctor quickly raised his hands. ¡°As I was trying to tell you before you entered. Your Sister seems to have short term amnesia from the Coma¡­ Or the circumstances that led her there. We didn¡¯t detect any brain damage from our scans. So she will likely recover.¡±


    ¡°Dammit!¡± He cursed in Japanese which I instantly translated before he seemed to take his hand away from his Katana as he sauntered over to my bed.


    Despite myself I felt a hint of fear at his glaring face and even flinched a bit as he drew near which caused him to slow his face blanking out as I took in the lines of metal that coated his cheeks making it look like he had a tigers fangs on his cheeks.


    ¡°You¡­ You don¡¯t need to worry, Motoko. You are safe. I-I¡¯m sorry.¡± He whispered as he took a seat and simply stared at me for a while as if expecting something.


    ¡°Motoko?¡± I asked. That was a new one. ¡°Is that me?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but add on.


    He stared at me in shock for a moment before reaching up and rubbing his face as he took a moment to try and recover from his surprise. ¡°Yeah. You are Kusanagi Motoko. My little sister¡­ Don¡¯t¡­ Don¡¯t fear Imouto. I made sure everything will be alright.¡±


    Motoko Kusanagi? Like Ghost in the Shell? I reached up weakly to check my hair. Black. Not purple. Dang. That would have been kinda cool. I nodded a little to him, what else was I supposed to do?


    I guess this was my older brother? I mean, I didn¡¯t even know his name¡­


    ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± I asked a little weakly mostly because I had a feeling it wasn¡¯t going to be taken well.


    It wasn¡¯t the boy looked like I had just stabbed him for a moment.


    ¡°Junichiro. Kusanagi Junichiro. Your elder brother.¡±


    ¡°Jun.¡± I agreed instantly, which had him snort after I said it.


    ¡°Say Jun-Nii, I¡¯m your brother.¡±


    ¡°Jun-Nii then.¡± I agreed easily.


    He frowned a little as I went quiet just sort of looking him over. He was antsy, foot tapping a rhythm and his hands never not moving. He was wearing a neon green jacket asian dragons on the shoulders every inch a japanese biker gang member. Tattoos on his chest that I could see under his armored vest? Yep he had those too.


    This guy was straight out of Akira. If he started screaming Tetsuo I was out of here. I decided with a nod to myself which seemed to attract his attention as he had just been staring as I looked him over.


    ¡°The people that took you are dead. They might have grabbed your Cyberware, but that can be replaced. Has been replaced. Mostly. Just hang in there imouto. You will be out of the hospital soon.¡± He told me firmly, as he stood. Seemingly unable to sit still anymore he left the hospital room in a rush and as the door closed behind him, I could just make out his raised voice talking to the doctor before it shut closed and cut me off from the outside again.


    How weird.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°This is home.-¡± He told me three days later when apparently the insurance I was on had decided that now that I was no longer in a coma they weren¡¯t paying anymore.


    Welcome to Night City.


    He had picked me up in a weird car, and old Mahir Supron. I learned from the badge on the car. Basically a van. But the sort that was cheap as cheap could be.


    ¡°I borrowed it from a neighbor. Your wheel chair wouldn¡¯t fit on my bike.¡± He informed me, sounding embarrassed at driving the thing, but he had helped me inside, put my new wheelchair into the back and drove me out of the hospital parking lot and into the city.


    The very crowded, smelly, and dangerous city.


    A city where anyone can die at any time, and no one would care.


    I shivered at the thought.


    But then he pulled me from my fears by pulling into a parking garage. Honestly this part of the city was 80% trash and garbage piled up, and 20% neon signs.


    It felt super surreal as Jun pushed me over the sidewalks glaring at anyone who dared take a second look at me as he pushed me down the street towards a building that looked like any other to me.


    ¡°This is home. Do you remember it?¡± He asked again. Prompting me from the moments of introspection I had been in.


    ¡°No. It looks like everything else.¡± I told him. Looking over my shoulder I could tell he was frowning. ¡°This has been our home for years, since Oka-san and Otou-san died.¡± He tells me and I nod.


    I guess I would have had parents then. I returned to looking forward as he wheels me into the entrance way. As we entered two older asian men were playing some board game in the corner to my left. And the lobby was dimly lit and a little smoky.


    I wrinkled my nose a bit at the smell as well.


    What a dump.


    Jun brought us towards the elevator which to my surprise did work and he hit the button for the fifth floor.


    The door to the left of the elevator was ours. He wheeled me inside and I couldn¡¯t help but look around in interest. It was a small apartment, full of lots of asian stuff. Posters for asian music groups. Knick knacks. A place to light incense directly in front of us as we entered.


    It was an odd mix of modern, and future tech I noticed. The whole place. The apartment, the city it all felt like that.


    ¡°Home.¡± He spoke wheeling me around. The bedroom was on our right. A single large room with the weird bed emplacement that Night City seemed to like. Including though was a small closet like room that was apparently my own bedroom.


    I blinked as I entered as the entire room was full of Tyger Claw memorabilia.


    ¡°I really liked the Tyger Claws huh?¡± I asked him, earning a laugh from Jun.


    ¡°Of course! Our family has been part of the gang since Otou-san was your age. We have always been with them. You were¡­ You will join them too once you recover and get a little older.¡± He assured me trying to sound sure of himself.


    But I had caught the hesitation.


    I had heard the doctors. They hadn¡¯t bothered trying to hide my circumstances during the three days of quiet.


    Scavs. The sort of people that would be considered grave robbers in any other century. At least we would call them that, if they actually waited for someone to die first.


    They were kidnappers. People that took those with Cyberware, or not off the street and¡­ scavenged the Cyberware or organs. Even if the person was still alive.


    That is what happened to me. It was why my body was so fucked up after the coma. They hadn¡¯t bothered to be gentle when digging out the little cyberware I must have had. Even if apparently I had been ¡®rescued¡¯ after.


    I still don¡¯t know how. I hadn¡¯t had the heart to bring it up with Jun. Every mention of my circumstances would leave him glaring and looking as if he was ready to commit¡­ Well a murder.


    Anyway between the Scavs, loss of Cyberware and the coma my body was fucked. Weak as a kitten. I couldn¡¯t even walk without assistance. Not that the hospital had seemed to care.


    Luckily Jun had gotten most of the basic stuff replaced. My eyes were working after all.


    I couldn¡¯t imagine waking up only to realize my tech eyes were literally just pieces of junk unable to work, after since the scavs had pulled the processors right out of my head.


    ¡°Oh here.¡± Jun offered putting a bag of stuff onto the table beside my small bed in my little closet bedroom. ¡°Your stuff¡­ everything you had on you when you entered the hospital. I don¡¯t know¡­ I don¡¯t know if it will help, but maybe something in there will jog your memory. Love you ¡®Toko.¡± He said quietly pushing a kiss onto the top of my head as he seemed to once more get too antsy to stand around. He walked out of the room sort of stomping a bit.


    Poor kid. His little sister gets kidnapped, put into a coma and wakes up with amnesia.


    This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    Rough.


    Well I might as well. Maybe I can learn a bit about who I was. About Motoko.


    I pulled open the bag and winced. Yep. Tyger Claw Fangirl. Every piece of clothing had some japanese biker gang icon, or sticker. Or something. A jacket that had a tiger on the back.


    How original.


    At least it looked warm. I went through the stuff. To my discomfort the clothes were¡­ well not looking great. Like they had been worn as a girl was kidnapped and had scavs take her cyberware. The pair of socks inside the bag for example were basically brown. Even if they had originally been white.


    I grimaced as I decided to throw those away.


    I hoped it was just my blood, but I had a feeling it hadn¡¯t been stained by ¡®just¡¯ my blood. A little grossed out I decided to finish it up. Putting the socks to the side I pulled out the jacket that was looking a little rough and set it on a desk.


    I don¡¯t think Jun was very rich so I would probably have to deal with it regardless.


    Shoes. Pants, that were hard to look at considering how neon they were. Then I found actual stuff at the bottom.


    A small baggie of shards. The data transfer devices of the future basically super USB drives. There were two of them, no idea what was on them. A few pieces of jewelry. A piercing that I realized was probably a nose stud after a few moments of looking at it.


    Did my nose have a hole in it?


    I would have to check later.


    Then at the bottom. A little case. This was a weird thing, because it didn¡¯t look like anything else she had. This case was smooth and unblemished. A single word across the top in japanese.


    ¡°Gema. Gamer.¡± I repeated. In english after a moment. Opening the case it had a shard inside. A lot of shards were kept in cases like this, well nicer shards anyways.


    Considering I had nothing else to do I popped the shard out of the soft foam and with a bit of a shiver because it still made me wig out a bit. I pushed the shard into the slot on the side of my neck just behind my ear.


    *Gamer System Initializing.*


    ¡ª--


    I blinked as I jerked awake. ¡°Hey! Motoko. You okay?¡± Jun was there kneeling in front of me as I looked around. I was in the room in my wheelchair with the bag of stuff I had been looking through on my lap.


    His terrified face made me blink ¡°I¡¯m okay?¡± I offered simply rubbing my eyes a bit.


    Did I fall asleep? No. No I didn¡¯t. The shard! I reached for the back of my head to push the shard out but there was nothing there.


    My fingers felt empty ports.


    ¡°Don¡¯t scare me like that. If you get tired, get into bed. Or if you can¡¯t call me, I will help you.¡± He nearly growled as he stood up and seemed to pace for a bit to calm down.


    ¡°Sorry.¡± I told him firmly as I pushed the bag out of my arms. ¡°I didn¡¯t realize I had fallen asleep.¡±


    ¡°C¡¯mon I got dinner you hungry?¡± He asked as he finally stopped pacing and turned to me.


    ¡°Ah¡­ Sure.¡± I nodded as he got behind my wheelchair and pushed me out of the room to the other side of the apartment, where a small kitchen nook was located. Right next to the bathroom I noticed.


    Nice job architect. Sure that doesn¡¯t cause problems. Especially since the bathroom didn¡¯t even have a door.


    I was wheeled out in front of the table and a burrito was placed in front of me. Jun grabbed his own and started eating.


    Right¡­ Cyberpunk people don''t really cook. It was all street and vendor food.


    I unwrapped the burrito, and after a few bites realized I must have a taste for it from before. Because part of me felt a little grossed out at the inside, another part just chowed it down without any discomfort.


    Oh well.


    When in Rome.


    After a quiet meal Jun cleaned up and threw the trash away before walking over to me. ¡°You remember the exercises the doctors gave you?¡± He demanded and I nodded.


    It wasn¡¯t so much something they taught me as they threw a shard at me that had an exercise routine I should do to help regain some muscle so I could actually walk.


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    ¡°Well get to it. Best to do it right after eating¡­ I need to head out. I got some work I need to do. Don¡¯t hurt yourself. You have my number right?¡± He once more demanded and I nodded. It was sort of weird having a phone system in your eyes but I did have Jun¡¯s number.


    ¡°Good. Call me if you need anything. And Ms. Kagura next door knows she might need to help you out with stuff¡­ You good?¡± He asked and I gave him a thumbs up. I might be pretty weak, but I didn¡¯t feel like I just got out of a coma¡­ Or maybe this is what it was like out of a coma and I had in my head TV Coma patients? Who knows.


    I watched Jun hurry around the apartment grabbing his gear. Putting everything on until he looked like the Tyger Claw that he was. Oni mask and Katana on his hip included.


    He even grabbed a pistol out from his room and holstered it on a chest rig.


    ¡°Be safe.¡± I told him, earning a startled look from him at my words before his smile melted into something soft.


    ¡°I will.¡±


    Then all was quiet and I had a task ahead of me.


    A set of exercises to try and build up enough muscle in the hopes I would get out of this chair.


    I pushed myself back from the table and started raising up my right leg. Grimacing at just how hard it was just to hold it out in front of me. My tiny stick like leg might as well be nothing but bone.


    After that I let it down slowly and did it with my left. Over and over I raised them until my thighs were burning red hot.


    Finally I stopped, unable to do another my legs literally shivering from the effort.


    *100 Body XP Gained*


    The message popped up before my eyes. An electronic message just like I would get when receiving a phone call. Easy to ignore but still there. I ¡®pushed¡¯ it and it disappeared. Then nothing.


    What was that? I blinked as I couldn¡¯t help but have a niggling feeling.


    ¡°Stats?¡± I asked. Nothing. ¡°Status?¡± Same. ¡°Gamer?¡± Still nothing.


    Irritated, I very awkwardly tried to access my own system. It was like trying to access a VR system with my eyes. If I flick my eyes in this way a small side board of options will appear. Phone. Text. Scan. A list of different things, but I was looking for something else.


    ¡°Gamer.¡± I muttered as I found it, deep down the list, and in fact it was almost¡­ Not right? Where the other icons were a bright neon red color, this one was almost dark hidden at the bottom of the list as if it was three or four options further down than the list went.


    I shivered.


    I was really hoping this wasn¡¯t a virus or something.


    I pushed it and a moment later I knew it wasn¡¯t a virus.


    The Stat screen from Cyberpunk 2077 appeared in front of my eyes.


    ¡°Body. Reflexes. Cool. Technical ability. Intelligence.¡± I muttered reading the five main stats.


    This was crazy, but I felt a grin start to reach my face the first time I actually felt like I wasn¡¯t trapped in a city trying to murder me at every corner.


    ¡°I can use this.¡± I said with complete confidence. Completely ignoring that all of my stats were either a 1. Or even in the negatives like body.


    Yep. Ignoring that completely.


    Five stats set up in a very familiar array. I breathed out, clicking on body I had just earned some XP so what did that actually mean?


    Unfortunately nothing happens. It simply seemed to shift under my attention before finally something popped up.


    *No skills unlocked.*


    ¡°Fuck.¡± I grumbled. That meant I didn¡¯t just ¡®have¡¯ the skill? Well that was fine. I just needed¡­ To grind? But how much XP did it take to earn a level?


    I had no idea.


    With a sigh I started pumping my arms up and down exercising the weak jelly that I called muscle seeing what it would take to turn that negative Body stat into a positive.


    ¡ª--


    I was sweating. Panting and tired but I had got another message with an XP popup.


    *100 Body XP gained.*


    I sighed. Just that. With no mention of how far I would need to go.


    I ended up washing my face a bit out of the bathroom sink as I didn¡¯t want to try and take a shower. And after cleaning up I rolled into my bedroom and managed to fall into my bed.


    I sighed. I hadn¡¯t been able to sleep well for the last few days unless the doctors put me out with drugs. Being stuck in Night City had made me anxious.


    But the moment I rolled into bed and decided to sleep?


    I blinked awake. ¡°Wha?¡± I sleepily grumbled looking around and noticing that the sun that had been setting not long ago was now completely gone.


    I checked my room for a clock for a few moments before my brain caught up.


    Right, I have Cyberware now. My eyes flicked and after two minutes of struggle I got the time to display.


    I had slept eight hours.


    I also had a weird icon on my hud. It had the same discoloration as the Gamer Tab in my program list.


    With a few moments of messing around I managed to ¡®push¡¯ it and figure out what it said.


    *Rested XP increased by 25% 57:31 remaining*


    ¡°Huh. Right, that was a thing.¡± I muttered before smiling.


    My body didn¡¯t ache. My legs didn¡¯t burn and my arms were perfectly fine other than still being jello.


    ¡°Hehehe.¡± I giggled to myself as I weakly clambered back onto my wheelchair.


    Time to grind this shit.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°You okay?¡± Jun asked as he finally came home mid afternoon the next day. He looked sweaty and tired but seeing me sitting in front of the TV doing little exercises seemed to make him happy as I threw him a thumbs up.


    ¡°I¡¯m okay, just watching¡­ whatever this is.¡± I informed him. And I honestly was confused. Cyberpunk TV was fucking weird.


    He grimaced a little as he noticed whatever weird show I was watching must have been familiar to him.


    ¡°Try not to watch that garbage.¡± He told me flicking the channel with his cyberware seemingly overriding my control.


    Man even in 2075 elder siblings stole the remote huh?


    He ended up on a channel that was showing cartoons actually. Which satisfied me a little. I hadn¡¯t found this channel in my exploration of the channels earlier.


    I grimaced a bit as I started raising my legs again. They were mostly recovered from a previous round.


    Sure over exercising was bad. Normally. I had already done a few tests and it seemed my instant sleep really did fix any issues including overdoing it.


    So I was forcing myself to exercise a lot. I couldn¡¯t do anything if I was stuck in a wheelchair.


    ¡°Glad you are exercising. I was worried I would have to force you into it. You aren¡¯t usually so quick to do what you are supposed to.¡± Jun mentioned with a bit of a chuckle but it died when he realized I wasn¡¯t following his script.


    ¡°Oh¡­ Am I usually bad at listening?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but ask. Who was Motoko Kusanagi? What had she been like? It was honestly sort of¡­ Interesting?


    It must have hit him then, that his little sister still didn¡¯t remember.


    ¡°Yeah¡­ You¡¯re a brat. Never listening, always getting into trouble. Going out with chooms who you shouldn¡¯t trust¡­ Just¡­ Be careful from now on. I don¡¯t want to¡­¡± He stopped not finishing his conversation. Jun was hotheaded I realized, quick to explode. His voice had risen just as he talked as he grew a little heated.


    ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll be careful Jun-Nii.¡± I tell him trying to sound cute which earned a chuckle from the older boy.


    ¡°You sound like that whenever you are lying.¡± He tells me with a soft grin on his face.


    Of course it only made the fact he was grinning at me with such a gentle smile over an Oni face he wore while probably out gang banging.


    ¡°Oh Jun-Nii. Do we have anything about¡­ Tech? Or Netrunning? There was a show about a netrunner and stuff and I wanted to learn about them.¡± I asked, Since I was still stuck in a chair Netrunning could be a useful trick. Plus it was kinda cool. Like a Cyber wizard.


    ¡°Oh jeez not this again. You gave up on netrunning last time, please don¡¯t try to do it again. It took months before you decided you weren¡¯t any good at it.¡± He groaned into his palms.


    Huh. I guess Motoko had been a netrunner fan?


    ¡°So I have stuff about it? Where?¡± I ignored his complaints to focus on the important bit.


    He sighed again. ¡°Fine. At least it will keep you busy. I¡¯ll go get your Netrunner junk out from storage. Just don¡¯t burn out the radio this time.¡± He told me firmly and I blinked.


    Yeah that would have been a big mess up.


    ¡°Sure.¡± I replied as I continued raising my legs up one at a time. It was getting easier to do.


    ¡ª--


    After dinner Jun disappeared outside for a while before coming in with a dusty cardboard box.


    ¡°Took me a while to dig this junk up. Don¡¯t ruin our radio¡­ Or our fridge. Or anything.¡± He told me firmly and I nodded as he settled the box into my room and I could look through it.


    It was¡­ well it was child stuff. The sort of thing little kids might get to learn some basic skills. But that was fine for me. A stack of old shards that after slotting a few turned out to be beginner lessons on Netrunning.


    To my surprise they weren¡¯t just some off the street vendor stuff. But something that the Tyger Claws had put together.


    And the reason I had a set? Natasha Kusanagi was the Netrunner who created the training programs.


    Natasha Kusanagi? Probably my mother.


    Huh. Apparently Jun had been right. My family was in deep with the Tyger Claws and had been for at least a generation.


    Weird.


    Still it was interesting, and I listened to the recorded primer for a good while before I was pulled out of the recording by Jun trying to force me to eat.


    *Breach Protocol Experience Gained.*


    *Skill not unlocked, no XP gained.*


    *Breach Protocol Unlocked.*


    *100 Intelligence XP Gained*


    I blinked at the alert as Jun dragged me to the table and pushed another burrito into my face.


    I ate it slowly as my eyes flickered and I went to my stats screen.


    Now when I hovered over intelligence a list appeared.


    Breach Protocol.


    I had my first skill. I chewed slowly as I checked it over. Right now it seems to be inactive. Nothing was really there. But that was because I noticed after a moment. It was currently at level 0.


    I wondered what would happen when I leveled that up to 1?


    ¡°Hey Jun-Nii. Thanks for pulling the netrunning stuff out of storage¡­ Natasha Kusanagi. Is that Mom?¡± I asked and he seemed to jerk for a moment before nodding around his burrito.


    ¡°Yeah¡­ I forgot Oka-san made that Netrunning guide. Damn.¡± He muttered grumbling a bit.


    ¡°So Mom.. Oka-San was a Netrunner?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. A good one too. It¡¯s how our parents met. Oka-san was a target on a job, but Oto-san couldn¡¯t zero her. Ended up helping her hide out and get away. She joined the Tyger Claws a few years later.¡±


    ¡°Huh. Oto-san was a Cyberpunk?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. He was good with a blade.¡± Jun offered looking over to where his own Katana had been put up on a little stand near the incense holder.


    Or I guess from the way he was looking. That was Oto-san¡¯s sword as well.


    Jeeze.


    ¡°Anyway. Thanks again for finding it. It¡¯s¡­ Interesting.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not what you said last time. I believe you said it was too boring to finish.¡± He retorted which had me shrug.


    I wasn¡¯t the same as I was after all.


    ¡°Well good, maybe it will keep you out of trouble¡­ Just don¡¯t try anything without letting me know. You can run into some ICE and get brain fried if you play around.¡± He demanded. Although I was pretty sure since I wasn¡¯t connecting anything to my brain that wasn¡¯t likely.


    ¡°I will.¡± I offer with a nod. I was more looking for something to play with while I was stuck waiting for my own recovery.


    With that we settled in to watch some garbage TV and I continued to push my body well beyond what I should.


    ¡°H-hey! Toko! What are you doing, look at yourself?¡± He grunted having been engrossed in a show as I continued my butterfly kicks for far longer than I should.


    My breath was coming out heavily, and I was definitely sweating like a pig.


    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t be pushing yourself that hard!¡±


    ¡°S-sorry.¡± I offered tiredly before trying and failing to slide into my wheelchair. I really needed a good sleep.


    ¡°Idiot!¡± He cursed at me in Japanese which had me chuckle a little which certainly didn¡¯t help. But he picked me up and put me in my wheelchair and wheeled me to my bed.


    ¡°Night Jun-Nii.¡± I muttered tiredly before deciding I wanted to sleep and once again it was instant. My body shut down and I fell into a dreamless rest.


    ¡ª--


    The routine set in. Wake up use the hour buff of extra experience to really hammer my physical training. Seeing those little alerts popping up felt super good.


    *125 Body XP gained.*


    I smiled as another one popped up. Especially since I finally figured out how to check the experience to the next level. It felt almost like it wasn¡¯t complete. The Gamer system that I was using was weird, but on my first stat gain. When my Body went from negative. To a big fat zero. I finally saw the XP bar. It just took me looking at my stat menu in a weird way.


    Seriously, it was so frustrating! I needed to read an actual manual on these eyes. I had no idea how to get them to actually work.


    But it was pretty standard. 1000XP from level 0 to level 1.


    I nodded pleased to get that out of the way, especially since as I had reached out of the negative levels. I was finally able to stand, and actually walk.


    ¡°Surprise.¡± I said to Jun as he got home late that night startling the older boy as he saw me not sitting in my wheelchair but actually standing resting on the edge between living room and bedroom.


    ¡°You''re walking?¡± He asked, sounding really quiet as he pulled down his Oni mask and threw it onto the couch before walking forward and pulling me into a tight hug.


    ¡°Yep. My legs are feeling stronger. I might have pushed myself a bit too much sometimes, but I¡¯m definitely seeing some results.¡± I say into his jacket, muffling my speech but he still heard me.


    ¡°Good. That¡¯s¡­ That¡¯s really good. Maybe your memories will come back soon too.¡± He said, sounding¡­ well he sounded like a teenager that was taking care of his kid sister with amnesia.


    Damn Jun really did have it rough. I was gonna have to do something nice for him in exchange.


    After hugging the life out of me, he seemed to remember he was hugging his sister and pulled away but slowly to make sure I was standing and not wobbling. I wasn¡¯t but it did take me a second to regain my feet.


    Ugh. I can¡¯t wait until my body is back to where it should be.


    ¡°We should celebrate. How about some noodles for dinner?¡± He asked, looking excited. ¡°We can go down to Cherry Blossom Market and hit the noodle bar there.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure I¡¯m up for a long walk Jun.¡± I cut him off. As much as I liked the idea of leaving the apartment¡­ Which I actually wasn¡¯t sure I liked at all now that I thought about it. But I was at the slow walking and movement stage. Not the walk down the block stage.


    ¡°Oh.¡± He offered before frowning glaring at himself. At least I hoped it wasn¡¯t at me. ¡°I¡¯ll go get some. Bring it home. You can rest and we will eat together. Just like¡­ Just like before.¡± he said, almost demanding of the world for that to happen, and I nodded happily.


    ¡°Noodles sound good.¡± I told him causing him to relax and then hurry back out of the apartment.


    Cherry Blossom Market. I remember it from the game. It was a little market place. There was that Samurai super fan down there too. Was it close?


    So since dinner was coming to me I settled in to listen to some more of my Netrunners guide.


    It wasn¡¯t perfect. Obviously ¡®mom¡¯ had intended for there to be actual lessons on Netrunning interspersed with the guide. But it was still useful, and I could see my experience going up.


    *100 Breach Protocol Experience Gained.*


    I nodded pleased. It was slower than leveling Body. Probably because I wasn¡¯t actively doing anything, but it was still fascinating. If someone offered you a verbal and text primer on being able to access the net, being able to access nearly any device around you to control wouldn¡¯t you want to learn it?


    ¡°Dinner!¡± Jun called out as he came in carrying Ramen in a to-go carrier and placed both bowls on the table as he settled in and made sure I could reach everything.


    I took one taste of it and actually smiled. Unlike the burritos this actually tasted good. I dug in with relish and Jun seemed to relax as we both enjoyed our dinner together.

 Chapter 2

    ¡°T-Two.¡± I grunted as I forced myself up. Pushups were not easy, and my arms were still jello, but it was really good experience.


    *100 Body XP Gained.*


    Turns out I was now strong enough to do basic exercises, and while lifting my arms and working my incredibly weak body did give me XP after a while of doing it, actual direct exercise was a whole other class.


    The first time I did an actual pushup I gained XP every rep. Of course I could only do one rep at a time at the start.


    But with the ability to go to sleep and wake up fully recovered. I was cheating while Jun was out of the house. Normally the amount of muscle pain I would be in would put me out of commission for days. If not more considering how weak I still was.


    But with a nap I was back and ready to push myself again. Turns out I could actually adjust how much time I slept for as well. There was an actual 24 hour clock when I decided to sleep. I just hadn¡¯t seen it because I don¡¯t usually keep my eyes open when trying to sleep.


    Stupid weird Gamer system.


    ¡°T-Threeee!¡± I grunted, managing a third pushup but it left me on my stomach gasping my arms burning and I realized they weren¡¯t going to be any help getting me back on my feet.


    ¡°Okay I¡¯m out.¡± I whispered as I simply rested on the floor for a while. Until I realized just how gross the floor was.


    ¡°Damn, when was the last time we cleaned this place?¡± I grunted being able to look at the ground I could see just how much dust and trash had been stuffed in the corners.


    Grumbling I rose up mostly without my arms since they were dead and I wandered around the apartment really taking it in. We were really poor huh? I couldn¡¯t help but think. Most of the stuff was old. Worn or badly repaired. With that I realized I was looking at the metal slats that blocked the window and pushed the button to open them. Taking in the world outside the apartment for the first time since the drive home.


    The world was full of trash.


    But there right outside the window was a pretty sakura tree in full bloom. The pink petals not the only color I could see, but they were the only natural color, surrounded by faded graffiti or punks walking around in neon clothes.


    It sorta fit. This city. It wasn¡¯t a prison like a certain girl once thought.


    It was just¡­ Overgrown. A neglected garden.


    ¡°Huh. I¡¯ve been inside too long. I''m getting philosophical.¡± I couldn¡¯t help but mutter to myself as I decided to refocus.


    Exercise like this might be pretty boring. Wearing out every part of myself until I couldn¡¯t go on, and then sleeping for a few hours until I was fully recovered to do it again, but there was something¡­


    Well it was like playing a game. Grinding out some stats in a game, except this was more real. More important. So instead of drifting off in my head I got back down on the floor and started trying to do a crunch.


    It didn¡¯t go over well, but the effort gave me some more XP.


    ¡ª--


    *Body Leveled up!*


    I blinked, breaking my concentration on my failed attempts at squats to stare at the alert.


    I quickly threw the alert to the side and opened my stats.


    ¡°Body level 1. I¡¯m actually human again.¡± I muttered as I rose up my body was burning and I was sweaty, but this time as I rose up.


    My body didn¡¯t wobble. I didn¡¯t feel weak other than normal exercise tiredness. I started walking around the small apartment and it didn¡¯t tire me out, or make me feel like I should stay close to the wall.


    I breathed in deeply and let it out. I felt¡­ Normal.


    Well¡­


    I was hungry. I headed into my room and put on a few more clothes. A jacket over my light shirt I had been wearing while I exercised, a hat over my head, the hat looked like it was something I wore when I was younger. With a cute cat image on it, that had been covered in Tyger Claw stickers but I put it on anyway. And then my shoes. Which were weird.


    Crazy neon boots. This fuckin city.


    But with that I stepped out of the apartment for the first time since I entered it. The hallway was quiet other than old equipment struggling along. I decided to take the stairs to start. See if I could handle them, plus get some extra exercise.


    I opened the heavy gate with the code I had and started down. My body handled the strain easily enough. Even if my legs were still aching from my previous exercise. But it felt nice, to just. Go.


    Not be trapped inside anymore.


    Two weeks. Not bad. I was partially thankful that Jun was sort of an idiot. He hadn¡¯t thought it was weird that I was already able to walk. Just thankful that I could.


    The doctors probably hadn¡¯t bothered to tell him it should have taken me months to be able to walk on my own again.


    I wasn¡¯t going to bring that up to him. Instead I steadily walked down the stairs enjoying the feeling of moving farther and farther away from where I had been stuck until I hit the bottom floor.


    ¡°What a trash pit.¡± I scowled, noticing plenty of trash lying around. The whole bottom of the apartment complex was a mess. As I entered the lobby I noticed the two old asian men sitting in the corner


    Since I was hungry I walked over to the vending machine only to swiftly turn around as I realized what it was they were offering.


    SchwabSchwab Grape sold grape flavored fried ants.


    I shuddered at the very idea of that. So instead I turned around and walked out into the street where a street vendor was cooking up some sort of meat balls on a stick right outside the door.


    Did I have any idea what they were? Nope. But they weren¡¯t ants.


    I spent a couple eddies on buying one as I looked around.


    People were walking back and forth all around and for a moment I felt like¡­ This was real. These were actual people, not just NPC¡¯s in a video game. I couldn¡¯t help myself but keep moving.


    Even if I promised myself just a once around the block. I didn¡¯t want to be gone for too long.


    So I walked. The smell of the city was¡­ Strong. But it was the people that I watched. Hobos sitting in filth and just¡­ Dying. Punks kids that were looking towards their future even if they had no idea what it would entail stalked around. Some in the neon looks of Tyger Claws, a few of the other gangs wandered. I saw a Mox girl saunter down the street, a bag of clothes or something hanging from her elbow.


    She caught me watching and threw me a wink. I just smiled at her as I walked past. There were so many people. So much life, and so much death. I could hear shouts coming from alleyways. Which I purposefully made sure to walk as far away from as I could. In the distance over the sound of the vehicles rumbling around I heard a gunshot and then two, and then twenty. But it was far in the distance.


    And all the while people just lived. Chattered either to each other or on a call. As I circled the block I came across a little restaurant out on the side of the street. The set up was cooking more of the meatballs on a stick. Still hungry I stopped and ordered a second helping, the taste was better at this place I noticed to my pleasure. Passing the eddies over and thanking the cook who looked quite pleased and gave me a very Japanese bow, which I returned.


    Then I continued on. I realized where I was as I turned the corner. I could see the little underground shopping area. It took me a few minutes of walking before I found the name on a sign to confirm. ¡°Cherry Blossom Market. Nice I live right next to it.¡± I muttered looking down into the glass roof into the market.


    I decided to keep walking though. That would be an adventure for another day.


    Continuing on I noticed the massive concrete structure that led up from the street lots and lots of stairs.


    I walked around them for now, but I already had an idea forming in my head as I continued my walk around the block. I reached the front of my apartment complex. Giving a nod to the vendor that I bought the food from as I stepped back inside.


    Time to get back to work.


    I stopped at the bottom of the steps. ¡°Five floors.¡± I reminded myself. As I started walking up the steps.


    *100 Body Experience Gained.*


    ¡ª--


    ¡°Ah Jun-Nii, welcome home.¡± I called out as I continued to do my crunches.


    ¡°Ah¡­ Thanks.¡± He muttered, having stopped to stare as I continued to do my exercise.


    ¡°You aren¡¯t overdoing it right?¡± He asked finally after a few moments but I shook my head on my upward bend.


    ¡°Nope! Just making sure my muscles aren¡¯t all jello!¡± I tell him as I lay back down to get ready for another.


    Body had leveled up again. Being able to do some basic running and be able to do more than just wave my limbs around had caused my XP to come in much faster.


    Which did allow me to learn how leveling stats worked.


    Each stat needed a thousand XP per level which multiplied by the level up. So to get to level 1 in a stat. I needed a thousand XP. To reach level 2 I needed 2000.


    Of course as I learned, sometimes it was actually easier to level once you hit a point. Since I could do more than one pushup at a time, the amount of experience I was earning had gone up crazy fast. Which is when I learned that the more pushups I did the less experience I would get for each one.


    I guess as my body grew stronger, weaker exercises wouldn¡¯t help as much.


    But for now it still gave me XP and I had switched to lots of different exercises to see. Crunches pushups squats jogging. Using the stairs in the apartment to go up and down.


    All of it gave XP. Hence why I was already at Body 2, and working towards 3.


    ¡°Well don¡¯t overdo it.¡± He demanded with a growl before wandering into the apartment losing his gear as he did, slowly going from a gangster to an irritable teenager.


    ¡°Oh, do I have a weapon? A knife or a gun or something?¡± I asked as I continued exercising.


    ¡°What? Why do you want a weapon?¡± He demanded. ¡°Did someone bother you?¡±


    ¡°No no. I ugh hold on.¡± I groaned, taking a moment to lay back and catch my breath. My core was absolute fire. I rolled onto my side and got up that way knowing my stomach would be no good for a while. ¡°No, I went out on a walk earlier.¡±


    ¡°You what!? Motoko you don¡¯t know anything! You can barely walk, and-¡±


    ¡°And I can walk better actually.¡± I told him as I stood up and walked around showing him just how firm I was as I walked around the apartment. ¡°And I know I don¡¯t know a lot, which is why I need to learn. But from what I can see it¡¯s dangerous out there, so I wanted to know if I had a weapon or something?¡±


    ¡°Your katana was lost when¡­ You don¡¯t currently. I¡¯ll get you something. A knife, and a gun at least.¡± He tells me firmly as he turns his back and plops a pair of burritos onto the table. ¡°Come eat first. You must be hungry.¡±


    ¡°We have to talk about your burrito obsession Onii-San.¡± I say plainly as I sigh and grab the burrito. Causing Jun to look surprised as he looked at his own burrito in confusion.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with them?¡±


    ¡°Nothing. Nothing at all.¡±


    ¡ª--


    Jun was a teenager of his word. The next day he came home to me doing pushups as I listened to the Netrunner guide, which had surprisingly given me some Intelligence XP as well. So I was definitely doing something right there.


    ¡°Here.¡± He said as he reached into his jacket and pulled out a pistol, and a combat knife. Laying them on the table.


    ¡°Oh. That was fast, Jun-Nii.¡± I told him. ¡°Thank you.¡± I grinned as I went to check them over but his hand firmly pushing them against the table kept me from touching.


    ¡°Do you even know how to use a gun?¡±


    ¡°Mostly?¡± I offered which was the truth. I knew enough to at least not accidently shoot myself, or someone else. Although I didn¡¯t have a lot of practice firing them. Shooting hadn¡¯t been big on my hobbies in my last life.


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll walk you through some of it. I¡¯m not going to have you kill yourself after everything.¡± He ordered settling down on the couch as he grabbed the gun and casually unloaded it, putting the magazine and bullet that had been in the chamber down on the table. ¡°Alright, first this is a Unity handgun. Twelve round standard magazine. Let me show you how to hold it, so you don¡¯t shoot yourself. Or lose control of it.¡± He started firmly.


    After an hour of focused training from Jun I felt my alert sound off.


    *Handguns Experience Gained.*


    *Skill not unlocked, no XP gained.*


    *Handguns Unlocked.*


    I smiled as I felt myself growing more confident. Whatever I was doing was right. And a skill? Yeah I liked that.


    ¡ª--


    I slept like usual that night, waking up the next morning feeling refreshed, and instantly got up to grab my pistol.


    My normal exercise right in the morning usually left me pretty wrecked to do anything else. So instead I was going to practice with my handgun to make sure the skill was raised up.


    I didn¡¯t want to die after all, and a handgun was only like barely above unarmed in this city.


    So as Jun continued to sleep as I opened the windows in the living room spotting the Sakura tree with a smile I began practicing drawing and falling into a stance with my pistol. Over and over, Every few times it gave me an alert.


    If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    *125 Handguns Experience Gained.*


    Over and over. Because drawing your weapon and getting on target was more important in real life than just accuracy.


    Although I would like both.


    Slowly I was even gaining Reflex XP as well as I was training in moving very quickly, and not just exercising.


    At least I had found a way to raise that one as well. It was currently at 1. Just like most of my stats, other than body.


    I grumbled 1 Intelligence? I was smarter than that! Stupid Gamer system!


    With a grin I got another alert.


    *100 Handguns XP gained.*


    *Handguns skill level up!*


    Instantly I felt it take effect. With a gasp I went from my own guessed draw of my handgun to a smooth surety.


    I knew a better way to draw my handgun. Not guessed, knew. It wasn¡¯t like it had been downloaded into my head, it was more like¡­ I just knew instinct muscle memory. The whole thing.


    I could feel my grip shifting becoming better. My stance adjusting naturally to better aim and control the gun.


    It felt great. I kept grinding, if this is what it was like at level 1 Handguns, what would level 2 be like?


    Unfortunately no Handguns alert came, only a few more for reflexes until finally I stopped to check my stat screen.


    What happened?! It had been way way too long since I got something!


    Then I noticed it.


    Handguns was listed as *Max* at level 1?!


    With a bit of struggle I managed to focus on Handguns and that is when I noticed it.


    Good knews. I would be able to raise my skill above level 1. Bad news, skills were limited by their governing stat. Without raising Reflex which had Handguns listed under it, I couldn¡¯t raise Handguns anymore.


    Which was like the Cyberpunk game, now that I thought about it.


    ¡°Dammit.¡± I cursed. I had really wanted to keep that feel good gamer feel. But now I am stuck, unable to raise the skill anymore! Ugh. Nothing worse than being mid grind only to have to stop.


    ¡°What is it?¡± Jun asked sounding tired as he stuck his head into the living room.


    ¡°O-Oh. Sorry Jun-Nii, I was just¡­ It¡¯s nothing. I was practicing my draw a bit. Just in case.¡± I told him with a sigh as I realized I was already feeling pretty sweaty this morning just from that.


    Ugh. I hadn¡¯t even done my morning workout yet either.


    ¡°Alri-Yawn!-ght. Just don¡¯t blow a hole in the wall.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s unloaded!¡±


    ¡°Just don¡¯t be a gonk.¡± He reiterates and turns back around to his bed. I guess it was still pretty early for Jun. He was a teenage boy and it wasn¡¯t even noon yet. I sighed before settling the gun on the table beside its magazine.


    Then my hand twitched towards the knife.


    I would still have to practice with that too. If I needed to stab some.. Gonk. Heh. Gonk. If I had to stab some gonk I better know how to stab.


    So I grabbed the knife and started working into a rhythm of stabbing outward. It was¡­ awkward. I was really glad Jun had gone back to bed, because if he saw how awkward I was he might just take it away.


    But that didn¡¯t matter because minutes into the practice I got an alert.


    *Blades Experience Gained.*


    *Skill not unlocked, no XP gained.*


    *Blades Unlocked.*


    With a grin I continued to practice. Rushing towards that high of gaining a skill up.


    I became a lot more practiced with the gun in just one skill up, how would that translate to my Knife?


    *100 Reflex XP Gained*


    Another alert popped up reminding me that moving like this wasn¡¯t just increasing my Blades skill.


    I smiled. Even if it was awkward, even if it was weird, even if it was kinda boring, although I did turn the radio on quietly so I didn¡¯t wake Jun, just to have some background noise. Being able to see my own improvement, made it impossible to stop.


    In the real world this would be the most boring thing I had ever done. Just jab and slash with a knife over and over again at thin air. The fact I was already tired from before meant my arms were aching. My breath was coming out in puffs, but just the idea that with a bit more work I could see the numbers go up?


    Numbers make Motoko brain go brrr.


    I grinned at the joke as I continued. I wouldn¡¯t stop until it was too much. Until I had to stop and go back to sleep and recover. Then I would start again.


    It honestly felt like I was in a tutorial space. That the outside world was barely impacting me for now.


    But I knew the truth. This wasn¡¯t a game. It wouldn¡¯t wait for me to get ready before kicking me in the head.


    So I had to train. And train hard. Whatever happened that caused me to get picked up by Scavs, it wouldn¡¯t happen again.


    ¡ª--


    I could hear Jun wake up and come out of his room but I ignored that because hot water over my shoulders was niiiice, and all I cared about at that moment.


    I hadn¡¯t managed to hit the next level of knife or reflex, but I would be good to go once I wake up after a shower. I had sweated like a pig, I didn¡¯t want to make a mess of my bed.


    ¡°Hey. You alive in there?¡± Jun called out, and I groaned.


    ¡°I¡¯m alive. Just enjoying the water on my muscles.¡± I called out. It was kinda awkward how¡­ open? The bathroom was. The only real privacy was a row of blinds that fell down from the bathroom ¡®door¡¯ not that there was a door.


    Which meant that pooping or showering left me feeling a little exposed.


    ¡°Good. Don¡¯t make me go in there and drag you out. I need a shower before I leave too.¡±


    ¡°Right right. I¡¯m done.¡± I grumbled, shutting off the flow as I grabbed a towel weakly with my tired arms.


    The only problem with my heavy skill grinding was that it left me feeling pretty worn out anytime I hadn¡¯t just woken up. But when I woke up I felt great and wanted to make my numbers go up.


    This was going to become an addiction wasn¡¯t it? I couldn¡¯t help but ask myself as I sighed. Drying off and wrapping the towel around me.


    ¡°Hey Jun-Nii?¡± I asked as I walked past him. ¡°You¡¯re safe right? When you leave? I mean¡­ I won¡¯t have to worry about you just disappearing one day right? I mean¡­ what is it you do anyways?¡± I asked as I stopped at the entranceway to the bedroom.


    My question obviously surprised the Teen who scoffed. ¡°I work at a casino. I¡¯m protection and sometimes help out at the bar. It¡¯s perfectly safe, no one is gonk enough to try and break in or rob us. We have a lot of guards. You don¡¯t have to worry about me imouto.¡± He said as I automatically translated the japanese.


    ¡°Well your little sister is worried¡­ You are all I have Jun. I don¡¯t even know enough about life to survive without you.¡± I inform him seriously. ¡°So be careful okay?¡±


    He is quiet for a moment before nodding to me. ¡°I¡¯m respected even for a kid, cause I don¡¯t klep the merchandise at the Casino, so they trust me and pay me well. I don¡¯t need to run around and klep stuff for some eddies. Don¡¯t worry imouto. I¡¯ll make sure I stay safe.¡±


    I nod once firmly. Good. I kinda liked Jun even with all of his attitude and obvious hot headedness. Like I said he seemed to have a rough life, and he was taking care of his kid sister. I could respect that.


    No, I did respect that. Whatever happened with my Gamer skills and stuff. I would remember Jun¡¯s efforts.


    With that I got dressed into some clean clothes and crashed into bed.


    ¡ª--


    *Blades Skill leveled up!*


    I wasn¡¯t breathing too heavily when I finally got the alert that afternoon. After waking up, I went back to it.


    I hadn¡¯t quite reached Reflex level 2. But it was getting close.


    But instantly I knew. I had been holding my knife like a gonk. I was more likely to lose my knife in a stab than actually shank someone. My grip shifted, my body adjusted and this time when I made a stab it was fast and smooth.


    I grinned as I felt how much smoother I was. Yeah that was cool. I rose back up, adjusted the grip on my knife as if I had been doing it for years and placed the knife on the table next to the Handgun.


    There was just one more problem.


    ¡°I really need a sheathe and a holster.¡± I grumbled. The gun and knife had been handed over bare.


    How was I supposed to walk around with my weapons on me without any kind of holder? ¡°Stupid Onii-chan.¡± I joked to myself sounding like every anime little sister ever for a moment.


    I stopped for a moment remembering that Cyberpunk Edgerunners was an anime.


    ¡°I guess that means I can make anime real.¡± I whispered to the room before bursting into giggles at the stupidity of that meme.


    ¡°Oh man. I need to get out more. I''m breaking down at my own jokes.¡± I told myself as I decided to check out the market. Maybe I could find somebody with something that I could use. Getting dressed in my outdoor clothes once again I put the knife in my jacket pocket although I winced at how it felt like it was going to cut something, before sliding my now loaded gun into the back of my pants.


    It might be a stupid place to put it, but it was probably the safest place for now.


    With that I wandered down the stairs through the lobby and took a right. Turning towards the Cherry Blossom market.


    I still felt weak, but not because I was exactly. More because when I walked past a guy that was eight feet tall and probably weighed in at a ton of chrome it made me realize how easy it would be to get killed here.


    No wonder people are terrified of Cyberpsychos. Suddenly I am too.


    I shook it off and headed into the market smiling at all the little stalls full of random junk. I didn¡¯t end up stopping to talk to anybody as I walked around, just enjoying the sights even if nothing I saw was what I was looking for.


    Eventually I came across a little shop with a woman that looked partially familiar. As I watched trying to piece it together I noticed her turn and start working on a radio.


    Something twigged. I think she was part of a quest or something?


    Huh.


    How weird. To see a person where before I had seen a video game character.


    ¡°Can I help you?¡± She finally asked suddenly turning to look at me, and I realized I had been staring for a while.


    ¡°Ah sorry sorry, no I was¡­ I guess you looked familiar for a moment and I was trying to figure out why. It¡¯s nothing you just remind me of someone else I met.¡±


    ¡°Huh. Well do you need work done?¡±


    ¡°No. Not at the moment anyways¡­ You wouldn¡¯t happen to have a gun or knife holster?¡± I asked quietly after all I had gone through the whole shop and hadn¡¯t seen a damn thing.


    ¡°Not something I deal with. I just do repairs. If you want something like that you would need to find a gun store. They would have what you need.¡± She answered with a shrug.


    ¡°Oh yeah that makes sense¡­ Is there a gun store around here?¡±


    My question must have been super weird because she actually looked up from her radio that she had turned to to look me over. ¡°What¡¯s your deal? I can see you have some implants. Your eyes aren¡¯t natural at least. So what¡¯s the problem?¡±


    ¡°I uh. Don¡¯t know what you mean?¡±


    ¡°A bit slow aint ya? Check your map. You have the cyberware for it. Get outta here girl. You''re wiggling me out. I don¡¯t want to know if you are just an odd one or a Cyberpsycho waiting to happen.¡± She said a bit brusquely.


    I blinked. Wow that was pretty rude. ¡°Sure.¡± I offer walking back home for now. My trip to the market was a bust but at least I had some new info.


    That and something to see if I could figure it out.


    I didn¡¯t have a map in my list of options on my implants hud¡­ At least I didn¡¯t see one¡­


    Ugh these stupid eye things! I had no idea how they worked, it was like moving my eyes wrong would close everything, or just spin the whole hud making it useless. I felt like one of those old people always complaining about losing their program when they just minimized the damn window.


    I really needed to get a primer on my cyberware. You think I would have by now, but it¡¯s not like the internet worked the same way here. I couldn¡¯t just connect to google and ask.


    Plus Jun hadn¡¯t quite understood my questions either. It was so natural to use for people here, that he didn¡¯t understand my confusion.


    Stupid Onii-chan!


    I grumbled all the way home as I flopped onto the couch and started to once more pull up the hud system.


    It was so weird. How was I supposed to know that flicking my eyes upwards very fast would alter the huds location? But flicking my eyes slowly would just scroll through the list? Seriously I kept causing my hud to flip going from the right side of my peripheral sight to my left.


    Whoever designed this equipment needed to be shot. No wait, calm down Motoko, that is how you go Cyberpsycho¡­ but it would feel pretty good.


    Eventually the woman was right. I was able to find a map icon. It just wasn¡¯t on my huds dropdown along the sides, it was an actual icon like a damn desktop icon. I hadn¡¯t seen it, because it was on the other side of my periphery whenever I was using the dropdown. Thankfully it was lonely, the only other program installed from what I could see.


    I remember Jun saying they had reinstalled most of my cyberware while I was in the coma, so whatever extras old Motoko had installed must have been reset.


    I guess that was good. I would hate to find out if people stored porn on their optic systems¡­


    Shaking that thought out. I hit the map and had to blink as a 3d style map was now the center of my attention, with a grin I started trying to move through it only to realize.


    I couldn¡¯t use my hands on this either. Stupid design. I grumbled but slowly poked at it with my eyes until I got it moving around a bit. It reminded me of the map from the game¡­


    Which basically meant it was useless. Any part of the interior city was too cluttered to get any use out of it, but it did have an icon system for the big things. I was able to search for Ripperdocs in the area, and to my surprise, there were actually two!


    There was the one in Jig-jig street which was that creepy asshole. But there was one just outside of Cherry Blossom Market too! I blinked. I had been pretty close to it on my walks. It was just across the street from the little food market I tended to get a snack from.


    Huh I would check that out and see if I could get a Cyberware primer.


    Then I did a search for gun stores.


    Unfortunately the nearest one was a few blocks away. Definitely in walking distance, but it would still be a trip. I would have to prepare.


    ¡ª--


    Turns out I could actually set waypoints like in the game. I mean I doubted they could ever work like in the games where the quests would auto update and the like, but if I had an address I could set it up so my implant would give me directions. Basically just cyberware GPS.


    So after a bit of exercise I suited up again with my weapons ready and started walking to the gun store.


    I headed straight out from my apartment across the street. The first time I had done that in the city. I made extra sure I was checking each way even with the crosswalk telling me to walk.


    I didn¡¯t trust Night City residents not to run me over.


    Then I had a few blocks to walk almost a straight shot as I wandered down a sort of shopping district, lots of little shops on either side of the long street. I even saw a clothes shop on the other side of the road that I might want to take a look at. It had a very asian feel to it. Might find something cool.


    At the very end of the street I crossed the way and found the gun shop. Sliding inside I hesitated a bit. This place was full of weaponry and the fact the owner was standing behind reinforced glass with a weapon that looked strong enough to shoot back through the glass at the ready made me a little nervous.


    But I wasn¡¯t here to cause trouble.


    Since he wasn¡¯t dealing with anyone I walked up.


    ¡°I¡¯m looking for a holster for a Unity, and a sheath for a knife.¡± I told him after he gave me a nod acknowledging my presence.


    ¡°Got the knife on you?¡±


    I nod gently pulling it out making sure it was a slow motion.


    Didn¡¯t want to get shot by automated turrets or whatever other security this guy had.


    ¡°Hmmph. Might have something that will fit. Gimme a sec.¡± He called turning away to go wander around the back room he had, only to return again in about 30 seconds. Two pieces of metal and cloth in his hands.


    ¡°Holster for a unity and a sheath. Should fit the knife. Let me check.¡± He demanded waving at me to push the knife through the gap under the glass.


    I did so and he slipped it into the sheath adjusting the sheath for a moment or two before nodding and showing me how it fit snug.


    ¡°$50 eddies.¡±


    I winced, that was a majority of the eddies that Jun had left me. I didn¡¯t end up spending much on food since Jun kept bringing home his gross burritos every night, but I did need this, it wasn¡¯t safe to keep the gun in my waistband, or the knife in my pocket.


    ¡°Alright.¡± I agreed, sending him the money before he slipped both items back through the glass. I spent a moment getting everything situated. The gun holster was actually meant to go in the small of my back, which the shop owner told me after I was trying to figure out how to get the weird clip to attach to the side of my belt. It left the gun in easy reach behind me instead. Which would take a little getting used to.


    My jacket was definitely not long enough to hide it. But I guess in this city that was a good thing?


    The knife went onto my left hip. That way I could draw my gun with my right hand, and my knife with my left. Satisfied I threw the owner a thumbs up which he simply gave me a nod at as I headed out.


    As I stepped out I noticed that I felt¡­ Better. The whole city was now seemingly there in front of me, and here I was a lot more protected and now visibly armed.


    I wasn¡¯t just a civilian open to any gang banger to mess with.


    I was dangerous in my own right. It made the city infront of me look different. Look¡­ Well curiosity had killed plenty of cats.


    I decided to head back towards home, but stop at the ripperdoc.


    I really needed to find out more about my cyberware.


    ¡ª-


    Stepping inside a ripperdoc was an odd experience. The shop had a little office at the front that felt like I just entered a dentist.


    ¡°Can I help you?¡± The receptionist asked, looking me over.


    ¡°Yeah I need some information, rather than a ripper exactly. Do you have a primer, or instructions on use for optical cyberware?¡±


    The receptionist seemed to blink confused at my question. ¡°Umm, I¡¯m not sure I understand.¡± She offered and I sighed, seriously what is it with these people and not understanding?


    ¡°I don¡¯t know how to use everything on these.¡± I offer pointing to my eyes. ¡°I need some instructions, or a how to.. Or something.¡± I mumbled waving my hands a bit at how annoying this was.


    The receptionist took a moment before I could see her lips twitching a bit. When she spoke next I could tell she is holding back laughter.


    ¡°We don¡¯t have anything like that. That is something that is handed out to¡­ Children.¡± She chuckled. ¡°Did you never get chipped as a kid?¡± The receptionist asked, but I knew she wasn¡¯t really wondering.


    She was just being a bitch.


    ¡°Listen if you don¡¯t have it. I¡¯m outta here. Have a nice day.¡± I snarked back at her, and was just about turned around when a gravely voice called out.


    ¡°A moment.¡± I stilled because the woman that I was looking at had twigged me about where I was. I remember this shop. The old asian lady that was the ripper here, looked like she got into a fight with a bear. Her face was a little scarred up.


    She was the lady that had a Cyberpsycho go off on her on the operating table. I remembered her little dialogue blurb in the game.


    ¡°Come on in girl. I can help.¡± She spoke ignoring her receptionist who looked like she realized she might have gone a bit overboard.


    Bitch.


    I entered into the docs office scoping out the many many guns set up next to her chair.


    ¡°It¡¯s rare to see a girl as old as you not know how to use her cyberware.¡±


    ¡°Yeah well¡­¡± I hesitated, but fuck it. ¡°Amnesia will do that to a person. Got picked up by some scavs apparently, they klepped a bunch of my chrome. I was rescued but in a coma for a year. When I wake up, I don¡¯t remember anything. I mean, other than how to talk and stuff. Still getting used to my cyberware again. At least trying to. It keeps moving around on me.¡±


    ¡°Ah. You were re-chipped after the scavs?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    ¡°You are still in user setup mode.¡± She said simply waving me over as she took a long drag on a cigarette she was holding in her chrome hand. ¡°Come sit. I¡¯ll show you how to get everything setup to your liking.¡±


    ¡°Oh. Thanks.¡± I said taking a seat and a few moments later the woman was walking me through how to actually setup my HUD interface.


    ¡°Most people don¡¯t remember how to do this. They set it up as children with their first Ripper and never have to do it again. Can¡¯t tell you how many frustrated adults I¡¯ve had to deal with after they had a complete reset of their chrome, or lost their chrome like you.¡± She tells me as I am adjusting a few settings after finally finding the damn settings menu. What is this crap? I had to do a fucking Konami cheat code to get it to pop up!


    Look up, down left right in a circle faster circle. Reverse that circle and then close and open your eyes. What a load of shit! Anyway. With that the full hud was revealed to me covering my eyes and letting me adjust where everything was to my liking. It would also mean my stuff would stop moving around on accident with the wrong eye twitch. It would be locked letting me more easily access everything.


    I had literally been stuck in ¡°setup your hud¡± mode which is why stuff kept shifting constantly.


    Piece of shit.


    Finally done I blinked my eyes now able to see everything again and after a moment able to access my hud including my gamer options with almost startling ease.


    I literally sighed in relief, feeling my stress drop.


    ¡°Thanks Doc.¡±


    ¡°Sure. Come by when you want to get some more chrome. I get the feeling I¡¯ll be seeing you again.¡± She tells me with a nod before shooing me out. I hurry away almost feeling like skipping as I ignore the receptionist and head out onto the street.


    I exhaled in relief. I actually felt like a person that belonged now.


    Time to grab some yummy street vendor food and go home¡­ Oh wait. I was broke. Dammit.


    I pouted all the way home.

 Chapter 3

    ¡°Twelve. Thirteen. Fourteen.¡± I grunted doing pushups. I was so close to Body 3. Pushups were hard. They hurt, and I struggled even past a few of them, but it wasn¡¯t like I had to worry about the pain after taking a nap, so there was a certain urge to just keep pushing in me.


    ¡°Home.¡± Jun called out as the door opened once more his favorite burritos in his hand.


    I really need to talk to him about diversifying his diet.


    ¡°W-welcome home Jun-Nii.¡± I called out as I finished another pushup before flopping onto the floor with a grunt.


    I really needed to clean up the apartment a bit. It was gross down here.


    I grunted as I rolled up to my feet.


    ¡°Hey what¡¯s that?¡± He asked, suddenly pointing towards the holster I was wearing in the small of my back. I was trying to get used to wearing it so I was going through most of the exercises while keeping it on.


    ¡°Holster. Went out to get it today. Wanted to be able to keep the gun on me while out in the city.¡±


    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t be out there at all.. It¡¯s dangerous. You still don¡¯t know anything.¡± He practically growled at me.


    ¡°I can¡¯t stay inside forever Jun-Nii. I can¡¯t even stay cooped up for much longer.¡± I tell him with a sigh.


    He growled seemingly wanting to argue that I definitely could but to my surprise he kept himself from snapping and instead flopped onto the couch with a groan as he stared up at the ceiling for a moment.


    ¡°You always gotta be difficult. You just got out of the hospital. Out of a coma! You don¡¯t even know anything.¡±


    ¡°I know. But I won¡¯t learn by hiding in the apartment until the outside comes in and drags me out. I have to learn, have to¡­ do.¡± I tell him, which he grunts out sounding displeased.


    ¡°Yeah maybe.¡± He grumbles but instead of arguing further he grabs his burrito. ¡°That holster can¡¯t have been cheap.¡±


    ¡°50 eddies, for the knife sheath and the holster.¡± I tell him and he chokes a bit on his burrito.


    ¡°50!?¡± He sighed ¡°Expensive. Probably worth that much but we could have found something a lot cheaper.¡± He chides me.


    ¡°Oh. Sorry.¡± I mutter realizing I probably had rushed ahead without actually bringing up the issue with Jun. I had just decided to take care of the problem myself¡­ Gamer brain. I realized. I had thought of it like a quest almost.


    ¡°No, it''s fine. Should have realized you would want something to hold them. Guess I was¡­¡± he trails off going from sounding annoyed to tired. ¡°Guess I was trying to keep you inside longer. My bad.¡±


    ¡°I think we are all just a little bit afraid, Jun-Nii. You are afraid for me. And I¡¯m a bit afraid in general. So thanks. For worrying about me.¡± I offer instead as I settle on the couch and decide to do something I hadn¡¯t really done yet. I initiated a hug.


    He relaxed and returned the hug for a minute before seeming to have enough and pushing me off as he thrust a burrito in my face. ¡°Eat!¡±


    ¡°Ughhhhh.¡± I groaned but devoured my burrito.


    ¡ª--


    Now that I had a holster and sheath, I needed to get used to drawing from them. It was¡­ different. The back holster wasn¡¯t something I had ever used before, but it was natural after a bit of practice, and I had to admit, the holster itself made the practice a lot more effective.


    That and I was getting Reflex XP a lot more consistently, as I kept practicing the draw.


    *100 Reflex XP Gained.*


    I nodded pleased. While I wasn¡¯t gaining Handguns XP at least I was getting something out of it.


    Finally after practicing my draw for a lot longer than I wanted too, I got the alert.


    *Reflex Leveled up!*


    I sighed in pleasure at the alert. Finally! I could train my Handguns and Blades skill again now.


    I stretched a bit, my right arm was getting a little tired so I decided instead to switch to something else for a bit. I settled and started training squats.


    I would be ready for whenever something crazy happened. I wasn¡¯t just expecting it. I knew it would happen. Jun was in a gang. He would eventually run into trouble, and I was a cute young girl. Someone would make trouble for me eventually.


    When they did, they would get a knife in the kidneys and a bullet to the head. At least that was the plan.


    Gotta keep improving, gotta make sure I¡¯m safe.


    *Ringing*


    I stumbled during my squat nearly falling on my ass as I looked around for a phone. Only to realize the noise was coming from my head.


    ¡°Unknown number?¡±


    I shrugged. Hitting accept.


    ¡°Hello?¡±


    ¡°EEEEEeeeee! Moto! You really are alive! I ran into your cute brother today at a meeting and he let slip that you were awake! I can¡¯t believe he didn¡¯t tell anyone until now! And you didn¡¯t call me? Your best Choom? Your sister!?¡± The girl''s voice squealed into my ear and I quickly messed with the settings to lower the volume a bit.


    Owe. It wasn¡¯t my ear, but it still kinda hurt.


    ¡°Umm¡­ Hello?¡±


    ¡°Shiiiit. Jun-Chan wasn¡¯t kidding. You really do have amnesia. I can¡¯t believe that¡¯s an actual thing!¡± She sounded shocked before her voice picked up. ¡°Forget that! I¡¯m coming over. Jun-Chan refused to let us see you in the hospital but I have to see this. Bye-Bye!¡±


    The call ended.


    ¡°That is my best friend?¡± I asked a little disturbed. She seems way way too high energy for me. I barely got a word in!


    I groaned as I stood back up. If someone was coming over¡­ I should probably clean up a bit. I was sweaty from my exercise.


    ¡ª-


    I was just throwing a hidden burrito wrapper hidden in a dark corner into the trash when the door burst open.


    Seriously, did nobody knock?


    ¡°Moto-chaaaaan!¡± I was suddenly pulled into a hug by a shorter girl as she grappled onto me. Honestly all I could see was neon green hair because she had an actual full sized mohawk and it was basically bashing me in the face. It was full of so much hair spray, or whatever these people used to make their mohawks in the future.


    ¡°Umm. Hello?¡± Really what else was I supposed to say!? I didn¡¯t know this crazy girl!


    ¡°Oh girl wow you are different.¡± She said, pushing me away to look up at me.


    Her face was chrome and neon. I thought. Her cheeks were chrome, with neon etching on the chrome making her look like she had cat whiskers made of green neon.


    Was she trying to be a cat, or something else? Because mohawks don¡¯t really register cat to me¡­


    ¡°Wow, look at you. You look so¡­ Standard. Has Jun not taken you out to get chipped, or at least a haircut? Your hair is so long!¡±


    I blinked my hair had been down to my shoulder blades when I woke up. The nurses had cut it, while I was in the coma, but more just chopping it down. I had mostly just been throwing it into a ponytail.


    ¡°Is that bad?¡±


    ¡°Not for me. I like my hawk, but you usually keep it a lot shorter girl!¡±


    ¡°Did I?¡±


    ¡°Jeez! It¡¯s so weird. Here. This is what we used to run around looking like!¡± She said and her eyes shifted color before I got a text including a picture.


    I blinked because this was the first time I had seen a picture of myself from before.


    Motoko was a street gang wannabe for sure. I noticed instantly how different we looked. She had been a lot more chromed than I was. I hadn¡¯t thought I had lost that much to the scavs, since I had been rescued I thought I just had my standard eye system lost. But no, she used to have a lot of chrome on her face like¡­ This girl.


    ¡°Oh¡­ what¡¯s your name?¡± I asked. And that caused the girl¡¯s jaw to drop.


    ¡°Oh.¡± She seemed a little hurt for a moment before shaking it off. ¡°I¡¯m your bestie Hiromi!¡± She offered acting cute and throwing her fingers against her cheeks.


    I just nodded and swiftly added her number into my system. ¡°There I added your number.¡± I told her which did earn me an actual smile.


    ¡°Good. Now c¡¯mon let''s get out of here, everyone will want to see you are still alive!¡±


    ¡°Everyone?¡± I asked as I resisted her suddenly tugging on my arm as she attempted to drag me out of the apartment. Unfortunately, it was obvious she was stronger than I was and I was dragged out the door barely given enough time to grab my shoes as she wasn¡¯t listening to my arguments.


    This girl was definitely a force of nature. Then she dragged me out the front of the apartment and I did everything I could to stop her.


    ¡°You have to be kidding.¡± I argued instantly, but it was no use.


    ¡°What? C¡¯mon you¡¯ve ridden bitch on my bike plenty of times before. Get on.¡± She argued as she finally let me go to hop onto a motorcycle.


    I knew this bike. It was a Yaiba Kusanagi. The coolest motorcycle in the game in my opinion, but of course she drove the goofy high backed version that made a sleek killer bike look like something stupid.


    More importantly. I was fourteen and Hiromi was definitely the same age. Also crazy.


    I didn¡¯t trust her to drive me anywhere!


    ¡°Not a chance¡­ Is it close enough to walk? I could use the exce-eeee!¡± I squealed as she hopped off the bike long enough to drag me the rest of the way and practically push me onto the bike before hopping on and starting the engine. Literally starting to peel out despite me only sitting side saddle!


    ¡°Hiromiiiiii!¡± I screamed as she cackled driving out onto the street and slowing at a light before turning to me.


    ¡°Better get situated Toko we are going!¡±


    While the idea of jumping off and making a run for it ran through my head, the light was already changing and I quickly settled behind her gripping her around the waist tightly so I wouldn¡¯t fall off as she started driving.


    I was wrong, she wasn¡¯t a crazy driver. She was a Cyberpsycho driver! I kept my eyes closed for most of the drive as she swung through traffic driving in between people and cursing and flipping off anyone that honked or got in her way.


    This is how I die. Crying like a bitch on the back of a motorcycle.


    Of course it didn¡¯t happen, other than constantly forcing other cars and vehicles to swerve to avoid hitting her we made it to wherever she was taking me.


    I shivered as we drove down deeper into the city. ¡°Kabuki?¡± I muttered noticing the signs after I decided to be brave enough to open my eyes.


    ¡°Yeah! We are going to Ho-Oh! It¡¯s a Tyger Claw hang out! I guess you forgot all about it huh? Well it¡¯s great. Everyone will be glad to see you!¡±


    I just blinked. Ho-Oh. Why was that name familiar? Other than the obvious Pokemon reference.


    Hiromi slowed pulling down a small street and then slowing to drive around a pair of barricades that blocked off a small side street she slipped right through them and then drove through to a small open area full of Tyger Claw style cars and bikes. And a club.


    I was twigging pretty hard. I had definitely been here before in the game.


    I just couldn¡¯t remember why.


    ¡°C¡¯mon!¡± Hiromi called as she already slipped off the bike and was urging me to follow. I took a deep breath and slipped off the bike.


    I wasn¡¯t feeling very confident right now. I didn¡¯t like this at all. I didn¡¯t know any of these people but some might know me. Worse? I didn''t exactly fit in. Sure I had on my Tyger Claw jacket, but the rest of me was more normal. I didn¡¯t have neon or tattoos or anything that would show I was meant to be here.


    Plus I didn¡¯t really like bars.


    I followed after Hiromi who burst into the bar. ¡°I¡¯m baaaack! And guess what bad bitch is back among us! Back from the dead!¡± I grimaced. I was pretty sure I never died.


    I stepped in and interest in me was pretty light. Hiromi of course was chattering away like everyone was cheering and happy to see both of us.


    But I realized the truth. We were fourteen. Most of the people in the bar were a lot older, fully Tyger Clawed out, and had no interest in a bunch of noisy kids.


    A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    I gave an apologetic bow to those that were glaring before hurrying over to Hiromi.


    ¡°Maybe less shouting.¡± I urged her as I tangled my arm with hers pulling her away from a brewing argument with an older guy that was complaining at her for yelling so loud.


    She scoffed at him, threw him a finger but let me pull her away, and then instantly turned it on me. Tugging me towards a corner where I noticed younger teens were hanging out they were all dressed up like gangers but I could only see them as wannabes.


    I realized that is probably what they were. Future chaff for the gang. If any of the real Tyger Claws needed something done, they could go grab a kid and have them do it.


    Huh. Made sense I guess.


    ¡°Yo yo yo! Look who''s back!¡± Hiromi called out here instead and actually got some interest as I was tugged toward the back table.


    ¡°Hey wait, is that Motoko?¡±


    ¡°Wait your right!¡± The teens called out in surprise at my appearance. ¡°Thought you got Flatlined?¡±


    ¡°No, just a coma.¡± I told them as Hiromi pushed me into a seat.


    ¡°She also got amnesia like on the TV. Can¡¯t remember anything. She didn''t even know me!¡±


    ¡°Seriously? That¡¯s hilarious! So you don¡¯t know who I am?¡± A boy asked, wearing a jacket with tiger stripes and a set of clunky almost ill fitting sun glasses.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry I don¡¯t know. I guess some of us were friends? It¡¯s nice to meet you all¡­ again?¡± I answered amnesia made it a little confusing.


    ¡°Pfft. This is great! Hey you really don''t remember? You owe me $20 eddies, you know?¡±


    ¡°Fuck off Malcolm. She doesn¡¯t owe you shit.¡± Another spoke up punching the boy in the shoulder earning a yelp from him. ¡°She doesn¡¯t remember shit huh? That¡¯s rough.¡± The boy offered. He seemed the best dressed of the group. Everything seemed to actually fit him unlike most of the others.


    ¡°I¡¯m Ichi, short for Ichinose. We¡¯ve run together since we were kids. Bit wild you don¡¯t remember. Anyway Malcolm is cool, just don¡¯t listen to anything he says.. Ever.¡±


    ¡°Fuck you choom!¡±


    ¡°You already know Hiromi, our crazy bitch.¡±


    ¡°You know it!¡± Hiromi called out as she grabbed a drink from the table and downed it, uncaring at the yelp from Malcolm as it had been his drink.


    ¡°And that is-¡±


    ¡°I can introduce myself Ichi. Omaeda, we never met. I joined this crew about three months ago.¡± He offered. The boy was larger, but not from muscle. He was just a bit fatter than most of the others. He also had a Netwreath on his head. And a case that I recognized as a Netdeck. Mostly because I had seen one while channel surfing. The massive thing was old, massive and banged up, but it was a netrunner kit.


    ¡°Nice to meet you.¡± I offered simply which he returned with a nod. ¡°Umm nice to see you all too?¡±


    ¡°Heh. Look at this Ichi! Our hellion Motoko is all demure and sweet now!¡± Hiromi mock cried as she pulled me into a side hug. ¡°Next thing you know she is going to start talking about becoming a corpo and working in an office!¡±


    That earned a chuckle from everyone but I shook my head.


    ¡°Probably not. I don¡¯t think I would fit into an office well. I¡¯ve heard about how cutthroat the politics are in those places.¡±


    ¡°Huh. Only got a few memories left but still remembers how fucked up Corpos are. At least you got some sense.¡± Hiromi tells me with a laugh.


    Everyone settled in then and started swapping some stories about me from before. Apparently Motoko really was a hellion, the kind of girl that was fully on board with committing any crime to get her way and fully onboard the Tyger Claws.


    I had actually been the one to drag Hiromi into the Tyger Claws orbit. Before she had been a girl that kept her head down.


    Go figure.


    Learning a bit about me was nice. Even if I refused the drinks. Instead just grabbing some weird carbonated drink from the vending machines in the back of the club.


    I snorted into my drink in the middle of Malcolm talking about him klepping a Rayfield Caliburn with a tech jack he had klepped from a techie he had done a job for only to have to bail on the car and run for his life from a kill team of Arasaka ninjas come to kill him.


    No one around the table believed him for an instant and I had to assure Hiromi I realized he was lying as well as she had started looking at me worriedly once he started the story.


    ¡°That is a new face.¡± A voice called out from behind me and instantly I saw Ichi stand from his seat and offer a bow.


    ¡°Shobo-Sama. This is Motoko, an old face actually. She just got out of the hospital.¡± He offered and I turned.


    The man was wearing a white suit and a purple bowtie. I didn¡¯t recognize him though. So I relaxed.


    ¡°Nice to meet you.¡± I offered with a small bow of my own from where I sat.


    ¡°Hmph? I don¡¯t recall, Ichi. I have some work for you. Come along.¡± He demanded and turned to walk away, Ichi urgently slipping out from behind Malcolm to hurry after learning Hiromi grumbling.


    ¡°I know it¡¯s important to help out Shobo-Sama and all, but it always annoys me that he only wants to use Ichi. We can all work, you know?¡± She offered before sighing and leaning back. ¡°Alright I guess we should head out. I better take Motoko home before Jun-Chan comes and kills me.¡±


    ¡°Hell no.¡± I tell her instantly, pushing at her face as she moved to stand up. ¡°You are drunk. You¡¯ve been drinking for the last three hours.¡±


    ¡°Wha? I drive better drunk!¡±


    ¡°Somehow I don¡¯t believe you¡­ Keys.¡± I demand from her holding out my hand.


    ¡°What? I¡¯m not giving you my shard key. I drive just fine drunk you gonk. Pfft.¡± Hiromi started laughing at me as I rolled my eyes.


    ¡°You aren¡¯t driving until you sober up.¡± I tell her firmly. ¡°Not letting you kill yourself in an accident.¡± I said firmly no give whatsoever. Something about what I said though made her start smiling.


    ¡°Fine. You can just drive then.¡± She offered with a grin as she pushed into my personal space. ¡°You haven¡¯t had anything to drink so you are good to drive aren¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if I even know how.¡± I informed her calmly. Earning a wide smile from Hiromi.


    ¡°Perfect! No time like the present to learn! C¡¯mon Motoko! Time to learn to drive!¡± She offered with a drunk grin.


    ¡°I don¡¯t feel comfortable with this!¡± I told her as she dragged me out of my chair and towards the front.


    ¡ª-


    So driving a motorcycle was kinda¡­ I mean it wasn¡¯t that complicated. Mostly thanks to Hiromi practically jumping off the bike wanting to throw hands with anyone that looked at her funny. But I got the hang of it after a few minutes of driving real slow around the block that club was on.


    More interesting than that. I got a new skill.


    *Driving Experience Gained.*


    *Skill not unlocked, no XP gained.*


    *Driving Unlocked.*


    The thing was driving wasn¡¯t a skill in the game. At all. Which had thrown me off a little. I had been going along with the understanding that my system was Cyberpunk 2077. But if driving existed and to my pleasure it existed under the Reflex stat. Then what other skills could I try and pick up?


    Testing would be required!


    I pulled into the parking garage for the apartment parking the bike with a sigh.


    Not too bad.


    ¡°You drive like an old granny.¡± Hiromi offered behind me as she laughed and hopped off the bike.


    ¡°You drive like a drunk. Even when you aren¡¯t drunk.¡±


    ¡°Which is why I drive better drunk!¡±


    ¡°No one drives better drunk you gonk.¡± I sigh and then have to quickly grab her and pull her away as she made a move to get back on the bike. ¡°Whoa whoa whoa! What are you doing?¡±


    ¡°Going home?¡±


    ¡°Not a chance!¡± I hissed. ¡°You are drunk and you aren¡¯t driving around on a motorcycle. C¡¯mon you can crash at my place.¡±


    ¡°Aww a sleepover? We haven¡¯t done that in ages! How cute.¡±


    I threw her an annoyed look as I walked out of the parking garage and across the street to the apartment. We rode the elevator up with Hiromi chattering away about nothing in my ear.


    Jun thankfully was home when I got there.


    ¡°Thought Hiromi would be the one to drag you out. Make sure you call when you are going to be gone so long next time.¡± He ordered instantly as I walked in which I threw him a thumbs up. That was fair.


    ¡°Hiromi is going to crash here tonight. She got drunk and I won¡¯t let her drive home.¡±


    Jun gave me a weird look. ¡°But she drives better drunk.¡±


    ¡°No one drives better drunk!¡± I hissed at him even as Hiromi whooped at Jun agreeing with her.


    ¡°So she is going to claim the couch-¡±


    ¡°Nah, we can share your bed.¡± Hiromi countered, already sauntering past me throwing Jun a wink. ¡°Unless Jun-Chan wants to share instead.¡±


    ¡°Nope.¡± He replied instantly shutting her down much to my relief, and to Hiromi''s now displeasure as she pouted.


    ¡°Fine.¡± She huffed heading into my bedroom.


    ¡°Sorry Jun-Nii.¡±


    ¡°No, it¡¯s fine. I¡¯m used to her being around. It feels¡­ Normal. Did you have fun?¡±


    ¡°Hmmm. Fun? Not exactly, it was nice to meet new people and former friends I guess? But the club wasn¡¯t really my thing.¡±


    He blinked at that. ¡°Really?¡±


    ¡°Yeah alcohol kinda smells bad, and the cigarettes everyone was smoking made the club a little smoky. The music was okay¡­ But that¡¯s about it.¡±


    ¡°Huh. Another change I guess. Good.¡± He offered with a nod before I followed after Hiromi who to my surprise was already half naked.


    ¡°Do you want to borrow some clothes?¡± I offered only for her to laugh at me.


    ¡°Just climb in Choom. We haven¡¯t had a sleepover in forever.¡±


    I sighed. Doing just that after taking off my jacket and shoes. Sliding in I could smell the alcohol on her breath as she muttered sleepily to me.


    Eventually she did pass out, and once she was snoozing on my shoulder drooling lightly did I choose to sleep and the timer for how long popped up.


    ¡ª--


    The next morning I woke up just like I had been since the hospital feeling great and ready to start my day.


    Hiromi was not. She grumbled and groaned when I prodded her, so I just covered her in a blanket and left the room to start my morning exercise.


    After a quick breakfast of hallway vendor burrito. Gross. I got to it. Using the 25% XP sleep buff to my advantage as I ran through my gun draw. Now that Reflex had finally leveled up I needed to get Handguns and Blades up there to match.


    An hour later Hiromi came practically crawling out of my bed with tangled mohawk and tired eyes to see me staring out the window constantly drawing my gun from my back holster.


    ¡°Damn.¡± She muttered a bit blinking before walking over and grabbing a drink out of the fridge. At least it wasn¡¯t alcoholic. ¡°What are you doing?¡±


    ¡°Exercise!¡± I chirp back at her happily as I continued my work. I was definitely getting better at this, but the XP was starting to come in really slowly. There was only so much XP I could grind from drawing my gun and never getting a chance to shoot it.


    Might have to talk to Jun about that. He did say to bug him about stuff I needed instead of running off and doing it myself.


    ¡°Looks boring.¡±


    ¡°It can be!¡± I offer as I finally decide to switch from gun to blade. Holstering the gun for the last time I took a moment to stretch out before my left hand went to do the same thing with my knife, Draw into stab. Thankfully I could train blades a lot easier since I didn¡¯t have to worry about shooting holes in the wall with it. Letting me keep the XP grind coming.


    I was almost at level 2 Blades.


    ¡°You are better with a gun than you were before. You were kinda hopeless, but you are worse with a Knife.¡± Hiromi eventually commented as she watched me practice for a minute.


    ¡°Really? I was good with knives?¡±


    ¡°No but you were good with a Katana. You taught me some things after all.¡± She mentioned which surprised me. I didn¡¯t know Hiromi used a Katana, she didn¡¯t look like she was armed at all really.


    ¡°Heh I don¡¯t carry it around. I¡¯m not part of the Tyger Claws yet. Some of the men don¡¯t like it when people walk around with their weapons. I only use it when I want to show off.¡±


    ¡°Cool. I might have to get one.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ right. You don¡¯t have your Katana anymore.¡± She muttered looking sad as she thought about it.


    ¡°Was it special?¡± I asked as I continued to work through my stabs. ¡°I don¡¯t really remember it.¡±


    ¡°It was your mom¡¯s. You carried it with you everywhere, used to piss off the Gangster claws, but you are generational, so they always had to leave you alone about it.¡±


    ¡°Oh. I guess the Scavs took it then.¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Probably hawked it at a dropoff too. Fuckers.¡±


    I shrug ¡°I¡¯ll either find it again, or I won¡¯t. Do you have a picture of it, or was it special in any way?¡±


    ¡°No. Sorry. It was a pretty standard Arasaka Katana. I doubt you will ever see it again. Or even know it from any other. Dammit.¡± Hiromi cursed sounding pretty upset about it.


    ¡°Don¡¯t stress Choom. I don¡¯t even remember it to miss it. I¡¯m just glad I¡¯m alive. The Katana is just a Katana.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­ Yeah I guess.¡± She offered. ¡°You are the most boring amnesiac I ever met.¡± She said, sounding amused.


    ¡°I¡¯m just exercising! I got out of a coma a few weeks ago, remember? My muscles were all jello.¡±


    ¡°And a knife?¡±


    ¡°The city can be dangerous. I mean I was kidnapped apparently. I want to be able to protect myself. I¡¯ll switch to pushups and other stuff soon.¡± I told her as I continued drawing and stabbing. I wanted that sweet sweet level up.


    I grunted as I continued on, my arms tiring, but I was gonna push for the grind.


    *100 Blades XP gained.*


    *Blades skill level up!*


    *1 Perk Point Gained.*


    I slowed to a stop. My hand on my knife had grown confident. I knew for a fact I could do all sorts of things with it now. My control and confidence in my knife work had gone up.


    But what was a Perk?


    Like in the game with the perk tree? I hadn''t seen anything like that.


    I quickly pulled up the Stat screen. And my Reflex stat was blinking. I clicked it, and then Blades was blinking. Clicking that I saw that I had an option.


    There was a little icon that revealed a list of perks I could choose from. All had something to do with blades.


    I read through a few of them. Concealed blade. Letting me better hide a knife on my body to bypass some scrutiny. Parry. To better deflect incoming blades, which I noticed had a greyed out Perk below it, and then another one below that. I followed the tree until it came to the end.


    Bullet Deflection.


    Cool.


    But I kept reading for now. Wanting to know what other options there were. Lots of them looked interesting but a lot of them were very niche. What I did notice was a perk that actually had some use outside of me fighting with a blade.


    Ambidextrous: Use either hand as competently as the dominant hand.


    This was a perk that would buff anything. And could be pretty useful since I was training for a knife in my off hand.


    I decided. Accepting that perk and a moment later my left hand felt like a wave of cold ran down it, and then as if it was waking up from falling asleep my brain seemed to read the limb as¡­ Different. I blinked away the stat screen, and with a bit of a knife trick that I felt pretty confident with. I swapped the knife to my main hand and drew my gun with my off hand.


    It was just as quick as the main hand even if the holster slowed me down a bit as it was designed for right hand draw.


    I shifted using my left hand to aim and adjust and it all came naturally to me.


    ¡°What are you doing now?¡± Hiromi asked as she lay on the couch her chin in her hand.


    ¡°I¡¯m ambidextrous.¡± I tell her, sounding a little surprised about it.


    ¡°What no you''re not. You''re a righty.¡± Hiromi says confidently.


    ¡°Maybe I was. But I¡¯m not anymore.¡± I told her showing how firm I was as I continued playing around with aiming the pistol and knife in concert.


    ¡°Huh. I guess the Scavs messed up your brain¡­ I guess that¡¯s a good thing?¡±


    ¡°Yeah it¡¯s cool.¡± I tell her smiling as I once more swapped knife and gun with a showy toss of the knife to switch hands before sheathing and holstering them. ¡°You look bored.¡±


    ¡°You done?¡±


    ¡°Not really, but I can take a break. You¡¯re my guest right now.¡±


    ¡°Pfft. We are chooms. I¡¯m not your guest. But alright. C¡¯mon I want to get some chow.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡±


    ¡ª--


    After a brunch where we sat people watching as we ate Hiromi finally said she had to get home so her parents wouldn¡¯t kill her. We shared a hug and I waved as she drove down the street.


    I winced. She was still a terrible driver.


    I went back inside and got back to grinding. Body was close to level 3! If I remember right, that was the starter score for V in the game. If I could reach 3. I would be at a baseline that I knew was fairly competent.


    Unfortunately the morning workout didn¡¯t push me into level 3 just yet. And I took a break to take a shower and head back outside for a while. I figured doing some aerobic exercise would be a good change. So I decided to start jogging around the block. The massive concrete stairway that led to the level above was used as part of the path. Jogging up the steps to the midpoint before going down on the other side spit back out on the same side of the block.


    It was hard, my legs ended up burning, but it was great exercise.


    Plus as I jogged I got another skill!


    *Athletics Experience Gained.*


    *Skill not unlocked, no XP gained.*


    *Athletics Unlocked.*


    I smiled. That would be super useful! Especially if I ever had to run away! It was also under the Body tree. So that was nice.


    I kept it up. Jogging around the block once before I was too tired to do anymore. But I knew I would go take a nap and probably do it again right after.


    Of course as I was heading in, I heard a word that stopped me dead.


    ¡°...Scavs again.¡±


    I shifted. That was a word I had been hypersensitive to. Kidnap and try to murder steal my body once shame on you. Do it twice, shame on me.


    I stopped but the two working class guys were just grumbling. ¡°H-hey excuse me?¡± I asked, deciding to interrupt. I walked over to where they were both eating from a vendor. Both guys gave me a suspicious look as I approached.


    ¡°What do you want, kid. If you think we are easy marks, get lost.¡±


    ¡°No nothing like that. I heard you say Scavs¡­ I had a run in with them a while back so I¡¯m a little¡­¡± I trailed off while wiggling my hand. ¡°They aren¡¯t set up around here or anything are they?¡± I honestly couldn¡¯t help the hint of fear that entered my voice as I spoke.


    The two men kept a look on me for a moment before the one that said Scav to start finally spoke. ¡°Not around here thankfully. I came across a nest while on a job fixing some apartment lights. Over in H2. You are plenty far away from those bastards girl.¡±


    ¡°H2. Megabuilding H2.¡± I repeated to myself nodding. ¡°What floor were they on?¡±


    Both men looked at eachother. ¡°Listen kid, I don¡¯t want to be responsible for you going off and trying something stupid. Those fuckers are dangerous.¡±


    ¡°I know some Tyger Claws. Might be worth it to them to hit them Scavs, That¡¯s all. Not a fan of them. At all.¡± I said and the guy hesitated a bit before shrugging.


    ¡°Floor 24. A whole side of the building is blocked off by them. They had hooked into the power supply which is why the lights were failing. But that¡¯s all I know. Don¡¯t be stupid.¡±


    ¡°Thanks. Really. Thank you.¡± I offer them a bow and turn and start jogging off.


    H2. Floor 24.


    The gun in the small of my back felt heavy.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°Hey Jun-Nii.¡± I call out as my brother gets home late that night. Oddly he usually stays out most of the night.


    ¡°Imouto.¡± He greets me back checking me over and seeming pleased with the sight.


    ¡°Hey Jun-Nii. Is there a place I can go to practice shooting this?¡± I asked nodding towards my back as I continued to do pushups on the floor. My question startling Jun for a moment as he thinks.


    ¡°We can go shooting yes. We will go tomorrow. Together.¡± I looked up in surprise at his words.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you have work?¡±


    ¡°I can take a day off. And since I will be going to shoot, I can tell my boss that I am taking the day for training.¡± He offered with a smile. Looking pleased with himself about his plan.


    ¡°Nova. Thanks Jun-Nii.¡±


    ¡°It is what I am here for.¡± he assures me before heading into the room to relax.


    He really wasn¡¯t though. I wanted to say. That he didn¡¯t have to be completely responsible for me¡­ But I was still like a child even if I wasn¡¯t actually amnesiac. Even if I still knew things this wasn¡¯t my earth. This was Night City. The rules here were different. I mean I was still working on prices for stuff to make sure I didn¡¯t overpay again.


    I turned back to my pushups just a few more, and I should get Body 3.


    Just a few more.

 Chapter 4

    The next morning Jun slept in like normal, and I continued to workout. I went for a jog, to get more Athletics XP with the 25% buff enjoying the way the numbers kept going up.


    And finally I got the alert.


    *Body Leveled up!*


    I whooped mid jog as I cheered and danced around. I did it! At Body 3, my body was now the equivalent of a bare minimum V.


    Hell yeah!


    I wiped the sweat from my brow and took a moment to look over the edge of the street into Cherry Blossom Market. It was pretty with all the trees.


    I would have to get some actual exercise equipment soon. Or maybe a gym membership. I wonder if the Tyger Claws have some Gym that I can go to? Or use?


    Even if I am super hesitant to be anymore connected to a gang than I already was.


    I kinda hated the gangs.


    I sighed and turned around. Time to get home. Maybe Jun would be up?


    Jun was awake and eating his breakfast burrito as I wandered in which I couldn¡¯t help but roll my eyes at. Just because the vending machine was right outside our door Jun¡­


    ¡°Morning Jun-Nii.¡±


    ¡°Morning.¡± He mumbled, still waking up. Good, it gave me time to slip into a shower. After Jun was ready to go we wandered out onto the street and then into the parking garage before he walked up to a motorcycle. Another modded Kusanagi I noted, although it was absolutely covered in stickers, and Tyger Claw signs.


    ¡°C¡¯mon.¡± He ordered hopping on and I sighed. The stupid high back on these always looked dumb. Why mess with the Kusanagi!? It was based on Akira''s bike! It was already perfect!


    ¡°Sure sure.¡± I grumbled as I settled in behind Jun and we were off.


    Fortunately he was a better driver than Hiromi.


    Unfortunately that wasn¡¯t saying much.


    I kept track of where we were going but we were heading towards Little China. We stopped at a little gated building deep inside the city and there were plenty of Tyger Claw bikes already waiting.


    ¡°C¡¯mon Toko don¡¯t fall behind.¡±


    ¡°Yep!¡± I agreed seeing plenty of men and women all wearing Tyger Claw tattoos and none of them looked gentle. It was as we were walking into the little walled compound that I realized where we were. It was the Tyger Claw Dojo. I remember the mission, you had to save a guy in the basement but the interior was all swords and equipment.


    Nice. Unfortunately we didn¡¯t walk into the dojo. Instead walking to the side and entered into what I would have thought was an apartment building of some sort, but we kept going, through dark trash filled hallways, until Jun stopped at a certain apartment. Inside the apartment it was set up like a reception area.


    The Tyger Claws milling around all looked up at our entrance but relaxed when Jun headed to the woman sitting behind a set of bullet proof glass.


    ¡°I need an alley, and ammunition.¡± He said and the receptionist took a moment, her eyes glowing before she nodded.


    ¡°Welcome Mr. Kusanagi. Alley twelve is open for you. You know the rules about ammunition.¡± She said simply and Jun nodded, leading me through another door that led to some stairs heading down.


    Then we entered a shooting range. All of it set up for the Tyger Claws as every person inside besides me was a member.


    Huh underground secret shooting range? Cool.


    Jun led me through but I was definitely getting some looks as he led me to our stall which already had two boxes of ammunition sitting on the floor and after Jun checked them he went back to an alcove along the wall and grabbed a different box.


    ¡°Load up!¡± He shouted over the sounds of gunfire and I nodded.


    I guess hearing protection wasn¡¯t really a concern in the future.


    I only had the single magazine for my Unity, which was already loaded, but Jun pulled out his own Unity I noticed and dropped a quartet of extra magazines onto the table.


    Jun quickly split two from the number and pushed them to me as I smiled at him. And then he just started firing.


    I watched for a minute as he emptied his magazine hitting pretty often, although his aim wasn¡¯t super great.


    ¡°Well get to it!¡± He called out and I realized I had just been watching when I should be shooting!


    Grinning, I closed my eyes for a moment putting my Unity back into my holster. Then I opened my eyes, whipped a hand behind me, grabbed my Unity and drew it just like I had been training. Three rounds went downrange. Which instantly got me an alert.


    *100 Handguns XP Gained.*


    Which was awesome! That had been an instant xp boost. I continued doing the same thing. Standing straight and putting my handgun into my holster before quick drawing it and sending a few rounds down range. Pleased that with the new complexity of actually aiming and firing, I was getting more Reflex XP too.


    Jun though was just firing downrange mechanically, he was definitely more accurate than I was, but I think when it really came down to it, my muscle memory would be more useful than his rigid quick shots.


    ¡°Jun-Nii! Don¡¯t forget to practice your draw fire as well!¡± I called out over the din while I was switching to a new magazine, and he seemed to take what I said for a moment before rolling his eyes.


    But he did practice it a few times and his accuracy sharply declined.


    Well that is what happens when you actually have to draw a gun and fire it in a hurry.


    Still I was very happy, because XP was rolling in, and very soon I got another alert.


    *Handguns skill level up!*


    *1 Perk Point Gained.*


    I barely managed to keep myself from cheering. Another perk point! I guess I got one whenever I leveled a skill to two?


    I took a moment while reloading my magazines to check the options. I was right. All of the perks this time had something to do with Handguns.


    Most of them were pretty expected.


    Fast reload. Quick Draw. That sort of thing, but there were a bunch more. The options were pretty huge, although 99% of them were grayed out needing higher stats, a prerequisite perk, some even needing perks from other perk trees. Handgun design needed a perk from crafting skill tree for example.


    While it was all neat. I picked Quick Draw. I was already training it, and honestly in a gun fight getting your gun out and shooting faster than the other guy is a big thing.


    The moment I took it I felt that same feeling as if I simply knew how to do what I had been doing better.


    This time when I finished reloading the magazine and slotted it into the pistol when I slipped the gun back into its holster. I knew exactly how to do it. No more guessing or just practicing ineffectually.


    No this time when I opened my eyes my hand and body simply moved without conscious thought. Habit ingrained through the system.


    And three rounds shot off in just a second, all three hitting my target within just a heartbeat.


    Jun didn¡¯t notice, but that was okay. Because as I got an alert for reflex XP I smiled and simply did it again and again. My accuracy wasn¡¯t perfect, but the fact I was drawing my gun and firing so fast was its own reward.


    A junky or Scav trying to take me for some Cyberware would find a gun pressed against their throat in a heartbeat.


    I smiled at the idea.


    ¡°Kid!¡± A voice called out from behind us, and Jun and I both turned, seeing an older man grizzled and graying in his five o¡¯clock shadow.


    ¡°Yes?¡± we both asked at the same time, but the guy was looking to Jun.


    ¡°Who¡¯s the girl?¡± The old man demanded as Jun looked from me to him.


    ¡°Little sister!¡± Jun called out loud enough to be heard over the gunshots and the man looked pleased.


    ¡°Girl. You know how to fire anything else?¡± He asked and I shrugged. I mean Handguns should go for anything that is a handgun, but I didn¡¯t know what this guy was talking about.


    ¡°A second.¡± He demanded turned and wandered out to a back room that I hadn¡¯t noticed, when he came back out a few moments later he was carrying a sub machine gun.


    ¡°You ever shot one of these?¡± He demanded and I shook my head.


    ¡°Go on then.¡± He ordered handing it over along with a few magazines which he handed to Jun after a moment.


    I shrugged. Took a look over the gun, finding the safety I aimed it down the alley flipped the safety and pulled the trigger. A few seconds later I adjusted myself because for a submachine gun it kicked like a mule and fired again.


    ¡°Huh.¡± I heard him grunt from behind me sounding unimpressed. As he noticed, my grouping was terrible.


    *Assault Experience Gained.*


    *Skill not unlocked, no XP gained.*


    *Assault Unlocked.*


    I nodded. Assault was the tree for rifles and submachine guns. Not sure why it wasn¡¯t split, but whatever.


    I still had more in the mag and so I continued to feel the gun out, Aiming small groupings, single shot and a few bursts, grabbing the mags from Jun as I went.


    This was another skill after all, and another skill under Reflex. So slowly between the consistent alerts about the assault skill reflex was getting buffed up. It was certainly a lot faster than body had.


    I ignored the man. Not sure what his game was, but I was going to milk this for all it is worth.


    I finished the third magazine, and I felt how close I was.


    I turned and grabbed the ammo box, swiftly filling up a magazine and funnily getting a bit of reflex XP from how fast I was doing it.


    Then I grabbed the sub machine gun, reloaded and fired again.


    *Assault skill level up!*


    I blinked. That was what I was waiting for. Yeah that was the good shit. I stopped shifting my body, holding myself differently to adjust for the kick back. Cradling the stock against a different part of my shoulder and holding the trigger differently on my finger.


    This time my rounds zipped out and while I still wasn¡¯t where I wanted to be, I was hitting consistently, and my grouping was much tighter.


    I finished up the magazine pleased I was able to get another XP alert, before I stopped.


    ¡°Thanks, that was fun.¡± I told him and the old man was looking between me and the electronic targets with an interested look in his eye.


    ¡°You never shot something like that before.¡± He demanded but it wasn¡¯t a question. Not really.


    ¡°No, I only shot my pistol for the first time here.¡± I tell him.


    He huffed a laugh. ¡°You have a killers draw with that pistol. I¡¯ve never seen a kid with a draw like that before.¡± He turned to Jun. ¡°Bring her around more often. She has talent.¡± He says taking the sub machine gun and the magazines back after and heading back into the room he had disappeared into.


    ¡°What was that?¡± Jun asked after a moment and I shrugged. I honestly didn¡¯t know either. I guess he noticed how fast my quick draw was? I shrugged. It didn¡¯t matter. We still had more ammo in the boxes and I wanted to make sure I milked every experience point I could out of this.


    I settled back in to quickdraw my pistol and this time Jun actually noticed just how fast it was.


    ¡°How are you doing that?¡± He demanded of me, looking shocked at the sight.


    ¡°Oh you have to sorta do¡­ This?¡± I offered slowing my draw to show the motion.


    I ended up spending the next hour helping Jun with his quickdraw, walking him through on how to improve his own. The Perk had given me a pretty comprehensive knowledge of what to do to improve at it.


    Sure I didn¡¯t get to practice anymore which sucked, but Jun got a lot quicker with his, and so I figured that was a fair trade.


    I needed to make sure Jun stayed alive in Night City too after all.


    ¡ª--


    Afterwards Jun drove us both home although he was quiet all the way out of the gun range and back home.


    We pulled up inside and after I washed my hands off from the gun powder smell I noticed he was still being quiet.


    ¡°You okay Jun-Nii?¡±


    ¡°You never used guns before. You were hopeless at them.¡± He said eventually from where he was sitting back on the couch fully splayed out. ¡°How did you know how to quick draw like that?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t know? Made sense I guess. I¡¯ve been practicing for a while.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s only been what, a week since I gave you the gun?¡±


    I shrugged. I don''t remember days blur together when you exercise for a few hours before going to sleep to recover.


    ¡°Is that bad?¡± I asked, and he seemed to actually think about that for a moment.


    ¡°No. It makes you safer. I just¡­ You are a different person. It made me realize that the Motoko that I knew. She doesn¡¯t exist anymore. I have to learn about¡­ This Motoko.¡±


    I flinched back at that. I knew I would be different from street kid Motoko, but yikes that was pretty harsh.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡±


    ¡°You didn¡¯t do anything. Don¡¯t be sorry Toko, you survived. That is all¡­ that is all I ever wanted.¡± He said rising up from his slouch to pull me into a hug.


    ¡°Finding you like that was the scariest moment in my life.¡±


    I nodded and hugged him back, but my mind was just focused on what he just said.


    Jun had been the one to rescue me from the Scavs? What had really happened that day? I knew from the games most people weren¡¯t rescued from Scavs. Most people were just chopped up and killed.


    ¡ª--


    Bright and early the next day I went out for a run, Athletics booooy!


    I grinned as I jogged up and down the concrete stairs around the block. While I still wasn¡¯t great I could jog for a lot more than I could have before. Meaning my Athletics XP kept dinging in.


    *Athletics skill level up!* I smiled as I hit level 1 with Athletics. It did seem to take longer than some of the other skills, but then again I wasn¡¯t really doing anything crazy, just jogging around a block and up and down some stairs. I continued, but it was on the last quarter of the route when it happened.


    A gunshot rang out practically on top of me and I dropped to the ground, rolling into the sheltered entrance to a shop, that was unfortunately closed. I wanted to curse but making noise was asking for attention. I kept myself low, handgun in my hand as I waited for something to happen. Slowly I heard more shouting and aggressive calls from the alleyway. The damn alley way that I had to walk past to get home. I couldn¡¯t even turn around because the alleyway had another exit on the north side of the block that I would have to walk past.


    I waited for a while, slowly peeking out from the edge of the shop to see if something would happen. Just shouting for a while, and then it quieted down. Slowly I crept out. Which was stupid.


    I knew it was stupid but I did it anyways.


    I slowly crept out to the edge of the alley and peeked over for just a second, before doing it more slowly. Nothing. I breathed a sigh of relief, whatever was happening it was happening deeper in the alley.


    I felt my hand sweat.


    Do I go help? From the noise someone had been shot¡­ No. I¡¯m not a hero, and I¡¯m not a cop. And I had nothing to really protect myself with. Who knows how many people there were?


    So instead I decided to sneak past the alley and get home. If I made it back to the apartment I would be safe and this craziness would be on the outside.


    But just as I started to slide out from along the edge of the Alley I saw it, someone walking around the corner. I dropped hiding behind some trash and the edge of the alley and just prayed it was enough.


    Through the slats of an old pallet that I was hiding behind I noticed that the woman checking the alley had a fucking machine gun held at her waist.


    I swallowed and kept motionless pretending to not be there as she checked the alleyway before turning and heading back in.


    A fucking machine gun!


    Once she was gone I rose slowly and snuck my way across the alleyway entrance before hurriedly but as quietly as I could getting back to the apartment.


    As I finally felt the door shut behind me safe behind the apartment door and the security gate, I feel like I could breath again.


    I exhaled and shook, setting my pistol on the living room table and just sitting down for a while with my head on my knees.


    ¡ª--


    Turns out I got something besides nightmares that thankfully I couldn¡¯t experience anymore out of the situation.


    I hadn¡¯t noticed because I was freaking out, but I got a new skill.


    *Ninjutsu Experience Gained.*


    *Skill not unlocked, no XP gained.*


    *Ninjutsu Unlocked.*


    Honestly I wish I had thought about training stealth before this. It was¡­ powerful. A truly powerful skill. And something I was going to have to figure out a way to level because I liked the idea of not being seen by gonks wanting to kill me.


    There was a problem though.


    ¡°Okay I can level Ninjutsu through stealth training¡­ But how do I level Cool?¡± I mean¡­ Cool? What kind of stat was fuckin Cool!?


    I grumbled about it as I rested on the couch feeling a little wrung out after everything. I guess¡­ Well I could level reflex by training the sub skills, so I guess for now I would just train stealth and hope I would figure out a good way to level cool later?


    Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.


    I shrugged it was as good a plan as any. I mean the only other skill tree that I knew was under Cool¡­ In the game it was called Cold Blood. Which¡­ I could guess how I leveled that one.


    Murder.


    I guess Cyberpunk and this gamer system was trying to tell me Murder was cool¡­ Riiight.


    I shrugged and decided to take the matter into my own hands.


    Stealth huh? Well I had level 1 Cool. So I might as well get stealth up to level 1. It could save my life in the future.


    So I headed outside and started sneaking around. Doing my best not to be seen to slip close to people that were talking so I could listen in, and basically doing anything I could think of to raise my stealth skill.


    So what if I creeped a couple of people out. They weren¡¯t important! As I snuck around the block and market.


    I did manage to get a few alerts for cool when I successfully snuck up on people without them noticing but as hours passed Ninjutsu leveled faster.


    *Ninjutsu skill level up!*


    It popped in and I shivered as I went from a child trying to sneak around to¡­ well a child trying to sneak around, but I was quieter about it.


    Yay me.


    *Ringing*


    I jerked as I had been heading home when a call came in. Hiromi.


    ¡°Hiromi?¡± I responded.


    ¡°Motoko! I¡¯ve been waiting forever and ever! Where are you? I came to pick you up to have some fun!¡± She instantly yelled out full force causing me to wince. How it caused a similar pain to being too loud despite there not actually being any sound? Ugh stupid future tech.


    ¡°I¡¯m on my way back now. I was out¡­ Exercising.¡± I offered lying through my teeth. No way was I going to admit to faux sneaking around people.


    That would be weird.


    ¡°Ugh hurry! Everyone is waiiiiiting.¡± She whined and I broke out into a jog.


    ¡°Alright alright I¡¯m almost at the front.¡± I said as I turned the corner from beside Cherry Blossom Market, and hurried down the block towards home. I could see Hiromi¡¯s Kusanagi revving and waiting at the entrance causing people to avoid her bike that was sitting on the side of the sidewalk.


    Really Hiromi? At least don¡¯t rev your bike if you are on the sidewalk. People are freaking out! I hurry over and she gives me a once over. ¡°Eh, I guess it¡¯ll do. You really need some new threads choom.¡± She offers before hiking a thumb behind her. ¡°Now get on!¡±


    ¡°Alright alright!¡± I repeated as I hopped on and clutched her tight as she peeled out from the sidewalk.


    That mark was never going away.


    And we raced down the street in a blur.


    ¡°Too fast!¡± I squealed as she seemed to be in an actual hurry this time.


    ¡°Hahahahaha!¡± was my only answer.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°Nice of you to finally make it Hiromi.¡± Ichi called out as we pulled into a small parking lot. The rest of the ¡®gang¡¯ was already there. Malcolm smoking a cigarette while Omaeda was already messing with his suitcase sized Cyberdeck.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± I ask, realizing that they were all armed, and even Hiromi had an actual Katana sheathed behind her back.


    ¡°We are running a gig!¡± Hiromi offered with a smile. And I instantly frowned at her.


    ¡°Hiromi!¡±


    ¡°Relax Motoko. It¡¯s not a gig. We are going to make some eddies though and Hiromi wanted you cut in. You are still one of us, even if you don¡¯t remember so I accepted. Sorry for the short notice.¡± He offered with a smile.


    ¡°What are we doing?¡±


    ¡°Snatch and grab. We got this Gonk who is definitely not but sorta a wannabe Valentino. He has been trying to push some drugs up here in Kabuki.¡± Ichi replied.


    ¡°Kabuki is Tyger Claw Territory. Obviously.¡± Hiromi added for my benefit which I nodded already knowing.


    ¡°So we are going to klep his ride. Hopefully his product is inside, and we deliver it back to the Club. Shobo-Sama will take care of the rest.¡±


    ¡°That sounds dangerous. Is he alone, or does he have guards?¡± I asked.


    ¡°This is child''s play stuff Motoko. We klepped so many cars when we were younger!¡± Hiromi offered with a giggle and a side hug that didn¡¯t at all reassure me.


    ¡°Not an Alvarado, which is why I am here.¡± Omaeda said cutting off Hiromi. ¡°It¡¯s got a security system. I¡¯ll break in, but I¡¯ll need some serious time. You guys will try and klep the security shard.¡±


    ¡°Right. So I don¡¯t think we will be able to get the shard easy. Not on this guy, so we are the distraction, our job is to keep our gonk Gonzalez busy. So we try it stealth first, but if we don¡¯t break the security fast enough we distract the guy and keep him from bothering Omaeda.¡±


    ¡°This sounds really dangerous.¡± I muttered and got a shoulder push from Hiromi.


    ¡°Don''t be a scaredy cat.¡±


    ¡°This is so stupid.¡± I muttered, but I was in. This was Night City. Crime wasn¡¯t just something that happened, it was a fact of life, and I couldn¡¯t pull a David Martinez. I wasn¡¯t in Arasaka Academy or something like that.


    If I wanted money I would have to earn it. Somehow.


    ¡°Alright here is the plan. Right now Gonzalez is wandering the dock area selling. We keep an eye on him. As long as we don¡¯t act stupid he won¡¯t even notice. We are supposed to be here after all. This gives Omaeda time to set up and hopefully klep the ride. If Gonzalez starts heading back to the car we distract him, either as buyers, or if that doesn¡¯t work we can cause a little bit of trouble. Hiromi! I say when that happens, not you. Don¡¯t jump the gun again.¡±


    ¡°Hey C¡¯mon Ichi! You know me?¡±


    ¡°Hence the warning.¡± He growled. ¡°Alright Motoko, I know you are fresh, but really should be a super easy job to get you back into it. Just follow my orders. Malcolm, you are up first to buy time if we need to.¡±


    ¡°Ugh. I don¡¯t want to talk to this asshole.¡±


    ¡°Just do it, he''ll make sure he sees that you don''t like him if you want. You don¡¯t actually have to buy anything, just keep him busy. Just don¡¯t escalate into a fight. We want to avoid a gunfight.¡±


    ¡°Good idea.¡± I agreed earning some snickers from the others.


    ¡°Alright break.¡± He ordered and before I could take a step Hiromi had me by the arm. ¡°C¡¯mon!¡± She urged me on and forced me to follow her down the concrete pathway. The ocean was right there, but right on the beach was a ton of broken down shanty towns.


    I remembered this area from the game. It was full of Tyger Claw people and it was pretty rough.


    Which was weird. Why was there a Valentino wannabe pusher hanging out trying to sell drugs here? That was¡­ Suicidal.


    ¡°Stop freaking C¡¯mon it¡¯ll be fun we get to sit and watch a fat ¡®Tino guy try to sell drugs to a bunch of kids! Entertainment for everyone!¡± She said as she laughed, and I just shrugged. Honestly. I was just nervous.


    I didn¡¯t like this.


    Eventually Hiromi set me on the concrete coastal breaker and we just sat and overlooked the entire shanty town. Every once in a while we could see the target. Ichi had sent a picture of the man to everyone, and while he and Malcolm were hanging out closer to the guy Hiromi and I were on overwatch.


    ¡°Good luck Omaeda.¡± I muttered, earning a snort from Hiromi.


    ¡°He can do it. Not his first hotwire.¡±


    ¡°But it is the first time he tried to take that car right?¡±


    Hiromi groaned at my words. ¡°Ugh stop being such a downer. We are making eddies here. Be happy.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just¡­ I don¡¯t think I¡¯m ready for this yet Hiromi. I still have so much to learn, and¡­ It would have been nice if you asked first.¡±


    ¡°Pssht. You obviously just need to get back into the saddle. Why do you think I let you drive my bike? You picked it up again quick. You¡¯re just too¡­ hesitant now. Gotta get you used to doing again.¡±


    ¡°I really don¡¯t think that¡¯s right, but I know you are trying to help. Just¡­ Help a little less maybe.¡± I said with a sigh as I patted her on the thigh. She just rolled her eyes at me and nudged my shoulder with hers.


    ¡°Target seems to be moving out of the slums. Malcolm. You are up. Distract. Omaeda, time?¡±


    ¡°Longer if you keep bothering me.¡± The other boy replied before shutting down the call.


    Yikes. Not going well.


    ¡°Alright Malcolm, remember try not to get him so pissed he pulls a gun. Girls, get closer in case we need you.¡± Ichi offered before he too went quiet.


    ¡°C¡¯mon.¡± Hiromi offered sounding serious for the first time since I met her. She stood and rushed down into the shanty town, cutting across a few rooftops before dropping down.


    ¡°Dammit, what happened to this being easy?¡± I growled as I followed after Hiromi, gently I released the catch on my holster, and sheath.


    Might need a quickdraw.


    I almost lost sight of Hiromi as she was pretty quick across the roofs and I took a little longer.


    I didn¡¯t want to fall and break my stupid neck. But I caught up with her as she had stopped, peaking around a corner with her Katana in her hand.


    I fell back on every bit of Ninjutsu I had learned so far and did the same. Since I was taller than her I was able to peek out over her head.


    Malcolm was doing a good job I thought. He was actually waving an eddie shard around in one hand while arguing with¡­ Gonzales? The man wasn¡¯t really fat. Hiromi was just being mean.


    But he was definitely someone that I would have pegged as a Valentino if not for Ichi¡¯s description. He had a lot of tattoos. The bad part was the two guards flanking him.


    Realizing that nothing serious was happening yet. I peeled back and straightened up looking casual as I crossed the street to Hiromi¡¯s shock as if I was just out for a stroll. I even looked over and rolled my eyes at the obvious drug deal as I crossed the little path and entered into a shanty house. Disappearing from their sight.


    I kneeled down once I was out of sight and began circling around, to get closer. I wanted to get eyes on his guards. The two guys that I would have pegged for scavs. They were the sort of guys that were only considered muscle because they could shoot a gun. They were actually smaller than Gonzales himself, but they were each carrying an SMG and they looked like they knew how to use it.


    And Malcolm was making himself a target.


    ¡°Fuck you Vato!¡± Malcolm cussed purposefully using a spanish word. ¡°I asked if you had some shit, but you keep trying to change the fucking subject.¡±


    ¡°You have asked for three different drugs now. If you aren¡¯t buying then get out of my face. Or my friends will make you.¡± Gonzales growled and the much taller man was glaring balefully over a pair of gold rimmed sunglasses that were pulled down to his nose.


    ¡°Man what fuck pusher comes here to sell drugs and doesn¡¯t fuckin¡¯ sell? What are you some corpo plant or some shit? Come here to spy?¡±


    I could see his words were really riling up the man, and he wasn¡¯t hitting the point where his distraction was closer to a fight.


    I was trying to figure out what to do when an element of chaos was thrown in.


    ¡°Mal! God you piece of shit! There you are! Where is my fuckin glitter? I sent you out to get one thing you useless fuck!¡± Hiromi called out, sauntering into view naked blade in her hand but she was pointing it at Malcolm.


    Malcolm had a look of shock on his face before he figured it out. ¡°Aw c¡¯mon babe, I¡¯m working on it! See right here, this nice looking pusher has your glitter, don¡¯t you¡­ Whatever your name is.¡± Malcolm added.


    ¡°I don¡¯t sell Glitter. Also back up. Or my friends will act.¡± He ordered stepping back a bit from Hiromi who seemed to ignore the guy.


    ¡°The Fuck Mal!? You really been trying to get my high from a guy that don¡¯t even push? Fuck off!¡± She growled nearly cutting Malcolm as she seemed to swing the blade in annoyance at the boy.


    ¡°Whoa! Watch it you bitch! Fuck!¡± Malcolm yelled no longer acting as he checked his arm just to make sure he wasn¡¯t cut.


    ¡°Bitch!? Fuck you! You piece of shit. I¡¯ll cut your balls off!¡± She screamed.


    I honestly wasn¡¯t sure she was acting anymore either. Like I said. Chaos.


    Gonzales though seemed to be done with this sideshow. He jerked his head. And to my shock before anything could be done, one of the guards came up and slammed Hiromi on the back of the head.


    The entire area went silent.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go. Take care of your very annoying girl boy.¡± Gonzales offered without a backwards glance, but his men were still pointing at Malcolm with their guns keeping him from doing more than glaring and cradling Hiromi.


    They started moving. But I wasn¡¯t able to see anything but Hiromi.


    My friend.


    ¡°Ichi. They are moving.¡± Malcolms voice called over our channel. ¡°I¡¯m gonna have to look after Hiromi.¡±


    ¡°I see it. Focus on Hiromi, make sure she is okay. Omaeda. Gimme an update.¡±


    ¡°Nothing. The security on this is too fucking tight. I need more time here!¡±


    ¡°I think we need to abort this time, Ichi. This isn¡¯t working.¡± Malcolm called, for once being a voice of reason.


    All I could see was the red dripping from Hiromi¡¯s head.


    ¡°... Fuck that.¡± Ichi said and that was it.


    Fuck.


    Fucking hotheads! All of them! I growled, tearing my eyes away from Hiromi. There was nothing I could do for her right this minute, but Ichi sounded like he was going to do something stupid.


    I hurried after sneaking through the shanty town to keep Gonzales and his people in sight. I had no idea where Ichi was, but I was really scared he was going to do something stupid.


    Just as the Shanty town started to end, I saw him. Ichi was up ahead sitting on the concrete railing with his pistol in his hand resting in his lap. Full Tyger Claw regalia on display.


    The sight slowled Gonzales as well.


    ¡°You aren¡¯t in your territory ¡®Tino.¡± Ichi said strongly. Tapping his pistol against his knee a bit. ¡°An explanation is needed.¡± He was even playing up the Japanese accent, but I wasn¡¯t focused on that. I was watching Gonzales¡¯s men.


    ¡°I don¡¯t need to do shit, kid. You aren¡¯t even a Tyger. I don¡¯t see a ¡®real¡¯ tat or symbol on you. Get lost brat. Before my friends here flatline you.¡±


    I realized Ichi was running out of time. He was trying to bluff, but Gonzales wasn¡¯t looking to play along. His two guards were both raising their guns.


    Fuck.


    I growled, slowly crept out from the shanty, using every ounce of stealth I had learned so far to creep closer. Since they were all focused on Ichi and the noise of the city they didn¡¯t hear my feet gently tap against the concrete.


    Even if, to my ears it sounded like an explosion with every step. Every breath sounded like a hurricane.


    What the fuck was I doing?


    What the fuck was I going to do!?


    I got closer, close enough that his guards were in arms length of me, and I was standing at his back.


    People were just fucking blind here in Night City weren¡¯t they?


    Fuck it.


    My eyes instantly were drawn to the pistol at Gonzales'' hip. A stupid overly chromed out handgun. The sort of thing that is so ostentatious just thinking about using it makes you want to puke.


    So I klepped it. Quick Draw, was a perk. Not a skill. It allowed me to draw and fire a weapon faster than nearly anyone, and would only get faster if my reflex skill improved.


    So I stepped forward even as Ichi¡¯s eyes widened, with my heart hammering. I quick drawed Gonzales¡¯s own gun. And my own. Ambidextrous came into play before anyone realized what had happened.


    And I started putting bullets into the two guards. Both arms outstretched the guard on my right close enough I was practically punching the gun into his stomach as I started firing.


    It was chaos. And noise, and movement.


    It just¡­ Happened. Shooting, the two guards flinching back, Gonzales freaking out reaching for his gun that didn¡¯t exist in his holster anymore. My left arm ached from the stupid chromed out mega revolver Gonazles had.


    But the two guards were utterly surprised. Their aim was off as they both pulled the trigger. Bullets flew, and I kept my guns on target as best as I was able. Pulling the trigger over and over until finally the noise stopped.


    Ichi was there, his gun in Gonzales¡¯s face, and the two guards?


    They were dying. I watched them a bit stunned as the one closest to me gargled and gasped on his own blood, his hand reaching and fumbling for his lost gun. The other one?


    Well it might be a stupid chromed out ugly revolver. But it was still a big fucking revolver.


    He was dead already.


    I stood there, realizing that the irritation over my eye was blood. That I was coated in it.


    The guard closest to me, had bled all over me.


    With a sigh, I pulled the revolver to my chest and popped my Unity¡¯s mag, grabbing the spare one that I had slipped into my holster for the gun, and did the frustrating dance of trying to keep four things in my hands at once as I replaced it with a new mag. I slipped the ugly revolver into the front of my pants after.


    It was empty anyways. And then I walked over to the guard that was still burbling.


    And put a bullet in his head.


    The noise caused Ichi and Gonzales to flinch back as they both looked at me.


    I honestly. Had nothing to say. I was so¡­ Blank? Cold? No¡­ Cool. I was cool. ¡°What?¡± I asked simply, as I bent down and grabbed the SMG. Holstering my pistol as I did so and started checking the guy over for loot.


    I felt so weird. I almost felt like humming. Was that weird? It was weird. I decided and didn¡¯t hum as I looted pockets for extra mags, and slipped the guys Eddie shard out of his port. Pocketing that for myself. Then even as both guys were staring at me with a certain horror and shock. I moved to the next.


    Two SMG¡¯s. Nice. I wouldn¡¯t have to borrow one from the Grizzled Tyger Claw guy at the range next time. I could just bring my own. Oh! I two meant I could give one to Jun. That will be safer for him I bet.


    ¡°H-hey. You okay?¡± Ichi asked, breaking the quiet of the beach.


    ¡°Yeah? Fuck these guys. They hit my friend.¡± I tell him simply. Yep. That made sense. They hurt Hiromi. So I could kill them¡­ Or should kill them? Not sure. I¡¯ll think about it. Then I moved on glad that the SMGs had a little shoulder strap so I slipped one over my shoulder and readied the second one.


    ¡°We flatline this guy too?¡± I asked calmly, seeing the surprise and horror of the situation turn to real fear.


    ¡°H-hey wait a minute! We can talk about this!¡±


    ¡°We weren¡¯t supposed to flatline them.¡±


    ¡°They were going to flat line you.¡± I tell him simply with a look. Which had him flinch a little. I was sure it was because I pointed out he was about to be killed and not because I was covered in blood.


    Definitely.


    ¡°Right.¡± He uttered slowly as if he was dealing with a wild animal.


    Rood.


    ¡°You.¡± I pointed at the idiot that caused all of this.


    ¡°W-What?¡±


    ¡°You got ammo for this disgrace of a gun?¡± I demand pointing towards the revolver.


    He blinked before nodding slowly. Starting to reach for a pocket. Which I raised the gun at him for. ¡°I¡¯ll check.¡± I tell him firmly, as I walk up and start patting him down while Ichi keeps him at gunpoint. Finding a pocket full of ammo was nice, but they were all etched.


    ¡°Fuckin¡¯ wannabe.¡± I muttered as I looked at the shell casings all having ornate crucifixes carved into them.


    I pocketed them anyway. Also found a few shards that looked like eddies so I snatched those and passed them to Ichi after. ¡°He is disarmed.¡± I confirmed. As I didn¡¯t find any other weapons on him.


    ¡°Great¡­ Just great. Let me¡­ Let me think.¡± He demanded. And I nodded as Ichi seemed to breathe a bit.


    This had definitely gone off the fuckin rails.


    I could see Ichi make a call as his eyes glowed, so I instead focused on Gonzales, which seemed to freak him out a bit as once more I had my shiny new SMG pointed at the fucker.


    I could see him sweat.


    And honestly my aim was getting a bit jittery.


    ¡°Alright.¡± Ichi said aloud, finishing his call. ¡°Sorry Gonzales. Nothing personal.¡± Ichi offered, setting down a sentence on the man. His eyes widened, and Gonzales moved. Realizing he was about to be flatlined the big wannabe ¡®Tino leapt to try and attack Ichi. Probably hoping to get his gun.


    A shot rang out.


    ¡°Motoko?¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± I asked looking to Ichi. Gonzales¡¯s corpse cooling at my feet. Barrel smoking. What just happened?


    ¡°Thanks. I didn¡¯t expect him to try and jump me¡­ You okay?¡±


    ¡°Okay?¡± I asked confused.


    He blinked his eyes lighting up as he made a call. I looked down at Gonzales¡­


    Well he won¡¯t be needing this anymore. I thought reaching down and snagging all the shards in his ports. Including his car access shard.


    I started walking back to Malcolm only to find Hiromi grumbling as she stumbled along held up by Malcolm.


    ¡°¡®M fine! Let me see those fuckers I¡¯ll shove my sword up their ass!¡± She called out sounding a little off as Malcolm hurried her along.


    ¡°Yeah C¡¯mon Hiromi let¡¯s get you out of here, You need to see a doc.¡± Malcolm grunted, keeping her moving.


    ¡°Malcolm!¡± Ichi called out hurrying to help and with that they were dragging a grumbling Hiromi along. Her short height meant her feet weren''t even touching the ground as they carried her.


    ¡°Holy shit.¡± Malcolm whispered as he caught sight of me.


    ¡°Wha? Whaaaa! Motoko! You¡¯re hurt! Who did it! I¡¯ll kill ¡®em!¡± Hiromi nearly screamed struggling a bit in the two boys'' grip.


    I reached out and put a hand against her cheek stilling her.


    ¡°Not my blood. I¡¯m fine. C¡¯mon Hiromi you are hurt. Let¡¯s get out of here.¡± I told her calmly which took the wind out of her sails. Despite the fact I could see her eyes not quite focusing right she quieted.


    ¡°Wow.¡± She muttered and then the next thing I knew we were standing by the car. Omaeda still cursing as Ichi asked him if he had gotten in yet.


    ¡°Fuck no! This shit¡¯s security is top notch! Bullshit fucking car!¡±


    ¡°Here.¡± I told him simply holding out the shard I had taken from Gonzales.


    ¡°Fuck.¡± He grumbled taking the shard from me and slotting it and a moment later the car unlocked. ¡°Not a word.¡± He demanded from Ichi but the boy didn¡¯t look like he wanted to say anything.


    Hiromi was quickly grumbling, arguing and struggling as the boys tried to pull her inside.


    ¡°I¡¯m not leaving my bike here! It¡¯ll get klepped! I¡¯ll drive it! Stop holding me down you gonk brain-¡±


    I reached in and pushed a finger against Hiromi¡¯s port, finding the right one, I poked her. ¡°Give me the keys, I¡¯ll drive it.¡± I told her, and while everyone was giving me wide eyed looks Hiromi did as I said. A moment later it was slotted in my neck. I dumped the SMG¡¯s on the floor of the Alvardo. And took the stupid revolver and put in inside as well, and walked over to Hiromi¡¯s bike.


    Honestly I still hated the stupid swoopy back seat. But I clambered on and started it up. Looking at the boys that were still staring at me before they noticed my attention and hurriedly got the more compliant Hiromi in order.


    Omaeda drove out of the parking lot me following behind him.


    I felt jittery. But all I had to do was follow the taillights in front of me.


    Easy. Easy easy.


    ¡ª---


    Next thing I knew I stopped. We weren¡¯t at the club. No, instead I noticed it was a ripperdoc.


    Ichi hauled an annoyed Hiromi inside but I stayed out with the car and the bike. I was feeling¡­ floaty.


    Also pretty cool.


    Well I would probably be cooler without all the blood on my face.


    Eventually Ichi came back out, and he said something about staying here, or following and I just shrugged.


    We drove off again with me tailing this time we stopped at the club. Although we went in through a garage beside it. Hiding the car we had stolen from sight.


    Inside I finally slipped off the Kusanagi. Honestly if not for the stupid alteration to it¡­ Well I wanted one. I really wanted to do a power slide in one. Like so bad. My attention wavered, and I noticed that Ichi was there suddenly beside me gently touching my shoulder.


    ¡°What¡¯s up Ichi?¡± I asked confused as he startled before relaxing.


    ¡°Hey Motoko, why don¡¯t we go inside, we can get you cleaned up a bit okay?¡±


    ¡°Sure¡­ I guess.¡± I answered and he seemed to want to guide me inside despite me being perfectly fine.


    Weirdo.


    But I was led into the back of the club where a Tyger Claw woman was waiting. She was looking a little irritated, until she caught sight of me, and her eyes which were glowing gold, and actually slitted.


    Okay that is kinda cool.


    Widened as she saw me.


    ¡°Yeah I¡¯ll take care of it. You go.¡± She demanded and then she walked up to me and wrapped an arm over my shoulder. ¡°Let¡¯s get you washed up. Can¡¯t have you lookin bad after a Gig. Yeah?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I agreed that was true. I let her guide me into a bathroom and she was washing me down with a towel in the sink.


    Poor towel. It had been white, but it was now brown and red. Gonna have to toss that after probably. I doubted it was really washable.


    But eventually the towel stopped leaving the water it was washed with red, and the woman nodded.


    ¡°You did a good job. Kept your chooms safe. Don¡¯t worry about this. Everyone gets a little off at first. Just remember you saved your choom. That¡¯s what matters.¡± She says simply after putting both hands on my shoulders. Then she nods and gently tugs me along guiding me back out the bathroom. I still felt floaty, but my eye wasn¡¯t irritated with blood anymore.


    That was nice.


    She settled me into the same spot that I had first met the gang. It must be an official young Tyger Claw table or something, Ichi and Omaeda were already there. Malcolm was missing though.


    ¡°Hey guys.¡± I offered simply as I settled onto the table.


    ¡°What does she want to drink?¡± The Tyger Claw woman asked but as the boys started talking I interrupted.


    ¡°Something fizzy and sweet, but no alcohol. The taste makes me sick.¡±


    ¡°Usually I get a real drink for first timers¡­ But alright.¡± She agreed and disappeared.


    ¡°She is nice.¡± I told the boys who both nodded slowly at me.


    ¡°Hiromi is going to be okay?¡±


    ¡°Yeah the doc said it was just a concussion. We will pick her up after.¡±


    ¡°Cool. Cool¡­ I¡¯m pretty cool. Did you see how I killed them both? I even took that gonks own gun. Ugh that gun is the worst. Malcolm, you look like the kinda guy that would chrome out his gun, but please never do that. It makes you look like a joke. Really he even had the bullets etched, look at these.¡± I said pulling out one of the rounds from my pocket. ¡°What kind of cunt etches his rounds?¡±


    ¡°A foolish one. Soon to lose them I believe.¡± A voice interrupted my word vomit as I blinked and looked up.


    Oh it was the boss guy. Something something -Sama.


    ¡°Shobo-Sama!¡± Ichi said standing and offering a bow. I just blinked and nodded.


    ¡°Well he did lose it, so I guess that fits.¡± I offered simply getting a chuckle.


    ¡°The mission didn¡¯t go as planned.¡± He spoke to Ichi sounding, not quite happy.


    ¡°No sir. The security on the car was¡­ Better than expected, and he started heading back almost as soon as we got there. We had to make time, but¡­ he assaulted one of my squad thankfully non-lethally, and then¡­ Well. I tried to confront him. He was going to flatline me. So Motoko stepped in.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡± He nodded looking towards me with a nod. ¡°A lucky choom to have on hand it seems. Well the gig is completed even if I am not entirely satisfied. I had wanted the man stranded, not dead. But plans change. The eddies.¡± He offered and I could see Ichi flinch a bit before nodding in seeming thanks.


    ¡°Let¡¯s have your next job go a little smoother¡­ Although if you bring along this one again, perhaps I can think of some other jobs for you to do.¡± He offered looking to me.


    I didn¡¯t know what to say or do. Did I nod? I nodded.


    He seemed pleased. Oh good right answer then? Man this was so easy. Just nod and that was the right answer. Eaaaasy.


    Suddenly I blinked at the taste of something sweet on my tongue. I looked down.


    ¡°Oh that is kinda nice.¡± I said looking at the can of some weird soda that I had just taken a drink of. When did that get there?


    ¡°Back with us?¡± The Tyger woman asked from beside me, I blinked.


    ¡°Was I somewhere else?¡±


    ¡°Only for a while. Nothing to worry about boys, this isn¡¯t abnormal.¡± The woman said looking from me to Ichi and Malcolm who both looked a little pale.


    ¡°Weird.¡± I informed them as I took another drink of the soda. The carbonation was nice.


    ¡°Motoko!¡± I jerked at the voice looking up.


    ¡°Jun-Nii?¡±


    The boy looked frazzled as he pulled me up into a hug holding me tight as he crushed me into his chest.


    This was nice¡­ but Jun was hugging a bit too tight.


    ¡°Too tight.¡± I grumbled at him which had him go way too loose.


    Silly Jun, we have to grind your hugging skill if this is what I get.


    ¡°You are okay, no injuries?¡± He demanded looking me over.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine. I didn''t even get touched¡­ I mean I was the one who shot them.¡± I tell him informing him I had been the murderer in the circumstances.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with her?¡± He demanded turning to the boys.


    I just told him I was fine though?


    ¡°She has been¡­ Like that since.¡± Ichi spoke up, sounding quiet.


    ¡°She is fine boy.¡± The Tyger woman said walking up behind Jun, another soda in her hand. ¡°Here girl drink this.¡±


    ¡°Oh thank you.¡± I tell her popping the tab and taking a drink. Nice. This one tasted different.


    ¡°Just give her time.¡± The woman said which was weird.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think I need time¡­ Time is just time. Weird.¡±


    ¡°Sure girl.¡± She replied, quickly. Ah that¡¯s good she understood.


    Jun swiftly was glaring at everything but me. Ah he was doing that stress angry thing. Jun was such a hothead.


    ¡°Jun is such a hothead.¡± I poke his brow where his skin crinkled when he got mad.


    ¡°I¡¯m not angry.¡± He growls obviously angry, not quite snapping at me. I just nodded at him a white lie to agree with him. I reached for my drink and accidentally knocked it over.


    Purple soda spread across the table.


    Only it was red. Wow. Red¡­ Red. Like the blood that had been spreading across the concrete when I murdered two men. I puked. Right on Jun¡¯s shoes.

 Chapter 5

    A few days later I started my morning exercise. The last few days haven''t been fun.


    I had killed three people.


    Yikes.


    I had been hiding in my room over the last few days. Only really seeing Hiromi as she had come to pick up her bike''s shard.


    She had been irritable, the blow to her head thankfully hadn¡¯t done anything permanent but it still hurt according to her. She had hung out with me on the couch for a few hours before bailing to pick up her bike.


    Ichi and Malcolm had both sent me a text to ask how I was.


    Nothing from Omaeda, but that was fine he didn''t strike me as the chatty type.


    But yeah. I had killed three people. And not only was I given a certain amount of respect by the Tyger Claws as the story spread.


    I also gained a benefit in my system from it.


    People were XP bags¡­ That was probably a bad way to phrase it.


    Turns out that I had an actual level system for myself as well. I hadn¡¯t noticed because I had never gained a single XP towards leveling until then.


    Now I had. With three murders.


    *500 XP Gained.*


    *500 XP Gained.*


    *750 XP Gained.*


    I had leveled out of it.


    *Level up achieved!*


    *One Stat Point Gained.*


    *One Skill Point Gained.*


    I had points I could just put into one of my stats, and skills apparently. So for the small price of cold blooded¡­ Or Cold Blood murder. I had things I could upgrade.


    That and I had also gained another skill under the Cool stat. Which might explain a little why I had been so¡­ Floaty when it was all over.


    Cold Blood 1. I had gained it for murdering three people.


    This could be a problem.


    I might have fallen into a grinding addiction there¡­ And that could really lead to some fucked up shit if I wasn¡¯t careful.


    I really liked grinding after all. Numbers make Motoko brain go brrr.


    I grunted as I continued my pushup routine. I still hadn¡¯t used the points. It felt¡­ wrong. Like a drug. Tempting and addicting, but dangerous.


    I sighed. I had been way too far into my own head since that day. What a mess.


    At least I got loot out of it. Two SMG¡¯s and a revolver¡­ Well I refused to keep that stupid crap so I sold that off for a nice chunk of eddies.


    I had actual money now. Especially after Ichi had given me my cut. That on top of the shards I had klepped from Gonzales and his boys I had a nice little nestegg. It wasn¡¯t buy a car level, but I had enough that I could go clothes shopping or something.


    I had not gone clothes shopping. I hadn¡¯t left the apartment since then in fact. Hadn¡¯t even gone out on a jog.


    The outside was the outside, and dangerous and full of murder. The inside was quiet, and safe. And not full of murder.


    See simple.


    ¡°Motoko.¡± Jun called out a few hours later as he slipped out of the room, a bit of bed head still causing his swoopy hairstyle to stand on end. ¡°Get dressed. We are going to get some noodles for lunch.¡± He told me and then walked past me to go to the bathroom as if he hadn¡¯t just told me to go outside.


    I can¡¯t go outside! Murder is out there!


    ¡°J-Jun-Nii! How about you go get some noodles to go! Won¡¯t it be nice to eat inside! Yeah like last time. Much better idea.¡± I called out, following after him a bit and pacing in the kitchen. A moment later the sink was running as Jun was cleaning himself up.


    After that he stepped out of the bathroom looking more put together.


    ¡°No. You refuse to leave the apartment on your own.¡± He says gruffly, but he was obviously fighting back against his instinct to simply snap at me, instead he walks up and puts his hands on my arms.


    ¡°Jun?¡±


    ¡°You are a strong person Motoko. Don¡¯t let your fear control you. I don¡¯t know if forcing you is the right thing, but it¡¯s the only thing I can think of. So let''s go.¡± He tells me bluntly and as he turns towards the door to collect his shoes.


    I sort of panicked. How do I react to that!?


    But eventually Jun-Nii sort of came over and guided me to my shoes where I put them on, and then despite dragging my feet Jun-Nii pushed me over the apartment''s doorway.


    I was on the outside. With all the murder.


    I swallowed a little but Jun-Nii¡¯s arm was over my shoulder as he guided me to the elevator and then we were on the bottom floor.


    And I was walked out onto the street. It was loud, and alive and people were all over, and there was a street vendor right there that wasn¡¯t selling those fucking burritos Jun-Nii loved so much.


    I swear a few days of nothing but Jun brought burritos¡­


    ¡°Okay let¡¯s get some noodles.¡± I grumbled right along my tummy rumbling and Jun I could see was smiling as we walked to Cherry Blossom Market and settled into the noodle shop.


    And damn if that Ramen wasn¡¯t some pretty great shit. It wasn¡¯t the best I ever had, but it was pretty damn good.


    I guess the outside had Murder¡­ And Ramen¡­ This would need some further examination. I decided as I slurped my noodles.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°Hey hey! I heard you finally went outside again.¡± Hiromi called as she walked into the apartment without knocking startling the fuck out of me as I sqwuaked and fell from my crunches on the floor.


    ¡°Hiromi! Ever heard of knocking?¡± I grumble.


    ¡°Nope! You feeling better?¡± She asked as she instantly joined me on the floor sitting cross legged.


    ¡°I guess?¡± I said laying back on the floor. ¡°I guess¡­ I wasn¡¯t really expecting to flatline three gonks.¡±


    ¡°Neither was I! Okay you are feeling good enough to talk about so I¡¯m gonna fuckin¡¯ gush a bit. Holy shit Motoko! You were awesome before and everything, but Ichi told me exactly what happened and it was so PREEM!¡± She cried out throwing her arms up in the air. ¡°That was total Edgerunner shit!¡±


    ¡°It was¡­ Luck. Really. I don¡¯t even know how close they came to shooting me back, but I think it was pretty close. I was just freaking out so bad I didn¡¯t really notice at the time.¡± I told her. They had both opened fire. I was just lucky that plugging them a few times had thrown off their aim.


    ¡°Pssht that''s not the point. That was so cool! No listen I can see you startin to frown so let me just say. Thanks. You got them back for tryin to flatline me. So even if you are different and everything. Thanks Choom.¡± She says and actually lays down beside me a bit to throw an arm over me in a hug.


    ¡°You''re welcome¡­ Them hitting you really freaked me out.¡±


    ¡°Yeah I know! You flatlined three guys!¡± Hiromi laughed. ¡°Ah man, I¡¯m sooo mad I missed it. Ichi¡¯s storytelling is the worst.¡± She laughs and I chuckle along with her as she starts complaining. I felt a bit of the anxiety dissipate. I guess¡­


    I would probably do it again. To get revenge for hitting Hiromi. For trying to kill Ichi. I guess I would murder again.


    I would have to think about that later. Right now Hiromi wanted to complain about how long it took to get her bike back after everything. She had to take the train, and she wasn¡¯t happy.


    ¡°Oh. Umm also my parents¡­ They want to thank you for what you did. They weren¡¯t happy that I got hurt, but you know I had to explain everything. So they want to see you again¡­¡±


    ¡°Okay?¡±


    Hiromi winced, looking a little guilty. ¡°Right, you don¡¯t remember. Listen, my parents are¡­ They are corpos. Like high up in Arasaka. You don¡¯t remember, but they didn¡¯t really approve of you before all this. Since you sorta dragged me into the Tyger Claws. Last time you met them it didn¡¯t go well, and they¡­ They are total gonks. But they made me promise to invite you over.¡±


    I looked over at Hiromi in surprise. She didn¡¯t look like a rich kid. Well other than the motorcycle¡­ And the constantly changing expensive outfits. Even if they were gangster looking¡­ Oh I guess she was probably a rich kid huh.


    ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll come if you want.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ Well I guess I do? My parents know you are different and stuff now so I kinda want to see how they handle the new you.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll come then.¡±


    ¡°Great! Come on! Let¡¯s get you cleaned up and dressed!¡± She jumped to her feet and pulled me up as I let her drag me to my room to sort out my clothes to pick what to wear.


    I vetoed everything she chose and picked a more simple style with as little Tyger Claw insignia as possible.


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    Although I still put my fuckin gun on my back¡­ Even if it made my hand shake to touch it.


    ¡ª--


    We drove over the bridge to the other half of Japantown and Hiromi pulled into a secure underground garage leading me up to an elevator that she had to give an access code to open.


    ¡°The area is a little messy, but this building is used by a lot of corpo families. They keep it secure or whatever.¡± She told me with a shrug as the elevator hummed along.


    ¡°It¡¯s nice.¡± I told her, because it was. The elevator was clean and didn¡¯t smell like mine did.


    ¡°It¡¯s horrible.¡± She muttered, but I bumped her shoulder this time and that perked her up a little. The door opened to a nice hallway with two apartments on each side of the floor. Hiromi grumbled as she walked up and the door slid open. Leading into a high end apartment. It wasn¡¯t quite at the point of having multiple floors, but it was a pretty big apartment for a small family.


    ¡°This is home.¡± She told me and I nodded, noticing the coat rack by the door. I pulled off my Tyger Claw coat and hung it up only to turn and see Hiromi giving me a look.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°You are such a gonk.¡± She told me with a grin. I just shrugged and took off my shoes like she did. It was a Japanese style entrance way.


    I followed her deeper into the apartment noticing that everything was spotlessly clean except I noticed areas Hiromi had obviously spent time in. A mess of what looked like Hiromi¡¯s breakfast lay out still on the living room table where she had eaten, probably watching TV since there was a floor to ceiling TV set there.


    ¡°Oh? You actually brought your¡­ friend. Hiromi.¡± A woman''s voice spoke from behind me and I turned to see a well dressed corpo woman step out of what had to be an office with how it was setup. Honestly considering Hiromi¡¯s normal looks they didn¡¯t really look much alike.


    ¡°Course I did. Motoko is my choom.¡± I could see Hiromi¡¯s mothers face twitch at the word. I guess she wasn¡¯t a fan of slang.


    Good to know.


    ¡°It¡¯s nice to meet you¡­ Or re-meet you I guess.¡± I offered a small bow as I said that. What I had said or how maybe startled the woman because she refocused on me with an odd look.


    ¡°You said your friend had amnesia, but I don¡¯t think I really believed it.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s gonk right? She is totally different, but still Motoko.¡± Hiromi chuckled, throwing an arm over my shoulder.


    ¡°Is that so?¡± The woman asked, looking me over top to bottom. ¡°While I still don¡¯t approve of Hiromi¡¯s choice in friends, nor where it took her, especially now since she got hurt. I can at least approve of her friends defending her. I heard you killed the men that harmed her?¡±


    ¡°Yeah something like that.¡± I muttered but the woman simply nodded.


    ¡°Good. Someone that will kill to protect my daughter is someone I can approve of, at least mildly.¡± She uttered with an almost thoughtless casualness.


    Right, I forgot. Corpo people are fuckin insane assholes. Why did I agree to come here?


    ¡°Hiromi, take your friend to your room, dinner will be here soon, your father isn¡¯t going to make it.¡± She said simply before turning around and reentering her office without a further look.


    ¡°Wow.¡±


    ¡°Tell me about it.¡± Hiromi grumbled. ¡°C¡¯mon I guess I do want to show you my room, just not because my Mom said I had to.¡± She grumbled her obvious rebellion fighting against already wanting to do just that.


    So I followed her into her room and looked around a smile twitching at my lips.


    ¡°It¡¯s very you.¡±


    ¡°Oh shut up.¡± She grumbled at me as I took in every inch of her room covered in Japanese decorations and Tyger Claw paraphernalia.


    ¡°I think you have more Tyger Claw stuff than I do.¡± I mentioned which ended with Hiromi throwing a pillow at me to shut me up. I caught it and noticed it was a embroidered with a Tiger. Which I showed her and quirked an eyebrow.


    Her face was getting pretty red so I stopped teasing. ¡°It¡¯s nice.¡± I told her with a smile as I started poking around a bit.


    ¡°It¡¯s expensive. Not nice. I hate it, but I have to spend my parents'' money on something.¡± She admitted as she fell back onto her bed.


    ¡°I¡¯m kinda surprised. Old Motoko used to give me so much shit for being a rich girl. But you don¡¯t seem to care.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t. It¡¯s not your fault for being rich, anymore than it¡¯s mine for being poor¡­ At least I don¡¯t think it¡¯s my fault. I hope not anyway.¡±


    ¡°Pfft. Nah you did a good job doing street kid stuff to bring in extra eddies. Between you and Jun working with the Claws, you both were pretty comfortable.¡± She tells me and I shrug. I doubt she knew the whole story, but I hoped it was accurate¡­ I hoped my whole issue hadn¡¯t put a huge strain on Jun.


    Dammit.


    ¡°C¡¯mon I want to trash you on some games.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± I smiled as she revealed she had some future tech game system.


    ¡ª--


    Dinner was very very awkward.


    ¡°Where do you go to school now Motoko?¡± Hiromi¡¯s mother asked as we all sat around a kitchen table and ate some delivery meal that was pretty fancy.


    ¡°I haven¡¯t gone to school since I got out of the hospital. So I¡¯m not sure? Honestly I just finished my physical therapy to get myself moving again a week or so ago, so I¡¯m still recovering.¡±


    ¡°Hmph. Well at least you have an excuse for not going to school. Unlike my Hiromi.¡±


    ¡°Arasaka academy is for losers.¡± Hiromi muttered and although I could tell her mother heard her, she didn¡¯t bring it up.


    Awkward. Hiromi¡¯s mother was so straight-laced and yet she had this weird sense of disconnect. Like murder arson and jaywalking were so normal and expected it wasn¡¯t seen as a crime but just how the world works.


    ¡°Well you saved my daughter from her own¡­ youthful exuberances.¡± The woman said as the dinner was finishing up. ¡°Despite dragging her into this life before, I can admit to some ease of my worry that she apparently made a connection to someone that will assist her when she needs it. She will need someone like you when she joins Arasaka.¡±


    And a moment later five grand in eddies was transmitted to my account. I blinked.


    Hiromi looked confused, and her mother simply finished popping in the last of her weird stir fry dish. Before nodding. ¡°Hiromi, ensure your friend is sent on her way. Have a good night.¡± She offered as she rose and left the room.


    ¡°Your mom just gave me 5 grand.¡± I told Hiromi once the woman was gone.


    ¡°Ugh! That bitch.¡± Hiromi growled before shaking it off. ¡°Whatever, enjoy it. We can go shopping or something¡­ She always does this, tries to buy off my friends.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s kinda fucked up.¡± I say with a shrug. ¡°Whatever I guess. Parents can be massive gonks.¡± I tell her earning a smile before she stands up.


    ¡°C¡¯mon we can finally get out of here.¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡±


    We ended up driving around the city for a while. Hiromi showing me a few spots that we had hung out, or done stuff before the scavs.


    It was nice.


    ¡ª-


    I sat on the couch. Staring at my guns.


    Jun had said we were going to the gun range again today. Apparently he had gotten a message from grizzled gun range guy.


    I didn¡¯t know.


    I stared at my pistol. No problem. I pick up the pistol. My hands start shaking.


    Fuck.


    I put it down with a sigh. I was still having some issues from cold blooded murder. Who would have thunk?


    I glared at the gun. It wasn¡¯t its fault. It was mine. I had chosen to act. To do. To protect and for revenge. I had acted, and now I had to live with the consequences.


    I reached out again. Grabbed the gun and held it, ignoring how my hand shook. How I felt¡­ Fear.


    ¡°This world isn¡¯t safe.¡± I reminded myself. Human life is seen as worth less than nothing to a lot of people. To the big corporations. I took a deep breath. I had to get over this. I needed to get over this.


    I had to be able to defend myself. No leeway. I had to.


    So I took a breath and held the pistol. Let the feel of it in my hand flow through me.


    ¡°I must not fear. Fear is the mind killer.¡± I muttered the start to an old quote. A good one though. I quoted it as much as I could remember. Letting the fear flow through me, filling myself with acceptance.


    ¡°Only I will remain.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Jun asked startling me as I yelped and opened my eyes.


    ¡°Nothing, just talking to myself. I¡¯m¡­ trying to get over the shakes.¡±


    Jun frowned, noticing my hand still a little shaky as I held the gun. I could see a trail of emotions run over his face, but it was obvious he didn¡¯t know what to say. It¡¯s not like he could just tell me not to pick up a gun again.


    This wasn¡¯t that sort of city, and we weren¡¯t rich enough for that.


    ¡°C¡¯mon. Let¡¯s go.¡± He eventually landed on, and I nodded. Holstering the pistol and following him out of the apartment.


    One step at a time.


    ¡ª--


    To my surprise Jun had actually brought along the SMG¡¯s I had collected. Held them in a backpack and so when we entered the range he actually guided me into the backroom with Grizzled gun range guy and popped them onto the table.


    ¡°Picked these up on a job. Any issues with them?¡± He asked in the small soundproof workroom I had been guided into. The same man was sitting behind a little workbench desk with a disassembled assault rifle on the table in front of him.


    ¡°Saratoga? Not bad guns. No Smart system, or anything, I¡¯ll clean em up and take a look. Put them over there.¡± he ordered and Jun did just that. And then we headed out to the range.


    We had a lane again and then¡­ Well I had to shoot. I didn¡¯t put it off. I just grabbed my gun and started. I quick drawed like normal and aimed¡­ and the trigger just wouldn¡¯t pull.


    I sighed. This was so stupid. I took a deep breath, let it out and aimed, and this time the trigger went off.


    But I flinched. Badly. Stupidly. My bullet didn¡¯t even hit the target.


    Hands were shaking too much.


    Jun started firing and I jerked for a moment before relaxing. I was being so stupid. Cool. Motoko. Be cool. I took a deep breath and released it. Grabbing the gun and despite the shakes, I fired a few rounds. A few hit the target, but it was more luck than anything.


    Damn.


    I ran a magazine through the gun, reloaded, and shot another, but I wasn¡¯t even getting XP for this. My Handgun skill was already maxed until I leveled Reflex again. And I certainly wasn¡¯t doing a good enough job here to earn any XP that way.


    I sighed as I pulled out my second spent mag and started filling it back up. I would just have to push through it.


    Third magazine was¡­ better. Not really but I technically hit more, so there you go.


    ¡°Girl!¡± I didn¡¯t quite jump but I certainly jerked, glad the magazine was empty. Grizzled guy was there, with one of the SMGs. No, the Saratoga SMG, held in a hand. ¡°Come with me.¡±


    He demanded turning, expecting me to follow. I looked at Jun who shrugged but also holstered his pistol to follow after.


    Back inside the workshop room the man had put the gun back down.


    ¡°The Saratoga¡¯s are fine. Make sure you clean them after use.¡± He reminded us before turning to look at me.


    ¡°You killed.¡±


    That was blunt.


    I nodded slowly. He nods. ¡°You¡¯re struggling with it.¡±


    ¡°... I guess.¡± I offered, not sure how to respond.


    ¡°Everyone struggles at first. Would you do it again? Same circumstances?¡± He asked and I had to nod at that. I would. I would absolutely shoot both of those fuckers, again. And Gonzales too, even if he had just been trying to fight for his life.


    ¡°Alright.¡± He said simply, before pulling out a shard from a box on his desk. ¡°Take this. I find it tends to help.¡± He offers me the shard and I slot it in.


    ¡°The Solo¡¯s Manual?¡±


    ¡°Blackhand knows what he is talking about. Check out chapter four.¡± The old man offers simply before handing Jun the first Saratoga. ¡°Take it out there and put some rounds through it.¡± He orders us both and shoos us out of the workshop.


    We both turn to each other and shrug a little. I head out to the alley, and decide fuck it why not. As I take the Saratoga from Jun and start grinding assault. Ignoring how my hands shake, I glanced through the book.


    Chapter Four. It was literally about deciding on why you kill. Not just killing for money or respect, but the actual reason you will be willing to take a human life.


    Despite myself I was pretty engaged.


    *Assault skill level up!*


    *1 Perk Point Gained.*


    I blinked away the Manual, I was on chapter five now, reading through about setting up Gigs, what you should expect, and what you should run away from.


    I took a deep breath and took a moment to look through the Assault perks. Just like Handguns most of them were about using a rifle, or SMG better. Fast reload. Bullet counting. Which I considered because that would be useful for Handguns as well, to always know how many bullets you had in a mag. But that was also something that some cyberware could take of.


    But in the end there was only one choice that I kept coming back to.


    Gun Nut. It didn''t sound like much but reading the description. ¡®Pick up any gun and know its quirks and difficultes.¡¯ Sounded pretty good. Weapons in Night City could be very common, to monsters of modded parts and pieces.


    Knowing instantly when I pick up a gun how to safe, or unsafe, and fire it could save my life.


    So I picked it. Shivering a bit as the knowledge just was there. I grabbed the Saratoga and knew that it was a solid weapon, although it did have an overheating problem. If someone fired more than a hundred rounds through it, the upper receiver could warp, and cause a small jam, but that it could be cleared with a quick re-racking.


    I blinked. Neat.


    ¡ª-


    Jun and I practiced for a while longer before heading home. My hands were still shaking a bit by the end.


    But not as much. Grizzled gun range guy had been right. Morgan''s Manual had helped. It made me consider what would push me to kill. No more like it had made me start making some rules.


    And with rules came control.


    I wasn¡¯t just some crazy Cyberpsycho killing anyone around them. I was a¡­ Solo. A Merc. I killed when I had to, and yeah it came with some advantages. It did for everyone too. A street kid murdering some gonk and stealing his eddies probably felt pretty good too.


    I just also had to worry about the XP addiction. So I had rules. I didn¡¯t go out and just murder people for funzies. No. I if I killed someone it would be for a reason. Because I took a job to do it. Because they were threatening me or mine. Or because They were evil vile fuckin scavs.


    Scavs were always on the list.


    So that night after Jun had left for his Tyger Claw stuff. I stared at the pistol on the table. A pistol I had killed two men with, a pistol that I had used to save the life of a friend.


    I picked it up, popped the mag cleared the chamber, spun it on my finger because fuck you I could, and then aimed it out the window.


    ¡°Bang.¡±


    My hand slowly stopped shaking. I could do this. I could live in this city.

 Chapter 6

    <div>


    *Athletics skill level up!*


    *1 Perk Point Gained.*


    I slowed for a moment but decided to keep jogging as I pulled up the stat screen to check through the perks.


    Most of them were what I expected. Runners high. To let me zone out and keep running to push myself pretty hard for long distance running. Parkour. Which was obvious. High jump. Interesting. Increase the height of my hops.


    Unlike my other skills athletics didn¡¯t have any direct combat stuff I noticed. It was all calm things that would just be useful or to enhance my ability to move.


    I picked Parkour. Always pick Parkour. In a city like Night City? Easy pick.


    The moment I did I started noticing things. Paths through the city opened up to me as if I had run them all. If I jumped onto that cart, I could hit that overhang and climb onto those window bars. Which would put me on the roof of that building.


    That sort of thing.


    It was fun to imagine even if I didn¡¯t do any of it for now. Just finished up my jog, yet since I wasn¡¯t that tired, I decided to do a second lap which by the time I was done had worn me out quite a bit.


    I would do a quick shower since I had already eaten some lunch at the vendors around the block. But then? More crunches! Yay!


    I think I was starting to become one of those weirdos who go to the gym.


    Wait, I actually did need to go to a gym and I had money¡­ Oh right I had a map in my head!


    ¡ª--


    After cleanup I decided I was going to find a gym nearby. So I did a search using my cyberware map system.


    A few options came up, although I noticed most of them were tiny places with obvious Tyger Claw symbols on their front.


    I didn''t want that. I wanted a big impersonal gym so people wouldn¡¯t notice me or talk to me.


    I wasn¡¯t a loner. I was just worried about improving too fast!


    So I found a corporate gym a big glass and metal thing with shiny equipment, and in the pictures everyone is fake smiling. Obviously a place completely devoid of any soul.


    Perfect.


    Only thing is that It was a bit too far to walk. I would actually need to take a train. Pysching myself up, to wash away the slight nervous feeling I had. I hated the feeling of getting on the wrong train or something, but with my map guide I was easily able to figure out the right train and get on. It was a peaceful trip, but I remained on guard, making sure to keep a close eye on those around me so no one could steal my eddie shard.


    Lucy might or might not be in the city at the moment, but I wasn¡¯t about to risk it.


    In the end I made it to my destination without issue.


    A big honking building. ¡°Chrome Ring Gym. Huh.¡± I muttered the name as I walked under it. Entering inside I looked around, and just as I hoped there were tons of high end machines that would increase weight and as such would let me push myself further than just some push ups would.


    Inside a receptionist with a fake smile greeted me, and after I ignored most of her sales pitch I paid for a monthly subscription that wasn¡¯t overly expensive before getting an access shard and I entered into the gym.


    Unfortunately before I could take more than two steps in I was greeted by a massive guy in a suit.


    ¡°Weapons must go in the locker.¡± He ordered pointing towards a set of armored lockers next to him.


    Oh right I was packing.


    I nodded and headed over placing my Unity and my knife into the locker and taking the shard.


    With that he stepped aside and I walked in.


    So many activities! Considering I would have to walk home after I decided to focus on my arms. I really didn¡¯t want to have to stumble home with dead legs.


    With that decision made, I settled in to pump some iron off a machine, and nearly instantly I could see my alerts come flooding in.


    *100 Body XP Gained.*


    *100 Body XP Gained.*


    *100 Body XP Gained.*


    I smiled even as I grunted, pushing further and further.


    Sure my arms felt like noodles and hurt like hell on my way home. But I gained nearly another level in body in that one session.


    ¡ª--


    With that initial hurdle out of the way I startled exploring a bit more of the city. Taking the train out to places that I wanted to see or visit.


    I may have walked past V¡¯s apartment in Megabuilding H10 just to see it. Although it wasn¡¯t actually their apartment yet. Wherever they were, they didn¡¯t move into this apartment until after the start of the game.


    Either way it made me feel like I was actually part of the world and not just hiding away in my apartment.


    I just wasn¡¯t at a point where I felt I could do anything. It¡¯s sorta weird that with the gamer system I sort of expect to be able to make changes to the world, even if I know that is still unlikely. There was so much corruption and¡­ evil.


    I would have to see if I could actually cut out even a little of that evil.


    Mostly Scavs. Fuck Scavs.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°Hey hey!¡±


    I sighed. ¡°Hey Hiromi.¡± I grunted, my arms hurt and I was walking down the street heading home from the train. Hiromi pulled up beside me. On the sidewalk of course because what does she care about laws gently driving next to me.


    ¡°What¡¯s got you so down?¡± She asked leaning over the handlebars of her bike.


    I turned to look at her, pouted a bit and flopped my arm at her. Exercise hurts. I hit Body 4. But not without absolutely shredding myself to get there. Now all I wanted to do was go home and sleep.


    ¡°Huh Still doing that exercise thing huh?¡± She asked, looking over at me as she gently walked her bike along with me.


    ¡°Yes. It¡¯s important.¡± I informed her but she just made a noise of fake agreement.


    ¡°Well anyways. I was just driving by and noticed you. There is a party at the club if you want to come.¡±


    ¡°Pass. I want to go to sleep, arms hurt.¡±


    ¡°Hehe alright alright. Hey listen tomorrow Ichi is hinting we might have another gig. Whoa don¡¯t give me that look. Way more low key okay? Apparently the boss wants some eyes on somebody so we will be those eyes. Ichi asked if you could come.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll¡­ Okay. I¡¯ll come. What¡¯s the pay like?¡±


    ¡°Terrible! Especially split so much, but it will keep us from being bored with more people. So-¡± She offered waving both of her hands which made me reflexively try to reach out to grab her bikes handlebars only for my arm to flop around.


    She didn¡¯t have any trouble though before she took control of her bike again. ¡°Want a ride home?¡±


    I sighed it was only another block¡­ ¡°Okay.¡± I grumbled weakly climbing onto her stupid swoop backed bike, she cackled and floored it a bit once I was on making me grab her only to moan in pain at moving my arms.


    ¡°Bitch!¡± I grunted quietly at the feeling of my burning muscles.


    ¡°Sorry choom!¡± She giggled. She didn¡¯t sound sorry.


    She dropped me off at the front of the apartment and was about to head out when she called out. ¡°Hey you should think about getting your hair done. It¡¯s getting messy!¡± She said before driving off. Making me blink. I mean, it was getting a little long, but messy?


    Was my hair messy?


    I weakly reached up to mess with my bangs. They were a little rough. I hadn¡¯t exactly gotten a haircut after spending time in a coma¡­ I guess I would have to check the map again.


    ¡ª-


    Ichinose


    Another job, another chance to prove he had what it takes. To move out of being just another kid on the street into being someone important.


    He may lead a small group, but it wasn¡¯t like a gang, more like herding cats. Sometimes he would take a job only to have none of the group able, or willing to help.


    He had learned his lesson with that. If it didn¡¯t involve something preem, Malcolm and Omaeda would just bail, and Hiromi was only around half the time.


    He often had to incentivise them to show up especially if it was a boring job like this one. So he had to stake out a guy. Keep an eye on him for Shobo-Sama, so he of course invited his team.


    Most refused, until he offered to bring some beers from the club and make it a small party. That got the attention of his herd of irritable cats.


    He sighed even if the pay was gonna be shit, and his portion was mostly already gone thanks to the beers. With his group there would be less risk. No one liked to be staked out after all, and he would have extra eyes to keep an eye out.


    That had been the plan anyways. Before the old saying of plans never surviving first contact with an enemy.


    Now he had to deal with a drunk Malcolm. Omaeda getting so annoyed with drunk Malcolm, he had to put a stop to three fights already. His own horrible boredom sitting here on a stairway watching the front of a bar for a guy who was probably having a good time inside.


    Hiromi, who hadn¡¯t even shown up yet! With the only explanation he had gotten was that she was picking up Motoko.


    Motoko¡­ That¡­


    That was something he wasn¡¯t sure how to feel about. On one hand in a single moment she had proven herself to be someone reliable. Even if it had screwed up the job¡­ No, the job had already been screwed up. But that definitely ended it. She had saved him. Covered his back in ways that he honestly didn¡¯t trust the rest of the crew to do.


    Even if she kinda scared him.


    All the street kids joked, or lied about how many gonks they had flatlined, but it was a rare kid to actually have any deaths at their hands especially ones that were definitely not an accident.


    His own first kill had been an accident. He had been running from a bad gang fight when some homeless gonk had grabbed him.


    He had fired without thinking. Pure adrenaline and reaction.


    But Motoko? That isn¡¯t how her first kill went at all.


    The sound of a Kusanagi¡¯s engine caused his head to tilt up as Hiromi¡¯s bike finally pulled up onto the sidewalk below them. Motoko behind her.


    He blinked because that was not a girl out for the town or a wannabe ganger like Hiromi.


    Motoko? She had come to a casual stake out gig dressed ready for war.


    An SMG slung in her arms, a pistol on her belt, and her big ass knife on her hip. She walked up the steps onto the walkway they were all waiting on with their cooler of beers and gave them all that look that she always had in her eyes as if she was searching for weakness.


    Or maybe that was just Ichi¡¯s imagination after that night.


    She nodded to him.


    ¡°We are heeere! Let the party start!¡± Hiromi cried out, personality so different from her choom.


    Motoko though wasn¡¯t here to party she refused a beer and simply switched to checking around like she was ready for an ambush. He pointed out the bar to her. The target¡¯s car was out front of a bar that they were parked across the street from.


    ¡°I like your hair.¡± Ichi said after a moment, unable to figure out what else to say to her once Motoko settled in.


    She blinked before giving him a tight smile. ¡°Thanks. I based it off someone I really look up to.¡± She answered before turning her face back towards the bar. It was cut, short in the back showing off the very nape of her neck, but longer in the front with long bangs.


    ¡°I still don¡¯t know why you went with purple though. There are better colors.¡± Hiromi grumbled beside him pointing at her own riot of hair color.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think Neon Green works for me.¡± She replied simply but she smiled at Hiromi.


    ¡°Your loss.¡±


    ¡°Details of the gig?¡± Motoko asked him suddenly, ¡°Hiromi was sparse on details.¡±


    ¡°A guy owes the boss some money. He took a loan and is past due on his payment. The boss already had a talk with him, but the worry is that he will try to rabbit instead of getting the money together. So we are watching him. If he starts running we track him long enough for the boss''s men to take care of it.¡± With that Ichi sent over the image of the guy that the boss had given him along with the picture of his car.


    ¡°Any other exits?¡±


    ¡°What?¡± He asked looking to the girl.


    ¡°Does the bar have a back door?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Probably.¡± He said before realizing what she was getting at. ¡°Shit you think he slipped out the back?¡±


    ¡°Probably not. Depends on how scared he is?¡± She asked before shrugging. ¡°Did he have any guards?¡±


    ¡°No. He isn¡¯t like Gonzales.¡±


    ¡°Good.¡± She offered simply before standing back up from where she was resting. ¡°I¡¯ll go keep an eye on the back of the bar. Call me if anything changes?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Sounds good.¡± He answered simply because Motoko was already moving. She hadn¡¯t asked if that is what she should do. She just¡­ Did it.


    He wasn¡¯t sure if he appreciated it and wished the rest of the team would be as helpful, or just wanted her to look to him for leading this gig.


    He sighed. He would just take what he could get. Honestly he was kinda glad the way too serious girl was¡¯t standing next to him anymore. She was making him look bad.


    ¡ª--


    It was so awkward. Was the SMG too much? It was probably too much. I had done my best to keep my face flat when I walked up to everyone because I was too embarrassed to admit that I brought the SMG mostly for comfort. No one else had any heavy equipment!


    Stupid Motoko. I had quickly found an easy excuse to run away so I could be alone and not under everyone''s eyes. Of course now I was creeping at the entrance of an alleyway holding some serious firepower getting stared at by everyone that noticed me.


    The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    Luckily the alley way was empty, and so I was able to just hang out inside the alley in the dark and stare at the back door.


    Ugh and right after I got my hair cut too. I was sporting a Motoko Kusangi haircut. I figured why not? I was already using the name. The Major was a badass cyborg in a cyberpunk world. So I could too!


    Well you know. If I could get over how embarrassing it was to bring a fucking machine gun to a stake out.


    *Ringing*


    *Moshi mosh!*


    *Hiromi. What¡¯s up?*


    *Nothing just boring up here. The boys are all getting drunk other than Ichi, but he is super mega focused now that you rubbed his face in the fact he wasn¡¯t doing a perfect job.*


    *I didn¡¯t!*


    *Pfft I know I¡¯m teasing! So how is the alley?*


    *Dark, smelly. But quiet I guess? Could be worse.*


    *Boring! You should come back up and we can see how drunk we can get Malcolm!*


    *We are on a job Hiromi. We really shouldn¡¯t be drinking at all. Plus I need to watch the back door.*


    *Ughhhh you are so boring! Seriously you are no fun at allllll¡­ Wait oooh our guy just came out the front door.*


    *On my way.* I finished the call as I hurried out of the alley, towards the entrance to the bar. I slowed as I came around the corner seeing the target drunkenly slide into his car. I winced at just how obviously drunk the guy was as he slipped into his car. I didn¡¯t even bother hiding myself after that. Just sighing as I crossed the street as the man failed to get his car in gear.


    The others were already on their bikes, or in his van like Omaeda. Thankfully Malcolm was in the passenger seat.


    I slipped onto the back of Hiromi¡¯s bike without a word as I gave Ichi a nod. Which he returned after a stilted moment.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± He said and started off following the drunk driver.


    I was ready to do something just for that. Drunk driving was really really bad!


    But in the end, the job was¡­ Easy. We followed him to what Ichi confirmed was the guy''s apartment after he nearly crashed into everything on the way there, he crawled out of his badly parked car and went into his apartment complex.


    ¡°Alright, that''s the gig.¡± Ichi said then as we all pulled up together on the side of the street. ¡°We just needed to make sure he didn¡¯t flee town tonight, and considering how drunk he is, I don¡¯t think that¡¯s happening. I already spoke with the boss and the gig is done. Good job everyone.¡± He says as he passes over, frankly pocket change, probably wouldn¡¯t even cover gas for everyone, but I shrugged, I understood. We were the lowest on the totem pole. Had to work our way up.


    I was glad that Hiromi was driving me home after because she couldn¡¯t see my face. I couldn¡¯t help but feel slightly disappointed.


    There was a part of me that was hoping. Wanting¡­ To get some more XP tonight.


    To kill.


    ¡ª--


    The knife thunked into the board with a solid sound and I smiled. I was getting pretty accurate!


    ¡°What are you doing Imouto?¡± Jun asked, sticking his head out from the bedroom looking pretty exhausted.


    ¡°Oh! I¡¯m sorry Jun-Nii. I got this piece of wood and I figured¡­ It would be a good target practice with my knife! I wanted to learn how to throw it just in case, and it¡¯s actually pretty easy. I didn''t realize it was making so much noise.¡±


    I grimaced. I hadn¡¯t meant to wake up Jun. The piece of plywood I had found on my morning jog had given me the idea and well¡­ It worked. I already gained two Reflex XP alerts from this!


    Jun blinked sleepily before looking over and noticing the combat knife he had got me sticking out of the wood.


    ¡°Just don¡¯t hit the walls.¡± He muttered before turning around and slipping back into his bed.


    ¡°Okay. Sleep well Jun-Nii.¡± I call out softly before turning back to the board.


    I was so close.


    I threw it again. It was interesting because Ninjutsu had actually given me some knowledge on how to throw it. But it was giving me Reflex XP not Cool.


    Man this system was so weird.


    But it was great, because I only needed a little more!


    Another thunk as I aimed and tossed the knife spinning and hitting wood.


    *Reflex Leveled up!*


    I covered my mouth so I wouldn¡¯t shout and cheer but I did a little dance as I celebrated. Reflex 3! That meant I had so many skills to grind out again! Plus I could feel how different I felt. Reflex just like body, was making changes. Where Body changed my physical fitness Reflex changed so much else. My balance, sense of distance and how deft my hands were.


    It was awesome! Especially since Reflex 3 was the bare minimum in my opinion.


    I stretched, feeling my body shift. Hitting Body four had made changes as well. I had actual muscles! I wasn¡¯t quite at super athletic level, but going from wheelchair bound to this in such a short time would have been impossible.


    I brushed my hair back a bit and grinned. It had been a sudden urge to dye it purple, but I think it worked. Now I just needed to update my wardrobe, but I had promised Hiromi I would go with her to buy new clothes so I was just waiting for her to show up so we could do that. She hadn¡¯t responded to my message, but that wasn¡¯t anything new. She was quiet for long periods and then would send me ten texts about how her days had gone.


    I wasn¡¯t going to the gym today since I was hoping to run into Hiromi so I had instead done some light jogging when I woke up and ran across the board.


    I was honestly almost tempted to flip the TV on and spend a half hour watching the absolutely zany stuff they broadcast, but it was so full of ads on every show I couldn¡¯t do it. Instead since I had nothing else to do. I decided to go back to something I hadn¡¯t touched in a while.


    Netrunning.


    I had Breach Protocol unlocked, but hadn¡¯t done any further testing on it once I learned I could exercise my way out of the wheelchair.


    But it was quiet right now. So I went into my room and pulled out the box. The teaching shard was slotted and I pulled out the Cyberdeck to start messing with following the instructions that my mother gave me.


    A few hours of work and I had something to show for myself.


    *100 Breach Protocol XP Gained.*


    *100 Intelligence XP Gained*


    I nodded. I guess I was getting somewhere.


    ¡ª-


    I was eating a stick of mystery meat as I walked around the block when I finally got a call back from Hiromi.


    ¡°Yes! Let¡¯s finally get you some preem threads. I know a place that has-¡±


    ¡°I already know the shop I want to go to¡­ Sorry.¡±


    ¡°Ugh. You aren¡¯t going to let me put any Tyger Claw stuff on you are you? You aren¡¯t like¡­trying to get out of the gang entirely are you?¡±


    ¡°I still love my brother and support him, but I don¡¯t really like gangs, Hiromi.¡±


    ¡°Pfft. Well, welcome to the club no one does, but I like the gangs that will kill me a lot less than the one that will accept me.¡± She tells me bluntly. ¡°But whatever, fine. I¡¯ll come pick you up.¡±


    ¡°Cool. Thanks Hiromi I really appreciate it. I¡¯ve been kinda waffling on buying anything new.¡±


    ¡°Good! I have to be there to okay your stuff otherwise you will pick something wrong!¡±


    ¡°Thanks.¡± I said dryly, rolling my eyes a bit. But well. It¡¯s fine. She was trying to help.


    We ended up driving up the road a ways into the shopping district of Japantown. To start, but it was a bust. There wasn¡¯t anything I ended up liking. At least nothing that I wanted for what I was really shopping for.


    A job outfit. I already had plenty of casual clothes even if not everything fit me, but I would still need something on the job. The outfit I had worn on our first job was basically rags at this point. The blood had stained it.


    And well¡­ If I was going to be a Merc, I wanted to look professional. I wasn¡¯t exactly a fan of Street Kid Flair.


    What did they call it? Neo-Militarism? Yeah I kinda liked that.


    Anyway we drove around. I did relent and allow Hiromi to go to her clothing store which was a hidden little Tyger Claw place that sold their paraphernalia. I didn¡¯t end up buying anything that Hiromi recommended, but to my pleasure there was a nice pair of fingerless gloves without any Tyger Claw stuff on them that I ended up picking up.


    Much to Hiromi¡¯s annoyance.


    After that we drove around the city stopping in City Center at a nice store. I found the perfect jacket. It was a tough material, probably some form of Synth-leather. But it was a half jacket, stopping just below my chest. But it had long sleeves and a nice collar which meant it would be perfect for keeping me warm, but not get in the way of my gun.


    I bought a dark colored jacket, and found to my pleasure that the sleeves even rolled up and could be strapped down. Meaning if I was too hot. I didn¡¯t have to swelter. I did so immediately, sort of glad I wouldn¡¯t have to wear the jacket covered in Tyger Claw symbols anymore.


    Although I could tell considering how it was designed it was probably expected to put some symbol on the back of it. I just had no intention to do that. It was a cute jacket already! I didn¡¯t need anything to make it look better.


    Unfortunately that was a big chunk of money. Even with Gonzales stupid chromed out piece of crap. It was still just a revolver in Night City.


    And I was trying not to spend too much of the 5 grand that Hiromi¡¯s mother had forced on me.


    Anyway, Grumbling Hiromi drove us back to our part of the city. Complaining that I only bought two things and neither of them were actual clothing.


    I just shrugged happy with my cute jacket.


    ¡ª-


    Things slowed down for a bit. I spent a week mostly doing my own thing. Grinding Body in the Gym lets me hit Body 5. And I was definitely starting to notice some real changes. Six pack here I come!


    Almost. They were getting close though!


    And Athletics had hit 4, as I was doing a ton of running back and forth from the gym and just in general. I couldn¡¯t have Hiromi always driving me around.


    I was doing a light jog in the gym finishing up my workout when I heard a noise that drew me away. I paused the machine, stepped off wiped my face down with the towels the gym offered and walked out of the main exercise room where I had spent basically all my time into one of the side rooms. Rooms that I hadn¡¯t bothered to look into since everything I wanted was in the main room.


    The side room to my surprise had¡­ Well I wouldn¡¯t call them sand bags, they were more tech than that but it was the same thing. The noise I had heard was a man with gorilla arms slamming his fists into the machine.


    As I watched I couldn¡¯t help but think it was pretty cool. It was basically a stationary block with four limbs reaching out of it, with round pads on the end of each limb. I watched the machine as it kept altering the pads shifting where they were as the man continued to pummel them down.


    A rapid staccato as the machine constantly adjusts for the hits.


    I was the dumbest.


    I hadn¡¯t even thought about Hand to hand! I didn¡¯t really do the boxing ring missions in the game. I just skipped those missions because I thought they were a little silly. But this was the real world.


    Knowing how to throw a punch or better yet, block one?


    My arms were still good. Today I had mostly been doing aerobic exercise so I found an open machine. After a few minutes of fiddling with the machine I found its settings and started it on the lightest setting.


    The four limbs moved around a bit before I noticed that they actually had little lights.


    Oh! I get it. I was supposed to hit the green pads, and not the red ones that were blocking my fists.


    Interesting!


    How cute! And kinda fun. I threw a few weak punches getting a feel for it. At this setting it wasn¡¯t hard.


    On the fifth hit, I got an alert.


    *Street Brawling Experience Gained.*


    *Skill not unlocked, no XP gained.*


    *Street Brawling Unlocked.*


    Another Body skill? Yes please.


    I tucked in, didn¡¯t matter if I was already near the end of my exercise regiment. I was gonna spend a few hours hitting this machine until it gave me my levels!


    The snapping pop of my fist hitting the pad over and over joining the much louder harder and faster hits with the man. But I didn¡¯t care about that. I was enjoying myself. Sweating and learning and as the alerts came in. I felt that need rising up.


    Come to mama. Give me that sweet sweet level up.


    Finally after who knows how long I had been punching the stupid machine I got the last alert I needed.


    *Street Brawler skill level up!*


    Level 1. And boy was that a lot of info. I might already be exhausted, but it wasn¡¯t that bad. I had been pushing my body pretty hard for weeks. I had already hit level 5 Body. A half hour of punching a bag definitely had worn me out, but I was still there.


    And now? Now I knew how to really throw a punch. Or at least I was certainly a lot better.


    I adjusted the machine for the first time, increasing the difficulty. Now it would actually try to block me. I threw myself into it for a few minutes. Just getting a feel for my new knowledge. The higher skill ceiling of the machine meant I even got an alert


    *100 Street Brawler XP Gained.*


    Before I gave it up. Sweating like crazy I wiped my head down and went to hit the shower. The Gorilla arms guy was still going though.


    What crazy stamina.


    </article>

 Chapter 7

    ¡°Hey Jun¡­ Is everything good with rent and stuff? I mean. I¡¯ve been kinda lazy. Do I need to do more?¡± I asked Jun one morning that we both had time to share breakfast. Jun had been heading out every day for the Casino. We hadn''t even hit the range in the last two weeks.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine? Why? Do you need something?¡± He asked, looking up from his breakfast burrito, that I had refused to eat with him, instead heading down to the street and grabbing something else.


    ¡°I just¡­ want to make sure you aren¡¯t overworking yourself because of me.¡± I couldn¡¯t help but admit.


    ¡°Ah.¡± He answered as he nodded slowly looking like he was going to say something but then nothing came out of his mouth as he took a bite of his burrito.


    ¡°Ah?¡±


    He snorted finished chewing and swallowing. ¡°I¡¯ve been busy at the Casino. The boss has entrusted me with a bigger position as I haven¡¯t skimmed anything off the top, or caused trouble. I¡¯ve been away more because I am trusted more, not because I am overworking. My work at the Casino is surprisingly boring.¡± He tells me and I stop chewing on my own breakfast a mystery meat stick as I had taken a liking to them.


    I just really didn''t want to know what the meat was.


    ¡°Oh. You didn¡¯t tell me you got a promotion!¡± I said suddenly happy.


    ¡°It¡¯s not a promotion. We aren¡¯t a corpo. I am simply trusted with more duties, and so it takes more time.¡±


    ¡°Are you getting paid more?¡±


    He shrugs and sort of waves his hand back and forth. ¡°Somewhat.¡±


    ¡°I think that still counts¡­ But good. I just¡­ I just don¡¯t want to be a burden. I¡¯ve been working hard to improve to be able to do stuff. So if you ever need anything don¡¯t hesitate to rely on me. Just like I rely on you.¡± I tell him pointing the wooden stick at him that still had my last meatball.


    ¡°I¡¯m proud of you.¡± he finally says and I couldn¡¯t help but explode into a blush.


    ¡°Wha-!¡±


    ¡°I know you don¡¯t know them, but our parents would be proud of you as well.¡± He said looking me over. ¡°You have changed much, but they would have liked this you.¡±


    I was a little choked up so I just ate my last meatball and rushed out the room, but just before I ran out, I managed to say a quiet ¡°Thank you.¡±


    ¡ª--


    *Ringing*


    I jerked awake. I had been taking a nap after my morning exercise since I didn¡¯t have anything else planned for the day and I wanted to stop feeling sore.


    *Hello?* I asked before I even checked who was calling.


    *Motoko. It¡¯s Ichi, we need an extra hand at the club. Some Maelstrom shot up the place. The Boss wants as many guns down here just in case they come back. Probably be nothing, but the pay is good. You in?*


    *Wait.* I ordered blinking my eyes as I stood up and stretched a bit my mind trying to get started. I hadn¡¯t woken up suddenly since the hospital, this was actually the first time I woke up actually drowsy.


    *Just guard duty?* I asked after a few moments to get my bearings.


    *Yeah just extra bodies in case Maelstrom show up starting trouble.*


    *Alright¡­ Yeah I¡¯m in. Is Hiromi or the others coming?*


    *Not this time. She isn¡¯t picking up, and Omaeda and Malcolm¡­ Not their sort of gig. Need a ride?*


    *Yeah. Yeah that would help.*


    *Okay I¡¯ll be there in five?*


    *I¡¯ll meet you outside.*


    The call ended and I sighed standing up and rushing to the bathroom to make sure my hair wasn¡¯t sticking up, before I suited up. My pants and shirt were a little rough as they were kinda old, but that was fine, I wasn¡¯t doing clean work anyways. Plus my new Jacket on top at least gave me a cool look as I loaded up. Unity. Knife. Saratoga. I was kitted out.


    I walked downstairs just taking the stairs as it would help wake me up, I ended up passing an older lady that lives in one of the apartments in the complex who instantly made tons of room for me on the stairway.


    ¡°Excuse me.¡± I said softly in an apology for her fear as I continued on past and out onto the street.


    I was given plenty of looks and attention carrying my SMG, but that¡¯s just how it was I guess.


    Ichi pulled up on his Kusanagi not long after.


    I climbed on without a word and we were off.


    ¡°Thanks for coming along.¡± He said as we stopped at a light. ¡°None of the others¡­ Malcolm has a gun but he isn¡¯t the biggest on jumping into a fight, and Omaeda just told me to call if we need Netrunning.¡±


    ¡°And Hiromi would have just brought her Katana.¡±


    ¡°And she won¡¯t pick up. But yeah. Hopefully it will just be a slow night.¡±


    ¡°Hopefully.¡± I answered. Although a part of me didn¡¯t want it to be slow.


    We eventually pulled up in front of the club, and we weren¡¯t alone. Ichi obviously knew what to do as we didn¡¯t park the bike up front like we would have any other time. Instead we drove down the street around the corner to a set of little garages that opened and we dropped off the wheels.


    Safe and sound.


    The club was trashed. The front glass had been shattered and there were bullet holes in the exterior.


    That wasn¡¯t going to be good for business.


    Worse? As we entered I could see blood still being mopped up by what I recognized as the bartender and a waitress.


    The rest of the bar was filled with men and women wearing Tyger Claw gear.


    The amount of narrowed looks I received for not wearing anything was telling, but I wasn¡¯t really bothered.


    Ichi led me to a man I didn¡¯t recognize and they had a brisk talk in Japanese that even with Motoko language memories didn¡¯t let me keep up. But afterwards Ichi nodded. ¡°C¡¯mon Motoko, we are going to be over here.¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡± I followed him over to a table that gave us a look out the broken window. I frowned though. It also meant we were sort of in range for anyone deciding to shoot through it again.


    We settled in anyways, I kept my mouth shut as it was obvious this was where we were meant to be regardless.


    Then we waited.


    Slowly the bar was cleaned up, most of the Tyger Claws weren¡¯t helping, but I noticed a few that did, and ended up joining them after ten minutes of sitting there doing nothing.


    It was better than nothing. I got a few chuckles from the Claws, and a few odd looks from the workers, but whatever.


    I do what I want.


    An hour passed. Then two. Then three.


    The sun was setting, and then set completely. But still nothing. I ate out of the vending machines in the back, and mostly just spent my time reading The Solo¡¯s Manual. Or listening to the Netrunner shard.


    I couldn¡¯t do any practice, but it was still information¡­ and better than literally staring at paint dry.


    ¡°Why did Maelstrom attack the Club anyways?¡± I asked Ichi who was as bored as I was.


    ¡°No idea. Do they need a reason?¡±


    ¡°Everyone does stuff for a reason. Even Maelstrom.¡±


    ¡°Cyberpsychos?¡±


    ¡°Act out because of their psychosis. Was it retaliation? Or an attempt to warn us off because they wanted to move into the area? Or did someone in the Club piss off someone off and it was a targeted hit?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think anyone would call this much damage targeted kid.¡± One of the older Tygers spoke up and I shook my head.


    ¡°Well obviously their aim sucks.¡± I snarked back earning a chuckle from the bored crowd.


    ¡°Retaliation.¡± A voice cut through the din.


    ¡°Shobo-Sama!¡± Ichi called out as usual, standing and bowing.


    ¡°Ichi, and¡­ Kusanagi. Wasn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°Motoko Kusanagi.¡± I confirm and he nods.


    ¡°I only remember because of the last name. Ironic name.¡±


    ¡°Yeah it sometimes causes me some trouble.¡± I told the well dressed man who was laughing at my last name matching everyone in the room''s Motorcycle.


    ¡°To answer your question. This was retaliation. A Maelstrom group moved into north Kabuki. Into a warehouse we are still using. We evicted them two days ago. The Tyger Claws have expected retaliation. I am just the unlucky winner of this game.¡±


    Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°Thank you for telling me.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing. But now that you know, does that change anything about the situation?¡± He asks pointedly.


    ¡°How many Maelstrom died in the warehouse attack?¡±


    ¡°Twelve. I believe. Why?¡±


    ¡°Because I don¡¯t think shooting up the front of a club is anywhere equal to twelve lives. I don¡¯t think they are done.¡± I answer simply. It made sense to me, but of course I could always be wrong. Maelstrom were a weird group.


    ¡°Correct. Hence why we called in our brothers and sisters for guard duty.¡± Shobo said with a smile that didn¡¯t reach his eyes. ¡°And because of that, let¡¯s make sure our attention doesn¡¯t waver. I don¡¯t want any further damage done to the club. If they come back we will ambush them this time!¡± He orders over the crowd turning to the Tyger Claws all of whom nodded in agreement with the man.


    And that was that. We settled in Ichi showing a greater focus on staring out the window, but I knew it wouldn¡¯t last long. There wasn¡¯t anything to see.


    But another few hours passed. Nothing. I was actually getting ready to put my parkour to good use and go jump around on the rooftops to get a higher look because I was that bored when every Tyger Claw in the room suddenly jerked.


    Their eyes all glowed with an incoming call and instantly I could see surprise and then anger on their faces.


    Very quickly the room emptied itself as they all rushed out of the Club, curses and yells in Japanese that I couldn¡¯t make out filling the air.


    ¡°Any idea?¡± I asked Ichi who shook his head. He hadn¡¯t gotten a call.


    ¡°It seems your assistance will no longer be necessary.¡± Shobo said as he came out from the back room. Unlike the other Tyger Claws, he didn¡¯t seem angry. He was in fact looking pleased with himself.


    ¡°Sir?¡±


    ¡°The Maelstrom attacked one of our Casinos. The threat of them coming back here is over. We were a distraction.¡± He looked to me. ¡°It seems your instincts were correct.¡±


    But I wasn¡¯t paying attention to that.


    ¡°What Casino?¡±


    ¡°Hmm?¡± Shobo asked not sounding thrilled with my tone, but I didn¡¯t care.


    ¡°What Casino was hit!? My Brother works at a Tyger Claw Casino!¡±


    ¡°Longshore.¡± He said a little coldly.


    Fuck. No no no no no. The last time I chatted with Jun he congratulated me on my maturity! That had better not be a fucking death flag!


    ¡°I have to go.¡± I said simply standing but stalling out.


    I didn¡¯t have a ride.


    ¡°I¡¯ll drive.¡± Ichi offered instantly, and I nodded incredibly grateful in that moment.


    I shook my head. Wait. Don¡¯t rush it. Rushing into a problem, even an important one will just lead to screw ups. Something I read from The Solo¡¯s Manual.


    ¡°Wait. Let me¡­ Let me call.¡± I tried calling Jun, only for nothing to happen.


    No pick up.


    ¡°Fuck it. Let¡¯s go!¡± I urged and Ichi and I both raced out of the Club, ignoring Shobo as we did.


    ¡ª-


    As Ichi and I raced through the streets we weren¡¯t the only ones. We would meet other Bikers racing towards Longshore. Some would gather with us forming our own little armada.


    Others would race off on their own, but all of them were going in the same direction.


    Longwood near Chater Hill. The ¡®secret¡¯ Tyger Claw Casino hidden in an old drainage tunnel maintenance area.


    Unfortunately. Or maybe fortunately. I still was having trouble telling, by the time we got there, whatever attack was over. A few Maelstrom vehicles were left on the road, some full of bullet holes, some burning. And a horde of Tyger Claws were idling around. A sea of bike gangers all looking for a fight.


    Just in case I called Jun again.


    Nothing.


    Fuck!


    ¡°Over there!¡± I pointed to a location where it looked like was the stairs down into the storm drain, and Ichi nodded, but was soon forced to a crawl as other bikers were parked or moving everywhere.


    I leapt off.


    Jun could be hurt! I slipped through the sea of bikes, using a bit of parkour to leap over the bikes that were in the way much to the irritation of their owners as I was cursed all through my run.


    I didn¡¯t care.


    ¡°No way kid.¡± A Tyger Claw rumbled as he grabbed my shoulder as I made for the stairs, You ar-¡± He shut up because half a second after he grabbed me he found my pistol pressing up against the bottom of his chin.


    Fast Draw.


    ¡°Move your hand or lose it. My Brother works in the Casino, and I don¡¯t know if he is alive or not.¡± I tell the much larger man bluntly nudging him up with my gun.


    Unfortunately a moment later a blade was hovering over my neck from behind.


    ¡°Don¡¯t even think about it.¡± A woman''s voice said sternly. ¡°Put it away girl. You won¡¯t be the first Gonk I flatlined while acting tough.¡±


    I turned a bit ignoring the small cut that it earned me to glare at the Tyger Claw woman who was glaring down at me with sharp eyes.


    I held her gaze for a bit. Before pulling the gun away from the mans chin, earning a small sigh of relief. ¡°My brother.¡± I tell her never having taken my eyes from her.


    ¡°Fine. We will find out. Name?¡± She demanded finally withdrawing her blade as I holstered my pistol.


    ¡°Jun Kusanagi.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll check.¡± She said her eyes going gold after a moment as she made a call.


    The whole situation made my already frayed nerves worse. I was super tempted to use my Parkour and just leap down. I could hit that pip and the grate wouldn¡¯t be hard to slip down without getting banged up.


    ¡°Jeeze girl, easy with the shooter.¡± The burly man said a moment later rubbing his neck. ¡°Never gets easier having a gun against the jugular.¡±


    I hesitated, I didn''t care, but at the same time¡­ ¡°Sorry. I¡¯m a little on edge.¡±


    ¡°Hah. So are we. Just got done fighting some Borgs.¡±


    ¡°Yeah.. Sorry.¡± I offered a bit more sincerely.


    ¡°Your Brother is inside. Your call isn¡¯t going through because the borgs set up a jammer. We are still looking for it.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± I muttered and felt my legs buckle a bit as I fell to the concrete.


    Jun was okay.


    ¡°Wow, easy there.¡± The big guy said a moment later as he helped me stand back up and walked me over to a bench that while full of bullet holes was still usable and helped me sit.


    ¡°Sorry.¡±


    ¡°Hah. Fierce as a Tiger at first, and now as gentle as a kitten. I like this one Mari.¡± The big guy called back to the woman.


    ¡°I don¡¯t. She¡¯s crazy. Crazy ones are the worst to deal with.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true. You ain¡¯t crazy though, are you kitten?¡± He asked with a chuckle.


    ¡°Don¡¯t know. I might be.¡± I admitted frankly. My rather constant thoughts about going out to murder people for personal benefit might just count.


    ¡°Motoko!¡± Ichi yelled out as he ran up, he must have found a place to park.


    ¡°My Brother is okay.¡± I tell him and he sighs in relief at that as well.


    ¡°That¡¯s good. Phew.¡± Mutters trying to catch his breath.


    ¡°You should run more Ichi.¡± I told him, the dash here from his bike hadn¡¯t even gotten my heart rate up, but it looked like it had worn Ichi down.


    ¡°Ugh. Don¡¯t tell me that.¡± He grumbled as he walked over giving a bow to the big man before joining me on the bench. ¡°So what¡¯s the plan now?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t know. I guess¡­ check on Jun¡­ The Maelstrom guys¡­ There aren¡¯t any more around, are there?¡± I asked the big man who was standing not far from us.


    ¡°Nah they all either flatlined or took off once reinforcements showed up. Nothing to worry about.¡±


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t worried. I was just wondering if I should start hunting some.¡± I admit before leaning back to stare up into the sky.


    No stars. It was the first time I realized it. Night City had so much light pollution the sky was just dark.


    ¡°Well that¡¯s good then. We beat the Maelstrom guys back. And we won. Right?¡± Ichi asked, but the older guy didn¡¯t respond.


    ¡°No Kid. This wasn¡¯t a victory. We got stung, bad. Customers in the casino died. Protecting customers is our responsibility, this looks bad. This is going to hurt us for a long time.¡±


    ¡°Damn.¡± I muttered. That was bad. If people thought they would get in the middle of a gang war they wouldn¡¯t come to the Casino. Or the bars. Or the clubs.


    It would hit the Tyger Claws badly which could make them lash out.


    ¡°Jammer down.¡± The woman. Mari said suddenly and I jerked up and sent a call to Jun at the same moment. A few seconds later the call actually went through.


    ¡°Motoko, are you hurt?¡±


    ¡°Not at all you?¡± I demanded instead.


    ¡°Just winged.¡± He said but there was something in his voice. Jun didn¡¯t sound good.


    ¡°Jun?¡±


    ¡°I- a friend was flatlined in the attack.¡± He said after a long pause. ¡°I¡¯m taking care of their¡­ body now. Can you¡­ can you get home on your own?¡±


    ¡°Of course. Don¡¯t worry about me. I¡­ If there is anything you need Jun-nii tell me.¡±


    ¡°Just¡­ Time to take care of this. Goodbye Imouto.¡±


    The line died. I had a bad feeling. As I had learned. Jun was a hothead. I had a feeling that sadness in him would very soon be turned to anger.


    What the hell was I going to do? I could fight a little. But I wasn¡¯t covered in chrome like Maelstrom. I wasn''t a high enough level. I barely had skills equivalent to a starting Merc. I just knew that Jun would do something stupid.


    He had said he got winged. He was shot¡­ Fuck. Was it wrong I was kinda glad? It would slow him down. Keep him from doing something stupid right away.


    I shook myself. The spiral of thoughts forced out.


    Deep breath. Exhale.


    Okay. Jun was hurt, but he would be okay. The fight was over.


    Jun had lost someone. He would be in pain. What can I do?


    I don¡¯t know.


    I just don¡¯t know.


    ¡ª--


    It was a long time before I finally saw Jun.


    I decided to wait until he came out. Ichi eventually heading home when I told him I would take the train to get home if I needed to.


    So I waited. As the army of Tyger Claws all left. Even the two guards at the top of the stairs eventually headed off. Leaving just me.


    Jun came out hours later. In a small procession of Tyger Claw people all of them looking a little roughed up but alive. His shoulder was in a sling, to my relief there was someone that looked like a Ripperdoc in Tyger Claw colors.


    He had already been checked out.


    Thank god.


    ¡°Jun!¡±


    I must have shocked him with my appearance as I hurried over, causing a stir in some of the people, but at my appearance they relaxed when Jun headed over and pulled me into a hug. I was careful not to put any pressure on his arm.


    ¡°What are you doing out here? You should be at home.¡±


    ¡°And leave my idiot brother alone? Never.¡± I tell him simply as we finally part a bit. ¡°How are you getting home? I can drive if you need me.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not heading home tonight Motoko. I¡¯m getting a ride to a place to take care of some things.¡± He said evasive but I didn¡¯t like that response.


    Yet I didn¡¯t confront him, simply waiting for something.


    ¡°Here.¡± he offered pulling a shard out of his neck port after a moment''s jostling of having to switch to the other arm.


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°My bike''s access key. Take it and drive home. I don¡¯t want you taking the train this late¡­ Just don¡¯t crash.¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t. But Jun. Don¡¯t¡­ Don¡¯t cut me out. Let me know what¡¯s going on. If I don¡¯t hear from you tomorrow I¡¯m going to assume you are doing something stupid and hunt you down.¡± I tell him firmly. I looked behind him and winced as the procession of wounded wasn¡¯t alone. A second procession was coming out, and it was people carrying the dead.


    Quite a few dead.


    ¡°I will talk to you tomorrow Imouto. I¡¯m tired.¡±


    ¡°Right. Get some rest.¡± I order as I urge Jun to follow his friends. I was led to a parking garage across the street and while Jun slipped into a nice car that was soon racing off, I jumped onto Juns stupid swoop back Kusanagi.


    It started with a rumble and I was soon pulling out onto the streets.


    As I drove home I was getting little alerts for driving XP. I guess I hadn¡¯t bothered to try and level it since I drove Hiromi home.


    What the hell was I going to do about Jun?


    *Driving skill level up!*


    I sighed. Ignoring the alert. My mind too full of worry to pay any attention to it. Even if my driving smoothed out. I wasn¡¯t exactly a motorcycle driver in my last life, so suddenly I understood when to shift, and how to do it without causing any jerking.


    I simply. Drove for a while.


    ¡ª--


    Jun texted the next afternoon. I had literally spent the morning cleaning because I couldn¡¯t stop my anxiety. All those dust bunnies and old burrito wrappers were gone.


    Jun was going to be gone for a while as he recovered and took care of his chooms death.


    That was all he said.


    Fucking stupid idiot Jun!


    I couldn¡¯t stay in the apartment anymore, and I certainly couldn¡¯t do nothing. So I headed out, hopped on Jun¡¯s bike and drove to the Gym.


    It felt nice to be able to drive, but it still wasn¡¯t what I wanted. I ended up in the Punching machine section, and decided to just hammer the stupid thing until I felt better.


    I started getting alerts slowly as I set the machine pretty high level. More often than not my hits were blocked but I kept at it. I just wanted to move.


    *Street Brawler skill level up!*


    *1 Perk Point Gained.*


    I ignored it though. I didn¡¯t want to stop and look at the system, instead I just took in the increased knowledge and hit the machine. Over and over I kept at it, hammering the pads with all my frustration and irritation.


    Eventually I had to stop, out of breath and feeling a bit empty.


    Stupid Jun. Stupid Maelstrom.


    Stupid Motoko. I wasn¡¯t strong enough! Even with all my work so far, I was still so¡­ weak. I was really grateful that no one talked to me, as I reset the machine and headed for the showers. After that I walked out to Juns bike still feeling tired and empty.


    What was I supposed to do?


    My hand twitched for my gun.


    No. Bad Motoko. Murder is a bad option.


    But the siren call of the idea was pretty strong. I couldn¡¯t help Jun now. But if I gained a few levels? A few points to be able to put into stats a few skill points? I would be able to help. To act¡­


    No. I shook that away. I wasn¡¯t ready, and I wasn¡¯t going to rely on murder to get to where I needed. I wouldn¡¯t.


    Right?


    I slipped onto Juns bike and decided I would drive for a while. I had enough eddies to fill it up if I needed.


    So I just drove. Going through the city slowly to just stop feeling.


    *Driving skill level up!*


    *1 Perk Point Gained.*


    Dammit. Can I shut this thing off? I am trying to be depressed!

 Chapter 8

    That night laying on the couch without the will to do anything but stare at the ceiling with the radio playing quietly, I opened my stat menu and checked out my new perks.


    I started with Street Brawler. Looking through plenty of options that didn¡¯t interest me. Most of them were only useful for just fist fighting. If I was ever in a fist fight, I had screwed up. Bad. I would rather focus on more synergistic perks. So I kept scrolling.


    Unfortunately, like Athletics, Street Brawler was pretty focused. All the perks were about fighting in some way better. So I started browsing through the grayed out perks, the ones that needed pre-reqs. Maybe I could find something there.


    I did.


    Gun-Fu. I blinked. You would think that would be under Handguns, but since it applied to all guns, it was in Street Brawler. I looked it over. Sighing in relief that it wasn¡¯t flashy Gun-Fu, but actually useful stuff.


    Gun-Fu. Use martial arts, and firearms as a coherent whole ensuring your bullets will hit their mark.


    I needed two other perks for it though.


    Grappling. Your hands and body lock your enemy into place.


    Improvised Weapon. Sometimes in a brawl anything you can grab needs to be used, know the best way to fight with day to day items.


    So I would need three perks in Street Brawler to get it. So far I only knew I got a perk at level 2. So I would just have to see where I ended up.


    I took Grappling for now. That could be useful I guess. Instantly I knew how to do joint locks, or arm bars. And all sorts of other things.


    Interesting.


    Then I went over to driving, and while some of the perks were interesting. There was one that popped out instantly that I wanted.


    Drive by. Shooting from a vehicle is an instinctual act. Leaving you capable of shooting and driving at the same time without issue.


    That could be useful. I remember there were a few car chases in the game. I might not have a Jacky Wells to drive for me when it happens. Best if I know how to do both.


    I closed my eyes after. Just for a few moments and then I felt that need. The burning desire, to be doing something. So I sat up from the couch unwilling to spend the night just feeling sorry for myself. Instead I grabbed the box of Netrunner stuff. The netrunning guide slotted in. There wasn¡¯t much point in trying to exercise here at home. I wasn¡¯t getting much XP from it, so I might as well do something productive.


    I looked over at the radio that was playing some quiet music. My eyes shifted as I scanned and with a twitch of my mind I started breaching the system.


    *100 Breach Protocol XP Gained.*


    *100 Intelligence XP Gained*


    ¡ª--


    I was starting to get kinda pissed.


    Jun wasn¡¯t responding to me. I spent the morning at the Gym hammering out another level of Street Brawler on the punch machine, thankfully the increased difficulty settings let me keep the XP consistent.


    But I would send him a text asking him how he was. Nothing. I tried calling. Didn¡¯t pick up. Sent another text much more concerned.


    Nothing.


    The worst part? I didn¡¯t know enough about Jun, about his friends, to even start hunting him down.


    So I literally couldn¡¯t go find my stupid brother who was doing something stupid.


    So I was forced to putter around, not able to make any decisions on what I should do.


    I was literally screaming into a pillow in frustration when I was interrupted.


    *Ringing*


    I looked at it in hope, but it wasn¡¯t Jun.


    *Hey Hiromi.* I answered with a sigh. She had popped back into contact the day before without much of an explanation, but I had at least told her about my Jun troubles.


    *Hey! How¡¯s things? Jun still missing?*


    *Yeah. No word. Complete communication blackout.* I answered.


    *Damn choom. Any way to find him?*


    *No¡­ I don¡¯t really know who his friends are or anything¡­ Dammit I should have tried to learn more about what Jun does outside the apartment. I don¡¯t even know if he has friends.*


    *Nah, it¡¯s not like that. You told me Jun was busy. He probably wouldn¡¯t have answered much anyways.* Hiromi said, actually trying to be comforting.


    *Yeah. I guess.* I grumbled rolling over so I was staring at the ceiling again.


    *It¡¯ll be okay Motoko. Jun is a reliable guy, yeah?*


    *He is also a hothead, and Maelstrom killed his choom.* The line was quiet for a while, just the two of us sitting on the phone together.


    *I don¡¯t know what to say Motoko.* Hiromi whispered sounding a little lost.


    *I don¡¯t either Hiromi. I don¡¯t either.*


    I needed something to occupy myself with. Something to do. That urge for quick power was knocking on the back of my mind again.


    And it was so tempting. Go kill some scavs. Level up. Gain the power to do something.


    Rushing in before I was ready is how I would die. I knew that.


    So instead I pulled up my stat page. What skill should I focus on for a while. Something to take my mind off things.


    I browsed through nothing jumping out at me, until I remembered who I was on the call with.


    *Hey Hiromi. You are pretty good with a sword right?*


    *Yeah? I go to a dojo and stuff.*


    *Want to meet up and practice? I could use some sword work.*


    *Wait, really? Okay. Sure! Why don¡¯t you come on over. We have an exercise room at my place we can use, and my parents are both at work.*


    *Perfect. On my way.* I jumped up. Something to do. Something to take my mind off my helplessness.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°So you hold the sword like¡­ Well like that.¡± Hiromi tells me as I grab the Bokken and face her.


    ¡°C¡¯mon.¡± I tell her my Blades knowledge already giving me the basics.


    ¡°Huh. Not bad. Alright!¡± Hiromi chirped as she grinned at me, her Mohawk pointing towards me just like her own Bokken.


    And I rushed her to see what she would do.


    Casually she blocked, knocking my sword aside and striking forward.


    I barely managed to avoid it by leaping back but now she was on me, and I struggled to get the blocks in place of her strikes.


    Unlike her, I wasn¡¯t able to knock her sword aside. Forced to keep using my strength to stop her blows.


    ¡°Not bad!¡± She chirped, but then she shifted and she moved even faster and a thrust slipped through my blocks hitting my stomach.


    ¡°Oof!¡± I grunted as I fell to the floor and looked up at the smiling girl.


    Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.


    ¡°Sorry! Didn¡¯t mean to hit you so hard.¡± She said but I could tell her blood was up. Huh Hiromi was a bit of a hothead with her blade too huh.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± and it was.


    *100 Blades XP Gained.*


    ¡°Again.¡± I demanded as I rose, and she smiled happily as we went at it again. Hiromi hadn¡¯t been kidding. She was definitely trained, and to my surprise she must be pretty consistent with her training. Because she was good.


    Yet even as the XP alerts kept coming in. Even as she kept winning. The difference between the two of us became apparent.


    ¡°Tired?¡± I asked as she was left panting after our third bout resting on her bokken as she sweated and gasped for air.


    ¡°No fair. How are you still not tired?¡±


    ¡°I exercise every day.¡±


    ¡°Disgusting.¡± She muttered before waving me off and taking an actual seat. ¡°Okay I¡¯m done. Need a break.¡± She said and I chuckled as I put the bokken away and sat beside her.


    ¡°Thanks. For helping to distract me.¡± I tell her as I flash her a happy smile.


    ¡°Not for very long if you are talking about it again.¡± She said bluntly.


    ¡°Kinda hard not to. I think Jun is going to attack Maelstrom.¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± Himori added quietly. ¡°But the Tygers will probably be planning an attack so he might be taking part in that.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ I hope so.¡±


    Hiromi threw an arm over my shoulder and we hung out for a minute before I sighed and decided I had to do something.


    Just¡­ Keep doing something.


    ¡°Want to show me what I was doing wrong?¡± I asked her wiggling the bokken.


    ¡°Hah. Sure!¡± She spent the next twenty minutes showing me some moves and how she kept knocking my sword away.


    *100 Blades XP Gained.*


    ¡ª--


    *Jun-Nii: Sorry. Been busy. I¡¯m fine. Everything alright? You need anything?*


    I jerked awake when the text message came through from Jun. I had been sort of dozing on the couch unable to really sleep because I just didn¡¯t want time to disappear through my fingers.


    I instantly tried to call him but that was bounced just like all my attempts had been. So I sent him a message.


    *I¡¯m fine! Don¡¯t be stupid! You can¡¯t just stop responding to me for days! I thought you were dead! Where are you?*


    *Jun-Nii: With the Claws. I¡¯m all patched up. Had to take care of some stuff. Won¡¯t be home for a while. You got enough eddies?*


    *No! You don¡¯t get to disappear. Details Jun! Or I will start jumping every Tyger Claw I can find to start tracking you down.*


    *Jun-Nii: Sorry Motoko. I can¡¯t. Security reasons. I had to talk them into even letting me do this. I¡¯m fine. I¡¯ll message you again as soon as I can.*


    I kept messaging him after but no response came.


    ¡°Dammit!¡± I cursed smashing my pillow. I got up. Getting dressed as I headed out into the city on foot. I had to move. To do something. So I ran. I parkoured up buildings, I hid in dark shadow corners as people talked. I just¡­ Did something. Anything to keep my brain from thinking.


    Just moved. Until I was lost. Until I had no idea where I was, but that I knew I could keep going.


    *Athletics skill level up!*


    *1 Perk Point Gained.*


    I blinked a little shocked out of my rampage by what just happened. Level 5 gave me a second Perk huh? I considered it. I wasn¡¯t in the mood to stop and look through a perk list so I put it out of my mind. I kept going, sneaking through dirty alleys, or unused fields. Just anything to move.


    Until sweat dripped down my forehead and my endurance was hitting its limit.


    I was resting, catching my breath against an old metal fence when I heard it.


    A scream. A gunshot. Closeby.


    I rose up. That nagging urge. That feeling to do something. Well this time I couldn¡¯t resist it.


    I broke out into a light jog heading towards where I heard the shot. Before sneaking when I started hearing voices. Dropping into a crouch I moved. Shadow to shadow as I came closer and closer.


    As I crept closer I noticed them. Three people. Two on the floor, and a third standing over them.


    Red optics glowing in the darkness.


    Maelstrom.


    The two on the ground I could see were still breathing. Or at least one was. The girl was cowering holding the second. A guy. Who was bleeding.


    The fact the two were in a state of undress told me part of the story. Two people looking for a dark corner to get frisky, Strom Borg notices and¡­ Decides to rob them? I wasn¡¯t sure yet. I crept closer. Glad that his optics were all focused on the two.


    As I got closer I could start hearing the voices the Maelstrom guy wasn¡¯t happy.


    ¡°--Thinkin¡¯ you¡¯re going to take it from me? You gonks broke into my shit! Mine! You can¡¯t have it!¡± He growled sounding deranged as this was literally a back alley between a couple of buildings that looked like a dirty lot.


    Fuckin Psycho.


    I zoned him out. Using his noise and obvious fixation to move closer. I just had to reach him without him noticing. Easy.


    It wasn¡¯t easy. He was pacing frantically.


    Erratic.


    My knife slipped out of the sheath as I stalked closer. Closer.


    ¡°The fuck?¡± he scowled turning to look directly at me. His fucking eyes. He must have a much wider vision than a normal person!


    Even as he started raising his gun I leapt.


    Knife aimed at his throat. He fumbled the gun dropping it to grab at the knife aiming for him, and unfortunately for me, he did it. His chromed hand grabbing my wrist and halting my stab in its tracks. I crashed partly into him, but he didn¡¯t even shift.


    The fucker was borged out.


    ¡°Fuckin little thief!¡± He shrieked in his synthetic voice as he yanked on my wrist, Bones creaked forcing me to let go before he kicked me in the chest.


    Bones broke.


    But he hadn¡¯t let me go. He was still holding my wrist. I hung there unable to even gasp as he shattered my ribs.


    Ow.


    And then I was on the ground. A horrible gasping noise coming from my throat.


    ¡°The fuck is this? This is mine! They always take my home from me! They¡¯re after me again!¡± He shrieked absolutely out of his mind.


    Probably a Cyber Psycho.


    Ah. I guess I was gonna die. Sorry Jun. Man. That was a fuck up. I grunted exhaling.


    How could I exhale if I couldn¡¯t breathe? I gasped quietly, oxygen working as normal. Even if my ribs felt like ice, but the pain was not quite fading, but not as bad as it should be. I could still tell my ribs were broken. That I was injured, but the pain was fading. An ache reminding me it existed but not interfering in my thoughts.


    I forgot.


    I¡¯m a Gamer. What kind of Gamer would I be if I just died when I hit 1 HP? No as long as I had that 1 HP I was still just as deadly as I would be at 100.


    ¡°Hey.¡± I called out then getting him to turn to me in surprise.


    My Unity was in my hand Quick Drawn to make sure this fucker died.


    I opened up. My unity rapid fired into his face only for nothing to happen. The bullets sparked as they bounced off his chromed head. I stared in fucking horror.


    ¡°Mine! It¡¯s mine! You can¡¯t have it!¡± He shrieked and reached for me.


    Hello no. I threw myself to the side, wincing at the return of pain into my ribs for a moment as I grabbed the big ass Revolver he had dropped to catch me earlier.


    A Burya my Gun Nut perk told me. Rough condition, safety was already off. The gun was ready to fire.


    I fired, instantly screaming a bit in pain as it felt like my wrist and elbow just broke, but I wasn¡¯t going to let that stop me. Not when this Terminator was reaching down towards me.


    I fired again. Hitting his chest a second time, and these didn¡¯t bounce. Big holes were opening up, as I fired again and again four rounds echoing, until the gun clicked empty. Then I lay there as he loomed over me.


    As slowly his optics seemed to dim.


    The fucker died on his feet. I lay shivering under his shadow, but my mind was cool as ice.


    *1000 XP Gained.*


    *Cool Leveled up!*


    *Handguns skill level up!*


    *Cold Blood skill level up!*


    *1 Perk Point Gained.*


    I lay there for a moment catching my breath before I slowly sat up. The victims. I turned to look at them. The woman was staring in horror at what she had just seen.


    The man?


    Damn. I don¡¯t think he was breathing.


    I slowly rose up, managing to get to my feet. The woman flinched as I did so.


    ¡°You alright?¡±


    She slowly nodded her head.


    ¡°Him?¡± I prompted her and she flinched badly this time turning to the guy. Yeah. I realized. He was dead.


    I sighed, turning to the Pyscho. He was¡­ Most of his chrome looked in bad condition. Wear and tear, his clothes were dirty. I think this guy had gone Cyberpyscho and just set up in this alley.


    Damn. I could already see he didn¡¯t have much. Nothing worth looting. Just his Burya that made my wrist ache again just thinking about it.


    ¡°You should probably call the NCPD.¡± I tell the girl as I turn and walk away.


    Damn my ribs hurt, and my arm hurt, and my wrist hurt. I started walking. Opening up my map just to turn on the GPS function so I could find out where I was. I had a long painful walk back home to get through.


    ¡ª--


    I limped painfully into the apartment. I had been way too far out on the edges of the city in Maelstrom territory. Fuck that was stupid.


    I dropped the big ass Revolver off on the living room table along with my other gear and just walked into my room and gently laid down.


    Sleep.


    I blinked awake. I stretched and it was only as I stood and walked into the living room and saw the revolver that I remembered my ribs had been shattered just before. I did a few tests checking my chest, but everything seemed normal. No pain. I could feel my ribs and they felt normal.


    ¡°Thank god.¡± I said with a big sigh. I flopped onto the couch and looked over at the reddish revolver. It was a mess. I would have to clean it up if I wanted to use it.


    I probably should. My normal handgun hadn¡¯t done a single thing against a Borg.


    I would need something with a bit more power in this city.


    It kinda scared me just how strong he had been. That was the power of Cyberware. He wasn¡¯t even someone crazy like Adam Smasher. Or even Maine. He was just some Maelstrom member.


    Fuck.


    I was once again reminded that people were terrified of CyberPsychos. That there was a reason for that.


    I sighed as I stood up grabbing the big revolver. I started checking it over. Only thanks to Gun Nut did I even know what to check over. I knew that it was dirty, dirt and grime in every function of the gun. I was lucky it was a miserable russian piece of engineering that didn¡¯t care.


    I started cleaning it anyway. Taking it apart and cleaning each part. It was meditative. Then I was done. Gun Nut helped a lot and a still rather worn Burya was resting on my table.


    ¡°I¡¯ll need to pick up some ammo for it.¡± I muttered as I realized I didn¡¯t have any. I sent a text to Jun just because even if I didn¡¯t think he would respond.


    And then.


    There I was. In my apartment. What do I do? I had murdered someone again. Even if I think it was a good thing. I had saved that lady. But¡­ I liked it.


    My fingers started tapping on my knee as I thought it over. I don¡¯t know if it was Cold Blood or what, but I felt¡­ Good.


    It felt good. Like¡­ Doing a mission or completing an objective. Or solving a NCPD mission in the game. It was satisfying. I even got a reward for it. A massive pistol.


    My finger was tapping like crazy. I shouldn¡¯t like this. I shouldn¡¯t want to murder people.


    Right?


    Right?


    I had to let it go for a while. So I did what I could. I opened my stat menu.


    ¡°Two Perks.¡± I reminded myself. Athletics hit level 5. Giving me my second Perk for the skill, and Cold Blood had given me a perk.


    I sighed before opening Athletics first. The options hadn¡¯t really changed. Parkour did have a second perk level, but instead of a straight upgrade to Parkour I decided to do a side grade.


    Cat-like. Fall from greater heights before taking damage, and take less damage when you do.


    I could still fall while doing Parkour. Best to keep myself from snapping my back or something.


    Then. I had another Perk¡­ Cold Blood. I shivered as I picked the Perk.


    As I read through them I sighed. Almost all of them had something to do with combat, or murder. I found one that at least didn¡¯t remind me of murder.


    Cool Nerves. Your body no longer suffers shakes or muscle twitches in combat.


    I figured if nothing else, it will help my aim if I am in a tense situation.


    Okay. Done. I laid back¡­ Before wondering where Jun was again.

 Chapter 9

    An hour of spiraling thoughts ended with a decision to go to the Gym.


    Punch stuff until I feel better, it was the only option.


    I wasn¡¯t violent!


    Usually.


    The machine was so useful. I was glad I found it. Even with XP slowing from just punching a machine, it was really nice to punch something that actually responded and changed, it let me fall into the zone as my mind was taken up with the challenge of getting my punches to connect. Even if the machine was actively blocking with its extra arms, trying to push my punches to the side to miss.


    I fell into the rhythm, trying to outsmart the machine, sometimes when I succeeded I would be rewarded with XP. A perfect system. Endorphin rush every time I got an alert. Satisfying my addiction.


    ¡°Not bad kid.¡± A voice startled me as I was adjusting the difficulty up again. ¡°You got a good strike. Where you train?¡± The massive man that spoke was probably 6¡¯7¡± or taller and he was at least four times as wide as me, his massive muscles shifted into gorilla arms half way down.


    He wasn¡¯t the same guy that had first drawn me into this room, but there was no ending to the amount of massive men and women in the room at any one time. They were shifting constantly. I just didn¡¯t pay attention to them mostly.


    ¡°Uhh.. here?¡± I said looking at the machine and then back to him. Having to crane my neck up a bit.


    ¡°No I mean who taught you to fight, you go to a boxing Gym, or a Dojo?¡±


    ¡°No. I come here. I like the machines.¡± I added after a second.


    ¡°Hoo? Really? No one taught you?¡±


    ¡°No?¡±


    ¡°Huh. Not bad. Give it a few years and you might get an invite to some of the rings. You should find a coach. Check out Tripple Extreme Gym some time. It¡¯s In Rancho Coronado, just gotta prove yourself a bit, and you will be welcome.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not really looking to join a gang.¡± I tell him bluntly. ¡°I¡¯m sure the Animals are cool and everything, but not my scene.¡±


    ¡°Hah! You knew that right off. Good head on you. Well I suppose it was obvious. Think about it. No better place to get some real strength.¡± He chuckled patting me on the shoulder hard enough to nearly knock me off my feet before turning and heading off.


    I wasn¡¯t really interested. I didn¡¯t even really want to fight hand to hand. But now that it was brought up. It might be a good place, and mostly safe place to get some XP.


    But did I really want to become a Pit Fighter?


    No. But a part of me that whispered XP, made the idea more tempting than it should be.


    ¡ª--


    I was getting anxious again. I was doing some grinding on the stupid Baby''s first Cyberdeck again. Since I already went to the gym today and I just¡­


    Didn¡¯t want to go outside.


    But it wasn¡¯t quick XP, and continued silence from Jun was making me nervous.


    At least I had gotten to the point I could breach our radio and turn it on or off or even change the volume from the couch.


    So that was cool. I guess.


    I eventually got bored at the highly technical work before flopping back on the couch.


    Someday I would be a scary netrunner that could make people blow their own brains out with a look.


    That day is not today.


    Unfortunately nothing else was going on. Ichi didn¡¯t have any jobs. Shobo was keeping everyone close in case there was another attack on his club.


    Hiromi was out of touch again.


    I wish Jun was here. That way everything would be ¡®safe¡¯ again and I wouldn¡¯t have to feel this need to rush.


    Maybe I should try to make some eddies?


    I sighed the only thing I could think of was to kill. I¡¯m not sure if it was the city, where murder was just the fastest way to doing most things, or if it was me. The urge to kill to get what I wanted.


    I needed something to do with my hands. I realized. Exercise was fun, but it wasn¡¯t giving me any XP now unless I went to the Gym, but I still needed an indoor hobby.


    Maybe one that wasn¡¯t Netrunning¡­


    Well there was a skill I hadn¡¯t done anything with yet. I realized.


    Crafting. Or Technical Ability¡­ But I didn¡¯t have a lot of eddies to start something like that. I groaned.


    Money or XP. Both were hard to get without doing something¡­ Wait.


    ¡°If I want a job, I can just get one.¡± I reminded myself. Fixers were a thing. Hell. Wakako was over in Jig-jig street. Which I could almost see from my apartment window.


    I stood up. Sure I was a kid. And she might not even see me¡­ But it was something. Something that I wanted to try!


    I grinned as I got ready wishing I had found the rest of a cool outfit, but at least I had my cool jacket and gloves. I suited up, unfortunately leaving the Burya. I didn¡¯t have a holster, or ammo for it.


    Outside the sun was shining through the small sections of the city that could see the sky, and I jogged down the block and crossed the street.


    Then I took a right down Jig Jig Street.


    The place was just how I remembered it from the game. Dark, seedy, full of people looking to do bad things.


    I think I was probably the youngest person there. But that was fine. I wandered the streets until I found it.


    A pachinko parlor. The only reason I remember the exact location of Wakako was because of how funny it was. One of the most powerful Fixers in Night City hangs out in a tiny room with a TV in the back of a Pachinko den.


    I entered, noticing the woman at the counter eyeing me up.


    ¡°I¡¯m wondering if Wakako has a moment.¡± I asked the Neon haired girl who raised an eyebrow at me.


    Being fourteen kinda sucked.


    But I held my gaze.


    ¡°Doubt it. If she isn¡¯t already in contact with you, you aren¡¯t on her radar.¡± The girl eventually offered even going so far as to lick her finger and turn the page on the magazine she was reading.


    ¡°I¡¯m aware I¡¯m not on her radar. That¡¯s why I¡¯m here.¡±


    The woman sighed looking me over. ¡°Do you have any idea how many Street Kids we get coming in here?¡±


    ¡°A lot.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, a lot.¡± The woman finished as if that was the end of it.


    ¡°I bet a lot of them ask to be tested too. A gig to prove that they aren¡¯t hot air.¡±


    ¡°Save me from irritating overconfident children.¡± The woman muttered at me before her eyes went gold. A few moments later she nodded and then she looked at me. ¡°Go on in. If you want.¡±


    I nodded pleased. It seems I was right. Wakako couldn¡¯t only hire people that are the best of the best.


    Sometimes you needed street rats.


    I turned to the left and walked through the door way blocked only by the weird beads that people seemed to use here instead of doors.


    It was a cozy little back room, an executive style desk and Wakako. The Fixer of Japantown.


    The older woman was casually looking over to the tv that was to my right as I entered giving me a single glance assessing me and then going back to the TV.


    ¡°Thank you for seeing me.¡± I say with a little bow to her. She had been high up in the Tyger Claws. Well her husband¡­ Husbands, had been.


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me your name. I don¡¯t want to know it.¡± She said simply, and her eyes went yellow. A text came in. ¡°Finish the job, and return then maybe I will bother to learn your name. Or don¡¯t. The door.¡± She offered simply a very brusque quick interview.


    Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.


    I could kind of respect it.


    I didn¡¯t say anything more. Just turning and leaving.


    I had my job.


    I ended up on the street before I looked at it.


    A man had an info shard. Wakako wanted that shard. Simple.


    No other information other than where the man potentially was and a picture of him.


    That¡¯s it. No orders about how she wanted the job done, or anything.


    I understood. Most street kids would probably go loud. Cause a riot.


    The smart ones would go quiet klep the shard and get out. Hopefully without causing an uproar. Wakako wanted to know what kind I was.


    I could do that.


    ¡ª-


    I ended up grabbing Jun¡¯s bike as the guy was hiding out across town. I ended up finding a parking lot a few blocks away and stashing the bike before continuing.


    A light jog to warm up and I was there. I slipped behind a parked car as I scoped out the old auto shop. The garage door was open, but it was obvious it wasn¡¯t open for business. No, a group of Valentino¡¯s were hanging around. Some were using the garage to work on their cars, it was still doable, except for one thing. A guy was outside in the parking lot, sitting on the hood of a car and drinking a beer while the radio played.


    Damn. This wasn¡¯t going to be easy.


    I started looking for entrances without finding much. The auto shop had a big office side to it, two stories tall connected to the three door garage, but again. There were¡­ Eight cars parked out front? That was potentially a lot of people to get caught by.


    But I had a chance.


    The back of the lot was covered in a high fence. It might have barbed wire around it, but I had parkour. I could definitely reach the roof from another building next door.


    That was my entrance.


    I moved. Moving across the street as naturally as I could before starting my climb up. An old burned out car, to the AC unit of a warehouse, to the roof. Keeping low I crossed the roof of the seemingly abandoned building heading closer to the roof of the auto shop.


    As I was getting close my new view let me see a hiccup. A security camera.


    On the back of the building keeping an eye on the back yard which wasn¡¯t empty. It was full of cars. Newer cars. All of them missing pieces.


    I guess the Tino¡¯s were using this place as a chop shop.


    But I could get through. I just needed to find an entrance where the camera couldn¡¯t see. While also avoiding making any noise, or letting the Tino¡¯s out front notice I was on the roof.


    Easy.


    First step. I waited and when the music hit its crescendo. I leapt from my roof to the next. Landing as quietly as I could, which still wasn¡¯t really quiet. I waited, for a minute and then another.


    Nothing. I started moving, crawling across the roof staying low. Letting the noise of the radio and sounds of the mechanics at work hide me away as I crawled across the roof until I reached the office building side. No windows opened out to the roof of the garage which was irritating. No they were on the front and back of the second floor of the office, making my job¡­ Difficult.


    I scooted towards the back of the building keeping an eye on the camera so I was out of sight when it looked away from me. I looked around for an entrance I could use.


    There was a back door, but it was right under the camera.


    No go.


    I grumbled quietly. Why wasn¡¯t this as easy as the games? Where was the obvious secret door? Or the window that was always left open?


    Right. This was ¡®real¡¯ and not a game. I calmed myself down, took a few breaths and started looking around again. The camera was well placed. Giving it a solid view of the entire backlot. Which I suppose was the point. Why would someone put a camera down that only looked at half of what they needed it to?


    I had to go back. I crawled back towards the front of the shop peeking over the ledge.


    Yep, that was a Tino sitting on a car right in front of the building. No way I could use the front of the building while he was there.


    Dammit.


    I was just about to give up entirely, I would just have to call Wakako back, when I got the alert.


    *Ninjutsu skill level up!*


    *1 Perk Point Gained.*


    I felt it flow through me, allowing me to adjust my position just a tad to make it a little harder to notice me as I slipped back down.


    A perk? That could work. I opened up the list in the shadow of the second floor laying down on the roof completely hidden from the ground.


    I had been hoping for something cool. Phase into shadows. Or invisibility. Or something amazing. But nothing that mystical showed up. As usual my perks were more knowledge based, more surgical in what they gave than Ninjutsu as a whole.


    I did find the one that I really liked, as it was the one most likely to save my life in an emergency.


    Danger sense. A moment''s alert before you are seen.


    For a thief that could be really useful.


    I picked it without another thought going back to my current problem.


    I had to get in, find the target, and find the shard.


    As I was still figuring out a path inside a new vehicle pulled up. I glanced over the roof and watched as¡­ Was that Dexter DeShawn? It was! I recognized that fat backstabbing asshole anywhere!


    He was too far, and the radio blocked the voice but the guy that had been waiting out on the hood of the car was chatting with him, and over the course of a few minutes something changed hands.


    I couldn¡¯t tell if Dexter was given something, or if he gave something.


    I really hope that wasn¡¯t my shard. Thinking quickly. I took a picture of the handoff. Even if my eyes weren¡¯t Kiroshi¡¯s like V¡¯s I could still take pictures. I just couldn¡¯t scan. See through walls. Smart Link¡­ Okay you get the point, My eyes were civilian eyes.


    Which also reminded me that old Motoko had likely lost her eyes to the scavs¡­ God. I am really glad I don''t have her memories now. Remembering Scavs tearing your eyes out? I shuddered.


    Dexter got back into his massive car and drove off. And to my pleasure the guy who had been waiting outside? He went inside.


    The front was clear!


    While I didn¡¯t want to get to the front door. The front of the building did have a window. I krept over to the front edge of the roof looking down just to make sure no other straggler was around. Nope. Everyone was inside. I could just see the boots of some guy under a car as he was working on it.


    Perfect. I stood and snuck over to the point where the second floor of the office and the mechanic shop met, and looked over to see the window on the second floor. Peeking in was awkward but I was able to see it looked like the boss'' office, and it was empty. I reached out to test the window.


    I grinned. It wasn¡¯t locked. It slid as I pushed my hand against it and pulled.


    Now was the hard part. It opened towards me. Which meant to reach the opening I would have to jump. I sighed. Thankfully Parkour was there. And after a moment of looking it over I had the path.


    I leapt feet first. Grabbing the bottom of the window sill heaving up wards. Letting my shoes hit the window sill on the opposite wall to give me half a second of grip and keep me from flying out into nothing, I rolled sideways forcing myself into the window.


    I did land with a thump. No helping it. But I tried to keep it as quiet as I could. I quickly checked the room looking for any hiding spot just in case, but there really wasn¡¯t much.


    So I waited. Wondering if I was going to have to leap back out the window. Instead it was quiet. And slowly I untensed. Then I started searching around. I needed the info Shard Wakako wanted. I went through the drawers of the desk and then around the room.


    Nothing.


    I took a deep breath and moved to the door, opening it a crack to see out. The floor was a bunch of desks put together like cubicles. But it was empty. No computers on the desks or anything. The place was abandoned. I slipped out, checking every corner of the room as I did. No one had been up here in a while I realized. So I moved towards the stairs. The staircase in the back of the building was an open design, the entire first and second floor were basically one massive room, just with a floor in the way. I peaked my head over the steps peeking through the top stairs to see the floor below.


    And the man sitting at an old corner desk, a new laptop open as he typed away.


    Target found.


    But so was the man that had been waiting for Dexter outside.


    Fuck.


    ¡°Well is it what we need?¡±


    ¡°It is. Everything I said. See! I am good on my word. You get what you want. I get out of here.¡±


    ¡°Well Choom, a deal is a deal. Start getting packed up. We will roll once we get confirmation.¡± The man said with a pleased smile as he slapped my target''s shoulder heavily.


    ¡°T-thanks.¡± He grumbled, not sounding thankful at all.


    What the hell was going on? Wakako just wanted an info shard, but this guy was about to bail! I narrowed my eyes. The Valentino to my relief left the room after that heading back into the shop. Saying something in spanish as the door shut.


    I moved.


    I had to. I didn¡¯t have time to play around anymore. Not if I was going to complete this gig.


    The target was still buried in his laptop tapping away. More than distracted enough for me to get close.


    The noise from outside would keep any noise from inside muffled enough.


    I hoped.


    I came up behind him as silent as death. Ninjutsu was more than just stealth. It also had info on how to disable someone. Combined with Grapple. My arm came around the Target''s neck with all the force I could. A hard jerk to startle to disrupt breathing and then a solid force against his carotid. It wasn¡¯t oxygen that knocked people out with a neck grab.


    It was blood flow.


    He struggled of course he did. His hands flailed at first and he kicked out kicking the table a few times.


    ¡°Relax. I¡¯m not here for your life. Go to sleep.¡± I whispered into his ear as I slowly pressured him down to the ground. His attempts at ripping my arm from his throat failed.


    He wasn¡¯t chromed, and I had a solid hold.


    Very soon his struggle died out and he went limp. He wasn¡¯t faking. Ninjutsu told me. I let go.


    *250 XP Gained.*


    *Level up achieved!*


    *One Stat Point Gained.*


    *One Skill Point Gained.*


    I blinked back the alerts. Now wasn¡¯t the time. I went to work, searching the man I took every shard he had on him just to be safe, then since I kinda wanted to fuck up Dexter DeShawn. I took not just the shard that he had dropped off, but the Laptop my Target had been working on.


    I took everything.


    I was probably screwing this guy over pretty bad. I admit, but I was probably also causing trouble for Dexter. Which I would accept as a trade off.


    Cause fuck that guy. He is just as bad as Faraday. That¡¯s a fixer that needed a bullet to his head.


    I hurried back upstairs in a rush. My goal the open window. Once I was there I peeked out. No one out front still. Good. The laptop was a pain in the ass. And I had to slip it into my pants and shirt using my belt to tighten it down to make sure it didn¡¯t shift as I climbed out the window, and using Parkour fell down grabbing the window sill breaking my fall and then falling the rest of the way.


    I landed with a thump, but it wasn¡¯t that bad.


    Cat-Like coming in clutch.


    I quickly dashed around the corner disappearing from sight.


    Gig complete.


    ¡ª--


    I walked into Wakako¡¯s a few hours later with a backpack that I had stopped at home to grab. Seriously bring a bag when on a mission Motoko you idiot.


    I would never tell anyone that I had to ride home with a laptop stuck in my pants. Not comfortable.


    I walked past the girl at the front. Simply going up to Wakako¡¯s ¡®doorway¡¯ and knocking gently.


    ¡°Get in here.¡± She said simply and I did so.


    ¡°You got the shard?¡±


    ¡°And more.¡± I answered opening the backpack and placing the shard that I was pretty sure was the info shard she wanted onto the table along with the laptop and the shard that Dex had dropped off.


    ¡°Hmm and this?¡± She asked only after she took the first shard and slotted it into a slot on her desk.


    ¡°As I was entering something interesting happened.¡± I forwarded her a text with the image of Dex doing a handoff.


    ¡°Oh?¡±


    ¡°The shard in the laptop is the one he handed over. The computer belonged to the target. Not sure what the whole situation is, but the target was making a deal to leave the city, in exchange for something that Dex handed over. Considering your ¡®brief¡¯ didn¡¯t mention a timeframe. I figure something is going on. Either you appreciate the info, or it¡¯s useless. Either way. You got what you wanted.¡±


    ¡°Correct. I did get what I wanted. As I always do. Motoko Kusanagi.¡± She said obviously dropping my name.


    If she expected me to react I didn¡¯t. A good pair of eyes could scan people and get their NCPD database instantly.


    ¡°I suppose that means I¡¯m interesting enough for you to know my name.¡±


    ¡°A clean op. You handled it like a professional. I like that in my Mercs. Here is payment. Your name is added to my contacts. I will be in touch.¡± She gave me a serious look as her eyes suddenly glowed blue. A deposit in my account came through. Five grand. I looked surprised for a moment before nodding.


    ¡°I look forward to it.¡± I said as I turned and left.


    I felt¡­. Better. Productive. I could do this.

 Chapter 10

    I didn¡¯t go home.


    With eddies comes¡­ Potential. First step was to finally get an outfit that I could be happy with. It was a little embarrassing to show up to a gig and face Wakako wearing an old ratty T-shirt and scuffed jeans.


    First I called Hiromi, but unfortunately she was still out of contact again. It would have been nice to go on a shopping spree with her, but probably for the best that I didn¡¯t. So I started hitting clothing stores.


    Boots. New pants. And something special that I had been thinking about for a while.


    Boots were easy. Combat boots could be found all over the place, although finding a pair that fit my feet weren¡¯t as easy. They didn¡¯t usually make them in fourteen year old girl size.


    I found a set eventually way out in 6th St. territory. Turns out the military aesthetic meant there was interest for girls too.


    I even grabbed a pair of tight jeans there. Slim and tight, but they were military weave. The sort of clothing that stretched when needed so the tightness was a benefit not a negative.


    I even grabbed a few strap on pockets for extra loot potential. Super tight jeans weren¡¯t great for pockets anyways.


    The last piece was more difficult.


    I headed to the Kabuki market. It was the only place that I knew for sure there was a Netrunner shop.


    Parking Jun¡¯s bike and finding the store took forever. It was a maze of a circular design and I had to walk around the whole thing twice before I found the shop I was looking for.


    The Dewdrop Inn. Hence why I didn¡¯t check it out at first. It was a Netrunner shop. It even had two Netrunner stations in the back, but I was here for info.


    ¡°Nice to meet, you. I¡¯m Motoko.¡± I greeted the older woman standing behind the counter.


    ¡°Yoko. Your name¡¯s not a familiar one.¡±


    ¡°No it wouldn¡¯t be. I just have a few questions, and maybe make some purchases?¡±


    The Japanese woman looked me over a bit before shrugging. ¡°Well, go on.¡±


    ¡°Do you know where I can buy a Netrunner suit?¡±


    ¡°Hoh. I see. Alright. Yeah kid, I know some sellers. Since they are always looking for business I don¡¯t mind handing it over.¡± Her eyes went yellow and I received a text a moment later with a few different locations.


    I gave her a smile. I couldn''t help it. I had been looking for a netrunner suit for a while.


    ¡°Preem. Thank you.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing. You lookin¡¯ to buy?¡±


    ¡°Maybe. I¡¯m looking for a starter setup. Something to learn off. I¡¯m uh. Not much of a Netrunner myself, but I want to pick up some basics.¡± For now. Eventually I would be a Bartmoss. But that was in the future.


    ¡°You want a netrun suit but aren¡¯t a Netrunner? Interesting. But alright. Sure kid I can get you setup. You got the eddies?¡±


    ¡°I have some, but I have no idea what the cost would be. Don¡¯t stiff me too hard?¡± I asked, and it earned a genuine laugh from the older woman. She even took down her circular glasses and rubbed at her eyes as she regained control.


    ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll go easy on you. Listen I¡¯m obviously not a ripper, so anything I hand over will need to be chipped in. Lucky for you, I actually have an old deck, not the best, but it¡¯s cheap. I¡¯ll hand it over for Four-thousand five.¡± She reached under her desk and pulled out a case, sort of like a shard case but a bit larger, and after wiping it off from a bit of dust she opened it.


    ¡°Militech Paraline. It¡¯s cheap. About all that can be said about it, but if you want to learn how to run the net, it¡¯s a solid starting point.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± I agreed. It was a lot of money. But I needed to take the next step on my path as a merc. I needed to be able to hack stuff. My eyes went blue as I sent the money over.


    ¡°Well, alright, well let me get you set up. I¡¯ll even throw in some freebies. Funny kid. Netrunner suit and a basic deck. Alright.¡± She said with a chuckle.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± I said again. Despite spending so much cash at once. I really did need this. If I had been a Netrunner I could have shut down the Camera on the last job without all the fuss. It would have made it easier on me for sure.


    ¡°Also here is a Program. It¡¯s just Ping, the basics of the basics. Should give you somewhere to start.¡± She said, handing me a shard.


    ¡°Oh! Thank you very much!¡±


    ¡°Go on then kid. Happy running.¡±


    I thanked her again as I headed out. I would have to reach out to the Netrunner suit people. See if they have what I am looking for.


    But first? I needed to see a Ripper.


    ¡ª-


    As much as I would have liked to stop and see Viktor. I already had a Ripper that I thought was good enough right behind my house.


    So an hour later I walked into the Ripper of Japantown, the same one that had helped me fix my optics.


    ¡°Welcome, how can we help you?¡± The receptionist. A different girl this time I noted asked as she looked up from her desktop computer.


    ¡°I¡¯m here to have a Cyberdeck installed. I already have the deck.¡±


    ¡°Excellent. I will inform the Doctor. Payment is here.¡± She said handing over an actual data pad for a moment which I noticed had all the little fees and such.


    I sighed, but put my hand on the pad and accepted the transfer.


    There goes another couple grand.


    ¡°Alright, the Doctor will see you now.¡±


    I shrugged and walked into the Doctor''s Ripper room.


    ¡°Oh you again. Good. Come get settled in. What are we doing today?¡±


    ¡°Cyberdeck.¡± I inform her holding up the case and she nods takes it from my hands. Her right hand already covered in equipment pulls the deck out and seems to be scanning it over.


    ¡°Old but in good condition. Alright. Here are the options, let''s get everything picked out before we start ripping.¡± She told me pushing a screen over infront of me. I made a few selections and asked her if something else was possible for one but in the end I got what I wanted.


    ¡°Settle in, and let me put in the anesthesia.¡±


    I settled into the chair and rested back as she gave me a quick injection and I started falling asleep.


    ¡ª-


    I settled onto the couch. Now with something a bit better than baby''s first netdeck, and got to work actually messing around. So there was still one problem that I would have to deal with for now. My optics weren¡¯t Kiroshi I didn¡¯t have a ¡®scan¡¯ mode nearly as powerful, in fact mine was pretty much useless. Cyberdecks worked with a combination of optic scans to find the wireless connection port which opened up the device for the hack.


    So since my scan was so weak, it wasn¡¯t exactly fast.


    But I could at least do it. I did have one more alteration that I had talked to the Ripper about. It cost me a couple hundred extra eddies on my ¡®surgery¡¯ but I didn¡¯t have the normal cord that anyone with a cyberdeck had. The one attached to the wrist.


    I always thought it was kinda stupid to lose access to a hand in order to breach a system.


    Especially since I already had a better idea. I reached behind my head and felt the semi hidden cord port on the back of my neck.


    It felt super weird whenever I pulled the cord out, but hey. I could now start breaching a system manually without losing access to one of my hands.


    Plus it made me feel like the Major.


    Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    Now that I was home though? It was time to do some grinding.


    First I looked over to the radio. And after just a minute I was in. That was a lot easier compared to the hour it had taken me with the external netdeck.


    *100 Breach Protocol XP Gained.*


    *100 Intelligence XP Gained*


    I grinned at that. This was so much easier! Easy peasy. I turned from the Radio to the TV doing the same thing. Breaching its firmware in a minute.


    *100 Breach Protocol XP Gained.*


    Perfect! Despite my worry over Jun. Despite the loneliness that had started creeping in now that he wasn¡¯t coming home. Despite my worry about my unearthed murderous desire. I had fun. It was hacking. Of course it was fun! I giggled as I got the TV to change channels. I even peeked my head out the door and started hacking into the Burrito vendor.


    I was gonna make that thing stop giving Jun burritos if he was going to pull this shit.


    This time it took some real work. The security on the thing wasn¡¯t¡­ Great? At least I didn¡¯t think it would be, but it was still more secure than my TV or Radio. Sitting up against the door of the apartment when I realized it was gonna take a few minutes as I stared at the vending machine. My eyes only seeing code, was¡­ Fun. Weird but fun.


    Finally I managed to get in. Breaching its security.


    *100 Breach Protocol XP Gained.*


    *Breach Protocol skill level up!*


    *100 Intelligence XP Gained*


    I was a bit distracted though. I had to shake my head just to get it to calm down. Breach Protocol information was¡­ Dense. Not just instinct on how to do it. But general knowledge of how to Breach systems. The protocols and common tricks, yet more. Knowledge about tons of different electronic systems. Their security. How good it would be. It was the first time as well that I could instantly know what I didn''t know. Some things I could think about like vehicles. I had no idea how to Breach. The knowledge wasn¡¯t there, but it would be.


    I knew.


    ¡°Wow. I am hackerman.¡± I blinked at my own stupid statement looked around and was really glad no one was here.


    ¡°I really need to stop spending so much time alone.¡± I mutter. Idly standing up and leaving the poor vending machine alone as I head inside, Turning on the tv and setting it to a news channel just to have some noise.


    I crashed on the couch and closed down the Cyberdeck connection. In essence turning it off for now.


    I sighed and closed my eyes.


    Sleep.


    ¡ª--


    My eyes opened in shock when the door opened. I was on my knees in front of the couch Unity drawn and aimed as I was ready to blow some holes in whoever had just tried to break in. The man that entered was¡­


    ¡°Jun?¡± I asked in surprise. It was Jun. But not.


    ¡°Hey Imouto.¡± He grumbled the same as always as he stopped at the entranceway looking at my reaction for a minute.


    ¡°Jun¡­ What happened!?¡± I gasped in horror, dropping the Unity, because Jun¡¯s arms. Both of them all the way up to his shoulders were no longer natural. Sure they still had patches of his real skin, and those patches were covered in tattoos. But it was obvious he had Cyberarms now.


    ¡°Got chipped.¡± he said simply showing off the arms a bit. He wasn¡¯t wearing a shirt, showing that the tattoos now covered even more of his chest and his back too.


    ¡°I see that you gonk! Why?¡± I said rising up and pulling him into a hug. ¡°Idiot.¡± I said, whispering it into his chest.


    ¡°Sorry¡­ I got a promotion in the claws. We hit Maelstrom. I did a good job, so the bosses got me chipped. Some of it is from the Maelstrom I killed.¡± He said, sounding¡­


    Well vengeful.


    ¡°I¡¯m glad you''re safe. You¡­ You should have told me what you were doing! I could have come. I could have helped, watched your back!¡±


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t want you anywhere near Maelstrom Imouto.¡± He denied instantly patting me on the head.


    It felt different. The hand on my head. I sighed. Jun you idiot.


    ¡°I¡¯m glad you¡¯re home.¡± I said instead. Tugging him towards the couch. ¡°You aren¡¯t disappearing again are you?¡±


    ¡°No. Our¡­ response against Maelstrom is over.¡± He said but I could tell instantly he wasn¡¯t happy about it. That whatever burning hatred had grown in his chest over the loss of his choom. It wasn¡¯t satiated yet.


    ¡°There will be more. There always is, and I am sure when Maelstrom does something stupid again, the Tyger Claws will respond, or maybe they will attack first next time. Just¡­ Don¡¯t go off on your own. Maelstrom are scary despite everything.¡±


    Jun just gave me a shrug as he sat up patted me on the head, and then headed towards the bathroom.


    A shower started not long after.


    ¡°I¡¯m gonna have to do something.¡±


    ¡ª--


    ¡°So Jun is back?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. All chromed up too. He¡­ I think he wants to go after more Maelstrom though. I¡¯m worried he will try to head off alone.¡± I told Hiromi the next day. She finally appeared again that morning riding up onto the curb while I was doing my morning jog as if she hadn¡¯t disappeared for days.


    I had slipped onto the back of her Kusanagi and given her a tight hug as I explained everything that was happening.


    ¡°Well you just have to keep an eye on him, yeah? Jun is reliable.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. He is really angry. I can tell. Something about the way he is acting makes me think he is not doing well.¡± I tell her as she just sort of drives around the block. Even driving slowly and gently for Hiromi.


    ¡°Damn.¡± She muttered, eventually sighing. ¡°What are you gonna do?¡±


    ¡°Dunno¡­ Become reliable myself maybe? Maybe if I get good enough Jun will actually rely on me. I just don¡¯t want him to bite off more than he can chew and die in some Strom hangout without ever knowing.¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± She muttered. ¡°Sorry.¡± She eventually said.


    ¡°For what?¡±


    ¡°You were dealin¡¯ with some issues, but I¡­ I vanished like a gonk. Sorry.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± I tell her hugging her tight for a second. ¡°It¡¯s just your thing.¡±


    ¡°My thing?¡±


    ¡°Yeah you get out of touch for a while every week. It¡¯s something I¡¯m used to.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s school.¡± She tells me finally. Quietly like admitting something shameful. ¡°I go to Arasaka Academy. My parents cut me completely off from my Comm if I don¡¯t go, and they keep it cut until I go at least a little. I end up going for a few days so I can ditch the rest.¡±


    ¡°Oh. That¡¯s cool. Super hard, but a good education. That''s basically all I know about it.¡± I say, ¡°I¡¯m proud of you Hiromi. Going to a school and stuff.¡±


    ¡°Stupid. I don¡¯t¡­ I hate it. It¡¯s Corpo bullshit stuff. Not even worth the time.¡± She growled.


    ¡°Pfft. Nah. See, education is important! Just use them for the education and when all is said and done bail if you want. But it¡¯s a preem skill to have. I don¡¯t go to school.¡±


    ¡°I know. I wish I didn¡¯t have to.¡± She grumbled.


    ¡°It¡¯s okay. It just means we have to do stuff while you aren¡¯t at school.¡±


    ¡°Just don¡¯t tell anyone. Everyone else thinks I disappear while doing odd jobs or something.¡±


    I chuckled a little at her hiding her schooling from the other Street kids. ¡°Sure. Your secret is safe with me.¡± I told her chuckling as she nodded and then she hit the gas.


    ¡°C¡¯mon I want to see Jun¡¯s new Chrome!¡± She called out as she revved the engine and drove way too fast back to the apartment.


    ¡°Slow down!¡±


    ¡ª--


    With Jun¡¯s return I was a little distracted for the rest of the day, ending up sleeping the night away not long after he went to bed. He was being very quiet about anything that had happened, was going to happen, or what plans he had.


    It was very annoying.


    I had a feeling that the Tyger Claws hadn¡¯t chipped him just for looks. They probably intended on turning him into an enforcer now.


    Which made my stomach turn because I didn¡¯t want Jun to end up dead.


    So in the morning to get away from the anxiety of worrying about my brother going into dangerous situations, I settled in to do some more netrunning training. There wasn¡¯t any point in playing with Breach as I was limited by Intelligence, but Quickhacks were another skill entirely.


    And I actually did have a program for one thanks to Yoko. So I loaded it up into the Netdeck, and tried to use Ping on my radio.


    It didn¡¯t go well. I ended up having to pull my mothers Netrunner guide out and listened to the section about quickhacks before I figured it out and got the program to ping the radio.


    *Quick Hacks Experience Gained.*


    *Skill not unlocked, no XP gained.*


    *Quick Hacks Unlocked.*


    I grinned, that was another skill to work with!


    I relaxed back onto the couch feeling pretty good. With Jun back at home and not out of touch. I was starting to feel less anxious, more like I had before. So instead of freaking out or spending the day spiraling I continued to try and ping everything around me with a Quick Hack. TV. Vending machine. I could even ping lights since many of them had wireless connections.


    Grinning as I kept doing it until I got a little alert.


    *100 Quick Hacks XP Gained.*


    I even got an Intelligence alert as well!


    *100 Intelligence XP Gained*


    When Jun came out of his room looking tired he noticed me sitting on the couch and basically just pinging the TV over and over.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to know.¡± He eventually decided moving past me to the fridge to grab something to drink and then to my surprise he grabbed a paper bag out of the fridge and pulled out an injector. Injecting his leg.


    ¡°You okay?¡± I asked. Sure I had my own small meds to take, but a Cyberdeck installation was practically normal compared to losing two arms.


    ¡°Just the stuff I have to take while I adjust to the chrome.¡± He says throwing the injector away as he walks over and settles in on the couch. ¡°I¡¯m on leave for at least a week while I adjust. Doc''s orders.¡± He grumbled and I nodded at least whoever had chipped him had some basic healthcare concerns.


    ¡°Good. Take it easy and no more chrome for a while.¡± I ordered poking his cheek lightly which he twitched at before waving my hand away.


    ¡°Was thinking of getting my legs done. Be able to move around a bit faster.¡± He argues.


    ¡°No way. You just had a big change. Let yourself get used to it, Jun-Nii. Going too fast and not letting yourself adjust is how Cyberpsychos happen. Don¡¯t want you to end up like that, drooling and muttering to yourself as you murder everyone around you. Nasty shit.¡± I say staring at him as firmly as I can.


    ¡°I¡¯ll think about it.¡± He sidestepped my argument completely and took a swig of whatever he was drinking.


    ¡°Whatever then.¡± I grumbled realizing he was going to be stubborn about it. ¡°You¡¯re not telling me anything Jun-Nii I¡¯m worried.¡± I decided to say instead. He really was being stubborn.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be. I¡¯m stronger now than I was.¡± He reached over and patted my head.


    ¡°I¡¯ll worry even if you were Adam Smasher.¡± I told him, causing him to snort lightly.


    ¡°You¡¯ve been using my bike.¡± He said changing the topic much to my irritation.


    ¡°Yeah. You left and disappeared. I¡¯ve been filling up the tank.¡±


    ¡°You have. I¡¯ll need it back. Sorry Imouto.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine. I¡¯ll just be back on the train. I guess it¡¯s for the best. I hate that stupid swoop seat anyway.¡± I tell him as I pop the shard out and hand it back over.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with the seat?¡± He demanded suddenly sounding a little offended.


    ¡°It¡¯s so dumb. The Kusanagi has some really awesome lines, but the Tyger Claws remove the front guard, and put on the stupid swoop seat. It¡¯s awful.¡± I answered honestly, almost ranting about how much I hated the Tyger Claw alterations to such a beautiful motorcycle.


    ¡°I think it¡¯s preem.¡± He grunted actually pouting a bit at my words.


    ¡°Yeah but you also have yakuza tattoos now. So your taste is a little¡­ Suspect.¡± I teased him, earning a shocked look before scowling at me.


    ¡°They aren¡¯t Yakuza Tattoos! And they are cool. They show that I have earned the respect of the Tyger Claws!¡±


    ¡°That Tiger on your bicep has a goofy face. I think the artist messed up and didn¡¯t want to admit it.¡± I said lying, but well¡­ Jun still reacted.


    ¡°What? No it doesn¡¯t!¡± He almost shrieked as he checked on his tattoos to see what I was pointing at. Which is when I poked his nose.


    ¡°Made you look.¡± I told him breaking into giggles, which lasted until his hand wrapped around my ankle.


    ¡°That¡¯s cheating.¡± I told him dead serious as he suddenly lifted me up making me shriek as he stood and adjusted me until I was dangling from his arm.


    ¡°Cheating!¡±


    ¡°There are no rules here.¡± He says just as seriously before his other hand reaches down and starts tickling me!


    ¡°N-No s-stop! Your bike is still stupid! Your tattoos make you look dumb! I won-t surrender!¡± I screamed as he showed no mercy. Only when I was close to pissing myself did he finally stop and let me run to the bathroom.


    His cruelty will not go unpunished.

 Chapter 11

    <div>


    Jun was being a jerk so I left the house to give him some private time. Plus I really wanted to grind out my Netrunning.


    Pinging the Vending machine let me know that it was actually connected to a small network, that according to the data I got in return, let the owners know when the vending machine was low on stock.


    Made sense.


    I sent a ping to the next machine.


    *100 Quick Hack XP Gained.*


    *100 Intelligence XP Gained*


    *Intelligence Leveled up!*


    I blinked. I didn¡¯t feel any different? I checked myself over, but nothing seemed to change. When my Body leveled up it was pretty noticeable, at least at first, so why was intelligence not seeming to make any changes?


    I pouted a little as I tried to think but again nothing seemed out of the ordinary.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been scammed.¡± I grumbled, as I went back to my Quick Hacks.


    At least now I could do more Breach training.


    But first. I wanted to level Quick Hacks. I wanted that knowledge download. Bored, I looked around and noticed a guy walking along. He had cheap chrome. I could tell. So I started a Quick Hack on him. If he noticed I would just delta.


    Heh Delta. Cyberpunk lingo was so fun.


    I started with a scan using my optics. It¡­ Well it took a while. I ended up having to follow him around the market a bit before the scan completed and I got his port info. I activated the program, starting the Quick Hack. It was slow, The guys security was better than a vending machine after all.


    Still Slowly as he walked across the sidewalk I could see the ticker doing up and then it pinged him. Letting me know he wasn¡¯t connecting to any networks.


    *100 Quick Hacks XP Gained.*


    *Quick Hacks skill level up!*


    But as I expected. Since I hadn¡¯t targeted a person until now, it gave me an immediate XP boost. Since it was something I hadn''t done before. While repeating the same thing over and over would keep giving me XP it did eventually slow drastically but doing something new would usually make it easier to gain XP again.


    But my mind was a blur. Quick Hacks. Seemed simple, and in some ways it was compared to Breach Protocol. But it was still so complicated!


    I smiled as I now simply knew what Quickhacks were. The programs that could be activated on the fly to do so many different things. I hummed a bit as I thought about the best way to level it, and honestly without a lot of people to hack. I was kinda doing it.


    But now I had a better understanding of the equipment. I could actually swap out programs now. I knew how to do that, and I had a feeling with a few levels I could spread hacks as well. The knowledge was there tempting me.


    Well. I had level 2 Intelligence. Might as well get back to grinding. I grinned as I started pinging people that walked by. Avoiding anyone with serious chrome.


    ¡ª-


    I ended up bored of just sitting on a bench and Quick Hacking everyone, so I started wandering. You would be amazed at how many Camera systems you can see from a sidewalk.


    A quick Breach Protocol, which usually ended up meaning I had to find a place to sit as it took a minute. Then I could Quick Hack it surprisingly fast since I already had access to its system. Most of them I would learn were connected to a security system, or a few other cameras.


    It wasn¡¯t ¡®interesting¡¯ knowledge in and of itself.


    But it was also solid XP.


    A couple of hours of walking around pinging and Breaching everything I could find had results.


    *Breach Protocol skill level up!*


    *1 Perk Point Gained.*


    *Quick Hacks skill level up!*


    *1 Perk Point Gained.*


    Level 2 Breach and Quickhacks. Nice.


    The speed of my improvement from the baby deck I had before was insane. I was so happy I spent the eddies on this upgrade.


    Unfortunately while I was getting Intelligence XP alerts. It wasn¡¯t enough to push me to the next level. So I was now maxed out until I leveled Intelligence.


    But I did have perks!


    I started on Breach and for once I was actually pleased by the selection. Lots of options caught my eye.


    Wall Breaking. Creates a backdoor in the system after a Breach. Making future access instant.


    Powerful Breach. Break through systems much faster but causes an alert if security is strong enough.


    Daemon Summoner. Upload a Daemon onto a network instantly after a Breach.


    All of these sounded Preem.


    In the end I went with Wall Breaking. I liked the idea of being able to set up stuff for later. Instead of being forced to Breach the system on the fly.


    I was distracted for a bit as I suddenly learned a lot about creating backdoors into systems. Like a lot alot.


    I shook it off and focused on Quick Hacks. What goodies could I find in that list?


    Honestly? Some pretty good stuff. Quick Hacks were the Magic in Cyberpunk. The ability to cause someone''s brain to melt with a look if you were good enough.


    The options were pretty useful.


    Quicker Hack. Halves time for a Quick Hack.


    Cyber Security. Massively increases time to Quick Hack or Breach your System.


    Quick Ram. Ram restores twice as fast.


    There was a lot more, And Quick Hacks perks had a lot of pre-req options. Meaning that what I picked now would make a big difference in the future.


    But the one that grabbed my attention was probably the least offensive one. Cyber Security. This wasn¡¯t a game. If someone hacked me here? My Brain would be melting out my ears, or I would be on the ground twitching very shortly.


    So protecting myself sounded like a smart play. Even if I would prefer to be a more stealth build in the future.


    Can¡¯t shoot at me if you never know I¡¯m there.


    I picked it anyways. Smiling as some knowledge slipped into my head on how to buff my security, through a bit of program editing, it was¡­ I knew enough about Quickhacking at this point to be sure. The editing wouldn¡¯t work like it should, and yet it did. Was there actually a¡­ Magical component to some perks?


    In the end I shrugged I had no way of knowing, and I decided to focus on the good. Anyone trying to Quick Hack me would be massively confused at how difficult it was.


    I liked it.


    ¡ª--


    It was time. I had made some calls over the last few days. Getting some lukewarm responses, before I hit on one that actually worked. Someone selling not just what I wanted, but willing to do the alterations I needed.


    Hiromi was willing to drive me so we headed out mid afternoon.


    ¡°Are you going to finally tell me what this is about?¡± She kept prodding me for information, but I knew I had to keep it a surprise. She had constantly bothered me about my style. She of course went for Gang Chic.


    I was going for something a little different. What would they call it again? Neo-militarism? I smiled yeah that sounded about right. The little shop we were heading to was a little backalley deal. The sort of thing you had to know about, to know about.


    Hiromi parked her bike on the street. It was safe enough, there were a lot of shops here, and shopping areas especially those held by gangs were usually kept as crime free as possible. Couldn¡¯t make money on the shops if you kept robbing all the customers.


    We walked down an alley instead of keeping to the main street. But that was on purpose, a place selling netrunning suit''s? It wouldn¡¯t want to be well known, Netrunners wouldn¡¯t trust a shop just on the street. No it had to be hidden with a lot of hacking needed to figure out the location.


    Or if you were a normal person you could just ask someone in the know and save yourself some time.


    The alley was dark and drippy, Hiromi was looking around like she was ready to stab someone but she still didn¡¯t know what was going on exactly.


    Finally I found it. A door with that had a weird symbol on it. It wasn¡¯t anything I recognized, and was apparently just the symbol for the shop, as explained by the owner when I called to set my order up.


    ¡°C¡¯mon Hiromi this is it.¡± I told her as I turned and knocked on the door. I waited a minute before it slid open, a man looking like a real monster opened the door, a machine gun resting in his hands as he looked me over.


    ¡°Here for an order pickup.¡±


    ¡°Enter.¡± He offered stepping back, and then Hiromi and I entered into a clothing store.


    Yeah. Like I said Netrunners had issues. Funnily enough this part of the shop connected to the front of the store, so I could literally see the street as Hiromi and I walked inside. The owner was a little asian woman sitting behind a set of bars smoking from a pipe. The entire shop had a very asian feel to it. Most of her offerings seem to be older style japanese work.


    Fancy.


    Once inside I waved at the woman behind the bars. ¡°I¡¯m Motoko, here about a special order?¡±


    ¡°Ah. I was wondering when you would show up. You''re younger than I thought.¡± She said immediately looking me over and then Hiromi as well who was looking around already checking out the clothing on the racks as if she was wondering if she wanted something.


    At least she had been until I mentioned a special order.


    ¡°Ooh you ordered something special?¡± She whispered as I smiled at her.


    ¡°You have my measurements, so I doubt you''re that surprised.¡± I tell the woman who chuckled a throaty noise.


    ¡°You¡¯d be surprised, a lot of girls will chrome out to be smaller. Some guys like that. Alright come around back. Special order I want to make sure it fits.¡± She said gesturing to a door in the back of the shop which I walked through Hiromi following, and the guard following behind both of us.


    The backroom was just that, a room obviously where the woman worked on custom orders, she even had a little area for making adjustments while the person wore whatever clothing she had made.


    ¡°Alright here it is. Changing room is there.¡± She mentions pointing to a small curtain over a side of the room.


    Hardly private, but that was fine. I nodded and took the sealed bag she had given me as I walked over.


    ¡°Oooh what is it?¡± Hiromi asked as always not caring about privacy and following me right into the little area. I rolled my eyes at her as I pulled off my little jacket, and the stupid T shirt I had been wearing.


    Never going to need that again, at least on a job. And then I dropped my pants which had a raised eyebrow from Hiromi.


    The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    ¡°Don¡¯t follow me into a changing room and act surprised.¡± I told her bluntly as I pulled open the bag unsealing it and pulling out something I had wanted for a while.


    A Netrunner suit, cut down making it look more like a leotard and armored up. Although the armor was cheap. It had to be a Netrunner suit and not just some off the rack Leotard because of that armor. I needed something flexible and tight for stealth, but also something that would keep my blood on the inside if I got shot.


    Plus¡­ The Major. Ghost in the Shell Motoko always wore something like this.


    Sure I lost some of the netrunner suits cooling function, but gained more armor. So fair trade.


    I grinned as I slipped it on, with only minor difficulties it was incredibly tight, but the Armor weave was able to shift and adjust meaning I could touch my toes or bend over completely backwards without the suit bunching up or limiting my movement.


    I gave myself a once over. Adjusting the fit and nodding at how comfortable it was.


    ¡°Cool.¡± Hiromi offered but she obviously wasn¡¯t super into it. Not enough neon tigers or something I am sure.


    With that I slipped back on my pants tightening the jeans leaving plenty of skin around my hips. And my mini jacket was pulled back on.


    ¡°Perfect.¡± I muttered staring at Hiromi as I gave her a smirk as I adjusted my holster on the back of my pants.


    ¡°You look like a weird Corpo bodyguard or something.¡± She tells me teasing, but I shrug.


    ¡°I look cool. The word you are looking for is cool.¡±


    ¡°Sure you gonk. That it?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. One sec.¡± I grab the old shirt and walk out noticing the Shop owner was still waiting for me. ¡°Fits perfectly. You do good work.¡±


    ¡°I do a lot of customizations. Can¡¯t say I¡¯ve ever seen one cut one into pieces before, but you''re the buyer.¡±


    ¡°And I am very happy. Thank you.¡± I told her my eyes glowing blue as I sent the money transfer.


    ¡°Excellent there is the door. Come back if you ever need more work.¡±


    ¡°I will. C¡¯mon Hiromi.¡± I called out to her as she was distracted by something laying on a table but she followed me back into the shop proper, and then out into the streets.


    I swiftly threw the T-shirt into the trash as I looked to Hiromi. ¡°Let¡¯s go¡­ Do something cool.¡± I tell her, earning an eager smile as whooped.


    ¡°Hell yeah! Bad bitches on the prowl!¡± She cried out racing out of the alley to jump on to her bike which I joined her right after.


    The new net suit felt perfect as we roared through the city. I felt like I was actually an Edgerunner now. Actually a Cyberpunk.


    I felt like I was a Ghost in a Shell.


    ¡ª-


    In the end something cool was heading to a club.


    ¡°Hiromi you gonk.¡± I told her as she pulled up and hopped off the bike with a bounce in her step.


    ¡°Motoko is boring. Motoko is boring. Blegh!¡± She actually stuck her tongue out at me. What a nerd.


    I leapt off the bike and pretended to chase after her, causing her to squeal at my sudden move as I pretend chased her towards the entrance to the club. This wasn¡¯t the Ho-oh Club. Instead Hiromi knew of a more active dance club that obviously catered to the Tyger Claws.


    The whole place was covered in Japanese tattoos and more swords than I thought would be comfortable in a club.


    Buzzing high intensity music was playing and Hiromi and I were allowed to entry into the club after the bouncer gave us a long thorough look with his glowing eyes.


    Scanning us down. Apparently we were good because he let us through.


    Into a nightmare.


    So many weebs. Can you call it a period drama when no one was dressed right for the era, but everyone still acted like they were in some ancient Japanese place? The tables are tiny things that you sat around resting against cushions. Some of the flooring was faux tatami which made me giggle.


    But the rest of the place was a nightclub. A bar, a DJ up on the stage places for actual live music as well, lights and strobes and people grinding up against each other.


    I was fourteen.


    How the hell did they let me in here?


    ¡°C¡¯mon!¡± Hiromi interrupted my melt down by grabbing my arm and tugging me through the crowd landing us on the dance floor.


    And then she started dancing.


    I didn¡¯t. Listen I didn¡¯t have a dance chip as a certain gun goblin once said. I didn¡¯t have the first clue how to dance to this music. It was¡­ Electro Shamisen Quickstep? Hiromi mostly seemed to just be spazzing out.


    Motoko.exe fails to run. Restart?


    ¡°Stop being a gonk and dance!¡± Hiromi called out over the music grabbing my hand and forcing me to move along with her.


    Ugh.


    Fine. If only because Hiromi looked like she was trying to have fun. I had dragged her all the way around the city, at least I could do her thing now.


    So I danced. Badly. I wasn¡¯t quite Commander Shephard bad. At least I didn''t think so. Hiromi was having fun anyways now that I was playing along.


    Of course she got tired before I did. She really needed more exercise.. Then again this counted. So I just decided to shut up. We slipped off the dance floor and headed to the bar where I gave her a very stern frown pout and she finally gave in and ordered something non-alcoholic.


    We took a seat after and settled in sitting basically on the floor, even if it was cushioned we looked over the crowd.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t this great?¡± Hiromi said as she leaned on the table looking over the crowd with a sloppy smile on her face.


    ¡°It¡¯s fun.¡± I told her, assuring her that I had a time dancing even if this definitely wasn¡¯t my scene.


    I kinda wanted to go challenge some of the weebs to a sword fight though. With the music and faux Tatami I bet it would be a bitching backdrop.


    Probably not a good idea though. My Blades skill was still pretty low.


    ¡°You''re a new face.¡± A voice called out from behind me far too close.


    Whoever it was had half a second to move in before my Unity was pressed against the bottom of his jaw. The fact that I turned and could see him moving to put his arm over my shoulder solidified my desire to pull the trigger.


    But I didn¡¯t. Because Murder was bad. Even if delicious delicious XP was only a trigger pull away.


    Part of me. The secret dark part that I refused to listen to whispered to just do it. That I could probably kill people fast enough that I could outlevel any trouble it would cause.


    I stuffed that voice in a box.


    ¡°Hey!¡± A voice behind him called out as I noticed he had approached with a little posse of Tyger wannabes. How did I know they were wannabes? Same as I knew Hiromi was. No ECM tats. And trying too hard.


    Before anything could come of it, I pulled down my gun and holstered it before purposefully standing up to slide across to the other end of the table beside Hiromi so I didn¡¯t have these strangers at my back.


    The guys posse were looking angry, and he looked a little pale.


    Like someone had just pushed a gun against his chin.


    ¡°Hahaha! You tried to touch Motoko you fuckin gonk! Yo Tomaru how¡¯s that? You said you could get any girl you wanted right? How¡¯s that working for you?¡± Hiromi laughed and mocked with absolute delight as I noticed the group of teenagers weren¡¯t looking too happy.


    ¡°Hiromi as always you look beautiful and then open your mouth and remind us what a piece of rust you are.¡± He says after a moment and his posse laugh at the insult even Hiromi looked a little heated but I just sat there staring.


    What was even happening?


    ¡°Hiromi? Who¡¯s this?¡± I asked, looking the teenager and his little crew over. The teen was probably a little older than us. Katana on his hip. He was rich. Like Hiromi his clothes were brand new, everything fit, and clean.


    The girl beside him. The one that was pissed at me for pulling my gun. No Katana. No gun on her hips. Instead I could tell her arms. Cyberware. Mantis? Yeah I could see the seams. Mantis blades. It wasn¡¯t high quality chrome though. Looked old.


    Still deadly.


    The other two chooms were armed. Guns and a Machete. Not enough eddies for a Katana?


    ¡°This annoying kid is Suisen Tomaru. He likes to come down with his groupies and spend his parents eddies while slumming it.¡±


    ¡°Could say the same to you Hiromi Mitsunashi.¡±


    ¡°Could show you what it¡¯s really like on the streets Tomaru, how about that?¡± Hiromi threatened looking as if she was going to draw a blade and cut him down.


    She didn¡¯t have her sword on her though.


    ¡°How about we ease up. This is a club.¡± I butt in, pulling Hiromi back into sitting from where she had risen up looking for a fight.


    ¡°Yeah Hiromi, listen to your Pet street choom.¡± He mocked which seemed to fire up Hiromi, but I wasn¡¯t even insulted. Lazy insult. 2/10 at best. I just rolled my eyes as I held Hiromi down.


    ¡°If you are just here to hurl insults and try to start something, can you leave? We were having a nice time.¡± I tell him frowning at this nonsense interruption.


    ¡°Now why would I do that? I haven¡¯t had a chance to talk to Hiromi here in weeks. She is skipping so much I barely ever see her. What was your class ranking again? Last?¡±


    ¡°Better than you where you actually try to please Mommy and Daddy and you are still lower middle of the pack. Moron.¡± Hiromi hissed but the guy just smiled not bothered by Hiromi¡¯s insults.


    Ugh these children were ruining my mood. I didn¡¯t even want to be here!


    Considering the angry yelling. Mostly from Hiromi, I wasn¡¯t surprised when someone intervened. A much older man, who was definitely Tyger Claws stepped up to the table looking down on everyone. I just gave him a bored look.


    ¡°Is there a problem here?¡± He asked, looking over every one of the kids with a glare. ¡°Because if there is, I will have to take care of it.¡±


    ¡°No, no problem. Just a friendly discussion between friends.¡± Tomaru denied with a smile as he turned to Hiromi. ¡°We will finish our ¡®discussion¡¯ another time, Hiromi. Do let me know when you are done playing pretend.¡± He offered before turning. I got a glare from the girl he had been walking with before she too followed after him.


    ¡°That was irritating. Thanks.¡± I called out to the Tyger Claw who didn¡¯t look like he appreciated having to step in.


    ¡°If you cause problems again. We will remove you.¡± He says simply staring at me.


    Whatever guy. No need to act all overwhelming.


    ¡°Cmon Motoko. I want to dance a bit more, get Tomaru out of my head.¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡±


    </article>

 Chapter 12

    I jogged into the apartment after hitting the gym.


    Unfortunately while I got a few body XP alerts while pumping iron. I didn¡¯t get anything for an hour of using the punching bag. I think I was running into the end of the diminishing returns for that particular grind.


    The idea of finding a fighting pit was getting more and more tempting¡­


    I shook that off and decided to check my stats.


    Motoko Kusanagi


    Level 2


    Body 5


    -Athletics 5


    -Street Brawler 3


    Reflex 3


    -Blades 2


    -Handguns 3


    -Assault 2


    -Driving 2


    Intelligence 2


    -Breach Protocol 2


    -Quick Hacks 2


    Cool 2


    -Ninjutsu 2


    -Cold Blood 2


    Technical attribute 1


    2 Stat point.


    2 Skill point.


    Perks.


    Ambidextrous Blades 2


    Quickdraw Handguns 2


    Gun Nut Assault 2


    Parkour Athletics 2


    Grappling Street Brawler 2


    Drive By Driver 2


    Cat-like Athletics 5


    Cool Nerves Cold Blood 2


    Danger Sense Ninjutstu 2


    Wall Breaking Breach Protocol 2


    Cyber Security Quick Hack 2


    That Technical attribute was looking real low¡­ But I also knew that it was going to be an expensive stat to train. I didn¡¯t have a lot of junk stuff I could mess with, and without a car it¡¯s not like I could drive out to the dump to grab scrap.


    So I pushed it to the side for now. Soon. Very soon I would set some time down to do some crafting. Cause crafting is broken.


    Instead I refocused on my other stats Body was high because it was easy to just exercise.


    Reflex was high-ish, but mostly because It had a lot of skills. But it was also not moving a lot.


    Intelligence was the same, but it had less skills¡­ So far. Although I had noticed it would pop when I had studied the Netrunner guide. So studying would help¡­ that felt really boring though.


    Cool. I shivered the only time it went up was when I killed. I wasn¡¯t sure what it¡¯s deal was. But I had a way of grinding it. I just refused to do it.


    For now.


    Then there at the bottom I saw something I had been pretending didn¡¯t exist.


    Stat and Skill points.


    I could level a stat and skill twice. They were just sitting there. My initial thought was to balance out my skills, but that was a trap. Specialization at low levels, jack of all trades at the end.


    ¡°I could level Cool.¡± I told myself. The idea of increasing my stealth was¡­ Appealing. It was one of the biggest force multipliers I had. Don¡¯t have to worry about getting shot if they never knew you were there.


    But was it the right choice? Intelligence might be better. It was¡­ hard to level in a way. More time intensive at least. And I could upgrade my Netrunning. That appealing future where I walk into a group of enemies and they kill themselves without me having to lift a finger was tempting.


    Or I could increase my Reflex. Since I had so many skills under that stat it would give me a lot to grind. Not that I wasn¡¯t already able to grind most of it.


    ¡°Ughhhh.¡± I groaned as I rolled over and put my head into a couch cushion and groaned as loud as I could.


    ¡°I¡¯ve always been terrible about deciding.¡± I reminded myself. Hoarding items or stat points in games until long after I should.


    I shook it off. I shouldn¡¯t be getting lost in my own head. ¡°I have lots of things to keep grinding.¡± I reminded myself even if my XP was slowing down.


    ¡°I need a job. Something to get me out of my head.¡± I spoke up to the empty room. I think I was past the point of hiding in my apartment and grinding basic skills. I think it was time to start acting like a real Street Kid.


    I sent a message to Wakako, and Ichi.


    *Got any Gigs lined up?*


    Then I rose up and started doing some Knife training. I probably won¡¯t get much from it, but I wasn¡¯t going to sit around doing nothing.


    ¡ª--


    An hour later I got a message from Ichi, saying he had nothing currently.


    Then I got a response from Wakako about a Gig. I had practically cheered jumping up and down for a moment in the apartment, as I rushed to get dressed in my gear before I checked the message and deflated.


    It was a courier run.


    I sighed. Slapped my cheeks a bit to focus myself, and stepped out of the apartment.


    A gig is a gig. I needed to prove myself still. I was only a kid. Not every job is going to be about sneaking into a Tino chopshop to steal data.


    It was incredibly boring, doubly so since I didn¡¯t have a car. I picked up the package from a small noodle shop over in Heywood. Took the bus or train up to Kabuki. Handed it off at an old apartment to a girl that didn¡¯t even fully open the door along with a chain holding her door closed. Got paid in practically ennys. And walked home.


    *Package confirmed. Gig is closed.* That was all Wakako sent me.


    I was back home and groaning into my cushions within an hour.


    ¡ª--


    The next day I got another Gig from Wakako. This time it was a woman that wanted to get something from her boyfriend''s apartment after a fight, and wanted protection.


    It ended with me pistol whipping the boyfriend. Which did give me an alert for Street Brawling XP which was nice, and the woman got her Shard she had left behind.


    *Client is happy Gig is closed.* Wakako sent me as I was on the train back home.


    ¡ª--


    Wakako ended up sending me a Gig request without prompting the next day.


    A woman had been carjacked and robbed by a small time gang. Some group of chooms that decided that their little family meant they were a gang and had started doing some carjacking in Rancho Coronado.


    I wasn¡¯t hired to bring back the car. Or get revenge on her car jackers. No, that would have been¡­ fun.


    No she just wanted her wedding ring back and was actually paying the fuckers ransom for it. I was the middleman.


    I had even asked if they wanted them dead. But nope. The ring was the absolute priority.


    I sighed and ended up taking the bus down.


    They wanted to meet in a gas station parking lot.


    I internally cringed when I read that detail. A gas station? Not an abandoned warehouse or a gang house? A gas station?


    I sighed as I stepped off the bus. Taking in the dusty gas station and rundown neighborhood.


    This was the place.


    With a grimace I noticed five teenagers, the youngest probably younger than me all waiting on the steps infront of the Gas Station.


    Dammit. They fit the description. Worse? They definitely noticed me just get off the bus.


    Fuck how embarrassing.


    This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    What kind of merc took the fuckin bus. There goes my rep.


    Unless I flatline them all?


    No. They were kids. I sighed, shoulders slumping as I approached them.


    ¡°Archer and the¡­ Bad boys?¡± I grimaced as I asked.


    ¡°That¡¯s us Choom. Shit you¡¯re just a kid? You our middleman?¡±


    ¡°Apparently Wakako has a sense of humor.¡± I informed them although none understood. I did. Wakako you bitch. Send the teenager to deal with a gang of teenagers? Yeah I got the message.


    Maybe she was a little pissed with me bothering her every day? I would have to figure it out later.


    ¡°You got the ring?¡±


    ¡°Yeah? Maybe, maybe not. You got our eddies?¡± the tallest boy. Their obvious leader stood up a shotgun gripped in one hand and resting on his shoulder asked.


    ¡°Confirmation of the item first. Payment after. No need to turn this into some XBD action star bullshit. Client wants the ring, willing to give the eddies. Don¡¯t make this difficult.¡± I told him a little bored. Honestly. What did Wakako think I was?


    He didn¡¯t seem pleased at how bored I was, and his little groupies were looking trigger happy, but none of them really worried me.


    I was 99% sure I could outdraw them all.


    Even if the idea of killing a bunch of kids didn¡¯t sit well with me, even with my gamer brain. I sighed. ¡°Just prove you have the ring. I will transfer half. You give me the ring I transfer the rest. You got me outnumbered. I am sure you want the eddies more than you want a ring. Right?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Guess so.¡± He said glaring a bit. Dug around in his pocket with his off hand never taking his hand off the shotgun before pulling out a little wedding ring. I did a quick check comparing it to the image I had been sent.


    Match.


    ¡°Alright. Here is half.¡± I said, my eyes going blue as I deposited the eddies in his account.


    Honestly it was pocket change. A few hundred eddies. This little gang was probably pretty hard up.


    ¡°Alright.¡± He took a step forward and offered me the ring.


    When I went to grab it I caught it. A motion out of the corner of my eye.


    I almost sighed.


    My gun was drawn and pointed into the face of the boy that had been moving up to brain me with a pipe.


    I had a gun pointed at me a moment later along with a few pipes and a knife.


    I wasn¡¯t gonna flatline a twelve year old. I just wasn¡¯t.


    ¡°You really want it to go down this way?¡± I prompted as the leaders shotgun was aimed at me.


    ¡°Why not. I think we got you outnumbered and outgunned. Bet you have some eddies on you a rich girl like you. Bet you got some other things we can ¡®use¡¯ on you as well.¡±


    ¡°Rich? I¡¯m a Street Kid working as a merc. I do odd jobs you gonk. You did see me get off the damn bus right?¡± I mocked before sighing. ¡°You really want someone to die over this? You are already getting what you want. Don¡¯t turn this into a gunfight.¡±


    ¡°Maybe I do. Maybe I want that shooter you got. Looks preem.¡±


    ¡°Save me from Street kids with more balls than brains.¡± I moaned. I was gonna have to do something.


    Fuck it. I pulled the trigger.


    At the same moment I rushed the leader. Of course I didn¡¯t shoot the kid, shot right over his head, but a bullet going off real close? Causes everyone to jerk and dodge. I hit the leader full bore. I might have been smaller than him, but he was an underfed Street Kid playing Gangster.


    I was a Gamer¡­ Wait, that came out wrong. I was The Gamer. Better.


    I grabbed his shotgun and pushed it up. Moron was still holding it one handed like some Chromed out borg. The shotgun went off, and he probably just wrecked his wrist. Which is about when I pistol whipped him.


    He went down with a yelp blood already streaming from his nose as I held his shotgun. I flinched as a bullet whizzed past my head.


    I turned the kid with the gun. He looked second oldest. God was this whole little group just a family of brothers?


    His gun was shaking and he was definitely trying for a second shot.


    So I did the only thing I could think of that wasn¡¯t shooting him.


    I chucked my Unity at his head. He flinched another round going off, and I really prayed that he hadn¡¯t just shot me in my gonk brain. But he went down a moment later crying out as the pistol bounced off his head with a loud thunk.


    ¡°Alright! I think that is enough of that!¡± I yelled as loud as I could racking the shotgun as I stormed over to the kid securing both pistols as the other boys all flinched brandishing their melee weapons.


    ¡°Fuckin batch you bwoke my nose!¡± The leader cried out as he started to stand back up looking furious.


    Until I turned and shot a round of his own shotgun over his head. He hastily dropped back down and the boys were all freaking out.


    ¡°You really did this? You turned a simple fuckin¡¯ job into a shootout. Well congrats, you are now outgunned and disarmed. The rest of you put those pipes and knives down or else.¡± I growled looking around as the boys were all hesitating and not looking great. The youngest looked like he was gonna piss himself since I had pointed a handgun at him.


    I reached down not taking my eyes off them, and picked up my Unity reholstering it and then grabbing the Lexington I realized the moment I picked it up that the kid had.


    ¡°Alright. All of you shut up. Stop your moaning. Now before anything else. You Gonk brain. Give me the ring.¡± I demanded waving the shotgun at the leader who looked at me like I was crazy.


    I wasn¡¯t crazy! I didn¡¯t fuck up a perfectly easy ransom deal because I got greedy! That was crazy!


    ¡°C¡¯mon stop looking at me, Does it look like I have the ring? No! Hand it over!¡± I yelled to startle the group.


    ¡°Fwuck you.¡± He grumbled as he looked around checking his hands and then his pockets before he realized he didn¡¯t know where it was.


    ¡°Oh Choom. Don¡¯t you tell me you dropped the ring and now you lost it. If it¡¯s gone I will flatline you just to deal with my frustration so you better find my target quick fast.¡± I say absolutely level as I cocked the shotgun again, not caring that I sent a shell flying.


    I just wanted the noise.


    It worked. The teen hurriedly looked around his feet his chooms were nervously looking around but mostly just staring at me.


    Finally he found it and wiped it down a bit. I checked it snatched it out of his hand and stuffed it into one of my leg pouches just to make sure it wouldn¡¯t disappear again.


    Then because I felt like being that sort of bad bitch. I sent the rest of the money. ¡°Next time remember you will just get zeroed if people can¡¯t trust you to keep to your word. Now. One last thing you owe me for this bullshit. Lady''s car you klepped. Where is it?¡±


    ¡°Down¡¯t got it.¡± He mumbled and I rolled my eyes at his words.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t ask if you had it. I asked where it is.¡±


    ¡°Donny¡¯s.¡± The second oldest said from where he was sitting rubbing his head from where I had donked him. ¡°Chop shop run by 6th St. We sell our cars there.¡±


    ¡°Transfer the deets.¡± I demanded and the teens all sort of wavered before his eyes shifted into a yellow and I got a text.


    ¡°Alright. Now learning experience here chooms. You make a deal that earns you some Eddies? Follow through, don¡¯t turn a simple thing into a mess. Or people die. Be glad I don¡¯t like killing kids.¡± I said before simply turning and walking down the street.


    Gotta wait for the fuckin bus. So embarrassing. I settled in near the bus stop across the street and literally watched as the kids picked themselves up and sort of limped out of the parking lot and back home.


    What a bunch of gonks.


    ¡ª--


    The ring got left in a dropbox, the deets about where the car was sent to Wakako. Wakako sent a confirmation not long after. Couple more Ennys in my pocket, but not nearly enough to cover dealing with such a massive shit show.


    At least I had a shotgun now.


    I had gotten an alert during the fight but hadn¡¯t checked it.


    *Annihilation Experience Gained.*


    *Skill not unlocked, no XP gained.*


    *Annihilation Unlocked.*


    Cool. This skill covered Shotguns, and Machine guns. I really needed to hit that gun range again. Jun had been¡­ quiet ever since he came back chromed up. Right now he was out of the apartment. I hadn¡¯t seen him in two days. My messages at least were getting a response back, but it was usually something like.


    *Busy.*


    *Can¡¯t talk now.*


    *Here is some eddies for food.*


    Stuff like that. I was growing frustrated by it all. The Worst thing was I knew exactly what he was doing. The Maelstrom-Tyger Claw gang war was heating up. Tyger Claws attacking Maelstrom back had only pissed off the other gang instead of ending it.


    Apparently Maelstrom wanted more territory in Kabuki.


    Tyger Claws took offense to that.


    It was getting nasty. Not quit at the level of total war on the streets. But gang hangouts or fronts on both sides were getting hit daily.


    It was even on the news.


    I walked into the apartment after a long awkward ride on public transit. Having everyone staring at me and my new shotgun was super awkward. I had even pretended to make a call so my eyes were glowing yellow just so I could pretend I wasn¡¯t paying attention to them.


    I walked into the apartment and sighed setting the shotgun on the table and flopping onto the couch.


    My anxiety was rising up again. Jun was being a butt. I was tempted to head out and hunt him down and stick to him on his little raids. Watch his back.


    But I sighed. I didn¡¯t even have a vehicle. It would be stupidly easy for Jun to lose me even if the Tyger Claws would help.


    Which I had a feeling they wouldn¡¯t. Mid gang war they weren¡¯t going to let a kid chase after her brother.


    Which meant I had two options. Sit here and spiral into my own mind. Or get up and do some grinding, and maybe be ready to do something when Jun does get in trouble.


    The problem is speed. I had been happy slowly grinding up some stats and skills. Enjoying just living. But Jun was forcing me to escalate.


    I was looking at the shotgun. Fingers tapping. Foot bouncing. That niggling feeling surging up.


    What was more valuable to me? Jun¡¯s life? Or the lives of a couple Scavs?


    That was the thought that convinced me. That crystalized my resolve. The Solo¡¯s guide had said to decide on the reasons that would force you to kill. For Jun? To be able to help him? To save him? Yeah I would kill. I would kill a lot.


    I was calm. Decided. I needed more stat points, and to use the stat points I already had.


    My hands stopped fidgeting. My foot stopped tapping, and I could feel my eyes narrow. I owed Jun. And in a way I owed the Scavs too. I had been afraid, unsure if I could do it. If I could even survive an assault on a Scav den.


    If that was the worry? Then I would just have to make sure I would. I didn¡¯t need stats alone to ensure a victory. Surprise, overwhelming firepower, and a few tricks would suit me just fine.


    ¡°It would be nice if I had a couple grenades don¡¯t ya think?¡± I muttered, an old movie reference that I loved, that probably didn¡¯t exist in this world. I did know where the gun shop was¡­ And I had some eddies in my pocket thanks to my jobs for Wakako.


    I stood up halfway out the door when I remembered something else. A quick detour to pick up that stupid Burya and I was back out the door.


    Still needed ammo and a holster for that monster. Just in case I run into some Borg.


    ¡ª--


    I walked out of the gun shop pocket light on eddies, but full of fun.


    Ammo and a shoulder holster for the Burya meant it was secure and hidden under my little jacket. The holster even had a few spots to hold the grenades I had bought.


    I was ready. I slipped onto the train and the whole way I was calm. I thought my hands would start shaking or my stomach would do flips, but they just didn¡¯t.


    It was time to kill some scavs.


    Idly I pulled up my stat menu. It was time.


    Two points went into Cool. And the two skill points went into Ninjutsu. Bringing them both to level 4. As much as it burned, I was once again maxing out the skill. I needed stealth if this was going to work.


    I exhaled as the information slipped into my mind. My body adjusting. A few simple shifts in the way I was sitting. The way I held myself. To better move silently. To better keep my movements from being picked up by the eyes all around me.


    To more easily reach for a weapon if someone did notice.


    Yeah. I was ready.

 Chapter 13

    Megabuilding H2. Floor 24. Just to make sure there weren''t any traps or eyes on the elevator. I went up to the floor above.


    Funnily enough it wasn¡¯t hard to see what section of the building below that was claimed by the Scavs. As I circled around. Looking down into the massive open drop that made up the center of the megabuildings. I could see the section that they had taken.


    The lights were broken, the walls looked like they had been attacked with a sledgehammer. Then there was the smell.


    Blood.


    As I walked above the area I scoped it out. Marking the holes in my mind as potential entrances. Or killing fields the scavs had set up. I took note of elevator that was stopped right there next to the claimed section. I would bet 50 eddies that they had hacked into that elevator to keep anyone else from using it. A way to transport their¡­ Goods. Up to their hacksaw clinic.


    The elevator would likely be watched. An instinctive thought entered my mind. If they had the tech ability to hack an elevator to keep it locked down, then they definitely had cameras for security.


    I found the place I was going to slip in. My knowledge of parkour told me this was an easy jump. I climbed over the barrier. What little it was, and simply dropped. Ten feet and I was grabbing onto the concrete barrier of the floor below with barely a sound.


    It was a little tough to hold myself from falling, but Body 5 turned it into a simple trick. I hadn¡¯t felt a lick of fear at potentially messing it up and falling.


    I peeked over the railing still hanging over a few hundred feet drop as I glanced onto the floor. The fact a lot of the apartments had their doors busted open told me a lot.


    I guess they had made sure no one else lived on this floor. At least in this section. My eyes narrowed looking for any sign of a camera or alert system.


    Nothing. I slipped over as quietly as I could and hurried to the first apartment. The door was already open. Broken in fact and I had to force it a bit just to be able to slip through.


    The smell of old blood told me everything that happened here. Broken doors and blood stains tell a frightening story. Unfortunately this apartment wasn¡¯t connected to the Scavs ¡®clinic¡¯ so I would have to keep going. I slipped back out and started stalking along the apartments fronts. The hallways splitting off leading to deeper sections were checked with a few quick peeks before I slipped past them. Closer and closer to the section that was obviously their main setup. It was closest to the elevator.


    It was also barricaded a bit. Made to look like trash build up, but it was obviously done on purpose. A pile of garbage and old equipment blocking off the walkway that went around the interior of the building.


    As I approached I heard voices. Ducking down to hide behind the trash barricade.


    Russian voices.


    I rolled my eyes. I didn''t have a translator chip. So I had no idea what they were saying, but they were walking over to the Elevator from down a hall, and in a few moments the elevator rocked to life and started heading down.


    The noise was perfect.


    I moved. A bit of Parkour allowed me to swing out over the massive drop to get around the trash barricade without a sound. Now on the other side of the barricade I hurriedly slipped up to the interior wall and peeked down the hallway the scavs had just come from.


    A camera was looking down the hall.


    Damn.


    Looks like I had been right. They kept an eye on the elevator. I considered hacking the camera, but I had no angle to start scanning to get its information much less to start the hack. I would have to go around instead.


    As I looked around I noticed my entrance. I could see a hole busted into the wall that looked like they might be using it to shoot out at anyone coming up in the elevator that they didn¡¯t welcome.


    Like a crew coming to clear them out.


    Or the NCPD actually doing something for once.


    I needed to get over there.


    I looked around before sighing. My Parkour instincts kicking in showing me a path.


    A very annoying path.


    I walked back along the trash barricade, hit the concrete barrier that would barely keep anyone from falling into the abyss that was the center of the megabuilding and slipped over it. Then I shimmied sideways, until I hit the elevator shaft. The metal had plenty of places to grab, so I climbed on. Down below the barrier the camera couldn¡¯t see me as I shimmied my way around the entire elevator shaft until I was on the other side.


    Then just a bit more climbing and I was clear of the hallways vision and I climbed back over.


    I took a moment hiding behind some garbage to catch my breath and work out the tension in my arms. Couldn¡¯t have my arms be tired for what came next.


    I moved to the hole.


    Peeking in I noticed I was right. An HMG was resting against a table looking outwards.


    The room was empty, looked like a bathroom they had smashed apart to make space for their little bunker. I had to be quiet. Slipping in since I was more than small enough to slip through the hole. I did my best not to make a sound as the concrete under my belly shifted and crumbled but I made it through.


    I looked to the HMG.


    Looked to the door.


    Looked to the HMG again.


    Tempting. But no. Those things are heavy as hell.


    ¡°Next time.¡± I promised it as I shifted up to the doorway. The stupid bead blinds that were popular at least let me see out into the next room.


    A Scav was set up on the couch in the next room, a BD wreath around his head.


    I slipped through the beads silent as a ghost. Stalking through the apartment, eyes roving every corner just to make sure there wasn¡¯t anyone else here.


    There wasn¡¯t.


    My knife slipped out of my sheath without a sound.


    The man didn¡¯t hear a thing. Didn¡¯t feel a thing. Not until my hand was over his mouth to muffle and my knife slipped into his neck.


    His quiet gasp muffled and weak death throes were ignored.


    I slipped my knife back into my sheath and settled a pillow against the mans neck. Hiding the blood splatter.


    *500 XP Gained.*


    I moved on. My hunt had only just begun.


    Besides, right now? I was feeling pretty... Cool.


    The apartment wall had been broken out. Connecting the apartments. Into one massive ¡®hive¡¯ of rooms. I slipped over to the hole and started making my way through a dark hole that looked like it had once been a storage area for the apartment.


    The next apartment was brighter lit, and the smell of blood hit me.


    It also wasn¡¯t empty. Bodies stacked up and Ripper doc chair with a corpse. Her chest ripped open like she was in an aliens movie.


    And a man walking around the body with some weird device in his hands that looks like an ancient torture device.


    The lights were out in the storage room I was slipping through giving me the perfect opportunity to move closer. As the man couldn¡¯t see his death.


    He looked into the hole in her chest and reached in. Obviously trying to pull something loose.


    My hand gripped my knife again.


    He was tall. I would have trouble reaching his neck for a strike. I glanced around. My Ninjutsu instinct told me to check every corner. Every angle before striking.


    Even as my eyes kept him in sight.


    I stalked closer.


    He was bent over. Looking into the girls chest. I stalked right up beside him. I could tell the exact moment he would see me.


    Ninjutsu had taught me a lot about assasination.


    He glanced over at the exact moment my knife slipped into his neck. I had walked right up beside him. So I could deliver my blow. I kept with the blow helping him drop to the floor dragging him away from everything a bit so his death flailing wouldn¡¯t knock anything over. After a few moments his movements stilled.


    *500 XP Gained.*


    I looked around. This was definitely part of their main shop. I couldn¡¯t leave his body on the floor.


    I blinked when I saw it.


    Well if it worked for video game protagonists everywhere¡­ I dragged him over to a cold storage fridge. I had a feeling what I would find inside and I was right.


    Bodies. I grimaced as I hefted him up. Definitely struggling with his weight.


    I really needed more Body. But after a bit of back and forth I dumped him inside. Shutting the fridge.


    Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    I took a moment to back off. Back into the dark storage room to rest up against the wall and regain control of my breathing.


    A minute.


    That¡¯s all I needed. Then I was good to go. I moved on. The Ripper room led to a much larger area. It had once been a living room, but everything had been torn out. It looked like¡­ It was a storage room. Full of crates that I bet if I checked inside would be full of Cyberware. I guess I found their stock.


    Three people were hanging around the room. One was putting stuff into one of the crates. One was just looking out the window smoking


    The third? He was the most dangerous. He looked borged out. I grimaced at the realization they did have some serious muscle to back up their operation.


    I looked around. There was no way I could take out all three of them without noise, but as I looked around I realized I could get around them. I smiled as I stalked into the room using the crates as cover to walk to my right towards where the entrance to the apartment would have been.


    These apartments had been absolutely broken apart. Obviously the scavs wanted their own path through things, and the large crates wouldn¡¯t even fit through the old apartment doors. So, walls, doors, and huge sections of each apartment had been ripped apart.


    Which also meant lights were down. I slipped into a dark section near the old entrance where the wall had been ripped apart. Noticing that I could continue on through a hole they had battered through the concrete. I slipped through moving right past the massive room without a sound.


    The room connected was another bunker room. No HMG though, shame.


    This one was occupied instead. A BD wreath clad Scav again.


    These scavs were making it easy.


    He died just as quickly as the last one.


    *500 XP Gained.*


    With that I slipped out the exit to the bathroom bunker and looked around. The next room was full of computers and other equipment. Probably the place they set up their sales and buys. I glanced around no one was in the room, but I could hear cutting from next door. As I walked through something caught my eye and I snatched it up. A Max Doc.


    Didn¡¯t have any of those. Healing item get.


    The computer system was nice. A multi monitor setup attached to a wall with a desk and chair under it. I could try to breach in, but I shook my head. Focus on the job of killing scavs. I could do that later if I really wanted.


    I moved past. Following the noise of people sawing at something. As I poked my head into the next room I grimaced.


    This time the ripper wasn¡¯t alone.


    A man and a woman working together to rip off the legs off a dead man.


    I really fucking hated these people. My brain was still cool. So my mind swiftly found a path through them.


    I drew my knife. And as I stalked into the room. I grabbed an object from a table. A bigger cutting tool, more like a pair of industrial shears than scissors, but it would do.


    I attacked. The knife in my right hand sliding right into the mans throat before I left it and swiped at the woman.


    *500 XP Gained.*


    I was off. No. I realized she had dodged too fast to be natural. She had jerked her head back moving almost blurring fast for half a second before she realized what had just happened.


    She cursed loudly. Yelling something in russian.


    I threw my knife. She wasn¡¯t fast anymore. It whistled for half a moment before appearing in her chest with a dull thunk.


    She gasped, her legs failing her suddenly.


    *100 Reflex XP Gained.*


    *500 XP Gained.*


    Okay. Ninja mode disengaged.


    I moved. To the next room. A guy was already grabbing a rifle off a desk when I slipped in.


    He was scrambling for a rifle on a table across from him when I raised my pistol.


    The retort echoed through the apartments as I fired again and again, until the man fell to the floor.


    *500 XP Gained.*


    *Level up achieved!*


    *One Stat Point Gained.*


    *One Skill Point Gained.*


    I dropped the magazine, and reloaded quickly. Well since this Scav was kind enough to pull out something a bit heavier than my pistol. I rushed across the room grabbing the rifle.


    Instantly my head knew what it was. Nokota D5 Copperhead.


    It was the AK of the future.


    I spun. I could hear footsteps approaching.


    Heavy footsteps.


    I looked around. The room I was in was the last unit in the row. There wasn¡¯t a second exit.


    So this is where I would have to make a stand.


    I raced back across the room. Using the doorway to the Ripper room set up. Rifle raised up and pointed, but I could hear the borg moving. Basically doing the same thing on the opposite doorway.


    Intermittent Russian called out as the three scavs talked to each other.


    Well if he wanted to post up near the doorway.


    I grabbed a Frag grenade from my chest rig. Ripping the pin out with my teeth which actually hurt a bit and wasn¡¯t nearly as easy as the movies made it seem, I popped the grenade holding it for half a second to cook before chucking it across the room.


    My Reflex and Ninjutsu helped make the grenade land generally where I wanted it to as it hit the doorway and fell into the computer room.


    But before it went off, it was suddenly spiraling into the ripper room.


    Did¡­ Did the borg seriously kick it? Asshole!


    I jerked back and the massive thump of the grenade going off in the room rolled past me. A few moments later something in Russian was called out mockingly.


    ¡°I don¡¯t speak Russian.¡± I answered back completely flat.


    Then a surge went up my spine. Danger Sense. I was spotted? I jerked back landing flat on my back just in time for a massive chunk of the wall I had been standing against disappeared.


    I held back a curse. Letting the cool feeling surging through my nerves keep my calm.


    Tech Shotgun? Tech Shotgun. I popped a Grenade off my rig quietly pulling the pin.


    ¡°Do you understand Russian now?¡± The voice called back mockingly. A rough older man. Obviously laughing.


    He thought he got me. I smiled. I heard his foot thunk. I popped the trigger on the grenade. Letting it cook.


    I felt completely calm. My heartbeat didn¡¯t even stutter as I held the cooking grenade long past where I should have.


    Then as if I had done this a million times I chucked it through the hole he had just blown through the wall.


    Half a second was all the time he had. A moment to start cursing in Russian before the Grenade made it through the hole and exploded. I rolled away. Plaster and concrete shattered over me as the wall came down.


    My ears were ringing, but I brought up the rifle I had stolen, and as soon as I managed to roll to my knees I started firing into the smoke and dust.


    I could see the bullets make divots through the dust but I realized after half a magazine I wasn¡¯t able to tell if I was hitting anything. So I leapt to the side rolling until I was behind a desk just in case.


    Which was smart because the sound of a double barrel shotgun ripping through the room smashing concrete as it went right through where I had been a moment before told me I hadn¡¯t gotten him.


    Again more russian was called out, although it wasn¡¯t the borg, but I got the gist.


    ¡°Kill her this time?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Nyet was some of the only russian I knew after all.


    He thunked into the room like the fucking terminator. Already reloading his shotgun.


    I tossed my last grenade.


    I didn¡¯t pull the pin though.


    As he moved to kick it back towards me I rose up.


    Burya staring straight at him, his shotgun out of position as he kicked the grenade back.


    We had a moment. A simple frozen moment in time as his eyes locked with mine. I could see it. The frozen moment he realized he had fucked up.


    The moment my Burya kicked, breaking my arm but sending a bullet with more than enough force to crack his chrome.


    He was actually smiling a little as the bullet struck.


    *1000 XP Gained.*


    Then everything was moving again.


    I was moving again. Dropped the Burya because my right arm wasn¡¯t strong enough to holster the damn thing I raced over to the dropped grenade. Popped the pin with my teeth again.


    Ow.


    I tossed the grenade with every inch of the accuracy I had ground. The grenade arced through the ripper room, and into the computer room.


    The room that I hoped the two other Scavs were hanging around in waiting for their Borg to take me out.


    I breathed for a few moments wincing at the feeling of my arm even as the pain was fading into prickly ice.


    And then the thump of the grenade echoed through the building.


    I moved. Not waiting for a moment, I dashed through the ripper room power sliding into the room with the computer terminal.


    The two scavs were shocked from the grenade, having jumped out of the way to survive it, but they weren¡¯t stupid.


    Even as my pistol rose up and started shooting.


    They shot back.


    I winced when I felt a bullet strike me, and then two.


    Yet my bullets were hitting them as well. One scav went down.


    *500 XP Gained.*


    Yet the second Scav and I were facing each other, both of us low to the ground. Both of our guns raised.


    We started firing. Bullets whizzed past me as I tried to roll to avoid more rounds, my Unity barking over and over until finally it clicked down.


    We both were on the ground. I was gasping. As I struggled to move.


    That was a lot of blood.


    I dropped my Unity even as I felt myself wavering.


    I was dying. I coughed, blood rolling out of my throat.


    I fumbled with my pocket, finally pulled out the Max Doc with shaking hands.


    I inhaled it and instantly the hazy feeling disappeared. I could feel the bullet holes not close, but stop bleeding. Although I could see that they were scabbing over. Healing.


    I rose up looking over to the Scav who looked just like I had been a moment before. Leaning up against a desk bleeding out from multiple gunshot wounds.


    His eyes though.


    He had seen.


    He looked at me in horror as I reached behind my back and pulled out a magazine.


    I picked up my Unity and reloaded it as I took a few steps closer.


    Then I put a bullet in his eye.


    *500 XP Gained.*


    I stood there after just catching my breath. I felt cool, but I also felt tired.


    Took a few tired steps out into the large room. The large room full of crates probably loaded with Cyberware.


    I flopped onto the couch the Borg had been resting on before and just breathed for a few minutes.


    ¡°How am I still alive?¡± I asked as I zoned out. What the fuck had I just done? I wasn¡¯t some elite special operative or something! Okay I could shoot a gun with an okay level of skill, but I had just¡­ How did I know to throw the grenade without pulling the pin?


    I hadn¡¯t even thought. I just did. Cold Blood had left me without any hesitation. Pain and fear, even anger, hadn''t played any part. Just a cold clinical calculus.


    I had put in a few points into Ninjutsu before going into this den, but I was actually wondering if I should have put it into Cold Blood.


    I raised my hands up to wipe my face only to wince.


    While the Max Doc had seemed to give me a gamer style heal. At least enough to put me back to alive status. My arm was still broken. And I still had some bullet holes.


    It had stopped me from bleeding out, and healed parts of my holes, but not all the way. I looked down at my chest. At the holes punched through my Netrunner suit.


    Dammit. That was going to be expensive to fix. So much for the armor as well.


    I rose up and started searching around. They had to have a place with medical supplies somewhere.


    And I was right. In a corner I found a med kit and popped it open. Instantly inhaling the Max Doc and sighing as my bullet holes healed up more, although it would be obvious I had been shot still. There were still wounds where I had been shot¡­


    Wait, did that mean I had bullets in me still? Dammit. I would have to get to a ripper to check. How was I supposed to ask that? ¡°Hey Ripper can you tell if I still have bullets in me from these holes that just happened?¡± I mocked myself before sighing.


    ¡°Well actually I probably need to stop at a ripper anyways huh.¡± I couldn¡¯t help but admit as I looked over the crates all over the room. I walked over to one and popped it open, only to wince.


    ¡°Legs.¡±


    I moved on to the next crate. ¡°Arms.¡±


    ¡°Synth Muscle.¡±


    The next one had little boxes that when I opened up I instantly closed back down.


    ¡°Eyes.¡± I muttered with a shiver. I looked over the crates.


    ¡°Fuck.¡± That was a lot of product. A lot of Cyberware.


    ¡°Okay Motoko you idiot. You cleared out the Scavs. Now how do you get this stuff out of here?¡±


    I realized I hadn¡¯t actually thought that far.


    Motoko kill scavs and numbers go up!


    Fuck. That was about as far as my stupid brain had thought this through. I was going to have to call in help¡­ help that was going to ask questions.


    Fuck it. I had nearly died, but no one needed to know that. I could just¡­ Fake it. Yeah.


    I would just lie. Alot.


    I made a call.


    *Toko! Save me from boredom! Club?*


    *Hey Hiromi¡­ Can you get Ichi and the gang together and find a bigger vehicle than your bikes. I need¡­ I need a couple trucks or something.*


    *Okay I am suddenly very interested in what my cute Motoko is talking about. What is going on?*


    *It¡¯s hard to explain and I don¡¯t really want to talk about over the line. Can you do it? I promise there will be eddies in it.*


    *Well I would come no matter what, but that will get the boys moving. Alright where to?*


    *Just get to Megabuilding H2, and try to keep it quiet. That would be Preem.*


    *I¡¯ll get the boys moving we have Omaeda¡¯s van. That enough?*


    *No. Rent or hell steal a cargo truck if you have to. We got a lot of shit to move.*


    The line was quiet for a moment as I looked out the windows watching the city far below.


    *I am so interested right now. You have no idea. Okay whatever craziness you got going on I¡¯m in.*


    *Thanks Hiromi. Really. I appreciate it.*


    The line ended and I took a moment to look around. Finding all kinds of stuff that had my looter''s instincts going crazy. I started bringing it back to the central room until I stumbled upon a shower that still worked. I quickly washed up. Trying to get most of the blood off me, but wincing when I realized that I still had bullet holes all over me.


    That was going to be difficult to explain. I quickly zipped up my jacket hoping that it would hide most of the holes. I looked around and found some bandages of all things in a med kit. With a bit of arranging the bullet holes were hidden, and you couldn¡¯t see that I had been shot now. It just looked like I was wearing a white shirt under my leotard.


    Hopefully no one would wonder why my new Netrunner Leotard had holes in it. Figuring that was good enough I decided to start looting.

 Chapter 14

    I was searching through the borg I had flatlined for any goodies he might have in his pocket when I heard it.


    The elevator.


    It left a quiet rumble through the floor as it settled. The elevator that was locked down so only Scavs could use it. Hiromi and Ichi¡¯s crew wouldn¡¯t be here yet.


    ¡°Here I go murdering again.¡± I whispered as everything went cold.


    Instantly my mind had a thought and every part of me was nodding along.


    I ran. Sprinted through the different rooms over the dead bodies and through broken walls before I returned to that little Bunker they had set up near the elevator. I crept up and unfortunately whoever had come up had already walked out of the elevator.


    But that was fine. I slipped out through the hole as quickly and quietly as I could until I was once more on the Megabuildings outer walkway.


    Then I pulled the HMG through the hole.


    I wheezed a little at how heavy it was as it caused a twinge in my left arm that made me wince, but I fought through it anyways. How did Becca handle this thing!? Oh right. Cyber arms.


    Gonna have to get me some cyber arms.


    Because as I walked down the hall I caught the sight of the scav walking into their little den. That room led to the first Ripper room.


    Which meant I had about thirty seconds before they realized something was up.


    So I hurried down the hall. Not caring too much about making noise. This was their home base. They expected people here.


    I crept through the ripper room, my face turning into a gentle smirk as I stopped just before entering the big room.


    I took a breath.


    Then I walked out around the doorway.


    Three men. One was carrying a man over his shoulder.


    Fuck. They had a victim¡­


    Fine. I just wouldn¡¯t shoot at that one, I adjusted my aim.


    And pulled the trigger.


    You know in the game the HMG was used every once in a while. It was an okay thing. A heavy weapon you could pick up and carry around for a bit until it ran out of ammo, or you had to do anything else.


    It was okay. Not great. Not amazing. Just okay. Fun though.


    This? This wasn¡¯t a video game.


    This was a fucking HMG fired from the hip by a fourteen year old unaugmented girl. I only weighed a tad over a hundred pounds.


    Did I forget my broken left arm? Yes. Yes, I did forget my broken left arm. That is until about half a second after I started firing.


    Then I remembered it. Oh did I remember it.


    So yeah. Firing the HMG instantly fucked me up. Kicking me back and forcing me to push myself into a wall to keep from falling on my ass.


    Too bad for the poor Scav that I had been aiming at though.


    He turned into fucking hamburger. Turns out these HMG¡¯s fired explosive rounds.


    *500 XP Gained.*


    The other two leapt for cover.


    Which didn¡¯t help when I manhandled the HMG arcing over towards the scav that wasn¡¯t carrying an innocent.


    Explosive ammunition doesn¡¯t care about light cover.


    I kept firing. The wall I was pushing the gun against to find any sort of stabilization practically crumbled from the treatment but it did let me arc the fire straight through the second Scav attempt to hide behind an overturned table.


    *500 XP Gained.*


    I dropped the HMG. I couldn¡¯t shoot the third Scav without hitting the victim, and I didn¡¯t think I could have held it for much longer anyways.


    I drew my Unity with my good arm and rushed him.


    The Scav was still screaming something in Russian as I leapt over the couch he had been hiding behind.


    The poor victim looked like shit on the floor beside him obviously having been dropped like a sack when the firing started. But the Scav? He was cowering.


    Four rounds into him before he realized I was there and he stopped moving.


    *500 XP Gained.*


    I breathed. Just breathed catching my breath before I rolled forward and grabbed my arm.


    ¡°Fuuuuu-!¡±


    ¡ª---


    The Victim was still unconscious. I checked them out and they didn¡¯t have any shards in their system or anything. Probably just drugged or beaten unconscious. So I hauled them up and put them on one of the newly destroyed couches before settling in myself.


    My arm twinged a bit whenever I moved it.


    I think I broke, broke it. I needed a nap, but needed to get the crates full of cyberware out first. I sighed hoping Hiromi hurried up.


    The bodies were starting to smell¡­ Worse than the room already smelled. While I waited I checked over my stats since I had nothing else to do.


    Considering how much shooting I had just done, I wasn¡¯t surprised to see my stats had gone up.


    A lot.


    *Annihilation skill level up!*


    *Annihilation skill level up!*


    *1 Perk Point Gained.*


    *Annihilation skill level up!*


    I blinked at that one. Guess firing an HMG had leveled me up quick.


    I stopped to check out the perks for a moment. This time there was a pretty quick delineation between shotgun perks and Machine gun perks. Luckily just a few options from the top was what I wanted. I picked it immediately.


    Recoil Reduction. Know how to best reduce the effect of recoil on aim and your body.


    That would hopefully mean when I shot the Burya my arm stopped breaking. I would have to test that though. I winced at that idea. So I moved on.


    *Reflex Leveled up!*


    This was a relief. Reflex was so determined by my skills since I didn¡¯t have a direct way to level it. Now I was at Reflex 4. That meant I had even more Reflex skills to level.


    Well those that hadn¡¯t already.


    *Blades skill level up!*


    *Handguns skill level up!*


    *Assault skill level up!*


    Handguns was once more maxed out at Handguns 4. Blades was at 3, and Assault 3. So I still had some grinding to do with those.


    Then I looked down a bit more on the list.


    *Cool Leveled up!*


    *Cool Leveled up!*


    Cool 6. I guess killing all these scavs was pretty cool. I sighed. No wonder I was still calm and collected. Sitting around the dead bodies of the Scavs wasn¡¯t even ruffling me. I shook that away looking at the last two skills.


    *Ninjutsu skill level up!*


    *1 Perk Point Gained.*


    I had only gained one level of Ninjutsu. I guess Cool had leveled up once early on when I was still sneaking around, but since I had stopped using stealth mid fight it didn¡¯t have a chance to level along with Cool.


    Cold Blood though?


    *Cold Blood skill level up!*


    *Cold Blood skill level up!*


    *Cold Blood skill level up!*


    *1 Perk Point Gained.*


    *Cold Blood skill level up!*


    Four levels. Cold blood 6.


    It was now my highest stat and skill. I rubbed my eyes a bit before opening the perks menu.


    Ninjutsu first.


    The list hadn¡¯t changed much. One or two additional perks that seemed to have unlocked due to other skill trees.


    Scrolling through the list I ended up finally deciding to keep focusing on the stealth aspect of Ninjutsu instead of the combat angle.


    Which is why I kept circling around to this perk.


    Cyber Ninja. After Breaching a system automatically upload a daemon that makes you more difficult to see for members of the network. Increases based on skill level of Breaching.


    A combo perk. Breach and Ninjutsu. A perk I hadn¡¯t had before. Being able to sneak past people after using Breach on them? That was already something I wanted to do!


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    But it also meant I really needed to level my Breach and Quick Hack. So I could hack and Breach on the run. I looked around at the room full of Cyberware. I wondered if they had anything here I could use? But I shook that off to refocus.


    Because I still had one more perk to choose.


    Cold Blood.


    I started looking down the list. It didn¡¯t take me long to find what I wanted.


    Fearless Chill. Fear is a powerful enemy. Good thing your enemies realize you have none. Fear is your ally.


    From the description it read more like a diplomacy skill. If while under Cold Blood people realized I wasn¡¯t afraid¡­ that might be a pretty strong advantage.


    Fearless people were scary after all. You never knew what they would be willing to do.


    I picked it, I had already taken a perk to keep my body calm in terrible situations, maybe one to keep my mind calm would be a good combination too.


    I looked at my skill points. The desire to spend them was there. But I held off for now. After this I would probably do some normal grinding for a while. I might even have the eddies to try working on my Technical Skill. That would be a nice thing to level. So I would hold off for a bit, figure out what I wanted to raise. Intelligence, or maybe more Cool and Stealth?


    *Ringing*


    I smiled as Hiromi finally called me back.


    *Hiromi. You here?*


    *Well I¡¯m at the ground floor in the garage. You said the south side right?*


    *Yeah the south elevator. You near it?*


    *It¡¯s right here, but the damn thing is broken, choom.*


    *Yeah they had it locked down. Give me a minute, should be able to send it down from here.* I quickly rose, noticing the victim was still out. And hurried to the elevator. Just like I expected, the control panel on the elevator was completely destroyed having been pulled off and modified.


    An absolute mess of wires and connections.


    Unfortunately my tech knowledge was zilch.


    It was the back of an elevator control panel. I had no idea how or what they had done.


    It took a minute of going over the wires trying to find what everything was connected to.


    *Crafting Experience Gained.*


    *Skill not unlocked, no XP gained.*


    *Crafting Unlocked.*


    I blinked mid way through as I got the alert.


    ¡°Nice but useless right now.¡± I muttered as I continued following the wires until I finally found something strange. A box that wasn¡¯t supposed to be there.


    It even had buttons. I pushed one of them and nothing happened. Then the other.


    The elevator started going down.


    ¡°Finally.¡± I grunted as I waited for it to hit the bottom.


    *Ringing.* Hiromi was calling again.


    *Hey choom! You sent it down!*


    *Yeah go ahead and get on, and let me know when you are ready I can bring it up.*


    *Hah! Our own personal elevator. Hear that Ichi? We got our own ride¡­ What? No shut up Malcolm you gonk!*


    The call turned into arguing for a minute before I sighed.


    *You ready for a lift Hiromi?*


    *Huh? Oh yeah we are all on.*


    I rolled my eyes as I ended the call and pushed the other button, feeling the elevator start traveling upwards right after.


    I stepped back as I waited, before quickly looking myself over. I was mostly clean of blood, and the bullet holes in my Netrunner Leotard hopefully wouldn¡¯t draw too much attention. I wiped a hand through my purple hair one last time before standing casually putting on a bit of coolness as the elevator finally made it to the top.


    ¡°Hi hi!¡± Hiromi called as the Elevator opened looking around at the destroyed section of the building.


    I imagine it looked like one hell of a scene. Garbage barriers. Holes in the walls. Lights flickering in and out. I realized then that there were some bloody footprints from my surprise attack on the second group of scavs walking away from the hole in the wall and then back into the apartment¡­ I must have stepped into a bloody pool when I ran.


    Just fly casual Motoko.


    ¡°Glad you all could make it. I could use the extra hands.¡± I offered as I flicked my head back towards the apartment.


    ¡°What the hell did I just walk into?¡± Omaeda asked, looking very uncomfortable as he looked over the area. He was even fingering his pistol on his hip as he looked around.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. There are no more threats here. It¡¯s safe.¡± I told him directly, trying to sound reassuring.


    I don¡¯t think it was though.


    ¡°Motoko. Choom. Choomer. Choomiest? What¡¯s going on?¡± Hiromi asked, looking around nervously as well.


    ¡°Scav den.¡± I answered back. ¡°You are the clean up team.¡± I told her, which to my surprise caused all four of them to tense up and draw their weapons like scavs were going to come out of the walls.


    ¡°Fuck Motoko, you can¡¯t ask us to his a scav den without letting us know first!¡± Ichi hissed with a whisper as he started checking the corners nervously. And even Hiromi was looking a little freaked out.


    ¡°Clean up. Not extermination.¡± I said after a few moments trying to cut through their freakout. ¡°Place is already cleared. Just needed some hands to move the loot.¡± I explain and while that at least causes them to stop freaking out so much, they were still looking around.


    ¡°Who helped you clean the place out Motoko?¡± Ichi asked, and even Hiromi jumped on me after resheathing her katana that she had drawn.


    ¡°Yeah I thought we were a crew! You went and got some other mercs to help out? Or did you join a new crew? You can¡¯t betray us like that Motokooooo!¡± Hiromi whined.


    ¡°It was just me though?¡± I answered calmly. ¡°That¡¯s why I called you all in, I needed help looting everything.¡± I told them as I gestured down the hall. ¡°C¡¯mon stop playing around.¡± I said calmly as I turned and walked down the hall.


    The door was already open as I entered ignoring the first Ripper room with the dead woman still on the table.


    Once we were out of here I would alert the NCPD. I don¡¯t know if they would actually do anything or not, but maybe they would.


    Either way I had no idea what to do with a body.


    I could hear gasps of shock at the sight and whispers breaking out among the group as they noticed the already dead woman.


    I wondered what they would think when they saw the main room. I walked in and looked around. It was a bit of a mess. The three dead Scavs were one thing, well they weren¡¯t one thing anymore, more a few different chunks¡­ Anyway, you could see the other two in the computer room from where I stopped too.


    I turned around only to blink.


    No one was there. I looked down at the victim who was still unconscious. ¡°My chooms are a bit¡­ unreliable.¡± I admitted to him before turning around and going back into the ripper room.


    The crew was all looking around the room in horror.


    ¡°Guys? The stuff is in here.¡± I pointed out my re-appearance causing Malcolm to jerk back from the womans corpse that he had been morbidly looking into her open chest.


    ¡°This is crazy.¡± He muttered but he finally followed me and everyone else put down whatever junk they were playing with.


    Seriously Ichi, I don¡¯t think we need a pair of surgical clamps.


    The group followed me into the main room and instantly I could hear Malcolm start cussing.


    ¡°Son of a bitch. That¡¯s a dead scav!¡± He called out hurrying over to the legs of the scav I had caught with the HMG. Only to stutter to a quick stop ¡°Err. I mean It¡¯s half a dead scav.¡±


    ¡°The other half of him is over there.¡± I pointed to the other side of the couch they were standing next to. ¡°Also Omaeda don¡¯t touch that. It¡¯s mine.¡± I tell him looking over my shoulder to see Omaeda checking out my HMG.


    That was going with me.


    Omaeda looked up his hand inches from touching the gun before back to the gun and back to me before raising his hands off it and standing up.


    ¡°Wait. Is this one alive?¡± Hiromi asked, having been looking around as well.


    ¡°Yeah, that was a victim. They were carrying him up. I think he is drugged up. When we get out of here we need to call the NCPD let them take care of it.¡±


    ¡°Damn Motoko. You seriously assaulted a Scav den and took out three Scavs? You got lucky there weren''t any more.¡± Ichi mentioned having looked over the couch to see the second Scav I had mowed down with the HMG.


    ¡°There were more than three. One in the first ripper room. Two in this room, along with a Borg. One in the last room I think was their boss.. The two that were in the other ripper room¡­ Then these three showed up after¡­ I think that¡¯s it? Oh no wait, the two gonks that were scrolling a BD. One in the front, and another down that way.¡± I told them counting on my fingers as I tried to remember all of them. I had been more focused on making sure I got them all at the time than counting.


    Besides they were scavs. It took me a moment to actually remember all of them.


    The room was quiet as I looked up from my fingers and noticed everyone staring at me.


    ¡°What?¡± They all jerked like they had stuck a fork in a power socket.


    ¡°Nothing.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, is cool is all.¡±


    ¡°Preem.¡± Hiromi offered with a big smile that looked a little off.


    I gave them all a flat look but I could see Ichi¡¯s group kind of closing off as they stepped away a bit and clumped together. I could hear them whispering to themselves for a while, but I gave them their space. I did sort of drag them into a charnel house.


    They deserved a few minutes to sort things out. Hiromi was also distracted, poking her head around a bit checking the room over, looking through some of the crates with a wrinkled nose.


    Finally I noticed they were all splitting up a bit to look around and I called out.


    ¡°Anyways. Let¡¯s move these crates first! I don¡¯t want something to happen like the NCPD showing up and not letting us loot them. Crates first. And then we can go around at our leisure to see if there is anything you want. Should be lots of weapons and stuff lying around.¡± I told the group as I walked over to the crate nearest me.


    That caused everyone to gather back up, and Ichi¡¯s crew seemed more at ease.


    ¡°What¡¯s in the crates?¡± Malcolm asked curious and I could tell the others had probably a good idea already but I shrugged and lifted the lid.


    ¡°Oh that¡¯s a lot of legs.¡±


    ¡°The crates are full of the Scavs loot. We are taking it for ourselves.¡± I tell them. Thankfully it wasn¡¯t like full hacked off legs, but all the interior cyberware packaged in plastic ready for resale.


    ¡°Oh that¡¯s why you said bring vehicles with space.¡± Malcolm responded. ¡°I¡¯m surprised you even brought us in. This is a huge payday Choom.¡±


    ¡°My arm is a little messed up. So I can¡¯t really move the crates myself.¡± I told him, causing Hiromi to squawk as she ran over to me looking me over as if she could see the injury.


    ¡°What happened? Did the gonks shoot you or something!?¡± She talked quickly looking me over but I just raised my left arm.


    ¡°I had to shoot my Burya to flatline their Borg. It messed up my arm. It¡¯s fine, just stings.¡± Which was the truth from a certain point of view.


    ¡°Burya?¡± She asked suddenly. ¡°What¡¯s a Burya and why would it mess up your arm? Jeez Moootooookooooo You are a worse storyteller than Ichi!¡±


    ¡°Hey!¡±


    ¡°Burya is a pistol Hiromi. It has a strong kick. Feels like it¡¯s breaking my arm every time I shoot it, but it¡¯s good for killing borgs. It punches right through their armor.¡± I explained simply as I finally pushed her hands from my arm to the crate. ¡°Let¡¯s get this stuff moved okay? I really don¡¯t want to lose all this chrome. Some of it might be usable by us.¡±


    ¡°Wait. You mean we can use this?¡± Malcolm asked, suddenly perking up from where he had been poking around in another crate his face split into an eager look towards me.


    ¡°Help me get it out of here and secured, and we can figure it out. I¡¯ll get first dibs, but otherwise I don¡¯t mind. Just don¡¯t go crazy.¡± I told him, and suddenly the three boys looked a lot more eager. Not just eddies on the mind but chrome.


    ¡°Pshh most of this is junk. I doubt we will want any of this chrome.¡± Hiromi muttered but I shrugged.


    ¡°Still worth eddies somewhere¡­ Maybe? What¡¯s the best way to sell Chrome like this?¡± I asked Hiromi quietly who looked at me like..


    Well like I was a gonk.


    ¡°Wait, you cleared this den and you wanted us to grab all this junk, and you have no idea what to do with it?¡±


    ¡°I hadn¡¯t thought that far ahead¡­ Yet. I¡¯m thinking about it now though!¡±


    ¡°You are such a gonk.¡± She scoffed, ¡°I have some ideas let¡¯s talk to Ichi though he has more connections that might help than I do.¡±


    ¡°Cool¡­ Wanna help move the crates?¡±


    ¡°Nah. I¡¯ll stick with you, let the boys earn their eddies.¡± Hiromi offered me with a fox grin that I couldn¡¯t help but chuckle at. We both took a moment watching the boys who were already grabbing crates and hauling them over to the elevator. The three were practically drooling at all the chrome.


    But Hiromi stopped paying attention to them once they were far enough away.


    ¡°Hiromi?¡± I asked as she turned to look at me with a serious face.


    ¡°Motoko, what happened here? Did you take a job to hunt the scavs? Who even gave you the information. They were probably sending you to die, you know?¡±


    ¡°No one. It wasn¡¯t a gig Hiromi. I just¡­ Learned there were some scavs here, and came to clear them out.¡±


    ¡°That is crazy.¡± She said slowly before going silent as she looked like she was trying to figure out what to say. ¡°Doing something like this is real Edgerunner stuff Motoko, it¡¯s stuff people do that don¡¯t care if they die or not. You¡­ You aren¡¯t¡­ You¡¯ve never been able to do something like this. I know you¡¯ve been practicing with your guns a lot, but this is on a different level than going to the shooting range a couple times.¡±


    Hiromi. She was super serious. Looking honestly concerned about what I had done.


    ¡°I knew I could do it. So I did. Jun has been doing crazy stuff so I knew I needed more¡­ More experience, more chrome, more eddies. I need to be strong enough to help him when he finally bites off more than he can handle.¡± I answered truthfully.


    ¡°That¡¯s what the other Tyger Claws are for Motoko! It¡¯s what Ichi and his crew are useful for. It¡¯s what I am for! That is what chooms do. They do crazy dangerous things together. You shouldn¡¯t be rushing into something like this! Especially not alone.¡± She shook her head looking so confused. ¡°Why are you making me be the voice of reason? I¡¯m supposed to be the rich girl slumming it.¡± She said almost growling at the end as she poked my side a bit.


    But I wasn¡¯t ticklish. Instead I just huffed a bit at her probing finger.


    ¡°I don¡¯t trust them to keep Jun safe, over whatever goal they have. To the Tyger Claws Jun is just.. Muscle. To me Jun is my irreplaceable brother. I owe him a lot.¡±


    ¡°You have to be alive to pay him back.¡± Hiromi retorted, looking at the corpses in the room. ¡°Even if you are somehow really good at this.¡± She looked around seeing the one scav that was literally in two pieces from being cut in half by the HMG. ¡°Seriously good.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be careful¡­ More careful.¡± I quickly changed what I said as Hiromi looked like she was going to argue.


    ¡°I still don¡¯t understand how you did this.¡± She muttered and I didn¡¯t shrug, or make any notice. I couldn¡¯t explain so instead I just stayed quiet, face firm.


    ¡°Hey! You gonna help or what?¡± Malcolm called out suddenly, pulling us from our conversation as we looked. He was looking at Hiromi, irritated. ¡°C¡¯mon Hiromi help out. This thing is heavy!¡±


    ¡°Just move it yourself! Don¡¯t worry if you break your back, we will just give you a chrome one!¡± Hiromi called out joking, earning a rude gesture from the boy as he tugged and pulled the heavy crate across the floor.


    This was gonna take a while.


    I looked around myself seeing the Scavs on the ground and the idea did reach my brain but I shivered and put it away.


    Stripping bodies for chrome was a step too far.

 Chapter 15

    When we loaded up the elevator with all the crates, and after everyone had searched through the scav den for extra loot. All the boys now had a new weapon of some sort. Ichi even claiming the DB-2 Satara. I was tempted to claim it myself. I had enough equipment I didn¡¯t really need it. Plus Ichi looked so happy when he pulled it out from underneath a table.


    We were ready to go.


    I had taken a few minutes with Omaeda¡¯s help to breach the Scavs'' computer security as well. The other Netrunner had looked pretty irritated with my ¡®assistance¡¯ in pulling the data, but after a quick discussion, he was going to sell the data off to another Netrunner he knew who would be interested, as long as any data on other scav locations went to me.


    Sure I could have pulled it as well, and I likely would have just sold it to Wakako, but Omaeda was Ichi¡¯s Netrunner. If I was going to keep using Ichi¡¯s crew, I needed to keep them happy.


    Although potentially the only reason Omaeda had agreed was because of the looks the crew had given me when they came across the Borg''s body. It was back to that fearful side glances.


    I used a Burya guys. Stop acting like it¡¯s weird. Anyone can kill a borged out Scav with a hand cannon.


    We took the elevator down and finally I got to see what the crew had gathered up.


    Omaeda had his van, which ended up being mostly useless as the boy had the back filled with scrap already. Which seemed to piss him off when he realized he wouldn¡¯t be able to take a crate.


    Malcolm had a car, an old beat up Thorton Galena, which was basically a little hatchback.


    With the back seats down, and a lot of effort Malcolm with Omaeda¡¯s help got a crate in the back.


    But Ichi was reliable. He had actually done as asked. A Villefort Columbus. It was basically a ¡®modern¡¯ moving van, and the back was empty.


    ¡°I, uh, called in a favor with one of Shobo-sama¡¯s lieutenants. I did a job for him that saved his hide a few months back. I asked him for something I could move a lot of stuff around with, and he gave me the key shard for this. I uh¡­ Just don¡¯t scratch the paint, or ding it up okay?¡± He muttered to everyone.


    ¡°Sure Ichi. We will be careful. Oh look it even has a little ramp. That¡¯s useful.¡± I called out showing everyone my discovery, and with that we were able to load up the five crates of Chrome into the cars.


    ¡°I think that¡¯s everything!¡± Hiromi called out wiping her brow.


    Despite the fact she hadn¡¯t really done anything but ¡®supervise¡¯ the loading.


    ¡°Oh! One second. There is something I can¡¯t forget!¡± I called out as I headed back up the elevator. A minute later with a bit of effort I came back down struggling to hold my new baby with one arm.


    ¡°Motoko¡­¡± Ichi sighed looking at me as I struggled to carry my new HMG to the van.


    ¡°She is very important Ichi.¡± I tell him firmly as he sighs and helps me load her up.


    Then we all climbed in.


    And realized we had no idea where to go.


    ¡°Who buys a bunch of chrome?¡± I asked Hiromi and Ichi from the back seat of his truck as they clambered in.


    ¡°Ripperdocs. We could head back to the Ho-oh Club as well. I bet Shobo-sama would buy the chrome off you. Or a Fixer. But make sure to call them first, never a good idea to drop off a job in a Fixers lap without asking first.¡± Ichi replied, his experience on the streets revealing themselves.


    ¡°Ripper docs¡­ Actually that gives me an idea, and a chance to meet someone I wanted to have a future relationship with.¡± I told Ichi and pulled up my map system. I ended up unable to find directions to where I wanted to go, but I did find the next best thing.


    ¡°Sending you the deets Ichi¡±


    ¡°Misty¡¯s Esoterica?¡± He asked as I sent him the text.


    ¡°Not exactly. It¡¯s the Ripperdoc behind the shop that I am interested in.¡± I tell him with a small smile. ¡°Trust me.¡± I was forced to add at the confused and unsure look I was getting.


    ¡°Alright. Your gig. You''re the boss.¡± He said with a shrug and I could see his eyes flash gold as he must have called Omaeda and Malcolm to follow him.


    While that happened I went ahead and called the NCPD line and gave them the information about the scav den cleared out and the bodies. Along with a victim still alive but drugged. It was really strange because the bored sounding woman on the line took all the information without showing any actual enthusiasm and then thanked me for the information.


    I don¡¯t think she actually meant that. Still I turned my attention back to what lay at my feet.


    I had so many plans for this baby.


    ¡ª-


    ¡°This is it?¡± Ichi asked as we parked. Right in front of Misty¡¯s Esoterica.


    ¡°Yeah. Have everyone sit tight. I need to go around the back and talk to the Ripper. Keep an eye on the trucks. I shouldn¡¯t take too long.¡± I asked Ichi and he nodded. HIromi, of course was already out of the truck waiting for me.


    I stepped out and looked at the entrance to Misty¡¯s Esoterica with smile. Like walking into a dream.


    It looked the same.


    ¡°Hello?¡± A quiet voice called out as a woman straight from Blade Runner walked around the corner from the back of her shop. ¡°Oh I was right, I did hear someone. Welcome to my Esoterica. How can I help you today?¡± She asked looking Hiromi and I over as I smiled at her gently.


    ¡°Sorry, I actually have other business, is Doctor Vektor in?¡± I asked and Misty almost pouted for a second.


    ¡°He is.Yours isn¡¯t a face I know.¡± She mentioned as she blinked slowly at me.


    ¡°No. This is my first time. I¡¯m a new client I guess you could say. Motoko.¡±


    ¡°Misty, as you might have guessed. Alright come on, I¡¯ll show you the way.¡± She offered with a smile as she guided us through the back and then into an alley. I could see Hiromi starting to frown a bit, but I knew that Viktor was one of the best Ripperdocs in the city. Definitely the best in this area at least.


    More importantly he wasn¡¯t the type to rip out a kids spine without anesthesia and chip them with a Sandevistan only to not give them the meds they would need.


    No Vik was¡­ Honorable. In a city almost completely devoid of it. There was a reason that I had instantly thought of him.


    Misty guided us to a set of stairs leading downward lit by a small green light, and I could feel Hiromi tensing up as she drew close to me. Door opening showed just a dark space with some junk on the floor.


    The fact she had her sword on her and was gripping it told me she was feeling particularly uncomfortable being led into a dark hole.


    I just smiled because I was completely comfortable. We hit the bottom of the stairs and Misty called out. ¡°Vik? You got a new client.¡± She said as she looked through the protective door blocking the way.


    ¡°Is that so?¡± A voice called out and the gate opened as Misty waved us in.


    Inside was a small Ripperdoc office. It wasn¡¯t perfectly clean and tidy, but there was a sense at least that it wasn¡¯t a back alley ripper, despite Viktor being just that.


    The man was sitting at a desk as we walked in. Hiromi was looking around like she expected an ambush.


    Viktor though, seeing the two of us smiled gently and rose up.


    This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    ¡°Viktor Vektor. Nice to meet you.¡± He offered offering a hand even if it was covered in Ripper mods.


    I took it casually to make sure I wasn¡¯t pricked.


    ¡°Motoko Kusanagi, and this is my choom Hiromi. Nice to meet you Doctor Vektor.¡±


    ¡°Oh please, Call me Vik, or Viktor, if you must.¡±


    ¡°Vik then.¡± I agreed, easily earning a smile, even Hiromi was calming down.


    ¡°Now how can I help you? Need something installed, or just a checkup?¡±


    ¡°Neither, both? It¡¯s complicated. I have a business proposition for you. I¡¯m hoping you¡¯ll be willing to help me out. I heard good things about you, so I am hoping the rumor was true.¡±


    The man blinked a bit behind his glasses. ¡°Well I doubt I have too many rumors about me anymore. I keep pretty quiet.¡±


    ¡°It was about how you were a good guy. Don¡¯t rip people off, or install hacked chrome.¡± I tell him which for a moment he actually seems a little proud of that.


    ¡°Well I try to live up to that. What can I help you with?¡±


    ¡°Right. Let me be blunt then. I¡¯m a merc, and I just cleared a scav den.¡±


    I heard Misty do a little gasp beside us as she had settled onto the table to watch our meeting take place.


    Vik though I watched as his eyebrows snapped together.


    ¡°I have five crates of chrome. All sorts of stuff. From bargain bin junk, to, well I don¡¯t know. I¡¯m not really a chrome merchant.¡± I say rubbing the back of my head a bit. ¡°I¡¯ll continue to be blunt. Most of it is stuff I won¡¯t get much from. Even if I tried to find people that would pay in eddies, Most of the chrome isn¡¯t great. It¡¯s why I came to you. I want to trust you. To believe your rumors, that you are a good guy, so here is the deal. I give you the crates. All of them. Everything in there except maybe some good stuff if me or my chooms can use it. You can do whatever you want with it. Help people that need it. Sell it if that¡¯s what you want. But in exchange, I could use a Ripper I can actually trust. And maybe some advice on if any of the pieces are worth chipping in.¡±


    I finished talking and let the room take in what I had just said, I could feel Hiromi tensing up next to me, probably wondering what the hell drug I was on.


    Giving stuff away in Night City? To someone that isn¡¯t even your choom?


    Vik was looking me over with a strong stare. The boxer that he used to be seemed to be looking me over trying to figure out the angle of my punch.


    There wasn¡¯t one though. I just trusted Vik, and considering what he was like in the game, if I gave him a bunch of cheap chrome, I expected a lot of people struggling without, or with failing limbs might find cheap to free chances to get new limbs soon.


    At least that was the hope. A guy willing to ignore a 20k debt from a merc. That was the sort of kindness you didn¡¯t see in Night City often.


    I wanted it for myself.


    That sounded kinda selfish, but it was true. If I could become someone Vik likes, then I could have a really good relationship with one of the best.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t wake up today expecting something like this. Alright. You want to know what kind of chrome you have, and if there is anything worth anything? Let¡¯s take a look.¡±


    ¡°Great. The trucks are outside Misty¡¯s. What¡¯s the best way to bring the crates down?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s back them up to the gate, I can open it up. Try to keep some eyes off.¡± he chuckled as he rose up and actually sort of shooed us out of his clinic. I could hear Misty whispering something, and Vik chuckling a bit as he patted the girl on her shoulder.


    We all walked up and out. Hiromi sending me looks the whole time but I threw her a simple thumbs up which made her roll her eyes at me before huffing a bit.


    We pulled the boys into helping, and ten minutes later we had all five crates lined up against the inside of Viks clinic. Misty was still hanging around as well, and now the boys were here. Looking around the place as Vik popped the lid on the first crate.


    I could hear his soft intake of breath as he looked over the many limbs laying in the crate.


    ¡°Yeah. Fuck scavs.¡± I said simply from beside him. There were at least twenty pairs of limbs in this crate alone.


    That¡¯s twenty people dead, no it was more. Because not all the limbs were paired.


    ¡°Yeah.¡± Vik grumbled a bit with a hint of a growl in his throat before he sighed and rubbed his eyes a bit.


    ¡°You sure about this kid? This is a lot of chrome, even with its origins.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s because of its origins that I brought it to you. Might be able to help some people at least.¡±


    ¡°Maybe. Most of this is mid range stuff.¡± He whispered looking through the pile. ¡°Got a few high end pieces. Nothing I can see that is combat rated, but¡­¡± He pulled out an arm that instead of the chrome lines, had a black lacquer. ¡°This an Arasaka piece. The sort of thing they hand out to low level corporate. It¡¯s quality work.¡±


    ¡°But not combat rated?¡±


    ¡°No it¡¯s a¡­ Show piece. Lots of bells and whistles, but no good if you want to hit someone with it.¡± He hummed, taking a moment to settle on the right word.


    ¡°Is there anything in there that would be useful to a merc?¡±


    ¡°Not this crate. But there is more than enough chrome in here to buy something high end. I can¡¯t pay for all this. You sure you don¡¯t want to sell it to someone else?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure.¡± I answered simply which did cause the little huddle around Hiromi as the crew were obviously arguing about the lack of a payday.


    Idiots. Setting up a connection to a really good RipperDoc, one that uses anesthesia when operating and knows what he is doing? Worth more than a few eddies.


    Plus Vik was cool.


    He started going through the crates, and there weren¡¯t any combat limbs. There was a few things that caught the boys ears.


    ¡°Smart link system here. Solid one too. Militech.¡± He called out pulling out the¡­ Well it was plastic bag with the palm of a hand inside it. Thankfully there wasn¡¯t any¡­ Meat attached.


    I shivered. Fuckin Scavs.


    Viktor just kept going through cataloging what we had brought him. The fact that he had found something everyone could use had the whole crew breaking away from their complaining huddle to come see.


    Like a pile of puppies when food is put out. I smirked a little at the thought.


    In the end, there wasn¡¯t much we could end up using. My hopes for the.. Optics. Yeah let¡¯s go with that. Saying eyes makes it a little too much. The optics ended up being about on par with the stuff I already had.


    ¡°Sorry.¡± Vik offered in the end looking actually apologetic. ¡°Scavs don¡¯t tend to go for people who can fight back. They usually scan their target, make sure they are unarmed. Someone with combat rated Cyberware, or Mantis Blades or something they won¡¯t even approach.¡±


    ¡°Yeah that¡¯s why I figured you would get more use out of it than I would.¡± I told him.


    ¡°Yeah. Listen. I can¡¯t take all of this.¡± Vik said. ¡°You''re a bunch of kids. Taking on scavs¡­ You probably risked your lives. I don¡¯t have the cash to come close to all of this chrome.¡±


    ¡°Your skills as a Ripper are worth more than some eddies.¡± I tell him with a shrug. ¡°If you feel really bad. I think one of the boys wants that Smartlink. Maybe give us a discount on the chip, and we call it square.¡±


    ¡°Heh, You¡¯re a weird one. Motoko wasn¡¯t it?¡± He asked looking me over for a moment as if he was memorizing my face.


    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±


    ¡°Alright. Considering how much stock you just dropped off in my lap, I don¡¯t mind chipping that in for free, but I can¡¯t accept all of this for nothing either.¡± His eyes went blue and a moment later I had a deposit.


    ¡°That¡¯s too much!¡± I couldn¡¯t help but argue instantly, only to get laughed at by the doc.


    ¡°I¡¯m basically scamming you kid even with that. Take it.¡± He refused, adjusting his glasses as he grabbed the smart link¡­ Hand. ¡°Let me do a few scans on this make sure it doesn¡¯t have any malware or anything, and whoever wants it?¡±


    ¡°Me!¡± Malcolm called out instantly, earning looks from the rest of the crew.


    ¡°Motoko!¡± Hiromi whined to me but I put up both hands.


    ¡°Don¡¯t look at me. Decide amongst yourselves who gets it. Oh also. Here is the pay for the job.¡± I tell them as my eyes turn blue.


    Vik had dropped ten grand on my lap. So I passed two grand to everyone. I was now two grand richer!


    ¡°You should get it, Motoko.¡± Ichi said even as Malcolm looked like a kicked puppy.


    ¡°No thanks.¡± I tell them with a shrug. ¡°I don¡¯t use smart weapons. So it isn¡¯t really necessary to me, and there is some work I was thinking about doing on my arms first anyways. So might as well wait.¡±


    Despite Hiromi looking like she wanted to argue with me. The Crew huddled back together and after a minute there was a general grudging agreement.


    Malcolm was pushed towards the doc.


    ¡°Alright. Got my patient then. Hop on up. Let¡¯s get you chipped.¡±


    I smiled at the eager look on Malcolm''s face as we all settled in. The actual chrome was a bit of a bust, but Vik was good people.


    Plus I bet if I asked him to keep an eye out for some chrome he would be able to help out. We all waited around as Malcolm got his first piece of real chrome.


    Not that it really would do much for him, I mean he had optics, everyone did. But they weren¡¯t combat optics.


    Regardless, after Vik finished chipping Malcolm, and gave him some drugs to take to help adjust to the new hand we all left after I got Viks number and he mine.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°I still can¡¯t believe we had all that chrome, and you just gave it away.¡± Surprisingly Ichi had started complaining to me as soon as we hopped into his truck.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t give it away. I paid a Ripperdoc a bunch of chrome to have a solid rep with him. If I ever drag myself into his shop bleeding from a few holes he will patch me up.¡±


    ¡°Rippers do that anyways!¡± Ichi argued.


    ¡°Yeah. I agree with Ichi on this one Motoko. I don¡¯t get it.¡± HIromi argued and I sighed.


    ¡°Just trust me. Having Vik on our side is going to pay dividends. He¡¯s good people.¡± That should reassure them.


    It did not reassure them.


    ¡°Good people. Ugh Motoko.¡± Hiromi whined putting her head in her hands. ¡°Why did we let her decide anything? She still has amnesia brain¡­ And probably worse since she attacked a Scav den solo.¡±


    ¡°It was her gig.¡± Ichi replied, sounding strained just to say it. ¡°Not happy about how it went, but we also didn¡¯t put in any risk. I¡¯ve been paid less for moving crates before.¡±


    ¡°Yeah but this could have been a big break!¡± Hiromi whined looking back at me. ¡°I¡¯m removing your gig choosing privileges.¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t.¡± I argue back, rolling my eyes at her.


    ¡°I¡¯ll tell Jun what you did.¡±


    ¡°I would tell Jun what I did, if I ever see him.¡± I told her it sounded a little petulant even to my ears.


    That quieted the argument for a minute.


    ¡°Sorry Motoko. I know Jun has been¡­ Difficult.¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I agree before sighing. I was quiet on the rest of the way back. Ichi pulling up in front of the apartment which I was grateful for. My arm still hurt. I ignored the looks I was getting as I pulled my new baby out of the truck. The HMG really was a monster. I could barely get it around with only one good arm.


    I waved off Hiromi¡¯s help as I hefted the HMG in my arms and hauled it into the apartment. Getting plenty of looks as I stepped into the elevator.


    An HMG, 2k eddies, a pile of other weapons that I had stuffed in a bag I found, and a relationship with Viktor. All for the low price of murdering a group of people and almost dying a few times.


    I walked inside. Once again Jun wasn¡¯t home. I dropped the HMG on the living room table. Kinda liking how it looked sitting there. Then I flopped on the couch.


    My arm still hurt. I laid down and went to sleep.


    Wait¡­ ¡°FUCK!¡± I cursed as I jumped back to my feet. ¡°Fuck fuck fuck!¡± I cursed myself I was a moron! ¡°I forgot to check if they had any cars parked in the garage! I could have stolen a new ride! Fuck!¡±

 Chapter 16

    <div>


    I definitely didn¡¯t make any massive blunders like not searching for new wheels. Nope. That was some other Motoko.


    Definitely.


    Knocking over the Scav den was in every respect a good thing. My morals hiding in the corner after I beat them like a red headed step child aside.


    Scavs were monsters. So even that didn¡¯t bother me too much. Walk through a scav den and see the dead ripped apart bodies of the people inside, and you won¡¯t have much difficulties committing murder as well.


    Now I just needed to find more scavs. I jogged down the block as I plotted. I had unfortunately run through my knowledge of scav locations.


    I considered going to Wakako to ask if she had any info, but it was probably best if I relax and let myself decompress. I did just murder a lot of people. It was probably bad for my mental health to instantly look for more people to kill.


    So instead I jogged around the block going slow on my way to the Gym. Every device I walked past I tried Quick Hacking with Ping. Time to train! Even if I couldn¡¯t level Quick hacking itself yet, I still needed to grind Intelligence.


    Plus after an hour of slowly making my way to the gym, I would have some time to hammer at a sandbag!


    ¡ª-


    Back at home after a shower.


    I still had a smile on my face because of my level up at the gym.


    *Street Brawler skill level up!*


    Level 4 felt great. Combined with Grapple, I felt actually pretty confident in a brawl. I mean not against a gorilla arms borg or something, but if a Scav grabbed me, I think I¡¯ll survive.


    When I settled onto the couch I looked first at my baby, the HMG and then at the radio.


    Intelligence. I reminded myself. As fun as playing with the HMG would be.


    I really needed to get to the point where I could actually do some netrunning stuff.


    Intelligence. I got XP for it whenever I trained Breach or Quick Hack. Which was the most consistent method I had figured out, but it was slow.


    I needed to raise Netrunning. I could have handled the fight with the borg a lot easier if I could hack his optics, or just shut his Cyberware down.


    So I headed out into the city. Pinging, and Breaching every Vending machine I could find again.


    ¡ª--


    That night I gained four Intelligence XP alerts.


    But not a level.


    It was just on the edge of being too mindless for me to enjoy the grind. But every time I got the alert it made me feel better.


    Plus since I was literally breaking into every vending machine I walked past. I did get myself some treats from time to time.


    Over the next two days I really didn¡¯t do much more than grind.


    I had even taken to trying to sneak around while breaching. Training myself on how best to move while hacking to keep myself out of sight.


    I hadn¡¯t earned anything for Ninjutsu yet, but considering I was pretty visibly walking down the street and pretending to sneak around¡­


    I just did my best to pretend no one could see me acting like a massive dork.


    It even let me work some athletics training in, as I was jogging around the city.


    But grinding can¡¯t go on forever.


    I was mid Breach on a vending machine when it happened. I got a text.


    *Wakako: Come to my parlor. We need to talk.*


    That was it. Not a woman of many words Wakako. I shrugged, finished up my breach and rose up from where I had been crouching behind a trashcan. Ignored the old guy next to me that was fencing stolen clothes by the looks of it, pretended he didn¡¯t exist as I walked casually down the sidewalk.


    I was pretty far from home, would have to take a train on the way back.


    But I wondered what Wakako wanted?


    A short train ride back to my area I walked down Jig-jig street, bypassed the dolls, and ignored the lecherous looks from the gonks, walked into Wakako¡¯s parlor.


    ¡°Good you¡¯re here. Come in, stop wasting time.¡± Wakako called out before I could even walk up to her receptionist. Shrugging, I passed through Wakako¡¯s bead door.


    To my surprise though, Wakako wasn¡¯t alone.


    A man was lounging in the chair in front of Wakako, looking bored. Although as he looked over his shoulder his eyes shot up.


    ¡°You''re kidding. She¡¯s a kid.¡±


    ¡°I am not.¡± Wakako said bluntly. ¡°You wanted a gun for hire. Here she is.¡± Wakako answered as she pointed a well manicured finger at me. ¡°Meet Motoko Kusanagi. Fourteen. Three days ago she raided a Scav den. Alone. I verified this myself. No footage unfortunately, but 11 scavs were recovered from the site.¡±


    ¡°Twelve.¡± I couldn¡¯t help but admit after Wakako finished. She looked at me suddenly, eyes hard. ¡°I uh¡­ Stashed one in a fridge. They probably just thought he was a victim.¡±


    Wakako nodded in acceptance of my words and turned back to the man.


    The man hummed a little but shook his head. ¡°That¡¯s great, impressive and all. I don¡¯t work with kids.¡± He answered flatly, pointing at me.


    ¡°I don¡¯t even know what is going on.¡± I interrupted again, looking to Wakako. ¡°Can I get brought in on the sitch?¡±


    ¡°This is Scorpion, a Nomad. Due to some circumstances he came to me for help on a gig.¡± Wakako said simply waving at me. ¡°You don¡¯t have time to overly argue about what help you can get. You wanted someone that could watch your back for the eddies you offered? Out of my pool of talent few would even hear you out at the price you offer. The girl has proven herself that I am recommending her for your job. Here is my offer. Take it or leave it.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the gig?¡± I interrupt again. ¡°Before he hems and haws about it, maybe I should find out if I¡¯m even willing to take it?¡± I turn to look at the man. ¡°No offense.¡±


    ¡°None taken.¡± He grumbled looking to Wakako and she once again pointed to me. ¡°Fine. Here are the deets. I got a deal going on. Gotta keep it¡­ Low. The family wouldn¡¯t like it. Basically got a Raffen Shiv that owes me a favor. Saved his life a year back. Despite all the bad blood¡­ he used to be an Aldecaldos. Knew him as a kid. Little snot-nosed brat.¡± The man sighed rubbing at his bald head.


    ¡°I get it.¡± I prompted and the man got himself back together.


    ¡°Yeah well, I saved his ass during a storm. We talked some shit. He won¡¯t be welcome back, but¡­ He got in contact with me a week ago. Said the Raffen found something preem. Something I would very much like. Now it¡¯s not that I trust him. I don¡¯t, but I don¡¯t think he is trying to ambush me either. He has something I want, I have some eddies and¡­ Well family stuff. Anyway. I¡¯ll need someone to watch my back. Just in case, we are going to Raffen territory after all.¡±


    ¡°So since you can¡¯t bring the Aldecaldos into it, considering you came to Wakako to hire a gun.¡± I confirmed.


    ¡°About sums it up.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the pay?¡±


    ¡°Not really sure it matters.¡±


    ¡°You need someone you can trust at your back in a potential firefight. I might be a Street Kid. But I¡¯m a professional. I¡¯ll fight to get us both out of there if something goes bad.¡± I answered simply. ¡°That of course depends on the pay.¡± I add in at the end with a shrug.


    ¡°Two-thou.¡± He offered but I sensed it immediately.


    We were haggling.


    ¡°Three. You are putting me in the path of the Raffen.¡± I added. The fuckin Scav nomads. Or better they were crazy Mad Max villains traveling the dusty roads and thieving murdering and raping their way through the desert.


    ¡°Two-two. Good chance it will just be a long quiet drive and a nice paycheck.¡±


    ¡°Two-three. And I¡¯ll not ask you for ammo pay.¡± I countered.


    He was quiet for a minute before he sighed. ¡°Two-three.¡± Agreeing to bring me along.


    ¡°Excellent. Now both of you. Get out.¡± Wakako ordered with the irritation only an old woman can give when forced to stay around younger people.


    ¡°Thanks.¡± Scorpion offered with a roll of his eyes at her, but his eyes went blue a moment later and Wakako nodded.


    Seemed she got her payment.


    I followed Scorpion out of the Parlor before he turned on me. ¡°Listen¡­ It¡¯s against my better judgment to bring you on. I don¡¯t¡­ The nomads don¡¯t bring kids into dangerous situations like this.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve gone solo into a Scav den. It¡¯s not my first gig.¡±


    ¡°Right¡­ Alright, listen it¡¯s already late, and I¡¯m not looking to have to camp out in the desert. So we will head out tomorrow morning. Sounds good?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, it sounds fine.¡± We flashed each other our contact information. A weird feeling that I was starting to get used to.


    ¡°Perfect.¡± He grumbled as he headed out into the darkness of Jig Jig street.


    ¡°Raffen huh. Fuckin scavs.¡± I whispered thinking about this gig. The Solo¡¯s guide said I should determine what level of violence to bring to a table for every Gig. And prepare to kill if necessary.


    Yeah I think I was ready to kill in this case.


    I went home and sent Jun a text asking if he would be home tonight.


    I never did get a response.


    ¡ª--


    The next morning Scorpion and I confirmed after a quick back and forth how our meetup was gonna go.


    He was not pleased that I didn¡¯t have a ride, and he had to come pick me up.


    Nomads. Practically married to their rides and expect everyone else to be too.


    Of course I got to see his irritation at waiting out on the sidewalk for me disappear into a sort of awed shock.


    Because I was bringing my new baby.


    With two arms it wasn¡¯t too bad to walk out of the apartment much to the fearful gaze of all the people I walked past as I carried my HMG at my side. SMG around my chest all fully loaded and ready for war.


    Honestly, I think Cold Blood was active, because I felt completely calm as I walked around Scorpion''s cute little hatchback car.


    It was a Thorton Galena according to the information that I had picked up from living in the city, but it was heavily modified.


    Obviously.


    ¡°Damn.¡± Scorpion muttered looking me over, as I settled my baby in the back seat. Before pulling the seat back in place.


    ¡°I like to be prepared. Just be happy you aren¡¯t paying for ammo.¡± I told him as I settled into the seat.


    It was then I noticed.


    He had his jacket hood up. I shrugged. If he liked driving around with a hood over his head, I wasn¡¯t going to comment.


    ¡°Alright then.¡± He uttered, actually sounding a little impressed, ¡°Well get comfortable, it¡¯ll be about four hours for us to hit the meeting site¡­ And it might be a while before he shows up. So I hope you ate.¡±


    I sighed at his words and gave him an apologetic smile.


    We stopped at a diner before leaving the city limits.


    ¡ª--


    Other than needling each other about our choice in music stations it was a quiet drive. Scorpion was obviously used to driving alone. So I kept that in mind, besides even if this was the easy part, I was on a job.


    I kept my eyes out on the world around us and myself prepared for a battle. I had thought keeping focused for so long would be difficult, or draining, but it wasn¡¯t. I simply felt that coolness in my mind that made it so easy to stay focused and alert.


    I had a feeling I wouldn¡¯t be able to stay cool forever. Yet. But it would last more than long enough for this gig. I would relax more on the way back.


    Eventually a few hours into the drive as we drove through long desert roads Scorpion broke the silence.


    ¡°So what made you into a merc? Not a normal job for a kid your age.¡±


    ¡°A couple things I guess, but really it just felt right. I have some skill, and I wanted to do something with it.¡± I offered with a shrug. ¡°Better than sitting around doing nothing I guess.¡±


    ¡°Crazy. Mercs die you know?¡±


    ¡°Everyone dies.¡± I countered looking over to him. ¡°I don¡¯t go out to die, but I know it can happen. Honestly I was more afraid of killing someone else, than dying myself at first. Or having someone I care about die. So that¡¯s what drives me. If I can get better, get good equipment, get good cyberware. I¡¯m more likely to be able to save my friends and family when something goes wrong.¡±


    If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    ¡°You sound like a Nomad.¡± He offered with a chuckle.


    ¡°Nah. I like putting my feet up in my air conditioned apartment too much for that.¡±


    ¡°Low blow about the AC.¡± He said quietly a moment later and I couldn¡¯t help but chuckle. I guess hanging out in the California desert every day could get a bit warm sometimes.


    ¡°Sorry.¡±


    ¡°Nah it¡¯s alright.¡± He chuckled and we fell back into listening to the radio as we drove through the dust.


    ¡ª--


    Scorpion, Driss Meriana


    ¡°Alright. I called Connor, should show up in about an hour, he isn¡¯t happy about how late I am, but.¡± Scorpion shrugged it didn¡¯t matter. Connor would get over it.


    She gave a single nod after hearing him before continuing her walk around. Scorpion had to admit. The girl was¡­ Professional. They had stopped off at a pretty common halfway house. A place to hide out in a storm if necessary.


    She had immediately cleared it, and then began walking a perimeter. Checking over the area. Scorpion had to admit, it was nice to know she was at least reliable.


    Then again he wouldn¡¯t really know how reliable she truly was until the bullets started flying. No, shook his head, throwing away the thought. If the bullets started flying. He trusted Connor not to betray him here.


    Not when he was also carrying letters and pictures from home along with his eddies.


    It would be the first pictures Connor would see of his niece.


    The girl his Merc, which still embarrassed him to have actually brought along, was doing a solid job of looking around. She moved¡­ She moved like she had military experience. He would know. The unification war had left its marks on many of the Aldecaldos himself included. He still sometimes woke up in the middle of the night reaching for the controls of his Tank.


    It would usually take a few minutes of holding onto the steering wheel of his Gecko before he could relax.


    But this girl was way too young to have been in the war. What did Wakako say? Fourteen? She would have been nine then.


    Far too young for even the corps to draft her.


    Although there were a hundred other options that could cause her to move like a trained soldier.


    Scorpion decided to push it out of his mind. Wakako had recommended her, and he hired her.


    He settled onto the hood of his Gecko to wait, watching as the girl finished her perimeter check before she actually climbed up the side of the way house, settling in next to a piece of the wayhouse''s AC unit that caused her to practically disappear from view.


    Damn.


    He shrugged it off and waited. Time ticked down as he simply enjoyed the peace of the desert. Unfortunately as always things can¡¯t go easy. Before he saw connor he saw the storm.


    ¡°Hey! Storm''s coming in. If he doesn¡¯t make it before it hits, we will need to get inside.¡± He called out as he noticed the dust cloud building up from the south.


    Wouldn¡¯t be long.


    Fortunately only a minute after that he heard wheels.


    He knew the sound of every engine in the desert. Which is why he relaxed A Thorton Colby, Connor''s ride. He settled in signaling the girl with a thumbs up. Which he saw she returned poking up from the roof.


    Damn she was hard to see.


    Connor¡¯s ride pulled up. And Scorpion had to wince. The Raffen symbols and alterations covered the older Aldecaldos images.


    You could barely see them.


    The younger man that slipped out was just a teenager. Barely eighteen really. Scorpion sighed.


    ¡°Connor.¡±


    ¡°Driss. Good to see you, you old Scorpion.¡± He offered with a smile that didn¡¯t quite meet his eyes.


    ¡°You got it?¡± Scorpion asked, looking at the little trailer that Connor was pulling.


    ¡°Course.¡± He said popping the hatch and showing off the preem Brennan Apollo. A motorcycle that Driss had been trying to get a hold of for a while.


    He always wanted a bike.


    ¡°Alright.¡± He pulled out the shard from his pocket. ¡°Letters, pictures, videos, everything¡­ Your mom forced me to tell you this. Make sure, you take care of yourself.¡± Driss added as he handed over the shard.


    ¡°Yeah. She would say that.¡± Connor added sounding quiet as his shoulders slumped.


    Getting expelled from the family never came easy. Sometimes it was a relief to the family. Sometimes¡­ Well sometimes kids did stupid shit.


    ¡°Thanks Driss. Alright. Give me the eddies and this thing is yours.¡± Connor added quickly. ¡°I want to get out of here before anyone notices. You threw off my schedule. We were supposed to meet up yesterday.¡±


    ¡°Sorry I had to run to Night City wanted to¡­ Ah it doesn¡¯t matter.¡± He shrugged. His eyes shifted to blue as he transferred the eddies.


    ¡°Cool.¡± Connor said with a sigh of relief as they both hurried over to the trailer pulling it off Connors pickup, and wheeling it over to Scorpion''s Gecko.


    The storm was getting close.


    ¡°Might have to camp out.¡± Driss offered seeing that the storm was getting close.


    ¡°Nah. I need to hurry back. Hopefully no one will even notice I was gone. You don¡¯t¡­ Well you kinda know, but you don¡¯t really know what the Raffen are¡­ You hear that?¡± Connor offered turning as his face went white.


    ¡°Engines.¡± Scorpion agreed. Looking concerned himself. ¡°That¡¯s the same direction you came from.¡±


    ¡°I recognize that engine. Fuck. They followed me.¡± Connor said, suddenly rushing to his ride. ¡°Get out of here. I was never here!¡± He yelled out quickly as he jumped into his truck and took off.


    ¡°Fuck.¡± Driss cursed, he was still holding the trailer not even finished attaching it to his gecko.


    But suddenly another pair of hands were there. ¡°Leave it. We need to go. Five vehicles.¡± The girl said as she appeared beside him. Her voice was completely calm as if talking about the weather. Pushing the trailer hitch off the Gecko and leaving them free to run.


    ¡°Dammit you''re right.¡± He growled, dropping it and rushing to the driver seat. He slipped in seeing the girl pushing the passenger seat forward and was maneuvering her big ass machine gun.


    ¡°I guess it was a good thing you brought that after all.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll see.¡± She said calmly as if everything that was happening didn¡¯t concern her in the slightest.


    They peeled out. Scorpion flooring it to get out of here.


    But it was too late. By the time they heard the vehicles they were too close.


    ¡°They see us.¡± She said as she was looking out the back window.


    ¡°Yeah. Hold on. I¡¯m aiming for the storm. Hopefully we can lose them in the dust.¡± He called out, swerving off the road heading towards the wall of dust coming closer and closer.


    She didn¡¯t say anything after that and Scorpion focused on driving.


    Ramping off dunes, dodging dips, he used every ounce of skill he had to try and lose them.


    But the Raffen were just as good. They were just as used to the desert as he was.


    They even had two bikes with them. The sound of their engines growing closer and closer.


    ¡°I¡¯m rolling down the window.¡± She said suddenly and he looked over as she poked her head out and suddenly her SMG went off a few moments later he could hear the sound of one of the bikes crashing into a wreck.


    She jerked back into the vehicle as he heard bullets start arcing up the back of his car.


    ¡°Dammit they are shooting at my baby!¡±


    ¡°They are shooting at us too.¡± She muttered flatly before peaking out again and another rapid fire exchange.


    The second motorcycle peeled off to Scorpion''s relief, but suddenly he jerked. His gecko started dragging through the sand instead of skimming over it.


    ¡°They shot your tire.¡± She said flatly as she slipped back into the back seat. Her SMG dropped onto the floor as she grabbed the HMG in the back. It took her a moment as she looked around trying to figure out the best way to do it, but then she grabbed a seatbelt, a few moments she had it wrapped around her right arm, as she held the HMG on her left. Then she opened the passenger door.


    The wind nearly slammed it shut but she pushed it back open with the butt of the machine gun.


    She damn near stepped out of the car while he was going through dunes and Scorpion was sure this merc was insane, but she siddled out carrying the HMG.


    And then she started firing. He winced the sound was thunderous, and he could see the way she was resting the guns back against his passenger door.


    He could see the bolts holding the door together strain as she allowed it to handle some of the recoil.


    Dammit.


    But a moment later in his rear view mirror he saw one of the Raffen trucks, with its entire front covered in bullet holes slide sideways and start crashing.


    She kept firing.


    Damn. He was gonna have to thank Wakako for introducing him to the only merc in the city that walked around with an HMG wasn¡¯t he?


    Unfortunately his luck didn¡¯t hold out.


    His tire must have finally finished shredding itself apart as his gecko bucked at just the wrong time.


    Instead of sliding over dune he smashed into it.


    The loss of the tire, the fact he was gunning it to try and escape.


    Too late.


    The Gecko flipped.


    He lost track of everything as the car started rolling. Eventually everything stopped.


    He was dizzy and forced to blink the growing dust out of his eyes as he looked around.


    He was alone in the car. Girl and her HMG were gone. He reached down¡­ Up. And slowly popped his seatbelt off. Grunting as he fell onto the roof of his baby. He winced at the glass that was coating his landing pad, he reached down to pull his gun as he tried the door.


    It was jammed. With a grunt he slipped out of windshield, forcing himself to move, because he knew what came next.


    Unfortunately by the time he crawled out of the car there was already a shotgun pressed against the back of his head.


    He dropped his pistol.


    He knew this was over.


    His gun was slipped from the sand and he was forced to roll over, wincing as he was pretty sure one of his ribs were broken he looked up into the gas mask and goggles of someone he didn¡¯t want to see.


    ¡°How¡¯s it going Frank.¡±


    ¡°Well well. Look who I finally caught. Scorpion you son of a bitch. I¡¯m going to enjoy bartering you back to your family. Get him up.¡± Frank ordered and Scorpion sighed as his arms were grabbed and he was hauled up.


    Suddenly shots rang out.


    Bullets started flying and the Raffen moved as one grabbing weapons and firing into the dust.


    It took them a moment to find their shooter.


    The girl.


    She was on her belly, face covered in blood, a pistol in one hand as she looked like she had crawled over to start firing.


    He tried to call out. To tell the Raffen to leave her alone, but it wasn¡¯t going to happen. A few rounds shot back at her, but eventually they all heard it even over the sound of the storm kicking up.


    Her gun clicked as it was out of ammo.


    Immediately one of the Raffen charged, as he watched her struggle to reload. Seeing the man approaching she hefted herself up on her knees as she rose to meet him, the man going to knock her out found a knife instead as she whipped it free and stabbed him in the leg.


    His scream was loud, and it cut off a few moments later as she seemed to crawl over stabbing as she went and then sliced his throat.


    She was grabbing the Raffens rifle when a shot rang out. A small cloud of blood burst from her back as she fell backwards rolling into the sand and down the dune.


    Scorpion looked away, Frank had grabbed his own rifle and taken a shot blowing a hole through her chest.


    ¡°Get him up. I¡¯ve lost enough people over this shit.¡± Frank grunted, sounding not at all pleased with the situation.


    ¡°Sorry kid.¡± Scorpion whispered. All he could do for her. He now had his own problems.


    </article>

 Chapter 17

    Ichinose


    The night after the Scav Den Raid.


    Ichi was drinking. What else could he do? He just made more eddies in a few hours of work, than he had in any span of days working for Shobo-Sama.


    But he knew he couldn¡¯t do the same job that Motoko had done. He talked to the older Tyger Claws when he was playing gofer, or doing odd jobs for them. They often liked to talk. About previous gigs they had done. Of the firefights they had been in.


    So he knew exactly how dangerous it was to hit a scav den. Sure if you were properly borged out, you could do it. Scavs often weren¡¯t the best fighters, or the best equipped.


    But they were all armed, all ready to murder you. Gunfights sounded cool until you were in one and the other guy was firing back.


    ¡°What¡¯s up kid, you''ve been glaring at the bottom of your drink since you got back.¡± One of the very same older Tyger claws asked as he plopped his can of Asahi on the table beside Ichi. ¡°Seriously, you look like you''re going to kill your beer.¡±


    ¡°Hatake¡­ I took a gig from a friend today. And¡­¡±


    ¡°Ah. You lost someone? Went bad?¡±


    ¡°No. No the opposite. It was over before I even got there, I was just¡­ The cleanup crew. Nothing more.¡±


    ¡°Huh. So you made some easy eddies. What¡¯s got ya down?¡±


    ¡°The friend that called me into the job. She¡¯s¡­ Ugh. It sounds so stupid. I¡¯m jealous! She went from being in the hospital to running jobs that I couldn¡¯t pull off. She is younger than me! How does a fourteen year old clear an entire scav den by herself!? I don¡¯t get it!¡±


    ¡°By herself? You sure?That¡¯s¡­¡±


    ¡°Yeah I¡¯m sure, she didn¡¯t even call us in until it was all over. We are supposed to be her chooms. I mean if she said she was going to try and hit a scav den I would have had Hiromi sit on her, because it¡¯s dumb!¡±


    ¡°Ah I get it. She did something impossible. Something beyond what you think you could do.¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± He grumbled glaring at his beer.


    ¡°Well kid. I¡¯ll be honest. A kid your age? A fourteen year old able to do a job like that? That ain¡¯t normal. She¡¯s an edgerunner for sure.¡±


    ¡°I know. She¡­My goal was to be an edgerunner, not her. Motoko never wanted that before, and now? She is already doing it.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be stupid kid. You don¡¯t want to be an edgerunner. They burn bright, but only a quarter as long. Your choom? She¡¯ll be dead before she¡¯s twenty. Hell if she is already doing this shit? Before sixteen. Don¡¯t live your life like that Ichi. Burn slower, and longer. Trust me. As a guy in his forties. I¡¯ve seen a lot of chooms, men and women better than me at fighting, but also better than me at dying.¡± Hatake offered taking a swig of his beer.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think I can help it. Feeling jealous.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, well. Just remember becoming an edgerunner has a cost. That level of skill. That willingness to put your life on the line?¡± Hatake shook his head. ¡°If she is your choom, then do your best to help out, but make sure you know the line. Edgerunners don''t always realize what is dangerous for normal people. The closest I ever got to getting flatlined was when I backed up an edgerunner choom. Got shot up for my trouble.¡±


    ¡°What if I want to do that? Become an Edgerunner. Make it big, and prove that I¡¯m not just a Gofer?¡±


    Hatake sort of nodded his head for a moment before sighing. ¡°Then be ready to be used up kid. Used like a tool. Used as a weapon. Being a gofer aint bad. At least you know you¡¯ll come back home after a days work. Instead of being thrown into the trash because it¡¯s convenient.¡± Hatake sounded like this advice was personal. That this advice came from experience.


    Ichi wasn¡¯t sure if he could accept it though. To give up on his dream of making it big. Of becoming more.


    ¡ª--


    I grunted as I heard the trucks drive off. This storm was starting to piss me off.


    With shaky hands I reached into one of my thigh pouches and pulled out a max doc. I had found a few of them in the scav den, and since I now knew how useful they were, they were standard kit.


    I huffed it and a moment later my body didn¡¯t feel like I was dying.


    I grunted as I sat up, crawling over to a nice rock that I could rest against as I caught my breath.


    Getting thrown from a fast moving car into the desert? Not fun. Smashing into a rock on the way? Ow.


    Getting shot again? Double ow. I winced as I reached behind me and felt the hole in my Netsuit. Yeah the bullet had gone right through.


    Fuck.


    I was gonna have to start crafting soon just to repair my clothes. Why did people keep shooting me! I sighed. Coughing a bit at just how much dust was swirling around me. I could barely see through how thick it was getting.


    And it was starting to get hard to breathe.


    I rose up unsteadily, and then even less steadily as I nearly fell. My leg wasn¡¯t great. I messed it up when I went flying from the car. Worse, the wind was getting strong. I fought against it as I climbed back up the hill towards Scorpion''s car.


    Might be able to take shelter inside until this storm was over.


    I clambered up the hill and just at the top I tripped.


    Coughing a bit I pulled myself up and realized I had tripped on a corpse.


    Oh yeah. The guy I stabbed. Instantly I noticed something I needed. Rising up and heading back to grab the goggles from his head. After a minute of struggling to get them clear enough of dust to see I put them on and while it wasn¡¯t great. At least I could open my eyes.


    Then I grabbed the guys dust mask.


    It was gross. But as I put it on, I could breath a lot easier.


    I continued searching him, gotta get loot after all. I smiled as I found my knife. That went into my sheath. A little more digging I did find my pistol as well. I was honestly super relieved. That had been a gift from Jun. I didn¡¯t want to lose it.


    Okay. I could see, breath, and I had a weapon.


    Let¡¯s get to work.


    ¡ª---


    Scorpion''s car was a wreck, even if I did have the key shard I wouldn¡¯t get it moving.


    I sighed. As I looked outwards. I knew the general path. My eyes GPS meant I knew exactly the direction to get back to the wayhouse.


    So since I didn¡¯t find anything of value. I started walking. Trudging through the desert. First I would get to the wayhouse. Then I would start searching for the Raffen base.


    I had considered just sitting tight, hitchhiking back to the city.


    But I had been hired for a job.


    The Solo¡¯s guide had mentioned that some gigs would blow up in your face. That you would have to make a decision about what kind of Solo you wanted to be. The sort that once the job gets out of control walks away. The ones that lived long lives, but were never respected.


    Or the one that when shit blew up they stood up and got to work.


    Considering how pissed I was? Yeah. I think I¡¯m the kind that got to work.


    It took almost an hour to reach the wayhouse. Trudging against dust and sand up and over dunes. I noticed that the trailer with the motorcycle that was what caused all of this was gone.


    Connor was going to be answering some questions next time I saw him.


    I hauled myself inside. Taking a moment to pull off the dust mask and the goggles. I headed into the bathroom and found the sink. Running water.


    Thank god.


    I washed my face allowing my eyes to stop aching from all the dust for the first time in over an hour. Then I washed the goggles and the dust mask as best I could.


    Drying them a bit. I wiped them down and put them back on.


    I felt like I could actually fight now. I did throw a bandage that I ripped out of an old sheet around my shoulder. Didn¡¯t want people to see the hole that was still there even if it was mostly closed after the Maxdoc.


    Ow.


    I was just getting ready to head back into the storm, to stumble around in the direction of where I had seen the sand trails the Raffen vehicles had left as they chased us, but I heard it over the howl of the wind.


    A car.


    I slipped into a dark corner, behind the door Unity ready.


    The engine cut off, and I could hear cursing but I didn¡¯t hear the engine start again. Instead I heard it. Someone coming up to the door.


    Someone opening the door.


    Someone stumbling inside.


    Someone familiar.


    ¡°Fuckin¡¯ storm. Fuckin Frank! My bike! Bastard klepped my bike.¡± He moaned as the door closed behind him as he took off a mask and goggles like the set I had, and spat dust out of his mouth.


    I struck, a kick right to the back of his knee, arm hooked around his own.


    Ow. My shoulder wasn¡¯t happy with the movement.


    But it worked, sending him slamming into the floor on his back. I settled on his chest. With my Unity pressed against his mouth.


    ¡°What the fu-Ack!¡± He squealed when the barrel of my unity slipped past his teeth.


    ¡°No talking.¡± I said simply as he stilled. Feeling my gun in his mouth did a great job shutting him up. ¡°I have two questions for you Connor, you are going to answer them very clearly. Because otherwise you get to repaint the floor. Did you set up Scorpion?¡± I asked as I gently pulled my gun out from his mouth.


    ¡°No! I told him! I told him he was late! If he had shown up at the time I told him it would have been fine! He was supposed to be here yesterday! Frank and the others were busy there was a boxing match everyone was watching! But Scorpion was late!¡±


    ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll give you a pass on that. Next question. Where did they take Scorpion?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s an old gas station nearby! Here! I can send you the location! Just don¡¯t kill me!¡±


    My eyes flashed as I received the text with the GPS coordinates.


    He was right. It was close. ¡°Now get ready, you are giving me a ride.¡±


    ¡°No.¡± He squeaked out. I pushed the barrel of my Unity just a tad deeper against his face.


    ¡°No?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t! They¡¯ll know if I get close! They have sensors all over the desert looking for vehicles. If I bring you close they¡¯ll kill us. Both of us! I already need to get out of here!¡± He whined pathetically at me.


    I sighed. ¡°Fine.¡± I stood, up and stepped back into the storm. Leaving Connor on the floor to his fate.


    Sure I could have waited. I could take a nap and get my leg back into shape, but I wasn¡¯t sure how long Scorpion had before the Raffen killed him. I don¡¯t remember super well the Raffen missions from the game, but I do remember they weren¡¯t gentle on their captured people. I didn¡¯t have time to take a nap.


    So I pointed myself towards the GPS marker I set up and started trudging. Hopefully I would actually find them, and not just be led into a trap.


    ¡ª--


    I was in luck.


    The little setup that looked like it used to be a gas station with a few little stores all around it was now covered in Raffen Shiv markings. Mostly ¡°Wraith¡± graffitied over the old concrete that I only could barely make out in the storm.


    I settled against the wall letting myself think this through. I found them. Scorpion was inside, along with a small army of Raffen.


    Since I was here, alone, with someone I needed to rescue. I had to do this right.


    The Wraith that I had killed before, Both the one on the Bike that I had blow apart with my baby¡­ Which was now long gone.


    Dang. I just realized my poor HMG was somewhere in the desert. Dammit. I shook it off focusing back on my current issue.


    Between the biker and the Wraith I had stabbed to death I had leveled up. That meant I had two stat and skill points.


    So I spent them.


    Cool 8, and Ninjutsu 7. I had been planning on spending my points on Intelligence and Breach, but in this case. I once more needed stealth on my side. So I dropped both points.


    I shivered a bit as it felt like my mind grew a little bit colder. No more like I was just that much more capable of ignoring anything but my objective. Pain, emotions, fear. All of it simply frozen solid.


    I rose up to my feet. Ignoring the limp I had been battling with the whole way as I walked around the edge of the brick wall covered in graffiti.


    I slipped into the compound like a ghost. It was almost startling how simple it all felt. To move without making a sound. The storm which I had been fighting through the entire path was simply accepted. Instead of fighting it I let it flow through me. Helping instead of hindering.


    My senses felt sharp as I started hunting.


    I had no idea how many Wraiths there were in the compound. So I would simply have to clear them out. One at a time.


    The first thing I found wasn¡¯t a victim.The feeling of my danger sense was what alerted me. Told me I was about to be seen. I slipped backwards instantly looking around the corner of the building I had just walked out from. It was a camera. Set up in the ceiling looking out over the center of the little bundle of buildings. I smiled as my eyes shifted to gold. I started breaching. It took a few minutes, but when it was done. I was through. Then I sent my Ping Quick Hack.


    My eyes shone as I got small little alerts over my hud telling me general where everyone was. It wasn¡¯t like in the game. I wasn¡¯t seeing people through walls. Instead it was like a little icon showing me generally where they were.


    But it didn¡¯t matter.


    I saw enough. The Wraiths were all connected to the security system. I could see the few wandering around, but most were bunkered up to wait out the storm.


    My first Victim was quickly chosen.


    A tarp covering a door to keep the dust out of a smaller room that had their security systems. I peeked in through the window knowing exactly where to best do so to remain unseen.


    There was one man inside, grumbling to himself about the dust as he watched some TV on one of the monitors. The rest showed only dust.


    The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    I crawled in without even ruffling the tarp, With Ninjutsu 7, I no longer felt like a kid playing hide and seek. No, I had training. Years of reflexes and instincts, muscle memory and not quite memory, but just an understanding of what to do.


    The man was eating some instant noodles. I let him finish slurping his last bite, chewing it and swallowing before my knife slipped through his throat. He gurgled weakly for a moment, his arm trying to reach for an alert, or trying to save himself.


    I didn¡¯t let him.


    *100 Ninjutsu XP Gained.*


    *500 XP Gained.*


    *Blades skill level up!*


    Hmm. Blade 4. Nice.


    I reached behind my neck and grabbed my connection port. Pulling the cord free I clicked it into the computer system.


    Breaching the system directly¡­ It was harder. Breaching a single camera¡¯s security was easy. Breaching into an actual security setup? If I hadn¡¯t just murdered their security guy I had a feeling I might not have even succeeded. I could see the computer sending an alert popup about an intrusion. Even as I worked.


    Luckily there was no one to see the alert.


    And after a few minutes I was in. Their system was completely under my control. More importantly, I finally got the alert I had been waiting for.


    *Intelligence Leveled up!*


    Intelligence 3! Yes!


    Instantly a daemon was uploaded. Something I hadn¡¯t even thought of, just an instinctual reflex. It was sent out to all the Wraith attacking their network.


    Their optics would suddenly have difficulty spotting me as the Daemon would try to blur me out of their sight.


    There. I breathed out as I slipped back into the storm. Time to ghost this gig.


    ¡ª-


    Frank Elder


    Raffen Shiv: Wraith


    This show was dumb. Frank decided as he flicked off the channel. With the storm going on he had come down to his little underground home away from home.


    Well it was just his home now.


    He stretched. He could hear the storm finally letting up. Might actually be able to get something done today. He rose up from the old beat up couch that he probably would need to get replaced soon.


    The Blood stains were getting a little much.


    Scorpion was still hanging around. He smiled looking towards the man. He was hanging from his wrists by a set of chains.


    ¡°Hang in there Scorp! We¡¯ll think about reaching out to the Aldecaldos in a few hours¡­ Maybe!¡± He laughed at his joke as he walked past the man, The glare he was getting for his words caused him to alter his path, a heavy fist into Scorpion''s stomach reminded the man that he was a prisoner. Scorpion''s heavy cough told him he would need to let up soon. Didn¡¯t want to kill the guy he was a chance for a payday after all.


    Well, didn''t want to kill him yet. If he could work it out, he would get the eddies and kill old Scorpion as well. That would be a nice bonus.


    ¡°There. A reminder of where you are.¡± He told Scorpion reaching up and slapping his cheeks a bit, laughing as the nomad moaned at Frank''s roughness on his his bruised face.


    Feeling a little upbeat at the situation he walked up the stairs. Sure Connor had turned out to be a bitch. Dealing with his old family was a big no no. Especially since he hadn¡¯t told Frank. If he had, they could have ambushed Scorpion.


    Instead they had to chase him down. Losing people, equipment. It was a mess.


    Ah well. They would get a nice paycheck for ransom, and Connor¡­ Well he had nowhere to go now. The Aldecaldos wouldn¡¯t harbor him, and now the Wraiths would know he was weak.


    Frank smiled. He would quite enjoy ripping the boy apart. It would be a good way to remind the others not to go against his will.


    He walked into the upper floor and was surprised no one was around.


    ¡°Harold! Where you at? I want that windshield fixed on that Revenant! Harold!?¡± He looked around confused. The garage was empty. ¡°Harold!?¡±


    He walked out of the building looking around the courtyard. ¡°Where the hell is everybody! HEY! I want everyone back to work! These cars are still full of holes!¡± He roared.


    But other than the wind. No response came back.


    He drew his Overture. The big revolver was a good weapon. The noise and power gave him a certain respect whenever he had to shoot someone acting up.


    ¡°Someone better be on the cameras.¡± He growled rushing across the dusty courtyard to the security room.


    He walked in and stopped.


    ¡°David?¡± He called, noticing the body slumped over. He rushed up and saw it.


    Throat was slit.


    ¡°Fuck.¡± He reached over and hit the alarm button.


    Instantly a noise echoed through the area. It lasted for a few seconds more than long enough to alert everyone.


    But as Frank headed back into the courtyard nothing happened.


    He looked around waiting for his men to show up.


    Slowly he realized there weren''t the usual hoots and hollers of his men. No gun fire. Not the sound of engines starting up, or even boots rushing around.


    It was a ghost town.


    He jerked around searching for anything.


    Not a thing moved but the dust.


    He moved. Rushing into the barracks. The boys would be fuckin¡¯ around on some BD again. Surely that was it.


    He entered into a charnel house. The floor practically pools of blood as four of his boys lay dead.


    Henry was in his bed, BD wreath still active even with his throat opened.


    Kengo was slumped in ¡®his¡¯ big ass chair. It was comfortable, and Kengo had hauled it across the entire desert ontop of his little packrat of a car.


    Someone had stuffed a screwdriver into his ear.


    It was still quietly dripping blood down the handle into the growing puddle.


    The other two were slumped over the back of the couch.


    He didn¡¯t need to look any further. He knew they were dead.


    Who the fuck was doing this? Sure the Wraiths made enemies but this was crazy.


    No one in this desert had this kind of skill. No one took out a room with four men without setting off an alarm. That was Corpo Intelligence type shit.


    He left the room in a hurry searching.


    Every room he came across that was supposed to be occupied was now only occupied by the dead.


    Boomer. The crazy bastard who had been with Frank since the beginning. A friend from his old nomad family that had left right alongside him, and to this day still carried far too many grenades had his head caved in by the looks of it. A fucking carpenters hammer stuck in the back of his head. His body slumped over his workbench.


    His empty workbench.


    Frank swallowed as he looked around.


    No one.


    Who had done this?!


    He was losing his cool. He knew it. His gun was starting to get a little twitchy as he held it out infront of him. Then he came to a decision.


    Fuck this.


    He was going to get to his car, and floor it. He would join the other Wraith group at the cement factory. Sure he would have to shut up and take it from that asshole Hook. But fuck it. Better to lick boots, then get murdered by some Arasaka ninja.


    They hadn¡¯t even hit an Arasaka shipment!


    He slipped into the garage, breathing out a sigh of relief that his Reaver was still where it should be. His baby was fast. It would get him out of here in a hurry. He was done with this shitshow.


    He made it three steps before suddenly gunfire erupted around him. He cursed ducking down and was only saved because of the Subdermal armor he had chipped in a year back. The bullet that just knocked into his back would have been it.


    He fired blindly towards where he thought the gunfire came from his Overture barking as he ducked behind the cars deeper into the garage.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know who you are!¡± He yelled out as he kept moving he just needed to get to his car. ¡°But I don¡¯t want any of it! Whatever you want! Just take it!¡±


    He crouched down. Not a sound reached him.


    Fuck whoever sent some sort of corpo assasin after his gang. Who the fuck did he kill to deserve this? He couldn¡¯t think of anything that would bring this level of heat down on him.


    He slowly snuck around his Reaver. If he could just get in the door. But as he was reaching for the door a gunshots bark echoed through the garage. The noise made his Overture sound like a puppy.


    He had noticed it. The gunman a blur in the corner of his eye and dropped which was the only reason he was still alive.


    Boomers van now had a hole in it that looked like someone shot a sniper rifle at him.


    Fuck was that a Burya!? He reached up and fired twice in the direction that he had seen the blur and rushed out of the garage as fast as he could.


    No way he could get in his Reaver and start it up without that handcannon blowing a hole through him.


    He dashed into the rec room. The stupid arcade games giving him a bit of cover as he poked his gun back around wall and fired his last two rounds. Quickly reloading as he listened for any noise.


    But there was nothing. Not a sound other than the electronic noises of the arcade machines.


    Reloaded Frank stood up and moved towards the window peaking out through the metal shutters.


    Nothing. No movement. No sound.


    He shivered. He just had to¡­ Draw them away and double back to the car.


    If he couldn¡¯t get out of here he was dead.


    He moved out through the building, glad that they had made paths through the stupid shops that used to be here before they took it over. Let them move around without having to go outside during a dust storm.


    Now it may be saving his life.


    As he thought that he heard it. A noise behind him.


    He turned and fired. Every round slamming through the thin walls towards the Arcade room.


    He had definitely heard something!


    He once more reloaded grumbling to himself. Reloading a revolver in the middle of this shit was stupid.


    He would get a smaller gun when this was over.


    Ducking through to another shop he continued moving. Hopefully whoever this cocksucker chasing him down was, they would lose track of him.


    Although the fact he hadn¡¯t even gotten eyes on them yet?


    Fuck.


    He crept up to a window to take another peak. But again his dusty little former gas station was quiet. Not a thing moved.


    And not a soul other than him and this ninja was alive.


    He hunkered down for a minute simply staring out the window. Come on, where are they? They had to be somewhere!


    But Frank couldn¡¯t see anything, nothing moved.


    Then suddenly that roar echoed out. And he yelped. The wall he had been standing against now had a hole in it, and it had nearly blown a hole through him.


    He started moving again.


    Fuck fuck!


    They were definitely tracking him. Probably high powered optics. Which meant he wasn''t going to be able to sneak away.


    Fine. He called up his Reaver''s auto drive system, and ordered it towards the entrance of their little setup. He was near there now, he would rush into the car and speed off.


    It had to work.


    He heard the engine start up with a roar and it started moving, driving out of the garage towards the entrance.


    C¡¯mon faster! Fucking auto drive!


    Then he heard it. Beep. That means the door was open and it was waiting. He moved. Jumping out a window and rolling just to keep his momentum, he had to be a small target just to survive.


    He leapt into his car practically jumping into the passenger seat he was so desperate. His hands fumbled to push him into the driver seat, he dropped his revolver just to grab the wheel but then to his horror.


    The passenger door slid open.


    Standing there was a¡­ Girl? A child? But no, not just a child, because that was a big fucking gun.


    Wait. ¡°Wai-¡±


    The sound deafened him as much as it blew him out of his own car. He came to weakly coughing up blood and he realized he had a hole in his chest.


    ¡°Fu-¡± he couldn¡¯t even curse, blood flowed out from his lungs.


    ¡°You just had to try to run. Note to self Motoko. Kill them all without letting them realize what¡¯s happening, it makes this job so much easier.¡± He heard the soft voice of the girl as she walked around the back of his ride. His attempts to talk were met with failure as he coughed blood that just didn¡¯t seem to stop.


    ¡°I was trying to find your rifle, you know? You shot me earlier with a rifle, and I wanted to repay the favor, but then I couldn¡¯t find it. It took so long you ended up realizing what was going on. My mistake. I don¡¯t like playing with my prey.¡± She said as she knelt beside him. She wasn¡¯t just holding a Burya, she had his Overture.


    ¡°Alright. You¡¯ve made me shoot this stupid thing enough my arms are hurting. Well I¡¯m not one for letting someone suffer. Even a scav. Err. Wraith. Same thing really.¡± She commented simply as she raised his revolver.


    ¡°Oh. Shit. Stupid. Almost forgot. Stupid Motoko!¡± She lowered his revolver which made him want to gasp in relief, even if he realized he was dying.


    Too far for a hospital. No medical attention, and no one to do it anyways.


    She reached behind his neck and started forcing shards out of him manually.


    ¡°Fu-¡± he gurgled again wanting to tell this kid to fuck off. How did he get killed by a kid? He murdered girls like her before breakfast!


    ¡°There we go.¡± She muttered pulling out¡­ That was his ride''s key shard. ¡°I¡¯ve been without wheels of my own for long enough don¡¯t you think?¡± She asked waving it around before slotting it in.


    Instantly she raised his Overture once again. ¡°Now I don¡¯t have to worry about damaging the shard. Good bye.¡±

 Chapter 18

    *750 XP Gained.*


    I nodded as I turned away from the corpse. I slipped into the Quadra Type-66. The ¡°Reaver¡± Variant. It was a design that altered practically everything to make it a vehicle that can survive in the desert.


    But then again. It was still basically a muscle car. It looked¡­ well the base model was awesome, but this one looked a little worn.


    I shrugged still a car. Still cool.


    I quickly took control and reversed it back towards the gas station that had the underground basement. What kind of gas station had a basement? I had been looking for twenty minutes for Scorpion, only to find out there was a basement when the gonk I just flatlined had come up probably looking for a snack or something. I was lucky I had been able to jump behind a cabinet as my danger sense alerted me to him coming up.


    Then of course he had subdermal armor which made my Unity nothing but a pea shooter against him.


    Ugh. I was really getting tired of dealing with people in armor.


    My wrist hurt. It wasn''t broken, not this time at least. I could actually fire the Burya without breaking my arm thanks to Recoil Reduction giving me some serious tips on saving my bones. But it still hurt!


    I shook my irritation away. Pulling up to the building I jumped out and rushed downstairs. My limp was starting up again now that I wasn¡¯t in combat and the adrenaline and Coolness flowed away.


    I was going home, taking a shower, and taking a nap. Right after I rescued Scorpion. I walked down the steps into the little basement section I hadn¡¯t known existed.


    I winced as I saw him. Scorpion looked bad. Hanging from the ceiling by his wrists, and it looked like they had worked him over bad. His face was a mess.


    ¡°Fuck Scorpion. They really took you apart.¡± I told him as I approached looking for the controls to drop him down.


    ¡°Whazt?¡± He jerked awake a bit looking up through only one eye that wasn¡¯t swollen shut and I saw as he realized who was there, could see the shock in his eyes.


    ¡°Mot¡¯ko?¡±


    ¡°Nice to see you survived as well Choom. C¡¯mon let¡¯s get you out of here. I don¡¯t suppose you know where the Aldecaldos are camped? You are gonna need some medical attention.¡± I told him as I finally found the release for the chains and grunted as I did my best to slowly lower him but it wasn¡¯t easy. He weighed a lot more than I did.


    Finally he was on the ground and he was looking at me like he had seen a ghost. ¡°C¡¯mon now Scorpion no time for naps. Here huff this.¡± I pushed a Maxdoc I had found in the camp into his mouth and after that at least he seemed more alert even if it was obvious I was now on a time limit. He was bleeding bad. ¡°Let¡¯s get you moving.¡± I told him as I did my best to heft an arm over my shoulder.


    Only to wince as he brushed against the gun shot wound.


    Yep, that was still there.


    ¡°You g¡¯ shot.¡±


    ¡°Just a flesh wound.¡± I assured him as I hauled him up and started dragging his weakly working legs.


    It was a struggle up the stairs but I got him in the passenger seat and settled in myself.


    ¡°Now Scorpion, where do I take you?¡±


    A few moments later his eyes shifted yellow, and I got a text.


    Coordinates I could use in my GPS.


    Cool.


    And with a nice purr that I could get used to my new car rumbled to life and I hit the gas.


    Seriously, Scorpion needed a doctor. He looked like shit.


    ¡ª-


    He passed out on me during the drive even as he moaned in his sleep at the rough terrain.


    Nothing I could do about that. The roads out here were more suggestions than anything.


    Still having a GPS meant I could zone out and focus on everything that had happened.


    I had killed a lot of wraiths in that camp.


    Eight men had died without any alarm being sent. Eight men that I had murdered as quickly and completely as I could. My knife had seen a lot of work, but so had anything I could get my hands on.


    I was kinda proud, in a horrible way, of the screwdriver kill. That had been a tricky set of movements that I only barely managed to get through without anyone screaming.


    I looked through the stack of alerts and sighed.


    *Street Brawler skill level up!*


    *1 Perk Point Gained.*


    I guess the improvised weapon counted as brawling, and now I was at Street Brawling 5.


    *Reflex Leveled up!*


    This must have happened early, because now that Reflex was at 5, my Reflex skills got room to advance.


    *Blades skill level up!*


    *1 Perk Point Gained.*


    Blades had maxed out at 5 as well. I guess it made sense considering how many throats I had slit.


    But killing had repercussions.


    I had gained 4750XP for killing everyone in the compound.


    *Level up achieved!*


    *One Stat Point Gained.*


    *One Skill Point Gained.*


    And now I was level 5. I shivered a bit as I thought about what that meant, but also how awesome it felt. Gamer brain loved leveling.


    Motoko loved leveling too.


    I sighed.


    I liked Murder.


    It was fun. Challenging. Thrilling. I pushed away the stat menu to focus on the road.


    Fine. I liked Murder. I liked killing.


    But I liked killing bad people. That was the part that I could accept. I wasn¡¯t killing innocent people, and I wouldn¡¯t. I killed the worst sorts. The ones that prey on others.


    Just because I enjoyed it¡­ Doesn¡¯t make me a bad person.


    It didn¡¯t.


    ¡ª--


    Pulling up to the Aldecaldos camp in a Raffen Shiv Wraith marked car might have been a bit¡­ Well I could have done it better. I had just been in a rush.


    But now I had an army of angry nomads all pointing rifles at my car as it came to a stop inside their camp.


    Probably should have stopped outside.


    But then again Scorpion looked really bad.


    I turned off the engine letting the Nomads hear it die out as I popped open the door and slowly revealed my glove clad hands. Showing I didn¡¯t have a weapon in them.


    Not that it mattered. Quickdraw could handle that easily enough.


    ¡°Scorpion is in the passenger seat! He needs some medical attention.¡± I called out once I was out of the car and the nomads could see me.


    It took a moment but someone came up behind me putting a gun against my back as they peeked into the car.


    ¡°Fuck! Get that door open! Scorpion needs help.¡± A gravely voice called out behind me and I just waited as a few Nomads rushed up and opened the door and quickly started hauling their family member out of the car.


    ¡°You gave us all a scare¡­ girl.¡± The voice behind me said although not unkindely.


    ¡°Yeah sorry. Was in a bit of a rush. Scorpion passed out on the way over and it worried me.¡± I could feel the gun removed from my back then and most of the nomads lowered their weapons as well, although a few kept their guns aimed.


    I turned around to see a cowboy.


    Look he had an Overture and a cowboy hat. He was a cowboy.


    ¡°Motoko Kusanagi. Merc.¡± I introduced myself as I slowly lowered my arms.


    ¡°Cassidy Nomad. Thanks for bringing Scorpion in, what happened?¡± He asked in a drawl that I couldn¡¯t help but pay attention too, he had a nice voice.


    I sighed. ¡°Long story. I¡¯m a merc that Scorpion, well I¡¯ll let him tell that part. We got noticed by some Raffen, and chased down. They caused us to crash, and well. I couldn¡¯t kill all of them before they put a bullet in me.¡± I gestured to my shoulder which had the bandage bleed through a bit with all the work I had been doing.


    ¡°Need a Ripper, least we could do for bringing back our boy.¡± He asked but was already sort of trying to guide me over.


    Guess looking like a kid did have some advantages.


    ¡°No. No thank you. I¡¯ll head back to the city. I have my own doc I trust.¡± I countered instantly. I didn''t want to get into that rabbit hole. It would just be easier to heal after a nap. ¡°Anyway they left me for dead and took Scorpion. I bet you would have heard from them sometime soon asking for a ransom.¡±


    ¡°Yep, likely.¡± He said simply although I could see he wanted to argue with me still, but I continued my story.


    ¡°Anyway I tracked them down, took them out, and pulled Scorpion out. He gave me the coords for your camp. Here we are.¡± I answered of course instantly glossing over everything that I had done. Which Cassidy obviously noted.


    ¡°Well thank you for pulling Scorpion out of a bad situation. We won¡¯t forget it.¡± He said with a tip of his hat and I shrugged.


    ¡°I was hired and contracted to be his security. It was my failure that left him captured in the first place.¡± I waved off any appreciation for what I had done.


    Fuckers deserved it. I noticed, but didn¡¯t pay any attention to the mans raised eyebrow.


    ¡°Oh here.¡± I looked to him and felt my eyes go gold as I sent him a text. ¡°That¡¯s the camp I cleared. Might be useful to grab some stuff yourself. I know there were more vehicles parked in their garage, and I didn¡¯t get a chance to loot much once I noticed that Scorpion was in bad shape.¡± I offered after the message went through.


    ¡°Mighty kind of ya.¡± Cassidy agreed, looking me over again. ¡°You sure you don¡¯t want to see our doc? We don¡¯t have the best gear, but he is competent. It¡¯s a long drive back to the city¡­¡±


    ¡°Nah. Other than the fleshwound I¡¯m fine.¡± I told him, gesturing at the bloody hole in my shoulder. I could see that there were plenty of nomads listening in as we talked, and since I had passed on everything I felt like sharing I gave him a final nod.


    ¡°Well that¡¯s my job done. I¡¯m outta here.¡± I told Cassidy as I moved to slide back into my ride. Cassidy moved to stop me but didn¡¯t quite finish the action.


    ¡°You¡¯re an odd one, since you ain¡¯t accepting any help, drive safely. The Aldacaldos will remember what you did for them today.¡± He offered as he bent down to talk to me as I belted myself into the drivers seat.


    ¡°Thanks Cassidy, but I just did a job. Nothing more.¡± I answered as my new car came alive in a rumble, Cassidy pulled back and gave me room as I pulled out of the Nomad camp.


    Too bad I hadn¡¯t seen Panam, she was cool.


    And I hadn¡¯t managed to loot the Raffen camp. I sighed, saving Scorpion was more important. And I was at least an hour away from the camp now. Might as well just drive home. Recover. Besides, I revved the engine a bit as I put my foot down.


    I got a nice bit of loot.


    ¡ª--


    I drove fast on my way home. The long roads let me absolutely gun my new car.


    Which is how I learned I got more Driver experience driving fast. Which was cool.


    Half way back to the city I got a Driving level up. Putting me at Driver 3. Which was pretty helpful, because future cars were not the same thing as cars I am used to. At all. At least it was fast. I sailed over the dunes and into the city without any trouble as I pulled into the daily grind in the city.


    I got some looks as I drove through the streets. The side of the car was painted with ¡°Wraiths¡± after all. But as long as I wasn¡¯t pulled over I didn¡¯t care.


    I had sand in places I didn¡¯t want to have sand. Shower first.


    I pulled into the parking garage near our home and paid out a bit for a permit to actually park there.


    I took a moment once the car was off to just sigh and breath.


    I was home. Not dead. Job done.


    I rose and headed into the apartment stopping to grab a snack from mystery meat stick guy as I headed inside. I knew I was getting looks. Sure I had washed my face in the wayhouse. But I still had blood caked to the side of my head, and I looked like I got in a fight with a dust devil.


    The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    And lost.


    Everything was going to need to be washed after this.


    That and repaired. My poor Netrunner Leotard was getting a little rough.


    I felt that small surge of hope as I entered the apartment looking around for Jun, only to find out once again he wasn¡¯t here.


    I sighed and walked into the bathroom. The first blast of water came off red and brown, and it took a minute before it started showing at least mostly clear.


    I checked out the bullet hole that went through my shoulder and winced.


    Yeah that was bad.


    I was really glad I could recover with a nap. Otherwise I probably would have died. I can just imagine how much dust and grit got in the wound over the hours trip through the dust storm.


    I shook it away. Nap first. Deal with my situation after.


    ¡ª--


    I woke up hungry.


    Made sense. I barely ate the day before and I had gone through some shit. I stretched as I slipped out of bed and groaned pleasantly when nothing ached. My leg was fine. My shoulder was spotless.


    I grabbed some clothes wincing at how dusty my jacket was.


    I decided to leave that on the floor until I could give it a deeper clean. Instead I was wearing some older clothes as I slipped out of the apartment.


    I wanted Ramen.


    I walked over to Cherry Blossom market. Down the stairs and slipped into a chair at the counter ordering what sounded best as I settled in for lunch.


    Figuring I might as well, I sent a text to Scorpion.


    *Hope you''re still alive. I did see the trailer with your bike at the Wraith Compound. So if your people went, and picked the area clean you should at least have your Preem ride.*


    I was just stuffing some noodles into my mouth when I got a return text.


    *Scorpion: Still alive. Bike was secured. Bit of an awkward explanation about everything. Heard from Cassidy you left before you got patched up. You already get looked at?*


    *I¡¯m preem. Gonna spend a bit of time taking it easy. Eating Ramen right now. After I think I¡¯ll go home, put my feet up and enjoy¡­ The AC.*


    *Scorpion: You just had to say it! Joking aside, glad you¡¯re okay. Thank you. Really. Not a lot of people, mercs or not would have come back to pull my ass out of that. I¡¯ve seen the pictures of the Wraith camp. Wakako undersold you. If you ever need backup. Call me. I owe you.*


    *Just doin my job.*


    *Scorpion: I¡¯m alive. Not many Aldecaldos get to say that after getting captured by the Raffen. So again. Thanks. I¡¯ll message Wakako that the Gig is over. Also Saul, wants to thank you. I passed him your number, so you might hear from him soon. Take it easy Motoko.*


    *Anytime.* I left my last message back short as I slurped the last of my Ramen. Dropped a little tip to the chef which earned me a bow as I headed back out. As much as I wanted to go do some more netrunning grinding, there was something I really couldn¡¯t put off anymore.


    ¡°Excuse me. Do you know where I could pick up some clothes patches and tools¡­ And maybe some advice for fixing bullet holes?¡± I asked one of the ladies selling self adjusted clothes in the Market. Earning an odd look before I explained I was a merc.


    After that I got some brief explanations, and after a small loss of eddies I had everything I needed to do it myself. The lady even sat me down and started me on how to do it on some scrap cloth she had. I definitely overpaid for the equipment she gave me, but the instruction sped things up. It was definitely worth it when after a few minutes I got an alert.


    *100 Crafting XP Gained.*


    I couldn¡¯t help but laugh, forcing myself to wave away the lady who had been helping me learn. I was in a Cyberpunk world, but I was gonna get my first level because of sewing?


    Hilarious.


    I smiled as my attention refocused. Let¡¯s see what I could do once I get to Crafting 1.


    I didn¡¯t quite make it. Practicing with old cloth and making stitches meant I wasn¡¯t getting alerts super fast. But the lady kept helping me out until she decided it was late and time to close up.


    I was only one more alert away!


    I sighed, thanked her and took my new tools back home.


    I had plenty of old clothes to mess with after all.


    ¡ª--


    Wakako Okada


    Wakako had been a fixer in Night city for decades. She had seen it all. She had seen the fall of Arasaka tower. Had been alive before the Data Krash.


    So when she sent out a young girl with a bit of potential out on a gig it was mostly because Wakako needed someone rookie enough to handle a bodyguard job for low pay.


    Edgerunners didn¡¯t take bodyguard gigs for low pay. Bodyguard was one of the hardest jobs to do. Especially when your client was running straight towards danger.


    Wakako hadn¡¯t lied when she said Motoko was her suggestion to take along. She just hadn¡¯t informed the man she was his only option. A rookie like her could do well on a job like this, long travel times low pay, high risk. It was the perfect chance to teach the girl not to jump on every gig offered, and learn when to say no.


    Wakako wouldn¡¯t ever feel a connection with the girl. Wakako and Natasha¡¯s¡­ Friction made that impossible.


    But Wakako was old. She wouldn¡¯t hold her mother against the girl.


    But this was out of her expectations. First came a text from Scorpion long after she should have gotten an update on the gig.


    *Gig is finished. Here is the final pay. Wakako. Thank you. Motoko saved my life out there, and I know if you had sent me anyone else they wouldn¡¯t have bothered coming to my rescue. Make sure your girl is taken care of. Not many people would have walked into a Raffen Shiv camp alone to save someone.*


    Wakako was a woman that knew things. It was half the job of a Fixer. A good one anyways.


    So this created questions needing answers.


    *Explanation is requested. Motoko hasn¡¯t contacted me yet.*


    It took a while and this time Wakako was tapping her fingernails along her desk. She was not used to being kept waiting, and even less used to waiting for something that actually sparked her interest.


    Then a bigger message came through. Full of images, but not just images. It looks like the Aldecaldos had looted the place to the bedrock, but also had poked into everything doing the same thing Wakako was. Trying to figure out what had happened.


    Scorpion had even added in a file that he must have made after Wakako asked about what happened a text document recounting his experience. To her amusement it read like an army report.


    She read it all, Scorpion''s account. The images, the Aldecaldo scouts looking over the absolute carnage a Raffen Shiv camp had been left in.


    Wakako had to admit the sight of a man with a screwdriver in his ear in a room full of dead bodies gave her a feeling she didn¡¯t often have.


    She was impressed.


    Motoko had run into the sort of luck most Solo¡¯s pray never to find a mission going completely out of control. Yet the girl hadn¡¯t bailed out. Hadn¡¯t given up, or even called in reinforcements, or even Wakako herself to update.


    She had just gotten up after being shot and hunted down a pack of Raffen scum.


    Motoko¡¯s first mission had given Wakako reason to give her some minor tasks. Going through a scav hideout had opened the girl up for more dangerous moves. This job had been a test, to see if she was worth giving any trust.


    A Fixer needed to trust a solo can do the job. A solo needed to trust the Fixer not to screw them over. It was a relationship, and it was important.


    Wakako had been throwing the girl a bone with barely any attention, because she didn''t¡¯ expect anything from her. She had seen a thousand Motoko Kusanagi¡¯s. A thousand young men or women that came to her looking for work. Some even with a modicum of skill or potential.


    But this?


    This altered Wakako¡¯s entire understanding of Motoko Kusanagi.


    That was unacceptable. Wakako prided herself on knowing who she had working for her.


    So she sent out a message.


    *Gig closed. Confirmation from the client they are very happy. I have questions. Come to my office.*


    ¡ª--


    So I was heading into Wakako¡¯s office wearing a new bandage that I had bled on a bit from the inside to pretend to still be injured.


    Dammit, I hadn''t expected Wakako to want a face to face.


    I slipped into her office making sure to keep my arm rigid as I had it in a homemade sling.


    ¡°Wakako.¡±


    ¡°Motoko. Sit.¡± The older woman demanded as she looked me over with sharp eyes. ¡°I¡¯ve heard about your gig from everyone but you. Explain.¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­ Sorry I was taking a nap after getting checked out. I got shot you know?¡± I offered trying to defend myself.


    ¡°I am aware. Next time message me when a gig is finished regardless¡­ It was foolish. To go back after him. You do realize that don¡¯t you?¡± Wakako asked me as she put out a cigarette into an ash tray. ¡°No. I see that you don¡¯t. Taking a mission for two-thousand eddies isn¡¯t the sort of job you should be risking your life on.¡±


    ¡°I was hired to protect him. So I did.¡± I mumbled a bit. Not sure what else to say. I had a job to do, so I did it.


    ¡°I see, you will end up used up until you die then. That is your future if you keep going down that path, but you are your own person. Do as you like. Until you end up dead in some blaze of glory though, I will use you. Congratulations Motoko Kusanagi. You are no longer someone I consider a minor agent. I will have work for you. Dangerous work. But work that will leave you with more than two thousand eddies for risking your life.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ thanks?¡±


    The older woman chuffed at my response as she looked me over. ¡°One last thing, I need to know what you can do if I am going to set you up on jobs. You¡¯ve used stealth to your advantage. The scavs, and now the Raffen. If I asked you to sneak into a highly secure building could you do it?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. Maybe. I guess it depends on how fast you need it done¡­¡±


    She waves me off. ¡°It¡¯s not a real gig. But I need to know if your talents lay in espionage more than combat. You hacked into the Raffen''s security. Uploaded a Daemon. A nasty one too from my reports.¡±


    ¡°Ah it¡¯s¡­¡± I hesitated, not sure how to explain how a rookie netrunner like me has something so good. Daemons were¡­ weird.


    ¡°No, don''t explain you don¡¯t have to. From everything I have heard you made it through the whole camp without alerting anyone until the end. Could you do that with a corporate factory? An office? An apartment building?¡±


    Ah. I realized Wakako wasn¡¯t asking for details. She wasn¡¯t asking for my stats. She was asking if I had faith in my own abilities.


    ¡°Yes. I am confident in my stealth. I¡¯m good at it.¡± I assured her showing every ounce of confidence I could convey.


    ¡°I¡¯ll keep an eye out for a job for someone with those skills. If you can accomplish it¡­ I don¡¯t have anyone with that skillset under my employ currently. Prove you have what it takes and I will have more work than you can ever accomplish for you.¡±


    ¡°I will.¡±


    ¡°Good. Rest. Recover. I will be in touch soon.¡± She offered before waving me away.


    I slipped out of the chair and left feeling pretty good. Stealth missions could be fun!

 Chapter 19

    I decided to spend the next few days quietly. No jobs. No running around with Hiromi, although she was at school for the next few days anyways.


    I was still sort of coming to terms with my own ability in murder, and I thought some time away from missions where I had a gun in my hand was needed to sort myself out.


    The plan was simple. Stay out of trouble and pretend to ¡®recover¡¯ from the gig, so I would mostly stay out of sight of anyone that knows me.


    Lot¡¯s of things kept me occupied though. Crafting for one. The gig I had just accomplished. Everything in between.


    Plus it didn¡¯t help that I had a lot of time on my hands as I drove back out into the desert. Part of the desire was pure XP grind. Being able to really gun the engine on my Quadra Type-66 was amazing. Leaving me giggling at points as I caught some air, or came around a corner of a dune a little too fast and drifting a little.


    Little XP alerts came in, but it wasn¡¯t a lot. I wasn¡¯t doing anything truly crazy.


    But I was on my way to get something I had left behind.


    I soon came up to the location. Slowing down as I came up to the wreck of Scorpion''s ride. Or at least pieces of it. The Aldecaldos must have already come by from the look of it. The car itself was gone, but I could see bits and pieces of metal left behind.


    Plus the GPS told me this was it.


    I came to a stop and started searching. The desert didn¡¯t like giving back what it had taken and after a long hour or searching that area of the desert I finally found it.


    Like hell I was going to leave behind my HMG! I love that thing! I shot it out of a moving car! It¡¯s like I was in an action movie!


    Its barrel was all I could see as I was sticking out of the desert, and as I slowly dug it out I winced.


    ¡°Poor girl.¡± I could instantly tell how bad of a condition it was in.


    You see. I had a very special alert from the night before.


    With a grin I once again looked at my menu.


    *Crafting skill level up!*


    I managed to get Crafting 1 from sewing that last night. Although I had stabbed my finger more times than I really wanted to admit.


    I remember thinking that Breach was the most information dense of any of the skills I had taken so far.


    I was wrong.


    Crafting made Breach seem like elementary school math compared to Calculus. It was so dense, with little bits of knowledge in how to craft tons of things. Explosives, weapons, clothes, armor, vehicles, everything. Plus tool knowledge for tons of pieces of equipment, and the instincts on everything from making something to unmaking it.


    I could also feel a big blackness in the knowledge like it was reaching for knowledge that wasn¡¯t there at points. Knowledge I already knew would be Engineering.


    Two sides of the same side. Crafting was doing it by hand. Engineering was closer to design work or maybe understanding more complicated crafting? I guess I would find out when I unlocked it.


    Even without the knowledge though, I could feel the sort of impact it will have on my understanding of tech.


    It was kinda exciting.


    I realized quickly last night that sewing wasn¡¯t going to give me much experience, even if it was really useful. I still needed to figure out a way of making patches for my Leotard. I might need to buy a new one, or just buy a Netrunner suit to cannibalize.


    Still I had a feeling I would know a good way to do it once I explored Crafting a bit more.


    But between Crafting and Gun Nut, I had a solid understanding as I pulled my HMG free of the desert. I knew she was dead. When she had been thrown from the car, she had hit something solid, a rock probably. There was a good chunk of her receiver smashed in. Her barrel didn¡¯t look too bad, visually, but Gun nut told me it wasn¡¯t straight anymore. The pieces that let the barrel slide back after firing and be pushed forward with a spring were wrecked.


    I sighed as I held her up. Coming all this way only to find out she had died. It was sad.


    Not a waste, but just¡­ sad. She had really done work against the Wraiths, and we would have chewed them up if not for the car crashing.


    I hefted her up and felt the sand pour out of her. I had come all this way. It would be wrong to just leave her though.


    I nodded. I wouldn¡¯t just leave her. ¡°I¡¯ll fix you someday. Who knows. Maybe I¡¯ll even be able to give you a nice upgrade.¡± I told the gun as I shook her out a bit.


    ¡°Bitches do love cannons after all.¡± I muttered giggling a little at myself as I carried her back to the car. She would sit in my passenger seat while I drove home.


    Well¡­ not quite home.


    I had learned more than just how to craft from my level up. In fact I learned what was probably the most important part of crafting.


    Deconstruction.


    I now knew how to take something apart to get at the useful bits.


    Which gave me an idea. Especially since I now had wheels.


    In the morning I had gone down to the market to the same repair lady that had once basically called me an idiot for not knowing about the map function in my eyes.


    She was kinda a bitch, but she was closeby.


    ¡°Tools?¡± She asked looking up from¡­ Oh I recognized it now. It was an internet port for home use. Hook your TV or other devices into it to watch TV or get local web.


    ¡°Yeah. I¡¯m looking to get into scrapping, repair, and maybe some tinkering. Best place to get tools for it?¡± I asked, earning an odd look from the lady. Thankfully I guess getting my haircut and colored made me look different enough she was willing to talk.


    ¡°I¡¯ll give you a kit sure, thousand eddies.¡± She offered brazenly as if it was just a thing.


    ¡°That¡¯s robbery for a tool kit. But I¡¯ll tell you what. I¡¯ll pay a thousand, if it¡¯s a complete kit. If everything I¡¯ll need is inside it. If it isn¡¯t¡­ Well I know where you work.¡± I said, trying to put on my coolest stare.


    ¡°Don¡¯t go trying to threaten me, kid. Market security will be more than happy to have you thrown out.¡± Something about the way I spoke seemed to work as the woman sounded a little spooked despite her tough words to the contrary. But after a moment she nodded. ¡°But yeah. I¡¯ll make sure it¡¯s a complete kit. 1000 eddies.¡±


    A minute later I watched as she started putting a variety of tools from kits that she was selling into a single box. Although a few of the electronics she placed inside looked like personal equipment, something she looked at shrugged and threw it in.


    I really couldn¡¯t tell now if she was scamming me. But, well better to just get what I need and lose some eddies than have to spend a few days going to different stores trying to find the basics. Besides, if I found out later she scammed me.


    I did know where she worked.


    ¡°Here. This is everything someone doing some scraping, salvage, or repair needs. I¡¯m not here to teach you so if you don¡¯t know what something does, that¡¯s on you.¡± She offered, handing me the tool box.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± I agreed. My eyes going blue as I transferred the funds. A thousand bucks seems like a lot, but tools are always expensive.


    I had hurried home and after opening the box and poking around. It took me a while to check over everything, but my Crafting 1 knowledge dump did give me an idea of how almost everything works. Some of the stuff was esoteric.


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    With that done and a firm understanding of what tools and things I had. I was actually pretty sure the lady hadn¡¯t screwed me over. Overcharged me? Sure. But she had put in just about everything I would need.


    With that I went into my room and put on some older clothes, things I wouldn¡¯t mind ruined, I found an old pair of gloves that I think once belonged to Jun, and an older pair of boots.


    The glitzy ugly things I had no problem with ruining.


    Then I took my toolbox out to my new car.


    I had headed out to scrounge over the battle site. Not much had been left, and I was lucky to find my HMG still left over, but not my SMG. That was a pain. So instead of wasting more time. I settled my HMG in the seat, walked around to the driver side, patted my car''s hood, and started up her engine with a roar.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go to the dump!¡±


    ¡ª--


    ¡°Oh god it stinks.¡± I whined as I climbed another pile of trash looking for electronics, or anything else I could take apart.


    Seriously, why did I come here!? Who was the idiot that said I should come to the dump!? I¡¯ll kill them!


    No wait Motoko murder was still wrong against anyone not a scav, or a Wraith, or a bad guy in general.


    Was telling someone go to the dump an evil act?


    As I almost slipped and felt my foot fall into something wet and gooey, I decided yes. Yes it was.


    Too bad the evil person was me. I did this to myself.


    Puking a little in my mouth I continued to work. If nothing else there was a lot of stuff here to scavenge.


    I had already found a ton of stuff to work with. I didn¡¯t have any grand plans, honestly I was mostly looking for stuff I would definitely be able to fix, or at least take apart for parts to fix something else.


    Grinding my Crafting skill was less about making something useful right now, and more about making something at all.


    Really my big goal was just not to spend any money on this¡­ Well any more money.


    Eventually I could even make grenades and such. I did have a bunch of them from that Wraith guy I killed. Crazy bastard was practically covered in them, I had klepped them all, and there were even some parts to make more.


    I just wasn¡¯t going to try until I was sure I wasn¡¯t going to blow my face off.


    But until then I was looking for good scrap.


    And trying not to puke.


    I grunted as I slowly came back down the side of a trash pile with an old laptop in my arms. It had a bullet hole sure, but I could get a ton of stuff out of it.


    Which is when I looked to my left and stopped.


    No it couldn¡¯t be.


    I looked around and I realized this area did look¡­ familiar.


    I dropped the broken laptop. Focusing instead on what I was looking at.


    A fridge.


    A very familiar fridge.


    I walked over and with a hesitant hand I lifted the lid.


    Immediately I closed it ran a few feet away and lost my lunch.


    Oh god that smell!


    Yep. That was a decaying Rache Bartmoss. As I heaved out my guts my brain was processing what I had just found.


    V had found him in 2077. But it was still 2075. Had no one found him in two years? Really?


    I finished clearing my mouth and hurried back this time I opened the fridge without breathing I reached in and grabbed his Netdeck.


    Quickly took a picture of the inside of the fridge, and slammed it shut.


    Then I ran away. Gasping a dozen feet away as I tried to breath without smelling rotting corpse.


    The Netdeck still smelled too though. I shivered hurried back to the car. I was gonna stuff this in the trunk and not open it again until I had a plastic bag or something to seal it in.


    Fuck. I had found Rache Bartmoss.


    ¡ª--


    So I now had a plastic bag with Rache Barmoss¡¯s netdeck sealed inside, hidden in my room.


    That was¡­ Gonna be something I deal with later. No way I had the ability to check the insides without having my brain melted.


    And honestly? I didn¡¯t trust Nix. In the Game you take it to the Afterlife where a Netrunner called Nix hacks into it. He nearly gets brain fried but you rescue him.


    Afterwards he tells V there wasn¡¯t really anything interesting inside, gives you some special Quickhacks and sends V away right after.


    Rache Bartmoss basically created Netrunning. He was¡­ The greatest. Period.


    I always got suspicious in the game dealing with Nix. He always treated V like an amateur even after saving his life.


    So I was going to skip that entire thing. I¡¯ll grind up my skills and crack the netdeck myself someday.


    Until then?


    Well I thought about talking to Wakako about the fridge, but¡­ It will keep. Literally.


    If no one would have found it in two years I think it¡¯s safe where it is. Especially since I already took the valuable bit.


    So I pulled out my haul from the dump and grabbed my toolbox.


    Time to get to work.


    First My HMG was settled onto the living room table to get a good cleaning and going over, once it was at least clean I set her in my room for now.


    Then considering that leveling Technical Attribute was just as slow as Intelligence, I decided to combine them. While I was slowly taking apart the old electronics and other toys I had found. I was also listening to my Mother''s Netrunning guide, and hacking the radio.


    *100 Technical Attribute XP Gained*


    ¡ª---


    While grinding hacking was kinda boring in a way since for the most part it was just going through code as you tried to slip through the security. Grinding Crafting was more interesting.


    Like sure it was slow, but you were getting more than just the XP.


    Every time I took apart something I was getting equipment for more stuff in the future. I was finding neat little surprises inside expensive pieces of equipment that still worked despite the ruined exterior.


    So it kept my interest a lot longer. Although even so I did get bored eventually.


    Stretching, I decided to stretch my legs and grab a meal. Besides it had been a few days of playing around with tech I hadn¡¯t really talked to anyone since I got back from the Badlands.


    So I started sending off everyone I knew a text.


    *Hey Hiromi, still in school? Is it at least interesting?*


    *Ichi, how¡¯s work? Are you still stuck at the club for extra protection?*


    *Dr. Vik. It¡¯s Motoko, haven¡¯t had a chance to talk to you since we met up. I hope the chrome has been useful. I¡¯ve actually been looking for some stuff, I was wondering if you could help? I need to update my optics, I¡¯m thinking Kiroshi. Let me know if you have any deets on where I could get a set? Thanks Vik.*


    With that I felt at least that I wasn¡¯t hiding away from the world entirely.


    Even if I did things kept changing.


    The Claw-Strom gang war had been expanding. Mostly I¡¯ve been kept up to date on the news which I would let play while I was taking stuff apart.


    The war had spread. It was becoming a full out gang war. Because when you are shooting people on the streets sometimes you get some collateral.


    Right now The Valentino¡¯s were shooting both sides whenever they came into their territory. Turns out someone well loved in the Tino¡¯s had been killed in the crossfire between Strom and Claws.


    Tino¡¯s were pissed.


    6th St were also shooting on sight, but purely to keep Claws, or Strom from moving into their territory.


    This of course meant the Moxes were started to buckle down as well. The Claws getting hit hard which made them hyper aggressive.


    Mox girls and boys were paying for it. So they were arming up as well.


    The entire north side of the city was turning into a warzone.


    Damn.


    I was firmly staying out of it. Other than Jun I had no connection to the entire trouble.


    Which reminded me. I sent out one more text message.


    *Jun. Please still be alive.*


    I hadn¡¯t heard from Jun in a while. Once again he was not responding to texts or calls.


    So with that done I headed outside. I was just buying my routine mystery meat skewer when I got a text in return.


    *Hiromi: I¡¯m free bitch! We going partying!*


    *Sorry Hiromi. I¡¯m not really up to a party tonight. Glad you are free though.*


    *Hiromi: Uuuuugh you are the boringest crazy person I have ever met!*


    *Hey, I''m not crazy!*


    *Hiromi: Scav Den. SOLO.*


    *Which I did fully trusting that I could do it and survive. Mostly.*


    *Hiromi: Hence the crazy. Any news about Jun?*


    *Nothing.* I sighed as I walked around the block mostly just to do something other than stand around as I got some ¡®fresh¡¯ air.


    *Hiromi: I¡¯ll ask around some of the Claws I know. I know the war is getting pretty bad, so he¡¯s probably just busy.*


    *I hope he¡¯s just busy. I really do.*


    *Hiromi: Alright enough about bad stuff. What have you been doing? I talked to Ichi and he has been jobless since his glorious Shobo-Sama is keeping everyone close to the club. So I know you haven¡¯t done any jobs with Ichi. No more scav dens right?*


    I didn¡¯t know how to respond, technically I hadn¡¯t hit a Scav den.


    Technically.


    *Hiromi: RIGHT?*


    *Not a Scav den. I did some work for Wakako involving a nomad. It kinda blew up.*


    *Hiromi: WHAT THE FUCK MOTOKO! I¡¯m coming over!*


    *Okay I¡¯m just walking the block.*


    I laughed a little. It was nice to talk to Hiromi even if she was very¡­ Hiromi. She was my best Choom after all.


    I ended up getting back to the apartment and camping out waiting at the entrance for Hiromi to show up. The roar of her Kusanagi was something I could hear long before I saw her, and I was groaning because I could tell she was speeding like crazy.


    ¡°Hiromi¡­ Slow down you gonk.¡± I grumbled as I waited for her to come around the corner nearly drive into a lamppost, miss it by a bit and skid up onto the sidewalk in front of the apartment.


    ¡°MOTOKO!¡±


    ¡°Hello Hiromi. Do we need to talk about speed laws?¡± I asked but she ignored me as she jumped off her bike and started looking me over. Her hands poking and prodding.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± I told her earning a glare from Hiromi.


    ¡°You did something stupid again!¡±


    ¡°It was a gig! An official gig! It went bad when the Raffen Shiv showed up. But it turned out alright.¡± I told her with a shrug. ¡°Well, except my new baby got destroyed. They got pissed when I was firing the HMG out the side of the car and we ended up flipping. My HMG Died Hiromi. I¡¯m Sad.¡± I whined a bit at her.


    ¡°What the fuck Motoko! You¡­ That¡¯s fuckin¡¯ Nova. You fired that big ass thing out the side of a car? A moving car?¡± She asked suddenly perking up as I gave her a tidbit about the story.


    ¡°Oh it was way more Nova than that, they were behind us so I opened the passenger door rested the gun against the door and was firing backwards halfway out the car.¡±


    ¡°That is the preemest shit I ever heard. You crazy girl!¡± She pulled me into a massive hug squeezing as hard as she could. ¡°I¡¯m gonna have to stick to you from now on, cause you are gonna get flatlined doing such preem shit.¡±


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t that bad. C¡¯mon let¡¯s park your bike in the garage¡­ I want to show you something.¡± I grinned as I urged her back to the bike and hopped on patting the seat infront of me so Hiromi would get on.


    She did, looking like she wanted to keep hugging me or lock me away in a dungeon so I could stop doing ¡®Preem shit¡¯ and get killed.


    When we pulled into the garage Hiromi parking right next to my car which was in Juns spot. Hiromi was actually grumbling about it as she parked next to his spot.


    ¡°Who¡¯s in Jun¡¯s spot?¡± She grumbled to me and it was only by pulling her back that I stopped her from kicking my car as she got off her bike.


    ¡°I am.¡± I told her once I pulled her back as I walked up and opened the driver''s door. ¡°Want to go for a drive?¡± I teased her as I slipped inside.


    ¡°Bullshit. This is a Wraith car, it even has their markings on it.¡±


    ¡°Yeah I need to get it repainted. The previous owner won¡¯t mind.¡± I hinted as I cocked my head to the passenger door.


    ¡°Wait, you''re being serious?¡± She asked, suddenly looking from me to the car.


    Which is when I started it up. It roared to life.


    Hiromi happily jumped into the passenger seat a moment later looking around as I closed my door and pulled out.

 Chapter 20

    Of course, unlike Hiromi I wasn¡¯t crazy. I followed all the traffic laws.


    ¡°Ugh, why are you the most boring crazy person ever!?¡± Hiromi whined at me as I pulled out onto the street going a normal speed as I started driving around. Mostly just enjoying driving my new car with my best choom riding with me.


    ¡°We should stop by the club. Ichi will lose it when he sees your new ride.¡±


    ¡°Really? Why? He already has a car.¡±


    ¡°Oh my god Motoko. You are such a gonk. This is a Quadra Type-66! It¡¯s a preem ride¡­ Well I mean not this one exactly. The Wraiths did a hack job on it, but it still is a monster. What¡¯s the top speed on this thing?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t know.¡± I muttered although I was shifting a little as I lied.


    I didn¡¯t know the exact top speed, but there was nothing but open roads on the drive into the city.


    ¡°Ooh did my cautious driver Motokoooo drive fast?¡±


    ¡°Only out in the badlands.¡±


    ¡°How fast did you get? No, don''t give me that flat look tell meeeee!¡±


    ¡°Fine. I hit about one-eighty before I let off the gas and coasted back.¡±


    ¡°Yeah! That¡¯s what I¡¯m talking about! This thing can go! C¡¯mon hit it.¡±


    ¡°Hell no Hiromi, I¡¯m on a road with traffic!¡±


    ¡°Fuck ¡®em!¡±


    ¡°Not a chance choom.¡±


    ¡°Ugh boring.¡±


    ¡°But we can stop by the Ho-oh club and show off to Ichi.¡±


    ¡°Yeees!¡± Hiromi said breaking into giggles as I maneuvered to hit the freeway connecting Little Chinatown and Kabuki.


    I smiled as I got a little alert for driving XP. I was smiling as we turned stopped out on the road to the Ho-oh club. They had actually blocked off the little alley entrance which led to the club.


    Instantly as well I could see Tyger Claws looking alert and concerned.


    Wraiths weren¡¯t often seen in the city. But it¡¯s not like anyone living in the city wouldn¡¯t have heard of them.


    Thankfully as usual, Hiromi took care of that, popping out of the car and waving around and acting like all the Tyger Claws knew who she was.


    ¡°Hey hey! Where is Ichi! He has to see this!¡± She called out practically dancing towards the entrance to the club.


    I stepped out and settled against the car Ichi would be out soon, and I didn¡¯t want to leave my new car alone in the middle of a Tyger Claw club.


    I got some odd looks from a few of the people hovering around.


    Obviously they were guards. Looks like the club really had pulled in more people to guard it.


    Shoba either was paying the Claws to do it, or his club was more important than I expected since there was a gang war going on.


    I was distracted from waiting when I got a text.


    *Vik: Hey kid. Sorry it took so long I decided to check in on your request. Took a bit but I found what you were looking for. Come on by. But I need to say this. The chrome you dropped off has been going to a good use. I have to admit I kept expecting some kind of trick in the days after like you would show up to try and force me to pay more or set me up against a gang, but I was wrong. Listen kid. You did a solid good deed. I¡¯ll send some pictures just so your good deed doesn¡¯t just disappear into the wind.*


    I blinked in surprise at the heartfelt message.


    Then I started getting pictures. Little kids with new chrome. Chrome I recognized. Little kids that looked poor, but now had legs. Where in the picture before they had none.


    A boy who was showing off his arm to his mom. His obviously full prosthetic arm.


    And they kept coming.


    I had been right. When it came down to it. Vik was the sort of guy that did real honest good, in a city that had almost no one doing that.


    Damn. I wasn¡¯t crying. You¡¯re crying!


    ¡°See Ichi! Look at Motoko¡¯s new ride! I told you it was preem, Sh-Motoko?!¡±


    ¡°Wha? Oh. Jeeze Hiromi you startled me.¡± I snorted trying to keep my nose from running.


    ¡°Why are you crying! Was someone mean? What happened?... Jun?¡± She asked quietly as she hurried up close to me.


    ¡°No No.¡± I waved my hands as I wiped my eyes stupid sudden rain showers getting my eyes wet. How rude! ¡°I just got a message from Vik. It¡¯s good news.¡±


    ¡°Who?¡± Hiromi asked and it took Ichi a minute to remember.


    ¡°Wait, that weird Ripper?¡±


    ¡°He isn¡¯t that weird.¡± I grumbled at them, my eyes turned yellow as I forwarded the pictures to both of them. Bombarding them with tons of pics.


    Hiromi went silent for a bit as she looked through them, Ichi just seemed to glance over them confused.


    ¡°Okay?¡±


    ¡°Those are the people that we helped by handing over the Chrome we didn¡¯t need.¡± I informed him, but he just seemed to shrug.


    ¡°It was your chrome. I still would have preferred selling it.¡±


    ¡°Huh. I didn¡¯t expect this.¡± Hiromi said after a bit looking me over as if she had never seen me before. ¡°I honestly never took you for someone that would do something like that. Or get tearful about it. You¡¯ve changed so much Motoko. Sometimes I forget, then moments like this happen.¡± She snorted a bit before waving it off. ¡°So Ichi what do you think of Motoko¡¯s wheels?¡±


    ¡°Preem. I¡¯m jealous. I¡¯d ask where you got the money for it, but considering I don¡¯t think you paid for it.¡±


    ¡°Not an enny.¡± I offered with a smile he snorted.


    ¡°You hit a Wraith driver?¡±


    ¡°He hit me first, I hit him last.¡± I said a little darkly before shrugging a bit. ¡°It¡¯s a long story. I was on a job for Wakako. I was an extra to cover my client''s back. Things got¡­ a little out of control.¡±


    ¡°She fired that HMG she found, out the car, while running away from Wraiths.¡± Hiromi added. ¡°She¡¯s been quiet about the rest though. She is terrible at telling stories.¡±


    ¡°Really? That¡¯s¡­ Nova.¡± Ichi offered blinking as his eyes went a little distant imagining. ¡°I¡¯ve been stuck here. You really got a job from Wakako? The Wakako?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. It wasn¡¯t that hard. I walked in and asked if she had any work that needed doing. Then I had to break into a Tino¡¯ chop shop and steal an info shard. It got a little-¡±


    ¡°Out of control?¡±


    ¡°No, I kept control just complicated. I can¡¯t say much but let¡¯s just say another fixer was involved.¡±


    ¡°Ouch. ¡° Hiromi winced at that. Probably imagining way worse than it was.


    ¡°It was okay. I got in and out without any trouble and Wakako was impressed.¡±


    ¡°Damn.¡± Ichi whispered, his voice sounding a little rough as he seemed to shake it off. ¡°So you''re gonna let me drive this thing right?¡±


    ¡°Hahaha. No.¡± I deadpanned which he tsked at.


    ¡°Damn.¡±


    ¡°I mean you are a better driver than Hiromi.¡±


    ¡°Hey!¡±


    ¡°Nah. Hiromi is better than me, you just have to get her drunk first.¡± Ichi said and it took me a second before I realized he was actually being serious.


    ¡°Being drunk doesn¡¯t make you a better driver!¡±


    ¡ª---


    After we hung out with Ichi for a while we split up. Ichi was still on the clock in a way, and Hiromi and I now had an appointment.


    ¡°No way am I letting some back alley Ripper work on you and not be there to keep an eye out.¡± Hiromi argued as she refused to let me drop her off back home once I told her what Vik had told me through text.


    ¡°Vik isn¡¯t like that. He¡¯s good people. And a good ripper. I¡¯ll be fine.¡±


    ¡°You aren¡¯t going without me. Besides we are almost there so stop arguing. Gonk.¡± She pointed out as I sighed and nodded simply driving quietly through the city towards Misty¡¯s Esoterica.


    We pulled up out front and Hiromi and I headed in. Before we slipped through the back gate though I wandered into Misty¡¯s shop.


    ¡°Hi Misty!¡±


    If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    ¡°Oh Motoko. And¡­ Hiromi?¡± She hesitated as she tried to remember Hiromi¡¯s name.


    ¡°Yeah you got it.¡± Hiromi confirmed although she was still not being friendly.


    ¡°Hey Misty, I¡¯m going down to see Vik, but can you keep an eye on my car? It has¡­¡±


    ¡°A bunch of gang ink?¡± She asked with a kinda stilted smile.


    ¡°Yeah. So can you make sure no one damages it? I really need to find someone to repaint it. Or do it myself.¡±


    Misty looked a little conflicted, before she nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll try to warn anyone away. Might be a good idea to get it painted though¡­ You¡¯re not a Wraith¡­ Are you?¡±


    ¡°No way!¡± Almost shouted waving my hands a bit. ¡°I was on a job working for a nomad, and we got jumped by the Wraiths¡­ Its previous owner doesn¡¯t need it anymore.¡±


    Misty nodded, releasing a sigh of relief. ¡°I¡¯m glad. You kinda scared me for a minute.¡± She smiled at me as she waved me towards the back. ¡°Go on. I¡¯ll make sure everyone knows you klepped it from a Wraith if they come around.¡±


    ¡°Thanks Misty, you¡¯re preem.¡±


    Hiromi followed me as I practically hopped along. Finally going to get a good set of eyes. I was gonna be able to see through walls! and my hacking would be so much easier! My current set of some no-name company eyes or whatever were okay. For Civilians. They had the basic stuff, and even let me do the calling thing without needing a phone.


    Jun must have splurged to make sure I could do that. My guess was that my old ones before the scavs had the same functionality and Jun wanted to make sure I could still do it.


    Anyways, Kiroshi were the top of the line optics. There simply wasn¡¯t much better than a set. Scanning mode. Near instant net code connection. Hookup for Smart weapons.


    Color options.


    My current eyes couldn¡¯t change the eye color. They were the color Jun must have chosen for me when he bought them. A sort of blue.


    Maybe it was my natural eye color? Or maybe Jun thought I would like the color? Anyways. I couldn¡¯t actually change the color of this set. I would have to go to a ripper and have them take them out to change the color.


    They were cheap optics. Like the bargain bin phone at a phone store. Sure it might be a smart phone, but it had none of the options a real smart phone would have.


    I hurried down the steps to the clinic, kind of excited.


    Sure having my Cyberdeck installed had been awesome as well, but it was like¡­ It barely made any impact. I just had a little port hidden on the back of my head now.


    This was new eyeballs.


    Not just new ones, but some of the best I could get. A real serious upgrade. My first step on a path that I was going to have to come to accept.


    Transhumanism.


    It made me want to ask a question that many Motoko before me had asked.


    I had a Ghost. Right? No matter how much of myself I carved away my soul would still be there. A human had a ghost, a sentience, that couldn¡¯t be removed by simply stripping the body away piece by piece.


    It was the very essence of what made Motoko¡­ Special? Well Special-ish. She wasn¡¯t alone in being a nearly complete cyborg. It was her talent that pushed her to be amazing. But it was her Ghost. The question if she had one, if she was really the same Motoko as she had been born as that made her¡­ Compelling.


    ¡°Motoko?¡± Hiromi asked, I had stopped before I entered the bottom of the steps. I had gotten lost.


    Did I have a ghost?


    I shook my head. This wasn¡¯t even the Ghost in the Shell universe. So in the end. Who knows?


    ¡°Nothing nothing. C¡¯mon Hiromi.¡± I take the last step down the stairs.


    ¡°Vik? Are you in?¡±


    ¡°Oh? Motoko. I was wondering when I would see you.¡± His security door opened and I walked in smiling as he gave me a nod of his head. ¡°Come take a look.¡±


    The small thermos like object held a set of eyes. Not that I could see it as it was sealed until they were installed.


    ¡°Kiroshi optics.¡±


    ¡°Mk1¡¯s So don¡¯t fall totally in love. I¡¯m not a miracle worker.¡± He chuckled. As I looked the thermos over.


    ¡°No way. This is a miracle for sure. Thank you Vik. I honestly wasn¡¯t expecting you to have them so soon.¡±


    ¡°Well I owed you one.¡± He offered simply before pointing me at the chair. ¡°So ready to get chipped?¡±


    I took a deep breath and released it.


    ¡°Yeah I am.¡±


    ¡ª--


    I slowly came to as I blinked my eyes.


    ¡°You might feel a little discomfort at first. Blurred vision, low contrast, glitches¡­¡±


    Alerts were popping up in my mind as my eyes were connected, but I didn¡¯t really have any issues as Vik finally pulled back. I slowly looked around. Everything was so clear.


    ¡°Well, how¡¯s it look, feel alright to you?¡± Vik asked as he seemed to look me over.


    ¡°Feels alright. No pain or anything.¡± I answered, sounding a little distant. I was distracted.


    Imagine living your life seeing in 720p, and suddenly you were in 4k.


    Everything. I could see everything! Darkness barely stopped me. I could see the dust in the corner from across the room.


    ¡°You doin¡¯ okay Motoko?¡± Hiromi asked as she walked up she was still looking a little skeeved out about the back alley ripper.


    ¡°Yeah. Sorry I just can see everything now. It¡¯s kinda¡­ Distracting.¡±


    ¡°Yeah your new eyes are on another level. I didn¡¯t know you were using a set of Arasaka Rainbow With a name like that you expect a lot, but these were bad long before they ever came out.¡± Hiromi mentioned as she looked me over. I blinked. My old eyes were Arasaka make? Huh.


    ¡°Yeah. I guess I hadn¡¯t really considered it. I mean they were my eyes.¡±


    Vik gave off a chuckle as he nodded, taking the pair of¡­ My old eyes. To put into another thermos. Waste not want not I suppose.


    Weird. It was kinda weird to know that he was walking away with something I had considered a part of me. Then again they weren¡¯t my ¡®ganic¡¯ eyes anyways.


    It still felt weird.


    ¡°So. What color are you gonna go with? I still think Neon green would suit you.¡± Hiromi offered as she came up close to check my new eyes out.


    ¡°I¡¯m not copying your hair Hiromi¡­ I¡¯m thinking a reddish purple color¡­ Yeah I have the exact color I want in mind.¡± I said smiling as I imagined ¡°The Major¡± And her eye color.


    Man I was getting pretty close to her in looks now. Just needed the fully borg body.


    ¡°Well alright. I¡¯ll admit. This guy isn¡¯t as much of a back alley ripper as I expected. He was¡­ competent.¡± Hiromi whispered as she kept close. ¡°How did you even find this guy anyways.¡±


    ¡°Vik is kinda a legend Hiromi.¡± I whisper back although I was still kinda distracted because I could see Hiromi¡¯s pores crystal clear.


    Seriously, super vision was kinda distracting. Also it was weird, blinking felt¡­ Weird.


    ¡°Hey Vik. It feels kinda weird when I blink.¡±


    ¡°Yeah that¡¯s normal. Kiroshi have a water protective layer on top of the eyes. On one hand it means your tears won¡¯t lubricate your new eyes, makes em feel a little smooth when blinking. On the other hand, in serious situations you don¡¯t have to blink.¡± He offered as he wheeled back over.


    ¡°Now let¡¯s make sure everything is as it should be. Go ahead and try the scanner.¡± He asked as he seemed to settle in in front to of me.


    I blinked and my eyes just¡­ Did it. A flick of a thought and my vision went red, and everything became so much more. I looked around, sweeping my eyes over Vik''s clinic. Almost everything highlighted at first, but as I ignored pieces of his equipment I didn¡¯t need to know about, or Vik''s TV on the desk it unhighlighted.


    ¡°It might take a few seconds to adjust, but first time is rarely the charm¡­¡± He stopped whatever spiel he was about to say as he seemed to look at me and Hiromi, before shaking his head. ¡°Never mind. ¡°Scanner should eventually sync with your thought processes an¡¯ read your intentions.¡±


    As I looked around I caught sight of Hiromi, and instantly I realized I could send a quickhack at her. No messing around waiting for my eyes to get her net code. The scan was nearly instant. Man I had forgotten how much easier Quickhacking was in the game, but really it was just because of these eyes. A second glance and I had Hiromi¡¯s information ready and able to send a Quickhack her way.


    ¡°What?¡± She asked as I shook my head.


    ¡°Nothing just amazed at how quickly it pulled up your information.¡±


    ¡°Speaking of, I¡¯m injecting an NCPD file search.¡± He mentioned as my eyes suddenly showed an install bar as something updated. ¡°Run into any ne¡¯er-do-wells you¡¯ll know exactly what they ne¡¯er-did-well.¡± He said almost laughing a bit at the end, an often used joke I think.


    Hiromi was fake gagging behind his head.


    ¡°Thanks. That will help me collect bounties.¡± I muttered, the idea wasn¡¯t bad I could get around the city and start taking out anyone with a price on their head.


    Vik was looking a little pale as I said that. ¡°Maybe, just use it to run away from the bad guys. Kids should know how to use a gun, sure, but best to avoid trouble.¡± He offered, and I didn¡¯t argue despite the fact we both knew I wasn¡¯t going to do what he said.


    ¡°Thanks Vik. For everything.¡±


    ¡°Now don¡¯t say it like that. You¡¯ll make me feel like that¡¯s a goodbye. ''Sides still need to cover a few things about your new Mk1. You¡¯ve already been introduced to your new scanner, but the Mk1 also has a built in External Lens Disruptor. In layman''s terms, any surveillance cam will catch your face as a blur. Just remember. Your body¡¯ll show up crystal clear.¡±


    ¡°Really? I didn¡¯t know that.¡± I muttered, was that a thing they did. I don¡¯t remember that ever being mentioned in the game. Then again Cameras were more alarm systems in the moment, rather than something that bites you a day after you got spotted.


    ¡°Cool.¡± Hiromi offered grinning a little widely. ¡°I got a few ideas for where that will come in handy~¡± She practically purred as she looked like a cat that caught a canary.


    I instantly put my hand up. ¡°Not a chance. I¡¯m not a thief Hiromi¡­ Unless I¡¯m stealing for a Fixer I guess¡­ Does looting count as stealing?¡± I asked her, and I could hear Vik do an aborted chuckle beside me as he was checking some diagnostic on his screen.


    ¡°Course not. Klepping is only klepping if they are still alive. The moment they flatline it¡¯s not klepping.¡± Hiromi answered simply.


    ¡°Right.¡± I chuckled at bit at Hiromi¡¯s blunt explanation.


    ¡°Also here.¡± Vik handed me a Max Doc, or at least something similar. ¡°Take two whiffs now, and another two in an hour.¡± He urged me on until I took my whiff. ¡°Good. Don¡¯t forget.¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t! I¡¯ll even set an alarm.¡± I assure him doing just that with my new Kiroshi¡¯s. Man that was kinda cool.


    ¡°Preem, we done?¡± Hiromi asked sounding a little bored now that the fun stuff was over.


    ¡°Yep I¡¯m finished, unless you want something else chipped in, but I would say wait.¡±


    ¡°No. That¡¯s what I wanted today. I¡¯ll get used to these before I start messing around.¡±


    ¡°Excellent. Good call.¡±


    ¡°Now last thing and probably the most important.¡± I told Vik, getting an interested look. ¡°How much do I owe you?¡±


    ¡ª--


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe you paid him full price.¡± Hiromi grumbled at me as I walked


    ¡°Course I did. Vik does good work.¡±


    ¡°He owes you thousands of eddies from that Scav loot.¡± Hiromi reminded me as we passed through the alley towards my car.


    ¡°No, he got that for a low price, but that loot was for rep.¡±


    ¡°Ugh you are the wooorst.¡± Hiromi whined at me as we climbed into my Reaver. Giving Misty a wave as I did which she returned. Looks like she had done a good job keeping the car unbothered.


    ¡°It¡¯s good business. Besides, I got Kiroshi optics.¡± I reminded her as I set out, driving was kind of wild. Everything was so clear, but it was more than that. I could literally tell how fast a car was going compared to me. It just popped into my mind with a glance.


    As I maneuvered through the city I actually felt really comfortable behind the wheel. So much so that I was even driving a bit faster than normal. I suppose it was inevitable that I got an alert.


    *Driving skill level up!*


    I smiled, Driving 4. I wonder what Perk I would get next level?


    ¡°What¡¯s got you so happy?¡±


    ¡°Nothing. Just enjoying my new optics.¡±


    ¡°Is¡¯ cute, You being all over the moon for some Chrome. You used to be way worse before. Course you never had anything as high end as Kiroshi.¡±


    ¡°Oh? Was I big into Chrome?¡±


    ¡°Of course! Why do you think you got¡­ Let¡¯s talk about something else.¡±


    ¡°Think I got targeted by the Scavs?¡± I asked and Hiromi looked away from me instead of answering.


    ¡°We can drop it.¡± I assure her, not bothered in the least. I wasn¡¯t exactly afraid of scavs. Not with how many of them I had already murdered.


    ¡°Good. So where are we going?¡± She finally asked and I just shrugged.


    ¡°I¡¯m honestly just driving around enjoying hanging out with my choom.¡± I told her as I decided to slip onto the freeway towards home.


    ¡°You¡¯re such a gonk. I know you don¡¯t want to hit a party so let¡¯s head back to your place. Food and a movie sounds good.¡±


    ¡°Sure! That sounds fun! I can show you what I¡¯ve been messing with in the last couple days!¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Well I decided I wanted to try doing some tech stuff. I want to try making some gadgets for when I¡¯m on a gig. Plus I want to be able to keep my guns ready to go. And maybe mod them out a bit.¡±


    ¡°Huh. Playing Techie huh? Alright cool. You will have to show me what you have so far.¡±


    ¡°Not much. I hit the dump yesterday to find some stuff to take apart.¡±


    ¡°Eww Gross Motoko! If you want Tech stuff just hit up a shop or something.¡±


    ¡°But it¡¯s cheaper to do it myself.¡±


    ¡°But it¡¯s cheaper.¡± She mocked back at me. ¡°Coming from the girl who just gave a Ripper money when he was planning on chipping you for free.¡±


    ¡°I owed Vik for his services! He is super talented!¡±


    ¡°Okay Motoko. Do you¡­ Like have a crush on the guy or something? Is that your type? You know old?¡±


    ¡°Hiromi!¡± I screeched, actually feeling my face flush. ¡°I do not have a crush on Vik! He¡¯s old!¡±


    ¡°Yeah I know which is why I¡¯m askin-¡±


    ¡°Nope! We are done with this topic. We are driving home and watching a movie. I do not have a crush on a guy old enough to be my¡­. Grandfather? I¡¯m not sure exactly how old he is, but he isn¡¯t young.¡±


    ¡°Pfft! Oh man I am going to tell every-one.¡± She drawled it out slowly as she continued to tease.


    ¡°Don¡¯t make me kill you¡­ They will never find the body.¡± I glared at her, earning a smirk which slowly disappeared as I kept my unblinking stare on her as I drove.


    I had wider vision with my Kiroshi, so it was safe.


    Hiromi coughed a bit. ¡°Alright, you win.¡±

 Chapter 21

    After spending a night watching terrible movies Hiromi left in the morning, unfortunately her parents wanted her home.


    So I settled in for some more tech work.


    First thing first I noticed I had an odd bit next to my stats.


    Technical attribute 1(5)


    Crafting 1


    It was the first thing I noticed when I opened my stat page. I decided to check through my alerts, because I had gotten a few when Vik installed my new optics.


    *Due to Cyberization, Maximum value has increased by 4. Technical Attribute.*


    I blinked, what did maximum value mean?


    I had no idea.


    I continued through the alerts. Most of them were simply describing the uninstallation of my old optics, and installation of my new ones.


    Except for one message.


    *Adaptation Kiroshi Mk1 0/2*


    What the hell was Adaptation!?


    I checked my stats page and it did have a Cyberware section. Under it I had two options currently. Although I did have plenty of minor bits and bobs that everyone tended toward.


    I guess like V the Gamer only tracked the bigger stuff.


    Militech Paraline *Adaptation Militech Paraline 0/0*


    Kiroshi Mk1 *Adaptation Kiroshi Mk1 0/2*


    Okay so what was adaptation? And why did the Paraline Cyberdeck have a 0/0.


    I tried clicking on it and to my happiness I got something, if not a complete answer.


    *Spend 1 Stat point to improve Adaptation?*


    No. I pulled back. I needed my stat points. And for now I had no idea what adaptation meant. I mean I could guess. Adapting my Cyberware? But I already had it installed. It was working as it should.


    I shrugged. I would mess with it another time. At least I had one question answered. Ish.


    Then I moved back to the stat page. Why does my Tech have a number next to it? I honestly couldn¡¯t get an answer. There wasn¡¯t a damn options menu, or a players guide with this Gamer system.


    So I shrugged it off. It had something to do with my eyes, and bigger numbers were better. So I would just accept it was a good thing and move on.


    But I did notice one last thing since I was playing with my stat sheet. I still had a perk to choose. Well two actually.


    Blades and Street Brawler.


    Both were easy choices.


    Parry: With a blade in hand, deflect attacks.


    Honestly there was only one reason to pick this Perk. Eventually I could parry bullets. Listen, if anyone ever says they don¡¯t think cutting a bullet out of the air with a katana is cool. They are lying. Sure it would cost me a few perks, but I didn¡¯t really plan on running around with a Katana very often, and defense was always super important.


    Then there was Street Brawler. Which I also already had my path picked out.


    Improvised Weapons: Sometimes in a brawl anything you can grab needs to be used, know the best way to fight with day to day items.


    One more perk in that tree away from Gun-Fu.


    Instantly though my mind was a whirl. I looked around at all the tech stuff I had been planning on tinkering with and I kinda cringed at just how deadly everything around me could be.


    That could both come in handy, and be a little distracting, if everything I looked at was processed as a weapon first.


    I shook it away. First I needed to continue disassembling all this tech. I smiled as I familiarized myself with old junk and slowly I got more and more alerts.


    Until finally, the sun setting long ago I got the alert I wanted.


    *Technical Attribute Leveled up!*


    Tech 2? Yes! Now I could level Crafting more!


    I yawned despite myself and looked around, realizing I had barely eaten all day. I stretched and groaned a bit as my spine popped as I decided to grab some chow before I hit the hay.


    ¡ª--


    I was glaring. My hands were completely calm despite my constant desire to start throwing stuff.


    *Jun: I¡¯m alive.*


    That¡¯s it. After so long? After not knowing if Jun was dead in a Maelstrom base somewhere? He just sends I¡¯m alive?


    And he refused to respond to any messages back either.


    I was gripping my soldering iron a little too tightly as I slowly turned it off and set it down.


    I needed to go kill something.


    No. I shook that thought away. I was not going to turn to murder for stress relief. That is absolutely where I draw the line. I took a deep breath and let it out. Deciding to grab something to eat instead. As I was getting dressed I considered it.


    Jun was alive. That was good. But he was withdrawing, and I had no idea what the Claws were doing to him, or making him do.


    Considering Jun¡¯s personality? I had no doubt that next time I see him, he will have a lot more chrome. If that was the case. Next time. Would I be dealing with Jun as he lost himself? Cyberpsychosis?


    ¡°If the Tyger Claws don¡¯t take care of Jun. I will end them.¡± I whispered to myself, unable to stop the words slipping from my mouth.


    I honestly wasn¡¯t a fan of the claws in general. The whole sex work thing tends to piss me off. Even if Judy¡¯s plan in the game was destined for failure.


    Mine wouldn¡¯t. I wouldn¡¯t go after their business. I would just kill them until they stopped existing if they let Jun get hurt.


    I sighed pushing myself away from the table to head to the bathroom. I was getting worked up. So I walked in and turned on the tap. I washed my face a bit and looked into the mirror. Almost flinching as reddish purple eyes stared back.


    I had forgotten for a second that I changed my eye color last night. It wasn¡¯t hard, Kiroshi was top of the line. Of course they would have an option to adjust color.


    They still felt weird. I realized it was that little thing in the back of your mind, an irritation that told you something wasn¡¯t quite right. Like something is in your eye but doesn¡¯t hurt, but you still know something is wrong.


    I suppose that was how I would process Cyberware. A slight discomfort.


    I think I had figured out what Adaptation was. I closed my eyes letting myself breath for a minute.


    Stolen story; please report.


    It wasn¡¯t bad. Just different. I¡¯d live.


    I stepped away, turning back to my table. There was a part of me begging to go outside with a gun in hand. To go find some more scavs, or take a job.


    I shook that part away. Settled down on my couch.


    I had taken apart most of the scrap I had gathered by now. Learning a ton as I did. Or rather ¡®learning¡¯ as the XP continued to flow. I had a few ideas of neat toys that could help me out on jobs, but all of the actually useful stuff was way outside of my skill level, much less a price range.


    But I now had parts. So I took a laptop, broken and stripped for now. And started putting it together. Simple really I had scrapped multiple of them from the dump so I had all the parts I needed, and as I worked, the XP both Tech, and Crafting flowed in.


    I guess my system liked me actually making something rather than just disassembling.


    It took me a bit but when I was done. I turned it on, and the OS actually started.


    I was using the Hard drive that was in one of the laptops and it started up. Asking for a password.


    Half a second later I pulled out my connect cord from my neck and plugged it in. A moment to breach it and I was in.


    There wasn¡¯t anything interesting. This laptop belonged to some woman a nobody. I mean there was literally nothing but crappy games, useless stuff like that.


    I restarted the system and started wiping the data.


    Who knows maybe I¡¯ll just sell the laptop? Could make some eddies.


    When it was done I nodded and put it to the side.


    ¡°Now what else can I fix?¡±


    ¡ª--


    I had a fan now. It buzzed merrily away next to the radio, and I basically just controlled it by hacking it every time I wanted to change its settings.


    It was cool.


    Heh.


    But more importantly, putting junk together gave me that sweet sweet XP alerts.


    So much so that Crafting had leveled up!


    *Crafting skill level up!*


    *1 Perk Point Gained.*


    I was giggly because perks let me hyper focus, or gain stuff that my normal skill didn¡¯t cover. In this case the options were crazy!


    Crafting was so¡­ Wide. There was perks that spread out into tons of stuff.


    Salvager. Get an eye for locating scrap.


    Enduring builds. You can make it stronger. Tougher. The tricks of the trade to make your product rough and tumble.


    And so much more. There were a lot of perks I wanted in crafting, but I would have to pick what I thought would be the most useful. Which is why as I browsed through the lists I came across the one thing that had me grinning.


    Robotics wizard. Others make machines. You make life.


    I knew it was premature. I didn¡¯t have the skill to be making robots. But at the same time. There had been an idea I had that I couldn¡¯t just ignore.


    It was possible. Dangerous. Stupid maybe. But possible. I even had an idea on how to solve the whole lack of processing power that would have made my idea impossible.


    So I picked it.


    Worse comes to worse, I end up not using it much.


    Instantly though my mind was full of knowledge. This time it was kinda weird. Not just how to make robots, because part of that was covered under base Crafting. But how to make them better.


    ¡°Heh. I could probably sign on as an engineer at a Corporation and design Cyber limbs.¡± And it was true. Sure I couldn¡¯t use most of the higher end stuff from the perk, but it still gave me an eye and experience in smoothing robotic designs that would make me a very useful cog in a corpo machine.


    ¡°Oh well.¡± I shrugged, settling back onto the couch. Looking up to hack into the TV to change the channel to something mindless so I could go back to work tinkering when I got an alert.


    *Breach Protocol skill level up!*


    Breach 3 huh. That was lucky!


    ¡ª--


    ¡°Bitch!¡± I cursed as I waved my finger. I had just zapped my finger like a gonk.


    ¡°Idiot! Moron! Don¡¯t touch the fucking active electric wire you¡­ you!¡± I cursed as I danced around the room. Fuck was I electroBOOM now?


    ¡°Okay I need a break¡­ Also stop talking to myself.¡± I rumbled as I walked over and powered everything down. I had been tinkering all day. Mostly just grinding out Technical Attribute since I was maxed in crafting.


    It was slow. Sometimes painful work.


    But I was close to another level, so it was all worth it.


    I opened up my contacts. Unfortunately Hiromi was locked down again. Her parents were worried about her running around with the active, and escalating gang war burning down the city every day, so she was stuck in school.


    Ichi was still working for Shobo.


    And Jun wasn¡¯t responding.


    I didn¡¯t really have anyone else.


    That thought made me sad. For about five seconds.


    I wasn¡¯t going to let that get me down! So I decided to wander out into the city. I had stats to grind. Things to improve at! I wasn¡¯t going to let myself get worn down by Jun being a massive pain in the ass!


    As I headed out I started quick hacking stuff again. Pinging every device I could find mostly just for something to do. It was sorta relaxing in a way, to just¡­ Interface with everything around me.


    Even if all I was doing was sending a ping through the system it felt like I was a piece of the network. It was nice.


    Of course the actual quick hack XP was a little slow. So I started pinging people as I jogged past. Enjoying the small web of lights my Kiroshi¡¯s displayed across my vision as I pinged more and more systems around me. Soon it felt like I was jogging through a spider web, seeing how so many things were connected.


    Really. A lot of stuff was connected. Vending machines were a dizzying maze of connections between them. I stopped and just watched for a minute.


    *Intelligence Leveled up!*


    I stopped double checking that alert. Intelligence 4?


    Already!? How did Intelligence level up so quickly? I hadn¡¯t even gotten a quick hack level!


    I went back through my alerts, and yeah I got a pretty nice little surge of Intelligence XP as I was jogging. But why? Sure I was pinging people as well as electronics I could see, but that doesn¡¯t explain the sudden surge.


    What did I know about the intelligence stat? Well not much. In the game it was the control stat for hacking. It also gave you more Ram for every point. No wait I remember reading the actual stat description in the game.


    ¡°Determines netrunning proficiency.¡± I muttered thinking back to all the stats in Cyberpunk.


    Intelligence wasn¡¯t¡­ Well intelligence, or how smart you were exactly. It was processing speed¡­ But more. It was understanding!


    ¡°I realized everything was connected¡­ If almost everything is connected, even through different internets¡­ Then that opens a lot of possibilities doesn¡¯t it?¡± I muttered looking up as I got an alert.


    *100 Intelligence XP Gained*


    ¡°I guess I¡¯m on the right track.¡± So I had been thinking of Intelligence wrong from the start. I was thinking it was how smart I am, but that isn¡¯t right at all. It¡¯s more about netrunning! Understanding, processing power. All of that fell under intelligence.


    After all I remember a lot of skills I would normally think of falling under Intelligence fell under Tech in Cyberpunk.


    I looked over at a vending machine, following its network connection to the roof of a nearby building. That was the network node then. Where a lot of the vending machines were connected through.


    I instantly found a way up using a nearby fence and grabbing onto the edge of the building I clambered up. Settling next to the node.


    I pulled out the cord from my neck and clicked it into place.


    Security blocked me out, but I wasn¡¯t exactly hacking into Arasaka tower.


    A few minutes of slowly peeling through the ICE, I breached in. There wasn¡¯t much there, Internet traffic mostly sending and receiving data from the vending machines, nothing I was too interested in, no I was more focused on the connections themselves.


    I stood and pinged the node, with the security already punched through it activated instantly.


    A spiderweb erupted from the satellite dish it was connected to.


    Reaching out from it in all directions. I looked around, staring at the connections just taking in the sight of something so ethereal.


    I looked at the web and decided to try out an idea. I was already at its central node. Where everything connected through. So I should be able to¡­ I closed my eyes. I hadn''t actually done this yet, letting myself enter the net in a way. Actual Netrunning¡­ I closed my eyes and let myself fall through the cord.


    Suddenly I was in a world of light. Of data. My body wasn¡¯t even there, Instead I was just an awareness. My connection was not good enough to form an actual digital avatar. Still I was there. In the net.


    Connected.


    I can¡¯t even describe where I was. Nothing was solid. Just lights, and data transferring on connections making bridges, a web streaking out into pure darkness, but I could move through them. I accessed one of the connections letting me move from the node I was out to one of the peripheries. A vending machine from the data I was able to access with a mental touch.


    With a thought I activated ping. Quick hacking the device I was literally inside the CPU of. A wave of light. A mass of data erupting in a wave that ran up the spideweb before bouncing around more and more.


    It was Beautiful.


    So this was the net. This is what it looked like in Cyberpunk.


    No wonder people were so interested in it. To see it. Experience it as more than just a window on a screen.


    To be data.


    I pulled back, going back up the connection to the node, and unjacking.


    I couldn¡¯t even pull the pull the jack out before I was on my ass gasping.


    ¡°Fuck!¡± I hissed my head felt like it was on fire! I reached back and felt the port that had my Cyberdeck installed in it, and I had to hiss.


    The entire area was hot. Like an overheating computer.


    ¡°Fuck.¡± I cursed again standing up a little woozily as I rushed down the building, a single glance had a vending machine dispensing some cold drink I had no name for. I had already breached the entire system after all.


    I pressed the can against the back of my head, letting its icy coldness combat the heat.


    ¡°No wonder they use the damn icebaths.¡± I grumbled. As I sat on a bench and just let my head cool down.


    So that was the net. A net I had taken my first step into. A child in netrunners terms.


    ¡°So where does the child go from here? The Net is truly vast and infinite.¡± I whispered, out an old quote leaning back and staring up into the sky.


    ¡ª--


    After cooling off I went home, an eye on my alerts told me I had gained a ton just from my brief foray into the net.


    *Quickhacking skill level up!*


    Which put me at level 3 for that, and a ton of Intelligence alerts.


    I was almost ready for the next level. That was how much I had learned about the net with just stepping a toe into its depths.


    Of course my head was still warm, and I wasn¡¯t exactly up for trying that again. At least not without an upgrade, or an ice bath prepared.


    Considering my apartment didn¡¯t even have a bath, that made things more difficult.


    I flopped onto the couch staring at my wild assortment of tech that I had been tinkering with reached out and grabbed the wire that had shocked me this morning.


    Time to get back to work. I kept at it until late when I decided to sleep so I would be ready for the next day.


    That night I was woken up by shooting.

 Chapter 22

    It wasn¡¯t unusual to have gunfire going through the city but for it to be close enough that I actually woke up? I was glad I wasn¡¯t injured, so when I startled awake in the middle of the night, I was able to move instantly. Grabbing my Unity from my belt hanging on the desk chair in my room. I snagged an extra magazine as I hurried to the window to peak out from the armored shutters.


    There was a war going on outside my apartment.


    I could recognize Tyger Claw Kusanagi¡¯s and a Maelstrom truck as the two forces went at each other.


    At first I wasn¡¯t sure what to do. Did I even want to get involved in this? I didn¡¯t see Jun, but he could be down there fighting.


    Then one of the Strom Borgs fired a damn rocket out of his arm, and it slammed into my apartment building. The building shook and I had a moment looking around wondering if my apartment was about to collapse.


    Thankfully it didn¡¯t. But I could hear screams from below! There were people in this building!


    I rushed out. Rushing down stairs and while the security gate normally would have stopped me from going to a floor below. It wasn¡¯t like I hadn¡¯t already breached the security of the entire building. It opened for me, and I rushed to the apartment that had just been hit.


    I hammered on the door for a moment but I couldn¡¯t hear anything over the gunfire.


    So I ¡®looked¡¯ at the door a bit harder and it popped open, surely it must be from all the explosions! I would never break into everyone''s security systems! That would be wrong.


    So I had broken into her security before, and since Wall Breaking was a great perk, I already had a backdoor.


    The door opened into a warzone. The window normally covered in security blinds was destroyed, metal shards and bits of brick laying across the apartment.


    More importantly, was the injured older woman laying across the floor covered in rubble. She had probably been doing the same thing I had. Peeping out the window to see what was going on.


    I ran forward doing my best to stay low so I wouldn¡¯t be spotted through the hole and landed next to her. She was breathing.


    Barely.


    I didn¡¯t have my med supplies on me either. Glaring at myself for not grabbing any more of my gear, I ducked as a spray of bullets came through the hole. It wasn¡¯t even at me, just the general mayhem outside. I couldn¡¯t stay here, and neither could she.


    Moving someone injured like this was a bad idea, but hell if her spine was broken she could buy a new one. I heaved up her arms and dragged her through the apartment back out into the hallway. Then through the security gate.


    The stairwell was the most armored part of the building, she should be safe here. I checked her pulse again and she was breathing, but I wasn¡¯t a doctor. I rushed back upstairs grabbing a Bounce Back out of my supplies. I would have to buy more med supplies soon. I had only gotten so much from the scavs.


    Back into the stairwell I could hear people from the building freaking out. I ignored it as I rushed back down the stairs. As I reached her, I popped the lid off the Bounce back and jabbed it into her chest pressing down on the button.


    She gasped, and shook a bit, but her breath evened out and sounded fuller.


    Bounce Back was awesome like that.


    Whatever science magic was inside, would hopefully keep her alive. But I still had some things to take care of. I rushed back into the lady''s apartment, and took a moment to look out the massive hole.


    Tyger Claws on bikes and a Maelstrom kill truck. The damn thing was more like an armored carrier than a truck.


    I wasn¡¯t sure who had hit who, but considering I could see the mangled wreck of a Kusanagi under the wheels of the truck I could guess.


    Fine.


    At a glance Parkour told me everything I needed to know.


    Three stories up?


    No problem. I jumped. Instant coolness washing over me, as I fell.


    There were plenty of things to leap down from as I moved, each floor had AC units or just jutting ledges.


    It was easy. Three hops and I was in the air falling through the sky.


    I landed feet first into the back of one of the borgs. It was the surprise that knocked him off his feet more than anything. No one expects the second floor double drop kick. I had picked this borg specifically out of all of them.


    My Unity wouldn¡¯t do shit against them. The Tygers pistols were bouncing rounds already. So I slipped my Unity into the back of my pants making sure it was safe.


    Didn¡¯t want to blow my own ass off.


    I had picked one of the borgs that had a weapon I could use.


    As I slammed into him I reached out grabbing the end of his gun. As he fell he automatically let go. Everyone does. They reach out to halt their fall, it¡¯s instinct, even for a Borg.


    Unfortunately that meant I was able to spin his Carnage shotgun into my arms as I literally stood on his back.


    He was cursing, climbing up to his knees when he must have felt the shotgun press against the back of his head.


    I pulled the trigger and it was only thanks to recoil control that I didn¡¯t get knocked right off him. But I didn¡¯t. Instead his head disappeared, and I was now standing in the middle of a gunfight.


    *1000 XP Gained.*


    But now the Strom were on the back foot. The Tyger Claws now, no longer completely on defense.


    I moved leaping off the borg as I pumped the shotgun, the noise monstrously loud to my ears as I ducked and rolled under the Maelstroms truck. Disappearing just in time as suddenly one of the Borgs opened up with a machine gun where I had been standing tearing up the asphalt.


    Mostly concealed, I brought the shotgun up and fired. Shooting another Borg in the leg.


    Although it didn¡¯t do what I wanted and blow his leg off, he still fell to the ground screaming, as I pumped the shotgun again.


    From the weight of the gun I knew I only had one more round. Gun nut once again helping me out.


    I continued rolling moving out from under the truck, but now on the opposite side.


    They had lost sight of me.


    That would cost them. Especially since the door to their truck was still open. I slipped in, unseen by both groups as they continued to fire on eachother. The inside of the truck stunk of drugs, and blood.


    Charming.


    I slipped over to the driver''s side, easily taking over the truck.


    The morons had hit the Claws jumped out and started gunning them down.


    But now I had their wheels.


    I floored it. Turning the wheel as I did so I smashed into the surprised face of a Maelstrom borg, the truck rocking as I hit him and kept going.


    We stared at each other. My purplish eyes meeting his red glowing optics as he hung onto the front of the truck as I continued to floor it.


    I could see him gathering his wits, pulling out a pistol.


    He must have been confused though, as he watched me reach behind me and even as I accelerated I threw the seatbelt over my chest.


    A moment after we slammed into a brick wall.


    Everything was chaos for a moment as I was jerked around and smashed against the drivers seat.


    But I had a seatbelt on.


    The car quieted a few moments later and I glanced up, ignoring the feeling of blood rolling down the side of my head after I had bashed my head against the door. I looked into the glowing red eyes of the borg.


    ¡°Still alive huh?¡± I asked my voice sounding a little distant. Probably a concussion.


    ¡°B-biiitch.¡± He gasped out in a staticy pained voice.


    I reached over and grabbed the Shotgun.


    ¡°W-wa-it.¡±


    I did not wait.


    If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    I pointed and fired.


    *1000 XP Gained.*


    ¡°No.¡± I answered only after I was sure he wasn¡¯t a threat. Seriously, only idiots stopped to talk and monologue during a gun fight. Shoot first, then say the witty one liner.


    Wasn¡¯t like you were saying the one liner for them anyways.


    I pulled the seatbelt off with a groan my body was not happy with me. As I pushed the drivers door.


    No give. I ended up having to crawl out through the broken windshield hissing a bit at the cuts on my hands and feet.


    ¡°Should have put on my boots.¡± I grumbled as I stepped out of the truck. I turned to look at the firefight, but it was wrapping up. Maelstrom had more people at first, and they got the drop on the Claws, but we were in Claw territory.


    Where at first there had only been five Claws fighting against about that number in Borgs, now there was three times the amount of claws pulling up on their bikes and firing into the three borgs that now had no way to escape.


    The gun fire stopped not long after. When a borged out Tyger Claw pulled out a set of Mantis blades and went in.


    Bloody work.


    I started walking up and I winced.


    There hadn¡¯t been just five Claws at first. Looks like seven. A pair of bodies were being looked over. But with just a flash scan I could tell they weren¡¯t breathing.


    That¡¯s a shame.


    I walked into the group of claws that were all talking and shouting amongst themselves ignoring them entirely as I walked to the Borg I had killed.


    He should have some more ammo for this thing, and I was growing kind of fond of the Carnage. I totally get why Rebecca liked it now. Sure it was ugly, and a little smashed together, but it shot good.


    I liked it.


    As I knelt down and started searching through his dirty coat, I was unfortunately noticed.


    ¡°The fuck is this?¡± A loud voice called out and then a blur of japanese that I only recognized as a lot of cursing. But the Bosozoku brat was also pointing a katana at me.


    Was I gonna have to flatline this kid?


    Oh! This borg had a shotgun shell bandolier!? Okay I have to admit, that¡¯s pretty fuckin preem. I quickly unlatch it and with a bit of effort I yanked it off him and whipped it up and over my shoulder.


    Mine now.


    Always wanted one of these.


    ¡°Who the hell are you!?¡±


    ¡°Nobody important.¡± I offered as I rose up the guys Katana was drawing a little too close for my comfort.


    ¡°Chill out Higa. This girl is crazy, came in and flatlined that Strom literally dropped on him from above.¡± A girl said as she hurried over. ¡°Put your Katana away, the Maelstrom are already dead.¡±


    As he looked away I idly swiped a shell from the bandolier and slipped it into the shotgun.


    Just in case. Then since he was just that distracted despite standing close to me, I went ahead and loaded a few more.


    This guy was kinda¡­ Blind.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know this bitch! She is standing in the middle of our battle! Looting!¡±


    ¡°Enough.¡± A voice said from beside me, and I blinked, I hadn''t noticed. Not a sound had come from the guy until that moment. Sneaky!


    I looked over and the Tyger Claw borg was standing beside me. ¡°Don¡¯t.¡± Although he wasn¡¯t looking at the kid.


    He was looking at me. So I was looking at him. If he thought he was going to win a staring contest, jokes on him.


    I didn¡¯t need to blink anymore. Our eyes met, and I could tell he was figuring out the fastest way to kill me. I could just tell. Maybe a Ninjutsu thing.


    His eyes were neon I noticed. Changing colors along with his tats that shifted and looked like the animals were readying to attack.


    ¡°Yeah yeah. It was just in case.¡± I finally waved him off. As I stopped readying to pop the katana kid.


    Instead I turned back to checking the borgs pockets.


    Unfortunately other than a credit shard which I happily klepped, he only had drugs.


    A lot of drugs.


    I sighed and left them. Not my style.


    ¡°Fuckin¡¯ you just gonna let her?¡±


    ¡°It was her kill.¡± The borg offered with a shrug. ¡°She can take what she kills.¡± He said simply.


    ¡°Tsk, Fine whatever.¡± He grumbled as his Katana lowered.


    ¡°You happen to know Jun¡­ Ah Junichirou Kusanagi?¡± I asked as I looked the borg over.


    The man was silent as he took in my question before slowly nodding. ¡°I know of him.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s my brother. You haven¡¯t seen him in the last week or so have you? He¡¯s been out of contact.¡±


    ¡°No.¡± He said simply and I noticed the way he said it¡­ Yeah this guy was suffering from Cyberpsychosis. I just felt it. The man was struggling to care about anyone around him the social apathy, and worse.


    The sociopathy. He was still considering how to kill me. I could see it, the way his hands were flexing the joints of his Mantis Blades popping just a tiny bit.


    Yep. I¡¯m out of here.


    ¡°Cya around Tyger Claws. Try not to get killed on my street next time.¡± I called out to the group as I turned and headed back to the apartment. Ignoring the bloody footprints I was leaving behind. Stupid glass. Oh well I got a new gun, and getting new guns did make me happy. I might even try to mod it a bit. I bet I could do something similar to Rebecca''s Guts. Absolutely max out the recoil and firepower.


    Could be fun, all I would really need is to double check the barrel and receiver to make sure it can handle a stronger load.


    I couldn¡¯t help but start whistling a bit as I made it to the apartment. Taking the elevator up to my floor I was about to enter the apartment before I stopped.I turned peeking down the stairs and I sighed. The woman I had left there was gone. I headed down looking around.


    I really hoped someone hadn¡¯t grabbed her while she was unconscious. But as I came down the floor the apartment door was open and I could see her standing there just looking at her apartment.


    ¡°You okay?¡± I asked and she jumped wincing as she clutched her head but she turned to look at me.


    Yeah she didn¡¯t look okay.


    ¡°You¡¯re bleeding.¡±


    ¡°Just a flesh wound. You should see the other guy.¡± I couldn¡¯t help but add. ¡°Really you gonna be okay? I pulled you out of there and gave you a Bounce Back but that isn¡¯t a miracle. You need a hospital?¡±


    The older woman sort of blinked as she looked at me as if my words were just incomprehensible.


    ¡°Who are you?¡± She finally asked and I simply stared at her for a minute.


    ¡°Motoko, I¡¯m your neighbor.¡± I finally decided on as I pointed upwards. ¡°Alright, well I tried. I¡¯m going to sleep. Have a good night.¡± I told her as I stepped back and then up the stairs. She was looking at me like I was gonna attack her or something.


    Weird.


    So I entered my apartment sighed as I realized I would need to check my foot and probably take one of my last Max Doc¡¯s before I tried to sleep otherwise I would bleed all over my bed. So I headed into the bathroom cleaning my feet and my head wound, and finding I did have a piece of glass still stuck in my foot.


    Ow.


    A maxdoc stopped my bleeding, and I then sighed again as I had to get a bucket and clean up the floor, bloody footprints marched across the ground.


    With a sigh I finished cleaning up and settled on the couch. Was I forgetting something? I felt like I was. So I settled onto the couch and decided I would enjoy a good eight hours of shut eye. The NCPD lights just now starting to play across my apartments wall.


    Guess they finally showed up to cart away the corpses.


    ¡ª---


    I woke up mid afternoon the next day and as I was rubbing the sleep out of my eyes and stretching I finally realized what I had forgotten.


    ¡°Jun!¡± I cursed as I hurriedly pulled up my phone system and sent him a text.


    *There was a Strom attack on the street outside the apartment, I¡¯m fine, no injuries, apartment below us had some damage. Just wanted you to know I was okay so you wouldn¡¯t freak¡­ Haven¡¯t heard from you in a while.*


    I sat down on the couch and just kinda waited for a bit, hoping that Jun would at least respond back.


    Then I realized I was being stupid. Jun was still a teenage boy and was definitely out all night hunting Maelstrom.


    He was 100% still asleep. It wasn¡¯t even noon yet.


    So I shook that away and looked at my alerts.


    *Body Leveled up!*


    *Annihilation skill level up!*


    Body 6, and Annihilation 4. Finally I had gotten Body to level up again. I guess all the shotgun shooting had finally gained the last bits of XP I needed.


    *Driving skill level up!*


    *1 Perk Point Gained.*


    I pointedly ignored that one since literally all I did was crash a truck¡­ On purpose! I crashed a truck on purpose! That was the plan! Okay I would look at perks later.


    But I took a moment to look over my body. The increase to body had some effects. I looked¡­ Muscular. I had actual biceps when I flexed. Motoko strong! I giggled as I did a few stretches enjoying the feeling of my stronger muscles.


    I decided to get some exercise in while I got breakfast. Slipping out of the apartment I jogged around the block picking up some food at my favorite little street vendors.


    Yet even as I did I could tell that things were changing. The gang war was getting bad. People were more skittish than usual, which is saying something in Night City. People. I could see the damage from the attack still on the street outside the apartment, I pointedly didn¡¯t look at the brick wall I had smashed through with the truck.


    That was Maelstrom¡¯s fault, not mine. Definitely not mine. At all.


    But things were getting tense.


    After breakfast I decided it was time to get something done I had been putting off as I threw myself into crafting.


    I drove out to the little netrunners shop carrying my netsuit in hand.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°That¡¯s a lot of holes.¡± Was the first thing the old asian lady at the little shop I had bought my Netrunner suit from muttered at me as I flopped the suit on the table.


    ¡°Yeah people like to shoot at me.¡± I said as she looked over my suit.


    ¡°People like to hit you too.¡± She told me and I shrugged.


    ¡°Hazards of the job.¡±


    ¡°The armor didn¡¯t do much I see.¡± She muttered as looked over the suit.


    ¡°Noticed that. Figured I was just getting hit with something too big to stop. Might be why I¡¯m still alive though.¡±


    ¡°No.¡± She answered instantly, and I could hear a hint of anger in her voice. ¡°No. Look, the interior panels¡­ They are fake.¡± She growled, the little old woman was practically leaking smoke as she hissed, her pipe glowing red as she sucked in the smoke.


    ¡°Fake?¡±


    ¡°The armor liner is supposed to have a layer of kevlar. This? This isn¡¯t Kevlar.¡± she peeled the armor apart, and showed me the liner which as she spoke she pulled apart and showed¡­ Cardboard? Well probably not, but something close to it. Her fingers pulled bits apart with just that tiny effort.


    ¡°This wouldn¡¯t stop a needle from poking you, much less a bullet.¡± She looked away from the leotard, meeting my eyes. ¡°I sold you defective goods.¡± She growled a bit as she threw the leotard onto the table. ¡°When I get my hands on that supplier¡­¡± She growled a bit, and considering she hung out in a shop that catered to netrunners, not exactly people well known for not getting revenge I had a feeling her supplier was about to have a really bad week.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t even notice.¡± I added as I leaned down to look over the leotard. Poking at the holes. My Kiroshi scans didn¡¯t notice anything out of place, which was weird. It was only when I pulled the cardboard-like inner liner out and scanned it did I get a scan of what the material was made out of.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t notice bullets were slipping through your armor?¡±


    ¡°I had other things on my mind whenever I got shot.¡± I joked as I looked over the gunk. How did my eyes never notice this? I¡¯ve scanned my leotard before¡­ But I guess I hadn¡¯t really been looking for anything.


    This was a good lesson, my Kiroshi were amazing, but they weren¡¯t magic. I still needed to pay attention.


    The woman was silent for a moment. Then her eyes went blue, and I blinked as a pretty hefty chunk of eddies was handed into my account. ¡°The eddies. For the trouble, and as an apology.¡± The old woman offered and I just sorta shrugged.


    She didn¡¯t give me the feel of someone that was lying. She seemed to be earnest about not knowing.


    ¡°The armor, did you use it on anyone else''s gear?¡±


    The woman blinked before cursing. ¡°A moment please.¡± Her eyes went yellow, but she came back after a minute. Must have been sending a text.


    ¡°I can send your measurements to another I know that does modifications.¡± She offered out of the blue, throwing me for a loop.


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    ¡°So you can get your suit replaced?¡±


    ¡°Why would I go somewhere else? I already have a shop right here.¡± I told her with a calm face. She was probably embarrassed about this whole thing. I know I would be.


    ¡°You would still trust my work?¡±


    ¡°Other than the armor, it was comfortable and exactly what I wanted. So let¡¯s fix that, and we are good to go. I need a couple more of them in fact, and I was gonna ask how to repair them if you could show me? I¡¯m a bit of a techie as well, but maybe I won¡¯t have to if the new ones actually have armor?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll show you anyway. We can use this one since it¡¯s¡­ Well trash. Come.¡± She ordered hopping off a little chair and dragging me into a backroom with a workbench and a bunch of equipment.


    Oh the woman was less a normal seamstress and more a techie herself. Makes sense there were a lot of components in a normal net suit.


    Cool!


    ¡°Can you teach me a bit about this? Putting together a netrunner suit I mean?¡±


    She looked me over before shrugging. ¡°I can show you the basics. Everything else I will only teach my children¡­ You are too young for my son.¡± She informed me flatly as she waved her pipe at a chair. ¡°Sit.¡±


    I chuckled a bit as I settled in. The woman was a master, and I know I only understood bits of what she was sharing, but it was still fascinating to learn.


    *100 Technical Attribute XP Gained*

 Chapter 23

    It took a few hours, but I walked out of the shop wearing a new Leotard, and a bag with a few spares. It had also cost me way less than the first one. So that was nice. Rather than head directly home I decided to look around, maybe stop at a cafe or something to eat something different.


    I didn¡¯t want to turn into Jun and his Vendor Burrito aficionado status. The thought stopped me cold for a moment before I let it go.


    I would always worry about Jun, but all I could do is keep moving forward.


    I ended up stopping at a nice little cafe and eating a quiet lunch. The many Mox in the area were¡­ Different. Thankfully despite being asian, no one bothered me since I wasn¡¯t exactly looking like a normal Tyger Claw.


    So, I got to people watch all the Mox that were everywhere in the area.


    Pastel and neon. Weird combo, but I could respect it. The Mox were¡­ Interesting. On one hand they were still sort of at the point in a gang''s life where the original idea to actually make things better was still active. But at the same time it was starting to die off. Greed changed everything.


    Instead of helping people like the Mox had been founded on, they were now shifting to helping the Mox and no one else.


    Funny how that goes. Soon it would shift more and the Mox would be like 6th St. Using force to keep their income stream safe and active.


    I finished up my lunch and left the little cafe, walking down the street just sort of taking in the sights of the area. Even here though it was tense. Mox were heavily armed. People were scurrying around for the most part. Shops all had extra security either in guards, or equipment.


    Everyone was afraid of the gangs right now. Tyger Claws were being aggressive as Strom poked them with a stick, and it was having a knock on effect. Tyger Claws being angry and hyper aggressive meant Mox were running into trouble, which was cutting off Mox areas from other gangs.


    Most of the other gangs wouldn¡¯t admit it, but it was making getting BD¡¯s that the Mox sold difficult, and so that was causing tension everywhere.


    Crazy to think that basically lack of porn was causing an issue throughout the city, but there you go. Night City folks.


    I was walking down through a small park area when I heard it.


    A cry of pain, the sound of flesh being struck, and angry voices. I felt myself tense, a stream of instincts all coming out to play as I lowered myself down to better control my center of gravity and crept along.


    My boots became absolutely silent on the concrete path.


    Thankfully it wasn¡¯t anything serious. I turned around a bush on the path and frowned as I saw a bunch of teenagers. Three boys all standing around a fourth who was on the ground.


    And bruised and beaten up.


    ¡°Trying to fuck us over again, huh Nox?¡± One of the boys said as he kicked the figure on the ground. ¡°I think I¡¯ll just take what BD¡¯s you have instead. Teach you a lesson, yeah?¡±


    The boy on the ground groaned and curled up around a backpack.


    I sighed, a teenage brawl? A sale of BD¡¯s gone wrong? Well I didn¡¯t see any guns, or knives. So I was pretty uninterested¡­


    But it would be the right thing to do wouldn¡¯t it? To help out the guy on the ground¡­ I considered it. I didn¡¯t really think of myself as a hero. I was kinda too selfish for that. But I had been doing a lot of murder, even if they all deserved it.


    Saving someone in trouble would be a good act.


    My shoulders slumped.


    ¡°Alright I think that¡¯s enough of that!¡± I called out as I came around the corner. The three boys still standing all startled for half a second before looking between each other and me incredulously.


    ¡°Who the hell is this?¡±


    ¡°Never seen her before, you Ian?¡±


    ¡°Nope. Hey fuck off.¡± One of them called out throwing me a middle finger.


    I looked the three boys over. ¡°No. Don¡¯t know what¡¯s going on, but I¡¯m interfering. Head off, I think you¡¯ve beaten the kid enough for today.¡±


    ¡°Maybe I haven¡¯t choom. Why don¡¯t you fuck off, before we take you over to those bushes and play XBD?¡±


    My nose crinkled. Disgusting. Just for that. I wasn¡¯t gonna let them walk away.


    I sighed as I adjusted my gloves a bit ensuring they were tight, stretching my neck a bit to make sure I was limbered up.


    And then while the three gonks were all trying to square up and act like tough guys. I simply moved.


    Unfortunately this was Night City. Teenagers knew how to fight here more often than not. They startled at my sudden aggression but didn¡¯t run, instead they attacked.


    I wasn¡¯t able to throw the first punch.


    Stupid long boy arms. But I had a few levels in Street Brawling. Blocking a punch was nothing fancy. I took the hit on my forearms and ducked in, a right jab into his gut caused him to burst into a wheeze as he folded over.


    Wow, did this kid not know how to take a punch?


    I barely got my arm up in time to block a punch from my right. My eyes caught where he was looking, the accuracy of my Kiroshis making it child''s play to lift a leg and catch his kick on my shin.


    The third guy was quicker than I thought. He didn¡¯t go for a punch, instead he grabbed my left arm in a harsh grip, since I was already on one foot he managed to move me pretty easily, almost throwing me to the ground, but I kept my feet by grabbing his wrist that was holding me.


    Then to my surprise I squeezed, and with a twist of my hand was able to rip his hand off my arm. Since I had him now, I pulled tugging him into a knee that I slammed into his stomach.


    Turning to fight kick boy I didn¡¯t quite manage to dodge a punch.


    I winced as his blow slammed not into me, but into the Burya holstered under my jacket.


    Ow!


    I wheezed a bit as he just punched a hunk of metal into my chest, but he was getting the worse off. As he was staggering back cradling his hand.


    ¡°Time out.¡± I managed to wheeze as I waved him off reaching up under my jacket and wincing.


    He punched the Burya into my tit!


    Ow!


    ¡°I think you just broke my hand!¡± He whined as he bent over his clutching his wrist ¡°Let¡­ Let¡¯s call it done?¡± He asked after a minute of painful breathing as he struggled not to make too much noise.


    I had bent over the little stone wall that surrounded the park. Clutching my chest as it throbbed in pain. ¡°Deal. Take your Chooms and get lost.¡± I waved him off as I breathed, and after a few moments the three boys turned tail and ran.


    Ow! Sure Cold Blood could make me not feel it, but c¡¯mon going all cold for a couple of kids seemed so pointless! But still¡­ Ow!


    ¡°Hey you alive?¡± I asked once the three were gone as I walked over to the beaten boy.


    Huh. Beaten Mox boy. That was definitely their colors.


    ¡°I¡¯ll¡­ Live.¡± He muttered as he looked me over from a single eye, the other one already swollen shut. At some point he had stopped curling up and moved into a sitting position with his back resting against the stone wall.


    ¡°Good.¡± I muttered, turning to walk away. I was so done here. Time to go check my bruised tit in my car.


    Even with the alerts for Street Brawling I hadn¡¯t exactly been looking around for a fist fight.


    Also my tit hurt.


    ¡°W-wait!¡± The teen gasped out as He sort of fumbled to stand. I turned and sort of stared at him helpless to even get up and sighed. ¡°I owe you one, let me thank you!¡± He begged as he rose up it was obvious he was weak but he managed to get to his feet, as he did he gasped as his bag was held wrong.


    Everything inside fell to the ground in a torrent.


    Condoms?!?


    No wait. Those were BD¡¯s. They were in condom wrapping because someone had a sense of humor.


    ¡°F-fuck.¡± He muttered, bending down into the dirt and stuffing them back into his bag.


    I watched for a minute before I finally decided to speak up. ¡°You should just leave them, I think you need to get to a Ripper or something first.¡±


    ¡°No! I can-can¡¯t. Any of the BD¡¯s I lose, I¡¯ll have to pay for!¡± He gasped out as he was struggling to find them all.


    I sighed and with a single glance of my scanner I had them all. Three of them were hidden under a bush, but after a moment and a confirmation from my scanner we had them all.


    ¡°Damn¡­Are those Kiroshis? That¡¯s preem ware.¡± He muttered, having noticed me looking around and scanning the ground.


    ¡°Thanks.¡± I stood up having grabbed the last of the BD¡¯s and wiped my pants. I had just turned when I had a hand grab at my wrist.


    ¡°H-hey! Wait! Hold on, Umm I owe you one! I¡¯m gonna go to Lizzie¡¯s to get checked out, you should come, I¡¯m sure I can get you a reward for saving me.¡±


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    ¡°I don¡¯t really need a reward, thanks though.¡± I offered but the boy wasn¡¯t letting me walk away.


    ¡°C-Cmon even if you won¡¯t accept a reward, you really saved me, come by the bar, I can introduce you to Mateo, cheap drinks?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t drink.¡± I refused, waving my hands but again he wasn¡¯t taking no for an answer.


    ¡°Then at least come with, let everyone know who helped out a Mox. We don¡¯t forget people who did us a favor.¡± He begged.


    I was going to refuse again, but just as I was about to say it, he sort of limped and almost tripped.


    ¡°Fuck.¡± He cursed wincing at his ankle which I noticed with a glance was swelling up.


    ¡°Looks sprained¡­ C¡¯mon. I¡¯ll give you a ride at least. My car isn¡¯t far.¡± I muttered. This is what I get for being the hero. A bruised tit, and having to do more work.


    He looked up, his face flashing into a smile¡­ Which wasn¡¯t the best to look at with all the swelling. ¡°Yes! Hey I¡¯m Nox the Mox.¡± He¡­ Introduced himself.


    ¡°Nox the Mox?¡± I asked as I felt my face flattening into a deadpan.


    ¡°Yep! I¡¯m a seller, a good one, a catchy name means people remember you when they want something. Trust me, it sounds a bit weird, but my name alone has got me a ton of business!¡± He practically chirped as he limped along until I helped stabilize him.


    ¡°Motoko. I don¡¯t run with a gang, so I guess I¡¯m Motoko the Merc.¡±


    ¡°Oh? A merc? I guess that explains the moves and the chrome.¡± He said adding a little karate chops to his words.


    ¡°Yeah, something like that.¡± I muttered as we turned a corner and came up to my car. I could feel the moment he noticed it as he sorta pulled away a bit.


    ¡°U-um, nice car. I might want to just walk¡­¡± I chuckled a little at his response because I really needed to get my ride painted.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry I¡¯m not a Wraith, despite what my ride says. I had a job that took me out to the Badlands. It turned into a bit of a mess but I flatlined the previous owner, and now I have his ride¡­ I really need to get it painted.¡±


    ¡°Right.. Okay sure.¡± He muttered, sounding a little suspicious, but I shrugged and helped him into the car as I went around.


    With a flick of my mind I switched to map mode and made up a path to Lizzie¡¯s Bar.


    ¡°So, a Merc huh? What¡¯s that like?¡±


    ¡°Pay goes from good to complete shit usually depending on how much someone shoots you.¡± I told him truthfully as I pulled out to the street and started driving to the bar. ¡°What¡¯s a BD salesman like?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s good eddies when I have a buyer, but it¡¯s just enny¡¯s most of the time. Nothing like Merc work.¡±


    ¡°Trust me merc stuff can be fun, but it also has moments where you do a lot of work or get in dangerous situations and get paid close to nothing.¡± I said, remembering a certain job with a group of teenage gangers.


    That had been a bit of a mess.


    Thankfully the bar wasn¡¯t far, and I didn''t have to share more than a few more bits about jobs I had done before I pulled slowly into the parking lot of Lizzie¡¯s Bar.


    Of course pulling up in a very obviously painted ride drew attention. I could see the bouncer Rita, if I remembered her name right, go from relaxing at the door to carrying her baseball bat with a vengeance.


    Still I ignored that instead stepping out and walking over to help Nox get out of the car as he was having a bit of trouble with his foot. Once he was upright I didn¡¯t need to move anymore as Rita was there, baseball bat still held tightly in one hand as she looked over the two of us.


    ¡°Nox. What¡¯s going on?¡±


    ¡°Rita hey. Umm you know I ran into Ian¡¯s group. They uh. Weren¡¯t happy with my price, and thought klepping would be cheaper.¡± He spoke before pointing at me. ¡°Motoko here saved my ass, fought them off and sent them packing, even helped me pack up my stock.¡±


    ¡°The stock, that you were specifically told to stop taking out? That stock?¡± Rita snapped, but sighed as she rubbed the bridge of her nose. ¡°Let¡¯s get you inside and cleaned up. Suzie can decide what to do about you and your sticky fingers.¡± The Bouncer said as she reached over and helped Nox by grabbing his other arm.


    She stopped from moving though as she looks me over. ¡°We don¡¯t let Wraiths into the Bar.¡±


    ¡°Not a Wraith. Just a merc. The previous owner of the car totaled my old one.¡± I offered lying.


    I didn¡¯t have a previous car, but it made me sound more mature rather than saying I stole it because I didn¡¯t have a ride and was sick of taking the bus and train.


    ¡°Right.¡±


    ¡°Anyway it doesn¡¯t matter. I was just making sure Nox got somewhere for help. I¡¯ll just head out.¡± I added moving to walk away when a hand once again grabbed at me.


    ¡°No! Rita! Motoko saved me! The least we can do is invite her in!¡± Nox asked and I felt my shoulders slump a bit. I turned around.


    ¡°That really isn¡¯t necessary. I-.¡±


    ¡°It is! You did a Mox a massive favor, we don¡¯t just send people away who do that! Suzie should hear! Let her decide.¡± He begged, and I honestly didn¡¯t want to deal with this anymore, but Rita¡¯s shoulders slumped a bit as she started walking.


    ¡°Fine she can come in. Just don¡¯t cause any trouble.¡± Rita demanded and I really considered just leaving, but Nox was throwing me a thumbs up and waving me to follow and I sighed as I followed in after them.


    I didn¡¯t even like bars! Much less a BD bar that was one step away from a Doll house!


    I followed in after all. Mostly because I was kinda curious if I would see Judy. So I walked into Lizzie¡¯s Bar. We went instantly to the left and into a small side room off the entrance, where Nox was lowered onto a couch and Rita went around a bunch of lockers and grabbed a med kit.


    I looked around and was staring at an array of computers along the wall. Security, or was it the lights and music controls? I wasn¡¯t sure, and I wasn¡¯t about to go snooping. So I ignored it, and I watched as Rita with surprisingly careful hands considering her arms were all chrome and covered in spikes she slathered some goop on Nox¡¯s face and gave him a few bandages.


    ¡°Thanks Rita.¡±


    ¡°You are always trouble kid, try not to piss people off so much.¡± She instantly retorted as she rose. ¡°I¡¯ll get Mateo to bring in something to drink and maybe something for the pain, and I¡¯ll call Suzie. She is gonna deal with this from here. I need to get back outside.¡± She stood and as she walked past me she still and gave me a look. ¡°Don¡¯t cause any trouble.¡± She spoke bluntly, absolutely a threat but I just shrugged.


    ¡°I¡¯m not on a job, not much of a troublemaker otherwise.¡± I assured her and she sorta nodded without doing so.


    ¡°I think she likes you.¡± Nox offered as he lay back on the couch sort of sighing.


    ¡°I think you need to get your head checked.¡± I said as I sat in the desk chair. ¡°You gonna be good?¡±


    ¡°Yeah Mateo will bring me something good for the pain and I¡¯ll be square. But soon Suzie will be here and she can slip you a nice reward.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t really need anything, a reward sounds a little silly.¡±


    ¡°Nonsense! You saved a Mox, the least we should do. Besides, I haven''t gotten your number yet! What do I do if I need to hire a merc if I don¡¯t get your number?¡± He asked, flashing me a crooked smile that had nothing to do with his bruised and bloody lip.


    ¡°Talk to a Fixer.¡± I retorted simply which caused his smile to twitch and deflate at my instant refusal.


    The noise of the club picked up suddenly as the door opened.


    ¡°Nox.¡±


    ¡°Hey Suz!¡± He called out sounding cheerful even if he was only looking at her with one eye.


    She gave a sigh as she looked him over for a moment before seeming to decide he would live.


    She turned to me. Suzie Q. The leader of the Mox. Also a woman that didn¡¯t seem to be happy to deal with this shit right now.


    ¡°You are?¡±


    ¡°Motoko. Just someone that saw Nox getting in trouble and decided to help out.¡±I offered with a shrug which didn¡¯t seem to satisfy the woman. She kept her eyes locked on me, as if trying to will me to fess up, or alter my story.


    But I literally had no idea what she wanted.


    ¡°Your help is appreciated then. You helped the Mox. We will remember.¡± She offered simply, and I shrugged.


    ¡°No worries. I just saw someone getting beat up and decided to step in.¡± I turned towards the door. ¡°Alright. I¡¯m heading out. Nox, heal well, try not to pick fights with people that are stronger than you¡­ Or more numerous.¡±


    ¡°Aww c¡¯mon Motoko, at least give me your number! I might have some jobs for you!¡±


    I sighed as I moved to open the door as I bent my head over my shoulder letting my eyes go gold.


    ¡°There. See ya around.¡± I called after sending him a handshake exchange. His information and mine shared between us.


    ¡°Preem!¡± He called out as I headed out, swiftly running from the bar, and the many people giving me looks.


    It wasn¡¯t my fault I had a Wraiths car. I mean¡­ It was that I hadn¡¯t gotten it painted yet.


    Okay fine. I guess it was my fault.


    I hurried to my car noticing a Mox girl hiding by the drivers door as she dug through her bag, a clink of spray cans reaching my ears. I sighed and hurried getting there just in time to slip the can out of her hand as she reached to start graffitiing my car.


    ¡°The old paint job is terrible, I know, but I already have plans to get a new one. Let¡¯s leave it at that.¡± I tell the younger girl. She was probably 12, 13? Smaller than me as she hastily accepted my offer of her spray can back before she took off. I just let her run off. No point in causing a scene. Even if Rita, had looked like she was about to hurry over and protect the little girl.


    This city needed to relax a little.


    I slipped into the car ignoring everything else as I slowly backed out of the spot so I wouldn¡¯t hit anyone and sedately drove to the street access, a flip of my turn signal, and a double check to make sure I had space let me slip onto the road and slowly accelerate off the property.


    ¡ª--


    The next morning I was back to grinding tech. I had spent the afternoon after dealing with the Nox situation heading out to the dump to find some goodies.


    Thankfully it had done some good. New pieces of tech to work on had made the alerts start popping up again.


    I was so close to another level!


    I also still hadn¡¯t heard from Jun.


    But I was doing my best to ignore that.


    Hiromi was in class, and I really had nothing to do but just keep grinding away.


    I munched on mystery meat stick as I continued to tinker on getting the laptop working. My current plan was to take a few of the laptops I had managed to get working again, and try to learn how to make my own Quickhacks.


    I hadn¡¯t gained any knowledge on them from Crafting, so there must be a new skill hidden there in the system for me to learn, and I needed more numbers! Numbers for the numbers God!


    I took a break and stretched a long yawn pulling from my throat as I decided to get some lunch. With Hiromi in school I wouldn''t be able to eat with her, but I figured I could head out and find something tasty and after maybe I should get my car painted.


    ¡°Probably should do that sooner rather than later.¡± I grumbled, as I headed out. Paint first. Then food.


    ¡ª--


    So I did eventually find a shop, and in the future of Cyberpunk it only took about two hours for a full paint job.


    But I was running into some trouble.


    ¡°It¡¯s not a Wraith car. It¡¯s mine.¡±


    ¡°Why¡¯s it got Wraiths on it then?¡±


    ¡°Cause it used to belong to a Wraith. Then I flatlined him. Now it¡¯s mine.¡± I explained. Again.


    The man sitting behind a little desk in the ¡®office¡¯ of the mechanics shop was chewing on a cigarette as he leaned back. A mechanical leg propped up on a cushion every bit the grungy mechanic.


    ¡°And what happens when they find out we painted their ride? Not looking for trouble like that.¡±


    ¡°Kinda hard to find something out when you were left in the desert to die.¡± I answered suggestively. ¡°His whole crew ended that way. Nothing to worry about. I just want people to stop trying to mess with my car when I leave it.¡±


    ¡°Two grand.¡±


    ¡°You have your prices listed right there.¡±


    ¡°Still two grand. I¡¯m taking on risk.¡±


    ¡°Ugh. Even if I spend an hour explaining to you that there is no risk you aren¡¯t gonna listen are you?¡±


    ¡°Nope. Two grand.¡±


    ¡°Fine. As long as it doesn¡¯t look like shit.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡± His eyes went gold as he let his people know, and I could see my car get moved into the painting bay. The whole thing was practically automatic, and the length was really just for the paint to dry.


    ¡°Any good food places around here?¡±


    ¡°Nope.¡±


    ¡°Lovely.¡±


    ¡ª--


    He was right. The food around here was terrible. I ended up with a grumbling belly as I waited for the paint job to be finished.


    I was sitting in a old musty chair in the office watching the TV along with the shop owner who was completely ignoring me when it happened.


    ¡°This is Network News 54 interrupting our regularly scheduled program of ¡®Will it chip?¡¯ with an emergency announcement from the NCPD.¡± The anchor appeared, interrupting the absolute mind melting stupidity of the previous show.


    ¡°The NCPD are now declaring the District of Pacifica as a No-go zone. The danger has escalated from High, to Extreme. All travel from the district will be fired upon, and treated as a threat to the security of Night City. Gunfire continues currently in the district and anyone who lives nearby should make sure to close their security blinds in case of stray fire.¡±


    ¡°Damn.¡± The shop owner grumbled as he heard the news.


    ¡°I don¡¯t get it. Don¡¯t the NCPD normally call Pacifica a no go zone anyways?¡±


    ¡°Yeah but switching it to extreme? Means there is a massive problem probably with the Combat zone.¡±


    I felt myself frown. The Combat zone¡­ I knew bits about it, but it wasn¡¯t something that was accessible in the game.


    ¡°Kids.¡± He grumbled at me. ¡°It means they likely lost containment. The NCPD put Cyberpsychoes inside when they can¡¯t, or don¡¯t want to deal with them any other way.¡±


    ¡°I thought that was a rumor.¡±


    ¡°Pfft. Rumor, or truth? Who knows. All I know is that anytime something crazy happens with the Combat Zone Pacifica gets locked down. But it¡¯s worse than that kid. To put together a full blockade of Pacifica NCPD are going to be busy on that side of the city, what do you think that means for the rest of us? With a Gang war already going on? Get ready kid. Shit in Night City is about to get wild for a while.¡± The older man offered sighing as he reached behind him and grabbed his Tactician. The shotgun had been resting against the wall until then.


    Then as if it was an everyday occurrence he pulled out a box of shotgun shells and started loading the sidesaddle. Making sure he would have all the ammunition he might need in case of trouble.


    ¡°It¡¯s gonna get that bad?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but ask the way he was acting...


    ¡°Tonight¡¯s gonna be hell kid. The Gangs will know that tonight they get a free pass. NCPD will bunker down and let the rest of the city go to hell until Pacifica is taken care of. That little gang war between the Claws and Strom? Tonight we will see a real gang war. They will go all out.¡± He sighed. ¡°Gonna tell the guys to finish up and head home. Suggest you do the same girl.¡±

 Chapter 24

    Driving my newly painted black Quadra Type-66 was nice. The fact the city was almost shockingly quiet meant I couldn¡¯t enjoy it.


    I had already made a few texts. Hiromi was bunkering down with her parents. Apparently school was canceled until the state of emergency was over.


    Ichi said he would be working for Shobo, running supplies. He had even asked if I wanted to join him.


    I hadn¡¯t answered back yet.


    Because Jun¡­


    Normally with something like this I would have settled into the apartment and just ignored it. As bad as it was going to be, I wasn¡¯t a member of the Tyger Claws. I wasn¡¯t a member of the Maelstrom. Their gang war had very little to do with me directly.


    But Jun would be out there. Somewhere. Alone. Probably throwing himself into murdering Maelstrom.


    The temptation to join with Ichi, to maybe run into Jun on Ichi¡¯s resupply runs¡­


    It was tempting.


    So as I drove home I made a call. The same call I made every day, in hopes I would get an answer.


    Like always the call wasn¡¯t answered.


    Fine. I would just have to join Ichi and run around the city in the middle of a gang war to find my idiot brother! That would show him!


    I was practically gnashing my teeth as I pulled into the parking garage. Taking up my space¡­ Jun¡¯s space. No, what should be our space, but wasn¡¯t.


    Stupid Jun!


    I stomped into the apartment suiting up in my new Edgerunner outfit. Every bit the Motoko Kusanagi that I wanted to be. I loaded up, grabbing what weapons I thought I would need. I loaded up the Tactician I had grabbed from the kids so long ago, really annoyed that I had passed on the Satara that I had let Ichi have. I could have used a Tech Shotgun right now.


    Stupid Maelstrom. Stupid metal faces.


    I was just about to give Ichi a call to let him know I was on my way when someone called me.


    *Ringing*


    I blinked, almost dropping my Tactician.


    *Jun!*


    *Motoko.*


    Jun had actually called me!


    *Jun! Where have you been! What have you been doing!? Are you okay? I have a car now! If you need me to pick you up just tell me! Do you need rescuing?! Tell me what Strom I have to go flatline and I¡¯ll be there in a few minutes!* I rambled a bit at him.


    *Motoko. Enough. I want you to stay home tonight. Lock the door. Don¡¯t leave until I tell you.*


    *Wha, Jun! I know it¡¯s going to be crazy tonight, but I¡¯m worried about you! I haven¡¯t heard from you in¡­ Forever!*


    *I¡¯ve been busy Motoko. Now promise me you will stay home.*


    *No! Not unless you promise me you will actually come home! Jun! Yo-*


    *Motoko! I don¡¯t have time to baby you! Get in the apartment and don¡¯t leave! Do as I say!* He yelled, although the audio wasn¡¯t actually verbal so it couldn¡¯t really get that loud.


    But I got it loud and clear. Jun just snapped at me.


    *Jun?*


    *Do it Motoko. I have to go.*


    *Wait! Jun!* I called out but the call was over.


    ¡°What the fuck.¡± I cursed as I looked around my brain seemingly unable to process for a moment. The desire to slam a phone on the hook filled me, but was unfortunately impossible. Stupid future where was a century old landline when you need one?


    I finally heard from Jun only for him to basically tell me to stay out of it? Well obviously I didn¡¯t want to get involved in this shit, but Jun was being stupid!


    I picked up my shotgun glaring at the Tactician for a moment before breathing out a breath letting the frustration go with it.


    Jun was still alive. Obviously he wanted me to be safe¡­ I just wanted him to be safe too.


    I put the shotgun on the dining room table. Having to push aside all the junk I had been tinkering with.


    Fine. I would stay home tonight. For now. But I would be keeping an ear to the ground just in case.


    *Ringing*


    *Hey Ichi, I can¡¯t go tonight. Jun wants me to stay home, but do me a favor. Send me some updates throughout the night. If you need help, or something crazy starts happening let me know?*


    *... Yeah. Alright. I¡¯ll call you if we need an extra gun. Stay safe Motoko. Everyone is saying it¡¯s gonna get crazy for a while.*


    *You too Ichi. You¡¯ll need it more than me tonight.*


    ¡ª---


    Angry tinkering followed. I took apart my Carnage and with the knowledge I had from Gun Nut, and a lot of extra scrap now lying around the house¡­


    Okay so maybe it was a good thing Jun wasn¡¯t home.


    I basically started fixing the parts on the gun that often had problems. The cocking handle got stuck because they put a plastic doohickey inside a shotgun designed to be as unsmooth as possible.


    So I took it out and basically made my own. Using a bit of scrap metal and a hand held cutting torch that was in the tool box I cut out a new part. So I had to fabricate a copy of the doohickey that kept the shotguns pump handle from just falling out of alignment and letting you actually pump the shotgun.


    After a few minutes of struggling to get it right, I managed to replace the plastic piece.


    With that while pumping the shotgun still felt like I was fighting an angry squirrel, but it would keep working for a lot longer without just breaking down. As the plastic had a tendency to just shatter with the forces the Carnage put itself under.


    Technical Attribute XP had been flowing in, as I basically just went to a weak point in the carnage and just¡­ Fixed it. My anger crafting actually worked out as when I finished installing the part I got the alert.


    *Technical Attribute Leveled up!*


    I blinked as I took in the new information. I looked at the toolbox. The toolbox that had tools that I hadn¡¯t used because I had no idea what they were.


    Still didn''t know what all of them were, but I knew a little more now. Enough to know that I had a better solution than what I had just done.


    Angry repair shop lady¡¯s toolbox had been my source of fixing stuff so far, but I realized she really hadn¡¯t screwed me over as much as I had thought.


    Well I didn¡¯t know the price of the tools yet, but I knew how useful some of them were. One was literally a miniature 3d printer of sorts.


    Except it could print metal.


    Put something that wasn¡¯t absolute top of the line metals into the hopper, it would break down the metal and then print out whatever design you needed¡­


    That had potential!


    I picked up the device that was about as big as a loaf of bread and settled it flat onto the table.


    Pulling out my connector port and hooked it in, and within a few moments thanks to my Kiroshi I was able to basically upload a schematic of the doohickey I needed. I didn¡¯t have to think about dimensions, or tolerances. As the Kiroshi¡¯s scan of the plastic version handled almost all of that, with a bit of my own knowledge adjusting it, until I had the schematic of the doohickey I needed.


    I put in a bit of steel into the hopper, and watched as the device quickly began producing the part I needed.


    Future tech!


    I smiled as I already got another crafting alert.


    Doing something new earned a faster level up I remembered. I grinned before an explosion outside dimmed my happiness.


    That wasn¡¯t the first explosion of the night.


    Nor would it be the last. I stood and peeked out the guard blinds. I couldn''t see the source of the explosion, too far away, but the noise didn¡¯t end. Gunshots. Explosions. I had turned off the news when the reports started coming in.


    I was tempted. An urge was there to just head out into the night. There was a lot of XP I could gain out there. Stopping crimes. Killing borgs.


    The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.


    But I didn¡¯t.


    I was sneaky, but it was one thing to sneak through a den of sleepy scavs, and another to sneak up on a group ready and looking for a fight. So I stayed inside, and had to deal with the fact that I decided not to head out.


    If I was a hero I would go out. To save even a few people.


    If I was a villain, I would go out. To kill and get more loot and power.


    But I wasn¡¯t either of those things. I had walked past plenty of homeless people in the city before. I hadn¡¯t stopped to save them.


    I had killed people, but I like to believe I had done it for more than just the XP. More than just my own personal benefit. I had killed on a job, or because I wanted to stop the scavs.


    So I wasn¡¯t a hero or a villain. I was Motoko, and Motoko would listen to Jun. At least for tonight.


    But tomorrow? Well. That was a whole other day, and Jun had better be prepared.


    ¡ª--


    The news chattered away as I continued to tinker. Crafting had been leveling fast as I messed with my equipment. My Unity was given a going over and I even replaced some of the older parts. It had been a weapon Jun had got for me more for personal protection than for running through Scav dens.


    So I did some work on it, messed with the trigger, replaced the spring, even took a few minutes to design an extended magazine and make one.


    I was no longer limited to twelve rounds! I now had¡­ Fifteen! Whoo!


    I giggled at my own pleasure at such a minor improvement overall, but it did give me a nice alert.


    *100 Crafting XP Gained.*


    So that was nice. But while I was cozy in my apartment the city was burning. Often literally.


    The news had a few reports about the Pacifica thing, and while it was obviously heavily propagandized there was a hint that all the positive reports were bullshit. Considering the cordon was still active.


    So I waited. I did get messages from Ichi through the night. He was nice enough to give me little updates. Thankfully all he was really doing was transporting ammunition and staying away from the bad war zones. So he and Malcolm were tired but fine.


    Hiromi had taken to sending me paragraph length texts about how bored she was.


    So she was fine.


    Nothing yet from Jun.


    So I just continued to tinker. I had plenty of parts right now. Lot¡¯s of scrap to mess with, so I just went to work. I did some adjustment on my weapons sights, making sure they were more accurate. Repaired damaged parts, and cleaned all my weapons.


    Since I had so many now, and they were all previously owned by scavs, or Raffen some were quite messy.


    And so I spent the day. Working with my hands and blocking out the world. Enjoying the feeling of bringing life back to my equipment.


    *Crafting skill level up!*


    The alert came mid afternoon, and I sighed, Crafting 3 meant I was once more at my Tech Attributes cap.


    Once again I was stuck trying to level Tech rather than the skill.


    At least the surge of new information meant I had plenty of new things to tinker with. One of the laptops that I had found had an issue I now knew the solution for, and I was going to do that first.


    Just as I was soldering a new power line for the laptop, having realized the issue was the power source wasn¡¯t connecting right anymore the door opened.


    I instantly reached for a gun, my Carnage was closest as I went to grab it only to get tangled in the laptop and end up overbalanced, I turned it into a tumble where I landed on my back with the Carnage pointed at the door.


    ¡°Motoko.¡±


    ¡°Jun-Nii.¡± I replied to his greeting as I lowered the shotgun. ¡°Welcome home.¡± I said unable to get my tongue to say anything else.


    Jun. Jun hadn¡¯t taken my advice to stop chipping in new chrome.


    He nodded almost¡­ Coldly. As he entered the apartment. Looking around at my mess of guns and parts, and other equipment.


    But I was staring at all the new pieces.


    His arms I had seen before. His legs were new, he was wearing pants, but they hung lower on his hips showing the chrome peeking up from his legs.


    His eyes were different.


    He definitely had subdermal armor as well. A large chunk of his stomach was now fake. A black carbon fiber look to his new ¡®abs¡¯ that meant they were definitely chipped in.


    He carried a new Katana on his hip. That wasn¡¯t our Otou-sans Katana. It was the more military style that Arasaka produced.


    I thought it looked cool, but it wasn¡¯t our family''s weapon. The weapon Jun had carried with him religiously.


    ¡°Jun.¡±


    ¡°Motoko. You¡¯ve made a mess. Clean it up.¡±


    ¡°Well sorry since I was the only one living here, I made it my own!¡± I snapped at him before stopping and taking a breath. ¡°Jun what did you do to yourself? That¡¯s way too much chrome that fast! You¡¯re gonna lose your mind!¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t need your opinion Motoko! I didn¡¯t ask for it either. I¡¯m here because you were going to do something stupid. Threatening to go after the Maelstrom with everything going on! Are you stupid?¡± He snapped at me, that coldness turning into Jun¡¯s normal hot headedness.


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me about stupid Jun. How much chrome have you chipped in the last month? How many drugs do they have you on? Any? Was that chrome even good stuff, or just garbage you took from the Strom?¡±


    ¡°I said I don¡¯t need your opinion!¡± He snapped, ¡°¡®m doing what I have to!¡± He snapped at me back.


    But I wasn¡¯t going to let this go.


    ¡°Jun! You don¡¯t have to do this! Stop it! Stay home. Get your bearings again. Get used to your chrome-¡±


    ¡°Enough!¡± He roared and punched out. I could tell it wasn¡¯t heading for me, so I didn¡¯t move but Jun''s armored fist smashed into the kitchen divider wall blowing a hole right through it. ¡°You never listen! I¡¯m not going to baby you forever Motoko! Grow up! Learn to take care of yourself for once!¡±


    I flinched back at that. For the first time he actually said something that actually hurt me.


    Sure. I had relied on Jun to take care of me. I mean he was one paying for the apartment. Rent, food, clothes. Anything I needed he took care of.


    And now he was throwing that into my face.


    ¡°I know! I know I rely on you! I¡¯m trying to move past that, but I still want you in my life! I don¡¯t want to see you dead!¡±


    Jun didn¡¯t say anything. He was sort of staring past me, at the hole in the wall and then down at his shaking hands.


    ¡°Jun. You¡¯ve pushed too far. Too hard. Why don¡¯t you sit down, we can¡­ Talk this out. Just for a little while. Okay?¡±


    It took a moment but as I slowly reached out for his hand that he was staring at he jerked away from me. ¡°Stop trying to get in my way. I have to do this.¡±


    ¡°What is ¡®this¡¯? What is it that you have to do that you¡¯ll tear yourself apart to do it?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll kill them Motoko, all of them. I won¡¯t stop until they are all dead. Nothing can get in my way. Not even you.¡± He pointed at me then. ¡°Stay out of it. Stop bothering me!¡± He hissed, and it sounded more like an older brother telling his little sister to stop bothering him and his friends.


    That wasn¡¯t what was happening though. This was Jun trying to cut out all of his connections.


    ¡°No.¡± I tell his back as he moves to walk out of the apartment only to stop. ¡°I won¡¯t stop trying to reach you. To try and make you stop. This isn¡¯t you Jun, this doesn¡¯t have to be you!¡±


    His fists clenched as he turned on me. ¡°You always get in the way!¡±


    ¡°Good! I will always get in the way of you trying to kill yourself! You think you are doing this for your friend? Or to avenge them? You aren¡¯t. This is suicide! Suicide by Maelstrom! I won¡¯t sit here and let you die!¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t die. Not before I kill them.¡± He answered and I could tell he was actually trying to sound cool.


    ¡°Fuckin¡¯ gonk, what kind of edgelord bullshit is that!?¡± I screamed at him but he didn¡¯t stop and left the apartment. I chased after him. No way was I letting this end here.


    He was fast though. Stupid cyber legged idiot. I caught him outside as he climbed onto his bike.


    ¡°Jun!¡±


    ¡°Goodbye Motoko.¡± He said before the engine of his bike started up, and even as I chased after trying to leap onto his bike so he couldn¡¯t escape he was gone. Driving down the road. Away from me.


    ¡°IDIOT!¡± I screamed as I did my best to chase after him, but as I hit the road I had to leap back onto the sidewalk to dodge a van that was speeding down the street.


    By the time I turned back to Jun he was gone.


    ¡°Fuck.¡±


    ¡ª--


    I was back upstairs not long after. Loading everything I would need.


    Why the hell would I let Jun race off into the sunset knowing he is going to suicide by Maelstrom Borg? It wasn¡¯t going to be easy tracking him down, but I had wheels and I could follow the gunshots. I would keep hitting every firefight between Tyger Claws and Strom until I found him.


    Even if I had to murder every Strom in the city first¡­


    Something about that twigged at my mind, something about that thought was hypocritical, but I shook it away. Save idiot Jun first.


    I cocked my Carnage, the action much smoother than it had been before I went to work on it. Loaded and ready I put it to the side, already I had a bag full of weapons and gear I was going to bring with me.


    And a lot of ammo.


    I shouldered the large bag now full of weapons, I had found hidden away in my closet and after removing the weird Tyger Claw swag I had a good enough gun bag.


    Then I took it downstairs across the street and into the parking garage.


    I loaded it all up in the passenger seat of my ride, ¡°Alright Motoko. Go get suited up and let¡¯s rescue Jun.¡± I whispered to myself patting my casual clothes clear of the dust and grime they had accumulated from all my tinkering.


    I took two steps to do that when I bonked my head. ¡°Idiot.¡± I forgot the meds! I had already been low after my desert adventure and I had bought some more in the following days. But I needed to load up more than just the emergency inhaler that was in my strap on pockets.


    I was about to go on a roaring rampage of revenge! Err. I mean Justice! A rampage of justice!


    Yeah!


    I was definitely going to get hurt hunting Jun and killing Strom.


    I would need to load that up first, then suit up. I walked out of the garage considering if there was anything else I wanted to bring along. I already had most of my stuff stuffed into my car. So I was probably just overthinking it.


    As I moved to cross the street I felt it. A warning sign. Danger sense. Someone was about to spot me?


    I looked around but it wasn¡¯t until I looked back towards the road I realized what danger I was in.


    Maelstrom. A large Maelstrom truck roared down the street along with two bikers as they raced down. I backed up but realized instantly that I was in trouble.


    They were looking at me. They were coming for me.


    I drew my Unity, the only weapon I had on hand, and started firing. Four rounds into the trucks driver side window didn¡¯t get me anything, but the bikers were more affected as I watched rounds bounce off their body, but one went through one of the bikers leg in a burst of blood.


    He didn¡¯t lose control but he definitely slowed down after that.


    Then the other biker was on me. A pipe in his hand swung from his motorcycle, I leapt to the side rolling away from him as his tires squealed as he turned.


    This was bad. I turned and ran back towards the garage. They would catch up if I went through the entrance. So I looked up.


    Parkour guided me, clambering up an advertisement then leaping to the second floor of the building, starting to climb up when a roar echoed out, the concrete above it exploding sending shrapnel into my face.


    And I was falling. I crashed into the concrete below, just managing to roll as I hit the ground.


    Did Cat-like just save my life? I think it did. I love Cat-like. Cat-like is love.


    I came back up ready to fight my hand reaching for a weapon only for nothing to be there.


    Not because of a lack of weapons. My Unity was back in my holster. I could feel it.


    But because of a lack of hand.


    My hand was gone.


    Where was my hand? There was nothing but bloody gristle and¡­ Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. I felt Cool rush through me, icing my veins and calming my freakout. My hand! I needed that. I did all my stuff with my hand! Coolness flushed even that thought away. Calming and centering me.


    But it still took me a moment.


    I was so thrown for that moment, that I slowed just enough that the biker caught me. I raised my hands¡­ My arms. Just in time blocking the pipe with my forearm, and giving me a nasty crunch that sent a shock of pain up my arms as I crashed and rolled across the cement again.


    Before I could get up I was pinned. Bloody leg borg grabbed my hair and smashed me into the concrete.


    Ow.


    Unfortunately for him. I still had a hand! Just the one, but it was enough!


    He raised me up and I slipped my knife below his armpit. I was right. He might have subdermal armor, but he didn¡¯t have it everywhere.


    He didn¡¯t have the armor covering his armpit. Which was really stupid. That is a nasty place to get stabbed. I twisted and pulled a jet of white borg blood shooting out as I did. He immediately howled and started bashing my face into the concrete.


    Ow. Ow. Ow.


    I could feel myself blacking out as he continued to batter me for a moment before he suddenly grew weak and fell over.


    *1000 XP Gained.*


    Ah good. He died.


    I coughed a bit, blood splattering the concrete as I tried to push myself up, only to find out it really hurts when you push a bloody stump into the ground. It knocked the wind out of me for a moment even through Cold Blood, as I fell back down.


    ¡°Damn. She got Sixstroke. Fuckin more dangerous than I thought, this her?¡±


    ¡°Yeah definitely the Oni¡¯s family. Sister I think. I saw them together this morning while I was tailing the Oni.¡±


    ¡°Well stop her from bleeding out and load her up. Don¡¯t want the claws to show up do we?¡±


    ¡°You got it.¡± He chuckled as I felt hands hold me down, and a nasty piece of cloth was wrapped around my forearm.


    ¡°Wait. Hold her down. I don¡¯t want any more trouble.¡± The voice called back and a moment later I felt like a full grown borg was pressing down on me holding me still as I moaned a bit out of my battered face.


    Then something flashed.


    Oh.


    I guess I will need a hand from now on. Because I was out of them.

 Chapter 25

    I don¡¯t know how long it was before I woke up, but I knew I wasn¡¯t rested. In fact I felt pretty awful. I was hanging in the air. It took me a minute to realize I had a chain around my chest and under my arms and I was hanging in the air as my feet waved a bit below me.


    All Foods? I wondered as I looked around.


    No, I noticed as I looked around. It didn''t look like a food place. Or the All Foods Factory. This was more¡­


    Warehouse.


    ¡°Oh finally awake huh? Good.¡± An unfamiliar voice called out and I looked around.


    Suddenly I was jerked to the side and my eyes met the glowing red spider optics of a fully borged out Maelstrom.


    ¡°We already called the Oni out. Let him know we have his little sister. Hopefully he comes soon, I really want to rip him into pieces. Think I¡¯ll even chip in his arms. They belonged to a choom I knew. Good chrome. It¡¯ll be nice to wear it.¡± He spoke smiling with an awful smile. I could smell chemicals and death on his breath.


    That¡¯s right Maelstrom liked their drugs and chrome.


    ¡°The fuckhs an¡¯ Onhi?¡± I asked, my face was puffed up and it felt like my lips were numb. Yeah I had gotten hit pretty hard there.


    ¡°The Oni! Oni! The fuck are you trying to pull!¡± He suddenly screamed at me as he shook me around. ¡°Hey Ratchet, chill out big guy. Chill here, have a hit from this, it¡¯s good shit.¡± A new voice called out as a still borged out strom walked in, but at least he wasn¡¯t an imminent Cyberpsycho like this other guy.


    I hoped.


    He tossed the borg an inhaler who dropped me letting me swing a bit from the chain as he took a hit.


    ¡°Heh. Bad luck girl. Oni has been chopping our choombas up for the last month, so we are solving that today. If your brother doesn¡¯t show up in an hour we are throwing you to the scavenging pit. You got some preem peepers. I know lots of chooms that will happily carve them out of your skull.¡±


    ¡°Chathming.¡± I muttered, earring a chuckle from the man who walked up and steadied me.


    ¡°Sorry about the hands. But eh, they were meat anyways. Who knows if you kill someone in the pit we will let you take theirs, how about it. Sounds like a nice deal right?¡± He chuckled at me as I glared back at him. ¡°Don¡¯t be like that, I mean, it¡¯s a chance for you to survive, better than nothing eh?¡± He asked then chuckled darkly.


    Yeah real funny, how was I supposed to kill someone without hands?


    ¡°Weapthons?¡± I asked finally as he was just waiting around watching me with a sinister smile on his lips.


    If he thought I would cry or beg, or something he was in for a surprise.


    ¡°Heh! Feisty! No weapons, at least no guns. It¡¯s about chrome on chrome¡­ But tell you what girl.¡± He said as he walked away towards a table.


    Ah. My stuff.


    He grinned as he pulled out my knife. Still coated in white borg blood he waved it around before pointing it at me. ¡°I¡¯ll let you take this into the ring, what do you say? Yes¡­ Or no?¡±


    I didn¡¯t hesitate. He was definitely trying to play me, but without that knife I was dead.


    ¡°Yes.¡± he smiled and then he stabbed me. I grunted as he plowed the knife into my right forearm. I couldn¡¯t see it as my arms were stuck back behind me, but I felt it.


    I hung there for a moment letting cool completely coat my mind not a sound escaped me.


    ¡°¡®M gonna kill ya¡¯ fer dat.¡± I rasped after a minute and the man burst into a happy smile.


    ¡°I love when they say yes.¡± He whispered into my ear before walking out of the room.


    Leaving me hanging there.


    Ow.


    ¡ª--


    A long period of time passed where I was forced to just hang there under the watchful eyes of the Cyberpsycho who would take a hit from his inhaler every couple of minutes. I had time to think. To consider. I had tried to call, but I wasn¡¯t able to get anything to go through. Texts bounced back as well. Probably some kind of jammer up.


    I opened my stat menu. I had a skill and stat point. Time to use it. Because I won¡¯t get another chance if I die. I had wanted to level ninjutsu again. But they weren¡¯t leaving me unsupervised. The psycho was staring at me. It was creepy.


    So I only had one real option, something to give me the highest chance in the fight to come.


    Reflex 6. Blades 6.


    I let the knowledge flow through me. I don¡¯t know if it would be enough, but I could only hope it was.


    The door opened again. A long painful time later.


    ¡°Well it¡¯s past our deadline! Time to face the Scavenging pit! Shame the Oni didn¡¯t come. But eh, we¡¯ll get him next time!¡± The bastard said as he jerked his head, and the psycho stood up and easily lifted me off the hook that I had been hanging from. I winced as he wasn¡¯t gentle, and he definitely hit the knife, jostling it on purpose.


    Ow.


    So Jun¡¯s Nickname was the Oni? That¡¯s pretty cool. Good job Jun, you became famous.


    Fuck my everything hurt. I think the fuckers broke my nose too.


    They dragged me out of the back room they kept me in which had probably been the warehouse¡¯s office, into a riot of activity.


    A party was going on. Or something like it. I was carried through the crowd and more than a few Maelstrom laughed or even reached out to give me a punch as they carried me through the crowd.


    Ow.


    But it wasn¡¯t all Maelstrom. Plenty of normals were hanging around, getting drunk or taking drugs. The room wasn¡¯t packed exactly, but it was definitely a party.


    Then I was dropped into a pit. Cat-like saving me once again as I landed well enough not to splatter my skull across the concrete. I was in a charnel house. Old dried blood was everywhere, and I could see body parts still littering the ground.


    Disgusting. Absolutely disgusting. If you are going to have a fighting pit at least have some fucking class.


    ¡°Haha! Welcome everyone! We have a surprise for tonight! The Sister of the Oni!¡± he called out and the crowd went wild as I slowly rose up to my knees. They had pulled off the chain from around my chest when they threw me in. So I was finally able to bring my arms forward.


    To look at my stumps.


    At least they had actually put something over the ends, the white bandages were stained red as I looked them over.


    Oh man I was so glad I felt cold as ice right now. I know I would be wanting to puke if not for that. The fact my arms didn¡¯t shake was probably solely thanks to Cool Veins. It would be enough.


    It would have to be enough.


    ¡°Tonight the Scavenging pit is open to all! This little demoness has a set of Kiroshi! So who wants to dig in!¡± He laughed menacingly as the crowd erupted in eagerness.


    I rested, getting blood back into my shoulders as I waited for what was going to come.


    Finally though the borg that was running this, the bastard called for quiet. The crowd went silent, and I looked around realizing that all of the Maelstrom I could see were armed.


    Right. This was a trap for Jun.


    ¡°A chance for good chrome. A chance to get revenge on our brothers and sisters. Who will face the little demoness? You?¡± He asked throwing a finger and the kid he pointed too flexed his artificial muscles.


    ¡°You!?¡± He shifted pointing to another kid who cheered at the offer showing a toothy smile as he turned to me and flipped me off.


    I did the same back but I didn¡¯t have hands¡­ The realization shocked me. That instinct¡­


    Phantom limb. I shivered I could feel my hand flipping him off back. I could FEEL it. I swallowed back bile.


    No. Keep it Cool. I breathed in and out. The pain was there but distant. I would not break.


    *100 Cool XP Gained*


    I almost chuckled at the alert. Yeah. I got this.


    ¡°Yes! Our hunter of the chrome has been chosen!¡± The man roared and the kid that flipped me off leapt into the pit.


    I looked him over and winced.


    The kid looked like a chop shop went to town on his body, his arms were too big, heavily muscled Gorilla Arms. The sort that were probably designed for someone a lot larger. But the rest of him was chromed as well.


    The kid was probably more metal than meat.


    I scoffed at myself. I said kid, but he was probably late teens early twenties. Easily twice my size before he borged out on Maelstrom chrome.


    ¡°The rules of the pit for our newest competitor. There aren¡¯t any! Kill or be killed! Begin!¡± The Bastard called out and instantly the crowd started cheering and taunting me.


    Good thing I really didn''t care. I wasn¡¯t going to die here.


    The kid though didn¡¯t care. He was showboating for the crowd.


    I guess that was fair. To him and the crowd this wasn¡¯t a cage match. It was an execution.


    It gave me time to prepare. I couldn¡¯t do shit without my weapon. So I turned towards my right arm. Where a knife was sticking out of my bicep. As the kid showboated I took a deep breath and let it out then I bent down and gripped the knife in my teeth.


    Biting down as hard as I could enough to practically feel my teeth crack I yanked.


    The knife came free. I was armed¡­ I was no longer weaponless.


    ¡°Haha! Oh man, look at you! What are you going to do? Gnaw at me to death?¡± The kid laughed practically crying at the sight of my only method of attack.


    I charged. Ignoring everything else. If I waited I was dead. He jerked at my sudden approach, but he calmed instantly a cocky smile on his face. I juked, making it look like I was coming in to try and stab his face, but instead dropping sliding under the punch he threw at me.


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    My blade cut across the inside of his thigh at the same time that he kicked out, hammering me away. The crowd roared at the sight of blood as I came to a stop on the floor coughing out the knife in my mouth as I groaned. He had kicked me in the stomach. I felt like my stomach was now inside my lungs.


    But I couldn¡¯t stay defenseless. I reached down with my stupid stumps and stumbled the knife between them getting it back in my teeth just in time to roll away as he stomped down where my head had been.


    ¡°Bitch! I¡¯m gonna squeeze your head until those eyes pop right out!¡± He screamed as he charged right after, chasing me down as I rolled and scrambled to get to my feet.


    Ow.


    Finally he caught up and I turned around. Going in again. This time he wasn¡¯t going for a punch.


    No, the kid was serious about squeezing the life out of me. He was desperately trying to grab me as I just managed to stay outside of the range of his grasping fingers.


    He was getting closer. I realized in that moment all of my instincts, all of the experience I had gained in actual combat, and from leveling told me this was the only moment I had.


    If I didn¡¯t do anything now. I was dead.


    So instead of running like he expected I charged in. His hands grasping just behind my head as I jerked my whole body ending with my head to stab the knife right into the side of his neck.


    It went in.


    I almost thought I had done it. It went in. But then a pair of hands wrapped around my skull. The pressure was so intense my jaw clicked open despite myself and I was pulled away from his neck.


    ¡°B-Bitch!¡± He rasped once again as I had definitely pierced through something fleshy in his throat just not deep enough.


    Then he began squeezing. I stopped hearing the crowd because all I could hear was my own skull creaking.


    So I did the only thing I could. I lifted my legs up to my chest and kicked with everything I had.


    Right onto the hilt of my knife still hanging in his throat. It went deeper and then tore. Ripping itself free of his synth flesh.


    The white blood flowed. A torrent that immediately eased up the pressure on my skull as I was dropped to the ground. Gasping as my head spun. I breathed for a moment just regaining my awareness as I slowly stopped feeling like my brain was leaking out my ears.


    I looked over as the kid flopped to the ground.


    Yeah. Blades 6 had actually taught me something interesting. The best way to slit a throat wasn¡¯t a cut.


    It was a stab, and then a punch. Don¡¯t cut the throat.


    Rip it out.


    *1000 XP Gained.*


    I rose. The crowd was cheering and booing in equal measure but I wasn¡¯t done. I knew that. Whatever this bastard had planned I was just a toy to him. So I took a few steps over to the kid and with a bit of difficulty I managed to get the knife in between my stumps.


    Then I brought it up to my teeth.


    I wouldn¡¯t die here. Not tonight. Not like this.


    I would just rip and tear until it was done.


    ¡°Bravo!¡± He called out then. The glare on his face instantly shifting to something more showy and fake. ¡°Give a round of applause to our newest winner of the scavenging pit! You all know the rules don¡¯t you!?¡± He called and the crowd roared back in response.


    ¡°YOU KEEP WHAT YOU KILL!¡±


    He let the crowd roar for a moment before regaining control. ¡°That¡¯s right! We are borgs of our word. Bring her up here. It¡¯s time for her to get chipped!¡± He called out and I noticed that same Cyberpscyho that had dragged me out here jumped into the pit.


    Fuck.


    I tried to struggle but the guy was too fast, and too strong. The moment his hands touched me it was over and I was pinned and struggled desperately as he hauled me out of the pit.


    The kids body dragged along as well. I was pushed into a ripper doc chair. And strapped down legs hips and neck and locked down my arms though¡­


    They didn¡¯t seem to care much about that.


    ¡°What do you think Cyberweb? Think you can do something for this poor girl made of meat?¡± The Bastard said to the open air.


    If I didn¡¯t have cool on at full blast I absolutely would have been freaking out as lights lit up in the dark ceiling and a cyber spider crawled down the wall over my head.


    ¡°Oh I think we can do something for this pathetic meat. Bring the chrome¡­.¡± And the way the spider trailed off as it looked over the crowd¡­


    The whole crowd screamed along with him a moment later.


    ¡°LET¡¯S GET CHIPPIN!¡±


    ¡°When I get out of this. I¡¯m going to murder all of you.¡± I tell him as the spider chuckles. One of its legs lifted up showing a circular saw. That instantly began revving up.


    ¡°If you survive maybe.¡± It chuckled at me as it began cutting.


    The fact I didn¡¯t scream seemed to make the crowd lose a lot of interest.


    But every sadistic cut, and eager grin hardened my resolve.


    Okay Maelstrom. Now it¡¯s personal.


    ¡ª--


    It took a few hours even with their spider Ripper.


    Then they threw me back into the pit.


    I was not handling what they had done to me well.


    The arms were oversized bulging things that looked overlarge on the kid that I had killed, but probably looked grotesque on me.


    But I wasn¡¯t thinking about the look of bulging synth muscle, and chrome.


    I was struggling against the feeling they were giving me. Pain. Burning cold, and heat. Like every nerve in the arms were suffering.


    The fucker hadn¡¯t connected them right. Considering they had laughed at my responses while chipping them in. I knew that was on purpose. They had given me the arms alright.


    But tried to make them as useless and crippling as possible.


    The crowd burst back into a roar as their game was going to continue.


    Fuck. How many times were they going to rip me apart before this little game of theirs was over?


    How much of me would even be left? I had already lost both of my arms.


    The spider fucker had cut off both of my arms! Gone! He had sawed off what was left.


    I was going to kill him.


    I shivered as the pressure of the connection between me and my ¡®new¡¯ limbs was just too much. I could barely think. Barely breathe.


    Even if the pain wasn¡¯t crippling me like they had hoped the connection was¡­ Wrong. Like someone had connected the arms backwards and to the wrong part of my body, and then made every sensation feel backwards or wrong.


    Right now they were just twitching hunks of chrome and synth meat connected to me, an anchor on each side of me.


    And they were dragging me down just as an anchor would.


    ¡°Well well! She survived! The little Demoness survived her first gift from the Scavenging pit! Let¡¯s see if she can do it again! Who is up next!?¡± The bastard called out and the crowd went wild, but I couldn¡¯t focus on that I kept feeling the color pink out of my left wrist, and the sound of an A flat from my right shoulder.


    The roar of the crowd barely even reached me.


    So this is what it felt like when someone had bad chrome. Like up was down, and down was up.


    Like everything would be better if they just died.


    My nose was bleeding.


    My head was spinning. One of my eyes was twitching. A jerking spasm to the right that meant I struggled to see straight.


    I puked a bit, a splash of watery bile escaped me, but that was all I had in my stomach.


    I would survive this. I would. I would.


    This is not how I was going to die. Not in a pit. Not before I could even do anything!


    Gunfire. Explosions. Screams.


    I blinked or tried to. I blinked as I looked up. The crowd wasn¡¯t roaring as they watched me. They were screaming or yelling expletives.


    I wasn¡¯t able to really focus. I could just tell that gunfire and explosions were going on. Screams and roars of rage.


    All the while I lay there barely able to get my head off the concrete. I don¡¯t really know how long it took before everything grew quiet.


    The world spun. Everything shifted. I was still struggling to process. Too much was coming from the arms. I could make out what my eyes were telling me, because my left pinky was trying to tell my brain it was where it should take its vision from.


    It wasn¡¯t exactly working.


    But then even as my left eye twitched I saw him.


    Jun. Holding me crying out. The words were muffled and gibberish.


    It was getting worse. My brain was in trouble.


    Jun as always was an idiot.


    Of course he needed his cute and brilliant little sister to remind him to get to work.


    So I did the only thing my body could still do.


    I jerked forward and headbutted him as hard as I could. Which probably wasn¡¯t that hard.


    ¡°Guth fo em!¡± I tried and even to my own ears I realized my voice was coming out wrong. The words weren¡¯t right.


    C¡¯mon cool. Every inch of that coldness I needed it, even if I passed out after, even if it was too much to stay alive after I needed to say this. I needed Jun to get to work and not freak out.


    ¡°GETH THM OFFFFF!¡± I screamed as loud and strong as I could. I blanked out after.


    Sight, sound, feeling everything was a kaleidoscope of¡­ Gibberish.


    ¡ª--


    Jun POV


    Jun took a deep breath as he held Motoko. The assault above him was going well, but his heart could only focus on his sister.


    Holding her limp, twitching form in his arms. He felt his breath coming out hot, as he once again held his sister after a kidnapping.


    ¡°C¡¯mon Oni! No time to stand around get your sis out of here, we got Strom to kill!¡± A cackling voice reminded him he wasn¡¯t safe.


    That Motoko wasn¡¯t safe. That thought burned him. This was his fault. It was always his fault!


    He should have been there. Should have protected her.


    Should have protected her. For a moment the Motoko in his arms was replaced by Kasumi. Her last breath breathing out against his lips as her heart stopped no matter how hard Jun tried to put pressure against her bleeding wounds.


    Then a gonk smashing into the concrete beside him brought him back.


    He was holding Motoko. Not Kasumi. She was still in danger.


    Because of him.


    He rose and leapt, the pit hardly deep enough to slow him even carrying his sister.


    He did his best to hold onto the bulging arms that were now connected to her, that were probably killing her with every moment they were latched on.


    He ran through the fight, as many of the Maelstrom died from swift blades around him. His team, ensuring he would get through.


    It had taken weeks to prove himself enough to join the Kamikaze. They weren¡¯t the true elites in the Tyger Claws. No they were the closest to Cyberpsychos. The craziest. The ones that killed the most.


    So Jun had joined. Willingly chipping himself with anything he could find to prove he was one of them.


    It had been tough to get them to come. He had argued for some time, begging them for help in rescuing his sister. In the end, their own desire to kill Strom was what brought them. They were here, along with plenty of Tyger Claw regulars. If only the preparation for this assault hadn¡¯t taken so long!


    He jumped into cover as a gonk sprayed at him, the bullets bouncing around him as the strom wasn¡¯t the most accurate. The fighting was intense. A moment later he died as a grenade bounced past his foot. Many of the Tyger Claws had been outfitted with grenades. The initial assault had seen more than half of the Maelstrom die from explosions.


    Packed people at a party didn¡¯t do well with so many explosions.


    The Kamikaze had ensured the regulars could get that close. Killing the guards outside, and shutting down the exterior security.


    He rushed past the fighting, thankful that the surprise assault had been so successful. Jun was just thankful Motoko was still alive. He had been so terrified he would be late. The first emotion other than rage he had felt in a while.


    He hadn¡¯t wanted to let the Maelstrom Deadline go past. He knew what they would do to his sister. What they were definitely already doing.


    Akari had been forced to restrain Jun from rushing ahead as the deadline had drawn closer.


    But Akari like the rest of the Kamikaze, didn¡¯t care for his emotions. Only killing Maelstrom. So she had held him back from disrupting their attack. Her usual cackling and jokes gone in exchange for a simple almost alien coolness as she restrained him.


    He clung to Motoko harder. He was so glad that he wasn¡¯t too late. That she was alive. This time he would get her to a good doctor. A good Ripper. There would be no second Coma¡­ He prayed.


    ¡ª--


    Awareness came in a drowsy haze. Eventually I was blinking realizing something was wrong.


    ¡°Unfamiliar ceiling.¡±


    ¡°Motoko!¡± Jun¡¯s voice called out and suddenly he was there. Ah.


    ¡°Hi Jun.¡± I offered as I raised my hand to wave at him, but it just sort of flopped.


    I looked at it.


    It looked at me.


    No wait that wasn¡¯t right. It just sort of flopped.


    Hehe silly wrist, you aren¡¯t supposed to floppy flop.


    Oh it was actually pretty cool looking all armored Cyborg style. Although it looked¡­ I narrowed my eyes at the floppy wrist.


    ¡°Militech Condor.¡± I read aloud as my wrist sort of floppy woppyed at me.


    ¡°Motoko?¡±


    ¡°She is still on a lot of painkillers Jun. She probably doesn¡¯t even realize what is going on.¡± A womans voice called out and I turned my head, my hand following to look too.


    ¡°Hello.¡± I offered and my wrist sort of flopped a greeting. ¡°Very rude Mr. hand. You should greet someone properly.¡± I scolded it as it continued to just sort of twist around. Oh wow Mr. Hands ball joint let him go all the way around.


    Gross!


    I giggled a bit at it before I realized Jun was talking to the lady. Laaaady.


    ¡°She¡¯ll be okay?¡±


    ¡°The surgery¡­ Well it went as well as could be expected. There shouldn¡¯t be any permanent neurological damage, despite the Strom¡¯s best attempts. Your sister has a strong will. I¡­ Well what I saw when I dug those arms off her. They were trying to break her Jun. We are lucky.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll kill them. I¡¯ll hunt those bastards down. They did this because of me!¡± Jun growled and I could see his fists clenching and unclenching.


    Ah. Jun was upset. Hold on. I was a little loopy.


    A wave of cold washed over me. Even if it felt¡­ Tired? I was pretty sure I was running very close to the edge of what Cool 8 could handle. I mean. How long had I had the cold freezing my veins, keeping me cool and collected even when they cut of my fucking ARMS!


    ¡°MOTHER FUCKERS!¡± I cursed as I jerked off the bed. Only to sort of slide sideways as I was still strapped down.


    ¡°Motoko!?¡±


    ¡°Those assholes! I¡¯ll fuckin¡¯ kill them!¡± I cursed as everything came rushing back to me clear and focused with the drugs suddenly not making everything loopy.


    ¡°Motoko!¡± Jun yelled as he grabbed me and stopped me from sort of mashing my new cyber arms against the straps trying to get them off.


    ¡°Hey Jun. gimme a second. I need to go murder some BASTARDS!¡± I screamed as I still ineffectually tried to get the straps off.


    ¡°Drugs are still pumping. Your sister is¡­ surprisingly resistant.¡± The Ripper? I think she was a ripper anyways said as she checked a monitor beside me.


    ¡°Calm down Motoko!¡±


    ¡°No, you calm down!¡± I surprised him with my intellectual rebuttal. Finally I gave up raising my floppy mechanical wrists up to my face.


    ¡°Why are these not working!?¡± I demanded.


    ¡°Please lay back down.¡± The ripper spoke as she walked up beside, although I noticed she kept her distance.


    Out of punching range.


    Clever girl.


    ¡°The surgery was successful, but your body took a lot of¡­ Stress. It will take some time for everything to smooth out. A human body isn¡¯t meant to undergo two emergency cyberization surgeries only hours apart. Please lay back down so you don¡¯t hurt yourself.¡±


    ¡°Motoko lay down. Please fo-¡±


    ¡°Yeah sounds good. I can always commit genocide later.¡± I agree with the doctor as I let my body relax and stop fighting Jun.


    ¡°Genocide?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s what you call it when you plan to exterminate an entire group.¡± I informed her promptly. ¡°I would say extermination, but I will acknowledge Maelstrom are still people.¡±


    ¡°They are just people that are all going to die.¡±


    ¡°Just.. Lay back Imouto.¡± Jun whispered soothingly as he held me in his stupid Cyberarms. They weren¡¯t very comfortable to be held in.


    ¡°Jun you need Real skinn, you give terrible hugs right now. Just awful.¡± I told him as I rested back. Huh that was kinda weird. Where did all my anger go? Oooh. Cool was tired. I couldn¡¯t hold it.


    ¡°Uuuh. Sure Motoko. Sure.¡± He whispered soothingly slowly stroking my hair which yeah that was nice, but it could be better.


    ¡°Reeeaaal skinn. Need that +5 to hugs Jun.¡± I tell him with a yawn as I feel myself sort of losing track of everything again.


    ¡°Okay Imouto okay.¡± He continued whispering and I was really tired.


    I blanked out again.

 Chapter 26

    I woke up, who knows how long later. I was still drugged up but not as badly. I could feel it making everything seem sort of muffled or fluffy, but I wasn¡¯t having conversations with my wrist anymore.


    Probably for the best. I could feel my cheeks heating up a bit as I remembered that fact.


    Then it died when I remembered what had happened.


    The medical bay I was in was pretty small, a back room ripper office like I expected. The many many pieces of Tyger Claw stuff strewn around told me a lot.


    I guess Jun had taken me to his Ripper.


    I was still strapped down, I noticed as I looked around the little room. I slowly raised my arm, which wasn¡¯t easy.


    Yep. Still there. Still chrome. I felt a shiver down my spine.


    It wasn¡¯t right. The feeling it gave as I slowly managed to form a fist and then spread ¡®my¡¯ fingers.


    So that was it. I had been planning on some chrome arms. It had been my plan. Probably a set of Mantis blades, or a cool Monowire, or gorilla arms for the utility there had been so many options I hadn¡¯t decided.


    I guess the decision had come and gone.


    ¡°Oh finally up are we?¡± The woman from before the Ripper asked as she entered. She was an older woman. Not quite graying, but probably close to that. Her face lined in a few wrinkles, but the shining chrome lines up and down her cheeks showed just how much chrome she had.


    ¡°Yeah¡­ Jun?¡± I asked, looking around and not seeing him.


    ¡°I managed to convince him to sit in a chair outside about an hour ago. He passed out nearly instantly. Your brother doesn¡¯t sleep much even when his little sister isn¡¯t in my clinic.


    I nodded at that. Jun being too stubborn to actually sleep when he needs to didn¡¯t surprise me at all. ¡°And me? How¡­ How bad is it?¡± I asked as I raised my arm¡­ I shivered as it didn¡¯t feel ¡®right¡¯ It felt like I had four arms. Or more, the feeling of phantom limb meant even as I tried to move my arm it moved slower than my expectations leaving me with a feeling of my limb being in the wrong spot.


    ¡°Better than you would expect.¡± She answered simply as she sat down in a chair beside me. ¡°Considering what they did to you, I expected you to be brain dead. But you managed to keep from having an aneurysm. I pulled the connections as fast as I could, which is why your arms feel off. I wasn¡¯t exactly gentle. Speed was more important. But that will heal. Give it a few days and your kinesthesia should feel normal.¡±


    ¡°Yeah. It¡¯s a little off.¡±


    ¡°Nerve damage or sorts. Those¡­ Things they put on you were overloading your nervous system. It will be tender.¡± She shrugged at that. ¡°You are alive and not brain dead. It¡¯s more than most could hope for.¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I muttered as I looked up at the unfamiliar ceiling.


    That had been some shit. It was probably the drugs I was on leaving me feeling sort of fluffy, but I could feel it. The anxiety and nervousness bubbling up under it.


    I would probably be a little frantic for a while. I really hadn¡¯t been expecting a kidnapping attempt in the middle of the day right in front of my home.


    ¡°Fuckin¡¯ Night City.¡±


    ¡°A phrase I hear often.¡± The Ripper chuckled, as she reached out and without a word started poking her tools into my shoulder I would have flinched if I wasn¡¯t feeling so mellow from the drugs.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡±


    ¡°Checking on the connections. The Condor is a solid piece of chrome, but your circumstances make it complicated.¡±


    ¡°Militech Condor. That¡¯s what it¡¯s called right?¡± I asked as I scanned the other arm she wasn¡¯t working on. I had no idea what a Militech Condor was. Or what it could do. Unfortunately my scan didn¡¯t tell me the things I really wanted to know.


    Was it a good arm? Was it garbage? Would I have to worry about it failing on me? Or breaking?


    ¡°Never heard of them before? Not much of a Chrome head are you?¡±


    ¡°No. I know some things, but not a lot about specific cyberware.¡±


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll give you the rundown. The Condor is a few gens old. It was popular before the Unification War, but Militech came out with the Orion at the beginning of the war as a surprise for Arasaka. The Condor wasn¡¯t able to compete so they got sold off as work pieces. Lot of factories in Watson bought up the stock after the war and started chippin¡¯ them in.¡± The woman spoke in a quiet voice which I realized she was probably doing to distract me.


    But I kinda wanted to know this anyway.


    ¡°They do just fine there, but as you would expect a lot of factories sell off stock, or lose people over the years. They may be a decade old, but there isn¡¯t anything wrong with them. They just don¡¯t quite compete with the later advancements. Don¡¯t worry. You won¡¯t have any issues with them. They are better than your old fleshware.¡± The woman offered and I blinked.


    ¡°Fleshware?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. You¡¯ve got Cyberware. And Fleshware.¡± She said, chuckling as she pointed first at my arm. Then she poked me in the stomach. ¡°Sorry. It¡¯s a Ripper joke.¡± She added afterwards as I just kinda looked at her blankly.


    ¡°Right.¡±


    ¡°Well you won¡¯t have any issues. They are rated for combat, so they won¡¯t break the first time you have to punch some Strom lowlife.¡±


    ¡°Good to know.¡± I whispered quietly as I looked them over. They looked. Utilitarian. The metal was a sort of polished steel finish. They sort of reminded me of Johnny''s arm, at least in color. They were definitely more realistic than his arm though. A smooth contour between the digits on the fingers meant the whole thing looked more like a normal arm just dipped in metal and plastic.


    I looked away. What else could I do? I wasn¡¯t ready for this. At least not like this. I had wanted my first foray into Cyberware, into transhumanism, to be a momentous moment for me. Something that meant I took a huge plunge into the future. Into a dream I had since I was a kid.


    Cyborgs were cool.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t ask for this.¡± I whispered quietly. Yeah. I feel you Adam. I get it.


    ¡°Hmm?¡±


    ¡°Nothing important.¡± I responded quietly as I lowered my arm. I would just have to deal. Roll with the punches.


    ¡°Alright. This one looks good. The connections are healing well. Just make sure you take it very slow for at least a week.¡± She orders with a firm look as she spins around the ripper chair I was in, and she starts working on my other shoulder. Seeing her open up my shoulder the metal plates shifting letting her access the insides was¡­ Weird.


    I did my best to just ignore the feeling.


    It was just another thing I would have to get used to¡­ I guess.


    The door suddenly opened, and I looked over expecting Jun.


    Only that wasn¡¯t Jun. The man and I used that term lightly that stepped inside, was more chrome than flesh. Legs, arms, chest, even his face was chromed out.


    ¡°So the kid lived.¡± He said his voice sounded robotic, and¡­ lifeless.


    ¡°She did. Tougher than she looks.¡± The Ripper said as she rose up away from my shoulder instantly as he came in. ¡°How can I assist you today Fujimura-Sama?¡± She asked with a bow after she stood before him.


    ¡°Leg is acting up again.¡± He stated simply, and the Ripper nodded gesturing for another chair in her little clinic that he swiftly settled into. As she instantly began opening up his right leg and checking things out.


    She could have at least closed up my shoulder first¡­


    The room was quiet for a while as I watched the Ripper work on the Borgs leg.


    Suddenly the borg turned his head towards me. ¡°Your brother used up a lot of favors to get you in here. Hope you appreciate that.¡± He suddenly spoke to me, his blazing eyes a swirl of color.


    ¡°Yeah. I¡¯ll owe Jun a lot.¡±


    ¡°You owe the Tygers a lot. We take care of our own, but as much as we give, we expect just as much back.¡± He said his eyes locked to mine.


    A promise, and a threat in one.


    ¡ª--


    Hours later, after the Ripper had checked over the borg who hadn¡¯t said a word to me following his declaration, and after she had checked me over. Jun suddenly burst into the room.


    ¡°Motoko!¡±


    ¡°Present.¡± I responded as I looked away from the TV that the Ripper had kindly turned on for me. I would have just left, but she told me to stay resting. She didn¡¯t want me walking around putting any pressure on the recovering nerves.


    ¡°I¡­ Motoko. I¡­¡± Jun babbled a bit. The last time I had seen him he had been so cold, but now it was like all the frost had melted away.


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.


    Just leaving the terrified teenager beneath. Poor Jun. I would just have to be a good little sister and help him recover.


    ¡°Thank you Jun. For saving me.¡± I told him with a smile and a twitch of my arm as I instinctively tried to give him a thumbs up.


    ¡°Motoko. I didn¡¯t save you. I got you put there in the first place! I knew I shouldn¡¯t have come to the apartment! Everyone warned me to stay away. That if I went back they could track me to you! I should have listened!¡± He cursed his fist clenching and looked like he was going to punch something.


    ¡°Nah that¡¯s dumb.¡± I told him firmly, cutting right through everything. ¡°Avoiding someone to try and protect them doesn¡¯t really protect them. Like ever. You should have just told me. We could have figured something out¡­ but I¡¯m not going to berate you Jun. What happened wasn¡¯t your fault. You didn¡¯t kidnap me, or mean for it to happen.¡± I shook my head wiping away that irritation at Jun avoiding me like the plague to ¡®protect¡¯ me.


    I knew that wasn¡¯t the full truth. Jun had been¡­ Cold the last time I saw him, I was still really worried about how he was handling all of his new chrome.


    I was feeling it too. The different senses. The way everything wasn¡¯t quite right. That niggling on your brain as something foreign pressed against it.


    I could see how people lost their minds


    ¡°They wouldn¡¯t have known you even existed if I hadn¡¯t¡­¡±


    ¡°If I hadn¡¯t bothered you so much and threatened to run out in the gang war to find you? It¡¯s funny if they had jumped me about a minute earlier things would have been different. I had just packed all my guns in the car.¡± I told him with a chuckle as I imagined those borgs faces if they had been facing me with a carnage and a bit more equipment.


    ¡°When did you get a car? No, I mean how?¡± Jun asked looking confused but before I could answer he waved his own question off. ¡°Never mind. That isn¡¯t important right now. Imouto. Just rest. I promise. I¡¯ll find the ones who did this to you. I¡¯ll kill them. You will never have to worry about them again. I promise.¡± He said his voice turned to gravel as he growled out his promise.


    ¡°Denied.¡± I immediately cut in. Jun was hot headed if I didn¡¯t immediately squish his vengeful rampage he would really go do it.


    ¡°What?¡± He asked kinda surprised, and I really wish I had control of my arms because I would be crossing them in an X right then.


    ¡°I¡¯ve already got a blood vendetta against them. So until I cut off like all of their limbs no one else can kill them. Denied.¡± I answered simply with a nod. Yep. I was hunting those borg fucks once I recovered. Especially that spider motherfucker. Cut off my arms? I¡¯ll cut off all eight of your legs and your arms.


    Jun sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose in obvious irritation. ¡°This isn¡¯t¡­ This isn¡¯t a game Motoko. These men are dangerous. You should know that. You aren¡¯t going to be able to just kill them.¡±


    ¡°Sure I will.¡± I told him, but it was then I realized.


    Jun had no idea how much of an asskicker I was! I had done all these gigs, but Jun kept being Jun and not being around!


    ¡°I¡¯m pretty cool, you know? I¡¯ve done all sorts of cool stuff since you''ve been gone, I went on a gig for Wakako even!¡±


    Jun blinked at that before wincing. ¡°You bothered Wakako!? She hates Oka-san, Motoko! Why would you go to her?¡±


    ¡°Cause she was right around the corner¡­ Really? She hates our mom? Weird. Do you know why?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not important. Motoko. Imouto. I don¡¯t care how many jobs you have done. We will talk about that later. But you aren¡¯t going after the Maelstrom. They are dangerous!¡±


    I had to bite back on my instant retort of ¡®But you do it!¡¯ that never works on people.


    Ever.


    ¡°Jun. You remember how you left to go kill a bunch of Maelstrom because your choom died, and I kept trying to tell you to stop and come home so you don¡¯t end up a Cyberpsycho or die?¡± I asked him describing all of his actions over the last while.


    ¡°No¡­ That¡¯s not what happened. Or how I would describe it.¡±


    ¡°Right. But that feeling you got whenever I told you to stop? Yeah. That¡¯s what I¡¯m feeling. I love you Jun, and I promise I¡¯ll be safe.¡± And then I felt that coldness freeze my soul.


    My hands were still wonky, more floppy than useful but I was able to do this. I reached out and wrapped my hand around Jun¡¯s jacket and pulled him just a bit closer so he could see the surety in my eyes.


    ¡°But I will not be satisfied until I beat them both to death with their own limbs, and nothing, not even you, will get in my way of murdering those monsters.¡± I swore to him letting him see just how serious I was before I let go of his jacket, wincing a bit at the difficulty in getting my hand to actually release. I ended up sort of tugging on his jacket for a moment until I finally seemed to get the right connection across and the hand popped open.


    ¡°Sorry about that.¡± I told him as I settled my arm back on the Ripper Chair I had been resting on.


    ¡°No.¡± He said as he pulled me into a hug that felt crushing as I felt him bury his face into my hair, as he held me tight. ¡°I won¡¯t let you throw yourself into danger Imouto.¡± He whispered into my hair.


    This time I decided not to say anything. Jun didn¡¯t understand yet. But he would. A bit of time for my body to recover. Maybe a full night''s sleep sometime soon, a bit of practice to make sure my arms¡­ Well worked.


    And I would go hunting. That dark sinister part of me that I kept pushing away when I considered my proclivity for murder rose up.


    This time I didn¡¯t push it down. This time I didn¡¯t justify it to myself. Sure they were evil. They had done a great evil to me.


    But in order to find them I was fully prepared to commit even greater evils against anyone that stood between me and them.


    I felt no sympathy for all the Maelstrom gangers that I would soon run into.


    Only eagerness.


    ¡ª--


    Eventually Jun¡¯s hovering drove even the Ripper doc mad, and she proclaimed that I was well enough to not sit around here anymore.


    So Jun decided to take me home.


    But not our home. While Jun tried to force me into a wheelchair once I was finally released from the Chair I wasn¡¯t having it. It was my arms that were floopy, not my legs. With a double set of slings to keep my arms from jostling my wounded shoulders I followed Jun out of the room, through a basement with a bunch of servers, and a large couch and TV to rest on, up a flight up stairs into¡­


    A Dojo?


    ¡°This is Deravaja Dojo. Don¡¯t tell anyone this is where we are.¡± Jun tells me as he shows me around the building.


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°Because no one outside the higher ups in the Tyger Claws know this is where we are resting, or where we go to recover.¡± Jun says, sounding a little proud as he shows me around. He seemed¡­ Irritated about having to do it, but then every time he seemed to be growing annoyed he would look at me, and suddenly, the old Jun would be back.


    I guess having his kid sister cut up was cutting through his¡­ Well I wasn¡¯t going to deny it, his budding Cyberpsychosis.


    ¡°Who is we? I¡¯m not important, and I didn¡¯t think you were either¡­ No offense.¡±


    My hurried addition came too late, because Jun was actually looking a little offended as he puffed up a little. ¡°We are the Kamikaze. The force that crushes a Maelstrom.¡± He answered, sounding all proud.


    But I just couldn¡¯t help but think it was some serious weeb shit, and coming from me that said a lot. So I just nodded and kept my mouth shut.


    Jun sounded proud of his weeb club, so I wasn¡¯t going to make fun of it.


    Aloud anyways.


    ¡°So the Tyger Claws put together a group of people with heavy Cyberware to fight against the Maelstrom Borgs?¡±


    ¡°Exactly. This is our HQ and medical station. Which is why you can¡¯t tell anyone where you are. Promise me Imouto.¡±


    ¡°Promise.¡± I answered simply, it wasn¡¯t really a big deal for me.


    ¡°Good. Come. I will show you where you will be staying.¡± He said as he walked me out the Dojo through a side door, into an alley. There were food vendors sizzling things around the edge of the fence, but Jun walked in between two vendors who simply ignored Juns presence as if he didn¡¯t exist. Behind the vendors was a small little nook between the large complex next door and the Dojo, mostly filled with trash, and nothing else.


    No door.


    But Jun didn¡¯t slow walking up to the building he knocked on a window and after a few moments it opened. With a little help from Jun I made it through into a small break room for the building. The woman that sat at a desk beside the window was simply tapping away and ignoring our presence as Jun guided me out of the break room and into a hallway. Then he walked into an apartment.


    ¡°This is where you will be staying until Maelstrom are gone. I¡¯ll go out to gather some clothes and things from the apartment later.¡± Jun informed me as I looked around the small mostly barren apartment that had a few of Juns things laying around. His jacket that he rarely wore was thrown over the coffee table and there was a mess of old food containers littering a small table.


    ¡°So this is where you¡¯ve been staying?¡±


    ¡°Yes. C¡¯mon I¡¯ll get you settled in. You can take the bed.¡± He says simply as he guides me into a small bedroom that was equally barren besides a few pieces of Jun¡¯s clothing scattered around.


    ¡°Home sweet home.¡± I told him as I looked around.


    I just wanted to go back to the apartment. I had so much stuff to do. But for now I would go along with Jun¡¯s crazy secret apartment hideaway.


    ¡ª--


    I didn¡¯t get a full night''s sleep. It seems dumb since I could literally sleep as long as I wanted instantly, but I chose specifically not to do that.


    I would need to see a Ripper again probably very soon, and it would be fairly obvious if I walked in with new arms, yet not a single hint of the surgery still existing.


    So I would deal with a bit of early rising grumpiness.


    The few hours I had allowed myself did help. Washing out more of the pain meds that only made me fuzzy instead of really helping.


    Although my arms were still floppy. That would take a few days more to recover from. I carefully put my arms back in their slings as I left the room that Jun had given up for me, only to find Jun resting on the couch staring at the TV whispering a news channel with a particularly blank look on his face.


    He didn¡¯t even notice as I stepped out. Just sitting there. Quietly. Alone.


    ¡°Couldn¡¯t sleep either huh?¡± I asked him despite the fact I could have slept the whole day away if I really wanted.


    He didn¡¯t startle but seemed to blink a little as if he wasn¡¯t sure where he was. It took him a moment of staring before he spoke. ¡°Motoko. You should go back to sleep. You need to rest.¡±


    ¡°I think I¡¯ve slept all I¡¯m gonna get tonight.¡± I offered as I walked over and settled in next to him on the couch. ¡°You should sleep yourself. Staring blankly at a TV isn¡¯t going to make you feel better.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me wh-¡± He cut himself off as his voice rose in that cold way that I was becoming more familiar with.


    ¡°You back with me?¡± I asked after a moment and he really did twitch this time.


    ¡°I never left. I¡¯m fine.¡±


    ¡°You can lie to me Jun. But you shouldn¡¯t lie to yourself. It¡¯s unhealthy.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine! I¡¯m not going Cyberpsycho!¡±


    ¡°The fact you already know what I¡¯m suspecting is a bad sign Jun-Nii.¡± I tell him, causing him to sort of glare and sort of cringe at the same time.


    So instead of saying anything else I just scooted in, much to Jun¡¯s discomfort. Ignoring whatever was going through his head I acted like all little sisters and just flopped against him.


    Little sisters and cats. Very similar in many mysterious ways.


    It took a while but eventually Jun relaxed and the tension I could in him slowly eased.


    Eventually he spoke.


    ¡°It¡¯s just the shakes, and I zone out sometimes. Nothing¡­ Crazy.¡±


    ¡°Jun. Please don¡¯t add in any more chrome. Not even one thing. Please. For me.¡±


    My begging didn¡¯t get a response for a long time as we sat there in the dark, lit only by the Newscaster.


    ¡°I¡¯ll¡­ I¡¯ll think about it.¡±


    ¡°Good¡­ Good.¡±


    ¡°What about you?¡± He asked suddenly, a little gruffly, but gentle as he reached out and poked gently at my chrome shoulders.


    I opened my mouth to deny any issues. To tell him I was fine, and I would be ready to go kill some stroms soon.


    But I had just told him, he shouldn¡¯t lie to himself.


    I couldn¡¯t exactly go and instantly make myself a hypocrite.


    ¡°I¡¯m alive.¡± I told him which earned me his full interest as something must have come out in my voice. ¡°I didn¡¯t¡­ I didn¡¯t have time to think about it while I was there. Too much fighting off the pain, or trying to survive. I don¡¯t know if I¡¯m really finished processing it¡­ So maybe But I¡­ I really hate that it happened to me¡­ That, that it happened to me again.¡±


    ¡°I thought¡­ when you got kidnapped again. I thought¡­ I didn¡¯t think I could get lucky enough to save you twice. I¡¯m glad. That you aren¡¯t dead. That you aren¡¯t crazy¡­ That I don¡¯t have to meet you again for the third time.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry I¡¯m not the Motoko you originally knew.¡± I admitted quietly, a part of me well aware I wasn¡¯t entirely his sister. That I was just playing pretend with the teenager who was going through so much.


    I had felt sad for Jun from the first time I walked into our little apartment and realized that he was alone.


    All he had was me, and all I had was him.


    ¡°Please.¡± He whispered quietly into the dimly lit room. ¡°Just take care I don¡¯t want you doing something¡­ Like me, and losing you. I can¡¯t.¡±


    I leaned into him heavily for a moment taking in the raw¡­ Fear. That was in his voice. But I didn¡¯t respond. Because I knew I would recover soon. That I would be ready to get my own¡­ Revenge. I wouldn¡¯t lie to myself.


    I wanted revenge, and with the gamer system pushing me forward I was gonna get it.


    ¡°Right now, I could just use a hug.¡± I told him instead, which meant a few moments later his arm was wrapped over my shoulder.


    ¡°Stupid Jun-Nii. Get some Real Skinn already. Your arms are the worst at hugs.¡± I told him, but I didn¡¯t let him pull away.

 Chapter 27

    I think my sense of time towards how long a wound takes to heal was a bit off. The next morning after once again not sleeping a full eight hours Jun dragged me back through the window and into the Dojo then downstairs into the surprise Ripper clinic.


    The same ripper checked me over, gave me some meds including some drugs to acclimate to the new limbs, and told me that she wouldn¡¯t have to see me again unless something went wrong.


    That was the good part.


    ¡°It should be another two or three days before everything feels normal, and probably another two weeks after that before you can start really using your arms for more than light work.¡± She informed me as she air hypoed me with whatever drugs she wanted me to have.


    ¡°That¡¯s way too long! I¡¯ll be fine sooner than that!¡± I argued but Jun and the Ripper weren¡¯t having it.


    ¡°Normally a surgery like this wouldn¡¯t take that long to recover from, a few days at most, but you went through two surgeries back to back. Trust me Motoko. You need to take it very easy for a while. Let your shoulders heal unless you want to deal with permanent damage. You are lucky that the Tyger Claws decided to allow you the use of some of our Speed Heal. If not for Jun¡¯s contribution to the Tyger Claws it would not have been offered considering how low our stock is.¡± The ripper informed me as she checked over a medical monitor.


    ¡°Wait. Is that expensive or something? I can pay for it¡­ Actually I should pay for all of this. How much? I have a chunk of eddies already, and I can go get more.¡± My mind instantly turned to how much loot I would be collecting from the dead Maelstrom I would soon be mowing through.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it Imouto. It¡¯s all taken care of.¡± Jun stated simply trying to end the conversation but I just ignored him and kept looking at the ripper.


    ¡°Hard to say, I¡¯m not running a normal clinic here. I¡¯m only here to work with the Kamikaze. But Speed Heal is currently almost impossible to find on the streets. You can guess why. Plus those arms of yours might have come from something your brother collected, but they still belonged to the Claws.¡± She looked at me for a moment. ¡°It was an expensive procedure.¡±


    ¡°Fill out a statement of how much when you get a chance. I¡¯ll take care of it.¡± I told her with a shrug. She was already basically wiping her hands of dealing with me, so I was more than happy to pay eddies not to have Tyger Claw feeling like I owed them hanging over my head.


    ¡°You will not! It has already been taken care of Motoko. You don¡¯t need to worry about anything.¡± Jun butts in, trying to cut me off. Jun was doing the overprotective big brother thing so that was nice.


    But I was a bratty kid sister.


    ¡°So just make sure you get that to me soon.¡± I told her, completely ignoring Jun, before slipping off the chair. She was done looking me over, and frankly.


    I had things I wanted to do, and people I wanted to see.


    ¡°Hey Jun. You said you were gonna go to the apartment to pick stuff up right? So can I come with?¡± I decided to change the subject as Jun was glaring at me with his cold emotionless eyes.


    It quickly warmed up as I changed the subject. He hesitated a moment before sighing a bit at my puppy dog eyes. ¡°Fine. We will be going incognito anyways. C¡¯mon. I borrowed a car.¡±


    ¡°Probably a good idea. I can¡¯t exactly drive my car like this.¡± I agreed, and the reminder seemed to make Jun twitch a bit.


    ¡°Right. A car. How exactly did you afford a car?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a long story. I was on a job for Wakako.¡±


    ¡°I still don¡¯t know how you pulled that off. Wakako isn¡¯t exactly our biggest fan.¡±


    ¡°She was nice enough. I mean, old lady rude, but I could deal. She even said I was a valuable agent last time we talked!¡± I argued as Jun guided me out of the dojo, back through the apartment block this time I was led into an underground parking garage that was obviously blocked off for Tyger Claw use with a lowered gate. I was settled into an unmarked heavily tinted Arche Hella. And Jun started the engine and we were out in the city.


    To my surprise Jun actually drove like a normal person.


    ¡°Have to pretend we are unimportant. I don¡¯t want any Maelstrom to track us.¡± He mentioned, after noticing my surprised look.


    ¡°So that¡¯s what it takes to get you to drive safely. Interesting.¡± I teased him, earning a scowl as he continued down the road.


    ¡°Before we stop at home, there is a place I need to go.¡± I told him now that we were already on the road and it would be harder to refuse. ¡°Need to go to Little China.¡± I told him earning a very unimpressed look from Jun.


    ¡°We aren¡¯t going on a side trip. What do you even need in Little China?¡±


    My eyes went gold as I sent him a text for the location. ¡°My ripper. Vik is one of the best in Night City, and I mean that honestly. He¡¯s a legend for those in the know.¡± I told him as he looked at me like I was¡­


    Well his amnesiac kid sister making grand proclamations.


    ¡°Listen. Just¡­ Please. I know you have your Ripper doc that you brought me too, but I don¡¯t¡­ I would feel a lot more comfortable with a checkup from Vik¡­ Please Jun?¡± I begged.


    He was definitely glaring, and I could see his chromed hands gripping the steering wheel tightly.


    ¡°Fine. But first you have to tell me why you even went to a ripper, or how you know this guy.¡±


    ¡°Oh. You didn¡¯t notice? My eyes Jun. I got a set of Kiroshi¡¯s Vik managed to find them for me.¡±


    ¡°Ow.¡± I muttered as I barely stopped myself from bonking my head on the dash. Really glad I had my seatbelt on.


    Jun had hit the breaks. Hard.


    ¡°What?! When? How!? Kiroshi aren¡¯t cheap! I don¡¯t even have a set of Kiroshi!¡±


    ¡°All of which is basically the same answer Jun. I told you. I¡¯ve been doing gigs for Wakako¡­ And some side biz. It¡¯s your fault you know! I wanted to tell you all about the adventures I¡¯ve been having but you wouldn¡¯t even answer your phone!¡±


    ¡°I couldn¡¯t I was on the job! You can be tracked through calls by a skilled Netrunner. I was trying to protect you!¡± His voice rose up into a shout at the end. ¡°Now I find out you were doing jobs for Wakako! That you met some creepy back alley ripper!? That you chipped new chrome and I didn¡¯t even know!?¡± He was roaring, his fist rocked out and smashed into the dash electronics and buttons pinged around for a moment.


    I wasn¡¯t really surprised. I mean it wasn¡¯t the first time that Jun had expressed his anger by punching something.


    We really should work on that, it was a bad way to release stress. But it was what he said that made me sad, or maybe what he was saying.


    ¡°I was safe. Hiromi was with me when Vik chipped me. She was super sus too. But Vik¡¯s good people. Like an honestly good person. So I was fine. And yeah Wakako is surprisingly nice to me. I mean she is really to the point, we don¡¯t chit chat¡­ And she may have sent me on some really boring gofer missions. I should tell you about the wedding ring fiasco¡­ Anyway. I¡¯m okay Jun. Honest. And I¡¯ll be okay moving forward. What happened yesterday wasn¡¯t your fault.¡±


    He slowly pulled his fist out of the dash. His fist clenching and unclenching.


    I realized then.


    Jun for all of his attempts to be cool was struggling with all his new chrome just like I was.


    I reached out without a word. Even if it was still floppy I put my hand in his clenching fist.


    I held his hand the rest of the way. Slowly feeling the tension in his fingers die down.


    Which was super weird by the way because I was still getting a really bad phantom limb sensation, so I barely even felt like we were holding hands at times.


    But I kept cool. I was trying to comfort my stupid brother after all.


    Finally after a few minutes of driving through Night City traffic Jun spoke. ¡°I¡¯m sorry I wasn¡¯t there, Motoko. I¡¯ll¡­ I¡¯ll be there from now on. I promise.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. And just give me some space, showing up to a gig with my big brother peering over my shoulder would be embarrassing. Almost as embarrassing as the time I had to take the bus to a job and the people I was trying to collect from literally watched me get off the bus¡­ I thought I was gonna die.¡±


    ¡°Pfft.¡± A noise escaped Jun and I pouted at him as his little burst of amusement turned into a chuckle as he processed what I had just told him. ¡°They really saw you get off the bus?¡±


    ¡°Yep. They were at the gas station right there. I had to do a long walk over to them too.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha!¡± Jun¡¯s laughter was nice. It had been a while since I heard him laugh as he took endless joy at my suffering.


    ¡°At least you¡¯ve been safe¡­ Until yesterday.¡±


    ¡°Yeah I only got shot like once.¡± Well more than that, but I had successfully covered up the bullet wounds every other time! Because I was a genius and master of disguise!


    That was about when Jun once again slammed on the brakes.


    ¡°YOU WHAT!?¡±


    ¡ª--


    Jun pulling the car in front of Misty¡¯s Esoterica was a relief. He had been seething for the last few minutes.


    ¡°It was just a flesh wound.¡± I mumbled. Quietly. Very quietly. Because the last time I had said that Jun almost smashed the car into a pole because he was yelling at me. Jun might have already parked, but I didn¡¯t trust him not to start throttling me if I tried to say it again.


    Apparently the reveal that I had been shot on a job was not doing good things to Jun¡¯s blood pressure.


    I was gonna ask Vik to check over Jun now too. Because his face going so red probably wasn¡¯t healthy.


    ¡°Oh my! Motoko!?¡± A voice called out and I turned to see Misty having come out of her shop after seeing me.


    The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.


    ¡°Hey Misty. How¡¯s the biz?¡± I asked, but that was ignored as she rushed up to me.


    ¡°Your arms! Vik didn¡¯t tell me you were getting that much work done! Is everything connected well? No problems?¡±


    ¡°Ah. Well it wasn¡¯t Vik. I got klepped by some Malestrom, they were pretty pissed so they decided to cut me up a bit. I''m here for a checkup from Vik. I trust him to make sure everything is good.¡±


    ¡°Oh.. Oh! Motoko. I¡¯m sorry.¡± Misty gasped as she looked from my arms still held in their slings then up to my face. ¡°Are you¡­ Are you gonna be okay? Do you want to talk? I have some really nice soothing ambience shards that really help in meditation, and a f-¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m alright.¡± I interrupted her. ¡°I just want to get Vik to check me over. I don¡¯t know the ripper that ended up fixing me up¡­ Oh by the way this is my brother Jun.¡± I say shifting sideways since I couldn¡¯t really point very well. Misty sort of blinked in that foggy way she tended towards as she looked Jun over.


    The fact he was wearing a big heavy shirt to cover most of his tattoos, yet still looked like a yakuza on vacation probably ran through Misty''s head. ¡°Nice to meet you.¡± She seemed to settle on and Jun just gave a disinterested nod. He was grumpy at me still.


    ¡°Is Vik in?¡±


    ¡°Oh of course, come on, I¡¯ll walk you down. This is so serious. I can¡¯t believe that the Maelstrom grabbed you. I mean, I¡¯ve heard they do that sometimes, but that is¡­¡± She trailed off again with a sad little sigh.


    ¡°Yeah it was pretty rough. I wish I had been a little less surprised. I would have been able to fight back a lot better, but I wasn¡¯t exactly prepared¡­ Which I guess is my fault. Always be prepared right? Eh. I¡¯ll remember it for the future.¡± I told her with confidence.


    It didn¡¯t seem to help as she was nibbling at her finger nail nervously.


    But we all walked through her shop and down into Viks clinic. Jun was looking around, obviously unhappy with the aesthetics.


    Hiromi and Jun were both so alike sometimes! No reason to be so skeptical. Just because Viks clinic was underground, in an alley, in a storage unit and not a building! No reason to be so sketched out! Vik was amazing!


    I led us down as Misty followed behind along with Jun who was looking all over the place.


    ¡°Hey Vik!¡± I called out sounding a little chipper. I felt way more comfortable here than I had in the Tyger Claw Rippers chair.


    Seriously the lady felt like a back alley yakuza doc. Which I guess she kinda was.


    ¡°Oh? Is that Motoko, what¡¯s going on kid, any-What the hell?¡± He stopped as he looked me over and noticed that both of my arms were in a sling.


    ¡°Hey Vik. Lot of stuff happened. I kinda need a check up.¡± I offered looking down at my arms.


    ¡°Damn kid that¡¯s a hell of a job to have done¡­ No that ain''t right. What happened?¡± He asked his voice changing from surprise to anger as he actually got off his rolly chair and stalked over. Jun seemed to step closer, but I just moved away from him so Vik could see. His hand pulled up the shoulder of the generic T-shirt Jun had given me to wear as his eyes narrowed.


    ¡°This was a hackjob. What absolute piece of shit did this work on you.¡±


    ¡°Well first was a Spider Ripper with Maelstrom. He cut my arms off and decided to add some Sketch Chrome. It was set up to drive me Psycho. Jun my brother, Say hi Jun! Rescued me and took me to his Tyger Claw Ripper. She got the arms off and chipped in these Condors so at least I would have limbs¡­ I¡¯m just wanting a check up from someone I trust. Make sure everything was handled right.¡±


    Vik was real quiet for a moment, as I watched his jaw clench. I realized he wasn¡¯t looking anymore, but instead was staring off into the distance.


    Oh Vik was real angry.


    ¡°Vik?¡± I prompted forcing him to come back.


    ¡°Yeah. Sorry. C¡¯mon kid. Take a seat, let¡¯s check everything. I¡¯ll make sure everything is squared away¡­ Don¡¯t worry.¡± Vik said going full dad energy as he helped me get settled onto the chair and started dragging equipment over. Jun was still hovering but Vik¡¯s obvious skill was shining through even to me. So Jun, who had been under the knife of more Rippers than I had, must have noticed as he slowly started letting the tension drain out of him.


    Vik was in full doctor mode.


    It was funny Vik was usually a jovial guy, quick to make dad jokes at the drop of a hat.


    But he was also an amazing Ripper. No. An amazing Doctor.


    And right now he seemed to be¡­ Anger Doctoring? Hate Doctoring? He was still kinda scowling, but his hands were absolutely dancing over his tools as he scanned my shoulders and the chrome all at the same time.


    Vik was possessed.


    It was Nova.


    Finally Vik with a quiet mutter to himself rose up and grabbed a few things from a few different containers around his office, before rolling back over.


    ¡°Gonna port in here. The ripper did a half decent job, but I can see a few quick fixes that¡­ Well they work, but they can be done better. Take a seat son, you¡¯re gonna be here for an hour or so. Misty, can you get some water for everyone?¡± Vik called out as first looked to Jun and then Misty as he tapped a few things on the shoulder of my new arm, and a port opened, where he plugged in a scanning tool of some kind, and then with the work of a man that had done this a million times, he poked and prodded and inside.


    ¡°Need to find out what she gave you before I can give you any anesthesia. Don¡¯t trust some doc''s doses. They either undercut, or give too much to seem like a ¡®safer¡¯ doc. Quick blood test, and we will get started. Some of the nerve connectors are doubled up. It¡¯s faster, and doesn¡¯t really cause big issues, but it does mean the nerves not connected will either die off, losing some sense of touch, or you start getting pains as they start sending signals that something is wrong.¡±


    ¡°Thanks Vik.¡± I told him with a smile and a sigh of relief. Even Jun seemed¡­ Impressed at Vik''s skill as he balanced multiple different scans with the effortlessness of a man that was truly in his element. An hour later Vik had calmed down enough he was cracking bad jokes making even Jun have a smirk on his face as Vik finally pulled away from my other shoulder.


    ¡°I¡¯ve done everything I can to make sure the interface is stable, and all the connections are done correctly¡­ It¡¯ll be a few days before you start feeling normal again. The injury and multiple surgeries takes time to heal. But it should heal fine from here.¡± He added wiping his head a bit as he reached out and took a drink to quench his thirst.


    ¡°Great. Thanks Vik. I really appreciate you checking me over¡­ Can you do Jun as well?¡±


    ¡°What? Motoko. I don¡¯t need a checkup.¡± Jun interrupted instantly once he understood what I said.


    But I ignored his stupid statement. ¡°All of his chrome is new. I¡¯m worried they might not have put everything together right.¡±


    ¡°Motoko stop ignoring me.¡± Jun growled.


    So I ignored him.


    Vik watched the byplay with a bit of amusement. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t mind, but maybe another time. I¡¯m gonna need at least a few to stretch my legs.¡± He joked with a smile and I blinked.


    ¡°Oh! Right. Sorry I didn¡¯t mean to overwork you.¡±


    ¡°Nothing to worry about. How about it Jun? Want a checkup?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine!¡±


    ¡°But your ripper didn¡¯t do all of my connections right. Vik fixed them right?¡± I asked, turning to the man who nodded slowly. ¡°So maybe she skipped some steps with you too! For me Jun, please get a checkup. Vik is¡­ amazing. He can make sure all of your chrome isn¡¯t causing you any issues. You¡¯ve been irritable since you started getting chrome.¡±


    ¡°Irritability? Is that something new?¡± Vik asked cutting in looking concerned. He turned to Jun. ¡°Have you been noticing any unusual emotional control problems? Irritability, shortness of temper?¡±


    ¡°No! I am in perfect control!¡± Jun snapped. Losing control.


    He quirked an eyebrow turning to me.


    ¡°It¡¯s not that unusual. Jun has always been a hothead. It¡¯s the coldness that is more concerning.¡± I offered and Jun was definitely unhappy about being talked about as he stepped closer and slapped a hand over my mouth.


    A hand that I really couldn¡¯t do much about¡­ Vik had numbed my shoulders and arms while he worked.


    ¡°Mwh fue!¡± I called out telling him this wasn¡¯t fair as Jun suddenly returned back to that look.


    The big brother taking pleasure in siblings torture look.


    ¡°I am fine.¡± He said turning to Vik. ¡°But I might seek out a checkup at some point. Your skill was¡­ Impressive.¡±


    ¡°Sooner is better than later son. Really. The one thing you don¡¯t want is to leave a problem to fester. With Cyberware that never, and I mean never, ends well.¡± Vik repeated himself before smiling at my plight.


    He was in on it! Traitor!


    ¡°I am curious though. I¡­ I have been absent from Motoko¡¯s life¡­ But how did she meet you? It must be a recent relationship.¡± Jun asked now that I could say anything.


    ¡°Oh, it was an interesting day alright. She-¡±


    ¡°Mgh fnto!¡± I tried to tell Vik to shut his mouth because Jun was gonna freak out! I would have been cutting a hand across my throat as well if I could move my arms.


    Unfortunately I could not. And Vik had no mercy.


    ¡°-Came in with boxes of Cyberware. Tons of stuff. She offered it to me so I could do something good with it.¡±


    ¡°Boxes of Cyberware?¡± Jun asked blinking. ¡°Where did she get that much Cyberware? Where did you get that much Cyberware?¡± He asked head tilting down towards me.


    My attempts to keep Vik from speaking failed.


    ¡°Scav raid from what she said¡­ You didn''t know?¡±


    ¡°SCAV!? MOTOKO! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!?¡± Jun roared his flamey eyes really making him look like a demon as he glared down at me.


    Ah. Is that why they called him the Oni? I guess that answers that question!


    ¡ª--


    The drive from Vik''s was very quiet. Jun had not taken the story about the Scav raid well.


    And I mean really not well.


    He had exploded at first. Stalking back and forth as I explained what I had done. Then he had gone quiet. Eventually just ordered me to the car when he was done. Vik had been a little apologetic, but I just gave him a smile telling him it was no big.


    Jun got angry, and was overprotective. Nothing to be upset about. It would have come out eventually.


    ¡°Exactly what jobs did you do for Wakako? The one you got shot. What happened?¡± He finally said as we were half way to home.


    To the apartment to pick up stuff I would need for a while.


    So I started telling him about the job. About Scorpion, the gig. That I had brought an HMG with me. Which had earned me a startled look from Jun and me yelling at him to watch the road as we almost crashed.


    I told him how the gig had gone, the chase, firing the HMG out the side of the car.


    The car crash. That I had been shot trying to rescue Scorpion.


    How I hadn¡¯t let the gig end there. That I had chased after him through the desert. Finding the Raffens'' location.


    How I had gone in and murdered each and every one of them. Unlike with Hiromi, unlike with everyone, I went into the whole thing. Every detail I explained the best I could.


    The kills, and how I had done it.


    By the end of my story we were at the apartment Jun pulled into the parking garage and stopped because my car was in his spot.


    ¡°Do you like it? My Quadra?¡± I asked a little nervously, he hadn¡¯t said anything since I had finished my story.


    He pulled into the spot next to it, and stepped out without a word.


    Which was annoying because getting the door was awkward. Eventually I got it, and slipped out Jun was just standing there looking into the darkness of the garage.


    ¡°Jun?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t want you to put yourself at risk Motoko.¡± He said quietly, practically whispering to the quiet stillness of the underground garage. ¡°You were supposed to be home safe. Taken care of. Little gigs with your friends that weren¡¯t supposed to be dangerous. You weren¡¯t supposed to have to kill. I messed that up before I even left, but this is¡­ It¡¯s not right.¡±


    He turned towards me. ¡°Why, why can¡¯t you just be safe? Why are you throwing yourself into this life? I don¡¯t want this for you! Not you! Not my little Motoko who always rushes into things! That wanted to be a Tyger Claw more than I ever did¡­ Who shouldn¡¯t have ever been caught by Scavs, and shouldn''t have ever had to stain her hands!¡±


    He was ranting¡­ And not quite but almost crying. Damn. I hadn¡¯t wanted to shock Jun this much! I already expected he was in a sensitive state.


    Okay Motoko. Time to calm Jun down.


    Before he could say anything else I pushed into his space and forced him to hug me. My arms were still floppy, but I could move them enough for him to get the idea.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t fail Jun. You didn¡¯t mess up. You didn¡¯t do anything wrong. You saved me. Took care of me. You made me happy even when I was scared about everything around me. Not knowing anything I was really scared but you made that fear go away.¡± I spoke loud enough to be heard despite pushing my face into his chest. His arms slowly wrapped around my shoulders.


    His hands were shaking.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t fail. I was never going to be safe Jun. I was never going to stay at home and hide away. The best way to keep me safe was for me to learn how to fight. The only way to learn is to do.¡± I told him as I felt his arms continue to shake.


    ¡°You aren¡¯t responsible for what happened. You didn¡¯t ask for it to happen, and you tried to prevent it. You can¡¯t blame yourself for other people''s actions. You also can¡¯t protect me from the world. Not even if you were¡­ Not even if our last name was Arasaka would I be safe. So I¡¯ve been learning to make myself safe.¡±


    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t have to! You should be safe!¡± He finally spoke, repeating himself blindly.


    I shook my head making sure he could feel the motion.


    ¡°The only way I¡¯ll be safe Jun is to become able to protect myself. Which is exactly what I¡¯m gonna do. I wasn¡¯t paying attention and let the Strom get the jump on me. That won¡¯t happen next time. I¡¯ll be prepared and if anyone ever tries to jump me again I¡¯ll make them regret ever trying. I¡¯ll make them die.¡± I tell him confidently.


    That burning sensation in my chest. That disgust and horror at what they had done to me was locked up tight.


    But not gone. Never gone. That night had been an offense against me I would never forgive.


    Scavs. Raffen. Maelstrom.


    All of them were at the same level. Maelstrom I had tried to give the benefit of the doubt in some ways. Sure they did horrible things. I knew about their AI rituals. I knew that they tried to force chrome on people like the monk.


    I knew they were scum, but I had mentally put them into another category from scum that needs to die. I had placed them above that, because I didn¡¯t hate their desire to gain more chrome. I mean. I liked the Mechanicus in some ways too. I can understand their motivation.


    But my face had been firmly rubbed in the fact they were no better than the Scavs. So I would treat them that way. I would hunt them. Unlike Jun and his little band of borgs. I wasn¡¯t limited.


    I was a Gamer. A superweapon the likes of which the world had never seen. I stepped away from Jun then. His hands had finally stopped shaking so much although he was still obviously lost in thoughts just like I had been.


    Now if only my hands would stop clenching so hard. I was struggling to get them to relax. They were both clenched into fists.


    ¡°C¡¯mon Jun let¡¯s go get some stuff okay?¡±


    He blinked a bit as if remembering where he was before he nodded quietly. Juns protective arm over my shoulder was nice as we crossed the street.


    The bloodstains were still there.


    I did my best to ignore them. Maelstrom would pay for every drop of blood they took from me.

 Chapter 28

    With Jun''s help we gathered up a bunch of stuff from the apartment. I really wasn¡¯t able to help much as even a backpack would go over my still injured shoulders.


    Still he gathered up a bunch of things including some of my repair work and tools, and we left the apartment.


    It was kinda sad. I knew we would come back, eventually, but it was still sad to be sort of moving away from home.


    It was where I felt safe.


    Jun didn¡¯t talk much on the way back to the Dojo apartments. Only speaking up about getting some food, which we stopped at on the way.


    To my absolute shock Jun didn¡¯t order a XXL Burrito.


    Has Jun gone completely Cyberpsycho? Now I was actually worried, but he seemed normal as we ate on the drive back.


    Truly watching Jun eat something other than XXL Burritos was too weird for this world!


    We drove around instead of going straight to the apartment. Through a few heavy Tyger Claw zones as I could see them literally walking the street.


    ¡°Anyone following us will be spotted and removed.¡± Jun explained at my curious look as we finally made it down to the Dojo.


    After hauling my stuff inside the apartment Jun left to do some Tyger Claw stuff.


    His words.


    I settled in for a sleep. It was time to do a full heal, see how well I would handle having new arms.


    And start preparing for my revenge.


    ¡ª--


    I blinked awake, as always using the menu to sleep for eight hours left me feeling 100% rested, and wide awake. I sat up looking around. I had purposefully fallen asleep on the couch so that Jun could keep his bed so I didn¡¯t see him as I looked around. Checking the clock I noticed it was only nine pm. Late, but not too late. Jun was probably still up even. With that I looked down to my arms and tried to move them.


    That sluggish feeling was gone. But it still wasn¡¯t right. Wasn¡¯t normal.


    I lifted my right arm and felt¡­ Off. The feeling of a phantom limb struck me heavily. As I lifted my arm it felt like it was a second too slow, leaving my brain telling me my arm should be there, but it hadn¡¯t made it.


    I tested the same with my left arm finding the noodly arm effect was gone, but the foreignness was still present.


    I stood up shaking myself loose from my slings that I had fallen asleep with. I felt my breath come out shaky. A tightness behind my eyes.


    It was scary. What I had gone through, what they had done to me, and now the effects of which I was still dealing with.


    I was scared.


    I exhaled ice. The coldness creeping up my veins freezing my anxiety. My fears. I could deal with this. Hundreds of thousands of people live in Night City with Chrome arms. It wasn¡¯t weird. Or impossible. Just a short time to get used to it and I would be fine.


    It was just a change. Just one more change. Just like all the changes I had made since I woke up in the hospital. Just one more tiny alteration in my life.


    I let the ice melt. Let my feelings slowly slip back into my thoughts.


    I was scared. But not because I hated the cyborg arms. But because it hadn¡¯t been my choice.


    I had wanted this, but at my pace. I exhaled warmth. No tears threatened to come out. ¡°Okay Motoko. Step one. Get used to the limbs.¡±Closing my eyes I stretched my arms out then opened them. Looking at them for the first time as mine.


    They weren¡¯t Militech Condors. They weren¡¯t Chrome.


    They were my arms.


    My fingers were thin. The Ripper must have adjusted the¡­ My arms, to suit a woman. I spread my arms sideways getting a feel for my wingspan. It was¡­ About the same? Not an easy thing to tell, but it was there. My fingers were longer now. I realized I could clench my fists and my fingers didn¡¯t rest at the same place they would have before.


    I played with my fingers for a moment. Pressing each finger to my thumb one after another wiggled the digits, and even threw up a middle finger.


    Just to make sure for next time.


    Then I moved to my palms. They weren¡¯t flesh. Instead a smooth stainless steel, or aluminum, but covered at parts with a rubberized grip. I could feel it. The sensors of the Cyberware gave me an almost accurate sense of touch.


    The foreignness was still there, and I had to close my eyes and just breathe as I felt new sensations for old actions.


    Touching my own palm shouldn¡¯t cause me this much discomfort. Shouldn¡¯t feel so wrong.


    But I exhaled. Let myself simply adjust. Let the feeling of it flow through me. This was what my hand felt like. I pushed my hands together letting the feeling flow through my mind.


    This was me.


    I let my palms drift apart. Now I focused on my wrists. Feeling their range of motion. Every angle I would ever need as I slowly shifted my wrist this way and that.


    My wrist was strong.


    My old¡­ No. My wrists before. My wrists before had been kinda weak. Not helped by the feeling of them breaking whenever I shot my Burya.


    But I could feel how much stronger they were. The tension of pushing them to their limit actually a nice feeling. Yes it was strange but it didn¡¯t hurt, like when you stretched with meat, a nice feeling.


    I moved on


    My forearms were coated smooth steel. Small gaps in the exterior showed the muscle underneath. I could see the synth muscle contract and shift as I moved my wrists, I let myself grow used to the sight, and feeling.


    My elbow was weird. The range of motion was a lot wider. Able to go a bit beyond an elbow''s normal range of motion on the extension. I repeated the motion for a while simply growing used to the differences.


    My biceps were defined. The military nature of the limb was in full view, but it didn¡¯t bother me. I had muscles before from all the Body training.


    There wasn¡¯t much to think about. It¡¯s not like you really think about your bicep very often. The length was about right. And I could feel the muscles contracting as I curled my hands to my shoulders.


    My shoulders were different. Obviously. They had a texture to them, my shoulders had an almost armored section. It wasn¡¯t large, but it made my shoulder feel larger in my peripheral vision that was so clear with my Kiroshi.


    I could feel the metal cool against my skin that ran from my shoulder to above my breast. The length of how far the arms had extended into my chest? Or just how the arms connected to my nerves?


    No idea.


    I exhaled letting the feeling pass.


    These were my arms.


    I opened my stat menu.


    ¡ª--


    Level 5


    4750/6000


    Body 6(10) Due to Cyberization, Maximum value has increased by 4.


    -Athletics 5


    -Street Brawler 5


    -Annihilation 4


    Reflex 6


    -Blades 6


    -Handguns 4


    -Assault 3


    -Driving 4


    Intelligence 4


    -Breach Protocol 3


    -Quick Hacks 3


    Cool 8


    -Ninjutsu 7


    -Cold Blood 6


    Technical attribute 3(7) Due to Cyberization, Maximum value has increased by 4.


    -Crafting 3


    0 Stat point.


    0 Skill point.


    Perks.


    Ambidextrous Blades 2


    Quickdraw Handguns 2


    Gun Nut Assault 2


    Parkour Athletics 2


    Grappling Street Brawler 2


    Drive By Driver 2


    Cat-like Athletics 5


    Cool Nerves Cold Blood 2


    Danger Sense Ninjutsu 2


    Wall Breaking Breach Protocol 2


    Cyber Security Quick Hack 2


    Recoil Reduction. Annihilation 2


    Cyber Ninja Ninjutsu 5


    Fearless Chill. Cold Blood 5.


    Improvised Weapons Street Brawler 5


    Parry Blades 5


    Robotics wizard Crafting 2


    Cyberware:


    Militech Paraline *Adaptation Militech Paraline 0/0*


    Kiroshi Mk1 *Adaptation Kiroshi Mk1 0/2*


    Militech Condor *Adaptation Militech Condor 0/10*


    The numbers soothed me. There weren¡¯t any negatives, or loss of stats. It means I was okay. That I could grind out a bit and be back to where I was¡­ No, be even better.


    I liked that. The chrome hadn¡¯t been my choice, but I had always meant to do it. To be better. I clenched my first and felt the pressure within the grip.


    I blinked my eyes and sighed. I guess I could understand why chipping in chrome would drive you nuts.


    My eyes still felt weird when blinking to the extent that not blinking felt more comfortable, but my body still wanted to blink. It was a struggle to keep from doing it.


    Now I also had my arms feeling off. Every part of them worked. I could feel everything. The sensors were actually really advanced, but¡­


    It wasn¡¯t the same. And that feeling of offness was distracting.


    Irritating.


    Like if your arm fell asleep and you tried using it to do a normal task. You could, but the lack of normal sensation left you uncomfortable. Yeah. That was what it was like. I decided.


    ¡°Fine. I just have to get used to it.¡± I affirmed to myself once more, extending my arms and running through a test of my fingers. ¡°Time to grind.¡± I muttered as I fell back on my Street Brawler knowledge. The knowledge of how to train to fight.


    I threw a punch. It whipped out. It wasn¡¯t right. The phantom limb was still there making the punch feel slow. Off.


    I pulled back and threw it again.


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    And again.


    And again.


    I would grow used to it mentally even if I can¡¯t physically. Adaptation was probably going to be a very important stat for me right now. My hopes were pinning on the stat making everything go back to feeling normal.


    That meant I had only one choice.


    Kill.


    Good thing I already had plenty of acceptable targets.


    ¡°What are you doing!?¡± Jun¡¯s voice suddenly interrupted me as I punched, making me stop. I looked over he had just entered the apartment, and was looking at me in concern.


    ¡°Punching?¡±


    ¡°Sit down! You are still healing! Are you an idiot!?... Of course you are.¡± He muttered as he practically picked me up and sat me on the couch. A moment later he came back with a bag full of my tech stuff I had asked him to bring from the apartment.


    ¡°Light duty only! What part of that didn¡¯t make it through your gonk head?¡± He cursed at me actually sounding pretty pissed as he slammed the bag on the table.


    I winced. That wasn¡¯t good for my tools Jun.


    But I was wise! I kept my mouth shut and nodded along as Jun stalked around the apartment.


    I would just wait for him to leave.


    Until then I pulled out some of my tools and had a very strange session making some pieces that I was gonna use to modify my Unity. The old gun had been with me for a while. It was about time I spent a little time working on it.


    It was almost an hour later when I finished the new trigger that would be a bit smoother than the old one, holding the part up to the light admiring its look when I realized.


    My Unity was gone.


    I put the trigger down and had to wipe my eyes.


    ¡ª-


    I was so bored.


    Jun was still mother henning me. So I wasn¡¯t able to do any real exercise or grinding when he was around, and he had patently refused to let me go anywhere. So I had been stuck inside playing with the few pieces of tech I had. I had already breached the security on every device in the apartment, and many of them in the building itself.


    Bored, Bored, bored!


    Jun though was a good big brother. He must have a Brother-Sense because as I was slowly losing my mind he pulled me out of the apartment and brought me over to the Dojo.


    I was feeling relieved and happy, I might get some exercise done, until he walked me over to an older man that had on a Gi.


    And a lot of Tyger Claw tattoos. But that was more the norm than not here.


    ¡°Sensei. This is Motoko.¡± Jun suddenly introduced me.


    ¡°Hmph.¡± Was the only noise he made as he looked me over. ¡°I am Ozeki Sensei. Those arms of yours are new.¡± He said and it took me a moment to realize he was asking a question with how gravely his voice was.


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Then you will be helpless as a babe until you learn them.¡± He said simply as he turned and grabbed a shinai off a rack and then threw it at me.


    It wasn¡¯t a gentle throw. I managed to keep from yelping as I jerked, my arms raising to catch them, but the timing was off. My hand wasn¡¯t where I needed it to be and the sword ended up getting caught on my fingers and nearly smacking me in the face.


    But I managed to seal both hands around the sword wincing as it creaked a bit but it was fine.


    ¡°Sensei¡­ Light duty only.¡± Jun hinted loudly looking a little irritated but Ozeki Sensei just turned towards me.


    ¡°Kusanagi. You have a task to complete.¡± He dismissed Jun with a single sentence and even Jun realized it as he frowned but gave a small bow before turning and walking away.


    Wait Jun. I was feeling very unsafe! Protect me!


    ¡°Now. Show me your stance!¡± He barked his voice so growly that I instantly did as I was told. Feeling myself falling into a neutral stance, shinai held out before me.


    ¡°Now Strike!¡± He demanded and I swung.


    He didn¡¯t like that. He ran me through the wringer.


    I was supposed to be on light duty! Even if I was actually fine now! This was unfair!


    ¡ª--


    I had gained a few blade alerts by the time I was ¡®released¡¯ and allowed to run away back to the apartment.


    It wasn¡¯t like I was that tired or anything. It wasn¡¯t that what he had me do was unlike what I normally do when I grind.


    He was just intimidating! He growled and glared constantly! I work best with positive reinforcement you know!?


    Still it was done. I escaped and went home, tinkered with my spare parts until Jun came back.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be gone tonight. And most of tomorrow. Don¡¯t leave the apartments. You can go to the Dojo, or speak to the secretary in the break room if you need something.¡± He ordered before I could even greet him as he rushed into his room and then came out carrying his weapons.


    I realized he was going out to kill Maelstrom. Instantly I felt the itch to follow him. I could help. A lot. I could make sure Jun would be safe.


    But Jun would never accept that. Not after what had just happened. I would need to ¡®recover¡¯ enough that I could push past his initial refusals.


    I would need to grind.


    ¡°Jun-Nii. Be safe.¡± I demanded as he almost walked out the door, but I stopped him with a behind hug.


    ¡°I will. Imouto.¡± He answered softly, his voice breaking from that cold icy tone he kept falling back into. But he couldn¡¯t stay he broke off and headed out of the apartment right after.


    Once he was gone I turned around.


    I picked up the table in front of the couch and moved it out of the way.


    So I had at least twelve hours or more before Jun came back. Time to work through everything I knew until my arms could do what I expected them to.


    I dropped down and started doing push ups. Then I pushed myself to my feet. Throwing punches into the air. I grabbed a pistol that Jun had left behind for me. He had noticed that I didn¡¯t have my Unity anymore.


    A Lexington. It felt close enough to my old Unity, if not quite the same, and after grabbing my old holster and fitting it in, I went back to it. Pushups, jumping jacks, punches, quick drawing. Everything I knew I would need. I even started juggling the magazine of the Lexington between my hands to make sure I could catch things.


    And quickly reload the gun.


    That foreign feeling never left. The Phantom limbs never lined up right.


    But that was fine. I could live with it. As long as my arms did what I needed. As long as I could shoot, and punch and stab.


    As long as I could kill.


    ¡ª---


    The next morning I went back to the dojo. The Sensei wasn¡¯t alone. Another borg was there going through some Taichi if the knowledge from Street Brawling was reliable.


    The fact she was seeming to hesitate a bit on some of the motions.


    Yeah. She had been injured. New chrome. She was going through something similar to me.


    But unlike me she was a borg. She had the weird leg blades that some of the Tyger Claw borged out women had and was doing her best to remain stable as she went through the movements. I watched for a while as Sensei led her through the kata.


    ¡°Who¡¯s the kid?¡± The woman finally asked, her voice sounding completely electronic.


    ¡°Focus!¡± Sensei barked not answering until the woman was back in form.


    ¡°Motoko is Jun Kusanagi¡¯s sister.¡± He finally offered only once the woman had proven she was focused again.


    ¡°Huh the kid''s kid sister huh?¡± She muttered looking over to me before Sensei made a noise of displeasure and she refocused.


    I continued watching until Sensei spoke up.


    ¡°Motoko. Join us.¡± He demanded. It wasn¡¯t a request. I sighed internally, but rose up and slipped into the kata without issue.


    Street Brawling hadn¡¯t given me the direct knowledge on how to do it, but I could easily follow a new Kata. Especially one as slow and relatively simple as Tai-chi.


    I followed along finding the rhythm without any issue. It wasn¡¯t any more mindless than grinding with the punching machine so I quickly fell into the zone of just following Sensei¡¯s moves.


    *100 Street Brawler XP Gained.*


    I blinked and felt a smile coming to my lips as the alert popped in.


    ¡°Motoko was it? Those arms of yours are new.¡± The woman said suddenly as we both followed the motions.


    ¡°Yeah. Strom decided it would be fun to cut my arms off and put on a set of cyberarms wrong. So I got a new set now. Trying to get used to them¡­ It¡¯s your hip right?¡± I pointed out, the woman had been favoring her left leg and the way she moved it was like her balance was off.


    ¡°Good eye.¡± She offered after a moment. ¡°I took a round that punched through. Blew off my leg. Managed to pull myself out of the action. Got a refit and here I am. Getting used to the changes. Sensei is the best at getting us back up and running again. There is a reason we are camping out in his Dojo.¡±


    ¡°Hmph.¡± He grunted, eyeing us both as very specifically did a motion we hadn¡¯t copied right.


    Both of us jumped back to it but it seemed he was displeased.


    ¡°Akari. Motoko. You will spar.¡± He demanded instantly, and I looked at the woman. Akari I supposed to wonder what he meant, but she was smirking a bit at me.


    ¡°Sorry kid. I¡¯ll go easy on you, but what Sensei says goes.¡± She said as her hands formed into fists.


    Suddenly a Shinai was thrown at me. I only caught the motion due to my Kiroshi, I nearly fumbled as he had chucked it quite hard at me. I managed to get the grip and turn it into a flourish as I faced the woman.


    ¡°Hoh? Not bad kid. Try to keep up.¡± Akari offered before she¡­ Moved.


    Even with my Kiroshi I was barely able to react fast enough to fist arcing towards me. I wasn¡¯t fast enough.


    I wasn¡¯t fast enough.


    The fist stopped as it tapped my nose.


    ¡°Never fought someone with a Sandy before, have ya?¡± She asked with an utterly arrogant smile. ¡°Gotta move quick kid, otherwise you get flatlined.¡±


    ¡°Fool.¡± Sensei said as he whacked the back of Akaris head. The older woman yelped and turned with a thunderous glare before seemingly calming after a moment. ¡°What good is a spar if you use such tricks. Back to your place.¡±


    ¡°Yes Sensei.¡± Akari offered but there was a hint of angry rebellion in her voice.


    ¡°It¡¯s okay. She¡¯s right. I never faced Sandevistan. It¡¯s good to see what it can do.¡± I offered trying to lower the tension that had suddenly appeared.


    ¡°Spar. Begin.¡± Sensei offered without any further words, and I refocused on Akari who didn¡¯t seem to have any hesitation on her mind.


    She rushed me, her fists clenched, but this time it was at a more normal speed.


    I soon learned the Shinai wasn¡¯t going to stop her, her Cyber arms were more than capable of blocking the Shinai without a care and sending a fist rushing for my stomach.


    Since she wasn¡¯t moving at sandy level speeds I managed to jump away, but then she was on me. Punches thrown at me in a barrage, fast and strong, her arms weren¡¯t gorilla arms, but that hardly matters at a certain point. It was still a metal clad fist rushing me.


    And so we sparred. She was better than me. Faster than me. Stronger than me.


    It didn''t take long until I was taking blows that left nasty bruises on my chest. My arms the only part of me strong enough to stop her fists from crashing into me. Even my Parry perk was simply knocked aside. The Shinai simply couldn¡¯t last against her hits whenever I used it to try and parry her fists away, the faux bamboo creaking at the stress each time as I was forced to give up on the parry.


    Finally I managed to get into a position that my thrust with the shinai wasn¡¯t something she could ignore. The thrust would have slammed into her throat.


    And then suddenly she wasn¡¯t there. I blinked.


    Actually blinked because it took me that moment to realize what she had done.


    ¡°Did you just do a backflip?¡±


    ¡°Course. My arms are more than strong enough to catch me. And my legs are way stronger. I¡¯ve cut down Strom completely on my hands before.¡± Akari offered as she looked up towards me. Her body in a sort of scorpion pose with her arms holding her up. Her legs pointed towards me like she was going to strike and stab me.


    Well¡­ I could do that! Athletics, parkour, and even Cat-like gave me a solid understanding on how to move.


    I rushed her this time.


    Her legs flicked out, the pointed cyberware more than strong enough to knock me senseless.


    I spun letting the blow pass me as I crouched down swiping at her left arm to force her to lift it to block.


    Then I leapt rolling sideways over her striking leg flipping in the air as I landed on her other side. The shinai swiping out while it wasn¡¯t strong enough to truly hurt her, it was more than strong enough to jerk her arm back as I slammed it into the inside of her elbow.


    She fell, her other arm still returning down to regain stability as She took a tumble, instantly she rolled with the motion, her cyberware the only thing keeping her from a neck injury as she rolled back to her feet and attacked me.


    I back flipped landing on my new arms with only a slight bit of wobble to avoid her leg slashing through where I had just been.


    This was fun!


    I got back to my feet just in time to block a few kicks and punches with my shinai. Akari though wasn¡¯t happy.


    She looked kinda pissed.


    ¡°Akari!¡± Sensei suddenly barked out as I dodged another strike from the womans feet, but she wasn¡¯t listening.


    Oh.


    Oh I guess this was suddenly not a spar.


    She moved.


    Fast. A blur of colors as she approached and struck.


    I had only barely got my arms crossed to block the punch that sent me tumbling. I let myself roll a few times even with my breath taken from me before I extended my legs catching the matt floors to break my momentum. I used my arms to make sure I wasn¡¯t smashing my face into the ground.


    When I stopped I was already staring at her, ready to leap back up from my split leg position, my hands gripping the mat ready to launch me into the air if need be.


    ¡°Akari!¡± Sensei was pissed but the woman just stood there, seeming to take a minute to calm herself.


    ¡°Well kid, how¡¯re the arms. Still have the phantom limbs?¡± She asked and in that moment¡­ No.


    The speed of the attacks and the focus on fighting had blurred the sensation.


    I was breathing heavily as I caught my breath so I couldn¡¯t say much.


    That was okay Sensei had enough words for me.


    ¡°Akari. Meditation! You obviously lack control over your spirit. Go!¡± He barked at the end and even the borged out woman jumped a little at his words.


    ¡°Yes Sensei. Keep it up kid. You might just be worth keeping around.¡±


    ¡°You wouldn¡¯t say that if I was coming from out of sight.¡± I grumbled quietly, as I finally pushed myself back to my feet. Rubbing my chest I grumbled a little. ¡°Supposed to be on light duty.¡±


    ¡°That is unnecessary. You have already healed plenty.¡± Sensei suddenly said from beside me, startling me at his sudden appearance.


    ¡°How¡¯d you know?¡±


    ¡°I deal with many men and women that need physical adjustment to their chrome. I know what an injury looks like. Your chest?¡± It took me a moment to realize he was asking after my injury.


    I shrugged but he didn¡¯t look satisfied so I did a few stretches and breathed deeply and while it was sore and painful I was fine. ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡±


    ¡°Good. Akari is usually more in control. It will not happen again.¡± He said with a growl.


    ¡°It was fine. She isn¡¯t the first borg I¡¯ve fought.¡± I shrugged. Honestly it was good practice. A reminder that despite my benefits I could still be overpowered.


    He looked me over before nodding. ¡°Come. You could use meditation as well. Akari will walk you through it.¡± He called out and I could hear the woman grumble from the sidelines where she had moved away and sat cross legged.


    ¡°C¡¯mon kid. Time to bring yourself into alignment as Sensei likes to say.¡±


    I shrugged. As I settled in.


    To my surprise Akari wasn¡¯t a bad teacher, and I realized long after I settled in cross legged with my hands formed into different poses to let myself align. That this entire thing was a course for potential Cyberpsychos. Jun was with them, and Akari was a member of Kamikaze as well.


    They were all here under Sensei¡¯s watchful eye. Kept healthy and stable as the Tyger Claws could get them.


    Huh. I was kinda surprised. You don¡¯t expect a gang to care that much, but I guess when you put in thousands of eddies worth of equipment into them, keeping them from completely losing it was in your best interest.

 Chapter 29

    Meditating in the corner was¡­ weird. Akari had walked me through a few steps and then zoned out on her own. But I wasn¡¯t the type to meditate while sitting in a yoga pose.


    So I didn¡¯t bother trying. Instead I slowly shifted my arms. Feeling the differences as I waved them around quietly. Just¡­ Processing. It was funny, I had so much knowledge in my head from such a vast array of topics, yet none of them could really help me with this. I had tried some of the martial arts I had gained from Street Brawler, and it helped. But it wasn¡¯t a panacea.


    Only time could truly help.


    Well that or more stat points. I had a bet that Adaptation would help quite a bit. But that was for the future. I still needed to grow at least comfortable enough that I was able to gain those points. My accuracy was still off, my balance, everything.


    It might seem odd, but it was true. While training my quickdraw the night before I realized that slightly different length arms. Fingers that were longer but stronger, and the phantom limb, meant my gun was ending up pointed in the wrong spot. I was forcing myself to untrain habits I had developed.


    So here I was. Faking meditation as I ran through some of the Taichi kata with my arms. Just letting myself adapt.


    Hopefully.


    Sitting here doing nothing did have some benefits though.


    Sensei wasn¡¯t just helping Akari, and I.


    While apparently most of the Dojo¡¯s students were sent away, either too busy with the war, or simply not trusted enough to know that the dojo was in use. That didn¡¯t mean there weren''t others.


    I got to watch Borgs fight each other.


    The Kamikaze group were more than the dozen borgs, I had seen so far. As they came in, usually in small groups I got to watch them relax around the dojo. Spar, or in some cases sit by themselves as they glared or zoned out.


    Cyberpsycho. Almost all of them had some of the symptoms. Irritability. Blankness. Some twitched or shook.


    It was interesting to see. I could see some of the same traits that Jun had picked up. But at least he wasn¡¯t as bad as most of them.


    He also wasn¡¯t nearly as chromed out as most of them were.


    But that wasn¡¯t what all of them did. Some would meet in the middle of the dojo floor and spar. Considering the amount of chrome involved, it was nothing like a fight between humans.


    So I watched. I learned. I noticed the ones with internal weapons, or augments. I watched how they used them. When, and what tells they had.


    That guy and his mantis blades. He would alway twist his wrist before the blades deployed. A twitch, or part of the mechanism?


    That woman with the same blade legs as Akari. Seeing it from the side I could see the way she had to shift her balance forward. Too far forward. Her legs were powerful but had little surface friction to work with. So she was either fully charging forward, or forced to stand up practically straight to keep upright.


    I guess that explains why Akari learned to fight on her hands.


    But seeing it from the outside? It meant next time I had ideas of how to fight against that. Well¡­ Mostly. Whenever a Sandevistan or some of the other speed enhancers came into play¡­


    Fine.


    When fighting Borgs rule 1. Never let them realize they were in a fight. Until I had a sandy in order to keep up, I just wouldn¡¯t fight them. Couldn¡¯t fight them. My Burya would still be with me, but if I was in a Maelstrom den killing borgs then the moment I fired game over I would have to run, or die.


    So I would assassinate them. I nodded to myself. Decision made. Fall back on what I am good at. So I would need to go quiet. And be better at it. Problem was. A blade wasn¡¯t always good enough against borgs but I wasn¡¯t the only person with that same problem!


    Now I needed more information. Lucky for me. I was literally in a place for it. I rose up and started looking for my former sparring partner.


    I wasn¡¯t the only person with that same problem!


    ¡°Hey Akari?¡± I asked, finally finding the woman that had left an hour into her meditation downstairs in the breakroom, chomping down on something from the vending machines.


    ¡°Huh? Kid. What do you want? I¡¯m not here to play with you.¡± She muttered her voice still electronic as she continued eating.


    ¡°You use blades right? Mantis, and your legs. How do you kill a really borged up gonk? I mean¡­ How do you get your blades through their armor?¡±


    ¡°Stupid question kid.¡± She said and suddenly her arm shifted into a blade that looked as deadly as I am sure it was. ¡°These babies are made for cutting chaff, Nano filament cuts right through, but sometimes it can get stuck. If I am against something a bit heavier? Gotta use the upgrade!¡± She laughed as her blade suddenly Started glowing. A harsh wave of heat washed over my face as the blades ignited to an incredibly high temperature. ¡°Stab these babies in, and not even fuckers with thermal resistance Real Skinn will survive cooking from the inside. That¡¯s how you kill borgs. Cut ¡®em, and if you can¡¯t? Boil ¡®em!¡± She broke into a pretty scary laugh.


    But I couldn¡¯t help but nod along.


    ¡°Know where I could get a Thermal Katana?¡± I asked and her laugh changed to a different tone. She wasn¡¯t laughing at her evil thoughts, she was just laughing at me.


    Rood.


    ¡°I¡¯m not your momma. Get it yourself.¡± She finally offered and waved me away.


    Fine.


    ¡ª--


    I continued practicing while I waited for Jun to come back. Unfortunately every time Sensei would see me practicing he would throw a Shinai at me, or pull me into Tai-Chi, or whatever other exercise he was doing.


    It was like he expected me to get into trouble the moment I was out of his sight or left unattended.


    Which, okay teenager. Sure I could understand it, but it was still annoying.


    That night Jun came home, and I couldn¡¯t help but let out a breath of relief. ¡°Jun-Nii!¡± I called out as I noticed him out of the corner of my eye coming in with a group of four.


    All four of them had obviously seen a fight.


    Luckily it looked like only minor injuries, and it was a bit of a shock to see Jun in full war gear.


    He wore actual armor over his chest for one. Jun¡¯s tendency to show off his chest had been something I had planned on teasing him about in the coming days.


    But more interesting was the mask he wore.


    I guess I know for sure now why they called him the Oni. He wore a japanese Oni mask across his jaw, giving him a sharp toothed grin.


    At my call he slowed his walk and pulled down the mask showing his face and how tired he looked.


    Seeing the rest of his little group all look to him, and none of them seemed happy I just waved him off to go with his little team.


    We would talk after.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°The Maelstrom broke as soon as we showed up. But they had enough heavy guns to keep us from doing much. We killed a few borgs and dropped them off at the rippers, and that¡¯s about it.¡± He offered an hour or two later when he had finally come to find me. Apparently his little team had been doing an after action report of some kind.


    Huh I guess Tyger Claws knew at least a bit about keeping everything running, even when dealing with a bunch of gangster kids.


    ¡°What about you Imouto. How was your day? How are the shoulders, any pain? Be honest.¡±


    ¡°Nope. No pain. I¡¯m healing quick.¡± I told him as I bit into my XXL burrito and did my best to pretend it didn¡¯t taste like refried sick.


    I don¡¯t know how Jun could seemingly happily take big bites of the meal.


    ¡°Good. Good. Just don¡¯t go overboard.¡± He demanded pointing his burrito at me which I almost wanted to parry away.


    What a powerful weapon.


    ¡°Anyway Jun-Nii. Where did you get your Katana? I¡¯m looking to buy one. Probably a Thermal one.¡± I chirped at him suddenly, his chewing slows before he swallows his bite.


    ¡°No.¡±


    I blew up my cheeks at him in offense at his instant denial.


    ¡°I¡¯m not asking you to buy it or something. I have money! I just need to know where I can get one.¡±


    ¡°Still no. You are staying here. Safe.¡± He offered and I glared a bit.


    ¡°I¡¯m not going to stay here forever. Another few days I¡¯ll be back to fighting fit. Then I¡¯m heading out.¡±


    Stolen story; please report.


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t just say no!¡± I shrieked at him pointing my burrito.


    ¡°No.¡± He said doing exactly what I told him he couldn¡¯t!


    I huffed at him as I took another bite and chewed it for a moment. I didn¡¯t want to fall into sibling spat here. Jun needed to understand that he couldn¡¯t huddle me into an apartment to hide away.


    ¡°Jun. I know you want to protect me, but I¡¯m not going to live in this place. Once I¡¯m healed up¡­ I¡¯m going to get hunting down The Bastard. And the Spider Ripper. Once I have both of their skulls on sticks I might chill, but that¡¯s the limit of my chill at the moment.¡±


    ¡°Chill?¡± He seemed to ask himself as he was working out what I mean. ¡°Still no.¡±


    I stood up slamming my hands on the table which actually made a very sharp noise throughout the breakroom. We glared at each other for a minute.


    ¡°I¡¯m not asking. If you won¡¯t help. I¡¯ll do it without you. I¡¯m sure Hiromi caaaaaan! Fuck!¡± I cursed my anger disappearing. I hadn¡¯t messaged Hiromi! It had been days! I had been completely out of contact. I instantly called her, only to get a noise in my ear and a ¡°This call could not be completed.¡± message.


    ¡°Idiot. This whole place has a jammer up to make sure the Maelstrom can¡¯t track us here.¡± Jun cut in my rising panic as my yellow eyes zipped to him. ¡°Hiromi can wait. Unt- Dammit Motoko! Stop!¡± he rose up and yelled but I was already heading up the stairs.


    I knew Hiromi pretty well by this point, we were best chooms. If she heard that I had gotten kidnapped!? If she couldn¡¯t get in touch with me or Jun she might do something stupid!


    I rushed up stairs ignoring Jun as I ran to the entrance of the dojo and then out onto the street.


    Still no good. I turned and started running down the street. I could hear Jun running after me and he quickly tried to grab me but I slapped his hands away.


    We both had chrome hands now. ¡°Not now Jun!¡±


    ¡°Motoko! Stop being stupid! We aren¡¯t supposed to make calls from here!¡±


    ¡°Then get your bike! Hiromi is an idiot Jun she will definitely do something stupid if I don¡¯t tell her I¡¯m alive!¡±


    ¡°Ugh.¡± Jun offered with a grunt as he realized I was right.


    And because of that he realized I wasn¡¯t going to stop.


    ¡°Fine. Come with me. Now!¡± he barked and I followed after as we headed back into the dojo, and then into the apartment. We actually slipped back into the car that we had used to move everything and Jun drove us out into the city.


    Finally a few blocks away as we passed through the city Jun told me to try and call again.


    *Motoko! Where have you been! My calls haven¡¯t connected!*


    I breathed out a sigh of relief. Hiromi didn¡¯t sound like she was freaking out, or anything.


    *Hey Hiromi. Sorry a lot of stuff happened. I¡¯m with Jun right now, but they are keeping him in a place that has jammers up. I realized it all happened without telling you. I was worried you would be freaking out with me out of contact.*


    *Oh good! You should always remember your bestest choom! How is Jun? He alright? Not injured?*


    *No. He is grumpy, but we actually went through a lot. Listen Hiromi. Don¡¯t go around the apartment okay? Jun stopped by and Maelstrom tracked him. They decided to kidnap me and I ended up getting rescued. So stay away in c-*


    *What the FUCK!? What do you mean Kidnapped!? Are you alright! Motoko! You can¡¯t get kidnapped again! What the fuck? Fuck!*


    *Hey hey! I¡¯m okay¡­ Honest. The Strom did cut me up a bit but I¡¯m all in one piece, and after the Tyger Claw Ripper that Jun took me to put me back together, I even went to Vik¡¯s and had him double check. I¡¯m fine.*


    *Motoko¡­ If you had to go to a ripper¡­ You got chrome? How much? What happened?*


    *Just my arms. Nothing serious.*


    *Fuck¡­ Motoko¡­ Toko. Don¡¯t try to protect me okay? We are chooms. How bad? What happened?*


    I sighed a bit as I rubbed my thumb and fingers together feeling the odd sensations.


    *It was pretty bad while it happened, they got lucky that I didn¡¯t have my anti-borg weapon when they jumped me. They cut me up, and threw me into a fighting pit. I killed the kid they pit me against and they ended up chipping in some bad chrome arms. Jun rescued me around then, and took me to a Tyger Claw ripper. I¡¯m alright now. Honest.*


    *Shit. I didn¡¯t even know. I¡¯ve been trapped at home this whole week. Dammit!* Hiromi cursed for a while as I listened, just sighing trying to ignore Jun¡¯s questioning look.


    *Listen Hiromi. I¡¯m glad you heard about this from me, and not from out in the wild. I was really worried you would have found out and gone off on a crusade to try and rescue me or something. Please just. Stay safe okay? I¡¯ve got Jun being super protective right now too. So I get the parents thing.*


    *Fuck. Toko, you got kidnapped again and I couldn¡¯t even¡­ I didn¡¯t even find out!* Hiromi made a sound of just pure frustration over the line.


    I really didn¡¯t know what to say.


    *I¡¯m okay.*


    *I¡¯m not¡­ I¡¯m glad you''re okay though, Toko. Fuck that¡¯s so! Ugh!*


    *I know. But I¡¯m glad you''re safe too. I think Jun is getting done with being patient though. Listen I¡¯ll be out of touch a bunch. Tyger Claws really like their jammers, but I won¡¯t be staying with Jun for long. Once I finish recovering I¡¯ll message you. Okay?*


    *Yeah¡­ yeah. I get it. Stay safe, Toko. Promise?*


    *Of course! I promise!*


    I ended the call and flopped back into the seat.


    ¡°Okay. Hiromi is okay, she didn¡¯t even know. I¡¯m really¡­ I¡¯m really glad she is safe.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s your choom¡­ It¡¯s fine.¡± Jun said as we started making our way back towards the dojo along the streets.


    I was quiet for a while before I decided to continue where we had left off.


    ¡°I won¡¯t stay at the dojo for long.¡±


    ¡°You will. It is safe there.¡± He said instantly his fists gripping the steering wheel as he slowly drove through the traffic.


    ¡°Jun-Nii. I love you. I want you to be happy. I know that you just want to protect me. I love that. I do, but that¡¯s not going to stop me from doing what I need to do¡­¡± I opened my mouth, my mind shooting to anything that I could use to convince him. A hard headed teen like Jun. He wouldn¡¯t accept any answer but his.


    Unless I agreed with him, Jun would do everything he could to stop me¡­


    Well if he could. I was strong. A lot stronger than he probably thought.


    ¡°You don¡¯t think I can take care of myself.¡± I muttered aloud realization flashing through me.


    ¡°You are my little sister, you aren¡¯t going out to fight Maelstrom! It doesn¡¯t matter what jobs you¡¯ve done for Wakako. Or¡­ Anything else. You are not ready for that.¡±


    ¡°But you are?¡± I said the words without a thought. I knew what I would need to convince Jun, and there was only one way to reach it.


    ¡°Yes. I have experience you lack. Advantages you do not have. Stay in the apartment where it is safe. I will handle your revenge. The trash that took you. They will die.¡±


    ¡°Yeah they will. By me.¡± I told him instantly denying him his victory, but I was smiling. Jun was so sweet. Trying to keep his little sister safe, even willing to hunt down the Strom that hurt me.


    It was just too bad I was far from helpless.


    ¡°When we get to the dojo spar with me. If you beat me, I¡¯ll shut up and stay inside. For now.¡± I offered as I stared out onto the road. Just watching as these passed us by.


    I would have to prove to Jun that I wasn¡¯t just his kid sister anymore. It¡¯s just too bad I couldn¡¯t start off from stealth. It would make this a lot easier.


    Jun was quiet for a while as we pulled through a few dark alley ways to make sure no one was following before we traveled into the underground parking lot.


    ¡°You are injured. I will not hurt you.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine. And if you want to keep me from leaving. Then you are gonna have to.¡± I told him as we pulled into the spot. ¡°I¡¯ll meet you inside.¡± I said simply as I slipped out of the car ignoring him calling my name as I hurried inside then out the window to the Dojo.


    Inside it was just as active as it had been before, but I ignored that. Instead focusing on what was coming. Jun was probably going to beat my ass. I honestly don¡¯t even know if he had a sandy, or a reflex booster.


    But I was a gamer. If he beat me today, it would make me stronger for tomorrow. If he beat me tomorrow it would make me stronger for the next day.


    Jun was being an ass, so even if he won, I was still going to leave him with some bruises. I grabbed one of the Shinai off the racks along the edge of the room, nodding as it was in good condition.


    Jun was walking in then. Looking towards me and his perpetual grumpy frown was stronger than ever.


    But he seemed to realize I wasn¡¯t budging. He walked over across from me and grabbed his own Shinai. The katana on his hip was taken off and placed against the wall.


    Our actions seemed to get some attention as Sensei noticed the two of us preparing. He looked from me to Jun before nodding. Without a word he opened up the space in the dojo pulling off the other Tyger Claw borgs who were meditating, or doing Tai-chi under Sensei¡¯s instruction.


    Then once it was clear we both knew. Swordsman instinct maybe?


    Or just siblings knowing each others tells.


    We moved. Rushing towards the center without a word. Jun with his stupid long teenage boy arms was in range first, but Parry was in full effect.


    Jun wasn¡¯t overwhelmingly fast like Akari. But he was a lot stronger. My shinai easily caught his first strike, but actually deflecting it took a bit of effort. Then I was on the attack. He reacted instantly shifting into his own deflections as my Shinai became a blur of attacks, slashing stabbing, sliding against his blade to try and smash into his stupid face.


    My attacks took him off guard and instantly Jun was back pedaling as I pushed him. Despite his greater strength he was treating my shinai as an actual blade.


    Good he was taking this seriously.


    But as much as I pushed, nothing made it through. Jun was good. Then to my surprise Jun locked his blade with mine and in that moment he reached out and grabbed my dominant hand on my shinai.


    I noticed it. The shift in his balance. I had dealt with this exact situation again!


    I wasn¡¯t going to have my chest broken again!


    Jun''s kick was blocked when I just leapt into the air and landed both of my feet against his leg leaving me hanging in the air completely at his mercy.


    But at least he hadn¡¯t kicked me!


    Jun¡¯s grip on my fist hardened and then he threw me to the side launching me across the room.


    My instinctual reaction surprised me.


    I let go of the Shinai. A part of me reminding myself there were tons of them around the room to grab so instead his throw was turned into a tumble through the air, and then a few backflips as I hit the ground to create distance until I was at the wall.


    I nearly chuckled at Jun''s flabbergasted look, his dropped jaw was literally making this entire thing worth it.


    Hah! Bet you didn¡¯t know your little sister had athletics 5! I was at least a moderately good acrobat!


    But then I was done playing.


    I reached out and grabbed two Shinai.


    The first Blades Perk I had grabbed had been Ambidextrous. And my arms were now much much stronger than a normal girl my age.


    The feeling of my arms might not be perfect, but I was about to beat some big brother ass. I stomped back towards Jun doing a few flourishes with my Shinai to tell him that I wasn¡¯t playing at dual wielding. Then I was on him and Jun was once more back pedaling as I absolutely stormed into a series of attacks against him.


    My breath was still fairly even. Jun might have more chrome, but I was in better shape than my burrito loving brother.


    The sharp snapping of faux bamboo on faux bamboo echoed through the room, as with two Shinai I finally started slipping past Jun¡¯s defenses.


    My first blow slipped past and hit his shoulder, then another hitting his wrist, but it was all chrome, and he seemed to be growing really annoyed. I could see his eyebrows narrowing and his face turning into a scowl.


    He pushed me back and swung. I blocked but still ended up thrown off my feet at the blow as he put all of his strength into the swing.


    I rolled away and then jumped back to my feet, jumping right back at him.


    It quickly became obvious Jun had the strength to send me flying, but I was faster, and with two shinai, he was struggling to resist my flurry of blows.


    Once more Jun went for a grab, but I had literally taken a perk in grappling!


    His hand was grabbed as I discarded a shinai and then I was leaping my leg arcing over his bicep and suddenly my leg was wrapped around his neck. I tugged and unbalanced him, the two of us went tumbling as he dropped his shinai, with me so close it was easy to grab me. And then we were rolling on the ground, both of us grabbing at the other rolling and grunting as we grabbed, forcing the other to release and grab each other again.


    Jun pinching my thigh to make me release his neck earned him a fist grinding into his side that was still meat which made him flinch and break his grip on my other arm that he had been working into a pin, then I grabbed his ankle which was close by and twister, while it wasn¡¯t flesh anymore, it would still hurt, I then yelped as as he found a pressure point in my side which earned him a knee to his stomach for his troubles and then we were rolling around again I managed to mash his face into the mat with the palm of my hand before he flipped me onto my back and and arm wrapped around my throat.


    Considering how much I knew about choking someone out like that, I wasn¡¯t hard to elbow just below his armpit, weakening the grip, even with a chrome arm, as I kicked up and flipped under his arm my leg once again in place around his neck but then suddenly I was pulled off him with a yelp as someone grabbed the back of my shirt and just lifted me out of the pile.


    ¡°Oh hey Sensei.¡± I offered in greeting toward the very irritated man.


    ¡°Both of you come with me. Now!¡± he barked, making Jun twitch as much as I did as I was dropped back to my feet.


    We were put in time out.


    Like literal time out. Sensei set us down in a corner and made us meditate. Akari and some of the other Tyger Claws laughing on the sidelines at our sibling moment.

 Chapter 30

    ¡°You aren¡¯t leaving.¡± Jun said, the first words we had spoken since we had been put in time out. We had just finished walking into the apartment hours later after being forced to meditate on our mistakes.


    ¡°Not yet. But soon.¡± I told him as I flopped onto the couch before facing him.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t defeat me.¡± He grumbled from the door.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t defeat me either. The deal was if you beat me I would shut up and stay. Jun¡­ I know what I¡¯m trying to do is dangerous. I know it sounds crazy! I know. But I can do it. I can do this and come home every night. I have the skill.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t! You just got out of the hospital! You lost your memory!¡± Jun practically ranted as he waved his arms above his head.


    ¡°I¡¯ve killed more than twenty people. Scavs. Raffen. Maelstrom. Normal and Borgs.¡± I said practically punching him in the face with what I have done.


    ¡°You are my little sister! You don¡¯t have to kill anyone! I will do it for you! Stay here! Where it is safe, I¡¯ll¡­ I¡¯ll put you into a school! I can even do Arasaka Academy! You can go to school with Hiromi where it is safe! Where you don¡¯t have to stain your hands with blood! Where you don¡¯t have to worry about-¡±


    I stood up at his rant and pulled him into a strong hug. Burying my face into his chest as I held him tight.


    ¡°I love you too Jun.¡± I told him, cutting off whatever he was trying to desperately say. Then I pulled away so he could see me. ¡°But I like killing. I¡¯m not going to stop.¡± I watched as he tried to process that for a moment and as he opened his mouth I reached up and poked his lips. ¡°No. Listen.¡± I demanded as I stepped away and dragged him to the couch.


    I waited until he settled in as I sat on the little table so we could face each other.


    ¡°I really like killing, fighting. I like doing jobs. I like sneaking through a Valentino chopshop to steal information. I like going out as a bodyguard for a Nomad who ends up being a pretty cool guy. I liked when we got chased by Raffen. I liked grabbing my HMG and firing it watching big tough Raffen scream in terror as they get turned into a splatter in the desert. I loved that after, when they left me for dead. When I chased them through the desert, and snuck into their camp. I have never had more fun in my life! Then when I was slowly hunting them through their camp. I killed every man in the camp without any of them managing to call for help or even cry out. I loved when I had their leader at my mercy at the end and I stole his car. And then I shot him.¡±


    I was quiet at that, watching as Jun¡¯s eyes had widened massively as I spoke as I revealed just a bit of what I had been up to.


    ¡°How?¡± He finally asked quietly, looking a little shook. ¡°How did you do that? How did you survive? You were never that good with a Katana.¡±


    ¡°I learned.¡± I answered simply, it was true in a way. ¡°Killing someone is easy. The trick is just surviving long enough that you learn how to do it better. And a bit of luck.¡± I added with a casual shrug. ¡°I know you worry. I worry about you too¡­ but I can¡¯t stop you from going out there to hunt Maelstrom in revenge. Just like you can¡¯t stop me from doing the same.¡±


    I stared into his face as emotions roiled over him, his fists clenching over and over as he tried to fight back his own instincts.


    ¡°Come out with me.¡± I told him then, cutting off his inner battle with himself. ¡°Let me show you what I can do. That you don¡¯t have to be afraid. I want you to be part of my life Jun-Nii, and I want to be part of yours. But you¡¯ll have to let me go make my own mistakes. Or my own glory.¡±


    ¡°You can die!¡±


    ¡°I can also die walking down the street, or be gunned down in the middle of a gangwar while driving down the freeway. I¡¯m not gonna be safe if I hide Jun. But, at least I can have some safety if I prove I have the ability to kill any gonk stupid enough to try.¡± I kind of fluttered my legs a bit as I sat on the table wondering what else I could say.


    What else could I do to prove to Jun that I was able to walk in the same circles that he did. That just as he had done plenty of raids against Maelstrom, I could do that too.


    ¡°Tomorrow night.¡± He said finally quietly. ¡°Kamikaze are going to hit a few Maelstrom dens, If¡­ I will ask if they will allow you to come. If you¡­ If you prove to me you are capable after¡­ I¡¯ll¡­¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± I told him he didn¡¯t have to finish, he was struggling to let me go, which wasn¡¯t a surprise. Jun was pretty stubborn after all. So instead of any more tense conversations I pulled Jun into a big warm hug.


    Seriously gotta get that Real Skinn, Jun. Your arms are very unhuggable right now.


    ¡ª--


    Apparently the one in charge of the Kamikaze approved of me joining them for an outing, although from the way Jun phrased it, it was less that I could come, and more that they simply didn¡¯t care if I died trying.


    Jokes on them. I have no intention of dying. Not until I¡¯ve murdered every spider eyed asshole in this city. It was a shame. I liked spiders¡­.


    Wait! If I killed all of them, that means I could take their symbol for myself right? ¡°I¡¯ll become the Black Widow¡­ wait I¡¯m already Motoko.¡± I muttered to myself as I finished loading my Burya.


    My lovely perfect Burya that I was never going anywhere without¡­ That thought struck me and I realized I probably needed a shower gun now too¡­ I¡¯m sure I could put a carnage in there. That thing doesn¡¯t care if it gets rusty.


    I nodded at that. Shower Shotgun sounds perfect.


    Stupid Night city.


    I pulled her into my shoulder holster and stretched. It felt good to be back in my gear again. Even if the feel of the Lexington in my back holster wasn¡¯t quite the same as my Unity.


    I miss that gun.


    At least I still had my knife. I patted my hip where it rested. That thing had kept me alive in the pit. It was nice that one of the borgs in Kamikaze had grabbed it while looting.


    ¡°Motoko.¡±


    ¡°Jun-Nii. All set?¡± I asked as I turned to him, noticing the weird look on his face.


    ¡°Oh this is the first time Jun has seen my work clothes huh?¡± I asked him as I did a little pirouette that would make a ballerina nod at how good it was.


    Thank you Athletics.


    ¡°What are you wearing? Put a real jacket on and a shirt.¡± Then without waiting he turns and walks out.


    ¡°F-fuckin¡¯ jerk!¡± I yelled back at him utterly shocked at how instantly he had cut down my cute Motoko cospl-Outfit. My outfit!


    I chased after him, and it was only as I entered the main room of the apartment that I caught the slight smirk on his face.


    Oh! Jun was being an asshole big brother.


    Jerk!


    ¡°Idiot!¡± I yelled at him as I made a move to brush past him.


    His arm wrapping me up in a hug pulling me off my feet stopped that. Then with the casualness of a big brother he walked me back to the bedroom and plopped me on the bed.


    ¡°I have something for you.¡± He said after a moment as I glared at him for carrying me around. Just because he had stupid gorilla arms, and I wasn¡¯t heavy enough to stop him!


    It wasn¡¯t fair!


    ¡°What?¡± I demanded a little petulantly, which probably didn¡¯t help my case of trying to get Jun to trust me as a professional, but he was being stupid. So there.


    ¡°I want you to be safe.¡± He said simply as he headed into the closet in the bedroom, something I hadn¡¯t messed with.


    I honestly didn¡¯t think anything was actually in there.


    But there was, in fact. It was an armory.


    ¡°Ooh Goodies!¡± I chirped only to be denied instantly with an outstretched hand.


    ¡°My stuff. Don¡¯t touch.¡± He said in that exact older sibling voice that told me I had probably snuck into his stuff too many times to count.


    Yeah that¡¯s fair.


    I settled down as he went back in and pulled something out that I perked up at.


    ¡°It¡¯s my spare¡­ Please do not ruin it. They are expensive.¡± He tells me as he pulls out a fucking Katana.


    Oooh man. I was gonna weeb these Maelstroms to death¡­ wait that sounds wrong.


    I shook that stupid thought out as I stood up and took the Katana Jun was holding out for me. The same military style as the one he had. I popped it out of the sheath just an inch seeing the incredibly sharp blade before nodding. Luckily it had a belt on the sheath, so after a moment I had it wrapped around my hips.


    I was starting to have a few too many straps on me, Shoulder holster, rear holster and now sword belt.


    It¡¯s fine though.


    Cause it looked fuckin badass.


    ¡°Thanks Jun.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a thermal Katana like you wanted. The button is on the side. Don¡¯t cut off a limb, or burn yourself¡­ Or a building down. Better yet, just don¡¯t use it.¡± He said moving to take it away which I promptly slapped his hand and then he was mushing his hand into my face and I was kicking at his dumb stupid plastic abs.


    We finally broke away a few minutes later after Jun put me in a headlock, which I hip tossed him over my shoulder for daring and the loud thump as he almost crashed into the living room table startled us both.


    ¡°Truce.¡± I demanded, and Jun huffed a quiet laugh before he agreed as we split up and straightened up.


    Jun had mussed my hair. The jerk. After a quick stop in the bathroom to reorder my hair we both left the apartment down into the parking garage.


    There the rest of Kamikaze were already waiting. Although I noticed they weren¡¯t hanging around their own rides, or vehicles that looked like something the Tyger Claws would drive.


    Unmarked vans, and cars were idling waiting.


    Luckily we weren¡¯t the last to show up. ¡°Jun. Good, still waiting on a few stragglers.¡± The borg I had met in the Ripper doc said as Jun approached. This time the man wasn¡¯t heading into a ripper. He was armed and armored up.


    The flak jacket he wore was actually open showing off his chest, and holographic neon tattoos. I was pretty sure the jacket was less defense than the obvious subdermal armor meaning it was more for looks than utility.


    ¡°Hai. Fujimura-Sama.¡± Jun offered with a bow. Ah that was the Borg''s name. Right, the doctor said that as well.


    ¡°The girl will be your responsibility.¡± He added nodding to me, and Jun simply bowed lower in agreement.


    I nodded to Jun. I wasn¡¯t about to cause any problems. We all had Maelstrom to kill.


    The wait was mostly quiet, most of the Kamikaze were heavily borged, and none of them seemed sociable. Mostly they just hung around, checked their gear.


    Or stared into nothing.


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    Yeah. This was definitely the Psychos of the Tyger Claws.


    Dammit Jun. I wasn¡¯t going to let you fall prey to that.


    So we ended up settling in, Jun was driving another one of the inconspicuous cars and I was sitting in the back despite no one else in the car.


    ¡°Why do I have to sit back here? I called shotgun.¡± I grumbled at my brother who was starting to stare into nothing as time went by.


    So I was using sisterly petulance to distract him.


    ¡°Akari makes me drive. Don¡¯t bother her when she gets here.¡± Jun replied with a tired sigh.


    But it was emotion. It wasn¡¯t that coolness that took over his voice at times.


    ¡°Finally.¡± Akari suddenly uttered as she swung the passenger door open and flopped in. The woman looked more like a plastic robot than a human. She was even wearing a mask to hide away what little flesh there was left on her face. All bright red and white plastic, despite knowing it was actually as strong as steel it still made her look fragile. ¡°You¡¯re so slow Jun-kun, making me wait. Well let¡¯s go. Don¡¯t want to piss off Fujimura-Sama anymore than you already have.¡± She said as she leaned back arms behind her head.


    ¡°You are the one that is late, and the one Fujimura-Sama is angry with Akari¡­ Again.¡± He offered as he started driving out of the garage following a few of the other vehicles. Although once out on the street everyone began driving in different directions.


    Sneaky. If everyone had a different route there was less chance of a whole cavalcade being spotted.


    ¡°That¡¯s just what you like to believe, Jun.¡± Akari offered nodding her doll-like head before she turned around in her seat. ¡°How about that? You actually brought your little killer. Fujimura-Sama allowed that?¡±


    ¡°He did. Motoko is allowed to come today. As a test.¡±


    ¡°Hah! She doesn¡¯t have the chrome to join Kamikaze.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not really planning on joining. Jun just needs reassurance, I know how to fight.¡± I cut in. I wanted to make sure these crazy psychos didn¡¯t think I was one of them. That would be terrible if they thought I was as crazy as them!


    I was just here to murder people.


    ¡°Oh she just needs to reassure her Oniiiii-chaaan.¡± Akari teased as she looked to Jun. ¡°Despite getting his butt whooped?¡±


    ¡°She did not whoop my butt.¡± Jun muttered, but I wasn¡¯t going to pick a fight right now.


    So I let it pass even as Akari continued teasing Jun.


    I looked out the window instead, watching the city go by. My hands slowly opened and closed as I warmed up my joints. I was really looking forward to killing some Strom tonight, ripping them apart, and getting just an ounce of the payment they owed me back.


    The drive didn¡¯t take very long. Slowly we pulled into a garage, parking deep into the structure that already had a few of the other Kamikaze¡¯s vehicles parked and empty. I followed Jun as he followed Akari who led us around the structure, Akari was quiet and focused for once, Jun and I followed her lead. Although I wasn¡¯t going cool, I let my footsteps quiet until they practically disappeared.


    The parking garage connected to some sort of office building, or maybe they were apartments. It was hard to tell, I felt like the building changed its zoning with every few steps. Eventually we were let into a room on the north side of the building that was on the second floor. There a few of the Kamikaze were preparing. Armoring and fitting weapons into holsters as they prepared.


    I followed Jun as he seemed to lead me to the window and point out. I peeked out and there wasn¡¯t much to see, another building right next to us, and a dirty alley below.


    ¡°The place down the alleyway is a Strom armory. Hauling loot they collected from raids there. We are here to clear them out and hold the place down long enough for everything to be taken back.¡± Jun explained to me quietly as I looked down the alley. It was¡­ Well it was an old shop. Whatever it had once been was long gone, the place looked busted up. The Strom probably hadn¡¯t asked to take over the store.


    But if that was an armory?


    Motoko like.


    ¡°Numbers?¡± I asked and Jun just shrugged which had me puff out a bit of air in irritation. Planning an assault without knowing the numbers they would be facing?


    Psychos. Of the non-Cyber variety.


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter.¡± Akari said as she walked up her plastic face expressionless as her voice as she looked out the window with her glowing eyes. ¡°We will kill them. That¡¯s our job. Don¡¯t get in our way, little killer.¡± She said a sinister threat in her voice at the end.


    I noticed Jun straightening and moving to stand between us.


    How sweet.


    But unnecessary. ¡°I won¡¯t.¡± I offered simply turning back to the window for a second. ¡°We have anyone breaching their security already?¡±


    ¡°We do. Stay out of it. I don¡¯t want a kid getting in my way of the dive.¡± A voice full of static called out, and one of the Kamikaze, one who I hadn¡¯t seen much of or spoken to yet said. The man was just as borged out as all of them, but he was also I noticed, hooked into a few pieces of tech. It took me a few seconds of scanning to realize.


    It was all refrigeration units. The borg had a portable ice bath for when he dived into the net.


    ¡°Understood.¡± I agreed. Everyone was so snappy. But I guess that was just part of working with people one step into Cyber Psychosis.


    ¡°We have movement.¡± Akari called out suddenly and everyone turned towards the window to peek.


    Cyberpsycho or not everyone was curious. We all watched a big box truck pull up, drivers window down with a Maelstrom smoking up a storm as he backed up to the front of the store.


    ¡°Good timing.¡± A man''s voice called out through the room grabbing everyone''s attention. Fujimura the Borg was there.


    ¡°Fujimura-Sama.¡± A few greetings came out from the group, Jun included. But most were quiet, lost in their own little worlds.


    ¡°Kamikaze! We strike now before they can unload the truck. Tomaru make sure the driver can¡¯t escape. The rest of you. Strike!¡± He roared as he charged straight forward making me jerk and jump to the side along with Jun and Akari as he jumped straight through the window we had been looking out of.


    A moment later most of the group was gone. Some moving at incredible speeds, others simply bloodthirsty ready to fight.


    Jun gave me a single look ensuring I was alright, ¡°Stay behind us.¡± Before he followed out the window.


    Then I was left in the room alone with the netrunner who was probably the furthest from me, if you counted awareness.


    ¡°You dicks. We are on the second floor!¡± I cursed at them as I stuck my head out the now broken window, the sound of gunfire and screams already starting up.


    It took me half a second to find a way down and I backed up before leaping out. Parkour made the jump a fearless move. I leapt across to the opposite side of the alley, a fire escape easily grabbed onto and then in a few seconds I was dropping down catching the escape and then dropping to the floor.


    Then I was chasing after. The end of the alley faced the shop the Maelstrom had taken, and I could see gunfire and death coming from within.


    The driver of the truck slumped over the wheel, a hole through the windshield. I ignored him and instead rushed forward into the now even more broken front window as gunfire came out in sharp notes from within. I slipped inside, feeling cool flow over me. My Kiroshi easily pierced the darkness and gave me sight inside.


    The Kamikaze had definitely surprised the Maelstrom, but this place was well defended. A turret was rotating around from the back of the store, the HMG placed inside it having shattered the Kamikaze assault as everyone had jumped into cover.


    I sighed this is why you found out the numbers before you rushed in.


    Thankfully a moment later as I was running through ways to break the damn thing I was surprised.


    Akari disappeared from where she had been zipping forward the HMG firing at her avoided by simply not being where the bullets landed as she surged forward and then her blade cut through the HMG ending its threat.


    The Maelstrom cursed at their now destroyed defense as weapons fire burst out towards Akari who was now much slower as she ducked and dodged trying to break line of sight.


    The Kamikaze moved in response. Fujimura was first. The massive borg rushed forward smashing through a wall to take two Maelstrom by surprise as he began beating them to a pulp by smashing them together.


    Jun was there I noticed, his blade cutting out and leaving blood trails as he passed.


    The others were moving as well.


    I blinked before I realized it.


    They were stealing my XP!


    ¡°Fuck.¡± I cursed as I jumped up Burya quickdrawn in an instant as my baby¡¯s retort echoed through the room. My Kiroshi had a Maelstrom highlighted through a wall. The guy had a nasty looking LMG that he was firing non stop filling the room with lead.


    Aiming at Jun.


    I fired once. Missed. Then twice. Then again, and again. I was already reloading even as my last round burst a hole through the wall.


    My new arms and Recoil Reduction meant I wasn¡¯t even in pain. Sure it almost pushed me back a step with each shot, but Recoil Reduction already taught me exactly how to handle that.


    *500 XP Gained.*


    I frowned. The one I had targeted through the wall had only been a weakling? I jerked back just in time, catching a Borg rise up with a shotgun pointed at me, breaking the terrible concrete I was hiding behind into powder.


    A Burya makes a fair bit of noise. I guess even with Kamikaze rushing in, I had got some attention.


    I finished reloading, my eyes already highlighted the gonk that had shot at me, and I was about to shoot when I stopped.


    Jun was there, cutting the guy in half. Then again. And again.


    Oh. Jun was maaad.


    Stupid though. I jumped up and aimed. The Maelstrom gonk that was aiming at my very angry idiot brother. A shot from my Burya ended the threat, even if it wasn¡¯t a great shot. I had been aiming for his chest, and instead hit him in the pelvis he dropped with a cry as his legs stopped working.


    Another round into his prone body was all I needed.


    *500 XP Gained.*


    I looked around for another target, but everyone was dying, or dead. I tsked as I reloaded my Burya slowly as I slipped into the building. Keeping an eye out for any movement as I started checking the dead as I walked up closer and closer to Jun who was glaring furiously at the very dead lump of flesh that was the Maelstrom idiot that shot at me.


    ¡°Jun, you with me?¡± I asked as I stepped closer to him, my Burya still ready to fire in case of any surprises.


    ¡°I never left!¡± He snapped a bit but with a deep breath he swished his blade to clear it of blood and sheathed it.


    ¡°Preem.¡± I offered calmly, no point poking Jun when he was being prickly. My loot senses were immediately active though. I made my way through the area clearing all the corpses and checking in the side rooms and bathrooms just to make sure.


    Thankfully the store was clear, while Kamikaze went to work recovering. One of the other borgs, a guy I hadn¡¯t spoken with, that carried around an Ajax, had been hit. A trail of white blood ran down his side.


    Looks like would survive but he would need a trip to a ripper.


    But I just poked around. The back of the shop was definitely an armory, plenty of weapons and equipment was laying around. My fingers wiggled. One of the first times since I got these new arms I felt fully in tune with my chrome.


    They wouldn¡¯t notice if a few pieces went into my pockets¡­ I giggled a little as I reached out to grab a nice looking Nekomata Sniper rifle, something I didn¡¯t have in my arsenal as of yet. When the front door banged open. I jerked away like a kid caught with her hand in a cookie jar as I looked behind me and noticed a lot of Tyger Claw members, saunter in.


    I sighed as they instantly went to the gear and started loading everything up into a few trucks that had pulled up. The Maelstrom Truck was already on its way down the street as someone had jumped in, pushed the dead driver out and started it up.


    ¡°C¡¯mon Motoko. We are just keeping an eye out while everything is cleared out.¡± Jun said as he walked up to me, as he noticed me looking around wondering what to do.


    ¡°Ah sure sure.¡± I muttered a little irritated. This wasn¡¯t very fun. Sure I got to flatline two gonks, but I barely got any XP, and it was already over.


    Killing the Raffen had been more fun, even if murdering the Maelstrom warmed a little part of me that wanted to genocide the entire group.


    ¡°You got two huh?¡± Akari asked as she suddenly approached her voice still holding that sinister coldness of someone not fully there.


    ¡°Only two.¡± I confirmed, irritated. ¡°I¡¯m not used to working with a group like this, I was a little too slow.¡± I added grumbling as I berated myself while looking at all the corpses.


    So much missed XP!


    ¡°Heh, there¡¯s always more.¡± She offered her voice almost musical despite being electronic. The sense of bloodlust was intense.


    ¡°Stop fucking around. Eyes out.¡± A rolling gravel voice interrupted Akari¡¯s teasing as she stilled and pulled away from me to do just that.


    Fujimura. The borg ¡®leader¡¯ of Kamikaze was glaring towards me. But well. It wasn¡¯t focused on me. Just in general.


    I did as he suggested mostly because I could see how short the guy''s fuse was. I followed Jun outside and we took in the empty street. The gunfire had done well to make sure everyone got away.


    ¡°Be more careful.¡± Jun demanded of me a moment after earning a blink as the non-sequitur threw me for a loop.


    ¡°I was fine. Nothing even got close to hitting me.¡±


    ¡°You almost got shot.¡± He retorted instantly his body tense. Anxiety coloring his voice and body, he was practically pacing unable to stop moving. ¡°I don¡¯t want you doing this. You don¡¯t have enough chrome, or enough armor. After this go back to the apartment. And hunker down. We can find something for you to do when I get home. I¡¯m-¡±


    ¡°No.¡± I cut in immediately turning to look up into his face. He was wearing an Oni mask around his jaw. The sharp hungry grin didn¡¯t intimidate me though. ¡°I already told you Jun. I¡¯m not just gonna sit at home.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want you to just sit at home! But this is dangerous!¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± I agree. I looked away from Jun trying to keep my irritation at bay. I didn¡¯t want to turn this into a fight. I knew Jun was trying to protect me, trying to be the big brother, the parent really. That he wanted to be.


    But right now it was annoying.


    I gathered myself back up idly stroking a thumb up along my chromed palm of my other hand. The irritation of everything was hitting me. Making it hard to keep my own cool. I took a breath and activated Cold Blood. Letting my emotions freeze. Letting my mind attack the problem.


    I didn¡¯t get far. I turned back to Jun. He was not quite pacing, but obviously trying to figure out something to say to me, but it was the Kamikaze Netrunner whose name I still didn¡¯t know that broke in. Calling all of us instantly.


    ¡°Maelstrom assault incoming. We need to move.¡± The call buzzed in and then ended. Instantly the Tyger Claws started running, quickly grabbing whatever they had on hand and disappearing it into the trucks, as they started driving off.


    ¡°Let¡¯s move.¡± Fujimura called out and instantly the Kamikaze started moving back through the alley.


    ¡°Wait, that''s it?¡± I asked Jun as I jogged to keep up with him as he followed.


    ¡°Yeah. The Maelstrom assault will be more than we can handle so we fade away. It¡¯s part of the plan. We poke them like this, steal what we can weaken and kill and fade away when they try to retaliate. Now that we have confirmation one of their big forces is coming here to wipe us out, another group will smash another location.¡± He turned to look at me as we all reached a back door to the apartment complex we had first arrived in.


    Fujimura had already smashed the door open. ¡°C¡¯mon we need to leave before the Maelstrom arrive.¡± Jun said as I started lagging behind.


    ¡°No. You go.¡± I told him an idea forming in my mind. A terrible perfect idea. My smile must have looked quite bloody as I pushed Jun through the door. ¡°Go on Jun. I¡¯ll be okay.¡± I tell him and I manage two steps before a pair of hands grabbed both of my biceps, pinned my arms to my sides and lifted me up.


    ¡°No. We¡¯re leaving.¡± Jun said with a growl as he quickly hooked me under his arm and jogged back into the building.


    ¡°Jun-Nii. You are really killing my murder boner right now.¡± I told him, purposefully making the situation as uncomfortable as I could in protest. But he ignored me, despite Akari chuckling in her synthetic voice as she followed along. We made it to the car and I allowed Jun to stuff me in the back seat without too much protest as we peeled out, following the last of the Kamikaze vehicles.


    ¡°I¡¯m submitting an official complaint.¡± I told him after he had slowed down and joined normal traffic.


    ¡°Denied.¡± He retorted instantly.


    ¡°Murder Blocking me is rude.¡± I growled at him from the back seat as I pouted. I had wanted to sneak into one of the Maelstrom trucks and let them lead me to their base, then I would murder everyone!


    ¡°Know your limits!¡± He snapped Jun losing his temper as I could hear the steering wheel in his hands creek. ¡°Are you trying to get yourself killed? Are you trying to die?¡±


    ¡°I would have been fine.¡± I countered with every ounce of irritation leaking out only for Jun to bark out a laugh.


    ¡°Next time don¡¯t try to attack a full on Maelstrom Counter hit squad, and I might believe you!¡±


    I didn¡¯t argue again as Jun drove us back.


    It¡¯s fine. It just meant I really couldn¡¯t stick with Jun to go murder anyone.


    I would just have to go on my own!

 Chapter 31

    We stopped at the garage and as I grumpily made my way out of the car Jun grabbed me stopping me from stomping off to the apartment.


    ¡°Stop being grumpy. You¡¯re like a cat. C¡¯mon, after action meeting.¡± He told me as he waited for me to stop resisting before I sighed and followed after.


    ¡°Fine.¡± I grump at him, but followed after as we went out the window to the Dojo.


    We headed straight downstairs from the side entrance and into the server room, there arrayed around the TV on old couches Kamikaze were waiting as Fujimura stood in front of the TV looming over the gathering.


    Unfortunately there was no more space on the couches so Jun and I waited behind, while Akari just slipped into the lap of one of the borgs.


    Not that it seemed to be welcome as he grumbled and tried to shove her off only to earn a sharp foot curling up and nearly skewering his throat. The two of them fought for a moment. A bladed foot, and a chromed out hand practically sparking off eachother, before Fujimura growled a low noise that seemed to vibrate the room and cut out the attempted homicide.


    ¡°Failure. We took a wound from a basic op. I¡¯m disappointed.¡± He said and I realized he was basically giving us a score on how well we had all done.


    Rude. He was the one in charge. If we failed, it was his fault¡­ If they failed. I wasn¡¯t really a part of this. Why was I even here?


    ¡°He¡¯ll live! It was just a 9mm, went under his subdermals. Doc is already checking him out.¡± Akari called out but was silenced with a look.


    ¡°We are the Kamikaze, we shouldn¡¯t be taking wounds from chaff. I expect all of you to receive a session with Ozeki Sensei.¡± He demanded and all the hardened killers and murders, the somewhat emotionless borgs all groaned.


    ¡°Kusanagi! You got distracted. If you can¡¯t keep your focus, put down your mask.¡± He demanded suddenly singling out¡­ Jun. Thankfully. As he was staring at Jun and not me.


    ¡°I will not fail again Fujimura-Sama.¡±


    ¡°Your sister fighting beside you had better not distract you again. Girl. You killed two with that hand cannon of yours. You should have killed at least three.¡±


    ¡°Yeah I know. I¡¯m super annoyed! I only killed two you know? I was gonna stay behind and murder some of their reinforcements too, but Jun pulled me away.¡±


    ¡°A common Maelstrom assault group is more than forty borgs girl.¡±


    ¡°Really?! So many? Aww man¡­ Now I¡¯m really disappointed.¡± I grumbled as I purposefully turned away from Jun. So much XP! Ruined! Seriously I could have just snuck into their cars while they were distracted, then they would take me back to their headquarters. I would just slowly ghost them one by one, until they were all dead! It would have worked!


    I mean sure, so many could make it hard¡­ But I could do it!


    The room was silent for a while as I grumbled staring at the wall before Fujimura finally seemed to continue.


    ¡°Right. We will have another job tomorrow. Prepare.¡± He demanded and then stomped out of the room.


    ¡°Ack!¡± I cried out instantly as Jun grabbed the top of my head with his stupid chrome hand.


    ¡°You aren¡¯t going to fight forty borgs!¡± He hissed as he pushed me out of the room back towards the apartment.


    Shows what he knows.


    ¡ª--


    I wasn¡¯t tired. Honestly I didn¡¯t even feel the need to sleep, normally I would have just grabbed some tech and started working.


    But I wanted blood.


    Jun had gone to sleep and I went ahead and napped for an hour. Which is the reason Jun had no idea that I had gotten up afterwards and suited back up.


    I left.


    I loved Jun cause he was such a dumb older brother, but I wasn¡¯t going to live my life his way. I couldn¡¯t.


    So I slipped out of the apartment, out onto the street and then headed a few blocks away to get out from the jammer, and to make sure what I did next wouldn¡¯t lead back to the Dojo.


    I called my car.


    It was something that still took me by surprise. Self driving cars were still kinda wild. I waited for about ten minutes for my Quadra to turn the corner and stop in front of me, with a beep of its horn letting me know it had arrived.


    I slipped into the driver''s seat with a grin.


    I was only 250 XP away from a level up. My foot touched the gas pedal and I was off. Driving into the city actually feeling alone for the first time in almost a week. I felt free. No Tyger Claws hovering around, no Jun almost smothering me in protectiveness.


    I was actually relieved to just be away.


    I drove north. Up into Watson. Towards Maelstrom turf. I had no idea where I could find them, but I bet just driving around would find me a few targets to prey upon. The city was in an active war right now.


    Unfortunately for the first long while, I didn¡¯t find much. The streets were quiet, broken only by gunshots blocks away that by the time I came anywhere near, I couldn¡¯t find the source.


    Annoying to say the least.


    I drove around. Only finding the tail ends of skirmishes. I guess even in a gang war there wasn¡¯t constant mass fighting going on.


    Shame.


    The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    Finally though, action found me. I turned a corner only to come across a road block. Three cars on fire and burning as a squad of Maelstrom gonks hung around them guns out.


    I only had a second to react, because the goons were already raising their guns.


    Cool dropped over me. Everything became clear.


    I hit the accelerator. The fact I turned their little trap immediately back on them is why I didn¡¯t get absolutely destroyed, and why some of them jumped out of the way instead of shooting up my ride.


    Not that they didn¡¯t try. A few bullets ricocheted off my Quadra¡¯s armor.


    So I accelerated towards the road block, the four sets of spider optics all reacting in different ways.


    I flipped the steering wheel at the last second. My Quadra¡¯s back end slipped out at the sudden adjustment, as the car spun.


    A loud *Thunk thunk* echoing out from behind me, as my wheels ran over a prone maelstrom gonk who had thought jumping away from where I had been aiming would save him.


    Then my driver''s door opened with a flip of the handle, and before the car had even come to a complete stop I was stepping out.


    Burya already raised and aiming. My Kiroshi kept track of all of them.


    The thunderous retort of my handcannon smashed into the first Borg, the fucker that had started shooting at my car with his Lexington in a spray of bullets. I was lucky, despite my Quick draw aim being off, the second of adjustment I had to make as I stepped out of the Quadra let me adjust.


    My one bullet did the trick.


    I turned to the next one. And again my Burya barked into the night and the screams of Maelstrom being sent straight to their digital gods cut out.


    Of course my assault wasn¡¯t perfect. I hadn¡¯t exactly expected a road block ambush. I winced as a round from one of the goons on the other side of the barrier slammed into my chest. His panicked fire wasn¡¯t accurate, but it was unfortunately painful.


    The SMG skittered bullets across the pavement as I moved, rushing him. I could feel another round pound into my chest, but I ignored it. Even if it knocked the air out of me, I could still move.


    I slid over the back of one of the burning cars and then I was right next to him. His red eyes were unable to widen in terror, but I could see the look on his face.


    It warmed my frozen heart for a moment.


    Then my Katana blurred a superheated red line through the darkness.


    And his arms fell with a splat onto the ground. White blood splashing over my boots.


    ¡°Fuuuck!¡± he screamed, falling to the ground and rolling around after I disarmed him. Instinctually he screamed curses at the pain as I watched on.


    I took a moment to catch my breath, each gasp was coming out a little painfully. I checked my side and winced as I pulled out a bullet from the side of my leotard.


    At least the armor was working. Still hurt though. Felt like I had gotten punched in the ribs. The armless gonk was still screaming which was annoying though. I walked over and without a word smashed my boot into his side. Katana held point down towards his stupid throat.


    His screams turned into, wheezing cries of pain but that was all I needed. ¡°You are only alive because I need something from you. You want to stay alive? Answer my question. Where can I find the Spider Ripper doc?¡±


    The Maelstrom gonk was still whining in pain but he seemed to hear me.


    ¡°Fuck you!¡± He finally said, as he tried to spit at me.


    His head rolled away a moment later.


    ¡°Should have left two of them alive. That way I can kill one in front of the other and get my answers.¡± I muttered to myself as I sheathed the Katana.


    I like Katana. Katana is good.


    I sighed, rubbing my ribs, bullets hurt. Stupid Maelstrom. Looking around at the dead bodies and the burned out wrecks, I realized I should probably do something. Normally I would call the NCPD, but that wasn¡¯t really¡­ a thing right now.


    So instead I got looting. Checking the bodies, grabbing weapons and throwing them in the trunk of my Quadra before dragging the bodies off the street. With the Quadra I nudged the burning wrecks out of the road opening it back up.


    Satisfied I jumped back into my ride and floored it through the former roadblock.


    All the while I smiled. I had leveled up!


    *500 XP Gained.*


    *500 XP Gained.*


    *500 XP Gained.*


    *500 XP Gained.*


    *Level up achieved!*


    *One Stat Point Gained.*


    *One Skill Point Gained.*


    Level 6! I had also leveled up driving and Handguns!


    *Driving skill level up!*


    *1 Perk Point Gained.*


    *Handguns skill level up!*


    *1 Perk Point Gained.*


    With my awesome driving attack I had hit Driving 5, and Handguns 5. Two perks!


    Both were easy picks.


    Since I was driving a high end car I wanted something to make sure I could handle it as best as I could when I needed to really move.


    Plus I just thought it was cool.


    Drifting: Never spill a drop of Tofu water. You have a prescient knowledge of how to go into, and pull out of a drift.


    The second perk was just as easy. Considering I now knew some perks could carry over to other weapons and guns, a perk I had considered okay was now super needed.


    Rapid Reload: Never drop a mag, or fumble a reload. Reloading your gun will never slow down your rate of fire.


    That would work for all of my guns.


    I shook the instincts and muscle memory out of my head for a moment after I picked both back to back.


    I was ready to continue my hunt.


    Now if only my arms weren¡¯t so¡­ Weird. My eyes wandered to adaptation¡­


    Not yet. I could fight like this, and I didn¡¯t know what adaptation would do. Best to try new things when I am at home safe.


    So I simply kept going. This was opening up to be a good night!


    ¡ª--


    This was not a good night fuckers, dented my car!


    I had found more Maelstrom.


    Or rather they had found me. Again. I think driving a jet black Quadra wasn¡¯t a good idea for stealth.


    I had stopped at a light. Driving safe was important after all. When a van full of Maelstrom had turned a corner ahead veering left and right down the road, van doors opened and the gonks cheering and roaring as they smashed cars and anything they could reach with pipes or tire irons.


    They were driving on the wrong side of the road aiming straight for me.


    I realized it just in time to flip my Quadra into reverse and hit the gas, just managing to turn the car so the van didn¡¯t hit me full on. Instead they scraped past my Quadra before stopping not far away. A bunch of the gonks jumping out brandishing melee weapons, or hand guns.


    I growled even as Cool flowed over me. Angry, very angry, but a cold furious rage.


    Those fuckers dented my car!


    So as the Maelstrom fucks approached, I did something they probably weren¡¯t expecting. I hit the gas straight at them.


    They never seemed to expect the aggressive acceleration.


    The first Gonk was smashed into my hood, his stupid red eyes looking up at me in horror as I drove him down the street. He was hanging on for dear life trying to stay on as I accelerated much faster than he probably expected.


    I drove for a moment longer, long enough for the Maelstroms gunfire behind me to fall silent before I opened my driver''s door. Burya peeked out to say hello. The poor gonks face stilled in terror as he came face to face with my hand cannon.


    I was really thankful that the Quadra didn¡¯t have a windshield, but instead an armored chassis and a digital screen, because the blood splatter would have taken minutes to get rid of with windshield wipers.


    *500 XP Gained.*


    I looked back, the other Maelstrom had rushed to their van and were chasing me.


    I hummed a little as I hit the accelerator. My hands danced over the steering wheel, as I took a turn in a drift. I looked into my rear view mirror expecting to see them chasing me, Only to realize a problem.


    They were fucking slow.


    Just that drift, and my acceleration alone meant they were already losing me.


    I couldn¡¯t accept that.


    These fuckers had tried to kill me! They had scratched and dented my car! I just spent thousand of eddies fixing that! And killing people was my job!


    These gonks were so slow. I accelerated again. Drifting into an alley between two parked cars I raced to the next street, and then took a left, and another left.


    I slowed down around the next corner. Lights off. Turning down the street and seeing the stupid Maelstrom Van slow rolling past the alley I had raced down. But they realized I had lost them. I grinned as I turned the engine off, and slipped into a parking space. Waiting as I watched the gonks pile out of the van to pick up their poor friend off the road. Eventually they grabbed him and dragged him into the van, a trail of blood running across the blacktop.


    Once they all piled in, they started driving off.


    I started up my engine keeping the lights off and did the same.


    That¡¯s right, you gonks. Lead me to some more XP.

 Chapter 32

    Did you know following someone is actually a lot harder than you might think?


    Get too far away and they could turn a corner and I might lose sight of them, stay too close and they might notice the rumble of my engine behind them. I got really lucky. I didn¡¯t have any specific skill set helping here, but Driving and Ninjutsu came together to make sure I managed to keep on them through the streets of Night City.


    All the way to their little lot, tucked away between industrial parks. I made sure to park and disappear as I watched them turn in, wait for the gate to open and then finish driving inside.


    ¡°Perfect.¡± I practically growled hands reflexively clenching at the slaughter that I was now eagerly looking forward to. I reached over to the bag of guns that was still sitting on my passenger seat and opened it up, only to frown.


    All of it looked nice, sure, but I still learned my lesson from the Kamikaze. If I went in loud I might not walk out.


    I took a deep breath and patted my poor Carnage and Tactician, I kept collecting shotguns, and not really using them.


    I would have to figure out something to do with them soon.


    But instead I secured the Katana on my hip once more, and made sure my Burya was loaded and ready, with plenty of ammo in my thigh pockets, along with my medical pouches.


    Then I disappeared into the night. The entire area was poorly lit, old industrial parks and massive empty structures. I dashed down the sidewalk, my feet not making a single noise as I crept up to the gate the van had disappeared into. Peaking my head inside, I instantly jerked back.


    The gate led to a small lot area with two buildings on each side, the one to the left was unconnected to the main structure, looking more like an office attachment. Then there was the main structure, which had a rolling garage door that was closing. There were guards, but like I expected the Maelstrom weren¡¯t so much looking around as just lazing around the area. One was on the ground floor, back against the office building sitting in a broken old lawn chair, a little TV on a stand in front of him that he was watching.


    But there were cameras. And I had noticed someone standing on top of the garage as well, turning and walking away from the courtyard. Probably having checked on the Van coming in before disappearing back over the roof..


    I peeked twice more, thankfully the streets weren¡¯t well lit out here, so I was able to scope out a few of the cameras. A quick scan using my Kiroshi told me everything I needed to know.


    They were definitely connected to a secure system.


    If I tried to breach them they would definitely signal an intrusion because even with a glance I could see they were more secure than I would normally attribute to Maelstrom. Luckily Ping was still safe to use. My eyes flashed as I peeked out and Pinged the camera hanging over the actual entrance door to the garage.


    A moment later the Quick Hack went through and My vision even through the wall suddenly had a golden line showing me where to go.


    I still loved seeing the wi-fi connections between all the systems. Although this time I was impressed. They definitely had an actual netrunner running things, because my Ping, only had a single connection point.


    According to all the knowledge I had gained on Netrunning, that meant the system was secured. Each Camera might have a single hub system, but each spoke was cut off meaning I couldn¡¯t just see every camera or security system on the system. I would have to breach the hub to be able to do that.


    Unfortunately the line led inside, which means I would have to sneak in with the cameras still active and take it out and the Netrunner without sounding an alarm.


    I pulled up my stat screen for a moment. I did have a stat and skill point¡­


    It was just one more point¡­ I could always start saving for the adaptation right after¡­ Plus I might even get enough kills¡­


    My finger aimed to hit the button, even if it was all virtual but I did like the feeling of actually pushing the buttons, but I stalled.


    No. I could do this. I needed to experiment with Adaptation when I got home. The foreign feeling of my new arms made this an absolute priority.


    Even if it would put my Cool all the way to nine¡­ Such a big number¡­


    I shook it away. I could still level Ninjutsu without spending a point right now.


    Time to work for it. So I shook the idea out of my head and decided to find a way in. There wasn¡¯t anything on this side of the gate, so I backed up a bit and did a fun little acrobatic somersault. I tumbled forward and then back to my feet on the other side of the gate. So fast and in the dark I knew the gonk watching TV couldn¡¯t have seen me.


    I smiled as I got an athletics alert, but I immediately started moving silently again. Time to sneak through this Maelstrom base.


    I paced around the outside of the lot. The concrete wall surrounding the place was topped by barbed wire but after searching around I found an alley on the back side that had another gate leading from it, and from here, I was in even greater shadow. With it I could scope out the layout including keeping an eye for the guy on the roof.


    After a minute of peeking and checking out the layout, I realized I was gonna have to kill the guy on the roof If I was going to get in. He had moved away from the edge, but with a bit of effort and pulling myself up on the concrete wall carefully avoiding the wire and peeking over I had spotted him.


    He was camped in a little structure they had set up on the roof. I could faintly hear a TV going from up there as well, so both guards were distracted.


    The easiest way to get up there was from the concrete wall which only had a small gap to the roof, but the barbed wire was in the way. I couldn¡¯t exactly walk through that, it would slice me to ribbons¡­ Or just knock me down like it did in the game¡­


    No wait. This wasn¡¯t a game! I rolled my eyes because bonking my head might make noise, and it would definitely be motion which was anathema to stealth. Stillness is sightless. I slipped past the rear gate towards the back corner of the property. The darkest quietest section.


    It was also well hidden from any of the cameras.


    With a grin I pulled out my Katana. The blazing hot edge glowing in the darkness.


    I held it up and slowly cut through the razor wire. The heat slowly melted through the strand, and after a minute I had sliced two cuts into the wire. Then came the hard part, slowly before the wire could fall and make a racket I turned off the heat blade and used the sword to slowly gather up the small section of the wire I had cut, then mostly thanks to the strength in my new arms I lifted it off the wall and slowly let it fall to the ground outside the complex.


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    I breathed a sigh of relief when I was done, sheathing my Katana and stretching my back because that had been pretty rough on my shoulder muscles. The tension in between my shoulder blades felt horrible. I roled my shoulders, but that didn¡¯t do anything, not like it used to, they weren¡¯t even attached to the muscles in the same way. The tension simply sat there like a rock.


    I could feel my fingers practically twitching as I felt muscles try to contract and shift try to adjust against unyielding chrome.


    I shook it away, deep breath in and out. I now had a way in. Focus on the mission.


    I quickly jumped the fence, Parkour making the whole thing childs play as I then basically stepped onto the roof of the garage. My trusty knife was pulled free as I lowered myself to the ground and almost crawled up to the little hidden structure.


    It was a couple pieces of garbage nailed together resting on an AC unit. The whole thing was just wide enough for him to sit inside on a chair with a little TV and a table.


    Luckily he was distracted by the TV. I scanned him first, making sure he wasn¡¯t protected with Subdermal armor.


    I was starting to hate running into cheaters who used subdermal armor!


    He wasn¡¯t. At least not everywhere. Knife went in and out, and his TV got sprayed with arterial blood but it was quiet. I made sure he slumped over in his chair. No one would ever notice.


    *750 XP Gained.*


    I blinked. That was weird, I almost never got that XP. It was usually only 500, or 1000. Why was this guy an odd number? Maybe it was the partial armor? He would be tougher than a normal gonk on the street, even if his subdermal wasn¡¯t a full covering.


    But as I started looking around I noticed it.


    ¡°Ah.¡± I whispered breathlessly. I reached out and took the rifle that was resting against the ¡®door¡¯ of the hide.


    A Nekomata! The moment I touched her I knew she was loaded and ready, practically purring to be used. I had missed my opportunity earlier, but not again! But I shook my head. Too loud.


    ¡°Next time.¡± I whispered silently against her barrel as I held a toy that I was going to have so much fun with. A sniper rifle!


    Oh man I was gonna get so many head shots!


    But that was later. I set the Nekomata down where I could collect it later and started exploring. This guy wouldn¡¯t be up here without a way down, and I found it. There was a door on the roof, that was a staircase access.


    It was unlocked and I slipped in.


    The noise inside was louder, heavy metal that the Maelstrom were rocking out to, and the general noise of people. I slipped down the stairway slowly. Making sure to check every corner. I had to be very very careful of cameras.


    The stairs led to a second floor room that was overlooking the garage area, where most of the gonks were hanging around. I could hear a few curses, and raised voices from there. But that wasn¡¯t my goal. I was following the golden light.


    The first room I came to was a break room. Couches around an entertainment station, food and drinks, an old microwave.


    Everything a gang would need to keep their people going. It wasn¡¯t empty. A Maelstrom gonk was grumbling as he ripped apart some food packaging to put in the microwave.


    I checked for cameras and since it was clear I moved in. This guy had better Subdermals. At least he did around his neck.


    There was a serious problem with borgs. You never knew if they had a second heart or something.


    Thankfully I had a way around it. My katana was drawn without a noise. The thermal blade heated up instantly to a withering temperature. As I approached something alerted him whether the heat from the blade, a noise, or a flickering of something out of the corner of his optics.


    Hell it could have been a reflection in the shiny microwave.


    It didn¡¯t save him though. He started turning as my Katana flashed, cutting and burning through his armored neck. It was hard, tough, his Subdermal trying to stall out my blade, but it was kind of hard to scream when your throat was being burned away.


    I jerked the blade free and he slumped to the ground, head not quite unattached, but definitely dead.


    *1000 XP Gained.*


    Oh yeah. That¡¯s the good stuff.


    I sheathed my Katana, asI hauled him up as best I could, grunting a bit at the weight as I pulled him into a dark corner.


    Then I stood up, and continued on following that golden line. I couldn¡¯t keep the smile off my face as I slipped through the shadows. I was¡­ happy. Thrilled, excited and every positive emotion I could imagine. There was probably something wrong with that, but I didn¡¯t care!


    I guess I had been honest with Jun.


    I really did love killing.


    I walked out onto a catwalk overlooking the garage, and I could see them hauling the dead Maelstrom from the Van and into a small room in the back. I couldn¡¯t quite make out what everyone was saying, the music was too loud.


    I would have to do something about that, maybe a cyberware to let me make out sound better? That actually could be useful. I made a note for myself before continuing across the catwalk not a single noise was made as I stepped onto the metal grate floors. I traveled across the entire building, following the golden light. To a small room in the upper corner of the building.


    I licked my lips as I got closer and closer to my target. Pressing myself up against the wall next to the see-through armored door that was so popular in Night City, I peeked in, only to still.


    Empty. Whatever Netrunner ran the security here wasn¡¯t in.


    I pouted, I had been looking forward to that kill. I kind of wanted to steal some Netrunning gear.


    I slipped into the room without any trouble, and looked around the array of computers. With a few minutes of work I was breaching into the security system. The cameras all turned off, while I uploaded my Daemon.


    I could practically see the Daemon slipping into the network back hacking to every member of Maelstrom that was hooked into the security. Their visuals of me would distort and disappear.


    I pulled out the jack from the computer rig, and had just clicked it back into my neck when I felt it.


    Danger sense!


    I moved, flattening myself against the wall next to the door, as the glass door opened, and a Maelstrom gonk walked in, wearing a netrunning suit.


    I hadn¡¯t seen him before, where had he been? In the small room they had taken the dead gonk from before?


    It didn¡¯t matter. I wasn¡¯t exactly hidden from where I stood and he would see me as soon as he sat at the computer.


    So I never gave him the chance. I reached out, both of my armored hands grabbing a different side of his head before I jerked.


    The echoing snap of his neck shattering from the force broke the silence and I simply held his body for a moment as he twitched and shivered in his death throes.


    *1000 XP Gained.*


    Okay that made this easier. I also smiled at the ninjutsu alerts I was getting for the stealth kills.


    I let him flop onto the ground as I stretched my back. Holding someone up by his head was hard even with Cyber arms. I walked back over to the system, and brought up the security cams.


    I started scanning and counting, getting the numbers of the Strom in their little hideout, looking for the actual dangerous ones.


    Marking everything I could see with the cameras, I shut them back down and slipped back out of the room.


    The first Maelstrom didn¡¯t even see me, he was looking through a tool box, digging through it as he struggled to find the tool he needed. When I dropped down from above Katana blazing the force sliced completely through his neck.


    His head fell into the tool box as I pushed his body to fall away from the stuff. The noise of his body falling was completely covered up by the heavy music filling the garage.


    *500 XP Gained.*


    I slipped away, already heading towards the next target. A woman this time. She was in the cab of a truck that had the hood up. Another Strom working on the inside of the cab. I could hear him call out from time to time to tell her to give it some gas or test something.


    With the cab door open it was a cake walk. I slipped in my knife glinting for just a moment as I ripped her throat apart pushing her to fall into the passenger seat as she bled out with quiet gasps not loud enough to be heard over the music.


    *500 XP Gained.*


    With her gone the guy working on the engine was next. I slipped back out and around and while his face was stuck inside the hood he got to feel a knife ripping open his throat as well. I left him there, leaking blood into the engine.


    *500 XP Gained.*


    Unfortunately as good as I was, I wasn¡¯t perfect.


    ¡°FUCK!¡± A voice roared out and I jerked back. The Strom I had head chopped had been found.


    I grumbled, stupid NPC¡¯s! Don¡¯t you know you are supposed to stay put? I had completely missed one! So I rushed him.


    ¡°CARL IS DEAD! FUCK WE GO-¡± His cry was cut off as I leapt at him, knife sinking into his throat as I twisted around him for a moment, using the centrifugal force to rip the knife right back out. He fell like I had cut his strings.


    *500 XP Gained.*


    *Level up achieved!*


    *One Stat Point Gained.*


    *One Skill Point Gained.*


    I grinned despite being caught as a few Maelstrom rushed from whatever they were doing to check out what the yelling was about.


    They found me there. Already moving, knife dripping with blood as I raced through the mess of vehicles and parts aiming for one thing in particular. I dodged through instinctive bullets that were arcing closer and closer to me. But I made it.


    I hit the light switch and then slashed it with my Katana.


    Darkness instantly smothering the entire garage beside a few electronic lights still active, radios and such.


    But with darkness came a moment, where they would lose sight of me. Their optics having to react to the change in lighting, I continued running, ignoring the gun fire that splattered where I had been.


    Plus I grinned, my Daemon was working through their network. I wonder what they were thinking? When despite being able to see in the dark with their stupid optics, I seemed to disappear into the shadows?

 Chapter 33

    William ¡°FrostGuard¡± Frost


    FrostGuard was pretty pissed. A fuckin jap was tearing up the boys. Damn Tyger Claws were attacking in the middle of the night with fuckin ninjas!


    He had only seen the one. Just one, and a kid at that. The girl was fast. After Jackshift had called out everyone had grabbed a weapon, but Jack hadn¡¯t lived long after that.


    Good kid Jack, bit stupid, but he did right in the end he put out the alarm.


    But now Frost had a fuckin ninja jap killing everyone. There were only six Strom left. Everyone else FrostGuard had called didn¡¯t pick up. Hell even Byte wasn¡¯t picking up.


    Fuckin Ninja already killed their Netrunner. Fuck. Brick was gonna be pissed. Byte had been important. Not every gonk on the street can act as a serious Netrunner.


    ¡°Stay close!¡± He yelled out as he forced his Ajax to keep aiming around the dark room. Bitch had disappeared as soon as the boys started calling out for her.


    Then she cut the fucking lights!


    If they were any of the other gangs it might have worked, but the Spyder Optics the Maelstrom chipped into every member could see in the dark just fine.


    Except, somehow she had disappeared. One moment he was staring at her as she raced off into the side of the garage, and then next his optics simply couldn¡¯t keep track of her, or more like she had simply shifted into smoke and disappeared.


    Fuckin bullshit.


    Some sort of Optical Camo? He wasn¡¯t sure, hadn¡¯t seen any of the usual shifting from that.


    ¡°Where the fuck did she go!?¡± RustProof called out and Frost snorted at the panicked tone as some of the fuckers lost their cool. Firing blindly into the darkness.


    They were panicking. Frost realized right then that if he stuck around he was just as likely to get shot in the back as he was the front. He started shifting back towards the entrance, optics wide to look for her. She had to still be here right?


    Maybe she had just delta¡¯d once she got spotted?


    Possible, but Frost wasn¡¯t going to count on it. He had already sent out an alert, all he had to do was survive until the response showed up.


    ¡°H-hey! Where did StickShift go?!¡± RustProof called out suddenly as he spun around, and Frost looked around his Ajax following his sight as he looked to where Oil that fuck had been standing.


    He wasn¡¯t there anymore.


    Realizing what had happened Frost let instincts from the war take over. He shifted and fired, shattering the Radios that had been filling the garage with music the whole time.


    The music that had covered the ninjas assault.


    The sudden quiet was almost oppressive and Frost, Rust, and the other two remaining Maelstrom all quickly gathered together in a group guns out. Even if Frost and his Ajax was the biggest piece among them.


    He sighed, realized they were all cluttering him because they wanted him to save them.


    Cowards.


    But he didn¡¯t know what to say, so instead of trying to take control of the idiots, he continued backing up towards the door. Hopefully they will be able to hear her now.


    But the garage was quiet besides the whispering and clanking of the idiots surrounding him.


    Fuck this. Frost kept walking backwards towards the door. Yet nothing was moving. Just a quiet that had settled on the garage.


    Finally he reached the door and with one hand burst it open as he hurried outside the other four right along with him.


    Outside it was quiet, and Frost caught his breath for a second as he looked around. OilSlicks post on the ground floor was knocked over as he had come running at the alert, but Frost hadn¡¯t seen TriggerFinger. He looked up but other than the faint sound of his TV playing, he wasn¡¯t around.


    Dead then.


    Damn she had snuck up on that old war dog?


    ¡°Alright. C¡¯mon stay together you idiots!¡± He barked as his little group had started splitting apart, but his call brought them back together. ¡°We hold out here. She can¡¯t sneak up on us here, we just have to wait for reinforcements. See how this ninja bitch likes trying her hand against forty of us!¡± He yelled the number. If the Ninja was still here, hopefully the idea of forty men all hunting her would scare her off. Even if it wasn''t likely he would receive that kind of response. Hopefully the Jap didn¡¯t know that. Then with a few pointed fingers and barked orders, he had everyone in place.


    There were only two ways out of the Garage, well three if you counted the massive roller doors. Otherwise it was the roof, and the ground floor door that they had just walked out of.


    She was trapped in there. All he had to do was keep the place secure until more guns showed up.


    At least that is what he thought.


    He turned around to look over everyone making sure everyone was where they should be.


    When a gunshot startled everyone as the gonk he had sent up onto the roof to watch the roof access came falling off the edge of the roof falling with a splat as he had a massive hole in his chest.


    ¡°Damn Gonk!¡± He cursed him for being stupid enough to get shot. His Ajax came up and peppered the roof, causing the others to join him. If she was up there, they only had to hit her once!


    Four Maelstrom unloading on the roof had to be enough!


    He flipped his empty magazine out and grabbed his spare from his jacket pocket.


    He would be out after this. Dammit. He wasn¡¯t exactly loaded for war while he had his feet up inside the safe house!


    ¡°Anyone see her?¡± He roared which slowly caused everyone to stop firing as they all reloaded but all he got back was shaking heads.


    ¡°Well don¡¯t just stand there! Go-¡± he was cut off as a gunshot rang out, one that he recognized this time.


    TriggerFingers Sniper Rifle. Fuck.


    One of the boys, head still shaking, suddenly only had a spray of blood in place of his skull. Slowly he flopped down onto the ground.


    Ajax raised he started firing towards where the gunshot had come from, but as his round bounced off concrete he realized what had happened.


    The bitch. She was shooting through the walls!


    ¡°She¡¯s shooting through the walls! Move! Don¡¯t stand still! Her optics can¡¯t lock you if you keep moving!¡± He roared out and it was only barely enough to save OilSlick as he shifted and moved just in time for a round to punch through the wall of the garage.


    The bitch had gone back inside?


    Fine!


    He roared as he rushed back into the door, he wasn¡¯t going to stand around and get ripped apart. If she was running around with a Nekomata it would slow her down, they weren¡¯t exactly the most mobile weapons considering how long and heavy they were.


    He kicked the door back open his optics again cutting through the darkness as he searched for her. A flicker of movement and he opened fire his Ajax barked again and again as he filled the area with bullets.


    She disappeared again jumping behind the Van as he stopped firing waiting for her to appear only to realize she had somehow vanished!


    ¡°Hey Gonks! She is on the run stay together!¡± He roared through the walls as he rushed not to follow her, but to the little office he had taken over when they claimed this old garage as a base.


    He keyed open the door and slipped inside, quickly grabbing his old vest that had his extra mags and slipped into it, all the while shifting around to make sure she couldn¡¯t pop him through a wall.


    Of course a moment later gunshots started echoing around. Tiny blips of his buddies'' peashooters, and the big echoing retorts of the Nekomata.


    He ran to get back outside, but by the time he kicked the door open again it was quiet.


    They were dead. OilSlick well on his way to being an OilStain as he bled out.


    ¡°Bitch! Come on then! You¡¯ve cut down these gonks! You think you¡¯re hard!? They are chaff! I¡¯ll rip you apart!¡± He roared out as he kept moving searching for her. How does one ninja jap do this? Kill his entire squad?


    He really wished his reinforcements would show up already.


    It was pure luck in the end, the faint hint of something glinting in the corner of his optics he immediately dove into a roll bringing up his Ajax and firing. The shot from the Nekomata missed him by inches. She was back on the roof, hiding in TriggerFingers little shack. He lit it up, not stopping the automatic fire until his mag was empty and he quickly reloaded and started firing again.


    The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    Nothing. He waited, unable to see well if she was still in there, but not willing to climb the ladder that would take him up to the roof.


    He waited, and it was only when his optics spotted blood that he started to relax.


    ¡°Got ya huh bitch?¡± He called out with a chuckle as he kept his rifle up. Never relax until the body is confirmed dead. Usually with a double tap.


    But with how many rounds he had punched into the little shack she would have to be dead. Surely.


    A gunshot and he grunted back as the round slammed into him, his Subdermal and chest rig barely stopping the round from blowing a hole through him, but it still knocked him on his ass. He rolled instantly rushing for cover.


    How the fuck was she still alive!?


    ¡°How are you still alive!?¡± He roared rising and once more unloading a magazine into the shack, this time he didn¡¯t stay still. Using his gunfire to keep her pinned as he climbed up onto some of the old oil barrels that had been laying around since before they moved in.


    He kept firing as he rose up, enough to actually see into the shed even as he continued firing into his mag emptied.


    He looked in.


    Where was she? TriggerFinger was there, looking pretty awful thanks to all the rounds that had ripped through him, but he didn''t see the ninja.


    Wait.


    Wait!


    If TriggerFinger was dead, why was there an arm sticking out from his body pointing a handgun right at Frost?


    The round punctured through this time. His vest wasn¡¯t able to stop a second high caliber round, and his subdermal failed.


    He died before he hit the ground.


    ¡ª--


    I coughed up blood as I pushed the corpse off me. ¡°Ow!¡± I whined as I poked the multiple holes in me. Most of them in my legs, one unfortunately in my chest where my poor Leotard had finally given up, unable to stop the bullets. Unfortunately while I was small enough to hide behind the bulk of an armored borg as rounds hammered into my hidey hole. Even the borgs armor had to give up eventually. A few rounds penetrating few had slammed into me as the fucker with the Ajax just kept on firing.


    Jerk.


    I yanked my med pocket open and grabbed a MaxDoc. Quickly inhaling it I instantly felt better.


    ¡°That was the second one I had to burn.¡± I reminded myself. I only had one left on me. This last borg was way more skilled than I expected. Plus he had actually taken a Nekomata round to the chest, Even if I hadn¡¯t had time to charge it up. It had just been a normal round which was the only reason he hadn¡¯t died.


    I grunted as I pushed the corpse off me. ¡°Thanks Choom.¡± I told him despite how horrible his corpse looked now, he had really saved my tail.


    ¡°I really like it more when I just kill them all without them noticing.¡± I grumble as I grab the fallen Nekomata and head towards the side of the roof. I winced a bit as I dropped down to the ground level. My legs still sore. I guess one MaxDoc didn¡¯t cover everything. I thought about using another but I wasn¡¯t bleeding anywhere.


    Better to save it.


    I sighed, as much as I wanted to call Ichi and try to have him come help loot this place to the bedrock I knew I didn¡¯t have time.


    The Strom leader had mentioned he had called for help.


    ¡°Quick loot Motoko.¡± I told myself with a deep breath as I quickly ran to the first body. As my hands danced through pockets I called my car which drove from down the street to stop in front of the open gate. I grabbed the guns and anything else I could find and hold in my arms as I raced to the car and dumped it into the passenger seat before rushing back for more.


    Two runs to grab everything outside, and I headed in. Considering the time limit I raced upstairs first, Netrunner was number one priority.


    I wanted to see if he had any netrunning stuff!


    As soon as I hit his body I unfortunately gave up on stealing his Netrunning suit.


    I didn¡¯t have time or desire to strip a corpse like that right now. Instead I started popping shards out of his skull passing them into my pocket. I did check his skull and he did indeed have a netdeck¡­


    I considered yanking it. I could. It would take a few minutes, but I could totally do that.


    But something about ripping chrome right out of someone''s body¡­ It didn''t sit right with me. If I had more time maybe I would call in the calvary and they would probably do some ripping, but I let it go. Instead I focused on his gear. I plugged into his computer and yanked the data into a shard. I would go over it later, but hopefully it would have some information on where I could find the Spider Ripper, and the Bastard.


    Then as I started grabbing more goodies, I heard an engine outside.


    Instantly I went cold as I dropped everything and headed back to the roof. Whoever was showing up was about to get ripped apart. I had only heard one engine.


    That meant the numbers were doable. More loot?


    More loot.


    I crept along the roof. Whoever it was was walking around the courtyard, they were slow, cautious. I couldn¡¯t hear any conversation, and only one set of footsteps crunching into the gravel.


    Only one? Well it didn¡¯t matter.


    I reached the edge, but I missed them by a second. They had just walked into the building below me.


    I went full cold just so I wouldn¡¯t make a grunt of pain and dropped. Falling into a silent crouch just outside the door.


    My Katana was already flashing, red edge arcing through darkness to give me just a few more points of XP.


    I stilled.


    My breath came out in a soft pant.


    ¡°Jun!?¡± I cried out, causing him to jump practically out of his skin, his own Katana coming up to as if to defend only to realize I was standing literally behind him, my Katana inches from taking his head.


    Jun shrieked in a hilariously girly voice, but once he realized who it was he gasped in shock. ¡°Motoko!?¡±


    Gonna remember that one for later, that scream was hilarious! but now wasn¡¯t the time for that.


    Because Jun¡¯s face hardened and he was glaring now. ¡°Motoko! What do you think you are doing!?¡±


    ¡°Murder?¡± I answered honestly before my mind could catch up with my mouth. I clamped my mouth shut as my answer seemed to knock the wind out of Jun¡¯s anger. I looked around, knowing he must have already seen all the dead bodies. All the people I had murdered.


    We were both silent, staring at each other for a moment before I lowered my shoulders sheathing my Katana. ¡°Okay let¡¯s be honest. I mean¡­ Is this even the worst thing you ever caught me doing?¡± I asked, hoping my former pre-coma self really was the hellion I suspected she was.


    Jun did not in fact agree.


    His exasperated expression only lasted a moment before it turned to anger. ¡°What are you thinking? What are you even doing? You could have died! You are still recovering! You are¡­ What? Chasing Maelstrom around the city!?¡± He roared after a sound of pure frustrated anger as he turned and hammered a fist into the wall of the garage. The poor garage did not stand up well.


    ¡°How did you even find me?¡± I interrupted his battering of the poor garage.


    ¡°I followed your tracker! What else would I do when you sneak out in the middle of the night!¡±


    I blinked. ¡°I have a tracker?¡± I frowned. That was¡­ Not okay.


    ¡°Of course Oka-san gave us both trackers when we were kids.¡± He answered simply going silent for a moment at the mention of our mother. ¡°You don¡¯t remember.¡±


    I felt my lips down into a frown. The idea that I had some tracker in me was¡­ I really didn¡¯t like it. At the same time it wasn¡¯t Jun¡¯s fault so I just breathed it out. I would get back to that later.


    Before I could even start on what was next though. We both heard it, engines.


    ¡°We need to go.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s run!¡± We both said to each other before rushing towards the exit. The engines were too close.

 Chapter 34

    By the time we hit the gate we both realized what happened.


    Slowing to a stop, surrounding my car and Jun¡¯s Bike, both blocking the entrance to the gate, were three Maelstrom trucks.


    Already I could see the red eyed borgs climbing out to look around.


    ¡°Cover me!¡± I called out as I rushed forward. Burya drawn and aimed, and only when they noticed me did I fire. Three rounds echoed, sending borgs scurrying as I rushed to my car. While my shots had sent a few running for cover a few of the borgs were starting to aim at me, so I did the smart thing. I put up my arms to guard my face and jumped into the still open passenger door ignoring the stray bullets slammed into my arms.


    I reached down under my passenger seat for a box that I had filled from the Raffen raid, and never really used.


    Popping it open I started grabbing grenades.


    I glanced out the door seeing Jun in full rage mode as he offhanded a Shingen, a smart SMG that I didn¡¯t even know he had. It must collapse down or something. Still he was shooting mini missiles into the crowd roaring and drawing attention.


    Stupid Jun. He was gonna get shot doin¡¯ that.


    I flipped the switches, pressed the buttons, or pulled the pin for the grenades as I started chucking them wildly out of the car towards the Maelstrom trucks.


    It took a moment and then the explosions started going off, and the screams and cries of dying Maelstrom finally overrode the sound of gunfire.


    I turned back towards Jun to tell him to get on his Kusanagi and get out of here, but he had already unsheathed his Katana and was going wild on the now utterly disrupted Maelstrom. One of their trucks was burning from an incendiary grenade highlighting the fight as he rushed in and started cutting.


    Well, if he wanted to murder all of these Maelstrom, I wasn¡¯t going to be left behind. I slipped out of my car, Katana drawn, and moved.


    Quickly leaping up onto the hood of my car and then forward to cut the arm off a Maelstrom gonk aiming a shotgun at Jun. The thermal blade cut right through, and his head was parted a moment later before he could even scream with a casual swipe. Then I was among them, and between Jun and I? The grenades having thrown them around killing or maiming?


    It was wheat to a scythe. Jun drew their eyes, the Oni. I could practically taste their terror as he kept among them, not letting them get any clear shots as he cut them into pieces with pure power.


    While that happened. I ghosted them. Heads parted from necks, limbs were lost suddenly, and then lives a moment later. While I did get shot again, this time in the back the fucker lost his arm and then head a moment later. While Jun was just tanking everything.


    By the time I caught up to Jun it was over. He was dueling a large borg with a nasty looking sawn off shotgun fit for a cyborg, and a chain sword of all things trying to keep Jun from bisecting him.


    Unfortunately I don¡¯t believe in honorable duels. The Borg died in moments after my Katana surged out the front of his neck as I stabbed him through his spine. My face a rictus grin as I managed to kill steal from Jun.


    I was laughing, my cold breaking as Jun practically jumped at my sudden appearance once again. I could see him instantly look around, but I threw him a thumbs up. ¡°I confirmed kills on everyone else. We¡¯re clear.¡± I told him. His eyes continued to rove around as if he didn¡¯t fully believe me, which was fair, always good to verify yourself.


    But yeah.


    I killed them all.


    The fools half blown up by grenades. The ones desperately trying to run. The Gonks that tried to attack me. I cut them all down. Between the fires, and Jun it was easy. They were so shell shocked I waltzed through them like a ghost.


    ¡°We should probably grab what we can and go.¡± I told him only to see he wasn¡¯t just breathing hard but actually wincing. I quickly pushed in and with deft fingers found the problem. ¡°Right through the Subdermal.¡± I told him after got his hands away from the bullet hole in his thigh.


    ¡°Thanks I hadn¡¯t noticed.¡± He growled a bit but a moment later he had a maxdoc in his mouth.


    ¡°Take that, and hop in the car. Send your bike home without you, you can¡¯t drive like that.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a bullet hole. I can ride just fine.¡± He grumbled, but I wasn¡¯t having any of that and quickly pulled him along his limping steps, unable to resist as I pulled him towards the passenger seat of my ride.


    I winced a little at how much junk was now strewn across it, but he sighed and settled in as I threw a roll of bandages I had in my medical pouch at him as I raced back to the driver side.


    ¡°Buckle up.¡± I reminded him as I hammered the gear and hit the gas instantly roaring down the street causing Jun to yelp as I absolutely floored it.


    Had to get Jun back to the dojo. He was bleeding!


    ¡°Slow down!¡±


    ¡°No!¡± I barked back as I zipped through the city, absolutely flooring my engine. The mostly empty streets thanks to all the shootings meant I rarely had to slow for traffic, and so I raced through the city more like I was playing¡­ Well Cyberpunk.


    Well if the driving in the game was any good anyways.


    ¡°Please slow down!¡± He begged as I came up to a red light with a bit of traffic, we were in a busier section, lots of bars and clubs around here, and even with a gang war people were still partying.


    His pleading switched to Japanese and I honestly couldn¡¯t keep up, as I slipped in between two cars idling at the red, flowed into a drift barely sliding right behind a truck my front bumper almost kissing the rear of the bumper before I slipped around the truck and cut in front of it before flooring it disappearing down the street with a roar of my Quadra¡¯s engine.


    ¡°Please please please slow down!¡± He begged and I scoffed. We were almost there. Just a few smaller side streets that were covered in little shops. Most were closed and empty. I didn¡¯t even slow down as I flew down the darkened street. The few people I could see hearing me coming and getting out of the way.


    Which was smart.


    I came around the corner of the dojo in a rush and only slowed a tiny bit as I drifted down into the parking garage for the apartment complex.


    I quickly found a space and slowed to gently park into one close to the elevator to the first floor. ¡°C¡¯mon Jun, let¡¯s get you to your ripper.¡± I told him as I jumped out of the car to run around towards his side, he was already climbing out when I reached him, and as I tried to get close to help him his hand reached out and pushed my face away.


    ¡°Jwun!¡±


    ¡°Motoko. Stop smothering me¡­ Also you are never allowed to drive again. Ever.¡± He told me as he started walking just with a hefty limp towards the elevator.


    ¡°That¡¯s not fair! I¡¯m pretty good at driving!¡±


    ¡°Terrifying.¡±


    ¡°Everyone complains about me driving slow, but when I actually drive fast you complain too!?¡± I argued as I kept with him, happy to use the conversation to keep him distracted.


    ¡°That¡¯s because no one knows how terrifying you driving fast is. Where did you even learn to drive like that?¡±


    ¡°Playing around mostly.¡± I answered truthfully¡­ From a certain point of view.


    ¡°Terrifying.¡± He deadpanned as he rested back against the elevator seemingly exhausted.


    Oh. Right. Jun had been awake all day, fought with me. Fought during the Kamikaze raid, and then chased me out too.


    Dang. I actually felt super sorry for him now. ¡°Let¡¯s get you into the ripper and get you a nap. You look tired.¡± I told him as I sidled up to him resting my head on his shoulder for a moment.


    ¡°I wonder why that is?¡± He snarked at me, seemingly too tired to get angry. Huh I guess sleepy Jun is snarky Jun.


    I opened my mouth to respond but closed it. I hadn¡¯t really needed Jun, but I understood it was difficult for him to understand just what I could do. What a Gamer was capable of.


    ¡°Thanks for coming to help me Jun¡­ I promise I won¡¯t run off in the middle of the night again. I¡¯ll let you know when I go out, so you¡­ Well you¡¯ll probably still worry, but at least I won¡¯t just vanish on you.¡±


    Jun¡¯s hands clenched but then loosened.


    ¡°When you killed that last Strom. You were laughing.¡±


    ¡°Yeah. I was having fun. We work well together¡­ You just need to work on getting shot less.¡± I told him, resisting the urge to poke at him with a finger. He was injured so I wasn¡¯t going to poke his bullet wounds. That would be rude, even if the urge to mess with my brother was almost irresistible.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t believe you before. When you said you enjoyed it.¡±


    I scratched at my cheek a bit embarrassed as Jun was staring at me as the elevator came to a stop. ¡°Yeah well¡­ I guess It¡¯s just one of those things. I¡¯m good at it¡­ Plus I have my own reasons to enjoy killing them.¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± He was quiet as he hobbled out, my attempts to help more getting in his way, than really helping. As I tried to get him to the window that we could climb out of. It was a bit difficult, but we managed to get him through and the vendors on the other side quickly noticed and actually helped out, not saying a word as they took an arm and helped Jun into the Dojo¡¯s side entrance and downstairs into the ripper clinic.


    The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    ¡°What the? Kusanagi!?¡± The female ripper was sitting at a chair and jumped up when Jun was carried in, she took a moment to look me over as well. I was still covered in blood, but I waved her towards Jun and she didn¡¯t need any further prompting to ignore me.


    He was settled onto the ripper chair, and she went to work cleaning the bullet holes, and starting to work. I settled onto a normal chair nearby and decided to hang out. It wasn¡¯t like I was gonna do anything but go take a nap when I got back to the room anyways.


    Might as well make sure Jun is okay.


    Jun basically started napping as the doc worked. She was alright, but she didn¡¯t have that amazing deftness that Vik had.


    I really should have just hauled him to Viks.


    ¡°Kusanagi!¡± A voice called out just as soon as the door opened, and Fujimura stomped in. The guy was a bit bleary eyed, and his hair was messy.


    I guess someone woke him up.


    ¡°Fujimura-Sama.¡± Jun responded, his eyes snapping open and he made to sit up only to be pushed down by the Doc.


    ¡°Stay down while I work.¡± She demanded glaring before giving a sitting bow to Fujimura. Seemingly letting him know he could continue.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t set up any further raids. The battle was over, I thought I was clear that you were supposed to be resting. Now I find out you went out and got injured. You damage not just yourself, but the Kamikaze! Explain!¡± He barked stomping up to Jun, and I got the feeling he was only seconds away from dragging Jun out of the chair by his¡­ well Jun didn¡¯t have a shirt on, but the same idea stood.


    Jun of course spoke quickly, before I could. ¡°Apologies. A family matter came up.¡±


    Fujimura instantly looked to me, his eyes glaring and face full of rage.


    Of course I wasn¡¯t impressed. Bedhead wasn¡¯t exactly intimidating.


    ¡°You once again cause trouble?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t do anything. Jun was just being overprotective and decided to foll-¡± I was cut off as the man actually backhanded me.


    He hit me.


    It almost knocked me right out of the chair considering how strong he was. I could practically feel a tooth loosen as well as I sat back up. I wiggled my jaw a bit and spit out some of the blood onto the floor.


    Stupid idiot made me bite my cheek.


    I went cold. No, I went arctic. I caught his eyes and held them as I spoke. ¡°You strike me again, and I¡¯ll take the hand.¡±


    He watched me for a moment before snorting. ¡°Accept your punishment with grace. You damage the Kamikaze with your foolishness? You receive a reminder. Your brother is important to the Tyger Claws. Important to Kamikaze. You were brought here by our kindness, but that is twice now you have cost the Kamikaze.¡±


    ¡°Fujimura-sama! Motoko is my sister. She is not yours to discipline!¡± Jun growled, he had sat up when I was struck. Much to the irritation of the Doc.


    ¡°Then ensure that she does not damage the Kamikaze again, and I will not feel the need to interfere in family affairs!¡± The man barked back without any give.


    ¡°Motoko did nothing wrong. Fujimura-sama. It was my own weakness that led to injury.¡± Jun said, barely keeping his voice from an angry bark as he glared up at the borg.


    The man finally turned from my stare which was dangerous of him.


    I was still figuring out whether dismembering him would be the best way to get my point across.


    ¡°I expect a fast recovery Kusanagi. The Kamikaze have work to do.¡± He finally said after a few moments of imperious glaring, before he stomped out of the room.


    ¡°Jun¡­ Your boss is an asshole.¡± I finally told him which caused my brother to slowly lean back onto the chair with a groan.


    ¡ª--


    Once Jun was fully fixed up, he fell asleep with a few meds from the doc. Considering he was passed out and practically drooling, I decided to head back to the apartment.


    But not before taking a picture of his drooling face. Blackmail get!


    The silliness helped soothe the irritation and the pain of my cheek.


    I walked into the apartment and only once the door closed did I sigh.


    I was still hurting. Bullets might get blocked by the armor, and I was mostly healed up from the Maxdoc, but I was still sore.


    Plus the worst part?


    ¡°Ugh all the blood dried.¡± I grumbled as I ran a few fingers through my hair only to get tangled in the bloody matted strands. I wouldn¡¯t be able to take a nap without cleaning up first.


    So with a tired grunt I walked into the apartment''s little bathroom that also had a washer dryer. I stripped down to my panties and stuffed the dirty clothes into the washer noticing my boots were going to need some serious attention too.


    Dangit.


    So as I started the cycle I grabbed some cleaning gunk and sat down in front of the washer with my boots. Slowly wiping the poor abused footwear clean of dirty Maelstrom blood.


    At least one benefit of being in such a hellish future is that bloodstains weren¡¯t an issue. The cleaning gunk I rubbed into the boots pulled the blood right out.


    Groaning, as my shoulders ached, I headed into a shower and dunked my head into the nice hot water for a moment stretching a bit to start scrubbing the blood off. I zoned out for a bit just letting the heat flow into my bones, well and my arms. Cyberware felt cool to the skin and the night was getting cooler. So feeling the metal warm under the spray was actually pretty nice.


    My chest always feels a little chilly now with the Cyberware installed. But right now it felt good, even if water flowing over my arms felt wrong.


    Which reminded me about what I had gained tonight.


    I couldn¡¯t help but whistle as I opened the alerts. I hadn¡¯t checked between looting and then Jun.


    The XP gains went down for a while. But it was the level I had gained that I was smiling about. Three levels in one night!? I giggled a little as I did a little dance under the shower, hell yeah!


    *Level up achieved!*


    *One Stat Point Gained.*


    *One Skill Point Gained.*


    I giggled as I looked at the alert. Glancing at my stat page just to see where I am at.


    Level 8


    2500/9000


    Very nice. Plus the three Stat and Skill points that were saved up!


    But that wasn¡¯t even close to everything! So many improvements!


    *Athletics skill level up!*


    It was midway down the list, so I guess all the running and jumping around I had done, had some benefits. Athletics 6 was awesome!


    *Handguns skill level up!*


    Handguns had gone up to six, which made sense. I had been firing the Burya so much lately. It really was an integral part of my toolkit. I really needed to take her apart and give her a thorough checkup.


    Even happier for me, was Assault. Assault 4 thanks to my new Nekomata. I finally had a good weapon for leveling that skill.


    While Ninjutsu and Cool itself didn¡¯t level, Cold Blood had gone up to 7. Matching up with Ninjutsu. So that was fun! Less pain for me was a good thing!


    Then I blinked.


    Then I blinked again. Then I dug into the alert list to figure out what the hell happened.


    ¡°This doesn¡¯t make any sense! Stupid system! I want to talk to an admin! I want a refund!¡± I screeched a bit as practically jumped up and down in anger.


    *Engineering Experience Gained.*


    *Skill not unlocked, no XP gained.*


    *Engineering Unlocked.*


    *Engineering skill level up!*


    *Engineering skill level up!*


    *1 Perk Point Gained.*


    I didn¡¯t build anything!? But apparently grenades counted for Engineering!? What? How does that work!?


    I had definitely used grenades before! Why was I only now getting XP for Engineering if they were connected to that!?


    I thought back to the last time I had used grenades, and I had to go all the way to the Scav raid. That¡¯s right, I had brought a few with me¡­


    Then I remembered how often the damn things were kicked back at me¡­ ¡°Did¡­ did I not actually hit anyone with a grenade!?¡± No I had! The two at the end, the ones hiding in the computer room, I remembered throwing the grenade in and then leaping in after to shoot them¡­


    But they had been hiding in cover¡­ I hadn¡¯t actually hit anyone with a grenade until now!?


    I pushed my back up against the side of the shower and slid down it groaning. If I had known that I could level Engineering by killing people with grenades! I could have done so much! Now that I had accepted the alert, I could feel the information sliding in, and it was dense. Which was weird because usually the knowledge came right then, but I guess engineering was so dense, it waited until it was out of combat?


    Well I guess the system wasn¡¯t too bad then. I would hold off on my demand for refunds for now¡­


    Besides, Motoko likes numbers.


    I blinked away water as I came back to myself after who knows how long when the washing machine beeped. I did a quick shampoo wash of my hair to make sure the blood was out, before jumping out of the shower and throwing my clothes into the dryer.


    Grabbing a few towels to start drying off, I wandered onto the couch and opened up the menu again.


    I hadn¡¯t gained any other stat increases. I had been hoping for a reflex improvement, but it hadn¡¯t come. Plenty of alerts for it, and it was getting close, but I wasn¡¯t there yet.


    Which opened up the next question.


    What do I spend my Stat and skill points on. To start, I already knew where my stat points would go.


    A few button presses and I was on the Adaptation page.


    Militech Condor *Adaptation Militech Condor 0/10*


    I didn¡¯t hesitate. Not this time. Pushing the button.


    *Spend 1 Stat point to improve Adaptation?*


    *Y/N*


    I hit the yes option, and instantly the numbers changed.


    Militech Condor *Adaptation Militech Condor 1/10*


    I shivered. Not from the cold, the apartment was just fine, and I was warm from the shower. No, I shivered because the Phantom limb I had been fighting against since I got my arms stopped. I had gotten¡­ well not used to it, but I got to the point I could move my arm without it throwing me off.


    And now? Now it was gone. I let out a noisy sigh as I flopped back on the couch.


    Wow that felt¡­ Nice.


    I brought my arm up to my face and opened and closed a fist. So much was still off. The sensations were wrong. The fact it was the wrong length, or that my fingers settled in the wrong spot. Still nagged at me, made me feel like something was off.


    But now at least it felt like mine.


    I opened the page adding another point.


    Militech Condor *Adaptation Militech Condor 2/10*


    Muscles in my back unclenched. My shoulders, all mechanical at this point, shifted, settling differently. I gasped, an exhale of relief. I hadn¡¯t even realized I had kept my shoulders tense, trying to force them into the same position my old arms would have been, but the Condor had longer shoulders. I realized I had literally been hunching up on myself for days.


    I relaxed and it felt. Right? No. Normal. It felt normal. For the first time since I woke up on the rippers chair, I felt slightly normal. That little part of you that unclenches after something terrible when your body and mind finally realize everything is going to be okay.


    I was going to be okay.


    I swallowed a little as I threw my forearm over my eyes. Jun was¡¯t here, but I didn¡¯t want anyone to see me crying. Tears started falling and I very quickly started sobbing, crying and crying, an ugly noise escaping me as I let the pain that had infested me. Made me so angry, and made me want to just stay cold forever slowly seep away.


    As I felt my heart unfreeze fully for the first time.


    I hadn¡¯t even realized I had been doing it. How could I? Cold Blood wasn¡¯t just some weird gamer power, it was a skill. Knowledge that I was practically a master at.


    It was the equivalent to spending years and years hardening your heart. Freezing your emotions so that nothing could interfere with your thoughts.


    Of course the trauma would make me fall back on it, even subconsciously. It wasn¡¯t like I could split where Motoko ends, and the knowledge I had gained through the system began.


    There was no difference. It was my knowledge and experience. I just had a lot of weird skills. Extra experience.


    So I finally subconsciously relaxed, felt safe. So I let it go, and so I bawled. The stress and horror of what happened. My worry for Jun, and just the pain all pouring out of me.


    I cried and I cried. Until finally I just couldn¡¯t anymore.


    Thankfully I was already wrapped up in a towel so I was able to wipe my now gooey arm, and my gooier face. Blowing my nose loud and wetly let me breath again as I stood up. I went back to the laundry room, and threw both towels in, after quickly washing my face, and my arm. I felt¡­


    Good. Cathartic.


    I grabbed some comfy old clothes out of what Jun had grabbed from the apartment and flopped onto the couch. I turned on the TV and just switched it to some Cartoon channel. Something mindless. I got comfy as it played, as I looked at the stat menu again.


    I still had one Stat Point left. I thought about it. I could use it for Reflex which was a struggle to level, or Tech which would be great.


    But this was more important. I wasn¡¯t some idiot Edgerunner wanting to burn out in a blaze of glory.


    I wasn¡¯t.


    I really wasn¡¯t. I wanted to live, because you can¡¯t have fun when you die. So I decided I would spend it on Adaptation again.


    But not to my arms.


    *Spend 1 Stat point to improve Adaptation?*


    I accepted, and my stats changed.


    Kiroshi Mk1 *Adaptation Kiroshi Mk1 1/2*


    I blinked.


    Then I blinked again. Then again. It was still weird, but that cold sensation of my eyelids flowing over a waterproof eye didn¡¯t bother me as much. It wasn¡¯t perfect, but it wasn''t like much was.


    But when I closed my eyes, it didn¡¯t feel uncomfortable. It didn¡¯t make me itch or want to leave my eyes open all night.


    Without my auto sleep, I very likely would not have been able to sleep well with my Kiroshi.


    But now?


    I relaxed curled up in a big fluffy blanket watching cartoons I dozed off, for the first time in a while sleeping peacefully without needing to insta sleep.


    ZZzzZZ

 Chapter 35

    ¡°Whusa?¡± I mumbled as I startled awake at the sound of a door opening. I sat covered in blankets and one eye caked shut cold drool on my chin which I quickly wiped away.


    ¡°Real cute.¡± Jun told me dryly as he caught sight of my sleepy face.


    ¡°Jerk.¡± I snapped at him, cut off by a big yawn as I stretched arm high and wide letting the muscles in my upper back stretch out a bit.


    It wasn¡¯t like stretching my Cyberware mattered. Although I did notice my right arm wasn¡¯t right. But it wasn¡¯t the usual discomfort, I glanced at it and noticed the dent.


    Right. I had gotten shot last night in the arm¡­ Which reminded me about someone else being shot.


    ¡°Jun? Are you all healed up?¡±


    ¡°Mostly.¡± He confirmed plopping down on the couch beside me and peeling his burrito from a wrapper.


    ¡°I¡¯m glad.¡± I told him gently as he took a big bite. ¡°Sorry I didn¡¯t come back, I was gonna but¡­ well I had my own little thing.¡± I told him quietly with a smile as I relaxed my shoulders getting to feel my arms settle.


    It wasn¡¯t how they would have settled before, but it was how they settled now, and that fact didn¡¯t bother me so much right then.


    ¡°You okay?¡± He mumbled from between bites and I gave him a smile and a nod.


    ¡°Yep! I had a big cry¡­ Everything sort of hit me last night. But I¡¯m feeling a lot better.¡±


    ¡°Good. That¡¯s good.¡± He told me quietly, and while I could feel the emotion in his voice he was definitely fighting back another emotion.


    ¡°You wanna talk about me running off last night?¡± I prompted and I could see him take a deep breath and let it out.


    ¡°Yeah. I do.¡±


    ¡°Okay. I¡¯m not going anywhere. So let¡¯s¡­ Let¡¯s really talk Jun.¡± I rose up off the couch pulling my blanket with me to flop on the other side of the table as I settled in, letting us talk face to face.


    He was quiet for a while as he chewed but the way he was staring I knew he was thinking.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t need me last night.¡±


    ¡°Maybe. Maybe not.¡± I shrugged a weird feeling now that I was holding my shoulders lower. ¡°I was looting when you showed up, but I might have gotten greedy and stuck around too long.¡±


    ¡°Motoko¡­ You didn¡¯t need me.¡± He said bluntly, sounding sad as he put the empty burrito wrapper on the table. ¡°You handle yourself like a pro¡­ I left you behind during the raid because I didn¡¯t want you there. I didn¡¯t want you in danger. But you still caught up. You still killed. I hated it. I hate it. Seeing you do that. Putting blood on your hands¡­ But no matter what I do, you¡¯re still gonna do it.¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I confirmed with a sad smile as I looked at my brother really fighting himself. Jun wasn¡¯t an emotional guy. At least not like this. He was a hothead. Not an empathetic thinker.


    But he was trying.


    ¡°I can¡¯t stop you. I want to. I¡­ I would kill anyone to stop you, but that won¡¯t change anything. You will still do what you want. Just like always.¡± He sighed his hands seemingly not able to sit still as he kept opening and closing them, or pushing them together. ¡°I¡¯m scared Motoko. Scared that you will get hurt. I can¡¯t protect you if you put yourself in danger.¡± His leg was bouncing as he started talking knee up and down in a rapid succession.


    ¡°I¡¯m scared for you too Jun¡­ But I can¡¯t stop you. You joined the Kamikaze, which¡­ Man, that name has some connotations.¡± I grumbled. ¡°But I have to trust you. I have to believe you will stay safe, because I can¡¯t¡­ I can¡¯t physically stop you.¡±


    ¡°And I can¡¯t physically stop you.¡± He agreed, the two of us looking each other over with matching quirks of our lips.


    ¡°What a pair we make huh Jun-Nii?¡±


    ¡°Yeah Imouto.¡± He chuckled a little, actually sounding like¡­ Well Jun. Before everything. ¡°A real pair. We both have a death wish.¡±


    ¡°No.¡± I told him instantly, standing up and reaching across the table to put both my hands on his cheeks. ¡°Not a death wish. Just a bloody path ahead of each of us¡­ It¡¯s not a death wish. We might die. We might not. But Jun-Nii. I promise. I won¡¯t throw my life away. If I die, it will be doing something I believe is right. And maybe something I love. Cause I do like it.¡±


    ¡°Little Killer.¡± He finally said with a huffed out laugh as he reached forward and suddenly I wasn¡¯t standing on the other side of the table. No, I was squeezed tight against Jun¡¯s chest as he held me. I laughed, and hugged him back.


    We were both broken. Maybe even crazy. But the world was crazy too.


    So we would survive.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°Ow!¡± I growled as I zapped myself once again. After the nice long hug from Jun, and a bit of sibling bonding Jun had gone into his room to take a nap, still tired from the drugs and his bullet holes, while I went to work on my newest skill!


    Engineering!


    With Engineering my Crafting had suddenly linked with the knowledge and had exploded.


    Two halves of the same coin. Crafting was slapping shit together. How good are you at physically making something? Do you know the right tolerances, the right diameter to make something just work?


    But Engineering? Engineering was planning. Design. Engineering was creation. It was the difference between the tinker in his home lab shaving away a few millimeters on something to make it work better, to the engineer that designed the whole thing in a lab.


    Together they synced, I was both of those people. The creator, and the end user. Plus with my other skills I was the operator.


    How many people could say they were a true Renaissance woman? I could do it all! Although I still couldn¡¯t paint.


    So with just how flexible my knowledge was, first step was to mess with my equipment.


    I had done some tinkering with my guns already, but I had a lot to do.


    First I went out to the car and grabbed all the loot from the Maelstrom garage.


    The Nekomata was first. I had looked it over, but there wasn¡¯t much I could change, the previous user knew his gun. It was a solid piece of work. The modifications it had were all solid improvements.


    At least for now.


    Instead I had a bunch of tech scrap that I already had ideas for.


    If I was going to level Engineering, I might as well do it easily.


    Grenades!


    An explosive, a trigger, and a casing, honestly with my 3D printer I could make everything but the explosives, but those were easy.


    I had stolen a bunch of grenade stuff from the Raffen base, and now I was actually motivated to use it. The shard I klepped that had the crazy grenade Raffens tips and tricks on how to create grenades was actually easy to understand with my Engineering knowledge.


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    Which is why I was putting together homemade grenades. After half a dozen frag grenades I decided that a couple EMP grenades might be really useful.


    The discharge for it was pretty standard stuff. I grab a battery that I could find in most devices, and basically set it into a supercharger that would cause it to explode, put that in a case, and set it all up from a button.


    Voila EMP grenade. I guess that says a lot about power sources in Cyberpunk that with a few modifications you could turn them into a dangerous explosive.


    Honestly the scrap metal I had was running low considering how simple Grenade interiors were.


    ¡°What the hell is that?¡± Jun said suddenly looking at me from the door, his fire hair limp and sticking out at weird angles from a nap.


    ¡°Grenade.¡±


    He blinked. Then he blinked again as he looked down towards the wires that I was holding in my hands as I was wiring up an EMP grenade.


    ¡°Not in the house.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s safe!¡±


    ¡°Not in the house.¡± He said again before slowly backing back into his room.


    ¡°Fine!¡± I grumbled as I undid all the wiring before tossing the grenades in pieces back into my parts section. Not about to leave an unfinished halfway put together grenade in my box.


    That¡¯s stupid.


    But now I had nothing to do. The Maelstrom would all be sleeping with the sun still up¡­


    I blinked.


    Why did I think I had nothing to do? I had a car. A city, friends¡­


    That¡¯s right. I had friends.


    I snorted at myself. I had been so stressed out, so focusing on killing I had practically forgotten.


    I stood up and stretched feeling the play of muscles in my back loosen up from my hunched over position.


    ¡°Hey Jun! I¡¯m gonna go see Hiromi!¡±


    Jun¡¯s head popped out of his room a moment later as he instantly looked to the table, not seeing whatever he was looking for he seemed to relax.


    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t be running around. It¡¯s dangerous out there.¡±


    ¡°Hiromi is stuck at home, at least last I talked to her. I¡¯ll go visit. My car is armored so unless I¡¯m jumped by an entire attack squadron of Strom, I¡¯ll be fine. Besides¡­ I should probably get out and do something other than hyperfocus on the Maelstrom.¡± I threw Jun a thumbs up and gave him a big smile. ¡°I¡¯ll be careful!¡±


    He slowly nodded as he stepped out, walked over and to my surprise pulled me into a hug. He ended it nearly instantly without a word as he walked into the kitchen to grab a drink.


    ¡°Love you too Jun-nii!¡± I called back as I ran around gathering some stuff. Mostly my jacket and guns. I did decide to bring my Katana though. Maybe Hiromi and I could practice?


    A few blocks away from the Dojo I called Hiromi.


    *Motoko! Are you okay? Everything alright?*


    *Hey Hiromi! I¡¯m okay! How are you? Still stuck at home?*


    *Uh, Yeah¡­ My ¡®rents are still super protective right now.* She said but there was something in her voice a tremor, or¡­ I wasn¡¯t sure.


    *Want to hang out?*


    *Yes! Save me Motoko! I¡¯m so bored!*


    *Well I¡¯m on my way over. I can tell you what I¡¯ve been up to.*


    *Perfect! Seriously, it¡¯s been the wooorst! Both of my parents are working from home to avoid any gang problems!* Hiromi started chattering, which was actually pretty soothing as I continued the drive. By the time I was pulling into a parking spot in Hiromi¡¯s apartment''s garage, she seemed normal-happy and chattering away.


    I guess she really had been lonely.


    I shouldn¡¯t have let myself spiral into my own issues¡­ Hiromi was my Choom. Being stuck inside, practically locked away all day? That sucked.


    We ended the call as I parked, and I hurried to the elevator. The long wait as it rose up had me tapping my foot, but finally it opened, and there was Hiromi already rushing me.


    ¡°Motokooooo!¡± She cried out in delight as she slammed into me in a massive hug.


    I couldn''t help but laugh as I had to spin her around a few times to bleed off the momentum. Finally her feet were back on the floor and she looked me over for a moment looking at my new arms. I brought my right arm up and flexed a bit.


    ¡°It¡¯s taken a bit to get used to, but I¡¯m starting to feel comfortable with them.¡±


    Hiromi wasn¡¯t smiling though. Her smile had turned into a frown, before she shook herself Which is when I noticed her hair wasn¡¯t in her usual Mohawk. Instead it was sort of laid down, much more casual than I had ever seen her hair. And her Neon whisker marks weren¡¯t on, leaving her cheeks chrome, but sort of bare. But I knew something was wrong when she tried to smile at me. Only for it to fold. ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­ I wasn¡¯t there, I¡­¡±


    ¡°Heey. It¡¯s okay, honestly! I actually started feeling better about it last night¡­ I uh, had a cry last night.¡± I revealed, a little embarrassed.


    ¡°Gonk.¡± She whispered gently, as she was obviously fighting back tears, but she took a deep breath and let it out. She reached out and grabbed my hand and started pulling me along. ¡°C¡¯mon we can hang out in my room, and you can tell me everything!¡±


    ¡°Sure!¡± I chirped as I was tugged along, Hiromi was shorter than me, but she tugged me along without any trouble. Her wild girl was showing a bit of a return. That was good. Hiromi was acting weird.


    I was tugged into her big fancy apartment, past her mother who was looking on to see what was going on with a blank look. I gave her a wave and she simply nodded before Hiromi pulled me fully into her room. She spun me around and pushed me onto her bed before closing her door.


    ¡°Tell me everything!¡± She demanded standing over me with her hands on her hips and I giggled at her expression.


    ¡°Sure. So it started when Jun came home-¡±


    ¡ª--


    We ended up sprawled on her bed as I told my story. Half way through my story Hiromi had grabbed my hand and refused to give it back. Now she was running her fingers along my chrome which felt¡­ Weird.


    Ticklish? But not. I hadn¡¯t really had many people touch me gently since I got my arms, besides Jun, and his arms were just as chrome as mine.


    So to feel actual human flesh running a finger up my palm was really strange.


    Goosebumps were running all along my back.


    ¡°Wish I had been there.¡± She muttered finally as I finished my story of everything I had done.


    ¡°I don¡¯t.¡± I told her bluntly. ¡°Outnumbered and outgunned, I tried to run and I couldn¡¯t make it. It was a hit squad. I¡¯m just lucky they were stupid enough to kidnap me, and not just flatline me then and there.¡± I said and Hiromi¡¯s fingers gripped hard against my hand.


    ¡°You¡¯re my best choom Motoko. You can¡¯t die okay?¡± She spoke quietly as she grabbed my attention with how desperate her voice was.


    ¡°I have no intention of having a drink named after me in the Afterlife.¡± I told her not really able to promise not to die. ¡°I¡¯ll be as safe as I can be.¡±


    ¡°Hah! No way, when you do finally bite it, they will definitely give you a drink, you¡¯re gonna be a bad bitch Edgerunner. And I¡¯ll be your cunning and beautiful corpo contact that no one can be sure is on their side!¡± Hiromi offered with a chuckle, but I was frowning.


    Hiromi had never in the time I had known her said she was going to be a corpo.


    Ever.


    Quite the opposite in fact.


    ¡°Hiromi?¡± I asked, voice quiet and she just sort of looked away.


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing Toko¡­ Just everything.¡± But I smelled a problem, so I didn¡¯t let up. I squeezed her hand back and tugged her hand until she looked up.


    Finally she spoke. ¡°It started with parent stuff. Them being here constantly, means they¡­ Well I¡¯m forced to deal with them constantly now. Not like before. Dad was always away before, but having him constantly in my face¡­ Telling me what I am going to do in the future. Showing me his work, and what to do¡­ But it¡¯s not that.¡±


    She visibly swallowed as she curled up, her legs pulling up to her chest as she held my hand like a lifeline.


    ¡°I went out.¡± She said quietly in a whisper. ¡°It was late, and I wanted¡­ I just wanted to rebel I guess. I snuck outside, and jumped on my bike, and I went for a drive. It was fine at first. I had my Katana, and I was¡­ I was stupid. Confident. I didn¡¯t even think anything could happen¡­¡±


    ¡°Did someone hurt you?¡± I practically growled, my eyes narrowed and I could feel my teeth grinding. If someone hurt Hiromi!


    ¡°No.¡± She shook her head which nearly instantly poured water over the black rage building up. ¡°It¡¯s pathetic. I can¡¯t even-¡± She was definitely starting to cry a bit, but that was not okay!


    ¡°Hey, hey! It¡¯s okay. Hiromi what¡¯s got you so bothered? Tell me? Best Chooms don¡¯t judge best chooms.¡± I assure her as I did my best to comfort her.


    Suddenly she was shaking her head looking down at her knees, but she started talking, never taking her eyes away from the ground.


    ¡°I got scared. I was driving along thinking I was some bad bitch. A gun fight started up. Wasn¡¯t even Tyger Claws, or Maelstrom. Just some stupid fuckbags robbing some store getting shot at. I drove past as they started shooting. Scared the absolute shit of me. I¡­ I jerked, lost control, crashed my bike. I wasn¡¯t hurt, but¡­ I hid Motoko. Just that, just gunshots near me sent me hiding in a fuckin dumpster¡­ I don¡¯t I don¡¯t really know how long I was hiding. Eventually I¡­ Eventually I got together enough to get back on my bike and ride home.¡±


    She looked up, tears in her eyes as she revealed her story. ¡°I¡¯m a coward Motoko¡­ I couldn¡¯t¡­ I couldn¡¯t go out and actually be a StreetKid. I¡¯m just a corpo brat after all! That¡¯s¡­ that¡¯s all I¡¯ll ever be.¡±


    ¡°But I¡¯m complaining about stupid shit¡­ You¡¯re the one that got kidnapped again, and had horrible things happen. I just had to take a shower when I got ho-¡±


    I ignored Hiromi¡¯s attempts to push away from her problems, and instead squeezed her into a tight hug.


    ¡°You¡¯re wrong. There is nothing wrong, or shameful about being scared.¡± I whisper into her hair as I hold her, and absolutely refuse to release her, until she gives in and starts hugging me back.


    ¡°Ichi went out, Malcolm went out. You went out. I couldn¡¯t Motoko. I thought¡­ I thought with you back everything would be great, we would be a duo, but I can¡¯t¡­ I¡¯m a coward, how can I be your partner if I can¡¯t even go outside?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ Then you can be my Fixer!¡±


    Hiromi snorted, and then started chuckling until she laughed and laughed as she hugged me back.


    ¡°Gonk!¡±


    ¡°Nope. I¡¯m a Best Choom.¡± I tell her earning more giggles as she nods along


    ¡°That¡¯s true I guess¡­ It¡¯s okay? That I¡­¡±


    ¡°Hiromi. You¡¯re my first friend. And I say that as someone who literally had amnesia and only knew Jun in the whole world. You came in and made friends with me, remember? No matter what you choose to do, or choose to be, I¡¯ll always be your best choom. Even if I have to sneak into Araska tower to hang out with you at work. Or if you are my go to fixer, or just my go to couch, to crash on and play games and watch bad movies.¡±


    She started crying again.

 Chapter 36

    Hiromi eventually calmed down and we just hung out for a while as she recovered. Eventually she felt better and wiped her eyes and like a switch we were back to happy Hiromi.


    Or at least Hiromi that pretended to be happy.


    We were interrupted while Hiromi was telling me about how her online classes were when suddenly her bedroom door opened.


    ¡°Hiromi.¡±


    ¡°Mom! It¡¯s called knocking! I know you know how to do it!¡± Hiromi snapped as she sat up but didn¡¯t let go of my hand.


    ¡°We are having dinner, your father is eating with us¡­ Motoko. You are welcome to join us.¡± She offered to me her eyes hyperfocusing on me for a moment before she stepped in, approaching Hiromi and reaching down to wipe a bit at Hiromi¡¯s face with her thumb. ¡°You should wash up first. Never show them weakness Hiromi, a put together face is an armor all on its own.¡± She said before standing up and leaving without another word.


    ¡°Your mom is a little intense.¡± I whispered.


    ¡°Yeah.¡± Hiromi grumbled as sat up. ¡°But she is right, I should clean up a bit.¡± She finally pulled away from me as she rose. Stomping over to a connected bathroom. The light turning on let me see the insides of her bathroom, and I could only roll my eyes.


    It was very Hiromi.


    Tyger Claw stickers littered her mirror, and there was a ton of hair stuff that let her wear her typical mohawk. Plus piles and piles of makeup. That looked mostly unused but stacked up like towers.


    She didn¡¯t do much, just washed her face a bit to get rid of the tear tracks and she was back out, looking¡­


    Well like she had been crying a bit, but more firm. ¡°Hungry? You can delta if you don¡¯t want to deal with the ¡®rents.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll come. I haven¡¯t met your dad yet.¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah, you don¡¯t remember meeting him. That¡¯s gonna be interesting.¡± Hiromi said, sounding like it would be anything but. I followed her out of her room. Adjusting my holsters a bit to settle more comfortably as I headed into the massive dining room. A steaming dinner was already set out, with four spots. As I walked in, a pair of men wearing suits were packing up a cart that they had brought the food in on, and were heading out.


    I guess this complex was ritzy enough to have room service.


    ¡°C¡¯mon Motoko, sit here.¡± Hiromi guided me to a spot and pushed me in as she took the next closest spot, scooting her chair and food over so she was closer.


    ¡°Ah there is Hiromi¡¯s friend.¡± A slick voice called out from behind me as I turned, a man wearing a suit stepped out of an office, every piece of him perfectly in place as he walked in and patted Hiromi on the shoulder smiling in a way that seemed¡­


    Fake.


    Even Hiromi sent her dad a glare for it which he seemed to ignore. ¡°It was¡­ Motoko?¡±


    ¡°Motoko Kusanagi.¡± I introduced myself and he nodded.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. That¡¯s right, It¡¯s been years since I last saw you. Well you certainly changed your style. My dear lovely wife tells me you have been working as a Mercenary? That¡¯s a useful job.¡± He offered with a smile that was absolutely fake.


    But he was also Hiromi¡¯s dad. So I just nodded as he and his wife settled into their seats


    ¡°Yeah. I¡¯ve been doing some work with Wakako. Mostly minor stuff, some bodyguard work and asset acquisition.¡± I told him. Earning a blink from Hiromi at my words, and then Hiromi¡¯s dad started laughing.


    ¡°Asset Acquisition! An excellent way to put it! You should see what you can do for Arasaka, with that quick wit!¡± His smile didn¡¯t reach his eyes but Hiromi¡¯s mother asked Hiromi a question about her schoolwork after that and I was able to look down at the meal.


    Looked like something I would have eaten in my past life. Even if the piece of meat that looked like a chunk cut off from a roast, was definitely not Pork or Beef. It looked like it, but the taste was wrong.


    ¡°What about you Motoko? Any school in your life? Education is important for young girls, You will need it to get anywhere in life.¡± Hiromi¡¯s mother asked me suddenly as Hiromi did her best to not answer anything about her own education.


    ¡°Nothing official. I don¡¯t go to school exactly, but I¡¯m not sitting around all day. Netrunning, Tinkering, Gunsmithing. I dabble a little with everything.¡± I told her after swallowing a bite of Mashed Potatoes. Definitely not real potato. It tasted like the boxed stuff. Not terrible, and it was at least a familiar taste and texture.


    ¡°Oh? That¡¯s a diverse skillset for a girl your age. I find people that try to do everything, end up failing to do anything.¡± Hiromi¡¯s father cut in, with a smile.


    I swear I think the guy just smiled through whatever he was saying or doing just out of habit.


    ¡°I think I focus on everything in a way. I¡¯ve been interested in Robotics with my tinkering. I want to create a drone system for my¡­ Job.¡± I admit. It was something I had in mind for a while, but it was¡­ complicated. Drones in cyberpunk were amazing, but there was an issue with cost, to effectiveness. That and intelligence.


    ¡°Drones? Militech spends billions a year trying to come out with the next great Drone system. The problem always comes down to size. Make it smart enough to be useful, and the AI takes up too much room, and too much power, so their little drones always balloon in size. Or end up just another drone system needing a big truck to make it work.¡± He said with a shake of his head.


    ¡°True. I do want something closer in size to their Flathead, but that is hardly on the open market.¡±


    I took another bite of mashed potatoes, something I hadn¡¯t had since waking up in Night City, but it was the sudden silence that had me look up and notice the narrowed eyes of both adults.


    Hiromi beside me had noticed something was up, but obviously had as much of a clue as I did.


    ¡°How are you aware of a Militech experimental Drone system?¡± Hiromi¡¯s father asked casually.


    I blinked. That¡¯s right. The Flathead was an experimental item when you get one in 2077. That was why the quest was such a pain. Maelstrom stole one, from Millitech which is why you were trying to get it from them.


    That was in 2077. Two years early? It was probably still in development. Maybe not even an actualized product.


    ¡°Came across it. It sounded useful, so I¡¯ve been thinking of making something similar.¡±


    ¡°What exactly do you know about the Flathead?¡± Once again that voice of forced casualness, made me realize he was digging.


    ¡°It¡¯s small, probably remote operated. To bypass the AI size issue. Something about a camo system.¡± I tell him using my hands to give about the size of what the Flathead should be. Honestly it was the size of a smallish dog.


    ¡°Interesting. If you find out any more, or if you happen to have any concrete data, I would be happy to be informed of a competitor''s work. I would be happy to pay you for hard data.¡± He said his eyes locked on mine. He wasn¡¯t smiling.


    Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    I nodded.


    ¡°Sure. If I come across any Corpo stuff on my jobs, I¡¯ll make sure you can get a look at it. For Hiromi.¡± I answered and finished with another bite of my dinner.


    Then that fake smile was back on his face. ¡°Excellent. Looks like my dear Buttercup made a very useful friend indeed, excellent work Hiromi, and here I thought you failed your Human Resources course.¡± Her father said with a loud laugh as he swallowed a bit of his wine. Hiromi¡¯s mother was quiet just with a small fake smile on her face as well, but her eyes were sharp like a hawk.


    ¡°I did fail it Dad.¡± Hiromi muttered, irritated.


    Awkward.


    ¡ª--


    Hiromi and I hung out the rest of the day, never talking about anything serious, just playing games, or spending some time with Hiromi painting my nails.


    ¡°Even if you are full chrome now, still gotta look like a bad bitch Motoko. Besides Green an-¡±


    ¡°No Tyger Claw colors! I already have enough issues with Jun and where I am staying now.¡±


    ¡°Fiiine. Purple is more your color anyways.¡± She admitted with a grin.


    But as it grew late I did leave. Hiromi, still stuck at home, forced me to promise to call and visit more, which I assured her I would. As I walked back to the Quadra feeling kinda normal I couldn¡¯t help but smile a bit.


    Today had been nice. I mean Hiromi having a meltdown wasn¡¯t, but it was nice to be pulled away from Maelstrom. Away from the harsh reality I had been feeling since the Maelstrom kidnapping, and back towards the realization that just because bad stuff happened to me, didn¡¯t mean I had to let it control my entire life, that¡­


    That I wanted to be happy.


    I wanted to enjoy my life. I just had to accept that even through the bad things.


    I kept that little smile on my face as I made the circuitous route back towards the Dojo. Jun wasn¡¯t in the apartment when I got home, and I was tired from the emotional rollercoaster with Hiromi, so I just decided to go to sleep.


    Tomorrow would be a new day.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°So do you have it?¡± I asked. I wasn¡¯t going to hide in the apartment, nor was I going to only head out to murder people.


    I still had a life to live. That meant going shopping!


    ¡°Hmm. Interesting request, sit tight for a few minutes, let me go through my private collection.¡± Yoko said as she adjusted her round glasses. I had traveled to the Dewdrop Inn in order to find a program, but not a netrunning one.


    The thing was, Netrunners main job wasn¡¯t just throwing out quickhacks or breaking into security.


    It was data theft.


    Data was knowledge.


    And knowledge was power.


    So since I had finally unlocked Engineering, I needed something specific, something I hadn¡¯t run across.


    Turns out the reason why, was because CAD, or design programing was almost always proprietary.


    Every Corp would use its own private program, locked down, and hardcoded.


    Not that a Netrunner couldn¡¯t break into that and swipe data, but how often did they steal the entire program itself? Why bother? Netrunners aren¡¯t engineers, and the people that want the data, have their own program that they use


    So here I was, going to the only Netrunner cafe, that I really trusted. Yoko being someone at the very least that would hold data for V even after T-Bug died.


    So she was at least semi reliable.


    Hopefully.


    I looked around the room the Netrunning chairs in the back were both occupied, but they weren¡¯t anyone I knew, and I wasn''t about to go poking them. So I just sort of hung around as Yoko disappeared into the back of her shop.


    Thankfully she wasn¡¯t gone for too long.


    ¡°I have something.¡± She appeared saying putting down a shard case. ¡°Arasaka design software. Not a common piece of data, but I did have a copy.¡± She said as she slid it across the desk towards me. Hand pinning the shard case to the table. ¡°This sort of stuff has plenty of protections. Arasaka won¡¯t be happy if they ever find out you used it.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll keep that in mind. Thanks Yoko, how much do I owe you?¡±


    ¡°No no, this data? Not something eddies can buy. You wanted to be a Netrunner? We don¡¯t deal in just eddies. Information. Data. Something useful.¡± She slid down her dark sunglasses as she said it.


    Her hand was still on the shard case. Waiting.


    Fuck. I wasn¡¯t a normal Netrunner! It wasn¡¯t like I practiced by sneaking into corpo systems, stealing little bits and pieces of data!


    I was a gamer! I just grinded! But then I remembered!


    My hands instantly went to my pouches.


    Pulling out bits and bobs.


    Mostly ammo¡­


    Okay like a lot of ammo.


    One pouch for my Burya, another for my Unity¡­ Lexington.


    For my Lexington.


    I even had some shotgun shells in another, but then in that pouch I found my goal.


    A handful of shards without a case were spilled across the counter.


    ¡°There they are!¡± I said happily as I brushed the shotgun shells off the shards and pushed them towards Yoko.


    All I got was an upturned eyebrow in turn.


    ¡°I klepped these off a Maelstrom Netrunner the other night. He was solid, full gear, full setup. His security was tight. I did check them, but they didn¡¯t have what I was looking for. But it was full of his Net logs-¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll accept it.¡± She said, interrupting me, but I could tell it was more out of pity than interest. Her lips were twitching a bit despite the way she was squeezing them together a bit.


    She was laughing at me!


    ¡°I¡¯ll uh¡­ keep an eye out for data you¡¯ll like.¡± I offered. I didn¡¯t really like when people thought I was a novice. I mean I was, but only because grinding Netrunner stuff was difficult, but soon I would be amazing!


    ¡°Good. Get out of here kid. Happy Netrunning.¡± She said as she gathered up the shards. Leaving me a moment to put everything back in my pouches.


    I slipped the shard into one of my emptier pocket pouches. Tugging on it to make sure it was sealed.


    Didn¡¯t want to lose that.


    As I stepped out onto the Kabuki Roundabout I took a moment to just look around.


    It was emptier than usual, much emptier in fact, but even during a gang war Night City has to continue on. Walking around the structure to head towards where I had parked I passed some people still willing to go out and do their job, or just willing to shop.


    In fact I slowed at a little food stand and had a cup of some noodle thing in a styrofoam cup to eat out of as I continued my walk.


    Which was when I was suddenly stopped as a Mox girl stomped out in front of me. The Kitsch clothing, well what there was of it anyways. In pastel. The tattoos despite her young age, all told me she was definitely Mox.


    The glare was weird though.


    ¡°You¡¯re Nox¡¯s ¡®savior¡¯ right? Purple hair, a Leotard, and plenty of hardware. That fits you to a T.¡± She said abruptly as she practically invaded my personal space.


    I blinked looking around, noticing the girl had been at a table full of Mox, all of them looking curiously at what their friend was up to.


    It took me a moment to parse out what she had said as she forced me to switch gears from relaxing to talking.


    ¡°Wha? Nox? Yeah I know him¡­ I wouldn¡¯t really say savior though, it was just some bullying.¡±


    ¡°Well, it was kinda fucked to ghost him like that. I know he is a bit of a pain in the ass, but you could at least tell him before you blocked him or something. He¡¯s been hyping you up to the Mox, vouching for you and shit. But then you just vanish on him?¡± She hissed a bit, eyes narrowed.


    What?


    ¡°What?¡± I blinked a bit at her words trying to make heads or tails of the sudden hostility, before it came to me.


    Ah, I was being stupid.


    ¡°That¡¯s right¡­ It must¡¯ve looked like I dropped off the edge of the world.¡± I spoke the realization before chuckling a little. ¡°Listen, it''s not like that¡­ Nox is¡­ well I¡¯m not sure I would call him a friend, but he was nice enough. But with everything going on, I¡¯ve been out of touch.¡±


    ¡°Yeah whatever. Not like I really care. I just agreed to stop you if I ever saw you.¡±


    ¡°Right¡­¡± I muttered as I opened my phone system.


    I hadn¡¯t really checked my stuff, but as I pulled up the system and actually looked at it, I noticed I had plenty of messages.


    Missed calls, texts, even Voicemail alerts.


    I winced a bit. My system had updated when I first ran out of the jammer to call Hiromi, but I had been hyperfocused on my gonk friend, that I had thought would be rushing around Night City looking for me. Then I had been too distracted with the desire to kill the Maelstrom fuckers.


    I hadn¡¯t bothered to actually notice all the other messages.


    I had a few from Ichi, mostly just a few alerts on how his work had been going the first few nights of the war, but that trailed off not long after.


    I guess my lack of response had meant he stopped messaging me.


    But I had a ton from Nox.


    He was a texter.


    I had a barrage of texts that trailed off when he must have realized I wasn¡¯t responding.


    Most interestingly though was that the texts said he had a gig for me. I considered it. Would a gig from a kid that pushes BD¡¯s really be worth my time? Then I remembered two very important things.


    First, I was still mostly unknown. Wakako might have some respect for my skills, and maybe the Tyger Claws might realize I was pretty useful, but that was about it.


    Second? Side quests are fun! It¡¯s not always about the reward, or the money!


    So I opened up a text message.


    *Hey, sorry for being out of touch so long. I was under a jammer and recovering. What¡¯s this about a gig?*


    I nodded once that was done. Realizing I had been standing there right in front of all the Mox. I Waved at them trying to ignore that they were all looking at me, as I started heading back towards the car remembering to finish off my noodle cup as I went. I hadn¡¯t even made it back to my Quadra when I got a response.


    *Ringing*


    Nox was calling me, I shrugged, it would be easier through a phone call anyways.


    *Hey Nox.*


    *Motoko! I¡¯m glad you messaged me! How are you? Everything Preem? I¡¯ve been trying to reach out, you said you were recovering? You alright?-*


    *Yeah, I noticed sorry about not responding, I¡¯ve been hanging out under a jammer.* I cut in, as Nox was also apparently a bit of a blabber mouth. *Just some Maelstrom issues. I just noticed your messages. You mentioned a gig?*


    *Yes! I had this brain wave, a preem idea. The preemest! So listen, umm can you come by Lizzie¡¯s? It¡¯s way easier if I show you rather than try to explain it¡­ I guess? Is that nova? Not too pushy?*


    *Sure. I¡¯m free, I can stop by.* I agreed, side quest, get!

 Chapter 37

    Despite being midday, Lizzie''s was already busy.


    That¡¯s just Night City for you. As I pulled into a parking spot I could see Rita the bouncer throwing some drunk out of the club. The poor guy not able to fight back against the borg woman who happily tossed him on his ass onto the asphalt.


    I walked up stepping over the groaning drunk as I headed up to the door only to be stopped by Rita as she sauntered into my path.


    ¡°Nox finally found ya huh?¡± She seemed to question her eyes locked on mine.


    ¡°Yeah, I had someone let me know he was trying to get in touch.¡± I told her as I stopped, as the way she was looking told me she wasn¡¯t happy.


    ¡°We aren¡¯t the type to be pissed with avoiding someone you aren¡¯t interested in, but it¡¯s fucked not to at least let him down easy.¡± She said with a little glare. Telling me in no uncertain terms that my disappearance wasn¡¯t taken well.


    Jeez what is it with these Mox? ¡°There was nothing like that. I was out of touch because of some Maelstrom trouble. I was under a jammer. I didn¡¯t even know he was trying to contact me.¡±


    She snorted a bit but stepped aside letting me in. Thankfully it seems she wasn¡¯t taking the matter into her own hands.


    I decided to ignore every Mox¡¯s weird assumptions and just get back to business.


    Side Quest!


    I walked through the entrance without stopping at the desk. I wasn¡¯t here to buy BD¡¯s after all.


    Honestly BD stuff kinda creeped me out. The fact that you could feel other peoples emotions during a BD, rather than your own? It was like¡­


    Art that forces a perspective on you. Which was sorta weird. Imagine watching a TV show, but instead of enjoying it from your own perspective, you felt the emotions of the main character, watched from their eyes.


    It was just weird.


    One of the reasons I hadn¡¯t done any Brain Dance stuff since I woke up in Night City, normal TV and games was good enough for me.


    No need to stick other people''s emotions in my head.


    The main room was actually surprisingly full. Again the fact it was mid day seemed to have no effect on Night City debauchery.


    But I didn¡¯t see Nox.


    So I did what any gun toting merc does when you enter a bar.


    I walked up to the bartender and settled into a chair, waiting for him to finish an order before walking over.


    ¡°What can I get you?¡±


    ¡°Just information. I¡¯m looking for Nox, he asked me to meet him.¡±


    ¡°Ah. That¡¯s right, you¡¯re that one girl.¡± The bartender gave a chuckle as his eyes went yellow. ¡°I let him know, he¡¯ll be here in a minute.¡±


    I shrugged, I could have sent a text too.


    ¡°So Mox tends to be defensive about the kids¡­ Might be a good idea to let the kid down flat if you aren¡¯t interested instead of ghosting him.¡± The man offered as he wiped a glass clean.


    ¡°Wait.¡± I couldn¡¯t help but ask as I brought up my hand to the guy to stop him from saying anything further. ¡°Did Nox tell everyone that I ghosted him or something? You¡¯re the third Mox I¡¯ve met today that mentioned that.¡±


    ¡°Well less he told us, and more he has been mopin-¡±


    ¡°THANKS MATEO!¡± Nox yelled as the boy practically jumped the bar to try and shut the bartender up. ¡°Hey Motoko! Glad you made it. C¡¯mon I have something preem to show you.¡± He said glaring at the bartender who was smiling behind the teenager''s hand as waved his hands in a ¡®go on then¡¯ motion.


    ¡°Sure.¡± I offered shrugging which grabbed Nox¡¯s attention.


    ¡°Whoa. That¡¯s fresh chrome. Double full arm replacement?¡± He asked, looking curiously at my arms.


    ¡°Yeah, the reason no messages went through. I got kidnapped by Maelstrom. Ended up needing some ripper work done after. Been under a jammer for the bit. Sorry about that.¡± I explained. Hopefully the explanation would stop making every Mox I ran into tell me off for ignoring Nox.


    Seriously Suzie didn¡¯t seem to be too happy with Nox, but considering everyone''s reaction, he must be pretty loved by the Mox.


    ¡°Damn.¡± He muttered looking shocked as he took in my arms.


    But I wasn''t about to get into it right now, especially with someone I wasn¡¯t super close to. ¡°So the gig?¡±


    ¡°R-right. Yeah c¡¯mon it¡¯s this way.¡± He offered slowly seeming to come to some conclusion as he finally slipped off the bar and waved me to follow.


    We went through the back down some halls until we came to a place I actually remembered.


    Down a set of dark steps into a server room. The room that carried all the Mox¡¯s BD¡¯s probably, considering they literally ran a BD club it made sense they would need a ton of storage, and processing.


    But this was the realm of a certain character.


    ¡°Judes!¡± Nox yelled out as he hurried forward rushing into the next room as I hesitated.


    I don¡¯t know if I was ready to meet Judy!


    I¡¯d seen her naked!


    Well I mean. It was a video game but still!


    She was real here. How do you respond to someone that you¡¯ve basically seen in a porn!?


    I resisted slapping myself but only just, as I shook my head. ¡°Focus Motoko.¡± I demanded as I let cool slip over. Then I walked into the room where Nox was standing next to Judy Alvarez.


    She was¡­ Younger. It struck me then, that Judy was pretty young in 2077. Right now, she practically looked like a teenager, or only just out of it.


    ¡°Motoko! This is Judy, she is absolutely NOVA at anything tech, but she is the best BD Maestro in Night City. Don¡¯t let anyone tell you otherwise. Jude, this is Motoko, she backed me up before, didn¡¯t even try to cred me. She is running as an Edgerunner, and would be perfect for that idea I talked to you about.¡±


    ¡°Yeah I remember Nox. Didn¡¯t she ghost you?¡± Judy asked as she pulled up a BD wreath set and set it on the desk she was sitting at.


    ¡°N-no! It wasn¡¯t like that. She got into some trouble that¡¯s all¡­ Her arms weren¡¯t chrome before.¡± He offered the end quietly, practically whispering it, but I picked it up without much trouble.


    Judy¡¯s eyes shifted to me, to my arms back to him, and I could just make out through a side profile that Nox was looking¡­ Worried?


    ¡°Right moving on from that.¡± Judy grabbed her wreath and sort of pointed it at me. ¡°You know anything about Virtue?¡±


    I blinked at the random question, I opened my mouth to answer then closed it. The word was familiar, and it was on the tip of my tongue. But Judy didn¡¯t wait.


    ¡°Virtues are raw BD¡¯s unedited. The base recording. Then a BD editor like me goes through, fixes it up, gets rid of the dangerous highs, or the uncomfortable lows. Makes it usable for people.¡±


    ¡°And Judy is the best!¡± Nox offered with a grin as he sat back on the desk. ¡°But there are a lot of markets for BD¡¯s. Not just¡­ Porn.¡± He offered chuckling a little with a blush across his cheeks.


    ¡°Right. I get that¡­ So what¡¯s the gig?¡±


    ¡°Nox¡¯s idea. Wants to move into Edgerunner BD¡¯s. They are extremely popular, although usually, they are snuff films.¡± Judy offered looking at me.


    Oh!


    ¡°Oooh. You want me to record BD¡¯s?¡±


    ¡°Exactly!¡± Nox offered rushing up to me practically bouncing on his feet. ¡°You were nova when you fought Ian and his assholes. It gave me the idea see! What if we start putting out Preem BD¡¯s of Edgerunners on gigs. With the best BD editor in Night City cleaning them up, we can offer the experience to people that they can¡¯t get outside of XBD¡¯s.¡±


    ¡°Not that we expect you to do something crazy right away.¡± Judy interrupted, waving her hands a bit as she tried to calm Nox down. ¡°We don¡¯t want you doing something crazy and flatlining, but whatever is normal is fine, the goal is to sort of¡­¡± Judy trailed off as she rolled her wrist as she searched for the right word.


    ¡°My goal is to build up a catalog, and brand. Right now there aren''t really any BD¡¯s of Edgerunners working that isn¡¯t an XBD. The only BD¡¯s that come close are like Jimmy Kurosaki¡¯s Edgerunner, but those are all Cyberpsycho shit.¡± Nox said, shaking his head as Judy nodded along.


    Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    I guess the Mox had an issue with that sort of BD?


    ¡°I mean sure, sending out an edgerunner to do gigs while we record is asking for some deaths. But I want to make a BD that a normal person can enjoy, a taste of, ¡®What it''s like to be an edgerunner.¡¯ Nox said, speaking quickly and almost rambling, I could hear the excitement in his voice as he talked.


    ¡°So you want me?¡±


    ¡°Of course! You¡¯re preem! You fight really well, you¡¯re a good person, and¡­¡± Nox trailed off blushing a little as he tried to figure out what to say.


    ¡°You are good looking.¡± Judy interrupted with a smirk causing Nox to jump and glare at her. ¡°You¡¯d be surprised how many people enjoy a BD from the perspective of someone good looking.¡±


    ¡°That¡­ and the pay probably won¡¯t be great at first?¡± Nox added, looking apologetic. ¡°It¡¯s gonna cost to get everything started. Shards to store it on, Judy¡¯s services, which aren¡¯t free.¡±


    ¡°Hey I know I¡¯m good, and I already work all day doing this.¡±


    ¡°I know I know!¡± Nox offered hands up. ¡°Anyway, yeah¡­ So the pay is gonna be shit?¡± He said questioningly looking towards me.


    Ah I see.


    The real reason behind choosing me.


    ¡°I¡¯m a young Edgerunner, someone you know, and probably the only person that heard your deal and then heard the pay and didn¡¯t walk out.¡± I said, smirking myself as Judy chuckled as she seemed to watch what was happening with no intention of getting involved.


    Nox on the other hand was going red in the face from embarrassment.


    ¡°I¡­¡±


    ¡°Sure. Sounds fun.¡± I interrupted as I looked around the place. ¡°So this is your setup? Preem, Judy very preem. I don¡¯t even recognize all of this stuff.¡±


    ¡°Most of it is tweaked under the box, only the cases are standard.¡± She offered with a grin as I seemed to ignore Nox¡¯s confusion as he looked around like the world wasn¡¯t on its right axle.


    ¡°You will?¡±


    ¡°Sure. It¡¯s not like I don¡¯t already go out and take gigs. Making extra money on the side for some of them? Sounds like a good idea. Just as long as the eddies do end up in my pocket once everything has started.¡±


    ¡°Deal! I promise you won¡¯t regret this!¡±


    ¡°Cool. So what do I need to record a BD, I don¡¯t have the Cyberware for that.¡±


    ¡°Right¡­ About that?¡± Nox asked, once more wincing.


    ¡°Kid¡¯s broke, and a good BD recorder is about 500 eddies.¡± Judy interrupted with a flat response.


    I gave Nox a scowl that he looked like he desperately wanted to do something to fix before I sighed.


    ¡°I¡¯ll go talk to my Ripper.¡±


    ¡°You do that! Come around once you are chipped.¡± Judy says waving from above her chair as the woman had put back on her BD wreath and was getting back to work.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Nox said as he sort of followed me as I decided to leave Judy to her work.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. Besides¡­ It¡¯s smart.¡± I turned on him suddenly poking my finger right into his face which had him freak as he backpedaled in retreat. ¡°I respect the entrepreneurial spirit. Honestly it¡¯s a nova idea, something I can do, and it¡¯s extra eddies for something I¡¯m already doing. But Nox. I like blunt honesty more than hype. Next time if you have an idea and there is a problem just talk to me.¡±


    Then as he stood that mouth opening and closing trying to find the words I held out my hand. ¡°Partner?¡±


    His mouth clicked shut and his spine straightened out.


    ¡°Partners!¡± We shook hands and I gave him a firm nod.


    ¡°Now I¡¯m off to my ripper.¡±


    ¡°Oh! Mind if I come?¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡± I agreed. It would be nice to get to know Nox more anyways.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°Your taste in music is kinda bad.¡± Nox told me as I puffed up my cheeks a bit. He redened a bit too as his words finally seemed to reach his brain. Realizing he was being rude!


    Just because I thought the Samurai songs were still cool. It wasn¡¯t my fault! He grew up in a world where they were old before he even was born! For me they were catchy new songs, and while Silverhand was a jackass, he was a talented jackass.


    ¡°I just like what I like!¡±


    ¡°Right.¡± He muttered, trying to awkwardly end the conversation he was kinda fidgeting which I could see out of the corner of my eye thanks to my wide vision. I let it go Ididn¡¯t really feel like arguing my music preferences. Instead I found a parking spot in front of Misty¡¯s Esoterica.


    ¡°C¡¯mon this is it.¡± I told him as I slipped out of my car, watching as he looked around confused.


    ¡°I thought you said you were going to see a ripper?¡±


    ¡°I am.¡± I replied smiling as I stepped into Misty¡¯s shop and called out. ¡°Misty?¡±


    ¡°Oh is that Motoko?¡± Misty¡¯s voice called out from the back as her fluffy hair poked around the corner with the rest of her following as she stepped out I noticed the¡­ Buddhist? Statue she was carrying?


    I noticed she was struggling and instantly I was rushing up to her, easily grabbing the statue and lifting it out of her arms.


    Misty really needed to work out more, even before I got my arms, I could have lifted the statue.


    ¡°Oh! Thank you Motoko. You¡¯re pretty strong huh?¡± She asked, looking surprised as I lifted it up and I just shrugged.


    ¡°Cyberarms, and healthy exercise.¡± I gave her a response with a big smile. ¡°Where does this go?¡±


    ¡°Oh here, thank you¡­ Oh and you have a friend? Welcome to Misty¡¯s Esoterica!¡± She called out to Nox who was looking around with the same look Hiromi had on when I first brought her here. I was giggling as I placed the statue down in the place Misty wanted it.


    ¡°Is Vik in?¡±


    ¡°He is! Watching the game from what I heard when I walked past the stairs¡­ Are you okay?¡± Misty asked suddenly as she seemed to appear in my personal space and place a hand on my shoulder. ¡°You don¡¯t seem to be in any pain anymore, but¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m great Misty. Vik took perfect care of me, and I healed all up.¡± I assured her with a smile, pulling up my leotard around my shoulder so she could see the connection of Chrome and flesh.


    I let her poke her nose in for a moment before she nodded ¡°I don¡¯t see any injury. You healed quick.¡±


    ¡°Yeah well. If I¡¯m honest I was having a rough time of it at first, but I stopped trying to think of my arms as the same as my flesh ones¡­ I realized I was different now, but my ghost can¡¯t be hurt with a little metal.¡± I told her, even if it still wasn¡¯t 100%. I still had flashes of discomfort, not pain, but shoving heavy metal arms into my shoulders left me with plenty of little issues.


    But Adaptation had helped so much, I felt incredible. More¡­ Normal.


    Misty looked into my face for a moment before she nodded. ¡°I¡¯m glad. If you need some spiritual guidance¡­ I would be honored if you let me help in any way I can. I¡¯m not Vik. I can''t fix your body, but there are plenty of options to help fix your spirit. Or your ghost? I¡¯m not familiar with that belief.¡± Misty said but it was definitely a question.


    Shit did I say Ghost? Oh fuck, what do I do? I can¡¯t be honest then I would have to admit I¡¯m a fucking nerd!


    Like a super nerd!


    ¡°Ah-Eh, well, it¡¯s¡­¡± I stuttered along before Misty seemed to get my discomfort and just sort of chuckled at me¡­ No with me. I broke into a laugh along with her. ¡°I¡¯ll tell you about it sometime. It¡¯s kinda embarrassing.¡±


    ¡°I look forward to it. Hearing about different beliefs is why I opened my shop.¡± She said waving her arms a bit showing off the decor.


    ¡°So she isn¡¯t your Ripper?¡±


    ¡°No, Misty is just awesome.¡± I told Nox as Misty laughed at my response before throwing me a wink.


    ¡°I sometimes work as Vik¡¯s nurse, but I¡¯m not a ripper. C¡¯mon I¡¯ll walk you down.¡± Misty offered, threading her arm with mine. I happily joined her laughing as we walked out the back and down the steps.


    ¡°Vik? You have customers!¡± Misty called down which again made me think she was more than just a sometimes nurse.


    More like a nurse, assistant, and secretary all in one. Well plus his Landlord, as if I remembered right, she was the owner of the little basement storage that Vik used.


    Nox was frowning in the same way Hiromi did as he followed us down.


    Vik, we need to talk about your aesthetics! I couldn¡¯t help but joke in my head as the gate was unlocked and Vik saw me.


    ¡°Motoko! Glad to see you up and about, how¡¯re the arms, any weakness, flashing pains? Come sit, I¡¯ll take a look.¡± He offered instantly swiveling his chair to his ripper seat as he waved me forward.


    Could I admit that I absolutely loved these two? Vik was total dad energy, and Misty was total big sister energy.


    That¡¯s it. I¡¯m adopting them both.


    I barked out a laugh to my own thoughts confusing everyone, but I didn¡¯t care.


    I happily walked over and plopped in the chair. ¡°Vik, Nox, no Nox I refuse to introduce you using your tagline.¡± I offered at the boys pout but to my distress he interrupted.


    ¡°Nox the Mox!¡± He threw a wink at Misty which¡­


    He was cruising for a bruising flirting with Jackie''s girl¡­. Well soon to be girl I am pretty sure they weren¡¯t dating yet, at least I hadn¡¯t seen him¡­ That just meant I would have to protect her for him then! Jackie Misty OTP!


    ¡°Hmm. That¡¯s odd.¡± Vik muttered beside me, and I realized he was checking my shoulder.


    Fuck of course he would notice how fast I healed.


    ¡°Hey Misty, can you do me a favor? Take Nox upstairs for a few minutes?¡± I asked with an apologetic smile, and the boy despite being a teenager seemed to realize that I was asking her to get him out of here for a bit.


    Misty nodded once sharply. ¡°Course! C¡¯mon Nox, have you ever had your fortune read?¡±


    ¡°Umm, no. But it could be fun?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the spirit!¡± Misty offered with a grin as they headed up.


    Vik though hadn¡¯t been looking at the byplay, no he was already grabbing multiple other tools and taking a look at my shoulder very closely.


    Finally he pulled his face from the little pad he had his nose buried in, as his other hand pushed a weird probe against my shoulder scanning it.


    ¡°Motoko. How are you completely healed? There isn¡¯t even any scar tissue left.¡± He asked, his hand on the prob still.


    I opened my mouth to answer then closed it.


    I had kinda thought I would eventually be asked about all my weirdness, I just hadn¡¯t even thought about it this time. But of course Vik would notice, I could have come back in six months, and he likely still would have noticed something was weird.


    ¡°Fast Heal, or other drugs don¡¯t heal like this, completely. I would swear if asked that you were born with this chrome. Which is impossible.¡±


    I opened my mouth again, to say something, to come up with some answer that would make sense.


    I just didn¡¯t have one. Instant healing¡­ No instant perfect healing? There wasn¡¯t anything quite like it.


    ¡°I know it¡¯s weird, but I can¡¯t really explain it.¡± I decided instead. I just¡­ Didn¡¯t want to lie to him. Vik was a good person, had done me a serious favor when he fixed up my arms.


    He sat back a bit looking me over as he ran his hand over his cheeks and chin, I noticed it was not the hand covered in Ripper gear.


    ¡°You in any danger kid?¡±


    ¡°No! I uh¡­ I¡¯m safe Vik. No one knows I can heal fast. I even kept it from Jun¡­ I uh¡­ When I woke up from a coma? A year long coma, I was able to walk again in like a week.¡± I told him and I watched his eye brows come together in shock.


    ¡°Impossible.¡±


    ¡°I heal fast¡­ I can basically fully recover from just about anything with a full nights rest. Eight hours of sleep, and pop, I¡¯m good to go.¡±


    ¡°Fuck.¡± He whispered, causing me to giggle as he realized what he had said. ¡°Shit.. No wait. Sorry. Sorry Kid. Okay you can¡¯t tell me how?¡±


    ¡°I know how¡­ But I really can¡¯t talk about it. I trust you Vik, don¡¯t think I don¡¯t, I mean, you¡¯re basically my full time doctor now. But I just can¡¯t really explain it.¡±


    ¡°Healing at this level? Hell kid that would put me out of a job, in a good way. You can¡¯t tell me anything?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not transferable, and there isn¡¯t any way to copy it as far as I know.¡± I offered, actually sad at the idea. I hadn¡¯t really considered how useful Gamer Healing could be, but Vik had instantly gone to other people, about how this could help them.


    I really wasn¡¯t a hero I guess.


    ¡°Alright.¡± He took a deep breath and shook it off. ¡°If you want me to be your ripper, I¡¯m gonna need to know what this is. Maybe an overnight after an injury so I can get some scans, or figure out what is happening, it makes me nervous to do anything if I don¡¯t know how the healing process will be.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± I told him which must have surprised him at my easy agreement. ¡°I trust you.¡± I answered by giving him a thumbs up. ¡°So yeah¡­ That¡¯s my big secret. I heal fast, that''s one of the reasons why I¡¯m not afraid to work as a merc.¡±


    ¡°Well kid, for a secret, it¡¯s a hell of a big one¡­ Alright. Alright. Enough of this, Your shoulder looks great. And you obviously came here for something?¡±


    ¡°BD recorder.¡± I said laughing at Vik¡¯s surprised look before he flushed.


    Literally the guy went fully red. ¡°Kid¡­ I get you might be getting a good deal with the Mox, but maybe¡­ Is that kind of work really what you-¡±


    ¡°Vik. My friend, doctor, and someone I respect. Before you embarrass yourself anymore. The idea is to record while I¡¯m on gigs for a sort of softcore XBD release. Killing and doing Merc work, not normal Mox stuff.¡±


    ¡°Oh thank Christ.¡± He exhaled practically whooping as the air rushed out of him, but that was completely muffled by my absolute giggle fit.


    ¡°Oh also¡­ Can you check my arms? I got a bit dinged up by some Maelstrom the other night, and my right arm has this hitch when I try to-¡±


    ¡°Yeah kid, shush, I¡¯ll take care of it. Giving me a heart attack¡­¡± He grumbled but he was hiding a smirk.


    I matched him. It was nice. To be able to just¡­ Reveal the truth. ¡°Thanks Vik.¡± I whispered, feeling my eyes water a little as he took care of me. Total dad energy.

 Chapter 38

    It was a very fast procedure for Vik to install a BD recorder. I already had my Kiroshi, so I really only needed the small nodule that was added to my Neural Link. You couldn¡¯t even notice as it was just a few moments work to pop open the back of my neck where my cable ports were, install the squarish box that was software and storage for the recordings, and then close me back up.


    I think the arm was even faster, he popped me open, and just did some magic with a few tools, and the dent was fine.


    I didn¡¯t even need anesthesia. It was more hardware installation, than surgery.


    ¡°Alright left and right? No twinge? No points where your neck feels like it grinds on anything? Good. All set then.¡± Vik says as he takes his hands off the side of my neck where he was guiding my head.


    ¡°I checked out the BD recorder myself, so I trust there isn¡¯t anything hidden on it, which is a serious concern. I¡¯ve seen far too many people come in, after being blackmailed when someone gave them a recorder with a backdoor. Just make sure you keep it turned off when you don¡¯t want it on.¡±


    ¡°Got it. Thanks Vik. For everything.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t look at me like that, with those puppy dog eyes. You¡¯re a good kid. Stay alive.¡±


    ¡°I will. I can¡¯t die until I get older than you!¡± I tease as I hop off the chair, earning a deep chuckle from the man.


    ¡°Well at least I know it will be years down the line then. Go on, I bet Misty is torturing your Mox friend.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, she is pretty preem like that.¡± I said as I walked up the stairs, my waving hand the last thing Vik could see as I walked up and into Misty¡¯s.


    ¡°So what does that mean?¡± I heard as I turned the corner. Nox was sitting over an array of Tarot cards Misty had laid out.


    ¡°I told you, what it means changes depending on you. But the tarot can help guide your way, open a path. I hope it helps.¡±


    ¡°I still have no idea what it means.¡±


    ¡°It means you should listen to Misty.¡± I offered surprising both of them, I guess I had been too quiet?


    ¡°Oh Motoko, everything okay?¡±


    ¡°Yep! Vik and I just needed a talk, I¡¯m all set and chipped with a BD Recorder.¡± I tell the two earning a jerk from Misty.


    ¡°BD recorder!?¡±


    I had to bite back a giggle as Misty reacted just like Vik. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, nothing weird. I¡¯m working with Nox and the Mox, doing BD¡¯s of my merc work. Like Softcore XBD¡¯s.¡± I explain earning a wrinkled nose at my words but eventually she nodded.


    ¡°You¡¯ll be safe?¡±


    ¡°Course! All it means is that I¡¯ll have a chance to make more eddies for each gig I do.¡± I said as I jerked my head at Nox. ¡°You ready to go? Judy needed to set up some stuff first right?¡±


    ¡°Yeah! Awesome! Jude¡¯s gonna be shocked you got chipped so fast¡­ Thanks for uh, paying for it.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, Everything after this is the easy part for me, I¡¯m just gonna do my normal jobs, you¡¯re the one who has to sell them.¡± I say, laughing even though he was looking at me like I was crazy.


    Why did everyone always look at me like that?


    ¡ª--


    ¡°Back already?¡± Judy¡¯s voice called out as we walked down into her little lab.


    ¡°Yep! Jude, Motoko got chipped! You ready?¡±


    ¡°Sure sure.¡± The girl said digging a shard out of her desk and pushing it into her computer before running a program. My eyes caught the shifting text as she typed, and I realized she was setting up a program for a BD recorder.


    I walked up as she worked, and while I wasn¡¯t perfect I was able to follow along with the program. It made me relax a bit realizing it was mostly about how much data on what to store.


    ¡°You don¡¯t like the BD recorder''s standard settings?¡±


    ¡°Nope, they are slop, We¡¯ve been making so many BD¡¯s we¡¯ve designed our own adjustments. You don¡¯t mind?¡± She asked not looking away from the computer as she worked.


    ¡°I¡¯m not seeing anything that can activate the recorder when I don¡¯t want it on. Mostly just sensitivity settings for emotions, and increased bandwidth for my vision?¡±


    ¡°About right! Standard BD virtues aren¡¯t meant for high quality optics like those Kiroshi. They can let me increase the quality a good bit, will let me pick out more interesting things on the virtue as I edit it.¡±


    ¡°Cool.¡± I whispered, earning a snort from the older girl.


    ¡°You sound like my Grandmother.¡± She said suddenly, actually looking at me with a half smile. ¡°Nobody says cool anymore.¡±


    ¡°I do.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s kinda¡­ Lame.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m bringing it back!¡± I argued instantly, how could anyone think ¡®cool¡¯ wasn''t cool slang!? It was cool!


    Judy actually broke into a husky laugh then both arms holding her stomach as she chortled almost crying as I pouted at her.


    ¡°Oh choom, that¡¯s funny!¡± She finally managed to stop laughing long enough to say as she went back to typing just with little giggles breaking in now and then. I pouted harder as I turned to Nox who was pointedly not looking at me.


    Oh it¡¯s on. I¡¯m now making it a duty to say Cool at least once on every one of these stupid BD recordings, just to prove it wasn¡¯t lame.


    Take that!


    ¡°Here.¡± Judy finally said throwing the shard at me, and I slotted it, I did run a double check that there was nothing malicious.


    I was fairly certain Judy wouldn¡¯t pull a fast one, but it was just good ideas to check random software.


    It looked fine to everything I could see, and I let it update my BD recorders settings.


    ¡°Preem. So next time I take a gig I¡¯ll turn on the recording and bring you the¡­ Virtue?¡±


    ¡°You got it. Raw BD¡¯s are Virtues.¡± Judy confirmed, before she suddenly shooed me away. ¡°Now both of you get out of here, I still have a lot of work to do, Nox take your Output upstairs have some fun or something.¡±


    ¡°Motoko isn¡¯t my Output! Judy!¡±


    ¡°Hahahaha!¡± She cackled ignoring Nox¡¯s frantic denials.


    Aww she was teasing him. That¡¯s cute.


    ¡ª---


    ¡°Umm here?¡± Nox offered me as he settled a drink onto the table in front of me. He had led me up and offered a seat then ran off to grab a drink.


    Thankfully I had made sure to mention I don''t drink alcohol. So I had a can of some lemony soda.


    ¡°Thanks.¡± I agreed as I popped the tab. ¡°It¡¯s pretty impressive, coming up with the idea of Edgerunner BD¡¯s.¡±


    ¡°Oh well. I¡¯ve always wanted to sell my own BD''s, you know? I came up with the idea after selling an XBD to a guy, he ended up showing up the next day, he had puked his guts out, asked if there was anything actiony like that with just less¡­¡±


    ¡°Cyberpsycho?¡±


    ¡°Exactly. Edgerunners are super popular you know? Everyone can talk about Blackhand, or Rogue! But not many can actually experience that. So I thought about trying to find an Edgerunner, to talk about my idea with. I was trying to find someone just you know as a side thing when I ran into you.¡±


    ¡°And you decided to ask me after seeing me have a fist fight with a couple kids? One I didn¡¯t win?¡±


    ¡°Please Ian¡¯s actually pretty nasty hand to hand, there is a reason I was on the ground, but I mean¡­ You¡¯re my age, already a merc. You walk the walk, talk the talk. It made me realize I don¡¯t need to start at the top. Plus you¡¯re my age, do you have any idea how many kids our age want to be an Edgerunner? To experience life as a merc even second hand? From someone their own age? That¡¯ll be a rush.¡±


    You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    ¡°I can see it.¡± I agreed taking a sip from my drink. ¡°So I guess it¡¯s in my corner now. I¡¯ll need to find a gig, or just go out and find some trouble to record.¡± My words made Nox wince a bit.


    ¡°Sorry. To put everything in your lap.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine. Like I said, this is a good idea. It could be fun, I¡¯ve never been a movie star before¡­ BD star? No, that kinda has certain connotations.¡± I muttered causing Nox to snort into his drink.


    ¡°BD stars are a thing too. Of the non-porn style.¡± He offered and I chuckled nodding, there was a big BD studio here in the city too. That¡¯s where they did that fucking crucifixion questline¡­


    Right. Night City was fucked up.


    ¡°Alright. I suppose I should get to work then. I¡¯ll reach out to Wakako and see if she has anything¡­ Or I could go hunt some Maelstrom.¡± Nox winced at that and quickly put his drink down.


    ¡°Maybe something less¡­ dangerous?¡±


    ¡°Eh. Maelstrom are pretty easy. Most of the time their guys are watching TV, or mid BD. It¡¯s super easy to kill someone when they are in the middle of a BD.¡± I say making the motion of slicing their throat that at this point was practically rote to me.


    ¡°R-right. That easy?¡±


    ¡°Oh sure. They are so distracted they never notice. Scavs are that way too. Always a couple in the middle of some BD relaxing while the others work. The first time I went into a Scav nest I killed two of them that way.¡± I offer making sure not to mention it wasn¡¯t just my first Scav nest, but my only one. Didn¡¯t want him to think I was some noob or something. Seriously, only one Scav Den? That was pretty noobish I think. Rookie numbers Motoko.


    Nox just sort of nodded along with me as I explained how easy it was murder someone in the middle of a BD.


    ¡ª--


    Leaving Nox at Lizzie¡¯s after we hung out for a while, I decided I might as well see what was going on with Wakako. I hadn¡¯t heard from her since the whole kidnapping thing. Which surprised me, I expected her to reach out at some point for a job.


    So I drove home.


    Driving down the street next to the apartment I looked around as I slowly rolled down the road. It was quiet. The old man that usually ran the food cart next to the entrance of the apartment was gone.


    The streets were¡­ quiet. It made me sad. I actually kind of liked the density of Night City, to be able to just walk amongst a horde of people.


    I kept going. I wasn¡¯t going to stop at the apartment. I was here to see Wakako. I drove down and parked on the street outside Jig-Jig street. As I walked through the darkened area I couldn¡¯t help but chuff out a laugh.


    A gang war going on. The normally full streets practically empty and nearly barren.


    Jig-Jig street? As busy as ever. Shaking my head I walked past the dolls that were still offering services, past the Johns that were flirting and paying for services. Past the people that wandered to different stalls buying and selling.


    I noticed plenty of guards hanging around. My Kiroshi punching through the dark corners between the shops seeing men in suits, or just gangsters hanging around keeping an eye out.


    I guess Wakako was well protected.


    I entered her Pachinko parlor, again wondering about her choice of venue.


    ¡°Get in here girl. Stop wasting my time.¡± Wakako called out as I walked in, as usual not waiting for me to check if she was free.


    The woman as usual was sitting back in her chair cigarette smoke haloing her as her TV ran some ancient broadcast of a show that was probably coming out when I would have been alive in my last life.


    ¡°Long time no see Wakako. How are you?¡± I said not sure what else to say.


    She of course wasn¡¯t enthused about my greeting.


    ¡°Sit down girl. I¡¯m not pleased with you. Joining the Kamikaze? Foolish, a waste of your ability. I pay more.¡±


    I opened my mouth closed it. Frowned, then rose a finger. ¡°I didn¡¯t though?¡±


    An elegant eyebrow rose up, and a moment later her eyes turned gold.


    A text was sent with a picture.


    Oh, it was a picture of me standing with Jun after the assault we did on the Maelstrom armory.


    ¡°I hold off on sending you any jobs after your unfortunate assault. Giving you time to recover and then you join up with those fools?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t join them, not really, the one next to me is Jun my brother. He was being all overprotective after the kidnapping, so I went on that raid to prove I could handle myself¡­ It didn¡¯t really work, but I ran out after and hit another Maelstrom group on my own, and Jun¡­ You don¡¯t care.¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°Right, I¡¯m not a part of Kamikaze. Terrible name by the way.¡±


    She hummed a little as her sharp eyes kept locked on mine, but I wasn¡¯t about to flinch, I was telling her the truth.


    Besides she was dangerous in a way, but I think she was actually pretty nice when you get past all the necessary harshness of living in Night City.


    ¡°Fine.¡± Her eyes went gold again and I blinked as she sent me like three different messages. ¡°I¡¯ve been forced to hold onto these gigs for longer than I would have liked. Complete them.¡±


    I blinked looking at the three different gigs she had sent me reading through them quickly, all of them were pretty much the same.


    Go to a place, steal something bring it to Wakako.


    Easy really, but there was a complication.


    ¡°If that¡¯s all.¡± She dismissed me, but I didn¡¯t get up.


    ¡°Question.¡±


    Her narrowed eyes prompted me to quickly get on with it. ¡°I¡¯ve picked up a side gig, I¡¯m recording my gigs for BD release through the Mox¡­ I just want to make sure none of them are sensitive, and a BD of me doing this won¡¯t cause trouble for the client¡­ Or you.¡±


    My question actually surprised her. Her face didn¡¯t shift, her body didn¡¯t move, she gave nothing away. But the fact she didn¡¯t have an instant answer like always told me a lot. Finally she nodded.


    ¡°Foolish, but I don¡¯t argue with fools. A week. Don¡¯t release the recordings for a week. For these three gigs. You will ask before recording any gig I give you in the future.¡±


    ¡°Will do!¡± I offered flashing a smile, and ignoring her remarks about me being a fool. It wasn¡¯t about being smart or stupid! It was about doing something cool!


    I stood then wandering back out into Jig-Jig street.


    I guess I had some jobs to do?


    ¡ª--


    The first job was childishly easy.


    Megabuilding H1 looked just like all the Megabuildings, just more run down since it was the oldest.


    I headed up to floor 15, found the correct apartment number, and unlocked the door with practically a glance.


    The standard security system on the door, was as useless as a door with a key sticking out of it. I walked in, boots utterly silent as I walked past the guy in the middle of enjoying a BD on his couch, walked over to his computer, grabbed the shard that was sticking out of the side of it, confirmed it was the right one with the verification program Wakako had given me and walked back out.


    Gig complete. Poor security made it childsplay.


    I did record the whole thing but I doubt anyone would get any enjoyment out of it. It only lasted like thirty seconds.


    Then I moved on.


    Next job was in 6th St. Territory. A guy was hiding out there, in a gang house, paying 6th street to keep him safe.


    I wasn¡¯t there to kill him though. Wakako¡¯s gig workup explained some bare bones. Guy had blackmail on his boss, Boss wanted the blackmail taken care of.


    So my job was to find the information, ensure it was recovered.


    Normally it would be deleted but Wakako wanted the data. Not my business.


    I pulled over a block away. The gang house was in a suburban area of run down homes. I walked down the next street over. It wasn¡¯t hard to check a map and find the number of the house directly behind the gang house.


    Once I found it I simply walked right through the small gated backyard.


    It wasn¡¯t like people had dogs anymore.


    I stilled at that, realizing that was true.


    I really wanted to pet a puppy¡­


    I shook it off. Work now, sad realization later.


    I climbed the fence only after looking over it and making sure no one was hanging out in the back or had a camera setup.


    Nothing, I climbed over the fence in seconds drawing on my inner Jackie Chan, smiling as I managed to climb the fence just like he would as I went completely cold and hurried to the house.


    Mission recommended complete stealth. Apparently the boss wanted the guy trying to blackmail him to be alive to realize his plan fell through.


    Honestly I didn¡¯t know who was the good guy here. Was the boss cruel? Evil? Was his worker trying to steal money that didn¡¯t belong to him?


    I had no idea. Nor did I really care. I wasn¡¯t a hero.


    I slipped in through the back door noticing the living room to my right was occupied, a TV going and a few people talking to each other making fun of the show. I walked past the open door without them noticing, heading for the upstairs.


    I was half way up the stairs when I felt it. That shiver up my spine.


    Danger sense.


    I leapt off the stairs landing without even a scrape on the tiled floor as I slipped into a closet at the foot of the stairs.


    The steps coming down the stairs I tracked with my ears as a new voice joined the two in the living room.


    I slipped out. Continued on my path up the stairs. Two doors, I checked one, looking under the door jam, nothing I could see or hear, I stood and just barely opened the door.


    Empty room.


    I slipped inside. Looking to see if my target was inside. The bedroom was a wreck, I instantly realized it wasn¡¯t the right one. This room was well lived in. My target had only just started staying with them. I checked the hall and slipped out, moving to the next room, I slipped inside once I checked it. Empty. But this one had the marks of someone having moved stuff around just recently. The computer on the desk was new.


    No dust.


    No lucky shards sticking in this time, but that was fine, I pulled out the cord from my neck and plugged it in.


    ICE.


    I blinked as the system resisted, desperate to keep me out. It actually gave me some difficulty. The ICE on this laptop was a bit more powerful than the defenses of a Vending machine.


    Hell it was tougher than the security system the Netrunner Maelstrom had!


    I frowned as I found myself actually needing to fight against it. I could keep it from sending any sort of alert, as it was just a mindless system not backed up by a Netrunner defending it, but it was still¡­


    Tough. Where the hell had this guy even found this level of ICE? I frowned realizing I might actually take some time to get through this. It seems the reason this guy managed to steal this info from his boss was probably because of his netrunning skill¡­


    Hmmm.


    I could steal the computer, but without breaching in, I had no way to know if there was a backup. So I looked away for a moment and prepared myself in case I needed to delta.


    Window open, path free, and the computer unhooked from a power supply, and ready to be snatched and grabbed.


    Then I refocused on the digital defenses and got to work.


    Security code blasted through my vision as I breached and breached, each wall of ICE seemingly more dense than the last, over and over, I broke through.


    I could see the alerts for both Breach and Intelligence flowing through, as I fought against the defense.


    Damn, if I had known how much experience I could get from something like this, I would have bought a ICE program myself just to break it.


    Still I kept focused even as minutes passed, as the noise from downstairs continued.


    I just had to hope they were occupied.


    Finally something changed.


    *Breach Protocol skill level up!*


    I felt the inrush of instincts and knowledge, and my work went even faster. Tricks the ICE threw up that stymied me, now only slowed me for a moment, as my mind worked through problem after problem.


    *Intelligence Leveled up!*


    The alert came in, Intelligence 5, and if I was doing anything else I wouldn¡¯t have noticed change.


    But this time I did. Considering I was literally solving difficult equations, puzzles, and general issues the ICE was programmed to throw up.


    But with Intelligence? Came clarity. Came simplicity.


    The speed of me facing a new problem, and then putting forth the correct solution increased. Less wondering, less confusion, less brute force.


    I blinked.


    The computer was displaying its desktop. I was in.


    Seconds later I had confirmation. The file I was looking for was there, and it hadn¡¯t been copied, at least according to the metadata.


    Target acquired.


    I closed the laptop down, and used my already prepared getaway. I was out the window, landing in the backyard, and across the short fenced off area in moments.


    Then I was on the other street, and more than capable of just walking casually to my car.

 Chapter 39

    The third job involved stealing something¡­


    Wakako¡­ is this going to be a theme? Problem was I had to steal something from someone rich. I parked down the street from my target at a little shopping area. Grabbed some dinner and looked at the skyscraper that my target lived in.


    This corpo was rich, had security, and owned a weird statue that my client wanted. I read through the mission brief again, shaking my head that I was literally stealing some fancy art piece for another rich guy to crow about.


    Problem? This was a secure building. Like Hiromi¡¯s home, but even more fancy. There would be serious security including actual people to keep everyone out.


    So I needed to figure out a way through all of that, into the guys apartment, find the object, steal it, and escape without any issues.


    I could do that¡­ Probably?


    I walked past the entrance of the building, scanning everything inside and checking what the bottom floor security was like.


    It was tough. A receptionist. Two LMG turrets hidden in the roof. And a camera over the receptionist''s head.


    The building was pretty big though, it had tons of little shops on the bottom floor. Rather than rush in, I decided to actually look around, a walk around the block to scope out the area.


    There was a little alleyway cut into the side of the building with loading docks, and garbage dumpsters.


    But it had a security camera watching over it. Of course.


    ¡°This is gonna be annoying.¡± I muttered as I completed my circuit. I had a few options, but none of them were very appetizing.


    So I started poking. I walked to the alleyway and did something I hadn¡¯t used yet. I breached into the camera from afar using the Breach Quickhack instead of the direct function, then once its systems were under my control? I turned it off. With that done I hid between a few dumpsters to see what would happen. If the security system was in any way well designed someone would come out to check on the downed camera¡­


    Right?


    I breached their system, and I wasn¡¯t elegant about it, surely it would send an alert to their security room and someone would come take a look.


    Right?


    An hour later I felt utterly irritated.


    What is this security!? Their system gets hacked and they just ignore it!?


    I got up and stomped towards the rear door.


    It had a keypad that I poked my cord into and started breaching.


    It popped open.


    ¡°Mother fucker!¡± I hissed. This security was fake! It was radioshack level shit that someone had screwed in place to make the security seem tighter!


    It was like those old padlocks you could just smack with a hammer and have them pop open. The image of security more than the fact.


    I went cold as I stepped in. Fine, they have shit security, just makes my job easier¡­ Even if I could still smell the trash I had been sitting next to for the last hour.


    The back room was a loading area probably for the entire building, and not just the apartments.


    It was also thankfully empty. With a few doors leading out, I started checking them.


    Broom Closet, Kitchen, Main hallway, I could see the main street I had first walked up to the building from. And the elevators.


    I smiled as I walked out of the back room, no one even looking my way and the only camera in the area in the front room not even looking at the elevators.


    I pushed the request and it denied me.


    Ah, stupid thing needed a passkey¡­


    I thought about snooping around a bit, I bet I could find a few extra pass shards, in the lobby or something, but I just pulled out my cord and plugged it in.


    The elevator opened up.


    When I finished this job I was going to send a complaint about this building''s security. This wasn¡¯t even fun.


    I pushed the eight on the touchpad, and waited as it took me up. The target had a private floor for his home, so once I was up there, security might be harder. Might actually give me a challenge.


    The elevator opened and I could already hear voices.


    The elevator opened into a small entrance lobby, with a single door leading into the apartment. I peeked out of the elevator, searched for cameras quickly before walking out of the elevator.


    Nothing.


    The door had a little code lock just like the building''s back door.


    I frowned, sticking my cord inside I breached.


    The door clicked open.


    I was glad I was feeling cold right then, because that was so dumb. You live in Night city! Why don¡¯t you have security!?


    I slipped inside. Two voices.


    A male and a female. Head on a swivel I kept searching for any security, There was actually an HMG turret recessed into the floor in the first room¡­


    But it was off, and manually controlled from what my scan was showing. So I didn¡¯t have to worry about it unless the owner noticed me.


    I walked past it, started scanning everything looking for the object that Wakako¡¯s Client wanted.


    Nothing in the front lobby, I slipped a peek towards the¡­ Kitchenette? No a bar. The apartment owner had company¡­ I think that was a Doll. Or a Joytoy. She reminded me of Evelyn Parker from the game. Similar style, very neokitsch.


    Definitely an escort. I looked away, that should keep them busy for a bit. I slipped past the open door to the long hallway and started checking rooms. First room was a small office. A laptop called me, but it wasn¡¯t what I was here for. Next room was an entertainment room, a big couch, a large TV, even a BD wreath on a table.


    Guy liked his fun.


    But not my target. Stupid little statue thing!


    I had to slowly maneuver myself upstairs thankfully just out of sight from the bar, and started checking the rooms up there. Interestingly, the first room I checked was a massive bathroom, like huge. A pool more than a bathtub.


    If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    Instant jealousy. I wanted a massive hot tub bathtub! I pouted, I didn¡¯t even have time to look around it, no statue, so I slipped out to the next room.


    As I was about to open the door I heard them.


    ¡°C¡¯mon Hellena, let me show you something.¡± I stilled waiting. Were they coming up or staying on the ground floor?


    The moment I heard a foot step on the stairs I got my answer. I slipped into the room I was about to enter and slowly inched the door shut then I turned around.


    ¡°Fuck.¡±


    Bedroom.


    I glanced around, I needed a hiding spot. Bed? No it was a massive thing that was attached to the floor. Doors? Two, one definitely attached to the bathroom.


    I checked the other one, slipping into the closet. It was a walk-in closet, practically a room on its own. Tons of clothes on hangers and shoes. It smelled like a store.


    I just inched the door shut when the bedroom door opened.


    Giggling and whispered nothings.


    Oh.


    Eww.


    I sighed silently as I heard the bed start creaking.


    This was going to be a while.


    It was not a while.


    Ten minutes later, both of them were breathless although I could tell the Joytoy was faking it, and they both got up and slipped into the bathroom.


    Thank fuck the guy didn¡¯t have a Mr. Studd.


    Once I was sure they were both in the bathroom and its stupid massive pool bathtub, I slipped out of the closet.


    The statue wasn¡¯t here.


    I slipped out into the hallway without a sound and looked around. Now that they were in one room, I could check around.


    It didn¡¯t take long. The statue was on a little cabinet in the room with the bar. I hadn¡¯t been able to see it from the entrance.


    I checked it for security.


    Nothing. I grabbed the damn thing and headed for the elevator, wanting to stomp the whole time.


    I was glad that was over.


    ¡ª--


    I pulled up to Jig-Jig street having cooled off a bit.


    Seriously, how can they allow such poor security!?


    I walked into Wakako¡¯s parlor arms full of stuff as I walked into her office.


    As usual she was already waiting for me, her eyebrow raised as she saw my arms full.


    ¡°Here is everything.¡± I told her placing the statue in front of her, along with the laptop, and a shard in a row. ¡°Also you would think better security systems would be important in Night City, but people really don¡¯t focus on it.¡± I vented to Wakako.


    ¡°Netrunners are required to stop another netrunner. Usual policy is to hire guards if you want something protected.¡± She offered, surprising me as she actually responded to my whining.


    I blinked at Wakakos response.


    ¡°Makes sense I guess.¡±


    ¡°Good work.¡± She finally offered, examining all three items on her desk. ¡°Your death would have been a pointless waste. Don¡¯t allow yourself to be taken by surprise again. It¡¯s irritating to find someone capable of doing a job without bullets involved.¡±


    ¡°Thanks?¡±


    She nodded, eyes suddenly glowing gold as a huge amount of eddies was dropped into my account.


    ¡°Pay for the gigs, and the bonus for all three. Get out of here, I¡¯ll let you know when I have another gig ready for you.¡± She said waving me off, but again I didn¡¯t run away instantly.


    ¡°Thanks Wakako. I¡¯ll make sure to be safe.¡± I tell her with a smile earning a scoff as she waves me off.


    Wakako didn¡¯t want to admit it, but she had actually seemed worried about me. Old Dragon Lady she might be, but she wasn¡¯t terrible.


    Probably.


    ¡ª--


    I flopped onto the couch at the Dojo apartments tired.


    ¡°What have you been up to all day?¡± Jun asked quietly as he turned down the volume of the TV he was watching. The news oddly enough.


    ¡°Well I went out to get some design software¡­ I want to make some robot stuff. It¡¯s a long term project. I picked that up, then I ran into the Mox, which¡­ Did I tell you about Nox?¡±


    ¡°Nox¡­ Is that a gang?¡±


    ¡°No Not the-... Nox is a Mox. Total nerd. I met him rescuing him from some jerks trying to steal the BD¡¯s he was trying to sell.¡± I tell him as I lay on my back on the couch my arms waving above me as I speak. ¡°Anyway I hadn¡¯t talked to him since before the kidnapping, and I ran into a Mox girl that was annoyed that I had ghosted her friend¡­ So I called him up, met up with him, and he offered me a gig.¡±


    ¡°A kid selling BD¡¯s offering you a job? What does he want you to sell BD¡¯s too? Absolutely not.¡±


    I opened my mouth.


    I closed my mouth.


    I knew exactly what it would sound like if I said what I was about to say. Twice already I had gotten to surprise people with it.


    I should rephrase it.


    I should be clear when I speak.


    But where is the fun in that? Third times the charm!


    ¡°He wanted me to make BD¡¯s for the Mox and I agreed.¡± I felt my lips twitching. Despite myself not even Cold Blood 7 could stop me from almost laughing at the look on Jun¡¯s face.


    First it was a nod, like hearing me doing something other than merc work was good. Then his nodding head stilled as my words registered.


    ¡°NO!¡± He shouted raising up and reaching out to grab at me, I let him his hands wrapping around my shoulders. ¡°ABSOLUTELY NOT!¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help it.


    The look on his face!


    I burst out into laughter, the noise absolutely ripping itself out of me. As Jun pinned me to the couch.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry! I¡¯m sorry!¡± I laughed practically crying as I felt Jun¡¯s hands loosen up realizing I was messing with him.


    ¡°Don¡¯t joke about that stuff!¡±


    ¡°Sorry sorry!¡± I gasped deep breaths finally seeing Jun¡¯s angry face through my tears as I wiped them away. ¡°It¡¯s kinda true though. Just said in the worst way possible. I¡¯m going to be recording BD¡¯s while I am doing mercenary gigs. Basically when I work with Wakako, who is a slave driver by the way, she threw THREE gigs in my face today! I had to do all three of them back to back I¡¯m-¡±


    ¡°What do you mean, recording BD¡¯s!? Focus on the important part, Imouto.¡± He demanded shaking me a little making me giggle.


    ¡°Alright, sorry, anyway, The idea is to sell BD¡¯s of me doing merc stuff, like XBD¡¯s but cleaner. No Cyberpsycho stuff that everyone buys, but just clean gigs giving people a taste of what it¡¯s like. I mean, I¡¯m a teenager so the hope is that kids will be interested in it.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡± He stopped whatever he was about to say. ¡°Just be careful about that. If someone finds out you were the one to rob them, or kill their buddy, they might¡­¡±


    ¡°Yeah. I¡¯ve been thinking about that. I¡¯m gonna talk to Judy. Judy is the Mox¡¯s BD Maestro. About making sure any direct visuals of me are left out. Let people just feel what it¡¯s like. I wonder¡­ Can you mess with a BD so any reflections would look like the user''s face?¡±


    Jun gave me a look before flicking my forehead. ¡°Do I look like I know anything about BD editing? But you should ask, if that¡¯s possible, it¡¯ll keep you a lot safer.¡± He said and pulled me up from where I was laying on the couch to pull me into a hug. I snuggled in a little, liking the affection even if his arms still sucked.


    ¡°You really need to get some Real Skinn¡­ Go see Vik.¡± I grumbled at him poking him in his stupid plastic abs which of course didn¡¯t do much.


    His arm clamping down on me until I could barely breathe in retaliation.


    ¡°J-erk.¡± I gasped out.


    ¡°Ah, if only my Imouto was cute.¡±


    ¡°B-ich, ¡®m Dorable!¡± I countered barely audible as I struggled to get away from his stupid gorilla arm.


    Stupid gorilla!


    Finally he let me go and I kicked him a few times before we settled back in to hang out and watch the news.


    ¡ª---


    Considering I was all ¡®caught up¡¯ on Wakako¡¯s jobs, I had some time on my hands.


    I found myself tapping my fingers together considering.


    Revenge.


    It feels good. Satisfying. To do harm to someone that harmed you. But it¡¯s not an easy thing to do. I still wanted that Spider Ripper to die. That Maelstrom Bastard needed to lose a few of his limbs.


    But how much effort was I going to give to them? How much of myself was I going to give over to the task of hunting them?


    If I had asked myself before the adaptation, I wouldn¡¯t have even listened, just made plans to keep killing them. I was so angry. So hurt.


    The Adaptation didn¡¯t fix me. Didn¡¯t fix the problem. I still had that burning hatred in my stomach.


    Yet¡­


    I breathed in and out.


    I wanted to live. I wanted to have fun! I wanted to be lazy sometimes!


    Revenge was surprisingly tedious. You had to keep that burning hatred lit at all times, because if you started letting it burn out, you started realizing it was kinda pointless to be that obsessed.


    So yes. I would hunt that Spider Ripper. And the Bastard. I would murder them. Hell I would torture them, if I had the time. Because in the end I¡¯m not a hero. Not a good person.


    But I wouldn¡¯t exist to do it. I wouldn¡¯t spend my life around killing them. They had already taken my arms.


    They wouldn¡¯t take my life.


    With that I nodded. It was enough. Something I could accept. That caused that urge to go kill Maelstrom to ease off. To let other things take the stage.


    So since I didn¡¯t feel like murder right now, I decided to settle in and work on some skills.


    With my CAD program, and a laptop that I removed any remote access from by physically tearing out the ¡®wi-fi¡¯ connections. I had an off the grid system, that I could pull up Arasaka¡¯s CAD system.


    Then I learned that just because I have some knowledge about engineering, doesn¡¯t mean I¡¯m any good at it.


    Robotics wizard helped a little despite being more about putting together robots. But even then.


    ¡°That¡¯s not gonna work.¡± I grumbled at myself, looking at the Tachikoma Prototype design.


    ¡°If I actually built this, I would have to immediately put it out of its misery.¡± I told myself as I grimaced at just how bad it was.


    Designing a robot was¡­ Complicated.


    At least I was getting Engineering Alerts really consistently from it.


    So I went back to the drawing board.


    ¡°Let¡¯s just work on a limb to start us off.¡± I muttered as I designed to narrow my focus for a bit. The triple fingered Tachikoma limb, that could shoot, and extend out was impossible considering I wasn¡¯t building a SUV sized armored support system.


    Instead I was thinking¡­ A bit smaller to start out. I still remember how useful the Flathead was in the game, even if you only get it for the one mission, what would some of the missions be like if you had a small army of them that were also AI?


    AI.


    I hadn¡¯t considered that problem yet. I could probably design a remote control version of them¡­ Eventually.


    But an AI? I didn¡¯t have a lot of knowledge on how to even design one, but I knew the hardware requirements of an AI were crazy high. I mean Delamain¡¯s AI was housed in a massive room sized core.


    A robot that didn¡¯t even reach my knees couldn¡¯t possibly reach that point. Even if I programmed the AI to be incredibly efficient.


    ¡°Motoko.¡± Jun suddenly called out pulling my head away from the screen as I peek up over the couch where I had made a little nest for myself.


    ¡°Jun-Nii?¡±


    ¡°There is another raid tonight¡­ You¡­ You can come.¡± He told me hesitating a bit at the reveal.


    I blinked.


    I didn¡¯t want to go murder Strom right now! I wanted to design robots! Stupid Jun!


    But at the same time. I could use the XP, and¡­ My head was clearer. I didn¡¯t need to rush in and kill every Strom myself. Even if it¡¯s only a kill or two, that¡¯s still making an improvement. Levels will come.


    Then I remembered!


    ¡°Sure! I¡¯ll bring my Nekomata!¡± I called out suddenly eagerly! I could shoot tons of people through walls while the Kamikaze ran around like bulls in a china shop!


    Jun actually suddenly looked pleased. ¡°Good! Get ready!¡± He ordered pointing firmly as he turned away looking pleased.


    I guess Jun was happy to keep me away from the fight. But he was silly. I would have happily stayed home tonight.

 Chapter 40

    I really should have stayed home tonight.


    We had gone out to hit a Maelstrom attack. Apparently, someone had managed to get information that the Strom were going to hit a Tyger Claw business, specifically a little gun shop that supplied quite a few Tyger Claws with firearms.


    So Kamikaze were sent to take out the attack. What that entailed was everyone piling into four cars in a nearby alley and being as quiet as possible as we waited.


    Which meant putting a group of budding Cyberpsychoes into close proximity to each other with the anxiety of future conflict.


    I was with Jun and Akari again and just with that, I was ready to kill someone. Akari was getting snippy. Jun was surprisingly handling his anger really well.


    Honestly he was handling Akari poking him with her sharp feet, or continuously trying to turn on the radio over and over despite all of us supposed to be quiet really well.


    I however was not.


    Akari kept pushing her passenger seat back into me, and whenever I moved behind Jun she would start trying to poke ME with her feet blades.


    I was half a minute away from bashing my Nekomata in the back of her head to get some peace, when both Jun and Akari stilled.


    I glanced around the seat, both of their eyes were yellow.


    I rolled my eyes at not being included and just leaned back Jun would tell me what the call was about.


    ¡°Alright, the Maelstrom trucks are a minute out. Get ready.¡± Jun said and I nodded.


    Then I instantly opened the door to Jun¡¯s shock.


    ¡°Motoko?¡± He whispered at me as I climbed out.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be on the roof. I¡¯ll wait for you guys to start attacking before firing.¡± I tell them, pointing to the old buildings we were parked between, I could get up onto the roof and have an overwatch position. If you were willing to do a couple of tricky leaps.


    I stuck the Nekomata over my shoulder and rushed away before Jun could say anything else.


    I was honestly needing my own space. Akari was fun in short doses.


    Short doses.


    I tightened my gloves as I started climbing up the building. Sliding from a dumpster to an AC unit, then along the window ledge to jump to the next floor, where I grabbed an overhand and climbed up with a bit of effort.


    Parkour made it a simple process of just pulling myself up after a jump each jump and leap climbing me higher and higher in the shortest time.


    Then I was on the roof, and I hurried to overlook the Tyger Claw shop. Crouching up to the edge, I pulled off my Nekomata and started checking it over. Gun Nut already told me it was fine, but knowing, and ¡®Knowing¡¯, are two different things. Loaded, with the safety off, I rose up, having already chosen the best place to keep myself completely out of view. A shade from a sign put me entirely into shadow, and the brick I was pushed up against was colorful from Graffiti, so I would be invisible without a lot of attention.


    I eased my eye over the scope. I could hear them.


    The Maelstrom trucks were old beaters, hyper tuned monsters, or just loud. Loud and driven angrily.


    They came around the corner in a mess, two of them even scraping against each other as they took the turn too sharply but neither driver seemed to care. The cavalcade roared down the street stopping around the shop, the Maelstrom actually managing an okay semi circle around it, to isolate it.


    I waited. Kiroshi already scanning the gangsters. My NCPD File Search letting my scan not just tell me what the Strom were using for weapons, and some of their Cyberware, but also their rap sheet.


    The more I scanned the more I smiled.


    Cleaning up scum was a duty to all lovers of Peace and Justice after all. I scanned them as I waited, nothing really surprising popping out.


    Murder, kidnapping and illegal squatting.


    But I waited.


    The Maelstrom borgs were hollering as if they already won, as they stepped out, a few guns firing into the air, or into the front of the shop seemingly just for fun.


    I waited.


    And then finally as the door opened, it happened.


    The first Borg to try and enter got ripped apart as an HMG began firing from within the building. Instantly the Maelstrom jumped for cover and started firing back into the store. The forceful response more than the borgs expected.


    Which is when I saw them.


    Kamikaze, rushing in head first from behind. I sighed as I kept both eyes open, one through the scope, and one without as I watched, waited.


    The first Maelstrom to notice the enemies at his back and turn around, was my target. His shotgun was raised.


    I exhaled, a stream of what felt like freezing air escaping my lips. It was so easy.


    My scope was already adjusted for range.


    My arms held perfectly still. I couldn¡¯t design a better weapons platform than my own body at that moment. I pulled the trigger.


    The borg lost his head, his Shotgun falling out of his hands as his body followed. Bleeding out across the pavement.


    I specifically ignored the alerts coming through. Making sure they wouldn¡¯t be caught on the BD I was scrolling.


    I shifted, my firing had unfortunately caused a few of the Maelstrom gonks to turn around hearing the rifle, but Kamikaze were on them now. Jun just behind Fujimura. Katana blazing red as he leapt over the back of one of the pickups, cutting down the Maelstrom gonk that was standing up on the bed, and then putting himself into the group.


    But I was overwatch and I saw everything.


    The Kamikaze gonkhead that hadn¡¯t properly checked his ass and didn¡¯t notice the driver of one of the trucks step out and start aiming at his back. The Kamikaze was punching a borg into scrap despite the body being quite dead. Hazards of Cyberpsychos I supposed.


    Then I fired.


    The driver slammed face first into his truck''s rear door, as my round burst through his chest, he slipped to the pavement without resistance.


    I shifted again.


    It was funny. I rarely tended to use rifles, but with all of my skills and perks. They did synergize well. I fired again.


    The gonk that Fujimura was wrestling with, had been just as big as the angry Kamikaze leader. They had tangled on the floor each trying to rip the other apart with their cyberware and strength.


    I had a clear shot and took it. The Maelstroms spider like head came apart in two splattering Fujimura in white borg blood.


    The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    I moved on, uncaring that I could see Fujimura¡¯s angry glare looking towards me.


    But instead of firing I dropped. A barrage of bullets slamming into my previous position, I rolled along completely unbothered by the stone shrapnel as I kept the Nekomata closed.


    Chrome arms made rolling on the ground surprisingly painless.


    The burst of automatic fire was pulled away, but that was all I needed. As soon as it stopped I sprung up. Jogging sideways along the edge of the rooftop, stealth no longer needed, lining up the shot, the gonk that had just shot at me, while still distracted as he was being shot at, noticed and started aiming towards me.


    Too slow.


    I fired.


    The fucker ducked away just in time his own response wildly missing even when mine punched a quarter sized hole into the side of the truck he was now taking cover behind.


    I didn¡¯t wait. My hands already dancing, as I grabbed another magazine from a hip pouch, dropping the empty magazine, and slamming the new one home. I was already aiming in once I stabilized from the reload I fired. Punching through the truck, and the moron that thought a few bits of car siding would stop a tech Sniper Rifle.


    I didn¡¯t stop moving, instead focusing on my next target, but it was already over.


    Kamikaze were tearing the last few Maelstrom members into pieces.


    A quick look over the battlefield to make sure no one was playing dead, and I nodded.


    Mission complete.


    I threw the Nekomata over my shoulder taking a moment to scope out my path and leapt off the side of the building, landing on a sign, I slipped off that to another lower sign, and then onto a ledge of the building, then simply stepped off and landed on the concrete.


    I exhaled.


    That felt good.


    I took a moment to glance at the alerts after I shut off the BD scrolling. Looking through the list of alerts, very pleased with what I saw.


    *500 XP Gained.*


    *100 Assault XP Gained.*


    *100 Assault XP Gained.*


    *500 XP Gained.*


    *100 Assault XP Gained.*


    *Assault skill level up!*


    *1 Perk Point Gained.*


    *1000 XP Gained.*


    *100 Assault XP Gained.*


    *500 XP Gained.*


    A new perk! Yay! I would have to check on that later, for now I focused on the scene around me.


    I jogged up, noticing the Kamikaze were twitchy, all of them looking for more bloodshed. I ignored their glares and wandered up to Jun.


    ¡°You okay Jun-nii? Get hit at all?¡± I asked already reaching for my medical pouch, but he waved me off.


    ¡°Nothing my Subdermal didn¡¯t catch.¡± He mentioned, as I looked towards his plastic abs, a ragged scrape cut through the flesh, but I could see it was only skin deep. The bullet ricocheted.


    Ow. That still looked painful.


    ¡°You sure? I got a MaxDoc, got some painkillers.¡± I mumbled pulling out some stuff I had picked up at the random pharmacy I had stopped at before all of this.


    ¡°I don¡¯t feel it. I have a Pain Editor.¡± He told me with a shrug, and I had nothing on that, just nodding. Even if my fingers twitched to tie a bandage around it.


    I looked around at the carnage then. The twenty or so Maelstrom borgs were torn to pieces. Blood dripped and ran down the road. A few of the Kamikaze were injured, only one seriously, a shotgun had clipped one of the female members. She was down an arm, but otherwise fine.


    A visit to a ripper and she would be right as rain.


    Funny how combat was in the future. Vicious bloody affairs.


    A few vans roaring down the roads had me twitching but the Kamikaze around us waved them forward and they stopped.


    Instantly Tyger Claw grunts jumped out of the back of the familiar moving vans.


    It was like the ones Ichi had borrowed for the Scav raid.


    No. I blinked, feeling the cool dryness of my Kiroshi. Not like the Vans.


    The same van, because there in the driver seat, which I could only make out due to my Kiroshi was Ichi.


    ¡°Jun. I¡¯m gonna go see how Ichi is doing, you alright?¡±


    ¡°Huh? Oh your choom. Go on, I¡¯m fine. Stop hovering.¡± He ordered waving me off, but it was in a joking manner that made me smile as I threw him a thumbs up and ran up to the van.


    Happily jumping up onto the door and sticking my crossed arms onto the rim so I could stick my head in.


    ¡°Long time no see!¡± I cried out instantly causing Ichi to yelp like a girl and scrambled around as he tried and failed to fumble a gun out of his holster.


    ¡°Motoko?¡±


    ¡°You should either practice that draw a bit more, or store a gun somewhere you can grab easily.¡± I informed him with a grin. As the boy sighed out all of his air and seemed to check his heart.


    ¡°Please don¡¯t do that! These jobs are tense.¡±


    ¡°Why? All the Maelstrom gonks are dead.¡±


    ¡°Yeah maybe. They aren¡¯t always, and reinforcements are a thing.¡±


    ¡°Well then you should definitely work on that draw. How you been Ichi? I haven¡¯t heard from you since¡­ Well.¡±


    ¡°Since the war heated up yeah¡­ Motoko. Is that chrome?¡± He asked, blinking in shock as he took in my arms resting on the door.


    ¡°Yeah. I got klepped by the Maelstrom, they were trying to draw out Jun. Apparently he killed enough of the Strom to make a mark.¡±


    ¡°Klepped¡­ Again!?¡± He asked, looking horrified.


    ¡°Yeah. Right outside the apartment. Shot me up, and cut off my hands.¡± I waved my hands a bit wiggling the fingers. ¡°It really sucked, they took me to this pit fight thing. It¡¯s¡­ Well I don¡¯t really want to talk about it. Eventually Jun got enough people together to come get me. I was alive¡­ Mostly. I¡¯m fixed up¡­ Mostly.¡± I admitted actually feeling my voice go a little heavy at the end there.


    He looked me over for a moment, nodding, ¡°You¡¯re strong. You¡¯ll be okay. But if you need anything, we are still chooms.¡±


    I smiled at that. What else could I do? I didn¡¯t really have many chooms. ¡°Thanks Ichi. Where is Malcolm anyways? I thought he was your co-pilot while you worked?¡±


    ¡°Malcolm bailed¡­ We got shot up a few nights into everything, neither of us got hit, but one of the guys in the back got torn up. Malcolm tried to stabilize the guy but it didn¡¯t work out. He took it hard. He¡¯s been staying home ever since.¡±


    I frowned a bit. I wasn¡¯t really close to Malcolm, but he was part of our little kiddy gang. ¡°I should call him, or visit maybe?¡±


    Ichi looked surprised at my question. ¡°You would do that?¡±


    ¡°Of course! We¡­ I mean, I¡¯m not really close to you or him, or Omaeda, but you guys are still my chooms¡­ I mean, You¡¯ve known me since before the coma right? And we were a little pack of troublemakers. I got to look out for you guys, or at least¡­ At least offer an ear.¡± Honestly something I probably should have been doing before¡­ I had been a little self focused, ignoring making friends or my old chooms.


    Ichi was quiet for a moment before he smiled. ¡°Malcolm would like that. Really.¡±


    ¡°How about you then? The Tyger Claw loot recovery job doing well?¡± I asked, putting on a teasing smile as he chuffed a bit.


    ¡°Honestly? You paid better.¡±


    I cackled at that, both of us breaking into laughter.


    ¡°Well maybe I should hire you full time. I hit this Maelstrom place the other night, and with everything including Jun showing up tracking me down I had to leave sooo much loot. I was so sad.¡± I told him as I plopped my chin down on the door. ¡°Leaving loot behind is wrong!¡±


    ¡°Well obviously you need to hire a professional loot recovery agent¡­ Unfortunately I¡¯m all booked.¡± He said giving the length just long enough to get my hopes up.


    ¡°Mean!¡±


    ¡°So you and the Kamikaze? You know those guys are..¡±


    ¡°Cyberpsychos? No, I totally missed that, and thought they were all perfectly reasonable people.¡± I said tonelessly, managing to draw a snort from him.


    ¡°Well, be careful. They are useful, and effective, but all the guys that work with them tell horror stories. Sometimes they go off on the retrieval guys.¡±


    ¡°I can see it. ¡± I nod thinking on the few times that they seemed to start losing it. ¡°But I just gotta keep an eye on Jun. He¡­ Well he wasn¡¯t in a good place.¡±


    ¡°Well you gotta stick with your brother¡­ I never would have thought they would let you in though. You have to be seriously chromed up for them to even consider.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not¡­ Joined, I mean. I¡¯m more like a¡­ ghost. That follows Jun around. That¡¯s all.¡±


    ¡°Pfft. Yeah more like an Onryo.¡± He joked and it took me a moment to remember what that meant.


    ¡°Hey! I don¡¯t crawl out of TVs! And my hair is nice!¡±


    He just shook his head at me smiling which earned him a light tap on the shoulder, that he winced and rubbed. It was only a baby tap¡­ With my chrome knuckles.


    ¡°Ow¡­ I¡¯m sorry. I didn¡¯t hear about the kidnapping thing. I just thought you were busy doing crazy shit again. I should have reached out.¡± He mumbled after a while of silence between us.


    ¡°I was under a jammer for a long while¡­ But I should have reached out and checked on you too. I visited Hiromi, but I didn¡¯t even call¡­ Sorry. Not much of a choom I guess.¡±


    ¡°Eh. You¡¯re better than you used to be. Scarier, funnily enough, even if old you was more interested in being intimidating, but you manage it better.¡±


    Interesting! ¡°Really? How would you describe old me?¡± I asked, I hadn¡¯t really gotten much from anyone about how I used to be. Who I used to be.


    He hesitated for a bit but shrugged. ¡°Listen I liked you, we were chooms and we got into trouble together, but you were kinda a bitch. You got us into so much trouble that we could have avoided by just not starting shit.¡±


    ¡°Wow. Hiromi never mentioned that!¡±


    ¡°She wouldn¡¯t¡­ Hiromi has always been i- Ah never mind. Look, your brother is trying to get your attention.¡± He instantly switched topics pointing.


    As interested as I was in what he had been about to say I turned and saw Jun waving for me.


    ¡°Well he is my current ride, so I better delta. Keep in touch Ichi. We are still chooms!¡±


    ¡°Same to you Motoko.¡±


    I nodded as I jumped off and hurried after Jun.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°Girl! You are coming too.¡± Fujimura demanded as we all piled out of the cars. I had been heading back towards the apartment to put up my equipment, and probably clean my Nekomata, but Fujimura had suddenly called out, specifically at me.


    ¡°After action report?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Guess Fujimura-Sama wants you there. You must have done well.¡± Jun offered with a smile as Akari suddenly poked her head in between us.


    ¡°Or terrible! Maybe he¡¯ll cut you up for messing up so bad?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think I messed up?¡± I told her as we walked but she was quick to run in front of me and walk backwards which seemed to take some effort with her feet blades.


    ¡°Ooh but you ran off! Fujimura-Sama haaates when people do something he didn¡¯t tell them to. Motoko is in troooouble.¡± She mocked as we reached the window that let us into the Dojo area.


    ¡°Shut up Akari.¡± Jun grumbled at her, but then we were there, in the downstairs area of the dojo. With the couches and little plastic chairs arrayed around Fujimura that stood.


    ¡°Another injury, pathetic.¡± He growled out as he looked over the people. ¡°Injuries are expected, serious injuries are not. If you are incapable of not losing a limb, then get better chrome, or die so someone more skilled can use yours.¡± He demanded pulling no punches.


    Also wow. What an asshole thing to say.


    ¡°Girl!¡± He said suddenly pulled me away from my thoughts. I was standing behind Jun who was sitting on one of the plastic chairs in the circle.


    ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°You nearly shot me tonight.¡± He said bluntly and I couldn¡¯t help but wonder what the hell he was talking about.


    ¡°No I didn¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Your bullet passed less then a foot from my head.¡±


    ¡°Yeah? It didn¡¯t come anywhere close to you. I mean, I¡¯m not a crack shot or anything, but at that range? I could probably get the round to kiss you if I wanted.¡± I replied getting a little grumbly. This guy was such an asshole, and I was kind of sick of it.


    He looked me over before nodding. ¡°Kamikaze don¡¯t have a marksman. That skillset doesn¡¯t tend to come hand in hand with our purpose. Kusanagi! Your sister is acceptably useful. You didn¡¯t waste our time having us save her.¡± He offered and then just¡­


    Turned away and started squeezing everyone through the wringer on their fuckups. Jun and I both weren¡¯t exempt. Apparently I fired too slow¡­


    Well yeah. I only had Assault 5! I wasn¡¯t going to shoot any faster. I might friendly fire!


    Well¡­ I could still level it up some more. It was fun.


    By the time I settled onto the couch that night, blanket pulled up to my chin and ready for a sleep to get the muscle pain in my back to go away. I had a thought.


    ¡°Wait¡­ Does he think I¡¯m a member now!? But I¡¯m not a Cyberpsycho!¡±

 Chapter 41

    The next morning I decided I needed some friend time. So I went over to see Hiromi.


    While I made it up to their floor, it took almost ten minutes after I hit the button for the doorbell before someone came to the door.


    ¡°Oh hello Hiromi¡¯s mom.¡± I greeted her with a smile as she opened the door. A scowl set on her face.


    ¡°Hiromi is in class right now.¡± She said as if that explained everything.


    ¡°Wait. I thought they closed the academy while everything was going on?¡±


    ¡°They have. Hiromi is taking her class right now.¡± Hiromi¡¯s mom explained getting annoyed and I realized what she was actually saying, Hiromi would be in the middle of her Group BD class¡­ Thing.


    ¡°Oh gotcha¡­ Umm do you know how long that is gonna take? Should I wait in my car, or go grab some lunch before coming back or something?¡±


    The woman sighed before stepping aside to my surprise. ¡°You can wait in her room, just don¡¯t disturb her while she is in class. Hiromi will be happy to see you.¡± The woman offered, sounding kind of stilted as I slowly walked in. Hiromi¡¯s mother took a few steps before slowing. ¡°Hiromi hasn¡¯t handled the security measures we implemented well¡­ Your last visit was¡­ Well taken.¡± The woman offered a little awkwardly before she seemed to breathe in and out, and then that solid stone face was back. ¡°Remember, don''t disrupt her class.¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t.¡± I agreed, a little surprised. I guess Hiromi¡¯s parents did care¡­ They were just corpo. Which had its own issues.


    I walked into Hiromi¡¯s room, and there she was resting on a big comfy looking chair, a BD wreath on her head actively in the middle of her session.


    Cool.


    I decided not to bother her, instead settling on another chair in front of her computer.


    I waited for a while before I realized this was going to be boring. So I looked at the computer she was hooked up to.


    Obviously her class wasn¡¯t a normal BD, in the show it allowed multiple people to all take part in a class environment. So it would need a lot of processing power. The fact they could even do this remotely was¡­ Impressive. But considering how many Arasaka executives went to the school, of course they would choose the option to keep their kids from being murdered or kidnapped.


    Still.. It was right there¡­ I popped the cord out of my neck and pushed it into the computer''s access port.


    Oh! That was some strong security! I guess Arasaka execs wouldn¡¯t buy their daughter cheap stuff¡­ I could do this without sending any alerts up, since it wasn¡¯t like I was actually looking to break through. So I started poking the security, touching the ICE.


    It was tough shit!


    How fun! Without any need to worry about time or anything it was like opening a puzzle game while I waited.


    *100 Intelligence XP Gained*


    I smiled happily as the alerts for upgrades came in.


    *100 Breach Protocol XP Gained.*


    Both skills were being tested with this security. But long before I would have broken through especially with how slow I was taking it, Hiromi moved.


    I looked over as she sat up groaning a bit as she stretched her arms as she was taking off her wreath. I held up my hand.


    ¡°Hey Hiromi!¡±


    ¡°EEEeee!¡± She squealed, arms jerking and sending her wreath up into the air. I pushed on the floor letting the chair I was on roll a bit as I held out a hand and snatched the wreath out of the air.


    ¡°Safe!¡±


    ¡°MOTOKO!?¡±


    ¡°Hiromi!¡± I greeted with a smile that had her blinking a bit as she looked around like she wasn¡¯t sure what was going on.


    ¡°What are you doing here?¡±


    ¡°I wanted to come visit! Your Mom let me in as long as I didn¡¯t bother you while you were in your class. Have fun?¡±


    ¡°A-ah. No. It¡¯s boring¡­ But I¡¯m glad you¡¯re here.¡± She said instead with a smile that I returned.


    ¡°Anyway! Let me unplug out of this.¡± I told her my neck cord was stretched to its limits in order to save Hiromi''s Wreath from the floor.


    ¡°Wait. Why are you plugged into my system?¡±


    ¡°Mostly because I was bored! But you have really good security! I was practicing breaking through the ICE, it¡¯s really good shit by the way.¡± I told her as I rolled back to the system and unplugged.


    ¡°Wait. You were trying to break through my ICE!? Motoko! That! I have private stuff on that system!¡± She said face going a little red.


    ¡°Oh I wasn¡¯t gonna look at anything Hiromi I promise. I¡¯ve just been working on my Netrunning stuff recently, and I was curious what the ICE would be like. It was really advanced Arasaka stuff. It was cool¡­ I didn¡¯t mean to make a pun there.¡± I admitted, Hiromi rolling her eyes at me, but at least she wasn¡¯t mad anymore.


    ¡°Nobody says Cool anymore Motoko. Were you watching old shows or something?¡±


    ¡°H-Hey Cool is cool! You can¡¯t just replace Cool!¡±


    ¡°Preem so much better.¡± She said, but she was purposefully teasing me I could tell.


    ¡°Anyway! Want to play some games? Or watch some TV? I¡¯m taking a cool down day after last night.¡±


    ¡°What happened last night?¡±


    ¡°Well Jun invited me to another Kamikaze raid-¡±


    ¡°Whaaa! How was it? Was it amazing?¡± Hiromi asked looking so much like a kid wanting a fun story.


    I laughed, I couldn¡¯t help it. ¡°So I recently klepped this absolutely Preeeeem. Nekomata. Its previous owner came down with a case of ripped out throat, so I took her, and she is a dream. He might have been Maelstrom, but he did take care of his girl.¡±


    Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.


    ¡°A Sniper Rifle? Do you even know how to shoot one?¡±


    ¡°Course I do! My arms make it super stable too! Anyway, So I-¡±


    ¡ª--


    ¡°Jeez you¡¯re out there doing so much stuff¡­ I¡¯m not even able to leave the house.¡± She sighed during the story Hiromi had cuddled up and was now looking up at me from my lap. ¡°I¡­ I¡¯m sorry. You always tried to drag me into stuff, but I¡¯m just a coward.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not a coward Hiromi. If I had any sense I wouldn¡¯t be running around with all the crazy shit going on.¡±


    ¡°But you are¡­ You aren¡¯t afraid.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid sometimes! Just not like in the moment.¡± I told her being honest. ¡°Besides fear is good. Fear is that little voice in your head telling you that you are being stupid. It just means you are smarter than me. Cause I don¡¯t listen.¡± I told her, making fun of myself a bit to earn a chuckle from her.


    ¡°It still sounds so preem. So cool. You gonk.¡± She added poking me making me laugh as she used my slang.


    I couldn¡¯t help it! Even if everyone looked at me weird when I shouted cool.


    ¡°Well¡­ Do you want to see?¡±


    ¡°Hmm?¡±


    ¡°I forgot to tell you, I made friends with some Mox a while back, saved him from getting jumped, but he offered me a job idea, and I thought it was a good idea. So I went to Viks and got a BD Recorder implant.¡±


    ¡°Motoko!¡± Hiromi jerked out of my lap. ¡°You can¡¯t! The Mox BD¡¯s are-!¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help but laugh at Hiromi¡¯s reaction, it was just like Jun¡¯s!


    ¡°No no Sorry sorry. Nox wants me to make BD recordings of my gigs!¡± I told her as I put my finger to her lips to keep her from exploding. ¡°So I recorded the last couple of times I¡¯ve been out. Including last night''s raid¡­ So do you want to see? I was planning on dropping a visit to the Mox¡¯s BD editor today to drop off the recordings.. I don¡¯t know how long it will take to edit them b-¡±


    ¡°Of course! I want them!¡± She assured me, Hiromi was sitting up now staring me in the face. ¡°But Motoko. You should be more careful. The Mox aren''t as nice as they like to make everyone think. How much are they even paying you for the Recordings?¡±


    ¡°Not much at first.¡±


    ¡°Ugh. Motoko! BD recordings are hot items! If you have an awesome recording you could sell it for a ton!¡±


    ¡°Hey! I¡¯m not a complete gonk. Nox the guy that came up with the idea is our age, so I¡¯m giving him a break to get started, but if it works out, you''re right a lot of eddies will start flowing¡­ Besides if he ever does fuck me over. I can always just hunt him down and kill him. I kinda do that for a living.¡± I remind her with a shit eating grin.


    Hiromi looked at me for a minute before chuckling shaking her head. ¡°You are such a gonk.¡±


    ¡ª--


    Hiromi and I hung out for a while after that until her next class was starting. I promised to see her again soon and headed out. This time I went to Lizzies.


    The streets were more populated than usual, I noticed as I drove down the street. Every time I stopped at a red light, people were crossing the street. It felt more normal. Like the city was returning to what it had been before. Yet the NCPD were still missing. The effects of that meant I could visibly see crime as I drove down the streets.


    Theft was everywhere.


    Damaged buildings that had been looted, or in some cases tried to be looted only to end with dead thieves.


    Night City took self defense seriously after all.


    Pulling into Lizzies I wasn¡¯t surprised to see the parking lot was packed. People were obviously still coming here, to a relatively safe place to get some distance from reality.


    But I found a spot and walked through the few little groups of people hanging out, outside the bar.


    Rita as usual was out front, her baseball bat at her side as she watched me walk up.


    ¡°Kid.¡±


    ¡°Hey Rita. Is Judy in?¡± I asked as I walked up to her. Honestly if I could not have to walk through the bar that would be best.


    Rita¡¯s eyes narrowed a bit at my question. Holding out her hand. ¡°Why do you want to see Judy?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m dropping off some BD recordings to her. Part of Nox and I¡¯s thing.¡± I told her honestly, this reaction was weird, and now I was a little curious about Rita¡¯s weird reaction.


    ¡°Stay here.¡± She demanded nodding at another Mox who took her spot in front of the door to act as bouncer as she walked in.


    Weird.


    ¡°Any idea what¡¯s going on?¡± I ask the Mox who just kept staring at me without a word. ¡°Good talk.¡± I snarked but decided to just back up a bit and wait. Finally Rita came back out and nodded for me to follow her.


    Stepping away from the car I had been leaning against I followed with a quick jog to catch up.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on? I¡¯ve met Judy before, never had this much concern.¡±


    Rita was silent as she walked me through the floor of Lizzies, and then into the back halls, leading me towards Judy¡¯s underground lair.


    ¡°We had some Tyger Claws sniffing around for her. They always try to recruit good editors. They were a little aggressive about it the other night, so I¡¯ve been ready to bust some kneecaps.¡± Rita finally said as we started down the stairs.


    ¡°Ah gotcha. That explains a lot.¡±


    ¡°Especially since you¡¯re TC.¡± She said with a firm look.


    ¡°I¡¯m really not¡­ My brother is though.¡± I admitted as we wandered down but Rita didn¡¯t respond any further just keeping an eye on me as she led me to Judy who was already free of her Wreath and waiting.


    ¡°Motoko.¡±


    ¡°Hey Judy. I got some recordings.¡± I greeted with a smile. ¡°Rita said you had some trouble the other night? You okay?¡± I asked and she just kind waved her hand back and forth.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine. Nothing Rita can¡¯t handle, just some pushy bastards wanting access to my skills. Come sit here, I¡¯ll pull the recordings.¡± She said as she pointed me at a chair and wandered over to her computer. Pulling a cord out with a connection port she rolled over to me as I settled into the chair.


    ¡°Alright go ahead and connect to this, and start the upload.¡± She says and I nod, pulling the cord out of my neck and slotting it into the port. Instantly the connection locked and I started transferring the files.


    I had been recording at the start of all the gigs Wakako had given me, and the raid last night. So hopefully four missions would be enough, even if the Wakako gigs were pretty slow. I mean, I hadn¡¯t even killed anyone!


    ¡°And four files? Four?¡± Judy asked, as she typed away at her system.


    ¡°Yeah! Three of them were acquisition gigs I got from Wakako. But don¡¯t worry I asked her about recording them before I did. As long as a week passes before we release them we are all good. And the last one was¡­ Well I was working with my brother Jun and the Tyger Claws. Maelstrom trap.¡± I offered, not wanting to side swipe her with the information I worked with the Tyger Claws.


    ¡°You¡¯re TC?¡± Judy asked sort of tonelessly not looking at me.


    ¡°No. No, no I¡¯m not!¡± I told her firmly. ¡°My Brother is a member though. Well technically I¡¯m a legacy. Both of my parents were in the Claws. But I didn¡¯t join, I¡¯m just a merc. I just back up my brother on Maelstrom raids.¡± I waved my hands a bit. ¡°Mostly for payback for what they did to me.¡± I said kind of showing off my arms a bit. The chrome glinting in the dark studios light.


    Judy didn¡¯t respond but Rita kinda stepped closer and sat on the edge of the big chair Judy had sat me on.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been forcibly chipped before¡­ If you ever want to talk about it.¡± She offered suddenly and I blinked because Rita had never shown much interest in me before then. ¡°Just don¡¯t give me any reason to bust your skull in.¡± She offered and her words actually pulled Judy away from the computer to look in shock that I felt a bit as well.


    Because Rita had just tried to be nice.


    ¡°I don¡¯t plan too. I don¡¯t have anything against the Mox.¡± I told her and she nodded a bit before rising up.


    ¡°Well Judy, you going to check the BD¡¯s?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I have some time, and Nox has bribed me to at least get the first few done first.¡±


    ¡°Bribe? Did that kid seriously sneak you some of that disgusting pure caffeine shit we banned?¡±


    ¡°Maybe!¡± Judy offered smiling, before she sort of glanced towards me. I was making her uncomfortable. She had a certain look on her face.


    ¡°Was it bad¡­ The Tyger Claws that tried to recruit you?¡± I asked, I knew that look. It was fear. Judy had been freaked out.


    I had never heard of Tyger Claws bothering Judy in the game, but¡­ I guess it sorta makes sense. Tyger Claws were constantly trying to reclaim Mox business. In the game they owned Clouds, and if Judys crazy plan actually worked and you put Clouds under Mox control¡­


    Well Tyger Claws didn¡¯t react with grace. They sent a kill team.


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing. Just they broke into my place. I¡¯m sleeping here for a bit until a better security system is hooked up.¡± She explained and I frowned.


    ¡°Hey Judy. I know you don¡¯t know me or anything, but we are¡­ chooms? I guess? If the Claws ever snatched you. I promise. I¡¯ll come find you, and kill any of them that get in my way. Okay Choom?¡±


    My serious, honest, drama filled moment was broken by Rita snorting through her pretty plastic chrome nose.


    ¡°Sure kid. The Mox will have already hunted any fuckers down that dared, but I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll show up.¡± Rita offered joking, but it seemed to be the right thing to say because Rita was more relaxed than she had been before, and Judy wasn¡¯t so tense either.


    ¡°So how long will it take to edit the BD? I uh¡­ Have a choom that was interested in seeing them too.¡±


    ¡°Come back¡­ around tomorrow? Yeah Tomorrow. These aren¡¯t super long. But go on, both of you, I¡¯ll need to focus on this.¡± Judy demanded waving us away which Rita was already standing to leave.


    ¡°Cool oh wait one more thing. When someone is in the BD, can they like¡­ Not see my face? Or at least have trouble figuring out who I am? I just don¡¯t want anyone to be sure who it is that is stealing from them, or killing them, or killing their friends, or-¡±


    ¡°Whoa whoa. Chill Choom. Your face would already be blocked by those Kiroshi of yours, but I¡¯ll be adding a body filter in. Whoever is in the BD will feel like it¡¯s them doing everything. It works way better on action BDs. Let everyone feel the motion and action through their own body, creates a deeper connection.¡±


    Preem! You are amazing Judy. Thank you! I guess I¡¯ll see you tomorrow then!¡± I chirped happily following the borg out of the room and up the stairs, but then she stopped me.


    ¡°Hey. I was serious before. I know what it¡¯s like¡­ If you ever want to talk to someone that went through it.¡± Rita said and it took me a moment to realize what she meant.


    I couldn¡¯t help but break out into a gentle smile. ¡°Thanks Rita. I¡¯m okay, well okay-ish. I¡¯ll be okay.¡± I ramble at her earning a smile on the chromed up woman''s face.


    ¡°Well the offer is open. It¡¯s why we started the Mox in the first place. To help people.¡±


    ¡°Preem.¡± But I wasn¡¯t really in need of someone to talk to. I was actually feeling loads better after the adaptation upgrade had opened up the floodgates.


    Wait! I still had a perk!


    I forgot!


    I was smiling brightly as I followed Rita out and towards my car, I was gonna go home and pick a preem perk! Upgrades! Yay!

 Chapter 42

    Judy Alvarez


    Judy was glad that was over. Such an awkward conversation, and even worse she had been totally treating the kid like some TC hit squad.


    Stupid Jude. Real stupid.


    She was a good kid, even helped out Nox. Nox who was very annoying, but still had that bratty charm that made everyone like him¡­


    Mostly. If they didn¡¯t want to punch him.


    But he was annoying, and that meant most people outside the Mox did fall more on the punching side of the spectrum. He tended to get beat up a little too often.


    Still it was over, and she had four virtues to edit through and turn them into nice shiny Mox approved XBD¡¯s. It was a bit¡­ Well Judy didn¡¯t think it was likely to work. What kind of gigs could a kid get up to that anyone would want to watch?


    Judy was well aware of what normal XBD viewers were like. What they wanted.


    Sick fucks.


    But maybe this softcore XBD would be a hit among kids. Give them a look into the experience of working as a Merc, from a kids perspective.


    She picked up the most recent one first. Motoko had said this was from last night. Tyger Claws assaulting Maelstrom.


    ¡°I¡¯m not afraid of the Tyger Claws.¡± She said, strengthening herself as she slipped on her wreath, hands on the edit controls.


    Time to work.


    First she started the BD, and instantly she was there. She could hear and feel and taste. Nothing too strong yet thankfully. Some BD¡¯s liked to start already mid¡­ Act. Judy hated feeling it. Sex wasn¡¯t exactly something she wanted to feel from certain perspectives.


    Which was why she always started a BD with the senses layer turned down. Get a feel for the BD first before she edits it all down to make it smooth to experience.


    ¡°Alright, the Maelstrom trucks are a minute out. Get ready.¡±


    Judy shivered as the irritation she was feeling instantly vanished in a rush of excitement. The BDs emotion layer hyping up her own.


    The conversation continued but Judy only kept half an ear on it. Then Motoko started moving. Judy focused the feel of the girl moving an important element to the BD. Especially with all the edits she would make to replace the visual layer with the watcher.


    Most users of the BD would focus on visual, humans were like that, but one of the big things that would throw someone out of a BD was odd feelings. So balancing it right was super important. Usually you had to throttle it way down. If you were scrolling someone fat, and you weren¡¯t?


    That sense of disconnect would be pretty intense.


    Although some people scrolled BD¡¯s like that on purpose. Everything was someone''s fetish.


    But this? Just through the motion, Judy could feel live muscle, shifting balance. Motoko wasn¡¯t just some kid with a gun, she definitely worked out. It was pretty intense. Judy wasn¡¯t exactly the type to hit the gym.


    She left it playing without delving heavily into editing, just to see, when suddenly Motoko went from a walk to motion in an instant, a blitz up the side of a building that by the time Judy realized what was happening she had to pause the recording, take off the wreath and actually step away.


    Judy didn¡¯t really like heights, and the feeling of free climbing up a building made her stomach flip.


    But it was so sure. No hesitation, no slipping, or stumbling just up the building like climbing a ladder.


    No faster than a ladder.


    Grabbing her secret stash of Mega Joult. Thank you Nox for slipping that in. She recaffeinated and felt ready to continue.


    Slipping back into the BD she let it play. She was on the top of the building. The cold air was crisp, but Motoko¡¯s breath was completely even, like she hadn¡¯t just climbed a building. Hell her heart rate had barely gone up.


    Judy made a note, she would need to adjust that feeling, actually maybe increase it, let people feel their heart beating without any disruption, let them feel how calm Motoko was?


    Judy would have to test it both ways, but for now she let it continue.


    A rifle pulled off her shoulder Judy felt her hands roam over it quickly. A single practiced action, and it was practiced, Judy knew the difference. It felt good. That would be nice. Motoko certainly had some gun experience.


    Then¡­ Then Motoko stalked. Judy suddenly realized the audio file was practically dead. Not a sound as Motoko stalked up to the edge.


    She played through it a few times there. Just to see what she could catch, and she realized despite walking in boots, there was barely a sound coming from her steps.


    Damn. She must have a really good Lynx Paw. Judy went ahead and brought some focus in the BD towards the lack of sound with each step. Letting people feel that surety of stepping without a sound.


    Motoko kneeled, settled into the shadows and then brought up her¡­ Nekomata? Yeah Judy was pretty sure that was the right name. Eyes slipped over the scope, and Judy nodded to herself, everything was so clear. Kiroshi made this so much easier. The visual file was actually higher density than a normal BD. Kiroshi were expensive after all.


    Then Judy could hear it. A rumble of a truck that Motoko instantly picked up, her attention focused on the sound making it come in so clear. Judy wouldn¡¯t need to play with it much.


    Motoko took it all in without shifting an inch, she remained perfectly still. The cavalcade of Maelstrom. She was already picking out faces thanks to her scope and Kiroshi. And Judy made sure to focus on some of them, bring them into focus on the BD.


    XBDs were all about murder after all. Even if Judy found it disgusting it was what people wanted.


    She watched as the Maelstrom parked around, and noticed the information Motoko gathered about their NCPD record! Nice. Judy made sure to bring each one into sight, it would let the user get a look at the people that were about to die.


    The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    Then Judy felt it.


    Motoko was smiling. BD¡¯s recorded emotions. And since Judy hadn¡¯t finished cleaning up the BD, she could feel exactly what Motoko was feeling. Exhilaration. A macabre happiness about the targets she was going to kill.


    Motoko had been happy that she was going to kill these Maelstrom especially.


    She continued letting that excitement flow through her. She would maybe have to heighten the excitement emotional layer a bit, it was pretty low. Building the tension a bit more could be good.


    The Maelstrom stepped out, firing around, opening the shop only to be blown apart with a riot of noise.


    Judy flinched, but Motoko didn¡¯t. Perfectly calm at the sight and sudden assault. Not a twitch, not a bump in her heart rate.


    Just control, and a focused excitement.


    It was enough to make the differences all the more apparent. In a normal BD she would have smoothed it, maybe lowered the users surprise, or increase Motoko¡¯s. Just to make sure it felt like a smooth transition.


    But there was something about the complete calm that was¡­ Noticeable. And Judy decided she was going to have to play with that. Maybe leave it as is.


    Motoko¡¯s attention shifted. Tyger Claws. Racing out towards the Maelstrom from behind.


    Yet even as she registered that her scope was focused on the Maelstrom ready to shift.


    Then it happened, a Maelstrom started to turn around, they had noticed the Tyger Claws.


    Judy felt herself freeze. Outside the BD. Her throat opened in a silent gasp as everything changed.


    The emotion file practically spazzed out.


    Judy¡¯s heart was racing outside of the BD.


    Because in an instant she felt it. The supreme control over herself.


    No, the control Motoko had over herself. Emotions distractions, all of it disappeared. There was only¡­


    Purpose.


    The rest of the BD went by in a blur of controlled focus. Every part of her body moved in tandem, every breath, every thought, all working towards the purpose of killing whoever Motoko needed dead.


    By the time the BD ended Judy had stopped paying any attention to editing. Had stopped even remembering who she was.


    Because for a while she wasn¡¯t Judy experiencing a BD, she was Motoko. Every instinct, every movement felt so sure. So right. Perfect.


    Judy pulled off the wreath and nearly chucked it away before controlling herself.


    She couldn¡¯t control herself like Motoko. Already the feeling of her own heartbeat speeding was so¡­ Strange. Especially after feeling so in control. But Judy couldn¡¯t. Her heart raced, her body twitched. It was wrong. All of these things could be controlled. She just¡­ Had to learn how.


    Judy had no idea.


    ¡°I need a break.¡± She said instantly standing up on wonky legs her stride was wrong. She could feel it, even if she wasn¡¯t sure what she was doing wrong, but there was an awareness there, that she was moving wrong. Too slow, too heavy, too loud.


    ¡°Fuck me.¡± She whispered as she hit the bathroom and washed her face. That had been¡­ Intense.


    Judy felt her eyes go gold as she decided to make a call. ¡°Rita. I need you down here if you got a minute¡­ I want you to see this.¡±


    ¡ª--


    Finally!


    No more distractions!


    I settled down into the apartment with an armful of components I had needed, and set to work.


    I had CAD. I had some knowledge, a full toolkit, and some peace and quiet.


    Time to get to work!


    The idea I had come up with while I was killing Maelstrom had been percolating in my head.


    I needed a way to listen into conversations. If I was sneaking around, then being able to gather intel was a must. Luckily this was the future. Parabolic Microphones were outdated tech.


    Long range microphones were easy enough to tech together.


    Even I could do it!


    I had the basic know-how in my head thanks to Engineering. The skill had flooded me with solutions and knowledge on not just how to tinker with something, but to have a needed idea and then what it would take to create it.


    It was dense stuff. Technical Ability was knowledge about what exists¡­ Sorta. Crafting, was being able to physically put something together. Engineering was knowing how to design something from the ground up. And a bit of fixing problems while crafting¡­ But then again Crafting had solutions to engineering as well.


    Or maybe I was wrong about all three! It was all so dense, and mixed together, it was difficult for my own head to split them into their own categories.


    It all fit together. All three parts were sort of needed to create a whole. But the knowledge dumps were insane. Comprehensive education was rare in Night City, Especially outside of Corpo kids. Rarer still was an education that someone could take and then immediately be able to use.


    Even with my low stat and skill points. I was probably more flexible than most Techies, a wider base, if not as deep. Yet.


    So I started designing. I needed it to be small but functional. High range, good fidelity. With the ability to narrow down sounds.


    Can¡¯t have loud music stopping me from being able to listen in. Although that would be a later problem. Programming the damn thing came later. First was the engineering half. Design and create.


    The microphone was fiddly, but other than a bit of sloppiness thanks to my manual dexterity still not being 100% perfect at times with the chrome. My transferred skills helped me get it working.


    Then I set up a small transceiver, and went to work on the ear piece. Which I actually scratch built. Since anything I made would be cheaper than one from a store.


    With that done I set the two pieces of tech to the same channel, and activated it.


    Nothing.


    ¡°Fuck.¡±


    ¡ª--


    It took me four hours to figure out what went wrong.


    The answer? Nothing. I was just a moron.


    I was under a jammer! Of course my wireless connection didn¡¯t work!


    Realizing that wireless access like that was just asking to become useless under a jamming system, I tore it apart, and decided to go a little analog. With my 3D printer I created some wires that would connect the two parts, even created a small wire storage that would wind up the wire when I was done.


    All done the entire piece of tech was small enough to hold in my hand, and be stored in one of my pouches. But with that, I was able to pull it out, stick the ear piece in my ear, and stretch out the wire along my arm. The mic easily attached to my fingers, and was small enough it wouldn¡¯t get in the way if I needed to fight with it on.


    I turned on the TV to a very low level and walked across the room, to the point I could barely hear it then I pointed the mic.


    The voice of the news reporter came in clearly in my ear, only a static pop from time to time showing it wasn¡¯t a direct audio, but a long range mic picking up a TV audio.


    Done.


    ¡°I did it.¡± I couldn¡¯t help but breathe out as I looked at my long distance microphone. I could listen into conversations now! But the alerts that I had ignored were my first stop.


    *Engineering skill level up!*


    Engineering 3, it had leveled up while I was working in CAD designing my new toy. Apparently my system liked it when I designed the ear piece from scratch as well. But there was more. So much more!


    *Technical Attribute Leveled up!*


    Technical Attribute was now level 4! And it had even leveled up mid build because I had a bunch of alerts for Crafting, ending with a level up!


    *Crafting skill level up!*


    Crafting 4.


    My entire Tech tree had leveled up in one afternoon! Which just goes to show how little I had actually built¡­ I would really need to fix that. Tech was too useful a thing, plus it was fun¡­


    But Leveling up Engineering had reminded me!I still had an Engineering perk! Hell I had two perks! The Assault perk was still sitting there too!


    I stretched and fell back onto the couch, instantly wincing and sitting up to move a piece of the wireless system that I had apparently dropped on the couch back to a table and then laid back down.


    This was the life.


    I had two perks to choose, Engineering and an Assault Perk. I opened up the Perk list to take a look.


    Engineering first, since I had forgotten about it for so long. Since I didn¡¯t really intend on going mad bomber, I ignored most of the grenade focused perks. I was looking for tech stuff.


    And I found it. Like Crafting there were tons of perks here, but I ended up choosing the one I wanted the most.


    Design Wizard: Your designs will always be beyond the average, you work faster, and more efficiently while designing.


    I nodded as I selected it. Feeling the rush of the perk coming into play.


    And instantly wished I had picked this before spending all afternoon working on my Directional Microphone. That would have made things a lot easier¡­


    I shook it off. No point pouting at what I could do better. I would constantly be improving just take it as it is. I shook it all away and focused back on the menu.


    It had been a while since I saw the assault perks. I ran through them again, my eye catching on Bullet Counting, but I didn¡¯t really need that. My Kiroshi, and a Smart link would take care of that¡­ When I got a Smart Link anyways.


    But it was pointless. I didn''t need it. Not for a Perk point.


    Instead I looked for other Synergy Perks. Perks that would upgrade not just assault weapons, but potentially all of them. I had already taken Gun Nut, which was incredibly useful in order to keep myself from looking like an idiot by trying to shoot a gun that was still on safe.


    Most of the perks were Assault skill focused. Accuracy with Rifles, SMG¡¯s or Sniper Rifles.


    Things that were useful, but that would come with just increased stats anyways¡­


    But I was tempted to do the Sniper Rifle one.


    ¡®Crack Shot: While wielding a Sniper Rifle, If you are in range you can work out a path for your bullet to reach its target.¡¯


    That sounded mildly terrifying.


    But it wasn¡¯t exactly what I was going for¡­


    Yet.


    No, instead I continued digging, Until I found it. The exact perk I wanted. Because it didn¡¯t just deal with a specific series of guns. The name of it had made me pass over it at first.


    ¡®Rifle Ace. Long rifles of all types are deadly in your experienced hands. Ready your long gun to fire in a blink.¡¯


    It was literally Quickdraw for long guns! I was kicking my feet into the air and laughing as I selected it. Instantly I felt the information flow. That surety of motion and knowledge that I KNEW the best way to do something.


    It was amazing. I loved new perks and skill upgrades, that confusion, or amateur attempts at something simply washing away under absolute surety.


    The natural anxiety that everyone feels. That ¡®am I doing it right?¡¯ feeling was gone.


    I sighed in happiness, deciding to take a break from any grinding for the night. I put on some wacky future cartoons, and curled up on the couch.

 Chapter 43

    The next morning I headed out to go see Judy. I did at least wait until afternoon, as I was pretty sure Judy wasn¡¯t a morning person. She just gave me that vibe.


    Pulling up into Lizzies I was greeted at the door by a different bouncer than usual. Rita wasn¡¯t there. But I was waved through and I headed into the back and down the stairs.


    I slipped into Judy''s studio, only to find Judy mid BD.


    I shrugged and grabbed a chair and settled in waiting for her to finish her editing. Or whatever she was doing. Unfortunately this was boring, and it wasn¡¯t like I could go and hack into her system. Judy wasn¡¯t Hiromi.


    So I just waited. Minutes passed as I watched Judy sort of mumble to herself as she rested on the chair.


    Finally she shifted, slipping the wreath up away from her eyes and letting her stretch a bit.


    ¡°Hey Judy.¡±


    ¡°EEEEEee!¡± She shrieked as I accidentally startled her.


    I should probably stop doing that.


    ¡°Sorry Judy, you okay?¡± I asked after a moment as Judy was gasping for air and holding her heart.


    ¡°Don¡¯t do that!¡± She hissed at me, hand clutched to her heart.


    ¡°Sorry! I just didn¡¯t want to disturb you while you were working.¡±


    She muttered a few expletives in spanish under her breath as she slowly rose up and took a few steps around as if gathering herself again.


    ¡°You are way too quiet. Those Lynx Paws of yours must be high end.¡± She finally said and I tilted my head.


    ¡°I don¡¯t have a pair of Lynx Paws. I thought about getting them, they would definitely help me be sneaky, but I haven¡¯t picked them up yet.¡±


    ¡°What? That¡¯s not right, you¡¯re already super quiet. What do you have that lets you do that?¡±


    ¡°Practice mostly.¡± I answered semi-truthfully, I even pulled up my boots and undid one to show my normal fleshy foot. ¡°See.¡±


    ¡°Shit!¡± she blinked before shaking herself a bit. ¡°What crazy corpo black ops training did you crawl out of? Half the stuff on the BD, I have no idea how you even do it. Really Motoko¡­ It was eye opening. Where did you learn to move like that?¡±


    I decided a lie was perfect here. Let people draw their own conclusions. ¡°Well my Mom used to be a Netrunner, and my dad was a Solo. They worked together.¡± I decided to offer with a shrug, as if that explained everything.


    Nailed it.


    ¡°Right¡­ Crazy. Anyway. You here for the BDs?¡±


    ¡°Yeah! Did you finish them?¡±


    ¡°I did¡­ I spent all night editing them. The side jobs were smooth, I actually thought they were pretty interesting. The Maelstrom one? It was preem work. Terrifying but preem. Took forever to edit the virtu, but it was good¡­ You, uh¡­ Do that a lot? Killing people?¡± She asked nonchalantly as she was busying herself with her system, leaning back and pushing some keys on a keyboard.


    I hummed a bit. ¡°Sometimes. Depends on the gig and the people. I¡¯ve killed a lot of Maelstrom recently, but that¡¯s more for personal reasons.¡± I replied, wiggling my hand a little to show what I meant.


    ¡°Right. Right. Preem.¡± She muttered, obviously uncomfortable with the thought.


    ¡°Not really your thing huh?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    ¡°I don¡¯t like XBDs. There¡¯s a reason I do BD work for the Mox, and not anyone else.¡± She mentions pushing a final key and looking over to me, her expression was still uncomfortable, but I could see her try to get over it.


    I winced a bit. ¡°Sorry. Should Nox and I find a different editor?¡±


    ¡°No, no nothing like that. It just makes me uncomfortable, but it ain¡¯t the first time I scrolled some fucked up shit. This was less fucked up than most to be fair. Really it was the surprise at how it felt more than anything. You¡¯re more deadly than you let on. You know?¡± She said quietly, looking me over as if¡­ Well I guess she was comparing the me that was sitting in a chair in front of her, to the one she had seen in the BD.


    I could only shrug and smile at that. ¡°I try.¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± Judy said awkwardly before pulling herself together, she reached over and hit a button on a machine connected to her system, a short buzzing noise echoed out, and I blinked when I recognized it. A BD file producer.


    As I watched a few BDs started clunking out, each of them wrapped in that stupid condom wrapper.


    Four in total.


    ¡°Well here you go. The first of your BDs.¡± She said, swiping them up and offering them to me. I quickly grabbed each of them, gently looking them over. I couldn¡¯t help but snort as the wrapper had Mox colors, and well¡­ The packaging wasn¡¯t really matching. But I knew how to be polite, and it was a Nox problem.


    ¡°Thanks Judy.¡±


    ¡°Hey don¡¯t mention it. Nox is the one who bribed me to do this, so it¡¯s not like you owe me anything.¡±


    ¡°Still thanks. I can¡¯t wait to show these to my Choom Hiromi. I hope it cheers her up a bit.¡±


    ¡°XBDs would cheer her up?¡± Judy asked, sounding a little skeptical.


    ¡°Not that! Not exactly, but like. Seeing what I do because she¡¯s been a little trapped and¡­ it¡¯s a long story.¡±


    ¡°Right, not my bizz. I-¡±


    ¡°JUDY! I¡¯m here!¡± Nox suddenly called out as he ran down the steps, his hair a bit in disarray.


    ¡°Did you just get out of bed?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but ask as I noticed the way his hair was everywhere and he looked half asleep.


    ¡°Yes! Hey Motoko, I was up all night waiting¡­ but I¡¯m here! Judy, you finished the BDs?¡±


    ¡°Yep, a while ago, they weren¡¯t super long, not like a long session¡­ Anyways. You need to make them though. You aren¡¯t burning through my printer.¡±


    ¡°Aww. C¡¯mon Jude, You know Suzie charges me!¡±


    ¡°It costs money to make BD¡¯s Nox, you know that.¡±


    ¡°How much? I have some cash I can put in.¡± I offered, interrupting as Nox was going full puppy dog.


    ¡°Hey I can¡¯t do that Motoko¡­ You already put in enough eddies!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not a big deal Nox.¡± I offered my eyes going blue as I threw a couple grand towards Nox. ¡°There you go. That should be enough to get started right?¡±


    This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    ¡°A-a-eh!¡± He choked a bit but Judy just snorted at his reaction.


    ¡°Just make sure you make more than you spend Nox.¡± She tells him as she pulls a shard out of her computer. ¡°Here. These are the four files. Go on, I got some work to finish up¡­ After my break.¡± She muttered rubbing her eyes a bit. I guess I had been proven wrong, Judy was a morning person, she just stayed up all night to be one.


    ¡°R-right. C¡¯mon Motoko! Let¡¯s go! I¡¯ll show you how to make some BDs.¡±


    I shrugged, willing to take a look.


    The puppy-I mean, Nox led me upstairs chattering away at how he had already put some buyers together, and if sales went well, he knew some street kids that would sell them on his behalf.


    Nox definitely had some ideas about spreading them around.


    It was cute how excited he was about it.


    He led me up and into one of the BD booths upstairs, where I did my best to ignore the music and the partying going on around me.


    He put the shard into a machine along the wall, and with a few options selected, BDs began flowing out.


    ¡°I¡¯ll start with like ten of each, spread it around, let some interest build up. I hope it¡¯ll explode right out, but sometimes it takes a bit before buyers will start biting, word of mouth and stuff¡­ That okay?¡± He asked over the blaring music and I threw him a thumbs up.


    ¡°Yeah nothing happens instantly. Just let me know. I don¡¯t know when my next gig will be, but I¡¯ll let you know once I have some more cool recordings.


    ¡°Great! Okay! All done.¡± He said the same backpack he had when I first rescued him was now full of BD wrappers.


    ¡°Do you¡­ Want to come along? See the process?¡± He asked, sounding a little nervous. Was he worried about getting jumped again?


    ¡°Sorry I have some other stops to make, but if anyone causes you any trouble call me. I¡¯ll come help.¡± I told him. While he smiled at my reply, it was a bit of a weak one.


    ¡°Right. I guess I¡¯ll see you later?¡±


    ¡°Of course. Keep in touch Nox, let me know how the sales go! I¡¯m super excited to hear about it.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll¡­ I¡¯ll send texts every day, to uhh. Update you?¡±


    ¡°Preem!¡±


    ¡ª--


    Funnily enough, it was Hiromi that gave me the idea for my next grinding session.


    Her Arasaka ICE had been a good whetstone to grind against for my overall Netrunning skills.


    So I headed over to Yoko¡¯s for my next adventure. The Netrunning Cafe was as busy as always, only one of the chairs was actually in use.


    But as always Yoko was standing there already watching me behind her glasses as I entered.


    ¡°Oh? Back already?¡±


    ¡°I need some ICE. Preferably something pretty high end.¡± I told her and flashed her a smile.


    ¡°You already know what I deal in. Any information to trade?¡± Yoko¡¯s question made me wince. I really didn¡¯t have anything.


    ¡°I don¡¯t suppose what I just asked for is something I can buy with Eddies?¡±


    ¡°Not unless you want some over the counter WET.¡± She said with a blank look behind her sunglasses.


    ¡°Wet?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but ask. The way she said it was weird.


    ¡°ICE that¡¯s melted. Already been solved. Useless.¡± She informed me and I nodded. That was good to know. It also gave me an idea.


    ¡°Actually¡­ WET would be just fine. Do you have something that was solid before it was solved?¡±


    Yoko seemed to take in my words with a sort of confused stare, before she shrugged.


    ¡°Sure Motoko, I have some old copies of everything, it¡¯s sort of my thing. What do you want?¡±


    ¡°How much will¡­. Two grand get me?¡± I asked checking my account. Wakako had given me some good eddies for the gigs I had done plus bonuses. I could spend a little here. Splurge really.


    ¡°I¡¯ll go get you a stack.¡± She replies laughing a little as she disappears into the back.


    Cool!


    ¡ª---


    So I now had a ton of shards that had ICE programs.


    But I needed something to run them on, and I had a good option¡­


    But it involved going home.


    I still had another repaired laptop in the apartment. But I hadn¡¯t been back alone since¡­


    So I took a deep breath and drove over. Sliding into my parking spot in the parking garage, and checking my guns. Making sure my Burya was loaded¡­ I also grabbed my Carnage.


    Just to make sure.


    Then I walked up to the apartment fully loaded for war. It earned me a few looks, but I was just happy there were people around again. In fact!


    I happily took a slight skip in my goal as the food cart guy that sold the tasty mystery meat balls on a stick was in his usual spot out the front door.


    ¡°Morning!¡± I greeted, as I passed over some eddies and got my usual order in return.


    ¡°Glad to see you¡¯re alive, kid.¡± He offered with a nod, but that was all the words he offered and I wasn¡¯t waiting around.


    I headed inside. Passed the piled up trash, that was actually worse than normal. A few of the old asian guys that were playing chess just inside were back in their normal spots.


    It was almost like before. Just without the protection of the NCPD ever arriving if something went wrong.


    I took the stairs easily racing up the flights until I arrived home.


    The door opened easily.


    Home.


    I took a deep breath and let it out.


    I finished off my meat stick, placed my Carnage on the table and flopped onto the couch.


    It was good to be home. The last time where we just grabbed stuff wasn¡¯t the same thing.


    Still I wasn¡¯t here to relax.


    I was here to grind.


    I grabbed my Laptop, I had planned on selling this one, but using it as training was good too.


    I installed one of the WET ICE from the pile of shards, and locked down the laptop.


    Just because the ICE was solved, and wouldn¡¯t stop any Netrunner that knew what they were doing, doesn¡¯t mean it wasn¡¯t still good security if they didn¡¯t have the solution. It was like a lock that everyone had a key for. But if you chose not to use a key and instead tried to picklock it¡­ Well it was still a lock.


    Really it just meant I could pull out my cord and jack in, and start hammering the security.


    It didn¡¯t matter if the ICE noticed.


    It didn¡¯t matter if I failed, or succeeded.


    If I failed, I just tried again. If I succeeded then I could just uninstal the ICE, chuck the shard in the trash, and grab a fresh one.


    I wasn¡¯t going to stay at home the whole day. So after just a couple hours of intense grinding, I locked everything down and decided to head back to the dojo. I couldn''t let Jun start freaking out when I didn¡¯t come back.


    But I left with plenty of alerts.


    *Intelligence Leveled up!*


    Intelligence 6.


    *Breach Protocol skill level up!*


    *1 Perk Point Gained.*


    *Breach Protocol skill level up!*


    Breach Protocol leveled twice in just that amount of time. Since I was breaking ICE without worrying about alerting someone, or having some Black ICE catch me unaware, I was able to go all out. Uncaring about mistakes, or caution.


    I learned a lot, even without the levels, but with them?


    Breach Protocol 6. I was filled to the brim with knowledge about breaching system security. In a way I was at the point where I finally realized how little I knew about it.


    I shook off the knowledge of the mountain I was staring up at when it came to the knowledge of the net, and instead focused on getting back to Jun.


    I decided to keep the perk saved for now. Mostly because I wasn¡¯t sure what I wanted out of it yet. A little time to think about it would do me some good.


    ¡ª--


    After a winding route back home, carefully making sure I wasn¡¯t followed I made it back to the dojo apartments. Finding Jun already napping in his bedroom, I crashed on the couch and decided I would join him.


    My brain was tired from all the Netrunning. I didn¡¯t like puzzles, and Breaching systems was like the worlds most complicated puzzle game.


    I just had to deal with it for now until I got good enough that the puzzles were all easy mode.


    I set myself a sleep schedule for eight hours and activated it, passing out instantly.


    I did not sleep for eight hours.


    I startled awake.


    Something was wrong.


    I looked around, having grabbed my Burya off the living room table as I rose up. The TV was off, there weren''t any noises. No intruders no movement¡­


    But something had struck that chord in me to wake up. I blinked the tiredness out of my eyes, since I didn¡¯t get my full eight hours I was groggy.


    But then I heard it.


    Sirens.


    I ran to the window, but couldn¡¯t see anything.


    But I could hear them.


    I turned on the TV, switched to the news and got my confirmation.


    ¡°-Are once more on the streets. A full deployment of all NCPD forces have been released onto the city to once more secure a peaceful Night City. The Curfew is in full effect. NCPD has asked us to remind all citizens, that the safest action they can take is to head home and lock their doors until NCPD once more secures any and all troublemakers in our fair city-¡±


    I turned away from it then, opening Jun¡¯s room to see him still passed out as I flipped on the lights.


    ¡°Wha!¡± He surged up and looked around confused.


    ¡°Jun! The NCPD are back. Listen!¡± I demanded and he blinked confused at me for a moment until he heard the sirens as well.


    ¡°Shit!¡± He cursed as he jumped out of bed and grabbed the first clothes he could find. Before rushing out of his room and towards the dojo.


    Since I was wondering what the Tyger Claw response was. I decided to follow. Benefits of Jun being higher up in the gang I guess.


    We both slipped into the dojo, only to discover it was surprisingly calm.


    Jun looked around before finding Sensei.


    ¡°Sensei!¡±


    ¡°Kusanagi¡­ Kusanagi.¡± He greeted us both but focused on Jun. ¡°So you heard?¡±


    ¡°Motoko woke me. Are there any orders?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± The voice that responded wasn¡¯t Sensei. Instead Fujimura, walked out from around the corner, if memory serves, there was an office over there. ¡°We knew exactly when the NCPD would return. The word went out, and all contacts are going to ground tonight. The NCPD will not find the Tyger Claws in their sights. So stay off the streets.¡± He rumbled out a metal finger pointing, but not quite making contact with Jun¡¯s chest.


    ¡°Understood Fujimura-Sama.¡±


    I shrugged, fair enough. I wasn¡¯t about to run out on the streets with the NCPD probably arresting anyone and everyone.


    With that Jun started a conversation with Fujimura, that I didn¡¯t care about, and I wandered off.


    The dojo was quiet and Sensei just gave me a little nod showing he saw me, but he was speaking with Jun and Fujimura as well.


    So I went back to the apartment. Settling back onto the couch and turning on the news.


    Of course the news was filled with ¡®positive¡¯ situations happening throughout the city. It was all bullshit propaganda, but it did give me an idea of how fast NCPD was spreading across the city.


    I couldn¡¯t help but wonder how the return of law enforcement would affect Night City.

 Chapter 44

    I did the smart thing after waking up the next day and stayed inside.


    I was really lucky, without my ability to fall asleep at will, I definitely wouldn¡¯t have managed to get much sleep. The constant NCPD sirens throughout the night meant when I finally did wake up, it was to a groggy Jun drinking some caffeinated drink he had grabbed out of a vending machine while watching the news.


    Me though? After eight hours I was perky.


    ¡°Couldn¡¯t sleep?¡± I chirped at him as I rose up and stretched.


    ¡°No.¡± He grunted as he took another sip as I sat up and stretched. Then I hopped out and cleaned up a bit before grabbing my new testing laptop.


    I settled onto the couch cross legged right next to Jun as I slotted my cord in, and went to work on another set of ICE.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± He eventually asked, distracting me a bit, but I kept myself from getting booted out of the Breach.


    ¡°Netrunning training! I¡¯m getting used to breaching through ICE.¡± I told him with a smile, one eye on him, the other taken over by a screen displaying the ICE countermeasures.


    ¡°Huh.¡± He offered, turning back to the news and taking another sip of his drink.


    Silly Jun. I would have to get him a pair of earmuffs or something, if he kept having trouble sleeping.


    I was practically buzzing though. I really wanting to go out and do something, but knew it was a bad idea. So instead I fell back on what was my favorite activity when I was stuck inside.


    Grinding!


    Although¡­


    ¡°Hey Jun?¡±


    ¡°Yeah?¡±


    ¡°Do you mind if I mess with you a bit?¡± I asked only to have Jun slowly turn towards me, mouth still buried in the can.


    ¡°Whatever you are thinking¡­ No.¡± He responded after a moment deadpan.


    ¡°Aww.¡± I whined at him. ¡°You don¡¯t even know what I was thinking.¡±


    ¡°And I know I wouldn¡¯t enjoy it so no.¡±


    ¡°I just wanted to send my quick hacks at you for practice. You probably have better ICE than most people I would see on the street¡­. Right? You do have ICE right?¡±


    ¡°I have the ICE provided for me, and my ECM.¡±


    Oh right. The tattoos were actually not just tattoos but a ECM system the Tyger Claws preferred.


    ¡°Preem.¡± I told him. ¡°So can I quick hack you? It¡¯s just Ping.¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°You are boring when you are sleepy.¡± I grumbled at him, but went back to my Breaching¡­


    Of course. He might not even notice¡­ I looked towards him out of the corner of my eye and just before I managed to send the Quickhack his hand reached out and grabbed my face covering my eyes.


    ¡°Ow ow ow ow!¡± I hissed as he squeezed a bit.


    ¡°I said no.¡±


    ¡°I give! Surrender!¡± I whined not really wanting to start a fight with my laptop in my lap.


    Plus Jun was obviously grumpy right now. And I wasn¡¯t sure I wanted to mess with Grumpy Jun.


    He let go and I sighed as he gave me a single look before turning back to the news.


    ¡°Fine. See if I ever act as a Netrunner for you. You¡¯ll be like ¡®Motoko! My beautiful and genius little sister, please save me by hacking into this evil mainframe!¡¯ And I¡¯ll just be like ¡®No way you jerky faced older brother! You didn¡¯t believe in your glorious and slightly eccentric little sister!¡¯¡±


    ¡°I would never say that. More like Annoying brat.¡± Jun replied and that I couldn¡¯t allow that. So I kicked him which unfortunately was a mistake.


    Grumpy Jun had no chill.


    ¡°Okay if I offer a cease fire can I at least reach my laptop?¡± I mumbled into the couch from beneath Jun.


    The jerk had literally sat on me, and knocked my laptop out of my lap in the scuffle. So I wasn¡¯t even able to grind!


    Trapped beneath my stupid heavy brother who was definitely eating too many burritos.


    The fatty.


    I managed to swivel my head a bit and catch his eye. Then I realized to my horror what I was seeing. Those weren¡¯t my Nii-chans eyes. They were the eyes of a Cyberpsycho.


    Jun was too far gone.


    ¡°No.¡± He told me smiling the look of a monster as he reached down and continued to poke my face.


    I couldn¡¯t even retaliate! He had managed to pin both my arms while I was still playing around!


    ¡°My Vengeance¡­ Will be legendary.¡± I told him but he didn¡¯t seem to mind.


    A few minutes of my pleading getting nowhere, we were both interrupted by the door to the apartment opening.


    My inability to grab a gun and do anything was the only reason I wasn¡¯t pointing my Lexington at whoever walked in without knocking.


    ¡°Akari. The door was closed.¡± Jun said grumpily as he glared towards the door which is when Alari appeared in my view.


    First she looked at Jun, then down to me, then back up at Jun.


    Then she sat.


    The bitch sat on my struggling legs.


    The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    ¡°Vengeance.¡± I mumbled into the couch because I couldn¡¯t even kick or wiggle with two heavy borg asses on me.


    ¡°Now now Jun boy, you should really knock on the door before entering my apartment. Got any more of those?¡± She asked, pointing towards the can of soda Jun was drinking.


    ¡°Akari.¡± Jun growled out.


    ¡°Oh fine. You are as always boring. Far too serious. But getting better since your cute little sister came around. How is she by the way? Not too flat?¡± She asked, but the fact I could see her wave her hands over her own plastic tits told me she was making a double joke.


    ¡°At least mine are real!¡± I hissed. ¡°OW!¡± I yelped as she took a sharp nail and poked the bottom of my foot that was trapped under her plastic ass.


    ¡°Oh I¡¯m sorry I thought I heard a-¡±


    ¡°Akari. Don¡¯t stab my sister.¡± Jun said, sounding totally done with this as he stood up.


    Freeing me.


    ¡°C¡¯mon Jun b-¡± That was as far as Akari got, now freed I rose up, arching backwards, my knees digging into the couch as I slammed a bit into Akari¡¯s side grabbing her shoulder wrapping my arm around hers and then flexing to literally toss her over my shoulder and off the couch.


    Her absolutely shocked yelped was glorious as she went flying and landed off the couch in a massive thud.


    ¡°That¡¯s for calling me flat.¡± I huffed a bit as I rolled a bit to get onto my feet. The Borg woman laying on her back staring up at me with a dropped jaw.


    ¡°Yeah Motoko does that.¡± Jun called out as he grabbed a soda and we both heard the hiss as it popped open.


    Then he just started drinking.


    ¡°Don¡¯t mind me. Carry on.¡± He offered waving his hand.


    Asshole.


    Akari though, instead of getting up and going on the assault, just started laughing.


    ¡°You really are a fearless little thing aren¡¯t you? Last time I nearly went off on someone they started running away every time I met them from then on. Look at you, willing to literally throw me around? Jun, your cute little Imouto is gonna either get herself killed, or become a monster.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be a monster!¡±


    ¡°More like get me killed.¡± Jun and I said at the same time.


    I just snorted at Jun being a jerk as Akari rose up chuckling still. ¡°It¡¯s kinda nice to be treated like a normal person again. Just be careful little Imouto.¡± Akari said and she was suddenly beside me her arm over my shoulders. ¡°You might set me off some day.¡± She whispered into my ear.


    ¡°Akari!¡±


    ¡°Fine, fine. I¡¯ll leave her alone. You big overprotective brother you. Fujimura-Sama is calling everyone in.¡± She said and Jun quickly put his can down.


    ¡°When¡¯s the meeting?¡±


    ¡°Now?¡± She asked, sounding innocent, but Jun sighed as he instantly rushed for his room. Hurriedly getting dressed and ready.


    ¡°You should come too little Imouto. This isn¡¯t a war meeting, so they are likely shutting down our little headquarters. The excuse of the gangwar keeping the dojo closed isn¡¯t going to fly much longer.¡± She offered poking my nose with her thin claw like chrome.


    Seriously Akari had this thing, where she had to be constantly poking or prodding, or stabbing someone.


    ¡°Sure.¡± I said shrugging as I slipped out from her claws and started getting dressed, if not as quickly as Jun.


    A few minutes later I was following after Jun as he stalked to the dojo, trying to pretend he was put together, and not grumpy, running on barely any sleep.


    Akari as usual, being annoying, but not to me this time.


    Inside the dojo the main room was full.


    The entire Kamikaze group were here, most were sitting seiza around as Fujimura stalked around. A few couldn¡¯t sit that way thanks to wounds, or simply how their legs worked. But otherwise that was the room. The only one that wasn¡¯t was Sensei.


    He stood against the far wall. I decided to do like him, resting up against the wall, and not joining the group.


    I didn¡¯t want to let them think I was one of theirs anymore than they already did.


    ¡°NCPD have already done much of our job for us. Maelstrom has been pushed back. They were caught unaware by the return of the cops.¡± Fujimura called out suddenly as Jun slipped into a spot, Akari settling in nearby. There were nodding heads and sharp grins from the group at that.


    ¡°There has already been communication from the Maelstrom leader Brick.¡± He called out but this time only a few of the Kamikaze looked pleased. Jun most of all was now frowning.


    ¡°Yes. That means there will likely be an end to this war with Maelstrom.¡± Fujimura called out and I could see Jun¡¯s tension ratcheting up.


    ¡°That does not mean we will stop killing them of course.¡± Fujimura added his eyes happened to be passing over Jun. ¡°But the full out assault to push back the Maelstrom is over. We won. There will still be plenty of blood for those of you with grudges. But it does mean that the Kamikaze will no longer act as a fast response unit. You will all return home. Duties will come slower, and in smaller groups. You bled for your people. Kamikaze!¡± He said something at the end.


    Something in japanese, that I just couldn¡¯t figure out.


    Stupid America brain. I only knew two languages, English and bad English.


    But all of the Kamikaze offered a bow, as Fujimura did the same. Huh.


    The rest of the little Cyberpsycho party was pretty boring. Fujimura went around to the group, some of them were told they would be returning to previous jobs as there was no reason to keep the entire Kamikaze group together during a peace time.


    Jun wasn¡¯t one of them.


    Instead he was told the Dojo apartment could be his if he liked, but otherwise, he was free to return home.


    The Jammer wasn¡¯t needed anymore, and everything was going to sort of¡­


    Go back to normal? If anything could go back to normal. If I thought I was feeling a little confused about all the changes that were happening. Jun looked like someone had tugged the rug out from under him down a massive flight of stairs.


    He was just kinda¡­ Staring into the distance.


    I walked over since the borgs were milling around or wandering out of the room, and plopped next to Jun. I didn¡¯t say anything. I didn''t need to. He was feeling lost. His goal pulled out from under him. It¡¯s okay Jun. We can figure out what to do next.


    Together.


    ¡ª---


    I followed Jun around for the next while as he finally stood up and headed back to the apartment. Once he was inside he made to move back to his room but I finally spoke up.


    ¡°Jun!¡± I called out loudly enough to startle him.


    ¡°Motoko?¡±


    ¡°Take your time. Get some sleep, and don¡¯t worry. We will figure everything out. I¡¯ll be here when you are ready to talk.¡± I told him before walking over and flopping on the couch. He watched me for a minute before snorting, and then turning and walking back inside his room.


    ¡°Idiot.¡± He said as he entered his room, but I let that pass.


    I was totally going to wake him up in a day or two by jumping on him. Let him get settled and not think about the revenge that was coming.


    Until then I had some grinding to do. I really wanted another point in intelligence. It was time for the system to properly acknowledge my brain!


    I spent the rest of the day grinding out alerts, but it was coming in a lot slower, plus Jun kept interrupting me with watching the TV which kept drawing my attention away from my grind.


    ¡ª--


    Another afternoon passed with me grinding away trying to get enough Intelligence alerts.


    When suddenly my head started beeping.


    I was getting messages. I looked at the small list of messages, some from Hiromi, mostly just talking about how boring her classes were.


    But I got a few from Nox, and one from Judy as well!


    *Nox: Got some clients lined up. No sales yet, like you said, but I¡¯m putting out feelers!*


    *Nox: Managed to snag a few more kids interested in your gigs, haven¡¯t gotten any responses back yet!*


    *Nox: Hey! Haven¡¯t heard from you, that Jammer again? Gave someone a sneak peak, interest was super high! Even managed to get him on the line all four BDs.*


    *Nox: Big day today! Word is getting around! The NCPD coming back is making things hard though. Might be slow sales at first. Since it¡¯ll be dangerous to get around. Shame. If we could have the BDs on the market now all the people stuck at home would have something to check out. Haven¡¯t heard from you¡­*


    I nodded along at Nox¡¯s messages. I would have to send him a text letting him know the jammer was down¡­ Well for once I might want to hold off on that just yet, he was a Mox. So I continued on reading the other messages.


    *Judy: Motoko, I feel like I was a bit bitchy last time we talked. Just wanted to make sure you know, you are welcome with the Mox. Regardless of your TC connections. I was just freaking out a bit.*


    Oh. That was kinda sweet of Judy. I didn¡¯t really feel that I couldn¡¯t. I mean she had just been threatened by the TC with kidnapping. I¡¯d be a little uncomfortable too.


    As I was browsing through the sudden deluge of messages, Jun came out of his room. ¡°Jammer is down.¡± He said suddenly as he walked past the couch towards the fridge pulling out a drink and hammering it down.


    ¡°Yeah, I just got a ton of texts. I¡¯ll have to call Hiromi!¡±


    ¡°Do it after, pack up first. We''re¡­ going home.¡± He said and I actually whooped as I jumped off the couch. It would be sorta nice to return to normality, that and the jammer was such a massive pain in the ass!


    I hurriedly gathered up everything, arms overflowing with my treasures, as I raced it down to the car.


    It took a few trips.


    With that Jun slipped onto his Kusanagi, my Quadra ended up being stuffed with junk that Jun had gathered since he left since he couldn¡¯t carry it on his motorcycle.


    Then we raced home.


    Well Jun did. I followed the traffic laws, and at the first red light that Jun blew through I lost him.


    Seriously Jun. I don¡¯t care if your butt is made of metal, you are on a motorcycle, drive safely!


    Finally I reached home.


    I parked out on the curb, where Jun was waiting. I stayed with the car to make sure nothing got klepped as Jun ran up and down the stairs toting everything inside.


    Then I parked in the garage and headed inside.


    Home.


    The streets were crazy busy, I couldn¡¯t help but notice as I crossed the street, even more than usual. It¡¯s like with the NCPD returning everything that hadn¡¯t wanted to leave their homes were now on the sidewalks. That and I supposed with the curfew no one wanted to be caught outside after dark when the NCPD were feeling more trigger happy than normal.


    I walked through the throng of people, some heading towards the Cherry Blossom Market, some to other shops down the street, and some just hanging out.


    It was nice. The tense atmosphere of the city was gone, returned to this constant mishmash of people.


    I ran up the stairs and entered the apartment to hear Jun shuffling around in his room. I peeked in and saw him going through a backpack of stuff. Slowly taking it out looking it over, running his fingers over the items and then putting them somewhere around the room.


    It felt like a personal moment so I went ninja and slipped into my room without him noticing.


    Ninja skills were useful for something other than on gigs!


    Inside I shut the door and looked around. My bags and stuff were in a pile at the entrance.


    I walked inside. It felt¡­ Odd to be here. This had been my room since I woke up here in Night City. It wasn¡¯t quite nostalgic, but it felt good to be here. I decided not to unpack anything yet, instead I walked over and flopped onto the bed.


    I lay there for a bit just sort of taking in the familiar ceiling.

 Chapter 45

    When I finally felt like doing something again I opened up my menu and made a call.


    *Ringing*


    *Hey hey! Motoko!*


    *Hey Hiromi! How are you? With the NCPD back on the streets, did your parents lift the lockdown?*


    *Ugh. Not just yet. But school is opening next week with normal classes so they have to by then. How about you? How are the TC reacting?*


    *Not sure about most of them, but Kamikaze are spreading back out, the secret headquarters they were using is emptying out. Jun and I are actually back home.*


    *Whoa, Nova. So it really is over then?*


    *Looks like at least the gang war is over. Not the killing. Lot of the Kamikaze still looked ready to go hunt more Maelstrom¡­ Jun among them, but it¡¯s okay. I think everything is getting better with him. He seems more stable now.*


    *That¡¯s great! I know you were worried, but I knew Jun would be okay! He is too cute to Cyberpsycho.* She said and I could tell she was teasing me.


    *Gag me with a spoon, Hiromi.* Her giggles were my only response for a while until finally they ended with her going quiet for a bit.


    *So hey. Choom. Choomer. Choomiest?* Hiromi suddenly asked, sounding a little quiet.


    *What do you need Hiromi?* I answered, trying to keep from laughing at her words.


    *My bike is still wrecked¡­ Can¡¯t exactly drive it right now, and I¡¯m gonna wait a bit to give an excuse to the ¡®rents so they don¡¯t freak on me¡­ Mind giving me a ride to class and back?*


    *Huh. You want your Street Punk Merc friend drive you right up to Arasaka Tower? I¡¯m down.* I answered after a pause, making her laugh back at me.


    *Thanks Choom. Just for a day or two? I can tell my parents I crashed after that, and get my bike fixed up.*


    *No worries. I¡¯ll act as a chauffeur. Will M¡¯lady need anything dry cleaned as well? Or perhaps someone assassinated?* I asked, trying to sound as snooty as I could which caused Hiromi to break into giggles.


    *You¡¯re such a gonk!*


    *Speaking of damaged vehicles though. I should probably take my Quadra into the shop.*


    *Wait what? Why? What happened?*


    *Didn¡¯t I tell you? That night I hit the Maelstrom, the damn gonks side swiped me.*


    *Oh that¡¯s right¡­ Is the damage bad? I know you were pretty pissed about it.*


    *It¡¯s not terrible, the car is armored, paint and dents mostly, I¡¯ll just need t-* I stopped.


    Wait.


    Fuckin hold on a second.


    I could fix it. Mechanic work was well within the bounds of all the knowledge dumps I had been getting from the System.


    *Toko? Helloooo?*


    *I¡¯m here! I just realized I actually do know how to fix it. I think¡­ I think I¡¯ll go fix up my car. It¡¯ll be a nice little grind session.* I said without thinking.


    *Grind? Why would you need to grind your car?*


    *Oh! Uhhh. No? No, grind like doing a task and keeping at it until it¡¯s done.* I added, making up an excuse. Thank you Slang being so common in Night City.


    *Alright. Let me know how it goes¡­ Do you think you could fix my bike? I mean-*


    *Probably! I¡¯ll have to look it over, but I can do that for my choom!* Plus! If I could repair it that means more grinding! Motoko you¡¯re a genius!


    *Preem. If I don¡¯t have to make an excuse for my ¡®rents that would be best. They are fully up my ass still. How has it been out there? Is it¡­ Better?*


    *People are everywhere! More than usual, all the people that were hiding are out on the streets now. The TC knew the NCPD were coming and hid away, and so Maelstrom got hit hard, they are making peace even.*


    *Wait! Maelstrom and Tyger Claws are making peace!? Why didn¡¯t you tell me!*


    *I just did though?*


    *Ugh. Motoko!*


    *Sorry! I didn¡¯t think about it. Yeah the Kamikaze leader told everyone, apparently there is going to be an end to the TC-Strom war. At least officially.*


    *Wow. That¡¯s huge! I actually¡­ I actually should let my ¡®rents know. That might be useful to them. Listen, call me later? If not, see you Monday?*


    *Sure! Chat with me later Hiromi!*


    The call clicked off and I nodded, already jumping to my feet. I had some grinding to do!


    I grabbed my toolbox from where Jun had dumped it on the floor of my bedroom, and rushed back out.


    ¡°Going out to the parking garage! Call me if you need me!¡± I called out to Jun who was now in the kitchen going through the fridge, and I was off clanking down the stairs as I carried the toolbox I ran across the street, although my head was swiveling, and my right hand free in order to quickdraw if I needed.


    Not going to make that mistake again. Burya was in its holster and ready to go if needed.


    But nothing happened. I ran into the garage and reached the car.


    The side of my Quadra was still suffering from a nasty dent all along the side. The paint utterly ripped off.


    Fucking Maelstrom.


    But I knelt down, popping my tool box open. With a deftness I grabbed the needed tools, Instantly my hands went to work humming lightly as I slowly worked out the dents in the armored side. Honestly the fact it was armored made my job harder, but it just needed more force to even out, and the few places that some internal circuitry was crushed I simply spent a few minutes scanning and then remaking a replacement, a bit of testing to make sure it worked and I was set.


    I hadn¡¯t even known that one of my rear lights was out! That was so dangerous! What if someone rear ended me!


    This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    Well it was fixed now. I stood up, sure the paint was more trashed than it had been before, but with a few going over of a magnetic tool that let me smooth out the plate. It was done.


    Now to check on all the spots that had been hit¡­ And probably a carwash, I forgot about the whole blowing someone''s head off on the hood. The bits of gore still stuck on the hood was a little gnarly¡­


    I probably should have taken that to a carwash before this¡­ Ew.


    I almost turned and walked all the way back inside when I remembered.


    My eyes turned gold.


    *Motoko? What¡¯s wrong?* Jun responded nearly instantly.


    *Nothing! Nothing. I¡¯m okay. Just calling to let you know, I¡¯m gonna need to hit a carwash¡­ I uh. Forgot to clean up my poor Quadra after everything.*


    *Oh¡­ Thank you for telling me. Drive safe.*


    *Will do!*


    I slipped out into the heavy traffic of the city, easily winding a safe path through the city, enjoying the quiet ride.


    Then I realized it didn¡¯t have to be quiet. I turned on the radio, and instantly started nodding along to Body Heat Radio.


    Listen¡­ It had some good songs as long as that Pon pon shit wasn¡¯t playing¡­ Wait, wasn''t the song literally Ponpon shit? I meant Ponpon shit, shit. Because I hate that song. Luckily I don¡¯t think it has been released yet. Body Heat was a pretty solid choice when I wasn¡¯t in the mood for Samurai.


    Anyway I found a nice carwash, went through and did my best to pretend there wasn¡¯t a massive wave of red bloody water flowing off my car as I went through.


    The one attendant that was sitting behind a bullet proof glass was doing his best not to notice. So I pretended it wasn¡¯t happening too.


    Best for everyone.


    ¡ª---


    As I went through the car wash I had some time to think about what else I needed to do, which reminded me of a promise I had made.


    But then I realized I had no idea where to go.


    So I made a call.


    *Motoko?* Ichi¡¯s voice answered after a few moments, and he sounded sleepy.


    *Ichi! Heya choom. How¡¯s things? Did I wake you? Sorry about that. Also can you slip me Malcolms address? I want to stop by and check on him.*


    *Oh yeah, you did say you were gonna do that¡­ Sure Motoko.¡± He mumbled obviously groggy enough my rapid fire took him a minute to parse.


    I got a text from Ichi a moment later.


    *Thanks Choom¡­ Maybe tonight we can all meet up again? I can probably get Hiromi free too. Omaeda too maybe? Are you working tonight?*


    The line was quiet for a minute.


    *Y-yeah¡­ If you¡­ If Malcolm is willing. I¡¯m down. It¡¯ll be nice¡­ To just¡­ Hang out again.*


    *These last few weeks were rough on you huh Ichi?* I couldn¡¯t help but ask. While he had said he wasn¡¯t working with Malcolm anymore. The way he spoke¡­


    They had a fight. Definitely.


    *Heh. I guess I could say the same to you. If you can get Hiromi and Malcolm that would be great¡­ Ho-oh Club?*


    *Ugh. That place gives me a headache, but I get it. Sure we can hang there.* I answered, it was ¡®our¡¯ spot I guess¡­ Actually I had no idea. Had we hung out there before the coma? Or just after?


    *Alright¡­ I¡¯m gonna crash for a few more hours.*


    *Sounds good! Cya!*


    I hung up and started up the engine. Malcolm wasn¡¯t too far. Made sense. We were all in the same area. Street kids that grew up together.


    I drove out into the streets, following the path to Malcolms address.


    The small apartment complex a couple blocks north of the Cherry Blossom Market. It took me a while to find a good parking spot, but it didn¡¯t take me long to slip inside and find apartment J24.


    I rapped my chrome knuckles on the door. Waiting, I could hear something.


    The door was suddenly pulled open, a large man with a tired expression and holding a Tactician in his arms was there. Whatever he was trying to say was cut off mid sentence when he noticed me.


    ¡°We are- oh¡­ hello?¡±


    ¡°Hello. I¡¯m Motoko, is Malcolm in?¡± I chirped trying to look cute and innocent.


    Despite being fully armed.


    ¡°Yeah¡­ One second.¡± He turned away from the door. ¡°MALCOLM!¡± He yelled and I could hear a yelp and a bit of cursing.


    ¡°WHAT!?¡±


    ¡°DOOR!¡± The man yelled back and I was laughing a bit at how¡­ normal it seemed. Doesn¡¯t matter if it''s the 2000''s, or 2070¡¯s parents and teenagers really don¡¯t change.


    I heard a bit of grumbling as things were knocked around before Malcolm suddenly jogged into view. A BD wreath around his neck he was about to yell at his pops when he noticed me.


    ¡°Motoko?¡±


    ¡°Hey Malcolm!¡± I waved a bit and Malcolm¡¯s father looked from me to his son.


    ¡°Well don¡¯t be a gonk invite the girl in.¡± The old man rumbled before walking into the house.


    ¡°D-Dad! It¡¯s not like that!¡±


    I just laughed. His dad seemed pretty happy, so I guess Malcolm wasn¡¯t bringing cute girls home very often.


    ¡°Motoko? What are you doing here?¡±


    ¡°Stuff got crazy, you know? With everything¡­ I figured it was a good idea to see all the chooms. How you doing Malcolm?¡± I asked and my question seemed to really confuse him for a minute.


    ¡°I¡¯m¡­ Alright?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m glad.¡± I nodded to myself for a few moments, the silence between us lengthening.


    ¡°Moron! Invite the girl in!¡± The loud call from behind Malcolm caused him to jump before he turned back inside.


    ¡°Dad! Shut up!¡± Malcolm instantly called back but after a moment he sighed. ¡°Want to come in?¡±


    ¡°Sure!¡± I chirped following Malcolm inside his apartment, we ended up settled on his couch where he had obviously just been watching a BD.


    ¡°Anything good?¡± I prompted miming towards my neck.


    ¡°Wha? Oh. The Wreath, yeah some neat stuff. I uh. Haven¡¯t had much of a taste for intense BD¡¯s since¡­ Everything.¡±


    ¡°Ichi told me a bit, about what happened, I mean.¡±


    ¡°Course Ichi couldn¡¯t keep his trap shut.¡± Malcolm grumbled.


    ¡°It¡¯s not like that. I asked. You okay?¡±


    ¡°Fine.¡± He said, indicating he was anything but fine. ¡°What happened to you? New chrome?¡± He asked indicating my forearms there were obviously no longer flesh.


    ¡°I got kidnapped by the Maelstrom, and they cut my arms off.¡± I answered, and then I sighed. ¡°It was kind of a thing.¡±


    ¡°Fuck.¡± He said face going a little pale at my casual reveal.


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I agreed with him as he shifted a bit, from being hunched over and defensive.


    ¡°You¡­ You okay?¡±


    ¡°Surprisingly, I¡¯m doing pretty good. I uh¡­ Tried to pretend I was fine at first. But all that did was make me angry. So I focused on that, and¡­ Yeah. I¡¯m doing better. It still sucks.¡± I answered with a shrug. ¡°What about you?¡±


    ¡°Better than that. I still got all my meat.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t need to compare bad things choom. Serious. Talk to me?¡±


    Malcolm went quiet for a while playing with the wreath which he slowly took off from around his neck and placed on the table.


    ¡°Not much to say. Sam was cool. Older kid. Like Ichi, well liked by the Claws. We got some fire from some random Maelstrom gonk. I just remember being terrified. I was in the back of the truck with Sam, Ichi up front. Driving away as fast as we can and suddenly¡­ Bullet Holes through the sides of the truck. I screamed, and when it was over Sam was dying. Nothing I could do.¡±


    Malcolms eyes were growing wet by the end of his story.


    ¡°Ever had someone you know flatline like that?¡± I asked, as Malcolm had grown silent at the end.


    ¡°No. It scared me Motoko. Not something you have to deal with.¡± He grumbled wiping his eyes.


    ¡°I get scared too Malcolm.¡± I said as gently as I could.


    ¡°Motoko. I¡¯ve seen you after you flatlined a scav den solo. You don¡¯t have a scared bone in your body.¡±


    ¡°Not true. Not true at all.¡± I mumbled towards the end. I just wasn¡¯t afraid of the same things everyone else was¡­


    How could I? I had already died once. Once you know what¡¯s on the other side, how can you be afraid?


    But I was afraid of things still. Just not death.


    ¡°Listen. I want all of us to get together tonight. You, Ichi, Hiromi, Omaeda if he wants. All of us at the club¡­ A lot has happened. But we are still chooms. We still ran together. Please come?¡± Malcolm looked up, our eyes met and we sat for a while as he thought.


    ¡°Sure.¡±


    I smiled and threw out a fist, which unfortunately took a moment for him to get before he scoffed and bumped my fist. ¡°You are so weird.¡±


    I pouted at him, and we both got a chuckle at that.


    Malcolm and I hung out for a while. Just kind of getting to know each other. He was more lowkey than he ever had been before, but at the same time as we talked, I started seeing that same energy that he had before.


    I guess he just needed a friend.


    I guess we all did.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°So can Hiromi come?¡± I asked Hiromi¡¯s mother who had answered the door.


    The Corpo woman was looking at me like I was some crazy person coming up to the door to borrow sugar or something weird.


    I guess I probably shouldn¡¯t have opened with ¡®Can Hiromi come out to play?¡¯


    Fuckin¡¯ brain. Why do you do this to me?


    The woman finally spoke, interrupting my silent meltdown.


    ¡°You want to take Hiromi to that club, went to with all of her other¡­ Street friends?¡±


    ¡°Yeah! Now that the NCPD is back, and it¡¯s safer¡­ We all went through a lot. Hiromi too! So I figured it would be nice to have all of us gather back up again. A reunion, a¡­ A chance to be with our chooms.¡±


    ¡°The streets are still dangerous.¡±


    ¡°Nothing will touch her.¡± I said suddenly. Feeling cold flowing through me. ¡°I¡¯ll kill anyone stupid enough to think they can even make the attempt.¡± I promised.


    ¡°Motoko!¡± Hiromi called out suddenly as she ran past her mom and jumped me in a hug.


    ¡°Hiromi!¡± I cheered back as we hugged for a moment.


    ¡°Save me! I¡¯m bored¡­ Moooom. Don¡¯t be weird with Motoko, you should have said she was here.¡± Hiromi turned on her mother, scowling.


    ¡°Motoko was asking if you could leave tonight to go visit that club of yours.¡± The woman interrupted Hiromi. ¡°Do you wish to go?¡±


    ¡°Wa-! Yes! Please!¡±


    ¡°Very well. Motoko, will be your bodyguard for the night. Don¡¯t leave her side. I expect that is an acceptable requirement Motoko?¡± The woman asked to my surprise.


    ¡°Of course.¡±


    ¡°Then you may go.¡± The older woman said simply turning around and heading back inside like the matter was finished.


    ¡°Does your mom actually like me?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but whisper to Hiromi, because it almost felt like that.


    ¡°Not sure. I think Mom thinks someone well armed is a good thing for me? I wouldn¡¯t¡­ I wouldn¡¯t say they like you. More like they want to use you.¡± Hiromi muttered a little irritated at the end.


    ¡°Eh, whatever! Let¡¯s go!¡± I urged her on and Hiromi actually smiled as she grabbed me and pulled me inside. She needed to get ready to head outside.


    As she was in the bathroom doing her hair a bit, although not into her usual mohawk, I remembered I had something!


    ¡°Oh Hiromi! I have the BDs from my gigs. I¡¯ll leave them here on your desk.¡±


    ¡°Wha!¡± She called out as she poked her head through the bathroom bead curtain.


    Stupid bead curtain.


    ¡°You got them! I want to see! Right now!¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t have time.¡± I told her. It was already getting late, and we were supposed to meet Ichi and Malcolm soon.


    ¡°Uuuugh!¡± She whined but spun back into the bathroom. To finish up.


    It was just lucky her makeup was mostly cyberware neon lights, so I didn¡¯t have to wait long as she finished.

 Chapter 46

    The Quadra purred as I pulled up to the Ho-oh Club.


    I almost preferred Lizzies¡­


    No, I actually don¡¯t. I sighed to myself why did my chooms all want to hang out in sleazy clubs and bars?


    Well at least they were BD clubs, and not¡­ Clouds.


    As I stepped out Hiromi happily bounced out a moment after as she had been in full energy since we left her apartment. I noticed the damage to the club had been fully repaired, in fact there were now more concrete barricades blocking part of the tunnel entrance to the club.


    I guess Shobo or whatever his name is, had done some work increasing the defenses of the club.


    As we entered, the place was actually pretty packed. Plenty of Tyger Claws hanging around drinking and having a good time, alongside some civvies.


    I guess the gang war ending was spreading around, and now everyone wanted to blow off some steam.


    ¡°Is Ichi or Malcolm here yet?¡± I asked Hiromi and she shrugged looking towards our normal table that was occupied by some random people.


    ¡°Let¡¯s check the bar?¡± I asked, and she was already walking that way as I kept up. The bartender nodded to the two of us, ready to take our orders.


    No one cared about serving alcohol to minors in Night City. Especially not a gang hangout like this.


    ¡°Hey, we¡¯re looking for Ichi. Has he come in yet?¡± I asked the bartender but got a shaken head.


    ¡°Haven¡¯t seen him girls. You want something to drink?¡±


    ¡°Yeees!¡± Hiromi instantly jumped and started ordering something extremely alcoholic. I just ordered something fizzy.


    ¡°I¡¯ll text him.¡± I tell her as she is already happily watching her drink be made.


    *At Ho-oh.*


    Then since I didn¡¯t get an immediate response I settled into the stool at the bar besides Hiromi who was already happily chattering with a few of the Tyger Claws sitting at the bar.


    Hiromi is gonna Hiromi I guess.


    A few minutes later I got an update from Ichi.


    *Ichi: Runnin¡¯ a little late. Malcolm and I had it out a bit. Be there soon.*


    I blinked.


    ¡°Ichi says he¡¯ll be here soon.¡± I told Hiromi who turned away from the Tyger Claw guy she was chattering at that was visibly getting irritated at her chatter.


    ¡°Preem! Bout time we¡¯ve been here forever already Toko!¡± Hiromi whined at me, and she purposefully made her voice annoying as she leaned into me.


    And that I guess was just enough. The Tyger Claw sitting beside Hiromi that she had been annoying for the last few minutes pounded a fist into the table.


    ¡°Will you shut the fuck up you punk! You¡¯ve been blabbering away! Fuckin¡¯ punk brats thinking they are hard shit ruining my buzz!¡± He snapped, rising up. His buddy on his other side was also standing up.


    Which is when I slipped past Hiromi, stepping in front of her.


    I didn¡¯t say anything, just making sure that I was between Hiromi and this gonk.


    ¡°Hey fuck off yourself then you gonk!¡± Hiromi instantly replied. I guess her previous scare wasn¡¯t affecting her at the moment. Made sense. This was our club too. She had been going here for a while.


    While she and the gonk got into it, I stayed between them. My increased vision took it all in. The two gonks, the Tyger Claws in the club all looking quite ready to jump into a fight. I noticed a few of the old timers, the ones that had been coming here before the war look over, and look like they were going to get involved, only to sit down as the emotions of the club turned against us.


    This wasn¡¯t the same club Hiromi and I were used to. The Tyger Claws were more on edge.


    I guess the war hadn¡¯t been easy on them.


    It wasn¡¯t just Hiromi that was getting looked at angrily. Hiromi wasn¡¯t as decked out as she usually was, a lot of her TC gear left at home. She was almost¡­ Dressing down from her usual. But I wasn¡¯t wearing anything that marked me as Tyger Claw.


    I didn¡¯t even have my Katana on me.


    This could get dicey.


    Diplomacy, or shock and awe? I considered my options. Even as Hiromi kept barking back at the guy, obviously getting pissed at how he was acting like she was an outsider. She was even making fun of the guys dick at this point. Which definitely wasn¡¯t going to calm things down.


    This was gonna go bad swiftly. I could see how everyone was reacting. Hiromi was definitely playing with fire.


    But fuck them. Hiromi and I weren¡¯t TC, but she had done plenty of jobs with Ichi, who was. And I? Well I did fight with the Kamikaze¡­ Even if I definitely 100% wasn¡¯t one of them! At all!


    The first guy grabbed a beer bottle. But not to take a drink. He grabbed it around the top, ready to smash it into what must be in his eyes, a pair of punks.


    Eh.


    I was no good at diplomacy anyways.


    I waited. Just staring. Ready.


    And the idiot set me up perfectly.


    With one hand still holding the bottle, he reached out and grabbed at the collar of my jacket. Probably trying to throw me to the side so he could smash Hiromi with the bottle.


    I looked at his hand holding me up, practically hauling me off my feet. Then back at him.


    Then my hands moved.


    Street Brawler wasn¡¯t something I used much but I had spent a good chunk of time grinding it. Hadn¡¯t had much need for it, as getting close was only my goal from stealth.


    But it was very satisfying when I pulled an Alita.


    I had always wanted to do that.


    One of my arms gripped his forearm twisting just so as my fingers dug in, weakening his grip and letting me pull in closer.


    Putting his neck into reach.


    My grip was instant and unrelenting, and then since I now had him by two points it was child''s play to shift him. I might not be very heavy, but my Chrome arms gave me plenty of torque.


    The bar rocked as I went ahead and doinked his head off the bar. Which unfortunately didn¡¯t break, the noise echoed through the bar.


    And then¡­ Well I guess it was time for a bar fight.


    His buddy swung at me, but I was a master of improvised weapons!


    I stole the beer bottle his buddy had been holding, and ducked his fist. A moment later he had a bottle smash into his face.


    Then with a smile of pure happiness on my face, I simply fell into the rhythm.


    Because more and more Tyger Claws were coming at me. The fights were perfectly clear. My emotions, despite raging inside, kept completely in check with Cold Blood.


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    Not that I wasn¡¯t utterly enjoying myself. I always wanted to be in a bar fight.


    But I didn¡¯t make it unscathed.


    A chair was smashed into me.


    I took a few punches from a martial artist Claw.


    Some crazy gonk smashed a bottle into my arms which peppered me with little bits of glass.


    But as much as they gave, I returned.


    Chair gonk was smashed in the face with a flying bottle that I stole from Hiromi as she was standing on the bar cursing everyone one out and to my utter delight was double fisting her middle fingers to the entire room.


    Stirring up shit in the middle of an outnumbered bar fight? That was my crazy bitch alright.


    Martial artist fucker knew how to fight, and he was even better than me. His longer arms and legs also helped. But he managed to slip in and started beating on me. Cold Blood fully active was the only reason I wasn¡¯t crying out in pain as he managed to slam a few good fists into my face.


    But a Martial Artist wasn¡¯t always a good Street Brawler. So when I grabbed a stool, I threw off his assault, and then it was my turn.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want no trouble!¡± I yelled out happily, purposefully playing up the chinese accent, and not sounding at all like that was true. While screaming that out I used the stool to keep catching his fists until I managed to tangle him up just right and smash the flat rim into his nose sending him to the ground.


    Bottle guy got his neck grabbed after smashing the bottle on my arms, because he got too close and a flying knee broke his face.


    I felt a grin on my face, as I was getting alerts for not just body, but a full level up from Street Brawler!


    Street Brawler 6! Just for a bar fight? I would have to do this more often!


    But then one of the gonks ruined it.


    He pulled iron.


    The room went still as the bastard drew his pistol with a japanese shout at me.


    Everyone was waiting to see what would happen.


    Everything went still, but I wasn¡¯t intimidated. The unkept fucked up rusted piece of shit Lexington wasn¡¯t the piece that was going to flatline me not today, not ever.


    So I reached up, put a thumb to my nostril and blew out a glob of blood before speaking. ¡°Careful. I¡¯m armed too.¡± I warned him as I gently opened my jacket with my left hand showing the Burya in its holster. ¡°Don¡¯t turn this into a gunfight.¡±


    ¡°Bitch! You think you can come in here! Fuck with us!? I¡¯ll sell you on the street as a whore! I¡¯ll turn you into a fuck-¡±


    ¡°Enough.¡± The voice cut through despite the man yelling and every Tyger Claw in the bar stiffened, as Jotaro walked into the bar proper from the back. ¡°What exactly is happening here?¡± He demanded looking around, first towards his guy that had his gun out, then towards me.


    Listen it wasn¡¯t my fault I was surrounded by groaning Tyger Claw men, they shouldn¡¯t have started it.


    ¡°Listen, I don''t want no trouble.¡± I offered despite my own brain telling me to just stay quiet.


    But dammit I never got a chance to make such perfect Jackie Chan references before, so I guess my mouth was going to take its chances. It was also pulling into a smirk at the words. Seeing the gunman lowering his weapon, waiting for Jotaro to say something, I took a few steps back and settled against the bar. Hiromi was looking at me in shock from over the bar.


    She had totally bailed over at the gunman pulling his pistol. Smart girl.


    I threw her a smile and turned back to the boss.


    He looked pissed. I flashed him a smile when he turned to look at me.


    What can I say? A fight actually put me in a good mood. At least until the dumbass decided to pull a gun. I was still ready to quickdraw my Burya in an instant if he decided to raise that pistol back up.


    ¡°Clean this mess up. All of you. Does this look like a fighting pit?¡± Jotaro demanded and he was definitely pissed, his eyes kept flashing to the non Tyger Claw people that were cowering in the corners trying to avoid getting dragged into a gunfight.


    Ah I guess, he wasn¡¯t happy about potentially losing customers over this.


    Only after all the Tyger Claws started cleaning things up and returning the club to order did he stalk over towards me.


    ¡°And you? Do you think you can walk into my club, and cause such a commotion?¡± He said only after fully entering my personal space, his voice a hissed whisper.


    ¡°Listen choom. This guy decided to start the fight, I¡¯m on the job protecting my client, so this is his fault not mine.¡± I tell him idly poking my boot at the poor gonk whose face now decorated the bar.


    Jotaro¡¯s eyes narrowed. ¡°It is¡­ Kusanagi? Is it not? I remember the face. Do you think that what you have done here will go without punishment? Do you think this sort of disrespect will be tolerated?¡± The man was pissed. I could see it in his eyes. The hatred and wrath.


    ¡°Disrespect?¡± I questioned coldly, wondering what the hell he was talking about.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. My club! This place is under my control, nothing happens here without my permission.¡± He reaches out and snags my jaw.


    And puts himself at about four seconds away from losing the hand. I was gonna start collecting Tyger Claw fuckheads hands if this kept up.


    ¡°And I didn¡¯t give you permission to beat my men, to damage my club. I think this will cost y-¡±


    ¡°Motoko! Oh! Shobo-sama!¡± Ichi suddenly called out as he rushed over having probably seen someone looming over me, but not realizing it was his boss. Malcolm just behind him looked confused at the whole situation.


    Funnily enough both boys looked a little ruffled too. Like they had just been in a fight.


    Fucking gonks.


    ¡°Hey Ichi. Hey Malcolm.¡± I mumbled out a bit, the gonk still had my chin in his hand.


    ¡°Ichinose. You¡¯re choom here, caused a commotion in my club.¡± Jotaro said, trying to sound calm and collected, but there was an edge to his voice. This guy was crazy, I realized.


    Ichi hesitated for a moment as Jotaro looked at him, as if he wasn¡¯t sure what to say.


    I didn¡¯t hesitate.


    ¡°Perhaps you should remind your people not to pick fights with teenagers then. It might end up embarrassing for them.¡± I said pointedly. I didn¡¯t like the way Jotaro was looking at me and Hiromi.


    It was making my trigger finger itch.


    ¡°Motoko! Be polite to Shobo-Sama! You know he is important to the Tyger Claws! Even if you are with the Kamikaze you shouldn¡¯t pick fights.¡± Ichi suddenly said almost too quickly to be natural.


    That was weird.


    I wasn¡¯t a member of Kamikaze¡­ I wasn¡¯t! But Ichi knew that. I had told him that last time. And the way he said it, it was like¡­


    ¡°Kamikaze?¡± Jotaro asked, and he finally let go of my chin. While I was trying to figure out what was going on, Ichi managed to snatch the initiative.


    ¡°Indeed Shobo-Sama. Motoko works with the Kamikaze. I saw her assisting them in an assault just a few nights ago. Her brother Jun is also a member. You may have heard of him. They have started calling him the Oni?¡± Ichi offered loudly, something about the way he was talking¡­


    ¡°Stupid name.¡± I muttered, my mouth as always free to do as it liked as I thought.


    But Jotaro must have heard the name, because suddenly he was standing up straight, and acting affable.


    ¡°I see, I see! Then this isn¡¯t just someone causing trouble, but an honored member of the Kamikaze. I see. I will ensure my men learn not to pick fights with our honored warriors.¡± He said chuckling fakely.


    He wasn¡¯t happy though. His eyes never stopped glaring at me, even as he started calling out to everyone to clean everything up, in his own words. ¡°The show is over! Let¡¯s return to celebrating!¡±


    Ichi hovered beside me as I kept my eyes on the man, who was walking around a bit settling things back to normal. Malcolm settled into a stool that he picked up beside the bar, looking to Hiromi who only gave him a shrug.


    ¡°Motoko!¡± Ichi whispered into my ear. ¡°What are you thinking! Do you want to end up flatlined!?¡±


    Ah. I see. Ichi was actually afraid of his boss. He didn¡¯t just not want to piss him off for his job or something.


    No, that was real fear. That was why he threw the Kamikaze name around.


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t in any danger. If it came down to a gunfight, I would be alright.¡± I assured him, but I couldn¡¯t help but wonder why he was so afraid. Jotaro was probably one of the least dangerous guys in the club, he didn¡¯t have the movement of a fighter. ¡°What was the deal there? Your boss seemed pretty¡­ Unstable there, and you¡¯re scared of him.¡± I asked, whispering quietly.


    ¡°Shobo-sama is extremely talented in managing businesses, but he has a dangerous reputation for a reason.¡± Ichi whispered to me.


    I turned to look at Hiromi who was still hanging out on the other side of the bar looking a little spooked at the sudden bar brawl turning almost gun fight. I flashed her a smile and a thumbs up, which earned me a whispered ¡°Gonk¡± in return.


    But she did crawl back over the bar and settle into a chair next to Ichi Malcolm and I. Malcolm was doing a great job actually. Despite everything settling down his head was looking around the room, and I could see the way his hand kept close to the pistol hidden in his jacket.


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t strike me as the dangerous type¡­ Not exactly a fighter.¡± I mentioned, Jotaro was soft. He didn¡¯t have any of the muscles, or movement of a fight. I could tell. Every inch of him was the rich man used to sending others to die.


    ¡°Shobo-sama can be plenty dangerous. He is very useful to the Tyger Claws. Every business he takes over starts making massive profits¡­ He gets away with a lot because of it.¡± Ichi answered before he sighed and took a seat at the bar flicking a finger at the bartender who obviously recognized him.


    The bartender had returned now that everything had calmed down. The moment the fight started, he had rushed for the back.


    Smart guy.


    He dropped off a bottle of beer for Ichi, and then started passing a few more to Hiromi and Malcolm. I refused one that he offered me, and instead just ordered another fizzy drink.


    My first one was laying on the floor.


    Hiromi kind of fussed over me, trying to put a wet cloth up to my nose that had been bleeding a bit, but I was waving her away.


    I¡¯d be fine with a shower and a nap.


    But then the four of us all sort of become aware of each other.


    ¡°It¡¯s been a while since we have all been together.¡± I mentioned, with a chuckle and my declaration had the whole group sort of relax.


    ¡°Yeah no shit! To the four of us!¡± Hiromi offered, instantly raising up her bottle which the boys hesitated but it was with a resigned air that they brought their bottles up. My can clinked among them.


    ¡°It¡¯s been a hell of a time for all of us.¡± I started realizing what we all needed. ¡°Did you know I got my arms chopped off? It sucked. How about you Hiromi?¡± I immediately pinned the next target for sharing.


    It took her a moment as she was mid swig making her choke a bit as I threw the attention at her.


    ¡°Wha-? Motoko!¡±


    ¡°C¡¯mon choom. Share! You¡¯ll feel better after. We¡¯ve all been through some real shit.¡±


    ¡°What? Motoko I¡­ Nothing happened to me!¡±


    ¡°C¡¯mon Hiromi. You told me. How long have we all been friends? I mean. I only remember so much, but we are all chooms.¡±


    ¡°You have to be kidding.¡± She hissed at me, her eyes shooting from me to Malcolm and Ichi, who were looking on confused. ¡°I¡¯m not telling them!¡±


    ¡°Why not? Chooms are chooms even through the hard times Hiromi. If they don¡¯t respect you¡­ No if they make fun of you, or treat you badly, because of something bad that happened, then at least you know they aren¡¯t your chooms. Better to know, then to find out at a worse time. C¡¯mon everyone¡­ This whole thing, the war? It¡¯s been rough on all of us.¡±


    I looked to Malcolm, then Ichi.


    ¡°When I got chipped with these arms, I went totally crazy. All I wanted to do was kill Maelstrom. I was so angry, and hurt, and all I could think about was taking out that pain on the ones that hurt me¡­ but I don¡¯t live for them. I live for me. To have good days. To have bad days. But they are mine.¡±


    I opened my mouth, but I didn¡¯t have anything else to share. I just¡­ I just wanted to share with my friends?


    ¡°Fine! Fuckin gonk with your stupid smile!¡± Hiromi almost roared, drawing some attention but we were far enough away from everyone that no one could overhear as she slammed back the last of the beer chugging it down. ¡°I ran out one night. My ¡®rents been keeping me locked up, but I went out anyways to prove how hard I was¡­ I ended up crashing my bike practically pissing my pants, and hiding in the trash¡­ I wasn¡¯t even the one being shot at. But I realized I¡¯m just a poser. Motoko¡­ She already told me to just be me. So there. I¡¯m not brave enough to run out there when shit gets real.¡±


    She immediately looked like she wanted to take another swig of beer but she was empty. I let everyone process what she said. Then before anyone could say anything, I elbowed Ichi.


    He looked to me.


    Then over my shoulder. To Malcolm.


    ¡°I ran trucks. It sucked. People died. I, I caused people to die, because I wasn¡¯t fast enough, or smart enough¡­ It made me cold. Because if I cared? Then I wouldn¡¯t be able to keep doing it. I ended up causing a fight with my best choom because I was¡­ Because I was scared and angry, and lashing out, and¡­ I couldn¡¯t be there for him when he needed me. I¡­ I¡¯m sorry Malcolm. What I said. Really¡­ I wish I had been there for you choom.¡±


    Malcolm had an utterly hilarious expression on his face as it looked like he was holding back tears.


    ¡°I went out with my best choom. We were gonna make eddies, prove our rep. But shit got real. Getting shot at? That ain''t something anyone is ready for. A guy that was guiding us got flatlined. Died in my arms. I¡­ I tried to get my choom to go to the hospital, to a ripper¡­ But he was already dead, and¡­ Ichi you were right. He was already dead. I knew that. I just couldn¡¯t accept it. I freaked on you when you refused.¡±


    The two chooms were both teary eyed and then suddenly I was pushed aside a bit as two guys hugged it out, back slapping each other and hiding tears.


    Adorable.


    Once they were settled I had moved over to let them sit together as they knocked back the beers. I decided to break the tension.


    ¡°I killed a guy with a knife in my teeth. It was after they cut off my hands. They threw me into this pit and forced me to fight to the death¡­ But I did it with a knife in my teeth. It was preem.¡± I told them out of nowhere, earning shocked looks from the group.


    ¡°Yeah? Well I ran over this Maelstrom borg with the truck, Malcolm was there.¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah! When you did that I was hanging off the back and as we drove by I was flipping the Borg off, and telling him to suck my-¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s so not fair¡­ All I did was trick that gonk Tomaru into loading up an XBD in the middle of class.¡± She grumbled, but instantly both of the boys were on her.


    ¡°Deets!¡±


    ¡°C¡¯mon Hiromi! I want to hear about you burning this corpo gonk!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m interested as well.¡± I told her with a smile.

 Chapter 47

    Hours later I was driving a much drunker Hiromi home.


    A night out had been¡­ Nice. We all ended up sharing the stories of what happened to us over the past weeks. We all shared the good and the bad, and in the end?


    We actually felt like Chooms.


    It was really nice.


    Pulling up to Hiromi¡¯s apartment, it took a bit of cajoling to get the drunk girl out of the car, and eventually I was forced to princess carry her as she kept falling and giggling.


    Did I mention she was drunk?


    It was a little awkward knocking on the door to her apartment, waiting for someone to answer.


    Her mother didn¡¯t say a word, just an unhappy glare as I carried her almost snoring daughter into the apartment. After a minute of settling her on her bed, making sure she was laying on her side and finding a trash can that would work as a bucket, I hurried out of the dark apartment under the heavy eyes of the corpo woman.


    But I was safe!


    I escaped back out to the city where there weren''t angry corpo mom glares.


    Instead there was freedom.


    I mean sure freedom sounded like NCPD sirens, which still hadn¡¯t entirely let up. The NCPD were practically leaving the sirens going through the night just to make sure their presence was felt.


    But I shook that feeling away. Time to go home.


    I was humming when I got home. Never Fade Away drifting in the air as I walked into the apartment and threw up a hand to say hello to Jun who was sitting on the couch when he leapt from the couch startling me.


    ¡°Motoko! What happened!? Are you okay? Who did this? I¡¯ll kill them!¡±


    ¡°Wha?¡± I asked before blinking, reaching up to my nose.


    Riiiight.


    Bar fight. I forgot. Sure the pain was there, but it was so little, I wasn¡¯t even paying attention to it. Considering how high my Cold Blood skill was, It wasn¡¯t even enough I needed to really use the skill to not feel it. And a nights sleep would set me right¡­


    Fuck.


    ¡°Uhh. You should see the other guy?¡±


    Much to my shock this did not set my brother at ease.


    ¡°Who did this?¡± He demanded in a growl holding onto my shoulders.


    ¡°Some gonks at the club. Hiromi annoyed them by talking or something, and they decided to start a fight. It¡¯s okay Jun, really. It was kinda fun honestly. Besides. I won.¡± I inform him ending in a bright smile as I manage to shake off his hands a bit so I could flex my arm.


    Not that I had any natural muscle, there, but the image was important.


    ¡°The club? Ho-oh?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Some TC Gonks.¡±


    ¡°They touched you? You!?¡± He growled and I realized Jun was actually getting pretty pissed, like Psycho level angry, not his usual hotheadedness.


    So I reached up and grabbed his face between my hands.


    ¡°Hey! Jun. Come on, come back. Everyone is fine. Deep breaths Jun-Nii. Deep breaths.¡± I ordered, and while he instantly looked to fight, I didn¡¯t let him.


    Chrome hands were stronk.


    ¡°Jun-Nii? You back with me?¡±


    He let out a long breath out of his mouth that came out more of a hiss than anything else.


    ¡°I never left!¡± He snapped back, but I could tell he was back. His eyes were seeing me and not anyone else.


    ¡°Right!¡± I chirped at him as I let go, getting glared at all the while.


    ¡°They should not have touched you! Not a Tyger Claw!¡±


    ¡°I kinda beat their ass Jun¡­ Plus it was fun.¡±


    ¡°Tsk. Ho-oh Club? That means¡­ Jotaro Shobo? That is the man in charge there?¡±


    ¡°Yeah good memory. Hiromi and I had a bit of a run in with him after the bar fight. He was super mad. Talking about ¡®punishment¡¯ and stuff. Ichi showed up then, and name dropped the Kamikaze¡­ I¡¯d rather him not spread around that I worked with them, but it made Mr. White suit back off.¡±


    ¡°The Devil of Kabuki, said he would punish you? I¡¯ll kill him.¡± Jun growled, his fists clenching and unclenching as he must have imagined murdering the Devi-


    ¡°Devil of Kabuki?¡± I asked before I felt it.


    Realization.


    Jotaro Shobo. The Devil of Kabuki.


    The Devil of Kabuki. Jotaro Shobo.


    ¡°That disgusting Mother Fuck-¡± I cut myself off as my own hands clenched and I had to rely on Cold Blood to keep from punching walls and cursing up a storm.


    I remembered that fucker now!


    I had only done that quest once. But I remember! The Mox had wanted him dead, because he was a monster. That motherfucker kidnapped people only to torture them to make XBDs!


    I made XBDs as well, but I murdered people that deserved it. Not kidnapped people that hadn¡¯t done anything. Not people just down on their luck nabbed by assholes like Jotaro Shobo.


    ¡°You know of him?¡± Jun suddenly asked, pulling me out of my rapid fire thoughts as I stopped my pacing in the living room.


    ¡°Yeah. I¡¯ve heard of the Devil of Kabuki before! And the fucked up shit he does.¡± I muttered. All the times I had met Jotaro Shobo sliding into my realization.


    Of course I remembered the Ho-oh club now. I had thought the name was familiar. It was where you go to kill the Devil of Kabuki. A job that¡­ Regina? the fixer gives you on behalf of the Mox.


    Jotaro had no problem kidnapping even Moxes to scroll XBDs of.


    Jotaro Shobo?


    Jotaro Shobo was a dead man walking.


    The decision was made. All I had to do was figure out how I wanted to get it done? Loud or quiet?


    No, I took a breath. I would need some advice on this. This would be complicated. Very very complicated, my connections with the TC was useful at times, and at others it was a noose.


    So I shook the disgust at myself for talking to that man, and not knowing away. I was in the moment.


    ¡°It¡¯s okay Jun.¡± I told him, Jun having been hovering around as I went off in my own head at the realization of who I had been interacting with.


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t seem okay. Motoko? Imouto?¡± Jun asked, his face worried and I could see the stiff way he held his hands as if wanting to grab me, but not sure if he should.


    ¡°Really Jun-Nii. I¡¯m okay. I think I¡¯ll probably go talk to Wakako tomorrow about it. Might get some advice. But¡­ I guess I just wasn¡¯t really ready¡­ To actually been hanging around someone like that, and I hadn¡¯t even noticed.¡±


    Of course. The truth was worse than that.


    I had forgotten.


    Jotaro Shobo was a monster, but only a side quest. A little gig you could do, that unless you actually paid attention, you wouldn¡¯t even need to hear the guys name.


    How many horrible people, monsters, or evil things happened in the game that I wasn¡¯t remembering?


    I brushed past Jun and headed into my room. I had taken to mostly sleeping on the couch surrounded by parts and pieces of my tinkering or my laptops to grind with, but what I needed now was no distractions.


    I sighed once the door closed behind me. I started stripping weapons settled on a dresser, their holsters ready to be buckled on when I got dressed, as I slipped out of my Leotard, out of my armored clothing that made me feel like a badass, and into something comfy.


    Then I sat on the bed and laid back. ¡°What else did I forget?¡± So rather than sleep. Rather than spend a night grinding, I started thinking back to the game. To the anime.


    To everything I hadn¡¯t been thinking about as I¡¯d been either having too much fun grinding, or too murderous to think about.


    Jotaro was just one mission. Were there any other gigs that I should remember? So I started thinking back.


    Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.


    The first thing that popped into my head?


    ¡°That fucking sick fuck!¡± I gasped remembering the farm. River and his stupid quest. The creepy fuckin cartoon that I swore if I ever had to watch again I was gonna uninstall the damn game.


    The creepy bastard and his farm¡­ Fuck. I don¡¯t remember the name of the farm. I would have to jump onto the map I had installed, and see if I can¡¯t find it. Hopefully it will actually be listed.


    I took a deep breath and let it out.


    Okay. That was one thing that needed to be dealt with, maybe even sooner than Jotaro.


    What else?


    Wait. That Scav Ripper¡­ Shit. I can¡¯t remember what his name was, but he shouldn¡¯t be hard to find. He had an open Ripper shop. Hopefully he is already set up, and I¡¯ll go and put an end to his bullshit, anyone willing to pretend to be a doctor only to rip them apart for pieces for scavs deserved a messy death.


    Maybe even get some more Scav den data from it.


    That made me think of Fingers.


    He was disgusting, and I definitely felt like putting a bullet in his head, but he wasn¡¯t scaving people. Just being a disgusting molesting fuck.


    But the Joytoys that go to him, do it because he was ¡®cheap¡¯ thanks to what he did¡­


    I would have to talk to Vik. He would know best. Would killing Fingers actually be a net good?


    Fuck. This is why I said I wasn¡¯t a hero. I don¡¯t like these kinds of complex good and evil choices. I hated Good and Evil alignment choices in games.


    I guess¡­ I guess it was good that I didn¡¯t have one.


    I couldn¡¯t think of anything else directly relevant at the moment. Except for Edgerunners¡­ Faraday was on my list too. That four eyed fucker needed to get put in the dirt, but he was dangerous. He had plenty of guards.


    That was enough for now. I had my targets.


    I should sleep. Let the night pass and be ready the next day.


    But that kidnapping fuck was out there. Right now.


    I pulled up my map. Farms in the badlands, it took an hour to narrow down my options. Unfortunately it had been way too long since I had actually played 2077.


    I didn¡¯t remember which farm it was and despite most of them closing down, there were still a few of them around the city.


    So I had a list. I would just hit all of them until I found it.


    I should sleep. I could do it. Just a push of a button and I would be out for eight hours.


    But my knee was bouncing. My fingers tapping. Every piece of me wanted to get up and go kill that creepy fuck.


    Fuck it.


    I wasn¡¯t some hero, but I wasn¡¯t going to let that bastard live for another day if I could help it. Making me watch that creepy cartoon in the game was enough to earn his death certificate, even without the kidnapping and creepy shit he does.


    I got up and started packing my equipment back on. I stepped out as I zipped the leotard back up to see Jun was still up watching TV with a half eaten burrito in his hand.


    ¡°I thought you went to bed?¡± He asked, noticing I was arming back up. I even had my Nekomata over my back.


    ¡°I was. But something came up. Don¡¯t wait up for me. I might not come back in before morning. Might take a while to find him.¡± I say as I finish strapping everything on and walk over to Jun to give him a kiss on the cheek. ¡°I¡¯ll see you later-¡±


    The hand gripping the back of my Jacket kept me from walking.


    ¡°Not a chance. It¡¯s late, what are you doing?¡±


    ¡°Gotta kill a guy. Gonna take a while to hunt him down first.¡± I answered truthfully which unfortunately didn¡¯t earn me my release.


    ¡°Details. Now.¡± He said standing up to block my way.


    ¡°Fine! I got some info on a serial killer. Some crazy fuck that kidnaps kids does weird shit to them. I know¡­ Generally where he is. Gonna need to hit a few locations to find him, but I¡¯m going to assassinate him, and rescue anyone he has kidnapped.¡±


    Jun blinked at my response. My reveal obviously surprised him as he seemed to mull it over.


    ¡°Fine. I¡¯m coming too.¡±


    I sighed. I really didn¡¯t need Jun and his big stompy feet following me around.


    ¡°Juuuuun!¡± Whined at him irritated at him trying to interfere in my mur-assasination.


    It¡¯s an assassination. One is a job, the other is mental sickness.


    ¡°No. It¡¯s late, and I know I can¡¯t talk you out of leaving.¡± He said standing up and looming over me. ¡°Since I know how you are, I¡¯m coming with. Someone to watch your back.¡±


    ¡°Fine. I¡¯ll wait for you to get ready. It¡¯s gonna be more of a stealth job you know? The guy has like a ton of mines and turrets defending his farm last I heard.¡±


    He looked at me for a moment and then he slapped the back of my head!


    ¡°If that is the case you definitely need someone there to watch your back. Imouto. You can rely on me. You have other chooms as well. Stop trying to take on everything alone.¡± He added as I gaped at him as he walked off.


    ¡°I can handle myself just fine!¡± I called out to him, but he ignored me as he headed into his room to grab his gear.


    I stood there at the door a little huffy rubbing the back of my head. Jerk. Stupidface!


    A few minutes later Jun walked out, yawning a bit as he was now kitted up in his Kamikaze gear, facemask included.


    I rolled my eyes and headed down. Jun following after. Jun kept yawning so I actually stopped at a vending machine and bought a couple of drinks stuffing a few into his arms, making sure they were the type he liked before heading to the garage.


    He didn¡¯t say anything but he was giving me an amused smirk as he followed after.


    ¡°Shut up.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t say anything.¡± He replied instantly, but he was still smirking.


    Jerk!


    We reached the car, but Jun was walking over towards his Kusanagi. ¡°Jun! C¡¯mon.¡± I pointed at my car as I set the cans down on the roof for a moment as I opened the door and started arranging my Nekomata.


    ¡°I¡¯ll just follow you.¡± He said side eyeing me.


    ¡°Not a chance. We are leaving the city. Unless you want to drive your Kusanagi through the badlands?¡± I asked, and I saw him wince a little.


    NC streets could be bad enough with potholes, and general debris, but the roads out of the city were¡­ Rough.


    The Nomads drove their cars with offroad tires, and alterations for a reason.


    Like my Quadra.


    ¡°C¡¯mon.¡±


    ¡°Just¡­ Drive slowly.¡± He demanded, as he relented and moved to the passenger seat.


    ¡°I always drive safely!¡±


    ¡ª--


    Driving out of the city was easy enough. It wasn¡¯t like many people drove out of Night City in the middle of the night.


    If only Jun would stop trying to change the radio.


    ¡°Jun if you change my radio to that garbage one more time, I¡¯m gonna start driving fast just to end this torture.¡± I told him out of the corner of his eye.


    Jun wasn¡¯t a fan of ¡®oldies¡¯ which. Samurai were. Technically.


    I mean they were over fifty years old. Of course kids that grew up in NC thought the music was for old people.


    They just had no taste! The original sounds? Johnny might be a real piece of shit, but he had some monster vocals and Guitar work.


    ¡°Ugh. Why do you listen to this scop. It¡¯s terrible.¡± He grumbled at me.


    ¡°As someone who listens to Us Cracks, you have no right to talk about my music preferences.¡±


    ¡°Us Cracks are at least modern.¡±


    I groaned as the argument went around again.


    But I finally had an actual distraction.


    ¡°Heads up.¡± I said suddenly turning off the engine. The headlights had already been turned off as we left the city.


    My Kiroshi could see just fine and there wasn¡¯t exactly a lot of traffic.


    Jun sat up from where he had been slouching in the seat.


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°First of the potential targets. Poppy Farm. Be careful. If this is it, the crazy fucker put up mines.¡±


    ¡°You already told me.¡± he said, rolling his eyes. ¡°I won¡¯t forget a warning about landmines Motoko.¡±


    I nodded but I was narrowing my eyes.


    The road went right past the only structure around.


    I frowned as I noticed the fires highlighting the massive graffiti covering the front.


    ¡®Wraiths¡¯


    Not exactly what I was looking for. ¡°This isn¡¯t it.¡± I admitted as we cruised down the road without a sound. No mines. No defenses.


    But Wraiths.


    A couple of Wraith vehicles parked around, a barrel on fire lighting up the exterior. A few milling around drinking beers.


    ¡°You sure?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Not this farm¡­ Still tempted to clear them out though.¡± I admitted. They were obviously winding down, sitting around drinking or sleeping.


    They wouldn¡¯t know what hit them.


    ¡°Starting a firefight for what? Imouto¡­ As I learned. You need to bank the fire of your bloodlust.¡± He said, surprising me.


    The car finally came to a stop, still invisible to the Wraiths in the night but I looked away from the farm to Jun.


    ¡°Okay, who told you that? That didn¡¯t sound like you at all.¡± I demanded and to my delight he actually looked a little embarrassed.


    ¡°Sensei.¡±


    I snorted before chuckling at him, Jun was soon pouting at me.


    ¡°Alright. Alright. I guess¡­ I guess we can just ignore them.¡± I said, sighing a bit. Fuckin Wraiths.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t say that.¡± Jun offered after a few moments and I blinked at him, as he smirked at me. ¡°I simply wanted to be sure you weren¡¯t rushing into a fight for nothing. What do you hope to gain?¡±


    Numbers?


    No, I couldn''t exactly tell him that. Plus..


    He was right. Morgan''s Solo Guide. That book I never even finished reading way back when. I had taken some of the words to heart, made my rules, only to forget them when I got kidnapped.


    I wasn¡¯t some psycho, killing for fun.


    I was a merc. A Solo. Someone that did what she did for a reason, and what reasons do I have for killing a bunch of Wraiths?


    ¡°I know a Nomad. We clear this camp, we can let him know. Probably make some good eddies for the sale of the Wraith cars. That plus we get any weapons, and eddies the Wraith have on them.¡±


    ¡°And what is the risk?¡±


    I blinked.


    Risk? From a bunch of sleeping Wraiths in the middle of the night?


    ¡°Jun you are vastly overestimating those gonks, or underestimating me. I could probably kill every wraith in that camp without them ever knowing I was there.¡±


    His quirked eyebrow told me he didn¡¯t believe me.


    I felt an actual smile stretching my lips.


    ¡°I bet you complete control over the radio, I can do it.¡± I offered which surprised him for a moment but then he chuffed out a laugh.


    ¡°If you can¡¯t. I control the radio not just on this trip, but from now on.¡±


    I winced. If I messed up and had to listen to the Us Cracks and the Pon Pon Shit or something? I might actually go Cyberpsycho¡­


    But proving I was a badass and winning a bet against Jun? Totally worth the risk.


    ¡°Deal. Just stay here. Unless you hear gunshots. Shouldn¡¯t take me long.¡± I told him, then I looked forward and blinked as I activated the BD recorder. Might as well get another benefit from this little side quest.


    Then I slipped out of the car and into the darkness of the dusty desert road. Cactus and bushes surrounded me, and I could hear the sound of a radio in the distance. My blood turned to ice as I crept forward.


    My eyes let me see just fine, but it was because of that, that I knew I had to be even better.


    If even one Wraith had good optics and noticed me creeping along?


    Jun would win our bet!


    Plus they would shoot at me. That too I guess.


    But as I moved in closer and closer stalking amongst the bushes and cactus, I knew this would work.


    These guys were even more confident than the Maelstrom had been. After all, The Raffen were the predators of the Badlands. As much as the Nomads liked to talk big and tough, the Raffen were feeding on the Nomads, not the other way around.


    So I crept in. My eyes flashing in scans looking for any defenses, only to find nothing.


    Not even cameras. Just nothing.


    Just a few Raffen outside, and probably more inside.


    So I crept closer every inch of my body working in tandem to keep me out of sight. To keep me quiet. Until I was in the shadows of the barn.


    I slipped inside.


    No one noticed. No one even heard my footsteps as I slipped around the open barn doors and I was inside. The lights inside were old. Most didn¡¯t work.


    A perfect environment for my work.


    I went to the far back of the barn. Just to check for any security.


    Nothing. Just a few of the old barn stables filled with tents, or sleeping bags. This was obviously not the Raffens'' home. Just a place to spend the night despite the giant painted on Wraiths outside the barn.


    Their vehicles were also inside. I went around to each of them just to make sure they were all empty.


    All but one.


    The poor Raffen sleeping in his back seat didn¡¯t notice me as I poked my head over the side door to stare at him for a moment. His door was locked.


    His security wasn¡¯t good enough to stop me. I didn¡¯t even bother closing the door when I was done just pulling him mostly out of the car so he wouldn¡¯t bleed on the interior.


    Then it was time.


    The poor Raffen were split up. Sleeping or hanging around drinking and whiling the night away. It made sense. It was getting late.


    A glance at my integrated clock in my Kiroshi, something I didn¡¯t tend to think about, showed the time.


    2:07AM


    A good time.


    The second guy lost his life to a knife through the throat while he was sleeping in his little sleeping bag.


    The next I killed by cutting through his tent rather than trying to unzip it. He died just as quickly.


    I didn¡¯t feel much as I slowly cleaved through the sleeping Raffen.


    They weren¡¯t even a threat as the sleeping men died one after another.


    Six sleepers in total.


    3000 xp.


    Then I had to deal with the three outside.


    I considered how to do it. They were split apart, but all chatting with each other.


    Difficult.


    I could grab my gun, but that wasn¡¯t how I wanted to run this.


    So I turned back inside and searched a few of the corpses for what I wanted.


    I smiled as I found plenty of what I needed.


    Then I stood up from the shadows.


    I loved stealth. I loved sneaking around, but there was something truly freeing about walking openly out of the barn up to the first guy who was sitting down on some old garbage.


    One of his buddies noticed me as I walked up to him and let my knife slam into his throat and out.


    My other hand was already moving. The knife I had looted whistled through the air. Hitting¡­


    Mostly where I wanted. It was a little off.


    I really needed to up my Reflexes some more.


    On the other hand, even as one man died, and the other gasped as a blade appeared in his chest I was pulling a third blade from my waist.


    With a little flourish I lined it up even as the third Raffen tried to react. Tried to rise up and draw her rifle sitting at his side.


    The whistling blade put an end to that, as she fell crying out breathlessly. I swiftly threw another blade, this one actually landed where I wanted. Her throat suddenly blocked by a solid piece of metal put an end to her as she writhed on the floor dying.


    I had checked every inch of the inside of the farm, and I hadn¡¯t seen any of them wandering around in the night so I was fairly confident I was done.


    My eyes turned gold.


    *Motoko?*


    I reached down and slipped my blade into the second Raffens throat, he was bleeding out on the ground a knife in his chest, lung pierced, but I put him out of his misery as I answered Jun.


    *All Clear Jun-nii! Come on over, let¡¯s loot up.* I told him before dropping the call. I could hear my Quadra¡¯s engine start up a few moments later as the car rumbled off the road and towards the farm.


    Perfect.


    Loot. XP. And I could send a message to Scorpion. Maybe the Aldecaldos could use a few more cars? I peeked into the barn noticing there were a few Raffen vehicles now ownerless.

 Chapter 48

    ¡°Damn.¡± Jun whispered behind me as I turned away from the barn to see him already walking amongst the corpses. With a motion he tugged free the knife in the Raffens throat. Bringing it up to his face he looked it over. ¡°I remember. When you were practicing that.¡± He said sounding a little off.


    ¡°I uh¡­ spent some time on it. It¡¯s a useful skill.¡± I lied. I really hadn¡¯t done much knife throwing since I played with it so long ago, but the instincts, the experience, the muscle memory was all part of Ninjutsu.


    I could practically feel the blade still between my fingers. The motion I had made to throw it. I hadn¡¯t even thought about it. Just did what I knew was right.


    ¡°Well. You cleared them out alright.¡±


    ¡°Go ahead and look around Jun, might find something you want. I¡¯m gonna call Scorpion.¡±


    ¡°Scorpion?¡± Jun asked but I ignored his question as I turned away from him, took a few steps away and felt my eyes turn gold again.


    I felt my foot tapping away for a while as Scorpion didn¡¯t pick up at the first ring, or the second, or the tenth.


    Finally the call connected, and a grumpy voice came over the line.


    *Fuckin¡¯ hell. What!? Do you have any idea what time it is!* Scorpion cursed and grumbled on the line but I smiled.


    *Hey Scorpion, you still need a car?* I asked ignoring his complaints, I was trying to do him a favor after all.


    *What?*


    I rolled my eyes at his question, the man must have been asleep he was really being slow to catch on.


    *Wait Motoko? Why are you calling so late?*


    *C¡¯mon Scorpion keep up. Do you still need a car? Or rather any of the Aldecaldos? I have¡­ Six? Raffen Vehicles that are now ownerless. You or your family want them?*


    *What?* I snorted, at least this time it was a what of surprise, and not just pure confusion. I let the call stay silent for a minute.


    *Fuck you hit another Raffen Camp?* He asked blearily, obviously struggling to think.


    *More like a pit stop. I was searching for someone else, and ran into them. So you want the vehicles? I¡¯ll give you a good deal for them.*


    *Fuck. Yeah. Hold on. Give me¡­ Give me a minute. I need to wake up.* He grumbled a bit and the line went silent, as he must be paying attention to something other than the call.


    While I waited I turned towards the bodies and started looting them. Each of them men of course had a weapon, rifles or shotguns seemed to be the preference.


    I looked through the growing pile of weapons with an interested eye. I certainly didn¡¯t need much else, but it was always nice to see if there was something interesting among the chaff. I didn¡¯t find anything I wanted to add to my growing armory, but I did find a few pieces of interest. Optics, or little mods that I quickly uninstalled on the weapons and chucked into the Quadra¡¯s trunk.


    I could have some fun with some of that!


    *Motoko. You there?*


    *Course Scorpion, feel a bit more awake?*


    *Yeah at least I¡¯m alive. You said you had six vehicles?*


    I didn¡¯t respond right away, instead looking into the barn and taking a picture of the vehicles all parked. Then sent that.


    *Yep.*


    *Holy¡­ Preem. Very Preem. Motoko, you know we don¡¯t have the cash reserves for all of them, but I, well I¡¯m still stuck on my bike, I wouldn¡¯t mind an actual roof over my head.*


    *That¡¯s fine, listen if you can come pick them up, we can count it as an IOU. I don¡¯t really want to try and hold these until other Raffen decide to come find out where their buddies are, and I don¡¯t have the desire to try and sell them to a bunch of gonks. Pay me what you can, and maybe we can barter out some other stuff, but I know you''re reliable so I gave you a call.*


    The line went silent at my offer for a long while. Long enough I started to wonder if I had lost connection.


    *Scorpion?*


    *Yeah. Yeah I¡¯m here. Fuck Choom. I don¡¯t know what to say.*


    *Say you¡¯ll come take these off my hands and pay me what you can later.* I told him with a laugh which I got an almost strangled sound in turn.


    *Alright. I¡¯ll get the Aldecaldos together. We¡¯ll come take them off your hands, won¡¯t be difficult to get them repainted and keyed to us. Listen. Kid, I still owe you one. A big one, and this¡­ I¡¯ll pay you back somehow. I promise.*


    *Don¡¯t stress so much Choom. Getting these out of the hands of Raffen is already a lot. Listen I gotta run. I¡¯ll send you the coordinates, but I¡¯m in the middle of something. Don¡¯t have time to hang around.*


    *Yeah of course. I¡¯ll¡­ I¡¯ll keep in touch. Don¡¯t hesitate to come by if you ever need something.*


    ¡°Motoko. Are we going to be waiting around all night?¡± Jun asked, interrupting, and I threw him a one moment gesture at him.


    *I gotta run. Stay safe Scorpion.*


    *You too kid.*


    I nodded, as I finally disconnected.


    ¡°Okay. Ready to go? Loot anything good?¡± I asked him but Jun just shook his head.


    ¡°I just klepped some Eddie shards. They didn¡¯t have anything I wanted.¡±


    ¡°Preem! Follow me then I want to find that serial killer fuck before he can target anyone else.¡±


    I jogged over to the car pointedly ignoring Juns eyebrow as he looked around at the dead bodies around him.


    ¡ª--


    We drove to another farm nearby only for another miss.


    While I drove I was looking over my stat screen. Since there was no traffic out in the badlands it was easy enough to split my attention.


    4500 XP from the Raffen. None of them were big guys, so I only got 500xp a head.


    Still that leveled me up again.


    *Level up achieved!*


    *One Stat Point Gained.*


    *One Skill Point Gained.*


    Level 9.


    Of course as much as I wanted to start spamming stats again. I knew the rule. So the stat point was immediately dropped into adaptation for my arms. I twitched a little as the point went through. A coolness in my chest that I realized had actually been impacting my breathing as I tried to naturally shy away from the cold, eased. I inhaled, and exhaled. Feeling.


    Better.


    One more step.


    Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    But what was I gonna do with all these skill points? I had four of them saved at this point, and that was a lot.


    But I didn¡¯t really need to spend it on anything. Most of my skills were getting close to the stat cap, or they were something I would grind once I had some better tools.


    Looking at you Quickhack. One of these days I was gonna get an upgrade to my Netdeck and get some actual toys.


    In the end I just pushed it away. I would think about it when I wasn¡¯t mid hunt for a serial killer.


    ¡°Okay we are coming up on the next potential place. Keep your eyes open.¡± I told Jun, who had been yawning for a while.


    Poor Jun was sleepy.


    We were coming close to three in the morning after all.


    Lights off I turned off my engine as we started coasting down the empty road.


    I had been forced to head back into the city and go out a different exit just to get to this point. Edgewood Farm.


    The name was sort of foggy-familiar. So I was really hoping this was it. As we approached I noticed the large gate surrounding the area, and while that didn¡¯t ring any bells in my head, as we coasted past the entrance. I saw it.


    Mines.


    ¡°Jun.¡±


    ¡°I saw it. This the place?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I muttered as I let the car keep drifting down the way a bit farther from the farm house and barn so that when I braked it was as quiet as could be.


    ¡°Alright we gotta be careful.¡±


    ¡°No kidding. How are you going to get around the mines?¡±


    ¡°Slowly.¡± I told him with a laugh. We both stepped out of the car and headed towards the gate. I crept up to the edge of the locked gate waving Jun back as I started scanning.


    First I needed to turn off those cameras. A security camera was over the entrance to the farm house. I started breaching in through the Quickhack, but noticed the problem pretty quickly. This psycho was a netrunner. Or at least good enough that his defenses weren¡¯t easy to break through.


    I pulled back. I wasn¡¯t breaking into the cameras defenses without setting off an alert, and that was something I didn¡¯t want to happen.


    ¡°Motoko?¡± Jun whispered and I shook my head. ¡°Defenses on his stuff is tight. Give me a minute.¡± I told him as I thought. I could try to get around to the camera to breach it directly, I could try to sneak into the little house, but no telling what he had set up there¡­


    And I would be in direct view of the camera.


    So what can I do?


    Wait.


    I don¡¯t need to do this silent. He was one guy in the middle of nowhere¡­


    I just needed to draw him out.


    ¡°Jun I¡¯m going to draw him out and then just headshot this fucker. Once he is down, we can get through his defenses at our own pace.¡±


    ¡°Okay. I¡¯m with you.¡± He said and I threw him a thumbs up as I hurried back to the car. I had left my Nekomata inside. Quickly pulling her free I rushed back to the entrance.


    I might not be able to break into the camera, but I could get a mine to go off.


    Once I settled back in I grabbed a rock, and with a smirk hucked it over the wall right towards a Mine I had already spotted.


    The explosion was deafening in the silent night.


    A moment later two turrets popped out of the ground near the barn. I wanted to whistle but kept silent as they started searching around. Automatic lights also activated lighting up the farm.


    But then silence. I could feel Jun getting jittery behind me as I just waited for it. I was backed up just enough that the camera couldn¡¯t spot me, or the barrel of the Nekomata as I kept it pointed at the front door of the little farmhouse.


    He had to be here. It was so early in the morning.


    Then a few minutes later the door opened.


    Well I didn¡¯t remember the guy from the game, but he was in the right place at the right time.


    He stepped out onto the porch. Looking around grumpily. He was looking towards the smoking hole where the mine used to be when I took the shot.


    The sharp retort of my rail gun broke the night, and the mans body flopped.


    ¡°I hope you¡¯re right.¡± Jun said from behind me.


    But I already knew I was.


    *750 XP Gained.*


    The only time I gained 750 was for people that weren¡¯t borged out, but were still dangerous in some way. Netrunner, bosses of men.


    And now Serial Killers.


    I stepped out and took aim. The HMG turrets each took two shots as they buzzed around trying to locate what was shooting at them before they came apart.


    ¡°Alright stay close Jun. I¡¯m gonna hack these mines as we go.¡±


    I opened the gate by pulling it open¡­ With Juns stupid gorilla strength helping out, and then the minefield. My eyes shifted as I scanned the first mine. Working on it¡¯s ICE to try and break through.


    I didn¡¯t in fact break through.


    I was glaring a few minutes later when I realized that military ICE designed for land mines probably wasn¡¯t off the shelf ICE.


    ¡°Motoko?¡±


    ¡°Just¡­ Just stand back.¡± I grumbled pulling out the Lexington in my back holster. While I couldn¡¯t break through the ICE, I wasn¡¯t worried about someone coming out to check any more. I started firing, blowing a path through the mines.


    Thankfully the entrance of the barn didn¡¯t have any mines right out front even if it was locked down. There just weren''t any ways to actually get in. ¡°Wait here.¡± I told Jun as I turned around and headed for the farmhouse.


    He definitely had a way in from inside. I passed the dead body without a glance. I started searching, nothing on the first floor, just old trash and a living room. Upstairs though? A bedroom, with a big computer system. I accessed it without any trouble. The security ignored. The system was already unlocked and opened from being in use.


    But there wasn¡¯t an access point. Just lots of emails, both to his victims and a saved folder full of saved pictures from the news and other media about the Meat Man.


    Fuckin¡¯ sick. I guess this guy had a nickname to the media.


    So I stopped looking through his personal computer. There had to be something more. With a bit of exploration I found a switch behind the computer desk.


    As I pressed it, A hidden door opened. Leading to another little secure room. Including the barn access controls. A few moments later I could hear the doors rolling up outside, and I wasn¡¯t going to stick around inside.


    I rushed out, Jun nowhere to be seen as I rushed to the barn keeping an eye out for mines.


    There was Jun, inside standing next to a¡­


    Well it was a person with that creepy gas mask on. Only this mask wasn¡¯t to keep the gas out. It was meant to pump oxygen and other chemicals to cows. Only now it was worn by some teens and it wasn¡¯t oxygen they were inhaling.


    I took a few moments checking the system before I realized I would need to shut down the entire system from the source in order to unhook the two people inside.


    ¡°Stay with them, be ready to pull that tube off when I tell you!¡± I called out to Jun as I rushed towards the back finding the control room, idly putting a fist into the TV that had that fucking cartoon playing.


    It only took a moment to find the right switch and the whirr and noise of the air system suddenly quieted. ¡°Do it now!¡±


    Rushing back out onto the main barn Jun was pulling the mask off one of the people. I hit the other. A few seconds and I had the boy inside free.


    He didn¡¯t make a sound as I pulled the mask from his face, checking his pulse¡­


    Slowly I felt it. A weak beating.


    ¡°That one alive?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    ¡°Okay I¡¯m going to call NCPD.¡± I told him, earning a hesitating nod from Jun.


    I dialed the number and a few moments I was put to a recorded message, and not even a person.


    That was so NCPD I couldn¡¯t believe it.


    I went through the menu needing to select three options and pay a 10 eddie bill, before the line connected.


    ¡°NCPD what is your emergency?¡±


    ¡°I have two young men that have been kidnapped and pumped full of some kind of drug by a psycho. This guys definitely a serial killer. These two are alive, but I doubt they are his only victims.¡±


    ¡°Estimated wait time for a patrol vehicle is¡­ Fourty-five minutes to your current location. Thank yo-¡±


    ¡°Hold on! These kids might be dead in fourty-five minutes! Look at this!¡± I backed up and took a picture before sending it down the line.


    ¡°Miss, we don''t accept pictures. Nor will NCPD alter our deployment speed. Another 10 Eddies will be deducted from your account for the lengthened call. Thank you fo-¡±


    ¡°This is the Meat Man. The Serial killer. Don¡¯t sit there and tell me no one is interested in that!¡±


    The line was quiet for a moment. ¡°Please hold.¡±


    I blinked.


    Well that was easy.


    A minute or so later the call was answered.


    ¡°This is Detective Stints. If this is a game, I¡¯ll bash your skull in.¡±


    That was¡­ Certainly an introduction.


    ¡°It¡¯s not. I have two people that were kidnapped and drugged, and a dead psycho serial killer that is probably your Meat man. At the least he had practically every news article mentioning him saved to his personal computer. I just need an ambulance to come get these people before they die.¡±


    ¡°You tried to send a picture. Send it to me now.¡±


    I didn¡¯t just send that. I sent that picture another about the location including the mines and the dead body.


    The line was quiet for a few minutes.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be on my way. A patrol car will be there soon. Stick around. I¡¯ll have questions.¡±


    ¡°Sure. Just make sure they know about the mines. I¡¯ll clear up as many of them I can. But this guy was crazy.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll make sure the patrol car knows.¡±


    The line ended.


    ¡°Chatty guy isn¡¯t he?¡± I muttered but at least I got something.


    ¡°NCPD is actually showing up? I didn¡¯t expect that.¡± Jun muttered as he caught up with me.


    ¡°Yeah¡­ You ever heard of the Meat Man?¡±


    Jun blinked and then frowned. ¡°Yeah, a little. Urban myth?¡±


    ¡°I think this guy was him, at least he seemed very interested in what the news said about him.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m glad you put a bullet in him.¡± Jun said simply with a nod and to my surprise he reached out and squeezed my shoulder. ¡°You did good. But we should probably get out of here before the cops show up.¡±


    ¡°You can if you want. But I¡¯m staying. To make sure.¡±


    Jun let out a sigh and nodded settling in to wait.


    The next twenty minutes were mostly spent doing three things. Checking on the two people that still hadn¡¯t woken up but at least were still breathing. Long silences.


    And explosions.


    I was trying to disable the damn Mines, by breaching them and wasn¡¯t getting too far. They actually kept exploding on me, but at least as I tried I was getting rid of them, and of course I was getting the wrong XP alerts.


    *100 Engineering XP Gained.*


    I was doing the Quick Hack Breach, but getting Engineering XP.


    Dammit system! I need a manual! Where is my Prima Official Guide!?


    I shook it off and kept working, at least I was getting something, and Engineering was awesome. Then we heard it. The roar of a car coming down the road. ¡°Jun I¡¯ll flag them down.¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Jun said suddenly grabbing me and holding me back. ¡°Just let them work at their own pace. NCPD don¡¯t like people walking up to them.¡± He told me holding me back as he rested against the Barn wall.


    ¡°Fine.¡± I agreed it made sense¡­


    I guess.


    The gate was already open and the flashing lights of the car suddenly turned in, but stopped before coming close. Two officers stepped out both waving flashlights, one with a pistol in his off hand, and the other carrying a Copperhead. The assault rifle had a powerful flashlight on the end and he was waving it around, but kept an eye on Jun and I.


    Both men were like startled cats, looking at every step.


    I guess the warning about mines had gone through¡­ That and the many craters that now littered the yard.


    Finally both officers got close enough and lit Jun and I up, despite both of us being under a light.


    ¡°No sudden moves. Put your hands up!¡± One roared and I felt Jun obey begrudgingly, and I quickly followed after. The two officers approached and actually forcefully put us both on our knees and started handcuffing us both.


    I could feel Jun muscles tense beside me, but I just turned and gave him a smile which had him relax.


    ¡°Evening Officers.¡± I mentioned despite grunting around the harsh hands handcuffing my hands behind my back. ¡°The two-¡±


    ¡°Quiet!¡± The guy handcuffing me snapped, and I was thankful that he didn¡¯t actually strike me like he motioned too.


    Not because I was worried about him hurting me. Funnily enough I actually knew ways to break free of Handcuffs. Ninjutsu as always being the MVP.


    No, I was worried Jun would have ripped the cuffs off and started beating the cops to death.


    A few moments later we were both ¡®secured¡¯ by the officers and the one with the handgun went into the barn to look around.


    He came out a minute later cursing and the two officers pulled away to speak in rushed whispers to each other.


    Although at least in the end the grabbed their radio and started sending messages along.


    ¡°Told you we should have left.¡± Jun whispered side eyeing me.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine. Just a¡­ Okay they are idiots, but hopefully this will all go well once the detective gets here.¡± I said, voice filled with hope.


    Things did not in fact get better when Stints did show up.

 Chapter 49

    It had been almost an hour and a lot had happened. Three more patrol cars had arrived, an EMT ambulance. The guys inside were wearing that high visibility Jacket like Gloria and David.


    It was kinda cool to see, but I was getting annoyed. The cops hadn¡¯t uncuffed us yet, but they had put all of our weapons to the side, but had left them together. No signs at least I was going to lose my iron.


    Finally Detective Stints arrived, conversing with the other officers, and doing general police stuff but ignoring us.


    Jerk.


    I mean my wrists couldn¡¯t get sore anymore, but this was still not the most comfortable position. Plus I was bored. So bored. Omega bored.


    Jun had literally fallen asleep.


    Hours passed. The sun was rising up before Stints finally seemed to wrap up the hurried exploration of the farm house the NCPD were doing.


    I was so ready to break out and leave by then. Hours of just sitting there!


    But finally Detective Stints walked over to me.


    ¡°I don¡¯t suppose you can uncuff me now? It¡¯s been an hour.¡± I said before he could say anything but the man just chuckled.


    ¡°Maybe I shouldn¡¯t? Hauling the Oni of Japantown in would be a good deed. Plus¡­ Motoko Kusanagi. Mostly on record for petty theft, a bit of Breaking and Entering. Grand Theft Auto¡­¡±


    ¡°Wait, I stole a car? That¡¯s pretty nova!¡± I muttered the last bit to myself. Old Motoko had definitely been a hellion.


    ¡°But I¡¯ll give it to you. Everything we¡¯ve pulled out of here confirms this was the Meat Man. Even found DNA from some of his confirmed victims. So congratulations kid. You killed a confirmed bounty target.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve actually killed a couple of those before. This is just the first one I¡¯ve ever actually called the NCPD with¡­ Well, other than the scavs.¡± I muttered but while that earned an eyebrow Stints didn¡¯t say anything more about it instead moving on.


    ¡°Go ahead and uncuff them.¡±


    ¡°Sir?¡±


    ¡°They may be lowlives, but they took out the real scum today.¡± Stints offered and I was frowning a bit.


    I wasn¡¯t a lowlife! Just because I killed and stole for a living¡­


    I guess that''s fair. Still a jerk thing to say!


    A few moments later after Jun was startled awake we were uncuffed, although all the officers still looked twitchy as Jun and I recovered our weapons.


    ¡°Kid.¡± Stints called out as I finished sliding my Burya back into the holster.


    ¡°Yeah?¡±


    ¡°You did okay tonight. Not the best way to go about it, but at least this piece of shit is off the streets. Think about where you want to be in the future. NCPD could use someone with the skill to find the Meat Man.¡±


    I opened my mouth, closed it and then decided to say it anyway.


    ¡°Thanks but no thanks. I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll ever be on the side of the law.¡±


    ¡°Figured. But I tried anyway. Go on. You and your brother get lost. Oh and kid?¡± His eyes turned gold, and to my surprise I got a text from the NCPD confirming a Bounty assignment.


    A couple thousand eddies were available to be claimed.


    ¡°Good work.¡±


    ¡ª--


    Jun slept most of the way home. The sun was fully up when we got there and Jun crawled into his bed like a zombie only seconds after entering the apartment.


    I, on the other hand, had a date.


    Once Jun was tucked in, I headed back out. Stopping only to fill up the tank of my car which as always was a monstrously large amount of eddies. I drove over to pick up HIromi.


    I was just on time, as I was pulling into Hiromi¡¯s garage, I got a text from her.


    *Hiromi: You didn¡¯t forget right? Motoko? Choom?*


    I chuckled as I drove around the garage until I came to where Hiromi parked her bike. Finding her already waiting down there sitting on it and looking nervous.


    Her face changing to a happy smile was all I needed as I parked in front of her popping the passenger door. ¡°You called for a ride?¡±


    ¡°Yeeees!¡± Hiromi cheered as she leapt into my passenger seat with a laugh. She settled in, but I was frowning at her after a moment.


    ¡°Seatbelt.¡± I reminded her, earning a roll of her eyes but she did realize I was being serious and put it on.


    ¡°Okay seriously Motoko. That BD was absolutely Preem! The first three were okay, interesting I guess. I mean it was weird doing things, but knowing you were the one that did them you know? But the Maelstrom BD? Eeee I was so excited! You were so in control! Motoko! You''re so cool!¡± She said, winking at me as she said Cool.


    I puffed my cheeks at her because I knew she was only saying that to tease me.


    ¡°I¡¯m glad you liked it. I did some work last night, but hopefully I can get another Gig soon and get some more.¡±


    ¡°Oooh Yeah, definitely pass them my way.¡± Then to my surprise Hironi settled back into the Quadras seat and went quiet for a bit. ¡°You really are fearless.¡± She offered quietly. I noticed she was also doing everything but looking at me.


    ¡°You don¡¯t¡­ You don¡¯t need to compare yourself to me, Hiromi. I¡¯m scared a lot too. Didn¡¯t I tell you? After that first gig with Ichi after I killed those Tino thugs, I hid in the apartment. Jun had to force me outside with a ramen bribe. I was scared of going outside again.¡±


    The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.


    ¡°You got over it. You go out and do amazing gigs and-¡±


    ¡°And you are super smart, You make friends everywhere you go, and you go to Arasaka Academy, so you¡¯ll be some super important Corpo Executive someday. I¡¯ll be doing gigs for you soon, so Hiromi just¡­ Be happy? Okay? If you aren¡¯t I¡¯ll do whatever it takes to make sure you get to be happy. Just¡­¡±


    ¡°You are such a gonk.¡± She whispered laughing a bit and I smiled as her smile was back. ¡°Fine. I¡¯ll be happy if that is what you want.¡± She said, laughing at me, but I was just glad she was back to normal.


    Sad Hiromi is a no-no.


    ¡°Aww. This sucks.¡± Hiromi said instantly doing a 360 on her previous mood.


    Mood Whiplash her name is Hiromi.


    I was pulling into the front of Arasaka tower and Hiromi was glaring at the stand of people gathering up and heading inside.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    ¡°Nothing. I just don¡¯t want to deal with Tomaru.¡± She sighed as I pulled into a space in front of the building. There were actually a lot of vehicles stopping and going along the bit of circular road. Although rarely did I see parents, usually, it looked like Taxi services, or personal drivers, dropping off the kids. My vehicle actually stood out quite a lot from the array of high end expensive executive cars.


    Not that I cared.


    ¡°Will you be okay?¡± I asked as Hiromi was pouting but she looked at me and laughed.


    ¡°Tomaru is a gonk, but I can handle him. No worries.¡± Then as I was parked she turned in her seat and threw a hug around my shoulders. ¡°Thanks for the ride Motoko. See you later this afternoon?¡±


    ¡°Yep. Gotta pick you up after all.¡± I agreed and she was smiling as she nodded, stepping out of the car and sending me a wave as she walked backwards.


    Then as Hiromi started walking amongst the array of students I saw it.


    A yellow beat up Thorton.. Galena? I think the name was. The exact kind of car you would never see someone drive to Arasaka Tower.


    But there it was. And I knew who was in it. I remained parked for a minute as I watched it pull up as David Martinez stepped out.


    He was¡­ About the same as he looked in the anime. Same hair. Same uniform. No Jacket of course.


    ¡°-Love you Mijo!¡± Gloria Martinez called out from the drivers seat waving at her son like it was his first day of school. Which I could see was causing David to start growing red in a blush, and worse causing the other students to glare at him.


    But there they were.


    A part of me. The one that loved anime and wanted to dress up as my favorite characters¡­


    Okay a large part of me¡­


    Okay like 99% of me.


    Wanted to rush out and introduce myself. To become friends with David, and meet Gloria.


    But another part of me made me realize that I had my own life to live. My own family, and chooms.


    I might just try to help both of them out, because I did feel for Gloria. Working so hard to make a future for her son. But there was no point in getting involved right now. I already had an idea of when I would be needed.


    So I pulled out after checking my mirrors and drove out into the city towards home.


    I had a chunk of time before Hiromi was out of school after all, and I really needed to have a conversation with someone that I¡­ Well trust was stretching it.


    ¡ª--


    Wakako¡¯s Pachinko parlor was the same as always. I still had no idea why she chose such a chaotic place for her office.


    But I walked right in, and as usual Wakako was waiting for me.


    ¡°Girl. Sit.¡± She demanded which I did, almost rolling my eyes as the older woman took control of the situation instantly.


    ¡°I¡¯m not here for a gig¡­ Well I mean I might accept one if you have it, but Wakako. I need some advice, from someone that I can¡­ Trust.¡± I admitted which only earned a quirked eyebrow from the Dragon Lady.


    I rolled my eyes at her dramatics. ¡°I know trust is probably a stupid word. But you have a use for me. So at least I know you won¡¯t just burn me without a good reason.¡±


    ¡°Accurate, enough. I do not offer such things for free.¡±


    ¡°Well maybe you will when you hear what is happening. I¡¯m planning on killing Jotaro Shobo.¡± I said and that caused a reaction as Wakako¡¯s eyes widened just a bit before smoothing out.


    ¡°That¡­ Is a dangerous statement.¡±


    ¡°Yeah hence why I¡¯m chatting with you and not just ganking him without anyone knowing¡­ I¡¯m not a Tyger Claw, but Jun is, my family was. Killing one of their golden boys won¡¯t go over well. What can I do to make sure this doesn¡¯t blow up in my face?¡±


    The woman took a moment to grab a cigarette and light it, taking a long drag before speaking again.


    ¡°You need this man dead. Why?¡±


    ¡°A couple reasons.¡± I admitted. ¡°He threatened me. Before I even realized who he was, or what lows he would stoop too. He might have backed up because of my Kamikaze connections¡­ Although I¡¯m still not a member, people need to stop saying that.¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡± Wakako offered waving her hand to keep me going, but her voice was full sarcasm.


    ¡°But honestly I don¡¯t like the fact he kidnaps people. Tortures them for BDs and his own sick pleasure. So I¡¯m going to kill him.¡±


    ¡°There are many people doing such dirty jobs. He is not alone, most don¡¯t have the connections that scum has. So why choose him?¡±


    ¡°Because I¡¯ve had conversations with him in the past, and never even realized what he was. It¡­ Pisses me off.¡± I admit truthfully hands clenching. ¡°He¡¯s a monster Wakako, and at one point he said he was interested in me, wanted me to work for him. The very idea disgusts me.¡±


    ¡°Troublesome. Certainly troublesome. I would suggest as someone who has a small desire to keep you alive for my benefit, that you ignore this. Let it go.¡±


    ¡°I knew you would say that. But¡­¡±


    ¡°But you will not listen, yes. In that case I would suggest you never speak of this conversation with me again, forget it ever happened, for I will. And perhaps find another Fixer who already has a gig to assassinate a certain Tyger Claw.¡± Wakako tells me taking a drag and giving me a strong look.


    ¡°Can I even do that¡­ I wouldn¡¯t want to offend you Wakako. You¡¯re my Fixer¡­ I¡¯m supposed to keep some loyalty to you¡­ Right?¡±


    She looks at me and just scoffs. ¡°Says the girl that has joined her brother on gigs left right and center.¡±


    ¡°Jun needed me to watch his back¡­¡±


    ¡°Girl your brother has quite the rep all on his own. But still¡­ We have no contract saying you only work for me, even if I would prefer to keep it that way. If you must do this, have a fixer ready to protect you from the backlash. Let them take the blame while you disappear like smoke.¡±


    I nodded slowly. ¡°Do you happen to know?¡±


    ¡°Now you ask me to tell you what Fixer you should go to while betraying me? Truly child you offend me at every turn.¡± She said but the fact she was actually chuckled meant she was just messing with me.


    Right? Please be right.


    ¡°There is a Fixer in Watson. Jones. Find a way to get in contact with her, and perhaps you can find an ally in this foolishness. We never spoke of this.¡±


    ¡°Thank you Wakako. I owe you one.¡±


    ¡°Far more than one.¡± She whispered in her grandma-catty way.


    Okay so all I had to do was somehow get in contact with Regina Jones.


    Great.


    ¡ª---


    It turns out getting in touch with a Fixer wasn¡¯t as easy as I expected. I mean, it¡¯s not like I knew where Regina¡¯s HQ was. Or even if I did, how I would get in touch with her.


    I couldn¡¯t just walk into the Afterlife and get in contact either. I wasn¡¯t famous enough for that, the bouncer would never let me in. Plus the Afterlife was Rogues HQ. Doubt she would even let Regina in.


    So for now. For just a bit while I figured this out. The hunt for Jotaro Shobo¡¯s life was on the backburner.


    But his day would come. Instead what I needed was¡­


    Well contacts. People. Friends!


    And I had just the group that owed me a favor.


    *Hey Scorpion, how¡¯s things? You have any issue picking up the vehicles?* I sent out a text as I walked back to the car. The sounds of Jig-Jig street all around me. The joytoys were working, and the johns were active around the area, despite it being early afternoon.


    Night City was certainly special.


    Suddenly I got a call. Scorpion was reaching out.


    *Hey Scorpion!* I chirped into the line, which made the dichotomy even funnier as the guy sounded utterly dead.


    *Hey Kid, no issues, we got to the site and klepped everything in the middle of the night. Saul thought it might be a trap at first, so it took even longer than it should have, but we got everything moved to the camp. Already have most of the cars repainted. We uh¡­ Owe you. Big time.*


    *Nah, you did me a favor. I had no idea what to do with all that crap. I¡¯m at least glad to get it out of the Raffens hands.* I told him as I walked down the street, I thought about going home, but since I was out and about, I stepped across the street and down the steps into Cherry Blossom Market.


    Ramen sounded good.


    *Yeah well that¡¯s not how Saul is seeing it. Listen Motoko¡­ You saved my ass before, and we didn¡¯t do what we should have. I mean, I haven¡¯t even kept in touch. Why don¡¯t you come out to the camp. We are having a barbeque, and Saul wants to meet you. Gotta discuss your pay.* Scorpion said although he ended by breaking out into a jaw popping yawn.


    Poor guy. He must be exhausted what with being woken up in the middle of the night, forced into a long distance drive to the Raffen camp, looting it up and then driving home.


    I was just lucky that I didn¡¯t really get sleepy like that anymore.


    *Barbeque?* I ended up asking, because that sounded fucking amazing. Even if I was settling into the noodle bar and ordering lunch.


    *Well it¡¯s not real meat, but trust me, we know how to make the taste authentic. Kid¡­ Motoko¡­ You should come. We owe you big, let us at least give back a little, you are making Saul freak out about owing so much to some merc he¡¯s never met. Come on by, let us throw you a party. Hell, you might get some job offers, we don¡¯t usually hire kids for gigs, but you have a bit of a reputation among the Aldecaldos now.*


    *Well I am always looking for more work¡­ I can¡¯t make it tonight. I have to help out a choom in a few hours and then I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll even have time to reach your camp before nightfall.*


    *Yeah we are pretty out here.*


    *So let me know another day? You kinda had me at barbeque.* I admitted with a smile as I waved down the waiter for a bowl of Ramen. Food in Night City was kinda lacking.


    *Tomorrow then. I¡¯ll let Saul know. Motoko. For last night. Thanks, I¡¯ll make sure we pay you back for all of it. You¡¯ve made a lot of friends with the Aldecaldos over this.*


    *It was nothing¡­ Really. But I guess I¡¯ll see you tomorrow.*


    *I¡¯ll send the camp''s coordinates. Cya then kid.*


    *I¡¯m not a-*


    ¡°He hung up.¡± I grumbled, but I was smiling a bit too. ¡°I guess I¡¯ll have to tell Jun not to wait up for me tomorrow.¡±

 Chapter 50

    I wasted some time at the Ramen bar eating and watching the news on the TV there, but eventually I paid and slipped out, heading home, actually walking back to the apartment just to enjoy being able to go outside again.


    Jeez it made me remember just how long it had been since I was able to just go on the street for a walk.


    Since the kidnapping.


    As I walked through the horde of people walking through the market I felt paranoia slowly amping up. It wasn¡¯t like I was far from where it had happened. The crowd was thick. I would have trouble escaping if someone attacked me. I had my Burya, but what if I didn¡¯t bring enough ammo? What if I didn¡¯t have enough Max-Doc¡¯s?


    What if?


    But no.


    I wasn¡¯t going to live like that. Morgan Blackhand had mentioned paranoia was a good thing for a solo. There was literally a segment in his guide about constantly moving, sleeping in different locations, and never falling into habits that someone could use against you.


    Good advice, but also a good way to spend your entire life living in utter fear. Or sleeping in cardboard boxes in alleys just to throw people off your trail.


    No thanks.


    I let a drop of cold blood wash away the paranoia. I was in control of myself, and I wasn¡¯t about to let my fear control my life like that. I would just have to get so amazing in everything that I could build a doom fortress or something.


    Seriously Morgan, your advice is good, but also kind spastic.


    So instead I pushed my shoulders back, my head up and started stalking. I wasn¡¯t tall enough to cause the crowd to break around me, and while I was armed, so was everyone else, but it made me feel better. Made me confident as I walked home.


    No Maelstrom jumped out of the shadows to attack me, no one even noticed me.


    It made me scoff at my own paranoia.


    I made it home without anything happening. A reminder that in the grand scheme of things I wasn¡¯t some super important character.


    I was just Motoko, and I wasn¡¯t that important. Yet.


    I raced up the stairs of the apartment enjoying how easy it was to run up the four flights of stairs. As I slipped into the apartment I could hear the quiet snoring of Jun still coming from his room.


    Silly Jun. But I guess I had literally kept him up all night on my hunt for that killer.


    I made sure to keep quiet as I settled in. I had a few hours until Hiromi was free from school, so I set an alarm in my hud and grabbed my ICE laptop.


    Let¡¯s do some casual grinding while I wait.


    ¡ª--


    I was waiting in front of the Arasaka building when Hiromi came out. Sure I had gotten some weird looks, and Arasaka security looked like they were keeping a close eye on my all black ride, but I didn¡¯t care.


    I wasn¡¯t doing anything nefarious.


    Finally the crowd of teenagers headed out, almost all of them heading to private vehicles, a few of the truly rich didn¡¯t even leave the front of the building instead getting into AV¡¯s and disappearing into the sky of Night City. A place only the ultra rich and powerful were welcome to.


    Hiromi though stalked out of the building practically stomping on her way out. Her direct path towards my car was interesting as some people had to literally get out of the way as she stomped up to the car and flopped in.


    ¡°I hate morons.¡± She said practically growling as I nodded along with her. Hiromi was super mad, I wasn¡¯t about to start poking her until she was ready. I pulled out into traffic and started heading for her home. A minute later she finally spoke.


    ¡°That fuckin gonk Tomaru. He pulled some shit, tried his stupid power play shit again. Fucker.¡± Hiromi ranted glaring out the window as I just nodded along.


    ¡°Want me to kill him?¡±


    The silence in the car stretched on for a moment before Hiromi chuckled. ¡°No. It would certainly make my life easier.¡± She admitted actually breaking through her anger and chuckling a bit. ¡°Sorry, I should have said thanks for picking me up Choom.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine. School is the worst!¡± I offered earning a snort from Hiromi.


    ¡°Motoko you literally never went to school. I bet everything you know about school comes from some cartoon or something.¡± Hiromi teased, and the fact I couldn¡¯t just argue against that, my ¡®amnesia¡¯ and past life made anything I could say come out wrong.


    So I just flushed and tried to ignore the way Hiromi¡¯s smile was turning shark like.


    ¡°When we stop at your place, how about I work on your bike? I can probably fix it up tonight.¡± I interrupted whatever teasing Hiromi was about to do, trying to avoid my chooms assault.


    ¡°Fiiiine. I¡¯ll let you change the subject. That would be great, do you like, need anything?¡±


    ¡°Nah. I have my toolbox in the trunk, should be everything I need. Hang out with me while I do it?¡±


    ¡°Definitely!¡±


    ¡ª--


    Hiromi¡¯s Kusanagi was in rough shape. She hadn¡¯t damaged the frame or anything, Kusanagi, even the stupid Mizuchi with all the modifications going into it, that she owned. Most of it was just panel damage, although one of the magnetic brake calipers on the front wheel was bent a bit. I ended up needing to disassemble the front brake array, and with a bit of work with my auto fab and a bit of time I had a new brake caliper re-attached and the front wheel spinning as it should instead of grinding and stuck.


    ¡°You¡¯re way better at this than I thought.¡± Hiromi muttered beside me. We had been out here for a few hours and Hiromi had gone from standing around, to sitting to lazily laying against her bike after I had put it on its side to fix the brakes.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been practicing with tinkering and stuff! Did I show you my gadget?¡± I asked perking up a bit when Hiromi shook her head. Despite my hands full with one of her side panels actively undenting the piece of metal, I reached into my hip pouch and pulled out my distance mic.


    ¡°What is it?¡± Hiromi asked curiously as I passed it over, she figured out the earpiece quickly enough but I had to reach over and tug on the actual microphone before she realized the wires were set into a little assembly.


    I tugged it out and let it go watching as it was pulled back inside. A moment of fiddling and she had it extended out. The microphone I had to instruct her to tie around her finger with the little strap on the end.


    ¡°Point it at me.¡± I said as my hands continued on their task of fixing the dented plate. Only once she did so did I start humming quietly, purposefully keeping the tone low.


    ¡°Oh! It¡¯s a directional mic!¡± Hiromi chirped, figuring it out. After all, for her this wasn¡¯t some weird tech that is rarely used, it¡¯s tuesday, it¡¯s normal. I¡¯ve seen plenty of TV shows, and even cartoons mention gadgets like this all the time. Hiromi had grown up in a world where technology was easily accessible, and practically skewed towards corporate espionage.


    ¡°Yeah. I ran into a problem at one of my gigs, the Maelstrom were having a conversation and I couldn¡¯t hear what they were saying. That right there is step one on fixing the problem. I uh¡­ Still need to go into some programming for it. I want it to be able to focus on a conversation and ignore music or something.¡±


    ¡°Hmm. Arasaka has a Cyberware that does that.¡± Hiromi said tapping at her lips.


    ¡°I suppose I could find a piece and see what the programming is like, but I kinda want to do this all on my own. To see just what I can do¡­ You know?¡±


    Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.


    Hiromi just gave me a smile as I admitted this was more of a challenge to myself than something I needed right then. ¡°I¡¯m sure it¡¯ll be great Motoko. It¡¯s way more than I could make already. You¡¯re making me look bad over here.¡± She told me poking me with her shoe as she teased me.


    ¡°Eh. It¡¯s just time and work. You have school, and ¡®rents, and stuff to deal with.¡±


    ¡°Yeah cause you don¡¯t have Gigs, Jun, and all sorts of crazy stuff you are doing. I¡¯m waaaay lazy compared to you.¡±


    I just huffed. ¡°Maybe, but you¡¯re still my best choom. I wouldn¡¯t want anyone else at my side.¡± I told her flashing a smile before going back to my work.


    I never noticed her flush at my compliment.


    ¡°Done!¡± I called out suddenly as I pulled the newly repaired side panel off the floor looking it over. The paint was still ruined, but that was a much easier fix than the massive dents in the thing.


    ¡°Really? Already?¡±


    ¡°Sure. Easy peasy. Help me re-install it?¡± I prompted Hiromi who jumped to help, and with her helping to hold it in place, I was able to use a small power tool to put it back together and pull her bike back onto its wheels.


    ¡°Ugh. Done!¡± I grunted as the bike was righted. ¡°Want to give it a drive around the block?¡±


    ¡°Yeees! C¡¯mon Motoko!¡± Hiromi said, jumping onto the bike and patting behind her.


    ¡°Nooo way Choom.¡± I denied holding my arms up in an X. ¡°I have to clean up my tools, and I don¡¯t want to be anywhere near you driving if I can help it.¡±


    ¡°Moootooookooooo!¡± Hiromi whined at me eyes wet and lip puffy. Hiromi used Puppy Dog Face. It¡¯s super effective.


    ¡°Fiiine.¡± I grumbled, taking a minute to grab my tool box and load it into the Quadra to make sure it was secure, before climbing in behind Hiromi.


    The screech of wheels going way too fast had me gripping my choom a bit tight but thankfully Hiromi didn¡¯t complain.


    Despite just needing a ride around the block to make sure everything was working, Hiromi headed out into the city seemingly just happy to have her freedom again.


    While stopped at a red light, which I will admit I¡¯m shocked Hiromi actually stopped at. The first two times Hiromi had just blown through them without a care.


    Maybe it was my screaming in her ear the entire time? If someone had been standing at the crosswalk as we passed by they would have been treated to my doppler effect scream as she raced through.


    Seriously my heart was pounding more right now than it did when I was in a fight for my life!


    Hiromi: More dangerous than a gun fight!


    While paused at the light I finally pulled away from the death grip I had on my choom. ¡°Where are we going?¡± I finally asked, for the first time since we started racing through the streets I could actually hear a response.


    ¡°Nowhere! I just wanted to get out¡­ You know? Stuck at home for so long I just needed to go!¡± She called back and I nodded. Before stilling.


    ¡°Hey Hiromi? What are you doing tomorrow night? I know you have school and stuff, but I had an offer from some Nomads I¡¯m friends with to go to a barbeque. Want to come?¡± I offered. If Hiromi needed to get out, away from her apartment that she had been trapped in for weeks¡­


    Then the badlands were super far away!


    ¡°Wha? Nomads!? Motoko? What are you talking about?¡±


    ¡°Oh last night I was hunting down-Green Light!¡± I called out startling Hiromi, when I realized we had both been distracted and hadn¡¯t noticed the light change, grumbling she started off, but instead of rushing down the street she found a parking spot and settled in even hitting the kick stand so we were properly parked.


    ¡°Now say that again?¡± She demanded and I nodded.


    ¡°Last night I was hunting down this serial killer guy. Total creep factor. Anyway, one of the farms Jun and I hit had a bunch of Raffen¡­ I mean they were right there? So I took them out.¡± I shrugged Miming a stabbing motion to get my point across. it really had been an easy spot of murder. The Raffen had literally been asleep on the job.


    ¡°Shit! You went out on a gig last night? Why didn¡¯t you tell me?¡±


    ¡°I told you just now.¡± I offered rolling my eyes.


    ¡°Ugh! You¡¯re still a gonk. But c¡¯mon deets!¡±


    ¡°Nuh-uh. I recorded it, you can see it for yourself¡­ Eventually. I¡¯ll need to see Judy and drop them off¡­ Anyway, all the Raffen had a bunch of wheels. So I called up some Aldecaldos buddies, remember Scorpion? I told you about him when I went and did that gig? I called him and they picked them up, but the Aldecaldos boss feels he owes me one, and I got an invite to a barbeque and a meeting¡­ So want to come?¡±


    ¡°Shit Motoko, your life is so crazy. You bet I¡¯m in! One hundred percent!¡±


    ¡°Cool¡­ Umm will your ¡®rents be okay with that? We¡¯ll likely be gone all night¡­ Maybe all day even?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll convince them¡­ I can just tell them it¡¯s an in for me with the nomads as a work connection or something.¡± She mumbled the last bit, starting to nibble on her bottom lip as she thought about it.


    ¡°Cool.¡± I said smiling. Honestly it was a long drive out to the Aldecaldos camp. It would be nice to have a travel buddy!


    Hiromi was practically buzzing after, swiftly shaking off her thoughts of convincing her parents, and instead taking us back into the streets.


    Hiromi! Red means stop!


    ¡ª--


    After Hiromi finally got the need to drive around out of her system we headed home. She needed to try and convince her parents to let her leave the city, and I wanted to go see Judy and Nox.


    I did have the Raffen assault to offer up now, although I wasn¡¯t going to share the one where I killed the Meat Man. I wasn¡¯t sure how many people would end up knowing about his death, and while I wasn¡¯t exactly worried about people knowing it was me that did it, there really wasn¡¯t much on that gig worth keeping, especially since I had failed to hack the mines¡­


    It wasn¡¯t like I was going to destroy that recording just because it showed me try and fail to hack the mines over and over!


    It was because it was boring! Definitely!


    Sliding into a parking spot at Lizzies I was really surprised when as I walked up to the door Rita actually walked out and matched my pace, to my surprise she threw an arm over my shoulder and was giving me a smile.


    ¡°Hey kid.¡±


    ¡°Oh, Uh hey Rita!¡±


    ¡°Wanna talk with you. Come with?¡± She asked, and it was definitely a question she wasn¡¯t pushing me along, or anything just giving me a minute to decide.


    ¡°Sure? I just needed to drop off something with Judy, but I¡¯m not in a rush.¡±


    ¡°Preem. C¡¯mon Kid.¡± She said smiling as she guided me inside. Nobody really paid us any attention other than the door bouncer that was replacing Rita, who just gave Rita a quirked eyebrow before sliding into her position. Then Rita walked me into Lizzies, towards the back, and into one of the private booths.


    I might have been a bit uncomfortable about the whole thing if Rita was chattering away about something Judy had done a month or so ago when she had tried to spend three days working while staying awake drinking her crazy caffeine soda.


    Apparently Judy had a bit of a wild side after three days without sleep.


    ¡°So that¡¯s why we don¡¯t let her have those things anymore. Replacing the tables cost a pretty penny. Suzie wasn¡¯t happy about it, but Judy is too good at what she does to really punish.¡± Rita ended the story causing both of us to laugh at Judy¡¯s antics.


    ¡°So what¡¯s going on Rita?¡± I asked breaking up the funny stories.


    ¡°Well kid¡­ No, I should do this right. Motoko, I wanted to make sure¡­ Listen. I¡¯m not great at this sort of thing. There¡¯s a reason I¡¯m the bouncer and not one of the touchy feely types¡­ I watched that BD you had Judy do, she showed it to me that night, and I just wanted to say¡­¡± Rita to my surprise looked uncomfortable as she sort of toyed with her bangs.


    ¡°Rita?¡±


    ¡°If you ever need to talk to someone? If you just want to hang out, with someone that gets it? That understands? I¡¯m here. The Mox are here. We aren¡¯t¡­ Well Judy and some of the older girls try to keep the spirit alive, but we don¡¯t go out and try to help people as much as we used to, but I still¡­ Fuck I¡¯m rambling.¡± The older woman said, sighing as she looked around and found a bottle of¡­ Something alcoholic laying around the booth. She took a second to check it and then popped the glass stopper and took a swish of it down.


    I just kept staring because I had no idea what was going on.


    ¡°Okay I can do this. C¡¯mon Rita.¡± She said pepping herself up before she focused on me again.


    ¡°Listen, Motoko¡­ This stuff. Killing, chrome, Night City, it¡¯s not easy, but if you need something. I¡¯m¡­ I get it. I went through similar shit when I was a kid too. Forced chrome, fighting, killing because if I didn¡¯t I would be the one dead. The whole reason we all came together as the Mox was to help people like us. If you need help getting away from the TC, if you just¡­ Want to stop killing or being chipped. I¡¯ll be here, someone to talk to, or back you up if you need it. Fuck I¡¯m not good at being the sponsor.¡± She muttered, turning away from me, and it was only because of how she had shifted that I saw the bits of her face that wasn¡¯t chrome was actually blushing.


    How cute!


    ¡°Thanks Rita.¡± I said I couldn¡¯t help it, I was smiling at her obvious distress because it really showed how much this meant to her. ¡°I mean, I don¡¯t really think I¡¯m in any trouble. I mostly just work with the TC to watch my brother, and other than these arms, which was Maelstrom. I barely have any other chrome. But I get it¡­ Thank you. For reaching out? It¡¯s really sweet.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t call me sweet.¡± Rita groaned, the top of her face flushed as she did her best to look away from me the bottle of alcohol clutched in her hands as if it was a lifeline.


    ¡°But you are! I¡¯m not in any trouble, honest. The gigs I take the people I kill, it¡¯s my choice, and I kiiiinda, like it.¡± I admitted as I settled onto the couch beside her so we could chat easier. ¡°I found I have a talent for it, and it¡¯s¡­ Exciting. Thrilling even!¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ Fuck. Ugh. I¡¯m such a gonk. Stupid Rita, Real stupid.¡± She muttered to herself, but I wasn¡¯t about to let Rita who was being an absolute sweetheart trying to help me escape what she must have thought was some Tyger Claw work force. I guess if you saw me killing Maelstrom at the side of TC when I kept saying I wasn¡¯t with them, it could be interpreted that way.


    I reached out before she could berate herself anymore and pulled her into a hug. My arms wrapping around her own as I practically pinned her arms to her sides to give her the strongest hug I could.


    I nearly giggled as she went still for a moment. ¡°Thanks Rita. Really. It¡¯s nice to know that one more person in this city is looking out for me¡­ Honestly not enough people do that.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s what the Mox are supposed to do.¡± She said quietly, sounding a little uncomfortable at the contact. So I pulled away.


    ¡°I mean, there is a reason I think the Mox are the best gang in the city.¡±


    ¡°We used to be even better.¡± She muttered but shook it away as she finally seemed to focus on me. ¡°You¡¯re a real monster kid. That BD, some of the stuff I saw, that wasn¡¯t normal. Wasn¡¯t something you see on a teenager, even the ones with a history like me¡­ You sure you¡¯re okay someone isn¡¯t forcing you?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. I¡¯m okay. I promise. Well I mean. I¡¯m still recovering from the whole Maelstrom kidnapping, but I¡¯m feeling a lot better.¡±


    She frowned, nodding a bit at my response before seeming to come to a decision. ¡°I know what it¡¯s like to be forcefully chipped. I lost my arms the same way. Motoko, do you¡­ Do you do anything creative with your hands?¡± She asked suddenly and I stilled before nodding.


    ¡°Yeah? I started tinkering. I even made a distance microphone the other day! From scratch!¡± I said pulling it out and showing Rita. Once more showing off my baby!


    She smiled, but shook her head a bit. ¡°Not what I meant exactly. Sorry I¡¯m not great at this, I mean like¡­ Spiritually creative? Art? Or something? After I got out, after I realized I was stuck with these arms. I didn¡¯t handle it well. Took me a long time to get over that they were a piece of me and not just some monster attached to my meat. I started¡­ Just don¡¯t tell anyone okay? I started sculpting, it''s something I did as a kid, and I came back to it. I make little figurines¡­ Animals, just things that can¡¯t talk back, or push boundaries. Every time I see them now, I¡¯m reminded that they were created with these hands of mine. That my arms aren¡¯t just weapons. That they can do good things too. So just¡­ It helps me¡­ Try finding something, anything. Whatever suits you, and maybe¡­ Maybe it will help?¡±


    She went quiet after that looking extremely uncomfortable, which is saying something when most of her face was chrome.


    Wow. Rita was really trying hard to help. I didn¡¯t know what to say, what to do, so I just did what felt natural, I reached out and grabbed her hand. And gave her a squeeze.


    It was a quiet minute between us. Two women that had been assaulted and ripped apart. I felt myself eventually falling into a goofy smile as I took in Rita and what she had tried to do.


    Eventually with no more words said we split apart, Rita obviously having hit her maximum amount of emotional baggage for the day. I went to drop off the Raffen BD with Judy who took it with some interest.


    But I didn¡¯t stick around. I¡¯ll admit I hadn¡¯t thought about it.


    Rita was right though. Everything I did since I got the system revolved around getting stronger for combat, for murder. Even my tech interests. It was like I was reacting to the fear of living in Night City. Trying to get strong enough to protect myself.


    But did I actually have any hobbies that didn¡¯t involve grinding? Did I do anything for fun that wasn¡¯t just the feedback loop towards combat?


    I ended up sitting in the Quadra for a while just staring out at the people walking by as I was forced to consider the fact that I might have, just been a little teensy tiny bit too obsessed with this whole Merc thing.


    What exactly did Motoko Kusanagi do for her mental wellbeing, other than rely on Cold Blood? What hobbies did she have that didn¡¯t involve fighting?


    This would need further thought.

 Chapter 51

    I spent the rest of the day resting. No grinding, no plotting. Just hanging out at the apartment and watching TV, or even reading a few shard books. I finally finished another chapter in the Solo¡¯s guide, but decided to put that to the side soon enough because it too felt a little too much like training still.


    I had never been a particularly focused person in my last life. I wasn¡¯t dedicated to self improvement, I liked TV shows, and games, and movies far too much for that.


    So why was it that I barely did any of my favorite things in this life? Was it a good thing? Some people would say yes.


    But I wasn¡¯t sure it was healthy for me. The closest thing I had done creatively had been working with tech, but that was just another aspect of grinding to grow stronger.


    Every aspect of my life was rotating around improving my ability to kill¡­ Was that right? It didn¡¯t bother me exactly. I liked it. I liked fighting, and I loved being better than others at killing. Anyone who played nearly any video game could attest how great it felt to be strong.


    But was that all I wanted out of this second life? Was all the freedom I had thanks to my growing skills, only meant to create paths towards more killing more death?


    No.


    I realized that my life wasn¡¯t just this. As much as I enjoyed it, I shouldn¡¯t exist solely as a merc. I mean this wasn¡¯t a game, even if I was a gamer. Did I want to spend the rest of my life as nothing but a killer for hire?


    No.


    I had just been having so much fun I hyper focused!


    Oops!


    So I took the rest of the afternoon to watch future TV shows, some of which were at least interesting, and some awful. I didn¡¯t really like TV in the future. I didn¡¯t really like the books¡­ But I also hadn¡¯t really searched for things I would like. It¡¯s like watching daytime TV and thinking that was all that was on the TV.


    As I explored the different channels and read, I was texting with Hiromi who confirmed she had gotten permission to skip school to come along to the Aldecaldo BBQ!


    Road trip with the best choom is a go.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°Finally!¡± I groaned as I pulled out from Hiromi¡¯s garage the next morning. I had been running late as Jun had gotten all protective when I told him what I was up to.


    It had taken me a few minutes to remember I was fourteen, and heading out to the badlands to party with a bunch of nomads.


    So okay, when you put it like that Jun had a point.


    But when I explained it was mostly about what we had done that night, and that I certainly would shoot anyone that tried something, plus Hiromi was coming. He had finally loosened up and I had managed to escape his clutches.


    Hiromi hadn¡¯t taken long to flop into the car, her bag of snacks she was bringing along dropped onto my own bag of goodies once she settled in.


    ¡°Wooo!¡± She screamed out the window as we headed out onto the city streets, ¡°Freedom!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be too happy yet, choom. We have a long drive to get there.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯ll be a lot shorter if you let me drive.¡± She grumbled at me, and I just chuckled.


    She had no idea.


    I drove safely, and followed all the laws within the city, but as soon as we started hitting dirt?


    Well I waited for Hiromi to be slightly distracted, with nothing on the road in front of me, when I suddenly floored it.


    Her jerking reaction to my sudden acceleration was great, her mouth full of some chips, or some snack food meant her shocked gasped sent her into a coughing fit as I tore down the road.


    ¡°Motoko!¡± She said in delight when she finally got herself back under control, and seeing me absolutely flooring it over the desert road.


    ¡°Hiromi!¡± I chirped back, completely at ease despite going so fast.


    ¡°You¡¯re going fast!¡±


    ¡°So I am.¡± I said smiling which had her giggling in delight.


    ¡°So there is a troublemaker in there!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not in the city, and there is no longer a posted speed limit. Of course I¡¯ll drive how I want.¡± I said simply but my firm tone was ruined by my lips fighting back more smiles.


    ¡°You are such a gonk. You should just drive like this from now on.¡±


    ¡°Nah. Jun made me promise not to drive fast in the city, I apparently scared him the last time I did it.¡±


    ¡°Aww I wanted to see that.¡± She said laughing, and I just shrugged as I noticed my turn off. With a casual press of the clutch, shifting slightly, and then pressing on the break I was in a perfectly controlled drift.


    Hiromi couldn¡¯t enjoy the look as she wasn¡¯t wearing her seat belt properly, despite my multiple warnings to stop taking it off. So she soon found her face pressed up against the passenger window for a few moments until I finished the drift and was heading straight down the new road.


    ¡°Wha¡­ Wha?¡± She muttered looking delightfully confused at her new situation.


    ¡°I told you to put your seat belt on. Hold on.¡± I said as I was coming up to the next street I needed to turn onto.


    This time Hiromi was actually able to realize what was happening.


    I ended up pouting from then on, because she didn¡¯t scare like Jun instead whooping and hollering in delight every time I drifted,


    It wasn¡¯t fair! I wanted to mess with her!


    ¡ª---


    I pulled up to the Aldecaldos camp going a much more sedate speed. Despite Hiromi¡¯s badgering to speed up again. I didn¡¯t want to come in too hot with the nomads. I pulled up to the camp and parked off the road near where a few of their cars were parked including a few familiar and freshly painted cars.


    I stepped out, Hiromi following me a moment later. Her head was practically on a swivel as she took in the new location.


    ¡°Be cool Hiromi.¡± I reminded her as I walked up to a familiar face who was walking up to greet me.


    ¡°Motoko!¡±


    ¡°Scorpion!¡± I greeted right back smiling as the older man laughed and to my surprise instantly invaded my personal space pulling me into a hug and literally spinning me around.


    ¡°Nice to see you too Scorpion.¡± I mumbled a little dazed as he set me down.


    This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    ¡°I still owed you that from when you pulled my ass out of the Raffen nest. Who¡¯s your friend?¡± he asked, pulling away a bit giving me some space.


    ¡°I¡¯m Hiromi! Motoko¡¯s best Choom!¡± She said suddenly at my side and grabbed my arm.


    ¡°Hey, nice to meet you. Any friend of Motoko is one of mine.¡± He said with a smile before turning and waving me on. ¡°C¡¯mon I bet you¡¯re hungry the drive out from the city takes forever. Let¡¯s get some food in those bellies. Saul is distracted right now, so it¡¯s the best time to meet everyone.¡± Scorpion offered with a laugh as he guided us deeper into the camp.


    A few minutes later with a plate full of barbeque ribs, that were definitely not actual meat, but was tasty. And something that looked sort of like pulled pork, but wasn¡¯t. I was sitting around a table with a few nomads all tossing around stories of their own run-ins with the Raffen, made me realize how nice it all was.


    I get it. I understand the reason Nomads live like this. Out on the plains and deserts of America. The freedom was only part of it. The other part was the connection you feel with everyone. These people weren¡¯t all blood related, but they were all family. All lived together, got along, and knew each other''s jokes.


    There was an actual connection between them. something that was missing from Night City.


    It was nice.


    ¡°And then she sits in the closet and waits for the guy to ¡®finish¡¯ up if you know what I mean.¡± Hiromi¡¯s voice suddenly pulled me away from hearing about other Raffen raids over the years.


    ¡°Hiromi! Don¡¯t tell people about that!¡± I called out as I quickly put down the pretty tasty BBQ I was eating to yell at my choom.


    ¡°Motoko you literally recorded it. You can¡¯t complain about people talking about it.¡± She offered looking to Scorpion who was sitting beside her, and who she was telling the story about.


    I don¡¯t know how but the two had swiftly started swapping stories. Mostly about me, and seemed to be getting along.


    ¡°You really hid in the closet?¡± Scorpion asked, looking half a second away from bursting into laughter.


    ¡°It was the only other door in the room. They didn¡¯t catch me or anything. And he was fast¡­ At least.¡± I grumbled a bit but Scorpion was already chuckling.


    ¡°You said this was a BD. Where can I get a copy. I gotta see this.¡±


    ¡°Motoko gave me my set, but it¡¯s the Mox right?¡± Hiromi asked and I sort of twisted my hand.


    ¡°Honestly, I¡¯m not sure it¡¯s officially a Mox thing. Nox is the guy selling the BD¡¯s. It was his idea and well, he is a Mox, but I¡¯m not sure how official it all is. If you really want a copy, I can figure something out?¡±


    ¡°Eh. I¡¯ve been to Lizzies before¡­ I mean-¡±


    ¡°Oooh. When did this happen Scorpion?¡± A voice called out and I looked up only to be forced to fall into Cold Blood to keep myself from gasping in delight.


    Panam!


    I watched in delight as she threw an arm over Scorpions shoulder and teased him about having visited the BD bar when in the city.


    She glanced over Hiromi and me with a curious look, before it suddenly struck her. ¡°Oh! You¡¯re the one that cleared up the Raffen! And saved Scorpion.¡± She said, a teasing in drawl added on the end, but I could tell it was to tease Scorpion, not because she didn¡¯t care.


    ¡°I¡¯m Motoko, this is Hiromi my Choom. Yeah. That¡¯s me.¡± I added smiling at the older woman. What else could I do? Panam was cool.


    And we wore similar outfits! She had a leotard and jeans on too! She was obviously a woman of excellent taste!


    ¡°Then I guess I owe you one. Name¡¯s Panam. You saved Scorpion, so you¡¯re owed one in my book.¡± She said reaching over and pushing Scorpion a bit on the shoulder earning a slapping hand in return, a few moments of nearly siblings squabbling went on much to my delight.


    Yeah, I guess I kinda liked the Nomads. It was cozy.


    Then, a voice cut through all the chatter. ¡°So this is her.¡± The man was instantly recognizable to me. Saul. The head of the Aldecaldos. Or at least this group fo them. The man in charge.


    ¡°Saul! Yeah this is Motoko.¡± Scorpion called out pushing Panams hand away where she had been messing with him. ¡°Motoko, this is Saul, Leader of the Aldecaldos.¡± He introduced me and I nodded, grabbing a napkin and wiping away as much of the barbeque sauce around my mouth as I could.


    Thanks Aldecaldos, couldn¡¯t have introduced me to your leader until after I was two hands deep into a plate of barbeque huh?


    ¡°Nice to meet you.¡± I added once I was cleaned up.


    ¡°Walk with me.¡± He suddenly said and while he didn¡¯t quite start walking away he made it obvious it was more command than request.


    I kept a smile on my face even if I wasn¡¯t the biggest fan of being ordered around. I let it go. Just couldn¡¯t take it personally. Saul was used to getting his way, that¡¯s all. Besides, I wanted to know what he was thinking.


    Nomads didn¡¯t usually welcome people into their camp like this, at least as far as I could pick up. It¡¯s not like most people in Night City even gave more than a passing thought to the Nomads. They were a different breed as far as Night City residents were concerned.


    I rose up waving off Hiromi, as she was rising to stand up as well, ¡°Scorpion keep Hiromi company okay?¡± I asked and he gave me a nod and the table seemed to relax as Scorpion started up another story to Hiromi who looked conflicted but settled down.


    I followed after Saul as he started walking through the camp, not really seeming to head anywhere in particular, just walking around.


    ¡°Twice now you¡¯ve done us a favor, and that I can¡¯t just ignore.¡± He finally said as we came to a quiet part of the camp, empty tents and places where people slept setup all around. ¡°Not a fan of outsiders doing us favors. Always leads to some sort of trouble. But I also can¡¯t just let it go. You saved Scorpion. Even if he was doing something he wasn¡¯t supposed to, he is one of us.¡±


    ¡°I was just hired for a job.¡± I demurred, but Saul just ignored it.


    ¡°You don¡¯t know, but the Wraiths have been in a frenzy since then. Twice now we¡¯ve been raided. You saved Scorpion, but threw the Wraiths into a frenzy. Now you did it again. You helped us, gave us access to new vehicles, but the fact is, you also made living out here more dangerous. With so many cars lost the Raffen will seek out new ones. See the problem?¡±


    ¡°I guess I understand what you are saying. Poking the Raffen means they try to poke back.¡±


    ¡°Exactly.¡± He stopped walking, turning to me. Which was annoying as the guy was pretty tall. And I was only fourteen.


    ¡°I appreciate your help. I do. You did us a favor with good intentions, but good intentions can still cause us problems.¡±


    ¡°The Wraiths really that big of a deal? I¡¯ve killed a bunch of them by now. How many more do they have?¡±


    ¡°Hundreds. Thousands.¡± He answered simply to my surprise. ¡°You city folk think the Raffen are just another street gang, but they are worse than that. They hunt anyone on the roads. Doesn¡¯t matter who. The Wraiths circling Night City are more than a thousand strong. My clan only has five hundred and some extra.¡±


    I blinked at that. Those numbers were crazy. The camp here only had what, maybe a hundred?¡± Seeing my confusion and looking around he scoffed.


    ¡°We don¡¯t all stay together at once. Too many mouths to feed in one camp. Split up it¡¯s easier to keep everyone fed, but makes us easier prey.¡±


    ¡°So why not gather all together and wipe out the Wraiths?¡± I asked the question that had been bugging me for a while. The Aldecaldos were a massive group, even if they were spread out across America.


    ¡°They have backing kid. You think the corporations aren¡¯t more than happy to have a bunch of sociopaths like the Wraiths willing to hunt people for them? You noticed all the equipment they had at the camp you rescued Scorpion from didn¡¯t you? Ever wonder where they got all the expensive sensor gear for their camp? Millitech, Arasaka, Kang Tao or any of the others. Any corp that wants a competitor to have some trouble, to have shipments suddenly stop arriving through the badlands.¡± Saul grunted scratching at his beard for a moment.


    ¡°I see. The Corps use them as deniable forces, hit their enemies¡­ it¡¯s not like the Raffen are considered a threat to anyone outside the badlands.¡±


    ¡°Exactly, but that¡¯s not what we are here for.¡± He looked to me his green eyes dark. ¡°The Clan owes you a debt. I don¡¯t like owing debts to outsiders. Twice now you¡¯ve helped us. I can¡¯t pay you for the vehicles not fully. Not in eddies.¡± He said bluntly.


    ¡°Okay? So what can you do? Honestly. I¡¯m not bothered about it¡­ I don¡¯t much like the Raffen so just hurting them was good enough for me.¡±


    ¡°Well I am. We pay our debts. Always. I¡¯ve been forced to think about what we can do. What we can afford to offer in exchange for the cars¡­ Damn Scorpion for being so stupid to take them without asking.¡± He cursed suddenly to my surprise the man looked¡­


    Stressed.


    ¡°Saul?¡±


    ¡°Not your fault kid. Not Scorpions either. He was right to do it. This is my problem. The vehicles were needed, but now I¡¯m stuck trying to figure out how to pay for them.¡± He grumbled, looking down at me with a look in his eyes that expressed his frustration.


    Yeah Saul wasn¡¯t having a good day.


    ¡°Okay so let¡¯s push eddies off the table. Again, I only called up Scorpion because I knew he needed a ride. And that he could get the vehicles out of Wraith hands. You guys did me a favor that night.¡±


    ¡°Hardly. Wraiths are a nomad problem. Not exactly something Street Kids have any issues with.¡±


    ¡°They shot me. So Yeah. I have an issue with them. Getting shot makes me testy.¡± I countered instantly, a little heated. ¡°But fuck it. You don¡¯t have eddies? Fine. I¡¯m not really hurting for eddies anyways. Merc work pays well. So what do you have? You want to pay me back? What can you offer?¡±


    ¡°Membership.¡± He said suddenly, surprising me. ¡°You¡¯re young. Gotta know how shit it is in the City. Join our Clan. Become an Aldecaldos Nomad. We¡¯d welcome you. It might take a while to adjust, but you¡¯ve proven yourself to my people. You¡¯d fit in here.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t.¡± I refused instantly, shaking my head.. ¡°I have family in Night City, friends. As nice as it sounds to wander the desert, living life as it comes, it¡¯s not for me. I¡¯m a city girl.¡±


    ¡°Well I expected as much.¡± He said with a shrug. ¡°But still. You¡¯re welcome here. That offers some benefits. You might not realize it, but most of us have military experience. You want to be a merc? Then you¡¯ll need knowledge, stuff you can¡¯t just get on the street. We can help. Will help. We have stuff we make that can be useful to someone looking for a fight.¡± He tilted his head over and led me to a truck, which when he opened up I understood what he was saying.


    ¡°That¡¯s a lot of guns.¡±


    He nodded, having flicked on the lights to the moving truck, showing me the inside was literally an armory. ¡°We keep well armed. Even have things you can¡¯t find easily in the cities.¡± He said, pointing out a beautiful Techtronika SPT32 Grad.


    It was an anti-material Sniper Rifle.


    I want one. I want one sooo bad. Bitches love cannons!


    Instantly I walked over to it, it was resting on a bench tool strewn around. Someone was tinkering. No, I noticed as my eyes scanned it down. Someone had already tinkered. This wasn¡¯t just any Grad. It was the fucking Overwatch.


    I instantly hyper focused on the Suppressor attached to the end of the thing. I didn¡¯t remember the exact name of the nomad, but one of them had managed to get a Suppressor working on the AT rifle.


    ¡°Okay who did this, and where are they, because they need to teach me.¡± I told Saul as I started taking scans and checking over the Overwatch.


    ¡°Mitch. He made that during the war. Saved his hide a few times from the stories he tells. Not for sale.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t want it. You wanted to pay me back? Then, I¡¯ll consider it a fair trade, if you have Mitch teach me about his work on this baby.¡± It old him, my hands already feeling over the suppressor as my eyes scanned it down.


    ¡°Huh. Bit of a tinker are you?¡±


    ¡°Yeah! Just a bit.¡± I mumbled. Looking over the Overwatch. Normally a suppressor was either screwed into the barrel, or an attachment you would hook over the edge of a muzzle break and lock in.


    This one? There was no separate attachment. The entire barrel was a custom job, suppressor included. Which was crazy. Suppressors didn¡¯t last forever. So Mitch would have to replace the entire barrel pretty consistently.


    Unless he figured something interesting out.


    ¡°I¡¯ll talk to him, see if he¡¯s willing. But that alone doesn¡¯t square us. So let¡¯s talk.¡±


    I would be happy with a few of the shinies that were hanging around the armory, but as my eyes scanned the inside of the place, something caught my eye.


    ¡°That.¡± I demanded with a pointed finger.


    ¡°Hmm? What? Kid. What would you even use one of those for? We don¡¯t even use them.¡±


    ¡°Those of the words of a man who has never created a situation to shoot a rocket launcher before. That¡¯s the deal.¡± I said hungrily looking over the stack of boxes that had ¡°Techtronika T40 Uragan¡± Stamped on the side. I recognized the name. They were rocket launchers.


    10 shot homing rocket launchers.


    Why didn¡¯t I have a 10 shot homing Rocket Launcher!?


    Saul let out a sigh and shrugged.


    ¡°Fine. But if anyone ever asks you didn¡¯t get them from us.¡±


    ¡°Deal.¡±


    I didn¡¯t have any real use for a Rocket Launcher, but being able to say ¡°Hey I have a Rocket Launcher.¡± Is all the reason I could ever need!

 Chapter 52

    It took a while to get everything sorted with Saul. First I got my Uragan of course, but I also got dragged around to talk to Mitch, and a few other Nomads regarding some of the stuff I wanted to know.


    Mitch had been a bit grumpy about having to give away the knowledge of how to craft his baby, the Overwatch. Which really just meant the Suppressor. Turns out the reason it worked was a little trick with some crazy nanite goop that he had come across and fiddled with during the war. The inside of the Suppressor was literally a nanite swarm.


    Fucking cool.


    He did relent to give me the blueprints for how to make the stuff myself in a shard, but only after I promised to never tell anyone else.


    Works for me. It¡¯s not like I wanted someone else to have a silenced AT rifle.


    With that done, and everything packed up in the trunk of the Quadra I went looking for my Choom.


    ¡°Hey Hiromi.¡± I greeted as I settled down onto the wooden stump beside her.


    I had found her sitting around a firepit where all the nomads were hanging out, a few were even singing along to songs a cowboy was strumming out.


    It was homey, and Hiromi was obviously having fun.


    ¡°Motoko! Done doing business?¡±


    ¡°For now! Saul finally pushed enough stuff at me, that he isn¡¯t feeling bad about a debt anymore. But we are welcome to hang around. What¡¯s this?¡± I asked as I took the seat next to her.


    ¡°Oh Daniel over here isn¡¯t bad with a guitar and nomad karaoke is hilarious.¡± She tells me, the last part in a whisper. Grinning in delight as the singing continues, some weird country sounding tune that was very Cyberpunk being belted out at the top of the group of singers lungs. They were obviously drunk, and having the time of their life.


    ¡°Preem.¡± I said with a laugh as the voice cracks were making me giggle along with Hiromi.


    ¡°Hey don¡¯t poke fun, unless you are willing to do it too.¡± Scorpion said, over Hiromi¡¯s head. He was sitting on Hiromi''s other side, laying back and seemingly enjoying the atmosphere.


    ¡°No way. I don¡¯t sing.¡± I denied instantly crossing my arms in an X.


    But this of course only threw blood into the water.


    Scorpion and Hiromi both turned to me with a sinister grin.


    ¡°Don¡¯t even think about it.¡± I grumbled. But that only made it worse. A few moments later I was being pushed into the ¡®singing¡¯ spot and watched over by my betraying chooms.


    ¡°C¡¯mon! I don¡¯t even know the lyrics to these songs!¡± I grumbled, but that only made Hiromi giggle all the louder.


    ¡°But you know the Samurai songs! Hey hey! Mark play Chippin¡¯ In! Motoko knows the lyrics!¡± Hiromi called out, but I was trying to smother her.


    ¡°No I don¡¯t!¡± I hissed, but then cheers went up around the fire as the intro to Chippin¡¯ in started up.


    ¡°Fuck.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not the lyrics!¡± Scorpion cheered and I felt myself flush a bit. Fine! I went cold, which thankfully cleared out the embarrassment. Mostly.


    ¡°C-can you feel it!¡± I belted out the first words to the song only stumbling a little on the words as the drunk Nomads cheered. Mark the guitar player wasn¡¯t perfect, but he did a pretty good job of keeping up with the tempo of the song, and I had listened to the songs pretty often while driving around Night City. Or just on the radio while I was tinkering, or grinding.


    So fine. Yeah I know the lyrics! What of it!?


    When the song finally came to an end everyone was cheering Hiromi laughing in delight as she hugged my side and the Nomads were just having a great time. I blew out a heavy breath making Hiromi giggle even more.


    ¡°You¡¯re so bad it¡¯s great!¡±


    ¡°So embarrassing.¡± I uttered now that I let go of the cold blood.


    ¡°Now now kids, be nice. Relax kid this is just meant to be fun, you should hear Saul trying to sing to his favorites, man is completely tone deaf too¡­ Anyway you a Samurai fan?¡± Mark asked from his stump.


    ¡°I mean¡­ I guess?¡±


    ¡°Well hell let¡¯s do another then, not often I get to play the classics. You aren¡¯t Silverhand, but I¡¯m not Eurodyne. Just have fun with it.¡± Mark the guitar player said, strumming a few notes and smiling up at me.


    ¡°No, no I think I¡¯m done playing Rockerboy right now.¡± I grumbled which had Hiromi pouting. But the nomads laughed along and soon another song was playing.


    Which gave me a bit of time to check on my menu. I had gotten a beep of an alert coming in while I sang, and that was¡­


    Weird.


    What the hell was leveling up?


    Then I opened it and nearly choked on my tongue.


    *Rockerboy Experience Gained.*


    Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    *Skill not unlocked, no XP gained.*


    *Rockerboy Unlocked.*


    What the fuck? Rockerboy!? I was blinking away my shock trying to process when I remembered. In the TTRPG, Rockerboy was one of the classes, like how Solo, or Netrunner were a few of the others.


    I guess¡­ It made sense. 2077, had streamlined the classes as part of the system, just creating the skills as part of the skill tree. V hadn¡¯t had any Rockerboy skills, but then again he also had Johnny Silverhand in his head sort of acting as a max level Rockerboy¡­


    So I guess this was a thing¡­ Fuck! It was so embarrassing! I had been singing! I was level 0, that meant my skill was garbage! If I had known I could have grinded out a few levels and actually been amazing before I had to sing in front of strangers! Hiromi! This is all your fault! I groaned into my arms as I put my head against my knees. I could feel my ears burning!


    I was pouting for the next few minutes. I knew that. Hiromi knew that and was even teasing me a little for being all embarrassed about it.


    But it was! I was gonna go home, and grind so hard! I was gonna be an amazing Rockerboy the next time Hiromi tried to embarrass me, and then I would shock her! She would be like ¡®Motoko you¡¯re so amazing! I¡¯m so sorry for trying to embarrass you!¡¯ and stuff!


    It would be perfect!


    Wait¡­ It made me think. I did like music, I just was terrible at it¡­ Wasn¡¯t music a pretty good hobby? I could play an instrument and sing, and it would give myself something to do completely outside of me being a merc. I could grind and practice it while having fun making music! There! See Rita! I can do more than just merc stuff!


    Something that wasn¡¯t murdering people, or better ways to get to people to murder!


    This could work.


    Hiromi poking my cheek distracted me from my thoughts, ¡°C¡¯mon ¡®Toko don¡¯t be so grumpy. It was just one song.¡±


    I shook my head wiping the thoughts away. I wasn¡¯t going to let a little embarrassment hold me down!


    ¡°I¡¯m fine. You want to grab some more food?¡± I asked her as I rose up and she nodded, reaching up to grab my hand as we wandered back to the kitchen area.


    Barbeque! It was pretty good even if it wasn¡¯t real meat.


    ¡ª--


    As nice as it was, I did eventually get started on the drive home that night. I didn¡¯t really feel like sleeping in one of the Nomads tents, as nice as they were to offer. With everything decided between me and Saul I packed up Hiromi in the passenger seat, as she was getting pretty drowsy by now, and started driving home.


    As we headed out I left the headlights off. Honestly my Kiroshi let me see better without the light. Trying to see into the darkness through the bright lights was actually harder.


    ¡°Can you even see anything?¡± Hiromi asked, surprising me, and of course my many years of filling my brain with movies provided me an answer.


    ¡°I see everything.¡± I said back mimicking Arnold''s voice for a moment. Ah Terminator 2. Such a good movie.


    Then I realized Hiromi had no idea what I was doing. ¡°Ah yeah. I see just fine. Want me to turn the lights on so you can see?¡±


    ¡°Nah ain¡¯t anything to look at anyways. You okay to drive? Not-¡± She broke up her sentence with a long yawn. ¡°Tired?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine. Actually a little energized, I talked to a Mox I know the other day and she suggested I take up a spiritual hobby, something that won¡¯t just leave me running towards fights all the time¡­ I think I found it.¡± I told Hiromi. Although afterwards her many questions were ignored, I would tell her when I was ready.


    Because music was very spiritual! It wasn¡¯t directly related to me being a merc! I could grind and practice it while having fun making music! There! See Rita! I can do more than just merc stuff!


    I was tempted to start grinding on the way home by singing along to the radio, but Hiromi was there, and my stat was still 0. And I hadn¡¯t gotten any alerts for doing that before. There may be more to grinding it than just singing along to a recorded song.


    I would need to experiment!


    ¡ª--


    After dropping off a sleepy Hiromi at home, I didn¡¯t instantly head home myself. Instead I did a quick search and went looking for a store.


    Luckily this was Night City.


    A 24/7 music store was pretty easy to find. It was mostly empty at this time of night, but it would do. I walked in, the instruments along the walls weren¡¯t open and free to take all of them secured and under surveillance, and a pop out turret if my eyes didn¡¯t deceive me.


    This was Night City after all.


    Instead I found a guitar that I thought would work and let the man at the counter know. Only after paying for it did he go bring it down, I did grab a ¡°How to play the Guitar¡± shard as well on my way out, it was cheap, and I honestly didn¡¯t know how to play.


    I just needed enough of a start to hit level 1, and I should be good to go.


    So I headed home. The apartment was quiet when I got in, and I dropped the Guitar on the living room table right next to my laptops, and my tinkering gear¡­ And my guns.


    Okay so Jun may have a point when he talks about me needing to clean up a bit.


    Speaking of Jun, I peeked into his bedroom and he wasn¡¯t there. Considering how late it was, that made me a little concerned, so I sent off a text asking if he was alright. Then sighed in relief that he wasn¡¯t here as I headed back outside to my Quadra.


    The Uragan needed to be brought inside¡­ After successfully. Mostly. Bringing the crate with the launcher and ammunition into the apartment and hiding it under my bed.


    I mean not hiding it. Because hiding it meant I was embarrassed I now had a Rocket Launcher. I was just¡­ Saving it. For later. Along with a few of the other goodies that Saul had sent me off with. Honestly I was just glad the Quadra had a big trunk because it had all barely fit.


    Once that was done I settled down on the couch.


    ¡°Okay Motoko, just¡­ Play the Guitar.¡± I told myself as I picked it up, and strummed a chord¡­ Well tried too.


    I winced at the tone in my head. The noise was¡­ Well.


    It wasn¡¯t any musical note I had ever heard. Realizing how loud it could be as well, I grabbed my cord out of the back of my neck and pushed it into the access port of the guitar. One of the reasons I bought this guitar specifically. I could jack into it, and instead of playing the sound aloud, it would play in my head.


    I also grabbed the How to Guitar shard and clicked that in. Following along as it walked me through playing baby chords.


    The problem was, it wasn¡¯t giving me any experience. I stopped after about twenty minutes with nothing to show for it.


    ¡°What am I missing?¡± I wondered, grumbling as I rested back and closed my eyes. It wasn¡¯t just singing or something, because I sang along to the radio plenty of times.


    Was it the people? With no one to hear, did I not get Rockerboy XP?


    That seemed¡­ Annoying. I guess I could go outside and play on the street?


    The flutter in my stomach at that thought told me that wasn¡¯t going to happen. Instead I decided to try a few other things. I turned on the radio until I found a song I actually knew the lyrics for, and started singing along, strumming the Guitar as best I could following along.


    When the song finished I flushed in pleasure.


    *100 Rockerboy XP Gained.*


    Okay! So I could gain XP without people watching¡­ What was it exactly though? I continued working on it, a few hours of grinding and I had some basic answers.


    I had to actually complete the song to get XP. From start to finish. If I stopped halfway I got nothing.


    I guess my system agreed that the show must go on.


    Each completed song seemed to get me an alert, so completing a full song was the way to grind. Which meant I spent a lot of time on Morro Rock, for the Samurai songs.


    But it worked. As I played along song after song, singing and trying to strum the guitar to the right chord.


    It wasn¡¯t the right chord¡­ ever. It was an attempt. Completing a song, right or wrong was where the XP came from.


    But it didn¡¯t matter. Alerts came in, and eventually? Eventually I got it.


    *Rockerboy skill level up!*


    And suddenly I knew the basic chords. I couldn¡¯t perfectly pick out the right chord to a song, but I now at least knew when I was on the right track. I adjusted my fingers, actually holding the damn thing correctly now, and with a movement played my first real chord.


    My playing along actually started to sound¡­ Okay.


    Just okay.


    So I needed more levels. As I worked on it, I was trying to memorize more songs as well.


    I wasn¡¯t very good at it, never could remember lyrics to songs perfectly well. Thankfully as long as I kept trying, the system didn¡¯t seem to care if I butchered some lyrics, which I did. A lot.


    Which is why I was forced to change radio stations at times. Some of the songs were things I had never heard before. Couldn¡¯t exactly sing along to a song you¡¯ve never heard before. But it was taking a lot of concentration to get right.


    Which is why I didn¡¯t hear the door. I was half way through Resist and Disorder by the Cartesian Duelists, one of my favorite songs in this world so far, when Jun suddenly walked in.


    I could feel my throat close as my soul died. I had been audibly singing¡­


    He looked at me.


    I looked at him.


    His lips twitched.


    Mine quivered.


    I could feel the heat shooting up my neck. My neck, my cheeks, my ears were all growing red. I just knew it!


    He turned and walked into his room without a word, and honestly? I wasn¡¯t sure if that was better or worse than if he had actually said something.


    I turned the radio off. I was done grinding. Instead I pushed my face into a pillow and pretended nothing existed for a while.

 Chapter 53

    So I may be taking the whole concept of getting a non combat hobby a little far. I had spent the entire night grind-I mean playing away. Although I had to practically whisper the words, it still counted as long as I kept playing the guitar until the song ended. So through the night I got little alerts, drip fed in.


    I had even hacked into the radio to have it play through my agent so I wouldn¡¯t wake Jun. That had only taken a few minutes to set up, and I had even gotten an intelligence alert from it!


    Grinding Rockerboy actually went pretty quickly. With Rockerboy level 1, I was actually somewhat capable of keeping up with the music, and in fact had a pretty nice advantage.


    My arms were chrome.


    I didn¡¯t get tired, my fingers didn¡¯t get sore. I didn¡¯t have to worry about my fingers needing calluses. I could simply strum the strings, play the chords, and keep hammering away at it through the night.


    So I did, at first it wasn¡¯t fun. I didn¡¯t know enough modern music to play along with, as I wasn¡¯t exactly a musician in either life. So I had to keep trying, working through songs that I didn¡¯t know while doing my best to keep up. Thankfully I didn¡¯t need to know the lyrics if I was strumming along. Or the chords if I was singing.


    Until I finally leveled up.


    Level 2 Rockerboy gave me a Perk option, and as I had learned, Perks? Perks were power.


    As always there were a lot of interesting perks, including a perk that would improve my vocals. Siren song went on the list, but I needed something else first, something to solve the biggest grinding issue that made the whole thing a chore rather than fun.


    And there was a perk that fit every criteria I needed. I had barely hesitated once I found it before choosing it as my level 2 perk.


    Perfect Musical Memory: Any song you¡¯ve heard once you¡¯ll remember. Including the chords needed to replay it and the lyrics.


    I had taken it thinking it would be useful going forward, maybe I could get away from using the radio as a crutch even. If I could just listen to a song and remember it enough to play it.


    But, as always the perks were so much more powerful than that. The moment I had selected the perk in the middle of the night I had nearly yelped at how my mind exploded as the memories flooded in.


    Rockerboy 2 had given me a firm basis on chords and pace, as well as the muscle memory to play the guitar at a point where I was actually playing. Well at least I wasn¡¯t acting like the kid in first year music class anymore.


    But now? I had heard thousands of songs in my life, no in both lives. Memories from a previous life coming in clutch! I took a moment to figure out what to play first, and decided on some childhood sounds, something that I hadn¡¯t heard since waking up in a coma.


    Something¡­ Yeah.


    The first strums of Nirvana¡¯s Come as you are, flooded my head. I even knew the lyrics perfectly, like I had spent years memorizing them. I strummed and sang along. For the first time in my life, actually really playing a song for myself.


    ¡°No, I don¡¯t have a gun! Memory¡­ Memory¡­¡± I belted out. And honestly when I finished. The final note trailing off¡­


    I felt good.


    *100 Rockerboy XP Gained.*


    An instant alert. I guess the system had liked me actually getting everything right¡­ Mostly. I had slipped on a few chords, and my vocals were still bad. I had enough knowledge to know I sounded flat, without knowing how to fix it.


    Stupid voice!


    But I could actually judge myself now. I knew just where I needed to improve, and a constant reminder my voice needed work.


    ¡°What was that?¡± Jun¡¯s voice suddenly interrupted me and I yelped, nearly falling off the couch. I had been so focused on the music in my ears and singing along that I hadn¡¯t heard him come out from his room.


    Jun! Stop being a ninja! That¡¯s my job!


    ¡°Jun?¡± I asked, blinking a bit as I came out of the haze of making music, I popped the cord out of the bottom of the guitar letting it settle back in my neck.


    ¡°That song. What was it? Never heard it before.¡±


    I opened my mouth and closed it. How in the world was I supposed to explain that I knew a song that didn¡¯t exist.


    Nirvana didn¡¯t exist in this world. I guess America and its Seattle residents were a little too focused on the First Central American War that was happening during the time, for a grunge band to become popular. Or maybe they were drafted. I had no way of knowing.


    In fact the only reason I even knew the war had been happening at the time was because I had looked up old bands on the the Intranet a while back while wanting to listen to something from my time.


    ¡°Just a song I heard once¡­ I think.¡± I offered, deciding to just not admit to anything. ¡°You should¡¯ve told me you were standing there¡­ It¡¯s embarrassing!¡±


    ¡°I could hear you from my room. You were singing pretty loud Imouto.¡± I blinked. I guess I had been a little too into it. It had just been so nostalgic.


    ¡°Sorry?¡± I said, feeling my face flush a bit. I had been trying to keep my voice down, but I guess with the excitement of the perk I had forgotten.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be. It¡¯s okay.¡± He said but then to my embarrassment he didn¡¯t leave either.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Nothing. I¡¯m just standing here.¡± He said, lips quirking into a smirk.


    ¡°Fine. If you want a song, I¡¯ll sing you one. Jerk.¡± I grumble but since I was already on a Nirvana kick.


    ¡°Smells like Teen Spirit.¡± I mumbled, before starting. The power chords were a little annoying. But I realized instantly I wasn¡¯t getting the sound just right, I adjusted my fingers a few times repeating the intro refrain until I got it. The chord finally came out right, and I started into the song.


    Rockerboy 2 gave me a lot, but I could still make a stupid mistakes.


    ¡°Load up on guns, bring your friends!¡± I started belting out, a bit more clearly than the honey mumbles of Cobain, and not nearly as sweet.


    And I played the song. A few mistakes here and there, and without the drums and bass it wasn¡¯t as good, but I played through it.


    Another alert popped up as I finished.


    ¡°Huh.¡± Jun mumbled a bit as he seemed to take me in for a few moments.


    ¡°Well? Don¡¯t just listen to the whole song and then huh me!¡±


    ¡°It was interesting. You could use some more practice though.¡± He told me, smirking.


    Jerk ass older brothers!


    Then suddenly he reached over and mussed my hair. Which, ow stupid chrome hands! ¡°I¡¯m proud of you Motoko. Do this instead of merc work. It¡¯s safer.¡± He said firmly and I puffed some air to knock my bangs out of my eyes.


    ¡°Not a chance. I¡¯ll just do both! Rita said I should get a hobby that was more spiritual instead of just death and murder you know? So I guess music works.¡±


    Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    ¡°Hmm.¡± He nodded. ¡°A smart woman¡­ Who¡¯s Rita?¡±


    ¡°Oh Rita works as a bouncer at Lizzies. She¡¯s nice. She talked to me about being chipped forcefully, and offered some advice.¡± I told him and Jun frowned at my words.


    I guess it was still too soon for Jun to hear about the kidnapping.


    ¡°Be careful with the Mox¡­ But I¡¯m glad you had someone to talk to¡­ Make sure you thank her next time you see her.¡± He told me and I snorted.


    ¡°Of course!¡± I said, rolling my eyes, like I wasn¡¯t going to thank Rita for her advice!


    Jun just chuckled at my reaction and then to my surprise started getting dressed up.


    ¡°You heading out?¡±


    ¡°Got a gig, they are calling me in. Kamikaze work.¡±


    ¡°You need a hand?¡± I offered, eyes narrowing at the idea of Jun going out to fight so late at night.


    ¡°No.¡± he said shaking his head and passing me a smile. ¡°I just need to stand around and look scary. 6th St. are seeking a meeting to talk about ending hostilities with us.¡±


    Of course by ¡®us¡¯ Jun meant Tyger Claws. I nodded. It made sense. Everyone had started fighting with the NCPD out of the picture, even if the TC had been focused on the Maelstrom, and a little on the Mox, that didn¡¯t mean the other gangs didn¡¯t exist.


    ¡°Be safe.¡±


    ¡°I will. Should pay well, maybe I¡¯ll grab some more subdermal.¡± He mentioned tapping his plastic stomach bit.


    ¡°If you do, go to Viks! I know you haven¡¯t had that check up yet! Moron!¡± I called out loudly so he couldn¡¯t ignore me.


    ¡°Yeah yeah.¡± He mumbled but as he left I nodded. I looked out the window and sighed. It was the middle of the night. The people I would need to talk to¡­ Well it would be best not to show up at three in the morning. So instead I figured a bit more music wouldn¡¯t hurt.


    So I spent the rest of the night playing through songs, some of which had never existed in this world. But I continued playing long after I would have gotten tired. Long after a normal person would have become exhausted and needed a break.


    Long enough that Rockerboy 2, became Rockerboy 3.


    Then 4.


    My talent at music skyrocketed. I was no longer an amateur player. I was competent. I wasn¡¯t amazing. I still made mistakes. Flubs, missed chords, but I always knew when I made a mistake, it was no longer someone struggling just to try, it was a practiced hand.


    I liked it. Any song I wanted to hear, I could just start playing, or singing along.


    My voice sounded better too, like I had some training on how to professionally sing. I wasn¡¯t amazing, I wasn¡¯t sure if I would need a perk, or just increased skill overall before my voice sounded good, but I did sound better. I could at least hit the right notes with my voice now.


    I wasn¡¯t tone deaf!


    Humming to myself I looked out the window seeing the sun was high in the sky. It was time to stop.


    As much as my fingers tingled to keep working on this new grind. This was supposed to be something other than a grind to weaponize it, but using it as an excuse to waste some time? That was fine. But now it was back to work.


    So I set my guitar down, and instead geared up.


    One of the things I had talked Saul into handing over to even the debt was information on Regina Jones.


    I still had a Devil to kill after all.


    ¡ª--


    Regina Jones had an office in Watson. I just hadn¡¯t known where until now. Saul himself didn¡¯t have the information, but he did have a connection to the Nomad fixer Dakota Smith, who did.


    Dakota had handed over the information, and Saul had handed it to me.


    Of course Saul owed Dakota something now, but that was just how business worked in the Bad Lands.


    So here I was. Yaiba Tower.


    Which was annoying because it was literally down the street from Lizzies bar. I sighed as I walked up to the Tower, not through the main entrance which had the bottom rooms all rented out and used by business or pleasure.


    No, there was a side elevator that went up directly to the top floors. The private floors.


    There at the very top, Regina Jones had her base. She owned the whole tower apparently renting out floors to others.


    The elevator was actually in a small room that was pretty secure. A camera watched over the little room, and the elevator was secured, only someone with permission could use it.


    Which meant I needed to get it.


    I hit options on the little electronic pad next to the elevator until I found the call button for the top floor, and pushed it. Then I waited.


    A minute passed by before I got a response.


    ¡°Whatever it is, we aren¡¯t interested.¡± The voice on the line was a man, so it wasn¡¯t Regina which made this more difficult.


    ¡°I¡¯m just here to speak to Ms. Jones about a gig.¡±


    ¡°Listen kid. I don¡¯t know you, so we aren¡¯t interested.¡± The voice popped back on, and I was getting a little annoyed. At least hear me out first you dickbag! I had already put off murdering that devil for long enough. I wasn¡¯t waiting any longer.


    ¡°No you listen! I need to¡ª You hung up.¡± I noticed the talk notification was gone, fuckers!


    I considered what I should do here. One part of me said walk away, I could build up some reputation and then smash my skill over this jerk wads head another time¡­


    But that was the reasonable part of me. The unreasonable part said I should infiltrate this building and find Regina Jones¡­


    I sighed, that would be extremely difficult if not impossible. I had no idea what her security was like, but I would put money she had a netrunner on retainer so it wasn¡¯t like I could just hack in.


    Fine. Operation be fucking annoying was a go.


    I went out to the alley, grabbed a piece of trash I could sit on and carried it inside.


    Then I started hitting the call button.


    A lot.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°FUCK OFF!¡± The response came through again, but I was ready for it. The last few times he had cursed me out he had instantly hung up on me again.


    So I just kept pushing the button.


    ¡°Listen kid, if you don¡¯t fuck off, I¡¯m gonna come down there and fucking end you.¡± Ah he was still talking this time.


    ¡°I need to speak to Regina.¡±


    ¡°Regina doesn¡¯t chat with punk kids. You push that button again and I¡¯m coming do-¡±


    So I pushed the button.


    ¡°Fuck this.¡± He yelled and the call ended, but this time the elevator was coming down.


    Hmm. This could be dangerous¡­ I considered just staying where I was, but people in Night City were kinda trigger happy¡­


    I looked around looking for a good advantage, but when I finally realized the best place wasn¡¯t on the floor.


    I looked up.


    Yeah. That would work.


    ¡ª--


    Ian McKellan


    Ian was not having a good day. Sure he could just turn off the elevator alert, but Regina would murder him if someone important came by, and they couldn¡¯t be reached.


    He wasn¡¯t supposed to go down like this. Regina had told him before not to do it.


    But it was just one kid. The outer doors were locked. He had locked them from above, and the camera in the room meant he knew there was only one person inside.


    He would beat the kid a little bit, maybe a bullet hole or two, and then head back up.


    Only as the elevator reached the bottom the kid wasn¡¯t there.


    ¡°The fuck?¡± He crept out, his Lexington at the ready as he looked around. This was wrong. Regina was right, coming down like this was a mistake.


    He had that thought a moment too late. A second later something dropped on him from above and in a flurry of motion which he tried to resist, but it was just too much force dropping down on him from above, he lost his Lexington. Ripped out of his hands and was thrown to the ground as the fuckin ninja pinned him to the ground.


    Had she just spun around his neck to smash him into the ground?


    He was dazed trying to resist when he felt his own gun press against his temple. He finally managed to realize what position he was in. His arms were pinned by a chromed out arm and a pair of legs while his own gun was about to take his life.


    ¡°Fuck.¡±


    ¡°You say that a lot.¡± She said completely calm. As if she hadn¡¯t just attacked and completely neutralized him. He wondered if he could get a quick hack out fast enough before she blew his brains over the entrance way.


    ¡°Listen buddy. I¡¯m just here to talk to Regina about a gig. Let¡¯s call this whole unfortunate experience just a mistake and move on¡­ Okay?¡± She asked the last bit offered with a wide smile and slight nudge of the gun up against his head.


    ¡°Y-yeah¡­ Just a mistake.¡±


    ¡°Cool! Why don¡¯t you call your boss? Let her know she has a merc looking to meet up? Whenever it¡¯s convenient. I¡¯m not looking to annoy her.¡± She said and Ian took that for the lie it was, considering she had just spent the last hour annoying the shit out of him.


    ¡°Fine.¡± He pulled up his agent and found Regina¡¯s number.


    Regina was never going to let this go.


    *Ian. What is it? Where are you?*


    *Hey Regina, downstairs, mind checking the cam? But basically I got knocked down by a fucking ninja. She¡¯s looking to talk to you¡­ Wouldn¡¯t mind a bit of hurry, the gun against my temple is a little uncomfortable.*


    *Ian you dumbass, I told you not to go down if there was anyone out there. People are looking to kill us!*


    *Maybe talk to her soon so she won¡¯t?*


    Suddenly Regina¡¯s voice came over the comm unit.


    ¡°Alright, you have one of my people at gunpoint. Not happy about it. Talk.¡±


    ¡°Sorry sorry! Hi I¡¯m Motoko Kusanagi, I¡¯m a merc, although I usually work with Wakako. I¡¯m here about a gig or rather setting up a gig? It¡¯s a little complicated and definitely a sensitive topic.¡± The ninja still held him down acting as if Ian wasn¡¯t even there.


    Bitch.


    ¡°How about first you stop holding a gun against the head of my people.¡±


    ¡°Sure, I mean he started it.¡± She said as she suddenly untangled herself from him and stepped away.


    She even held out the gun for Ian to take back.


    Definitely a bitch.


    He took it anyway.


    ¡°So can we talk?¡± Motoko the girl asked and as Ian rose up he realized just how short the girl was compared to him.


    She was a fucking teenager. He was never living this down.


    ¡°Listen kid-¡±


    ¡°No wait, don¡¯t listen kid me. That¡¯s such bullshit. You definitely haven¡¯t heard of me, I get it. But I¡¯m a merc, and I¡¯m good at what I do. So I¡¯m here¡­ It has to do with the Devil of Kabuki.¡± She said and Ian stilled.


    Jotaro. That fuckin¡¯ monster.


    ¡°Can I come up so we can talk about this¡­ I¡¯m not sure this is the most secure-¡± The girl started talking but Regina cut her off. Sounding much more serious about this whole interaction.


    ¡°What about him?¡±


    ¡°I want to kill him.¡± The teenager said with a calm surety, and Ian knew this day was going to go bad. A kid with too much balls and not enough brains to realize the danger of Jotaro Shobo. Especially since she was a pretty enough girl.


    ¡°You?¡±


    ¡°Sure. I¡¯m good at assassinations. It¡¯s sorta my thing. Jotaro¡¯s a piece of shit¡­ But he decided to be a fucking gonk and threaten me and my chooms¡­ So he has to die. I figured some Fixer somewhere would have a gig to kill him.¡± she said, and Regina was quiet for a minute as if processing what the girl was saying...


    ¡°A few of us probably do, but it¡¯s not as easy as you say. Jotaro keeps a low profile he isn¡¯t easy to track down.¡±


    ¡°He spends a lot of time at his club, the Ho-oh club actually. The top floor is his residence¡­ And his BD studio.¡± The girl said dropping some very valuable knowledge out of the blue.


    And also her voice went so cold there at the end despite the fact Ian was gripping his gun, he was feeling uncomfortable. A momentary knowledge that the crazy ninja girl that had just taken him down in a second, wasn¡¯t just some teenager.


    The girl was dangerous. It struck him then, she could very likely be some crazy edgerunner that just liked to look like a teen. It wouldn¡¯t be the weirdest thing he had ever seen.


    A reminder to not underestimate someone ran through his head as he inched away from her.


    ¡°You can do it?¡± Regina questioned her digging a little.


    ¡°Can I kill him? Yes. Can I do it without anyone knowing? Yeah probably. That¡¯s my goal on this one¡­ My brother is a member of the TC, so I kinda need this to be a below the table sort of thing. Hence why Wakako doesn¡¯t want to touch it. And why I¡¯m here.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡± Regina went quiet. ¡°Alright Kid. I do have an offer to kill him that¡¯s been gaining dust. You take him out. I¡¯ll consider the gig closed, and I¡¯ll take care of the details.¡±


    ¡°Deal.¡±

 Chapter 54

    I left Regina after a few minutes of back and forth about the gig.


    I finally had her number as well! So there! I was officially a better than average merc with two fixers hiring me!


    But I refocused, because it was time.


    I drove the car over to Lizzies, parking in the lot and heading to the front. Thankfully Rita was there and I waved her down. ¡°Hey Rita. Can we talk for a minute?¡±


    She blinked but nodded without any preamble. ¡°Bett, take over for me.¡± She called out to one of the other bouncers as she waved me in.


    She took me to the admin room right off the entrance, the same one that Nox had been brought to when he was beat up.


    ¡°What¡¯s up Motoko. You okay?¡±


    ¡°Actually yeah I took what you said and I no sorry, but that¡¯s not what I needed... So I¡¯m gonna be honest. You ever heard of a piece of shit called Jotaro Shobo. The Devil of Kabuki?¡±


    Rita¡¯s plastic face went from kind and understanding to murderous in an instant. ¡°Yeah.¡± She growled a bit. ¡°Is he threatening you? Do-¡±


    ¡°Not exactly. Well I mean he did. But when he realized I worked with the Kamikaze a bit? He backed off¡­¡± I winced a bit and Rita¡¯s obvious discomfort at my reveal. ¡°I¡¯m not actually a member though. I just worked with them because my brother Jun is in the Kamikaze¡­ He joined to kill Maelstrom they killed his choom¡­ I¡¯m just looking out for him to make sure he doesn¡¯t go psycho¡­ And I¡¯m rambling.¡± I quickly threw my hands up to try and move on from that topic.


    ¡°Rita. I just took a gig to murder Jotaro. I know where he is, and I don¡¯t need help.¡± I quickly filled her in. ¡°But having an alibi for where I was while it happens would be extremely useful¡­ I¡¯m gonna take him out tonight, so do you mind if I stick around, make sure everyone sees me here, and help make sure no one notices me leaving for an hour or so later tonight?¡±


    Rita looked at me a little dumbstruck.


    ¡°Motoko The Devil isn¡¯t someone you can just¡­¡±


    ¡°He is just a guy Rita, and I know where he is. He hides in his club all day every day from what I can gather. Trying to lay low, it¡¯s why so few people know where he is. I¡¯ll go in and out, no one will even know I was there if I do my job right. I just need an extra alibi just in case¡­ My brother is Tyger Claw and if they catch on that I killed Jotaro they might cause some problems.¡±


    I was breathing in ready to get another big breath when Rita¡¯s hands grabbed my shoulders.


    ¡°I don¡¯t like the idea of you going after that monster alone¡­ But of course we¡¯ll help you. The Mox have a particular bone to pick with that monster.¡±


    ¡°Great! So I just need to be seen hanging around for a few hours until dark.¡±


    ¡°I know the perfect thing.¡± She said suddenly smiling and I suddenly wasn¡¯t.


    I have a bad feeling about this.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°Welcome to Lizzies. Don¡¯t touch anyone, if you like the looks of a girl please check our catalog.¡± I repeated for the umpteenth time.


    Yeah. Rita had with an amused smile actually convinced me the best way to make sure everyone knew where I was?


    Work the front desk.


    It wasn¡¯t really hard. I mean, greeting people, walking them through the catalog if they were somehow tech illiterate. Boom. Job done.


    I didn¡¯t even have to deal with the eddies, another girl Mara did that.


    You know as much as I hated the whole retail job, working the front desk of basically a strip club was actually pretty interesting.


    The Mox put up with zero shit, and everyone coming in knew it. If you were the type to get drunk, or back talk? Rita threw them out on the street. If they were drunk¡­ Rita threw them out on the street.


    Rita handled many a problem at Lizzies. But it meant everyone was very polite until they got into the back and started scrolling their BDs and then it wasn¡¯t like they were interacting or bothering anyone.


    ¡°Here Motoko! I finally found it.¡± Mara called out, she had been going into the back of the little reception area over and over to ¡®find¡¯ something.


    I glanced over and instantly burst into laughter.


    ¡°Mara I am not wearing that.¡±


    ¡°Aww c¡¯mon it¡¯s a Mox jacket, and it¡¯ll fit!¡±


    ¡°Mara it says Fuck to live, Kill to Fuck.¡±


    ¡°Yeah! The Mox words!¡±


    ¡°Denied.¡± I answered crossing my arms in an X in front of me.


    Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    ¡°Aww.¡± The girl was a bit of a weird one, nice. But weird. I almost wanted to ask if she had some mental issues. The way she talked had a really slow pace to it, and it seemed to take her a while to do some tasks¡­


    But she was a sweetheart, so I wasn¡¯t going to make a fuss.


    ¡°Are you sure? It would look good on you!¡± I looked over at the blue jacket that had a fuzzy collar and the Mox words on the back.


    ¡°I¡¯m good Mara, honest. I like my current jacket¡­ It makes me feel cool.¡± I whisper the last bit to her, earning some giggles before she stops and sort of blinks her big brown eyes.


    ¡°What¡¯s cool?¡±


    My offense of course was swallowed down. ¡°It means it makes me feel preem.¡±


    ¡°Ah okay. You should just say that.¡± She said, nodding a bit at her own words.


    Rita walked in then caught my eye nodding towards the back.


    Perfect it was time.


    We walked into the back and then up the stairs to the roof. The roof that was currently cleared out. A favor from Rita.


    ¡°You sure about this Motoko¡­ I¡¯m more than willing to come with, back you up. We can get others as well.¡± Rita offered looking serious.


    ¡°No. It¡¯ll be easier on my own. No one will even know I was there.¡± I told her with a smile as I grabbed the backpack Rita had helped me prepare for this.


    I had told Regina, and Rita that I wasn¡¯t planning on being spotted, but if I was? Then I definitely couldn¡¯t go as Motoko.


    So Rita had helped out, along with some of the clothes I had picked up over my jobs. The Raffen dust mask went over my face. Rita gave me a wig that was long and red. Along with a few spare clothes the Mox had left lying around from patrons forgetting things in the back rooms. I had a full outfit that no one would ever attribute to me. Now I just had to hope that with that, and my Kiroshi, I would truly be a ghost on this gig.


    ¡°Good luck.¡±


    ¡°See you soon Rita.¡± I said as I started climbing. Rita hadn¡¯t known exactly why I had asked to use the rooftop. But she was about to get a front row seat.


    Up I went, climbing old AC units and power boxes until I clambered up onto the edge of the fence around the roof.


    Then I grabbed onto the Highway overpass that ran right over Lizzies bar. Climbing up the concrete outer edge was child''s play. It had plenty of power lines and pipes running along the outside, after all it wasn¡¯t like anyone would normally get this high.


    But I did. Easily climbing up onto the pipes and started walking, I was two or three stories up at least, the wind was strong, and no one ever saw me, except for Rita who I left far below.


    I quickly reached the place where I could drop down onto the Bellevue Overwalk. The pedestrian infrastructure looked like it had once been part of a park or something, now it was just full of bums, and people hiding out.


    Dropping a dozen feet I landed in a quiet crouch in a corner of the overwalk out of sight.


    As always falling like that was a rush. The sense of surety that I could do it, that I would be safe? That I would be quiet?


    I loved it. I crossed the overwalk, no one saw me. The few bums that were hanging around, or couples enjoying some quiet moments never even noticing my bright red hair.


    I landed first on some roofs, and then crossed to a massive pipe that crossed the whole area.


    The pipe would lead me directly where I needed to go. As much as the entire area of Kabuki was a maze, from the rooftops it was childsplay to reach where I needed to go.


    A few Tyger Claws hanging out on the roofs half way to my destination were bypassed without a sound.


    I could have killed them.


    If I had been on any other gig I might have. But honestly¡­ I felt kinda bad killing the Tyger Claws. I was one of them, in a way. As much as I denied affiliation. My family was one of them. If I had to turn to a gang for help, they would be the first I sought out.


    The fact was in Night City everyone had a gang affiliation of some sort.


    Even if it was just to be left alone.


    But it didn¡¯t matter. Because here I was.


    Standing on the roof of the Ho-Oh club. No one the wiser, completely bypassing all the defenses and protections the hidden club would normally give.


    There was no one around. The rooftop was tucked away and quiet. No cameras. No hidden sensors. Nothing.


    I walked around from the north letting me see right into the room that I knew was Jotaro¡¯s bedroom.


    He wasn¡¯t there. So I waited. I went very still in the shadows, letting me see into his room, but I knew he wouldn¡¯t see me, unless he spent the time to really look.


    It was so easy to let cool take over. Slow my heart and breathing, until I was practically a statue. Until every minute passed in a flash because I was simply waiting.


    Then he appeared, suddenly slamming open the door he was pissed. Angry.


    Good.


    He snatched a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket as he grabbed one with his teeth and chucked the pack onto a side table near his bed.


    Then he was there head practically out the window as he smoked. Long trails of the gray smoke arching up twirling before disappearing into nothing.


    I waited. He was angry. Not paying attention to anything outside the window. He was a man lost in his own thoughts.


    I shifted, just a tiny amount as I moved out from the shadows crossing the roof above him without a sound.


    He didn¡¯t see me.


    I walked along the edge of the roof until I was directly above him.


    He didn¡¯t hear me.


    I drew a knife not my usual blade, but it would do.


    I fell. Right outside his window was a row of AC units. With them, and the concrete windowsill I landed without any fear of something breaking and making noise.


    He didn¡¯t speak.


    A knife stuck in your throat tended to silence the screams.


    I held him. One arm around the back of his head holding his body towards me so he couldn¡¯t fall away from me. Our eyes met.


    Even if mine were hidden behind the dust mask. I wondered if he could see the crimson of my irises. I wondered if he would remember. The look in these same eyes when he threatened me.


    Made me realize what a monster he was.


    So I held him. As his body slowly crumpled.


    *750 XP Gained.*


    *Ninjutsu skill level up!*


    Huh. Hadn¡¯t seen an upgrade in that in a while. Level 8 Ninjutsu. I shook my head away from the dump of very detailed almost situational pieces of the skill.


    I wasn¡¯t done.


    Regina didn¡¯t just want him gone. She wanted a message to be sent to the Tyger Claws.


    She had a few ideas of ways to make his death messy enough. I had vetoed most of them, but had agreed to do the job with a knife she had supplied. Apparently it would have ¡®meaning¡¯ to the TC.


    The other was to make sure it couldn¡¯t be hidden away.


    It was unfortunate I wasn¡¯t about to record this as a BD. I would have loved to spread around the sight of his eyes going dim as he bled out to the families of the many people this man tortured to death.


    But this would have to do.


    I left the knife in his throat, and then grabbed him around the collar of his stupid white suit.


    It wasn¡¯t white anymore.


    Then I hip checked the body over the edge of the window.


    Once that was done. The loud splat of a falling body echoing around I was moving climbing back up onto the roof thanks to the many easy to find handholds, and I was gone.


    Back across the rooftops no one saw me even if the commotion started growing louder behind me.


    ¡ª--


    Rita was waiting for me on the roof. From the way she was fidgeting and pacing. I would have expected to see her chain smoking through a pack. But she wasn¡¯t smoking. Just pacing like a caged lion.


    I landed onto the roof without more than a scuffed noise against the roof.


    ¡°Hey Rita.¡± I called out gently, making sure I was far enough away not to startle her.


    ¡°Wha¡­ Motoko. You¡¯re back.¡±


    I nodded glad for once I was able to approach someone without scaring the fuck out of them.


    I started peeling off the borrowed clothes, letting Rita take them and put them into a plastic bag that would be burned just to ensure there were no traces.


    With that I dressed back in my own clothes and only when Rita checked me over for any blood stains did she give me the okay.


    We headed back down, the bag was given to another Mox to burn and I was back out at the front desk for another few hours.


    Alibi complete.


    Gig done.

 Chapter 55

    A few hours later I drove home.


    Jun wasn¡¯t at the apartment when I got there which let me flop onto the couch uncaring of the loud sigh I gave off.


    Gig complete.


    I had done it. Killed at least two of the monsters that I remembered from the game. There were others I was sure. But these two were what I remembered. Killing them was enough to at least lighten my conscience.


    Would killing them make Night City just a little bit better of a place?


    I think it would.


    I reached over and grabbed the guitar.


    I didn¡¯t know what to play.


    The ideas flowed through me. I could play something famous or popular, but I was a total nerd. I listened more to anime OST¡¯s than radio pop.


    So I just strummed a few times before the idea formed.


    I couldn¡¯t do it all, I didn¡¯t have the electronic sounds needed for it, but I could play the guitar, and I was feeling in a pretty dark metal mood having just murdered a man in cold blood.


    As I started the first riff, I was thankful there were no lyrics to this song, just sound from my guitar.


    But I had to say something anyway, something that simply fit too much.


    ¡°The only thing they fear Is ME.¡± I growled my face turning into a smile as I lost myself in the music for a while. Playing through a few songs from the Doom Soundtrack that I liked, at least what I could do with just a guitar.


    I would need a lot of extra equipment if I wanted to recreate the song in truth.


    Which is why right in the middle of BFG Division, I realized I was a fucking genius.


    ¡°I¡¯m a tinker, and a netrunner. Why the hell can¡¯t I make the noise I want!¡±


    I put the guitar to the side, and went to grab my laptop. Engineer it first, then tinker it into being.


    Hah! See Rita!I was a perfectly sane and normal girl! Capable of normal sane girl things!


    But first I needed to focus. I needed this to properly shred! How would they know that they should fear me, if I didn¡¯t have an awesome theme song!


    Honestly it was really easy. Using my CAD software I was able to build up the little box from bottom up.


    When I finished the blueprints of my music box, I realized that while I could handle the outside of the system just fine. I had no idea how to properly program it. It was the same problem I had with my directional Mic. I could finish the hardware and get it running, but programming it to do more? I had no idea.


    Even with my netrunning¡­ Right now my ability was only at the level of script kiddy stuff. I could use programs already made, I was even good at it.


    But Programming?


    No idea.


    With a very important part of my future music box unfinished I started hammering my head at the wall. The CAD software was of course capable of accepting some programming to test it out, but as I went through it I very quickly got nowhere.


    I found myself wasting time, going in mental circles.


    So I needed to program this thing. I realized I had a blank in my netrunning understanding. I was pretty sure I was fairly competent, with Intelligence and Breach at 6, even if my Quick Hack skill was lagging behind.


    ¡°This system is deeper than I thought.¡± I admitted realizing that I was definitely missing a skill. If Rockerboy was a skill under cool, and Driving existed, then obviously there were more skills in my system than there were in the game.


    I just had to figure out how to start a new one.


    I couldn¡¯t help but sigh when I realized I had another skill to grind, no matter how much time I spent grinding away, there always seemed to be more!


    Which was both good and bad as I liked grinding, but I didn¡¯t want to admit that I liked it! I wanted to be irritated!


    Fortunately I had an idea of how to get started. I went into my room and pulled out my mothers netrunning guide.


    I popped in the shard and started browsing through it swiftly, until finally I found it. A small section she went over personalizing Quick Hacks.


    It wasn¡¯t much. It wasn¡¯t long. She prefaced it with ¡®99% of you will never bother with this.¡¯ But it was there.


    So I sat and followed the steps of my biological mother in altering just a tiny bit of the code of my Ping Quick Hack.


    It was the basic of basics program already. My Ping wasn¡¯t special, or anything. If I put it in game terms, my Ping was the white common rarity.


    But as I pulled it apart, I was able to make a minor change that I followed along as my mother guided me.


    And finally something I had done, was enough.


    *Programming Experience Gained.*


    *Skill not unlocked, no XP gained.*


    *Programming Unlocked.*


    Well that was level zero¡­


    Let¡¯s see what I could get a level before Jun got home.


    ¡ª-


    Turns out that unlike Rockerboy, Programming was fucking hard. I had ended up making a copy of my Ping Quick Hack. And basically tearing it apart over and over again trying to find ways to make it slightly better.


    Most of the time I ended up spiraling the program into utter uselessness.


    But the times I succeeded at least on not ruining the program I got that alert telling me I was one step closer to understanding.


    Finally hours after I started and with a few clumps less hair on my head I altered the Ping so it would visually show a different color connection in my optics and the alert popped.


    *100 Programming XP Gained.*


    *Programming skill level up!*


    And my eyes were opened. Breaching. Quickhacks? They were a tiny miniscule sliver of the net. Breaching was like learning how to move in the Net. How to bypass system security, or even just port access through different servers. It was what you needed to live in the net.


    Quick Hacks was bringing the power of the net to the real world.


    But Programming?


    Programming was magic. There was nothing in the net you couldn¡¯t do with the proper application of programming.


    It was also incredibly difficult, easily the most complex of the three skills, and the one that the least amount of people used.


    Real Netrunners didn¡¯t have high Breach, or Quickhack skills.


    They had high programming. The difference between a ¡®common¡¯ Ping Quick Hack, and a Legendary one was a layer of magnitude in complexity.


    If someone who could use Quickhacks was a knight, the Programmer was the smith. The weapon designer.


    A lone Netrunner could find weapons and use them.


    The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    A lone Programmer? Could create an army.


    I suddenly realized that Programming might very well be the most powerful skill I accessed. If I designed a Legendary Quick Hack. Or in the real worlds terms. A Quick Hack of insane complexity and power, I could sell it, or trade it for favors, for eddies, for power.


    It was in a lot of ways making a magic weapon in a mundane world.


    Eeeeee! So cool! I giggled and kicked my legs as I rolled around on the couch.


    So I had the basics of another powerful tool.


    Now I just needed to spend the hours upon hours to grind it out.


    Since all I really had was Ping, that was my go to playground. I knew it could be improved after all. If I could practice with it enough, I could figure out how, and improve one of my only Netrunning tools.


    Fuck I really needed to upgrade my deck.


    I reached behind my head and touched the back of my head where it was installed. The little port hidden in my skull.


    Was I ready for it?


    I wasn¡¯t sure. It made me kind of nervous. I was still working my way through my arms, trying to adapt to them, make them mind, and I still felt the effects of chipping them at times. The harsh reminder, always there niggling at me, and yet.


    I didn¡¯t want that spider ripper to win. To scare me away. I wasn¡¯t afraid of chipping chrome. I liked the idea! I always had. Just in moderation and not adding in something stupid to myself.


    But still. There was that itch in my shoulders at the thought. That, and the fear that slid down my spine.


    I knew how close I had come to losing it. I didn¡¯t dwell on it really. It was too easy to just ignore it. But before I had put the points into adaptation, I had truly been on my way to losing myself in revenge.


    I hadn¡¯t liked the person I had been becoming.


    Which was part of the reason I hadn¡¯t been hunting the Maelstrom Spider Ripper down afterwards. I didn¡¯t want to admit to myself how out of control I had been thanks to the constant pain and trauma.


    I sighed flopping onto the couch for a bit. Why was life so complicated? I just wanted to have fun and do cool shit.


    But life was more complicated than that, and a Cyberpunk life more complicated still.


    I would talk to Vik, I did still owe him a night where he would check on my healing. He had been nice enough to only say I was due for a checkup rather than the truth in his texts that I got every few days.


    Stupid Dad Vik, making me feel bad for not seeing him. I was just so busy! I looked around at the multiple projects that surrounded me and sighed.


    At least I had a few days before I would see Regina about payment for killing Jotaro. She was going to send me a text in a few days to fake an initial meetup. I guess I would be able to start taking gigs from two Fixers after that.


    It was a step up. In a good direction even.


    Maybe it was time to do some upgrades¡­


    I pulled up my phone system.


    *Ringing*


    *Ringing*


    *Motoko? What is it? You okay?¡± Jun¡¯s voice picked up quickly, sounding concerned.


    *I¡¯m okay Jun! I just had a thought¡­ I¡¯m thinking I might get a new Netdeck¡­ I¡¯m just¡­ Should I? Is that okay? Is it too much too fast? I¡¯m still recovering from my arms and I just-*


    *Whoa, Whoa slow down. Hey hey. It¡¯s okay just, breathe¡­ Do I think you getting a new Netdeck is okay? Yeah I think it would be good for you. You¡¯ve been practicing a lot, and it¡¯s not like you really have enough chrome anyways. I would feel safer if you had an upgrade¡­ Are you really still worried about your arms?*


    *Jun¡­ I was literally going crazy after! All I could think about was killing the Maelstrom. I wasn¡¯t me. I¡¯m still not feeling 100%. Of course I¡¯m worried! It¡¯s like you! You were one step into some form of Cyberpsychosis when you rescued me.*


    *I wasn¡¯t!* He denied instantly, and I had to breathe to not say something instantly, and end up snapping at Jun.


    *You kinda were Jun. You¡¯re better now though. But I was really worried.*


    *Talk¡­ Talk to your ripper. He was a good guy. He¡¯ll make sure you¡¯re ready for new chrome before giving it to you¡­ I guess I don¡¯t know when enough is enough.*


    *Jun?*


    *I¡­ Haven¡¯t thought about how it must have looked¡­ No how it was. I was stupid¡­ I¡¯m sorry. I must have scared you.*


    *You did, but I wasn¡¯t scared of you Jun. I was scared for you.*


    *I see.* He said in a voice that told me he very much didn¡¯t see.


    *Alright¡­ I¡¯ll talk to Vik. I owe him a checkup anyways.*


    *What? Go get your checkup you gonk! If your ripper says you need to be checked out then get moving!* He yelled into the line at me making me jump.


    *Alright alright! I¡¯m going! Yeesh.*


    I grumbled as I ended the call and rose up. I guess I was visiting Vik.


    ¡ª-


    ¡°Misty!¡± I called out as I entered the Esoterica and the fluffy haired blonde looked up from her digital magazine.


    ¡°Motoko! How are you?¡± She asked as she rose up and actually pulled me into a hug for a moment. ¡°Vik is in, are you hurt?¡±


    ¡°No no, and it¡¯s not a rush, what are you doing, anything fun?¡± I asked as she perked up at me asking about her.


    I guess I had been a little rude just passing through to Vik. Misty was good people after all.


    ¡°Reading about Buddhism at the moment, come sit with me!¡± she called pulling me over to the two chairs she had set up where she plopped me down. ¡°How have you been?¡± She asked instantly and I smiled at her genuine interest.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been okay. I had a talk with someone that¡­ Well she¡¯d been forcefully chipped chrome as well. Rita¡¯s preem¡­ Anyway she talked with me, and reminded me to actually do something for my spiritual needs that didn¡¯t just lead to violence¡­ I uh¡­ started playing music, I bought a guitar¡­¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s great Motoko! Music an amazing spiritual relief! You should play something!¡±


    ¡°I uh.. Didn¡¯t bring my guitar, and I don¡¯t think I¡¯m ready for that¡­ It¡¯s embarrassing. Only Jun has heard me play so far. I¡¯m still making mistakes and it¡¯s kinda-¡±


    ¡°It sounds like you are having fun, no need to stress out about it.¡± She said gently reaching out and taking my hand to stop me from rambling a bit.


    ¡°Thanks Misty.¡±


    It was all I could offer, and we both smiled a bit as we settled in to chat. I mostly listened as Misty discussed her interest in esoterica, and spiritualism. It was fun, soothing, and had nothing to do with the crazy Night City stuff.


    So I spent a good hour just listening to her talk, and before I realized it she had even tricked me into a meditative stay with her lighting incense and walking me through my breathing.


    I pretty much knew all of it thanks to Cool, and Ninjutsu, but it was kinda nice to do it outside of controlling myself for combat.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°Hey Vik!¡± I called out after Misty finally let me go from her constant desire to worry about my spiritual and mental health.


    She was fun.


    ¡°Motoko! Glad to see you kid, you¡¯ve been dodging me.¡±


    ¡°Not purposefully! I¡¯ve just been kinda¡­ Busy¡­ Sorry that¡¯s not really a good excuse.¡± I offered in the end, actually pretty contrite. Vik was just trying to look out for me.


    ¡°Ah, you aren¡¯t the first of my patients that are hard to get in for a checkup, c¡¯mon take a seat I want to check on your arms, and you can tell me what finally brought you by.¡±


    ¡°You are way too sharp, Vik.¡± I mumble as I did as I was ordered and let Vik start checking out my shoulders and arms. Even popping open a hatch on the arms to diagnose them.


    ¡°So what brings you in kid?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve been thinking about an upgrade¡­ Upgrades¡­ I¡¯m just not sure I¡¯m ready.¡± I admit quietly feeling a little uncomfortable mentioning it to Vik. ¡°I want a new CyberDeck¡­ But my arms messed me up pretty bad. I¡¯m not sure I¡¯m really ready for them. Even if I really do need an upgrade.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡± Vik murmured soothingly as he spent another moment staring at my screen. ¡°Motoko, it¡¯s very rare I get a customer that actually worries about too much chrome, even with all my warnings. I would definitely be worried about you for most things. If you wanted to get something big I would do my best to stop you. You aren¡¯t ready for that.¡± He said and I couldn¡¯t help but exhale as a tension left me.


    Vik had said it. I wasn¡¯t ready. So I could stop thinking about it. I didn¡¯t have to keep wondering if I was being stupid for not chroming up even a little more.


    I wasn¡¯t David level stupid, but there were times I wish I had some Subdermal armor, or maybe Optical Camo.


    But I could just let that go for now. I wasn¡¯t ready. Doc Vik said so.


    ¡°But changing out a Deck isn¡¯t difficult. I¡¯ve never seen anyone have any issues from a simple swap. Do you have a deck in mind?¡±


    I had to open my mouth and then close it and then answer with a bit of a blush. ¡°Not really¡­¡±


    ¡°Heh. Well kid you¡¯re at the right place, let me pull up some options for you. I don¡¯t have much, especially anything that would interest you, but I can see if I can find something, or at least send you to another ripper that I know will.¡±


    ¡°Cool. Thanks Vik.¡±


    ¡°Anytime kid. Now about that sleep study.¡± He said with a grin and I couldn¡¯t help but laugh as he was teasing me more than anything. But it was a thing I needed to do.


    ¡°Fiiine. How about now? I would rather get it done now, than keep putting it off.¡±


    ¡°Well that I can do.¡± He said with a smile as he started pulling down different pieces of tech around the ripper chair.


    Interestingly enough. I was able to recognize most of it. That one was a X-ray machine, or more accurately a modern MRI machine. That one was a metabolic scanner, that one a mechanical sensor, it would keep an eye on my chrome and tell Vik if they did anything weird.


    Cool.


    After that we settled in and Vik went through a catalog of options for a netdeck. It was pretty comprehensive. Every Netdeck Vik had probably ever come across was on the list. As we searched through it.


    The problem was cost to benefit. Of course I wanted a Tetratronic Rippler. But that was an ultra rare, and pricey piece of chrome.


    So I set my price range, even if I couldn¡¯t afford it right now, Regina would be paying me a pretty penny for Jotaro and I could afford it then.


    Eventually I picked one that had Vik laughing at me. ¡°Planning on breaking and entering are we?¡± He eventually asked as I pouted at him.


    ¡°I¡¯m an infiltration specialist!¡± I whined but then pouted because I had to add in. ¡°And I do break and enter a bit more than I think is right. I blame Wakako.¡± I added because the Seacho Electronics Mk. 2 Cyberdeck was a good deck.


    Plenty of Ram. Four times what I had with my current Paraline. More Buffer, which means I could breach into better systems, and more Program Slots, for Quick Hacks.


    But the real reason is because it had the honor of being the most commonly used Cyberdeck for Break-ins. It was built for stealth hacks, and even had an overclocked CPU so it could scan, connect, and upload a Quickhack much faster than its competitors.


    It¡¯s ten grand price tag hurt, but I would have enough that the cost wouldn¡¯t hurt once Regina came through.


    ¡°Alright kid. I know a guy that should have one, I¡¯ll put in some calls.¡±


    ¡°Perfect! Then I¡¯ll take a nap. Ready?¡±


    ¡°One sec, I want to make sure I get this instant sleep function of yours. You don¡¯t have any cyberware that should allow it, so I want to see what happens.¡±


    ¡°Sure Vik, oh actually I should do this too.¡± I mentioned whipping out my knife and giving myself a cut on my hip where my leotard and pants failed to quite match up.


    ¡°Motoko! Don¡¯t do¡­ Jesus kid you¡¯re gonna give me a heart attack. Hold on.¡± He muttered grabbing some supplies and then to my amusement disinfected the cut and even put a loose bandage on it.


    ¡°I¡¯ll keep an eye on it during the day, but really kid you shouldn¡¯t hurt yourself like that. Alright sit back, scan is ready. Night night.¡±


    I laughed at him as I set my sleep for eight hours and I was out.


    ¡ª--


    I blinked awake. Everything was slightly different. Vik wasn¡¯t standing over me, but instead across the room.


    And as always I was crystal clear and awake.


    ¡°Hey Vik.¡± I called out getting his attention as he looked away from the boxing match he was focused on.


    ¡°Hey Kid. How¡¯d ya sleep?¡± He asked rolling back over and fussing over me as he started moving the scanners and things from around me letting me sit up.


    ¡°Fine, good as always. What¡¯s the verdict?¡±


    ¡°I have no idea. I can tell you, that it took me a while to narrow down something. You got some Nano-machines in you. Not unusual, we all do at this point, but yours were elusive, couldn¡¯t get a scan, couldn¡¯t collect one. They would disappear the moment I tried. I can tell you that your healthy as an ox, and I don¡¯t see any issues popping up. Whoever designed them? They are out of my league. It¡¯s a shame. Could help a lot of people if we could figure out how to make them.¡±


    I nodded along as Vik spoke. I expected most of that. It was a shame in some ways that he couldn¡¯t figure out the sleep healing.


    But I also felt relieved. The idea of other people becoming gamers in Night City? That was an apocalypse waiting to happen.


    ¡°Sorry Vik. I know you were kinda hoping.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine kid. I got lots of scans while you were sleeping, and at least¡­ The cut is gone.¡±


    ¡°Hmm? Yeah I slept for eight hours.¡±


    ¡°But kid I¡¯ve been checking on that cut every twenty minutes. It was still there not long ago.¡± He grumbled as he started checking his stuff spinning nobs, and putting a VR style interface over his eyes.


    ¡°Looks like about five minutes before you woke up, suddenly all the nanomachines I had been tracking around the wound, nearly instantly repaired the damage¡­ Incredible. I have no idea how they did that¡­¡±


    ¡°Yeah I have to wait eight hours and then I heal. If I don¡¯t sleep that long I don¡¯t get any healing.¡±


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t¡­ Make a damn lick of sense.¡± He grumbled but nodded as he took off the headset. ¡°Well with this I¡¯ll be busy for the next while¡­ Maybe I can get something out of these scans. Even if your nanomachines don¡¯t like to be recorded.¡±


    ¡°Thanks Vik. Just make sure you keep this quiet okay? I trust you, but really I don¡¯t want to end up on some corps experiment lab because of it.¡±


    Instead of taking my joking request for a laugh he went very serious and nodded, reaching out and putting a hand on my shoulder.


    ¡°I promise kid. This stuff¡¯ll be on my private server, No one will know about it.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s all I can ask Vik.¡± I said fully trusting the older man. ¡°Did you happen to find a seller?¡±


    ¡°Hmm? Oh for your Deck? Yeah I called around a bit. Found a Ripper that has one. I¡¯ll send you the details. Go on kid. I can practically see how antsy you are to get out of that chair. Feel free to bring the deck around when you want it installed.¡± He said without actually saying he didn¡¯t trust the ripper to do it right.


    I grinned as I hopped off the chair and did indeed rush out of there.


    The eight hours may have passed in a flash, but it was still time I wanted to do stuff with! I had grinding to do! Playing music to do! I whistled a Foo Fighters song on my way upstairs. Time to get back to work!

 Chapter 56

    I was back home setting up for some programming grinding since I still wanted to make my music box, when I got an incoming call from Jun.


    *Hey Jun-Nii. What¡¯s up?*


    *Finally, I called you a few times this afternoon, where were you?*


    I blushed a little when I noticed that I had alerts for missed calls. Okay Motoko you fucking boomer. You really need to remember to check your phone more often! I yelled at myself before answering Jun.


    *I was with Vik, doing a sleep thing. He was giving me a check up but wanted me to stay for a bit so I took a nap. Sorry Jun-Nii. You okay? Need my help?*


    *I¡¯m fine Motoko just checking in on you. You weren¡¯t home when I stopped by. Listen, I have a feeling you already know, but Jotaro Shobo is dead.*


    *Waaa no waaay? Really? Oh man that¡¯s terrrrrible.* I fake gasped to get a laugh but Jun wasn¡¯t laughing.


    *As far as anyone is concerned Jotaro was killed by the family of someone he¡­ It doesn¡¯t matter. But that¡¯s what everyone is saying. Keep it that way. Motoko if you ever listen to me, then listen to me now. Never talk about Jotaro again.*


    Jun was seriously worried. I frowned looking at my programming for a minute just to have something real to focus on.


    *I promise Jun. It¡¯s done. No point talking about it.*


    *Good. Good¡­ You know you can talk to me about stuff like this. I can protect you from anything Imouto, you just have to trust me enough to tell me.*


    *I do trust you Jun. And you can trust me to protect you too. So if you ever need a hand.*


    *I will call this scary sniper I know, yeah.* He said and I had to giggle at that. Sniping was like the least of my talents though. I wasn¡¯t even that good at it. I was just sneaky.


    *I have to go Motoko. I¡¯ll be back in the morning, and we¡¯ll talk more then. Just keep your head down for a bit.*


    *Sure.*


    The call clicked as it ended and I was left to refocus on my work. So the TC didn¡¯t suspect me or at least the common members didn¡¯t. Good.


    Hopefully it will stay that way.


    I put my hands back on the keyboard and started typing. I had a skill to level up.


    ¡ª--


    I was still only working on Ping as I had no other Quick Hack programs to mess with, and I didn¡¯t feel confident enough in trying to create a program from scratch yet, when I got my second ding.


    *Programming skill level up!*


    *1 Perk Point Gained.*


    ¡°Yes!¡± I called out thrilled at the sudden burst of knowledge with Programming 2. Yeah I was definitely feeling a lot better about my programming, plus the perk meant I would have a serious advantage. Instantly I dug through the perk list. This perk would be supremely important to my future, because Programming was going to be a serious advantage in the future.


    So I explored the options entirely. A few instantly popped to the forefront.


    Inspired Programmer: Inspiration strikes constantly. Never run out of steam while programming.


    It seemed kind of innocuous, but also secretly really powerful. Sure my system gave me knowledge, and I didn¡¯t tend to get bored with whatever task I was doing, but constant inspiration would mean my programs come out better, come out faster. But it wasn¡¯t the only one that caught my eye.


    Debug: At a single glance, you will know what is causing your program not to work, or where the program can be improved.


    Another extremely powerful sounding perk. It¡¯s one thing to know programming, and it¡¯s another to have confidence in being able to make it work. To figure out what was wrong¡­


    The list went on, but I needed to decide. At Programming 2, I was still so new to the skill that a perk would make massive changes.


    Did I want to make sure my programming worked? Or did I want to keep pumping out programs to level up?


    It was two sides of the coin.


    But I had to make a decision and so I did.


    Debug. I decided to make sure what I was working with could work. It might not be the best, but the skill itself did give me knowledge on how to make the programs anyway. But making sure whatever I was working on would actually function would hopefully give me more XP in the long run than just pumping out Programming that was a mess.


    Instantly I felt like I was some ancient programmer that debugged irritating students for a living.


    But I knew.


    I pulled out my Ping Quick Hacks details on the laptop again, and instantly I could see the absolute college programmer tier problems with it.


    Made sense. The program was bottom of the barrel sludge ware. I could fix it though. At least somewhat.


    That sense of knowing as always felt great, filled me with a sense of purpose.


    My hands tore across the keyboard removing bloat, fixing leaks. Solving a problem that made the thing last half as long as it should in systems that aren¡¯t resisting.


    And to my delight each problem solved was a bit of XP.


    With that the XP started racing in, as I was making honest real improvements to Ping. When I was done, I wouldn¡¯t say it was quite at the level of an upgrade to its rarity in game terms, but I think I had actually reduced the RAM a Cyberdeck would need to run the program.


    Which was impressive enough, since the program was already fairly light.


    But I kept working on it. Tearing it apart piece by piece, line by line.


    And a program, even one as simple as Ping wasn¡¯t a small piece of code. The amount of systems it had to interface with, both external and internal as it had to use whatever optics you had installed to display the information it had gained?


    The thing was overly complicated.


    Which made me realize I could completely do away with most of it.


    I tore apart huge swaths of the code reducing it so it would only work and display on my particular optics. Since it didn¡¯t have to query or check for any other internal systems, the program slimmed right down. Practically reducing the actual program slot usage to almost nothing.


    I realized that it was completely possible for Ping since it was much smaller than the juggernauts of the Quick Hack world to be reduced to a completely negligible size on my Cyberdeck.


    I might actually be able to reduce it so much that it wouldn¡¯t even use up the Cyberdecks slot count.


    To always have Ping installed, ready and able? That would be supremely useful, and give me more utility.


    I couldn¡¯t help but laugh as I stepped away late in the afternoon to get a meal from the street vendors. I was right Programming was truly a weapon that I had to utilize.


    I decided to step away from the apartment for a bit while I ate. I still had my Burya and Lexington on me, so I decided to walk around the block. Like I had done back when I was still grinding out my body. It was¡­ Nice to go back to something so simple.


    It reminded me that I needed to keep choosing to live my life how I wanted, and not be subconsciously afraid of Maelstrom Borgs around every corner.


    This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.


    I stuck the final bit of meat on a stick into my mouth, tossed the skewer into the trash and decided to move around a bit. Instead of heading straight home I went for a jog. First up further into Japantown taking the stairs up to the surface near Cherry Blossom Market. Then just around the shops along the strip malls trailing the roads.


    Honestly I just had that urge to move. I had spent days grinding or planning murder, and only did a little bit of time outside while actually committing the murder.


    I just wanted to be free of of it all for a bit.


    I walked through crowds amused at how many of them were armed. And how easy it would be to kill almost all of them. It was amazing what just having a bit of skill and experience will do to someone. Sure everyone had a gun, but most of them would die before ever getting to use it in an emergency.


    I shook that thought away. I had a benefit that no one else did, and there were still people better than me. I shouldn¡¯t get arrogant. The fact was, I was only special because of a random blip of chance.


    One in a trillion.


    I didn¡¯t know if there was a god in this world. I mean, chances were there actually was magic considering the Cyberpunk references in the Witcher.


    But I wasn¡¯t sure what great deity I should thank for my circumstances, so instead of picking one I just looked up into the sky for a moment, and sent a silent thank you into the air.


    Because the fact was. I loved this life. With all the horrors and disgusting elements. Even without puppies.


    Because I had power. And power gave me autonomy. I could choose what I wanted to do. Where I wanted to go.


    In my last life I didn¡¯t have that. Stuck in the same routine to survive. Now, if I ran low on eddies I could find a fixer and in a single afternoon make thousands of eddies while also making myself stronger.


    The dopamine rush of improving yourself, and knowing you are getting better mixed with the freedom to do as I liked? Yeah I loved this crapsack world. I blinked as a drop of water landed on my nose. The sky had been cloudy all morning, and suddenly it started raining. I looked around. Noticing some people grabbed umbrellas out of bags and continued on with their day. Some ignored the water throwing hoods over their heads, or just walking through it without a care. Either too drugged, too chromed, or too indifferent to care.


    Others hurried under overhangs or moved out of the open to get out of the water.


    And there I stood. Letting the rain come down, and soak my hair as I watched the people all around me.


    The water darkening the california sun, the people hurrying around neon shining off wet umbrellas and coats.


    It might be a cyberpunk dystopia. But it¡¯s my cyberpunk dystopia.


    I continued walking through the streets just enjoying the ambiance of a rainy cyberpunk city.


    I would think about grinding more. Killing more, and living more in a few hours. For now I was just enjoying the backdrop.


    ¡ª---


    The next day I got a call from Regina to meet.


    I suited up, making sure I had some max-docs in my pockets just to be safe and headed out.


    It wasn¡¯t that I didn¡¯t trust Regina.


    ¡­It was just that I didn¡¯t trust Regina. Or rather I was cautious. I had sorta forced the gig on her, and I hadn¡¯t been nice to her underling.


    Pulling into a space near her building I walked up to the side entrance like before, but this time when I entered the little elevator room on the side of the building and hit the button Regina answered.


    ¡°Come on up.¡± The elevator came down moments later and I slipped in, the option was already pressed when I entered and it started moving upwards.


    When the elevator reached the top I was in fact faced with two HMG turrets, both on and pointing. I readied myself. It wouldn¡¯t be easy to survive if they both went off¡­


    Okay even I would die if those two started firing at me in an enclosed space.


    But instead they powered down after a moment and Regina turned the corner.


    ¡°Nice to see you face to face.¡±


    ¡°Nice to not have guns pointed at me anymore.¡± I mumbled but stepped out and took her offered hand.


    ¡°Just a precaution. It wouldn¡¯t be the first time someone did a gig for me to try and get close enough to knife me.¡±


    ¡°Well luckily, I¡¯m not here for that.¡±


    ¡°No, you aren¡¯t. Payment for services rendered.¡± She offered her eyes flashing blue and a hefty chunk of eddies was dropped into my account. I couldn¡¯t help the smile spread on my face. I would probably go hunt down that Cyberdeck once I was done here now.


    ¡°Walk with me.¡± She said after a moment leading me out of the broken down lobby and into a room with a massive window overlooking the city, she walked over leaned against the glass looking outwards.


    I stood there for a few moments wondering what she was going to say, but the silence stretched on for a bit longer than was comfortable for me.


    ¡°Motoko Kusanagi. I¡¯ve looked into you a bit. Spoke with Wakako. She speaks highly of you. I¡¯ve only worked with her a few times thankfully. Never seemed to have a kind word for anyone, but you she did. I¡¯ll be honest, I didn''t expect for Jotaro to die. Not so quickly after you said you could. I definitely didn¡¯t expect it to happen without anyone knowing who did it. TC leadership are convinced it was done at the behest of a family Jotaro murdered¡­ They are all dead, just in case you didn¡¯t know. I was working with the mother when she was picked up by Jotaros goons.¡±


    Jotaro being a piece of shit and murdering an entire family? Color me not at all surprised. Still it was kind of nice for Wakako to talk me up. I¡¯d have to stop by and thank her some time.


    ¡°Yeah I heard. My brother mentioned everyone thought it was the family of a victim that put out the hit.¡±


    ¡°And your skill meant no one had any evidence to say otherwise¡­ You did good work. I have a contact with the TC, got me the report they put together about the kill. No evidence towards who could have done it at all. That isn¡¯t something any street kid with a Lexington can pull off.¡±


    I simply waited without saying anything. It was one of those statements that was more a question. Like everyone at first they want to know how a fourteen year old can act like a professional killer.


    The silence stretched, my eyes didn¡¯t blink more than happy to wait for her to actually ask something, or just move on.


    She chuffed a soft laugh. ¡°Fine. I may have some gigs for someone with your skillset. I already spoke to Wakako about poaching you, she told me to go die in a ditch, but agreed that I can offer you some gigs without stepping on toes.¡±


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t mind a few gigs.¡± I had to agree. A few fun gigs some more eddies, it would give me something to do.


    ¡°Excellent. Today is a face to face. I¡¯ll reach out to you in the next week with a gig. Should be right up your alley. I have someone I need flatlined. I don¡¯t think that will be an issue?¡±


    ¡°No. No problem. I¡¯ll kill someone if the gig says I need to.¡± I answer simply. There was no point in trying to hide it.


    I really didn¡¯t have any emotional problems with killing people.


    ¡°Good. Then I¡¯ll be in touch with you soon once I set the gig up¡­ I¡¯ll admit kid, you aren¡¯t the normal type of merc I hire. But if I didn¡¯t already know you had killed Jotaro¡­ Even I wouldn¡¯t have any idea who did it. I can use that skill. As long as it stays consistent.¡±


    ¡°Then we¡¯ll be working together a lot in the future. Anything else?¡±


    ¡°No. Go on kid, enjoy your eddies.¡±


    I headed back to the elevator, always keeping an eye on the reflection of Regina in the window, and then on the HMG turrets that were still shut down, but it would only take a second for them to turn on.


    It wasn¡¯t that I didn¡¯t trust Regina¡­ It was just I felt like she would stab me in the back if she thought it was useful. I had no real reason to expect it, but it was just a general paranoia. Whether it was good or bad, would be determined I suppose.


    Only once I was back in my Quadra and driving down the street did I release a sigh.


    Finally.


    Time to go shopping!


    ¡ª--


    As I drove out towards the ripper that Vik had told me had my Cyberdeck I was more than happy to make this deal.


    But then as I started walking up to the place the ripper should be. I had the wildest sense of deja vu


    I found myself staring past the sign of the ripper dock, looking out into the water off the pier.


    I glanced at the opposite wall. A big 6th Street tag which looked pretty fresh was covering the wall.


    I knew this place.


    I knew this place!


    This was David''s Ripper. That crazy fuck that had literally fucked David over by not giving him his meds after an operation.


    But also a guy that afterwards had tried to help out David. A weird dichotomy of a man.


    Either way, I knew how this fucker operated. He wouldn¡¯t lay a finger on my meat or my chrome.


    I shook away the ghosts of the future and stepped in.


    ¡°Looking for the Doc.¡± I called out noticing the room was dirty, I didn¡¯t see him at first, only as his head popped out from behind his ripper chair did I notice what he was doing.


    BD and masturbating¡­


    Greeeeat.


    ¡°Oooh. And who is this? Looking for some chrome? Well I got the stuff alright.¡± He said his face shifting looking me over, his electronic eyes had already noticed my equipment. He hadn¡¯t hesitated a moment before realizing I was here with eddies.


    ¡°Viktor Vector contacted you recently, about a Seacho Cyberdeck. You said you have one.¡±


    ¡°Oh that¡¯s who you are, Viks chrome ey? Alright alright, come on in, I got what you want.¡± He said with a chuckle that I wasn¡¯t sure if it was perversion or greed.


    Fucking slimeball.


    But after a few moments he pulled out a canister, cracked the seal and pulled the canister open showing the Cyberdeck resting in the cradle. Then before I could get a view he closed it down.


    ¡°Twenty thou for this beauty.¡±


    ¡°Bullshit. That thing isn¡¯t worth more than fifteen, and we both know it. Vik even confirmed the price with me.¡±


    ¡°Twenty, these aren¡¯t easy to come by anymore. Got another buyer, so the price went up.¡± He offered with a chuckle.


    This fucker. Fine if he wanted to play fuck around games.


    ¡°No deal. I¡¯ll go find another deck somewhere else then.¡± I said turning to leave the room.


    ¡°H-hey, hold your chrome, you won¡¯t find another in the entire city! This little baby is worth the price.¡± He offered waving the canister at me enticingly.


    ¡°It¡¯s worth fifteen grand max. If you want to sell it and have those eddies in your pocket right now, that¡¯s the price.¡± I offered instantly. If it was any other ripper maybe I would have haggled but I didn¡¯t want to deal with this guy in the first place.


    ¡°Tsk, no interest in bartering in the new generation.¡± He said but didn¡¯t agree to the price. Instead he walked over and settled onto a chair waving the canister at me. ¡°How about a deal, a few extras you can buy that might-¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m only here for the Cyberdeck. If you aren¡¯t going to sell it, I¡¯ll delta.¡± I cut him off. I didn¡¯t want anything this ripper was selling.


    Other than my new Cyberdeck.


    ¡°Fine, fine. I¡¯ll give it away at sixteen thousand. Since you¡¯re here, and the other buyer isn¡¯t. I mean it girl, you won¡¯t find anyone else with one of these babies.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s robbery. I¡¯ll throw an extra five hundred on, lowest I¡¯ll go, offer me any other deal and I¡¯m deltaing. I can find another Cyberdeck.¡±


    ¡°Hehe, Well I guess I¡¯ll just have to take it then.¡± He offered chuckling but I wasn¡¯t happy, before he could say anything I snatched it out of his stupid cyber hand.


    ¡°Hey!¡±


    I popped the seal and looked it over, scanning it for any problems. To my surprise it was actually in good condition. I noticed a few problems, but just normal issues with Cyberdecks that had been used before.


    I could actually fix most of them with a few minutes work if I felt up to it, but I bet Vik could as well.


    ¡°Now my eddies, and I¡¯ll get that right in there for you.¡± He offered waving at his chair. Only his wasn¡¯t anything like Viks.


    It had a fucking bite bar.


    ¡°Pass. I have my own ripper.¡± I told him but my eyes went blue and I sent over the 15500 eddies, and walked out.


    I felt like I needed a bath. But Vik first.


    I wanted more RAM dammit!


    ¡ª--


    ¡°Viiiik!¡± I called out as I spun into his downstairs clinic having leapt down the stairs and grabbed the hand rail to turn my momentum into a spin inside. ¡°I got my Cyberdeck!¡± I told him holding up the canister in both hands to show it off.


    ¡°Heh!¡± The old ripper couldn¡¯t help but laugh as he looked up from his laptop he had been mid email by the looks of it as I entered, seeing me practically bouncing on my toes to get an upgrade.


    ¡°Alright alright. C¡¯mon kid let¡¯s take a look. I¡¯ll need to look over the deck before I install.¡±


    ¡°Definitely! The chip is in good condition, but it could use a good cleanup, and maybe a repair to one of the neural input. I noticed the connection was a bit tarnished.¡±


    ¡°Oh? Good eye. Heh or good eyes I suppose.¡± He teased looking up into my eyes before taking the canister from me and rolling across the floor. ¡°Alright let¡¯s see what we¡¯re working with.¡± He muttered as he slotted it into his system and it instantly started doing a check on the deck, as well as a visual high def magnification on the circuitry.


    Vik was cool.


    I settled on the ripper chair beside him and pointed out the tarnish I mentioned only to see him use his tools to instantly clean it off, and even overlay a new gold overlay to ensure the connection wasn¡¯t damaged.


    ¡°All cleaned up, and fixed up. You ready?¡± He asked teasing, but he did let his face relax a bit and asked the same question a bit more seriously. ¡°You sure you¡¯re ready?¡±


    I hesitated but exhaled.


    This wasn¡¯t going to hurt me. It couldn¡¯t. Nothing about me would change. I was I.


    Motoko was Motoko.


    My body was a piece of me, but wasn¡¯t me. My soul. My ghost would not be harmed by something like this. Something so minuscule.


    ¡°Yes.¡± I said opening my eyes, my will firm and ready.


    ¡°Then let¡¯s settle you back.¡±

 Chapter 57

    I walked out of Viks clinic into a new world.


    I could barely believe the difference a new Cyberdeck brought. The speed, the clarity.


    The fact it was able to connect to my systems better. It wasn¡¯t fifty year old tech trying to connect to modern Kiroshi, anymore.


    The Seacho Mk. 2 wasn¡¯t top of the line, but it was a specialist deck. Made for rapid instant break ins and uploads. It was more than three times the power of the Millitech just outright. And that was only the numbers, and the numbers didn¡¯t tell the whole story.


    It was new architecture. The difference of more than fifty years of improvements on the programming code¡­


    Well fifty years was saying a lot considering the Data Krash pushed everything back so much the Paraline was even still being sold. But the Seacho was new. Responsive, and designed for someone like me.


    In my old life, it would be the difference in RAM from going from a DDR2, to a DDR5 memory stick.


    You could have both offer the same level of RAM, but the DDR5 was a different beast even with the same numbers.


    I glanced at a vending machine, as I walked past, reaching down and scooping up the soda it dropped.


    I didn¡¯t even need to slow down. Didn¡¯t need to hold my eyes on the machine as I breached through its ICE.


    No.


    I simply looked, and instantly the pointed knives of my attack slipped through all the defenses.


    I stepped out onto the street. People traveling up and down the streets moved past me, but it didn¡¯t matter. I was utterly focused on the netscape.


    As I slipped through barriers, defenses, and peeked into their secrets.


    This?


    This was cool.


    ¡ª--


    I was feeling pretty good once I got home, but I had a lot of work to do.


    First? I needed to level my programming skill up some more, because I wanted to do something crazy.


    I wanted my own Quickhack.


    That was my goal. I wanted to be the netrunner that creates their own tools, because I wasn¡¯t some script kiddy playing around.


    I was Motoko Fucking Kusanagi. I might not be The Major, but I would do her proud by not being a net moron.


    So I took off my jacket, plopped my gloves on the table, stretched my fingers and got to typing.


    Ping was still my target. I had managed to clean up a lot of the code, although now that I had a new deck I needed to adjust it again, the downside of slimming the program so much, but now it was a slim program that basically just did the one thing. It highlighted everything connected to the network, but I wanted it to do more than that.


    It could do more than that.


    First thing started adding to the program trying to make it harder to detect. Stealth was still my biggest advantage, and if I could ping a network without anyone noticing, even if there was an active netrunner that would be an advantage I couldn¡¯t ignore.


    I knew just enough about programming now that as I started writing code to try and hide the Ping network access that I knew it wasn¡¯t going to totally work, but that wasn¡¯t the point. I didn¡¯t need perfect. I just needed code that I could improve, correct, rip apart and start again if I needed.


    It was all about grinding, and even within just a few minutes of work, I got another alert.


    *100 Programming XP Gained.*


    Well that just meant I was on the right track.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°Hey Jun!¡± I called out as I continued to type along. This bit of code was just not working, and it was driving me nuts!


    Even my debug knowledge, while helpful, wasn''t enough to fix it immediately. Although a sense of knowing had narrowed the bug down to just a small section of the code. Something here was wrong.


    I knew it was wrong. I knew it wouldn¡¯t work and would crash if I tried to use it, but I didn¡¯t know why. I was down to reading through each line of code going through the section I just knew something was wrong at, luckily once I finished reading a bit of the code I could ignore it after.


    The bug wasn¡¯t in anything I had already checked. So I just had to keep reading down the lines till I find it.


    ¡°Motoko¡­ You okay?¡±


    ¡°This bug is going to die Jun. I kill things for a living so I will eventually kill this bug too.¡± I told him as my fingers continued to thrash along the keyboard slowly line after line the code dropped down further and further. I was nearing the end now.


    Ah.


    That¡¯s why! The port information was wrong. I had mistyped while going through it! A few moments later I finished the line and I knew it would work. The surety from Debug telling me this bit of code would work.


    It wasn¡¯t pretty. It was messy and there was a memory leak in there I was gonna need to work out.


    But it worked.


    *Programming skill level up!*


    Programming 3.


    ¡°Whew.¡±


    ¡°Get it?¡± he asked as I glanced up. Jun had obviously made himself at home while I was focused, a burrito in his hands as he sat on the couch, beside me.


    I honestly hadn¡¯t even felt him sit down.


    If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    ¡°Yeah mostly. It¡¯s still garbage code, but it works, and it¡¯s mine.¡± I told him with a smile as he nodded slowly, eyes on me as he ate his burrito.


    ¡°What?¡¯


    ¡°You are so weird now. I¡¯m proud of you, for actually sticking through it enough to learn netrunning stuff, but it¡¯s still so weird to see you so focused.¡± He offered as he bit into his burrito and started chewing, eyes never leaving me.


    I felt my cheeks heating up a bit.


    ¡°It¡¯s just a useful skill¡­ And it¡¯s not boring exactly¡­ I don¡¯t really get bored as long as I¡¯m doing something nowadays.¡± I had to admit. Fact was, that fully knowing you could improve just by slamming your face into something made boredom sort of a non issue. Like how someone can sit behind a computer and grind a stat in a video game, it was that same sense. Sure you had already killed a thousand goblins, but you only needed another four hundred and you would level your sword skill! That same sense of just a bit more to get there was nice.


    ¡°Well I¡¯m glad. Maybe you¡¯ll start putting out some useful programs, get rich and retire from all this crazy merc stuff.¡±


    ¡°Never!¡± I said with a sharp grin. ¡°Even if I¡¯m a bajillionaire I¡¯ll still go out into the city and beat up gonks!¡± I cried out, chrome fist raised.


    ¡°Yeah. I know.¡± He said, not quite laughing but with a small smile on his face. ¡°I¡¯ll just have to keep getting dragged into your disasters to keep you safe.¡±


    ¡°You followed me last time! I didn¡¯t drag you anywhere!¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡± He said disagreeing with me in tone as he reached out and patted me on the head a few times. ¡°Whatever you say Imouto. Just make sure you tell me before you go do something crazy again.¡±


    I huffed at him stupid Jun-nii! But since I was a generous little sister I decided not to kick him while he ate. I instead focused on the program infront of me.


    It might be workable now.


    But it wasn¡¯t done.


    And neither was I.


    ¡ª--


    After a few more hours of fixing the code that I just wrote, because as I leveled up, I already knew a few things I could do to improve it. I sat back. Jun was still sitting beside me, although he had moved around a few times since the last time we chatted. He was now on the floor instead of the couch cleaning his equipment. His Thermal Katana, currently getting a going over as he sat and worked over the blade.


    I watched as he slowly wiped down the blade, he had already put it in a sharpener. The mechanical system rehoning the blade to a molecular edge.


    Science katanas were pretty cool.


    I should probably clean up mine too. I always did a little bit of work cleaning everything up when I was done, but my fingers were feeling a little itchy still.


    So I pushed my laptop away, and instead grabbed my axe.


    The guitar thrummed lightly as I hit some random notes, just a way to stretch out my fingers. The noise drew Juns attention as he looked up.


    ¡°Still interested in being a Rockerboy huh?¡±


    ¡°I just¡­ It¡¯s nice. To do something that has nothing to do with my merc work.¡± I told him honestly as I started strumming a little song. Nothing in particular. Instead just a mish mash of different songs and chords that I wanted to hear.


    ¡°Still no good at it.¡± He told me, teasing after a few minutes of me just playing around.


    Outrage!


    Vengeance!


    I instantly started into the opening riff to Ballad of Buck Ravers. My eyes locked on Jun as I played ¡®oldies¡¯ just to punish my brother that had no taste.


    His nose scrunched up as I started the vocals.


    ¡°Lost another day! To pointless drudgery!¡±


    ¡°Motoko, stop it. Play something good.¡±


    I ignored his pleading, fully getting into it as I jumped onto the couch and started rocking out.


    I mean sure one of the neighbors started pounding on the walls mid song, but the look of irritation on Jun''s face was well worth it!


    ¡ª--


    That afternoon long after I had driven Jun away with my perfect rendition of Samurai¡­ Okay it could still use some work, but it wasn¡¯t bad anymore. I was actually fairly competent with my Guitar now.


    My voice could probably still use some practice though¡­


    Anyway, I got a call from someone I didn¡¯t expect.


    Ichi.


    *Motoko. Hey, do you got a minute? I need¡­ I need some help.* Ichi¡¯s voice started as soon as I picked up even before I could say anything.


    *What? Of course Ichi, what¡¯s wrong?*


    *Jotaro Shobo is dead. Murdered at the Ho-oh¡­ I don¡¯t¡­ I don¡¯t have a job anymore.*


    *Yeah I heard about that from Jun, but what do you mean you don¡¯t have a job?*


    *Shobo needed people to haul stuff around, the new owner of Ho-Oh doesn¡¯t. Anyway, listen. I know you''re crazy and stuff¡­ You don¡¯t happen to have some work I can back you up on? You know I¡¯m not amazing with iron, but I¡¯m a good driver. I can-*


    *Whoa whoa Ichi slow down. I¡¯m more than happy to work with you if you want, but what¡¯s going on? You¡¯re sounding freaked* I told him, and he did, he sounded stressed as fuck.


    *I never told you, I¡­ My parents are deadbeats. I don¡¯t even see them, but I live with my Grandmother. She¡¯s old Motoko. Can¡¯t really work anymore, but I can¡¯t just¡­ I pay the rent and buy food and stuff, but without my job with Jotaro I don¡¯t¡­*


    Shit.


    Shiiiiit. This was my fault. I hadn¡¯t even considered the repercussions of killing Jotaro on my choom¡­


    Okay it didn¡¯t matter I still would have killed him, I like Ichi, but his comfortable job wasn¡¯t worth the monstrous shit Jotaro did, but that didn¡¯t mean I wasn¡¯t responsible here.


    *The TC won¡¯t give you work? I mean, you did great during the war right?*


    *Motoko, the war is over. There were a lot of drivers that don¡¯t have a job anymore. The old timers can go back to their old jobs, the ones that made a name for themselves, can get pulled in under a boss, but Jotaro was my boss. He was the only one that would speak for me. I¡¯m¡­ I¡¯m back to square one.*


    Ouch. That actually sucked.


    *Well¡­ It¡¯s a good thing you got your good Choom Motoko then! Forget the TC Ichi. They pay shit, and your boss was a psycho. Motoko Mercenary Jobs pay way better!* I told him proudly.


    Then he laughed.


    *You certainly haven¡¯t changed¡­ But listen I don¡¯t have a lot of eddies right now. Do you have anything I can help with?*


    I hmmed as I considered the problem. First off. I really didn¡¯t. It wasn¡¯t like I had a bunch of scav¡­


    *Hey Ichi. You got around a lot in the city during the war right?*


    *Yeah I traveled all over.*


    *Then do you know where like all the rippers in the City are?*


    *All? No, probably not. I know most of them though. Jotaro¡­ Well he had deliveries to different rippers¡­*


    *Yeah he is a monster let¡¯s move past that. He is dead. Knife to the throat. Terrible way to go. Listen, I need to find a specific Ripper. I don¡¯t know exactly what his name is or anything, but I caught a rumor that a Ripper is working with the scavs¡­ In other words people going to him for work sometimes disappear, and their chrome ends up in scav hands.*


    *Fuck.*


    *Yeah, buuuut, if we find him, and confirm it, I can smash the scavs kill the ripper and end up with a whole lot of premium chrome and equipment. I¡¯ll need someone who can clear out a base for me. Collect the loot. You wouldn¡¯t happen to know a guy?*


    *I know a guy.* Ichi said, sounding excited. I could practically hear the cash register noise going on in his mind.


    *Cool. So how about you come by. We¡¯ll go hit all the Rippers you know. If I see the place I¡¯ll know which one.*


    *Really? Just by seeing it?*


    *C¡¯mon Ichi. How many scavs do you think I¡¯ve killed? I can practically smell them.* I told him with a laugh which he shared.


    We agreed to meet up and drive around. If Regina, or Wakako weren¡¯t going to get back to me soon enough. I¡¯ll just make my own Gigs! With chooms! And rippers!


    ¡ª--


    Although Ichi did come around in his truck. I pulled him into my Quadra instead. This was just reconnaissance after all.


    It was funny, it actually didn¡¯t take me long to find the right place.


    The only thing I remember about the quest after wracking my brain about it was that I ended up gaining the quest in the game while I was around Kabuki Market. The big roundabout that had the Dewdrop Inn.


    So I knew it had to be around there.


    With Ichi¡¯s help, mostly his street knowledge, and helping navigate the side streets. We only stopped at two other Rippers before we came to a ripper shop setup in an alley that was twigging me hard.


    When we walked in. I was already sure about it.


    ¡°Welcome! How can I help today? Need some new Chrome?¡± He asked Ichi as he entered in front of me looking very excited, until he noticed me following in.


    The multiple weapons I was carrying including my thermal Katana had the guy instantly looking nervous.


    Ichi followed through on what I told him, our little plot to make sure it wasn¡¯t weird we were walking in.


    Of course the fact he was blushing a bit made it all the funnier.


    ¡°I¡¯m¡­ I¡¯m looking for a Mr. Studd.¡± he said in the most dead inside voice I had ever heard from the boy.


    I pointedly wasn¡¯t looking straight at Ichi¡­


    But I was still recording it. This might be a more private BD, but I was planning on bribing Judy and getting this one done so I could share it with the crew.


    Malcolm was going to DIE when he saw this. And Hiromi would never leave Ichi alone.


    ¡°I uhhh. Yeah I have a few models. Come on in son, and this is¡­ Your girlfriend?¡±


    ¡°Pimp.¡± I offered instead making Ichi turn on me, his face gaping in utter horror at my words. ¡°Make sure my little guy gets something packing okay?¡± I said Cold Blood cranked up to maximum the only reason my face wasn¡¯t breaking down into absolute mirth at the look on Ichi¡¯s face.


    ¡°Wha! Motoko!¡±


    ¡°Uhhh?¡± The Ripper sounded confused, looking a little surprised at the way this entire conversation was going.


    ¡°Fine, fine. You win the 50 eddies. Sorry Doc, just a prank on my choom here. Nice place, next time I get some chrome¡­ I¡¯ll know where to come.¡± I told him as I walked back out of the office leaving a stupefied Ripper and an angry Ichi following after.


    Blackmail¡­ Get!


    ¡ª--


    ¡°It¡¯s not funny.¡± Ichi growled at me.


    ¡°It totally is, and it means that doc won¡¯t think twice about us until it¡¯s too late.¡±


    ¡°I really doubt us going in, browsing and walking out is going to cause him to wonder either.¡±


    ¡°It would, since you have no poker face and it looked like you were trying to case the place, now it just looks like you were embarrassed.¡±


    ¡°I AM embarrassed!¡±


    ¡°Well don¡¯t worry. That Doc is the one. He¡¯ll be dead soon and no one but me will ever know.¡± I lied blatantly.


    ¡°Motoko¡­ Why did you just lie to me.¡±


    ¡°I have no idea what you are talking about Ichi.¡±


    ¡°You pointedly looked away from me, and weren¡¯t able to stop grinning when you just said that. That¡¯s your lying face.¡±


    ¡°Hmm nope. Doesn¡¯t sound like me. C¡¯mon let¡¯s go call everyone. More hands will make clearing that place way easier.¡±


    ¡°Motoko!¡±


    ¡°Oh look a call!¡± I told him as I quickly called Malcolm to invite him to the gig.


    This was going to be fun!

 Chapter 58

    Funnily enough we were all at the Ho-oh club that night.


    Even Hiromi made it!


    Of course the place was wildly different right out the gate. There were still a bunch of TC guys but the atmosphere had changed. It was more relaxed, and there were signs up, talking about opening of the upstairs areas.


    Apparently the private TC second floor was opening up soon to bring more attention to the bar.


    I honestly didn¡¯t want to meet up here, but it was kinda the closest club to everyone''s home.


    And despite my knowledge about Jotaro most of the others had no idea. I guess since he was dead it was fine now.


    ¡°So here is the gig.¡± I whispered, sending everyone a text message with the details I had put together including the address and pictures of the building.


    Both back and front. Ichi and I had driven around, enough that I had confirmed the scav base below as well. I let them read the little snippet I had put together and everyone was nodding along as they read through.


    ¡°So what¡¯s the cut for everyone?¡± Malcolm asked before even finishing the brief.


    ¡°Fair split between everyone, excluding any Chrome that someone wants to chip. Just like last time, but this time we¡¯ll be looting more thoroughly. There should be Ripper equipment we can klep for example.¡±


    ¡°Who are we selling to?¡± Hiromi asked, breaking in as Malcolm was practically bursting at the seams at the idea of all the eddies.


    ¡°I haven¡¯t got that far yet?¡±


    ¡°Gonk. Nope. We aren¡¯t doing that again. Fine. I¡¯ll make some calls, and find buyers. Motoko. Send me your Fixers number as well. You know Wakako right? She might have some buyers as well.¡± Hiromi demanded as her eyes went gold and she sat back as she started calling¡­


    Someone?


    Wow Hiromi was pretty cool. I sent her a text with Wakako¡¯s number and refocused on the boys.


    ¡°How much loot are we looking at Motoko?¡±


    ¡°Honestly? No idea. But that¡¯s the thing. We clear this place, and if I do it fast enough, maybe I can pull some information on another den. I would like to be able to just keep hitting them.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯ll piss off the scavs. Like seriously piss them off, they come after you. After us.¡±


    ¡°Not if we do it without anyone knowing.¡± I told him firmly. ¡°I go in clear them as quietly as I can, if I do my job right, no one fires a bullet, no one finds out until the place is empty and we are long gone. I¡¯ll trash any recordings of what happened. I got an upgrade.¡± I told him tapping the back of my head where my Cyberdeck is installed.


    ¡°Okay but what if you do get seen, and word gets out?¡±


    I opened my mouth to assure him that wouldn¡¯t happen before closing it.


    ¡°Okay. I don¡¯t wear my normal gear. I¡¯ll suit up in something new. We all will. Masks and everything. Your Villefort Columbus Truck isn¡¯t exactly unique either.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the most common moving truck in Night City.¡± He said, rolling his eyes. ¡°And that was done on purpose¡­ It was Jotaro-samas'' idea, drive around in a vehicle no one would look twice at.¡± He said, sounding a little sad.


    Ugh. Ichi don¡¯t feel bad about that bastard!


    ¡°Well it works for us! So we go buy some gear first, and then we¡¯ll be good to go.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t have the eddies for that.¡± Malcolm said outright. ¡°I¡¯ve been out of work for a few weeks since¡­ Well since the war and stuff.¡±


    ¡°Not exactly doing great either.¡± Ichi agreed, and I nodded.


    ¡°Not to worry chooms. This is a business expense, and will come out of the company expense account¡­ I¡¯ll pay for it, you can pay me back later, or not. I don¡¯t really care.¡±


    ¡°Motoko. I¡¯m not gonna just take-¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not gonna steal from a choo-¡± They both started arguing but I waved a hand at both of them to shush them.


    ¡°We¡¯ll make ten times whatever I pay for the gear we need on the loot, and I can¡¯t make much just by myself. You guys bring the truck, and the looting experience. So I¡¯ll pay for this. You pay with your truck, and Hiromi I guess is paying by taking care of the least important stuff.¡± I add right at the end teasingly, as I noticed Hiromi¡¯s eyes turn back to normal as her call ended.


    The fact she kicked me hard in the shin a moment later was totally worth the look of outrage on her face.


    ¡°Motoko!¡± She snapped at me making me giggle up a storm as even Ichi and Malcolm started chuckling along.


    ¡°Sorry sorry! You finding buyers is super important. Find anything?¡±


    ¡°Not yet. I was talking to¡­ I was calling my dad for advice. I hope that doesn¡¯t bother you Motoko, I did tell him what we are doing?¡±


    ¡°I winced a little but in the end shrugged. ¡°I highly doubt a small ripper doc and some scavs will interest your dad at all. So I think we¡¯re good. What did he say?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s gonna give me a shard on marketing that I apparently need to study now.¡± She grumbled glaring at nothing. ¡°But he did give me some advice on who to contact from Arasaka intel that he has access to. So yeah we have some options. He suggested I know what I¡¯m selling before I start calling around though.¡±


    ¡°Great! So we go, clear it out, and then Hiromi can find us buyers! This is gonna be so much fun!¡± I cheered getting looks from everyone at the table.


    They just didn¡¯t understand why raiding scavs was fun because they were boring and afraid of ¡®bullets¡¯ and stuff. It¡¯s fine. More fun for me!


    ¡ª--


    The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    Obviously I wasn¡¯t going to rush into this. So even as the sun was going down. We were all heading away from Ho-oh club towards a certain little shop I know.


    We entered in through the front. The guard was still around. The LMG in his hands deadly but after we entered he went on to ignore us as I walked up to the little old asian lady that I had bought my Leotards from.


    ¡°Oh? Back again, and with friends?¡±


    ¡°I need some work done. Or at least supplies. I¡¯m wondering if you can help me out?¡±


    She looked over the little oval glasses she was wearing at the four of us before beckoned us into the back of her shop.


    ¡°Let¡¯s talk what you need.¡±


    ¡ª--


    Three hours later we were actually getting close to being done. I had paid for a rush job since we were all here and had the time at the moment.


    Between machines, the old ladies'' incredibly fast stitching and machine work, and me quickly starting to help out which surprised her, I got my crew all specced out.


    Hiromi had even headed out to grab some new boots and supplies for everyone to go along with it.


    They weren¡¯t netrunner suits exactly. More just heavily armored clothing.


    But they were tight, dark colored, and looked pretty cool. All of us would even match!


    I mean sure I had considered going for the three piece suit look. Can¡¯t beat a classic look! But considering only corpos wore anything close to that we would stand out, and the goal was to try and stand out as little as possible while staying protected.


    Even if we were in matching clothes.


    ¡°Done.¡± The lady mentioned pulling out a final jacket piece out of the machine looking it over and throwing it at Hiromi.


    With that we were all done. Boots, armored pants and armored shirt and jacket.


    It looked pretty generic, but it was armored clothing, and would give us some anonymity.


    ¡°Thanks Oba-san.¡±


    ¡°Bah. Pay me first then thank me.¡± She barked at me with a chuckle as I nodded quickly and did just that.


    The payment was¡­ Hefty. I was really lucky I had gotten Reginas eddies otherwise that would have broken my bank.


    ¡°Now I don¡¯t know what you are planning. Nor do I want to. I never helped you. Get out.¡± She ordered, waving at the door and we all gathered up our leftover clothes and rushed out towards the cars.


    Hiromi jumped in to ride with me in the Quadra as we all split off.


    Preparation almost complete. Soon we strike!


    ¡ª--


    ¡°What are you wearing?¡± Jun asked as I was standing in the bathroom looking at the mirror making some adjustments to my new outfit.


    ¡°It¡¯s my new secret killer outfit¡­ I found a scav den attached to a Ripper doc. We are going to clear the place out and loot it to the bedrock, but we don¡¯t want anyone knowing it¡¯s us.¡± I told Jun as I kept working on my stitching.


    I needed to make sure it fit right. It would be really annoying if not.


    ¡°Okay Ninja girl.¡± he said and I quickly spun around throwing my hands into a ninja handsign as I did.


    ¡°Nin-Nin!¡± I told him seriously. What I had been working on was a face mask, a ninja mask specifically. I had spent a little extra at the old ladies shop and bought some really breathable cloth so I could make it.


    ¡°You look like a dork. What¡¯s with the fingers?¡±


    ¡°My secret Ninjutsu!¡±


    ¡°Embarrassing.¡±


    ¡°Ehhh! Secret Ninjutsu! MOTOKO KICK!¡± I called out rushing towards him but Jun knew a bad fight and instead of fighting back turned and ran. My kick missed by a mile, but that wasn¡¯t enough to stop me!


    ¡°Secret Ninjutsu: Burrito throwing knife!¡±


    ¡°Burrito wha-Urk¡± Jun in his haste to flee had left the wrapped XXL burrito on the kitchen counter, I of course made due with my improvised weapon that smacked right into my brothers face as he turned to see what I was doing.


    ¡°Motoko!¡±


    ¡°Hahaha! Pretty Princess Ninja Motoko wins ag-urk!¡± That of course was the sound of my borg brother tackling me onto the hard tile of the kitchen.


    Lesson learned. Leave Juns burritos alone he gets touchy about it.


    ¡ª--


    Once I finally fought off the Oni I had nearly 24 hours before the gig was set to begin. Without any other prep I could get into at the moment.


    So I pulled out my guitar and started thrashing. Letting all the nervous energy flow into it.


    Yeah I was a little nervous. It was one thing being on a gig solo, but even if I wasn¡¯t planning on having my chooms involved until the end, that still meant they were there.


    One wrong move and they would get involved trying to help, so I put the energy into the guitar.


    It was nice.


    ¡°I''ll burn it down!¡± I yelled out the last line. Franz Ferdinand isn¡¯t usually my taste, but it was an official Cyberpunk song. This Fire, was an alright song. I didn¡¯t hate it. Plus it fit the energy I was feeling.


    *Rockerboy skill level up!*


    *1 Perk Point Gained.*


    I caught my breath as I checked my stats. Rockerboy 5 huh? That was pretty fast, but then again. I was playing song after song whenever I wasn¡¯t grinding something else.


    I think mostly it was my general disinterest in most of the TV shows in the future.


    They were weird! So I didn''t want to watch them. One episode of just about anything was enough for me to burn out on it.


    But I knew what perk to pick. My biggest problem with music now wasn¡¯t song list, or playing.


    It was singing¡­


    Listen! I just never really learned how to sing! It¡¯s more complicated than just singing along while driving down the road or something you know?


    So I picked the perk I had almost picked last time.


    Siren Song: You control your voice. You can sing. Croon like Sinatra, or Rock like Silverhand. You know how to get the most out of your voice.


    I shivered. Rockerboy had given me some singing lessons, even if it felt like they fell behind the actual musical knowledge¡­ It was like knowing how to sing a note, and knowing how to sing a song. They weren¡¯t exactly the same.


    I reached up to my throat, swallowing down almost like I had something caught in my throat, but it was just¡­


    How I was holding the muscles in my throat. I knew how to actually modulate my voice now. How to sing, how to breath and exhale while singing¡­


    Hell, I knew how to mimic voices now.


    That made me blink.


    Could I? I looked around the room there wasn¡¯t a mirror anywhere so I hurried to the bathroom looking at myself in the mirror. A mirror of a mirror.


    I had mirrored myself in a way. Motoko Kusanagi. A story book character that I had practically become. Similar eyes, same hair, hell same build, even if mine was meat and not chrome for the most part.


    Honestly there were times I forgot that I was basically playing pretend.


    But was I? It wasn¡¯t any different than someone deciding to wear the same clothes as some celebrity, or the same haircut.


    I just also shared a name, well and a burgeoning skill set, but that was going to happen anyways. But this?


    Might be a liiittle too far. If anyone found out it would be so embarrassing¡­


    ¡°The net is vast and infinite.¡± I spoke, but it wasn¡¯t my voice. Oh no. It was husky and mature, and I could feel my face flush in delight and embarrassment.


    I cleared my voice and decided I could do it, saying a line I remember from the show. ¡°Batou not more weight training equipment! Blowing your pay is one thing¡­ Oh god I can¡¯t do it. Sexy Motoko voice is too much!¡± I still remember that scene where Motoko makes Batou punch himself, it was one of my favorites! But to be able to literally copy her voice! Mary Elizabeth McGlynn. Sorry I took your voice for a minute!


    I¡¯m such a weeb! OMFRGL! I buried my head in my knees for a moment, trying to keep making any more noises of embarrassment.


    I relaxed my throat letting my voice go back to normal. ¡°Okay. I¡¯m gonna have to put a ban on sexy Motoko voice. That¡¯s a secret dangerous skill.¡±


    ¡°What is?¡± Jun asked having come out of his room at some point as he pulled open the fridge.


    ¡°Nothing! You didn¡¯t hear anything! You can¡¯t tell!¡± I screamed at him even pulling up my guitar which I still had strapped to my hip and pointed it at him.


    Would I knock Jun unconscious if he knew¡­


    Yes. Yes I would.


    He blinked at me as he reached in and grabbed a drink pulling the can out and popping the tab in one motion before taking a looooong sip.


    ¡°Motoko. Imouto. You¡¯re really weird.¡± He finally said, crushing me in a totally unexpected way.


    I gaped at him as he walked away.


    ¡°You destroy your little sister''s self esteem and just walk away!?¡±


    ¡°Yep.¡±


    That bastard! Tease me will he! Fine, I will just have to release my new secret skill. For revenge!


    I stepped out of the bathroom after him. Waiting for him to be almost into his bedroom when I spoke, but not in my voice. No, the Major''s husky words poured forth.


    ¡°Jun, you should be nicer to your little sister. You never know when she¡¯s going to grow up.¡± I pointed out and I enjoyed the way my words affected my brother.


    First he had stilled at the unfamiliar voice searching around until he saw me and then he was left gaping this time!


    ¡°What the fuck?¡±


    ¡°Ah-ah Jun-boy. Those are naughty words.¡± I told him still in my Sexy voice.


    ¡°Motoko!? What the fuck?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong Jun-nii? Is there something bothering you?¡± I asked my smirking growing wide.


    Tease me will he! Make fun of me will he!


    I have skills! All of the skills!


    ¡°Motoko, that''s super creepy.¡±


    ¡°Hmm? Is that so?¡± I asked him before reaching up and messing with my throat a little. ¡°That¡¯s gonna take some getting used to.¡± I told him in my normal voice.


    ¡°Don¡¯t do that again. That¡¯s creepy! Where did you even learn to do that?!¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong Jun? Is your little sister growing up scaring you?¡±


    Funnily Jun didn¡¯t answer, just sort of throwing up his arms and then pointing at me and shaking his hand in my direction as if saying enough was enough.


    ¡°Sleep tight~!¡± I said, returning to my sexy voice which had Jun swiftly run away.


    Victory is mine!


    Now who''s weird!? Huh!? Huh¡­ Actually. Messing with my brother with a sexy mature voice¡­


    ¡°Fuck¡­ I AM weird.¡± I muttered.

 Chapter 59

    I ended up practicing some songs for another hour or so to see what my new voice could do, before Jun threw a pillow to shut me up.


    But while I couldn¡¯t Mimic all voices, I had a pretty large range and so some songs I could even sing in character.


    It was fun!


    But since Jun was going to sleep I settled in to do more programming through the night.


    Like all programmers I ended up going out and getting some coffee and then piling the coffee table full of old cups as I worked on the keyboard.


    ¡°Motoko. Did you even sleep?¡± Jun asked as he shuffles out of his room that morning.


    ¡°Not yet. I¡¯ll take a nap in a bit.¡± I told him, which wasn¡¯t untrue. A good eight hours would soon be on the horizon meaning I would be at 100% for the gig.


    ¡°Well¡­ Make sure you sleep. You said you were going out on that gig¡­ I can come wi-¡±


    ¡°Denied. This is a Motoko crew only thing. It¡¯s gonna be a milk run Jun. Just some scavs that need to be exterminated.¡± I told him throwing a thumbs up towards him without looking away from the screen. ¡°Plus if anything goes wrong, Ichi, Hiromi, and Malcolm will be there as backup.¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t Hiromi crash her bi-¡±


    ¡°Juun! You can¡¯t repeat that! I told you that in confidence!¡± I hissed at him pointing. ¡°Besides, Hiromi is like the fixer for this job. She¡¯s going to be contacting buyers for the loot. So she doesn¡¯t have to fight.¡±


    ¡°I wish you wouldn¡¯t pull this shit¡­ But you do have the skill¡­ Take some extra firepower at least. For your chooms or something.¡±


    ¡°Oh that¡¯s a good idea. I¡¯ll grab some stuff and bring it along!¡± Too bad my HMG was still in rough shape. I really needed to fix that thing.


    ¡°Alright¡­¡± he sighed ¡°I can¡¯t stick around. Call or text me when the gig starts, and then when it¡¯s over. If it takes too long. I¡¯ll be coming!¡±


    ¡°Okay okay. I¡¯ll let you know. Now get out of here. You got work?¡±


    ¡°Just some stuff with Sensei today. We are removing all the stuff the TC put in to the dojo.¡±


    I blinked before remembering the underground room full of tech, and the Ripper room. I guess it made sense. The place was basically the C&C for the Kamikaze. Pulling it out now that it wasn¡¯t in use, and clearing up Sensei¡¯s Dojo made sense.


    ¡°Alright drive safe!¡± I called out, only getting a grumble in return.


    ¡ª--


    I was back to working on Ping trying to get my little addition working when it happened.


    *Intelligence Leveled up!*


    I blinked.


    Level 7!


    ¡°Yes!¡± I cheered as the level up came in, I guess all my programming had finally given me an upgrade!


    I settled back down and I did actually notice a difference as I worked. I hadn¡¯t been able to really notice a difference between intelligence levels before, but this time? This time since I was programming before and after I could pick out the differences.


    It wasn¡¯t that I was just smarter. But I did process information faster! I could look at a cluster of code and process through it that bit faster than I had before. The numbers were able to be calculated just that little bit faster.


    It was nice.


    But I pushed that aside. It didn¡¯t really change anything. Just made it a little bit easier. So I spent the next hour or so debugging the code.


    It would work.


    It was messy. It wasn¡¯t clean. But it would make Ping a little bit harder to track if I used it on a network. Stretching out I uploaded the completed program into my Cyberdeck and shut the laptop down.


    Time for a nap!


    ¡ª--


    ¡°You all look great!¡± I told the crew as we met up. We were all meeting up at Hiromi¡¯s apartment complex. Funnily enough the security there meant that it was actually pretty safe to gather together in our armored clothes before the gig. Sure there were cameras, but if you knew anything about Night City, you knew that anyone in a Corp isn¡¯t going to want records of their coming and going.


    So the garage was pretty safe.


    We all met up around Ichi¡¯s truck, I was the last to show up much to my embarrassment. Thankfully Hiromi distracted me from being late.


    ¡°What¡¯s with your mask Motoko?¡± Hiromi asked and I eye smiled as the bottom of my face was covered in a cloth ninja mask.


    I was pulling a Kakashi!


    ¡°I¡¯m a ninja Hiromi. Nin-nin.¡± I told her happily.


    ¡°Nin-nin? What the fuck is that?¡± Malcolm asked just confused, and so was everyone else.


    ¡°And three fourths of you call yourself japanese. Disappointed.¡± I tell them all frankly. ¡°Now enough about my amazing ninja outfit. Let¡¯s go over the plan again.¡± I said grabbing everyones attention.


    I had planned this last night.


    I had wanted to mess with my friends to work off some of the anxiety. So I coughed lightly into my fist. Altering my voice to my Sexy Motoko.


    ¡°Attention Section 9. Mission brief begins now.¡±


    And then I stood there enjoying the lovely chaos.


    Hiromi¡¯s jaw dropped.


    Malcolm looked utterly confused. Looking around as if wondering what the hell was going on.


    Ichi had a flush crawling up his neck to his ears as she stared at me.


    ¡°Oh? Cat got your tongues?¡± I mocked a little, putting a hand on my hip and cocking it a bit. ¡°I suppose I¡¯ll hav-Hiromi!¡±


    ¡°Mooootokooo! Did you get a voice changer!? Your new voice is so sexy! Amazing!¡± Hiromi called out after tackling me, nearly knocking me on my ass as I had to spin her a bit to bleed off her momentum.


    ¡°It¡¯s certainly¡­ Mature.¡± Ichi offered.


    ¡°Is Motoko fucking with us?¡± Malcolm added.


    ¡°I¡¯m not, not fucking with you.¡± I offered to Malcolm, and I got to enjoy the way his face got a little flushed too as I threw him a wink.


    ¡°I¡¯ve never heard that voice before. It¡¯s pretty good. What¡¯s it called?¡± Ichi asked a little too calmly.


    ¡°Well fortunately for me. It¡¯s not a voice changer.¡± I pulled down my ninja mask showing my unchromed neck. ¡°I just learned how to change my voice a little. It¡¯s mostly in the chest, breathing differently, to make me a bit deeper and huskier.¡± I offered with a casual shrug. Once you knew the trick it really was pretty easy.


    This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.


    My answer did not in fact calm things.


    I ignored the many questions from my chooms as I coughed into my fist. ¡°Let¡¯s all settle down now. We have a gig to do don¡¯t we? Malcolm. Ichi everything settled with the truck?¡± I prompted cutting through the many questions, and my voice did grab attention.


    ¡°A-ah yeah I messed with the license plate. As long as we don¡¯t run past any NCPD we¡¯ll be fine, and any recordings will have the wrong plate.¡±


    ¡°Excellent. Malcolm, you got the equipment loaded?¡±


    ¡°Yeeep.¡± He said staring a bit but shaking it off. ¡°The trolleys and loading tools are all in there ready for us.¡±


    ¡°Hiromi, ready for boredom?¡±


    ¡°Yeeees.. I mean no?¡± She asked, looking a little frazzled as she was still hugging me.


    I smiled at her, and patted her on the head. ¡°Good job.¡± I told her and turned towards my car. ¡°I have some extra weapons if anyone wants something with a bit more kick. I doubt we will need them, but I would rather you have them just in case.¡± I called out as I pulled away from a suddenly limp Hiromi.


    ¡°Uh yeah I¡¯ll take something. I only have my normal iron. Wasn¡¯t any reason to pick up something bigger during the war. If I got into a fight I was fucked already.¡± Ichi called out and Malcolm echoed him as I pulled open the side door on the Quadra showing my collection of shotguns and rifles. The Nekomata was there too, but I was gonna slap anyone upside the head if they went for that.


    You have to be trained to use a sniper.


    Hiromi didn¡¯t collect anything but the two boys each grabbed a shotgun.


    ¡°H-hey Motoko¡­ Are you gonna use that voice from now on?¡± Hiromi asked quietly but I laughed, which sounded pretty cool in sexy Motoko voice.


    ¡°No. This was just a little trick I was playing on all of you to calm you all down for the gig. Unfortunately, Sexy Motoko voice is going away.¡± I said relaxing my throat and stretching it a bit with a hand. ¡°See? Back to normal.¡±


    ¡°Aww.¡± Hiromi whined and even Ichi and Malcolm looked disappointed.


    Of course! The Major''s best voice is definitely an amazing voice! I¡¯m almost sorry to go back to my normal voice too!


    ¡°Alright everyone! Section 9! Move out!¡±


    ¡°Section 9?¡± Malcolm asked and I could see Ichi just shrug out of the corner of my eye. I ignored them of course and climbed into the back of the truck with Malcolm.


    Hiromi and Ichi were driving, and Malcolm was the one with experience in the back of these trucks.


    And so we set off.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°Seriously though Motoko, that voice is pretty preem, especially since you can just switch like that.¡±


    ¡°Malcolm, it¡¯s been ten minutes. Let it go already.¡± I told him. I guess my plan to distract my team went a little¡­ Too well.


    ¡°Here it is¡­ But seriously, the voice!¡± He whispered to me as we bounced lightly down the road.


    ¡°Just keep focused.¡± I told him as I kneeled down. My recording of the gig started, and as the truck passed across the spot I rolled out of it landing on my feet and with a quick jog slowed myself down as I ran up a set of stairs into the alley. I reached the back entrance of the Scavs den in moments.


    The sun was down. The lights were dim in this area, and no one noticed a lone truck just driving down the street.


    Ichi would drive around the building parking near the front entrance until he got the call. Until then I was on my own.


    Looking around and being pleased there was no one around. Not even cameras or anything. A little dead spot¡­


    Probably set up like that on purpose I realized.


    My eyes flashed as I started scanning. As I slipped inside the door not even taking a second to get through.


    It looked like an old chopshop. A busted up car that was half taken apart stood in the little garage area.


    Figures scavs would hide in such a place.


    No sign of them being scavs¡­ Yet.


    But I already knew. I just wanted ¡®evidence¡¯ on the BD. In fact. The garage bay was empty, both floors, and I made sure to look up checking for cameras and things just to be sure.


    Nothing.


    I smiled as I crept up and looked through the windows on the garage, the Scavs had a nice little living space. A few were hanging around watching TV, one had a Wreath on his head¡­


    I would definitely be killing him mid BD, he was practically begging for it! But not yet.


    I started counting. Getting my numbers. Unlike previous gigs, I wasn¡¯t going to kill as I go.


    I was going to know exactly how many scavs I needed to murder before I started. They wouldn¡¯t know I was here until it was too late.


    Instead of heading into their living area I moved to the yellow utility stairs leading to the second floor overlooking the garage area. It also wrapped around leading into a second floor of the living space. No one was here. So it was literally giving me full access to everything they were doing. Following along there was a door I checked.


    Small storage. Nothing immediately interesting. I continued. Down a hall to another little room that had the normal interior stairs. Since no one was up here. I checked the door.


    Another storage closet.


    Was this place all storage closets!?


    But then I noticed the security access panel on the wall. I closed the closet door behind me as I jacked in.


    It was a rush. The Seacho was a whole other beast compared to the Paraline. The moment I connected I could practically smell the lack of a Netrunner protecting the place, and I broke through the ice in seconds.


    It was WET. One of the already solved ICE walls that I had picked up from Yoko! These idiots hadn¡¯t upgraded their security in at least twenty years!


    With that I had access to their security net.


    I also was able to send a Ping through the system.


    Instantly lines of light erupted in my view.


    Ten Scavs?


    Might as well sleep through this gig.


    With them all in my sights I felt extremely comfortable moving around.


    I traveled across the weird upper level this place had, letting me look down at the stupid scav gonks and their day to day. I even zoomed in on one of them playing some game on a laptop. Watching for a minute before he failed a jump and died.


    ¡°Pathetic.¡± I couldn¡¯t help but whisper. The radio, TV, and general noise of people on electronics, more than enough to keep my voice hidden.


    But as I traveled across I noticed it. There was another set of stairs in the corner behind me.


    Heading down. I had scoped out this entire area, and there was no scav shit up here. Just scavs.


    Some of which did have bounties¡­


    I could just start killing¡­


    No I instead moved back across the catwalk, finding a space that would work. I jumped down to avoid some of the wandering scavs and reached the basement stairs in a quiet pomf of noise before sneaking in. The stairs led into a broken room, with the plastic strips that were often used in Night City to stop blood splatter.


    The fact there was a body broken open and ripped apart on the chair was evidence enough of what happened here.


    Okay. I got confirmation.


    There was no one down here. Perfect. I slipped over to the body bypassing it until I reached a computer that was stationed nearby. It took a bit longer to break the ICE on this one. It was newer, but off the shelf, without a netrunner protecting it, it only took me a minute before I was in.


    While I pushed a shard into the computer setup, and started downloading everything. Emails. Connections. I even hacked in, and started downloading the OS records. There would be nothing on this computer that I wouldn¡¯t have.


    I was reading the emails, making sure that Charles was the nasty guy I expected him to be. That this wasn¡¯t something he was being blackmailed to do. I would still kill him if he was being blackmailed, but I would feel slightly bad about it.


    But nope.


    I had read enough to confirm his participation.


    Then I unplugged. Pocketing the shard. Time to roll.


    I stalked back upstairs. Thanks to Ping I already knew where everyone was.


    Nine Scavs hanging around the living room. And Charles the ripper behind me. Turns out he was hooked into the security net as well. Made sense.


    But he would be last.


    First gonk died from surprise loss of the ability to breath through all the blood flooding down his neck. I dropped his body, I didn¡¯t need to hide bodies simply leaving him on the floor where he had been walking towards a table to grab some grub.


    *500 XP Gained.*


    There wouldn¡¯t be anyone left to find them soon. Next guy was BD Wreath guy. As was tradition I took him out just as quickly and moved on.


    *500 XP Gained.*


    Third and forth died together. They were watching TV like a married couple. I had a spare knife now thanks to a Raffen Shiv member, and my knife and ¡®shiv¡¯ sunk in and tore free killing them both in quiet gurgles.


    *500 XP Gained.*


    *500 XP Gained.*


    Fifth guy I didn¡¯t even sneak up on.


    He was sitting at a table eating and I walked right across the room to him. He noticed me only in the last moment, eyes widening before my knife swept through his throat.


    *500 XP Gained.*


    I ignored his fumbled attempts to talk as he fell out of his chair.


    The noise must have alerted someone as I saw the golden line shift closer to me. I just flipped my Shiv and tossed it.


    The poor number six Scav rounded the corner, not even armed, just looking around wondering what the noise was when the knife took him in the chest. My second throw took him down instantly.


    *500 XP Gained.*


    Honestly scavs were so pathetic. Barely any chrome on these ones. The first Scav den was more put together than this one. Then again from the emails I had looked through on the computer downstairs, these weren¡¯t the best of the best, just some guys meant to keep an eye on the doc, to do his dirty work.


    No, I would be searching for their main base once they were cleaned up.


    But I moved on. Seven eight and nine were together as well.


    Sitting on a couch watching some TV.


    I thought out my assault in an instant and moved.


    One knife was thrown as I leaped over the couch, slipping into a poor gonks throat, my other hand slammed a knife into the scav on my right slipping into his trachea, I tore it loose uncaring about the blood that splattered over me and scav gonk number nine.


    *500 XP Gained.*


    *500 XP Gained.*


    The fact I had landed directly in his lap, gave him about a second to start trying to react, instinct meant he tried to push me off.


    I rolled with his motion spinning a bit in his lap until we were face to face.


    Then he coughed. My knife slipping up and into his chin. His body shook trying to do something as he slowly gagged and choked to death.


    *500 XP Gained.*


    With that done I sent a text to the crew letting them know to move in. I hurried back through the den downstairs and then up until I reached the door to the Doctors fake ripper clinic.


    Then I just walked inside.


    Malcolm and Hiromi were already inside, and the Ripper wasn¡¯t looking too happy with both gun toting teens.


    ¡°Oh don¡¯t cause a fuss Charles¡­ We already know you¡¯re working with the Scavs.¡± I said in my sexy voice to the room, the Ripper spun to face me as I opened the door looking horrified that I had come up from the basement.


    My words, and the fact I was coming out of his back room quieted the room.


    Oh and probably the blood.


    I was covered in a lot of blood.


    ¡°H-hey that¡¯s not it! They forced me! The-¡±


    ¡°I read your emails Charles.¡± I assured him. Then before anyone could react, I drew my Lexington and fired. Then I walked over and fired twice more.


    Always double tap when possible.


    *500 XP Gained.*


    *Cold Blood skill level up!*


    I closed my eyes and turned off the BD recording.


    Huh Cold Blood level 8. It was now maxed out compared to my current Cool stat.


    ¡°Okay guys you all ready?¡± I asked turning to my team.


    ¡°W-why are you using the sexy voice again!?¡± Malcolm couldn¡¯t help but snap at me, even if he was looking more towards the dead body.


    ¡°I guess I like it!¡± I said with a smile under my mask.


    ¡°Oh, well I like it too!¡± Hiromi offered her Katana sheathed with a little flourish. She would look perfectly at ease if not for the slight shake to her hands.


    ¡°Alright let¡¯s go through everything. Malcolm start here, find his Cyberware and box it. Hiromi you¡¯re with Malcolm. I¡¯ll go help Ichi at the back.¡±


    ¡°Yes Motoko!¡± Hiromi jumped to it, seeming a little too quick to listen to me.


    What was with that girl?

 Chapter 60

    For once cleaning up the place went without any issues. I ended up dragging the bodies away from where I killed them all and pushed them into a corner so they wouldn¡¯t bother the others, while Ichi ran through the base finding loot and gathering it all up.


    I did take a small break to grab the Scavs laptops laying around. Hopefully I could use a bit of netrunning sneakery and figure out another Scav den.


    Honestly we probably could use more hands next time we did this, but while everyone did start flagging an hour in, I just reminded them that the more we could drag out of here the more eddies we would have in the end.


    Boxes of Cyberware. Computer equipment. Ripper Equipment. Bits and bobs from the chop shop that Ichi confirmed would make some eddies if sold.


    In the end we filled up the truck with the most valuable stuff and left the stuff that would be harder to sell. We all climbed back into the truck and drove off.


    I finally pulled down the mask once the back of the truck was down and Malcolm and I were both squished into the loot we had gathered.


    The boy might be exhausted, but there was a shit eating grin on his face as he rested back.


    We stopped at Hiromi¡¯s apartment again, all of us relaxing from the gig.


    ¡°Alright Section 9!¡± I called out once again using my sexy voice. Which had an instant effect.


    ¡°Stop doing that!¡± Ichi called back as he blushed a little but Hiromi elbowed him instantly as she threw me a thumbs up. Malcolm just shook his head at my nonsense.


    ¡°Never. It¡¯s far too fun. Excellent work everyone. Hiromi, Malcolm, did you find anything interesting in the Cyberware?¡±


    ¡°Loads of stuff!¡± Malcolm practically exploded. ¡°I mean it sucks it¡¯s all scav chrome, but holy shit they pulled some preem chrome Motoko. You¡¯re gonna be picking some stuff yourself at this rate!¡±


    Malcolm and Hiromis reaction had Ichi and I both looking a little excited.


    ¡°Okay pull out the box of stuff let¡¯s take a look!¡±


    ¡°Not here you gonk!¡± Hiromi demanded, shaking her head at me. ¡°Let¡¯s put the boxes in the cars and drive it out of here first. There are still cameras.¡± She reminded me and I bowed my head in acknowledgment.


    ¡°True. Let¡¯s pull the chrome boxes and load them into our rides, meet up at Viks?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m gonna pass. You guys know I don¡¯t really need new chrome. My rents would get me whatever I need, Arasaka stuff. You guys take it. I¡¯m gonna start calling buyers. Just let me know what you don¡¯t end up using¡­ Or what you don¡¯t ¡®sell¡¯ to Vik Motoko.¡± She said, looking squarely at me with a face.


    Hey! I didn¡¯t deserve a face! Besides¡­ Okay fine yeah I was probably going to sell the rest of the stuff to Vik. He deserved to be well stocked, and I know he would do good with this chrome that had a terrible origin.


    Make up for some of the bad karma of it all.


    ¡°Oooh hey is that a Mantis blade? Hmm. A Militech Infuser? Never heard of it.¡± Malcolm said as he pulled out¡­


    They weren¡¯t arms themselves, but more like pieces that could be installed in cyberarms.


    ¡°You want them Motoko?¡± Malcolm asked looking up at me with a face that was practically sparkling.


    ¡°As much as I might, I¡¯m keeping any installs to small things for now.¡± I told him shaking my head. ¡°Is there any Netrunner stuff?¡±


    ¡°Hmm. I think¡­ Yeah small box of some old decks by the looks of them. Nothing good. Oh here you go.¡± He pulled out a small case, and popped it open. ¡°Ex-Disk.¡±


    ¡°Nice!¡± I cheered Ex-disk were Neuralware mods that would increase a Cyberdecks RAM. More RAM. Faster punching through gonks security. ¡°Yoink!¡± I snagged it away which he chuckled at as I closed the little case and put it in a pocket.


    That would go with me to Vik later.


    ¡°Odds and ends. What the hell? These are some absolutely ancient Cybereyes. I¡¯d be surprised if they even connect to everything anymore.¡± Malcolm grumbled as he wiped some dust off the thermos looking canister.


    ¡°Unless the canister was just used to store it. We¡¯ll pop it with Vik and see if it¡¯s any good.¡± I reminded him, earning a pleased smile.


    ¡°Motoko! Smart link!¡± Ichi called out waving it at me.


    ¡°What don¡¯t want it yourself?¡± I asked but he just looked at me.


    ¡°Only one of us is a crazy solo that clears out entire scav dens on their own.¡±


    ¡°Which means I already don¡¯t need it.¡± I tease but he tossed it at me regardless and I quickly grabbed it out of the air.


    ¡°Fine, I''ll chip it. Should be easy enough with these.¡± I mention waving my hands. I guess it was about time for me to start actually interfacing with my guns.


    ¡°There is still tons more, but I don¡¯t know what all of this is¡­ Viks?¡± I asked the boys and while I got a response from both boys that reminded me of trying to take a bone away from a wild dog. Slowly we gathered everything together, but got sidetracked by Hiromi.


    ¡°Change of plans!¡± She yelled imperiously pointing at me. ¡°You are my bodyguard while we make sales.¡± Then she turned and pointed at Ichi. ¡°And you need to drive the truck. Malcolm will be with you holding a shotgun. We can start having fun with the loot soon, but I want to get this over with. I already got a sale for some. Let¡¯s go!¡± She called pointing¡­


    At my Quadra.


    ¡°You already made the sales?¡±


    ¡°I already made some contacts thanks to your Fixer. I was just waiting to know the loot. While Malcolm was loading everything up, I was already putting out feelers. You are allowed to worship my amazingness.¡± She proclaimed hands on her hips.


    ¡°Yes oh mighty fixer. Please allow us to help you sell the loot.¡±


    ¡°Excellent! Let¡¯s go! Malcolm! Get that stuff loaded into the Quadra. I already know Motoko isn¡¯t going to let us sell any of it before her ripper gets first look. Ichi! Secure the truck I want to get some of this sold off tonight before it gets any later!¡±


    Ugh. I guess I¡¯m chauffeur and bodyguard girl now.


    But at least Hiromi stopped barking orders at me.


    ¡ª--


    The sales were¡­ Interesting!


    ¡°No stop trying to rip me off. You wanted the canisters of Flunitrazepam? You pay up for it.¡± She snapped at the ripper that she was selling the loot too.


    Of course it was only because Hiromi was Hiromi that the guy hadn¡¯t turned us away for being scavs or something.


    This was the third shop we had hit. And she was selling the stuff we had klepped. Including the Rippers tools and chair.


    Apparently Charles had been a naughty boy. He had been making enough eddies with his scav friends he had a lot of top of the line stuff.


    Hiromi was selling it off piecemeal.


    We had of course stopped at Viks first, for a surprise sale, and dropped off the boxes of actual Cyberware that he had agreed to look through and pick out the choice bits for us, as well as figure out what everything was.


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    He had even paid Hiromi- I mean us. He had paid us for a new diagnostic tool that he liked the look of.


    Which made me happy. I forced Hiromi to give him a discount though.


    She had refused at first, but I put on my sexy voice and told her it was happening, and that had stopped any attempts at refusal.


    Honestly I had mostly done it to mess with Vik, but I¡¯m glad my mature voice seems to make people listen to me.


    And then, despite how action packed it was. It started getting late, and we all decided to call it a night.


    Ichi took his much emptier truck and would store it securely in a garage that Jotaro had originally bought to do exactly what he was doing, hiding loot. A place to store a truck full of expensive stuff until it was sold off.


    The money was flowing in, although we were keeping it all together for now until we were ready to divvy it out.


    It was a good haul, and everyone was super happy. Ichi¡¯s money problems would be solved for at least a little longer, Malcolm and Hiromi were happy.


    And I was just glad my friends were happy.


    Well that and 5k XP closer to a level up.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°I¡¯m home!¡± I called out as I walked inside the apartment. The lights were still on so I knew Jun was in.


    ¡°Welcome home.¡± He called out, and I saw his hand wave from his bed as I walked into the bedroom and then into my little room. I peeled out of my new armored suit¡¯s jacket with a sigh.


    It was funny, I was so used to wearing my leotard and jeans, that wearing something like this just felt weird. The jacket was tossed onto a dresser and then I peeled myself out of the armored top and pants.


    Honestly they were a useful bit of gear, even if the looks were super basic, the sort of brown base, broken up by patches of the gray kevlar, the only spark to them. They looked super basic. And what kind of merc or edgerunner would I be if I wore something like this all the time?


    I had only picked it up and wore it so my crew would do the same.


    I wasn¡¯t that worried about a few bullet holes, but it was a different story for my chooms.


    Once I was free I grabbed one of my Leotards and slipped into it. Feeling much more comfortable with how free I felt wearing one. Then without bothering to put on any pants I walked back out and grabbed my guitar.


    I had honestly been pretty bored hanging around as Hiromi sold equipment to fences and rippers.


    So I really wanted to destress. Flopping onto the couch I kicked my feet up on the armrest of it and just closed my eyes as I started striking some chords.


    It wasn¡¯t any particular song, no lyrics beside my humming, but I let myself relax and move away from the killing and death that made up most of my day.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°So you hit a scav den, that was working with a Ripper?¡±


    ¡°Yep. From the emails he would do work on some people, and some people would just disappear.¡± I told Jun the next morning as we ate breakfast together.


    ¡°Disgusting. He dead?¡±


    ¡°Put a bullet in him myself.¡± I assured him as I chomped into my XXL burrito.


    It wasn¡¯t good, but I was feeling lazy and I didn¡¯t want to leave the apartment yet. I would eventually. After school Hiromi was going to try and sell more stuff, but that was later this afternoon.


    ¡°Glad you didn¡¯t get hurt.¡± He finally said as he finished his burrito and tossed the wrapper in the trash.


    ¡°They never even knew I was there. I did get another kill with a guy watching a BD though. That never gets old.¡±


    Jun snorted at my words and patted my head a bit and I winced before kicking at him. ¡°Ow! Stupid chrome gorilla hands go get some real skinn! Do I have to buy it for you!?¡± I yelled at him as he dropped his stupid chrome hands a bit too hard on my head.


    He winced a little as he lifted his hands up. ¡°Sorry Imouto¡­ I didn¡¯t even think about it.¡±


    ¡°Go see Vik! Moron! Dummy! He¡¯ll take care of you. I know you¡¯ve been avoiding him. Hiromi just sold him some Real Skinn too¡­ Actually did you know it comes in these weird canisters? Apparently you have to like grow it. Well it expands I mean. It¡¯s weird stuff.¡± I muttered, kinda waving my hands around. Vik had been happy to receive the canisters pretty cheap. Lot of people that couldn¡¯t afford it could use some skin to feel more human.


    Jun snorted at my rambling but he got serious a moment later. ¡°Alright. Fine. I¡¯ll go see a ripper and get some Real Skinn.¡± He grumbled at me as he rose up and grabbed his jacket.


    ¡°Ah! Good! Go right now! I want a big hug when you come home!¡±


    ¡°Yeah yeah.¡± He mumbled tiredly, obviously done with my teasing.


    ¡°One yeah is enough!¡± I corrected with a laugh as he flipped me off as he closed the door behind him.


    Huh.


    ¡°What am I gonna do now?¡± I could poke Regina. She had said she would have a gig for me soon, but I wasn¡¯t in a rush and she said she would let me know.


    I didn¡¯t really want to go try and track down the next scav base from the info I got out of the den right now.


    So I guess just lay around? I looked over at my mess of mechanical parts. At my laptop full of programming I was still working on¡­


    That seemed like work though.


    I reached over to grab my guitar and sat up. Music time.


    ¡ª--


    I did take a break from music to do some more programming, but funnily enough while listening to the radio a song came on that I liked and I ended up grabbing my Guitar and playing along.


    I fell into a habit. I was listening to the radio and whenever a song I liked came on, I would sing along and play with it.


    Of course I would switch over to different stations.


    It was kinda hard to play electronic music on my guitar after all. Which is part of the reason I wanted my music box to be programmed.


    I did have a lot of projects on my hands, but I was having fun so that¡¯s all that matters.


    Of course I was in the middle of singing along when the front door suddenly burst open.


    I looked.


    Hiromi looked back.


    I looked.


    Hiromi grinned.


    ¡°HIROMI!¡± I yelled at her as I swiftly tried to hide the guitar from her as she pounced on me.


    ¡°MOTOKO!¡± She yelled back in delight as she started laughing at me.


    I wasn¡¯t blushing! It was just embarrassing! No one besides Jun was supposed to know!


    ¡°Hiromi you need to learn to knock!¡±


    ¡°How could I? I heard my Motoko out in the hall singing her heart out! I had to rush in and see!¡± She proclaimed as she continued hugging me as I tried to peel her off and put the guitar away. I quickly glanced over at the radio and it shut off with a quick thought.


    ¡°Aww. Motokoooo!¡±


    Finally managing to put the guitar on its stand I reached down to the giggling girl and put both hands on her cheeks. Forcing her to meet my eyes.


    ¡°You saw and heard nothing.¡± I told her firmly. Even using my sexy voice.


    She just grinned.


    That meant she agreed¡­ Right?


    ¡ª-


    ¡°You should have heard it Ichi! It was soooo preem Motoko was totally jamming out standing on her couch!¡±


    ¡°No one will find any of your bodies.¡± I promised as I continued to hide my face against Ichi¡¯s truck. The cool steel just barely kept me from overheating.


    She had promised not to tell anyone!


    ¡°She tried to make me promise not to tell, but I mean. C¡¯mon! Of course I will!¡±


    ¡°Death!¡± I whimper-whispered.


    ¡°Motoko, when did you start playing the guitar? I don¡¯t think you did before the coma or anything.¡± Malcolm asked, ignoring Ichi and Hiromi both trying to embarrass me more.


    ¡°It¡¯s all Hiromi¡¯s fault.¡±


    ¡°What? How!?¡±


    ¡°You made me sing during the Nomad BBQ! I realized I wasn¡¯t any good at it, so I decided to start practicing!¡±


    ¡°Wait¡­ Motoko, did you really get so embarrassed about your bad singing during the BBQ that you secretly went out and bought a guitar to learn some music?¡± Hiromi asked, suddenly staring at me with her big old green eyes.


    ¡°It! It wasn¡¯t a secret! Jun knew!¡±


    ¡°Motoko¡­ You are the cutest ever.¡± She whispered, barely hiding the massive grin behind her hands.


    ¡°No!¡± I denied but Hiromi was soon sage nodding at me, Ichi joining in. The jerk!


    ¡°You got so embarrassed about singing you went and bought a guitar to learn and practice?¡± Ichi asked for a moment. ¡°Cute.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m! I¡¯m dangerous! Not cute!¡± I demanded stomping my foot to prove my danger.


    It didn¡¯t work.


    ¡°You weren¡¯t that bad at singing Motoko. You didn¡¯t have to get so cute about it.¡± Hiromi said and I frowned.


    ¡°I¡¯m not bad at singing!¡±


    ¡°You weren¡¯t really great either, Motoko.¡± Hiromi offered gently as she walked over and threw an arm over my shoulder ¡°But it¡¯s cute you have a weak point.¡±


    Weak point? Me? Never! Weak points are where you get hit for massive damage! I refuse!


    I walked over to the Quadra and popped the door and after a moment it was on the radio blaring to life.


    And then right in front of my crew I started belting out the song alongside the radio.


    A minute later as the song came to an end I was breathing a little heavily. My face was absolutely bright red, but my chooms were all staring in shock.


    ¡°That¡­ Was actually pretty preem. Holy shit.¡± Malcolm said, looking at me in a bit of shock.


    ¡°Motoko! When what? You didn¡¯t know how to sing like a week ago!? What happened?¡± Hiromi asked, marching forward and grabbing my arms and shaking me a bit.


    ¡°I learned! I realized I didn¡¯t know how to sing at the camp, so I made sure to spend some time learning! Turns out, I¡¯m pretty good at music in general! I just needed some practice.¡± I told her. Lying my ass off. Thank you Gamer system! I would be a talentless hack without you! Please forgive me for not telling anyone about your wonder!


    ¡°Ugh!¡± Hiromi coughed like someone had just punched her in the chest as she took a few stuttered steps back until she hit the truck. ¡°How can she be so perfect at everything!? Ichi!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t look at me Hiromi. I¡¯ve grown completely used to Motoko making me look like a gonk at everything.¡± He said, sighing as he walked over and joined her beside the truck, both of them just sort of staring off into nothing. Hiromi at the ground, Ichi at the roof.


    ¡°Rude.¡± I muttered to myself.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know ¡®Toko. This is kinda crazy.¡± Malcolm spoke up, still standing beside me as he looked over our chooms. ¡°I mean it¡¯s one thing to be good at fighting. Or sneaking. Or singing, but you are just good at all of them.¡±


    ¡°I just practice a lot!¡± I argue, feeling awkward, that I was basically cheating in my ability to learn new things. ¡°Besides! We aren¡¯t here to pick apart Motoko¡¯s hobbies!¡± I remind them, pointing at the truck. ¡°We are here to make some eddies!¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s right.¡± Ichi agreed, coming back to reality at the mention of money, as he stopped staring at the ceiling like a zombie. ¡°Alright Section 9, on your feet, let¡¯s get this taken care of. Hiromi that means you.¡± He said.


    ¡°Eh!?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but gasp out as I pointed at Ichi. ¡°W-w-what did you just say!?¡± I demanded shocked!


    ¡°Section 9. It¡¯s what you called us yesterday, remember?¡± Ichi said and then to my horror!


    He smiled!


    ¡°You! You¡¯re teasing me!¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about. C¡¯mon Section 9! Let¡¯s get moving!¡± He called out and the traitors all followed after!


    My Chooms! Betrayal!


    ¡°H-hey You can¡¯t use that! Section 9 is¡­ It was just a joke!¡±


    ¡°Nope we all decided. Section 9 it is. C¡¯mon Motoko load up. Hiromi needs to show up in a preem ride to make the sales.¡± He reminded me as Hiromi already settled into my Quadra.


    My chooms were teasing me!


    I slipped into the Quadra as Ichi and Malcolm started driving off literally ignoring me as they left.


    ¡°You guys are being mean.¡± I complained to Hiromi as I started following.


    ¡°Aww. Is a little teasing too much? Well now you know how we feel after you keep changing your voice.¡± Hiromi mentioned poking me in the side.


    ¡°I thought it was cool.¡±


    ¡°It was very¡­ Cool. Yes, but don¡¯t tease us if you can¡¯t handle getting teased back.¡± She said, reaching up and pressing a finger against my cheek. ¡°Where did you even get Section 9 from anyways. Some TV show or something?¡±


    ¡°Ah! Eh.. Umm. Nooo?¡± I denied.


    Nailed it.


    For some reason my denial didn¡¯t seem to convince Hiromi though!


    ¡°Gonk.¡±


    I pouted and refused to say anything else about Section 9 as we drove to another Ripper that was willing to buy some stuff.

 Chapter 61

    ¡°And that¡¯s it! Great job!¡± Hiromi called out as the last box in the truck was dumped off at the foot of a Ripper and we were finally done.


    ¡°Yes! Whoo!¡± I cheered, jumping into the air a little. We had done it! Sold our loot! It actually felt like something an adventurer would do after clearing some Goblin cave or something! I mean sure Scavs aren¡¯t exactly Goblins¡­ Mostly¡­


    But it was the feeling it gave!


    ¡°Payday!¡± Malcolm cheered, hand out and flat towards Hiromi giving her a cheerful look.


    She scoffed and rolled her eyes. ¡°Not here you gonk. C¡¯mon let¡¯s go to Motoko¡¯s place and we can split the eddies.¡± She said ignoring Malcolms whine for money as she climbed back into my Quadra.


    ¡°Wait, why are we meeting at my apartment?¡±


    ¡°Ichi lives with his Grandmother. Malcolm has his parents, and we aren¡¯t going to my place.¡± Hiromi answers simply.


    ¡°Sounds good to me.¡±


    ¡°I agree.¡± The boys both say with a grin as they jump into the truck and start driving away!


    Why did everyone just drive off on me! Bullying gonks!


    I huffed but got in my Quadra and started driving home. I hope Jun wasn¡¯t home.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°So the split is completely even. Each of us gets 25%. I doubt anyone is unhappy with the number?¡± Hiromi asked as she passed us a pretty hefty chunk of change each.


    My own bank account was grateful and it was more than I would have made doing three gigs for Wakako!


    ¡°This was amazing.¡± Malcolm said as he flopped back onto the floor of my apartment. We were all sitting around the living room table. Ichi and Malcolm both on the floor while Hiromi and I had the couch.


    ¡°Uh. Malcolm, that floor isn¡¯t super clean, you might not want to lay back like that.¡± I said unable to not mention the dusty floors.


    Listen. I still remember how dirty it was when I was doing pushups, and neither Jun nor I had really done any cleaning outside of fixing up our messes¡­


    Okay mostly me picking up tech, or guns laying around, but the point still stood.


    ¡°Yeah it¡¯s kinda dusty down here.¡±


    Ichi cut in then shaking his head as Malcolm dusted himself off a bit. ¡°Either way¡­ Motoko. Hiromi. Malcolm. Thank you. I was really hurting for eddies, and I couldn¡¯t have made anything like this much in such a short amount of time. Motoko¡­ You still pay better than any other boss I¡¯ve worked for. Thanks.¡±


    I grinned at Ichi¡¯s sincerity as he bowed his head a little but Malcolm spoke first, throwing an arm over his friend''s shoulder. ¡°Anytime choom! I needed some cash too, I gotta admit, other than the terror and chance of death¡­ Which we already dealt with during the war. The pay is certainly better. When are we doing this again?¡±


    I blinked.


    My crew all looked to me, and I realized what they wanted.


    I mean¡­


    ¡°I have the computers that the scavs and the ripper were using¡­ I¡¯ll start digging and see if there is any info on another den?¡± I offered with a shy shrug.


    ¡°Oh oh! I¡¯ll reach out to my contacts, because I have those now, and see what I can find out!¡± Hiromi offered, putting both of her hands on her hips and flipping her hair a bit as she looked all pleased with herself. She seriously looked like her mom right there.


    I decided I wasn¡¯t going to mention that.


    ¡°Huh. Well¡­ I¡¯ll call up some of the TC guys I worked with during the war¡­ I¡¯ll see what they say.¡± Ichi offered looking happy to be involved.


    ¡°Oh fuck all of you. I don¡¯t have any cool contacts.¡± Malcolm said as he slumped over the table.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry Malcolm, not everyone is good at gathering information! Why don¡¯t you see Vik and get some upgrades. I¡¯ll probably do that sometime soon too.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­ Yeah I can do that. It¡¯ll be preem to actually have some real chrome. I mean! Mantis blades you know!?¡± We all laughed as he started faux swinging his arms around as if he was using the blades.


    We ended up just kind of hanging out sorta mini celebrating a job well done when Jun finally came home.


    Which of course distracted me completely.


    ¡°GASP!¡± I yelled out as I looked at Jun, and he rolled his eyes at me.


    ¡°I said I was going to Viks.¡± He said and it was true. His arms looked mostly real now!


    ¡°Hug!¡± I demand as I jump up and clamber over Hiromi as Jun sighs but gives in and wraps his now fleshy arms around me.


    ¡°Much better! Did Vik give you a checkup as well, how¡¯s the chrome?¡±


    ¡°He did¡­ Better. He did a good job settled, some issues I didn¡¯t even know I had¡­ You were right. Don¡¯t let it go to your head.¡± He mutters and I just giggle happy that Vik took care of him.


    ¡°Looking good Jun-Nii.¡± Hiromi offered with a wink and Jun rolled his eyes at her flirtations.


    ¡°Thank you Hiromi. Good to see you too. Doing something new with the hair?¡±


    ¡°Well the mohawk wasn¡¯t me anymore.¡± She demurred a bit as she ran a hand through her hair. Her hair was growing out everywhere but she still had the long mohawk laying sideways.


    It looked good even so. Hiromi was one of those girls that always looked pretty no matter what she did.


    ¡°Ah Ichi, and¡­ Malcolm, right.¡± He said and the boys nodded at their name. ¡°What are all of you doing?¡±


    ¡°Celebrating!¡± Malcolm called out cheering a bit as he raised his drink into the air, and Hiromi reached over to clink her can with his. It wasn¡¯t alcohol, but we were having fun regardless.


    ¡°Oh good news on the sales?¡±


    ¡°Yeah! With Hiromi¡¯s help we made lots of eddies!¡± I cheered showing Jun just how much we had all made. He smiled and patted my head, looking proud of me.


    Yeeessss.


    ¡ª--


    A few hours later I was resting on the couch. Everyone had headed out, probably to spend their newly found eddies.


    Jun had claimed the TV and was watching some weird ass future show that I just couldn¡¯t understand why he liked it.


    Part of me wanted to do some more music, but even I wasn¡¯t a brat enough to do that while Jun was in the middle of his show, so instead I grabbed the shard I had downloaded all of the Scav data to, and started going through it.


    I hadn¡¯t just stolen the scavs emails, but the computer''s history as well. So as I sorted them out I started looking for anything that would lead to more scavs.


    As I buried myself searching through the data for something I could use, time flowed past me.


    In the end I came up with nothing.


    No emails to Charles about who the boss was, or where I could hunt him down. In fact it was almost as if the Scavs had purposefully kept any connecting info to another den off the systems.


    Irritating.


    ¡°Ugh.¡± I groaned as I leaned back away from the laptop. That was a good couple of hours wasted.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Jun asked, although he didn¡¯t tear his eyes away from the TV.


    This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    ¡°Just went through all the computer records the Scavs had at the den, trying to hunt down a lead to find more of them.


    ¡°Not that easy. One thing they are good at is keeping to themselves. They can¡¯t ever get enough power in one area to hold territory or anything, but it makes them impossible to remove.¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I grumbled, as I reached over and closed all the files I had been burning through. Instead I closed that laptop and grabbed my ICE laptop. Plugged in and started burning down the ICE instead. At least with this I could make progress.


    And in fact I made quick progress. My new Cyberdeck was amazing!


    The ICE was still there. The task was just as hard as always, but I had so much more flexibility. More speed. I really had been needing an upgrade for a while. I was forced to admit to myself as my speed of cracking ICE more than doubled, simply because of how much faster my deck was.


    ¡ª--


    The next day I was bumming around the apartment again.


    Mostly mixing up my grind between playing some random song that I remember from before or trying to get my programming all fixed up.


    I had also checked through the alerts for the scav den. Other than the XP I hadn¡¯t paid any attention to what else I had earned! I really should have because one of the alerts, wasn¡¯t just an XP notification but an actual level up!


    *Reflex Leveled up!*


    Reflex 7.


    I was in shock! I hadn¡¯t even realized such an important stat had leveled! Awesome! Unfortunately since my Blades skill had already been maxed out, I hadn¡¯t gotten any Blade alerts, but still! Reflex! I could update my Handgun skill again!


    I was so proud of myself I almost ran out of the apartment to go shoot things before remembering that I was taking it easy-ish today. Only minor stuff on my to do list.


    I had sent a text to Regina asking for info about the hold up on the gig, but all she had sent back was that it was taking a bit longer than expected.


    So I had been sending texts out to people between grinds.


    Hiromi was back in school. Ichi was free, but he was following through on his idea. Speaking to some of the old timers he knew about Scav hideouts.


    But it was Nox that I was texting with the most.


    Turns out he had finally hit the point where he was making more eddies than he had put into the project. That was cool.


    It was still nothing to what I made on a gig alone, but the BD¡¯s were getting around out there.


    Which reminded me I had a few more BD¡¯s for Judy, including the Ichi one which I needed to get made to give to Malcolm and Hiromi.


    Deciding to get out of the house I got dressed and headed over to Lizzies.


    To my relief as I pulled into the parking lot Rita was hanging around outside. I parked and hurried over waving a bit as I approached her, earning a quirk of her lips in return.


    ¡°Hey Motoko, doing alright?¡±


    ¡°Yep! Hey Rita. I wanted to say, thank you.¡± I said when I got close enough to talk quietly with the Mox. ¡°Your advice was really good! I ended up finding a new relaxing hobby to do in between all my merc work. So¡­ Thanks.¡±


    ¡°Oh, well I¡¯m glad.¡± She said, looking pleased at my words, her smile turning completely genuine. ¡°I¡¯m glad I could help. What have you started doing?¡±


    I flushed a little at her question scratching at the ports on the back of my head as I hesitated, but if anyone deserved to know it was Rita. ¡°I started playing music, I picked up a guitar, and I sing a bit I guess¡­ Just don¡¯t tell anyone.¡± I said seriously and she giggled. Actually giggled at me.


    ¡°Deal. I won¡¯t say a word. You any good?¡±


    ¡°I¡­ Well I¡¯m getting there I guess?¡± I offered, dancing back and forth a little on my feet. Which seemed to make Rita even more amused.


    ¡°Then you¡¯ll have to play something for me sometime. But no rush, you here to see Judy?¡± She asked and I nodded, reminded of what I needed to do.


    ¡°Yeah I have some BD¡¯s to drop off.¡±


    ¡°More gigs?¡±


    I looked around a bit to make sure no one was listening in. ¡°My Chooms and I hit a Scav Den a few days ago, cleared the whole place out too.¡±


    Rita scowled at hearing about the scavs but then smirked at the rest. ¡°Good. Fucking scum suckers. You all alright?¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah it was easy only ten of the guys I took them all out without them even realizing, easy.¡± I waved off the concern. As if I was in danger from a couple of scavs!


    She looked me over for a while before nodding. ¡°Well it¡¯s good to hear there are a few less of them in the city.¡± She reached out and patted my shoulder looking proud.


    Ack! Too many people being proud of me!


    We chatted for a few more minutes about Rita dealing with gonks that needed to be thrown out of the club before I headed inside to find Judy.


    ¡°Judy!¡± I called out as I entered, making sure to make noise long before I walked into her lair. I didn¡¯t want to startle her again.


    ¡°Huh? Oh hey Motoko, how¡¯re you?¡± She asked as she looked away from the computer she had been staring at as I entered as always she looked like she lived down here, with her desktop covered in cans piling up.


    ¡°Not too bad! I have some BD¡¯s to drop off, and I wondered if I could ask for a favor about a small BD edit?¡±


    ¡°Hmm? What¡¯d ya mean?¡± She had turned around from her computer giving me her complete attention. I couldn¡¯t help but smirk a bit at the thought of what she was going to see.


    ¡°Okay so I have this BD I made about a prank I pulled on a friend¡­¡±


    ¡ª--


    Walking out of Lizzies a few hours later I was still giggling at the BD in my pocket, even if my wallet was lighter. Judy was more than willing to do a BD edit for like a minute long Virtu, but it wasn¡¯t free.


    I shrugged. It was good enough. Now I could torment Ichi.


    ¡°Heh Mr. Studd. That¡¯s never going to get old.¡± I muttered to myself as I drove home, still giggling. Judy had also been given the scav den Virtu to fix up and hand to Nox.


    Well that little job was done. Considering how close I was I considered heading over to Yaiba tower and talking to Regina but in the end she would contact me with a gig. If she didn¡¯t want to give me gigs, it wasn¡¯t a problem for me. I wasn¡¯t hurting for eddies.


    No, instead I headed towards my favorite ripper. After everything Vik had gone through the chrome we had dropped off and found a few pieces that I had put away. I don¡¯t think I was ready for all of it, but there was still a few little updates I wanted to chip in.


    I stopped in to see Misty of course, we had a fun conversation about some article she was reading in her magazine about the Net and souls.


    But then I went down to Vik.


    ¡°Oh? Finally ready for those upgrades huh?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but first!¡± I demanded as I stomped up and pulled Vik into a big hug. ¡°Thanks for helping my brother.¡± I told him and he looked a little flustered as he patted me on the shoulder.


    ¡°You know there isn¡¯t any reason to thank me. I didn¡¯t do anything most other rippers couldn¡¯t do.¡±


    ¡°It was special to me.¡± I told him simply ignoring his attempts to break free until I was satisfied my thankfulness was understood.


    Then when I broke away I moved over to his ripper chair and settled in.


    ¡°Let¡¯s do this.¡±


    The smart link system took only a few moments to install. My Condor arms were designed to accept one after all.


    But the Ex-Disk was a bit more of a job. Vik put me out as he was dealing with my neural link, but I woke up feeling perfectly fine.


    Just with a new piece of metal in my head that gave me some more RAM for my Netdeck.


    ¡°Is it working?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but ask, as I didn¡¯t feel any different and Vik just chuckled.


    ¡°You won¡¯t notice much yourself, it mostly boosts your Netdeck. Just keep an eye on your RAM usage while you''re out and you should notice a difference. How¡¯s the head? Any headache? The neck? Sometimes the headache shows as a stiff neck.¡± He suddenly asked as he rolled over with a inhaler and prompted me to take a hit.


    ¡°No? I feel fine. Nothing seems wrong.¡± I said checking my head and neck.


    ¡°Hmm. Usually you¡¯d have something after an install like that. Noticed you weren¡¯t having a problem with your Cyberdeck install last time either. I don¡¯t expect the Smart Link to cause any problem, but a new Neuralware is usually a quick road to a headache for a few days even with my care.¡± Vik muttered as he started running scanners over my head and seemed to be checking me out.


    I quickly pulled up my status page while he worked.


    First thing I noticed quickly was that my Cyberization number had gone up for Intelligence.


    Intelligence 7 (11) Due to Cyberization, Maximum value has increased by 4.


    It used to only be increased by 2. So I guess the EX-Disk made a difference?


    But also.


    Arasaka SmartLink System. *Adaptation SmartLink 0/0*


    Arasaka Ex-Disk *Adatapation Ex-Disk 0/0*


    Neither of the two Cyberware had an adaptation cost?


    I could only humm to myself as Vik worked on checking me out, but I felt fine. Better than fine really.


    Eventually after taking all the scans. Like literally all of them, Vik let me go. He was relieved that he wasn¡¯t finding anything, but also sorta grumpy that he wasn¡¯t finding what he expected.


    So I left him to his grumpiness but only after thanking him, and handing over some money for the work. Then I went home again. I was feeling the need to grind some more. Plus I really wanted to level my programming so I could make my music box idea work.


    Even if it was stupid and just for my music hobby, it would be really cool if it worked! No! When it worked!


    I hummed along to the radio as I drove home.


    ¡ª-


    So I was taking a break from programming Ping. Instead I had pulled out my toy. I mean my very important directional microphone! That was for super important gig work! And not a toy!


    But I was trying to program the damn thing.


    All I was trying to do was get it smart enough to be able to focus the audio on what I wanted to hear, and filter out any background noise.


    Programming is hard though.


    I wasn¡¯t making much progress, at least not efficient progress. Everything I typed out was twigging my Debug knowledge telling me it was going to be a mess to work with.


    But that didn¡¯t really matter. I just needed to keep grinding and eventually.


    *Programming skill level up!*


    That would happen!


    Programming 4! I enjoyed the surge of knowledge as I nodded along considering what had just been dumped in my head.


    Then I took the program for the mic I had been working on and deleted almost all of it.


    Yep. It was dogshit.


    Then I started again, using the best bits of the last build. I would get this to work!


    ¡ª-


    ¡°Will never fade away.¡± I crooned as I had taken a break from my programming to strum my guitar and sing.


    I wasn¡¯t so much stuck on the programming as just needing to let my mind do something else for a while. So many numbers.


    Plus with my two perks filling in for me. I could basically shut down my brain and play a song and not really have to think about it. Letting my brain cool down from the math overload.


    *100 Rockerboy XP Gained.*


    The message popped in after I finished the song, I couldn¡¯t help but smile because Rockerboy leveled up super fast. Even though I wasn¡¯t getting alerts after every song, or even every other song, it didn¡¯t really matter. I played the songs simply enjoying the music and the alerts came in. Plus it helped that I kept adding more and more to my play.


    First it was just strumming and singing badly along, then my instrumental cleaned up, and now I have Siren Song. My voice was so much better, so I was actually singing smoothly


    It was fun now! I didn¡¯t feel like a grind anymore. When I played it really was just because I wanted to hear the song.


    The only thing that annoyed me was that I only had a guitar. I still needed to get my music box programmed so I could start doing the rest of the songs too.


    I sighed as I put the guitar down.


    Back to work.


    ¡ª--


    The next day, long after Jun had left for work again, I was standing on the couch and screaming at the top of my lungs while I rocked out.


    I was just a little irritated at the programming not coming together.


    But at least I had a nice outlet. The squeal of my guitar echoed around the apartment as I finished the song and flopped onto the couch to catch my breath.


    I needed¡­


    I don¡¯t know. More things to tweak, more programming to grind with. My microphone work had helped, but it wasn¡¯t enough. I either needed to get an example of someone already having programmed a directional mic, or I needed to level up a lot more.


    It was irritating. Even if I was still getting skill alerts while failing.


    I put the guitar on the stand and stood up. The music helped me break how stuck I was so now I had an idea. It was time to go talk to Yoko.


    Suiting up in my normal outfit, and a quick drive later I walked into the Dewdrop Inn to see Yoko as always at the counter.


    ¡°Yoko. I just got an upgrade to my deck, I need some Quick hacks to fill it up¡­ Whatcha got?¡± I asked as I leaned over the counter and she nodded.


    ¡°Here¡¯s my selection.¡± She offered, pulling out a data pad, and handing it over and there listed out were all of the programs she had.


    In this case she was actually selling them for eddies, but I noticed there was a second tab for ¡®better¡¯ hacks that were only tradable with knowledge.


    Luckily I had the eddies. So I quickly started browsing.


    Most of it was just stuff from the game I recognized, although there were some different hacks. Some were meant only for Netrunning. Like ICE Shield which could create a temporary barrier against threats, hopefully giving you some time to jack out, or escape in the net.


    Or Distract which created¡­ Well junk data Daemons. That would spread out through a system and try to interfere with everything, filling files with bad data.


    But I wasn¡¯t looking for Netrunning code. Mostly because I had yet to really dip my feet into netrunning.


    It wasn¡¯t that I was nervous or anything, I just didn¡¯t really need it. Most netrunners couldn¡¯t just infiltrate a building and breach into their network directly bypassing any real worry about Black ICE killing them or anything.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take a Weapon Glitch, and a Reboot Optics.¡± I said confidently. Both were pretty base level programs, but I could fiddle with them, and more importantly, they could both be used in combat when I screwed up and got spotted. Being able to jam some gonks'' guns, or blind them would be an amazing help.


    I paid quickly and was already installing the programs in my deck as I walked out.


    Now I had some new programs to play with and level up!

 Chapter 62

    I decided to spend the rest of the day playing around with my new quick hacks, but I still had my chooms messaging and chatting with me throughout the day.


    Hiromi was mostly complaining about school, but she had put out some feelers to her new ¡®contacts¡¯ about any Scav info.


    Ichi hadn¡¯t found much from the old TC guys, but they had apparently liked his gumption to clean up the scavs, and Ichi told me that they would start asking around.


    Malcolm was just enjoying having some eddies and his parents were super happy with him coming home with thousands of eddies for a job. After they fussed and worried he had done something the NCPD would arrest him for anyways.


    Well that and showing off his new Mantis Blades. Seriously, he kept sending pictures of him posing with them every half hour. It was funny but a little embarrassing.


    But I was once more distracted happily with a new program to work on. I started with Weapon Glitch, mostly because being able to mess with someone''s weapon in a fight was an automatic I win button.


    And I wanted to make sure I knew how to use it, and defend against it if needed.


    So I dug into the code, and instantly started figuring out how the program works, and how badly coded it was.


    Another mess of programming. Although in this case I noticed something interesting.


    It was purposefully coded badly.


    The idea was so weird it took me hours of double checking before I was convinced.


    Unlike Ping which was a rather simple program, and was just an extension of net infrastructure. Weapon Glitch had obviously been designed by someone really really smart to specifically do what it said.


    But if I used my old metaphor for programming being the design of weapons. Someone had created a magical super sword for themselves, and then started making some lesser copies to sell around.


    The only reason I noticed it is because of all the experience noticing bad code thanks to Debug.


    There were sections of really smooth code in the program. Stuff that I didn¡¯t have a chance of copying myself, but then they would be hampered with really horribly written code that forced memory leaks, or loops in the process.


    So while I doubted I could reach the equals quality yet, I definitely could fix some of this nonsense.


    The fact the program used so much ram to activate, could easily be lowered with a few fixes.


    And that is when I realized what the original must have looked like. A program that could be used multiple times in a row to completely disable the weapons of an entire group. Instead of using a ton of ram to disable a single weapon.


    Yeah I wanted me one of those. But the thought of walking into a group of gonks and just wiping their ability to shoot at me in a glance was pretty cool.


    So I settled in to get to work. And very quickly I started getting XP alerts. A new program and problems to fix? Yeah that was all working towards a grind.


    ¡ª--


    I was a chunk through the next level to programming when I took another break when Jun came home seemingly in a rush. Barging in having obviously been moving fast.


    ¡°Motoko. Get dressed.¡± He said suddenly as he stood by the door and I looked away from the laptop screen I had been staring at for the last half dozen hours.


    ¡°Eh? What¡¯s up Jun.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a party. You¡¯re invited. C¡¯mon.¡± He said simply nodding his head towards my room as he rushed right past it into his own room, and I could hear him grabbing some junk.


    ¡°Party?¡± I called out curiously wondering what Jun was on about.


    ¡°It¡¯s a big party to commemorate the end of the war. 6th St. agreed to the cease fire completely. So it¡¯s over. Kamikaze are invited¡­ And Fujimura-Sama asked me to invite you as well.¡± He offered and I had to blink a bit at that.


    Did I want to go to a TC party?


    No. Not really.


    Did I care if Fujimura invited me?


    No. Not really.


    Jun must have seen the look on my face because he smiled. He had something planned for sure.


    ¡°There will be food. Good food. Just come, you don¡¯t have to do anything. Just enjoy the food¡­ Even if you don¡¯t want to be with the Tyger Claws anymore, you are still one of us.¡±


    I blinked.


    Jun you sneaky bastard. You were trying to improve my opinion of the TC by having me eat their food.


    I mean it was sneaky enough to work, but I doubt it will change my opinion of the gang.


    ¡°Fine, but only because free food sounds kinda preem.¡± I agreed and Jun smiled a little as he nodded, reaching over and fluffing my hair which considering he had on Real Skinn actually felt kinda nice.


    Onii-chan headpats were pretty good.


    ¡°Let me get cleaned up.¡± I told him, waving his hand away. I couldn¡¯t just let him think I liked it when he patted my head after all. I would have to mess with him soon to make sure he understood.


    But I got dressed in my normal clothes and followed Jun out into the night.


    What could go wrong?


    ¡ª--


    ¡°And this is my sister Motoko.¡± Jun introduced me to another high up TC guy. Seriously I had seen so many Yakuza wannabes they were all flowing together into one Super Yakuza.


    But none of that mattered.


    Suuuushi.


    Okay coming to the party was a good idea. I stuffed another synth-sushi into my mouth despite Jun trying to introduce me to someone.


    Because fuck them. But Sushi tasted goooood.


    The Yakuza guy nodded to me but turned back to focus on Jun. No one that Jun had mentioned to me had even taken a second look at me so far which was good. Because I was far more interested in the snack bar.


    Which is a way to say I was basically just camping it forcing Jun to stand awkwardly next to me as I snacked.


    He didn¡¯t have to. I told him he could go hang out in the party, but he was acting kinda skittish. Apparently all of these yakuza types were ¡®important¡¯ and ¡®powerful¡¯ or whatever. I didn¡¯t care. Free sushi.


    But it wasn¡¯t just TC guys hanging around.


    There was a detachment of 6th St. ¡®soldiers¡¯ hanging around as they chatted with the TC leaders.


    This was a party to celebrate an end to the open conflict between the gangs after all.


    Open conflict anyways. Of course the gangs would still happily kill each other in the dark and deny responsibility.


    But overall it was boring. The party was taking place in one of the skyscrapers in Japantown. Apparently it acted as a club that the TC owned when it wasn¡¯t in use by the gang.


    Of course tonight was a private event.


    ¡°Kusanagi. Kusanagi.¡± A familiar voice spoke up interrupting my snack and Jun was already offering a bow.


    Fujimura to my surprise looked a bit different, he had definitely lost some chrome. He gave Jun a nod in return before looking towards me.


    Dangit, he actually wanted to talk to me didn¡¯t he? I sighed internally as I finished chewing my sushi and swallowed. ¡°How¡¯s it going?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a shame the war ended when it did.¡± He suddenly said out of nowhere. ¡°If you had been dragged into a few more battles, they wouldn¡¯t be ignoring you. They¡¯d be seeking you out for their own benefit like they do your brother.¡± He said suddenly surprising me as he looked around and took in the people around us.


    ¡°I like it this way. It would be annoying to be bothered by them. I mean I get to stand here and eat Sushi, so it all works for me.¡± I offered with a shrug.


    He snorted unhappily. ¡°You don¡¯t have the burn for more. You lack of ambition¡­ Disappointing. Kusanagi, try to drag your sister into her potential it would be a waste if she simply wallows as she is.¡± Fujimura says to my surprise. It was a backhanded compliment, but a compliment all the same.


    What a weird guy.


    ¡°Yes Fujimura-Sama.¡± Jun agrees but I know my brother pretty well at this point. He was agreeing just to agree. But Fujimura wasn¡¯t entirely done.


    He turned to me again and gave me a long look over.


    ¡°Girl. I¡¯m no fool. You may wish to separate from the Tyger Claws. I¡¯ve seen many like you. Thinking that they don¡¯t need the Tygers protection anymore. It won¡¯t matter in the end. Someday, you will find yourself in need of friends, and we will still be there. Perhaps then you will remember who truly are on your side.¡± Then he just walked away.


    Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.


    I decided to just stuff more Sushi in my mouth. Crazy Cyberpsycho TC leaders talking nonsense at me.


    ¡ª-


    ¡°I don¡¯t feel great.¡± I muttered to Jun as I walked out of the bathroom.


    ¡°I warned you to stop eating so much sushi. You made yourself sick.¡± He told me without a hint of sympathy as he led me back into the ballroom where the party was taking place.


    It wasn¡¯t my fault! The sushi was so good. But now my stomach was really not happy with me.


    Okay it was my fault. I¡¯m adult enough to accept that I literally ate myself sick.


    ¡°C¡¯mon we can leave early and head home.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­ Sorry Jun-Nii.¡± I muttered struggling not to puke. Okay definitely my fault. Stupid Motoko. Real stupid.


    But it was sooo tasty!


    I shook that thought away my stupid brain not knowing when enough is enough. Jun guided me through the party, and apologized to a few of the TC higher ups as we passed. Jun covering for me, saying I just wasn¡¯t feeling well, and not that I made myself sick by eating too much.


    Eventually we entered the elevator down to the garage at the same time as another of the big TC guys.


    Honestly I could see the Neon Yakuza tattoos crawling over his suit up the back of his neck and across the back of his hands.


    He spoke to Jun while his date, a beautiful neon goddess that was definitely a Doll fussed over me. I could literally see the Doll chip Cyberware starting just behind her ear going down her throat. The gold engravings glinted against her pale skin.


    It was pretty, if you know the fact it was literally a pseudo mind control thing didn¡¯t make it kinda disgusting.


    Although I was pretty sure it was the woman in truth and not the programming as she hummed over my back and even gave me a little back rub as I rested my head against the cool chrome of the back of the elevator.


    Ugh too much sushi.


    Stupid Motoko, acting like a child and overeating. Dumbass.


    The elevator stopped with a jolt and the four of us walked out. Jun guided me along as the TC guy and the Doll both left arm in arm, an expensive looking car pulling up for them with a beep.


    Which is when everything went wrong.


    I felt it. That sense shooting up my spine. Danger Sense.


    A glint in my periphery. The smell of blood. A noise of a heavy footstep on concrete. Too heavy to be normal.


    ¡°DOWN!¡± I screamed and kicked out Jun¡¯s knee so we went tumbling just in time to avoid the barrage of machine gun fire above his head.


    The TC guy was also lucky. The moment I screamed out, he had moved, jumping into the car with the instincts of a man who had heard screams to move before. And it had saved his life.


    The poor Doll wasn¡¯t as lucky, she went down with a cry and the splattering sound of meat.


    An LMG was pumping rounds towards us aiming to kill us all. No, I realized thankfully, aiming for his target. The TC Leader who was now hiding inside his car and trying to get it started even though his car was getting hammered with bullets.


    But Jun was going to get up soon, and no doubt Jun and I would be a target the moment we did.


    Everything went slow. My mind focused. I only had one chance to survive this.


    Jun only had one chance to survive this.


    My mind blazed, my eyes burned. I attacked.


    It had been a long time since I had done any Quick Hacking, and never with an offensive program like this.


    I could barely see the man himself, just his hulking outline as he fired from the shadows of the garage, right next to a car that had an open trunk. The fucker had been in the trunk of a car. Probably just sitting and waiting for his target.


    Smart fucker.


    But in just a moment I was done. His ICE resisted but it only lasted a few moments before I was in. His LMG suddenly sparking as its electronics shut down causing a jam in the receiver as it tried to double load a round.


    Stupid Jun! He was still holding onto me not realizing the attack was over. And the moment it took me to try and push him away was too long. Because I had quick hacked him, no way he didn¡¯t realize I had been the one to shut down his toy.


    I looked up Just in time to see the attacker just ¡®appear¡¯ in front of us.


    Fucking Sandevis-


    I didn¡¯t even get a chance to quick draw before he laid into Jun and I with a kick.


    No, it wasn¡¯t a kick. A kick would just hurt. This was like being struck by a moving vehicle.


    We were sent flying. While in the air I had a moment to be happy that Jun was mostly okay since he was mostly borged as well, even if he got rocked into the concrete wall beside the elevator.


    I on the other hand was 90% squishy meat even if I had desperately tried to block the kick with my arms.


    I went flying down the garage, rolling along the concrete. The fact he had kicked me in the stomach meant I had left a trail of my previous meal all across my path.


    Gross.


    I gagged and choked once I landed blood joining my meal on the concrete.


    Fuck that hurt.


    Jun was getting back on his feet. Looking more pissed off than I had ever seen him. I groaned as I wiggled my toes. Confirming my back wasn¡¯t broken, just my insides as I forced myself up.


    Fuck this guy, and fuck this night.


    The borgs target was obviously the TC leader who was doing his best to get his car moving to escape this assassination.


    Jun attacked him, because of course he did. Despite not having his Katana, Jun was relying on his Gorilla arms, slamming a fist into the borgs side to keep him from reaching into the car to grab the TC guy with his utterly massive hands.


    Fuck this guy was as big as Maine. Like Anime big. Easily seven plus feet tall, and absolutely beefed out.


    This wasn¡¯t just some random fucker. This was an edgerunner level Cyberpunk.


    Fuck. Jun and I were in the middle of this.


    But fuck this guy even more for trying to kill us!


    The noise of the car finally starting changed the battle. The Edgerunner was distracted.


    Burya was drawn even as borg guy punched Jun back, and then with an almost casual swipe of his arm, he literally knocked the car off its wheels and onto its side. The rear wheels spinning helplessly as it was no longer able to escape.


    But his attack thankfully opened him up to me. Jun was out of the way and the fucker was extended.


    Burya barked, and Edgerunner went from completely ignoring me to focused entirely on me as a massive hole was punched into his back.


    He shifted and I fired again and again, but to my frustration they all missed.


    He had activated his Sandy after my shot and literally ducked and dived around the shots.


    Okay speedware was on the list of stuff pissing me off now.


    I met his glaring red eyes. Although this guy had a face, his optics screamed Maelstrom. He raised his arm.


    Oh.


    Fuck.


    I jumped to my feet, ignoring the way my insides seemed to leak at the feeling, I was definitely hurting internally but that didn¡¯t matter. I jumped, just managing to slide between a few cars as the rocket he shot at me exploded into the concrete where I had been standing. I coughed out blood again as I hit the floor, rolling a bit as the shockwave washed over me. I puked up some more blood. Not a good sign.


    But I wasn¡¯t done. I rolled onto my back and started reloading while I was out of sight.


    Fuck Jun don¡¯t die you moron. I couldn¡¯t help but think as I could hear him yelling and fighting with the borg.


    I reloaded in a blur. Despite every movement making my stomach spasm in pain as muscles that had just been tenderized screamed at me, Cold Blood, and Cool Nerves meant I wasn¡¯t bothered.


    Kill the borg.


    Then make sure I wasn¡¯t going to die.


    Reloaded, I rose up and took aim but winced.


    Jun was in the way. The two were wrestling and Jun was obviously losing.


    But I couldn¡¯t make the shot. I growled which only hurt me more than anything and instead ducked back down and started moving, slipping behind the cars I made it to the stupid TC¡¯s car that was still on its side having been wedged up against the backs of a few of the other cars parked in the garage.


    But that was perfect for me.


    I quietly climbed up to the side of the car to get on top of it. Which put me right next to the two fighting away beating on each other.


    The shot was perfect, his big stupid head was right there. Burya barked once more. Echoing through the lot as a massive hole exploded in the borgs chrome, but not into his head where I had been aiming.


    He had noticed and raised his shoulder. I had been aiming for his head so instead of ending the fight all I did was put a big hole in his shoulder.


    A shoulder that wasn¡¯t disabled as I learned a moment later as he swept his arm at me.


    I wasn¡¯t fast enough to dodge. The back hand hit and I blanked out for a time.


    It was only an urge to cough that ended up spitting blood all over my face that made me open my eyes and realize I had passed out at some point. I was smashed atop a car down the way, having hit it so hard I was indented into the roof.


    The sound of Jun roaring brought me back. I reached down for my Max doc pouch, hands actually trembling as I brought it to my lips


    The first puff brought me back to awareness, back to my focus.


    I still hurt. A lot in fact. But I was alive.


    I sat up and noticed my Burya wasn¡¯t in my hand. Fuck, that borged out fucker had actually hit me so hard I lost my gun. Spotting my Burya on the ground right next to where the borg was beating my brother to death made me stand up knowing that I had to get involved. I popped my neck lightly, as I had the worst crick in my neck and then it was on.


    Once again I was out of the fuckers sights. He probably thought I was dead. Hell Jun Probably thought I was dead too. Which probably explained why he was getting his ass beat so bad.


    My eyes were open. My thoughts were clear. This borg needed to die.


    Jun needed help right now.


    I attacked again. This time Reboot Optics slammed into his system. The ICE just as ineffective as it was before. Suddenly his eyes shut down mid fight, and for just a moment Jun had a chance.


    But Jun wasn¡¯t alone.


    I started running, moving as silently as I could as I charged in. Speedware was only effective if you could move.


    So I just had to disable that first.


    My knife was yanked out of its sheath, and I even grabbed one of the throwing knives I had taken from the Raffen. Burya was on the ground, and that was my only chance to really finish this. So I needed it.


    Just as I reached the Borgs back I threw myself into a slide. Both knives held out and slammed into the back of the fuckers knees.


    Both skittered and skipped, but even subdermal armor couldn¡¯t protect the joints perfectly, the throwing knife skittered off but cut into the flesh before deflecting, but my main knife managed to slip into a soft patch and pierce through into the internals.


    ¡°Bitch!¡± The borg roared a bit, but not in pain. Just anger. Obviously his pain editor was active. Jun though was there with me. He reached out and grabbed the arm that had been aiming towards my general direction a moment before and started retaliating.


    The borg tried to kick me once his arm was held back, but I was already tumbling forward dodging his weak blow and grabbing the Burya and then while on my back aimed upwards.


    I didn¡¯t hesitate and while the fucker obviously activated his speedware, trying to fight back against us both. But blind, stuck between Jun and I, and with a knee injury he couldn¡¯t dodge. Burya hammered my shoulders into the concrete as I fired all three rounds punching upwards into him.


    White borg blood poured out of him onto me.


    This fucker was stronger than Jun. He was bigger than Jun.


    But he now had three more bullet holes tearing up his insides. Jun was on him. Pounding his fists into the fuckers chest, Each time the borg started trying to retaliate Jun would slam a fist into the damaged sections of chrome. His first squirming and searching digging into the chrome and ripping out whatever he could grab.


    It wasn¡¯t completely effective.


    Even injured. Even two on one, even with Jun hammering away the borg just wasn¡¯t stopping.


    I didn¡¯t have another reload for the Burya.


    I didn¡¯t have my Thermal Katana. I didn¡¯t have anything that could really scratch this guy on me.


    But that didn¡¯t mean I was going to let Jun have all the fun.


    I drew my Lexington, and started taking potshots, trying to shoot into the holes that my Burya had already opened up. It was hard with Jun there, but a few went in and each time it caused the borg to jerk as something internal took a bullet.


    The borg stepped back. Probably the first time he had been forced to retreat since the fight started, showing just how fucking scary this bastard was.


    I stood up and kept with Jun. Dodging around Jun and popping off rounds whenever I could. As the two of us double teamed the borg pushing him back.


    Teamwork!


    It was surprisingly effective, the guys fucked up leg meant that even when he activated his speedware he couldn¡¯t quite ¡®catch¡¯ us, although it did make his arms move incredibly fast, and the one time I barely got out of reach I could feel the wind blow past my face like a truck had just raced by at a hundred miles an hour.


    But it wasn¡¯t enough.


    I could see it in his face as he realized he had fucked up. Blind and hamstrung he couldn¡¯t escape. That he was too slow now to stop us from slowly tearing him apart.


    If the fucker was a moose, Jun and I were wolves pulling him apart piece by piece. Sure he could kill us with a hit, but he was slow, weak.


    In the end as much as I wanted it, Jun took the kill, instead of dodging a blow Jun grabbed the borgs hand before he could pull it back and tugged unbalancing the borg giving him time to leap at him, climbing up the fucker Jun wrapped his arms around the borgs neck and started pulling.


    Sure the Borg reached up to try and stop him, but he was having some issues because that left his stomach open to me.


    I quickly reloaded another magazine into my Lexington and pushed the gun straight into his open guts.


    Lexington were automatic pistols.


    I unloaded shifting the angle so bullets would be bouncing all around in the fuckers chest.


    His arms went limp and Jun roared as he tugged.


    The borgs head popped free with a nasty crunch, sending Jun falling off and onto his back, and then the borgs body crumpling as its will left it.


    As its ghost died.


    The garage was silent after that. Except for Jun and I¡¯s heavy breathing. He slowly sat up and I winced as he looked like he just finished a ten round boxing match. His face was already puffing up and more purple than anything else.


    ¡°You look like shit.¡± I couldn¡¯t help but inform him as I settled down on the ground. My legs felt weak, and my everything hurt.


    ¡°¡®Uck you.¡± He said slurring, but he was alright if he had the energy to bring up his middle finger to flip me off.


    ¡°What the fuck?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but ask, questioning the world because that was some serious shit.


    I had fought Borgs before. Hell I had even fought Cyberpsychoes! But that guy was a walking tank. A monster that I wasn¡¯t sure I would be able to kill even from the shadows. Hell I had shot him multiple times with my Burya, and he hadn¡¯t gone down.


    ¡°You gonna live?¡± I asked Jun as he just flopped down on the ground and hadn¡¯t gotten up.


    Instead of saying anything he threw up a thumbs up and just laid there.


    Fair.


    That was totally fair. I glanced over at my alerts for the fight. I didn¡¯t get the XP. Fucking Jun killstealing¡­ Nah fuck it. I¡¯m too tired to care.


    Quickhack leveled up. Level 4. And I had gotten a Body level. Body 7! I guess fighting some edgerunner borg had some advantages¡­


    The sound of men rushing up jerked me back to awareness. Had I just passed out again? I looked up to see an army of the TC guys from upstairs, all of them the guards that had been around the room rushing out of the elevator and the stairs. Immediately they started checking around, and even checking on the TC boss in the car. Turns out he was alive.


    Yay.


    The poor Doll wasn¡¯t though. I noticed one of the guards checking and after a brief moment he simply stood up and walked away.


    Yeah the big holes in her chest from the Edgerunners LMG would make living difficult.


    Fuck that sucks.


    I didn¡¯t even know her name. But she had been nice.


    ¡°Kusanagi.¡± I blinked looking up towards Fujimura of all people who was now looming over me.


    ¡°Hey. We got him.¡± I mentioned nodding my head towards headless borg guy.


    ¡°I see that. You¡¯ll live?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. My stomach is on the wrong side of my spine, but I¡¯ll live.¡± I tell him, and to my surprise I get an actual huff of a laugh out of the cyberpsycho.


    What the fuck?


    A moment later a big coat was put over my shoulders, and Fujimura walked over to Jun to check on him too.


    Huh. Did he go get counseling as well as dechroming or something?


    Whatever this whole fucking night was a disaster¡­


    Do you think they¡¯d let me get some of the Sushi upstairs? My stomach was empty now¡­


    I blinked at what I had just thought. Shaking my head with a long sigh that hurt my insides. Motoko you dumbass.


    You won¡¯t be able to eat it right now anyways. Better ask for a to go box.

 Chapter 63

    An hour later I was sitting in Viks chair getting checked over. I had absolutely refused to go see the TC Ripper even saying I would drive myself over to mine if I had to. In the end Fujimura of all people had driven me over to Viks. The massive Cyberpsycho borg had left only after Vik had started taking care of me, seemingly satisfied he knew what he was doing.


    What a weird night.


    ¡°Motoko?¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°I asked, if you were gonna be alright, with your sleep healing?¡± Vik asked, making me realize he had been forced to repeat himself.


    ¡°Yeah. Yeah I should be fine. Why?¡±


    ¡°Cause other than some serious surgeries, there isn¡¯t anything else I can do about all of this.¡± He said seriously, face pinched into a look of honest concern.


    ¡°Oh yeah I¡¯ll just sleep then. You don¡¯t mind?¡±


    ¡°Nah kid. Here. I¡¯ll give you some stuff for the pain-¡±


    ¡°Nah it¡¯s fine Vik. I¡¯ll just sleep and be fine in the morning, thanks though. For looking me over. I would be worried about sleeping around any other ripper. So¡­ Thanks Doc.¡± I told him, smiling as he fussed over me like a worried dad.


    Ah Viks Dad energy so stronk!


    ¡°Motoko. I usually have to talk my patients into taking less medication, not more. You¡­ Considering the scans of your injuries I took, you should be completely disabled thanks to the pain. Your injury is something I usually see when pedestrians are hit by cars.¡± He explained not quite calmly.


    ¡°Yeah the borg hit like a truck. Literally, he knocked a car on its side with one hit.¡± I muttered which made Vik fuss but I waved him off, a little weakly I¡¯ll admit.


    ¡°Alright let me take a nap, and you can check on me in the morning? Sorry for coming so late.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t apologize Motoko. I just wish I could do a bit more for you.¡± He muttered, reaching out and to my surprise patting me on my head!


    I smiled and had to bite back a chuckle because laughing really hurt.


    ¡°G¡¯night Vik.¡± I muttered and let my eyes close as I put myself to sleep for an eight hour nap.


    I awoke instantly like always, feeling great, the injuries healed, and to my surprise there were voices talking away in the clinic.


    I opened my eyes and took in the room, and had to still to keep myself from squealing.


    Because leaning nonchalantly against Viks desk as he chattered away was Jackie Welles. He was pretty much the same as he looked in the game. His voice had that same joking manner that made him so easy to make friends with.


    Although I did have to translate the spanish in my head, nearly every other word. Well what spanish I actually understood anyways.


    ¡°C¡¯mon Vik, you said we were going to get some training in today.¡± He whined pleading with the older man.


    ¡°I¡¯ve got a patient Jackie, you know the rules, that comes first.¡±


    ¡°Ah they won¡¯t even notice, they are passed out quiet, let¡¯s go to the ring, I know you want to get some jabs in yeah?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t mind.¡± I called out interrupting as Vik was gonna definitely say no.


    ¡°Motoko!¡± Vik called out happily as he spun his chair around. ¡°Finally awake, how¡¯re you feeling?¡±


    I sat up on the chair a bit and stretched, feeling my abs flex as I checked myself over. ¡°Feel like a hundred bucks like always.¡± I told him with a smile, but even as I was talking I was sending a message to Jun. I hope he was alright.


    ¡°Well that¡¯s good.¡± He said rolling over and starting to check me out even if I was trying to get up, Vik gently pushing me back down had me rolling my eyes and letting him work.


    ¡°See the little Senorita is just fine, C¡¯mon Vik! You know I¡¯ve been looking forward to this all week.¡± Jackie whined, literally whined like a kid, but it came off more charming than irritating.


    ¡°Vik I¡¯m fine. Go play with your friend.¡± I tell him, shooing him with my hand as I smiled at him.


    ¡°Motoko.¡± Vik said, giving me a look of disappointment.


    Which only made me laugh of course.


    ¡°Sit tight for a bit Jackie, let me give Motoko a look over, then since she will probably be running away, we¡¯ll get to the lesson.¡± Vik offered as he rolled across the concrete over to me. Quickly pulling up some scanners and taking a look.


    ¡°Aw C¡¯mon Vik. I¡¯m fine. I¡¯m tough, you know?¡±


    He instantly poked me with his needle hand.


    ¡°Ow! Ow ow ow!¡± I whined at him before he pulled away.


    ¡°I thought you were tough.¡±


    ¡°Says the guy sticking me with needles randomly!¡±


    ¡°Hehe. Yeah Vik you can¡¯t just go- Okay I¡¯ll stay out of it. Sorry Hermana.¡± Jackie said cut off from Vik turning to give Jackie a look, the much larger man raised both hands in surrender at Viks irritation.


    ¡°Hehe.¡± I chuckled too because it was a nice little atmosphere. ¡°So how''s it look, Vik? All good?¡±


    ¡°No. Your arm is still out of alignment. That hit you took knocked your chrome in along your upper shoulder. You''re lucky it didn¡¯t just break every bone from your shoulder into your chest.¡±


    I winced. Yeah that sounded painful.


    A long whistle came from Jackie. ¡°Jeez Hermana, what hit you? A truck?¡±


    ¡°He might as well have been. This guy was like eight feet tall and all chrome, he probably weighed a ton. I wasn¡¯t even the target. The guy just wanted to assassinate someone next to me and my brother.¡± I said looking over at Vik as he worked on fixing the damage to my chrome.


    Jackie frowned at that. ¡°Fuckin¡¯ Cyberpsychos.¡± He muttered, but I had to shake my head.


    ¡°No, he was clear headed. It was a professional hit. Guy was just borged up. Scariest fucker I¡¯ve ever seen.¡± I admitted and even Vik looked concerned. I hadn¡¯t mentioned to Vik yet about just what brought me in late last night.


    ¡°Real Edgerunner shit then? Sorry you got caught up in that then Hermana.¡± Jackie offered, to my surprise, before I understood what he meant.


    ¡°Oh don¡¯t worry. He might have got the drop on us, but between Jun my Brother and I? We walked away. He didn¡¯t.¡± I said with a smile that was all teeth.


    Jackie¡¯s eyes widened a bit as he obviously had to take what I was saying and process it.


    I mean. Wrapped up in bandages sitting in Viks chair without a weapon in reach, because Vik refused to let me keep my Burya or anything while he worked. It meant I didn¡¯t exactly scream dangerous merc.


    ¡°Huh. You actually fought someone like that?¡±


    ¡°Me and my brother¡­ I¡¯ll admit Jun did more than me. I just couldn¡¯t stand up to the guy''s strength. He was throwing me around like a ragdoll.¡± I said holding up my right arm that Vik wasn¡¯t working on and flexing it a bit.


    This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    I wasn¡¯t strong enough.


    Honestly it could have been disheartening.


    It could have been terrifying.


    But me? It just kinda made me excited. If I was weak? Gain Strength. It was that simple.


    I still had plenty more grinding I could do to level Body.


    If my body stat had been higher, he wouldn¡¯t have knocked me around like a child. If my reflex was higher, he never would have touched me.


    There was so much I could do to grow stronger.


    So I would.


    ¡°Alright kid. Run through a few stretches with that arm, tell me if it¡¯s catching anywhere.¡± Vik said cutting off my internal thoughts and I did as he said, stretching and shifting my arm in different ways.


    It felt good.


    ¡°Looks good Vik.¡±


    ¡°Great. In that case. You are good to go whenever.¡± He said, reaching out and patting my shoulder earning a smile from me.


    ¡°Yes! C¡¯mon Vik. You owe me some time in the ring, Hermano.¡± Jackie said smiling like a kid getting permission to hang out with his dad¡­


    Actually, didn''t Jackie have a bad relationship with his father? I remember something like that from the game.


    I guess I wasn¡¯t the only one that was treating Vik as a pseudo dad.


    ¡°Alright kid. Alright. Motoko, You¡¯ll be alright?¡±


    ¡°Course! But no way am I leaving. I want to see this! You guys are going to box a bit right?¡± I say as I sit up and I was already starting to get dressed again. Pulling my Leotard up over the bandages that Vik had covered me in last night.


    I would take a moment to remove them later when I wasn¡¯t around a couple of old guys. But after a moment my Leotard was zipped back up, and I was as modest as usual.


    ¡°Heh! C¡¯mon then Hermana, you¡¯ll get a treat see me beat up on the old timer.¡± Jackie joked, throwing me a wink, and while Vik had looked a moment away from trying to convince me to leave, Jackie distracted him.


    ¡°Oh you think so huh kid? Alright then.¡± Vik offered as he took off his Ripper tools and pulled out a set of boxing gloves from his desk. Then he threw another pair at Jackie. ¡°Get gloved up Jackie. I think you need a few lessons from this old timer.¡± He said and I laughed at the look Jackie had on his face.


    ¡®Oh I fucked up.¡¯ Pictured in pure stark relief stretched across his face.


    ¡ª--


    To my surprise the boys didn¡¯t just go at it right in Viks clinic. Instead they headed into the building Misty¡¯s shop was in, right next door, and took the elevator up to the roof. There they prepped themselves and I rooted Vik on, as Jackie and him went at each other.


    Well it wasn¡¯t quite that brutal, it was a teaching thing. Vik was working Jackie over. Punching and jabbing forcing the bigger man to block and shift on his feet, every set amount of time Vik would switch to defense and Jackie would go at him.


    It was fun. Entertaining, and surprisingly useful.


    *100 Street Brawler XP Gained.*


    I actually got an alert just from watching and listening. As Vik walked Jackie through mistakes, or prompted him to change his rhythm.


    It was fun!


    ¡°Alright Jackie. Give me a break. My old man''s bones are tired.¡± Vik teased as he rested back against the wall and wiped some sweat from his brow.


    Jackie, looking almost as tired, wiped his forehead as well and gave Vik that charming boyish smile of his. ¡°You¡¯ll be fine. Probably outlive us all.¡± Jackie said with a chuckle, and I couldn¡¯t help but wince at that.


    Yeah.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you show me some jabs, you¡¯re left is messing with your guard still. Make sure you practice it a bit more.¡± Vik said and Jackie sighed but did as he said, raising his gloves and starting to swing.


    But I could see it, just as easily as Vik. Jackie kept dropping his right guard whenever he jabbed with his left.


    ¡°Vik throw me the gloves.¡± I called out hopping off the edge of the roof that I had been sitting on and walking over to Jackie.


    ¡°Motoko-¡±


    ¡°I know how to box Vik, I¡¯ll admit you both are better than me, but I can help with this.¡± I called out but it was Jackie that interrupted next.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know Hermana, I don¡¯t want to hurt ya you know?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t stress.¡± I waved him off and Vik sighed but threw me the gloves. They weren¡¯t boxing gloves, but coaching gloves. Padded to fit an open palm so you could take the strike without pain. I slipped them on as I stood in front of Jackie. ¡°My arms are chrome, so you¡¯ll be more likely to feel it if I don¡¯t give enough C¡¯mon show me that jab again.¡±


    I raised the gloves and Jackie still hesitated, before I moved in and threw a few jabs of myself, not enough to hit, but to force him into the rhythm. Then he moved.


    Jackie was surprisingly fast with his fists, and his form was solid. Power and speed.


    It made sense why Vik took the time to help him train a bit. He was a natural.


    But I was a gamer.


    I easily blocked the first three jabs he gave and then despite hesitating for a moment after he fell into the flow that I had no trouble keeping up.


    I was just giving him spots to hit after all. We fell into the flow, and when I baited the left jab I reached out and tapped his cheek with my right glove as I blocked with the left.


    ¡°Open.¡±


    He blinked, stepping back in surprise at the sudden assault. Jackie blinked for a moment processing what had just happened, before nodding. Then he moved back in, and the flow resumed. A few moments later I once more baited the jab, and the same thing happened, he jabbed, lowered his right glove, and I gave him a tap on his chin.


    ¡°Open.¡±


    ¡°His eyes narrowed, but it wasn¡¯t in anger. It was an acknowledgement. We went into it again. Jackie''s fists were flying, and I noticed the change this time as he went for the jab, his right glove stayed up, and when I purposefully chose to make the move, his glove blocked me.


    ¡°Better. Again?¡± I asked and to my surprise Vik nodded looking on happily.


    Jackie? Jackie was beaming. ¡°Hell yeah Hermana, let¡¯s do it.¡± He said, chuckling loudly as he squared up, and I nodded. His glove cracked against my own as he started into a routine.


    *100 Street Brawler XP Gained.*


    ¡ª--


    *100 Body XP Gained*


    I brushed off the alert as I stretched. Jackie had been a bit too fast a few times and tagged me. If my arms, or shoulders were still flesh I would definitely be bruised, instead I was just a little sore where the chrome met flesh. Like my muscles had been pulled a bit.


    ¡°Sorry about that Choom. You¡¯ll be alright?¡± He asked, looking concerned. Made sense. Jackie was a big guy, and I was very much a small girl.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine. Nice workout. I haven¡¯t been hitting the gym enough recently.¡± I told him while wiping sweat from my brow.


    Jackie and I were both sweaty, having worked ourselves pretty hard. Vik had come in, guided us both on some improvements, and then took the elevator back down before we finally had enough.


    ¡°Your endurance is good.¡± I teased him a bit as he was now sitting back on one of the lawn chairs that someone had left up here.


    ¡°No way, you stayed on me the whole time. I¡¯m exhausted ¡®Toko. You said you were what, fourteen?¡±


    ¡°Yep.¡± I agreed, and he shook his head.


    ¡°Damn. You certainly got some skill. You¡¯d fit right into the merc scene. Maybe in a few years you¡¯ll be earning rep instead of just boosting wheels, or whatever kids do these days.¡± He said laughing as he described something he probably did himself at my age.


    ¡°Gonk. I¡¯m already a merc.¡± I scoffed at his unintentional insult. ¡°I¡¯m good at infiltration, a bit of netrunning, and I¡¯m pretty good with a blade, or a gun.¡± I counted off my chrome fingers at each one. ¡°I hunted down a serial killer on my last gig. Ever heard of the Meat Man?¡± I asked, and to my pleasure Jackie actually looked serious as he nodded.


    ¡°Heard they finally got him. NN54 had a whole thing about it. That was you?¡±


    ¡°Wait¡­ My kill was on the news!?¡± I gasped as I rose up. ¡°I need to record it! Or see it!¡± I called out, waving my arms a bit in happiness.


    I was on the news!


    ¡°Whoa Hermana, easy. You can go to their site, should be easy enough to take a look at. You really killed that bastardo?¡± He asked surprised and I nodded.


    ¡°Sniped him with my Nekomata. Rescued the people he had kidnapped, even called in the NCPD so they could take care of it all. Ended up waiting around in handcuffs for a couple hours, but it was worth it in the end.¡±


    ¡°Well damn. Not bad, not bad at all little ¡®Toko. You¡¯ll make an edgerunner out of yourself someday.¡± He said laughing with a smile.


    ¡°Pfft. I¡¯m never gonna be an edgerunner. I don¡¯t plan on going out in some blaze of glory. I¡¯ll be the next Morgan Blackhand. I¡¯ll live until I¡¯m a hundred and thirty and still wipe the floor with all the gonk kids.¡± I tell him laughing at my mental image of myself as some ancient hag whacking kids with the back end of a Thermal katana.


    ¡°Heh. Not me. I¡¯m gonna make this city remember me hermana. I¡¯ll have a drink in the afterlife, and I¡¯ll live forever.¡± He said looking up at the sky smiling at his dream.


    I was grateful that he wasn¡¯t looking at me.


    My face couldn¡¯t be pleasant to look at as I watched on.


    I had watched this man die. Watched his final moments, seen his funeral, and all the pain it had caused.


    Jackie. Jackie was a street kid of Night City through and through.


    Even if I told him, even if I explained how much it would hurt his family, he wouldn¡¯t stop racing along the edge.


    The disgusting culture in this city, to throw your life away in a moment of glory. There would be no convincing Jackie that his life would have far more meaning if he stayed alive. Lived his life, had a family.


    Because he had been raised on the idea that a drink in a bar was the pinnacle.


    Disgusting.


    But nothing I could do right now. No words I could say, nothing I could show him. We weren''t even chooms yet. Just two people that knew a guy.


    ¡°Well how about you then Jackie? What happened on your last gig?¡±


    ¡°Oh? Oh yeah that was a fun one. Had to chase down this Pendejo to pay his bar tab funnily enough. It was all going well, tracked him down, got him in my grip, but then I realized he had chooms!¡±


    ¡ª--


    Jackie and I ended up getting distracted as Jackie told stories of all the jobs he had done. I realized pretty quickly that while he tried to hype them up, most of them were low level jobs. It startled me when I realized the truth.


    Jackie for all his talk, was pretty low level in the grand scheme of the merc hierarchy. I mean he was no Maine. No David.


    He was way less borged out for one.


    For another he talked himself up a lot, but he only really did low level gigs. It was his words near the end that made me realize the vast gulf between us.


    And maybe just how odd what I had been doing was.


    ¡°So Padre set me up with a chance to meet Wakako. Got a big gig coming up, if I do well, he¡¯ll put me in touch with her. The Dragon of Westbrook you know?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve never heard anyone call Wakako that before.¡± I muttered surprised. ¡°Usually it¡¯s the lady of Westbrook.¡±


    ¡°Yeah well¡­ I just came up with it. She is, you know? The most dangerous woman in Westbrook. She deserves a title like that. Makes her sound as dangerous as she is.¡± He sort of rambled and I couldn¡¯t help but chuckle at him as he sort of tried to defend his weird title.


    ¡°It sounds cool Jackie, I¡¯ll make sure to tell her about it next time I see her.¡± I tell him with a quiet chuckle.


    ¡°Pfft. Yeah you¡¯ll just walk into her parlor and talk to her, tell her about a preem new title she can use. But seriously don¡¯t do that. Fixers like Wakako are dangerous people. And don¡¯t like being bothered for shit.¡± He said, shaking a finger at me.


    Making me realize that Jackie had no idea I already worked with Wakako.


    I thought about telling him.


    I really did. I could probably help him out even give him some good hype with her.


    But then a thought happened. An evil. Funny thought.


    ¡°Hey Jackie. You said you got a gig from Padre right? What are you doing? Need someone to watch your back?¡± I asked, with a smile but Jackie instantly shook his head.


    ¡°No way Hermana. I¡¯m not dragging a kid into something dangerous. No way.¡±


    ¡°Aw C¡¯mon Jackie. Having someone watching your back is way safer than going it alone. I¡¯ve done work with the Tyger Claws before. I helped out during the war. Let me watch your back. You won¡¯t even know I¡¯m there.¡±


    He hesitated before sighing. ¡°Listen, Motoko. I know what it¡¯s like. Being a kid, wanting to be great, wanting to have your name in the sky, and everyone knowing who you are.¡± He shook his head. ¡°But you shouldn¡¯t rush into it. Being an edgerunner is one thing, but losing your life before you¡¯re even old enough to live it is a waste.¡± He said firmly.


    Ah he wasn¡¯t gonna budge.


    The jerk!


    Fine. I¡¯ll just troll him then.


    ¡°Fine. Well Jackie, this has been super fun. We should get together and do some more boxing again some time. It''s been a while since I had this much exercise.¡± I said stretching my back as I started walking off waving behind me. ¡°I¡¯ll see you again soon!¡± I called out.


    Sooner than he would think.

 Chapter 64

    First thing I did once I said goodbye to Vik, and stopped in to chat with Misty was call Wakako.


    *Wakako! My favorite fixer! How are you?*


    *What do you want?* She demanded instantly, my attempt to flatter obviously revealing my intentions.


    *You have a guy looking to work with you. Jackie Welles?*


    *I¡¯m aware, what about him?*


    *So he¡¯s not half bad. Got the skill, and the desire to push to the top. Bit of a gonk though. You¡¯ll do best by matching him up with someone, let him be the muscle and all that¡­ But when you finally meet with him. Can I be there? Pleeease?* I begged, not even bothering to keep any sense of self respect.


    Wakako let out a sigh and the line went quiet for a minute. *What nonsense are you trying to put together?*


    *Okay so Jackie, nice guy, I like him. When he said he was trying to work with you. I had a thought. ¡®Motoko you could help this guy finish this gig, and have a bit of muscle that you could trust on some gigs.¡¯ But Jackie¡¯s a bit of a gonk. Refused my help cause I¡¯m a kid. So now when he meets you¡­ I need to tease him a bit. Please Wakako! I just want to be there in person so he walks into the room and just sees me already there! The look on his face! You can¡¯t tell me it won¡¯t be funny!*


    *Girl. I¡¯m a professional. I don¡¯t do things just because they will be funny.*


    *I¡¯ll give you a discount on my next gig. Two thousand off.* I said instantly.


    The line went silent.


    *I will inform you if he completes the gig.* She admits frankly without any sign that she had to walk back on her words.


    Wakako! I love you.


    *Cool. So-*


    *I have a gig for you.* She said suddenly and my brain chirped as I got a text.


    *Oh? It¡¯s been a while. I expected you to be throwing gigs at me a lot sooner?*


    *You¡¯ve been busy enough without my assistance.* She says in a low tone. *But if you have so much more interest in work, I¡¯ll have more gigs for you soon.*


    Then she hung up on me.


    Wakako! I hate you.


    I sighed and checked the information. Humming a bit I sent back a confirmation I would get it done and turned around.


    ¡ª--


    This was gonna be interesting. I couldn¡¯t help but think as I looked over the building. It was an office building. They had some data that a client of Wakako¡¯s wanted. I was stealing from a small company.


    Entity Retail LLC.


    What did they do?


    No idea. Their company net page was basically full of corpo slang talking about using intelligent solutions to solve problems ect ect.


    The company could literally do anything if you actually believed its slogans. But that didn¡¯t matter. I was here to steal some information, nothing more.


    So I parked in a garage and walked in the front door of the business skyscraper.


    The company only rented one of the offices on the eleventh floor so it wasn¡¯t like I had to sneak all the way through.


    The building lobby was basically empty, just a generic corporate business lobby that I walked right through to the elevator. It took me a few seconds to know that hacking the elevator was a no go. It would take too long, so I walked past it to the stairs.


    The stairs were secured here at the bottom, but that took me far less time to break into than the elevator security, and then I was in the stairwell. Slowly I marched up the stairs actually enjoying the exercise a bit. Between this and training with Jackie I was getting a little physically tired.


    I peeked through the door that was marked 11 to see what I was dealing with.


    And it was a hallway.


    Right this wasn¡¯t some Arasaka Corpo office with HMGs around every corner. It was just an office building.


    I slipped in to look around. The hallway led to a main foyer that had three different corporations that I could see, at least based on the doors.


    It took me about thirty seconds after finding the corporation that I wanted to turn around and head back into the stairwell.


    On the door was the office hours, and considering I had seen a bunch of people inside?


    Now it was time to wait for closing time.


    ¡ª--


    It took a few hours, and if not for the ability to send texts and a really nice view off the roof of the building I would have been annoyed.


    I had thought about heading home, but by the time I actually reached the apartment I would have had to go out again anyways.


    So I spent a few hours enjoying the view from the top of the twelve story tower, while waiting for the office to close down¡­


    Well that and hacking into the building security.


    There was an access port on the roof, and I mean¡­


    It was just sitting right there.


    Sure the security was pretty good, and some of the different floors'' security was even better, but I had a few hours to burn, and it was something to do.


    So I breached in, and poked around. Taking over a few of the cameras in the system, deleting some files that had me on the camera, even if the image was blurry thanks to my Kiroshi. You know fun things.


    I was watching through the cameras as the time finally came, the office started clearing out over the next thirty minutes, until finally a man exited and turned off the lights on his way out.


    Go time.


    I disconnected and headed down, the security of the building already broken before me, so nothing stopped me.


    The office had its own secure system, and it was better than normal building security.


    It was just unfortunate that building security still had access to the office per their lease. So since I had already broken one system, I had given myself security administrator access to the office.


    I didn¡¯t even have to hack the system. It simply beeped and let me in.


    The office was dark, and a little spooky, but I fixed that by turning the lights on and started looking around. I needed to find the boss''s office, and it took me a few minutes before I spotted it. The door was locked, and it actually had a private security pad.


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    Which was hilarious because I recognized the pad, it was one you could buy from basically any store for a few eddies.


    The security was worse than the office itself. I suppose it was just meant to keep the workers in the office out.


    Thirty seconds later I was in, and exploring the boss''s office.


    The man obviously thought highly of himself. Paintings on the walls. Golden doo dads on the desk. A fancy computer rig.


    I woke it up, and it took me ten seconds to find the password written on a note nearby. It was almost sad that I didn¡¯t even have to breach in. I accessed the system, and then jacked in.


    Found the files the client wanted¡­


    And stole a few extras for me. I would trade it in at the Dewdrop for something maybe.


    Then I shut the computer down and whistled as I headed out.


    I even shut the lights out on my way out the door. Used the elevator which I now had security access to use, to hit the bottom floor and walked out.


    As I climbed into the Quadra, I sent a message to Wakako with the data.


    Gig complete.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°Finally!¡± I grumbled as I managed to get a new bit of code to compile. I was working on Weapon Glitch. Clearing out the jumbles of bad code, and trying to smooth out its process time. If my estimate was right. I could drastically increase the activation speed.


    But more interesting was the fact I knew this Quickhack could be used on multiple people at a time.


    The skill to do something like that was beyond me at the moment. I simply had no idea how to bounce a hack through multiple people, but it was possible, and it was something I wanted.


    I still remember the scene in edgerunners when the entire group of Maelstrom had all their weapons and Cyberware malfunction suddenly from a single Netrunner.


    That was edgerunner shit. Lucy, and Kiwi were at that level. The experience, Tech, and skill to pull it off.


    I wasn¡¯t, not yet anyways, but I just had to aim for that, and eventually the system would get me there.


    I shook my thoughts away and stretched, the code compiled. I had managed to for at least a small section of the massive program to clean it up.


    Now I just needed to do that like a thousand more times.


    ¡°Ugh. Stupid jerks putting out shitware. If I ever find out who fucked this code I¡¯ll kill them.¡± I promised as I laid back on the couch.


    I could use a nap.


    No one was bugging me at the moment. Jun was at work. Wakako had her gig completed the same day. Regina was still quiet. Hiromi was dealing with homework. Ichi and Malcolm were both enjoying their wealth from the scav cleanup.


    All was good.


    I sighed.


    ¡°Another thousand snarls to go.¡± I reminded myself and rose up putting my hands back against the keyboard and starting on the next section of snarled goofy code.


    *Intelligence Leveled up!*


    I blinked at the sudden alert, I had barely been able to fix a single line of code before the alert popped up.


    Intelligence 8!


    The alert perked me right back up and I buried my head in the code once more.


    ¡ª--


    I woke up the next morning to sunlight streaming in through the armored blinds. I had fallen asleep on the couch again instead of going into my bedroom, but it didn¡¯t really matter to me. I woke up feeling completely rested either way.


    ¡°Morning.¡± Jun said, almost startling me as he walked out of the bedroom. He hadn¡¯t come home last night before I fell asleep, and I hadn¡¯t even realized he had come home.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t hear you come in.¡± I muttered glaring a bit and he actually smirked at me, before very obviously starting to pace in front of me in the living room.


    It took a moment before I realized it. He made almost no sound as he stepped unlike the previous thuds he had made.


    ¡°Lynx Paws?¡±


    ¡°Yep.¡±


    ¡°Gonk!¡± I snarled, jumping at him suddenly, using the living room table to leap into the air to crash into him. A few moments of swinging myself around him turned into a grapple as I gripped his stupid face with both of my hands and smashed my forehead into his stupid gonk face.


    ¡°Fuck! Motherfuck!¡± He screamed out as he tried to rip me away.


    ¡°WHY DID YOU GET MORE CHROME YOU STUPID GONK FUCK!?¡± I screamed at him ready to smash his face again when he finally managed to grab my face to keep me from bashing him face to face again.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t! Fuck! Motoko you little!¡± He snarled as he kept trying to rip me away but failing.


    Thank you Grapple perk.


    ¡°Bullshit!¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t! The Lynx Paws were already installed! Fuck Owe! That hurt!¡±


    ¡°EXPLANATIONS REQUIRED OR PAIN WILL CONTINUE!¡± I snarled in his face.


    ¡°They were already installed, but they were shit. An old set, Motoko, now get off my face.¡± He growled and I finally accepted rolling backwards landing on my hands before pushing myself into a flip to land in a crouch on the couch.


    ¡°You did say you were going to Viks.¡±


    ¡°I did you fuckin¡¯ gonk.¡± He growled at me ¡°But the Lynx paws parts were from that chromed borg.¡±


    ¡°Grrr!¡± I growled at Jun waving my fingers threateningly as I considered angles to attack. He was aware of me now. The lack of surprise would make it harder.


    ¡°Enough! The crazy borg we fought had a set of Lynx paws, way better than the shit I had. So I got my chrome upgraded.¡±


    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t be installing new chrome you chrome brained gonk!¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t! I just upgraded!¡±


    ¡°Same. Thing!¡±


    ¡°Well it¡¯s done! Jeeze. My head hurts.¡± He grumbled. ¡°Since I flatlined him, a lot of his chrome was gathered up, I¡­ did the smart thing and didn¡¯t chip in any of the rest. Relax Motoko. I¡¯m not gonna go cyberpsycho.¡±


    ¡°Go see Vik to get everything checked out! You know he is better than that TC ripper you went to before.¡±


    ¡°Yeah yeah. Alright, alright. If it¡¯ll keep you from attacking me!¡± He stomped off to the kitchen, his new chrome making the act amusing since it wasn¡¯t really loud enough to get the point across.


    Ugh. My brother was a chrome dome.


    I sat back on the couch and just let out a sigh. Keeping that moron alive was going to be a full time job wasn¡¯t it? I really needed to get him a girlfriend¡­ Or a keeper.


    It might be a bit too soon still for the girlfriend thing. We hadn¡¯t talked about his reason for revenge on the Maelstrom in a while.


    Hell we were both basically pretending the group didn¡¯t exist for now.


    ¡°Hey.¡± Jun started speaking as he popped open a can of his energy drink soda garbage that I refused to try.


    ¡°What?¡± I said a little sulkily as he snorted at me in amusement.


    ¡°I¡¯m glad you¡¯re okay. I was worried¡­ That Edgerunner was.¡±


    ¡°Yeah a fucking monster.¡± I said, nodding in commiseration. ¡°I¡¯m glad you¡¯re okay too. I was worried even when we killed him.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I¡­ Are you sure you¡¯re okay? You were coughing up blood.¡±


    ¡°Yep! Vik fixed me up.¡± I waved it off not wanting to get into the nuance of how injured I had been.


    ¡°Good. Very good, also the TC are very very happy. Okina-Sama, the man we saved? He was super important. The fact we took out his attempted killer, and saved him? Word is getting around. Fujimura-Sama even angled it into both of us getting a lot of rep.¡±


    ¡°Ugh.¡± Jun snorted at my noise of displeasure but continued on.


    ¡°It¡¯s a good thing Motoko. Think of it as the TC owing you something, if you ever get in trouble with them then you have some credit to fall back on.¡±


    ¡°It also means they will be trying to recruit me.¡±


    ¡°Nah, as far as the higher ups are concerned, you¡¯re already one of us. Fujimura-sama is your ¡®boss¡¯ and no one else will mess with him.¡±


    ¡°Ugh!¡±


    ¡°Heh, it¡¯s fine Motoko, I¡¯ve spoken with him myself about it. He knows you aren¡¯t really interested in the gang stuff. He isn¡¯t happy about it, but he also knows that since I¡¯m there, you will always have a connection to the TC. He is betting on you eventually giving in and joining up in full.¡± Jun offers, basically saying that Fujimura is blackmailing me into always being friendly with the TC thanks to Jun.


    ¡°So what then? I¡¯ve got some rep with the TC? Seems kinda pointless.¡±


    ¡°Motoko. The video cameras of our fight were nabbed by the bosses, everyone saw what we did, what you did to save Okina-Sama. Okina-Sama himself actually had a fight with Fujimura-Sama about having you join his crew.¡± Jun revealed, making me grimace.


    Just what I wanted. Gang bosses fighting to own me.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine Fujimura-Sama won. You being a Member even not really of the Kamikaze meant Okina-Sama couldn¡¯t touch you. Just¡­ You did a good thing, and the TC won¡¯t forget. I¡¯ve been getting treated a lot better than before too. I¡¯ve had a few of the bosses calling me Jun-Dono you know?¡± He said looking all proud of himself.


    I just smiled and even reached up to pat his head which he quickly slapped away.


    It was nice that Jun was feeling proud of his accomplishments. I wasn¡¯t going to shit on that, even if I couldn¡¯t help but think the respect of a few mob bosses was worth less than the words it took to breath it.


    But hopefully since Jun was loyal and skilled that would only be to his benefit. Jun wandered off after that to relax and I was feeling bored.


    I settled back into the couch not in the mood for programming. I wanted to do something with my hands¡­


    I looked over to my room. It had been a while¡­


    I got up and cleared a spot on the table making sure I would have the room. I had come a long way since I first decided I would take care of this.


    I went into my room and after a few moments came tottering out with the damaged HMG that I had once claimed from my first Scav raid.


    The damaged barrel was still the most annoying part. It wasn¡¯t exactly a cheap piece of metal, having to take the forces the machine gun requires.


    But I was a lot better than before, and I had a pretty solid grasp of my 3D printer.


    As I took it apart, I ignored Juns look, which was obviously filled with jealousy at his little sister''s wonderful heavy weapons.


    If he wanted one he could get his own! This one was mine! I stol-Looted it fair and square!


    With the barrel removed, I fed it into the 3d Printer. It could break it down and remake it with enough time, and I actually know how to program that now.


    Then I basically broke down the weapon into component parts, checking every piece for damages.


    Not surprising since it was a rugged design, the weapon mostly alright. A few dents here and there, with only one that I would have to actually take care of. The receiver, and mechanisms were mostly okay, a few bits needed cleaning of course, and I had to do some fixing on the electronics, some of the wiring had been shaken loose and needed to be resoldered.


    But then it was basically done and ready to be put back together just waiting on the barrel, which was going to take a whole lot longer.


    *100 Crafting XP Gained.*


    I noted the XP alert, without much thought. With that I settled my almost completed HMG on the floor beside the couch and pulled my laptop back up.


    Always more to do.


    ¡ª--


    Late that night long after my HMG was once more fixed, and ready to fire, and as I was still digging through code, I got a call I had been expecting a long time ago.


    *Motoko.*


    *Regina. I was wondering if our work relationship had ended without me knowing.* I grumbled at her, but she sighed, sounding tired.


    *Things have been hectic over the last few days, I apologize. I told you before I had a gig that needed someone dead. You said you could do it.*


    *Yeah?*


    *Things happened, but the gig remains the same. The target is in hiding, and it took a while to confirm his location, but the client still wants him dead. You still in?*


    *Yeah I¡¯ll still take the gig. Send me the details.*


    I hummed a bit as I received a text, but Regina didn¡¯t hang up. I guess I was so used to Wakako throwing the details at me and then expecting me to get it done.


    I looked it over, and it honestly wasn¡¯t very different from the Jotaro job.


    Except for one thing.


    *What¡¯s up with this bar that he is hiding in?* I muttered, earning a chuckle across the line.


    *The Lions Den isn''t a normal bar. And unfortunately, it¡¯s likely that whatever face he walked into the bar with he is no longer wearing.*


    *Wanting me to kill a guy who I can¡¯t recognize isn¡¯t exactly a thrilling gig here Regina.* I muttered as I looked over the details, the bar was built out of an old warehouse in Santo Domingo, nothing crazy about the location, although it was 6th St. Territory.


    *The on site ripper keeps a log of all work she does. So you¡¯ll need to go through her to find out where the target is. You¡¯ll need to get in, get the info, kill him and get out. Think you are up for it?*


    *Yeah, I¡¯ll see what I can do tonight.* I mutter standing up and loading up. I might as well get started now. Maybe I¡¯ll be able to hack into the rippers computer. That would certainly make finding him easier. Just what sort of bar had an on site ripper doc? What the hell was Regina aiming me at?


    *Good, keep me informed.*

 Chapter 65

    My left eyelid was twitching, as I listened to the¡­


    Okay he looked like a shark man. So I¡¯m just calling him Sharkman.


    The Lions Den isn¡¯t just any bar in Night City apparently.


    It¡¯s the Exotics bar.


    Exotics was the description of a type of Biomod. I knew a little bit about it, although I hadn¡¯t actually even seen someone with them yet.


    But here they are. People that used Bioware to turn themselves into animals.


    I had parked in the bars parking and walking up to the entrance only to get instantly held up by Sharkman, the bouncer.


    His blue tinted skin, and grinning shark maw was intimidating I guess. Although I suppose the fact he was nearly eight feet tall probably helped.


    ¡°Listen kid. This ain¡¯t a public watering hole. Go find another bar.¡± He had denied me entrance instantly. Which was irritating.


    ¡°Listen I¡¯m meeting a choom of mine-¡±


    ¡°If you were meeting a choom, you¡¯d be on the invite list. You ain¡¯t.¡± He stated simply arms crossing over his massive chest, which was bare. Showing off perfectly sculpted muscles.


    You know if you were into Furries.


    ¡°She must have forgotten. I just want to-¡± Once again I was cut off by the Sharkman shaking his head instantly, and poking a finger into my chest pushing me back.


    He might be the shark, but if he kept that up, he was going to lose some digits.


    ¡°Listen, not sure if you¡¯re just curious. Or you are planning some shit, but this place doesn¡¯t welcome standards.¡± He said and it took me a moment to realize he was using standard to refer to¡­ Well everyone.


    I opened my mouth to argue but I could feel someone walking up behind me so I stepped aside, letting a woman that was definitely supposed to be some type of lizard pass without any issue from Sharkman.


    ¡°This is so annoying.¡± I grumbled turning back to the conversation but the Sharkman seemed done.


    ¡°Go on kid, you ain¡¯t one of us, and until you are, you ain''t welcome here.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just here to see someone. I¡¯m not looking for trouble, choom.¡±


    ¡°If you don¡¯t leave you¡¯ll find it.¡± He threatened simply, and I considered it. But I wasn¡¯t here to kill a bunch of people doing their jobs.


    I backed off. Walking back to the Quadra in a huff. I would just sneak in then. There was always a back door, or a roof access.


    An old Warehouse turned club wasn¡¯t going to stop me.


    So I drove down the block, found a place to park and walked back, this time making sure I was out of sight from the bouncer as I checked around the warehouse.


    Two ground floor entrances I noted. The front, and a rear entrance that was an old loading dock, but had a few vehicles parked around the walled off rear parking lot, turned¡­ Private park?


    It also had security.


    A camera was sweeping around over the rear door. I stuck to the shadows far from the building, hugging old storage units that were the nearest building to the club as I scoped out the place. Unfortunately the rear door was going to be difficult too.


    Not just the security camera, there was activity in the back, all along the loading dock, there were tables set up, and revelers were hanging around drinking, smoking, or worse.


    And all of them were Exotics.


    Guys with fur, women with multiple arms and eyes, some were minor exotics. Dog or cat ears at most. Some were full bore, looking more like a werewolf than a man.


    All of them were friendly and knew each other. They were all partying together, chatting or switching tables.


    There were a lot more people here than expected, and I wasn¡¯t going to be able to sneak in without instantly being noticeable. I wasn¡¯t a regular here, I would stick out immediately.


    I climbed up onto the storage units nearby and started checking out the roof of the warehouse, but that was a no go as well. There were tall walls surrounding the roof, and it took me climbing from the storage units roof to a nearby powerline before I was able to see down onto the roof.


    There was a pool up there.


    For fuck sake. What kind of bar was this?


    I bonked my head. Exotics weren¡¯t cheap. The mods required the risk to yourself, only rich crazy people tended to do it. It was even more of a niche culture now than it had been decades ago, Exotics haven¡¯t been cool in like thirty years. There weren¡¯t any exotic gangs in NC anymore, except maybe the animals, if you squinted.


    So if you were an older rich person wanting to hang out with an in group? One that was no longer fashionable?


    Of course they all kept their bar in top condition, private, secure, and if Regina had said was right, had an in house exotics ripper.


    I sighed, running through the options.


    I could go loud¡­ I mean, I did have a Rocket Launcher¡­ No I shook that thought away, I wasn¡¯t going to shoot up a bar to kill one guy. I would just have to do this like Jotaro, only I had known how to kill Jotaro, here? I didn¡¯t even know what my target looked like.


    Regina. I¡¯m going to be asking for a raise on this one I grumbled to myself as I realized this wasn¡¯t going to be a single night gig.


    Okay so Loud was out. Quiet was looking extremely unlikely¡­ I would have to hang around for a while and see if the bar got quiet. If they closed down in the morning, I could sneak in during the off periods.


    If anything else, there was another option¡­


    I didn¡¯t really want to consider that option.


    ¡ª--


    I had gone home, picked up a full selection of stakeout snacks, and then headed back up onto the roof of the storage units next to the bar so I could keep an eye out.


    With my Laptop in hand, at least I could do something while I waited, so I programmed as I watched the club.


    Stupid private furry club. Just let me in so I can systematically target and kill one of your people! Damn gonks!


    By the time the sun was peeking up hours later I was growing annoyed. Despite it being the start of the day, people were still showing up.


    People were leaving, but the amount overall seemed to stay the same.


    To my annoyance, I couldn¡¯t even sneak in as a worker. The cooks were exotics. The bartenders were exotics!


    The whole damn place was exotics!


    ¡°Fuck.¡± I grumbled thinking of other options¡­ I couldn¡¯t even rely on reboot optics or something to just blind anyone that I came across.


    Biomods can¡¯t be quick hacked. Most of the exotics didn¡¯t have a lick of chrome in them, at lest not the high end ones. Bioware only.


    Okay, I wasn¡¯t going to be able to infiltrate normally. It just wasn¡¯t going to happen without me doing something drastic.


    Let¡¯s get more information.


    This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    With the confirmation the party never ends, I peaked out from behind the top of the storage units until I could see the camera sweeping back and forth over the rear door.


    My eyes flashed as I started breaching in.


    Time to see what net security was like.


    The camera itself fell without too much issue, and I used it as an access point to their main system, but I immediately hit a snag.


    The system security was good.


    Really good. I wasn¡¯t net diving so I couldn¡¯t see the exact way the security revealed itself, but it wasn¡¯t off the shelf. A Netrunner maintained the security at the club I realized as I poked around. And I was pretty sure they weren¡¯t active in the system right now.


    Which at least opened up a chance.


    So I started poking through the ICE. Security alerts popping up as my searching daggers weren¡¯t as quiet as I would have liked.


    I broke through the initial ICE after about ten minutes, mostly I was just hoping the netrunner was asleep.


    The breach was successful, I could feel my Wall Breaking Daemon slip in and hide within the system. That particular Perk hadn¡¯t been as useful as I thought when I initially took it, but hopefully here it would help


    I began exploring, the window in my eyes showing the directory of connected systems as I began navigating through them, trying to find¡­


    I found it. The internal security cameras.


    There were a lot of them. And there were a lot of people inside like I suspected.


    The old warehouse had been completely remodeled, and there was even a basement floor! Any hope of me being able to slip in sight unseen went out the window. There were just too many exotics around.


    Especially when the cameras confirmed the ripper lived in an apartment in the basement. A full ripper office, and personal room that was heavily lived in. There wasn¡¯t a camera directly in her private room, but the door in her office was open and I could see inside a bit.


    Unfortunately I couldn¡¯t just hack into her computer from the camera either.


    Everything was locked down and secured.


    This Netrunner knew their stuff.


    I managed to get a look at the ripper, she looked like a cat woman. Not a catgirl, that was something different, but a catwoman.


    The fur must be awful to deal with, I thought with a bit of a laugh as I pulled free of the system. The only thing about this I could actually laugh at.


    This gig was trash.


    I tapped my chrome fingers on my knee for a while. I was only seeing a few ways I could get this to work.


    I could go and spend a lot of eddies on improving my chrome, maybe getting an Optical Camo cyberware. It was on the list already¡­


    Or I could go and get a temp cyberware so I could fit into the club. A few animal accessories, and they would let me in¡­ Probably.


    I groaned as I considered it. Both options were going to be expensive, and didn¡¯t have a guaranteed chance of success. Even if I got the Optical Camo, that wasn¡¯t a guarantee someone wouldn¡¯t notice. Exotics often had enhanced senses, and Optical Camo wasn¡¯t foolproof.


    And even if I went through chipping myself with some cat ears or something, no guarantee I would be able to move around.


    I did a bit of quick mental math, considering how much I would earn for this gig, versus what it would cost me to be able to complete it.


    Fuck.


    Honestly. Considering I wasn¡¯t ready to get more chrome, I was going to have to do something I didn¡¯t want to do. I gathered all the information I had gained into a file including the security cam footage I had been watching, too bad there was no way to access prior recordings, I might be able to get my man that way, and sent it to Regina.


    I gave her a few minutes to look through everything, including my notes on what I was seeing when the call came in.


    *Motoko.*


    *Regina.*


    *You aren¡¯t able to complete the gig?* She asked her tone a little flat. She sounded a little put out.


    *Not without chipping in a lot of chrome for the job. Either direct stealth chrome, or something to blend in.* I tell her honestly. *The security of this place is good, maybe if I was an elite netrunner I could get in that way, but I¡¯m not that good. Sorry Regina. I¡¯m pulling out. I can¡¯t complete the gig as it stands.*


    *Then you are off the gig.* She said suddenly and the line hung up.


    Huh.


    I shrugged.


    ¡°I¡¯m going home to take a nap.¡±


    ¡ª--


    When I got home Jun was asleep, passed out in his bed.


    Which is why I went into my bedroom, put away all my equipment, and then turned around and cannonballed his ass.


    I had sworn to get revenge on Jun a while back and had forgotten about it until now, and here was a perfect opportunity.


    He jolted awake as I slammed into him making a groaning shriek of complaint as he jerked up trying to free himself.


    Which is why I pushed my foot into his face.


    ¡°Morning Jun-nii.¡± I told him casually as he struggled to defeat sleepiness.


    Hah!


    ¡°Wha? MOTOKO!¡± He growled trying to push me off and failing as his blanket kept him just a little wrapped up.


    But I wasn¡¯t trying too hard.


    Soon enough I went limp as he wrapped me up in his blankets like the burritos he so loves and then he was sitting on me.


    ¡°Heavy ass.¡± I mumbled a little breathless, he hadn¡¯t been gentle. As I had noted before Sleepy Jun has no chill.


    ¡°Irritating bitch.¡± He snapped, and I couldn¡¯t help but snort.


    ¡°I failed a gig tonight.¡± I told him then before he could get any more annoyed with me. ¡°I¡¯m¡­ Frustrated. Like honestly angry about it.¡± I revealed bluntly, which did turn the conversation around from him being angry at me, to concerned.


    ¡°It¡¯s too early for this.¡± He grumbled wiping his eyes clear, but making no move to get off me.


    I didn¡¯t say anything just stuck in a burrito with Jun sitting on me as he slowly woke up. ¡°Fine. C¡¯mon.¡± He grumbled standing up but before I could move he picked me up still in the blanket and hauled me out to the living room. He flopped me a little painfully onto the couch and walked into the kitchen, coming out with some energy drink in a can that he liked.


    ¡°Talk to me about it.¡±


    ¡°Fucking furry ass jerks!¡± I ranted Legs kicking up into the air, the only part of me I could move. ¡°Their stupid secret private club has serious security, and unless you¡¯re an exotic you can¡¯t enter. I tried everything I could, but I just don¡¯t have the equipment to get in. I could go and get some Cyberware, make myself look like an animal or something, or even some Optical Camo. But neither option guarantees I could finish the gig, and, and¡­ It¡¯s dumb.¡± I mumbled at the end.


    ¡°Still not ready to get more chrome?¡± He asked and I shook my head.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know! It sounds stupid, but¡­ I don¡¯t like chipping in cyberware, just because a job needs it. If I add chrome, I want to do it because I wanted to.¡±


    ¡°Huh.¡± He muttered nodding a bit then he leaned down and patted me on the head. ¡°It¡¯s okay.¡± He finally said after a few moments and I scrunched up and glared at him, but Jun just kept patting me on the head.


    ¡°Stupid Onii-chan.¡±


    ¡°Baka Imouto.¡± He responded back instantly.


    ¡ª--


    So I took a nap after Jun finally left me alone. He was still yawning, but he left to go grab some lunch.


    I was still wrapped up in the blanket though.


    It was cozy, and I was so done.


    First that stupid borg beating me half to death, needing Jun¡¯s help. Not that Jun and I¡¯s teamwork wasn¡¯t super cool.


    But then I get my first gig from Regina and I can¡¯t even finish it.


    What¡¯s the point of having all of these skills if people could still whoop, my ass? If I could still fail at gigs!?


    If I was a better Netrunner I could have gotten the data I needed, either by actually dipping into the net to access their system, or by pulling a laughing man. If I was a wizard level hacker I could just hack optics in real time, I could have pulled it off¡­ Maybe. The exotics biomods would still make that not work¡­


    If I was a better Techie I could have built a drone like the Flathead, and hacked into their system directly. Hell I could have made a suicide drone to kill the target as well!


    If I was better at stealth I could have figured out a way in, Optical Camo would have made it possible, if not easy.


    If if if.


    I had been grinding my skills, and I liked doing it. It had opened up so many options for me, but while my stealth was pretty good, I still felt¡­


    Like I should be better. My stats, my skills they should be higher!


    I pulled up my stat sheet.


    Level 9


    7000/10,000


    Body 7(11) Due to Cyberization, Maximum value has increased by 4.


    -Athletics 6


    -Street Brawler 6


    -Annihilation 4


    Reflex 7


    -Blades 6


    -Handguns 6


    -Assault 5


    -Driving 6


    Intelligence 8 (12) Due to Cyberization, Maximum value has increased by 4.


    -Breach Protocol 6


    -Quick Hacks 4


    -Programming 4


    Cool 8


    -Ninjutsu 8


    -Cold Blood 8


    -Rockerboy 5


    Technical attribute 4 (8) Due to Cyberization, Maximum value has increased by 4.


    -Crafting 4


    -Engineering 3


    0 Stat point.


    4 Skill point.


    Perks.


    Ambidextrous Blades 2


    Quickdraw Handguns 2


    Gun Nut Assault 2


    Parkour Athletics 2


    Grappling Street Brawler 2 Future unlock: Improvised weapons.>Gun-Fu.


    Drive By Driver 2


    Cat-like Athletics 5


    Cool Nerves Cold Blood 2


    Danger Sense Ninjutsu 2


    Wall Breaking Breach Protocol 2


    Cyber Security Quick Hack 2


    Recoil Reduction. Annihilation 2


    Cyber Ninja Ninjutsu 5


    Fearless Chill. Cold Blood 5.


    Improvised Weapons Street Brawler 5


    Parry Blades 5


    Robotics wizard Crafting 2


    Drifting Driving 5


    Rapid Reload Handguns 5


    Design Wizard Engineering 2


    Rifle Ace Assault 5


    *Unused* Breach 5


    Perfect Musical Memory Rockerboy 2.


    Debug Programming 2


    Siren Song Rockerboy 5


    Cyberware:


    Seacho Electronics Mk.2 *Adaptation Seacho Mk.2 0/0*


    Kiroshi Mk1 *Adaptation Kiroshi Mk1 1/2*


    Militech Condor *Adaptation Militech Condor 3/8*


    Arasaka SmartLink System. *Adaptation Smart Link 0/0*


    Arasaka Ex-Disk *Adaptation Ex-Disk 0/0*


    I browsed through the page. Honestly I didn¡¯t tend to look directly at my stats very often. More often I just checked where I was at, and then went to work on whatever stat or skill I was focused on at that moment.


    I still had four Skill points.


    I also still had a breaching perk I hadn¡¯t used.


    ¡°Ugh I¡¯m such a gonk¡­ I forgot all about my perk.¡± I sighed staring through the floating screen to look at the ceiling.


    I had decided to hold off on using it until later when I might need something special, but I had ended up just forgetting about it.


    Would a Breach perk have solved my problem?


    I started looking down the list. The options I had looked at before were still there, but my understanding of systems was wider now.


    I had a better idea of what I would need, and what I wouldn¡¯t.


    Strong Breach still sounded useful though. Being able to breach through a system much faster, in exchange for guaranteeing an alert would get sent off?


    Well considering most systems weren¡¯t secured well in the first place, it would give me some neat tricks.


    But it wasn¡¯t exactly what I wanted.


    Let¡¯s be honest. Speed is useful, but when it comes to netrunning, there was only one true king.


    Stealth.


    If no one ever realized I had breached their system, they had no hope to stop me. So I started browsing the perks.


    I hadn¡¯t seen what I was looking for last time, but I hadn¡¯t done a perfect deep dive back then either.


    Then, because I was reading through every perk. I found it.


    Ghost touch: Slow and quiet, Breach through a system as a ghost, without anyone the wiser.


    I thought about it for a moment.


    Then I decided that fuck it, it was what I had just decided I wanted. I pushed the button accepting the Perk.


    I shivered as the ideas slipped into my head. Tricks on how to not just break security, but to bypass it entirely.


    I blinked.


    Then I blinked again because wow. That was some serious shit.


    I knew as well that as powerful as it was now, it would only grow stronger as breach leveled up. The time it would take would reduce, and my ability to ghost through systems would grow.


    Yeah.


    That¡¯s right! I¡¯m Motoko Kusanagi! My skill with a gun or a knife was great! But on a digital battlefield? I wouldn¡¯t be matched by anyone!


    I knew with a surety of self, that I was going to become the sort of super hacker that made corpo netrunners piss themselves in fear.


    I rose up untangling myself from the blanket and popped my access cord out of the back of my head as I grabbed my ICE laptop.


    Time to get to work.

 Chapter 66

    Deciding to go full in on netrunning for a bit to make myself feel better about getting my ass kicked, and failing a gig. I went full ham into grinding.


    Breaching through the ICE with full intent, it did mean I wasn¡¯t doing much besides thinking about the puzzle of code in front of me, and thanks to Ghost Touch, If I was having a lot of problems, I could slow down, and work my way around the ICE.


    Acting as if it wasn¡¯t even there.


    The actual mechanic behind the perk was weird. In essence, I was sending my data through back channels, sending bytes worth of data, at a time through old ports, and system code that hadn¡¯t been used in¡­ Forever.


    But then those little bits of code would all collect together behind the ICE and create a channel that bypassed the ICE entirely.


    It took a long time though. The one time I tried to use it, Took me over an hour just to set up on the system. That¡¯s with the ICE being something I could break in a few minutes or work normally, and it being against a laptop, and not a corpo server.


    But it worked. The sort of crazy hacking trick that only someone that truly understood computers, could ever hope to pull off.


    Completing it the first time had even given me a couple of Breaching alerts throughout the attempt.


    I kept at the grind though. As much as my guitar was calling for me, the fact was I needed the self improvement.


    I hated feeling sorry for myself, and if a few days grinding like crazy to get some level ups was all I needed to feel better then it was worth it.


    In the end, even though it cost me all the rest of the WET ICE, I gained two levels thanks to nonstop hardcore and experimental grinding.


    Mixing what I learned from Ghost Touch, into my normal Breaching. I did the opposite. Breaching loudly, without care about the alerts sent up just to see how the program would react, and over the course of three hours, figuring out how to not just hard breach an ICE system, but how to muffle the alerts¡­ At least somewhat. It was basically learning what the Perk would have taught me if I picked it instead of Ghost touch, but of course not as skillfully.


    Thought it didn¡¯t mean I didn¡¯t get some level ups over the entire course.


    *Breach Protocol skill level up!*


    Level 7 Breach!


    When I got the alert, I hadn¡¯t actually noticed at first and kept working on Ghost Touching through an ICE I had already breached before, just because of how distracted I was.


    ¡°Done.¡± I grumbled, rubbing my eyes. They felt tired despite not being actually able to feel weariness. My body didn¡¯t feel stiff, in fact I stood up and stretched a bit and felt physically fine, but I could feel the tiredness in my mind.


    I had gone without sleep before, but never when I was simply slamming my head into a complex mental problem like this.


    I walked into my bedroom and flopped on my bed. Jun was out. So I would sleep.


    ¡ª--


    I was at the ramen joint in the Cherry Blossom Market the next morning. Slurping up a bowl of noodles for breakfast as I ran through a few things in my head.


    I had a few responsibilities, and a few things I needed to keep doing.


    Grinding. Doing gigs. Helping out my chooms with work. Making sure Jun ate something besides his XXL burritos.


    But honestly, the grinding kept me busy, the gigs paid more than any amount of bills I might have, and helping out my chooms wasn¡¯t too hard. Find some evil gonks, kill them, steal everything.


    But what was it that I wanted?


    It wasn¡¯t eddies. I was pretty comfy in the apartment that Jun and I shared, although I knew someday we would probably get something bigger, or split up.


    But I wasn¡¯t planning on jumping off the edge like David. I liked living. I liked waking up every morning and deciding for myself what the day will be full of.


    But in order to keep that comfy pace, I was gonna need to get stronger. The fact was the more of a rep I built by doing fun stuff, the more dangerous my life would become.


    So I would have to keep growing stronger and stronger to ensure that I could have my fun filled life.


    Which meant¡­ I needed to kill. I needed enemies, and a lot of them. But, I needed them at my pace. I didn¡¯t want to go piss of Arasaka and end up overwhelmed.


    With the gang war over, things were quiet.


    But there were still plenty of Maelstrom gonks around. Lots of Scavs, or just evil people in general.


    But as easy as it was to say I have plenty of people I could kill it was really hard to know where they were.


    Which is why I realized I needed to stop fucking around with the most powerful weapon in my arsenal.


    It was time to step into the net.


    To stand among the ones and zeroes, and find out just how much it would open up for me. Problem was. I didn¡¯t have a lot of gear for it. If I was going into the net, I would need a full Netrunner suit to start with, since I didn¡¯t have a bathtub in the apartment.


    Or I would need to netrun from somewhere other than home.


    Ugh!


    I swirled the last bits of Ramen in the bowl and downed it like a thirty year old Japanese businessman downing Yebisu after work.


    I suppose I could go talk to Yoko at the Dewdrop Inn. Maybe rent her Netrunning chair?


    But what if I embarrassed myself? I had never really gone into the net except for that one time, and I had nearly melted by brain then!


    No, I couldn¡¯t allow anyone to see my first Netrunning experience. They might think I¡¯m a noob!


    So I needed to get some supplies¡­


    Wait. I knew how to set up all the equipment for a netrunner thanks to Technical attribute.


    I could just steal everything I needed! I nodded to myself that would make it all easier, and I already had a crew capable of hauling everything out of some gonks Netrunning den.


    Now I just needed to find a target!


    Wait¡­ That was the problem I had in the first place! God dammit!


    ¡ª--


    ¡°So that¡¯s the problem.¡± I explained to Wakako a few minutes later. In the end I realized I needed to stop trying to handle everything myself. I simply didn¡¯t have the knowledge I needed to start my new plan, but that was what contacts were for!


    Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    Wakako took a drag on her cigarette and nodded. ¡°You seek info on someone who has a full set of Netrunning equipment, you could steal?¡±


    ¡°Loot! The correct terminology is looting Wakako! C¡¯mon get with the times!¡± I joked only to instantly cough and settle back down as I realized what I had just said could be taken negatively.


    Thankfully Wakako seemed to ignore me.


    ¡°Hmm, I can gather the information. The price will be high.¡±


    ¡°Aww C¡¯mon Wakako, you know I¡¯m not just messing around. I¡¯m good for pay, and work.¡± I tried to argue, and maybe, just maybe I saw a hint of give in the old dragon lady.


    ¡°I will give you the information you want, but you will kill the one that has your equipment. The information itself will be your pay.¡± She said smirking at me, as if she thought I wouldn¡¯t accept!


    I blinked. Wait. Did Wakako just ask me to murder a gangbanger who had my future loot, and the payment would be the info to find them!?


    Wakako! I love you!


    ¡°Sure!¡± I chirped happily, not earning direct eddies from Wakako was one thing, but this all started because I needed to find more people to kill! ¡°Wakako? Tell me everything.¡±


    ¡ª--


    I looked over the rundown apartment building that my new target was inhabiting. It was more complicated than I liked. The netrunner I was after had taken over the fifth floor of the building according to reports, run everyone out of the apartments, and turned it into a little kingdom. Not so different than what the scavs did.


    But this wasn¡¯t scavs.


    But only barely.


    The netrunner had made a gang. No rather it was one of the netrunners chooms, had made the gang around the netrunner. To protect him, while using his information.


    I was on the roof of a nearby building looking over the side at the building. And at all the security that had been put up all of it turned the building into a secure vault.


    The street gang would have been ignored, maybe even been a non entity to Wakako if not for one fact.


    They had a Netrunner, and he was a pretty good one.


    One of the first acts the small gang had done was hijack an electronics store delivery. The Netrunner had known exactly where to hit it, and it had been the first in a string of successes. The only problem?


    The Netrunner was a greedy bastard, and had stolen things he shouldn¡¯t. Stolen from someone he shouldn¡¯t.


    Wakako hadn¡¯t been interested in taking the gig beforehand. Pay wasn¡¯t high enough, and it was in her interest to leave them be as they weren¡¯t stealing from her.


    But suddenly I showed up, asking for gear, and Wakako realized she could use this.


    She¡¯d get paid for a gig, I would clean up, and I would become even more useful. Netrunners are always useful after all.


    I had just come by to get some images of the place and look around their security, but just from what I had seen, made me realize this wasn¡¯t going to be a one woman job.


    Not even my chooms who still called themselves Section 9 in the group chat they had put together!


    Traitors!


    They wouldn¡¯t be enough. I was gonna need another gun. There were too many of them, and no way I would be able to sneak in. Sure. I could probably hack the system, shut down the cameras, but the moment I did the gang would know.


    There was one other problem.


    From the rooftop I looked over at the party that was going on. The gang was hanging out on the roof drinking and partying.


    But they were kids.


    Most of them were teenagers. Even if I knew their ¡®boss¡¯ was in his thirties.


    So that¡¯s how it was. The fucker had grown so fast by hiring street kids.


    It¡¯s why the gang was closer to fifty gonks from what I could see, than Wakako¡¯s report that only listed ten. I watched from the shadows as the kids enjoyed themselves, girls from the apartment, and from neighboring apartments, joining in as the boys that had become members of a gang used their new clout to attract the cuties.


    Almost all of the gang was on the roof, a lot of kids more than ready to fight.


    This was a fucking mess.


    ¡°Dammit Wakako. I hate you.¡± I mumbled as I stared at the party, gathered info, memorized faces, while taking pictures.


    I was gonna need to figure this shit out.


    Why did all my gigs have to be so hard!? Where are all of V¡¯s super easy go in and murder forty faceless gonks gigs! I want to murder forty gonks!


    That¡¯s 20,000XP! Minimum!


    This was like the stolen car gig all over again. Wakako¡­ We really need to talk about this.


    I switched to my scan mode, looking over all the electronics set up all over the building. I would have to figure this out.


    I had to.


    Slowly I gathered information, checked every angle of the building. Scanned everything I could. I even slowly slipped a ping into the camera system just to see everything I was working with.


    I winced as I looked at the absolute spider web of light. So much was connected to that system.


    No way I could break it. No way I could beat this netrunner, not on his home turf.


    I sighed as I started taking note of where all the lights went. They would at least lead me to the Netrunner¡­


    Found him.


    It would have to be enough.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°Hey Malcolm, You¡¯re late!¡± I called out waving over my head as the last of our troupe showed up.


    ¡°Yeah yeah, sorry my folks needed me to run an errand. Of course they only asked, as I was walking out the door.¡± He grumbled but settled into the booth at Ho-Oh club.


    So apparently this was still our hangout.


    Well with Jotaro dead, it was fine I guess.


    ¡°Okay Motoko, explain why we all had to meet up.¡± Hiromi demands, and Ichi nods cradling a beer he had picked up from the bar.


    My eyes flashed gold as I called all of them into a conference call. Which they all joined in quietly. Of course Malcolm didn¡¯t have the internal agent pickup, so he would have to speak up verbally to talk to us so he wouldn¡¯t be able to share much, unless he decided to send a text.


    This was a serious gig, and deserved secrecy¡­


    And Ho-Oh was packed, and so even if we got a booth it wasn¡¯t exactly private¡­ And it was cool to be all secret agent levels of secrecy. Good practice too.


    *Okay I got a new gig from Wakako. Should be tons of loot, and particularly, some netrunner gear that I absolutely need. Problem? It¡¯s a small gang with a skilled Netrunner hidden away¡­ And they hired about forty kids to be their muscle.*


    I didn¡¯t get a response right away as I started sending pictures of what I had seen, security systems, even the floor plans that Wakako had given me for my gig.


    Then I waited, letting my chooms get a chance to go through everything.


    *So we kill them and loot? What¡¯s the issue?* Ichi asked, confused as he looked over everything. *We could probably set up the truck with Malcolm and I in the back, if they try to run, just open the back door and mow them down.*


    *We aren¡¯t murdering a bunch of kids.* I denied frowning at my chooms with my frowniest face.


    Really guys?


    *How are we going to get in then? Look.* Ichi pointed out a dozen pictures that all showed the guns the kids were carrying.


    *Maybe we can just talk to them, make them give up or something.* I offered but Hiromi scoffed out loud.


    *Don¡¯t be stupid Motoko. Those kids are probably making more eddies than they have ever seen before. They are powerful now, at least in their minds. There is no chance they will let us get in and take out the Netrunner. Besides, this says Wakako wants the gang removed. While the gang will break apart if we kill their Netrunner and this other guy. How are you going to get to them through that?* Hiromi pointed out and I winced.


    Dammit.


    I nibbled on my lips as everyone talked around me for a bit. Obviously the killing would mostly be done by me. So it was really my decision how this would work.


    Could I kill a bunch of teenagers just trying to make themselves a life here in Night City? Even if I didn¡¯t kill them, that would leave fourty-ish teenagers with guns and a bone to pick against the world.


    Well¡­ I didn¡¯t have to kill them. If I took them all out and just stole all their weapons that would work¡­


    Fuck. Even if I could disable all of them, that¡¯s still a lot of people to disarm. The danger level of the gig only grew with every step.


    Wakako! I hate you!


    ¡°You guys are overthinking this.¡± Malcolm offered with a roll of his eyes as he went silent, obviously sending a text.


    *Just take over the gang you gonk.*


    I blinked, wincing at the thought. I didn¡¯t like the idea of taking over a bunch of street kids!


    *I¡¯m in.* Hiromi offered with a nod. *That many gonks? We could do some serious heists with that much muscle.*


    *It would be nice to have someone else drive trucks for me.* Ichi offered but he laughed after showing he was joking. *But more seriously it¡¯s not a terrible idea¡­ Motoko. We can do it. Take over the gang. Clean up the older guys leading them. Hell just tell them your pay structure and they would be yours.* He said laughing in reality.


    *But I don¡¯t want to lead a bunch of teenagers!* I whined! Even my little group was almost more than I wanted to deal with!


    *Then kill them.* Hiromi said looking a little sympathetic but giving me a shrug. *Or cancel the gig.*


    ¡°Fuck.¡± I said aloud, shaking my head but Hiromi shrugged.


    My chooms continued to pour over the information I had brought. My own hesitation wasn¡¯t shared. There were eddies to be made, and that was that.


    They weren¡¯t even being cruel, it was just the way Street Kids and I guess Corpo kids were raised.


    The data I had was gone over. Interesting things were pointed out and I let the chatter filter through me.


    There had to be something. Some way this could be done¡­ Someone poked me.


    I looked up into Malcolms face as he had a shit eating grin.


    ¡°Malcolm?¡± I said waving the others to be silent as I looked over the data he was pointing out. I nodded.


    ¡°Good job.¡±


    ¡ª--


    ¡°I still don¡¯t know about this.¡± I muttered as I left my chooms behind. We all had some ideas on what to do, but I had decided to put a pause on it after a point.


    This city, the culture¡­ It was so weird. It still hit me sometimes that despite being in California, I wasn¡¯t actually in the United States.


    Hell. There wasn¡¯t a USA anymore. It was New United States of America, or the NUSA. That was how weird it all was.


    I had gotten so irritated that despite heading home I had gone on a walk. Traveling through the Cherry Blossom Market, just looking around as I thought.


    I could cancel this gig too.


    I could find Netrunner gear somewhere else. Wakako would probably be annoyed though¡­


    And I didn¡¯t like giving up. I could do this. I could take over this little gang, it¡¯s not like any of the kids would have much real experience.


    I just didn¡¯t want the responsibility. I didn¡¯t want to lead a gang! That was an escalation in my life that I really didn¡¯t want to deal with.


    I leaned over a railing looking down at the market below me, watching the people come and go.


    I didn¡¯t have to lead them. Not really. They would already have their own leaders among the kids. No way some thirty something gangbanger was properly acting as a mentor to forty teenagers.


    I could just¡­ Set them up to be able to protect their apartment complex and deal with them as I would any other gang after¡­


    I sighed. This was going to be such a mess.


    I stood to head home. I was going to need to talk to Jun.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°So that¡¯s the sitch.¡± I explained shoveling a bit of food into my mouth to catch up.


    Jun, who had been eating as I explained my frustration, only shook his head.


    ¡°Stop taking stupid gigs.¡± He said simply and then nodded his head like he was giving sage wisdom.


    The only reason I didn¡¯t kick him is because Jun kicked harder.


    ¡°That¡¯s so useful Jun-Nii! Truly I would be useless without your ad- FUCK OFF!¡± I screamed, cutting off my chipper tone and flipping him off. ¡°I came to you for actual advice!¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t really help you Motoko. Kill them.¡± He said with a shrug. ¡°They picked up weapons and knew what they were getting into.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re teenagers¡­ We never know what we are getting into.¡± I said, a little sad at that fact.


    ¡°It¡¯s just how it is. Do you need help?¡± He asked, gently.


    I just shook my head. ¡°No, I can handle it, and if you came along they would just think it¡¯s the Tyger Claws trying to press in¡­ No, I guess I¡¯ll have to talk to them. To find out what¡¯s really going on.¡± I decided with a nod. I sometimes wish I did have the memories of Motoko before the coma. It would make dealing with peers a little easier¡­


    Actually. That gave me an idea. I knew exactly who I needed to call in for information gathering, my eyes went yellow as I walked away from Jun. Maybe I could actually actually get somewhere with some help!

 Chapter 67

    The next night it was time. Preparations for everything were ready. The sun had gone down just a bit before, the kids would be actively partying, so I walked right into the apartment complex.


    I had spent the morning getting everyone set for their roles, and coming up with a strategy. Hopefully it would be enough.


    So I entered the apartment complex, noticing the many cameras hanging around the lobby. The lack of people hanging around like there tended to be in apartment buildings like this.


    I also noticed the stairs were closed off. A heavy duty security gate. More interesting was the fact the ground floor stairs didn¡¯t have a stairway down into the apartments basement.


    I smirked. This might actually be easier than I expected.


    I went to the elevator, which didn¡¯t have the security shards you would find in higher level apartments, so it opened without issue. It did, I noticed, have a newer control pad.


    The Netrunner had obviously wanted to be able to shut down the elevator as he wanted. But it took me up to the roof, why wouldn¡¯t it? I was just a teenager here to see the party after all!


    As I stepped out, I looked over the gathered crowd. Old couches, and some beach chairs scattered around, an actual fire pit made out of a barrel¡­


    I didn¡¯t even want to guess at what they were burning in there.


    The crowd was my focus though. I needed to know who the leaders were. Not the leader of the gang, who I knew to be some old guy, just a thief using kids as muscle.


    No, I needed to know who led the kids. Who was it they all looked up to and respected? But since I wasn¡¯t a street kid in the same way all of these teens were I had delegated.


    My new assistant would be here to back me up.


    Of course I noticed him right away. The gonk was actually selling BD¡¯s like usual.


    I rolled my eyes as I walked up behind Nox and peeked over his shoulder as he was holding open his backpack full of BD wrappers.


    ¡°Hey BD¡¯s Nice. Got anything good?¡± I asked in a joking tone pretending not to know what he was selling, as Nox suddenly smiled at my appearance and nodded.


    ¡°A few things you might like.¡± He said with a funny smirk.


    ¡°Thanks for letting me know about the party.¡± I replied simply, confirming our little lie. ¡°Who¡¯s your customer?¡± I asked, looking up at the boy that Nox had been speaking with. He was about what I expected from a street kid teenager.


    Total poser. He was wearing a jacket that was modeled after some action movie star from the last couple years. Which I only recognized because I had seen one of the movies on the TV and it was meh.


    ¡°Richard. Richard Steel.¡± He said and I nodded along despite the fact I knew his last name wasn¡¯t steel. He was in the NCPD database. Richard Gonzales. Minor theft, and a record for grand theft auto.


    Heh kid went out on a joyride with some gonks car.


    But if that was what he wanted for his street name, it didn¡¯t bother me.


    ¡°Nox, my man, you didn¡¯t tell me you were bringing a pretty girl. Ever hung out with a gang before?¡± Richard asked, turning to me with a smile. I literally had to keep from bursting out laughing, he was flirting with me! Badly!


    Aww. It was like a puppy growling trying to act tough.


    ¡°Once or twice. Family connections to the Claws. Have I heard of your gang before?¡± I asked as I settled into the seat next to Nox.


    ¡°Not yet! But Straight Lane Shooters will be all over Night City eventually!¡± He demanded with the overconfidence of a teenager with a gun.


    Nox had done his job perfectly.


    I had asked him to head up an hour or so before I arrived, and find the leader of the kids, and point him out to me.


    He had done just that.


    Richard Steel was a bit of a blowhard I could tell, but he had a certain overconfidence, and more importantly there were eyes on him. Plenty of the kids were seated around him like he was the one in charge looking to him, and letting him talk.


    He was the most popular kid here. With a clique of friends all wanting to hang out with him.


    What was funnier is that I guess he wasn¡¯t bad looking for a teenager, but there were a few narrowed eyes from some of the girls sitting around us.


    Glaring at me.


    Don¡¯t worry girls, not my type. Probably spent too much time in front of a mirror every morning.


    ¡°I¡¯ll look forward to it. I¡¯ve always wondered, how did it all work? I mean. How does a bunch of Street Kids end up with so much iron?¡± I asked, nodding my head to one of the gangers that had an Ajax assault rifle across his lap as he chatted up a cute girl.


    That sort of hardware obviously wasn¡¯t standard street kid fare.


    I mean not everyone was a gamer like me.


    ¡°Hah! Our Boss is an amazing planner. He set us up, we ended up klepping a weapon shipment, most of it was sold off, but we got to keep plenty of iron.¡± He said as he reached into his jacket and to my surprise pulled out a TKI-20 Shingen. A smart SMG. A very expensive smart SMG.


    That was actually a pretty dangerous weapon for anyone not wearing good armor, an ECM, or good enough Subdermal.


    ¡°Nice Iron.¡± I couldn¡¯t help but compliment him and mean it. Although I noticed his hands as he put it away.


    He didn¡¯t actually have the Smart Link Chrome to use the Smart system.


    It would be a dangerous SMG but not the homing bullet monster that it could be. Interesting.


    ¡°Heh, it¡¯s just one of the benefits of being SLS!¡± He called out and it took me a minute to realize that SLS meant Straight Lane Shooters.


    Thankfully I was using Cold Blood to keep calm, otherwise I would have been giggling up a storm.


    Nox thankfully knew what I was here for, and distracted the conversation saving me from awkward flirting as he cut in and started talking up his wares again.


    I fell back out of the conversation not disappearing as I listened to Richard talk to Nox, and the general conversations around.


    Although Richard really was focusing too much on me. Something Nox had obviously noticed, and was trying to distract him. Thanks Nox. You¡¯re saving me from awkward flirting right now I won¡¯t forget it.


    It was almost time.


    Eventually Nox actually made a sale of my BD. The Maelstrom Assault was apparently interesting I guess. Afterwards I made a motion with my head and Nox rather than trying to sell anymore headed to the elevator. I watched to make sure it actually opened for him, and once he was gone I gave him another minute or two to hit the ground floor.


    His job was done. Thankfully I was still ¡®interesting¡¯ enough that Richard didn¡¯t wander away instead flirting and offering me a beer, which I took but wasn¡¯t going to actually drink.


    Instead, after waiting long enough for Nox to get out of the building I asked a question.


    ¡°So who''s your boss? I don¡¯t see him around.¡± I say as I lean back and watch the kids'' reaction.


    He frowned a bit. ¡°The boss is busy, and doesn¡¯t deal with the gang directly except through me. I get the gigs and I hand them out.¡± He said suddenly shifting from a happy teenager flirting around, to a Street Kid sensing something is off.


    ¡°Cool, then I¡¯ll chat with you. Why do you work for this older gonk, and his netrunner buddy. You gotta know they plan on just using you as muscle? That eventually you are going to piss off someone that doesn¡¯t care you¡¯re all kids.¡±


    My question was loud enough the whole rooftop seemed to hear it, as a lot of the conversation went quiet. The kids sitting around Richard all focusing on me noticing something was up.


    I wasn¡¯t following the script Richard was expecting. Suddenly I wasn¡¯t just a cute girl to flirt with and he was the big gang banger.


    I was dangerous.


    Especially since I went cold, shifting myself just so, in the way that my Perk knowledge from Fearless Chill prompted me. The movement would suddenly turn me into a predator, a fearless creature despite being in their home.


    ¡°The fuck are you on about? Morgan and V3L0CITY are the only reason we have the eddies and iron to protect ourselves!¡± He nearly shouted back, not just at me, but at the crowd.


    Seems the kids weren¡¯t all happy with their older overlord, and Richard was trying to hype them up.


    ¡°Protect yourselves? From what? Another poser gang? Or just a street gang down the street? They aren¡¯t threats anyways. You are playing in the big leagues, any Merc would chew through all of you like a meatgrinder.¡± I tell them honestly as I lean in. ¡°You¡¯ve been taking expensive gigs. The sort of gigs that people notice. The sort of gigs that the people you stole from don¡¯t just pretend never happened. Like they do for the minor shit¡± I explained bluntly.


    ¡°If anyone is gonk enough to come after us, we have security and plenty of iron.¡± He said glaring and his hand only inches from reaching for his gun.


    Cute. The gonk thought he could quickdraw me?


    I snorted, I really did, unable to resist. ¡°You mean all the security systems that are set up to tell the netrunner he has someone on his ass so he can escape?¡± I asked the elevator alone had told me what the plan was.


    There was a basement in the apartment complex. One that was on Wakako¡¯s old blueprints, obviously the best place to hide the netrunner. Secure it down and create an exit, and boom you have the best defended place for him.


    With a bit of remodeling the fact the stairs no longer actually led into the basement, stopping anyone from being able to access the basement and boom. Underground Bunker.


    The kids might not realize it, but I did. Ping had shown me the truth of the Netrunners plans. I was lucky that I had trained so much on sneaking my Quickhack into systems. The Netrunner had never noticed. And because of it, and Malcolms eyes we already won.


    He just didn¡¯t know it yet.


    These kids weren¡¯t being crafted into a future big gang. They were just a meatwall and muscle, a smokescreen and a useful crew to pick up loot.


    At least that¡¯s my assumption. I didn¡¯t have much faith some older guys would actually care about the street kids.


    Either way I was sure the Netrunner had an escape plan. Which is why I was up here. On the roof, dragging all the attention to me.


    Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°What the hell are you playing at?¡± Richard demanded standing up and trying to loom over me. Looking aggressive, but of course failing as only a teenage boy could. Thinking they were so much more intimidating than they are.


    My eyes flashed gold for a half second as I blinked. Sending a text.


    ¡°Simple. I¡¯m one of those mercs that are here to kill your netrunner, and boss.¡± I explain calmly letting that fact ripple through the crowd. Then I moved. The poor kid had already shown me exactly where his Shingen was holstered. I had him locked down within a second, my strength for once actually surpassing an enemy, chrome arms, and my high Body gave me the advantage, and skill took care of the rest.


    He was locked down, his Shingen in my hand as I held it up to his temple.


    Unlike Richard I had a Smartlink, and it was pretty cool, the first time I had connected with a Smart weapon.


    But I had bigger problems. The entire crew on the roof were glaring at me, guns gathering together.


    ¡°You won¡¯t get out of here.¡± Richard grunted and I shook his head.


    ¡°Who said I¡¯m going anywhere?¡± I asked, and it wasn¡¯t long after that an explosion was heard downstairs. It was in the lobby, but only I knew that.


    My team was on it!


    I grinned as I felt the tension ratchet up.


    ¡°Let Richard go!¡± A girl said holding a Satara at her hip glaring at me. ¡°The elevator is already shut down, you''re trapped!¡±


    I had planned on keeping them occupied a bit longer, but why bother?


    Not when I am given such a perfect line.


    ¡°Silly girl. You think I¡¯m trapped up here with you. But it¡¯s the opposite. I¡¯ve trapped you up here with me¡­ Well at least somewhat.¡± I tell her with a wink as I back up hauling Richard along with me as a shield causing all the kids to follow after me.


    ¡°What are you doing?!¡± Richard nearly squealed as I brought him right up to the ledge around the roof.


    ¡°Hey Richard? Your people are actually pretty protective of you. We¡¯ll talk after all this is over okay? No reason to have any of your chooms die tonight. So just stay up here until the bullets stop.¡± I told him simply and then I pushed him forward and stepped backwards up onto the ledge, and then took another step backwards staring into the faces of all the teens looking at me in shock.


    And leapt.


    ¡ª--


    Richard Steel


    This night wasn¡¯t going how it was supposed to! It was supposed to be another party, another show of how much better things are now that they joined the SLS!


    Now that Richard worked with V3L0CITY, and Morgan. Morgan the old man was the face, since V3L0CITY was a hermit never leaving the net.


    But it had been going so well! Eddies, guns, respect!


    He had it all. Sure he knew Morgan and V3L0CITY weren¡¯t planning on sticking around forever. But that was fine Richard would drain them for their intel until his gang were strong.


    The cold kiss of his own weapon against his temple told him just how little he was prepared.


    Who was this girl!?


    ¡°Hey Richard?¡± She prompted, taking his full attention. Not that he wasn¡¯t already very aware of his position with the way she had grappled his arm behind his back and gun against his face. ¡°Your people are actually pretty protective of you. We¡¯ll talk after all this is over okay? No reason to have any of your chooms die tonight. So just stay up here until the bullets stop.¡±


    What?


    ¡°Wha-!¡± He gasped as his wrist was pushed forward forcing him to practically fall forward and then he was free.


    He turned just in time to see that crazy purple haired girl step backwards arms spread and the brightest smile across her face.


    She fell off the roof.


    ¡°No way.¡± He gasped as he rose up and peeked over joining a few of his crew that were doing the same, only to watch as she was not only still alive, but actually leaping from broken pieces of the apartment, to air conditioners, to finally an old sign pole that she caught and spun herself around before dropping landing on the ground in a crouch.


    She glanced up and from this distance all he could see was her eyes glowing red in the neon lights of the street level.


    And then she was gone. Rushing down the street.


    ¡°Richard?¡±


    ¡°Martin, check the elevator.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s locked down. You know V3L¡¯s rules. The moment he noticed trouble he would lock down. To Protect himself.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­ I¡¯ll call Morgan, try to let him know. Just¡­ Just give me a second.¡±


    He pulled out his agent from his pocket and started hammering at the number.


    That bitch had at least dropped his gun.


    ¡ª--


    That was so much fun!


    I was practically giggling as I raced to meet up with my chooms.


    The plan overall was pretty simple.


    Gather up almost all of the gang''s forces in one spot, and thanks to their own policy lock them down. I hadn¡¯t been sure if the Netrunner would lock down the elevator or not at first, but after confirming there was no other way down to the basement I had been sure.


    Although I hadn¡¯t actually blocked off the stairs. A grenade that was mostly smoke and flash at the base of the stairs had done a good job of keeping them clear for now. Besides, what teenager was going to think about the staircase? The building was six stories tall. I doubt any of them had ever even used the damn stairs.


    I was glad the elevator had been shut down though. I hadn¡¯t wanted to risk trying to hack it. If the Netrunner was any good I might end up in serious trouble if I tried.


    But I hadn¡¯t needed to blow up the whole thing. The grenades Malcolm had tossed into the lobby, only after making sure it was empty had done what I expected.


    The security the Netrunner had set up went on lockdown. Elevator was locked down, and without security shards or anything, obviously the kids wouldn¡¯t be able to activate it.


    Probably that had been done on purpose, one of the biggest risks the Netrunner had was the kids deciding to kill him after all.


    Then I would just parkour down the side of the building. I had already found multiple paths down the other night when I was scoping out the place.


    Then came the best part.


    See, Ichi, Malcolm, and Hiromi were hanging out the back of Ichi¡¯s truck with my favorite girl HMG! They would keep the front of the apartment complex locked down, and make it seem like we were preparing to assault the Netrunner.


    What would a coward do when confronted like this?


    He would run!


    I giggled as I raced across the street to an office building just across the way. My Ping the other night had revealed all the security systems that were connected together by the Netrunner.


    Normally this wouldn¡¯t be that important, since I wasn¡¯t sneaking in, but Malcolm had noticed something weird.


    One of the lines of the security system had stretched across the street.


    With a short visit to the other building I had found the basement, and the odd little hatch hidden away in a corner of the basement. The hatch that was a recent construction, and had obviously been broken through the old concrete wall, and had a very familiar brand of security keypad attached to it.


    An escape hatch.


    So I jogged down, my chooms were causing a commotion at the entrance, and looking at it from a camera it would look like an assault squad preparing to storm the place.


    The hatch hadn¡¯t been opened yet, and I settled into a dark corner of the basement to wait.


    It didn¡¯t take long, a few quiet minutes of waiting, though I was in a call with Hiromi confirming that everything was quiet at their end, when finally I heard it. Muffled footsteps echoing through the brickwork and hushed voices.


    I smirked as I waited, and then the hatch beeped open. A man stepped out.


    This wasn¡¯t the Netrunner. Morgan Fields was a tall man, he had chrome, but was no borg. No he hadn¡¯t ever been good enough for that. He had originally been a member of 6th St. So ex-army, but he had only been a private, even at the end of the last war.


    He hadn¡¯t ever amounted to anything at least according to Wakako¡¯s information, and had fled from 6th St. After fucking up.


    He had gotten drunk and punched a higher up in the gang. They hadn¡¯t liked that.


    So he had joined up with a choom of his V3L0CITY. A netrunner of some talent. Although really he was just the face of the Netrunner who apparently hated disconnecting from the net.


    And as Morgan looked around, his eyes sliding right over where I was hiding, unable to pierce the darkness V3L stepped out of the hatch. Stumbling a bit and actually shivering.


    The man was emaciated. Practically a skeleton in his suit. Unlike Morgan he was a borg. Almost everything chest up was chrome.


    Yeah the guy was definitely a Cyberpsycho. Probably obsessed with being on the web.


    ¡°I gave you one job.¡± V3L muttered out, his voice completely robotic. ¡°Keep everything quiet so I could netrun.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not the time, we need to move before whoever is after us catches up. Complain to me later.¡± Morgan said as he grabbed the netrunners arm and started hauling him away.


    Which is when I stepped out and aimed my Burya. The first round was deafening in the enclosed space, but it certainly did it¡¯s work, a massive hole blown into the Netrunner, putting him out of the fight, as I aimed and fired at Morgan.


    He was better than I thought. By the time the first round hit he was already jumping to the side causing my shot to miss as it blew a crater in the concrete wall.


    Fuck!¡± He cursed as he shoved a weapon over the edge of the ancient steel machines littering the basement.


    Fuck.


    I dodged, and then rolled around just saving myself as the Smart ammunition could track me all the way around the machine I was now hiding behind.


    The fucker had a Shingen too.


    ¡°You cocksucker! I¡¯m gonna kill you for fuckin V3L like that!¡± He roared and I just went cold.


    I was probably going to get shot a few times here, but I just had to take out the fucker first.


    Unfortunately my kiroshi had already lost track of him, between each of our hurried movements the software that let me tell where someone is through walls had lost track. So it was a gunfight with both of us hiding in the dark.


    Unfortunately for Morgan. I was made for the dark.


    I rose up and started stalking, sticking to darkness and tight holes that I managed to slip through without too much effort as I crept closer and closer to where he should still be.


    And as I got closer I tried to listen for something only for the ringing in my ears to block that sense.


    Note to self, ear plugs, or a hearing protection in general. Couldn¡¯t deafen myself every time I used the Burya in an enclosed space like this.


    So I relied on my sight, and Ninjutsu in general to stay hidden as I hugged the wall circling around him.


    Until I saw him. He was looking around wildly, trying to find where I was, his buddy had been pulled into cover as well, and the borg was seemingly laying there dead as white blood poured out around him.


    Poor guy, never even noticed me as I raised my Burya up.


    But then suddenly I felt it.


    An attack, and assault I had never experienced before. Instantly my mind went to defend it, I was being quick hacked!


    My defenses rose up, the knowledge I had gained from a perk so long ago the only thing stopping the program from instantly smashing my defenses!


    Cyber Security. I hadn¡¯t even thought of the perk I had taken for level 2 Quickhacks, since I got it. But I was glad I did. It was the only reason I knew enough about defending myself that I didn¡¯t get immediately battered down.


    I couldn¡¯t even fire before Morgan was alerted, forcing me to leap backwards grunting as a smart round slammed into my side, that was probably a rib breaking.


    Dammit.


    I slipped back, trying to go for another angle, but the hack assault was so powerful.


    I was losing.


    Something slipped past me into my Cyberdeck and spread around. I gasped as my arms spasmed, jerked and literally sparked as a program was forced into my system, the assault so overwhelming I couldn¡¯t stop it before the effect already hit.


    ¡°Oh that¡¯s where he was. Fuck sneaky bast-bitch. Fucking hell, that¡¯s just a girl.¡± Morgan said as he walked over, turning the corner to see me on the floor gritting my teeth as my arms literally kept shocking me even as they turned and tweaked in weird angles.


    Burya was still in my hand though. I just needed-!


    ¡°Heh.¡± He chuckled before raising the Shingen and firing.


    I grunted and gasped as he dumped whatever rounds he had left in his magazine into my chest. My leotard blocked a few rounds here and there, but he was pumping plenty of holes into me.


    I couldn¡¯t breath.


    He turned and walked away even as I felt myself starting to die.


    The Quickhack suddenly ended.


    They thought I was dead.


    I reached down with jerking hands and managed to grab a max doc.


    A few moments later despite not having any air to breath in my lungs I depressed it into my mouth and suddenly I was alive.


    I rolled over gasping quietly, as I spat out blood clearing my lungs.


    I grabbed another Maxdoc and huffed that one down too.


    Fuck.


    Fuck!


    I hadn¡¯t been thinking about the netrunner. The borged netrunner, which meant until he was dead, he was still alive!


    People only die when they are killed Motoko!


    I rose up angry. More at myself than anything, but maybe partially at the fucker that just shot me up.


    I turned the corner to see the bastard trying to carry his netrunner choom out of the basement.


    Burya barked twice, the surprise completely catching Morgan off guard. There was no attempts to jump away, or gunfight this time. He was carrying his buddy and couldn¡¯t escape.


    Then I brought up my Lexington and dumped an entire mag into both of them. Then I reloaded my Burya and shot all four rounds into both bodies.


    Just to be sure.


    I checked them both after just to be sure and sighed when they were both very dead.


    *1000 XP Gained.*


    *750 XP Gained.*


    ¡°Fuck.¡± I winced leaning against the machinery for a minute as I caught my breath, my chest aching with every breath. I probably had multiple broken ribs.


    What a massive fuckup. I hadn¡¯t expected the netrunner to survive after taking a Burya round to his back.


    It had almost cost me everything. I took a breath and let it out. I had to be better than this. I should have fired another round into the Netrunner while I was escaping. Should have made sure he was dead.


    I shook it off. I wasn¡¯t invincible. I would learn from this.


    I wiped myself down so I wasn¡¯t covered in blood and then zipped up my jacket.


    Looking at least semi presentable I took pictures of the two fuckers and sent it off to Wakako to confirm the gig was complete as I headed back out of the building towards my chooms.


    They were still waiting at the entrance. Truck backed up and ready to be loaded up, but all of them were armed and ready in case the teenagers decided to cause problems.


    ¡°The Netrunner and his choom are dead.¡± I called out as I walked up doing my best not to stumble.


    Broken ribs hurt.


    Hiromi immediately fist pumped while hissing a yes as she bounced out of the truck. ¡°Great job Motoko! I knew you could take care of those losers!¡± She cheered and I winced.


    ¡°Yeah well¡­ Their netrunner was good. Better than I thought.¡± I grumbled which instantly made her start freaking out. I just waved her off. ¡°Broken rib I think. I¡¯ll get checked out with Vik after. But we need to loot up. I¡¯m gonna unlock the elevator, and then you guys are gonna be looting everything to the bedrock, while I unfortunately am stuck on guard duty.¡± I told them as I walked past them into the building and towards the elevator.


    I was cautious about interfacing with anything that the netrunning borg had set up, so I hesitated for a moment as I reached to plug in my cord, but eventually I stuck it in. And then sighed. Thankfully without his direct action, his security was good, but not something that could stop me, or kill me.


    Five minutes later the elevator opened up and I sighed. ¡°I only unlocked this and the basement floor. Give me a minute to make sure there aren¡¯t any traps.¡± I told them, but Hiromi was at my side before the elevator could close on me.


    ¡°You¡¯re hurt! Motoko let us handle that.¡±


    ¡°None of you are netrunners. It¡¯ll be okay, I just want to make sure there aren¡¯t any HMG turrets or mines or something.¡± I told her, but while she winced at that, she didn¡¯t back up.


    ¡°Nuh-uh. I¡¯m coming too.¡± She demanded and I sighed, not really in the mood to argue. Instead I just shrugged and activated the elevator.


    I would just push her out of the way if something went bad.


    The elevator dropped down into a netrunning paradise.


    ¡°Nice.¡± I couldn¡¯t help but mutter because there was so much gear down here. Wakako had come through.


    She hadn¡¯t just found me a netrunner with some stuff.


    She had found me a netrunner with a TON of stuff.


    Wakako! I love you!


    ¡°Wow. That¡¯s a lot of eddies.¡± Hiromi muttered and I shook my head.


    ¡°Not so much, remember most of this is stuff I¡¯m keeping.¡±


    ¡°Oh right for your netrunning. Still so weird that you like that stuff, you used to hate it¡­ Before I mean.¡± Hiromi seemed to backpedal but I just smiled at her.


    ¡°It¡¯s okay. I know I¡¯m different now. It doesn¡¯t bother me.¡± I told her and she nodded and then she looked around and said something that broke all of my plans.


    ¡°So where are you going to put all this stuff anyways?¡±


    ¡°Put?¡± I looked around.


    The basement was huge. And pretty full of chords and server racks, and a big Netrunning chair that would be integral to my netrunning¡­


    Oh.


    ¡°Fuck.¡±


    This complicated everything.


    Where was I supposed to take all of this shit?


    I took a seat and started thinking. No way even a tenth of this would fit in the apartment. I mean, the chair alone would take up my entire closet bedroom.


    There had been a definite fuck up on my part here.


    Dammit Motoko, you needed to stop playing around. This should have been planned out where it would go before jumping head first into this raid!


    Okay I couldn¡¯t hold it at home, and while Ichi¡¯s truck could probably haul most of it out, it wouldn¡¯t be everything, and I didn¡¯t want to keep his truck filled with my shit¡­


    A storage unit maybe? They weren¡¯t exactly safe, but if no one knew it was mine, and we kept quiet¡­


    ¡°Alright Motoko.¡± Hiromi said, suddenly startling me as I looked up at her from where I had been glaring at the floor. ¡°All taken care of.¡± She threw me a thumbs up as if that explained everything.


    ¡°What¡¯s taken care of?¡± I asked not following Hiromi¡¯s thought process.


    ¡°Well it just so happens the last two gonks that were using this basement were just flatlined! Shocker I know. So I just called the owner of the building and explained we were taking the place over. He argued. I informed him that I was standing in the same room with the merc that had flatlined the previous owner. He showed he had a brain and accepted that the basement was ours. Welcome to your new netrunner room!¡± Hiromi cheered, looking proud of herself.


    ¡°...Ah?¡±

 Chapter 68

    Hiromi had taken over then, to my surprise as I was still processing the fact I now had a new place. A new home if I wanted.


    I didn¡¯t want a new place! I liked the old place! Just because it was a little small was no reason to get something new!


    But Hiromi overrode my concerns entirely as she tugged me along and we went up to the first floor to get everyone.


    To my surprise though, Nox was there hanging out around Ichi and Malcolm,


    ¡°Hey Motoko. Motoko¡¯s choom.¡± He greeted Hiromi and I. Funnily enough Ichi and Malcolm were side-eyeing him like he was a threat.


    ¡°Hey Nox. Thanks again for helping me out. You good?¡± I asked, confused about why he was still here.


    ¡°Yeah I just wanted to see this through. Not everyday you get to see something this crazy.¡± He offered with a shrug and a smirk.


    I almost matched his shrug but thought better of it as my rib twinged. ¡°That¡¯s fine. We are going to head up and chat with the kids. Might end up in a firefight.¡± I warned and he nodded, reaching into his backpack and pulling out a Mox painted Unity.


    ¡°I want to see this through¡­ If I can?¡±


    I flashed him a thumbs up and nodded my head towards the elevator and we all clambered inside.


    This was the important part.


    Would we be able to do this without killing anyone else? I looked to Hiromi, who was honestly the one leading us at this point.


    Hiromi was eager to get to the roof, but I could tell she was a little nervous as she played with the Katana on her hip.


    Malcolm had a massive grin on his face.


    He was carrying my HMG.


    Bastard was giving that back just as soon as I could carry her again.


    And Ichi just hefted his shotgun and was holding it ready to use.


    The elevator binged open to a roar of voices, but all of them were clear.


    ¡°Morgan! This crazy gonk!¡±


    ¡°Finally! Did you have to-¡±


    ¡°Ugh why did it take so long to kill one-¡±


    Of course the voices went silent when they realized it wasn¡¯t their previous boss stepping out of the elevator.


    ¡°Hello hello! I¡¯m Hiromi!¡± Hiromi called out as she stepped out like¡­ Well like she was the boss. Her nervous fidgeting from just before gone. ¡°Sorry about the trouble, but it¡¯s over now! The old man and the Netrunner that previously helped you out are zeroed! Sorry about that!¡± She chirped out all the while smiling.


    I wasn¡¯t sure what her crazy plan was, but I was carrying a gun in both hands, everything reloaded and ready to fire if any of the kids took a shot.


    ¡°Fuck.¡± A voice echoed out and it was Richard. ¡°You fucked us.¡± He said, sounding absolutely infuriated as he stomped through the crowd towards Hiromi, which stilled when I got between him and suddenly he was staring down my Burya.


    Some of the kids around him also raised their guns, but he would be dead before they fired.


    Before I could talk Hiromi did. ¡°Now now! No need to bring this to violence. The fights already over you know? So let¡¯s all have a talk about what the new situation is.¡± She said as she walked forward brazenly and settled into one of the seats and grabbed a beer. Seemingly waiting for Richard to join her.


    Hiromi? What the hell were you plotting?


    ¡ª---


    An hour later I knew. Hiromi had¡­ Made a deal.


    I no longer had any idea of what was happening.


    She had sat down Richard and basically talked him into a peaceful arrangement with Section 9.


    Hiromi literally called us Section 9. If not for Cold Blood keeping me calm I knew my head would have exploded.


    It had just been a joke! No one could know!


    We were a poser gang now!


    But in the end none of the kids had died. The killing was over, and they wouldn¡¯t get much out of attacking us. Hiromi had convinced them that allowing us to borrow the basement, and having a netrunner working out of the apartment complex it would mean they could rely on my work making sure the security system continued working, and maybe be willing to accept some work from them from time to time.


    In exchange Section 9 would also have access to a horde of teenaged gang bangers ready to work as muscle if we ever needed.


    I had given up on being involved in the agreement at this point. I was tired, still angry at myself for getting shot and ready to head to Viks for a nap.


    And I was just nodding along as Hiromi took over the details I didn¡¯t want to deal with.


    But in the end to my surprise it worked.


    The kids seemed happy enough to be in charge of themselves, at least for now, Hiromi would be their contact with Section 9. Which meant they would thankfully leave me alone, and I had a place to do my netrunning from and some security while doing it.


    Thankfully with the process finishing Hiromi pulled us out, wishing Richard a good night, and with the elevator operational again, the party was now over.


    My group took the elevator down first to the ground floor and to Ichi¡¯s truck.


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe that worked.¡± I muttered looking over at Hiromi who had been absolutely preening for the last hour as she ran the kids around into a deal.


    ¡°You should just trust me! It was easy enough for someone like me.¡± She said primping her hair with a hand.


    ¡°Well I¡¯m just glad I don¡¯t have to deal with this.¡± Ichi said with a smile then instantly pointing a finger at Hiromi and I. ¡°This is all your trouble.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be silly Ichi! If we need a truck of course we will call you, and with the SLS, Section 9 affiliation, we may be doing more big work.¡± Hiromi offered, raising a hand up to her mouth and laughing¡­


    ¡°A princess laugh? Really?¡± I asked in between chuckles at Hiromi''s actions.


    ¡°Of course! I just did something amazing! Do you know how good having groomed a gang will look to my rep?¡± She asked, looking proud of herself. ¡°Why did no one ever tell me how fun this whole Fixer thing could be!?¡±


    ¡°Ah of course the Corpobrat found her true calling.¡± Malcolm teased, but the bite in his words were thankfully softened by the way he nudged her after. ¡°Just remember us street kids when you are at the top of Arasaka tower.¡±


    ¡°Who are you again? The chauffeur?¡± She instantly retorted, earning a squawk of outrage from Malcolm and giggles from Ichi and I.


    I winced a bit at the end though.


    Stupid rib.


    ¡°Alright Chooms. Thanks¡­ For everything. I wouldn¡¯t have been able to do this without you.¡± I told them.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it Motoko! We are chooms! Considering how much you pull us along, it felt good to be able to actually help out.¡± Hiromi said with a shrug. ¡°Besides, we¡¯ve been getting a lot out of this for a while. Eddies, rep, chrome.¡± She muttered counting off her fingers.


    ¡°Eh. The pay is good.¡± Malcolm said teasing and that was that from him.


    ¡°Hey it was¡­ Preem. I¡¯ve never been this close to something this crazy before.¡± Nox offered, the boy had been quietly following behind us the whole time not really taking part.


    ¡°Hey you were instrumental. Thanks Nox. Is the pay enough?¡± I asked and he snorted.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be silly, I still have a ton from all the eddies I¡¯ve made from the BD¡¯s that I haven¡¯t handed over to you yet.¡±


    ¡°Oh? That¡¯s right, you are the one selling my Motoko¡¯s XBD¡¯s¡­ I think we should talk!¡± Hiromi offered with a shark like grin as she started stalking towards Nox.


    Well that wasn¡¯t something I was going to get in the middle of.


    ¡°Well¡­ I kinda need a visit to Viks. So I¡¯m gonna get out of here. Malcolm¡­ Put my HMG back in my trunk please.¡± I glared at the boy who had been sneakily walking off towards Ichi¡¯s truck.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°It¡¯s not that bad Vik.¡± I muttered, but the look he gave me kept me silent.


    ¡°Alright all of you, head on out. Motoko, will be fine, but we are going to need some privacy.¡± He ordered shooing Hiromi and Nox out of the clinic with his dad energy. Both had followed me to Vik¡¯s Hiromi dragging Nox around to talk more about his work.


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    I continued to ignore Hiromi getting involved in that.


    I was more focused on Vik, because I was feeling like I was about to get yelled at.


    ¡°Mind explaining why you have bullet holes through your leotard?¡±


    ¡°I got shot¡­ A lot. Fucker had a Smart SMG¡­ Well now I have a Smart SMG.¡± I admitted with a sigh.


    ¡°How are you still alive? You told me your healing takes eight hours.¡± He demanded rolling in next to me. ¡°I get if can¡¯t tell me, if someone is keeping you from talking about it, but-¡±


    ¡°No it¡¯s not that. Honest. No one but you knows about it Vik¡­ If I take a Max Doc it sorta supercharges the healing for a bit¡­ I guess I just didn¡¯t share that bit. Sorry.¡± I offered actually wincing. I probably should have told Vik that last time.


    ¡°That makes even less sense.¡± He muttered rubbing his nose under his glasses. ¡°The only thing in a MaxDoc is¡­ Well nothing that would cause rapid onset healing. Those things are just adrenaline, and some-Nevermind. It doesn¡¯t matter. It causes you to heal?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, pretty quickly, just about everything but broken bones. I-¡±


    ¡°Okay you are staying the night. We are going to test just what a MaxDoc actually does to you. Jesus Motoko, Kid. Rapid healing could have millions of side effects!¡± Vik sighed, seemingly trying hard to resist ranting at me.


    It was sweet. If it made me a little ashamed. I knew it was safe because Gamer¡­ But I couldn¡¯t exactly explain that to him.


    ¡°Sorry Vik. I¡¯m fairly certain it¡¯s safe?¡±


    ¡°Testing.¡± He decided nodding firmly patting me on the shoulder as he actually went to close off the clinic doors so no one could come in.


    ¡°Now. Kid lose the Leotard it¡¯s a loss anyways, I have a medical gown here somewhere you can we- Jesus kid!¡± He grumbled as he jerked his head away from where I was already peeling down my leotard.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Just put this on.¡± He rumbled at me as he tossed one of those backless medical gowns a patient might wear.


    ¡°Okay. I don¡¯t know why you are being weird, you are like three times my age.¡± I snarked at him, only to earn a choked back laugh.


    ¡°Motoko, you''re fourteen. I¡¯m about six times your age.¡±


    ¡°Wait what?!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m 74 kid.¡± He said as he wheeled back around on his chair to start strapping sensors to me.


    Wait.


    Was the reason Vik¡¯s dad energy was so intense because it was actually grandpa energy!?


    ¡ª--


    Vik ended up holding me the entire rest of the night running tests on my healing and trying to figure out why a Maxdoc causes a healing effect.


    In the end he had discovered a lot, and had more questions than he had before.


    But I had escaped. A quick call to my Quadra had it drive over so I could head home and I was gone.


    The apartment was quiet as I entered and I immediately went into my room thankful that Jun wasn¡¯t here as I peeled my ruined leotard off and threw it into the bag I kept all of my damaged clothes.


    I would need to make sure Jun didn¡¯t find that until I fixed them or scrapped them.


    I took a quick shower to finish cleaning up and then once more suited up I was in the living room with just the barest hints of sunlight starting to filter in through the armored blinds.


    What do I do now?


    I sighed, as I flopped onto the couch. I wasn¡¯t entirely satisfied with the situation with the kids, I really didn¡¯t want to deal with having any affiliation with some random street gang.


    Especially one that had been one step away from being wiped out for being too greedy.


    The kids were going to be a massive pain in the ass. I just knew it.


    And I didn¡¯t want to see them die.


    It was bound to happen. Night City wasn¡¯t kind to anyone.


    I shook it off. I could only be responsible for the people close to me. That¡¯s all. Just that. If the SLS get themselves killed hopefully I won¡¯t ever know.


    I stood up. Grabbing a bunch of my net gear from around the apartment and headed out. There was one more thing I needed, and then I would go back to my new Netrunning Den.


    ¡ª--


    Purchasing a full Netrunner suit with the cooling system still active had taken a hit to my funds, but it was too important not to have.


    I didn¡¯t want to melt my brain like I almost had before.


    The old seamstress lady that I had bought all my Leotards from was more than willing to make the sale, especially since I ordered a few more of my Leotards as well.


    I kept getting bullet holes in the damn things after all.


    I drove my Quadra over to the apartment complex.


    ¡°Straight Lane Apartments.¡± I muttered to myself, forced to shake my head that the kids had literally named themselves after the complex itself. This complex was old, and it was rundown. I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if everyone here was literally just squatting in a semi-abandoned building.


    Then again. Lights were on, and the water still ran, so someone must own the building and keep things running.


    It didn¡¯t even have a garage attached to it, instead I had been forced to park the Quadra in a space a block down the street and walk the rest of the way.


    I noticed pretty quickly that I was getting attention.


    Kids were staring at me.


    Some I recognized from the gang, and some I didn¡¯t. I had no doubt that something as big as the SLS losing their netrunner, and losing their big league gigs was spreading around.


    And that they now had a new leader. All the while some teenager with purple hair had flatlined their old boss¡­


    Or they might even have put a hit out on me, telling the kids to try and flatline me the moment I walked back into the building. Just to save Richard the hassle of dealing with us¡­


    But that was just my paranoia. Richard had more use of me alive, or rather he needed a netrunner to keep his stuff running, and maybe pass on intel to point his kids at gigs that they could do and make eddies.


    Morgan and V3L0CITY had targeted weapon shipments, or netrunning supplies with his horde of kids. The SLS didn¡¯t exist before that. I doubted Richard had suddenly gained all the knowledge needed to run a gang.


    As I entered the complex I wasn¡¯t surprised that a pair of kids were hanging out in front of the elevator, and both stood up as I approached.


    Both girls had shotguns.


    ¡°Richard wants to talk to you, or the other one.¡± The smaller of the two girls said she reminded me of Hiromi before. All neon and flair barking away to get attention, and to avoid anyone realizing she felt nervous.


    The other was quiet, a more firm grip on the Tactician Shotgun she was carrying. She at least carried herself like she knew how to shoot it, but from experience, that gun was too big for the girl, especially as it didn''t have a stock.


    ¡°Tell him to come down to the basement then. I have some work I need to do.¡± I told them, waving the bag in my left hand that had my suit and a spare laptop.


    Not that they knew that.


    They both scowled, but it was the taller girl that spoke up first. ¡°Richard wasn¡¯t asking.¡± She started to demand, but she had let me get too close, and half a second later I jerked the shotgun straight out of her hands, and grabbed the barrel of the shorter girls shotgun in the same moment.


    I just had to drop my bag to do it.


    I winced a bit as the Laptop hit the floor. Hopefully it wasn¡¯t damaged.


    ¡°Don¡¯t.¡± I told them simply letting them understand that I had control of both of their weapons. ¡°I¡¯m not a member of your gang. But we are working together now. If Richard needs something, he¡¯s welcome to come chat with me.¡± I informed her, and noticed that despite everything the smaller girl was still trying to jerk the shotgun out of my grip.


    Unfortunately she was a teenage girl without any chrome, and I was a chromed out Gamer. Her attempts weren¡¯t able to even budge my arm.


    ¡°Fine.¡± The taller girl ground out seemingly realizing the situation was more dangerous than she expected.


    I nodded and only after I was sure I had everything sorted did I let go of the barrel of the shotgun and offer to hand back the Tactician to the tall girl.


    She didn¡¯t hesitate in snatching it back with a glare.


    ¡°I¡¯m Motoko by the way. Since we will be sharing a building together in the future, I figured you should know.¡± I offered and the short girl scowled, looking like she wanted to raise the shotgun back up, but realizing it was dangerous as the taller girl settled her shotgun back in her hands with a nod.


    ¡°Mary.¡± She offered and then headed towards the elevator. The shorter girl followed after only a few seconds as she looked confused about why I wasn¡¯t being shot.


    I watched as they both headed up to the fifth floor. The floor the gang now controlled.


    I went ahead and accessed the elevator system through a scan and ordered it to come down. There literally wasn¡¯t a button to go to the basement so only someone who had some netrunning skill could actually get down there.


    After a minute of me standing there waiting since the old elevator had to go up, let the girls off and then come down. I finally reached my basement.


    It still seemed weird to consider it mine, but it really was.


    I looked over the array of equipment and had to shake my head. Some of this stuff was super high end. I mean just the fact he had server racks meant V3L the previous owner had been a damned good Netrunner. There was that tier system with Netrunners on where they were.


    I didn¡¯t think about it much, but it went like this.


    Tier 0. Using old old systems, like a Cybermodem to access the net. No one really used this anymore except people just looking up info online. Usually if they were over 60.


    Tier 1. Which is what I had done for the most part. Just using my link cord into systems.


    Tier 2. Is what is considered real Netrunning. Cybergoggles and other systems let someone view the net in actual dimensions, rather than just a flat screen. Of course this is when people start overheating, so Ice Baths were this tier.


    If you weren¡¯t rich enough to buy a netrunner suit, you were tier 2.


    Tier 3. Is professional stuff. Netrunner suits were considered part of this tier. Usually adding in Net chairs and biomonitors, that was all in this tier.


    Tier 4 was elite level¡­ Server banks, potentially Cryostasis chambers, and even direct blood cooling was all part of this tier, and was usually as high as someone could go without being a corpo.


    V3L Had been around this level. The equipment he had left behind was expensive elite level stuff¡­


    And I wasn¡¯t about to stick my head into any of it, without doing a full check up and wiping of basically everything. I would download all the data to drives for later look over, but no way was I connecting to his private server.


    He would definitely have some Daemon or Black ICE in there ready to kill.


    But there was another tier. Tier 5 gear was the crazy Netwatch stuff. Things like a full chrome installation that basically adds everything the previous tiers had but into mobile cyberware letting someone netrun anywhere, and with better speeds and power.


    So I had a bunch of high end stuff to start checking out. Thankfully all of my Netrunning skills meant I could actually do this.


    So I got to work, I connected my laptop into the server, instantly it got attacked, and I sighed as it basically fizzled shutting down.


    Yep. Expected.


    After a quick reinstall of the laptop making sure it was back up and running. I started breaching the server like I would any other system. But since I knew how dangerous it was, I was using the skill from Ghost Touch to do it. Slowly sending bytes of data through side access ports until the small bytes would grow into an actual program that would give me access.


    Of course I was interrupted long before I was finished. There was a beep going through the basement and it took me a moment to check on the monitors along the wall that were connected to the security system that had been put into the complex.


    Richard was requesting access to the basement. Apparently there was a way to request access.


    He was standing in the elevator, an agent in his hand and he was obviously waiting.


    I approved the request, sent the signal, and the elevator came down.


    Other than looking behind me at the monitors, I hadn¡¯t turned away from the server I was breaking into.


    Richard stepped out of the elevator into my basement with a certain confident stride as he walked over and stopped beside me.


    ¡°Richard. What¡¯s up? Mary said you wanted to talk?¡± I asked, still distracted, there was a bit of data that I needed to send in through a infrared sensor that could take a few bytes and it was a bit difficult to process the data right.


    ¡°I wanted to talk. To get to know my new choom.¡± He skewed the way he said choom obviously unhappy with the idea.


    ¡°I¡¯m not your choom. Nor will I be. I don¡¯t have time or interest in joining your gang. I¡¯m just someone who shares a building with you, and is more than willing to give you info from time to time on some good scores.¡± I replied.


    ¡°We both know that isn¡¯t all you will do. SLS will crumble apart in weeks without income. I can¡¯t have my friends go and try to get protection money, this whole area is technically Valentino. But they don¡¯t care about small fry like us as long as we don¡¯t mess with their business. Can¡¯t do drugs, can¡¯t do a lot of theft in the area. Makes it hard to earn eddies.¡±


    ¡°Well talk to Hiromi then, she is the fixer type.¡± I looked away from the server to meet his eyes. ¡°I¡¯m¡­ No hold on.¡± I muttered pulling away from the server it would hold for a while.


    As I did so Richard watched looking irritated and anxious.


    ¡°I can talk to her, the terms we worked out are fine I guess. But she said you¡¯re the boss.¡±


    ¡°Yeah I mean. I¡¯m sorta the leader of my chooms, but I¡¯m not your boss.¡± I rubbed the back of my head ¡°Here take a seat we should really clear the air, this whole thing was a mess to begin with.¡± I pointed him at a swivel chair beside the security monitors, probably Morgan''s old seat, as I took the Net chair sitting on it sideways to face him.


    ¡°Listen. I took a job from Wakako. Your group''s thefts obviously pissed some powerful people off. Wakako almost didn¡¯t take the gig, you were still small time. Small enough she wasn¡¯t even interested in offering it to people, but I needed Netrunning equipment. So she gave me this gig. I could have just killed all of you.¡± I told him bluntly. My chrome finger pointing straight at his heart. ¡°It wouldn¡¯t have been tough. Silent, loud, whichever. You are lucky that I don¡¯t like killing kids. So I found a way to get the gig done without flatlining any of the kids Morgan had wrapped up in this shit.¡±


    ¡°We could have taken you. We have good gear! Good security!¡± He argued instantly, trying to regain some confidence from my own seeming threat.


    ¡°I could have started throwing grenades during that party last night.¡± I told him bluntly, making him wince. ¡°By the time any of you would have even realized what was happening¡­ Listen you guys got really super lucky, and I¡¯m not here to rule you as a street kid empress or something. But I¡¯m also not enough of a bleeding heart to be your choom.¡± I  admitted trying to convey my annoyance through my hands.


    ¡°You come in, ruin the first good thing that ever happened to us? Destroy us without even killing us, which¡­ Okay yeah I appreciate we didn¡¯t have to call up any meat wagons, but still. You ruined what we were becoming, and now you want to just make friends? What do you want?¡±


    ¡°I want this Netrunning gear, and I want to be left alone. Hiromi saved me from having to haul this shit out of here so that¡¯s great, but it makes us neighbors now. Which isn¡¯t something I was planning. Listen Richard. I think you did a good thing helping out your chooms yeah? I¡¯ll do my best to keep the security of this place top notch. I¡¯ll even back you up if the apartments are ever attacked, I live here too now after all, but helping your gang isn¡¯t my priority you know?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. I know.¡± He said sound tired. ¡°We¡¯re street kids. We are never the priority, you probably don¡¯t get that though.¡±


    ¡°What? Why wouldn¡¯t I? I¡¯m a street kid too!¡± I said¡­ Even if it was only partially true.


    ¡°You¡¯re some Corpo kids aren¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Nah. Just Hiromi. My family were all Tyger Claws, although I¡¯m not really into the gang thing. I¡¯m just a merc. Hiromi¡¯s parents are Arasaka though.¡±


    ¡°Yeah I figured. It¡¯s why we weren¡¯t gonna cause any problems¡­ You really a street kid?  You don¡¯t really act like one.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just weird!¡± I told him with a thumbs up. ¡°But yeah I live in a small apartment with my brother Jun who is a TC Enforcer. So listen, we get it. Even Hiromi. I don¡¯t want to mess with you, or your chooms. I¡¯m not like Morgan, who is going to use you and eventually make you take the fall for it.¡± I told him and he winced.


    ¡°Even if you were, we would still do the gigs. Morgan didn¡¯t need to convince us to take the gigs. We were willing. More eddies than any of us had ever seen just for a few gigs?¡± He sighed.


    ¡°Even if it will all come crashing down on you?¡±


    ¡°Of course! Even if we all die it was worth it. We got to be something! Made this city know that we existed!¡± He said hotly as if caring about your own life was¡­ Wrong.


    Fucking Night City.


    ¡°Fuck that I¡¯m gonna live to a hundred and eighty.¡± I told him with a shrug. ¡°But listen. I¡¯m not going to interfere with you and your chooms. I¡¯ll help out with security, and maybe more if the pay is good, and in exchange, all I really ask is you keep anyone from trying to mess with my stuff.¡±


    He nodded ¡°Fine. I can accept that. Just maybe tell me if you see a good chance to make some eddies.¡± He asked, sounding kind of beaten.


    I nodded and that was pretty much that.

 Chapter 69

    It took the entire day to finally break the server''s system from within. Literally sneaking past all the ICE and security.


    It was awesome.


    And I am glad that I waited, because as I looked through the security, if I had tried to break through it definitely would have deleted everything.


    Instead, since I had gone slow, careful, I had access to all of the files. His netrunning information. His programs!


    He wasn¡¯t a programmer himself, but he had bought plenty of stuff. An array of daemons, and netrunning hacks were all there collected on the server for me to play with.


    So I went to work, first copying everything over to drives, and then doing a complete wipe of all the data on the server.


    I even went over the hardware itself just to make sure there wasn¡¯t a physical trap involved. Only once I was sure it was all clear did I move on. Checking his chair, and the setups there. I couldn¡¯t use most of the Biosystems he had installed as they were made for a borg.


    A borg blood injector wasn¡¯t going to do much for me after all.


    But the actual monitoring systems were great, and I happily reconfigured them to fit me instead. Then I went through the hardware that was laying around, it had basically everything I would need, I already pulled out the Netrunner suit and hooked it into the chairs systems, it would draw power and keep me cool as I ran.


    But as much as I wanted to jump in and get started, the basement still had plenty of other things I needed to go through.


    I dug into the security system, taking it over, checking the ICE and using a bit of knowledge I had seen from systems that gave me trouble, actually separated out each camera into its own partition. It took hours of work, but if someone pinged the network, it would only show the camera they pinged, and the security terminal, instead of everything connected to the system.


    Unless they were extremely skilled, or their Ping was far superior to my own.


    Specifically I wanted to cut off the rear hatch from the network entirely as well.


    I didn¡¯t exactly want someone sneaking in from the back door and killing me as I was netrunning, but it was also too useful to close off entirely.


    So instead I had removed it from the security hub, setting up my spare laptop across the room near the tunnel and setting it up.


    It would act as the security hub for just that door, cutting it completely off from the system.


    No one would be able to ping the system and find out about it. V3L0CITY for all of his skill had been kinda dumb about actual physical security. He was probably a terror on the net, but in real life his skills didn¡¯t quite equal out.


    I went through the elevator security protocols as well completely coopting them and even setting up some ways to activate the elevator if I wasn¡¯t around.


    I wasn¡¯t a shut in like V3L had been, and my chooms might need to come down here for some reason. So I had sent them a security key that would send the elevator down to the basement.


    I wasn¡¯t going to give it to Richard though.


    It wasn¡¯t that I thought he would kill me or something, but he could come down here to steal something.


    It¡¯s not like we were chooms or anything, despite the agreement he had made with Hiromi.


    Then finally after going over all the equipment. I was ready to netrun!


    Which is when a beep distracted me. I had just gotten a text.


    Well¡­


    I would be ready if Jun hadn¡¯t just asked where I was.


    So I locked everything down, headed upstairs and drove home.


    Tomorrow. Tomorrow I would netrun.


    ¡ª--


    Jun had listened to my story about what I had been up to with wide eyes.


    ¡°Motoko. You took over a gang?!¡±


    ¡°No! I just beat a gang, and then Hiromi made a deal so they don¡¯t mess with my stuff¡­ And I¡¯ll give them some gigs if I find anything while netrunning. Not the same thing.¡±


    ¡°Motoko you took over a gang.¡±


    ¡°I really didn¡¯t!¡± I denied but to my surprise Jun reached over and pulled me into a hug.


    ¡°Look at you! Leading a gang and everything! Oh! You should talk to Fujimura-sama, he might be able to help keep the gang in business, maybe set them up as a TC offshoot. It happens sometimes.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to!¡± I denied almost yowling but Jun just laughed and swung me around.


    I was gonna claw his fucking eyes out!


    Jun must have sensed my irritation as he put me back down and patted me on the head which I took a swipe at his arm that he pulled back hurriedly.


    ¡°It¡¯s preem Motoko. You should be proud. That doesn¡¯t happen a lot you know? It¡¯ll be a good experience, and with so many people working for you, you¡¯ll be able to do some really big gigs.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to. It¡¯s annoying, and I don¡¯t want to be responsible for a bunch of kids getting flatlined.¡±


    ¡°Kids get flatlined everyday ¡®Toko, you can¡¯t do anything about it. Just-¡±


    ¡°I absolutely can do something about it. Not be responsible. I can¡¯t help every street kid in the city, but I can certainly help a few around me sometimes, but I¡¯m not taking on responsibility for forty gonk kids that want to get themselves killed to make a few eddies.¡± I grumbled and Jun just shook his head.


    ¡°Everyone is willing to get themselves killed for a few eddies Motoko. It¡¯s why there is always a need for more gonks.¡± He said, shrugging. Which only made me more irritated.


    The lack of respect for life everyone in Night CIty had was super annoying, and doubly annoying because usually I¡¯m worse than the average person.


    But I don¡¯t like the idea of killing kids, especially just being blase about it.


    ¡°Yeah I guess.¡± I grumbled, but the argument was over. Jun obviously did not want to argue with me about it. He instead raised up the remote and turned on the TV.


    Another one of his annoying shows was put on, but I decided to sit with him for a while and watch it. Sure I didn¡¯t really like it, but Jun was family, and sometimes you have to do stupid boring things with family so they knew that you loved them.


    ¡ª--


    I considered waiting until morning to head out, but honestly, it wasn¡¯t like I needed to sleep, so I ended up just tinkering with some of the program data I had pulled from V3L¡¯s server loading a few of the quickhacks, and Netrunning programs and daemons into my Cyberdeck after thoroughly checking them out.


    I looked through my Cyberdecks status to make sure I was set up.


    [ICE Shield. Matt Mk.3]


    [HELL FLAME Anh. 2.132]


    [Ping]


    [Barrier Dataload Militech 9.4.2.111.2]


    And then that night I left the apartment and drove over to the new complex.


    The basement was just how I left it. I took a moment to strip and suit up into the full Netrunner suit, turning it on and shivering as the cooling unit kicked on and balanced out. Then I sat in the Netrunner chair and clipped everything in. The biomonitor activated and I sighed as I closed my eyes, and then when I opened them?


    I wasn¡¯t in reality anymore.


    It was dark.


    I was on a spire with a small flat area to stand on. And nothing else.


    This was my lobby. The starting zone. Basically I was on my web browser''s home page, only it was just a blank page, because I had never set it up.


    Now it was time to start running. I sent out a ping through the system, connecting to the citynet and basically opening up my view to the true net.


    Above and below me a city grew from nothing spreading out as my ping ran through filling out the world.


    This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    The city grew both from the ground and the sky, making me realize first that the rules of the net didn¡¯t follow the rules of reality.


    More and more it grew to the horizon until I couldn¡¯t see anything but the visual manifestation of the net. There far out of my sight something bright and furious red glowed, clashing with the aesthetic blue of the city scape.


    The Black Wall.


    I took a step and left my little pillar, instantly I was within the net, Slipping through modem lines, and old infrastructure. I walked through the security that V3L had set up to protect the apartment complexes local net.


    It was less leaving a space, and more walking out of the castle walls. Onto the streets of the net. Information flew past at a rapid pace.


    And yet. As I looked at the almost video game-like visuals all around me showed me I wasn¡¯t alone.


    Every once in a while I would see a splash of foreign color, and it would be another netrunner. Their blank bodies only had the face visible, everything else was a sort of faded human shape.


    They were running down the streets although they rarely looked like they were physically moving. Many ran around with futuristic vehicles, or on the backs of exotic animals. But they paid me no mind.


    I didn¡¯t have any sort of movement program. Relying instead of handshaking through different servers and systems as I moved along.


    They could skip the ques on the back of their mounts, I was the peasant on foot needing to greet each gate guard to get passage.


    It was¡­ Fascinating. A different world entirely.


    As I looked around I realized what it meant to be a netrunner. Each server, or network was a building, hidden things were literally hidden, Potentially under the ground, or in out of the way spots.


    It was like a massive virtual dungeon, with safe rooms, traps, monsters and loot.


    I understood entirely why so many people became obsessed with it.


    It was also dangerous.


    As I walked along I could see alleyways that glowed in more sinister colors of secure areas. Plenty of places had powerful ICE with big warnings to stay away unless you had a passcode. The warnings were often fences, or walls. ¡®Physical¡¯ barriers to entry.


    But they weren¡¯t physical. It was all a representation of the net given form and shape.


    It was all so very very interesting.


    I couldn¡¯t help but feel like exploring so I headed towards one of the big buildings I could see that was open. A local net not super secured. As I both walked into the building up the stairs, and slipped into the server, I quickly discovered it was a server for Megabuilding, H4 to be precise. I slipped into the local net as easily as stepping into the server. It had no security blocking anyone out.


    But inside was a riot of noise. Ads, and information everywhere. I looked up, just like the megabuildings this representation was a hollow building. A massive open space in the middle and as I looked upwards there was simply nothing but more megabuilding, going up and up and up practically infinitely. Every person that had ever lived in the building, every account, every person that had ever spoken to the corporation in charge to potentially rent every lick of data stored here.


    Data that was made for them and stacked up higher and higher.


    ¡°The fuck you doing?¡± A voice called out surprising me, and as I turned, I found a netrunner. The man looked a little staticy, He was obviously using lower end parts but he was here. Like all netrunners his body was a weird sort of colorless body shape, the only detail their head stood out.


    A netrunner here. And this was probably his home turf.


    ¡°Just looking around. Never been into a megabuilding server before.¡±


    ¡°Well fuck off. This is my netspace, and I know you don¡¯t live here.¡±


    ¡°No I don¡¯t. I¡¯ll be gone as soon as I¡¯m done.¡± I offered, but that was the wrong thing to say, because a moment later, he raised his hand, it distorted in static and data and turned into a gun.


    It wasn¡¯t a gun though. It was a representation of a program, a hack, a weapon. The fact he formed it like that meant it was a threat.


    My normal Quickhacks wouldn¡¯t have done much here. Maybe shutting down his optics, but I bet it would be really hard to get it working on him here, but luckily I had come prepared. I accessed the new programs I had installed from V3L.


    The assault was sudden, but unlike when I had been nearly instantly hacked even through my defenses by V3L, this guy wasn¡¯t on his level.


    In fact he fired and instantly it was like his bullet was in slow motion as his assault hit my firewall and began trying to breach through. I reacted using a small trick that Cyber Security had taught me and redirected it through other systems elongating his access port by spoofing my location. I hadn¡¯t done much to visualize the defense, but something about this space¡­


    I started basically teleporting around, even as the bullet continued to give chase hitting the different locations I had been following me.


    He didn¡¯t send any other hack, too busy trying to breach through the mess of port access information I was throwing up between the two of us, but this was just a way to give myself more time.


    I wanted the attack to stop. So I did a trick.


    I spoofed my location again, but this time used a port connected to the Megabuilding we were in. A redirect to a piece of the Megabuilding server that was absolutely lagging, moving at a crawl due to some kid downloading an absolute metric ton of porn.


    My move might have lagged his download even more, but it also caused the netrunners assault to stutter to an absolute stop, unable to send the data through the server channel. The ¡®bullet¡¯ basically freezing in space.


    But that wasn¡¯t going to be the end. Once he realized his hack had stalled he turned and attacked me again.


    This time though I was more than just ready.


    As his assault came up it ran into a wall.


    I was testing out one of V3L¡¯s quickhacks.


    ICE shield.


    Instantly neon octagons appeared in the air rippling and shifting as the bullet traveled through one, Instantly the bullet seemed to lose most of its form, and then it passed through another shield, and then it stopped on the third. Literally turning to dust as it hit the shield.


    ¡°Now fuck off.¡± He demanded as if his little assault had actually done anything.


    As if attacking me wasn¡¯t going to have repercussions. Besides I now knew this guy wasn¡¯t good enough to harm me. So I sent my own assault. A barrier system, the attack was similar to a DDos attack. I would flood his originating connection point with a few million requests, and quite literally ¡®bar¡¯ him from being able to access the net as his connection was walled off by junk data.


    The visualization turned the attack into a kaleidoscope of colors as the same shields that were my defense now multiplied and shot out, looking to surround the Netrunner.


    He grimaced, and motioned like throwing something out of his pocket, and my shields slowed, literally frosting over.


    Personal ICE. He was creating a barrier around his access point making the junk data bounce off, unable to flood the connection.


    I frowned instantly looking over the ICE that was on one hand visually growing out of the floor, and on another just a sequence of code.


    The dichotomy was¡­ Interesting.


    I would need to breach it to let my attack go through. So I did. I slammed into his system in a barrage of code, and it wasn¡¯t even a contest. Just to prove my point I waved my hand and fire swirled around. The ICE shattered in moments causing my barriers to speed up and then lock into place.


    HELL FLAME. A completely pretentious name for a breaching program that devoured data trying to annihilate it into a gibberish mush. His ICE hadn¡¯t been strong enough. It shattered under the dual assault.


    ¡°YOU BI-¡± The netrunner was cut off as his avatar distorted and sparked out. He had disconnected before the Barrier could kick him out of the Megabuilding lobby. Probably worried that I would have pushed something dangerous through with my advantage.


    Lucky for him though I didn¡¯t add that sort of attack program in. If I had, I could have sent a Quickhack to short circuit his system, or used the barrier to attack his Cyberdeck, potentially blocking him into a blank space without a way to wake up.


    Netrunning was dangerous.


    *250 XP Gained.*


    I blinked because the alert had come in, as a golden engraved neon screen in front of my face.


    Oh.


    OOOOH!


    I could get XP in the net!? I was motionless for a while as I processed this. If I could find something to fight here, I could get more actual levels!


    ¡°Hey you gonna clean up your mess? I know Aaron was being a digital bag of dicks claiming the lobby again, but you are filling the server with a ton of junk.¡± A voice called out startling me and I looked around.


    Another netrunner was on a floor above me, standing sideways on the wall as he had his arms crossed over his chest.


    I looked around wondering what he meant before wincing.


    The effects of our little fight still remained. The ice and fire seemingly laying around melted and still burning nothing respectively.


    I get it. If a Netrunner ran around bashing shit down, it would damage the servers.


    ¡°Ah yeah sure. I¡¯ll do that.¡± I muttered, looking around at the code, it wasn¡¯t too hard, the fire was mine, so I simply put a stop to the program, causing the fire to end. The ICE was more interesting, as I had to think about it from two perspectives. On one hand, it was just the remains of an ICE program on some computer that I had broken through.


    On the other it was digital clutter.


    In the end, I just sent the remains of the program to my own recycle bin.


    The reason I had been able to break it so easily was because it was an old ICE version, so I didn¡¯t really need to look into it, but it was interesting that I had basically stolen the program.


    Well¡­ Copied it¡­ Sorta. I had technically caused the original program to eat itself which had broken it but I could still copy data from the net into my own system.


    Actually I could do that a lot. The server that V3L had was exactly that. A repository for data I found while netrunning.


    ¡°Thanks. Now unless you are here to do something, can you get out. You are claiming a lot of server resources with how active your connection is.¡± The netrunner said to my surprise as he sort of pointed at the exit.


    ¡°Ah. I¡¯ll lower my bandwidth, I¡¯m just looking around.¡± I told him, as I did just that. Reducing my upload to the megabuilding server. Sure everything got a bit laggier, but in exchange, I wasn¡¯t using up much on the server anymore.


    ¡°Sure do what ya want.¡± He mumbled and then started walking sideways along the wall.


    ¡°Weird place.¡±


    ¡ª---


    I left not long after. The Megabuilding server had a lot of pretty boring data. Although I did check in on David Martinez, this was his apartment building after all.


    Their rent was a bit past due, but otherwise they were good as far as their data said the management didn¡¯t have any issues with them. David¡¯s position as an Arasaka student actually gave the family a good bit of leeway.


    No apartment manager wanted to piss off a future Arasaka officer.


    Then I was out in the wilds and there was only one more place I could think of to go see.


    It took a few moments to handshake through a few servers before I reached the Kabuki Roundabout server.


    As I entered, I couldn¡¯t help but smile because it looked almost identical to the real life place. As I looked around I noticed it was actually really busy on the net, and not just through normal traffic.


    Netrunners were hanging around.


    I guess I had been right. With the Dewdrop Inn being in the area, obviously this would be a netrunner hangout.


    I walked around enjoying the aesthetic setup. Since this was a netrunner hangout it had actually been setup for them. Places to sit, private rooms, booths selling and hawking gear, which was just data.


    I realized that what I had seen of Yoko¡¯s Dewdrop Inn had only been a far lesser half of the truth.


    This was the real Dewdrop Inn. An entire server architecture taken over to be a Netrunner hangout.


    I noticed an array of Netrunners hanging out around a table. In the real world it had been an eatery, a place to eat after buying some food, but here, it was covered in a jumble of objects representing programs and code that the Netrunners were each seemingly bartering for.


    But to my surprise they were definitely more my age, maybe a few years older, but still teenagers. Their faces weren¡¯t high definition. Some moved as if there were only a few points of control, meaning they were using old net goggles, and gloves to interact with the net instead of a full dive.


    The fact they weren¡¯t elites was perfect. It meant that it wasn¡¯t as awkward as I approached, stopping far enough away not to feel like I¡¯m intruding.


    ¡°Excuse me?¡±


    ¡°Yeah?¡± The first one that responded was a girl turning to look me over with a very awkward movement, her entire Avatar seemingly shifting along with her head, going from sitting at the table to literally turning an entire 180 to face me.


    ¡°Whoa, look at the fidelity. What are you running?¡± Another of the teens asked, but I ignored him for a moment.


    ¡°I¡¯m new in the area. Was wondering what everything is.¡± I asked and the table had a flurry of quiet messages sent between the teens.


    It was funny, watching them communicate like that, was very similar to watching someone whisper between each other in the real world.


    Only I could see the lines of communication opening up and connecting the group together.


    ¡°We¡¯ll help out, but not for free.¡± The first girl uttered, but the boy sitting beside her suddenly sent a program that¡­


    Well it was like a nudge. He even made a motion with his avatar just to stop her.


    ¡°First rule of the Kabuki Round Server. We offer advice, for free, but help costs info.¡± He offered, cutting off the girl who huffed but nodded at his words.


    ¡°Oh great. I¡¯m just wondering where everything is I guess. I¡¯m mostly just looking around.¡±


    ¡°Well, that I can do.¡± He said and I got a quick file offer. After checking it over, I opened it to see basically a list of different IP addresses each with a name right next to it. ¡°That¡¯s everything public here on the server. There are hidden areas, but that isn¡¯t an offer to try and find them, if someone wants you to access the sub servers, they will invite you. Otherwise be respectful, no attacking other runners here, and you¡¯ll be fine. That is a real warning by the way. Yoko keeps a horde of Security Daemons hanging around.¡± He mentioned pointing up, and I noticed them.


    Daemons. Monsters, mostly looking like demons, hung around the roof of the Roundabout, like gargoyles, waiting to protect the server, and I suppose anyone that was attacked.


    ¡°Cool.¡±


    ¡°Cool? Jeez, are you like some grandma running a kiddy avatar?¡± The girl asked and I couldn¡¯t help but pout at that.


    ¡°No. Cool is just cool. I¡¯m bringing it back.¡± I argued only to be instantly laughed at.


    ¡°Sure ya are.¡±


    ¡°Anyways, hey I appreciate the help.¡± I told the boy who just nodded, and I hurried away. Not wanting to talk to the bunch of teenagers anymore.


    Now that I had the IP and description of what everything was, I could look over the building and see what rooms attached to what IP.


    Man this was so cool.


    Obviously the first place I went was the one I was most familiar with in the real world.


    The Dewdrop Inn.


    I didn¡¯t use the IP to sort of travel to the Inn, instead I wandered the Roundabout walking up the stairs and around until I reached the door.


    As I touched the door it accepted my handshake protocol, and I was in.


    But it wasn¡¯t the Dewdrop Inn that I knew from the real world.


    A technological Rave of music sound and netrunners was everywhere.


    The Dewdrop Inn, was a fucking Netrunner Club!


    I stepped down the steps leading to the dance floor and noticed that a few netrunners were actually dancing together, a few were even ¡®connected¡¯ bridging their avatars together into a private connection.


    Oh my.


    I looked away, even if the Avatars were simply dancing to the music together, more than likely going through an automated dance routine as their actual consciousness did¡­ Other things.


    The place wasn¡¯t packed, but it was full. A few of the booths around the edge had small groups, or even a few solo netrunners just hanging around.


    This whole place was so surreal. A mixture of the normal and the digital mixed together. I slipped onto a table to just take it all in for a while.

 Chapter 70

    ¡°Well well well. About time you wandered in here kid.¡± I turned at the sudden voice, and to my surprise it wasn¡¯t who I thought it would be.


    Or maybe it was?


    The voice had been Yoko the owner of the Dewdrop Inn. Or at least the person that was always at the counter, but the avatar?


    That wasn¡¯t human.


    Instead a massive woman stood before me, or I guess I should say a Kitsune. Nine tails fluttered in the windless air around her, and she wore a kimono that was only ¡®slightly¡¯ on her.


    ¡°How did you configure your avatar like that?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but ask and a moment later the Kitsune laughed, a tittering sensual noise, completely different from the woman that I had spoken with in the real world.


    ¡°This is my server. Since I¡¯m not wandering around the net, it¡¯s easy to configure an avatar to my liking. Unfortunately I¡¯m back to basics whenever I leave the Inn, but I rarely do that anyways.¡± She offered with a shrug that almost had her Kimono slip even lower. I think the only reason it didn¡¯t was because it was a digital object because that shouldn¡¯t have stayed up.


    ¡°Nice to see you then Yoko. Or should I say Kyuubi no Yoko?¡± I asked, and her face brightened up in a delighted smile.


    ¡°Hah! You know a bit of mythology good!¡± She said smiling brightly in a way the normally unemotive woman never had in reality. ¡°C¡¯mon kid. I know this is new to you, let me give you a bit of a run down, I also have some questions for you. Like how did you get V3L0CITY¡¯s Rig.¡±


    I had been about to start following her without a care but I hesitated when she revealed that.


    She noticed as well. ¡°No worries kid, no one is going to want revenge for that dickbag''s death, call it just curiosity.¡± she offered, waving the fan in her hand she gesturing me to follow.


    I did.


    Yoko might be a bit different here, but that didn¡¯t mean I was going to suspect her of attacking me.


    She led me out of the dance floor and up a pair of stairs made of nothing but light up to the second floor where there was only one door, but as we approached it blurred from a blank looking door into an ornate set of Shoji.


    ¡°This is my private lobby. There are a few others, but I don¡¯t give up server space for nothing, but C¡¯mon in. It¡¯s secure, we can talk.¡± She offered as the doors slapped open and we entered into¡­


    Well it was a Neon Japanese Shrine.


    Once the doors sent me a handshake and accepted my entrance the room I walked into shifted, instead of a set of Shoji I was walking out from under a large red Torii gate. Into the open space of a Shrine. Other than the lights all being neon colors, and the aesthetics very focused on foxes, the place looked like¡­


    Earth, sorta.


    Neon stars in the sky, a big glowing moon above, and everything looked more realistic that I had seen elsewhere.


    ¡°I spend a lot of server space making sure my lobby looks good. You like?¡±


    ¡°Yeah it¡¯s cool.¡± I replied looking around as she walked over to a picnic set up under a Sakura tree dropping neon pink flower leaves onto the area.


    Yoko definitely had a theme.


    ¡°So whenever I saw you at the Inn, this is where you really were?¡±


    ¡°Mostly. I have an expensive Cyberdeck that lets me dive while still being active. I mostly have to focus on one or the other though.¡± She replies as she waves me to a seat.


    ¡°So Motoko. This your first dive? How are you liking it?¡± She asked and I blinked at the sudden surprise question.


    I had been expecting a question about V3L0CITY. ¡°It¡¯s interesting. I had some trouble when I went exploring the Megabuilding H4 server, but the guy that attacked me wasn¡¯t very good. I pushed him until he disconnected.¡±


    ¡°Oh? Already had a fight? Not bad. Most first timers lose their first real fight on the net.¡±


    ¡°I guess I¡¯m used to fighting.¡±


    ¡°I suppose you are. I heard about V3L0CITY¡¯s death. He was well known in the netrunner community. But not well liked. He did have a lot of information.¡± She said and that is when I realized what was happening.


    ¡°Information you want.¡±


    ¡°Information I will happily trade for.¡± She offers instead. ¡°That is the way of netrunners. We trade information, for information. Of course that implies you have his server data? You are running off his hardware, and I can tell you have some of his hacks stored.¡±


    ¡°You can tell that?¡± I asked surprised looking at myself in shock. In order to find that out, she would have had to hack me!


    ¡°It¡¯s an old trick. I¡¯ll teach it to you if you want, it¡¯s not something really secret anymore, but yes in a sense. I don¡¯t know the hacks you have specifically, but I can read some of his leftover code on your avatar. Keep it in mind, whenever you have a program installed and ready for use, it can leave a trace on your avatar, and where you use it.¡±


    ¡°Like a smell.¡± I offered putting it together and she puffed out a laugh that would have been a snort on any other woman.


    Stupid Sexy Kitsune.


    ¡°You can think of it like that if it helps you wrap your head around it, but yes. Such things can be tracked. I¡¯ll teach you a bit about it, but first. Do you have his server data?¡±


    ¡°I do. He had a kill switch on the data, but I bypassed his ICE and disabled it. I saved everything and wiped the server for my use.¡±


    ¡°Brilliant!¡± She said, smiling happily. ¡°I am doubly lucky that we already have a relationship, that data is valuable. Very very valuable. And I would appreciate the chance at a first look, for a fair trade of course. As you already know I¡¯m willing to help new netrunners, so I have plenty of learning courses, and data to get you familiar with the wonders, and dangers in the shallow net.¡±


    ¡°And the deep net?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but ask. The difference was easy enough even for a newbie to understand. The Shallow net was the net created after the DataKrash, after the Blackwall was put up. It was mostly safe.


    The Deep Net was everything behind the BlackWall. The place where AI lived. The most dangerous place for a netrunner. But also the most valuable.


    ¡°I don¡¯t usually recommend anyone go there Kid. Not even people with years and years of experience. It usually isn¡¯t worth it. But what you learn about the shallow net carries over¡­ Just more dangerous.¡±


    ¡°Why do you want V3L¡¯s data so much? Did he have blackmail on you or something?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but ask, but the way I said it hopefully conveyed to Yoko I was just curious and not looking to cause her issues.


    ¡°You wanted to know about the DeepNet?¡± She asked suddenly.


    ¡°I mean¡­ Mostly just curiosity.¡± I admitted.


    ¡°V3L Was a Deep Diver.¡± She revealed and I rose up.


    ¡°That guy?¡±


    ¡°Yes. He was known for it. He lived in the net, never left unless he had to. He jumped over the Blackwall multiple times and returned. You want to know why I want to be the first to peek at his data? It¡¯s because I really want to know what he found¡­ You aren¡¯t alone in wanting to know what¡¯s behind the Blackwall kid¡­ We all do.¡±


    ¡ª--


    I blinked my eyes for a moment as I came to. Wiping the crust out as I rose up and yawned. I stretched as I untangled myself from all the cords and connections.


    I had done it.


    Jumped into the Net.


    I was a Netrunner now in truth.


    In the end I agreed to give Yoko a peek in exchange for a lot of guidance, and favors. Really I was probably getting ripped off in some respects, but if the guidance she offered helped me survive my net dives then it was a fair trade.


    Survival was more important than getting a few more goodies. Besides, I was a Gamer.


    If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    I just needed to keep improving and eventually there would be nothing that could stop me.


    I checked my messages, a few texts had come in from my chooms which I responded back to, but then it struck me and I opened up my gamer window.


    ¡°The 250xp was real.¡± I muttered. I could gain XP while in the net.


    That meant I didn¡¯t have to kill people in the real world to level up!


    I stretched out again, very happy at my new discovery. Until then though, I was going to need to gather the data up and visit Yoko in the real world soon.


    But that was for later. Now?


    I was going to get out of the basement.


    I changed out of the netrunner suit back into my normal leotard which was much more comfortable.


    Then I left. Taking the elevator up I walked past a few of the kids that were hanging around the lobby.


    This time at least they gave me looks but didn¡¯t stop me.


    On my way home I stopped to get some food. Filling my belly for the first time that day considering I had spent hours in the net.


    Full and feeling more alive I walked into the apartment and flopped on the couch.


    ¡°It¡¯s good to be home.¡± I whispered to the air as I reached over and grabbed my guitar. More than enough time for a couple of songs before I would go see Yoko.


    ¡ª--


    Feeling alive, I had the shards full of V3L¡¯s server data in my pouch pocket, and I was here once again.


    Dewdrop Inn. Now that I had seen it on the web, I could spot some of the differences, but it was a testament to Yoko¡¯s skill that it looked so similar. It was actually hard to tell the difference without going into the natural alterations of living in a city.


    ¡°Motoko, good to see you.¡± Yoko greeted me sounding almost flat, as I walked into her shop, and again it struck me how different the woman was on the web, and in reality.


    ¡°Yoko. Where do you want to do this?¡± I asked and she actually cocked her head and I leapt the counter and followed her into the back room.


    We settled onto a table and we began.


    Yoko went through the data I had, commenting on pieces she wanted and would trade for.


    We went over everything, for the most part, I just focused on a guide to the net, which she seemed amused that I kept hammering, as well as one other task I had asked from her.


    Otherwise some eddies, and ¡®favors¡¯ were passed into my hands.


    ¡°There is very little about his Deep net expeditions here.¡± She eventually commented as she was doing a quick check on the data.


    ¡°It¡¯s everything he had on the server. I didn¡¯t find any sub drives or anything. So he either kept it somewhere else, or-¡±


    ¡°No, I suppose he wouldn¡¯t leave it on his main server. Far too easy to be forced to flee and have that data stolen, he would have hidden it. I was hoping there would be a clue, to where.¡±


    ¡°Probably just kept it in his head then.¡± I offered and Yoko nodded agreeing.


    ¡°So about what I asked?¡±


    ¡°It will be done, an odd request but I am more than capable of handling the server load. Are you sure? Your request might be a useful experience, but I don¡¯t truly see the interest you hold.¡±


    ¡°Just a personal thing. I like to test myself, it¡¯s important to me, and I¡¯m paying. So we good?¡±


    ¡°We are good Motoko. Come find me in the net later.¡±


    ¡°Thanks Yoko.¡± I said as I rose up and left. The itch to jump back into the net and get my reward was there, but I couldn¡¯t live my entire life like that.


    So instead I checked in with my chooms.


    Hiromi was finishing up her schooling for the day but would be busy with homework, much to her irritation, but Ichi and Malcolm were free, and we all decided to meet up.


    We were just going to hang out! It was actually kind of exciting as I got dressed and headed out to meet them.


    Other than Hiromi, I didn¡¯t really just hangout with my chooms that often. So this would just be a hangout day!


    I specifically chose not to meet up at Ho-Oh club this time.


    Instead we were heading over to Lizzies!


    I made it there first, and as I pulled in I noticed Rita was bouncing today, which was good, I would be able to say hi to her as well.


    The bar wasn¡¯t quite going crazy, since it was still early afternoon, but that was only a benefit to me. I walked up to Rita and got a smile from the older woman that I couldn¡¯t help but return.


    ¡°Hey Rita. How goes?¡± I asked as I stepped off from the entrance to not block the door.


    ¡°Motoko. Not bad kid. You?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve had this amazing adventure yesterday! I went netrunning for the first time!¡± I couldn¡¯t help but gush a little as I told Rita about my adventure in claiming some high end Netrunning gear and then jumping into the digital space.


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ Well I¡¯m glad you got some preem gear Motoko, but be careful alright? The net can be seriously dangerous.¡±


    ¡°Oh I know. Yoko, the woman that runs the Dewdrop Inn is going to be giving me some help, I¡¯m just taking the rest of the night off before I jump in head first.¡±


    ¡°Heh. Well I can¡¯t help much myself, but the Mox have a few runners that work with us. If you ever end up in trouble let me know, I can put you in touch.¡± Rita offered although she put away her gentle smile to block some gonk from walking in, giving him the rundown with her bat over her shoulders.


    I barely kept the smile off my face as Rita went full aggressive Mox bouncer on the guy before letting him in.


    The twitching of my lips didn¡¯t go unnoticed when she turned back to me.


    ¡°Don¡¯t give me that look.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t do anything.¡± I argued but I was fully smiling now.


    ¡°Sure kid. Hey, I heard something the other night. About a girl with purple hair and her brother fighting off an edgerunner that was going for a TC boss.¡±


    I winced as I was reminded of that night.


    ¡°Yeah. That was Jun and I.¡± I agreed but I sighed as I leaned up against the wall. ¡°That night didn''t exactly go well.¡±


    ¡°Why were you trying to rescue a TC boss in the first place?¡± She asked, and while she did her best to keep any judgment out of her voice I picked up on the subtext.


    ¡°Jun invited me to this big TC party. I only went to eat the snacks. They had the best sushi Rita, it was so good. I literally ate myself sick.¡± I told her the last bit in a whisper earning me a snort from the woman.


    I sighed as I decided to share the whole story. ¡°So I got sick and Jun decided to take me home early. We were in the elevator with this TC boss and his date. A doll woman she was¡­ nice.¡± I muttered remembering her dying and me being unable to do anything to save her.


    ¡°Yeah I heard. Cassie wasn¡¯t one of ours, but word gets around.¡± Rita offered and I scowled, because that was the first I had even heard of the woman''s name.


    ¡°Cassie? I never got her name. We were ambushed as we stepped out of the elevator. Something twigged me and I dropped Jun and I just in time. This crazy borg opened up with an LMG.¡± I revealed scowling. ¡°In the end I locked his gun with a quick hack and he didn¡¯t like that. Kicked Jun and I around, and we ended up fighting him. I kept having to jump in so Jun wouldn¡¯t die. The boss hid in his car the whole time. We survived, the borg didn¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Ah. So it wasn¡¯t that you were guarding the guy, you were just there, and the guy attacked you too.¡± Rita muttered nodding along seemingly more relaxed.


    ¡°Yeah it¡¯s awful. Everyone is going to think I¡¯m back in with the TC. Even Jun mentioned that a lot of the bosses are super happy with us, I¡¯m owed ¡®favors¡¯ and shit. As if that has any value the moment they don¡¯t want me around.¡±


    Rita reached out and gripped my shoulder. ¡°Sorry Kid.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine. Just annoying, but I¡¯m not here to complain about shit, My chooms and I are here to hang out¡­ Plus I have a BD I need them to see.¡± I said with a smirk. Hiromi wasn¡¯t here, but I would give it to her afterwards.


    Malcolm would get a kick out of it after all.


    I spent the next ten minutes just hanging out with Rita outside the club, a few of the other Mox Bouncers coming over to join the chat, but they didn¡¯t interact with me much.


    I was still an outsider, despite what I had done about Jotaro.


    It didn¡¯t bother me. The Mox may be one of the better gangs, but they were still a gang, and they were changing with the years, growing less focused on helping people and more on their own self interest.


    Just the way of things in Night City I guess.


    But finally Ichi and Malcolm pulled up, thankfully not in Ichi¡¯s big truck. Instead they were driving Ichi¡¯s grandmother''s car.


    Or at least I was pretty sure that was how it worked. The old Thorton Galena¡¯s engine sounded a bit rough but it drove.


    They parked and then stepped out, wearing nice clothes.


    Nicer than I was used to them wearing. They had obviously been shopping, buying some extra threads to really show off.


    I thought it made them look like they were trying too hard, but if they wanted to spend their eddies on clothes. I wasn¡¯t going to judge.


    I literally spend a lot of eddies on Leotards for my cospla-outfit. So I really had no room to judge.


    ¡°Ichi! Malcolm!¡± I called out and as both boys approached, although Rita had shifted back to her bouncer persona.


    ¡°Motoko. Here we are. Still don¡¯t know why you didn¡¯t want to hit the H-Other club.¡± Ichi offered, looking a little nervous but I shook my head as I linked an arm with his and Malcolms.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it! Lizzies is great, and honestly it¡¯s bigger and quieter.¡±


    ¡°But they opened the upstairs Motoko! I wanted to hang out in the new club area.¡± Ichi whined but I ignored him as I dragged them into the bar, Rita rolling her eyes at the entire situation.


    In the end we took a side room booth and I was even a good choom and bought the first round of drinks.


    Although both boys looked like they wanted to scan the BD list.


    Lizzies was a BD club after all. Neither wanted to do it while I was around. Which was funny, as I kept catching them peeking at the listing while we were chatting and hanging out.


    Of course then I pulled free the BD from my pocket and winked at the boys.


    ¡°Motoko?¡±


    ¡°I got something special for you guys to check out.¡± I inform them, my smile stretching my face making both boys very uncomfortable.


    ¡°Uhh. I need to go to the bathroom.¡± Malcolm tried to escape but I caught his arm and tugged him back down.


    ¡°Trust me Malcolm. You are going to love this. Headsets on boys. I¡¯ve been waiting forever to reveal this.¡± I told them and both boys still looked hesitant. They put the wreaths on and I slipped in the BD chip to start.


    I waited practically, vibrating as they watched the BD.


    When it finished only a minute later. Malcolm was the first to react.


    ¡°Pfft! Mr. Studd! Pimp!¡± He cackled loudly making me glad I had grabbed a private side booth.


    ¡°Of fuck off Motoko!¡± Ichi whined glaring at me, but I had zero care about his annoyance. My smile stretched across my entire face. ¡°I can¡¯t believe you would do this to me. Motoko. Give me the BD.¡± He demanded.


    ¡°Never. I¡¯m going to pull this thing out every once in a while for the rest of your life.¡± I informed him with a firm nod of my head. No way was I letting this level of Blackmail go.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to have to kill her. Malcolm, help me kill Motoko.¡±


    ¡°Hell no I don¡¯t have a death wish¡­ Pimp! Ahahah~¡±


    ¡°Malcolm you are less than useless.¡± Ichi grumbled as Malcolm broke down into laughter. Now I just had to share it with Hiromi!


    Ichi glared at me but I just smiled in turn. ¡°Did you really have to record that?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t get¡­ I was about to say I don¡¯t get paid enough for this, but I actually do. Fuck.¡± He grumbled and grabbed his beer and took a swig.


    I rolled my eyes as I took a swig of my own soda. ¡°Don¡¯t get whiney. Give it a few years and it¡¯ll be a great in joke for all of us, and you will remember the whole thing fondly. Besides, the only other person outside of our group that ever heard the conversation is dead!¡± I pointed out happily. Ignoring that Judy would also know it.


    Charles Bucks, the only other person in the recording wasn¡¯t alive anymore to talk about it though!


    ¡°Heh. We did kill that monster didn¡¯t we? Well you did all the work.¡±


    ¡°Nah, I couldn¡¯t have looted that place without you. I would probably have picked up a few things and left it at that. I might not have even attacked the place without you guys to back me up.¡± I told Ichi ¡°It was important teamwork. I¡¯m just good at flatlining gonks.¡± I told him with a shrug.


    ¡°Yeah you certainly are.¡± Malcolm cut in with a nod, but before we could continue an outsider crashed into our little area.


    Or a semi outsider.


    ¡°Motoko! Rita said you were here!¡± Nox offered gasping a bit as he caught his breath as he smiled at me as he rested against the entrance of the side area our booth was in.


    ¡°Hey Nox. C¡¯mon come sit. You met Malcolm and Ichi right? Thanks again for helping out with the gig. I still owe you for the help.¡±


    ¡°Nah, you don¡¯t owe me anything, I still have some eddies I owe you from the BD sales.¡± He said as he seemed happy to slide into the booth beside me. ¡°I did meet your chooms but we didn¡¯t talk much. Nice to meet you guys again.¡± Nox offered, but he looked a little uncomfortable greeting Ichi and Malcolm.


    And Malcolm and Ichi didn¡¯t look happy to greet Nox either.


    ¡°Yeah nice to see you. Wait, what did he mean by BD¡¯s!?¡± Ichi suddenly shouted, his face going red. ¡°Motoko!?¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± I blinked running through my BD gag. Did I miss teasing Malcolm and Ichi!? I felt my face turn into a smirk. ¡°Well you see Ichi, Nox here convinced me to make some BD¡¯s for the Mox. It was a tough deal you know, but the pay was just too good for me to pass up. I was really inexperienced at first, but after a few BD¡¯s I think I figured it out.¡± I offered purposefully inferring something else.


    The face of my chooms going absolutely red was far too good, and I snapped a few pictures.


    Hiromi would enjoy teasing the boys about them later.


    Nox despite knowing wasn¡¯t free from his own reddening face at my words. ¡°Motoko¡­ You¡¯re gonna get me in trouble if you say things like that.¡± he eventually added, breaking the shocked silence of the table.


    ¡°It¡¯s so fun though! Don¡¯t worry Ichi, Malcolm. I¡¯ve been doing BD¡¯s of my gigs! In fact the scav den we hit? I recorded that one¡­ Hey Nox, do you have a copy of that BD?¡±


    ¡°Oh? Yeah sure do.¡± He mumbled grabbing his backpack and after a moment pulling out a wrapped BD.


    ¡°Want to see?¡± I asked the boys and both having taken a moment to drink and try to calm their heated faces nodded, looking curious.

 Chapter 71

    Ichinose


    He wasn¡¯t sure what he was expecting when he slotted the BD in the wreath.


    So he settled in and put the wreath on his head and fell into the braindance.


    As he opened his eyes to the sights within the BD, he noticed it instantly. The feel of his body following along in Motoko¡¯s footsteps was certainly¡­


    Different.


    He had known the girl was off. He had known it since the first time he had met her again after the coma.


    Normally he wouldn¡¯t have started some random BD handed out by a Mox, but there had always been that question.


    How?


    How did Motoko do what she did? How had she gone from the punk TC brat to what she was now?


    He blinked as he felt himself take a deep breath and everything became¡­


    Sure.


    There was no hesitation, no fear. He was jogging down a familiar alley, he had parked his truck right there, to load up stuff. But this wasn¡¯t after the raid. It was before. He walked up to the back door of the den, he felt himself quickly open the door without hesitation.


    Then he was in. He snuck through the small vehicle garage checking the windows and noticing the scavs hanging around.


    Still alive at this point, but none noticed as he walked through the room.


    It was a little startling to remember that soon enough all of them would be dead.


    He moved up the stairway, his feet not making a sound despite the fact he knew Motoko didn¡¯t have a Lynx Paw. She was just that quiet. The pull of the muscles in his leg so foreign as he moved just so, to reduce any noise of his boots hitting the metal steps.


    He knew he would have shivered, but he didn¡¯t. There was no fear. No hesitation. Just a simple calculus. A confidence that he had a gig to complete, and people to flatline, but first he needed info. He followed in her footsteps around as he checked two closets, both full of junk some of which he had helped steal later, watched as he competently breached through the building''s security system.


    While he followed the movement, the actions. The actual knowledge of what Motoko had just done was beyond him.


    Then, the room lit up. He could see them. Again Ichi wanted to gasp, but there was only ice in his veins, as he looked around. No, as Motoko looked around.


    The ray of light leading to every Scav in the building.


    Wow. He wanted to pause the BD there, just to look at it, he had never seen this himself. It was something new. Something¡­ Kinda preem. But he felt little as Motoko kept moving, walking the catwalk above the scavs without fear looking down on them, and he could practically feel the sinister amusement of her plans to murder them.


    Of his plans.


    He felt the confusion and then disgust as he watched a scav fail at a game.


    Wow Motoko. That was kinda harsh, that game wasn¡¯t easy.


    And then he felt her confidence as he moved leaping over the edge, in a move that should have caused his heart to flip flop.


    Instead he felt pure confidence, landing with barely a scuff against the concrete in a low crouch all four limbs spread to reduce the impact. Then he was downstairs, but Ichi was backseating, as Motoko went through the computer gathering information checking an email that confirmed that Ripper knew exactly what was happening in his clinic, and then he smirked, did some more netrunning stuff that Ichi couldn¡¯t follow and turned right around.


    A few moments later everything froze. It felt like his chest couldn¡¯t move without choice, like everything was completely 100% under his control.


    But it wasn¡¯t him in control, it was Motoko. He moved and the scavs died, he felt nothing as he cleaved through them, knife cutting and ripping and when it was all done he pushed himself off the Scav he had just watched die face to face, and he felt.


    Confident. Powerful.


    This was Motoko? This was the girl that acted like a gonk half the time, and the other half like a cold blooded high end merc?


    He was so shocked he could barely pay attention as Motoko moved him back down and then up into the rippers shop.


    Hiromi and his face were blurred out as she confronted Charles. As he simply killed him, no fear or wavering, just a faint feeling of assurance. Of knowing he was doing the right thing.


    And the BD ended, and Ichi gasped, pulling the wreath from his face as he suddenly felt his own body again, and the lack of that pure control left an almost palpable sense of wrongness as he reached for his beer and took a swig.


    His heart was suddenly racing, as the Icy control was gone.


    Malcolm beside him was doing something similar to him, his face telling a story.


    ¡°So what do you think? Was the BD good? I never actually watched it after Judy did her editing. Did you like it?¡± Motoko intruded into his space, asking while sounding almost a little shy.


    Ichi opened his mouth and then closed it. What was he supposed to say to Motoko? His choom? His sorta boss?


    That she scared the shit out of him? That he felt like his body was wrong, and he wanted to puke a little.


    That he now understood why she didn¡¯t hesitate to solo a scav den, because they were never a threat to her?


    ¡°It was cool.¡± He said instead. Her little joke with the word the only thing he could think of.


    Thankfully it seemed to satisfy her, with the way her face broke out into a happy smile.


    Fuck she confused him.


    ¡ª--


    I waved goodbye to my chooms. It was getting late, and both Malcolm and Ichi had been a little twitchy since leaving the BD.


    I guess murder was still a bit too much for my chooms.


    Anyways! At least Nox was happy! The Scav Den BD had apparently been super popular.


    Lots of people had lost someone to scavs. Being able to watch a bunch of them get murdered? Apparently it was very cathartic.


    But it was time for more net diving.


    A short drive later I was sliding into my netrunner suit and plugging everything in.


    Time to get some training!


    The blur of awareness as I switched from reality to the net only lasted a moment, and then I was there, once more in the ethereal neon city.


    This time it only took a moment for me to jump straight to the Dewdrop Inn server, since I had the IP. A momentary blur of fast travel, and I was there walking up to the roundabout.


    I bypassed the netrunners outside and went straight for the club. Yoko would be inside.


    The techno music, a rhapsody of all the noises a computer could make and more hit me as I entered but other than noting the song, and memorizing it. I ignored it.


    Yoko was lazing in a private booth as I approached her, and her sensual smile was as dangerous as the woman herself.


    ¡°Motoko, finally here?¡±


    ¡°I had some stuff to deal with, I spent some time with my chooms. But I¡¯m ready.¡±


    ¡°Excellent. You wanted this, don''t forget. Come with me.¡± She offered and another one of Yoko¡¯s doors opened up beside her, she rose and walked through with me following.


    Inside was just a large space, a lot of memory and data set aside on the server for it.


    ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s get started then.¡± She said and before a moment passed her tails twitched, and fire burst forth towards me.


    The assault was something I recognized. It was a Breaching assault meant to burn through ICE to open up systems.


    I threw up a few of my ICE programs, before returning the assault with a Breach program, on my side a blade appeared beside me and shot off, rocketing right through the fire towards the Kitsune.


    The sword was actually a representation of a hacking attempt. Seriously, Netrunning was so weird!


    It stopped cold. A stone statue appeared in front of Yoko. It was a¡­ Komainu? The Lion dogs statues you would see around Japanese Shrines.


    Yoko really stuck to her aesthetic.


    I could respect it!


    They were basically a form of ICE. Very tough stuff.


    The fight continued. My agreement with Yoko had a few factors, the most obvious was information. Guidance, on the rules of the net, basic net culture and the like which we could cover mostly just by talking, but that was only part of it.


    If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    More importantly, I had asked her to fight me, hit me with everything she had so I could learn to react to combat on the net.


    I had the instincts thanks to my skills. Quick Hack, and Breach both filled part of Netrunning combat, but having the instincts and knowledge was one thing. Doing was another.


    She was going easy on me. I could tell, just her Cyberdeck alone would be a high end system because she was able to throw up multiple heavy RAM usage hacks back to back, while I had to rely on ICE shields to hold back her assault while my Cyberdeck did its best to keep up with my requests.


    But I was learning.


    So, so so so much!


    *100 Quick Hack XP Gained.*


    *100 Quick Hack XP Gained.*


    *100 Breach Protocol XP Gained.*


    *100 Breach Protocol XP Gained.*


    *100 Quick Hack XP Gained.*


    *100 Breach Protocol XP Gained.*


    *Breach Protocol skill level up!*


    *100 Quick Hack XP Gained.*


    *100 Quick Hack XP Gained.*


    *Quick Hacks skill level up!*


    *1 Perk Point Gained.*


    Breach Protocol 8, and Quick Hack 5! Both levels had come in as I fought, and the new knowledge and skill was going to immediately be used again.


    I grinned with an almost feral intensity as I fought back against a literal Nine tailed Fox throwing around magic and spells.


    Fuck I loved my life.


    ¡ª--


    Eventually Yoko called an end mentioning I was showing signs of heat shock, and I had to take a moment to remember that there were repercussions on what I was doing.


    My poor body back in the basement was overheating, and I purposefully had to lower all my inputs turning the world into a hazy 3d rendering, all monochrome lines to reduce the workload of my Cyberdeck, and try to keep it from overheating.


    ¡°Thank you Yoko.¡± I said looking at the blurry woman. ¡°This was amazing!¡± I said with a thumbs up.


    ¡°You are a very strange girl Motoko Kusanagi.¡± She mentioned as her avatar approached. ¡°I don¡¯t usually accept requests to show off my hacks, but I¡¯ll admit, throwing my programs around like this is rather refreshing. It¡¯s been a while since anyone has actually challenged me here on my server.¡±


    ¡°Hah, yeah considering how much RAM you have access to, it would be kinda stupid huh?¡± I asked, earning a change in the avatar that I was pretty sure was a particularly fox like smirk.


    ¡°You noticed that? Not everyday some kiddy runner realizes that the entire server acts as a support for my Cyberdeck.¡± She giggled, reaching over and patting my avatar on the shoulder, although I didn¡¯t feel anything, and it was more of an emote not actually touching me but looking like it was.


    ¡°So take a break from this for now? I still need to learn more about the net.¡±


    ¡°Of course. Come with me, I¡¯ll take you around to a few of the common haunts.¡±


    ¡ª--


    Yoko did in fact do just that. We traveled through the digital Night City, walking to seemingly random places that had servers set up as meetup locations.


    With Yoko guiding me she helped me get access and I got to see it all.


    Her own Avatar had disappeared, turning into the same blank outline that everyone had besides their face and a general shape, and once we returned to the Dewdrop Inn she shifted back into her Kitsune avatar with an almost relieved sigh.


    I got the feeling Yoko didn¡¯t leave her server much.


    And once again she brought me to that white room, but this time she didn¡¯t fight me directly.


    Instead she summoned up a Daemon.


    Daemon were a mix between an AI, and a program. Not quite intelligent enough to be considered a true AI, but a bit more nuanced than a normal program. They were background programs often used to monitor systems, to make sure everything was going right, or to balance different systems.


    If a Quickhack was a tool, like a knife. Then Daemons were pets. A rudimentary intelligence. A being capable of acting as a guard dog, or a simple button presser.


    Of course this time, Yoko summoned the smallest Daemon.


    An Imp.


    It didn¡¯t look like some fantasy creature, not at this level, instead it was an orb of light, with two almost cartoonish red eyes glaring at me, it made little noises, beeps and whistles as it glared.


    ¡°Begin.¡± She offered and the Imp attacked.


    Daemons were capable of being uploaded with basic programs, quick hacks of their own, it¡¯s why they were so useful as overwatch for systems, Upload a strong Daemon, give it some good offense and you don¡¯t have to stand guard 24/7 against a Netrunner.


    Well, you still did because as good as Daemons were, they weren¡¯t able to match a person.


    The Imp had two programs, and I saw them both very quickly. One was the Fire burning ICE program that Yoko had used before, although it was smaller, a weaker fire capable of corroding code.


    The other was a screech that suddenly filled my ears, and made me wince and become disoriented, it wasn¡¯t noise but junk data.


    Like getting hit with a flashbang. My sight went jerky, and laggy with distortions and image sway.


    In essence the Imp was flooding my connection to the server with junk, like a DDos attack, in a way.


    I threw up my ICE shield to block the fire, and used a Barrier shield for the screech. The ethereal neon panes appeared in front of me to block the assault, and the Imps attacks ended.


    It continued to pelt me with the same two attacks, practically in order. One then the other. But the screech was just throwing junk data against a wall of junk data, and the fire couldn¡¯t burn through my ICE before I fixed it.


    So it was my turn.


    Fire roared, shooting out from my hand and pierced through the Imp.


    The Daemon came apart with a static sound as it broke into pieces.


    *250 XP Gained.*


    An alert popped up right after almost startling me as I processed and then had to fight the urge to smile massively.


    I could beat Daemons for XP in the net too!? That was amazing!


    ¡°Not bad. Let¡¯s see how you handle something a bit bigger.¡± Yoko called out as a¡­ Thug. It looked like a cartoon thug, only the glowing red eyes showed why it was called a Daemon.


    Instantly it looked to me. And attacked.


    I yelped as it had a much more powerful direct attack, a gun was pointed and fired, and my Barrier flared resisting the attack, but only just.


    The pane of light cracked. The bullet was a virus that deleted data. So when it hit my junk barrier it just deleted chunks of it.


    I reinforced the shield even as the thug continued firing every few moments, one round at a time it simply locked onto me and shot, more like a static turret than a sentient creature.


    I sent my barriers to coat the thug like I had with the Netrunner I fought, and it took only a few moments before he was cut off, sealing him up in a tight box that was squeezing the program.


    It died a few moments later as its access to any system resources literally ended, and it basically lagged out and died, disintegrated as its core systems simply couldn¡¯t do anything through the lump of data it was trapped in.


    *250 XP Gained.*


    I was only slightly sad that it wasn¡¯t more XP.


    ¡°Not bad at all. But at the moment, you are just overpowering them with better programs. Let¡¯s work on a bit more finesse.¡± Yoko called out and summoned another Imp. ¡°This time, no offense hacks, try to disable the Imp.¡± She demanded and I nodded, jumping into the task.


    It took a while.


    But that was what training was all about!


    It took me a long time to disable the Imp without relying on my powerful hacks.


    Instead I was forced to do my teleporting trick, making the Daemon think I was somewhere else on the server making it¡¯s attacks miss.


    In the end the idea came to me with a sinister smile as I shifted my position.


    It sent it¡¯s data purging fire at me, only I had put myself inside the file that the Daemon was running off of.


    Watching it fire a blast of fire at me only for it to turn back around and slam into the Daemon was hilarious.


    But as it died, I got a nice surprise.


    *250 XP Gained.*


    *Level up achieved!*


    *One Stat Point Gained.*


    *One Skill Point Gained.*


    That was the last bit I needed for level 10.


    ¡°You okay kid?¡±


    ¡°Huh? Oh yeah Yoko. I¡¯m good, just happy, that was fun.¡± I told her with a smile as I tried to stretch only for the act to not really work.


    I was only a digital avatar, not my real body.


    ¡°Heh. Stretching won¡¯t do you much good here. If you are feeling the sympathetic need to move and stretch you should head back to your body.¡± She told me and I nodded.


    ¡°Yoko. Thanks. I¡¯ll be back for more training soon.¡±


    ¡°Heh. You certainly don¡¯t quit. I¡¯ll see you then Motoko.¡± The kitsune nodded and then blurred as she left, and I did the same blurring as I pulled my avatar back through all the systems I had moved through until I was back in my lobby and then I disconnected.


    I groaned and stretched as I sat up. Back in reality with all that entailed.


    While I had a few moments of quiet I pulled open my stat screen and checked my perks.


    I remember the last time I had looked at my Quick Hack perks I had mainly been focused on game stuff.


    A perk to make quick hacking upload faster. A perk to make my Cyberdecks RAM restore faster.


    In fantasy terms, the perks would let me cast spells faster, and let my mana regenerate quicker.


    But I¡¯ve learned a lot since then. I had been wise enough to pick the defensive perk last time. The knowledge of how to defend myself had probably helped a lot even before this training with Yoko.


    But I had gained a lot of awareness of what was useful.


    So instead I started searching for something else.


    And then I found it.


    Hacking Wizard. Upload multiple Quick Hacks at the same time, to one or more targets.


    I selected the perk without another moment''s hesitation and shuddered as the knowledge slipped in. It wasn¡¯t an immense amount of knowledge.


    It wasn¡¯t the plans for a program, or anything like that.


    It was pure mathematics and multitasking.


    It would more than double the RAM usage if I tried to send two hacks or more at once, but in the end, if I was in an emergency I could inundate someone with multiple Quick Hacks all at once, a surprise assault.


    Or, I could use a Quickhack multiple times to target multiple people.


    With the knowledge that some of the higher quality hacks could already spread through a crowd?


    I could do multiple waves of net assaults on anyone that pissed me off!


    Yeah, as always, perks were OP. Plz don¡¯t nerf. Too much fun!


    I giggled as I rested back on the chair feeling lazy enough I didn¡¯t want to unplug everything right away¡­


    I sent a message to Jun letting him know I was gonna sleep in my new place, and decided to enjoy eight hours of sleep.


    ¡ª--


    The next morning I went home for a shower and general cleanliness issues, stepping out of my room wearing a clean leotard and patting down my damp hair. I noticed my mess of stuff still all over the living room.


    ¡°Ugh.¡± I whined but nodded realizing that I really needed to do some cleanup. I wandered around picking things up and settling them into my room, basically packing away all my little projects so I could still get to them, but so they wouldn¡¯t clog the entire living room table.


    Patting my HMG on my way back out of my room I looked over the¡­


    Cleaner? Tidier? Living room.


    It was better, I would take it.


    I settled in and reached over for my guitar, but before I started playing, I did something I should have done last night. I opened up my screen, and I slipped another stat point into Adaptation, and the feelings the sense of touch and proprioception that my arms gave me seemed to jerk a little as I realized the sense of touch had been just a tad off.


    But it was better now! Of course before I could go down the road of playing with my sense of touch I noticed my stat screen.


    Militech Condor *Adaptation Militech Condor 4/8*


    Wait.


    WAIT.


    When did my adaptation requirement go down!?


    It used to be out of ten! I stared at it for a while without any point coming to mind and ended up just shrugging. I would have to keep a closer eye on it, but it was¡­ Interesting, that it could lower the max. I guess I had been mentally adjusting to the chrome pretty well over time.


    My new sense of touch on the strings of my guitar had me smiling as it distracted me, and I strummed a chord.


    Instantly a song slipped into my brain, and I started strumming the notes.


    ¡°She¡¯s so cold and human.¡± I sang along to Lithium Flower.


    It figured if I was going to play a song I should play a Major Motoko Kusanagi Theme.


    The sound was different from my normal music preferences, but I jammed out to it, enjoying the way my chrome hands had no difficulty hitting the notes, that the song came out sounding good. My voice crooning alongside.


    Yeah, this was fun.


    Sure Night City was a nightmare. Sure I knew someday someone I knew would die. One of my chooms would end up murdered by the city. Because this city murdered everyone eventually.


    But until then I couldn¡¯t help but admit. I loved it here.


    ¡°I want to go surfing with her!¡± I sang the last lyrics trailing off as I finished the last refrain.


    I sighed when I finished.


    *100 Rockerboy XP Gained.*


    ¡°Alright Motoko. Pick a problem to solve today.¡± I told myself.


    I had so much that needed to be done.


    I wanted to finish my Music box. Which meant Programming and Tech grinds.


    I wanted to hunt more scavs. Which would bring in eddies to me and my crew, and potentially new chrome.


    I should try to help the SLS guys with a gig, which meant information. Which meant I needed to dive into the net again.


    I wanted to hang out with Jackie again. Had he still not finished that Gig Wakako gave him? Very disappointing Jackie. I might actually have to step in.


    I still had other projects I wanted to get started on as well. My future desire for a Tachikoma to complete the cospla-I mean, for help on gigs. I had even taken the Robotics perk and never got to use it. Because robots were hard.


    I also wanted to just hang out with my chooms, the other night was fun, and Hiromi had gotten left out.


    Plus there was so much more to do!


    As annoying as it was to have a bit of choice paralysis, the fact I could do all of them just given time meant it wasn¡¯t exhausting or making me angry. Instead it was just¡­


    Which did I want to do first?


    Well considering I wasn¡¯t sure¡­


    I made a call.


    *Motoko.*


    *Wakako! How¡¯s it going? Thanks again for the help, that netrunner gear is coming in super handy.* I told her cheerfully.


    *Good. I hear you took over the street gang as well.*


    *Eh that was more Hiromi¡¯s doing. I¡¯m just glad I didn¡¯t have to kill a bunch of gonk kids.*


    *Hmm. Well having lines you don¡¯t cross is fine, as long as you don¡¯t ruin a gig because of them. I take it by your call that you are looking for more work?*


    *Not directly. How¡¯s Jackie Wells doing? I expected him to have finished up by now.*


    Wakako actually sighed over the line and there was silence for a moment.


    I just knew she had lit up a cigarette and was preparing to complain.


    *The boy is too cautious. The gig is still open, and nothing has been done that I have seen.*


    *Want me to go poke him?* I asked and the line was silent for a minute.


    *I will not pay you for completing someone else¡¯s gig.*


    *Not something I¡¯m worried about. Besides, I told you before. Jackie has some talent as a good bruiser. I could use someone like that on my gigs. Me helping him out now will be a good foot in the door to convincing him to work with me in the future.*


    *Very well. I¡¯ll send the details of the gig to you. Handle it however you want.*


    *Thanks Wakako¡­* ¡°And she already hung up.¡± I said, realizing my agent was quiet.


    Wakako you bitch!


    It¡¯s called a goodbye! Would it kill you to say it every once in a while?


    But a moment later I got a beep as a text message. Directly from Wakako. It was basically a copy of a message she had sent to Jackie Wells.


    I read through the notes and I realized pretty quickly what was causing the hold up.


    Jackie would definitely need some help on this gig.

 Chapter 72

    I drove by the corporate owned building. Microtech had been one of the big NUSA corporations for decades. They were like the Microsoft of the Cyberpunk world.


    They weren¡¯t quite as powerful now as they had been in their heyday, but they were still going strong.


    Jackie¡¯s gig was simple on the outside. Wakako wanted the schedule for incoming shipments. She was probably just a go-between in this case, getting the info for someone who wanted it rather than something she would use herself.


    But Microtech wouldn¡¯t just leave the data laying around, and Jackie wasn¡¯t exactly an infiltrator.


    He hadn¡¯t gotten the gig done yet, so he either didn¡¯t have the skills to complete it, and was trying to hire someone to do it for him, or he was trying to come up with a plan to do it himself.


    That was where I came in.


    I was going to look around, get an idea of what defenses this place had, and hopefully be able to guide Jackie into getting the data.


    I didn¡¯t want to just do it for him. One that would be insulting, I was very aware that I was still a kid to most people I interacted with and Jackie wanted to be an edgerunner. You don¡¯t jump into a profession like that without having an ego, and second¡­


    Jackie needed to do this. If Wakako was ever going to trust him with future gigs, which would let him build a rep.


    So I was just going to look around, figure out the weak points in the defenses, and pass along some intel. Maybe make him pay for it with a few eddies, just so everything was square.


    Of course I was thinking that as I pulled into a small strip mall. A few food shops and things right across the street from the building.


    But that was when I noticed none other than Jackie Welles himself sitting at a noodle bar, slurping down a bowl of ramen and staring at the building across the street.


    Huh. I guess he was working on getting that intel afterall. I considered walking up to him, but I figured it would be best to let this one go.


    Besides, I wasn¡¯t wearing my normal gear this time.


    I didn¡¯t exactly want to mess with a full fledged Corporation in my usual.


    So I was wearing a mix between the armored suits I had bought for my Chooms, and a set of Techgogs that I had picked up from V3L¡¯s loot. It was an old school piece of netrunning gear, but it covered the top of my face and would give me a little additional ID protection if someone actually saw me.


    I would already be covered from recording devices, but people could still see my face, and if they could ID me that way, it didn¡¯t matter if the corp doesn¡¯t have a recording.


    I slipped out of the Quadra in a quiet corner of the parking lot. And made it across the street without any problem. The corporation''s building was set up in a private lot, this wasn¡¯t really an office or anything, it was a shipping hub. A warehouse with a small attached office for the corporation.


    They had a much larger HQ in City Central.


    The security here would be pretty good though. Warehouses were hot targets.


    But that was just details to me.


    I jumped the fence climbing onto some trash that was building up against the outside walls and I was in.


    My eyes flashed as I scanned the area for security.


    Cameras covered the corners of the building. Robotic guards wandered around, and human workers were moving around driving forklifts moving packages around.


    I sent a quiet ping into the camera system, and as I expected, it slipped through the security without too much problems. This place wasn¡¯t big enough for a netrunner to manually run the security. The grounds were quiet and covered in loose trash and refuse that the warehouse had collected over the years.


    It was obvious this place wasn¡¯t well taken care of.


    But that just meant there were plenty of places for me to hide. I slipped into a stack of old pallets hiding within them while giving me a perfect sight of the camera on the corner of a building.


    After I confirmed the lack of any direct attention in the network I started breaching. The Camera¡¯s security didn¡¯t last more than a few moments, and I was able to slip into the main network as well, as the cameras weren¡¯t properly partitioned.


    I started looking through all the cameras. Outside the robot guards followed a static path, seemingly uncaring about the large gaps in the security.


    They were more for intimidation than security I realized. They would definitely keep out the most common street thugs.


    Then I looked inside and the warehouse was certainly not empty.


    Unfortunately for me I was only sneaking around and planning to get some data, because I noticed quite a few preem pieces in the warehouse I would love to take home with me. A few of those servers, or computer systems would be really nice to have.


    Instead I focused on the security. Just like outside there were robot guards, along with a few workers hauling around the large shipments. I noted down numbers, and positions, literally filling a digital map with where everything was for Jackie to use.


    It wasn¡¯t even difficult, my Breaching skill had reached the point where stealthing into systems, even through a camera was doable with a bit of work.


    I made a note of all the rooms I could see, and if I could figure out what was inside them.


    I also noted the room that would have the shipment information. It was an office in the back of the warehouse that had a camera right outside it. Meaning it was one of the most secure locations in the entire warehouse.


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    Someone didn¡¯t want someone getting in there.


    I marked it on the map disappointed that there wasn¡¯t a camera inside. Instead I altered my focus accessing the systems the camera was connected to, trying to see what I can find on the security systems.


    Unfortunately the connection was protected, and unless I wanted to spend a lot of time out here, or make it obvious someone had hacked in, I would have to access the security directly.


    With everything marked out, and the workers, and robot guards pinged, it was child''s play to rise up out of the mess of pallets and move towards the warehouse.


    With a bit of a fun trick I would just have the camera pan away from me as I approached a side door that the camera was supposed to be keeping an eye on. Letting me slip inside the door and close it just as the camera panned back around.


    Making it seem completely natural despite it being entirely under my control.


    With that I was inside, and movement through the warehouse was even easier. I stalked up the stairs through the empty break room and then down a catwalk towards the office. The camera there was controlled the same way. Panning away as I walked up under it, and then letting it pan to the way I had just come, giving me access to the office door.


    It was locked, but that took only a few moments to work through and the door opened. I slipped inside and closed it behind me just as the camera panned back.


    The office was what you would expect from a warehouse manager.


    It was nicer than the rest of the building, and it was surprisingly well soundproofed, cutting down the noise of the warehouse. There was a small laptop set up and I slipped over, quickly slipping through the ICE with a few moments of work and I was in.


    I found the data that Wakako wanted¡­


    I made a copy, quietly slipping the data into a shard and putting it away. I wasn¡¯t going to just hand it over to Jackie, but if something bad happened, it was insurance.


    Then I moved away to the actual security server.


    Unlike the laptop it was set up in the corner of the room, and didn¡¯t have any monitors, or anything.


    It was a Mircotech Security Server. Meant to be set up through a different system, Laptop, or direct access through neural cord, and then take care of the security concerns all by itself.


    It was also shit if you wanted real security.


    Corpo nonsense at its best.


    I plugged in, quickly bypassed the password request that if failed would send out a ton of ICE, or even Black ICE to kill the hacker.


    It took all of five minutes to breach the security and have full access to the Warehouses network. With a little smirk I even set up a backdoor. I rarely got to use the knowledge Wallbreaking gave me, but who knows I might need to access this system again in the future.


    It was setting up the backdoor that made me realize something was off.


    There was an intrusion in the system.


    And it wasn¡¯t me.


    I wasn¡¯t alone in the system.


    I considered responding, but I wasn¡¯t supposed to be here either after all, and I doubted the intruder expected to have a netrunner come in from the other direction. So I simply stepped back, let the system''s autonomous security fail at its job and watched mostly from what the system wasn¡¯t seeing, what the netrunner was doing.


    They were accessing the security records. I watched the Servers memory usage go up a few blips as systems were accessed.


    Could this be something Jackie set up? I know he doesn¡¯t have the skill himself, but he had known T-Bug. Or maybe he just knew another Netrunner?


    Either way. It wasn¡¯t my problem¡­


    As long as the runner didn¡¯t sound an alarm.


    After the runner got the security records, they looked around. Poking at connection points, and it took me a while to realize they were trying to see if they could access the foreman''s computer.


    Unfortunately that system wasn¡¯t connected.


    This had to be Jackie then¡­ Right?


    I was considering pulling out letting the runner finish their little dive when I saw it. A massive increase in server usage.


    The runner noticed I was watching! If this was Jackie¡¯s netrunner, they might bail on the server if they thought security was on to them! The amount of Black ICE an admin could drop on the head of a discovered runner wasn¡¯t worth considering.


    So I had to move fast.


    I set up a few solid ICE walls that I knew would save me a few seconds in case they attacked, and then sent out a prompt through to the runner.


    It was just a text log, although I did have to think of a good pseudonym in a rush.


    Ghost: *Would appreciate, if you didn¡¯t set off an alarm.*


    The log was quiet, no response given, but I could practically feel the frantic activity of the runner. As they double checked their defenses. The server spiking as Programs and Daemons activated to protect the runner.


    But I didn¡¯t attack. Just waited.


    Blank: *Who are you?*


    Ghost: *Ghost.* I replied with a smirk the complete non answer would be doubly amusing.


    Blank: *You are at the security server¡­ What do you want?*


    Ghost: *I want you to not set off any alarms. Noticed you wanted to access the Foreman''s computer.* I took a moment to look over and take a picture of it, and added that into the chat.


    I didn¡¯t get a response for a while, but I was patient.


    Blank *You offering?*


    Ghost: *Maybe. I know you aren¡¯t here against my own gig. But you could interfere, so let¡¯s make a deal.*


    Blank: *I¡¯m amiable to a deal.*


    Ghost: *I don¡¯t like working with a Blank. That¡¯s requirement one.*


    Blank: *And I¡¯m supposed to believe you are Ghost?*


    Ghost: *That¡¯s the name I picked.*


    No response came for a bit before finally the message came through.


    T-Bug: *What else.*


    Oh I was right! If that was T-Bug it meant it was far more likely she really was working with Jackie.


    Ghost: *Nice to meet you bug. If I¡¯m right, just to confirm, You are working with Jackie Welles at the moment to retrieve the Microtech Shipment schedule for the next month.*


    Once again it went quiet, She was still there, but I got the feeling she was probably thinking about ditching.


    Ghost: *I am asking for confirmation. I often work with Wakako. I don¡¯t want to ruin his gig.* I added, hopefully the last bit would make me sound less threatening.


    T-Bug: *I was hired by Welles to get security access, and find him a path to the foremans office.*


    Ghost: *Then stand by for access.* I added stepping over to the foreman''s laptop and quickly having it access the Security server, considering I had already breached both systems it didn¡¯t take more than a minute.


    I walked back over to the server and plugged back in.


    Ghost: *Once you have what you came for go ahead and get out quietly if you would. Please wish Jackie luck on his future work with Wakako. It will be nice to have another merc to tap for work.*


    A few minutes later I noticed the T-Bug took her time accessing the laptop as if she was afraid it was a trap.


    Once I was sure she was good I stood up and started making my way out of the warehouse.


    I used the same trick on the cameras to simply move around the vision of the one outside the door, although just as I was about to walk completely away I noticed it.


    T-Bug was snooping. I smirked as she took control of the camera and started quick panning it back at me.


    But I already had the full layout of the warehouse. Despite being on the catwalk on the second floor I simply leapt over the edge. Disappearing far below the camera¡¯s line of sight before it could have spotted me.


    Then I was gone. Sneaking out through the side doors, avoiding the cameras without touching them this time, and climbing up the pallets I had hidden under before and leaping over the edge of the barbed wire fence.


    I rolled as I hit the ground stepping back up and wiping the dust off, before casually walking down the street. That had almost been bad. I hadn¡¯t expected T-Bug to be able to notice me snooping from the security server.


    She was better than I had thought. Like really good. I would have to be more careful, but in the end I was satisfied.


    Gig complete¡­ Sorta. It just wasn¡¯t me that was going to complete it.


    I did check in on Jackie as I walked to the car noticing that he was leaving the noodle joint, I smiled as he seemed like he was in a suddenly super good mood as he raced away.


    Considering¡­


    I smirked and jumped into the Quadra heading home. I would change into my normal outfit, and wait around, because I had a feeling Wakako would be sending me a message soon.


    ¡ª--


    I was on point.


    An hour later as I was lazing around on the couch, I got a text from Wakako.


    *Jackie Welles completed the gig. He is coming in for a meeting now.*


    I grinned that Wakako actually did follow through with our deal. I jumped off the couch, rushed out the door, still fighting my boots as I hopped into the elevator.


    Ignoring the look of my neighbor who had stepped into the elevator just before me as I fought my boots on my feet, and then rushed out the elevator as soon as the doors opened on the ground floor.


    I only slowed when I hit Jig-jig street, and sauntered happily into Wakako¡¯s parlor.


    The look she gave me told me she was in no mood for my nonsense and she pointed to a chair and I quickly sat in it.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been given the report of what happened already. Mr. Welles hired a Netrunner he is acquainted with to get him into the building, only they didn¡¯t need to, as another netrunner had already infiltrated the building.¡± Wakako started speaking suddenly and I kept my cool not letting myself show any sign of nervousness.


    Wakako was a tiger after all. They could smell nervousness.


    ¡°So since you decided to get involved in the gig. Tell me why you think I should allow Mr. Welles into my employ. If he can¡¯t complete a gig on his own?¡±


    I winced.


    ¡°First. It¡¯s rude that you immediately assume that someone with the coolest net handle of Ghost is me. Even if it was totally me.¡± I offered, pointing upward with a chrome finger. ¡°Second. Jackie realizing he wasn¡¯t going to be able to finish the gig on his own and getting help using his connections, is the exact kind of thing you want for a merc. If you just want someone who will rush in guns blazing almost guaranteeing they will end up dead on an important gig, then yeah. You don¡¯t want Jackie.¡±


    Wakako took a drag of her cigarette and nodded agreeing with my reasoning.


    ¡°Also I wasn¡¯t originally going to help out, but Jackie hired a seriously good netrunner. T-Bug knew her stuff and noticed I was there. So I had to get involved.¡±


    ¡°Very well. I expected something like this when I gave you the information regardless. The gig is complete, and I have the information my client wanted.¡± She offered, tapping out the ash casually into the ashtray.


    ¡°I¡¯d like to work with him on some gigs. Either right away, or later.¡± I mentioned, and this made Wakako react.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think he will fit your style very well.¡±


    ¡°Not directly, but every infiltrator needs to be prepared for getting caught. Jackie¡¯s a good solo, and I could use him on some of my gigs just as backup. It would be nice to know that if I screw up, I won¡¯t be alone in the firefight for my life.¡±


    ¡°If you wish to bring him along on any gigs you take, that is up to you. As long as the gig is completed, I don¡¯t care about your methods.¡± She said but didn¡¯t say anything about me going along on Jackie¡¯s gigs.


    I let it go, and noticed that Wakako seemed more than ready to ignore me, instead watching the small TV set she kept in the corner of the room.


    I turned around in the seat to look and ended up actually falling into the pit of weekday afternoon TV.

 Chapter 73

    ¡°No way Simon makes it this time. This is his third try.¡± I argue even gesturing with my hands at Wakako.


    ¡°He is scrappy, and he has a great desire. I think he will make it.¡± Wakako offered taking a drag as we argued about the show she had been watching.


    Apparently Wakako was really into this weird mix of Price is Right, and Takashis Castle, gameshow.


    Night City Televison was fucking weird.


    One segment will have these people trying to win prizes in strange games, and the next segment would be them getting their ass beat by A borg dressed up like a Kabuki actor with a massive only slightly padded Kanabo.


    I was pretty sure a few people had died even with the fuzzy Kanabo blunting the strikes.


    Fucking wild ass mix of boring American, and unhinged Japanese TV show.


    But it was both kinda interesting, and boring as fuck in equal measures. I just didn¡¯t get future TV.


    ¡°Ah. He is here.¡± Wakako offered, glancing up and I noticed that she knew long before I could hear the sound of the parlor door opening.


    Someone was keeping an eye on things for her. Sneaky Wakako.


    I relaxed in my seat with a smirk as I waited for Jackie to enter.


    I could hear him chatting with the receptionist Wakako hired, and then I realized the gonk was actually flirting with her.


    Was Jackie flirting just his instinct when he was nervous? I¡¯m pretty sure it was, although I could see Wakako wasn¡¯t pleased.


    But a few moments later he got shot down, and was told to enter the room, and I could barely suppress my grin, instead staying cool thanks to Cold Blood to keep myself with only a small smirk.


    Jackie stepped in through the beaded curtain, obviously trying to hide how nervous he was, but Wakako and I could both tell as he rose to his full height. He opened his mouth to speak before stuttering to a stop as he noticed me sitting in the room as well.


    Our eyes met, and I just kept smirking.


    ¡°Jackie Welles. You completed the gig I assigned, got me the information I desired.¡± Wakako said, suddenly cutting off our little moment. ¡°The gig was difficult, meant to see if you have what it takes to work under me. I¡¯ve decided to give you a chance.¡± She offered and I could see the energy rush into Jackie at the words.


    ¡°I¡­ I won¡¯t let you down Wakako, You can count on me.¡± He said, tearing his eyes off me, to focus on Wakako.


    Smart move.


    ¡°Perhaps.¡± She said and then she started going into a spiel about what she would be expecting from him working under her.


    It was interesting because she hadn¡¯t done something like this for me. I guess my infiltration talents meant she didn¡¯t feel the need¡­


    Or I guess Wakako had just not expected much from me at the start, until I actually succeeded and made my skills evident.


    I focused back on the conversation as she seemed to come to the end of her spiel.


    ¡°You will also be given some gigs to complete in the coming days. I will be assigning one of my agents to assist you during the gigs, and ensure you are as capable as I expect. She may also bring you onto her own gigs if she feels your skills will be useful. Motoko?¡±


    ¡°Thanks Wakako!¡± I said smiling, turning to Jackie and seeing the confusion on his face. Soaking in the look of utter incomprehension on his face, but also the desire not actually admit he had no idea what was going on.


    Ah. That was the feeling of satisfaction of revenge from being underestimated alright.


    ¡°Jackie, nice to see you again. I¡¯ll be expecting you to help me out from now on. I have high hopes for you.¡± I say with a grin and simply delighted in how Jackie¡¯s confusion only grew.


    ¡°Ah¡­ I look forward to it, Hermana?¡± He said, although his tone made it come out a question.


    ¡°Wakako anything for him today?¡± I asked, and she shook her head as I rose up out of the seat. ¡°Great. Then I¡¯ll get him out of your hair!¡± I chirped standing up and waving for Jackie to follow me, but just as I was about to leave the door I stuck my head back through the beads.


    ¡°Simon failed again. Told you. He hurt his ankle during the previous fall. No way he could make it.¡±


    Wakako bit back a curse, smashing her cigarette into her ashtray, as she turned back to her show, turning up the volume so it could be heard again.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°Hermana? What-?¡±


    ¡°You hungry? I¡¯m hungry. There¡¯s a noodle shop in the Cherry Blossom Market that I like, C¡¯mon my treat. I¡¯ll fill you in.¡± I told him with a smile as I happily sauntered down the dark streets of Jig-jig street knowing Jackie would follow.


    Man messing with him had been so satisfying. Totally worth two grand¡­


    Wait. Fuck. I had literally spent two grand to fuck with someone.


    Okay new rule. That was dumb don¡¯t do that anymore¡­


    Satisfying though.


    We walked out of Jig-jig street and down into Cherry Blossom the atmosphere was brighter, and less dangerous. In the end we settled into the Ramen bar and had put in our orders before I started.


    ¡°So I work for Wakako as one of her mercs, I¡¯m an infiltrator. When I offered to help on your gig for Wakako, I wasn¡¯t just messing around. I¡¯m not just a kid wanting a taste of being a merc. I was actually really offering to help you.¡± I told him as he took a sip of the drink that was placed down in front of him. My own quickly joined it.


    ¡°Damn.¡± He muttered and I could see behind his eyes as he was repackaging both our previous interaction, and this one. ¡°So Wakako trusts you a lot.¡±


    ¡°Ah well¡­ I might have agreed to a pay cut on the next gig so I could be in the room when she met you.¡± I explained and he blinked at that, before chuckling, slowly at first, but then letting it grow into a belly laugh.


    ¡°I must have really pissed you off then!¡±


    ¡°No, no, I wasn¡¯t angry, more amused than anything. Maybe I wanted to rub it in your face a little.¡± I offered holding up my fingers with just the tiniest gap between them.


    ¡°Well you definitely got me Hermana. I wasn¡¯t expecting to see you in there. Thought I was losing it at first.¡± He said taking another drink and I couldn¡¯t help but chuckle this time.


    ¡°Yeah it was great! So yeah let me break it down for you, cause I¡¯m sure your head is all over the place. I asked Wakako to let me work with you on a few gigs. Mine or yours. Not just because I want to help you, but because I want you to help me. I¡¯m not exactly a bruiser, and getting into a firefight is a pain in the ass. I would like to know I have backup in case it ever happens.¡±


    ¡°So you want to work together? Well, test it out to see if we work well together?¡±


    ¡°Exactly! It if doesn¡¯t work out, you don''t need to worry. Wakako will still have gigs for you. But if it works out, I can always use an extra gun on my gigs, So could be double the work. Interested?¡±


    This time Jackie was quiet as he took another drink.


    ¡°Wakako wouldn¡¯t use you if you don¡¯t have the skill, but I¡¯m picky about who I work with.¡± He offered and I almost snorted, because I remember the nomad origin in the game. Jackie you¡¯ll team up with anyone for the eddies you gonk.


    But I didn¡¯t say that. Instead I shrugged.


    ¡°Well Wakako wants us partnered for the first few gigs. We can see how well we mesh, if everything works out, great. We both have someone to watch our backs. If you don¡¯t like me, just say it, and I¡¯ll delta. There are plenty of gonks with a gun, and in need of eddies.¡± I said and he nodded at that.


    ¡°Still a bit awkward about the idea is all. You¡¯re so young.¡± He muttered and I nodded.


    ¡°And you¡¯re so old!¡± I gasped in faux shock. Before smoothing out my expression. ¡°Age has nothing to do with it. You¡¯re a merc, you know that a kid can kill just as well as any merc.¡± I said looking off to the side just taking in the movement of the bar.


    ¡°I just don¡¯t like it. Kids should be boosting cars, or getting in trouble, not¡­¡±


    ¡°Not risking their lives? I¡¯m not a fan of that either Jackie. Which is why I would love to have a shooter that I can trust to watch my back.¡± He didn''t seem to have a good reply to that, and a few moments later we were interrupted as the server came by.


    The noodles arriving distracted us, making Jackie and I both happy as we dug in for a moment, but after his first bite Jackie seemed to come to a decision, he reached over and grabbed his beer.


    ¡°To potential partnerships.¡± He offered and I smiled as I grabbed my soda and tapped it to his own.


    ¡ª--


    I picked up the tab like I said I would, and after sharing numbers Jackie and I split up. We would meet up soon when Wakako had her first gig ready, and Jackie needed some time to process.


    On the other hand that meant I had to figure out what I wanted to work on.


    I ended up walking around the market for a bit browsing some of the little stalls, but not finding much that really interested me.


    It wasn¡¯t like there was a mercenary shop among the stalls.


    I did stop over at the tech repair shop. The lady that I had bought my tool kit from was sitting out there like normal. We both had grown to an agreement, I would ignore her, and she would ignore me.


    But that didn''t mean her stock wasn¡¯t useful. I browsed through her items, old tech junk, nothing that really interested me, but I did find some parts, and materials I wanted. Buying some feeder items for my Printer, I paid the eddies and headed home.


    A nice jog back to the apartment felt nice, a return to those early days, and then I was there, on the couch feeding the metals and plastics I had bought into the printer, processing it into easy to use cubes, and pieces.


    Then I pulled out my box of things I¡¯m not allowed to play with in the apartment.


    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.


    I still had plenty of my own grenades, but Jackie didn¡¯t carry them from what I saw. If he was going to be my backup, or vice versa, I wanted to make sure he had the tools.


    Plus it was good practice.


    But I did follow the rules, I grabbed everything and hauled it to the car. I would work on it in the Netrunning basement.


    That way Jun couldn¡¯t yell at me.


    ¡ª--


    I stretched as I flopped into my Netrunning chair. I had spent the last few hours putting together an array of grenades, and then stored them all in my Quadra.


    It would be a nice surprise for Jackie when we went on some gigs. A bit of extra firepower just in case.


    I finished plugging myself into my netrunning chair and blinked, returning once more to the net.


    I zipped over to the Dewdrop Inn server.


    Yoko had told me last time after our practice that she would have something special for me.


    So I was kinda excited. As soon as I entered I got a request to enter Yoko¡¯s private room, and the japanese door clacked open in front of me letting me walk right inside.


    ¡°Yoko! How goes?¡±


    ¡°Motoko. I¡¯m fine, thank you.¡± She said, sounding amused at my normal greeting despite the situation. Yoko was sitting on a throne in the middle of her private shrine lobby, and there was someone there with her.


    The netrunner looked like me, with a blank avatar beside the face, and he seemed more interested in an array of neon windows that floated around him that he was tapping away and inspecting.


    ¡°Who¡¯s your friend?¡±


    ¡°Walk3r, this is Motoko. Motoko this is Walk3r.¡± Yoko introduced us, but I noticed she was purposefully not telling me what was going on.


    I quirked an eyebrow at the Kitsune and only got a smirk in return.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on Yoko? You told me you had a surprise.¡±


    ¡°Ah. Indeed I do. Walk3r, is someone who owed me a favor, and I owed him a favor in turn.¡± She said and that was when I started feeling nervous.


    ¡°Okay? I¡¯m guessing that has something to do with the server information he is browsing?¡± I asked, having read the neon window she was looking over, although reading them backwards wasn¡¯t easy¡­


    Okay I cheated. I had taken a picture¡­ Or a screenshot? It was hard to explain, but then I just reversed the image.


    I was inside a computer at the moment after all.


    ¡°Indeed it does!¡± He said, finally turning away from his screens to see me. ¡°I pulled a corrupted server out of a black market auction a few months ago. Haven¡¯t had time to clean it up yet, so I went to Yoko, and don¡¯t you know it? She has a netrunner looking for training in everything, including deep dives. So you are going to be our guinea pig.¡±


    I looked to Yoko with a very unimpressed look and she gave me a sultry giggle.


    Stupid sexy Kitsune.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be so put out Motoko. We have both already sent in Daemon to look over the server, and it¡¯s clear of anything truly malignant. But the data is still locked behind a mess of overactive corrupted Daemons, and mashed together code. So you will go in, destroy the daemons while breaching into the information inside. This isn¡¯t just good practice, it¡¯s the truest test for netrunners. You want to be more than just a kid playing with scripts? This is what you need to learn.¡± She said and then pointed to her side, and a portal opened.


    ¡°Fine. But if I die, I¡¯m gonna be so mad.¡± I told her pointing at my eyes and then to hers.


    Yoko snorted at my words but nodded in agreement, and I slipped into the portal, which was just a connection to the physical server that Walk3r had set up.


    Inside the world shifted. If the internet of Night City was a city in appearance, Then this was simply a mess. Odd shapes and artifacts hung in the air. A display of just how damaged this server was.


    Unfortunately my attempt to gather my bearings was forced to be put aside, as the Daemons that Yoko had mentioned had noticed my intrusion.


    Just like the server itself, they were damaged, disfigured creatures that charged at me, as they sent odd programs at me. I reacted, throwing up ICE and my barriers to still the assault, while launching a barrage of fire, to smash into the Daemons. The whole thing took on a truly eldritch cast as the server was so distorted the data wasn¡¯t translating right.


    But I ignored it, rapid firing my programs as fast as my Seacho MkII could handle.


    The Daemons kept coming though. The only reason I wasn¡¯t overrun is because their very nature had been damaged, many of the attacks they sent fizzled out against my ICE, or barriers without any further effect. The programs they used were too damaged to actually initialize, but that didn¡¯t make them safe.


    Twice a program was launched at me, and instead of being halted, it exploded, seemingly ripping the server apart into an even more convoluted space. Literally dragging space into a twisted shatterpoint.


    The program they had used was probably running into some sort of memory leak, or loop that the server was forced to try and handle.


    I focused on those Daemons first.


    But I was being overrun, and I had to fall back on another skill besides Quick hacks.


    Quick Hacks were unique abilities. Programming was magic, altering the fundamentals of the world.


    Breach was movement. It was knowing how to move in the web, how to bypass the natural traps and pitfalls. The very nature of it being a digital space.


    Higher levels of Breach meant you were close to being a digital entity yourself in a way.


    So instead of staying on this level of the server, I jumped, breaching into a different section, the damaged ICE not able to stop me from basically teleporting through the server.


    And since I was moving fast I built myself enough time to actually catch my breath and look around. The new section of the server looked different, obviously I was now in some sort of personal lobby that no longer existed, and had deteriorated. It looked like the floor of an office building, if the missing roof showing a broken sky, and everything distorted and broken was the norms.


    In the distance I could see buildings that might have once looked like Night City melted like candles, or had broken into floating pieces, or stretched like taffy. The sky overhead, that I could see through the rest of what had once been part of a building above me, had a massive jagged gash running through it, showing a different time of day within the tear.


    This space was unstable.


    Also why did I feel like I had been transported to a zombie apocalypse world!?


    I shook it off, I only had a few moments before the Daemons followed, enough time for my Seacho to cool down and let me batter them again.


    It also gave me time for some setup. With a bit of adjustment I activated my Hell Flame program, loading it to have a much longer lasting activation period, and a quick alteration to its shape.


    The Fire was not just my strongest offensive hack, but it would be doubly effective against the already deteriorated Daemons. Deleting data should put them down much faster.


    Program loaded, and activated, and in my hand appeared a sword. A flaming longsword that I was thankful couldn¡¯t harm me, because I grabbed it without hesitating.


    The first Daemon that slipped into my new section of the server was a broken Imp. The Daemon should have been a ball of light, but wasn¡¯t, instead it appeared as a distorted shape, telling just how damaged it was.


    The digital sword in my hand lashed out and cut through it, seemingly burning it away, where it struck and slowly the Daemon flickered before popping into shards of light.


    But that was only the first.


    More Daemons started popping in, as they took longer to traverse the server. But the numbers were lower, instead of a single overwhelming horde waiting at the entrance, it took time for the damaged Daemon to find me, and they came in a trickle instead of an overwhelming tide.


    I stuck mostly to using the sword to destroy the Daemon, and my barriers as a shield, I was forced to activate to block the long range attacks, although for the most part it wasn¡¯t needed as I simply cut through the horde, moving fast.


    If only moving in cyberspace was the same as moving in the real world, I wouldn¡¯t be having any difficulties at all, the Daemons moved like¡­ Robots. So it was only because I was forced to fight on the digital scape that I even had any trouble. After all despite me swinging my sword, what I was actually doing was hacking and damaging programs.


    It just looked and felt like a physical attack.


    Still it did feel nice to have a sword in my hand.


    Again and again the Daemon came, and despite my skill with a sword since it didn¡¯t translate over, I was struck. The first time it was a fire program sent out by an Imp that I hadn¡¯t spotted, and I was forced to go fully defensive as I had to ICE and counter breach the Overheat Quickhack that had just struck me.


    I winced as my netrunner chair gave me an update saying I was overheating quite badly.


    Eventually I got it back under control, and continued on.


    Another was a much bigger Thug Daemon, that surprised me with a corrupted attack I didn¡¯t see coming. The program attacked my connection, giving me a sort of double vision, and a lag spike that left me groaning in pain as I fought the effects, killed the Thug and did my best to keep myself defended while I purged the virus that was attacking me.


    But thanks to my breach skill, I did have the ability to regain my system, pushing out the assault.


    I would be paying for it afterwards though. An eight hour nap had my name on it when this was over, because I was suddenly not feeling well, and if the state of my body was translating into the digital, that wasn¡¯t a good sign.


    I shook it off. I would recover after, so I focused on my battle slashing and breaking up corrupted Daemon after Daemon.


    I swung and blasted until it was done.


    Finally I was left standing in a hellscape. The scattered remnants of the Daemons data covered the floor around me, digital viscera and as I waited, but nothing else came.


    It grew quiet, but I didn¡¯t rush it. Waiting as I let my Seacho cool down from the strain of what I had just gone through.


    Eventually I was sure nothing else was coming, I relaxed, and then because I was already here I started exploring.


    I mean, I wasn¡¯t feeling great, but my chair sent me back plenty of biodata so I knew I wasn¡¯t dying.


    The data within the server was a mess, scattered over multiple hubs and lobbies, but I was here to explore, to try and get what I could.


    So I started gathering. Loading everything that was even semi legible, and clearing paths to the different data connections.


    Most of the time that meant me having to destroy data ¡®rubble¡¯ that blocked my path, or even create a path when the section I was trying to traverse was literally just an infinite pit.


    I was just lucky that the ¡®traps¡¯ that would have slowed me, or even attacked me were mostly digital detritus. I passed over a spike trap, or at least that was how my I saw it, but it had been a rather nasty section of Black ICE that would try to murder anyone foolish enough to fall into it.


    The program was still there, hence why I could see it, but the activation subroutine was gone, hence why it was just a revealed piece of terrain I was able to walk around.


    Honestly, walking through tunnels to reach different sections of the tunnel reminded me of a dungeon crawl.


    I was a rogue-like protagonist now.


    I giggled at the thought as I reached another room that would have data, the fact the room was sideways the tunnel I was using to reach it, twisted horrifically at the end, nearly disconnecting from the section of the server, telling about how badly the data had been damaged in this area of the server.


    But I did notice that inside it wasn¡¯t that badly damaged.


    As I hopped into the lobby, gravity asserted itself and I landed on my feet actually looking at a rather normal room.


    I blinked. Everything inside looked¡­ Fine. Sure the connections to the room were fucked, but the data inside looked perfectly normal!


    It looked like a high end smoking room. Big wingback chairs surrounded a fireplace, everything was dark wood, or at least meant to look like it, and the walls were covered in books.


    I instantly registered the library as just that, a repository for data done in a visual style.


    Nice.


    I walked up to the shelves, the data wa still intact.


    Nice. I poked it basically doing a check for anything nasty, but there wasn¡¯t anything I could see, no traps. No ICE or anything.


    So I pulled a book off the shelf, about to check the data when. The light in the room shifted.


    I looked up just in time to see something hulking and massive, start to crawl out of the fireplace. Something I recognized. How could I not?


    It was a Tolkien Balrog.


    A fucking Balrog.


    ¡°Nope.¡± I muttered as I used up every drop of RAM in my Cyberdeck to ICE up the Daemon and then ran, attempting to get the fuck out of this server.


    The library didn¡¯t have a programmed trap, it just had a fucking Balrog sitting hidden in the digital flame waiting for someone unregistered to access the data.


    Fuck. That was sneaky!


    I leapt slipping onto the sideways twisted hallway that was the exit out of the room incredibly grateful that my breaching skill let me slipp into the twisted damaged connection port.


    ¡°YOKO! I need an exit!¡± I sent a message out as I leapt into the twisted hallway, but I could hear my ICE breaking as the Daemon gave zero fucks about my defenses, as it released a digital roar.


    Fucker! I know that sound! That was Godzilla!


    I ignored the Balrog using a fucking Godzilla scream.wav file as it chased after me. It¡¯s body too big for the twisting hallway, but that didn¡¯t seem to matter as it literally bashed its way through the distorted space ripping the server apart with its power. Probably permanently breaking the ability to access the smoking room.


    Fuck that.


    I was desperately trying to find a clear path to disconnect from the server.


    The Daemons I had fought up until now were low level programs. That Balrog was exactly what it looked like, just a single glance told me the thing was a truly massive digital entity. Probably the closest thing to an AI without actually being one. A true fucking monster, and I was the dwarves in this instance. I had dug too deep.


    Thankfully, while it was powerful, and more than capable of smashing the programs I threw over my shoulder at it, it wasn¡¯t able to move as fast as I could.


    The server architecture slowed it down, as despite being a digital entity, it didn¡¯t know how to travel through this distorted hellscape.


    Plus I was literally just backtracking, using paths and steps I had left behind me.


    Slowly I gained more and more distance, its godzilla scream left far behind me as I reached the initial lobby.


    ¡°Yoko! Stop fucking around!¡± I yelled out, the two netrunners had obviously been watching me dive, and I was right. A few moments later a portal opened and I confirmed it was Yoko and Walk3r.


    I jumped in, my sight blurred for a moment before spitting me out in Yoko¡¯s Shrine.


    ¡°Fuck.¡± I cursed as I sort of caught my breath and didn¡¯t at the same time. I could feel my heart pounding, but not.


    Huh, Cold Blood was still effective while netrunning, but my disconnect from my body meant there was still some weird kick back.


    My relief at not dying was basically ignored though.


    ¡°Well that¡¯s a bust.¡± Walk3r said with a sigh, I looked up seeing the screen he was watching that displayed the Balrog going berserk in the digital space I had just left. Smashing and crushing everything.


    ¡°It was always a risk. You gained some data did you not?¡± Yoko offered simply.


    ¡°Yeah but not enough. Not¡­ Not as much as I could have, that repository could have been¡­¡± He sighed, shaking his head.


    ¡°What?¡± I asked as I let my avatar flop onto the ground. It didn''t feel like I was sitting, exactly, but I really wanted to just be close to the ground for a moment.


    ¡°The Balron you just found, destroyed the data as it passed through the server. You tripped a very powerful trap. You are lucky you escaped with your life.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, tell me about it. Balron? Stupid name¡­ ¡± I grumbled, taking note of the name she used apparently they weren¡¯t just calling it a Balrog? Was it a copyright issue? The idea seemed funny to me Hackers creating Daemons worried about the Tolkien estate. ¡°So everything was deleted?¡±


    ¡°Yes, at least the room you were in, is no longer accessible, so it¡¯s about the same.¡±


    ¡°Yeah he was smashing the already broken tunnel to the room. There could be another access point.¡± I pointed out, but only received a shaken head from W3lker.


    ¡°Unlikely. That was a secure storage space. No, that was the only path.¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t we build a new one to connect to it?¡±


    Walk3r snorted. ¡°Not a chance. The data was likely corrupted the moment, the pathway to it was fully broken. Even if I could get access again, it would be just as bad as the rest of the server now.¡±


    ¡°Sorry.¡± I offered, actually feeling heartfelt. It wasn¡¯t my fault, exactly, no way for me to know about the massive Balrog hiding in the digital fireplace, but I was still the one there.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine kid. The server was a mess and I doubted I would get anything out of it safely, which is why I agreed to this, Yoko gave me some good stuff to use the server as a training ground. The data would have just been a perk.¡± He offered and I nodded looking to Yoko who was still resting back on her throne.


    ¡°I learned a lot, but I feel like that wasn¡¯t the norm when diving into a data server.¡±


    ¡°Oh no. The corruption of the data within made it a very unique experience¡­ But it does resemble in a far safer version what diving into the deep net would be like. Considering I agreed to offer you as much mentorship as I could as a netrunner, I figured gaining such an experience would be worth it. Don¡¯t you agree?¡±


    ¡°It was certainly¡­ Unique. But I think I need to log. I¡¯m pretty sure my brain was half fried when I took that Overheat.¡±


    ¡°Honestly I¡¯m surprised you are still conscious. When the hack struck through your barriers, I expected to have to pull you out. V3L¡¯s rig must be better at protecting its user than I expected. Or I should say your rig.¡± Yoko offered and I shrugged. I was pretty tough after all, so I wasn¡¯t all that surprised, but I didn¡¯t want to get into that with Yoko.


    I waved her goodbye as I pulled myself out of the server back across the net to my lobby and I blinked with my real eyes.


    Then I blinked again because my face was a mess.


    Blood ran down my nose, and I think from my eyes as well. The fact my Kiroshi weren¡¯t biological the only reason they were still working.


    I was fucked up.


    I thought about getting up and cleaning up, but I was in rough shape, so instead I decided to kick it down eight hours.


    I went to sleep.

 Chapter 74

    I ended up having to go home after I woke up. While I did have a sink in the basement so I was able to clean the blood off my face, my netrunner suit needed an actual cleaning since some of my blood had caked on.


    So I was throwing my clothes in the washer back at the apartment, and slumping onto the couch when I thought to check my stat page.


    I had killed a lot of Daemons after all, and they did give XP.


    I started looking through the update list with wider and wider eyes.


    *250 XP Gained.*


    *250 XP Gained.*


    *250 XP Gained.*


    *250 XP Gained.*


    And on and on, the page of XP alerts just didn¡¯t stop.


    *Level up achieved!*


    *One Stat Point Gained.*


    *One Skill Point Gained.*


    *250 XP Gained.*


    *250 XP Gained.*


    I had actually managed another level already!


    I had killed enough 250XP Daemons to gain more than 11,000 XP!


    That was¡­ Well okay it was only 44 Daemons. That actually fit, that horde of Daemons I had slaughtered had been quite large.


    Wow.


    But that wasn¡¯t even the end of my improvements!


    I guess breaching through a corrupted system had given me a lot of practice, my intelligence had leveled!


    *Intelligence Leveled up!*


    Intelligence 9.


    But even better!


    Breach had leveled as well! Despite the intelligence level up just happening Breach had shot up as well! I guess navigating that ruined system had been a great new experience.


    *Breach Protocol skill level up!*


    Breach 9.


    I now had a new highest stat. Cool had been my highest level stat for so long it was kind of weird to think it had fallen behind.


    Yet that wasn¡¯t even the end.


    *Quick Hacks skill level up!*


    Level 6!? Already! I mean, my previous levels with quick hacks had all been with ping, and in the real world, and this time not only was I using much more powerful programs, I was using them on the net. Both as offense and defense, against enemies doing the same.


    I nodded, it made sense for it to level so fast, but it still surprised me.


    The influx of knowledge and experience hadn''t even been noticed. I had been so busy fighting against the Daemons. The fact I had suddenly improved had completely slipped past my awareness.


    ¡°I¡¯m gonna be such an awesome hacker.¡± I whispered to myself unable to stop the jittery excitement flowing through me.


    Sure it had been a mess. That server had nearly killed me, well I likely would have been okay with two other hackers watching my back, but I could have been hurt¡­


    Okay more hurt.


    But it was still totally worth it for this alone.


    So many changes just with one dive. Heh. It really was like a game. Go into a dungeon and come out more powerful.


    I loved dungeon delves. Maybe I could actually find a server that had that gimmick. I bet there were at least a few. There was no way fantasy archetypes died out.


    I picked up my Programming laptop as I waited for my clothes.


    I was feeling inspired. There had been a gain greater than just higher numbers. I had learned what it was like being in the net, what I could expect, what I would face, and what I would need.


    It made me want a Daemon of my own.


    Not just a Daemon I could use, because I had a few stored away in my system. Specifically the neat little Daemon that would interfere with optics of people I hacked for example. Cyber Ninja was still a really cool perk.


    But I wanted to make a Daemon of my own. One just for me.


    But first? I needed more levels.


    Back to the grind.


    ¡ª--


    A few hours later mid work on trying to streamline Reboot Optics some more. The door opened and Jun slumped inside.


    ¡°Hey Jun. You okay?¡± I chirped as he seemed lethargic but he just waved a hand holding a XXL burrito at me as he headed to the fridge grabbing a drink and then slumping onto the couch as he started eating and drinking.


    I ignored him for a bit, he looked tired, and I knew he would tell me what was wrong when he was ready.


    ¡°I was stuck dealing with a total disaster all day.¡± He finally told me and I nodded as I closed down another line. Looking at it, and deciding it was better than it had been.


    ¡°Sounds tough.¡±


    ¡°Some gonk decided to try to beat up a 6th. St. girl. The Girl was the kid sister of someone important. I was the bodyguard of Hitake, while he tried to calm things down. It took forever, and I had to keep an eye on things the whole time. It got tense a few times.¡± He said, sighing as he took a big bite of his disgusting burrito.


    ¡°Sounds like it all worked out in the end? No gunfights?¡±


    ¡°Not this time.¡± He muttered but he nodded and leaned back seemingly happy that it had all been okay in the end. ¡°How was your day? You¡¯ve been out and about the last few days.¡±


    ¡°I was netrunning.¡± I told him which caused a reaction as he jerked up and looked at me in surprise.


    Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!


    ¡°Wait, really!?¡±


    ¡°Yeah? Why is that a shock? I¡¯ve been doing netrunner stuff for a while! I even upgraded my Cyberdeck a little bit ago, remember?¡±


    ¡°Yeah but¡­ knowing how to throw a quick hack, or a little programming- Err I mean being a programmer isn¡¯t the same as netrunning.¡± He said having to backpedal on calling my skill with programming ¡®little.¡¯ Jun had been smart enough to notice my glare.


    ¡°Yeah well. I told you that I took over the netrunners basement and all the stuff to get at his equipment.¡±


    ¡°Yeah but I just¡­ I guess I hadn¡¯t really thought that you really would¡­ Oka-san¡­ She¡¯d be so proud of you Motoko. She always wanted  you to follow in her footsteps. Wow. I guess¡­¡± He went silent as he sort of stared off into space for a bit.


    ¡°Natasha Kusanagi, huh.¡± I spoke, unable to help myself. I didn¡¯t think of my parents very often.


    ¡°Yeah. She was amazing, there wasn¡¯t anything she couldn¡¯t hack.¡± Jun said with a smile on his face and I nodded.


    ¡°Well I¡¯ll be just as amazing!¡± I told him not sure what else to say. So instead I turned back to my laptop and got back to work. Jun eventually turned on the TV and settled in, as we just hung out together.


    ¡ª--


    The level up hit me by surprise.


    *Programming skill level up!*


    *1 Perk Point Gained.*


    Programming 5!


    ¡°Eeee!¡± I squealed as the information hit me. The fact I had been fighting my Reboot Optics Quick Hack for so long only to suddenly gain something even better?


    ¡°Huh? What¡¯s up Motoko?¡±


    ¡°Ah! I just had a breakthrough!¡± I lied to Jun but it was kinda true as well. The info dump as always gave me the chance to look over my previous code and scoff at how bad it was.


    Even just a single level improvement was enough to make me realize all of my work up to that had been a waste.


    Wait.


    The thought struck me and I looked at my current stat screen with a realization.


    1 Stat point.


    6 Skill point.


    I had everything I needed¡­


    Why was I wasting my time grinding out low level programming when I could maximize it!?


    I hesitated as the thought struck me. I liked grinding, and it was good for me, the grind forced me to produce something, to create. I mean sure I could probably rip apart everything I programmed up until now if I really upgraded that much, but it was useful to do it myself.


    There were other stats, other skills as well¡­


    Wouldn¡¯t Ninjutsu be best to level up more instead?


    Wouldn¡¯t Reflex be a good choice to increase, as it makes me incredibly more deadly?


    Tech? The stat and skills I had worked with the least? Wouldn¡¯t they be best to bring up in line?


    But¡­.


    I really didn¡¯t want to fight against these programs anymore! I wanted to make amazing programs!


    I stopped myself from putting all the points in.


    I remember the info dump that had happened the last time I had done that. So instead I simply put a skill point into Programming.


    Programming 6.


    The rush was everything I had hoped for. Increasing a skill by one point was a massive increase. Getting another level up moments after?


    Ahhh yissss.


    But I wasn¡¯t done. Once my mind processed the level up, I flicked another point in.


    Programming 7.


    I shivered having to use Cold Blood just to calm my excitement so Jun wouldn¡¯t notice me freaking out.


    It was amazing. Methodologies, improvements, secrets, tricks, and the experience of knowing when and how to use them flooded in.


    I had been like a baby playing with a weapon, without the understanding of how to take off the sheath. Of the skill on how to turn a weapon into something truly deadly.


    But I was starting to see it. That vague understanding of what programming could truly do. I was finally starting to glimpse it¡¯s true potential.


    Rache Bartmoss had with a bit of programming literally caused an apocalypse.


    I was going to be just as good in the end.


    I pushed another button.


    Programming 8.


    I exhaled, Programming was now at the same level as my Ninjutsu. The skill that had turned me from a streetkid with memory problems into a merc with a future.


    Programming 8, might even be more powerful.


    I understood how to make rudimentary AI.


    I could create intelligence.


    Oh I had some plans for that!


    But I could still push it more.


    I had three skill points left¡­ Who says I shouldn¡¯t use them? They were mine!


    Programming 9.


    So close.


    I was so close. I could see it, that tiny bit more. I had seen a digital world before, but now? Now I knew what it was made of. How it was constructed. Like humanity learning about the atom, only I could alter atoms. I could program the world and change it.


    I don¡¯t know how long I sat there, as Jun watched TV staring at a laptop without seeing a word on it.


    The amount of information was smaller, but the complexity was higher.


    There was so much I could do now. So many problems I had stopped working on before would now be¡­ Easy. Simple. Childs programming. No not even that, Good programming from an average person.


    But I wasn¡¯t average.


    The gamer system made me capable of being a genius, a prodigy, a monster.


    I was maxed out though.


    Intelligence 9. Programming 9. I couldn¡¯t go any higher.


    My eye peeked over to the stat point.


    I had been saving them for my arms, but that wasn¡¯t too much of an issue anymore¡­


    Right?


    It was just¡­ One point. I clicked it, before I could stop myself.


    Intelligence 10.


    And then¡­ I pushed another button.


    *Programming skill level up!*


    *1 Perk Point Gained.*


    *Human limit Achieved.*


    Programming 10.


    I winced, hissing a bit as I rubbed at my head.


    Maybe taking five level ups in a short period hadn¡¯t been the smartest thing.


    My head throbbed, but it was the knowledge flowing in that made it all worth it.


    I didn¡¯t even have to think about it.


    I could think back to my Reboot Optics quick hack, and remember bad code, bad choices, and ways to fix it.


    Ways to improve it.


    And yet.


    I checked my stat page trying to figure out what human limit alert meant.


    When I selected it, a small alert appeared.


    *Human Limit Achieved. XP leveling has been locked. Stat or Skill points required for further advancement.*


    I read the alert a few times. Trying to understand it, I had come so far.


    And yet I wasn¡¯t at the peak.


    Level 10 wasn¡¯t the max. I didn¡¯t even know if there was a max, but since this was mimicking Cyberpunk 2077, then level 20 would be the max level¡­ Right?


    I was only halfway there.


    I only had half the understanding and knowledge of programming that I could have?


    For a moment I just felt like my brain was melting, because the idea that I could still get even better¡­


    Being this skilled at something¡­


    It almost scared me.


    No wonder Bartmoss had been so feared. Had been so capable.


    A monster. A true inhuman being.


    That is what being level 20 must mean.


    I stood shocking myself as I nearly fell as I felt woozy, something even Jun noticed as I stumbled over to the kitchen and grabbed a soda out of the fridge.


    ¡°Hey?¡± Jun was there behind me gently reaching out to grab me, which was weird, until I realized he was moving back and forth.


    No. No it was I who was swaying on my feet.


    ¡°Motoko are you sick?¡±


    ¡°No. No I¡¯m okay Jun just¡­ I just had a surprise I guess.¡± I mumbled but I let myself fall into a hug. He obviously didn¡¯t believe me, but the soda helped. The cold and sugar was just what I needed. A few moments later I pushed away from Jun and my legs held me.


    ¡°Motoko? Do we need to go to Vik¡¯s¡±


    ¡°No I¡¯m okay Jun really¡­ I just¡­ It¡¯s all a bit much. Programming.¡± I muttered, ¡°I think I¡¯ll take a break for a while, let my brain cool down.¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± He grumbled but as much as I wanted to just think Jun guided me back to the couch and very firmly closed my laptop, which earned him a snort, but I was a good girl. I settled into the couch and flopped over onto the arm rest and instead of doing any further work, I just watched the stupid show Jun was watching.


    God it was awful.


    ¡ª--


    I ended up falling asleep at some point. Which goes to show just how tired my brain must have been.


    Okay Motoko you fucking gonk brain. No more leveling multiple skills back to back. Give it a few hours at least.


    I was on the couch, but a blanket covered me and the TV was off leaving the room quiet which was rare.


    I snuggled into the couch for a bit not wanting to get up just yet.


    Jun must have put the blanket over me.


    He was a good Onii-chan. I would have to do something nice for him like¡­ Not wreck his sleep by cannonballing on him? Or something.


    I¡¯m not a good Imouto. I¡¯ll work on it.


    Eventually I started getting bored and actually rose up, untangling myself from the blankets but rather than open up my laptop like my brain was begging me to do, I went to the bathroom and took a shower.


    The water flowing over me let me process what I had just done.


    It wasn¡¯t stupid. Other than rushing through the leveling. I couldn¡¯t have known that leveling up to ten meant I stopped getting XP, and would have to level through stat and skill points.


    Was it annoying?


    Yes.


    But it was fine. I knew it now. Besides¡­


    Programming.


    God it was almost terrifying what I could do now.


    And I still had two perks.


    I snorted. I had gone from Level 5, to ten in one sitting, no wonder my brain had felt like melting out my ears.


    Although I did have to admit. It felt amazing. Learning something, no more than learning it, mastering it?


    I shook my head spraying water around. I wouldn¡¯t put myself through that again, but doing it once was neat.


    Now I just had to decide.


    What did I do now?


    The system had told me I was at the human limit. What did that mean?


    What did that say about me?


    Was I now the greatest programmer of all time? But I could still level up. The stats and skills went past 10.


    So what would programming 11 be?


    20?


    I shrugged. I guess I would find out when it happened. Until then, I really really wanted to fix my quick hacks.


    But first I had perks to pick. No point in getting to work without them selected.


    The first perk was an obvious choice.


    Inspired Programmer: Inspiration strikes constantly. Never run out of steam while programming.


    Instantly just thinking about my quick hacks brought tons of ideas on how to fix them. Truly I was inspired.


    It felt great!


    The second perk was harder. I went back through the list.


    It took me a while to find something I felt was good enough to add in.


    Honestly I picked it so I might finally be able to complete one of my big goals.


    A.I. Whisperer: Daemons, Smart Programs, Virtual Intelligence, and true A.I. You don¡¯t just create a mind. You create life.


    I shivered as I picked the perk. Was it the right choice? I don¡¯t know. There had been a few about creating better quick hacks in the list too. But my choice was made.


    I dried off and got dressed in just my leotard as I settled onto the couch. Throwing the blanket Jun had grabbed for me over my shoulders as I brought the laptop into my lap.


    Time to see what I could really do now.

 Chapter 75

    I plugged into my laptop with my personal link, and opened up the program for Ping.


    I was going to start at the beginning.


    Instantly I felt literal revulsion.


    Whoever had put this program together should be shot¡­


    Okay I had been shot before so I¡¯ll give myself a pass here.


    It was a mess. My own work wasn¡¯t¡­ good. But it wasn¡¯t just my work I was critiquing. Such a simple program bloated and twisted.


    I could fix this.


    But why bother?


    Instead I started a new program, and started typing, my mental interface helping me adjust settings without needing to stop typing as my hands blurred over the keyboard.


    There were a few lines in the old program I carried over. A few that had acceptable coding.


    But I still fixed them. I altered them, smoothed them out.


    Removed fluff.


    Despite being a large enough program my Cyberdeck registered something as simple as Ping as actually taking up space on the Cyberdecks slots.


    It didn¡¯t need to be.


    It could be tiny, a small efficient program that did exactly what it should do.


    Hell. The way the program worked at a base level could be completely altered. Right now it connected with the foreign system, and basically blasted the system with requests for everything it was connected to.


    It was like walking into a server and ringing a bell. Sure you would get the information, but anyone watching would now know.


    So I did something different.


    A little trick I had picked up thanks to Ghost Touch, and with the tiny size Ping now was, and the fact system connectivity was by definition less secured data than nearly anything else.


    I looked up as Jun pushed my screen down. ¡°Jun?¡± He ignored my question for the moment. Plopping a burrito in front of me with a look.


    ¡°Eat.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m in the middle of something.¡± I grumbled instantly especially at the sight of the burrito.


    ¡°Motoko, you''ve been on that laptop all day. Eat.¡±


    I blinked looking out the window.


    I had thought the dim light meant the sun was still coming up, but no.


    The sun was going down.


    ¡°Oh.¡±


    ¡°Oh she says.¡± Jun grumbled at me, but I had decided to be a better Imouto. So I reached out despite my fingers desperate to go back to the keyboard and peeled the disgusting not burrito.


    It was horrible, but it did fill me up.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°Hiromi is here!¡± The voice calling out as our front door opened nearly sent me on the floor, only the fact I was holding my laptop full of wonders meant I didn¡¯t end up tossing it to reach for a gun.


    ¡°Hiromi!¡± I snapped at her once again surprise entrance. I really needed to teach that girl to knock.


    ¡°Motoko!¡± She called back, instantly leaping over the side of the couch to land on me.


    My quick reaction to save the laptop the only thing saving it from fat Hiromi ass destroying it.


    ¡°Hiromi! Watch it! You almost broke my laptop!¡±


    ¡°Nah you were gonna move it. Now what¡¯s this I hear from Jun about you going all nerdy hermit?¡± She asked and I scoffed looking around the apartment for my brother, but I did vageuly remember him leaving a while back after making me eat¡­ again. What time is it?


    ¡°Jun is a narc. I¡¯m fine. I¡¯ve been programming!¡±


    ¡°Ooh! Let me see?¡± Hiromi demanded sitting sideways in my lap, as she kicked her boots up on the couch.


    ¡°Hiromi, take your boots off. I like this couch.¡± I told her firmly, and she blinked before looking a little sheepish and did as I asked, although she then flopped back on top of me demanding attention.


    ¡°Personal space?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t need it!¡± She replied instantly to my comment and I rolled my eyes at her, as I reached over her and grabbed my laptop.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been fixing my Ping Quickhack.¡± I told her as I opened the laptop showing the code. Literally just lines of code all organized together.


    I knew what was going to happen the moment I did so of course.


    ¡°I have no idea what this is.¡± She tells me after a minute of making understanding noises and looking over the code.


    ¡°Gonk.¡± I told her as I closed the laptop that wasn¡¯t any use to my choom. ¡°So Jun called you to come check on me?¡± I asked adjusting myself a bit as Hiromi continued to lay on top of me.


    ¡°Basically! He told me you were acting weird and to make sure you were okay. So¡­ Want to go party? I¡¯m still mad that last time you went with Malcolm and Ichi without me.¡±


    ¡°You had school!¡±


    ¡°I hate that you actually care about that.¡± She told me, as she sighed and slumped over me even more. ¡°Motokoooo.¡± She whined at me as she flopped against me.


    ¡°Fine, we can go out for the night.¡±


    ¡°Great! I want to ride around all night! I¡¯ve been stuck in a classroom forever! Motokoooo! Let¡¯s goooo.¡± She whined at me, and I couldn¡¯t help but laugh at my lap full of squirmy demanding best choom.


    ¡°Alright, let me get dressed and we will go for a drive.¡±


    If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    ¡°Great! I¡¯m dri-¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°Ugh! I want to take my bike!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not letting you drive again. That¡¯s dangerous.¡±


    Hiromi scoffed at me, before smirking, ¡°Fine! You drive my bike.¡± She reached out and poked my nose and I snorted.


    ¡°Your bike is so¡­¡±


    ¡°Hey! Don¡¯t badmouth my ride! If you don¡¯t like it get your own Kusanagi!¡±


    ¡°Maybe I will!¡± I offered back and then Hiromi smirked at me. Ah.


    She tricked me.


    ¡°Cool, I want to be there when you buy it and I demand the first ride.¡± She said looking proud of herself.


    I just rolled my eyes. ¡°I don¡¯t have the eddies for a new bike right now Hiromi. But I¡¯ll put it on the list. I do want a Kusanagi, but just a normal one.¡± I said finger pointed at her.


    She just laughed at me, and slipped off letting me stand to get ready.


    Finally dressed I followed Hiromi out of the apartment as she skipped towards the elevator which I climbed in with. Like normal her bike was parked outside the apartments on the sidewalk. Normally I would worry about it being stolen, but in this one instance her choice of bike had an advantage.


    This was a TC neighborhood, and no one lifted a TC styled bike. I mean Hiromi still had plenty of TC decals on her bike too, so it really was protected.


    If only it wasn¡¯t so stupid looking! Massive swoop back seats? On a crotch rocket!?


    My eyes glaring at the stupid back seat that just ruined the lines of a beautiful bike.


    ¡°Pfft. You are so picky. C¡¯mon hop on!¡± she demanded as she jumped on and made room for me to drive, patting the seat in front of her.


    I did as demanded, this was Hiromi time, she did deserve some time away from school, so if she wanted to drive around the city for a while, that was no problem for me.


    She quickly grabbed hold of me tightly, like she expected me to just floor it out of the sidewalk. Which I of course didn¡¯t, waiting for a break in traffic I pulled the bike into the street and headed out onto the town. Hiromi''s moans complaining of me driving like a gonk in my ear.


    ¡ª--


    We drove around the city for hours, just enjoying the view and feel of the road.


    It wasn¡¯t something I would normally do, I liked having a goal whenever I went out driving, but in this case Hiromi just wanted some freedom, to escape the cage of school.


    In this case I could understand, and so I didn¡¯t mind that every time I started thinking about driving home Hiromi would notice and ask to go somewhere else.


    We ended up driving all over. Checking out the sites, we even drove past the old Shinto Shrine out by North Oak.


    We didn¡¯t stop to go inside, just driving past it along the windy mountain road.


    It was just a tourist trap anyways.


    But the sights of the city from up on the mountains was nice.


    Eventually Hiromi finally signaled to let me drive home and we did, but not before I stopped to surprise her with some food.


    I had heard her belly rumbling as we drove, and so we found a nice little restaurant, and spent the next hour laughing with each other as she shared stories about what it was like going to Arasaka academy.


    It was nice.


    ¡ª--


    After Hiromi dropped me off at home, it was getting pretty late, but neither of us cared. It was the weekend tomorrow so she didn¡¯t have school, and my life literally had no set schedule. Unfortunately Hiromi couldn¡¯t stay over, she had a thing with her parents in the morning.


    So free of any choom shaped obligations I hurried back into the apartment.


    Of course the moment I went inside, I flopped on the couch and grabbed my laptop.


    Time to finish this!


    Ping, even the version I was writing was still a big program, taking hours to go through every line and ensure it would be as compact, and efficient as I could make it.


    Even when I finished writing the last line of code, that wasn¡¯t the end, instead I went back through it, combing over the entire program, finding a few minor errors here and there that I hadn¡¯t caught while I was programming, but now that I was fully focused on it, debug¡¯s experience coming in clutch to catch the tiniest of errors.


    Finally I stopped. Staring at the program as it compiled.


    As my work over the last two days flowed into a single efficient effective program.


    Ping. No Ping 2.0!


    I unloaded the old version from my cyberware and installed the new one. Laughing that it took up so little space compared to the bloated inefficient program I had before that it not only didn¡¯t take up a slot of my Cyberwares programming, it would use practically no RAM to activate.


    I looked at the TV and pinged it. Watching in fascination as the program instantly got a return, as lines appeared on my vision showing me the few pieces of tech the TV was connected to. And then more. The light flowed to the transmitter the TV used to pick up stations, and actually flowed through that. My new design for Ping, completely uncaring about the ICE the system might use, as it flowed through and kept pinging off more and more equipment. Every TV in the building was highlighted showing the connection, and when it reached the roof transmitter that connected outward it started gathering data from that, before I stopped the program.


    Okay I might need to add a tiny bit more code to actually limit the spread, that might be too much data return.


    Well that wouldn¡¯t take more than a minute just to tell it to stop pinging after a certain amount of system jumps.


    Of course I would still want the option to go further, so a simple yes no, would solve that.


    And done, recompile and reinstalled.


    This is what Ping should have been.


    ¡ª--


    An hour later despite it being so late at night. I traveled to my netrunner basement. I had to admit I was so proud of my Ping 2.0 that I wanted to show it off.


    So I hurried over to Dewdrop Inn after logging into the net and raced around to find Yoko. The Inn was unsurprisingly super active despite it being so late.


    What¡¯s that? Hackers staying up all night and sleeping during the day? Or not sleeping at all?


    Color me shocked.


    I stepped into the riot of color that was the Dewdrop Inn lobby, and looked around for my target, but I didn¡¯t see any big Kitsune hanging around. So I took a seat in a quiet corner and sent a message to Yoko.


    I got an instant response, telling me Yoko was in a meeting and would reach out to me once she was done.


    I groaned. My desire to show off my program made me impatient, but nothing else I could do. So instead I decided to people watch.


    Hackers were an interesting bunch. Some gathered in groups, some were on the dancefloor showing off their purchased or made dance routines.


    I knew they were emotes though I don¡¯t think any of them were showing their actual dance ability.


    But that was what the net was like. It didn¡¯t matter how you were at something physically, if you could hack, or program yourself with the skill you could be a master.


    It was certainly interesting to watch.


    In the end it was someone sliding into my booth that broke me out of my people watching. I guess I should have marked the booth private or something, if I didn¡¯t want to be bothered.


    If I knew how to do that. I had seen a few of the booths with the message floating over them.


    ¡°Hey, I don¡¯t recognize you. Names E><. You can just flag me as Ex though. New around here?¡± He asked and to my surprise he didn¡¯t sound flirty.


    Thankfully.


    I looked over his face, the only part of his avatar I could see just like everyone in the server, and was doubly glad. He had to be in his twenties at the youngest.


    ¡°Not my first time, but I don¡¯t usually hang out here. Just waiting for a contact.¡± I offered, and unfortunately he didn¡¯t take the hint that I wanted to be left alone.


    ¡°Well it¡¯s always nice to see a new face! How¡¯s hacking been? Run into any trouble? I know a lot of people with a lot of connections. If you need some info, or backup.¡± He offered with a smile and I shook my head.


    ¡°I¡¯m good, thanks.¡±


    ¡°Ah listen, I¡¯m trying to help you out kid. You¡¯re obviously new. I¡¯m part of a Netrunner collective, we help out newbies, give them gigs that can put their skills to use, you should-¡±


    ¡°Ex? Thanks but I¡¯m good.¡± I denied cutting him off. I wasn¡¯t really looking for netrunner gigs. I would make my own gigs here on the net.


    Ex sighed and stood up. ¡°Well good luck then kid. But don¡¯t think it¡¯ll be as easy to join up in the future if you end up needing help.¡±


    ¡°I doubt that will be an issue.¡± A third voice intruded, and I didn¡¯t sigh only because I was too annoyed with Ex, at the sight of Yoko standing at the end of the booth.


    ¡°Yoko. How goes?¡± I greeted her, sounding relieved at her appearance.


    ¡°Fine, Motoko? You wanted to chat?¡±


    Ignoring the other hacker I nodded, now smiling from ear to ear.


    ¡°I got something I think is pretty preem, I wanted to show it off a bit.¡± I told her as I twirled a finger pulling a copy of Ping 2.0 into a visual medium showing it as a glowing shard over my finger I offered it to Yoko.


    I could see the interest in Ex as he looked like he was trying to peek, but Yoko¡¯s own ICE slammed up a moment before my own.


    Yoko was quick! That was a pretty insane processing speed!


    Made me wonder what her cyberdeck actually was.


    But a moment later Yoko had touched the shard file and accessed it. I couldn¡¯t follow along because I couldn¡¯t see the screens she was no doubt seeing visually infront of her face, but I could tell that she was impressed because she went from her normal sensual smirk to a flatter more focused look as she looked it over.


    ¡°Where did you get this? No wait, don¡¯t answer that.¡± She demanded suddenly and waved a hand. I got a transfer request and accepted leaving the booth and Yoko and I both appeared in her private lobby instantly this time.


    Last time Yoko had always used a gate to let me access it myself. It was a weird feeling to be moved like that.


    ¡°Motoko, where did you get this?¡±


    ¡°I made it.¡± I told her with a fox-like grin of my own.


    Her neck jerking towards me as she focused on me told me everything I needed to know about Ping 2.0.


    It was good.


    Way better than something a fourteen year old should be capable of.


    I kept my smirk as Yoko seemed to consider whether she would believe me or not before seemingly deciding not to argue.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been working on my programming for a while, but in the end Ping was just too messy for me. So I rewrote my own basically from scratch. It¡¯s more of a stealth hack than the original.¡± I offered and Yoko nodded.


    ¡°I¡¯ve had a chance to see the best of what Ping can become, and while you don¡¯t hit everything that it is capable of, this is¡­ Different. It¡¯s not the same program at all!¡± Yoko offered, sounding delighted.


    ¡°Like I said, I wasn¡¯t happy with the original so I wrote my own.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d like to trade for it. The ability to trade copies as well.¡± She said suddenly and I blinked.


    ¡°What?¡±


    She gave me a smirk this time. ¡°I work as a trader Motoko. New programs, hacks, and information are all things I trade in. Something like this has real value.¡±


    I nodded at that. It was true, but did I want to go down that route? Right now Ping 2.0 was completely unknown, no one could develop a counter to its stealth nature because no one knew it existed.


    But in the end I shrugged.


    ¡°Alright, but it won¡¯t be free.¡± I offered and instantly Yoko scoffed.


    ¡°Of course not! I¡¯ll open up my stores for you. Let¡¯s see if I can¡¯t find something that catches your interest.¡± She offers with a smirk and I couldn¡¯t help but feel a little excited. It would be nice to see what sort of things Yoko had collected. What valuable programs she had found over the years.


    ¡°Excellent¡­ Now before that, I have to ask about the coding here.¡± She said, causing a screen to pop up and show the lines of code on the program.


    ¡°Oh!¡± I grinned as Yoko asked me code questions! Was I going to geek out about my code with Yoko?


    Yes. Yes I was!

 Chapter 76

    In the end I did agree to a trade, Yoko would owe me multiple favors, and a few quick hacks to be able to sell out my Ping to netrunners.


    Picking up a few Quick hacks that I wanted to fill out my Cyberdeck really did make it worth it, even if the future favors that Yoko now owed me would probably be more valuable in the long run.


    But more importantly than that. The pure excitement that Yoko had shown as we got into the programming, as we dug into the whys and hows made my night.


    Totally worth the few days it took to fully program the thing.


    Jeez just the fact I was able to remake Ping from the ground up in just a few days of work, made me aware of just what Programming 10 really meant.


    Between the massive amount of experience and knowledge I had, and the Perks keeping me completely invested, and able to find and debug errors nearly instantly?


    I was a monster of a programmer.


    It was amazing.


    Yoko had kept me in her lobby as we talked for hours about programming, but eventually I escaped. As I drove home long after the sun had come up, I was forced to wonder once again.


    What would programming 11 look like? If I was already this good? I could already basically write an entire program in one sitting, no wasting time coming up with what I needed the code to do. I just wrote it, already knowing what the best way to code it was.


    In the end, I would find out. As I drove through the early morning traffic, through a city that never sleeps, but did wake up from time to time, I knew that I would find out.


    Because this world? This life? Was just too much fun!


    I was still practically buzzing when I got home and flopped on the couch. Jun was out, probably doing more TC work, but I finally felt that urge, that need to code satisfied at least for now.


    Sure I have even more quick hacks I wanted to play with, and there was of course the big project that I wanted.


    And the music box.


    I blinked.


    Okay fine.


    Time to finish my music box.


    I pulled up my coding laptop and opened my old work on it.


    Then I deleted it all. And started fresh.


    I needed a system capable of handling the sounds I couldn¡¯t make with a guitar, but it was more than that. I wanted it to be me still.


    I didn¡¯t want just bad recordings, I wanted my own music to be part of it.


    So I got to programming. This time, I was inspired. The programming of the box was a few things. First, it was a sound system. I would be able to literally write songs, and add tracks and sounds to it directly.


    The programming for that took a while, but when I finished I realized I would need even more hardware to handle this.


    It needed a bigger harddrive, basically.


    So I went back out and hit a computer parts store. It was less Netrunner stuff, and more home system use, but that was fine.


    I shelled out a good amount of eddies for a large ¡®modern¡¯ memory storage, and installed that into my incomplete memory box.


    ¡°Motoko. Have you eaten today?¡± Jun demanded suddenly as I blinked and he was in the house.


    Ah. I might need to stop getting so hyper focused when I worked!


    ¡°I think so?¡±


    ¡°Eat!¡± He demanded handing me a XXL burrito¡­ was this punishment!? If I forgot to eat would Jun force me to eat one of these!?


    ¡°This is cruel and unusual punishment.¡± I complained but Jun was in no mood. Watching as I scarfed down the burrito so I tasted it as little as possible, and then he nodded.


    ¡°C¡¯mon we are going out.¡±


    ¡°What? C¡¯mon Jun! I¡¯m in the middle of something!¡±


    ¡°Have you even left the house today?¡± He asked instantly with a glare, and I returned it.


    ¡°I have! I got home early this morning from netrunning. I then went to the computer store. Just because I¡¯m getting distracted with this, doesn¡¯t mean you get to treat me like a child, Jun.¡±


    He looked like he was going to explode for a minute, but then he took a deep breath and let it out.


    ¡°Okay. I¡¯m sorry.¡± He said and I blinked surprised at the sudden shift. ¡°You have me worried though, you got sick the other day because you didn¡¯t do anything but work on your program.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ Okay yeah I wasn¡¯t at my best, but it wasn¡¯t because I got¡­ Okay fine. I¡¯ll set an alarm, and if I don¡¯t eat or something I¡¯ll suck it up and let you treat me like an idiot for a while. Deal?¡±


    Jun seemed just as surprised at my words, as I had been at his.


    Then his lips quirked up.


    ¡°Deal.¡± He reached over and despite my attempts to keep it away his hand patted my head for a few moments.


    ¡°How about we head out anyways. We haven¡¯t really done anything besides hang out around the house in a while. We could go hit the gun range? Or visit Sensei. He bugged me the last time I was at the dojo that he hasn¡¯t seen you.¡±


    I blinked.


    ¡°Wait Sensei wanted me to come to the dojo?¡± I asked, actually surprised. Honestly considering how often he had put me in time out, I had the impression the guy hadn¡¯t liked me very much.


    ¡°Motoko. Sensei thought you were preem. Hell I think you¡¯re preem you fought off borgs with a Katana, while adapting to brand new Cyberarms. Remember?¡± He asked, looking at me like I was a dunce.


    ¡°I lost.¡± I reminded him how our fight had ended up. Akari had beat my ass, and Jun and I had ended up¡­


    Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    Well roughhousing was the kindest way to put it.


    ¡°You survived. C¡¯mon. Grab your Katana as well, Sensei will be glad to see you, but he¡¯s definitely going to force you into some Kata.¡±


    ¡°Aww Jun I don¡¯t want to deal with that right now.¡± I grumbled, but he was smirking at me, and I didn¡¯t have the heart to get into a fight to remove it.


    Jerk would just sit on me again anyways.


    ¡°Fine. But I demand noodles for dinner.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll eat after we see Sensei, it¡¯ll work up an appetite.¡± He told me, smiling brightly and I sighed as I got ready.


    ¡ª--


    Walking up to the dojo for the first time in a while was weird. It didn¡¯t look all that different, although it was a lot busier than it had been during the war.


    Jun had driven this time, refusing to let me drive him in the Quadra so I was riding on the back of his Kusanagi. He parked out front right next to the twelve other Kusanagi all parked in front of the gate.


    Like I said. Busy.


    Once again the fact I wasn¡¯t wearing any TC memorabilia, or had the tattoos meant that as I followed Jun through the gate, he was getting nods of respect, while I was getting weird looks.


    We walked into the entrance of the dojo, funnily enough a room I had never been before, but Jun walked right past the little reception, taking me around to the side which opened up to the dojo itself.


    It was filled. TC guys were all training, some with bokken, some with the exercise equipment laying around the area. But Jun walked confidently to the one person in the room I actually knew.


    ¡°Sensei.¡± Jun offered, holding a fist with his other hand and bowing.


    ¡°Kusanagi. And Kusanagi.¡± He greeted us both. I didn¡¯t bow, but I did give him a smile and a wave.


    ¡°You look well. Have you kept up your practice?¡± He asked me instantly, probably already knowing the answer.


    Dangit. Jun was purposefully not looking at me! Had Jun sold me out!?


    ¡°No. I haven¡¯t had a chance to draw a blade in a while.¡±


    ¡°Then you will need practice. Kusanagi, go you know what training is needed.¡± He said looking to Jun before turning back to me. ¡°You come. Let¡¯s see how much you have lost.¡±


    I didn¡¯t groan.


    Audibly.


    I followed Sensei as he led me over to an open area, a place not to battle with another student, but just a practice area. He grabbed a bokken off the wall and handed it to me.


    ¡°Begin.¡± He demanded, and I nodded remembering the stances and swings he had liked.


    So I exercised.


    It wasn¡¯t all bad. Swords were cool, but this still felt like a betrayal from Jun.


    Now I know why he had agreed to noodles so easily. The bastard.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°Who¡¯s the kid?¡± I heard whispers among some of the TC guys that were practicing under Sensei¡¯s watchful gaze.


    ¡°No idea. Sensei put her in the corner, she one of us?¡±


    ¡°No idea.¡±


    They thought they were being quiet, but the room was mostly quiet outside of soft grunts, and my ears were pretty good.


    I didn¡¯t care though.


    If I was going to be stuck practicing sword forms, I was going to try and wrangle another Blades level up out of it.


    Or at least try.


    But I wasn¡¯t going to be left alone. Finally someone cracked, their desire to try and figure out who the weird girl in the corner was overrode Sensei¡¯s wrath.


    It made sense. Gang bangers weren¡¯t known for their patience.


    ¡°Hey, girl, who are you?¡± One of the men said having stomped over towards me.


    ¡°Motoko.¡± I said but ignored him otherwise. I could see Sensei watching, and I knew how that man thought. If I stopped swinging he would be over here in an instant to berate me. Even if someone was interrupting my practice.


    ¡°Never seen you before. What are you doing here?¡±


    ¡°Practicing.¡± I said just restraining myself from rolling my eyes.


    This answer didn¡¯t seem to please the man.


    ¡°Fine. Then as your senpai, I¡¯ll give you a lesson.¡± He said casually, at least trying to sound nice, but it was obvious the guy was looking for trouble.


    Considering Jun wasn¡¯t in the room at the moment. He had gone downstairs at one point. That was probably the only reason the guy wasn¡¯t a smear on the tatami already.


    ¡°I¡¯m good.¡± I answered instead, focusing on my blade work. Sensei was watching.


    ¡°I insist. Everyone who comes here, has to get used to the way we do things.¡± He said firmly standing in front of me, forcing me to stop swinging. Then he took a few steps back and raised his own Bokken up.


    ¡°Really?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but ask. ¡°You really want to do this right now with Sensei watching?¡±


    ¡°Sensei hasn¡¯t stopped me. If you were one of us you would understand the rules of this place. Tsukune.¡± He said with a rather nasty smile before his face flattened, and he swung.


    Did he just offer his name and attack? What a weeb.


    He was strong. I noted, not borg strong, but he was a taller guy and he obviously worked out a lot.


    Everyone¡¯s picking on the teenage girl today. My eyes narrowed and I decided I wasn¡¯t having it.


    My Bokken instantly flashed out startling him as I went on the offense, swinging for his neck and face each time.


    It was only a bokken, and swinging for the chest might make him ignore a swipe to really slam into me, but a face strike?


    No one wanted to get hit in the face.


    So he blocked, and that let me put him into my pace. He might be stronger, but I was faster, and I think I was better with a sword too.


    He blocked a retaliatory swipe of his own Bokken trying to force me back but I just turned that into another swipe.


    No, I confirmed. I knew I was better.


    We continued with my blows constantly raining down. He was just good enough to block them, just good enough to ¡®stay alive¡¯ under my assault.


    I could see the moment his face went from confident blank to actually worried.


    The moment he looked at his chooms and then refocused on me.


    I was pushing him nearly up against the well when I felt it.


    An intrusion.


    Someone was trying to quick hack me!


    My own defenses were holding them off, but that wouldn¡¯t last forever.


    I tumbled backwards, flipping a few times to make room, and glared.


    That one. The guy with the stupid face was trying to hack me.


    I attacked him viciously. A Breach slamming into his personal ICE and a quickhack right behind.


    Where he was taking time to break through. I had no such problems. His eyes shut down causing him to cry out, which was right about the time I chucked my Bokken letting it spin end after end until it smacked right into the now blinded netrunners face.


    His quick hack ended just as abruptly.


    Unfortunately I couldn¡¯t enjoy my time. I spun smacking the bokken striking down at me away with a backhand. Tsukune, the fucker had tried to sneak attack me.


    I rolled backwards until I reached the wall and then I rearmed myself.


    Two Bokken were in my fists and I twirled my left hand one.


    I was gonna beat this gonk black and blue.


    ¡°What is going on here?¡± Jun¡¯s voice suddenly cut in and everyone stepped back.


    Tsukune might be a tall kid, but he was practically half of Jun¡¯s size after all the chrome Jun had chipped in.


    There was a reason just his fat ass alone was enough to hold me down.


    ¡°Ah. Kusanagi-Sama!¡± Tsukune called out looking surprised.


    Kusanagi¡­ Sama?


    I couldn¡¯t quite hide the snort and snickering I let out, Jun turned to me with a glare that I was trying to hide my giggles from, but they were looking at Jun like he was some big important guy, and not the teenager that literally ate burritos for all meals of the day if I let him.


    ¡°What is going on?¡± Jun asked me, and I couldn''t help it.


    ¡°Jun-Nii! These big scary meanies were bullying me! They made me fight, and even tried to quick hack me in the middle!¡± I whined purposefully using Siren Song to make make my voice as childish as I could.


    Which might¡¯ve been too effective as Jun¡¯s nose wrinkled at me.


    ¡°Nii?¡± Tsukune asked, sounding a little faint as he realized what he had just done. I was smirking looking at the older guy, the guy who was standing next to my testy borg brother.


    I was so ready for Jun to start growling!


    ¡°Motoko, don¡¯t bully people.¡± Jun said suddenly cutting through my schadenfreude.


    ¡°Wha! Jun! They were bullying me! I was minding my own business doing the practice sensei gave me!¡±


    ¡°Sorry about my sister. She¡¯s kinda a gorilla.¡± Jun absolutely bashes me!


    How dare he!


    Of course I retaliated walking over and punching him right where his kidney would be. Unfortunately his stupid chrome meant he just grunted a little at my strike and ignored me after.


    ¡°Ah¡­ Of course Kusanagi-Sama, I didn¡¯t know she was your sister.¡± Tsukune bowed to Jun nervously, but I was more focused on glaring at my jerkass brother.


    How dare he not take the side of his shy sister getting bullied by a bunch of gym bros!


    ¡°Good, I¡¯m glad. And one last thing.¡± Jun suddenly moved, and his hand was wrapped around Tsukune¡¯s throat.


    I had stepped back Bokken raised instinctively at Jun¡¯s sudden aggressive action. But I relaxed.


    Jun wasn¡¯t a Cyberpsycho right now. It would be fine.


    Poor Tsukune of course didn¡¯t know that, lifted off the ground by my borg brother, his feet wiggling as they reached for solid ground.


    ¡°If you ever bother my sister like that again, I¡¯ll make you regret it.¡±


    To my surprise though, Sensei wasn¡¯t getting involved. The older man was just standing back watching it all take place.


    Finally Jun let the guy go as he flopped onto the ground gasping for air.


    ¡°C¡¯mon Motoko. Sensei wants you.¡± Jun offered, returning back to the calm air he had just before.


    ¡°If you were gonna scare them, at least don¡¯t throw me under the bus first.¡± I grumbled at him, but Jun just reached out and ruffled my hair as we walked over to Sensei.


    Of course I batted his hands away, now wasn¡¯t the time for headpats!


    ¡°Kusanagi. Spar with Kito.¡± Sensei said as we finally approached pointing me at another man that was probably a decade older than me who looked just as surprised. At first I thought he was talking to Jun, but Jun and Sensei instantly walked off back towards a corner.


    Irritating.


    ¡°Uh.. hey.¡± I offered with a weak wave of my bokken.


    ¡°Kito.¡± He introduced himself, and then took a swipe at me.


    I guess it was a good thing I was still holding the two Bokken I had picked up. I blocked, and started my own assault.


    ¡ª--


    *100 Blades XP Gained.*


    *100 Blades XP Gained.*


    *100 Blades XP Gained.*


    I was reading through the alerts I had gotten after everything, clutching onto Jun as he drove us to a noodle bar.


    He had promised after all, and he was right. I was now very hungry.


    Stupid Sensei made me keep sparring with people whenever I beat one, or was defeated.


    I would need to nap when I get home. I had bruises all over my body.


    Unfortunately, while the alerts were good, I didn¡¯t get an actual level up.


    I would have to spar more if I wanted that sweet Blades level up.


    ¡°Sorry about that.¡± Jun mentioned as we pulled into a space near Cherry Blossom Market.


    I guess the noodle shop there was Jun¡¯s favorite.


    ¡°About what?¡± I grumbled at him. I hadn¡¯t exactly planned to get dragged into a sword fight with everyone in the dojo.


    ¡°You know what. Sorry. I should have warned you a bit, the students at the dojo are very territorial. I think Sensei wanted to see how you handled them as well.¡±


    ¡°Sensei can suck a full bag of dicks.¡±


    Jun snorted before gently bopping me on the head. ¡°Be respectful, he helped both of us before¡­ But yeah he can be a dick about it. You were having fun though. You were smiling while swinging those bokken.¡±


    I gave Jun a deadpan. ¡°I was forced to fight every gonk that wanted a round, of course I took the small pleasure I could by hitting them in the face.¡± I told him as we walked through the market.


    ¡°I¡¯m glad you weren¡¯t hurt too much. You¡¯ve gotten pretty good with a blade. I¡¯m proud of you.¡±


    ¡°Nuh-uh. You don¡¯t get to be proud of me after throwing me into a weird winner takes all training session. Noodles first, and maybe after I¡¯ll forgive you enough to let you be proud of me.¡± I told him and Jun actually laughed, an honest real noise escaping him as he leaned over and threw an arm over my shoulder.


    ¡°Deal.¡±


    *Ringing*


    I blinked. Feet stopped as a call came in.


    A call from Wakako.


    ¡°Hold on.¡± I told Jun instantly, as my eyes went gold.


    *Wakako, what¡¯s up?*


    *Stop by. Welles is already on his way. I have a gig for you.* The call ended, and I sighed long and loud.


    Then when I ran out of air I took a deep breath slowly, and then sighed again.


    ¡°Rain check Jun-nii. I have a gig from Wakako.¡± I told him and he gave me that little frown he did whenever I went and did something dangerous.


    ¡°That was fast.¡±


    ¡°Wakako likes to hang up on people. It¡¯s one of her things.¡± I mentioned and Jun¡¯s eyes narrowed.


    ¡°Maybe you should stop working for her Motoko. If she isn¡¯t treating you right.¡±


    I scoffed at that. ¡°Wakako is just grumpy. We spent like an hour watching some weird show last time I visited. It¡¯s cool Jun.¡±


    ¡°You¡­ Watched TV with Wakako. The fixer Wakako?¡± Jun asked, looking at me like I was crazy.


    ¡°Yeah? She has shit taste in TV too. Gotta go.¡± I told him as I turned and headed through the market towards Jig-Jig street.


    First gig with Jackie?


    Interesting.


    ¡°Fine! Call if you are going to be out late!¡± Jun demanded like a mother hen as I was walking away and I just nodded and waved behind me.

 Chapter 77

    I walked into Wakako¡¯s parlor to find Jackie not there and Wakako greeting me with a point towards a chair.


    Her eyes were on her TV again.


    Huh. Wakako really liked her shows huh?


    I just shrugged and settled in to watch it with her, she would tell me what was up when Jackie got here.


    And it wasn¡¯t more than twenty minutes later that Wakako reached over and shut off the TV, just as Jackie Welles walked his bulk through the beaded door.


    ¡°Ah, Wakako, I hope I¡¯m not late?¡± He asked, having noticed me already sitting there.


    ¡°No, Motoko, was simply close by when I sent out the call.¡± Wakako offered and Jackie gave me a nervous smile.


    We hadn¡¯t talked since our noodle outing, and I had honestly been surprised it had taken so long since to get a gig.


    ¡°Here are the details.¡± Wakako offered sending a message to both of us, and as we pulled open the files I was a little surprised.


    ¡°This seems a little incendiary.¡± I mentioned as I read who the target was.


    ¡°That is why it is going through me and mercenaries are handling it. If you think just because peace was declared, that it really matters, you are naive.¡± Wakako offered and I nodded.


    The gig was to kidnap a 6th St. enforcer. A guy that had killed the family of a TC member during the little skirmishes during the war.


    The Tyger Claw client wanted the man who killed his family dead, but couldn¡¯t go after them directly anymore with the new peace. So Jackie and I were to kidnap Arnold Henderson for him.


    Kidnap. Not kill.


    ¡°Motoko, make sure you are wearing something other than your normal gear.¡± Wakako offered and I understood why.


    Can¡¯t have this gig be done by Motoko Kusanagi, who could be ID¡¯ed as a member of the TC.


    Even though I wasn¡¯t!


    They just thought that! It wasn¡¯t true!


    But 6th St. might think it was true too. That¡¯s fine. I¡¯ll wear my Section 9 outfit instead.


    ¡°Jackie?¡± I asked him, the big man had been reading through the details in silence but he jerked a bit as I called out to him.


    ¡°Yeah Hermana?¡±


    ¡°Questions? Problems? Things you¡¯ve noticed?¡± I asked him and he shook his head.


    ¡°Not a problem. Not the first time I¡¯ve kidnapped some poor pendejo.¡± He said with a smile and I nodded.


    But I didn¡¯t just rush forward.


    I had been burned a few times recently, due to my own planning falling short.


    Hiromi having to bail me out once I realized I had no place to put the netrunning equipment sprung to mind.


    So I thought.


    How would the gig go, what would I need?


    ¡°Transport for the target?¡±


    ¡°I will have a car nearby for pickup.¡± Wakako offered as she took a lazy drag on her cigarette.


    ¡°Then I don¡¯t think we¡¯ll have any problems.¡± I offered, but Jackie didn¡¯t seem to back me up afterwards.


    Wakako didn¡¯t care though, sending us both out of her office.


    Standing out on the street in front of Wakako¡¯s parlor, I looked to the bigger man and decided we needed to talk before this all went down.


    ¡°My apartment is nearby, I¡¯ll need to grab some gear. You need anything from your place?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve already got everything I need.¡± He offered, patting his jacket, where I noticed a bulge of a big pistol.


    Big, but not Burya big.


    ¡°C¡¯mon we should probably talk a bit too.¡± I told him as I guided him back to the apartment. ¡°You¡¯ve been weird since you came into Wakako¡¯s office. What¡¯s up Jackie?¡±


    He was silent as we walked but finally he sighed. ¡°I still don¡¯t like it Hermanita.¡± he said, surprising me with the changed word.


    My spanish unfortunately not good enough to translate.


    ¡°That you are teamed with me?¡±


    ¡°Not¡­ You¡¯re just a kid. I just don¡¯t like the idea of me being responsible for keeping you safe.¡± He revealed and I was silent for a while this time as we walked into my complex. Jackie looked around a little interested as I led him to the elevator. Only when the doors closed did I speak.


    ¡°I said before, let''s team up for a few gigs and get a feel for each other. And I get this is our first time working together. So I get the confusion, and the¡­ hesitance. Not every day you see a teenager do our sort of work.¡±


    ¡°You trying to say I should shut up and see for myself?¡± He asked with a side smile.


    ¡°Heh.¡± I snorted at Jackie''s instant rejoinder. ¡°Yes, but no. I¡¯m saying I get it. I¡¯m still a kid. Listen, we have a gig, let''s do the gig, and afterwards you¡¯ll see I¡¯m capable.¡±


    Jackie sighed but nodded. ¡°Alright Hermanita. Let¡¯s go grab this gonk then.¡±


    I nodded as the elevator opened and I motioned for Jackie to follow me into my place. The door opened and Jun was there.


    Jun who was looking mighty concerned about the fact a big Valentino guy just walked into the apartment.


    ¡°Ah Jun-Nii, this is Jackie, Jackie, this is my brother Jun.¡± I introduce the two of them as the tension seemingly ratcheted up.


    Thankfully it seemed mostly on Jun¡¯s end as he was glaring and starting to square up. Jackie was reacting, but mostly looking pretty uncomfortable.


    Ignoring the byplay I walked up to Jun and slugged him in the stomach.


    It was really annoying that I could barely make my brother flinch when I did that. I was going to need to upgrade to some gorilla arms or something, so I could properly gut punch him.


    ¡°Don¡¯t mind Jun, Jackie. Why don¡¯t you take a seat for a bit, we have drinks in the fridge if you¡¯re thirsty, I just need to armor up.¡± I told him as I left the room. As much as I wanted to stay and keep any friction down. It would be best if I just hurry up and get ready to go.


    I could hear the quiet voices in the living room as I rushed through putting on my armored clothes.


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    Although I did leave the ninja mask behind.


    Suited up I headed back into the living room.


    Both Jun and Jackie were still standing around sort of sizing each other up.


    ¡°Okay! All set, let¡¯s hit the road! We got gonks to deal with.¡± I called out and while Jackie looked to me, Jun was still glaring.


    ¡°Sure Hermanita, let¡¯s¡­ Go.¡± He muttered. Backing out the door, while Jun just glared at him. I took a moment before I walked out behind Jackie to turn to Jun and give him a ¡°What the fuck¡± gesture.


    He just continued to scowl, but eventually at my refusal to stop glaring back, he shrugged and just waved me on.


    ¡°Stupid Onii-chan.¡± I told him, earning a scoff and then I refocused on Jackie.


    Time to get to work.


    ¡ª---


    Jackie Welles.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t tell me your brother was the Damn Oni of Kamikaze.¡± Jackie finally spoke as they walked into the sunlight on the street.


    ¡°Huh? Yeah? Does it really matter?¡± The kid asked, turning back to him. Her face showing her honest confusion only made Jackie wonder what was wrong with this kid all the more.


    ¡°He¡¯s a step away from¡­ you know. They all are, and I¡¯m hanging around his kid sister. Maybe a warning would have been a good idea?¡±


    The purple haired girl cocked her head to the side as she seemed to process what he had said before she snorted.


    Loudly.


    ¡°C¡¯mon you¡¯re way too old for me, and Jun knows that. He just doesn¡¯t know you. I¡¯ll tell him about our gig together after, and he will probably be a lot nicer next time he sees you.¡± She offered with a smile and a wave back and forth of her chrome hand.


    ¡°Next time she says.¡± He muttered, shaking his head. The look that kid was giving him? Yeah Jackie wouldn¡¯t want to run into him in some dark alley.


    What the fuck am I doing? Jackie shook his head. This wasn¡¯t what he expected when he got in with Wakako. It didn¡¯t feel right running with a teenager.


    Is this¡­


    Is this all he was? Equal to a teenager in the grand scheme of things? Jackie shook off the downer thoughts, No. He was a merc, good enough to work with Wakako!


    It¡¯s just this girl was just as good. Maybe?


    ¡°So want to ride with me?¡± She asked as they were both standing on the sidewalk. ¡°My Quadra can fit us both.¡±


    He blinked.


    ¡°You drive a Quadra?¡±


    ¡°Yeah a Type-66, I looted from a Wraith I flatlined on a gig. It¡¯s preem.¡± And there she goes again, saying something that makes Jackie have to rethink everything.


    ¡°Sure. Hermanita. I only brought my bike anyway.¡±


    ¡°Cool!¡± She chirps and leads him across the street, leaving Jackie with his thoughts about what he was getting into.


    Was she skipping?


    Mierda. What the hell was his life?


    Inside the parking structure, she led him over to a pitch black Quadra. A desert runner.


    She was right, It was a preem ride.


    ¡°Jump in!¡± She called as she climbed into the driver seat, and Jackie followed sliding into the seat, although having to adjust the box that was on the passenger floor.


    ¡°Oh I forgot about those, just push the box under the seat. Or take a few if you want. Grenades can be fun!¡±


    Jackie very carefully pulled open the case on the floor, showing an array of grenades resting inside.


    There were indeed a handful of grenades in the bottom of the box.


    ¡°You keep grenades in your car?¡±


    ¡°I made them myself. Or at least some of them. Jun got mad about me keeping them in the apartment so they are stuck in the car now. I really need to make some time to make another batch.¡±


    ¡°Make?¡±


    ¡°Yeah? It¡¯s easy. You just throw some stuff together, make sure you keep the triggers secure and boom. Grenade¡­ Well not boom right then. You only want them to boom afterwards you know?¡± She said and then chuckled a bit making Jackie realize she was telling a joke.


    He couldn¡¯t help but chuckle a bit in return, although it might have been nervous laughter.


    Homemade grenades between his legs.


    Mierda.


    Motoko finally reached the street as she had taken forever in his eyes to pull out into a gap in traffic, and then to his surprise, she drove¡­


    Well she drives like an old granny. He blinked as she used her turn signal, stopped at the lights instead of blowing through them.


    He had never seen a teenager actually follow traffic laws.


    Hell he still only sometimes followed them himself.


    What a weird kid.


    ¡°So plan on how we handle this guy?¡± She asked, never taking her eyes off the road.


    Jackie had to think about it. He wasn¡¯t usually the planning sort of guy, but he was with a kid. Couldn¡¯t go in guns blazing.


    ¡°Well Wakako gave us his current location, but that could change. We wait and see, if it¡¯s an easy smash and grab that would be good, if not we follow him home. Pick him up in his sleep.¡±


    ¡°Okay I¡¯ll be able to get some intel hopefully, doubt a place like this has a runner watching the system.¡± She mentioned, and he relaxed a little. At least the kid was smart enough not to want to rush in guns blazing.


    That was Jackie¡¯s normal method, and not one he would want a fourteen year old copying.


    As they pulled into the neighborhood, Jackie got the first look at the place. It was an old garage, now used as a drug lab from Wakako¡¯s records.


    And their target was the owner. A mid level boss in 6th St.


    ¡°That¡¯s plenty of cars.¡± Jackie muttered and Motoko nodded, frowning as she drove past the place. The parking lot had a good handful of cars all resting in it.


    ¡°I¡¯ll park somewhere, close and sneak up to check their security.¡± Motoko said and despite Jackie¡¯s desire to stop her, he just nodded.


    Wakako had said she was an infiltrator. She would have to be good. So he watched as she parked down the street, stepped out and meandered her way towards the garage, slipping around the fence that cut off the places lot from the business next door.


    And Jackie waited.


    He did end up pulling out his Nue. He wanted to be ready in case a gun fight broke out, so he checked his gun, making sure she was loaded, and he had the extra magazines on his hip.


    Then a call came from the kid, he accepted it.


    *Jackie. I¡¯m in their security. They really need someone who knows what they are doing. I¡¯m gonna bounce the cameras to you so you can see what I¡¯m looking at.* And a moment later a video request came through his agent.


    And then a window popped up in his eyes, and although it was blurry and a bit laggy he was looking at the interior of the garage.


    *Found our guy, he is hanging out on the ground floor, looking over the drug production.* She said but Jackie had to squint a bit, not that it helped at the picture before he was pretty sure that blur was the guy.


    *I think I see him.*


    *Think?*


    *Connection is low res and laggy.* He muttered as he checked over the video, at least he could make out how many guards there were.


    *What? That doesn¡¯t¡­ You¡¯re optics, they any good?*


    *No.* He replied, laughing over the line. His optics were old, Vik kept bugging him about them, but he didn¡¯t have the eddies for a good upgrade, besides they looked good, and that was half the reason he kept them. Made his eyes look all soulful.


    Always got the ladies to cut him some slack.


    *Gonk. Okay. I¡¯ll stop sharing then. I¡¯m pretty sure that room upstairs is his office and bedroom. Wakako did say he lived here. So we could wait kidnap him right out of his room. I¡¯ve already taken over the security system. The camera¡¯s won¡¯t send him any alerts.*


    *Damn. You can do that?* Jackie asked surprised, he hadn¡¯t worked with a netrunner that could do that before.


    *Yeah, it¡¯s hard to do most of the time, but the security this guy set up is shit. Old NUSA protocols, stuff that would have been solid a decade ago, but it¡¯s already been solved. I¡¯ve already taken their entire system.*


    *Well we are getting somewhere. How many guards do you see Hermanita?*


    *Other than our target, there are four onsite guards, and three workers. We will still have to treat the workers as threats though.*


    *Yeah people won¡¯t want to lose a gig that pays in eddies like gang work.* He agreed he had been attacked by plenty of staff at places to know that.


    *Alright¡­ Hey Jackie. I¡¯ve got an idea. Under the seat, a few of those grenades are flash grenades. We go in hard, stun everyone and secure the area. I can reboot the optics of anyone that causes any trouble as well, since I¡¯m already in their system and then we¡¯re gone.*


    Jackie considered it. He wasn¡¯t normally a sneaky type, and knowing where everything was made it a lot easier.


    He took a moment to actually consider it. He didn¡¯t want to risk the kid after all.


    Then he nodded. If they hit them hard it would work.


    *You sure these grenades will work?*


    *Oh yeah, they are preem! I¡¯m ready when you are.*


    He nodded quickly, checking the box carefully and pulling two of the flashbang grenades out of the box before realizing he had nodded. ¡°Alright. On my way.¡± He said, taking a deep breath and stepping out of the car.


    Nue in one hand, and grenades in the other. Time to work Jackie. He hurried down the street, jogging but moving confidently as he came up on the garage.


    *Window right next to the door leads to them. Break it and toss the stunners.* Motoko informed him and he nodded, quickly holstering his Nue, and popping the pins on both grenades.


    *Sending them now.* and then he slammed them through the window.


    A moment later two very loud bangs went off.


    Jackie was already kicking in the door, his Nue in his hand as he rushed in. Ready to knock some gonks around.


    Which he did instantly, a worker was stumbling around and Jackie gave them a quick left to knock them out of the fight. His feet moved as he rushed his target who was trying to escape as the man stumbled around trying to find the exit.


    Jackie slammed into him smashing him against the concrete with his bulk, sending the poor bastard into unconsciousness.


    ¡°Bastard!¡± A voice called out, one of the guards. Jackie raised his Nue but he hadn¡¯t needed to rush, a moment later the man''s eyes crackled with electricity and he cried out as he suddenly went blind.


    Kid was fast.


    ¡°F-fuck!¡± A scream called out behind him causing him to look up, right outside the office one of the guards stood, weapon in hand desperately looking around blindly as his eyes had stopped working too.


    Then a moment later a loud bark of gunfire and the guy slammed into the stairs and blood started dripping down the metal.


    Damn that was a big boom.


    *Two more still Jackie.* The voice reminded him and he rose up marching across the garage floor to the other two guards that were trying to hide while recovering from the flashbang. Jackie simply slammed into them punching and slamming them into the ground.


    They didn¡¯t get up after a few moments of his attention.


    *The workers are cowering. Grab the target. I¡¯ll cover you.* Motoko whispered in his ear and he did just that. The girl was good overwatch, Jackie had to admit. He rushed the unconscious gonk and grabbed him, throwing him over his shoulder as he ran for the main door.


    *Jackie! Stop!* Motoko¡¯s voice in his ear, sounding loudly, sent his feet skidding on the concrete. *Another car just pulled up, more 6th. St. Turn around! Out through the back! I¡¯ll keep them distracted!* She demanded and while Jackie wanted to hesitate and argue, he hadn¡¯t seen the girl once since the fight started despite her making her presence known.


    So he turned and rushed the back door.


    It gave way to his shoulder as he rushed out into a back lot that was nothing but an overgrown lot. He closed the door behind him just in time to hear the loud yells of someone realizing something was up.


    *Get over the fence. I¡¯ll make it so they won¡¯t be able to see you until it¡¯s too late. Go!* He went rushing across the yard towards the fence that was looming over him. Getting over a fence wasn¡¯t hard. Doing it while carrying someone was.


    But before he even reached the fence Motoko was running beside him, her eyes glowing gold as she was still on a call with him.


    *I¡¯ll go over first and lift the gonk.* She tells him and he nods. Watching as she races ahead and scrambles up the fence like it was nothing, then one leg over it she reaches down and he practically throws the gonk at her.


    To his surprise she didn¡¯t struggle much with holding him up, he expected her to have a bit more trouble with it, but it let him climb up beside her, and between the two of them, they heaved the guy over.


    Ignoring the groan he gave off when they dropped him down the other side.


    He hunkered down looking through the fence expecting to see a horde of angry 6th. St. but there was nothing.


    ¡°Did they not see us?¡±


    ¡°Kind of hard to see anything when your whole group''s optics turn off one after another. C¡¯mon let¡¯s get out of here before they can see again.¡± She told him and Jackie nodded, grabbing the guy and running.


    In the end they ran a few blocks down and waited for Wakako¡¯s car to pick up the poor bastard, once he was safely in the trunk. Motoko¡¯s Quadra came rolling down the street and they both slipped in.


    That went¡­


    Pretty well actually.

 Chapter 78

    After getting confirmation from Wakako that she had the target, we both got wired the eddies as I was driving back home.


    ¡°So what did you think?¡± I asked, Jackie had been quiet for a while, mostly just smiling to himself at the reward for the gig.


    ¡°You¡¯re certainly the best overwatch I¡¯ve ever been with. You helped every step of the way.¡± Jackie muttered quietly, obviously the big man was thinking.


    ¡°Yep, and I couldn¡¯t have done it without you. Trying to haul that guy out by myself would have been a disaster. Like I said before, I need someone to work with. I¡¯m best as either outright infiltrator, or an overwatch position. So want to keep working together?¡±


    ¡°Heh. Alright Hermanita. You¡¯ve proven your point. You know how to handle yourself, even if I still think you are too young. What is that cannon you are packing by the way? When you fired that thing I thought my head was going to ring.¡±


    ¡°Ah! My Burya!¡± I mentioned as I pulled her out of the holster and passed her over.


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ A big gun.¡± Jackie said, looking surprised at my girl.


    ¡°Hah! I don¡¯t go anywhere without her¡­ Anymore. Never know when you¡¯ll come face to face with a borg that needs something with oomph.¡±


    ¡°Never needed anything bigger than my Nue personally.¡± Jackie said, slinging his pistol out and even twirling it on his finger.


    Gonk.


    But I was smiling even so.


    ¡°Nue are good guns. Honestly if I came across one while on a gig I would snatch it. But my Lexington is nice, it balances my Burya. I got the big loud hand cannon for big stuff, and the automatic pistol for small fry.¡±


    ¡°Heh smart. I¡¯m surprised you can even shoot this thing. I mean, I¡¯ve heard horror stories about gonks trying it without the right chrome. I know you got your arms, but is that enough?¡±


    ¡°Honestly? No. But when I first got it, I nearly broke every bone in my arm firing it¡­ Don¡¯t tell my brother I told you that, he still doesn¡¯t know. Anyway, I figured out a trick on how to handle the recoil so I can actually use it.¡± I sort of rolled my right wrist showing Jackie. ¡°It¡¯s all in how you lock your joints and the give in your body.¡±


    ¡°Huh.¡± He mentioned looking at the Burya with a glimmer in his eye that I couldn¡¯t help but laugh at.


    ¡°If you want to give it a try, I don¡¯t mind, but before you go buying more iron, how about some new chrome? Those optics you got could use an upgrade, what even are they? My scan says Omicron Zeta Something or other.¡± I mentioned earning a chuckle from Jackie.


    ¡°Yeah my OZ Soul 3.0 They aren¡¯t the best optics on the market, but they got the best soulful look, you¡¯d be amazed at how many times these eyes got me out of trouble. Just a minute of my soulful stare works wonders, every time. With a bit of old boy politeness of course.¡± He said, chuckling.


    ¡°Gonk.¡± I could help but laugh. ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure a pair of Kiroshi would serve you a lot more.¡±


    ¡°Eh maybe. I¡¯ll ask Vik about it sometime.¡± He said with a shrug and I let it go, we weren¡¯t really partners yet. No point in trying to push things.


    ¡°Alright this is our stop.¡± I mentioned as I pulled into the parking garage of my apartment. ¡°Sure you don¡¯t want to celebrate our gig with a meal?¡±


    ¡°Next time Hermanita.¡± Jackie assures me as he reaches over and shakes my shoulder. ¡°I¡¯ve got plans already for tonight. Got a date.¡± He offers laughing and I smile.


    ¡°Oh? Girlfriend?¡±


    ¡°Of course! Camilla has been on my ass all week about going out on a big date, and I finally got the eddies. Have a good night Motoko.¡± He offered as he stepped out, but I was too shocked.


    Right. Jackie wasn¡¯t dating Misty.


    They weren¡¯t even friends yet.


    Oh.


    I really didn¡¯t want to get involved in getting a gonk like Jackie dating his true girl.


    Eh. It¡¯ll sort itself out¡­ Right?


    ¡ª--


    ¡°Welcome back.¡± Jun called out as I entered the apartment.


    ¡°Hey Jun. You still around?¡±


    ¡°No work until tonight. You good? Your gig go well with that gorilla?¡±


    ¡°Pfft!¡± I burst into laughter. ¡°What is it with you an gorilla¡¯s recently? You called me that too.¡±


    ¡°It just fits is all.¡± He said as I joined him on the couch, he had been watching some TV show his feet up on the table. Letting me see the way his feet were covered in that grayish plastic that meant it was chrome, but hadn¡¯t been covered in Real Skinn.


    ¡°Alright but out of the two of us only you look like a gorilla.¡± I teased him, grabbing his attention away from the TV to give me a grumpy look.


    ¡°I might look like one, but you have the personality of one.¡± Jun said bluntly and then turned back to the TV.


    That¡­


    Absolute asshole!


    I punched him in the side which he ignored!


    Stupid borg!


    I punched him again, and again, tenderizing his side until finally he got annoyed and grabbed at me, which led both of us wrestling on the couch.


    ¡°You are proving my point!¡± He growled at me, but I ignored his words!


    In the end Jun won the wrestling match and I retreated to my room to lick my wounds from once again being defeated by my stupid brother.


    It wasn¡¯t fair!


    Flopping on my bed I looked around the room, at all the stuff that I had collected.


    The stuff that sort of sat on top of the old Motoko¡¯s stuff.


    Old Tyger Claw junk hidden under guns or equipment I had nabbed.


    I even reached under the bed and patted the Uragan case. Just making sure it was still there.


    What was my next goal?


    Probably jump back into programming again. I thought. I still wanted to upgrade my Reboot Optics, and Weapon Glitch hacks. If I could get both working, being able to interfere with multiple people at once, I would go from only being able to disable eight or nine gonks back to back before my poor Seacho couldn''t handle it, to dozens.


    Of course my programming laptop was out in the living room, so I got back up off my bed and headed out.


    As soon as I appeared Jun noticed and raised both hands in knife hands as if he expected me to attack him!


    ¡°Gonk.¡± I told him before ignoring his presence and grabbing my laptop.


    ¡°Ah so you calmed down good. Wild gorilla- Oof.¡± He grunted as I didn¡¯t punch him, just chucked a pillow into his face.


    ¡°Stop instigating. I have work to do.¡± I told him as if I was the adult and he was the child.


    He huffed and ignored me though going back to his show.


    While I dug into the program that I had found incredibly useful.


    Reboot Optics.


    My previous work on it made me cringe as I looked at it. I could do better, so much better.


    So just like Ping I decided to just start from scratch.


    Reboot Optics at its most simple was a virus. Infesting optical systems and causing them to reboot, or overload, depending on the chrome.


    This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.


    It worked, but it could be better.


    There was something I had learned from using computers in the past. Most users had no idea what the tech they were using actually did, or how it worked.


    They knew enough to use the basic functions they were familiar with and that is it. Any actual in depth knowledge was completely beyond them.


    So rather than attacking the system causing it to reboot, which was a pretty common method, I wanted to hit them with a double whammy.


    It wouldn¡¯t work on every optical system, but the idea had hit me as soon as I started writing the program.


    Inspired Programmer coming in clutch.


    Instead of the virus just causing a reboot, it did one other small change into the system while it was rebooting.


    It was going to set the visual brightness of the chrome to zero.


    I hadn¡¯t been surprised that dimming effects on optics were very popular. Being able to dim your eyes when things got bright was a common enough feature in most optics, and those that don¡¯t have it, still had settings to adjust how the brain processed the image.


    All I had to do was make it so the system when it rebooted would still show nothing but a black, or incredibly dark picture to the brain.


    The normal gonk would freak out when their eyes suddenly rebooted, only to then still be blind when their system starts back up.


    Sure all they would have to do is go into their settings to adjust the vision¡­ Their hud system would still work as normal¡­


    Unless I adjusted the color of the Hud to match the dimmed visuals¡­


    Heh.


    But I would bet money that most people didn¡¯t even know a settings menu existed in their optics.


    It wouldn¡¯t work for long against people who knew what they were doing, but it would still take time to fix their eyes themselves.


    Time in a gunfight that could prove lethal.


    Sure the program was going to need to be completely remodeled to do the double load, but that just required a bit of work. It¡¯s what good programming could do. Instead of ballooning the program too much, when I was done, my Reboot Optics would hopefully be even slimmer than the off the shelf shovelware I had been using.


    And it could affect multiple people at once.


    Of course unlike Ping, which had only taken a couple of days to program up.


    Reboot Optics was going to take a while. There were no quick shortcuts here. Each piece of the coding would need a lot of attention to make sure it worked.


    But thanks to my perks, not only was it doable, not only was it going to be amazing when it was done!


    But it was actually really fun!


    Watching my coding turn into a weapon. That image so long ago of me crafting a magical sword was stuck in my head.


    I guess Inspired Programmer knew what I needed to stay engaged, because I was going to make the best magical eye gouging digital sword I could.


    ¡°Hey.¡± Jun interrupted me, waving his hand in front of my face making me look away from my line of code with a glare.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Been calling you for a minute. I¡¯m heading out, got some easy work¡­ Don¡¯t stay up all night, and get some food and stuff. I don¡¯t want to see you totally spaced out in the same spot again when I get home.¡± He ordered waving a finger in my face.


    Like all teenagers everywhere I rolled my eyes, but did set an alarm in my hud.


    ¡°Alarm is set, I¡¯ll eat and sleep. Be safe.¡± I demanded in return and Jun smiled confidently before patting me on the head.


    ¡°I¡¯ll see you in the morning Motoko.¡± Jun offered and I threw up a thumps up in return which he chuckled at as he walked out of the apartment.


    I quickly got up and stretched a bit and headed into the kitchen, a can of something sugary and carbonated was collected and opened.


    Time to get back to work.


    ¡ª--


    I did end up going to sleep when my alarm went off, if for no other reason that Jun would bug me if I didn¡¯t.


    But before I could get back to programming, I got a call from Hiromi.


    *Motoko! You busy?*


    *Not overly?* I said looking at the laptop that was just begging me to come and finish more work.


    *Great! Meet me at the Straight Lane Apartments?*


    *What? You okay?*


    *Course! But I need to talk to Richard and I would rather have my favorite bodyguard with me!* Hiromi teased, but I laughed because honestly it was pretty true.


    *Alright. I¡¯m on my way.*


    ¡ª--


    Like before the apartment didn¡¯t have close parking so I ended up parking half a block away and having to walk.


    When I got there Hiromi was already waiting outside, she wasn¡¯t alone though.


    The girls that had bothered me the first time I had returned to the apartment were surrounding Hiromi, and I narrowed my eyes. I remember how aggressive they had been to me, but if they were threatening Hiromi I was gonna have to give a beatdown.


    I went cold and snuck closer, my boots going utterly silent on the concrete as I approached from the girls blind spot.


    Hiromi of course spotted me, and I could spot how her spine straightened a bit.


    As I stalked closer I could hear Hiromi speaking in a rush.


    ¡°-Not interested. Richard and your gang are a good contact, I¡¯m not interested in putting out orders. Not my style.¡±


    ¡°Yeah? Well it¡¯s not my style to listen to some corpo rat either, and don¡¯t think I don¡¯t know that, you got the stink of a corp all over you.¡± The smaller of the two girls muttered her shotgun in her hands in a way that made me twitchy.


    Besides, Hiromi actually looked hurt from that. She was still sensitive about it, despite her origin not mattering.


    Hiromi is Hiromi.


    So before she had to open her mouth and defend her birth I was there. Chrome hands gripping harshly on the barrels of Shotguns and holding them down firmly.


    ¡°Wha!¡±


    ¡°Hey!¡±


    ¡°I think that¡¯s enough¡­ Mary right?¡± I asked the taller girl the only one that had given her name last time.


    ¡°Hey! Bitch, let go!¡± The smaller girl was fighting my grip on her shotgun, but she may as well have been a child. She was a lot smaller than me, and I had weight, and chrome on my side.


    And an athleticism that put me far over the average teenage girl.


    ¡°No. You were bothering my choom, so I get to interfere. Hiromi? You cool?¡±


    Despite the seriousness, Hiromi snorted at me. ¡°I¡¯m cool Motoko.¡± She assures me purposefully smiling at my words.


    Cool was still cool!


    ¡°You can let go, we weren¡¯t trying to threaten her.¡± The taller girl, Mary said, despite glaring at me for holding her gun down.


    ¡°Alright.¡± I agreed and let go of both barrels, although I kept my hands close to my chest.


    If I needed to quickdraw my Burya I could fire before they bring the barrels up.


    I was sure.


    ¡°Fuck. Spooky quiet bitch.¡± The short girl hissed as she backed up but seemed to look to Mary who just shook her head and despite seething, she didn¡¯t attack.


    ¡°Why were you messing with my choom?¡±


    ¡°We weren¡¯t messing with her. Just making sure she understood we aren¡¯t her toys.¡±


    ¡°I never said you were.¡± Hiromi argued, obviously irritated as she growled a bit. ¡°I told you, I¡¯m just gonna be helping you guys get gigs, like a fixer. Richard is still your boss, you know the guy that agreed to work with me, and is expecting me for a conversation, that Richard?¡±


    ¡°Whatever. Just remember what we said.¡± Mary offered and turned to walk into the apartment, I glared at them as they walked to the elevator. Considering I had control of the system I had to stop myself from stopping the elevator somewhere and just getting them stuck in there for a few hours.


    ¡°Thanks Motoko. You saved me again.¡± Hiromi offered as she leaned in against my shoulder for a moment, seemingly taking energy from the contact.


    ¡°Yeah¡­ Don¡¯t come here alone again. I don¡¯t like those two, they tried to threaten me too.¡±


    ¡°I think they are Richards girls¡­ Or at least the tall one.¡± Hiromi offered and I nodded taking in the information.


    ¡°They don¡¯t like that we are girls?¡±


    ¡°Yep.¡± Hiromi shrugged. ¡°They¡¯ll get easier to deal with as long as we don¡¯t flirt with their guy.¡± She said and I snorted at the very idea.


    Richard was way too much of a gonk for me to be interested¡­ And Hiromi was way too good for him.


    We ended up waiting for the elevator to come back down as of course the girls had gone up to the fifth floor where we were going.


    The fifth floor, the level that the gang had completely commandeered for their own.


    I hadn¡¯t been there yet, only seen it through windows on the outside, or from the cameras that were around, and I hadn¡¯t yet found out why they chose that floor.


    But honestly it didn¡¯t matter.


    It wasn¡¯t any of my business.


    We rode up mostly in silence. Hiromi was psyching herself up and so I was just quiet support. There to make sure she was safe.


    The door opened into a pretty standard apartment hallway. Trash was growing up the walls in places, but that was the norm for most apartments.


    Waiting for us were the two girls, both looking irritated, and as we stepped off the shorter one spoke. ¡°Follow us, Richard is waiting.¡± She grumbled, obviously annoyed at being the one to guide us.


    Hiromi and I followed down the hallway. Most of the apartment doors were open, not that it mattered, holes were in the walls letting anyone see inside.


    Or out.


    Kids were all over the place, but so were adults. One of the apartments had an old lady in a chair watching the TV ignoring the group of kids in the apartment playing some sort of game.


    Or the man that was in another hunched over a desk and working on fixing something or other.


    I guess while Wakako¡¯s original brief that the gang had kicked out everyone on the floor wasn¡¯t entirely accurate.


    We were led to a doorway that had been entirely busted down, the stupid bead curtains the only protection for it, and inside was¡­


    Well a throne room wasn¡¯t quite right, but a gathering place.


    Richard was seated in what had once been this apartment''s circular entertainment bar. But stools and tables surrounded the room, and many of them were filled.


    As we approached Richard waved for us to join him in the circular couch which was empty except for him, and now us.


    Well Hiromi, I stood behind her instead, just like the girls we followed had moved to stand behind Richard.


    ¡°You said you wanted to talk.¡± Hiromi offered instantly leaning back trying to pull off the badass fixer vibe.


    Considering these were a bunch of teens, I think it worked.


    ¡°I did.¡± Richard confirmed, and I noticed all of a sudden that the amount of people surrounding him was a lot smaller than it had been that night on the roof. ¡°Shit hasn¡¯t been great since Morgan and V3L died. I¡¯ve had a lot of people just delta on me, and some who have stolen from us. That last part is a problem. I want to get back some of the stuff that belongs to us.¡±


    ¡°And that is where we come in?¡± Hiromi asked bluntly, not sounding very interested.


    ¡°Right, yeah. The problem isn¡¯t just that they stole from us. We can ignore some weapons going missing, I¡¯ll consider that stuff square. But someone stole something a bit bigger. A vehicle. Morgans old car. I had taken it for myself, but it went missing, and Carter klepped it. Had someone get eyes on him driving it around.¡± Richard sounded pretty pissed at this.


    Wait. Was this entire meeting because a street gang politics?


    ¡°You expect a gig like that to be on our radar? C¡¯mon.¡± Hiromi almost mocked as went from relaxing back to glaring and sitting forward. ¡°Why would we care?¡±


    ¡°Because. Your choom, Motoko, you wanted protection. Being able to leave your stuff in the basement and trust none of us mess with it? I can¡¯t be disrespected like this and still be the leader.¡± He says just as blunt. ¡°Unless I do something and soon, the gang will splinter even more, and then any deal you have with me, won¡¯t matter much to whoever takes over the Straight Lane Apartments after.¡±


    ¡°Sounds like blackmail.¡± Hiromi said not smiling which was rare for the girl.


    ¡°Call it whatever you want, but I¡¯m being serious. That¡¯s what will happen if something doesn¡¯t change.¡±


    ¡°Why not go after it yourself? You have weapons, people.¡± Hiromi pointed out sounding annoyed at the situation, probably more than I was.


    ¡°Carter went and joined another gang.¡± He said with a scowl. ¡°I don¡¯t exactly want to piss of the Claws.¡± Richard said scowling and I was surprised to hear that.


    ¡°No way this Carter guy managed to get into the TC in any respects in such a short time.¡± Hiromi argued, being a former TC wannabe Hiromi understand exactly how difficult it was to actually join the TC.


    ¡°Unless he showed up with high end weapons, an expensive car, and a group all willing to follow him.¡± Richard said, pointing out that Hiromi was wrong.


    ¡°How many weapons did he steal from you?¡± I asked interrupting for the first time.


    ¡°A crate. Some of the good stuff.¡± Richard said, scowling and looking away, unable to meet our face.


    Must be pretty embarrassing to have your gang splinter and get a bunch of stuff stolen.


    ¡°Then what do you think we can do about it. I¡¯m not planning on picking a fight with the TC either.¡± Hiromi offered, and Richard scowled.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know! But that¡¯s what¡¯s going to happen, and since you went to so much effort to protect your stuff in the basement, I figured you should at least be told. Maybe you could do something about it.¡±


    Hiromi sighed looking towards me and her eyes went gold as she called me.


    *What do you think?*


    *I think that we either need to find a new place to set up my Netrunning gear, or we need to get this gonk his car back.*


    *From the TC? They won¡¯t like that.*


    *Well we have a few options I guess¡­ We could just try talking to this Carter, or the TC he is with.*


    *No way some street kid gives up a preem ride Motoko.*


    *Then we could always just klep it.*


    *That could lead to the TC getting pissed with us, if Carter did impress enough to get in, then stealing his ride would be like stealing from the TC.*


    *Sounds like we need info. We should go talk to Carter and his boss. Figure out what the situation is.* I offered and Hiromi nodded.


    ¡°Richard, we will look into it, but no promises, but if we do return ¡®your¡¯ car, let¡¯s talk about payment. And we don¡¯t come cheap.¡± Hiromi said with a sinister smile.


    Hiromi was going to leave this kid destitute.

 Chapter 79

    Hiromi and I left Richard at the apartments, the two of us piled into my car and I was driving a few blocks over to a Tyger Claw front operation.


    From what Richard had said it was actually a drug distribution center, but it pretended to be a tattoo parlor.


    Considering how big tattoos were with TC members. I was sure it was also a fairly active tattoo parlor.


    I pulled up into the parking lot and couldn¡¯t help but shake my head.


    There were times I could forget that the world I was in was a Cyberpunk world. When the sun was out and shining, and the streets weren¡¯t covered in homeless squatters, and trash. I could think I was just in a big city from a century ago.


    But then moments like this hit me.


    The parking lot was full of bikes. Mostly Kusanagi, but not every TC gonk drove one, they were expensive after all. The neon of the entire strip mall was bright covering the slightly rain soaked pavement in a neon array of color, there were people sitting around outside. Some were TC, some were joy toys, or just girlfriends of the claws.


    A wild array of colors, and skin. Cigarette smoke blew around them creating trails of gray across their bodies.


    I found a spot and parked, but I had done it all on autopilot, because I was completely distracted at the sight.


    I actually stopped and took a picture of the scene. That was how picturesque it was.


    ¡°Motoko?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m okay Hiromi, just distracted, let¡¯s go find Carter.¡± I said, stepping forward and leading the way up to the open door of the tattoo parlor.


    I could tell that we were getting plenty of attention, eyes from all along the street were on us. Some disinterested, some watchful and guarded.


    In the end it wasn¡¯t uncommon for teenagers to come to a tattoo parlor, but the fact we weren¡¯t wearing TC colors, or gear set us apart.


    I ignored the couple of gangsters that were hanging around on each side of the door as I stepped in and made sure Hiromi was behind me.


    The insides were covered in smoke and dark lights, the faint noise of the machines that were used to install the neon tattoos the TC loved buzzing in the background.


    ¡°Yo Girlys, what can I help you two for?¡± A large man with a smiling face called out. The fact he was covered in glowing tigers made of fire, and Dragons swirling around on his skin, the neon tattoos actually moving on his flesh was a little distracting.


    Thankfully Hiromi was the one doing the talking.


    I was just the muscle.


    ¡°I need to find one of the boys that works here. Carter? Should be someone new.¡± Hiromi offered with her best smile.


    Of course asking about a single member of a gang? Coming from two girls?


    ¡°Listen if you need to speak to your boyfriend, or Ex boyfriend, this ain''t the place for it.¡± The older man offered, trying to keep a big scene from happening at his shop.


    I could feel my own nose scrunch up and Hiromi looked about as disgusted.


    ¡°Yeah not what this is about.¡± Hiromi offered with a look of disgust. ¡°He klepped something he shouldn¡¯t have. I¡¯ve been asked to get it back. Considering he went and joined up with the TC, I wanted to keep it above board. So can I speak with Carter, or whoever his boss is?¡± Hiromi asked, trying to sound professional and confident.


    But I could tell she was nervous, there were plenty of TC guys all surrounding us.


    ¡°Huh.¡± The older man said after a moment. He reached up and rubbed his chin processing what Hiromi had said. ¡°Can¡¯t say I¡¯ve ever seen something like this before.¡± He offered before shrugging. ¡°But Carter is one of us now. If he klepped something, it''s now ours.¡± He said with a shrug, and I could see some of the boys hanging around starting to loom over.


    Hiromi of course noticed as well, and I could see her will wavering a bit.


    Hiromi still wasn¡¯t great with actual violence, even with me at her side.


    ¡°I just want to talk to the gonk, get the car back, and we can get out of here. I¡¯m even willing to throw in some eddies or something else for the time. Not like we care about the weapons he also klepped.¡± Hiromi offered, trying to throw out a lifeline.


    ¡°No.¡± The man said bluntly with no wiggle room. ¡°Now get lost. This ain¡¯t the kind of place you two are welcome in.¡± He said giving us a chance to leave, and honestly I moved to grab Hiromi to bail, but Hiromi had other ideas.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be a gonk ass! Just let us talk to Carter so we can get the car back. Then we can delta. No need to be such a schizo!¡± She cursed at him, her anger obviously overriding her common sense. Hiromi was quite used to yelling at gangsters after all.


    ¡°I don¡¯t much like a couple of kids walking into my shop trying to cause trouble for my boys.¡± The man jerked his head and the door slammed shut behind us.


    Hiromi went suddenly quiet, I realized what was off. These guys weren¡¯t seeing Hiromi as she used to be. Covered in TC gear. They just saw some Corpo kid trying to cause trouble. She looked at me, obviously growing concerned.


    I just frowned, confused as hell. Were these idiots actually going to what? Attack us for coming to have a conversation about a stolen car?


    Fuck. The temptation to start firing was there.


    It might even be the right choice, but I had multiple things I needed to consider.


    Hiromi being right there next to me in the line of fire. Future dealings with the TC going pretty bad if I shoot up one of their drug distribution sites.


    So I shook my head to her. ¡°Just play it cool, Hiromi.¡± I told her, as I closed my suddenly golden eyes quickly sending a text. Once I was done the guys were already on us. ¡°You¡¯re joking right. What are you trying to do? Kidnap us? You have no idea who we are. We¡¯ve been perfectly reasonable with you.¡± I interrupted, trying to put the focus from Hiromi onto me.


    ¡°A couple of arrogant kids walks into my shop and starts making demands? I should be asking you this bitch, who do you think we are?¡± The boss asked glowering as he stepped up trying to loom over me, his face bending down close.


    ¡°Some TC mid level boss. Hey. You¡¯re gonna want to be careful here choom. We came in above board, you won¡¯t like what happens if you do something stupid. Make sure y-¡± I was trying to tell the guy not to hurt Hiromi.


    I mean Arasaka parents wouldn¡¯t be happy to learn Hiromi had been hurt by some TC stooges.


    But the man stepping forward and punching me in the face shut that up.


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me what to do in my own business. Choom.¡± He said, pausing and enunciating the last word mockingly.


    ¡°That was rude.¡± I told him, wincing as my cheek pulled. He hadn¡¯t hit me super hard, I guess being a teenage girl did have some benefits, but he certainly wanted to shut me up.


    ¡°Put them in the back.¡± He ordered, but I cut him off.


    If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    ¡°Just so you know. I have connections with the TC. You don¡¯t want to do anything stupid.¡± I called out before he could walk too far away.


    So he turned and slugged me again.


    Okay fine. Play it that way.


    Hiromi was looking a little panicked after I had been hit, but I turned and gave her a wink.


    ¡°I messaged Jun.¡± I told her and she looked a little dazed for a second trying to process what I meant, before it struck her.


    She almost was able to smile at my words, although her nervousness won out.


    Yeah.


    They searched me, pulling out my weapons including my Burya.


    I would be getting that back. Of course the sight of my handcannon got some looks as they disarmed me. Upping my threat from teen to what the fuck?


    Then we were both pushed into a back room, which was basically just a storage room and thrown into a set of chairs. A couple of thugs hung around the room glaring at us, but we weren¡¯t left alone for more than a moment before the leader stepped in with a younger teenager behind him.


    ¡°Ah there is Carter.¡± I said in greeting. Hiromi and I had been given a picture of the kid from Richard.


    ¡°The fuck are you?¡± He demanded glaring at the two of us. ¡°I don¡¯t know these bitches.¡±


    ¡°They said they came for your car.¡± The boss offered and Carter went from irritable to ballistic in an instant.


    ¡°Bitch! You won''t touch my ride!¡± He roared, stomping up to Hiromi and I.


    Instantly I got his attention to keep him from looking at Hiromi.


    I really would have to start killing if they touched Hiromi.


    ¡°Technically it isn¡¯t yours. It¡¯s Morgans.¡± I said and got the kids'' eyes to lock onto me.


    The fact he had them glowing red to look more intimidating, along with a TC style jacket opened on his back, with a bare chest showing off a pretty complete lack of muscles made the whole situation more amusing than anything.


    ¡°Bitch! It¡¯s mine! Fuck you!¡±


    ¡°How eloquent.¡± I commented which to my lack of surprise caused the boy to react. Fist flung back I breathed out and tensed my stomach as his fist slammed into my stomach.


    It wasn¡¯t too bad. I coughed and overacted, but it had barely done much to me.


    ¡°That¡¯s what you get, fucking cunt.¡±


    ¡°Carter. You don¡¯t know these two?¡±


    ¡°Nah. I thought they might be that prick Richards whores, but I don¡¯t know these two.¡±


    ¡°Surprising.¡± I mentioned as I stood back up after fake coughing. ¡°I guess you weren¡¯t there that night I killed Morgan and V3LOCITY.¡± I told him.


    Carter looked confused for a moment before it seemed to hit him. ¡°Purple hair. That¡¯s right. The bitch that fucked up the Shooters. That was you huh?¡±


    ¡°Yep.¡±


    ¡°Heh.¡± He chuckled before predictably punching me again.


    ¡°Motoko!¡± Hiromi called out in horror as Carter punched me across the face.


    That¡­ That hurt a bit. My cheek was already stinging from before!


    ¡°I¡¯m fine Hiromi.¡± I told her firmly as I rose back up, to glare at the kid.


    ¡°That¡¯s for fucking up the gang. I was making a ton of eddies there, you know?¡± He said with a glare but I looked towards the boss.


    ¡°A punk kid that jumps to a new gang the moment the eddies run out. I wonder how reliable he is?¡± I mocked a bit.


    ¡°Enough! I didn¡¯t bring you here to fuck up the meat.¡± The boss yelled just as Carter cocked back to punch me again. ¡°Well girls you wanted a chance to talk to my boy, are you satisfied with the conversation?¡± He asked with a laugh, and I just shrugged.


    My lack of fear thanks to Cold Blood, was probably odd, and Fearless Chill was in effect.


    I was kinda of curious what their mind was telling them when they realized how utterly unafraid I was of them.


    That was when the boss got a call.


    I could tell as his eyes lit up gold for a second.


    Then his eyes flicked around as he obviously spoke internally.


    Then he went pale. Looked to me.


    I purposefully gathered some spit in my mouth and hawked the bloody spittle onto the ground.


    Bastard cut the inside of my cheek.


    The room was quiet for a moment as everyone was waiting for the boss to act, but things stretched on, as he seemed to be in a conversation.


    Considering everything¡­


    ¡°If that¡¯s Fujimura, tell him hello for me.¡± I called out interrupting the boss''s conversation and the way the man jumped like I just stabbed him I was right. I relaxed back, crossing my arms over my chest and throwing Hiromi a big smirk.


    Although the fact I was probably bruising up a bit from being punched diminished the comfort it brought. So instead I just walked over and put my arm over her shoulder.


    That seemed to help, a little.


    ¡°Fujimura-Sama is sending someone to properly resolve this¡­ Incident.¡± The boss says looking a little pale, and I nod.


    ¡°Probably Jun. My brother.¡± I tell him and that makes the boss wince even more.


    ¡°I would very much like my gun back.¡± I tell him with a bit of threat in my voice and he jerks his head, causing his goons that had mostly been watching with sinister smirks to slowly walk over with my equipment, and the stuff Hiromi had on her of course.


    Holstering my Burya and Lexington I felt much better.


    ¡°I did warn you that I have TC connections.¡± I told the man and he nodded quietly before rising up to this full size and bowing his head.


    ¡°Apologies for this mistake.¡±


    I just snorted. ¡°Let¡¯s just wait a bit. I¡¯m sure Jun is going to be sooo happy seeing me all bruised up¡­ You¡¯re all just lucky I don¡¯t go out of my way to murder TC gonks myself.¡± I grumbled although only Hiromi understood just how much danger my words actually represented.


    ¡ª--


    In the end, Hiromi and I were seated back in the shop in comfortable chairs, and the boss had even had some men go out and get drinks for us.


    The whole atmosphere was tense, and I was just willing to wait for Jun to show up.


    Seeing Jun tear these gonks a new one would be pretty entertaining. Hiromi was regaining her spark, and I made sure to keep an eye on Carter who was looking pretty nervous now that the situation had so completely altered itself on him.


    Finally a vehicle roared into the parking lot, and it was moving fast enough I bet it was Jun. Looking towards the door along with most of the people inside, I felt my smile slowly disappear into an irritated frown.


    ¡°Hey Akari.¡± I grumbled out as the Kamikaze Borg woman sauntered into the tattoo parlor.


    ¡°Hey Motoko!¡± She called out with a big grin.


    Dammit. I had wanted Jun!


    ¡°And you! Kato-San!¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± The boss of the place greeted the borg woman as he rose up and bowed to her.


    ¡°You fucked up!¡± She said happily and then slammed a fist into his cheek.


    Ah, that was Akari alright.


    ¡°Boss!¡± The men around us called out shocked at the sudden violence happening to them.


    ¡°You touched something that doesn¡¯t belong to you. Motoko Kusanagi, works for Kamikaze. She has boss Okina-Sama¡¯s favor as well¡­ For saving his life during an assassination attempt.¡± Akari walked over and to my surprise kicked the man as he was trying to get up.


    ¡°The hell! You bitch, the fu-¡±


    ¡°Shut up!¡± The boss roared at one of his boys that was moving forward to try and defend him. ¡°Don¡¯t interfere. Moron!¡±


    ¡°Ah see you do have a brain in there after all!¡± Akari said, smiling with her plastic face. ¡°Motoko? You alright kid?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll live. They got a few licks in, but I¡¯m mostly irritated that they tried to kidnap us or something. Plus they did this to Hiromi. Can¡¯t just let that one go.¡± I said and Akari just nodded happily.


    As usual the woman did things in her own way.


    ¡°You should all be really happy! The Oni was so angry when he got a text from his sweet little killer-I mean Imouto that he almost raced right over! I got sent instead saving all of you from having your heads ripped off!¡± Akari called out laughing a bit like it was a joke.


    It was not a joke.


    Jun had ripped that borgs head off after all. I had even been there!


    Of course the room was chilled at Akari¡¯s words, but the boss was still coughing as he slowly rose back up.


    ¡°Kotoniki apologizes to Ane-san.¡± He offers going back into a bow.


    It took me a moment to remember that Yakuza used sister and brother to talk about each other sometimes.


    ¡°Pfft. It¡¯s not me you have to apologize to. Motoko here is Kamikaze, you caused some serious trouble. Last I heard, Katsuragi-Sama is getting a ¡®Call¡¯ from Fujimura-Sama about this. Fujimura-Sama doesn¡¯t like people touching things that belong to him after all.¡± Akari said and while I scowled at being called Kamikaze I would let it go this time.


    ¡°Katsuragi-Sama?!¡±


    ¡°What you think touching a Kamikaze wouldn¡¯t get your boss involved?¡± Akari asked, sounding amused. ¡°But that¡¯s not important to me. Motoko you ready to go?¡±


    ¡°Not quite.¡± I said standing up and tugging Hiromi up too. Walking her over to Akari. ¡°Hiromi, Akari. She¡¯s a bit crazy but cool. Akari, Hiromi. She is my best choom, and her parents are Arasaka. If anyone so much as scratches her, I kill everyone in this room.¡± I say rather bluntly pointedly looking at Akari and her tendency to poke people. ¡°Keep an eye on her for a second.¡±


    Then I turned and since things were cooled off slammed a fist with all my might right into Kotoniki¡¯s face.


    The boss hadn¡¯t expected my own retaliation.


    Nor had he expected a five foot five girl to hit like a truck.


    Thank you body 7, Street Brawling 6, and chrome knuckles.


    He went down in a heap, and unlike when Akari hit him he didn¡¯t get back up.


    Then I took another three steps before anyone could react and slammed a fist into Carters stomach. The kid had been standing nearby obviously too nervous to do anything until now.


    I wasn¡¯t feeling very gentle at the moment. I  grabbed Carter by his ears and slammed his face into my knee. A crunch echoing out as that dropped the kid to the floor.


    I wasn¡¯t breathing heavy. I wasn¡¯t gritting my teeth. As far as anyone could tell looking at me, I was completely calm.


    And in a way I was.


    That didn¡¯t mean I didn¡¯t bend down and punch Carter in the face again.


    ¡°That¡¯s for calling me a cunt.¡± I grabbed his stupid jacket, and wiped my knuckles free of his blood and stood back up. ¡°One more thing.¡± I called out to the room. ¡°Where is the car this fucking gonk stole? It¡¯s mine now.¡± I demanded and the room went quiet as everyone sort of wondered what to do, most of them looking to Akari.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know why you gonks are looking at me. Motoko asked you a question.¡± Akari said with a deadly smile on her plastic face.


    ¡°Out back¡­ I can show you?¡±


    ¡°Good. C¡¯mon Hiromi. Let¡¯s delta.¡± I grumbled, following the man out behind the shop where there was a back alley that had a line of cars lined up.


    I recognized the car that Richard wanted and nodded.


    The Thorton Colby Butte wasn¡¯t exactly what I would consider an expensive vehicle. But I guess it made sense. The back end of the normal Colby was removed and turned into a truck bed.


    Probably how the SLS had originally stolen all the shipments that they were so proud of. I popped the door, not surprised the alarm was broken, and after a few seconds found that Carter or the other kids had already hotwired the damn thing.


    With a roll of my eyes I got it running I didn¡¯t even need to actually rely on my limited tech knowledge. The hotwiring job was obvious and shit.


    But not my problem.


    Hiromi slipped into the passenger seat quietly, but before I could take off Akari was leaning down into the window.


    ¡°Lot of trouble for a piece of shit.¡±


    ¡°Tell me about it¡­ Thanks. I didn¡¯t really want to murder a bunch of gonks.¡±


    ¡°Yes you did.¡± Akari said with a knowing smile. ¡°Jun-kun will fuss over you, and Fujimura-Sama will want a meeting.¡±


    ¡°Great.¡± I grumbled and Akari chuckled.


    ¡°Go on kid, I¡¯ll deal with the nonsense here. We¡¯ll meet up again soon. Probably sooner than you¡¯d like.¡± She said stepping back and I frowned but nodded as I drove back to the apartments. Sending a message for my Quadra to head there as well.

 Chapter 80

    Hiromi took care of giving Richard the car back, I hadn¡¯t wanted to talk to the gonk after everything, and in the end I drove her home. Both of us were pretty quiet on the way, but to my surprise Hiromi didn¡¯t just get out when I reached her home.


    ¡°Come up with me. There¡¯s something I still need to do.¡± She demanded, and I looked surprised at her sudden aggressiveness.


    ¡°Hiromi, I¡¯m-¡±


    ¡°I know. You have to go talk to Jun and deal with Fujimura-whatever. But come up first.¡± She demanded and I sighed and ended up following her up to her high end apartment.


    To my surprise, unlike before it seemed empty now. I guess her parents would be back at work with the gang war over. But she dragged me into her room, and pushed me into a chair before heading into the bathroom.


    Coming out with a medkit.


    I almost snorted, but Hiromi was looking so serious,  I kept my amusement hidden as she sat beside me and started fussing over me.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to do that.¡± I told her, but she just shook her head, her hair flying around at the harshness of the motion.


    ¡°I do. So just¡­ Sit there and let me make up for my screwup.¡± She ordered and who was I to argue with Hiromi being this serious?


    I didn¡¯t need much really, I was mostly bruised on my cheek, and probably on my stomach, but Hiromi sprayed some sort of gunk on my cheek anyways.


    It did numb my skin so that was nice, but not really needed. I didn¡¯t even notice the pain.


    ¡°I messed up, got hot headed, thought it was like it always had been, that I could just mouth off to the stupid Claw gonks and get on with it¡­ I didn¡¯t even think that you wouldn¡¯t want to start killing them. So I mouthed off.¡±


    ¡°They were being idiots. Trying to intimidate two girls that were there for business. It was dumb.¡± I added my own frustration with the whole scenario coming out.


    ¡°They were just acting like people act. I wouldn¡¯t be happy if someone came up to me and started demanding you give back the netrunning gear or something.¡± She said, playing devils advocate.


    ¡°Hey! I looted that clear.¡±


    ¡°I know you gonk.¡± Hiromi said, shaking her head as she worked on putting a bandage on my cheek.


    Silly Hiromi, I didn¡¯t need a bandage for a bruise, but she was fussing so I allowed it.


    ¡°But I mean, I walked in not thinking, and then got frustrated¡­ I guess I expected them to treat me like they always did. Just another TC hanger on, but I¡¯m not dressed like that anymore. I came in looking like an enemy.¡±


    ¡°They shouldn¡¯t have done that anyways. You don¡¯t conduct business by messing with people like that.¡± I argued, shaking my head. ¡°We¡¯ll just make sure we have more muscle or something next time.¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± Hiromi offered nodding and then she reached out and double checked my bruise. ¡°Sorry.¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t even hurt. Besides, it gave me a good excuse to punch them back. Very satisfying.¡± My joke managed to earn a giggle from Hiromi and it seemed to help her finally calm down.


    ¡°Want to come over? We could do a sleepover.¡± I offered, considering her parents weren¡¯t around, Hiromi might not want to be alone at the moment.


    She hesitated before nodding. ¡°I have some school stuff I have to do first, so give me a few hours and I¡¯ll come over?¡±


    ¡°Sounds preem!¡±


    ¡ª--


    Of course hanging out with Hiromi had to end eventually. I headed home, expecting to see Jun already there.


    I had texted him that Akari took care of everything and we were good during the earlier drive, but when I got home it was empty.


    So I shrugged, sent Jun a text telling him I was home, grabbed something to eat and decided to do some programming while I waited.


    Reboot Optics was definitely more complicated than Ping, and the time it was taking for me to ¡®fix¡¯ it was definitely proving that. The lines of code were filling in pretty quickly in the grand scheme of things. I mean, most modern hacks are probably designed by committee in some corp rather than being free range like what I was doing, but while they could get things done faster.


    I could do it better.


    Maybe¡­ Probably.


    I was still only at level 10, and I was still going under the assumption that level 20 was the max.


    So I was only half way there.


    But I was still an amazing programmer. Level 10. The human peak.


    My fingers blazed across the keyboard. The lines I wrote were clean, and the few errors I made were easily caught and fixed with Debug.


    I was never stumped. I never hit a point where I had to wonder what the next line of code should look like, it all came to me before I was even ready.


    And so spent a few hours creeping closer to a finished program.


    The door opening made me glance up, my voice already about to greet Jun, but it wasn¡¯t Jun.


    ¡°Hey Hiromi.¡± I called out instead realizing that it was getting late, and Jun hadn¡¯t come by.


    Weird.


    ¡°Motoko!¡± Hiromi greeted with a smile, seemingly much recovered from the scare. ¡°Whatcha doin?¡±


    ¡°Programming. I¡¯m working on streamlining a quick hack.¡± I explained showing her the laptop screen which was just displaying line after line of code.


    ¡°That¡¯s preem¡­ I have no idea what I¡¯m looking at though.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine, I should take a break anyways, I¡¯ve been pretty good about hyper focusing on my coding. Want to put on some terrible TV?¡±


    ¡°Yep! I brought snacks!¡± She chirped, showing a bag full of all sorts of random stuff.


    And so thanks to horrible TV and snackfood, everything was good.


    ¡ª--


    Hiromi was passed out snoring on my shoulder on the couch. I had muted the TV but left it running for the extra light. The ability to skip sleeping was still one of those super useful side features of the Gamer system.


    I had pulled up my programming laptop to work with after Hiromi fell asleep.


    I hadn¡¯t been in the mood to sleep myself, so I worked instead.


    Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.


    It was to this scene that Jun suddenly walked into. I blinked. It was nearly three in the morning. I expected Jun to have slept wherever he was, like he tended to do when he didn¡¯t come home.


    We both looked at eachother, Jun looked like he wanted to say something but after noticing HIromi he just nodded and didn¡¯t speak.


    Instead he walked over quiet as a mouse thanks to his Lynx Paws, and knelt down gently patting my head as he looked me over.


    I could see the anxiety on his face, that look of anger and frustration. But I wasn¡¯t going to let Jun just walk away.


    So I called him. Literally. My eyes went gold as I could hear the ringing in my head.


    *I¡¯m okay Jun. So is Hiromi. Thanks for helping us out. I didn¡¯t really want to murder a bunch of TC guys. It would have caused trouble.*


    *You should have killed them. All of them. They shouldn¡¯t have touched you.* He responded back without hesitation, his face angry.


    I shook my head, reaching out and patting him on the head in return just like he had just done for me.


    *There were better reasons not to jump to murder. What¡¯s his face? Was a jerk, but it¡¯s fine. I hope Fujimura didn¡¯t cause you too many problems?*


    *I was sent to Sensei to cool off¡­ Fujimura wasn¡¯t happy that I wanted to go and rescue you.* He said and I snorted quietly.


    What Fujimura wasn¡¯t happy with was Jun definitely planning to murder all the TC guys that ran that base.


    *I punched him pretty hard after. So we¡¯re square.* I inform him with a quiet thumbs up. And Jun finally rolled his eyes, a bit of amusement shining through his expression.


    Good.


    *Next time someone threatens you, just flatline them. If they are TC I¡¯ll take care of smoothing everything out.* He tells me and I smirk a bit.


    *I¡¯ll be careful. Next time I have to speak to a gang, I¡¯ll either go in better armed so I¡¯m more of a threat, or I¡¯ll bring more muscle for the same reason.*


    Jun just shakes his head.


    *I¡¯d prefer if you didn¡¯t go into a gang base at all. But Motoko will Motoko. You always do.*


    *You love me.* I told him smirking as he scoffed and ruffled my hair but stood up. Heading to his room. *But I love you more.*


    It wasn¡¯t until he was fully in his room that the call finally ended but of course he still sent it.


    *Love you too.*


    ¡ª--


    Hiromi was kind of clingy in her sleep.


    At some point she had grabbed onto me instead of just drooling on my shoulder, and I had to fight off the grasping hands of my best choom.


    Thankfully programming was quiet, and I didn¡¯t wake her while I worked slowly adding more and more to my Reboot Optics hack.


    Oh man. If Yoko thought my Ping was cool. This was going to blow her processor!


    Hacker humor!


    Since I was a hacker I needed to practice it!


    But eventually the sun rose up and it started getting bright enough that Hiromi was grumbling and shifting in her sleep.


    Slowly she started waking up, lazily shifting and contorting as her body tried to wake up but she fought it.


    Until eventually I felt her hand squeeze my stomach twice as if her brain realized she was wrapped around something and she glanced up, eyes blearily open to see my own eyes looking down at her.


    Then she let out a squeak and leapt away.


    Which of course sent her over the end of the couch and onto the floor.


    I had tried to grab her, but she flailed quite hilariously. As she went right over the edge of the couch. Disappearing from sight.


    ¡°Hiromi? You alright?¡±


    ¡°Never better.¡± She called out after a few moments as I peeked over the edge of the couch, she was looking up at me from the floor, one foot still  up on the couch cushion she had just tripped over and the rest of her in a mess on the floor seemingly desperate for no one to notice her current state.


    ¡°Okay¡­¡± I said drawing it out but instead of helping I just edged back over the couch and took my spot.


    It took a few moments for her foot to disappear over the edge of the couch completely and a few moments after that for her to rise up and brush herself off.


    ¡°Morning.¡± She greeted casually as if everything that had just happened, never did.


    ¡°Good Morning. Hungry?¡±


    ¡°Still full of snacks I think.¡± She said casually retaking her seat and slowly running her fingers through her hair trying to reorganize the mess of bed head.


    She was failing, so I reached over and helped untangle a bit of her hair letting it go flat.


    She was so embarrassed about her messy hair she went red! How cute!


    ¡ª--


    In the end Hiromi had cleaned up and gotten dressed not long after and as much as she wanted to stay she had to head home.


    So I went back to programming until Jun woke up. My brother was just as bleary as Hiromi had been, and while his hair wasn¡¯t as long as Hiromi¡¯s mohawk style it was still standing up in the back.


    ¡°Sleep well Jun-Nii?¡±


    ¡°Where¡¯s Hiromi?¡± He asked in turn, looking around.


    ¡°Went home already.¡± I told him and he nodded rubbing the back of his head as he yawned.


    ¡°Slept okay. You?¡±


    ¡°Eh. Hiromi¡¯s a bit of a grabby sleeper.¡± I told him instead of telling the truth that I hadn¡¯t slept at all.


    ¡°Heh.¡± He chuckled as if that was a joke and not just the damned truth. Pretty sure I still had a red handprint on my thigh from where Hiromi had wrapped herself around my leg.


    It¡¯s a good thing she didn¡¯t have chrome hands, that could have hurt.


    ¡°Fujimura-Sama wants to see you today¡­ To talk about what happened.¡± Jun offered and I scowled as I pretended to ignore him focusing on the laptop.


    I¡¯m not a damn dog. That jerk can¡¯t just summon me when he wanted.


    ¡°I think you should see him Motoko¡­ He wants to apologize.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± I asked jerking up at that. Why would he want to apologize?


    ¡°Motoko. You¡¯ve helped out the TC a bunch, saved one of our bosses. Remember? If one of our members assaults you? That¡¯s a big deal. A huge black mark. Fucks up our Giri bad.¡±


    I frowned I guess that made sense, I mean I hadn¡¯t expected the sudden sorta kidnapping from them either.


    ¡°Fine I guess¡­¡±


    ¡°Great. Why don¡¯t you get ready? I¡¯ll need a shower first.¡± He grumbled heading into the bathroom.


    Alright. Code more later. Deal with Pseudo Yakuza boss first.


    ¡ª--


    Jun refused to let me drive so I was stuck on the back of his bike as he drove us to our destination.


    Where?


    No idea. In fact I suppose this would be the first time I¡¯ve been to Jun¡¯s work since the whole Casino thing. And I knew he didn¡¯t work there anymore.


    I doubted he would ever want to return to that place.


    So we drove across the bridge into Watson, but unlike how I would usually turn down into Kabuki, we kept going to head into Little China.


    We got off the freeway, and were basically instantly turning into a small strip mall type place.


    It honestly reminded me of the Tattoo parlor. Similar setup.


    Take over a business, surround it with TC members, and the place gets locked down and income comes streaming in.


    This time it was more like an alleyway market place. Stalls set up along the walls of the very slim walking path, hawking everything from food, to weapons if what I saw was right. Jun parked in the parking lot outside it and waved me to follow which I did. It was pretty easy to follow along through the crowd, Jun¡¯s bulk easily made a path.


    Well that and the respect people had for him.


    I saw plenty of TC gangers nodding their head to Jun, or calling out greetings, usually calling him ¡°Oni.¡±


    I guess Jun-Nii was pretty popular.


    We walked through nearly the entire alley before Jun walked up to a door that looked the same as any other and opened it revealing a set of stairs downwards.


    ¡°C¡¯mon Motoko.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, yeah.¡± I confirmed following along, it wasn¡¯t like a little darkness was going to worry me.


    The stairs curved at the bottom opening up to a bar of all place.


    It reminded me of all those little dark japanese bars you would see in anime. A man behind the counter, bottles of alcohol behind him. All wood and dark leather. I crinkled my nose at the smoke.


    Apparently there wasn¡¯t a non-smokers section. Hell this place was so old fashioned there was even a little piano in the corner.


    Of course I also noticed everyone inside was TC.


    Tattoos, weapons, attitudes, all screamed Tyger Claw. Men and women. Sitting around the bar, the tables, a few in booths set along the darkened corners. It was surprisingly full, but then again, I doubted this was actually a bar at all.


    If Fujimura worked out of here, then this wasn¡¯t a bar but probably the nerve center of the TC in the area.


    I followed Jun down into the carpeted floors.


    I was getting plenty of looks, but none were hostile. To my surprise though I didn¡¯t recognize anyone. I thought I would, but I guess most of the Kamikaze hadn¡¯t continued working solely with Fujimura after the war.


    ¡°Junichirou.¡±


    ¡°Howard.¡± Jun was greeted by the barkeep who was doing the most stereotypical bartender things and rubbing a glass with a rag.


    ¡°Fujimura-Sama will be back soon, take the private booth.¡± Howard the Bartender offered as he settled a glass down onto the drying rack and walked over to seemingly prepare some drinks.


    ¡°C¡¯mon Motoko.¡± Jun called as he led me past the bar towards a back area, it was gloomy at first, but more of those bead curtains just blocked the light from a set of private booths that as Jun waved me into one was well lit by a few ornate faux candles around the booth.


    ¡°This doesn¡¯t strike me as very TC. No neon? I¡¯m almost disappointed.¡±


    ¡°It was originally a bar owned by a smaller gang that controlled this area. When it was taken over the decor ended up being something a few of the guys liked and so it¡¯s stayed the same.¡± Jun offered as he settled into his booth seating. ¡°You want anything?¡±


    ¡°Not really.¡± I shook my head and it was true. The stink of cigar, and cigarette smoke filled the air killing my thirst and hunger.


    ¡°Sorry.¡± Jun grumbled, noticing the way my nose was crinkled.


    ¡°It is what it is, so Fujimura?¡±


    ¡°Should be here soon.¡± Jun offered just as the beads were parted and the bartender dropped off a tray of drinks. More drinks than just for Jun and I.


    Jun nodded and even took a tumbler of something amber himself.


    ¡°You aren¡¯t going to drive home if you drink.¡± I inform him and Jun actually hesitates before scowling at me and taking a drink.


    ¡°You can call your car then. I¡¯m not riding bitch on my own bike.¡±


    ¡°Heh.¡± I chuckled, giving him a lopsided smile as I imagined Jun, the big tough guy that he is forced to ride behind his little sister cause he was too drunk to drive. ¡°I¡¯ll drive you home in my Quadra. You can call for your bike.¡±


    ¡°No way.¡±  He grumbled and I just rolled my eyes at Jun.


    I would force him to drive home with me if he drank too much¡­ Even if his chrome probably would protect him from most driving accidents.


    In the end we both were just sort of waiting.


    ¡°I¡¯m bored.¡± I told Jun after about twenty minutes of sitting around.


    ¡°Just be patient. Fujimura-Sama is a busy man.¡± I rolled my eyes, not because I didn¡¯t believe him. I am sure a TC boss like Fujimura probably was busy. But what did that have to do with me being bored?


    ¡°You got about a minute before I start doing something to relieve my boredom.¡± I informed Jun and then started mentally counting down to Jun¡¯s concerned face.


    ¡°Minutes up.¡± I said as I stood up, avoiding Jun¡¯s grasping hand as he tried to keep me in the booth as I stepped out back onto the bar floor.


    Mentally I went through my options. The street market upstairs could have something interesting, but I pretty much already had everything I wanted¡­


    I stopped.


    Piano.


    I¡¯ve never played a piano before.

 Chapter 81

    ¡°Motoko don¡¯t cause any- Motoko?¡± Jun asked as he had caught up to me but was surprised I was just standing there. He followed my gaze and I caught the way his face jerked back to me. ¡°You want to try it?¡± He asked, trying to sound casual.


    I hesitated, I wasn¡¯t exactly big on singing in front of people¡­ But on one hand, I was bored.


    Like really bored.


    On the other¡­ It was a real piano. Don¡¯t see many of those in Night City. A real antique.


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I nodded firmly, marching over to stand in front of the ancient thing. It was old, probably been here since before the TC took over the place. I hit a key and was surprised it was in key.


    I tested a few more, with a little trill of notes and to my delight my fingers not only hit the right keys, it sounded fine.


    Of course now I had the eyes of every man and woman in the bar on me. I just shrugged, bars were supposed to have music. If anyone complained I would just sic Jun on them.


    So after testing out my fingers I nodded. I could definitely be better, but I could play.


    Now I just needed to figure out what song to do.


    ¡°Nervous?¡±


    ¡°No. Just not sure what to play.¡± I offered as I considered it. Vocal and Piano only piece¡­ I didn¡¯t listen to many songs like that. And even less that I really enjoyed¡­


    But there was that anime OP.


    Fuck it, it probably didn¡¯t exist in this world, so no one would know how much of a weeb I was. Plus I did love the composer, even if he did a lot of anime stuff.


    I hummed a bit until I got my voice to the right tone. The vocal needed to be smooth, and I had to figure out what language to use¡­


    I¡¯ll just stick to english. It made a bit more sense that way, considering the original was a mix of multiple languages turned into almost gibberish at times. I loved it, but with an unfamiliar audience? Better to stick to one language.


    I started the first notes letting the sound of the piano flow through the bar, but then I kept my eyes on the piano because the only thing I needed to do was focus on the song.


    ¡°I will rise in resistance.¡± I crooned out, beginning the intro for Hiroyuki Sawano¡¯s aLIEz. I loved Sawano, and the fact his songs were heavily electronic, was actually workable this time since he did a lot of them on piano as well.


    I remember watching a video of just him and the singer playing the song together, that memory is what guided my fingers. The sound of the haunting lyrics guiding my voice.


    It wasn¡¯t perfect. It did lose something without the additional sounds. I would have to fix that some day, recreate it in truth.


    But it was fun! I loved this song!


    I got lost in playing the notes and crooning along, my voice probably carrying the song more than my playing. Siren Song, and Perfect Musical Memory shoring up my pitfalls in playing, but none of that really mattered.


    Because I was jamming out.


    ¡°Wake me from this nightmare.¡± I finished the song by the gentle crooning that it finished on as I played out the last notes letting the song come to its quiet end.


    *100 Rockerboy XP Gained.*


    It would have been even better if I had my music box. I really needed to fini-


    The clapping behind me nearly startled me as I was looking at the alert. Jun was leaning against the wall beside me looking pleased, and there were a few at the bar clapping quietly, but it was the much closer noise that had startled me.


    ¡°Fujimura.¡±


    ¡°Kusanagi.¡± He greeted back, the man was bracketed by two people only one of them I recognized. Akari was clapping as enthusiastically as I expected, the other man nodded as my eyes ran over him.


    ¡°You¡¯re late.¡± I inform him bluntly. ¡°Owe!¡± I hissed as Jun tapped me on the back of my head.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be rude.¡± Jun demanded and I just rolled my eyes.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine Junichirou. Join me in the booth, we have something to speak about.¡± He stated with a deep grunt and started walking towards it expecting obedience.


    ¡°That was great!¡± Akari said suddenly right there as she grabbed me and shook a bit. ¡°You never told me you could sing! Can you do-¡±


    ¡°If you say anything by the Us Cracks, I will kill you.¡± I inform her bluntly.


    I still remember how Akari never seemed to mind Jun¡¯s music taste when we were in the car together.


    ¡°Aww.¡±


    ¡°Akari c¡¯mon.¡± Jun called, pulling me away from her grasp and gently pushing me towards the booths.


    I guess it was business time.


    I headed into the back booth, mostly ignoring the looks I was getting. Whether people actually liked the song or not, I wouldn¡¯t find out, but that was fine.


    This wasn¡¯t my sort of place anyways.


    I settled into the booth Jun and I had abandoned and was set next to Jun with Akari on my other side, with Fujimura across from me with his other guard there too.


    ¡°The trouble yesterday. Kotoniki has been disciplined harshly. Even if you were not one of us, to act in such a way dishonors us all.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t really care. My fist already evened the debt.¡± I told him and to my surprise Fujimura actually chuckled.


    ¡°Kotoniki was with a ripper when we got to him. You broke his jaw.¡± The man offered nodding as if pleased.


    ¡°Well my fist is chrome.¡±


    ¡°Regardless. The man was disciplined, but there is a debt between us.¡± He offered using a finger to flow between me and him.


    This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    ¡°You know I don¡¯t really¡­¡±


    ¡°Yes. You have little interest in gang work. I¡¯m aware.¡± He seemed to say flatly, but it came out like a grumble. ¡°Junichirou has spoken on your behalf. To keep you out of our business until you are ready. Yet your own business has brought you into conflict with us. I¡¯ve considered the best way to ensure there won¡¯t be any further¡­ issues like yesterday.¡±


    ¡°Okay? That doesn¡¯t exactly sound comforting.¡±


    From his side the guard I didn¡¯t know reached into his jacket and pulled out something, putting it on the table.


    ¡°The card has my assistant''s number on it. If you ever find yourself in a situation with the Tyger Claws like before, you may call for a mediation. I do not want to find out that some fools forced your hand, and created a loss for us. Or did something so foolish as to injure you, and potentially forcing Junichirou to overextend himself.¡±


    I looked over the business card, It wasn¡¯t paper, but a sort of plastic, but didn¡¯t really look special. it was pretty standard and I shrugged putting the number into my agent with a shrug. Not like I needed the card really.


    ¡°There is one other thing. I have said before Kusanagi, that just because you do not wish to work with the gang it doesn¡¯t mean that someday you won¡¯t need to. That having friends in this city will one day be something you need.¡±


    This time what was placed on the table was a mask. The assistant had hidden it within his jacket.


    It was a mouth piece. Just like Jun¡¯s. A Menpo if I remember the word right, although this one was very similar to the one Jun would wear while he was working. Eerily similar if I was honest. Telling.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think I need it.¡±


    ¡°Take it anyways. If you never have a need of it, then it will be forgotten, but someday? Someday you may need the Tyger Claws on your side, that day? That mask will prove you are not just an outsider, or a hangeron.¡± Fujimura offered firmly, making it seem like the plastic mask was something more than just a piece of junk.


    Jun wasn¡¯t going to let me leave it though, I could feel him nudging me on the side.


    ¡°Fine.¡± I grumbled grabbing the stupid Oni mask. I ended up just holding it as I didn¡¯t have a better place to tuck it away.


    ¡°Then that is that. Yesterday was a mistake, we have made arrangements now to ensure it does not happen again. Are you satisfied with our apology?¡± Fujimura asked, and I sorta took a second to process.


    I suppose to the TC this would be a big dishonor thing. I had saved one of their bosses and almost got flatlined or worse by one of their henchmen.


    ¡°Yeah. It¡¯s fine. Shit happens.¡± I offered and I could practically hear Jun¡¯s eyes roll beside me, but Fujimura nodded seemingly satisfied.


    ¡°Then I must leave. I have other business to complete. Junichirou, take the afternoon off. Akari I will need you.¡± Fujimura demanded, causing Akari to pout as she put down the drink she was about halfway through.


    ¡°Also. Kusanagi¡­ Your piano needs work, feel free to practice.¡± He told me suddenly then walked off.


    Did¡­ Did Fujimura just fucking burn me!?


    Asshole!


    ¡ª--


    I did not in fact play more on the piano. Now that the meeting was over I glared at Jun until we headed home, and luckily for Jun I didn¡¯t make him ride bitch, he hadn¡¯t had much to drink so he was still good to drive.


    ¡°What are you going to do with your day off?¡± I asked him and he shrugged as he pulled into the parking space at the apartment.


    ¡°Take a nap?¡±


    I snorted at my brother''s decision, but I wasn¡¯t going to tease him for it. Naps were amazing sometimes.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be coding some more, so I¡¯ll be quiet.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it.¡± He said, patting me on the head while looking down towards the Menpo I had currently half out of one of my pouch pockets. Jun had one of those stupid proud looks on his face.


    ¡°Ugh, just because it¡¯s the same as yours doesn¡¯t mean I¡¯m gonna wear it.¡±


    ¡°It means they think you are valuable. You are much safer now. If anything happens, I won¡¯t have to push to rescue you again.¡± He smiled pleased and I just scoffed.


    I wasn¡¯t planning on getting kidnapped again!


    Okay after yesterday I¡¯m not planning on getting kidnapped again. I won¡¯t be walking into a place of what should be nominal allies, with a VIP beside me again.


    Next time It¡¯ll be me alone, fully armed, and ready to start shooting if someone does something I don¡¯t like.


    In the end I followed Jun back inside the apartment, stopping only to grab a drink from a vending machine, and then a quick stop in my room to drop the Menpo off.


    I didn¡¯t exactly plan to use it. Kinda tacky the color wasn¡¯t mine either. The snarling Oni face was set in a sort of neon green, yeah it was pretty ugly, maybe black?


    No dummy, you aren¡¯t wearing the fucking Menpo. I tapped my head to get that insidious thought out and put it away where it would collect dust.


    Forever.


    Then I flopped on the couch and pulled up my laptop. To my surprise Jun came out of his room a minute later wearing casual clothes, and a blanket, he settled onto the couch, put his feet up on the table and turned on the TV.


    ¡°Looks cozy.¡±


    ¡°Yep.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be quiet.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± He says with a shrug as he sort of just relaxes back.


    This was nice.


    Time to work on this program.


    ¡ª--


    Slowly it came together.


    A program designed to do one simple thing. Stop someone from seeing. The loss of sight could cripple the strongest fighter. My own addition to it, made it just that much more difficult to stop.


    A bit of aggressive design to make it insidious.


    But the biggest thing holding it back was trying to make it multi-target.


    The difference between a hack that can only hit one person, and one that can attack multiple people simultaneously was massive.


    Whether it was the program attacking two separate people at once, or a program that hit one person and used their connection to jump to the next.


    I had to figure them both out.


    I wasn¡¯t just making a cludged together program that would be good enough.


    I was making¡­


    A magnum opus. Well that was a bit much, but still.


    I was trying to create the peak of the Reboot Optics I could design.


    It was funny there was a version of the program stored on V3L¡¯s server. The quality of it was much higher than the one I had bought from Yoko, but both programs were actually done by two different people. Mine was a copy of a copy of a copy, deteriorating each time, or purposefully weakened.


    V3L¡¯s was a copy of a much better program. The coding was different, the goal was the same, yet both had shown me what people considered Reboot Optics to be.


    I was trying to surpass both. To create an entirely new version of the Quickhack, a new peer in the market.


    It was hard.


    It was time consuming.


    It was exhilarating!


    I was creating magic. Literally designing a digital spell that would blind my enemies.


    I mean this wasn¡¯t a wizards tower, but sitting on a couch in an apartment was probably more comfortable anyways.


    I snorted at my own joke as I worked. The code coming together, slowly forming into something more than just code.


    Something complete.


    Finally long after Jun had fallen asleep. I finished typing.


    I finished debugging.


    I finished crafting a spell.


    A spell designed to be both longer lasting than the original idea with the brightness trick, and much wider.


    It was unfortunately going to be weaker against other netrunners. Any good ICE and defenses could stall the upload out, but in exchange I could rapid fire it out as it had a much lower RAM cost, plus I could always breach some arrogant Netrunner, and push it through that way.


    It was also capable of jumping to other people. When it overrode the optics, it branched out and infested the communication systems. Anyone with an interior agent would have it hijacked, have it connect to others already in communication with them, or those in the system close by. If someone was hit by multiple attack vectors the difficulty in stopping it could spike. If it worked correctly, it could overwhelm even moderately good ICE.


    A self duplicating viral code.


    It was something really difficult to program. Sure there were plenty of hacks that had that aspect, but those were created by teams of corpo coders all working to get it to work, and most of the best duplicating hacks weren¡¯t program, but hardware bonuses.


    I still remembered the Tetratronic Rippler from the video game. That let the super ultimate quick hacks spread to an extra person. Yeah that was probably a bit unrealistic, but then again the rippler wasn¡¯t on the market at the moment, so who knows? Maybe some corp will figure it out in the coming year.


    Regardless, I created this program in just a few long sessions.


    And it was entirely my own.


    Sure I doubt it was unique, but it would still be different enough from anyone else''s work that it should come as a nasty surprise.


    I pushed the program into compiling, receiving the finished file and uploaded it into my Cyberdeck.


    Two completed hacks.


    I leaned back in the dim light of the apartment. The sun was setting, Jun was still napping, beside me on the couch, and I had completed one of my big goals.


    Instead of working on another quick hack, or something I instead grabbed my little music box.


    It had been a project I wanted to complete for a while.


    It wasn¡¯t productive. It wasn¡¯t going to make me a better merc. A better Netrunner, or a better Edgerunner if I wanted to call myself that.


    But it was a project I really wanted to finish.


    So I settled in, and started working. The moment a new file was opened and I started coding my fingers picked up and blurred.


    I was inspired.


    I had a goal.


    And I had the knowledge to complete it.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°Morning Jun.¡± I muttered as I continued to build piece after piece of a very complex piece of equipment. I was really glad that Programming gave info dumps, because making a Quick Hack wasn¡¯t the same thing as designing the function of a physical item. It was easier in a lot of ways, but more finicky.


    ¡°Morning.¡± He grumbled as he rose up rubbing his eyes. He stood and stretched, grumbling the whole way as he headed into the kitchen.


    If Jun was up I should probably get moving too.


    I closed the laptop, that project wasn¡¯t going anywhere, and there was something I had been wanting to do.


    ¡°I¡¯m heading out, gonna be netrunning for a while, so I might be hard to reach.¡± I called out to Jun who was drinking an entire energy drink can as he chugged it down.


    ¡°You need to show me this netrunning place you got set up.¡± He said as he wiped his mouth tossing the can into the trash.


    ¡°You want to come with me now? It¡¯s not much to see though. The interesting part is the net itself.¡±


    ¡°No. I have stuff I need to do today¡­ You¡¯ll be careful?¡±


    ¡°Course! I¡¯m gonna be hunting some info down today, so I should be pretty safe.¡±


    Jun frowned but eventually nodded. I grinned as I headed out. Time to explore the net once again!

 Chapter 82

    I opened my eyes in the net. My lobby was still blank¡­


    I really needed to spend some time building this up. A lobby could be a really useful tool if prepared correctly.


    But I shook that away and dived into the city.


    I did plan on talking to Yoko today, but first there was something I wanted to explore myself.


    I wanted to find more Scavs.


    What? My Bank account was looking a little thin, and it was better to find another den to raid sooner rather than later. Ichi still had to pay rent after all.


    So I needed information, and I wasn¡¯t going to accept going to see Yoko and just having it handed to me.


    A netrunner was all about finding information.


    So I was going to gather it myself this time. I wasn¡¯t a detective, but I had seen plenty of cop shows!


    If you wanted to hunt someone. You had to find out where their victims had been.


    So first step was the NCPD Criminal database.


    It was easy enough to find the location of, I jumped to the NCPD City-Net page, and instantly I was in front of a prison of a building. Gates, and fences, digital barbed wire, and Daemons shaped like dogs walking around the walls.


    I scoffed though. For all of its look of security, that¡¯s all it was. I walked right up to the gate and requested access.


    The gate opened and I was allowed to access the ¡®public¡¯ pages. You would think that would mean if I wanted the private stuff I would have stronger security, but that wasn¡¯t true.


    I walked past the gate. Past the guard Daemons. Past the security, into the lobby of a building, and then once I was in. I just turned away from the lobby room, that looked like I was visiting the DMV. Instead I found the visual door that had ¡°Secure. NCPD Only¡± On it.


    Like I said. They already let me in past all the security. In this case I was pretty sure it was intentional. The NCPD didn¡¯t care if someone went looking for their criminal database after all. I mean I already had access to it through my Kiroshi. The access that Vik had set up for me was super common, and so it was child''s play to just walk through the secure door into a file room.


    The door lock on the door was flimsy and I breached it within a few moments.


    Like I said someone wanted people to be able to access at least this set of files. Inside was a storage room, nearly infinitely long filled with old storage cabinets. I walked over to the first one and popped it open. Inside was files on a recent Grand Theft Auto. I closed the drawer.


    I needed something else.


    So with a bit of a mental command, I inputted a search function for all files relating to kidnapping.


    The room rumbled. Like I was in the matrix, and thousands of the cabinets vanished as the whole space rearranged itself.


    Then when the shifting room still left me with millions of cabinets, I narrowed it more. Within the last four months. It rumbled and shifted again. There were still a ton of files, but at least now I could start.


    First just to see I added ¡°Scav¡± into the search to see what would happen. The room didn¡¯t alter in any way that I could see.


    I pulled open the first file closest to me.


    Violet Espinosa. Age 27. Reported missing 4.17. Deceased. SCAV.


    Peter Franklin Age 36. Reported missing 5.2. Deceased. SCAV.


    The reports were all like that. Sure there was more information on each one, the police reports had a lot of information including the missing persons criminal history and such.


    But that bit was the most interesting point.


    Why was SCAV on all these files?


    Why was Deceased? Did the NCPD know something? I couldn¡¯t find any information on why they were listed that way.


    In the end, I didn¡¯t get an answer, but the more recent kidnappings at least had locations for last seen.


    So I started collecting the data. Opening a file and just dumping the last location into a map of Night City. Slowly more and more dots grew across the file. There were hundreds of kidnapping reports, and I was just dumping them all into the file to see what would happen.


    In the end, there were definitely hot spots on the map, but it didn¡¯t really give me enough information to know for sure.


    But, I knew where to look now.


    So I found the most recent kidnapping report that was closest to the hotspots, and pulled those files saving them to my own server and took my new hotspot map. Then I walked out of the NCPD server.


    ¡ª--


    Markus Leon. Went missing yesterday. Age 30. His wife made the report. Markus had been last seen walking to work from his apartment building by his wife.


    His work was three blocks down the street. He never made it to work.


    But I had a general time he had left. And this was a modern city.


    It had cameras everywhere.


    So first I walked to the apartment complex that Markus lived in. The Server was old. It didn¡¯t have the security to really stop me as I accessed the system, breached past its defenses and accessed the few security cameras still working.


    Most were broken, but the elevator one worked.


    I checked the time, and watched.


    6:37 AM.


    I found him. Markus steps onto the elevator from the third floor. Heads down, and walks out.


    I jump out of the camera. The lobby camera was broken, but there was an outside camera looking down at the entrance. It was a few floors up, which is the only reason It wasn¡¯t broken.


    6:38 AM.


    Markus walked out of the complex, turned left down the street and continued his path.


    Okay. I checked the net for buildings along the road he had gone down.


    The next building over was a hotel. The security was tighter, but still easily bypassed especially since I was in the net.


    Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    Its cameras were active. Protected by bullet proof domes so they wouldn¡¯t get destroyed.


    6:38 AM.


    Markus walks past the entrance. I watch for a minute after he goes past.


    No one seemed to be following him or anything.


    So I pulled out of the security of the building and moved on.


    I continued down the street. Any building that didn¡¯t have cameras. I would jump across the street and see if there were cameras facing outward enough to catch across the street.


    Down we went. Until I crossed a street and Markus didn¡¯t appear.


    I went back, and saw him reach the crosswalk through a diner''s camera, and then nothing.


    I jumped around, checking all the corners of the street trying to find something.


    6:41 AM.


    I spotted it.


    Markus didn¡¯t cross the street, the path he should take to go to work.


    No, he turned left and continued walking down the street.


    Interesting.


    I continued to follow his path as he headed away from his workplace.


    What was Markus up to?


    Not that I was interested if the guy had just bailed. I was looking for scavs.


    Down the street we went, only a few times I had to skip a few buildings and wait for him to walk into frame.


    Then suddenly I jumped to the next camera and he never appeared.


    I checked all the cameras in the area, I could confirm he disappeared.


    After a few minutes of checking, I realized there was only one place he could have gone.


    An apartment building.


    So he was in the apartments? I mean Scavs often set up there, but this wasn¡¯t exactly what I was looking for.  Where were the group of scavs beating him unconscious or drugging him and dragging him into a rape van or something?


    The apartment complex was run down, didn¡¯t have any security cameras inside.


    Probably on purpose.


    But it did have a server still, everything had a net channel after all, had to, to have TV.


    So I started sneaking in. Something weird was going on.


    The server as I slipped in was dark and run down, plenty of slow down spots.


    I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if the TV reception in the place sucked.


    But the security might as well have been a broken lock. I popped in, and checked the apartment listings.


    Markus Leon wasn¡¯t on the registry of course.


    But I did find something interesting.


    An entire section of the complex that had everyone stop paying rent as one. Consistent rent payments by some of the people and then suddenly nothing. This started months ago.


    But more interesting? The server data was modified.


    It wasn¡¯t anything amazing, but it wouldn¡¯t be sending any alerts to the owner to let them know there was a late payment.


    Services would shut off still, but the owner wouldn¡¯t know he needed to bring in more people.


    Interesting.


    Second floor, rooms 220-230 were all non paying.


    There was a temptation to back out and check it out in person but¡­


    I was a netrunner. This was the sort of thing I was meant to do.


    So I started poking around.


    Someone capable of hacking into the register to shut off alerts would want internet access.


    If they had access, they had opened a path.


    So I started pinging the area around the building.


    The virtual datascape around me flared up and traffic glowed a brighter color than the rest.


    There.


    I smirked. There was a side channel that had been rather roughly built into the side of the server.


    To my eyes it looked like someone had laid a long wire from the access point between the internet and the building server, up into the building. I pinged it, making sure to keep the touch as light as I could.


    It blazed through the wire, showing me a spider web of systems. Cameras. And computers all together.


    I smirked as I slipped through. Yes there was security. Yes they had some good ICE.


    Yes they had expected it to keep someone out.


    Not good enough.


    I breached through the ICE, and as I did, a monster slipped out of my avatar.


    A Daemon.


    I smiled at it, as its legs skittered into the server. It looked like a cross between a spider and a facehugger.


    I loved it instantly.


    I watched it slip into the server and its actions spread out to anything connected to the system.


    I slipped in after. Traveling through the wire into a low fidelity server.


    There wasn¡¯t much inside. The server was just a computer system setup to run everything, but I could poke around.


    I easily snuck right past the Guard Daemon. It was shaped like a robotic dog searching endlessly for intruders.


    But it had my giant spider wrapped around its face, a single large eye the only thing that could see, and as it ¡®looked¡¯ at me, it just seemed to ignore my presence.


    I had already been sure it couldn¡¯t see me. The Daemon was perfect for bypassing low level security Daemons. Instantly I accessed the cameras connected to the system.


    I had seen a lot of scav dens.


    I had grown rather used to the sights of them.


    This wasn¡¯t a scav den.


    It was a drug den.


    I scowled. What the fuck? There were drugs being cooked up, and drugs being used. One side of the apartments was set up to manufacture something.


    The other side was a drug den. Couches and beds littered the area. Plenty of people passed out among the mess and detritus.


    Okay something was up.


    I was on the tail end of a kidnapping¡­


    Oh no. It was just a missing person. I scowled, searching the cameras for any sign of Markus. If he was here, then he really wasn¡¯t missing.


    And there he was.


    Fuck. I shook my digital head pulling free of the camera systems.


    This wasn¡¯t my target. A complete bust.


    I headed out of the hidden server. I considered sending a tip to the NCPD, but¡­


    It could be useful knowledge. I would keep it for now. Just marking down the info. It wasn¡¯t like I couldn¡¯t access their little server again in the future. My second Daemon would take care of that. Wall Breaking left a Daemon behind giving me access after all.


    That one looked like a giant eye that went and hid itself in the corner of the server room it would remain quiet and hidden until I needed to access the server again.


    ¡ª--


    So I went down the list.


    Taking a small break to hit the bathroom in between.


    Most of the missing reports went somewhat similar. People running away just to escape. Some ended up caught by rival gangs and flatlined. Some were even picked up by the NCPD despite the report of them potentially dead.


    I realized that any time someone reported missing NCPD just filled out a missing persons report, listed them as deceased with a SCAV label for some reason.


    Fuckers.


    In the end it didn¡¯t matter. I was going to search through the missing reports until I found my target. I had all day.


    And in the end, following the same steps, just tracking people down through old camera recordings. I found them.


    It was a report on Hannah Curtis. The forty year old Corpo woman. Who worked for a Biotechnica subsidiary. She went missing two days ago, she did have more protection than a normal worker, and likely would have been searched for, but her biomonitor confirmed a flatline.


    So they gave up.


    I didn¡¯t.


    She was harder to track. I ended up having to follow her car through the city, hacking cameras as I went, even losing track of her once, and only finding her by chance down a side street.


    I couldn¡¯t see exactly what went down, but I could guess.


    Her car goes in the alley, and minutes pass. Then a truck drives into the alley. Her car drives out of the alley with a new driver and no Hannah.


    A scan of the man''s face told me what had happened.


    Turns out Hannah had a drug addiction. She stopped in the alleyway to meet her dealer, and he stole her car. Probably knocked her out or killed her.


    You would think that was the end, but the dealer, a Mr. Samuel Alexander Harrington. Had connections.


    The truck leaving had a man driving that was wearing an imager displacer. Couldn¡¯t get his face, but the image of the face with crossed out eyes was more than enough to confirm it was a scav.


    So I followed along, with notes to follow up with Mr. Samuel sometime. That had been a nice car, and it would be a shame to let him keep it.


    But I followed the truck.


    In the end tracking them through the city was starting to become routine. Security existed, sure, but it wasn¡¯t like I was in a rush. Any time I hit a place with security too heavy, I could skip it, try to find an easier camera to hack into, or if I absolutely needed that Camera to know where they went, I could just slowly breach in, take my time.


    I wasn¡¯t trying to rescue someone after all. I was hunting.


    Considering how often I was breaching into systems I was earning a nice nestegg of Breaching XP as a bonus.


    Then I just followed them home.


    Sure the camera¡¯s in the area they finally stopped were mostly broken down, or nonexistent. But when I narrowed the scavs down to a specific block area. It wasn¡¯t hard to then start checking each building one at a time.


    The people that were running non-scav business were given a mental apology for the intrusion and ignored.


    Although I would have to keep an eye on that porn studio, there hadn¡¯t been anyone ¡®acting¡¯ at the time I breached, but it looked sketchy, and if they were kidnapping people too? Well I would just clean them up as well.


    But I found them.


    What had once been a small office building, and that according to the records should be shut down, but had active internet and electricity flowing to it.


    As I slipped into their net their cameras told me the full story.


    Scav den.


    I noted the address, and even started poking around their systems.


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe how easy this is from the net.¡±  I couldn¡¯t help but admit to myself as I looked around the scavs, network lobby.


    Sure their security was pretty good. Great even. They likely had a netrunner set it all up to start with.


    But it wasn¡¯t being monitored, and an automated system was easily bypassed in the end.


    My Cyber Ninja perk meant when I breached into the system, their security Daemons had a hard time finding me. Plus it was also infecting the people attached to the network.


    I was gonna have a lot of fun when I hit this place. Their network would already be mine long before I set foot in real life.


    I stilled at that thought.


    Netrunning wasn¡¯t easy.


    It wasn¡¯t a game. I could die here. I was getting overconfident, and that is the sort of thing that kills. I wouldn¡¯t just be able to pop a maxdoc if someone fried my brain.


    I shook off the confidence, and mentally switched back to assuming I was being tracked. I doubled down on making sure everything was in place, that my ¡®additions¡¯ to the network. The backdoors and daemons wouldn¡¯t be noted.


    Then I backed out after gathering all the camera data I could.


    ¡ª--


    I had sent a text to my chooms after I got back to my body.


    *Section 9 meeting tonight. Target located. Meet at Lizzies 6PM.*


    Feeling cool for sending out a totally tactical message I went home.


    The sun was coming up, which was funny because when I arrived at the apartment the sun had been coming up.


    I had been in the net for nearly a whole day.


    I didn¡¯t feel too bad, but as I reached the street I jogged down to the parking lot instead of just calling the car here.


    Even if my stats didn¡¯t deteriorate, I still needed a bit of exercise, to stretch my legs.


    I was already a basement dweller at this point¡­


    I shook that annoying thought away and went home.


    I wanted a shower.

 Chapter 83

    ¡°Motoko!¡± Hiromi called out as she entered Lizzies.


    Sure she looked a bit awkward about it, staring a bit too long at some of the Mox bouncers, but I waved her over and her nervousness faded as she got closer.


    I guess it might be a little awkward for a girl like Hiromi who usually was covered in TC stuff to walk into the Mox home.


    But honestly I wanted to get away from using the Ho-Oh club as our meetup place.


    That stupid mask I now had hidden away in my room was taunting me with the fact that Fujimura was eager to recruit me fully.


    I didn¡¯t want to deal with that.


    ¡°You¡¯re late.¡± Ichi pointed out as he sipped on his drink. Malcolm and Ichi had actually been here early¡­


    A little ¡®too¡¯ early if my estimation was right, but boys will be boys.


    ¡°Pfft! I was busy! Reaching out to some contacts about potential buyers.¡± Hiromi said eyebrows twitching in an insinuation about their future payday.


    ¡°All is forgiven.¡± Ichi offered with a faux bow and Hiromi cackled as she slipped into the seat next to me. We were at the bar for now, but I would drag my chooms into one of the private booths before we got to talking too much.


    Hiromi ordered a drink, Ichi and Malcolm both happy to drink a bit on my tab. Because I am a generous leader.


    ¡°So you found something?¡± Malcolm prompted, looking eager. This wasn¡¯t his first attempt to pry information out, but I had told him to wait for Hiromi.


    ¡°Not here. Get your drinks, and let¡¯s go grab a bit of privacy. Thanks Mateo.¡± I said to the bartender, dropping a tip as I dragged my eager chooms out of the main room.


    In the end we took over one of the booth rooms, as I settled my chooms around and then I called all of them just like last time.


    Instantly I sent all of them the information I had gathered about the new scav den.


    The office building looked run down from the outside, and closed off, that image moved inside giving a bit gruesome scenes of the interiors.


    *Disgusting.* Hiromi muttered into the group call. *But it looks like they have a lot of product.* She said looking at the boxes of chrome the Scavs were collecting.


    *How did you even find this place?* Ichi asked and I threw him a peace sign.


    *I backtraced missing peoples reports and slipped into security systems all along the streets. Everyone has security cameras after all, and a lot of them are pointing at the street. So with a bit of finangling and a lot of illegal hacking I was able to track people.*


    *Holy shit! That must have been pretty hard. I¡¯m surprised more people don¡¯t do that.*


    I shrugged. *It¡¯s dangerous. One bad server that has some nasty ICE, and I could be in a lot of trouble.*


    *Motoko! If you are going to do something so dangerous then call on us to help! We can at least get you to your ripper if something goes wrong.* Hiromi demanded glaring and I nodded hands raised at her anger.


    *Yeah, probably smart.*


    *Good!*


    *Should be a good payday. Any issue with the numbers Motoko?* Ichi asked, *Need us to come in guns blazing this time?* He said while motioning with his hand as if shooting a gun.


    *No. I¡¯ve already taken over their system, when I hit them, all of the scavs are going to lose their ability to see simultaneously!¡± I chirped, grinning at the idea of what I was going to do to these monsters.


    *Nice.*


    *Malcolm: You grabbed all of their camera data here right?* Malcolm asked, still forced to send his question as a text as he didn¡¯t have an interior agent.


    Gonna have to remind him he could get that upgrade now.


    *Yeah, their security was good, but not that good. They had it all saved to a laptop. I actually think it might have been something one of them did as a mistake. The security for the network was set up by a netrunner, but this is the kind of amateur mistake I expect from someone who has no idea what they are doing.*


    *Malcolm: Then, can¡¯t we use your little back trace trick to find more scav dens?*


    I blinked at Malcolms text. That was¡­ possible.


    While I had tracked the van back to this place. They still had to transport their gear to another site to sell, could I figure out where?


    Could I track their shipments to find even more? I could follow cameras like I had before¡­


    Well maybe not alone.


    But I wasn¡¯t alone.


    *Okay chooms. Malcolm had a great idea. I might be able to track the scavs, but I¡¯ll need your help. Rather than hit just one scav den. I want to find where all of the chrome gets sent.* I said and suddenly all three of my chooms sat up straight.


    We had made bank on the small scav dens.


    But if there was a central repository? If there was even just a storage space for where all the chrome went?


    We could make¡­


    A lot of eddies.


    A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    Like a lot of eddies.


    *Okay. Malcolm, you have a good eye for that sort of stuff. Start going through the camera, see if you can spot something we can use.* I point out and the boy actually flushes and looks pleased at my words.


    *Hiromi. If we hit a place that has even more equipment we might need more transport. Think you can use your connections to find us people willing to transport stuff for us?*


    *I have a few ideas already.* She confirmed with a nod.


    *Ichi if we are moving that much stuff, we are going to need a place to store it¡­ Maybe even a gang to help protect it.* I had to admit with a scowl. *I have some TC contacts if this actually works that I can pull on, but maybe find us some low key storage we can move stuff to?*


    *I know of a few places I can use. Leave it to me!*


    *Alright, in that case¡­ I guess I need to get back on the net¡­ Actually. All of us should get moving. I can pull more info and send it to you guys to check over as I¡¯m running.*


    ¡°Oh! Um¡­¡± Malcolm said aloud before stopping, hesitating. ¡°Should I call Omaeda?¡±


    I blinked, Omaeda was¡­ Oh! He was the netrunner that Ichi and Malcolm had been friends with.


    ¡°I haven¡¯t seen him in a while, now that you mention it.¡±


    ¡°Omaeda bailed on us during the war. He basically went home and hid. We haven¡¯t talked since.¡± Ichi offered with a grumpy face.


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t like that Ichi. You know that. Omaeda wasn¡¯t as into the TC as you. He didn¡¯t want to get shot in a gang war.¡±


    ¡°He bailed on us when we needed him. We don¡¯t need him.¡± Ichi said ending the conversation for a moment as Hiromi and I both kind of just looked at each other awkwardly.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go without him for now?¡± I prompted and Malcolm hesitated and just shrugged a bit.


    ¡°Alright. We should head to your place?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, it sounds like tonight is going to be busy for all of us.¡± I say and Hiromi groans a bit.


    Heh, corpo brat. Ichi and Malcolm both looked excited.


    ¡ª--


    An hour later I was back in the net. My chooms were set up on laptops connecting to the server so I could pass them data in real time, and I rushed back to the scav den¡¯s server.


    With the work I had done before I was able to just slip right back inside, and this time I was accessing their data looking for something in particular.


    *Malcolm see anything on the cameras yet?* I called out, the phone connection with my group was active despite being in the net.


    *They had a bunch of the chrome crates disappear about a month ago, but I¡¯m narrowing down when it happened.*


    I nodded to myself as I accessed the camera system myself. I could access the system in a way that Malcolm couldn¡¯t since I was in the net, multiple screens popped up, and I set each of them to be a different day the camera had recorded and just waited for the crates to disappear.


    *The tenth.* I sent to him, as I noticed some of the scav guys load up a bunch of the crates on handtrucks and move them out.


    There wasn¡¯t really a good exterior camera so I was forced to move outward. Checking both ends of the street for active cameras.


    Nothing.


    The cameras just weren¡¯t good in the area. I had only been able to narrow down the scavs to this street to begin with.


    So I went wider, slipping into more and more camera systems in a big circle, the actual searching I left to my chooms. I was giving them access, pulling the camera data and then moving on, and then finally we got a hit.


    *Found it! Going down Pondsmith.* Ichi said and I pulled out of the cafe I had been pulling a video from. I jumped across the net, I checked the image Ichi had found of the white scav van, and then I jumped to the systems down the street, finding one that had a street cam. I accessed it¡¯s records confirming the vans path.


    *Alright everyone, I¡¯m gonna start sending the video data. Find me this truck''s path.* I called out, switching back to hitting every camera just a bit further down the street I could find and pulling their video records.


    Some didn¡¯t keep records, some didn¡¯t have cameras with the right angle.


    In the end I just kept digging, letting my chooms find the vans path, from the data I pulled. Sometimes making me pull back when the van turned suddenly.


    Sometimes I was forced to spread out my net wide, when we lost track of it, going down every street connected to the road we lost the van on just to see if we can catch sight of it on the cameras.


    I was really happy I had my chooms helping out.


    This could have been something taking me days to slowly path out the vans movements without the external help.


    While a part of me couldn¡¯t help but wonder why the NCPD didn¡¯t do something similar, It was the reminder in my head that breaking into every business and personal camera I could on the path would be something the NCPD would need a warrant for. Plus a netrunner to do this for every crime.


    I shook it off, I wasn¡¯t here to judge NCPD¡¯s lack of investigation talent.


    I was here to track these scavs through the city, to find them.


    In the end we did truly lose them.


    *Anything?* I asked my team only to get groans back.


    It was late. We had been tracking this truck through the city for hours. Everyone was getting close to being overworked.


    *I don¡¯t know where the truck went, Motoko! This is so fucking stupid! God damned Corpos! No wonder scavs get away with this shit! The Corpo security practically protects them!* Malcolm cursed getting frustrated at the entire situation.


    *Alright I¡¯m pulling out. I think we all need a break.* I call into the chat, and slowly pull myself back to my body.


    I blinked back in my flesh. I sat up slowly seeing my chooms all sitting around the basement in different levels of disarray. I looked at the clock and winced at how late it was.


    ¡°Sorry guys. I shouldn¡¯t have kept pushing you all so late. Let¡¯s get some rest we can continue tomorrow.¡± I offered and Malcolm and Hiromi both groaned but seemed willing to stop.


    Ichi¡¯s fist slammed onto the table, startling us all.


    ¡°No. Motoko, you¡¯ve been netdiving for like six hours. You must be exhausted, take a break. Grab some food whatever you need. But I¡¯m not¡­ You brought us in, it¡¯s our turn to prove we aren¡¯t just¡­ hanging onto your rep. I¡¯m not giving up. Not yet.¡± He said and Hiromi instantly plopped back into her chair and focused on the laptop.


    Malcolm let out a chuckle and shook his head. ¡°Yeah fair enough. Not like we haven¡¯t done late nights before. I could use some chow though.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll go get some food!¡± I told them cutting Malcolm off. ¡°I owe you guys for being so great!¡± I said and before they could say anything I was there. Rushing in.


    Malcolm got first hug since he was closest. I lifted him up and spun him around a bit before dropping him onto his wobbly feet and rushed at Hiromi who squeaked as I lifted her out of her chair.


    Ichi tried to defend himself. But his Street Brawling was weak.


    Something to work on in the future.


    My grapple hugs completed, I hummed happily as I headed to the elevator. There was a diner down the street, I bet I could get a couple of to go meals there.


    ¡ª--


    Bags full of steaming hot meals I walked back to the apartment. The diner was close enough I decided to just walk, it would take longer to have to park the car.


    While I did I considered the problem.


    The Scavs obviously had to have a way to get the chrome out of the city. That was the rumor, or at least my understanding. The Scavs stole chrome from the city and sold it off, usually in russia.


    Okay so assuming that is right, they had to ship it. It¡¯s why I was so confused. Why would they drive into City Center? There were no docks big enough for a transpacific cargo ship there. You would want to go northside for that.


    But they had come from the northside, traveling into City Center.


    So why?


    Why would you head into City Center? The truck they used was pretty big. More than enough for the many crates they loaded up. The same style of crates we had found in the original scav den. The only one that hadn¡¯t had the same style was Charles shop, but his was obviously a weird scav situation, since he was reselling the chrome he found.


    So they brought in tens of crates, how do they get them out?


    Did they load them into an AV for transport out of the city? But why City Center? There were better places to load an AV closer.


    So a ship?


    But why? The only docks in City Center were like¡­ High end Yacht club stuff. The sort of place that has insane security, that a bunch of scavs wouldn¡¯t be able to slip in.


    Did they gather it up and transport it out in bigger trucks? I suppose the scavs could have a corpo working with them, giving them a place to store huge amounts of their loot.


    In the end I just wasn¡¯t sure where to go next.


    Luckily I could still be snack provider.


    As I walked into the basement room it was quiet, my chooms were all still staring at the screens and I decided it was time for a break.


    ¡°Food time!¡± I called out holding up the bags of to go diner meals in the air.


    ¡°Yeah I could eat.¡±


    ¡°Food!¡± Malcolm and Ichi both spoke as one, and pulled away from the system. I settled the food on a table that Morgan had probably set up for just that purpose and parceled out the meals.


    ¡°It¡¯s so frustrating! How can they just disappear like that! I just want to know where they went!¡± Hiromi whined as she plopped into the chair.


    ¡°Well they didn¡¯t disappear.¡± Malcolm said after a moment as he finished swallowing a bite of the pasta that I was absolutely sure wasn¡¯t what the diner called it, but hey it was warm and filling.


    ¡°We lost them though.¡±


    ¡°Yeah the fuckers drove down Corpo, I mean Corporation st. and we can¡¯t find a camera to hit them with after.¡± Ichi offered, chowing down.


    ¡°Yeah but like¡­ We know where they end up.¡± Malcolm said, suddenly sitting up straight as he put the food down.


    ¡°No we don¡¯t? We lost track of them.¡± I reminded him but his eyes weren¡¯t focused on me, he was a million miles away.


    ¡°Malcolm?¡±


    ¡°They return to the scav den.¡± He said in a mumble. ¡°When they are done. They return to the scav den.¡±


    ¡°Yeah?¡±


    ¡°So they don¡¯t disappear. We know where they are¡­ Motoko, instead of trying to track their path to where they are going. Try to track them on their way back!¡± I considered it. They likely would take the same path back, but what if they didn¡¯t?


    Either way it was more data.


    ¡°Malcolm. Good job.¡± I said throwing him a thumbs up, but as my chooms all stood to rush back to their stations I reached out and started pushing people back into chairs. ¡°Hold it!¡± I demanded startling everyone.


    ¡°Food first. Breaking a Scav ring comes after.¡±

 Chapter 84

    Once everyone ate and had a break we jumped back in. I was back on the net. This time following the Van backwards along its path with my team helping out. And then to our delight, the van was on a different road back.


    *It¡¯s on Longshore! It just came off the Ringroad!* Malcolm called out through the call.


    The Van hadn¡¯t gone into City Central using the freeways through NC. It had been mostly on the street level. Using Congress St to go around Corpo Plaza to reach Corporation.


    But if they were using the Ring road to come back? It meant Corporation St. Was close to where our scavs made their dropoff.


    *I¡¯m checking what I can find around Corporation. If they are on the Ringroad¡­ I can¡¯t find any good cameras in that area, everything is high end. I¡¯m stretching out and looking for smaller shops.* I called out to my chooms as I blurred through cyberspace, trying to find something with eyes.


    *Motoko. Check for 25/7¡¯s. They tend to be all over the place down there, since the corpos use them to buy cigarettes or a beer while working.* Hiromi cut in, and I blinked.


    What the fuck was a 25/7?


    It took me a few seconds to find out. They were capsule shops. They could be put just about anywhere, and were basically gas stations without the gas.


    Interesting!


    I did a quick net search for them, finding a few of the capsules all over the area.


    The trouble came instantly as I slipped onto their server net.


    All of the recordings for all the shops went to a main server. It was a chain shop after all.


    But the place was crazy secure. I had to duck back out instantly just to avoid the security Daemons they had liberally placed throughout.


    ¡°Slow Motoko. Take it slow.¡± I reminded myself. Then I began breaching. Slipping my Daemons into their system in return. Blinding their security, as I wormed my way in.


    It helped that I wasn¡¯t trying to access their most secure data. Their payment, and shipping information was heavily secured. The digital access point looked like a hallway full of lasers and things heading towards a vault.


    But the camera data wasn¡¯t something they could store that securely. There would be just too much information coming in. It would make a weakness in the security. So it was far easier to access for that reason.


    Or they just didn¡¯t care to protect it.


    So I managed to slip into that section of the server without trouble, bypassing the security Daemons.


    I was just starting to access the cameras, looking for the shops on Corporation st when I felt it.


    Someone knew I was here.


    Danger Sense.


    I turned throwing up my ICE Shield, which saved me.


    A Daemon shaped like a devil was rushing me, its open mouth full of chainsaw teeth that spun and buzzed. Honestly it looked more like a blender than a mouth.


    But even as the Daemon hit my shield and slowed down frosting over it was the netrunner behind it that I was focused on.


    ¡°Sorry kid. Nothing personal.¡± He said as his hand shifted.


    Barrier spun around me. The neon shields bursting to life, filling space with a flood of junk data, that when the ray of neon green light shot out, I was able to actually dodge as the incredibly fast hack stalled on the barriers before managing to work their way through.


    Hell Flame burst around me slamming into the Daemon, causing the Daemon stuck in my ICE to begin to dissolve. Removing it as a threat.


    ¡°Hey can¡¯t we talk about this? Not looking to cause trouble here.¡± I called out even as I continued to prepare more defenses, and looking for an escape route.


    ¡°Breaking into my server? That is trouble.¡± He said and I had to sacrifice another of my barriers to keep the ray of light from striking me.


    ¡°Not here to damage your biz!¡± I called out, sending a wave of Hell Fire at the runner who stopped attacking to throw up a solid wall of ICE to fizzle it out.


    Yeah this guy knew what he was doing, and he was in his own server. I was gonna have to delta.


    Unfortunately he wasn¡¯t going to let me. Even as I started making my way to move out of the server lobby, the security Daemon dogs were gathering at the exits. Blocking my way.


    Fucker.


    ¡°Yeah what exactly would a kid netrunner be doing sneaking in here? Oh did you just trip and your access connector happen to slide into the server port?¡±


    I actually snorted, out a laugh at the joke.


    ¡°Not exactly, how about we have a-fuck!¡± I yelped as I dodged another ray. I was running low on barriers. Throwing up another set was only a stop gap measure. ¡°How about we have a minute where we talk! No need to go killing each other here.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know from my angle. I seem to be on the winning side of this.¡± He called out mocking, but, keeping him talking was keeping him from blasting me.


    Fine I would just flip it around. A new set of barriers surrounded him now. Leaving me without my best defense, but the Daemon was dead, so ICE burst up creating a barrier between us.


    ¡°Oh fuck off.¡± He grumbled and started bashing the spam barriers with his laser.


    I took a moment to get a scan of it and had to whistle. That was a nasty virus. Like my fire it would try to delete anything it touched.


    ¡°How about we just talk, yeah?¡± I called out and while it didn¡¯t make him stop blasting the barriers it did cause him to respond again.


    ¡°Yeah? Why should I? Some thief coming into my server? It¡¯s my job to clean up the trash!¡± He yelled blasting a few more of the barriers down.


    ¡°Okay first? Ouch. Second. I¡¯m not here to steal anything! I just need your camera records to see if I can track down a Scav group.¡± I waited, peaking my head out from around my ICE barrier. I was counting on the fact everyone hated scavs to give me a few seconds here.


    My trash barriers were all gone, but he wasn¡¯t attacking me anymore.


    This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    ¡°I¡¯m supposed to believe you are hunting Scavs?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ Yeah! Look at where I am! I¡¯m accessing your camera records.¡± I said waving at the data I had been poking at.


    ¡°Worker profiles and other things are in that database too. How do I know you aren¡¯t up to something.¡±


    ¡°Cause I¡¯m trying to talk to you and not just trashing your server as I make my escape?¡±


    ¡°You got one minute, convince me.¡± He said arms crossed over his chest, the netrunners face was mostly blocked by a set of net goggles, but at least he wasn¡¯t shooting lasers at me.


    Or sicking his daemon dogs on me.


    ¡°Okay so I¡¯ve been following a group of scavs from their hideout through the city. I knew where they started, but I need to find out where they came from. I lose them in city central on Corporation. Near Berkley. I know they get on the Ring Road, but I can¡¯t tell from where.¡±


    The netrunner was quiet for a minute before nodding slowly. ¡°The security in Center is better, so you can¡¯t¡­ Have you been hacking into every Camera you can get your hands on?¡± He asked, sounding almost bewildered.


    ¡°Well yeah?¡±


    ¡°How are you not dead? Black ICE should have fried you by now.¡±


    ¡°I mean¡­ I¡¯m pretty good at breaching systems, and if the system is too dangerous I just skip it.¡±


    ¡°No wonder I didn¡¯t notice your intrusion.¡± He mumbled more to himself than me, but he raised and then lowered his hands, and suddenly the Daemon dogs seemed to relax, going back to searching for intruders and not trying to eat me.


    ¡°Fine. I¡¯ll walk you through the recordings if you don¡¯t steal any records, and leave when you get what you want.¡±


    ¡°Deal!¡± I called out with a sigh, slowly letting my ICE down, and cleaning up the mess on the server with a bit of manual maintenance.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get this over with kid.¡± He said with a grumbly sigh.


    And we did. He walked over and once I told him the day and time he was able to pull up the cameras on the little shopping pods and we started looking.


    ¡°There.¡± I pointed out when I saw it.


    It was still going westbound on Corporation. Past Berkley. What the hell? There wasn¡¯t even much out there. Just a wave breaker road.


    ¡°Wait, that''s the truck you are looking for? I thought you said you were searching for scavs?¡± The netrunner said looking to me with suspicion.


    ¡°Yeah I am! Those guys are with a scav group up in westbrook. I¡¯ve tracked them all the way here from their hideout.¡±


    ¡°If that¡¯s the case why are they dressed up as Gold Beach Marina dock workers?¡± He asked and I looked back at the camera.


    The passenger. He had changed his clothes at some point. Throwing over a Blue and white jumpsuit. While the driver had on a yellow hazard vest.


    ¡°Gold Beach Marina?¡± I wondered aloud. The name not meaning anything to me.


    ¡°Yeah the jumpsuit the passenger is wearing, that¡¯s their janitor staff uniform. We get them stopping in to buy smokes while they work all the time. Seen them a million times. On the camera when I need to look for thieves.¡±


    ¡°Gold Beach Marina¡­ Thanks Choom.¡± I told him, throwing up a thumbs up as I made to log out.


    ¡°Whoa kid. These guys are Marina staff, not Scavs, what are you playing at?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what I want to know.¡± I said, irritated and did a quick log out of the server. He didn¡¯t have the Daemons guarding the access points so I was easily able to buzz back out and into the net.


    But I didn¡¯t stick around. I went straight back to my body.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°Gold Beach Marina. Super high end place, has a bar and a cafe¡­ And a bar.¡± Hiromi offered as she looked at the laptop she had pulled up the marina¡¯s information from. ¡°Private club, can¡¯t get in unless you make more eddies than you could even try to waste.¡±


    ¡°Why are the scavs going to a place like that?¡±


    ¡°Maybe some high end scav boss has a connection there? Could park his yacht right there and load it up. The security is crazy, but if he okays the scavs that come to make deliveries registering them as staff¡­ Fuck that would work.¡± Ichi mentioned looking infuriated.


    ¡°Does it? The cost for access to a place like that must be crazy! Even a scav wouldn¡¯t make money affording it. And it¡¯s just a yacht marina. A yacht can¡¯t transport that sort of stuff across the pacific! So that means they have to stop somewhere else! Is a yacht like that big enough to even make a profit if you are shipping all the chrome out of the city on it?¡± I asked frowning.


    I get where Ichi was coming from, but when you are shipping something across an ocean, that¡¯s time and money. Boxes of Chrome are certainly a good amount of eddies into their pocket¡­


    But enough to cover all the costs this would entail?


    A yacht. Fuel. Repairs. Crew. Payment to the scavs. Equipment to the scavs.


    ¡°Something about this is fishy as fuck.¡±


    ¡°Well it is a marina-Ow!¡± Malcolm winced as Hiromi slugged him in the arm for the joke.


    ¡°At least we found them.¡± Ichi offered with a shrug. ¡°Does any of the rest matter? We could go and loot up.¡±


    ¡°You want to steal chrome from a high security area owned by bajillionaires?¡± I asked frowning. ¡°I was expecting a boat and a hidden dock, like old smugglers. Not this.¡±


    I didn¡¯t exactly want the sort of heat that people with fuck off money could bring.


    Oh I¡¯m sure we could steal the stuff. I was fairly confident in my ability there, but stealing the stuff and not having someone track us down after?


    Just like we had done. It was totally possible someone could follow us the same way.


    No, we had to figure out a way of stealing this thing without a trace if we were going to do it.


    ¡°Okay. It¡¯s late guys. We did it, We tracked down the scavs. But we aren¡¯t getting into the Marina security from here, so take a break. Go to sleep. I¡¯m going to go check out the Marina tonight while it¡¯s late.¡± I said, we needed information. I could collect it.


    ¡°Motoko stop being a gonk. You¡¯ve been netrunning and going nonstop for hours and hours. We all need a break. We can continue tomorrow. If you want to check the place when it¡¯s dark out, then tomorrow night will be good.¡± Hiromi said cutting me off to my surprise as she grabbed my shoulders and pushed me towards one of the couches.


    ¡°Wha-Hiromi! I¡¯m fine.¡±


    ¡°Go to sleep.¡± Hiromi muttered, rubbing her eyes.


    In the end Ichi and Malcolm passed out on the couch, while Hiromi took my net chair.


    I guess it was sleepover time. I rolled my eyes and just decided to go with it. Hiromi was right. No need to rush this.


    ¡ª-


    The next morning we all drove out to the Marina to get a look at what we were facing.


    My Quadra, and Ichi¡¯s truck stood out like a sore thumb when we pulled out into the Marina from Corporation st.


    But that was fine. We were just information gathering.


    ¡°Look at that ship.¡± Malcolm muttered, staring at the big black yacht that was one of the few ships in the marina. The thing looked like a stealth ship from the old world, but considering where it was, it was likely just a luxury yacht with a weird style.


    ¡°Do you think that¡¯s it?¡± Ichi asked me and I shrugged.


    ¡°No way to know. They could be out on the seas right now. Or they could just be using a warehouse or something connected to the marina until a bigger ship comes by to pick it all up, right under the nose of customs¡­ If that¡¯s even a thing here.¡± I muttered wondering what customs was even like in Night City.


    It was technically a city state.


    Interesting but unimportant.


    ¡°Okay so yeah we aren¡¯t getting in there easily.¡± Ichi muttered looking across the small marina from the parking lot we were idling in.


    There was only one way into the Marina which had barricades, a security station, and guards.


    There were even cameras I could see all over the area.


    Yep. They weren¡¯t interested in having riff raff enter their marina.


    ¡°Can you netrun into their stuff? You know like take over the cameras, or cause an alert that all the guards run to the wrong area to take care of or something?¡± Malcolm asked, and I had to snort, shaking my head.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t really work like that. Considering the money in the place, I¡¯d be shocked if they didn¡¯t have a netrunner keeping an eye on things¡­ Which sucks, makes everything harder¡­ I¡¯ll probably have to get into their security room to get anything.¡± I said looking at the small set of buildings in the marina. One of which had the computer I would need to access.


    ¡°So got the pictures you need?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I said with a smirk already seeing the perfect way in. ¡°I¡¯ll need to do this at night, so we should get out of here. Break up until later. Want to get some food?¡±


    ¡°I could eat.¡± Malcolm said hand raised and grinning.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°These fries are actually pretty good.¡± I muttered staring at my plate of steak fries in surprise.


    ¡°Yeah? What about them?¡± Malcolm asked, looking like he was about to try and sneak one, since I didn¡¯t want to stab the gonk for stealing. I gestured at the plate that he could try and he did with a big smile.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, they just taste good. I¡¯m kinda surprised.¡±


    ¡°Pfft. Picky! Motoko is picky.¡± Ichi said teasing, but I got a look of sympathy from Hiromi.


    Made sense. While her parents weren¡¯t the absolute high level executives in Arasaka, they were still rich. So they ate better than normal people. Hiromi must have grown up eating better foods.


    I was just surprised these french fries actually tasted like french fries.


    They weren¡¯t. But they tasted close enough. No potato involved.


    We had gone to a diner once we left City Center, and just crashed a booth. The four of us surrounded by food and just pigging out.


    It was nice.


    ¡°I still can¡¯t believe you became a netrunner so fast. I mean¡­ Omaeda worked on it for a while and he was only like¡­ Okay at it.¡± Malcolm said changing the subject from food taste and once again Ichi didn¡¯t look happy.


    ¡°Omaeda thought he was hot shit, but couldn¡¯t do anything.¡± Ichi retorted coldly before stuffing some of his own fries in his face.


    ¡°Kinda mean Ichi. He just didn¡¯t have much gear. You saw his deck.¡±


    ¡°Ah the suitcase Cyberdeck¡­ Yeah.¡± I mentioned frowning. My own knowledge let me know just how out of date that thing would have been.


    No wonder he couldn¡¯t break into the cars security on that gig so long ago.


    Wow I hadn¡¯t thought about that night and my first kills in a long time.


    ¡°Well I for one am perfectly happy with Motoko acting as our netrunner. And I don¡¯t want to split the payouts another way. So shh.¡± Hiromi said as she stuck a piece of her¡­ Pizza? Lasagna? I have no idea what it was, but she liked it. Into her mouth.


    ¡°Yeah I guess that¡¯s fair. I¡¯m just worried about him.¡±


    ¡°If you are worried about your choom Malcolm. Go check on him. I mean¡­ I¡¯m glad I reached out to you guys. This stuff would be way harder without you covering my back. I¡¯m glad I cleared the air.¡± I said, earning smiles from Malcolm and a slow nod as he finished another bite of his own meal.


    ¡°Yeah me too.¡± Ichi said, smiling seemingly ignoring Omaeda¡¯s existence. ¡°I do have a question ¡®Toko. Do we want to hit the first place we found? I know we got the big one to focus on, but that place is just sitting there.¡± Ichi said purposefully not saying scav as we were in public.


    No reason to let anyone know what we were up to.


    I hummed at the idea.


    Positives and negatives.


    But I shook my head. ¡°As much as I hate the idea of leaving ¡®them¡¯ to keep doing their thing. I don¡¯t want there to be any chance that someone realizes we are on to their higher ups.¡±


    While I knew everyone was unhappy with the decision we all nodded to each other.


    In the end, there wasn¡¯t anything further we could do at the moment without the marina¡¯s cameras. So we all split up for the day.


    We would meet up tomorrow after I hopefully had the records we needed.

 Chapter 85

    That night I parked the Quadra a long way from the marina, and spent a good walk down the sidewalk.


    I wasn¡¯t wearing my normal gear either. I was in my Section 9 outfit, including the ninja mask. Which would have earned me some weird looks walking down the street in Night City, but it was late, and I was purposefully avoiding attention. The few cameras that could have spotted me as I walked down the street were hacked and turned off.


    It¡¯s not like I cared if someone at Pawn Shop noticed someone turning off their camera.


    As long as it didn¡¯t spot me.


    As long as I wasn¡¯t spotted.


    I reached the Marina. The main entrance on foot was two large stone staircases leading to the high end super expensive parking lot. The sort of place that had parking meters costing ridiculous amounts of eddies to park to keep out the riff raff.


    Unless you were in the club of course.


    But I bypassed that. As always the biggest weakness in a security system wasn¡¯t the lock, but the material the lock was attached to.


    You see the marina had a locked down entrance way. With barricades and an actual security room with a guard sitting there to refuse the riff raff access.


    But the marina was overlooked by a large office building. I was pretty sure it was actually customs. Or a shipping corpo building, but I wasn¡¯t sure who owned it.


    But it didn¡¯t matter because a bit higher up than a normal person would be able to jump there was a long walkway that went along the entire building looking over the marina. Some architecture worker had designed it probably intending to let overworked peons go out on the walkway for some fresh air.


    Of course that would require the people in charge to have installed an actual doorway to the porch.


    They had not.


    So there was a visual walkway just¡­ There.


    Despite the heavy traffic of Skyline St west, behind me. No one noticed a shadow leap up and easily slide over the large glass barrier around the walkway.


    The inside of the building was dark. No one was around. Like I said. It was 3am. Not every corp required people to have night shifts. I still stayed low and practically crawled across the concrete. Shimmying all the way over the marina until I was on the back end of the Marina.


    There was zero security on the back end of the marina.


    No one was crazy enough to just jump into the ocean around the city after all!


    I used a well placed palm tree to reach the floor. Which was nice, because on the back side I was probably three floors off the ground.


    It would have been a painful landing.


    And now all I had to do was find a security room.


    I came up from the back of the Marina. The multiple cafes and bars only gave me cover as I came up from behind one of them avoiding the few drunks that were still active this late.


    The security was also quiet, most of them sitting around, or I noticed to my amusement hanging out inside one of the bars flirting with the pretty bartender.


    I noticed it. The back end of what I had thought was a bar actually had a security room. Better yet?


    It had an open window in the room that would allow someone to walk up to the security officer to ask for help.


    No glass, or window.


    There was a guard though.


    Hmm.


    I tucked myself away. Hiding in between the drop off of the pier and a plant, with a perfect view of the guard.


    I just needed him to move.


    But I had time.


    There was no cameras looking at me. And there was no one that could see me. The few times someone got close. I just tipped myself off the edge of the pier, and hung on until they walked past.


    Chrome arms don¡¯t get tired.


    Eventually the guard inside got up from the computer and stretched walking out and across the path to the bar. I watched him slip into the bathroom.


    I ran.


    Leaping through the open window before the bathroom door had even fully closed. I collected myself making sure there was no one else inside, that I hadn¡¯t attracted any attention. Once I was sure, I turned to the large computer system. I jacked in.


    The security here was tight, but the moron hadn¡¯t locked his computer when he went to the bathroom.


    I was in the system in seconds, downloading the file to a shard. I was downloading all of the camera records of the last month. It would give me everything I needed, but the camera records was a big file. I kept calm, immobile, watching as the numbers ticked up. Checking through other files, I noticed a list of the yachts harbored, and who owned them. I added that to the shard as well.


    The bathroom opened. I caught it out of the corner of my eye, but now I was focused.


    Fuck.


    I kept watch, peeking out the window just waiting. The guard stopped to chat with a coworker, even grabbed a drink from the bartender that had been flirted with for the last hour. But this guy wasn¡¯t going to intrude, drink in hand he started walking back to his workplace.


    Double fuck.


    The numbers ticked up.


    He walked closer. It was going to be close¡­ No, I realized. I didn¡¯t have time. I tsked, considered my options and grabbed a can from the desk and chucked it out the window.


    It clattered into the bushes across the path and the noise caused the guard to slow his walk and look over.


    Of course those were also the bushes I had been hiding in before, but I needed a few moments.


    He walked over and noticed the can looking around he ended up looking up. There was a lounge on top of the security office I was in. So he probably just assumed somebody threw it from up there. Shaking his head he started making his way back to his little office.


    I was done. Unjacking my personal link, I waited for him to open the door and start moving into his little guard room. I leapt back through the window silent as a ninja and raced to the waters edge. I quickly leapt over the edge of the pier grabbing onto the concrete and disappearing into the shadows.


    I didn¡¯t hear anything and danger sense hadn¡¯t even prickled.


    I hung there for a while just to make sure. And only once I was, did I relax, but I wasn¡¯t done just yet. Just because I had the data didn¡¯t mean my fact finding gig was over.


    I pulled open the copy of camera data and checked the time that the scavs would have arrived.


    There were a few cameras in the area, but thankfully a few of them were pointed at the parking lot. I watched through the small screen as I hung there off the side of the pier. Water lapping gently against the concrete half a dozen feet below me.


    Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.


    They drove right up to the security checkpoint, got waved through after a brief check and drove in.


    I moved to the next camera watched as they drove through the little dock area talking to the security post that I just leapt out the window from and that opened the second security gate letting them drive closer to the dock and start to unload.


    They carried the crates out onto the dock and dropped them off right on the pier and then left.


    The fuck?


    I kept watched skipping hours at a time to try and find what happened to the crates. Suddenly they vanished, and I went back finally finding what I was looking for. Some crate bots rolled up, picked up the crates and rolled them onto one of the yachts.


    The big stupid looking black military-ish one we had noticed this morning. Or rather I suppose I should call it Neo-Militarism?


    I mean it did stick out like a sore thumb. Looking like some stealth boat.


    I glanced over my shoulder looking right at it.


    I checked the records and had to snort at the name of the yacht.


    Who the hell named a fancy shmancy luxury yacht the GEIshhhhA?


    I started shimmying heading across the concrete towards the wooden docks.


    Sure there were still some workers around but none were going to be able to spot me. I climbed back over the edge, raced over the wooden dock, and slipped over the edge of the boat without a noise.


    Their wasn¡¯t much to see. It was all black and sharp angles, but the stairs leading down into the yacht were open.


    It was a¡­ Ew.


    The smell told me everything. It stank of human sweat and other things. Drugs were laying all over the place. Money rolls and alcohol spilled everywhere.


    Was this a scav boat or not!?


    What the hell was going on here? I moved through the club like atmosphere just glad no one was here.


    And doubly glad there weren''t any cameras around.


    I reached the other end and saw there were two doors both locked. One was connected to the inside of the room, the other outside on the back of the boat.


    The one outside looked like it led upwards, which was probably the bridge. The other inside led down.


    Which is where I would put money on the crates being.


    This wasn¡¯t going to be easy. The door wasn¡¯t a normal lock and was actually heavily secured. I would need to breach into the system to get it to open.


    I pulled the personal link out of the back of my neck and slipped it into the door jack.


    The security was strong.


    Really strong. This ICE wasn¡¯t just off the shelf stuff. If I tried to breach it, I was definitely going to set off an alarm.


    But I was stealthy and sneaky. I started working my way around the security, instead of trying to bash down the ICE. The door used a biomon scanner, and that scanner took in data. So I was able to ¡®trick¡¯ it into grabbing data byte by byte that would when put all together turn into a virus that would add me to the registry.


    It was just gonna take a while. I checked the time.


    3:47 Am.


    I had some time still¡­ Hopefully.


    In the end whatever party usually took place on the yacht, it wasn¡¯t happening tonight. It was quiet for the two hours it took to finally get enough data in that the sensor registered me as an allowed contact.


    The door poofed open.


    It was a small staircase leading into the yachts hold. The small lights around the hold gave me enough light to see crate after crate lining the hold. I walked up to the first one, and wasn¡¯t surprised at what I found when I popped it open and checked the boxes inside.


    Chrome.


    Lots. And lots of chrome.


    Jackpot.


    I put it back for now, and headed back up to the deck. This time I slipped into the bridge, since I was already in the registry. Thankfully it was empty. Just massive computer systems that ran the boat and kept everything ready.


    Of course it was mostly powered off thanks to being in a marina.


    I took a few pictures of everything, and since I was on the bridge and already had access, did a quick dive just to download the records of the boat.


    And to see if it had any security I had missed.


    Thankfully the man who owned the yacht used it as a party boat, so the security that could have given me trouble was all turned off.


    I pulled out.


    There was nothing else I could do here. At least we got confirmation on the chrome. Now we just needed a plan to get everything out of here without alerting the billionaire yacht club we were doing it.


    Getting back was an easy enough task. I retraced my footsteps until I reached the rear of the Marina. Then I just climbed back up the palm tree to reach the third floor pathway sauntering back the way I came without any difficulty.


    ¡ª---


    The next morning everyone met up at the basement, I had once again stopped at the diner and grabbed some food so we were having a work breakfast.


    ¡°Wow. Look at all those crates!¡± Ichi said eyes wide as he stared at the pictures of the hold.


    ¡°That¡¯s not a tiny stack of eddies. I don¡¯t even know if I could sell that much chrome.¡± Hiromi said looking a little daunted by the task ahead of her.


    ¡°Don¡¯t count the chrome yet. We still need to figure out a way to get it off the ship and out of the marina. The place''s security is crazy.¡± I reminded them by pointing at the many checkpoints and security systems they had set up.


    ¡°Okay¡­ Can we get a smaller boat and have it come up in the night take the crates and delta?¡± Malcolm asked with a shrug.


    ¡°Where would we even get a boat?¡± Hiromi asked while shaking her head. ¡°I can ask around, but I¡¯m not sure we could find something big enough to even hold the crates.¡±


    ¡°So we need a truck¡­ Or.¡± It hit me then.


    It wasn¡¯t like I wanted this asshole who helped scavs, or was a scav, I hadn¡¯t figured that out yet. To not be massively inconvenienced by this.


    ¡°How about we steal the ship.¡±


    Everyone looked at me.


    Then to the pictures of the bridge, or the boat in general.


    ¡°Can we?¡± Malcolm asked, part actual worry, and part hope.


    ¡°I actually¡­ Don¡¯t know.¡± I said frowning, sure I had the driving skill, but that wasn¡¯t the same thing as sailing.


    There was only one way to find out.


    ¡°I have a lot of the boats systems downloaded. I¡¯ll see what I can find out¡­ Ichi, Malcolm. If we steal the boat, we will need a place to dock it to offload everything. Preferably outside of the city but close enough we can try to beat the NCPD, or worse that will want to stop us. Can you both go scout for a good place. Remember it will have to be deep enough for the yacht to get there.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­ Yeah we can do that.¡± Ichi said confidently, Malcolm nodding along.


    ¡°Hiromi. Go through the data we have. Find out who the owner of this yacht is¡­ I don¡¯t want to end up pissing off some Arasaka executive or something without even knowing.¡±


    ¡°Okay I¡¯ll figure it out!¡±


    ¡°I¡­ I think¡­ I have an idea on how to do this. I¡¯ll need to make a call.¡± I told them, standing up and stepping away.


    Time to call in a debt.


    ¡ª--


    I ended up needing a face to face.


    Heading out into the badlands in my Quadra was always fun. She did seem to just run better on the dusty streets leading out of Night City. This was what she was made for after all.


    The Nomad camp had moved since I last saw them, which wasn¡¯t a surprise. Thankfully it was only about a four hour drive to reach them.


    As I pulled up outside the Aldecaldos camp I was surprisingly greeted with happy smiles and waving hands.


    ¡°Motoko! Hey kid, how¡¯ve you been?¡± One man called out, someone I recognized from our last visit as the man who cooked the delicious BBQ I had eaten.


    I could feel my tongue lick my lips as I remembered.


    ¡°Nelson! Nice to see you!¡± I called back, getting a smile in turn, for remembering his name, and to my surprise it was like that throughout. As I walked towards where I would find Saul.


    The man was resting back in a lawn chair among a fire when I saw him. To my happiness not only was Saul there, but Scorpion and Panam were sitting around.


    ¡°Hey! Scorpion, Panam! Good to see you! Saul. Thank you for being willing to hear me out.¡±


    ¡°Not every day someone sends me a picture quite like the one you did.¡± He said and I nodded.


    I had sent him a picture of the hold full of crates loaded with chrome.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on Motoko. Saul has been tight lipped.¡± Panam asked, looking eager and I nodded, settling into a seat that Saul offered.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been hitting scav dens for loot.¡± I explained with an evil smirk on. ¡°It¡¯s easy, gets rid of scum, and brings in some good income. But I was checking out a den I found on the net, the morons fucked up their security. Their cameras were saving their recordings, and had been for months.¡±


    Saul leaned in instantly figuring it out. ¡°You were able to see what they did with the chrome? I always did wonder.¡±


    ¡°Yeah. They loaded it all up into vans and took it deeper into the city. Towards City Center. I ended up tracking them to their destination. That¡¯s what the picture I sent you was.¡±


    ¡°You found where the scavs were storing their stolen chrome!¡± Panam nearly shouted looking at me in shock.


    ¡°I found where at least this group of scavs were storing their chrome. I don¡¯t have the whole picture. I don¡¯t know why they are storing it on a yacht. I mean I can guess they are intending to take it out, but it¡¯s not that sort of yacht. I don¡¯t think it would survive an ocean cruise.¡±


    ¡°Definitely not. Not unless you¡¯re sailing in an Arasaka Super Cruiser.¡± Saul said with a snort.


    ¡°Anyway. The yacht is docked at a super secure marina. It¡¯s gonna be nearly impossible to try and pull the crates off the yacht with a truck. We considered getting another boat just sailing up and transporting everything over, but that would be easily noticeable, and finding a boat that can hold that much chrome?¡±


    ¡°Not likely. AV wouldn¡¯t work either.¡± Scorpion mentioned as his mind removed possibilities.


    ¡°Which is why I thought¡­ Why not steal the whole yacht?¡±


    Saul was looking at me with an upraised eye. Scorpion had a growing smile on his face, and Panam had the look of a women eyeing a big payday.


    ¡°Sounds like it could work. It would be tough. Stealing a yacht like that? Not like lifting a truck.¡±


    ¡°Right. Plus as soon as that thing starts moving people are going to notice, so the clock starts. So I thought to myself. Motoko. What group of people do you know that you could trust that might be willing to help set up a secure area in the badlands to offload everything into vehicles and get it moving before something like the NCPD would show up.¡± I said ending my words with a big wave of my arms at the nomads.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think we can help.¡± Saul said after a few moments of seeming to consider it.


    ¡°What? Saul!¡±


    ¡°Hey Saul!?¡± Both Panam and Scorpion tried to argue but he raised his hand and both went quiet.


    That¡¯s right. This was before the whole Panam/Saul conflict that happened in a year or so. Panam still respected Saul, and wasn¡¯t basically running from the Aldecaldos due to their differences in opinions.


    ¡°It would bring a lot of heat down on us. Maybe even too much. Not just the NCPD, and whoever this corpo is that owns the yacht. Imagine what will happen once the Raffen figures out what we did, and they will.¡±


    I frowned. I hadn¡¯t considered the Raffen angle.


    ¡°Bullshit! We should do this! Imagine all the eddies that will flow in we get a piece of that much chrome!¡±


    ¡°Easy Panam. Easy.¡± Scorpion argued but Panam was on her feet.


    ¡°Saul!¡±


    ¡°Panam. Enough. We won¡¯t take part. It¡¯s too dangerous.¡± Saul denied firmly. He turned to me as Panam was forced to stand there in defiance. ¡°Sorry Motoko. This isn¡¯t something we can take part in.¡±


    ¡°No worries. I get it. I hadn¡¯t considered what the Raffen would do if they caught the scent of that much chrome.¡± I would actually need to figure out what to do about that. It would be a long drive back into the city with our trucks full of loot. Plenty of time for some Raffen to hunt us down.


    ¡°This is bullshit!¡± Panam cursed as she instantly just turned away and stomped off.


    ¡°Panam! Fuck. I¡¯ll check on her Saul.¡± Scorpion said but before he ran off he turned to me. ¡°Sorry Motoko. It¡¯s cool that you thought of us but¡­ Yeah.¡±


    I threw him a thumbs up as he took off and then I was back to Saul.


    ¡°You¡¯ve been up to a lot.¡± Saul offered after a moment. ¡°You should be careful. Doing something like this will put you in a lot of peoples'' sights.¡±


    I nodded but since he wasn¡¯t going to help. ¡°Thanks Saul. I need to get going.¡±


    ¡°Good luck kid.¡±


    Nothing more needed to be said. I walked back to the Quadra with a lot on my mind.


    Was I rushing a big gig because I thought it would be cool, rather than staying safe? The heat of something like this could be¡­ Huge.


    Maybe I should just skip it. Keep taking out scav dens. Let it go?


    Well I had a few hours on a long drive to think about it.

 Chapter 86

    I was still hammering through the issue in my head when I got back home. I would call the team together soon to chat about what to do, but we had been running around for a few days now. Best to give everyone some time to decompress.


    Unluckily for me. Jun wasn¡¯t home which was disappointing. I really wanted to talk to him about what to do.


    So instead I flopped onto the couch and pulled up all the data. All the recordings and pictures.


    Oh! Hiromi had actually sent me a dossier on the owner of the yacht¡­


    Well it wasn¡¯t quite that professional, but it had the information I had asked for.


    ¡°Bartolomeo Mordellini.¡± I muttered as I read through the information. Apparently he was a purveyor of certain kinds of entertainment for the rich and famous. Parties. Drugs. BD. He did them all, and was apparently rich and popular enough his parties could even have high entry costs. The sort of thing that the rich and famous could get involved in to make themselves seem even richer and more important than the people that couldn¡¯t get in.


    His yacht the GEIshhhA was a common party spot.


    I¡¯m sure the parties were all very respectful and drugs and other entertainment wasn¡¯t allowed.


    Sure.


    But there was a benefit here. As popular as he was. He wasn¡¯t a member of a corp. If he disappeared some people might be annoyed at the lack of parties, but I doubted I would have corpo hit squads after me and my chooms.


    Why Scavs? I didn¡¯t get the connection though. He obviously wasn¡¯t one himself. But why would a guy who hosted parties help out Scavs?


    Money?


    I doubted it. If he was hosting parties with the rich and famous he was already quite wealthy. So what was going on?


    I shook it off. Whatever deal he had didn¡¯t matter. Fuck the Scavs, and fuck this asshole who worked with them.


    So how do I come away with this gig without getting burned.


    To start with. I would need to move the yacht. I would have to make sure it even had fuel, if it didn¡¯t it certainly wouldn¡¯t be able to move. That would be tricky.


    I would need to do this hopefully without having the marina realize until it was too late.


    Then I would need to sail the boat down the coast to somewhere I could loot the thing, hopefully NCPD didn¡¯t have a coast guard element¡­ or if they did, they would just ignore what I was doing. I gave it a 50/50 either way.


    Then I would need to have enough people to unload the ship. To pack it away into trucks and get it the hell out of there to hide it somewhere else. All without having Raffen or other scavengers come to take it from me.


    The Nomads not helping made it more difficult.


    I sighed.


    Did I want to try bringing in the SLS into this?


    I winced at the very idea.


    Sure they obviously knew how to loot, but bringing a bunch of kids that I barely knew? With crates of chrome each worth tons of eddies?


    I would be surprised if even half the crates showed up at the end.


    Could I trust them? I don¡¯t know. I was leaning towards no though. Maybe I can hire them out to help Hiromi while she is selling or something, but for something this big¡­


    So who else could I trust?


    The Mox?


    I had to shake my head there too. While I was close to Rita, and I liked Judy and Nox. That wasn¡¯t the Mox.


    The Mox were more than just three people, especially three people that weren¡¯t all that high up in the gang.


    Suzie Q. I had met her before, but I was well aware that Suzie was very much a Mox first kind of woman.


    Could I trust that I would have any of the crates left over at the end?


    Ugh.


    The one negative about not being part of a gang I guess. Sure I didn¡¯t have to deal with mob boss assholes willing to throw me away at the drop of a hat for a few eddies. But I also didn¡¯t have enough people I trusted to get some gigs done.


    I was even starting to consider going to Wakako. She would know people, but I was sure if I did that my payday would start dwindling real fast.


    I shook it away. I would talk to Jun. He was great at giving me advice, and being a sounding board.


    I ended up getting stuck in my head despite my goal to wait for Jun, so when he finally got home a few hours later, I hadn¡¯t done anything but consider what I was going to do.


    ¡°Jun! I need life counseling!¡± I demand from the couch sitting and pinning him with a firm look.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°I need advice. Come sit when you are ready.¡± I told him firmly with a nod of my head, and Jun must have realized something because he snorted and nodded, first heading to the kitchen and then coming back to settle onto the couch with a drink in hand.


    ¡°What¡¯s up Motoko?¡±


    ¡°So here is the deal.¡±


    ¡ª--


    ¡°You should totally steal it all. Flatline the gonk too.¡± Jun offered with a sage nod.


    Which did nothing to actually help me.


    ¡°Your life counseling sucks.¡± I informed him which didn¡¯t seem to bother him as he shrugged.


    ¡°Motoko. You¡¯ve been thinking about all these groups that could help you out, but you forgot one of them in your list.¡± He says and I have to turn my head away.


    I hadn¡¯t forgotten one of them.


    It just wasn¡¯t even an option.


    ¡°Fujimura-Sama would definitely mobilize the Kamikaze for a payday this big.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not working with the TC on this Jun.¡±


    ¡°You are worried about the heat a gig like this will bring right? If the TC helps, suddenly the heat moves away from you and your chooms, and is put squarely on the TC. It solves all of your problems.¡± He argued.


    ¡°Except I would have to work with the Tyger Claws! Putting myself even closer to¡­¡±


    This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.


    ¡°Becoming one of us?¡± He said with a smirk.


    ¡°I¡¯m not.¡± I argued instantly, but I was definitely not whining! Jun reached over and pulled me into a hug.


    ¡°I know. You¡¯re a bit too wild. It drives Fujimura-Sama mad.¡±


    ¡°Good! He¡¯s a jerk anyways!¡± I grumbled but Jun just stayed there and I sighed. ¡°I don¡¯t want to just be some gang banger Jun. I shouldn¡¯t need to rely on something like that.¡±


    ¡°Well you have choices Motoko, but it sounds like all the choices have good things, and bad.¡± He informed me and then like the big brother he was he picked me up as he stood up and tossed me back on the couch suddenly as I yelped at the sudden motion.


    ¡°Figure it out. I¡¯ll help if you want help.¡± He said and then just walked into his room.


    Oh man I am so cannonballing his ass sometime soon for this.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°I don¡¯t get the problem Motoko. Let¡¯s just grab Richard and some of the kids. Rent a couple trucks and steal the boat. You said you could.¡± Hiromi said as my chooms and I had met up that night.


    ¡°I said I probably could.¡± I mumbled, but it wasn¡¯t very strong.


    I don¡¯t know why, but I was just nervous about this gig. It was one thing to take out some Scavs, or something. Street level crime happens every day.


    Stealing a yacht that probably cost more than a million eddies? Stealing an entire shipment of Scav chrome?


    All with the chance of it blowing up in my face?


    My chooms were happy with taking part, and maybe getting a ¡®rep¡¯ from the gig.


    But I wasn¡¯t.


    ¡°I like being unknown Hiromi. Doing it all ourselves means all the heat goes straight to us.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not understanding the problem with this Motoko.¡± Hiromi said, continuing to argue with me across the table. We were back at my basement, which had somehow become our defacto hangout point I guess. ¡°You need a better rep. Right now no one knows you. Like¡­ When we went to get the car back. If you had a rep, they wouldn¡¯t have dared mess with us.¡± Hiromi argued.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think a rep would have changed that-¡±


    ¡°It would have. It totally would have. God Motoko You are like a super ninja killer but everyone just treats you like an unknown because you don¡¯t¡­ Show off! You are so standard it¡¯s infuriating. Sometimes.¡± Hiromi said with a groan of frustration.


    ¡°Did¡­ Did you just call me standard? What does that even mean!?¡± I demanded and Hiromi rolled her eyes.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t mean anything bad! You just don¡¯t try to build a rep or anything. You don¡¯t ever hype yourself up. You do the BD thing, but no one even knows it¡¯s you! You could be like a famous solo right now!¡±


    ¡°Fame just means more people know about me, and can plan around my skills. It¡¯s a terrible idea.¡± I argued but Hiromi rolled her eyes at me, turning to the boys.


    ¡°Help me out here.¡± She demanded and the boys perhaps wisely both didn¡¯t jump in. Malcolm even raised his hands up nonverbally saying don¡¯t bring him into this.


    ¡°Don¡¯t try to team up on me. That¡¯s mean!¡± I said and Hiromi growled a bit.


    ¡°Motoko I think you¡¯re amazing, but you are so gonk about this. Rep is important, it tells the gonks on the street not to mess with you. If you weren¡¯t hiding yourself so much, you could walk into any TC place and they wouldn¡¯t dare mess with you!¡±


    ¡°And it would make every gonk on the street that thinks they can make a rep, come for my hide.¡±


    ¡°Hardly! You don¡¯t see people gunning for Jun do you? That¡¯s because everyone knows Jun will flatline them! You just need to build up a rep too.¡±


    ¡°Hiromi. I literally got kidnapped, because people were gunning for Jun.¡± I reminded her waving my silver hands at her.


    She winced, looking a little lost as she didn¡¯t have a good rebuttal.


    But¡­


    It wasn¡¯t about winning or losing the discussion.


    ¡°Maybe you are somewhat right. I¡¯m feeling nervous about this gig. If the nomads had agreed to help I think I would have been fine, but now we have to rely on hiring another group. Either the SLS, or going through Jun to get TC gonks. It just makes me uncomfortable.¡±


    Hiromi didn¡¯t jump into the conversation like she normally would have. I guess my words had cut a little deeper than I expected. Instead she seemed to be thinking, so I simply let the quiet settle in.


    ¡°Sorry for pushing. I guess I get why you don¡¯t want to have anyone notice you.¡± Hiromi offered and I frowned.


    ¡°It¡¯s not like that¡­ At least I don¡¯t think it is¡­ Is it?¡± I had to ask myself.


    Is my hesitation fear of what happened before? Of being the one being attacked, and not doing the attacking?


    I was definitely weaker on the defense than offense.


    But everyone was really.


    Was that why I was so hesitant to let myself be known, to build a rep outside of the few people I trusted or worked with?


    Was I just afraid?


    This time Hiromi was being considerate as I stared at my hands.


    Was I afraid of people knowing? I mean sure Ninjutsu worked best without anyone knowing I existed, but I wasn¡¯t just a ninja.


    I wasn¡¯t just a netrunner.


    I was Motoko, and I had a life to live. I leaned back in the chair staring at the ceiling.


    The picture of the ships hold pulled up before my eyes. That was a lot of chrome, a lot of eddies.


    I wasn¡¯t hurting for eddies, but was I the kind of person that would let an opportunity flow past me just because it was a risk?


    I hadn¡¯t thought I was before. The Nomad gig had told me I wasn¡¯t the type to let something go just because it was dangerous.


    But had I done anything that really put myself at risk since the kidnapping? Well once I got over my absolute hatred of Maelstrom?


    I had been careful on gigs. It didn¡¯t always work out like getting short circuited and shot by V3L and Morgan.


    But I had been super hesitant to even do that gig at the time too.


    No.


    No, I wasn''t going to live my life afraid. I would just have to get better. Be better.


    Improve myself. Improve my chrome.


    Improve my rep.


    I had to admit. Maybe just a little I was turning into a real Night City Citizen.


    Because the idea of just letting this go wasn¡¯t in me.


    ¡°Fuck it. This is what we are doing.¡±


    ¡ª--


    The BD started with a blink of my eyes.


    I had purposefully set myself in a good position. I was crouching over the glass railing on the office building looking over the Marina.


    The preparation for this moment took a few days. Checking to make sure I knew how to get the yacht moving. Making sure it could move. Getting all the little pieces in place.


    Tonight I was going to leave a real mark on Night City.


    I intended it to be a good one.


    Looming like a gargoyle as I looked over the marina I made sure to focus my eyes on the men wandering around.


    Security, high rollers, everyone. Mentally marking them and making sure they wouldn¡¯t be in the way. Dawn was an hour or so out. So it was still dark and it was at the moment where there was the least amount of people left hanging around.


    The yacht had even had a party tonight. I would likely have to deal with at least a few passed out people before I got the yacht moving.


    But that had all been prepared for.


    So I moved. Leaping off the edge of the railing, enjoying the feeling of being in the air, even flipping forward once just to add a bit of flair, as I landed in a crouch on top of the open structure atop one of the bars. The wood under my fingers firm.


    There was no one below me.


    I had already checked, but I acted like I hadn¡¯t. I moved. Running atop the wooden slats and then leaping.


    There were cameras all around. But as I flipped again in the air I sent a command, and all of them shut down.


    I landed and moved. Sliding along the bar and security room, rushing right for the open window I had leapt through before. This time I didn¡¯t wait for the guard inside to get away.


    I leapt through the window going full speed. Slamming into the guard and instantly wrapping myself around him, legs and chrome arms strangling him down and shushing his struggles as he did his best to resist before I secured his carotid artery and he went limp.


    Go time.


    I punched a shard into the security computer. Where it ran the program I had dropped inside. It was probably the single hardest part I had contributed while we prepped over the last few days. A virus.


    It was the first act to building a rep. To making myself into something more than just a merc, or an edgerunner.


    But a phenomena.


    Sure it wouldn¡¯t mean much now. Might even just be ignored in the grand scheme of things. But if I was going to be more blatant, I was going to do something cool with it.


    I jumped right back out the window and raced down the docks. The path was clear. No guards were around so I had free access to the ship. With a casual move I cut the chords holding the ship secured and leapt on. I raced over the top of the boat, avoiding the inner party area.


    If there was anyone still inside, they were going to have an adventure.


    I hit the back of the boat and the bridge door opened. My previous escapades having already given me full access.


    Thankfully it was empty and so I rushed to the control console.


    Now unfortunately driving did not actually tell me how to work a yacht.


    No that had taken a trade with Yoko to get a user manual for this fucking thing. Thankfully the yacht were made for rich people that didn¡¯t know how to actually sail. I pulled it out and followed the steps to get the engine to boot up and slowly a faint rumble started through the boat.


    It was really quiet. Made sense, a pleasure yacht wouldn¡¯t want to have a loud engine.


    I pulled back on the throttle, and slowly I watched as it began backing out of the dock.


    Of course no matter how quiet, the marina was a high end million eddie sort of place. Some alert went through no matter how silent and I already noticed guards all along the Marina start rushing around.


    That was when my eyes flashed as I reached out to the security system.


    My vision shifted looking out through the camera systems at the Marina.


    [Reboot Optics]


    I hit them all. Guards, clients, workers.


    Suddenly, like a plague, everyone''s vision cut out. The fact I was already infiltrated into the guards security system meant even if a particular guard had some ICE it wouldn¡¯t matter.


    The hack spread among them causing chaos as guests and guards all started screaming as they lost their sight.


    I had actually modified the Quick Hack while preparing for this. Reboot Optics when it started back up meant their vision would still be blank. Too dark to see anything, but they would be able to see their agent screen if they had one installed, or their eyes settings overlay.


    It had come to me while planning this, a way to make the hack even more effective. A way to gain myself more time.


    So when all of their optics rebooted, a virus had infested their system. Covering their vision as it took over the overlay of their optics.


    They wouldn¡¯t be able to get access to their settings to reset their brightness unless they were truly tech savvy because they would have to do it without actually being able to see their system behind the symbol I had implanted.


    Instead their eyes were locked onto a certain symbol.


    The only thing they could see.


    ¡°I thought what I¡¯d do was I¡¯d pretend I was one of those deaf-mutes¡­ Or should I?¡± I muttered to myself. The blue symbol of the laughing man from Ghost in the Shell, the symbol of the Laughing man. A super wizard class hacker, able to completely bypass someones vision.


    I wasn¡¯t quite at that point yet, but it was a reminder to myself about what I wanted to become.


    Then I continued, spinning a wheel to spin the yacht around. It was a slow lumbering thing.


    But I had some time¡­


    Probably.


    I did have an air canister and mask sealed into the small of my back just in case everything went wrong and I needed to leap overboard if the NCPD attacked.


    But I was sure this would work out.


    Mostly.


    Maneuvering the yacht out of the marina I got it going forward out towards the sea, and slowly slowly out to sea.


    I would need to head south, the the Biotechnica flats, south of the city would be the meetup point.


    Ichi and Malcolm had done a good job finding a place we could unload the ship from.


    Once I had the ship moving and a straight line would do for a few moments, I stepped away and headed out of the bridge. Time to see if I had captured some hostag-important people.

 Chapter 87

    I sauntered down the steps into the yacht, and into the room that was more like a club than what I expected on a boat.


    And I actually had three sleepers¡­


    Oh no there was a fourth person passed out, half way under a table.


    Four.


    One of them I recognized.


    Too bad for Bartolomeo. The owner of the yacht was someone I had been planning on having a certain kind of meeting with already. The other three I didn¡¯t recognize, although the fact the other two were women told me what had been happening. Bart had one woman curled up against him. Both were naked enough I knew what had been happening. The two men were equally undressed but the big guy had rolled off the couch at some point and was basically napping under the shadow of a table.


    I nearly whistled as I walked along the room, taking note of everything.


    Like the fact Mr. Table had a Burya near him.


    Interesting.


    I picked it up and checked it. Loaded.


    That was an easy fix, and then I put it back to where it was.


    There weren''t a lot of people that walked around with a Burya. They were clunky, heavy, difficult to conceal, overpowered weapons for most people.


    It only made me more suspicious about Mr. Table''s identity.


    Was he the Scav contact that Bart had?


    Was this guy important with the Scavs? Well I might just find out.


    First I hacked into all four of the sleeping gonks. It only took a few moments to breach their systems and put in a jammer.


    Any attempts to reach out for help would fail couldn¡¯t have that after all.


    Then I grabbed an unopened bottle of champagne, swished it around, shook it up to make sure it was nice and frothy, and then popped the cork.


    The spray of champagne over Barts face was more than enough to leave him sputtering awake with a curse.


    ¡°The fuck! Bastard who did that? Is that you Sandra? You bitch!¡± He cursed, clearing his eyes of the frothing alcohol.


    ¡°Not exactly.¡± I told him using my Sexy Motoko Voice. After all, this guy wasn¡¯t dealing with a teenager looking at a big score.


    No, this time I was a dangerous edgerunner having already taken a millionaire hostage.


    He jerked away as he caught sight of me.


    I was wearing the section 9 gear with a few additions. The upper part of my face was covered by a set of tech gogs I had picked up.


    I mean the Major had a set. So I needed one too.


    Especially since this was my first big gig.


    ¡°The fuck-¡± Bart was cut off as I pulled my Lexington out from behind me.


    He might be a millionaire but he was also a NC resident. He knew instantly what trouble he was in.


    ¡°Hey easy! Listen, I''m sure we can work this out. Whatever bounty is on my head, I¡¯ll pay it out! Honest I mean this is my yacht, I have the eddies!¡± His gibbering had obviously started waking the others, thankfully with the techgogs on no one could see my eyes as I tracked Mr. Table as he sat up from underneath the thing taking in the sight of me pointing a gun at Bart.


    ¡°I¡¯m not here because you have a bounty, Bartolomeo Mordellini.¡± I informed him calmly. ¡°I¡¯m here because of the multiple crates of Scav gathered chrome that is currently below our feet.¡± I idly tapped my toes a few times to let the sound echo around.


    Then I went silent to let my statement fill the air and I could see the fear on his face.


    ¡°Bitch.¡± A russian accented voice said from behind me, but I ignored the big russian man that was now pointing a Burya at me.


    The fact he was mostly naked was also a reason I was doing my best not to look. Nice Mr. Studd there champ.


    ¡°Let me guess you are the Scav contact Bart here is working with?¡±


    ¡°Hah! As if you will ever find out little whore, I will enjoy seeing your corpse ripped into-¡±


    That was as far as he got as I drew on him. My Burya casually pulled out of my shoulder holster and aimed. I purposefully drew slow.


    Giving the fucker plenty of time to pull the trigger himself.


    The audible *Click* of his Burya failing to fire was very satisfying, but not as satisfying as seeing his head suddenly vanish.


    I let the roar of my Burya echo around the room. The girls both screamed in shock at the sudden noise, both now fully awake and suddenly realizing the danger they were in.


    ¡°H-hey!¡± Bart called out hands up as I hadn¡¯t taken my Lexington away from his face, nor had I truly looked away from him.


    I loved my Kiroshi.


    ¡°Bartolomeo. Perhaps now you are more willing to listen?¡±


    ¡°Yeah! Yeah sure whatever you want! Yeah the hold has the chrome! I swear they threatened me! Kajetan had a gun up to my head! Honest! He nearly kidnapped me once and¨C¡±


    ¡°I really don¡¯t care.¡± I told him simply because I didn¡¯t.


    I didn¡¯t believe for a second he was just being threatened. You don¡¯t usually have an orgy with a guy that was threatening your life.


    Or maybe you did? Hell if I know how Night City scumbags ran things. Fucking weirdos.


    No, I had no doubt that Bart thought he was cool and dangerous for having gangster connections.


    ¡°What what are you going to do to us?¡± The woman sitting besides Bart asked, she had been slowly trying to gather her clothes to cover herself after realizing the situation she was in.


    ¡°You and that one aren¡¯t any of my interest. You are free to go once we get where we are going.¡± I told the woman.


    ¡°Wait. What? Going?¡± Bart asked, looking around in confusion, before seemingly remembering he was on a yacht.


    That his yacht could actually move.


    ¡°Take a look for yourself. Feel free to jump into the water if you want to escape early, but I wouldn¡¯t recommend it.¡± I told them as I pointed at the front of the boat. ¡°I want all of you out there on the front of the boat. Get dressed and get moving.¡± I ordered and the girls were quick to listen, reaching around to grab clothes and start dressing themselves.


    ¡°Bart that means you.¡± I demanded my Lexington still aimed at him and he hurried to find a pair of pants amidst the party mess.


    I simply turned away. Taking only a moment to grab the empty Burya. Didn¡¯t want to risk someone finding some ammo for it, and headed back out and into the bridge.


    We hadn¡¯t gone too far. This thing wasn¡¯t exactly a speed boat. So I only made a slight adjustment to the course. Of course as I was doing that I was seeing a lack of three gonks standing out on the front of the boat so I could keep track of them.


    I walked back down, noticing the three had mostly huddled together. The girls now dressed, if not decent. While Bart looked like he was searching for something, tearing through the cabinets and couches.


    Ah he probably had a gun somewhere.


    I fired a round into the fancy molding above his head earning screams from all three.


    Heh. Bart screamed like a girl.


    ¡°I said get to the front of the boat. Perhaps I wasn¡¯t clear.¡±


    The three hurried out barely dressed and terrified. With that done I went back up to the bridge to navigate to the drop off.


    ¡ª--


    With the three gonks at the front of the boat, I was able to sail it down the coast while keeping an eye on them. The one time they thought to try and sneak back inside, I had come down with a warning shot that had come much closer to hitting than they had liked.


    The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    So they stayed where I wanted them.


    I was actually surprised at the lack of response. No NCPD patrol boats tracking us. Or AV¡¯s flying in to launch a MaxTac team.


    It was just a quiet trip through the waters until we left the sights of the city behind and towards our destination.


    Then slowly I spotted my stop. A few trucks sitting out near the water with a dozen or so workers ready to haul the loot out of the hold. The only place along the coast that was low enough to get on, but wasn¡¯t a beach. It was old concrete, a boat dock at one point years and years ago, but had been abandoned for decades.


    Ichi and Malcolm had found it, and so we had our meetup point,.


    As I approached nice and slow, cables were thrown over and only once I had the engine off did I head out to grab the cables and lock the boat in place.


    Everyone was wearing masks hiding their faces and quickly got to work, setting up a ramp and dragging hand trucks up to start unloading the crates.


    Richard gave me a nod as he passed by.


    In the end Hiromi had pushed for using the SLS for this gig. I still hated the idea, but we needed the muscle to get this shit out of here at any real speed.


    Besides as much as they all listened to me. I wasn¡¯t their boss. We all worked together. Even if I did a bit more a lot of the time.


    Ichi, Malcolm, Hiromi and I would be keeping an eye on the trucks to make sure nothing disappeared as we transported everything back to a storage yard that Ichi and I had put together for us.


    The three gonks were pulled off the boat by a few of the SLS and pushed out of the way.


    There was no need to worry about holding onto them.


    We were in the middle of the desert miles from Night City. They must have realized it too, as the girls mostly stayed huddled together, while Bart continued to glare and curse under his breath.


    Especially when crates of chrome started being pulled off the yacht.


    Each one made the man angrier.


    But he wasn¡¯t a complete fool. He kept himself quiet just glaring.


    Just as the first few crates started getting pulled out of the yacht my Quadra pulled up.


    Hiromi had dropped me off at the Marina, and had driven my Quadra out to meet me. I walked over and noticed the eager look on her face as she stepped out of the car, but she didn¡¯t move away from it, just leaning against the car as she looked on as more and more chrome was put into our hands.


    ¡°It¡¯s amazing.¡± She whispered and I nodded along as Hiromi looked on at all the hard work she had done.


    After all, I might be the one handling all the combat and stuff, but logistics were Hiromi¡¯s speciality.


    Hiromi and I watched on, after she gave me back the key to my Quadra and we watched on as the trucks were loaded up, each crate representing a ton of eddies for our pockets.


    Then when the hold was emptied it was show time.


    The BD needed a finale after all.


    I walked back onto the boat making sure it was empty. I noticed the lounge area in the lower decks was suddenly far less full of money and drugs.


    I rolled my eyes at the SLS but if they wanted to grab a bonus as long as they stayed away from the chrome I wouldn¡¯t complain.


    The yacht was let free despite Bart yelling asking what was going on.


    It took a minute to angle the yacht out to sea. Then I hit the engine and ran.


    I leapt off the boat landing in the shallow water as the yacht started its journey out into the pacific.


    ¡°That! That¡¯s my yacht!¡± Bart yelled looking at me in anger.


    But I ignored him, unfortunately for him, the gig wasn¡¯t over yet.


    I walked over to my Quadra under the watchful eyes of my crew, the SLS and the three prisoners.


    There I pulled out of my trunk a special surprise.


    The case was heaved out and then opened, and the moment the kids saw what I was pulling free they all screamed in surprise.


    Then cheered.


    ¡°Watch the back blast.¡± I told Hiromi as I hefted my Uragan onto my shoulder.


    I knew having a Rocket Launcher would come in handy someday.


    ¡°Wait¡­ Wait wait wait!¡± Bart screamed but he was held back by the guns Malcolm and Ichi were covering him with.


    Then I fired.


    The Rocket launched, giving me a bit of a kick as it soared high into the sky before angling back down.


    The Nomad missiles were pretty good. Normal Uragan missiles were just dumbfire, but having some guidance on them was a nice trick.


    The missile came down on top of the yacht.


    The explosion was shattering.


    For all Barts stupid Yacht looked like a sleek stealth ship, it was just a pleasure cruiser.


    It ripped apart, then exploded again when its Chooh2 went up. I might have made sure the fuel tanks were topped off before all of this happened.


    Just for the extra fireworks.


    The entire ship turned into nothing but  shrapnel as the kids around us all cheered at the explosion.


    ¡°You bitch. You blew up my Yacht!¡± Bart called out sounding almost defeated as he fell into the sand around the concrete. He was angry.


    He was wrathful.


    He was going to be a problem.


    Which is why this had already been all planned.


    I walked over and before he could even realize what I was about to do. I put a bullet in his head.


    *250 XP Gained.*


    The two girls started shrieking as they realized I had just executed their choom.


    ¡°Working with Scavs meant you were a dead man. Did you think I was going to let you walk free?¡± I asked his corpse before turning to the girls. They both flinched looking horrified.


    ¡°Not gonna hurt either of you two. You have two options. Walk now, or hitch a ride back to the City. If you cause any problems though I¡¯ll kill you.¡± I informed the two women with simple words and then adjusted the Uragan on my shoulder and looked back to my crew.


    ¡°Pack it up! We are moving!¡± I called out and everyone cheered.


    Gig complete. BD ended.


    ¡ª--


    We did just as I said. Driving into the city, we dropped off the two women at the first metro stop we came to. They both hurried away, and that was the last I saw of them.


    We drove on. Towards the storage yard Ichi had sorted out for us. Well mostly his work. I had unfortunately realized that if we were going to store this much loot we couldn¡¯t just do it on our own terms. It would be picked clean far too easily. There was too much. It was too tempting.


    We couldn¡¯t trust the SLS to watch it without it going missing, so while they were transport they wouldn¡¯t be the ones watching our loot.


    No, I had unfortunately been forced to make a deal with the devil.


    We pulled into a storage yard, waved in by the Tyger Claws gangsters sitting around the entrance as each truck moved in under their eyes.


    Inside I pulled to the side as the trucks moved in to start unloading into a storage lot Ichi was managing. I had put Ichi and I into a room with a man I didn¡¯t want to deal with to help set this up. A man that was even now waiting for me.


    I unfortunately had a conversation in front of me.


    ¡°Fujimura.¡± I greeted as I stepped out of the Quadra. The man was leaning against his own car obviously waiting to see what would happen.


    ¡°Kusanagi. I see you were successful.¡± He mentioned looking actually pleased as the trucks opened up and the many many crates of chrome was revealed.


    ¡°Yeah. Worked out just like I said. No issues other than the owner of the yacht was onboard when I klepped it.¡± I noticed his look and rolled my eyes. ¡°He¡¯s flatlined, as is the Scav fucker he was partying with. Pretty sure it was his contact.¡±


    ¡°I see. Then it was a successful gig. If one of my subordinates pulled off a success like this, I would have no choice but to promote them.¡± He mentioned, obviously digging, but I shrugged.


    ¡°Too bad I¡¯m not your subordinate. Our deal won¡¯t have any surprise complications will it?¡± I asked not quite looking at the man as we both watched Ichi guide the kids into unloading.


    I was really glad that none of the trucks had gone missing enroute.


    Then again. Other than me driving my Quadra Malcolm, Ichi, and even Hiromi had been driving the trucks. I had been tempted to ask Nox for help as well, but there was honestly a reason I had revealed my Uragan to the kids before we left.


    I made it very plain that if any of them tried to run off with a truck¡­ I would deal with them.


    ¡°It will not. These men are mine, and they will treat your belongings as my own. None will go missing. As long as your part of the deal is upheld.¡±


    ¡°Course. Everyone wants chrome. Me, my chooms, even you.¡± It told him. That was the price of using TC protection.


    Fujimura, or more specifically the Kamikaze would have the right to get some of the chrome we gathered, basically their ripper would come in pick out things they wanted, and they would all be free up to a certain point, basically Hiromi gave them a stipend they could grab some things with, the rest they could buy if they wanted to be clients. It would keep us from having to pay the TC directly as well.


    Honestly the deal was pretty heavily on my side. Fujimura had seemed very pleased to try and tie me ever closer to the TC.


    As always Fujimura was tying the noose around my neck all the tighter.


    Their ripper would be here soon, I would have to reach out to Vik as well. See if he wanted to come down for some cheap chrome.


    No, I remembered Hiromi was already on that. I already noticed the way she was still hanging around inside the truck definitely on a call with someone.


    Good. The sooner we turned all of this chrome into eddies the safer we would all be.


    It was a lot harder to steal bank accounts, than crates of chrome.


    I would already be hanging around the lot just to make sure no one managed to get in.


    A heavy hand landed on my shoulder and I didn¡¯t startle. I had of course already noticed his approach.


    ¡°Good job Imouto.¡± Jun said, pulling me into a side hug as he looked at the crates with pride.


    ¡°Yeah¡­ Good job me.¡± I muttered frowning. The job wasn¡¯t done. Not yet.


    Despite succeeding. Despite the potential of making a ridiculous sum of eddies from this chrome.


    As long as this chrome was still chrome and in our hands, it would put a target on us all.


    I shook myself free from Jun without a word and headed to look around the storage lot. I would be keeping a close eye on the chrome in the lot over the next few days until it all sold. So I was going to get a feel for the grounds.


    As Hiromi oversaw the SLS unloading the chrome into the storage unit. As Ichi and Malcolm congratulated each other on their new riches.


    As Fujimura looked on with that arrogant look on his face as if he was the one who planned all of this.


    I watched on, really wishing I had my Nekomata with me.


    Just in case.


    ¡ª--


    It was four long days later.


    I was doing some minor programming work on my laptop while looking over the storage lot when I noticed Jun of all people pull into the storage space.


    The TC gangsters all greeted him eagerly.


    Heh Jun being famous was still funny to me.


    Of course I put my laptop away to focus on what Jun was doing. Simply connecting back into the camera systems all over the storage lot that let me listen in.


    ¡°-don¡¯t know where she is? She¡¯s been hanging around the last four days!¡± Jun argued and the gangster he was talking to just shrugged.


    ¡°Haven¡¯t seen her.¡±


    Jun looked around in confusion. He must be wondering what was going on because every time he had texted me to try and get me to come home had been me saying I was keeping an eye on the loot.


    So I squinted my eyes and reached out with a finger just letting the finger touch the top of where his head was and then snapped a picture, which I sent him as a text.


    I watched on as a moment later he startled before looking around himself as he tried to figure out where I was.


    Then of course he just called me because Jun¡¯s Hide and Seek game is pretty weak.


    *Motoko Where are you?*


    *I literally sent you a picture you gonk. Head across the street into the office building. The lobby is open and you can take the elevator up. I¡¯ve already added you into the security. Also stop trying to spot me, you are going to give my hide away.*


    Then I hung up on him. Wakako might be a bitch for doing it to me, but it was pretty funny to do it to other people.


    Then I just waited, keeping an eye on the lot through the scope of my Nekomata as I waited for Jun to get here.


    Finally the roof access door opened and Jun stepped out and I waved at him my hand poking through the dark piece of carpet I had¡­ ¡®acquired¡¯ from an empty floor in the office below me.


    No one was using it! They could have it back when I was done.


    ¡°Motoko, what are you doing?¡± Jun asked as he stood up over me.


    ¡°Gonk, get down! Don¡¯t let anyone see you!¡± I snap back even raising the carpet up a bit showing him the entrance so he could slip in.


    The hide had been growing over the last few days. Originally just part of the AC unit chosen because I was able to get access to the plugs so I could charge my laptop. It had grown with the addition of a few chairs found in the offices below, the carpet over top and some cushions stolen from a couch that was in the lobby so I had something soft to sit on.


    Thankfully it wasn¡¯t too hot this week, and I had some nice sea breezes to double up on that.


    ¡°Here take a cushion.¡± I offered sliding it over and Jun gave me a really mean look. There was absolutely no reason to look disappointed! I was working! Also my pillow fort game was insane! Look at this thing! I was in the lap of luxury!


    ¡°Motoko what are you doing up here? You haven¡¯t come home in days.¡±


    ¡°I already told you! I¡¯m keeping an eye on the loot. Hiromi, Ichi and Malcolm came by like an hour ago for another load she found a buyer for. I¡¯m making sure it doesn¡¯t disappear before then.¡± I argued instantly.


    ¡°Fujimura-Sama gave you his word that wouldn¡¯t happen. Just come home.¡±


    ¡°I know Fujimura wouldn¡¯t steal from me¡­ Probably. But I don¡¯t trust those gonks.¡± I said pointing out through the peek hole made with an office chair that my Nekomata was resting on and the carpet overhanging meaning it was only a tiny hole and it would be nearly impossible to see back through.


    ¡°Ugh. Motoko you pulled off an awesome gig. The TC are all chattering about what you did, hell lot of people are. The Yacht theft was all over the news. No one is going to steal from you.¡±


    ¡°Trusting other people not to steal from me is pretty stupid, when I can just make sure they can¡¯t.¡± I said, using both hands to gesture to the Nekomata which was very specifically pointing at the storage lot.


    ¡°The TC won¡¯t steal from you Motoko.¡±


    ¡°Maybe.¡± I agreed without actually agreeing.


    ¡°Whatever, fine¡­ Tell me about your gig.¡± He demanded and had the audacity to steal another of my cushions to rest his back against as he leaned against the AC unit.


    I narrowed my eyes at the blatant theft but decided to show once again that I was the better person.


    Completely ignoring how everything around me was stolen in one form or another because those were the intrusive thoughts you just didn¡¯t listen to.


    ¡°You¡¯ll be able to see it yourself soon once the BD comes out, but it was pretty awesome. I blew up the yacht with my rocket launcher! It exploded!¡± I couldn¡¯t help but gush a little and Jun stilled.


    ¡°Wait, when did you get a Rocket Launcher?¡±


    ¡°The Uragan that was under my bed? I¡¯ve had it for a while now. I traded it to the Nomads. Remember when we hit that Raffen group before the Meat Man thing.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean under your bed?¡± He demanded with a growl. Realizing the danger I made to run.


    I wasn¡¯t able to escape.

 Chapter 88

    I ended up stuck watching over the lot for an entire week as Hiromi wheeled and dealed. Selling off chrome to anyone and everyone willing to buy.


    Considering the amount, it was almost lucky that the TC were interested in so much of it, because offloading it was not easy for Hiromi.


    We definitely flooded the market for civilian chrome to rippers and the like.


    In the end there wasn¡¯t any trouble. Sure we had a few people sniffing around, but they all gave up when they saw the TC guys guarding everything.


    Nothing big.


    No kids sneaking around trying to steal it. No TC grunts trying to swipe a crate.


    No Scavs showing up to get back their chrome.


    Nothing.


    It was quiet.


    At least not toward the lot. Because I was so busy I had to pass on a gig that Jackie had been given by Wakako, which sucked, Wakako hadn¡¯t been pleased that I wasn¡¯t able to join in, but considering I hadn¡¯t heard anything Jackie must have succeeded.


    After we sold everything, or at least enough of the chrome that the dregs left behind weren¡¯t really something we were going to worry about. I was able to stop lurking over the lot.


    For my chooms it was a week of running around selling like crazy. They were forced to protect, transport, and sell the chrome without me as I watched over the hoard.


    A week before Jun¡¯s increasing grumpiness at me not coming home ended as the chrome was finally gone.


    A week before we all finally met up to celebrate our success.


    ¡°Cheers!¡± Ichi called out and raised a glass. I raised my own to click with his, as Malcolm and Hiromi both joined in.


    We were at the Ho-Oh Club celebrating.


    ¡°Heh! You should have told me about your little act of Piracy Motoko!¡± Akari whined as she downed her own beer.


    ¡°Akari let them enjoy their success.¡± Jun said with a roll of his eyes. Practically holding the borg back from jumping into our little group.


    We were at the Ho-Oh club, because Jun wanted to basically throw a party for my success and he picked the location. Akari had somehow found out about it and decided she wanted to join.


    I hadn¡¯t had the heart to tell him I wasn¡¯t a fan of this place, considering the old management.


    But it was still a TC club, and now that it had a second floor open, that is what Jun took over for the party.


    At least the second floor was nice. A bit higher class than the BD bar down below. It was more like an actual club. The couches were comfier too.


    I leaned back as Jun and Akari bickered, as Hiromi continued to look super proud.


    She had been on Cloud 9 since we had sold the last of the chrome. Utterly thrilled with all the work she had done.


    Honestly we all were.


    I was just more anxious about the repercussions. The looming threat of what the response could be. Which is why I was happily hanging out with the chooms to relax.


    ¡°Motoko! When is the BD gonna be ready?¡± Ichi asked, suddenly pulling me back into the present.


    ¡°Ah. I haven¡¯t dropped it off yet. I¡¯ve been a little busy.¡± I reminded them with a sigh. All my chooms nodded, unlike Jun. Ichi, Malcolm, and Hiromi had all been super relieved that I had taken up watching the loot. ¡°I¡¯ll go visit Judy soon.¡± I assured them.


    ¡°You know you could go to a TC editor.¡± Jun offered looking grumpy at the mention of my Mox friend.


    ¡°Nah. Judy¡¯s preem.¡± I denied instantly, besides. The longer it took the BD to release the better. I had actually been really tempted not to make one of the recording. Tempted to kill the two women that Bart had been with as well.


    If there had been no survivors, it would have been quieter.


    But the SLS had seen, the TC had known. It would have gotten out eventually. So instead I was going to be blatant about it. Show how dangerous I was, by being almost overconfident.


    Yeah I had stolen the Scav shipment. What were they going to do about it? Fight me?


    That last bit was the reason I was worried.


    I liked my life in Night City. I didn¡¯t want to have to worry about even more knives in the dark.


    I shook it off.


    That nagging feeling of danger wasn''t any of my skills or knowledge.


    It was just paranoia. I took a deep breath and exhaled.


    ¡°So what is everyone going to do with your eddies?¡± I asked and suddenly my chooms went silent as they all considered their wealth.


    We had made enough eddies to put all four of us into a new economic bracket. At least until we spent it all, but it wasn¡¯t like street kids like us normally had tens of thousands of eddies we could blow as we liked.


    ¡°Oh, well. I¡¯m gonna save most of it for my Grandmother just in case. I mean, maybe look into some chrome.¡± Ichi offered with a casual shrug, although I noted that the last bit was less a maybe and more a definitely for the teenager.


    ¡°Oh I¡¯m getting some better chrome too. I¡¯m thinking some subdermal¡­ Just so I don¡¯t have to worry so much about getting shot up.¡± Malcolm offered. ¡°Otherwise¡­ Maybe a car of my own. I wouldn¡¯t mind having my own ride.¡±


    ¡°Oh! I¡¯m going to invest it into some quality flash chrome!¡± Hiromi happily cheered. ¡°I need to look the part. Father offered to take me to an Arasaka medical clinic for some real corpo chrome.¡±


    ¡°Oh fancy!¡± I said smiling, considering the Arasaka aesthetics¡­ Yeah that would look pretty preem on Hiromi. It might change her style to a more goth style, but I bet it would look cute on her.


    ¡°What about you Motoko?¡±


    I shrugged, I had a few things I wanted. I still wanted to get a Kusanagi Yaiba of my own.


    Motorcycles were cool after all.


    But I also wanted to get more chrome, and I would need to set aside thirty, maybe forty grand for a future plan.


    Then I needed eddies for my engineering XP grind¡­


    And I could do well with an even newer Cyberdeck¡­


    I snorted. ¡°I have so many things I have no idea!¡± I told my chooms earning laughs from Hiromi and Jun chuckled at me too. So that was nice. But Jun reached over and pinched me!


    ¡°Ow! Jerk!¡±


    ¡°Get some more chrome Motoko. You don¡¯t have to take something from the chrome you klepped, but go get some upgrades. Promise me you¡¯ll at least get some subdermal, Maybe a pain editor, and biomon as well. Just fit yourself out.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ I¡¯ll get the Subdermal.¡± I admitted and all my chooms cheered and Jun nodded pleased. I really didn¡¯t need a pain editor. Cold Blood did an amazing job of that already, and a biomon seemed silly.


    I didn¡¯t need a damn health bar.


    ¡°Good, you should protect yourself. Is there anything else you¡¯ve been thinking about?¡± He asked prodding me and I did have to nod. There was lots of stuff!


    Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.


    I really wanted a Sandy after all! And Optical Camo! Going invisible would be so preem! I wanted to be even sneakier! Maybe some Lynx paws of my own so I would be even quieter! I mean, sure I probably didn¡¯t need that last one, but I could get some jumpy ankles¡­


    Was it time to get some leg chrome? I had to consider as my mind actually remembered it was a thing.


    Yeah. It might be.


    I would have to talk to Vik about it. He would give me Dad level advice.


    ¡ª--


    I woke up the next morning in my actual bed. I had decided to take a full eight hours of sleep, just to reset myself.


    It felt nice to wake up refreshed and feeling good. I guess in the end I couldn¡¯t complain about what the future would hold.


    I would just deal with it as it came, and keep preparing just in case it was dangerous.


    So that was exactly what I was going to do.


    I got up and headed out. Jun was already gone, he must have been tired when he drove into work this morning since he stayed up so late partying with Akari. Who was entertaining at a party while also incredibly annoying. So the usual.


    The sky was falling like crazy and I noticed the streets were semi flooded.


    I avoided the oncoming traffic as best I could due to all the puddles and the tendency of people in NC not to give a shit. So it took a bit longer than usual before I piled into my Quadra and headed out into the streets safe from the rain.


    The streets slick with oil painting the entire road a rainbow as I drove through the traffic towards Viks.


    I parked outside Misty¡¯s Esoterica like always and rushed inside to get out of the rain, earning a laugh from Misty as she watched me pull my jacket from over my head.


    ¡°What? It¡¯s rainy out there!¡±


    ¡°I know you gonk, usually people bring an umbrella when it¡¯s raining.¡± She teased pointing out her own neon umbrella resting in the corner.


    ¡°Pshht! I don¡¯t need it!¡± I said, although the fact I was still wiping water out of my hair had Misty giggling.


    ¡°Sure you don¡¯t. Here to see Vik? I don¡¯t see any bullet holes this time.¡± Misty offered and I grinned at her tone.


    ¡°Nope, just a visit. I was too busy doing guard duty to see him after he put in the order for all that chrome I picked up.¡±


    ¡°I heard about that. Vik mentioned it¡­ You going to be okay Motoko? That was a lot of stuff you dropped off I hear. More than usual.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± I muttered still wondering that myself. ¡°I did a really big gig. I found out this rich playboy guy was working with Scavs. Holding onto their chrome in the hold of his yacht¡­ So I klepped it. You know, thinking about it. The NCPD will have to put Piracy on my rap sheet¡­ That¡¯s pretty cool.¡± I muttered I would have to go check the NCPD sheet on me soon.


    Misty just snorted at my muttering and pulled me into a hug which was nice.


    ¡°That must have been dangerous, but if you stole from Scavs. That¡¯s a good thing.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­ It¡¯s big though. I¡¯m worried about them retaliating. It¡¯s one of the reasons I¡¯m here to talk to Vik¡­ I think it¡¯s time for some new chrome. I¡¯m ready for an upgrade.¡± I tell her and she just nods.


    It wasn¡¯t like people really had that much of an issue with chrome. So Misty probably just thought I was making a big deal with all the eddies I had now.


    But this was me deciding to overcome my fear.


    ¡°Then you should go see him. Good to see you Motoko, come by more often okay?¡±


    ¡°I will! I¡¯ll come hang out later we should get food or something!¡± I agreed, earning a smile as I headed through the shop down the stairs and into Vik¡¯s lair.


    ¡°Motoko! Come in come in! You didn¡¯t say you were going to stop by.¡± Vik called out as he turned down the sound of a boxing match playing on his small TV.


    ¡°Vik¡­ I need some chrome.¡± I said as firm as I could and Vik noticed it. Slowly he nodded.


    ¡°You sure? No, I see that you are. Alright kid. Let¡¯s get you chipped up. What do you need, let¡¯s make sure I have what you need.¡±


    ¡°First? I need some Subdermal. The best we can get. I don¡¯t want people putting any more holes in me if we can help it.¡± I told him and this time Vik frowned.


    ¡°A good choice, but I don¡¯t have anything that high end in stock¡­ I know a guy though, give me a sec.¡± He muttered as his eyes went gold and he leaned back into his chair.


    Since he was obviously making a call I wandered over to the ripper chair and plopped in.


    Just kicking my feet for a while as Vik tried to help me.


    Good old Vik.


    ¡°I got something. A set of Militech-Armalite Ballistic Guard.¡±


    ¡°Armalite? Isn¡¯t that a gun company?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but ask. Armalite was a name I recognized. They made one of the most popular guns in the world. The AR rifle platform. It was always weird when I came across a company that I remembered from my last life.


    ¡°Huh? Oh, they were about a century ago. Surprised you remember that.¡± Vik mentioned and I had to resist starting to whistle at my accidental reveal. ¡°They make armor for Militech now. Their subdermal is top of the line. A lot of it flooded the market after the last war.¡±


    I nodded made sense. I bet a lot of it that hit the market wasn¡¯t brand new either. Plenty of old NUSA soldiers dying on the street only to have their chrome stripped.


    It was kinda gross, but I trusted Vik.


    ¡°Well kid anything else you are looking to get?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I pulled up my leg by the ankle and pointed at my legs. ¡°Know any good reinforced tendon cyberware? I need to up my mobility. Um but preferably something that isn¡¯t going to make my ankles creak as I sneak around. So big jumps but still quiet.¡±


    ¡°Heh that¡¯s an old wives tale, they will be just as silent as your own ankles. But that I can do. I¡¯m guessing you aren¡¯t looking for something cheap?¡±


    ¡°I want the best of the best Vik. I have the eddies. Better to go for quality for what I¡¯m putting in me.¡±


    ¡°Well kid, now you''re talking my language. Check that screen, let¡¯s go through a list and see what we can scrounge up.¡± He said as he rolled over and I pulled down the screen on his ripper chair watching as the options changed until it showed a listing of all sorts of leg Cyberware.


    Small updates, like the reinforced tendons, to nearly full chrome legs all listed out.


    I shook my head at some of the many options. ¡°Just the reinforced tendons. I don¡¯t want to go crazy here Vik. Not yet anyways. Maybe someday I¡¯ll get a matching set of limbs.¡± I joked.


    ¡°Alright kid, don''t worry. We¡¯ll find you the chrome you are looking for, In fact¡­ Let me check my stock, I might just have a surprise that would be perfect!¡± He offered with a smile that I couldn¡¯t help but return.


    I was feeling a little nervous to add more metal into me, but not because I was afraid of psychosis or anything, but just because I wanted to make sure I was taking it slow and steady.


    But getting shot so much would kill me a whole lot faster than a bit of mental zaniness.


    Besides, I had found plenty of ways to get XP. If nothing else I could always go Daemon hunting.


    ¡ª--


    It took two hours for Vik to get his delivery of the Subdermal. Which I did look over in a sort of fascination.


    The armor wasn¡¯t a solid piece like cloth, or armored panels like I expected.


    The subdermal instead was a sort of hexagonal mesh that could be put together like¡­ Well Lego wasn¡¯t quite right, but you could add and remove the hexagons to adjust it to the exact size you wanted.


    In essence, it would be put together piece by piece beneath my skin turning into a bullet resistant mesh.


    Vik made sure to keep mentioning it was bullet resistant, and not bulletproof despite what the marketing would tell me.


    ¡°Trust me Vik. I know the difference between bulletproof, and bullet resistant.¡± I assured him but he just gave me his dad look and continued setting up the blueprint of where the mesh would be implanted in on his screen.


    The reinforced tendons were easier Something he had pulled out of storage covered in dust. Vik had talked up the chrome quite a bit and I did trust him but¡­


    ¡°They seem kinda sketchy.¡± I muttered as he put down the container for the implant on the table beside me.


    ¡°These are beyond solid kid. Professional sport quality Cyberware. The stuff they fit on Night City Heat¡­ You have no idea what that is.¡± He said suddenly at my blank stare.


    ¡°I have no idea what that is.¡± I agree.


    ¡°Kids these days. It¡¯s the Night City Professional Basketball team!¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t watch sports Vik.¡± I denied his excitement turning him into a grumpy old man complaining about kids not liking the right sports ball team.


    ¡°Regardless! The chrome used to be owned by a basketball player, a kid that grew up here in heywood actually. Dante, good kid, came by every once in a while for years. A few years back he came by to have me do the upgrade. He was worried his agency was setting him up to take a fall with a new set of chrome. After I checked his chrome, I swapped him up, and he said I could keep these as payment. Funny kid. Paid me afterwards anyways.¡± Vik chuckled but he gave me a strong look. ¡°These things are high end sportsware. Chrome like this is in a lot of ways even better than the top of the line stuff you could find. It¡¯s pricy, but since you don¡¯t care about cost, trust me. This is the chrome you want.¡±


    ¡°Alright Vik. I trust you. I¡¯m ready. Let¡¯s get Chippin.¡±


    Vik stilled and gave me a look


    I returned a firm nod.


    ¡°Alright Kid. Lay back.¡± Vik said reassuring me with a hand on my shoulder as he gassed me up a bit and I was out.


    ¡ª--


    Militech-Armalite Ballistic Guard *Adaptation Ballistic Guard 0/2*


    Serano Air-Groove Ankles *Adaptation Serano Air 0/1*


    I was checking my status after Vik woke me up and had me sit up.


    ¡°You all there kid?¡± He asked and I nodded shooing away the screen.


    ¡°Yeah, just taking it in. Bit itchy, and my ankles feel kinda big, and wobbly.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s normal. Your skin is itchy because it¡¯s healing. Once it¡¯s done with that, you might feel some weird stretching. You are literally bigger on the inside now after all.¡± Vik said joking to try and keep me calm. ¡°The tendons is a big replacement kid. I mean this is the first time you¡¯ve ever gotten such a big change in chrome outside of the obvious. Take it slow.¡± He told me firmly, but I just nodded.


    It wasn¡¯t too bad though. I had chosen this, so I was pretty comfortable with a bit of weirdness for a little.


    ¡°Now normally I wouldn¡¯t even let you walk for a while, but that¡¯s professional chrome made for fast healing¡­ And you already heal fast. So make sure you do some light exercise, starting in a few days!¡± He cut himself off poking my chest. ¡°Before you do something crazy, you will feel like you are running weirdly at first, and you should practice outdoors in a place it won¡¯t be too bad if you fall to get used to your new jumping ability. I¡¯ve seen a lot of fools fall to their death because they tried to leap across something they shouldn¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Got it. Take it slow, get used to it, and wait a few days for everything to heal, or Vik will give me his disappointed dad face.¡± I joked and to my surprise Vik almost jolted at my words, before a slow deep chuckle escaped him.


    ¡°Yeah that¡¯s right kid. I¡¯ll give you the worst disappointed dad face of your life.¡± He said, smiling a little as he reached out and to my surprise¡­


    And maybe secret delight, he fluffed my hair.


    ¡°Hey!¡± I pouted as required by all teenage girls when someone messes their hair but he just smirked at me.


    ¡°Now take a puff of this now. It¡¯ll help keep the pain down, and help heal up the wounds. Yes Motoko I remember you heal fast, but take it anyways. Come by tomorrow or the day after at the latest. I¡¯ll want to check you out after you sleep.¡±


    ¡°Thanks Vik.¡± I said seriously, reaching out and grabbing his wrist for a moment. ¡°Really thanks.¡±


    ¡°Heh, anytime kid.¡±


    ¡ª--


    ¡°Hey Misty.¡± I called out as I walked into her shop. I was very grateful no one had seen me walking up the stairs to Viks clinic. I hadn¡¯t fallen, but the bounciness was going to take some getting used to. It was like wearing moon boots. My ankles also felt like they were made of rubber. It was fun, but in a weird sort of way.


    They also hurt a bit, but between Cold Blood and Viks drugs I wasn¡¯t exactly bothered.


    Besides, I was heading home to sleep it all off.


    ¡°Motoko! You¡¯ve been down there a while, get some new chrome?¡± Misty offered as she waved me over to a table she was sitting at.


    ¡°Yeah, new ankles, and some subdermal. I kinda want to stop getting shot at all the time.¡± I told her and she nodded at that trying not to look uncomfortable at me getting shot.


    ¡°Vik will have taken care of you though. Do you need anything?¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯m good. I¡¯m just gonna head home to sleep it off, and then I¡¯ll be right as rain.¡± I offered before noticing the way she looked a little down at that. ¡°But I wouldn¡¯t mind a few minutes to rest my feet. Whatcha looking at?¡± I asked as I took a seat across from Misty who looked up in delight as she started chattering about the article she was reading.


    ¡°Speaking of Motoko. You sure you don¡¯t want a Tarot reading?¡± Misty asked already seeming to pull out the cards but I shook my head, reaching out to pause her hold.


    ¡°No thanks. I prefer to let the future be something I make¡­ I don¡¯t need to be told what¡¯s going to happen. I¡¯d rather get the fun of experiencing it directly.¡± I told her and for a moment Misty looked like she wanted to argue, probably tell me I was getting it wrong, but eventually she just smiled and put the cards away.


    ¡°That¡¯s very wise of you Motoko. Living your life as it comes.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not like that really. I¡¯m just too much of a gonk, if you told me something bad was going to happen, I would end up freaking out and probably just make it all worse.¡± I laughed, it was doubly true since Misty definitely had some ability to tell the future.


    Best just avoid it though.


    ¡°I think it says a lot about you though. It means you really have your own path set out for yourself. I like it.¡± She offered and I beamed a little at her compliment.


    ¡°Hungry?¡± Misty asked suddenly, and I couldn¡¯t help but nod which had her beaming. Five minutes later we were both set up in comfy chairs with some very zen ambient music playing as the two of us devoured some takeout Misty had run out to get from a restaurant nearby.


    It was nice. Cozy.

 Chapter 89

    Home was nice. Jun was still at work when I got home but I was kind of glad because I was really wanting a nap.


    My chest itched.


    Like crazy.


    I was forced to use Cool just to resist the irritation. So I really wanted a full sleep to hopefully remove the discomfort.


    As I flopped onto the bed wincing a bit as I pulled my boots off my ankles that were all blotchy and swollen.


    Despite Vik¡¯s gentle touch he had still stuffed shit into my body. I was bruised up a bit. I didn¡¯t even want to check my chest. My leotard thankfully had a bit of stretch to it despite the armored layer so It was wearable. It did feel a little tighter than normal, although that could just be the swelling.


    So I laid back onto my bed and set myself to eight hours.


    I blinked awake feeling pretty damn good. I stretched, noticing that the pain that had been just under my skin before was gone, although I winced a bit as the itching wasn¡¯t entirely done with.


    Sure it wasn¡¯t nearly as bad as it was, but as I stretched and felt the way my skin stretched there was a bit of irritation in areas.


    I scratched a bit and that seemed to end it.


    For now.


    I checked my ankles which¡­ Well they didn¡¯t quite look like how my ankles used to look. Part of that was the realskin seams over where the chrome had been added in. There were two seams, One along the top of my foot, and one about mid thigh height. The Real Skinn was a good match for my own so that was cool.


    Vik did good work. I actually thought the seams were kinda cool too.


    I wiggled my ankles left and right.


    Up and down.


    Rapid fire wiggled them.


    Seems everything was good.


    I stood up, rocking a bit, I did have a bit more bounce to my step. I would definitely need some practice to get the hang of everything again, but it was pretty natural to walk forward and I didn¡¯t have too many problems.


    Without thinking I did a little extra bounce that would normally have just put me an inch off the floor only to bounce my head off the ceiling.


    ¡°Ow.¡±


    Hadn¡¯t Vik warned me to be careful where I practice¡­


    Fuck he could never know. The Dad look would shatter my self esteem forever.


    I rubbed my head as I left my bedroom. I was gonna need some exercise.


    Time to go for a jog.


    ¡ª-


    I was so bouncy! It was taking up my entire focus as I ran down the street. My feet felt like they wanted to lift off the ground with every step. Once I got used to just how much bounce I could get, I entertained myself by doing front flips over the terrain of Night City as I jogged around.


    Startling people as I literally flipped over their heads if they were in my way.


    When Vik had originally told me about the Serano, he had mentioned their quality. He hadn¡¯t told me my hops would go to pro basketball player level. Or rather he had, but I hadn¡¯t understood.


    I was leaping high enough that my feet would be over where my head was at the apex of the leap if I was walking.


    Hell. I was easily leaping six feet straight up without a lot of effort. Especially since I could probably get even higher with some training and getting used to them.


    It was super awesome.


    And sort of distracting. I just knew I was going to overestimate my leaps for a while until I got used to them¡­


    Or until I burned a stat point for Adaptation. It was only a one drop for my ankles which was nice.


    Both the subdermal, and the ankles being so low cost had reassured me.


    I guess my arms had been so costly due to the unique circumstance.


    I stretched my arms up to the sky enjoying the tension in my chest from the action. Of course as usual the chrome arms hitched, or maxed out their extension in a weird spot.


    I still needed to add more points into them.


    But my ability to move was certainly better than it had been. I started slipping into some parkour, leaping up over vending machines, or other obstacles, as I broke into a jog. Letting myself really see what I could do.


    I was still right around the block of the apartment, but Instead of circling around. I turned and just ran.


    Hitting another office or apartment building and just¡­


    Going up.


    Climbing straight up a building was a very unique experience, it wasn¡¯t something most people ever really did.


    But my hands knew exactly where to grab, my legs brought me to where I needed to move ever upward and I didn¡¯t hesitate.


    I reached the roof by flipping over the edge landing in a quiet crouch.


    I grinned to the kid that had been hanging around the roof a can of something in his hand dropped as he flailed at my sudden appearance beside him from the wrong direction. Then just kept moving.


    I bounced over the edge, landing on a sign board and then running along it until I leapt again. Hands gripping into concrete and metal as I climbed over the side of an upper level bridge. As always parts of Night City were multiple levels, and it was awesome to be able to reach them completely on foot.


    Then I ran, jumping and climbing onto a street light, until I was on top of it.


    I stood looking over the street chest rising and falling in a gentle rhythm. The fact I wasn¡¯t out of breath, but I was breathing harder than normal, just a reminder I still needed to level body and athletics more.


    I laughed at the thought, unable to hold back breaking into a long delighted laugh as I raised my hands above my head.


    I loved this world.


    I loved being able to be more.


    As my laugh ended I turned Parkour helped me pick out the best rout. I jumped from the light pole to a building.


    The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    Everywhere I looked I could see a million paths I could run through the city.


    It didn¡¯t matter what was before me, because I could traverse it.


    So I leapt again and again.


    ¡ª-


    My feet landed quiet as a mouse in front of my apartment building. I was definitely breathing heavily now, sweating like crazy and really feeling the exercise. I had gotten a few Body alerts popping up, having been running and parkouring through the city for the last few hours just loving the rush of movement, and getting practice with what I could now do.


    I looked up at the section of the city high above the apartment that I had just came down from.


    That would be a useful trick in the future.


    I suddenly turned and remembered the attack that had lost me my arms. How I had tried to climb up a building to escape.


    With my new ankles I would have been able to get away.


    Not that it matters. I patted my shoulder holster. I was always armed now.


    Of course I looked at my alerts for a moment.


    *100 Body XP Gained*


    *100 Body XP Gained*


    I was really going to have to start seriously pushing myself if I wanted to grind more level ups.


    I headed inside, wiping my forehead and running up the stairs because I might as well get a little more exercise.


    I jumped into a quick shower to clean up and after slipping into a new leotard I flopped on the couch and grabbed my laptop. I still had another Quick Hack that I hadn¡¯t ¡®fixed¡¯ yet.


    Weapon Glitch.


    Ping was an amazing utility, giving me information to better sneak around.


    Reboot Optics was excellent at removing threats, but it was also very obvious.


    Weapon Glitch? Weapon Glitch was just as good at removing threats, but it could also be prepared in advance.


    No one missed when their eyes suddenly stopped working, but being able to turn off weapons before ever being revealed would give me a good advantage.


    I looked at both the original Weapon Glitch I had bought from Yoko. The ¡®fixed¡¯ version I had put together which was okay, but still not great.


    Then I considered how I could make it great.


    I had enough experience now. Enough skill that I knew what to do. How to go about it.


    I was going to make a Weapon Glitch that would just be hilarious. If I could get the hack to bounce through the network, I could definitely get it to spread to every weapon connected to whatever gonk I was fighting against.


    I could potentially get it to bounce an unlimited amount of times within the network if I process the virus right.


    Length and spread. That was my goal. Sure I could probably get a version that causes weapons to explode or something, at least smart weapons, causing their fuel and ammunition to cook off in the gun would be nasty, but that meant less loot!


    No, I wanted a single quick hack to massively reduce the threat of a large group of people.


    So I started programming.


    ¡ª-


    ¡°-Mass hacking incident perpetrated by what the NCPD have decided to call the Laughing Man Hacker.¡±


    I blinked as I watched the news report. I had remembered that there had been an actual news report about my act of piracy.


    So of course I had checked it out!


    Apparently hacking the optics of dozens of rich and famous had caused a bit of a wave. I had to giggle uncontrollably as some playboy singer was interviewed absolutely spitting mad about how I had blinded him.


    Apparently he had been mid¡­ Coitus when it happened, and it had been with a married woman. A woman that was his bosses wife. Blind as they had been, they hadn¡¯t been able to split up before someone had come to help them.


    I¡¯d apologize but the guys rant was a bit much.


    Temptation to assassinate rising.


    But it was all hot air¡­ I think. I made a note to check if the guy actually knew anyone that could cause me trouble.


    In the end since they didn¡¯t take too long to figure out how to fix the blindness the incident slipped off the news.


    But for a short time the Laughing Man, had been big news.


    Cool.


    Scary, but cool.


    In the end the news never figured out who I was before the whole incident was forgotten. In the end I had only killed the one person after all. Everyone else affected was just given a small optical virus that had been fixed that night.


    I tapped my neck feeling the shard ports.


    I still had the BD recording saved. I hadn¡¯t handed it over yet. I could just forget about it¡­


    No, that was fear talking. I rose up and stretched. It was getting late, but Judy should still be at Lizzies.


    I got dressed and headed out enjoying the drive through the city, singing along to the radio.


    Lizzies was booming when I got there. So much so that I had to drive down the street to find a parking spot. In fact there was practically a line getting in, but I did what any person does when they know the bouncer.


    I walked past the line up to Rita.


    She was glaring at a pair of gonk kids at the front of the line that were trying to talk their way in.


    ¡°C¡¯mon! We¡¯ve been out here for three hours!¡±


    ¡°And you¡¯ll wait a bit longer.¡± Rita offered with a glare and a move that caused her baseball bat to tap against her chrome shoulder with a tink noise.


    Of course I was getting attention by bypassing the line. Glares and a few irritated call outs, but they all expected Rita to halt me.


    ¡°Hey Rita.¡±


    ¡°Motoko.¡± She greeted with a single nod, before looking me over. ¡°Business or pleasure?¡±


    ¡°Business. I¡¯m here to see Judy.¡±


    ¡°Go on in then.¡± Rita said and the looks I got from the people in the line was pretty hurtful.


    Wasn¡¯t my fault I was here with actual business.


    The insides were crowded as I wandered in walking past hordes of people flirting and drinking.


    Luckily I was able to walk right through to the back and then down into Judy¡¯s lair.


    As I walked in, I was surprised that Judy wasn¡¯t alone.


    Suzie Q. The leader of the Mox was standing beside her, looking down at a monitor.


    ¡°Oh. Hey Judy. Should I come back later?¡± I asked, making sure they knew I was there.


    I knew how sneaky I was, I didn¡¯t want to get caught standing around waiting for them to notice and have people think I was spying.


    ¡°Jesus!¡± Judy jumped despite my attempt to not scare her. ¡°Motoko! I¡¯m getting a bell on you I swear to god!¡±


    ¡°Sorry sorry!¡± I flailed a bit as I apologized mostly because Suzie Q had jumped too, and she unlike Judy didn¡¯t look amused.


    Or very happy to see me.


    ¡°No come on in, Suzie was just looking over my list of new BD¡¯s. What brings you here?¡± Judy waved me in, which I noticed didn¡¯t make Suzie very happy.


    But I wasn¡¯t here to make her happy.


    ¡°I got another BD. A big one this time. I went on a big gig, stole tons and tons of scav chrome from where they were keeping it. Stole a yacht, blew it up with a rocket launcher at the end! Should be preem.¡± I offered, trying to act casual at the awesome tidbits I just offered.


    ¡°Wait. Stole a yacht? Motoko! Are you the Laughing Man?¡± Judy asked suddenly without warning! I wasn¡¯t ready for this!


    ¡°Ugh! I can¡¯t believe they called me that! I¡¯m not the laughing man, I¡¯m not a super wizard class hacker¡­ Yet.¡± I muttered, I would get that power someday.


    ¡°Super wizard class hacker? What in the world is even that?¡± Judy struggled to ask as she laughed through the question.


    ¡°It¡¯s a thing!¡± I argued but it was Suzie Q that broke in then.


    ¡°You¡¯re the one that broke into the Gold Beach Marina? You?¡± She asked, looking me over, with a look saying she refused to believe me.


    I shrugged. I wasn¡¯t here to prove I had done something.


    I popped the shard out of my socket and offered it up to Judy. ¡°See for yourself.¡±


    ¡°Yoink!¡± Judy chirped, snatching the shard and pushing her chair wheeling over to her system where she inserted the shard and seemed more than willing to get to work.


    ¡°You¡¯re the one that saved Nox.¡± Suzie Q muttered suddenly as if she suddenly remembered where she had seen me.


    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s how Nox and I met. I¡¯ve been giving my BD¡¯s to Judie, to fix up, and then Nox sells them.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. The XBD¡¯s. I remember now¡­ You¡¯re also the one that took out Jotaro.¡±


    I didn¡¯t say anything. I didn¡¯t nod, or make any acceptance of that. Just a glare on my face as I thought about that monster.


    ¡°Alright. Judy get those BD¡¯s added to the server before you jump into that. You might not look like much, but any girl that can make the news, and murder that monster is someone welcome here.¡± She gave me a single firm nod as if my presence was now accepted before walking off.


    ¡°She always like that?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but ask Judy.


    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s how Suzie is now. She used to be a lot nicer, before Lizzie died.¡± Judy offered, sounding distracted as her fingers ran across her keyboard.


    ¡ª--


    Back home I didn¡¯t jump back into programming even if I kept having the feeling of ¡®programming good¡¯ whispered into my brain.


    Inspired programmer was super useful, but it did mean I had that urge to act on it all the time.


    No, instead I grabbed my guitar and my music box. I had been rushing around so much the last few weeks, first tracking the scavs, then the gig to steal from them, and then guarding the loot.


    I had even jumped straight into work when I got home, but I really needed to decompress a bit.


    So I hit my first note and played something actiony just to get the energy out of myself. Slowly as I finished song after song, I slipped into more relaxed music. Soothing tones and crooning vocals.


    A few songs went by and then suddenly I got an alert.


    *Rockerboy skill level up!*


    Rockerboy 6! I smiled as I felt myself relax, as always improving made me feel better. So I just kept playing, and while I played I considered my situation.


    While I still winced a bit at actually starting to get a rep, it did have benefits. There was a certain respect in the city for people who have done things.


    Stealing a yacht and blowing it up counted, I guess. Maybe?


    I don¡¯t know. Night City people were fucking weird.


    I now had eddies to spare. Even with the purchase of my subdermal, and new ankles I still had a ton of eddies.


    It was nice, but honestly I wasn¡¯t ready to buckle down and slam through tech yet. I was just too focused on other skills. So the eddies were pretty much just going to be sitting around for now unless something popped into my head that I wanted.


    I continued to play along to songs as I relaxed, letting the sounds lull me into a calm mood.


    ¡ª-


    The next day I got a call from someone I wasn¡¯t expecting.


    *Yoko! What¡¯s up?*


    *Motoko. Or perhaps I should call you the laughing man?* She asked, in a teasing tone.


    *Ugh. I can¡¯t believe the news actually started calling me that, just because I used the J.D. Salinger quote.*


    *It¡¯s eye-catching, and you inflicted it upon some of the rich and famous. Of course it would become news. You should come by the server. I¡¯ve had a lot of questions about who it was with a reboot Optic hack that could last for hours. People are interested, as someone who has been around the block? You want to come in and get some of their attention out of the way now. Unless you want to deal with everyone trying to hack you constantly over the next few months.*


    *Ugh. That¡¯s annoying! It¡¯s not really turning them off that long. It¡¯s just a trick.* I replied irritated.


    *Oh I¡¯m aware. You modified their user preferences, making them blind. Smart. I hadn¡¯t even considered that before. Usually the settings don¡¯t go that dark.*


    *How do you already know? Ugh. The only reason they don¡¯t is because the settings are purposefully limited. I just added-*


    *Come to the server Motoko. There are a lot of people that want to hear all about what you did. Think of it as a congratulations party. You did something interesting enough that everyone wants to hear the story from the source.*


    *Oh. Okay yeah. Sure. I¡¯ll be there soon!*


    *Excellent, then I¡¯ll see you soon Motoko.* Yoko hung up and I smiled at that. Quickly jumping away from the couch and heading to get dressed.


    There was a part of me wondering if this was a trap and the NCPD were going to attack my unconscious body, and haul me into jail, but I trusted Yoko.


    Plus I was kinda wanting to show off.

 Chapter 90

    I walked into the DewDrop Inn server to see there was a section set aside where a bunch of Netrunners were gathered, including Yoko.


    She waved me over and smiled as I looked over the group. There were about ten of them, and other than Yoko, and the one Netrunner who Yoko had brought in when I did the server dive there wasn¡¯t anyone I was familiar with, but they were all obviously here for me.


    ¡°Ah so it was you!¡± A voice called out and I had to blink.


    His face¡­ Wait, this guy? Why was he so familiar? I actually was pretty sure I recognized this one!


    ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°On one hand, I want to shove all my worst daemons in your face for blinding me right in the middle of a very enjoyable night with a woman I had been trying to get on my yacht for years¡­ But on the other hand you killed that bastard Bart, and blew up his eyesore of a yacht¡­ So I¡¯ll let it go.¡± He offered and I just blinked at this random guy who had a very familiar face.


    ¡°Otter Business, leave the girl alone, we are here to congratulate her on her programming.¡± Another Netrunner called out, shooting me a smile and waving for me to take a seat.


    ¡°Pfft. It took me two hours to figure out what she had done! Two!¡± He growled, throwing his avatars arms up in the air. ¡°Fine, fine¡­ It was a good program. I was only able to recover a few fragments of the source program, though, wouldn¡¯t mind getting a taste of the original.¡± He said and suddenly he was booed by everyone that was sitting around the table. A few even threw digital ¡®chaff¡¯ at him.


    ¡°Stop trying to steal the march you wannabe. Don¡¯t you have a crappy TV show that no one watches to get to?¡± Another voice called out and Otter seemed to take this personally.


    ¡°I have a primetime spot! You bitch!¡±


    ¡°Now, now, let¡¯s not fight. Ghost. Come join us. Everyone, this is Ghost¡¯s first big meet and greet, so let¡¯s all be polite or else she¡¯ll ghost us.¡± Yoko offered tittering behind a fan causing everyone at the table to groan.


    ¡°I¡¯m ignoring that you old Fox.¡± The Netrunner whose server I had dived called out and then turned to me. ¡°This is pretty unusual, normally a new hacker doesn¡¯t bring this much attention, but a new program? That¡¯s hot stuff. We are all here for different reasons. Some to congratulate you. Some to sniff out a potential buy.¡± He informed me as everyone around the table then turned their eyes on me.


    ¡°Before you speak Ghost. I know what you are thinking, but everyone here is interested in your ¡°Laughing Man¡± quick hack. So it¡¯s also an opportunity to trade with others, gain information, or favors, or even equipment you might not have. But I suggest you at least hear them out. You never know what another runner might be sitting on that would interest you.¡± Yoko explained, even as she giggled at my grumpy face as she called it the Laughing Man.


    ¡°Ugh. Don¡¯t you start Yoko. It¡¯s bad enough the news started calling me that¡­ My handle is Ghost. Not Laughing Man. But that¡¯s kinda cool. I¡¯m not really interested in trading it though.¡± I explained earning a few boos from the group.


    ¡°Ironic name, they picked out since you aren¡¯t a man. But it¡¯s certainly an interesting icon, what made you think of it?¡± Otter asked cutting in, and I noticed everyone else sort of glaring at him.


    ¡°Ignore him. Media¡¯s always have to ask questions even when they just run an economics show.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a primetime show!¡± He called out and finally my mind connected.


    ¡°Ah! That¡¯s where I recognize you from. Your Business is My Business, right?¡± I asked, snapping my fingers as it struck me where I knew the guy. It wasn¡¯t a show Jun and I watched but I remember seeing it while scrolling through things a few times.


    ¡°That¡¯s right! Since you are a fan, I guess I¡¯ll forgive the hack, what¡¯s a little hacking between friends after all!¡± He said, chuckling.


    ¡°Oh shut up already you peacock. Hey, your hack was nasty. You slammed every person at the Marina with it, and it locked them down for hours! Even if it gets more popular there are plenty of norms that will never know how to fix it. They had to call the NCPD netrunners in just to get everyone able to see again. It was preem. C¡¯mon don¡¯t be a gonk. How much for a copy?¡± A woman asked, the only identifying feature was the fact both of her eyes were covered by a set of techgogs.


    Similar to the ones I had even.


    But before I could speak and deny being willing to sell my work, another Netrunner spoke. This one had been sitting back not speaking, and basically trying to pretend to be too cool for this group.


    ¡°Don¡¯t let this shallows-runner tempt you. I checked out your previous work as well. Yoko confirmed that it was your code, so let me be blunt. Trade it to me, don¡¯t give it to anyone else, I¡¯ll pay you more than any of these wannabes can offer.¡± The man had stood up from his chair as he spoke. He was bald with piercing eyes  and I was a bit uncomfortable as he was locked onto me, his eyes never shifting.


    I narrowed my eyes as I noticed it, and slapped his backtrace down with the most brutal assault I could. A Barrier shooting up ahead of me, to break his attempt to find my physical body.


    This bastard was actually trying to track me down!


    ¡°Try that again, and I¡¯ll kill you.¡± I told him and while he seemed unconcerned, it was Yoko that stepped in.


    ¡°Ma>< I¡¯ve warned you that actions like that won¡¯t be allowed on this server regardless of how powerful your corporation is. There won¡¯t be another time.¡± She said and suddenly he glitched and his avatar vanished in a distortion of a forced movement. ¡°He won¡¯t be allowed back, He is banned from the server. I¡¯m sorry Ghost. I knew Ma>< had joined Arasaka, but I wasn¡¯t expecting him to act like them already.¡±


    ¡°Ah it¡¯s okay. I caught him pretty quick¡­ That was a sneaky trace though.¡±


    ¡°Ugh now the mood is ruined! Yoko! Play some music! We can¡¯t do a net party with this sort of atmosphere. As long as that¡¯s cool with you Laughing Man.¡± Another of the netrunners sitting around asked and I was grateful my face couldn¡¯t show how much I was flushing.


    ¡°I prefer Ghost honestly, if it comes to my handle.¡±


    ¡°Wait. Wait wait. Yoko was calling you that too¡­ Didn¡¯t Bug complain to us about a Ghost?¡±


    Yoko then spoke up, giggling a little. ¡°She did indeed! Was that you Ghost?¡± Yoko said laughing, but the way she spoke. She was offering me a denial if I didn¡¯t want to reveal that it was me.


    Yoko was pretty cool like that.


    ¡°Yeah I met T-Bug in a Microtech warehouse. She was gathering data for a choom of hers. Someone I actually know funnily enough so I helped out.¡±


    ¡°Oh man she was complaining for days about that! She was so annoyed that some unknown runner had her locked down.¡± Yoko giggled, earning some laughs from the other netrunners as well.


    I guess T-Bug was well known.


    ¡°Alright, well then Ghost. What would get you to want to trade for your program?¡± One of the other runners asked suddenly and everyone realized that the tension had eased up enough to get back to business.


    The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°I¡¯m really not intending on trading it. I mean I traded my Ping to Yoko, but this one is¡­¡±


    ¡°A personal hack.¡± Yoko nodded and I couldn¡¯t help but smile and agree. ¡°Still Ghost, like I said, it would be a good idea to hear offers. You may be surprised at what can be offered, or what might interest you.¡± Yoko said with a toothy grin.


    ¡°How about connections for a better deck? I know someone who has an Arasaka Mk.3 that would be willing to sell if I recommended it.¡± One of the Netrunners offers a woman whose hair pulsed with light from scalp to tips consistently.


    ¡°Oh please she could find that on her own without your help.¡± Another cut in, ¡°Stop trying to rip the kid off. We don¡¯t want a programmer with that sort of skill to bail to the corps or something! Speaking of kid, never join a corp. I saw that Ping you dropped to Yoko, it was impressive work, real nova stuff, but they would eat you up. They would put you in a lab and never let you leave. I¡¯m serious.¡± The netrunner told me with a firm finger pointed at me.


    ¡°God R1ot. Let it go. We get it you are anti-corp. They don¡¯t lock programmers into little dark rooms.¡± Another cut in but a few of the others booed at him.


    ¡°Says the Militech runner!¡±


    ¡°Corpo dog!¡± Another called out, but it was more¡­


    Teasing?


    ¡°Oh fuck off all of you. I¡¯m not a programmer, but I do security for a Militech site, we don''t lock our programmers away. We do protect them though. A good programmer is worth their weight in eddies.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know about that. I¡¯m a programmer, and I never had a corp offer me that much.¡± Another grumbled, but that only caused the whole group to almost as one call out.


    ¡°I said good programmers!¡±


    ¡°You have to be good!¡±


    ¡°Hahaha!¡± Yoko¡¯s laugh rolled over the group and I couldn¡¯t help but smile.


    What a weird group. Despite probably being enemies, here they were all¡­ Compatriots? I wouldn¡¯t say friends, but it still stood.


    ¡°I¡¯m kinda surprised that everyone is so friendly.¡±


    ¡°Ah yeah that happens.¡± R1ot offered his face smiling. ¡°Sure if I caught any of these wannabes sneaking into my server, I would Black ICE them in a heartbeat, but we are all netrunners. We all started as kids plugging into their first modem and stealing something from a vending machine.¡±


    ¡°Speak for yourself! My first hack was a car! It was the most beautiful Mizutani Shion I had ever seen. Drove her for miles¡­ Eventually I crashed, but for a short time I was the happiest person in Night City.¡±


    ¡°Gonk.¡±


    ¡°So! Since everyone keeps getting distracted, Ghost, let¡¯s talk price for that juicy new program you got.¡±


    ¡°Wait. I mean¡­ I know it¡¯s great and everything.¡± I demurred, earning some chuckles. ¡°But why are you all so interested in my program? There must be better stuff already out on the market?¡±


    ¡°Sure, but if it¡¯s on market, it¡¯s already halfway solved. We are a community kid, once you get to a certain height, you already know everything out on the market, how to defend against it, as best you can anyways.¡± R1ot offered with a shrug.  ¡°But you have something new. Something that no one knows how to protect themselves from. So I want it so I can protect my system from it. Others want to use it. For at least a while, it¡¯s a hot commodity.¡±


    ¡°I guess that makes sense¡­ Sorry to say I¡¯m still not really interested, but I am a programmer, and since I¡¯ve obviously impressed all of you, there is something I¡¯m always on the lookout for that I¡¯d be happy to trade some debugging work if you want.¡± I offered and from the instant interest I guess I was right on the money.


    No one liked debugging after all.


    ¡°I''m always looking for information on Scavs. If you get me something usable, I¡¯ll happily debug your code.¡±


    I smirked as I got interested looks from all across the table.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°So that¡¯s what happened.¡± I explained to Jun as we were both at the apartment. I had gotten home and brought food that wasn¡¯t XXL burritos for Jun to eat.


    We were eating Ramen.


    We were rich now you know?


    ¡°So you had a bunch of netrunners wanting to buy your program you¡¯ve been working on? That¡¯s¡­ Really amazing Motoko. Good job.¡± Jun offered with a smile and a pat on my head.


    I squirmed a bit. It wasn¡¯t like I enjoyed the praise you know!


    After a few moments I swiped at his hand so he wouldn¡¯t think I was easy. ¡°Well it took a lot of work to make the thing! And I¡¯m happy with it. Of course now I have a bunch of debug work I can do on the side¡­ And a bunch of Scav data I¡¯ll need to go through.¡± I smirked at that. Then pouted a bit. ¡°Yoko offered her help in handling the work orders. In exchange for a bit of work she wants done too. Sneaky kitsune.¡± I had been thankful at her offer even if I knew she had ulterior motives.


    Seriously, netrunners were very pushy. Having them have to go through Yoko would save me a lot of stress.


    ¡°That¡¯s right, you mentioned Yoko uses a kitsune avatar? That¡¯s so weird.¡± He muttered and I just laughed at Jun. Despite having a netrunner mother Jun was probably even worse at netrunning stuff than past Motoko.


    ¡°Well Yoko is a very¡­ Unique woman. But the Scav data should point me to a few more dens, and I still have one that I need to clear up. So more loot to gather up!¡±


    ¡°Just be careful. I don¡¯t want to have to pull you out of a Scav den again.¡± Jun said, and I had to look at him with that. Jun never mentioned the Scav den.


    Like ever.


    ¡°I¡¯m strong now. You won¡¯t have to.¡±


    He met my eyes and took a slurp of his ramen.


    ¡°Just be careful.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­ I¡¯m a little worried. That with everything I¡¯m doing I¡¯m going to piss off someone, or just get someone''s attention, and it¡¯ll cause problems.¡± I admitted to him, revealing a big part of my worry.


    ¡°You have the TC to fall back on if something ever goes wrong¡­ Motoko. I want you to stay safe. I¡¯d be happiest if you stayed home and just worked on your programming or playing music all day. Safe things. But that isn¡¯t what would make you happiest. So¡­¡± Jun struggled then as if trying to find the words, but I was a little surprised.


    Jun had really grown a lot in the last couple months.


    ¡°So it¡¯s fine. If you piss someone off and they come for you. We can kill them together. Just be as safe as you can. But don¡¯t stop. You¡¯re an edgerunner. Stop worrying about falling, I¡¯ll catch you.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not an edgerunner! I¡¯m just a merc!¡±


    Jun just smirked at me and now that he was finished eating his Ramen, he grabbed the XXL Burrito he had been eating before I got home and bit into it.


    Disgusting.


    ¡ª--


    I spent the rest of the evening hanging out with Jun as he lazed around the apartment on the couch. I had shown off my new chrome as well. My jump skills had super impressed him as I was bouncing all over the place in the apartment..


    Even if he had laughed at me and asked how many times I had hit my head on the ceiling.


    Jerk!


    Only the one time.


    Then I had a nice eight hour nap and headed out in the morning to visit Vik.


    While I was technically feeling great, other than the little wiggles of new chrome. He had still wanted another visit to check everything over.


    So as I waved hello to Misty who was busy with an actual client!


    I was so proud!


    I leapt around a bit in the alley heading down into Viks clinic and greeted him with a happy smile as I did a few cartwheels.


    ¡°Chrome is doing great Vik!¡± I chirped out as I saw him.


    ¡°Glad to see you are adapting to it well, but I¡¯ll be the one that decides if it¡¯s doing great.¡± He said with a smile as he pointed at the chair. ¡°You were supposed to be here yesterday.¡±


    ¡°Got pulled into a netrunning thing. Sorry Vik, I really couldn¡¯t get away.¡±


    ¡°Well at least you show up. Even if it¡¯s a day late.¡± He teased and then he settled in and started scanning. ¡°Your healing is still¡­ Impossible, If I hadn¡¯t put this chrome in myself, I would say this healing pattern is years old. Everything looks good, your nerves have definitely connected. The swelling is down around the Subdermal as well. How¡¯s it feel?¡±


    ¡°A little itchy sometimes, but I¡¯m getting used to it.¡±


    ¡°Hmm. Normally itchiness this early is just healing, but that isn¡¯t your issue. Where are you getting the itch?¡± I pointed out a few spots and he started scanning them.


    ¡°Just a few parts of the mesh bundling up wrong. Let me see what I can do.¡± He muttered and I relaxed back despite the fact Vik was poking needles and things into me to manually adjust the subdermal weave.


    But when he was done, I had to admit despite having a few new bandaids over a few spots. I wasn¡¯t as itchy.


    ¡°Thanks Vik!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s what I¡¯m here for kid¡­ Well when people actually show up for their check ups.¡± He said then suddenly stabbed a cold finger right into my side making me squeal. ¡°No missing the next checkup!¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t! I promise!¡± I pleaded, hands raised. Vik! Vik knew my weak spot! I wasn¡¯t normally that ticklish, but I still had spots! How did he know!?


    ¡°Well I¡¯m not seeing any issues. Everything looks good. How are you feeling up here?¡± He asked, pointing at his own head. ¡°Any problems? Confusion? Shakes?¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help but smile in return. ¡°Nothing that I¡¯ve noticed. I think my arms are still more of a mental strain than the new stuff¡­ But I¡¯m not noticing any problems. I¡¯ll talk to Jun, or you as soon as I do. Get the chrome right out if I have to.¡±


    Vik nodded, reaching out and ruffling my hair. ¡°You''re a good kid Motoko, don¡¯t let your greed ruin your future. I saw Jackie the other day, he came in with a big bruise he earned while on a gig, fixed him right up though. He mentioned that Wakako had finally cut him loose?¡±


    ¡°Ah no. I was guarding the loot I stole, Wakako called and told me there was a gig but I had to cancel, so I guess Jackie got it alone¡­ I didn¡¯t know he got hurt.¡±


    ¡°Hah. Just a bruise kid, he got in a fist fight and won just fine. He was proud of the bruise more than anything. You two still working together?¡±


    ¡°Yeah! Or¡­ I guess I hope so? I¡¯ve been a little busy the last while. I was planning a big raid, and I spent a bunch of time on the net, and I wasn¡¯t there for this last gig either¡­ Should I call him? Ask if he wants some work? I know of a Scav den I wanted to hit¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh? Another one already?¡±


    ¡°Well I have one that led me to my last big gig, I didn¡¯t touch the peons right away while I was tracking where they took their chrome. There should still be a bunch there, and some gonks to flatline.¡±


    ¡°Well I¡¯m sure Jackie would be happy to back you up, just be careful kid. Scavs might be less dangerous than the big gangs, but they can be like cornered rats. Nasty to deal with if they feel threatened.¡±


    I nodded at that. ¡°I¡¯ll keep that in mind Vik.¡±


    ¡°Alright kid, why don¡¯t you get out of here. I¡¯m sure you have exciting things to do today rather than hang out with an old fossil.¡±


    ¡°What, where is Wakako?¡± I said with a faux gasp before coughing a bit as I realized what I just said. ¡°Don¡¯t¡­ Don¡¯t tell her I made that joke okay?¡±


    ¡°Future blackmail.¡± He assured me with a sinister smile.

 Chapter 91

    ¡°So that¡¯s the place Jackie.¡± I told the older man as we pulled up to the Scav den.


    Ichi and Malcolm weren¡¯t far behind. Hiromi wasn¡¯t here this time, but that¡¯s because she was at school, and super bummed that I had decided to hit this Scav den without her.


    Instead I had asked Jackie if he wanted to join.


    ¡°Huh. You sure Hermanita? Doesn¡¯t look like a Scav hole.¡±


    ¡°Yep. I¡¯ve still got all their cameras infested. I¡¯ve already looped the outside cameras so no worries on them spotting our approach! But yeah I can see them inside. Here, I¡¯ll cut you into the feed.¡± I told him and he nodded as I hooked up our call to show the live feed inside the old office building.


    Jackie had actually chipped in a new set of optics, and they had a connection speed high enough for me to direct video him.


    Thank fuck.


    ¡°Not too many of them. Should be easy enough.¡± Jackie offered and I nodded along.


    ¡°Yeah normally I go slow and take them all out quietly, but considering how small this group is.¡± I shrugged. ¡°Loud and quick?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s my normal style Hermanita.¡± He said, throwing me a big smile.


    ¡°Great. I¡¯ll add a tracker into your sight for each of them. Let me get my iron, and let¡¯s take this place out.¡± I said as I stepped out of the Quadra waving to Ichi who was parking just behind me, I went to the trunk of the Quadra, popping it open.


    I really needed to do some work on this.


    My trunk was a mess. Guns, and ammo, quite a bit of the ammo now loose and rattling around reached my eyes, and I noticed the weapon I was actually going for was stuck behind the big case my Uragan was resting in. Still needed to put that away. Temptation to use it was a bit too much for normal gigs.


    I winced a bit. My Poor Nekomata was jammed behind the Uragan case as well. Okay tonight I was going to take a break from everything and organize my trunk space. This was embarrassing.


    But I didn¡¯t grab my Nekomata, or Uragan. Instead I grabbed another weapon that would suit this fight.


    I usually relied on my Burya, because of stealth, but if we were going to hit them hard, then I was going to use something that would keep up with me.


    I pulled my Nokota D5 Copperhead out of the trunk. The assault rifle was something I had picked up at some point¡­ Was it the first Scav raid? I wondered¡­


    I couldn¡¯t remember!


    I laughed to myself, I had collected so many weapons I had forgotten where half of them had even come from! I loaded up holding the rifle correctly, in a way that I would be able to quick-aim it monstrously fast if I needed, and then I turned to Jackie.


    Jackie still just had his Nue.


    ¡°You want something a bit bigger?¡± I asked him, pointing at my trunk, but despite looking a little tempted he shook his head.


    ¡°This is my shooter, I won¡¯t need another for a group this small.¡±


    ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s go then!¡± I said bouncing a little as I started moving towards the gate that blocked off the entrance.


    The gate was locked, and I didn¡¯t even want to open it up yet considering how old it looked I¡¯m sure it would be noisy.


    Or trapped.


    So I quickly leapt right over it, easily turning my leap into a front flip letting me land on the other side without a sound, as I fell to my knee, gun raised.


    I felt so cool.


    I did my best to ignore Jackie''s grumbling as he clambered as quietly as he could over the fence.


    It wasn¡¯t that quiet.


    Thankfully the Scavs inside didn¡¯t notice. Once he landed with a thump beside me, I raced off towards the entrance. Rifle held to my chest as I kept low and reached the entrance. I knew from the cameras that no one was inside, but it was good practice to always double check, so I was peeking into the entrance and waving Jackie behind me as I moved in.


    That and it felt cool to be all tactical about it.


    Not that I was going to admit that to anyone.


    The office was two stories, and the Scavs were set up on the second floor. The elevator of course would be too loud, but the stairwell was easy enough to reach, and their security wasn¡¯t exactly there to help them anymore.


    I smiled as I tugged on the door and it opened, locks already disengaged.


    ¡°Nice work Hermanita.¡± Jackie whispered and I threw him a smile as we headed up the stairs. Just for fun I leapt, touching the concrete wall of the stairwell and then bouncing up and over the stairs skipping the whole stairs problem. In just a moment I was at the second floor door, waiting for Jackie to follow me up at a much slower pace.


    Okay, the Serano may just be the most ¡®fun¡¯ Cyberware I¡¯ve installed. That included the Cyberdeck.


    Cyberspace was fun, but jump good was cool.


    ¡°Alright Conejita, let¡¯s take it slow for poor Jackie.¡± He whispered when he caught up, and I chuffed soundlessly at him. Even if I had no idea what Conejita meant. Then I blinked and I was looking through the camera that showed the other side of the door.


    The Scav group was small, only six chooms.


    I sent the data to Jackie watching him perk up as he could see the lines targeting each Scav shooting through the wall.


    His surprised look turned into a dark smirk.


    I nodded and then slammed into the door.


    No stealth on this run.


    This was a firepower run. Hadn¡¯t done this¡­ Ever.


    Rifle raised up I fired four rounds punching through the drywall and suddenly the light I had been using to aim winked out.


    Shooting through walls was the best.


    Jackie was moving Nue raised as he slammed into a door already firing at the gonk that was on the other side.


    My Copperhead barked right alongside him.


    While Jackie was rushing the entrance making a big noise my gun was just slamming rounds through the thin walls.


    It was childsplay, and I enjoyed the noise of the alerts popping up in my head.


    The actual fight only lasted a few moments. Between Jackie who killed two guys practically the moment he bum rushed the room proving he wasn¡¯t a joke as a solo at all, and then my rifle shooting through the walls the Scavs died without much fight.


    ¡°You okay Jackie?¡±


    ¡°Just a scrape Hermanita. Won¡¯t even need to see Vik. Got stopped by my jacket.¡± He chuckled flexing his right bicep where a round had definitely nicked him.


    I nodded pleased as I went through the area making sure we hadn¡¯t missed anyone. Only once did I need a double tap on a Scav that was trying to crawl away, leading a pool of blood behind him.


    Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    ¡°All clear!¡± I called out, pleased at the whole thing.


    I hadn¡¯t really needed Jackie, but it wasn¡¯t about needing help for this gig, it was about setting up a relationship.


    This was the first time I had shown Jackie how useful it would be to have me on a gig.


    I had setup the location. Got numbers and targeting data. Solved basically everything to get him right where he needed to be to do the most damage, and most importantly!


    ¡°Ready for us?¡± Ichi called out from the stairwell.


    ¡°Yeah come on up. I¡¯ll get the elevator working!¡± I called back to him, earning a confirmation in turn.


    ¡°So now what?¡± Jackie asked, looking around at the few crates of chrome that was now all ours.


    ¡°We wait around while Ichi and Malcolm load up. Just make sure no Scavs show up and ambush us, and then we go home, have a party, and let Hiromi sell the chrome, we get our cut and prep for the next gig.¡± I told him and he blinked at me before laughing.


    ¡°You got yourself a nice little system then eh? Who registers the bounties?¡± He asked and I frowned confused.


    ¡°Bounties?¡±


    ¡°On the gonks? Most of these guys have a few hundred eddie in bounties you know?¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah¡­ The bounties¡­ That I totally register¡­ with the NCPD¡­ Right?¡± I winced as Jackie gave me a look.


    Then he burst into laughter.


    What!? I don¡¯t usually concern myself over a few hundred eddies! Plus you have to call the NCPD for that!


    ¡°You never registered bounties?¡±


    ¡°Nope. Well I called the NCPD once on a Scav den, but I was just letting them know there were bodies there. I delta¡¯ed right after.


    ¡°Heh, jeeze, you clear out a Scav den in seconds, but then you go and say things like that. Reminds me you¡¯re still a kid.¡± Jackie chuckled, but I wasn¡¯t laughing along with him.


    Dammit. This was supposed to be my chance to show how useful I was!


    I sighed and shook my head. At least I had my four alerts for XP to tide me over.


    *500 XP Gained.*


    *500 XP Gained.*


    *500 XP Gained.*


    *500 XP Gained.*


    ¡ª--


    To my surprise Jackie actually stuck around after we loaded everything up. He even helped out loading the chrome which went much faster with his strength. Thanks to his work we were done at lightning speed and on our way out of the den.


    As we drove away Jackie made the calls to the NCPD bounty office, letting them know about the corpses, what they were up to, who they were, and that meat wagons would be needed.


    Then as we dropped off the loot at the TC owned storage lot that was still under our control. Jackie still stuck around.


    I was watching as Jackie joked with some of the TC enforcers hanging around getting laughs out of the entire group despite there being a large ¡®tino shaped Jackie in the middle of their turf.


    ¡°What¡¯s got you so focused?¡± Malcolm asked as he walked past me with an arm full of guns. Formerly Scav iron.


    ¡°Jackie. I expected the TC guys to be more aggressive about him.¡±


    ¡°Well he did come in with you, and he¡¯s pretty friendly. Plus the fact he looks like he could take all of those guys at once means they probably don¡¯t want to cause problems.¡±


    ¡°Yeah I guess, but I don¡¯t think they are afraid of him, they are just enjoying his banter.¡± I chuckled as Jackie¡¯s story ended with him throwing his arms up to mimic an explosion and all the guards laughed. I just shook my head.


    Jackie really was the type of guy to make friends with anyone.


    ¡°Alright Motoko! All done.¡± Ichi said, walking up pushing the hand truck he had just unloaded into the storage unit.


    ¡°Jackie! We are all stored up!¡± I called over to the older man and he nodded to me, telling the guards one last joke as he walked through them and joined up.


    ¡°All done then huh kid?¡±


    ¡°Yep! Now we just need Hiromi to set up the sales, and Ichi and Malcolm will help haul stuff around. Thanks guys.¡± I said turning to the two that had to haul heavy crates of stuff around, both scoffed and laughed at me.


    ¡°We have the easy part, you have to go flatline gonks. Want to hit the club tonight?¡± Ichi asked and I shrugged, but before I could say more Jackie was there.


    ¡°Of course little Chiko! Hermanita, how about you all come by the El Coyote eh? We didn¡¯t party together last time, but my Mama owns the Coyote, so why don¡¯t you three come by and we can celebrate!¡±


    Malcolm and Ichi were already nodding, looking interested, but I was more surprised that Jackie actually invited me.


    Well us.


    But last time he hadn¡¯t been very interested in celebrating. We were just a bunch of teenagers after all.


    ¡°Sure Jackie. I¡¯ll come, you guys?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, always nice to celebrate on the boss''s dime.¡± Malcolm said specifically, throwing me a teasing look.


    ¡°Now, now Malcolm, Hiromi isn¡¯t here-Ow! Motoko!¡± Ichi grumbled rubbing his shoulder where I slugged him.


    ¡°I¡¯m calling Hiromi and specifically telling her you guys are cut off from any alcohol on our tab.¡± I threaten them hand on my hip and chrome finger wagging, with something that doesn¡¯t really exist, but both boys plays along and whined to me.


    Jackie just laughed.


    ¡ª--


    El Coyote Cojo was a ¡®tino bar. As we all walked in I felt my nose wrinkle a little at the smell of cigarette and cigar smoke.


    Just like most bars here in the city.


    Gonna need some chrome lungs at some point just to avoid the second hand smoke.


    ¡°Nice place.¡± Malcolm offered as he swaggered in and up to the bartender, who quirked an eyebrow at Malcolm walking up to look at the drink menu.


    ¡°Let me get a Diente Dorado. I¡¯m not paying tonight after all!¡± He said choosing the most expensive drink on the menu.


    As Ichi, Jackie and I walked up Jackie got a few calls from regulars and he was smiling and relaxed. This was his place after all. He settled into the seat. ¡°Pepe! Take care of my little chooms alright?¡±


    ¡°Sure Jackie. Diente Dorado coming up.¡±


    I dope slapped Malcolm, but let him order his stupid drink that had literal gold flakes in it.


    Probably tasted disgusting.


    ¡°I¡¯ll just get a soda. I think there was a Nicola machine over there.¡± I told the boys, Malcolm and Ichi already familiar with my no alcohol thing.


    ¡°What? Hermanita you don¡¯t want a drink?¡± Jackie asked, surprised at my words.


    ¡°Yeah I don¡¯t like drinking.¡± I told him as I slipped off the bar stool and wandered over to the back of the bar to get a drink.


    It took me two tries to get one that I could drink.


    NiCola Classic tasted like cough syrup. I was not someone who could recreationally drink cough syrup so that was an instant pass.


    With a different flavor that I could stomach I joined the boys that were happy with their own drinks as Jackie was talking to Pepe about the gig.


    ¡°They all started screaming as I bashed in the door. I flatlined two of them right quick, but by then, the rest were already done. Chica could shoot them straight through the walls!¡±


    ¡°The walls were just drywall, it was an old office building, it wasn''t anything spectacular anyone could have done it.¡± I added as I took my seat, Pepe chuckling at the story as Jackie kept trying to hype it all up.


    ¡°What¡¯s all this?¡± A new voice called out and from the front came in a woman that I sort of recognized. Jackie¡¯s shout just confirmed it.


    ¡°Mama! Come meet my little chooms! I¡¯ve told you about Motoko here already yeah? The girl is more dangerous with an iron than anyone would expect from a teenager, and these are her chooms, Malcolm and Ichi, good kids, they helped gather up all the eddies!¡± Jackie said with a boisterous laugh.


    ¡°Oh this is the girl that works with Wakako?¡± Mama Welles asked as she looked me over.


    I waved a little from around my soda.


    ¡°My little chooms. This is Mama Welles, the owner of El Coyote, and my Mama.¡± Jackie said leaning back against the bar.


    ¡°Well if you are chooms with my Jackie, you are all welcome here. Pepe don¡¯t overcharge them yeah?¡±


    ¡°You got it.¡± The bartender offered with a nod.


    ¡°You¡¯ve been doing work with my Jackie?¡± The woman asked me and I nodded, throwing up a thumbs up.


    ¡°Yeah. We both go to the same ripper, and Jackie wanted work with Wakako, who I already work for! So I asked Wakako if we could do some gigs together to see if we click. I¡¯ve been looking for someone with a more aggressive look. Can¡¯t rightly intimidate some gonks if you are half their size.¡± I deadpanned waving my arms at myself.


    Mama Welles laughed a little. ¡°The one thing god gave my chico was an intimidating frame.¡± The woman offered nodding along.


    ¡°What! Mama, god also gave me my baby blues, and a sweet voice yeah?¡±


    ¡°Of course dear.¡± Mama Welles agreed without doing anything of the sort. I snorted into my drink as Jackie was teased by his mother.


    This was nice.


    Still wasn¡¯t sure it was a bar I would want to relax at all the time, but then again. I wasn¡¯t really interested in bars in the first place.


    ¡ª-


    We hung around El Coyote for a while drinking and swapping stories, it was nice.


    Jackie felt a lot more accepting of me now, and I was tempted to ask what had changed. The last time we finished a gig he hadn¡¯t been interested in celebrating, but now he was.


    So maybe I had finally reached a point he felt I was worth being friends with?


    I didn¡¯t know, and I didn¡¯t want to ask because that just felt a little weird.


    Still I drove home, gig complete and feeling pretty good about murdering some more Scavs.


    I had some time, no gigs set up for the next while. Other than helping Hiromi sell even more of our chrome, I had nothing else planned.


    So it was time to play!


    I rushed into the door only to stop because Jun was home, and he wasn¡¯t alone.


    ¡°Ah! Look Jun your cute little sister finally came home. How terrible to leave her big brother all alone at home!¡±


    ¡°Akari you were here the whole time.¡± Jun grumbled as he sat on the couch to my surprise he was on a laptop that wasn¡¯t mine, and reading something.


    ¡°Hey Jun, what¡¯s Akari doing here?¡±


    ¡°Rude.¡± The borg grumbled and her narrowed eyes told me she was probably going to stab me at some point tonight.


    ¡°Akari failed to finish a task for Fujimura-Sama, so I¡¯m- Ow.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell her that! Just tell her you are helping me!¡± Akari hissed after stabbing Jun with her pointy feet.


    ¡°Akari fucked up and I¡¯m helping.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s even worse!¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± I chirped, deciding to ignore that entirely. Unfortunately Akari was taking up my spot on the couch, it wasn¡¯t like the apartment was big enough for so much sitting room. Grumbling I went into my room and got more comfortable taking off my boots and collecting some things I would need before heading out.


    Jun was still working while Akari fucked around, not helping¡­


    ¡°Jun do you need help?¡±


    My brother looked up slowly from the laptop, his eyes a little blood shot which was impressive cause those weren¡¯t natural eyes, but his optics.


    ¡°Yes, please.¡±


    ¡°Hey! I¡¯m helping!¡±


    ¡°Yes I need help thank you Motoko.¡± Jun repeated, ignoring Akari.


    ¡°Okay.¡± I said, then because it was fun. I leapt doing a flip and landing on the back of the couch behind Jun and Akari. Both borgs jerked at my sudden move but Jun relaxed with what I could tell was a roll of his eyes even if I couldn¡¯t see them anymore as Akari slowly lowered her feet. I rested against Juns back, my chin on his head as I looked at what he was working on.


    ¡°Budget report?¡±


    ¡°Akari is supposed to be watching over a business for Fujimura-Sama.¡±


    ¡°I am! I took out three guys that were stealing!¡± The woman whined.


    ¡°She didn¡¯t do the paperwork.¡± Jun said grumbling as he continued looking over the budget reports.


    ¡°Dot.¡± I spouted gibberish, pointing at a number that wasn¡¯t right, Jun looked it over sighed and quickly fixed it before continuing down the file. ¡°Why did Fujimura give this gig to Akari if she can¡¯t do it?¡±


    ¡°Ugh. Don¡¯t say it like that! I can do it! I just¡­ Didn¡¯t!¡±


    ¡°She was supposed to learn about the company and get better at management, improve her usefulness to  Fujimura-Sama.¡±


    ¡°Okay you are ignoring everything I¡¯m saying, and I get you¡¯re siblings, but it¡¯s starting to piss me off.¡±


    We continued to ignore Akari as she grew irritated.


    ¡°Okay I know you guys didn¡¯t go through 200 lamps. So I¡¯m guessing this is drugs here?¡± I asked, pointing at some of the numbers that were obviously off.


    ¡°I can¡¯t confirm.¡± Jun said with a motion that had me rolling along with his shrug.


    ¡°Okay well. I¡¯m sorry to say Jun-Nii, I don¡¯t have the experience to help you with this one.¡± I inform him, patting him on the head as I stand up and with a quick leap land back on the apartment floor.


    ¡°Thanks.¡± He grumbles and I couldn¡¯t help but giggle. He was trying to help his choom, but sometimes you gotta let your chooms live with their mistakes.


    Instead I reached over and grabbed my laptop and music box.


    I really wanted to finish this stupid thing!


    I popped open the laptop and started programming, doing my best to ignore Akari doing everything in her power to get attention.

 Chapter 92

    Two days. Of programming and I was¡­


    Done.


    My music box, or at least the code was ready. I just needed to finish putting it all together.


    I flopped back onto the couch and just groaned. You would think coding something like this would take less time than a Quick Hack, and in some ways you would be right, but this was sorta¡­ Complicated. A quick hack only did one thing, this box needed to be flexible.


    I ran through my head what parts I would need and that list started to grow.


    But it would be worth it. This was my pet project. Sure it was a glorified toy, but it was important for me to finish it anyways.


    I got up to get dressed, stopped and realized I hadn¡¯t showered in¡­


    Okay so it¡¯s been two days. I wince as I was very thankful that Jun hadn¡¯t noticed. If he thought I wasn¡¯t taking care of myself he would be upset.


    I took a quick shower, and then realized I really needed to eat.


    Okay downside to be constantly inspired. I was gonna have to start setting alarms if I was going to code anything.


    I finished getting dressed and headed downstairs. Meatstick stall guy was outside the apartment like usual and I ended up devouring a few of them before I felt better. Now that I was properly taken care of. It was time to get back to it.


    To finish the box I really needed some specific supplies. I headed out driving to the music shop I had bought my guitar from.


    As I walked in the first few chords of Never Fade Away played above me.


    Something that still made me chuckle a bit. Johnny would be rolling in his digital grave if he realized that Samurai were practically corporate jingles now.


    I walked right through the many instruments laying around until I found what I needed.


    A synth keyboard.


    I popped my personal link into the slot to check if it had everything I needed.


    ¡°You obviously know what you want.¡± A voice called out and I looked up to see the sales person. The guy looked like a forty year old rocker stuffed into a corporate uniform.


    His bushy beard completely covered the lanyard with his name on it.


    ¡°Yeah, just checking the code to see if this is the one I need.¡±


    ¡°Oh? Looking to make some digital music huh?¡±


    ¡°I just need to replicate a lot of different instruments.¡± I offered and he nodded before pointing above me.


    ¡°If you want a wide selection you want the Digi-tizer. The E-Numeral you are looking at, has a real wonky brass selection.¡± He offered pointing to another Synth.


    ¡°Oh. Thanks.¡± I muttered pulling out of the synth and moving to the next, after a few checks including running a few riffs on the keyboard because I had the ability and it was fun I nodded. He was right. The Brass notes sounded better.


    ¡°Damn. Was that Chippin In? Rare to see a kid these days know the classics.¡± He said and I just smiled with a shrug.


    ¡°Samurai were good. Johnny might be a bit of a bastard, but he knew his music.¡±


    ¡°Hah! Spoken like a true Rockerboy. You lookin to take the Digi?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ll take it. Thanks. I¡¯ll take that amp and a few bits and bobs as well. You guys don¡¯t happen to have a holo emitter?¡±


    ¡°Oh? Looking to make some bitchin visuals too? Unfortunately not. Instruments and supplies only, but I know the place my band bought one. Just don¡¯t tell the bosses I told you to buy from them.¡± He said with a wink and I laughed at that, and made the promise.


    ¡ª--


    Back home I was taking up 90% of the couch, and 100% of the table as I worked everything together.


    The synth had a personal link port, so with the coding of that, and literally ripping the instrument apart and hooking it into my music box, I now had the ability to play just about any instrument purely through my link.


    To save size, I kept the speaker, and amp as separate items, but there was another thing I needed to hook directly into the system


    Three holographic display emitters.


    They were a cool piece of tech, a lot of places used holographic TVs, the tech was well used, and it didn¡¯t take me long to hook them into the music box, a bit of soldering a bit of fitting things together, a bit of adjustment to the power links and they were in.


    Once I finished it, I sat back enjoying the alert telling me I got a few blips of XP for my Tech Attribute. But not a level up.


    I really needed to work with tech more. It was too useful to ignore.


    But I ignored that because it was done!


    Well part of it anyways.


    The code was complete.


    The hardware was put together.


    But now I had to actually create what I wanted using what I had.


    This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    First thing, I went into my room and dressed up. Brushed my hair. Did some makeup, which took a while because I hadn¡¯t exactly practiced doing any makeup since I woke up. But I managed it. Making my eyes pop a little. Wearing a clean leotard and even cleaned up my jacket before slipping into it.


    Okay then I went back out and had the music box actually record what I looked like. Standing still as the emitter slowly ran a scan over me. Creating a 3d image of myself, that it could add into whatever holographic display I wanted it to show.


    Of course right around then I realized I would need images of the instruments as well.


    Dammit.


    I rushed back to the music shop. Carrying in my music box, I ended up dropping a couple hundred eddies, to the music shop guy to let me take scans with all the instruments, particularly the best quality, or coolest looking ones.


    ¡ª--


    Once more back in the apartment I was ready to start my first test.


    I decided on a song and went to work. Plugged my personal link into the music box, and started with the most important part.


    The music.


    With my guitar in my hands mostly just to let my hands play over the notes, I started recording a track.


    The sound of the guitar played back into my head sounded great, any error was easy to cut the correct chord back in, and I was off. Finishing the song with the guitar without any issue. I had played it a few times with just that already.


    Then I switched to drums. Mentally creating the track. Using the Synth to recreate the noise of the drums as I played through the song adding in the drums to the guitar track.


    Something I couldn¡¯t do without all my Rockerboy knowledge. I had never touched a guitar set before outside of playing around in a past life, or while getting scanned in this one, yet I knew exactly how to use the Synth to create a digital track. What notes and how to get the sound right. It all flowed together.


    Then I had to stop and do some work on creating unique sounds because some of the sounds used in the song weren''t instrumental, I had to use my own programming skill to alter the Synths programming even further, to give me the ability to create entirely new sounds. Sounds that had only existed in my head.


    Again and again, I played through the song until I had every beat sounding as perfect as I remember thanks to Perfect Musical Memory.


    Guitar, drums, electronic, even the ending roaring vocals I managed myself. Every sound of the song pulled together completely from my brain, through a machine interface.


    I loved the future.


    And it was all silent as a grave outside my brain.


    As I put the song together no neighbor heard it. It was just for me, and me alone.


    ¡ª--


    I hid behind my new stack of mess on the table when Jun came home, purposefully pretending I wasn¡¯t able to see his judgemental look as I continued to put the display for the song together.


    I ignored him when he came out later as well, as I was still editing the holographic display to match up.


    I was watching a visual of what it would show on the laptop as I edited it mostly with my neural connection which was really really tough, but as long as I took it really slow, I could get better accuracy than going through it by hand.


    The three emitters would all have their own image to display, and the track was finished, both with the guitar track baked in, and one without. Just in case I wanted to do a live play of the song.


    And slowly it all came together.


    Holographic tech was old hat to Cyberpunk. With my own computer skill it only took me a few hours to fill in the seven minute track.


    Then finally it was ready. A single program with a completed version of a song that I recreated. Every note, every sound, every roar just how it was in my head.


    I sat back blinking, realizing what I had just completed. That my music box was finally¡­ Finally done. That it was working and everything was how it should be.


    But I was way too hyped up to not do something. I stood up but stillled, unfortunately I was too embarrassed to just go out and start playing!


    People would see me!


    So I decided to fall back on my usual solution when I felt an urge to move.


    Murder!


    When I sold my debugging services to the netrunners, my trade had been knowledge on Scavs. Locations, holdouts, favorite bars.


    Anything.


    Everything.


    Whatever they had.


    While not all of them had direct Scav den locations. A few did.


    Sure I could wait for my chooms¡­ But it was late¡­ Well early, the sun would be coming up soon.


    But they might notice I was being weird! No one can know! If it goes bad the Scavs will all be dead anyways!


    So I popped a shard into the music box, recording a copy of the song, quickly took a moment to etch the name of the song onto the shard, and went to grab some gear.


    Considering the nature of the song¡­


    My Carnage was selected. I didn¡¯t use a shotgun often enough. I loaded one of my attachable pockets full of shells and looked around¡­ What else could I take?


    Katana was an option and I considered it. But I had to shake my head. It would be a little more finessey than I was going for tonight. This music wasn¡¯t sword fight music, not unless you were carrying a greatsword or something.


    Another time. Another song.


    I did reach over into the medkit that I had been putting together from stuff I¡¯ve collected. I grabbed all the MaxDocs I had and stuffed them all over the place, hooking them into whatever place I could. I was looking for a brutal fight tonight. Had to make sure I would walk away in the end.


    I stepped out of my room right into Jun, who reached out and put a hand on my Carnage to stop me.


    ¡°Motoko?¡±


    ¡°Yes, this is Motoko?¡±


    ¡°What are you doing?¡±


    I opened my mouth to answer and didn¡¯t have a good enough answer.


    ¡°Murder?¡±


    He frowned at me. ¡°Details.¡±


    ¡°I know of a Scav den, I¡¯m gonna go murder them¡­ I uh, finished a song so I wanted to do a BD of me murdering a bunch of Scavs while I rocked out to it¡­ It¡¯s gonna be cool.¡± I explained trying to get away but Jun wasn¡¯t having it.


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ Motoko you are the weirdest person I know¡­ I¡¯m coming with.¡±


    ¡°No way!¡± I denied instantly. ¡°It could be embarrassing! You can¡¯t come.¡±


    ¡°Motoko you aren¡¯t hitting a Scav den without backup.¡±


    ¡°Why? I usually do!¡±


    ¡°You usually have your chooms with you¡­ I don¡¯t even know how you keep finding these dens, they are usually hidden.¡±


    ¡°Internet.¡± I said smiling dopily at being able to pull out an old meme.


    Jun didn¡¯t get it.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you call your chooms then?¡± He argued and I grumbled, I had already explained that I didn¡¯t want them to see!


    ¡°Fine! I¡¯ll call in Ichi and Malcolm after I¡¯m done to loot everything down. Now you don¡¯t have to follow me.¡± My perfect reasoning delivered I moved to step around him.


    He didn¡¯t accept my reasoning.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°This is so embarrassing.¡± I muttered as I parked the Quadra in the parking area for Megabuilding H11.


    ¡°I¡¯m just here to make sure you don¡¯t get in over your head.¡± Jun told me completely uncaring about how much I whined at him that I didn¡¯t need supervision while murdering Scavs.


    ¡°I called Ichi and Malcolm. They¡¯ll help!¡±


    ¡°You said you didn¡¯t want to call them in until afterwards. I don¡¯t want you in a firefight without someone to back you up. It¡¯s common sense Motoko¡­ The fact you are so skilled and keep forgetting that is gonk brain shit.¡± He grumbled at me. ¡°You want me to trust you to fight, I do. But that doesn¡¯t mean you skip basic shit.¡±


    I huffed, but didn¡¯t really have a response to that.


    Fucking Jun. Using common sense and shit on me.


    I don¡¯t want common sense. I want action!


    Whatever. I was a badass merc! Jun babying me would be water over my back!


    I stepped out of the car and did the same thing I had done the last time I hit a Scav den in a megabuilding.


    I found an elevator and went up to the floor above the one that I had been told was the den. Jun followed me around much to my irritation.


    When I was there I circled the floor, searching for the usual signs, and while there weren''t a bunch of emptied apartment buildings like there had been in the last one, they still had a whole section of the building cut off with trash and refuse.


    ¡°That¡¯s them.¡± I told Jun as I pointed to the corner section of the building. This late at night the whole thing was bathed in red light and shadows, but it was still obvious where the Scavs lived.


    ¡°Sure you don¡¯t need any help?¡± He asked, sounding more vicious than usual, but I shook my head.


    This was my murder, get your own!


    ¡°Just sit tight and watch.¡± I told him instead, poking a finger into his side that he slapped away.


    Then I focused, first I knelt down, and could just see a camera the Scavs had set up. As usual they loved putting up their little security system. Too bad they sucked at it.


    My eyes blazed as I breached into the camera, nearly instantly slipping through the ICE and then moving through the security system.


    There were four cameras hooked up around the place. None of them showed the actual ripper room, but that was just common sense. But one of the Scavs could be seen, resting on an old couch as he smoked a cigarette, and watched TV.


    I pinged him, letting the program unspool and slowly slip through the Scavs system to all of his buddies.


    I smirked as the group all highlighted in my vision.


    Okay. There were quite a few of them. This was a big den, and it was late.. Or early. So I guess  they were mostly here resting.


    It didn¡¯t matter. I was already in their system. Weapon Glitch was prepared. My personal version of Weapon Glitch had been completed, and was ready for its baptism.


    The war will soon begin.


    I smiled. I was ready. I shushed Jun and waved him a bit away before closing my eyes. When I opened my eyes it would be go time. What was the movie term? A single take? I was going to clear this Scav den in slightly less than seven minutes the song would last. No fuckups would be tolerated. This was going to be pure adrenaline if I did it right!


    I smirked to myself. Hopefully the Scavs could last long enough.


    Then I exhaled ice.

 Chapter 93

    When I opened my eyes I was recording. Staring straight over the edge to the Scavs home. Not that the people watching this in the future would know that yet.


    I could feel my breath coming out icy cold, but it wasn¡¯t enough to stop the excitement I could feel pulsing up.


    I pulled the shard out of my pocket. Flashed it in front of my eyes.


    Looked at the name of the song etched into the plastic.


    The Only Thing They Fear Is You.


    I slotted it into my neck. A little less than seven minutes.


    That¡¯s how long I had to murder all of the Scavs.


    Because a moment later the music started. The sound mirroring an ancient, at least by this years reckoning, musician.


    I mean if people considered Samurai to be oldies, then The DOOM Eternal Soundtrack would be considered the same.


    Before the song could get going without me I leapt. My feet hit the ground on the floor below just as the first drop hit and I rolled forward to bleed off speed before jumping up to my feet, and then I was moving. I didn¡¯t care about cameras.


    I didn¡¯t care about noise.


    I was the Boss Monster. They would learn to fear me.


    I blew the door open with my Carnage, not bothering with the lock, as I let all my hatred for Scavs fill me.


    Cold Blood was all about control. I had only used it in one way up until now. Used it to suppress everything so nothing could interfere with the cold calculus of combat.


    But I wasn¡¯t here for cold blooded murder.


    Instead, I flipped the script, I brought out all my rage, my hatred, my disgust for these people.


    That feeling of horror mixed with certainty that I had to kill them.


    That murder was the only option.


    I saw my first Scav as I burst into the first room. The details were unimportant, but I noted them anyway. A former apartment now taken over as a recreation room for the Scavs to relax in, alcohol and drugs strewn across the table sitting under the holo TV.


    As he saw me, I let that rage fill me.


    As he tried to leap out of the chair at my entrance, it was time. Weapon Glitch slammed into his system, bouncing again and again as my entire Cyberdecks RAM was used in repeat.


    I had figured out the best way to make sure no one could shoot me, was by simply hacking them over and over and over again.


    It was a loop Quickhack. Every time my Cyberdeck would get enough RAM to run the program again it would do so throughout the system without my direct attention. As long as the network didn¡¯t alter its security it would be an endless disruption of weapons.


    I was already in their security.


    Their weapons were now useless.


    The first Scav didn¡¯t even get a chance to pull the trigger to find out how fucked he was.


    I leapt a snarl on my face as I cleared the distance.


    From the entrance to the Scav standing in the indented recreation area, was more than twenty feet across.


    I slammed my Carnage into the fuckers face like a club at the end of my leap. His scream of pain went ignored as I didn¡¯t end there. I rolled past him to bleed off momentum and then I was on him again fist raised and slammed into his already broken and bleeding face.


    Again and again. I hammered him. Even grabbing his head and smashing it into the table until I was sure he was dead.


    Breathing deeply, but not heavily. Adrenaline surged through me. The music was still going, and so was I.


    I moved. Leaping and practically bouncing off the walls, moving more like an animal than man as I surged into the next room. Leaping through the broken wall connecting the apartments. The Scavs were reacting, shouting for help at the sounds of my gunshot, alarm that something was attacking them. The flipping of their normal predator and prey dynamics as always making them fearful. Their bleating calls were just noise telling me where they were.


    The next room was a ripper room. The stink of blood and dead bodies filled it, but I barely hesitated leaping right over a ripper chair that had an elderly man laying across it, body ripped open the face of one of the Scav ripper docs moving away obviously realizing he was in danger.


    He screamed as my fist slammed into his face with all my weight and force behind it.


    I loved my new ankles. Superman punching a monster in the face was the best.


    He went down, but he wasn¡¯t alone.


    Carnage flipped up and his buddy who had an Ajax roared as he tried to open fire on me only for his gun to beep and not fire.


    Mine did.


    He went down in a torrent of blood as the carnage turned him into a newly painted wall. That done I flipped the carnage barrel up to the ceiling and slammed it right into the face of the ripper doc, ignoring his crying pleading for mercy as I continued to hammer his skull into the floor until the metal stock of my shotgun hit concrete.


    Okay. Now I was breathing a bit heavy.


    It felt fantastic. I pushed the cold blooded control even higher. Rage and hate flowed and it was all I felt.


    I glanced up to see another Scav peeking into the room. The moment he saw me, he made an attempt to shoot me only for his gun to fail. This guy leapt back into the room once he realized it, which is the only thing that saved his life as I brought my Carnage down and blasted where he had been.


    I charged, leaping into the room he had just escaped into and came out into a roll.


    Four soon to be dead Scavs faced me.


    Excellent.


    I had all the time I needed to aim my shotgun at them and fire. I didn¡¯t hit any of them as they fled into cover, but it did make them scramble around. Which is why the gonk that had just tried to shoot me suddenly had an intimate meeting with Carnage-chan! As I slammed her into his face like a baseball bat.


    I love this shotgun. Doesn¡¯t matter if you literally beat someone to death with it, it¡¯ll still fire!


    But before I could kill him he kicked out, his much longer legs slamming me away and forcing me off my feet for a moment, as I rolled and then came out of it with my Carnage raised.


    ¡°No! Wa-!¡± His pleadings ended with Carnage sounding off followed by the heavy cycle as I cocked the next round.


    ¡°Kill her!¡± One of the Scavs screamed out trying to do just that.


    The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    They would fail. These pathetic mewling creatures would not kill me.


    One guy obviously pissed at what he saw charged me, a knife drawn and ready.


    He didn¡¯t expect me to charge him back. He knew how to use a knife. I would even say he was pretty good.


    I didn¡¯t care.


    I wasn¡¯t fighting. I was raging. I slammed into him, ignoring how he nicked my side with the knife, the blade skittering off my leotard or subdermal, wasn¡¯t sure which as I slammed into him.


    He screamed as I used one hand to literally slam my thumb into his eye socket so I could grip his face were musical, flowing perfectly into the song pounding in my head as I proceeded to try and beat him to death with the carnage in my right hand.


    I ignored his attempts to at first stab me, and then just try to desperately get me away.


    Neither stopped me.


    His death came regardless, as my thumb wormed its way through to his end.


    Then there were three, before I could even rise up though. There were once again four.


    ¡°Cyka!¡± A voice roared out, and this time I was caught off guard.


    They had realized their weapons weren¡¯t working against me, but it turns out it didn¡¯t matter.


    Big fuckin¡¯ Scav decided to remind me I wasn¡¯t invincible.


    He blurred, a Sandy activated and suddenly I was the one being punched across the room. Out through a hole in the wall and into the ripper room I had just come from.


    I coughed, blood flowed.


    It hurt, but I would live. I pulled a MaxDoc and huffed it. Letting the adrenaline flow.


    I could hear russian. Scared russian, and a firm confident voice.


    Ah. The fucker had taken my Carnage. I added it into the next round of Weapon Glitch. Then, as the music once more peaked in my head.


    I rose up slow and steady.


    They had knocked me into a mess off medical equipment and storage the ripper room had, so as I stood metal clattered and glass shattered off me.


    The firm russian voice from before wasn¡¯t so firm anymore.


    They were looking at me.


    I cracked my neck, and spit the blood out of my mouth.


    Big borg fucker had my Carnage. He aimed it, and like a good girl she just clicked, already disabled. Eh she only had one round left anyways.


    I bared my teeth, a rumbling snarl leaving my throat in time with the roar of the guitar in my head. Then I moved.


    My speed surprised Sandevistan Scav, but he activated his implant again probably a fearful reflex, as he suddenly shifted from where he was when I leapt to right in front of me. My leap was aborted, he slammed into me.


    All too many pounds of him hitting me like a truck and this time he followed me back into the room pounding me into the concrete wall in a clatter of equipment.


    He knocked the air out of me. He hit me hard, hard enough to rattle my head. He had me pinned against the wall as he was already starting to beat on me.


    Too bad, he hadn¡¯t managed to actually kill me.


    I threw a fist back, and his Sandy speed kept him from getting slugged, but that was fine.


    I had fought people with Sandevistan. The Dojo had taught me a lot about how they work. Their strengths and weaknesses.


    That there was always a time limit, and not every Sandy was the crazy shit that David had.


    I raised my arms up in a guard as he punched back Sandy speed punches slamming me back into the wall, and my shoulder ached from the stress of trying to keep my chrome fists from slamming into my own face.


    It was a moderate success.


    He hit me again, and then again, and suddenly he was moving at a normal speed..


    Something I had been told. When a Sandy turns off and you go from super speed to normal? In that moment you felt like you were suddenly moving in slow mo. You felt the shift as time changed.


    I had spoken with a few people that used the sandy and they all said the same thing if you could get them to admit it.


    The moment the Sandy turned off was their weakest moment.


    Quickdrawing my Burya, I slammed it right into his mouth before pulling the trigger.


    His head separated in two from the force.


    I hurt. My vision was a little woozy, but that was just a concussion, and the BD would still be recording fine. I was definitely bleeding internally. Easily fixable once this was over. Lungs were struggling to breathe. He had knocked the wind out of me twice.


    But I was in control. I forced my body to breathe. I forced myself to stay on my feet. Because the rage wasn¡¯t gone.


    The Scav fell backwards as I pushed him away, letting his bulk fall and revealing the three Scavs from before.


    Ah, no it was six now. There was a moment of silence. Or maybe that was just my ears ringing. Close range Burya shots do tend to deafen me for a moment, but as I watched.


    I smiled.


    Fear. I could smell it. I took a step forward.


    ¡°Fuck this!¡± One of them screamed and tried to run.


    I shot him, just to prove a point.


    Then I holstered Burya and rushed them. The first guy had been smart enough to try and grab a melee weapon. A hunk of wood from a chair I think. I took the blow on my forearms, not even feeling it compared to the Sand Scavs hits, and the wood broke apart. So did he when I reached up and grabbed him by his jaw and started slamming my chrome fists into his face.


    His attempts to bite down on my chrome fingers were pointless, he fell backwards, and as he fell I jerked his head to slam him into the side of a table.


    That either killed him or knocked him senseless because he didn¡¯t resist as I raised up his head and battered him into the table a few more times.


    His buddy slammed into me. Grappling me as he tried to body me down. I slammed my forehead into his nose despite how it made my head spin and started punching.


    He started punching.


    Me punching in his throat did more than him punching my face. He gasped as he fell to his knees.


    I rose up and kicked him across the face before leaving him to die with his broken esophagus.


    Three more to go.


    They had all grabbed weapons. One had grabbed a knife from the guy that tried that earlier, the other two had metal rebar.


    I smiled out another snarl as I grabbed another MaxDoc in the stillness of the fight and huffed it down. The surge of adrenaline should mask the sudden lowering of pain.


    I stalked forward but not towards them, I stopped at where Carnage had been left behind and kicked her up into my arms.


    The music peaked.


    I moved. Like she was a baseball bat I weighed in, blocking the first gonks swing with the rebar only to leap up and drop a kick right into his nose. I could feel it break on my boots as I flipped back and the other two surged forward.


    I blocked and parried the rebar and knife, keeping the weapons away from me even as my breath came out in a desperate wheeze.


    Even as I was pushed back and back.


    They could have had me. They were good. Working together to keep me from ripping either one of them apart.


    But they had done something stupid. They backed me into a corner.


    So I leapt. Backwards. My boots slammed into the concrete wall and then I kicked off, my ankles more than making up my bodies weight launching me up and over their heads.


    And towards their buddy whose nose I had broken.


    He didn¡¯t have time to react, too busy trying to see through his busted face.


    Carnage fell onto the back of his head, and something snapped.


    I hit him again just to make sure.


    Then turned towards the two.


    Carnage shifted to one hand, as I reached to my hip and drew my own knife.


    ¡°Fuck this.¡± The one with the rebar said sounding panicked as he reached into his jacket and pulled out a fucking frag grenade.


    He yelled out something in Russian, that I was just going to assume was fuck you, and threw it at me.


    I dropped my knife. I grabbed my Carnage in two hands and knocked the grenade to the side.


    Then I leapt at them.


    The man screaming as I slammed into him, was a moment I was doubly glad I was recording.


    We went down in a jumble of limbs as the grenade went off. Shrapnel pinging around the room, but I had a gonk between me and it. Unfortunately the pinging metal didn¡¯t actually do any harm to the gonk I was using as a shield.


    Fortunately I did. Both hands grabbing his face I plunged my thumbs into his eyes and with that had full control of his movement.


    I slammed his skull into the floor using all the muscles I had at my disposal, even jumping putting all my weight into his skull.


    I looked up expecting to have the guy with a knife trying to stick me, but he was nowhere to be seen.


    No.


    No one escapes.


    I rushed to follow, jumping over garbage and the junk the frag grenade had strewn around as he raced away like a madman he leapt through what was once the front door to an apartment into the hallway splitting the Megabuildings apartments, then raced across the way and into another set.


    I grinned as he had gathered even more Scavs for me to kill.


    Idly I slowed and fixed my Carnage, reloading her as well, five shells in, before pumping her loudly, the noise echoing through the complex.


    The next room was obviously another rest area. Far enough away the Scavs could take a nap without having to hear the ripping of bodies apart, or the screams of mercy.


    Both of which I would make sure they heard soon enough.


    I stepped into the opened door to see the group all readied for me.


    Guns were aimed at me and triggers were pulled but other than clicks, or other bad noises nothing fired.


    Seven.


    I fired.


    Six.


    Madness. They charged me, or fled. The group was disorderly, despite some of them potentially being ex-soldiers, they were Scavs now. Some charged, some fled, all would die.


    I fired again, and again.


    Another Scav died, as they finally reached me. Swinging a Cut-o-Matic at me. I instantly fell in love.


    A chainsaw sword? A chainsword that actually worked? For me!?


    I wanted it.


    I leapt straight up disappearing from the Scavs sight as I lined up a shot. Carnage fired and he turned into a puddle below me that I fell into. Blood coating me as I fired again clearing some room long enough for me to bend down and pick up my new chainsword.


    I grinned ferally as I felt it buzz back up.


    I leapt forward, dropping my Carnage as I slammed into the first Scav that was an instant too slow to avoid me.


    Blood hot and messy coated me as I ripped into the monsters neck.


    The Scavs started running.


    I chased them. Leaping from filth to filth. Their attempts to resist were unable to stall me out as I battered down any defense.


    I looked around as I grunted my Chainsword was stuck in the head of one of fuckers. Stupid chrome skull.


    There was still one more. The same gonk that had fled from me in the first place I had purposefully left him for last, but he wasn¡¯t in the room anymore.


    He was back the other way?


    Hah! The coward had tried to escape while I was distracted with his chooms! Unfortunately I still had him in my sight, his own agent was telling me exactly where he was. I raced back through the hallway, back into the Scavs work room.


    The music was building up to the end.


    And my own voice, demonic and angry roared in my ears.


    ¡®Rip and TEAR. RIP AND TEAR!¡¯


    He had escaped back into the ripper doc room. Into another section that was covered in the plastic sheets to stop blood splatter. He was trying to hide.


    He screamed as he saw me. As I ignored his attempts to hide from me.


    I slammed into him like a wild cat. He screamed in terror. A true guttural horror note as I promptly began beating him to death.


    I smashed my fist into his face over and over as he desperately tried to fend me off. Punches were slammed into my face and chest, that I ignored.


    It hurt, but pain was passing.


    Murder was forever.


    Hands balled, I slammed both arms down into his face again until his struggling ceased.


    Until bone bent.


    ¡°Rip and Tear.¡± I said, exhaling along with the songs only lyrics. ¡°Until it¡¯s done.¡± I whispered breath hoarse and heavy, I probably had a busted rib in there somewhere, but it was just¡­ Cathartic.


    Even if I really shouldn¡¯t have enjoyed that as much as I just had.


    ¡°A-aha!¡± A voice weak and terrified squeaked from nearby.


    I looked away from the broken body beneath me. Eyes focused and hand already reaching for my Burya.


    Six red optics met my own.


    Maelstrom.

 Chapter 94

    My heart was suddenly beating in my ears. Teeth grinding. If I wasn¡¯t already a bit out of breath I was sure I would be screaming with every exhale.


    MAELSTROM.


    My hand instinctively already reaching for my Burya to put the monster down.


    I snapped my eyes shut. Inhale. Exhale.


    I opened my eyes feeling at least myself. I wasn¡¯t sure if that feeling had been from all the rage I had been pumping into myself, or just¡­


    Maelstrom.


    But my hand fell away from my Burya. I didn¡¯t need to kill her. The girl was barely alive.


    Broken. Ripped apart. White borg blood mixed with red real blood covered her. I was honestly shocked she was still alive considering how much blood was dripping from her onto the floor.


    I stilled, everything that I was struggled with a decision.


    On one hand, Maelstrom. Kill her. Painfully.


    On the other, she was a victim of Scavs. No one deserved that. Funny how my two most hated enemies were responsible for this situation.


    My eyes flickered as I scanned her. She had a rap sheet. I read it over still unsure what to do.


    ¡°Natalie Desanto AKA GearSlot.¡± I said finally my eyes bored into her optics. As if I could kill her by just glaring.


    ¡°A-are you-*cough* D-did Kamhead send you?¡± She asked, quietly a desperate hope in her voice.


    The sound of it left my tongue tasting of ash, and a disgust welling up in me.


    It¡¯s all fun and games to put people in a pit to fight for their life, but get put into a Scav den and suddenly they are the victim! I raged inside my mind. My hands gripped so hard I could feel the blood coating my palms run down my fingers. I shifted them, to keep from breaking something internally.


    ¡°No, I was not sent here by some Maelstrom piece of shit! I happily kill you fucks whenever I get the chance after what you monsters did to me!¡± I roared back, my voice throaty and raw. My insides were still not doing great. I should really stop and take some MaxDoc to heal up again, but my hands were struggling to do anything but grip my own arms now as I glared at the Maelstrom in front of me.


    All I could see is those fucking optics staring at me.


    ¡°Oh.¡± She muttered a raspy sigh escaping her. ¡°Figures.¡±


    I stalked up to her. For the first time in a while my arms felt wrong. Like just being around some Maelstrom made my phantom limbs act up again, as if I had an extra set of limbs already reaching for her throat to throttle her to death.


    My head felt quiet. The song ended so it was just me and her and the sound of dripping blood.


    Just me, and her.


    Her life in my hands. She was dying regardless. Body torn into by Scavs. Another victim of them just as I had been¡­


    I exhaled and it came out more like a growl. But the breath was ice cold on my tongue.


    Suddenly I reached out and grabbed her face, uncaring about the blood I left there as I pushed her head to the side. She whimpered in fear and pain. As she knew a beast was here to kill her.


    But I wasn¡¯t a mindless beast.


    I pulled the shard that was in her neuroport.


    ¡°I¡¯m not going to rescue you, but that should be what was blocking your agent. Call some of your chooms. If they care about you, maybe you¡¯ll survive.¡± I bit out crunching the shard in my hand. Fucking Scav shit made to shut down someone from being able to call for help.


    Then I started walking away. I couldn¡¯t deal with this shit!


    ¡°W-wait! W-where are we? I don¡¯t know where to tell-Tell them to go!¡± She begged weakly, desperate.


    My feet stomped into bloody flooring halting me cold.


    ¡°Megabuilding H11 Floor 37. Tell them to get to the North West side. Should be obvious where to go.¡± I ground behind clenched teeth, as I started taking another step away. I wanted to get out of here.


    Then she was coughing, I could hear the blood in her synth-lungs. I had killed enough people to know what someone dying sounded like.


    Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck!


    I turned around and grabbed a medkit off a pile of bodies. Fucking Scavs. They obviously took care of each other in here when needed. They had a full medical kit all stocked up. I thrust a MaxDoc into her hand, which would help a little, but grabbed a canister of borg blood.


    I jammed it into her, not caring to be gentle. She whimpered, but it obviously helped. Blood pressure surging back as her breathing evened out, even giving her the strength to take the MaxDoc.


    ¡°There, that¡¯s all the mercy I have for someone in Maelstrom.¡± I told her firmly. Slamming the medkit back onto the table beside her and storming off.


    As I turned the corner I came across the dead Scavs, and remembered what I had been doing here.


    I turned off the BD recorder, and grabbed a MaxDoc of my own.


    I also needed to find a damn bathroom. Jun would freak if I came out this covered in my own blood like this.


    My irritation spiked when I realized I would have to go hunt down my knife, I had dropped my Carnage somewhere as well.


    Plus Ichi and Malcolm would be on their way soon, and so would a group of Maelstrom.


    Fuck. Fuck!


    I found a bathroom, but stopped before cleaning up. The sight of myself covered in blood gave me an idea. Instead I called Jun.


    *Motoko! You okay? It went quiet!*


    *Jun change of plans. I need you to stay up there¡­ Scavs had a victim in here they are fucked, They are calling for someone to get them out of here, but I don¡¯t want you to get involved.* I said ignoring his worried tone.


    *Motoko? What¡¯s going on I can come down to help if someone is dying. I know some first aid stuff.* Jun¡¯s voice asked, obviously concerned.


    *Maelstrom. The victim is a Maelstrom girl.*  Considering how much I want to kill her, and her fucking friends, I doubted Jun was much more reasonable.


    *Did you kill it?* Jun asked, suddenly his voice sounded a little dead.


    *No, I didn¡¯t kill her! I just said¡­ She was already in pieces.* I told him, and don¡¯t think I didn¡¯t notice how you called her an it Jun. That¡¯s rather telling Onii-chan. *It¡¯s ruined my mood though. Jun just let me handle this. Some of her chooms are going to come pick her up. That will be that.*


    *No. If more Maelstrom are coming I should come down. Make sure they don¡¯t ever leave, we can-*


    *Jun, if the Maelstrom find out you are here alone, they are going to send a hit squad to take you out. Just¡­ Stay hidden up there, I¡¯ll patch you into the cameras so you can keep watch, but I just want these fucks gone so Malcolm and Ichi can loot¡­ Please just stay cool. I know¡­ I know this isn¡¯t comforting. But I have an idea. It¡¯s not like I plan on being gentle with the fucks.*


    *It¡¯s your gig.* He said suddenly just as flat as before, then the call ended.


    Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    Fuck.


    ¡ª--


    I had called Ichi to let him know the situation, so he wouldn¡¯t park too close until I let him know it was clear. Then I waited. Forced to listen to the Maelstrom woman slowly die even with the blood injection and MaxDoc.


    My foot was tapping in irritation when finally the elevator started up and three Maelstrom came stepping out carefully onto the floor with guns in hand.


    Of course I let them approach.


    Let them find the broken open entrance door.


    I stalked them. My silent steps more than capable of bypassing their chrome audio equipment. The fact I had access to all the cameras meant I could stay around the corner always completely hidden from their stupid Optics which were difficult to get around.


    ¡°Fuckin¡¯ hell this really is a Scav den! I guess GearSlot was right. Think she was actually klepped, or she just leading us into a trap?¡± One of them asked suddenly.


    ¡°Fuck off, she was legit, now find her!¡± The other growled out and the first made a motion that I knew he was rolling his nonexistent eyes.


    ¡°Just cause you fuck her sometimes¡­¡±


    ¡°No! Because she is one of us, and we don¡¯t let Maelstrom get fucked by Scavs.¡± He grumbled as they stepped into the first rooms.


    ¡°Fuck, look at that scop!¡± The first Maelstrom whistled as they came across the first body I had left, head bashed in across the table.


    ¡°Guess Gearslot was right. Some solo came through here, wiped them out. C¡¯mon!¡±


    While I followed them along. I was recording. The moment the elevator rose to the top I had started recording again.


    The Only Thing They Fear is You 2 Electric Boogaloo.


    I waited for them to find their choom. Unfortunately for the Maelstrom, each had already had their security breached through as I tracked them.


    I was now in control.


    ¡°Fuck Gearslot you look like some truly rusty shit.¡± The guy that sounded actually worried about her muttered when they found her.


    ¡°Fuck you.¡± She wheezed but she sounded relieved. ¡°Now get me¡­ Get me out of here.¡± She begged and the big guy nodded, already reaching down to pick her up.


    ¡°Hell no! Look around, look at all this chrome!¡± The stupid fuck said.


    That¡¯s it. Can¡¯t allow them to even consider that.


    The stereo that the Scavs were so fond of started up with a thought from where I was hiding, literally crawling among the corpse of the Scav ripper doc I had murdered before.


    The first guitar riff echoed through the room.


    ¡°The fuck? Where¡¯s that song coming from?¡±


    ¡°What song is that?¡± The third asked looking around more in interest at the notes.


    ¡°I think¡­ I think the girl, the solo wants us to leave.¡± Gearslot muttered quietly in the big Maelstroms arms.


    ¡°What? Fuck that! This is our territory! It¡¯s our chrome! Some Fleshy cunt can-¡±


    That was when I dropped the darkness on them.


    For stupid worthless chrome junkies their optics were usually high end, giving them vision way better than a normal person could have.


    Even if the chrome was a disgusting mess.


    But it was still just chrome.


    Still able to be shut down.


    Two of them instantly lost sight.


    ¡°What? Fuck I can¡¯t see!¡± Stupid and the other gonk that wasn¡¯t holding his injured choom suddenly lost their right to see. The third the big fuck that was carrying the girl was allowed to retain his vision. I wanted at least one of them to see this.


    I moved.


    As the song pulsed through the radio, I slammed into stupid fuck. Carnage bashing his knee in and then whipping around to smash his face. Sending him crumpling to the floor at the unseen attack. Then I slammed the barrel into his cheek putting weight behind it so he could really feel the pressure of the barrel pressing down on him. But I wasn¡¯t looking at the gonk that was a split second from losing his head, I was staring at the big fuck with the girl in his arms.


    My bloodsoaked body glaring with all my might. Every ounce of barely restrained rage on display.


    The voice that came out wasn¡¯t my normal one. Sexy Motoko voice was in play mostly to make me sound older. ¡°Only warning. Take your chooms and get lost.¡± I pumped the shotgun just so stupid would know exactly what was pressing against his stupid face.


    Then I let my hack finish processing. I blinded them all  got up, leaping away, and then bouncing again leaving the ripper room, as I deactivated the quick hack for the entire group.


    Just as their sight had disappeared, it suddenly came back, as I undid the attack. I also tweaked the stereo. Letting the sound dimm down so it was just a faint rumble in the background. A warning if they were smart.


    I watched on from the camera system as I moved to a place they wouldn¡¯t find me even if they looked.


    ¡°Bitch!¡± Stupid cursed as he rose up his gun waving this way and that, but after a few seconds he realized other than his chooms he was alone. ¡°Where did she go!?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t know.¡± The big guy said but as he had been holding his injured output firmly actually trying to protect her even with his vision lost. ¡°But let¡¯s not find out. Move your shit, we¡¯re leaving.¡±


    Stupid fuck looked like he was going to argue but eventually he just cursed and spit onto the floor following the other two.


    I watched as they got into the elevator and left. I knew Jun had been watching too, so I was actually impressed they got away without being murdered.


    Time to check on my brother, get my crew to loot this place, and deal with everything.


    Fuck.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°I told you Jun, I¡¯m fine. I¡¯ll stop at Viks to get checked out.¡± I told him grumbling. He had seen how much blood I had on me from the cameras, and it seemed he had taken all the feelings he had about seeing Maelstrom and not murdering them, towards smothering me.


    ¡°You don¡¯t look fine.¡± He grumbled as I drove us as quickly as I could away from the Megabuilding.


    This was supposed to be fun! It was supposed to be a glorious orgy of violence and brutality! Fun! I was supposed to be the Doom Slayer against acceptable targets! Like a game, but more real!


    But now all I could think about was how it ended. The bitter taste in my throat at being reminded Maelstrom existed.


    ¡°It totally ruined my song.¡± I grumbled, the fact I had been so happy to finally finish an awesome song felt so¡­ Far away now.


    ¡°What song?¡± Jun asked, almost startling me and pulling me out of the spiral of just frustration I was feeling.


    That¡¯s right. It was actually done. Like done done¡­ I felt a tiny bit of that happiness in finishing the song and music box come back, as I popped the shard from my neck and stuck it into the Quadra¡¯s stereo.


    The song started and I could tell the noise surprised Jun as my heavy riffs dropped into the heavy drums.


    Okay, so maybe seeing Jun¡¯s face perk up in interest as he listened to a song I played helped my mood a bit.


    I stopped on the street in front of the apartment complex to let Jun off at home. Despite it being so late, I did want to go see Vik. Just to get a checkup. But as I parked Jun surprised me by popping the shard out of the stereo before I could stop him.


    ¡°Jun!¡±


    ¡°Nope. This is mine now.¡± He told me actually teasing me, before racing out of the Quadra before I could stop him.


    ¡°Hey! Get back here! Give it back!¡± I called out as I started to slip out of the Quadra, but Jun pointed right at me.


    ¡°No! You are injured, go to Viks!¡± He demanded and I stalled which gave him all the time he needed to race inside.


    ¡°Bastard!¡± I yelled at him, but he just laughed as he raced inside.


    I was going to powerbomb his ass the very next time I caught him sleeping. I decided, but it was with a much lighter feeling that I slipped back into the Quadra.


    ¡ª--


    Thankfully Vik was able to take care of me. To my surprise he hadn¡¯t been in his clinic when I got there. I actually had to call him up.


    Turns out Vik actually had a life outside of waiting around in his clinic for my gonk ass.


    It gave me weird vibes, like meeting a teacher outside of school.


    ¡°You have a fracture in your skull, and two of your ribs kid.¡± Vik unfortunately hadn¡¯t been happy at me, when I explained that I was still feeling pain even after ¡®healing.¡¯


    ¡°I figured. Broken bones don¡¯t tend to heal up without sleeping.¡± I explained and he just sighed rubbing at his head with one hand not covered in Ripper needles.


    ¡°Alright, kid. I¡¯m glad you came to me for me to check you out, so I won¡¯t yell at you too much.¡± He offered with a warm hand on my shoulder as he thankfully let me off easy.


    I hadn¡¯t actually told him just why I was a bit more beat up than normal. Hopefully he won¡¯t find out it was something I basically did to myself.


    ¡°Well I want you to rest then, here, for observation. Head wounds like that¡­ Skull fractures are serious kid. So rest. I¡¯m going to make sure you don¡¯t have a brain hemorrhage in your sleep.¡±


    With those orders from Vik what else could I do? I leaned back and closed my eyes.


    ¡ª--


    With a clean bill of health and skull back to how it should be I left Viks the next morning. intending to go see Judy to drop off the new BD. Unfortunately I was still kinda covered in blood. I had washed up a bit, but there was only so much I could do without a change of clothes and a shower.


    So I went home instead. Did just that, and even took a few moments to get some food in me. Then I raced over to Lizzies.


    I had cut out a bit of the BD already. Mostly just everything after meeting the Maelstrom victim. I didn¡¯t want anyone to see how rattled it had made me. I had kept a copy of me messing with the second Maelstrom group, but that wasn¡¯t going to be handed over to Judy. It wasn¡¯t good enough to really bother with.


    Lizzies was quieter than normal, being so early in the morning when I pulled up. Rita wasn¡¯t even the one guarding the door, but another girl that I had seen around, but hadn¡¯t spoken with. I waved at her as I passed and got a nod in return.


    The insides were still active, but slower than normal. People were mostly hanging around in little corners rather than packing up the place, but I moved through.


    Judy¡¯s realm was how it always was. Dark and hidden away, but to my surprise, Judy wasn¡¯t actually here.


    Huh.


    I shrugged, it would have been nice to talk to her, but it is what it is. I grabbed the shard with the virtu on it and placed it onto Judy¡¯s desk. Knowing she would get it. I was a few steps away before I stopped and quickly picked it back up.


    Etching the name of the BD onto the shard with a grin before putting it back nice and obvious on her computer there. Now she would know what to call the BD for Nox.


    Showing my mature and reasonable mentality I also sent Judy a text letting her know it was on her desk, including that the BD was a bit more brutal than before so she should be ready. As tempting as it was to leave it as a surprise, that might not be an entirely nice thing to do for someone kinda doing me a favor by fixing up my virtu.


    With that I headed back out of the club into the sunny California day.


    I blinked at the sunny bright day, raising my hand over my eyes as I glared at it.


    ¡°Nah fuck that.¡± I grumbled heading to my car. I was going to go hide in the apartment¡­ Maybe get some Ramen first.


    ¡ª--


    I was on the couch with a bowl of to go ramen in front of me as I looked through my system alerts.


    Eighteen Scavs.


    I hadn¡¯t actually counted last night.


    I had brutally murdered eighteen Scavs.


    Seventeen 500xp alerts, and one 1000xp alert was in the listing.


    9500xp was nice on its own. The level up to level 12 was great.


    But that wasn¡¯t even all that my system had given me. I had used skills I didn¡¯t often practice. I had fought in a way that I never had.


    Street Brawler had leveled up, and considering how early I had got those alerts, I might have gotten a good way into the next level if it wasn¡¯t already maxed out with Body at 7.


    But better than that, I leveled Annihilation! Annihilation 5 also unlocked a perk. I had to go back and check to even remember what perk I had picked before, and it was Recoil Reduction. One of the reasons I was able to even use my Burya without breaking my arm. I was a little hyped at wondering what I would pick next!


    Quick Hacks 7. Also popped up in the list. I guess my rolling Weapon Glitch had been good for more than just giving me a brutal melee.


    I had gained a lot from that fight.


    I stretched as I considered what to do with my points.


    I¡¯ll admit a big part of me was tempted to put the stat point into intelligence.


    Just to see. What was 11 in a stat/skill? What did it mean?


    But I shook off the temptation. Instead I went to my adaptation page and pushed another point into my arms.


    Militech Condor *Adaptation Militech Condor 5/8*


    I exhaled and I shrugged, and honestly. I couldn¡¯t even really feel the difference so much anymore. Sure they still gave weird signals sometimes. Falling asleep on my arm only to wake up and feel like someone else was touching my face was a weird recurring issue in the morning.


    But it felt¡­ Normal.


    I felt normal.


    Well, I felt normal enough. Ignoring the slight itch of my Subdermal. The ache my ankles gave me in my calves as they forced bone and muscle to move in ways they wouldn¡¯t normally. Or the small minor things that I felt from time to time.


    In the end. It was just me.


    I smiled and nodded looking at my skill points.


    Did I want to spend them?


    I had two¡­


    Nah there wasn¡¯t anything that wasn¡¯t already close to max level that I couldn¡¯t level up pretty quick.


    Rockerboy staring at me still at level 6 was tempting to actually grind out though.


    I did finally finish my music box! I grinned as I stretched, wiggling my toes as I finished off the ramen.


    Time to make some songs!


    I reached over and plugged my personal link into the box humming as I started on a new track. I was thinking¡­ Samurai. I nodded, decision made. Let¡¯s see how I compare to Johnny.

 Chapter 95

    Working through the catalog of Samurai songs took me most of the night. Each song needed multiple playthroughs, just for the initial tracks, and then I had to add the holo emitter setup which now that I had done it once with my first song, did go easier. I just needed to add a few more move sets for drums and guitar, and then set up the keyboard and bass.


    Jun didn¡¯t come home that night, which was annoying. I still needed to get my shard back from him. But at least I was able to distract myself with rocking out.


    Rockerboy was gaining xp again. And in the middle of the night as I finished Never Fade Away, I got a new level up!


    Rockerboy 7!


    I hummed as the knowledge hit, and took it all in. That was nice addition a bit more high end musical stuff, and some adjustments I could do while singing to bring more emotion into the song.


    Of course when I heard the door open in the morning I was instantly on my feet and finger pointed at my idiot brother.


    ¡°Give it back!¡±


    ¡°No.¡± He responded as he walked stretching and yawning. ¡°I like it. It suits me.¡±


    ¡°No! It¡¯s my song! It¡¯s meant to suit me!¡± I argued and Jun looked at me, and just scoffed.


    Which is when I did the mature thing and yowled in fury and leapt on his head. And I do mean on his head. I nearly fell feet and hands first into his hair.


    How dare he!


    But my jump was stalled. His arms caught me mid leap¡­ Had Jun known what I was going to do, or were his reflexes that good? He didn¡¯t have a sandy or Keren¡­ Right?


    My thoughts were interrupted as Jun flipped me around and even with Street Brawler leveling I wasn¡¯t able to stop him from swinging me around a bit and bombed me onto the couch.


    Which creaked a little ominously but held.


    Then he sat on me.


    ¡°What have we learned?¡± He teased and I punched him a few times near his kidneys only for it to not really do much. Stupid subdermal! ¡°Ah. I guess nothing apparently.¡± He added as he reached down and started poking me. Which only made me want to punch him more.


    ¡°I swear I¡¯m going to chip in some gorilla arms so you can¡¯t just ignore my punches.¡±


    ¡°That would just make you more like a gorilla than you already are. Sure you want to do that?¡± He teased and I could feel my face getting red in anger as I struggled for a bit under him.


    Stupid Jun and his¡­ ¡°FAT!¡± I yelled into his face. ¡°GO ON A DIET!¡±


    Jun just blinked at me before smirking. He reached into his jacket pocket¡­


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°Oh yes.¡± He assured me as he took out an XXL burrito and started eating it.


    ¡°You¡¯re so disgusting.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re good! I don¡¯t get why you don¡¯t like them anymore.¡±


    ¡°They aren¡¯t burritos! They are just sludge!¡±


    Jun just shrugged. ¡°Tasty tho.¡±


    I looked up at the kitchen to where the radio was. I would have my revenge! The radio started playing Samurai music suddenly.


    Jun frowned and looked like he was considering standing up to turn it off but just decided to ignore it. He turned on the TV to watch something turning up the volume to drown out the song.


    Wrong move.


    I had complete control!


    The TV Glitched.


    It started playing the song as well.


    ¡°Motoko.¡±


    ¡°You will never know peace.¡± I told him firmly. He sighed and tried the remote.


    Nope. Already hacked that.


    ¡°Motoko. No hacking the TV.¡± Jun demanded using his authority voice.


    I gave him a deadpan stare.


    ¡°How about a truce?¡±


    ¡°Get your fat ass off me.¡±


    ¡°Fine.¡± He grumbled standing up as I could finally breathe normally again and I clambered up to stand on the couch so we were about the same height¡­ No dammit Jun was still taller!


    I put my hands on my hips and glared.


    ¡°Give me back my shard!¡±


    ¡°Make me a copy.¡±


    ¡°No! I already have the original. The reason I want the shard is so no one else can listen to it! Well I mean they¡¯ll be able to once they watch the BD I guess, but I mean¡­ Ugh! Fine keep it!¡±


    ¡°I will.¡± He said smiling and patted me on the head. ¡°Gotta keep my Imouto¡¯s first recording. It¡¯s special.¡±


    ¡°Bwah!¡± I flailed, pushing his hand away. No fair! Cheating!


    ¡°Heh. You should play a live gig.¡± He said suddenly, smiling. ¡°Fujimura-Sama was really impressed with the piano solo you did.¡±


    ¡°No way!¡± I argued instantly, returning to normal to cross my arms in an X. ¡°That¡¯s embarrassing, I don¡¯t want anyone to hear my songs!¡± Except when they were the backing to an awesome XBD!


    ¡°Pfft.¡± Jun just laughed at me, which didn¡¯t help! ¡°I¡¯ve already shown your song to some of the others. The Only Thing They Fear was a hit. They liked it.¡±


    I gaped at Jun who was smiling at me. No!


    ¡°You didn¡¯t!¡±


    ¡°I did! Akari was really into it. She bugged me for a copy, I didn¡¯t give it to her though. She will probably come poke you for it¡­ Be ready.¡±


    ¡°Noooo!¡± I whined at him, I was blushing! Stupid Onii-chan! Making me get all self conscious! ¡°You aren¡¯t allowed to show it to anyone! Give it back!¡±


    ¡°Nope. What else you got? Any other songs?¡± He asked his face in a proud smile.


    ¡°Samurai Songs!¡± I immediately offered, turning his smile into a disgusted look.


    ¡°Nevermind then. Let me know when you make something else.¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t! Ever! You shared it!¡±


    ¡°It was preem. Cool. I liked it, made me want to go murder something.¡± He offered and I nodded along. Yeah that¡¯s true. That song did that to me too.


    Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.


    ¡°That¡¯s what I felt. It¡¯s why the song is my theme song now! Motoko¡¯s Theme!¡± I called out telling him why the song was important.


    ¡°Oni¡¯s Theme sounds better.¡± I gaped at him.


    ¡°Never! You can¡¯t just steal my theme! I made it myself!¡±


    ¡°Well you can¡¯t stop me.¡± He said reminding me he had my shard with a tap of his hand against his neck.


    Which was his mistake. It was reasonable enough. Jun still hadn¡¯t quite fitted my netrunning skill into his mind yet.


    My eyes blazed in code and half a second later his Neuroport ejected the shard sending it tumbling into the air.


    Heh! Lucy wasn¡¯t the only Picksocket around!


    I leapt for the shard that had ejected, but Jun wasn¡¯t giving up without a fight. We ended up wrestling and tumbling around the couch for a while.


    In the end his stupid fat strength meant he kept the shard and I sulked at him in the corner as he very obviously played the song in his head.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe you hit another Scav den without me!¡± Hiromi whined the exact second after almost kicking in the door and glaring at me from the entryway.


    ¡°Hiromi don¡¯t kick doors that can break them.¡± I reminded her only to get a groan from her as I guess I ruined her outrage.


    ¡°Why! I could have come!¡±


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t going to call anyone¡­ It was a BD gig more than anything but Jun wouldn¡¯t let me go alone. So I ended up calling Ichi and Malcolm after to collect everything.¡±


    ¡°But not me?¡±


    ¡°It was a school night.¡± I reminded her, earning a look of disgust from her..


    ¡°Stop using that as an excuse!¡± She whined before flopping beside me on the couch reaching out to grab me so I couldn¡¯t escape. ¡°I demand restitution! One Million Motoko hours of service will just about cover this insult!¡± She added in her most Corpo voice. It had me giggling at her act, but I pulled myself together to give her my most deadpan reply.


    ¡°Sorry, no can do, but I¡¯ll pick up dinner.¡± I retorted and Hiromi giggled and seemed to relax.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take it.¡±


    ¡ª--


    Hiromi dragged me to a more expensive sort of restaurant than I would normally go to, but considering how many eddies I had sliding into my bank account I just shrugged and accepted what she wanted, and ate the overpriced food.


    It was making her happy.


    We were in a dark little booth with an electric candle lighting our table and Hiromi was all smiles while she told me about her day at the academy.


    ¡°Seriously. They are so gonk. They think people will just listen to whatever they say without any care. I¡¯m pretty sure the first time they try to hire a merc they are going to get shot.¡± Hiromi added with a roll of her eyes and I couldn¡¯t help but be amused at how well she had scored on her ¡°Workplace Reinforcement¡± quiz.


    ¡°I think you just have way more experience than most of them in dealing with solos¡­ Not that I really count. I don¡¯t think using me as an example is a good idea.¡±


    Hiromi opened her mouth to retort but ended up closing it and bursting into giggles. ¡°Probably not! Oh! Now I have this image in my head! Motoko! You have to record the first time some corp tries to hire you okay? I want to see the look on their face when they realize what they are dealing with!¡±


    ¡°That¡­ Okay that does sound funny, but the way you say that makes it sound like I¡¯m weird!¡± I argued pushing a piece of¡­ Well it was supposed to be shrimp, but it was just scop made to look and sort of taste like shrimp.


    Hiromi of course just smirked at me, until I looked away first. Meanie.


    I suddenly perked up as a text came in, the chime jolting in my ear.


    *Judy: JESUS. FUCK! What the fuck was that?*


    Before I could even message back another came in.


    *Judy: I¡¯m glad you warned me, but still! Are you okay!? Did you go Cyberpsycho on me or something? DON¡¯T MAKE ME CALL RITA!*


    ¡°Ah one sec. Judy just saw my BD.¡± I told Hiromi who was looking curiously as my eyes were obviously gold as I looked through my texts.


    Before I could actually respond Judy sent another message.


    *Judy: FUCK IT. I¡¯m calling Rita anyways!*


    *Motoko: Please don¡¯t. I¡¯m fine. Not a psycho!*


    *Motoko: Cyber or otherwise! It was just for the BD. I do have a thing about Scavs after all. I¡¯m actually at dinner with my Choom right now. Eating and doing normal stuff! Nothing psycho going on I¡¯m okay! Don¡¯t tell Rita I¡¯m a Cyberpsycho!*


    *Judy: Fine! Fine. I¡¯ll chill. But seriously. You gave me a warning, but a bit more detail would have been nice! Fuck my heart is pounding! A bit more brutal my ass! You! I will never forget the feeling of sticking my thumbs in someone''s eyeballs now thanks to you!*


    *Motoko: Sorry.*


    *Judy: Fuck, you better be! You sure you aren¡¯t a fucking Cyberpscyho? No. You wouldn¡¯t be this normal I guess? I don¡¯t know I¡¯ve never dealt with a Cyberpsycho before! Fine. Okay. Fine. As long as you aren¡¯t a psycho I guess it¡¯s all good. Sides, I guess it¡¯s all good. Nox will be happy to hear about a new virtu. Well as long as it isn¡¯t going to be evidence for MaxTac¡­ Well yet anyways. I¡¯m gonna finish the BD, make it fucking sparkly preem. Just don¡¯t drop something like this on me again. Fuck I do porn, I didn¡¯t sign up to learn what brain feels like!*


    *Motoko: Double super sorry. Anything I can do to make up for it?*


    *Judy: Heh, some replacement caffeine to start. I had to chug half my stash just to calm down after that overload.*


    *Motoko: Judy, I don¡¯t think Caffeine is what you want if you are- You know what. Nevermind. Sure I¡¯ll replace your stuff. Sorry.*


    *Judy: It¡¯s fine I guess. I¡¯m just glad you read normal. But I¡¯m expecting you to check in with Rita or something! Or just don¡¯t do something like that again! Anyway I¡¯ll have it done ASAP. I kinda want to see some reactions to this one..*


    I shook my head at Judy¡¯s reaction, taking a deep breath. At least Judy was okay with it. I mean¡­ Just because it was me at my most brutal overlaid with heavy metal that no one had ever heard before that literally ended with Rip and Tear¡­ Surely no one could misconstrued that in the wrong light¡­


    Right?


    ¡°I may have gone a bit overboard on my last BD.¡± I admitted to Hiromi who only looked interested rather than concerned.


    Yep. This may have been a mistake.


    A fun mistake. But still a mistake.


    ¡ª--


    Apparently we were having a slumber party.


    Hiromi had followed me home after dinner. She flopped onto the couch as we entered besides Jun. ¡°Hiya Jun!¡±


    ¡°Hiromi. Taking care of my gonk sister tonight?¡±


    ¡°Yep! Motoko is all fed!¡±


    ¡°I bought dinner.¡± I grumbled at Hiromi going along with Jun¡¯s teasing as I settled onto the armrest of the couch. Jun and Hiromi taking up the rest.


    ¡°Motoko! Play your song for me!¡± Hiromi demanded, leaning back like a queen surveying her domain.


    ¡°No.¡± My instant flat denial broke her facade, and the whining began.


    ¡°Motokooooo! I want to hear you play your new soooong! Judy got to hear it!¡± She begged leaning into me and being purposefully annoying.


    ¡°Judy is listening to a recording of it in a BD. It¡¯s not the same!¡± I argued. I had explained after Judy¡¯s text what I had done at the Scav den. And Hiromi to my surprise hadn¡¯t said anything about wanting to hear ¡®my¡¯ song then.


    I guess she just wanted a private showing.


    ¡°I want to hear you play it too.¡± Jun said, a smirk shot in my direction. Earning a happy smile from Hiromi as she met his eyes and both of then looked at me.


    ¡°Don¡¯t even think about it.¡±


    ¡°Motokoooo!¡±


    ¡°C¡¯mon Imouto!¡±


    They started cheering for me! Like actual cheers! They were even getting louder and I realized then if I didn¡¯t do something¡­ They were going to keep getting louder until I did!


    FUCKING GONKS!


    I felt my face heating up but pushed it down with cool, which was a mistake. Because if I was controlling my emotions, I wasn¡¯t too embarrassed to actually play in front of people.


    I did have to test my Music Box after all.


    I glared at them both before walking around grabbing my music box and pushing my personal link into it.


    I placed it onto the floor behind me as I grabbed my guitar. With a bit of finagling, I hooked the amp and speakers I had bought, up to the music box. While ignoring the cheers of my choom and stupid brother.


    ¡°You both better appreciate this.¡± I told them as I did a few tests to make sure the sound was coming out, and then walked around the apartment turning off most of the lights.


    Then I activated the song.


    The moment I started the first chords, behind me holograms began forming.


    On my right a drum set formed and then I could hear Jun and Hiromi both gasp in surprise as a holographic me formed with it. The hologram unfortunately didn¡¯t do anything fancy like twirl a drumstick or something. I would actually need to get pictures of me doing that and spend a lot more time improving the routine, but it did have me behind the drums and hitting all the notes on a drum.


    To my left a double keyboard setup and a bunch of extra electrical equipment popped up. To represent me working on the more electronic sounds.


    And then, suddenly the drop hit, and drummer me went to town.


    Thankfully there wasn¡¯t any vocals through the song, so I could concentrate fully on just making sure the notes I was playing were right.


    The recorded version of the other instruments sounded fine, and I was actually doing it. I wasn¡¯t fumbling, my notes were hitting, and I even roared along with the chant at the end.


    Then it ended.


    ¡°Eeeeee!¡± Hiromi slammed into me once the song was obviously ended literally leaping on top of me that I had to balance my best choom with not breaking my guitar as she clung onto me. ¡°THAT WAS SO PREEM!¡± She screamed and burst into laughter after.


    I was just desperately trying not to fall and break something.


    Jun thankfully came to my rescue, but not by lifting Hiromi off me, instead he grabbed my guitar and pulled it free.


    Thanks. Jerk. I mouthed at him, and he just laughed at me.


    ¡°Hiromi. C¡¯mon!¡±


    ¡°No way! I know an actual Rockerboy now!¡± She yelled so excited. ¡°You have to give me a super pass to all your shows forever!¡± She demanded and I just laughed and nodded.


    Because I was never going to do any shows! Silly Hiromi.


    Besides, even if I did do shows she would have a super pass anyways. What a gonk.


    ¡°That was so amazing Motoko! I can¡¯t believe you wrote your own song!¡± Hiromi said, still holding onto me like a monkey.


    I winced trying to explain that I hadn¡¯t written the song originally was¡­ Difficult. I made an apology to the amazing Mick Gordon that I was taking credit for his work.


    ¡°Okay okay, time to climb off.¡± I grumbled at her as I pushed her until she had to let go. But Hiromi¡¯s good cheer couldn¡¯t be ended so easily.


    ¡°Motoko! We need to set up a show! We can sell tickets!¡± Hiromi was going a little crazy.


    ¡°No way. I¡¯m not putting on any shows Hiromi. This is just my thing. My relaxing thing.¡± I tell her before realizing what I had just said.


    Right. This was my relaxing thing. Or supposed to be¡­ Turning it into another murder thing¡­ Fuck.


    Rita was gonna be so disappointed when she found out! This was supposed to be my zen thing! My hobby to pull me out of the routine murder I committed.


    With that realization I exhaled in annoyance at myself. I reached out grabbing Hiromi by the shoulders and guided her back to the couch. ¡°I¡¯m glad you liked my song. Now never ever tell anyone about this. Especially you Jun. You traitor. Akari is going to be so annoying now.¡±


    ¡°Heh.¡±


    ¡°Nooo! Motoko you are so talented! You have to!¡± Hiromi whined at me, but I ignored her. No way. That was embarrassing.


    In the end I ignored Hiromi¡¯s begging, and eventually Jun just laughed at the two of us as he turned the TV on. Although he did give me a head pat for doing so well.


    I ended up sitting on the floor with my back against the couch, Hiromi looming over me as she watched me work, as I worked on another song.


    It was the only thing I could do to get her to stop bugging me about singing more. Of course I had to take my laptop and hook it into the network to let Hiromi see the visual of me putting the songs tracks together.


    There were so many different songs I wanted to play, but since I had already started on the DOOM Soundtrack, I might as well continue with another of the songs I liked.


    BFG Division was hilariously relevant in Night City after all.


    ¡ª-


    Jun ended up waking Hiromi up in the morning. He had gone to bed eventually, and Hiromi had just curled up on the couch with her head half way resting on my shoulder as I worked.


    During the quiet night I had added most of a few other songs together, although I still wanted to actually perform the guitar sections myself to finish them off. Something I couldn¡¯t do with Hiromi asleep.


    I had gained a few Rockerboy alerts as well as I worked on the songs!


    I guess creating digital music still counted as far as Rockerboy was concerned.


    ¡°Morning Motoko. Morning Jun.¡± Hiromi muttered groggily as was woken up by Jun opening and closing the fridge, the noise all it took to bring her back to wakefulness.


    ¡°Morning Hiromi.¡± I chirp as my choom blinks and gives me a smile in return as she starts stretching out and waking up.


    I put my stuff away, considering I had been working through the night I wanted a break from tracks and notes for a while.


    ¡°Breakfast?¡± I asked my choom and she blinked sleepily and nodded.


    Aww. Sleepy Hiromi was all quiet.

 Chapter 96

    Nox


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing like you¡¯ll find anywhere else. It¡¯s not some shock jock gore shit. This is an edgerunner, doing a real gig. A professional!¡± He commented practically slapping his bag as he talked the guy into it.


    ¡°Yeah kid I know. I heard about the Boat Heist.¡± The man offered, rolling his eyes as he looked around. He wasn¡¯t the first customer Nox had that hadn¡¯t been super comfortable buying peddled BD¡¯s, X or otherwise, off the street from a street kid.


    But Nox had prime shit now. Motoko¡¯s BD¡¯s were unique enough that word of mouth got around. It wasn¡¯t everyday someone could feel an actual professional at work.


    Nox was super thankful that Motoko had wanted to hide her body and shit from the BD. It let him sell to people that wouldn¡¯t buy a BD from a teenagers perspective normally.


    ¡°Well I got one here for you. As well as the back log of that Edgerunners other works. Some are pretty low key, but I assure you, once you finish you will know what it¡¯s like to be a-¡±


    ¡°An Edgerunner. I¡¯ve heard your push already kid. Just show me what you got.¡± The older man demanded and as Nox held out a copy of all the BD¡¯s he thought he could push on the older guy. Eddies and Shards traded hands, and the man disappeared. Leaving Nox with an easy couple grand.


    He loved this shit. The Boat Heist had been on the news, so he could easily push for high end XBD prices for it. And that led to people wanting more of Motoko.


    Money was flowing in, more money than he had ever expected.


    As always he made a note in a program he kept on his agent of how much he made, and how much he would owe Motoko for her cut.


    It was small time honestly. Motoko barely even noticed when he sent her updates on how well everything was going. Judy his only other person he had to pay mostly just wanted him to bring her more caffeine.


    The eddies were just flowing in, and Nox was even considering hiring a guard just to make sure no more trouble happened.


    *Ringing*


    Judy? He thought hearing the call and checking the caller ID.


    *Hey Jude, what¡¯s up?*


    *FUCK!* He winced, at the loud noise. He had an internal agent now. A very useful piece of chrome he had purchased with some of the profits, but it meant he couldn¡¯t lean away from the phone. *THE FUCKING FUCK NOX. FUCK!*


    *Jude?*


    *UGH. I can¡¯t believe I did this shit! Nox you are so lucky you¡¯re a Mox. If you weren¡¯t I would be kicking your ass right now! Motoko¡¯s last BD was fucking! Fuck. My heart literally won¡¯t stop fucking pounding, and I can¡¯t get the feeling of literally¡­ Fuck¡­ At least she warned me first. But I need bigger warnings than this!*


    *Hey, Hey Jude. Calm down, what¡¯s going on?*


    *Ugh. Motoko dropped a new BD on my desk.* And at that Nox was cheering literally jumping in the air and whooping audibly as he rushed to pack his shit.


    New content! Fuck he was gonna make more eddies! Running into that beautiful girl was the best thing that ever happened to him in his entire life!


    *I¡¯m on my way! Did you finish it?*


    *Yeah I fucking finished it Nox! I wou- Sorry.* Judy went quiet for a minute. *I¡¯m still dealing with the aftershocks of the virtu, I still feel angry. Just come by, and bring me a few cans. I¡¯m out thanks to editing this bitch.*


    *On my way Jude. On my way.*


    She hung up and Nox was whooping as he ran down the street. He was going to jump in his crappy car that he had bought with the eddies and run it all the way to Lizzies. Everything was going perfect today!


    ¡ª--


    ¡°Rip and Tear. Until it¡¯s done.¡± His mouth formed the words even as he was gasping for air. His head still hurt, and his ribs ached, but everything else just felt like fire and hate as he glared down at the last Scav. At the last monster he had ripped apart.


    The transition was sudden like the BD cut off in a weird spot and suddenly Nox was Nox. He wasn¡¯t a murder machine glaring down at the corpses of the fucking SCAVS! No he was laying on his back with Judy looking over him.


    ¡°Fuuuuuuuuck.¡± He whimpered, despite the pain being gone. The rage and anger and hatred, but it left his nerves feeling raw as he rolled off the chair and nearly face planted. He was gasping for air he realized, and he wondered for a moment if he was going to be sick?


    ¡°Yeah. I may need to tone that down a bit.¡± Judy offered. He had shown up and she had been twitchy and quick to anger and now he knew why. He felt the same way, but there was also¡­ He rolled over and just laid on his back. Sucking in air and letting the cool floor of Judy¡¯s workshop cool him down.


    ¡°Jesus fucking christ.¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± Judy replied and even handed him a soda as she stood over him. ¡°You alright?¡±


    ¡°Just processing. I wasn¡¯t¡­ Is Motoko okay?¡±


    ¡°I called her. I could only stay in the virtu for like a minute before I pulled out at first. I called her then. She sounded normal. Apologized and stuff. Still not sure if she is actually¡­¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­ Yeah¡­ Fuck.¡± Nox had felt the cool calculated control Motoko exuded probably more than anybody. He sold the damn BD¡¯s after all. He watched them often enough to make sure he could explain them to buyers.


    He knew that Motoko was a killer. Absolutely unhesitatingly murderous when she wanted. The facade of her chipper happiness disappeared when it was time for her to kill.


    But now he wasn¡¯t sure what the real Motoko was.


    Was it the nice teenager that would help out a boy getting beaten. The cold calculating Solo?


    Or the Monster of rage and hate hidden within?


    ¡°So yeah. That¡¯s a thing.¡± Judy offered as she took a long sip of her drink. ¡°I¡¯m thinking of sicking Rita on her.¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll never get the feeling of brains out of my nails.¡± She told him and Nox had to agree. He had seen a lot of XBD¡¯s. That was definitely the first time someone had stuck a thumb through someone''s eye.


    ¡°It was fucking preem though.¡±


    ¡°It was the most uncomfortable virtu I have ever edited.¡± She retorted instantly.


    ¡°Preem work.¡±


    Judy just laughed as he ignored her complaints. She wasn¡¯t really mad. Judy might pretend all she wanted, but she loved BD¡¯s and XBD¡¯s as much as anyone. Hell he still slipped her some of the shit coming out from the big names so she could rip it apart and see what they had done. Improve her own craft. She¡¯s a connoisseur.


    And he had caught her a few times just enjoying a BD here or there.


    ¡°Fuck. I¡¯m gonna sell that BD.¡± He muttered realizing what he had on his hands.


    ¡°Not until after I tone it down a bit.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t. Leave it.¡± He decided. He would explain that it was more raw than normal. It was better this way. No one would forget the BD¡­ ¡°The Only Thing They Fear Is You.¡± Nox had come up with the names of all the BD¡¯s Motoko had dropped off until now. But fuck, if she had come up with the best name possible for this BD.


    Anyone who scrolled this BD was going to feel like it was the damned truth.


    ¡ª--


    My agent ringing in my head woke me up in the middle of my nap.


    If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    ¡°Blargh?¡± I asked aloud as I blinked my eyes and sat up. I had spent the entire previous day playing with Hiromi, traveling the city shopping for clothes and just hanging out with my choom. Then I spent some of the night doing some debugging work that Yoko had set up for me. Getting through some of the backlog of service requests that were piling up in my inbox.


    But now it was early-late. And I was actually muggy. Not something I usually deal with.


    Realizing I hadn¡¯t actually spoken into my Agent I shook myself and did it again.


    *Hello?*


    *Hermanita, It¡¯s Jackie! Sorry about calling you so late, little choom, but I have a problem, and I need a netrunner. Uh I already tried Bug but she cussed me out. Can you help?* Jackie blurted out, and instantly I could tell he was stressed. Talking too fast, and almost stumbling over his words.


    I blinked as I tried to process the question before grunting a bit as I rose up. *Yeah, Jack, I can help. What¡¯s the deets?*


    *I got a computer system here that has information I need, but I can¡¯t get in. I¡¯ll send you the address?*


    *Sure I¡¯ll be on my way.*


    *Thanks Hermanita.*


    I rose to hurry and get dressed. Noting that Jun was sleeping in his bed so I went stealthy so I wouldn¡¯t disturb him.


    Slipping out of the apartment I rushed down the stairs using the movement to get my blood pumping to help wake me up.


    I hated being groggy, but I wasn¡¯t going to blame Jackie. He had called me!


    I raced across the street to the parking garage. Jackie actually relied on me! I was inordinately happy about the fact.


    I checked the address and set it to my GPS and started driving, actually going a little faster than normal through the city.


    ¡ª--


    The address took me to an old warehouse in Santo Domingo. I pulled up to the open gate and frowned.


    Multiple vehicles were inside, and I could see dead bodies lying on the ground.


    Not just that. Some of the bodies were wearing armor. Orange Armor. Kang Tao? What were Kang Tao gonks doing here? What was Jackie getting himself into?


    I parked and turned off the engine.


    Time to move.


    The chainlink fence protected a dirty lot, covered in old garbage including a fire pit and some old ratty chairs.


    Obviously the abandoned lot had been taken over. Now the question was, what was going on?


    I slipped through the gate, staying in cover from the sightlines of the entrance to the warehouse that had its bay door open as I came up on the first normal body.


    Tino? I checked the markings and it was the same sort of tats and markings a tino might use, but it wasn¡¯t quite right. The body was wearing a bandanna around the neck with a weird symbol on it.


    Offshoot street gang? Maybe just a few Tino kids forming their own gang to fuck around? But why the murder? Kang Tao being involved was a bit much for what I would expect from a street gang.


    I looked over the wounds and frowned.


    Big rounds. Five rounds center mass. Someone took this kid out brutally. Kang Tao hadn¡¯t been interested in talking.


    Burya now firmly in my hand, because this was sketchy I rushed up to the warehouse''s entrance, peeking in.


    It was empty except for a Kang Tao Van parked in the back.


    But there was a light on in the back office. I glanced around, then did it again to confirm the lack of any cameras.


    The darkness of the warehouse no barrier to my optics I rushed in. Using the weight bearing struts to stay in cover as I raced to the back. The Van was empty front and back, the back door was even open. Slowly I crept up to the office window to peek in, and relaxed, almost sighing in relief.


    I quickly called Jackie after confirming he was just sitting in a chair waiting.


    *Hermanita you here?* He asked as soon as the call connected as I watched him physically rise up from his chair.


    *Yeah just outside the office you are parked in. I¡¯m coming in. Didn¡¯t want to startle you.* I added, gave him a second before I opened the door and walked in.


    ¡°Whew you¡¯re sneaky as always.¡± Jackie said, chuckling as he sat back down.


    ¡°Fuck Jackie! You¡¯re hurt!¡± I snapped, rushing in as I noticed the blood rolling down his shoulder.


    ¡°Just a flesh wound Hermanita. I¡¯ll be fine.¡± He said trying to calm me, but the way his left arm was hitching meant that was a lie. I almost went off on him, when I noticed it.


    The dead Kang Tao body in the corner.


    ¡°Jackie? What¡¯s going on?¡±


    ¡°One of the fuckers that killed the kids outside. They were just gonk kids. Didn¡¯t deserve this shit.¡± Jackie hissed, the big man usually easy going honestly furious as he walked over and kicked the body.


    He was already very dead Jackie.


    ¡°What were Kang Tao doing here?¡±


    ¡°The kids¡­ The Red Piratas, Red Pirates. Just a small group of kids fucking around, klepping shit they shouldn¡¯t have. Danny¡­ He lives near me, I¡¯ve boxed with him a little, just you know taught him how to punch. Kid doesn¡¯t have a papa.¡± Jackie was quiet for a moment before shaking his head.


    ¡°He gone?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. I saw him outside. He¡¯s the one who called me for help. The Piratas klepped a vehicle only to find out it¡¯s owner was Kang Tao. It was a corpos car, there was something in the trunk. Danny realized how hot it was, but couldn¡¯t just dump it¡­ They had taken the car on a joy ride. Everyone knew who had klepped the ride.¡± Jackie sighed, rubbing his face tiredly.


    ¡°So Kang Tao came to get it back. Without mercy.¡± I added and Jackie nodded.


    ¡°I need to find out where they are Hermanita. Can¡¯t let this one stand. Not even the corps can just walk into Tino territory and flatline our boys. Even Padre agrees. This is too far. So I called in some backup, but I¡¯m stuck at step one.¡± he said, pointing with his good arm and I figured it out.


    There was a Kang Tao armored case that had a laptop inside sitting on the office desk. Blood along one side of it told me how Jackie had gotten it. It was on, but obviously needed a password as it was stuck on the login page.


    ¡°Okay I¡¯m putting things together.¡± I said as I walked over to the laptop.


    ¡°Knew you were the right call. Fast on your feet.¡± He complimented me, I just snorted in amusement, as I checked the laptop. I wasn¡¯t even his first pick. Don¡¯t think I had missed that he called T-Bug first.


    Then I frowned. Dangerous.


    ¡°This is gonna take a bit. The security on this thing is dangerous.¡±


    ¡°Okay Hermanita. Just¡­ As fast as you can. I need to find out where they ran. Can¡¯t send Danny on without the men who killed him following behind¡­¡± Jackie grunted in anger as he glared around the small office.


    In the quiet of the office as Jackie brooded, I was working my way into the laptop.


    No way I was sticking my personal link into a port on this thing. Just looking at it I could see the massive module on it¡¯s side. Basically it was a Black ICE port. You stick your link in without the right codes it tries to fry your brain. Probably melts the laptop hard drive along with it.


    So instead I was relying on Ghost Touch. A few key presses caused the OS to enter a diagnostic mode.


    Then I basically started poking the system using wireless connections. Sending connection requests, that would be denied, but the laptop would still need to accept a few bytes of code to verify if it was an allowed connection.


    Over and over, I sent tiny bits of data through, that would all be stored in the same processing node to verify if it was a legit connection. The laptop normally would have dumped the data after dismissing the connection, but if I sent the data over a slow enough bandwidth causing the computer to assume it was a connection error, so it would save the data as it constantly tried to gather enough information to accept or deny, the data would be saved.


    And slowly a virus was put together that would add in access information.


    ¡°Hermanita?¡±


    ¡°Gonna take a bit Jackie. Don¡¯t rush me. I¡¯m going as fast as I can.¡± I mumbled, never tearing my eyes from the laptop as my vision was filled with data.


    I was literally writing a virus in real time as I sent bytes of it into a new system. A virus that would then need to put itself together after.


    I heard it then, as I was going an engine rumbling into the lot. An over tuned absolute monster of an engine.


    Also I recognized that noise. A Kusanagi?


    ¡°Jackie? If I need to move away from this I¡¯ll lose progress.¡±


    ¡°No worries Hermanita, I said I called in some backup yeah? The fucking calvary is here.¡± Jackie said with a laugh as he stepped out of the office behind me, but I was focusing on getting into this system.


    Stupid Kang Tao Security.


    A new voice called out behind me.


    ¡°Who¡¯s the kid?¡± A woman''s voice behind me asked and Jackie responded a moment later.


    ¡°Motoko. Good kid, she¡¯s a netrunner. And a Solo. She¡¯s hacking into the Kang Tao system to find out where they ran off to.¡±


    ¡°Fuck Jackie. You got some street kid to try and break into corp sec? You might as well just put a bullet in her head now. Or not I guess, The fucking kid isn¡¯t even plugged. How is she supposed to Breach?¡±


    I ignored the woman, even if I really wanted to turn around and give her a piece of my mind, but there was only one way to really shut someone up.


    Do something they already dismissed you from being capable of.


    The virus was coming together. I was sending the data that was basically restructuring the data in the laptops node that would activate once it was complete.


    ¡°Hey, easy Hermana! Motoko isn¡¯t some scop kid. I¡¯ve done gigs with her. I told you I started working with a solo for Wakako¡¯s gigs yeah? Well that¡¯s her.¡±


    ¡°Fourteen? Fuck me. Seriously a little TC brat?¡± She suddenly said, and I realized she must have scanned me. Pulling up my data.


    ¡°Like you have much room to talk there Hermana.¡± Jackie suddenly teased and since there was an almost echoing silence I could tell Jackie was getting glared at.


    ¡°Jack you know I got your back if you need it, and hell going after Kang Tao for that piece of tech you said the kids found is something I¡¯m all for. But it looks like they¡¯ve already cleared off. I¡¯ll help cause some trouble for you, but I can¡¯t storm a Kang Tao office.¡±


    ¡°I know, I know Choom, just give Motoko a bit, she¡¯ll find out where those fuckers went and we will track them right down.¡±


    The womans scoff only told me what she really thought of that.


    ¡°I¡¯m in.¡± I said suddenly as I stood up and stretched. Fuck that took forever.


    ¡°What?¡±


    I turned around to face Jackie and his choom only to blink.


    I knew that face.


    I fucking knew that face!


    I went cold, to keep myself from wanting to immediately spaz out.


    V.


    That was female V. Standing in front of me in a corpo suit was definitely Female V. The red hair, the shaved left side. Even the EMP threading was the same going from her cheeks up over her eyes.


    ¡°You¡¯re still on the login screen. How is that in?¡± She demanded, instantly harsh and criticizing.


    Wow she was a total bitch.


    Was it weird that I always loved that about her while playing the game?


    I smiled.


    ¡°Username: USUCK, all caps. Password: colon uppercase-D.¡± I took a step away and waved at the laptop earning a surprised look before she walked over and typed away.


    The Kang Tao login screen gave way to the actual desktop.


    ¡°Fuck me.¡± V Whispered as she quickly hit an icon on the desktop and a bunch of future excel sheets popped up. ¡°Oh I¡¯m taking this.¡± pulled a shard out of her socket and went to plug it in.


    ¡°Hold up.¡± I demanded stopping her from putting it in.


    ¡°What?¡± She demanded a glare and a twitch of her hands that told me she had stopped herself from striking out at me. Hair trigger much?


    ¡°You put that in, and they will notice. Right now the access isn¡¯t being deleted because it¡¯s not doing anything. Find out where the stuff we need is first.¡±


    To my surprise the woman continued to glare at me, as if she was deciding whether to listen or not.


    ¡°C¡¯mon V. Padre gave me a gig to hunt these pendejo¡¯s down. Gig first yeah?¡± Jackie backed me up, and smiling at the woman in that way of his.


    ¡°Fine.¡± She grunted and instead started typing away as she pulled up a program that after a few moments of watching her navigate made me realize it was dispatch information.


    Who went where. It was limited to this group though. Which was actually good security.


    ¡°I got them. They are at a drop site that Kang Tao like to use. Whatever it is they found Kang Tao want to get it out of the city. We aren¡¯t too late, but we have to move.¡± She looked over her shoulder to Jackie, her red hair hanging over just one side of her head blocking her face from my sight before Jackie nodded, throwing her a thumbs up, earning a scoff but only then did she plug the shard she had into the laptop.


    It began trying to download anything and everything it could.


    ¡°Alright while this downloads Jackie, go grab the Kang Tao Van, we can use it to get close without them realizing their chooms are zeroed.¡± V demanded even snapping a finger at Jackie to get him to move.


    ¡°Aye Hermana, I¡¯ll get our ride.¡±


    ¡°And find a medkit before you bleed out you dumb fuck gonk!¡± She yelled suddenly, and I could hear Jackie chuckling a little.


    They were so cute! If I didn¡¯t already know they weren¡¯t into eachother like that I would absolutely ship them.


    ¡°Alright kid, time to clear off.¡± V said suddenly reminding me she was also a turbobitch.


    ¡°What, you don¡¯t want a netrunner backup?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t know you. Don¡¯t need you.¡± She said instantly. ¡°Clear off.¡±


    I thought about it. Considered arguing, but in the end I turned and walked out with a smirk on my face. I don¡¯t remember agreeing to work for her either, Jackie was my choom so it wasn¡¯t like I was just going to let him head into this kind of shit without some backup. Walking through the warehouse and then out into the dirt lot, a splash of color caught my eye¡­


    Yeah. That could work.

 Chapter 97

    V


    V sighed grimacing at the feeling of her insides swirling and shifting. Fucking BioMon was doing it¡¯s best to keep her stress down, but Jackie just had to call at the worst fuckin¡¯ time.


    Jenkins was going to kill her when he found out she wasn¡¯t following up on the new Militech Prototype Sandy, and instead was out trying to help out a non affiliate.


    She exhaled, giving herself a moment to just breathe as the hacking shard downloaded everything it could from the Kang Tao system. Maybe this data would balance things out? It wasn¡¯t like even someone in Counter-Intel got access to a unit database like this.


    Fuck that had impressed her. A fourteen year old kid broke through Kang Tao security, without even jacking in? What the hell had she even done? Probably some netrunner wizard shit.


    V shook her head, she never could wrap her head around high level netrunning. Sure she knew how to ping a system, and do some data breaches, but any good ICE would keep her right out.


    The shard pinged as the laptop suddenly froze and shut down.


    ¡°Looks like they finally noticed.¡± She grabbed the shard out of the laptop and tucked it away. Patting it for a bit of comfort. Please be enough for Jenkins.


    ¡°Alright Jackie I¡¯m good, you took care of that boo boo?¡± She demanded as she walked out, of the little warehouse backroom. Noticing that the kid was gone. Good. She hadn¡¯t liked that smirk the kid had sent her. Brats like that always wanted to poke their nose into shit.


    V slipped into the Kang Tao Van Jackie was already idling for them.


    ¡°I¡¯m bandaged up, C¡¯mon V don¡¯t baby me. Where¡¯s Motoko?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t know, told her to split.¡±


    ¡°V! Motoko¡¯s a good shooter. Hell girl is sneaky as shit. We could have used her.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t bring along people I don¡¯t know, Jack. Besides, she¡¯s just a kid. I don¡¯t want some street brat getting in the way.¡± Jackie sent her a look telling her he was about to argue, but she sent him a glare instead and he backed down. Instead the Van started moving. Heading towards their destination.


    Good. She was already on borrowed time and didn¡¯t have the desire to deal with any more bullshit from Jackie right now¡­


    No. She shouldn¡¯t think like that. Jackie was a choom, maybe the only one she had. And he had saved her fuckin¡¯ life. He had proven to be trustworthy, the only person in her life that was. She shouldn¡¯t think like that at him.


    Her life in Counter-intel was making her twitchy about everyone. She let her implants calm her down even more. She needed a clear head and she relaxed a bit as the rush of chemicals hit her blood.


    Quantified Satori was going to harp at her for overuse again.


    Dammit.


    She put her life coach out of her mind. She had Kang Tao to annihilate. The idea almost got her excited. She had been behind a desk for too long.


    ¡°Jackie, you got anything bigger than that peashooter you run with?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t need anything but my baby, you know that V!¡± He practically squawked at her in outrage.


    ¡°Jackie for fuck sake. Get a bigger iron! At least a Yukimura if you have to have a damn handgun.¡± She snapped at him, her Biomon beeping at her about her blood pressure.


    Fucking piece of shit, the Biomons job was to control her blood pressure not hers!


    ¡°Buy the top of the line Arasaka stuff huh? Can¡¯t take the corp out of the woman eh?¡± Jackie teased and V just huffed cause he was sort of right, but then the thought hit her.


    She shouldn¡¯t have snapped at him. He didn¡¯t deserve that. Even if she had yelled at him so many times about how his low firepower was going to get him killed¡­


    He should get a fucking Overture or something. Brawly fuck!


    She took a breath and let it out. She had to say something. She had been quiet for too long. He might think she was actually angry at him. Or he might be angry himself. He wasn¡¯t saying shit. Fuck. C¡¯mon V, you stupid bitch. Say something to break the tension¡­


    ¡°Oh but I don¡¯t like revolvers Chica I always run out of ammo.¡± She mocks in his voice, literally as she used her chrome to emulate him for a second. Jackie looked to her for a second and then started laughing. Long and loud Jackie broke into near giggles at her. She felt herself relax.. She hadn¡¯t pushed too hard. Hadn¡¯t pissed him off for the last time leaving her alone.


    It was okay. She hadn¡¯t messed up the one good relationship she still had.


    ¡°We¡¯re here Chica. You ready?¡± He called suddenly and she realized they were.


    ¡°Always.¡± She rolled her eyes, pulling out her Shingen and linking in. Immediately the reticle followed her eye. Smart system ready. But she also pulled her sidearm. The Kenshin with the big silencer just like she enjoyed. ¡°Just roll up on the entrance. I¡¯ll get us access.¡± She said knowing Jackie would know what she meant.


    They had pulled this maneuver back on the border. Hell it was how they had gotten out of that mess.


    ¡°You still using that overdesigned piece of scop? Should get a real pistol. Nue are good.¡± Jackie teased and V seriously considered beating him over the head with her extremely expensive, Arasaka Handgun.


    ¡°It¡¯s still the best handgun on the market!¡± She hissed quietly at him, as they were getting close.


    ¡°Maybe if you want an ugly piece of shit.¡± He argued practically giggling. Fucker was riling her, but it¡­ Well it felt good. You didn¡¯t have these sorts of conversations with people during an Arasaka Op.


    She was either in charge so they shut their fucking mouth and did what she said, or she was being ordered around by Jenkins or someone even higher up, so V kept her mouth shut.


    Fuck she missed doing work with Jackie.


    She sometimes worked with other mercs, but they were either intimidated by her. The black suited Arasaka enforcer. Like they should be.


    Or they were assholes treating her like corpo scum. Jackie might rag on Arasaka, but when he laughed he was laughing with you.


    She closed her eyes and opened them. Dropping her emotions a bit more.


    It had been a long time since she felt this happy.


    As the van pulled up to the checkpoint of the old Kang Tao warehouse, which in reality was just one of their drop off points. One of the few places Arasaka weren¡¯t bullying them like the helpless bitches they were, out of. Kang Tao were so far down the totem pole, they had to operate out of a fucking ¡®abandoned¡¯ warehouse for their more black op pickups.


    It was time. The Van stopped at the guard entrance, and V was ready. Crawling across Jackies stupid lap. Pistol right up against the glass.


    Jackie waited for her nod, and rolled the window down. Letting her send four silenced rounds with unerring aim into the Kang Tao guards face. After a few seconds she matched Jackies growing smile as no alert came out. The Kang Tao vans tinted scan proof windows protecting them from the security even noticing the shots as V shot still within the cab.


    ¡°Give me a second to turn the damn turrets and Cameras off.¡± She said as she peaked out of her side window at a security camera through a tiny gap, her eyes scanning, and she activated the security system Daemon she had.


    She had no idea how it worked.


    She had no idea what it did exactly. But it turned off cameras and turrets on a network without her having to do anything herself, which was by definition the best Quick Hack she could ever have. One that didn¡¯t need her to sit there and beat her head against ICE.


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    Fucking puzzles gave her a headache. Sure it was expensive, but being part of Arasaka meant she got the best goodies.


    After a few minutes the camera system at the checkpoint powered down as did the turrets.


    ¡°Good work Chica.¡± Jackie offered as he slipped out of the van and nearly crawled into the  guards window looking for the switch to open up the dividing bar blocking them.


    V snorted at the sight of her big chooms ass shaking around barely held in by his jeans as he struggled to find the right switch. Jackie was practically crawling into the little window.


    ¡°Jack. We gotta get you into the gym more choom.¡± She whispered to him teasing.


    ¡°Hey! You know the chica¡¯s love a little- Oh, hold up. Found it!¡± He grunted a bit as he finally got himself out of the window as the bar rose up and slipped into the truck to drive onto the property.


    ¡°Alright Jack, it¡¯s real now. So watch your shots, and your head. Let¡¯s try to get through quiet at first then fast. Maybe we can get in and out before the snipers they probably have set up get us.¡±


    ¡°I remember that plan V. We tried that plan last time. It didn¡¯t go so well Hermana.¡± Jackie teased, even if he was in game face.


    But V couldn¡¯t help but feel a little embarrassed even through the biomon dampening everything.


    ¡°The garbage chute worked!¡± She hissed back.


    He turned to look at her just as he was about to slide out of the van, having parked in a shadowy corner of the lot where a few other vans were parked out.


    Not a good sign, but Jackies look took all of her attention. He didn¡¯t say anything. He didn¡¯t need to.


    ¡°Not a word!¡± She told him with a glare. Sure leaping into a trash chute hadn¡¯t been her greatest plan, but it had worked!


    ¡°Heh. You pulled that out of a movie. Still can¡¯t believe we survived. I swear I still got bumps on my ass from the landing.¡±


    ¡°You landed on me.¡± She reminded him. As they both gathered together at the side of the warehouse checking around to make sure no one was there.


    ¡°Yeah, but Hermana, you¡¯re all chrome! You broke my ass!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll break your ass alright choom. Now shut up.¡± She demanded as they moved. Jackie easily fell into lockstep. The two had only been on a few gigs together, but honestly that¡¯s all it took. She knew his tells by now. He knew hers.


    And she trusted him.


    They went into the warehouse unlike the one they were in a half hour ago it was brightly lit, a few men in Kang Tao uniforms or armor hanging around, all of them helmets off relaxing, joking, and drinking from vending machines or office coffee.


    Jackie was behind her. So V was the tip. Jackie would cover up the slack. Helmets off? Stupid mistake.


    The Kenshin came up first. She charged the shot letting the capacitors reach their limit before firing the first time, then swiveled perfectly on target, body and aim exactly where she wanted it to land. Robotic.


    She used to like firing guns. Had been damn good at it. But the Arasaka chrome used a skill chip integration. It wasn¡¯t as good in all circumstances, but it could load up a set of moves and perform them perfectly in a blur.


    For an operative that was too useful to pass up. Not that she had a choice. Everyone got the standard package after all.


    Now it was just targeting, and letting the chrome work. Bodies started dropping, but it took a moment before the Kang Tao noticed. A moment longer than they had, because the second one of them did notice her Shingen came up. The reason she used smart weapons. The skill chipped chrome was good, but unable to adapt.


    Smart weapons mitigated that factor. She started firing, Jackie right behind her, His Nue covering her back as she waded in, Flowing from cover firing right over it, and sending Kang Tao guards scurrying into the shadows.


    It didn¡¯t save them.


    She tugged a grenade out of her pocket now that she didn¡¯t need the Kenshin and threw it exactly where it needed to bounce into that particular corner. It activated quietly the GASH Anti-Personnel grenade was her favorite. Instead of big loud explosions you had lasers chopping everyone into bits. Ending another threat.


    All was silent for a moment after as she scanned the area, her optics counting the corpses confirming all of the people she had seen were now on the floor confirmed dead.


    Seemed so. She didn¡¯t relax, she could have missed one. ¡°Jackie. Confirm we got all of them maybe, find the package they took back from the boys, but we need to get out of here. No way we didn¡¯t set off an alarm.¡±


    Jackie walked off, gun raised as he checked his corners, he might be a reckless street merc, but he was still a merc.


    She checked the floor as well as starting from the opposite side.


    ¡°Hey V, I found it!¡± Jackie called out, coming back gun at his side and a big metal case held in hand, a sinister grin on his face. ¡°Gonna fuck these guys for the shit they pulled.¡± Jackie practically growled. But V was fighting her own urge. Every inch of her Arasaka Counter-Intel training was telling her to neutralize the non-affiliate his usefulness at it¡¯s end and take the case.


    She ignored that insanity. Pushing every piece of that thought away.


    This was a favor returned. This time Arasaka would just have to buy the info from Padre, like the rest of the world.


    Even it if would have been a nice notch in her profile.


    She nodded to Jackie no sign of her inner thoughts on her face. Turning around and heading towards the door, it was time to get out of here.


    Just as she reached it, her chrome reacted, activating her sandy, which caused the Acrobatics skill shard to force her into a roll towards the nearest cover without any thought from herself. Which meant she vanished just as heavy fire burst through the opened entrance way that would have sprayed her down.


    Reinforcements were here. Fuck.


    Fuck! That fast? Not possible! This was a fucking drop off spot! Not a hub! Kang Tao couldn¡¯t just keep a full company of troops here! Arasaka, Militech, all of the big players wouldn¡¯t allow it!


    Unless this was the team meant to come by and secure the case they were stealing because it might actually be important.


    Fuck.


    ¡°Jackie?¡± She asked after her sandy turned off. The sandy cool down had her huffing and puffing as she instantly felt overheated and sick.


    ¡°I¡¯m alright V!¡± He yelled back from behind a support pole. Good. Shit. She peaked and ducked back letting a few rounds bounce off the wall before sticking a hand over the edge of the wall and firing. Her Shingen held the lock for a few seconds and putting some rounds down got her some cover. She leapt, rolling away from the entrance and gaining actual mobility.


    ¡°Ideas V?¡± Jackie asked, having fired a few rounds himself while she moved.


    ¡°See any trash chutes?¡± She demanded and the laugh that escaped him helped a little. Even if it was the realization they were in deep shit.


    She peeked again. No lock engaged at her quick glance, they were behind cover now. Armored and carrying heavy weapons.


    ¡°Maybe a back entrance?¡± Jackie called and V shrugged he had been the one to look back there.


    ¡°You see any?¡±


    ¡°Nope!¡±


    ¡°Well that¡¯s fucking helpful then isn¡¯t it!?¡± She snapped at Jackie but he just shrugged and then ducked back, going to see what he could find while V held the entrance.


    She just sighed, peaking and firing two rounds to scare a few brave Kang Tao back into cover.


    They would hold for a while. At least until they had enough men. Or an AV. Fuck Kang Tao AV would definitely be on it¡¯s way.


    ¡°Anything!?¡± She called out and Jackie¡¯s head peaked out from the back of the warehouse.


    ¡°It¡¯s all solid back here!¡± He replied as he then started moving back towards the entrance slipping cover to cover. Dodging a few ringing shots.


    Great.


    She peeked out, snapped off a few more shots that might have hit, or not. The Kang Tao armor wasn¡¯t complete garbage. More than capable of saving them from a couple rounds.


    ¡°Got any smart ideas Chica?¡±


    ¡°Bum rush them?¡± She offered sarcastically. It took a moment to realize Jackie didn¡¯t respond back and as she looked over her shoulder the look on his face! He was actually considering it. She reached around and grabbed an old bolt and chucked it at him. ¡°We are not bum rushing them!¡±


    ¡°Owe! Hey I was just considering it. No harm in that right?¡± He patted his head where she had donked him.


    ¡°It¡¯s too bad you guys sent away your backup huh.¡± A new voice spoke from inside! She spun her Shingen up searching. Where!?


    ¡°Motoko?¡± Jackies voice caused V to only slightly relax what? The kid?


    ¡°Sup Jackie.¡± The voice was suddenly clear and its origin appeared as a hand waved over the edge of the catwalk above them, well out of sight of either of them and from the entrance way. Suddenly a purple head of hair poked over making V realize the girl had been¡­


    Just fucking laying on her back? Directly above her. V realized with a chill. ¡°You want help now?¡± Then, she was sure just to piss her off there was a crinkle and the girl stuffed a chip in her mouth.


    ¡°Hah! You enjoying your break Motoko?¡±


    ¡°Hey don¡¯t blame me for letting you guys have all the fun, I try not to interfere in gigs I¡¯m not invited for. Want some?¡± She offered the bag of chips to Jackie who despite being in a firefight, seemed to delight in the situation and nodded. The kid rolled it up and tossed it over.


    ¡°We aren¡¯t eating right now! What the fuck Jack! What¡¯s the kid doing here!?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t know! You followed us Motoko?¡±


    ¡°Technically you followed me. I was there when you got the location, remember? I left first. You old guys are slow. But seriously? You want some help? I accept payment in eddies, and fun adventures.¡± She said in a teasing tone, and Jackie just started cracking up.


    ¡°Hermanita. If you can help us out a bit I¡¯d love it! You have something in mind?¡±


    ¡°Already breached the gonks'' defenses. I¡¯ll blind the whole group we mop up and get out of here. They''re all talking about an AV coming in to just blow holes in the building until we die. So let¡¯s do it quick fast, alright?¡±


    ¡°Fuck.¡±


    ¡°Fuck.¡± Jackie and V both uttered together looking at each other and Jackie grinning at the synchronicity of the statement.


    ¡°Do it. How long will they be blind?¡±


    ¡°Please. This is my shit.¡± The girl said, suddenly slipping almost off the edge of the catwalk. Revealing she was actually wearing Kang-Tao Armor. ¡°They¡¯ll never see again.¡± And with that ominous reveal, the purple haired girl hanging from her knees from the catwalk upside down just turned towards the doors. The open doors that had a full Kang Tao squad outside of.


    The squad that she should be in full view of, and she started firing.


    ¡°You waiting for me to count down or something chooms?¡± She asked while still firing, holding a Copperhead of all things. Ugh. A Nokota, and Militech chrome arms? Fuck this girls equipment offended V at every level. Using those shitty corps equipment.


    But she put that aside, as Jackie was already moving, running out the door looking to kill the group blocking them from leaving.


    So V didn¡¯t hesitate. She followed even if it meant she was about to die. Yet, she didn¡¯t. As she raced out there were no gun shots. The Kang Tao guards were seemingly trying to shoot, but nothing was happening, and none of them were pointing in the right direction anyways.


    They were blind.


    She charged, fired her Shingen as fast as she could until it was dry and then holstered it.


    Then she leapt and her Mantis blades slipped out. For just a moment V actually felt like herself, as she sliced through gonks that needed to die. This was the one piece of chrome that wasn¡¯t controlled by Arasaka chipware, and mandates from the on high, and all sorts of bullshit. Jenkins had okayed her request for them only after she had proven herself reliable.


    Now if only she could get Jenkins to allow her to carry her fucking LMG around! Stupid operator pistol bullshit was so fucking boring!


    Her poor baby wasn¡¯t ¡®Arasaka¡¯ enough for Counter Intel. So she was always stuck with these fucking pea shooters.


    But these thoughts were in the back of her head as she ripped and cut through helpless blind Kang Tao guards until the entire blockade at the entrance of their little black site was dead.


    It felt good.


    Then it was over. And her implants soothed her enjoyment into that morass of just existence.


    ¡°Whew! That was pretty lucky hey V?¡± Jackie asked, smiling in that dopey way as she calmly closed her arms back up. The blood would be cleaned and mess would be cleaned with the internal systems without her input.


    ¡°Lucky. Your street kid followed us.¡± She grumbled then jerked as she turned around and the girl was right there. Seemingly having been checking out her blades.


    ¡°I was here first. Technically! Since I found the info and arrived first you followed me.¡± She said¡­ Teasing. ¡°I like your mantis blades, always thought about getting a set. My Condor were sort of an emergency buy. I know you are going to say something something Arasaka, but what¡¯s your best suggestion for a set?¡± She asked surprising V but before she could even process Jackie cut in.


    ¡°Ladies, before we meet and greet? Let¡¯s get out of here before more Kang Tao show up.¡± Jackie begged.


    ¡°Oh yeah.¡± The kid said, and then  surged away bouncing up and over a Kang Tao Van leaping right over the fence. The sudden movement caused V to jerk a bit  nearly trying to shoot at what startled her. She grumbled at the kids sudden moves looking at Jackie for some commiseration.


    ¡°That kid¡­¡± V started and Jackie chuckled.


    ¡°She kind of grew on me too. C¡¯mon. Let¡¯s grab this one and delta.¡± Jackie said and only V¡¯s desire to not get killed by a combat AV kept her from arguing.


    Growing on her? Not even a little!


    She shook her head and focused. They still needed to get out of here.

 Chapter 98

    V


    It was time to get the fuck out of here. V ran straight towards the first Van Jackie right behind her.


    She might make fun of Kang Tao as a corporation, but that didn¡¯t mean they wouldn¡¯t send enough hardware at her to end her bought and paid for ass.


    She slid right through the driver door into the passenger seat Jackie right behind her as he instantly started up the car and started driving. There was a parking garage a few blocks away that they could stash the van call in their own rides and get out of there. Then all of this would be over with and she could go home and get drunk.


    Which is why she really wanted to murder her luck as she caught what was happening out of the corner of her optics and reached out and grabbed the wheel from Jackie and spun it moments before they would have even left the warehouse gate. The van spun out Jackie cursed, but they both survived the high caliber rounds, and missiles that shattered where the van had been a moment before.


    The feel of the Van knocking around from the impact of the high explosive causing her stomach to flop as it just barely managed to stay on it¡¯s four wheels.


    They were stopped though. Whether the van was damaged, or just pinned on what was left of the entrance checkpoints little hut was up in the air. She looked around and grimaced. The other vans were now burning wrecks smashed and crumpled from the power of a corporation not playing around anymore.


    An AV was here.


    ¡°Fuck.¡±


    ¡°Shit Hermana. I don¡¯t think we are outrunning that.¡± Jackie admitted trying to back up, probably to head back into the warehouse to get some cover, but the van was sputtering, and they weren¡¯t moving.


    V looked around. They wouldn¡¯t make it back inside the warehouse. But there wasn¡¯t any other cover. Even the fencing was chainlink. Then suddenly the sky lit up. The sound reached her. Hissing fuel and shrieking air. V looked away, not willing to look at her end. But she noticed that Jackie, who had a second before been looking backwards while trying to reverse the truck, had calmly looked forward at the sound.


    A man to the end her Jack. Looking straight at his death, staring it down.


    V would remember to tell him that because that wasn¡¯t today. The explosion was far enough away V realized she wasn¡¯t dying.


    A rocket had been fired, but not at the van. As the AV was lining up for a landing probably to disgorge troops, or just block the road while broad siding them. A rocket slammed into it. A horrid rancor of erupted steel and fire echoed out as the AV spun from the blow.


    V knew Av¡¯s. They were tough fuckers. One rocket wouldn¡¯t completely kill it. Maybe mission kill it for a bit, but it wasn¡¯t a fucking movie or something, it wouldn¡¯t blow up. It should be able to stabilize and reorient, or at least safely control crash.


    But the missile had nearly hit the cockpit. It was damaged enough that V was sure it must have jumbled the pilot, chrome or not. It spun and before it could stabilize it slammed into a nearby building.


    The horrible noise as it ground itself into the concrete stonework was bad enough.


    Then it tilted with a sharp jerk, something catching on the interior of the building and then there was no saving it as it was pointing straight down.


    It came loose and smashed down onto the street crushing a car beneath its flaming bulk.


    Then there was silence for a minute as she barely breathed just taking in the fact she wasn''t dead.


    Then the silence was broken.


    ¡°I FUCKING KNEW I WOULD NEED THIS SOME DAY! FUCK YOU SAUL!¡± A yell absolutely blasted from their right and V looked out the window and couldn¡¯t help but stare at the kid.


    The kid had a fucking Uragan Rocket Launcher!?


    Who the fuck gave a teenager a rocket launcher!?


    Then much to V¡¯s confusion, while she was standing on top of a Black Nomad Quadra 66, arms raised above her head holding the Rocket Launcher between them. The kid was shaking it up and down then she started making a¡­ Honking noise?


    ¡°Van is fucked.¡± Jackie interrupted her from the horrified shock at what she was seeing.


    ¡°Right we need to go.¡± She said kicking the door open and jumping out. There were plenty of other vans¡­


    Or there had been. Fuck.


    The roar of engines as another Kang Tao van turned onto the road obviously driving like mad.


    ¡°Shit! C¡¯mon you old folks! Get in the car!¡± The fucking little brat yelped as she jumped down and tossed the rocket launcher into her open trunk before slamming it shut.


    The desire for V to scream about what would happen if that launcher went off while in there was just thrown away because this entire gig was now officially shit show status. She raced around the gate. Jackie puffing along right behind her as he carried the big metal case that was the cause of all the trouble.


    ¡°I drive!¡± V yelled as she raced towards the car but the purple haired girl took the time to turn, give her a single look and then slide into the driver seat.


    Fucking little shit!


    The car roared to life and for a second V wondered if they were about to be abandoned, but its tires screeched and it spun out flipping it around and revealing the open passenger door towards both of them.


    ¡°Run faster!¡± The kid yelled back and V grit her teeth. A gun shot rang out and then another. ¡°Jackie get in!¡± She yelled as she hit the side of the car and turned Shingen pulled free and unloading towards the van that was racing at them. As Jackie nearly leapt in she fired until she was dry and then with an internal sigh leapt in landing basically ontop of Jackie.


    The moment she was in the wheels squealed, and the Quadra kicked. Racing down the street away from the pursuing vans.


    ¡°Oh man you guys! I¡¯ve been wanting to get in a car chase forever! Jackie! You''re my favorite fixer¡­ Don¡¯t tell Wakako!¡± The kid said laughing in delight as she hit an intersection and the Quadra roared as it got some air before continuing its race through the streets.


    V and Jackie weren¡¯t having such a good time. Jackie was sitting, barely fitting with the case by his feet, V flopped over his lap. Her legs half out the car.


    ¡°Jackie grab me.¡±


    ¡°Trying Hermana! A bit out of place myself!¡± He said but his burly arm thankfully grabbed her tight as the street turned a bit and she wasn¡¯t flung out of the car like she feared was going to happen.


    Then a gun shot thunked into the back of the car.


    ¡°Asshole!¡± The kid yelled angry at the noise. ¡°We have a turn coming up! Get your ass situated!¡± She yelled at V.


    V listened. Reaching up to grab a car handle she flipped, thanked her chrome for giving her incredible flexibility, as she basically turned herself into a ball and spun around. Now her legs were in the girls space. But Jackie could hold her easier, and V could actually do something. She reloaded her Shingen as Jackie just sighed at her. Probably irritated, he had to grab her around her chest.


    Grow up Jackie you gonk these puppies were fucking preem chrome. Chest sticking out of the car. She aimed and started firing at the van that was following her.


    ¡°Trying to drive with your stupid corpo shoes in my face here.¡± The kid yelled and V ignored her as she kept firing.


    Kid was obviously competent enough she¡¯d live.


    ¡°Jackie hold on! I¡¯m drifting!¡± The kid warned and Jackied clamped down on V which was one part of the warning because a moment later they were suddenly going sideways.


    ¡°Ahhhh!¡± V Screamed. She couldn¡¯t help it. Her face was very very close to that light pole, and the street and they were going sideways! Cars don¡¯t go sideways!


    The massive bark of a Burya had her jerk her eyes away from her imminent death to the inside of the car where the kid was actually.


    Okay fine. That was maybe slightly preem. The kid was drifting the car while shooting a handgun that she should not be able to handle with her left hand.


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    Then they were straight and the kid returned the gun to her holster a moment later. ¡°I missed the driver. Bet I spooked him though¡­ Jackie Grenade! Red top.¡± She demanded holding out her left hand as she continued driving with her right, eyes locked on the street.


    ¡°Sorry Hermanita. Hands are a bit full here.¡±


    ¡°Fuck off Jack! Where are the grenades?¡± V Demanded, she would punch Jackie for that joke another time, just cause he had his hands on her tits. That wasn¡¯t funny!


    Maybe a little funny.


    Maybe just some teasing at Lizzies later.


    ¡°Under the seat. C¡¯mon hurry it up!¡± The kid demanded, and V rolled her eyes leaning into the car and digging around under the seat which was pretty awkward. Jackie better not make a joke with her digging around his crotch.


    ¡°What the fuck are these?¡± She asked, looking at the very much non-standard grenades.


    ¡°Red top!¡±


    V found one and handed it over. She had thought about using them herself, but she didn¡¯t recognize the brand. ¡°Where did you even get these things?¡±


    ¡°Made them!¡±


    ¡°Jackie jump out of the car with me.¡± V said instantly. Sitting on a box of homemade grenades while in a car chase was not how she wanted to die.


    ¡°Oh fuck off.¡± The kid snappedback, then with one hand popped the tab, spun the timer on the top and then released.


    ¡°Kid¡­¡±


    ¡°One sec.¡±


    ¡°KID!¡±


    ¡°One Cooking Potato¡­¡± The cook offered back and V literally thought she was about to die as the kid just held the ticking fucking grenade.


    Then she dropped it out the side of the car.


    A second later it exploded and the Quadra barely even rumbled¡­


    ¡°We¡¯re alive?¡± Jackie asked. And V looked to him. The gonk literally had his eyes closed.


    ¡°I made those timers myself!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why we¡¯re worried!¡± V snapped back but then it got quiet.


    ¡°The Van?¡±


    ¡°Took out the tires. They are losing us. I¡¯ve been running them around this industrial park, gonna get onto the freeway and we¡¯ll be long gone. Would you two sort yourself out? You¡¯re embarrassing me.¡± The kid joked flashing a grin despite her eyes never leaving the road.


    ¡°Where did you find this kid Jack?¡±


    ¡°She sorta found me to be honest Hermana.¡± Jackie said with a shrug. V finally just decided to fuck it and relaxed went limp as she flopped on Jackie for a minute.


    ¡°Jackie, this was a total shit show.¡±


    ¡°Sorta like the border yeah?¡±


    ¡°Jackie, I''ve told you. You aren¡¯t allowed to make reasonable points to me, when I¡¯m angry.¡± She denied him.


    ¡°You two are great!¡± The kid offered and V seriously considered just kicking her.


    Nah. She¡¯d probably be the one to die in the accident not the kid who was wearing her fucking seatbelt.


    Who did that?


    When they finally stopped it was by unanimous consensus. The kid had just pulled them off the freeway in Heywood. Found the first parking lot and basically just slid into a spot.


    V was so done with tonight. Despite the camaraderie filling a piece of her she knew she would have to smother again come morning she had not exactly enjoyed the shitshow. She oozed off of Jackie the only way she could actually get out of the car as she finally got free. Ignoring the mess on her hands as she had to pull herself free by crawling out fo the car.


    She rose, flicking her hands to remove the worst and shifted her shoulders and back her suit adjusting back to how it should be. Good. She didn¡¯t look like she had just gone through hell.


    Jackie took a bit longer. Untangling himself from the big case they stole. The box of grenades, and just the awkward angle he had been sitting. He got free and stumbled a few steps as he stretched and groaned.


    The kid popped out the driver side and rested both arms on the top of the roof seemingly just watching.


    ¡°Okay now that I can feel my-well there are ladies present. I¡¯m going to call Padre.¡± Jackie said cutting him off as he realized he was the lone guy present. Fuckin¡¯ Jackie. Always telling a joke to break the tension.


    ¡°You do that Jack.¡± V said as she looked around. Just a bunch of shops and kiosks. Shame she could use a smoke right now. So instead she focused on the stray. V was a meticulous woman. Had to be to last in counter intel.


    Netrunning. Shooting. Driving. Heavy weapon on hand. Stealth. That last one was probably the one that as she made a thought of it caused her eyes to narrow.


    The kid had been right above her. Literally laying a few feet above her without a care during an intense firefight. She hadn¡¯t even known she was there. She had searched that warehouse. Her eyes were high end Arasaka optics meant for intel gathering.


    They hadn¡¯t even noticed her.


    ¡°You¡¯re all glary right now.¡± The kid offered back with a smirk.


    ¡°You were laying above me on the catwalk.¡±


    ¡°Heh! Yeah that was funny. You should have seen your face when I spoke up. You whipped around like a freaked out cat.¡±


    ¡°People don¡¯t sneak up on me.¡±


    She shrugged without a care. ¡°I¡¯m an infiltrator. It¡¯s my specialty¡­ Wait, should I be telling you this? Eh. Hiromi¡¯s parents are with Arasaka too. So I guess it¡¯s fine.¡± She added talking more to herself than anything.


    Hiromi?


    A few seconds of searching, and she got it.


    Hiromi Mitsunashi. Only child of Keiko and Albert Mitsunashi. They were unimportant in the grand scheme of things, but they had known about the girl?


    She did a quick check, and yes. She wouldn¡¯t have to have a firm conversation with them. They had updated the Flathead project with information gathered from a contact and even marked it appropriately. But had marked it questionable, which meant it wasn¡¯t flagged in the system directly to intel to look into.


    A fourteen year old had gotten info on the Militech Flathead? Bullshit. Absolute bullshit. Militech were acting like mother bears about that project. Nothing had come out yet. V had been on the taskforce trying to steal the plans.


    Twice.


    ¡°Who the hell are you?¡±


    The girl blinked at the question before seeming to smirk as her head disappeared and a moment later she had leapt onto the top of her car.


    ¡°Glorious Infiltrator Motoko Kusanagi! Netrunner and all around amazing person!¡±


    Then she struck a pose. Hand on her hip which was cocked out and making a V with her fingers over one eye.


    V really wanted to shoot her.


    ¡°Yeah! You tell them hermanita!¡± Jackie called out as he finally walked back looking pleased and Motoko seemed to take the attention to heart and puffed up even more.


    Why was V dealing these idiots? Why was she wasting her time working with a fucking washed up merc that couldn¡¯t ever seem to get himself out of small time, without everything going to shit, and a now a teenage wonder that V desperately wanted to either put a few hundreds bullets into. Or drag back to Counter Intel.


    As an experiment or the future super thief she wasn¡¯t sure which yet.


    So why wasn¡¯t she?


    ¡°C¡¯mon Hermana! Padre promised a lot of eddies for all the trouble! Rounds on me at the bar tonight!¡± He said dropping an arm over her shoulder, and pulling V into his bulk in a side hug. The first gentle touch not gained from joytoys or people literally trying to honey trap her in¡­


    Oh right. She was a lonely friendless gonk, and Jack was literally the only person in the city she could put any trust in without being burned.


    ¡°Fuck it, fine. But you are gonna pay for that Jack.¡±


    ¡°Hehe. Go a little easy on me choom.¡±


    ¡°Fuck no.¡±


    ¡ª--


    Half an hour later everyone pulled into Lizzies.


    V¡¯s bike had showed up. Jackie just decided to stick with the kid. A runner for Padre had come around and taken the case, freeing them of that concern.


    ¡°I still can¡¯t believe you both come to Lizzies! I¡¯ve never seen you here¡­ I mean I don¡¯t come here to drink, so that¡¯s probably part of it.¡± The girl blathered as soon as V stepped off her bike.


    ¡°We usually hang out in the private booths Hermana.¡±


    ¡°That must be it. Hey Rita!¡± The little gonk ran off to Rita fucking Wheeler with a hand over her head waving like a kid. Ignoring the line ran right up and to V¡¯s surprise didn¡¯t get a bat to the face, instead Rita nodded her head inside without a seconds thought. But the kid didn¡¯t just disappear, instead throwing a finger to V and Jackie.


    If V wasn¡¯t who she was, she would have missed it. But like Arasaka wouldn¡¯t put in listening devices into a Counter Intel agent.


    ¡°Rita these are my chooms, we just did this massive gig! We¡¯re here to party! Should we get in line? They¡¯re here to drink. I¡¯m never sure of the rules of that kind of thing.¡±


    Wheeler looked over the kid then Jackie and V before just letting out a chuckle. ¡°Heh. It¡¯s fine Motoko. Take your chooms in. I recognize Welles, and his stiff bitch corpo. Neither will cause trouble. Or else.¡± She said looking up the last part of the sentence they had been close enough to catch.


    ¡°Rita you¡¯re the best!¡±


    ¡°Well you owe me one. I want a private rendition of that song of yours.¡± Rita said teasing smile going wide as the kid gasped


    ¡°How did you-Judy squealed!¡±


    ¡°Of course she did! She came up the other day legs shaking and needed an actual drink. You okay kid? Judy said it was pretty brutal.¡± She asked the kid who looked a little nervous about something.


    ¡°Ah¡­¡± Motoko made a noise before coming together, clearing her throat and straightening up. ¡°I¡¯m good Rita. That was more of a forced experience. I finished the song and it was so brutal and heavy I wanted to¡­ set the scene? Just¡­ don¡¯t watch it! It¡¯s not good! Yeah you should totally not watch it!¡± The girl rambled on but the fucks waiting outside were making noise and Rita was forced to focus on them.


    ¡°Fuck off! They¡¯re allowed! Go on Motoko we¡¯ll talk later. Remember what I said! You owe me!¡±


    ¡°Never!¡± The kid called out behind her as she slipped inside and rejoined them. So the kid had Mox connections too.


    V shook it off. She wasn¡¯t here for intel.


    She was here to get fucking drunk and forget all the trouble she would be in come the morning, when Jenkins found out what she had been up to. He would cover for her. He always did. She was too useful not to. But he was still going to grill her ass and probably have her do scop work for weeks.


    They passed through the bar and grabbed one of the circular private booths along the edge of the bar. Settling in.


    ¡°I¡¯ll get us some drinks then! V the usual? ¡®Toko what are you drinking tonight?¡±


    ¡°Oh I¡¯ll just get a soda Jackie. I don¡¯t drink.¡±


    ¡°Fuck that.¡± V said, slapping the table and pointing. ¡°You fought beside us. We survived, we celebrate. Grab her something fruity Jack. But she¡¯s gonna drink it.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t drink V.¡± The kid responded back flatly. No give at all.


    V actually felt impressed, most teens would have folded with just that.


    ¡°You can¡¯t toast a new friendship with just soda Hermanita.¡± Jackie said having not run off just yet. He reached over and patted the kid on the shoulder. ¡°I¡¯ll bring something, and if you don¡¯t drink it you don¡¯t. But you should at least for the toast!¡±


    ¡°Ugh you drunks! It¡¯s just alcohol! It has no actual meaning!¡± She hissed back, but Jackie was just laughing.


    ¡°Stubborn kid aren¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Can be!¡± She settled into the wide booth as V took her own spot and finally relaxed. No one was coming to kill her here. Jackies crazy gig was done with, and everything was just¡­ Quiet.


    Until the girl started humming along to the pop song that was playing above them.


    ¡°Like the song or something?¡± She asked half trying to point out that it was annoying and half teasing.


    Fuck Jackie had been right. She had sorta grown on her¡­ Probably right around the time she had drifted them through that intersection.


    V could respect a preem line like that.


    ¡°Huh? What? Oh! The humming. Not really! It¡¯s kinda shit to be honest. Bad habit I picked up. I tend to sing along to stuff now.¡± She mentions and just laughs at herself. ¡°This stuff isn¡¯t my thing. I like Samurai and that sort of stuff.¡±


    V sat up a bit. ¡°Chippin ¡®In.¡± V said instantly, and the girl scoffed.


    ¡°Never Fade Away! Obviously!¡±


    ¡°Never is good, but Chippin ¡®In is the song that speaks best!¡± V argued pounding a fist into the table.


    ¡°Says the borg. Never Fade Away is the best. It does the best job representing human spirit! Never stopping!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s barely even a Samurai song! Silverhand wrote it when he went solo, and just integrated it into the band when he came back for their reunion tour!¡±


    ¡°Oh no the band only played it together on stage during their all come together tour. Are you going to say Black Dog doesn¡¯t count too?¡± The kid hissed back.


    ¡°Hey Black Dog even existing is a fucking miracle! Everyone gives it leeway!¡± V retorted back. That song had almost been completely lost when the one copy of it had gone to shit after the Arasaka tower bombing.


    ¡°Besides, Never Fade Away was shit as a Johnny Solo song. It took Kerry on Guitar to actually make it work.¡± She offered and V damn near leapt out of her seat.


    ¡°You take that shit back! Without Silverhand Kerry wouldn¡¯t be shit!¡±


    ¡°Oooh. Feisty. We got a Silverhand Fangirl? Really?¡± The kid seemed absolutely thrilled at this little piece of knowledge.


    Thanking her hormonal control implant V just scoffed instead of sputtered. ¡°No. I just know the truth. There¡¯s a reason that for all his fame and fortune and plat albums and shit, Eurodyne doesn¡¯t have the cultural impact Silverhand had.


    ¡°Eurodyne is the better musician.¡±


    V had to stop herself from popping her blades at the audacity of this bitch!


    Then she realized.


    She was having fun. When was the last time she got to talk music with someone? Enjoyed getting into an argument about her favorite band?


    What was she even doing with her life? When having a conversation with a teenager made her feel this invigorated¡­


    She flopped back into the couch, the fight going out of her. She really needed that drink. The intrusive thoughts were getting to her.

 Chapter 99

    V went silent after my victory with nothing to refute my perfect argument for what Samurai song was the best. I settled down as well. V looked¡­ Tired.


    Honestly I kinda wondered who would look more worn. V now, Or V dying from the engram?


    I felt a little sad for the woman knowing her future. Knowing that all the stress and heartache and pain she was suffering under from Arasaka would all amount to nothing. Hell less than nothing. A bullet to the head, if Jackie hadn¡¯t been there.


    ¡°And two drinks for mis amigas!¡± Jackie said, showing up with his hands full of drinks, dropping a tumbler in front of V, one for himself, and to my surprise a martini style glass, and a can of soda in front of me. ¡°You don¡¯t have to drink the alcohol Hermanita, but me and V do this every time after a gig it¡¯s our little tradition.¡± He said as he settled down.


    ¡°V?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine Jack. Just been needing a drink.¡± V said, arching an eye at Jackie who chuckled.


    ¡°Sorry choom. The lines were a little long tonight, had a big group dropping off like forty orders right in front of me.¡± He just laughed it off and V looked for a second like she was going to go bust some assholes down to size but just shrugged it off and grabbed her drink.


    ¡°To good fortune.¡± V offered.


    ¡°To good friends.¡± Jackie replied back.


    ¡°To the good fortune to have good friends!¡± They both said at the same time and then looked to me.


    Ugh. Miserable bad influence adults!


    I grabbed the stupid martini glass.


    ¡°To adding new friends to that list.¡± I added on my own and Jackie burst into a bright smile. I guess I had done well then we clinked out drinks and took a swallow.


    Blegh! So gross!


    ¡ª--


    ¡°A thing of beauty! I know! Will never fade away!¡± I shouted out standing on top of the table V right beside me singing along with me. The Corpo woman had a pretty good voice!


    ¡°Motoko! Get off the table!¡±


    ¡°Rita! Hey! Hold on the songs almost done!¡± I called back. I don''t know why she winced. I had just yelled a little!


    We were partying! V and I were great chooms now! Sure she was a little drunk, having been absolutely hammering back shots, but that was okay! One of us had the brilliant idea of requesting some Samurai songs from the system, and one thing led to another.


    I don¡¯t remember exactly who got up on the table to sing first, but I was having a great time!


    ¡°Oh no you don¡¯t.¡± There was a jumble of movement or something there and the next thing I remember is waking up as I crash into a pile of trash bags.


    It had been surprisingly gentle though.


    ¡°You able to get a handle on these two?¡±


    ¡°No p-prob-prob¡­ I can do it! Come on now Hermana! Hermanita, let¡¯s stand up yeah?¡± Jackie was there and I blinked, raising my head out of the trash.


    ¡°You okay there kid?¡± Rita asked and I checked myself. No injuries. I threw her a thumbs up. ¡°You good to have these two help you get home?¡± She asked as well, glaring a bit at Jackie which was unfair. He was really struggling with V from the looks of it. Was the Corpo woman passed out face down in the trash? Oh no she was just puking.


    ¡°V and Jackie and I are chooooooms!¡± I called out in response. I even reached out and pulled V¡¯s head out of the trash.


    The regurgitated flood of nastiness meant I quickly let go of her hair ignoring the slimy plop as she fell back.


    ¡°We¡¯ll be okay Rita, Honest. I¡¯ll drive them home.¡± Jackie offered. The man sounding a little tipsy. You shouldn¡¯t get so drunk Jackie.


    Wait. Driving and drunk?


    ¡°NO! Drunk driving is bad! BAAAAD!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll call a cab.¡±


    ¡°Yay!¡±


    ¡ª--


    I blinked awake instantly. ¡°Unfamiliar ceiling.¡± I muttered as I Rose up and stretched. ¡°Oh gross what died in my mouth?¡± I grunted wanting to stick out my tongue at the taste, but other than that I was fine.


    No headache or anything, I patted myself down noticing most of my gear was settled on the table next to me, but my Kang Tao armor was missing¡­


    I don¡¯t remember what happened to it.


    Looking around I tried to figure out where I was.


    The array of men stuff around the room gave me a hint to where I was. ¡°This Jackies place?¡± I asked, looking around in surprise. I was on his couch with a little blanket strewn over me.


    ¡°Oh you awake too kid?¡± I sat up and there was V. Not a hair out of place, the corpo woman looked like she was ready to step into a boardroom or a battlefield.


    ¡°You can just call me Motoko.¡± I told her as I got up and stretched.


    It hit me then. Aw man. I got drunk. I hated that! It was so gross! ¡°Huh no hangover or anything huh? Must be nice to be a kid. Poor Jackie is still laid up.¡±


    ¡°Heh. Really?¡±


    ¡°Yeah nasty hangover. The oaf.¡± V said as she sipped on a can of something. ¡°I¡¯ll be heading out soon. Kid, it wasn¡¯t horrible working with you.¡±


    ¡°Is that your nice way of saying I¡¯m more competent than you expected and I¡¯m useful?¡± I asked as I took a seat across from her.


    She scoffed but didn¡¯t actually deny my words.


    So I threw her my deets.


    ¡°Really?¡± She asked with an arched eyebrow.


    ¡°Hey, I know what it¡¯s like up in that stuffy office they probably got you in. If you ever need someone you can trust to watch your back, I am a merc.¡± I explained and she seemed kind of surprised at my words for a moment before her face blanked as always.


    ¡°I¡¯ll keep it in mind.¡± She sends her own deets back. Giving me a number and even an email although it was a .Arasaka address which meant I wasn¡¯t going anywhere near it. ¡°Oh I looked into our little jaunt last night. Kang Tao are frothing mad, but they don¡¯t have much to go on. I¡¯d suggest you get your car repainted, maybe reset the ID, and don¡¯t let it spread around.¡±


    Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t exactly a big deal.¡± I said honestly. I mean you don¡¯t see AV¡¯s much in the game, but that was engine limitations, those things are everywhere in Night City. I¡¯d honestly been surprised I hadn¡¯t gotten involved in an aerial chase through the city until now.


    ¡°Pfft. You took out a Kang Tao AV kid. You do know the price tag on those things right?¡±


    ¡°Million or something?¡±


    ¡°More like twenty.¡± She said with an actual laugh. ¡°And worse, it crashed in the city. NCPD, get involved for things like that, which means KT is paying fines and bribes to make it go away. Like I said. Alter your car a bit, and keep it quiet.¡±


    I hesitated but nodded. ¡°Shame. I wanted to make a BD of that explosion. Commemorate it a bit.¡±


    V went still for a moment before speaking. ¡°You record BD¡¯s while on gigs?¡±


    ¡°Yeah! It¡¯s preem! I have a choom with the mox that edits and then another that sells them off.¡± I explain in a rush, happy to share. V just shakes her head.


    ¡°Not sure if that¡¯s preem, or just crazy. Be careful kid, and don¡¯t put me in any of them. Last thing I would need is my boss finding out.¡±


    ¡°Deal.¡±


    ¡°Alright I¡¯m out. I already checked on Jack. If you¡¯re feeling good feel free to leave when-¡±


    ¡°YOU BITCHES!¡± A voice screamed out as the door opened and a woman I didn¡¯t know stomped in. She started absolutely going off in spanish, which my limited vocabulary recognized most of them as insults.


    ¡°Hello to you too. You¡¯re Camillla right?¡± V said calmly, seemingly unbothered by the slightly short spanish woman that was ranting and raving at her.


    Oh and me. The woman spit out something at me too.


    ¡°Who wants to know some homewrecking whores in my Jackies home!?¡±


    I blinked.


    Did¡­ That¡¯s right. Jackie mentioned he had an Output.


    So this was the girl that Jackie had left, eventually dating Misty.


    The girl that Mama Welles had preferred.


    Huh. No accounting for taste Mama Welles.


    ¡°I¡¯m V. An associate of Jackies.¡±


    ¡°Yeah I¡¯m sure he associated with you all night you-¡± And there was the string of spanish added on.


    Awkward.


    This was so awkward. My cringe meter was absolutely blasting and that thing was broken half the time.


    ¡°Hey, how about we all take a second. Jackie V and I all had a gig last night. We didn¡¯t like¡­ Do that.¡± I said, waving my hands in different shapes to show the things that we didn¡¯t do.


    Before the woman could turn to me and start exploding because she was definitely about to Jackie came stumbling out of his bedroom.


    Jackie looked like shit. I almost wanted to giggle as he stumbled into the room clutching his head. Voice croaking as he barely could open his eyes.


    ¡°Cami? That you? Everything alright?¡± He asked as he stumbled over and finding the right woman pulled her into a hug. But she slapped him away and started screeching.


    Ow.


    That was making my head hurt, and I didn¡¯t even have a hangover. Jackie looked utterly fucked up.


    ¡°Jack. I¡¯m gonna head out.¡± V said showing zero sympathy as she just walked out after everything leaving poor Jackie to his fate.


    I followed after her, because I wasn¡¯t a gonk.


    ¡ª--


    V and I split up, and I did as she recommended. Jackie had dropped some eddies into my account last night at some point, so I just headed over to a detailing shop.


    This time my Reaver didn¡¯t look like a Raffen vehicle, so it only cost a more reasonable amount to redo the black paint and add some purple in for highlights. By the time it was done, I had already modified the identification with a bit of netrunning and it was lunchtime and I was getting hungry so I stopped for some noodles.


    Oh, and my Kang Tao Armor had been in the passenger seat. I must have taken it off at some point.


    Then I pulled open my system alerts.


    I had to whistle a bit as I looked through the alerts. Blowing up that AV had certainly given me a nice stack of Engineering XP from the Uragan.


    And a level up.


    *Engineering skill level up!*


    Jeez that skill was so low. And it still made no sense why Engineering had to do with explosions!


    I shook it off and continued going down my list.


    ¡°Assault XP, Assault XP. Assault level up!¡±


    *Assault skill level up!*


    Assault 6! I guess using my Assault Rifles instead of just defaulting to my Burya all the time came in handy.


    Aww yiss! New levels!


    *Driving skill level up!*


    Driving 7!


    I guess that race through the city while being shot at had helped me out!


    Well that and my daily driving.


    That was all my skill upgrades from the night of hell raising with V and Jackie, but that wasn¡¯t all I pulled out of the wreckage.


    *750 XP Gained.*


    *750 XP Gained.*


    *750 XP Gained.*


    *750 XP Gained.*


    A short burst of XP in the middle of the fight. That was where I blinded everyone and shot a few guys.


    But then there was the big bunch.


    A single 1000 XP stack, and then five more 750 drops.


    In the end I wasn¡¯t quite at a new level up, but I was very close. Considering it had all happened sort of on accident. I would have to do something nice for Jackie as thanks for all that XP.


    Ah wait, he wouldn¡¯t know what I was talking about. Better to just be there for another gig if he ever needed me.


    I slurped up the last of my ramen and dropped a tip to the Ramen chef who gave me a bow as I headed out of the shop.


    I¡¯d been running around doing gigs a lot recently.


    ¡°Time to go get some more songs!¡± I decided as I stepped away from my empty bowl of ramen.


    ¡ª--


    Despite only being Rockerboy 7, it wasn¡¯t hard to basically recreate songs. Any mistakes I made while recording them through my music box were easily fixed with a bit of digital chop shopping.


    But it was a nice time waster.


    Each song had to be played through multiple times, then multiple times on top to fix errors. Then mashing it all together, which took more time.


    The very second song I wrote out for my box?


    Never Fade Away by Samurai!


    Maybe I would bug V sometime and get her to co vocal it with me? I had been pretty drunk, but I still remember noting her voice was really good.


    The song after that, I went with something that didn¡¯t exist.


    Smells like Teen Spirit by Nirvana.


    It was a simple song to work on and grind some more experience. I mean. Some of the songs were incredibly technical, and it was only because of a perk giving me perfect memory that I could remember how they went.


    Nirvana was¡­ Simple by comparison to The Only Thing They Fear.


    Not that it wasn¡¯t a good song.


    I mean. It would fit right into Night City, the first lyric was ¡°Load up on guns, bring your friends.¡± If there was ever a song lyric that fit Night City that was it.


    So I added the song to my list. Enjoying crooning aloud as I recorded the audio.


    As I was finangling the drum track, which was taking a while, considering I had to do it completely digitally. Jun got home, opening the door and seeming to relax at seeing me camped out on the couch like normal.


    ¡°You left last night.¡± He commented as he put down some of his stuff. His Katana joining my own on the Katana rack near the shrine.


    ¡°Jackie called me for netrunner help on a gig.¡± I told him leaving out all of the actual exciting bits.


    ¡°You could have left a message.¡± He said and I nodded at that. He was right. I mean. I hadn¡¯t because Jun might have tried to stop me, or follow along, but I could have. He sighed seeing I wasn¡¯t going to actually do the right thing and say I will in the future.


    ¡°You okay?¡±


    ¡°Oh I¡¯m fine. I met one of Jackies Chooms! V¡¯s so cool. Arasaka Counter-intel. She has this I¡¯ll kill you and destroy your entire family aura about her. But she can sing Never Fade Away so she isn¡¯t all bad!¡±


    Jun blinks at my rather odd words before seemingly deciding asking isn¡¯t worth the effort.


    ¡°Counter-Intel? Those kinda of people are¡­ Crazy. I¡¯m not sure I want you hanging out with someone like that.¡±


    ¡°Nah. V¡¯s more Jackies Choom. They saved each other on some gig. I didn¡¯t get the deets. Anyway, she¡¯s safe enough. I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll hang out with her, without Jackie or something, and he¡¯s like¡­ Her weakness. She goes all buttery soft around him. It¡¯s adorable.¡±


    ¡°They Input-Output?¡±


    ¡°Nope. I think they might have something there, but neither is willing. I think V¡¯s life is just complicated.¡± I shrugged, deciding to take a break from this drum section.


    ¡°And the gig he pulled you into?¡±


    ¡°Break into a corpo laptop for some info on where something was taken. When I got there everything was quiet. Took me like ten minutes to break in.¡±


    ¡°You were out all night. Motoko, you¡¯re avoiding saying what you actually did on the gig. You always blab about the entire adventure when I ask. I usually have to leave to get you to stop.¡±


    ¡°Rude!¡±


    ¡°Avoiding the question.¡±


    ¡°Okay, fine. Yeah the corp was Kang Tao. Some minor gang of kids klepped a car that had some stuff in the trunk. Kang Tao wanted it back, and killed the kids. Jackie was hired by Padre to get the stuff back, mostly in revenge for the killing and well¡­ I followed Jackie and V on the gig as their backup. Shit got a little crazy.¡±


    ¡°Define crazy.¡± Jun said flatly and I winced before looking around a little.


    ¡°Okay, first. You can¡¯t tell anyone. V mentioned Kang Tao has no idea who did it, so that¡¯s good, because they are pissed.¡±


    ¡°What did you and your chooms do?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ This is more of a me thing?¡±


    Jun was done paying attention to his gear that he was taking off, he walked over and sat on the couch glaring down at me.


    ¡°I blew up an AV with my Rocket Launcher! It crashed and made a massive crash and Jun-Nii it was the coolest, most preem thing EVER! I¡¯ve been wanting to tell someone all day!¡± I let it all out in a rush making an explosion motion with my hands to emphasize how amazing it was!


    I blew up an aircraft!


    I always wanted to do that!


    ¡°Fucking hell.¡± Jun said as he tried to process what I had done. It wasn¡¯t like you could just walk up to someone you know and say you shot down an airplane with a rocket launcher and not have it be a bit of a deal to process.


    So I remained quiet just squirming under Jun¡¯s gaze as he came to a conclusion about how he felt.


    ¡°Ow!¡± He hit me right on the head.


    ¡°Don¡¯t go to war with the corps you idiot!¡± He hissed at me quietly, obviously not wanting to shout something so incendiary through the walls.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t!¡±


    ¡°High explosives is an escalation!¡±


    ¡°Well! Fine! I¡¯ll get a Techtronika Grad and use that as an AT rifle instead! I¡¯ll just snipe the pilots ou-Ow!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t blow up AV¡¯s! Fuck I can¡¯t believe I have to explain this!¡±


    ¡°Okay fine! I¡¯ll leave the AV fuckers alone. I¡¯ll just kill everyone they drop off if I ever run into them or something.¡±


    ¡°Just stop putting yourself in situations that corps are sending AVs at you! I¡¯ve never had this problem!¡±


    I considered it.


    He had already hit me twice so you know what?


    ¡°Wow, that¡¯s pretty sad Jun. You should get on my level.¡± There was silence for a moment between us as we locked eyes.


    ¡°OW!¡±

 Chapter 100

    I slept a full eight hours after that. Woke up to a warm sunrise over Night City that I could only just see outside the apartment window. Did the normal morning things. Had breakfast, watched TV, realized NC TV still sucked and in the end just didn¡¯t do anything serious.


    And in the end I was rewarded! Hiromi called asking if I wanted to meet up for lunch. Giving me something to do other than be lazy around the apartment.


    Turns out she meant for us to meet up on her lunch break from the academy, but I wasn¡¯t going to complain. Because Hiromi had a surprise when I picked her up!


    I pulled in across from Arasaka Academy into a waiting area, and idled while waiting for HIromi to show up, that I was actually surprised when someone walked up to the car and only when I noticed her did she strike a pose.


    Hiromi had chipped in some chrome!


    She had new optics. It was the thing that caught my eye, as they were glowing in a hypnotic swirl of colors although mostly her eyes remained a neon green. Her favorite color. I was staring as she slipped into the Quadra. My scan was blocked as I was so interested in what she had chipped in. High end Arasaka Optics for sure, stuff that competes with Kiroshi definitely.


    She also had some changes to her EMP threading as well, and her Neon makeup.


    The threading was darker now. My previous assumption that I would end up with Goth Hiromi had been fairly accurate, as the lines were now a more matte black to match her other new chrome.  She definitely had some sort of hand chrome now, with all the black plastic and metal that wrapped around her fingers and a bit over her knuckles.


    ¡°Preem chrome Hiromi.¡± I finally said after checking out all the changes for a moment and I could tell she was preening under the attention.


    ¡°Oh these little things? Nothing big. Just some minor changes!¡± She faux played down her changes and I couldn¡¯t help but giggle at her attempts.


    ¡°How¡¯s it all feel? Any issues?¡±


    ¡°No, it¡¯s no big.¡± She denied instantly, but I wasn¡¯t going to let it go with just that. I reached over and grabbed her hand with mine partially to catch her attention and also to examine the new chrome.


    ¡°If you ever have trouble. It¡¯s not something to be ashamed of. My arms gave me trouble and I¡¯m glad I talked to people about it.¡± I told her, eyes meeting her own and I could see the swirl of colors in them shift suddenly even faster.


    ¡°Bwuh! It¡¯s fine! Minor alterations for the most part! Most of it is just some upgrades you know, new eyes with better scans, and some hand chrome that will help as an Arasaka goon¡­ Executive. I should probably stop saying that.¡± She muttered and I laughed at her as she blushed a little.


    I reached out then, tracing a finger down the dark EMP threading going along her cheek. ¡°No more kitty whiskers huh?¡±


    She was flushing a lot at me pointing out her old aesthetic. ¡°It just felt childish! So I changed a little!... It looks okay?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s preem! I like Goth Hiromi. She¡¯s cute.¡±


    ¡°G-goth? What the hell is that?¡± Hiromi asked, and I had a moment of complete brain shut down.


    Goth wasn¡¯t a thing!?


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­ A thing. With stuff? Anyway! You look cute! I always did like the Arasaka aesthetic to be honest.¡± I told her, and while she didn¡¯t look like she was going to let it go, she did preen again under my words.


    ¡°Well good! C¡¯mon let¡¯s get some food. I only have so long for a lunch break¡­ So thanks for coming to pick me up. I wanted to see yo- to show off my new chrome!¡±


    I nodded quickly, pulling out of the little park and really just heading a bit down the street to an area with some food shops. ¡°The chrome is absolutely preem.¡± I continued to assure her as we pulled in and took a few minutes to order.


    I ended up eating some weird fancy wrap thing. It had.. Lettuce? No I¡¯m pretty sure that wasn¡¯t actually lettuce but I was pretending. Really hard.


    Thankfully Hiromi wasn¡¯t just wanting to show off her chrome, and was distracting me.


    ¡°It¡¯s so boring Motoko!¡± She whined as she stuffed her own wrap in her face as she sat with me in the Quadra.


    ¡°School is important.¡±


    ¡°I know! It doesn¡¯t make it any less boring though.¡± She grumbled. ¡°I saw your newest BD.¡± She said suddenly and I jerked as I realized the last BD I had dropped had been ¡®that¡¯ one.


    ¡°O-oh. You okay? It didn¡¯t make  you sick or anything right?¡±


    ¡°What? C¡¯mon Motoko. I don¡¯t entirely get why you hang out with the Mox, but Judy is definitely a Maestro when it comes to tuning BD¡¯s no way I would get sick. It was fucking preem though. That first drop? I felt like my stomach was going out of my throat, but you just hit the ground in a roll and were off.¡± Hiromi made a few punching motions with her fists.


    I didn¡¯t really know what to say as I was a little embarrassed at how brutal that particular engagement had been. ¡°It didn¡¯t bother you? The whole¡­¡± I rolled my wrist as I couldn¡¯t find the word.


    ¡°No way! It was exciting, and knowing it was you behind it all only made it way more preem.¡± She assured me. ¡°I see why you wrote that song though. It really did fit way better with the action.¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­ Yeah. It¡¯s meant to be a song that plays during a brutal fight.¡± I muttered a little embarrassed that Hiromi had actually seen it!


    She wasn¡¯t supposed to see it!


    ¡°It was very preem, it¡¯s getting super popular. All the rich kids are buying it. This one had so much brutality even the normal XBD watchers wanted it.¡± She informed me as she took another bite of her wrap. ¡°The Only Thing They Fear is You. Preem title. That¡¯s the name of your song?¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­ Yeah that¡¯s the name of the song. It¡¯s not too weird?¡± Ah! I was right! It was so awkward having my bestie see that BD! I shouldn¡¯t have made it! Stupid past Motoko!


    ¡°Not at all! A lot of XBD¡¯s have weird names! Seriously, I''ve handled so many weird BD¡¯s over the last couple weeks. I only agreed to help Nox sell to the academy kids so I could make sure everyone could see your preem BD¡¯s. But I¡¯ve had to deal with a lot of trash. I even had to do a hostile takeover of this street kid that goes to the academy. He was selling stuff, but he was selling the BD¡¯s like some weird corner hawker.¡±


    ¡°Wait. Some kid was selling BD¡¯s in the academy?¡± And why did that sound familiar? I asked myself already knowing the answer.


    ¡°Yeah. Some street kid that got in on grades. Which is totally weird by the way. Anyway, you¡¯d think some smart kid would know how to sell BD¡¯s but he was hawking them like a back alley dealer. Barely anyone bought from him. I took his little attempt and turned it into an actual business.¡± She said flipping her hair with one hand.


    ¡°That¡¯s really impressive Hiromi!¡± I chirped and I could see her face go red at my compliment even if she side eyed me a bit to make sure I was actually being sincere. Which I was.


    I couldn¡¯t set up a business like that.


    ¡°Ugh! I can¡¯t look at you with your dopey smile! I have to get back to class anyways. Thanks. Motoko. For coming to spend time with me.¡± She said as she slipped out of the Quadra with a wave and then a little jog to run back to the academy.


    I just laughed at her fleeing form as I started the car and pulled out of the little parking the food shops had.


    It was too bad. I was pretty sure the kid Hiromi had taken over the BD business from was David. I still wanted to meet the gonk.


    Eh, someday, I decided.


    ¡ª--


    Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    ¡°Heeey Rita.¡± I called, drawling out the greeting a bit at the look the older woman gave me.


    ¡°Give me one reason I should ever let you inside again?¡± She asked, arms crossing over her chest.


    ¡°Cause. I¡¯m super duper sorry about causing trouble! It won¡¯t happen again¡­ I uh. Don¡¯t drink for a reason you know?¡±


    Rita kept the unamused look on her face for quite a while before finally it cracked and she laughed at me.


    ¡°Well at least a little trash dive hasn¡¯t hurt your ego too badly.¡±


    ¡°Nah I¡¯m okay¡­ I only kinda remember that night. So I guess V and I singing on the table was causing some problems?¡±


    ¡°Oh please, that''s barely a problem. The issue is you hacked our music system to play Samurai music on repeat. Judy had to come up and reset the whole thing to stop the ten thousand repeats of Never Fade Away.¡±


    ¡°Ooh. I don¡¯t remember that¡­ Sorry.¡±


    Rita huffed a laugh and rolled her eyes. ¡°You¡¯re lucky we owe you one. Just don¡¯t do it again.¡±


    ¡°Deal.¡± I agreed and Rita nodded, making a motion that I could enter, but I just blinked at her. ¡°Oh I¡¯m not here to party or something. I just knew I should apologize for causing trouble.¡± I said and Rita looked at me.


    I looked at her.


    She blinked.


    I blinked.


    ¡°You came here to apologize¡­ To me?¡±


    ¡°Well yeah! I caused you trouble! You even had to throw me out of the club¡­ Drunk Motoko can¡¯t have been easy to deal with.¡±


    ¡°You were actually docile once I got you off the table. I just had to tell you you were in trouble and you were kinda blubbering and going along with it.¡±


    ¡°I definitely didn¡¯t blubber!¡±


    ¡°Can you say that for sure?¡± She asked and I had no real response to that one.


    I huffed in outrage and Rita once again broke out into laughter. ¡°So what are you doing just coming by?¡±


    ¡°Mostly! I just stopped to see Hiromi on her lunch break, and I don¡¯t have any gigs or anything for the day.¡±


    ¡°In that case why don¡¯t you come hang with me. I¡¯m getting off soon. You can show me how far you¡¯ve come with your hobby.¡±


    ¡°Oh that¡¯s right! I do owe you for that¡­ Why don¡¯t you come to my place then! I can show you my music box! I just finished a few songs!¡±


    Rita blinked and then seemed utterly amused at my offer bursting into a full body laugh. ¡°Sure Motoko I¡¯ll come over to your house and play.¡± She said cracking up.


    I just pouted at her, because that¡¯s not what I said!


    ¡ª--


    ¡°Welcome to my home!¡± I introduced with a wave at the apartment for Rita.


    ¡°Huh.¡± She commented looking over all my junk still left out on the living room table.


    ¡°D-don¡¯t just huh! Sorry about the mess though.¡± I muttered a little embarrassed. Dangit Rita was a cool older woman! It wasn¡¯t fair that my place was a little messy! Dangit Jun! Aren¡¯t you the responsible one!?


    No wait. He almost went full Cyberpsycho.


    I was the responsible one.


    Fuck no wonder our apartment was a damn mess. No one should trust me with responsibility!


    I shook off that horror filled realization as I gestured for Rita to take the couch.


    ¡°Want anything to drink? Eat?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m good Motoko. I had a lunch break about an hour before you showed up. So this is where you¡¯ve been working on your hobby?¡±


    ¡°Yeah! Mostly! I mean. I could probably go find a better place for acoustics, but I¡¯m using a high end mic I picked up for the vocals, and the rest of the tracks are recorded digitally, so I can tweak them if they sound off¡­ Do you want to hear?¡±


    Rita settled on the couch and gave me one of those cool smirks that told me she was totally humoring me!


    I was just gonna have to blow her socks off!


    I went over to my music box and took it from the living room table to set it on the floor and set up the song I was gonna play.


    Then I grabbed my guitar. Doing a few test chords to make sure it was ready.


    One good thing about the new guitars, no need to tune the strings. It was a digital guitar after all.


    ¡°So this is called Smells like Teen Spirit.¡± I told her and she huffed a bit at the name but I pulled my Personal Link cord out of the back of my neck and slotted it into the music box behind me, and started the song.


    Instantly behind me two holograms slowly came together, obviously surprising Rita, as I went into the stuttered chords of the intro.


    ¡°Load up on guns, bring your friends.¡± I crooned the intro to the song, my voice wasn¡¯t quite the honey of Cobain, but I could make it a more similar sultry croon with Sexy Motoko Voice!


    And I jammed out. A one woman band. Showing off to the person to originally give me the idea to find a hobby.


    ¡°A denial.¡± I ended the last lyric letting the guitar finish humming out the final chord.


    Then silence. The holograms that had been jamming out behind me went out leaving the room how it was before I started.


    ¡°So¡­ What do you think?¡± I asked the woman. Rita¡¯s face had gone kinda blank middle way through the song.


    ¡°I think that¡¯s a bit further along than a hobby.¡± She said honestly.


    I didn¡¯t really know how to take that, so I just sort of smiled and probably looked a little uncomfortable.


    ¡°You got talent Motoko. I¡¯m really impressed. I¡¯ve never heard that song before either.¡±


    ¡°Ah. I like it.¡± I said, I never was very comfortable with taking credit for work others had done. Even if they didn¡¯t exist in this world.


    ¡°I do too. It¡¯s got a certain flair. Maybe we¡¯ll have you come in and play at Lizzies.¡±


    ¡°No way!¡± I denied instantly. ¡°I¡¯m not interested in live shows like that! It would be so embarrassing if I messed up.¡±


    ¡°Pfft. You¡¯re adorable kid.¡± Rita said, laughing at me! How mean!


    I was definitely going to come up with an amazing retort and make Rita apologize when the door opened.


    ¡°Thought that was you playing.¡± Jun said as he meandered in looking tired.


    ¡°Jun-Nii!¡± I greeted, but there was a sudden tenseness in the atmosphere as the two older people noticed each other.


    Rita was Mox, and Mox were not exactly on good terms with the TC.


    ¡°Oni.¡± Rita finally broke the silence. A simple greeting but using Jun¡¯s work name. What is up with that? Does everyone know who he is now? How come they know who he is, but not me? This is unfair!


    ¡°Bouncer.¡± He greeted back, without any additions.


    ¡°Awkward.¡± I broke in instantly, cutting out the tension.


    ¡°Rita, this is Jun my older brother, Jun this is Rita, she¡¯s the one that helped me start looking for a hobby, so I owe all the music stuff I¡¯ve been working on to her. I brought her over to show her a song I wrote as a thank you.¡±


    Jun blinked, seemingly stepping back from the semi-hostile edge.


    ¡°Motoko¡¯s a bit of a gonk, but thanks for looking out for her. I know it¡¯s not always easy.¡±


    Rita took in Jun¡¯s words and just shrugged, seeming to relax a little. ¡°I¡¯m used to helping out with the younger girls. Motoko¡¯s no trouble¡­ When she isn¡¯t standing on a table and drunk singing her heart out.¡±


    Jun blinked before a smirk popped across his lips. ¡°She didn¡¯t share that story. I¡¯ll have to get it out of her sometime.¡±


    ¡°Rita! You aren¡¯t supposed to share that!¡± But they both just ignored my offense. Jun wasn¡¯t supposed to know I got drunk and thrown out of the bar! He would never let me live it down!


    ¡°Any of Motoko¡¯s chooms are welcome.¡± Jun said breaking up the fact they were ignoring me by then patting me on the head as he moved past. ¡°I was just bringing some food home, hungry?¡±


    ¡°No, but thanks.¡± Rita said back, sounding much more relaxed.


    ¡°Well if you need anything let me know. Motoko. You finished a new song? I want to hear.¡± He demanded and I glared at him Jun was up to something!


    I knew that look on his face, the one where he got all smirky and pushed his chin up like he was looking down at me!


    ¡°Nope. You don¡¯t get to hear my awesome cool new song.¡±


    ¡°Well that¡¯s a shame. Rita right? What¡¯s this about Motoko drunk singing-?¡±


    ¡°Right! A new song I finished Jun-Nii! Why don¡¯t you just take a seat for the full experience and no talking while I sing! In fact no talking at all! Ever!¡± I demanded, forced to switch gears at my brothers evil vile blackmail!


    ¡ª--


    Despite my best attempts once I finished off my second rendition of Smells like Teen Spirit. Jun and Rita still got to talking about their one and only shared point.


    ¡°So she was dancing on the table?¡±


    ¡°With V, a corpo woman that comes in from time to time. Never seen her get so wild either.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s all Jackies fault!¡± I groaned into my hands, and Jun laughed at me, openly amused at hearing about my drunk escapades.


    ¡°I wish I had been there now.¡± He said with a sigh and Rita chuckled at the two of us as I glared at Jun in return.


    ¡°Well now that you both have had so much fun making fun of me! I¡¯m gonna go hang out with cool people!¡± I told them both as I rose up and settled my guitar back on the stand and the Music box back off the floor.


    Really didn¡¯t want to deal with someone kicking it on accident. Especially since the only person likely to do that was Jun, and his stupid borg feet.


    ¡°C¡¯mon now ¡®Toko. It¡¯s just a little teasing.¡± Rita said, while still laughing at me, so I didn¡¯t give her the benefit of a response, just a huff as I crossed my arms and walked into the kitchen with all my dignity.


    ¡°Bathroom!¡± I retorted as I did just that, going into the bathroom to give myself some space and hopefully have the topic change when I came out. No fair for Rita and Jun to both pick on me!. I was just finishing up when I heard it.


    A laugh.


    No. That wasn¡¯t a laugh. A laugh is more Hahaha. This was more. Tehehe!


    That was a fucking giggle!


    I poked my head out of the bathroom to peer into the living room with my wide eyes demanding explanations, because that was Rita.


    Rita. Mox Bouncer badass, and all around scary woman, giggling like a schoolgirl with my brother.


    It was impossible.


    I refused to believe it, but my lying eyes showed me the truth.


    Did¡­ Did Jun have game? Was he actually good with women?


    Because I was seeing my brother. The TC enforcer, flirting with the Mox Bouncer.


    He must have scored some sort of critical. Because I refuse to believe my burrito obsessed brother who likes garbage like the Us Cracks actually has game!


    ¡°Uh. Motoko. What¡¯s gotten into you?¡± Jun asked suddenly as he caught sight of my staring.


    ¡°Nothing.¡± I said firmly but I didn¡¯t move my eyes. Instead I was kept them wide and locked on Jun and Rita. Refusing to accept what I was seeing. As I stayed half poking out over the kitchen counter.


    Rita caught it after a moment. And I got to see the delightful look of the womans plastic looking Real Skinn flush a little in an actual blush.


    ¡°I should get going.¡± She said then to both Jun and I¡¯s surprise.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to!¡± I argued.


    ¡°There isn¡¯t a rush.¡± Jun said much calmer than my own response. ¡°Don¡¯t mind Motoko. She¡¯s always like this. She¡¯s probably just planning some petty revenge.¡±


    ¡°Petty!?¡±


    ¡°No. I appreciate the offer, and the show Motoko, but I should get out of here¡­ This was a surprise, but a good one.¡± She finally said looking to Jun, and if I wasn¡¯t a super secret mega hacker¡­


    And the fact I had totally breached into Jun¡¯s agent forever ago¡­ Mostly for fun. Mostly.


    Well I caught the shared deets.


    Rita¡­ Rita just gave him her number.


    Jun looked as gobsmacked as I was as Rita flashed him a smirk, and then looked to me. ¡°See ya around Motoko. Keep practicing. I want to see you up on stage someday.¡± She offered as she walked out of the apartment.


    ¡°Wait what ju-¡± Jun¡¯s question was cut off as I leapt on him wrapping myself around his head and squeezing.


    ¡°WAS THIS THE IDIOT FLIRTING WITH GIRLS UNDER MY ROOF!?¡± I yelled, probably loud enough Rita would still catch it.


    Details.


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t flirting!¡± Jun yelped in surprise as he quickly startled wrestling me off him, unfortunately he was still much stronger than me, and he was getting used to my holds at this point. ¡°Was I?¡± He asked himself after finally pinning me down.


    ¡°Gonk.¡±

 Chapter 101

    I left Jun to brood over his playboy ways. I headed out of the apartment entirely to give him some space. He was totally freaking out on the inside at flirting with Rita, and I would normally stick around to calm him down, but he honestly needed some private time to come to terms with the fact he might actually still be alive and interested in girls.


    I headed out onto the street with no real plans.


    Did I want to go hang out with my chooms? Go netrunning? Shoot something?


    That last one was pretty tempting, but I didn¡¯t exactly have a lot of targets at the moment. I guess I could go find some scavs?


    I shook my head, just because I was bored was no reason to get into a gunfight¡­


    Even if it was really tempting.


    So instead I should¡­ I pulled up my agent on my eyes. I had a lot of money.


    I should probably spend some of it? I mean that was what people did when they had disposable income right? Spend it on stupid stuff?


    What did I want?


    More Chrome? Probably not a good idea. At least until I get a few more points into Adaptation.


    I already had a preem ride¡­ I could go find a Kusanagi. I always wanted a motorcycle¡­ I looked at my account.


    I certainly had the eddies. Between the big scav raid, and all the smaller ones, Hiromi had been raking in the eddies with all the chrome sales.


    I checked the time, Hiromi would be out of school soon, maybe enough time for everything to work out.


    So I pulled up a number and made a call.


    *Motoko, what do you want?* Wakako asked as soon as she picked up the phone.


    *Do you have any info on a Kusanagi for sale?*


    *I don¡¯t deal in people. If your brother ended up on the market, I have no interest in it.* It took me a moment to catch what had just been said. Wakako spoke completely straight. No hint of the joke she had just made in her tone.


    *Hahaha, I¡¯m laughing so hard Wakako, Wow you should go work at a comedy club. So you got any info?*


    *I do happen to have a few sellers for Kusanagi. You teenagers and your motorcycles.*


    *They are cool Wakako! Don¡¯t tell me none of your husbands ever gave you a ride on their bikes.* I teased right back and I knew I had got her as I got a scoffing noise through the line, but not an actual refusal. *But do you have any that aren¡¯t the Mizuchi mod? I¡¯m looking for something more standard.*


    *That does lower the amount of sellers. I¡¯ll send you the information.*


    *Thanks Wakako!* I chirped in a rush, before she could hang up, and it was a moment after the line went dead.


    Gotcha!


    A few moments later I got a text.


    Pictures of a pretty red Kusanagi, and a price that made me wince.


    I sent the confirmation, and eddies, and a few moments later I got a location to pick it up, as well as a digital key.


    I rushed across the street to get into my Quadra.


    I had promised Hiromi a ride if I ever got a Bike afterall!


    ¡ª--


    The Kusanagi was everything I had ever wanted. It was also a smoother ride than Jun¡¯s stupid over tuned Mizuchi. It was exactly what I wanted, if not for a few issues.


    ¡°Pretty sure whoever owned this thing last, fucked with the brakes.¡± I grumbled as I once again felt the brakes slipping as I came to a stop.


    Good thing I drove so safely otherwise I would have crashed right into the back of the car stopped at the light.


    Also one of the front head lights was out. Have to fix that before nighttime. I had already looked up a few shops where I could buy them.


    Unfortunately discovering the brakes were bad meant I couldn¡¯t race across the city to pick up Hiromi for the ride I promised her.


    Had to do some work on my new baby first.


    I pulled into the parking lot of a part store. It was sketchy to the eyes of my old life, but in this one, it was actually a pretty safe spot.


    I pulled into an open spot in a corner far enough away I could do some work without anyone getting in the way and slid off my new ride.


    I resisted the urge to squeal like a kid as I did a cool saunter into the store past a few of the gonks that hung around shops like this checking out the rides that came in.


    This sort of place was popular with racing types. It¡¯s why I had picked this particular shop while searching the city-net. Kusanagi weren¡¯t cheap bikes, and they used high end parts for a lot of things.


    One of the teens that were hanging around the entrance gave my ride a whistle as I passed him by. ¡°Nice wheels kid.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s preem right?¡± I asked as I walked past, stepping into the shop and taking it all in.


    Inside the smell of oil, grease, and steel filled my nose a nostalgic smell. I remember being dragged into shops like this all the time in my past life. I shook off the smell and began searching.


    The head light was easy enough to find, and I went ahead and grabbed a replacement for all the lights as well.


    Brakes though weren¡¯t just out in the store front.


    ¡°What can I help you with Hermanita?¡± The Tino behind the counter asked as he looked me over wondering what I was doing here.


    Not every day you see a fourteen year old in a shop like this.


    A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    ¡°I need some brakes for my Kusanagi Yaiba. They¡¯re dying bad.¡±


    ¡°Alright. Let me see what we got.¡± He stepped away from the counter and into the back that was covered in parts and boxes of parts.


    After a short wait he came back with a set of square boxes that were definitely not factory standard, and he pulled out two brake pads for my bike.


    Thankfully I had enough Tech Attribute that I was able to tell that while used, the brakes were still in good condition.


    I did a few checks on both though just to be sure, chrome fingers sliding into spots to check that they weren¡¯t just trash made to look normal. I could see the seller nod along as I seemed to actually know what I was doing.


    ¡°They¡¯ll do.¡± I passed the eddies over for them and the head lights and carried it all out of the shop.


    Once again I was glad my Body was so high, because the Kusanagi had big fucking brakes. They were heavy.


    I walked out and set them on the concrete in front of my Kusanagi as I waited for my tool box to arrive.


    I could drive it home and work on it there. But I didn¡¯t really want to drive my bike with the brakes all fucked up.


    Seriously, it was dangerous!


    Unfortunately It wasn¡¯t like I kept my toolbox in my Quadra. It was beside the couch where I had left it while working on the Music box, so that meant I had to call Jun.


    To my surprise Jun showed up not on his own Kusanagi, but in my Quadra!


    The black with purple Quadra was also getting some attention from the teens all hanging around. I guess it wasn¡¯t every day they saw a Nomad custom Quadra Type-66. I could see the kids all perk up as Jun pulled in and into the space next to my Kusanagi. Of course all the attention they had vanished in an instant when Jun stepped out.


    I could practically hear the whispers of ¡°Oni¡± echoed between all the kids.


    Okay seriously what was Jun doing that was spreading his rep around so much? I was fairly confident I had killed more people than him! I shook off the outrage as I waved to Jun.


    ¡°Hey Jun. You brought my Quadra?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not exactly comfortable riding a bike with a toolbox in my arms. I didn¡¯t figure you would mind.¡± He said and I just nodded. I had given Jun a key for my Quadra, but he had stuck to his bike even when it would be more convenient.


    ¡°Sorry for pulling you out of your brooding.¡± I told him and that earned me a glare as he offered me the tool box pushing me back with it a bit.


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t brooding.¡±


    ¡°Sure. Sure.¡± I agreed without doing anything of the sort as I took my tools and went to work.


    ¡°Pass me the-¡± Jun said as he crouched down and looked like he was going to help.


    So I immediately threatened him with a wrench. ¡°Don¡¯t even think about it! This is my baby.¡±


    ¡°Do you even know how to¡­ replace the brakes?¡± Jun asked, noticing the parts I had bought. He ignored me for a moment as he walked over to the boxes of brakes to check them.


    ¡°They¡¯re fine Jun. Used, but in good condition.¡± I told him, and he scowled a little.


    ¡°I was just double checking. Common scam is to fill the inside of the brakes with gunk to make them look new.¡±


    ¡°Already checked for that.¡± I told him and Jun had nothing to say to that as he nodded and to my surprise he took a seat and just let me get on with it.


    So I did. I had done something pretty similar with Hiromi¡¯s Kusanagi after she crashed it. Despite her Kusanagi being the stupid Mizuchi custom job. I had to figure out the paneling but once that was done. It only took me a few minutes to get the front wheel off, and check the brakes.


    Yep. I whistled at just how bad they were.


    ¡°You drove on those?¡±


    ¡°Only a little. It didn¡¯t take me long to figure out something was wrong after all.¡± I told Jun but he was still scowling as I passed the brake over to him as he motioned for it and he scowled as he looked it over.


    ¡°I¡¯m surprised you didn¡¯t crash.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m a safe driver!¡± I chirped happily as I pulled the fresh brakes out and got to work installing it. My hands deftly handled the whole task. Even the finicky parts that you were guaranteed to scrape the shit out of your hands trying to do were no problem, as my hands were chrome!


    ¡°Front brake done.¡± I told him, as I shifted the bike to get access to the rear wheel and worked on that.


    ¡°I¡¯ll have to have you check out my Kusanagi.¡±


    ¡°Blegh! I don¡¯t work on Mizuchi! Those things are-¡±


    ¡°Yeah yeah, I know. You think they¡¯re stupid.¡± Jun said while rolling his eyes.


    ¡°They are! I¡¯ll do my own custom job! And when I¡¯m done they¡¯ll call it the Motoko Kusanagi, and everyone will want one!¡± I told him firmly, waving my wrench at him for a moment to prove my seriousness.


    Jun just laughed at me though, which was super rude.


    At least he wasn¡¯t brooding so much anymore.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°And done.¡± I confirmed finishing putting the last panel on. I had replaced the brakes and the lights. While checking the lights there had been some wires that looked rough. So since I had the panel off already I had gone ahead and replaced those as well.


    ¡°I should ride it first to make sure it¡¯s sa-¡± Jun tried but I quickly hopped onto the seat and glared at my stupid brother.


    ¡°Not a chance.¡±


    He just laughed because the jerks teasing had gotten a reaction.


    I was going to drop kick him in his sleep. See how he likes being messed with.


    I slipped back off, and finished putting my toolbox away in the Quadra which Jun had settled into the drivers seat.


    ¡°Take it slow at first.¡± Jun warned, but I was in no mood for slow and steady.


    I started her up. The engine roaring to life as I did a quick burnout to adjust my bike to face the street.


    ¡°Motoko No!¡±


    ¡°Motoko Yes!¡± I called back as I let go of the brakes and roared out of the parking lot. I could hear Jun cursing and starting up my Quadra right after as I cackled and roared down the streets of Night City.


    I would go slow. So Jun could keep up.


    ¡ª---


    Instead of meeting up with Hiromi that night, I decided I would surprise her later instead. Since it had taken so long to fix the bike up enough to be safe. So after I drove back to the apartment so Jun would be off my tail I headed back out into the city free of overbearing Nii-chans.


    It was a shame my Driving skill was already maxed out with Reflex. As testing out my new bike would have been a good chance to earn some XP.


    But I didn¡¯t mind. It was less a stat thing, and more just getting to learn the wiggles of my new bike.


    Like whoever had owned her before had done some custom work on her. The engine was throatier than a normal Kusanagi, something I only noticed when I was able to really open her up now that her brakes were fixed.


    I would have to take her apart and see what had been done.


    But I didn¡¯t mind the sound. It was better than the horrible Mizuchi that always sounded overtuned and tinny.


    Which was a noise I soon noticed as I was stopped at a red light, a Mizuchi pulled up beside me. Sliding in between an old beat up Galena to stop beside me at the front of the light.


    The kid on the back was definitely TC. He even had one of the Arasaka style Kabuto helmets on his head, not for protection, but just to look even more Japanese.


    He revved his shitwagon and I winced at how horrible it sounded. I could practically hear the engine ripping itself apart as it tried to keep up with the overturning.


    So I revved my bike. The throaty roar of my new girl rumbled out.


    I could see it on his face. He was thinking the same thing I was just a moment before, just in reverse.


    He thought his stupid Mizuchi was the better bike.


    The light hit green, and for once I wasn¡¯t following the laws. My Kusanagi roared as I gunned it the noise fighting against the ugly noise coming from the Mizuchi as we both raced off the line.


    Night City wasn¡¯t a safe place to street race without someone setting it up. The streets were filled with cars and pedestrians.


    But this was also Night City, and other than me, no one cared about the laws.


    We raced down the street, weaving in between the cars, he got an early lead, the overtuned first gears of his Mizuchi giving him just enough extra power to pull the lead.


    Well that and experience slipping in between traffic, this was my first time on a full size Kusanagi, and my girl was a little bit wider than a Mizuchi.


    But the road up ahead angled into a sharp turn. We both broke through the traffic with him in the lead, but as we hit the turn he had to slow down to make it.


    I didn¡¯t.


    Whooping in delight, I drifted right past him almost completely on the side of my bike, just barely keeping it from sparking off the asphalt as I blew past him and then had to slow down as we came up to another red light.


    A few moments later he pulled up beside me and gave me a nod.


    ¡°Not bad!¡±


    I just laughed at his attempt to keep some tatters of his remaining ego.


    ¡°You should come race!¡± He called out and I surprised myself by actually considering it.


    I mean. I liked following the laws when driving¡­ But I had grown up in the Fast and the Furious era. I wasn¡¯t going to go around screaming about family or something. But street races were inherently cool.


    ¡°Send me the deets!¡± I called back. The light was changing and it was time to drive. I got a text from him with an address just as I pulled away driving off into the city weaving in and out of traffic.


    Just a little. It was important to be safe about it after all.


    ¡ª--


    I was pulling into the parking lot of the apartment when I realized we only had the two spots. I grumbled as I had to park my baby close to Jun¡¯s stupid bike.


    I slipped off and then looked back grimacing a bit at the look between the two Kusanagi.


    The standard beautiful version, that did have some modifications but it was all under the hood so to speak and then the Mizuchi that was barely identifiable as a Kusanagi at all¡­


    I felt like there was some meta commentary there about Jun and I, but I decided to ignore that entirely and instead just turned to head inside.


    I had been driving around for a few hours and I had a lot of fun, but it was time to head home and put my feet up.


    I stopped by the old man selling meat sticks to grab one happily scarfing it down as I raced up the stairs enjoying the bounciness of my ankles as I hit the fourth floor.


    I slipped inside. ¡°Jun I¡¯m home!¡±


    ¡°About time.¡± He grumbled coming out of the bathroom and wiping down his hair obviously he had just gotten out of a shower.


    ¡°I was having fun!¡± I argued justifying my ride around the city.


    Jun just ignored me and went back into the bathroom to finish drying his hair and so I flopped on the couch.


    I didn¡¯t really feel like music stuff at the moment. Plus I did have other projects I needed to work on. It took a few minutes but I went and found the Kang Tao armor I had stolen and left in the Quadra before coming back up to the apartment.


    First I took some tools to remove the Kang Tao symbols and stuff. Mostly just paint, but some cutting was required as well.


    Then I finished painting it. Removing the Kang Tao orange, and replacing it with a nice purple.


    Yeah. That looked better. I ended up sitting the armor in a corner to dry and at that point I was actually feeling kinda¡­ Lazy-tired?


    so I made the mistake of turning the TV on to see what I could find.

 Chapter 102

    ¡°Future TV was a mistake.¡± I whispered after watching in horrified awe what passed for a popular action movie that only came out a few years ago.


    It was horrible.


    No wonder everyone in Night City was so violent. They had no good violence to watch on TV! I nodded to myself. I was gonna need to up the production quality of my XBD¡¯s. The people deserved high quality violence!


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± I blinked, looking at Jun as he looked at me. I lowered my fist that had been aiming at the sky and wiped some imaginary dust from my leotard as I sat back down on the couch.


    ¡°Nothing.¡±


    Jun gave me a look telling me he didn¡¯t believe me for a second. Then he just walked past me to sit on the couch. ¡°Your movie done?¡±


    ¡°It was so awful I¡¯ve deleted it from my brain.¡± I assured him and Jun laughed.


    ¡°It was a good flick. The special effects needed work though.¡±


    ¡°What special effects? Whenever he punched someone it was obviously just a dummy full of blood. I literally don¡¯t think they did any digital alterations on the entire movie.¡±


    ¡°Yeah why would they? The dummies were too fake. They should have gotten some robots inside them to let them move or something.¡±


    ¡°That actually sounds cool, but I know even if they did that it would still look like shit. I hate TV.¡± I grumbled and Jun just snorted and then turned back on the TV. Switching to a show he liked.


    I faux gagged at him, but didn¡¯t fight him for the remote. It wasn¡¯t like there was anything else I wanted to watch.


    Then I felt it. That prickling in my shoulders as my hindbrain noticed something. I moved instantly. No hesitation as something in my senses was telling me I was in danger. I barreled into Jun full bore knocking us both off the side of the couch Jun was instantly yelling in anger at me, thinking I was fucking around, but then the noise hit him.


    A gun shot slamming through our window and into the couch.


    ¡°Sniper!¡± I yelled out, as I looked towards the window. Instantly the shutters closed. The safety shutters were meant to keep out stray gunfire and the like, but against a Sniper?


    Fuck I even recognized the sound of that gunshot. That was a Nekomata.


    ¡°Stay down!¡± Jun yelled at me as I made to rise towards my room. I needed a gun, to counter snipe, but my Nekomata was in the Quadra!


    Then we both heard it.


    Boots on flooring.


    ¡°Fuck.¡±


    ¡°Fuck.¡± Jun and I both uttered and he let me go, I rushed for my room. I still had a Tactician Shotgun in there¡­ Unfortunately my HMG wouldn¡¯t be a good choice despite how much I itched to pick her up. Jun just grabbed his Katana from the stand on our family shrine.


    A moment later I heard it even as I was preparing my Tactician. Another echoing retort, and metal failing to stop the railgun firing into our apartment.


    It took a second for me to process, but I realized the sniper had to be on the road leading up to the city level above us. Probably just sitting there parked on the side of the road shooting into our apartment.


    That meant we had no place we could hide in any of the main rooms.


    I hurried out relieved to see Jun hadn¡¯t been hit. The sniper must just be firing randomly.


    I crouched down beside Jun who was hunkered down resting his back against the shrine facing the door.


    ¡°We should charge them. If we stay in here, the sniper will eventually get lucky.¡±


    He nodded, not saying anything further, and I noticed his eyes were golden. Ah, he was making a call. Good.


    ¡°Ready?¡± He asked and all I did was reach up and grab my Katana too, and slipped it through my belt. Then nodding.


    Tactician was already loaded. No need to wrack it just to show off.


    He surged forward, the door opening instantly and surprising the group of gonks all formed up as one of them had obviously been trying to break in through the lock.


    A tech guy not a netrunner huh?


    Jun was faster than I was. Mostly because I didn¡¯t have a clear shot with his stupid head in the way, but he slammed into the guys waiting ignoring SMG¡¯s and pistols and simply ran them down like a bull. Two died instantly as one was skewered with a Katana and the others head was grabbed and he was simply thrown into his chooms.


    Neck broken, the gonks body went floppy.


    Then I was there. I leapt my feet hitting the concrete hallway wall. Sticking me for just half a second thanks to the friction. More than long enough to fire a shot into the arrayed group. My eyes already blurring as I worked to send a Quickhack through to shut off their weapons as well.


    Then it was all hell.


    They started firing, Jun starting swinging, I fired and hacked everything I could. Their weapon fire quickly shut off which caused them to freak out, as they had an angry Oni in front of them.


    The fight only lasted a few moments. Jun¡¯s absurd chromed out strength. Even with only being able to really stab with his Katana, he was still skewering the fools that attacked us, and breaking limbs or necks with his other hand.


    ¡°Down!¡± I yelled out, and Jun was in tune enough to do that. As a sniper round ripped through the concrete hallway.


    I had caught the transmission one of the fuckers had sent out just in time. I turned and fired my shotgun into the ¡®dead¡¯ fucker and looked away only once his head stopped existing.


    ¡°Stairwell!¡± I yelled, leaping over Jun and down the stairs, Jun joining me as another round ripped through the hall.


    We should be safe here though. A Nekomata can only shoot through so much concrete before even that railgun just can¡¯t punch through anymore.


    ¡°What the fuck?¡± I asked aloud my heart barely moving as Cold Blood had taken over, but even with that going full blast the outrage in my head was making my blood feel like it was boiling, going hot and cold.


    ¡°Scavs.¡± Jun said and I blinked looking at one of the corpses.


    I scanned his face and yep.


    Record of working with Scavs.


    Scavs had attacked us. Me. Scavs had attacked me, I realized.


    ¡°This is my fault.¡±


    ¡°Worry about that later. Focus on the fight. Our reinforcements are on the way so we just have to hold.¡±


    I nodded already expecting that, from Juns earlier call, but still. These fuckers. They attacked my home.


    Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    I moved.


    ¡°Motoko!¡± I ignored Jun, as I raced down the stairs. Outside there were two vans. Both backed up to the entrance with the back doors open. I leapt into the first one sliding on the metal flooring as I slid right up to the driver''s seat.


    The driver there hadn¡¯t noticed me until that moment. When I had a shotgun slamming into the side of his face and pushing him into the glass of the vans side window.


    ¡°Fuck!¡± he cursed at the blow but then stilled as the barrel of my shotgun mashed into his cheek.


    ¡°I want answers, asshole.¡± I hissed reaching out and slamming his head into the glass again to prove my point.


    ¡°Bitch! You think we are just going to let you keep killing us? You think we are that stupid? You and your brother are marked! We will-¡±


    ¡°You will die. All of you. Every Scav in this city. Even if I have to spend the next year to do it. Hunting every single one of you down. There is no hole deep enough. No place safe enough to stop me.¡± I said tonelessly.


    I didn¡¯t need to get angry with this piece of trash. What I said wasn¡¯t some threat to get him to talk.


    It was simply what it was.


    They had come after me in my home. Had nearly shot my brother.


    I had gone too far. There was no other option now.


    It was kill or be killed. Wipe out the Scavs. Or they would eventually get lucky. So there was no other option. I saw Jun doing the same thing I was through the drivers window. The poor Scav in the driver seat of the second van had been pulled fully into the back and the entire van was rocking and echoing with the fuckers screams.


    Good.


    Jun was probably beating him to death.


    ¡°Your chooms you sent into my home are all dead. You and your choom over there are fucked. Unless you tell me everything I want to know.¡±


    ¡°Fuck you-Bitch!¡± He hissed as I slammed him into the window again, but he just glared, and said something in russian.


    So I slammed his head into the glass again. ¡°This is Night City! Speak English Motherfucker! Now tell me what the fuck the plan was? You think you are going to get away with attacking me at home!?¡±


    ¡°You won¡¯t get shit out of me! Kill me and all the-¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right. I will kill you.¡± I pulled the trigger. Ignoring the mess I crawled back out, going slow and careful as the sniper was still around until I slipped into the back of the other Van.


    Jun was still beating the driver to death.


    Well no he was already dead, but Jun was still hammering the mess into the floor.


    ¡°Jun! Focus up.¡± I demanded. Now wasn¡¯t the time for going Cyberpsycho.


    He looked up at me, but still slammed his fist down one last time.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to see if the sniper is still here.¡±


    Jun looked constipated for a second like he wanted to agree, but eventually whatever was fighting against that thought won out. ¡°No. Just wait for the Kamikaze. Fujimura-sama is on his way.¡±


    ¡°He might be gone by then.¡± I argue as I¡¯m already climbing over Jun noticing he has a few bullet holes from our hallway battle.


    Dammit.


    I felt my teeth clench at the idea that Jun was hurt because of me.


    I slipped into the driver''s seat and the van was already on. So I quickly hit the gas. Ignoring Jun¡¯s grumbling as I took off.


    The sniper position was just around the corner. I drove down the road uncaring if the sniper saw me. He might have a good high position from the on ramp looking into our fourth floor apartment, but he was also dealing with a barrier around the road. He wouldn¡¯t be able to aim at the ground floor as easily.


    I practically drifted around the corner at the end of the street ignoring Juns cursing as he rolled around in the back. I could already see him.


    A big Thorton Mackinaw parked on the ramp. Traffic just going around it, and doing their best to ignore it.


    I couldn¡¯t. I felt my stomach drop my mind fritz. Because the iconography? The symbols? Everything about it screamed only one thing. Something I knew.


    ¡°Fucking Maelstrom!¡± I growled, surprising myself at the rage I felt as I hit the gas. ¡°Hold on to something!¡± I called out to Jun.


    Somehow the sniper hadn¡¯t noticed. That or he was high, because the truck wasn¡¯t even moving when I slammed into it. The gonk was probably too scope focused. Shitty amateur hour sniper.


    The Villefort Columbus I was driving wasn¡¯t nearly as beefy as the Mackinaw. Which was basically a super sized pickup truck.


    But slamming into it going as fast as I could get it to go, still rocked everything, smashed me around a little and ended up with the truck pinned against the side of the road.


    He wouldn¡¯t escape now.


    To my surprise Jun was out of the van before I was. I guess I had to spend a bit more time untangling myself from the seatbelt.


    I was trying to catch up when he reached the Mackinaw and ripped the door right off the truck.


    A moment later he leapt back nearly landing on me as something big fired inside the truck at where he had been.


    Then I was there. Rushing in and I found myself face to face with a Maelstrom member and his Nekomata. I was too fast though. He wasn¡¯t in a good position. It was obvious he had been looking out the passenger window into the apartment when we hit him. So he was all turned around and holding the Nekomata awkwardly.


    I bashed the end of the Nekomata out of the line of fire and then I was on him.


    He was still Maelstrom.


    He had chrome. He had a lot of chrome. My knuckles would mostly be hitting chrome if I punched him nearly anywhere.


    But none of that mattered.


    My fist slammed into his stupid optics and he was cursing throwing his own chrome fists at me.


    I ripped into him. Uncaring about where he hit me. This fucker had sniped me in my own home!


    I was going to tear out every piece of chrome in his worthless corpse with my own hands! Just so his stupid spirit-belief bullshit would leave him a normy in the afterlife!


    I might have been screaming that at him as I went at him, because a moment later Jun grabbed me by the back of my Leotard and flung me right out of the car and onto the street.


    The van blocking the entire road kept anyone from running me over, but it still hurt!


    Jun you asshole! Asphalt hurts!


    But as I looked up intending to continue with my murder. It was already over. Jun had gotten his hands on the Maelstrom gonk.


    I was pretty strong, and I was okay with my fists.


    But they called Jun the Oni, and I sometimes got reminded of why.


    As he literally ripped the Maelstroms arm off and started beating him to death with it.


    Okay fair enough. You do you Jun.


    I groaned and winced as I noticed my nose was bleeding. Since Jun was occupied, I popped a MaxDoc, and instantly felt back to 100%.


    Then it struck me.


    I knew that Maelstrom.


    I had seen him before. I recognized him.


    ¡°Stupid Fuck.¡± I whispered. That was the gonk! One of the fuckers that had come to the scav den. He had been with¡­ Gear Shaft? Gear Slot? Whatever her name had been. The stupid one that had thought about stealing from me.


    I recognized him.


    ¡°What the fuck is going on?¡± Why was a Maelstrom shit working with Scavs¡­  No wait, that was a stupid question.


    Maelstrom needed chrome. Scavs had chrome¡­


    But then¡­ His choom had been klepped by Scavs, rescued and he went and joined them against us? What fucking crazy shit was that? Or was he the reason she was there in the first place? Maelstrom politics. Fuck me,.


    Oh well. Jun had already taken care of any chance for us to get any info from the poor fucker.


    He was dead.


    ¡°Jun he¡¯s dead, stop punching a corpse.¡± I told him firmly, earning a look back from my rage filled brother, but after a moment or two where he seemed to consider it he did finally let go.


    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t have charged him like that! What if he shot you!¡± Jun snapped at me, growling and baring his teeth, as his anger at the Maelstrom and the entire situation didn¡¯t just disappear like mine did.


    With a single thought Cold Blood shut off all the rage and let me think clearly.


    ¡°Sorry Jun-Nii. I didn¡¯t want this one to get away. Plus, I had you watching my back.¡± I told him with a smile hoping it would sputter out his anger, and while he did turn away from me, his fist slammed into the side of the Maelstrom truck showing he was still raging.


    That was fine.


    I was still pretty angry about it too.


    But you know what? Even if this fucker was dead¡­ That didn¡¯t mean I didn¡¯t have a lead.


    ¡°Natalie Desanto AKA GearSlot.¡± I whispered to myself. A reminder of the words I had spoken while choosing not to kill that Maelstrom girl.


    Did my own mercy then lead to this?


    I shook off the horrifying thought. It didn¡¯t matter yet. I would find out. And if mercy was what led to this attack on our home. Then I would just rectify that mistake.


    And the mistake of allowing Maelstrom, and Scavs to exist.


    ¡ª--


    Jun and I parked the van and the Maelstroms truck in front of the apartment, and waited.


    It wasn¡¯t long until the roar of Kusanagi motorcycles started flowing down the road. Followed by other cars all tuned up and painted in all sorts of things. Tyger Claw symbols, Japanese letters, anything and everything.


    It looks like Fujimura hadn¡¯t held back. More than twenty vehicles all parked in front of the apartment taking up much of the street. The mass gathering caused the people that would normally fill the street to all disappear, watching on from windows or store fronts.


    ¡°Kusanagi. You need a Ripper?¡± Fujimura asked as he stepped out of a high end Quadra Turbo-R.


    I liked my Quadra Type-66 more. The 66 was a muscle car, while the Turbo R was like a japanese racer.


    ¡°No. Just scratches.¡± Jun uttered as he rose up. I had looked over his ¡®scratches¡¯ as best I could in the few minutes since we had headed back to the apartment, but I wasn¡¯t a doc.


    ¡°Yes, he needs to get checked out and patched up.¡± I uttered without hesitation. ¡°He still has some bullets in him.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine Motoko.¡± Jun hissed at me, but he was acting more like an annoyed older brother, than the furious rage beast he had been just before.


    Fujimura of course only gave both of us a lifted eyebrow. The man was utterly uninterested in our sibling cat fights.


    ¡°What happened?¡± He demanded and Jun the dutiful little soldier answered, explaining what he saw from his perspective.


    I kept quiet. It wasn¡¯t my job to explain shit to Fujimura.


    ¡°Kusanagi.¡± He uttered, and this time he was talking to me. Our eyes met, and for once I actually felt a little softness towards the man.


    Because he wasn¡¯t glaring at me like he usually did. No, he actually looked rather sympathetic.


    ¡°You are unharmed?¡±


    ¡°They didn¡¯t touch me. I had a good meatwall. Worst I got was a bit of a fist, but you should see the other guy¡­ Jun ripped his arm off and beat him to death with it.¡± I explained and the man exhaled air out of his nose.


    It wasn¡¯t a laugh of course. Men like Fujimura didn¡¯t do that sort of thing.


    ¡°Going after one of our people in their own home is unacceptable. Action will be taken.¡± He said to me, but I didn¡¯t really care.


    The Tyger Claws could do something, or nothing.


    It didn¡¯t matter.


    This was now personal. Very personal.


    ¡°Ah, but I see you intend to seek your own revenge.¡± He said annoying me by actually being right.


    ¡°They shot up my home. I hated them before, but now it¡¯s an existential threat. They die, or Jun and I do. So I choose them.¡±


    Fujimura nodded, looking pleased.


    ¡°I agree. So you have a choice, Kusanagi. Do you head off into the sunset alone? Or do you let your family, and your friends assist you?¡± He asked, and it took me a moment to get what he was saying.


    He wasn¡¯t talking about Hiromi and my chooms.


    He meant the Tyger Claws.


    Do I go off to do this alone. Or will I accept gang assistance.


    This was it wasn¡¯t it? The path that people in Night City walk that leads them into a gang in truth.


    I scowled, irritated, but I didn¡¯t have a good response. I was too ready to do stupid thing to kill Scavs and Maelstrom right now.


    He turned back to Jun. ¡°Go get checked out. I will be reaching out to Ichida-Sama to put the Claws into a war footing with the Scavs¡­ And perhaps the Maelstrom once again.¡± He added and Jun grumbled but nodded his head.


    ¡°Understood.¡±


    ¡°Kusanagi. Make your decision. We will likely begin assaulting the Scavs tonight.¡± Fujimura told me and all I could do was feel irritated. Like I needed them to find Scavs.


    ¡°C¡¯mon Jun let¡¯s get you to a ripper before you bleed all over everything.¡± I snapped at Jun doing my best to ignore Fujimura.


    I needed time to think.

 Chapter 103

    I ended up taking Jun to his ripper, who was not Vik. Which irritated me.


    But in the end he was patched up and we drove back to the apartment.


    The horde of Tyger Claws around the apartment had thinned but not dispersed. In fact many of them were settling onto steps, or in shop fronts across the street or in the area and just hunkering down.


    I doubt many of the normal people in the area were very comfortable with this.


    In the end though I was too focused on my own problems.


    They had attacked me.


    I had honestly known it would happen. Expected it in a way, just without being willing to admit it could happen again.


    So like I said there was only one option left for me.


    No, I shook away that Night City blindness. I could run. Leave the city. I was a Netrunner more than capable of keeping any records of myself off the web, and so I could disappear.


    But on the same hand I fucking refused to run from Scavs. This was my life. I was going to live to be old and decrepit, but I wasn¡¯t going to get there by hiding in fear.


    If I let fear win, I would just as surely be dead. Fear was the little death after all.


    So no. There was only one path. To fight back. Fighting wasn¡¯t something I was afraid of. But joining the Tyger Claws was.


    Being part of a gang wasn¡¯t just something I could walk away from. So I had to decide. Would joining them today, would getting their help in destroying any chance of the Scavs fighting back be worth the shackles they would wrap around my ankles?


    ¡°Big thoughts?¡± Jun asked, breaking me out of my spiral of thoughts.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what to do. I don¡¯t want to¡­ I don¡¯t want to be Motoko Kusanagi. Tyger Claw.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not so bad. You¡¯ll have to start calling Fujimura, Sama.¡± Jun added and I snorted as I parked the Quadra.


    ¡°You¡¯re such a gonk.¡± We didn¡¯t say anything else as we walked back across the street to the apartment. There to my Surprise Fujimura himself stepped out of his car and joined us. Looking over Jun before nodding pleased that Jun wasn¡¯t bleeding all over himself.


    ¡°Kusanagi. Are you fit?¡±


    ¡°Yes. Only scratches.¡±


    ¡°Then get your gear. We have a few locations we are hitting before the sun rises once again.¡± Fujimura said, noting the dropping sun.


    A tension filled me as I felt my hands clenched.


    They knew where Scavs were?


    ¡°No one not openly a member of the Tyger Claws will be welcome.¡± He cut in suddenly looking to me. I scowled in turn glaring. ¡°Regardless of your feelings, Kusanagi. The Scavs attacked a member of the Tyger Claws openly at home. So the Tyger Claws must act firmly. And it must be the Tyger Claws who do it.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not a Tyger Claw.¡±


    ¡°No you are not, yet you wish to join us in this regardless.¡±


    ¡°Motoko.¡± I turned to Jun and he reached out and placed a hand on my shoulder. ¡°You don¡¯t have to be afraid. I¡¯ll protect you no matter what. I¡¯ll make sure the Scavs won¡¯t bother us again. If you don¡¯t want to join. Then you don¡¯t have to, but if you do. I¡¯ll be there too.¡±


    Why did everyone want me to sign up for a fucking gang?


    I turned away from the two bad influences and went into the apartment.


    I had some gear I needed to gather.


    ¡ª--


    Unfortunately I was followed. As I entered my room, grabbing my spare ammo and things, I heard Jun and Fujimura enter the apartment. Fujimura¡¯s deep rumble, words unclear through the wall, but still telling.


    Fucker.


    I looked up and walked over to my little dresser. Covered in old junk from the old Motoko. My stuff now, and hidden underneath it all?


    A Menpo.


    The grin of an Oni looking back at me.


    Jun wore one. And he became an Oni for the Tyger Claws. I knew that was all he ever wanted to be. For Jun, that was his life.


    I glared at the mask, at the collar that it represented.


    My metaphors for prison implements were on point today I guess.


    I pulled off my half jacket. Went searching for my gloves that I forgot to wear half the time now that my hands were chrome, and put them on.


    Without the Jacket. My holsters were on full display. Normally I used the jacket to hide things. To show myself as less armed. Less dangerous.


    That wasn¡¯t the Motoko Kusanagi that I was planning on showing today.


    I reached out for the mask.


    And put it in the trash where it belonged.


    Fujimura thought he could entagle this tiger by offering up bait. A few Scav dens.


    Who the hell did he think I was? Did he realize how many Scavs I¡¯ve killed?


    I loaded up on my spare ammo pouches. Slipped an array of spare magazines I had gathered over the months of looting all over me. My Lexington would have plenty of ammo.


    I checked my knife. Simple but clean and sharp.


    I stopped.


    I had put away my small half jacket, because it didn¡¯t feel right wearing it¡­ Plus I had a feeling I was going to get shot a lot tonight.


    I could wear my Kang Tao armor? No, but there was my armored coat from my section 9 gear. It even had a longer tail, sort of like a trench coat¡­


    I needed to buy a trench coat. The Major had a trench coat sometimes! The intro to Stand Alone Complex 2nd gig! She had a badass trench coat!


    Or the manga! She had that cool white one.


    I shook it off. Kill scavs. Buy trench coat later.


    I stepped out, and I¡¯m sure I surprised both men as I wasn¡¯t wearing the stupid mask.


    I reached out and grabbed my Katana slipping the sheath into my belt.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to kill more Scavs, than your entire organization tonight. Just so we are clear about what is about to happen.¡± My blunt declaration didn¡¯t faze the man who was sitting back on our couch like he owned the place.


    ¡°You could kill more with us.¡±


    This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    ¡°Maybe. But if you are killing Scavs. And I¡¯m killing Scavs. That¡¯s just more Scavs.¡±


    ¡°Motoko¡­ It¡¯s dangerous! If they know to attack us at home, they are going to be more prepared for you! They will expect retaliation. You can¡¯t just go out and hit them alone! Not tonight! Not after everything! Just¡­ Just stay home. We can get you help and-¡±


    ¡°No Jun. They can¡¯t possibly expect what is going to happen.¡± Finally everything was clear.


    No more Tyger Claw politics. No more worry about stealing loot to pack away. Nothing to slow me down.


    Just me.


    And all the Scavs in the city that I needed to murder as brutally as possible.


    Icy blood flowed through my veins, and for the first time since the attack. I had surety, a goal. And a path to follow without any confusing politics, or worries for the future.


    ¡°Dammit Motoko. I already told you, you can¡¯t go alone! Just go put on the mask, and join us. We can kill them all together!¡±


    But I wasn¡¯t interested in playing this like Jun wanted. I wasn¡¯t interested in playing at all.


    ¡°I¡¯ll keep in touch Jun. I have to update Fujimura here with my numbers after all.¡± I said as I walked out of the apartment. Jun tried to stop me, but I was already gone. He was too slow to catch up.


    I felt like everything was slow as I headed down the stairs. My boots didn¡¯t make a sound. I sent out texts to everyone ignoring Jun¡¯s growled words for me to stop as he chased after me.


    I hadn¡¯t even told Hiromi or my chooms what had happened yet! I quickly sent off a text to them all. Making sure they knew I had been attacked, and that they should batten down the hatches in case the Scavs came for them.


    But that wasn¡¯t the only one I reached out to. As I hit the street and stepped out among the Tyger Claws all looking at me strangely, considering how militaristic I must have looked to them. I walked over to the street as my Kusanagi came rolling out of the parking garage and met me on the side of the road.


    *Motoko. I heard about what happened.* I nodded at Yoko¡¯s voice. That made sense, Yoko would likely have a connection to the TC considering where she lived, and I would likely show up on her trackers.


    *Yoko. I¡¯m calling in all the favors and everything you owe me. You Gathered a bunch of information already, but I need every location of Scavs you can find. Dens. Homes. Businesses. Places being broken into. I don¡¯t care. If a Scav is doing it, I want to know.*


    *That¡¯s a lot of work Motoko. Not something your favors cover.*


    *I¡¯ll personally work on some coding for you in payment. This is important to me Yoko. They tried to snipe me and my brother in my own home.* I slipped onto the Kusanagi. It felt right to be on a bike for this.


    Jun was there reaching out to stop me.


    I hit the gas, leaving him far behind. Heading towards my first target.


    After all, I had gotten some leads already thanks to the netrunners. A few emails between them and some code debugging had given me some information already.


    But I would need more.


    I wasn¡¯t planning on stopping.


    *Alright Motoko. I¡¯ll gather together what I can for the cost of the favors I owe you. And I¡¯ll prep a few other things we can discuss the worth of after. Good hunting.*


    The call ended.


    Good. I made another call.


    *Still alive I hear.*


    *Wakako. How much?* I was blunt as I weaved through traffic. The Kusanagi roaring.


    I wasn¡¯t following the traffic laws today.


    *Hmph. This is how you ask for something from me?*


    *How much for the information I¡¯m sure you already know I want?*


    *You are in luck. I have a gig that I normally would not have taken. In this case, since it will already be cleared either by you or the Kamikaze, it costs me nothing to have claimed the gig. I¡¯ll send you the details.*


    *I¡¯ll do it. The cost for additional locations?*


    *Ho? You believe you will not have your hands full already?*


    *All of them Wakako. I¡¯m killing all of them. How much?*


    *I will send you the costs per location. Do not overreach yourself girl. You are too useful to me to have you burn out against such trash.*


    *I¡¯m not dying. They are.*


    I ended the call there, for once beating Wakako to the punch, and I sped off. Yet before I could do anything else. I answered a call that had been interrupting my call to Wakako for the last while.


    *Hey Hiromi.*


    *Motoko! You¡¯re okay! What¡¯s this about being attacked!? What happened?*


    *I can¡¯t talk long Hiromi. I¡¯m a bit busy, but just what it sounds. Make sure Malcolm and Ichi are safe for me? The Scavs came after me in my home so they might go after them, and you as well.*


    *Well I¡¯ll be fine¡­ I¡¯ll tell my dad about the Scav threat. He¡¯ll make sure everything is safe for me. I already spoke to Malcolm and Ichi both are okay, but Ichi is freaking out about his Grandmother.*


    *Fuck. Just¡­ Hopefully I¡¯ll get all their attention here. Stay low, stay armed. Tell them that okay?*


    *You should tell them that yourself! We should all meet up we can bunker down somewhere and-*


    *Hiromi. I¡¯m killing them. The Scavs. All of them I can find. I¡¯m not hiding. They attacked me at home.*


    *Fuck. Motoko. That¡¯s so dangerous, they are going to expect you if you keep hitting them¡­ Do you even have a information on places to hit? Do you need to do more netrunning. We can meet up at your basement and protect you!*


    Why did everyone want to protect me right now? It was setting my teeth on edge.


    Protect protect protect! That¡¯s all anyone kept saying!


    I didn¡¯t want to be fucking protected right now! I wanted to fucking murder the bastards that threatened me! I bit it all back. Going cold so I wouldn¡¯t snap at Hiromi.


    *No. I¡¯m not netrunning right now. No way to know how aggressive they might be on the web as well. I called Yoko just a bit ago. She¡¯ll do the info gathering for me¡­ Hopefully. You have some contacts as well right? Anyone that would know where Scavs might be hiding?*


    *Doubtful¡­ But I¡¯ll check anyways¡­ I¡¯ll¡­ Don¡¯t¡­ You can trust me if you need anything! So call me all the time with updates!*


    *Sure Hiromi. I¡¯m going to go. I¡¯ll talk to you later.*


    *Later! I¡¯ll see you later! We will get some food! I mean it Motoko!*


    *Okay. I promise.*


    The call ended. Okay. No more playing. No more gigs. No more wasting time looting. Just the sort of murderous rampage these scum deserve.


    I breathed out arctic air.


    ¡ª--


    The Oni


    He was riding the edge all night. He knew it. Fujimura knew it. Akari knew it.


    She just didn¡¯t care.


    She was a woman that was well over the edge herself.


    But Jun couldn¡¯t fall. He had to be there for Motoko.


    ¡°Kusanagi. Clean yourself. We will be at the next location soon.¡±


    He nodded, grabbing a towel that was already coated in blood and wiped at his face. His hands shook. He couldn¡¯t even remember how many people he had killed tonight.


    Not enough.


    It would never be enough. The look of shock on Motoko¡¯s face. The horror that their home wasn¡¯t safe?


    He hadn¡¯t had the heart to explain that they would have to move. Tomorrow. After he had satisfied the bloodlust in his chest, he would be Jun, and not the Oni. He would explain it to her then.. If she was alive. And not dying in some Scav den, coated in blood and oh so small in his arms-


    He stopped thinking. That was something for Jun. Right now he was just the Oni. Just the killer.


    The car stopped and The Oni stepped out. His Katana creaked in his hand as he gripped the hilt.


    His mask was on. And he moved.


    The entire squad Fujimura had put together moved. This wasn¡¯t the first Scav den they had attacked tonight after all. They all knew what to do.


    The Oni was the battering ram. Akari would move around and kill as she liked in support. Although he would have to be careful. She had used her Sandy a few times already tonight.


    There were a few others. Guns that The Oni knew, but wasn¡¯t close with.


    It wasn¡¯t like most of the Kamikaze during the war were still as chromed up as Akari and Oni.


    No it was only the two of them that decided to walk the edge. The Oni because he refused to allow himself to not be capable of saving her again.


    He couldn¡¯t allow himself to be that weak.


    Akari because she was already over the edge. Somehow keeping stable enough that the higher ups hadn¡¯t forced her to dechrome, or called MaxTac.


    The elevator opened and the Oni put all such thoughts away. His blood roared. A fire burning through his veins. The fact he was so close to more Scavs filled him with an endless rage.


    He raced down the hall. There was no point in silence. The Oni was pure brute force. Except he stalled when the door was already open.


    Instead of smashing through it he pushed it the rest of the way open and rushed in looking for his enemies.


    ¡°Holy shit. Talk about a Charnel house.¡± Akari whispered beside him. As she looked around.


    The Oni had heard of things like that before when talking about Scavs, but so rarely about the Scavs themselves. The dead bodies, cut into pieces around the room meant there were no Scavs here.


    He wanted to rage. Wanted to smash a fist through the wall to let out a bit of that rage that now had no outlet.


    ¡°Who the fuck did this?¡± He growled glancing at the corpses. Akari was already peering into other rooms and all she did was stick her head back around the corner and ran a thumb over her neck while making a choking noise.


    All dead then.


    *What is the hold up Kamikaze. I hear no gunshots.* Fujimura-Sama spoke into the group call pulling his attention away from the dead bodies around him.


    *Fujimura-Sama! Place is already cleared!* Akari responded with a chirp. And a few moments later an image of the room was sent into the group call.


    *Hmm. This place was known to the higher ups, but no one should have struck it yet. We move on Kamikaze.*


    *Oh. I know who did it.* Akari chirped, The Oni looked over his eyes blazing in anger at Akari¡¯s games.


    *Akari. I want answers not games.* Fujimura-Sama coming in cutting through Akari¡¯s games. She wouldn¡¯t have answered without constant attention.


    *Duh. It¡¯s the lugs kid sister. Katana wounds. Big ass hole through this meat.* She offered kicking one of the corpses, something only Jun could see, but he noticed that there was a big hole in the corpse.


    ¡°What?¡± Jun-No, the Oni asked wondering what the fuck Akari was talking about.


    ¡°What, you think someone else came in here and cut down an entire Den? It¡¯s your sisters MO isn¡¯t it?¡±


    The heat in his veins dimmed. So Motoko had done this? She had already gotten some revenge? Good. That was good.


    He looked around suddenly with a surge of worry. Had she been hurt? Was she okay?


    He quickly sent her a text. Asking if she was okay.


    *Fine Jun. Busy.*


    That was all he got back.


    *Fine. Get back to the car. We will move on.* Fujimura-sama cut through and Akari sighed as she cartwheeled and spun over the corpses and headed for the door.


    The Oni hesitated, but followed after. He kept looking over his shoulder for some sign that Motoko really had done this.


    He stepped into the elevator in silence. His previous focused rage disrupted by thoughts of his little sister.


    He knew Motoko could do some amazing things. He had been there when she cleared that Scav den after all. He had trusted her to manage as long as he was there watching over her¡­


    But the idea of her going out on a one woman crusade terrified him.


    One mistake. That was all it took. But he couldn¡¯t stop her. He was going to break those stupid ankles of hers the next time he saw her. Stupid bouncy bullshit.


    The anger was back by the time he reached the car with Fujimura.


    ¡°There are other dens.¡± He said simply as everyone slipped back into the cars and they took back off into the city.


    They continued on. Another den was found. A small rest stop for a group of Scavs operating in Westbrook.


    The Oni enjoyed destroying them. The fear in their eyes as he ripped them apart with his bare hands was intoxicating.


    So they moved on.


    A bigger location had been discovered. After all, every Tyger Claw now knew that the Scavs had attacked one of their own. Information was flooding in every sighting reported, both from the actual members, or just from informants all over the city.


    The Oni had killed many of them tonight. He wondered how many Motoko had killed. She had confidently said she would kill more than the Kamikaze.


    He would just have to kill so many that she failed. Then she would realize how foolish she had been and stay close. Let him keep her safe.


    That¡¯s all he wanted.


    Suddenly the car braked hard and Jun rocked a bit from the back seat.


    ¡°Oh awesome splatter zone!¡± Akari chirped out. She had taken the front seat and so she could see what had happened. The Oni peaked out behind her head and saw that a car in front of them had jerked off the road practically onto the sidewalk.


    A corpse smashed into the hood of the car.


    ¡°Huh. That¡¯s a Scav!¡± Akari laughed in delight. He realized she must have scanned the corpse. A moment later The Oni did the same and confirmed it. Scav connections.


    ¡°I believe we are directly under the den we came here to clear out. Kamikaze. Move now. Ensure no survivors.¡± Fujimura barked and Akari was already out of the car running towards the apartment building.


    The Oni followed slower, but no less urgently.


    Could it be?

 Chapter 104

    ¡°Holy fuck.¡± I whispered. Staring as actual deja vu struck me.


    I had gotten some deets from Wakako about this location. After I cleared out her gig location which was a waste of time. Only three Scavs working in a small cell, but she had at least started selling me more info.


    Considering one of the places I hit had already been cleared out maybe an hour before me. I realized Wakako was being sneaky and selling me the locations the TC knew about.


    Whatever. It didn¡¯t matter to me.


    But I had pulled into an underground parking garage for this apartment complex, stepped out and walked to the elevator, and it was only as it opened did it strike me.


    I knew this place.


    I had been here before. Many times. The elevator was old. Covered in graffiti. Old metal that looked rusted and stained.


    But I knew where I was. This was the same Elevator that V and Jackie would walk into in a few years to rescue¡­ what was her name? Sandra something?


    The first gig.


    And I was staring at the entrance to it all. I checked the information. Floor 15. I didn¡¯t know if it was the same floor as V went to in the future, but it didn¡¯t matter.


    I pushed the nostalgia away.


    I stepped inside.


    The ride up was quiet, the elevator did stop on the fifth floor suddenly. The doors opened revealing a normal looking man that made to step in before stopping when he caught sight of me.


    Our eyes met. Then slowly the door shut without him making a move to enter.


    Kinda rude but alright.


    It continued on ever upwards then it opened.


    A very familiar hallway.


    The room I was looking for was 1237, and as I approached I knew.


    This really was the first gig. Somehow I was here two years early clearing out a bunch of Scavs.


    Wait didn¡¯t they come back to this place again after V cleared them? Was I going to have to go back and check on all the previous Scav dens to make sure they didn¡¯t come infest the place again!?


    Once again I shook it off. I stood before the door.


    It opened with a look. The security far too weak to stop me.


    The familiarity hit me. The first room was beaten down, but mostly used as a kitchen. A table and food left out. To my surprise the place was quiet. No pounding music, or anything. Just an eerie silence.


    I moved to the doorway to the next room. Peering in. A ripper lab. But no bodies were left around. It was kind of quiet.


    I nodded. This wasn¡¯t the first den tonight that had gotten word of what was going on. That had realized that the TC were hunting Scavs dens. I had found one just before this den that had been completely empty. Whatever Scav group that had held it abandoning the merchandize at the threat.


    I stilled before I entered the room. Something struck me as wrong. My eyes flashed into a scan and after a few moments I found it.


    A laser.


    Huh the Scavs had some brain cells after all. They had placed a fucking mine of all things in the little hallway.


    I remembered the last time I had tried to defuse a mine and scowled a bit.


    Fine! I leapt easily avoiding the trigger and landing in the next room. Old blood, but no bodies. Yeah they probably were a bit too busy to go klep some people. What with the whole territory searching for them.


    I moved. Eyes flashing in scans constantly to make sure I wasn¡¯t walking into another trap.


    The next room to my disappointment was empty as well. But I knew this place. So I didn¡¯t follow along. I moved towards the outside porch laughing as I followed the edge, and instead peeked in through the windows, uncaring that I was fifteen stories off the road far below.


    The main room that I remembered had been secured up. Crates and couches set up to give cover. I quickly pinged the first gonk I could see, and hummed as the web of connections grew before my eyes.


    The connections to what I guessed were mines at the entrances were ignored.


    Not any danger to me.


    I moved. Jumping along the edge of the building until I reached the second outer porch. To my delight someone was out there, smoking a cigarette.


    I dropped a Weapon Glitch on the entire group as I leapt landing behind the gonk who was sitting in a crappy lawn chair. I prepped my leg bringing it really far back and then let it all out.


    His scream echoed long and loud as he went over the edge.


    Then it was on.


    I moved both hands full of gun as I leapt inside. Gonk number one got four Lexington Rounds into his chest, dropping him. The next got a single shot through a wall. Burya as always dominating any lesser weapons as that one round was all I needed.


    Then I came up to my feet facing the little main room that had all sorts of defenses set up.


    The Scavs weren¡¯t slow. Weapons were raised. Triggers were pulled. Nothing happened. And then their eyes went dark.


    I tore through them. A monster gunning them down without hesitation. Their little pillbox of crates and armor turned into their tomb as I simply walked around the exterior and put bullets into bodies.


    I reloaded whenever needed, hands a blur. Rapid Reload turning the act even while dual wielding into a blur of movement, and action.


    This group of scum wasn¡¯t even worth drawing my Katana this time.


    I checked with a ping after I killed all the ones in front of me. Only the static mines and things registered back, but I wanted to be sure.


    No survivors. So I started walking through the building checking every room, just to make sure.


    As I came upon the back door to the little Scav den, only then reminding me that I didn¡¯t have to walk through the ¡®front¡¯ entrance. I scoffed at myself as I opened the door and stepped out casually wiping some blood off of my arms when I noticed it out of the corner of my eye.


    This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    I blinked.


    ¡°Motoko?¡± Jun asked as he, Akari, and two other men I didn¡¯t know were all piled in front of the main door to the Scav den looking like they were about to breach it.


    ¡°Heeey Jun.¡± I greeted, feeling a little weird. Was it weird to walk into my brother in the middle of something like this? I mean¡­ It kinda felt weird.


    ¡°Motoko!¡± He roared and charged at me and I yelped, instantly my mind realizing that if I ran for the elevator Jun would catch me.


    Well fuck it I turned back into the den and ran.


    Instantly I realized the problem.


    Mines.


    ¡°Fuck.¡± I growled, drawing my Burya and firing a single round ahead of me. Wincing as the explosion nearly sent me back a step, but that at least cleared the path.


    ¡°Motoko!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine! Just watch for mines! They thought that would be enough! Bunch of gonks amiright?¡± I called back as I broke out into a run.


    ¡°Motoko!¡± Jun roared and I was getting serious Resident Evil vibes. Was Jun a Nemesis now only able to yell out the name of his target?


    I ran to the patio and skidded to a halt as I turned, seeing Jun approach.


    ¡°What do you want Jun? I¡¯m kinda busy.¡± I called out and he stalled at my sudden discussion, his face twisting into confusion before he glared at me.


    ¡°This is dangerous! You are coming with us! We can- MOTOKO!¡± He yelled in horror as I turned and just jumped.


    Nah Jun. I don¡¯t feel like being babied right now. Scavs to kill and all that.


    The patio was fifteen floors up. And it overlooked a street far far below. But across the way were more buildings, and apartments.


    My leap took me out into the clear sky between them.


    The air rushing past me was exhilarating as I leapt from the patio across the gap between buildings.


    It was a far jump. Crossing an entire street in a single leap. But I could make it. My ankles gave me incredible hops and I still had Parkour and Cat-like to handle the landing.


    I hit the ground and rolled skidding to a stop and then I turned.


    Jun was across the way. And a few floors up.


    Our eyes met.


    ¡°No.¡± I told him simply. Not that he could hear it. Then just to prove the fucking point. I walked up to the edge, and leapt off that too.


    A single floor down I landed, and then bounced down to the next.


    I was about thirteen floors up.


    Thirteen jumps? That wasn¡¯t exactly a problem.


    I left Jun far behind. Even if he took an elevator I would still be on the ground long before he could catch up.


    Down I went, Parkour¡¯s instincts guiding me into a delightful drop down the side of a skyscraper.


    I leapt, rolled, flipped, and slid down the building in a single natural movement that left me breathless in delight.


    Then I was on the sidewalk. Startling more than a few people as I dropped from the sky to land in a crouch among them. I rose up, brushed myself off and walked to the crosswalk.


    Unfortunately while that was cool my Kusanagi was parked in the parking garage connected to the first apartment building. So I had to hurry to ensure Jun wasn¡¯t going to catch me.


    I took a second to look at a wrecked car on the side of the road. That hadn¡¯t been there befoooore. Oh. That was a dead Scav on the hood. I very quickly looked away and felt the urge to whistle innocently rush through me.


    Honestly officer I have no idea how that Scav got there!


    As I slipped into the garage I noticed to my surprise Fujimura was there. Leaning against a car another car behind him.


    Huh. Well wasn¡¯t my problem. I walked into the shadows and slipped over to where I parked my Kusanagi.


    Only when I started the engine did Fujimura twitch. My head lights came on blinding him for a second but then I was off driving right past him.


    Our eyes met. Then I was gone.


    I had more Scavs to kill. No time for politics today. Politics was future Motoko¡¯s problem.


    ¡ª--


    Akari


    ¡°Okay Jun-chan. While that is kinda annoying¡­ Your kid sister is fucking preem, cause fuck that. I would not jump off a fucking building like that.¡± She chirped standing beside the big lug that had been standing at the edge of the building watching the tiny figure of his sister get smaller and smaller.


    She meant it too. A long fall like that was a good way to kill yourself. Being heavier than normal, meant most borgs didn¡¯t like heights. Too easy for something to give way and send you tumbling a few stories to your death.


    No response? Can¡¯t have that! She budged him with her shoulder not getting a response even then.


    So she poked him.


    ¡°Fuck Akari!¡± Jun-chan snapped eyes blazing and growling. Ah good! That¡¯s right look at her! Pay attention to her!


    ¡°Oh no Fujimura-sama! Jun-chan yelled at me!¡± She whined aloud not sending that over the call. Fujimura would just scold her after all.


    ¡°C¡¯mon let¡¯s go.¡± He growled stomping away although he didn¡¯t get far. He checked out the main room and the little blood bath his cute little sister had left behind.


    Akari smiled, despite being a little scared at just how far out on the edge little Motoko was.


    Jun was stable enough. Especially with Motoko helping, but who the fuck just walked through Scav dens like this solo? Not just that, but did so as a teenager? Girl would be dead soon. She¡¯d bite off more than she can chew.


    Or everything in Night City would try only to find her too tough.


    ¡°Do you think your little sister is more like gristle or fat?¡± She asked Jun-chan only to get ignored.


    Oh well, worse for him, she wouldn¡¯t share her worry about his sisters death then.


    Seriously, who jumped off buildings like that?


    She poked her foot into the guts of a Scav nodding as he didn¡¯t even shift. Dead for sure.


    ¡°So did she chip in a bunch of chrome or something?¡± She asked honestly. There was half a dozen Scavs in this room. In a little defended space, weapons littered the area. Enough stuff that Akari wouldn¡¯t have wanted to attack without her Sandy ready to start up.


    But she was already out of that for the night. Her neck still felt burning. Like when she burned her tongue while eating something hot and then even if you are eating your favorite it doesn¡¯t taste right only like burning.


    That¡¯s how Akari knew she had pushed her Sandy too hard. It had stopped feeling good the last time. Now it just burned.


    ¡°Motoko is a genius. She can do anything if she puts her mind to it.¡± Jun said suddenly, with the surety of an older brother hyping up his little sibling.


    Yeah Akari called bullshit. Motoko was kinda off. Had been since they first met. Not many kids are stupid enough to pick a fight with a Cyberpsycho. Akari had almost killed her that first time when she hadn¡¯t lost fast enough.


    Hmm. No even someone who could last with a Katana against her wasn¡¯t enough to survive this. Too much experience was needed here.


    The warning about mines was telling, but more than that.


    A normal person, couldn¡¯t walk against a defended position and just kill everyone. Akari looked at the numbers and decided instantly that alone this would have been dangerous for her. She likely would have been shot a few times.


    ¡°C¡¯mon. We have more Scavs to kill.¡± He grunted not hearing her internal monologue which was totally his fault. Jun should really learn how to read her a bit better. He wouldn¡¯t ever get into her pants if he didn¡¯t¡­ Well maybe even so. She followed after him, eyes firmly locked onto his butt.


    ¡ª--


    The sun was rising.


    I noticed it in surprise as I let the Scav I had just killed was dropped onto the floor. Another small place cleared out. Only five gonks in this one. Just big enough to go kidnap a few people from time to time.


    Well they were dead now.


    ¡°Until tomorrow night then.¡± I decided. Shutting off the BD recorder.


    I wasn¡¯t tired, but I was basically out of Scav dens.


    I stepped out of the little shop the Scavs had killed the owners for and taken over. My Kusanagi parked not far down the sidewalk I walked over and slipped on.


    What a night.


    I didn¡¯t even want to look at my system yet. I had a feeling numbers would have gone up quite a bit. I would need some time to look it over, and doing that while driving was dumb.


    But I also wasn¡¯t ready to head home yet.


    I drove over to Lizzies. I had a feeling since the sun was literally rising Judy would probably be sleeping, if the club was even open, but I wanted to drop off my new virtu to her.


    Scav Extermination: Night 1. Would probably be popular enough considering how many of the fuckers I had murdered tonight. Not that it was enough. I don¡¯t think it would ever feel like enough.


    I shouldn¡¯t have been surprised though when I pulled up to Lizzies it was still open. Still busy.


    That¡¯s Night City for you. No Rita standing out front which is a disappointment, but I was stopped before I could walk in, the bouncer in Rita¡¯s spot firmly standing in my way.


    ¡°If you are here for trouble turn around.¡± The bouncer said instantly, I could see the way she gripped her spiked baseball bat tightly that she was definitely uncomfortable.


    I stopped.


    Then I face palmed.


    ¡°Shit, sorry. I¡¯m covered in blood aren¡¯t I?¡± I asked rhetorically as I looked myself over and winced.


    Yeah I had a few bullet holes in my Leotard. My right arm was literally rusty red from all the times I slit someones throat and got splattered. And I could feel some of my hair sticking together for the same reason.


    ¡°Just a bit.¡± The bouncer said warily, and I winced.


    ¡°Dangit. Sorry I was just here to drop something off for Judy. I didn¡¯t even think¡­ I¡¯ll come back later.¡± I said instantly. Yeah I doubted the Mox wanted some crazy blood stained teenager walking through their bar.


    ¡°You do that.¡± The bouncer offered, but she wasn¡¯t calming down.


    I was probably throwing all sorts of Cyberpsycho vibes.


    Which was totally unfair!


    I turned around. I would bother Judy later. I think I just needed a shower, and a change of clothes.


    ¡ª--


    The moment I walked into the apartment I was irritated. The bottom floor had a couple of Tyger Claw toughs hanging around. Taking over the table that was usually used up by the old men to play their board games.


    They noticed me instantly and went for guns, then visibly relaxed at the sight of me and settling back down.


    ¡°Morning! No one has gone into your place!¡± One of the men greeted standing up with a lazy saunter of a man trying to pretend calm.


    I was still covered in blood after all.


    ¡°That¡¯s good.¡± I muttered not interested in this entire conversation in the least.


    ¡°Yeah. So you¡¯re the Oni¡¯s sis huh? Hah you certainly got the same look dontcha. Coming home covered in Scav blood. How many of those fuckers you flatline tonight huh?¡± He asked casually with a smile, and a weird slouch.


    It took me a second to realize the guy was trying to be friendly.


    No. Something was off. He was smiling a little wide, and the way he was dressed¡­


    Was this guy trying to flirt with me while I was covered in other people''s blood?


    Well I could certainly give him points for bravery. Yet. There was something still off. The way he moved. The way he looked. He was dressed nicely. High end. The sort of look you would take out to a party, but not one where you would be stuck guarding some gonks apartment. My nose twitched and I could even smell a bit of cologne.


    Wait. Was Fujimura going at me another way? Was Fujimura trying to honey dick me!?


    Nope. I refused to even continue to consider this. ¡°I¡¯m gonna go.¡± I said instead of answering his question. I raised my hand and pointed to the elevator. ¡°Excuse me.¡±


    ¡°Whoa hey, you don¡¯t need to delta so quick! We¡¯re here to help out ya know? So you need anything? Some food. A run to the store for something? Whatever it is, we¡¯re, you know, here to handle whatever you need!¡± He called out as he sort of walked after me, but nope.


    I was not in the mood to deal with this.


    I refused to look at him too. I could already practically hear the wink he threw at me, and if I saw it, I might just have to punch him.


    ¡°I¡¯m good. Thanks.¡± I said and turned away from the elevator and jogged up the stairs. The elevator would definitely slow me down and end with me trapped in an enclosed space with him. My legs pumped as I hurried up the stairs. Leaving him far behind.

 Chapter 105

    Freshly showered Motoko felt much better than blood coated Motoko. I did have to take a brush to my arms though. Vik was definitely going to give me that look next time I saw him if I let blood stains get stuck in my joints.


    After spending a good while digging into nooks and crannies of my arms. I walked back into the apartment.


    Of course nothing was how it should be. For one the windows were all broken. The metal guard was also ruined, a hole punched through a few blinds breaking the whole system.


    The couch though was the worst. The bullet had smashed through the couch through the wall and continued on, but had caused what little fluff there was left in our ancient couch to balloon out.


    It was totally wrecked. Gonna need to buy a new damn couch. I had cleaned up the glass before I took a shower, and now here I was.


    I was on the couch going over the fingers on my left hand still cleaning out bits of grime.


    I heard it before I realized what it was. The elevator came up and stopped at our floor. I glanced up. The door opened, I was on guard already reaching for my Burya that I still had holstered to my chest.


    I guess I just didn¡¯t feel very safe right now without it.


    But then Jun stepped into the apartment, his feet practically slamming into the ground.


    Which was unusual because Jun had his sneaky feet.


    ¡°Motoko!¡± Jun didn¡¯t quite roar but I rolled my eyes. Serious Nemesis vibes Jun. I know you can say more than my name.


    ¡°Yes this is Motoko.¡± I replied flippantly, but decided not to leave it there. ¡°Hey Jun. Showers free.¡± I told him looking over his own bloody state. He stilled as if trying to restrain himself from acting out at my casual tone.


    Which now that I think about it was likely exactly what was happening.


    Suddenly he was on me grabbing me by the arms and lifting me straight off the couch until we were face to face. The towel on my head flopped forward a bit, almost covering one of my eyes, but I couldn¡¯t exactly reach it with how Jun was holding me like this.


    ¡°Do not ever! EVER! Jump off a building like that again! Are you insane!¡± He didn¡¯t quite yell. Instead it was the noise of someone trying to stay quiet, but still wanting to yell.


    ¡°My BD recorder was on when I made that leap. I¡¯ll make sure to give you a copy. It was pret-t-t-t-ty.¡± I stopped as Jun shook me like back and forth suddenly.


    ¡°DON¡¯T PLAY DUMB!¡± He roared and I was silenced mostly because he had given me shaken baby syndrome.


    ¡°Okay first ow.¡±


    ¡°Why? Why are you like this! Why don¡¯t you ever listen! Why don¡¯t you ever just be safe!?¡±


    Okay I was done with this.


    My forehead bashed into Jun¡¯s stupid face.


    ¡°Fuck!¡± He cursed as he let me go.


    ¡°Ow. Your face is hard as fuck!¡± I cursed back holding my forehead. Was I bleeding? I was! When did Jun get his face armored! Ow! But I shook that off. I had to focus on my brother. The last time I had seen him like this¡­


    ¡°I¡¯m so FUCKING DONE WITH YOU!¡± He roared and to my lack of surprise swung at me. But I wasn¡¯t going to let him hurt me whenever he was deep in the throes of Cyberpsychosis.


    I leapt over him, and as I landed, kicked both of his knees out.


    I rolled just barely avoiding his bulk as he hit the floor with an oof.


    I picked myself up as Jun started to do the same. He was definitely heated.


    ¡°You know the last time you swung at me like that you didn¡¯t actually aim for me. This time you did.¡± I said, trying to cut through his anger to reach him.


    He did slow as he stood up he was huffing and puffing. Anger and adrenaline shooting through him.


    ¡°You were supposed to let me help! We were supposed to do this together! You throw yourself into danger over and over and-¡± He growled out but he wasn¡¯t swinging at me anymore.¡°You never listen!¡±


    I of course ignored his words. I listened to Jun all the time. Just not every time. I wasn¡¯t his toy after all.


    ¡°You¡¯ve had a rough night Jun. Maybe it was a bad idea to head out on my own, but not because it was dangerous. But because you aren¡¯t handling this well. Being attacked at home must have really messed with you huh?¡± I asked and his blazing eyes jerked up to meet mine in a glare.


    We both were silent. Jun was visibly holding himself back from whatever he was trying to yell at me.


    Dammit... Fujimura. I leave my brother in your hands for one night, and he is back to practically full cyberpsychosis again. His rants about protecting me, right back to how he was before.


    I wasn¡¯t going to get kidnapped to shock him out of it this time either.


    ¡°Okay Jun. I¡¯m calling an official cease fire. Go take a shower. Clean up. Get some clean clothes.¡± I demanded pointing at the bathroom.


    ¡°I¡¯m not¡­ Motoko I¡¯m not taking a shower right now! You-¡±


    ¡°Will be here when you come out. Clean, not covered in blood. Look at yourself Jun.¡± I said and he blinked slowly looking at a near by mirror on the wall.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡±


    ¡°Your hair is like 90% blood right now. What did you do, hold a Scav over your head and rip him in half?¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    Jun that no was a pretty weak denial. Nope, not going to think about that.


    ¡°Take a shower Jun-nii. I¡¯ll be here. Waiting for you when you are done.¡± Then carefully I walked up to him and pushed him.


    He barely budged at first, but slowly the tension in him eased and he let me push him to the bathroom.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°Feel better?¡± I asked, as he came out of the shower patting his damp hair.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± He grumbled, but I didn¡¯t argue about that. Jun was touchy right now.


    ¡°Come sit.¡± I demanded pointing at the couch and Jun nodded, settling into the couch in a single big flop that made the poor thing groan. I had grabbed some of his casual clothes for him when he went into the shower, so thankfully he hadn¡¯t redressed in his TC outfit.


    Sweatpants and a t-shirt was good comfy clothing, and Jun needed comfy right now.


    ¡°Motoko-¡±


    ¡°Yes this is Motoko.¡± I replied cutting him off. I should stop doing that. Konosuba probably doesn¡¯t even exist in this world. That joke wouldn¡¯t make any sense.


    But having caught Jun on the back foot by talking I surprised him. Grabbing the comb and towel I had prepared beforehand I crawled behind him settling on the back of the couch.


    ¡°What are you-¡±


    The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°Shush.¡± Then I started floofing his hair with the towel.


    ¡°Motoko.¡± Jun grumbled, and I proved myself the more mature one of us by resisting responding the same way again. Instead I pulled the towel down and started combing my big stupid Onii-chans hair. Making sure he got all the blood and guts out of it.


    I had seen Jun eat his burritos. He was as messy an eater as he was a killer.


    ¡°What crazy thing is going through your head now?¡± He drawled, but I was smiling because that was Jun speaking and not the angry rage beast.


    ¡°Nothing you want to hear. But if you are asking about me combing your hair. It¡¯s because you need a little bit of time to realize that we are safe. Everything is okay. I¡¯m here. Not hurt. You are here. Only a few more bullet holes than normal¡­ Looks like you actually went to a ripper though. So I won¡¯t yell at you for that.¡± I told him, having pulled up his shirt to check and see that he had a few new holes in his chest, but they had at least been treated.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine Motoko. I¡¯m more worried about you!¡±


    ¡°Yeah I noticed that. With all the screaming of my name and everything.¡± I told him bluntly.


    ¡°You ran off to get into fights alone!¡±


    ¡°Which as a stealth infiltration specialist¡­ I should get cards. Jun note for the future. I need business cards. Anyway, As a stealth specialist, going solo is actually pretty safe for me. Which you know. You saw me take out the Raffen that one time, remember? And the Scavs that night you were feeling overprotective again.¡±


    ¡°You should have someone watch your back! People don¡¯t go solo like that for long Motoko. It only takes one mistake to die like that! When I said you could do as you liked! Piss off anyone you want. I wasn¡¯t intending for you to go after them by yourself!¡±


    ¡°This isn¡¯t the first Scav den I¡¯ve hit solo Jun. You know that. And it only takes one mistake to die regardless Jun. But I was fine. I went in hard. Full optical blackout, and weapon glitch. Only then did I appear and start killing. But this whole thing isn¡¯t about me hitting Scav dens. You only get like this when you don¡¯t feel safe¡­ I think that¡¯s the trigger for your psychosis. So I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯m sorry what I was doing was making you feel unsafe.¡±


    He didn¡¯t say anything, but I could feel the tension still in him as I combed his rather silly hair. But that¡¯s fine. This wasn¡¯t entirely a rational issue Jun was having.


    We had been attacked. We had been attacked somewhere that is supposed to be safe. Of course that would set off Jun¡¯s psychosis.


    It was something I had come to accept about my new lifes brother long ago. Jun wasn¡¯t mentally healthy.


    He was stable mostly. He was I think getting better, but he wasn¡¯t good.


    I doubt he would ever be good again. Not without a whole lot of therapy, and ripping nearly all the chrome out of him.


    ¡°You aren¡¯t hurt?¡± He asked finally out of the blue.


    ¡°I accidentally tripped in some blood and bruised my butt.¡± I told him honestly and it took a moment but my brother''s shoulders started shaking a bit and he snrrked and snorted and then broke out into full blown laughter at me.


    Just as Keikaku.


    Keikaku means plan.


    ¡ª--


    Jun was asleep. I had helped dry him off and ended up putting a XXL burrito into him, before making sure he got to sleep.


    I couldn¡¯t actually order him to sleep of course, that would just make him obstinate, but he had been up for a long time, and just letting everything go quiet, and calm belly full of warm Burrito he had slumped off into his room not long after.


    Flopping onto the couch I stared at the ceiling for a while just processing.


    Jun¡¯s mental state. My own less than stellar mental health at the moment. Like the fact I didn¡¯t have anymore god damned Scavs to kill.


    I sighed. That was exactly the problem. That urge to keep hunting them. Killing Scavs was a good thing, but I wasn¡¯t being calm about it. I was too emotionally disrupted myself.


    But I¡­ I wasn¡¯t ready to stop yet. A little more. A little more murder and I would take a break. I just needed more dens to wipe out¡­


    Hopefully Wakako would come in clutch. Or Yoko.


    But it might actually be time to spread out a bit. Wakako only really took care of gigs in a small part of the city¡­


    I could reach out to Regina for info. I wasn¡¯t sure what our relationship was at the moment, but a free offer to clear out any Scav gigs, and eddies for info should at least clear up some issues.


    But that was still only a tiny bit of the city.


    I was going to need to reach out to Jackie. He knew Padre. That was another piece of the city.


    That was how serious I was about this. No more. No more letting Scavs hide in the corners of the city.


    They die. Or I do. That was where we were at, and I wasn¡¯t about to let myself die to a bunch of scum sucking Scavs.


    So I needed contacts with all of the Fixers.


    And I needed more chrome. Even as I thought that I winced and wanted to punch myself for being a fool, but it was still true.


    ¡°Okay Motoko. One thing at a time.¡± I whispered and opened my system.


    Time to see what I had gained last night. I didn¡¯t even know how many people I had killed last night. I hadn¡¯t bothered counting. It would be like counting how many cockroaches you squashed.


    I looked at the alerts and only stopped myself from whistling for Jun.


    That was a lot of XP.


    It took a few moments to count it all up, but yeah.


    23,500 XP¡­ I did some quick math. 47? If everyone counted for the common 500 XP? I didn¡¯t remember killing anyone super borged out or anything¡­  I shook it off. It didn¡¯t matter.


    I had gained two levels. Going all out. Not worrying about gathering chrome or loot outside of just reloading my ammo. It meant I killed a lot of Scavs.


    I was level 14 now.


    2 Stat point.


    4 Skill point.


    I also had a lot of fun points to play with. Adaptation, or push a stat?


    In the end I looked at my full character sheet, just to give myself an idea of where I stood.


    Level 14


    7,500/15,000


    Body 7(14) Due to Cyberization, Maximum value has increased by 7.


    -Athletics 7


    -Street Brawler 7


    -Annihilation 5


    Reflex 7


    -Blades 6


    -Handguns 6


    -Assault 6


    -Driving 7


    Intelligence 10 (14) Due to Cyberization, Maximum value has increased by 4.


    -Breach Protocol 9


    -Quick Hacks 7


    -Programming 10


    Cool 8


    -Ninjutsu 8


    -Cold Blood 8


    -Rockerboy 7


    Technical attribute 4 (8) Due to Cyberization, Maximum value has increased by 4.


    -Crafting 4


    -Engineering 4


    2 Stat point.


    4 Skill point.


    Perks.


    Ambidextrous Blades 2


    Quickdraw Handguns 2


    Gun Nut Assault 2


    Parkour Athletics 2


    Grappling Street Brawler 2


    Drive By Driving 2


    Cat-like Athletics 5


    Cool Nerves Cold Blood 2


    Danger Sense Ninjutsu 2


    Wall Breaking Breach Protocol 2


    Cyber Security Quick Hack 2


    Recoil Reduction. Annihilation 2


    Cyber Ninja Ninjutsu 5


    Fearless Chill. Cold Blood 5.


    Improvised Weapons Street Brawler 5


    Parry Blades 5


    Robotics wizard Crafting 2


    Drifting Driving 5


    Rapid Reload Handguns 5


    Design Wizard Engineering 2


    Rifle Ace Assault 5


    Ghost touch Breach 5


    Perfect Musical Memory Rockerboy 2.


    Debug Programming 2


    Siren Song Rockerboy 5


    Hacking Wizard Quick Hacks 5


    Inspired Programmer Programming 5


    A.I. Whisperer: Programming 10


    *Unused* Annihilation 5


    Cyberware:


    Seacho Electronics Mk.2 *Adaptation Seacho Mk.2 0/0*


    Kiroshi Mk1 *Adaptation Kiroshi Mk1 1/2*


    Militech Condor *Adaptation Militech Condor 5/8*


    Arasaka Smart Link System. *Adaptation Smart Link 0/0*


    Arasaka Ex-Disk *Adatapation Ex-Disk 0/0*


    Militech-Armalite Ballistic Guard *Adaptation Ballistic Guard 0/2*


    Serano Air-Groove Ankles *Adaptation Serano Air 0/1*


    So I had a few things.


    Cool.


    Despite Rockerboy giving me a few Cool alerts from time to time. Cool hadn¡¯t budged in a while.


    Cool which was super important, as Ninjutsu, and Cold Blood were absolutely integral. What would Ninjutsu 10 look like?


    But I also had Reflex, and Body. Both had also been rather locked.


    Reflex was hard to level as well. Needing dedicated time to slowly work on my reflexes, my speed. Something I hadn¡¯t really done in a long while.


    Body was easier. I just needed to hit a gym¡­ Which reminded me I still had a Gym Membership. A membership I hadn¡¯t used in months¡­ Fuck cancelling that was going to get expensive huh?


    Don¡¯t get distracted, Motoko.


    Did I want to adapt. Or get stronger?


    It wasn¡¯t as easy as you would think. I wasn¡¯t even touching on Intelligence, and what going over 10 could do for me there.


    I took a deep breath and exhaled.


    Okay what do I need? Long term and short term.


    Long term I was going to need to save points for my stats over 10. And adaptation. Both were integral.


    Short term? I needed¡­ Cool. I needed even better stealth. Ninjutsu was too powerful to ignore and could potentially save my ass in way too many ways. Also I needed better information gathering, considering my main hold up now was finding the Scav, so I could murder them.


    Okay.


    I wasn¡¯t going to use points to increase stats under 10 for now. As useful as it would be. Cool was pretty close to leveling, and I would be better off saving it for things I can¡¯t get in any other way.


    But Adaptation was too important to put off. I had already made that decision to worry about my mental health before.


    So I went and dropped a point into my Ankles.


    Serano Air-Groove Ankles *Adaptation Serano Air 1/1*


    When I was done I blinked as I got a new alert pop up.


    *Adaptation Complete: Serano Air-Groove Ankles*


    It wasn¡¯t a sudden thing. It wasn¡¯t like an itch that just went away. Or something that just felt off stopping.


    Instead it was just a surety, a comfort. Like¡­ Like when you look at your hands and you know every inch of your skin. A comfortable knowledge that everything was as it should be.


    I pulled my foot up into my lap to check. The Real Skinn that covered my ankle created a sort of seam over the top of my foot, and around my ankle. The skin color was right because Vik was a god among men.


    But it had always felt weird. Like the ankle didn¡¯t stretch to the same points as my old flesh and blood.


    But now? There was no discomfort as I stretched my foot up and down past the points my old ankle would need to stop. Past the angles left and right it could comfortably move.


    Because my ankle could.


    My ankle.


    I stretched out putting my foot on the table and just kinda looking at it. It felt¡­ Right.


    This was me. Part blood and bone, and part metal and synth skin.


    I was Motoko. Cyborg.


    Yep. As always adaptation was the maybe the most important benefit of my system overall. Others might not think so. They would probably just pump their numbers and borg out and then go crazy. But for me. Being happy was the most important thing.


    Being happy¡­ I shook it off. I would be happy when the Scavs were dead.


    This was the first time I completely adapted to Chrome.


    It felt right. This was who I was supposed to be. I forgot sometimes that I was basically trying to pretend to be a Cyborg.


    But I wasn¡¯t anymore. I was a cyborg now. Arms ankles, eyes and skin. Bits and pieces here and there were chrome. Were more than just flesh and blood, and that wasn¡¯t a good, or bad thing. It just was.


    ¡°I kinda feel sorry for all the fuckers that piss me off in a year or two.¡± I whispered to the room quietly. Adam Smasher was a high functioning Cyberpsycho.


    I was just Cyberpsycho immune if I took it slow. I had the same ability V did, with Johnny shouldering her chrome addiction. If I went slow and chromed out. I could go full borg while still being just as fun loving and happy as I was now.


    Yeah. That was the goal.


    I put my second stat point into my Subdermal. The slight shift in the way I slouched on the couch to keep the subdermal from getting itchy was by itself super useful.


    But it was just another step into accepting myself.

 Chapter 106

    Stats decided for now, it was time to make some calls, and get some contacts. Information was crucial if I was going to send a message to the Scavs.


    First I sent a text to Regina.


    *Motoko: Been a while. Looking for any information on Scav locations. I¡¯ll do any gigs that require clearing out Scavs for free as well.*


    I didn¡¯t get a response back instantly so I moved on. Considering what I was going to do, I sent a text to Wakako.


    *Motoko: Going to be reaching out to more Fixers for more Scav deets. Don¡¯t get mad!*


    Good. Wakako can¡¯t get mad now! Definitely! I definitely wasn¡¯t going to get a weird shit assignment from her the next time I reached out¡­


    Definitely.


    Okay time to call a choom.


    *Hello?*


    *Hey Jackie. It¡¯s Motoko. You got a second?*


    *Oh sure Hermanita, what¡¯s up?*


    *Scavs attacked me and my brother at home. We¡¯re fine, but I¡¯m not taking it sitting down. I¡¯m hoping you might put me in touch with Padre? I¡¯m doing gigs that involve Scav hunting for free right now, and paying for any additional Scav dens he might know about as well.*


    *Whoa whoa, hold up now Hermanita. You got attacked at home? Shit! You should have called me. You need a safe place to crash?*


    *Jun has TC connections, so we have a few of their thugs hanging around keeping an eye on the place. But I¡¯m looking to just remove the problem if I can.*


    *Ah little choom, that¡¯s not gonna happen. There are thousands of Scavs in Night City. If not more.*


    *Well I cleared up half a hundred last night, so I think I¡¯m making a good push for it already.* I said bluntly. Jackie was cool, but I was kinda sick of everyone treating me like a teenager.


    Okay Hiromi. I get it. Maybe having a rep does come with some side benefits too.


    *Jesus Hermanita.. Really?*


    *Yeah Jackie. My brother Jun was running around with his group of killers and wiping out dens too. So Night City lost a lot of scum last night. But I¡¯m not done. They attacked me in my home Jackie. So can you help me out?*


    *Alright. Yeah I¡¯ll reach out to Padre. He¡¯ll want a face to face.*


    *That¡¯s fine Jackie. I¡¯m doing prep for tonight anyways.*


    *You need another shooter? I¡¯ll watch your back if you-*


    *No. Jackie. This is for me. Thanks though. If I ever run into some trouble or something, I¡¯ll call you. But this is me working through the many angry emotions that being attacked at home has given me.*


    *Heh, well can¡¯t say I don¡¯t understand that. You¡¯re good Motoko, Solid. Even V thinks so. But don¡¯t go thinking that makes you invincible. Be careful. Walk away if you have to.*


    *I will Jackie. I don¡¯t intend to get flatlined by these scum. Listen, I need to go. Let me know what you hear from Padre?*


    *I¡¯ll call him right away Hermanita.*


    *Thanks Jack.* We hung up not long after and I sighed relieved.


    Then I got a text.


    *Wakako: I expected you would reach out for more. Just remember who your fixer is when this is all said and done. And don¡¯t be a fool. Be careful who you take gigs from.*


    I couldn¡¯t help but snort. Statement of prescience. A threat. And a warning to be careful. Wakako had such a funny attitude to everything.


    *Motoko I won¡¯t forget, and I¡¯ll be careful. Thanks Wakako.*


    ¡ª--


    I headed out not long after.


    Stopped for a moment as I walked through the lobby as the flirt smiled and stood up when I walked by.


    ¡°Motoko! Hey. Going out? Need anything? We¡¯re here to make sure nothing happens after all!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m good, thanks.¡± I said blowing past him. Since I was planning on buying some ammo, I called for my Quadra and not my Kusanagi.


    ¡°You sure! We all know how to shoot. I¡¯m not bad! It¡¯s always good to have someone watching your back yeah?¡± Flirt offered and I did my best to ignore him as I stopped to grab some lunch from my favorite Meat stick guy.


    The old man gave me a stilted smile, mostly because of the thug looking over my shoulder.


    Why was he taller than me? This was bullshit. I should cut off his fucking legs for being taller than me. Idiots are always taller than me! Wasn¡¯t he asian!? He should be short!


    Fuck I was asian too. Dammit.


    ¡°Thanks. Keep the change.¡± I told the old man as I grabbed my food and since I was getting used to all this future tech my Quadra was already pulling out of the garage and parking on the street nearby.


    ¡°Really Motoko, Fujimura-sama gave us this gig to watch you and your brothers back! You should rely on us- wait!¡± He called out, but I was already sliding into the car.


    Not dealing with that right now.


    I stopped at the gun store I had originally bought the holsters for my guns at. Picked up as much ammo for my Burya as I could.


    It wasn¡¯t exactly a common cartridge, and even with only the four round magazines I had been running low. With a new box I was topped up for a good while.


    ¡°Not everyday I see a kid using a monster like that. You be careful kid, that thing can break chrome just as easily as bone if you aren¡¯t careful.¡± The owner offered as he pushed the ammo box across through the slow in the bullet proof glass at me.


    ¡°Been using the Burya for a while now. I know how to handle them.¡± I reply without any heat. This guy didn¡¯t know me. I wasn¡¯t going to get angry at someone just worrying about a kid running around with a wrist breaker.


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    I paid for my ammo and headed home to drop off the extra.


    ¡ª--


    I blew past the kids in the lobby, rushing up the stairs with my arms full of my ammo. I was going to really prepare for tonight.


    Jun was right, getting shot sucked, and a lucky shot could hurt. So I was going to armor up.


    The armored Section 9 suit was a good starting point. I know Night City gonks found wearing ¡®too much¡¯ armor on the streets was something to be made fun of for. What was it¡­ Doughboy? Yeah Doughboy or Doughgirl if you were caught wearing too much protection.


    But I didn¡¯t care. I was here to murder a lot of people, and while going out in my normal outfit was comfy. There were times I should prepare for actual fucking war.


    I slipped into my room, Jun still sleeping. I put on the armored pants and adjusted my boots. Slapped the longer sleeved coat over my leotard. But that was only half done. Going around the couch I grabbed my piece of equipment.


    The Kang Tao armor had been painted to match my colors, and in less bright orange. I hadn¡¯t done much to adjust it to my size fully yet, but it was still good enough.


    I threw on the main chest rig. Securing it with deft hands as it tightened down more than enough to work.


    A few minutes of adjusting my holsters to give me ease of access, and finally my Netgogs over my face to complete the outfit.


    I checked myself out in a mirror.


    Honestly the style might be different, but I certainly looked like the Major in some of her Black Ops outfits. It soothed me in a way. Even if I wasn¡¯t just in my leotard and cosplay outfit. I still looked like Motoko. I still looked like me.


    I stopped to check in on Jun. He was still asleep. Good. I would have some time to get shit done before he woke up then.


    I headed out. Taking the stairs and walking past the thugs watching the door. Ignoring the way they startled when they saw me.


    Just because I was armored up, and holding my Copperhead, clipped to my new vest.


    The flirt didn¡¯t follow me this time as I walked right past him. My Quadra was already waiting for me on the street outside the apartment.


    I slipped in. Jackie had already pulled through. I had gotten an invite. Time to go see Padre.


    I had received a message from Jackie telling me where to go. It was just surprising that Padre had agreed so quickly, and where I was going. I guess Jackie was pretty well known about the Heywood boys.


    The location according to my map was a basketball court down in Heywood.


    It didn¡¯t take me long to drive through the city, and even less time to find the right spot. It was the graffiti that clued me in.


    A giant picture of Padre on the wall was kind of a clue. There was a ton of it. Pictures on the walls of the building all covered in Christian iconography, or just Padre in some way. His name, his face.


    Weird, but hey I live in a place covered in graffiti tigers so¡­


    I had to drive down the road a ways to find a place to park, but unfortunately I stopped then realizing I had fucked up a little.


    Everyone walking by, or hanging out around the area were wearing normal clothes.


    I was very much not.


    I was wearing a cyber soldier''s outfit. Armor and weapons galore.


    Dammit. It would be so embarrassing to have everyone thinking I¡¯m coming to attack Padre. Or if they think I¡¯m a doughgirl¡­


    My resolve firmed. I had a plan.


    ¡ª--


    Padre AKA Sebastian Ibarra


    Sebastian clapped quietly as another basket was made. The boys were having a good game today. The two teams competing against each other were friends. So there was no worry of bloodshed, or violence.


    A rare thing indeed.


    He checked the time in his agent for a moment. Jackie had reached out to him, a rare thing indeed. The boy was too independent, too set on his path. Yet the respect remained. Sebastian remembered when the boy decided to leave the Tino¡¯s. Another rare thing.


    But Jackie was so well liked, there wasn¡¯t much trouble over it.


    But he had agreed to meet this little tiger that Jackie had fallen in with. Mostly out of respect for her help saving Jackie during the gig the boy had fallen into.


    Kang-Tao was still pushing into his territory in anger at losing the data. Unfortunately as most things, it had passed through his hands quickly, and straight into the hands of their enemies.


    So he was no longer a threat. No longer worth spending the resources to kill. Not that it stopped them from sending a few kill teams after him to cause trouble. They just knew it wouldn¡¯t succeed. It was the growling of an injured wolf after all.


    But even an injured wolf could kill.


    Which is why Sebastian was out and about acting like nothing was threatening him. Still. A tiger coming into the lair of the wolves of Heywood was always a dangerous thing.


    Sebastian had of course pulled up the information he had on the girl. It wasn¡¯t much, although some words to a netrunner he knew that sent him data gave him a fuller view.


    A dangerous young girl indeed. Jackie had told him that she had destroyed an AV. Disabled an entire squad of Kang-Tao. And yet it was still difficult to believe.


    But Sebastian was not a man who disbelieved what the information he had confirmed was true told him.


    A dangerous tiger wanted to meet him, and he knew why. Wakako had been difficult as always, but she answered the question he wanted to know.


    A Scav hunt. It wasn¡¯t the first time some angry young killer had come up to him wanting all the information on Scavs.


    It wouldn¡¯t be the last. The Scavs were rats, but like all rats, when you corner them, they become vicious things, full of teeth.


    This girl would learn as all young ones did.


    Or die.


    A noise came from behind him.


    Directly behind him.


    Directly behind him where no one had been. He was sure of it. Only a single row of the old bleachers he was sitting on, and a brick wall.


    He always sat here. To ensure his back was protected.


    A faux cough. As if someone was trying to get his attention.


    He turned, standing behind him was a woman. Arms resting back on the guard rail at the top of the bleachers standing casually and trying to not seem like she was threatening him.


    ¡°The fuck-Padre!¡± Miguel his guard reacted, having done the same thing Padre himself had. It was only his hand rising up to calm Miguel that kept a firefight from breaking out.


    Unfortunately the shout of his guard had caused a disruption to the festivities.


    ¡°Please calm yourselves. Just a planned meeting.¡± He called out to a few of the ¡®Tino that were around him, they too reached for guns before slowly calming down.


    ¡°Sorry about this. I was trying to avoid notice.¡± She muttered, with a sigh and Padre realized why Wakako had described the woman as odd.


    It wasn¡¯t everyday Padre was reminded how easy it would be for a true assassin to remove him.


    Impressive.


    ¡°Think nothing of it, child. You are Motoko?¡±


    ¡°Ah yeah sorry forgot about the gogs.¡± She said reaching up and pulling the tech gogs upwards showing off her very youthful face. Jackie had told him that the girl was young.


    He had almost forgotten what with having someone actually appear behind him without warning.


    ¡°Motoko Kusanagi. Thank you for meeting me, Padre.¡± She introduced herself politely and he nodded, waving her forward to sit beside him for one, and so he wouldn¡¯t have to twist his neck so much to look at her.


    She slipped into the seat next to him adjusting the rifle she had strapped to her chest with an unconscious motion before her hands ignored it.


    He had seen killers who could barely stop touching their weapon. It was a habit of young killers too nervous to stop adjusting the weight of a weapon, and old killers who were twitchy too ready to defend themselves.


    It was rare he found a killer capable of being utterly calm.


    Jackie? Where did you find this one?


    ¡°How can I help you?¡± He asked instead his eyes mostly returned to the game, although he never truly stopped watching her out of the corner of his eyes.


    ¡°Any information on Scavs you have, or can get. I¡¯ll pay in eddies or work.¡±


    ¡°Yes Jackie said as much. You realize it¡¯s a fool''s errand? If wiping out the Scavs could be done. Someone would have before.¡±


    ¡°If you have an infestation you don¡¯t kill a few of them and call it done. You don¡¯t stop until everyone is dead, never to return.¡± She replied with a casual shrug. ¡°They started it. Which is actually true.¡± She added quietly as if she had forgotten that for a moment.


    ¡°Then I will give you the information. Heywood Scavs have no function in our community. They take and steal and offer nothing back. But I will not assist you further. This war you are starting on, will only cause trouble if I move further.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s fine. Just the location of them is enough for me. And I don¡¯t care if no one joins me, or if everyone rises up against them. I just want them dead.¡±


    ¡°I think it will be closer to the former than the later child.¡± He offered, almost wanting to laugh at the idea of the city actually acting to remove the Scavs.


    Even when he was younger the city couldn¡¯t work together to remove any of the truly vile gangs.


    Sometimes they died, but it was usually the act of a single gang, or a few working in concert to remove them utterly.


    The damned clowns for instance. Padre whispered a prayer to the almighty that the Bozos no longer haunted the streets of Night City.


    ¡°It¡¯s my personal Crusade Padre.¡± She added suddenly as she rose up. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter how long it takes. I won¡¯t stop trying to remove them. I don¡¯t think I can.¡±


    ¡°Take the wisdom learned from the crusades then child. Rarely do they end well for those involved.¡± He answered and she gave him a nod at that. ¡°Very well. I will offer you a few locations I would like cleaned up. If you still wish to know more afterwards. We can talk price.¡±


    He sent her the file he had on a few Scav locations here in Heywood. Perhaps he would send her a few gigs as well if she succeeded. She certainly showed her competency to him today.


    Wakako had been holding out on him, he decided.


    ¡°See you around then Padre.¡± She said and disappeared into a leap that launched her to the second floor. The apartments had small overhangs, and she easily reached the second floor, and then with a leap and then another she disappeared over the building faster than Padre could have moved that distance on the ground.


    ¡°Padre? Do we do anything about her?¡±


    ¡°No, Miguel. She is not a threat to us. Some children will do whatever task is set before them. Some make their own. That young woman has created her own crusade. There is no point in getting involved.¡± He waved his man down and returned to the game.


    An interesting child indeed. He would have to put together a meeting with young Jackie sometime.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°Nailed it.¡± I told myself as I slipped into the Quadra to drive off.


    I had slipped up the building next to my car and then managed to reach Padre with absolutely no one knowing. I had accidentally startled him a bit by landing behind him on the bleachers, but at least no one would think I was a dough girl!


    I opened the file he had sent and felt a smirk crossing my face. Padre had certainly come in clutch. There were a few different locations, that he had some Scav information, and a few rumors put together pointing to some potential spots.


    Looking out the window I glared. It was still the middle of the day. It was easier to hunt them during the night, but they also could be hunting themselves.


    I shrugged. I had pretty good armor. A full magazine. And a location full of soon to be dead men.


    My Quadra started up with a rumble and I was gone.

 Chapter 107

    I was all prepped. I had found the little Scav den that Padre sent me the info for, in the basement of an abandoned building on the west side of Heywood.


    I had broken their security. Pinged into their network, tracked their movements in real time as I hung out in the abandoned backlot of the building.


    The only signs of use were tire tracks and the fact the old gate had a long curving path through the dirt showing it was still opened from time to time.


    I was stacked up on the side of the back door, one hand reaching for the doorknob that I already ensured would open, and the other on my rifle. Ready to breach and begin killing.


    Then I got a call.


    I almost flinched. Took a single breath, in and out, and checked the caller ID. With a silent hiss of irritation I answered.


    *Jun, I¡¯m a bit busy.*


    *Imouto. Drop what you are doing. Something has come up.*


    I look at the moving figures through the walls outlined in digital glows.


    *Bit busy, here Jun.*


    *The Maelstrom have reached out to the Tyger Claws about the attack.*


    I blinked. I hadn¡¯t forgotten the Maelstrom fucker that sniped at Jun and I. But I had put them on the back burner to focus on the Scavs.


    *What?*


    *The fuckers¡­ The Maelstrom aren¡¯t happy about the chance of the war starting again so soon. So they reached out. They want a meeting to discuss the attack. They are apparently saying it wasn¡¯t them¡­* Jun made a noise of frustration that actually came over the call.


    But he wasn¡¯t even finished.


    *But they are saying they have information on who ordered the hit.*


    I hesitated. The Scavs were right there¡­


    But this was more important.


    *Where?*


    *You remember The bar? Fujimura is meeting the Maelstrom there. Fujimura said you don¡¯t have to be here, but I know you.*


    *I¡¯m on my way. I have some questions needing answers as well. Thanks Jun.*


    I was gone in a flash. Back over the abandoned lot. Over the wall with just a double hop to clear the barbed wire at the top.


    I was slamming myself into the Quadra and taking off as fast as I could.


    Answers on who had actually tried to kill me? Tried to kill Jun?


    That was worth letting these Scavs live a little longer.


    ¡ª--


    When I pulled into the little market that held Fujimura¡¯s bar. I was surprised to see Jun already out in the parking lot waiting for me.


    He didn¡¯t look happy.


    I stepped out and I could tell my appearance surprised Jun.


    Oh right. My outfit was pretty militarized.


    I pulled my techgogs up out of my eyes as I walked up to him. Although I still had my Copperhead in my hands.


    I wasn¡¯t intending to show up casually after all.


    Jun didn¡¯t say anything as I approached, and I could tell he was partly furious and partly sulking.


    ¡°Fujimura kicked you out?¡±


    ¡°No!¡± He snapped back, but then went silent.


    Yep.


    ¡°Hard to keep your cool around them huh?¡± I asked and Jun¡¯s glare at me told me I had hit the nail on the coffin. ¡°Yeah. Just seeing their stupid optics irritates me too. What¡¯s really going on Jun?¡±


    ¡°They aren¡¯t taking responsibility for the assassination. Blaming it all on the sniper. Saying the piece of shit reached out to the Scavs about our home''s location without permission. They¡¯re saying the Sniper was actually working with the Scavs entirely. So he was no longer Strom.¡±


    ¡°Yeah? Fuck that. They attacked our home¡­ Twice.¡± I hissed out.


    ¡°That¡¯s what I said.¡± Jun said, sounding kinda normal actually as he smirked at me. ¡°Fujimura-sama asked me to leave after I said that to their face.¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡± I nodded. I''m sure there weren''t any threats of violence or my gonk brother trying to strangle the Maelstrom involved in any way.


    ¡°Alright. I¡¯m gonna go get some answers.¡± I said and Jun didn¡¯t stop me, instead he just started walking to the bar. Creating a path through the crowd, although considering how armed I was, they were already splitting for me anyways.


    Jun stopped at the entrance with an irritated grunt but he leaned his back against the wall of the building at the top of the stairs.


    Ah right. He wasn¡¯t allowed in.


    I eased up my rifle, making it obvious I wasn¡¯t literally holding my finger on the trigger as I sauntered down. Into the bars gloom.


    Instantly I had eyes on me. The bartender. Men hanging out at the bar. Or in the booths along the walls.


    Not all of them TC either.


    Maelstrom optics locked on me, their twitchy owners already looking ready to start firing.


    I took a few steps down, and forced myself to stay calm when it was obvious I wasn¡¯t going to be allowed to pass into the back considering how insanely on guard the Strom were acting when I moved.


    I stopped at the bar instead. Unclipping my Copperhead from my rig I placed it on the table moving casually so the Maelstrom I was standing next to would stop reaching for that pistol.


    ¡°Hold on to this for me.¡± I asked the Bartender who nodded slowly and took it to hide it behind the bar, and then I moved toward the back.


    The small stairs leading up to the back area with the darkest most private booths were guarded on one side by a man I vaguely recognized. He was one of the Kamikazi Borgs. One of the men I had worked with on that gig so long ago.


    Well sort worked with. They had run ahead like assholes.


    The other was a big Maelstrom monster. Probably half a ton of pure chrome as he looked me over with his nine eyes.


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    ¡°Private meeting.¡± He grumbled out, sounding more like an engine off its timing than a man.


    ¡°I¡¯m aware.¡± I said, but the Strom shifted, putting himself in the way.


    The TC guard tensed, but didn¡¯t make a move to stop him.


    Either he wanted to see how it went, or he just didn¡¯t want to create conflict between the two factions.


    ¡°I said private. You ain¡¯t on the list.¡± He rumbled at me, but I barely slowed.


    I inhaled and exhaled through my nose for a moment. My first reaction was to give the fucker an ultimatum and then go through him if he tried to stop me, but this wasn¡¯t my place. My gig. I might have been involved, but this was Fujimura¡¯s place, and while I didn¡¯t really feel like I owed him anything.


    Jun still worked under him. I should still be polite to my brother''s boss¡­


    Polite-ish anyways.


    ¡°You just going to stand there, or are you going to tell this lugnut I can go through?¡± I asked, looking to the TC guard.


    The asshole just shrugged.


    ¡°Pfft. Like I give a shit what this fucker says. You ain¡¯t on the-Hey!¡± He grunted as his eyes suddenly went dark.


    He made two swipes at me, which I easily avoided and just walked around him.


    That was probably going to cause some kind of trouble later, but that was future Motoko¡¯s problem. I heard a crash behind me but I didn¡¯t bother to turn to look. I walked up the steps and over to the only booth that was occupied.


    Fujimura. Another man I recognized from the Kamikaze gigs. Across from two Maelstrom.


    A big guy and¡­


    My eyes flashed as I scanned her just to be sure.


    ¡°Natalie Desanto AKA GearSlot.¡± I Introduced myself to the group by calling out one of them.


    The woman was put together, chromed out and looking pissed and dangerous, nothing like what I had seen from her the last time we met.


    ¡°Motoko Kusanagi. AKA Ghost.¡± She responded back instantly.


    I actually felt like blinking at that. That was the first time someone outside the net called me that. Did she look into me to get that name, I wasn¡¯t exactly well known in the city. Maybe something on my NCPD rap sheet had update?


    Now I was kinda curious. I would have to check my rap sheet later.


    ¡°The fuck is this Fujimura?¡± The question came not from the Maelstrom man who was looking on with a face I couldn¡¯t pull any emotion from. It was so destroyed. But the Yakuza looking guy sitting next to Fujimura. The one that it only took a moment to gather was someone higher up the totem pole than Fujimura himself.


    Mostly because it was the first time I¡¯ve seen a Tyger Claw member not use -sama when saying his name.


    ¡°An unexpected guest. Azegami-sama ¡± Fujimura answered gravely, as he gave me a look that promised trouble.


    For some reason the guy was kinda familiar, but I couldn¡¯t quite place it.


    ¡°Kusanagi. Sit or leave.¡± Fujimura demanded and I resisted snorting at him as I took a seat. Facing the Maelstrom fuckers only to be forced to blink again.


    ¡°Wait. You¡¯re Brick? Aren¡¯t you the Strom leader?¡±


    The borg just shrugged. ¡°I¡¯ve been called that. So you the one huh? The Only Thing They Fear huh? It was a nice Riff. The BD was good. You¡¯re a little too cold during your murders though. There¡¯s some chrome that can fix that. Get you properly heated up.¡± He offered in greeting and I actually had to stop myself from twitching at the comment.


    Disgusting. So digusting horrible utterly disgusting. Of course the Maelstrom would be the fuckers that knew about my BD. The idea of them watching my BD, of being in my ghost?


    Disgusting.


    Before I could say anything else the TC boss interrupted.


    ¡°Now that the interruption is ove-¡± The noise of someone smashing into something outside the booth interrupted the boss.


    ¡°Bitch you fucking blinded me! I¡¯m going to rip your damn head off!¡±


    Fujimura looked right at me, but I ignored him. That couldn¡¯t have been my fault. I was sitting right here.


    Fujimura looked at me.


    I blinked, but after a moment, he didn¡¯t stop. I relented, turning off the hack. ¡°He can see again. Shouldn¡¯t have tried to block me.¡± I mumbled the last part, but finally took a seat at the table.


    ¡°Heh. You got old EngineBlock good with that one.¡± Brick said with a rumbling chuckle.


    ¡°Good. Now without interruptions.¡± Azegami started again. His bald head and many tattoos gave him the look of an angry Yakuza, as he growled. ¡°The Tyger Claws accept the Maelstroms'' reasoning with this. Considering how recently we were at war it is the decision that this was a rogue act. As long as the requests we have made will be paid in full.¡±


    I listened to the words without exploding.


    I wasn¡¯t Jun after all.


    I never expected the Tyger Claws to actually protect us to start with. No, the only one that could do that would be me.


    When I murder everyone that could harm us. I inhaled and exhaled. Letting the cold soothe back the feelings rushing through me.


    ¡°Glad to hear it. Fucking prick causing this kind of trouble. He was a little shit to start with.¡± Brick offered, but now it was my turn to interrupt.


    ¡°I would like to know why he was working with Scavs. Especially since just a few weeks before I rescued her, from a Scav den. Seems pretty fucked up for a choom to work with the fuckers that scaved a choom of his.¡± I cut in, the booth going quiet for a moment.


    I was in luck. It seems Fujimura, and Azegami were both interested enough not to get involved at my question.


    ¡°Not a fuckin¡¯ clue. You knew him, yeah? You explain.¡± Brick looked to GearSlot who just nodded a bit. But her hands were giving her away. Constantly clenching and unclenching, and nearly popping at how tightly she was squeezing her knuckles together. The fact they were some version of Gorilla arms meant she was squeezing tight enough to bend steel.


    ¡°CamShaft-¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Brick cut in, finger raised up so quickly and closely it nearly took off GearSlots head it felt like, as he jammed his finger into her face. ¡°That¡¯s not his name. Not anymore. Fucker betrayed us. He isn¡¯t Maelstrom. Call him by his flesh.¡±


    ¡°Randall.¡± She offered instead and this time Bricks cut off was a laugh.


    ¡°Randall? Fuckin¡¯ hell. Shouldn¡¯t be surprised never met a Randall that¡¯s not a piece of shit.¡±


    ¡°Right. Randall¡¯s always been greedy. After he saw the Scav den he helped pull me out of¡­ Well I can¡¯t be completely sure, but we think he went looking for them. To get some chrome. That last time he spoke to anyone he mentioned he traded information about¡­ You. For more chrome. He didn¡¯t mention who he traded with, but I guess we know now.¡±


    She was looking at me.


    ¡°So me saving your life, led to an assassination attempt. I guess I should be lucky that the dumbass was so completely incompetent he and his Scav buddies fucked it up.¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± She growled out looking like she wanted to say more, but she looked to Brick and then the others and instead just stayed silent.


    ¡°The failure of this attack is the only reason we are here talking.¡± Azegami said, cutting in as he put out a cigarette in an ashtray. ¡°Kusanagi. Drop it. The only member of the Maelstrom responsible is dead. Consider this issue with the Maelstrom dropped.¡± The Boss said. Ordering me, as if I gave a shit at his order.


    I could practically feel my neck itch. My hackles rise. Who was this fat bald fuck to tell me that something was dropped?


    ¡°Kusanagi.¡± Fujimura cut in suddenly and I realized that once again Fujimura was the guy they put in charge of all the TC Cyberpsychos. The guy that figures people out and learns how to get them to do what he needs, because he only took an instant to realize that his boss had said something stupid. ¡°Go check on your brother. You will not find the rest of this meeting interesting.¡±


    I considered telling him to fuck off. I was already pissed with this entire situation, but that wouldn¡¯t get me anything.


    ¡°Wonderful. Well this has been completely fucking worthless. I guess it¡¯s a good thing for you that I was massacring Scavs, and not hitting your people then.¡± I said as I rose up, throwing a final threat to Brick.


    ¡°Heh, we aren¡¯t Scavs kid. You got some talent there, but you aren¡¯t top shelf yet.¡± Brick replied with a deep chuckle.


    I stopped my turn away. I had been about to leave, but¡­


    I turned enough that I could look at Brick with a single eye. The thought struck me.


    Brick was a good leader for Maelstrom. Kept them mostly out of trouble. It was that passivity that caused his usurpation in a few years. If I killed him right now, the TC would be pissed. They would definitely be forced into a war with them. A new Maelstrom leader might just mean they don¡¯t know when to stop. Might not know how to stop another war.


    I could pit two troublesome gangs into a war that might end in destroying or at least weakening both.


    The thought passed. The positives. The negatives.


    Brick knew. His ripped apart chrome face broke into a smile that told me, if I drew my gun he would react.


    He might even be fast enough. Pretty sure that big chunk of chrome on the back of his neck was a Sandy, or a Keren.


    Either way, he would be fast. Maybe fast enough to survive.


    Would the TC help kill him, or try to stop me?


    I turned away.


    No. When I kill brick, it wasn¡¯t going to be at a neutral meeting.


    ¡°See ya around Maelstrom.¡±


    ¡°See ya around Ghost.¡± Brick called out sounding completely amused at the situation. Used my Netrunner tag as well.


    I stepped out of the booth around the very angry Strom borg who was glaring at me with his stupid optics¡­ Only three of them were red.


    Why were only three of his optics running? I turned off the hack, which would have removed the Laughing Man disruption and returned vision.


    Then I noticed he had some of the optical wires revealed¡­ Had he reached into his own head to try and check for hardware issues?


    Gross.


    I ignored him though, instead heading to the bar to pick up my rifle when I heard her approach.


    ¡°I¡¯m not really in the mood for a chat.¡± I replied as I turned around.


    GearSlot was coming up behind me. The woman was tall. Although most of that was a set of extended legs. I hadn¡¯t really noticed before, but she must have taken being klepped by the Scavs personally. Her arms were Gorilla arms. Legs were some mish mash of combat mods for extreme strength. She was covered in surgery cuts for new Subdermal, and just armor in general.


    If she was looking to go Cyberpsycho, she was well on her way¡­ Well Maelstrom. So probably already there.


    ¡°Just¡­ Gimme a sec, okay?¡± She said not quite snapping, but sounding angry. ¡°Fuckin¡¯ hate shit like this. Don¡¯t like meatbags. They give me the creeps, but I owe you. So just¡­ Thanks, alright? I¡¯ve looked into you since that night. Know how you got that chrome. Know you hate our guts, and why. You still helped me get out.¡±


    ¡°Congratulations. Are we done?¡±


    ¡°Fuckin¡¯ No! I¡¯m not doing this well and shit, but listen Ghost, I get it¡­ I¡¯m Strom. Yeah? We got a rep with meat. Everyone hates us, and we know why. We glorify it even. But that doesn¡¯t mean we don¡¯t pay back what we owe.¡± GearSlot looked uncomfortable before sighing and then I got a text.


    Contact information.


    ¡°Listen. Contact me if you want¡­ If you ever like¡­ need something from our side of the city. I owe you one.¡± The spider eyes of the Strom forcefully looked away.


    I wasn¡¯t sure what kind of face I was making, but I specifically cooled myself down to look at it clinically.


    ¡°Sure.¡± I finally said, not sure what else I could really do.


    ¡°Wrenched up!¡± She said suddenly her demeanor shifted, her mouth going into a happy smile full of razor sharp teeth. ¡°Hey umm. I saw the BD you made of that night. Well I mean, I¡¯ve seen like all of them by now! I just wanted to say it was hella ripper. Like just the preemest shit. That song that played? Do you like¡­ buzz it anywhere or something? I kinda¡­ Well it¡¯s a good song you know? For me. It¡¯s like the song of freedom! After that night. Everyone digs it, I kinda showed it around and all.¡±


    I held back the shudder of disgust at the idea that my song was popular among the Maelstrom.


    Please let this one just be a fucking weirdo. I might really have to murder them all if they actually enjoyed my hobby that I only picked up because of the damage they did to me.


    ¡°Not¡­ Not yet. It¡¯s mostly just a hobby.¡±


    ¡°Oh okay! I have a ripped copy from the BD. So I¡¯ll just keep listening to that¡­ The screams of the Scavs don¡¯t bother me¡­ Obviously.¡± She said her voice losing emotion at the last word.


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I muttered. ¡°See ya around.¡± I firmly disengaged from the conversation as I made to leave.


    ¡°Yeah! Good luck! You know killing the Scav trash!¡±


    I ran into Jun at the top of the stairs. My brother was still glaring at nothing, irritated at being sent away.


    ¡°So you heard?¡±


    ¡°This day is so fucking weird. I just had a Maelstrom fangirl over my BD work. Jun I¡¯m going home¡­ Fuck today.¡±


    Jun blinked at me, and considered it himself.


    ¡°Fuck today.¡± He said as well.


    We went to our Ramen bar.


    Noodles and hot broth soothe difficult emotions.

 Chapter 108

    I was sitting on the couch. Well laying on it more than anything. I probably should go kill those Scavs¡­ Or play some music to let the hobby do what it was supposed to and soothe out these kinds of emotional issues, but I was just so done.


    ¡°Fuck today.¡± I reminded myself and that was good enough.


    ¡°Fuck today.¡± Jun called out from his room, obviously hearing me.


    Then I got a call.


    Fuck.


    *Hey Hiromi.* I answered. It wasn¡¯t that I didn¡¯t want to talk to my best choom. I just didn¡¯t want to talk to anyone right now.


    *Motoko! Tell this fucking ugly gonk at the front of your building to let us up! Otherwise Hiromi is gonna whoop some fuckheads ass!*


    I sighed.


    Fuck today.


    *I¡¯ll be right down.*


    I climbed up and didn¡¯t so much put on my boots as I just threw them on my feet. So I wouldn¡¯t step on anything sharp lying around and headed downstairs.


    I was so done with today I even used the elevator.


    The door opened to arguing.


    ¡°Move aside already! I don¡¯t know who you are, and you certainly don¡¯t have the right to keep us from seeing Motoko. We¡¯re Motoko¡¯s gang! Her crew! Who the hell are you supposed to be?¡±


    ¡°The guard in charge bitch! No one bothers the Kusanagi¡¯s! I don¡¯t care what crazy shit you say! You¡¯re gonna get your ass knocked the fuck out if you don¡¯t-Motoko! Hey! Just getting rid of-¡±


    ¡°Hiromi, Ichi, Malcolm. Get in the elevator.¡± I demanded, not ready to deal with this.


    ¡°Ah! They are your chooms then? Had to stop them, and make sure you know? Can¡¯t let some weirdos bother you and your brother Motoko! Do you need anything? I-¡±


    ¡°Hurry it up you three.¡± I called out and stepped back into the elevator.


    ¡°Finally!¡± Malcolm said obviously as irritated at the argument as I was. ¡°Hey Motoko. How¡¯re you holding up?¡± He asked, as the first one in the elevator.


    ¡°Fuck today.¡± I informed him and he just nodded along like I said something wise.


    ¡°It¡¯s okay Motoko! Your chooms are here to make your day better!¡± Hiromi called out smiling and Ichi passed me an apologetic smile.


    ¡°She was determined to bring us all together today to see what we can do to help.¡±


    ¡°Ah. That explains Hiromi¡¯s Hirominess.¡± I offered, earning a protesting noise from the girl. I threw an arm over her shoulder and pulled her into a hug. ¡°Thanks for checking in on me. I guess I could use a break from all the stuff going on.¡±


    ¡°Right! If my Motoko needs some relaxation, that¡¯s what we are here for!¡±


    ¡°I thought we were here to make Motoko let us help kill Scavs.¡± Malcolm said to Ichi in a faux whisper.


    Hiromi of course kicked him and the two would have broken into a fight if the elevator didn¡¯t open.


    ¡°C¡¯mon.¡± I called as I walked past the distracted HIromi with Ichi following.


    ¡°Oh wow.¡± Hiromi stalled out along with the boys when they got a look at the apartment. I mean there wasn¡¯t any glass left lying around, but there were still big holes in the walls and the barrier blinds.


    ¡°Yeah it¡¯s a little fucked up still. Jun and I need to call in an actual repair guy or something.¡±


    ¡°You are both gonks. I know someone. I¡¯ll call them in to get everything fixed up.¡± Hiromi said and before I could stop her, her eyes flashed as she made a call and she turned and ignored me as I moved to stop her.


    ¡°Heh. That¡¯s Hiromi alright.¡± Ichi said laughing as he ignored my ineffectual attempts to get Hiromi to stop.


    She was stronger though! Did she get more chrome? I looked her over with narrowed eyes. Then I reached out.


    ¡°Eep! Motoko!¡±


    ¡°When did you get muscles?¡± I asked as my hands pulled away Hiromi¡¯s casual clothes to let me check out her bicep, and then her stomach.


    Yep those were muscles there.


    ¡°I-it¡¯s a Biotechnica upgrade package! Motoko!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s so¡­ Cool.¡± I said I was going to say unfair, but really I had absolutely no room to talk there. Biotechnica huh?


    That was neat. I hadn¡¯t thought much about Bioware since I kinda just wanted to go full borg eventually.


    I shrugged and pulled my chrome hands free of Hiromi¡¯s clothes realizing why Hiromi was wiggling and flushed at my exploration.


    ¡°Ah! Sorry were my hands cold!?¡± I quickly pulled them away and checked my chrome palm against my cheek for a second.


    No it wasn¡¯t too bad. Maybe Hiromi just has a high body temperature? She was always looking flushed after all.


    ¡°When did you get bioware work done?¡± Malcolm asked curious, and Hiromi shushed him as she was still on the phone.


    A few moments later she blinked and her eyes were back to normal and then she leapt on me.


    ¡°Wha!¡±


    ¡°YOU! NOT WHEN I¡¯M ON A BUSINESS CALL YOU GONK!¡± She shrieked as she pushed me down and tried to faux strangle me.


    I couldn¡¯t help but start giggling, because while Hiromi was pretty strong, I was still stronger, and her response was great.


    ¡°Sorry!¡±


    ¡°You aren¡¯t sorry!¡± She said struggling and I only giggled harder. Okay maybe today wasn¡¯t entirely awful.


    ¡°Ah that explains the noise.¡± Jun said as he poked his head out of his room and into the living room. ¡°Hey guys.¡±


    ¡°Jun!¡±


    ¡°Hey Jun.¡± Malcolm and Ichi both greeted my brother while Hiromi focused on trying to stuff my face into the couch.


    She was failing and it was definitely irritating her.


    Relying too much on chrome, or mods is a bad idea Hiromi. Gotta have the skill to back it up, and my grappling perk made me pretty good at this.


    ¡°Ugh fine!¡± She eventually gave in as I kept her from achieving her goal as she sat up surprising me, by sitting her stupid fat ass right on my stomach, knocking the air out of me a bit.


    ¡°Oof! Hiromi!¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t listen to chairs.¡± She said to the air and then looked to Jun. ¡°Hey Jun. You doing okay?¡±


    This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    ¡°Heh. The day has come where my kid sister''s little chooms are worried about me.¡± He uttered shaking his head and standing up straight flashing her a grin to my surprise. ¡°I¡¯m fine. Irritated about everything but fine.¡±


    ¡°Hmm. Motoko hasn¡¯t talked about it yet. Anything we can do to help? I do have connections now.¡± Hiromi said partially preening at her own words.


    ¡°Nah. The Maelstrom basically said the guy that attacked them wasn¡¯t one of theirs and the TC is going along with it. So we only got Scavs to retaliate against, but¡­ It¡¯s impossible to know which group attacked us, or if there will be more attacks coming.¡±


    My chooms were quiet at Jun¡¯s final words.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± Hiromi said, reaching over and grabbing my hand as she adjusted herself to not be sitting on my stomach. ¡°I can¡¯t¡­ I can¡¯t believe they attacked your home, and now you can¡¯t pinpoint the ones responsible.¡±


    ¡°So we just kill them all.¡± I say with a shrug. ¡°It¡¯s been my solution since it happened. I¡¯m just going to kill every Scav I find until there aren¡¯t any more.¡±


    Jun snorted, looking like he was going to agree, but to my surprise he ran a hand over his face and through his hair. ¡°Maybe it¡¯s time we settle it there too, Motoko. We reach out with our contacts and make a deal.¡±


    ¡°Hell no!¡±


    ¡°Motoko. We got lucky last time. You spotted the sniper just in time, but that guy was an amateur. What if they just bombed our apartment while we were in here. Or sent more than a van full of grunts¡­ Honestly I¡¯m surprised they sent so few.¡±


    ¡°I think Randall was the one responsible for that.¡± I muttered and everyone looked at me. ¡°The Maelstrom sniper, apparently his name was Randall¡­ I ran into him before. The night I recorded my BD for The Only Thing They Fear.¡± I explained sitting up pushing Hiromi to the side a bit so I was sitting up and not just half way sprawled across the couch.


    Sitting up I ran through what I had figured out.


    ¡°So that night I ran into a Maelstrom girl in the Scav den. They had pulled her apart, but she was still awake¡­ I felt sorry for her, so I helped her get help. Randall was one of the Maelstrom fucks that showed up. He was a moron. But he must have realized who I was after¡­ Probably from the BD? According to GearSlot he seemed incredibly interested in all the Chrome the Scavs had. I think he found a Scav group and reached out to them. Set up the assault on Jun and I. Maybe Revenge for the war? Or he offered our location to the Scavs. I mean it¡¯s not like my BD¡¯s aren¡¯t getting around. Maybe he told them he knew who was recording the BD¡¯s and¡­ I don¡¯t know.¡±


    Everything was just an assumption. Jun had made sure we wouldn¡¯t be able to ask Randall, and the Scavs weren¡¯t exactly chatty.


    ¡°Motoko¡­ There is something else. Something Fujimura-sama mentioned to me. He assigned us a few guards, but they are just kids they can¡¯t stop shit¡­ He mentioned that we should move into a more secure location.¡±


    ¡°Fuck no!¡± I snapped outraged at the very idea, but Jun didn¡¯t let my instant response ruffle him.


    ¡°I think we should consider it Motoko. There are plenty of locations we could move to that have more security. Fujimura-sama controls a floor of a building that he rents out to TC. It¡¯s safe. Protected.¡±


    ¡°Jun I said no! We arent-I¡¯m not moving! This is our home!¡± I denied but Jun moved away from the wall he had been resting against and walked around Ichi and Malcolm who were both being really quiet.


    Shit that was the look of a couple of people watching an argument between family members and not being sure what to do.


    Sorry guys.


    Jun stopped in front of me and rested his stupid heavy hand on my head.


    ¡°Home is where we live. Not a place. I want you to be safe, Motoko. I want us to be safe¡­ I try to protect you as much as I can, but you just do whatever you want anyways, so I can¡¯t stop you there. But I think we should move. To a bigger place, a more secure place¡­ Don¡¯t you want a bigger room? One with your own space.¡±


    ¡°I like my current room just fine!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a closet you gonk. You¡¯ve never had a real room before. You could have a workbench and tinker with your stuff without me accidentally sitting on it or-¡±


    ¡°Wait, when did you sit on my stuff!?¡±


    Jun blinked at me and then just mushed my hair. ¡°We are going to look around at places¡­ Maybe tomorrow. Keep an open mind, okay?¡± Then Jun disappeared and as I fixed my hair I looked up to see him disappear back into his room.


    ¡°I¡¯m like 90% sure he just tried to distract me from the fact he apparently sat on some of my stuff and broke it.¡±


    ¡°You think so?¡± Hiromi asked, and I nodded.


    ¡°I¡¯m honestly more curious than upset. I don¡¯t remember finding anything missing¡­¡± I shook it off. I would tackle Jun in his sleep and demand my answers later. ¡°Alright chooms, enough of this shit. Want to get some food, and watch some garbage TV or something?¡±


    ¡°Sounds good to me!¡± Malcolm said before anyone else could argue.


    ¡°Great. Malcolm, you are with me on the food run. Hiromi, Ichi figure out what to watch?¡±


    ¡ª--


    The next morning, long after everyone had gone home, Jun poked me as I was working on some programming stuff for Yoko in payment for the Scav locations.


    ¡°C¡¯mon.¡±


    ¡°I already told you Jun. I¡¯m not moving.¡±


    ¡°Come anyways.¡± He demanded and gave me a look.


    Fine. If only because if I didn¡¯t go with him he was going to lift me up and carry me like a sack of angry kittens.


    I got up, got dressed, wasted some time taking a shower specifically in protest, and came out only to get whipped in the face with a towel.


    Then Jun attacked me with the towel.


    ¡°H-hey! Sto-oooop!¡± I whined but my brother has no mercy in his heart. He ran the towel over my hair like a machine and when he finally released me I fell to the floor blinking as if someone had just mugged me.


    ¡°There, your hair is dry, c¡¯mon.¡±


    ¡°You¡­ Are you kidding me? I¡¯m a girl you gonk! Now I have to do my hair! Look at it!¡± I yelled at him my hair was poofy I could feel it. Standing up more like an afro than my normal style!


    ¡°I look like I just got in a fight with an electrical outlet! And I lost!¡±


    ¡°Heh.¡± Jun just laughed at me, and made no motion to do anything more so I scurried back into the bathroom to battle my hair.


    I ended up needing to wet it back down just to be able to style it again.


    ¡°You know it¡¯s funny. You don¡¯t really do makeup or anything, but you¡¯re pretty protective of your hair style.¡± Jun said from the kitchen as he watched me wrestle my hair with a brush desperately trying not to get it stuck in the mess of my hair.


    ¡°I¡¯m plenty girly!¡±


    Jun just gave me a look of disbelief. Hey! That¡¯s so mean!


    ¡°Motoko I¡¯ve seen you wear the same leotard for days on end before.¡±


    I paused in utter betrayal! I was programming then! I was too busy for things like¡­ Showering¡­ Or changing clothes¡­


    ¡°We never speak of this again, or I tell everyone about the bed burrito.¡±


    He blinked. Considering. Then nodded. Turning around and walking away like the conversation never happened.


    Good.


    Some things should just be kept between siblings.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°Wow. I¡¯m totally impressed, Jun-nii! Truly this is the best place ever!¡±


    ¡°Your sarcasm isn¡¯t really necessary.¡± He grumbled at me as we looked at the building.


    Funnily enough, we were just down the street from the apartments that I cleared the other night. The same tutorial Scav den from the game. Just north, along the same road I had leapt over while escaping Jun was a bunch of apartment buildings all smashed together into a mess.


    Of course the entrance was a big red Torri Gate. That and everything was covered in graffiti Tigers.


    If you missed the fact this was Tyger Claw Territory.


    ¡°Just come look at the apartments, okay? They are big. Bigger than our current place, and they are safe.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m playing along for now, mostly because I love you, and want to spend time with you, but I¡¯m not interested.¡± I informed him, which to my secret delight earned me a heavy hand ruffling my hair a little.


    I swiped a punch at him in retaliation of course, but it was still nice.


    ¡°C¡¯mon let¡¯s see the place before anything else. You might like it. We¡¯ll have neighbors that aren¡¯t Ms. Kagura.¡± He offered and I blinked before remembering the old lady that was our neighbor on our floor.


    ¡°Oh right. I forgot about her.¡±


    ¡°Well there will be some kids our age here. So maybe someone you actually get along with. Someone to add to your little group?¡±


    ¡°Yeah sure Jun.¡± I agreed without actually agreeing. If they lived here they would be TC brats¡­ Okay that¡¯s not a good excuse considering most of my friends were just that, but they were probably gonks.


    My decision not to like the situation I was stuck in, had Jun rolling his eyes as I shot grumpy looks at him constantly.


    We walked into the building from a side entrance through a shop into a hallway that led to a dozen closed doors. Jun led us to an elevator and then hit the twenty-seventh floor.


    Finally we hit the floor, and I had to admit. The moment the doors opened I did have to quirk an eyebrow. The elevator entrance area was clean.


    Like actually clean.


    It was actually a surprise I was so used to the decaying squalor, I barely noticed it anymore.


    Yet here, there were clean carpets. White walls which did have Tyger Claw stuff on it, but it was paintings, instead of just graffiti.


    ¡°I told you Fujimura-sama owns this floor and rents it out to Tyger Claws. You think he would put up with a messy space?¡±


    I scoffed but followed Jun down the hall. I noticed the security without a thought. Ninjutsu and Netrunning meant I couldn¡¯t help but notice it.


    Quality cameras, security features on every door. A hidden HMG turret in the roof inside the elevator entrance way.


    Okay it was definitely more secure than our previous place.


    There we only had security gates on the stairs which didn¡¯t do much since the elevators were still open access.


    ¡°This is it.¡± Jun said suddenly as he stopped in front of a room. 2704.Jun looked to me like he was expecting some interest, but I had literally been in plenty of apartments over the last few days.


    Mostly killing Scavs, but the point stood.


    He looked a little bummed that I was remaining disinterested as he opened the door.


    The apartment was actually pretty big.


    It opened into a large living room. Something we didn¡¯t really have in our place. It even had one of those round media couches indented into the floor in the corner.


    There was a small inset nearby that had a fridge, and a pseudo kitchenette. Just without any of the normal stuff in a kitchen, because people don¡¯t cook in Cyberpunk.


    More like they were pushed to not cook, but that wasn¡¯t something I was going to focus on right now.


    The Bathroom still didn¡¯t have an actual door.


    Fucking Cyberpunk. I swear to god doors on bathrooms were normal! Why did no one have a damn¡­


    I sighed letting the irritation go. I was still finding myself easily riled up since the attack. It was obvious the attack hadn¡¯t exactly left me my usual self. I took a deep breath and let it out, feeling arctic for a moment, as I steadied my heart and then breathed normally.


    Jun was wandering around looking around the place with a happy smile on his face.


    Dammit. Jun wanted to move didn¡¯t he?


    The brush with returning Cyberpsychosis seemed to have washed off his back after everything. Which was good, but it did kind of piss me off, because it meant Jun was actually¡­


    Jun was actually happy looking around this apartment. It wasn¡¯t faked, or something he was trying to convince me.


    This was something he wanted.


    I forgot.


    People in Night City cared about reputation. Reputation was important. And the way you showed off your rep was owning things.


    Fast cars, fancy clothes, lots of chrome.


    A big apartment.


    Our place was kinda a shithole. I knew that. I just¡­ I had grown comfy. It was security. Safety like a blanket.


    I was going to have to be the mature one. Jun deserved that. Jun deserved to be able to have a nice big apartment with room to actually move, and fancy stuff.


    He was a teenager taking care of his kid sister. His kid sister that shouldn¡¯t be throwing a fucking tantrum like an actual teenager about moving into a bigger, fancier, more secure apartment.


    Dammit. I hated when my face was rubbed in the negative effects of my own childishness. I mean¡­ I wasn¡¯t going to change, but at least I could acknowledge when it caused problems.


    There actually was more than one room here. I guess I really would have my own room. Jun was distracted with checking out the entertainment system, acting like the teenager he was as I checked the rooms.


    ¡°I call dibs on this one!¡± I call out, knowing the reaction it would get.


    ¡°That¡¯s the bigger room!¡± Jun yelped as he charged at me, and I broke the smile on my face before he could see it.


    There would be a fight, I would likely be sat on for a while, and in the end Jun would ¡®earn¡¯ his master bedroom. But it was better this way.


    Because as much as I was focused on my own happiness. I wanted Jun the big gonk to be happy too, and maybe¡­ Maybe it was time to let him have that happiness without his needy, childish sister getting in the way.

 Chapter 109

    We went home to the apartment after and the whole time Jun was being insufferable.


    ¡°I told you you would like it!¡± he teased, smiling like the stupid gonk he is.


    My desire to punch him was rising. Just because I had accepted that moving was what Jun wanted, and I shouldn¡¯t hold him back didn¡¯t mean I really wanted it.


    But he was acting like I was super happy with it all.


    ¡°Jun shut up.¡± I told him simply as I walked around my room cleaning things up. Gathering up everything so we could start moving stuff.


    ¡°When do you want me to call Ichi with his truck? Wait, when does the lease and stuff actually go through?¡± How did leasing even work in Night City?


    ¡°What do you mean, it¡¯s already ours.¡± Jun said as he popped his head around the corner from his room to look at me.


    I narrowed my eyes.


    ¡°Fujimura already gave you the apartment before you ever tried to convince me to move didn¡¯t he?¡± I accused him, eyes narrowed as I prepared for the answer I already knew.


    Jun blinked realizing he was suddenly standing in the middle of a minefield.


    ¡°Nooo?¡± He said and I chucked an old shoe at him that I had found in a corner. Unfortunately he was pretty quick and dodged it.


    ¡°Jerk.¡± I grumbled as I continued to dig things out of corners. And finding bags and boxes to put them in.


    I picked up another cardboard box that Jun had grabbed to stuff shit into.


    Well it wasn¡¯t actually cardboard. It looked like it, sorta felt like it, but it wasn¡¯t. And I had long ago decided not to ask questions about what stuff in Night City was actually made of.


    I should be killing Scavs right now.


    Not dealing with moving.


    I pulled out my little dresser, noticing a bunch of stuff that I had never seen before back behind it.


    Motoko was kind of a slob¡­


    Okay I was still kind of a slob, but I had a lot less knick knacks and junk¡­


    Okay I still had a lot of junk, but it was all tech supplies!


    ¡°Huh.¡± I muttered pulling out an actual digital photo display. I switched it on and blinked.


    ¡°So that¡¯s what I looked like before.¡± It was a picture of Motoko¡­ Well older Motoko sitting on Jun¡¯s Kusanagi. She was dressed up fully in Tyger Claw swag, hair done up in mohawk¡­


    I guess HIromi and I used to share hairstyles? Although mine had been a shorter faux hawk.


    I looked at it for a while. I had no real connection to it. Jun was younger. Probably fifteen? He looked hilarious with his tough guy wannabe looks¡­


    No wait. That means he would be around Ichi and Malcolm''s age! He was a wannabe too! Oh man!


    ¡°Hey Jun, look what I found!¡± I called out smirking as I walked out of my bedroom to see Jun carefully disassembling the family shrine.


    ¡°What¡¯d you find?¡± He asked solemnly as he slowly took down the picture of our parents.


    ¡°Nothing that interesting. Need some help?¡± I asked as I threw the picture frame onto the couch and moved to help Jun pack up our family shrine.


    I¡¯d tease him about the picture later.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°So you¡¯re really moving?¡± Ichi asked as I led him inside.


    ¡°Yeah. It was important to Jun.¡± I admitted as I pushed a box to the side to clear up some room on the couch. ¡°Take a seat.¡±


    ¡°No I can help!¡± He offered doing the usual childish act of flexing an arm.


    ¡°If you want? But the guy who brings the truck can put his feet up if he wants.¡± I informed him which earned me a chuckle.


    ¡°Crazy to think last night was the last time we¡¯ll ever meet up here.¡± He muttered, and I did my best to keep cool, to not let that thought strike my heart.


    For Jun.


    ¡°Yeah, but starting tonight, You¡¯ll be able to meet up and party at our new place.¡± Jun said as he appeared from around the corner, holding a box in one under and a long bag that I realized was acting as his gun bag.


    Huh, I didn¡¯t know Jun had a gun bag¡­


    Wait fuck I don¡¯t have a gun bag! All my guns were stolen from gonks! It¡¯s cool. Just pretend I don¡¯t notice and it won¡¯t matter.


    ¡°Yeah that¡¯s true. We¡¯ll have a new meetup. Motoko¡¯s fancy new place.¡±


    ¡°It is kinda fancy.¡± I whispered to Ichi as I walked by arms full of boxes. ¡°Grab that one?¡±


    Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!


    ¡°Yeah sure.¡± He hefted up another box and all three of us headed down towards his truck.


    It was parked just out front of the apartment, and the guards were keeping an eye on it, so we wouldn¡¯t have to worry about anything going missing while loading it up.


    Pushing my box in, I stopped and headed over to the meat stick guy. ¡°Gonna miss my usual.¡± I told him and he chuckled and passed me an extra large stick.


    Thanks, Meat stick guy. You¡¯re the best.


    I paid extra though. I definitely had more eddies than the poor old man.


    As I took a break and ate my last meat stick skewer I looked around. Mostly because I was still on edge and expecting to see a Scav hunter group or something barreling down the road.


    But there was nothing.


    Just a quiet day on the streets.


    In the end, despite my fears there hadn¡¯t been a second Scav attack. No bomb, or trick. It made me nervous because I thought there would have been and yet.


    Nothing.


    I didn¡¯t know why though. Then again what I had done could have been completely covered by the acts of the Tygers.


    Considering how Scavs act. We could have killed the Scavs that knew about where I lived. Or killed all the Scavs that cared.


    The whole thing was a massive mess, and unlike in a video game that would always have a helpful conversation shard sitting on the side of a table or something, there wasn¡¯t anything that helpful for me to figure this out.


    I still really wanted to kill them. Just to make sure, but the whole thing was weird.


    In the end the real world wasn¡¯t a game, or an anime. I wasn¡¯t the main character of Night City.


    Well¡­


    Not yet.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°Well. This is it.¡± Jun said as he dropped the last box of stuff into the middle of the living room.


    We were completely moved out.


    Our entire apartment, our entire life, had fit in the back of Ichi¡¯s truck. It had only taken one load to move everything over.


    Our vehicles were now parked in a garage under the building.


    Our stuff was there on the floor. Malcolm and Ichi were watching the truck to make sure nothing went missing while Jun and I unloaded.


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I muttered before sighing and walking into my room. It had an actual bed. One of the weird future beds that were everywhere in Night city. Gently I pulled out a special object out of my jacket. Something I hadn¡¯t trusted letting anyone else mess with. The bed had little drawers along the side of it, and for now that was good enough. I slipped it in.


    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Jun asked, not quite startling me.


    ¡°A cyberdeck.¡± I explained. I just didn¡¯t explain that it was Rache fucking Bartmosses deck.


    ¡°Okay?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s rare, one of a kind, so I kept it on me.¡± I told him and then shrugged heading back out to the apartment. ¡°I¡¯ll go get the boys.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, sounds good.¡± Jun said looking at the pile of junk that we had stacked up on the floor. He sighed and grabbed the first box.


    That¡¯s right Jun! Suffer at the knowledge that moving sucked!


    I headed out. The hallway as usual was so fancy it almost made me uncomfortable. I kept checking my boots to make sure I wasn¡¯t tracking mud on the carpets.


    But as I walked past the apartment right next to ours, I heard something that halted me in my place.


    Music.


    Not recorded sound, but someone actually playing an instrument. I stopped to listen for a moment as the tune came through the walls.


    Huh. They were good! I hummed along for a moment as I let the song play through. I liked it. The musician had a recorded track they were playing with, a lot of recorded sounds, and a definite Japanese electronica groove.


    Honestly I was just thankful it wasn¡¯t Us Cracks.


    I shook it off, and decided I would say hello to my new neighbor sometime soon.


    Until then I needed to head back down and let the boys know we had finished and they were now free.


    I headed down taking the elevator that took forever to get down to the garage basement floor.


    I walked out and had to frown.


    A few Tygers were messing with the boys.


    Around the front of Ichi¡¯s truck were a group of teenagers. They were obviously unwelcome as they were resting against the truck, one even sitting on the front of Ichi¡¯s hood, her legs swinging as they obviously were causing trouble.


    ¡°Hey!¡± I called out as I walked over catching the eyes of the group. ¡°What are you guys bothering my chooms for?¡±


    ¡°Eh? Bothering? We are just checking out these weird gonks idling in our garage. Who the hell are you?¡± The one that had been hanging his elbow in Ichi¡¯s window called out, but didn¡¯t move away, instead a couple of his chooms were focusing on me.


    ¡°They were helping us move in. Twenty-Seventh floor.¡± I called out, emphasizing the floor. Fujimura owned the entire floor? Then anyone in the area would know not to mess with anyone from that floor.


    Their ¡®leader¡¯ slowly pulled away from the window as he looked me over.


    ¡°You don¡¯t look like the type to live on that floor.¡±


    ¡°Fujimura and I have an understanding¡­ And my Nii-chan is one of his men. Now stop harassing my chooms.¡± I demanded.


    I had learned from my lesson with Hiromi. Be blunt and direct with gangsters because they might not have the brain cells to rub together to understand a less blunt threat.


    It still grated at me. To rely on Fujimura¡¯s rep. The stupid ¡°Do you know who I am?¡± Statements always annoyed me.


    I walked past the group, noticing the girl on the hood had slipped off, and tried to make it look like she hadn¡¯t just been sitting on Ichi¡¯s truck.


    ¡°Thanks for the help guys. Jun and I have it from here. Why don¡¯t you head out of here, We are just going to be unpacking for a while¡­ Here, dinner¡¯s on me, okay?¡± I quickly sent a bunch of eddies to Malcolm and Ichi, despite Ichi¡¯s glare.


    He had refused any payment for helping out today, but I wasn¡¯t going to let them help Jun and I move for free.


    ¡°Hey! That¡¯s the boss for you!¡± Malcolm called out more than happy for the payment.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to¡­ Motoko!¡± Ichi yelled behind me but I was already hurrying away, passing through the gangster gonks who were all watching me, their faces all showing their curiosity in who I was.


    If I was important.


    If I was lying.


    If I was telling the truth.


    But I wasn¡¯t here to satisfy their curiosity. I rushed back to the elevator and headed back up.


    Time to unpack.


    ¡ª---


    Jun and I both flopped onto the big round couch.


    ¡°That was tiring.¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I agreed with Jun. Everything was unpacked, or at least the boxes were put away in our rooms for later. Our family shrine was up. Our weapons were stored away, which had taken a bit longer than expected.


    My armory had to my absolute delight put Jun¡¯s to shame, and we might have gotten into a wrestling match when he made a move towards my HMG.


    Mine!


    But now we were basically done.


    All moved out.


    All moved in.


    ¡°It¡¯s gonna be great Motoko. You¡¯ll see.¡± He said and I didn¡¯t respond. He had been saying stuff like this to me all day, trying to hype me up for the new move.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you the least bit excited? A new place? Bigger! Better!¡± I could try to explain to him that I knew what moving to a new apartment was like. It usually just ended with a month of getting used to it, before realizing all the new problems you had to live with that might not be the horrible ones from the last place, but were still shit.


    But I couldn¡¯t exactly tell him that. As far as Jun was aware this was my first new place ever.


    ¡°I¡¯m gonna play the entire Samurai Catalog at full blast right outside your room all night¡­ Fair warning.¡± I informed him and received a retaliatory pillow in exchange.


    ¡°You¡¯ll like it. It¡¯s better in every way from our old place.¡± Jun informed me with a dreamy voice.


    ¡°You realize of course there isn¡¯t an XXL burrito machine outside the apartment door anymore.¡± Then I let that tidbit settle in. A moment later Jun was at the door and then rushing down the hall.


    I had checked as we walked in. No XXL burritos in the area that I had seen.


    Good luck Jun-nii!


    ¡ª--


    Okay. We were moved in. Now back to work.


    *Yes really. Why are you so confused? You sent the shard with the code over, and I just spent the last couple hours debugging it. It¡¯s done.*


    *I expected you to take at least a week checking it over Motoko¡­ Please make sure you are thorough.*


    I sighed audibly and rubbed my face.


    *I¡¯ve already gone through it all Yoko. I¡¯ll add a file into the shard showing everything I fixed just so you can be sure, but I¡¯m done. There isn¡¯t anything else that needs to be fixed unless you want me to start rewriting the code from scratch.*


    The line was quiet for a while. *Very well. I¡¯ll have a runner come by your new place for a pickup. I¡¯ll confirm the work, and message you when I¡¯ve found an issue, or written off the favor.*


    *Perfect. Talk to you later then.*


    I hung up. Wakako was right. Hanging up on people that were annoying you was great.


    I groaned as I flopped on the couch. Between coding work and moving in. I was done for now. Jun was still bustling about his room setting things up looking happier than I had seen him in a while.


    Stupid Jun. Being happy about this crummy apartment.


    I wanted to go kill Scavs.


    I rolled up and rushed to my room. Grabbing my ammo and MaxDoc pouches, I suited up. If I went fast enough Jun wouldn¡¯t catch me leaving and bother me again.


    I geared up quickly, grabbing my Kang Tao armor and doing a full suit up.


    Techgogs equipped I was ready for war.


    Sliding the goggles over my eyes I slipped over to my door and peaked out.


    No Jun in sight. Operation was a go.


    I rushed out bare feet utterly silent on the carpet. Honestly it was a weird feeling since I was so used to the tiled floors that filled NIght City and the fact I usually just wore my boots around so I would be safe from any trash on the floor.


    But this apartment was too clean, so I had to leave my boots at the front door. I quickly grabbed them and left through the door once the door was closed I slipped them on. Taking a minute to secure everything and then I was heading down the hall. Passing by music neighbor and reaching the elevator without anyone noticing beside the cameras.


    I quickly sent Jun a Text.


    *Motoko: Heading out for a while.*


    Just as the door shut.


    Didn¡¯t want Jun to try and stop me. I whistled fakely as I pretended to ignore the text he sent back in response wanting to know what I was doing.


    Then I was back in the garage, and the city was mine.


    I walked out stalking towards where Jun and I¡¯s parking spot was located. Ignoring the attention that the Tyger teens gave me as I walked around.


    Don¡¯t call me a Dough Girl. Don¡¯t call me a Dough Girl!


    I ignored them. I didn¡¯t even want to know what they were saying as I walked up to the Quadra and popped the trunk.


    Inside my armory was ready. I grabbed the Copperhead from the roof of the trunk. I had spent some time adding additional weapon slots to the trunk over time. Honestly I had a few cutouts that I didn¡¯t even own yet, but more as future desires.


    I patted my Nekomata a bit as I left it behind. I needed to work with Jackie and V and stuff more. I would get more sniper work with them I felt.


    But I ignored that as I walked to the driver seat and laid my Copperhead in the passenger footwell. So I could grab it quickly if needed.


    I had a few more places to hit tonight.


    Time to get to work.

 Chapter 110

    Second site of the night.


    The first location hadn¡¯t even been a real Scav Den. Just a small storage unit that three gonks that were definitely not official Scavs, just fuckers willing to do horrible things to people.


    They were all dead now, and I had the XP to prove it.


    *500 XP Gained.*


    *500 XP Gained.*


    *500 XP Gained.*


    I don¡¯t care if you were official Scavs, or just some assholes ripping people apart for eddies. They were all fucking trash in my opinion.


    But that had just been on the way to Heywood. The building I was parked just down the street from was the bigger place I had ended up skipping to go to the Maelstrom meeting.


    Once again. I accessed the system. Pinged them all, and had the entire place scoped out.


    I was once again stacked up on the door. I waited half a second to see if Jun would call me to interrupt again, but it never came.


    Go time. I surged through, rifle leading the way. I couldn¡¯t just shoot through the walls this time. The basement they were hiding in was all solid concrete.. Unless I was using my Nekomata or my Burya I wouldn¡¯t get any rounds through.


    But I didn¡¯t need that.


    The first room was a garage. Two gonks inside. One working on a van. Obviously their meat wagon. The other was sitting in the driver seat obviously helping out.


    Both were too slow to avoid my Copperhead as I unloaded on them both as I rushed them. The driver coated the windscreen in blood and the mechanic fell into his tool box very dead.


    I didn¡¯t pay attention to the noise of my system telling me I had gotten XP.


    *500 XP Gained.*


    *500 XP Gained.*


    I didn¡¯t slow down. I still had half a magazine and more Scavs.


    Obviously the gun shots would alert them. So I didn¡¯t slow down. At the back of the garage was a door that led into the basement area itself. This building had once been some sort of shop. The top floor had big open windows and butted against the street. Obviously they didn¡¯t use it, but this basement was basically a loading and storage area.


    The next room now was just a big empty space full of Scavs, and dead bodies. And all their equipment to rip people apart.


    I leapt into the room using all my strength and my chrome ankles bouncing well past the door where instantly a few of the Scavs fired trying to kill me.


    They missed. Then their guns stopped firing as I shut that down with a toothy grin.


    I loved being a Netrunner. One of them I noticed did respond. A faint effort to fight back against the hack on the digital scape, but he was far too slow to stop it as it pinged him, then his chooms, then him again and again and again.


    I rolled along the concrete, until I slowed enough. I rose up. Lines of golden light already telling me where to aim.


    I popped up and three rounds echoed through the room, The light I was using as a guide post vanished, along with earning an alert.


    *500 XP Gained.*


    I rolled, slipping out of view behind the plastic sheets they had hanging from the ceiling all over the place to section off Ripper chairs.


    To keep the blood splatter down.


    Yeah it would still be useful now.


    I flipped around, lined up my rifle with the golden lights and just started plugging away.


    I got another one, before the others ducked behind cover realizing their weapons were dead.


    *500 XP Gained.*


    ¡°Who the fuck is attacking us!?¡± A voice called out sounding terrified and I could practically hear the noise of metal on metal as he desperately tried to get his malfunctioning gun to work.


    ¡°Some bitch! Watch out for more! They got a Netrunner!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry!¡± I called out in return, using my sexy Motoko voice as well, I was recording after all. ¡°I¡¯m the one who is going to send you all to hell!¡± I yelled out excited for what came next.


    I shifted back up to my feet still crouched and then leapt.


    The plastic sheet kept me from view until the last moment when I hit it at the apex of my jump and then ripped through.


    They freaked, leaping out of cover desperately pointing weapons that weren¡¯t functional. Only one had a smart idea and grabbed a big fucking machete knife and charged at me.


    I hit the ground, rolled forward and he reached me just as my rifle was brought up.


    I unloaded on him, easily blasting him away from me with the remainder of my magazine.


    *500 XP Gained.*


    I dropped the rifle. Reload would take too long, and I had other options.


    Lexington was quickdrawn to a position right against my chest as I turned and unloaded into another Scav that was trying to attack me from behind. He cried out  as his chest turned into swiss cheese.


    Then he died.


    *500 XP Gained.*


    I started chasing the rest, killing another one who was hiding under a table as if he could just disappear there, and then to my irritation two of them were smart.


    *500 XP Gained.*


    They delta¡¯ed. I ran at a door that the two had slipped into and was brought to a complete halt as I slammed into it and it didn¡¯t budge.


    I slammed the handle again and pushed but the door barely budged.


    They had thrown something heavy on the other side.


    ¡°Fuckers!¡±


    I turned and ran. I would have to head out the garage and get around the building. They were escaping out the front!


    Even with all my speed by the time I made it to the front of the store their car was already nearly down the street, their golden lines fading away as they got too far away from the building net, and already well past the range I could quickhack as I could see them directly.


    My Quadra was parked around the back. It would take too long to get into it, and then chase them.


    This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    Two escaped.


    Two Scavs escaped me.


    I had done this because I wanted to practice going loud. But I let two Scavs escape!


    I should have blinded them. I should have shown up with my HMG.


    I should have stealthed the whole group.


    I should have¡­ I should have¡­


    I stepped back and pushed myself against the front of the old boarded up storefront.


    Cool.


    Get cool.


    I exhaled arctic air and suddenly the absolute fit I had been half way into stalled out.


    ¡°I¡¯m okay. Mistakes happen, and we learn from them.¡± I told myself. I had almost just had a complete freakout over letting two Scavs get away.


    Yeah that wasn¡¯t a healthy sign.


    ¡°Fuck.¡±


    ¡ª--


    I ignored everything as I headed home.


    I still had more Scav dens I could hit, but I was obviously not handling this whole situation as well as I thought I was.


    The apartment was quiet as I stomped in flipping off my boots at the door with a few wobbling bounces as I then stripped out of my armor letting it just drop to the floor.


    There was a ton of floor space. Plenty of space to leave things for later.


    I stripped out of my Section 9 clothes, the armored weight feeling far too restricting right now. Both jacket and pants were thrown onto the floor leaving me feeling a lot cooler as I wiped some sweat off my head.


    Then I flopped face first onto the couch.


    The couch wasn¡¯t right. It was too cushiony. It didn¡¯t smell like home either.


    I screamed into the cushion slamming my fist down into it over and over until I was out of air.


    Then I rolled off the couch and stood up. Annoyed at the stupid inset couch I had to climb out of just to get back on the floor.


    I ran into my room. There was only one solution to this frustration I was feeling.


    I grabbed my guitar and my music box.


    I could have stayed in my room, but I didn¡¯t want to be in there right now. So I hooked myself into my Music box and dropped the box onto the couch as I paced around the back of the couch.


    I wanted something angry. Something fitting, but I wasn¡¯t sure what to play.


    I felt frustrated. Burned on the inside because everything that was happening just¡­


    ¡°I¡¯m going to burn this city.¡± I muttered the song coming to mind instantly. Not exactly my favorite band. Not even my favorite song, but I couldn¡¯t deny that there was a reason it fit Edgerunners so well.


    And right now I was feeling full of fire too. Franz Ferdinand¡¯s This Fire¡­ Yeah I could make it work.


    I switched up my voice, I wasn¡¯t going to try and copy the singer from Franz Ferdinand¡­ At least I was pretty sure that was just the band name and not the artist¡­


    Oh well. No way for me to know now.


    And so my voice went huskier. Heavier. I wasn¡¯t going to play the song with the almost joyful chaos feeling the original had.


    I was angry.


    So I let that out.


    I practically growled out the first line. Letting the anger and frustration at the Scavs. At Jun and his stupid new apartment. At everything.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to burn this city!¡± I roared, slamming the guitar to get the notes just right. And I just let it all out. Like Rita had said. A hobby was important. A way to feel the emotions I kept locked up tight with Cold Blood.


    Catharsis.


    ¡°I¡¯ll burn it down!¡± I said the last lyric, before rolling into shredding the guitar, Hyping the noise up louder and louder, faster and faster until it just stopped.


    I exhaled and flopped onto the back of the couch, feet resting on the cushions as I just hunched over and exhaled all the fire in my belly.


    I ran a chrome hand through my hair. The unique texture was always a weird feeling and I practically luxuriated in it for that moment. Sweat sticking to the metal as I breathed and cooled off.


    I didn¡¯t feel very calm even still.


    It wasn¡¯t that they escaped. That was just the trigger. The fact was I didn¡¯t like change very much. I liked my routines, and any change that happened was okay as long as it was my choice.


    I pulled my music box over. The vocal and Guitar track would both need some work, trying a brand new vocal and guitar style on a song was kinda new to me.


    I went to work. Both as something to distract myself with, and also I guess I just wanted to hear it as well.


    ¡ª--


    I stopped as I heard something loud bonk into the door. I quickly pulled off my guitar and grabbed my Lexington aiming at the door, because that had been a really weird noise.


    Then the doorbell rang.


    I quickly stacked up at the side of the door and then in a flash I opened it, the pneumatic door popping out of the way and I was aiming before quickly yanking my gun into the air to keep it from aiming at who had rang the bell.


    ¡°Hiromi?¡±


    ¡°H-Hey Motoko¡­¡± She said and we both stared at each other.


    Hiromi had a big red mark on her forehead.


    It took me a moment to realize what had happened.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have the door key here yet.¡± I reminded her and her semi pout turned into a tearful look as if demanding me to take back what I had just said as she held a hand over her forehead.


    I quickly holstered my Lexington and pulled her inside and into a hug.


    ¡°That never happened.¡± She demanded and I made all the right noises of acceptance. ¡°I wanted to surprise you! I got excited.¡± She explained and I just nodded and rubbed her back as she buried her face into my shoulder.


    She was so used to having the key to our place that she had tried to rush the door. The door hadn¡¯t opened.


    Poor Hiromi.


    I brought her over to the couch and settled her in. Ignoring her faux sniffle that she pointedly threw a look at me after demanding I don¡¯t acknowledge it.


    ¡°How did you know where the new place was? I thought I would have to come pick you up and show you.¡±


    She seemed to shake herself a bit and sat up straight. ¡°I called Ichi of course. He helped you move, so I got the address and everything. I couldn¡¯t use the elevator, so I had to use the stairs.¡± She whined at me, I actually blinked at that.


    ¡°You should have just called. I would have come down to get you.¡±


    ¡°I wanted to surprise you!¡± She whined and I couldn¡¯t help but start laughing.


    ¡°You did!¡± I told her with a big smile and then she realized I was teasing her and whined at me in distress.


    ¡°Jerk! Gonk! You aren¡¯t! Ugh! You have your guitar out! Play a song for me!¡± She finally demanded as she turned a bit red, but not as red as the mark on her forehead.


    ¡°Hiromi, I don-¡±


    ¡°Pleeeease.¡± She whined, putting her hands up to her chest and begging.


    ¡°Fine. I¡¯m working on something new anyways, I could use a separate ear.¡±


    ¡°Yeeeees!¡± She hissed, wiggling and kicking. ¡°Serenade me!¡± She demanded as she sprawled out on the couch looking eager.


    ¡°Not really that kind of song.¡± I muttered. I hadn¡¯t completed the drum track just yet, but I could still just enjoy doing another vocals and guitar play through.


    First I went into my room and came out with the speakers and Amp for the guitar. I had recorded everything digitally so I wouldn¡¯t disturb my neighbors. Even if musician neighbor might not mind.


    So I picked up my guitar plugged it into my music box, plugged that into the speakers and amp, and then I started another rendition of This Fire.


    I played. I roared, and sang and slammed my guitar. The emotions hadn¡¯t diminished, only been released a little and so I raged a little while I sang. I turned the almost peppy song into something darker.


    A threat.


    ¡°This fire is out of control!.


    I¡¯m going to burn this city, burn this city!¡±


    And so I played for Hiromi, but mostly I played for me.


    For the Motoko that didn¡¯t want to obsess with killing every Scav in the city and just wanted to do whatever crazy thing that came to my mind.


    For the Motoko that as much as she wanted to fight and kill, didn¡¯t like at all that others could turn it back on her. Could harm her. Could harm her friends. Her family.


    I was breathing heavily when I finished the song. I closed my eyes, I couldn¡¯t look at Hiromi. Because I couldn¡¯t handle someone not liking the song at that moment. I pulled off the guitar and stood up, taking a moment to remember where the fridge was. I grabbed a can of¡­ Whatever the hell this was. The logo and stuff was so artsy I couldn¡¯t tell. I popped it and drank it down.


    Eh. I¡¯ve had worse, but I felt off. Weird. It took a moment as I pulled up my system to realize what had happened.


    *Cool Leveled up!*


    Cool 9. No wonder I felt¡­ Better. Was it that? No, not better. Not exactly, but¡­ Cooler. Like the stress wasn¡¯t hurting me as bad.


    Then I turned around running a hand through my hair, ¡°So what did you-oof!¡± I grunted as Hiromi slammed into me and squealed.


    ¡°Eeeeee!¡±


    ¡°I guess you liked it then?¡±


    ¡°You are going to be world famous, I¡¯m gonna be your super awesome manager and it¡¯s gonna be the best!¡± She cheered in delight and broke into a few chuckles. Not exactly what I was hoping would be her response, but I guess as long as Hiromi was happy.


    No wait. I don¡¯t want to be world famous!


    Dangit Hiromi!


    ¡ª-


    ¡°So how long until the whole song is done?¡± Hiromi asked as she sat beside me on the couch. I had grabbed the laptop to once again allow Hiromi to see what I was doing on the Music box as I recorded the digital tracks to finish the song.


    ¡°Not sure¡­ I¡¯m sorta trying something different on this song. Originally.. Well it was supposed to be more upbeat almost? It sounds weird, but yeah. I¡¯m just making it darker. More Samurai, less Us Cracks.¡± I explained and Hiromi giggled at my description.


    ¡°You should make an Us Cracks version! Jun would listen to it!¡±


    ¡°Ugh. Please don¡¯t remind me.¡± I grumbled at her, but in the end I shrugged. ¡°I think I¡¯ve got most of it. I¡¯m mostly just¡­ fiddling now. Making sure I didn¡¯t flub anything, and making sure all the tracks line up and actually flow.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s so crazy how good you are at everything.¡± She muttered, and I actually stilled a little.


    This wasn¡¯t the first time Hiromi had said something similar. Not the first time someone had noticed that I was picking up on things too fast.


    ¡°I¡­ I just-¡± I started to stutter tensing up, but Hiromi practically leapt on me in response.


    ¡°Whoa. Ah. I didn¡¯t mean anything by it Motoko! You¡¯re so amazing. I¡¯m just a little jealous! You can do basically anything it¡¯s just a little¡­ intimidating? I guess. Trying to keep up.¡±


    I quickly shoved my guitar off my shoulder and reached over to grab at Hiromi to her surprise as I pulled her bodily into a hug.


    A tight one so she couldn¡¯t escape.


    ¡°It¡¯s not a race¡­ And I¡¯m way behind in tons of things, but I don¡¯t¡­ Please don¡¯t think you need to compete. I need my best choom.¡±I said burying my face into her neck as I used everyone lick of knowledge to grapple Hiromi in an unbreakable hug.


    ¡°Hey! No way am I going anywhere! You are stuck with me forever!¡± Hiromi responded and I nodded into her shoulder as I still refused to let go. Hiromi didn¡¯t seem to mind just patting my back this time. ¡°You okay Motoko? The song, and now this¡­ You seem a little¡­ Stressed?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯m handling all the stuff that happened as well as I would like.¡± I admit speaking into her jacket letting the texture muffle the words a little and create the disconnect that lets me share. ¡°I hate that we got attacked at home, and now, Jun moved us here, and I didn¡¯t want to move Hiromi. I miss home already.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± Hiromi whispered and then tightened her hug on me as well.


    ¡ª---


    ¡°Sorry.¡± I ended up saying a while later when I finally pulled away from Hiromi. I hadn¡¯t cried, but it was definitely a close call. Thanks Cool.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to apologize! I¡¯m just¡­ No, that''s gonna come out wrong.¡± She said and then flushed at even saying that.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°I just¡­ It¡¯s nice that you aren¡¯t completely put together? Getting homesick after a move¡­ I guess it just means I don¡¯t have to be perfect yet either? Sorry that sounds stupid since this is obviously bothering you, but¡­¡±


    ¡°Nah. It¡¯s okay.¡± I bumped her shoulder to add weight to my words.


    Hiromi perked up, obviously deciding to change topics. ¡°I like your new song! It¡¯s very Rockerboy! Are you going to record it into a BD like the last one? Or are you finally ready to let your number one Manager Hiromi set up a gi-¡±


    ¡°Nope.¡±


    ¡°Aww.¡± She whined, but I was laughing.


    ¡°Number one Manager?¡±


    ¡°Hey, just being honest.¡± She said with a wink and we both broke into laughter.


    ¡°You gonna stay the night tonight?¡± I asked suddenly, and Hiromi nodded firmly. Good. I could use the company.

 Chapter 111

    Was it weird that the strangest part about waking up with Hiromi gripped around my waist was that we were in a bed and not on an old couch.


    ¡°Unfamiliar ceiling.¡± I mumbled looking at the white plastic of the beds roof section, this being one of the weird all in one Cyberpunk beds rather than the couch or my old bed at the apartment.


    I blinked as I realized I hadn¡¯t set myself an eight hours like usual, but something had actually woken up, and it wasn¡¯t Hiromi¡¯s snorting snores in my ear.


    ¡°Ah. The Rockerboy is at it again.¡± I mumbled. The faint rumble of bass coming through the walls had woken me up.


    After a bit of wiggling I managed to work my way free of Hiromi¡¯s death grip, getting her attached to a pillow instead as I got up and stretched.


    I hadn¡¯t done the insta sleep so I was actually a little drowsy still. I grunted quickly as I stretched out my back.


    Quietly I padded out to the living room and noticed Jun¡¯s boots were by the door. I guess¡­ Okay that was slightly useful in quickly determining when my gonk brother was home or not.


    He must have come in pretty late. I hadn¡¯t even heard him¡­


    Okay, I was going to put some of my own security up. The old apartment had been small enough that if anyone entered I would notice even if I was asleep, but now if I was in my room. I might not notice at all.


    I walked up to the fridge and then slammed it shut.


    It was full of XXL Burritos.


    Full.


    ¡°Time to cannon ball a fucking gonk.¡± I determined and headed to his room. His door swished open and I saw that Jun was passed out in a mess of blankets.


    Jun was a messy sleeper.


    He was about to become a whole lot messier as I prepped myself with a few stretches and then I leapt.


    Elbow dropping onto him.


    Gently. I didn''t really want to hurt him.


    The loud ¡°Oof.¡± That burst out of him meant I had achieved my goal.


    But Motoko was no fool! I had learned from my previous mistakes!


    I instantly got up and delta¡¯ed.


    The angry Oni roared and rushed after me, struggling to free himself from his blanket bindings. I easily made it to the living room before him and I only had a moment to decide a strategy.


    Couch? Not deep enough to hide.


    Kitchen? Too full of Burritos.


    My room? Obvious choice Also full of potential weakness with Hiromi. She would likely help Jun just because. Or Jun would use her as a hostage. Neither were acceptable.


    The roar of the Oni behind me urged me on. I leapt across the room rolling and turning to see him rumble out of his room, red eyes bloodshot and angry.


    ¡°MOTOKO!¡± He roared, as he charged.


    Unfortunately for him. I was a Ninja.


    I charged back, leaping just in time to miss his grasping hands, and planting a foot right onto the top of his head letting me get just a bit more distance away as he spun in rage to catch me.


    ¡°Too slow! Nyayaya!¡± I taunted wiggling my tongue at him. The Oni raged and chased, but there was one benefit of our bigger apartment.


    It had a higher ceiling.


    I was able to continue to leap away as he chased, planting my foot right on top of his head as many times as I could until finally I tired out the beast.


    Not that I wasn¡¯t worn out as well.


    ¡°How¡­ About a¡­ Peace talk?¡± I offered breathing heavily as I rested against the wall near the couches. Jun was over by the kitchen where I had just left him once again face resting against the fridge.


    ¡°Motoko! Why!?¡±


    ¡°Why? You need to ask me that you gonk!? Open the fucking fridge!¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with the fridge!¡± He demanded back opening it and looking around, seemingly making sure his burritos were still there. ¡°Looks fine to me!¡±


    ¡°You fucking moron! You filled OUR fridge full of your stupid Burritos! You can¡¯t even eat that many before they go bad you gonk!¡±


    ¡°XXL Burritos are good for three months, Motoko. You should know that.¡± He replied in a tone saying I was the moron for not knowing and accepting this as fact.


    ¡°Oh my god, how often have you eaten three month old Burritos!?¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°I think I¡¯m gonna be sick!¡± I mumbled at the idea. They already tasted awful, what would old XXL burritos taste like?


    Of course that was my mistake. I took my eyes off the Oni.


    A moment later two impossible to budge arms wrapped around my chest and held me tight against him.


    ¡°Caught you.¡±


    ¡°Yeah but you¡¯re the one that eats those things. So I think I¡¯m still the winner.¡± I told him.


    Jun didn¡¯t like that.


    Jun will remember that.


    The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    ¡°Hey. What are you doing?¡± I demanded as Jun started moving. ¡°Jun? Hey Jun! Hiromi! My Brother has gone Cyberpsycho! Look at the fridge!¡± I demanded to Hiromi who we must have woken up as she was blinking sleepily at the fact Jun was carrying me across the apartment.


    Then he took me into the bathroom.


    ¡°Hey! He-ey! Jun! Don¡¯t you Da-Eeeee!¡± I squealed as Jun carried me right into the shower and hip checked the shower controls.


    Jun didn¡¯t seem to mind the freezing cold water as he held me right into the blast for a long while as I struggled to free myself.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°You okay?¡±


    ¡°F-f-f-fi-n-ne!¡± I chattered at Hiromi as she rubbed a towel around my shoulders. Jun was a madman!


    He stepped out of his room rubbing a towel over his own hair and looking like he had won a million bucks.


    The grin on his face was something I swore to remove in the most annoying fashion possible.


    ¡°Y-o-ou kno-w-w th-this m-means war!¡± I snarled at him but Jun had won the battle despite my surgical initial strike.


    ¡°You okay Hiromi? We didn¡¯t wake you too early with the roughhousing did we?¡± Jun asked and to my irritation Hiromi giggled.


    ¡°No Problem Jun! I got an interesting show out of it after all.¡± Jun just smirked at her, as he headed into the kitchen and to my disgust grabbed a burrito for breakfast.


    ¡°You want one?¡±


    ¡°N-NEVER!¡± I chattered but Hiromi shrugged and accepted breakfast. I couldn¡¯t even look at her after.


    That burrito probably gave her super cancer! Ignore the fact I¡¯ve eaten them from time to time in the past! That was the past!


    ¡°What XXL burrito Corpo has you in their Pocket Jun-nii? Just tell me and I¡¯ll make them disappear! We can buy you some new tastebuds!¡± I begged him but instead of answering he just chucked one of the burritos at my head, and I was too cold to dodge.


    I glared at him as the burrito thankfully didn¡¯t splatter across my face but definitely crumpled against me deforming around my face.


    ¡°That¡¯s disgusting Jun.¡±


    ¡°Eat your breakfast you brat.¡±


    ¡ª--


    The doorbell rang not long after. Hiromi was already gone, needing to go to school today, and Jun was just eating his second XXL burrito of the day.


    Disgusting.


    I quickly put my laptop to the side. A slight push with my feet put me into a handstand on the back of the couch and then I was back on my feet and walking towards the door, room for doing cool gymnastic stuff was, I would admit another small benefit of the new place ¡°I¡¯ll get it!¡± I called to Jun who didn¡¯t look like he was making any attempt to get the door anyways.


    Jerk.


    I for once wasn¡¯t actually armed. Even I didn¡¯t sleep with my gun holsters on me, but I had done some of the basic prepwork last night. Right next to the door was my Carnage shotgun, which I prepped with my left arm, gun pointing downwards but ready and opened the door with my right hand.


    As soon as I saw who it was, I was tempted to raise the shotgun up. But Jun would get angry.


    ¡°Fujimura.¡±


    ¡°Kusanagi.¡± He greeted me in turn, to my surprise he was alone. Probably the first time I had ever seen him somewhere without at least one or two of the Kamikaze at his back.


    ¡°Fujimura-sama! Come in!¡± Jun said as he had stood up quickly. Probably realizing I had no intention of actually inviting the guy inside.


    I didn¡¯t grumble, but I thought about it real hard as I stepped away and put my Carnage back against the wall for next time.


    He stepped in and walked over to Jun.


    ¡°Junichirou. How are you settling in?¡±


    ¡°Very well Sir! The apartment is perfect for us. Thank you again.¡± Jun replied, even offering a little bow.


    ¡°Good. If you have any problems you know I am down the hall.¡± He said and then took a seat on the couch.


    But before I could get annoyed at him just sitting down as he liked, I couldn¡¯t help but be surprised.


    ¡°Wait, you live here too?¡±


    ¡°I own this entire floor.¡± He stated simply. Hmm. He was kinda a dick, but I couldn¡¯t deny that it fit. He could fill the floor with people that would protect him and offer them homes all at the same time.


    Fujimura struck me as the kinda guy that would do one thing with multiple benefits.


    ¡°Kusanagi. Sit.¡± He demanded and I realized that he was talking to me.


    Instantly my hackles rose up. I was going to give him exactly what I thought about him ordering me around in my own ¡®home¡¯ but I noticed Jun looking at me with a stupid pleading puppy dog face.


    ¡°Fine.¡±


    I settled onto the couch. ¡°What do you want Fujimura?¡±


    ¡°Your rudeness during the meeting you barged into has been noted. Kusanagi.¡± He said to me and I just ran an eyebrow up at him. Like I care? He seemed completely unbothered by my lack of reaction.


    ¡°Word was put out among our connections for information on who exactly was involved with the assault on your home. The Scavs that attacked you assaulted you with their entire group. They are gone. That should be the end of that problem.¡± He offered and I could see Jun relax with a sigh.


    ¡°Wait, why would that be the end? If the Scavs are willing to attack us once why not do it again. We obviously pissed them off¡­ I pissed them off.¡± I acknowledged my own responsibility in this.


    ¡°You are young, and lack the understanding of why Scavs still exist in this city.¡± Fujimura replied back instantly. Then seemed to realize that Jun was looking to him wanting to better understand the situation as well. So the older man let out a faint breath that could be a sigh and continued. ¡°You think of them like the Tyger Claws. Or perhaps the Maelstrom. That is incorrect. There is no leader of the Scavs. There are hundreds.¡±


    ¡°Right. They are fragmented to make sure if one group gets wiped out it doesn¡¯t hit the rest, but that-¡±


    ¡°Incorrect. They are fragmented because many of the groups you call Scavs have no relation to each other at all, never have, and never will.¡±


    ¡°But then how do they work together? They all wear similar things! Act the same, hell most of them I¡¯ve run into speak russian!¡±


    ¡°Many Russian immigrants find their ability to earn eddies in Night City difficult. So they group with like minded men and become another nest of rats. Similar to others but with no true connection between them.¡±


    ¡°Copy cats¡­ You are telling me every group of Scav is just a copycat of the idea? They¡­¡±


    ¡°Not all. The Russian Bratva started the concept of the Scav in Night City many years ago, but since then? Yes. Even many who are born within Night City will call themselves Scavs. Will speak Russian even if they are not a native speaker.¡±


    It struck me then.


    I knew this. I knew what this was. The fact struck me like a fist.


    It almost made me dizzy at just what I was dealing with. ¡°Stand Alone Complex.¡± I whispered aloud.


    Multiple people with no association, all working towards a common goal, copying a criminal.


    That Scavs weren¡¯t a gang with a leader I could murder and be done with it. They were the dispossessed looking to make eddies, and copying something scary to protect themselves. Putting on a mask to easily describe themselves¡­


    ¡°Hmm?¡± Fujimura prompted, hearing my whispered words.


    ¡°Nothing. Just an explanation that I wasn¡¯t expecting. How do you kill a group that pops up without any central control? A completely random group of people all committing horrible crimes?¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t. You send out the exterminators from time to time to clear out the infestations and then move on.¡± Fujimura said, and I couldn¡¯t help but look up because, the way he said it.


    That wasn¡¯t an irritating old man explaining things to a kid.


    It was¡­ Gentle. Or as gentle as a man like Fujimura could ever do.


    ¡°Let it go Kusanagi. Kill them when you find them. Exterminate them when you can. But don¡¯t dedicate your life to something that will never end.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s stupid. Even if it''s a Stand Alone Complex. There are ways to fight back! I just have to make the idea of Scavs so toxic that no one will ever use it again.¡± The words were out of my mouth before I realized it, but the truth of them made me nod. ¡°I¡¯ve already started a way to do it. I kill them and every time I do, I send out a BD. I can show the city. Over and over. That being a Scav will just get you killed. Quicky. Brutally.¡±


    Fujimura didn¡¯t speak for a while, just watching me with a flat face.


    ¡°I told you most Scavs are without leadership, but don¡¯t think that means all of them are. The Bratva will not ignore you. They will destroy you swiftly, and without compromise.¡±


    I had nothing to say to that. Bombing. Snipers. An actually competent kill squad.


    I wasn¡¯t invincible, and worse yet, my chooms were either.


    Why was this so hard?


    ¡°Of course that is only if you continue to work as you have been. Alone. The Claws make it a point to remove Scavs from our territory whenever we find them. This is something the Bratva is already aware of, and they do not often settle in our territory for this reason. You¡¯re path to be an edgerunner won¡¯t bring you what you desire.¡±


    I met his eyes and had to admit.


    He was right.


    If I tried to do this like a Night City Edgerunner. I would end up dead. My chooms would die, and likely everything would go to shit.


    If I tried to join the gangs, my path would be different, but I would just be a disposable tool.


    If I joined a corp, that¡¯s just another flavor of gang.


    I knew all the paths that someone in Night City could take. I knew the downward spirals they all inevitably fell into¡­


    Could I avoid the same trap?


    I stood up and just walked back to my room. I didn¡¯t want to deal with Fujimura anymore. I had things to consider.


    ¡ª--


    I ended up taking a nap. Eight hours passed in a blink, but in the end it made me feel better. It made me feel more in control.


    I walked out into the living room to an empty apartment. Jun obviously was at work or out, and I just didn¡¯t want to deal with the quiet. I turned on the TV and ignored the stupid shows, but at least it created some noise.


    The couch didn¡¯t make much noise as I flopped on it. Not like our old one that squeaked, or poofed out air depending on where you landed.


    Was it weird that despite this apartment feeling closest to something from my last life, that it now felt foreign?


    The apartment had carpet. My feet tapped out an arpeggio as I thought.


    I think I had to stop for a while. Too much had changed all at once, and between the Kamikaze and my own actions we had done a pretty good job of wiping out a whole lot of Scavs.


    There would always be more.


    Well there would be more until I killed them all and salt and ashed the very idea of being a Scav in Night City.


    But until then. I needed to slow down. For my own sake.


    Besides, I could use the time to gather more Scav den info.


    No. I stood up then as I realized what I was doing. Obsession was something I had always had a¡­ Well I wouldn¡¯t call it an issue exactly. But it could be. And right now it was.


    We were safe. The Scavs wouldn¡¯t have any idea where we lived, and we had protection. I would do some work on the security today, and then¡­ Then I would stop thinking about Scavs for a few days. Minimum.


    I reached over and grabbed my Guitar. I wasn¡¯t good with sitting and doing nothing. So I would just make music for a while instead.

 Chapter 112

    The day had come and gone. Then the night. Jun hadn¡¯t come home, and the sun was rising. I had taken a break after an hour of playing music, and gone out. Spending a couple grand on some additional security for the apartment. Then Installing it all. Of course it was just off the shelf junk.


    It wouldn¡¯t really stop anyone.


    But I was currently programming out a bit of a trick. The thing with door locks is that they are never really going to stop someone. Instead I was going to keep the entire thing looking off the shelf, while inside the programming would have a bit of a trick.


    Sure you can break into the apartment if you really want.


    But I would know.


    And knowing is half the way to avoid a trap, or a surprise raid.


    I was still working on the code. Making the security system send an alarm if it was hacked wasn¡¯t hard. But letting it work without alerting the netrunner breaking in was.


    So I was fiddling with a few design options to sneak the alert through.


    It was progressing pretty well with Inspired Programmer keeping me full of inspiration.


    *Ringing* I blinked at the noise checking the agent view.


    *Malcolm! What¡¯s up?*


    *Motoko I need help! Fuck! Cocksuckers shot me!* Malcolm gasped into the line as soon as I chirped my greeting.


    Instantly I was moving, rushing for my room to grab my guns.


    *Where are you? Tell me everything.*


    *Fuck. Shit I¡¯m bleeding bad. Okay okay. I¡¯ll send you my ping. I''m on a train right now.. II lost them, they stopped chasing me when I got on the rail. Fuck. Oh god. I was buying a car! They were trying to jump me. Steal the money and those fucks! It was supposed to be my car! They fucking killed me over this shit!* His voice broke down into a quiet moan.


    *Okay I¡¯m on my way. I¡¯m pinging everyone as well, in case someone is closer. We¡¯re on our way Malcolm, just don¡¯t pass out okay. Stay awake.* I demanded as I scooped up my boots as I ran into the hall and raced to the elevator. I hit the button requesting it and then again and again.


    Too slow.


    I turned and rushed for the stairs. I slammed into the door and fought my boots onto my feet. Then as I slipped into the stairwell I leapt.


    I landed on the railing two stories down, then I leapt down again.


    Again and again. I leapt past some people hanging out in the stairwell. Kids adults. Whatever. It wasn¡¯t a concern.


    *I¡¯m still with you Malcolm, talk to me buddy.*


    *Fuck it hurts. Never been shot before! Those assholes!* He whined and cried into the line, but I would rather him do that, then have it go silent. The last jump I dropped three stories to land in a crouch on the garage level. Startling some of the Tyger Claw kids that were smoking and hanging out under the stairs.


    I slammed into the door and rushed for my Quadra. The door opened at a glance as I leapt inside from the passenger side.


    Sliding into the driver seat, I gunned it backwards. My eyes instantly connected to the cameras on the Quadra to roar out of my space.


    I didn¡¯t bother to spin around. Tires screeching through the garage I slipped my Quadra into a reverse drift to make the entrance ramp and continued roaring backwards until I hit the top of the ramp absolutely maxing out the engine as it leapt into the air. I hit the ground and Spun, finally facing forward already in the street and ignoring the honks of people that I had nearly crashed into.


    My Quadra roared. All 1000 horsepower roared as my foot hit the pedal all the way down.


    *I¡¯m on my way!* I said again into the phone as for the first time I really truly ignored traffic laws.


    I raced the streets. Swerved through traffic, and ignored lights. The sidewalk was perfectly good for getting around traffic as well to my current estimation.


    I had no care about anything because one of my chooms was in trouble.


    Malcolm was my friend.


    I wasn¡¯t ready to lose a friend to this city.


    *Talk to me Malcolm. Tell me about these assholes.*


    *... Fuck. They¡­ They were selling a Rayfield Motoko. It was a second gen Caliburn. Yellow silver. The best¡­ The best paintjob. It was so beautiful. And cheap¡­ It was only 70k. I wanted it so bad. I decided¡­ I thought fuck it. It¡¯s my dream car, you know? I¡­ I have a poster of it above my bed. Dreamed about that car since¡­ Forever. If I had it¡­ that means I made it  you know?*


    *Yeah Malcolm, and you will. Believe me. Just keep breathing choom. I¡¯m almost there.* And I was. Malcolm was still in Westbrook. Just farther south. Near Charter Hill. He had sent me an active GPS ping, and it wasn¡¯t moving. *Did you get off the rail?*


    *Yeah¡­ Yeah they kicked me off. Bleeding too much I guess¡­ Fuckers.* He mumbled.


    Fuck.


    *Hey Malcolm, listen to me. You keep your damn eyes open, and keep breathing! You hear me?*


    *Yeah¡­ I gotta listen to you right? Boss? Heh. Who would have thought I¡¯d be working for your gonk ass. Fuck. It¡¯s been great though¡­* He trailed off.


    *Yeah it¡¯s awesome, and your brain is amazing at noticing things! Couldn¡¯t have done the yacht heist without you yeah? You were the one to figure out the Scavs. So stay alive Malcolm, that¡¯s an order from your boss!* I gasped out desperately as I made a stupidly dangerous turn.


    *Yeah¡­*


    I skidded to a halt as Traffic was blocking me again and the sidewalk was full. I honked and revved into the sidewalk anyways. People scurried out of the way as I drove as slow as I could bear around the cars stopped at a light until I hit the road and revved to skid onto the cross street into the active traffic. Swiftly forcing a position and then accelerating.


    Just gotta hope NCPD were busy right now¡­


    At least I was getting responses from everyone. Vik had responded to my frantic text message and he was on his way with med supplies to keep someone alive. I just had to get Malcolm to him.


    I was there. The sidewalk was a perfectly good parking spot as I nearly drove onto the escalators running up to the platform.


    Driver side door opened, and I was off like a shot, Racing up the escalator until there were people in the way and then I jumped onto the railings and just raced up that.


    Then I was on the platform, and it wasn¡¯t hard to see Malcolm.. A pool of blood with bloody footprints leading to him slumped up against a sign and a small space in the crowd, but no one was trying to help.


    Assholes.


    I leapt. Landing beside him in a single movement.


    ¡°Hey Malcolm. Calvary is here. C¡¯mon. Take this.¡± I offered him a MaxDoc, while I grabbed an Airhypo and jammed it into his chest.


    This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    ¡°FuuuuUUK!.¡± He cursed his breath suddenly much fuller as the Airhypo oxygenated his blood.


    Well as much as it could anyways.


    ¡°Take the MaxDoc Malcolm.¡± I demanded and grabbed some bandages out of a hip pouch.


    Fuck the bullet hole was bad.


    Through and through his chest, just below his armpit and out almost between his ribs on the front.


    That was¡­ Not good.


    I wrapped a bandage around him as best I could and then hefted him up.


    Malcolm was bigger than me, true.


    But I was so freaked out, I didn¡¯t even care that he was a bit heavier than me. I pulled him into a princess carry ignoring his cry of pain as I started rushing to the escalator.


    *Vik! I got him. Sending you pics. I¡¯ll be rushing to meet you!* I sent Vik as I finally didn¡¯t need to be on call with Malcolm.


    *Alright Kid. Just breathe, steady now. Let¡¯s save your choom.* He whispered into my ear, and it was calming as I rushed down the escalator doing my best not to jostle Malcolm, or bump him into anything.


    ¡°GET THE FUCK OUT OF THE WAY!¡± I roared at some fucking morons not idling in front of me, and it was only when I started to try and grab my Burya that they hurried out of the way.


    My Quadra was still there idling, Although I wasn¡¯t surprised to note some gonk kid was running off with an arm full of¡­


    Okay stealing my homemade grenades was pretty ballsy. That¡¯s a scary kid for the next few days.


    I slipped Malcolm into the passenger seat, and strapped him in.


    This was going to get wild.


    ¡°H-hey. You¡¯re gonna have to not drive like a¡­ Granny.¡± Malcolm joked at me weakly as I slipped into the driver seat.


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I agreed bluntly and then floored it again. Vik was heading this way, but it was still far. And Malcolm was bleeding.


    I couldn¡¯t tell exactly what I babbled at Malcolm to keep him focused as I raced through the streets, it was all a blur, and I was sure that without Cool Nerves I definitely would have gotten into an accident as I was sure my entire body would be shaking if not for that.


    Thank you system. Thank you Gamer powers. Thank you whatever thing gave me the ability to actually act through my panic and try to save my choom.


    I almost ran into Vik. Who was driving an old Villefort Columbus van. I slid into a screeching powerslide right beside him nearly startling him off the road as he jerked the wheel a bit, but braked after and then he was there. My passenger door opened and Vik instantly slipped some device with a big canister attached against Malcolms chest.


    I heard the pneumatic sound as it activated.


    ¡°Fuck!¡± Malcolm hissed, but Vik was just chuckling, talking calmly, and a moment later. Instead of a reedy wet breathing coming out in a rush from Malcolm, it seemed to even out a bit. And some color very quickly came back to his face.


    ¡°C¡¯mon lets get you in the van, and I¡¯ll plug those holes yeah?¡± Vik said as calm as ever seemingly completely unconcerned about what he was helping with, and I could see how that calm soothed Malcolm who obviously was freaking out at what had happened.


    Fuck Vik. You are truly an angel.


    ¡ª---


    Ignoring the traffic build up behind us, we got Malcolm into the van. The van off the middle of the road, and my Quadra out of the way, and Vik went to work.


    I couldn¡¯t even start to explain to you the Ripper doc magic that Vik did there on the side of the road in a beat up old Van, but within ten minutes Malcolm was breathing easy, resting in a stretcher and even cracking a joke with the old ripper.


    Ichi showed up first. His own Van roared down the road and parked up onto the sidewalk alongside us as he jumped out, nearly leaping onto Malcolm to make sure he was okay.


    ¡°Hey, easy Ichi, easy.¡± Malcolm said, sounding tired, but amused at Ichi¡¯s reaction.


    ¡°You alright? Dr. Vik? He¡¯ll be okay?¡±


    ¡°Right as rain, kid. Not the first time I¡¯ve patched up a bullet hole.¡± Vik joked back but he was doing something with the hole in Malcolms side, his face buried in a screen looking at Malcolms chest.


    It took a second but Ichi breathed out and nearly slumped to the floor. ¡°Hey I¡¯m alright now Ichi. It¡¯s okay. Motoko got to me in time.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe you were gonk enough to trust Granny driver Motoko to come rescue you. Should have called me first.¡± Ichi said with an almost sob in his voice as he told the joke.


    Which is the only reason I didn¡¯t punch him for it.


    I didn¡¯t drive like a granny!


    ¡°Heh. Knew¡­ Knew you were across town remember? Figured ¡®Toko would be free.¡±


    ¡°Well you were right!¡± I told him firmly from the floor of the van. I wasn¡¯t napping or anything just trying to calm myself. The relief at Malcolm not dying was just¡­


    Too much.


    ¡°And I was right.¡± Malcolm said, waving a hand off his cot in my direction.


    ¡°I¡¯m glad you¡¯re alright Malcolm. Fuck. Can¡¯t believe you got shot.¡±


    ¡°Me neither.¡± He offered and both boys went quiet even if I could only see Ichi looking down at Malcolm with an array of angry emotions across his face.


    ¡°Who did it?¡±


    ¡°Some assholes down near Santo. Supposed to be legit, car trade through a site. I checked it out with some guys on the site. Everything looked legit. They sell cars, boosted, damaged whatever. Got a hit for the car I was looking for¡­ Fuck it¡¯s my fault. They didn¡¯t have a fucking Caliburn, probably heard about me looking for one. Thought I was probably some rich kid or something. Fuck.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry Malcolm. We¡¯ll find them.¡± Ichi said which surprised me because I was about to say that too.


    Ichi looked to me and I just nodded. Both of us understood what was going to happen next.


    ¡°Malcolm!¡± A breathless cry pulled us towards the door, where Hiromi had just pulled up on her Kusanagi. She rushed in, and it was luck that Ichi grabbed her before she almost flopped onto Malcolm.


    ¡°I was in class! I¡¯m sorry I didn¡¯t even get the ping until now! Are you-¡±


    ¡°He¡¯ll live kid, Don¡¯t worry I¡¯m patching him up just fine.¡± Vik said with a smile and Hiromi almost sagged.


    ¡ª--


    We filled in Hiromi on everything, and in the end an hour later Malcolm was at Viks clinic resting.


    But I was going to go find some fuckers that shot my choom. I was almost up the stairs when Ichi grabbed my arm stopping me.


    ¡°I¡¯m going with.¡± He said no hesitation in his voice.


    He was pissed. Which is why I didn¡¯t want him to come. Even at my angriest, I still had Cold Blood keeping my mind clear. Keeping myself clear to make decisions like shooting gonks rather than talking to them.


    ¡°Ichi-¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t Motoko. I¡¯m coming. Or I¡¯ll go alone. They shot my choom over a fucking car sale. Malcolm wasn¡¯t even fucking with them, but they just- Fuck that.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m coming too.¡± Hiromi said as she walked up the stairs behind Ichi, patting him on the shoulder once as she walked right past us both. ¡°What do you both need an invitation?¡± She asked as she turned and gave one of her superior looks at the two of us.


    If it wasn¡¯t such a serious moment between us, I would have leapt on her, pinned her to the ground and¡­ Mess with her hair or something. I don¡¯t know.


    ¡°Alright, fine. We all go! But, I call the shots.¡± I demand looking at the two of my chooms with firm looks.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine with that.¡± Hiromi said and a moment later Ichi nodded.


    ¡°Good. First thing first. Go get suited up. These fucks have guns and obviously aren¡¯t afraid to use it. So go get ready.¡± I ordered much to both of their irritations, but in the end they listened. Hiromi jumped onto her Kusanagi, and Ichi in his van.


    I went home myself to grab my own Section 9 equipment.


    I was going to make a point against these assholes.


    ¡ª--


    Suited up and ready we all met up near the location Malcolm had given us. ¡°Stay close together guys, and keep your eyes open..¡± I demanded making sure they both understood before we walked down the block towards where Malcolms little meetup was supposed to happen.


    I had my techgogs down blocking my eyes and face, as I wandered through the crowds of Night city people.


    We were in Charter hill, just on the other side of the canal cutting off Charter Hill and Arroyo.


    I followed the location GPS through a back alley, Through a small alley filled with old homeless tents, and then into a small inner court area for the apartments around me. The place had old shop spaces all closed down and shuttered along the edges. Each of the shutters now covered in years of gang tags.


    Hiromi and Ichi both stayed close together, weapons ready and waiting.


    But while there were some people here, it didn¡¯t look like our people.


    Not that we were sure what they looked like.


    Dammit Malcolm. You walked into a deal with no backup, no information on whose these fuckers were!


    I let it go as I searched around, trying to find a clue, or just someone I thought could answer some questions when I noticed it.


    A puddle of blood. With a trail leading through to the street beyond.


    I stepped low and touched it with a chrome finger.


    This was where Malcolm got shot. I could actually see the rail line he must have run to from here. Straight through the gap he had escaped through. And the trail of blood.


    ¡°This is the right place alright.¡± I muttered as I looked around scanning the area, eyes flashing checking everything I could.


    ¡°Hiromi.¡± I called out and pointed.


    A homeless man was in the courtyard. A little shack of cardboard and old benches in a corner.


    She nodded and Ichi followed. She would ask questions, and maybe get some answers. She was better at that. While I was better at this.


    The Courtyard didn¡¯t have cameras. Any that might have originally been set up were long gone, ripped out of their mounts for whatever purpose their thief wanted. But that didn¡¯t mean shit to me.


    This was still Night City. There were only so many places one could move unnoticed to avoid all cameras.


    I circled the building. Marking a map with every camera pointed in the direction I needed. If the people who had shot Malcolm had come, or gone into this set of apartments I would find them.


    I met back up with Hiromi and Ichi Hiromi looking a little irritated, but her face shifted as she saw me return.


    ¡°Some moderate good news.¡± She offered with a shrug. ¡°The old man saw the shooting. I had to pay him a chunk of eddies to get the information, but he blabbed quickly enough. Apparently he hadn¡¯t seen the guys before. They aren¡¯t from these apartments, probably came here to make sure they couldn¡¯t be tracked after stealing Malcolms eddies¡­ Wait, did they actually get the eddies from Malcolm?¡±


    I blinked.


    Ichi blinked.


    ¡°I¡¯ll call him and ask. Keep filling Motoko in.¡± Ichi said and we all nodded.


    ¡°Right. So, they aren¡¯t from around here, but I was able to get what direction they left in. No idea what vehicle they might have, but at least we have a location for where they went.¡±


    ¡°Which way?¡± I asked and Hiromi pointed me towards another alleyway on the opposite side from where we had walked in from.


    ¡°So they are going north¡­ That alley. There¡¯s some cameras at a few restaurants across the street. We¡¯ll be able to ID them.¡± I assured my chooms and despite Ichi¡¯s eyes glowing yellow he nodded along having been listening in even as he made the call.


    ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s go take a look as well before we head out. I want to get some eyes on the area.¡± I told them and Hiromi and Ichi followed as we walked through the alley. This one didn¡¯t have a tent city in it, but it was filled with doors and ways into the buildings around them.


    Not good. Hopefully the homeless man was right, and they weren¡¯t native to the area. I would really hate to have to try and track some gonks through this rat warren of hallways and back entrances.


    I leapt to the side as a pipe rumbled and something foul smelling and just as disgusting looking poured out of it into the alley.


    ¡°Grooooss!¡± Hiromi whined, and all I could do was nod along.


    ¡°Yeah. Watch your feet.¡±I mumbled already knowing I would be washing my boots off before ever stepping into the apartment.


    We wandered down the alley until finally reaching the street. It was bright and active. No signs of the rundown practically abandoned courtyard we just passed through.


    ¡°So what are we looking for?¡± Ichi asked and I shrugged my eyes scanning the street. I had already walked past this exact spot before, but now I was double checking. Sending out pings to any electronic devices I could see to find what they were connected to.


    And slowly I got an idea of how everything was put together.


    Of course I was still wearing my techgogs I realized which explained why Hiromi and Ichi were both wondering what the hell I was doing.


    ¡°Sorry. I¡¯m scanning everything. I want to see what open systems there are in the area, as well maybe something more hidden.¡±


    ¡°Gotcha! How can we help?¡± Hiromi asked and I just reached out to pull her into a side hug to quiet her for a moment. I was tracking down a stray connection connected to the net from the cafe across the street but I ended up sighing.


    Just some punk piggybacking on the cafe''s TV connection.


    ¡°Nothing stands out. Unless we want to try and ask all the people on the street if they remember seeing our perps. I think it¡¯s time to head to the net.¡±

 Chapter 113

    ¡°You guys don¡¯t have to wait around. You could go check on Malcolm¡­¡± I offered as we entered the basement of the Straight Lane Apartments, where all my netrunning stuff was kept.


    ¡°Malcolm is asleep, and Dr. Vik doesn¡¯t want us bothering him. Besides, we can help you like last time. Go through data while you keep up the hunt.¡± Ichi replied and I didn¡¯t have a response for that.


    I felt bad that my chooms would be hanging around me while I was basically sleeping, while leaving Malcolm alone. Especially with how antsy Ichi was to help.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine Motoko. The sooner we find these fucks, the sooner we kill them and let Malcolm sleep like a baby.¡± Hiromi reminded me and I nodded as I clambered onto my netrunning chair. I pulled out the chair''s connectors and fitted them into my leotard so the biomonitors would keep an eye on me, and the coolant could flow then rested back.


    ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll see you later.¡± I told them and closed my eyes.


    Only to open them in my blank lobby space.


    It only took me a moment to adjust and then I was off. Zipping through the city in a blur as I used the IP address of all the systems I had been scanning back at the attack site to practically teleport there.


    Then I set foot onto the netscape and went to work. First I accessed the cafe that was across the street. Breaking through their ICE with only a few moments of work since their system wasn¡¯t especially well protected. I ignored the connection to the other netrunner I had noticed before, and instead accessed their camera.


    Only five minutes into entering the net I got my eyes on the fuckers that shot Malcolm.


    It was hard to miss.


    The four street thugs all charging through the alley, one still holding a pistol in his hand as they clambered into a rust bucket Archer Hella.


    Then they took off with a jerky motion as they seemed to forget to release the parking brake before slamming the gas.


    Part of me was still furious at these fucks but¡­


    Malcolm? Really choom? You trusted that these fucking gonks had a fucking Supercar for sale? They didn¡¯t look like they had XXL burrito to their name.


    I sent a note for Ichi to ask Malcolm for more details on why he trusted these guys in the first place. These guys were just thugs. Chaff.


    I refused to believe Malcolm was that stupid¡­


    Okay he had gone without backup. So maybe he was a little brain dead, but I refused to believe he was this stupid.


    But they had given me what I needed. A direction.


    ¡°The Archer Hella we are looking for is heading East on Lele. Towards¡­ Pardey? Yeah. Is there a freeway connection there?¡± I asked my team as I started going down the street, checking if there was a good corner store with a camera on the intersection.


    *No freeway connection there They would have to go south and then get on from the Republic Way connection.* Hiromi replied after a moment and I nodded.


    Okay Let¡¯s cut down on what paths they could take, and track them home.


    ¡ª---


    Two hours later I pulled out of the net to take a break.


    I hadn¡¯t exactly eaten today and Hiromi and Ichi were both getting hungry.


    We had tracked the fuckers through Charter Hill, Into Heywood of all places. I had thought they might be connected to the Tinos. But then as they moved through the area they turned east.


    Into Arroyo. Then into Rancho Coronado.


    6th St?


    I lost them multiple times in the area. Unfortunately the industrial parks giving way to suburbs, cut out a lot of my ability to snoop.


    ¡°Oh. Thanks Ichi!¡± I Chirped as I finally opened my eyes to reality to see Ichi had obviously gone on a food run at some point.


    ¡°No problem. There wasn¡¯t much we could do to help there at the end.¡± He said stuffing a piece of some noodle dish into his mouth.


    ¡°Yeah. Rancho Coronado is a bit of a dead zone.¡± I grumbled. Sure there were still security cameras in the area, but they were few and far between, and worse some were pointing just at the front door, or at places I couldn¡¯t use.


    ¡°So what do you think?¡± Hiromi asked and I grumbled a bit as I sat and stuffed my own little meal into my mouth so I wouldn¡¯t have to speak at first.


    ¡°Rancho is 6th St. If the guys fled there, they are probably 6th St. Or maybe they are an offshoot gang or something. We either go and start hunting them down, or maybe see if we can¡¯t use some diplomacy? Reach out to 6th St. Might be able to find out who they are that way?¡±


    ¡°You think 6th St. Would give up info on one of their own to us?¡± Ichi asked, obviously skeptical, and I shook my head.


    ¡°No I don¡¯t. Which means we are probably going to have to hunt them down, in the middle of gang territory¡­ This is gonna be a pain.¡±


    ¡°We could try and lure them out?¡± Hiromi asked and I shrugged.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think that will work Hiromi. However Malcolm contacted them, they aren¡¯t going to respond through those methods. Especially if they suspect Malcolm isn¡¯t dead. Think about it. They wanted his eddies. If they have even a single braincell they will realize a teenager flashing that kind of money probably has people that will kill them to get a paycheck.¡±


    ¡°Ah true¡­ They¡¯re gonna suspect someone is coming to kill them.¡±


    I blinked.


    ¡°Yeah. They will. They will suspect someone is going to try and hunt them down¡­ Hiromi you are very smart.¡± I told her, and she looked questioning at me.


    People in Night City were pretty direct. Normally if something like this happened, and Malcolm was some Corpo kid. They would hire a merc. The merc would try to hunt them down, succeed or not, and that would basically be it. Once the merc failed to find them¡­ Then the fuckers would be safe from retaliation. Wasn¡¯t like a merc was going to get paid if they found them a week after pissing off the guy hiring them by failing.


    Hiromi continued to look confused at my words. But while she hadn¡¯t said anything genius herself, it was actually very accurate. If they suspected someone was coming for them¡­ Then that¡¯s what we would show them.


    ¡°We are going to trick them. They are probably hiding right now. Deep in some hole. It won¡¯t be easy to find them, and even if we do, we will have to deal with 6th St. getting involved¡­ But if we convince them that they got away with it? If they think they are all clear, they will stop hiding. Then we won¡¯t have to hunt them down through 6th St. territory. We will just invite them to a nice little deal and remove them then.¡±


    ¡°So you go and pretend to look for them?¡± Ichi asked and I shook my head.


    This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    ¡°No, I won¡¯t be a good choice, I¡¯m weird cause I¡¯m so young besides, I was trying to take a break this week anyways. Better to get someone that looks like a merc, give 6th St. Exactly what they suspect to see. That way they won¡¯t react strongly. Just another merc searching for someone for a bounty before giving up.¡±


    ¡°So we hire someone to pretend to look for them just to give up?¡± Ichi asked looking a little unhappy with it.


    ¡°Exactly. We hire a merc for an easy few days, of fucking around in Rancho Coronado, pretending to find our boys. And then he gives up, once he stops showing up. Obviously he couldn¡¯t find them and so everyone in the area will know that he gave up and that solves the whole problem.¡±


    ¡°Wait but who? Are you going to ask Jun or Fujimura-sama to hire a merc?¡±


    ¡°Nah. I know a guy.¡± I said and grinned as I started making a call to Jackie. A week or so contract to hang around Rancho Coronado, eat on my dime, and make a half hearted attempt to find the four gonks? Jackie would probably be all for it.


    Plus it was a perfect excuse to go home and relax for a while like I planned before Malcolm got shot.


    I breathed in, and out. Yeah. I still needed that break.


    ¡ª--


    After making a call and setting up the whole situation with Jackie, he ended up agreeing, laughing the whole time at the idea.


    I was just glad he was willing to do it, for less than normal merc money. I mean, sure I could pay him fully, but this should be a pretty safe gig. Although I did offer a hazard pay if 6th St. did try to jump him or something.


    Until then we all went to Viks.


    ¡°He¡¯s still sleeping.¡± He assured us patting Ichi on the shoulder as the boy had instantly walked over to Vik for an update about his best choom.


    ¡°Is there anything we can do?¡±


    ¡°Just keep quiet and let him rest. He¡¯ll be fine. Everything is stable, and he is mostly just recovering blood and healing a bit. I shot him up with Quick Heal and everything. The boy¡¯ll be on his feet in a week like nothing happened.¡± Ichi gave out a shuddered sigh at the words, his shoulders almost trembling as Vik patted the Section 9 jacket that we were all still wearing.


    I mouthed a thank you to Vik as Hiromi and I braced Ichi. Hiromi pressed her forehead against the side of his head, while I reached over and ran a hand through Ichi¡¯s dark hair.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be okay.¡± He said a little grumpily a few moments later when he realized both of us girls were being gentle with him.


    ¡°We know.¡± I said and Hiromi agreed. Ichi stood straight. Annoyingly taller than I was and wiped our affection off of him like it was covered in cooties.


    He would be okay, and so would Malcolm.


    ¡ª--


    I flopped onto the couch at home a few hours later.


    Vik had eventually sent us all home to rest, agreeing he would text us when Malcolm woke up.


    Rolling sideways I looked at the new holo TV and stared at it. It was too high up. The old TV was just on a table across the room and was a little above head height when on the couch. The Holo TV had the display way up towards the ceiling.


    It made my neck hurt to look so high up while sprawled out.


    Probably some corpo plan with Biotechnica to sell more Bioware necks to people or something.


    I rolled my face into the couch.


    Maybe a good eight hours of sleep would help?


    I faintly felt a thump of bass through the couch. Reaching down I placed a chrome finger against the floor, even with the carpet I could feel the faintest hint of vibrations there.


    Rockerboy neighbor was playing again.


    My guitar was over there¡­ It would be something to do. Get out some of the frustration I¡¯ve been dealing with.


    I fumbled across the couch without actually getting up until I reached my guitar and flopped onto my back so I could rest it on my stomach.


    That didn¡¯t really feel right either¡­


    In the end I rolled off the couch. Laying back on the carpet, feet resting on the couch like I was sitting backwards.


    Yeah, that felt better. Everything felt upside down to me right now. Stupid Night City. Stupid Scavs. And Jun. And fuckers shooting my choom.


    It was an annoying fact that as much as I wanted to just play in Night City like it was a video game, if I did that people I loved would die. Or I would.


    My hand strummed a chord. Then because I simply knew which chord to use I changed it and then strummed the beginnings to a song.


    ¡°You don¡¯t want to hurt me.¡±


    Edgerunners was right about one thing.


    ¡°We¡¯re only here once. Why blame yourself?¡± Major Crimes, by Health. It suited my mood at the moment.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°Motoko! I¡¯m hom- Whoa!¡± Jun yelped as I poked my head over the couch. It had been a few hours of sad songs, and I was surprisingly feeling a lot better.


    ¡°Hey Jun.¡±


    ¡°Jeeze don¡¯t scare me like that. Oh playing some songs?¡±


    ¡°Yeah I¡¯ve been feeling a little down and stuff with everything. So I¡¯m letting out the bad stuff. It¡¯s going okay.¡± I chirped as I laid the guitar on the couch and flipped up to see what Jun was up to.


    He had a bag of something that didn¡¯t smell like XXL burritos in his arms.


    ¡°Yeah I noticed¡­ How¡¯s your choom?.¡±


    ¡°Malcolm will be okay. I got him to Vik in time.¡± I said, not mentioning how absolutely terrified I had been that I wouldn¡¯t be in time. That despite everything I would make it. I was suddenly so incredibly grateful for my system once again.


    I wouldn¡¯t have to worry about nightmares.


    ¡°I¡¯m glad¡­ I uh¡­ Got you something.¡±


    He said and to my surprise he opened the bag and it was¡­


    Ramen.


    The Ramen we always bought from the shop in Sakura Market. The Ramen stand that wasn¡¯t super far from here, but more than far enough you wouldn¡¯t just stop by for Ramen that could get closer.


    ¡°Jun?¡±


    ¡°I noticed you¡¯ve been upset, and then today happened too.¡± He said simply as he settled the Ramen bowls on the couch center table. ¡°I know I pushed you into moving. I think¡­ I wouldn¡¯t have done it, if I didn¡¯t think it was the best idea at the time. For safety, and just how big it is, but I know I pushed you on it.¡± He said, before closing his eyes and breathing in and out, as if calming his mind. ¡°So I wanted to do something to make you feel¡­ Normal.¡±


    He pushed the Ramen over to me and I looked at it.


    Jun was such a gonk I thought, definitely not seeing him through a bit of blurriness around the edges of my vision.


    ¡°You are such a gonk.¡± I told him as I walked over and threw my arms around his neck. I wasn¡¯t crying Jun was crying! He had faulty chrome for his optic lubricants! It was raining inside! I got something stuck in my eye!


    Ignoring the fact I could poke my Kiroshi and not really be bothered by something like that.


    Stupid Jun!


    ¡°Thank you for going along with it, and just¡­ I¡¯m sorry it wasn¡¯t what you wanted. Hopefully we can make this place our home. And you¡¯ll end up loving it even more. It certainly smells better.¡± He muttered the end and I laughed, definitely not choking a bit on a sob.


    ¡°The carpet is nice too!¡± I informed him.


    ¡°The Fridge is bigger.¡±


    ¡°Oh the bathroom has better hot water!¡±


    We went on and on telling each other good things about the new apartment, falling into the little game without even needing to discuss it, pure sibling comradery in action.


    It was nice.


    I even forgave him for the already cold Ramen when I tried it. Turns out his Kusanagi isn¡¯t exactly great for keeping Ramen warm on the cooling nights of Night City.


    I ate it anyway though.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± I asked Jun in the morning. I had slept, but Jun as usual slept in, but then to my surprise he came out of his room dressed in¡­


    Well athletic clothes?


    ¡°Hitting the gym.¡±


    ¡°You?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but ask in surprise. Jun was¡­


    He was a lazy teenager given chrome muscles. He didn¡¯t exercise. At least not that I¡¯ve ever seen.


    ¡°I go to the Gym!¡± He hissed every bit the offended teenager, but then hesitated before admitting ¡°Sensei told me I¡¯ve let the normal muscles I¡¯ve got left grow a bit weak. So I¡¯ve been informed to workout until he is satisfied.¡±


    I blinked. He looked away grimacing, because we both knew what was going to happen next.


    ¡°Pffft! Can¡¯t be a big scary Oni if you are fat!¡± I mocked in delighted laughter making Jun¡¯s shoulders slump at my words.


    ¡°I knew it. I knew this was going to happen, but I answered anyways. Why did I answer?¡± Jun muttered to himself but I heard him.


    ¡°So where you going? Is there a good Gym around here?¡± I asked because honestly¡­ I could use my downtime to get another Body level¡­


    That actually sounded like fun. I¡¯ve been a bit in the dumps, but exercise was good for that!


    ¡°There¡¯s a TC Gym, yeah. Want to come?¡± He offered and I instantly frowned at him. I really didn¡¯t¡­


    On the other hand, if there was a Gym in the building I wouldn¡¯t have to pay for that corpo Gym anymore!


    Wait¡­ I haven¡¯t been there in months! Shit I had to cancel!


    Fucking Gym membership!


    ¡°Sure.¡± I agreed, heading into my room with a quick flip over the back of the couch to get changed.


    ¡ª--


    The Gym was actually just outside the apartment complex. There was a little path and then what used to be a basketball court? Or maybe a tennis court. I couldn¡¯t tell, but now it was full of workout equipment.


    And TC grunts using it.


    Jun walked in without a moment''s hesitation. Because to him these were his people. I took a moment to scope it out a bit first. Looking over the group. There were currently about five people using the equipment, all of which gave Jun a greeting as he entered.


    I idly wondered how it worked. Were these guys Fujimura¡¯s people as well, or just well aware that Jun was Kamikaze and so being careful?


    In the end it didn¡¯t matter. I didn¡¯t get the greetings Jun did, but no one bothered me as I found some free weights and loaded some pounds on the pole, before settling into a corner to do some squats.


    I started with squats mostly so I could keep an eye on the area. I would have to switch to something else eventually if someone noticed that I was going overboard. There were too many people around for me to just work through a single machine or exercise until I got my alerts.


    ¡°You a new kid?¡± A rough voice asked and I looked up into an old man''s face. Greyed beard and old Chrome. It was the first thing I thought when I looked up into his eyes.


    This was a man that survived in Night City. He was shirtless as he had obviously been exercising, the wraps on his hands reminding me that I had seen him on a punching bag a few moments before. Old Tattoos stretched across his chest and back.


    This man would be a Yakuza if he wasn¡¯t very obviously a Tyger Claw.


    ¡°Yeah, just moved in.¡± I informed him as I continued my reps up and down.


    ¡°Then you¡¯re the Kusanagi girl! Well you got good form. Keep it up. I¡¯m John, this is my gym. If you need a partner for anything ask me. I¡¯ll help, or find someone who can. Don¡¯t break anything, no fighting in the gym. Good?¡±


    ¡°Perfectly.¡± I offered the old man. As I continued up and down. I needed to push myself if I was going to get a Body alert.


    Or eventually a level up. I was still a long way off. Not enough really pushing my body to the limit since I stopped actively exercising.


    The older man watched for a moment before nodding seemingly pleased at my exercise and then turned to walk off. A few moments later he was critiquing a teenage boy for fucking around with his own free weights.


    It always made me wonder what I should feel when someone among the TC treated me normally. These were the same guys that worked with Jotaro.


    That committed horrible crimes.


    I sighed. This was Night City I suppose.

 Chapter 114

    I used Jun as a measuring stick. Switching to a new exercise whenever he did. Since despite all his chrome, my brother was a bit out of shape. Too many burritos.


    My calves and thighs were burning but it felt good because I had gotten a few Body alerts as I exercised as well!


    Then considering most of the stuff was already claimed I walked up to the punching speed bag. The small bag wasn¡¯t my usual go to for exercises, but that actually worked to my benefit. I had done punching machines and such before, but never a speed bag.


    Although with my chrome arms I wasn¡¯t sure if I would actually get much out of it. I wasn¡¯t exactly working muscles with my arms, but I wanted to try it anyway.


    Plus it was free.


    I stretched my legs bouncing a bit to work out the tired muscles as I walked up and hit the bag. It flopped fast, too fast.


    I had vague memories of seeing people use the thing in the past, and I had even seen John use it as I walked in.


    I held back and struck it again. It bounced and flopped much more controllably.


    ¡°Better.¡± A voice startled me and I looked back to see the old TC man himself. ¡°Three count. Like this.¡± He informed me, walking up and striking the bag once, letting it three times before he struck it again, and instantly there was a balance.


    He stopped right after. ¡°Try again.¡±


    I shrugged, a tap of my fist, and I waited. Then struck again. Then again. I got the pace down nearly instantly.


    ¡°Good. Now sw-¡±


    I had already switched hands, starting to shift which hand struck the back, constantly changing the number of hits, and adjusting.


    ¡°Huh. You pick things up quick.¡± He complimented, and I shrugged as I moved.


    ¡°I know how to fight pretty well, used some punching machines before, just never a speed bag.¡± I informed him.


    ¡°Show me.¡± he demanded as he walked over behind the speed bag for a set of mitts. He slipped them on and waved me over.


    I sighed. I was kinda just wanting to do my own thing. But I shrugged and walked over.


    And then we started, I punched out and struck his mitts as he moved, and I moved with him, following him around striking the mitts even dodging his telegraphed swipes as I fell into the rhythm, and I could see him testing me. Starting slow before going faster and faster, telegraphing less and less to see where I stood.


    Finally I had to block his mitt as I leaped back to keep from getting smacked in the face and he nodded. ¡°You¡¯re not bad kid. Who trained you?¡±


    ¡°No one really. For this anyways. Sensei at the Deravaja Dojo worked with me on some sword stuff.¡±


    He scoffed at my words as he looked me over. ¡°Well you either had years of training or you¡¯re a natural.¡±


    ¡°The second actually.¡± Jun said suddenly as he walked over and pulled me in by the shoulder.


    ¡°Ew! Jun! You sweat beast! Gross!¡± I cursed at him as he had pulled me right into his stinky armpit.


    Jun of course realizing what he had done just laughed at my horror as I wiped at my shoulder.


    ¡°Kusanagi.¡±


    ¡°John.¡± Jun greeted back, before nodding his head at me. ¡°My sister is a genius. Most of the time anyways.¡±


    ¡°Gonk.¡± I retorted, flushing a little at being complimented. I mean. If you were going by how quickly I could learn something thanks to my system, I would be a super genius. But I also kinda wasn¡¯t. So it was a bit embarrassing to be complimented for something that wasn¡¯t really true, but something I couldn¡¯t really argue.


    ¡°Huh. Well she gots some good hands.¡± John offered complimenting my punching skill.


    But I couldn¡¯t let that setup go. ¡°Bought them myself.¡± I retorted a little sarcastically earning a blink from the older man before he actually let out a deep chuckle.


    ¡°Got me there kid. Got me there. You done already Kusanagi?¡± John asked and Jun shrugged. ¡°I can¡¯t wear myself out. I have work tonight.¡±


    Both of us looked to Jun with eyes filled with disappointment.


    ¡°Don¡¯t get fat Jun-nii.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not fat!¡± He actually shouted and everyone looked at him. Jun had that moment of realization that he had spoken a little too loud. ¡°I¡¯m not fat.¡± He poked me with a finger, but in the end he did turn around and go work on a treadmill sort of thing for a while.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°Have fun?¡± Jun asked as we both headed up on the elevator.


    ¡°Exercise isn¡¯t really fun to me.¡± I answered. Sure, I had eventually forgiven John for bothering me when he pulled me into some more exercises that had pulled another Body Alert from my system. I enjoyed the results, but the act itself was mostly just drudgery, if not for Cool keeping me on task, I probably would have stopped long before even Jun.


    Although¡­ It was kinda nice though to get my muscles burning again.


    ¡°Heh. You had a happy look on your face though?¡±


    ¡°I did not!¡±


    ¡°Ah I see. John is married you know?¡±


    ¡°Wha? JUN!¡±


    ¡°What? You like olde-¡± I punched him instantly for daring to utter such lies!


    ¡°I do not like older guys!¡± I yelled as the elevator door opened and into the face of the woman that was standing there.


    The woman was wearing a cool leather like jacket neon lights lighting it up in a strobe effect, her hair glowing to a musical beat that she was also nodding her head to. She had a guitar strapped over her back, and as I looked on she blew a bubble of pink bubblegum and popped it.


    She was, in one word, cool.


    And probably Rockerboy neighbor.


    ¡°Nice guitar.¡± I offered, unable to say anything else. I recognized the model from the music shop, although I couldn¡¯t remember the name. I wasn¡¯t exactly an instrument hound after all.


    ¡°It does what I need.¡± She muttered cooly, hip cocked to the side and looking us over. Although I noticed her eyes were mostly on Jun.


    ¡°Jun, right? You just moved in.¡± She greeted, her eyes practically flashing.


    ¡°Yeah. Nice to meet you.¡± He said, still fighting off chuckles at my previous yell.


    ¡°Preem. You should come see the show sometime.¡± She offered and reached into her guitar bag and pulled out a leaflet. ¡°TC get a discount.¡± She added and Jun took the leaflet. I stood up on my tiptoes to take a look.


    Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    Huh. Apparently the girls band, Violent Hemorrhage was playing at a club not far from here. There was a picture of the girl herself obviously the lead on the leaflet.


    ¡°Cool.¡± I muttered, because it was pretty cool. I wonder what kind of music she played? Maybe we could jam together some time? I haven¡¯t had the chance to play with someone else yet.


    ¡°I might show up.¡± Jun offered and the girl smirked, and I instantly realized she was flirting.


    Gross! She was flirting with Jun!


    Why were all of these girls interested in Jun!? He was a burrito addict! And he throws his socks everywhere!


    ¡°What kind of music do you play?¡± I asked, looking towards the girl, and she just scoffed.


    ¡°Should be fairly obvious, no? The Violent Hemorrhage play NeoRock Electrosmash.¡±


    ¡°What the hell is NeoRockSmash?¡± I asked instantly because suddenly I felt like I was in the mid 2000¡¯s again and everyone was talking about New Rave Hyperpop Synth-Electroclash. Or something similarly gibberish.


    The girl looked like she was going to say something biting, but Jun was right there, and she smoothed out and instead just spoke with the most syrupy sweet voice. ¡°Maybe just stick with pop.¡±


    Okay cool girl. First off? No one tells me to listen to pop music.


    Secondly, this means war.


    My narrowed eyes obviously spoke my intent because she just rolled her eyes and looked to Jun. ¡°See you around Kusanagi.¡± She said, sounding very sultry and she sashayed into the elevator past us. Pointedly almost rubbing against Jun as they nearly jostled at the entrance, and then.


    The elevator shut.


    ¡°I don¡¯t like Rockerboy Neighbor.¡± I said instantly. To make sure Jun wasn¡¯t getting any weird ideas.


    Like sexual interest.


    ¡°She¡¯s a bit rude, yeah.¡± He agreed and I smiled at him for saying what I wanted. Jun could find way better girls than her! Even if she was cool!


    And she had that don¡¯t fuck with me attitude that was pretty awesome. Stupid Cool Rockerboys.


    But I would rather Jun get with Akari¡­ Or Rita! Rita was a good choice! Better than Cool rockerboy girl.


    I was gonna wipe that stupid smug smirk off her face. I decided right then.


    ¡°I¡¯m gonna go take a shower and practice.¡± I told Jun and started for the apartment.


    ¡°Practice what?¡± He asked, following after as I stomped off.


    ¡°Music of course!¡±


    ¡ª--


    Of course it was only mid shower that I remembered that Malcolm was injured and I took a moment to cool my irritation at Rockerboy girl to put that to the side, so I could get ready and go to hang out with Malcolm. Because my choom was more important.


    Of course I wasn¡¯t the only visitor as I stomped down the stairs to Vik¡¯s clinic.


    Ichi had finally been told to go home that morning apparently, but Hiromi was there when I stepped down into Vik¡¯s clinic.


    ¡°Motoko!¡±


    ¡°Hey Hiromi. Hey Malcolm, how you feeling?¡± I asked as I walked over to where the two were hanging out. Pulling off my Guitar and setting my Music box to the side so I could give some hugs to my chooms. Malcolm still rested on the Ripper chair Hiromi pulled up next to him with a tablet in her hands. It only took me a moment to realize the two of them were playing games.


    Aww. Hiromi had come to play videogames with Malcolm!


    I kept the laughter of delight on the inside as I pulled up a chair to watch the two playing the game.


    And instantly wanted to die.


    The game was shit. Garbage. Full of microtransactions, and the screen was at least 40% ads built into the hud.


    I could feel my soul leaving my body as the two were happily playing as if this was acceptable.


    I couldn¡¯t make heads or tails of the actual gameplay. It looks sort of like a farmville clone? But there weren¡¯t plants, instead I realized what it was when Hiromi pulled up a menu and I saw the name of the game.


    ¡°Corporate Commander?¡±


    ¡°Yeah! It¡¯s fun. You run a startup corp and have to survive and grow and stuff. Malcolm and I play it sometimes, I figured with him stuck in a chair it was a perfect time to finally kill that bitch Excel Corp!¡±


    ¡°Hiromi, they are obviously more than willing to throw thousands of eddies into the game. I don¡¯t think we are going to beat them today. Or ever.¡± Malcolm seemed to remind Hiromi who pouted and looked angry at the game.


    Huh, Hiromi was pretty competitive.


    ¡°Motoko! Since you are here, you should join Mitsunashi Industries! We could use a few more Subsidiaries!¡± Hiromi said, smiling with a big grin.


    A feeling struck me. I looked to Malcolm.


    ¡°Hiromi, are you using the fact Malcolm can¡¯t run away to force him to help your video game company?¡±


    ¡°No! Never! Malcolm is a proud member of the Mitsunashi Industries Conglomerate!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s exactly what is happening.¡± Malcolm offered instead never taking his eyes off the tablet he was playing on.


    Hiromi¡¯s jaw dropped as she spun towards Malcolm. ¡°Malcolm!¡± I couldn¡¯t restrain my laughter as Hiromi looked absolutely offended at the reveal.


    But the fact she ended up looking a little embarrassed after a moment told me it was probably pretty close to the truth anyways.


    Malcolm looked up and threw me a wink though. So obviously he was cool with it.


    ¡°Hiromi¡­¡± I trailed off meaningfully and she flushed a little red at the disappointment in my voice.


    Then I just smiled and threw an arm over her shoulders. ¡°Silly gonk.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re the gonk.¡± She mumbled but left it at that.


    ¡°What¡¯s with the guitar and stuff Motoko?¡± Malcolm asked and I smiled as I pulled away from Hiromi and grabbed my stuff.


    ¡°Well obviously with my choom laid up on a ripper chair he would need something to help stave off the boredom! So I figured I could play some music while we hang out. Any requests?¡± I asked him and he perked up a bit at the idea.


    Then Hiromi cut him off. ¡°Wait! You¡¯re gonna play for Malcolm!? You made such a fuss when I got you to play for Jun and I! Motoko! No fair!¡±


    ¡°Malcolm is injured. He gets special treatment Hiromi.¡± I reminded my choom which she just puffed her cheeks at me pretending to be annoyed and then we both burst into giggles as one.


    Malcolm mumbled something I didn¡¯t catch, but it sounded like ¡°These two gonks.¡± And then he spoke louder. ¡°I don¡¯t care. I just want to see you play something. You¡¯ve been all secrety about it.¡± He told me and I laughed. That was pretty true.


    Fine.


    ¡°Okay I have some a few songs I think you¡¯ll like.¡± I said as I grabbed my music box and plugged in. Nirvana should be pretty on point for Malcolm, and I already had Smells Like Teen Spirit finished.


    So I settled in and after a moment my hands hit the chords. I was doing my best to ignore my chooms both staring at me, as the emitters started up and the drums slammed into the intro.


    As I played through the song Malcolm seemed into it, nodding his head, while Hiromi was fully engaged, eyes wide which I noticed as I finally looked up from my guitar and our eyes met, her face flushed in excitement as I sang for the crowd of two.


    ¡°Ow.¡± Malcolm said, suddenly hissing and wincing as he shifted and moved to  hold his side.


    ¡°Malcolm!¡± The song ended instantly music box turned off, as I stood up, but he waved me off.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine. I just jerked a bit! I¡¯m okay. Heh. Good song Motoko. I was getting into a bit too much.¡± he replied and I sat back down with a sigh. Whew.


    ¡°Maybe something more low key?¡± I asked and Malcolm and Hiromi both shook their heads, Hiromi standing up and pointing.


    ¡°Finish the song Motoko! Better yet! Start again! Repeat! Put it on loop!¡±


    ¡°Pfft. Ow, Hiromi don¡¯t make me laugh so hard.¡± Malcolm gasped struggling not to laugh so hard it hurt him.


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t mind hearing it from the start as well.¡± A new voice called out.


    ¡°Hey Vik!¡± I chirped, waving as the ripper finished walking in. He had been resting against the entrance way listening as the song finished.


    ¡°Motoko, I remember you mentioning picking up the guitar as a hobby, but that was good work there kid.¡± He said as he walked over and grabbed his chair rolling over to us once he was down.


    ¡°Well. I¡¯m still learning and everything.¡± I demurred, but Vik¡¯s dad energy wasn¡¯t going to let me go that easy.¡±


    ¡°Nonsense, that was excellent. What song was that? Never heard that band before.¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­ The song was Smells Like Teen Spirit. Uh¡­ No band. I mean. I don¡¯t have one.¡±


    ¡°Wait! Motoko! You wrote that yourself!?¡± Malcolm asked, gasping and I didn¡¯t say anything. I mean, it wasn¡¯t like I could say it was Nirvana.


    They don¡¯t exist here.


    And saying I wrote it was¡­ Yeah that made me uncomfortable. So I didn¡¯t say anything.


    ¡°I¡¯ll play it from the start for you Vik. But just¡­ Don¡¯t tell anyone okay? It¡¯s embarrassing.¡±


    Vik literally just laughed at me, but he had a big smile so I forgave him. Then I started playing again.


    ¡°Load up on guns, bring your friends!¡±


    ¡ª--


    It was still a little embarrassing to play songs in front of people, but Malcolm liked the music, and him being hurt was more important.


    I had taken a few breaks from time to time working on making new songs to my chooms surprise, as I put together an entire song in just an hour or so before putting on a rendition of Lithium Flower.


    But then I got a call from my current contracted merc. ¡°Hang on guys. Got a call.¡± I told my chooms who were distracted with their games anyway.


    *Hey Jackie! How goes?*


    *Hoh. Easy enough Hermanita. An easy gig is an easy gig. Went around flashed pictures of your targets. Got a whole lot of run around stories, but I¡¯ve spent most of the day eating burgers.* Jackie broke into a laugh at that and I smiled along with him.


    Jackie had of course been the merc that I thought of first when I needed someone to be visibly snooping around Rancho Coronado. Jackie was the perfect fit. Big enough that no one would want to fight him while he was asking questions, friendly enough that the few that did would end up letting it go, especially when he would be very visibly lazily following the requirements to find the gonks.


    Spending most of his time eating food and hanging out.


    *You sure you don¡¯t want me to actually try and find these gonks? I¡¯ve had a few people hint they wouldn¡¯t mind letting me know for a certain amount of eddies. Apparently your targets aren¡¯t well liked. Even if one of them is the nephew of some important choom in 6th St.* He said suddenly and I had to frown at that.


    I hadn¡¯t considered that it might be easy to find them. That 6th St. and the people in the suburbs might not like the gonks. And one of them was highly connected. That did complicate things.


    *Tempting.* I finally admitted but shook it off. *If you can get the info cheap, then I wouldn¡¯t mind. I¡¯ll even throw in a bonus, but I don¡¯t want you to push too hard.*


    *Yeah Hermanita I remember your plan. No problem. I¡¯ll keep letting everyone think I¡¯m just not that interested, and if I do end up with their location then I¡¯ll let you know. How¡¯s little Malcolm holding up?*


    I smiled at Jackies question, he had been pretty mad when he learned Malcolm had been shot. I guess for Jackie just a single gig and then a bar trip was enough to make them chooms.


    *Malcolms okay. Looking better already. Vik says he¡¯ll be back on his feet by the end of the week.*


    *Good. Glad to hear that Hermanita. Alright then. I¡¯ll update you again tomorrow, but I got a beer and a burger with my name on it.* He said, sounding cheerful as the call disconnected.


    ¡ª--


    Eventually Malcolm''s mother came into the clinic and despite Hiromi and I¡¯s best efforts to stick around to enjoy the look on Malcolm''s face, we did eventually have to leave.


    Malcolm''s mom was super embarrassing for him. I think if we hadn¡¯t left he might have just finished himself off to save himself the trouble.


    Unfortunately Hiromi needed to head home.


    ¡°I have homework I¡¯ve been putting off, and well, Malcolm is a good excuse but my teachers won¡¯t accept it, and then my ¡®rents will be on my case.¡± She whined at me as we walked over to our cars.


    ¡°I get it. We¡¯ll meet up soon! Once Malcolm is feeling better we should all go out and have a night to relax.¡± I offered and Hiromi seemed to perk up.


    ¡°Yeah! I¡¯ll get through this week and then it¡¯ll be a party night! I¡¯ll find out if there¡¯s anything going on this weekend! Be prepared Motoko! Because I¡¯m going to drag you to the preemest places!¡±


    I just laughed as Hiromi hopped onto her bike and drove off with a waving arm behind her.


    I slipped into the Quadra and decided to head home.


    I was still taking a break from anything, murdery related and so I was gonna go flop on the couch. Maybe do some more coding work?


    No. I shook my head. I¡¯ll go hit the gym some more. I could use some mindless exercise time. It had actually been¡­


    Relaxing.

 Chapter 115

    ¡°Back again? Well you¡¯re more consistent than your brother.¡± John offered as he noticed me working on a full punching bag. I was ducking and sliding making sure I was working my footing the best I could as I circled the bag. My legs getting a workout with how often I was shifting around and throwing hands.


    ¡°Jun¡¯s lazy about exercise. Prefers to just chrome up.¡± I mentioned in short gasps as I backed off the bag, for a moment and then moved back in a few punches to the side as if I was up close and punching kidneys. I might be fairly out of breath, but I was close to a level up!


    ¡°Most kids prefer that. You¡¯ve got chrome arms, but still practice, pretty unusual.¡± He said and then walked over holding the back so it wouldn¡¯t bounce as much letting me start hammering into the bag even harder and faster.


    ¡°Skill and strength aren¡¯t the same.¡± I huffed out dryly as I looked at the older man who was looking over my form and seemingly finding no issues over my motions as I went wild. Moving as fast as possible as I hammered chrome hands into the bag again and again.


    I was just glad I had actually put on the padded knuckle gloves that had been lying around. Otherwise I would have punched right through the damn thing.


    ¡°You know how to box.¡±


    ¡°Boxing¡¯s one of the martial arts I actually had someone work with me on. I know an old guy that used to be a pro.¡± I replied. Even if Vik had only given me the one lesson with Jackie that one time.


    It was still the truth and a better lie than nothing.


    ¡°You got something driving you. Something on your mind kid?¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± I asked as I backed off and did some stretches to cool down a bit. ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve been out here punching the bag for over an hour. Something is driving you. Need to vent?¡± The old man offered as he continued to hold the bag for me.


    I blinked, checking the time on my system before realizing I had lost track of time.


    Oops.


    Sure I was tired. I was sweating up a storm and I was pretty out of breath, but that was all minor stuff.


    A nap and I would be back to 100% and feeling fine. But no one else knew that.


    I shook my head. ¡°I¡¯ve had a lot of stuff happen in the last week or two. But I¡¯m not¡­ I¡¯m not letting it bother me. I just lost track of time.¡±


    ¡°Heh. If I could get half the gonks that I train up to lose track of time like you. My job would be a lot easier.¡± I didn¡¯t have anything to say to that, and as much as I wanted to try and get that Body level up. I realized I had gone a bit overboard. I took off the gloves and set them to the side as I walked off.


    I heard a chuckle behind me, but I ignored it.


    Shower and then a nap. That was all I needed.


    ¡ª--


    Waking up refreshed that evening I crawled out of my new bed and looked around the apartment. Jun¡¯s boots were gone. So I was alone.


    I sent a text out to the group chat, just to see how Malcolm was doing, and then instantly got flooded by replies.


    *Motoko: How¡¯s Malcolm holding up?*


    *Malcolm: Doing alright.*


    *Malcolm: Ichi¡¯s been smothering me and I just kicked him out of the clinic. So expect some whining.*


    *Ichi: Malcolm kicked me out of the clinic!*


    *Ichi: I¡¯m not whining! I just wanted to make sure you¡¯re doing okay!*


    *HIromi: I¡¯m stuck finishing homework! Motoko rescue me! Also Malcolm and Ichi have been whining about each other all day.*


    *Malcolm: We have not!*


    *Ichi: The hell we have! Hiromi shut up!*


    *Hiromi: See?*


    I laughed at the back and forth. It seems everyone was doing okay if Malcolm and Ichi could fight.


    *Motoko: Preem. Reminder once Malcolm is back on his feet we are going to have a big party!*


    *Malcolm: Yes! See this is what I wanted to hear!*


    *Ichi: Yeah alright that sounds good. Know where you want to have it?*


    I blinked at that. Then I remembered. I walked into the kitchen and found the flyer.


    I sent a picture to my chooms.


    *Motoko: Maybe? There¡¯s a bar near where I am that does live music. Want to test it out? Or we could go hit Lizzie¡¯s?*


    *Malcolm: Eh. As much as I like Lizzie¡¯s, they don¡¯t like us much. Anyone been to this bar?*


    *Ichi: Yeah. I made some deliveries there before the war. Harukiya was nice enough I guess. More of a music bar, than the BD stuff we normally hang at. They have an entrance fee though.*


    *Hiromi: Ichi we have money to pay for an entrance fee!*


    *Malcolm: You say that like we don¡¯t have eddies. Hiromi beat me to it!*


    *Motoko: Then I guess we get to try it out once Malcolm feels better!*


    I nodded as the conversation flowed into background noise of messages popping in. I wanted to scope out how good Rockerboy Neighbor was anyways! Stupid cool jerk!


    I¡¯d show them! I¡¯d show them all!


    But first¡­ I was so close to a new Body level!


    ¡ª--


    This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    The sound of ¡®The Only Thing They Fear Is You¡¯ blasted through the apartment as I ran around.


    I couldn¡¯t rely on pushups to try and get the Body level so I had decided to use acrobatics. I was currently flipping around the apartment from one wall to the next, ending each set with a cool spinning kick, or a faux superman punch into the air, just to give myself something to do.


    It was exercise and actually pretty hard work, since I was sweating up a storm and getting my muscles burning.


    Then mid afternoon finally it happened.


    *100 Body XP Gained*


    *Body Leveled up!*


    Body 8!


    I stopped my routine as I felt the shudder go through my muscles. Breath in. Breath out.


    ¡°I feel amazing.¡± I whispered as I rushed to the bathroom and the mirror. It only took a few moments of checking my muscles to see the difference. Stronger. I felt stronger. I flexed my abs and grinned as it was definitely visible in the mirror.


    Hell yeah! Superhero abs!


    I exhaled in relief as I flopped onto the toilet for a moment.


    ¡°Sweaty.¡± I mumbled as I quickly stripped and fell into the shower letting the warm water wash it all away.


    Heh. It had been a while since I had tried to grind out a Body point. I still wasn¡¯t exactly the type to exercise all the time, but I had to admit it did feel good. Plus it meant I could grind out Athletics and Street Brawling again! I could go Parkour and get something out of it.


    Well other than just fun.


    That brought me up short.


    Fun.


    My system gave me incredible skills. Power. Talent. It let me do so many things¡­ Like hunting Scavs down like the dogs they are.


    But all of that was just what I could do. It wasn¡¯t who I was.


    Who I was¡­ Was someone who took those skills and had fun with them.


    I blinked as I wiped the water off my face. I got out of the shower. Quickly drying off, and getting dressed, adjusting my boots to make sure they were night and tight.


    I loaded up my normal gear just in case but I could feel the beat of my heart urging me on.


    Quickly running to the music box I copied a song to a shard. I had put together this song because I wanted it, and it had taken forever considering how many non-instrumental sounds it needed.


    But complete it was, and now I had the perfect idea for what to do with it.


    I headed up to the roof.


    ¡ª--


    The howl of wind blowing between skyscrapers. The stink of the city below me. And the California sky above.


    I was on the roof, but I wasn¡¯t as high as I could go. There was another section of the building that had almost japanese styled penthouses. I was sure some high end Arasaka, or TC guy lived up there. I quickly bounced my way up. Climbing along the side of the building, hitting AC units, and piping until I reached the penthouse.


    I winced a bit at all the security, but I ended up just worming around it as I climbed over Japanese style tile roofing until I reached the very top.


    Okay. It was time.


    I blinked in between one moment and the next.


    A BD recording began.


    I had considered doing a test run first, to find all the right spots, but I trusted Parkour and my own mobility.


    We were doing it live. It was just¡­ Better that way.


    I pulled a shard out of my pocket, flashed it before my eyes. I was getting call backs to Only Thing They Fear BD. But this wasn¡¯t that.


    This one Judy might actually like.


    Inner Universe was scratched into the shard.


    I pushed it into my port and let my agent play the song in my ear.


    And as the notes began, I moved. I ran leaping off the roof to the short wall that surrounded the japanese garden, then leapt again. Completely freefalling into the Night City sky.


    For just a moment. I was motionless. Perfectly still. Then I reached out. Snagged a pipe that I was falling past, pulling myself into the building so my boots could slow my decent, slowing enough until I hit an angled roof, where I was able to bleed the a bit more of the falls speed off, as I slid down and then once more I was in the sky.


    I landed twenty feet below in a roll on a bridgeway between the buildings. Immediately jumping to my feet as I ran across the roof of the walkway. I could hear people below me wondering at the noise but I ignored them. Leaping off the side Another drop, another rolling landing and I was moving all the way across the street running along the roofing of the buildings across from the new apartment.


    I leapt over bits and bobs, noticed the asian lanterns that hung down from the side of the building, noticed the wire they were hooked through and the idea flowed.


    I drew my knife as I flowed into a powerslide. Grabbing the wire I slid off the roof. Falling a good three or so feet before the wire snagged.


    Then I cut it with my knife. The back end of my blade had wire cutters and in a second I was falling again. Sheathing my knife I managed to wrap the wire around my chrome hands a few times so I had a good grip as I fell.


    Above me the pittering noise of the studs drilled into the concrete that the wire had been hooked into popped loose one by one, and then it happened.


    The wire at the end was attached to a much stronger cable tie.


    And instead of falling, I was swinging.


    My stomach flew up into my throat as I flowed through the air. For a second there I was spiderman.


    Then of course because this was flying by the seat of my pants. I realized I was about to slam right into one of those concrete walkways.


    I reached up, grabbed the wire and tugged myself up fighting the centrifugal force. Shifting my trajectory just in time so instead of slamming into the side I was able to bring my legs up and swing right into the open side window.


    I let go of the wire holding on to it would only see me smashing into the roof as the wire caught, but I was still in trouble.


    Too fast.


    I slammed my boots into the concrete which sent me tumbling, but also pushed me up just enough that instead of slamming into the concrete barrier on the other side of the walkway I went through its window as well, sending me hurtling out the other side in a deadly tumble.


    My heart was hammering in my chest. My breath was coming out in a rush. I couldn¡¯t even hear the music over the adrenaline spiking.


    But I moved using my chrome to come down on the roof first to protect myself I managed to get myself under control as chrome left trails of sparks across the concrete that I was skimming across


    I was very thankful for my boots and pants. Because I could feel the road rash starting to build up where my pants weren¡¯t as armored.


    Then I was at the end of the line.


    Still sliding. Still going too fast to stop, but the roof ended ahead of me.


    So I stopped trying to slow down and instead once more used my boots to slam into the concrete and bounce me up.


    I was in the air.


    The music was there, and I knew what to do.


    The flow of motions that were required to keep me alive flowing through me, and I moved. Reaching out I grabbed a pipe spinning me around it twice as I started falling then letting go. Sending me out once more, but this time at the right trajectory to reach an apartment balcony.


    I rolled into the little concrete cube of personal space and then bounced up and into the next, and then again before my speed was under my control and then I was up on the guard rail along the edge of the little rectangular balconies running across them at full speed.


    Almost there!


    I had fallen quite far at this point. Only a few floors above the street level I was coming to the end of the street. Where it curved, but that was fine. I leapt out and this time I landed on the street lights. They shifted and swayed under my weight, but held and then I was running along the top and then to the light across the road, and then further. I was close to Megabuilding H8 now. I could practically touch it as I ran along, but that wasn¡¯t where I was going. Instead I leapt down. Hurtling from the floor level I had been at, into the gloom.


    The noise below me shifted from city streets. To back alley deals. To the sounds of pleasure and anger.


    Jig-jig street.


    I moved along the rooftops. Staying in the dark. Hidden from view from anyone not willing to look up. As I flowed through the area leaping from sign to sign, from window sill to corner apartment, that I actually rolled into and then out the window ignoring the scream of surprise from the john the Joytoy had been working over behind me.


    Then I was just above the street level main entrance to the back alley, and there it was.


    I leapt this time not landing atop a street light, but grabbing it and flipping around, then releasing, setting myself on a course, avoiding the giant eldritch statue that was above my target, and landing firmly on the sidewalk right next to the stairs down into Sakura Market. Then I was walking calmly, and steadily. Feeling my heart beating, and my breathing still rushing in and out as I cooled down, to my favorite place. I plopped down at the Ramen place, and since I was still recording didn¡¯t say a word. Just pointed towards what I wanted.


    A moment later the Ramen was rolled out to me, and I didn¡¯t turn off the BD until the taste of the broth was on my tongue.


    ¡ª---


    ¡°Ow!¡± I whined as Vik gave me a look.


    ¡°Don¡¯t complain about it, if you are going to do it.¡± He told me and could only pout a bit.


    ¡°What did you even do to scrape down your chrome like that?¡± Malcolm called from across the room. He was still resting in the ripper chair although he would be heading home soon. His Mom wanted to bring him home to mother him. I had come to see Malcolm after Ramen.


    Definitely just for that.


    Not because my hands looked like I had run them against a grinder.


    Most of the chrome was okay, but at certain points¡­ Well the concrete hadn¡¯t been kind to it, and it felt like I had an exposed nerve. So I had Vik looking it over.


    ¡°Nothing! Perfectly normal stuff! Not at all weird or strange!¡± I denied Malcolm who laughed once before wincing at his side.


    ¡°Most of the pads are okay, but I¡¯ll need to replace a bit here.¡± He said sounding like he was mostly talking to himself, but saying it loud enough I could hear it. He pulled back and rolled across the clinic pulling open a crate and rummaging through it.


    A few moments later he comes back with a sealed plastic bag. Inside were basically chrome pieces.


    ¡°Let¡¯s see.¡± He muttered and then unsealed the bag reached in with his ripper gear covered hand and came out holding a piece of chrome. ¡°There we are.¡± He muttered, resealing the bag and then leaned over my hand a moment later I felt a tickling sensation as he did something and a piece of my palm disconnected, revealing wires and sensors below. Then he placed a new piece of chrome down and had to keep from wiggling as the ticklish feeling surged up my arm.


    Then it just soothed away and Vik nodded checking his little monitor device. ¡°Connection is good. Test it out for me.¡± He mentioned and arm was released and I started poking at the cleaner section of chrome on my palm.


    ¡°Yeah. Feels¡­ Normal?¡±


    ¡°Good. Be more careful, okay kid?¡±


    ¡°Yes! Sorry Vik.¡±


    The old ripper laughed at me, before patting my shoulder. ¡°Should be all good. Let me know if you have any problems.¡±


    ¡°Dr. Vektor, is Malcolm ready?¡± A voice called out and I turned towards the entrance to see Malcolms mom, the woman still looked a little tense after the shooting.


    ¡°Let me check his vitals one last time, but unless somethings changed, he¡¯s all set.¡± Vik assured the woman his calm attitude did help. As he finished patting my shoulder and rolling over to check on Malcolm.


    I ended up sticking around to help Malcolm out of the clinic and into his Mom¡¯s car.


    He hadn¡¯t liked the fact that I had carried him up the stairs in a princess carry.


    The pictures were worth it though.

 Chapter 116

    I arrived at Lizzies not long after. The saved BD of my parkour performance should be pretty fun. Hopefully Nox would be able to sell it.


    Or not. I mean the BD creation thing was more for me than anything.


    Unfortunately I was stopped at the door by Rita. I waved a hand at her as I approached but was stopped instantly as she reached out and grabbed my shoulder.


    ¡°Mona take over for me?¡± She called out to another bouncer suddenly.


    ¡°Sure Rits.¡± The other bouncer called back and then I was pushed inside and into the side room by Rita.


    ¡°Rita?¡±


    ¡°I want to know Motoko, before anything else. Are you okay?¡±


    I blinked.


    ¡°Yeees? I mean I had Vik my ripper do some work on my hands earlier bu-¡± She shook her head, cutting me off. The borg woman settled both of her hands on my shoulders, even bending down a little so we were at the same height.


    ¡°Motoko, I saw your BD. The one with the song, and with you going completely Cyberpsycho on the Scavs.¡± Rita said dropping a bomb and I winced.


    Dammit. Was that still causing me trouble!? That was supposed to have been fun! Well I mean. It was.


    Like super fun.


    But that was besides the point. I hated when fun things I did caused problems later!


    ¡°I¡¯m fine Rita. Honest. I was doing an experiment that night to go along with the song that I wrote and-¡±


    ¡°Motoko.¡± Rita cut me off sounding really serious. ¡°You sound okay. You look okay, and you aren¡¯t closed off or freaking out, but I¡¯ve seen a lot of people I thought were okay with a smile on their face as they murdered people they loved and cared for.¡±


    ¡°I was just¡­ trying something different. Letting myself get super angry, even forcing it a bit.¡±


    ¡°Kid, you were absolutely wrecked during that BD. If I had been hit half as hard as that Scav punched you, I¡¯d be down for the count.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m pretty tough! Look.¡± I said, spreading my arms. ¡°I¡¯m not hurt. All healed up. Vik my ripper does great work. Took care of me. Yes I went overboard. I¡¯ve even¡­ I even admitted that to myself. I did the music and I thought it would be cool to be all brutal like that, but it sorta¡­ The music wasn¡¯t supposed to be that¡­ it was supposed to be the thing that pulls me away from that sort of stuff. That was the whole point. So yeah¡­ I fucked up.¡±


    Rita continued to watch as I sort of rambled before sighing. And then to my surprise she pulled me into a hug.


    She was pokey. All the spikes I mean.


    ¡°So you aren¡¯t going Cyberpsycho? You mean it?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m actually doing okay. I mean I¡¯ve been super irritated recently with the Scavs attacking my home, and the move to a new place, and the TC boss Fujimura keeps wanting to get me to admit to being his underling and it¡¯s annoying.¡±


    ¡°If he is bothering you, we can take care of that for you.¡± She said then and I couldn¡¯t help but feel warm at how quickly she offered to basically fight a TC boss for me.


    Rita was good people.


    ¡°Nah. He¡¯s Jun¡¯s boss. And he got us a new apartment. Jun is over the moon about it, cause it¡¯s all big and I have a much bigger room now and stuff¡­ It¡¯s just different and I didn¡¯t want different. Fujimura, despite being a little pushy, hasn''t crossed the line.¡±


    ¡°Hmph. Well when he does.¡± She offered and I smiled.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think I would want to get the Mox involved in my trouble. But I appreciate it.¡± Rita scoffed but nodded, reaching out and resting a hand on my shoulder.


    ¡°If you need to talk. Don¡¯t forget you have friends here. You aren¡¯t the first young girl to show up here with family in other gangs needing help.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t¡­ I don¡¯t need help¡­ Not yet!¡± I added at her unconvinced look. ¡°Jun is great, and Fujimura is annoying, but he hasn¡¯t pushed past the line¡­ Like I said, a lot of things have changed and it¡¯s just making me uncomfortable.¡±


    ¡°Then remember I¡¯m always willing to listen. C¡¯mon then, you¡¯re here to see Judy right?¡± She asked as she finally pulled away from me, and I noticed she looked a little uncomfortable herself.


    ¡°Yeah! I did a new BD focused around Parkour instead of other stuff. It was preem. I leapt off the side of the building I¡¯m on and made it all the way to Sakura Market.¡±


    Rita shivered a bit as I spoke as she guided me out of the room. ¡°You leapt off a building?¡±


    ¡°Yeah! A couple times.¡± Rita shivered again and it made me realize something. Rita is afraid of heights. ¡°Probably not a BD for you then.¡±


    ¡°No, no I don¡¯t think so.¡±


    ¡ª--


    I dropped off the BD with Judy only after swearing this BD wasn¡¯t some gore fest that would make her want to clean her fingers from brain matter again.


    Then I was driving back to the apartment flopping onto the couch and wondering what to do next.


    I once again heard the faint thump of bass through the floor and knew what I had to do!


    I got up and grabbed my guitar and went at it.


    I needed more songs. More music! I had to defeat the Rockerboy Neighbor! So I jammed out. Working on some Foo Fighters, because I was already doing Nirvana. Might as well.


    But the idea hit me, and I stopped mid way through The Pretender to work on another song.


    Think by Kaleida. ¡°I¡¯ll never! Break your heart!¡± I jammed out, having had some trouble getting the drums for the song right since they weren''t normal drums, but I found the right instrument sound eventually.


    Now I had a John Wick song!


    It took a good couple hours to get the track done, and then I went back to the Foo Fighters.


    More songs!


    More music!


    More levels!


    Long into the night. After Jun had come home and gone to bed. While working on tweaking some of the hologram motions. Making me play through The Pretender again, for what felt like a millionth time.


    The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    It happened.


    *Rockerboy skill level up!*


    Rockerboy 8.


    ¡°Yes!¡± I cheered, leaping up onto the couch to celebrate I could feel even more musical knowledge flow into me.


    At this point, it would be an actual surprise if I flubbed a chord while playing anything but the hardest songs!


    ¡ª--


    ¡°What are you three doing?¡± I asked as I was brought into Malcolms apartment.


    Around the TV laying around the couches were three teenagers that looked like they were in a full food coma.


    ¡°So many snacks.¡± Malcolm moaned from where he was laid up. His feet up on an ottoman and a blanket over most of him. The many many bags of chips and things that surrounded him told a story. ¡°It¡¯s all Ichi¡¯s fault.¡± He moaned.


    The boy in question didn¡¯t say anything, just continued to stare into the ceiling with a dazed look in his eyes.


    Hiromi was here too to my surprise and while she wasn¡¯t as bad as the boys she looked like she got into a fight with a cake and lost.


    I walked over and she threw me a big smile as she lay half on the couch and half off.


    Leaning down I wiped the bit of frosting that was stuck on her cheek. ¡°You three look like you got in a fight with your snacks and lost.¡± I told them as I stuck the bit of frosting into my mouth.


    Huh. That was almost chocolate.


    ¡°Ugh.¡± Ichi moaned without shifting his dead eyed stare at the ceiling.


    ¡°What did you guys do?¡± I asked, laughing. I had gotten the message that everyone wanted to meet up in the morning but I had been¡­


    Well I was napping after leveling Rockerboy. So after looking at the message and seeing it wasn¡¯t an emergency I went back to sleep.


    So I was late to this party.


    ¡°It¡¯s Ichi¡¯s fault.¡± Hiromi informed me, looking up at me with a big smile.


    ¡°It¡¯s Hiromi¡¯s fault!¡± Ichi retorted. ¡°I said I would get snacks. So Hiromi dragged me to this crazy corpo shop. Everything was expensive but they had all sorts of stuff.¡± Ichi said in turn, still glazed out.


    ¡°Saka-Go is a very valuable member of the Arasaka conglomerate that ensures that traveling Arasaka members can always find their home town snacks even across the world.¡± Hiromi replied, speaking in a cadence that made me think she was repeating something she had heard before.


    Of course Ichi and Malcolm both instantly started throwing whatever snack they had on hand at her, so I quickly backpedaled away to avoid the friendly fire.


    ¡°H-hey! You all enjoyed the snacks! Don¡¯t give me that!¡±


    ¡°Some of it was good.¡± Malcolm agreed and I couldn¡¯t help but chuckle at the look Hiromi threw at the crew.


    A few chips stuck in her hair as she stood up with all the dignity she could retain and headed into the bathroom to clean up.


    I walked over and after pushing some chip bags out of the way settled near Malcolm.


    ¡°How you feeling choom?¡±


    ¡°Hey Motoko. I¡¯m actually feeling pretty good. I¡¯m able to get up and walk around now without any pain or anything. Dr. Vector did tell me to just take it easy for another week or so, but that I was good to do normal things. I¡¯ve got a checkup tomorrow to be basically cleared for light stuff.¡± Malcolm offered with a smile even as he tugged up his shirt a bit showing the scar on his chest and side. Both looked a little red still. But more like irritated scar tissue than recently damaged wounds.


    ¡°Healing nicely.¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Hey I¡­ Motoko. It still feels like it hasn¡¯t hit me yet you know? That I was so close?¡± He offered and I felt the light hearted conversation change as he went serious. ¡°I just wanted to thank you, for saving me.¡±


    ¡°I was just glad I got there in time.¡± I said honestly. I was once again thankful I didn¡¯t dream if I slept under the system. I really didn¡¯t want to deal with the nightmares I would be sure to have.


    ¡°Heh. Yeah. I wasn¡¯t getting through to anyone until I called you. I¡¯m glad¡­ I¡¯m really glad you picked up.¡±


    I nodded and then probably to Malcolms surprise I bent down and drew him into a hug.¡±We¡¯re chooms! Of course I would do everything I could to save you.¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Thanks Choom.¡±


    ¡°Hey! Hugging Motoko without me!? I refuse!¡± Hiromi called out as she came back into the living room and instantly rushed over to Malcolms surprise she jumped into the hug pulling Malcolm and I tight.


    ¡°I am not doing a group hug.¡± Ichi called out from the other side of the couch.


    ¡°Group hug on Ichi!?¡± I gasped in delight and after a moment of helping Malcolm up to not jostle him too much, we all collapsed on our other choom much to his irritation when Hiromi just ended up sitting on him instead of actually hugging him.


    While we all vegged out on the couch spending the rest of the day hanging out. I sent the text to Jackie to wrap up the gig.


    Since Malcolm would be back on his feet soon it was time to put out some bait.


    ¡ª--


    That night Section 9 met up in my netrunning cave.


    Even Malcolm was here. Although with some help from the Straight Lane Shooters above. I had found a nice couch and brought that in so Malcolm was able to be comfortable.


    Even if his whining about us treating him like an invalid was getting old.


    ¡°I¡¯m feeling fine guys. You don¡¯t have to baby me!¡± He continued to harp as we had set him up with not just the couch, but a table close by he could rest his Laptop on, along with some blankets and things.


    ¡°Vik hasn¡¯t given you the all clear yet.¡± I reminded him and he rolled his eyes.


    ¡°Only because I have the final check up in the morning. Really. I¡¯m fine!¡±


    ¡°Here Malcolm, make sure to stay warm okay?¡± I said purposefully adjusting the blank around his feet so his toes would stay warm.


    He faux kicked me that had me laughing, but I did stop bothering him then.


    There was a reason we had all gathered here.


    Malcolm had originally set up the car trade through a reliable website he went to for car trades, or at least he considered it reliable.


    Either way, if the gonks that attacked him were using it, that meant they were just as likely to come back and use it again. So it was time to set some bait.


    ¡°Okay everyone. First thing first. Malcolm, let¡¯s check out your car trade site. I¡¯m going to slip in, so we can send the fake car trade out. I¡¯ll be making sure our guys see it.¡± I grinned.


    I smiled ferally as I thought about what was going to happen to these fucks.


    ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll set up the actual offer since I know what they look like.¡± Malcolm agreed and Hiromi and Ichi would be working on backing me up.


    I settled into my netrunning chair and took a moment to attach all the connections into my netrunning suit, shivering a bit as the coolant pump started sending ice over my skin.


    Then I sat back and since I had it. I flipped the netgoggles over my eyes.


    I didn¡¯t really need them, but they were cool.


    Then in a blink I was in the net. The entire digital world set out before me.


    ¡°Okay seriously Motoko. You need to set up a lobby.¡± I whispered to myself looking over the blank pillar that I stood on.


    But I shook it off and stepped off and into the web.


    Unlike when heading to Yoko¡¯s I didn¡¯t have the direct IP. So I had to actually look for the website. I walked along neon lights. The road nonexistent below me. In some places, bad connections. Or old wiring, caused the world to flicker or turn to static, and of course the figures that I walked past were mostly inhuman figures. Daemons, for search engines and things that normal people use.


    This world was something I had only touched on the most shallow ends of.


    I would have to explore down here more sometime.


    But for now I followed along the lines towards the website. Using a Search Engine to basically create a path for me to reach the server I was looking for.


    When I got there I had to roll my eyes.


    So much spam.


    The entire outside of the server was covered in Spam Daemons.


    Little goblin creatures that would attack any Daemon or access request and try to flood them with their carried spam.


    The first one that tried to attack me was melted with my [HELL FLAME Anh. 2.132] Hack. Watching the Daemon melt into digital sludge along with its spam funnily sent the rest of the pack hiding away.


    It took me a moment to realize this was something their creator must have come up with.


    No one wanted days of work on their Daemons to be removed because they annoyed a netrunner after all.


    So they must have been programmed to ignore anyone that managed to destroy one of them. I would have left it at that but¡­


    *250 XP Gained.*


    I grinned and flames burst into my hands as I activated my ICE to slow the Daemons down, keeping the programs from being able to escape into the net as I cut them all down.


    1,500 XP wasn¡¯t something I was just going to ignore.


    I walked into the server ignoring the flaming chunks of Daemon I left behind.


    I stepped into the chipper bright lights of the Server.


    It was kinda badly designed though. Instead of the white room having multiple exits to other sections of the server. It was like they hadn¡¯t realized they could section off things and just plopped everything into this one room.


    I bet this server lagged like hell when it was in use.


    The different sections of the server were set up like¡­ Stands? No, it was more complete than that. As if someone had just taken a massive room and just plopped square rooms in different places.


    At least it told me something important.


    If this place did have netrunner security. I wasn¡¯t fucking worried.


    I walked up to one of the rooms that had admin login on the door. It didn¡¯t take me long to get the door breached open and let me in.


    I wrinkled my nose.


    ¡°Fuckin Spaghetti code.¡± I grumbled aloud as I took in the mess of wires leading to different control options.


    Definitely not a netrunner because any netrunner worth their salt would see this fucking mess of admin tools and just burn it all to the ground and start fresh.


    I spent more time finding the user information than I did breaking into the admin side of the server.


    Finally I was able to pull up Malcolms info from this side and find his request looking for a Rayfield Caliburn.


    I spent a minute just arguing with myself about wanting to hit Malcolm after.


    This site wasn¡¯t a reliable car trade site. Malcolm you fucking gonk. You just searched car traders or something and found a random site didn¡¯t you?


    Regardless I was able to see the contact, the one that had confirmed they had what Malcolm was looking for.


    Pulling up ¡°NCAutoRepairRC¡± From the message he had sent Malcolm I noticed something pretty quick.


    Assholes had been doing this for a while. About twenty different messages just like the one Malcolm had gotten were sent out from the profile. All confirmed the car they had on hand with pictures that looked normal.


    Only the fact I was able to see all of them clued me into the fact they were all taken from all over the city and likely either something they had just noticed on the side of the street and snapped a picture of, or stolen from somewhere else.


    Irritated at such a stupid scam, I dug in. They had actually been active a few times since Malcolms shooting. Although they certainly hadn¡¯t sent out anything.


    *Okay guys I¡¯m in the site. Go ahead and upload that car trade.* I called out to the team as I settled in to get this crappy site to do what I needed.


    A moment later a new advert was added into the sea of requests and trades.


    Within a few moments I added a bit of code into the request.


    Next time NCAutoRepairRC logged in, they would see the request we just added in right near the top of the new page. No matter how long it took, whether it was tomorrow, or a week from now, our advert would show up as if it was pretty new.


    Okay I pulled out walking out of the server and back into the open electronic city. The bait was set. Now we just had to wait for a bite.

 Chapter 117

    Judy Alvarez


    I let go of the wire at the exact moment it started flinging me up. Instead of being flung up into the ceiling of the pathway, it launched me across and I just managed to slam my boots into the floor to send me tumbling out the other end of the path, through the open window and into nothing.


    Air.


    Nothing but air.


    Instantly Judy slammed the cancel code into the console and threw herself out of the BD.  Rolling off her chair and grabbing for the trash can.


    She panted, every inch of her body shivering, and sweating. She had already ripped off most of her clothes just so she could cool down.


    ¡°Fuck that kid. Fuck. Fuck fuck.¡± She moaned into the trash can, but thankfully she didn¡¯t actually pop. Free from the sensation of falling with nothing to catch her she managed to slowly regain her breath.


    She had finished editing the BD for the most part, but she couldn¡¯t actually get all the way through it to call it done.


    It was¡­


    ¡°Heights! Why did it have to be heights!¡± She moaned as she stood up on shaky legs grabbing a can of something with more caffeine than healthy and popped it, then chugged it down.


    ¡°Damn Judes. You alright?¡± She didn¡¯t quite freeze, but she did jerk a bit at the voice looking over at the one that got her into this.


    ¡°Nox! This is all your fault! You introduced me to that little!¡± She growled clenching and unclenching her fists at him as if she was going to throttle him, or her.


    Well. It would be him. Judy had long realized that Motoko wasn¡¯t in her league. Out of shape, nerd that spends all her days in a BD is not comparable to a teenage cyberpunk super assassin.


    She was still secretly putting money on the girl being some corpo experiment.


    ¡°Hey hey, don¡¯t blame me!¡± He whined, shoulders slumped. ¡°I¡¯m not even in charge anymore¡­ Fucking corpo bi-¡± He cut himself of and looked around as if expecting the girl in question to appear. Before relaxing and continuing. ¡°Bitch.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to hear you whining, I¡¯ve already offered to speak to Rita about it.¡±


    ¡°No. She¡¯s a turbo rusty lady but I can¡¯t¡­ I¡¯m making more in profits now than I was before, despite her taking her cut.¡± He grumbled, retracing common ground.


    One of Motoko¡¯s friends had muscled in on Nox¡¯s hustle, and had taken over. Nox was pissy about it, but the look on his face whenever the eddies he was making were brought up always shut him up.


    ¡°Don¡¯t insult people with Midnight Lady. Rita will fuck you up if she hears you say that.¡± Judy reminded the boy and he scoffed, but did a mumbled half apology under his breath.


    ¡°So! Motoko¡¯s new BD causing you trouble? She texted me, that she had dropped off another one.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not good with heights Nox, and that¡¯s all this one is. Fuck.¡± She hissed as she bounced a bit just to remind her brain what body she was in. BD skewing was something she had long since learned to cope with.


    ¡°Preem. Is it done?¡±


    ¡°It should be, but I can¡¯t finish it without feeling like I¡¯m going to pop.¡± She complained, throwing a hand at the headset. ¡°Jump in, I¡¯ll use you as a test dummy.¡±


    ¡°Uhh¡­ This one is just heights not like, The Only Thing¡­ Right?¡± He asked, hesitating.


    Judy shivered. ¡°I told you not to ever remind me about that. No. It¡¯s like¡­ Parkour stuff. She¡¯s just a psycho.¡±


    ¡°Preem.¡± He called out jumping onto the chair and pulling up the Wreath.


    A moment later he was in, and Judy walked over to her desk to track the program. Watching the information it was sending her, for dangerous highs, or lows.


    Unlike her, Nox handled it just fine and in the end he jerked upright, hand grasping for something as the BD ended.


    ¡°Whoa!¡± He muttered eyes wide as he slowly came back to his own body. ¡°That was intense¡­ Jude! We got another preem experience on our hands!¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± She muttered. Motoko hadn¡¯t given her much to work with in a while, Judy had honestly been relieved it wasn¡¯t another massacre BD. ¡°Any issues?¡±


    ¡°Nah, it felt smooth as anything.¡±


    ¡°Alright. I¡¯m not seeing any issues either. Thanks for taking over.¡± She offered the boy who just smirked.


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s my future merch! Gotta experience it to sell, even Hiromi thinks so.¡±


    ¡°Preem. Alright. Go ahead and take a copy, I¡¯m taking a break.¡± She said, grabbing a cig and gathering up her clothes. She was still half naked after all, she was pretty uncaring, but it¡¯s not like was going to walk around topside without wearing a bit more.


    ¡°Where you going?¡±


    Judy stilled as she took a puff of her cig and then glared at nothing.


    ¡°I kinda want Ramen.¡± She explained and Nox¡¯s eyes grew large as it stirred something in him too.


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    Sakura Market it was.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°This is boring.¡± Malcolm muttered. We were all lying in different places around the room. Eating snacks, or in Hiromi¡¯s case playing that game on her tablet.


    Ichi had even found a TV and brought it down, with my help we had access to the building''s TV channels, and so he was camped out watching that.


    ¡°It¡¯s just a waiting game now Malcolm. Once they respond we will have them.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m still bored.¡± He grumbled and I couldn¡¯t help but chuckle at his whining. He had claimed responsibility for getting the message but I guess it was bothering him as he kept checking his agent over and over for a response.


    ¡°Yeah I¡¯m bored too.¡± I offered, standing up from where I had been sprawled over my netrunner chair. ¡°Anyway, want some food or something? I want to stretch my legs.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll come with.¡± Malcolm offered to my surprise as he stood up and I could see Ichi sit up at that wanting to deny him but after a moment he didn¡¯t.


    ¡°Be careful.¡± Ichi called out instead and Malcolm just waved his hand.


    We went into the elevator and thankfully Malcolm was walking without pain as we left the apartment and walked down the sidewalk.


    ¡°You know we might not hear from them for a few days. Or more. They will likely stay in hiding for a while.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± He grumbled and I nodded at that. As I stretched my arms up to the sky.


    ¡°You gonna be okay?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll live.¡± He offered with a bit of grump. ¡°Thanks again¡­ Motoko. For saving my ass.¡± He said suddenly and I couldn¡¯t help but flash back to that day.


    ¡°You scared the fuck out of me.¡± I answered instead. I caught the wince out of the corner of my eye. Obviously it wasn¡¯t the first time he had heard that.


    The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°Yeah. My dad said that too.¡±


    ¡°Why¡¯d you go alone? Something big like that? That¡¯s a lot of eddies to throw around without backup.¡± I asked the question I had been sitting on since it all happened.


    He was quiet for a long while as we walked down the road toward the diner.


    ¡°I just wanted to do something myself. I guess. I had my iron¡­ I thought I could handle it.¡±He finally replied after a while and I frowned.


    That was a tough statement to reply to. I reached over and slipped my arm in with his own to his surprise.


    ¡°We all make mistakes, and sometimes have to suffer the scars for them.¡± I offered squeezing his bicep with my chrome fingers.


    My mistake led me to losing my arms. Malcolms almost cost him his life.


    ¡°So we learn from them. I don¡¯t go anywhere without firepower to handle a borg. And I kept improving. My Netrunning stuff helps a lot.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not like a weird super ninja like you are Motoko.¡± Malcolm offered sounding down.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to be. Motoko is a super ninja cause it¡¯s what Motoko wants.¡± I said in third person for my own amusement. ¡°So what does Malcolm want?¡±


    ¡°I want¡­ To be something more than just some kid. I wanted to be¡­¡± He didn¡¯t say it, but I could understand. He wanted to be what every Night City kid wanted. To be an edgerunner. A Street Samurai. A Gang leader.


    He wanted to prove he mattered.


    ¡°Well that''s easy then.¡± I offered, pulling free and walking ahead and then walking backwards just because. ¡°You can very easily stop being a kid, Malcolm. Just live.¡±


    Then I turned around and continued walking.


    ¡°Heh.¡± I heard a chuckle from Malcolm that was half exasperation.


    Hmm. What do I want? Be a cool merc. Make money. I wanted to stamp out the whole Scav thing. Stupid Stand Alone Complexes.


    Then¡­ I had to laugh to myself.


    I just wanted to enjoy my life. Whatever that meant. This was my second life, and I had been letting it drag me down.


    Letting the dark nasty parts focus too much of my attention.


    ¡ª--


    It was getting late. Even with the dinner I had brought in everyone was crashing, and Malcolm was getting ready to head home to get some sleep and be ready for Vik¡¯s meeting in the morning. I had been trawling through the net a bit. Mostly just checking on some Scav locations I had been sent by some netrunners when I got the message from Ichi.


    *Motoko come out. They responded!*


    I quickly disconnected coming back to myself in just a few moments before pulling myself free of the netchair.


    ¡°What did they say!?¡±


    ¡°That they definitely have a Mizutani Shion that they can sell us.¡± Malcolm called and I rushed over to check the laptop he had been working on.


    The response was exactly what we had expected. A confirmation they had what we wanted, The price, and some pictures that since I had seen their other messages they used, I knew were ones they had used before while ¡®selling¡¯ a shion.


    Somehow they just kept selling the same car! How lucky!


    I scoffed at the request but patted Malcolm on the shoulder. ¡°Set up the meeting. But make sure it¡¯s after your visit with Vik in the morning. Wouldn¡¯t want to miss out on the fun would you?¡± I asked and Malcolm shook his head with a glare, as he slowly started tapping out a message back.


    ¡ª--


    The next afternoon we were ready. Malcolm was declared completely healed from Vik. And we had set up the time for the car ¡®traders¡¯ to show up.


    To my amusement they had picked the same spot they had ambushed Malcolm at from before.


    I guess they figured they were in the clear.


    So I had shown up in the morning while Malcolm was getting checked out, and prepped everything.


    Considering I had already searched around the area it hadn¡¯t been hard to find a good place to settle in.


    I had picked an empty apartment that had a balcony looking over the inner courtyard on the second floor. Nekomata was resting against the old concrete and I was looking through multiple camera systems in the area waiting.


    The ambush was set.


    Hiromi was our bait this time. She had to my amusement pulled a bunch of her TC stuff out of the closet and had gone from corpo student with an edge. To full TC fangirl in an hour of prep.


    Only the black chrome that all matched hinted at her connections.


    The meeting time came and went and we were waiting. I could see Hiromi getting impatient, and through the conference call that all of us were part of I was hearing the anxiety building.


    *Do you think they bailed? They wouldn¡¯t right? We didn¡¯t give them any reason to think this is a trap!* Malcolms voice came through, irritated from where he was sitting in the back of Ichi¡¯s van that was parked around the corner in front of a shop as if Ichi was just grabbing a meal.


    *Might just be traffic, or they might just be late. They aren¡¯t exactly intending to be reliable you know?* Ichi added.


    *Relax guys. Just relax. They¡¯ll show. And even if they don¡¯t it just means we hunt them some more.* I added into the line calmly. Thanks to Cool, I was more than content just waiting for them to show.


    *Yeah but what if they don¡¯t!*


    *Malcolm relax already! I¡¯m the one out in the open.* Hiromi added and then I saw it.


    A camera from down the street.


    *Show time.* I called out and the line went quiet as I watched through nearby cameras as the Archer Hella that the fuckers drove pulled up to the same spot they had parked when they attacked Malcolm.


    Four gonks climbed out. All of them checking pistols, which were then stuffed into waistbands, just to hit the cliche of being a shit tier gangster all the more.


    Temptation to just start shooting them through the walls right away rose, but this was for Malcolm, not my personal satisfaction.


    They walked down the alley and then into the courtyard noticing Hiromi as she was casually sitting on a concrete bench already facing where they would come.


    Nice work Hiromi! Very Corpo queen!


    ¡°You¡¯re late.¡± She called out loudly enough for me to hear and I could see the brash gangsters'' hackles rise up at the tone.


    But this time Hiromi wasn¡¯t needing to modulate herself. Or pretend. She knew what was coming.


    I stood up still out of sight of these blind morons Nekomata pointed down at them. Of course I had already thrown a Weapon Glitch at them as they were walking through the alleyway. Ichi and Malcolm would be driving the van right into the alley. Just to make sure no one could run.


    Not that I would let them. Kinda hard to run blind, and if something did go wrong, a nice Reboot Optics would handle them just fine.


    ¡°Just a bit of traffic, I¡¯m sure you understand.¡± One of the gangsters spoke up.


    So that was him. Aiden Michaels. The nephew of some 6th St. Higher up. He was also the leader of this little troop.


    The fucker with his slicked back hair and expensive clothes. He looked like every rich kid I had ever met.


    Idly my Nekomata¡¯s crosshair inched over the back of his head.


    ¡°Sure. Where¡¯s the car?¡± Hiromi demanded after a moment, sounding so sarcastic even the gangers couldn¡¯t have missed it.


    ¡°Ah, see there¡¯s a bit of an issue. I¡¯m sure you can understand. We¡¯ll need a downpayment.¡± He nodded and his gonks suddenly stepped around Hiromi looming over her.


    ¡°Yeah I expected as much. Mr. Michaels. You are far too predictable.¡± Hiromi added, without showing an inch of fear as she tapped away on her knee as if she was bored. ¡°I¡¯m afraid this meeting is no longer one you have any control of.¡± Hiromi added and suddenly there must have been that tiny hint in the brains of the gangers that something was wrong.


    ¡°The you talking about you little bitch, you think-¡±


    ¡°No Mr. Michaels, it¡¯s you who doesn¡¯t think.¡± Hiromi cut him off, sounding honestly angry. ¡°You believed Mr. Welles, who we hired, was our only attempt to ferret you out? That we knew you would go to ground the moment he showed up? It was all a setup to make you think you were safe so we can bring you right out into the open. I¡¯m not the type of woman to spend time hunting scum like you down.¡±


    Aiden pulled his gun. A Unity that had some respectable amount of care put into it. But Hiromi didn¡¯t even blink when he pulled, aimed, and fired.


    The only sound was a faint clink that I couldn¡¯t make out from here.


    ¡°If you would be so kind?¡± She asked aloud.


    I fired.


    Aiden''s arm disappeared at the forearm. Nekomata roared for a second and the screams started up right after. All four of the gangsters suddenly realized they were in trouble. Two instantly ran, and the third made to grab Aiden to try and pull him away.


    Ichi and Malcolm were there already, The Van blocking the path at the end of the alleyway. Having reversed up to it.


    And Malcolm standing at the entrance.


    Malcolm of course wasn¡¯t unarmed.


    His Tactician fired causing the first runner to literally stop cold as he slammed into the floor dying. The second one, had his leg blown off a moment later. Malcolm was obviously pretty angry about the whole nearly killing him thing.


    ¡°You cunt! You blew off my fucking arm!¡± Aiden was whining and screaming as his choom pulled him to his feet, but a second retort echoed out.


    I matched Malcolm. The third choom lost a leg at the knee.


    His screams intertwined with the others, and suddenly we had three disabled fuckheads to sort out.


    Malcolm was still marching towards Aiden with a certain look in his eye, and I wasn¡¯t going to stop him. I leapt off the balcony and landed with a nearly silent thump as I sauntered over to Hiromi who I could tell was feeling a bit jittery with all the blood splattered around her. But she was handling herself really well. I settled beside her, nudging her just a bit with my hip so she knew she was safe.


    Malcolm walked up to the cussing gangster and instantly smashed the butt of his shotgun into his face.


    Then he kept doing it.


    Jesus Malcolm did you watch The Only Thing They Fear is You?


    ¡°Wait! Wat!¡± Aiden cried out after a few hits, his cussing turned into pleading. To my surprise Malcolm did just that. Letting the man talk. ¡°My uncle! He¡¯s powerful! A leader in 6th St. if you kill me-!¡±


    ¡°Aiden Michaels. Do you really think we didn¡¯t know that before we came here?¡± Hiromi offered with a half amused half disappointed smirk on her face ¡°Do you think we didn¡¯t already delete ourselves from the cameras? Cover our tracks? Aiden your Uncle will never know who flatlined his gonk nephew.¡±


    Hiromi¡¯s cold statement made the fucker seem to realize just how fucked he was.


    Malcolm took that as his cue and smashed his shotgun into the guy''s face again just to prove his point.


    The guy tried to struggle against him, but with one arm missing his struggles pretty quickly slowed down. Too weak to really fight back as Malcolm let out his built up pain by bashing the guys face in.


    Yeah I know that feel. I walked around instead. Nekomata just held to my chest as I pulled out my Lexington.


    The gunshots were loud as I double tapped the other two moaning bodies.


    *500 XP Gained.*


    *500 XP Gained.*


    *Level up achieved!*


    *One Stat Point Gained.*


    *One Skill Point Gained.*


    I blinked and then smiled happily as the alert came in. How cool! I hadn¡¯t even realized how close to a level up I was!


    I was now level 15.


    Settling in beside Hiromi who hadn¡¯t moved from her spot I waved to Ichi who had casually walked down the alleyway to join us. As our entire group watched on as Malcolm continued to beat Aiden Michaels to death.


    Which had always sort of been the plan. To kill him I mean. Not beat him to death, but sometimes a message needed to be sent.


    ¡°Hey you know what this means?¡± I asked the group suddenly as they all looked at me.


    ¡°Congratulations Malcolm! You have a slightly used Archer Hella! Congratulations!¡± I said, clapping at him.


    Hiromi, seeing that I was up to something, joined in and clapped for Malcolm as well.


    It took a second for Ichi to join in but his sarcastic clapping made it all the better.


    ¡°I fucking hate all of you. Why are we even chooms?¡± Malcolm asked as he wiped his face a bit of some of the extra blood, although he was barely holding back his laughter.


    ¡°Cause you loooove us. Now don¡¯t forget to grab the key shard out of him. Unless you want me to just hotwire your new car.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t even want a Hella.¡± He grumbled, but did as I prompted, pulling the blood covered shard out of Aidens neck after a bit of finagling, then wiped it off on his shirt for a few moments to try and clean it up.


    We split up after that. Malcolm went to paint and re-register his new car since he didn¡¯t want someone in 6th St. To be able to track it.


    Thankfully Hella were really common, and with just that, it would be just another Hella on the road.


    Although we were all going to meet up later.


    Rockerboy Neighbors music act was tonight!


    It was finally time to scope out the competition so I could destroy her! I mean. So I could see what other Rockerboys got up to in Night City!

 Chapter 118

    ¡°So this is the place? Doesn¡¯t look like much¡­ Why don¡¯t we just go to Lizzies?¡± Ichi asked and I think all three of us stopped to look at him at that admittedly telling request.


    ¡°Ichi-¡± I started to explain, but the way his eyes widened at all of us looking at him showed that he realized what he had just admitted to.


    ¡°Nevermind! Always nice to check out new clubs! C¡¯mon!¡± He called out as he quickly power walked ahead of us. Hiromi and I both broke into quiet giggles at the tension in Ichi¡¯s gait, while Malcolm just shook his head while smiling and went to catch up.


    You couldn¡¯t even tell Malcolm had been shot earlier in the week. He moved without any sign of pain or issue.


    Cyberpunk medicine was so crazy!


    ¡°The name is kinda bad though. Think they are riffing off the Afterlife?¡± Hiromi asked and I nodded. As we both looked up to the club''s neon sign above the dingy door in an alleyway in the middle of Watson.


    ¡°Yomi. That¡¯s kinda lame.¡± I agreed as I ended up shrugging. It wasn¡¯t like I was here for the club itself. I was here to gather information!


    I pulled Hiromi along as we slipped into the entrance and found there was a little lobby, with a woman behind the counter. Ichi and Malcolm were at the front desk apparently paying for their entrance fee.


    ¡°Jeeze Motoko. This place is expensive.¡± Malcolm whined to me as I walked up and looked at the numbers listed out and had to agree.


    Most of the clubs we went to were BD bars, where the entrance was free, but they expected you to buy overpriced drinks.


    This was more like a concert hall. To get in you had to pay a fee, and then the drinks and stuff would also be outrageously expensive.


    I rolled my eyes.


    ¡°Entrance for four.¡± I informed the pretty saleswoman at the desk. The fact she was wearing an old school punk rock style was pretty cool.


    ¡°You got it.¡± And then we were waved through. Down a set of barely lit stairs and into a large room. It was similar to most clubs I had been into, A stage straight across from the entrance, and booths all along the edges, with a dance floor in front of the stage.


    Up on the stage there wasn¡¯t a live band, but the large screen showed a previous live show that was pretty good.


    We ended up wandering around trying to find a booth but all of them were taken.


    Mostly filled with Tyger Claw thugs. I suddenly realized that for all the aesthetics this was definitely a place owned and operated by the TC. For the TC.


    I sighed. Of course the girl that lived on the same floor as Jun and I had some TC connections. Of course she played at a TC club.


    I shook it off, it wasn¡¯t like Ho-Oh wasn¡¯t just as bad, and we hung there a lot.


    In the end we did find a table and not a booth that we were all able to fit around with some difficulties.


    ¡°I hope the music is good.¡± Malcolm eventually grumbled to us and I nodded. The seating was kinda shit, and I had noticed the prices at the bar as we were searching for a seat.


    Expensive!


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it Malcolm! This is a celebration! So get whatever you want I¡¯ll cover it!¡± I told him and that earned me a happy smile and Malcolm going from being a little grumpy to looking around in a much better mood.


    ¡°Ichi what¡¯s up?¡± Hiromi asked and I looked over to him. He was sort of placing himself behind a pillar. Almost hiding.


    ¡°Ah, just. I know some of these guys. Like that guy over there is Katana Hiroshi.¡± He said pointing to a man sitting at one of the booths with a Katana sitting between his legs ready to be used.


    ¡°Okay? Are they gonna attack you or something?¡±


    ¡°Well no¡­ But I made deliveries for some of these guys during the war you know? I mean they might recognize me, and with Shobo-Sama getting flatlined and me leaving¡­ I don¡¯t know it¡¯s nothing I guess I¡¯m just being awkward.¡±


    ¡°You know Ichi. As much as I kinda hate it¡­ If you want to join the TC again, you could always talk to Jun.¡± I offered despite how gross the words felt on my tongue.


    Ichi was part of Section 9! I didn''t want to give him up to some wannabe yakuza thugs!


    ¡°No.¡± He answered instantly firmly. ¡°I won¡¯t do that again. I¡¯ll work as transport for myself if I have to before I go back in.¡± He said and I blinked in surprise at that.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t realize you were so¡­¡±


    ¡°Motoko. After everything I went through during the war I was basically forgotten about afterwards once Jotaro died.¡± Ichi said and I could feel his frustration. ¡°If it wasn¡¯t for you dragging us into the Scav raids, I would have had to start as a fucking bottom rung shit boy again. Running drinks to people and stuff. No thanks.¡±


    ¡°Hey Ichi go get us some drinks.¡± Malcolm being the best friend that he was instantly chimed in. Hiromi and I were soon laughing as the two boys faux fought each other.


    ¡ª--


    An hour later it was time. The stage lights had shifted and there were some people up there setting up actual equipment.


    Finally I would get to see Rockerboy Neighbors set.


    I recognized her instantly, she was basically wearing the same style that she had when I saw her on the elevator. She stepped out with a pretty expensive Orphean. They made some of the highest quality guitars. I only recognized it because I had seen them at the music shop.


    They were the ones behind bullet proof glass.


    I was instantly jealous.


    ¡°This is Violent Hemorrhage!¡± She called out as her band all started playing and I nodded. It was good.


    Her guitar skill was real. I grumped. She attacked the guitar. She opened her mouth and instantly I was kinda disappointed.


    Artificial.


    Of course. She had throat chrome. The voice that came out wasn¡¯t real. It was a digital controlled autotune.


    I could hear where the chrome altered her voice on the fly, pitch correcting.


    I don¡¯t think Rockerboy Neighbor was very good at singing. I think she had probably gotten the chrome to try and overcome her issue.


    ¡°Burn it all!¡± Malcolm called out shouting along with the song as she repeated the chorus. The crowd was enjoying it. Although as I looked around I noticed some people obviously noticed the issue and weren¡¯t getting as involved.


    I felt bad. She played well. The song was catchy. Her band was good.


    Her singing just had some issues.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Hiromi asked, pushing herself against me and speaking into my ear so I could hear her over the music.


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    I returned the favor leaning in. ¡°The singing is artificial and the front woman is struggling. If it wasn¡¯t for the chrome she would sound¡­ Pretty awful.¡± I told her and Hiromi frowned, listening but not seemingly catching it.


    Made sense. If it wasn¡¯t for Rockerboy telling me so much about music I wouldn¡¯t have noticed it either.


    I shook it off. Being picky and not enjoying music just because it wasn¡¯t perfect was something that always annoyed me. So I ignored it just getting into the rhythm and enjoying the lyrics for what they said.


    ¡°Hey Motoko! So when are we going on another raid anyways?¡± Malcolm asked, suddenly startling me. ¡°I could use some extra eddies for the Caliburn when I get one!¡±


    ¡°Wait, you''re still trying to get that super car?¡± Hiromi asked, sounding amused. ¡°Are you sure?¡±


    ¡°Listen just because I got shot doesn¡¯t change that it¡¯s my dream car Hiromi.¡± He answered with a shrug. ¡°I mean I had to spend some money on the healing that Dr. Vik gave me, so I figure an extra gig will help.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t think I¡¯m hitting any Scav dens for a while.¡± I admitted my voice was mostly cut off from the thumping of the next band getting up and starting to sing.


    Annoyed, I quickly called my chooms throwing all of us into a conference call.


    *I¡¯m not going to raid the Scavs again for a while. I¡¯m hoping that if I stop here, they will just assume it was all the work of the TC and let it go so they won¡¯t retaliate.*


    *Wait but what about our eddies!?* Ichi asked *We were using the raids as our income Motoko.*


    *Forget that for a second! Why are we worried about Scavs retaliating! We¡¯ll just kill them all! Right?* Malcolm added.


    I shook my head. *I let my anger get the better of me after the apartment was attacked guys. It¡¯s one thing to raid a new den every once in a while. The remaining Scavs won¡¯t even care, but what I did was hit them really hard over and over. If they think I¡¯ll come after them next, they will try to remove me¡­ Or you, or our family.*


    *Motoko¡­ You don¡¯t have to be afraid! We¡¯ll beat them if they try it!* Hiromi offered and I smiled at her, but I shook my head.


    *I can¡¯t just think like a child about this. I do want to destroy the Scavs. Make no mistake. I¡¯ll still raid them when possible, but I¡¯m going to take a break. Give them space, let them think things have gone quiet¡­ And all the while I¡¯m going to plot how to completely destroy them. Utterly.* I said with all the conviction I could muster.


    *Alright. We can take it easy from that then¡­ But what about-* Ichi started asking, but I cut him off.


    *Right. Eddies. I didn¡¯t forget Ichi. I know how important it is for you to have some income! Just because I¡¯ll avoid Scavs for a bit, doesn¡¯t mean we don¡¯t have other targets we can hit! I can still do some gigs for Wakako that might end up with lots of loot! I promise It¡¯ll be okay. I just¡­ Have to balance what we do so retaliation isn¡¯t smacking us in the face constantly.*


    *Yeah¡­ Yeah that¡¯s fair. I don¡¯t want Scavs hitting my home or something either.* Ichi agreed, and I nodded.


    ¡°Right! That¡¯s enough of that stuff! Let¡¯s enjoy the show! We are celebrating tonight! To Malcolm!¡±


    ¡ª--


    ¡°Well that was an interesting night.¡± I muttered as we walked out of the club. The live bands had all finished up and it was getting late. I was feeling sort of tense, but not tired.


    Maybe I should go do some gigs? My week of peace was over¡­ Even if with Malcolm¡¯s shooting it hadn¡¯t lasted the whole week.


    ¡°Going home?¡± Hiromi asked and I shrugged as I turned around. Hiromi was wearing more black recently. It was still Street Kid Chic in a lot of ways, but she had bought a new jacket that was all black with just some of her favorite green in lining around it.


    Which now that I thought about it, was probably a custom job.


    ¡°Well we should go for a ride then! I¡¯m finally free for the weekend. Motoko! Let¡¯s go on a drive!¡± She called out thrusting a fist into the air.


    ¡°Sure.¡± I agreed easily as Hiromi smiled bright and happy as she ran over and grabbed my arm. ¡°C¡¯mon my Kusangi is parked over here you can drive since I know how tetchy you get about drunk driving.¡± Hiromi offered, and Hiromi and the rest of my chooms had a few things to drink tonight.


    ¡°It¡¯s okay, we can take mine.¡± I offered, pulling her in a different direction.


    Of course only after I heard Hiromi make a noise that was similar to a tea kettle overflowing did the two brain cells in my head finally connect.


    I had bought the Kusanagi right before everything happened. I hadn¡¯t used it much after the attack because I needed my gear and the Quadra was better protected.


    I had promised to take Hiromi out when I finally got a Kusanagi.


    I hadn¡¯t told her I had bought a Kusanagi yet.


    ¡°Oops.¡± I whispered as I turned to my choom who was practically bouncing.


    ¡°Eeeeee! You bought one!¡± She called out happily, grabbing me tightly and refusing to let go.


    ¡°Yeah. It¡¯s not a Mizuchi either so it¡¯s-¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s go! I demand a ride Motoko! You should have told me you were buying a Kusanagi! After what happened to Malcolm as well! They probably over charged you too! You are so bad with money! I would have helped!¡± Hiromi rambled as she pulled forwards. Funnily enough we ended up walking past my bike in her rush since she didn¡¯t know where it was.


    I adjusted her course and dragged her over and she instantly started looking over the bike. Hands wandering as she checked things.


    ¡°Someone messed with the brakes!¡± She called out and I laughed.


    ¡°Yeah me. They were trash when I bought it. I had to replace them.¡± I told her, and she glared at me. ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the sort of thing you can demand a discount for when buying something Motoko, did you haggle the price down because of the bad brakes?¡±


    The urge to look away and whistle struck me, but I remained firm.


    Hiromi noticed anyway.


    ¡°Ugh! You are the worst with money forever!¡±


    ¡°Yeah that is true. What did Motoko do this time?¡± Ichi said as he and Malcolm walked over


    ¡°Oh Ichi look! Motoko bought a Kusanagi! Without telling anyone, and she had to do repairs on it. I bet she paid full price!¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to say how much I paid for it now¡­ Because someone will yell at me.¡± I answered mechanically.


    Malcolm was just laughing a bit as Ichi and Hiromi both teamed up to yell at me for wasting money.


    ¡°Banned from spending money forever!¡± Hiromi yelled at me with a pointed finger.


    ¡ª--


    A bit later after finally calming my best choom down I was driving down the road with Hiromi gripped onto my back tightly as my Kusanagi took a turn.


    ¡°It feels so weird compared to my bike!¡± Hiromi called out. ¡°The lack of a back seat isn¡¯t as comfortable¡­ But it gives me an excu-¡± Hiromi¡¯s voice lowered at the end until I couldn¡¯t hear her. I would have asked her to repeat it, but I was instantly breaking a moment after to avoid some asshole driver who cut into my lane.


    A waved middle finger in his direction settled that matter as I put myself back into traffic.


    Hiromi of course wasn¡¯t done.


    Practically standing up on the Kusanagi she was flipping off the driver and cussing at the top of her lungs.


    I just snorted and took a gentle right on the next street to move away from the other car.


    ¡°Why¡¯d we turn! Motoko! Take me back I haven¡¯t finished yet!¡± She demanded, dropping back down from where she had been practically standing on the seat.


    ¡°It¡¯s okay Hiromi. Besides, I''d rather spend the ride with you than dealing with some gonk.¡± I told her happily and she instantly settled back down and wrapped herself back around my back.


    Hiromi and I drove around the city for a long while that night. Just enjoying the roads. Honestly my Kusanagi was a much smoother ride than the Mizuchi that Hiromi had. Without the overturning that came with that variant the much smoother and deeper rumble of the engine was nice instead of ear splitting.


    In the end we ended up on the mountain paths in Westbrook. And there I let it out. Letting my bike roar over the roads with Hiromi hollering her enjoyment into my ear.


    ¡ª--


    I woke up the next morning with a grabby Hiromi gripping onto me.


    We had a sleepover again at my place cause Hiromi didn¡¯t want to just go home and be alone. I gently tried to escape her grip, but that wasn¡¯t happening. So I was stuck.


    With nothing to do but think.


    No. I shook that away. I¡¯d been doing that too much. Overthinking. I always had a path forward.


    I just needed to improve my stats.


    Body and Reflex first. I¡¯d been napping on both of them too long, and both were easy enough to grind out. I just needed to dedicate the time for it. To stop coasting and start grinding out everything again.


    So I relaxed and just waited a while. Dozing a bit as I waited for Hiromi to wake up and let me go.


    ¡°Toko?¡± Hiromi mumbled a bit as she finally started waking up a while later.


    ¡°Hey Hiromi. Morning.¡±


    ¡°Mornin.¡± She mumbled back again and then she just buried herself into my shoulder and mumbled something nonsensical.


    I laughed a little at how cute she was being. ¡°Hey I¡¯m going to hit the gym, and then¡­ A gun range, Yeah a gun range after. You want to join me? Get some exercise?¡±


    ¡°Hmm?¡± She made an interested noise before suddenly opening her eyes. ¡°Yeah! I want to see! I mean go. I want to go!¡±


    ¡°Cool. C¡¯mon let¡¯s get up and get some good in us then.¡±


    ¡ª--


    ¡°Hiromi you okay? You keep stopping your workout.¡± I called out as I did another squat with the weights on my shoulders. I was sweating like crazy at this point considering how much effort I was putting into the exercise.


    I wanted that Body 10. Give me the perfect abs! I demand it!


    But my choom kept stopping and staring. Hiromi, I wasn¡¯t squatting all that much weight, you could do this even! Well at least a few times, and you don¡¯t exercise. It wasn¡¯t that surprising.


    I grunted as I rose up again. My core burned from the crunches I had finished before, and my thighs felt great considering how long I had been doing this.


    Sure I hated the pain, but the XP!


    Do it for XP.


    ¡°Ah!¡± She said and that was all that came out of her mouth for a bit before she shook herself. ¡°I think I¡¯m done is all!¡± She offered standing up from bar bells she had been using for like¡­ A minute.


    Hiromi, you can¡¯t get gains that way!


    I shook it off though. I had sort of surprised her about all this after all.


    ¡°Okay. Let me finish this, and we¡¯ll get a shower before hitting the range?¡±


    Hiromi nodded her head up and down a little too fast. I didn¡¯t know Hiromi was that into shooting. Maybe something we could do when we hang out now? Go to a gun range?


    ¡ª--


    So Hiromi didn¡¯t like gun ranges? We had gone to a nearby gun range I found online. I had spent a lot of money on ammo so we could shoot as much as we wanted, and so I could train my reflexes.


    The gun range had electronic targets, and difficulty modes. So I had ramped that sucker up and started training. My Lexington getting a real workout for the first time since I had picked it up. As I shot target after target, as fast as I could.


    I had already started getting alerts. Simply from how many fast twitch shots I had been making.


    Hiromi wasn¡¯t having as much fun.


    ¡°You okay Hiromi?¡± I asked and she gave me a wilted smile. She wasn¡¯t nearly as accurate as I was, and was struggling with the targets.


    Ah. I knew exactly what was happening. Hiromi was comparing herself to me.


    I canceled my targets, and walked over to her aisle. Moving up behind her as I pressed myself against her back.


    ¡°Like this.¡± I told her, as I reached up and overlaid my hands on hers. ¡°You¡¯re doing fine, but you are pulling the trigger too hard.¡± I helped her pull the trigger back and the bullet hit on target. ¡°I think your chrome is giving you trouble.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, my hands feel a little different. I didn¡¯t realize it was messing with my aim this much.¡± She said, sounding frustrated.


    ¡°It¡¯s okay. That just means it¡¯s a good thing we hit the range. So let¡¯s practice those pulls so we don¡¯t have to worry about it. Gentle pulls, there we go.¡± I told her as she managed to hit the target again with a smooth shot.


    I didn¡¯t get much shooting done after that, as I helped Hiromi work on a quick draw using my knowledge, but the way her face was lit up compared to how sour it had been at first was worth it.


    Eventually good things had to end, and Hiromi headed home, her parents wanted to see her on the weekend after all.


    I ended up turning around and going right back to the range.


    I had thousands of rounds to pump through. I ran through the gamut of my skills to get more XP. Quick Drawing. Rapid firing. High speed adjustment using the electronic targets.


    I did it all.


    And Reflex XP started flowing in. It was actually a relief. I had done a lot of shooting on gigs, but hadn¡¯t really been getting much XP for it, I guess I just needed to keep actually pushing myself instead of just doing a few shots and being done.


    I worked through until I had to stop to cool off my Lexington. Then packing up all the ammo I still had and heading home.

 Chapter 119

    ¡°Hey Jun¡­ Hey Akari.¡± I mumbled the second half as I got home, and was surprised to see we had visitors. Akari and Jun were sitting around the couch but neither were watching TV.


    Jun threw up a waving hand for a moment, but Akari didn¡¯t say anything, which was¡­ Odd.


    ¡°Okay what¡¯s going on?¡± I demanded towards the two very distracted people. Oddly distracted.


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing Motoko. Why don¡¯t you go to your room for a bit.¡± Jun said, while he very obviously cut off Akari from speaking.


    I frowned but Jun looked firm and I nodded. ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll leave you to your plotting¡­ Don¡¯t get in over your head, if you need help just let me know.¡± I demanded, only when Jun nodded did I head into my room and flop on my bed.


    I kinda wanted to do more Rockerboy stuff, but¡­ If Jun and Akari were that serious I didn¡¯t want to be annoying¡­


    That meant I only had one more inside skill that I could work on.


    I stood up and headed for the desk in my room, covered in boxes of my scrap and tools, it had been laying there since I moved in. Time to get to work.


    While Jun would yell at me if I did any work on explosives. That wasn¡¯t all I had.


    I pulled out my Lexington and grabbed some tools and after digging around I found some gun oil.


    Let¡¯s do some maintenance on my poor pistol that was worked so hard today, and then I would see about doing some work on it in general. Maybe a silencer?


    Maybe I should upgrade from a Lexington to a Nue, or something? Put a silencer on that?


    I ended up shaking my head. My Lexington would do pretty well with a Silencer, but I liked the fact it was full auto.


    I ended up pulling the shard that had Mitch''s information on how to make his silencer goop for the Overwatch and refreshed myself with it.


    ¡°That could be a fun project.¡± I muttered as I finished putting the Lexington back together after giving it a full cleaning, it had needed that pretty badly. There was a lot of buildup in the barrel, and some of the parts were wearing down, but mostly the barrel. That ammo I bought for practice today was shit. Oh well. It was cheap, and it was good reflex practice.


    I hummed to myself as I looked over everything I would need for a silencer, I had some of the stuff, but Mitches Nanite goop that would auto repair the Silencer as it was used was too useful not to want to mess with.


    Even if this was going to be a silencer I could fit on and off at will unlike the attached barrel of the Overwatch.


    I needed¡­ Well a few additional tools. Making nanomachines wasn¡¯t an easy job, as I started writing down what I needed I realized I really couldn¡¯t do a silencer like Mitch¡¯s. Like¡­ At all.


    I tried to figure out how to make the nanite goop, and despite my best efforts I just¡­ Didn¡¯t know how. Sure I had the instructions but what Mitch had written down considered someone already knowing how to work some things that I didn¡¯t.


    It had been a while since I had run into something that I just outright didn¡¯t know.


    ¡°So I need to level Technical Ability first, I¡¯ll make a more standard silencer to get by until later.¡± I decided with a mutter to myself, as I pulled out pieces and then had to sigh.


    I didn¡¯t have the parts for the electronic baffler.


    Sure I could make a bog standard silencer, but it wouldn¡¯t be silent. The fact Cyberpunk tech had nearly perfect silencers was something the modern world wasn¡¯t even close to copying.


    Okay I needed to go to an electronics store¡­ And probably a tinker place too, because I could use some extra scrap metals if I wanted to make more than just one Silencer.


    I needed more stuff to build if I was going to level tech after all¡­


    Okay I was going to mod some of the rest of my weapons. I mean I couldn¡¯t mod my Burya with anything. At least not with my current knowledge. But the Copperhead I¡¯ve been using could fit a silencer¡­


    Heh that could be pretty fun. Going into a gig all tactical and stuff? I had sort of done it with Jackie that one time we hit Scavs together.


    Ah, that was fun. Killing Scavs with the chooms.


    I quickly brought up a second CAD design for a silencer to fit a Copperhead. The Copperhead was easy, but the Lexington? I would have to modify the barrel, or make an entirely new barrel for it.


    That just meant more work though. More work meant more XP!


    After a few designs I had my list of parts I needed. I had even gotten a tech XP alert just for designing the parts!


    I left my bedroom noticing that Akari and Jun were still chatting, a tablet in front of both of them that they were looking over.


    I shrugged.


    They would let me know if I could help, or not. ¡°I¡¯m hitting the store. Be back in a bit.¡± I called out as I left.


    As I walked through the halls I heard Rockerboy Neighbor playing again. I hummed along to the music, actually recognizing the song that she was playing now as one from her set, and headed into the elevator.


    ¡ª--


    Tech stores were actually pretty common in Night City. So I didn¡¯t end up having to go very far from the apartment to find a store that should have what I wanted. After a few minutes of browsing and filling up my arms with everything I would need I was back in the apartment. Ignoring Jun and Akari¡¯s continued meeting in the living room, as I went to work.


    First I set up the 3d Printer with steel feed to begin creating the silencers physical frame. Once that was started I rolled over to an empty section of the bench and pulled out the electronics I needed.


    The Electronic Baffler was an interesting bit of tech. Using vibrations it basically countered the noise of the bullet leaving the barrel entirely.


    Turning what should be a suppressor, into a true Silencer.


    It wouldn¡¯t silence the bullets themselves once they left the barrel of course. A piece of metal breaking the sound barrier was still a piece of metal breaking the sound barrier, but there were ways to get around that.


    Close shots would keep it from making too much noise, and¡­ Well messing with this noise baffle was giving me ideas for a quick hack.


    Or maybe just an upgrade?


    Noise Canceller? No, I would probably end up having to do the reverse. Noise Bang? I considered the name. Sure, it wouldn¡¯t be stealthy, that way, but if I blind and deafen someone that would pretty heavily disable them.


    I added it to the list of future ideas, and continued putting together the electronics of the small vibration dampener. Powered with a small battery, that was all integrated into the silencer.


    I rolled my chair back over to the 3D printer, and pulled out the steel Silencer that was now finished. I replaced it with the barrel of my Lexington. Which was just having the tip of the barrel adjusted to let the silencer be screwed onto it.


    The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    With that being prepared I moved the Silencer onto the workbench and started sanding down a bit of the exterior where the steel was sharp. I painted it. Leaving it a matte black.


    Then I popped open the small section of the silencer, and started putting in the electronics and battery.


    Once that was done I sealed that up. And placed the completed Silencer on the desk.


    ¡°Cool.¡±


    Yeah it was cool. Silencers were cool. I rolled back over to the 3D printer the barrel was almost done, and I just tinkered with my Lexington, getting it ready for the barrel as I let it finish.


    Then as the noise of the printer ended I grabbed the still warm barrel, and slid it into place. Then grabbed the Silencer and screwed it on.


    ¡°That¡¯s fucking cool.¡± I muttered. I made sure the lexington was empty before drawing it up, and then putting it down, getting a feel for the pistol''s new weight.


    Then I tried to put it into the holster and realized a problem.


    ¡°Silencer doesn¡¯t fit.¡±


    ¡ª--


    I stepped out of the room deciding to take a break. I had an idea on what to do about the silencer, but that would happen later. I walked out to get a drink out of the fridge and noticed Jun and Akari were both gone.


    I hope they were okay, but¡­


    It created some good news, it meant it was Rockerboy time!


    I ran back into my room and grabbed my guitar and Music box and dragged them out to the couch. Plugging my personal link into the music box, I was ready to do more music!


    I actually had a pretty good idea for a song that I wanted to add to my collection!


    This time it would be heavy electronica. I would barely need my guitar this time. A challenge. Like how The Only Thing They Fear made me push beyond just normal instruments.


    But it would be worth it.


    I went back to my room and grabbed the speakers as well, hooking them up so I could physically hear the sound instead of just relying on my agents Cyber Audio Suite.


    Slowly the noise started filling the apartment. Thankfully this apartment was so big, the acoustics were much better than the old one. I wouldn¡¯t disturb every person in the building like our last apartment, so I didn¡¯t feel bad about doing some song writing.


    I mean, if Rockerboy Neighbor did it, then I could too!


    Yet even with the challenge of going far more electronic than my usual songs, I barely struggled in putting the song together. I already knew it after all.


    I had listened to it at least once. So I knew every chord. Every beat.


    ¡°Rise¡­ They will remember you. RIIIISE!¡± I recorded having finished the instrumental part, now I was just recording the vocals. Altering my voice for each different singer so it actually sounded like a team of people in the song.


    Ah man. Rise was such a nerdy song! I was so happy no one would ever know I was remaking a fucking video game championship song.


    It was so catchy though!


    ¡°Push through hell and RISE! RISE!¡± I belted out. Totally into it, as I listened to the song both aloud and through my agent. Checking for errors that I would need to adjust.


    I finished another vocal track and turned only to instantly yelp and lose my balance from the couch.


    ¡°Jun! You jerk! If you were here you should have said something!¡± I demanded throwing an empty can of soda at him.


    He just reached out and grabbed it out of the air before it could hit him. Akari standing beside him was looking about half as excited as she normally was.


    ¡°That was nova Toko! I like your other song more though.¡± She offered and I turned to glare at Jun again firmly pointing.


    ¡°You wouldn''t know about any of the songs if not for this gonk!¡±


    ¡°If you were trying to keep it a real secret, putting it in a BD probably wasn¡¯t a good idea.¡± He said as he pushed me aside with a gentle bump of his hip that still sent me stumbling. Akari and Jun both took a seat on the couch, a tablet pulled out that they both ducked their head into.


    ¡°Okay seriously what is with you two?¡±


    ¡°Nothing.¡± Jun offered but I wasn¡¯t going to take that.


    Both Akari and Jun were worried about something.


    ¡°Bullshit. What¡¯s going on?¡±


    ¡°TC business Imouto. Nothing you want to get involved with.¡± Jun said cutting off the conversation and I hesitated. Because he was right. I didn¡¯t want to get involved in TC business.


    ¡°Fine, but whatever it is, even if I don¡¯t want to get involved, if you need help tell me.¡± I threw my hands up then and took a few steps towards my room, but I didn¡¯t want to do anything in there right now¡­


    I walked out of the apartment instead.


    Time to workout a bit.


    ¡ª---


    ¡°If only half the worthless gonks that come to me for a bit of muscle have half your dedication.¡± John offered as I was once more pushing myself.


    ¡°You probably say that¡­ To all the¡­ Kids that show¡­ some effort.¡± I spoke in between squats and the old man barked a laugh at that.


    ¡°Yes, but that only makes what I said even more true. Haven¡¯t seen your brother come back.¡±


    ¡°Jun¡­ Is doing some work¡­ Right now¡­ I¡¯ll remind him¡­ Soon.¡±


    ¡°Excellent. Fujimura wanted me to keep an eye on his little chrome soldiers.¡±


    ¡°Rude.¡±


    ¡°Heh. Been around as long as I have, seen how many of those chromed out morons lose themselves and you stop feeling much sympathy.¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ Jun is¡­ Pretty solid now.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I saw that. Kids got a good head on his shoulders. That won¡¯t save him if he keeps chroming out. And he will if he doesn¡¯t get some damn exercise. That¡¯s one of the biggest excuses. Not strong enough.¡±


    ¡°Heh.¡± I couldn¡¯t help but chuckle because I had heard that before. Maine. David. Both of those morons said the same thing.


    ¡°Still don¡¯t blow out your knees, this is the second day in a row I¡¯ve seen you belting out those squats.¡±


    I sighed internally and nodded. Finishing my last rep before racking the weights. This is why I didn¡¯t want someone trying to ¡®train¡¯ me. They might notice I didn¡¯t respond to shit the same way a normal person would, my legs weren¡¯t tired the day after exercise, because I healed completely with a nap.


    ¡°Thanks for the talk.¡± I offered, and reached over to grab my Burya and shoulder holster that I had removed while training.


    ¡°Hey hold up kid. I didn¡¯t come to chat with you to talk about your brother or poor training methods. I have a kid your age that I¡¯m training. But she¡¯s getting a bit out of hand. She doesn¡¯t have anyone her age bracket to challenge her.¡± John explained and I instantly felt my face flatten.


    ¡°You¡¯re kidding right. You want me to what? Become her rival or something?¡±


    ¡°Heh. A rival would be good, but I don¡¯t expect that, you probably won¡¯t win. I just need a challenge. Something to push her. To make her realize she can¡¯t just coast by on her talent.¡± John offered, and it was with absolute surety that the man pulled out the ¡®I know you won¡¯t win¡¯ card, just to get me to agree.


    But fuck it. I was bored, and I could use some Street Fighting XP. Not that I was going to make it that easy.


    ¡°What¡¯s in it for me?¡± I asked, and the man smiled.


    ¡°Well for one. Access to a better gym than this place.¡±


    ¡°Meh.¡± I replied instantly as being watched while I worked out was kinda the problem.


    ¡°Heh, fine. Do this and I¡¯ll make it worth your while with some eddies. Say three hundred?¡±


    Three hundred eddies was pocket change. But I wasn¡¯t going to try and squeeze blood from a rock. ¡°Fine.¡±


    ¡°Alright. C¡¯mon kid.¡± He waved me to follow but I didn¡¯t.


    ¡°Motoko.¡± I informed him simply with a frown. Thankfully he picked what I was putting down a moment after.


    ¡°Fair enough, C¡¯mon Motoko, let''s go meet Hayato.¡±


    This time I followed. Out of the Gym area, then down the red neon steps that led up to the buildings. I thought for a moment we would get in a car, but instead John just took a left and turned into a small section that had a bunch of elevators.


    Then we skipped those too!


    There was a path on the right that hugged the building and we went a ways down before he turned in and entered into a heavily inset door.


    If I wasn¡¯t fully armed and dealing with TC thugs I might have started to get a little concerned at this point, but the door opened into¡­


    Well a little gym. A hole in the wall gym. I didn¡¯t know this place was here, then again. I didn¡¯t know a lot of shops in the area.


    Gomorrah. Was the large name painted across the wall.


    And as we walked in I noticed there was an area in the middle that had mats and standing on the mats was a girl around my age. At least I think she was my age.


    She was about my height. Maybe a little taller, I realized as she was wearing pads for her feet rather than shoes and I was still in my boots.


    But it was the tattoos that covered arms and back that made me realize this wasn¡¯t just an average girl. No teenager with more Tyger Claw tattoos than Jun could be normal.


    The pure asian features were interesting as well. Straight black hair tied up into a bun and ponytail was an odd sight, because it was natural.


    Just normal natural hair was kinda weird in Night City. Especially one with the money this girl obviously had.


    The quick scan I did told me she also had a lot of chrome.


    Including a Kerenzikov.


    She was obviously impatient. Her body language dripped with how annoyed she was. So when John rounded the corner and she saw him she instantly started speaking, almost too fast. Her words came out in a rush that sounded almost sped up.


    And she was cussing in Japanese.


    So I understood exactly zero of it, other than she was upset.


    I think I heard a baka in there as well?


    ¡°Hayato.¡± John responded, cutting her off, and she went silent while glaring. ¡°This is Motoko. She¡¯s going to be the one you fight today.¡±


    ¡°You bring me to this trash heap, leave me for hours and then expect me to fight some¡­¡± The girl cut herself off as she took me in fully.


    Sure I had been exercising, but I was still fully armed.


    I went nowhere without my guns now after all. I looked her over as well, and made my decision.


    I pulled off my jacket and threw it over a chair near the entrance letting everyone see how armed I was.


    A few moments later I hung my shoulder holster over the chair, and placed my Lexington and holster on the seat as well. My knife was dropped on it as well, and then I took a moment to drop my pouches on the chair as well, ammo, ammo, Maxdocs, ammo. All placed on the chair leaving it rather full of my equipment.


    I sat on the chair next to it, and started taking off my boots as well.


    ¡°Who is this?¡±


    ¡°Motoko Kusanagi. You may have heard of her brother. The Oni of the Kamikazi.¡±


    ¡°Huh those Cyberpsychos?¡±


    ¡°Jun-Nii is doing really well actually.¡± I offered as I was finally free of my boots and stepped onto the mats.


    ¡°I¡¯ve never heard of her. I don¡¯t care if her brother is famous. That has nothing to do with her.¡± The girl argued snootily and I couldn¡¯t help but chuckle. So true. I wasn¡¯t an Oni like Jun, always relying on brute force and stuff¡­


    The fact he called me a gorilla was long erased from my brain.


    ¡°And I did not bring her here for her brother''s accomplishments.¡± John replied and I got to watch a second of the girl basically going through emotions that would normally take a few seconds before she scoffed.


    ¡°I am Hayato Nakagawa.¡± She said, speaking as if I should recognize the name.


    I didn¡¯t of course, nor would I somehow feel dumb for not recognizing some random teenager. So I was just going to deal with this like I deal with everything!


    ¡°Nice to meet you Hayato-chan! Let¡¯s beat each others faces in, until we both feel better!¡± I chirped as I started hopping around a bit to limber up as I brought my hands up in a boxing stance.


    My words seemed to do the opposite of creating comradery as the girl¡¯s face shifted into the look of someone stepping in dog shit.


    ¡°If I must!¡± She growled and I could tell she was about to charge before John raised a hand and stopped us both.


    ¡°Gloves first Motoko. Over there.¡± he pointed and I noticed a rack with spare gloves and foot pads. I made a noise of pleasure as I had never gotten to fight someone with pads before! I quickly hopped over and took out a pair for hands and feet.


    This was going to be fun!

 Chapter 120

    The wait for me to finish putting on the pads, seemed to do Hayato absolutely no favors. She was tapping her feet on the mats at a fast speed. Her hands kept twitching up like she was going to start pointing and yelling or something, but she would bring them down as soon as the urge hit, so it meant her hands were jerking around a bit every few seconds.


    Yikes.


    Once I had gloves and the cool kicky foot pads I stepped back onto the mats.


    ¡°Try to keep it to pure martial arts.¡± John spoke out before backing off the mat, and that was all the signal Hayato needed.


    She rushed me. Moving very fast across the mat, but it wasn¡¯t Sandy like. No, instead as she drew close and started punching, I realized the difference between fighting someone with a Sandy and with a Keren.


    The Sandy would move so fast you couldn¡¯t react and you would be out.


    The Keren though? They were just reacting to you as soon as you did something. Start throwing a punch? They already saw the motion and were prepared.


    I went to block her first punch and a moment later was stumbling back as she shifted from a straight punch to an uppercut under my guard.


    But Hayato wasn¡¯t done. She charged right back in. Another blow, this time I did barely manage to get a guard up in time but she wasn¡¯t stopping. Punch punch punch punch. A rapid series of attacks that she kept trying to slip in through any openings.


    I threw a punch to make room and nearly got a blow across the jaw for it.


    It was like fighting someone who was reading your mind.


    In other words?


    It was fun as fuck!


    I had Street Brawler levels to grind here!


    I lured her in, letting her focus on trying to punch my face in, when I bounced.


    Suddenly she wasn¡¯t punching my face but below my legs. She reacted instantly, trying to duck back, but just because her mind was sped up, didn¡¯t mean her body was the same. I slammed a kick forward and she blocked it, but it still sent her stumbling back.


    Then I landed and I had a singular moment where the initiative was mine!


    I pounced. My legs launched me forward in a punch that she desperately tried to juke to the right to avoid, but I shifted from a punch into a grab, even as her arm was attempting to pull away from my move, even successfully managing to avoid my grasping hand.


    Fucking Keren.


    It didn¡¯t matter because as I missed her, I was behind her, and the moment my feet touched the mat I launched myself back.


    She couldn¡¯t see me.


    I was behind her.


    She certainly felt it though when I pounced into a jump kick that sent her flailing onto her face.


    I stepped back even as John moved to try and break it up and I got a nod for not pushing now that Hayato was down.


    She stood up in a flash, her face in a rage.


    We didn¡¯t speak. Instead John stepped back and it was on. She rushed me again, but I had learned my lesson. If I stay on the defense, she beats me, because she could simply react faster than I could do anything. I charged in with a light leap, and then went straight into grabbing at her.


    Grapples was my answer to her reaction time.


    If I could get my hands on her, I would win. I was confident in my grappling with my skills so high, and with grappling perk boosting that.


    Unfortunately. I think I made her angry. She was avoiding my grasping hands, and she timed me perfectly. One second I was bending down a bit to grab a retreating wrist when a fist smashed into my face, and I was off my feet.


    I rolled and stood up shakily, completely surprised at what just happened.


    She didn¡¯t hit like a teenage girl. She hit me so hard I felt like Jun just took a swipe at me.


    John had broken the fight again but was there this time seemingly waiting to see if I could keep fighting.


    I twisted my neck and winced a bit at the crackle.


    Ow.


    Wiping my face I noticed I was bleeding even with the gloves softening the blow.


    ¡°Okay what biomods do you have and where can I get me some?¡± I asked joking, as I took a second for the room to stop spinning.


    ¡°Many, and that is unlikely. You do not strike me as someone with the wealth required.¡± She responded back cattily and I chuckled at that.


    Fair enough.


    Really wish I could grab a Maxdoc right now but that would be rather telling, instead I simply bounced around a second regaining my motion and nodded to John.


    He backed up and my actions seemed to have surprised the little Power Princess here.


    I had misjudged her because she had so little direct chrome. But the Keren I realized wasn¡¯t her only upgrade. Biomods to enhance muscles and bones, and probably twitch reflexes. And it turned a normal looking girl, besides the Keren sticking out the back of her neck, fixed into her neural link and what were probably ECM tattoos into a monster martial artist.


    But I was better.


    Well through pure skill I was better. She was good though. Probably close to where I was through pure skill, she just had better stats.


    Well the whole thing fell apart a bit there. What I was trying to say was that she was stronger and faster, but she relied on it.


    I moved in again. Fists swinging to alter her pace a bit, make her react to me, even if she was really good at that.


    I took a few blows as she weaved around avoiding my grabbing hands and she in turn attempted to slip blows around my arms, but I was pressuring her, and getting her rhythm. I feigned a grab and she struck.


    My hand spun around and locking onto her forearm created a half millisecond of shock. I very rarely spun my hands around 180 cause it was kinda¡­ Uncomfy.


    Yeah let¡¯s go with that.


    The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    But I was a grappler, and being able to grab with effectively the back of your hand was too useful to ignore.


    Then she folded around a knee to the stomach and I was instantly on top of her. All of her power and reflexes were useless when she was face first into the mat in an arm bar she had no chance of breaking out of, even with her joints being more flexible than a normal persons.


    My chrome hands didn¡¯t get tired, and she simply couldn¡¯t leverage enough force to push my entire weight off of her.


    So for the first time in our little matches. She reached out and tapped out.


    She was coughing a little as I let go and she rolled onto her back to breath, but she recovered really fast.


    Faster than she should have from getting the wind knocked out of her and she rose up.


    ¡°You beat me?¡± She hissed, the question pulling from her with an almost stutter as she talked faster than she could seem to keep up with. I stood back up and prepped for her to strike at me, but she didn''t. Instead she started talking in a buzz glaring at John, and it took a second for me to parse out what she said. ¡°Did you hire some pretend teenager to humiliate me? Why do you always do this!? You always try to trick me!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fourteen.¡± I offered after a moment realizing that John was taking a moment to answer. ¡°And John just watched me exercise at the Gym outside my apartment. Asked me if I was willing to fight someone.¡±


    ¡°Shut up! I didn¡¯t ask you!¡± She once more blabber mouthed at me, and I just rolled my eyes.


    Whatever. This was fun I guess. I turned and walked back to my stuff. I pulled the pads off my hands as I flopped into the chair barely paying attention to the spoiled rich girl throwing an absolute temper tantrum.


    My face still hurt, and I wanted to just get out of here.


    I did get some good Street Brawling XP though. So it wasn¡¯t all bad.


    By the time I finished putting all of my gear back on, Hayato was finished her surprisingly quiet argument with John,


    ¡°Wait.¡± She called out as I turned to leave the gym. ¡°It was rude of me not to acknowledge the bout.¡± I turned and to my surprise she did a cool martial arts pose, fist against flat palm and bowed. ¡°Thank you for the match.¡±


    I quickly took the same pose because that was polite, and not because I thought it was cool. ¡°Thank you for the match.¡± I repeated and then Hayato stood and sniffed.


    ¡°Perhaps I will have John call on you in the future for another. You were¡­ An acceptable challenge.¡±


    Our eyes met for a moment, and I was surprised that the rage I had seen earlier was gone¡­ Was that chrome? Some weird Biomod? Or did she just have good control over herself and knew how to push the anger aside?


    I pushed the question away. It didn¡¯t matter, but I could respect the apology for what it was.


    ¡°Sure, here.¡± I threw her my number which seemed to surprise her. ¡°Feel free to reach out if you want to set up another spar. I don¡¯t get enough practice with my fists, and that Keren of yours is something really useful to get some experience against.¡±


    ¡°Wise. Very well Motoko, I look forward to our next bout.¡±


    I nodded at that. Hayato the Rich Girl. That had a fucking nasty right hook. Yeah I think we could be chooms.


    ¡ª--


    I headed home. As I was walking down the hallway to the apartment Rockerboy Neighbor was leaving. We each passed each other without a word, but my narrowed eyes must have signaled something because the woman watched me pass.


    Then I pushed into the apartment only to see Jun and Akari still here. Both looked exhausted and sprawled out on the couches. I think Akari was actually sleeping face first into the cushions as Jun continued to work on whatever was going on with the two.


    ¡°I¡¯m home. Got to spar with a girl with a Keren. I ended up winning, sorta.¡± I informed Jun but I only got a thumbs up in return as Jun continued working on the tablet.


    Okay, fine then.


    I grumbled as I went into my room, and just flopped on my bed. My face hurt, and my muscles ached a bit.


    Time for a nap.


    ¡ª--


    I woke up and instantly slipped out of the bed feeling better with a lack of any pain on my face. I walked into the living room to see I was once more free from older brothers, but I wasn¡¯t going to stick around to enjoy it.


    I grabbed my equipment, and the big box of ammo I had bought for my Lexington. I hadn¡¯t figured out how to carry the silencer yet, so I just slipped it into the ammo box and I headed out to the gun range I had found before.


    Without Hiromi here, I could really do some work.


    I had thought ahead and grabbed my copperhead as well. The gun range wasn¡¯t clear this time. The old man behind the armored glass that ran the place gave me a lane, and when I went in two of them were filled with to my complete lack of surprise a couple Tyger Claw grunts.


    Thankfully these guys were older than the normal teenagers I ran into, and they didn¡¯t do more than pass an eye over me as I carried my equipment into my lane.


    I settled the copperhead down for now, and grabbed my lexington. With a moment''s effort I fitted the silencer onto the pistol and did some movement with it just to feel the weight difference. It would definitely change how I fired.


    I hit the switch starting the electronic targets up and amped the difficulty.


    Then I started firing.


    It was silent. Other than the noise the targets made to indicate a hit. I went as fast as I could. Each shot firing into the targets with barely a hint of noise. The bullet smacking into the concrete wall behind the targets honestly was the loudest thing in my lane.


    Something I would have to keep in mind. The noise baffler tech didn¡¯t silence the entire shot even if it did cover a lot.


    But that was half the benefit of physically taking my gun out and shooting it at a range. Experience.


    And not just XP. I mean physical experience, on how my equipment worked.


    That and the XP helped keep me focused. Getting a blip of an alert in my system every once in a while as I kept up with the targets made it all worthwhile.


    Eventually though I had to stop, having run a few hundred rounds through my Lexington the poor pistol was heating up pretty badly.


    I set it aside leaving the silencer attached for now. While the heat of the silencer couldn¡¯t hurt my chrome hands. I wanted to let it cool down, and see how the silencer handled the stress I had just put it under before I messed with it.


    Instead I grabbed my Copperhead.


    Once again I fell into the rhythm of just firing at the targets. Trying to hit the center without hesitating just instant point and shoot.


    The alerts came about as often as they had with the Lexington. The only thing that slowed me down was when I ran out of loaded magazines, and had to reload all of them. The Copperhead though was more resistant to overheating than the Lexington. Despite firing more than twice as many rounds through it, it was handling the heat pretty well¡­


    Mostly because I wasn¡¯t using full auto I supposed.


    Then finally I felt it more than anything. I wasn¡¯t checking the alerts, but instantly it felt like my body was moving faster, and my hits happened just that instant faster.


    I stopped and pulled up my alert list and wasn¡¯t surprised at what I found the feeling of my body altering, had become a pleasant experience.


    *100 Handguns XP Gained.*


    *100 Reflex XP Gained*


    *100 Handguns XP Gained.*


    *100 Handguns XP Gained.*


    *Handguns skill level up!*


    *100 Reflex XP Gained*


    *100 Assault XP Gained.*


    *100 Assault XP Gained.*


    *100 Reflex XP Gained*


    *100 Assault XP Gained.*


    *100 Assault XP Gained.*


    *100 Reflex XP Gained*


    *Reflex Leveled up!*


    Handguns 7, was nice.


    Reflex 8, though was a massive improvement.


    I hadn¡¯t leveled Assault yet but¡­ I paused and reloaded my mags.


    Then I lifted up my Copperhead into the firing position and hit the button to activate the targets again.


    It had been a while since I just grinded my combat skills. Relying on Cool and the synergy of everything to kill without really needing to push my shooting skills. Or my body.


    It felt good to get back into grinding out stats. It felt¡­ Right. Like I had forgotten something, and only now found it again.


    ¡°Damn kid. Not bad.¡± The TC grunts were packing up, although they had stopped shooting constantly a while back. Mostly just hanging out with each other and shooting the shit.


    But I was absolutely drilling the targets. Pushing myself to move as fast as I could to get every target hit as soon as they popped up. If my shoulders were still meat they would be sore from handling the recoil and holding the rifle straight.


    ¡°Thanks.¡± I called back in return but didn¡¯t stop my single minded task.


    ¡°Hah. You ever thought about joining up with the Tygers kid? You certainly got the ferocity for it.¡± One of the men asked, having moved behind me to watch, as the other two packed up.


    ¡°My brother is The Oni of the Kamikaze. Fujimura has been trying to get me in for a while.¡± I answered. I wanted to be clear where I stood.


    I didn¡¯t really like having an adult standing right behind me like this, and I was in no mood to kill a bunch of grunts if I could just throw Juns name around.


    ¡°Hoh! You¡¯re the Onryo!¡± Another of the men suddenly called out and I nearly jerked my gun. Quickly I lowered my weapon and then looked at the bastards.


    ¡°What did you just call me!?¡±


    ¡°Onryo! I heard that rumor. When the Kamikaze were cleaning up the Scavs they kept hitting dens that were already trashed.¡± The man walked over and nodded to me showing me real respect. ¡°A choom of mine is one of Fujimura-Sama¡¯s gunmen. He worked with your brother that night. Told me they hit a few dens that were already cleared out, charnel houses of Scavs cut to pieces.¡±


    I winced a bit as I remembered just how messy I had gotten that night with my blade. The Thermal Katana does a good job keeping me from getting covered in blood as it cauterized most of the cut as I made it.


    But I had still been rough and quick. Half the cuts had been tearing the Scavs in half. My Thermal Katana was meant for fighting borgs and armored enemies after all.


    ¡°So that was you huh? Damn. You certainly don¡¯t look like an Onryo, but I just saw that shooting you were doing. Nasty trigger time there. If you are even half as good with a blade I could see you earning that nickname.¡±


    ¡°I already have a nickname. It¡¯s Ghost.¡± I grumbled, Fucking Onryo is dumb!


    ¡°Well there you go. Onryo is a ghost, so it fits just fine. More Claws like anyways. Look at your brother, we aren''t calling him the ogre!¡±


    ¡°It would be less cringe if you did.¡± I muttered but thankfully none of the men heard my whispered grumbles.


    ¡°Well. We won¡¯t hold you up Onryo. Good shooting.¡± they offered and I opened my mouth to argue that wasn¡¯t my nickname, but they weren¡¯t listening.


    I turned insta raised my Copperhead and started firing.


    The only way to make this better was more XP.


    ¡ª--


    I got home and instantly took my equipment to my room for cleaning and going over. I pulled open my Silencer to check on the electronics and winced.


    Yep. That was some melted wires.


    I ended up pulling out the entire baffler and after a few minutes of messing around replaced the wiring with a more heat resistant wire.


    But that still left the main electronics board that was getting some heat scoring.


    So I pushed the entire Silencer into my Printer to be eaten up and went to work on a different design. This one with a slightly longer profile. More of a rectangle, with some actual heat sinks scored into it, so that it can displace the heat a bit more.


    I mean, it wasn¡¯t as necessary, it wasn''t like I would be firing my silenced pistol hundreds of rounds in a single fight, but¡­ But if I could design the Silencer to have a bit of endurance, I wouldn¡¯t have to worry about replacing it constantly.


    Besides, it was kind of fun!


    It didn¡¯t take me long to make the changes in CAD and upload it into the printer, and with a bit more metals to feed the build, I set it to construct. Finished cleaning the Lexington and my Copperhead and then decided it was time to get a meal.


    I was unpackaging a fried noodle dish I had grabbed from a cart downstairs and was back on the couch when the door opened.


    I relaxed from nearly quick drawing seeing it was just Jun and Akari again, both of whom looked tired and worn out, and about half way to crashing.


    ¡°Okay what is up with you two? Who died?¡± I demanded standing up on the couch and pointing.


    ¡°About five of my men.¡± Akari answered instantly and Jun jostled her to get her to stop talking.


    ¡°Oh.¡±

 Chapter 121

    ¡°Akari, don¡¯t. Motoko, it¡¯s Tyger Claw business like I said. Sorry if I¡¯ve been distracted. We¡¯re just busy. Give me some time, we can go get dinner or something later.¡± He tried to play it off.


    ¡°No, it¡¯s okay, sorry for bugging you. Need anything? Want me to bring you guys food, or something?¡± I offered, I had definitely stepped in it, and Akari¡¯s words rung in my head. Five of her subordinates had died. I don¡¯t know how, and Jun was right. TC business. Not mine.


    Jun shook his head, and he must be feeling okay because a moment later he pulled an XXL package out of his jacket pocket and started tearing into it.


    Of course.


    I watched as Jun and Akari settled back onto the couch, both teenagers putting their heads together. And I just¡­ I should stay out of it. It wasn¡¯t my business. I didn¡¯t want to be involved in TC shit, but at the same time. This was eating at Jun, and I had never seen Akari so quiet, so downtrodden.


    I liked Akari. Even if she was a literal Cyberpsycho, Jun liked her, and she liked him. I had a decision to make, and damn it. I was a busybody.


    ¡°Fuck it. Fill me in. You gonks definitely need help.¡± I said as I flopped on the couch beside Jun to look over the tablet he had been glaring at.


    ¡°Motoko, no. This isn¡¯t your business.¡±


    ¡°It is when my brother is involved, besides, I¡¯m not doing anything but hearing what is going on. I have skills you two don¡¯t like netrunning and stuff. So hit me with what¡¯s going on. I¡¯m not saying I¡¯ll act, but I can give you a new perspective.¡±


    To my surprise Akari continued to be oddly quiet. Like kinda of scary quiet as she stared at me.


    Jun sighed, rubbed his face. ¡°Akari¡¯s been given more and more responsibility by Fujimura-Sama. To expand her skill set.¡±


    ¡°He wants me to dechrome. But I¡¯m useless at everything but killing.¡± She suddenly adds in sounding¡­ Oddly mellow for the woman that was usually so frantic.


    ¡°So Akari¡¯s been working as the boss for a drug business for Fujimura-Sama.¡±


    Disgusting, and I want to help a whole lot less. ¡°Go on.¡±


    Jun turned towards Akari who finally  jerked a bit in a nod and spoke. ¡°It was a big deal. We had a lot of product. I had it stored away in the base, that should have been it. Sell it off the next day. In the middle of the night someone hit us. Stole the product, killed some of the guys. We don¡¯t know who it was. Fujimura-Sama is¡­ Not happy.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± I said mostly to say something at the long pause after she got done. ¡°Any clues? Camera recordings? Were the bodies killed by a unique weapon? Any of your guys suddenly missing as an informant?¡±


    ¡°We have very little.¡± Jun cut in as Akari¡­ Her face was mostly plastic but she was looking pretty listless at every question. ¡°The cameras were hacked. Someone good enough that our netrunners that checked into it couldn¡¯t find anything. Our guys were all shot.¡±


    ¡°With what?¡± I prompted and got a blank look from my brother.


    Oh god. He¡¯s a himbo. They put him in charge of an investigation, but he had nothing but burrito fluff in between his ears.


    ¡°The bullets that killed your people. What caliber? Was it accurate shots, or spray? How many shots in total, casings? All of this is stuff that gives us information on who did it.¡±


    Jun looked to Akari and she instantly put up her hands. ¡°Don¡¯t look at me¡­ Fine. Fuck¡­ It was low caliber rounds. I think¡­ 9mm? There were a lot of casings. I made the boys that were left clean them all up. It took a while.¡± She said speaking slow as she seemed to dredge up the memories.


    ¡°Okay. So spraying like that? Probably just off the street thugs. If they were professional you would have a lot less bullets, and a lot more accurate¡­ Probably.¡± I muttered. Did the guys who die shoot back?


    I shook it off. ¡°Where did it happen? When?¡± I asked and Jun shook his head going to deny me, when Akari just flicked the tablet over to me.


    ¡°See for yourself little killer.¡±


    ¡°Okay, so you lost some drugs, that¡¯s not the end of the world or anything. How much did you lose? You can probably steal it back from someone else if we really have to. Or-¡±


    ¡°It was about ten million eddies worth of Glitter.¡± Akari said dully and I jerked up at the same time Jun turned to Akari and glared at her.


    ¡°Holy shit. Glitter? That shit is awful!¡± I instantly denied. Glitter was a newer drug on the streets. The kind of stuff that literally killed people who used it. Not just on overdose or something either. Weak constitutions would lead to your nervous system failing.


    Don¡¯t even get me started on the incredible addiction.


    ¡°Motoko. I said don¡¯t get involved in this for a reason. This isn¡¯t the sort of stuff¡­ It¡¯s not the sort of shit you should be involved with.¡± Jun said, reaching out and pressing his hands on my shoulders.


    Well he wasn¡¯t wrong.


    ¡°Good riddance then. Hopefully whoever stole it kills themselves by using that poison.¡± I said shrugging off his hands, but more than willing to wash my hands of this.


    ¡°Only problem is that Jun-Boy put his neck out on the line with me to help.¡± Akari said with a dull monotone and I could practically feel my neck creak as I turned to look at Jun.


    ¡°What does she mean by putting your neck on the line?¡±


    ¡°Not like that.¡± He denied instantly. ¡°But we will both be punished for failing.¡± I noted instantly that he was dodging what that punishment would actually be.


    ¡°Stop hiding it from me. What punishment!¡±


    ¡°Yubitsume.¡± Jun offered, with a shrug. ¡°Nothing to worry about.¡±


    ¡°What the fuck is Yubitsume?¡± I demanded and Jun refused to answer.


    ¡°You cut a part of yourself off and offer it to your boss for fucking up.¡± Akari offered, fluttering her fingers for a second. Some of that manic energy she always had before shining through. ¡°It¡¯s an old Yakuza thing originally I think? At least that¡¯s how it was explained to me. It used to just be fingers, but well. Chrome makes that less of an issue now yeah? So they tend to make it hurt.¡±


    ¡°No one is cutting anything out of my brother!¡±


    ¡°Of course not. You have to do it to yourself.¡±


    ¡°Fuck that.¡± I said instantly. I knew I hated gangs for a reason. ¡°I¡¯m going to make some calls and get this solved. Fucking hell. Can¡¯t believe I¡¯m gonna be part of a drug deal. I feel gross just thinking about it.¡± I hissed as I rose up to go make some calls.


    ¡°Motoko Just drop it. Akari and I will figure it out, or pay the consequences and that¡¯ll be that. It¡¯s not a big deal. Just some time at a ripper and I¡¯ll be fine.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not fine!¡± I yelled, actually losing my temper as I turned around from where I had been heading into my room to make a private call. ¡°It¡¯s fucked up! So I¡¯m not going to let it happen! I care about you! You! You! Stupid himbo! Get a brain! Gonk!¡±


    Then I turned and stomped into my bedroom. Closing the door behind me quietly, because I don''t like slamming doors even when angry.


    ¡°Fuck.¡± I took a breath and let it out and then made a call.


    Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    *Motoko! How are you?*


    *I¡¯ve been better, Hiromi, Jun is in some shit, but I had an idea. I want you to come over. I have something to run past you. I think I have an idea for how to start making some eddies. I¡¯m going to call in Ichi and Malcolm too.*


    *If it¡¯s for Jun, I¡¯m in! But eddies too? Now you have my attention!*


    ¡ª--


    Section 9 was united in my room. All of us were unfortunately sitting on the floor.


    Jun and Akari had been confused when my chooms started appearing but I hadn¡¯t explained anything to the two utter morons.


    Instead I just hurried them over to my room and told them to wait until everyone was here.


    Now we were. Sitting cross legged on the carpeted floor like we were in elementary school again.


    ¡°Okay. Now that everyone is here. Let¡¯s talk about the situation. Jun agreed to help out Akari. Akari was apparently in charge of protecting a drug shipment. Ten million eddies worth of glitter.¡±


    ¡°Fuck.¡±


    ¡°Whoa.¡± Malcolm and Ichi¡¯s eyes both widened in shock. It was Hiromi who frowned.


    ¡°That¡¯s a big shipment¡­ Well it¡¯s worth a lot, but isn¡¯t that big¡­ Ten kilos? Give or take.¡± She muttered and I looked at her in surprise for a moment.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to ignore how scary it is that you know that off the top of your head Hiromi. Drugs are bad m¡¯kay? You¡¯ll tell me before you ever try any right?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s important information for anyone! Why don¡¯t you know this!?¡± She demanded pointing at me, but Ichi and Malcolm both looked like they didn¡¯t know as well, and were doing their best to hide that fact.


    ¡°Because I don¡¯t deal in drugs Hiromi¡­ Well. I didn¡¯t I guess. Listen. If Jun and Akari don''t find the shipment that was stolen then they will be punished. Badly.¡± I said seriously as I looked over my chooms.


    ¡°Alright. So we track down the thief. We can do that. I mean, your netrunning us backing you up. Should be easy enough.¡±


    ¡°The thieves had a netrunner as well, and scrambled the cameras. So that might not be as easy, but I have to try anyway.¡±


    ¡°Okay¡­ One question.¡± Ichi asked cutting in, ¡°I¡¯m all for helping your brother Motoko. Don¡¯t think this is against that, but you mentioned eddies.¡±


    ¡°Okay so here is the plan.¡± I outlined the idea and after a few moments Hiromi was practically buzzing with excitement.


    ¡°I¡¯m in! I¡¯m so in! This will look so good on my resume!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m glad we can help your corpo dreams Hiromi¡­ I¡¯m in too. If it works that would help. A lot. Plus it¡¯ll make us useful.¡± Ichi said and nodded.


    ¡°Don¡¯t look at me. I¡¯m always down for this shit.¡± Malcolm agreed.


    With all my chooms on board I threw my hand out into the middle. It took a moment to make me realize none of my chooms had any culture. ¡°Put your hands out on top of mine.¡± I explained, definitely not pouting at their lack of knowledge. But after they did it.


    I slammed my hand up, knocking everyone''s hands into the air. ¡°Section 9!¡± I called out happily. It didn¡¯t matter that my chooms hadn¡¯t joined in. They would learn for next time.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°Motoko?¡±


    ¡°Nope. Sorry Section 9 is too busy, can¡¯t hear you!¡± I called out as the four of us all ran out of the apartment to our cars past Jun. I did poke my head back into the apartment before we disappeared for good. ¡°Keep me apprised if you find anything! My team will be assisting in this investigation.¡± I informed Jun and then ran before he could ask any questions.


    Sometimes you had to know when to run away so you couldn¡¯t be denied permission.


    We all traveled to the Straight Lane Apartments, and then down into my netrunning basement. Which I was glad to notice hadn¡¯t had anyone try to sneak in.


    We set up once again all of us at different terminals, although Ichi had actually stopped to get food and snacks before showing up. So my team wouldn¡¯t be starving while I was in the net.


    I finished hooking myself up and then laid back. A moment later I was in the net.


    The digital world opened up before me, but despite my continued annoyance at myself for a weak lobby. I quickly rushed into the city traveling across the digital scape towards where the base Akari had been working out of had been.


    It was just down the street from where we lived. A bar of all things that Akari had been responsible for managing as well as making sure drugs and other illegal things could be moved through it at will.


    Plus there was some money laundering of course.


    I shook my head as I came upon the area, and did my usual trick. I looked for other cameras that would have some overwatch of the building.


    Even if a netrunner had been involved and scrambled the cameras on the bar, it wasn¡¯t like they would have time to go through every business in the area. That took time.


    At least the way I did it. As I checked out a pawn shop across the street I accessed their camera records. They of course saved their recordings in case of theft, or just for blackmail or something.


    But as I checked the right time. The camera¡¯s had shut off.


    Dammit. It took time to hack into a camera networks recordings, but just turning them off? A few seconds.


    *Okay whoever did this shut off cameras in the area. I want everyone to get me a list of shops and locations in the area that might have been missed. Check up the buildings, or just further down the streets, I¡¯ll pull a copy here. So we know exactly when this camera was shut off.*


    *We¡¯ll handle it Motoko!* Hiromi chirped out an assurance, as I pulled the data and sent it off to my server as I pulled out and started looking for another business on the street.


    We just needed a clue.


    ¡ª--


    Four hours later we got one.


    Four hours of breaking into every camera in the area. Spreading out further and further, trying to find the smallest viewpoint.


    It was pure chance.


    *Hey. This car. I think we have our target.* Malcolm asked over the comm as I was breaking into a more secure server.


    It wasn¡¯t going super well. The security was tighter and I was getting close to giving it up when the message came through.


    I quickly looked over and pulled out entirely.


    Malcolm had been looking over camera records basically just looking up and down the street and watching the time that the robbery took place.


    It was in the middle of Night City. There were cars going down the street constantly, but Malcolm had been checking them all apparently. Looking for a hint that something wasn¡¯t right.


    An Archer Quartz drove up the street. Away from the area. It just so happened that there was a Tyger Claw sticker on the back window. Recognizable.


    *Check the timing. See if that car was just passing through.* I called out.


    *Already did. He took about twenty minutes to go across the street. Unless he stopped for a meal¡­*


    *The cameras. Do they shut off as the car gets close?*


    *Let me check.*


    I pulled away from the server. Probably best to leave it alone with security this tight anyways. I didn¡¯t leave the net though. Just hanging around on the dingy digital street. Glowing eyes glaring out from an alleyway in the digital world daring anyone gonk enough to mess with me.


    *I think we have our man.* Malcolm confirmed after a few minutes.


    *Alright. I¡¯ll start trailing it backwards. Maybe we can find out who it is.*


    *Give me a second, I have an idea.* Malcolm called once again and I did. Malcolm had been good at this sort of thing.


    And I was right.


    *Well well look at who we have here.* He said and he forwarded a video clip to me. A clip of the camera that was right across the street. One that had been shut off, but it had recorded for days before and after.


    The day before a familiar car was parked out front.


    *Everyone find me a picture of who was in that car!*


    *On it!* I heard a chorus from my team, as I pulled up that file and started searching as well.


    Haruka Itami. We had a picture of him leaving the shop that Akari owned.


    Okay¡­ Now I needed to back trace a car through Night City¡­ Again.


    I was starting to get a bad feeling that this back tracing trick I had started¡­ It was going to be a horrifically common occurrence in the future wasn¡¯t it?


    ¡ª--


    We had lost the car a few blocks away, from both directions. Coming and going the car had taken the same path, but both times it had just disappeared. but we already had solutions for that.


    *Okay. I¡¯m going to back trace from the guys home address now.* I told the team as I started zooming across the city to find Haruka¡¯s home.


    The fact was an amateur like this wouldn¡¯t have stayed hidden and secured from a netrunner his entire day. Most people don¡¯t think about hiding where they had been before the gig.


    I highly doubted a kid that stole from the TC would think to keep his entire day as a blackout. Doubt a netrunner good enough to have helped with this would have done it either.


    So Haruka in essence would be an open book.


    I stepped across the net. Smiling as I looked up to the massive flood of data that was Megabuilding H8. Thankfully I wouldn¡¯t need to go inside.


    I used a map of the real world and a bit of IP finagling to find a shop that would be facing the exit for the megabuildings garage.


    I pulled the data after slipping into the shop''s server and sent the file to my team. Pulling out I started on the next.


    Time to broaden my net.


    An hour later I was getting frustrated.


    *Have we found anything yet?*


    *No. Give us some time Motoko. We don¡¯t know exactly when he left his home, you know? We have to basically search the whole day. And Ichi is searching after the drop off to see if we can back track him when he gets home after the heist.* Malcolm actually cut me off and I groaned as I was getting irritated at how long it was taking.


    I had gone into a dozen shops all around the Megabulding. Going down each way of the street that connected to the megabuildings garage just to already have the camera data prepared when we finally spotted him.


    Stupid Haruka. I pulled out of the servers and just stood out on the digital street again to take a break. I ended up staring at the high end traffic that came above me. Most of it was normal computer requests. So it was just light. Streaming through paths above. Basically just people accessing the shallows. But I was on the street below. The main level for netrunners.


    Here was the netrunner streets. A place a normal computer couldn¡¯t hope to reach. It was sort of peaceful. Not a lot of netrunners just walked around openly.


    Plus I was in a pretty quiet part of town. Most runners would take the shallows to their destination and then drop into the street level.


    So I wasn¡¯t surprised that I hadn¡¯t seen anyone. It felt a lot like I was in a private little world.


    I was also bored.


    No point in leaving the server. I didn¡¯t want to pull the camera records and start searching through them. I wasn¡¯t exactly in a private space. If I did that someone might notice and wonder why I had all these camera recordings I was going through.


    So it was either pull back to the lobby, and work there, or wait.


    Okay fine.


    I zipped into the upper levels as a streak of light and then a moment later I was back in my empty lobby.


    First thing I did was access a bit of programming that I hadn¡¯t touched yet. The floor around me gained an actual texture. Lights appeared above my head first just globs of light, but with a bit of an adjustment I then had a roof, and lights attached to the roof with actual fixtures.


    I added walls, but with wide massive windows that opened up to the digital city below. I didn¡¯t alter the view like I could. I liked the digital city. I wanted it to feel like I was in the net.


    The idea came to me and I added streaming neon lights, as part of the aesthetic.


    Very Tron Motoko. You fucking nerd. I giggled, feeling myself relax a little as I created a circular couch that looked like fancy leather. A wide table along with a holographic TV in the middle, that I could display data on.


    In the end. I had a very futuristic meeting room, despite the bright lights that flowed through the room, it was actually pretty retro. Almost like a mix between an old smoking room, and a neon aesthetic.


    I liked it.


    I settled myself onto the couch and started pulling from the camera data.


    I needed to find Haruka, and here I could do it safely.

 Chapter 122

    *I found him!* Hiromi called out sounding delighted as I quickly accessed her data ping and the screens that surrounded me all shifted into one.


    *Damn no wonder we didn¡¯t see him. He hadn¡¯t gone home the day before.* Malcolm muttered, and I nodded. Time stamp was from a whole day before the heist.


    That made things complicated.


    *Did we find out when he got back from the heist?*


    *I don¡¯t think he did.* Ichi offered *I¡¯ve checked from when we lost track of him to practically now, and I never see him there. Is the address something outdated?* Ichi asks something that had been shot around to the group a few times at this point.


    *Maybe. Alright. I¡¯ll back trace him. Malcolm, you''re with me on that path. Ichi keep searching for me. Hiromi, back up Ichi. Let¡¯s find this bastard.*


    I heard affirmatives and we all got back to it.


    Okay he left a full day before all of this had happened. Let¡¯s find where he went. It ended up being something obvious.. It was something we probably should have considered. He went to work.


    He showed up on the cameras to Akari¡¯s little shop about five minutes after leaving and then Malcolm and I both followed the timestamp up until he got back in his car and left.


    He went the other way down the street from where he had come.


    The same direction he had showed up during the heist.


    Malcolm and I followed, and this time it was easy. We already had the camera records since he was going down the same path he had taken coming to the heist.


    And where he had gone after.


    This time when he reached the points he had disappeared before we got him this time he wasn¡¯t being careful.


    We had actually had the camera records we needed the whole time. Just not the right time.


    See before he had disappeared on a rather long length of street that led into an industrial area. A long area with no cameras to track.


    We hadn¡¯t known if it was just a drop off, or something else, but now we knew it wasn¡¯t just the dropoff.


    *He parked on the side of the street.*


    *I guess he was hungry.* Malcolm offered and I couldn¡¯t help but scoff. The man had parked on the side of the street instead of¡­ In the parking garage for that building? Because he wanted to stop and get some food.


    He was on camera and we were able to watch him enter the building.


    *Information on that building?*


    *I¡¯m looking right now. City records has it-¡± Hiromi started, but was cut off.


    *It¡¯s a Sixth St. Base.* Ichi cut in. *The gang tags are kind of a giveaway.* He offered and I looked at the camera still and had to nod. Yeah that was 6th St. Gang tags.


    I hadn¡¯t noticed them, because I didn¡¯t think of the graffiti in the city as anything but an eye sore for the most part.


    *Okay. I think we have what we need. Hiromi. Are you ready?*


    *You bet! Fujimura won¡¯t know what hit him!*


    *Then I¡¯ll make the call to Jun. Let¡¯s get out of here.*


    ¡ª--


    We were back at the apartment. I had called Jun ahead to make sure he was still home, and he was. Akari wasn¡¯t though. She had gone home, but at my request would meet us all at the apartment.


    But it wasn¡¯t just Akari that I had asked Jun to call in.


    As the four of us all formed up on the apartment door I looked to Hiromi who was practically bouncing at what she was plotting. She threw me a nod, and I returned it. Opening the door to see the three Tyger Claws all waiting around the couch.


    Fujimura looked annoyed, but we would see if he kept that attitude when we got started.


    Luckily I wasn¡¯t the one responsible for talking this time. Hiromi sauntered in every ounce of Corpo training on full display as she walked right up to the three and took a seat directly opposite of Fujimura.


    Just to be a little shit. I took a seat on her right, exactly where Jun was sitting for Fujimura. Ichi and Malcolm both took seats to her left.


    ¡°Thank you for coming. I hope I didn¡¯t keep you waiting?¡± Hiromi offered and Fujimura¡¯s eyebrow flickered up before stilling.


    This wasn¡¯t what he expected at all.


    ¡°Not long.¡±


    ¡°Excellent. We don¡¯t like causing any difficulty for our customers after all.¡± Hiromi said, and then she reached out to her jacket pocket and pulled out something that she hadn¡¯t told me about.


    She stood and with two hands offered a small business card that she had pulled out.


    Fujimura gave it a look before taking it.


    ¡°Section 9. Asset Retrieval. Intelligence gathering. Wetworks.¡± Fujimura read off the card and I had a moment where everything spun a bit.


    Because that was fucking cool!


    Hiromi!? You made business cards!? That¡¯s so fucking preem!


    ¡°We heard about your missing shipment, and decided as a symbol of a potentially profitable relationship we would begin an investigation. We have discovered not only who stole from you, but where they took your shipment. Although we can¡¯t confirm that the shipment wasn¡¯t moved from that location. That would of course require another investigation if that is the case.¡±


    I could see Akari perk up as the knowledge hit that her fuck up had been basically taken care of. Jun was looking at the business card and shooting me looks but I just kept my face calm and collected.


    Even if I really wanted to cheer and hug Hiromi! She was so cool! Like a little corpo!


    Just you know on my side.


    ¡°Interesting. I assume you have the evidence?¡±


    ¡°Of course. Before I hand it over we should of course talk about payment. Section 9, is a premier investigative team. As far as I am aware your own team was unable to complete the investigation despite being given days. We¡¯ve only begun our investigation this morning and completed it.¡± Hiromi said with a smile that reminded me of a shark.


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    ¡°Payment¡­¡± Fujimura spoke the word calmly and seemed to consider things.


    ¡°You will find our fees well worth the reliable and quick service.¡± Hiromi added throwing out probably the most generic corpo line I¡¯ve ever heard.


    Fujimura looked to Jun then Akari. ¡°I assume your investigation has led to a dead end?¡±


    ¡°Yes Fujimura-Sama. We weren¡¯t able to narrow anything down.¡± Jun added, but then he looked to us. ¡°But I also didn¡¯t realize my sister was going to try and extort us for petty cash.¡± He said looking irritated at me, but I quirked an eyebrow, daring him to keep complaining. But Hiromi beat me to it.


    ¡°Oh don¡¯t be silly Jun. There is nothing petty about our fee.¡± Hiromi added with a brilliant smile that had me smirking along with her. ¡°The information and location are here.¡± She said, pulling a shard out of her neck.


    On the drive over she had been hard at work putting together a report on what we had found. Apparently it was something she had learned how to do in class and had figured being professional about this would increase repeat business.


    Or at least that is what she said, and I had agreed with her, because Hiromi had been cackling like a madwoman the whole drive over.


    ¡°How much.¡± Fujimura finally answered. Seeming to realize he was going to need the information to find his drugs.


    ¡°Oh. We will give you a discount for first time customers. Two-hundred thousand.¡±


    Jun¡¯s jaw dropped, and Fujimura¡¯s eyebrow rose up.


    ¡°This fee also doesn¡¯t cover a guarantee of the shipment still being at the location. This is where they moved the assets after theft. Unless of course you desire us to take part in the recovery of your goods. That will be additional fees.¡± Hiromi offered with a bright smile.


    ¡ª--


    I was pacing a bit back and forth.


    ¡°Motoko relax.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just¡­ I should have gone with just in case you know?¡± What if someone shot Jun!?


    ¡°Fujimura didn¡¯t pay us. So we didn¡¯t go.¡± Hiromi said, drawing my attention to how she was now fully reclined on my couch, an energy drink in her hand that she was sipping on all the while a smirk never left her face.


    Hiromi had in a short time made more money for Section 9, than anything we had done since the yacht heist.


    Two hundred grand split four ways was still a nice chunk of change.


    Fifty thousand eddies had already been added to my bank account. Ichi and Malcolm had disappeared soon after Fujimura had taken Jun and Akari to go claim their drugs back.


    But the boys had said they would be back. They were grabbing food and drinks for a party.


    Hiromi continued to look like the cat that caught the canary, but I was just nervous. I knew Jun would be okay¡­ He was strong and stuff. Had a cool name and everything but like¡­


    There might be a netrunner there! What if they hacked my himbo brother and made his chrome shut down. Or just overheated him to death!?


    ¡°Relax Motoko.¡± Hiromi called out again as I had resumed pacing but in the end she was right. I had agreed not to go with them because Fujimura refused to pay us any further.


    He had in the end paid for the information of course. Looking like he was annoyed with the whole situation, but in the end money had changed hands. He got his information, reviewed it and agreed it was actionable.


    ¡°You were pretty cool Hiromi.¡± I said suddenly causing Hiromi to almost choke on her drink.


    ¡°Wha?¡±


    ¡°The way you totally controlled the conversation. I wanted to scream when you pulled out the business card, you know? When did you even make that?¡±


    ¡°Oh that old thing? I made it after we were doing the Yacht Heist. While I was selling the chrome, I realized I needed to stop looking like some weird teenager off the street. I needed to be a young corporate woman on the job and people will take me more seriously. So I had a couple made.¡± Hiromi said lackadaisically, trying to play it off.


    ¡°It was pretty cool. I think it worked on Fujimura.¡±


    ¡°Yeah his face was great!¡±


    The door opened and Ichi and Malcolm came in bags on their arms. ¡°Time to party!¡± Malcolm called out whooping as he toddled over and dropped the bags onto the table.


    ¡°Oh! Yes! I¡¯m hungry! Gimme!¡± Hiromi demanded and Malcolm quickly grabbed a white to go box and offered it up to her.


    ¡°Yes oh Corpo overlord! Please accept this humble offering!¡±


    ¡°Hahaha! That¡¯s right! Worship me!¡± She laughed as she took her food and quickly dug in.


    ¡°Motoko?¡±


    ¡°Huh? Oh yeah. I¡¯m okay Ichi, just nervous for Jun. It¡¯s dumb. I know he goes off on his own all the time, but like¡­ This time because I set it up I¡¯m nervous.¡± Ichi nodded as he passed a box to me as well.


    ¡°Eat. Enjoy our success Jun has his team with him. They¡¯ll be fine.¡±


    I nodded as I settled onto the couch to eat. Nothing else to do I guess¡­


    Maybe just one more glance at my message app on my agent to make sure he hasn¡¯t called for help?


    ¡°So what are you guys doing with your payday this time?¡± Malcolm asked, his mouth full of noodles. ¡°I mean. I can definitely afford my car now! I¡¯ll uh¡­ Make sure to use a more reliable trader and everything this time. Yes Hiromi I will bring you with me when I buy it. Please don¡¯t glare at me like that.¡±


    ¡°Good! Of course we will back you up on your purchase. That kind of eddies changing hands require a good bit of muscle¡­ And common sense.¡± She added.


    ¡°I¡¯m saving it all this time.¡± Ichi added. ¡°I want to make sure I won¡¯t run into a problem with rent again for a long time.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s really smart.¡± I said to Ichi who smiled while Hiromi scowled.


    ¡°No it isn¡¯t! Putting money into an account and not using it is the worst thing ever! You have to invest! Get some chrome or something! Maybe upgrade your truck! Money sitting in an account isn¡¯t doing anything for you to make more money!¡±


    ¡°Still going to save it.¡± Ichi said, shrugging at Hiromi¡¯s rant.


    ¡°Ugh! This is why I¡¯m the financial manager.¡± She said pointing at all of us and lingering on me with narrowed eyes.


    ¡°Don¡¯t look at me like that! I¡¯m going to be spending all of it on working on some tech and stuff. Probably won¡¯t get any chrome with it, but that¡¯s on the table too.¡± I said slurping up a bit of noodles after.


    ¡°Hmm. Acceptable!¡±


    ¡°Glad to satisfy you oh overlord.¡± I mocked, using the boys'' joke from before.


    ¡°Damn right!¡±


    ¡ª--


    Long after the food was eaten and our little party had broken up into most of us just hanging out watching terrible TV.


    It was really bad and I feared Malcolms taste.


    ¡°Why are we watching this again?¡±


    ¡°Because I¡¯m too full to want to get up and it¡¯s on.¡± Ichi added.


    ¡°It¡¯s a good show!¡± Malcolm argued and Hiromi made a little humming noise in agreement, her eyes never leaving the rather¡­


    ¡°This is awful.¡± I grumbled, but didn¡¯t turn it off. I was full of noodles and didn¡¯t want to get up either.


    Then the door opened.


    ¡°Jun!¡± I called out, sitting up instantly and seeing him enter. Akari right behind him, but no Fujimura in sight.


    He walked over and ruffled my hair. Despite the fact he smelled like he had gotten into a fight.


    ¡°Well!?¡± I demanded and he huffed a laugh.


    ¡°No worries little killer! Your info was spot on. Found most of the drugs at that site. They had been selling some of it, but we got most of it back. Cleared out the 6th St. punks that thought they could move in on our turf, and Fujimura pulled Haruka off the streets.¡± Akari added the last bit with a sinister happiness at the thought.


    Well it was sort of his fault. Who was stupid enough to try and steal that much money from his own gang?


    ¡°So Fujimura was happy then?¡± Hiromi asked, sitting up straight as well, and Jun looked a little hesitant to answer but his shoulders slumped.


    ¡°Oh he wasn¡¯t happy. The cost of the info wasn¡¯t exactly cheap.¡± Jun said, eyeing up both Hiromi and I. In response we both just smiled innocently. Which earned a roll of his eyes. ¡°But we recovered a lot of the shipment. And Fujimura was¡­ Accepting of the costs.¡±


    ¡°He was grumbling about your little corpo friend the whole time!¡± Akari added giggling as she flipped forward to land on the couch. The woman''s energy seemed to have returned now that she wasn¡¯t on the hook for losing the shipment. ¡°Apparently he wasn¡¯t happy that you¡¯re going off on your own.¡±


    I just shrugged. ¡°At least I¡¯m still willing to work with him and the TC. I could have just left entirely.¡±


    ¡°Aww. You wouldn¡¯t do that little killer! You fit in with us too well!¡± Akari offered, even as her leg arced up, and I was forced to roll off the couch to dodge her poking feet.


    ¡°Akari. If you poke a hole in my new couch. You are paying for it.¡± Jun called out from the kitchen.


    Ah of course Jun was celebrating as well. The burrito disappeared as he started biting into it.


    ¡°You ruin all my fun!¡±


    ¡°I literally joined up with this to save your ass.¡± Jun replied instantly and Akari actually stilled and nodded, without her usual manic energy.


    ¡°Thanks Jun.¡± She said to my surprise.


    And Juns.


    ¡°Yeah¡­ yeah sure anytime Akari.¡±


    ¡°Good I¡¯ll hold you to that!¡± She chirped out all craziness back on full display.


    ¡°I take it all back.¡±


    ¡°Too late!¡±


    ¡ª--


    With Jun back home I was able to better relax. We had done it. Section 9 had done something pretty cool.


    We had successfully completed a deal with one of the major gangs in Night City.


    Sure we had easy access through Fujimura, but it was still something to be proud of.


    Hiromi had even offered our services in the future to Fujimura for work. It was possible Fujimura might take us up on that.


    The team eventually left that night. Everyone was tired since we had worked through the whole day tracking down Haruka and the call of their bed was too much to resist.


    Yet, I just felt amped up.


    I wandered into my room ignoring Jun and Akari still hanging out on the couch watching TV together.


    Akari was definitely being flirty, but Jun just looked happy that the stress of finding the thief was off his shoulders.


    I walked over to my desk. Looking over all the junk I had.


    Okay. Time to do some work. I pulled out my belt, grabbed my Lexington and holster and put it on the desk.


    I knew exactly what my next little project was going to be.


    I grabbed my 3D printer and fed it a bit of metal.


    Just needed a bit of measuring.


    I finished that and quickly sketched out the device I needed on the CAD program, and started the printer.


    That started, I went over to my toolbox and grabbed some bits and bobs. Screws mostly.


    Pulling the Silencer up I checked it again remembering I was going to need some testing to make sure this version of the silencer would hold up.


    But I would do that after.


    The Printer stopped running pretty soon after, and I pulled out the metal device.


    With a few deft movements. I drilled it into my holster. Then I slipped in the silencer. I locked into place, and I practiced pulling it from the little holder that was now attached to the Lexington holster.


    I had considered building or buying a new holster so I could keep the silencer attached, but that wasn¡¯t really needed. Most of the time if I was going to be worried about stealth, I would have the advantage anyways. So I would just draw my Lexington, attach the silencer and be good to go.


    I smiled as I checked my alerts.


    *100 Tech XP Gained*


    That was my secondary reward for finishing something new.


    I grabbed my tools. Okay. I needed another Silencer for my rifle. Maybe put together an optic for it as well? That could be fun to play with.


    Regardless it meant I had projects to mess with.

 Chapter 123

    The second Silencer took about the same length of time to make as the first, although the Copperhead already had everything ready for the detachable Silencer. The Copperhead¡¯s muzzle was already detachable. So I just unscrewed the old one, and made the silencer grooves the right length to screw right on.


    When I was done. I pulled it into a shooting stance.. It was heavier than the old muzzle, but nothing excessive. It was getting late, but I didn¡¯t feel like sleeping, so I grabbed my gear and headed out of my room.


    ¡°Where you going?¡± Jun called out from the couch as I walked in, and I shrugged.


    ¡°Shooting range. I made a silencer for my rifle, and I want to give it a test run.¡±


    ¡°Huh.¡± Jun replied as he stood up and walked over looking at the Copperhead that I was carrying in one hand as I held a box of ammo in the other. He moved in to take my rifle and I just sighed as I lifted it up so he could take it and look it over.


    ¡°You made this?¡±


    ¡°Just the silencer. I made one for my Lexington as well.¡±


    ¡°Not your Burya?¡±


    ¡°Pfft. The Electromagnets interfere with baffling tech. You can¡¯t put a silencer on any of them.¡± I said with a shrug.


    ¡°Shame. This is cool. Want to make one for your amazing big brother?¡±


    I crinkled my nose as I looked him over. ¡°Why do you even want a silencer? You don¡¯t fight sneaky.¡±


    ¡°Maybe I want to start.¡± He said with a smirk that told me that was a lie.


    ¡°You just want a silencer to show off how cool you are.¡±


    ¡°I want a silencer to show off how preem I am.¡± He agreed instantly without even attempting to deny it.


    ¡°Fine. Go get whatever you want one for. I¡¯ll start making it before I head to the range.¡± Jun grinned at me as he ran into his own room and then to my surprise came out with a weapon I didn¡¯t know he even had.


    ¡°When did you get this?¡± I asked, looking at the Malorian Overture that was¡­ Well it was in Tyger Claw colors. Ugly was my first thought, but I wasn¡¯t going to be mean to Jun.


    ¡°Fujimura-Sama gave it to me a while back. I don¡¯t really use it though. So?¡±


    ¡°Nope.¡± I denied instantly. Laughing a bit as Jun¡¯s face fell. ¡°It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t want to make a silencer for you Jun, but look.¡± I pointed out the Overtures barrel. ¡°Can you see the problem?¡±


    ¡°There isn¡¯t anything to attach the silencer to?¡±


    ¡°Exactly. I would have to completely remake the barrel. Normally not a huge problem but this is a Malorian revolver. The entire upper receiver is a solid piece of metal, cause Malorian is extra like that. That means I would have to remake the whole thing.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not seeing the problem here.¡± Jun offered and I waved a fist at him, making him back off.


    ¡°That¡¯s a lot of work, and while I¡¯m pretty sure I could do it¡­ Give me some time and I¡¯ll see what I can do. Until then, keep your revolver.¡±


    ¡°Fine. But you better remember!¡±


    ¡°I will. Jeeze. Okay. In that case-¡± I said, making my way towards the door. But Jun interrupted me with a grin.


    ¡°Let¡¯s hang out at the range, Imouto.¡±


    My shoulders slumped. I had been planning on doing some serious grinding¡­ ¡°Fine.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t say no to sibling time with Jun.


    ¡ª--


    We hadn¡¯t gone to the range I had been visiting. Instead Jun had demanded we go to the TC range he had once dragged me to so long ago.


    I had agreed, mostly because the ammo would be cheaper. But when we got there, got settled in, the worst had come to pass. That which I had feared.


    Jun was a range hog.


    He was happily plinking away with my Copperhead. ¡°This silencer is preem Motoko.¡±


    ¡°It would be even more preem if I got a chance to shoot it.¡± I muttered quietly. I had told Jun I was here to stress test the silencer, and that was a mistake because he now had a perfect argument to keep shooting every time I got bored and wanted to shoot.


    ¡°Just a few more Imouto. Gotta see how your silencer handles it right?¡± He replied happily and I just glared. He was acting like a kid at a candy store. Which¡­ Like I¡¯m happy that Jun is able to look like a kid, but I really wanted to kick him in the shins for hogging my gun.


    ¡°Kusanagi, and the little Kusanagi. Good to see you back.¡± Grizzled gun range guy greeted us walking up as he looked over Jun¡¯s shooting.


    ¡°Jun decided to join me.¡± I offered grumbling at my gun hog of a brother.


    ¡°Copperhead? Interesting choice. They are reliable, not the best though.¡±


    ¡°It works, that¡¯s all I really need. The silencer is new. I made it myself. Jun is helping me stress test it.¡±


    ¡°Oh? Becoming a bit of a techy huh? Good skills to have. Especially if you know how to do gun work.¡± I nodded. The Grizzled old man¡¯s whole job seemed to be maintenance and work here at the range.


    ¡°Yeah. It¡¯s come in useful. I¡¯m working on modding out some of my weapons. I did a silencer for my Lexington first.¡± I offered, then since the man was staring interested in the silencer at the tip of the Copperhead I pulled the Lexington silencer off my gun belt, and offered it to him.


    He accepted it without another word. Quickly finding the latch to open it up and check the electronics, and going over the little device.


    ¡°Not bad.¡± He finally offered after a minute of looking through it. ¡°You made it out of a printer right?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    ¡°I can tell from the construction. Those things aren¡¯t bad, Quality can take a hit if you aren¡¯t careful though,¡± he said giving me advice.


    ¡°Hey, not bad.¡± Jun called out as he checked his score on the electronic targets.


    ¡°It could be better.¡± The man cut in before Jun could properly enjoy his score. ¡°You¡¯ve been jerking the trigger on every shot. It¡¯s pure luck your chrome is heavy enough you aren¡¯t missing every shot. Back to it, Kusanagi. There is no excuse for such shoddy marksmanship.¡±


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    I nodded along at the critique, until I realized it would mean Jun would keep shooting my gun.


    ¡°Try with a different gun. I would like to shoot my Copperhead at some point today.¡± I grumbled, and Jun chuckled at little as he put the rifle to the side and pulled out a Unity from a holster on his back and then began taking slow ponderous shots.


    I wanted to groan as I realized Jun was going to take forever. Looking around the range I sighed. Every other lane was still taken, which means I would just have to wait.


    ¡°Bored?¡± I was asked and I nodded a little before he chuckled. ¡°Come with me then.¡± The old grizzled man offered and walked back into his little office.


    I considered it. Jun and I were hanging out¡­


    But Jun was also being a scopmuncher right now so I followed, entering into the little office covered in guns and equipment to maintain said weapons.


    I blinked interested as he walked over to a Masamune that was up on a clamp.


    ¡°You ever see one of these?¡±


    ¡°Arasaka Masamune, yeah. Never played with one though. Always thought they were a little overengineered.¡±


    ¡°Heh. Lot of kids have an opinion on one until they actually get their hands on them. Come over and tell me what¡¯s wrong with this one.¡±


    I blinked at the sudden challenge and shrugged. The Masamune was Arasaka¡¯s pride and joy. An assault rifle that was engineered the shit out of. Incredibly light. Incredibly tough.


    Expensive as shit, and as I said it was the sort of weapon that was engineered to hell and back. I wasn¡¯t really a fan to be honest, but as I started running my hands over her. Gun Nut filling in a ton of information about the weapon I was holding I had to admit.


    Araska did know how to make a good rifle.


    It was probably a good ten, or twenty grand more than I would pay for a rifle, but you paid it for a reason.


    Thankfully Gun Nut¡¯s specialty was knowing whether a gun I picked up would fire in the heat of the moment, so just touching the Masamune told me what the problem was.


    ¡°Someone had an accident.¡± I muttered, as I pulled it from the clamp under watchful judging eyes. I pulled out the receiver, looking around I found a tool kit nearby and scooped it up, grabbed a screwdriver, unscrewed literally a dozen little screws.


    Fuck you too Arasaka engineer.


    And finally managed to pull open the upper to find the problem. Shrapnel had gotten into the firing assembly.


    I pulled a piece out and whistled.


    ¡°Someone was lucky. Piece of bullet shrapnel right into the firing assembly.¡±


    ¡°You spotted it quick. They replaced the part of the upper receiver that was damaged and it wouldn¡¯t shoot. They couldn¡¯t figure out what happened so brought it to me.¡± He agreed nodding as I then sighed, a few more moments to check the chamber to make sure nothing else was damaged. I started the long task of putting this thing back together.


    The best part of course was my reward.


    *100 Technical Ability XP Gained*


    ¡°You needed me to look over your weapons last time you were here. Saratoga if I remember right.¡±


    ¡°That sounds right? Do I even still have the Saratoga?¡± I muttered to myself. Did I still have the Saratoga? I vaguely remember seeing it during the move. It was probably in my closet with most of the other weapons I had collected and didn¡¯t use very often.


    ¡°You know how to handle a weapon. You didn¡¯t need me to check them.¡±


    ¡°Ah.. I¡¯ve learned a lot since then.¡± I muttered. ¡°And Jun is always overprotective.¡±


    ¡°Hmm. If you ever want some work, come by. I could use an assistant.¡±


    I opened my mouth to ask if he could even afford me, but honestly Grizzled gun range guy was cool for a TC guy.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if I¡¯ll take you up on that, but I appreciate it.¡± Then again it could be a good excuse to grind some XP.


    He just nodded in acceptance. ¡°It¡¯s on the table if you want it.¡± Then without another word he pulled another rifle down off the racks around the room. An Ajax this time and started working on it.


    I thought about it.


    Jun or guns¡­


    I walked over and after checking it with Gun Nut, I worked with him on fixing the problem on the Ajax.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe you left.¡± Jun grumbled at me, as we walked out of the hidden TC range.


    ¡°You hogged the entire lane. I didn¡¯t even get to shoot!¡± I snapped at him, and Jun did have the decency to look a little embarrassed but then pointed a finger at me.


    ¡°You already shoot better than I do, so I need more practice than you.¡± He said, surprising me, as I felt my jaw drop open.


    ¡°You¡­ complimenting me as an excuse for your bad behavior isn¡¯t gonna work!¡± I retorted back, but damn him.


    I was feeling better after being complimented.


    Jun could tell as well as his smile went smug. ¡°Your silencer was stress tested and I got some practice with a rifle. Don¡¯t use them much so it was a nice experience.¡±


    ¡°Yeah you¡¯re too much of an ogre to shoot straight. Better to stick with a shotgun or something.¡±


    ¡°Oni. I have class.¡± Jun¡¯s retort earned him a very judgemental look from me, but we were outside and walking through multiple groups of TC gonks that were hanging around. So I did the nice thing and didn¡¯t call out my brother in front of his gang.


    Burrito boy has class? Pfft.


    ¡°Shut up.¡± He grumbled at me.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t say anything!¡± I sing-songed at him, almost breaking into giggles as he reached out like he was going to smack me, or grab me, but I just danced out of the way.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to say anything to say something!¡±


    ¡°Oh no! The Ogre is after me!¡± I faux gasped and that set it off. A moment later Jun burst into motion to try and grab me, but once again my ankles proved to be the best thing ever. Because I leapt up and over, a foot daintily smashing into my brother''s stupid face and then bouncing off that.


    ¡°Ow. Fuck Motoko!¡± Jun grumbled as I landed a dozen feet away. Laughing all the while as he rubbed at his face.


    ¡°Oh please. You have subdermal there, your face is more chrome than anything you baby.¡±


    Of course Jun and I now had a crowd looking at us.


    Jun just turned to give the grunts a glare that very swiftly had everyone minding their own business. On the other hand I just didn¡¯t care.


    Jun had wasted my gun range time, and now I was feeling impish.


    ¡°Don¡¯t even think about it.¡± He told me as I felt my grin spreading across my face.


    ¡°Think about what?¡± I teased him, even as I reached over and handed my Copperhead to a TC gonk that I was now standing next to much to his surprise. ¡°Hold this for a second.¡±


    ¡°Wha-?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know for sure, but I know you well enough-¡± Jun started but was cut off.


    I charged at that moment as he was distracted, mid sentence, bringing him up short as I leapt up, but only to trick Jun into thinking I was going up high, instead I flipped landing on my hands, rolling into a somersault that had me sliding right between his legs and then behind.


    Right as his socket chirped and ejected his bikes key shard.


    ¡°Yoink!¡± I chirped out, snatching it out of the air, and avoiding Juns retaliatory swipe.


    ¡°Motoko!¡±


    ¡°Hehehe!¡± I cackled as I leapt to make some distance, and now it was on.


    ¡°Give that back!¡±


    ¡°Oh no the Ogre is after me!¡± I called out waving the shard and then it really was. I dodged past him, as he made to tackle me, grabbed my copperhead from the staring TC grunt and I was off. On foot Jun was probably a little faster than me, but I had hops.


    Every time he got close I would leap away, usually up high then leaping over something that he would have to traverse.


    Of course I wasn¡¯t just messing with my brother here. This was important training for my out of shape Ogre-Onii¡­


    I mean sure maybe making him almost smash into a wall by hacking a vending machine so I could crush a can of Ni-Cola, making the concrete wet right as he was turning the corner was a bit mean¡­


    Funny as fuck though!


    I was still cackling as I finally ran into a dead end in an alleyway and realized I would have to go over Jun to escape. But as he rounded the corner, he just roared and leapt back at me.


    Uh-oh. Instead of trying to escape I just leapt up onto a garbage can and then onto a fire escape climbing over just in time to avoid his grasping hands as he had tried to follow me.


    We stood there for a second. Jun had no way to get up high enough to get me up here¡­.


    ¡°Pfft.¡± I snickered and rolled over putting my hands onto my chin as I lay down on the fire escape and just looked at my brother. My brother, who was gasping for air.


    ¡°You need more exercise.¡±


    ¡°I don''t... Usually run for that long!¡± He grunted up at me as he leaned against the wall.


    ¡°Like I said. Exercise.¡±


    ¡°Gonna¡­ Gonna chip in some Synth-Lungs.¡± he grunted instead and I scowled.


    ¡°Yeah cause that¡¯s what you need. More chrome. Gonk.¡± But I rolled my eyes realizing that my fun time was over. I quickly rolled off the fire escape and landed easily on the ground. I pulled out the key shard and offered it to Jun who quickly snatched it up and put it back in its socket.


    ¡°You¡­ You are going to work on my defenses so no one else can picksocket me.¡± He grumbled at me with a pointed finger.


    I just rolled my eyes. As if a netrunner with any skill would have any trouble breaking through any defense he put up.


    ¡°C¡¯mon you lump. Let¡¯s get you home.¡± I informed him as I started walking towards his bike and my Quadra.


    His grumbling had me smiling happily as he followed after.


    ¡ª--


    *So this isn¡¯t just a trap right?* I asked into our comm line as we were all waiting outside the Gold beach Marina, funnily enough.


    *It¡¯s not a trap¡­ And if it is, that¡¯s what you are here for.* Hiromi responded with a hint of amusement in her tone.. Malcolm had done exactly what he said he was going to do.


    He had found someone selling a Caliburn, and he was going to buy it. So now all of Section 9 was here to make sure it wasn¡¯t going to end up with a bullet hole in our choom.


    Hiromi and Malcolm were out hanging around the front of the Marina waiting, while Ichi and I were in his truck.


    The truck that was facing away from the Marina, its back door unlocked but held almost completely closed so I could see out.


    There may or may not be an HMG sitting in the back of the truck just in case of any nonsense as well.


    I patted my barely used girl as we all waited.


    *That¡¯s him.* Hiromi added suddenly and I looked back out.


    Down the ramp into the Marina parking garage came a Rayfield Caliburn. Its engine rumbling as it went past Ichi and I, down into a parking spot near the entrance of the Marina.


    *Look at that beauty.* Malcolm muttered on the line, and I rolled my eyes, probably Ichi and Hiromi doing the same right alongside me.


    If I had to hear even a single more Caliburn ¡®fact¡¯ from Malcolm today I was going to stuff his mouth with an XXL burrito and throw him in a trunk.


    The call went quiet from Hiromi and Malcolm. I watched them approach the man that stepped out.


    No guards?


    That guy was brave. Then again he was right next to the Marina and if he was a member the security would try to protect him.


    A moment later all three of them went into the Marina to one of the bars near the entrance and started talking.


    I could see thanks to my Kiroshi, but they were to far to hear, and I had zero skill in lip reading. The inability to hear reminded me and I pulled open one of my back pouches, pulling the MaxDocs off the top until I came to the bottom.


    There was my directional microphone! I hadn¡¯t had a chance to use it until now!


    I quickly put it on, and pointed my finger in the right direction, it took a bit of wiggling around with the controls to get the right conversation but then I succeeded and was listening in.


    It was boring!


    Malcolm and the seller were literally gushing about the Caliburn¡­ I instantly felt my brain shutting off. So I was mostly just zone out, sitting cross legged in the back of the truck waiting for something to happen.


    And waiting.


    And waiting.


    Eventually, finally Hiromi and Malcolm stood up, Malcolm shook the man''s hand and they both stepped out of the Marina.


    Malcolm quickly broke into a run as he charged at the Caliburn, and it opened at his approach.


    Hiromi took a few seconds to say something but they had moved enough my mic wasn¡¯t catching it. Whatever his response was, it satisfied her and she started walking up towards the truck.


    ¡°I guess that means the deal was a success?¡± Ichi asked, seeing that everything was over I stepped out of the back of the truck to join them.


    ¡°Oh yeah. The guy was more than happy to sell, and Malcolm happy to buy.¡± Hiromi offered with a sigh. ¡°They spent like twenty minutes just nerding out about the car.¡±


    ¡°Yeah I heard. If he liked his car so much, why sell it?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but wonder. Especially since I remembered first hand what happened when I bought my Kusanagi.


    ¡°This was his second one. And it was older I guess¡­ He mentioned something about it being too old for him¡­¡± Hiromi said and I rolled my eyes at that.


    The rich kid that they had bought from was one of those guys then.


    ¡°So everything should be good?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯ll be fine. The Rayfield contract was transferred over. As far as Night City, Rayfield, and anyone important is concerned the car is Malcolms now.¡±


    ¡°Contract?¡± Ichi asked, a moment before I did.


    ¡°The security contract?¡± Hiromi offered and seeing both of our blank stares she sighed.


    ¡°Rayfield has a proprietary security system. Any intrusion will automatically call NCPD teams to the location to secure it. Part of the deal with buying one of the cars apparently.¡± She said a bit too casually, which I caught.


    ¡°Apparently¡­ Wait. You didn''t know that either did you!¡± I accused Hiromi as I caught her slip and she flushed a little.


    ¡°Malcolm may have gushed about it a bit.¡±

 Chapter 124

    We broke apart not long after that. Ichi had something that he was being evasive about that he wanted to do, and Hiromi had to go back to school.


    Apparently her parents were fine with her missing some classes to complete a business deal, but not the whole day.


    I decided to head to the range.


    I had looked over the silencer on the Copperhead and it seemed fine, so I was going to fire more rounds through it and see what happened!


    And of course try to level my reflex stat some more.


    I walked in with my Copperhead, and a box of ammo.


    Settled into a lane, happy that it was quiet this early in the afternoon, and started shooting.


    It was fun!


    I was getting Assault XP pretty consistently, and a Reflex notification between every few alerts as well. The whole process was punctuated by the silent retorts of my rifle. I was even doing things like practicing quick reloads by flinging the magazine out of the gun and slamming a new one home as I fired.


    It was little things like that, that even with Quick Reload, having a bit of practice for it helped me nail the maneuver.


    I was glad we had just gotten the big payday, because when I ran out of ammo, I just went and bought more.


    And then again.


    I had to stop and switch to the Lexington to let my Copperhead cool off after a while, but then I just did the same thing with my handgun.


    I wanted some level ups, and I was going to get them.


    My accuracy was good as well. The targets in this range gave a little point for how accurate you shot, and I was shooting quick and accurate, ramming rounds through the digital targets.


    The points were meaningless really. But it still only made the whole thing more fun.


    I had switched back to the Copperhead after letting it cool, and it didn¡¯t take long before I got what I wanted.


    *100 Assault XP Gained.*


    *Assault skill level up!*


    I hummed. As I let the knowledge flow in.


    Assault 7. I let the level flow into me, and realized I knew a slightly better way to hold and grip the rifle to keep it stabilized while moving and firing.


    Useful!


    I took a break not long after. I had pushed my Copperhead a bit too much. Gun Nut was telling me, I should really stop firing before I start causing heat damage.


    I gathered everything up and headed home. The apartment was empty when I got there. So I took some time to clean my guns and prep them for the next gig.


    Then I flopped on my bed.


    It felt good to level up. To improve myself. That crushing weight of the Scav threat and just general Night City fuckery, felt farther away since I had improved. I just had to keep improving. Moving the numbers slowly and steadily upward.


    And eventually threats would go away.


    Either because I simply surpassed their ability to harm.


    Or because I destroyed them.


    *Ringing.*


    I blinked at the call that popped up.


    ¡°Panam?¡± I sat up as I realized who was calling, what was Panam calling me for? I quickly answered to find out.


    *Hello?*


    *Hey¡­ Motoko. It¡¯s Panam, from the Aldecaldos. Do you have a minute?* Panam asked, sounding almost professional in her courtesy.


    *Yeah Panam, of course I do. How¡¯s it going? I haven¡¯t seen you since I talked to Saul about the heist.*


    *Yeah¡­ It¡¯s a long story, but I¡¯m not with the Aldecaldos anymore. I¡¯m working as a merc in the city. I know this is a bit sudden, but I¡¯m on a gig that I need some hands to help with. I wouldn¡¯t normally reach out, but Scorpion wouldn¡¯t shut up about your ability, and well¡­ I could use some of that sort of help. This gig is important, and I can¡¯t have it going to scop.*


    *Well, Panam, you definitely called up the right girl. I¡¯d love to help out. What¡¯s the deets?* I sat up practically buzzing. New gig!


    *I¡¯ll send you what I can, but it¡¯s that sort of gig. I don¡¯t know everything, the fixer is being real¡­ secure about it all.*


    *Send what you can, but if you need help I¡¯m in. We¡¯re chooms after all.* The line was quiet for a minute and Panam let out a chuckle.


    *Thanks Motoko. I appreciate that. Night City hasn¡¯t exactly been what I expected on my own.*


    *Hey. If you need something¡­ Anything, call me in okay? I have lots of chooms all over the city. Even if it¡¯s just to hang out at a club so you can vent to someone, I¡¯ll be there.* Panam barked out a laugh.


    *I¡¯ll keep that in mind. Deets are sent out.*


    *Alright give me a second.*


    I looked over the text. Instantly my eyes narrowed. This was definitely a fixers work. I recognized the style that Wakako used in her information packets, but it wasn¡¯t quite the same.


    Mostly because the entire thing was very blank on what the actual gig was.


    Although what was really interesting was what the gig actually did say.


    *Holy shit! That¡¯s a hell of a drive.*


    *I¡¯m a nomad. It¡¯s what we do best¡­ You were solid with Scorpion. So I-*


    *I¡¯m not saying no Panam, just surprised. There isn¡¯t much here, and I don¡¯t like that much, but I¡¯m in.* I confirmed as I stood up. I was already starting to run around my room. I needed a bag of stuff¡­ Clothes and junk. I realized I was going to have to raid Jun¡¯s burrito stash as well just to be safe.


    And let Jun and my chooms know.


    I was actually getting kind of excited!


    I had never been to Seattle before!


    ¡ª--


    Half an hour later I was pulling into a storage unit that was on the east side of the city. Just a block or so from the bare desert. Sixth St. tags covered the buildings in the area, but no one seemed to be around. Instead as I pulled in, I saw Panam¡­ Panam¡¯s ass anyways.


    Look, I could recognize the booty anywhere. The game made sure of that.


    She was half way into the engine bay of a Thorton Mackinaw. The same  truck which I think was her personal ride a few years from now was a modded out monster. Many of the same upgrades as my Quadra covered it.


    Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    I pulled over not far from her and stepped out.


    I was wearing my armor and gear.


    If Panam made fun of me for being a dough girl I would be a little annoyed, but I wasn¡¯t going to go light when the gig involved traveling to another city. One where I wouldn¡¯t have any backup to call up in case something went bad.


    ¡°Panam!¡±


    ¡°One second!¡± She called out as she continued to rummage around with the insides of her truck. That was fine, it gave me time to grab my gear. I had a bag for clothes and toiletries, and a bag for food and snacks, cause I didn¡¯t want to presume on Panams supply.


    But I also had ammo and weapons.


    I went around to the trunk that opened and stared at my supply.


    My hand twitched towards the Uragan, but that was a bit much, and Panam probably had one of her own. Instead I grabbed my Nekomata and loaded a few of the spare magazines I had picked up for her into my armor¡¯s webbing.


    Hefting all my gear I headed over.


    This wasn¡¯t going to be a two vehicle trip. I was riding with Panam. Honestly it was for the best. I had never done a long distance trip like this before. Better to just rely on Panam¡¯s skill as a nomad.


    ¡°And done!¡± She called out as she pulled herself free grabbing a rag and wiping her hands as she turned to look me over.


    I saw the raised eyebrow which I promptly ignored.


    ¡°Let me pack my stuff then.¡± I offered as I headed to the passenger door and she nodded slowly looking amused.


    ¡°Should be room in the back seat, try not to squish my stuff.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be careful!¡± I called out as I climbed into the seat and checked the single back seat that still remained. Half of her back seat was cut off from all the extra equipment in her truck. Including I¡¯m assuming the Machine gun that I remember could activate on top.


    The seat had a few bags of her own already there and I carefully placed all my stuff, keeping only my Nekomata in the seat with me.


    ¡°You sure you need all that?¡±


    ¡°You hired me as a shooter, not dead weight.¡± I called back and pulled out from the back seat to see her looking me over from the driver door. Leaning against it casually, with an amused look on her face. ¡°I¡¯m treating this gig just as seriously as I am the one Scorpion brought me on, and remember, that time I brought an HMG.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m surprised you didn¡¯t this time as well.¡±


    ¡°Last time I took it on a nomad gig, didn¡¯t go well, so I¡¯m sticking to more accurate shooting this time.¡± I said, patting my Nekomata.


    ¡°Well it¡¯s a relief to see you taking this seriously.¡± She said, but her voice was more teasing than anything.


    ¡°Not sure what you got yourself into Panam, but between the signs of a good fixer sending you this gig, and how quiet you¡¯ve been about it? I¡¯m readying up for a war¡­ Oh! I forgot the grenades! I¡¯m such a gonk!¡± I said laughing as I bonked my head and hurried over to my Quadra.


    A few grenades were fitted into my chest rig carefully placed so their triggers couldn¡¯t go off.


    Didn¡¯t want to walk around with a fucking bomb strapped to my chest. That was only cool if I could get out of the armor fast enough.


    I jogged back over and this time Panam was in the driver''s seat and her amusement was gone.


    ¡°You know I can¡¯t tell you anything about what I¡¯m transporting?¡±


    ¡°Yep.¡± I said as I climbed in.


    ¡°Alright. I¡¯m not too worried about the trip itself, maybe some minor Raffen trouble, but my girl can take care of that.¡± She said patting her truck, ¡°But in Seattle the drop might be difficult. That¡¯s the point I¡¯m really worried about.¡±


    ¡°Well I¡¯ll keep an eye out regardless, and my girl can handle whatever Seattle throws at us.¡± I sat patting my Nekomata mimicking Panams only motions.


    ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s go then.¡± She said, sounding nervous.


    Hearing that I of course put on my seatbelt. Road trip!


    ¡ª--


    ¡°You need anything?¡± Panam asked hours into our drive but I looked over to her without really taking my eyes off the road, and camera monitors I had access to in the passenger seat.


    ¡°No, I¡¯m fine. Fully hydrated.¡± I assured her. Just like last time I had worked with a nomad, I wasn¡¯t letting any sense of boredom hinder me. It might be a few day drive from Night City up to Seattle, made longer mostly from poor roads, and being forced to take long detours to avoid Raffen territory, but I was fully embracing my cool, to keep an eye on things.


    ¡°Right¡­ Right.¡±


    ¡°Sorry, do you want me to chatter about stuff? This is the first time I¡¯ve gone this far from Night City. It¡¯s kinda preem, and I could fill the air about all the cool stuff I¡¯m seeing.¡±


    ¡°Ugh please no. Nomads know every driving game, or have heard everything you could ever see described in every way by bored children¡­ I just didn¡¯t expect you to be this focused¡­ You¡¯ve been staring at the horizon and the camera screens for hours.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m on a job. I might be a total gonk most of the time, but being professional on a gig is the best way to make sure everyone gets to go home afterwards.¡± I told her as I do finally take my eyes away from the horizon. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. No matter what happens, I¡¯ll make sure we both get home.¡±


    My words meant to be reassuring made her look a little sour for a moment, she caught that I noticed her expression as it smoothed out.


    ¡°It¡¯s not you. I appreciate it, Motoko. I just don¡¯t really have a home at the moment.¡± She said, her voice seeping with frustration.


    ¡°You want to talk about what happened to make you leave?¡±


    ¡°No. No I really don¡¯t. I appreciate it, but just¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine Panam. I won¡¯t push. I¡¯m glad you called me up though. This is nice, getting out of the city I mean.¡±


    ¡°Heh, we¡¯ll make a nomad out of you yet.¡± She offered and I stuck my tongue out, that wasn¡¯t going to happen. As I had once told Scorpion. I needed a big couch and an AC unit at the end of the day.


    ¡ª---


    ¡°You sure?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. I know this group, not the first time I¡¯ve traveled up this way. Just play it cool, they can be assholes, but they aren¡¯t Raffen.¡± Panam said as she turned into the ancient gas station on the side of a broken down road we had been following. It was surrounded by a fleet of nomad vehicles, and we had been waved down by a group up on the roof of the pump roof, a little snipers nest up there made out of old lawn chairs.


    The truck¡¯s rumbling engine died out and she stepped out.


    ¡°Well well look who it is! If it isn¡¯t the troublemaker herself!¡±


    ¡°Scott! You¡¯re still alive? I thought for sure someone would have put a bullet in you by now!¡± She called out as she put her hands on her sides and cocked her hip out.


    ¡°Heh. nothing out here in the desert can catch me girl! Who you got there with you?¡± He asked, looking to me as I stepped out. I was being nice and not carrying my Nekomata, but I was still suited up, just with my tech gogs up on the top of my head as I stretched my legs and walked around the front of the truck, scoping out everything around me as I met up with Panam.


    ¡°This is Motoko, she¡¯s a solo I hired. But the Aldecaldos owe her something fierce. She pulled Scorpion out of a Raffen camp after they ambushed them.¡±


    A long whistle escaped the old cowboys lips. He titled his big old twelve gallon hat up to look me over, his one eye, obviously chrome scanning me.


    ¡°Well, if she helped the little brat out from those fucks, she¡¯s at least welcome as long as she doesn¡¯t cause trouble. But I¡¯m sorry to say brat, the path ahead is closed down, has been for a while now. Best turn back.¡±


    ¡°What? C¡¯mon ¡®Ol Scott. I need to get to Seattle! What could be closing down the nomad road!?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s obvious, or you wouldn¡¯t be all the way up here, but there isn¡¯t a negotiation here. The Jodes have closed the road entirely.¡± He slapped a knife hand into his other palm.


    ¡°Why? What¡¯s going on here Scott?¡±


    He scowled. ¡°What else?¡± His question seemed to finally hammer home for Panam as she scowled back, looking pretty fierce as she responded.


    ¡°Raffen.¡±


    ¡°Something set them off fierce. They¡¯ve been hitting anything going through the area, and I mean anything. You should have seen Hernando. That big truck of his? They tore it apart. He barely got out.¡±


    ¡°Fuck¡­ That thing was more armored than even my girl¡­ But Scott, we gotta get to Seattle, it¡¯s for a gig from a fixer.¡± She added at the end, emphasizing fixer heavily.


    ¡°Then you¡¯ll just be another one of the many that have tried brat. I mean it. They have all sorts of hardware setup, military. Wait for them to calm down, or find a way around. Only option.¡±


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll find a way around.¡± She snapped, sighing and rubbing her forehead. ¡°What can you tell me about any other routes?¡±


    ¡°Not much brat. Raffen have been all over these hills the last year. Not sure what is up, but they¡¯re definitely not making it easy for us.¡± The old man shrugged.


    ¡°I know, the Aldecaldos have had trouble recently too.¡± Panam offered and didn¡¯t get the reaction she wanted.


    ¡°Pfft. You¡¯re practically city dwellers, you Aldecaldos.¡± The old man said, but Panam flipped him off, and they both laughed, so I guess it was a common insult between them.


    ¡°Come grab a warm meal, stay the night..¡± The old man demanded then. Panam scoffed, but accepted, and I was happy enough to accept as well.


    I wonder if they had barbeque?


    ¡ª--


    ¡°So why don¡¯t we just kill the Raffen?¡± I asked as Panam and I were loading up the next morning. We had done as ordered and stayed the night in the Jodes Nomad camp. There hadn¡¯t been barbeque, but they had some faux maple syrup with their faux bacon, and you know what? It was pretty damn good.


    ¡°Cause that would be suicide.¡±


    ¡°Too many Rafffen? Too much equipment? Or are you just assuming it¡¯s a suicide run because they told you it was?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but ask, but Panam threw me a look.


    ¡°Both of the first two options. Raffen often have military equipment they pull out of their ass but usually not all the time. If they are just using the shit outright? Probably corp backed. Don¡¯t think of the way being closed by the Raffen, think of it being closed by some mega corp that is supplying the Raffen to keep the pass closed for some reason.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t argue that, nodding along as I slid into the passenger seat. ¡°So what¡¯s the plan?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to head east, try to slide around the roadblock. Don¡¯t really want to head into Idaho territory to get to Seattle, but if I have to.¡± She offered and I just nodded.


    ¡°I¡¯ll keep an eye out then. It¡¯s annoying the Raffen are this difficult to deal with. They aren¡¯t after your mysterious package are they?¡±


    ¡°No. Highly, highly doubt it. If they were after us, they would have targeted us and not just hit everything. Something is going on the Raffen don¡¯t want anyone to see. Could be a Mega corp testing some new weapon or something. Or they are just hitting every convoy through this area as an excuse for a megacorp to hide the convoy they were actually after.¡± She waved out the window and a few nomads tipped hats, or waved back as we set off.


    ¡°You ever gone the long way around?¡± I asked and this time I watched her frown.


    ¡°Once. A long time ago.¡±


    ¡°Great. Alright. Just make sure that turret of yours is working.¡± I grumbled, but returned to my own stakeout, as we set off through the desert broken highways, turning off the long highway we had been taking and heading east.


    Neither of us talked much as we traveled. Where before Panam had been almost casual on the drive, now she was actively working. Checking a paper map of all things, looking all around, constantly on the lookout for landmarks and keeping us going.


    On the other hand, I was focused on the cameras on her truck, and my own eyes on the horizon.


    ¡ª--


    We were camped that night. Panam had a tent set up and a fire going, which Panam and I were grilling some food on¡­


    Okay mostly Panam, I still had like thirty XXL burritos if I got desperate, but I also wasn¡¯t a cook. So I was happy that Panam was willing to share her Nomad road chili.


    ¡°We might run into some trouble tomorrow.¡± She finally offered and I felt my eyebrows rise up at the sudden words. ¡°Yeah? Raffen?¡±


    ¡°Maybe. The whispers I got updated from ¡®Ol Scott said that this territory is sometimes controlled by some Raffen groups. With the main road locked down, likely some smaller groups, or even another big group will move in to try and catch people doing exactly what we are doing.¡±


    I nodded at that, as I spooned some beans and synth meat into my mouth. ¡°If that¡¯s what happens we kill them and move on. Maybe loot some stuff.¡± I said with a shrug. I had my Nekomata, and Panam had her truck''s turret.


    ¡°You¡¯re pretty blaze about combat.¡± She said and I noticed her hesitation. I had always considered Panam quick to jump into a fight as well, but maybe not so much yet? She couldn¡¯t have been out of the Aldecaldos for long.


    Hell this might even be her first gig on her own. I hadn¡¯t asked since she didn¡¯t want to talk about her circumstance.


    ¡°Are you worried?¡± I asked and got a scowl in return, but that wasn¡¯t a denial. ¡°Well you aren¡¯t alone, and you brought me in to act as a solo to back you up. If you¡¯re nervous then just have some faith that you aren¡¯t alone.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not worried.¡± She finally denied, but it sounded weak. ¡°I just worry about how many fucking Raffen Shiv we might face tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°You got an Urgan or something right?¡± I asked and she looked at me like I was crazy.


    ¡°Of course I don¡¯t!¡± She denied harshly scoffing like the very idea was absurd.


    ¡°Shame. If I had known that I would have brought my Uragan.¡± I replied, looking at her like she was crazy. Who doesn¡¯t bring a rocket launcher to a mad max car battle!?


    ¡°Who just travels with a rocket launcher!?¡± She snapped at me, and I had to really hold back on saying that I had gotten the idea from her.


    Panam rolled her eyes and finished digging into her meal. I realized that she didn¡¯t want to talk anymore so I went and checked my Nekomata.


    She could use a little cleaning from the dust, and I wanted to make sure I could use her for tomorrow if I needed.

 Chapter 125

    Panam


    ¡°Sure could use a rocket launcher right about now, don¡¯t you think?¡± The girl teased with a big smile that did not fit the circumstances.


    ¡°Oh shut up.¡± She snapped and grumbled even if Motoko was right¡­ Sorta.


    Half way through the morning a group of Raffen Shiv had started trailing them. Panam had hoped with how dangerous her baby looked to the average gonk that it would keep them away, but as the first hour passed being trailed more Raffen had joined up shadowing their route.


    Looking at the horizon she grimaced. She recognized the trap that was coming. It wouldn¡¯t be long now.


    Panam put the pedal down, hoping the terrain and her suspension would get them away.


    It hadn¡¯t.


    ¡°Want me to take the turret?¡± Motoko asked suddenly, as she took a hard turn around a bend on the mix of desert and hills they were running through.


    ¡°No. They aren¡¯t in range. It would be a waste of ammunition.¡±


    ¡°If we don¡¯t have a choice but to fight, then we should find a flat ground. I¡¯ll be able to help more then.¡± Motoko offered and Panam rolled her eyes, hitting the gas again to try and get some speed on this old dirt path.


    ¡°They are faster than us. Flat means they catch up.¡± She snapped, eyes looking up into the cameras to see how close they were getting.


    Closer now.


    ¡°Yeah, but I can¡¯t shoot them like this. Get us flat. I¡¯ll let them know we have some fangs.¡± Panam looked over at the girl and instantly turned back to the road.


    That smile was a little too bloodthirsty for a teenager.


    ¡°Stupid idea¡­ Fine.¡± She growled. It wasn¡¯t like she had a better one. She jerked her wheel, starting to climb up the dirt hill, her truck roaring as she felt the tires spin but eventually she got the traction and she managed to ford sideways up the hill.


    Then she hit the top of the hill, and it flattened out as she turned off. She wasn¡¯t going in the right direction anymore, but at least this area was flatter. Old roads criss-crossed this region. Most didn¡¯t go anywhere anymore, but she landed on top of one, the slightly bumpy road not something her warhorse gave a shit about.


    She gunned it. And from behind she watched one two, three. Then another three vehicles all come roaring over the same edge.


    Looks like now that she wasn¡¯t on the rocky twisting lower road it was time.


    ¡°They are coming for us now.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, finally.¡± The girl said, suddenly pulling her seatbelt as she started pulling the entire belt out of the system. Then she stilled, grabbing her Nekomata and seemingly taking a moment to figure something out and then she wrapped the seatbelt around her shoulder.


    ¡°What are you?¡± Panam managed before Motoko flashed her a smiled and  pushed open the passenger door. The flare of dust and grime was instant, and already making Panam want to kick the girl out the damn truck, but then she disappeared.


    Panam¡¯s jaw dropped, she looked over, seeing the girls chrome hand had grabbed onto the top door jam and remained latched onto the roof even if her hand was backwards.


    ¡°Motoko?¡± She asked as she heard the thump of the girl moving around on the roof of her baby.


    ¡°Scorpion what the fuck.¡± She hissed focusing back on the road now that her passenger could very easily be thrown off.


    How was she even staying up there!?


    A shot echoed from above and Panam felt her heart beating staccato actually picking up.


    This kid¡­This kid was crazy! No wonder Scorpion liked her so much! Panam realized she had brought in someone truly out of their mind.


    But she looked in her rear view. Where a Mizutani Shion with a hole in the Crystal Dome, was veering off, not quite losing control, but seemingly done with their pursuit.


    Another shot and Panam watched another Raffen realize they might not have the range to hit us, but we could poke them just fine apparently.


    The second car broke off, and then to her relief more and more cars broke, no more shots came. Instead a few moments after all of the Raffen broke off Motoko knocked on the roof and Panam realized that the passenger door being almost entirely closed had locked her out. Rolling her eyes, she let off the gas slowly, so the kid could get back inside without killing herself.


    Reaching over once we slowed down to a more safe speed, she reached over and popped the passenger door open and managed to kick it all the way open, and then Motoko came rolling back inside. Face and hair covered in dust and grime from being up top, mouth closed, to hide the tooth filled smile she had before.


    But the brat was still smirking.


    ¡°That was insane!¡±


    ¡°Eh. I¡¯d give it like a solid eight on the cool shit I¡¯ve done meter.¡± Was her reply. Panam looked over and then back to the road. She couldn¡¯t help it. She snorted out an aborted laugh and just shook her head.


    At least the insane kid was on her side.


    ¡ª--


    That night we were once again camping. Panam complaining about me jumping out of the cab had eventually died off and instead been replaced with a quiet sort of melancholy.


    I was on the other hand pretty hyped up. The only thing that could have made that cooler was if I had my HMG. Nekomata was cool, but when it came to vehicle combat, stepping out with an HMG was on another level.


    Despite the fire. Panam wasn¡¯t cooking travel chili tonight. Just pulling out something prepackaged and eating it down once it was warmed on the fire.


    Which meant I had to do the same with an XXL.


    I sighed as I pulled the burrito off the pan and sniffed at it, nose crinkling at the rather unappetizing smell.


    ¡°Why bring so many if you don¡¯t like them?¡± She asked and I just scoffed.


    ¡°My brother loves them, and we had a ton of them already. I didn¡¯t have a lot of time to get food for the journey. Kinda glad I brought them. I would have brought a lot less food if I had to actually buy stuff, and I might be going hungry by now.¡±


    ¡°Nomad rules. Always bring way more food than you expect to eat.¡± She said before digging into the bag of steaming¡­


    Nope. I don¡¯t want to know.


    That looked like bugs.


    ¡°Should get there sometimes tomorrow afternoon, unless we get chased again.¡±


    ¡°Think that¡¯s going to happen?¡± I asked in turn, we hadn¡¯t seen any sign of the Raffen once we sent them packing, but that didn¡¯t mean everything.


    Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    ¡°Maybe. They don¡¯t like to go after difficult targets just like anyone but sometimes they might have to. Keep their group together, prove they are the strongest. That kind of shit.¡± Panam explained around a big crunchy bite of nope.


    ¡°Hmm.¡± I grumbled as I bit into my burrito. ¡°I¡¯ll keep watch tonight then. No, don''t argue with me. I can stay up for days at a time if I have to without any issue. Sleep well, and I¡¯ll make sure we don¡¯t get snuck up on.¡±


    Panam bit into her¡­ nope. Yeah bag of nope that¡¯s all I was going to process from that.


    ¡°Fine.¡± She grumbled and I nodded. Not long after as she squirmed into the tent I settled on top of the trucks roof and kept an eye and ear out.


    ¡ª--


    We made much better time the next day. The roads were still more guidelines than anything, but more and more of the spider web of roads were actually semi still together giving us longer and longer stretches where the Warhorse could really let loose.


    ¡°We should be there before the sun sets. Unless we make camp early.¡± Panam offered but the way we were both checking the horizon had already confirmed what the plan would be.


    Twice we had seen nomad or Raffen vehicles on the horizon.


    They could be following us, and we weren¡¯t going to let them ambush us if that was the case.


    I was doubly glad that my stats let me go without boredom because there wasn¡¯t much to look at. Trees sometimes. Dirt sometimes.


    Playing Eye Spy while traveling would just start with brown on every question.


    It was that bad. It was almost heartbreaking to see the world so devastated. Fucking Cyberpunk. Bio Plagues and shit ruining everything.


    I sighed a bit but kept lookout. Nothing I could do about it.


    ¡°And there she is.¡± Panam muttered and I looked away from the horizon around us to see the beginnings of Seattle out in the distance.


    It wasn¡¯t quite as flashy and full of lights as Night City. No massive advertisements in the sky, but it was a city.


    ¡°Finally.¡± I muttered a little sullenly. I was so ready for a shower. I had dirt and dust in places I didn¡¯t want to think about. Anakin had it right. Fuck sand.


    ¡°It¡¯s not so bad. You can¡¯t be a nomad without enjoying the camping life.¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s a good thing I don¡¯t want to be a nomad then.¡± I grumbled at her, but I shook the irritation away. We weren¡¯t out of danger yet. I pushed myself back into focus.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°Yes we are here on business.¡± Panam repeated for the tenth time to the bored customs agent. We had been stopped on the highway into Seattle at a border checkpoint.


    The fact the border was just a city border and yet was treated as important as a country border told me a lot about how Seattle saw itself within the ¡®Free¡¯ state.


    I was bored. It wasn¡¯t like I was the one in charge here. Looking around the dark barely air conditioned room, I noticed the most interesting thing was the flags painted on the wall.


    First was the Pacific Northwest free state flag. It had faded over the years, but was still there.


    Then in much fresher paint was the NUSA flag. Something they probably added after the Unification war ended.


    Not that it had really done as it was stated. The Free States were still basically free just gave lip reading to the NUSA as their federal government.


    And because of it Arasaka was back in Night City. Which had seceded from California entirely to become its own little city state.


    As if Arasaka didn¡¯t rule Night City.


    I noted Panam adding some bills to her papers almost in aggravation and a moment later those bills were pocketed and we were sent on our way.


    ¡°Fucker.¡± She hissed as she finally climbed back into the Warhorse.


    ¡°Let¡¯s be honest. A bribe was always going to be our path in.¡±


    ¡°Fucking bitch said the papers would get me in without trouble.¡± Panam argued as she slammed a fist into the steering wheel to let out some irritation before hitting the gas as we got the green light to leave the border and be allowed into Seattle.


    Ice covered mountains, and large buildings. It was just like NC in a way. The same food, the same malaise.


    I shrugged. Glad we were through, now we just had to drop off our delivery and our gig was complete.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to find a motel to stay at.¡± Panam offered and I perked up instantly.


    ¡°Yes please!¡±


    She laughed at me a bit as we drove in between the first of the big buildings. I could really use that shower.


    ¡ª--


    The motel we found was the same as every motel I had seen in Night City. Really there just wasn¡¯t much difference. A bored attendant at the door, overpriced payment for basic things that we didn¡¯t need. And thankfully a warm shower, if it wasn¡¯t the cleanest place I¡¯d ever been in.


    After using up all the hot water I could and finally feeling sand free, I slipped into some fresh clothes, loaded up on my normal outfit, and headed over to Panam¡¯s room.


    ¡°Hey I¡¯m going to explore for a bit.¡± I called out after I knocked. I heard some thumping and Panam appeared at the door wearing basically the same thing I was, only she still had a towel in her hair.


    She opened her mouth probably to argue but after a moment she stopped herself. ¡°Be careful. This isn¡¯t Night City. Things aren¡¯t done the same way here.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just going to wander around a bit. Maybe find a club and meet some locals. I¡¯ve never been to Seattle before.¡±


    ¡°Like I said. This isn¡¯t Night City. Police, gangs, everything is different.¡± She warned but I just nodded happily.


    ¡°I know! Exciting isn¡¯t it?¡± I asked with a smirk that had her scoffing but she nodded.


    ¡°Be back tomorrow morning. We will have our drop off around noon.¡±


    I just nodded as I walked away and then out of the motel, onto the mean streets of Seattle.


    I took a moment as I hit the street level to just look around. First thing first. The entire city was less populated than Night City. Not by a huge degree. I mean there were quiet spots in Night city as well, but having spent so long in one city almost completely overpopulated you got a feel for it.


    I turned and walked down the street. Street level wasn¡¯t quite as bad as Night City with how many adverts were around, but it was still pretty bad. Very few sections of the street were dark. Leaving the whole place a diorama of neon lights on concrete.


    Yet it was less populated. Instead of pushing through a horde of people moving one way or the other depending on the time of day. I only had a few people wandering past me.


    My goal really was just to look around. As I wandered I realized that moving around a city without a car was kind of a pain in the ass. The side eye I gave a parked car only lasted a moment before I shook it off.


    Casual theft was kinda rude. I preferred looting¡­


    Ah, it would be hard to find some scavs or something here.


    I groaned as I continued walking, just going down the street and seeing what was here. The whole city was laid bare. Surely something was happening around here?


    ¡ª--


    Liam Tremblay


    ¡°I already told you. We aren¡¯t working for the rats. Put it out of your head.¡± He snapped at the continued questioning.


    ¡°C¡¯mon Leem, Think of the edd¡¯s!¡± Maria begged as she followed after him out onto the street from Habblock P10.


    ¡°Not going to happen Mary. The Rats are scum suckers. We won¡¯t see nary a touch of the edd¡¯s.¡±


    ¡°Uuuugh. They can¡¯t betray everyone that wants to work for them Leem, if they do, then none will even want to!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure they do betray everyone that wants to work with them. That¡¯s why they are the rats.¡± Liam argued with a sigh running a hand through his barely styled hair. He had been up for hours trying to keep his little gang from going into the Rats.


    ¡°Piece of shit!¡± A voice cursed out as a loud thawk echoed through the alley and they both looked over to see a teen neither had ever seen before kicking the shit out of one of the drink vending machines for a moment. ¡°Never should have given it any eddies!¡± The girl snapped as she continued to kick the ever living shit out of the machine.


    ¡°Who the fuck? Some outsider?¡± Mary asked and Liam shrugged. Definitely not a local. Her accent was all off, and she wasn¡¯t anyone he had seen before.


    She was armed though. A pistol on her back, and a knife. Chrome arms, fully on display, which was definitely a choice.


    ¡°Hey! Outsider bitch! Stop kicking our shit before I kick the shit out of you!¡± Mary called out as she stomped over. His red haired friend as always, quick to jump into shit at a moment''s notice.


    ¡°Huh? Oh¡­ Yeah, probably pointless.¡± She agreed and stepped back from her attack. ¡°Hiya.¡±


    ¡°Yeah hiya ya too fucking-¡±


    ¡°Mary, let it go, she stopped.¡± Liam cut in, trying to keep Mary from picking another pointless fight. ¡°Hey. This is Cougar Claw terf. I don¡¯t know you, so you better clear off. Stop smacking up our shit.¡±


    ¡°Pfft.¡± The girl, despite keeping a flat face that was reddening a little let out the noise of a tire letting out air before faux coughing and shaking herself a little.


    Was she fucking laughing at them? Liam felt his own quick temper lighting up. At the thought.


    ¡°The fuck you laughing at?¡±


    ¡°Sorry sorry! It¡¯s just Cougar is slang where I come from¡­ You know Cougars? Like older women that prey on-Yeah you don¡¯t care, I just had that thought and it made me laugh a bit. Sorry. I¡¯m sure your gang is preem. Don¡¯t mind me.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll show you just how much I mind!¡± Mary looked like she was going to start swinging but Liam quickly grabbed her.


    ¡°Let it go Mary. Let¡¯s go, we have to deal with the Rats, don¡¯t have time to deal with some random gonk.¡±


    The girl wasn¡¯t looking at Mary or Liam, he suddenly realized her high end optics were looking behind him. Kiroshi? He thought pointlessly as he turned and stopped cold. At the end of the street was a Villefort Alvarado. But that wasn¡¯t what made Liam realize something was up.


    Because the tags on the car were little cartoon rats.


    The Rats were here.


    ¡°Fuck, Mary!¡± He demanded and she turned and noticed the same thing. The door opened and Boss Franco stepped out. A moment later one of the gonks stepped out and threw a long coat over his shoulders.


    Of course he just had it thrown over and didn¡¯t actually put his arms in. It was meant to hide his hands behind his back so he could shoot you without warning.


    ¡°Well well! If it isn¡¯t Kitty Claw Liam! Come on boy. We got some chatting to do!¡± The older teenager called out and Liam felt frozen.


    The only reason the Rats would be here is if someone from the gang had ratted Liam out. That he was going to refuse to be part of the Rats little gang group.


    ¡°Liam!¡±


    ¡°Get out of here Mary.¡± He whispered to her quietly, realizing what was about to go down.


    ¡°Fuck dat! I¡¯m not gonna be a fucking Rat!¡± She snapped and Liam wanted to argue that running to save your life didn¡¯t make you a rat. Especially when they were fucked.


    He adjusted his jacket, loosening up so the holster of his Unity would be free. Hopefully¡­


    Hopefully he could draw faster than Rat Bastard Franco. Fuck, even if he did that meant the SPD would be on his tail after. He didn¡¯t have the eddies to make them stop caring like Franco did.


    ¡°I feel like a tumbleweed is about to cross over.¡± A voice behind him muttered and he scowled at the distraction but ignored it. He didn¡¯t have time for the gonk outsider. Much less one that was likely about to be silenced after he was killed too.


    He took four steps forward and stopped, putting the entrance to his block to his right, as the Rat continued sauntering over.


    ¡°I heard you ain¡¯t happy with my offer! Now what part about it made you think it was something you could refuse in the first place?¡± Franco asked as he stopped a few feet away. His goons, all had shooters. All were ready for war, and here Liam was with just a pistol and Mary who didn¡¯t even carry Iron.


    Just a knife.


    ¡°What are you doing here Franco. It¡¯s only been a couple hours, your message said we had a few days to discuss your offer.¡±


    ¡°That was before I heard you cut off your crew and told them you were refusing. Bad move little cat. See I want all of Ten to listen when I say something. That doesn¡¯t mean some cats can tell me no.¡±


    ¡°The Cougar Claws are sti-¡±


    ¡°Pfft.¡± The noise of air escaping a tire came again from behind him, and he noticed that Franco wasn¡¯t happy about it either. The man''s eyes narrowed as he looked behind them.


    Then he heard the sound of a can popping open.


    He looked back and the girl was popping open a can of Orange Cybershock that she had gotten from the Vending machine.


    Wasn¡¯t that machine broken?


    Once she took a sip she cleared her throat. ¡°Sorry, don''t mind me.¡±


    ¡°Who the fuck is this?¡±


    ¡°Some rando.¡± He responded back, but he knew Rat wouldn¡¯t let it get away. So he didn¡¯t say anything. Watching as Franco obviously considered how he was going to murder the girl.


    ¡°That¡¯s a nasty glare there pal. You might want to put that away.¡± The girl said suddenly her own eyes locked onto the Rats.


    This of course only sealed her fate.


    ¡°Yeah? You think some jumped up nobody bitch, has the right to tell me where I place my optics? How about I-¡±


    ¡°Bored now.¡± And Liam gasped, as within a single moment she had a gun in her hand. A Lexington, and despite Franco¡¯s attempts to dodge she pulled the trigger and gun fire echoed through the alley.


    Liam leapt away. The Rats guards would retaliate and they tried. He hit the ground hard and looked up in time to see the two men that had followed Franco into the alley raise their weapons only for them to click without any bang.


    Then they were gunned down casually, with almost disinterest, the girl wandered over and put a few more bullets into them. Seemingly to make sure.


    ¡°Hey, you know of any Ramen joints around here?¡± He blinked as she walked over to him and kneeled down. Squating right in front of his face without seemingly a care in the world.


    ¡°Uh¡­ huh?¡±


    ¡°Raaamen. Ramen. Noodles in broth. Tasty shit. You know of any places around here?¡±


    ¡°Umm. Yeah?¡±


    ¡°Great send me the deets ya?¡±


    He scrambled to do so. He honestly wasn¡¯t sure if she was threatening him with the way she was tapping the pistol on her knee, but he wasn¡¯t going to find out.


    ¡°Hmm. That¡¯s kinda far¡­ Oh hey! New car!¡± She chirped as she walked over to the men, and pulled the car keys off the guard that drove Franco around.


    He watched her go for a while. Bloody foot prints leading out of the alley with every step.


    ¡°H-hey!¡± Mary called out startling Liam as he noticed she had jumped into a bunch of trash to avoid getting shot too.


    ¡°Huh?¡± The girl called out turning.


    ¡°Who are you? I¡¯ve never seen you before!¡±


    ¡°Yeah I¡¯m just visiting, I¡¯m from Night City!¡± She called out with a guileless smile as she waved a chrome arm over her head and turned back towards Franco¡¯s car.


    Which she promptly stole. Driving off.


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard rumors about people from Night City.¡± Mary said, looking to Liam, and he just nodded.


    If that was the level of Night City teens, he was suddenly feeling even less confident than before.

 Chapter 126

    A belly full of good food that wasn¡¯t XXL burritos or nomad chili was exactly what I needed. Sure I had killed some gonk for it, but he threatened me first! If he didn¡¯t want to get shot, he shouldn¡¯t threaten people! Duh!


    I would have to ditch the vehicle soon though. I wasn¡¯t sure what the rules for this kind of thing were here in Seattle. I mean in Night City I wouldn¡¯t even worry about it, but this was a whole new place. People were¡­ Different here.


    The sharp suspicious eyes as people kept an eye out all around them was gone. Instead there were more people hanging out on the streets. Fucking around, stopping and chatting. It wasn¡¯t the constant get to where you need to be like it was in NC.


    Also I had expected that arrogant fuck to be tougher. He had some chrome sure, but not enough protecting his skull. His goons were nearly pure meat. One of them had even tried to run once he realized his gun wasn¡¯t working.


    Which was kinda weird. Normally they would have dropped their weapons and attacked as one, or at least took cover and pulled a side gun.


    Seattle was a really weird place.


    *Ringing.*


    I blinked at the call.


    Huh?


    *Hiromi?*


    *Motokooooo! Are you in Seattle!? I¡¯ve been calling for like two days! How was the trip! Panam didn¡¯t do anything weird to you right?*


    *Whoa slow down. It¡¯s nice to hear from you! I¡¯m in Seattle. I¡¯m eating at a ramen joint over here. Food¡¯s about the same, which is nice. We had to go around a big Raffen Shiv movement so it took a bit longer to get here, this is our first night.*


    *You aren¡¯t hurt?*


    *Nah. I shot at them a few times and they took off. We were a bit too tough for them to bite into. How¡¯s everything going over there?*


    *Oh! Well Malcolm crashed his car. He¡¯s okay, and the car is fine too. But you should have seen how mad he was. Don¡¯t tell him, but it was honestly hilarious.*


    *Oh no! That car is his baby. How bad?*


    *Not too bad, he took a turn too hard from what I understand, he isn¡¯t sharing the whole story of course. Just bashed in the rear end a bit, he hit a light pole. NCPD were not happy.*


    *Pfft. I told him he needed to go slow for a while until he got used to her.*


    *Yeah well. Everything else is okay. Quiet. I spoke to Jun! He¡¯s doing okay, but Fujimura has got him on guard duty so I didn¡¯t chat with him for long.*


    *I¡¯ll have to call him.*


    *Yeah¡­ But only after we are done! Tell me about your trip! How is Seattle? Are you taking pictures of everything?*


    *The trip was mostly boring and dirty. Don¡¯t recommend. Seattle is weird. People are way less worried about getting shot¡­ I shot some punk gangster and his henchmen. It was kinda random.*


    *Motoko, how long have you been in Seattle?*


    *Umm¡­ Like four hours? Maybe five?*


    *Motoko we have to talk about your killing people thing.* Hiromi said with a sigh that came through the call. *You know Seattle isn¡¯t Night City! What if SPD comes after you?*


    *Wait¡­ Is that even a thing?* I stopped myself because I almost just asked if the police tried to stop murders.


    Wow. Is this the feeling you get when you realize your morals are super skewed?


    *Hey Hiromi? I think I might be a little weird.*


    The line went silent for a while as I slipped on some more noodles waiting for Hiromi to get back on the line. Did her parents bug her or something?


    *Motoko. Just¡­ Maybe stick to Panam, and come back¡­ Soon.*


    *Yeah, I think I¡¯ll head back to the motel and go to sleep. I just wanted to explore a bit and get some chow, but Seattle is kinda wider than Night City, less stuff in walking distance.*


    I finished the last of my Ramen slurping it up and headed out to my new car. As I started driving back to the Motel I was still chatting with Hiromi.


    *So you have your meeting tomorrow? Are you ready?*


    *Yeah, I have weapons and armor, and I¡¯ll just be backing up Panam to make sure she gets out. She doesn¡¯t think there will be trouble, but you-Oh my god. Is that an arcade!?* I gasped aloud as I did a rather dangerous U turn to find a spot near what I had just spotted.


    *Motoko?*


    *Hiromi! I just saw an old style arcade! I saw arcade machines!*


    *Umm Okay?*


    *I¡¯ll talk to you later Hiromi!* I hung up as I ran across the street to enter into¡­ Well it looked kinda like a bar, but it had a ton of old arcade machines! I didn¡¯t recognize any of the games! Which honestly kind of made it better. Sure I didn¡¯t see Street Fighter II, but I bet whatever these games were would be fun!


    ¡°Ah¡­ I don¡¯t have any quarters.¡± I muttered. None of the machines had updated payment. Just the old Quarter inputs.


    ¡°Hey kid! Get away from those! Those are antiques!¡± The man behind the bar called out pointing a dirty rag at me.


    I looked away from where I had kneeled down to check the quarter tray. Desperate for any hope.


    ¡°Yeah I know! You got this thing on auto play or something? I need to kick some ass for a few hours!¡± I called back over the loud ambience of the bar. The stink of smoke and alcohol was heavy, but I could deal with that for some good old gaming.


    ¡°A kid like you wants to play the old stuff? Let¡¯s see then.¡± The guy behind the bar said as he tossed down a rag and a glass nodding to another worker before coming around. He walked behind the machine and hit a switch and it turned onto free play. ¡°Don¡¯t want people to come in and trash my machines. These things are expensive.¡±


    ¡°Yeah I bet. This would be almost a hundred years old! Well. If it was original. It¡¯s not.¡± The game I was talking about was some fighting game, but it literally looked like an arcade cabinet you would see in the eighties. Cartoonish characters on the side of old wood, with an actual CRT screen fizzing a little from age, but still clear.


    ¡°Heh. Interesting you can spot that.¡± He muttered. I looked over the machines, honestly it was mostly the condition. I had seen arcade machines after just a few decades. They tended to be burnt out, and rough.


    But these were pristine.


    No way you would see pristine machines after nearly a century.


    ¡°If you can give me a challenge, I¡¯ll let you play on any of them that you want¡­ As long as you don¡¯t break anything.¡±


    This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.


    ¡°Deal!¡±


    ¡ª--


    ¡°Mwahaha!¡± I laughed evilly just like the character on the screen. Evil Chun-Li basically was my new favorite character.


    ¡°Damn kid!¡± The owner of the shop as it turned out, grumbled as I wrecked him. I hadn¡¯t at first, it had taken me a while to remember the controls, but that was like¡­ Two games? Before I was pushing him hard.


    I wasn¡¯t even really a fighting game lover. I did end up playing a lot, but more as someone to play against than because I was interested.


    ¡°Heh. Where did you even play this before? I don¡¯t think anyone else in the city even still keeps cabinets.¡±


    ¡°Ah. I¡¯m from Night City, so yeah.¡± I answer lying to hide where my knowledge came from.


    ¡°That explains it. Wonder if any other games survived over there. Can you tell me where you played? I wouldn¡¯t mind finding some new data to make a few new machines.¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­ Sorry, they don¡¯t exist anymore.¡±


    The man sighed, shaking his head. ¡°That¡¯s the way of things isn¡¯t it. Time erodes it all down.¡±


    I frowned. I mean sure, I could see how easy it would be for data to be lost considering how much was lost during the datakrash.


    But the data wasn¡¯t lost-lost¡­


    ¡°I mean, it¡¯s not completely lost.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    ¡°I mean I¡¯m a netrunner. There is tons of data out there on the net, or even on the old nets that would probably be someone''s full collection of arcade games and stuff.¡±


    ¡°Heh. It¡¯s been fifty years, kid. That data is long lost, either gobbled up by AI, or just had the old servers fail. Trust me, I spend a lot of time maintaining this equipment. Imagine a server out in the desert somewhere running 24/7 to keep an AI alive.¡± The man shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s why I keep this stuff running. A reminder of all we lost.¡±


    Ouch. Old man! Don¡¯t hit me with the decay of civilization so hard okay? ¡°Yeah.¡± I muttered, no longer really wanting to play games.


    Stupid apocalypse.


    I sighed and moved to leave before stopping. Across the street there was an SPD car parked behind the Villefort Alvarado I had stolen.


    Wow. That was fast. I popped the key shard out of my neck and tossed it into a trash can. ¡°Well this was fun old man. If I ever get more game data, I¡¯ll come see you.¡±


    ¡°Heh. Sure kid.¡± He offered as he rubbed down the machine and set it back to pay mode.


    I walked out and down the street disappearing out of the cops view and getting the hell out of there. It would be a bit of a long walk back to Panam, but eh.


    Better than getting arrested.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°Okay Motoko you ready?¡±


    ¡°Honestly Panam, I¡¯ve been waiting for hours for this.¡± I offered, we were coming up on the drop off point. The fact it was in an abandoned section of the docks, in an old industrial park that had long been overrun with trash from what little I¡¯ve seen of it. Made me more suspicious than nervous.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to get out early. I¡¯ll be watching over you, so don¡¯t worry about them doing something stupid. If they try to attack you, just get back to your truck, I¡¯ll cover you.¡± I said as I opened the door moving to slip out before she pulled into the park.


    ¡°Wait! What do you mean watching over! I hired you to guard me!¡±


    ¡°Panam. Trust me, I¡¯ll be way more effective if they don¡¯t know I¡¯m here.¡± I offered and only once she sighed and nodded did I jump out of the car as she slowed and then I raced over, Leaping over the barbed wire fencing and then into the industrial park.


    I had my suspicions. This is the sort of place I would lure someone for a trap, not for a dropoff.


    I quickly found a path up an old dock building. Climbing up a shed, then the window sills to make it up on the roof. Then I crawled forward. Only a little annoyed that it was broad daylight. If this was at night, I would have less difficulty keeping myself hidden..


    My approach to the edge of the roof was silent despite the gravel roof. I looked over, and I was in luck. Panam hadn¡¯t finished entering the park yet, but there were already two cars parked in a half circle with three men standing around.


    Three? With two cars? Obviously there were more. I quickly pinged one of them. Watching as it slipped through. And then a web of connections opened up and I rolled my eyes.


    Yep.


    Super sus.


    There was a sniper up on an old crane. I hefted the Nekomata and aimed it in.


    The guy was using an Ashura. A smart sniper¡­


    So the guy was a fucking gonk that didn¡¯t know how to snipe.


    I considered just one shotting his dumb head, but thanks to my Nekomata¡¯s scope, and my Kiroshi, I quickly sent in a Weapon Glitch into his Ashura instead as he was in range.


    Smart weapons were even more susceptible to hacks than most weapons.


    Actually¡­


    I wonder.


    Since I was already glitching the weapon, I bet I could alter the targeting system.


    Heh.


    Panam pulled in, while I played with it, and only when I was absolutely sure it would work did I pull away.


    Okay now to deal with the rest of these gonks. A quick repeat, and that settled it. The hack was in their system. Only one had any ICE defenses, but it wasn¡¯t good enough to stop the hack.


    Especially not my version.


    With that done I sent a message to Panam as she was parking.


    *Cleared out the danger. Don¡¯t let them fuck with you.*


    I didn¡¯t want to send something too long as that would distract her, but hopefully that would be enough.


    I watched through one eye, the other looking through the scope at the sniper fucker, as the deal went down.


    Panam walked out looking a little irritated as she looked over at the men. She started talking, and one of the men responded, the one that didn¡¯t have a weapon on him.


    Then they argued. Something was going down, something Panam wasn¡¯t happy to hear. Slowly my finger strayed closer to the trigger.


    If the sniper fired, it would be the last thing he ever did.


    Panam would probably need immediate assistance once bullets started flying.


    Then to my surprise, it wasn¡¯t the fuckers that moved first. Panam, suddenly slammed forward nearly ramming the guy into the car they had brought, and even had a fucking Nova pressed against his chin.


    I mean, sure I had seen that she had a DR5 Nova, but I didn¡¯t think she had the chrome to actually use the damn thing! Shotgun pistols are no joke.


    But to my surprise a moment later the man was laughing, and everything calmed down, he waved his buddies down, and handed over a shard to Panam. She slotted it, nodded, and then stepped back, and to my surprise everything really did calm down.


    Panam walked back to her truck and fiddled with something in the back seat, before coming out with a big square package wrapped in bubble wrap and handed it over.


    The leader of the group nodded opened it up and I almost wanted to blink as I realized that this whole trip was for a fucking record.


    A music record.


    He checked it, nodded then turned away. Panam walked back to her truck, and they didn¡¯t even shoot her. Sniper dude was packing up his rifle.


    ¡°Well I¡¯ll be damned.¡±


    ¡ª--


    ¡°That was preem.¡± I called out as I slid into the passenger side of Panam¡¯s truck. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect you to draw on them.¡± She just shrugged.


    ¡°I know these types. They might push on weak transporters if they can, but show them you¡¯re dangerous and suddenly they are all smiles and honey. Besides, The fixer wouldn¡¯t be happy if the deal went bad. So there was pressure to keep things on the DL.¡±


    ¡°Huh. Well, I guess I didn¡¯t need to disable that guy''s sniper rifle after all.¡± I was barely finished with my comment before she nearly slammed the brake.


    ¡°Wait what sniper!?¡±


    ¡°The one up on the old shipping crane. Don¡¯t worry, I hacked his Ashura, the first bullet would have gone right into his buddies head.¡± I offered, but that didn¡¯t seem to reassure Panam.


    ¡°Fuck. That could have gone really bad.¡±


    ¡°I thought you said they just needed a push?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but if they had a sniper on me, then they might have taken the risk if I pushed too far¡­¡± She offered nervously bringing up a hand to nibble at her thumb as she seemed to stew in the situation.


    ¡°Hey. It¡¯s all good. I had your back. You took care of everything, and the deal was done right¡­ You traded that record for the shard?¡±


    ¡°Saw that? Yeah I got what Rogue wanted.¡± She said with a shrug. ¡°Information is already sent so we are all done.¡±


    ¡°Wait, Rogue?¡± I said in surprise although I shouldn¡¯t be. Panam had worked with Rogue in 2077, I just hadn¡¯t expected her to be so connected this early.


    Panam looked a little uncomfortable as she sighed, and started driving again.


    ¡°Yeah Rogue has a thing with the Aldecaldos. Old friendships. We all know we can come talk to her for shit. She¡¯s like that annoying aunt that makes fun of you and is rude, but will always be there.¡± She offered, and I blinked.


    That¡¯s right. Rogue had a thing with the OG Aldecaldo leader. Maybe even a son out of the whole thing if the lore was accurate. ¡°That makes sense.¡± I said, earning a weird look from Panam, but then we were on the road.


    We had both agreed to just get back to NC after the deal. No reason to stick around and potentially end up in trouble with the one trading stuff.


    So we turned, hit a place to grab some food and go to the bathroom, and we were out of Seattle. The large buildings soon disappeared in our rear-view.


    ¡ª--


    It was the third night of traveling back to the city. We were somewhere out in the mountains. I don¡¯t actually know if we were back in California or not.


    Either way we would get back to Night City in the morning. Considering we were well past the Raffen territory Panam was confident we were in the clear.


    I was still on watch, but even I had let slip some of my professionalism.


    ¡°So both boys ended up in the river?¡±


    ¡°Completely soaked head to toe, the bike at the very bottom. Saul cussed them out. I swear their ears were burning and they both had to keep diving to attach a harness to get the bike out. Saul made them both work on the bike until it was working again. Took months.¡±


    I was chuckling at the thought. Trying to jump a river with a ramp on a ¡®borrowed¡¯ bike? Yeah that could only end in one way.


    ¡°They¡¯re lucky they didn¡¯t break anything.¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah, but we have a good doc, so they¡¯d have been alright. Lucky they didn¡¯t crack their skulls open.¡±


    I looked across the fire at her and caught the look on her face.


    We hadn¡¯t talked much on the trip once we left Night City. Mostly because despite the long days of driving, Panam was used to the long drives, and I was too busy keeping watch.


    But that didn¡¯t mean I hadn¡¯t caught the stench of regret and homesickness all over Panam.


    ¡°We could stop at the camp on the way back.¡± I offered casually only for Panam to snap out a reply.


    ¡°No.¡±


    I didn¡¯t say anything, but I made sure my face told a whole story as she looked at me, and then looked away.


    ¡°You still love Saul. You still love the camp, and your family. You aren¡¯t exiled, Raffen or anything.¡±


    ¡°If I go back I¡¯ll be admitting I was wrong.¡± She denied instantly. With all the passion I expected.


    ¡°You think so? I don¡¯t think seeing your family means you were wrong. Only that you miss your family.¡±


    ¡°Saul would see it that way! I would get some sermon about how I was wrong, and I should just shut up and do what he says even when he is being a fucking moron!¡±


    ¡°And when he tries that you tell him you weren¡¯t wrong. That you still think that, but he can¡¯t keep you from your family just because you both disagree. He loves you too.¡±


    She glared over the fire, all the passion and fire flooding her. She didn¡¯t say anything, just glared and looked away at her meal.


    I didn¡¯t say anything after. It was a shame to see someone run from their family. Especially when there was still love and care between them.


    Panam was just angry and hurt, and Saul had too much on his shoulders to agree to a ceasefire. He was the leader. It was his way or the highway¡­


    His way or the City I guess was more accurate.


    Still, that shouldn¡¯t mean she can¡¯t go and see her people. But I also couldn¡¯t force her. We didn¡¯t talk any more that night. It was a shame, but Panam wasn¡¯t in a good place. And spending a year or two working for Rogue wasn¡¯t really going to help. Especially since she ends up working for that Raffen guy¡­


    That¡¯s right. That does happen. I would have to keep an eye on her, if he showed up? Well I had plenty of bullets.

 Chapter 127

    ¡°Oh I am so glad to be back. I can¡¯t wait to be home.¡± I moaned as we finally hit the road leading into the city. I could practically sense my bed waiting for me. And maybe some choom time. I wanted to hang out with Hiromi, and my crew. Bother Jun, maybe get into a wrestling match with him or something.


    Just anything besides travel through dirty desert.


    ¡°Not home just yet. We need to hand off everything¡­ If  you are up to sticking around.¡± The way she said it! I knew it!


    ¡°You do want me around!¡±


    ¡°Can I change my mind?¡± She asked and I just laughed at her, and shook my head.


    No. Once you become my choom, it¡¯s forever. No take backsies.


    ¡°So Rogue huh? That¡¯ll be interesting.¡±


    ¡°First time in the Afterlife?¡± She asked and I almost jerked a bit in surprise at the question.


    ¡°Well, yeah actually. That¡¯s where we¡¯re going?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s where Rogue is, so that¡¯s where we¡¯re going.¡± She said and I just nodded slowly, I guess I was finally getting my Afterlife debut.


    I was quiet for the rest of the drive, the sand and dirt slowly shifted into urban streets.


    It¡¯s good to be home.


    The drive to the Afterlife didn¡¯t take too long. The sun was starting to droop as we pulled into the small parking lot. Panam¡¯s truck stuck out pretty badly from the vehicles parked around, but she found a spot and then the roar of the engine quieted down.


    ¡°Alright let¡¯s go.¡± She stepped out taking a moment to stretch from the long drive. I joined her, but mostly I was wiping at my hair watching as dust fell out of it. If only keeping Rogue waiting wasn¡¯t that bad an idea I¡¯d go get a shower. That and holding onto the shard Rogue wanted was just asking for trouble.


    We walked down the familiar stairs, and I did look behind me at the wall to see if I could see the Tarot that appeared for V.


    Nothing.


    The bouncer was the same big guy I remembered and he scanned Panam almost casually, then glancing at me, and doing the same.


    I could see the moment he scanned me and found me not on whatever list that Afterlife kept. Panam noticed it too. ¡°Relax Em, she¡¯s with me.¡±


    He lifted an eyebrow but shrugged and stepped aside. ¡°Welcome to the Afterlife kid.¡± The man offered almost sarcastically as he side eyed Panam.


    ¡°Thanks.¡± I offered back as I followed in after Panam. I don¡¯t really care if he thinks me being here is weird or something. I¡¯m not one of the Night City Crazies that wanted to die in a blaze of glory anyways.


    I was just here for the gig. Then I would go home, take a shower and a nap. This week had kinda sucked.


    I shook it off and looked around. I had been here before of course, in a game at least. It hadn¡¯t changed much. The neon lights, the music playing, the different teams of edgerunners in side rooms, at the bar, or just hanging around. Some of them planning, some of them partying, and some of them dying.


    I looked away from the side room that had a choom laid out on a couch as his team huddled around him.


    I don¡¯t think that one made it.


    ¡°Claire! My usual!¡± Panam called out as she stopped at the bar and the bartender threw Panam a smile before throwing together a drink.


    I wasn¡¯t paying attention to that though.


    Because someone much more interesting was at the bar.


    It was the pink jacket that caught my eye first, and then I stilled because I recognized that look.


    Of course it wasn¡¯t the exact same, translations from game visuals, or anime visuals to real life made things look different but¡­ I had seen that woman''s last moments. It was impossible not to recognize her.


    It was kinda hard to forget Sasha.


    ¡°Feel the rythm, of the streets.¡± I mumbled to myself. The first lines of the song that blasted through my brain.


    I guess I knew my next song. Also, I guess I knew my next mission. Sasha was still alive¡­ For now. I couldn¡¯t help but stare as Sasha threw up three fingers at Claire who nodded, already preparing her drinks.


    Of course that was when I got caught staring. Blue and pink eyes locked onto me. Unique custom colors. It was pretty.


    I honestly was surprised as well,, they weren¡¯t Kiroshi, but some other brand, still high quality. But she had caught me looking. Eyebrow quirking up, as she gave me a look.


    Okay Motoko. This is it. Just¡­ Meet the catgirl. Chat her up! Yeah. Use your skills in cool and brain to just chat with a woman. Easy! Sure¡­


    ¡°Hi.¡± I said blurting it out without being able to stop. ¡°I¡¯m Motoko. I like your optics!¡±


    ¡°Hello Motoko, who likes my optics. I¡¯m Sasha.¡± She said in a teasing tone that made me still for a moment. Wait¡­ That was! She thought I was trying to flirt! Abort! Abort! No wait. Can¡¯t abort! I need to save her life!


    So instead of saying anything I just kinda fumbled around for a moment before taking the seat next to her. ¡°So edgerunner huh? That¡¯s preem! What¡¯s your specialty?¡± I asked after a moment of awkward fidgeting. I mean I already knew she was a netrunner. I was just hoping I could pull her into a netrunner conversation and then force her to become my friend.


    ¡°Is this your first time in here? Get brought in as part of a gig or something?¡± She asked me instead of answering, I blinked before pouting a little.


    ¡°I was working protection on a gig. Panam works with Rogue so here I am.¡± I said, making sure to enunciate that I wasn¡¯t the protection target. ¡°It was quiet mostly except for the Raffen, but they aren¡¯t that bad.¡± I demurred.


    ¡°Oh? Maybe you can tell me about it some time.¡± She replied with smile as Claire was suddenly there with three drinks that she picked up and it was obvious Sasha was about to disappear.


    Quick think fast!


    ¡°Netrunner right?¡± I said, I had been hoping to fall into a conversation but it would be a bit too strong to follow her back to her group.


    She did stop as she held the drinks. ¡°I am.¡±


    ¡°So am I. Programmer too, but it¡¯s one of my specialties. Uh. If  you ever need some programming work done.¡± I said and then sent her my number.


    She looked more amused than interested, which was not what I was going for, so I had to do something.


    ¡°I do programming work for Yoko. She can vouch that I¡¯m good. Feel free to reach out. I do consultations for free.¡± I offered and there it was.


    The look of interest on her face. Sure I had to name drop Yoko, as proof¡­ Should have used the Sexy Motoko Voice! Dumbass! Of course she thinks I was being cute sounding like a teenager.


    Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.


    Dummy! Idiot!


    ¡°Maybe I¡¯ll give you a call sometime for that¡­ Consult.¡± Then she walked away.


    But the whole time I was a little distracted because I had never heard someone say consult and make it sound¡­


    ¡°Motoko!¡± Panam called out, pulling me away from my staring at the woman.


    ¡°Yeah I¡¯m coming.¡± I tore my eyes away from Sasha and followed Panam towards an indented couch space.


    One that had a certain fixer.


    Panam was stopped at the entrance, a big guy¡­ I can¡¯t remember his name. He had a weird haircut and he was Rogues Bodyguard.


    He was holding out a hand to Panam, stopping her from entering as I walked up, his optics, a set that I didn¡¯t recognize but were completely inhuman, were watching both of us for any trouble.


    I just kept my hands away from my guns, and kept it casual. He wasn¡¯t going to start anything without trouble coming his way first.


    ¡°C¡¯mon Squama, I don¡¯t have time for this.¡±


    ¡°Da boss is busy.¡±


    ¡°We were just waiting at the bar, I know she knows we are here! Tell her to stop playing this corpo shit.¡± Panam snapped at him, but calmed herself a moment after with a deep breath, and a sip of her whiskey.


    ¡°Wait.¡± He replied simply and Panam tsked at him but did just that, but never stopped glaring at the booth that we could see a bit of Rogue sticking out. Looks like she was going to wait. I just ignored her impatience and waited calmly.


    Either Rogue really was busy and so we had to wait, or she was doing some powerplay on Panam, and¡­ We would have to wait.


    No point in getting irritated about it.


    Finally a few minutes later, Rogue called out. ¡°Let them in.¡±


    Squama I guess? Stepped aside and let the two of us enter the little booth area Rogue kept for herself, although the big guy moved behind her watching over us for any threat.


    ¡°Panam.¡± Rogue greeted casually the older woman uncaring about Panam¡¯s glare.


    ¡°Rogue.¡±


    ¡°Alright kid stop glaring, I was on an important call. Shard.¡± She demanded and Panam glared, but pulled the shard out of her neck and handed it over. Rogue pushed it into a data reader and nodded and then her eyes went blue.


    A  moment later Panam perked up and nodded. ¡°The other part?¡±


    ¡°Like I said, you do this gig, I¡¯ll put you to work and take care of the rest.¡± Rogue answered instantly. Then she looked at me. ¡°Interesting choice, bringing a kid along. Motoko Kusanagi.¡±


    ¡°Rogue.¡± I greeted back. Her resting bitch face might have had more effect on me, if I didn¡¯t already know all about her. And wasn''t that worried.


    ¡°I don¡¯t usually recommend kids on gigs I send out Panam.¡±


    Panam gave Rogue a look, and so did I. I did appreciate that the look Panam was sending the older woman screamed stop fucking around.


    Mine was just an eyebrow lift. Waiting for her to get on with it.


    If she knew my name, no way she didn¡¯t know at least a little about what I had been getting up to.


    Rogue just scoffed and threw a hand at the two of us. ¡°Yeah yeah, don¡¯t get so upset. I¡¯ve heard your name before.¡± She offered, but then she simply turned to Panam with a more serious look. ¡°Good work. You were a little late, but I heard about the problems with the route. I¡¯ll be in touch in a few days with more work. Get settled in.¡± Rogue offered and then she basically just waved her hand at us.


    Telling us to get lost.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be seeing you Rogue.¡± Panam offered as she stood, and I followed shortly after. It was a little sad that Rogue wasn¡¯t really interested in working with me, at least not yet, but also not a terrible thing. It wasn¡¯t like I wanted to deal with her attitude either.


    As I walked out, I looked in the corner. Spotting Sasha sitting in a booth. Maine and Dorio were there, and it was obvious the three of them were plotting.


    They were in the wrong spots for it to be ¡®that¡¯ day though. So I felt myself relax. I¡¯ll have to hope that my offer caught her interest. I would love a good reason to make more programs, and working with someone at Sasha¡¯s level?


    Hell maybe even pulling her into gigs, or vice versa?


    Sure I wasn¡¯t a huge fan of Maine, but the man was a tank. We could probably do some fun gigs.


    But that was for another time. I followed Panam as she stalked outside back to her truck before she stopped.


    ¡°Motoko¡­ Thanks. For backing me up on the gig and everything. I-I really appreciate it.¡± She said with a relief showing on her shoulders that I was just starting to put together.


    ¡°Rogue offered you money and a place to live in Night City for help with the gig didn¡¯t she?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Yeah she did¡­ Here.¡± Her eyes flashed blue for a few moments and I got an update. A good chunk of eddies into my account.


    ¡°You sure? I think you¡¯re struggling for eddies right now more than I am.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine. Rogue pays well, and if I¡¯m right I¡¯ll have consistent work under her.¡± I nodded at that and we both stood kind of quiet for a moment, neither sure what to say.


    ¡°Then if you ever need backup. Don¡¯t hesitate to call me up okay?¡± I demanded from her being firm on this. ¡°We are chooms now after all.¡±


    ¡°Hah. I guess we are¡­ Thanks-No I¡¯ll stop. I¡¯ll stay in touch.¡± She says instead and I smile at that.


    I walked away as Panam jumped into her truck. It wasn¡¯t long before my Quadra pulled up just a bit down the street and I jumped in ready to go home.


    I was totally ready for a shower.


    ¡ª---


    I trudged up into the apartment a mess of old dust coating me as I opened the door to the apartment and flopped my backpack full of stuff I had packed for what should have been just a few days of travel.


    It had been a bit longer than that, so I was sweaty and wearing dirty clothes.


    ¡°I¡¯m home!¡± I called out, seeing Juns boots at the entrance as I pulled my own dusty boots off with a bit of effort.


    ¡°Motoko!¡± Jun called out from his room and he came stomping out, wearing sleepwear and looking like he had been in bed for a while, his hair was sticking up in a mess, but he didn¡¯t hesitate to charge at me like a bull when he saw me.


    Stupid grin on his face the whole time.


    ¡°Ughhhh.¡± I groaned at him as he picked me up and pulled me into a big hug. ¡°Jun I¡¯m messy.¡±


    ¡°You were only supposed to be gone a few days. You didn¡¯t even call!¡±


    I groaned as Juns hug quickly morphed into a grapple as he wasn¡¯t letting me go.


    ¡°We had to avoid some Raffen Shiv. They apparently took over an entire section of the main path to Seattle so we had to go around both ways. It added so much wasted time to the trip.¡±


    ¡°You didn¡¯t call.¡± He said his arms tightening around me, which was actually a big in warning.


    ¡°I called Hiromi!¡± My words did the opposite and Jun only squeezed me tighter.


    ¡°Hiromi told me she called you.¡± He grumbled looking down at me with a disappointed older brother face. I was a little too focused on breathing though as he was slowly tightening the grip.


    Until eventually I had to break.


    ¡°Sorry!¡± I managed to gasp out and then I was released sucking in a deep breath for air as I could finally breathe again.


    ¡°Next time you had better call or at least text.¡± He demanded fully in his big brother role. ¡°Also you stink, take a shower.¡± My kick for his shins was deftly dodged away from, as if he knew it was coming and then he was walking away laughing as I glared at his stupid back.


    Revenge will be mine.


    ¡ª--


    Washed, cleaned and feeling normal again I stepped out of the bathroom as I continued to rub my hair dry with a towel.


    Jun was waiting for me on the couch with a pair of steaming bowls of Ramen, and giving me a dopey smile.


    ¡°This doesn¡¯t mean you¡¯re forgiven.¡± I told him, but I couldn¡¯t help but slide onto the couch and cuddle up for Ramen and attention.


    ¡°How was your trip?¡±


    ¡°Boring. Super boring. I had to stay focused the whole time and Panam is being super sensitive because she just left the Aldecaldos so she wasn¡¯t really in the mood for chatting. So I mostly just watched the horizon for threats.¡± Then I stuck ambrosia into my mouth.


    Seattle Ramen had been good, but it was nothing compared to eating food at home.


    ¡°Well other than Hiromi calling me a bunch to see if I heard from you yet.¡± He said, throwing me a look. ¡°It¡¯s been quiet.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a good thing. Quiet is good.¡± He just shrugged at my words.


    ¡°The gig you went on the trip for, did it end well?¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah. It was just boring. They had set up what looked like an ambush on Panam, but I was overwatching the area. They had a sniper too, but I hacked into his Ashura so it would shoot his boss if he fired. The handoff was peaceful. Panam handled it, and then we drove all the way home¡­ We did get chased by Raffen at one point. It was the only fun part of the whole gig. But they ran away when I shot at them.¡±


    ¡°You okay?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, like I said Jun, it was super boring.¡±


    ¡°Huh. Well you¡¯ve officially traveled farther than I ever had. What was Seattle like?¡± Oh. Jun had never left NC.


    ¡°Okay so We first saw it on the horizon, lots of big buildings, barely any ads though. It was actually kinda dark.¡± I went through everything I saw in Seattle for him. Describing it as best as I could for my interested brother.


    ¡ª--


    I woke up the next morning around the time the sun was coming up. I had gone to bed early wanting to just relax and reset before getting back into things.


    I headed out after getting on some clothes and jogged as much as I could to the gym downstairs.


    The sun was just coming up, but I could tell it was going to be a warm one. Not a cloud in the sky today.


    Grumbling a bit at this, I headed into the gym area to find it wasn¡¯t empty like I had expected, despite it being so early.


    A few early birds were already working, but I just shrugged and found something open then making sure I was tucked away I went to work.


    Squats were the exercise of the day. Since other than my ankles it was all flesh. I fell into the rhythm, up and down. Pushing my body long after it started being too much.


    I was sweating as I continued, glad that I was in a corner tucked away from everybody so no one was watching what I was doing. Because anyone with a head on their shoulders would be wondering why I was destroying myself like this.


    But I wasn¡¯t because the more I pushed the more I was getting alerts in my head for Body. The more I pushed myself, the more I gained.


    I took a short break grabbing some food, and drink from the vending machines outside the gym area when I noticed a familiar face.


    ¡°John.¡±


    ¡°Hey Kid. Hayato¡¯s been bugging me about a rematch with you sometime.¡±


    ¡°But I gave her my number if she wants to fight?¡± I answered instantly a little confused.


    ¡°Heh. She¡¯s shy despite how she acts. Probably isn¡¯t comfortable doing it herself. So, you up for it?¡±


    I looked down at my knees that were basically shaking together considering how badly I had thrashed myself with squats.


    ¡°Maybe tomorrow.¡±


    He noticed my own look and nodded, although he was looking at me as if trying to figure something out.


    ¡°That looks like you overdid it.¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I agreed instantly. ¡°Been stuck in a truck for a while, I pushed a bit too hard today.¡±


    ¡°Overdoing it doesn¡¯t help.¡± He reminds me, before sighing. ¡°Here hold on.¡±


    He walked over to one of the gonks and was handed an inhaler which he carried back and offered to me.


    ¡°Take a puff of that every hour for a few hours..¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡± I asked instead of taking it. I wasn¡¯t one to just take drugs someone randomly gave me.


    ¡°Mostly after-workout. It¡¯ll help heal those blown out legs of yours faster. A bit of pain killer as well, light stuff. It¡¯s something I teach the guys here to make for themselves.¡±


    I hesitated, and took the inhaler, but I didn¡¯t puff it.


    He snorted at that and just shrugged. ¡°I¡¯ll tell Hayato, set something up for her tomorrow. Probably won¡¯t be at Gomorrah though. You know the Deravaja?¡±


    I blinked, ¡°Sensei¡¯s Dojo? Sure.¡±


    ¡°Ah, good. Hayato is one of his students. I¡¯ll send you a time, but the spar will be there.¡±


    ¡°Suuure?¡±


    He chuckled as he waved me off with that.


    I guess I had a spar tomorrow.

 Chapter 128

    Instead of huffing the drugs I was handed, I just took a Maxdoc, and then I did the smart thing and drove to Viks. I was already scheduled for a checkup for my chrome. I had been out of the city on the road for over a week after all.


    But I stopped to see Misty first. Walking into her shop, and taking a moment to enjoy the soft sounds of her space.


    ¡°Motoko!¡±


    ¡°Hey Misty!¡± I called out in return as the blonde smiled at seeing me. Stepping away from the counter to come throw a hug around my shoulders, of course that was a mistake.


    ¡°Motoko it¡¯s good to-Oh!¡± She chirped out pulling away.


    ¡°Sorry sorry I just finished exercising. I¡¯m all sweaty.¡± I apologized and she just laughed but didn¡¯t go for another hug.


    ¡°How are you?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m good! I just got back into the city. I went up to Seattle on a gig!¡±


    ¡°Oh! I always thought about traveling to Seattle, but with my shop.¡± She waved at her place and I nodded.


    ¡°Honestly? It was kinda weird. I actually like Night City more.¡± I admit in a horrified whisper that has Misty chuckling lightly.


    ¡°Well welcome home then. Here to see Vik?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. I should get checked out and stuff. I want to make sure I don¡¯t have dust anywhere that I can¡¯t get to.¡± She nodded at that and sent me off with a wave.


    Quickly jumping down the stairs I found Vik wasn¡¯t alone.


    ¡°Jackie!¡± I called out smiling at the big man that was being run through a bit of boxing work by Vik.


    ¡°Huh?¡± Which is exactly the time Vik used the opportunity to bop the bigger man right on his nose. ¡°Hey Vik!¡±


    ¡°No distractions.¡± The Ripper said but he was grinning regardless as he lowered his arms and ended their workout. ¡°Hey Kid. You alright?¡±


    ¡°Not injured! But I just got back into the city! I had a gig that took me to Seattle, and I wanted to get checked over.¡± I responded, but then I walked over and settled into Viks rolly chair. ¡°But no rush. Go ahead and finish playing with Jackie, I¡¯ll wait.¡±


    ¡°We aren¡¯t playing-¡±


    ¡°This isn¡¯t playing Hermanita.¡± Both men argued before realizing that my smile was broad and amused. They both huffed at me, realizing I was just messing with them, so Vik brought his padded hands back up.


    ¡°Alright Jack. Let¡¯s keep going.¡±


    Jackie just nodded and the two went back at it. Jackie actually had good endurance I noted. Unlike Jun for example who just relied on his chrome, Jackie actually was fully into the training.


    Although considering it¡¯s Jackie. I wouldn¡¯t mind if he relied on some protective chrome a bit more.


    Eventually both men tired out and Jackie took a seat and drank some water as Vik gestured for me to head over to the ripper chair. Vik was still wiping his forehead with a towel when he rolled over.


    ¡°So no issues you know of?¡±


    ¡°I mostly just want to check for dust and junk. I was out on the road for more than a week.¡± He nodded and pulled up his scanner starting in on the inspection..


    ¡°Seattle huh? That¡¯s preem Hermanita. I didn¡¯t get my first gig out of the city until I was in my twenties.¡± Jackie offered and I smiled at that.


    ¡°Thanks Jack. I know a Nomad that needed an extra shooter to watch her back. She¡¯s not Raffen, but she sorta left the Aldecaldos for now.¡±


    Jackie whistled, ¡°You don¡¯t hear them do that much.¡±


    ¡°Yeah it¡¯s a family thing.¡± I added and Jackie really frowned then.


    ¡°Well that I can understand.¡±


    ¡°Not too many problems here kid. Although you got some dents and dings.¡± Vik confirmed giving me a look.


    ¡°I¡¯ve done maintenance!¡±


    ¡°Yeah I can see that¡­ It¡¯s why there are so many dents.¡± He says and then bursts out into laughter.


    I felt my jaw drop before I realized Vik was fucking with me.


    ¡°Laugh it up old man.¡± I grumbled at him, but even Jackie was chuckling in that booming belly laugh of his at my reaction.


    ¡°You¡¯re doing fine, kid. You do have some dust in the joints, that¡¯s normal especially for nomads or anyone traveling through the desert. Give me a few minutes and I¡¯ll clear you up.¡± He said still laughing as he rolled away grabbing a big canister that was basically an oil washer.


    I rolled my eyes and leaned back, as Vik walked over and started opening up my arms. Panels popping open to show the sensitive interiors after a few moments of his deft hands accessing every port.


    I shivered a bit the first time he blew the oil into my arms, it felt super ticklish, but after that first few spurts, I got comfortable with it.


    ¡°So Jackie. You going to get any more chrome? You still need some subdermal don¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°I got some Hermanita.¡± He said, knocking a finger against his forehead. ¡°Can¡¯t get too much of the stuff though. Camilla doesn¡¯t like it much.¡± He said something kind of horrifying as he patted his shoulder.


    That specifically wasn¡¯t armored.


    Just like his stomach.


    Just like the stomach that he would bleed out from.


    ¡°You¡¯re kinda a gonk, and Camilla is a double gonk if she doesn¡¯t want you to have more protection.¡± I said bluntly, actually holding back from really snapping at the man.


    It wouldn¡¯t help. Telling someone in love, or dating that they are with someone they shouldn¡¯t never works. It just pushes them away. So instead of saying anything more I just looked away from the big oaf. Stupid gonk.


    I¡¯ll just make sure you never step foot anywhere near Konpeki Plaza.


    ¡°Hey that¡¯s not¡­¡± Jackie went quiet and I noticed Vik had intruded. Yeah snapping at him was stupid. Certainly not going to get anything done that way.


    The room was quiet for a while as Vik continued to work before he finally finished. All of my chrome got a going over including my ankles which thankfully hadn¡¯t been too bad. Stuck in boots had kept the dust out.


    If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    ¡°You know, you¡¯d get less gunk in these with a good covering.¡± Vik finally spoke up, breaking the silence between the three of us.


    ¡°But I like it!¡± I argued instantly, holding my arms against my chest to keep them from Vik who just laughed.


    ¡°Well just know a real skinn covering will protect the insides better. But it¡¯s your choice. Nothing I¡¯m not used to.¡± He said and I nodded at that.


    Jackie I noticed was over by the TV watching the boxing match instead of being his usual friendly self.


    Dangit.


    I left without a word. I couldn¡¯t apologize to him right now. Which might just be necessary. Camilla was a terrible choice. Misty would be better of course. But not wanting Jackie to armor up?


    Fucking scop of a woman.


    In the end I also asked Vik to tell me what was in the inhaler that I had been given and he assured me it was normal workout stuff. Perfectly safe if I wanted to use it.


    I just shrugged.


    ¡ª--


    So I had a whole bunch of different stuff on my plate, but I was mostly waiting for the big one.


    Would Sasha call me?


    If she didn¡¯t in a week, I would have to do something drastic. I didn¡¯t want the woman to die. Not after seeing what causes her last stand.


    Fucking corps.


    Fortunately she had created a secondary distraction for me. After Viks checkup I went home and settled onto the couch with my guitar.


    Let you down. It was a very Cyberpunk song, and I wanted a copy of it. It was definitely a favorite of mine, and having seen Sasha I wanted to listen to it.


    There were a lot of tones and noises in the song, so it took me a long time to get every sound I would need programmed into the music box.


    As I was working Jun came home from work  throwing his TC jacket over the back of the couch as he stopped to grab some food and drink and then settled onto the couch near me.


    ¡°What are you working on?¡±


    ¡°New song.¡± I muttered, semi distracted as I was setting up the rhythm track for the song. It wasn¡¯t exactly a rock song after all.


    ¡°Oh?¡± He prompted, making me shake away the music boxes track creation toolkit. I popped my personal link from the box as well just so I could move away from it.


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­ A bit different from most of what I¡¯ve done so far. It¡¯s not rock or anything. More of a¡­ Night City sound.¡± I said, yeah I liked the way that sounded.


    ¡°Sounds awesome.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not Us Cracks, you won¡¯t like it.¡± I told him and he just laughed at my tone.


    ¡°I like your stuff. When are you going to start selling your music?¡±


    ¡°Probably never.¡±


    ¡°C¡¯mon Motoko, you are really good. I want to see you up on a stage some day.¡± Jun said, smiling all proudly at me.


    As if I want to see that! I quickly retaliated and kicked at him, but his Motoko sense must have been working because he jerked away and I missed. Instead he just broke into laughter.


    ¡°You¡¯re all embarrassed!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not!¡±


    ¡°You are!¡±


    ¡°Not!¡±


    ¡°Totally are.¡± He assured me with a big smile on his stupid face as he looked on.


    ¡°Shut up!¡±


    He just laughed at me. ¡°So how about you show off for me? I want to hear your new song.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not done!¡± I hissed and he nodded, resting back and putting up his feet on the table looking perfectly content to just sit there and wait.


    Realizing that I snapped at him. ¡°It¡¯s a new song! It could take a while!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll wait.¡±


    ¡°I might get stuck on it and take a week!¡±


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll go to sleep and work and when it¡¯s ready I¡¯ll listen.¡± He assured me with that calm cool tone he had started to develop over the months.


    Ahhhhh! I was weak!


    I grumbled and grabbed my music box. I¡¯ll finish the stupid song then! Doubt he¡¯ll even like it since it isn¡¯t Us Cracks!


    I pushed my personal link back in and started to work. Let you Down, didn¡¯t have a super fast pace, but it needed to be perfect. This song was¡­ Special? Important? No, that wasn¡¯t right, it was just¡­


    It just needed to be perfect.


    I hadn¡¯t heard back from Sasha. I had no idea when the Biotechnica job was happening. All I knew is it should happen soon. But there was another reason I was making this song right now.


    Perfect Musical Memory let me remember the song exactly. Every note, every beat, every lyric¡­ And every scene.


    Music was an art, and many artists combined art with their music.


    Let you down, basically was a music video. Sasha¡¯s story from start to end. As I worked on the song I was remembering. I was reviewing what it had shown me.


    Sasha¡¯s big problem was the Arasaka Robot R Mk.2. Well they would be Biotechnica Robots now, but Araska were the ones that made them.


    They were tough. Armored, and unflinching. She had used some powerful hacks to try and disable them, but it hadn¡¯t really worked.


    She needed a way to kill them, and a way to defend against their attacks.


    One of those was easy. Weapon Glitch would solve the problem outright, but I was going to need to do some work on it, to make sure it would punch through the security around a high end corpo defense unit.


    Then it came down to how to kill the bots.


    Short Circuit was a good hack against drones¡­


    I would need to get a copy of it from Yoko.


    But I shook off the plotting to focus more on the song. Track after track was added in, making sure everything was fit together, I listened to the song I was creating over and over making sure everything was timed correctly, and then it was time for the lyrics.


    I glanced at Jun who had been idly watching me for the last while with that stupid proud smile on his face.


    And then I was done with all the backing tracks, but still had a few lyric additions I needed.


    ¡°Gonna sing a bit. Don¡¯t bother me!¡± I demanded earning a rolled eyes from my brother who at this point was totally vegging out on the couch.


    ¡°Let you down!¡± I sang out messing with the reverb in the music box, and then went silent, as I wasn¡¯t actually singing the song just some of the backing vocals. ¡°Loooooove!¡± I crooned out, and then I went through a few of the additional vocal lines, syncing them up, and I was ready. I could feel my ears heating up as Jun quirked an eyebrow at me.


    It wasn¡¯t a love song! Idiot!


    The only thing left was to stand up and actually sing the damn thing. I stood up surprising Jun as I hefted up the music box and settled it into a place for this to work, I ran over to grab the speakers and set that all up so Jun could actually hear the song.


    Then I put my hands on my hips and looked¡­ Well it was still up, because Jun was a big boy even sitting on the couch.


    ¡°Okay this is the first time anyone has ever heard this song, so you better appreciate it!¡± I told him firmly as I then exhaled, letting all the air out, changing how my voice would sound a bit, I needed to be closer to Sexy Motoko voice for this.


    The music began. The soft melody echoed through the apartment, and I was ready.


    ¡°Feel the rhythm of the streets.¡±


    Let You Down, if you just read the lyrics was actually almost a fight song. It was just how slow and almost peaceful it was that changed the whole theme. It was a song about failing, yet¡­ Not. About overcoming failure in a way.


    Or it was a song about Night City. Or a song about¡­ Well music was subjective like that.


    But I sang, destroying the vocals for this song. Considering how many times I had listened to it, I knew every note, and exactly how to best sing it.


    The song was just too good.


    And then it was over.


    The faint ending snares and sound ending in a quiet finale.


    To my surprise Jun didn¡¯t react for a while. Just staring at me, and I shifted a little uncomfortably under his gaze as he stood and then pulled me into a tight hug.


    ¡°It sounded preem Imouto.¡±


    ¡ª--


    So, song was done. Now time for some programming work.


    I headed out, taking my Kusanagi instead of the Quadra so I could enjoy the late evening drive through the city.


    As I drove I went through all the things I needed. First off, Sasha¡¯s defenses, so she wouldn¡¯t have to sacrifice herself outright. Then I needed to figure out the best way to help her from there. She had blown up the office at the last moment, and been blown out the window. There was no way I could figure out exactly where she would land without more information¡­


    Could I talk to Maine and make sure he was in the right place? Could he catch her? I shook off the idea. I just needed to give her the tools to escape without it being her end.


    I really hoped Sasha reached out. If she didn¡¯t, I might have to do something¡­ Drastic. I shook off the thought as the light I was stuck at turned green.


    No. I should do what I can. I should do enough that she should be able to survive, but¡­ Her death was her choice. I didn¡¯t know the woman, I wasn¡¯t family or friend. Her decisions were her own.


    I wanted to help, but the real question I should be asking myself is, would I risk the wrath of Biotechnica on Jun, or Hiromi in order to save Sasha?


    No.


    No, I wouldn¡¯t. I wasn¡¯t a hero, or even that good of a person in the long run. I wanted to save the cat girl, because I had felt something at her death, and I hated the pointless tragedy of it all.


    But her death was her own fault. I hated to say it like that but it was true. She made a choice to end her life for a cause.


    I pulled around a van drifting between lanes, probably drunk off his ass and zipped around him, my Kusanagi easily accelerating me past the block and away from that annoying little traffic problem.


    Sasha was a grown woman. I couldn¡¯t save her. Not like a knight in shining armor. I could help, I could give her extra tools, and maybe end up with a new friend, but she wasn¡¯t Jun. I wouldn¡¯t go out of my way to risk my life, or my family''s life, for hers.


    Decision made, I focused on the road the rest of the way to the roundabout.


    If she did die. If I failed to save her? I would make sure her story was told, that might be all I could do for her.


    ¡ª---


    ¡°Yoko.¡± I greeted happily seeing the dark glasses clad woman standing behind the counter like always.


    ¡°Motoko. You are still alive. I¡¯m glad.¡± She offered calmly in that weird monotone she had outside the net.


    ¡°What? Oh¡­ Yeah the scav thing¡­ I¡¯m taking a break. Been out of the city for a week on a gig as well.¡±


    ¡°Taking a break?¡± She asked, sounding amused despite her tone. ¡°Well I suppose that¡¯s all we can ask for sometimes.¡±


    ¡°Yeeeeah.¡± I drawled out at her pointed remark. ¡°Hey. I need a copy of a Short Circuit. You got anything good?¡±


    ¡°I have a very good off the shell version.¡± She confirmed and I perked up at that. A higher level starting point meant the final version I make should be even better!


    ¡°You will make your own version again? I would be happy to trade it for a copy.¡±


    I opened my mouth to agree before stopping. An image of Hiromi glaring at me, a reminder that I should really stop agreeing to every deal that just seemed easiest to me.


    ¡°How about we talk trade.¡±


    ¡°Ah, you finally learned.¡± Yoko said actually looking sad like I had just kicked her puppy or something. ¡°Very well. Let¡¯s talk, what I can add to the deal.¡±


    I was glaring at the older woman more because of the teasing than because I was actually angry. It wasn¡¯t like I really cared that much, but don¡¯t act like I¡¯m stupid! I just value convenience more than profit!


    ¡°I want a few other hacks. I¡¯m thinking about adding a few more weapons to my arsenal.¡±


    ¡°Oh? Well I know just the thing then.¡± She said and I felt my eyebrow quirk up as she revealed a shard with a familiar name.


    Oh.


    Yeah, that wasn¡¯t something you wanted every script kiddie on the street to have.


    ¡°Let¡¯s talk price!¡± She said for once losing her monotone and sounding like the kitsune she truly was.

 Chapter 129

    Deal done I fled from Yoko¡¯s physical domain and headed home to get to work. Jun was in his room getting ready for bed as I flopped onto the couch which was perfect, giving me time to get started.


    I quickly started examining  the code for Short Circuit. I noticed its benefits and weaknesses pretty quickly.


    The hack overloaded the microcircuits of anyone with chrome. Basically it tricked the safeties on the power supply to push everything into the system, which caused immediate electrocution.


    It did have some weaknesses. First off, you couldn¡¯t keep doing it to someone over and over. One Short Circuit usually drained the energy out of the chrome. Which meant after a single use, there usually wasn¡¯t enough power in the batteries to do it again.


    Of course it worked on basically anyone with chrome though. Unless you were equipped with a grounding system. Most people aren¡¯t going to have that unless they work with high voltage in their day to day, but it was something to think about.


    Another problem was as bad as it was to get electrocuted, it wasn¡¯t directly lethal. You could knock someone out with it, and sometimes get their heart to stop, but in the end it was just a powerful electrical shock.


    I pulled out the shard case that Yoko gave me and pulled out the shard containing the hack as I plugged it into my laptop that I gathered.


    The code bloomed out and I nodded. Whoever made this wasn''t Yoko. I recognized her coding by now having done a few debugs for her. This though? It was¡­ corporate. It felt like the sort of rote coding you would see from a group of people all cleaning up a single hack.


    It was impressive, but it was irritating, because someone had gone through and tried to black box the hack.


    With a bit of checking I found the creator was Militech.


    Thankfully I was intending on doing a complete rewrite anyways, but I still wanted to examine how people normally do it. Yoko was good at her job, she had picked a difficult to parse hack, but it felt like it was a little bit of everything. Multiple attack vectors were in the hack, and it had a dense targeting list for how to go about performing its duty.


    The problem was size. Like almost every hack I had seen it bloated up with the quality of the hack.


    I closed my eyes and hummed as I considered the information in front of me.


    What did I actually want from the hack? How could I make it better? I could make it smaller, sure, but better? That needed something else. I had been pretty good at coming up with a gimmick for my hacks that made them exceptional in what way I needed.


    This was my first true offensive hack. It was like¡­ Learning lightning bolt for the first time as a wizard, when only having CC spells before.


    What did I need a damage spell for? What was the goal?


    In the end I wanted two things out of it. AOE, and disabling high end borgs.


    Mass groups of enemies were annoying and being able to just take out a bunch of people at once was useful, but it was borgs that were the biggest threat to me, although I guess that meant I was still thinking of it more like a CC spell, than a damage one.


    Plus I still remembered Kiwi¡¯s use of Short Circuit from the anime. A single hack that disabled an entire room full of Maelstrom? That was powerful.


    I want it.


    So I dug through the code, finding interesting bits that I knew I could use, and started tearing away parts of the code that were just garbage.


    As usual half of the code was seemingly downgraded. Even Militech kept the best hacks they made for themselves, while only selling a weaker version.


    I fell into the rhythm quite easily. It wasn¡¯t hard to just sit there and slowly build up a quick hack. Not anymore.


    It wasn¡¯t until Jun came stumbling out of his room the next morning that I looked away from the screen. Once again thankful for my Kiroshi, as my eyes would have been bloodshot after over eight hours of nonstop programming.


    ¡°Morning Jun.¡±


    ¡°Mornin¡­ Wait, did you sleep?¡±


    ¡°No. I was working. I¡¯ll get some sleep soon.¡± I lied to him, it wasn¡¯t very often that Jun noticed I had pulled an all nighter, one of the reasons I did try to sleep often enough that he wouldn¡¯t notice my lack of sleep.


    ¡°Well¡­ Go to sleep.¡± He said blinking sort of blankly at me as he was still half asleep himself.


    ¡°Sure Jun.¡± I agreed not wanting to argue, as I turned back to my laptop. I had made good progress, but trying to work on the versatility of the hack was a time sink. I shook off the idea of just making it do one thing instead of both.


    This wasn¡¯t just for me, but hopefully a hack that Sasha could use to keep herself alive. I couldn¡¯t half ass it.


    ¡ª--


    Jun left for work still side-eyeing me and I took a break from programming to do the rest of my attempt at daily exercise.


    Downstairs at the gym it was quiet and I found myself doing some stretches with weights in each hand. It wasn¡¯t working my arms, but I still had muscles in my shoulders, chest and back.


    I was working through the reps counting the number in my head when John walked over.


    ¡°Still interested in that spar?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s tomorrow.¡± I agreed and he chuckled. ¡°Deravaja in an hour work for you?¡±


    ¡°Sure. I¡¯ll be there.¡± I grit out as I ended the reps and stood up. Might as well head over and give myself time to recover.


    ¡°Good. I know the kid is looking forward to it, don¡¯t tell her I said that.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll think about it.¡± I teased but figured I might as well head over. Sensei would probably give me that look and demand to see how my training had been again.


    So I called for my Kusanagi, and started driving.


    The city was as busy as always, traffic beeping and honking and making a mess as everyone tried to get to work.


    But I wasn¡¯t in a rush, and I did love driving my bike. It didn¡¯t take me long to pull up to the dojo where an array of Mizuchi were parked, each of them more ugly than the last.


    My march towards the dojo was cut off though as I smelled something pretty good and ended up instead sitting at a little meat skewer stand to the side of the entrance and chowing down on breakfast.


    Eventually my belly was full enough and I tipped the older man running the stall, as I headed into the dojo.


    It hadn¡¯t changed much from the last time I was here. As I walked in, there was a man waiting behind the counter, but I ignored him walking right in towards the dojo proper.


    I had a feeling Hayato would have already set up our little spar. She was the princess type like that.


    Inside there were the normal sounds of sparring and the clack of shinai as people trained.


    I was spotted instantly by Sensei who nodded to me and then jerked his head towards a corner. I looked over expecting to see Hayato or something but it was an empty corner¡­


    Ah.


    I looked back at him and he just quirked an eyebrow at me and told me with just his eyes he expected me to get to work.


    I sighed as I walked over pulling off my jacket and adjusting my holsters so they wouldn¡¯t get in the way as I threw my jacket over the Shinai rack that was the only thing in the corner.


    With a sigh I picked one up and started practicing my forms as I waited. Under Sensei''s stern eyes.


    Dangit! I didn¡¯t sign up for this!


    ¡ª--


    The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± A haughty voice asked me as I continued to work on my swings. Every time I had made to put the shinai away Sensei had noticed and given me a look.


    Judging.


    I don¡¯t know how he did it, but I just kept going instead of stopping each time. Stupid sensei powers.


    ¡°Mostly? Getting judged really hard by an old man. Ready for the spar?¡± I asked, turning to see Hayato had arrived. The girl was wearing a gi, with pads on her hands and feet, and she was looking at me like I was weird.


    ¡°Are you? You look exhausted!¡±


    ¡°Nah. I¡¯m fine.¡± And I was mostly. Finally Sensei¡¯s look was more curious and not a demand to get back to work so I put the shinai back on the rack and stretched my shoulders a bit. Enjoying the stretching of the muscles in my back at the action.


    Besides, even if I was a little tired, I had gotten a level up alert for blades just a few minutes ago, so that had perked me up more than any tiredness.


    *Blades skill level up!*


    Blades 7!


    ¡°Hmph! Don¡¯t think I will go easy on you just because you have worked yourself over!¡± She demanded in a rush, her voice coming out almost too fast for herself to keep up with.


    ¡°Shall we claim a space?¡±


    ¡°I already have one. Come!¡± She demanded and hurried, literally almost jogging as she headed over to space on the main floor that cleared out at her arrival.


    I shrugged, taking a moment to finish pulling off my holsters so I wouldn¡¯t have any issues, and as I walked over Sensei handed me a set of pads similar to the ones Hayato was wearing.


    The old man didn¡¯t say anything else though which was par for the course.


    Sensei wasn¡¯t the type to say something when he simply expected you to know what to do.


    I quickly threw on the pads as Hayato was looking impatient and then bounced a little to make sure everything was tight.


    ¡°Ready?¡±


    ¡°Yes! Now stop wasting time!¡± She called out in return and charged me.


    I rushed her back remembering that leaving her time to act was the worst thing to do.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°Ow.¡±


    ¡°You are fine! Stop whinging!¡± She demanded at me, but like she kicked me in the tit! It hurts!


    The matches had gone pretty much how they had last time.


    She had proven the power of a reflex booster in close combat, while I had managed to surprise her for some wins as well.


    ¡°Say that after I kick you right in the tit.¡± I snarked back and she gasped like I had said something absolutely outrageous.


    ¡°You! How dare! Do not say such things to me!¡± She finally seemed to settle on, and I just rolled my eyes. Half the time I said anything she was likely to explode on me.


    Good sparring partner though.


    I had actually leveled up Street Brawler.


    *Street Brawler skill level up!*


    Street Brawler 8. It felt good, although it hadn¡¯t been enough to overcome her in the last match when she got her last kick in ending our little spar.


    ¡°This was fun. We¡¯ll have to do it again.¡± I offered, we had a few matches, but both of us were pretty tired, her more than me. I bet if we had a few more rounds I would start winning a lot more. I was objectively a stamina monster despite how ganic I was compared to Hayato who had lots of chrome, but even that wasn¡¯t enough to cover everything.


    ¡°Fun? Hmph, it was an acceptable match. You should get some boosterware. If you did perhaps I would have a more even opponent.¡±


    ¡°Nah. I can¡¯t stand Kerens. They freak me out.¡± I admitted and she stilled for a moment at my words. Probably the most still I had ever seen her.


    ¡°You fear such simple chrome? How embarrassing.¡± She said, snooty and definitely a little rude but I just shrugged.


    ¡°I¡¯ll pick up a high end Sandy eventually. I have some things in mind for it, that¡¯s my goal, but no way do I want a Keren. I couldn¡¯t stand how long everything takes.¡±


    She was silent for a half a second which must have seemed like a long time to her. As she just nodded. ¡°It is not for everyone. It is a challenge only some are capable of handling.¡±


    I almost snorted at how arrogant that sounded, but on this one, I would give it to her. Yep, not everyone is capable of handling a Keren.


    Like me. Fuck that.


    ¡°Well, that was fun.¡± I offered, as I made to leave before she scoffed.


    ¡°We still need to set up our next spar.¡± She demanded and I blinked at her.


    ¡°I gave you my number, just call me when you want?¡±


    ¡°That! Fine! I will not be pleased if you refuse!¡±


    I threw her a thumbs up as I headed out of the dojo. She really needs to stop watching so much anime.


    Too much Tsundere was bad for you!


    ¡ª---


    The call came in.


    *This is Motoko.*


    *Hey there Ghost. I spoke to a certain Kitsune and what do you know? She speaks very highly of a little programmer she knows.* Sasha spoke every word like she was going to giggle at any moment. The amusement in every word was something that came through even the call.


    But! But she called! If I still had a handset instead of just a phone in my head, I know I would be clutching it with both hands as I felt actually nervous about this conversation!


    *Well I¡¯m glad Yoko is vouching for me. I¡¯ve done enough debugging of her work, she had better.* I grumbled, but then refocused. *So I got all sorts. Already finished programs, and hacks, but I also do debugging, or commission programming when needed.* I said trying to sound casual at just how important this was.


    Just one gig. I just needed her to get through that one gig. Let me help you!


    *Well I don¡¯t usually outsource. How about this? Let¡¯s meet up. I want to get a look at what you have for sale, and I might have a program I could use some help cleaning up.*


    *I¡¯m free today. Where and when?* I prompted already standing up from the couch where I had been working on Short Circuit again.


    *I¡¯m already hanging around Afterlife.*


    *I¡¯ll head over now. I hope you have the eddies. I might give you a discount, but I¡¯m not cheap.*


    *Pfft. You¡¯re hilarious! I¡¯ll see you.*


    The call disconnected and I let out a long breath. She had called! I had honestly not expected her to call, and Yoko hadn¡¯t said shit!


    I shook it away and rushed to get my stuff ready, grabbing my laptop to bring with me. I doubt she would need a direct visual for programming work, but you never know.


    Everything on the way was a blur, as I couldn¡¯t stop thinking about what I would say, or what I should do.


    I couldn¡¯t tell her, obviously.


    ¡®Oh yeah you have a gig coming up to break into Biotechnica don¡¯t do it?¡¯ She was an edgerunner. If she thought for an instant that someone leaked info on a gig she would¡­


    Well she would never do it¡­


    Okay. Maybe I could use that in the most drastic of moments.


    But I needed to make sure she was prepared, and not put in a position where her only option was death.


    I wanted her to survive. To bring to light the fact Biotechnica had let her mother die, and be able to live after. For that weight of her past to be off her shoulders and to still live on.


    I remember Johnny mentioning in the game once, about happy endings. There I stood at the stairs leading down into Afterlife. The groupies and wannabes that hung around took no notice of me.


    Despite everything I had done, I was just another face in a crowd.


    ¡°Here, for folks like us? Wrong City, wrong people.¡± I muttered to myself. A reminder about happy endings in Night City.


    About how the path would eventually go, but that wasn''t set in stone.


    Johnny Silverhand was wrong about most of the gonk shit he said.


    Taking advice from him wasn¡¯t something I planned to do.


    Wrong City?


    Wrong People?


    I would just have to change the city. Change the people. One person at a time if I had to.


    I walked down the steps with confidence. It was time to save the catgirl!


    ¡°You aren¡¯t on the list.¡± The bouncer told me as he stopped me from moving forward.


    ¡°Dammit.¡±


    ¡ª---


    ¡°Pfft! You should have said you weren¡¯t a regular!¡± Sasha was laughing at me a while later. I had eventually gotten access after calling Sasha and being let in.


    ¡°I forgot how tetchy this place is.¡± I replied with a light blush and a shrug. It was kinda embarrassing to need to call for help to get into the club.


    ¡°Well that was fun. C¡¯mon. I¡¯ve got a booth over here.¡± She said sashaying deeper into the club as we left the bouncer behind us.


    I ignored the music, and the bar following after the girl that I needed to save. As I walked in, I couldn¡¯t help but notice she grooved to the music as she walked, hips swaying and even twirling a bit as the music pounded.


    It was kinda cute, but a little distracting. Custom netrunner suits didn¡¯t leave much to the imagination Sasha. You should be more careful with shaking everything like that. Even I wore actual pants over my leotard.


    I followed until she came to a booth and to my surprise it wasn¡¯t empty.


    The catgirl turned as she reached it and smirked at me with a look that said she knew something I didn¡¯t, which is weird because I have no idea what she was thinking. No, I was more interested in the fact that Maine was sitting in the booth resting back face covered in those shades of his and sipping something from a glass as he took me in.


    I could practically feel his eyes scanning me, both literally and metaphorically.


    ¡°Hey Maine, don¡¯t mind us, my cute little contact finally showed up!¡± Sasha called out as she slid into the booth and then turned to me, patting the place next to her.


    ¡°This your contact? Shit, is this a kindergarten now?¡± He grumbled, taking his eyes off me to focus on his drink.


    The temptation to move, to act was there, but that was gonk shit. I don¡¯t care if he insulted me, my skills would speak for themselves if it ever came down to it.


    Besides¡­ Maine talked big, but only his loyalty to his crew was something I could respect. The guy had over-chromed, and lost it in the end. So I wasn¡¯t exactly giving much weight to his words.


    So I ignored him. Sliding into the space, and then pulling out a few shards and setting the laptop on the table.


    ¡°Here¡¯s a few examples of my custom work. Feel free to take a look, but no copies unless you want to buy it. If you have something you want me to check over, now''s the time.¡±


    ¡°Oh! Goodies.¡± She chirped, snatching up the shards like an over enthusiastic cat.


    I wasn¡¯t sure how much of that was her real personality, or just her persona to be honest.


    It was kinda cute though, especially when she flashed me a smile in turn.


    ¡°Ah netrunner shit. Why¡¯m I here again?¡±


    ¡°To look big and tough for me!¡± Sasha replied shooting Maine a big smirk that he just sighed at and to my amusement decided to just stay quiet and drink in peace.


    Then Sasah pulled out a shard of her own.


    ¡°Tell me what you think of this.¡± She asked and I shrugged, took the shard and slotted it into my laptop.


    I checked it over and had to quirk an eyebrow as I read through her code.


    It was good. Solid. She was obviously no amateur about what she did¡­


    But I instantly felt my teeth grinding as I read through it.


    ¡°Why are there so many cat emojis!?¡± I demanded in frustration! Using Cat emoji¡¯s as part of your code base was just gonk!


    ¡°It¡¯s my signature work Nya!¡±


    I looked at her. She continued smiling like the cat that¡­ Never mind.


    Instead I pointed at a segment of the code. ¡°Your emoji here got inputed wrong. That¡¯s why this section won¡¯t compile.¡± I told her, and instantly the amusement on her face vanished as she jerked towards the laptop to look at what I was pointing out.


    She might have gotten some laughs at me with this, but the look of relief on her face as I pointed out a problem meant I got the last laugh.


    ¡°You caught that so fast!¡±


    ¡°Debugging is a skill, and you have to practice it to be any good. That one was free...¡± I trailed off leadingly and she smiled in return.


    ¡°Well let¡¯s talk deals then.¡± She offered with a grin. ¡°I like this hack. I heard about it down the grapevine. Would have bought it from Yoko if I could get her to agree to a deal.¡± she said my Reboot Optics shard waved in front of my nose.


    ¡°I¡¯ll have a Short Circuit done sometime soon as well.¡± I offered, but she didn¡¯t seem very interested which was annoying.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take a look at it when you finish it.¡± She agreed without really getting into it. ¡°So how long would it take you to clean up the code here?¡± She asked, sounding much more focused on her task.


    I ignored the question for a moment instead checking over the code scrolling through it, checking functions and basically just figuring out exactly what it was trying to do.


    It was¡­ Fuck I recognized this hack.


    ¡°Cyberpsychosis.¡± I muttered and I looked up to see her grinning in delight.


    ¡°You are quick!¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Maine asked, but Sasha just waved her hand at him to quiet him down.


    ¡°Well?¡±


    ¡°If you got the eddies. I can get this done right now.¡± I told her, and it was true. The hack was basically finished. I mean, it was complicated. Definitely the most dense quickhack I had ever even seen, but it was still just a quickhack.


    ¡°Really?¡± She questioned after a moment like she didn¡¯t believe me.


    ¡°You pay the eddies, and I¡¯ll fix your work right here, right now.¡± I told her, and her usual smiling face was gone as if she was dissecting me before the edge of her lips quirked up and she fell into her normal smirk.


    ¡°I want to see that.¡± Instantly her eyes changed colors, and I got an alert for a hefty dump of eddies into my account.


    Challenge accepted I guess.


    I turned away from her, pulled my personal link and inserted it into the laptop, and then I went to work.


    The noise of my chrome fingers on the keyboard was the only noise in the booth besides the bumping bass of the music playing in the club for a long while.

 Chapter 130

    ¡°It actually compiled.¡± Sasha muttered in surprise as she watched her quick hack go from just a pile of noodle code to a working, functional hack.


    I¡¯ll be honest and admit that I was tempted to copy it myself. Cyberpsychosis was a pretty nasty quickhack, but now that I¡¯ve worked on it, I could just make my own that didn¡¯t have fucking kitten emojis throughout.


    ¡°So that mean she¡¯s legit?¡± Maine asked, and Sasha shook her head.


    ¡°No, she is more than legit.¡± Sasha turned to me, none of the cute kitten persona on display. ¡°Why have I only barely heard about you? If not for the laughing man hack. I wouldn¡¯t know who you are.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t really care about rep much.¡± I admit with a shrug. ¡°I don¡¯t really do the normal netrunner stuff either. Yoko is like my only contact on the net.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve met a lot of fourteen year olds. Most of them are just script kiddies. Were you some secret corpo project or something?¡± She asked almost in disbelief, but I just snorted.


    ¡°My mother was a netrunner.¡± I explained which didn¡¯t actually explain anything. The perfect answer. ¡°And I like programming.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s so special?¡± Maine cut in. The big man had to my surprise mostly just hung back in the booth without a word. He had made a few calls from time to time, but had remained silent while I worked.


    ¡°Maine. I was planning on spending the next week working on that hack. She finished it in¡­ Two hours?¡± She looked at me and then just started laughing. ¡°Making me look bad kid!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re fine. You did most of the work. Just needed some fresh eyes.¡± I said with a shrug.


    ¡°Pfft. If your eyes were what did it, then please tell me what you chipped in, I want some.¡±


    ¡°Kiroshi Mk.1¡± I said but it was mostly sass and she giggled in delight at my words.


    ¡°Huh. The kids got talent then?¡± Maine asked, and Sasha just rolled her eyes and shot him a look.


    ¡°She¡¯s a better programmer than I am Maine. As annoying as that is to admit.¡± She added with a sigh, then she pouted at me. ¡°Not fair!¡±


    ¡°Sorry not sorry.¡± I gave her, but she had just opened up a chance for me, that I couldn¡¯t help but take.


    I wasn¡¯t interested in working for Maine. But¡­


    To save Sasha.


    ¡°You know. I am a freelancer for other things as well. Infiltration, netrunning, sniping. I do combat as well, but I think the big guy already has that covered for you guys.¡± I explained, but I could instantly tell Maine wasn¡¯t interested.


    Just giving me a pseudo grunt of acknowledgement. Even Sasha just looked at me like I was something cute.


    There were times my age was pretty annoying.


    I looked between the two and just shrugged. Stopping it from becoming an issue. ¡°Well just something to keep in mind.¡±


    Then I rose up. All the deals had been done. Eddies had been transferred and Sasha now had a copy of my Reboot Optics, and I had done some work on her Cyberpsychosis hack.


    Would it be enough to save her life? I don¡¯t know.


    ¡°I¡¯ll call you when I finish the Short Circuit.¡± I told Sasha and before she could respond I had gathered up my stuff and walked off.


    I couldn¡¯t change the way she saw me as just a kid. Even if she now saw me as a kid with serious programming talent.


    If that was the only connection I had, then I would use it.


    I just had to create something that would give her the advantages she needed.


    ¡ª--


    I went home and set to work. Hammering the code with all the focus I could to try and finish it. I had no idea when the Biotechnica gig would happen. I just had to be ready before then.


    Life didn¡¯t let me bury myself into a hole though. An hour later the door to the apartment opened, and I glanced up to see Hiromi.


    ¡°Motoko!¡± She cheered out as she charged over and flopped onto the couch grabbing me in a hug as she snuggled in and whined from deep in her throat. ¡°Uuuuugh. Motoko! I did something totally gonk brained¡­ Don¡¯t be mad? I¡¯m sorry. I shouldn¡¯t have-¡±


    ¡°Hiromi.¡± I cut her off as she was sort of rambling into my side as she hugged me while laying flat. ¡°What¡¯s gotten into you? Tell me what¡¯s up. It¡¯s okay.¡±


    ¡°I accepted a gig¡­ On your behalf?¡±


    I blinked a little. ¡°Well you are sort of my favorite fixer.¡±


    ¡°No I mean¡­¡± She sighed, ¡°I screwed up. Sorry Motoko. I got a little heated and I said I had someone that could do a gig and I didn¡¯t ask if you would before taking it. That¡¯s¡­ You don¡¯t do that!¡± She berated herself.


    I wanted to sigh. On one hand I had Sasha stuff that I was in the middle of, but on the other. Hiromi needed help. And maybe a rap on the top of her head.


    ¡°Okay.¡± I said reaching down and pulling her from the hug until we were both sitting and I could see her face. ¡°Tell me everything.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ I may have been bragging a bit¡­ That I have this super cool solo that works with me? I mean I never gave names or anything, but like¡­ Everyone talks about the bodyguards their family has, or the edgerunner they have on retainer to do their backstabbing stuff. So I mean¡­ I got called out today. Everyone said I was making shit up.¡±


    ¡°So you defended yourself and accepted a gig?¡±


    ¡°Right. The gig. So, Asuka Kimigari, she¡¯s in my class. Her ¡®rents aren¡¯t like managers, but agents. Not a huge deal, not everyone can be a Tanaka, right? But her parents apparently took out someone on a gig. Some nobody, but he was a nobody that had a brother who isn¡¯t.¡± She sort of waved her arms a bit before collecting herself, and sending me a text.


    Ah. She actually had put together a gig from the information she had.


    Asuka Kimigari was a brunette. Almost a disappointment she wasn¡¯t a redhead with twintails, but we can¡¯t always get everything.


    ¡°Thomas Anderson, is dangerous. Like he¡¯s got a rep and everything, and he is reportedly going to kill Asuka as the opening act to his revenge against her parents.¡± Hiromi explained and I was frowning.


    The dossier on Anderson wasn¡¯t exactly thick. The guy was a solo, but his skillset included netrunning. So sort of like my own abilities.


    He sounded hella dangerous. Unification War veteran. The guy worked with NUSA, and had a rep even back then. Hiromi didn¡¯t have a lot of direct details, what little she had sounded like word of mouth, but that was still not painting a pretty picture.


    ¡°Okay so you volunteered me for what exactly?¡±


    ¡°To resolve the issue¡­ Whether that¡¯s killing the threat, or bodyguarding?¡± She said wincing and I frowned at her a little.


    ¡°You must have been really worked up, you¡¯re usually better at negotiating like that.¡± And I could feel from the tightness on her shoulders that she was not pleased with herself.


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    ¡°They were making fun of me. Of my parents, just¡­ Of everything. You met my dad, but like¡­ We aren¡¯t super high up in the food chain Motoko. The Mitsunashi name isn¡¯t really respected, or feared. My Dad and Mom do good work so they aren¡¯t really targeted by anyone, but that¡¯s all we can really say.¡±


    ¡°So they were making fun of you, and you decided to prove you weren¡¯t lying when you said you knew a solo. Accepted the gig on my behalf, and that¡¯s where we are now?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ I¡¯m not angry or anything. I¡¯ll help out of course. Just next time let¡¯s ask first.¡±


    ¡°I will! I¡¯m sorry!¡± She said, hanging her head and still looking pretty upset.


    ¡°Okay so bodyguard or assassination. I don¡¯t know if I¡¯m going to be able to find this guy. So probably just bodyguard.¡±


    ¡°I, I can try to get more information on him. Contacts, and if he has any normal haunts!¡±


    ¡°That can help, but don¡¯t go crazy, this guy sounds like a pro so let¡¯s be super careful¡­ Maybe we should call Ichi and Malcolm in too? Make it a full Section 9 gig?¡± My words seemed to have the right effect, just as I said it I could see the fire in Hiromi''s eyes light up.


    ¡°I¡¯ll call them, we could use transport for Asuka, and Malcolm can help me investigate!¡±


    ¡°Sounds like fun.¡± I tell her even as I itched to return to the laptop, to finish the quickhack. I shook it off. I would do what I could for Sasha but, while I wanted to save her because I felt for her.


    She wasn¡¯t my choom like Hiromi.


    ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s get everyone together, we should have a meeting with Asuka as well.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll call her!¡±


    I nodded as I stood up to head into my room. Time to get suited up.


    ¡ª--


    When all of Section 9 gathered together in a high end garage under Asuka¡¯s apartment, I was surprised to see changes in my chooms.


    Malcolm did pull up in his Caliburn which still made me giggle at how over the top it was, but he stepped out of the car with a Militech Saratoga strapped to his chest.


    I quirked an eyebrow at him, which he caught.


    ¡°I decided to upgrade my firepower. I got some better armor too.¡± He mentioned to my delight as he showed off the Section 9 jacket that I had originally bought for my chooms had been modified.


    It was professionally done too. A few extra inserts into the tough material.


    ¡°He isn¡¯t the only one to get an upgrade.¡± Ichi said huffing a little at Hiromi and I giving so much attention to Malcolm while ignoring him.


    ¡°Unlike Malcolm I didn¡¯t spend all my eddies on an overpriced ride.¡± Ichi sniped at Malcolm with a smirk.


    ¡°It was a great deal!¡±


    ¡°So I did some extra work on my van.¡± He said with a smirk. He walked over to the back of his van and opened the back door.


    I couldn¡¯t help but whistle as I saw what he had installed into the rear of the van.


    ¡°You bought an HMG turret?¡±


    ¡°Well, bought is a strong word.¡± He admitted and I looked at him in surprise as he flashed me a grin.


    ¡°I helped.¡± Malcolm revealed as well both boys grinning.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been doing some work for some guys I know. Transport mostly you know?¡± Ichi revealed despite his casual attitude he was definitely peacocking a bit.


    ¡°So we had this gig. They were saying someone was going to shoot at me, I told them no. They said they need me. I said not without some protection. They gave me a Saratoga¡­¡± He trailed off looking at Malcolm''s new gun.


    ¡°Which was an excellent gift.¡± Malcolm added, but Ichi just waved him off as he continued.


    ¡°So I said haha no. Eventually they offered me some real protection. They had this thing tucked away somewhere. No real use for it. They didn¡¯t have anything really capable of moving it without having to set it up before the gig. So they offered it to me. Malcolm and I bolted it down into the bed of my Van, and we took it to a shop. So I can open the rear doors from the cab now.¡±


    ¡°You turned your moving van into a pop up tank?¡± Hiromi asked, and while I wanted to argue that it wasn¡¯t a tank¡­


    But the MK.31 HMG was sorta a tank cannon. A small one, but it did fire explosive rounds¡­


    ¡°I love it.¡± I admit shamelessly.


    ¡°Me too.¡± Ichi said and we both shared a look of shared delight of HMG¡¯s.


    ¡°So now I can set up the van somewhere and have a surprise set up. I still need to armor up the cab a bit more though.¡±


    ¡°That should really be a priority.¡± I added but Ichi shrugged.


    ¡°I only have so many eddies¡­ Speaking of, how is the pay for this?¡± Ichi asked, turning to Hiromi, who didn¡¯t look super happy.


    ¡°Nooot great.¡± Hiromi revealed. ¡°It¡¯ll pay the bills, but Asuka is paying for this out of pocket. Arasaka student or not, she isn¡¯t¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯ll be fine. We do a cheap gig now, and everyone will know you weren¡¯t joking when you tell them you know a solo, and next time you can charge a lot more.¡± I spoke trying to calm the tension, and thankfully everyone shrugged.


    I guess considering how well we had all been paid so far, it wasn¡¯t a major concern.


    ¡°Right! I¡¯ll take a pay cut on this one as well, since I sort of messed up.¡± Hiromi added, which I was going to argue against, but Ichi and Malcolm both nodded looking pleased.


    ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s go see our client then.¡±


    ¡°Sure c¡¯mon.¡± Hiromi offered, waving us all to follow as we piled into an elevator and she sent us up to the twentieth floor.


    We stepped out of the elevator into a long hallway that was pretty nice. Not quite Hiromi¡¯s own apartment level, but probably on par with my own.


    Hiromi led us, I could practically see the change come over my choom as she switched from the teenager to the girl corpo.


    She walked up to a door and pressed the security pad at the door.


    I heard it and shifted. Glaring at the ceiling where an HMG turret had just activated. It wasn¡¯t popping out, but it was there.


    Not even giving it a chance I blitzed its defenses, skewering the ICE and forcing it to remain shut down.


    ¡°Asuka it¡¯s Hiromi, and the mercs I told you about.¡±


    ¡°Hiromi? You¡¯re actually here? Alright hold on. The security is in full lockdown mode.¡± The voice came from the security panel, and after a moment the door opened. The teenager looked fully corpo in a way even Hiromi never quite managed. Sure, she had some understated flash, EMP threading going over one eye that was a different color than the other. Although both were optics, so she was just showing off.


    But I was most focused on the shotgun in her hand. Tacticians were good home defense weapons, but she really needed to stop sweeping the barrel over my chooms and I.


    ¡°Easy Asuka, it¡¯s just me. Can we come in?¡± Hiromi said smiling as she tried to calm down the girl who was obviously not doing well.


    The girl looked over the three of us as she ignored Hiromi, only after she seemed to decide we weren¡¯t the man trying to kill her did she lower the gun. ¡°Come in, quickly.¡± She demanded and backed up. Hiromi didn¡¯t wait piling in, and the rest of us followed. Entering into an apartment entrance way that had an already active HMG turret.


    I quickly shut that one down too. Which startled Asuka as the door had just closed and her HMG had closed up.


    ¡°Wha!¡±


    ¡°Easy, calm down. I just closed it down. I don¡¯t like that thing pointing at me.¡±


    ¡°How did you even do that!?¡± She demanded coming up into my space.


    Yeah the girl was freaking out, her entire body was shaking. So I did the only thing I could think of and gently reached out and left a hand on her arm. ¡°It¡¯s okay. We are here to protect you.¡±


    My sincere words were instantly rebuffed with a scoff. ¡°What the hell Hiromi. I thought you said you knew some mercs.¡±


    ¡°I do. Motoko takes work from Wakako the fixer, and has contacts all over. She can definitely help.¡± Hiromi offered with a shrug, but once again my young body fought against me, and Asuka didn¡¯t look relieved.


    ¡°Fucking hell Hiromi, what is this shit! You¡¯ve been talking up so much shit, and you bring a bunch of kids in on this?¡± She looked like she was about to start yelling, but her movements hadn¡¯t kept track of everyone, and she bumped back into Ichi who gently grabbed her to keep her from jerking around.


    ¡°Hey, easy. We don¡¯t look like much, but we are here.¡± Ichi offered, ¡°Something is better than nothing right? Let us protect you.¡±


    I wanted to point out to Ichi that I had literally just said that, when suddenly the girl''s back stiffened and she even flushed a little.


    She scoffed again, but this time her shotgun was only being held loosely as she stepped slowly out of Ichi¡¯s hands. ¡°Well at least I¡¯ll give you a shot¡­ Hiromi, this better not be a joke though.¡± She said turning from Ichi to look fully at Hiromi.


    ¡°Pfft. I¡¯ve been telling you gonks, that I have an actual merc team!¡± Hiromi snarked, but seemed to take control of herself. ¡°But we aren¡¯t here for that. Section 9 here for bodyguard duty. Let me introduce everyone. Malcolm, Ichi, and Motoko. Motoko is in charge. She¡¯s a solo, and knows what she is doing.¡±


    ¡°She doesn¡¯t look like much.¡± Asuka muttered under her breath, but I didn¡¯t take it personally. The girl was twitchy.


    I guess knowing that a cyberpunk was after you for revenge would make any teenager a little jittery.


    ¡°Well she is. I¡¯ll be taking Malcolm to do some investigating. Hopefully we can find your threat through our contacts. Ichi and Motoko will be staying with you. Ichi is a driver, he has a van ready if you need to run for any reason. Motoko?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯ll be fine. I¡¯ll check out the security of the place, and maybe boost it a bit while I¡¯m here¡­ Is anyone from Arasaka looking into this? Other than your parents I mean?¡± I asked Asuka who just sort of sullenly looked at me before shrugging.


    ¡°My parents haven¡¯t told me much.¡±


    ¡°Okay. I have a contact in Counter Intel, I¡¯ll see if she has anything. Hiromi?¡±


    ¡°Oh! That¡¯s right that V woman you told me about! Good job Motoko. I¡¯ll call Wakako and some others, see if anyone has something.¡± She said mostly to Asuka who looked a little surprised at the big names being thrown around.


    I moved away from the group, looking around the upscale apartment as I went, and made the call.


    Gonna have to do something about those windows. One entire side of the apartment was glass floor to ceiling.


    At least the place had some automated defenses, but HMG turrets were just asking to get someone friendly fragged if a netrunner was involved.


    *Ringing.*


    *Ringing.*


    *Ringing.*


    I started to glare as V very obviously wasn¡¯t answering, but finally after a minute the call went through.


    *Kid. What do you want?* V didn¡¯t quite snap, but she wasn¡¯t sounding friendly either. Again I didn¡¯t take it personally. That was just how V was, besides she had picked up. If she didn¡¯t want to be my choom she would have just ignored the call, or blocked it.


    *I¡¯ve been hired to protect an Arasaka Academy Student. Asuka Kimigari. Apparently her parents are Arasaka grunts, killed someone''s kid brother and now he is after their kid.*


    *And I care, why?*


    *Even if it didn''t fall under your purview, this is a merc gunning for Arasaka personnel. You have any information on this guy? Thomas Anderson?*


    The line went quiet for a minute before V just sighed into the line. *You know I can¡¯t just give you anything. I shouldn¡¯t even be talking to you.* V¡¯s tone was pretty firm, and I almost opened my mouth to pull the choom card, but that wasn¡¯t right.


    V wasn¡¯t in a job where something like that would just be ignored. I would be hurting her for my own benefit. Not exactly something I would do.


    *You¡¯re right. I¡¯m just an outside agent on this. Unless of course a certain agent contracted me out to help handle this. Payment can be a private affair between us.* I trailed off, and the line remained quiet, before a single cut off scoffing laugh came through.


    *I¡¯ll send you what I have, the Kimigari issue isn¡¯t my workload, but if you can stop him it¡¯ll make me look good. If you fuck up we never talked and you never got data from me.*


    *Of course.*


    The line went silent again and when V came back she came back with a beep of a text coming through at the same time.


    *Kid. I looked through this shit. Anderson? He isn¡¯t some street punk with a gun. The guy is a pro. Don¡¯t do anything stupid and get yourself killed. Jack will be pissed with me if you die like that.*


    *Thanks V. I¡¯ll keep you updated as well. If I get him you¡¯ll be the first to know.*


    *Good. I¡¯ll be able to throw it in Carlsons face then.* Then because V too studied the art of Night City phone calls she just hung up on me.

 Chapter 131

    I shook it off, as I turned to look out the window. My eyes hadn¡¯t been idle as I waited for V to get back to me. I had been scoping out entrances and weak points in the apartment.


    But now I had some data to work on. Araska¡¯s Counter Intel file on the guy was a lot more dense than anything Hiromi had. I walked back into the other room, finding everyone still gathered together, Hiromi was on a call, while Ichi and Malcolm both tried to seem calm and confident around the still twitchy client.


    I pulled a shard out of my neck and handed it to Hiromi, while pressing a finger to my lips for silence.


    She didn¡¯t quite get it, but I didn¡¯t want to distract her too much as she was still on a call.


    I walked around the room, almost pacing as I read the file.


    Thomas Anderson¡¯s former NUSA career was highly redacted. Of course Arasaka had all that information. The guy was good. The sort of agent that thanks to his dual specialization as a Solo and Netrunner he was excellent at being thrown at a problem and letting him solve it.


    He had left Militech after the unification war, but his military equipment, and trained skills put him on a level above the normal street thug.


    He was no Morgan Blackhand, but he was certainly more than a Jackie Welles.


    A cold blooded killer, and his little brother had been killed during an Arasaka operation. The worst part? Asuka¡¯s parents had been identified during the operation and so now the guy knew who to target.


    V¡¯s information was really good. It even had a few descriptions of previous gigs the guy had done against Arasaka. His ¡®standard¡¯ procedure, as much as a wild merc had such things.


    He liked to go for the kill with netrunning, while using guns and other weapons to put people into position to hack them.


    But he also had a mix of NUSA chrome and training in close combat.


    I sighed. This was going to be a mess.


    I pulled away from the file and looked around.


    If I was this guy, how would I catch my target?


    Well I would probably just get a powered sniper rifle and figure out what floor and window is the right one, maybe hack in and use that too aim and just snipe them from a while other building.


    That was thankfully unlikely. The apartment had big windows, but there weren¡¯t a lot of sniper posts you could use across the way.


    Plus Thomas wasn¡¯t a trained sniper.


    No more likely he would just rely on his netrunning. When you had a skeleton key it was a temptation to use it for every lock.


    Something I had realized about myself as well.


    So I put myself into his boots. What would I do? Come in through the window? He probably has access to an AV, it wouldn¡¯t be hard to know the exact windows and come busting in¡­


    But no. That was the sort of shit a movie character would do.


    Just like coming in through vents, that shit never works in real life.


    So instead I looked towards the most obvious entrance. The front door. It wouldn¡¯t even slow a netrunner of his level down.


    The defenses would probably be subverted if he had any talent. So I would have to do something about the HMG turrets¡­


    I could shut them down completely, but that meant when he did show up he might actually realize there was a netrunner on the defense.


    No.


    If I was going to take this guy out there was only one skill I had that would do the job.


    ¡°Okay I have a plan.¡± I called out to my chooms that were mostly trying to get the client on board.


    Asuka still wasn¡¯t fully behind us protecting her, even if she was desperate. I of course just ignored that.


    I was here to save her life, whether she wanted it or not. If I walked away and she died then people might think I just outright failed at protecting a client, and that was just not going to happen.


    My team perked up, even if Asuka looked sullen.


    ¡°Hiromi, go ahead and take Malcolm and get on with the investigation. If we can find him first, then that solves a lot of problems. Ichi you are going to stick to Asuka like glue. As far as our assassin knows I want him to think you are just a useless boyfriend or something. If anything happens you grab her and get out, get to the van and go.¡± I informed everyone and of course Asuka asked the question that was on everyone''s mind.


    ¡°And what are you going to be doing?¡±


    ¡°Preparing.¡± I answered with a smile as I headed out of the living room. I needed to hit all the electronics that had eyes in the apartment, to make sure if Thomas started peeping I would know.


    I hadn¡¯t left behind a single hint at my existence on the apartment''s security system, but  just hacking into the system I had left a little Daemon behind.


    One that would do one specific thing if it detected anyone else trying to access the system. It wouldn¡¯t stop the hack, no. It would just let me know that something was going on.


    Then. I disappeared, hiding in a closet near the front door. The one advantage I had on this guy was stealth.


    Nin-nin.


    ¡ª--


    Asuka Kimigari


    ¡°Do you really think you and your chooms can beat an NUSA solo? He¡¯s not just a cyberpunk, he has actual training! My parents are worried about taking this guy on!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not really a solo either, but I trust Motoko. She says she can handle it, then she can.¡± The boy Ichi offered seemingly while not relaxed, rather calm over all.


    ¡°You have to be kidding me.¡± Asuka moaned into her hands as she bent over. They were currently hanging out in her fathers office. One of the rooms that didn¡¯t have an HMG looking over it. Apparently the girl was absolutely sure the assassin would be able to take them over.


    What had her parents paid so much money for if the turrets could just be controlled like this!?


    She should have known it was a terrible idea. They were Militech turrets after all. The assassin probably has backdoor passwords right into them!


    ¡°Hey, I¡­ I was about to say try and relax but that¡¯s dumb. I get how crazy this all seems.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right it is dumb.¡± She snapped, but sighed, at least Hiromi was gone, leaving the cute merc behind. Now if only this wasn¡¯t a life or death situation, and instead she was hanging out at some high end club or something. The image of the pair of boy mercs serving her hand and foot wasn¡¯t a bad thought to idle on for a minute.


    If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    Until she remembered the serious purple hair girl was still in the apartment¡­


    Somewhere.


    She hadn¡¯t seen her in a while, but Ichinose had gotten messages from her from time to time. Checking in, telling them to go somewhere else in the apartment. It¡¯s why she was forced to sit here on the couch in her fathers office instead of out in the living room watching TV or something.


    ¡°So¡­ Is it a landmine to ask why your parents aren¡¯t like¡­ Doing something?¡± The boy asked, and Asuka glared, his question heavily damaged his cute levels.


    ¡°They are! But both of my parents are on a job right now. They aren¡¯t even in the city. It¡¯s why I¡¯m here hiding in the apartment. They tried to get a location in Arasaka tower to secure me until they got back, but were denied.¡± She said a little pissed. Of course their manager didn¡¯t want a kid hanging around even if the situation was this bad.


    Fucker.


    ¡°Sorry.¡± He spoke after a few moments, sounding contrite.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine. Arasaka bullshit is something I¡¯m used to.¡±


    ¡°At least you have Hiromi, she pulled us in to help.¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± Asuka muttered not willing to get into it with one of Hiromi¡¯s chooms. They weren¡¯t close. Hiromi had only jumped at an opportunity and Asuka had been too desperate to refuse.


    Now she was stuck with a group of teenage mercs trying to save her against an actual Militech assassin.


    Great.


    And she wasn¡¯t even able to watch the TV Or something because her parents had thought it was a good idea to put an HMG turret next to the entertainment system.


    And the worst part? Asuka still wasn¡¯t sure that the assassin would go after her. Or go after her today.


    Sure the guy wanted revenge. Sure her parents had gotten a message from him this morning. But like¡­


    He could just wait a month and then bomb her on her way to school or something. This was so dumb!


    ¡°He probably isn¡¯t even coming.¡± She muttered aloud.


    ¡°Maybe not, but if he is, we are trying to keep you safe.¡± Ichinose offered with a smile.


    Okay fine. He could have a few cute points back.


    She just had the thought when it happened. Ichinose jerked in the seat, and instantly moved to grab her.


    ¡°Quiet!¡± He hissed before she could even start snapping at him for grabbing her, but her throat went dry as she realized that it was time.


    His golden eyes told her what had happened.


    She was pulled from the couch, Ichinose tugging her hurriedly as he drew his pistol and ran her over to the door.


    Then they went silent.


    ¡°Wha-¡±


    ¡°Shh. Just wait.¡± He whispered as quietly as he could, his eyes still gold.


    She shook off his hand for a moment and grabbed her own gun. The shotgun was one her dad had taught her to use in case of any home attack.


    Ichinose nodded but continued resting against the door, looking at it, like he was waiting for a que.


    The sudden sound of gunshots had him throw open the door. His eyes she had noticed were no longer golden as he grabbed her and they both started running.


    There, in front of her, in the living room stood the man that had sworn to murder her, and leave her destroyed body out for her parents to find.


    But what was shocking was that he was being pushed back.


    The purple haired Solo. The merc was fighting him like a mad woman.


    She had a knife in one hand struggling to go for his throat, while her other hand held back his own wrist where a big pistol was inching towards her head. Inches from each of their deaths.


    Both of them were struggling on the couch. The girl must have hit him just as he was walking in front of it, and he had fallen over onto it.


    Asuka recognized her chance.


    ¡°Ichi-¡± She started, raising up her shotgun. Surely she would just nick the girl a little, for a chance to kill-


    She instantly jumped. Ichinose jumped onto her and pushed her to the ground, a moment later shot after shot echoed out and stitched holes across the wall above her.


    ¡°Go!¡± Motoko, the girl yelled, and Ichinose didn¡¯t hesitate.Grabbing her and hauling her up running for the front door and safety.


    ¡ª--


    The first time I saw Thomas Anderson I almost wanted to laugh. Long black trench coat, a pair of dark glasses? He looked like someone out of the Matrix.


    I crept out of the closet after hearing him enter the apartment, the door not even slowing him, and then walking past the closet.


    As I stepped out my plan to shoot him in the back fell apart.


    He had somehow noticed as I left the closet after he walked past. I hadn¡¯t made a sound. Not a one. The hinges of the door had been oiled and the security system couldn¡¯t see me.


    Yet he did. A scanner system? Eyes in the back of his head? Audio enhancer? What was it!?


    As I raised my Burya he had turned.


    We had both fired, both of us ducking out of the way. My Burya Vs. His Liberty. Both big guns, although mine was definitely the bigger. We ducked and rolled, bullets, flying, but the fact was I only had four rounds. The moment I fired my last one, he shifted from cover to leaping at me.


    I met him mid air, bouncing off the wall of the apartment to slam into him, the act saved my life as his Liberty was trying to get a shot.


    We slammed into the couch in the living room. I was on top of him, but despite my strength, I was still just a teenager, and he was a borg.


    My chrome hand gripped his wrist, finding flesh, I dug in, but under his flesh was reinforced bone. I couldn¡¯t break his wrist.


    I went for my knife quickly, swiping it out of the sheath with my other hand going for his neck, but that was stopped flat as he caught my wrist, only a small cut for his trouble, and then we heard it.


    ¡°Ichi-¡±


    I barely managed to jerk his wrist as her bodily stood up with me hanging off him, his pistol aimed at Asuka and pulling the trigger.


    His rounds skittered up the walls as I forced his hand up.


    ¡°Go!¡± I yelped out, already feeling outmatched as the borg didn¡¯t hesitate in trying to line up another shot.


    He had me by one arm, and I had him by the other but it was obvious he was more focused on Asuka than he was me. Cyberpsychosis?


    Or just honest hatred?


    I raised up my right leg, braced my left against his knee probably to his confusion and kicked his wrist just as I let go. My legs were much stronger than my arms.


    His shot went wildly off as Ichi urged Asuka on to get out while they could.


    The second I kicked, I used my newly freed hand to quickdraw my Lexington.


    I aimed it at his head and fired, but he had noticed and the hand holding my knife surged forward knocking my left arm into my right sending a skittering of bullets across the room and shattering the large windows along the apartment.


    It had also knocked my Lexington out of my hand as he bashed my arm into the couch, breaking the back of the furniture, and I felt something in my shoulder decide that was it.


    I pushed away the pain.


    Asuka was out of the apartment, and his glasses were not fully focused on me.


    Okay you matrix cosplaying fuck, lets go.


    He charged, not even wasting time finding a weapon and just throwing out a combo of punches, that I was desperately backpedaling to dodge.


    He was fast. Did he have a Keren? A Sandy? Or just a fuck ton of reflex tuners?


    I blocked a punch, pushed it away, kicked out, only to be blocked by his own leg, each of us blurring into a quick flurry of kicks, but he was stronger, faster, and more skilled. And taller.


    He shifted, almost kneeling down, trapping my leg with his own.


    Which was bad. He punched and punched, and all I could do was weather the blows as he pummeled me. Instantly I felt my right shoulder start failing. Whatever was broken was making it really hard to hold out against his punches.


    So I pulled out my trump card.


    The pummeling immediately stopped as he heard the whine of machinery from behind him.


    He might have taken over the security system, but I had hours to prepare this place for an angry netrunning solo.


    The HMG turret near the security system? I had pulled it completely from the security system. Literally pulled the wires physically and deleted the information in the security system about it.


    He probably could have noticed it, if I hadn¡¯t been fighting him since he walked in.


    The HMG turret had a single target.


    My leg was freed and he dodged away, his eyes already focused on the turret, trying to shut it off.


    Which is why I instantly attacked with my strongest hack. Reboot Optics slammed into him, and then he was fighting a two front war.


    He was good.


    He was really really good.


    His speed on the net was a blur, so fast I could barely keep up with it, as his ICE fended me off, almost like I was trying to punch him while he just poked me with a rapier from afar.


    He managed to flatten my breach, and get the turret to shut off.


    I was breathless as we both stood staring at each other.


    I spit the blood flowing out of my nose as he reached up and adjusted his trenchcoat.


    So this is what it was like fighting a real professional without Jun to back me up.


    ¡°Not bad kid.¡±


    ¡°Not bad old man.¡± I agreed.


    Then we moved, his right arm opening up into a Mantis blade, as he charged, and I pulled out a grenade and tossed it into his face. I leapt, back, aiming for cover. The entertainment system was one of the inset ones like we had. It was the best cover in the apartment I could reach.


    He didn¡¯t care, his other hand burst out and palm striked the grenade away from it, sending it flying right out the now broken window.


    Fuck.


    I rolled as I aborted my dive into the inlet and instead faced him.


    I was down to just my fists, and he had already proven he was my superior there.


    ¡°Can¡¯t let you kill her.¡± I spoke, deciding that diplomacy might be my only chance.


    He just shook his head.


    ¡°The girl is dead, she just doesn¡¯t know it yet. So are her parents.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s just a kid. She didn¡¯t do anything to you.¡± I argued but he didn¡¯t even register it.


    ¡°It¡¯s a shame, you have some real talent for a kid.¡± He stated and then the battle resumed.


    He charged me, I jumped, leaping over the couches in the apartment and trying to rush for the door, but as I reached the front entrance I instantly turned around and leapt back.


    The deafening sound of the HMG turret opening fire blowing holes in the walls of the apartment, but missing me.


    I rolled painfully on my right arm, and got up just in time for Thomas to reach me.


    There was no escaping him¡­


    At least not without taking something.


    But unlike a normal gonk teenager, I wasn¡¯t afraid of a little stabbing between friends.


    He was thrusting his Mantis blade. Trying to skewer me down.


    Using my right arm I reached out and clamped onto the innards of his Mantis blade. Even with my busted shoulder I pulled him in.


    Uncaring that he had pushed his blade into my chest. No, I dug him in even deeper, bringing his entire body right into range.


    Then I rabbit punched him in the throat with everything I had in my left arm.


    He gagged, flinching back, but I went with him as I was clamped onto the innards of his arm.


    I went to punch again, but he deflected the punch with his free arm and spun me.


    I screamed.


    I couldn¡¯t help it. The feel of the blade sliding a bit sideways into me was excruciating.


    It weakened my grip, unable to hold the blade down, and he ripped it back out. In a blur he spun and kicked.


    I couldn¡¯t dodge, couldn¡¯t block, taking the size twelve boot straight to the stomach as he launched me away, and then the apartment disappeared.


    He had kicked me out of the window. Out into the open sky of Night City.

 Chapter 132

    *Ringing.*


    *Ringing.*


    *Ringing.*


    *Ringing.*


    I jerked awake, at the noise, confused and in quite a bit of pain. Then I realized what was going on.


    I blinked away the blood from my optics and looked around. I remembered¡­


    Falling. I had fallen until I managed to grab at a pipe and break my fall. I remember holding onto it with all my grip sliding downward trying to slow down. A painful feeling and then smashing into something¡­


    I was laying bent over a sign I realized. An electronic sign board. Quite thoroughly smashed as I was wrapped around it. Arms hanging loosely down the side, blood dripping down my chrome fingers falling out into the long drop below. My right arm still had the piece of pipe clutched in my hand. My fingers literally bent into the old pipe.


    I coughed and more than a little blood came out.


    Not a good sign.


    I moved my arm and was able to get to the pouch on my other shoulder with a little fumbling.


    The MaxDoc pressed into my mouth and suddenly I went from pretty weak to feeling at least kinda alive.


    Considering I was stable and was going to need a few minutes, I decided to go ahead and just answer the damn ringing in my head.


    *Yeah?*


    *Oh thank God! Motoko! I got Asuka out, did you flatline the guy? I¡¯ve been calling you for like ten minutes.*


    *He kinda kicked my ass. Don¡¯t come back, don¡¯t know where he is right now. I¡¯m gonna¡­ Well I think I¡¯m gonna drag my ass to Viks.¡±


    *Shit¡­ Are you?*


    *I got a little stabbed, and he threw me out a window. I¡¯ll live.* I slowly inched up my head from where it had been resting against the broken advertisement.


    Soulhiker energy drinks huh? Sounded absolutely disgusting, but maybe I¡¯ll buy one in thanks.


    *What do we do?*


    *Call Hiromi. Set up a safe house for our client or something. I¡¯m gonna need a visit to Viks. Ichi, You got this?* I asked him because this was definitely a step up from our normal work situation.


    *Well if he kicked your ass, I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll be able to stop him.*


    *Don¡¯t need to stop him Ichi, just avoid him. Go to ground, make sure she doesn¡¯t make calls and stuff. I trust you¡­ I need to hang up. Gonna need to figure out a way down.*


    The line was silent for a moment as I started grunting and shifting myself so I wasn¡¯t just sprawled over a metal sign.


    Was my head bleeding?


    Ah it had been. Looks like the MaxDoc fixed that up, but I was still covered in blood.


    *Don¡¯t die Motoko, I¡¯ll keep Asuka safe.*


    *I¡¯ll be fine, I just need some time. Drive safe.*


    I rose up a bit and felt the advertisement shift under me.


    Fuck.


    I spotted a good enough spot just below. An apartment had a small Balcony. I surged upwards, pushing myself off full strength and just managed to leap for it as the sign finally broke after the Motoko missile had damaged it.


    I landed roughly, coughing and sputtering but I didn¡¯t smash my head so it was just pain, and pain would pass. I reached down and found another MaxDoc and huffed that down as well.


    I looked over and blinked.


    A kid blinked back probably wondering what this bloody teenager was doing landing on his balcony. There was a kid just inside the apartment, one hand had a toy gun in his hand, and a cyber goggles on his head. He must have been playing some game.


    I smiled and waved.


    He waved back.


    Perfect.


    ¡ª--


    I didn¡¯t see Thomas that fucker in the elevator as I took it down. Little Johnthan was nice enough to let me in, so I didn¡¯t have to jump down the entire apartment block.


    Which was good, because I was full of ow.


    I flopped into the Quadra and started driving out of the area. I would meet up with the others later, but first, I really did need to get to Vik. My right arm had basically stopped working, which was kinda a bad sign.


    It hung limply no matter what I did. Something was definitely broken, and I don¡¯t think it was just my bones.


    *Ringing.*


    *Ringing.*


    I sighed, as I got another call. This time I was coherent enough to check the caller ID.


    *Hey Hiromi.*


    *Motoko! Are you okay!? I talked to Ichi and he said you got hurt!*


    *Yeah I¡¯ve been better. This guy Thomas Anderson? He¡¯s good Hiromi. Like really good. I¡¯m glad Ichi managed to get Asuka away cause he took me apart.*


    *You¡¯re okay though?*


    *Beaten, but already on my way to Viks. No idea how long it¡¯ll take to put me back on my feet though Hiromi. So if you guys continue this gig? You need to hide. Go to ground completely. Don¡¯t call anyone and tell them where you are, and hell just stop calling people entirely. Go hide somewhere. The man is a netrunner.*


    I turned into a spot in front of MIsty¡¯s with a sigh.


    *I just pulled up to Viks. Hiromi. Stay safe, and call if you think he is coming.*


    *We¡¯ll¡­ I¡¯ll make sure everyone stays safe Motoko. I promise.* Hiromi sounded pretty upset, but for once I just wasn¡¯t in any state to try and comfort her.


    I pulled myself with a grunt out of the Quadra and walked around and then over to Misty¡¯s ignoring the looks I was getting as I limped down.


    I wasn¡¯t bleeding anymore after all. Everything just hurt.


    ¡°Welcome to Misty¡¯s Eso- Motoko!?¡±


    ¡°Hey Misty¡­ Mind letting Vik know, I need some help?¡± I called not even feeling up to raising a hand to wave at the woman.


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    A few moments later I was attacked as she grabbed me and started hauling me out the back to Viks.


    Yeah that was good. I could use some help.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°You did some real damage to yourself kid.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t I know it.¡± I reminded Vik as he pulled away from scanning me down.


    ¡°Your arms connection port disengaged from the bone. Tore the nerves and muscle right out.¡±


    ¡°It was already broken, and I needed to stop my fall.¡± I almost shrugged but didn¡¯t because my shoulder was currently¡­


    Vik had taken my entire arm off to check the shoulder port.


    ¡°This is gonna take some real work kid. If not for your¡­ Healing.¡± He muttered making sure to whisper the last part. ¡°I would say you are looking at some real recovery time.¡±


    ¡°Good thing I have it, and I have you then Vik.¡± I offered with a weak smile. I wasn¡¯t really feeling perky at the moment.


    ¡°Yeah kid. You got me. I can fix this all up for you, but you have to be more careful. Those arms of yours might be chrome, but there is only muscle and bone between them.¡±


    ¡°For now.¡± I muttered darkly. He caught my eye as his eyebrow quirked up and I felt myself going more grim. ¡°But that needs to change. Vik. I need some chrome.¡±


    ¡°Never a good idea to chip something while injured kid. Especially something like this.¡±


    I scowled, because he was right. But also I didn¡¯t mean right this second.


    ¡°I know. I¡¯m still on a gig right now! I need to be back on my feet soon. Can you source some stuff for me? Some good stuff.¡±


    ¡°Yeah kid. Let¡¯s put you back together, and you can tell me what you want. I¡¯ll start gathering it up for you.¡±


    ¡°Vik¡­ Thanks.¡±


    ¡ª--


    I took an eight hour sleep on Viks chair and woke up feeling much better. As I had said none of my chooms had contacted me, which was good. I headed out after giving Vik a big hug for putting me back together, and then went back to Asuka¡¯s apartment.


    When I got there, I very carefully let myself in, only after making sure I could hack back into the security network.


    Like I expected, the moment I was in, I found a Daemon had been left behind.


    Asuka or her parents would have had a nasty surprise when they came home only for their own security system to activate to kill them.


    It took me a few minutes to clear it out and reset everything to how it should be and I walked inside.


    Instantly I sighed in relief that my stuff was still laying around. Thomas had picked up his own gear, but left my stuff behind. No looting? Kinda disappointed to by honest. But it made my life a lot easier.


    Burya and Lexington holstered, I was digging around trying to find my knife. It had been knocked out of my grip along with my Burya, but it had gone flying as it was a lot lighter.


    Then I heard it.


    An alert from the security system.


    I leapt up and found some cover behind the broken couch. Burya drawn and ready. Was Thomas back? If he was, I doubt I was ready, but I would give him another fight!


    I instantly lowered my weapon when I saw who it was. A woman in Araska gear stepping in, her Nowaki checking every corner as she entered.


    I lowered myself down, so I wouldn¡¯t be easy to shoot and called out.


    ¡°Friendly! Don-¡±


    I flinched as a half dozen rounds blurred through the air above me.


    ¡°Don¡¯t shoot! I¡¯m a friendly!¡± I yelled out then gave it a minute, when no more rounds fired I slowly raised both hands up above the couch so she could see them.


    ¡°Identify yourself!¡±


    ¡°Motoko Kusnagi! I¡¯m a merc hired by your daughter Asuka.¡±


    ¡°Where is she! Where is Thomas! What did he do?¡± She demanded and I was rushed as she came around the couch and instantly attacked, slamming me into the ground Rifle in my face.


    ¡°We got her out when he attacked the apartment. I don¡¯t know where Thomas is. He threw me out the window about nine hours ago.¡± I said pointing at the still broken window.


    This close to the woman, I could make out a slight resemblance to Asuka. Funnily enough they both used the same Arasaka optics, but was what kind of cute was the fact they had both chosen the same Pinkish color.


    Her face was glaring down at me though, so I ignored the eye color to focus on the woman. Her Arasaka armor showed she was here for a fucking war¡­


    I could use that.


    ¡°Where is my daughter!¡±


    ¡°My team is currently with Asuka, I don¡¯t know exactly where, we split up when I was hurt, and I didn¡¯t want them telling anyone where she is over unsecured comms while running from a netrunner. Ya?¡±


    ¡°If this is some fucking scheme from Thomas. I promise I¡¯ll put a bullet in you.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t work for that asshole. He stabbed me and kicked me out the fucking window. I want him dead.¡± I ground out before sighing. ¡°We were waiting for you or your husband to get back. We can meet up with Asuka and my team, and come up with a plan to kill that fuck.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t need some teenager. Tell me where my daughter is, and get lost.¡±


    ¡°The only reason your daughter is still alive is because of my team.¡± I pointed out, and then reached up and slowly pushed the rifle out of my face so I could sit up. The woman backed up tactically, never fully removing the barrel from me.


    I stood up and wiped myself down a little. ¡°Let me send a text to my team. Let them know you are back. Okay?¡±


    ¡°Get on with it.¡±


    I nodded and did just said, sending Hiromi a picture as well.


    *Motoko: The mother showed up, she¡¯s pissed. Don¡¯t tell me where you are, but get ready to move for meetup.*


    *Hiromi: Finally. Been fighting with Asuka for the last few hours to get her not to make any calls. I¡¯ll move her to a secure location and call you.*


    ¡°Alright. My team is moving her from where we stashed her. She¡¯ll let us know once she is somewhere we can meet up.¡±


    ¡°Just tell me where she is.¡± Asuka¡¯s mother growled and I shook my head.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. I¡¯ll get a call soon with where she is.¡± The answer did not seem to satisfy the woman but she slowly not quite lowered the weapon, but at least stopped looking like she was going to kill me.


    Then she started side walking around the apartment, checking locations while keeping an eye on me. Closets, and cabinets and things.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡±


    There was no way someone could be hiding in the cabinet she had just checked, so she wasn¡¯t just looking for people.


    ¡°Thomas sent a message about an hour ago. That he had left a surprise at our apartment.¡±


    I blinked, tucking that away. ¡°You expected to see Asuka-¡±


    ¡°Unless this is a trap.¡± She said, looking to me and I just raised my hands and shook my head. ¡°Then something¡­ He did something. I¡¯m sure of it.¡±


    ¡°Oh. Probably the trap he left in your security system.¡± I told her bluntly, regaining her full attention.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°When I got here, I checked the security system before entering, the guy is a netrunner after all. He had the turrets set to kill any of your family that showed up. I fixed that before entering.¡±


    She blinked, for the first time actually showing an emotion besides anger.


    ¡ª--


    When I got the call back from Hiromi about where she was, I couldn¡¯t help but laugh at where she had fled to.


    Driving across town with a very twitchy Arasaka agent in my car wasn¡¯t the most comfortable thing, but walking into Arasaka tower was even more so.


    It took just a moment for Asuka¡¯s mother to get access, but they stopped me cold as I had weapons on me.


    Thankfully it didn¡¯t matter as my team was right there with Asuka.


    Not even our assassin would walk into Arasaka tower to try and finish his kill.


    ¡°Mom!¡± Asuka called out and ran over ignoring the annoyed looks from the security guards on duty, but mother and daughter didn¡¯t care, and I relaxed as well. I had felt like the woman had a gun to my head the whole time we had waited for Hiromi to reach back out.


    I stopped trying to get through security, not that they were going to let me in. Hiromi was chatting with Asuka, probably discussing the final payments and stuff. I went ahead and sent an update message to V.


    *Motoko: Still alive. Failed to kill Thomas, he was good. Scary good. Nearly got me, I¡¯m okay though. Asuka is alive and fine, and meeting up with her mom in the lobby of the Arasaka building. Sorry I couldn¡¯t kill him to hype you up. Chat with you later.*


    By the time I was done composing the message, Hiromi and my team came to me instead.


    ¡°Motoko! You¡¯re okay!¡± Hiromi called out. As my chooms all surrounded me and checked me out.


    ¡°I¡¯m alright. Vik took good care of me.¡± I reminded them, thankfully no one had seen how bad I was beaten up.


    Of course that didn¡¯t stop Hiromi from poking and prodding to check.


    ¡°How¡¯s our client?¡± I asked mostly to distract her, seeing the teenager hugging her mother tightly was nice, not something you see in Night City much.


    ¡°Nervous, but probably feeling a lot safer now.¡± Ichi said and I watched his shoulders slump. ¡°You had us worried there boss. Try not to pull something like that again, yeah? Not knowing if you had died, and I just ran off?¡±


    ¡°The gig was to protect the client¡­ But yeah¡­¡± I muttered. I couldn¡¯t help but try to keep everyone else out of trouble while I fought, but maybe having Ichi bring his gun to bear. Have Asuka help¡­ Maybe we would have won instead of merely keeping the gig going.


    I could have died. I took a deep breath and let it out. I had a lot of ways to keep myself alive. A lot of tricks and things with the System, but I really needed to stop taking on risks.


    Thomas Anderson was out of my league. Going solo against a borg, like him? I should have known that was dumb.


    Sure, if my stealth had worked I could have taken him out, but it hadn¡¯t because of course a solo like that would have some ways to keep an eye on the area around him. That was the point. The difference between street thugs and professionals. Talent, skills, equipment.


    ¡°I¡¯m glad you got her out of there Ichi, but yeah. I probably could have used your help.¡± I admitted and he looked both unhappy with the admittance, and pleased.


    ¡°Next time then.¡± He decided, and I did more than just agree.


    ¡°Next time¡­ Next time we will be more ready. If we are going to take gigs like this we need more tools than what we have brought with us so far. It¡¯s time to start upgrading.¡± I told my team and everyone looked interested in my words.


    ¡°Hey! Hiromi. Ichinose¡­ Umm, Motoko, Right?¡± Asuka called out as she stood on the other side of the security area as she called out.


    ¡°Asuka.¡± Hiromi responded, turning fully to the girl and giving her a look.


    ¡°Hiromi¡­ Thanks. That cyberpunk would have definitely flatlined me. So like, thanks. I owe you my life, and stuff.¡± She said awkwardly.


    ¡°The and stuff, is what we are more interested in Asuka. The contract was until your parents got back.¡± Hiromi said instantly, strictly professional. Aww Hiromi, Asuka was being all heartfelt. At least smile and give her a hug.


    ¡°Right. Yeah, here.¡± She offered and I could see both girls'' eyes going blue as Hiromi was transferred credits.


    ¡°Asuka. I¡¯m glad you¡¯re okay.¡± Hiromi offered, sounding honest. Now you are nice? Hiromi! ¡°Don¡¯t forget Section 9 for any future bodyguard, or information gathering requirements.¡± Hiromi literally snuck in a slogan as well.


    I snorted, and face palmed, unable to resist. That¡¯s our corpo alright.


    With that the gig was over. Asuka hurried back to her mother that brought her deeper into the tower, and Section 9 walked out of the front of Araska tower.


    ¡°Glad we are out of there.¡± I muttered.


    ¡°Yeah, tell me about it. Gives me the creeps.¡± Ichi and Malcolm both comment, earning a huff from Hiromi.


    ¡°There is nothing wrong with Arasaka tower.¡±


    ¡°Stepping into the front makes me feel like I¡¯m about to charge into the tower to try and blow it up or something.¡± I muttered being honest with my chooms.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s kinda cool.¡±


    ¡°YOU CAN¡¯T!¡± Hiromi squawked and leapt at me trying to throttle me.


    ¡°Okay okay. It¡¯s just how it makes me feel. Not something I plan on doing!¡±


    ¡°You better not!¡±


    With Hiromi¡¯s little overreaction I stilled and looked to my chooms. ¡°So¡­ After gig party?¡±


    ¡°Yeah!¡± Malcolm called out instantly, nearly jumping into the air. ¡°This gig sucked, let¡¯s party!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s because all you did was follow Hiromi around. Motoko and I are the ones that actually faced the borg.¡±


    ¡°No way, I¡¯m glad I didn¡¯t face this super borg! He took out Motoko!¡± Malcolm said pointing to me and I just huffed.


    I was still irritated that I had been beaten so easily.


    Sure I wasn¡¯t like Maine, all seven and a half feet of chrome and death, but I had thought I could at least hold my own, but Thomas Anderson had taken me apart.


    I would need to grind some more. I needed better equipment, better stats, and better chrome.


    ¡°What was it again?¡± I muttered as I threw my arms behind my head following my chooms as we all sauntered down the sidewalk to our cars. ¡°High time I chrome the fuck up?¡±

 Chapter 133

    We hadn¡¯t actually gone to a bar this time. Instead all of us had crashed into my apartment, and we had just brought home a ton of food, having hit a few different restaurants in the area.


    The entertainment system was set to some terrible movies and we all just ate and drank ourselves sick while laughing and sometimes throwing shit at the TV.


    Sorry Jun, I¡¯ll clean that up after I promise.


    We had all gotten comfortable, and I had started working on Short Circuit again while we all vegged out and ragged on the terrible movie. Some action flick about a guy on a train or something?


    I wasn¡¯t really paying attention because it was really just that bad.


    ¡°Hey, bored?¡± Ichi asked from beside me. He had been sipping at a Broseph of all things.


    ¡°Not really, this is actually pretty fun, I just want to get this program done asap. I know this netrunner, and she is going on a crazy gig. I¡¯m worried she is going to end up over her head, so I want to make sure I give her something to help keep her alive.¡±


    ¡°Huh. I guess that is a worry isn¡¯t it.¡± He muttered, and the way he spoke. I paused the programming to look at him.


    ¡°Ichi?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s kinda stupid¡­ But now that I¡¯ve said that you aren¡¯t going to let it go anyways. I thought you died there for a while, fighting that Cyberpunk. I mean¡­ When you didn¡¯t pick up.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­ Sorry for not responding right away I-¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to apologize Motoko, you were fighting for your life¡­ He actually beat you.¡± He said with a hint of frustration in his tone.


    ¡°I¡¯ll kill him next time. Gonna get some more chrome soon from Vik and we won¡¯t be able to overpower me as easily.¡± I assured him. Still a little salty at the whole getting kicked out the window thing.


    I hadn¡¯t and wasn¡¯t going to consider how close to dying I had come. If I hadn¡¯t managed to grab that pipe, I would have been a Motoko splatter on the ground.


    ¡°It just¡­ I wish I could have helped. I mean, yeah I¡¯m not like Jun or anything. Not a front liner, but I should have been able to do something.¡±


    ¡°Ichi, that guy was a pro. Like the sort of guy that kills high level people for a living. Don¡¯t be stressed at not being at the same level. I¡¯m not at the same level.¡± I reminded him.


    ¡°Yeah.¡± He agreed with a small snort, showing that it was a bitter laugh.


    ¡°Well if you want to do more Ichi, then¡­ Let¡¯s get you set up to do more. You already upgraded your van for better defense. We should all probably get better armor and gear.¡± I said, calling out over the group. Malcolm looked up from his chinese food Lo Mein hanging from his mouth as he perked up.


    ¡°Hmm. We can definitely figure out a budget and start doing some upgrades.¡± Hiromi offered.


    I looked to Ichi and he slowly just shook his head, as his face shifted into a smile. ¡°Alright. You won. I¡¯ll stop moping. Better armor and weapons will help. What else could we do?¡±


    ¡°Honestly? We really need a few other things. I was thinking¡­ Some trackers, and mobile cameras? If we are going to make this Section 9 thing work we need more tools.¡± I offered and I could see Hiromi¡¯s eyes get sharp as she considered it.


    ¡°It would open up a lot of gigs we could do. Those kinds of tools are expensive though.¡±


    ¡°I was actually thinking of trying to make some myself. I¡¯ve been working on a few things already¡­ Did I show you guys my silencer I made? I know I showed Hiromi.¡± I said, pulling free my Lexingtons silencer to show it off.


    ¡°Preem!¡± Malcolm called out climbing over the table, knocking over a few cartons of food as he reached for it. I just rolled my eyes and let him have it.


    ¡°I want a silencer!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll make you one. But you need to actually get an iron worthy of it. Your Unity is kinda¡­¡± I trailed off as I realized.


    My chooms really did have shitty gear.


    Sure Malcolm and Ichi both had some shotguns and other weapons they would bring along from time to time, but like¡­


    That was baby shit.


    We needed real iron especially for my chooms.


    ¡°We are going to get some assault rifles, and body armor for all of you.¡± I decided right then.


    ¡°Expensive.¡± Hiromi reminded me, but I just scoffed.


    ¡°Hiromi. Those are free. We just need to find someone who already has them.¡± I reminded her back and that caused her bright optics to go nice and wide as I reminded her we were loot goblins.


    ¡°Heh! Yeah! We need a new gig, clear out some gonks and steal everything!¡± Malcolm called out cheerfully waving my silencer around in the air.


    ¡°Be careful with that!¡±


    ¡°I am!¡± He said but eventually huffed and handed it back.


    ¡°So new gear huh?¡± Ichi asked, and I nodded.


    ¡°We are still young. We should keep working on improving! Skills, gear! We need to keep moving forward so we can be safe doing more and more!¡± I called out fist raised and a moment later Malcolm joined me arm up in the air while Ichi and Hiromi looked on as if wondering why they were chooms with us.


    Of course I reached out and grabbed Ichi¡¯s arm to force his arm up as well, and Malcolm catching on quickly did the same for Hiromi.


    ¡°Section 9!¡± I called out happy. The others had diminished levels of engagement, but that¡¯s fine!


    ¡°Oh!¡± Hiromi jerked back suddenly as she reached into her jacket and started fumbling around, pulling at an inner pocket until she pulled out what looked like a deck of playing cards at first, but as she flashed them to the rest of us I understood.


    ¡°Oh! You made more business cards!¡±


    ¡°I did! I finished the design during business engagement and advertising class!¡± She said looking happy. As she tore a chunk off the deck and handed them to each of us.


    I looked it over and whistled. They weren¡¯t made of paper or something, but were thin plastic, indented in them was a silver filigree, but the letters were printed.


    Section 9. Investigation. Protection. Bounty Hunting.


    And of course a phone number, but also an email, which was obviously one Hiromi made.


    ¡°That¡¯s so cool!¡± I whispered, flashing the card in the light letting the silver letters flash in the light.


    ¡°Nova Hiromi.¡± Ichi said as he nudged her shoulder and I could see the corpo girl preen under the attention.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°Vik.¡±


    ¡°Motoko, hey kid.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s time for me to chrome the fuck up.¡± I said, deepening my voice to sound all sinister and then I smiled brightly. ¡°I¡¯m so excited.¡±


    Vik just looked at me for a moment before chuckling and shaking his head. ¡°Is that from some show?¡±


    ¡°Yes, but also no.¡± I answered, because explaining what Edgerunners was isn¡¯t something I was going to do. ¡°You have it?¡±


    Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.


    ¡°Yeah. I found what you wanted. You sure about this kid? You wanted to take it slow, but this is a big change.¡±


    ¡°I am. Not just because that Edgerunner, Cyberpunk, trenchcoat wearing gonk beat the shit out of me even!¡± I explained as I settled into the chair. I tapped my shoulders. ¡°I¡¯ve had my shoulders stretched out, or dislocated a few times now, and it¡¯s getting old.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, This will definitely fix that.¡± Vik agreed and then he wheeled it up.


    It would look pretty sinister if not for where I was. A plastic bag with metal bones. Human bones, rested on the table.


    ¡°Titanium Bones, MoorE Tech make. I had these whipped up using your measurements. You sure kid? This kind of stuff will definitely ruin your natural growth.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m already asian Vik, probably only got a couple inches left in me anyways¡­ Besides, I have my special healing. I¡¯m not sure what the combination of the two will be like. And I have the best ripper in Night City watching over me in case I need to be let out a bit.¡±


    My absolute buttering up of Vik only partially worked as the older man scoffed but was still smiling at me, as he rolled over.


    ¡°Well I¡¯ll do what I can to keep you healthy of course, but I¡¯m not a miracle worker.¡±


    Which was a lie and the big smile I was shooting at him, was my answer to that.


    ¡°Alright kid, lose the leotard, put this on, now lay back. Now I told you this is going to be a while.¡±


    ¡°I know. I¡¯m all yours doc.¡± I assured him as I shucked out of my clothes and threw on the little almost paper like gown he handed to me. Vik even did the cute turn around not to look thing. Adorable.


    Once I was ¡®clothed¡¯ and settled in he turned back around.


    ¡°Alright.¡± He grumbled, as he hooked a few cords into my neuralports, and then hooked a few IV¡¯s into my body. ¡°Let¡¯s disconnect these arms of yours. I¡¯m going to prompt your cyberware for the disconnect.¡± He said and a moment later I got a notification asking if I wanted to release the connections to my chrome arms.


    I accepted, and a sense of coolness went up from my fingers to my shoulders as the nerves disengaged and then there was a quiet noise as the locking system turned off.


    Vik pulled away with my arm, and then went and did the same thing for the other.


    ¡°Alright kid, that¡¯s everything. Sleepy time Motoko. Just relax, I¡¯ll take care of the rest.¡±


    ¡°Course you will doc.¡± I agreed, as my eyes grew heavy.


    ¡ª--


    I came too groggily. Blinking my eyes slowly as everything kind of blurred. I honestly didn''t feel too good. I was face down now, my face in a hole in the ripper chair and I felt just numb.


    ¡°Vaaa.¡± I tried to speak but my tongue felt kinda numb. So my attempt at calling out for Vik didn¡¯t work.


    ¡°Hey Kid. Welcome back. You¡¯re okay. Everything is all in order.¡± Viks face leaned over and despite being all wooshy I could still tell it was him. ¡°You''re on the good drugs kid, I brought you out so you can heal yourself up. Go ahead and go to sleep for eight hours. You can do that can¡¯t you?¡± He prompted and I could feel my brain sort of slowly shift into understanding.


    Gotta sleep so I can heal.


    Sleeeeep.


    I blinked through my menu and found the right stuff although it wasn¡¯t working and I realized I was trying to push the buttons with my fingers which wasn¡¯t exactly working.


    Then I pressed the right button mentally and instantly everything went dark.


    Then I blinked.


    ¡°I¡¯m awake.¡± I called out blinking away a bit of gunk, but I couldn¡¯t get up as I tried to rise up.


    ¡°Easy kid, I have you strapped down. Let me check you over, this is the first time we¡¯ve done such an invasive surgery. I want to see how your healing handled it.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, okay.¡± I mumbled around the plastic fluff that was cradling my face.


    I almost shivered as cold hands went over my shoulders. The weirdest part was just how normal it felt.


    I just had massive surgery. The sort of stuff that would have likely killed anyone attempting it back in my previous life.


    ¡°Alright, well let¡¯s get your chrome reattached. Everything looks good, amazing even. Damn kid. That healing of yours is unreal.¡± Vik muttered, then a few moments later I felt something press against my shoulder


    Then with a quiet whirr the locks hooked back in, and a tingling ran down my arm.


    He rolled around and did the same to the next one. Leaving me with two arms that felt like I had just fallen asleep on them.


    ¡°So, it worked?¡±


    ¡°Course it did, c¡¯mon kid this is baby stuff, any back alley ripper could do this¡­ Not well mind you.¡± He said with a joke as he finally popped the straps holding me down and I rose up.


    Like usual I felt perfectly fine after eight hours of sleep, as I sat up I noticed that Vik had thrown up a opaque plastic sheet to block me off from view of the entrance.


    ¡°Had some customers come in, privacy is important.¡± He told me as he noticed me looking at it.


    ¡°Thanks Vik.¡± I accepted. It was nice of him, most rippers wouldn¡¯t have even cared.


    But I turned my focus back on my body. I was still in the medical gown he had given me, but that just made it easier to reach behind me and start poking and prodding at my back.


    Not a stitch, or a scar from what I could see.


    ¡°Here kid.¡± Vik brought up a set of mirrors letting me see that my back was as pristine as always.


    Despite the fact that he had basically ripped out every bone between my shoulders and replaced them with a titanium replacement.


    ¡°I don¡¯t feel any different.¡±


    ¡°I made sure they would weigh the same.¡± Vik answered, and then he settled the mirrors down and looked into my eyes.


    ¡°I¡¯m curious Motoko, so I have some questions. Normally the recovery period would give someone the sense something is wrong, but you bypassed that, so I want you to do some stretches and things. I want to make sure everything is how it should be. Both physically¡­¡± And then he poked my forehead. ¡°And mentally.¡±


    ¡°Sure Vik. Whatever you think is best.¡± I agreed without any fight.


    ¡°Alright, go ahead and do some stretches, tell me if you feel anything different. Anything off. No matter how minor.¡±


    I shrugged, and that felt the same so I started stretching. As I ran my arms through different positions I did feel a difference.


    ¡°It feels like my arms are more¡­ Attached? Does that make sense?¡± I muttered as I pressed my palms together and pushed. Normally this would reach a point pretty quickly where my shoulders would hurt, because my arms could put out more force¡­ Or maybe just had less restrictions than my old ones did.


    But now? I felt the pressure build up in my shoulder blades but no pain, no sense of tearing or difficulty.


    ¡°Well everything in between is a whole lot stronger.¡± Vik agreed, making some notes.


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I said a little breathless. I really wanted to do some punches or something to see how they would feel.


    ¡°I did some muscle and bone lacing as well just to reinforce everything.¡± He mentioned off hand and I jerked up a bit at that.


    ¡°Wait what?¡± I looked over my shoulders and I didn¡¯t see anything off.


    ¡°It¡¯s normal for doing replacements like that. The Lace helps keep everything together, strengthens things, so you are far less likely to pull a muscle. Did you not know?¡± Vik asked, looking at me curiously, as I shook my head.


    ¡°No. I wasn¡¯t really planning on getting any bioware.¡±


    ¡°Ah well. Just think of it as some extra glue holding your stuff together. You aren¡¯t getting Synth muscles, so I wanted to make sure you wouldn¡¯t accidentally pull something.¡±


    With that it reminded me about my system.


    What did my system have to say about my current upgrades?


    I quickly pulled it open and instantly noticed some changes.


    MoorE Titanium Bones (Shoulders, back, and ribs.) *Adaptation Titanium Bones 0/1*


    Biotechnica Muscle and Bone Lace *Adaptation Muscle and Bone Lace 0/0*


    The bioware cost me nothing, and my new bones were only one adaptation?


    Why was that? I mean, sure I wasn¡¯t looking at it all the time like my arms, and I really couldn¡¯t feel much of a difference, but you would think changing out your bones would cause some problems.


    Guess not though.


    ¡°Kid?¡±


    ¡°Sorry just checking some things. I¡¯m actually feeling pretty good Vik.¡± I said, even as I returned to poking and prodding my shoulders and back.


    ¡°Well let¡¯s go through a few checks and then I guess I¡¯ll send you off. Still amazing to see how quickly you healed up.¡± He muttered, shaking his head as he rolled around.


    Yeah. That healing power was pretty amazing for recovering after an upgrade.


    I punched my fist into the palm of my other hand, sending out a metallic noise.


    Yeah. That felt pretty good. Certainly better than it had before. I hadn¡¯t even noticed how much I had to hold back to keep myself from pulling my arms out of my own socket or something.


    I don¡¯t think I was quite ready for a rematch with Thomas yet, but this was just part one of my plan.


    Give it a week or so, gathering up more stat points, and then maybe I would be ready for another upgrade.


    With that thought I looked at my character sheet. There were definitely some changes and¡­ Wait! Did I forgot to use my Annihilation perk point this whole time!?


    ¡°Fuck!¡±


    ¡°Kid?¡±


    ¡°Oh nothing! Bad news, but nothing serious!¡± I called over to Vik who was preparing more gadgets to check on me with.


    Ugh. Okay that perk needed to be picked. Soon.


    Level 15


    Body 8(16) Due to Cyberization, Maximum value has increased by 8.


    -Athletics 7


    -Street Brawler 8


    -Annihilation 5


    Reflex 8


    -Blades 7


    -Handguns 7


    -Assault 7


    -Driving 7


    Intelligence 10 (14) Due to Cyberization, Maximum value has increased by 4.


    -Breach Protocol 9


    -Quick Hacks 7


    -Programming 10


    Cool 9


    -Ninjutsu 8


    -Cold Blood 8


    -Rockerboy 8


    Technical Ability 4 (8) Due to Cyberization, Maximum value has increased by 4.


    -Crafting 4


    -Engineering 4


    1 Stat point.


    5 Skill point.


    Perks.


    Ambidextrous Blades 2


    Quickdraw Handguns 2


    Gun Nut Assault 2


    Parkour Athletics 2


    Grappling Street Brawler 2


    Drive By Driving 2


    Cat-like Athletics 5


    Cool Nerves Cold Blood 2


    Danger Sense Ninjutsu 2


    Wall Breaking Breach Protocol 2


    Cyber Security Quick Hack 2


    Recoil Reduction. Annihilation 2


    Cyber Ninja Ninjutsu 5


    Fearless Chill. Cold Blood 5.


    Improvised Weapons Street Brawler 5


    Parry Blades 5


    Robotics wizard Crafting 2


    Drifting Driving 5


    Rapid Reload Handguns 5


    Design Wizard Engineering 2


    Rifle Ace Assault 5


    Ghost touch Breach 5


    Perfect Musical Memory Rockerboy 2.


    Debug Programming 2


    Siren Song Rockerboy 5


    Hacking Wizard Quick Hacks 5


    Inspired Programmer Programming 5


    A.I. Whisperer: Programming 10


    Annihilation 5 *Unused*


    Cyberware:


    Seacho Electronics Mk.2 *Adaptation Seacho Mk.2 0/0*


    Kiroshi Mk1 *Adaptation Kiroshi Mk1 1/2*


    Militech Condor *Adaptation Militech Condor 5/7*


    Arasaka Smart Link System. *Adaptation Smart Link 0/0*


    Arasaka Ex-Disk *Adatapation Ex-Disk 0/0*


    Militech-Armalite Ballistic Guard *Adaptation Ballistic Guard 1/2*


    Serano Air-Groove Ankles *Adaptation Serano Air 1/1*


    MoorE Titanium Bones (Shoulders, back, and ribs.) *Adaptation Titanium Bones 0/1*


    Biotechnica Muscle and Bone Lace *Adaptation Muscle and Bone Lace 0/0*


    Everything looked pretty good! It was only as I was browsing that I noticed another change.


    My Condors! Last time they had been 5/8 adaptation! Now they were 5/7! They had lowered again!


    I looked down at my chrome arms and smiled, bringing them up in front of me and waving my fingers.


    These were my arms! These were my fingers, and the nicks and dings on my hands were mine as well. Like scars tracing back.


    Yeah. I decided. I had definitely mentally recovered from the damage that had been done to me. Which only firmed up my decision to chrome the fuck up even more.


    Motoko Kusanagi. Cyborg!


    ¡°Hey kid, plug this in, I want to do a sensitivity test.¡±


    ¡°Sure Vik!¡± I answered, grabbing the plug he handed to me, and refocusing on the checkup I was getting.

 Chapter 134

    I sighed as I stretched my arms above my head, finally home. I still hadn¡¯t really noticed any differences in weight or balance driving home, so I was very satisfied with Vik¡¯s work.


    That man deserved way more than the stack of eddies I had given him for his time and skill.


    He deserved all the eddies!


    ¡°Hey, there you are!¡± Jun called out as I walked in the apartment. Jun was sitting on the couch, stupid ogre arms hanging over the top as he had obviously been staring blankly at whatever tv show he had been watching.


    ¡°Hey Jun-Nii!¡± I called out as I wandered over and flopped onto the couch beside him.


    ¡°Oh? What¡¯s got you in such a good mood?¡± Jun asked, poking at me a little which I swiped away at him.


    ¡°I got some new chrome. Vik took great care of me.¡± I told him flexing my arms without going into detail.


    Jun would know how long it would take to heal up from such an invasive surgery after all.


    ¡°Yeah?¡±


    ¡°Just Bone and Muscle Lace stuff.¡± I lied to him, before relaxing back and looking at the TV. ¡°Anything good on?¡±


    ¡°Nothing you¡¯d like.¡± He said laughing.


    ¡°Blegh.¡± I answered, sticking out my tongue. ¡°I guess I¡¯ll get back to work.¡±


    ¡°Work?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m trying to finish a new program, zappy zap.¡± I muttered, wiggling my fingers.


    ¡°I don¡¯t even want to know.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a Short Circuit hack!¡±


    ¡°Mhmm.¡± He agreed, but really he was just ignoring me.


    ¡°Well I know the first person I¡¯m testing it on.¡± I muttered, and of course in response Jun reached over to grab me, and I kicked out and then we were wrestling, only now things were different!


    Jun¡¯s stupid ogre arm might be super strong, but now I could bring to bear all of the strength of my own chrome arms!


    I reached out and grabbed his arm with both hands, and squeezed, actually forcing his arm to bend away from me.


    ¡°I¡¯m strong!¡± I told him my face splitting into a big grin.


    Which is when Jun huffed out a laugh and just jerked his arm forward.


    I had about half a second to realize Jun was a fucking asshole before the movement flipped me entirely off of my butt and then off the couch, crashing into the floor with a loud thump.


    ¡°You are such a dick.¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t let you get too overconfident with those wet noodles you call arms.¡± He mocked, flexing his arms at me, as I just lay there on the floor for a minute stewing.


    I was going to chrome up so much that I could throw him around, I decided. Right then and right there.


    Was I going to chrome up because I wanted to be a Cyborg? Because I wanted to be strong enough to kill Scavs, or to go toe to toe with cyberpunks like Thomas?


    No. I must defeat my brother.


    I stood up and brushed myself off ignoring the mocking smile on Jun''s face as I stalked away with all the dignity I had left to go find my laptop.


    ¡ª---


    I spent the rest of the night hammering away at Short Circuit.


    Although I was making great progress. My version was already much smaller than the version I had originally picked up from Yoko. The problem was, I wasn¡¯t really coming up with anything to make it special.


    It would just be an efficient version of the hack, which wasn¡¯t a bad thing, but if I was going to make something I wanted it to be more than just efficient.


    Short Circuit at its most bare bones was a hack that attacked power systems for cyberware, convincing them they needed to do an emergency discharge to keep something from exploding.


    That was actually why it was nonlethal. Sure an electronic jolt wasn¡¯t exactly a pleasant experience, and it might knock you out, but it wouldn¡¯t kill you.


    The emergency discharge couldn¡¯t release enough power to instantly stop someone''s heart or anything.


    But I wanted more than just that.


    I wanted something that would make a netrunner do a double take when they saw it. Something that Sasha wouldn¡¯t just blow off when I handed it to her. Something that might just save her life.


    I had already added in the same multi hack functionality that I had developed for Reboot Optics, and Weapon Glitch.


    This program would jump to anyone in the network and try to short them all. Of course it wouldn¡¯t be as effective as someone with something like a Tetratronic Rippler Cyberdeck, which was designed to allow multi hack.


    Anyone with some bare bones ICE would stop the jumping hacks cold, but not everyone had that.


    Plus that was just a bonus. A basic design addition that barely added any RAM requirements to the hack.


    I wanted this hack to be unique.


    It had to do something that no other Short Circuit could do. I pulled away from the keyboard as I grumbled, flopping onto my bed and trying to figure it out.


    I had considered trying to make it do more damage to Cyberware, but that was what Cyberware Malfunction was. That was a different hack entirely, meant to do something entirely different.


    So what was Short Circuit meant to do?


    Disable enemies for a short time.


    I couldn¡¯t really make it more disabling. The discharge function was surprisingly well protected against intrusion. I would have to make a variant against every cyberware I could come across¡­ Which might explain why Cyberware Malfunction was a much more RAM intensive hack.


    So¡­ It was meant to disable someone. I couldn¡¯t modify the base function, but what could I modify?


    This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.


    I went through the code of my own implants, searching through information in my own system.


    When it struck me.


    Each piece of cyberware had its own battery. Small bits of flash cyberware might have tiny batteries, but the bigger pieces?


    So if each cyberware had their own battery¡­


    That means each piece of chrome had its own discharge function.


    Short Circuit normally caused everything to discharge. Which yeah I could see how that would be useful, but what if instead of one big burst, I made it last longer.


    Each battery could be discharged in a sequence, starting with the biggest battery to still have that massive shock.


    It would make the discharge last longer for sure.


    I started fiddling with the code. I would have to make it larger, to fit in the discharge sequence in the hack, but it wouldn¡¯t even need a full Daemon to control it since that information was already stored in everyone''s agent. I mean, there was already a function in the agent that kept track of battery power of Cyberware.


    That little program would be the first thing attacked and it would discharge each battery in a row.


    I cackled evilly as I imagined some gonk with more chrome than brains stuck spazzing out on the ground as every piece of chrome he had electrocuted him one after another.


    Heh, defeated by your own Mr. Studd.


    Also, and more importantly! It would be exceptionally strong against drone and robots. They had multiple battery systems, and each one discharging would be a massive problem for a full mechanical body.


    I hummed pleased as the inspiration hit and I felt my hands blurring across the keyboard as the code came together.


    ¡ª--


    I stayed hiding in my bedroom for the rest of the night, and late into the afternoon the next day before finally I finished bug checking the code, and I finalized it.


    I flopped back, letting the laptop finish turning the code into a working hack and just considered what to do next.


    First I had to meet Sasha.


    Then¡­ Profit?


    I blinked at the joke and snorted. Yeah that sounded good. No, I thought as I rose up and stretched deciding to get changed and clean up before heading out.


    What I needed was some XP.


    I needed to kill a bunch of gonks so I could get more stat points for adaptation.


    Decision made I hurried over out of the room to the bathroom to jump into a quick shower.


    While I did that I made a few calls. Pretty amused that I could make a business call while shampooing my hair without a struggle.


    Of course the very first call I made I got yelled at.


    *Ah so you finally come crawling back to me? Do I even know a merc by this name? Certainly not one who has done any work for me recently¡­*


    *Wakakooooooo!* I whined into the line, purposefully being as annoying as possible. Two could play at that game old lady!


    ¡°Ah, she hung up¡­ Well played.¡± I muttered as I instantly called back again.


    *As I was saying.* She continued without missing a beat.


    *Wakako. I¡¯ve been busy, not just with personal stuff, but with like crazy stuff in general. But I¡¯m back on the merc grind. You need anything done, I¡¯m free to handle it.*


    *Perhaps, I will offer another olive branch to a difficult to work with mercenary¡­* She trailed off and I rolled my eyes.


    *No discounts.*


    *I don¡¯t see any gigs I need for such an expensive merc then.* She shot back instantly.


    *Heh! Does that mean I finally have a rep? Is it a good one? Do you fixers say good things about me?*


    *I find this call less and less interesting by the moment.* She drawled out and I could tell she was having fun.


    Even if she absolutely would hang up on me again if I didn¡¯t do something.


    *Alright I¡¯ll stop. Seriously though, Wakako. What do you need doing? I¡¯ve got a lot of time on my hands at the moment.*


    *Perhaps, I have a few gigs that need skills such as yours. I¡¯ll send you the details.  You are well enough? I was considering dropping you entirely due to worries about Cyberpsychosis.*


    *Ah¡­ Yeah I¡¯m much better, but I wasn¡¯t¡­ Okay the whole Scav thing probably looked pretty bad and stuff, but I¡¯m doing much better. I promise.*


    *Good. I will send you some work, complete it and stop by when you are finished. I will decide if you are doing better myself.*


    The desire to ask if she was that worried about me was on the tip of my tongue, but I know she wouldn¡¯t want to hear it.


    *You got-*


    She hung up again. ¡°Bitch!¡± I laughed as I finished my wash.


    ¡ª--


    I got the gig details and rolled my eyes as Wakako was definitely fucking with me again.


    There was a guy that hadn¡¯t paid Wakako after a gig. Which just as a baseline? That was fucking dumb.


    So Wakako wanted to remind him that he was well within her reach.


    So she sent me out, not to kill him. Not to kidnap him.


    No. She wanted me to steal his car. A pretty nice Quadra Turbo-R. She sent me a picture and I sighed because it was covered in TC colors.


    Fuck.


    But I shrugged, stealing a car wasn¡¯t a difficult gig, and if I could do it without anyone noticing, then I wouldn¡¯t have to worry about anyone getting pissed at me for stealing from the TC.


    So I drove over to where the gonk lived, and checked the parking garage. Driving through slowly confirmed his car wasn¡¯t here.


    Irritating. I drove out and instead headed to where Wakako¡¯s information told me was his day job.


    Unsurprisingly the gonk that owed Wakako was muscle for a local drug dealer. I drove past on the road once, and it wasn¡¯t hard to see his car. What was irritating was the fact his car was surrounded by gonks.


    Apparently the guy was involved in a party at the moment.


    I drove past, finding a spot down the street well out of sight that I could park and step out. Adjusting my favorite jacket as I rose out of the car I considered what to do. I could just wait. Let the gonk drive home and then klep it then.


    Or I could just klep it right out from under his nose.


    I know which one I wanted.


    To wait, because why make a gig that was meant to be annoying harder than it had to be?


    On the other hand, I had other things I wanted to do today, and waiting around for this gonk to go home while he was in the middle of a TC block party didn¡¯t sound super fun.


    So I sighed and found an alleyway, giving me enough cover from most eyes that I could quickly take four hops jumping up onto AC units, or apartment balconies to end up on the roof of the block.


    Hurrying across I made it to just above the party to scope it out.


    It took me a moment to find a good shaded spot that still let me look over the party while keeping me hidden from any casual look, as I started getting an idea of the party.


    Sure a couple people were hanging out around the cars, but no one was directly on the Turbo-R I was here to grab.


    I tilted my head as I started hacking.


    The car''s security wasn¡¯t bad, but we aren¡¯t talking about Malcolms Caliburn. This was just a normal car''s security and I broke in within a few moments. Once I was in, I tricked the security system into thinking I had the key and that was a big chunk of the gig done.


    Now I just had to find my moment.


    So I settled in, watching the movements of all the gonks. I just needed a moment where my target¡­ Joji? Koji? I don¡¯t even remember his name, it was in the data Wakako sent, but I had an eye on him now, and his name wasn¡¯t important.


    Ah.


    He was distracted by a girl.


    No one was sitting on the Turbo-R.


    I found my landing zone, and Parkour guided me on a path.


    I started the BD, then I leapt.


    Off the building, my feet barely made a noise as I landed first on an AC unit, and then across an alleyway to hit the opposite brick wall and then used that to bounce back, and then again. Down the entire building bouncing across the ten foot alley until I landed in a quiet crouch on the other side of a pile of trash.


    No one had seen me.


    I moved crouched low and fast, until I passed the trash, then I stood up and sauntered as casually as I could through the crowd.


    I might not have the colors, but I was still an asian girl. Just to fit in, I added a shake to my hips.


    Sexy Motoko walk engage!


    I slipped through the crowd with a little smirk on my face, and looked like I had something planned on my face. I wasn¡¯t bothered.


    Walking right past a girl making out with a guy on a Shion right next to the Turbo-R, I ignored them. The driver door opened, and I slipped in, the door shut, and after checking to make sure no one was behind me, I started it up and throttled quietly out of the spot onto the street, and then started driving off.


    BD over.


    Gig complete.


    ¡ª---


    Dropping off the Quadra Turbo-R into the garage Wakako wanted it placed in, I headed out and waited for my own Quadra Type-66 to catch up.


    While I waited, it was time.


    I called Sasha.


    *Ringing*


    *Ringing*


    *Ringing*


    *Heeh! What¡¯s going on kiddy cat?* Sasha picked up with all the excitement and energy I was coming to expect from the woman.


    *Sasha, I finished that Quick Hack I was telling you about. The Short Circuit one. Want to take a look?*


    *Hmm, I don¡¯t know Toko, it¡¯s not really my style, you know?*


    *Trust me, this one is good at disabling someone, especially someone chromed up for a much longer period of time than the off the shelf program. If someone with a bunch of chrome annoys you, you can hack them out, and leave them getting zapped on the floor for a good long while. It¡¯s preem.*


    The line was quiet for a moment and then all I heard was a burst of giggles.


    *Okay, okay that does sound like something I want to try on Maine some day. I¡¯m currently at the Turbo¡¯s on Longshore, the one near the riverfront. We¡¯re hosting a party right now. You should come!¡±


    I blinked.


    Wait. Turbo¡¯s¡­ That was where Maines crew always hosted their parties and stuff¡­ But that was in Westbrook!? Are you telling me I lived like a block from where Maine¡¯s crew had their parties!?


    I was struck speechless for a long moment as the realization hit that I could have met Sasha and the crew so much easier!


    *Toko you there?*


    *Wha? Oh yeah. I was just surprised I used to live over there. I¡¯ll head over. I can¡¯t wait for you to see this hack Sasha, you¡¯re going to love it.¡±


    ¡°Eeeeh! You¡¯re making me blush kid! Heh! I¡¯ve never had a little Kohai before! Eee! It¡¯s so cute I totally get it now! C¡¯mon hurry up! I need to show off my little programmer to everyone!¡±


    ¡°Wha¡­ I¡¯m not a Kohai.¡± I mumbled petulantly. But Sasha was ignoring me and all I could do was grumble and agree that I was on my way.


    I mean¡­ I guess I wasn¡¯t at Sasha¡¯s level with the netrunning stuff, I was definitely better at programming, but¡­ I guess I was a Kohai. Fine!


    I grumbled as my Quadra finally pulled up.


    Sliding in I started driving, finally getting my update from Wakako.


    *Wakako: I confirmed the vehicle was secured, and reached out to the target. Turns out he hadn¡¯t noticed his car disappearing on him. I received quite the satisfaction in hearing his discomfort at that. Excellent work. I will have another gig for you soon. Payment and bonus has been sent.*


    I blinked at the message, and checked the actual update, and whistled a little. She had given me a nice little bonus. Heh, I guess ghosting the car out from under his nose pleased Wakako.


    Well. I guess it was a good thing I was going to a party. Time to celebrate another gig completed!

 Chapter 135

    Turbo¡¯s was definitely having a party. As I pulled in, the rumble of my Quadra earning me a spot as a few of the wandering crowd moved out of the way so I could slip into a parking spot. I took a moment to stop and just breathe.


    I was so not ready to run into my favorite character right now.


    No Motoko, you fucking gonk, she wasn¡¯t a character. She was a person, and wouldn¡¯t like me geeking the fuck out over her.


    I opened my eyes and stepped out, Cool and Cold Blood working in tandem to keep me calm as I stepped towards where I had seen Sasha.


    Where I saw Maine, Dorio, Pilar, and best girl Rebecca.


    She was so tiny!


    Eeeee!


    I shook it off and kept calm, adding a bit of Sexy Motoko walk to my movement, so I would look a little less young as I approached the group.


    I took them all in as I approached. Maine noticed me, but was basically ignoring me, focusing on Dorio in his lap, and the beer in his massive hand.


    Pilar was currently drinking as well, and trying to flirt with a girl beside him. He was doing okay honestly, from the looks the girl was shooting at him. A mix of interest and exasperation.


    Sasha wasn¡¯t at the table. No, she was up and dancing to the music of the radio playing nearby. I did struggle to keep my eyes off her, because holy shit that girl was flexible.


    Of course as I approached Maines little table of important people I was stopped.


    By the smallest of the group.


    Rebecca had been fucking around with a group of random gonks to the side, from the way she had been jerking her pistol she was telling them about what had happened on the gig, but as I walked over she caught site of me and stomped over.


    ¡°Hey! Who¡¯re you!?¡± She demanded stomping right up to me, and then looking up.


    Which I thought was fucking adorable.


    She was so smol!


    Protect the loli!


    ¡°Hi! I¡¯m Motoko! Nice to meet you!¡± I offered, throwing out a hand towards the girl, and I could feel my face shift into a happy smile.


    Aaaaah! She was so cute!


    Her strange colored eyes narrowed but she surprisingly reached out and accepted my handshake.


    ¡°Rebecca. I don¡¯t recognize you.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m Chooms¡­ Friends?... I know Sasha! She invited me, I¡¯m a programmer so I have a new hack to try and sell her.¡± I explained not sure what to call my current relationship with the catgirl.


    ¡°Huh. Netrunning stuff huh? That¡¯s preem and stuff. Not really my thing.¡± She replied looking up at me for a moment and then sort of snorting out a laugh. ¡°So why do all netrunners wear leotards?¡±


    ¡°Comfy.¡± I explained without missing a beat, and that earned me an actually surprised look before Rebecca burst into cackles.


    ¡°You got me! C¡¯mon then, Sasha! Your choom is here!¡±


    The Catgirl perked up from her very¡­ Flexible dance moves as she looked over and saw me, and then she¡­ Well pranced is the best word I could think of over to me.


    ¡°My little Kohai!¡± She called out rushing over and throwing me into an overly affectionate hug. ¡°See Dorio! I have a Kohai now!¡±


    ¡°I see.¡± The large woman replied flatly as she rolled her eyes at Sasha¡¯s exuberance. ¡°Nice to meet you.¡± She replied casually and mostly just ignored me, as she turned back to trying to find Maines tonsils.


    ¡°So Toko! Show me your new hack!¡± Sasha demands as she grabs a seat and sort of looks up at me eagerly, and I relaxed a bit.


    It was hard to be tense around Sasha she was just so¡­ Out there.


    I popped a shard with the copy of my Short Circuit and offered it up.


    ¡°Let me know what you think. I promise it¡¯ll impress.¡± I said feeling pretty proud.


    I had pulled that program together in just a few days, while rushing around doing other things, but it was important.


    It might just save this woman''s life.


    ¡°Hmmm.¡± She drawled out after inserting the shard.


    ¡°Don¡¯t mind her, she¡¯s always like this.¡± Rebecca said on my right as we listened to Sasha just keep making questioning noises long after she should have stopped.


    ¡°This is interesting. I see what you based it off, and I can see the additional functionality. Are you sure it¡¯s a good idea to spread it out?¡± Sasha suddenly mentioned cutting into the noises she had been making.


    ¡°The battery discharge already has a limiter built in that''s part of the hardware, not software. So it¡¯s not really hackable. Instead of having everything try to discharge at once, making it last longer actually improves the hack.¡± I said sitting up and feeling eager. ¡°Depending on the target, and how much chrome they have, you could keep someone crippled for a good while.¡±


    She nodded her head as her eyes finally lost the glow as she explored the shard.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think I need it.¡± She answered suddenly and I felt my confidence pop like a soap bubble.


    ¡°Wha! You do! Gonk! It¡¯s preem code!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a good Short Circuit sure, but I don¡¯t go for nonlethal stuff much.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a cheap control hack! It even auto spreads! That¡¯s my personal hack jumping trick there you know!¡± I squawked, offended at her disinterest.


    ¡°It¡¯s cute, sure, but I go for stuff a bit bigger you know?¡± She said actually having the audacity to first put her hands close by, and then spreading them farther apart. Lewd!


    ¡°Oh god you''re one of those. Probably burn your entire RAM on every hack too, don''t you?¡± I mocked, earning a startled look from the woman at my sudden attack.


    Then Dorio started snickering.


    Becca cackled, not bothering to hide it like her choom, even Maine was chuckling.


    Sasha actually flushed a little red as everyone was cackling at her. Pilar looked up from the girl he had been flirting with only then seeming to notice I was here. But tits and ass distracted him a moment after.


    ¡°Wha! That¡¯s not what I do!¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you say, if the program doesn¡¯t overheat your deck it¡¯s babyware?¡± Rebecca cut in, suddenly and Sasha reached out to shut up best girl.


    I felt smug as I had been right.


    Sasha despite being a skilled Netrunner was one of ¡®those.¡¯


    ¡°Here.¡± I demanded, pushing the shard into her hand that she was trying to shut Rebecca up. ¡°It¡¯s a compact, low RAM, high performance hack. I¡¯m sorry you¡¯ve been stuck with grossly over-coded scop so far.¡±


    ¡°I have not! I have normal hacks too!¡±


    ¡°Hey Dorio, have you ever seen Whiskers use anything but her giga hacks?¡± Rebecca asked, and I made sure to note the cute nickname!


    Whiskers! Super cute!


    Sasha instantly whipped over to her choom and glared, and Dorio looked like she was considering not answering, but her shoulders were still shifting a little as she restrained her giggles.


    ¡°Never.¡±


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    ¡°You are all traitors.¡± Sasha mumbled glaring at the group, and I felt my smile growing because this was actually really fun!


    Maine¡¯s crew was cute! Way better than they were in the future.


    That reminded me of the tragedy of what was coming. That Sasha would soon sacrifice herself if nothing changed.


    Had I done enough? Had I given her some better tools? Would that be enough? Could her fate be changed with just that? It had been a decision she made on the spot, a decision I think she knew would be her end, so was there anything I could actually do to change her mind?


    ¡°Hmph! I¡¯ll take your hack!¡± Sasha pulled me back into the conversation as she swiped the shard and plugged it in, obviously installing it into her deck.


    ¡°Good. I hope it keeps you safe!¡± I chirped, smiling bright as I managed to fission mail successfully!


    Sasha made a sound of denial as she scoffed a bit, but it was a cute flustered scoff, not a straight denial.


    Dorio started laughing at Sasha¡¯s flustered face. Which earned her a glare from the cat girl.


    I stilled suddenly because I got a call from Wakako.


    ¡°Sorry everyone, one sec.¡± I said as my eyes blinked yellow.


    *This is Motoko.*


    *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.*


    *That¡¯s¡­ Someone really is dumb. What do we have?*


    *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.


    *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.


    I couldn¡¯t do much else for Sasha. She was a grown woman and a professional. I had given her extra tools. Hopefully¡­


    Hopefully it was enough to circumvent her tragedy, but if it wasn¡¯t, then I would at least know that I had tried.


    As I hurried to my Quadra I sent all of my chooms the call.


    *Motoko: Section 9 Assemble!*


    They would understand.


    ¡ª--


    They did not understand.


    Three calls later, I was plugging into my net chair as I was readying for a dive, and waiting for my chooms to show up.


    I had watched the surveillance video Wakako had sent, as well as what basic information she had.


    Apparently about five minutes after I left, a group of three men, all wearing masks had shown up at the garage, broke in rather bluntly, and stole the Quadra-R.


    There was a problem though. They were Tyger Claws.


    The tattoos were a dead giveaway.


    Some fucking TC gonks had stolen from the queen of Japantown.


    They were already dead, they just didn¡¯t know it yet. Even if I didn¡¯t get involved.


    Unfortunately, we didn¡¯t have an ID for any of them. They all had spoofers that the cameras couldn¡¯t break through.


    So I was going to be chasing them through the city through cameras¡­ Again.


    I eased back and blinked. A moment later I was in the net. I quickly blurred across the digital city, riding on the back of search engines to end up across the virtual reality. I landed in front of a network that for once I didn¡¯t need to break into.


    I walked in and Wakako¡¯s information gave me full access to the security of the site. I could see the marks showing that Wakako had a skilled netrunner run the security as well, but the password and access key Wakako had sent me with the video meant I walked in without issue.


    Then I pulled up the security cameras.


    Just as I had seen from what Wakako sent me, five minutes after I dropped off the car a couple of gonks walked in, broke the garage door, and then drove off with the car.


    But, and this was something I had noticed when Wakako had first sent me the video.


    There were three of them, but the Quadra was a two seater.


    Two of them jumped in the Quadra-R, but the third had run off on foot.


    So I jumped through all the different cameras of the lot area, but unfortunately the one camera that should have seen where they went, had been damaged.


    Its recording was blank and had been for weeks. So either, this was a mastermind level plan, or the gonks just got lucky.


    I perked up as I got a call from Ichi, asking to be let down to the basement.


    A few moments of thought and I sent the signal to let him come down. Seems my chooms were finally showing up!


    I quickly pulled open a connection to pull him into a group call.


    *Ichi! Glad you made it! Can you jump on the computer, I¡¯m going to be sending some camera data soon.*


    *Yeah, I¡¯m on it.* He assured me and that was that. Ichi was fully in work mode.


    I jumped across the way from the storage lot that Wakako either owned, or had set up the security for and into the netscape for a mechanic shop.


    Time to track them down.


    ¡ª--


    By the time Hiromi showed up, the last of the group to appear, we had made good progress. We knew they were still in Japantown, and had just narrowed the location down to a specific street. There were a few apartment complexes on the street, and I was assuming the car was somewhere in one of them, but there weren¡¯t a lot of cameras aimed at the street in the area.


    Confirming the general location I popped out of the net. Blinking my eyes to let the real world take over my vision, stretching and groaning as I pulled out the cords connecting me to the chair.


    ¡°Here, something warm.¡± Ichi offered, handing over a carton of chinese food. I didn¡¯t even ask what it was, before digging in. The warm food restored some heat to my chest, as the coolant had kept me chilled while I was in the net.


    I slurped up my first few bites before talking. ¡°So Ichi, do you know anything about the area?¡±


    ¡°Nothing in particular. I can¡¯t think of any specific TC business on the street. I think whoever these gonks are, they planned this themselves.¡±


    ¡°Ugh.¡± I groaned as I went back to eating.


    We would have to investigate the old fashioned way. Getting out on foot, and checking all the locations trying to find where a car could have been hidden. One street wasn¡¯t too bad, honestly. It would just take time.


    ¡°Uuuugh.¡± I groaned as I realized how long this was going to take.


    ¡ª--


    We split up while working. Just to make sure nothing slipped past us. Ichi and Hiromi both parked at either end of the street, and were keeping an eye out for our car. Malcolm and I working together were walking down one side of the road, stopping at every apartment complex, business location, and back alley we could find connected to the road that someone might stash a car.


    Unfortunately, the amount of nooks and crannies in any city block only seemed to grow exponentially.


    ¡°This is another back alley garage area.¡± I grumbled, as we walked through an alley that had old roller doors attached to every building. Any one of them big enough to hide a car.


    ¡°Nah it¡¯s none of these. Look, no ones opened any of these doors in years.¡± Malcolm pointed out to me walking up to one and showing me just how rusted the entire thing was.


    No one was getting that open without a lot of effort, and noticeable markings.


    ¡°That still doesn¡¯t narrow this down.¡± I hummed, trying to be positive, even if I was doing a job I didn¡¯t really want. There was no murder here Wakako!


    Maybe I shouldn¡¯t have done investigative work with Section 9. Any gonk with a Unity can flatline someone, but it takes a whole other set of skills to be able to track someone down.


    Of course Wakako would make use of that skill, and so would others.


    ¡°Something up?¡± Malcolm asked, as he noticed my worsening mood. Although I definitely wasn¡¯t just pouting at nothing okay! I don¡¯t pout!


    ¡°I just wanted a more exciting gig I guess? I want to fight some ninjas, or something. I did that once. That one borg was like a ninja.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think he counts Motoko, he was just a netrunner.¡±


    ¡°Netrunning is like magic, so I¡¯m putting it in the counts column.¡± I informed him with a smile that earned me a scoff from Malcolm.


    ¡°Hey!¡± A voice called out pulling our attention away from the rusted out door we were looking at, towards the big guy that was looking at the two of us, with a hand reaching towards the unity on his hip. ¡°You little, shits better not be thinking of breaking in!¡±


    ¡°Nope!¡± I called out, hands raised up a bit. ¡°We were just noticing that no one had used this one in a while.¡±


    ¡°Bullshit. Clear off before I flatline you brats.¡±


    ¡°Sure sure.¡± I agreed, mostly because the guy was obviously just trying to keep a couple of teenagers from breaking into his stuff. ¡°C¡¯mon Malcolm.¡± I called as we moved past the guy.


    ¡°Hey old man. You see a couple gonk fucks driving around here in a suped up Quadra-R. Looks like this.¡± Malcolm surprised me by saying, as his eyes shifted blue as he sent what must be a picture of the Quadra. ¡°Or maybe the gonks themselves?¡±


    The man went silent for a minute, glaring, but eventually he answered in the most obvious way possible. ¡°I didn¡¯t see anything.¡±


    ¡°Listen old man, we aren¡¯t here to steal scop, can you tell us where they went?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know anything. The Claws know I don¡¯t narc.¡±


    Malcolm shook his head, actually smiling. ¡°Perfect, because these particular gonks pissed off the Queen of Japantown. Wakako is looking for them. So this is all square.¡±


    The older man sort of worked his jaw, considering the question before he nodded real slow. ¡°I never saw them before in my life.¡± He verbally said but a moment later his eyes flashed and Malcolm nodded smiling.


    ¡°Of course not. A respectable upstanding man like yourself wouldn¡¯t ever bother with scop like this. You have yourself a nice day sir.¡± Malcolm offered, sounding every inch the respectable kid just trying to help out.


    Of course I knew Malcolm, and that was not what he was.


    A moment later the man walked away and Malcolm huddled closer. ¡°He gave me the deets. C¡¯mon.¡±  He whispered to me, and he pulled me along back onto the street.


    ¡°Malcolm?¡±


    ¡°Apparently that guy is pissed that these guys have been fucking around, he caught them breaking into shit multiple times, but he doesn¡¯t exactly want them to know he ratted on them.¡± He explained to me quickly as we hurried back to the street.


    A few seconds later he sent me the message as well, and I looked towards the building just across the street.


    Found them.


    Now to find the car.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Malcolm hurried me on and rushed across the street. I couldn¡¯t help but chuckle at how eager he sounded, but I couldn¡¯t deny that this was definitely his win.


    I crossed after him dodging a few cars and we walked into the complex. The lobby was covered in trash and stunk like someone pissed in a corner. But Malcolm didn¡¯t slow. To my surprise he was like a bloodhound. Hurrying through he found the elevator and turned to me.


    I laughed at the begging look as I walked over, and my eyes flashed as I started hacking. I barely needed to do anything. The ICE on the hardware was ancient, and didn¡¯t even slow my Breach. The elevator came up and we walked in, and then a moment later Malcolm pushed the pad to send us down to the basement.


    ¡°You think it¡¯s here?¡± He asked, and I shrugged.


    ¡°I hope so. It would certainly make this a lot easier. Wakako will be happy.¡±


    ¡°What about the gonks that stole it?¡±


    ¡°We hunt them down and flatline them?¡± I questioned back, wasn¡¯t it obvious?


    ¡°They are Tyger Claws. Sure that''s a good idea?¡±


    ¡°They stole from Wakako. If they wanted to survive, that is a quick way to do the opposite.¡± I shrugged. ¡°If there is trouble we deal with it. But this is an official gig.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­ Right. Official.¡± He muttered as the elevator opened to a truly dark parking garage, most of the lights flickering or out. Malcolm hesitated, but I could see just fine. So I stepped out leading the way. Looking for a particular Quadra-R.


    ¡°Gotta get better optics.¡± Malcolm mumbled from behind me, but I shrugged.


    ¡°Chip in at your own pace choom.¡± I called out behind me as I walked down the dark path, head darting this way and that.


    ¡°C¡¯mon tell me it¡¯s here.¡± I mumbled to myself, as I hurried around the garage space. Finally I ended up catching back up with Malcolm and shook my head. ¡°Nothing.¡±


    ¡°Hmm.¡± He mumbled though looking around despite the darkness making it hard. ¡°Motoko, scan around a bit? These buildings sometimes have private garages along the walls.¡±


    I blinked, I hadn¡¯t even considered that. My eyes flashed, into a scan mode, something that was completely natural at this point. I barely had to think about it before my Kiroshi responded to my needs. ¡°There!¡±


    Along one of the walls, was a small rolling door. Just big enough for a car to drive in. And there! Another one.


    Looks like there were two to three of them on each wall of the garage.


    We didn¡¯t even need to speak. Both of us rushed for the first one, and after a few moments, I managed to breach into the door''s security and it unlocked, rolling up into the ceiling.


    The space inside had a vehicle, but not the one we were looking for.


    ¡°Fuck.¡± Malcolm cursed, but I just smiled, and signaled for the door to shut, and ran to the next one. Malcolm following after just a moment his own excitement returning with the reminder there were more doors.


    Mystery doors! What is behind door number two? I thought as I poked the door, the same security as the first door gave way instantly and it rolled up.


    Just some junk.


    We rushed to the next after closing the second and as it rolled up, I couldn¡¯t help but whoop and leap onto Malcolm to pull him into a hug.


    There it was.


    The Quadra-R I had literally already stolen today.


    ¡°C¡¯mon!¡± I hurried over without hesitation. I already had the thing breached from before. I already had a key. The door popped open before I even touched it, and I slipped inside, Malcolm joining me a moment later.


    ¡°Let¡¯s call Ichi and Hiromi and get this taken care of¡­ Then we can talk to Wakako about what she wants done.¡± I told Malcolm, even if I would happily just kill the gonks, if my choom was worried about it, then there was no harm in asking.

 Chapter 136

    ¡°And that¡¯s that.¡± I said having parked the Quadra-R right back into the same garage that I had put it in before. ¡°Let me call Wakako.¡± I told my chooms, as everyone was distracted with Malcolms retelling of what happened.


    *Ringing.*


    *Ringing.*


    *I see that you have completed the task successfully.* Wakako answered her phone without a moment''s wait.


    *Yeah, found it parked in a little garage. So now the real question. What do you want me to do with the gonks that stole from you? They are TC, so do you want me to handle it, or?*


    *A show of force is needed. Kusanagi. You have succeeded in every task I have given you. So I give you another. I want them removed.*


    *Well that is something I can do.* I assured her, already fingering the knife at my hip. Finally! XP!


    *Good. Contact me when you are finished.*


    With that Wakako hung up, although I had to admit that last bit almost sounded like a goodbye. Was I melting Wakako¡¯s frozen heart?


    Yeah. No, probably not.


    ¡°Alright guys! We got a second part of the gig!¡± I told my chooms making everyone perk up. It was time for some real ninja shit!


    ¡ª--


    The apartment complex was old, and rundown, and after checking the registry at the front desk which I didn¡¯t even have to hide the fact I was jacking into as no one in the entrance cared what I was doing.


    Michael Hideki. Room 303. He was the one that owned the garage in question, and with a bit of searching I confirmed he was the guy from just looking at the records they had.


    ¡°Got him.¡± I told my team, the four of us had walked into the lobby. The few bums that hung around quickly disappeared as everyone was armed. ¡°Ichi, Hiromi, cover the entrance from the truck. Malcolm you¡¯re with me.¡± I told them and I could feel Malcolms excitement at being pulled along.


    We headed up to the floor as I explained what Malcolm should do on the way up. He stepped off, and then I went up to the floor above.


    The exterior of these apartments all had balconies.


    I walked a few apartments down and just walked into 403. The man hanging out on his couch jerked up at my sudden appearance but I just waved him off.


    ¡°Not here for you. Ignore me.¡± I told him very visibly flashing my Burya to make sure the man got the hint. His slow nod told me he would behave as I walked to the balcony. I took a moment to put away the Burya, and ready my Lexington, slipping on the silencer. Then I simply stepped over the edge, as casual as any stroll.


    Catching myself on the balcony just below I slowly peaked over the edge.


    These were my targets.


    The three gonks. This time without masks, but I had already ID¡¯ed them. I hupped up, climbing over the balcony and opening the outer door that had been locked, but only took a moment to pop open, and then I was there, Lexington raised.


    ¡°Wha-!¡±


    The sharp sounds of my silenced Lexington opening fire into three men snapped out, the only noise coming from the bullets zinging through the air and then into flesh and upholstery.


    They moved. Adrenaline gave them the ability to act. They shouted and screamed. Despite being shot up, they still moved. One made it to the door. Malcolm sent him back inside without a head. Malcolm followed him in, his arms opened up showing the bloody Mantis Blade he had just used to behead the gonk.


    So preem!


    ¡°Wait¡­ Malcolm! I totally forgot you had Mantis Blades! That¡¯s so cool!¡± I called out as I finished reloading and walked over to the last two. One hadn¡¯t made it off the couch, the other had, but only to leap behind it. I reached over and unloaded a few seconds into him, and any threat that he had was gone.


    ¡°What? Motoko, you¡¯re the one that helped me get these!¡±


    ¡°I know! I just forgot you chipped them! How are they treating you?¡± I asked, honestly curious. I never had a chance to ask V what having them was like!


    ¡°Uh¡­ I guess they¡¯re okay¡­ Are we done?¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah. We should loot up a bit and delta.¡± I said, searching all three gonks for their iron, and mostly just throwing it at Malcolm to hold as I scanned with my Kiroshi for anything of value.


    ¡°Let¡¯s delta.¡± I confirmed, after a quick search and we hurried out of the apartment, back to the elevator, and then down, basically running as the adrenaline was hitting Malcolm making him twitchy and I was mostly just happy with all the XP.


    *500 XP Gained.*


    *500 XP Gained.*


    Once we jumped into the back of the truck. Hiromi closed the doors, and Ichi pulled away.


    Gig successful!


    I sent the message to Wakako, and then smiled even brighter as we got our payment.


    ¡°Drinks are on me!¡±


    ¡ª--


    I flopped onto the bed tired from a night partying. We had ended up going to Lizzies because of Ichi, and Malcolms machinations, and Hiromi hadn¡¯t managed to convince me to go to that one fancy TC bar we had visited so long ago.


    So a fun few hours spent drinking and celebrating with my chooms.


    I hadn¡¯t had any alcohol so had been the designated driver to get everyone home after, now I was home and kinda sleepy.


    I considered just closing my eyes and hitting my sleep button, but instead I rolled off my bed and walked over to my workbench.


    So much stuff was going on.


    Hiromi and I were still talking about who to hit for another massive loot run. She was actually doing fixer stuff to narrow down some locations we could hit and load up on gear.


    I was still worried about Sasha, was forcing the perfect hack for the gig enough? Would she survive? I hope so. She deserved to live. Even if revealing the Securicine knowledge wouldn¡¯t solve the problem entirely. Biotechnica had ridden out the issue without problem.


    Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    That¡¯s what happens when you are the one corp that handles most of the food and medicine.


    If she lived, maybe we could team up and do some cool netrunning attacks on them?


    Then I had the stuff in front of me.


    Technical Ability was still the weakest of my stats, and it was one I really needed to level. I knew I would get a lot of work after we loaded up on all the equipment for my chooms. We would all need modifications to armor and weapons.


    Yet if my skill was only middling then why do it myself? Hiring someone would be better, since we were talking about my chooms safety!


    So it was time to settle in and do some grinding.


    First thing first. I needed a project I could just sit down and absolutely grind out on. The idea had been in my head for a while. Since Section 9 started doing investigative work we needed some equipment that would make our gigs easier. Well that and it worked for Batman.


    I grabbed the laptop to open up the CAD program, and started designing. I didn¡¯t need to make them look like little bats or anything. I just needed them small enough I could fit a few onto a belt for easy use and something to lock them onto things.


    Tracking devices were pretty easy all told. Battery, signal repeater, chassis. Even better, I could make them connect through whatever local net they were close to, and then boom. I did consider attaching a camera or something onto them, because honestly micro cameras weren¡¯t expensive, but I wanted to hold that off for the next project.


    The CAD design came together over a few hours as I slowly adjusted everything until I had a small circular disc that would have a magnetic back and that was that.


    I made a list of everything I would need for one, and headed out of the house. Ignoring Jun as he was camped out on the couch zoned out and watching some TV show he liked. I headed out and then into the maze of buildings and shops that made up Japantown.


    I found the tech shop that was closest and stepped in barely even paying attention to what was going on, but of course I had plenty of skills stuffed into my brain that started blaring warnings.


    I looked up and into the eyes of¡­ Well they weren¡¯t TC, at least they weren¡¯t wearing TC colors. But they were definitely robbing the place.


    ¡°I said get up-¡±


    ¡°Sup gonks.¡± I introduced myself, and then drew my gun as the guy with a Unity that had approached me, didn¡¯t actually have it aimed at me.


    Total Gonk move.


    He exploded away from me as Burya blew a hole the size of my fist in his chest, and I instantly dropped, as his choom across the way reacted with a scream of surprise and started blasting with his Carnage.


    I aimed and fired.


    Nothing between him and I was bulletproof. Especially not Burya proof. I fired the moment my shoulder had hit the floor and I had stopped bouncing and I instantly heard the gunfire stop.


    It took me a few moments to peak out and I could see the second gonk on the ground bleeding out.


    Whew!


    I rose up, and wiped myself down, holstering my Burya as I checked the shop.


    The guy behind the shop counter wasn¡¯t there¡­


    Not good. Peeking over the counter I saw brains splattered across the wall and a slumped cashier.


    ¡°Fuck. This means I¡¯m not getting my supplies doesn¡¯t it?¡±


    Considering the circumstances. I did consider just taking what I wanted. I could easily destroy the camera evidence¡­


    No. I shook it off with a sigh. As I walked over and pulled my Lexington.


    Two rounds into the skulls of the gonk fuckers that tried to rob me along with my tech shop.


    *500 XP Gained.*


    *500 XP Gained.*


    I guess I¡¯ll call NCPD?


    ¡ª--


    ¡°Like I told you. I got here after. I was coming to buy some supplies to tinker with, and I wasn¡¯t even paying attention to notice the store was being robbed. Gonk fucker one, tried to hold me hostage, but he had the trigger discipline of a particularly high Scav, and I blew his ass away from me. And then shot gonk fucker two through the stacks. Cashier was already dead.¡±


    The woman officer listened to my story with a look that gave me no context on whether she believed me, but told me she had better things to do than be here. I had of course waited after calling the NCPD to alert them to the murder.


    Really the officers had looked more angry at the fact I was here to still give a statement than if I had just disappeared.


    ¡°Just sit down and don¡¯t move.¡± She demanded after a moment and walked over to her partner. I just wiggled my cuffed hands at myself because I had been sitting on the counter the whole time.


    Cops amiright?


    Kicking my feet, I did my best to restrain my urge to whistle. NCPD were a bit twitchy. Eventually they both headed back over to me, after having checked out the bodies and talked to eachother quietly.


    ¡°We confirmed you didn¡¯t kill the shopkeeper, and these two had bounties. Get lost.¡± She said walking behind me and with a bit of roughness unlocking the cuffs.


    ¡°Can I get my guns back?¡±


    ¡°Grab them and disappear.¡± The male demanded pointing to the other side of the counter where they had stripped my equipment. I hurried over and loaded up, checking and even if they didn¡¯t like it, reloading my pistols before I was suited back up.


    ¡°Nice to meet you all! Have a nice night!¡± I smiled brightly at them, earning irritated looks in turn as I headed out into the night.


    Now I needed to find a new tech store.


    ¡ª--


    Arms loaded with bags of goodies I finally made it back home.


    The second store I had gone to wasn¡¯t as well stocked as the first, but it was thankfully unmurdered so I was able to buy what I needed.


    I hobbled into my room and dumped everything besides the workbench, and flopped in.


    It was late, but I was actually feeling kinda excited now that I had everything in front of me.


    I immediately threw in some of the aluminum into the printer to start processing the casing. While I grabbed the trackers'' electronics and started putting it all together. My fingers were quite deft, as this wasn¡¯t a complex task.


    Batteries, a small chipset to connect to the net to send pings. Mostly it was just setting it all in a row so it would fit in the little disc.


    The programming to get it to send me information only took a few minutes, my hands blurred across the laptop as I configured a very simple program that would send location data to me in an interval by text. Something I could easily just ignore if I need to, but would create a nice little history for each device as well.


    The first one finished and I pulled it free checking the fit of all the parts, happy it worked. I threw another one into the printer, and attached the final bit to the casing. A magnet. It wouldn¡¯t attach to everything, but it would be enough. With a moment to pull a shard out of the laptop and insert it into the chipset in the tracker it got its software updated, and then I was done.


    I checked out my first completed tracker. Looking at it this way and that, then I flipped it on.


    Instantly a location was sent to me by text.


    Nice.


    I marked it as Tracker 1. And set it on the table to check its interval, while I focused on the others.


    One after another I started putting together trackers.


    And quickly since I was making something new, something that needed multiple skills, alerts flooded in.


    I had finally gained another Technical Ability point, and then it just flowed over with alerts.


    *100 Technical Ability XP Gained*


    *100 Technical Ability XP Gained*


    *100 Technical Ability XP Gained*


    *Technical Ability Leveled up!*


    *100 Engineering XP Gained.*


    *100 Engineering XP Gained.*


    *100 Crafting XP Gained.*


    *100 Crafting XP Gained.*


    *100 Crafting XP Gained.*


    *100 Crafting XP Gained.*


    *100 Crafting XP Gained.*


    ¡ª-


    Eventually after I had a good dozen of the things I went to bed falling instantly asleep and waking up long after the afternoon was a distant memory feeling refreshed and happy.


    The tracker was the exact kind of cool spy gadget I needed, but it wasn¡¯t the only one.


    I jumped up and hurried over to the workbench and sat down. What kind of investigator would I be without hidden cameras!


    The CAD program was once again pulled up, and this time I pulled a lot deeper from my knowledge. A magnet wouldn¡¯t work. I would need a lot more flexibility.


    So I was actually going to use knowledge granted to me by one of my perks! Robotics Wizard gave me an incredibly firm baseline for robotics of any sort.


    A small camera. Barely an inch across more than small enough to hide in shadows, but It would have three tiny robotic grabbers. At the end of each one, would be a spike, and a magnet.


    If I needed to attach it to something metal, like say on top of a camera system already in place? Magnets would secure it just fine and give me some ability to adjust the angle.


    If I had nothing metal? Then I could drive the spiked limbs into drywall, or other soft materials. And if nothing like that worked. The limbs could just grab onto something the old fashioned way. It wouldn''t be as secure, but it would do.


    Unfortunately, despite my skill set, I wasn¡¯t really familiar with any material that could dampen scanning to try and make it more sneaky. I would just have to rely on placing it somewhere it wouldn¡¯t be seen to get any use out of it.


    Hours of work as I finangled the robotic limbs to be tiny enough, yet strong enough that it could handle everything I would need, and then I realized it was just a cube with a camera and limbs and that was gross¡­


    So I tossed out the entire thing and started over. If I was going to make something, I should at least make it cute or cool.


    One or the other.


    This time though the idea didn¡¯t come instantly. Something cute. Something cute. It was fighting me, and I ended up leaving the room grabbing some food and flopped onto the back of the couch letting my leg and arm hand down onto the cushions as I considered what to do.


    ¡°Ah.¡± I muttered half dreamily as I lay there staring at the adverts that always seemed to play around the entertainment system.


    Gonna have to fix that some day. Fucking things were annoying.


    But, I had an idea.


    ¡°I¡¯ll have to design it eventually. Why not now?¡± I muttered, and let myself flop fully onto the couch as I bonelessly rose back to my feet and then leapt doing a fun front flip just because towards my room.


    If I wanted them to be cute, I already had the cutest coolest thing in the whole world in mind.


    ¡°TachiCams?¡± I considered it before shaking my head. ¡°No TachiCama!¡± I giggled in delight at the decision! So cute!. I could make them disks just like the trackers, but have a protruding adjustable camera orb inserted in it.


    I would need to design it for the Tachikoma that I would make someday, so why not get started now? It would give the camera way more adjustability too. Plus it would still have little legs! Very cute!


    I pulled up the CAD program and started to work. Making the camera move like how I wanted would be tough. I didn¡¯t want to rely on a wireless approach. Too easy for a scanner to pick up on. So it would have to be hard wired which would limit the cameras range of motion before it needs to reset so it doesn¡¯t twist the wire off or something.


    The camera orb was designed first, and I could definitely do the three optic ¡®eye¡¯ for the camera. Maybe three pin cameras instead of a single large one?


    Coming up with a cool design was fun!


    I buried myself into design, slowly forming out a¡­ Okay it looked like a flying saucer, like an old style one, it even had the funny little legs, but hell, it was cute, and it would definitely work.


    I started putting the final touches on the design. This was going to be so cute!

 Chapter 137

    I got a call from Hiromi.


    *Hey Hiromi! What¡¯s up?*


    *Motoko! I did it! I got us a gig to get supplies! You are going to love this!* Hiromi practically squealed into the phone as I pushed myself away from the workbench to focus on the call.


    *Okay, hit me.*


    *Okay so, I was talking to my Dad, and he mentioned there had been an AV carrying supplies shot down. I think you can figure it out from there?*


    *Oh easily. Arasaka doesn¡¯t care so much for the supplies just wants to send a message?*


    *Ehhhh. Dad does want some of the supplies returned, there was some data he would like to retrieve if you catch my drift. But trust me, I negotiated really really hard! Papa was so proud! We will walk away with loads of equipment.*


    *Alright. What do we know? Do we know where the supplies are now?*


    *That¡¯s¡­ The problem. No, not exactly. It was definitely some nomads, the attack happened in the badlands but whether it¡¯s nomads, or Wraith Arasaka doesn¡¯t know. That¡¯s for us to find out basically.*


    *Hmm¡­ You didn¡¯t already confirm our participation right?*


    *No way! We have a contract that we negotiated but it¡¯s unsigned, I wanted to run it past you first to make sure it¡¯s even possible.* Hiromi trailed off. *I¡¯m pretty confident, but you are the one who has to do it.*


    *Hiromi, you¡¯re perfect. Send me what data you have okay? I¡¯m going to call Saul and make sure it wasn¡¯t the Aldecaldos. If it wasn¡¯t that narrows it down, and he might even know who took it.*


    *Alright, I have the info, sending now.*


    I checked over the text. The supplies were taken out of a downed AV all men had been killed, and by the time Arasaka had sent a second AV to check it out everyone on board was dead, and the stuff was taken. This happened last week, and so far Arasaka hadn¡¯t dedicated any resources to handle the problem.


    *And your dad, he¡¯s responsible for finding the shipment? I just want to know in case we refuse, we wouldn¡¯t be screwing him over right?*


    *Nope. Dad is the one who is in charge of the guy that was responsible for it. That guy is¡­ Well Dad just mentioned he was no longer a problem, he might have been responsible for leaking the flight plan, willingly or not.*


    *Okay. Give me a few minutes and I''ll call you right back. Can you get Ichi and Malcolm? We should all discuss this.*


    *Hehe! You got it, leave it all to your fixer Hiromi-chan!*


    I just laughed at how cute Hiromi had tried to sound, but hung up a moment after and made the call to Saul.


    *Ringing.*


    *Ringing.*


    *Ringing.*


    *This is Saul.*


    *Saul, it¡¯s Motoko. Do you have a moment to talk? Business.* I added at the end.


    *Hmm. Sure, what¡¯s going on?*


    *Let¡¯s just say I¡¯m looking at a contract to hunt down someone that downed an Arasaka AV last week. Current assumption is some Nomad group. I just want to make sure I¡¯m not going to be hunting people I actually like¡­ If I take this, I won¡¯t be hunting down you, or your family¡­ Right?*


    The line was quiet for a moment, but Saul spoke up a moment after clearly.


    *Normally I wouldn¡¯t want to answer that sort of question, but in this case, it wasn¡¯t us, so I don¡¯t have to beat around the bush and pretend. We don¡¯t go after corp AV¡¯s unless it¡¯s on contract, and we haven¡¯t poked any corps in a while. Much less Arasaka. Sounds like a Wraith group. Probably on contract by Militech.*


    *I assumed it was a counter corp thing, glad to hear it isn¡¯t you guys. Sounds like I¡¯ll be running around the badlands in the next few days. Maybe I¡¯ll stop by and say hi. Maybe with more Wraith vehicles that might need new owners.* I offered.


    *Tell you what Kid. You¡¯ve been square with us, and I do appreciate the call to make sure you aren¡¯t taking a contract on my family. I don¡¯t think we have much need for more vehicles, but I¡¯ll contact Dakota for you. She¡¯ll likely give you a call, might even have some information that might narrow your target down a bit. If I know Dakota, she¡¯ll take a chunk off from the vehicles if you can supply them in payment.*


    *That would be perfect. Thanks Saul. I really appreciate it!*


    *No problem kid. Good hunting.*


    *Thanks!*


    I quickly ended the call and pushed my chair away from my workbench so I could give myself enough space to quickly spin myself around as I giggled at kicked my feet.


    ¡°New gig! New gig!¡±


    ¡ª--


    ¡°Welcome to the Section 9 pre-mission debrief!¡± I called out as Malcolm finally arrived and I handed him his favorite Ni-Cola and ushered him inside the apartment.


    ¡°Thanks?¡± He questioned looking around but Hiromi just waved at him lazily from the couch, her face still buried in a laptop she had brought with.


    ¡°Don¡¯t mind Motoko, she is just excited.¡±


    ¡°Hey! I¡¯m not excited¡­ I¡¯m super duper excited!¡± I called out happily, and I was.


    A nomad group wouldn¡¯t just be a couple dudes in an apartment. This would take actual work to plan out, I would have to go in full ninja mode, and murder potentially dozens of bad guys!


    So much XP! So much loot! I would actually have my team with me to loot the place! Sure the Arasaka Helmet was only mid, but their armor was good, and so we would definitely end up with weapons, and armor for my team!


    We would look so fucking cool after!


    ¡°Alright settle down.¡° Hiromi demanded pointing mostly at me. ¡°Here is what we know, and it isn¡¯t much. Thanks to Motoko knowing the Aldecaldo leader I got in contact with Dakota Smith, she¡¯s one of the big fixers in the Badlands. And we got some potential targets for who took the shipment, but nothing concrete.¡±


    ¡°The Badlands is pretty big.¡± Malcolm sort of pointed out slowly. ¡°Are we even going to find these gonks? I mean we can¡¯t do Motoko¡¯s Camera trick out there.¡±


    ¡°True, but we have all the data Arasaka has, and more importantly. We know who didn¡¯t take it.¡± Hiromi added, and she turned to me, I threw her a thumbs up.


    ¡°We got some stuff to go on. Dakota was kind enough to give us some data in exchange, for a lump payment now, which will be returned to us if and when we sell off the suspected Raffen Shiv vehicles we are probably going to come into ownership of soon.¡±


    ¡°Oh! I want one!¡± Malcolm called out and Ichi slapped him on the back of his head.


    ¡°You already have two cars, you gonk.¡±


    ¡°Nah. The Archer was stolen by my mom. She always wanted her own car, and I can¡¯t exactly drive my baby to the grocery store!¡± He argued, waving his hands as if that would emphasize his point. It honestly only made me laugh all the harder.


    ¡°This gonk! He spent all his eddies on a car he can¡¯t even use!¡± I cackled and Malcolm grabbed an empty Ni-Cola can and chucked it at me, but my ninja reflexes were too strong!


    I managed to bat it away and smile widely at him.


    ¡°I can so use it! I just don¡¯t want to drive it around to places it could get targeted, or get me targeted.¡±


    ¡°So you can¡¯t use it.¡± I mumbled under my breath quietly enough that everyone heard it.


    ¡°Let¡¯s focus back up you gonks.¡± Hiromi demanded poking me in the side to get me to stop messing with Malcolm


    ¡°We will obviously need some actual on the ground scouting this time, but that¡¯s gonna be super dangerous. Thankfully Motoko¡¯s wheels are already made for the badlands so we got that. Ichi Malcolm and I will drive together in his van to Dakota¡¯s garage. She agreed to let us set up there as long as we don¡¯t drag any trouble there, so we have a staging ground.¡±


    The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    ¡°While I hit the locations we think might have the loot!¡± I burst out unable to contain myself.


    I would probably have to hit multiple Raffen bases!


    I shivered and didn¡¯t discretely wipe my mouth at the idea of all the XP! Definitely not!


    ¡°Right. Motoko will go out scouting, but that¡¯s going to take a while. The Raffen will often have security around the camps in case someone is driving up on them, which means getting a mile or so off and walking¡­ Motoko?¡±


    ¡°Easy. I got good boots, and I¡¯ll bring lots of water in the car.¡± I waved off the concern. Seriously these city kids! As if walking a mile in a desert was that tough. I had done it before even and I was way more beat up then! And there had been a sandstorm!


    ¡°So that¡¯s the idea. Motoko hits the locations, clears them out, we find our target, and Ichi moves in to remove it.¡±


    ¡°What about the places Motoko scouts that aren¡¯t the target?¡± Malcolm asked, once again proving he was my swiftly shooting up the favorite charts. ¡°Like what about all that loot that will be left behind?¡±


    Hiromi fumbled for a minute and looked to me.


    I just shrugged. ¡°We should expect this could take a while, days maybe. So if I clear a place you guys move in, we loot up and leave. Run the idea past Dakota I guess. She¡¯ll probably take the loot, or know where we could offload it¡­ Or she¡¯ll refuse cause it¡¯ll bring a lot of heat. Who knows.¡±


    ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll run the idea past Dakota after this meeting. For now Malcolm we will loot it up, or if Dakota says it will bring too much heat¡­ We can just sell the info. The Aldecaldos would be happy to loot it in our place.¡± Hiromi muttered I could tell the way she said it that she liked the idea.


    ¡°I¡¯m okay with that. It¡¯s gonna be hot out there.¡± Ichi offered, but Malcolm was a true loot goblin and glared at both of them. Our eyes met.


    Yes, my choom. The loot shall be ours.


    We nodded silently. Compact complete.


    ¡°Oh! Malcolm, take my HMG too. That way you guys will have a lot of protection between Ichi¡¯s turret, and you backing him up.¡±


    ¡°Oooh.¡± Malcolm gave me a sinister smile, which I returned.


    ¡°Okay you maniacs, we do have another problem. Please turn your eyes to Arasaka¡¯s only information on the attackers.¡± Hiromi demanded, and turned her laptop around, where there was a small text log.


    It was transcribed from the pilot, and I frowned deeply at what I read.


    ¡°That¡¯s going to be a problem.¡± Ichi offered, but Malcolm jumped in instantly after.


    ¡°I want it! Dibs!¡±


    ¡°Fuck!¡± I cursed, because the idea of a vehicle with a Rocket Launcher on top was pretty rad. Like¡­ At least as cool as my Black Quadra.


    ¡°I really don¡¯t think you need a rocket launcher equipped vehicle, Malcolm.¡± Hiromi tried to argue, but I actually considered it and shook my head.


    ¡°Actually. If we gathered a few armed vehicles like that, and stored them for emergencies¡­ that¡¯s not a bad idea. We might take gigs where we have to hit AV¡¯s or need to take out an armored transport. Having something like that in storage isn¡¯t a bad idea.¡±


    Hiromi looked like she was going to argue but her shoulders slumped. ¡°That¡¯s true.¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± Malcolm fist pumped because that meant we were definitely taking heavily weaponized vehicles for ourselves.


    ¡°Okay but back to the point. That thing is super dangerous. What do we do?¡±


    ¡°We infiltrate their camp and kill them before they get a chance to get in their rides.¡± I offered with a shrug. ¡°I¡¯ll just have to be super careful if any of the thieves manage to get into their vehicles that could be pretty dangerous.¡± It made me consider whether I needed to bring my Uragan, but that might be overkill.


    Nekomata should punch through the armor pretty well, and at close range and not standing on top of a  moving vehicle, I should be able to hit the driver.


    ¡°Alright! Let¡¯s get everything we need sorted out tonight, and we can head out in the morning to Dakota¡¯s garage!¡± Hiromi called out clapping her hands to refocus us all. ¡°We will have a mission budget, so run things through me, and we can get everything sorted out!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t forget to bring lots of water!¡± I added looking at my chooms who all rolled their eyes at me.


    ¡ª--


    The next morning we all met up at Hiromi¡¯s parking garage, and Hiromi dropped a new issue on our heads.


    ¡°Dad wants to talk to everyone about the gig? I think he just wants to meet my chooms.¡± Hiromi added looking nervous as we all arrived.


    Ichi, Malcolm, and I looked at eachother and I could tell the boys weren¡¯t interested, but Ichi shrugged and Malcolm relented a moment after. ¡°Sure, I guess.¡±


    ¡°If our client wants to meet, I¡¯m not against it.¡± I added, and Hiromi looked relieved as we all headed towards the elevators.


    The ride up was quiet and I could see Hiromi sort of buzzing with anxiety but we stepped out and over to her door which she opened and led us in.


    There, sitting at the big table in the dining area was Hiromi¡¯s father. That same sort of sinister look behind his eyes was present just like before.


    ¡°Ah Hiromi! I see you brought your little friends! Good. Why don¡¯t all of you come over for a minute, this won¡¯t take long.¡± He called out waving us over, but I noticed didn¡¯t actually ask, or offer us a seat.


    Once we walked over he looked the three of us that weren¡¯t Hiromi up and down, paying particular attention to me.


    ¡°You look like you are doing well, Motoko wasn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°Yes. Nice to see you again as well. I hope that our completion of your gig will meet your satisfaction.¡± I added, and he simply smiled lightly, like he was looking at a child showing a finger painting, or a small dog.


    ¡°I¡¯m not overly concerned, which is why I agreed to let Hiromi take on the contract for this issue. My true concern is that my daughter comes to no harm while working this gig. I hope you understand my meaning.¡±


    I nodded to the man, while my mind was buzzing.


    That¡¯s right. Arasaka was full of people like him. Arrogant men and women, that don¡¯t actually care about the bottom line, just as long as their pet projects or comforts were respected.


    Who cares if Arasaka lost a shipment, as long as they weren¡¯t the ones directly responsible for it? That just meant they could remove some upstart below them, securing their own power. Throw eddies at some mercs to see if they could kill the ones that attacked them problem solved. No longer a problem.


    This guy didn¡¯t care about the shipment. Didn¡¯t care about killing the ones responsible. Very likely if Hiromi hadn¡¯t offered to take the contract he would have just filled in a report somewhere about how he had hired some mercs with company eddies and they hadn¡¯t found anything. All the while just pocketing the money and never bothering to actually investigate.


    This was a sign of the arrogance and corruption within Arasaka at this time.


    But I didn¡¯t care. As much as Hiromi planned on joining the corp. I didn¡¯t, and didn¡¯t have any reason or desire to try and fix it.


    I would happily take the eddies though.


    ¡°Daddy, I already told you what I would be doing, I¡¯ll be at a nomad fixers base the whole time.¡± Hiromi did not quite whine, but I noticed her lie right away. She was planning on helping when it comes to cleared camps.


    I wasn¡¯t going to call her out on it though.


    ¡°Alright. Well I mostly just wanted to see my daughter''s little friends. Heh, putting together a merc group at fifteen. What a goal getter. You¡¯ll go far if you keep that ambition honey.¡± He added, with the fakest fake laugh I had ever heard, and the way he said honey made it sound like a foreign word on his tongue.


    Hiromi just smiled at her dad though.


    Whatever, it was time.


    We were all dismissed after that, and Malcolm and Ichi both hurried for the door, obviously uncomfortable.


    Yeah I get that chooms.


    We were quiet on the elevator ride back to the garage, where we finally seemed to relax.


    ¡°Alright team, mount up. We have a long drive to get to!¡± I called, and that got everyone moving. Ichi and Malcolm jumped in his van, and Hiromi joined me in the Quadra.


    We caravaned out of the city, I kept it slow making sure Ichi had protection on the drive.


    Time for the hunt to begin.


    ¡ª--


    Dakota had been true to her word. Giving us a few different camp locations that we could check out.


    I had left my chooms behind, and headed out, Parking far away from the first camp, I had hiked for a while under the sun. Thankfully it wasn¡¯t too hot, and I had a water bottle, so I was fine.


    Unfortunately I hadn¡¯t noticed any sensor equipment out in the desert, so I was pretty sure I could have just driven right up.


    Oh well, it was worth it just for the ninja aspect. Nin-nin.


    Crawling through some old brambles gave me a good covered position as I looked into the camp.


    It was an old tunnel, probably a mine. The entrance was only sorta fortified. I noticed a mediocre attempt at putting up trash into a wall around the exterior, but it wasn¡¯t even tall enough to block my sight as I scanned over the camp.


    I only saw one vehicle, and it wasn¡¯t the one I was searching for.


    But there were tire tracks leading into the mine. So they likely parked inside.


    There were a few electronic defenses. Cameras, and I saw an old dirty HMG turret scanning at the entrance of the camp set up on an old fridge by the looks of it.


    *I¡¯m at the camp. Checking it out now. I¡¯m not sure this is our target, but I¡¯ll be checking out the mine to make sure. Sending details.* I spoke into the group chat, while sending pictures by text to my chooms.


    We were still on coms with each other. We were still close enough to Night City that we had our agents working just fine after all.


    *Not seeing a lot of people.* Malcolm noted and I nodded to myself.


    *I think they are inside the mine, probably cooler in there.*


    *Watch out for traps! There might be¡­ Land mines! Or something!* Hiromi added and I chuckled aloud, but didn¡¯t send it through the agent.


    *I¡¯ll keep my eyes open.* I assured her instead.


    *That car, I don¡¯t think it has the weapons our target has.* Malcolm added in, but Ichi instantly responded.


    *They might not weaponize every vehicle. Don¡¯t want your underlings driving something that can take you out after all.*


    *Alright chooms. I¡¯m moving in. Going dark.* I felt my smile widen as I said that. So fucking cool. Then I clambered out of the bushes and wiped the brambles out of my hair before moving closer.


    There were a few people outside in the camp proper. Time to introduce myself.


    I stalked up until I was close enough I could hack the cameras without the lag potentially interfering in my breach. Slipped into the defenses, and uploaded my Ghost Daemon into the network.


    Now I would be a lot harder for any of their sensor equipment to catch. I also sent a ping through the network, watching as the lines blurred into vision.


    Yep, there were three gonks outside the cave, and at least a dozen more inside.


    That could be irritating depending on how they were camped out.


    I considered just slipping into the cave, going through it and scouting the place without killing anyone, but honestly. Leaving myself without an exit was a really bad idea.


    Fact was, stealth was good, one of my best skills, maybe even a bit OP, but it could fail, as it had against Thomas, and getting caught without an escape could actually lead to my death.


    So quiet, consistent, and deadly it was.


    The three gonks outside were all doing their own thing. One was working on the car that was parked outside. It looks like the car had something wrong with it, and he couldn¡¯t drive it inside.


    Another was inside a small shack near the entrance to the mine. With a bit of peaking through the cameras I could faintly hear some commercial playing, so he was just chilling.


    The third looked to actually be on guard duty. Which was weird for a Raffen camp.


    There was an overhang near the HMG turret they had set up and he was sitting in the shade looking out over the desert with a big old Grad Sniper resting beside him.


    Okay. I slipped closer, taking control of the cameras and locking them into an angle that would make sure it couldn¡¯t catch sight of what was going to happen.


    I slipped over the trash without a sound, as I did so my hands were busy, quickly pulling free my Lexington, and the silencer, and in one move slowly screwing them together.


    Then once I had that taken care of I pulled my knife.


    I hadn¡¯t actually used the silencer in a real life condition yet, didn¡¯t want to misjudge a shot and have a ricocheting bullet alert the camp so no long range shooting with it yet.


    I actually ignored the guard first. I had no idea what their guard schedule was like, so I wanted to leave him alive until I was ready to move into the mine, instead I scurried under old trash, and busted equipment, until I was at the entrance to the mine.


    The gonk inside watching TV was first.


    I scoped out the little shed and narrowed my eyes in a little frustration.


    I don¡¯t know if I could slip in without being seen.


    So I raised up my pistol held in my right hand, my knife in my left raised up to help support and I stalked closer, getting up to the hut I peaked through some of the wood slats and got my first look at the woman that was inside. She was actually working on something while she watched TV. Her hands busy with some tools as she stared down at her workbench.


    Well that made this easier. I did actually slip in, while she was distracted, and a moment later her throat was missing and I carried her gently to the ground.


    *500 XP Gained.*


    One down.


    I stepped out and stalked towards the gonk working on his car. It¡¯s kinda funny how often I¡¯ve killed someone doing this.


    He was at the side of the car actually changing out the wheel.


    I considered it. Should I just let him finish before killing him? It would save my team or the nomads some work later¡­


    I shook it off, stalked up and with a vicious move tore out his throat as well. I stayed down with him for a moment making sure no noise had alerted the guard, but it was quiet.


    *500 XP Gained.*


    With that I went after the last one.


    But since there was no one else outside, I figured I might as well get some experience. I got close enough, lined up a shot and pulled.


    The sound of the bullet in the air wasn¡¯t entirely quiet, but it was a whole lot quieter than a normal shot.


    *500 XP Gained.*


    The man slumped and I nodded.


    Cool. Three down. A dozen more to go.

 Chapter 138

    With the outside cleared out, I had some time to prep just in case something bad happened. So I went over to the HMG turret, it hadn¡¯t spotted me yet, and with just a moment''s work turned it off, reset its targeting to the gonks data, and then started it back up. Then I aimed it at the entrance.


    Heh.


    If they were in a car and really moving, it likely wouldn¡¯t hit them, but if they came out on foot, or came out in a car slowly, that HMG would tear them up.


    I spent a few minutes looking around for anything else of use, but it looks like most of the stuff on the surface was trash. I mean there was literally a pit that they threw all of their trash away at. Gross.


    With that I was ready. I walked back to the entrance, and once more slipped into the camera system.


    There were a few cameras deeper into the cave, and I used them now. Slowly looking through the three additional viewpoints inside. One showed me the hallway just inside the mine.


    The other was panning over a larger room that looked like their taken over garage.


    I took a moment to scan the vehicles I could see, but didn¡¯t find the car that I was here to find. The camera couldn¡¯t see everything, but it was a sign that we were at the wrong place.


    Which didn¡¯t impact me at all, because these fuckers were Wraiths. There were a few non-wraith vehicles in the garage I could see that had very obviously been shot up.


    Not even touching on the more civilian vehicles that were definitely people they had chosen for kidnapping.


    I knew that because the last camera showed a fucking cage of all things. Thankfully it was empty.


    With Ping I had locations of the Wraiths, and I started planning out my route.


    Then I rose, my vision returning to my own eyes as I slipped inside. The camera at the end of the stone shaft only picked me up as a small blur as I darted in the darkness.


    Three of them were in the garage room.


    The three were doing normal things, checking out their rides, and relaxing. They had no reason to think there was any danger here after all. They had defenses, cameras, and even a watch guard.


    I slipped in, slipping between the Nomad upgraded vehicles like a wraith myself.


    FIrst gonk was out of sight of the others sitting in the driver seat of his car, fiddling with some dash installation. I slammed the knife into his throat and yanked him right down, so they couldn¡¯t see him through the windows. I left him gurgling to death bleeding out over the tile with near silent drops onto the concrete.


    Number two and three were close together, shooting the shit while they did maintenance. Luckily I had two weapons.


    I leapt slamming my knife in and out of a throat in a rush of movement as I lined up the shot and fired. The near silent shot slammed into his skull, and I took a moment to shoot another two rounds into the man just to make sure he couldn¡¯t send an alert or something.


    Then it was quiet.


    *500 XP Gained.*


    *500 XP Gained.*


    *500 XP Gained.*


    *Ninjutsu skill level up!*


    Ninjutsu level 9. I hadn¡¯t even noticed it leveling while taking out this group, but that was amazing! I took a moment to just feel the minor adjustments it guided me towards, how to move just that much faster while remaining silent.


    I moved on. The garage area led into a dense set of hab buildings. Probably the mines original offices, or crew quarters.


    I moved up to the front entrance and readied myself. There were no cameras inside.


    No way to know what was coming. Lexington was reloaded and ready, and I opened the door. Just a hallway with a few doors leading off. I blinked and the golden lights of Ping showed me where the people were. I smiled as I narrowed down on one that was alone behind the first door. I stalked over and slowly peaked the door open.


    Bedroom.


    Sleeping gonk. A few moments later he was dead.


    *500 XP Gained.*


    I crept out and frowned.


    The next batch weren¡¯t alone. They were all together.


    I narrowed my eyes as the idea hit me. Okay, can¡¯t go quiet anymore. Time to go loud.


    I came up to the door, they were behind and slowly slid the door open just a crack.


    It was a lounge room, food and a TV was set up, and everyone inside, all ten of them were relaxing and chatting. The main squad of the Wraiths. I scanned all of them, and held myself back from whistling. Most of them were just minor bits and bobs of chrome, but their leader was a borg. A real tough looking guy. Not Maine¡¯s level, but someone that would give Jun a run for his money.


    Okay, time to prep. I started breaching into each and every one of them, being extra careful with the leader. While I did that, my hands worked the grenade I kept attached to my belt free.


    It wouldn¡¯t be enough, on its own, but with a bit of extra netrunning havoc, I think I could do this.


    I nodded as I breached into the last gonk. All of them had their defenses punched right through. It was time. I slammed Reboot Optics into their system. Only one of the gonks noticed something was wrong, as I saw a guy looking like a netrunner himself sit up as the hack was uploaded.


    I opened the door, popped the pin on my grenade and chucked it right at him.


    The tableau of frozen horror that I earned as they realized what was happening was perfect, as their sight was then instantly taken from them. I drew both my Lexington and my Burya, as their sight vanished, as they all started moving to try and grab a weapon.


    Then the first round of my Burya roared out, right at the borg leader.


    Something went wrong. Between one moment and the next he had disappeared. Sandevistan!


    But that wasn¡¯t all.


    I had gotten a look at him face to face, eye to eye.


    Only one of the man''s eyes was cyberware¡­


    I instantly backtracked. Knowing what was coming leaping out the other way of the door, suddenly a gun started firing and the doorway I had been in was filled with shrapnel. More than a few fragments struck me, but nothing that got through my armor and subdermal. I started running.


    The grenade made an echoing boom behind me, but I just booked it. This hallway was not a good place to stand around in, even with blinded gonks.


    The walls were too thin and I really didn¡¯t want to get randomly shot. Plus A Sandevistan borg was too much to face head on. Had to get better terrain.


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    Then I heard it. Boots on the floor running, and focused.


    Sandevistan Borg was chasing just as I expected.


    I kept running, leaping over cars, or sliding on top of their hoods to get to the other side, then gun fire roared behind me, and I winced as I felt something slam into my back.


    I fell into a roll ignoring the burning in my back. I had my Kang Tao armor, my leotard and my subdermal stopping whatever just hit me, but it still hurt.


    I let myself roll forward and then once I had my feet there I leapt again. Pushing myself far down the mine shaft giving myself a chance to respond. The distance was everything I needed. I turned around.


    He moved fast, but he wasn''t David Martinez. He blurred as he zipped down the hallway, the noise of his movement coming in short bursts as he moved like a lot of low level Sandevistan users I¡¯ve noticed. There was this stop and go to their movement, as if they needed to regain their grip on the ground before being able to push forward again.


    It didn¡¯t matter though. He was in my sight and his security was already in tatters.


    ¡°Get back here you netrunning bitch!¡± His voice roared, and I just rolled my eyes. Man, did these guys never get any better dialogue? It was always, Fuck you, or bitch this.


    I uploaded my newest hack.


    Short Circuit activated, there was an instant crackle of electricity as the borg dropped out of his hyper speed, lightning ran over his body as his batteries began an emergency discharge, but at the speed he was moving?


    I smiled in enjoyment as the Sandevistan user went from charging at me, a very dangerous prospect to slamming face first into the concrete and sliding along leaving a trail of red in his wake as he became a meatmarker.


    ¡°Got you¡± I told him, as I raised my Burya and fired. His head disappeared in a splatter, and I just sighed and stretched, before refocusing. Reloading the Burya I hurried back to the room.


    Some of the wraiths might still be alive. I led with my Lexington as I entered the hub and as I crept closer, I heard moaning mixed with calls for help, and even a few angry yells.


    As I peaked in I relaxed. My grenade had done some serious damage. Outright killing the netrunner, and another gonk, while leaving the rest of them in no shape to do much. Especially since they were still blind.


    I started lining up shots and firing as I stepped in. None of them were capable of stopping me, as the remaining wraiths freaked out at their own incoming silent demise.


    Only once it was done did I truly relax, pinging the network again just to confirm there was no one else connected.


    I pulled up a chair that was mostly intact from the table and plopped down, wincing a bit as my back touched the chair.


    I sighed.


    *Alright chooms. Place is clear. Not our target. Go ahead and get here to start looting, and inform Dakota we got some vehicles for her.*


    Then I just relaxed for a bit, looking at my system.


    *1000 XP Gained.*


    *500 XP Gained.*


    *1000 XP Gained.*


    *500 XP Gained.*


    *500 XP Gained.*


    *500 XP Gained.*


    *500 XP Gained.*


    *500 XP Gained.*


    *500 XP Gained.*


    *500 XP Gained.*


    6000 XP just for that room. Nice. Very nice.


    I did get an alert as well, and it was one I hadn¡¯t seen in a while.


    *Quick Hacks  skill level up!*


    Quick Hacks 8. The lowest of my netrunning skill. I closed my eyes as I took in the knowledge about how to upload hacks just a bit faster, a bit sneakier.


    ¡ª--


    I eventually got moving again after I gave myself a break. I needed to search every inch of this place for traps so my chooms wouldn¡¯t accidentally step into something. Thankfully it looks like their only security had been outside the mine. It wasn¡¯t like much could get down here without going through the entrance after all.


    But while doing that, I did find something else interesting. Laptops.


    Not just the big one in the netrunners cave. No, there were personal computers all over the place. I found the leaders room, and he had a laptop as well.


    Now I wasn¡¯t expecting a convenient shard laying around telling me this guy''s life story and how he was a bad person, but Wraiths were a gang. They were Raffen Shiv joined together, sure I highly doubted they got along group to group, but that doesn¡¯t mean there wasn¡¯t some communication.


    So I pulled up his laptop, didn¡¯t even need to unlock it as it was already unlocked. Then I pulled up his emails.


    I ran back the list of emails to the day the transport was broken, and started checking.


    No. No. No. Gross. No. Hmm. That was interesting, and might be something Dakota had an interest in. No. HELL NO.


    ¡°Ugh. Gross!¡± I whinged quickly closing that particular email. Long distance relationships were still a thing I guess, and for a guy stuck out in the badlands I guess he still wanted to get along with his girlfriend¡­ And I now knew what a Mr. Studd looked like.


    Yuck.


    More and more I went through them, learning more about Terry ¡®Terror¡¯ Hamilton. The Wraith I had flatlined.


    And then there it was. Three days after the hijacking. An email complaining to a guy about how he was pissed that ¡°Issac¡± had hit the Arasaka AV. That he could have done it just as well, if he had known.


    So he couldn¡¯t have done it basically, but it was exactly what I needed.


    I had a name now. Isaac.


    I continued to search through the laptop, checking if there was any more information on Isaac, but didn¡¯t find anything, but that was fine. We had the Badlands Fixer working with us. An Isaac of the Wraiths that had enough power to take out an Arasaka AV?


    That should narrow it down.


    ¡ª--


    Malcolm let out a low whistle as he looked over the place. ¡°That¡¯s a lot of stuff we can grab.¡±


    ¡°We have extra vehicles we can commandeer as well, if the van isn¡¯t enough.¡± Ichi answered, I was showing the two boys the rooms inside the mining hab, including the Netrunners setup.


    ¡°Well we will have to. A lot of this stuff is expensive.¡± Malcolm added, having been checking out the rooms.


    ¡°Well find out what the most expensive stuff is, or at least the stuff we can sell, run it past Hiromi and stuff.¡± I added and then mostly just stepped away from it.


    Hiromi had been very firm that I should stay away from anything to do with eddies as my sense of money was ¡®off¡¯ in her words.


    I grumbled but walked away, to meet Hiromi who was in the garage alongside Dakota¡¯s handler for this.


    The nomad was going over vehicles while Hiromi watched on with a smirk. I could practically see the eddies in her eyes.


    Good, she would make sure we get a big paycheck, but I wanted to know where our next target was.


    ¡°Hiromi. Get anything on Isaac?¡± I asked her quietly as I walked up beside her, and she looked away to send me a confident nod.


    ¡°Yeah, Dakota knew exactly who it was.¡± She replied, her eyes flashing, as she sent me a text. The information Dakota had sent reached my eyes and I looked it over.


    Dakota hadn¡¯t considered Isaac to be a potential target for the raid. Although reading through the information she had on him, I instantly suspected she had purposefully chosen not to share that information with us so we might actually take out some of the troublesome Wraiths in the area.


    It would be the exact sort of thing a Fixer like her would pull off. Only revealing the info if we hadn¡¯t found it ourselves in the end.


    For a price.


    It doesn¡¯t matter now. We had the name, and she gave us the location.


    Issac Webb was a Wraith leader. The sort of crazy fuck that caused people to flock to him out of fear of being his next target.


    He wasn¡¯t super close to our current location, his outpost was well away from the city. But at least we had a location now.


    I moved away from Hiromi so she could focus on her work and met back up with Malcolm and Ichi, helping the boys find the expensive stuff and load it up. We took a few hours clearing out the base to the best of our ability. Ichi proved his skill with power tools to completely disassemble anything of value that was bolted down.


    We ended up taking two more vans from the Wraiths garage. Both were clunkers, but as long as they could get us out of the Badlands that was all we needed.


    ¡ª--


    Packing the two vans into a garage that Dakota was renting us, we all met up to take care of the next part of the gig.


    ¡°This is going to be difficult.¡± I said looking over the data that Dakota had on Isaac¡¯s wraith group.


    For the last eight months Isaac had grown very large, pulling in small Wraith groups from all over. Not even Dakota knew why, after all, the larger the group the more costly it was to keep them. More food, more CHOOH2 to fuel their vehicles which only drained more and more as more nomads grouped up. It¡¯s why most Wraith groups were small. A dozen people or so max, to keep everything moving quickly. They were nomads after all, staying put was against their usual MO.


    But Isaac had stayed put, and grown large. According to Dakota¡¯s information, it wasn¡¯t the first time someone had done that, sometimes men wanted to be kings of their little groups, and would grow too large, usually bloating up until the food and eddies ran out, and then they would shatter apart.


    Isaac hadn¡¯t hit that part, and with the Arasaka raid likely wouldn¡¯t for a while, especially if he was selling off the equipment, or got paid by someone to do the raid in the first place.


    So he was trouble.


    Worse? The place he was hanging out in was just an old electrical substation. An old building probably put up in the 1980¡¯s from how old it looked.


    Yet, they were gathering around it. Flocking to it.


    Luckily Dakota had been interested in what was going on, and we had some footage of the place from miles away. It was a month old, but at least it would give us an idea of what we were looking at.


    We were all hunched over the display that we had set up in the back of Ichi¡¯s van. We had emptied it out after arriving at the garage Dakota was renting us and we had spent the evening preparing for the next raid. The other two vans still packed full of goodies to sell. Hiromi had even sold some of it to Dakota directly earlier.


    Now we were settled in and studying.  All four of us were camped out. Planning on sleeping in the van, for the night and maybe hit the place in the morning once we had a plan.


    Unfortunately it wasn¡¯t going super well.


    Isaac had a netrunner, a good one, which of course he did. He also had a lot of weapons, and a lot of people to use them. He was becoming a growing terror in the Badlands, and having so many wraiths was a daunting prospect.


    If I had a workable tactical advantage, maybe, but with a netrunner working with him, I wouldn¡¯t be able to do much without killing the runner first.


    ¡°Maybe a distraction, the Nomads?¡± Malcolm offered and I shook my head.


    ¡°Dakota, and the Aldecaldos are not going to get involved any further. Period.¡± Dakota had been completely firm. As far as the nomads were concerned, this was my problem.


    None of them wanted the heat of getting involved.


    ¡°And using you guys as a distraction defeats the purpose of a stealth mission.¡± I did consider calling in help. I had an array of contacts by now outside of this. Panam, Jun, Jackie, V, Maines crew even.


    Yet I hesitated. I wasn¡¯t really the kind of person to be blinded by pride, but¡­ This was my gig. My chance for XP, one that would really help boost me up.


    There would be at least fifty people to flatline. If I could get them all? That was a lot of XP.


    I took a deep breath. I didn¡¯t need help on this, I just needed to put enough advantages in my corner.


    ¡°I¡¯ll need to sneak in. The place isn¡¯t exactly securely set up. Plenty of places to slip in through the desert. It¡¯ll be a long walk, and I¡¯ll need to watch for mines, but I can get there. The problem is inside. The substation is ancient. No idea where anything will be¡­ But once the netrunner is down, I¡¯ll have access to their system. I can upload some hacks to the entire network from there.¡± Short Circuit was going to get a lot of work on the assault I knew.


    ¡°But, can you even reach the netrunner? Obviously he is going to be somewhere secure.¡± Hiromi added looking over the digital map, and all I could do was nod.


    If there was a netrunner controlling the system, I wouldn¡¯t even be able to risk turning off the cameras. I would have to do a complete stealth OP.


    I shook it off. ¡°We only really have one choice. I need to do an actual scouting mission on the place.¡± I said, Dakota¡¯s data was good, but it wasn¡¯t entirely current, and I needed to get my eyes on the substation. I might see something that Dakota¡¯s data missed. An entrance, or a weak point. Even a window left open to keep cool could be the difference between success and failure. More importantly. I needed to find the netrunner without even touching the net.


    Sure, I might be able to get in, but I might also alert the runner if he was good enough, and I just didn¡¯t know. So I was treating him as monstrously skilled. I needed to find and kill him before anything else.


    In the end nothing concrete was hammered out. We discussed entry points, and numbers but I would need to scout the place to learn more.


    We all went to bed in the back of Ichi¡¯s truck that night mentally preparing for tomorrow.

 Chapter 139

    *That¡¯s a lot of bad guys.* I spoke into the group call as I overlooked the camp.  It was mid afternoon and I had walked for miles, climbed up onto a mountain to overlook the Wraith camp and was now hidden in some brush with my Nekomata pointed down.


    *Dakota wasn¡¯t kidding about the numbers.¡± Hiromi cut in, and all I could do was nod. I was basically sending snapshots of what I was seeing to my chooms as I took note of things. My Kiroshi highlighting things for my chooms in the pictures.


    The whole place was just surrounded by vehicles and tents. Obviously the wraiths couldn¡¯t all fit inside, yet, it was obvious like the nomads they were, they were plenty comfortable.


    Walking through that wasn¡¯t going to be easy. Just the amount of people would make approaching difficult.


    *I¡¯m more interested in that.* Ichi called out, sending back an image into the chat. One of the massive trucks that were holding basically a cargo container on the back.


    The truck and container was ancient, but, well.


    *Think they stored the loot there?* I asked as I looked back at it. The massive truck reminded me of the ones that Nomads used as their main bases. So I wasn¡¯t surprised to see one, but the container made me want to look inside.


    *At least some of it. Or at least they normally would. They don¡¯t usually stick to one place this long, so.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, the fact they are sticking around¡­ Look.* I sent another image, and listened to the chatter about it.


    The Wraiths were building a trash wall. Although calling it building wasn''t quite right, they were definitely piling up broken vehicles, used tires, and other things all around the exterior towards the road.


    *They are planning on staying.* Malcolm added, saying the obvious. Which only made the whole situation more confusing.


    What the fuck were the Wraiths doing? There had to be something here that they didn¡¯t want to move away from, but it was just an old electric substation.


    *And at least we have confirmation. The Arasaka image is blurry, but look. That¡¯s probably the vehicle that took out the AV.* Ichi pointed out, a Wraith vehicle had a fucking rocket launcher system on the top.


    *Yeah, that¡¯s it alright.* I muttered already thinking of how I could disable that. I really didn¡¯t want to end up on the other end of a vehicle modified into a light tank.


    I shook it off. *Okay guys. I¡¯m going to move positions, get some other angles.* I told my team as I backed out of the bushes, and then out of sight of the camp. Continuing my scouting mission.


    ¡ª--


    I was eating an XXL burrito in the Quadra, filling my stomach and rehydrating as my team and I continued to chat about what we should do, but I was already pretty confident in what I would have to do.


    Sneak in. Kill the Netrunner. Access the network. Start murdering Wraiths until I was revealed and then dump hacks on them as I continued to murder all of them.


    That was really the only option.


    ¡°You sure we don¡¯t want to do more preparation?¡± Malcolm asked as he walked over to the Quadra.


    We had met up a few miles away from the camp out in the badlands using a side road that should keep us hidden.


    My team couldn¡¯t stay out of this entirely, there were too many Wraiths for that.


    ¡°I think unless we want to go buy a fuck ton of mines or something, we are as prepared as we are going to get.¡± I told him, chewing another bite of slop. ¡°I think we can do this.¡±


    ¡°Heh. You mean, you think you can do this.¡± Malcolm said, but it was only teasing. ¡°We¡¯ll back you up Motoko. Do what you think you need to, and kill them all.¡±


    I glanced up into his eyes and nodded. I would do it, because I had to, and because I wanted to.


    ¡°Good. I¡¯ll make sure we make it out in case something goes wrong.¡± He pointed back towards Ichi¡¯s van, that also had a Wraith Thorton Colby, parked next to it. The pickup at least fit the terrain.


    Malcolm had made off from the last gig with his own Wraith vehicle.


    I was still surprised he hadn¡¯t grabbed a Quadra, but I guess he liked the Colby more. It certainly gave us more loot hauling room.


    And if shit hit the fan, all three of my chooms could get in it and run. Ichi might be the better driver, but his van certainly wouldn¡¯t outrun an angry Wraith attack. The Colby might.


    I wasn¡¯t preparing for me failing, I was preparing in case something went out of control.


    ¡°Alright choom. Let me finish this, and I¡¯ll head out.¡± I told him finishing my dinner.


    The sun was coming down. Sure most optics could see okay in the night, but it still would give me some advantage.


    ¡°Good luck.¡± Malcolm offered before moving back.


    I finished my meal, and stepped out stretching. I was so dusty and dirty, but it was fine. I would take a nice long shower after this was all done.


    I headed to the back of the Quadra and popped the trunk. As tempting as it was, I left the Uragan and grabbed my Copperhead. The silencer was already attached, and I double checked to make sure it was secure.


    Good.


    I was already in my dark armor, so I started grabbing magazines out of the ammo section of the trunk, putting them into the webbing on my armor.


    A few grenades tucked in as well, and I was armed and ready.


    I took a breath and let it out, letting the cold clarity of Cool and Cold Blood flow over me.


    I had an objective, and a path to do it. That was all that mattered.


    But first I had a long run in the desert to get close to the Wraith encampment. For some reason they never expected someone to just come out on foot.


    *I¡¯m off. I¡¯ll be out of comms until I clear out the netrunner. Good luck.* I told the group and then headed out into the night. Everyone knew what they needed to do. I just needed to do it now.


    The run through the desert was easy, I barely broke into a sweat as the desert was starting to cool, and my athletics stat was pretty high. I kept it to a light jog and then into a fast march, just to keep myself from getting too much adrenaline.


    Slowly I arced over a hill and saw all the dotted lights of the camp. A quick scan told me not much had changed. The group was too large to really be worried about guards. Who would be stupid enough to attack a Wraith group this large?


    I slid down the hill using a path I had picked out while scouting, and then I simply scurried from brush to brush, from ravine to gully. As I crept closer. Copperhead held tight so it wouldn¡¯t jostle.


    I reached the first tent and parked against the shadow it cast for a moment to let myself catch my breath. I needed to be ready for the next part.


    I slowed my breathing until I was ready and then I moved. Sliding from tent to parked car, slipping through the shadows, my mind already knowing the path. Having scouted out all the security cameras that could see me along the route, I made sure I was always out of sight of their vigilante gaze.


    I just needed¡­


    I stopped nearly sliding under a car as a nomad walked just on the other side. The man smoking a cigarette and just sort of chilling. I started from the dirt as his boots wandered around, and rested against the car I was hiding under. He leaned against it as he smoked, and I wanted to growl, because I needed to move right past him to avoid the camera.


    So I waited, hiding in the shadows, I did my best to keep from making a single noise against the dirt I was planted against.


    Slowly the man finished his smoke. Chuckling a little at nothing as he did, probably reading a shard, or something.


    Then finally he moved off, and I slowly rose up and then moved. Slipping past a few final tents and up to the old fence that surrounded the power plant. I was at the perfect spot that none of the cameras could notice as I leapt right up and over, landing without a sound and then running the last feet to hide among some trash along the wall.


    A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    I rested again. Watching the camp from my hidden location to make sure no one was watching, before I leapt again. Landing on the roof in two leaps and then crouching down to hide among the shadows there.


    My entrance was easy to spot. A door for roof access, as the building kept some of the electrical connections up here. I hurried over and to my irritation the door was locked, but it wasn¡¯t a modern lock.


    Old lock and key of all things.


    Luckily I did have the know-how. Not sure whether it came from Ninjutsu, or Tech, but I pulled out a few pieces of wire and within thirty seconds had the door opening. Even with the rusty hinges I kept it as silently as I could and slipped inside.


    There were only two places a netrunner could be working from. Either the large heavy duty truck the wraiths had, inside the storage container, or from inside the substation connected into an old grid port.


    I was assuming the netrunner was in here.


    It¡¯s where I would be no one wanted dust and sand in their gear. So I slipped inside, ancient concrete steps didn¡¯t creak, but I could feel them shift at my weight.


    Old. This place was really old.


    The stairs thankfully didn¡¯t lead to the main room, but were actually sealed off with a door. So I could get down and slowly turn the knob of the door open letting me peek in.


    Dusty. Quiet.


    There was no one here.


    What was going on? Why pick this place, if there was nothing here? I slipped out, checking every corner thoroughly for cameras but not finding anything. There was an ancient camera in a corner, but it was hanging from a wire, and wasn¡¯t powered.


    I scanned around, trying to spot something out of the ordinary, but there was nothing. Just old concrete, a small office to the side, and old electric transformers.


    The transformers weren¡¯t even active. They had long been turned off, or shut down. I was just starting to wonder if someone was fucking with me, when I noticed it.


    The front door had dirt trailing in, and the dust was disturbed. In the dark it was hard to see, but Kiroshi were top tier for a reason. I trailed the many boot prints in the dust to one little office¡­


    Well now.


    I followed them in, I hadn¡¯t seen anything when I peaked in, but now that I was following the boot prints I followed them to the corner where the dust ended at a wall. But the footprints didn¡¯t.


    Huh. Hidden wall huh? I scanned the area, but didn¡¯t get anything.


    Whatever had made this, it wasn¡¯t 1980¡¯s tech.


    I couldn¡¯t find any sort of keypad, so I crouched down and looked at the bootprints.


    Most of the dust had been disturbed in a direct path between the door and the wall, but there were a few dusty boot prints that led around the room.


    Thanks to my Kiroshi I was able to pick them out and highlight them, leading me into following in their footsteps literally as I walked along with them.


    It looked like they were searching for something. I followed along until finally the footprints led straight towards the wall.


    Then I just reversed my steps until I found the last place the bootprints would have stopped at.


    It was a set of cupboards connected to the office desk. The faux wood was covered in dust, but again a bit of scanning found fingerprints in the dust.


    I opened the cupboards that had fingerprints until I came to the second one, and stilled.


    There in the back of the cupboard was a fake backing. It had been left open, revealing a much more modern number pad.


    ¡°Well well.¡± I muttered as I looked it over. It wasn¡¯t dusty. I couldn¡¯t scan for fingerprints. How did a Wraith know about this?


    I shook it off, it didn¡¯t matter. He did, and he had opened it. So I would as well. I pulled my personal link out of my neck and squeezed it into the slot along the bottom of the keypad.


    Instantly I winced as the defenses started reacting. ICE. Good stuff fought me off, but I instantly went as stealthy as I could. Throwing up some cloudy data to keep the ICE busy, before it realized someone had connected to it.


    Then I tried to breach in. Using all the skills I had.


    It fought me. Hard. The walls of ICE were not standard off the shelf shovelware. No, this was definitely a high level military ICE. There was only one reason it hadn¡¯t been able to lock me out, or fry me in turn.


    It was old. At least a decade. Possibly Unity War era.


    I fought it tooth and nail and finally. Managed to slip inside, the barrier giving way as my rapid fire breach finally pushed through a hole. I shut down any alerts I could. Calmed the system and the keypad chirped as it accepted my fake credentials that I quickly uploaded.


    The wall hissed, air escaping and popped out an inch and then slid sideways.


    An elevator.


    Well now.


    I instantly shook my head at that. No way was I taking an elevator down to wherever it led. Too loud. Too obvious.


    Instead I walked over and found the maintenance hatch at the top. A few moments of work and I opened it up, and climbed right out of the elevator into the shaft.


    Dark.


    Even my Kiroshi was struggling with how dark it was. Only a few red hazard lights gave me even the smallest of light to work on.


    And here, me without a flashlight.


    Walking slowly on top of the elevator, I managed to find the maintenance ladder and slowly climbed my way into the depths.


    Deep. At least three or four floors? What the hell? How had whoever built this even done this? The electrical station certainly didn¡¯t look like it had been modified in the last century.


    I hit the bottom and with a bit of work managed to find the actual elevator doors.


    Thankfully with my chrome fingersI was able to wedge in, and slowly open them up and it didn¡¯t make much noise. Slowly the doors spread and I saw what was beyond.


    A room, covered in tech. Computers, and servers and things¡­


    The massive NUSA symbol on the wall right next to the Militech logo confirmed at least some of my suspicions. Was this a NUSA outpost? The many computers that I could spot even from the elevator well were all showing information about Night City. A watch post? To keep an eye on Night City?


    I didn¡¯t see anyone through the small gap I had made and so slowly hefted the elevator doors open a bit more. The noise was pretty slight thankfully, as the doors bowed to my will and then I was in. Crouching on the other side, Copperhead raised and ready.


    I took a step, and stilled. HMG turrets. I instantly went to breach them to try and shut them down, but stilled.


    They were quiet. I didn¡¯t exhale, no instead I nodded. Obviously the Wraith wouldn¡¯t want the defenses to be on. They weren¡¯t Militech either.


    I continued. Second step, and then into the room.


    There. In the center. Were four people. Three men, and a woman.


    One was a netrunner. Plugged into a chair and in the system. The other three were just Wraiths.


    Except one of them was Isaac Webb himself. Well that made this easier.


    I raised my rifle and took aim.


    None of them suspected conflict here. None of them were prepared, even if all of them were armed.


    I aimed at my first target, took a breath, and then moved even as I started firing.


    Four rounds ripped into the chest and head of the netrunner. The sound startled the rest, but none reacted fast enough as in the air I shifted my aim, went full auto and simply started spraying the group.


    Cries of pain echoed out as bullets slammed into the three. I landed and my rifle ran dry, I dropped the mag as I rolled behind the cover of an old metal desk, grabbed a new magazine and rammed it home, pulled the charging handle and then leapt up, far above the desk I was using, giving me vision of where everyone that was still alive had run to hide.


    I started firing, and only two shots rang out loudly in the room in return, before I landed atop an old desk and waited. Checking the four with a full scan each just to make sure.


    All dead.


    *1000 XP Gained.*


    *750 XP Gained.*


    *750 XP Gained.*


    *500 XP Gained.*


    I blinked at the numbers. I guess¡­ This would have been the bosses of the Wraiths? Huh. Nice.


    ¡°Heh! Heh¡­ Hehehehehe!¡± I broke into giggles at the fact I had just ripped the leadership of a Wraith warband into puddles. I settled back to calm down as I took in what I had just done.


    What even was this place? I quickly rose up and started looking around, and it didn¡¯t take me long after poking at one of the computers to confirm my suspicion


    Yep. Night City Listening post for Militech and the NUSA.


    With a bit of exploration I even got some dates. This place was put together a year before the unification war, and had been keeping an eye on activity in Night City. Likely in preparation for the war.


    And I now knew how they had found the Arasaka AV. This thing was tracking Arasaka. Like a lot.


    They had hacked in, and just watched, no need to mess with the system. Just keep quiet, and feed on the free information.


    Instantly I realized how bad this was. For one, Arasaka would flip the fuck out if they knew about this. Militech would flatline anyone to keep it quiet too.


    Fuck.


    Should I tell Arasaka? Should I tell Militech?


    Should I shut my fucking mouth and pretend this never happened?


    Kinda leaning towards that option. I don¡¯t know anyone at Militech besides that first Militech corpo you meet trying to track their stolen shipment, and while she was certainly a surprise in her more personal meeting later in the game. I didn¡¯t really like her.


    Besides, I was way too young for that.


    Did I know anyone else? I thought back to the game and came up empty. I knew the Phantom Liberty DLC was supposed to be about Militech or something¡­ Right?


    Fuck, no idea. I shrugged. Then I guess I could talk to Hiromi? Oh. I bet her dad will like the information. Might even be able to make use of it¡­


    If I wanted to support Arasaka¡­ Which I don¡¯t.


    Well at the least I know Yorinobu was going to try and destroy the company soon. Including killing his father. I could just ignore that whole thing and it would happen¡­


    No, I didn¡¯t need to rush this. I should talk to my chooms and get a plan together when I wasn¡¯t rushing around pre and post battle.


    I pulled away from the computer, and moved towards the netrunner.


    He would be the central hive for all the security of the Wraiths above. Sure maybe not all of them would connect into the network they had set up, but most of them would.


    I pulled out my link and plugged in, wincing again at the nasty ICE that the guy was plugged into. Luckily with him flatlined I had plenty of time to slowly pick it apart, and breach into the network.


    Once that was complete, a single ping filled my vision with dozens of lines connecting me to all the Wraiths above.


    I grinned as I took them all in. They wouldn¡¯t just track my targets for me, but make excellent shooting lines to hit my targets regardless of being able to see them.


    ¡ª---


    Standing on top of the electrical substation, I looked over the camp. No one had noticed the fight below. No one had any idea their system had been infiltrated. No one had any idea what was coming.


    *Alright guys. I¡¯m about to kick things off. Get ready for any runners.* I spoke quietly into the group chat, making sure my chooms had heard me and responded as I raised my Copperhead along the first golden line.


    As I aimed I pushed Reboot Optics into the system. My vision filled with dozens of red icons showing it uploading into the Wraiths optics. A little ticking box of death over all of their heads.


    I felt my grin go feral as I watched the first person to lose his sight and jerk at the sudden loss. The one I was tracing along the golden light.


    I fired.


    The light winked out.


    Then I moved on. Even as the cries of surprise, the horror, the rage echoed up around me. I fired silenced rounds reaching out into the darkness and cutting out winking golden lights one by one.


    It didn¡¯t work on everyone. Some could still see, either because they had no optics and just ganic eyes, or for some other trick. Cars started taking off. Just a few, on the outer edges, most racing towards the road, Hiromi, and the chooms would take care of that.


    Others did drive out into the desert.


    I shrugged. A shame, but nothing I could do. I kept firing. Rapid fire. The whistling of my rounds in an even tempo, as I just used the lights to guide my shots, ignoring tents, or cover in the way. Sure I didn¡¯t get them all. Some were inside their cars, but once Reboot was fully installed into the camp, I activated Short Circuit, and almost giggled at the squeals as people were suddenly tazed over and over.


    The Wraiths knew they were under attack now.


    They were trying to respond to mount a defense or an offense.


    They were failing.


    One got in a vehicle that had weapons, but couldn¡¯t find me, and was just firing randomly as he spun his Shion around. Some were gathering up driving their cars together for defense.


    I just kept killing anyone that I could. Fire fire fire fire. Reload. Fire fire.


    Suddenly I heard it, the massive noise of HMG¡¯s opening up.


    Ichi had stolen the second HMG turret from yesterday''s camp. I had reprogrammed it for him during the night, and so now his Van¡¯s rear doors opened up with two HMG turrets.


    The sound definitely pushed the Wraiths into action, but a moment later a noise echoed out over the dunes.


    A rocket launcher.


    God dammit Malcolm! I know that¡¯s you! The distant fire over the ridge was grabbing everyone''s attention, and that was finally enough.


    The camp stampeded. The few people in vehicles picking a direction not towards the rocket launcher and booked it.


    It was less and less as time went on. Short Circuit sending a few drivers spinning in circles to crash into whatever was around.


    The numbers diminished for them, but the numbers only went up for me!


    A crashing noise pulled me away from sending a barrage of rounds into the windshield of a Quadra that was crashed trying to finish the gonk inside. I turned and instantly dropped down.


    ¡°COME ON THEN! I¡¯LL TAKE YOU ALL ON!¡± The voice roared out of the speaker of the Arasaka branded Minotaur that just stomped out of the massive truck in the middle of camp.

 Chapter 140

    The bipedal remote controlled robot smashed into the dirt as it stepped off the large container truck and started spooling it¡¯s HMG¡¯s up looking for whoever was attacking.


    Yeah no.


    Fuck that.


    I instinctively tried to slip a weapon glitch in, but the Minotaur had amazingly good ICE that fought me off.


    Worse it alerted the driver to my location. He turned towards me, and I ran. Leaping off the other edge of the building as dual HMG¡¯s roared into the night, absolutely shattering the old concrete as it sprayed the roof.


    ¡°YOU CAN¡¯T HIDE! THIS IS TOP OF THE LINE!¡± The man who was driving the damn thing roared out and I just scoffed.


    I couldn¡¯t attack the Minotaur, but the pilot was literally right there.


    I considered drawing my Burya and just punching a few rounds into the container where his light was pointing, but¡­


    I kinda wanted it.


    The Minotaur. I wanted it. Stompy bot! I must have it!


    I slipped into the building and slid through the shadows reaching the other side and peaking through an old window to see what was going on.


    Ah. The Driver wasn¡¯t a total gonk. He was wandering around in front of the container. Probably not caring if he gave away his own location as getting past a Minotaur wasn¡¯t going to be easy.


    I checked my webbing but I only had frag grenades. An EMP grenade would be a nice addition for the future.


    I moved my hand away from the explodey bits though. I didn¡¯t want to destroy the thing. It wasn¡¯t on the short list of what needed to be returned to Arasaka after all.


    I jerked as it started firing. But to my amusement, he was shooting at one of the Wraiths trying to drive away. The Smart HMG round pelted the fleeing vehicle until it gave in and just rolled off into the brush.


    Kill steal!


    I looked towards the light leading to the pilot and shrugged. His Minotaur might be protected, but was he? So I assaulted him again with a Short Circuit, wondering if it would work. Then I started running.


    Instantly the building was filled with buzzing bee-like rockets that went wild as they entered the building without a direct lock, and I slipped back out the other side again. Putting a whole building between us.


    I glared as I watched my upload be blocked.


    Yeah the driving system of the Minotaur must have some good Arasaka ICE as well.


    I ignored the continued yells from the pilot as I looked around for something.


    Then I spotted it.


    Isaac¡¯s Mizutani Shion was parked right there. The one with the Rocket Launcher on top.


    I definitely heard the pounding of my heart in my ears, and felt some drool slipping down, but shook it off. No! I wanted my stompy bot!


    But¡­ It could be a good distraction.


    I had klepped the guys'' shards downstairs. I searched my pockets until I found his key and slotted it. Annoyed that my Neural Link was getting a bit full. Gonna need an upgrade soon.


    Then I ran over to the car and slipped into the driver''s seat.


    I still didn¡¯t want to blow shit up¡­ But a distraction¡­ Could I do that? I considered it, and then shrugged. It should be possible. I slipped into the car''s navigation computer, and quickly set out a few GPS coordinates that it should drive to going max speed, removing the limiter that kept the autopilot from refusing to go too fast. Then I jumped out, and booked it.


    The Shion¡¯s wheels ripped up dirt as it took off into the night. I raced to the building, jumping from ground to trash pile to the roof and then raced across. I was trying to outrun a car, and I made it just in time. The Shion raced pretty close to the Minotaur, causing the bot to jerk over and spool up its weapons before it simply didn¡¯t fire.


    Yeah shooting at your boss? Quick way to get flatlined. I leapt. Arcing into the night while the bot was distracted and landing on top of it, then leaping again. Sending me careening right into the storage unit on the truck. I grunted as I hit crates of junk, but I didn¡¯t let the pain slow me.


    I could hear the roar of the bot as the driver realized what had happened, and I jumped again, sending me over the crates, and into a small cubby section that a gangly fuck was fully distracted by the headset he was wearing.


    I didn¡¯t shoot, instead reaching out and ripping the headset off, causing him to scream and as he lost his control.


    The knife sunk deep into his neck as he desperately tried to fend me off.


    ¡°Nice try choom. You gave me the most trouble out of all your people.¡± I offered him. A weak platitude as he slumped bleeding out from his torn apart neck.


    ¡°Robo getto!¡± I proclaimed grabbing the headset and then sighing as I put it back down.


    I didn¡¯t have time to figure this out. I walked back out. To hunt down the last few gonks that were still alive in the camp.


    ¡ª--


    I was sitting up on top of the building waiting for my chooms to arrive as I looked over my system alerts.


    So many alerts!


    I felt my smile spread across my face, stretching from ear to ear.


    I hadn¡¯t just gained one level.


    I had actually gained two.


    *Level up achieved!*


    *One Stat Point Gained.*


    *One Skill Point Gained.*


    *Level up achieved!*


    *One Stat Point Gained.*


    *One Skill Point Gained.*


    That gave me three stat points to play around with, and seven skill points.


    Although a large part of me wanted to keep them either for future chrome, or to put them into Adaptation now. I think¡­


    Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.


    I think it was time to go beyond.


    Intelligence 10 (14) Due to Cyberization, Maximum value has increased by 4.


    That was what my stats currently looked like with Intelligence.


    Three stat points¡­


    I shook it off, seeing the  van and my Quadra driving down the road. I would do it. Soon, but not right now. Who knows what going beyond 10 would do to me.


    I stood up and waved at my chooms as they turned and drove through the destroyed camp to park not far from the building.


    I leapt as soon as they were parked, landing with a quiet puff of dirt as I rushed forward grabbing Ichi in a big hug.


    ¡°We did it!¡± I cried out delighted, spinning him around like he was a doll, before attacking Hiromi who was next closest.


    Her eep of surprise was very cute as I twirled her around a whole bunch before setting her back on her unsteady feet and then leapt over the van to assault Malcolm, who tried to fend me off, but his reflex was far too low to stop me!


    I laughed in delight as he groaned at my affection.


    ¡°Motoko! Look at this!¡± Ichi finally responded, looking around the camp at the massacre.


    ¡°Yeah it¡¯s great! We got almost all of them! Fuck Wraiths!¡± I called out happily, arms shooting up in the air, and Hiromi as always was right there with me, thrusting her arm into the sky as well.


    Of course that is when I turned and grabbed Malcolm in a bear hug.


    ¡°What¡¯s with you shooting my Uragan huh!?¡± I demanded squeezing tightly far tighter than he could have expected, as his breath left him in a rush.


    ¡°Oh¡­ That was me.¡± Hiromi called in from behind me and I eased up on Malcolm to look at Hiromi who was looking a little bashful. ¡°I just thought it would be a good addition. It certainly stopped them from wanting to eeeee!¡± She squealed as I scooped her up and squeezed, pushing the air right out of her with my bear hug.


    ¡°Punishment hug!¡± I proclaimed as Hiromi¡¯s legs kicked and her face went red from lack of air.


    ¡°Alright Motoko, leave Hiromi alone. She¡¯ll die if you keep that up.¡± Ichi called out as he was looking over a dead Wraith kicking the corpse a little to make sure it was dead.


    I let go of Hiromi listening to her whoop for more air as I walked over.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I double checked, everyone that didn¡¯t run is dead.¡±


    ¡°Preem.¡± He said a little blankly, so I nudged his shoulder.


    ¡°These are bad guys, and think of all the eddies. We need to start gathering everything. Car shards. Eddies. Weapons. We can bring it all back to Night City and sell it off.


    ¡°That''s¡­ A good¡­ Idea!¡± Hiromi called out still gasping for breath.


    ¡°Oh! And we got the big truck we can use!¡± I called out pointing at the massive semi that was pulling the cargo container.


    ¡°Oh nova. A Militech Behemoth.¡± Ichi said, looking at it for a minute. ¡°Only one problem. I don¡¯t know how to drive that thing.¡±


    I blinked looking at my chooms. Hiromi and Malcolm both gave me negative looks at my questioning glance.


    ¡°I¡­ Might be able to?¡± I whispered, thinking about it. I was pretty sure I knew how. My Driving skill was pretty comprehensive after all.


    ¡°Really?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I nodded, confidence growing. ¡°I can do it. Well we should start looting. Everyone take a section!¡± I called out as I walked towards the first corpse. A few moments of rummaging I found the Unity the guy had, as well as his car''s key shard. Then I moved onto the next body, and the next. When my arms were full of loot I ran over to the storage container and dumped the guns into a pile.


    Of course then I noticed the Minotaur that had slumped over,  standing still¡­ I was gonna have to get that thing back in the container too¡­


    I sighed. I would mess with it later, just like I was still ignoring the listening post below us. So much work to do.


    ¡ª--


    The dust cloud of approaching vehicles had caused all of us to prepare for the worst, but thankfully as the vehicles topped the little rise and then came down into the area we all relaxed.


    Nomad Markings, not Wraith.


    Well I only half relaxed. Wearing nomad colors as a Wraith would be perfect camouflage to get close.


    But at the first big truck pulled to a stop, Dakota stepped out and I did finally relax.


    The older woman was looking around the camp with a sharp eye taking in the sights of slaughtered Raffen.


    The guards she had with her, were looking a bit nervous, each of them holding rifles ready to shoot.


    I ignored that though. My amazingness did make some people nervous after all!


    I giggled to myself at the joke as I approached Hiromi joining me, as Malcolm and Ichi both got back to work looting.


    ¡°Dakota, we weren¡¯t expecting you.¡± I called out, and the woman took a moment to grab her oxygen mask, taking a deep breath of it, before speaking.


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t have come. Not my usual, but I had an usual guest show up at my door, begging for help. An old friend who fell into working with the Wraiths. Told me the camp he was at was attacked by an army if you can believe it.¡± He said, looking around at the devastation.


    I just laughed at the idea. ¡°Well I¡¯ve never been called an army before!¡±


    ¡°Hmm.¡± The woman replied without saying anything further. ¡°Tell me. Did you kill Isaac?¡±


    ¡°Yep. He got a bit explody with a Rocket though. Saw him die myself.¡± I said lying outright. While he was dead, it hadn¡¯t been a rocket, but I wasn¡¯t telling Dakota about the listening post.


    She nodded at accepting that. ¡°Well girl, you did more than I expected. Maybe too much. The Wraith will be stirred up after this.¡±


    ¡°Maybe, unless you let the truth leak out. That after Isaac hit an Arasaka AV, Arasaka decided to take him out to retrieve some of their stuff.¡± I offered and the woman looked at me for a while before nodding.


    ¡°Might work. I¡¯ll leak the information.¡±


    ¡°Preem. We are still looting the place, but since you are here. Interested in some new vehicles? Most of them don¡¯t even have bullet holes in them¡­ At least they don¡¯t have fresh bullet holes.¡±


    ¡°Now that is something we can discuss.¡± She nodded her head at her men, and they broke off to look at the cars. Of course I quickly fled the ensuing haggling between Hiromi and Dakota.


    ¡ª--


    We were all exhausted by the time we got everything loaded up. I discovered piloting the Minotaur wasn¡¯t as easy as I expected, but with some effort I got it on board the truck.


    Then we piled into separate vehicles, me driving the big truck and Malcolm proving his car obsession was getting out of hand, as he had found a Mizutani Shion that he decided to drive back.


    It was slow going at first. Even with my Driving skill, the truck was a bit of a lumbering thing, especially with how loaded down it was, with an entire Arasaka AV full of stuff and everything we could stuff inside.


    But as rough as the roads were, the roads were still roads, and the Behemoth was practically made for this sort of thing. I eventually got to a good pace and just cruised through the desert, my chooms all driving around me.


    Like a badlands convoy.


    I was actually surprised that we made it all the way to Dakota¡¯s garage without any issue. I had totally expected a Wraith attack on the way or something.


    Regardless once the Behemoth was parked up. Hiromi had the package we needed to deliver to her dad, an Arasaka computer that had important files I guess?


    I didn¡¯t know, nor was I going to poke my nose into it.


    But first we had something even more important to do.


    There was a reason I hadn¡¯t made a certain very important call while we were by the electrical substation.


    The listening post wasn¡¯t just monitoring traffic, but some communication logs as well. NUSA listening to phone calls? That doesn¡¯t sound like any American government I ever heard of¡­


    Anyway I couldn¡¯t make a call near it, as I simply wasn¡¯t sure if the data was being sent somewhere, and if Militech might roll in while we were loading up.


    Now that we had some distance, I sent a text to V.


    *Motoko: Hey V, I need you to meet up with me. Super important, not a personal matter. something Big A is going to want to know about. Can¡¯t discuss it over a line. Just answer y/n if you can meet. Cords attached, come in casual wear. Please. Trust me.*


    I sent the text off as we were settling in, and didn¡¯t get a prompt response. I just shook it off. I would show V now, or later, even if I had to drag her out here.


    Regardless, while we had done some prep for this gig ahead of time, we were certainly loaded up with more equipment than we ever could have expected. Which is why Hiromi was on the phone calling storage places, and potential buyers for some of the loot. While Ichi and Malcolm fucked around with all the stuff that had been left behind after the first raid.


    Ichi¡¯s van had been emptied out to fit the HMG¡¯s after all. And so now we had an extra load of junk we needed to pack up again.


    Since I wasn¡¯t getting a response from V, I mostly just hung out with Ichi and Malcolm helping them move and arrange stuff.


    ¡°Did you see the armor we picked up?¡± Malcolm asked as he hefted a box full of something back into the van adjusting it to Ichi¡¯s whims.


    ¡°Not yet! I was too focused on the Minotaur pilot the first time I went into the container, and I¡¯ve mostly just been dropping stuff off in there. Are they cool?


    ¡°Well it¡¯s the good stuff! Full sets. I think they were used though. That AV that got taken down¡­ You think it was like a black op group? Coming back from some secret mission.¡±


    ¡°Well it¡¯s Arasaka so I think all of their missions tend to be secret, but probably something like that.¡± I answered as I hefted a stack of guns in my arms as I waited for Ichi who was glaring at his van as he tried to figure out the best way to order things.


    Ichi was very particular about his van.


    ¡°Yeah but like¡­ Arasaka black ops! We could be using their equipment! How huge is that!?¡±


    Considering what I knew about Arasaka Black Ops. They didn¡¯t tend to wear armor. More suits and massive amounts of cyberware. But I wasn¡¯t going to mess with Malcolm by saying that.


    Besides, I was excited for the new equipment as well!


    Ten minutes later, I finally got a late response.


    *V: y*


    I smiled.


    ¡ª--


    Considering I was waiting for V to show up, and that could take hours as we were pretty far out of the city. We had a lot of time on our hands, and of course after we sorted everything into the van and then ended up idling¡­


    Well it was sorta inevitable wasn¡¯t it?


    ¡°WOOoo!¡± The voice came out of the Minotaur as it stumbled around drunkenly. Hiromi, Ichi, and I were watching as Malcolm took his turn trying to drive the Minotaur and it was going as well as Hiromi¡¯s had.


    Badly!


    ¡°That still looks super fun.¡± Ichi offered and I nodded. Even if I hadn¡¯t gotten a chance to play with it, I had still gotten to try it.


    ¡°I¡¯m so happy I killed the operator and not the Minotaur. I¡¯ve always wanted a kill bot.¡± I told him, and he scoffed out a laugh.


    ¡°You would say that!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to be the only Arasaka Academy Student with a Minotaur.¡± Hiromi sighed, not paying attention to the two of us, fully in her dreamworld, she had fallen into after her turn.


    Apparently it would look good on her resume.


    Haha, that¡¯s silly though Hiromi, because that baby is MINE.


    ¡°So, Motoko¡­ You want to explain what¡¯s going on? I mean, you refuse to let us head back to the city despite the fact we are all packed up.¡± Ichi asked suddenly and I stilled before nodding my head.


    ¡°Yeah¡­ Yeah I guess we are good now. Malcolm! Pull out choom, we need to chat.¡± I called over.


    ¡°Awww, C¡¯mon Hiromi had like so much longer with it!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not going anywhere, and you need to be part of this conversation too.¡± I responded rolling my eyes.


    I mean, I get it. I too dreamed of being a one ton kill bot of steel and chrome. I mean, who didn¡¯t?


    Man the only issue with the Minotaur was no hands. Who designed a kill bot without grippy hands?


    How were you supposed to pet kitties? Pick up your chooms and carry them around? Rip a full borgs head off his over reinforced frame and use his biopod as a cudgel?


    The important stuff!


    Maybe I would do an upgrade on the minotaur? I mean. I now had a lot of equipment I could tinker with. Truckloads of it.


    Yeah! It was time to grind some tech once we got home! I settled back as Malcolm disengaged from the Minotaur. A dangerous conversation was going to happen, but honestly? Today¡­ Today had been a good day.

 Chapter 141

    ¡°Yeah, alright, fine.¡± Malcolm grumbled as he took off the control band and huffed at all of us. It had taken a bit of urging to get him to actually stop stomping around in the Minotaur.


    ¡°So, The reason we are still here, and not heading straight back to the city. I found something. The reason the Wraiths were able to down the Arasaka AV? The specific one loaded up with high end equipment?¡±


    I noticed Hiromi perk up at that, although information wasn¡¯t part of the gig her dad had sent us on, she was always looking for a bonus.


    ¡°Well the reason we are waiting here is because I called in V, she works for Arasaka Counter Intel. Because under the substation we were at, there was a Militech listening post.¡± I dropped the bombshell, and I could tell Malcolm and Ichi were just kinda taking in the information without much response, but Hiromi went still.


    ¡°Wait¡­ A listening post!?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Full tracking, conversations, AV¡¯s, hell. They were even tracking space lift offs. I think it was made just before the Unification War. To track Night City. But then Arasaka came back, and they either forgot about it¡­ Or just left it running in secret.¡±


    ¡°Fuck.¡± Hiromi cursed as she took that in. ¡°Wait you said¡­ Counter Intel? She isn¡¯t going to like, flatline us right?¡±


    ¡°No, I trust V. She¡¯s good people¡­ Mostly. Just let me do the talking and pretend you don¡¯t know anything. But you deserve to know what¡¯s going on. You¡¯re my team after all.¡±


    ¡°Arasaka Counter Intel¡­ Good people?¡± Malcolm faux whispered to Ichi who just elbowed him to shut up. Ichi obviously realized that with Hiromi¡¯s reaction it must be a big deal.


    ¡°Okay so what does that mean for us?¡± Ichi asked and I shrugged.


    ¡°Honestly? Depends on V, and her boss I guess. But something like this? Tracking Arasaka air traffic to even keep an eye on their secret AV stuff? Yeah this is super big. Either huge payday¡­ Or they try to quiet all of us.¡± I answered with a shrug.


    I didn¡¯t think V would go along with that, but it was something I had to consider. Fucking Night City.


    ¡°I should call my dad then. He can-¡±


    ¡°No! Hiromi. We don¡¯t know what the listening post can pick up. No calls about this. I waited until we were here before I even sent a text to V and it was super vague.¡± I cut Hiromi off urgently.


    She looked grumbly for a moment before nodded. ¡°Yeah that¡¯s smart, but I¡¯ll call him in an instant if some CI bitch starts making trouble!¡± She says and I just laugh, because Corpo V was such a bitch!


    But she was a likable bitch.


    ¡°Okay. Motoko this is your¡­ Choom. I¡¯ll leave it to you.¡± Hiromi decided with a nod and I smiled in relief.


    ¡°Thanks Hiromi. I promise she won¡¯t disappoint. I think we should tell your dad once we head back into the city. Bringing Counter Intel is just smart, so getting your dad up to speed, we could spread the rep for the find a bit I think?¡±


    ¡°Hmph! Of course! Dad is the one that created this gig, so anything we find should go to him first!¡±


    ¡°So¡­ That¡¯s it right?¡± Malcolm cut in. After Hiromi¡¯s exclamation. I looked to him curiously but shrugged my shoulders.


    ¡°Yeah that was the whole thing.¡±


    ¡°Great! Dibs on finishing my turn with the kill bot!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not a kill bot, it¡¯s an Arasaka Brand Minotaur!¡± Hiromi snapped, but everyone ignored her.


    ¡°Aww. I wanted my turn next.¡± I whined.


    Oh well. It was going to be mine soon regardless. Someone had to go into the programming, clear up all the Arasaka back doors, and Wraith trash, and then repaint it so it didn¡¯t have Arasaka all over it.


    I was thinking¡­ Blue, and white?


    Heh.


    ¡ª---


    I did finally get another turn to play with the Minotaur, and then had been kicked off by Ichi when my time was up without preamble.


    It had switched between all of us until we had nearly drained the CHOOH2 tank. In the end we put it away and switched, at Hiromi¡¯s demand to start categorizing our loot.


    I was just finishing packing up a crate that was now actually ordered instead of just stuffed with junk when I heard the revving of a large engine pulling up to our side of Dakota¡¯s garage.


    For some reason things around here had been quiet since we brought out the Minotaur and had it stomping around.


    The Chevillon Emperor pulled up and I relaxed, noticing not only the familiar redhead at the wheel, but that there were no Arasaka markings on it.


    ¡°Hey guys! V¡¯s here!¡± I called out deeper into the truck as I jumped down and hurried over noticing V didn¡¯t look pleased, her sunglasses dipping down her nose showing me a glaring set of glowing optics.


    ¡°Kid. Not sure what the fuck this is all about, but I want answers, and fast.¡±


    ¡°Let me get in, and let¡¯s talk.¡± I told her. Waving at my chooms who were wondering what to do as I ran to the other side of her big ass truck.


    Never been in one of these. I slipped into the truck noticing the interior was expensive. Like super expensive. I shook it off and only when the door was closed did I start. Pulling out the shard from my socket and handing it over.


    ¡°Found something while on this Arasaka gig. Finding the loot from an Arasaka AV that was taken down in the badlands. Everything went smooth, found the guy who did it, started clearing him out¡­ Only he was acting weird. Holding up in a place that he had no reason to settle. Turns out. He found a Militech NUSA listening post, Unification war era, that¡¯s been watching NC ever since. Including Arasaka flights in and out of the city.¡± As I spoke V had slipped in the shard and was looking at the pictures of what I had taken that I had saved just for her.


    ¡°Jesus Christ.¡±


    ¡°Yeah. I have no idea if anyone is actually still listening, or it¡¯s just all automated, so I couldn¡¯t make any direct calls about it. I gathered some data, and brought you out.¡±


    V¡¯s eyes blinked after a few more moments and she looked at me. ¡°You called me. Why? You could have just turned this into Mitsunashi, and been done with it.¡±


    ¡°Because last I checked V, finding a NUSA listening post is a Counter Intelligence thing, and it would be a huge win for you¡­ Right?¡±


    She looked at me for a while, an intense look, her optics practically whirling as they seemed to try and find something.


    ¡°Yeah. It¡¯ll help a lot. At least it¡¯ll keep Jenkins from flatlining me for running out of the city suddenly. He probably thinks I¡¯m going off reservation or something. I¡¯m going to need to see this listening post.¡±


    ¡°Yeah. That¡¯s why I called you before we went back to the city. My ride or yours?¡±


    ¡°As much as I would prefer it. Let¡¯s take yours. Too easy for this thing to be traced back to Arasaka.¡± V muttered as she stepped out, and I followed. Hiromi walked up and I waved her up.


    ¡°Taking V back to the substation. Sit tight for a bit?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine Motoko. Go with the scary Counter Intel lady. We¡¯ll keep our loot safe.¡± Malcolm interrupted before Hiromi could, throwing an arm over her shoulder and giving me a thumbs up.


    Hiromi elbowed him but nodded to me as she stalked off.


    ¡°Is¡­ Everything okay?¡± I asked confused.


    Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it!¡± Malcolm called out his thumb still up so I quickly returned it awkwardly as I closed my Quadra¡¯s car door.


    ¡°You little chooms up to something?¡±


    ¡°No? At least I don¡¯t think so. I think they¡¯re just messing with me. Don¡¯t worry about it. They¡¯re cool V. I promise. I trust them.¡±


    The older woman just scoffed, but then we were off. Driving out of Dakota¡¯s garage rest stop.


    ¡ª--


    The drive was quiet, small talk wasn¡¯t something V wanted to do, like at all.


    I had eventually run out of anything to actually talk about so I just turned on the radio to Morro Rock, and was thankful that a Samurai song was playing. As that seemed to ease tensions. Both of us quietly rocked out to the radio as I drove the long way out to the electrical substation.


    Finally though we pulled over the hill that blocked it from view, and I could see V sit up as the place was a ghost town.


    Dakota had really only taken the vehicles, and hadn¡¯t wanted anything else like tents or anything. So the place was abandoned, dead left to rot in the sun.


    As I pulled up to the station. I could see V looking around it, eyes narrowed.


    ¡°The top of the station. That¡¯s where all of the Wraiths were killed from. Assault Rifle?¡±


    ¡°A Copperhead, and you¡¯re right! I was up there. Good catch. Or was it some crime scene program or something?¡±


    ¡°You did this-No. That makes sense. Sneaky fuck.¡± She mumbled the last bit and I laughed at her smiling happily at her remembering. Finally parking we stepped out and I waved at her to follow as I led her inside, past the dusty room into the little office. I didn¡¯t need to as I already had access, but I opened the desk cupboard that had the hidden keypad, and then called up the elevator.


    ¡°I¡¯ll need access.¡±


    ¡°Sure. I¡¯ll give you the code.¡± I agreed as I followed her into the elevator, she hadn¡¯t even hesitated before entering.


    ¡°How did the Wraiths find this place?¡± She asked me, and I just had to shrug.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. None of them had a shard with all their history laid out with dates or something for me.¡± I said almost laughing at the fact the game did that all the time. She nodded without a word, and when the door opened she was first out. Walking straight in, looking over the dead bodies with a grimace, but heading around, checking it out.


    I just settled onto the table in the center and watched as she first accessed the system. She stared at the display of the entirety of Night City with AV¡¯s marked. It did have a few other things as well. But I didn¡¯t know what they were, and didn¡¯t really care.


    V either did, or just thought the info was valuable regardless. She tried to pull a shard out of her neck but stopped.


    ¡°Can I download this data without an alert going out?¡± She asked me suddenly and I jerked up and hurried over.


    ¡°Let¡¯s find out.¡± I muttered, quickly snatching a chair and rolling into spot as I began accessing it, and checking what this system was taking in, and putting out.


    ¡°Maybe. Hold up, I might need to partition a drive though.¡± I mutter, there was definitely some sort of NUSA spyware installed on these, but I was pretty sure I could put all the data it had saved into one of the laptops already accessed by the system and then just get the system to report it as a hardware failure and forget it ever existed. Letting us take it out without a problem.


    ¡°Okay that one.¡± I pointed across the room. ¡°Unplug that laptop before anything, but start it up. I gave you credentials to get in. User: V Pass: Hacked. Capital H.¡± I informed her, as I continued working on making sure the system wouldn¡¯t try to connect to it again, if I could get it to accept the laptop was damaged and so destroyed even if NUSA decided to look into this place they would never know it was missing.


    ¡°Motoko. Can you get this data sent to another location, without Militech noticing?¡± V asked, and I grimaced.


    ¡°That¡­ I don¡¯t know V. Honestly. I¡¯m good, my net stealth is pretty good, but I would definitely be worried I could fuck it up. Better I think for you guys to maybe send a team over later to make your own hidden connection. I know you have good netrunners. Better than I am.¡±


    V hesitated, like she wanted to argue before she sighed and nodded. ¡°Yeah, better not to push our luck. I got this at least.¡± She said, patting the laptop. ¡°This is big Motoko. You¡­ I owe you one for calling me in. This was definitely worth the trouble¡­ Thanks.¡± She finally added at the end and I could feel my smile spreading.


    ¡°You V. My choom. Are very welcome.¡± I said, continuing to grin directly at her, until she stopped looking thankful and just started looking irritated.


    ¡°Alright. C¡¯mon I need to get back.¡±


    ¡°Yep!¡±


    ¡ª---


    V wasn¡¯t much more talkative on the way back, and as soon as I dropped her off, she was off, power striding straight to her truck, and then away.


    It was okay though, because to my shock as we pulled up she had sent a big dump of eddies into my account without a word about it.


    I guess that was her way of paying for the info?


    Well I was going to forgive her, because I was honestly pretty tired. I wanted to go home.


    ¡°Alright chooms. I¡¯m back!¡± I called out after I watched V race away. ¡°Tell me nothing big happened?¡±


    ¡°Nothing big happened. It was boring. Hiromi did buy some more CHOOH2 to power up the Minotaur though. That was cool.¡± Ichi told me from the back of his van, which was so packed to the brim the poor boy had to sit on the roof.


    ¡°They didn¡¯t break it did they?¡± I questioned a little haunted, please don¡¯t let my new toy get broken already!


    ¡°No, it¡¯s fine. C¡¯mon I want to get out of here. Unload the loot, somewhere, and head home for a shower, a meal, and a nap in that order.¡± Ichi called out looking as done with the desert as I was.


    ¡°Ichi, I literally couldn¡¯t have put it better myself.¡±


    We quickly found Malcolm and Hiromi still playing with the Minotaur, although from the looks of the targets of old oil cans they had set up, I had a feeling those guns would be a whole lot emptier than they had been before. Sighing without any heat I forced them to pack up and we all got back on the road.


    The drive to Night City was long but quiet. The big old Behemoth rumbled along, completely uncaring at the slightly rough roads, despite the heavy load we were hauling. It definitely wasn¡¯t the heaviest load ever carried by this beast. So it was no problem.


    It was a little lonely though. All of us were in different vehicles to help out. Ichi and I hauled the big stuff. While Hiromi and Malcolm both raced around us, Hiromi in my Quadra, while Malcolm used his newly looted Wraith Shion.


    And then hours later we were pulling into a storage yard, one Hiromi had set up in advance, and one that was familiar.


    I guess Hiromi still had no issue calling up Fujimura, because it was that same TC storage lot.


    With a sigh, I pulled in, parked, and all four of us got to work hauling out loot from the vehicles. Once everything was stored away and all four of us collapsed sweaty into chairs gathered from around the lot.


    ¡°Maybe¡­ Maybe there is such a thing as too much loot?¡± I whispered to myself before just shaking it away.


    No, not that was obviously some sort of heresy. More loot was always better.


    ¡°I just want, like¡­ the biggest cheeseburger.¡± Malcolm aired with a sigh.


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t mind a burger.¡± I agreed and looked to Hiromi and Ichi who either shrugged or nodded.


    ¡°Preem.¡±


    ¡°We just have one last thing to do, I¡¯m afraid.¡± I mentioned earning a new round of moans as I pointed. ¡°What are we doing with this thing? Hiromi?¡±


    ¡°Uuuugh.¡± She moaned at me. ¡°As the leader of Section 9- Hey!¡± She flinched at my kick, but she was smiling at me teasingly regardless. ¡°As the manager of personnel, of Section 9. Vehicles obviously fall under our vehicle and driver specialist. So Ichi what do we do with this thing?¡±


    ¡°Nope, that¡¯s not my gig. I¡¯m the Light vehicle, and transport specialist. Heavy vehicles are out of my wheelhouse. Malcolm! This i-Ow!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t even.¡± Malcolm grumbled having punched Ichi in the shoulder. ¡°I have no idea what to do with a truck that big. That thing is huge. Sell it?¡±


    ¡°Maybe we should keep it? If we do more badlands gigs like this¡­ I mean. We needed the transport lift.¡± I offered, but Hiromi just groaned at me.


    ¡°We don¡¯t have any place to put it! Look at that thing!¡±


    ¡°Park it out in the badlands somewhere?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯ll just get it klepped Malcolm.¡± Ichi answered instantly. ¡°Maybe¡­ Maybe we just buy a space for it? I mean there are industrial spaces¡­ Hiromi couldn¡¯t we like¡­ Rent it to a transport company?¡±


    The girl¡¯s eyes squinted. ¡°Yeeees?¡± She answered eventually very unconvincingly. ¡°Just find a place for it for a few days. If it gets klepped then it¡¯s just one less problem for us.¡±


    ¡°Oh! I can fix that actually.¡± I muttered reaching into the back of my belt. Before the gig had started I had bought two new pouches, one for my TachiCama, and one for my Trackers.


    I popped a tracker out and flashed it to my chooms before walking up to the Behemoth and finding a good hidden spot, basically climbing on top of the truck and finding a place it would secure in nicely, before returning.


    ¡°What was that?¡±


    ¡°I made a tracker! And a little camera! I call these TachiCama!¡± I proclaimed revealing my cute little spy cameras! ¡°See they got cute little grabby hands! And the color scheme is sooo cute!¡± I gushed as I offered it to my chooms, definitely not stuffing it into their faces with a bit too much force.


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ Preem? Motoko.¡± Ichi replied first looking to Hiromi and Malcolm for backup, but Hiromi was just smiling, and so Malcolm was the next to comment.


    ¡°Sooo¡­ Spy Cameras huh? That¡¯s useful. Can I get one?¡±


    ¡°I made enough for everyone! I got a set of tracker and TachiCama for everyone! I was on a bit of a binge with stuff just before the gig. Oh! I have them in my trunk!¡± I ran to the Quadra and found the box of stuff I had brought along. I had meant to give it to everyone, but the long drive had had it slip my mind.


    After passing out the new equipment, I sat back down and smiled as my chooms looked over the new gadgets.


    ¡°Alright, I see how these would be useful¡­ Why not just buy some though?¡¯ Hiromi asked, and I just rolled my eyes. Of course Hiromi would want to just buy some off the shelf stuff.


    ¡°Cause, since I bought, crafted, and programmed them. I know they are safe. I¡¯ll make some improvements eventually. I want to make a Daemon to run the Tachikoma so they can actively look around and maybe even crawl along walls¡­ Yeah. That would be pretty useful.¡± I remembered Star Wars had little spy droids that were incredibly effective every time they appeared, but almost never did because they were too good.


    I wanted that sort of thing!


    But then again eventually I would have Tachikoma!


    ¡°Okay so¡­ We have a tracker on the truck. We leave it somewhere mostly secure for now and call it good?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m literally just going to park it out on the street. Fuck driving that thing around any more than I have to. Ichi you need to learn how to drive a Behemoth! This is a command!¡± I pointed at him, and he did a snort laugh, but he nodded.


    ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll get some practice or something¡­ Honestly. Motoko since you know how. You can teach me.¡±


    ¡°Ehhhh. I hate teaching thoooough.¡± I whined, but I did eventually deflate and nod. ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll give you a run down. Let¡¯s go.¡±


    ¡°Wait now?¡±


    ¡°Ichi. We gotta move it, and Fujimura will kill us for leaving that thing in his lot. Now or never. C¡¯mon! Faster we finish, the faster we can go for burgers!¡±


    ¡ª--


    Ichi only stalled out, twice, and rammed into a fence three times! Not bad! It wasn¡¯t Fujimura¡¯s fence, so no one really cared.


    Burgers were a delight and we all left a massive mess in the booth of sand and dirt, but I dropped a big tip as well as paying, and the waitress seemed to forgive us.


    After that, we all finally split up. Hiromi with the loot for her dad, headed home. Malcolm, to go get his new car properly repainted, and Ichi just went home, with a to go order for his Grandma. I even paid for it, cause that¡¯s just sweet.


    I went home. Immediately walked into the shower and just. Sat there. I had taken off my belts and holsters, and my boots but everything else was already so dirty, that a little water wasn¡¯t going to hurt it.


    Slowly I stripped out of the muddy jeans. My uncomfortably sand filled Leotard, and everything else leaving me to finally feel free of the desert for the first time in two days.


    Another reason I couldn¡¯t be a nomad. I didn¡¯t know how Panam did it.


    ¡°Motoko?¡±


    ¡°Jun! I¡¯m back! Taking a shower!¡±


    ¡°Alright! Take your time!¡± Jun sounded happy through the stupid beads as he walked back to the living room and I finally got around to washing myself clean. Soaps and shampoo lathered up to clean me all over.


    Once I was fully done. I grabbed my stuff and chucked it into the washer, my holsters would need some attention later, but for now I was pulling the brat card and just leaving them on the floor. A towel and a hurried trip across the apartment later to my room. I got some new clothes and finally felt like a human again.


    Stepping out of my room to see Jun still on the couch, as I dried my hair was nice and I plopped down next to him, and before he could say anything I burst into chatter. Telling him everything about the gig, even about the listening post.


    The whole time he was a good listener. Not talking, but made interested noises as I explained the fights and the interesting bits, until the very end.


    ¡°That sounds like a crazy couple days Imouto.¡± He finally decided on, then he reached out and patted me on the head, and I wasn¡¯t going to refuse any attention right now. I slumped over and settled my head on his thigh, using the towel as a pillow and demanded more attention.


    I would sit through one of Jun¡¯s stupid tv shows right now. For him of course. He sometimes needed some physical affection.

 Chapter 142

    After giving Jun some affection, making sure he was okay and happy, and comfy and back to feeling like he was home and everything was okay. I finished cleaning up. Grabbing my gear I ran it all through a thorough cleaning. Holsters, belts, guns, and equipment. Just everything needed a cleaning.


    So much dust.


    Bleh! I hate the Badlands!


    After that everything was settled I took a nice sleep, something I hadn¡¯t really enjoyed during the gig and woke up feeling refreshed and ready to get to work!


    First thing first.


    My stat page.


    Level 17


    Body 8(16) Due to Cyberization, Maximum value has increased by 8.


    -Athletics 7


    -Street Brawler 8


    -Annihilation 5


    Reflex 8


    -Blades 7


    -Handguns 7


    -Assault 7


    -Driving 7


    Intelligence 10 (14) Due to Cyberization, Maximum value has increased by 4.


    -Breach Protocol 9


    -Quick Hacks 8


    -Programming 10


    Cool 9


    -Ninjutsu 9


    -Cold Blood 8


    -Rockerboy 8


    Technical Ability 5 (9) Due to Cyberization, Maximum value has increased by 4.


    -Crafting 4


    -Engineering 4


    3 Stat point.


    7 Skill point.


    Perks.


    Ambidextrous Blades 2


    Quickdraw Handguns 2


    Gun Nut Assault 2


    Parkour Athletics 2


    Grappling Street Brawler 2


    Drive By Driving 2


    Cat-like Athletics 5


    Cool Nerves Cold Blood 2


    Danger Sense Ninjutsu 2


    Wall Breaking Breach Protocol 2


    Cyber Security Quick Hack 2


    Recoil Reduction. Annihilation 2


    Cyber Ninja Ninjutsu 5


    Fearless Chill Cold Blood 5


    Improvised Weapons Street Brawler 5


    Parry Blades 5


    Robotics wizard Crafting 2


    Drifting Driving 5


    Rapid Reload Handguns 5


    Design Wizard Engineering 2


    Rifle Ace Assault 5


    Ghost touch Breach 5


    Perfect Musical Memory Rockerboy 2


    Debug Programming 2


    Siren Song Rockerboy 5


    Hacking Wizard Quick Hacks 5


    Inspired Programmer Programming 5


    A.I. Whisperer: Programming 10


    Annihilation 5 *Unused*


    Cyberware:


    Seacho Electronics Mk.2 *Adaptation Seacho Mk.2 0/0*


    Kiroshi Mk1 *Adaptation Kiroshi Mk1 1/2*


    Militech Condor *Adaptation Militech Condor 5/6*


    Arasaka Smart Link System. *Adaptation Smart Link 0/0*


    Arasaka Ex-Disk *Adatapation Ex-Disk 0/0*


    Militech-Armalite Ballistic Guard *Adaptation Ballistic Guard 1/2*


    Serano Air-Groove Ankles *Adaptation Serano Air 1/1*


    MoorE Titanium Bones (Shoulders, back, and ribs.) *Adaptation Titanium Bones 0/1*


    Biotechnica Muscle and Bone Lace *Adaptation Muscle and Bone Lace 0/0*


    Looking through it I took in all the little changes. Reading everything carefully so I would know exactly where I was at. And there were a few minor changes indeed.


    My adaptation max had dropped again for my Condors! It was now only 6! I wiggled my shoulders and smiled. I guess I had gotten pretty used to the things. Maybe it also had to do with the Titanium bones? One of the problems I had was the chrome was a bit heavier than a normal limb, and so it was pulling on normal muscle and bone¡­


    By improving my body more, had I eased one of the problems the Condors were causing? It was kinda annoying how complicated Adaptation was!


    Either way, whatever caused it! It was awesome! One less point I would have to spend!


    In fact¡­


    I pushed the button without even thinking about it. It had to be done. A finale to the whole thing. A completion of a task.


    Militech Condor *Adaptation Militech Condor 6/6*


    It was over. I exhaled not even in relief because the Condor had been something I hadn¡¯t been really bothered by in a long time. But in a way this was me finally, completely recovering from the Maelstrom attack.


    Complete. I felt complete, I stretched my arms and nothing felt weird, or uncomfortable. Just muscles stretched around titanium bones in my back and my arms just felt like my arms.


    I slammed a fist into my palm.


    Fuck yeah!


    I grinned goofily as I felt the happiness just surge up through me. I did it!


    I shook it off patting my cheeks to refocus. I still had other things! I had a perk point!


    Well, I¡¯ll be honest and admit I¡¯ve had it forever. Annihilation was just¡­ I didn¡¯t know what to pick!


    Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!


    But today was a clean slate kind of day. Time to clean up my stuff!


    So I popped open the perk selection and hummed as I looked it over. There was¡­ Well a lot of stuff for sure, but I needed something¡­ It was a split of perks for the most part. Shotgun stuff, and Machine gun stuff.


    I mean, I used both weapons, but when it really came down to it. Neither were ever going to be my primary weapons. Most of the time I would need more penetration for serious missions than a shotgun offers, and machine guns were good, but¡­ I¡¯m kinda small, and those things are chunky.


    My first Annihilation perk had been Recoil Reduction, probably one of the best perks I picked, considering how versatile it was, but now I needed something¡­ I read through the list and there wasn¡¯t just a perfect option I could find. No perk that would just affect everything, or would blow things away.


    In the end I just shrugged. I grabbed a Shotgun perk. I¡¯d grab a Machine gun one next time.


    Slam Fire. You know how to hold, cock and fire a pump shotgun.


    It seemed simple, but firing a shotgun faster was a neat trick.


    I selected it and shivered in delight as the knowledge flowed through. Once it was done, I rolled backwards off my bed sliding from my arms up onto my feet and into a brisk walk without slowing down as I found my Tactician, and unloaded it.


    I brought it to bear and noticed how my hands shifted automatically. My grip changed, and I brought it down, and then up down and up, and then I faux fired, pumped and fired again. Both of my arms worked in tandem, pushing and pulling the gun at different intervals. I knew I was also adjusting for recoil that wasn¡¯t there, and then I blurred through firing, and I slammed out eight rounds in just a few moments.


    Quick! Really quick!


    I nodded pleased. I wouldn¡¯t be as quick with the Carnage because that thing was brute and cocking it was like bashing two pieces of metal together until something gave, but it would probably still be a lot faster than it had before.


    I reloaded the Tactician and put it back by my bedroom door before heading back to my bed.


    Okay I was satisfied with that! Now onto the really interesting bit.


    Intelligence 10 (14) Due to Cyberization, Maximum value has increased by 4.


    I took a breath and clicked on Intelligence. Putting in a stat point and then.


    Well nothing. I didn¡¯t¡­ Feel different? Well I shrugged it off, I was used to Intelligence being kind of a zany stat.


    No, instead I moved on to see what was beyond 10.


    I only had one Intelligence skill at 10 already. Programming, which was definitely a powerful tool. So it was perfect to test out.


    I put in a skill point, which the system reminded me I needed to use a skill point to gain anything in skills over 10, and then¡­


    I yelped, blinking stars that were definitely not in my vision, at the surge of new information.


    It was¡­ Oh.


    Oooooh.


    I get it now. I understood. The difference between under 10 in a skill, and over. Why I needed Cyberization! It all made sense!


    The information I gained was a lot of repeated information in a way. Things I already knew, but now? Now I knew how to do them solely with my cyberware. To integrate being a cyborg into the task so there was no need for something more. No need for a laptop, for typing.


    Just me, and the code. Me and my ghost accessing the digital space.


    While I had always been a cyborg, I hadn¡¯t been using the connection of machine and man to its full extent I now realized.


    This was more than just a repeat of old information. If before I was learning how to code as a human, now I was learning how to code as a cyborg. I had only touched on the barest of programming without a laptop before in emergencies, when I needed to rewrite some code on the fly, and it hadn¡¯t been easy.


    But now? I had all the beginner tools to do it without getting distracted or losing sight of what I was trying for.


    ¡°BrrRrrrrRrrrRrrr!¡± I exhaled and shook my head back and forth for a few moments. Then I once again slapped my cheeks a few times.


    That was a lot.


    ¡°Okay. Note to self. Don¡¯t double skill upgrade with post 10.¡± I felt like my brain was overheating. But I felt normal, just sort of swamped.


    I was really glad I was on my bed so I just flopped back and waited for a bit to get used to it.


    Programming 11¡­ It wasn¡¯t a direct increase in power exactly. I couldn¡¯t just make hacks at a new tier or something, but it felt like¡­ I could code faster.


    Maybe even cut off half the time in any project with just that one point.


    The ability to split my focus through my cyberdeck. To code without touching a keyboard, but I could still synergize that. Code with both? Potentially.


    It was a lot. I could tell I was pushing beyond human, beyond what just my flesh brain could handle without support.


    And honestly?


    It felt amazing.


    ¡ª--


    A few hours later I headed over to the storage lot. Thankfully nothing looked stolen, even without me performing overwatch for the night again.


    I wasn¡¯t saying I trusted Fujimura to be enough of protection on its own, but this time I didn¡¯t have a gang of gonk kids that would happily klep everything from me knowing we just had a payday.


    Plus if anyone did steal something I would just track them down and teach them it was a bad idea.


    I had opened up the unit and was pulling out the tactical gear for the team. I had left it here yesterday because after unloading everything from the big truck, I was a bit too tired to want to haul it around again to home.


    Now I felt much better and was gathering up the Arasaka tactical armor and piling it into the Quadra. Along with a bunch of the extra guns and equipment we had found.


    I wanted to clean up a bit of everything for my chooms to use. The Arasaka equipment was certainly better quality than some of the stuff we used up until now.


    I might not be a fan of the Masamune for example, but it was a very accurate and dangerous rifle, although I was thinking something specific for my chooms.


    Piling on another stack of equipment into the Quadra¡¯s passenger seat I once more spotted the TC grunts watching me out of the corner of my eye.


    They were keeping an eye on me, but hadn¡¯t tried to talk to me, or bother me. So I was mostly ignoring them, but the attention still made me aware, made me consider ways to defend myself.


    Thankfully it wasn¡¯t needed. I was done with what I needed today. Hiromi would be handling the rest over the next while.


    I took one last look at the Minotaur the desire to play with it almost irresistible, but I had work to do before I could take it out and play with it.


    I closed up the garage, and climbed back into the Quadra and drove home.


    Time for some real tech work.


    I had so many supplies, literally piles of guns. I was going to rip anything we didn¡¯t sell apart, and start working on the grind.


    A few trips between apartment and car later, I was all set up.


    First I pulled out the helmet of the armor. I did a scan, and started basically tearing it apart.


    Frankly I was planning on redesigning most of it, but I first wanted to look it over for something I suspected to find.


    Trackers. Listening devices. Anything for Arasaka to just keep one more finger on the pulse of their troopers.


    It couldn¡¯t be anywhere not easy to find, I really tore this one apart. Every piece of tech was taken apart, examined, and explored.


    I was even getting Crafting and Tech alerts for it!


    The helmets were pretty simple. Actual armored hard case. Internal electronics, and external electronics.


    That was it.


    The internal electronics were simple enough. A sound baffling to keep their ears from being blown out by gunfire, or flashbangs, and an internal booster, and squad radio.


    I really wanted both pieces, and so carefully examined the whole thing. Even going through the chips that ran everything to check what everything did.


    It was all¡­ Normal.


    Maybe it wasn¡¯t in the helmets?


    Well, I had a fully taken apart the helmet with all its electronics, scans of the whole thing which I was already storing in my laptop in case I ever needed to repair or replace the parts¡­


    But what do I do with the Helmet? Couldn¡¯t just leave them as is. Getting thought of as being Arasaka forces would not be a good idea. I had to alter the form of the helmet. Plus, I had to decide on paint as well. Did we pick a solid color, a camo?


    Oh¡­ Wait¡­ I could probably get some of the ECM emitters that the TC used in their tats. ECM equipped armor could be pretty neat. It would probably be super expensive, but like¡­


    I had a lot of eddies right now.


    I shook that off. Stop feature creeping. I haven¡¯t even gotten the helmet figured out yet. Staring at the disassembled helmet I wondered what I could do other than just change up the paint. How could I give Section 9 a look¡­


    I did consider going Sentai Rangers, but no. That was just silly.


    Hmm¡­ Well I did have my directional mic, something these helmets didn¡¯t have integrated¡­


    I pulled up the CAD program, and tossed the helmets dimension into it, thank you Kiroshi scan tech!


    Then I went to work, adding and adjusting, it wouldn¡¯t be expensive, at least not for the directional mic. I already had the design done and it was cheap to begin with.


    The housing for it would be cheap as well, a bit of extra armor, I could even potentially use some of the spare armor from the extra sets to make it, but I would probably just go buy something feasible. It didn¡¯t need to be perfectly bullet proof since it was just a directional mic.


    The program came together and I nodded at the look, the triangle horns sticking out of the top. Yeah that could work. Of course the problem would be hooking it up to the squad radio already integrated into the helmet.


    Luckily I was a programmer!


    I pulled it apart, and started hooking it up to check the programming when Jun knocked.


    ¡°Motoko?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m here! What¡¯s up Jun?¡± I called out barely tearing my eyes away from the code I was dissecting, before realizing I didn¡¯t need to do that. I slipped my personal link into the laptop and was suddenly accessing the code on a visual spectrum in my agent, and then I could just¡­ Start modifying.


    Programming 11! Stronk!


    ¡°Hey, want to get lunch?¡± I blinked as I whirled to Jun who was in more casual clothing than his usual TC gang outfit.


    ¡°Yeah!¡± I agreed instantly. Putting my coding to the side, but not shutting it down as I hurried after. Slipping my boots on I followed after casual clothes wearing Jun as he grabbed his big Cyberpunk jacket and slipped it on. I quickly reached out as we left the apartment to grab his hand, swinging it back and forth happily.


    ¡ª--


    Jun and I spent a nice lunch together and then split up. He was heading out to hang out with some of his chooms, while I went home to continue my work.


    I had done a little more programming work on the walk to the Ramen place we ended up using, which meant by the time I walked back into the apartment and settled at my workbench, I was ready.


    The in built helmet radio was actually wired to the antennae in the back to increase its ability to punch through any ECM interference. But it meant I could splice a new wire in with the new coding and now instead of having multiple private channels on different frequencies. It had one, that I made sure wasn¡¯t the normal Arasaka frequencies anyways, and the radio could now toggle to connect to the directional mic.


    It was a neat bit of coding and I was super proud of how it came out! All the work on the helmet was already paying dividends as I was getting Crafting, Engineering and Tech alerts as I solved each of the problems.


    I rolled around the workbench grabbing supplies to start work on the actual directional mic housing. I would need them for each of us, but I figured a prototype first to show off what I was working with would be the best.


    As I let my 3D printer form the metal I had into the right shape, I sent a text to my chooms in our group chat.


    *Motoko: Fixing up the armor now, doing some prototype work still, but I need suggestions for color, or camo? Anyone have a preference? Also might want to integrate an ECM unit into the chest rig, like the ECM tats the TC use. Sound cool?*


    *Malcolm: Oooh! I want mine in yellow!*


    *Motoko: I¡¯m not designing your armor in the same color as a Caliburn Malcolm. This is our combat equipment. Be serious.*


    *Ichi: Yeah Malcolm be serious. Camo would be good. City colors? Greys and concrete colored?*


    *Malcolm: I am serious! Fine both of you pick on me. I don¡¯t know. Camo sounds so corp. I¡¯d rather we do something Kitsch!*


    *Ichi: Motoko, can you give us any visuals of what different versions would look like before we decide?*


    *Motoko: Oh yeah. I can do that. I don¡¯t have a complete set yet, but once I do, I¡¯ll give us a 3D rendering, and we can mess around with the colors. That sound good?*


    *Malcolm: Sounds perfect to me!*


    *Hiromi: Can¡¯t talk in class. Sounds preem Motoko! Thanks!*


    *Motoko: That¡¯s fine Hiromi no rush. Talk to me when you are done. I might need help sourcing the ECM stuff. Have fun in class Badass corpo bitch!*


    *Malcolm: Yeah! Bad corpo bitch Hiromi! Kick all those arrogant shits ass!*


    *Ichi: I don¡¯t think you should beat up the other corpos you go to class with, but I¡¯m not saying don¡¯t do it.*


    I giggled at the messages we all sent at Hiromi which she undoubtedly couldn¡¯t read right now. I shook it off and went back to work. I could finish most of the stuff and do color schemes and other things later.


    Back to work.

 Chapter 143

    The housing for the directional mic was done. So I took the prototype helmet, and integrated my old mic into it. Setting both pieces of the mic into the housing and sealing it together, then running the wire through the helmet to connect with the radio, flipping the thing around I just popped the radio casing, and hard wired them into unused ports. A few quick checks making sure it all still worked, I sealed it back up and flipped it around.


    Yep. Looked a little weird, but hey. Additional functionality!


    I plopped it on my head and ran some tests switching radio to directional mic, and it worked like a charm!


    I laughed in delight as I spun around on my chair letting the mic struggling to handle the quickly changing environment, but that was fine!


    Because I was pulling in more and more alerts!


    *100 Crafting XP Gained.*


    Satisfied I set the helmet aside and decided to change things up. I still needed to figure out what an ECM system would look like before I messed with the chest rig, so I decided to do some work on weapons instead.


    This particular weapon was something I had a plan for. So I quickly checked it out, pulling it out of the case that it had been in. Took it apart, made sure everything was working, and put it back together.


    The Shingen was a really good Smart SMG. Probably one of the best Smart weapons out on the market, even if it was a tiny thing.


    And Malcolm had a smart link. The gonk had barely used it, but it was perfect. He could be my backup with the Shingen letting him stay in cover and be safe while still helping!


    I set it aside, and picked up the next weapon case. I had considered for a while what to get Ichi. His vehicle focus was great, but that still left him in danger, but since we had just lifted a high end Arasaka shipment?


    Well the choice was fairly obvious.


    Yukimura were solid smart pistols. I had actually slipped two of them out of the shipment. One for Ichi, and one for Hiromi.


    I think Hiromi already had a smart link, or if she didn¡¯t I would talk her into getting one, but Ichi didn¡¯t, but again I was going to bully him into it.


    Sure, if we dealt with enemies with ECM their smart rounds would be way less effective, but I wasn¡¯t worried about my chooms running into ECM backed borgs. I was worried about Scavs, or street gangs. Giving them each a smart weapon?


    It was the greatest advantage, accuracy and rate of fire with the lowest negative. Sure I could have pulled a Malorian for Ichi, I even considered it, but Ichi and Hiromi both weren¡¯t combat focused. So better to specialize them towards smart weapons, giving them a big damage boost, while training them to delta the fuck out of any combat they wind up in.


    I looked at the three weapons and nodded. I would add them to each of the armored suits as I prepped them. I could even paint them to match if my chooms wanted.


    With that sorted it was back to the grind.


    I would need to make sure the holsters would be specialized for my chooms weapons of choice. Malcolm of course would get his Shingen clipped into the front of his chest rig since it was a bit big to holster normally.


    I did have some fabric around, but I wanted something a bit tougher. So it was time for another shopping visit to the old lady that made my leotards.


    ¡ª---


    The old lady waved me in the back door after I knocked and I entered the sweat-shop like back room.


    ¡°You need more Leotards? Get bullet holes in even more of them?¡±


    ¡°Not this time! I¡¯m doing some work altering some combat armor, and need some supplies.¡± I answered as I followed the woman over to her little desk which I joined across from her.


    ¡°Hooh? Combat armor is good. Keeps your insides on the inside. What are you thinking?¡±


    ¡°Well I want to make some holsters that will match the armor, as well as some adjustments. The armor is currently built for much bigger people than my chooms.¡± Well other than maybe Malcolm? He was pretty tall. Gangly teenager and everything.


    ¡°Hmm. Well then I can be of help. I have a roll of Armadillo weave that might suit you.¡± The old asian woman lit a cigarette and blew out a mass of smoke from her lungs. ¡°It¡¯s over there, take a look girl.¡±


    I nodded hurrying over to where she was waving, finding the roll of¡­ Well I wouldn¡¯t call it fabric, it was almost like textured plastic, but it was flexible like fabric, and it was studded with some sort of hexagon armoring throughout.


    ¡°It¡¯s bulletproof. Decent stuff. Expensive.¡±


    ¡°I have eddies. That¡¯s not a problem.¡±


    ¡°Good! Then we will trade! Now come tell me how that leotard has been holding up. Issues? Chafing?¡±


    ¡°No, it''s still very comfortable, thank you. I might need an adjustment soon. I¡¯m planning on getting some more chrome.¡±


    ¡°Hmph. You children and your chrome. Very well. Come with your new measurements and all of your old ones, and I will fix them, or make new. Good?¡±


    ¡°Yes. Thank you. Oba-san.¡±


    ¡°Pfft. Your Japanese is terrible girl. Stick to english.¡± I pouted at her as she just cackled before we haggled a bit for the roll of Armadillo, but I got it cheap in my eyes and headed back out.


    I still had so much work to do!


    ¡ª--


    The sun was coming down when I got a knock on the door, before I could even go to check it opened.


    ¡°Motokooooo!¡± A wild Hiromi cry echoed through the apartment, and I shifted back from the workbench before she burst in.


    ¡°Hi Hiromi!¡± I greeted and had to quickly stand up to deflect the Motoko seeking missile from pushing me into the workbench.


    ¡°Schools done! Show me the armor!¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t done most of it, but alright c¡¯mere I¡¯ll show you the prototype stuff.¡± I walked beside my workbench where a disassembled set of Arasaka troop armor was laying.


    ¡°This is the basic stuff right? So I¡¯ve been going through each piece and seeing what I can upgrade. Since as powerful as Arasaka is, some stuff is expensive to outfit their grunts with.¡±


    ¡°Arasaka has the best equipped troops in the world, Motoko.¡± Hiromi replied, and I gave her a teasing look.


    ¡°Corpooooooo.¡±


    ¡°Stahp!¡± She whined at me, and I just laughed but didn¡¯t tease her more.


    The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°It¡¯s good, don''t get me wrong, but not perfect. I already added some additional functionality to the helmet, and I¡¯m thinking of an ECM system for the chest rig.¡±


    ¡°Yeah you sent me the request. I haven¡¯t had tim-¡±


    ¡°Hey it¡¯s okay. I¡¯m just going over it. No rush. We have time.¡± I interrupted her. She had started to sound like she had messed up and she certainly hadn¡¯t.


    ¡°Anyway. That¡¯s what I came up with so far. Painting and stuff is obvious, but also, we will need adjustment, so I just got back from picking up this!¡± I showed the roll of Armadillo weave armored fabric. ¡°This still will give me some material to work with. I¡¯m thinking¡­ Either we get rid of the old jumpsuits we bought, or maybe just alter them?¡±


    Hiromi looked at the fabric before humming as she thought.


    ¡°We should definitely do something to increase our style. We need to be¡­ Well not flashy, but we need some flash. Something to make us stand out. It¡¯ll help our marketing.¡±


    I just giggled at the idea of Section 9 having marketing. ¡°Sure. I was thinking a tight undersuit, maybe even in the netrunner styles¡­ Oh that¡¯s an idea.¡±


    Our casual stuff can be netrunner chic. But I can do like a cape, or poncho type thing to wear while we aren¡¯t in armor. Gunslingers of the web? That could be a cool aesthetic!


    I sat back down and rolled over to my laptop. I already had netrunner suits scanned of course, so I pulled up a 3d model. And then started basically throwing a slick black poncho over the top.


    ¡°That looks weird. What are you thinking?¡±


    ¡°Netrunner Gunslinger. Like the wild west cowboys. Clint Eastwood style. Oh! I could even get everyone some netgogs for tactical displays! Or just the aesthetic.¡±


    A group of four walking up in armored netrunner suits, and netgogs. We would seem like a cool netrunner gang!


    And then of course we show up in the full armor!


    ¡°Can mine be green?¡± Hiromi asked, and I shrugged, shifting the color on the poncho to more green. No, that wasn¡¯t right. Maybe green around the edges? I could do some of that with the netrunner suit as well. When I was done I looked to Hiromi and she was nodding.


    ¡°Not sure the boys will want to go skintight netrunner suits though.¡±


    ¡°They are comfy, and have protection! Plus, you can wear them under normal clothes. Besides, it¡¯s just for when we are on the job!¡±


    ¡°Hey, I¡¯m just saying Ichi and Malcolm will probably complain.¡± Hiromi said and I had to nod at that.


    It¡¯s fine. This was a cool little project. I already had their measurements. I would need to see the old lady again for more netrunner suits.


    ¡ª--


    Hiromi and I were hanging out in the living room just watching TV as I took a break when the boys finally showed up.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get the party started!¡± Malcolm called out from the door as I opened it and he and Ichi came sauntering in arms full of snacks and drinks.


    ¡°This was supposed to be a meeting about our stuff.¡± I grumbled, but Hiromi was happily cheering along with the boys so I couldn¡¯t do much but just shrug and turn this into a party.


    We had done a big gig after all, and we had all had some time to have a sleep and clean up.


    ¡°Aw man! That was the beeeest!¡± Malcolm called out arms up in the air with a Broseph in his hand. ¡°I mean! We did it!¡±


    ¡°My upgrades to the van worked out great.¡± Ichi added in sounding proud.


    ¡°Double HMG turrets are very scary.¡± I agreed, ¡°Were there any issues with them hitting each other? I know you don¡¯t have a lot of space with both of them.¡±


    ¡°A little. I ended up taking over one of them manually to keep firing.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll kludge together some firing programs for you. Make sure they fire together and don¡¯t interfere with each other.¡± I said and instantly Ichi looked pleased.


    ¡°Blegh! No more work talk! Party!¡± Malcolm demanded throwing a Broseph into Ichi¡¯s hands, and attempting to put one on me but flipped it back on him and picked up my soda.


    ¡°Motoko showed me her idea for our new stuff. Including the netrunner undersuit.¡± Hiromi added, and I looked at her in confusion, because the way she was speaking was almost teasing.


    ¡°Absolutely not.¡±


    ¡°Nope.¡± Both boys instantly denied. ¡°I¡¯m never getting in one of those skin tight things.¡± Malcolm added, and I looked between the two of them.


    ¡°No, but! It¡¯ll look cool! There will be an armored poncho on top for casual wear, we¡¯ll be cyber gunslingers! It¡¯ll look preem!¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Ichi denied shaking his head. I looked to Hiromi who was holding in her laughter and at the sight of my face she failed.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry!¡± She gasped out around giggles. ¡°I just knew it wouldn¡¯t work and wanted you to know before you set your heart on it.¡±


    ¡°You guys suck.¡± I grumbled. Fine. I¡¯ll keep the cool cyber gunslinger outfit for myself! ¡°What do we do for our less armored setup then? I was planning on it being something we could easily throw our gear on top of.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll just wear my normal clothes. Just take off my jacket or something.¡± Malcolm offered and Ichi just shrugged along with it.


    ¡°Fine, you absolutely tasteless fools! I¡¯ll make you armored clothing or something. Ugh.¡± I grumbled my idea of a team of matching cyber ninjas all disappearing.


    Maybe another time.


    It didn¡¯t matter. Whatever my chooms wanted as long as they would wear it and keep their butts safe I was happy.


    ¡°Oh! I have stuff for everyone!¡± I stood up and rushed to the room grabbing the cases with the weapons and cheerfully bringing them back to the living room.


    ¡°So since we just got a bunch of high end Arasaka equipment, I think it¡¯s time we do some weapon upgrades. Hiromi, Ichi, these are for you.¡± I pushed both of the smaller cases to them and Hiromi looked pleased as she pulled out her Yukimura, quickly gripping it, and checking it out.


    Good she did have a Smart link.


    Ichi on the other hand just looked neutral about it.


    ¡°I don¡¯t have the equipment for this.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± I said assuringly. ¡°Smart link and optics are something I figured would be a good idea to start with anyways¡­ Is that okay? You aren¡¯t like¡­ Against Cyberware or something right?¡±


    ¡°No, of course not. It¡¯s just expensive. And I didn¡¯t really think I would use smart weapons much.¡±


    ¡°They are perfect for you though! Easy to use, highly accurate. Perfect for spraying into a crowd of gonks causing you trouble, and then you have your HMG¡¯s for bigger stuff. Hiromi gets a Yukimura too, it¡¯s a really really solid self defense pistol.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­ I guess. Probably about time I spend some eddies on some chrome anyways.¡± He offered, scratching at his head.


    ¡°Well just make sure to take it slow. Smart link and optics, just get some good stuff, you have the eddies now yeah?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± He said, finally sounding confident. A reminder that we had made a lot of eddies on that last gig helped.


    ¡°What about me?¡±


    ¡°Something a bit bigger.¡± I said, sliding open the bigger case and there it was. The Shingen.


    ¡°Huh. Shingen?¡±


    ¡°Firepower and accuracy. You already got the smart link, so it can help make sure every bullet counts, and you get a bit more firepower than Hiromi and Ichi¡­ Since you¡¯ll be my backup more often than not.¡± My words caused a reaction.


    Malcolm looked up and our eyes locked and then he smiled, looking pleased.


    ¡°Yeah. I¡¯ve got your back.¡±


    I smiled at his confidence. ¡°Oh I finished the prototype for the helmet as well, I want your feedback!¡± I called out as I rushed back to my room grabbing the helmet and bringing it back out held in front of me with a big smile.


    ¡°Tell me what you think!¡±


    ¡°Motoko, why does your helmet have kitty ears?¡±


    ¡°What? No it doesn¡¯t!¡± I denied, that was a bold-faced lie!


    ¡°Those are definitely kitty ears.¡± Hiromi confirmed looking at the housing for the directional mic.


    ¡°That¡¯s not what that is!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s kitty ears.¡± Everyone kind of just nodded along together as they looked over the helmet.


    ¡°It¡¯s really not! That¡¯s where the direction mic is located! I just had to make a housing structure for it to make sure-¡±


    ¡°Mokoko, it¡¯s fine.¡± Hiromi said, patting my shoulder and all I could do was pout as my chooms talked about my kitty eared helmet.


    I hate them all!


    ¡°Sure we aren¡¯t going to piss off Danger Gal with this?¡± Malcolm asked Hiromi and she shook her head.


    ¡°Kitty ears aren¡¯t trademarked, besides Danger Gal hasn¡¯t been really active as a company in years. They only pop out to do special gigs now.¡±


    ¡°Preem. So when do we get the complete ones.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, maybe when I stop making them look like cat ears apparently.¡± I grumbled, but my pouting didn¡¯t help, and only made my chooms laugh all the louder.


    Soon enough everyone was nudging me and smiling and I finally sighed and just decided to let it go.


    I guess I accidentally¡¯ed cat ears onto my helmet.


    ¡°Forget it then! Now let¡¯s all party!¡± I cheered, raising my Ni-Cola into the air and everyone clacked their drinks to mine.


    ¡ª--


    We partied hard and while everyone was relaxed I took fresh measurements for my adjustments. The next day after rolling my chooms off my couch and out into the day I headed out as well. As much as I wanted to keep slamming my head into the tech work. There was something I had been preparing.


    I headed to Vik¡¯s. Stopping to see Misty and chattered at her for a while about my recent adventures before heading back down into Viks shop.


    ¡°I hope you''re ready!¡± I called out as I stomped into the bottom only to stop and smile as Vik wasn¡¯t alone.


    ¡°Jackie! I haven¡¯t seen you in forever, choom!¡±


    ¡°Hah. It hasn¡¯t been that long Hermanita. How ya been?¡±


    ¡°Good! We just got back from a huge gig! Worked with an Arasaka corpo to recover some stolen goods.¡±


    My answer seemed to shock Jackie. ¡°What? Really?¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah. Hiromi¡¯s dad works in the corp, and he hired us through her to get the stuff back. Turned into a big thing, but we made some serious eddies! I saw V too. I needed to call her in because of a thing.¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ It¡¯s good she¡¯s doing well. Haven¡¯t seen her in a month or so. She¡¯s been busy.¡± Jackie offered, seemingly shaking himself a bit to focus, but I did catch it.


    He was upset.


    ¡°Jackie?¡±


    ¡°Ah. It¡¯s nothing Hermanita. Nothing.¡± He assured me, patting my shoulder a lilttle awkwardly.


    Jackie was so funny.


    ¡°You know¡­ If my team ends up picking up another big gig. We could always use more bodies. People we can trust to watch out back. The eddies are good.¡± I offered and he seemed to wince more than seem happy at the offer.


    ¡°I¡¯ll think about it Hermanita, but let¡¯s switch topics. You¡¯re here for the old man eh?¡± Jackie looked to Vik who had been gathering things up for me.


    ¡°That''s right Jack. I told you I had an appointment. You ready kid?¡±


    ¡°For chrome? Always.¡± I said, but then took back my words as I didn¡¯t want Vik to think I was being blase about it. ¡°I¡¯m mentally prepared, and I do need this. It¡¯s important.¡±


    ¡°Alright kid. Well it¡¯ll be a while. So go ahead and get comfortable. Jack-¡±


    ¡°Say no more Vik, I¡¯ll come chat with you about that move I can¡¯t get another time.¡±


    ¡°Just practice it, I think you¡¯ll surprise me, if you keep at it. Alright kid. Let¡¯s get you changed.¡±


    I nodded, and slipped into the medical gown.

 Chapter 144

    I woke up instantly blinking and feeling just fine, I sat up nearly instantly and noticed I was covered in a scratchy blanket.


    ¡°Well looks like we got the time right.¡± Vik said noticing me wake up.


    ¡°You got everything done in time?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, no problem on my side. How do you feel kid?¡± Vik rolled over and started examining me.


    ¡°Fine. Actually¡­ Hmm, I feel like my weight is off a bit.¡±


    ¡°Yeah well, that¡¯s what happens when you change out most of your bones for Titanium.¡± I nodded, I looked at my limbs at my body only for there to be nothing there. No scars or anything but I knew there where Vik had cut into me to replace my boney bits.


    It wasn¡¯t a complete conversion of course, but last time I had only really updated my chest and back to better integrate my Condor.


    But it had gone so well. With just what I had done, it was only one adaptation point, although I hadn¡¯t put it in, but what if I finished what I started.


    Legs, pelvis, ribs, toes and things like that too.


    All titanium now.


    I would be a lot harder to break from now on, and more importantly. I would have a stronger platform to place more chrome into.


    ¡°Well the wounds certainly healed up.¡± Vik grabbed my attention though as his face was serious. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t normally let someone walk out after a surgery like that. I want you to know the only reason I¡¯m not holding you in an actual hospital bed for a week, is because of your healing. But really kid. Take it real easy for a little bit. This¡­ This sort of thing is stressful on the body. Healing or not.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be super careful Vik, promise. We just finished a massive gig, so I¡¯m mostly on tech duty right now anyways. It¡¯s why I thought it was a good time to finish this.¡±


    ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s do some tests. Wiggle your toes.¡±


    I laughed at the sudden random question and did as ordered my toes moved without any issue. As I ran through the tests I checked my system to see what it had to say about it.


    MoorE Titanium Bones *Adaptation Titanium Bones 0/2*


    Well the Adaptation went up, but otherwise I was looking good.


    ¡°Well, everything looks good, your little secret nanomachines do good work. Still got nothing about where they came from.¡± Vik muttered, rubbing his face a bit. ¡°Alright. Easy does it for a few days, and let me know if anything starts feeling weird.¡±


    ¡°Will do Vik. Thanks!¡± I chirped happily as I got up, and after getting dressed walked right out. Stretching as the evening air hit me, I decided to do as ordered and head home.


    I still had a lot of stuff to build.


    ¡ª--


    I spent the entire night building new directional mics, then installing them into the housing I made for the other three helmets.


    It was a lot of work, and despite making something I had already completed. I was improving a lot!


    *100 Crafting XP Gained.*


    *Crafting skill level up!*


    *1 Perk Point Gained.*


    Crafting 5! I had once again maxed out the skill, giving me a surge of new tricks up my sleeve. Which was good, because my next batch of work was all going to be design work. Hopefully I would get my Engineering level up from it.


    Of course first, I had to select my perks!  I ran through the list of options, with an eye to what I would want long term. Sure something like Salvager would give me more resources, but I made enough eddies now, that wasn¡¯t really a concern.


    No, the option I decided on was a much better idea for the current me.


    Enduring builds. You can make it stronger. Tougher. You know the tricks of the trade to make your product rough and tumble.


    Accepting the perk flooded me with all sorts of things that I could do to make sure my crafting didn¡¯t fall apart. Ways to make my stuff stay working even if you beat the shit out of it first.


    I shook it off, and refocused on what I was doing.


    Helmets done. Most of the extra work would be on the chest rig. I would need to modify them a bit to shrink them down, but luckily they were designed for a one size fits all, so that wouldn¡¯t be too hard. No it would be integrating an ECM system into them that would make them a pain in the ass.


    Hiromi had done as I had asked, and reached out through her growing list of contacts and got specs for some ECM systems that weren¡¯t just cyberware.


    The Militech personal ECM unit was a neat little pre-unification war military surplus. Honestly it was probably about the same age as my arms.


    Either way I had the scans for it, that Hiromi sent over, and she was in talks about getting enough for all of us.


    I just had to figure out how to integrate it.


    The biggest issue was how the ECM systems worked.


    See there actually was a reason that the Tyger Claws integrated the ECM into tattoos. The ECM was a visual deterrent. The smart round would be scanning its target, hit the visual ECM and when scanning it, would either be infested with a virus, or simply get so much junk data the targeting would fail.


    A literal memetic hazard.


    So this version actually needed a visual component.


    Unfortunately the main way to use it was a holographic light that the smart weapon would glitch out when scanning.


    I didn¡¯t really want a holographic light on my chest. That sort of defeated the whole stealth thing. So my first thought was to hide the light.


    Could I set the ECM¡¯s light to infrared? Or use a non visual light band?


    Probably not. I realized that Kiroshi and other optics kind of took that option away. So I couldn¡¯t just alter the light to be non visual, how else could I hide it?


    I was spinning in my chair round and round as I considered it.


    I would need some sort of hardware, or programming solution¡­ As I spun the neon lights outside my window flowing into my optics over and over.


    On and off. On and off.


    On and off?


    I continued spinning as I considered it. Sure, turning it on and off would solve part of the problem, but the system would have to be smart enough to turn itself on when smart rounds were targeting it¡­


    I could program that.


    A few extra sensors integrated into the armor, and you could easily have it turn itself on and off, and a simple switch to turn it on yourself as well¡­


    Because I know my chooms were extra and would probably want to leave it on.


    Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    Okay that was doable. I had most of that¡­ I would need an actual ECM unit to do the programming to turn it on and off though. So for now, hardware. How to integrate it.


    I pulled up the CAD and went to work. The easiest place to integrate the ECM system was just on the back of course, it wasn¡¯t very large, and I could easily just place it in the armor. Powering it would just be an extra battery system. Easy peasy, and then the lights.


    I would need to integrate holo emitters into the armor.


    Those weren¡¯t super cheap, and it made me realize why Arasaka didn¡¯t have them integrated as standard.


    But for the safety of myself and my chooms, a few eddies were fine.


    Placing a few emitters around, I could even have my chooms make their own holo images if they wanted something unique.


    I would figure out my own once I had it all put together.


    Either way. The CAD process was going well, earning a few alerts in engineering and even another Technical Ability alert just through figuring out all of these different systems.


    I pushed away from the desk. That was the chest rig done, apart from the programming, but that would need time.


    I walked out to the living room to see Jun was gone. I sighed as I instead flopped onto the couch and reached for my guitar.


    ¡ª--


    The call that came in as I was lazily strumming a few chords to Chippin ¡®In surprised me. Especially since the caller ID was someone that should not have my number.


    *Ringing.*


    *Ringing.*


    I considered just not answering, but that was probably a bad idea.


    I answered.


    ¡°This is Motoko.¡±


    ¡°Good. Come by the Afterlife. We should talk.¡± Then the call hung up.


    Okay seriously old ladies hanging up on me must be some weird generational thing, because now I had Rogue of all people doing it.


    I tapped a finger on my guitar as I considered what the hell was going on.


    The Arasaka gig? Something about it must have caught Rogues attention. Did she know about the listening post? Was she working with Militech to get info? I sighed as I rose up and got dressed, holstered and armed I left the apartment.


    Headed to the Afterlife. It wasn¡¯t a long trip, it never was in Night City.


    ¡ª--


    Sauntering down the steps to the club, I moved past the flunkies that hung around that couldn¡¯t actually get in. The sort that would hang around and wait for the rich mercs would leave to flirt with them.


    No one paid any attention to me. Despite having been inside a few times, I wasn¡¯t known. The door guard saw me coming and moved to stand in front of me, but to my surprise he visibly stepped aside as I walked past, giving me a nod. He was actually moving to stop someone behind me who had been walking down after.


    They were stopped and soon thrown out from the sounds I was hearing.


    The music soon muffled that as I entered Rogues domain.


    It was just like how it was the last few times I entered, teams of mercs discussing gigs or hanging around and this time I walked over to Rogues little area.


    Her huscle Crispin Weyland was there as always, the big guy acting as her bodyguard, and he did stop me, a single raised hand, which I stopped at.


    We both could hear Rogue on a call, and I realized I was to wait.


    Nodding to the man which he returned, I moved across the way and rested against the wall. My vision instantly shifted to my programming. I was fiddling with some of my work on the ECM system when I got the signal to speak to Rogue.


    Walking into her little area she waved me at a seat.


    ¡°Motoko Kusanagi. When you first walked in here with Panam, I didn¡¯t expect to ever have this conversation. At least not while you are still just a kid.¡± Rogue started, but I didn¡¯t speak, because the way she was looking at me?


    She was assessing me.


    ¡°But kids don¡¯t go out into the badlands and massacre A growing Wraith Clan like they were a bunch of Yo-gangers on their first street beat.¡± She flipped a shard at me, sending it rolling across the table, and I picked it up without any issue casually slotting it.


    Pictures. Very familiar pictures of a certain electrical substation, or at least the crowd of tends and dead bodies that surrounded it.


    There were a few dozen images, a few of them noting a few of the corpses if they were important, or well known.


    ¡°I hope Dakota made some good eddies for this.¡± I told Rogue, instantly knowing who it was that sent this information to her. Rogue just smirked and continued on like I hadn¡¯t spoken.


    ¡°I looked into your gig. Arasaka, hunting the thieves. The loot you pulled out. Dakota confirmed it was just the four of you pulling all of this off. That¡¯s a clean operation. Swift, concise, and professional. You¡¯re wasted as some street thug.¡±


    Was that a compliment? I could tell Rogue noticed my confusion because she was smirking a bit. ¡°Don¡¯t let it go to your head kid, but I can recognize an operation that was professionally done. You¡¯ve been in the bar before, but now you are here because of your own merits. I¡¯m formally welcoming you to the Afterlife.¡±


    I blinked in surprise. On the list of things I expected today, this wasn¡¯t even on the list.


    ¡°Oh. Cool.¡± I muttered thinking it over. This was¡­ Well it was a positive. The Afterlife was a massive hub of some of the best runners in the city. I could definitely get some contacts for preem equipment here.


    The negatives? Reputation spreads. If I¡¯m seen walking in and out of the Afterlife, people will start wondering why. Otherwise there wasn¡¯t much.


    I didn¡¯t have to do gigs for Rogue, or anything. It was just an invitation.


    ¡°Not the most emotional response I¡¯ve ever gotten.¡± Rogue said casually as she took a drink.


    ¡°I¡¯m just surprised and processing. My chooms, my team I mean, can they get in too?¡±


    ¡°As long as you vouch for them, you can bring them in. But keep in mind what is expected of everyone here. Quality.¡±


    ¡°Got it. Right¡­ Preem. You think my gig was that good?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not the sort of thing a kid off the street can do.¡± She said, and I caught the hidden context.


    This wasn¡¯t just an attempt to bring me into the fold for my performance. It was also an attempt to keep an eye on me.


    ¡°Alright kid. Enough playing around. Go on, enjoy the Afterlife. I don¡¯t have any work for you right now.¡±


    ¡°Alright. Thanks Rogue. I look forward to working with you.¡± I said, the first thing that came to my mind as I rose out of the seat and headed into the bar proper.


    Huh. ¡°Major Leagues, Huh Jack?¡± I whispered to myself before frowning. Jackie wouldn¡¯t take this well, but¡­ It might just give me a chance to pull Jackie into the Major Leagues and fulfill his dream.


    But for now. I wandered around the place. I hadn¡¯t really explored the Afterlife the last times I had been here, but if I was officially in, officially welcome, then no one could say anything about me walking around.


    Mercs. Lots of high end mercs. Most of them carrying enough chrome to fight off a small army.


    I¡¯m glad I had just chipped in more, because I was going to need some upgrades to keep up if this is my peers.


    No, I shook my head. I should chip in when, and what I wanted, not to keep up with some gonks that I had no reason to keep up with.


    In the end I circled the whole club before coming back to the bar, and then I caught sight of a familiar group.


    I was planning on just walking out, but well¡­


    I turned and headed over to the section that had Maines crew hanging out around a table.


    ¡°Hey. How goes?¡± I greeted as I walked over, although I didn¡¯t sit down, just hanging out at the edge of their table so I could leave if I was intruding.


    ¡°Heeey! Motoko, you¡¯re here? I didn¡¯t get a call from Emmy to let you in.¡± Sasha greeted her face instantly morphing into a cat like smirk at the sight of me.


    ¡°Ah, well I just got finished with a big gig in the badlands, and Rogue invited me to the Afterlife. So I got my own access now I guess.¡± I explained, and the noise I earned in return surprised me.


    Maine, Dorio, Sasha, Pilar, and Rebecca were all here, all looking like they were waiting on something, probably a client?


    But the noise the small group made was pretty loud.


    Okay mostly it was Rebecca.


    ¡°Eeeeeh!? The hell!? You!? Rogue. The Queen Bitch of the Afterlife gave you an invite?¡± Rebecca had stood up and was palms on the table, standing on the seat, and I was still pretty much on height with her.


    Rebecca smole. It was literally all my brain could process.


    ¡°That¡¯s impressive.¡± Maine offered in that rumble of his as he jerked his head sliding his glasses down just a tad on his nose to look me over. ¡°You impressed Rogue?¡±


    ¡°Wow! Toko! That¡¯s nova! Come sit! Tell us everything you can about your gig yeah?¡± Sasha offered, but I was mostly keeping an eye on Becca who looked like an angry honey badger ready to tear my throat out.


    ¡°Seriously!? I haven¡¯t gotten my own invite yet!¡± Rebecca growled but it was Maine that reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder¡­ Well more all around her shoulder considering the size difference.


    ¡°You¡¯ll get there Becca.¡± He calmed her, his voice rumbling, but a moment later he turned to me. ¡°If you can or want to, wouldn¡¯t mind hearing how you got in.¡±


    ¡°Ah well¡­¡± I shrugged, nothing about our gig was that sensitive other than the listening post which I obviously wasn¡¯t going to mention. I slid in next to Sasha who had made room for me and was urging me on as I shrugged and started explaining.


    ¡°So we got this gig from an Arasaka manager. An AV was downed in the badlands and he wanted some of the supplies inside recovered. We were told we could have whatever we found as long as we brought back what he wanted.¡±


    ¡°Damn. A direct gig from an Arasaka corp? I don¡¯t know if I would have taken that.¡± Sasha offered and that is when I had to blush a little.


    ¡°Well¡­ The manager is actually my chooms father, she¡¯s part of my crew so sort of got the gig straight, and we could be fairly confident it was safe.¡±


    There was a round of surprised expressions on the faces of Maines crew, but it was Rebecca that broke first.


    ¡°Pfft! That¡¯s so fitting! So that¡¯s how you got into the Afterlife? A baby gig handed out by the corpo father of your choom?¡± Rebecca scoffed downing a hit of her Ni-Cola without really looking at me.


    ¡°Becca.¡± Dorio started but I waved her off.


    ¡°Honestly it was a really tough gig. We had to track down who did the attack. We hit a normal Rafffen camp first and managed to figure it out from some information on a computer there, and then we hit their main camp, this group was fifty plus strong. I snuck in flatlined their leaders, then dropped some hacks on their camp and shot them up. We got most of them.¡±


    My explanation earned a nodded head from Maine, but Rebecca was still seemingly irritating, and I just shrugged it off. I guess I¡¯d be annoyed if a kid got into the afterlife when I didn¡¯t have access.


    ¡°Taking on a Raffen camp isn¡¯t a joke. I see why Rogue let you in.¡± Maine replied earning another scoff from Rebecca, but he ignored her. ¡°To the newest merc in the Afterlife.¡± He said raising his glass and his team, even Rebecca did the same which had me blushing a bit.


    ¡°It¡¯s not that big a deal¡­ Anyway we found the supplies and managed to loot practically an entire Arasaka AV worth of equipment. So I¡¯ve mostly been setting up equipment for the last few days.¡± I offered trying to change the topic.


    ¡°Yeah? You tinker and program?¡± Sasha asked with a laugh, ¡°You sure spread yourself around don¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°They are pretty closely connected. I¡¯ve had to do programming for some gadgets I¡¯ve made. I just want my team to be ready in case something bad happens.¡±


    ¡°Heh. A good Techie is worth their weight in gold. Too bad all we have is Pilar.¡± Dorio offered, the last bit teasing, and dragging the techie into the conversation.


    ¡°Fuck off!¡± He offered both middle fingers to Dorio. ¡°I¡¯d like to see you gonks do half the work I do!¡± He snapped, but everyone was just laughing, and soon enough he was smirking too.


    I guess despite everything, Maines crew got along well.


    It was cute.


    ¡°So you tinker with stuff too? What have you been working on?¡± Sasha prompted me, even as Dorio and Pilar got into an arm wrestling match that was obvious to everyone who was going to win.


    ¡°Oh I picked up these sets of Arasaka troop rigging. The armor is good, but its¡­ Cheap isn¡¯t the right word, but they keep things pretty cheap. I updated the helmet with a direction mic, so we can listen in on conversations, and I¡¯m updating the chest rigging with an ECM system. So we¡¯ll have some protection against smart weapons.¡±


    ¡°Wait, what?¡± Rebecca asked suddenly, having been focusing on Pilar¡¯s suffering at being thrown around by Dorio.


    ¡°I¡¯m adding an ECM system into my chest rigging, for me and my chooms.¡±


    ¡°What system? Please don¡¯t tell me, it¡¯s some Tyger Claw thing.¡±


    ¡°No. Militech, the Light Aegis. Three-seven.¡± I said, recalling the name from memory.


    ¡°Huh.¡± Rebecca suddenly was focused on me. ¡°You got the deets on that?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I shrugged and flashed a shard with what I had for the ECM system and the chest armor so far and handed it over. After a few moments she nodded.


    ¡°Three-seven is solid, I like your integration. Customizing the emitters is preem. You could use a KangTao Battery bank. The new ones they¡¯ve been putting out? It¡¯s flexible, used in armor and stuff you could probably attach it to the bottom of the chest rig. Probably won¡¯t hurt as much if you fall on it.¡± She offered and I was instantly there, hands grabbing her own.


    ¡°That¡¯s so smart! I¡¯ve been working on some other stuff too! We should talk shop!¡±


    ¡°Ah?¡± Rebecca squirmed as I practically bounced in my chair.


    Becca was tech talking with me! So preem!


    ¡°Uh, sure I guess.¡±


    I gave her a big smile.

 Chapter 145

    ¡°Stealth is still the superior tactic.¡± I argued and once again Rebecca scoffed.


    ¡°Some gigs you need to be sneaky, but nothing beats overwhelming firepower!¡± She argued. It turns out that Rebecca didn¡¯t have a lot of chrome. Besides the obvious Chem skin and stuff, but she had all of her chrome plotted out. Like how people would plan out every part of their perfect car, or all the pieces to make up their perfect gun.


    Funnily enough I already knew most of her desires, having seen her future self.


    ¡°Firepower is great, I carry my Burya around in case I run into some borg fuck. But there is nothing better than sneaking up on somebody and just flatlining them without them noticing.¡± I argued. And she scoffed.


    ¡°Optical Camo is mid.¡±


    ¡°You take that back!¡± I demanded and she just cackled as she was going to nothing of the sort.


    We had moved away from Maines crew after a client had shown up, so Becca and I were hanging out at the bar, and to my delight we were getting along much better than we had at the start.


    ¡°Hey. Listen, I¡¯m pissed that Rogue hasn¡¯t given me an invite yet, it has nothing to do with you specifically. The fact you were able to get an invite is preem.¡± She admitted suddenly, swirling around her drink and I realized she must have been a bit embarrassed at how she had acted.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine Becca. I have another choom Jackie that gets the same way. I don¡¯t take it personally. It¡¯s gotta be frustrating.¡±


    ¡°It is! I go on some of the gigs with Maine, but¡­ Fucking Pilar makes sure I can¡¯t get involved. Maine brings me in as a distraction or some shit sometimes, but I¡¯m never a shooter.¡±


    ¡°Did you talk to Maine about it? Did he say why?¡±


    ¡°Apparently I¡¯m too fucking short and shit.¡± She grumbled. Yeah that was true. Rebecca was very smole.


    ¡°You could fix that with chrome or bio.¡±


    ¡°Tch. I don¡¯t¡­ I don¡¯t hate that I¡¯m short. It¡¯s fun sometimes. I just want to blow gonks fucking heads off. I¡¯m not a kid anymore. I¡¯m eighteen!¡±


    ¡°Ever think about¡­ Branching out?¡± I asked and instantly got a look from her


    ¡°You asking me to join your crew?¡±


    ¡°Not specifically like that. See I got my core crew, but we don¡¯t have every skillset. We got a driver. A Fixer, and a secondary Solo. While I cover the net, and solo duties. But I have my choom Jackie that¡¯s a big fuck he¡¯s a solo I brought him in once, and I want to do it more, and I want to increase the size of my team, even if it¡¯s just temp mercs¡­ How about it? Want to go on a gig with a different team sometime?¡±


    ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t know. Maine is being a shit, and Pilar is a fucking scumfuck gonkfucker¡­ But I owe Maine.¡±


    ¡°Hey, I¡¯m not saying to betray your chooms. Just a job offer. Make some eddies, get more chrome, get some experience.¡±


    ¡°Let me¡­ I¡¯ll think about it. Can¡¯t say I really want to work with kids though.¡±


    ¡°Hey! We made hundreds of thousands of eddies on our last gig. Mostly from selling off loot, vehicles and weapons.¡±


    ¡°Wait. How much!?¡± My Answer shocked Becca and I couldn¡¯t help but laugh as I went into some detail on how Section 9 functioned.


    ¡°Fuck. Maine never loots the place like that¡­ I¡¯ll have to do that next time.¡± She muttered to herself, hand covering her lips.


    ¡°It takes time, and you have to have people to haul stuff out. You can¡¯t exactly wait around.¡±


    She scoffed and nodded downing her drink.


    ¡°You¡¯re not bad Kitten.¡±


    ¡°Wha Kitten!?¡±


    ¡°Hehe! You told me about your helmet.¡± She pointed out with a wicked grin and a pointed finger.


    ¡°It¡¯s completely accidental that it looks like cat ears! I already told my chooms that it¡¯s not cat ears!¡±


    ¡°Well too late. Just like with Whiskers, you¡¯re Kitten now.¡±


    ¡°Ugh.¡± I denied crossing my arms in an X. ¡°I refuse.¡±


    ¡°Too late!¡±


    She cackled as I pouted at her. Rebecca was fun.


    We continued to shoot the shit for a while until Maines crew finally got up to leave and Rebecca followed. All of us waving a goodbye.


    It was time to get back to work.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°Are you serious? No!¡± I demanded arms crossed into an X in absolute denial. Hiromi just rolled her eyes at me.


    ¡°I already talked to the dealer. We got a trader pass to get through the checkpoint.¡±


    ¡°Hiromi. I am not taking you anywhere near the combat zone! That place is full of Cyberpsychos!¡±


    ¡°Dogtown is the best place in Night City to get gear Motoko, and you were the one that wanted the ECM system. I found someone selling them, but they are in Dogtown and they aren¡¯t coming out.¡±


    ¡°Then we do without, or find a different seller.¡± I argued.


    I didn¡¯t know much about the Combat zone. At least not the modern version of it. What I did know was that NCPD didn¡¯t go in there. That death was everywhere, and it was rumored that¡¯s where all the Cyberpsychos were ¡®put¡¯ but the corps. Either as a test, or some sick experiment.


    But Hiromi wasn¡¯t going anywhere near it.


    ¡°Motoko, you are being a total rust case here.¡±


    ¡°Hey!¡±


    Hiromi raised her hands to silence me and took a deep breath. ¡°Right. Sorry. That was mean, but you are way more dangerous than some gonks in the Dogtown. Plus we are going to the arena. Lots of trade goes on there. It¡¯s got the biggest blackmarket in NC.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a fucking combat zone Hiromi!¡± I snapped at her pacing around the front of the Quadra. She had asked me to come pick her up, but there was no way I was driving into the Combat Zone!


    If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    I wasn¡¯t crazy!


    ¡°Ugh.¡± Hiromi groaned as she followed me around as I paced around the car. Hiromi¡¯s parking garage was thankfully empty so no one was able to hear our fight.


    I ran a chrome palm over my face, the cool metal soothing my temper. Seriously! Going out and fighting Raffen was one thing, but going into a damn combat zone was another!


    ¡°We need the ECM systems.¡± Hiromi argued, and I instantly knew what was happening. She was trying to attack the conversation from the side.


    Luckily I gave zero fucks!


    ¡°Not enough to go into a combat zone. This isn¡¯t a life risk level thing Hiromi.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not dangerous! Well not that dangerous. Going into Dogtown is perfectly normal Motoko!¡±


    ¡°For Cyberpsychos!¡±


    ¡°Motoko, that is just a weird rumor, and not at all the truth. I even got  information on Dogtown at the academy. As long as we stick to the main areas we will be fine. Barghest want people to come in and out. Dogtown is a wonderful spot for some black market trading.¡±


    I grit my teeth and wanted to yell at her some more. Didn¡¯t she understand!? I¡¯m normally all for jumping into danger, but I knew nothing about the Combat zone. Which was called Dogtown apparently. All I knew is that it was super mega dangerous and you don¡¯t fucking go there, so why was Hiromi so eager to run right towards it?


    ¡°Fine.¡± She offered and I felt my breath come out in relief. Finally! I had gotten through to her! ¡°We¡¯ll just hire some additional protection. Problem solved!¡±


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t¡­ Dammit.¡± I grumbled because it was sort of the answer. ¡°Fine!¡±


    ¡°Good!¡± She offered in return smiling as if she had won.


    I grumbled under my breath as her eyes went yellow as she made some phone calls.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°Hey Jackie.¡±


    ¡°Hermanita! I hear you are heading into Dogtown and want some guards huh?¡± The big man offered with a hearty chuckle. We were all meeting up at Hiromi¡¯s place, including the extra guards.


    ¡°More for Hiromi than anything. The combat zone is dangerous, and I know very little about it.¡±


    ¡°Eh, it¡¯s not so bad. The Barghest pendejos are annoying, but as long as you aren¡¯t causing trouble they leave ya alone.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s Barghest? A gang?¡± I asked curious never having heard the name before.


    ¡°Eh? Yes and no.¡± Jackie offered waving his hand. ¡°Barghest are ex-Militech. They came to attack Night City during the war, ended up being ordered to leave because of Arasaka, but they never did. Just settled into Dogtown. Took it over. They live like the kings of Dogtown.¡± Jackie offered with a shrug of his broad shoulders. ¡°They mostly just keep the peace, and earn eddies from the blackmarket.¡±


    I scoffed and wanted to growl and snarl. Hiromi was still coming, and I still had very little knowledge of what we were heading into.


    I shook it off. Hiromi was driving in with Malcolm in the Caliburn. I was leading in the Quadra, and Jacke and Ichi would be our tail.


    A three car cavalcade to ensure that anyone that noticed us would think twice before trying anything.


    I still wasn¡¯t comfortable bringing my chooms into a Combat Zone, but they all had smart weapons, besides Ichi who hadn¡¯t gotten a Smart Link yet, but he had his truck.


    ¡°Relax Hermanita, you are too tense. It¡¯s just Dogtown yeah?¡±


    ¡°Never been before, and I¡¯ve only heard horror stories.¡±


    ¡°Eh. It¡¯s not like that. Lot¡¯s of folks head in for the Black Market, Hell maybe you¡¯ll find something you want as well. They have some real preem black market chrome there.¡±


    I just grunted as finally Malcolm arrived with his Caliburn, and we all synced up. I slid into the Quadra, and soon after we were all driving through the city towards Pacifica.


    There was a low level chatter as my chooms talked amongst themselves, but I kept quiet, Too anxious to really want to talk to anyone. Especially since I didn¡¯t want to do this.


    But I pushed it away and focused on protecting my chooms.


    We drove through the city reaching Pacifica and I made sure to double my watch. The roads were quiet though. No NCPD around to cause trouble, and no Voodoo boys jumping out to rob us. Instead we drove through the streets as we came to the checkpoint to the Combat Zone.


    Dogtown. I only vaguely remembered the name being used, so I really knew nothing about this place. It hadn¡¯t existed in the game that I played.


    We pulled through a guard checkpoint, men in armor standing around. All of it painted and non standard. Skulls were common as were images of snarling dogs.


    Barghest was it?


    Eventually we pulled into an entrance way and slowly we were allowed through. The entrance was covered in defenses, HMG turrets, and weapons of all sorts. Since I went in first, I got to see it all. They stopped my Quadra did a scan and after checking the access token that Hiromi had set up, they waved me through.


    Into the Combat zone which¡­ It was run down, but not really more than Pacifica itself. And there were people just hanging around. Normal people. A scan showed they weren''t the super chromed out borgs I was expecting¡­


    Was this it? Where was the dark hellscape full of the screams of people being torn into pieces by cyberpsychos? Gangs constantly fighting and dying for eddies or something? That was the image I had in my head of a Combat Zone. Not¡­ This.


    I pulled to the side until Malcolm¡¯s Caliburn, and then Ichi¡¯s truck all pulled through the checkpoint, and I followed the guide path Hiromi had set up leading us through the streets towards the massive stadium the place that dominated the skyline, apart from the massive pair of skyscrapers.


    The Stadium was apparently where the black market was run out of. The entire place was one big blackmarket according to Hiromi.


    It was quiet. The streets weren¡¯t full of gunshots, and nothing really happened. I pulled into a parking garage just off the arena, and we all parked in a corner off to the side, Ichi¡¯s truck parked in just the right way to have his turrets be usable in case of any trouble.


    ¡°See! I told you there was nothing to worry about!¡± Hiromi called out as she ran over and nudged me with her shoulder. I just glowered a bit at her, but that only made her smile wider.


    ¡°Alright, Hermanita, little boss. You ready to go?¡± Jackie asked and Hiromi smiled brightly at being called boss.


    ¡°Yes. Ichi and Malcolm will guard the vehicles. Motoko and Mr. Welles please follow me.¡± Hiromi said with a big smirk on her face as she sauntered forward.


    I didn¡¯t grumble, instead quickly taking up position on her right. Armed and armored although just in my Kang Tao equipment, and not the Arasaka stuff. It wasn¡¯t ready yet, even if it would be better armor.


    Jackie easily took her left, and the big man did a lot to make sure our path was clear as we crossed the street, and then walked up the many steps into the old stadium.


    Barghest checkpoints dotted around, but they ignored us. Simply standing around in armor to keep the peace I guess.


    Hiromi guided us in. Her face casual as she walked through the small crowds that littered the entrance of the arena. We walked past a few food stalls that surprised me. Then into a lobby, and Hiromi took only a moment to pick a direction leading us to the left and then into a long hallway that was full of more than just food stalls.


    Weapons, equipment¡­ Everything. I was thankful for my tech gogs as it hid my rapidly scanning eyes as I took in all the equipment laying around. We walked into a space that was absolutely loaded with weapons. HIgh end stuff too. HMG¡¯s and rifles. Militech surplus, and more.


    Hiromi walked right up to the woman that was behind a counter.


    ¡°Here for a pick up, under Mitsunashi.¡± She offered and the woman scanned her, before nodding. A nodded head to one of the toughs that seemed to be her guards and he went into the back area, coming out with a crate that he dropped on the ground in front of us.


    ¡°Motoko check it.¡±


    I nodded without a word, and popped the latches. Inside was exactly what we expected.


    Multiple Militech ECM systems. I quickly checked them all, and while not in perfect condition, they were all functional, and repairable.


    I gave Hiromi a nod, and that was that. Her eyes went blue, and some eddies were passed over, and then Jackie did the gentlemanly thing and picked up the crate.


    We headed back out the way we came.


    Honestly my surprise only grew when we met back up with Ichi and Malcolm.


    ¡°Things are quiet. Not even some of the druggies over there came to bother us.¡± Ichi told me as we were loading the crate up into his truck.


    ¡°That¡¯s so weird. I expected¡­ Something.¡±


    ¡°Barghest doesn''t want people messing with the black market. That¡¯s where they make a lot of their eddies.¡± Hiromi cut in, once more reminding me, that my understanding of this entire section of the city was off. ¡°C¡¯mon let¡¯s get out of here. Unless you want to go back in to look around.¡±


    I instantly shook my head. I can¡¯t say I wasn¡¯t interested in looking around, but not with Hiromi and my chooms hanging around.


    ¡°No, let''s get out of here¡­ And you were right. Sorry.¡± I told Hiromi who blew into a massive smile at my admittance.


    ¡°Of course! You should know by now that I¡¯m always right!¡± She cheered herself bursting into full on ojou laughter after which it took me a moment to realize she was doing specifically to fuck with us.


    I just rolled my eyes and nudged her, sending her almost sprawling. ¡°Alright get loaded up then Ms. always right. I want to get out of here.¡±


    ¡°Hehe!¡± She offered as she ran to jump into Malcolms Caliburn.


    ¡°Thanks Jack. For backing us up.¡±


    ¡°Eh, not a bad gig. You¡¯re little choomba boss pays good.¡± The large man admitted rubbing a thumb over his nose.


    ¡°Good. I trust you. So I hope you come join us for gigs in the future too.¡±


    ¡°Heh! I just might Hermanita. Just gotta get used to working with kids.¡±


    I shrugged. I get it. Jackie was almost thirty. Still stuck doing shit gigs. He never made it to the Major Leagues in his own words until the end.


    Hopefully I could drag him along, because he actually was a solid solo.


    ¡°C¡¯mon let¡¯s get out of here before my nightmares of wild Cyberpsychos come true.¡±


    ¡ª--


    Jackie was paid, the chooms split off and I had a crate of Militech ECM units to adapt to our armor.


    I spent an hour going over the first ECM unit. Checking first the hardware making sure everything would work, while performing some minor maintenance mostly just cleaning out the things, as it was obvious they had been in storage for a while.


    Then I pulled open the program that ran the ECM and narrowed my eyes as I looked through it. I had my suspicions that Militech would have some way to get around this. Either an outright backdoor. Or more likely, a master code that would make the ECM useless against their own smart rounds.


    It wouldn¡¯t be easy to find though. It would be hidden deep into the code.


    Which¡­


    Well fortunately for me, I was just getting an idea on how the program worked, and then I grabbed my laptop, plugged my personal link into it, and started writing a new program from scratch.


    If I couldn¡¯t trust the program, then I would just make my own.

 Chapter 146

    I was back outside the next morning, after spending all night working on the program I was out at the gym. Pushing myself as hard as I could to try and get more Body XP.


    There was no John bothering me today thankfully. Just me and the weights that I was pushing myself against.


    And the new chrome was making a massive difference.


    I was pushing weight I never would have managed before. My arms were connected to my body far more intrinsically now. No more tingling feeling around my shoulders telling me I was pulling at my bones a bit too much.


    No, I felt strong. My chrome secured into the whole making Motoko stronk.


    I finally put down the weights, wiping my forehead on a towel, as I then wiped down the weights.


    That was a good physical workout, but I had more to grind.


    I cleaned up a bit and double checked my boots were secure before I started jogging.


    Down the neon lit stairs and to the street and then I turned right and started moving. Pushing myself to keep going despite already being tired. I jogged all the way to where the road ended, Jig Jig street just below, I took the elevator keeping myself moving as it went down by shadowboxing and keeping my heart rate up.


    When it opened I was out and moving, jogging quickly through the dark street of Jig Jig, ignoring the looks I was getting as I ran through and then ended up at Sakura Market. Though this time I didn¡¯t stop for Ramen.


    Instead I ran up the concrete stairs, ending back up on the upper levels, I ran towards home. Sprinting and jogging in bursts to try and push myself even more.


    By the time I made it back, I had earned some alerts for Athletics, and Body, but no level ups.


    I sighed, heading upstairs ignoring the noise of Rockerboy Neighbor playing her music again and headed in for a shower.


    As I finished that, head half covered in a towel, Jun was up. Jun was making himself breakfast, and looking at me tiredly.


    ¡°Mornin.¡±


    ¡°Morning Jun-Nii. Sleep well?¡±


    He blinked at me, both eyelids closing at slightly different paces.


    ¡°Slept okay. Not enough.¡± He grumbled, and I nodded, walking over and patting his back.


    ¡°Can¡¯t go back to sleep for a while?¡±


    ¡°Got a gig from Fujimura-Sama. Just bodyguard stuff like usual, but he wants me.¡±


    ¡°Hmm. Well if you start feeling too tired, you tell him that you need a break to get some sleep.¡± I ordered as I wandered away. I knew Jun wouldn¡¯t and couldn¡¯t do that, but I cared more for Jun¡¯s health than I did Fujimura¡¯s wants.


    ¡°Sure Imouto.¡±


    I laughed at his obviously insincere reply, but that was fine. I buzzed around Jun, making sure his XXL burrito was warmed enough but not too hot before plopping it in his hand, which he stared at in surprise for a moment before looking happy as he took a bite.


    My own breakfast was a mix of a few other things I liked that I could find in vending machines in the area.


    I choked it all down as fast as I could, ignoring the taste as most food in Night City I could only just stomach, and certainly didn¡¯t enjoy.


    But food was food, and while it didn¡¯t taste good, one thing NC did have was a dietary fulfilling foodstuffs.


    Jun seemed to finally wake up a bit after his breakfast, looked at me as I was sitting at the living room table tinkering with the ECM program. ¡°What about you? Doing anything today?¡±


    ¡°Mostly programming this Militech ECM unit. It¡¯s gonna take a while, but everything is quiet at the moment. I told you about the eddies we made in the badlands, so we aren¡¯t exactly hurting right now.¡±


    Jun just snorted.


    That gig made more than Jun made in a year and then some.


    ¡°Don¡¯t rub it in.¡± He told me with a huff, and I laughed shaking my head.


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t! Although if you ever want to leave the gangoon biz Section 9 would consider your resume¡­ Consider it.¡± I offered, eyes narrowed like I was judging him and he instantly grabbed a pillow off the couch and launched it at me.


    But I was too fast!


    I saw it coming, and leapt leaping backwards from where I was sitting to land crouched on the back of the couch having dodged his attack!


    ¡°Nin-nin!¡±


    ¡°Fuck off!¡± He snapped half serious and half laughing at me as he wandered to the bathroom for his own shower.


    I was actually a little disappointed that Jun didn¡¯t want to rough house, but he was pretty tired.


    I¡¯d make sure he got a good nights sleep tonight and wake him up with a pillow to the face tomorrow for daring to attack me!


    I was grinning evilly as I settled back onto the couch to continue the programming.


    ¡ª--


    I ran the program through the ECM unit, seeing it turn on, I cobbled together a holo emitter to get it to actually display showing just a circle of light that activated.


    Everything looked good.


    But I would need to actually test it.


    Gathering up a unit, as well as grabbing a spare Yukimura from the Arasaka equipment, I loaded it up and left the apartment.


    Couldn¡¯t exactly do any shooting in here. In fact I couldn¡¯t do it in most places.


    I loaded up and drove north. Taking the long circuitous road out to Westbrook. It didn¡¯t take too long to find a side of the road that was full of trash and empty enough I could do some practice.


    I plopped the ECM unit on an old crate, and then walked away, hooking the Yukimura up into my Smart link and then placing a target to the side of the ECM.


    I didn¡¯t exactly want to shoot it after all.


    Then I remotely activated the ECM unit and opened fire.


    Pretty much instantly the rounds shot forward and then simply went wild as their targeting systems fed them nothing but false data.


    Bullets instead of shooting straight went wild thunking and slamming into the ground, one even got so turned around it spun towards me, and I had to duck out of the way as it zipped past.


    ¡°Well that was¡­ A thing.¡± I muttered. Quickly checking the ECM System and checking the programming. Finding out how it handled actually being targeted.


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    Most of that was stripped wholesale from the original programming. So it handled it just fine. A few quick tests, and a few more rounds shot towards the ECM, and I was convinced.


    It works.


    Not it was time to install.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Jun asked as he got home that night. I looked up from the chest rig I was rigging the holo emitters through to shake it at him.


    ¡°Armor!¡±


    ¡°Yes I see that. But what are you doing?¡±


    ¡°The little boxes right there? ECM modules. I¡¯m outfitting the chest rigging with the holo emitters it needs to spoof Smart weapon tracking right now. The dang things are fiddly.¡±


    He nodded as he picked one up that I already finished and settled in its place, looking it over as I continued to work.


    I was almost done!


    The hardest part had been peeling apart the cloth sections, to slip wires through to power the emitters. I had to do actual sewing, but sewing with Kevlar wasn¡¯t easy.


    ¡°The work looks good. Why do you need holo emitters?¡±


    ¡°Same reason your tattoos glow. The smart weapons tracking gets spoofed by the data in the hologram.¡±


    ¡°Why not just get a ECM tattoo then? They aren¡¯t expensive.¡±


    ¡°While having an ECM on me at all times could be useful¡­ I don¡¯t like tattoos.¡± I said and Jun actually looked shocked at what I just said.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with tattoos!?¡±


    ¡°I just don¡¯t like them.¡± I finally got the wire to go through! Quickly soldering it into the power system, I started sewing kevlar closed again.


    ¡°Well¡­ You should! Mine are preem!¡±


    I looked over to Jun. His stupid vest-like jacket that didn¡¯t cover his chest or arms to show off his chrome muscles, and the dragon tattoos across his chest¡­


    ¡°If you say so.¡± I answered, earning an honest squawk of outrage from Jun.


    ¡°My Tattoos are awesome Motoko!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m glad you like them.¡± I answered and he grumbled deep in his chest and my continued disinterest.


    ¡°You just aren¡¯t preem enough to have tats.¡±


    ¡°Reverse psychology? I wouldn¡¯t want them even if they were offered.¡± I replied, continuing to sew up the armor. C¡¯mon so close to being done!


    Jun¡¯s big hand suddenly reached over and fell over my head patting me lightly and I scoffed a bit, but leaned in and nudged him to show that I appreciated the attention.


    ¡°Done!¡± I proclaimed holding up the complete chest rig and then just as I expected. I got the alert I needed.


    *100 Technical Ability XP Gained*


    *Technical Ability Leveled up!*


    Tech 6!


    I giggled and clutched the rig tight as I luxuriated in a job well done!


    ¡°What¡¯s with you?¡±


    ¡°I finished it! Well okay no I still have a lot of work to do, but I finished the ECM units! These were such a pain in the ass Jun!¡±


    ¡°Well that¡¯s good. I¡¯m proud of you.¡± He offered awkwardly, not sure what else to say, but honestly?


    That was perfect.


    I threw him a bright smile as I rose up holding the rig. ¡°I still need to color, adjust, and do some tinkering on these so I¡¯m not done done, but this was a big step!¡± I informed him proudly as I sauntered back to my room.


    Now I just needed to fix the helmets so they didn¡¯t look like kitty ears. Which they don¡¯t. My chooms are just dumb!


    ¡ª--


    Sleeping in past noon was my duty as a teenager, and I really needed eight hours after all the work I had done.


    Painting, and doing adjustments to the armor to fit my chooms. I had even spent a little time in CAD adjusting the directional mic housing so I would stop getting teased.


    But honestly. It was mostly done.


    It was time to bring the chooms in.


    *Motoko: Section 9! Assemble at my place for final adjustments to our new armor!*


    This time there could be no confusion! They had totally failed my original assembly call, but this time!


    *Hiromi: Okay. I¡¯ll be on my way after class.*


    *Ichi: Okay. I¡¯m just hanging out today. I¡¯ll come over.*


    *Malcolm: Yeeees! I¡¯m in! Gonna suit up! You got rid of the cat ears right?*


    *Motoko: IT WASN¡¯T CAT EARS!*


    I promptly ignored all the messages in return because my chooms were definitely going to mess with me!


    Instead I ran around prepping some snacks and things for everyone. It might take a bit of time to adjust everything to each person after all.


    Ichi arrived first knocking on the door and I smiled as it opened to him.


    ¡°Ichi! Come in! I wanted to get one of you suited up first anyways. The others can be surprised at how nova you look when they get here.¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­ I¡¯m the guinea pig.¡± He said flatly, nodding along as I ignored his words and dragged him into my room.


    ¡°Okay everything should be straight forward. You know how to wear armor right? Go ahead and suit up and-¡±


    ¡°Nope.¡± He interrupted me instantly completely monotone.


    ¡°And I¡¯ll show you! Easy! Nothing to worry about choom, not everyone knows how to wear good armor after all.¡± I redirected instantly without worry.


    Ichi then laughed at me, but nodded and I grabbed the first set of armor and showed it to him.


    ¡°The color is¡­¡±


    ¡°Listen. I had to think about what color scheme to use and since all of you wanted bright colors, I used my rights as the one who is updating these things to pick a nice gray and black camouflage.¡±


    ¡°At least it matches our old suits?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the spirit!¡± I chirped as I started throwing the base layer at him. Even though it didn¡¯t have a Netrunner suit to properly armor him, I threw the pair of pants and the upper jacket. And then turned around and whistled so he could get changed.


    ¡°Can¡¯t I do this in the bathroom?¡±


    ¡°Ugh. Fine I¡¯ll walk out of the room, just call me when you are decent!¡± I rushed outside my bedroom and tapped my foot impatiently. C¡¯mon Ichi!


    ¡°Alright.¡±


    ¡°Great! Now this.¡± I threw the boots at him which he juggled for a second but slipped off his old shoes and into the combat boots. As he was struggling to get them secured, as they used a weird not-Velcro system. I ran around and prepped the outer layers. The chest rig wasn¡¯t just a chest rig, and actually connected to the pants with some kinda neat future faulds. Although I had slimmed down the chest rig by removing most of the pouches.


    Pouches were good, but if they stuck out too much it made it harder to comfortably hold a gun! Silly Arasaka. This was the sort of design issue mandated by a boardroom and not by soldiers.


    ¡°Done?¡± Ichi finally called more questioning than sure.


    ¡°Great. Chest rig next. Slide into it, and then I¡¯ll show you how it secures on the sides.


    ¡°Right.¡± He muttered as he slipped in, the armored future-gorget taking a second for him to get used to. I had to adjust it down so he could actually look down without just getting stuck on it.


    Yep Ichi was definitely shorter than the last person to wear this stuff.


    ¡°Here are the straps. Just tighten these, and it will keep your faulds in place.¡±


    He did so with a bit of trouble and then I had him walk around a bit getting used to the armor.


    It was thick. That was the first thing I noticed he struggled with. He kept brushing his arms against the chest rig as he moved around.


    ¡°You¡¯ll get used to it.¡± I assured him as he was looking a little annoyed.


    ¡°Is this necessary?¡±


    ¡°If I pulled out my Lexington and shot you right now, you would be fine.¡± I explained in very blunt terms and for some reason Ichi looked nervous like I was going to actually shoot him.


    Silly! I wouldn¡¯t do that.


    ¡°Okay here are the gloves. They are nice and bulky, good for punching, and protecting your hands.¡±


    I helped him slip those on, as he adjusted to the fit, I brought out the last item.


    ¡°It still looks like cat ears.¡±


    ¡°I am going to give you the benefit of pretending I didn¡¯t hear that.¡± I told him as I handed off the helmet. He slipped it on, struggling a bit with the face mask part of it. The helmet had a built in menpo, an armored face guard.


    As always Arasaka made all their stuff look like future samurai, which was pretty cool. But it was always kinda hard to get situated right.


    ¡°Okay. You are all set. How does it feel?¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­ Not too uncomfortable?¡± He said, sounding a little confused as he turned this way and that, feeling the range of movement he now had.


    ¡°You¡¯ll get used to it. Now, take your personal link and slide it into the helmet right here. That will download the command codes for the radio.¡±


    I helped him plug in, and then he had access to the radio.


    ¡°I¡¯ve messed with the settings. Channel 1 is our personal radio contact. You won¡¯t need to change from it very often. Channel 2 isn¡¯t the radio at all, but the Directional mic built into the helmet¡­ No, it''s still not cat ears.¡±


    I could see him smirking behind the helmet, and so since he was properly armored I punched him in the shoulder. Hard.


    ¡°Ow! Motoko!¡± He yelped, rubbing his shoulder but giving up on it pretty quickly.


    ¡°You barely felt it. Now switch to the mic, and I¡¯ll show you how it works.¡±


    I quickly ran Ichi through the process walking all the way across the apartment and then whispering. The fact he could still hear me throwing me a thumbs up when I asked for it was all I needed.


    ¡°Perfect! Now we just need to make some minor adjustments. Make sure everything is fitting exactly how it should.


    ¡°So what do I do then?¡±


    ¡°You? Stand very still.¡± Then just to fuck with him I pulled out my knife, and moved behind him. Of course I instantly put the knife away, but he didn¡¯t know that.


    ¡°Motoko? What¡¯s with the knife? Motoko? Help?¡±


    There is no help for you Ichi!


    ¡ª--


    ¡°Whoa. That actually looks pretty scary.¡± Malcolm commented as he finally arrived over an hour later.


    I had even finished adjusting Ichi¡¯s armor!


    ¡°Malcolm! You are late!¡± I proclaimed finger pointed as I stood up.


    ¡°Sorry choom. My dad needed help with something.¡± He offered actually sounding a little contrite, and I instantly lost my irritation.


    ¡°No no! That¡¯s fine. Parent stuff is important. Anyway we are still waiting on Hiromi. C¡¯mon let me show you how to suit up.¡±


    ¡°Good luck.¡± Ichi said from the couch where he was splayed out acting as if he was exhausted.


    ¡°Ignore him. C¡¯mon!¡± I urged, pushing Malcolm into my room to get ready.


    Half way through, Hiromi finally appeared cheerfully bouncing into the apartment and calling out her arrival.


    ¡°Give me a sec Hiromi! Malcolm is almost done!¡± I called out, as I was helping Malcolm secure the armored faulds.


    A little later Malcolm finished suiting up and I pushed him out into the living room to show off.


    ¡°See? It looks great!¡±


    ¡°It makes me feel like I have a corporate hit squad¡­ I love it!¡± Hiromi chirped, smiling brightly as she looked at the two boys. Ichi just slumped deeper into the couch, still not getting up while Malcolm stood tall and puffed himself out.


    ¡°Just remember to pay your henchmen well or else!¡± Malcolm proclaimed and Hiromi immediately faux gasped.


    ¡°No! My henchmen are betraying me! Quick! Help! Motoko! My right hand and ever loyal minion! Discipline this unruly henchman!¡±


    ¡°Pfft. Motoko should join us and get paid bett-H-hey!¡± I walked behind Malcolm and just lifted him off his feet. Malcolm might be a little taller than me, and a bit more with the boots and rig on, but I was fucking fit! My arms went around his waist and I just picked him right off the floor.


    ¡°As you wish my Corporate overlord.¡± I stated in an utterly flat voice earning a delighted giggle from Hiromi as Malcolm struggled in my grip.


    ¡°Hey! Let me go! Motoko!¡±


    ¡°Hehehe.¡± I eventually couldn¡¯t hold it in and started laughing at Malcolms attempts to get back on his feet. He was new to the armor and was like a turtle stuck on its back. Eventually I dropped him. ¡°Okay. Enough playing around, Hiromi come on. Time to suit up.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m the fixer Motoko, I can¡¯t go around wearing armor like that, everyone will think I¡¯m some-Eep!¡± I ignored Hiromi picking her up like a sack of potatoes throwing her over my shoulder and walking into my room.


    Any argument about not wearing armor would immediately be ignored!


    Protection was god!


    ¡°M-Motokoooo!¡±

 Chapter 147

    Once my chooms were all suited up I disappeared into my room after pushing Hiromi out to get changed myself. Of course I had the actual Netrunner undersuit!


    So instead of pants and armored jacket, I slipped on a suit, leaving me in skintight flexible armor! Then I threw on the boots, and chest rig. I had to make some quick adjustments for the faulds since I wasn¡¯t wearing the silly pants that came with it, and instead wrapped the straps around my legs with some velcro-like material I had.


    Then I adjusted the chest rig, threw on the armored gloves, and then the helmet.


    I stalked out of my room and stood before my mostly still armored chooms. Malcolm had taken off his helmet to eat, and Hiromi was half slid out of her chest rig.


    ¡°And this is what it will look like when you guys stop being weird and put on the skin tight armored netrunner suit!¡± I proclaimed showing off the much tighter fit of the armor and my improved maneuverability!


    ¡°Pass.¡±


    ¡°Hard pass.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t mind you using it, but I like pants.¡± Hiromi added and I huffed at all of them.


    ¡°Fine! Wear your subpar armor!¡± I then promptly walked over and flopped onto the couch and wiggled to get my helmet off too.


    ¡°Pass me the chips?¡±


    ¡°Yeah alright.¡± Ichi muttered lazily, reaching over and throwing me a back of some sort of pseudo potato chips I pulled from a vending machine.


    ¡°What are we watching?¡± The TV was on, and Ichi and Malcolm were sort of zoned out watching it.


    ¡°Some comedy show thing? Not sure. Apparently Ichi wants to watch Watson Whore after.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t say that!¡± He snapped at Hiromi looking a little red.


    ¡°Well I don¡¯t think I really want to watch that¡­ Sorry Ichi.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine! I didn¡¯t say I wanted to. Only that it was coming on next!¡±


    ¡°And then he refused to let us change the channel.¡± Hiromi whispered into my ear, and I giggled.


    I quickly changed the channel through the expedited power of I had hacked all of the entertainment system forever ago.


    Then we just sort of vegged out in full kit.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to know.¡±


    ¡°I do! This looks like the weirdest start to some XBD I¡¯ve ever seen!¡± Akari called out right behind Jun as they both walked in and stopped looking at the pile of armored teens spread across the couch.


    ¡°Don¡¯t say that!¡± I shrieked blushing red at Akari who instantly broke into her cackling laugh at my outrage. My chooms were all flushing at the idea too!


    ¡°Is that your new armor? The one you klept from the Arasaka shipment?¡± Jun asked but Hiromi jumped in.


    ¡°We gathered all of this completely legally as per our contract with Arasaka management in recovery of the critical data that was stolen from their klepped shipment.¡±


    Jun just blinked and nodded slowly as if he understood.


    ¡°Wow she is a little corpo aint she?¡± Akari asked, and Jun just nodded. Ignoring how Hiromi was pouting, I decided to show off. Standing up and resettling the helmet back on my head.


    ¡°So what do you think? Preem right? High end armor. ECM integrated, with a directional mic embedded into the helmet! We haven¡¯t messed with the ECM emitters yet, but we will be able to personalize that as well!¡±


    ¡°You look like a doughgirl.¡± Akari offered instantly, with zero hesitation or empathy.


    So I of course attacked her. ¡°I¡¯ll show you dough girl!¡± I roared as I jumped at her, earning an honest squeak from Akari as she wasn¡¯t expecting my lack of chill and then I slammed into her.


    Akari of course fought dirty and instantly tried to stab me in the eyes, but I had a helmet!


    Her probing attacks were deflected and I started grappling, which wasn¡¯t easy since she was all chrome as well, but then something lifted us bodily apart.


    Jun was holding me up by the back of my rig, and Akari back by her arm, Akari was smiling teeth fully exposed, like she was ready to tear my throat out.


    I would have done the same back, but I had my helmet blocking my mouth.


    ¡°Alright cut it out. Akari, calm down please, Motoko is playing.¡±


    ¡°Call me a doughgirl again! You-¡± And then Jun just shook me up and down a few times.


    ¡°See, just playing.¡±


    ¡°Pfft! You look like a strangled cat like that!¡± Akari offered cackling and I just pouted at Jun which was blocked by my helmet¡­


    Okay the helmet was a problem. But I took a deep breath and decided to be the bigger person.


    ¡°I¡¯m done. Let me go Jun.¡± I said calmly, and he looked at me with narrowed eyes as if he suspected I was lying, but eventually he let me go, although funnily enough he didn¡¯t let go of Akari who had noticed and was giving him a petulant look.


    Then I stepped back and brushed myself off.


    ¡°I win.¡± I told her simply and that set her off.


    ¡°What!? How! Jun interfered!¡±


    ¡°Exactly. Jun as my older brother is obviously my secret weapon. Any time he interferes it means I win.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s! That¡¯s cheating!¡±


    I shrugged and strutted back to my chooms who had been watching with interest.


    ¡°You okay?¡± Hiromi asked and I just laughed as I tugged off the helmet.


    Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine. Although I really need to wear my tech gogs under this helmet or something. Akari going for my eyes was a bit of a scare.¡±


    ¡ª--


    ¡°Okay so you want¡­ This?¡± I asked Malcolm as his holo emitters activated.


    Yellow lights flowed around him, with some silver here and there as well.


    ¡°You look like your car.¡± Ichi called out teasing and Malcolm just flipped him off.


    ¡°The Caliburn yellow and silver is an excellent color combination! They tested it!¡±


    ¡°Boo!¡± Hiromi called out, earning a glare from Malcolm, but I just moved on. If this is what he wanted, it was good enough for me.


    ¡°Alright Hiromi-¡±


    ¡°Green! Maybe flames? Can you do flames?¡±


    ¡°I can do flames. It¡¯s a slightly upjumped holo emitter after all. Green flames it is.¡± I offered as I started designing the hologram that would flow over her, to activate the ECM system.


    Within a few minutes Hiromi looked like she had green fire flowing out of her hands and around her hips up her back. More than enough coverage to make sure the ECM protection would kick in.


    ¡°Mwahahahaha!¡± She cackled evilly, suddenly startling everyone before she looked at all of us. ¡°How was that? Did I get it right?¡±


    ¡°Boo.¡± Malcolm called in turn and tossed some of his chips at her.


    Ignoring Malcolm and Hiromi getting into a fight, neither could really hurt each other with all the armor.


    I moved on to Ichi.


    His was simpler.


    ¡°Just make it not look stupid like their choices.¡± He called out, just loud enough that Hiromi and Malcolm could hear him.


    Which of course changed the target as Malcolm attacked Ichi from behind and Hiromi joined in.


    I ignored the wrestling match happening right next to me, and focused on the hologram design.


    Well Ichi could get a copy of what I was doing then.


    Lines of light flowing up through the body. Of course I wasn¡¯t just going to keep it as a stable source.


    The activation would have the light flow upwards from the feet and hands until it reached the head in just a moment increasing the light and keeping it stable.


    Okay so I was basically just pulling a Tron, but Tron was pretty Cyberpunk! And it looked so cool!


    Ichi would get an orangish red color.


    While I went pure white.


    Then I activated both of our colors. Malcolm and Hiromi jerking back as Ichi¡¯s holograms started, the light flowing up his arms and into his chest,


    My own white lines arcing up my legs and forming a cool outline.


    ¡°There. All done!¡± I chirped happily rocking back and forth a little to see the holo emitters do an okay job keeping up with the movement.


    I bet this would look awesome on a motorcycle.


    ¡°It¡¯s nova.¡± Ichi said, playing with moving around and seeing the light arc off him as well.


    ¡°I like my fire more. But it does look preem¡­ Although Ichi you need to change, you can¡¯t just match with Motoko!¡¯ Hiromi argued, but Ichi and I both just ignored her.


    ¡ª--


    We all had a good time after everything was done playing around and ignoring Jun and Akari, as Akari kept interfering, but eventually everyone had gone home with their armor and equipment, and my room was suddenly much emptier.


    That and I finally had time for other grinding again!


    That morning I was back at the gun range.


    Thanks to the Raffen gig, I was actually pretty close to leveling reflex. Shooting all the Raffen running around blindly in their camp had taken some effort, and had given me a lot of alerts.


    Now I just needed to grind out the last bit.


    Settling into the gun range I had been going to, I quickly loaded up the magazines I had for my Copperhead. But that wasn¡¯t all that I had brought.


    The Arasaka Masamune was a gun I had wanted to play with for a while.


    Sure it was overly engineered, but I wasn¡¯t really planning on using it in the field. I liked guns that could get half blown up and still fire for that. But for a gun range?


    It was a nice treat.


    I pulled it out of the case and grabbed a few of the stupid Arasaka logo marked magazines, and started loading those up as well. I set the Copperhead to the side for a minute. Instead I slipped the mag into the Masamune and took aim. The holo sight was already perfectly on point. No need for any zeroing.


    I fired. And in a three round burst that I barely felt it punched holes through the hologram targets.


    Then I fired again, and again.


    I don¡¯t really like three round bursts. I switched it to single shot and started plinking away as well. It was irritating. It actually was possible to mod the rifle to be full auto, but I hadn¡¯t done it with this one yet.


    Probably a project I would do once I went home, cause three round burst was blegh!


    Either way I burned through the expensive Arasaka branded ammo I had brought with me and then put the Masamune away.


    Pulling out the Copperhead I was actually smiling, as I flipped off the safety took aim and held the trigger down.


    Full auto silenced fire burst from the gun and I easily held her in control, putting rounds right through the holograms without any effort as my arms kept the recoil completely controlled.


    Then as soon as I was about to run out of ammo, I dropped the magazine, quick-loading in another and just started firing again.


    I had made sure there was a round still in the chamber, so it only took half a second to put in a new mag and I was off again.


    I almost felt like cackling as I kept firing full auto.


    This is what a rifle should be! Firepower!


    Then finally I got it.


    *100 Assault XP Gained.*


    *Assault skill level up!*


    Yay! I nearly cheered at the level up! Assault 8!


    Wait¡­ I wasn¡¯t here to grind assault! I was trying to grind Reflex!


    I took a second for that thought to flow through my head before I did actually break out into giggles.


    I shifted my grip on the rifle a little, slightly more secure, a tiny synergy with Rifle Ace to be able to line up a shot that tiny millisecond faster.


    My poor Copperhead was a bit overheated, so since I had just maxed out what I could do with it. I unloaded it, and set it back to the side.


    I still had Handguns to level!


    Smiling, I pulled out my Lexington and whistled as I fitted the silencer.


    ¡ª--


    I didn¡¯t quite manage the Reflex level, or the Handgun one, before I decided to take a break. Heading home I took the scenic route. Driving through the heavy city traffic and just enjoying the feel of my Quadra rumbling along.


    Honestly everything was kind of quiet right now.


    Section 9 was flush with cash. We had lots of new equipment. My armor build for the team was done, and Hiromi was the only one still doing any real work as she was setting up deals to sell off some of the stuff we didn¡¯t need.


    So it was just kind of quiet.


    I had considered picking up a new gig from Wakako or another fixer, but I was kind of enjoying the grind time. A bit of me time, just for myself between gigs. It felt nice.


    In fact¡­


    I didn¡¯t want to go home. Bit weird, as I was a bit of a homebody. I wanted to go out and do something. Hiromi was in class. Ichi and Malcolm could be fun, but you know what? I was a cool Afterlife merc!


    I shifted heading towards Watson.


    Traffic got pretty bad on the way, enough that I was tempted to just park and maybe call my Kusanagi so I could just swerve around, but I was feeling pretty chill after all that reflex training so I just relaxed into the comfy Quadra seating and inched my way to the club.


    When I finally arrived, there was plenty of open parking and I grabbed a spot and sauntered down the steps into the Afterlife.


    Heh.


    As if this place was going to be my afterlife. No, mine would probably be a digital landscape, full of daemons to fight or something.


    Hell. I¡¯m saying I¡¯m probably going to hell, but eh.


    That just means more demons to fight.


    The bouncer gave me a nod not even needing to scan me, as he stepped aside letting me in.


    He must have a good memory, it¡¯s not like I had been around much. Either way I walked into the heavy music of the club, and felt the atmosphere. Like always there were mercs all over the place, although this time there was no one dying on a table so that was nice.


    No, I guess being midday the place was more quiet and preparing for the night raids than anything else.


    I walked up to the bar.


    It wasn¡¯t Claire behind the bar, but another guy that I didn¡¯t recognize but I just ordered a soda and settled in.


    I was honestly just planning on staring into the bottom of my drink for a while. Not because I was in a depressed mood, but just to enjoy the ambience.


    There was nothing quite like a Cyberpunk bar after all.


    I was just chilling out enjoying the music and vibes when the queen herself walked in. Rogue sauntered in, and I could feel the ripple of attention she brought with her. Mercs all over the club glanced up as she walked in and towards her little booth area.


    It was interesting, but more than that. I noticed a few of the mercs around the bar stand up, they sort of¡­ Got in line?


    Well they talked to Rogues guard to set up a meeting I guess.


    ¡°Huh.¡±


    ¡°You need anything else, honey?¡± I blinked at the question from the bartender before shaking my head.


    ¡°Not really, just noticed everyone got up to go talk to Rogue as soon as she came in. You¡¯d think they would just like, send her a text if they needed something from her.¡±


    ¡°Hah! Send the boss a text, that¡¯s a good one. Nah honey, if you are looking for an Afterlife gig, you come to Rogue in person. Same if you need something from her. She doesn¡¯t do biz over the line, never know who''s watching, and with someone like Rogue?¡±


    ¡°A lot of people are probably watching. Yeah, makes sense.¡± I muttered. Before looking at the bartender again. ¡°So Rogue hands out gigs if you come talk to her?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, sometimes. Not always, and not to every crew. You have to have the skills she needs yeah? But if you talk to her, you can find out if you got what she needs for a gig.¡±


    ¡°Weird.¡± I uttered before shrugging. Not interested anyways, and honestly if I want a gig that bad, I¡¯ll just go make one. Sure there could be more blowback without a fixer, but the pay was real preem.


    ¡°Hey! Anyone in here a Techie? We need one!¡± A voice called out and I was doubly surprised as heads popped up all over.


    ¡°Now what¡¯s going on?¡±


    ¡°Heh, that honey is someone told by Rogue they need a skillset they don¡¯t got. They might be able to tap in a free merc, or steal someone from another team. It¡¯s all part of the game.¡± She offered and I nodded. That made sense.


    I watched as an obvious techie with a set of body armor that was covered in tools wandered over to the guy that had called out and a few moments later they shook hands and wandered back to Rogue who was rolling her eyes and tossed the man a shard.


    Gig acquired I guess.


    Neat.

 Chapter 148

    I left the club after hanging out for a while. Afterlife was neat, but I had spent my social batteries. Instead I decided to focus on what I wanted to do next, having used the time at the bar to figure it out. Getting home, I wandered over to my workbench inside my room and plopped down into the chair.


    I wanted to level my Tech ability more.


    Between my work on the armor for Section 9, and the tools I had made I made a big advancement, but I still wanted more.


    So I plopped down the bag of supplies I had bought on my way home, and went to work.


    CAD first.


    Connecting my personal link into the laptop, I was able to do a lot of work without even touching the keyboard or mouse now, just letting my mental netrunning work on what I needed, as my hands parted out parts for what I was going to do.


    I had a lot of money so I was going to basically burn a lot of it for experience.


    The parts I had bought were everything I would need to make rudimentary drones.


    Design Wizard, A.I. Whisperer and Robotics Wizard all synergized extremely well with what I was doing.


    On the laptops screen a very simple drone was coming together. I still wanted Tachikoma. I couldn¡¯t really cosplay the major without them!


    So I was going to start. Even if a lot of the work would be wasted when I leveled up my tech, I could still start iterating on the design, start working on the AI. Of course at first it wouldn¡¯t be an AI. I couldn¡¯t possibly make something with AGI levels of awareness on what little processing power I had.


    No, first it would all just be algorithms. A few learning scripts, to develop walking patterns, and things that my good little boys and girls would need.


    But like all children, they would use the first steps of these algorithms to iterate from themselves.


    But first, I needed a drone to start the process.


    I basically was going to make something as similar to a full size Tachikoma that I could, just much smaller. Two feet or so across, maybe a foot tall at the head bulb. I likely wouldn¡¯t add the back compartment in yet. That would simplify it for the first iteration.


    I just needed to make the drone, and then start filling in the details with programming.


    The CAD program took up my attention, once I parsed out the parts I needed I focused fully on that.


    My 3d printer would be getting a lot of work tonight.


    I kept tinkering away at it, the legs were a lot of work on their own, they had to be capable of the range of motion needed, plus needed enough power to actually actuate. Power sources thankfully weren¡¯t too bad, although with the battery systems I could buy off the shelf, I would have some battery life concerns especially once I started running smarter and smarter systems to control the drone.


    But for now it was a night of slowly building the internals of the drone, through the CAD program one piece at a time.


    ¡ª--


    *100 Engineering XP Gained.*


    *Engineering skill level up!*


    *1 Perk Point Gained.*


    I blinked at the alert that came as I was working on the internal musculature of the drone. Multiple limbs meant, I either needed the electric motors to spread their strength, or have one for each limb.


    I stepped back from the design to stretch, even and let my brain cool down. Working for hours on this design was definitely a lot of work, and I was only getting through because of my Perks.


    My actual engineering skill was only just capable of keeping up with the exacting details of what I was working on.


    Sure most people could kludge together a drone out of parts with a bit of effort, but I needed something capable of some pretty extreme performance.


    It had four articulating legs, which had wheels, so I had to draw power for the drones to drive. They had to be able to jump. I wanted to work on a wall climbing function for their legs. Something to let them stick, or grab onto walls and climb vertically. I still wanted to do a stealth function, but I was leaving that out for a later design. I simply didn¡¯t know enough about Optical Camo to get it to work.


    Anyways, it was hard!


    So to get another perk? Well that was something truly useful.


    I once again skipped the grenade focused perks, because I still had no idea why Engineering was so focused on explosives, instead I scrolled through the perk list to where I went into the design focused perks.


    Last time I had picked Design Wizard, vastly improving the quality of my designs.


    I ran down the list skipping more than a few before I found the one that caught my eye.


    Robotics Engineering: The robotic form is as familiar to you as your own.


    Since my main desire was to make Tachikoma it seemed to be the best choice.


    The moment I picked it I knew I had made the right choice.


    I already had Robotics Wizard from Crafting, which was all about putting a robot together. Now I had the opposite, a synergy immediately began and I gasped as I realized how many tiny things could be done to enhance a robotic form.


    I went from someone that could put a robot together, to someone who could design something that was more than just a robot.


    It honestly made me think of Battle Bots. That show on TV that was so popular in my last life. Before I would have been one of the gen 1 bots. The ones that half the time caused their own downfall or something.


    Now I was fully aware I could make a bot that would have crushed the entire competition. It was that much of a difference. Understanding the nuances of physics on the robotic form.


    How easy it would be for their body to exert the forces I would need.


    I looked at my own chrome arm for a moment and realized how¡­ inadequate it was. How badly they had restrained the power the arm could exert, to make it easier to quickly replace in a desperate situation.


    I shook it off, although it did create that burning desire to make myself better again. The desire for more chrome. To grow stronger.


    I shook it off. Tachikoma first.


    I went back to the CAD design I had made so far, and started reworking large sections of it. I didn¡¯t need for each limb to have their own motor, I could use a muscle structure instead to make a single much more powerful motor supply the power.


    Instead of each limb being fully robotic, I would just add synthetic muscles instead! It took up less room, which meant I could make the battery bigger! Fixing one of the supply issues!


    Mwahahaha!


    ¡ª---


    As much as I wanted to really focus down and get the Tachikoma done, I still had other things distractions in my life, but that was okay. It was a good thing. Staying cooped up all day wasn¡¯t good for you!


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    That is why I was waiting on the corner around Arasaka tower for Hiromi to meet me for lunch.


    She had called and wanted to vent about her classes.


    So I was hanging out besides a 25/7 with food already waiting in the passenger seat for Hiromi to get out of class.


    I was only pecking at my own meal while I waited so we could eat together.


    Which is of course when I jerked up at the sight of someone I had only seen from afar.


    ¡°David Martinez.¡±


    The boy was walking over to the grassy section across the street and looked like he was both eating his lunch, and to my amusement set up a backpack next to him and started selling XBD¡¯s.


    The first boy that walked up to him to buy was handed a compact tablet and after a few moments the boy poked away and then handed it back. David nodded, seemed to confirm payment, and handed out one of the condom wrappers to the kid.


    I grabbed the food, and stepped out of the Quadra, heading across the street when I got a chance.


    I really really wanted to see this for myself.


    ¡°Selling BD¡¯s?¡± I asked as I sauntered over, catching David''s attention. The poor kid was half a second into biting into an XXL burrito and he gave it a look of yearning before turning to me.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Best BD¡¯s in the city. None of that Scav scop. Mox work, and some really preem work that you can¡¯t get anywhere else.¡± He offered as he once more reached into the bag and pulled out the tablet and handed it to me.


    I was practically snickering at the situation, and there was no way I could end it here. I set the food down on the bench beside him and grabbed the tablet.


    ¡°First tab is all normal BD¡¯s good stuff still. Inner Universe is one of our top sellers, It¡¯ll make you think you can fly.¡± He said and I nearly ruptured something as I kept myself from laughing at such a corpo sounding sales pitch.


    David was a riot!


    ¡°I¡¯ve seen it. The Parkour is a little kludged at times, but the music is amazing.¡±


    ¡°What? No way! Inner Universe was perfect! The parkour, the death defying jumps!¡± He nearly jumped off the bench as he spoke. ¡°The Ghost is preem stuff. Nothing else compares really.¡± He offered and I felt myself smile happily.


    See! They got my name right!


    ¡°Well it¡¯s preem that you like them. How¡¯s working with Hiromi? She isn¡¯t too bad is she?¡± I asked, changing the subject as I handed the tablet back.


    ¡°You know Hiromi?¡± He shot back surprised, and maybe a little suspicious.


    ¡°Yeah, she¡¯s one of my best chooms. I¡¯m actually here waiting for her. Saw you selling BD¡¯s and wanted to come see.¡±


    ¡°Ah well, she¡¯s great. Sure.¡± He said in a way that left me with the opposite feeling.


    ¡°Ah, she¡¯s a bit too much?¡±


    He just gave me a look and didn¡¯t say anything.


    ¡°That¡¯s fair. I hope she wasn¡¯t too mean to you. She can get a little hyper focused. I¡¯ll talk to her, make sure she is nicer to  you and Nox.¡±


    ¡°You know Nox too?¡±


    ¡°Yeah? We are¡­ Sorta chooms? I¡¯m Motoko.¡±


    David¡¯s eyes instantly widened and I realized if he knew Nox, it was likely that he knew who I was.


    ¡°You¡¯re the Ghost!¡± He said breathlessly.


    ¡°That¡¯s my Netrunner name, and I guess Hiromi used it for the marketing of the BD¡¯s too.¡±


    ¡°Holy shit! You¡¯re nova! I¡¯ve watched The Only Thing They Fear like a million times.¡± He blurted out, and I just winced.


    ¡°Ah, probably shouldn¡¯t watch that one too much. I was totally agro in it. I just wanted to test out the song and stuff.¡±


    ¡°No way! It was the best. Especially the end, with the Cut-o-Matic!¡±


    ¡°Heh. Chainswords do hold a special place in my heart.¡±


    ¡°Yeah! You were like. Raaagh! And the Scavs were like Eeeee!¡±


    I burst into laughter at the noises David was making. They had kinda sounded like that when I had the Chainsword.


    Of course my laughter was interrupted a moment later by a Hiromi missile as I was slammed into.


    ¡°Motoko!¡± Hiromi called out suddenly as she instantly wrapped her arm around mine. ¡°Did you wait for ¡®me¡¯ long?¡± She asked, emphasizing her sentence weirdly as she looked at David.


    ¡°Not super long, and I got distracted by David here. He did a good job trying to sell me the BD¡¯s.¡±


    ¡°Which he doesn¡¯t need to do, because Motoko gets any of the BD¡¯s she wants for free. Obviously.¡± Hiromi said, continuing to look at David who was looking more and more nervous.


    Don¡¯t worry David! I¡¯ll talk you up to Hiromi! Make you look good to your boss!


    ¡°It¡¯s okay Hiromi, he didn¡¯t know at first, but he did a great job. I was actually tempted to buy some of the BD¡¯s even if they aren¡¯t my thing! He¡¯s a good salesman.¡± I offered throwing a wink to David over Hiromi¡¯s head although for some reason he just kept looking even more nervous.


    Ah, Hiromi, you are holding on pretty tight there. I reached over and patted her head, distracting her, enough to get free and then settling onto the bench.


    ¡°Don¡¯t forget your lunch Hiromi.¡± I said lifting the bag and shaking it. ¡°Why don¡¯t we hang out with David while we eat? I interrupted his lunch as well.¡± I said as I settled onto the bench next to him and then pulled open the bag of food on my other side, so Hiromi could get access to it as well, although she didn¡¯t seem to want to sit down for a moment before eventually settling in.


    ¡°We should go eat somewhere else, let David get back to work.¡± She almost hissed out the last bit, but I just laughed at her.


    ¡°It¡¯s lunch time Hiromi, let him eat. Besides I want to hear about how he¡¯s found working under you. I mean, since he is working for you, he is basically part of Section 9. Obliquely.¡±


    ¡°No. No he isn¡¯t.¡± Hiromi said, but she was finally starting to eat.


    Poor Hiromi must be Hangry.


    ¡°So David. Have you been making good eddies? Any problems? Anyone bothering you or anything?¡± I asked, and the boy once more stopped burrito halfway to his mouth.


    Which¡­ On one hand, I¡¯m sorry for interrupting his meal, but it was an XXL.


    Realizing this I reached over and grabbed one of the cartons of noodles I had planned on eating myself and handed it over.


    ¡°Here, have this instead.¡± I offered smiling, and he looked surprised for a moment before flashing me a boyish smile and taking the food.


    ¡°Hey, thanks.¡±


    ¡°No problem.¡± I offered, and he quickly started eating, which gave me time to look to Hiromi.


    ¡°So classes have been rough today?¡±


    ¡°Ugh! It¡¯s those brats in class! No one believes that I¡¯ve managed a major Op for my father! They just scoffed at me!¡±


    ¡°Well you did, and it¡¯s probably on your record right? So no need to worry about what they think. They are your peers, not your bosses right?¡±


    Hiromi just grumbled a bit but nodded accepting my words as she stuffed some Lo Mein in her mouth.


    ¡°Wait, you did an Op?¡± David asked, and Hiromi actually smirked looking oh so superior for a moment as she sat up straight.


    ¡°That¡¯s right! My father hired our group Section 9, and we not only recovered the data that he wanted, but we brought home so much loot.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m still super excited to play with the Minotaur.¡± I whispered with a sigh. It was so fun! You just put on the head set, click in the control shard, and suddenly you were a massive walker ready to stomp on anyone in your way!


    It was like all my dreams come true!


    Of course it wasn¡¯t my real body, so it was only a fun diversion. Someday I¡¯d end up in a Dai-Oni, or something and then I would be the stompy bot!


    ¡°Really Motoko, what are we even going to do with that thing? It¡¯s almost too heavy to move even in Ichi¡¯s truck.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, but I¡¯m sure it will come in handy someday!¡±


    ¡°Ugh. I¡¯ll have to figure out something.¡± She mumbled something after that I didn¡¯t catch as David interrupted.


    ¡°Whoa. That¡¯s so preem. You guys are like total edgerunners!¡±


    ¡°Nah.¡± I instantly denied, scrunching my nose at the thought. ¡°Edgerunners are idiots who just want to die. Trust me David, you might some day decide to do Merc work, but remember something super important okay? Going home to the ones you love after a gig, is the only way to plan things out. If your end goal ends with you dead, then you failed step one.¡±


    He didn¡¯t look like he quite understood, but I shrugged. I would do my best to guide the gonk away from leaping off the edge, but some people were just dedicated to killing themselves.


    ¡°Did you make a BD of this gig? The one that you did for Arasaka.¡±


    ¡°No.¡± I shook my head. ¡°I thought about it, but some gigs you are dealing with things that are too dangerous. The less people that know about that gig the better. So no BD.¡±


    ¡°Aw. I wanted to see it from your perspective.¡± Hiromi muttered and I just laughed at her.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t say I didn¡¯t scroll the BD. Just that I don¡¯t plan on handing it to Judy. But maybe we can get it properly adjusted some time.¡±


    Hiromi flashed me a smile and I went back to eating. In the end, I hung out with Hiromi and David until they had to go back to class, but I think my task to raise Hiromi¡¯s estimation of David had worked, at least she had gotten real close to him on the way back to Arasaka tower. So they must have talked about something.


    ¡ª--


    I had a complete blueprint of the first draft of the Tachikoma.


    It definitely wasn¡¯t perfect, but after realizing the supply and price of some parts would be¡­ Difficult. I downgraded a lot.


    This was a testbed.


    But the CAD design was done.


    Tachikoma Mk.0.1.


    My system liked it when I completed a design, and I had gotten a nice Engineering, and Technical Ability alert as I finished.


    Now it was time to put one together.


    The 3d printer went to work. Piece by piece, but that takes time so I didn¡¯t want to just sit in front of the desk staring at it. Instead I switched to another grind.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡±


    ¡°Practice!¡± I chirped to Jun. He was sitting on the couch watching some TV show he liked, while I was practicing my Athletics.


    Mostly I was just tumbling, Back Handsprings across the living room until I stopped at a wall, and then turning and doing it again.


    Grinding!


    ¡°Alright¡­ Just don¡¯t break anything.¡± He rumbled but went back to his show after a bit.


    ¡°I won¡¯t!¡± I said, as I completed a circuit. It was kinda intense flipping around so much, but since it was a newish exercise. I had done something like this before after all, but I hadn¡¯t really grinded it like this much, but the alerts were coming in.


    Mostly Athletics, although I did get a body alert on my tenth circuit, so that was nice!


    I finally took a break, flopping down onto the ground to catch my breath as I felt my chest heave.


    ¡°Finally done?¡±


    ¡°For now!¡± I offered waving my wrist at Jun weakly.


    ¡°What are you practicing anyways?¡±


    ¡°Acrobatics! It¡¯s useful!¡±


    ¡°I suppose with those ankles of yours it would be.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just useful in general! Never know when you might need to leap into cover or something. Plus it¡¯s good exercise in general!¡± I said, looking over to Jun and boring my eyes into him as I finished.


    He of course swiftly turned away and continued snacking as he watched TV.


    ¡°You really need to exercise more Jun.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m already strong.¡±


    ¡°Only some of you! Chrome doesn¡¯t count! You will get all flabby if you keep relying on it.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll just chrome out the flab. We got plenty of eddies, between Fujimura-Sama giving me more for gigs, the cheaper apartment, you no longer needing an allowance.¡±


    I grumbled at the last one. I had only needed a little money from Jun! Then I made my own! He was probably talking about old Motoko for the most part.


    ¡°You really shouldn¡¯t joke about that Jun. You need a lot more time before you can chrome up any more.¡± I said quietly, more seriously.


    This time he just grumbled at me. I snorted at him, finally standing up and walking over to sit on the couch beside him. Without hesitation I reached into the bag of snacks he was munching.


    ¡°So what are we watching any-ACK!¡± I choked as I threw the food into my mouth, instantly the taste registered and I spit it right back out.


    ¡°Motoko!¡± Jun yelped but I was too busy rushing to the bathroom.


    Jun was snacking on Shwabshwab! It was ants! I had put ants in my mouth!


    Hacking and spitting to remove as much as possible.


    ¡°W-why!? Why do they taste like ketchup!¡± I moaned as I rushed back out to get something to drink to wash the taste out with.


    ¡°I like the Ketchup flavored ones! Motoko! You are cleaning this up!¡± Jun yelled, pointing at the spray of spit and red colored ketchup flavored ants sprayed across the living room table.


    ¡°I¡¯m dying!¡± I moaned desperately, popping one of Jun¡¯s Ni-Cola just to wash the taste out, which didn¡¯t really help as I was just replacing it with the horrid taste of cough medicine.


    ¡°Die after you clean it up!¡± He demanded grumbling at me.

 Chapter 149

    Hiromi Mitsunashi


    ¡°So treat Motoko as if she was me.¡± Hiromi added with a glare. To find her Motoko sitting on a bench besides Martinez of all people! Martinez who even Hiromi could admit was good looking and had a tendency to attract attention even from the other corpo girls! Not that any of them allowed themselves time with a boy with no future.


    Martinez was smart. Too smart. Martinez was also poor. Too poor.


    ¡°Yeah, I got it. She¡¯s the Ghost! I can¡¯t believe I actually met the Ghost, and she¡¯s a teenager too?¡± Martinez still looked a little bewildered, and awed at the sudden meeting, something Hiromi could only accept.


    Motoko had that effect on her-People. Motoko had that effect on people. Especially when she was being all cuddly and leaned in close with a smile, and she was sure that Motoko was going to press her lip-¡±Buee!¡± she nearly squealed, shaking her head and pressing her cool fingers against her cheeks to try and cool off.


    Motoko was too strong!


    ¡°Hiromi?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s still Boss, Martinez.¡± She didn¡¯t quite snap, but reminded him. It was important to make sure underlings understood their positions in any company.


    ¡°Sure. Boss.¡± He responded full of sarcasm.


    Martinez was¡­ a difficult underling. Some days he was completely out of sync, almost depressed, some days he was snarky, and those were the days that got him in trouble with the rest of the class.


    Hiromi didn¡¯t care though, because Martinez was a good salesman once she had gotten him to stop trying to sell BD¡¯s out of dark corners, and constantly looking around like the NCPD were coming to collect his stock.


    Fucking gonk. This was Arasaka Academy. There were no teachers or staff here that would disrupt a small business! We were the future of Arasaka NC! Of course we had to understand how businesses functioned, including success and failure.


    Everyone had thought he was doing something creepy while selling his BD¡¯s so despite having pretty good stock through his old source he had barely managed any sales.


    Cause Martinez was the dumbest smart person Hiromi had ever met.


    He had zero street smarts. Which was really shocking for a kid that was so poor.


    Hiromi had only had to see Mrs. Martinez once, to understand though.


    David was fucking spoiled.


    If Hiromi¡¯s mother acted even half as affectionate as Gloria Martinez, Hiromi was sure she would have died in embarrassment.


    ¡°Remember the eddies Martinez. Now. I have work to do. Excuse me.¡± She added and the mention of money jerked the boy''s spine right up. Sure Martinez was a moody kid, but well¡­


    Eddies got him nice and compliant.


    It was chump change honestly. Even without Section 9¡¯s cash flow the money for the BD¡¯s and XBD¡¯s was literally pocket change, but for Martinez?


    It meant he had pocket change for a change, and Hiromi was very free with employee percentages.


    Right now her goal wasn¡¯t to pull every eddy to profit, but to expand.


    Martinez was a part of it. Covering Arasaka Academy from the inside.


    Nox was another, as both supplier of the Mox collection, as well as a pseudo partner, although she had long ago taken over the leadership position.


    He still griped about it, but only until the weekly profits came in. That always shut him up.


    Straight Lane Shooters acting as a third connection to her burgeoning XBD empire. The gang was still working on their income streams, but Hiromi had cut them in. Letting them sell her stock for a majority of the profit in exchange for another benefit.


    Hustle. Hired Muscle.


    Nox often had two of the bigger SLS boys guarding his ass, and it had worked extremely well.


    The SLS were expanding in their area, not through hostile acts, but through being a supplier of easy entertainment.


    Hiromi had even set up a local net site, where customers could order over the Citinet, and a SLS boy would drop off their desired BD¡¯s right to their door!


    Considering how many BD Junkies there were in NC? Oh yeah. Every new customer was a nice bundle of eddies on the weekly.


    And all of the revenue streams zipped up the tree right into her hands.


    ¡°Heh¡­ Hehehehehehe!¡± She burst in laughter at how well everything was going. Hiromi had used to think corpo shit like this had been boring, but that was before she had created a company underneath her!


    Well her and Motoko, and even Malcolm and Ichi. In her mind the two boys were sub leaders more than anything.


    Motoko of course was co-leader. Hiromi might be proud of her work building income streams, but Motoko is the one that made it all happen. That and the real income was from Section 9 duty, and Motoko was undoubtedly in charge there.


    Ah! The sight of Motoko being all serious, and deadly serious, and utterly utterly lethal¡­


    Hiromi cooled her cheeks once again. Hiromi had once been interested in Jun a little. Enough at least to use him to tease Motoko. Enjoying how the girl had always become outraged that Hiromi flirted with her older brother. Well before the coma anyways. Afterwards she hadn¡¯t cared at all that Hiromi tried to flirt with Jun.


    But Hiromi hadn¡¯t needed to feign interest in the dangerous gangster boy. Not when Motoko had turned herself into such a deadly woman.


    Hiromi still checked every Motoko BD, and was still thrilled every time at the casual lethal grace Motoko now moved with.


    You wouldn¡¯t notice it at first, or at least she hadn¡¯t, but feeling every muscle shift and move as Motoko scaled a wall, or battered scavs to death was an intimate experience.


    ¡°Mistunashi.¡± A voice interrupted her daydream and she scowled.


    ¡°Hmm? Oh, it¡¯s you Tanaka.¡± She confirmed. The boy wasn¡¯t someone Hiromi usually would have needed to interact with. Being a year ahead of her, same as Martinez, but she had to for her employee.


    That was how Hiromi had first interacted with Katsuo Tanaka. She almost wished she hadn¡¯t had to.


    ¡°You¡¯ve done an acceptable job handling Martinez. He hasn¡¯t caused nearly as many issues since you took him under your wing. My congratulations.¡± The boy offered snootily, that ugly smirk on his face only making Hiromi want to punch him.


    ¡°What do you want Tanaka?¡± She demanded, not at all interested in dealing with this. Idly she reached up and adjusted her tie. The Arasaka academy uniform wasn¡¯t the most comfortable thing. She almost envied Martinez and his casual disdain for dress code.


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    ¡°Simply to request a meeting. Tonight? Dinner, my treat of course. Dark Matter? My father has an open pass of course. I figured we can discuss¡­ Business.¡±


    Hiromi was flabbergasted, caught completely flat footed.


    ¡°What?¡± She asked and then instantly shook her head, stupid question. ¡°What are you talking about Tanaka, we don¡¯t have any business together.¡±


    ¡°Not so. Not so. Father mentioned how impressed he was with your handling of the downed AV cargo. The fact you are already leading a mercenary strike team? When he heard that it was one of my peers. Well Father wanted us to have a closer relationship.¡±


    You mean, your father realized how much of a disappointment you are for not being on my level. Was what Hiromi really wanted to say. To watch Tanaka crumble into the petulant child he really was.


    The funny thing was, despite all the problems he gave David, Katsuo was one of the least respected members of the Academy.


    He just couldn¡¯t do anything without his father holding his hand.


    ¡°Listen. Tanaka. I¡¯m busy with work, and I don¡¯t have any interest in cutting you in, or joining up with you. You just don¡¯t bring any value in my eyes for a merger.¡± Hiromi said, eyes looking down on the taller boy with every ounce of apathy she could bring.


    Tanaka took it as well as he did any critique.


    ¡°You wannabe street rat bitch! You think I actually want to be around you? You stink like Martinez. My father was wrong. You have no value, and I¡¯ll make sure you remember that!¡±


    ¡°Sure Tanaka. We done? Yes. We are.¡± She decided to not even give him the power to argue the point. She walked away.


    She was surrounded by kids playing at being corpos.  The thought made her scoff as she was practically one of them.


    No way could Hiromi have done this without Motoko handling the difficult bits. But having valued personnel was a skill all on its own, something she had learned that had changed her world.


    She might never rise as high as Tanaka in the company, because he would be pulled up by his father, but that was fine. Because Tanaka would never be more than just a company boy.


    Hiromi? Hiromi would have her own assets, her own company, and her own projects. She would stay with Arasaka, but she wouldn¡¯t be just another drone like Tanaka.


    ¡ª--


    We were hanging out on the couch together watching some TV, but it wasn¡¯t a relaxing experience.


    Jun wass purposefully ruffling the bag of ants! They were ants! Ants are ants! Not food! He was doing it just to watch me jerk away from them.


    I didn¡¯t even want to look at the damned things! They had been in my mouth! I now knew the texture of ants!


    ¡°Heh.¡± Jun chuckled as he grabbed a handful and tossed them into his mouth. He was doing it on purpose!


    ¡°I hate you.¡±


    ¡°Heh!¡±


    I considered punching him, but Jun still had a nuclear weapon in his lap. What if¡­ What if he chucked them at me or something!? I could get them in my hair! I don¡¯t think I could mentally handle that!


    So I just casually moved away from him, yep super casual. Not squirming and flinching at all. Nope!


    ¡°I¡¯m gonna go do something! In my room!¡± I decided that a tactical retreat was in order and Jun just kept smirking at me as I flipped over the back of the couch, sliding into a tumble to let me land on my feet at my door.


    Yep. Just going to avoid that whole thing.


    Inside my room the Tachikoma piece was nearly finished, but I didn¡¯t want to sit there and just look at it, so I grabbed my guitar and hooked it into my amp.


    To get back at Jun just a little I belted into the opening strings to Chippin in.


    Singing it at the top of my lungs just utterly belting it out made me feel better and probably annoyed Jun so there you go.


    Then on my third repeat of the song my 3d printer finally finished, and I hurried over, quickly pulling out the piece of casing and putting in the feeder material for the next section, loading it up and then starting it up again.


    Then because I wanted to be a little shit, I walked back to where I was grabbed my guitar and started the song back exactly where I had left off.


    That finally got me a reaction.


    ¡°MOTOKO! CUT IT OUT!¡± Jun yelled from the living room, loud enough I could actually hear it over the song. That finally earned him some relief as I stopped playing and toned down the volume before jumping back into it, at a much more reasonable level.


    I was trolling Jun, not trying to be an asshole.


    But then as I was starting up, there was a knock on the door. None of my chooms were supposed to be coming over. I put the guitar down and grabbed my Lexington from the holster and met Jun who just rolled his eyes as he saw me come out of my room armed as he walked to the door.


    At least grab the door gun Jun! The Tactician was for this exact thing!


    But he ignored it and opened the door.


    ¡°Uh, hey.¡± Jun offered looking surprised and I concealed my lexington in the back of my pants as I wandered over to see.


    ¡°Hey neighbor. I was uh¡­ Oh.¡± She remarked upon seeing me.


    It was Rockerboy Neighbor. She was standing at the door, hand idly twirling a bit of her techhair that was flashing slowly to her heartbeat¡­


    FLIRTING! RED ALERT!


    I glared as I hurried over grabbing Jun¡¯s arm and narrowing my eyes a bit at her.


    ¡°Can we help you?¡± I asked, making my point clear. She just looked a little awkward for a second before seeming to cool down and then flashed a smile.


    ¡°Hey I just heard you playing and stuff. Samurai? That¡¯s nova, oldschool, but nova, we should jam sometime-¡± She started speaking and the moment I realized what she was going for, I instantly started laughing. Practically busting a gut because she hadn¡¯t been looking at me while saying that.


    Worse? Jun looked like someone had fed him something sour.


    The look of confusion on the girls was great, and I just laughed and laughed in delight at the natural 1 she just rolled.


    ¡°I don¡¯t play guitar.¡± Jun offered after a moment saving the girl a bit of confusion. ¡°Motoko is nova though. She can play anything.¡±


    I could see the flush go up the girl''s pale cheeks at Jun¡¯s statement, and even worse her cool confidence was a bit broken.


    She had definitely come here for a chance to flirt with Jun about music.


    ¡°Motoko, it''s rude to laugh at people.¡± Jun pointed out to me, because I was absolutely busting a gut.


    I brought myself under control, as much as I wanted to just point at Jun and tell him the look on his face was forever my favorite thing. But instead I calmed down to just softer chuckles. ¡°Sorry. Sorry. Yeah Jun.¡± I said getting myself under control.


    I looked at the girl who looked a little lost and felt a bit bad.


    She had been rude on our first meeting, but I could be the better person.


    Besides that look of disgust on Jun¡¯s face was never going to be forgotten. Mostly because I took a picture.


    ¡°That was you?¡± She finally asked and I nodded.


    ¡°Yeah Jun hates Samurai, so I was messing with him by playing it. Wanna jam together?¡± I asked, surprising the girl with my sudden offer.


    ¡°Oh? That would be nice, Motoko''s never played with anyone else before.¡± Jun said, dropping one of his stupid big hands over the top of my head.


    It took only half a second for the girl to realize that Jun was a good big brother, and that would be her way in.


    ¡°Preem. Sure, I have some time to jam a bit. Let me get my guitar.¡± She said walking away quickly, and I was pretty sure she needed a moment to reset her plan.


    She had definitely come for Jun. I had no doubt she was going to want to play in front of Jun.


    I rolled my eyes, silly Rockerboys.


    Heading back to my room I grabbed my amp and equipment and hauled it out to the living room.


    No way was I letting some random Rockerboy gonk in my room.


    A minute later there was another knock at the door, and Jun answered it as I was setting up my stuff.


    Rockerboy neighbor was there with a flirty smile for Jun.


    ¡°Huh. That¡¯s not the Orphean you had at your gig.¡± I mentioned cutting in a bit. She was carrying an old beat up Washburn guitar.


    She looked to me, and shook her head. ¡°Course not. That¡¯s not a guitar you use while playing around.¡±


    ¡°Gotcha! Well come on in, feel free to plug into the amp. Jun come sit!¡±


    ¡°Yeah yeah.¡± He muttered laughing as he walked over and flopped onto the couch, although since it was a big circle he had to sit sideways to see. Rockerboy neighbor instantly hurried over and plugged in, and the moment she did I could see she was actually plugged into the guitar as well. Her hair instantly shifted, and as she strummed a few chords to check the sound her hair shifted with her.


    That was kinda nova. Should I get Tech Hair like that? Lucy had something like that too and I always thought it was cool.


    I shook it off as she strummed a few chords and from the sound I knew she was all set.


    So I instantly started into the intro to her own song. The one Violent Hemorrhage had opened their gig with although I didn¡¯t know the name of it.


    The look on her face as she jerked up at the sound as I played it perfectly made me smirk. I had to repeat the refrain twice before she shook herself loose and finally joined in.


    Then we just jammed. I played the songs Violent Hemorrhage had played the night of their gig. Playing along from memory, and every time I kept up, Rockerboy neighbor looked more and more surprised.


    Jun looked sort of meh about the song choices, but I could tell that she didn¡¯t really notice that. Only that his attention was on her, and she strutted under my brother''s eyes.


    We took a break after a few songs and Jun was a good boy bringing both of us drinks.


    ¡°Thanks Jun.¡± I said as I drank my soda, while Rockerboy neighbor flirted, leaning in a bit as she took the drink.


    ¡°Yeah. Thanks.¡± She offered, and I think even Jun wasn¡¯t dense enough not to notice that level of flirtation.


    ¡°Uh. Sure, anytime.¡± He offered back, and that only made the girl smirk even more wicked.


    ¡°So what¡¯s¡­ Okay seriously how do you know every song my band plays? You a super fan or something?¡±


    ¡°No? I saw you play a gig once. The songs were alright, not really my thing.¡± I admitted with a shrug. ¡°I tend to like older rock more. Or more electronic stuff. I guess.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡± She trailed off, glancing at Jun. Probably wondering how to call me a liar or something. It was pretty crazy.


    ¡°Motoko is a genius.¡± Jun said with a smile reaching out and ruffling my hair.


    The girl looked like she wanted to argue. Which¡­ Yeah I could feel that. I mean, I had just perfectly played her own songs having only heard them once?


    Well I had heard them a few times vaguely, I supposed. She did practice in her apartment, but that was rarely clear enough to do more than vaguely recall the song she was playing.


    But that brought me up to another issue.


    ¡°So what¡¯s your name anyways?¡± I asked, and the girl nearly spewed her drink out as she was taking a drink as I asked.


    ¡°What you don¡¯t know?¡±


    ¡°You never introduced yourself, and I only know you from the one time I heard you play.¡±


    ¡°Yeah but¡­¡± She shook her head. ¡°Alice. Fujimura Alice.¡±


    My eyes narrowed but Jun made an ¡®ah¡¯ noise as if it just dawned on him. ¡°Fujimura-Sama¡¯s niece. I remember now. He mentioned you lived on this floor too.¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Oji-san let me stay here while I get my band together. Since it¡¯s closer to all the clubs.¡± she offered with a shrug.


    My narrow eyed look eventually relented and I shrugged. The fact she was related to that jerk face Fujimura didn¡¯t matter much. She was more like me than anything. TC connections but not actually a member.


    Couldn¡¯t really get annoyed with it considering that was very similar to me and Jun.


    ¡°Alice then, nova. I¡¯m Motoko, since I didn¡¯t actually say that, but you already heard Jun call me that.¡±


    ¡°Yeah. The Kusanagi siblings. I remember Oji-san told me about you when you first moved in. Said the Oni was a good underling, but his sister was difficult.¡±


    ¡°That sounds about right.¡± I agreed without hesitation. Earning an actual amused look from the girl.


    ¡°So know anything besides your own songs?¡±


    ¡°I know a couple songs.¡± She offered and started up something I had never heard before.


    Thankfully with Perfect Musical Memory I caught on and on the second play through I was matching her tempo.


    To my surprise, she seemed actually pretty happy to jam out with me.

 Chapter 150

    After a few songs Alice called for a break, and then casually flopped onto the couch next to Jun.


    Flirting.


    I rolled my eyes, but she had been surprisingly nice this time, so I decided to give her a bit of space.


    I wasn¡¯t exactly thrilled that Fujimura¡¯s niece was into Jun, but I would just rely on my brother''s denseness to romance.


    Instead I headed into my room.


    The Tachikoma part was completed, so I prepped the next piece, messing with the printer making sure it was good to go, and started it up.


    Considering I was giving Alice some space with Jun I decided to be semi productive and look at my stat sheet.


    Level 17


    Body 8(16) Due to Cyberization, Maximum value has increased by 8.


    -Athletics 7


    -Street Brawler 8


    -Annihilation 5


    Reflex 8


    -Blades 7


    -Handguns 7


    -Assault 8


    -Driving 7


    Intelligence 11 (14) Due to Cyberization, Maximum value has increased by 4.


    -Breach Protocol 9


    -Quick Hacks 8


    -Programming 11


    Cool 9


    -Ninjutsu 9


    -Cold Blood 8


    -Rockerboy 8


    Technical Ability 6 (10) Due to Cyberization, Maximum value has increased by 4.


    -Crafting 5


    -Engineering 5


    1 Stat point.


    6 Skill point.


    Perks.


    Ambidextrous Blades 2


    Quickdraw Handguns 2


    Gun Nut Assault 2


    Parkour Athletics 2


    Grappling Street Brawler 2


    Drive By Driving 2


    Cat-like Athletics 5


    Cool Nerves Cold Blood 2


    Danger Sense Ninjutsu 2


    Wall Breaking Breach Protocol 2


    Cyber Security Quick Hack 2


    Recoil Reduction. Annihilation 2


    Cyber Ninja Ninjutsu 5


    Fearless Chill. Cold Blood 5.


    Improvised Weapons Street Brawler 5


    Parry Blades 5


    Robotics wizard Crafting 2


    Drifting Driving 5


    Rapid Reload Handguns 5


    Design Wizard Engineering 2


    Rifle Ace Assault 5


    Ghost touch Breach 5


    Perfect Musical Memory Rockerboy 2.


    Debug Programming 2


    Siren Song Rockerboy 5


    Hacking Wizard Quick Hacks 5


    Inspired Programmer Programming 5


    A.I. Whisperer Programming 10


    Slam Fire Annihilation 5


    Enduring Builds Crafting 5


    That was where I currently was. I looked through my stat block to try and figure out what I wanted to grind next.


    Weapons popped to mind. I was a bit behind on gun skills still. But I wasn¡¯t sure I wanted to go to the range again.


    Actually I did have Annihilation. I could grab a shotgun, or a machine gun¡­ Actually no, no machine guns. Shotguns were good though.


    Also Engineering and Crafting still stood out¡­ Okay. Grenade time.


    I gathered some parts I had. I would stop at a shop and head to the Straight Lane Apartments, to make some grenades since Jun still refused to let me make them in the apartment.


    I was low on grenades after that one kid stole them from my Quadra.


    I walked out to see Jun looking pretty uncomfortable, as Alice flirted with him, her hair was throbbing pretty quickly to the beat of her heart.


    Oooh. Jun was in trouble.


    Be strong Jun-nii. It¡¯s only a rockstar going for your innocence! I¡¯m sure no rockstar has ever defiled an innocent maiden before¡­


    ¡°Heh.¡± I snickered as I walked through the apartment. ¡°I¡¯m heading out. Gonna go build some grenades. You want any?¡±


    ¡°What, you¡¯re leaving? Are you sur- Wait!? What was that about grenades!?¡± Jun called trying to rise up but I was already out the door.


    I guess that means he doesn¡¯t want any.


    Slipping into the garage from the elevator I walked over to my Quadra and slipped in. Uncaring about the TC toughs that still hung out down here. I guess it was safe? Being down here kept the kids from being targeted by other gangs I guess.


    I roared out of the garage, enjoying the way the Quadra got a little air at the exit every time, I whooped as I slid into the street and then slowed down to the speed limit and drove to the gun store.


    Buying a metric ton of supplies I carried the heavy box out of the shop and into the passenger seat of the Quadra before heading to the Straight Lane Apartments.


    Time to get to work.


    ¡ª--


    Tinkering with grenades was a surprisingly soothing experience. Future tech meant they were actually pretty safe, like handling C4. You pretty much knew exactly what it would take to cause an explosion and as long as you didn¡¯t do that one thing you were good.


    I made a dozen of them using old parts before I ran into the problem of lack of supplies for the casings. Sure I had all the internals, and the triggers, but I had run out of the casings to hold everything.


    I frowned. Normally I would head back to the apartment to run the 3D printer, but that was already in use¡­


    Did I want to buy a new one? I was making a lot more stuff. I could probably get a way higher quality printer as well¡­


    This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.


    I considered it as I spun around in the chair and took in the sight of the netrunning basement.


    I shrugged. It wasn¡¯t like I could get any more work done here without either going out and buying casings wholesale, or making them myself. I packed up the grenades, noted that I had earned a Crafting and Tech alert from the dozen completed grenades, and grabbed the box of completed explosives to take with me.


    My Quadra was running low on big boom after all.


    Heading up, I was stopped as the elevator opened by a pair of girls that I recognized.


    ¡°Ah it¡¯s you two.¡±


    ¡°And it¡¯s you.¡± The smaller one hissed glaring, but the taller girl rested a hand on her shoulder to calm her. ¡°We were waiting for you, hoping you might be willing to discuss something.¡± She asked, and I felt my eyes narrow.


    Last time I had met these two, they had threatened Hiromi, and hadn¡¯t been happy to have us around. It had been a while since then though. So I guess something had changed.


    ¡°I don¡¯t really have a lot of time.¡± I lied, ¡°But if you make it quick I¡¯ll hear you out.¡±


    ¡°Perfect. We are having an issue with a rival gang causing some problems. While we can certainly defend our territory¡­ We are a bit outgunned this time, and wanted to hire you.¡±


    ¡°Call Hiromi then, and run the gig through her. She¡¯s my fixer.¡± I replied and made to move but the girl moved in.


    ¡°Wait! We¡­ We told Hiromi we had everything under control! If she realizes we are struggling with our end of the deal we might lose the deal entirely. Please. It¡¯s just one group. We don¡¯t even need them flatlined or anything! They have higher end weapons is all. They made some deal with 6th St. So they have rifles and things. We just need them to lose the weapons. If they do, everything goes back to normal.¡±


    I sighed. This was dumb. Like literally dumb.


    ¡°Okay listen. Hiromi is my best choom, so let¡¯s be real, hiring me is still going to alert her. So let¡¯s cut all the shit. You guys are street kids. You aren¡¯t meant to handle something like 6th St. Hiromi knows that. Just call her, tell her what¡¯s up. I¡¯ll send her a text right now. To look into it, and that we¡¯ll help out.¡±


    The taller girl looked nervous before sighing. ¡°Please.¡±


    ¡°Great. Call her! If she is being a bitch I¡¯ll talk to her, but I doubt she¡¯s gonna drop you guys like that.¡± Hiromi had mentioned from time to time that the SLS was acting as her low level muscle. No way Hiromi would drop them just because¡­


    Wait, did these kids think Hiromi was some super fixer like Wakako or something¡­ Heh.


    I turned and walked away to hide my smirk and my desire to giggle. I was gonna tease Hiromi so bad about how everyone thought she was some elite fixer!


    ¡ª--


    ¡°Best model you can find on the market! The Militech marketplace also offers a wide variety of printable options for the discerning customer!¡± The man said, patting a 3D printer with one hand.


    This was now the third Militech branded printer he had shown me.


    ¡°That¡¯s great, but I don¡¯t need a Militech marketplace. I¡¯m looking for something I can run on my own. Which this one won¡¯t. As I have to upload my blueprints to be able to print them.¡± I argued for the third time. It was actually a good marketing ploy.


    The printer was cheaper, and pretty good quality. So by tying it into a local net marketplace Militech got free product to sell, and a constant income.


    And I¡¯m pretty sure I could jailbreak it, but I didn¡¯t want to deal with this! I just wanted it to work!


    ¡°The Militech marketplace is the greatest concentration of-¡±


    ¡°Choom. I¡¯m not interested.¡±


    The man shut his mouth and then breathed out.


    ¡°Yeah alright kid. You want something a bit more flexible, we got that too. C¡¯mon.¡± His tone had completely changed from the corpo tag line he had been hawking at me.


    He led me over to the side of the shop that was sort of tucked away, and there I finally found what I wanted.


    ¡°These don¡¯t have any corp support for production, but you know that.¡±


    ¡°I do.¡± I said checking out the varieties he had. These printers would only work if I could input the model myself without any of the libraries that some of the other printers offered.


    ¡°This one.¡± I said pointing at a Vance T-Form. I had never heard of Vance before, but just checking out the printing details this is the one I wanted.


    ¡°Figured you¡¯d grab that. The T are good, but be careful about buildup. They have a really shit cleaning system, so you¡¯ll want to do it yourself. But if you do. They are solid.¡± He offered hefting up the box that was pretty large, definitely some do it yourself building involved, but I paid and hauled it out to the Quadra to take¡­ Home.


    I would flip the printers around. This one could keep working on the Tachikoma, I would need tighter tolerances there anyways, while the old printer could be sent over to the Netrunner lair for grenade parts.


    ¡ª---


    Jun wasn¡¯t home when I got back, which made me wonder if Alice had actually gotten her claws into him. But I ignored it heading into my room, taking out the Tachikoma part that was done. And unplugging and moving the old printer, to make room for the much much larger new one.


    I started cackling as I put it together. So much power! So much building! Tachikoma!


    Once I had it all settled and ran a quick test part to see.


    It came out smooth and within my actual tolerances. Usually the printer made things a bit wonky, but not this time. It was nearly exactly what I wanted.


    Perfect.


    Satisfied I started on another part, and the timer for completion was certainly better than before.


    Well, I still had my old one.


    I popped the second printer onto the floor and started printing out grenade casings. Slowly working through the process as the new printer buzzed quietly working much much faster than this old one.


    An hour later I swapped out the part being constructed for another build and took all the Tachikoma parts so far and started fitting them together.


    I had enough of the outer casing done now that I could start putting together the brain and start fitting it together. I had the parts already, especially since it wasn¡¯t like I was building an AI here.


    A SCSM would have about the same level of intelligence as my Tachikoma, at least to start.


    Then again Brendan was a S.C.S.M. Yet he was smart enough to make people think he was alive.


    It would all come down to the iterative design, and my skill as a programmer.


    The brain came together, just some hardware capable of running an OS. It was honestly basic, but it didn¡¯t need to be complex. I just needed the start.


    With the brain put together, even with the body still only half completed. I grabbed my laptop and started programming.


    ¡ª--


    I dumped the box of grenade casings onto the table down in the netrunner cave. I had a few hours before the piece of Tachikoma was done. So I had some time to grind more crafting points.


    I had made a lot of casings, enough that I wouldn¡¯t need more for a long time. But really it was just a grinding method. I probably wouldn¡¯t even keep all the grenades live.


    My hands grabbed the basic tools I need and I went to work. Explosive fitted into the casing, electronic trigger connected to the mechanical one, and then a final twist of a screwdriver sealing it all together.


    I gave it a little scan with my Kiroshi, confirming it was live, and then put it to the side.


    Then moved on to the next one.


    And the next. All the while XP came in small bursts.


    *100 Technical Ability XP Gained*


    *100 Crafting XP Gained.*


    ¡ª--


    *100 Crafting XP Gained.*


    *Crafting skill level up!*


    Crafting six? Nice!


    I had stilled as the alert came in, slowly putting down the grenade I had been working on. I had dozens of the things now. Each one lined up to the side ready to be used.


    I stretched raising my arms high above my head and groaned as I felt my muscles in my back stretch.


    That had been a good grinding session!


    Now what was I going to do with all of these grenades?


    The idea struck me and I laughed, instantly pulling up my agent to make a call.


    *Ringing.* I hummed a bit as the call went through, already gathering up the grenades into a box for transport.


    *Ringing.*


    *Hello? Motoko?*


    *Ichi! Glad you picked up. You doing anything right now?*


    *Nothing I can¡¯t put down, what¡¯s up?*


    *I have a ton of grenades and I figured having some stored in your truck would be a good idea. Just in case you need something with a bit more boom, than the HMG.*


    *Grenades? Motoko I don¡¯t really¡­ I don¡¯t think I¡¯m comfortable with that.*


    *What? Why? They¡¯re just grenades Ichi.*


    *I¡¯ve never handled grenades before Motoko. I don¡¯t exactly want to blow my hand off or something.*


    I looked at my box of grenades, ones I had just been planning on storing and using sparingly¡­


    Then I started grabbing all of them and throwing them into the box.


    *Ichi meet me at the Straight Lane Apartments. I¡¯m calling Hiromi and Malcolm as well! We are running a grenade course.*


    *Fuck¡­ Uh can I opt out?*


    *Nope! This is an important skill! Plus it gives me an excuse to actually have so many grenades! So Jun can¡¯t yell at me anymore.*


    *Where did you even get all these grenades from? Did you do a gig without telling us?*


    *What? No. I just made them.*


    *You¡­ Made them? Motoko-*


    *Yep! It¡¯s easy. Like super easy. Don¡¯t worry they are safe! Hell they are safer than the ones you can buy bulk from gun stores and stuff. Don¡¯t worry! I made the whole thing myself!*


    *Oh god.* He whispered quietly, but this was happening Ichi. Your boss at Section 9 demanded it!


    *Okay! Hurry up. I¡¯m calling everyone in.*


    ¡ª--


    ¡°I don¡¯t like this idea.¡± Hiromi muttered but I ignored her whining as well. Only Malcolm had been all for the idea of practicing with grenades.


    But I had gotten them all here now so it was too late!


    ¡°Welcome to the Section 9 grenade testing range!¡± I called out waving behind me at the bare desert.¡±


    ¡°This is just the Badlands.¡±


    ¡°Section 9 grenade testing range!¡± I repeated, ignoring Ichi¡¯s remarks.


    ¡°Yeah!¡± Malcolm called out, the only one of my chooms that was actually here to have fun.


    I kicked the box I was standing over knocking off the lid, and all of my chooms even Malcolm jerked back.


    Scaredy cats! Just because it was a crate of grenades!


    ¡°Alright! So everyone come up and grab a grenade, just don¡¯t twist the top and we won¡¯t have any issues. If you do accidently twist it just throw it far away, but let¡¯s not do that! First off. Get a feel for the heft of the grenades! They aren¡¯t that heavy!¡±


    Malcolm instantly walked up to grab a grenade, while Hiromi and Malcolm both stayed far back.


    ¡°C¡¯mon! Both of  you! They aren¡¯t going to hurt you unless you don¡¯t know what you¡¯re doing and that¡¯s why we are here!¡±


    ¡°As a fixer, I don¡¯t think grenade usage falls under my job description.¡± Hiromi tried to argue.


    ¡°I just drive. I don¡¯t do combat much. So I don¡¯t think I need to know this.¡± Ichi added a moment later.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be silly! Hiromi! Combat skills are very important even to a fixer. What are you going to do against some corporate hatchetman squad coming to kill you if you don¡¯t know how to toss high explosives at the bad guys until they are just chunky burrito mix?¡± I said while pointing at Hiromi, then I switched to Ichi making him flinch.


    ¡°And you! Throwing grenades out of your car''s window at gonks chasing you is a very useful skill! You both are learning this.¡± I demanded stomping my foot causing the crate to shift and Ichi and Hiromi both flinched back.


    ¡°Wow this is pretty nova Motoko. You made this?¡± Malcolm asked, looking over the grenade he had picked up.


    ¡°Yep! The cap on the top is a timer. The more you twist it the shorter the fuse, while the large pin is the safety. As long as you are holding that no explosion. The timer can¡¯t go under one and a half second. So you should be able to throw it far enough to be safe as well. At the max it has a ten second timer!¡±


    ¡°Why so long?¡±


    ¡°Traps! Pop two or three set the timer and run. Ten seconds is a long time, more than enough for most gonks to think wherever you were is safe to run to now.¡±


    Malcolm nodded, taking in my wisdom.


    Hiromi and Ichi were still too far away.


    ¡°Get over here and grab a grenade or I¡¯m throwing them at you!¡± I called out, and that finally got my chooms moving. Hiromi first, with Ichi following behind as both of them walked up to the crate and gently pulled a grenade out.


    ¡°Okay so like I said, get a feel for it. First thing we are doing is some test throws! Without popping the timer we are going to see how far you can throw it!¡±


    ¡°Preem.¡± Malcolm said walking over to where I was on a little hill, and then chucked it over to the other side. Malcolm had a good arm!


    ¡°Nice distance! You¡¯ll be able to really freak people out with surprise grenades!¡± I said while throwing him a thumbs up.


    Malcolm smiled happily at my words.


    ¡°Hiromi and Ichi¡¯s turn!¡±


    They both tossed the grenade and I winced as Hiromi¡¯s didn¡¯t quite go right, instead throwing almost too far up, as it landed on the hill and then rolled back towards her.


    ¡°A-ah!?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s okay.¡± I called out walking over and grabbed the rolling grenade, I checked just to be safe, but the primer wasn¡¯t started. ¡°We¡¯ll work on your throw first.¡± I mentioned without saying that Hiromi would have blown herself up with that throw.

 Chapter 151

    The explosion of the grenade going off sent dust and debris flying everywhere, but we were all safe.


    ¡°Woo! Yeah! Nova!¡± Malcolm called out as he bounced on his feet. He had already thrown a half dozen grenades, but still cheered every time.


    The others had even started to get into it too. Hiromi actually had a really good throw once she got a little practice. Turned out her chrome hands had been to blame as it messed with her throw. Something she hadn¡¯t even known until now.


    Ichi had finally gotten comfortable, and the two boys were seeing who could throw the farthest.


    It was nice that everything was coming together!


    ¡°Motoko! We got company!¡± Ichi called out, and I looked over and frowned. We were pretty far out in the middle of nowhere. Specifically because hey we were throwing grenades around. We had even driven off the main highway into the desert to do our training. And now a few cars spewing dust up behind them were driving towards us.


    ¡°Ichi! Get in your van and hide out. Malcolm! You have your weapons?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    ¡°Load up. Hiromi get in the Quadra.¡± I ordered as I hurried to the Quadra¡¯s trunk.


    I wasn¡¯t exactly armored up at the moment, but I grabbed my Copperhead and a spare magazine in one hand, and my own Shingen in the other, which I quickly passed over to Hiromi.


    She nodded, holstering her own pistol and grabbing the Smart SMG as she hunkered down in the armored vehicle. I noticed with a bit of amusement she was still gripping a grenade in her off hand.


    Then I turned to the approaching cars, which as they approached I noticed were in fact Wraith markings covering them.


    Well this just got more interesting, and a lot more dangerous.


    I walked a bit away from the Quadra and let myself go casual. Hiromi was hidden in the Quadra. Ichi had his HMG¡¯s ready to go, and Malcolm? Malcolm was being smart.


    He was hiding! I was actually really impressed for a moment, as he had hunkered down under the truck. Using brush to break up his outline. Shingen poking out and just waiting.


    The two Wraith vehicles pulled up in a sliding skid, sending dirt and gravel flying, and then a moment later out stepped four gonks. Two from each vehicle.


    I quickly scanned all four as the dust cleared. Each of them was armed, and swaggered out, only hesitating a tiny amount when they saw my Copperhead. One of them nudged the other and pointed me out, pointing out that I was armed.


    ¡°Drop the gun kid.¡± The apparent leader called out waving around an Ajax. Something I noticed he had experience handling.


    Like most of the Wraiths, these guys were a small step above the normal Night City gangs. Better weapons, usually some military training.


    So I dropped the Copperhead.


    I didn¡¯t need it, and it would make them let down their guard a bit. ¡°Satisfied? Now what do you want?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I am. You¡¯re out here using up our turf, fucking around on Wraith territory. I know you Night City kids don¡¯t think much of us Nomads, but out here? Well this isn¡¯t Night City. This is our home, and now you owe us a nice Juicy tax.¡± The man said, but to my surprise he wasn¡¯t talking about eddies. ¡°Preem ride. Where¡¯d you get her?¡±


    My eyes narrowed and my hackles rose up. Because he was looking squarely at my Quadra.


    ¡°It¡¯s a bit of a long story, and if I tell you, I¡¯ll have to kill you.¡± I answered back, sounding like I was joking.


    I wasn¡¯t joking.


    ¡°Hah! Nice one kid, but those are nomad wheels, and you don¡¯t look like any nomad I know of. You Clan?¡±


    ¡°No. Night City brat through and through.¡± I admited with a laugh.


    ¡°Even more interesting, but I think that¡¯ll do, just hand over the wheels, and you lot can go home, and tell everyone about the big scary Wraiths. It¡¯ll be a fun story to tell your chooms.¡±


    He demanded, his focus on me shifting as he looked away. His three other buddies were split, looking at me, or at Ichi in the cab of the truck who had been faux hiding.


    Making enough noise and moving around that they knew he was there. I wonder if Malcolm had asked him to do that.


    Since everyone was in position and these gonks thought they had won. It was time to act.


    The leader had his back turned, and none of them had visible speedware.


    So I quick drew the Burya and punched a hole through the leader.


    *750 XP Gained.*


    I must have hit something serious, because I got the XP alert instantly.


    ¡°Fuc-¡± I was already moving, leaping up and over the Quadra, drawing the idiots attention to me, and away from the truck.


    The truck that even as I started taking some fire, suddenly opened up. The idiots didn¡¯t even hear it, too focused on me, and then the noise of their rifles was drowned out.


    The roar of the HMG¡¯s firing in unison echoed out, despite the fact they weren¡¯t super accurate, rate of fire had a charm of it¡¯s own. The three gonks despite moving a bit into cover to surround the Quadra were soon mulched without me even needing to do more than take cover. Malcolm was firing as well, so even as they tried to slip into new cover the Smart rounds pelted down onto them.


    Then everything went quiet.


    ¡°Kill check!¡± I called out as I stepped out from around the Quadra to quickly look over the four bodies. I popped bullets into the three extras just to be sure, but they were dead.


    ¡°Everyone alright?¡± I called out, and Malcolm and Ichi both confirmed they were okay. Malcolm took a moment longer to slide out from under the truck.


    But as I walked over to the Quadra, Hiromi still hadn¡¯t spoken up. I hurried to the car and popped it open only to relax, Hiromi was shaking a bit, and looking¡­


    She wiped at her eyes, but she was okay.


    I leaned in and pulled her into a hug.


    ¡°It¡¯s okay. I¡¯m just glad you¡¯re okay. Everything¡¯s fine.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s stupid. They weren¡¯t even shooting at me.¡± She whispered back and I just hugged her tighter. For a while until she eventually calmed down and nodded quietly, pushing me away and stepping out.


    ¡°You okay?¡± Ichi asked Hiromi gently and she nodded.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be fine. Ugh. Look at this mess.¡± She said instead, staring at the corpses.


    ¡°Well¡­ I mean¡­¡± I trailed off looking at the Wraith vehicles. Considering how many of them we had already sold off these probably wouldn¡¯t net us much¡­. ¡°Who wants to throw grenades at the cars until they explode?¡±


    ¡°Oh! Me me me!¡± Malcolm called out jumping up and down like a little kid, and even Ichi snuffed out a laugh before raising his own hand.


    ¡°Oh fine.¡± Hiromi added herself. Stomping over to grab some grenades.


    ¡°Okay, first let¡¯s check them for loot, then let¡¯s turn this into good practice. Try to aim into the cabin!¡± I called out as my chooms all grabbed high explosives.


    This was such a good day.


    ¡ª--


    This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.


    I flopped onto the couch beside Jun when I got home that evening. We had used up all the grenades I had crafted, turning the Wraith vehicles into hunks of scrap.


    Fuck the Wraiths.


    ¡°Welcome home. You¡¯ve been out in the badlands?¡± Jun asked, I looked up and he was looking me over. Huh. Did he scan me?


    ¡°Gonk. You don¡¯t have to scan me, you can just ask where I¡¯ve been.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t! I just noticed all the dust on you.¡± He answered back trying to sound cool, but I was barely dusty anymore. So I just kept staring at him until he got awkward.


    ¡°Okay I did a small scan.¡±


    ¡°Goooonk. But yeah, Section 9 didn¡¯t know how to use grenades so I made a whole bunch of them, and we went out into the desert and blew shit up. It was kinda nova.¡±


    ¡°You could have invited me.¡±


    ¡°Jun I love you, but inviting my brother along with my chooms is weird.¡± Then because I really didn¡¯t care about being weird¡­ Well mostly¡­ Sometimes¡­ I shook my head. ¡°You can come next time.¡±


    Jun smiled at my offer and reached over, dropping a hand into my hair.


    ¡°Next time then. What are your plans for the rest of the night?¡± He asked and in return I smiled and adjusted myself so I was laying sideways on the couch.


    ¡°Well first, I¡¯m going to veg out on the couch with my gonk brother and watch his crappy TV shows. Then I¡¯ll probably do some more work on my drone.¡±


    ¡°Heh. Well this gonk brother knows there is going to be a new show starting tonight!¡±


    ¡°Yeah?¡±


    ¡°Yeah it¡¯s about a drug dealer in-¡±


    ¡°Blegh.¡± I answered instantly. ¡°That sounds like total scop. I don¡¯t want to watch that.¡± I grumbled, but Jun was by now well used to ignoring my complaints about any and all TV shows in the future.


    He just continued to ramble on about what he had heard about this new show.


    I ended up watching the first episode.


    I wanted to kill the director.


    ¡ª---


    The Tachikoma Chassis was done.


    I had finished every piece, and put it all together, even uploaded the very basic program into its little brain the moment it was finished I got a burst of alerts. Programming. Engineering. Technical Ability. The system liked when I finished a big project.


    Then I set the tiny drone onto its four limbs and flipped it on.


    It ran through its check process. It¡¯s eye rolling around as it checked the rotation. Limbs one at a time stretching and moving gathering range of motion data.


    Then it was off. Taking a wavering slow step forward, then another leg moved, and another and soon despite how unsteady it was, the program I had created was learning, and it walked, and walked. And¡­


    Touched the wall. Then it just kept trying to walk forward¡­


    I waited a minute, hopeful the program would figure out something was in the way.


    But no.


    ¡°Oookay. That needs to be fixed.¡± I reached down and picked it up, and despite being lifted it still just tried to walk forward.


    I grabbed my personal link and plugged it in¡­.


    Yep it had gotten stuck on the basic walking program I had made. It hadn¡¯t actually switched over to the learning process¡­.


    Oh. It wasn¡¯t a programming fault.


    It was hardware.


    ¡°Fucker sold me an off brand CPU.¡± I grumbled. It literally wasn¡¯t strong enough to run both sides of the program, which meant I needed to buy a new one, and or get creative.


    I sighed as I grabbed a personal link cord and my laptop.


    ¡°Time to offload some of that thinking little Tachikoma.¡±


    ¡ª--


    While I watched the Tachikoma slowly walk in circles hampered by a length of cord, I at least was happy enough.


    It was definitely learning now.


    The laptop was basically running the learning part of the program, and the chassis was running the actual movement.


    It was a bit of a gonk setup, but at least it was improving. Slowly becoming more and more capable of taking the steps with surety.


    The learning program was just something I had nabbed out of a SCSM. Basically the same thing that would have likely evolved into the program Brendan used to learn about people. Well with a few years of advancement.


    It wasn¡¯t anywhere near an actual AI of course. We were talking low level iterative learning. Half the time I had to plug into the laptop and make the adjustment manually before the Tachikoma would actually learn it.


    But that¡¯s okay. It wasn¡¯t about what it could do now. It was just the first step. Tachikoma V0.000001.


    ¡°Okay while you keep figuring out walking. I¡¯m going to go make more grenades.¡± I reached down and patted the Tachikoma on its head. ¡°Ganbatte Tachikoma-Chan!¡±


    Satisfied I had cheered on my little bot I headed out. I would need to stop at the store for more parts though.


    Thankfully the new printer was hammering out the grenade casings I would need.


    ¡ª---


    The sun came up long before I took another break. The Netrunner lair was now stocked up on a good amount of grenades. I pushed the second box full of them under the table and out of the way.


    But I was all smiles despite the long session.


    *100 Technical Ability XP Gained*


    *Technical Ability Leveled up!*


    That was Tech 7. And since it had upgraded. I was finding myself excited to do even more builds.


    Mostly because despite getting one Crafting alert after leveling, the grenade grind was nearing its limits.


    I needed to make something new.


    Well my first idea was to go sideways more than anything. Right now all I was doing was making frag grenades, but grenades in Night City were crazy. Laser grenades. Poison grenades. All sorts of different stuff.


    And EMP grenades could be super useful against borgs.


    Unfortunately I didn¡¯t actually have the blueprints for them, and I wasn¡¯t going to try and make explosives, especially an EMP in my netrunner cave.


    So that meant it was time to go on the net.


    I stretched and wandered over to my net chair. I needed some data, so of course I was going to steal it!


    Plugging in I shivered a bit, as the coolant started flowing through my leotard, but then I paused¡­ I should be smart about this¡­ Yeah¡­ Smart! I could do that!


    *Ringing,*


    *Ringing.*


    *Motoko?*


    *Hey Malcolm, you doing anything right now?*


    *Noo?*


    *Preem. Hiromi is at school, so I had to call someone. Want to help me with some netrunning? I can¡¯t promise it¡¯ll be exciting, but I¡¯m going to steal some weapon blueprints, so I-¡±


    ¡°Stop talking. You had me at stealing. Your netrunning lair?*


    *Yeah. I¡¯m already here.*


    *Alright on my way!*


    ¡ª--


    ¡°Okay so what do I do?¡± Malcolm asked as he arrived and I just pointed him at the laptop station that my chooms had used to monitor the videos while we hunted people down.


    ¡°Really simple. Mostly just take data that I sent to the server. Make sure it has what we need, and if I start flatlining. Save my butt.¡±


    ¡°Right. Sure, how do I do that?¡±


    ¡°Well, mostly unplug me and call for Vik.¡±


    ¡°Preem. That I can do.¡±


    ¡°Alright I¡¯m diving. Thanks Malcolm, I know this might be kinda boring, but I appreciate having someone to watch my back.¡±


    ¡°Hey, that''s what Section 9 is all about.¡± He said and I flashed him a massive smile.


    They were calling themselves Section 9 now! Eeeee!


    I quickly flopped back, shivered as the coolant once more started up, and then blinked.


    I was no longer in the basement. No, I was in my private lobby. A classy Tron like meeting room.


    ¡°I love this place.¡±


    *It¡¯s kinda cool I guess.* Malcolm replied and I laughed, having not expected him to hear me.


    ¡°You going to watch over my shoulder?¡±


    *I figure I might as well¡­ That okay?*


    ¡°Sure, enjoy the sights of the net.¡±


    *It doesn¡¯t look all that. Whoa.*


    I had opened the wall of my lobby revealing the actual net space. The digital city of moving lights, and data streams, and Malcolm was basically seeing what I was seeing. If not in great quality.


    ¡°I¡¯ll probably not keep the camera going once things get started Malcolm. I¡¯ll need the bandwidth.¡±


    *Oh sure. Don¡¯t let me hold you back.*


    ¡°Nah, choom. You are definitely pushing me forward. Alright let¡¯s go.¡± I jumped, disappearing into a search engine as I went looking for what I needed.


    Thankfully it wasn¡¯t exactly like I was trying to steal military secrets. So I slipped into the search engine and found exactly what I wanted.


    A weapon store that sold the grenades that I wanted.


    It was a Gun O¡¯ Rama. I came up to their website and entered. The digital interface schized out and I rolled my eyes at the terrible web maintenance, as I walked into basically a white room with a menu screen.


    Whoever ran this place, definitely didn¡¯t have a netrunner on tap.


    I bypassed the shitty website and walked right behind it to the sealed door.


    Ten seconds of breaching, and the door opened, and I was into their system.


    The back end of the shop made me still instantly. It was an actual net space. I was wrong. This place did have a netrunner on retainer, they just didn¡¯t actually jazz up the front end. There were defenses all over, Daemons awake and active.


    The room reminded me of some level out of doom. Gray concrete stone, and a single door to continue on the other end of the room, worse?


    Most of the Daemons were off the shelf defenses, but not all of them.


    I looked across and grimaced at the two ¡®turrets¡¯ that were already unfolding from their defenses. Some kind of protected Daemon? They didn¡¯t have my stealth Daemons attached to them. They had seen me.


    I¡¯d have to examine those to figure out how they had bypassed my own hack after this.


    I instantly raised a Barrier as the system came to life. The two turrets alerting the horde to my presence.


    A few random bits of code slammed into the barrier and slowed to a crawl, the attacks from the blinded Daemons weren¡¯t entirely focused. Shooting in my general area thankfully, but that would go away once they got a lock.


    I would have to act fast.


    [Hell Fire] Was activated and I lashed it out, focusing on the most dangerous Daemons. A set of Guards that looked like men in trench coats. Their guns raised and lashing out with purple beams of coded death. The fire hit the first one, and instantly it started melting, its code turning into spaghetti.


    *250 XP Gained.*


    Of course my own assault had broken the stealth effect of my Daemons. The facehuggers basically stopped working as I attacked. Something else I should probably have learned before this. But my own lack of netrunning experience was biting me. All the daemons focused on me, and the wriggling blinding Daemons all turned into particles. Their ability to hamper my enemies gone.


    *Dropping connection for a minute Malcolm!* I called as I cut his video monitor. I needed all the bandwidth I could get, instantly I got a small boost in speed, and used it.


    I activated my ICE Shield to create a wall of scrap data that the Daemons were forced to chew through. Giving me some protection from the purple beams of death, small Imp Daemons throwing digital fireballs, and the two automated turrets. I¡¯ve never seen turret Daemons like that before, but I realized just how dangerous they were when they started firing.


    They shot the same weapons as the Guard Daemons, but in rapid fire. I did a quick scan, and realized the hack they were sending out was a really nasty sort Short Circuit. Trying to fry me right out of their system.


    I threw up more ICE Shield And moved, hiding behind the wall of ice that was quickly disintegrating despite my new additions and fired another [Hell Fire] at the Guards.


    *250 XP Gained.*


    Then another, turning the main guards into puddles of dead code.


    But this system seriously had a lot of defense Daemons. Whoever set this up was a fucking  maniac about their private information.


    Imp fireballs started getting closer and closer, but the turrets were the biggest threat.


    I threw up another barrier and winced, hearing the warning from my system about my body heating up as I was burning through programs, but I didn¡¯t have any other choice, unless I wanted to just run away.


    Hell Fire was activated again, and this time I was able to aim towards one of the turrets, watching it melt down.


    *250 XP Gained.*


    With only one more turret, despite the Imps moving in, I had more breathing room, and was able to rebuild my defenses for a few moments. Throwing out more ICE walls, and Barriers to fortify up. Despite the turret still chewing through with its constant attacks. Wincing at the way even through cyberspace I could feel my body heating up.


    Once I was more secure. I took a bit of time to try and cool off, before sending out another Hell Fire was activated again and again, as soon as I could without frying myself, as I burned first the turret, and then through the horde of Imps.


    *250 XP Gained.*


    *250 XP Gained.*


    *250 XP Gained.*


    *250 XP Gained.*


    *250 XP Gained.*


    *250 XP Gained.*


    Finally the room was quiet, and I took a deep breath despite being a digital avatar at the moment. That was a lot.

 Chapter 152

    I reconnected my audio and visual link with Malcolm once I was sure it was over.


    ¡°Malcolm you there?¡±


    *Motoko! You okay?*


    ¡°I¡¯m fine Malcolm, just some unexpected defenses. I guess I should have known a gun shop wouldn¡¯t ignore their net defenses as well. I¡¯m moving in now.¡± Then I did just that, first stopping at the Turrets to examine what was left of their code.


    I couldn¡¯t find anything that would give them a defense against my stealth Daemons. Until I looked up and noticed there was actually a defensive system around their cubby. A few minutes of examining it and it made sense.


    The turrets had their own barriers around them that turned off once they started attacking. It was actually brilliant, as they were protected right until they noticed someone. Sure with this knowledge I could probably make some adjustments and double check for such a thing in the future, but to see something new like this?


    ¡°Fascinating.¡±


    *Motoko?*


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing Malcolm, just some cool netrunner stuff. I¡¯m heading in now.¡± I took a long moment to examine the door that led further inside and even sent a breach access into the door, just to make sure it wasn¡¯t trapped. After confirming it was clean I opened the door and stepped through.


    It was a room. Just a server room really. Files stored in digital file drawers that would be folders on normal computers.


    I accessed the rooms functions after making sure there were no defenses in here, and did a search for grenade information.


    A few minutes later I found the file I wanted. Blueprints to create an EMP grenade that the shop sold, at least it would be better than the junk I had messed around with so long ago. Better than just a battery overloading.


    I looked around and did a few more quick searches, gathering up more details on other grenade types, and some data on silencers. Just in case I could learn something new.


    Then I pulled out, making sure to cover my tracks, and running the hell away before whoever owned the shop figured out they had a digital break in.


    ¡ª---


    ¡°Blegh.¡± I groaned as I pulled free. I was mostly okay at this point, but my brain still felt hot from all the hacks I had pushed through my deck.


    ¡°You okay?¡±


    ¡°Yeah yeah. Just a headache.¡± I grumbled, as I pulled out a MaxDoc and huffed it down. Instantly the pain faded, and I unplugged from the netrunner chair and stretched as I wandered over to the small sink in the basement. A few seconds of washing my face, and pouring cold water over my neck I felt much much better.


    ¡°So that was kinda scary.¡± Malcolm offered and I nodded.


    ¡°Yeah I wasn¡¯t expecting that sort of defense. I mean most shops I breach into don¡¯t have much security. Then again I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve tried to hack a gun shop before.¡± It was usually food stands, or hotels.


    ¡°You handled it though?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. I could have just disconnected from the server as well. The system couldn¡¯t lock me in.¡± I threw him a thumbs up. ¡°But more importantly. You got the data upload right?¡±


    ¡°Yep! Right here!¡± He ran back to the laptop and flipped it around, showing the blueprint of an EMP grenade. ¡°Looks complicated.¡±


    ¡°Eh. Mostly I just need to know how they make it. Once I know the parts they are using I can either copy it, or make adjustments to make it cheaper¡­ Or stronger.¡± I answered. ¡°But really. Malcolm. Thanks. I appreciate the backup.¡±


    ¡°Hey, no worries. Honestly. I¡¯m glad I was here to help, especially if you are in the net doing stuff that crazy.¡±


    ¡°Yeah the net is certainly a world of its own.¡±


    ¡ª---


    I treated Malcolm to lunch, and he ended up actually following me around to all the shops I had to hit to gather the parts for all the different grenades I was going to make.


    Slamming all the bags onto the work bench in the basement, Malcolm was carrying bags as well, helping me save a trip all the way to the car park. He grunted as he dropped the bags, sighing and rubbing his arms.


    ¡°You really need all this?¡±


    ¡°Not really, but I want to make a few Laser Grenades because¡­ That¡¯s just cool.¡± I answered and Malcolm did sort of shrug and nod together at that.


    ¡°True.¡±


    ¡°And those things are kinda complicated. EMP stuff is pretty cheap, and that¡¯s what I have here.¡±


    ¡°Preem. So are you going to make them now?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I can do that. Want to watch?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± He offered and I smiled as I ran over to the CAD program. First I needed to make my own design since I wasn¡¯t using the weapon shop''s exact design for the grenades.


    I pulled up the design of my frag grenade that I used to print the casings in the printer, and started making adjustments.


    *100 Engineering XP Gained.*


    I smiled at that as I almost instantly got the alert and slammed through it. The changes were only minor really, a few additional holes cut into the casing to fit the battery that would be the source of the EMP.


    Finished with the file I uploaded it and sent it to the Printer, then grabbing an old casing I plopped it into the 3d Printer and in ten minutes cut out the sections I would need.


    ¡°Here Malcolm, something you can do to help. See all these Casings? When one is finished just put it into the machine to keep making more. I¡¯m aiming for at least a dozen of these.¡± The boy looked over the printer and nodded instantly.


    ¡°That I can do.¡±


    With that I set to work. Malcolm was a big help in running around to grab things for me, as I took the blueprints I had learned from the weapon shop, and made a few minor adjustments for my own style, and then slowly put together an EMP grenade. I was extremely careful when I finally placed the battery into the casing.


    Almost nervous as I purposefully rolled my chair to the far side of the basement as far from the server and netrunning stuff as I could before finally sealing it all together.


    *100 Crafting XP Gained.*


    ¡°Done?¡±


    If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    ¡°Yeah. First one anyways¡­ Want to go test it?¡±


    ¡°Hell yes!¡±


    We left the rest of the stuff there as we hurried out of the basement.


    ¡ª--


    I couldn¡¯t exactly throw it around in the middle of the street, and while I was confident in the range of the EMP effect only being a couple of feet, I didn¡¯t exactly want to be wrong, so we once more drove mostly out of the city until we started seeing dirt lots and open spaces, then I just pulled into a dirt lot ignoring whoever owned it as Malcolm and I stepped out of the Quadra.


    ¡°Okay Malcolm? Want to do the honors?¡±


    ¡°Hell yeah¡­ Just pop and throw?¡±


    ¡°Just like the frags yeah. Same timer and everything.¡±


    He popped the clip holding the timer locked, twisted the timer and chucked the grenade sending it arcing away.


    We waited for a few seconds once it bounced and then a few seconds more¡­


    Then suddenly it burst into a visible wave of light and a spark of electricity and I even got a second of fuzz in my Kiroshi, although we were far enough it didn¡¯t do anything more.


    ¡°Whoa.¡± Malcolm offered and I nodded smiling.


    ¡°That is NOVA!¡± I screamed into the air, arms upraised.


    ¡°Totally nova.¡±


    Malcolm and I high fived and then we hurried back to the Quadra.


    ¡ª---


    ¡°I still think it was a good show.¡± Malcolm offered, he had decided to hang out with me despite the fact I was just working on making more and more grenades, and the distraction was actually kind of appreciated.


    Except his taste in TV shows was as bad as my brothers.


    ¡°Watson Whore was literally one of the worst things I¡¯ve ever seen. And I saw Bushido 5.¡±


    ¡°Bushido 5 is the best one!¡±


    I looked away from the grenade I was fitting together to give him a look of disgust.


    ¡°They had a train top Kusanagi sword battle before the whole train exploded for no reason-¡±


    ¡°The minions Kusanagi landed under the train and it exploded!¡±


    ¡°Nothing explodes like that! It blew up the entire train!¡±


    ¡°I know it was so preem!¡±


    ¡°Then! If that wasn¡¯t stupid enough the explosion launched the ¡®hero¡¯ into the air and he landed his Kusanagi into the bad guys AV.¡±


    ¡°It was such a preem scene! They didn¡¯t use stunt doubles or anything for that! It was all practical effects!¡±


    ¡°That¡­ Malcolm I literally saw some of those minions get stuck under the train!¡±


    ¡°Yeah the stunt guys all have Gemini and super hardened brain cases. They get torn apart all the time.¡±


    ¡°God that sounds horrible.¡± I shook my head as I went back to finishing the grenade.


    ¡°How many of those you going to make?¡±


    ¡°I honestly was just thinking of making as many as I can until I ran out of parts¡­ I bought¡­ Thirty batteries?¡±


    Malcolm nodded wisely and then threw up a thumbs up.


    Which I instantly returned. Malcolm got it.


    ¡ª--


    *100 Engineering XP Gained.*


    *Engineering skill level up!*


    I looked up from the CAD software. I had been working on designing the laser grenade and it was honestly a lot more complicated, since I needed to have the laser emitters cut through the grenade casing.


    Well that and it was a much chunkier grenade, since the power source and all the emitters took up space.


    But, I was making great progress and now I had a level up from it!


    Engineering 6!


    I leaned back away from the computer and stretched. Malcolm and I had hung out all day making grenades and talking about movies or other stuff. He had even asked me about chrome. What I had planned, and what he should get.


    It was fun! But eventually he had decided to head home to check in with his folks leaving me time to design more grenades.


    But maybe it was time for a break.


    I got up and headed to the elevator, and then out of the SLS apartments. Just as I was walking out though I ran into a familiar face.


    ¡°Nox?¡±


    ¡°Motoko! Hey!¡± The Mox boy had some changes since I last saw him.


    For one, he had gotten a set of Tech Hair which now was split in half, with Mox colors. ¡°Nice chrome. Just the tech hair?¡± I asked and his face burst into a smile.


    ¡°No, I got a few other things as well. Some preem optics for one. Helps me keep track of customers and stuff.¡± He said flashing his eyes through a few different settings. Mostly just making them brighter.


    ¡°Preem choom. How¡¯s business?¡±


    ¡°Eh. Not a lot of new content.¡± He said, teasing me lightly and I just shrugged.


    ¡°Yeah, most of the recent stuff is no good. Too much chance of pissing off corps or big groups. I¡¯ll try to get something that¡¯s workable to Judy soon.¡±


    ¡°Hey, whatever you can bring in will be good I¡¯m sure!¡± He offered and I shrugged. I hadn¡¯t really thought about it in a while. The BD stuff was still mostly just something for fun.


    ¡°I¡¯ll have to reach out to Wakako and see if she has any gigs. I did a short one of me klepping a car, but nothing really happened, so I never bothered to give it to Judy.¡±


    ¡°Hey you know¡­ There is one thing we could use some help with.¡± He suddenly asked, and I blinked.


    ¡°What¡¯s up?¡±


    ¡°So Hiromi¡¯s got the SLS working guard duty right? Well, there¡¯s been some trouble recently. One of the sellers and his guards were beaten and everything was taken. Didn¡¯t think much of it at first, but then it happened again.¡±


    ¡°Wait. The girls already brought this up. I told them to bug Hiromi.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, same situation, but this just happened. She hasn¡¯t done anything yet, but the guys I have selling are getting antsy, and SLS aren¡¯t doing much better.¡±


    ¡°When was the last attack?¡±


    ¡°Yesterday.¡± He said and I frowned at that. ¡°I¡¯ll talk to Hiromi about it, let me know if anything new happens as well. That¡¯s not okay.¡±


    ¡°Thanks Motoko, I knew you¡¯d want to get involved as soon as you heard.¡± He said and I realized he had purposefully been out here waiting for me.


    ¡°You wanted to go around Hiromi with this. Why?¡± I asked suddenly and he jumped at my words before relaxing.


    ¡°Honestly? She doesn¡¯t care enough about my chooms that are getting beaten. You¡¯re a street kid though. You¡¯d understand.¡±


    I really didn¡¯t understand, but I sighed regardless. ¡°I¡¯ll talk to Hiromi again, talk to you later Nox.¡±


    ¡°See ya around Motoko.¡±


    This was not the problem I wanted to deal with right now.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°It¡¯s not like that at all! Nox you fucking shit. I¡¯m gonna fine you so hard for this shit!¡± Hiromi ranted a bit after I called her wanting to meet up. I was at her apartment after school, and she wasn¡¯t happy.


    ¡°This is the same problem as before. If it was still going on, why not have me help?¡± I asked more curious than anything.¡±


    ¡°I was trying to get more info! I have some feelers out to try and find out what is going on! I¡¯m not even sure they are being honest. The three that have been stolen from were all the lowest sellers. I had already spoken to Nox about how we might cut them loose if they couldn¡¯t sell anymore just before this happened!¡±


    ¡°Hiromi.¡± I groaned, rubbing my face. ¡°Just, assume this actually happened. What would you do?¡± Hiromi looked a little uncomfortable for a moment.


    ¡°Probably call you and Section 9 for a gig to hunt down whoever is attacking my workers.¡±


    ¡°Okay, so that¡¯s what we are going to do. Call in everyone. Malcolm and I were hanging out most of the day so he should be just home with his parents. But this is a gig.¡±


    ¡°Wait, you and Malcolm were hanging out all day!?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. I needed someone to help watch my back while I did a net dive. Then when I was making more grenades we just hung out and talked. It was fun.¡±


    Hiromi¡¯s face went through a wild array of emotions before she went blank. ¡°I¡¯m glad you had a fun day.¡±


    ¡°Thanks Hiromi. Sorry you were stuck in class all day. Will your parents let you leave to do Section 9 stuff right now? I know you can¡¯t always get away on school days.¡±


    ¡°Oh it¡¯s fine. After the Badlands gig, my parents gave me a blanket exemption from most of the rules as long as it¡¯s work related. I just really can¡¯t abuse it, or else.¡±


    ¡°Nova!¡± I cheered smiling. ¡°That''s really cool. They must really trust you now.¡±


    ¡°Ugh. Mom is acting super proud and stuff. She even told her co-workers about me, to sort of make fun of their kids who are all idiots.¡±


    I just snorted and nudged Hiromi. ¡°Well let¡¯s get to work then!¡±


    She nodded and her eyes went yellow as she started making calls.


    ¡ª---


    An hour later everyone arrived at my netrunner lair.


    ¡°So that¡¯s the situation. We are going to find out who is attacking Hiromi¡¯s business and kick some teeth in.¡± I explained. But Malcolm shook his head right away.


    ¡°Motoko. If the sellers are the ones being jumped like this? They are probably moving in on someone else¡¯s turf. Hiromi isn¡¯t the only one selling BD¡¯s after all.¡±


    ¡°I know that!¡± Hiromi snapped, but I put a hand on her shoulder.


    ¡°Hiromi Malcolm wasn¡¯t being mean, just explaining something he noticed. Right?¡± I turned to him and he nodded.


    ¡°Yeah. It¡¯s preem that you put together a BD business ¡®Romi. You¡¯re our Corpo, I wouldn¡¯t shit talk you.¡± He added and Hiromi perked up a bit.


    ¡°Right! Sorry. I just¡­ I feel stupid for ignoring this.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine! We are here to handle it now! Malcolm, Ichi, you both have a better feel for the city than us. Do you know of any groups that sell BD¡¯s in the area that might be causing us problems?¡±


    ¡°Charter hill? Difficult to say. No one technically owns the territory. So it could be any minor gang. Or one of the big ones but honestly? If it was 6th St. They would have told the kids to fuck off. Then they would have beaten them.¡± Malcolm said and Ichi nodded.


    ¡°And if it was the TC, we wouldn¡¯t be talking, because the poor gonk¡¯d be dead.¡± Ichi added. ¡°Most TC bosses don¡¯t appreciate someone moving in on their income.


    ¡°Okay so in that case¡­ We do it the old fashioned way.¡± I muttered looking at the netrunning chair.


    ¡°Yes!¡±


    ¡°Awesome!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll go on a snack run. Just the usual stuff Malcolm, Hiromi?¡± Ichi asked as he rose up, and I was left as the only one in the room annoyed at the situation.


    This is what I get for being skilled at things huh?


    I sighed and headed over to the chair to get plugged in.

 Chapter 153

    Chapter 153


    ¡ª--


    The last attack on the SLS had happened in an alleyway just off Lele st. This was Charter Hill. One of the richy rich places in Night City. Which is why I was struggling to find a good camera to peep through.


    Most of the camera systems in the area were controlled by whatever corp owned the building. Or were heavily protected by building security.


    I quickly slipped out of another server as I could see a netrunner beginning to look around at the increased server load of me wandering around on it.


    ¡°Another bust.¡±


    *Dangit! We¡¯ll try to find another business.* Hiromi added and I nodded as I hid myself in a corner of the digital city. This area was cleaner than most other sections of the net. The net felt clearer, and faster.


    But it was also much more dangerous.


    City Center hadn¡¯t even been this bad, although that was because there were lots of little private shops all through the area.


    Not so much here. Most of the stuff was all kept controlled by the corporations in charge.


    I was watching the data move around, trying to find new access points, when I noticed it.


    ¡°Heya.¡± I called out casually, as I rested against the side of a digital skyscraper.


    ¡°Never seen you around here before.¡± A response came as a netrunner stepped out of the shadows.


    ¡°On a gig. Not looking for any trouble.¡±


    ¡°Well that all depends.¡± She offered. I looked into the rainbow colored blazing eyes, and fiery burning hair.


    I readied myself. I didn¡¯t like threats. Especially not on the net.


    ¡°I don¡¯t like threats. Get processing choom.¡± I said, even using a fun bit of netrunning jargon.


    ¡°Pfft. You entered into a server I got under contract. You slipped inside without me even noticing, and then you were out. Not long enough to grab anything. So what¡¯s the deal? You scoping out? Am I gonna have to worry about an attack? I want some answers, and I¡¯-¡±


    ¡°Nah. I¡¯m trying to get eyes on an alley on this street. One of my clients was attacked a few days ago. I¡¯m tracking the attacker. Nothing to do with you.¡± I answered back much more calmly. This wasn¡¯t going to turn into a battle after all.


    The woman looked confused at my words like I was talking nonsense.


    ¡°What? So you try to slip into protected servers to what? Peek through the cameras?¡±


    ¡°Basically.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s crazy.¡± She answered instantly. ¡°You¡¯ll run into ICE and get brain fried. No one is stupid enough to do that.¡±


    ¡°I kinda do it all the time.¡± I answered honestly, mostly because the look on her face as I said it made me grin.


    ¡°You¡­ Slip into servers all the time just to check their cameras.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s really useful for tracking gonks down. I don¡¯t suppose you¡¯d let me peek at your outdoor cameras on the server you protect?¡±


    ¡°Not a chance.¡±


    ¡°Figured. Hey, you must know the area pretty well.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t like where this is going.¡± She interrupted sighing.


    ¡°Know of any small businesses in the area that have cameras peeking at the alley on Lele, between-¡±


    ¡°I know the alley. There is one. And¡­ Well it¡¯s not my hide either way. Sure there is an access point to a transport business down there. They have an external camera. If you are trying to keep an eye on the alley, that¡¯s the way to do it¡­ But it¡¯s not like they don¡¯t have ICE and stuff. You can¡¯t seriously just jump in.¡±


    ¡°Sure I can! Thanks Choom. I¡¯m Ghost by the way.¡± I introduced myself since we weren¡¯t going to fight. Awesome that saved me so much time hunting down the access point.


    ¡°Blazed.¡± She answers and then to my surprise she follows me as I head down the steps she had pointed out. As I walked down into the steps. I instead came out into an open space stepping out of the darkness of the transfer.


    The web was really silly sometimes.


    ¡°Ah there it is.¡± I confirmed finding the access point without any fuss as I could see the data traveling through it.


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    ¡°You following me for a reason?¡±


    ¡°I kinda want to see you get stuck in the ICE and brain fried.¡± She answered and I scoffed out a laugh as I decided to just ignore her then.


    I walked to the point, and after a few moments I breached the defenses, opening it up, and sending my Daemon into the system. A few moments later I waved at Blazed and slipped inside.


    I nodded pleased. The security in this server was waaay lighter than the others in the area.


    I slipped past a blinded Security Daemon. And then to a password secured connection to the camera system.


    Less than a second later, I was breached into the door, the password accepting an admin password for this particular model of camera and letting me bypass the ten seconds it would take to breach it normally. Then I was into the camera security logs, and I pulled up the date and general time.


    I copied an hour chunk and sent that on to my chooms to begin examining.


    Then I just walked right back out.


    If we needed a different time period, I could always slip back on, but the longer I was on the server the more likely the increased load of my presence would be noticed.


    I stepped back out into the small open space, and to my surprise Blazed was still there.


    ¡°Bullshit.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°No way you just slipped the data that fast. That was what? Thirty seconds?¡±


    ¡°I mean. I just needed to copy an hour chunk of the camera logs, it wasn¡¯t really hard.¡±


    ¡°Bullshit, that¡¯s bullshit!¡±


    ¡°Okay? Anyway, thanks for the help-¡±


    ¡°Fuck no. Hold on. I have to see this.¡± She demanded and then she walked over to the access point, and started poking at it.


    The seconds tore on, and I waited, and winced, as I could see her breach attempt. It was working, sure, but it was kinda slow.


    ¡°How the fuck. Did you fix their security or something? How¡¯d you breach so fast?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a bypass in that version of ICE they are using.¡± I answered and she looked to me, before scoffing and just stepping away. Ending her breach attempt.


    ¡°Ghost?¡±


    ¡°Yeah?¡±


    ¡°Never heard of you. At least I don¡¯t think so, I mean you aren¡¯t the only gonk calling themselves Ghost or a Ghost.¡±


    ¡°Yeah I don¡¯t really hang out much on the net¡­ I mostly hang out with Yoko at the Roundabout? I do programming work.¡±


    ¡°Shit. You program too? You any good?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m pretty good! I do a lot of commissioned Debugging work! Yoko bugs me all the time to fix her code.¡±


    Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.


    ¡°Yoko? Nova. Alright, I''ll take it back. You aren¡¯t some 2-bit. I¡¯m Blazed. Mostly contract security. Here.¡±


    I blinked as she sent me contact info.


    ¡°Umm. Thanks?¡± I responded a little confused. Was I supposed to send my info back? Was this some sort of netrunner thing?


    It seemed so, as a moment later of me waffling trying to figure out what to do, her face shifted from a smile into a frown.


    ¡°Not in your league huh?¡± She responded and I just shook my head.


    ¡°Umm. I just don¡¯t know what¡¯s going on. I really don¡¯t interact with people on the net much. I kinda just hop on to get whatever gig I¡¯m doing done, and then jump off.¡±


    ¡°Wait seriously? I mean¡­ How many hours on the net you got? I¡¯m hitting about 21k. Mostly server security. They got me doing 12¡¯s every day.¡±


    ¡°Umm¡­ Yeah I have no idea. I never kept track.¡± I said instead of admitting it was less than 100 hours or something. The long camera hopping days had taken up most of that.


    ¡°Right. Yeah makes sense. It¡¯s pretty common, if you run into a runner and you make contact a lot of time we share contact info. Increase our contacts you know? Someday I might call you up and offer a favor for work, or you can call me, and do the same. Usually we give each other heads up if we might need to agro their server or something.¡±


    ¡°Oh! Sure, here.¡± I passed over the same contact info that Yoko used for my netrunner work. Mostly an email to send programming work to, but Blazed seemed pleased at that.


    ¡°Nova. Alright. I gotta get back to work then. Nice meeting you Ghost.¡±


    ¡°You too!¡± I offered, smiling as she disappeared back into the depths of the stairs.


    *I don¡¯t like her!* I jumped at the sudden words in my ear.


    *Motoko trying to get a new Output while on the job? For shame.* Malcolm spoke up next, his tone absolutely teasing.


    ¡°What?¡± I asked wondering what these gonks were talking about!


    *Motoko watching you flirt up a girl is entertaining, but maybe we should focus on the gig?* Ichi added in next and I heard Hiromi then choking for a minute.


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t flirting!¡±


    *Suuuure.* Ichi responded back really rolling with the sarcasm.


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t!¡± Then I remembered they were fucking with me. I rolled my eyes at the boys teasing, as I focused instead on the gig. ¡°Okay tell me you found our suspect.¡±


    *Found. The time was about right. Showing you what we got¡­ You uh. Probably aren¡¯t going to like this.* Malcolm offered, and I watched as a video was sent to me, it popped up on a screen in front of me and I watched in interest. As a van pulled up at the end of the alley.


    Our seller was sitting on a loading dock in the alley with his bag open. I have to give Hiromi credit. It actually did look like he was slacking off more than trying to sell stuff, but I wasn¡¯t a BD seller, so who knows how that worked.


    The van let out two men from the side door and I frowned.


    It wouldn¡¯t have been noticed in person. But the same function in my Kiroshi that blurred my face was in use on these men.


    I felt my hands tightening and I was glad we were in the net because otherwise my chrome hands would be creaking with how hard I was gripping.


    The two men walked over and one instantly punched the seller, throwing him around, as the other grabbed the bag, and then once they roughed up the kid they turned and left.


    The fact the seller didn¡¯t have a SLS guard was the reason this happened. The two men got back in their van and then took off. Not even in a hurry just casually driving away.


    *Motoko?*


    ¡°I know what¡¯s going on.¡± I answered back furious. The video ended thankfully I closed my eyes and breathed in deeply, the virtual air not satisfying me in the way I wanted.


    The two men had the same glowing masks that all Scavs tended to use.


    Fucking Scavs.


    ¡ª---


    I didn¡¯t have time to jump out of the net and deal with my fury of once more facing Scavs. No, instead I needed to track that van.


    It wasn¡¯t easy. But since I wasn¡¯t trying to look down a specific alley. I had a lot more options for systems to slip into.


    A cafe down the street, a clothing shop that had melted ICE for security, a food stand on the street that had a security camera pointed at the street that could see the four way intersection.


    We tracked them right down.


    As usual Scavs never expected retribution. Especially not for something this low level. Who would care about a single teenager selling XBD¡¯s in an alley?


    I would. Especially when they worked for my friend.


    I would. When they were attacked by Scavs.


    And so unfortunately for these fucks, they had someone actively hunting them and they never even knew it.


    They took a right onto Pardey, not far from the assault, and then headed over the bridge to Arroyo.


    I lost them right after, because North Arroyo was all industrial parks, and there was no street level cameras to peer through. I searched for hours, trying to find something on the other side of the bridge that would give me eyes on which way the van went.


    The only thing I could guarantee was that the Van didn¡¯t take Republic way into City Center. They traveled through Arroyo.


    We even tried Malcolms back tracing idea. Following them from the other direction, but they actually just came from the same direction, and we lost them at the same place.


    *What do we do now?* Hiromi asked, and I hummed as I sat on the steps of a digital building to think. Watching the traffic slip by. Digital information traffic was kinda soothing to watch.


    Scavs¡­ What were they doing? BD stuff? They didn¡¯t kill the kid which was interesting. Why not? Northern Arroyo? What was in Northern Arroyo that would interest Scavs? Industrial parks. Mostly abandoned, and 6th st. claimed most of them.


    I felt like something was there. Just on the edge of my tongue. I just couldn¡¯t solidify it.


    ¡°Any smart ideas Malcolm?¡± I asked, and he laughed, but I could hear the denial.


    *I got nothing here Motoko. Nothing fast anyways¡­ You made those spy cameras right? Maybe we go out and put a few of them in the area. See if we can¡¯t get eyes on the same van later?*


    ¡°The license plate was blocked. We would be tracking every van that travels through the area. That¡¯s a bit more work than I¡¯m willing to do.¡±


    *Yeah¡­ Then a trap? We send out another seller, and bait them into attacking?* He offered and I hummed.


    ¡°Could work.¡±


    *Not really. No way my sellers would let themselves be bait. I might not have accepted this actually was the truth before, but the sellers have. I¡¯ve been getting requests for more security, and I think I¡¯ll have to do that now.* Hiromi added with a sigh.


    *Duh, then we just have one of us do it.*


    ¡°Absolutely not. The Scavs were gentle before. But there is no telling what they will do in the future. If this is their way of saying stay off their territory, then¡­¡± I trailed off letting my chooms fill in the blanks.


    *Right. You¡¯re right. We can¡¯t do that.*


    ¡°Alright. I¡¯m done here. I¡¯m coming out.¡± I called out, as I stood up and leapt into the data streams sending me back to my lobby in a flash of data.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°Oooh that feels good.¡± I moaned as I shoveled warm food into my mouth. ¡°Ichi you get a promotion.¡±


    ¡°Nice.¡±


    ¡°Hey!¡± Malcolm said as he pouted. ¡°I got the food too!¡±


    ¡°But Ichi got me this food, so he gets the promotion.¡±


    I ignored Malcolms faux outraged mumbling before I laughed and just stuffed more food into my face.


    ¡°So let¡¯s put together what we learned. Scavs attacked the XBD sellers. We know they come and go from northern Arroyo.¡± I added and left off looking around.


    ¡°We know that they have something to do with BD¡¯s. These aren¡¯t Scav targets they are after. They were only interested in the BD¡¯s.¡± Hiromi added in.


    ¡°The van they were driving was set up to look as common as possible. Nothing defining on it. I couldn¡¯t even see any scratches or something we could use for verification.¡± Ichi added in.


    ¡°Okay so we have a bunch of Scavs hiding in Arroyo¡­ Can we call in any contacts? Anyone that could give us more information?¡± Malcolm asked.


    ¡°I can reach out.¡± Hiromi said, looking fierce. She obviously wasn¡¯t happy about the entire situation happening under her nose.


    ¡°Alright. I need a break. Let¡¯s call it here tonight. We¡¯ll meet up in a few days if we get more info.¡± I offered with a groan as I stretched out my legs a bit. ¡°I think I¡¯m done for the day.¡± I called out as I headed out, to the calls of goodbyes from everyone. They were all packing up as I entered the elevator and headed out.


    The drive home was quick and it left me feeling refreshed.


    I got home and threw my jacket over the couch as I headed for the fridge pushing aside all the XXL burritos to get a soda that I had hidden in the back.


    No Jun huh? I shrugged, it wasn¡¯t that late yet, instead I headed into my room, and had to stop and giggle.


    The Tachikoma drone had somehow ended up on its back. Its legs wiggling in the air weakly.


    ¡°Silly thing.¡± I cooed, as I picked it up and carried it over to the laptop. I would go over what it had learned so far today and make some improvements!


    ¡ª--


    ¡°Motoko?¡±


    ¡°Jun! Welcome home!¡± I called out, the Tachikoma code had evolved a lot, although not that much with it getting stuck on its back and then sending the entire thing into a loop.


    But that was okay. It had a few hours of growth for me to trim and improve.


    ¡°What¡¯s that you¡¯re working on?¡± He asked as he poked his head into my room. I spun my chair away from the laptop I had been working on and instead lifted the Tachikoma drone from my lap. Lifting it over my head I spun the chair and sang


    ¡°Dooo dooo do doooo! It¡¯s a Tachikoma! A drone prototype!¡± I answered after I stopped spinning.


    ¡°Huh.¡± He uttered a little confused, but as always Jun liked to be supportive so he walked into my room to get a closer look.


    ¡°That¡¯s preem. What can it do?¡±


    ¡°Right now? Walk and get stuck on its back when it hits a wall. But the goal is to have it running a SCSM. Mostly sneaking into places, maybe some assassination work. I¡¯m going to install a gun into the chassis, once I got the kinks worked out.¡±


    ¡°Why not just buy a drone? Those floaty ones are everywhere.¡±


    ¡°The Bombus? Those are garbage. It was originally a caretaker drone that people realized was cheap enough to duct tape a bomb onto. Tachikoma are meant to be fully autonomous recon assistants!¡±


    ¡°Right. Why blue?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s cuter this way!¡± I chirped, showing off the blue paint scheme.


    Jun just snorted and patted me on the head. ¡°Well as long as it¡¯s keeping you busy and out of trouble.¡±


    ¡°Eh. Only partially. I stole blueprints for a bunch of grenades from a really protected gun store server, and then found out that Hiromi¡¯s BD peddlers have been attacked by Scavs. So we went on a hunt for-¡±


    ¡°Motoko¡­ Just call me if you need help.¡± Jun interrupted sounding tired, and I laughed at him.


    ¡°Sure Jun. We are hunting down the Scavs right now. But they are sneaky, hiding in Arroyo¡­ Or maybe Northern Arroyo, it¡¯s hard to tell. Once we find them, want to come slaughter some Scavs with me?¡±


    He blinked, and I was honestly a little surprised as well. I hadn¡¯t really invited Jun to come on a raid before, and the words had left my mouth without me thinking about it.


    ¡°Sure.¡±


    I smiled brightly. Jun might be a kill stealer, but this could be fun. Now I just had to find some damn Scavs, with a connection to BD¡¯s in Arroyo, I mean, the only connection I remember from the game would be the-


    ¡°Fuck.¡± I uttered as the lightning bolt of awareness hit me.


    I knew. I knew exactly where these Scavs would be hiding, and more importantly? I would happily murder all of them for the horrible shit they did.


    ¡°Motoko?¡±


    ¡°I know where the Scavs are. I think. Pretty sure. Ninety percent. Jun hold on a second.¡± I demanded putting my Tachikoma back on the floor as I started pacing.


    The same location that the Scavs had holed up in, the place that V would someday in the future break into, murder blending everyone to find Evelyn. The place Scavs were setting up XBD¡¯s with captured people.


    I had forgotten about it. I shouldn¡¯t have! I had done that quest in the game enough times. I should have remembered!


    ¡°Motoko.¡± Jun said but I ignored him because the fucking scavs had been there this whole time!


    I stomped as I paced around. How could I have forgotten something so obvious!? Those fuckers had been allowed to work completely unopposed! That should have been my first tar-


    ¡°Motoko!¡± Jun demanded arms wrapped around me and lifting me entirely off the ground. I went still in his grip as he hug-grabbed me. ¡°Are you okay?¡±


    I breathed in, which was hard with Jun¡¯s arms pinning my back to his chest, but then I exhaled. Cool.


    Feel cold. Control the emotions, don¡¯t let them control you.


    ¡°Yeah. I¡¯m better. Sorry Jun. I had the clues I needed to know where a big Scav setup is at, and I totally spaced it.¡± Slowly I was lowered down to my feet and was released.


    Jun looked worried.


    I exhaled again. ¡°Don¡¯t give me that look, I¡¯m okay. Not Cyberpsycho or anything, just angry. And mad at myself. I know where a group of Scavs are taking people and using them to make XBD¡¯s. And funnily enough. It¡¯s the same group that was attacking Hiromi¡¯s BD sellers. I literally spent hours searching for them on the net¡­ But I knew where they were the whole time.¡± I grumbled. Jun nodded then slowly, and pulled me in for a more normal hug.


    ¡°We¡¯ll get them.¡±


    ¡°Hell yeah we will.¡± I whispered back.

 Chapter 154

    So my night was a bit off from there. I ended up camping out on the couch with Jun, as he watched TV. We didn¡¯t talk much more about the Scavs. I just tried to relax, but that was only that night.


    After a good night''s rest, I headed out. First things first, I needed verification. Driving over to Arroyo on my Kusanagi I parked far down the street, and instead of walking down the street which would leave me far too open. I leapt into the industrial parks and used my ankles and Parkour to leap through the abandoned factories until I was on the roof overlooking the Electric Corp power plant.


    There I leaned down, hiding in the shadows of old brickwork to watch.


    The factory as I expected was active. Tires tracks ran through an old gate in the destroyed asphalt and dirt loading area.


    I waited for a while, simply looking down into it. For now the rolling door was closed, and no sound escaped from within.


    The camera to the side of the door told me this wasn¡¯t as abandoned as it appeared. I began breaching, carefully, utterly slow and quiet.


    Slipping in, I accessed the camera, seeing the loading area through its eye, I then moved to the other cameras in the system.


    Smiling as just inside the plant there was a very familiar looking van. I couldn¡¯t be 100% sure it was the same one, but hell. I was willing to bet.


    I took pictures of everything. Going through every camera and gathering everything they could see. Then since I was fairly confident I was right. I pulled free of the cameras.


    There were men and women inside, and it hadn¡¯t taken but a single NCPD database check to verify they were wanted for Scav related activities.


    This was it.


    I had found the assholes that hadn¡¯t liked Hiromi moving in on the XBD market.


    I slipped away without a sound. As I jumped through old rusted metal landing on the concrete far down the street, I brushed myself clean. Taking a moment. I sent a single picture to my chooms. The van parked in the dark plant, and a message.


    *Found them.*


    ¡ª---


    ¡°Motoko! You did it!¡± Hiromi cheered as she slammed into me laughing in delight.


    ¡°I did. Jun gave me a reminder of some other info I had and I put it together, and then I went and checked it out.¡± I said as I spun Hiromi around. We were all meeting up at my place, and Hiromi was last as she had school today so she had to finish that up first.


    ¡°This place is nova. An old power plant? Kinda pissed the Scavs claimed it.¡± Malcolm added from the couch. ¡°Motoko says it goes down pretty deep.¡±


    ¡°Yeah definitely some sublevels. I¡¯m going to need backup just to secure the whole place. Which is where you guys come in.¡± I then looked to Jun who I had invited to join us, since I had offered him a friendly sibling murder session. ¡°And Jun agreed to help out too.¡±


    ¡°Perfect! Jun! Thank you for helping!¡± Hiromi added throwing him a smile but he just waved her off.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about Hiromi. I¡¯m just glad to keep Motoko out of trouble.¡±


    ¡°Which is an absolute lie! I¡¯m never in trouble!¡± I lied confidently as I jumped back onto the couch. ¡°Now we have some external images and we¡¯ll need to figure out how we are going to hit this.¡±


    ¡°Go in kill everyone?¡± Jun asked, and everyone looked at him like he was crazy but I was nodding along.


    ¡°The most straightforward method.¡± I confirmed.


    ¡°I mean do we really need to do anything more than that?¡± Ichi asked, looking between Jun and I. ¡°Motoko clears out places like this before breakfast, and Jun is the Oni.¡±


    ¡°Of course not!¡± Jun answered while I cut him off.


    ¡°Of course we do!¡± I roared louder than Jun and even slammed my fist into the table lightly the metal on metal sound echoing.


    ¡°Wha?¡± Jun asked but I ignored him pointing at my chooms.


    ¡°We can¡¯t ever get complacent! It¡¯s one of my own weaknesses! So I need my chooms to keep reminding me! We plan, we prepare, it¡¯s an advantage we might not need, but it¡¯s not something we should throw away through overconfidence!¡±


    Thankfully Malcolm responded. ¡°She¡¯s right. Just because we don¡¯t need it every time doesn¡¯t mean we shouldn¡¯t prepare as much as we can, we are still talking about a gun fight. What if they have a bomb or something and it blows up. If we just sit back and expect Motoko to handle it, how can we move in to help if she gets hurt or something.¡±


    ¡°Exactly! We prepare and gather every advantage we can before we move in!¡± I called out. ¡°And also it¡¯s totally your guy¡¯s job to remind me to do that when I get too excited.¡± I added offhandedly.


    ¡°Oh so it¡¯s our job is it?¡± Ichi asked sarcastically and I just threw him a thumbs up.


    ¡°Yep!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s fine! We can all remind Motoko to be careful and prepare before rushing in. We all want Section 9 to keep going for years and years after all.¡± Hiromi added and I nodded along with Malcolms eager nod.


    ¡°Right. That¡¯s true. Okay so what can we do to prepare?¡± Ichi asked.


    ¡°Well I do have more gadgets now, but none of them are directly going to help this time. Not yet at least. The Tachikoma are still in alpha testing.¡±


    ¡°The what?¡± Hiromi asked, looking confused, and I smiled brightly because it was the perfect excuse!


    I leapt off the couch jumping over Hiromi¡¯s head as I did so and ran over to my room and then came out holding my little walky bot.


    If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    ¡°The Tachikoma Drone system!¡± I called out and placed it on the table in front of everyone.


    Where it immediately started walking much smoother than it had before.


    Until it hit the edge of the table and just fell right off.


    ¡°Umm¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s an alpha product! I haven¡¯t done edges yet!¡± I said happily as I picked it back up and placed it on the table again. Where it walked off.


    ¡°Motoko?¡±


    ¡°Hold on. It¡¯s got this.¡± Then I placed it on the table again, and this time, as it walked forward it stopped at the edge, one of its legs reaching out to check the edge.


    Then it walked off again.


    ¡°Right.¡± Hiromi said flatly.


    ¡°It¡¯s learning! Give it some time.¡±


    ¡°Motoko¡­ Is that an AI?¡± Jun asked, utterly serious and I started laughing at such a foolish question.


    ¡°Jun the Tachikoma is running a small CPU, and the extra processing power of my laptop in my room. Your XXL Burrito SCSM has more processing power.¡±


    ¡°That didn¡¯t really answer the question.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a learning system, but not an AI. I would need like¡­ Four of the servers I have down in my netrunner cave to even process a small AI.¡± I answered truthfully. Well¡­ Not exactly that much. I could do it with a lot less, if I used some different processing choices.


    But this? Tachikoma wasn¡¯t an AI. No Ghost. Not yet anyways.


    ¡°Anyway! The Tachikoma are cute, but aren¡¯t ready for the battlefield yet, but give me a bit and we¡¯ll have our own battlefield reconnaissance drones!¡± I cheered, just as my agent lit up with a call.


    A call with a very familiar name, but not one I expected.


    ¡°Hold on chooms. I¡¯m getting a call.¡± I turned away from everyone to answer.


    *Hello?*


    *Yo Kitten.*


    *Becca I told you I wasn¡¯t accepting that as my nickname.*


    *Too late.* She said but she wasn¡¯t the rambunctious girl she normally was. Something was wrong. *I¡¯m not calling for fun though. Since you¡¯re chooms with Sasha I think¡­ Well I figure you should know.*


    Rebecca started quietly, there was honest dread in her voice.


    No. Please don¡¯t be¡­ Please don¡¯t be that. I took a breath and then asked the question I had to know, but wasn¡¯t sure I was ready for.


    *Please don¡¯t tell me she¡¯s dead.* Had the Biotechnica job happened!? I hurried over to the TV and turned it on to the N54 news channel, only for a segment on the weather to be playing.


    Right this wasn¡¯t a movie where the big topic of conversation is the most important thing in the world.


    *Not dead. But she did get worked over pretty bad on a gig. She¡¯s in and out at the moment, so I figured I¡¯d call to let you know. Cause you guys were close right?*


    I took a moment to just process, staring at the news report before shutting it off as my brain turned back on.


    *She¡¯s alive?* I asked in shock exhaling loudly as I almost fell back onto my butt from where I had been pacing the moment the topic came up. Was it the gig? Or just something else? I still didn¡¯t know! I rushed to my room to grab my laptop flipping open to the N54 news site. Nothing on the front page, but a moment later I typed it in.


    Securicine. The medicine that started it all. That had killed Sasha¡¯s mother. The fact Biotechnica had hidden the side effect, and when Sasha discovered it while infiltrating Biotechnica¡¯s system she hadn¡¯t just let it go. Sacrificing her life to send it to the news.


    There. A brand new news article.


    Securicine, and its hidden side effects.


    Posted this morning.


    It had happened.


    *Motoko?*


    *Sorry. I¡¯m just a little out of it. Sasha¡¯s okay?*


    *She¡¯s hurt, but alive. Getting taken care of. Maine is making sure she¡¯s being treated real nice.*


    *Can I see her?* I asked before I could think about it.


    *I¡­ Listen. Sasha was on a big gig, like massive, and she pissed off a big corp. We aren¡¯t sure what they are going to do, so Maine and them have gone to ground. I don¡¯t even know where she is just in case. My bro told me what¡¯s up, and I remember you two were close. So¡­ Yeah.*


    *Rebecca¡­ Thank you. Really, I really¡­ I¡¯m really glad you told me she¡¯s okay. I would have absolutely freaked otherwise.* Not true. I would have continued to worry about what would happen to her. Whether she would live, but¡­ I had done.


    What little I had done had enough knock on effects. That night. Let Me Down, wouldn¡¯t happen. I had changed it.


    *Hey, yeah sure choom.* The line kind of went silent for a moment as we both awkwardly didn¡¯t talk about anything.


    I was about to thank her again and say goodbye, when I realized what Rebecca had actually said.


    Maine and the group were in hiding. Rebecca wasn¡¯t.


    *Hey Becca? You ever thought about that offer I made last time? To do a gig?*


    *Uh.. Yeah, I¡¯ve thought about it.*


    *Well me and my chooms were literally prepping for a raid¡­ You want to come over? Take a look. No pressure if you don¡¯t want to take part, but I mean¡­ I wouldn¡¯t mind an extra shooter.*


    The line went quiet and I looked to my chooms who had thankfully stopped focusing on me, and were instead being led by Malcolm into prepping a plan of attack.


    Good job Malcolm.


    *What¡¯s the pay?*


    *We split everything equally.*


    *What? Seriously? No 10% share and all that shit?*


    *I don¡¯t even know what that is¡­ No, everything gets split, we only make so much on our gigs because we all work together, and then try to get everything out. If someone isn¡¯t going to get more for working harder¡­ Why would they?*


    *Fuck it. I¡¯m in choom.*


    *Alright I¡¯ll send you the address!* I cheered, we hung up just after and I turned to my chooms.


    ¡°I got us another solo! Rebecca is going to join us and see if she likes working with Section 9! I¡¯m trying to recruit her, so please be nice.¡± I begged my friends.


    ¡°Sure.¡± Malcolm offered shrugging, and Ichi just nodded, but Hiromi was giving me a puffy cheeked glare.


    ¡°Whose Rebecca?¡± Hiromi demanded, eyes narrowed.


    ¡°She¡¯s a member of this Edgerunner crew I met at the Afterlife. She¡¯s very small, but pretty fierce, and she¡¯s cool.¡± I looked over at the pictures that Malcolm had been pointing to. ¡°So what did you come up with?¡±


    ¡°Well first we all realized we were being stupid. So we are going to bring the Minotaur.¡±


    ¡°Absolutely not. We don¡¯t even know how to use that thing!¡± I interrupted instantly, besides the Minotaur was mine! My cute little stompy bot!


    ¡°Well that isn¡¯t exactly the truth.¡± Ichi answered back a little awkwardly.


    I stilled and then I felt myself glaring at the boy.


    ¡°What did you do?¡± I demanded my own eyes narrowed as I glared into the increasingly nervous boy.


    ¡°I might have been practicing with it¡­ Malcolm too!¡± He said throwing his friend under the rampaging bus without hesitation or shame.


    I glared at Malcolm who just coughed fakely. ¡°We might have pulled it out of storage and been learning how to use it¡­ For Section 9 of course. It¡¯s an important skill to have. Hiromi knew!¡± Malcolm continued the process throwing Hiromi under the bus now.


    ¡°What!? Don¡¯t tell her that!¡± Hiromi snapped and then looked shy as I turned my glare on her. ¡°Th-they asked me for fuel money! To be on Section 9¡¯s eddie since it was practice for the future. I accepted! You were too busy to learn how to use it, and having a Minotaur isn¡¯t something we could just ignore!¡±


    ¡°Huh. Can I get a turn with it?¡± I immediately whipped over to glare at Jun who had just said something absolutely ridiculous! If anyone else got a turn it was going to be me!


    ¡°Of course Jun!¡± Hiromi chirped and that was when I could take no more.


    ¡°This isn¡¯t fair! It¡¯s supposed to be mine!¡±


    ¡ª---


    We were mostly prepped with a new idea for our tactical assault when the doorbell rang.


    ¡°That must be Becca!¡± I whooped happily leaping over the couch, for a second I was tempted to open the door with the barrel of my Burya in her face, but while it had been funny she had done that to David, it had also been a bit mean.


    I did check the camera before opening the door. Seeing her outside I quickly pulled it open.


    ¡°Becca!¡±


    ¡°Uh. Hey. Sup choom.¡± She greeted, and I smiled at her awkwardness as I reached out and tugged on her hand pulling her in.


    ¡°Everyone! This is Rebecca, she¡¯s going to join us on our raid today!¡± I called out, and I noticed all of my chooms heads looking over the back of the couch to see.


    Rebecca was very small so everyone had to sort of tilt their head downward.


    Jun especially.


    ¡°Rebecca, this is my team, Malcolm, Ichi, Hiromi, and my brother Jun.¡± I introduced all of them as I pointed out all of them, each of them greeting her back with a wave or something until Jun who smiled at her from how he was looking over the back of the couch.


    ¡°Any choom of my sister is welcome. Feel free to come and take a seat.¡± He offered and I looked down towards Rebecca only to see her disappearing as she sauntered over to the couch and took a seat rather close to Jun.


    ¡°Hey Tats. Call me Becca okayyy?¡± She trailed off with a teasing trill to her voice.


    Oh no.


    ¡°U-uh. Sure?¡±


    ¡°Nova.¡± She offered back with a smirk on her face that I recognized.


    I screamed internally. No! Jun! Not another one! Not Becca! This couldn¡¯t be happening!

 Chapter 155

    This couldn¡¯t stand! I couldn¡¯t allow this! I had to distract!


    ¡°Okay! So the gig we are doing we already scouted the place, and we are putting together the attack plan, Rebecca, so let me fill you in!¡± I said hurrying back to the living room table and popping a shard out of my neck and handing it to her.


    She took it after a moment of smiling up at Jun and then slotted it. Then she blinked.


    ¡°So, the first thing you¡¯ll notice is the target information. Not sure if it¡¯s in there, but we are hunting a group of Scavs that attacked Hiromi¡¯s XBD pushers.¡± I explained waving at Hiromi who smiled proudly at the acknowledgement.


    ¡°Scavs? Doesn¡¯t seem¡­ Whoa.¡± She muttered as she continued to look through the pics of where this was taking place.


    ¡°Scavs aren¡¯t really a threat, but we still treat everything seriously.¡± My voice was completely serious as I said this.


    ¡°Well no shit, you guys have a Minotaur!? How!?¡±


    Oh, she had skipped ahead bypassing the pics of the location. Not very Edgerunner of you¡­ Or maybe very Edgerunner of her? Hard to say with that group. I wanted to sigh, but instead I stayed focused!


    ¡°We captured it during a gig we did. Ichi is currently the pilot as he has some hours in its use.¡± I explained then glared at Ichi again for good measure.


    Unfortunately his smugness at me acknowledging him being the pilot ruined the effect of my glare.


    ¡°Shit. Can I use it? I¡¯ve always wanted to pilot a Minotaur.¡± Rebecca asked and I sighed, shoulders slumped.


    ¡°Yes, but after.¡± I agreed then shook myself. ¡°Okay, so here is what we are going to do. The outside and ground floor of the plant will probably be staffed by a few Scavs.¡± I pulled up the images myself. ¡°Image Four is a good one to see the whole grounds.¡±


    I waited until everyone was nodding along before continuing.


    ¡°Jun and I will clean up as quietly as possible and then everyone will move in. The people who built the plant weren¡¯t expecting it to need to be defensible. The top floor of the elevator is actually the floor below. So Ichi and everyone will move in afterwards and basically secure the place. No Scav will be able to leave without getting past a heavily armed walker.¡±


    ¡°Motoko, I don¡¯t like this plan. I want to test out the Minotaur in combat. This is basically me just walking in after to secure the exits.¡± Ichi argued, and I turned to my choom, only for another voice to call out.


    ¡°What about me? I want to kill some Scavs as well.¡± Malcolm added, and as I turned to him another voice added.


    ¡°I¡¯m not really interested in just being on guard duty.¡± Rebecca added and I slumped as everyone went against me!


    ¡°Yeah we should have them come with.¡± Jun added and I was outvoted by everyone. Except Hiromi who was just watching.


    ¡°Guys, I-¡±


    ¡°No. Motoko¡­ You¡¯ve always been in front of us so far, but¡­ Section 9 can¡¯t help you if we don¡¯t get some experience.¡± Malcolm added. ¡°You set us up with armor and weapons. Let us use them.¡±


    I slumped realizing I was defeated.


    ¡°Okay Ichi will need someone to watch his back while using the Minotaur. Hiromi?¡±


    ¡°Yep! I¡¯ll be suited up of course.¡±


    ¡°Alright. In that case, we¡¯ll use plan B. We attack loud. We¡¯ll spit into two groups, and hit each side of the compound at the same time. We can set it up so the gates will be open beforehand. Jun Rebecca and I will take the North side, Hiromi, Ichi and Malcolm will take the other. We hit at the same time. I¡¯ll overwatch with Netrunning and should be able to disable all the weapons at once. Then we move in. Ichi on Minotaur and Malcolm will join up with us as we clear the inside of the plant.¡±


    ¡°Hmm. Could work.¡± Rebecca said sounding interested, but not really impressed.


    ¡°It¡¯ll be the four of us that head down into the basement.¡± I told her calmly. ¡°I don¡¯t have a complete map of the place, but we should have little problems mowing through what¡¯s down there. Jun will be the frontman. Then Malcolm and I. Then Rebecca. Unless you have some armor already Becca?¡± I asked, looking at her current outfit which was the opposite of protective.


    ¡°Ah¡­ Just my Skinweave.¡± She offered and I nodded.


    ¡°Then you are backline until we can get you some gear¡­ If you want to keep coming out with us I mean.¡± I added not wanting to assume.


    She just nodded, not agreeing and I moved on.


    ¡°In that case weapons¡­ I was planning on going silent, but if we are going loud¡­ Well that changes things.¡± I added. And Jun looked pleased. He wasn¡¯t much of a stealth guy. ¡°Well I guess¡­ Go wild, bring whatever you want? Rebecca if you want to borrow something feel free.¡±I offered as well with a thumbs up. ¡°Suit up!¡± I told my chooms who all sighed and nodded.


    ¡°Suit up?¡± Rebecca asked and I nodded.


    ¡°I made some custom adjustments to some armor for everyone! So everyone needs to go put it on and then we can go.¡± I said pointing to the bathroom and my room which Hiromi had disappeared into, while Malcolm and Ichi were taking turns.


    Rebecca nodded before doing the one thing I didn¡¯t want.


    She turned her eyes on Jun.


    ¡°So Tats, helping out your little sister? That¡¯s pretty nova.¡± She offered and Jun just smiled a little.


    ¡°I always worry about her, but Motoko has most things under control. I¡¯m really just coming for fun. She doesn¡¯t need my help.¡± He explained the last part looking at me proudly, making me flush.


    Stupid Jun! Don¡¯t say nice things about me while I¡¯m right here!


    Or do! But not around other people!


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ Heh well Kitten, I look forward to seeing what kind of claws you¡¯ve got.¡± Rebecca said, looking to me. I scoffed at the nickname, but then Jun chuckled at it, and I glared at both of them.


    ¡°That nickname isn¡¯t a thing!¡± I denied firmly. I already had a cool nickname!


    This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.


    ¡°Kitten.¡± Jun said then laughed and I glared, but he just turned to Rebecca. ¡°You call her Kitten?¡±


    ¡°Heh, well I met her through a choom of mine Sasha who I call Whiskers, and Sasha was acting all proud about having a kohai, and there is Motoko. I mean.. Look at her. Total cat energy.¡±


    ¡°Heh.¡± Jun chuckled shoulders shaking as he kept looking at me his eye practically twinkling in amusement.


    I was gonna kick him.


    ¡°Bringing you both along was a mistake.¡± I grumbled, and then Hiromi came walking out of my room suited up. Helmet under one arm.


    ¡°Room is clear Motoko.¡± She said even as she rested against the doorway.


    ¡°Whoa.¡± Rebecca called out as she took in Hiromi¡¯s appearance. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ What is that?¡±


    ¡°Formerly a set of Arasaka guard armor, but I made some modifications!¡± I said happily as I rushed over and grabbed Hiromi who yelped as I manhandled her closer.


    ¡°See! I added in an ECM system, and modified the armor to fit my chooms. Although they keep wanting to wear pants instead of a Netrunner suit.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t wear skin tight outfits Motoko. Not all of us walk around with a six pack.¡± Hiromi grumbled and I scoffed.


    ¡°It¡¯s just a little workout! Do you want to try to exercise more? I could be your personal trainer!¡± I offered and Hiromi made a keening noise as she shook her head. ¡°Oh. Never mind then?¡± I guess Hiromi really was a couch potato. That¡¯s alright, she was the desk jockey anyways!


    ¡°Jeeze choom you got it bad fo-Mrble!¡± Hiromi leaped away from me to press her gloved hand against Rebecca¡¯s mouth.


    ¡°Shhhh!¡± She demanded and I just quirked an eyebrow at the weirdness.


    ¡°Guys?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing Motoko! Why don¡¯t you get suited up and you can show Rebecca your armor!¡± Hiromi added even as Rebecca was glaring at her, but¡­ Okay sure. I wasn¡¯t going to interfere with whatever Hiromi was up to.


    ¡°Jun! You too!¡± I demanded and he looked up and blinked.


    ¡°Motoko I don¡¯t have any-Hey! Don¡¯t throw stuff!¡± He snapped, but I ignored him.


    The original set of armor I had pulled off the Kang Tao way back was more than capable of stretching to fit Jun.


    ¡°Wear that!¡± I demanded and he looked at it like I just handed him something foul.


    ¡°Motoko this ruins my style.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have a style! Moron! Idiot! Gonk! Put on the armor or stay home!¡± I ordered as I turned around to get suited up myself.


    ¡ª--


    Rebecca


    ¡°So don¡¯t tell her that!¡± Hiromi? Pretty sure that was her name. Becca was tempted just to call her Crush and see how that worked out. The girl was a little high strung, but the way Kitten had her own little follower was cute.


    Really though Becca wished the girl would chill so she could get back to eyeing up the candy machine that was sitting next to her.


    He had a real cute smile despite being a Tyger gonk. But the fact he was good with his little sister, something she could attest told a lot about an older brother, meant he was probably safe enough to flirt with¡­


    And she didn¡¯t mind the way his fiery hair swept down over his eyes¡­ Yummy. The fact he was easily twice her size wasn¡¯t a bad little addition eith- ¡°Are you even listening?¡± Hiromi interrupted Rebecca¡¯s fuck me eyes at the ganger.


    ¡°Not really, but relax choom. I¡¯m not gonna blow your crush into the open.¡± She offered. The girl reacted in an interesting way, because where before she was dealing with a frantic teenager, the next moment she was dealing with someone that had a rather cold look in her eye.


    ¡°Motoko vouched for you to come in. That¡¯s good. I trust Motoko¡¯s instincts¡­ Most of the time. But if you cause us any trouble, it won¡¯t be up to her. I¡¯ll just have you disappeared. Don¡¯t forget that.¡± Hiromi said with all the sinister casualness as any of the corpo¡¯s Becca had met.


    ¡°Scary.¡± She mocked, but acknowledged the risk as well. Seems this entire group was at least semi more interesting than expected.


    ¡°Alright all done.¡± One of the boys called out, and Becca turned and¡­ Hmm. If he was a little older she might consider it.


    The whole armor set was sleek. Sleeker than anything she had seen the Corp¡¯s use. But it turned the casual, almost rumpled teenager, into someone that looks dangerous.


    Damn her attraction to dangerous cuties.


    ¡°Nice armor choom.¡± She offered, and he smiled bashfully.


    ¡°Thanks!¡± He offered and then walked over and opened a case that had been pushed into the corner and started loading up on a small armory.


    Becca blinked as the boy grabbed a smart SMG that she knew were pricey for any merc to casually pull out, and then grenades as well. Loading up his armor with only a bit of hesitation.


    Idly Becca noticed that Hiromi also had an expensive Smart pistol on her hip.


    ¡°Okay back!¡± Kitten herself re-apperaed, and Becca was a little taken aback.


    That was a lot of guns.


    ¡°Got enough weapons there Motoko?¡± Jun called out and Motoko stuck her tongue out at him as she took a second to pose, helmet under her arm and showing off. ¡°We aren¡¯t going quiet this time! So I can finally go all out!¡± She said and HIromi wondered what she was going all out against, an entire Corp hit squad?


    On each thigh was a Unity pistol, slotted into holsters tied into the armor. Along with a few reloads for each stuck in the webbing. On her left hip was a Katana, not something you usually see with groups wearing armor like that unless you were in Arasaka.


    Then there was the right hip where a Burya was holstered.


    Against her chest was a Copperhead despite the fact this was supposed to be a loud and proud gig it had a silencer on it.


    Then on her back was a Carnage¡­


    ¡°You can never have enough guns!¡± She chirped happily practically bouncing on her toes, a habit Rebecca had noticed the girl tended to do a lot.


    ¡°Motoko. Put the shotgun away.¡± Jun tried to argue, but Motoko just ignored him with a roll of her eyes.


    ¡°Having a backup shotgun is very useful Jun!¡± Then her hands blurred, and she wasn¡¯t holding the Copperhead which had just fallen to her chest, its straps keeping it close.


    But in her hands was the carnage which had a moment before been over her shoulder. That had been fast.


    ¡°See?¡± She offered a chilling smile.


    ¡°That¡­ Was fast. What chipset you got for that?¡± Rebecca asked and Motoko just sort of blinked guilelessly at her.


    ¡°I don¡¯t use skill chips.¡± She answered in response, and Rebecca barely kept herself from scoffing. That sort of move wasn¡¯t something a teenager just pulled off.


    ¡°Bullshit.¡± Rebecca decided to say instead seriously, she kinda wanted whatever Skill Chip had given her hands that fast. Motoko just continued to look at her without really saying anything. ¡°Prove it! Let me see!¡± She demanded.


    At Motoko¡¯s shrug, Rebecca climbed over the back of the couch, and then made grabby hands at the girl.


    Motoko relented surprisingly easily. She kneeled down letting Rebecca see her neck. Rebecca looked over the Neural Link, and the Chip Slots.


    There were a few shards in there, and car keys but¡­ Nothing. Definitely not a skill Chip. You couldn¡¯t really confuse the two.


    ¡°How did you do that then!?¡± She asked half outraged and more just shocked.


    ¡°Practice! You have to train really hard to be a solo you know? I practiced quick drawing weapons a whole bunch until I got the hang of it.¡± Motoko said with a bright smile even making a little motion with her hands as if quick drawing a pistol.


    Even that was kinda stupidly fast.


    ¡°Fuck.¡± Rebecca cursed and stomped a few steps away. She had agreed to this because she thought it would be just a bunch of kids fucking around, even if Motoko had been surprisingly skilled she hadn¡¯t¡­


    Rebecca hadn¡¯t expected to be this outclassed. Her shoulders slumped. No wonder Maine always hesitated to bring her into an actual gun fight. If Motoko was what she should be¡­ She felt her spine straighten.


    No, if that was her real skill, then Motoko was scary good. Not the norm at all. Her chooms didn¡¯t have her chops, even if they had better equipment than any teenage gangoon squad should have. ¡°No wonder you got Rogues attention. You aren¡¯t just some gangoon.¡± She called out to the girl who smiled happily at the compliment.


    ¡°Thanks!¡± She chirped out as happy seeming as always, although Rebecca noticed her chooms perked up at the mention of Rogue.


    ¡°Show me what you got then. I want to see this.¡± Rebecca offered staring at the taller girl seriously, the girl whose eyes widened at her words before smiling brightly and nodding.


    ¡°Well I¡¯ll be right in front of  you, so look all you like!¡± She replied, only for her choom to instantly react. Hiromi jumped off the couch where she had settled in looking outraged at her chooms words.


    Heh, Crush was certainly crushing hard.


    ¡°But not too close! You have to shoot and stuff first! Yeah! Keep an eye on the gig and not on Motoko! Far away from Motoko!¡±


    ¡°Hiromi? I mean, she¡¯s going to be watching my six though?¡± Motoko said guilessly, the kid was¡­ Fuck the kid was a natural heartbreaker wasn¡¯t she? That look on her face, of open honesty would be pretty attractive to any gonk that made friends with her.


    Not too many people in Night City that were just completely open books.


    But there was no way Rebecca would leave such an opening.


    ¡°Yeah Hiromi. Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll be watching her six alright.¡± Rebecca threw Hiromi a wink that made her choke and sputter.


    Motoko just looked confused as her head went from one to the other.


    ¡°Anyway!¡± Malcolm called out seemingly heading off a disaster as Hiromi had been growing redder and redder. ¡°Looks like Ichi is done. So let¡¯s head out.¡± He interrupted and Rebecca  turned to see Ichi also coming out of the bathroom wearing his suit and looking all fearsome.


    Damn. These kids cleaned up nice.


    ¡°We can¡¯t leave yet! Everyone huddle in!¡± Motoko called out earnestly and Rebecca just wondered what was going on, but her chooms seemed to know.


    ¡°Oh c¡¯mon Motoko.¡± Ichi whinged, but she ignored him instead, waving for Jun to join too. Rebecca watched on, confused as Motoko helped arrange everyone into a circle, even grabbing her hand and pulling her in too so she was part of it.


    The others besides Jun seemed to know what to do. Even if they all sighed and looked embarrassed about it, they did it anyway. Motoko stretched her hand into the middle, and then her chooms did the same.


    Then the girl made eager little motions with her head, and Rebecca decided to hell with it, and threw her hand on top. Jun¡¯s warm hand landing on top of her own caused Rebecca a moment''s distraction.


    ¡°Section Nine!¡± Motoko cried out and threw her hand into the air. Her chooms joined in, and Rebecca was just left wondering what the hell she had gotten into.

 Chapter 156

    Rebecca


    That was pretty much it. Right after the weird hand thing, which the gonk was smiling like crazy over, they all left the apartment and slipped into an array of vehicles down in the garage. Motoko even invited Rebecca to ride with her, which was nice, as she didn¡¯t have a car. Just taking N-Cart to get there.


    It was actually kind of surprising the array of vehicles the teenagers all had.


    Malcolm rode around in a Badlands Thornton Colby. The truck was rough and tumble and armored to hell.


    And Motoko drove around in a Quadra Type-66. Also a nomad variant. The thing was a beast, and Rebecca was more than a little interested in getting a ride.


    The big truck Ichi drove was interesting, but sort of normal. Hiromi joined Ichi, while Motoko yelled at Jun to get into Malcolm''s car instead of taking his Kusanagi.


    She looked it over and nodded. Preem ride. She wouldn¡¯t mind letting him drive her around on it sometime.


    ¡°Oh before we jump in.¡± Motoko said as she turned from the driver''s door to the trunk and then opened it up.


    ¡°Whoa.¡±


    ¡°Do you want something with a bit more kick?¡± The girl asked, and Rebecca had a moment where she wondered what the fuck Maine had been doing all this time.


    Maine didn¡¯t have a Rocket Launcher.


    ¡°Wha-Is that a Rocket Launcher?¡±


    ¡°My Uragan? Yep! I picked it up off some Nomads. You''d be surprised how often shooting something with heavy ordinance makes things on a gig go smoother.¡± She offered and no Rebecca would not be surprised, because she now knew what she wanted in her life.


    A Rocket Launcher.


    It was the only thing that would make her complete. She reached for it, and Motoko¡¯s chrome hands wrapped around her wrist.


    ¡°Sorry. Not this gig.¡±


    ¡°Fuuuck.¡± She cursed because¡­ It was right there.


    ¡°Hey if you want one, I can put you in touch with my contact. Get some eddies together and buy one.¡± She offered as if getting a Rocket Launcher was just¡­ That easy¡­ Well Rebecca realized that it kinda was.


    ¡°So want something else? I got an Ajax over there. Or a Carnage around here somewhere, if you want one. I think I got some-¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll take the Ajax. Sure.¡± She agreed. She had shot one before, the recoil wouldn¡¯t send her flying. Good enough.


    Rebecca cursed herself a bit. She really needed the arm upgrades she had been planning. But Eddies had been tight, and Pilar had been a tightwad. Needing all the eddies for his projects and shit.


    Even if Becca knew he was blowing most of it on frivolous shit. The dumbass.


    She grabbed the Ajax out of the panel it had been inserted into, hefted it and checked it. Yep, already loaded.


    ¡°Here, a few extra mags.¡± Motoko offered, and Rebecca nodded, stuffing them clumsily into her pockets on her jacket.


    ¡°We¡¯ll need to get you some rigging or something for next time.¡± Motoko said suddenly, before nodding and heading back to the car.


    Rebecca though was a little surprised.


    For next time? Rebecca wasn¡¯t even sure if she wanted to work with the kids¡­ But at the same time, it was kind of flattering to have Motoko already assume Rebecca wouldn¡¯t embarrass herself today and want them all to kick her out¡­ And now she was feeling under qualified while hanging around a bunch of teenagers.


    ¡°Fuuuuuck.¡± She took a deep breath and headed to the passenger door.


    With Maine it always felt like she was just an add on from Pilar. Her brother''s tech skills made him useful.


    Rebecca though? Was the exact opposite of what Maine liked. Big, strong, brutal power.


    Even Sasha represented what Maine liked in a netrunner. Massive powerful hacks. It was just how the big guy thought.


    Rebecca was usually only given shit jobs. Overwatch, distraction, shit like that.


    But Motoko had invited her right into the strike squad¡­ Before she had walked into the apartment, she had thought the kids wanted another Solo a bit older than them to help out. To handle the dangerous bits, but seeing everything now?


    No, it was Rebecca that was the amateur here. She took a breath and accepted that. Even as it pissed her off and embarrassed her, but that was just the truth.


    She slipped into the Quadra¡¯s passenger seat, and they all started driving out of the garage towards Arroyo.


    Towards a massive Scav den. She could feel herself getting excited. She was ready for this.


    ¡°You want any grenades?¡± The question interrupted her thoughts and she looked over.


    Was the kid wearing her seat belt? Why? That¡¯s so weird.


    ¡°Uh¡­ Yeah choom?¡± What kind of gonk said no to grenades?


    ¡°Preem. Got a box under your seat. Take whatever you like. Red Caps are frags, Blue are EMP. Probably don¡¯t take any of those. Not sure how much of the equipment in the power plant is still active.¡±


    Rebecca very carefully moved her feet and bent down. There under her seat was a box, and inside slotted into little indents to hold them was a bunch of grenades.


    Okay sure.


    She reached down and carefully grabbed two of the red caps, and after a moment stuffed them into a still empty pocket on her jacket.


    She was going to need to get some actual rig if this is how Motoko rolled.


    It was kind of embarrassing to pass on her style, but¡­ Well¡­ having spots to hold grenades did sound pretty nova.


    Cause grenades.


    ¡°This is going to be so fun!¡± The girl chirped, happily smiling while her eyes were locked on the road.


    For someone with such a high end car¡­


    She kinda drove like some ancient old lady. Weird.


    The ride over was pretty quiet. Motoko chattered a bit here and there, mostly about odd topics. What kind of weapons she liked, did she mod her own stuff. What sort of chrome she wanted to get.


    Rebecca spent most of the ride mentally preparing herself for the battle to come and didn¡¯t really give good answers.


    Then they were there.


    Everyone was already there except for Ichi in the truck. He had split off from the group to go get his toy Minotaur. Which Rebecca was still jealous that they had. She wouldn¡¯t mind piloting a Minotaur.


    They parked on the side of the road a block down from their target and the kid sat back, eyes closed. ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± Rebecca asked and the kid smiled.


    ¡°I set up some cameras last time I was here. I¡¯m accessing them and slipping into the Scavs network again. Just to make sure nothing has changed or they found us out.¡±


    The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°Did they?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± She said while smiling. A smile that was much more bloodthirsty than the girl had shown up until now. ¡°I¡¯ll be pinging their system once we move in. Watch the golden lines, it¡¯ll tell you where they are hiding. I¡¯ll send some hacks through as well right after.¡±


    ¡°Preem. Gonna nuke them or something?¡±


    ¡°Huh? Oh you work with Sasha, right I forgot.¡± Motoko said, starting amused and then going quiet. ¡°I hope she¡¯s okay. But no. I don¡¯t really use offensive hacks much. I prefer CC. Wipe their eyes. Disarm their guns. Makes shooting them a lot easier.¡±


    ¡°Well shit, that¡¯s what I like to hear.¡± Rebecca agreed, not having Sasha kill steal everything would be kinda nice. Not that Rebecca had really gotten a chance to do much killing with Maines team.


    They still treated her like a kid. She was eighteen! Sure she looked more like she was fourteen, but that¡¯s just how she was. Scopshit. It¡¯s fine. She¡¯ll get some chrome and then Maine will stop babying her. The man always was quick to accept chrome as a solution to any problem.


    They waited for a while. Motoko mentioned a few things off hand from time to time.


    ¡°Three are outside, but they move around. Two of them are moving boxes outside to a truck. Don¡¯t worry they aren¡¯t moving very fast. The truck won¡¯t be ready to leave before we hit them.¡±


    And Rebecca just listened. Unused to the chatter, but used to a Netrunner overwatching. In fact the constant updates was kinda nice. Sasha was usually more quiet, or just teasing as she worked.


    Finally a familiar big truck pulled up behind them all. Ichi had arrived.


    Motoko nodded, having noticed them despite focusing on the cameras.


    ¡°Okay the gates are both unlocked. Let¡¯s get the channel started.¡± Then a moment later Rebecca got a call.


    *Here.* Rebecca said as soon as the call connected, and Motoko nodded.


    *I¡¯m in.* Hiromi responded.


    *Me too.* Jun was in.


    *Locked and loaded!* Malcolm.


    *Just say the word, I want to give this thing a test drive.* Ichi.


    *Alright everyone. Gates are unlocked. Jun, Malcolm follow me. Ichi, once the shooting starts that¡¯s your cue!* And then the car rumbled pulling away from the curb and driving down the street past the power plant, and around so they could get into the alley behind it leading around to the second gate.


    Rebecca was ready. Ajax held in her lap.


    ¡°When you pull in, just give me an angle, I¡¯ll drive by.¡± She told the kid verbally so as not to disturb everyone.


    ¡°Preem! The car is armored so that¡¯s actually a great idea!¡± Motoko said happily, and Rebecca sort of huffed.


    She wasn¡¯t complete ganic. She could take a round from some scav 9¡­ Mostly.


    *Okay. I¡¯m going.*


    And then The Quadra roared, shifting from a quiet driver to someone that happily pushed the pedal to the metal the Quadra roared, and the gate ahead of them was already opening.


    Netrunners were preem like that. The Quadra suddenly shifted and Rebecca yelped, kicking out with her legs to hold her against the dashboard and grabbing the center console to hold her steady as it started drifting sideways.


    A moment later the car stopped and she realized the kid had actually set her up perfectly with the passenger door facing the insides of the power plant entry lot.


    Rebecca righted herself and pushed the Ajax out the now open door.


    They weren¡¯t ready. Already lines filled her vision showing where all the Scavs were at.


    That¡­ That was useful. Sasha didn¡¯t usually ping for the team like that.


    Then all hell broke loose as Rebecca opened fire.


    Above them some scav hiding in a burned out building across from the plant itself started firing.


    Across the way Ichi¡¯s truck finished backing in, and suddenly the rear door opened. Revealing A Minotaur that stepped out and slammed into the dirt lot.


    The noise was already attracting attention. The front of the plant opened up, and Scavs popped out, hiding behind whatever cover they could find and firing. And Rebecca could see the lines of light shifting as more Scavs were coming.


    Then they started screaming, not because of the Minotaur, but because suddenly they were stumbling around, dropping behind whatever cover they could find.


    *I plucked their eyes. Go.* And the rest arrived. Jun was suddenly leaping over the Quadra barely wearing the armored plate vest that Motoko had given him, but indeed wearing it even if she was pretty sure he hadn¡¯t bothered to actually zip it up.


    He reached the first Scav hiding behind some concrete and just ripped the fucker apart. Grabbing an arm and a leg and just pulling.


    Fuck. She had seen Maine do something like that, the big fuck, but he had been bitched out by Dorio for it.


    A little too Cyberpsycho.


    Rebecca thought it was pretty nova though.


    Then a scream echoed out and a Scav slammed into the ground, twitched and went still. Rebecca peaked up and out and nearly flinched. She looked behind her and noticed that Motoko was gone.


    She hadn¡¯t heard the girl even leave the car.


    Now she was two floors above her, having just thrown a Scav off a building and was overwatching with that Copperhead, silent rounds firing constantly as she started shooting at scavs from behind their cover.


    That¡­ That was nova. Rebecca focused up and started firing as well. Popping a Scav inside the plant, and then focusing on another firing into his cover as he trembled and couldn¡¯t move to save himself.


    Malcolm ended up taking that kill, a smart round shot close to her, and then sped around the cover slamming into the body.


    She looked and Malcolm was using the front of the Quadra as cover and firing his very preem Shingen. Damn, that was a quality piece.


    The sudden loud roar of HMG¡¯s filled the lot as the Minotaur stepped into play. Simply moving slowly step by step towards the entrance of the plant, and firing at anything that moved.


    A surge above her and she gasped.


    Motoko had just leapt off the building, traveling all the way across the lot, to land behind the Minotaur and then she popped up from a roll and landed on its back. Her Copperhead aimed past it, as she held onto its ass and started firing.


    *Motoko! You are unbalancing me!* Ichi¡¯s voice called out with some staring through the channel.


    *Be a good weapons platform and just stay still.* She retorted back without a hint of stress in her mental voice as she just fired into the dark power plant.


    Rebecca decided that she had the right idea. She leapt out of the Quadra, rushing up to the side of the power plant and posting up on the outside quickly seeing some gonk on the second floor catwalk and shooting him full of holes.


    This! This was it! This was what Rebecca fucking lived for.


    ¡°HAHAHAHA! GET FUCKED!¡± She roared out in delight as she opened up with her assault rifle.


    ¡ª---


    I felt my own smile stretch across my face in time with Rebecca finally losing her shit and going full berserk.


    This assault was going incredibly well. The Scavs that were checking the cameras right now wondering what the fuck was happening must be shitting their pants.


    I almost wondered what they were thinking was happening? Did anyone expect a response like Section 9?


    I dropped a mag and reloaded which was difficult while staying on the back of the Minotaur, *Jun! Up front, we are moving in. Malcolm move it!* I demanded over the line, as I jumped off the Minotaur and landed behind Jun. To his surprise I posted up behind him. Hand on his back letting him know where I was, as I basically used him as cover.


    The gonk wanted to be the big target, then that¡¯s what he would be.


    *Here.* Malcolm confirmed posting up behind me and I nodded.


    *Rebecca! We are moving in. Ichi hold the lot down. Hiromi keep an eye on Ichi and run if you have to. No risks. Let¡¯s move.* I said as I pushed Jun forward which he audibly grumbled at, but then we moved. Jun leading the way into the Power Plant, and the three Solo¡¯s backing him up.


    The fact I had disabled the Scav¡¯s weapons was doing a lot to ensure our charge was uninterrupted.


    While Jun slammed into a guy on the ground floor. The three of us twisted around. Firing into the scaffolding, or in Malcolms case firing and then having the Smart rounds twist around and land on top of the hiding Scavs.


    We slaughtered them. Moving constantly, in a barrage of bullets. Ping meaning even amateurs like us could act like a unified team. Rebeccca quickly matched our pace despite having to move a bit more with her shorter legs, but she was keeping up perfectly, twisting and firing, as she followed the flashes of light from a fresh Ping.


    Of course as easy as it was to slaughter these fucks there were problems.


    Teething issues.


    Malcolm tripped, nearly knocking me off my feet, and forcing me to struggle and lift him back up. Rebecca got a little trigger happy and nearly shot Jun, who was rushing around.


    Jun was running off on his own, and not staying together so we could support him, ending up with him getting stabbed by a very very brave but stupid scav that managed to surprise him.


    Yet we kept moving. Malcolm slowed his twisting pace, and kept his feet better after his fuckup.


    Rebecca stopped to aim before firing, ensuring no friendly fire. And Jun grumbled and mostly ignored the fact he got stabbed and just kept doing what he was doing¡­


    The after action report would be filled with me kicking him in the head to get it through his denseness. But that¡¯s fine.


    We moved on. Having cleared the entrance to the plant, we ended up not immediately hitting the downstairs. Instead we broke through a door in the rear of the factory  where a clump of scavs had been hiding behind to enter into a sort of warehouse and main plant.


    I actually almost stopped as I entered, because this whole section of the power plant didn¡¯t exist in the game. It was just one of those doors that was door shaped, but was actually a wall.


    But inside was a storage area. Obviously the stuff too heavy to take down into the underground. Boxes of what I instantly registered as loot, but that wasn¡¯t all, tables next to chemical equipment¡­


    A drug lab?


    I shrugged it off and opened fire along with everyone besides Jun who was going full Oni mode and either cutting people down with his Katana that he had drawn, or just battering Scavs into paste.


    Both were pretty effective honestly.


    ¡°Motoko?¡± Malcolm called out, but I shook my head immediately.


    ¡°Ignore it! This side is clear we move down now!¡± I called out even if Malcolm was looking shocked at everything we had found.


    Scav business, XBD business, and a drug lab? These scavs sured liked to dip their toes into everything.


    Whatever was going on here, was something for later.


    We turned after clearing out the area that the Scavs were using and instead rushed towards the undergroundstairs. This time Jun was slower and I was in the lead. I noticed two lines shifting as I got close to the stairs, two gonks, very close, probably hiding in a corner.


    So I popped a grenade off my rig.


    *Hold! Frag out* I called out over the line, and Jun actually stopped for once. I popped the pin and chucked it down the stairs hard enough it would bounce down and into the bottom of the steps.


    A few seconds later the noise buffeted us and I almost giggled as the lights leading to the two winked out.


    *Let¡¯s go!* I called out and Jun raced ahead which I realized was him being protective again. I rolled my eyes and moved, sticking together with Malcolm with Rebecca following us. *Good job Malcolm, Rebecca!*


    *Course!*


    *Easy shit.* Rebecca agreed, sounding almost calm, but when I turned to look her face was locked into a full on rictus grin.


    Heh. We moved on, Jun rushing again again like a dummy. We walked through a no entry door and then past the hallway that led to the elevator, but while I could hack the thing, it would take time, and it wasn¡¯t like they were going anywhere. Not with the Minotaur already moving into the Plant to watch the stairs.


    Then we moved through a trash area, covered in old clothes and garbage. Every piece of clothing told the story of another death at the hands of these Scavs.


    But Jun didn¡¯t care, he moved right through opening doors and rushing through, and so we followed. The next area was a ripper room. The plastic sheeting scavs were so proud of, along with three beams of light leading to Scavs.


    Jun of course followed straight towards them, but instantly they opened fire. My hack didn¡¯t work? I slammed another Optic Reboot at them, But felt the hands of another runner. Someone was plugged into the network, fighting me off.


    Jun hadn¡¯t stopped at the gun fire, just charging through it and slamming into a ripper chair knocking it over and onto a Scav firing at him. He screamed as it pinned him to the ground and then the screaming stopped as Jun slammed a boot down onto him. Malcolm and I focused on the others. Far more accurate fire than the Scavs were putting out thanks to the Ping meant they were scattering for cover but that didn¡¯t save them from Malcolm.


    *They have a netrunner! My hacks won¡¯t be as effective. Destroy any cameras as soon as you see them.* I called out, doing just that as I swung around and fired a round into a camera that was watching the ripper room.


    *Got it!* Rebecca confirmed, while Malcolm just nodded.


    *Jun? You alright?*


    *Just some scratches.* He actually said standing up and showing it was a bit more than that. He was definitely bleeding a bit.


    *You are on the backline now, pick up a gun. No more rushing forward or I¡¯ll leave you blind and go on without you.* I said completely calm, cool keeping me from absolutely ranting at him for being an idiot.


    He looked like he was going to argue, but I didn¡¯t give him a chance. I popped my Carnage off my back and tossed it at him.


    There see? It was totally worth bringing it along.


    I reloaded again and nodded as Malcolm did the same and then we moved on to the next room.

 Chapter 157

    This room was one I definitely remembered from the game. This was the Scavs rec room, the place they hung out. It also had crates of weapons and other supplies so they were ready for us here.


    The lights from Ping gave us numbers, and locations so I didn¡¯t have to call it out.


    Six guys.


    *Going to frag again. Rebecca you too.* I called as I found a position to post up before. Running into the room. Rebecca and I both stood next to one of the metal security blinds, and once she was ready with Jun and Malcolm both holding the entrance. I hacked the blinds and forced them open.


    We both tossed. I made sure to toss my grenade in a different direction from Rebecca towards a different group of people.


    Our synergy wasn¡¯t great. I hadn¡¯t thought to have us call out which group to target.


    Despite my skill this was a new experience for me, just like it was for most of Section 9. We would have to do some team training soon.


    The side thoughts were blown away with the explosions of two grenades, and the screams of agony from dying gonks.


    Jun and Malcolm both charged. Malcolm I noticed as I turned to follow was hugging directly behind Jun. Using him as cover and rapid firing into groups that Jun wasn¡¯t focused on.


    Good work!


    Rebecca and I came around a second later, and her smile was already stretching across her face as she let loose.


    The Ajax roared and she caught two in a spray of bullets that weren¡¯t fast enough to hide behind some crates in the middle of the room they were using as cover.


    It wouldn¡¯t work against me either.


    I leapt straight up, my head nearly touching the ceiling as I raised my copperhead and just fired into them from above. More Scavs were killed, and I think our assault finally started breaking any hope the scavs had of winning. They started running, not many of them got far.


    Not with everyone shooting into their fleeing backs.


    Rebecca had climbed up on top of a crate and was laughing hysterically as she went full auto down the tunnel the Scavs were trying to flee down.


    I just chased after them while firing. The copperhead tight to my shoulder as I raced forward firing at the fleeing gonks.


    One dropped, I took a second to lower the barrel and confirm the kill by blowing out the back of his head. Then moved on. I could hear Rebecca struggling down from the crate behind me as Jun continued to beat a poor Scav into a pulp.


    Even without looking I knew he was already dead.


    *Jun focus up!*


    But that was all the attention I was willing to give.


    I turned the corner down the hall, and some of the scavs had been smart enough to turn to try and shoot me.


    I juked and my Copperhead jerked in my grip as the silent rounds started tearing out of the barrel.


    I felt a round wing me, and then another got me in the chest, but I was wearing armor.


    They weren¡¯t.


    A second later the hallway was clear. None of them had escaped.


    ¡°Motoko!¡±


    *Jun. Comms you gonk!* I yelled at him over the call and he slowed to a stop and seemed to regain some of his humanity as he saw me perfectly fine and glaring at him¡­ Oh wait I was wearing the tech gogs with my helmet. He couldn¡¯t see me glaring.


    *Right¡­ Right. You okay?*


    *I¡¯m fine. Check! Any injuries?*


    *Nope I¡¯m fine.*


    *Didn¡¯t get touched.* Malcolm and Rebecca both confirmed and then I looked at my gonk brother.


    *Do I need to pull you out?*


    *It¡¯s just some scratches.* He denied.


    Yeah the bullet hole in his arm was not a scratch.


    But I noticed the old Kang Tao armor had actually caught a few rounds for him. Even if he had done everything he could to show off his plastic abs.


    I rolled my eyes and tossed him a roll of bandages.


    *Cover those.*


    *I¡¯m fine.* He tried to argue and I just cut him off.


    *Do it or leave.*


    He grumbled and after a minute did as he was told.


    *Everyone gather back up. Let¡¯s finish clearing this place. We aren¡¯t done.*


    *Awesome!* Rebecca cheered out as she ran down the hall. I quirked an eyebrow.


    She now had a Saratoga strapped to her back.


    *What?*


    *Nothing.* I said, chuckling quietly as I focused up. We weren¡¯t done.


    ¡ª---


    Ichinose


    The stairs had not been easy to maneuver down, but he had done it. The Minotaur was staring into the doors of the elevator just waiting for someone to be stupid enough to come up.


    *Anything up there Hiromi?*


    *Nope, still clear.* She said and he relaxed a little. Controlling the Minotaur was an interesting experience. Despite the fact he was still just sitting in the driver''s seat of his van it felt like he was actually far away.


    Hiromi watching over him at least made this doable. He didn¡¯t want to imagine what it would be like to get killed because he was focused on the Minotaur, but then again what kind of idiot would lose complete track of his surroundings without someone watching over them in a dangerous area?


    Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.


    The elevator shifted. He could ¡®hear¡¯ it through the Minotaurs pickups.


    *Someone is using the elevator.* He called out both in the channel between Hiromi and him, and to Motoko¡¯s squad.


    God thinking about it in terms like that still caught him off guard. This whole thing. This wasn¡¯t some group of gonk kids fucking around. This was a corp level op.


    They were badasses.


    *Not one of us. If anyone is in there, take them out.* Motoko answered back cooly, not a hint of the strain of being in combat in her voice.


    Once again Ichi just had to shake his head. Motoko Kusanagi was an enigma, she had come back so different from the coma, and that had only grown with the time since. It was almost hard to remember what she used to be like.


    But it was her almost clinical detachment when dealing with violence that still made him nervous.


    Motoko the gonk that didn¡¯t like alcohol, and would happily get into arguments about the best character in a movie with Malcolm. Would in a second transform into a killer. He had never understood the idea of a ¡®cold blooded killer¡¯ before. Every murder he had ever seen had been passionate acting out, or just gang stuff which was usually full of shouting and yelling.


    Although he knew Jotaro had been the same, but seeing that look on Motoko¡¯s face as she talked about murdering her enemies always made Ichi¡­ Not nervous. He wasn¡¯t afraid of her, but he was¡­ Wary of her.


    He watched the elevator doors open, and five scavs stepped out. These were the leaders. The netrunner among them told Ichi that. The fact they were escaping was rather telling as well.


    He felt his HMG¡¯s activate. The targeting software easily pinging all five.


    ¡°FUCK!¡± The Netrunner managed to scream as the group realized what it was that was standing in the shadows in front of them.


    Then Ichi fired.


    Yeah. This was the fun part.


    They tried. One scav must have some training, he raised a Metel the clunky Techtronika revolver fired twice before he had so many holes in him that the pistol fell from his grip.


    *Five Scavs took the elevator. They¡¯re dead.* He called out and he could hear Hiromi cheer. He could imagine her pumping her fist at that.


    *Confirmed.* Motoko offered back, once more calm and controlled despite the fact he could vaguely hear gunfire still coming from down below.


    He settled in again. Motoko had this under control.


    ¡ª--


    I felt like I had no control over what was happening.


    Jun was once more racing off. Malcolm was doing his best to stay with him using him as cover. Rebecca had gone completely gun crazy and was just firing full auto at everything that moved.


    I was forced to run multiple positions and tasks.


    That scav aiming at Jun¡¯s back? Quickdraw the Burya fire twice.


    Rebecca running out of ammo and struggling to reload with how many weapons she now had strapped to her?


    Jump up and tackle her off the table she had found to give her some height. Cover her with my body so the return fire from the scavs hit me and not her. Land, and fire through the cover at the fucker that just shot me.


    Reload Burya, ensure Rebecca was okay visually. Rise.


    Fire into fucking dirty scavs until they die.


    ¡°Sorry.¡± I heard quietly as I looked back and saw Rebecca.


    The fury was quenched and I was cool once more.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine. We work as a team to watch out for each other. We all have things to learn.¡± Then because I was just holding my Burya I reached out a hand for her. She had landed on her ass after everything. ¡°We aren¡¯t done yet.¡±


    She looked up at me, and smiled evilly. ¡°Right!¡± And then I was hauling her back to her feet, and we went to town.


    This last section of the Scav base was a fucking maze. Broken walls. Scaffolding. Large machines to hide around.


    There weren¡¯t that many Scavs down here, but they were all hiding in nooks and crannies to ambush us.


    Thankfully Ping still worked, and between Jun and I we hunted them all down, pulling them out and murdering them mercilessly.


    Especially after we checked the side rooms and found all the killing rooms.


    Or rather the Scavs BD rooms. The horrific locals were something I expected, but it made Jun go real quiet and I could see him tighten his hands over and over. The view had Rebecca lose it too. Malcolm though was probably inured to seeing Scav holes. He just kept trying to kill them.


    But finally we cleared the entire underground. Each corner was checked, and we went through the whole complex, including in rooms that I remember from the game had been ¡®dead¡¯ doors. Many of the side paths were full of gear or equipment, or just corpse storage.


    But it was done.


    *Looks like we are clear down here. Hiromi, Malcolm, let¡¯s move onto the most important part. Looting.*


    I got a laugh from Malcolm at my words, but Rebecca mostly gave me a funny look when I said the most important part.


    Obviously Maine didn¡¯t know how to make the real eddies. There was a lot of gear down here.


    ¡ª--


    Ichi and I switched places, although I didn¡¯t have the Minotaur, I was just on overwatch upstairs, keeping an eye on things in case any random scavs returned.


    To my amusement Jun had been roped in by Hiromi, and she was ordering him around as he lifted heavy stuff. While Malcolm and Ichi started going through rooms gathering up interesting pieces. Rebecca had also wanted to help, but her stature had gotten in the way and so she had finally given up and was heading up to the surface.


    I was on the second floor of the broken down building looking over the power plants lot when she finally came up and then headed up to where I was hiding out.


    ¡°You¡¯re up here right?¡± She asked as she came up and I reached up over my head, revealing my hiding place between some boxes cutting me entirely off from sight.


    ¡°Umm what are you doing?¡± She asked as she walked over and climbed up onto the boxes to look down on me.


    ¡°Overwatch!¡±


    ¡°Yeah I get that, but why are you hiding?¡±


    ¡°Because if I see anyone coming in and they don¡¯t see me, that gives me a tactical advantage.¡±


    ¡°Right¡­ Right.¡± She answered and then to my surprise she shimmied over the box and landed in my little hidey hole and rested against the box. ¡°That was¡­ Pretty crazy.¡±


    ¡°One of the biggest raids we¡¯ve done for sure. Not the biggest, but one of them. Definitely the first one with our new equipment.¡± I offered, looking her over, happy to see she hadn¡¯t taken any wounds. I had already checked over my armor poking fingers into little holes in the chest rig, and some random shrapnel I had picked up from ricochets somewhere.


    ¡°I wanted to say thanks.¡± She finally admitted after a minute of quiet. ¡°You didn¡¯t treat me like some random extra you were just bringing along, or give me some random gonk work. You just gave me a gun and expected me to use it.¡±


    ¡°Well yeah? You work with Maine and Sasha right?¡±


    ¡°Sometimes.¡± She said weakly, and that sometimes sounded more like. Never. Or not in the way she wanted.


    ¡°Well Section 9 is always looking to hire good shooters. Malcolm is shaping up well to be my backup but we could use another solid gun¡­. Not saying you have to stop working with Maine or anything! I just mean if you-¡±


    ¡°Yeah.. Listen. Motoko, you got something going here, that¡¯s kinda wild. Not the sort of shit I expected from a teenager, even one that can walk into the Afterlife, but I get why Rogue has her eye on you now. You don¡¯t¡­ You keep bringing up Maine, and Maine is great. He has army training, and is an absolute beast, but he doesn¡¯t¡­ The planning you did? That¡¯s way beyond his normal prep. You passed out equipment that blows away anything Maine and crew use. My brother is Maine''s Techie. The gonk that makes sure they have whatever random tool they need, but he certainly doesn¡¯t have a Minotaur.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s pretty recent, and sort of a surprise to us too.¡±


    ¡°Yeah but¡­ Maine wouldn¡¯t have kept it, if he got one. It would have just been sold off.¡± Rebecca added and then seemed to struggle with herself. ¡°I¡¯m not good at this kind of shit. I¡¯m not saying it right¡­ Maine cares for his crew, he¡¯s protective yeah, but he doesn¡¯t force them into high end armor. Doesn¡¯t get Minotaurs for the non-shooters to be able to do something. That¡¯s not normal. Like at all. It¡¯s crazy¡­ I like that kind of crazy.¡±


    I looked at Rebecca¡¯s red eyes and I understood. ¡°It¡¯ll take a bit for us to get a fresh set of armor. I¡¯ll talk to Hiromi, we might be able to buy a set fresh. A bit of time on top of that, the ECM emitters will take some time to source again, but that¡¯s not a huge issue. So give me some time, and the armor will be done.¡±


    ¡°Armor?¡±


    ¡°Your armor. Can¡¯t continue to work with us without armor.¡± I added and Rebecca seemed sort of shocked at how casually I had just accepted her into the crew.


    ¡°That sounds expensive.¡±


    ¡°Nah, Section 9 will handle the expenses.¡± I assured her she wouldn¡¯t have to pay for it, and that did something, because a second later she started laughing.


    ¡°You¡¯re really fucking weird!¡±


    ¡°Thanks?¡±


    ¡ª--


    Despite expecting some massive Scav response. Nothing happened. Instead Rebecca and I switched off on overwatch to make sure nothing continued to happen, while Section 9 went to work.


    Well besides Jun, One of the times he had come up I noticed he was still bleeding. I had ordered him to go to a ripper and get checked up, ignoring any and all of his arguments about it.


    Then to my surprise as I helped haul some heavy crates up the stairs, Ichi wasn¡¯t there and his van was gone, including the Minotaur.


    ¡°Where¡¯s Ichi?¡±


    ¡°He went to get us more transport space.¡± Hiromi said. She was going through all the crates seemingly making lists of all the crap we were taking out.


    I shrugged, figuring he would just come back with his normal truck empty, but instead an hour later he came pulling into the lot with the massive Behemoth.


    ¡°Huh. You didn¡¯t sell it?¡± I asked Hiromi absolutely surprised to see that thing again.


    ¡°I set up a rental plan as part of an agreement with a SCSM stocking service. Apparently having something armored like the Behemoth heavily decreases injuries. I called it back in before we left. I had a feeling we would need all the space we could fit.¡± Hiromi said looking pleased with herself as Ichi came out of the cab with a proud look as well.


    ¡°You¡¯ve been practicing.¡± I called out to Ichi and he smiled.


    ¡°I have! Hiromi has had me working with a SCSM company. They use the truck and in exchange don¡¯t have to worry about getting shot at as much.¡±


    I instantly looked at Hiromi who smiled even more slyly. ¡°I might have also rented out Ichi.¡±


    ¡°You!¡± I called out before bursting into laughter. ¡°You sneaky corpo!¡± I yelled out and chased at her.


    ¡°Hehehe!¡± She giggled back flashing a bright smile as she escaped my grabbing hands.


    ¡°Well you certainly drive it like you¡¯ve got some experience now.¡± I called out as I gave up on the chase.


    ¡°Yeah it took a while.¡± Ichi agreed, then he looked over all the crates already stacking up. ¡°I¡¯ll lower the ramp, let¡¯s start getting stocked up.¡±


    I nodded in agreement, and soon we were working together hauling up the heavy crates into the truck.


    ¡°I¡¯m still surprised you didn¡¯t sell it. Aren¡¯t these things difficult to get a hold of.¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Militech only sells it to big corps, or governments.¡± Hiromi agreed, nodding a moment later had her smile going sly. ¡°Which is why I decided that Section 9 should keep it for ourselves. Something like this isn¡¯t a vehicle we could just buy again later. Armored transports aren¡¯t easy to get.¡±


    ¡°Well I can¡¯t complain.¡± I shrugged. I mean, I hadn¡¯t even noticed that Hiromi hadn¡¯t sold it¡­


    Was that another sign I was bad with money, or a hint that I had way too much money and should spend it?


    Both. Probably both.


    I traded out loading the truck with Rebecca every once in a while giving me a break to rest and watch over the lot, while she helped out.


    And slowly we cleared out the entire place.


    At least anything we actually wanted to take. Then long into the night. Ichi piled into the cab of the Behemoth, and we all slipped away into the night. Rebecca once more joined me in the Quadra as we followed along behind the truck.

 Chapter 158

    ¡°Jun? You¡¯re home already?¡±


    ¡°I told you it was just scratches.¡± He grumbled at me. I had dropped off Rebecca at home after we stored the Behemoth for the night. All of us too tired to want to unpack everything just to pack it all back up again.


    Hiromi had apparently made a deal with the SCSM company for a garage to store it. Which we could use as a space for our loot. So it was secure enough.


    Now I was home ready for a shower but Jun was already on the couch.


    I walked over and inspected him and narrowed my eyes at the very obvious bandages on his chest.


    ¡°Yes I¡¯m sure scratches bleed even after being checked over by a ripper.¡± I said snidely, noticing red on the white bandages.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± He grumbled looking me over. ¡°You?¡±


    ¡°Nothing went through. Armor worked like it was supposed to.¡± I assured him. Although I had gotten a few scratches, a Maxdoc had cleared that up.


    Satisfied my brother had actually gotten his medical attention I wandered into the bathroom to take a shower.


    This whole situation had gone really well. Even if the fact Sasha had survived was setting in. What was going to change from that one act?


    Maines crew had made an enemy of Biotechnica. I had no idea how much, or if they would be able to let everything cool off, but Kiwi and Lucy might never be hired by Maine now.


    This was¡­ Going to be an interesting situation.


    Also, the most important thing. We were only a few months away from a very important point. The start of Edgerunners.


    I would need to figure out what to do about what''s his face. The original owner of David''s Sandevistan. The fact was, I wanted it. That wasn¡¯t some run of the mill street sandy that I could pick up. That thing was absolutely top of the line.


    And I wasn¡¯t David, I wasn¡¯t going to lose my mind to chrome and overuse and turn the biggest advantage into a weakness.


    But until then¡­


    I looked down at my body as the water flowed over me. Muscles and chrome, but I was flawless. No scars, or markings. Vik and my sleep healing had taken care of me.


    I looked at my alerts. Plenty of killing had been done. Plenty of XP.


    *500 XP Gained.*


    *500 XP Gained.*


    *500 XP Gained.*


    *500 XP Gained.*


    On it went.


    Fourteen kills directly to me. That wasn¡¯t a lot, and yet it was all at the same time.


    7000 XP.


    I hadn¡¯t gotten any direct level ups, Assault was unfortunately already maxed, but I did get a Quick Hack alert. So that was one more step closer to a level.


    But as I looked away from the alerts and back to my body¡­


    I think it¡¯s time to get some more chrome. I¡¯ve been doing a lot of prep chrome. My Titanium bones were great, but I wanted something with a bit more¡­.


    Flash.


    The idea stuck with me, as I finished the shower. Undecided. I could probably get some Gorilla arms mods for my Condor. They were already a bit full though. The EMP and Armor took up a lot of room.


    I walked out of the bathroom clothed and drying my hair, and then decided since I couldn¡¯t figure it out on my own I was gonna ask the chrome head.


    ¡°Hey Jun?¡±


    ¡°Motoko?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m trying to figure out what chrome I should get next. Any suggestions?¡±


    ¡°Extra heart?¡±


    ¡°I do want one, but I¡¯m thinking more flash. All of my chrome feels like just¡­¡±


    ¡°Ah I see. Get a Sandy. It¡¯ll make you killer.¡± He said without missing a beat.


    ¡°I kinda have one lined up, but it¡¯ll be a few months before I can get it.¡± I answered honestly. Admitting it aloud made it more real.


    I was going to take ¡®Davids¡¯ Sandy from him. He would never chip it in. In exchange I would make sure Gloria survived. I¡¯m sure he would trade the chrome for his mother alive and well.


    ¡°If you have to wait so long, just chip in a sandy now, get used to it, and upgrade later. You have the eddies.¡± He said it like it was that simple.


    ¡°I just¡­ I don¡¯t want to chip in some scop Sandy Jun. The one I have my eye on is like¡­ Super top of the line. I just have to wait a bit.¡±


    ¡°Dummy.¡± He said and to my surprise reached out and tapped me on top of my head. ¡°Speedware is useful shit. The only reason I don¡¯t have one is because I stopped chipping in new chrome for a while to get used to everything. But you¡­ You¡¯re fine. Go chip in a Sandy, get used to it, for when you chip in something real nova.¡±


    ¡°But that¡¯ll¡­¡± I stopped. How do I explain the idea of how I understood adaptation, and Humanity loss by Cyberware without explaining it¡¯s all a game.


    ¡°Motoko? You handle chrome better than anyone I¡¯ve ever seen.¡± He said, his eyes locked on me. ¡°You¡¯ve been a little skittish about it. I get that. But you¡¯ve got nothing to be afraid of. Besides, Hiromi already sent me a quote on what we made today. You can get plenty of good chrome with just your cut of today''s profits. Hell, it¡¯s more than I make normally by a long shot.¡± He said almost laughing. ¡°Who¡¯d have thought little Hiromi would some day be bossing me around on a gig?¡±


    I blinked at the almost wistful tone before Jun looked to me and smiled.


    ¡°Spend the eddies. Get an upgrade. At least it¡¯ll increase your chances of surviving until you get your hands on the Sandy you really want. Upgrades are normal, they won¡¯t hurt.¡±


    I blinked and realized that¡­ I really should be upgrading my chrome. I had a lot of eddies just sitting in my account. And a lot of chrome that could use an upgrade. My Cyberdeck was a midline at best for instance.


    An upgrade to my Cyberdeck would do a lot in making me even scarier.


    But I also wanted to spend more money on tech stuff¡­ No, I realized. I had eddies. I had a ton of eddies. That was just an excuse. I was letting my fear control me. I was afraid of chrome in a way. Sure I was feeling much much better about it now, but the kidnapping still haunted me.


    If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    I hated that idea.


    I breathed in and out. Being wise about chrome wasn¡¯t bad though. Balance. I just needed balance.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to bed. I¡¯ll probably be working with Hiromi all day tomorrow to sell the loot.¡± I said instead, rising up.


    ¡°Nice! I¡¯m looking forward to my cut! Going to buy an upgrade for my ride. But you should set it up Motoko. Call your ripper, Vik. Give him time to find some chrome. Go on. Go to bed.¡±


    I just rolled my eyes at Jun¡¯s stupid Mizuchi.


    ¡°I¡¯ll send a message to Vik.¡± I decided, even sending him a message about what I was looking for and a request for a checkup and new install.


    ¡°Good night Motoko¡­ And hey. This gig you pulled off today? I was impressed. Super impressed. You didn¡¯t even need me, you could have done it without me¡­ It was a relief.¡±


    I scoffed even as I felt my cheeks heat up. ¡°Section 9 is amazing! Of course we don¡¯t need a gonk like you! Even if you were a big help and it was cool how you worked with us, when you weren¡¯t charging ahead and getting shot at! Maybe Section 9 will offer more gigs to you in the future¡­ If you get some armor!¡± I yelled and then stomped away into my room. Jun was laughing.


    I checked on Tachikoma before I went to bed. Its walking process was starting to really come together. It was moving at a much faster rate now. Much more confidently.


    ¡°Good job.¡± I told it despite not being able to hear me, and did some quick pruning of the process before slipping into bed.


    ¡ª---


    The next day was a barrage of running around. Thankfully since Ichi could drive the Behemoth. I was mostly the bodyguard. Keeping Hiromi safe as she sold equipment all over the city. The eddies flowed in as we dropped off piece after piece.


    While we drove around, I spent some time going over the gig with everyone. With the BD recorder I could even review things I had seen.


    Talking to Malcolm about when he tripped. Telling him to remind me sometime for some practice with walking through a dark space with a rifle in hands.


    Ichi mostly got a slap on the back.


    Hiromi too.


    Jun I just sent a picture of him getting shot with a quick caption. ¡®Don¡¯t be the idiot that runs ahead.¡¯


    He didn¡¯t respond with anything useful. Just a glare emoji.


    Rebecca didn¡¯t have time to talk so we would have to go over everything another time, unfortunately it also meant Rebecca wasn¡¯t able to join us.


    When we finally called it a night, we took some time to celebrate. Hitting a diner and ordering all the food we could eat.


    ¡°Seriously! That guy was such scop. I¡¯m pretty sure he was a Scav himself!¡± I grumbled out but Hiromi just laughed.


    ¡°You just didn¡¯t like how he was flirting with me!¡± Hiromi said with a bit too much eagerness, and I shuddered.


    ¡°Of course I was upset! The guy was like thirty. He was gross Hiromi. You shouldn¡¯t have led him on.¡±


    ¡°It let me fleece him for another two grand. So¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s gross. I¡¯ll have to give that guy a late night visit sometime soon.¡± I said feeling rather murderous. Fucking sicko.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you dare! He was buying a lot of the equipment! We¡¯ll keep feeding him more of our loot! For the eddies!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it Motoko. He¡¯ll do something stupid some day either get himself killed, or we will flatline him.¡± Ichi cut in. ¡°I would put money on him trying to steal from us someday.¡±


    ¡°He wouldn¡¯t! The equipment we are selling is super cheap! He wo-¡±


    ¡°He totally will.¡± I agreed. The guy was skeevy.


    ¡°Yep.¡± Ichi agreed, I raised my drink to him and he did the same.


    ¡°Ugh.¡± Hiromi just huffed and Ichi and I started laughing.


    ¡°So what are you spending your eddies on Ichi? Any chrome?¡± I asked mostly as a segway, but I was interested in his answer as well.


    ¡°Ah, well I got the smart link, and that wasn¡¯t too bad. Even if using the Minotaur meant I didn¡¯t get to use it much. But I do like the Yukimura. Since I¡¯ve been wearing it, just seeing it on my hip has settled a lot of friction.¡± He said laughing, slapping the holster on his side that carried his smart gun.


    ¡°Heh. At least some gonks are smart enough not to mess with the guy that has homing bullets.¡± I giggled and he nodded in turn.


    ¡°But for what I¡¯m going to do with these eddies¡­ I don¡¯t know. Maybe some Subdermal, or Skinweave?¡±


    ¡°You should reach out to Vik then, see what he has on offer. He¡¯ll take care of you.¡±


    ¡°Sure, maybe I¡¯ll reach out. How about you?¡± He asked and that was the topic I wanted to bring up, mostly because I was kinda nervous.


    ¡°I¡¯d planned on holding off for a while longer. I have a chance at a really high end Sandy that will open up in a few months, but¡­ I think I¡¯m going to chip in a lower quality Sandy with Vik tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°Whoa! Really?¡± Hiromi asked, looked excited. ¡°That would be preem Motoko! Sandy are expensive chrome, but they¡¯re great!¡±


    ¡°Yeah. I was gonna hold off until I got something really top of the line, but¡­¡± Powergaming vs. realistic upgrades.


    The powergamer in me said not to upgrade until I could get the best. But I wanted to be safe, and strong enough to protect myself and my chooms.


    ¡°So yeah. I¡¯ll go in tomorrow morning. Vik got back to me that he found something that I¡¯ll like.¡±


    ¡°Nice! I want to see! As soon as you are done!¡± Hiromi demanded, and I waved her off.


    ¡°Maybe. I¡¯ll probably head home after and sleep it off or something. But I¡¯ll show you once I feel better.¡±


    ¡°Deal!¡± She agreed, smiling while Ichi nodded in tandem.


    ¡°How about you Hiromi? Anything in mind for your eddies?¡±


    ¡°Most of it is going into payroll unfortunately. But I¡¯ll be making a nice profit that will go into private accounts.¡± Hiromi said but Ichi and I just looked at each other.


    ¡°Coooorppppoooo.¡± We both teased and Hiromi instantly went red and slapped at both of us.


    ¡ª--


    The next morning I got ready and headed to Viks.


    There was a bit of anxiety there. Because I wouldn¡¯t be chipping in the ¡®best¡¯ of something. Just what I could get my hands on, with a bit of work, and that wasn¡¯t something I really appreciated, but¡­


    Upgrades. A few upgrades now could make future gigs easier, make me more eddies, and more XP.


    It was for the best. That old gamer mentality of not upgrading to anything until I either had to, or until I had all the stat points to make use of the best stuff was holding me back.


    But this wasn¡¯t a game.


    ¡°Hey Misty!¡± I called out as I entered her Esoterica and she looked up and smiled brightly at me, making my day instantly better as she waved me down.


    ¡°Motoko, I saw you actually scheduled an appointment looking for more chrome today. That¡¯s unusual. Something happen?¡± She asked kindly, waving me over as she was sitting behind her little reception.


    ¡°Not exactly. I just had the idea the other night and wanted to warn Vik.¡±


    ¡°Well he appreciates it, and as his sometimes secretary I appreciate it too.¡± She said teasing.


    ¡°Heh. He¡¯s got you taking calls for him now too?¡± I asked, teasing back and she shrugged. ¡°Sort of. Just as an emergency thing. Sometimes he isn¡¯t around, so if someone is calling for emergency help well¡­ If he isn¡¯t around to answer, I¡¯ll be able to warn them from showing up.¡±


    ¡°Right. That makes sense. Did Vik mention what he got for me?¡±


    ¡°He did. Vik has contacts all over, and you have the eddies to actually pay.¡± She winked at me then. ¡°He always goes above and beyond for the best customers.¡±


    ¡°Vik¡¯s the best ripper. Of course I have to treat him right.¡± I answered back and we both smiled.


    ¡°Go on. I know you want to see what he was able to wrangle up for you.¡± She said waving a hand at the back and I did just that waving goodbye as I hurried into the alley then down the stairs.


    ¡°Vik!¡±


    ¡°Hey Kid, ¡®bout time, I was wondering if you would keep me waiting, come in, let me show you what I picked up for you this morning. Called in a favor with some old rippers I knew to get the deets and had to do a bit of trading, but I got it.¡±


    Then he pulled out a plastic bag, and there it was.


    A tiny little chip that was actually the Sandevistan.


    ¡°They always look so small.¡±


    ¡°Heh. Well big things come in small packages kid. This is a Dynalar Sandevistan. It¡¯s not the best of the best. QianT usually hold that mantle, Militech can be top of the line if you can snatch their good stuff, at least they put up a fight. The Falcon is a preem piece of chrome.¡± He chattered as he started prepping everything, but I was struggling to tear my eyes off it.


    A Sandevistan. Speedware. The piece of chrome that every likely was the most important piece of chrome I would get.


    It was a midline Sandy. Like Vik said this wasn¡¯t a Falcon. Or¡­ Whatever the fuck Davids Sandy was.


    Well whatever it was, I would find out eventually. For now? This would do. This would do nicely.


    ¡°Alright Vik. I¡¯m Ready.¡±


    ¡°Heh. Nice that you are mentally, but you aren¡¯t ready just yet, come take a look at this as well. I need to ask if this is the right fit for you.¡± He said pulling out a second plastic package. The plastic was obviously not original the sort of thing I had seen in Scav shops for how they store cyberware to keep it clean.


    And he dropped it on the table it took me a second¡­ ¡°A neural link?¡± I asked confused at the sight of it.


    ¡°Your neural link is a civilian version.¡± Vik answers and then points at the second piece of cyberware in a plastic bag. It wasn¡¯t massive. At least not that massive, but I instantly realized it wasn¡¯t just nothing either.


    ¡°That looks a bit high end.¡±


    ¡°Heh, caught that huh? Yeah. Your Sandevistan isn¡¯t anything special, not that it was easy to get my hands on, they don¡¯t come cheap. But you already got a Cyberdeck, and I bet you wanted to keep it right?¡±


    I instantly reached up to the back of my neck. There in the neural link that I had woken up with in this world in a small port that near my chipslots was my current Cyberdeck.


    A cyberdeck that I knew was taking up a lot of the hardware of my neural link to run.


    The neural link may be the most integral cyberware that existed. It was the piece of tech that connected the brain and nervous system to cyberware.


    The basic civilian one wasn¡¯t really capable of much. It wouldn¡¯t limit a cyberdeck at my level, but Sandevistan, Cyberdecks, and many other powerful pieces of chrome all needed space in a neural link.


    Hell, the Sandevistan David had chipped in, had needed the massive spinal neural link, or at least had come with it just to help handle the power that little chip could push out.


    This one wasn¡¯t nearly as big, but looking it over. The chrome gleaming in the muddy light of Vik¡¯s shop. I came to a realization.


    I licked my lips.


    ¡°I want it.¡±


    ¡°You sure? This might be the one I had access to, but I can find something different. This is a big step for you-¡±


    ¡°I want it. It¡¯s perfect. Hell there is only one other neural link I can think of that I want more, and that¡¯s coming along with that Sandy I¡¯ve been hunting. Vik. Chip it.¡± I confirmed, absolutely sure.


    This was going to be huge, but with adaptation, and my own desire for the chrome. I was confident this was perfect for me.


    ¡°Alright kid. In that case, I¡¯m all set up. Take a seat.¡±


    I nodded and did just that, settling into the chair.


    ¡°I¡¯ll call Misty down as well once we are done. Not too good at haircuts.¡± He joked and I just laughed, as I rolled over showing the back of my neck.


    A few moments later I was asleep.

 Chapter 159

    ¡°It¡¯s not too bad.. Right?¡±


    ¡°I think it suits you.¡± Misty assured me. It was a full twenty hours after I went under the knife. Vik had done a lot of work, and after eight hours I felt¡­ Perfect.


    My neck was a little weird, but that was something adaptation would help with.


    I looked in the little hand held mirror and what gazed back at me, was something more than human.


    The Neural Link Vik had chipped into me was an Arasaka brand. So the chrome was the usual black with little red ports for everything.


    I knew Hiromi would love it. But it wasn¡¯t just a few chip slots hidden beneath the flesh that had long grown over it.


    This was heavy duty chrome, and I didn¡¯t like hiding my chrome.


    So the entire back of my neck, from just above where my Occipital bun as Vik had called it, but it was just the bump on the back of my head. Everything below that was chrome to just above my shoulder blades. I even had some cool chrome stretching into the sides of my throat giving me a bit of flash there.


    And now Misty was cleaning up my hair on the back of my head, and there it was.


    The largest chunk of myself other than my arms, that wasn¡¯t natural, something I wouldn¡¯t be hidden away beneath my boots like my ankles.


    And I low key fucking loved it.


    ¡°Vik did a great job. It looks amazing.¡± I said¡­ Okay so maybe it was more like high key I loved it.


    ¡°Hehe, it really suits you. You always carried that Neo-Mil look. Well it looks even more so now.¡±


    I felt myself smiling even wider as I turned the mirror so I could see Misty.


    ¡°Thanks Misty.¡±


    ¡°Of course. You¡¯ll make sure to take all the drugs Vik gave you in exchange.¡±


    I kept myself from laughing too hard as Misty was cutting my hair a bit but I flashed her a smile. ¡°Sure you bet.¡±


    ¡°Good. You¡¯re one of the patients that actually listen to all the recovery instructions. You have no idea how hard it is to get a bunch of gonks to take their medicine correctly.¡±


    I giggled all the louder as Misty ranted, happily telling me horror stories of idiots not listening to Viks orders and coming back with their body rejecting chrome or worse.


    ¡°All done¡­ It looks about the same as before, but from the back¡­ Well it definitely stands out¡­ In a good way!¡±


    ¡°Hold the mirror?¡± I asked her and she nodded as I walked over to a wall mirror and with Misty¡¯s help was able to actually see it.


    Heh. I¡¯m really glad that Vik or whoever owned it previously got rid of the Arasaka symbol on the back, instead of looking tacky, my chrome looked¡­ Sinister.


    Cool.


    ¡°Remember to follow Viks instructions!¡± Misty demanded, and I nodded in agreement, the feeling felt weird as my neck no longer moved in the same way.


    But I would get used to it.


    Finally Misty let me free, and I would follow Viks instructions, only the actual instructions he had given me. We hadn¡¯t wanted to tell Misty that I had already healed post surgery, so Vik had given me different instructions before I had left.


    I walked out and breathed in the Night City air. People walked past me, in a blur of neon and suspicion clad faces.


    But I didn¡¯t care. Because today? I had just done something amazing. Time to go home. Despite the heal, I was still ordered to go very easy on my Cyberdeck, and not to even think about using my Sandy.


    Even if the urge was there.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°You¡¯re staring.¡±


    ¡°Of course I am. My little sister got a nova upgrade.¡± Jun agreed as he had intercepted me as I got home.


    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you be at work?¡± I said, flushing a little at the attention.


    ¡°I have the day off. Show me.¡± He demanded but it was with a gentle smile and I huffed and did just that. Settling onto the couch.


    ¡°It¡¯s an Arasaka Neural Link, an ODA apparently. The Sandy¡¯s a Dynalar. Just a Mk.2.¡±


    ¡°Nova. That¡¯s good chrome.¡± Jun confirmed as he spun around me so he could get a better look.


    ¡°He did a good job on the install, I can barely see the wounds.¡± I nodded slightly at that. He had done an amazing job, but the real reason there weren¡¯t any wounds was because I had slept eight hours after the install.


    ¡°Anyway, I haven¡¯t used it yet of course. I need to give it some time for everything to settle in. Docs orders. So I¡¯ll be working on stuff around the house¡­ Do you need anything done¡­ Armor for instance.¡± I hinted and Jun just happily ignored me as he patted me on the shoulder.


    ¡°Nah don¡¯t worry about it. That armor just got in the way. It was interesting, but not for me-Ow! Motoko!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry I just happened to hit you right where you got shot the other day! Oops! Wow too bad you weren¡¯t wearing the armor properly or it would have blocked that bullet and only given you a bruise!¡± I hissed at him, and while Jun looked like he was about to pick me up and throw me, he hesitated, glancing up at my neck.


    I reached up and rubbed my neck too and that put a damper on it. Jun wasn¡¯t going to rough house while I was healing.


    ¡°I wish you would wear more armor.¡± I told him seriously. ¡°Look at how effective it was for us. I got shot a few times in that fight Jun, but it didn¡¯t even slow me down.¡±


    He didn¡¯t say anything in turn at my turn towards the serious. Instead just patting me on the head. ¡°Don¡¯t forget to call Hiromi. She¡¯ll freak.¡±


    ¡°Hehe! I¡¯ll do that now. Maybe she wants to spend the night?¡± I wondered and jumped off the couch to run to my room to make the call.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°That kinda tickles.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s so cool. Arasaka brand and everything! I¡¯m so proud.¡± Hiromi said faux sniffling as she continued to poke at the back of my neck. I rolled my eyes.


    If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    ¡°It¡¯s not the best link on the market, just the one that I have.¡± I tried to argue, but Hiromi just ignored me. Happy that I had some Araska chrome. Honestly we sort of matched. Her own Neural link wasn¡¯t the heavy duty one that I had, but she did have a strip of black chrome hidden under her hair along the back of her neck. Her chip ports were set into it.


    ¡°There is a problem though.¡± I grumbled.


    ¡°What? What happened? Something wrong? Bad chrome!? I¡¯ll kill that old man ripper of yours!¡±


    ¡°No! What? Hiromi, chill choom. Vik is amazing. No, I used to have my Personal link cords  on the back of my neck remember?¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah, you picked that weird install. They still there?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but the ODA¡¯s have a slightly different link design. Here see?¡± I said as I reached behind my head and felt around until I found it, then showed it to Hiromi.


    The ODA had a lot of modularity despite being Arasaka branded. Not something you would expect from them, but it was actually sort of one of their trademarks. Other than the black and red design.


    The personal link cord wasn¡¯t in quite the same spot as it used to be. It now detached from a recess along the right or left side of the neural link. Meaning it was more on the side of my neck behind my ears, than it used to be directly behind on the back.


    ¡°Tehee!¡± Hiromi giggled as she popped the personal link out of my neck and then put it back in a few times.


    ¡°That kinda tickles Hiromi.¡± I told her and that just made her giggle more and keep doing it until I swiped her hands away.


    ¡°It looks nova Motoko! And with a Sandy our work is going to be even smoother!¡± Hiromi said with glee kicking her legs as she raised them off the floor.


    ¡°It¡¯ll definitely increase safety. It¡¯ll be nice not to be pushed back by every speedware user now.¡±


    ¡°Heh. And that one TC girl you spar with! You¡¯ll be able to beat her ass now! Which you should! Definitely beat her ass!¡±


    ¡°Oh, yeah Hayato. I haven¡¯t talked to her recently. I¡¯ll have to reach out. She¡¯ll be a great test for using the Sandy in a fight¡­ My sandy.¡± I repeated, because it bore repeating. I had a sandy now.


    Sandevistan. One of my own.


    It wasn¡¯t Davids OP as fuck secret black project sandy, but it was fine.


    ¡°Yep! Well in that case, I¡¯ll focus on the BD stuff for a while. Not like we can go on gigs while you are still recovering from your chrome.¡± HIromi added shrugging.


    ¡°Oh yeah. I still have the BD from the Power Plant. Think I should delete it?¡± I asked. Things had gotten a bit serious on the gig. And it could be dangerous to have it come back to us.


    ¡°Wait.. You made a BD of that?¡±


    ¡°Yeah of course I did. I always turn my BD tuner on before doing something. I just delete it if it¡¯s boring or in the case of the Badlands gig¡­ Well if things get crazy.¡±


    ¡°Definitely! Oh oh! I have a good idea! It¡¯ll be perfect! Gimme! Gimme!¡±


    ¡°Wha-hold on Hiromi, I¡¯ll need to take it to Judy to get fixed up.¡±


    ¡°I know! That¡¯s why give it to me, I¡¯ll take it! I have an idea.¡±


    ¡°Okay sure!¡± I said laughing as Hiromi was practically reaching for my chip slots like she could just pull it from my head. I quickly flashed a shard and after a moment of it saving I handed her the raw BD.


    ¡°Perfect! Hehehehe!¡± She cackled as she rose to her feet, like full on maniacal laughter.


    ¡°I really don¡¯t think I want to know what your idea is.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry! It¡¯s perfect!¡± Then before I could say anything else, she ran out of the apartment.


    ¡°Was that Hiromi?¡± Jun asked, poking his head out of his room looking confused. I just sent him a look of confusion in turn. ¡°Wasn¡¯t she spending the night?¡±


    ¡°I honestly don¡¯t know.¡±


    ¡ª--


    I flopped on my bed just after Hiromi left. With any sort of heavy work taken off the field, I didn¡¯t have much to do. Sure David had chipped in his Sandy then used it right away, but he also fucked himself up enough to pass out doing that, and was a fucking gonk.


    I was going to follow my doctor''s orders to take it easy for a few days, even with my instant heal.


    I looked over and Tachikoma was steadily working.


    The programming was clearing up. The program had learned what it was trying to learn, and so actual improvement was going pretty quick. I purposefully pulled up the data on my laptop and didn¡¯t link in to go ahead and do more pruning.


    Getting rid of incorrect data, or repeats, cleaning it up and making it streamlined. But it was getting to be time to add more into the program.


    So I walked over and picked up a chunk of steel, and placed it in front of the Tachikoma.


    A moment later the small addition to its programming I had added started up.


    It moved to the sphere and stopped¡­ Then it rammed it.


    But steel was heavy.


    Nope little guy. If you want to learn how to pick things up you need to do better than that.


    Setting the program to run I ended up just laying on my bed staring at the ceiling for a while.


    My neck¡­ Well it felt kinda stiff. Like I wanted to stretch it, but I couldn¡¯t.


    The negative side to chrome. But I relaxed. I would put in some adaptation and be good to go.


    And in exchange for this discomfort¡­ A Sandy.


    Which I couldn¡¯t use yet¡­


    ¡°Jun! I¡¯m going to sleep for a while!¡± I yelled out from my bed without getting up.


    ¡°Okay! Sleep well!¡± Jun called back. Cool.


    Another eight hours would make the time until Sandy usage go down a lot.


    So I closed my eyes and drifted off.


    I awoke instantly and blinked. The light in the room was off, not that there wasn¡¯t enough light from my printers and laptop. So I rose up and blinked.


    ¡°That¡­ Isn''t quite it little guy.¡± I muttered staring at the Tachikoma that had failed at lifting the block¡­ It was using its little grippers on the block and was just¡­ Sort of jerking itself forward and back. But the block wasn¡¯t going anywhere, because it was using the extension I had built into the grippers¡­ Kinda cute though. I stood up and moved to the computer. Oh yeah, that was a glitch alright.


    A few moments later I sent the update and the Tachikoma stopped and then with a bit of prodding on my behalf through code, it finally managed to lift the block. Then it started walking and dropped it.


    ¡°Ganbatte, Tachikoma-chan.¡± I whispered to my drone and looked at the screen. I really should sit down and put in some actual work on the Tachikoma interface¡­


    Just thinking about it instantly brought ideas to my mind thanks to inspired programmer¡­ And it was like 2 am so I might as well get something done.


    I shrugged and even if I couldn¡¯t program with my cyberdeck, I could still do it the old way.


    I started typing, getting lost in the synergy between the VI I was creating from the Tachikoma, and a program to manually control them.


    I would need to get the Minotaur interface tomorrow to look that one over as well. I could copy some of the program¡­


    Where was the Minotaur anyways? Last I saw it, Ichi had¡­ Ichi! That little sneak! I realized that Ichi had definitely stolen the Minotaur away from me! Well we would see about that.


    I knew where he lived!


    ¡ª--


    Ichinose


    Ichi woke up to his alarm blaring.


    Sighing into his pillow he blinked up his agent and then shut it down. He sighed into his pillow as he mustered up the energy to get up. Slowly he rose, eyes blinking, one of the benefits of optics, is that he didn¡¯t feel like he could barely see anything when he first woke up, everything was clear from the light coming in from his open window.


    Which was weird, Ichi never left his window open. Something he had learned as a kid. He narrowed his eyes at it, and reached over to flip the switch, closing it back down. Nodding at that, he rose unsteadily to his feet, and took a few moments to stretch and groan.


    He didn¡¯t want to get up this early, but Hiromi had dragged him into that SCSM job, and well¡­


    It wasn¡¯t about the pay so much, but it was a good experience. Ichi really liked driving through the city, seeing new places, and meeting people.


    Malcolm might talk up his massively overpriced supercar, but he was also the idiot that could barely ever drive his car anywhere.


    Ichi drove through the whole city whenever he wanted.


    As he slipped into the bathroom he made the call to his new ¡®partner.¡¯ even if the guy liked to try and get Ichi to call him boss.


    Max was the guy that ran the SCSM shop. He was alright, but since Hiromi was technically Ichi¡¯s boss, it gave him a lot of leeway.


    *Hey kid! You coming in today or not? You caused a real issue yesterday!*


    *Hey Max, yeah I¡¯m getting ready to come in. I¡¯ll have the Behemoth. Won¡¯t have full capacity though.*


    *Fuck. How much room do I got?*


    *About seventy percent, maybe eighty.*


    Ichi ignored the cursing coming over the line, quickly washing up his hair and then once he was soap free stepping out, and grabbing a towel, quickly drying off he checked his mirror, doing a bit of work on his hair to even it all.


    *Fine. But we¡¯ll have to haul ass to get a full route done in that case! I expect you in soon kid!*


    *It¡¯ll be about thirty minutes Max.¡± Ichi refuted the man''s demands casually, pretty used to him now. It was kinda cool to be a teenager able to tell grown men to fuck off. It wasn¡¯t like Max had any other trucks with the same amount of armor, or capacity. And Hiromi had made it clear to the man that Ichi was the one in charge of the truck, full stop.


    Not that Ichi went out of his way to piss him off. The extra storage area and secure holding for the truck was worth a lot on its own.


    He stepped out of the bathroom, glad he had his own private one since this was an older style home pushing the beads out of the way he made two steps and then stopped cold.


    ¡°M-Motoko?¡± He asked, because there sitting on his bed, with her feet up was Motoko. Along with his Yukimura in her lap, that she was fiddling with.


    ¡°Ichi.¡± She greeted back calmly and Ichi felt a bit of discomfort, because Motoko was acting weird.


    For one she was literally in his room.


    ¡°Motoko? What¡¯s going on?¡± He asked a little awkwardly, making sure his towel was properly tightened around his waist. Dangit Motoko he just got out of the shower! Had Grandma let her in!?


    She rose with a predator''s grace, something she had started to show more and more lately, and almost languidly stalked him across the room.


    Ichi felt his back hit the cold wall as she stalked him right into a dead end, and then she grabbed his hand and put his Yukimura into his palm.


    ¡°You should really have more weapons on hand Ichi, I was able to take your pistol while you slept and you didn¡¯t even notice.¡± She said almost jokingly and he relaxed a bit about to make a joke before asking her to get the hell out but suddenly her palms slammed into the wall beside his head.


    Oh.


    Oh no.


    ¡°Ichi?¡±


    ¡°Y-yeah?¡±


    ¡°Where¡¯s my Minotaur?¡± She said with sinister intent and all Ichi could do was swallow, the emotions running through him in that moment complicated and unknowable.


    ¡°I uh¡­ Can show you?¡±


    ¡°Perfect, get dressed.¡± She agreed back to happy Motoko as she walked out of his room.


    Ichi slumped nearly sliding down the wall.


    What the fuck?

 Chapter 160

    ¡°I guess it¡¯s okay.¡± I mumbled, Ichi had led me outside, into his little backyard. It had actually been a surprise that Ichi lived out in Arroyo, because I had always thought he had rented near the rest of us, but apparently this was his Grandmother''s home.


    It even had a little garage outback, with dirt cutting through the grass leading through a side gate.


    He quickly opened it up, and showed his van.


    His van that still had my Minotaur in it.


    ¡°Umm¡­ So do you need it for something?¡±


    ¡°Not the Minotaur itself. I¡¯m going to grab the control program, and see what it¡¯s made of.¡± I explained as I hefted myself up into the van, noticing the control crown and plopping it on my head.


    ¡°Oh, great. So is that new chrome?¡± He asked suddenly and I threw him a smile as I showed off my neck.


    ¡°Sure is! New Neural Link, and Sandy.¡±


    ¡°Whoa. Sandevistan? What¡¯d you get?¡±


    ¡°Just a Dynalar. I was going to wait on chipping one until I had the perfect one, but¡­ Jun reminded me I should be looking at the short term as much as the long term.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s preem Motoko. What¡¯s it like?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know!¡± I laughed at the reveal. ¡°I¡¯m not allowed to turn it on yet, docs orders. Install is still fresh.¡±


    ¡°Oh, tell me about it once you use it.¡±


    ¡°Why? Thinking about one yourself?¡±


    ¡°Speedware is useful for drivers.¡± He answered in turn before humming. ¡°Do you need me? I got work.¡±


    ¡°Just give me one minute, and I¡¯ll get out of here.¡± I looked at Ichi who looked relieved. ¡°The SCSM job?¡± I asked for clarification as I worked.


    ¡°Yeah, I kinda like it, I guess. It¡¯s simple enough, lets me drive around and I don¡¯t get shot at. At least not yet.¡±


    ¡°That sounds nice. Make sure you bring your gun though. You never know when you¡¯ll need to shoot back.¡±


    ¡°Obviously.¡± He agreed and seemed to relax. Ichi had been kinda high strung this morning. I wonder if he just didn¡¯t process well in the mornings? Needed a cup of coffee or something first?


    While I was talking to him, I was plugged into the control crown for the Minotaur, pulling the data, downloading all of it, into a set of shards I had plugged into my new chip slots.


    I was downloading into multiple shards at once a barrage of data flowing into me much faster than my old system could have done. The new neural link was definitely an upgrade even at a base level from what I used to own. It was very very cool.


    ¡°Okay all done. Before I leave, what security do you have for the garage?¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­ A lock?¡± He answered and I nodded, reaching into my back pouches and pulling out a TachiCama.


    ¡°Here, let¡¯s set it up somewhere it can see your garage, just remember to charge the battery once a week. Set a reminder or something okay?¡± I offered as I started examining the back porch on his home to find a place to hook it in.


    ¡°Uh. Sure. I can do that¡­ Thanks Motoko.¡±


    ¡°No problem.¡± I muttered as I found a good hidden place in the rafters where it could see the garage while being mostly hidden. Once its cute little feet were clamped on I turned to Ichi who was still sort of nervously moving from foot to foot.


    Okay fine.


    I reached out and flicked his forehead suddenly.


    ¡°Ow! Motoko!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s for totally stealing my cool Minotaur, that I totally wanted to use myself. Also-¡± I interrupted myself, walked over and slapped him on the back. ¡°Good job finding something you can do to be extra useful.¡± There. That should solve the problem with his nervousness. Seriously it was like he expected me to attack him for stealing my Minotaur or something.


    ¡°Alright I¡¯m out! Have fun at work!¡± I called out, waving an arm over my head as I headed out.


    ¡°Uhh.¡±


    ¡ª--


    I was back home looking over the program for juicy bits when I got a message from Hiromi. Checking it I nodded.


    Payday. Enough of the equipment from the gig had been sold off, Hiromi sent out the first quarter¡­ Wait no, there were six of us. The first sixth of the payday.


    It was pretty juicy and I nodded pleased before refocusing on my program. I was still using my chrome as little as possible so I was just looking over the programming as I displayed it on my laptop.


    But suddenly I had a call come in.


    *Ringing.*


    Rebecca? Preem! I quickly accepted before the second ring.


    *Hey choom.*


    *What the fuck?*


    *Uh¡­ I don¡¯t know?* I asked in turn and had a moment of quiet before Rebecca responded again.


    *I just got the pay from your choom for the gig. What the fuck?* She repeated almost breathlessly.


    *Oh! Now I get it! Relax,that¡¯s not the full payment! Hiromi hasn¡¯t sold off everything yet, but she sold enough of the loot to give us part of it.*


    *Yeah I know! I read her message, but what the fuck! That¡¯s more eddies than I¡¯ve ever earned before from a gig! By a lot! So what the fuck!?*


    *That¡¯s just a sixth of what we earned from selling the loot. Why? I don-*


    *A sixth¡­ This is a sixth!?*


    *Uh yeah? We split the eddies evenly between everyone I told you that remember?*


    *I thought you meant it was a split of the percentage!*


    The line went quiet for a while and I was almost wondering if she had hung up when a quiet voice that I was pretty sure I wasn¡¯t supposed to catch spoke.


    *These kids are fucking nuts.* Then she spoke up clearly again. *Okay seriously, is this like a first time bonus or something? How do you do anything?*


    *No? We always just split the eddies evenly. I thought it was a good idea. That way everyone knows the more we make the more they make. I mean the gigs we do, everyone has some danger, so it¡¯s hazard pay.*


    *Hazard pay¡­ That¡¯s hilarious choom.* She said and then actually broke into cackles. *Okay okay, seriously though. How do you pay for anything!? Ripper costs? Tech prep. Ammo?*


    Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    *Well Ammo we just buy for ourselves? Ripper costs haven¡¯t really come up, but we have a great ripper in Vik and he takes care of us¡­ Tech I just buy that myself. It¡¯s one of the things I take care of in the team.*


    *Bribes for information? I mean, I want to ask about a bunch of other stuff too, but hell you guys seriously just split the fucking loot¡­ That¡¯s fucking crazy.*


    *Um¡­ I usually do the information myself, so it¡¯s free other than time.*


    *Netrunner¡­ That¡¯s right. Fuck.. Wait. Sasha never does that for us! That bitch!* Rebecca cursed a bit and I actually laughed at her foul language. *Fuck you¡¯re weird. Fucking hell. Alright fine. When is the next gig? Eddies like this are pretty nova.*


    *No idea. One of the downsides to the way we operate, we have to hunt our targets ourselves. I mean, sure I could probably talk to Wakako¡­ Maybe Rogue too? I¡¯m not sure what the Rogue situation is yet, she said she might offer me gigs, but we haven¡¯t talked since¡­ Anyway! We find our targets and clear them out. So it can be a little bit. One of the reasons the pay is so good.*


    * No Fixer pay? Well fuck¡­ But a good fuck. Even if it¡¯s not all the time, a payday like that ain¡¯t something I regret. Damn choom. Just damn.*


    *We still need to get your armor sorted out as well.* I reminded her, and she went quiet again.


    *You really are a good kid huh? Heart of gold and all that.*


    *No I¡¯m not! I¡¯m a badass merc that kills people for money!*


    *And worries about her allies acting like a mother hen! It¡¯s cute as shit. You¡¯re a funny one Motoko¡­ Hey listen, change of topic a bit. You doing anything right now?*


    *No! What¡¯s up? Want to hang out choom?*


    *Something like that. I got a call from my brother. I¡¯ve been kept away from their safehouse until now, but things are cooling off, and my bro wants me to bring some shit. So you want to come see Sasha? I know you were worried about her.*


    *Yeah! Yeah I really do! Is that¡­ Is that okay? Will Maine even allow that?*


    *I¡¯ll message him, it¡¯ll be fine. I vouch for you. Not like you are going to tell Biotechnica where she¡¯s hiding out. Meet up at my place? A ride would save some time.*


    I paused for a second before cracking into a smile.


    *Is the main reason you are asking me to come with, because you don¡¯t want to haul whatever your brother asked you to bring on the N-Cart?*


    *I don¡¯t know what you are talking about.* She said airly.


    Yep, that was 100% it.


    I laughed at her making sure it went over the agent. *Sure choom, send me the address?*


    *Already done.*


    I nodded, it was indeed. And I rose up and stretched. Time to check on Sasha.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°Whoa choom. New chrome?¡±


    ¡°Yeah I picked up a Sandy, but I needed an upgrade to my Neural link.¡± I confirmed as Rebecca flopped into my passenger seat a large duffel bag full of stuff plopped onto her lap.


    ¡°Head towards Arroyo, I¡¯ll guide you there. They don¡¯t want any digital info on where it is.¡± She said suddenly and I nodded as I set off.  ¡°That¡¯s preem. You doing okay?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, Vik is amazing, and I¡¯m not allowed to use the Sandy or anything yet. It¡¯s still settling in.¡±


    ¡°Heh, you¡¯re so funny. You got this bad ass killer vibe one second, and the next you¡¯re all rule abiding the next. I can¡¯t quite pin you down.¡±


    ¡°A lot of rules are there to keep everyone safe.¡± I said pointedly looking at her complete lack of seatbelt.


    ¡°Pfft. Who needs a seatbelt? Those things just-Whoa!¡± I of course was speeding up unnoticed, and when she refused I just slammed the brakes.


    ¡°That¡¯s not funny.¡± She told me, looking up from the passenger footwell glaring up at me.


    I just smiled.


    ¡°I beg to differ.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not putting on the seatbelt.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not promising you won¡¯t go flying a few more times through the ride.¡± I retorted back instantly, and she glared, and to my pleasure regained her seat and put on her seatbelt.


    I didn¡¯t tease her any further as she was sending me glares, instead I threw on the radio and just settled in to drive all the way from Watson down to Arroyo.


    ¡°Get off at MLK¡­ We¡¯re going into Rancho Coronado.¡± She added as we hit Arroyo and I nodded. I knew the place. The pink flamingos were something that was hard for me to forget. Delemains offshoot that hated them as it drove around the suburbs had made me laugh while playing the game.


    Maybe I¡¯d run one over in memory of that fragment.


    I pulled off at MLK Blvd and down into the suburbs. Going around a bit, following Rebecca¡¯s ¡®directions¡¯ that got us lost twice, as we tried to figure out where the address was, before finally finding it.


    A house that looked like any of the houses in the area. There was a whole bunch of trash built up around the edges of the fence, hiding what was inside, and as we pulled in, I noticed that despite being a run down sort of place, it did have a few much newer looking security cameras hidden in places.


    ¡°This is it?¡± Rebecca whispered, looking a little confused, but I think I understood.


    ¡°This is the address right?¡± I said as I turned off the engine and stepped out, but before I got far A familiar face poked out through the front door and then relaxed, opening the door the rest of the way, showing Dorio was holding an Overture.


    ¡°There you are Becca, and I see you brought a choom.¡± Dorio greeted, as Rebecca walked up with her arms behind her head.


    ¡°Yep, I needed a ride, plus I figured Sasha wouldn¡¯t mind a distraction.¡± She offered and Dorio just sighed before letting us in. Shutting and then locking the door behind us.


    ¡°Hey, listen kid. This isn¡¯t some place we want shared around. So-¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a safehouse, where Sasha is lying low after the Biotechnica gig. Don¡¯t worry. I won¡¯t tell anyone.¡± I assured the larger woman who blinked at me in concern before looking to Rebecca.


    ¡°Don¡¯t look at me, I didn¡¯t tell her!¡± Rebecca denied, but I just ignored that because stepping up out of the basement was the girl in question.


    Sasha had looked better.


    Instantly I could tell what had happened. One of her arms, the left one from the middle of her bicep down was all chrome now. New chrome.


    New enough she hadn¡¯t even gotten Real Skinn, with red irritated skin surrounding where the chrome met flesh.


    ¡°Hey Sasha.¡± I greeted gently, and I watched as the woman actually jumped a little in surprise. She obviously hadn¡¯t noticed there were visitors.


    She looked at me with wide surprised eyes for a moment before noticing Rebecca, and then she blinked and she smirked.


    ¡°Hey Kitten. How¡¯s my little Kohai doing?¡± She called out, faking a much happier attitude than she had a moment before.


    ¡°Good.¡± I said instead of what I wanted to say which was ¡®Better than you.¡¯


    ¡°Becca.¡± Maine rumbled echoing through the house from the living room. Maine was sitting on a couch making it look more like a single person reclined. ¡°Why did you bring the kid?¡±


    ¡°What was I supposed to walk here?¡± Rebecca asked and then scoffed. ¡°Besides, Motoko is Sasha¡¯s choom. She was even worried sick when I told her that Sasha was hiding out.¡±


    ¡°This isn¡¯t a place where I rolled out the fucking welcome mat.¡± Maine rumbled and sensing some issue I decided to step in.


    ¡°Hey, I know me showing up wasn¡¯t on the books. Sorry about that. Honest, this is your safe house so the more people that know about it the less safe it actually is. I totally get the frustration. But I mean¡­ Isn¡¯t it less conspicuous if I drive Becca here, instead of making her walk?¡±


    Maine looked to me, and the man who was easily four of me in size didn¡¯t look like he agreed.


    ¡°Easy Mainey! We needed to bring in Rebecca to get some stuff, and Motoko only makes that easier yeah?¡± Sasha intervened, and the big man held his glare for a few moments before sighing.


    ¡°Just don¡¯t tell anyone.¡± He demanded finger pointing at me.


    ¡°I won¡¯t. Promise.¡± I added which didn¡¯t seem to add much to Maine''s confidence.


    ¡°There you are! Did you bring it?¡± Pilar demanded coming down from the upstairs practically leaping down the stairs as he charged at Rebecca.


    ¡°Ugh get off me you fucking gonk.¡± She snapped, but did reach over to the duffel bag and slide open the zipper, letting Pilar laugh insanely as he reached in and came out holding a toolkit.


    ¡°My babies!¡± He cried out and then disappeared back up the stairs, and Rebecca just rolled her eyes at his actions.


    I kept my mouth shut despite my desire to yell at Pilar for being so rude. If Jun treated me like that I would have kicked his ass.


    Pilar hadn¡¯t said anything to Rebecca after getting his tools.


    But I shook it off and instead looked to Sasha. ¡°How¡¯re you holding up?¡±


    ¡°What? I¡¯m fine!¡± She denied, but I mean that was obviously a lie. But then she perked up and sent me a smile. ¡°But I¡¯ve been super duper bored! So hey! Distraction!¡± She called out as she grabbed my arm and started tugging me along, her new arm was weaker than her old one only gently pulling as I let her lead me away.


    ¡°Ah, Sasha! Hey Rebecca-¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry choom. I knew Whiskers would do this. I¡¯ll catch up, wanna talk to Maine.¡± Rebecca responded, throwing the duffel bag onto the kitchen table clearing off tons of empty food boxes.


    ¡°Yeah! C¡¯mon!¡± Sasha demanded and I followed letting her pull me downstairs into a small barely there netrunner setup.


    ¡°You¡¯ve been out on the net?¡±


    ¡°Only a little!¡± She said and I frowned, because if I had Biotechnica after me, I wouldn¡¯t be going anywhere near the net.


    ¡°Oh don¡¯t worry.¡± She answered as if reading my mind. ¡°I¡¯ve already reached out to an old contact at Biotechnica. The company barely cares about what I did. They sent out a kill team, and if they find me, they¡¯ll kill me, but they aren¡¯t looking real hard. Give it a month, and that order will be removed from their system after a small ¡®update¡¯ goes through.¡± She said with a shrug, and I was reminded that despite Sasha¡¯s personality this was a woman that was an elite netrunner.


    ¡°Will they really just let it go?¡±


    ¡°They will.¡± She said her voice going from sugary sweet to dark and angry. ¡°They barely even noticed¡­ Biotechnica stock didn¡¯t even dip.¡± She said and I frowned at that. I did remember that the Securicine reveal hadn¡¯t done much damage to the company, but nothing?


    ¡°Nothing?¡±


    ¡°Barely anything. They made a public apology, and fired one of the managers in charge, for damage control but¡­ It¡¯s Biotechnica. They are untouchable as long as they¡¯re producing food, medicine, and Chooh2.¡± She said as she flopped into a chair in front of a laptop and taped fingers to an almost manic anxious beat.


    Food, Medicine, and Fuel. Biotechnica were the creators of Chooh2, as long as the world relied on it for fuel¡­


    Yeah I guess I can figure out what happened. Everyone in the know, just ignored the securicine update, no government wanted to make waves. It was like the middle east and oil. The money just kept flowing in, and no matter what nonsense they got up to, as long as it kept going, they were untouchable.


    ¡°That stinks.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s bullshit.¡± She agreed darkly and then she turned and her face turned into a smirk. ¡°So little Kohai! Want to keep your Senpai Sasha-chan company?¡±


    ¡°Um¡­ Sure?¡±

 Chapter 161

    ¡°Nova! Absolutely qualitatively nova! I¡¯ve been sooooo bored.¡± Sasha whined at me, with a laugh throwing her arm over my shoulders only to wince. It was her chrome arm she had used, and there were obviously some issues with it.


    ¡°Still getting used to it?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing. I¡¯m fine.¡± She said a little too fast as she slipped her arm away from my shoulder and instead pulled a shower curtain away from what I was definitely not expecting to see.


    ¡°An Ice Bath?¡±


    ¡°Yeah! I¡¯m gonna jump on the net obviously. Want to join me?¡± Sasha asked, her eyebrows moving in a waggling wave.


    ¡°I mean, I could go to my netrunner den I guess. I don¡¯t use a Ice bath. I have a chair.¡± I said as I walked over and crouched down by the bathtub. It was already full of half melted ice cubes, I could tell it would be absolutely freezing.


    I really didn¡¯t like the idea of using this method.


    ¡°You have a netrunning chair?¡± Sasha asked surprised and I nodded.


    ¡°Yeah I had a gig from Wakako to kill this guy. He was a runner, good too. Had a bunch of equipment, since I flatlined him, I took it for myself. Big server, Chair, everything I needed.¡±


    ¡°You have a server!? How big!¡± I shrugged and sent her the details on the server set up and I looked up to see her choking on nothing.


    ¡°N-Not fair! Sasha doesn¡¯t have a server! How does her Kohai have one!¡± She whined childishly which had me laugh at her.


    ¡°You really don¡¯t have a server? Why not?¡±


    ¡°Eh. I¡¯m not a data runner. The only data I grab is for a gig, or to immediately trade out.¡± She answered calmly, the childish act disappearing. Then as suddenly as her calm answer appeared it disappeared. ¡°Waaa! Maine! My Kohai is bullying me!¡± She whined loudly towards the stairs and then ran up the wooden steps.


    ¡°What?¡±


    Then I blinked realizing I could hear her faux crying up the stairs that she had taken two at a time. I hurried after her, mostly because I was so confused.


    Is this what it was like dealing with me, when I was being a little shit? No. Everyone liked when I was a shit.


    Except Jun of course, but he doesn¡¯t count.


    I made it up the stairs and blinked as Sasha was sitting on the couch besides Maine looking up at him with big crocodile tears in her eyes.


    ¡°-Need a server! I can¡¯t be bullied by my cute little Kohai! Just a little one is okay!¡± She begged and Maine took a sip from his beer.


    ¡°Maybe when you''re older.¡± Maine offered cooly. The look of outrage on Sasha¡¯s face at the absolute burn from Maine had Rebecca start cackling and Dorio¡¯s chest started heaving as well.


    ¡°Maine!¡± She eventually squawked out in outrage, slapping the larger man''s chromed out arm, but that did less than nothing.


    ¡°Don¡¯t get upset when someone teases you back.¡± He retorted and she huffed crossing her arms, but her chrome one didn¡¯t move as easily, and she sort of flubbed the whole thing. Looking down at her arm. A change went over her face.


    I don¡¯t think Sasha was handling her loss that well.


    ¡°Next time I have to flatline a netrunner, I¡¯ll keep an eye out for another server for you?¡± I offered and my words startled everyone in the room but Rebecca who just looked thoughtful and then nodded.


    ¡°I gotta admit, Kitten, klepping everything after wiping a place, even the stuff bolted down, certainly made for a nice payday.¡± Rebecca agreed and I nodded, throwing her a thumbs up.


    ¡°It¡¯s not klepping Becca! Once you kill them it¡¯s looting!¡±


    She looked at me, I looked at her, and we both broke into cackles of laughter.


    ¡°¡®M I missing something here?¡± Maine asked, and Becca nodded.


    ¡°Yeah. While you guys have been out of touch. Kitten here called me up and asked if I wanted to join in on a gig. Let me tell you Maine. The payday took a few days, but when it came in? Way more than I ever made working under you. Maybe I¡¯ll find myself a new crew.¡± Rebecca said but her tone showed she was teasing.


    Even so Maine and Dorio both looked shocked while Sasha was just curious.


    ¡°You took a gig?¡± Dorio managed to ask first and Rebecca nodded.


    ¡°Wiping Scavs. Honestly the way Kitten here ran the gig it was¡­ Pretty smooth. I still want a chance to play with that Minotaur.¡± She said, turning to me.


    All I could do was huff. ¡°So do I. Ichi basically stole it! I¡¯m the one that had to fight it while some Raffen gonk was using it while trying not to damage it cause¡­ I mean it¡¯s awesome.¡±


    ¡°Wait wait. A Militech Minotaur?¡± Maine asked, his sun glasses instantly sliding down his nose to lock eyes on first Rebecca and then me.


    ¡°Yeah. The gig that got me into the Afterlife? They shot down an Arasaka AV and captured a bunch of stuff, including an Arasaka brand Minotaur. It¡¯s mine now¡­ When my choom isn¡¯t stealing it out from under me.¡±


    ¡°It was nova to have on that gig though. When you jumped on the back of it for mobile cover? Fuck it was preem. Made me jealous that I didn''t think of it.¡± Rebecca offered and I smiled because it had been fuckin cool.


    ¡°You just¡­ Used a Minotaur against Scavs?¡± Maine asked, sounding a bit shell shocked.


    ¡°It was a big base. They were a major group. Selling XBD¡¯s of the people they murdered out on the market. Lots of eddies involved.¡± I answered. ¡°It was pretty effective in drawing attention, letting us wipe them out while they pissed themselves at the mech.¡±


    ¡°And Becca you went on this gig?¡±


    ¡°Yep! Actually was one of the four solo¡¯s. Right up front.. Well second line. The Kittens brother is the Oni. You know the Tyger Claw one with the rep.¡±


    ¡°Kamikaze or something right?¡± Dorio asked, looking worried. Between Rebecca and me. ¡°It was okay?¡±


    ¡°Jun isn¡¯t a cyberpsycho.¡± I butt in quickly. ¡°He had some problems, he uh¡­ Lost someone important to him and went a bit wild, but he¡¯s actually stabilizing really well.¡±


    Becca kinda snorted. ¡°He seemed fine outside of the fight, but when shit got wild so did he. I get why they call him the Oni now.¡±


    ¡°Yeah Jun is still a moron.¡± I agreed, and Becca just scoffed.


    ¡°He¡¯s an older brother, are they ever not morons?¡±


    ¡°Nope.¡± I said and we both looked at eachother with shared tooth filled grins.


    ¡°Right.¡± Maine muttered seemingly a little lost.


    ¡°Well it was nice to be treated as part of the team at least.¡± Rebecca suddenly added, rather directly, and Main stiffened.


    ¡°You are part of the team.¡±


    ¡°Maine¡­ You don¡¯t ever use me as a shooter. I can do it.¡± Rebecca added and Maine and her both stared at each other for a moment before Maine looked away.


    ¡°We¡¯ll talk about it for the next gig.¡± He offered, and Rebecca didn¡¯t look like she was going to accept before shrugging.


    ¡°I¡¯ll hold you to that.¡±


    ¡°Ah! My Kohai is so skilled! She¡¯s even got Rebecca on her side!¡± Sasha interrupted rising up and to my surprise pulled me into a tight hug. Squeezed tightly at least with one arm into her chest. ¡°I¡¯m soooo proud!¡±


    ¡°Wha!¡±


    This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.


    Then before I could even start struggling I was pushed away.


    ¡°We should go on a dive together! I want to see how good you are!¡± Sasha demanded and I blinked.


    She smiled.


    I shrugged. ¡°Okay? Sure, sounds fun.¡±


    ¡°Yay! You can use the extra Ice bath¡­ Unless you want to join me in mine.¡± Sasha teased me with a big smile, but I scoffed and chuckled before remembering and stilling.


    ¡°Ah I can¡¯t today. I just got this Neural Link chipped in, and my ripper has me on a few days of rest before I can do anything heavy with it. So¡­ Couple day rain check?¡± I offered and Sasha looked at me like I was crazy.


    ¡°You actually listen to that nonsense?¡± Maine asked suddenly, his rumbling voice cutting off whatever Sasha was about to say. ¡°If you¡¯re tough you can handle it. Never seen someone actually listen to that garbage.¡±


    I instantly frowned. Deeply.


    I turned from Sasha and marched right up to Maine. Maine that even if he was sitting on a couch was still nearly twice my height.


    ¡°Taking care of your health isn¡¯t weak! And ignoring doctors'' experience with medical matters doesn¡¯t make you tough, it makes you dumb! I chipped in a new Neural Link, and a Sandy and was told to give it a few days to make sure it settles into my nerve endings. Of course I¡¯m going to wait. Otherwise I could burn out or injure myself, making myself weaker over time!¡± I snapped at him practically poking him.


    Maine didn¡¯t appreciate that though, and reached out, pushing my finger off him, which I let him do without complaint.


    ¡°Careful kid, don¡¯t go poking me like that.¡± Maine rumbled out, but I had made my point and turned away from him.


    ¡°Hey Becca, I think I¡¯m gonna head out. Sasha. Call me in a few days and we can do that net dive okay?¡±


    ¡°Sure Kitten.¡± Sasha offered and Rebecca nodded, but didn¡¯t say anything, as my leaving was watched over by a silent grumpy Maine.


    I don¡¯t think I liked Maine very much,


    ¡ª--


    I got home and flopped onto the couch. Jun wasn¡¯t around so I had the place to myself. I didn¡¯t really feel like doing much just yet. My neck had a weird tenseness that made me feel like I wanted to crack it, but couldn¡¯t. The larger Neural link didn¡¯t diminish my range of movement, but it did make me feel all stiff.


    So I did what I always did when I felt a little annoyed.


    I grabbed my guitar. I had to go easy with my Neural Link so direct programming with my cyberdeck was out, but I could still work on a new song.


    I lay there on my back tapping on my guitar as I ran through all the songs I knew, which one did I want to play right now?


    Strumming a few notes here and there as I considered, before I could even figure it out, the door opened, and I sat up to see. Jun and¡­ Alice. Rockerboy girl herself.


    They walked in, although it was obvious to me that it hadn¡¯t been planned. Jun was looking a little awkward as Alice followed along behind him.


    ¡°Hey Jun. Alice.¡±


    ¡°Hey kid! You like music, tell your brother he should take my advice! I¡¯m inviting him to a recording session! He gets to hear professionals at work!¡± Alice called out to me, and Jun sent me a look.


    Ah, that¡¯s right.


    Jun¡¯s taste in music was trash. He probably hated Alice¡¯s sound.


    ¡°Jun! I¡¯m disappointed in you!¡± I called out, as I rose up, smirk already stretching across my face. ¡°You love music!¡±


    Jun¡¯s pleading look turned into a promise to murder me after this, but that was fine.


    ¡°See! You love music!¡± Alice agreed, uncaring about the truth. ¡°Come with! You¡¯ll get to meet some famous Rockerboys and enjoy some music! As my plus one of course.¡± She offered and Jun continued to prove he was the densest person in any room he entered.


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t want to intrude, if you are doing music stuff, I¡¯m not good with that sort of thing. But if you want someone that will be good with the music,  you should take Motoko! She¡¯s amazing with that stuff.¡± He offered, and I could literally see the look of frustration on her face as he continued to not notice she was into him.


    ¡°Oh no I couldn¡¯t Jun. Alice is your choom.¡± I replied doing at least a little to keep Alice from just dying on the spot at my brother''s inability to notice interest in him.


    ¡°I see.¡± He said and Alice¡¯s face brightened up in delight as he seemed like he was finally understanding.


    He didn¡¯t of course. I would have told her that, but Jun did it himself before I got a chance.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we all go then? Motoko likes music, it¡¯ll be a good chance for her to meet some other musicians. Maybe get someone to ¡®jam out¡¯ with you?¡± He said, looking at me.


    Jun. Brother of mine with the mental density of a black hole. I don¡¯t want to ¡®Jam out¡¯ with people, and the way you said it was super cringe.


    Alice had a similar look on her face, the full body cringe was there.


    But Jun¡¯s charisma was stronk. Before the disgust could kill her ardor he turned to Alice, and smiled.


    Damn Jun. Throwing deadly smiles like that around, you were going to melt hearts¡­ Along with something else.


    Not that Jun was attractive or anything. He was ugly, and fat, and he ate XXL Burritos.


    ¡°How about it? Wouldn¡¯t that be more fun?¡± He asked, smiling at Alice and she broke.


    ¡°S-sure? Sounds fine I mean. Yeah. I can uh¡­ Get her a pass in too?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t even say I wanted to go?¡± I offered but Jun just threw another look at me.


    ¡°You¡¯ve been practicing your music stuff so much, but you never do anything with it! This is a chance to meet other musicians, and maybe you¡¯ll like the idea of joining a band.¡± Jun offered and I realized what was going through his mind.


    ¡°Jun, you gonk, even if I join a band, which I¡¯m totally not. I¡¯d still do merc work.¡±


    ¡°Maybe.¡± he said with a shrug.


    I rolled my eyes and rose up. ¡°Alright, fine. I¡¯ll go.¡± Only because I knew if I refused he wouldn¡¯t want to go, and I felt some distance sympathy for Alice right now.


    Which is how I ended up sitting in the back seat of Alice¡¯s run down Mahir Supron. Practically riding on top of her band equipment.


    ¡°This is an interesting ride.¡± I commented as we went over a bump, my head nearly slamming into the roof.


    ¡°It¡¯s cheap, and I spend most of my money on music stuff.¡± She answered back a little hotly. ¡°It runs on hopes and dreams, and carries my shit.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± Jun tempered her. ¡°It wasn¡¯t until recently that either of us had a car. We just used our bikes for the longest time.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll have to give me a ride sometime.¡± She shot back flirtatiously. ¡°Uncle always threw a fit when I said I might get one.¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­ Sure? They aren¡¯t the best bikes to start on, but I can-¡±


    I rolled my eyes as I zoned out Jun¡¯s misunderstanding. He thought she wanted a lesson on driving a Kusanagi, instead of just wanting to ride one¡­


    Heh. A very specific Kusanagi in fact.


    ¡ª--


    Alice drove us down into City Center, and then into a small strip mall, but instead of going into a shop she walked down an alley and towards a side door, up a small set of concrete steps.


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell people about this place.¡± Alice suddenly said. ¡°A lot of big names come here, so they don¡¯t want fans and stuff to know about it.¡± Then she opened the door and I relaxed.


    It really was a music studio. We just used a back door for some reason. White hallways dotted with doors. Small pieces of the door were glass letting me see inside to small studio rooms full of sound equipment. I could just make out the small performance rooms as well. No sound escaped them though as everything seemed to be soundproofed.


    We walked pretty deep into the building, passing by door after door, that inside I could just see through the small window on each door were often occupied.


    I guess music was big business in Night City.


    No one I recognized was inside though, but then I could only really see the editing room and not the performance box.


    Then Alice waved at a man that I did sorta recognize. I¡¯m pretty sure he was one of Alice¡¯s bandmates? I vaguely remembered him from the gig I watched.


    ¡°Hey, sorry I¡¯m late.¡± She called and the man looked over at Jun and I with a quirked eyebrow.


    ¡°Don¡¯t even. This is Jun, The Oni.¡± She said proudly at Jun¡¯s nickname, which even Jun looked a little embarrassed at being called out like that.


    ¡°Riiiight.¡± The guy shot back. ¡°Who''s the kid?¡±


    ¡°The kid is¡­ Actually pretty good. Jun¡¯s sister.¡± And I realized that Alice probably forgot my name.


    ¡°I¡¯m Motoko. Don¡¯t mind me. I¡¯m mostly here because my brother thinks I need to get into music to escape my life of crime.¡±


    The man blinked and then laughed a bit at my joke.


    ¡°Funny. Too many late night joy rides in klepped cars?¡±


    ¡°Nah. I have my own car. Mostly it¡¯s the shootouts.¡± I answered truthfully and then looked at the door. ¡°So what¡¯s going on exactly?¡± The guy looked a little off but shrugged it away after a moment.


    ¡°A friend of ours got a big gig, making a song for a Ni-Cola advert. He wanted us as his band. So we get to set up here.¡± He explained with a curious look to Alice. ¡°You brought them without explaining?¡±


    ¡°It sorta went that way.¡± She shrugged completely unashamed at the situation. She wanted to hang out with Jun after all. The way she entwined her arm with Jun¡¯s said a lot.


    So did Jun¡¯s very confused look towards his arm wondering what was going on.


    ¡°Well alright. C¡¯mon, Tessa is already in the booth.¡± He offered and opened the door. Inside was a small studio, a few chairs and a ton of equipment. And beyond that the small room that was soundproofed where a man was seemingly already working.


    I didn¡¯t recognize him. Or anyone else in the room.


    But that was fine. It was kinda just interesting to see a real studio like this.


    ¡°Ah, there you are!¡± A heavyset man in an ill fitting suit and enough gold chains on his neck to hang himself with pointed a set of pudgy fingers at Alice. ¡°Kept us waiting.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m on time. You just wanted me here early. Violent Hemorrhage is here to perform.¡±


    ¡°Well get to it. No, hold on. This is a good line.¡± He ordered and turned back to the equipment. A headset half off put back on, as he hit a few buttons.


    There was a man, the sort of guy that looked like a titular Rockerboy fancy clothes, and styled hair, and probably a grand or more on accessories, and even more on fancy chrome. His styled hair buzzed with electricity as he sang.


    But I couldn¡¯t hear him so I just shrugged. Alice pulled Jun inside, and we were put into a corner, as Alice was prepping to enter the booth, but at least she gave us a pair of headsets so we could listen.


    I put it on, and instantly frowned. Electro-hair was doing the same shit that Alice did. It was all the chrome''s work. His voice was shit.


    Sure, it sounded okay, but if you knew what you were listening for you could hear him missing notes or just slurring the song a bit too much.


    Bad auto-tune. That¡¯s what it reminded me of. The fatty producer didn¡¯t seem to mind, and I could tell Jun didn¡¯t seem to notice bobbing his head a bit to the song. Then they cut, and Alice and her bandmate entered, quickly grabbing some instruments already set up, and this time they played together with the singer. Checking harmony and timing from what I was hearing the producer guy, and another guy on the equipment mutter to each other.


    Honestly it was kinda interesting I guess. Similar to what I do, but I don¡¯t need some weird guy to do it for me.


    I sighed. That was just because of the system. So I shouldn¡¯t bad mouth people just trying to do their thing. I shook off the sense of arrogance and instead listened. What would I do to improve the song?


    I¡¯m actually not sure. Rockerboy gives me a lot of information to work with, but I¡¯ve never tried to edit a song that had bad singing before.


    So instead I focused on what the producer? I¡¯m not sure what his actual job was, but I watched him work.


    It was interesting, and made me want to play with it too. But I kept out. No way he would want some teenager messing with his equipment while he was putting together a song.


    I wouldn¡¯t want someone interfering in my work. So I stayed back, Jun and I listened for a good thirty minutes as they ran through the song multiple times before they took a break.

 Chapter 162

    When they finally took a break, Alice came out of the sound stage and nearly bounced her way over to Jun.


    She was sweating a bit, but looked amped up, energized and excited.


    Oh my. Jun brother of mine, you might finally understand that Alice is interested in you tonight if you aren¡¯t careful.


    ¡°How does it sound Simon?¡±


    ¡°Sounds smooth Carmen my boy. I¡¯ll send this copy down Ni-Cola and see what they think ya?¡± The producer offered up pulling out a shard and throwing a heavy arm over the Rockerboy who looked excited.


    ¡°Great! Let me know what they say, we can definitely make some changes, and-¡±


    ¡°Hey hey no worries kid. You let me handle that.¡± He waved off and then the two left along with most of Alice¡¯s band.


    ¡°Hey Jun! What do you think huh? I mean it was kinda cheesy stuff, but our music might be all over the city next week.¡± Alice offered with a chirp in her voice.


    ¡°It was nova. I liked it.¡± Jun agreed, and Alice beamed, even if she didn¡¯t realize that Jun¡¯s bad taste in music meant he wasn¡¯t saying she did good, but that he did actually like the commercial music.


    I cringed down to my toes at the idea. But Jun¡¯s taste in music was well known to me.


    ¡°Thanks, hey, listen, everyone is going to be going back and forth over and over. There¡¯s a bar upstairs we can use. So why don¡¯t we go relax for a little.¡± She gestured for us to follow and we headed out, back down the white hall.


    Alice had Jun¡¯s arm in her grip as she tugged him along.


    For once Jun just seemed happy to go along with it, obviously picking up how happy she was at that moment.


    We went up an elevator and came out in a large bar. The cozy atmosphere was actually pretty nice. Much more classy than some of the places I had been dragged into.


    High end too. With the entire wall having open windows, and a stage up in a corner, although it was empty for now.


    But the bar wasn¡¯t. Lots of Rockerboys hung around, some drinking, some chatting, some drugging. I ignored them all, instead splitting off from Jun and hitting the bar, sliding into a stool.


    ¡°Something for you?¡±


    ¡°Just a soda is fine.¡± I answered and I got a funny look from the bartender, a very pretty woman that was a bit obsessed with silver chrome, but I got my drink and that was good enough for me.


    I noticed Alice looking at me from a booth with Jun and the rest of her crew and threw her a wink.


    There. That¡¯s all I will do to help you with Jun. Don¡¯t say I never did anything for you.


    She nodded in turn and then focused on Jun smiling.


    ¡°Not a regular are you?¡± The Bartender asked, and I noticed I was the only one still at the bar itself.


    ¡°Nope. Following my gonk of a brother and the Rockerboy girl that¡¯s into him, not that he noticed. Bit dense. Place is kinda cool though. Wouldn¡¯t mind using a sound stage like that sometime.¡±


    ¡°Hey. Well the prices are crazy, but you get some perks. There¡¯s an instrument room downstairs you can use.¡±


    ¡°Instrument room?¡± I asked suddenly, because that sounded more fun than just sitting at a bar.


    ¡°Yeah, they got everything. Rental comes with the membership.¡±


    ¡°Hmm.¡± I mumbled. I wasn¡¯t about to pay a membership, but if this place ran that sort of stuff off a computer¡­


    I got up. ¡°Thanks.¡± I threw her a few dozen eddies and wandered back downstairs. I should be able to track down the instrument room without too much issue.


    ¡ª--


    I walked into the instrument room. The computer beeped confirming my access. I smirked at the noise.


    Finding the control room, and breaching in from inside was easy peasy. The place did have some pretty solid ICE, if I was attacking from outside the building I might have been troubled by it.


    I felt the back of my neck. No overheating issues, or problems from my Neural Link.


    I rolled my neck as best as I could and while it still wasn¡¯t comfortable, the actual performance had been fine.


    The instrument room lights turned on, and I whistled.


    That was a lot of gear. Guitars, drum sets. Common Rockerboy things were there, but that wasn¡¯t all.


    Piano¡¯s, a full brass section, and some other string instruments, were all stored in the room.


    I understood why they had such high security for this room. It would be an expensive heist. Luckily I didn¡¯t steal things. Only looted. So it was all safe from me.


    Instead I was just perusing. Mostly just wasting time as Jun was flirted at. I popped open a case that had a trumpet, and just snorted. It wasn¡¯t a normal trumpet, but an electro trumpet.


    Something that seemed utterly silly to me, but I did have the instincts on how it worked as I thought about it.


    I put it away. I didn¡¯t need a trumpet that would do all the work for me. Instead I opened another case, older, much older.


    It was worn, and probably needed a good polish, but it was a trumpet all right.


    I moved on, checking out different instruments. Trombone, Saxophone, the list went on.


    Not that I was all that interested. I didn¡¯t have a lot of songs that I had any interest in that used a brass section.


    I started humming, an ear worm in my mind as I checked on the Piano, tinkering on the keys and shaking my head. Just an electric Piano pretending to be an antique.


    The ear worm was digging at me. Something my brain was trying to remember, but not getting there. Right on the tip of my tongue.


    The door opened, and a man I didn¡¯t recognize entered carrying a guitar. He didn¡¯t notice me, and I took two steps to the side sliding in amongst the racks, and now he never would.


    ¡°Get everyone together, and the stuff! Don¡¯t leave anything behind this time asshole!¡± He yelled out as he popped the guitar into the case and then headed out.


    The brainwave connected.


    ¡°Get everybody and the stuff together¡­ Okay, Three, two, one, Let¡¯s jam.¡± I repeated softly the only lyrics from a song I remembered vividly. One that every ounce of my being wanted to recreate.


    I loved that song.


    Instantly I went to work. I would need a space, and luckily I was in the perfect place to get this done. I walked out of the room, and headed back into the empty control room that quickly opened at my approach. There I simply accessed the system, and checked which of the sound stages would be open.


    A small adjustment and the one empty room was now reserved.


    Okay, let¡¯s blow this scene. I practically giggled as I hurried back to the instrument room and started gathering what I would need.  Trumpet, Trombone, Sax, Drums. That took a few trips back and forth. Chello, I had to grab an electric one, but it would do.


    This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    Back and forth I hauled everything inside the soundproofed room, and then since I would be doing this solo, I walked over to the equipment in the production room and slipped my personal link in.


    Ah good. I wasn¡¯t the only Rockerboy that wanted to handle the editing in real time, or by themselves.


    I unplugged and headed inside, plugging into the internal connection and then started setting everything up. I hummed the song as I prepped, going through every line, every note.


    I started on the chello. No bow, just plucking the strings, I activated the recording, and played the notes perfectly to what I knew they needed to be. I had heard this song before after all.


    I knew it. As intimately as I did the palm of my hand, chrome or not.


    Drums were next, then trumpet, to really get going. All the while I was using my personal link to manage the song recording in real time. Recording, pausing, cutting all as I played through the song. Copying it all to a single track when I was sure it was right. Some tracks needed multiple copies, trumpets, and the like. It wouldn¡¯t sound right without multiple players, so I played just that slightly differently on another track, merging them together into a big band jazz sound.


    Over and over I played the song. Getting every track with real instruments, and just blasting out the noise of Yoko Kanno and the Seatbelts, remade.


    I was doing another play through on the Sax when I caught it out of the corner of my eye.


    I stopped.


    Someone was in the control room.


    I looked on, and they looked at me.


    That¡­ Holy shit.


    I recognized her.


    She looked none too pleased either, and seeing me stop she walked over and opened the door.


    ¡°Lot of chrome tits to walk into my Studio klep my personal recording booth, and grab about half my equipment.¡± The woman offered arms crossed.


    ¡°You¡¯re Denny. From Samurai.¡± I said, because that was honestly all I could say.


    She quirked up an eyebrow at me, under her massive afro and then just rolled her eyes.


    ¡°Yes. How the hell some teenager recognizes me from Samurai, and not any of my other bands. Sure whatever. Now focus gonk, cause I¡¯m deciding whether to kick your ass out with a boot between the ass cheeks, or call security and let them escort you out the hard way.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s not get your security killed for something this stupid. Sorry, I was just bored, and I did a bit of hacking, noticed this booth wasn¡¯t reserved, so I figured no one would mind. Honest, didn¡¯t mean to cause any trouble. Figured I would put everything back after and no one would even know.¡±


    Denny¡¯s eyes scanned me down. Literally, they glowed as she obviously checked me out, and I could see her notice my weapons, armored clothing.


    ¡°You¡¯re either a psycho little shit, or you aren¡¯t a little shit at all.¡±


    ¡°Motoko Kusanagi,  Mercenary¡­ Ah, well I guess technically I¡¯m an Afterlife merc.¡± That didn¡¯t get a visual reaction, but Denny was thinking, and thinking hard.


    ¡°Was listening to you play. Weird shit. Then I saw you putting the track together. Finish it. I want to hear. If it¡¯s shit, I¡¯m not taking calling security on your gonk ass off the table.¡± She demanded and then to my surprise she walked out of the room, and then I watched as she put on the headset and started messing with some settings. I was still plugged in so I saw what she was doing. A few adjustments, that¡­ Yeah that probably would sound better, on the track.


    I nodded and then restarted the Sax track. Adding it into the piece.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°Okay, three, two, one, let¡¯s jam.¡± I spoke into the mic, making my voice as husky as I could, I checked the vocals and nodded. Sounded good. Different from the original but good.


    I was finished. I took a moment to play the completed song, letting the sound of Tank flow through my agent into my ears.


    It sounded good, not perfect. It lost something with only one instrument for the brass section, even repeated over and over, but it was tank. Unmistakably so.


    *100 Rockerboy XP Gained.*


    *Rockerboy skill level up!*


    Slowly I let out a breath as I checked my system. I did it! Another level! Level 9. There wasn¡¯t much left of Rockerboy for me to learn. I let the information flow into me. More and more on how to play to bring the best sound out. How to maximize my charisma on the stage. I shook it off.


    I looked up. Denny had been listening to it as well. She had done some work on the song as I worked, adjusting a few things to make the different repeats of the brace sound slightly different, understanding what I had intended.


    I slipped my personal link from the connection port in the room and then walked out. Denny was still listening, a head set slid into her afro. Then finally the song ended and she took it off her head.


    ¡°You got some real soul kid.¡± She offered and I just shrugged. Hard to explain that jazz wasn¡¯t my usual preference, but everyone loved Tank.


    ¡°Sorry again, about the whole taking your space thing.¡±


    ¡°Clean it up.¡± She demanded suddenly. ¡°Put everything away, clean it up, and maybe I¡¯ll forgive you.¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡± I answered back without really minding. I had pulled the instruments, of course I should put them back.


    ¡°Afterlife merc huh? You play with Violent Hemorrhage?¡±


    ¡°Oh, no. Alice, the lead singer, is our neighbor. She likes my brother. Jun wants to get me out of merc work, so he tries to drag me into Rockerboy stuff. It¡¯s my hobby. Playing music.¡± I shrugged.


    ¡°Right.¡± She offered, obviously not that interested in my life. ¡°Well damn. I was expecting this to be another shitty teenager thing but this isn¡¯t bad. It sounds old. Sort of jazz I¡¯d have heard a century ago.¡±


    ¡°Yeah well¡­ I just had it stuck in my head.¡±


    ¡°Had to get it out?¡± She asked back and I nodded.


    ¡°More like I had a chance to get it out, I only have a guitar and some equipment, hard to do brass with that.¡±


    ¡°Yeah electronic brass never sounds right. Especially for Jazz.¡± She agreed, but her foot was tapping and she was looking distracted. ¡°Alright. Clean up, and don¡¯t let me catch you in here again. You want to use the equipment? Then sign up.¡±


    ¡°Right. Sure.¡± I answered but it looked like she wasn¡¯t completely ready for the conversation to end. Her finger tapped on the equipment as she watched me.


    ¡°What¡¯s that song called?¡±


    ¡°Tank.¡± I answered back instantly without really thinking.


    Then I hurried to clean everything up. Hurrying back in and packing up a few instruments, and walking out, past Denny who was fiddling with the equipment, ignoring me as I entered the white hallway, which wasn¡¯t empty.


    ¡°Hey Jun.¡± I said as I walked behind him to the instrument room.


    ¡°Motoko! There you are! Where¡¯ve you been?¡±


    ¡°Mostly getting in trouble!¡± I called back and entered the equipment room and settled the cases into place before hurrying back.


    ¡°Motoko, what did you do?¡±


    ¡°Broke into a room that belonged to the owner. She wasn¡¯t happy, but she let me finish the song I was making.¡± I said as I hurried past, but he followed, and so Alice did as well.


    I entered, and Denny was now inside the booth, tapping away at the drums.


    Weird. I looked at the track and realized she was playing to Tank!


    I jerked and hurried inside, not really caring about the sound proofing.


    Inside Denny was in the groove. Slamming the drum beats, while my rendition of Tank played through the speakers above.


    ¡°What is that?¡± Alice asked, having come up behind Jun to see what was going on, but I just ignored her.


    Denny was jamming out¡­


    Fuck it.


    I walked over to the Sax that was still out, and threw it on, and plugged into the system. Pausing the sax track so that when it came up.


    I just played it myself.


    Denny wasn¡¯t playing the exact track instead jamming out, and I did the same. Entwining the sounds with her drums. We jammed out, ignoring anything else for a few minutes until the song ended.


    ¡°Not bad kid.¡± Denny agreed and then looked over Jun and Alice with a frown.


    Jun only had eyes for me, smiling proudly, but Alice was looking at Denny in awe.


    ¡°Denny.¡± She uttered in shock at seeing the woman step away from her drum set.


    ¡°Random gonks that all wandered into my private space. Jeeze what kind of night is this where every street kid has the chromed out balls to just move about as they please?¡± The woman scoffed out looking at me. ¡°How much?¡±


    ¡°Hmm?¡± I asked as I was breaking down the sax, pulling out the mouthpiece, and the reed.


    ¡°For the song kid. How much?¡±


    I stilled because that was a random and very uncomfortable question.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Wait, that song? Is that something you wrote Motoko?¡± Jun interrupted, definitely not knowing who he was in the same room as. Jun didn¡¯t like Samurai to start with.


    ¡°Yeah, I uh. Snuck in here and started it, but this is Denny¡¯s private booth. Which makes sense in hindsight, being the only room without a reservation¡­¡± Really smart there Motoko.


    ¡°Yeah yeah, explain after. How much for the rights to the song. I like it. Not really modern, but because it isn¡¯t I think that¡¯s why I want it.¡±


    I opened my mouth to give some blaze answer. How was I supposed to know how much a song could be worth? But then in my head, an image of Hiromi popped up. Black chrome gleaming as she frowned at me.


    ¡°Don¡¯t make any decisions about money Motoko! You are terrible with money! Let me do it instead!¡±


    Right. Mind Hiromi was probably right¡­


    ¡°I¡¯ll have to ask my manager?¡± I questioned, not at all convincingly.


    ¡°You have a manager?¡± Denny asked, emphasizing her disbelief.


    ¡°I have a manager¡­ Probably.¡± I answered back, only muttering the last part.


    She snorted and flicked me a number. ¡°Have your manager call my firm. Mention the song name, and they won¡¯t just hang up on you. Now really¡­ Clean up and get out of my booth!¡± Denny demanded and everyone except Jun jumped. He just looked like Christmas came early.


    ¡°Right, let¡¯s go¡­ Don¡¯t want to ruin your vibe or anything.¡± Alice spoke, trying to sound casual, but it was obvious she was a bit star struck. ¡°Come on Jun, we don¡¯t want to bother Denny!¡± She demanded but could barely tear her eyes away from the woman to grab Jun¡¯s arm to pull at him.


    Jun didn¡¯t budge an inch instead looking at me.


    We did the sibling communication thing, I just threw him a small smile.


    ¡°I¡¯ll finish cleaning up.¡± I offered and Denny nodded as if that was obvious.


    Jun nodded and let Alice pull him out, and I got to work, packing up the instruments and moving them back. Denny didn¡¯t stick around, instead leaving back out the door.


    Ten minutes later everything was put away, I wandered over to find Jun. The moment I opened the recording room Alice was on me.


    ¡°What the hell was that? You know Denny?¡±


    ¡°We just met tonight.¡± I answered, and frowned as she was tugging on my jacket.


    ¡°What the fuck! Denny talked to you! Wanted to buy your song? What song!?¡±


    ¡°Tank.¡±


    ¡°What the fuck.¡± She exhaled and shook herself. ¡°I want to hear that song again. Pop it in.¡± She demanded pointing at the recording booth.


    I didn¡¯t move.


    I kinda, sorta, maybe a little liked Alice. She was doing the musician thing, and while she was bitchy she had the charisma it came off more amusing than anything.


    But I didn¡¯t just play music on command, and certainly not when ordered.


    ¡°Motoko?¡± Jun interrupted as the moment between Alice and I stretched and she realized I wasn¡¯t going to do what she wanted.


    ¡°Jun?¡±


    ¡°Can we hear your new song? I only heard a bit there.¡±


    I scoffed at Jun¡¯s obvious attempt to settle things, but I also couldn¡¯t just deny Jun like that.


    I pulled a shard out of my neck and stuck it into the recording booth system, and set it to play. The speakers in the booth came alive. Instantly with the sound of horns, and then a thrumming chello.


    Alice jerked at the instant noise and then settled in to listen. Looking to me at the vocals, but then just listening foot tapping at the beat.


    ¡°That¡¯s certainly different.¡± She said finally as the song ended, but Jun just threw an arm over my shoulder in a side hug.


    ¡°Awesome job Motoko.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing.¡± I mumbled, a little embarrassed that everyone had heard it. I hadn¡¯t wanted anyone to hear it! I shook it off. ¡°I¡¯m going to head home Jun.¡±


    ¡°Hmm. I guess it is getting late. Let¡¯s go home.¡± He agreed, and I could see Alice twitch at his words, but he then did something that surprised me. He turned to Alice and threw her a smile. ¡°Thanks Alice, this was interesting.¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­ Yeah sure! Anytime!¡± She agreed, and Jun and I headed out.


    What a weird night.

 Chapter 163

    I woke up and slowly stretched out. I had decided to sleep after we got home last night, and now I was ready to start the day.


    More importantly, I was ready to test out my new chrome!


    Viks time limit was over.


    I stood up and felt for the mental toggle for the Sandy.


    I flipped it on, and winced as I felt my body react.


    Nerves lit up on fire, adrenaline spiked. Biological, and mechanical responses activated and suddenly everything was slow.


    I moved, running towards my bedroom wall, but it felt like I was moving through molasses.


    Yet, I was still moving fast. Even faster than I could have before my movement felt slow, and I knew that this Sandy wasn¡¯t as good at letting me cut through the sense of slowed down time.


    I nearly reached the wall and made to stop, only for my feet to slide a bit on the floor.


    I blinked stars out of my eyes.


    ¡°What the hell was that!?¡± Jun demanded as he burst into my room.


    Had I? I blinked again. Yep. I had slammed into the wall so hard I knocked myself silly.


    ¡°I¡¯m okay!¡± I called out arm up in the air from where I was laying on my back.


    ¡°You don¡¯t look okay. Your nose is bleeding. Motoko, what the hell?¡±


    ¡°I uh, miscalculated my Sandy.¡± I mentioned, and instantly Jun¡¯s worry vanished.


    ¡°Gonk! Don¡¯t practice new chrome in the house! Look at the wall!¡±


    I didn¡¯t want to look at the wall, thank you Jun. If I can¡¯t see the hole in the wall where my head smashed into it, it doesn¡¯t exist!


    Jun looked down on me for a moment longer before sighing, and disappearing. I slowly rose up, and noticed my nose was bleeding. Groaning in annoyance, I was gonna go find something to clean it up but Jun walked in with a towel and a moment later he was gently holding my head and pressing the towel against my nose.


    ¡°Ow.¡±


    ¡°I know it hurts, you might have broken your nose.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so.¡± I muttered, it didn¡¯t hurt like I broke it.


    ¡°Well that¡¯s good.¡± He said and then glared at me. ¡°This was dumb.¡±


    ¡°Sorry.¡±


    He nodded at my apology, and that was that.


    ¡ª--


    I huffed a Maxdox after Jun stopped fussing and I was fully healed. But I had learned my lesson.


    Sandy are difficult to use.


    I considered dropping my one stat point into it, but my neck was also still super stiff, and I was tempted to drop a point into that for comfort.


    So instead I didn¡¯t do either. I got dressed for the day and left the apartment before Jun could notice my sudden healing.


    I walked the streets for a bit. Heading down towards Jig Jig street. While I walked. I did some testing.


    I activated the Sandy and just tried walking. I could feel the hitch in my step as everything grew slow and my steps had to be forced to keep pumping through the thick air.


    I turned it off, and the feeling left my heart beating and a warmth in my neck.


    I walked on. Just cataloging the feelings the Sandy left in its wake. I shivered a bit as the heat from its activation didn¡¯t really go away. A hand pressed onto the chrome on the back of my neck, right where the chip for the Sandy was, gave me a rather uncomfortable feeling in my stomach.


    There was no heat in the chrome left. The heat I was feeling was my nerves. Probably inflamed from the forced acceleration the Sandy caused. Needing to find out how long the effect lasted, I finished my walk to the Sakura Market, and ordered breakfast slurping down some nice Ramen.


    Unfortunately I didn¡¯t really feel any better after my meal. My neck still felt hot and it was making me a little nervous. Yet before I went running to Viks to get checked out, I decided to pop another MaxDoc.


    Instantly a sense of coolness ran down my spine and I stretched and adjusted myself. Throwing the used inhaler into a nearby trash can, I headed back home and once more cataloged the feeling.


    I felt okay. No further heat or pain. But that didn¡¯t mean I wasn¡¯t going to look into this issue.


    *Motoko: Hey Vik, not an emergency, but I activated my Sandy for the first time. Want to come in for a checkup.*


    *Viktor Vector: If something is wrong come in kid, I¡¯m at my office now. It¡¯s a slow morning.*


    *Motoko: Yeah, okay. I¡¯m on my way over. I¡¯m okay though, I just want a check up.*


    And with that I had the first stop today.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°And you said a Maxdoc removed the feeling?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. I thought the Sandy was just overheating at first, but after a few minutes the feeling didn¡¯t go away and the Sandy cooled off.¡±


    ¡°Not unusual. Probably just put a lot of unusual stress on your nervous system.¡± He mumbled out as he set me up for a scan. A few minutes of him just mumbling to himself he came back to himself. ¡°Everything looks good.¡± He determined looking to me.


    ¡°That¡¯s a relief.¡± I exhaled shoulders slumping.


    ¡°Well it looks fine now, so your healing obviously helped, but I would like to get a scan of you while you activate that Sandy of yours.¡± He said, and I threw him a thumbs up.


    ¡°Sure, just tell me when.¡±


    ¡°Go for it.¡± He answered instantly, turning to look at a screen, and I activated the Sandy.


    Instantly everything slowed down. I blinked my eyelids felt heavy and slow at the motion.


    I could basically ¡®feel¡¯ the cooldown on the Sandy tick down. A sense of energy or time limit built into the chrome that fed information to me through the Neural Link.


    Then it deactivated and I gasped as I realized my heart was beating fast from the adrenaline surge,


    ¡°Alright, do you feel the heat again?¡± Vik asked, and I focused on my neck and nodded.


    ¡°A little? Maybe? I think I didn¡¯t really notice it until I used it twice.¡±


    Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.


    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s do that then. Go ahead whenever it¡¯s ready, kid.¡±


    I nodded, feeling the Sandy¡¯s cooldown finish its long cool down cycle and then I activated it again.


    The experience was truly unique. Each time I activated the Sandy, I noticed something new. How air felt a little heavier making it harder to breathe. But it was actually just my sense of touch and my sense of time conflicting.


    The Sandy turned off, and I was more ready for the feeling of the adrenaline surge ending as I calmed myself and just let my adrenaline fade away.


    ¡°I would bet you are feeling that now.¡± Vik muttered as I shivered, my neck hot.


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    ¡°Well good news and bad news. Good news, this is pretty normal. It¡¯s nerve strain, pretty common with reflex boosters. As long as you give yourself time to recover you¡¯ll be fine. Bad news? It¡¯s not likely to go away. It¡¯s just how your body responds to the chrome.¡±


    ¡°When I used a MaxDoc, I was fine after, does that mean I can keep doing that?¡± I asked, normally I wouldn¡¯t want to abuse my body''s limitations, but only being able to use a Sandy twice sounded pretty useless.


    ¡°Honestly? I don¡¯t know kid. I wouldn¡¯t recommend it. Better to not risk it, but your healing is so unique, and filled with unknowns to start with. Be careful.¡±


    ¡°I will. Thanks Vik. I appreciate the check up.¡±


    ¡°Honestly, it¡¯s a nice change of pace, having a customer come in before the problem spiraled out of control.¡± He joked, but there was a twinge of seriousness in this comment.


    ¡°Well I have the best ripper in Night City checking my chrome. Seems silly not to ask him for help.¡±


    Vik to my delight did a little scoff at my words, but his ears got a little red. I thought about teasing him, but no. I didn¡¯t want to embarrass him.


    Thanking him once again I headed out.


    I had a lunch date after all!


    ¡ª--


    ¡°What!? Oh my god, Motoko! Eeee!¡± Hiromi rambled and squealed in happiness while we sat across from Arasaka tower in the City Center park. I had asked Hiromi if we could meet during her lunch. So we were enjoying a meal I had brought with.


    ¡°It was kinda awkward more than anything. But Denny liked Tank¡­ I don¡¯t know if I want to sell it though? I mean, Tank is¡­ I don¡¯t know, special I guess. So can you help? Act as my manager or somet-¡±


    ¡°Yes! I am your manager now.¡± She demanded poking my chest with a finger. ¡°No music deals of any kind without going through me! I know how you are with deals!¡± She ordered and I just laughed at her, because she was so serious about it.


    ¡°Okay okay. You win. I¡¯m a bit of a gonk with eddies, I know.¡±


    ¡°Good. Then I¡¯ll reach out after class, I¡¯ll need to do some research as well!¡± She said before turning to her food and stuffing some noodles into her mouth with the energy of someone in a rush.


    I felt a little uncomfortable though. Hiromi already did a lot of work for me. Acting as a Fixer for Section 9, even doing all the selling and buying for Section 9.


    And all of that on top of going to school. Taking classes, homework and schoolwork.


    I reached out and pulled Hiromi into a hug. Ignoring her surprised noise as I pulled her in while making sure she wasn¡¯t going to drop her food. ¡°Hiromi. Just don¡¯t overwork yourself okay? Definitely not for me, and not for something this silly. I¡¯ve been throwing a lot on your plate and I just want to make sure you don¡¯t get too stressed okay?¡±


    ¡°Wha-t-this is nothing! I can do all of this and more! You can rely on me!¡± She stuttered before nearly jumping to her feet in her eagerness to assure me, but I wasn¡¯t happy to hear that. I frowned at her, and then reached out before she could get away, chrome palms trapping her cheeks so she had to look into my eyes.


    ¡°Don¡¯t overwork yourself.¡± I demanded and she nodded slowly looking almost embarrassed at my firm tone.


    At least she understood now. I would be really mad if she made herself sick or something over this!


    ¡°Okay. The music thing can wait, it¡¯s not really important.¡± I said flippantly, but Hiromi whined in her throat.


    ¡°I¡¯ll deal with it tonight! Do you have any idea what that number means?¡± She asked and I shook my head and she sighed. ¡°It means that I now have a contact in the music industry. When I call, the manager will try to trip me up, I¡¯ll haggle, and we¡¯ll end up with lots of eddies, and a new name. A contact I can reach out to speak to for any information in the music industry. Contacts are better than eddies Motoko!¡±


    ¡°Well just¡­ Don¡¯t work on it too hard.¡± I said, not really understanding how a business deal would turn into contacts in the future. But that was Hiromi¡¯s thing so I would take her word on it. ¡°I mean¡­ It¡¯s a lot of work for nothing.¡±


    ¡°Nothing?¡± And then Hiromi surprised me, by instantly pushing into my personal space, her face reddened but she did it anyways poking me in the cheek with her face really close. ¡°I¡¯m taking twenty percent off the top.¡± She said almost sinisterly and then settled back onto the bench with a cackle.


    Hiromi around eddies was scary!


    ¡ª--


    With the music issue passed off to Hiromi, and my chrome settled and functional, I made a call.


    *Kitten! What¡¯s my little Kohai calling about?¡± Sasha said cheerfully, although it did sound a little forced.


    *Well you asked me to netrun with you last time. Just got my final checkup from my ripper, if you still want some company?*


    *Yeeees! It¡¯s so boring! The only thing I¡¯m allowed to do is Netdive or watch TV! Okay! You come over and use the bath?*


    *I¡¯d much rather just head to my place, and we can meet on the net? My chair is way more comfortable.*


    *Pfft. That¡¯s right you are so prissy about it! It¡¯s kinda cute! Very moe-moe point! Okay fine you can have your senpai stuck with crappy ice baths while you get your fancy equipment, it won¡¯t matter. I¡¯ll show you what a real netrunner is like, chu!*


    Did she just kiss noise at me?


    *Right?*


    *Hehe! Okay where should we meet? Should I give you my lobby code? Did I clean it up! What if I left dirty laundry laying around!* She fake gasped at that, and I couldn¡¯t help but laugh.


    *How about we meet at the Roundabout? Yoko is a choom of mine.*


    *Ugh. The foxs den? Paaaass. Here I know a fun net club. I¡¯ll send you the IP. Meet me at the bar yeah?*


    *Sure.*


    *Preeem! Now I gotta go get dressed up for our date! Bye!*


    *Wha- It¡¯s not a d-* The call ended.


    ¡°That cat is going to be trouble.¡± I whispered to myself, suddenly feeling like I had just invited a stray cat into my home.


    ¡ª--


    Plugged in, I dived into the net and landed in the casual atmosphere of my lobby, stretching my body. I took a moment to feel the slight differences that new chrome brought with.


    Sure, my cyberdeck was the same, but a new neural link did make a difference.


    My old one was a civilian model, something kids would get. My new one wasn¡¯t state of the art, but it was vastly improved.


    But now wasn¡¯t the time to enjoy the slight difference in latency I could feel. I stepped out of my lobby and into a search engine and then I was across the city in a blaze, connection after connection, until I appeared in a blink on a busy digital street.


    The server was somewhere in Charter Hill, and there was a ton of traffic through the streets. Mostly business traffic, large massive data streams that were more like trains to my senses than a normal user''s connection demanded priority in the air above.


    But I wasn¡¯t going up there. No, the IP that Sasha had given me tugged my attention down. I was at the top of a set of stairs that led down into darkness.


    The IP matched, so I took a step, and then another. Deeper into the darkness. I came out upside down which was an irritating fact, stepping ¡®up¡¯ out of what had been down a moment before until I was level, and then I stepped off the last step that ended in empty air.


    I felt the world flip around, and I was right side up, landing on digital concrete. I was in an alley now. Faux trash cans, and dumpsters lined the sides, with fire escapes leading to nothing looming overhead. But it was a single difference that caught my eye. A warm yellow light, like from a lightbulb streaked across the alley from a small round window in a door, indented into the side of the alley.


    I walked over and even as I approached I could hear laughter, and noises like you would expect before walking into a bar.


    Someone went to a lot of work to get that track right. Digital as it was. I opened the door, and the noise changed, soft strobing electronic music, and another set of stairs.


    This server Sasha invited me to was seriously deep in the net. Down again, this time into a warm burgundy carpeted entrance.


    ¡°Welcome to Elysium.¡± A woman greeted me, sitting behind the counter. Her eyes hidden behind a magazine. Like an actual paper magazine. A glance closer showed it was just a file she was reading, made to look like that, but it was still weird.


    ¡°Thanks. I¡¯m here to-¡±


    ¡°Ah-ah-ah.¡± She interrupted. ¡°That¡¯s none of my bizz. Go on in. No trouble, or I introduce you to Elysiums darkest Black ICE. All the other rules should be self evident if you found the server.¡±


    I nodded in exchange and walked through the door, instantly I was blasted by heavy music, the entire server set up so the music felt like it was right there.


    It was actually kind of overbearing, but I powered through it and looked around. The club actually looked less techno than what I would expect from a runners club. Instead everything was more old school. Hard wood and warm colors. The lights actually looked like lightbulbs giving the place a warm glow.


    But it was obviously fake. The facade peeled and cracked in the dark corners. As data shone through.


    The server was old. That was what I came to realize as I looked around. Unlike Yoko¡¯s club, this was the sort of place that had been around for a long time.


    But I shook that off and headed for the bar. I frowned when I realized there was no Sasha. Had I beat her here? I shrugged it off and took a chair. A bartender behind the counter wasn¡¯t actually a person, just a daemon watching over everything.


    It would definitely agro the moment someone caused trouble.


    I hadn¡¯t managed to sit down for more than a few moments before a back door of the bar opened and out came a giggly Sasha.


    ¡°Yay!¡± She cheered happily bouncing around. Her appearance and cheer caused a few of the netrunners sitting in booths around the bar to groan and feign outrage at her.


    ¡°Kohai!¡± She cheered, noticing me and bouncing over.


    Instantly I realized the difference between Sasha in real life, and Sasha on the net.


    She was happy here. Or at least faking it way better.


    ¡°Sa-¡±


    ¡°Nenene!¡± She demanded a finger hovering over my lips, not that her finger would have reached me anyways. ¡°I¡¯m Mysterious Neko-Nyan!<3 on the net.¡± She demanded with a wink.


    ¡°Shut up Sasha you gonk!¡± A man called out from across the room and Sasha instantly zipped away to glare at the man.


    ¡°Don¡¯t do that, you rusty pipe!¡± She hissed very much like a cat but he just laughed at her.


    ¡°Okay Neko. Wh-¡±


    ¡°Neko-Nyan<3!¡± She demanded and I glared. The fact she had added a fucking emote into her speech and my brain actually processed it as such was toxic.


    ¡°No.¡± I said and she huffed a sigh, before looking pleased as punch and reaching out to fake poke at me.


    ¡°Fine Kitten, we-¡±


    ¡°Ghost. On the net I¡¯m Ghost.¡± I poked back right on her nose.


    ¡°Eeee, Cringe! You and like fifty others! Whiskers is better!¡± She denied and I huffed at her.


    ¡°It¡¯s what I called myself before, and it¡¯s what I¡¯m using. Ghost is cool¡­¡± I said ignoring the look of disgust she was giving me. ¡°But if I have to, It¡¯s Ghost in the Shell.¡± I answered. Adding a bit more onto it so I wasn¡¯t just all the other ¡®Ghosts¡¯ on the net.


    ¡°Hmmm¡­ Less Cringe, but not very cute. Very 4/10. Not very Nova-Preem of you.¡±


    I visibly cringed in response, what else could I do. She had said that like some old out of touch lady trying to be cool.


    ¡°Hehehe!¡± She giggled at my obvious disgust.


    ¡°Why are you like this?¡±


    ¡°Cause it¡¯s fun, Duh!¡± She chirped, before looking more serious. ¡°Okay so! Elysium isn¡¯t just a hangout, it¡¯s a gambling den! We are here to make Sasha some eddies! And you! Don¡¯t worry Senpai won¡¯t cheat you!¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t gamble.¡±


    ¡°Psh. Don¡¯t worry, it''s not gambling when we will definitely win!¡±


    ¡°Said every gambling addict ever.¡± I mumbled a little annoyed. What was up with this? Sasha hadn¡¯t mentioned gambling.


    ¡°You are such a cute little kid! Don¡¯t worry so much! You don¡¯t have to do anything! I just need a second body so I can go into doubles. Single battles aren¡¯t making me as much anymore, but you are fresh! Odds should be preem.¡±


    I just looked at her for a minute before feeling like I wanted to rub my nose. ¡°Sasha what is even going on. What double battles?¡±


    ¡°Oooh, you are so new! Like a shiny fresh Daemon just created and naive to the ways of the netrunner! Elysium is the number one Netrunner combat zone in NC.¡±

 Chapter 164

    ¡°We go in, beat up some low rank rezzers, and make some fun eddies! It¡¯s a good way to get your name out too!¡± Sasha offered practically bouncing despite being in cyberspace.


    ¡°What kind of battles? I don¡¯t like the sound of Combat Zone, and Sasha, really I need some deets before I do something like this.¡±


    She looked at me for a moment before sighing. ¡°Okay come with me.¡± She demanded and faux grabbed my wrist to tug me along. I eventually relented and rose to follow. She led me back through the door she had entered and into a¡­ It reminded me of a locker room.


    ¡°Okay Motoko, here is the deal. We are 2v2. There will be a couple of amateurs on the other side. We beat them. No killing, but you do your hacks to disable them. They will get tugged out by the system if something goes bad. It¡¯s all safe as can be. Hasn¡¯t been a death in the Combat Zone in years. And that was practically a suicide. Follow me so far?¡±


    ¡°Sort of. Why, though? Why would a netrunner show off their hacks like that? Isn¡¯t that dumb?¡±


    ¡°Eh. You don¡¯t really bring in the best of the best stuff that you want to keep secret, and kiddy scripts aren¡¯t going to be new to anyone. But yeah if you got something special you come in show it off, and you might get someone, or multiple someones interested, then you trade for better hacks, or data, or equipment.¡±


    ¡°I never heard about this place before.¡±


    ¡°Which is weird!¡± She suddenly exclaimed, arms waving. ¡°Even kiddy scripters hear about it! The fact you don¡¯t know is super weird! So here we are! You back me up. I can handle this myself if I have to, but I have to bring a +1 for the double battles. So just sit back and let Senpai Neko-Nyan<3 show you how it¡¯s done!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure I want to jump right in Sasha, I¡¯d kinda rather watch to get an idea of what¡¯s going on first. Besides my hacks aren-¡±


    ¡°Oh it¡¯s too late for that.¡± She interrupted, and then suddenly I felt it. I was pulled from the server I had been on before, and instantly moved to another section. I couldn¡¯t even fight it, as it felt more like the entire server section I was in dropped deeper into the net.


    Which was a truly uncomfortable feeling. This server wasn¡¯t normal. The restrictions, and setup was odd. Truly odd. I could feel foreign code slam down. Rules of the server architecture that¡­


    It was a game. I was in a game. I twitched, wanting to rip the entire thing apart and get out of here, but I mean¡­


    It was a little intrusive with how I had just dropped in, and I didn¡¯t know the rules, but I quickly pinged the system and confirmed that the rules would keep anything from going too wrong.


    Suddenly the far wall of the locker room burst apart into data revealing what looked like a recreation of a garbage dump beyond.


    ¡°Sasha.¡± I said flatly not at all amused. ¡°Did you just walk me into the arena while explaining what this place even is?¡±


    ¡°Yep! Put down a bet on your behalf as well!¡± She said with a wink.


    ¡°Don¡¯t kill her Motoko. Don¡¯t kill her.¡± I whispered to myself. I just saved her. Killing her would be a mistake¡­


    ¡°Wooo!¡± Sasha cried out as she charged ahead, and then threw out a hack. The data coalesced from her hand in a stream of white hot plasma that ripped a hole straight across the arena towards the other side.  The blast distorted the data in the way, smashing through every piece of terrain the arena had created.


    A moment later she snapped her fingers. ¡°Aww. That sometimes works. Killing them before they leave their starting zone.¡±


    ¡°Great. I¡¯m teamed up with a spawn camper.¡± I muttered in realization.


    Sasha was a toxic gamer.


    Fuck.


    I hurried to escape the spawn point not sure what the fuck was gonna happen in retaliation, and I did so just in time.


    A¡­ Missile? It looked like a missile, or lots of them anyways, shot over the terrain and then came down in a mass towards our entrance. Slamming into the little locker room and exploding constantly, a barrage of damage, that I was able to see beyond the display, and realize it was tearing apart data that was struck. A virus, and a nasty one.


    Looking around I realized that Sasha was completely missing.


    ¡°Bitch.¡± I muttered and then breached into the server around me. Its defenses were strong. Probably to stop people from doing just what I was up to, but I hadn¡¯t been seen, and I wasn¡¯t going to.


    I could hear explosions and sounds of fire, and wind, and even the noise of many footsteps all rushing around, but I remained hidden. Using everything I knew about staying invisible to keep me out of this mess as I started breaching. Whoever we were against wouldn¡¯t have access to the server right? They would have to breach in too, so they shouldn¡¯t notice?


    Fuck if I know. Fuck if Sasha had given me a chance to figure out what the fuck was happening!


    Finally I broke through. The entire server architecture displayed before my eyes.


    Then it reconfigured, and¡­ Those fucking gonks.


    I was looking at a minimap. Whoever designed this arena planned for a breach of access and set it up so that if you slipped through the defenses you could get a mini map¡­


    Which meant someone might know where I was. I quickly removed my information from the system, my stealth Daemon activating as I had access now. It appeared beside me since the breach was complete. The Face Hugger burst away from me, going invisible as it did, and it spread, each Daemon it would find it would help blind me in their eyes.


    That left Sasha and¡­


    Two were still there, two big red dots that were netrunners. Dozens of smaller ones that were Daemons, and one green one. Sasha.


    Sasha was fighting them. I could see her green dot running around blasting massive server breaking attacks at them, but together they seemed to be defending.


    I considered it. I could just fucking leave. Let Sasha take the loss¡­


    But I was also pretty competitive, and while this was a mess I had walked into, it was also Sasha.


    For the girl I had watched die so many times¡­ Yeah fine. I would deal with this.


    But I didn¡¯t have the programs for this. What Sasha and the enemy netrunners were throwing around was way beyond what I had.


    The programs I had picked up from V3L0CITY way back, had been on his server storage. They weren¡¯t his best, but hacks he didn¡¯t use anymore, or just found and thought they were interesting. I wasn¡¯t throwing Kamehameha waves around like Sasha had just done! My hacks were mostly Anti-Daemon tools. Sure Hell Flame wasn¡¯t something a netrunner wanted to touch, but it was easily defended against by anyone competent.


    So I would just have to be sneaky.


    I couldn¡¯t program something fast enough to matter here, but I could at least act as support, and maybe an assassin.


    Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    So I got up and started moving. As I did I walked around a corner and had to duck backwards. A Daemon. The netrunners we were fighting must have activated it. It was a pretty common grunt Daemon, but it was designed to look like a soldier, and came in a squad of five.


    Their faces were already covered by my face hugger daemon so they didn¡¯t notice me¡­ That gave me a chance.


    I breached one of them. If I had a Cyberpsychosis hack I could probably cause them some trouble, but I didn¡¯t have anything like that installed.


    Considering what I did have installed¡­


    I walked up behind them, made a quick modification of the upload rate of my hack and activated it, feeling the heat of the flame almost echo the heat of my Cyberdeck heating up.


    I cast the hack five times, each of them only barely moving. Just a flame sort of hanging in the air, before I released them all at once.


    The fire shot forward towards the five Daemons that were walking away from me, and had no clue I was around.


    Instantly all four took the hit and burned into nothing.


    *250 XP Gained.*


    *250 XP Gained.*


    *250 XP Gained.*


    *250 XP Gained.*


    *250 XP Gained.*


    I blinked at the little menu pop up.


    That¡¯s right.


    Daemons killed meant XP for me¡­ Okay maybe after bitching out Sasha after this I might think about forgiving her.


    I took off, moving through the server as fast as I could. I wasn¡¯t so much walking, as forcing my position to change on the digital landscape. It was an aspect of breaching. Basically instead of using my normal virtual movement, I was just force moving myself through the architecture.


    Then I landed on top of the highest point, giving me not just a minimap view, but also an actual view of the arena.


    It was a giant circle. Trash piles meant to block sight and movement. With paths in between.


    And I could see the battle. Sasha was zipping around sending out massive attacks that disrupted the terrain every time. While the two netrunners worked together on defense, assisting each other.


    One was constantly activating more Daemons. The soldiers I saw before, a search program shaped like a dog, and a mass amount of flying I.M.Ps.


    The daemons weren¡¯t doing much as most of them searched the arena, probably for me. But the rest focused on Sasha, disrupting her mass AOE hacks, forcing her to stop attacking the runners and protect herself.


    I should probably go help.


    On the other hand. She wanted to handle it on her own and got herself into this situation. And that was a lot of Daemons wandering around.


    I turned and leapt, disappearing as I breached close to another group of soldiers.


    A few moments later they burned into digital slag.


    *250 XP Gained.*


    *250 XP Gained.*


    *250 XP Gained.*


    *250 XP Gained.*


    *250 XP Gained.*


    And that was worth it all. XP. Easy XP. Non murder focused XP.


    I didn¡¯t have the equipment for this really. I was only able to ambush the Daemons, because of my own. But I couldn¡¯t really mass kill them as fast as I would like.


    And it seems I couldn¡¯t do it stealthily. Before I even moved away from the latest kills, I heard it. Scrambling claws.


    The Daemons had reacted to the loss of each other and was coming to investigate.


    I moved, hiding away and throwing up some garbage data to conceal myself, as three of the scout dogs arrived. They sniffed at the melted still on fire remains of the daemons I had hit and then started their search subroutine.


    They were actually pretty low tier. I could tell that just from one look at them. Their bodies were slim, but had bulky sections where inefficient code left them awkward. And their search function was literally to just go in circles from the start point. They were circling around in ever expanding circles trying to find me.


    Fortunately they were also already infested with my Daemon.


    Which made these weak daemons completely incapable of being a threat to me, as I threw out my ICE hack. Instantly the one I targeted was coated in digital ice, slowing it down to a crawl as I charged in.


    I pulled up a modification of my Hell Flame hack I had once made in a rush so long ago, and a longsword made of flame arced out of my hand as I cut through the daemon.


    Its data deleted in a massive arc caused the digital program to collapse.


    *250 XP Gained.*


    The two dogs left both turned to me. My Daemon might keep myself out of sight, make it harder to see me, but something like this would still break the stealth.


    Both dogs howled. Alerting the netrunners that they had discovered me, and then charged.


    One slammed into a shield, its form distorting a bit as it was bogged down by junk data, while I focused on the other one, I sent off another Hell Flame, blasting the Daemon as it jumped at me. And it landed in a heap half burned away already.


    Then I walked over and cut down the last dog that was too bogged down.


    *250 XP Gained.*


    *250 XP Gained.*


    Everything went quiet for a moment, which was good, because I also had another alert that was taking up all my attention.


    *100 Quick Hack XP Gained.*


    *Quick Hack skill level up!*


    Quick Hack 9. I had been using so many hacks on the net I must have finally clicked over. I luxuriated in the moment of knowledge slipping through. But I refocused, I wasn¡¯t safe here. I checked the update from my net chair, showing me my internal temperature was raised, but nothing terrible. I was okay still.


    ¡°Ah there you are.¡± A voice called out and I looked up to see another netrunner standing on top of the pile of garbage. ¡°Have fun derezzing my search programs?¡±


    ¡°Honestly it¡¯s kinda fun. Nice to meet you.¡± I offered a friendly greeting. Just because this was a weird betting arena, didn¡¯t mean we shouldn¡¯t be civil.


    ¡°Aww. aren¡¯t you a cute one. Some one-byte runner that the stray cat dragged along? Yeah, I looked you up already. You don¡¯t have a record in the arena. Sorry about that one. The cat has a rep¡­ Listen, we can¡¯t be gentle about this as long as you don¡¯t quit, just how the game is played you know? Nothing personal.¡±


    Then I heard it. A heavy stomping. I looked towards where the dogs had come running and cursed.


    ¡°These guys are just rezzers.¡± I mocked. ¡°It¡¯ll be easy, just let me handle it.¡± I continued as I stared at the burning Daemon that was a digital hazard, melting the trash around it, as it deleted and warped data in a space around it.


    A Balrog.


    I had only faced one of these before, and it had sent me scurrying away. This one wasn¡¯t set into a dying server. The netrunner looked proud as his Daemon finished loading and then it locked onto me.


    ¡°Oh fuck this.¡± I muttered and took off. Using every bit of my breaching skill to move as far from that thing as I could.


    It followed, roaring a challenge as it stomped after me.


    It was slow. Much slower than I was, so I quickly decided on a battle plan.


    Just stay the fuck away from it.


    It lost direct sight of me quickly enough, and instead of trying to hide, I knew what I had to do.


    Sasha might have pulled me into this nonsense, but if I ignored it, then good chance, she would have to face it as well. That Daemon is not something she could handle along with both netrunners at the same time.


    So I would be the bait keeping it busy.


    And while I did that, I would go murder a bunch of Daemons. I had a minimap after all.


    I turned and ran up some garbage leaping over it and then right into an array of five of the soldier daemons.


    One was blasted from a full strength Hell Flame. Another was cut in half and it distorted its form glitching unable to stay coherent. I continued on and turned slamming up an ICE shield, letting it absorb the array of lights the three remaining Daemons fired at me.


    *250 XP Gained.*


    *250 XP Gained.*


    The three couldn¡¯t reach me though. Despite their shared attacks, my ICE wall absorbed attack after attack.


    I used that moment to cool down. I could feel my Cyberdeck cycling and only once I was cooled off did I prep another three attacks melting the daemons down.


    *250 XP Gained.*


    *250 XP Gained.*


    *250 XP Gained.*


    I checked the minimap.


    Sasha was still fighting, and the two netrunners were back together.


    I guess they didn¡¯t expect me to be able to handle their Daemon. The daemon I noticed was catching up to me.


    I moved at a normal speed, trying to give my cyberdeck cool down time. As I considered what I could do.


    Sure I could run around and clear up the groups of small Daemons they had sent out. And it would benefit me, but it wouldn¡¯t do much for Sasha¡­


    ¡°Ugh!¡± I groaned, aloud because despite my own greed at having XP bags just wandering around. Sasha was on her own, and whether people died or not¡­


    Sasha was still my choom. Even if she didn¡¯t know me well, and I didn¡¯t know her well. Even if she had put herself into this situation, even if she didn¡¯t understand why I was so connected to her.


    The image of her falling. Of glass glittering around her, ran through my mind.


    An image of her smile. The smile she carried into death.


    It was stupid. I barely knew her, and she barely knew me, but¡­ Dammit I respected her even if she was a pain in the ass.


    I couldn¡¯t handle this Daemon, but I bet Sasha could.


    I shifted where I was going.


    I arrived as another of the missile barrages slammed into the area Sasha had just been standing.


    When the smoke cleared almost instantly after Sasha was fine, a barrier of light stood before her. Immovable.


    ¡°That the best you got!?¡± She screamed out in challenge, but the two netrunners didn¡¯t react, just stayed together. Both men worked in sync to prep more attacks, to prep more Daemons to distract her and me with.


    Probably more a distraction for me than anything.


    The moment after, a group of Daemons spawned in, the soldiers instantly pointed and started pelting shots at Sasha.


    I could see her frustration.


    Which is why I teleported in right next to her, instantly my defenses activated, ICE wall absorbed the shots, and started spawning in Barriers as well.


    ¡°Wha? Kitten!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s Ghost. I¡¯m on defense. Also a big Daemon is coming. I don¡¯t have anything that can handle it.¡± I warned, but Sasha just laughed. ¡°You leave offense to me then! Maybe breach the server if you can! I could use some info!¡±


    ¡°What? Oh, I breached the server already!¡± I called in response, as I started throwing up ICE and barriers wherever I could as another missile barrage arced in, and those were nasty. My Barriers slowed them, but I had to remake the ICE each time a missile struck them.


    Playing defense was already starting to overwhelm me, but it gave Sasha the moment she needed.


    I nearly flinched as she lobbed what looked like a star straight towards the runners. And the attacks instantly stopped as they desperately switched to defense.


    It smashed into them, and a howling noise of distorted data reached my ears.


    Pretty terrifying considering just where we were.


    ¡°Hehe! See Kitten! Look at how amazing Senpai is!¡± Sasha crowed out in delight at her attack, but I just huffed at her.


    ¡°They blocked it! Do something else!¡±

 Chapter 165

    I was wincing internally as I was getting alerts from my netrunner chair about my temp.


    My Cyberdeck wasn¡¯t made for shit like this! It specialized in quick hacks, for breaking and entering! Not¡­ Video games!


    Fucking Sasha! My GPU was ten years out of date, and you threw me into a next gen max graphic game!


    I almost burst into laughter at the thought, but the Balrog coming through the trash pile to our left, literally blasting through junk data, burning a hole through everything in its way was rather distracting.


    ¡°Sasha! Balrog!¡±


    ¡°Bal-what? Oh. Yeah.¡± She said turning from where she was¡­ Cooling off.


    This fucking! She really didn¡¯t do anything but the biggest most RAM intensive hacks she could! I was going to kill her! I¡¯ll drown her in her probably boiling ice bath!


    ¡°Relax kitten!¡± She said throwing me a smile despite the fact I was already preparing defenses for an attack I could see coming in.


    She went to work, even as I blocked another barrage of missiles, and a newly growing squad of Daemon grunts. She activated her hack, that big energy attack prepped appeared, even as the Balrog charged at me. I put my faith in her and focused on keeping her safe, and just as the Daemon started melting my ICE walls the attack went out.


    The destructive data wave hit the Daemon, and instantly ripped a hole through it, literally ripped apart, as its data was systematically merged into itself. To my eyes it looked like its insides had been blended, and that disrupted the Daemon enough it fell, instantly shattering into broken data.


    ¡°See? Nothing to worry abou-¡± Sasha mid sentence stopped. We both looked down, where through her chest there was now a large hole as wide as my fist.


    I looked over at the netrunners. And one was pointing a finger at her, where the beam of energy had come from.


    They had some sort of sniping hack? I couldn¡¯t help but wonder how that worked. How had it cut through my defenses? I could think of a few ways to do something similar. I guess it was definitely possible, definitely something I could make myself.


    Sasha fell beside me and instantly burst into light.


    *NEKO OUT!* A voice boomed out over the arena.


    She wasn¡¯t dead.


    She wasn¡¯t. She wasn¡¯t wasn¡¯t wasn¡¯t dead. I hadn¡¯t done what I could to save her, to have her die in this stupid game.


    She wasn¡¯t dead, she said it herself. It was safe. I could see that she hadn¡¯t been sent out of the net, just pulled from the arena. That was definitely part of the system that meant she was alive.


    Right.


    Right.


    Right.


    Right!


    ¡°FUCKERS!¡± I roared aloud.


    I wasn¡¯t an ace netrunner. I was good. Probably better than 90% of the runners out there, but I was limited in that I focused more on real life use from a cyberdeck.


    My hacks weren¡¯t ones I made myself in here. My deck wasn¡¯t suited for it, these two absolutely should beat me.


    But none of that entered my mind as I roared out every ounce of rage, and simultaneously activated my Sandevistan.


    They had killed Sasha, I¡¯d fucking end them!


    ¡ª--


    Sasha


    ¡°Ow ow ow ow!¡± She whined as she appeared in the waiting room. The hack that struck her was an altered overheat. So she was definitely going to be feeling that once she disconnected! From her system check she was bleeding from her eyes again.


    Dangit! Maine always freaked when she did that, and Dorio would tease her about getting so emotional about the net she would cry blood again! She wanted to punch something. Preferably with her left arm her original left arm. With what was left of her actual flesh and blood and not the fucked up feeling of this chrome one, that she woke up some nights feeling as if it was crawling up her shoulder. Consuming more of her.


    Like she had always thought her mothers chrome had consumed her.


    But it hadn¡¯t been chrome, it was the medicine. She knew that now! She shook herself.


    She didn¡¯t have a cyberware phobia! She had a cyberdeck! She installed scratchers! Her arms had mods for extra strength! It was just¡­


    Her mother had cyber arms after the military¡­


    She blinked, forcing herself to look back at the arena. With a flick of her wrist she changed the view to look at poor Kitten all alone without her senpai!


    Shit she had really fucked this one up. She had just wanted some excitement! Being stuck inside all day, and Kitten was such a little noob! It was cute! To find someone at the start of their net journey after already being a badass? It was hilarious! Teasing material!


    Of course Sasha only had Rogue¡¯s estimation, and little Becca¡¯s story to know how good Motoko really was. The kid was a bit of an enigma¡­.


    Also her crush was so cute! She hadn¡¯t gotten all stuttery again after that first time, but eeee! So cute.


    She watched as Motoko reacted to her loss.


    Sorry Kohai! You can do it though! Just fight on! You¡¯ll lose but as long as you look cute doing it it¡¯s okay!


    Then Motoko screamed.


    Sasha¡¯s smile dropped.


    Sasha may be alone in her box, but there were easily hundreds of people watching this match. And Sasha knew that people would not be happy with her after this.


    Motoko¡­ Did Motoko think she was actually dead?


    She had explained it right! That people don¡¯t die in this?


    Shit. She had thought it would be cute to drag Motoko in while she was arguing against gambling, but now?


    If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.


    Motoko didn¡¯t know what was going on. No wonder she had disappeared for so long in the match.


    Fuck.


    The atmosphere in the arena shifted, as Motoko turned her eyes, once so full of life and delight and now? Now they were a glare of pure hatred.


    Becca had told her that Motoko was a killer. Motoko being welcomed to the Afterlife, should have confirmed that.


    But it was only now as Sasha looked into Motoko¡¯s eyes. Through the screen. Where Motoko couldn¡¯t see her back, she was sure.


    Motoko was a killer, just like she was.


    Then Sasha gasped, as Motoko blurred. Speedware!


    The kid had activated speedware online. Not unusual, but it left a noticeable effect. Her body distorted, as the server was forced to try and keep up with micro movement of the sent data.


    Then Motoko moved.


    Sasha blinked in shock and then gasped, because in just a split moment, she had appeared behind the other netrunners.


    That was high end breaching! Good shit! Right, Motoko had even breached the server on her own! Not something she would have expected.


    A common strategy was to send out Daemons as a distraction, and Breach into the system to get the Minimap first, so you could hide your position from the opposing side. But that wasn¡¯t an easy task for anyone without a lot of experience.


    Sasha herself didn¡¯t bother with it, as it took too long. Better to just blast the enemies into bytes and win!


    But Motoko had done it solo, without ever seeing the server before. Which now that Sasha was able to think was¡­ Impressive.


    The girl didn¡¯t stop, her body glitching, she turned and Sasha flinched.


    [HELL FLAME Anh. 2.132]


    She had recognized the program. It wasn¡¯t bad, a bit out of date, but its ability to eat into data servers was well liked by runners that had to do anything against AI. Sasha had never done a Blackwall dive, but she knew how it worked. Often throwing up something that could cause server damage would distract the AI for a time letting the runner escape.


    But she also knew the hack was pretty RAM intensive.


    Around Motoko, in an instant multiple orbs appeared, right after a server jump?


    The rezzers reacted, shields were brought up, but it hardly mattered.


    A moment later Motoko buzzed around them. Multiple Breach jumps in a row? That was a high end trick, and it left Sasha burned out when she had to do it.


    Doing that while also summoning in hacks, as fireballs slammed into each side of the runners shield.


    Then before it was even done, she summoned more.


    Hell Flame was already eating away at their shields, causing the runners to realize they were in trouble, but the kid wasn¡¯t done. More and more of the Hell Flame built up.


    Finally they realized she had them properly pinned and did the smart thing.


    They vanished, Breach jumping themselves to escape the flame filled zone.


    Well at least Motoko had gotten them to split up, maybe she could-and Sasha gasped, as Suddenly Motoko was just there.


    Both of them split up when they jumped, one ended up on the other side of the junk data terrain, while the other split farther off.


    But it didn¡¯t matter, before the poor kid had a chance to breathe, Motoko was already there.


    A modified Hell Flame, configured into a blade slamming through his defenseless form.


    His body distorted.


    *D3viant out!*


    Fuck. That was fast!


    Then Motoko was gone again. Breach jumping over and over until she ran straight towards the second runner.


    Sasha was starting to feel more than a little worried. Motoko didn¡¯t have a deck capable of this sort of output. That meant she was overloading. The heat output would be intense¡­ Fuck. Even as she watched she sent a message to Becca.


    The second runner had used his moments to prepare, obviously spooked that his choom was taken out so quickly after the breach jump.


    Then, Motoko was there.


    Skidding to a halt, digital detritus kicked up at her feet as she appeared, already Hell Flame orbs spawned and ready.


    He defended, Sasha recognized the shield hack. Some Militech piece of tech, it was alright. Solid defense, but it locked itself in place, no movement in it. It made sense why the rezzer used it. Between him and his choom they had a solid combo. Which is why they were giving her so much grief before.


    Unfortunately Motoko had already found a method of cracking it.


    Four explosions of fire arced up over it nearly instantly as Motoko breach jumped to each side of the shield, and then even as it burned down she readied a fifth.


    ¡°That won¡¯t work twice!¡± The rezzer yelled, and activated that missile strike attack.


    It shot off.


    Sasha felt herself stepping closer to the screen. At long range those missiles were just dumbfire data bursts, but with the rezzer right there they locked on.


    Yet Motoko didn¡¯t seem to care. Even as the missiles fired off, she stepped back and despite the digital constructs aiming for her, she simply breach jumped through them. Blurring through the barrage of missiles as if dodging rain drops.


    Fuck.


    Fuck that was¡­ Okay. So maybe Motoko might be a noob, but she certainly wasn¡¯t a rezzer.


    That took skill, and Sasha knew for a fact she couldn¡¯t copy that.


    She also knew that Motoko shouldn¡¯t be able to keep it up either.


    Breach Jumps took a lot of hardware to pull off. Script kiddies couldn¡¯t hope to do it, and most high enders could only do it a few times.


    Motoko was burning herself out.


    Fuck. Fuck!


    Rebecca you better have got her message!


    And then it was over.


    The barrage ended, and the Hell Flames continued burning down. The Rezzer tried to run for it, and before he could take a step after a Breach Jump that took a long few seconds for him to even activate, she was there cutting him down.


    *Mod3d out!*


    *Ghost wins!*


    And then Sasha was moved. Both Motoko and her were back in the locker room.


    ¡°Motoko! Hey! Kid! Fuck!¡± She charged over, but Motoko took one look at her, and stopped Sasha flat.


    She swallowed because¡­


    And then Motoko logged out. The burst of digital static indicating a pretty nasty forced disconnect.


    Motoko would have a nasty headache¡­


    If she was even still alive.


    Sasha jumped out herself, ignoring the fact she had eddies to collect for a victory. The only person who was supposed to be risking themselves was her!  She had to make sure her kohai hadn¡¯t just burned herself alive.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°Fugle.¡± I cursed as I finally jumped out.


    I felt melted, and I could smell burning pork, and I felt bad. Like heat stroke but worse.


    I fumbled at my pockets, fingers feeling dumb and useless until I managed to get one into my mouth and huffed it down.


    Instantly I felt better. Despite wincing at the heat coming off my neck. Flinching as the heat seemed to surge, but it was actually just my nerves coming back alive.


    Weakly I flopped down. The coolant running through my suit was helping, but it was barely enough, I could feel myself still practically sizzling.


    Dammit. I had probably damaged my Cyberdeck, and my new neural link.


    Fuck, Vik was going to kill me. With that realization I stood up disengaging and hurrying across the room wincing with every step as I turned on the faucet to the sink and instantly just jumping up onto the counter and dunking my head under it.


    The near sizzling of the water touching my chrome was really not a good sign.


    Double fuck.


    That was stupid Motoko, you gonk! You knew she wasn¡¯t dead. You knew she was fine¡­


    I sighed just pressing my head against the cool metal almost wincing at how cold it felt to my definitely overheated brain.


    Thinking was hard. Just cool down. I grabbed another MaxDoc, the last one I had on me, and only once I was sure the chrome had cooled off, did I pop it.


    The brain fog cleared and I sighed in relief.


    I needed to make a call.


    *Ringing.*


    *Ringing.*


    *Ringing.*


    *Kid? You alright?*


    *Vik, I¡¯m okay-ish. But I need a check up¡­ I definitely overdid it with my cyberdeck. I overheated¡­ It¡¯s bad.*


    *Shit. Where are you? Do you need a ride?*


    *No, I¡¯m¡­ Feeling better now. And I cooled down already, but I¡¯m worried about my chrome¡­ You in the shop?*


    *I will be, meet me there, as soon as you can. Dammit kid.* Vik suddenly hung up, and I sighed partly in relief, and partly for knowing the Vik was going to chew my ass out.


    Poking at the back of my neck I could feel the heat still there in my chrome, but it had cooled, now it just felt like I was using it too much.


    Dammit. Now my neck felt stiff too, I tried to pop it and got nowhere, which only made the whole situation worse.


    Rising up I nearly broke the sink with how quickly I slammed it off.


    ¡°Stupid. Fucking stupid.¡± I cursed myself. I should have just given up. What fucking gonk does that sort of stupid shit!


    I rose up and realized I didn¡¯t have a towel here. Sighing at how wet I now was, I just walked out. This day literally couldn¡¯t get any worse.


    *Ringing.*


    Hmm? Jun?


    *Ringing.*


    *Jun? What¡¯s up?* I asked as the elevator closed in front of me with a clatter.


    *ARE YOU ALIVE!? MOTOKO!* Jun¡¯s voice came through making me flinch, luckily my own agent kept the noise down to a reasonable level, so instead of blasting out my ears, it just startled me.


    *What? Jun, what¡¯s going on?*


    *You¡¯re okay!?*


    *Yeeees¡­ Ish.*


    *Motoko!*


    *What is going on, who told you I was hurt?*


    *I got a call from your choom, the little one Rebecca. She told me you were netrunning and to check on you right now!*


    *Sasha is such a fucking tattle-tale¡­ Yeah I overheated. I just spent a few minutes under a faucet cooling off, and I¡¯m heading to-*


    *Go to your ripper! Now!*


    *That¡¯s where I¡¯m going. I already called Vik and I¡¯m on my way.* I assured him as I stepped out of the elevator ignoring the looks of some of the SLS kids hanging around and walked out. I didn¡¯t want to walk to my car. So I just called it.


    *Fucking hell. Motoko! If you are going to do netrunner stuff, make sure you tell me! Or call one of your chooms! Someone that can cool you off or pull you out!* Jun ranted at me, and I nodded to myself, that was a good idea. If someone had been around to dunk water over my head or something I would have felt a lot better.


    I didn¡¯t respond, instead just letting Jun rant as I waited for my Quadra to drive over from the parking space down the street.


    It arrived and beeped before Jun had finished ranting at me.


    *-this, you could just think a little before-¡±


    *Jun!* I said loudly, cutting him off. *I¡¯m climbing into my car to drive to Viks. If Rebecca calls again, just let her know I¡¯m with my ripper. Don¡¯t say anything else for me okay? Lot of stuff is going on, and I¡¯ll talk to her soon to calm everything down.*


    The line was quiet before Jun sighed. *Okay fine. But I want to see you once you finish up with your ripper.*


    *Okay I¡¯ll head home after.* I promised, and we ended the call with some I love you¡¯s and then the Quadra throttled up.

 Chapter 166

    ¡°Well kid, I can tell you right now, I¡¯m surprised you¡¯re still alive.¡± Vik explained almost a little harshly, and I winced as he had me on my stomach as he examined my Neural link and Cyberdeck.


    ¡°Yeah, I overdid it. Definitely pushed too hard¡­ Is my Cyberdeck okay?¡±


    ¡°Honestly? No.¡± He answered back. ¡°I¡¯m seeing heat damage on the outer connections, some of the internals aren¡¯t going to be doing well. This is either an expensive repair job, or¡­¡±


    ¡°Or I buy a new one¡­ Damn¡­¡± I muttered as I plopped my forehead into the cushion.


    I had lost my cool at seeing Sasha ¡®die¡¯ and then¡­ Why had I lost my cool so badly?


    The question nagged at me, even as Vik slowly extracted the cyberdeck and I winced as I could still smell cooked meat coming out with it, I might have healed, but the smell would remain.


    ¡°Alright kid. Well¡­ I¡¯m not seeing any permanent damage in there.¡± He muttered as he inspected my port with his eyes and his scanner. ¡°But I¡¯m not comfortable with the amount of detritus I pulled out with that deck.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­ I was probably cooking pretty bad. I had to use a MaxDoc before I could even get off the netchair.¡±


    ¡°Shit.¡± He muttered, as he settled down and rolled around until I could see him.


    Fuck he was giving the the maximum dad glare.


    ¡°I know already. I messed up. I just¡­ I thought my choom died¡­ Even though I know she didn''t, it was just¡­ I freaked out.¡± I admitted and I looked away unable to handle the shift from disappointed face to worried.


    Why, though? Why had I acted like that?


    I wanted to growl at myself, I had destroyed myself just to fight, and the whole thing was dumb. What was the point? I hadn¡¯t gained anything¡­


    Okay so I had gained something.


    *500 XP Gained.*


    *100 Breach Protocol XP Gained.*


    *Breach Protocol skill level up!*


    *1 Perk Point Gained.*


    *500 XP Gained.*


    Breach protocol level 10. I had maxed it. As I realized it, the data drop activated and I gained an understanding of system architecture in a way I had never thought of before.


    There was more to the net than just the ones and zeroes. More than just the level the net ran on. More than even the deep dives hit. It was like there was an under layer, a metaphysical layer.


    One that I now had¡­ Not an understanding, or a surety of, but I knew it existed. I knew there was more to the net than most netrunners ever realized.


    I blinked away the information. I wasn¡¯t going to be exploring the underside of the net anytime soon.


    And again, it came back to why.


    Why had I acted like that? My Cool stat gave me self control bordering on the super human. Well, almost anyways. Yet, I had absolutely lost myself in the feelings from seeing Sasha die.


    I shuddered out a breath and tried to shift my neck only to grumble as once again the stiffness made my upper shoulder muscles ache.


    ¡°Kid?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s okay Vik. I¡¯m glad I¡¯m alive, and I did something stupid. Really stupid. I¡¯ll need some time, that''s all¡­ Just some time, and a new cyberdeck.¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ Alright. Listen kid, normally if someone came in with this much damage, I wouldn¡¯t even think of helping them get another deck, especially not so soon¡­ But I also know you¡¯ll go get one regardless, and I¡¯d rather help out.¡± He sighed, rubbing a hand through his hair. ¡°That and you are usually good about following my instructions, which is admittedly pretty nice.¡±


    ¡°Heh. Glad I can help.¡± I teased before just slapping my face back into the padding.


    ¡°I¡¯m guessing you are going to want something a bit higher spec than this poor Seacho.¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    ¡°Well that¡¯ll be harder. I¡¯ll ask around my contacts, but if you want something truly high end? That¡¯s gonna take some leg work.¡±


    ¡°Got anything short term?¡± I asked, looking up from the cushion, and he nodded.


    ¡°Yeah I got some older Paralines somewhere.¡±


    ¡°Gross.¡±


    ¡°Hah! That¡¯s what every runner I offer that old thing to says. Relax for now kid.¡± Then he leaned in and whispered. ¡°Miracle healing or not, you aren¡¯t at one hundred percent.¡± Then he rose up. ¡°Should I call your brother to pick you up?¡±


    ¡°Ugh. No, he drives like shit, and he doesn¡¯t have an actual car yet¡­ I can drive. It¡¯s even soothing. Thanks Vik.¡±


    ¡°Yeah yeah. Thank me by not showing up to my shop with your brain half melted or something next time.¡±


    I nodded, grabbed my jacket and threw it on, and then¡­ Home.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°Motoko!¡±


    ¡°Hey Jun.¡± I greeted and then because he was looking a little frantic I walked over to him as he was getting up off the couch to see me and instead pushed into him for a hug, pushing him back against the couch. ¡°There see. I¡¯m fine.¡±


    The fact Jun held me tight probably meant he didn¡¯t agree, but it was still nice regardless.


    ¡°You alright?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be okay. But I used a trick I don¡¯t want getting out, so if anyone asks, I¡¯m okay but not up to chatting with anyone¡­ I need a new Cyberdeck.¡±


    ¡°What happened to your old one?¡± He asked, pointedly as his gorilla arms held me tight.


    ¡°It was damaged. Too much heat.¡±


    ¡°Jesus, Motoko. I¡¯m not a runner but I know what that sort of thing does to someone!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m alright. Vik agrees. Like I said, I used a trick I¡¯m keeping on the downlow. So just¡­ Play along? Please?¡±


    Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    ¡°Of course.¡± He agreed then sighed. ¡°You need help getting a new one? I can reach out to Fujimura.¡±


    ¡°Heh. No thanks. Vik is going to look for me, and after a few days I think I¡¯ll put the word out to some contacts I have.¡±


    ¡°Heh. It still seems funny to me that you have contacts. Going to ask Wakako?¡±


    ¡°Maybe? Probably should. She¡¯ll probably make me do a gig first, but she might be able to get me in contact with someone with the good stuff¡­ Or I could ask Sasha, it''s sort of her fault this happened.¡±


    ¡°What? Who is Sasha?¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± I muttered looking up from where I was burying my head into Jun¡¯s jacket. It was all fwuffy at the collar, and it was nice. ¡°Sasha is a netrunner, and edgerunner actually. She¡¯s cool, but kinda a gonk. I was with her, she dragged me into a Netrunner arena thing¡­ She lost, and I¡­ I don¡¯t know Jun, I thought she was dead, but I knew she wasn¡¯t, and I just couldn¡¯t get over that.¡±


    ¡°Sounds like she dragged you into a mess¡­¡± He rumbled and I laughed as it made his chest practically hum.


    ¡°Yeah a little, but it was my fault that I got hurt. I overreacted¡­ I still don¡¯t even know why! I was just so mad, and angry, and sure she had died, after everything and I just¡­ I knew she was alive but I couldn¡¯t get my brain to realize it.¡±


    ¡°Sounds like me. When I was¡­ struggling. That¡¯s how I felt. I knew I was going to punch you, and I couldn¡¯t do that, but I tried anyway.¡± Jun offered bluntly, and I flinched.


    I sat up and locked eyes with Jun because I was seriously shaken by his words.


    It made sense.


    A quick check of my system later I confirmed. I had 10 points of open adaptation right now. The last time I had even gotten close to that much was when I first got my arms, and I hadn¡¯t been doing well then either.


    The ache in my neck brought myself back to focus.


    Had I had a Cyberpsychosis fit? Was that how the effect manifested in me? Random bursts of surety of something that I also knew was false?


    I had acted like Sasha actually died, even while knowing she hadn¡¯t, and yet¡­ I had been sure I had just watched her die.


    ¡°Fuck.¡± I muttered more than a little tilted. ¡°I¡¯m gonna go crash Jun. Thanks for the hug.¡±


    ¡°Alright. Rest well. I¡¯ll make sure none of your chooms bother you?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, for a few days I¡¯ll need to rest.¡± I agreed, mostly because I didn¡¯t want anyone asking me questions like how I¡¯m okay after melting my old Cyberdeck.


    Fuck.


    ¡ª--


    Eight hours later I was awake, but not sure what to do. I lay there in my bed, listening to the quiet noise of the Tachikoma¡¯s clacking walk as it moved around my room.


    But I didn¡¯t want to get up.


    I had a lot of adaptation points I needed to fill, and only one stat point. I closed my eyes and sighed. I felt okay right now. The sleep always left me feeling refreshed, and the aches and irritation that built up over time had disappeared thanks to my nap.


    My neck didn¡¯t ache yet, but I knew as soon as I got up and started moving around it would start again. My shoulders would tighten up around the titanium bones, and overall I would just start feeling irritated and bad.


    So I needed stat points, and I needed them stat.


    Heh.


    I sighed and finally rose up, I couldn¡¯t just lay in bed all day¡­.


    Well I could, being able to sleep at will was pretty handy, but I didn¡¯t want to. Instead I walked over to my laptop and settled in. Without my Cyberdeck I was limited in some things, but I could still work over some code.


    I checked over the Tachikoma code and nodded. It was cleaner. The Tachikoma¡¯s development was going really well, and I guess¡­ Since I was stuck inside for a bit I could get some work done on it, some focused development would be good for it.


    ¡°Let¡¯s clean up your learning subroutines, and maybe expand them a bit.¡± I muttered as I settled in to start typing. There were some lines in the learning code, that I could clean up easily, and I really should.


    The Tachikoma had figured out how to pick things up and move them around, and it had done it mostly on its own. The actual kernel that was its learning process was really starting to come together naturally. Soon the Tachikoma would be able to learn things on its own without my input.


    With just a little more help anyways.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°Motoko? You up?¡± Jun asked, knocking quietly on my door and I pulled back from the laptop that I had been in depth working through.


    ¡°Yeah Jun. Come on in. What¡¯s up?¡± I asked and he opened the door, looking me over and seemingly being satisfied.


    ¡°You sleep okay?¡±


    ¡°Perfectly. What¡¯s up?¡±


    ¡°Heading out. Got some work. You¡¯ll be okay?¡±


    ¡°Yeah I probably won¡¯t go anywhere, unless Vik gets back to me.¡±


    ¡°Alright¡­ Rest! Oh and your choom Rebecca called a few times. She¡¯s worried. Send her a message or something soon?¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ yeah I can do that. Thanks Jun.¡± He nodded and then disappeared and I needed to do some damage control.


    I stepped away from the laptop to flop on my bed. Bypassing the Tachikoma that was putting blocks of steel on top of eachother into a Pyramid.


    ¡°Good job.¡± I told it, despite it not really being able to understand verbal commands yet.


    Sighing into my pillow I sent out a text.


    *Motoko: Hey Becca.* I waited and I was relieved that Becca responded back nearly instantly.


    *Rebecca: MOTOKO! You okay choom? Sasha was freaking worried you melted your brains out of your skull!*


    *Motoko: Yeah, I went overboard for sure. My cyberdeck was damaged, which, Yeah, not great. I was alright though. Had someone watching, and then made sure I didn¡¯t fry myself.* I lied with that, but it was the easiest explanation on why I didn¡¯t melt my own brain.


    *Rebecca: Well good. I¡¯ll tell Sasha, she was freaking out. Like really freaking out. Wouldn¡¯t go into what happened, just that you had probably killed yourself. Scared the shit out of me.*


    *Motoko: Sasha had me go to a Netrunner Combat Zone. Then while I was saying I¡¯m not that interested in trying that out, especially since I¡¯ve never seen it before. She tricked me into walking into the access Lobby, which threw me into the battle arena. Sasha isn¡¯t my favorite person right now.*


    *Rebecca: Fuck Fuck! Sasha pulls shit like this sometimes, tricks people into shit. I¡¯m sorry. Shit.*


    *Motoko: Not your fault choom¡­ And not Sasha¡¯s entirely either.  I saw her get beaten, in the arena and I reacted badly. I thought she was dead, but I knew she wasn¡¯t. It¡¯s stupid I reacted bad, burned myself because of it. Tell her, it¡¯s not entirely her fault.*


    *Rebecca: You should, maybe tell  her yourself? She¡¯s really upset.*


    I sighed, my face buried into my pillow. I brought my hand up and rubbed at my hair. The cool chrome felt nice. I wasn¡¯t sure if I wanted to talk to Sasha.


    The feeling of betrayal wasn¡¯t entirely accurate. But I still felt it. After trying to save her life, and succeeding, she had pulled that shit on me.


    It was a fact that I was going to have to decide if Sasha was still going to be someone I wanted to be around after this. The fact she threw me into a Combat Zone like that without warning wasn¡¯t okay.


    *Motoko: I¡¯ll think about it. Tell her I¡¯m okay for now. I just can¡¯t go on the net until I get a new Cyberdeck.*


    *Rebecca: Shit, that¡¯s serious damage for a Cyberdeck, feel better okay choom? You need anything? I don¡¯t have a ride, but I can get around if I need to.*


    *Motoko: I appreciate it Rebecca, but I have Jun around if I need something. And I¡¯ll probably call up Hiromi and the gang and let them know what¡¯s up. So I¡¯ll be flooded with people soon.*


    *Rebecca: Okay. Okay I¡¯ll talk to Sasha, and bitch her out too. That shits not cool. See you?*


    *Motoko: For sure! We¡¯ll hang out soon.*


    I pulled away from the pillow. Sasha was bothered by what she had done? Good. She should be, but¡­ Dammit.


    *Motoko: I¡¯m alive, and okay. Cyberdeck is wrecked¡­ That¡¯s not your fault. Not entirely anyways. I¡¯m not really in the mood to chat, so¡­ We¡¯ll talk another time.*


    There. I ignored if I would get a response to that and instead sent some messages to my chooms.


    ¡ª--


    I was sitting on my couch mostly just vegging out, when my front door opened.


    ¡°Motoko!¡± Hiromi¡¯s warcry echoed through the apartment and I sat up so she could see me. Then she rushed me.


    ¡°Hey, easy!¡± I said as she nearly leapt over the couch to pull me into a hug.


    ¡°You¡¯re okay? Not dead? No brain damage? Promise!?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m okay. Vik checked me over, and other than trashing my Cyberdeck, I''ll be okay with some rest.¡±


    ¡°Lucky! Lucky lucky! Idiot! To get your cyberdeck hot enough to damage it means it was hot enough to cause heatstroke if not worse! You are so lucky you are¡­ Not drooling mindlessly!¡±


    ¡°I know. I know.¡± I agreed and Hiromi looked me over checking to make sure before seemingly calming down when she didn¡¯t see anything wrong. Then she reached for my neck and I let her examine my Cyberdeck port.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine Hiromi.¡±


    ¡°I took a class on overusing netrunners and the damage it causes! Considering how valuable a trained netrunner can be, it¡¯s something we are warned not to let them burn out unless necessary! I saw video Motoko! Heads catching on fire was one of the least horrible things!¡±


    ¡°And I¡¯m okay.¡±


    Finally satisfied, she nodded firmly. ¡°Lucky.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be even luckier if I can rely on my chooms as spotters in the future whenever I go into the net. I¡¯ll probably set up an emergency coolant in the future.¡±


    ¡°Emergency coolant?¡± She asked with a look.


    ¡°Yep! A bucket of Ice water you can dunk my head into if I start overheating!¡±


    ¡°Gonk.¡± Hiromi replied but she was acting, I could see the way her shoulders shook a bit to hold back her laughter.


    ¡°It¡¯s a good idea you know!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s dumb. I¡¯ll put out word for some improved cooling systems, maybe a netrunning cap?¡±


    ¡°Ugh. Those are so ugly though. I¡¯ll look dumb with one of those on.¡±


    ¡°Wha¡­ You gonk! Armor isn¡¯t a suggestion it¡¯s mandatory! Isn¡¯t that what you told us!?¡± She said suddenly leaping at me, her fingers reaching for my throat. Yelping a bit I managed to fend her off as she leapt on top of me.


    ¡°Hiromi!¡±


    ¡°Wear your stupid netrunner armor you gonk!¡± She demanded trying to overpower me, but like¡­


    Hiromi wasn¡¯t in the best shape so I easily held her hands off.


    ¡°Okay okay! You win. I¡¯ll wear the dumb Netrunner cap.¡±


    ¡°Good! Those are meant to run coolant to your head you numbskull!¡±


    I nodded and then since Hiromi was distracted it was time.


    ¡°A chance!¡± I cried out, surprising Hiromi as I maneuvered my foot up into her stomach and gently flipped her right off me.


    She flopped onto the couch with a quiet oof, and then I kicked up.


    I landed softly making sure not to land on Hiromi directly as I had flipped our position, pinning her to the couch.


    ¡°Heh! You are a thousand years too early to out wrestle me.¡± I told her firmly and then winked as I stood up. ¡°You want a drink? I¡¯m not really planning on going out or anything today, so if you want to hang out, that¡¯s cool.¡±


    Hiromi was quiet. Sorry Hiromi! Gotta work on that body if you want to defeat me!

 Chapter 167

    Sasha


    She paced. What else could she do? She had taken a total noob, one that had some serious talent, but was still just a kid and nearly got her killed.


    ¡°Chill whiskers, Motoko is fine.¡±


    ¡°I know more about netrunning and what a cyberdeck overheating does to someone than you do Becca. Motoko might be okay, but she isn¡¯t okay.¡± She responded back, almost snapping as she continued to pace.


    All because she had wanted to fight, to feel alive. Her arm twitched and she wanted nothing more than to smash it to pieces.


    She hated the way it made her feel. Her mother had always told her how her arm was out to get her, that it was why¡­


    Sasha shook it off. She didn''t want to think like that. It was Securicine that had caused all of that. Her mother had always been so kinda before the war, and even when she came back. It had been the slow after effect that had left her¡­


    Sasha reached up to touch her nose.


    It wasn¡¯t bleeding. There was no blood. Her mother hadn¡¯t had another rage and hit her. But her arm, it terrified her, what if¡­ What if she was like her mother, what if it wasn¡¯t Securicine that had caused her mothers fits?


    What if it made her blank out and beat Rebecca to a pulp? What if it made her drag a perfectly nice kid, that had a so obvious crush on her it was the most adorable thing ever and drag her into a mess that almost got her killed?


    ¡°Fuck.¡± She hissed wanting to smash something, but that was odd too, Sasha wasn¡¯t the physical destruction type. She hadn¡¯t wanted to be like how her mother was at the end. Smashing things because she couldn¡¯t control herself in her anger.


    ¡°Hey.¡± A voice, deep and baritone and a strong hand on her shoulder made her stop. ¡°Ease up Sasha. Ain¡¯t nothing wrong that can¡¯t be fixed.¡±


    ¡°I almost got the kid killed Maine.¡±


    ¡°Sounds like she almost got herself killed to me.¡±


    ¡°She wouldn¡¯t have been there if I hadn¡¯t literally tricked  her into it! She was even telling me that she wasn¡¯t interested! I just didn¡¯t care! I was so selfish I just wanted a fight! Something to do!¡±


    ¡°Sounds like an apology then. Nothing to get this worked up over.¡± He rumbled but he also didn¡¯t understand. Maines entire perspective on Netrunning was action movie bullshit. Where the sexy femme fatal sidekick opened doors for the slick solo.


    Sasha loved those movies, even if they were complete scop.


    ¡°I agree with Maine, Whiskers.¡± Becca cut in. ¡°I¡¯ve only known Motoko for a bit so I can¡¯t guarantee nothin¡¯ but she¡¯s pretty chill, and she¡¯s not bothered by fuckups.¡±


    Sasha shook her head, it wasn¡¯t just what she had done.


    Noobs were everywhere on the net, and when you took one under your wing, you¡¯re supposed to watch out for them. You don¡¯t kick them into a Combat Zone without even knowing their actual skill level!


    That fucking fox was going to kill her.


    ¡°I can¡¯t apologize when she won¡¯t pick up.¡± She admitted, and Whiskers nodded.


    ¡°It might take a bit choom. You betrayed her trust. Massive gonk move.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± She flopped onto the couch and just stared up at the ceiling. What a fucking mess. ¡°My arm itches.¡± She whispered aloud, one of the first times she had admitted to the problems with her chrome.


    Maine didn¡¯t get it. Even now he looked at her like he wanted to just tell her to scratch it then.


    But Becca was smart. Surprisingly empathetic when she wanted to. She understood.


    ¡°Just a little longer choom. Then Bio-Technica will be off your tail, and we can swap you for some meat. Ease back on the chrome.¡± Rebecca offered trying to be the mature young woman she was on the inside.


    ¡°I know.¡± Just a little longer. Just a little longer.


    Just a little longer.


    ¡ª---


    Ichi and Malcolm both reached out to check on me after letting my chooms know what happened, but I hadn¡¯t needed to have everyone over to look at how not injured I was.


    Instead Hiromi and I hung out until she finally relaxed realizing I was okay, and then when she left that night I fell asleep early.


    A day passed with me mostly tinkering with Tachikoma, lazing around, and avoiding going out. Giving myself a faux time to ¡®heal¡¯ from any damage.


    I slept again mostly just to skip time


    The next morning I woke up, stretched and forced myself up. I still could do more work on the Tachikoma, but what I really needed was to start searching for a new Cyberdeck.


    As I hit the shower and got dressed I sent a message to Vik. Unfortunately when he got back it wasn¡¯t good news.


    *Vik: I have some decks, and managed to source a Seacho Mk.1. Not as good as what you had, but it¡¯s workable. But I have a feeling that¡¯s not what you want. Suggest asking around and putting your ear to the ground. I¡¯ll keep checking for you.*


    Not what I wanted, but Vik was only a miracle worker with one of his skills.


    *Motoko: Thanks Vik. I¡¯m going to look around.*


    With that I sent a text to another source.


    *Motoko: Hey Wakako. I had a thing, and I need a new Cyberdeck. Do you have any leads?*


    I was just putting on my boots when I got a response.


    *Wakako: You are more useful to me with all your tricks so I will help with this. Stop by.*


    Well that sounded good.


    I hurried out of the apartment, noticing that Jun was home, but sleeping. A few minutes later I pulled up to the entrance of Jig-jig street and headed inside.


    The crowds were as dense as always. But my eyes kept being drawn over to the vending machines on the sides of the street.


    I couldn¡¯t hack them. It was something I had grown so incredibly used to. It felt weird not having access to the net. Cameras around me were still noticed with my Kiroshi, but I couldn¡¯t turn them off with a thought anymore. I couldn¡¯t blind anyone I faced, or simply shocked them all unconscious.


    I wanted to get a Cyberdeck ASAP.


    Wakako¡¯s parlor was the same as always, and I walked right in. This time she wasn¡¯t on a call, or even pretending to ignore me. She pointed at the chair across from her and I sat.


    ¡°So you burned yourself out? Surprising you aren¡¯t dead.¡± She said and I sighed as I realized she was going to grill me first.


    Dangit.


    ¡°I had some plans in place in case I ever overheated. They saved me from any permanent damage. Although my head still hurts.¡± I lied to her and she watched me with her sharp eyes for a moment before nodding.


    This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    ¡°At least you were wise enough not to get your fool self killed. Truly, what a waste that would have been.¡± She said and it took me a second to realize that was actually a compliment.


    ¡°Thanks.¡±


    ¡°Hardly a compliment. Keeping yourself alive is the first step, fool girl. But you need a new Cyberdeck.¡±


    ¡°Yep. I¡¯m offline at the moment.¡±


    ¡°Hmm.¡± She responded, but didn¡¯t actually say anything more as she took a drag on her cigarette. ¡°I don¡¯t have anything I can offer. Dr. Vector''s request for information on a new high end deck has already been passed on. There are those that are happy to work with the Doctor, to find what he requests, but it¡¯s quiet currently.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡±


    ¡°You will likely need to source one directly.¡± She said puffing away and I frowned.


    ¡°I don¡¯t really like to take people''s chrome.¡± I said honestly and Wakako just scoffed.


    ¡°You are the oddest killer I have ever met.¡± She nearly snapped, but still she seemed to calm herself. ¡°Be careful fool girl. Without your usual equipment, death is around any corner. I¡¯ve seen many netrunners die due to being in between equipment.¡±


    I looked at her.


    She looked at me, and basically waved me off with her cigarette.


    ¡°Wait.¡±


    ¡°You should leave girl.¡± Wakako said noticeably as I came to a realization.


    ¡°You called me down here after I told you about me needing a deck, but you don¡¯t even have one! You just wanted to check on me!¡± I said finger pointing. Wakako took a breath and glared.


    ¡°I simply wished to make sure my agent didn¡¯t melt her fool brain out of her ears. When I was informed about what happened, I had started writing you off, believing you would need help going to the bathroom for the rest of your life.¡± She said and I blinked.


    ¡°It¡¯s not that bad.¡± I demurred.


    ¡°I was a doctor in my youth girl. I know exactly ¡®how bad¡¯ an overheated Cyberdeck is. Especially in some fools tiny head. Perhaps your lack of brains kept you alive?¡±


    ¡°Okay okay! I get it. You are grumpy. I¡¯ll leave.¡± I said standing up with my hands raised, Wakako was getting nasty, but I stopped at the door. ¡°Thanks for worrying.¡± I told her and smirked as I walked out, because her answering scoff was great.


    Okay in that case¡­


    I needed to go see Yoko.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°The resurrection of the dead was true.¡± Yoko said to me bluntly as I walked into her shop.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t die.¡±


    ¡°No you didn¡¯t. Good. I was cross when I saw what happened. Your battle strategy needs more work.¡± She told me, but despite her monotone tone, there was a hint of teasing from the older woman.


    ¡°I¡¯ll work on it, especially when I was thrown in without any idea what was going on.¡±


    ¡°Yes¡­ I heard.¡± Yoko¡¯s usual monotone was gone, and she nearly scowled which was unusual to see on her real face. ¡°Sasha Yakovleva is not my favorite person at the moment.¡±


    I considered defending her, but honestly?


    ¡°Yeah me neither. I would have loved to take part in a cool netrunner battle if she hadn¡¯t thrown me in without any idea what was going on.¡±


    Yoko nodded. ¡°I had considered introducing you to it myself, but you are like a cat that only dips its toes in the waters of the net when you must.¡±


    ¡°I go into the net!¡±


    She simply stared at me past her tiny dark sunglasses.


    ¡°Okay sure, I don¡¯t like hang out in it.¡± I mumbled.


    She smirked at me, a faint thing but it was there.


    ¡°You have been a unique apprentice to the net. I often have to shoo overly dedicated, but unskilled runners to take time to improve their skills. Not wait for far too long before a stray cat struts back into my temple.¡±


    I scoffed. ¡°Don¡¯t you start either. I¡¯ve already had to tell Sasha to stop calling me Kitten. I¡¯m not a cat. Much less a stray one!¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll see, I suppose.¡± She offered but then frowned, her hand rose up and beckoned me over. Curious, I stepped0 close, and she gently placed a hand on the nape of my neck, feeling and confirming the obvious. ¡°You lost your Cyberdeck.¡±


    ¡°Damaged, more expensive to fix it then just find an upgrade.¡±


    ¡°The damage you did to yourself is worse than I thought then¡­ How did you survive?¡±


    ¡°I have good chooms, and I got lucky.¡± She watched me from behind her dark glasses before pulling her hand away.


    ¡°Good medicine, and a skilled ripper too. Good. A Netrunner needs all of these things. You need a new deck.¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Vik, couldn¡¯t find one, and I talked to Wakako already-¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m aware. I do keep my ear to the ripper information network. Vik is a pleasing Ripper to work with. He is already well aware we are in the network and often throws out requests through it for cyberware.¡± She said with a faint smile. ¡°But what you are asking for isn¡¯t easy to find.¡±


    ¡°I figured.¡±


    ¡°Well, considering your performance, you certainly have the skills to use a higher end deck.¡± She said and I felt a surge of hope because Yoko was looking like she was playing a trick.


    ¡°You know of one?¡±


    ¡°I have my ear to the pulse of the whole city. I know where many high end decks are that you could collect. Normally, I would tell you one of the more difficult locations. Maybe put you through a gig collecting something for me.¡± She offered teasing, in that monotone way of hers.


    But then she leaned in. ¡°But you are my apprentice, and I won¡¯t let that stray cat with more ardor than brains stake a claim on you. I¡¯ll send you the deets. It¡¯ll cost you though, the owner isn¡¯t a runner, so it¡¯ll be in eddies.¡±


    ¡°Eddies, I can do.¡±


    ¡°Good. Go on then Motoko, go become the Ghost in the Shell again.¡± She offered and I almost jerked.


    ¡°How did you know that? I only told Sasha that!¡±


    ¡°You think people weren¡¯t watching? It¡¯s a cute name. A good one.¡± She assured me, and then waved her hand for me to get going.


    Embarrassed despite myself I nodded as I got the text and headed out. Time to make a deal¡­


    Then I realized that was a bad idea, and made a call.


    *Hiromi, I can use your help once your class is over. I need to buy a new deck and-*


    *Don¡¯t say another word. I¡¯m in. Come pick me up, I¡¯ll be out of class in a few minutes.*


    *What? Hiromi you should finish your classes, it¡¯s not that big a rush.*


    *Nope! This is definitely important! You without a Cyberdeck is a weakness I¡¯m not comfortable with! Come pick me up! Bye!* And the call ended without me being able to argue further.


    I just sighed and shrugged. Fine.


    ¡ª--


    When I picked up Hiromi she had instantly asked for the message I sent, and had then gone on to make a call to the contact, to set up the meeting. Something I hadn¡¯t thought about¡­


    I was just going to go there and meet them¡­


    ¡°Hmm. The details are set, and we got a location. Your netrunner choom seems to have come through.¡± Hiromi added and I just shook my head at her antics.


    ¡°I mean, you saw what it was.¡± The details had come with what I was going to collect, and I had been very surprised.


    Yoko hadn¡¯t just found me a cyberdeck, she had found a top of the line deck that fit my speciality.


    ¡°Don¡¯t remind me. I don¡¯t even want to know how a Mk.4 Shadow got out of the company.¡± Hiromi muttered.


    The Arasaka Shadow. It was one of the specialty Cyberdecks made by Arasaka, and it was basically custom made for corporate espionage. Stealth, and data gathering, a lightning fast response time, and enough RAM to carry a plethora of programs and Daemons.


    All usually locked up tight in an Arasaka agent''s skull.


    Honestly I was half way suspecting we were about to meet someone that had either flatlined an Arasaka corpo, or had shown up at the right time after one got flatlined. Either way it was a benefit to me, and if Yoko gave me the information, it wasn¡¯t likely going to end up as a trap.


    Not that I wouldn¡¯t prepare anyways.


    Especially with where we had to go.


    Dogtown.


    I almost called Hiromi back, telling her I wasn¡¯t picking her up when I had read through the details Yoko had sent me.


    Instead I forced myself to relax. I had been there, Dogtown was safe enough. My instant reaction had been an overreaction. Just like the overreaction at Sasha¡¯s death.


    So I was going to prepare, I would be safe, but I would follow ¡®common sense¡¯ that everyone told me, that Dogtown was fine.


    ¡°You have your gun right?¡±


    ¡°Of course. It¡¯s right here. I keep it in the armory during classes. Don¡¯t go anywhere without a weapon, Motoko.¡± Hiromi said, showing her bag that had her Yukimura holstered inside.


    ¡°Good good¡­ Make sure you put that on. Just in case.¡± I said trying not to get twitchy with the idea of taking Hiromi to Dogtown with only a pistol and no armor. ¡°You think we should call the boys in?¡±


    ¡°Motoko, it¡¯s just a trade deal. I¡¯ll be fine with you watching my back.¡± She assured me, and that settled it. Even if the idea of calling in Jackie, Jun, the rest of Section 9, and even Rebecca sounded like a good idea to me.


    My neck hurt.


    I rubbed it lightly feeling that crick in my back again. I did have a stat point leftover still¡­ As I drove I considered it. I was planning on putting points into my adaptation anyways. So I might as well do it now.


    My own stat point disappeared and was dropped into my ODA Neural Link.


    Arasaka ODA Neural Link Mk3 *Adaptation ODA Mk.3 1/2*


    Yeah that looked better.


    I played with my neck as I drove and frowned. The crick in my neck was still there, but as I worked it, it seemed to untense, and I almost sighed in relief.


    At least if it came back I could relax my neck without needing to sleep to make myself feel normal.


    ¡°Motoko?¡± Hiromi asked, having been looking over at me, as I seemed to be rolling my neck around.


    ¡°Just a crick in my neck that finally let go.¡± I admitted with a smile.


    Then as we drove down the roads we finally reached the Dogtown entrance.


    ¡°Your pass still works right?¡±


    ¡°Yeah it should.¡± Hiromi said and then as we pulled up we were scanned, checked, and allowed through without any issue.


    And then once more I was on the roads of Dogtown.


    ¡°Heavy Hearts is over there.¡± Hiromi added, reminding me of something I already knew, but I just nodded and turned left down the road from the entrance.


    Hiromi often repeated things like that while nervous. So it seems despite her confidence in Dogtown she got nervous about coming here too.


    I pulled up to a parking spot out front, and stepped out, eyes narrowed as I scanned everything around me, wishing once again I had my Cyberdeck already installed.


    Hiromi stepped out and adjusted herself. She had slipped out of her Arasaka academy jacket, and was wearing one of her usual ones. Even if the slacks and dress shirt underneath hinted at her corpo origins.


    I quickly joined her and we both walked towards the entrance. The concrete stairs were surprisingly empty of trash, as we walked up and into a small entrance area.


    With a Barghest man leaning against the side of the door.


    There were a few people idling around, some seemed to be waiting, some looked irritated, glancing at the guard over and over.


    ¡°Beat it kids.¡± He offered as we approached, and I could see the way Hiromi¡¯s back stiffened at the insult.


    ¡°We have business in the club.¡± I cut off, before Hiromi could give him a talking to.


    ¡°You and half of the Night City brats that come by wanting an easy drink.¡± The guard replied back, barely even paying attention to us.


    ¡°We are not-¡±


    ¡°Hiromi, chill.¡± I pulled back my choom who was getting heated up at treatment. ¡°We have a number for our contact. I¡¯ll send them a heads up. Nothing to stress about.¡±


    Hiromi, continued to glare, but thought better of saying anything and nodded, straightening up her clothes as I led her off to the side.


    I sent off a text. Letting them know there was an issue entering the club.


    Then we settled in to wait.

 Chapter 168

    Hiromi didn¡¯t say anything, but her constant pacing was evidence of her irritation.


    ¡°It¡¯s not that big a deal.¡± I whispered to her quietly, avoiding the glare of the door guard.


    ¡°I know. It¡¯s just frustrating to be treated like a child! We have more rep than half of the people in that club I¡¯d bet.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the problem with still being a teenager. We¡¯ll grow. Besides, it also means people underestimate us.¡± I added, with a smile. I really wish I had my Cyberdeck right now. I¡¯d have been able to blind the guard, or distract him or something. Giving us a path inside.


    I suppose I could go check around for a rear entrance as well, but I wasn¡¯t here to kill someone, so I didn¡¯t want to treat it like that.


    The door to the club opened and a man stepped out, suit and dark glasses, he looked like every guard I had ever seen. He was even carrying a pistol in the small of his back. I watched him carefully as the music flowed out behind him as he looked around. A few moments later he frowned which I caught out of the corner of my eye, before I suddenly got a text.


    *Elis: I¡¯m at the entrance where are you?*


    I blinked looking at the man, before shrugging and pulling Hiromi out of her pacing.


    ¡°Right here.¡± I called out looking at the man.


    The obvious guard looked at us, and I could see the confusion in his eyes.


    ¡°I¡¯m assuming it¡¯s your boss that has the item? Shall we?¡± I asked, and he stared for a while longer before nodding slowly.


    Hiromi shot me a smile and a nod, obviously proud at how I had handled it.


    This time the Barghest guard didn¡¯t say anything as we were led inside. And I tugged Hiromi fast before she could do more than glare at him.


    The club was large, a dance floor, a bar, and lots of seating. This was definitely the largest of all the clubs I had gone into, not even touching on the higher floors.


    This place was massive.


    We followed the guard as he led us to a door on the left side of the building, and then up a set of stairs.


    We were led into a private room just off the stairs. It opened and he stepped inside, holding the door open behind him.


    ¡°Well I think we found our contact.¡± I told Hiromi as I stepped inside.


    The man inside wasn¡¯t someone I recognized. It was just a rich kid.


    Well, he was in his twenties, but he wore enough high end chrome, and clothes that it felt like he was trying to shove his wealth into my face.


    ¡°The fuck?¡± He asked, and I instantly felt myself die inside. This wasn¡¯t going to be fun. ¡°Who are the kids?¡±


    ¡°The ones that responded to the message boss.¡± The Guard offered simply and he kept staring at us.


    I was pretty sure I could take him if I had to.


    ¡°Yoko put us in contact. You have something we are interested in purchasing, and we have the eddies you want.¡± Hiromi cut in, smoothly stepping forward towards the little club couches the kid was sitting on. I decided to put myself into position as well. Across the door from the guard I took position, casually standing there, with everyone in the room in my sights.


    Hiromi settled down casually throwing her jacket over the back of the couch she settled on as she crossed her legs and settled herself comfortably. She looked every inch the corporate woman she was.


    While Hiromi settled in, I did the same, and caught the way the guard in glasses was side eyeing me. The man was suddenly much more tense with the awareness of what I was doing.


    I wasn¡¯t just some kid, but Hiromi¡¯s guard. I didn¡¯t bother to hide that my hands were close to my weapons.


    The guard shifted similarly, and we both continued to side eye each other.


    ¡°Fucking hell. Yoko said she had a buyer for this shit¡­ You got any eddies kid?¡±


    ¡°Yoko wouldn¡¯t have put us in touch if there was an issue with that. Now, do you have the item?¡± Hiromi said instead. I could practically see the way her mind was working, following a script in her head about how to handle business deals. She was acting overly casual, despite the tenseness of her shoulder I could see. As she struggled to make her movements sleek and confident.


    ¡°Pfft. Course I do. One Arasaka Mk.4 Cyberdeck. The Arasaka Shadow! Heh, can¡¯t even tell you how I got the thing, you understand.¡± He offered smugly, as he reached into his jacket, and pulled out a Cyberdeck canister.


    At least he was carrying it safely.


    ¡°I¡¯ll need to check it.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll need to make sure you have eddies.¡± The man cut off. Seemingly going stubborn.


    ¡°Let¡¯s talk potential price then.¡± Hiromi agreed, and I watched as the two started haggling out a price, depending on quality, and if the Cyberdeck had any damage.


    It was fascinating to watch.


    I tensed, as I heard it, the door opening to my side. My hand was instantly on my Burya, and the other guard had shifted as well, whether because he noticed it, or because he had noticed me.


    The door opened.


    ¡°The bottle that was requested.¡± A chipper voice called out as a woman in a uniform stepped in and then stopped as she noticed me and the guard.


    I scanned her, checking everything over, but before I could finish the kid called out.


    ¡°Finally! Gimme that, been waiting ten minutes!¡± He grumbled and the guard and I both stared at each other.


    If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    I let go of my gun first and relaxed back, and a moment later the guard did the same.


    We watched on as the bottle of champagne was dropped off, and then the deal continued while the man got his glass filled up.


    ¡°Alright, alright, fine. Scan the damn thing.¡± He grumbled, as Hiromi finally locked him into a price as long as the quality of the cyberware was good.


    I watched as she popped open the container pulling out the black and red Cyberdeck giving it a thorough look over before closing it back down.


    ¡°It looks good. A little wear and tear, but nothing that can¡¯t be cleaned up. I¡¯ll accept the price.¡± Hiromi said and the man looked her over before scoffing out and shaking his head.


    ¡°Brats with too many eddies to their name. Alright, pass it over and the deck is yours. How¡¯d some corpo brat get in with Yoko anyways?¡± He asked, suddenly and Hiromi took a moment to consider before speaking.


    ¡°My choom is a very skilled netrunner.¡± Hiromi added simply glancing at me, and I just nodded in turn.


    ¡°Huh. So the deck is for you then? Guess that fits. Can¡¯t say I¡¯m not happy to see that thing go. Can¡¯t tell you how I got it, but it¡¯s good that it¡¯s out of my hands. Seriously Yoko, sending a couple brats at me like this? Whatever, You¡¯re eddies are good, and that means I can go party. Get out of here.¡± He demanded waving us off, and Hiromi nodded, carrying the Cyberdeck and walking out.


    I let her out first and then made sure to keep an eye on the guard, but nothing happened, and we were out.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get out of here.¡± I said and Hiromi nodded, as we walked back out to the car, and then out of Dogtown.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°Whew, kid. This is a good find.¡± Vik offered an hour later as I drove straight to his clinic. Hiromi had been super proud the whole way. Nose up in the air and constantly remarking about how good the deal was.


    I just nodded, paid the number she had told me to, and got my deck. Eddies were just eddies, and I could make a bunch of eddies just by taking a job to flatline someone, so it wasn¡¯t really a big deal.


    But a new Cyberdeck? That was a big deal.


    So of course I knew what Hiromi wanted.


    ¡°Hiromi did a great job on haggling for it. Got it for a steal.¡± I told Vik who looked up from the Cyberdeck to me, before smiling.


    ¡°Did she? Well excellent job kid.¡± Vik offered, looking to Hiromi who sat up straight at the attention.


    ¡°It was nothing!¡± She assured us but the way she was practically preening told us both a different story. I smirked at Vik and he winked back.


    ¡°Well let me go over this thing. I¡¯ll want to clean it up, and give it a scan, you never know what malware someone might have gotten stuck on used chrome.¡±


    ¡°The Arasaka ¡®Shadow¡¯ Mk.4 Cyberdeck system has top of the line anti-virus programming. You won¡¯t find anything on it.¡± Hiromi said confidently.


    ¡°Well, this one¡¯s probably been cracked, so you never know what the guy who used it last was up to.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ I didn¡¯t consider that.¡± She said, sounding a little embarrassed but I sent her a smile even so.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine. Vik¡¯s a pro, that''s why I go to him.¡± I looked to the older man and smiled and he actually looked pleased with my confidence in him.


    ¡°Well I¡¯ll do alright, but I¡¯m not the best in the city.¡± He demurred, but I ignored him, because that was a lie. Vik being humble. There was no one better, and anyone who tried to convince me otherwise was lying. ¡°Still¡­ This is a high end deck kid. Hell of a find. You better be careful, something like this is still fresh enough, whoever owned it before might still be registered to it.¡±


    ¡°If you mean the previous Arasaka user? Then I wouldn¡¯t worry too much. I plan on sending in a notification saying I came across it while making a deal and pulled it off the free market.¡± Hiromi said and I looked to her, as Vik did the same thing.


    ¡°You sure that¡¯s a good idea kid?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if that¡¯s a good idea Hiromi.¡± Vik and I both spoke but she just waved me off.


    ¡°Relax, I¡¯m not going to tell them who has it now, because it¡¯ll just be registered to me, and I can just say I sold it off after. Nothing weird. It happens all the time. I¡¯ll talk to my Dad about it just to make sure it¡¯s all done correctly. I¡¯ll put in a statement about how I came across it, but Dogtown dealer is a standard dropdown on the form.¡±


    ¡°Just don¡¯t put anything that can lead back to the dealer. I don¡¯t want to piss off Yoko¡­¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t, don¡¯t worry. I know to keep contacts safe.¡± She assured me and eventually I nodded.


    ¡°Can¡¯t say I¡¯m used to having someone with so many Arasaka connections around. Bit of a weird feeling.¡± Vik offered and I nodded to him as well. It was weird.


    ¡°Alright let me look into this, should take me a bit kid I¡¯m going to want to do a deep dive on it.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s fine I¡¯m not in a rush. Thanks Vik.¡±


    ¡°Sure kid.¡± He smiled at me, as he continued to go over the Cyberdeck with his scanner.


    I would have happily sat there for a while, but Hiromi was getting anxious just sitting around. Her knee was tapping so I rose up.


    ¡°I think I¡¯ll go for a bit of a walk, maybe get some food. Let me know when you¡¯re ready Vik?¡±


    ¡°Sure kid. Say hi to Misty for me.¡± He said with a smile telling me he knew exactly what I was up to.


    ¡°Huh?¡± Hiromi asked as I walked past her and waved for her to join me.


    ¡°Come on.¡± I called out and soon Hiromi led me up into Misty¡¯s shop.


    ¡°Oh hello! It¡¯s.. Hiromi! I remembered.¡± Misty greeted as she saw us step in from her back door.


    ¡°Nice to meet you again.¡± Hiromi offered back a little stiffly.


    ¡°Misty! You hungry? Vik is going over my new deck with a fine toothed comb, so I figured we could eat and hang out, if you aren¡¯t busy?¡±


    ¡°Nope. Food sounds nice, it¡¯ll be a nice distraction!¡± Misty said as she flipped closed the magazine she was looking at.


    ¡°Preem! I¡¯ll go grab some stuff. Oh Misty! You should do Hiromi¡¯s fortune! Your tarot is awesome. I¡¯ll be back okay!¡± I said not leaving Hiromi any choice as I hurried away.


    Misty was great at relieving tension, and making everyone relax. Hiromi was a little tense, so some spirit time would do her good.


    ¡ª--


    When I got back, bags of food in my hands I stopped.


    Hiromi and Misty both looked at me, and started giggling.


    ¡°What?¡± I asked looking around behind me, not seeing anything then looking over my body. I didn¡¯t have anything weird on me! My clothes weren¡¯t ripped. I looked up and both of them just refused to say anything, just shaking their head.


    ¡°Mean.¡± I grumbled, but wandered over, Misty¡¯s tarot cards were out but put away and I almost asked, but decided Hiromi would share if she felt the need.


    ¡°I¡¯m glad you brought Hiromi, Motoko. It was nice to have someone to chat with.¡± Misty offered as her only explanation for the giggling.


    ¡°Hiromi doesn¡¯t look as tense either¡­ Although she is a little red? Did you have some weird medical thing¡­ Not that what you do is weird Misty!¡±


    Misty just giggled and Hiromi groaned.


    Not sure what that was all about. Either way we settled in to eat, and I slurped up my tasty noodles, as we all started chatting. Misty sharing tidbits about strang clients coming in. Although she did run out of those quickly enough.


    We settled in for a good veg session, and it was pretty nice. Misty had awesome big sister energy, and Hiromi to my surprise was responding to it really well. I guess she was an only child. It would make Misty¡¯s gentle teasing pretty new.


    Eventually though it was time. Vik sent a text, and I rose up instantly. ¡°Gotta go! I¡¯ll be back!¡± I called out as I hurried out the back of Misty¡¯s shop.


    Cyberdeck! New Cyberdeck!


    I skipped down the stairs bouncing to a stop.


    ¡°It¡¯s ready?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s ready.¡± Vik confirmed. ¡°I cleaned up some connections, and checked the OS. It was definitely cracked. Someone used it after they took it from its original owner. I cleared up the scum and put in my own program. Mine isn¡¯t full of Malware but I suggest you check things over.¡±


    ¡°You are the best Vik.¡± I said as I took a deep breath and then moved forward. It was time to get a limb back.


    I settled in, and Vik got to work. I didn¡¯t need to sleep for the install, and my port was already empty. Vik popped open my Cyberdeck port in my head, and then slipped the chip inside. It felt like nothing except strange pressure moving my head around until it locked in place, and connected to the chip.


    My agent flashed with the confirmed connection, and a blast of data scrolled across my eyes as it connected and installed, and then the chip activated.


    I sighed in relief, because it really did feel like a lost limb restored. I looked around and the radio was mine. Instantly. Far far faster than I could have before.


    ¡°Looks good.¡± I muttered and Vik just chuckled.


    ¡°You should really wait for me to do a few checks before starting it up.¡± He said half jokingly, as he continued to press scanners to my head connecting to my neural link and checking everything.


    ¡°Looks good. Install complete.¡±


    I nodded, checking my status.


    The old status had been replaced.


    Seacho Electronics Mk.2 *Adaptation Seacho Mk.2 0/0* (WARNING DAMAGED)


    I wouldn¡¯t be seeing that anymore.


    Now it looked like this.


    Arasaka Corporation Cyberdeck ¡®Shadow¡¯ Mk.4 *Adaptation ¡®Shadow¡¯ Mk.4 0/0*


    There it was. Everything was¡­ Good.


    ¡°It¡¯s great Vik.¡±


    ¡°I only installed it kid, you¡¯re the one who found it.¡± He waved off. Not realizing how big having Vik there to fix me up meant to me. I threw him a smile and then because fuck it. I jumped off the chair and through my arms around the old ripper.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± I told him, hugging him tightly not letting him get away.


    ¡°H-Hey, c¡¯mon kid.¡± Vik stuttered, sounding a little strangled, so I let go, and got to see Vik¡¯s face blushing at my affection.


    ¡°You¡¯re awesome Vik. I owe you one.¡±


    ¡°You pay me kid, don¡¯t make it that big a deal.¡± He tried to downplay but I just smiled and he looked defeated. ¡°Alright get out of here, someone sees you turning me into a big softy, gonna ruin my rep.¡± He said with a wink at the end. I just cackled and ran off, so much more room in my cyberdeck! I would have to install some new hacks first thing, but the whole world was my oyster!

 Chapter 169 (Nice.)

    I ended up hanging out with Misty and Hiromi for a couple of hours. The three of us just all hanging out.


    Misty sometimes looked a little embarrassed about hanging out with a couple of girls much younger than her, but in the end Hiromi and I were cool, and Misty relaxed and enjoyed sending out her big sister energy.


    Hiromi definitely liked it. I guess being an only child meant you didn¡¯t normally get to experience some things.


    Afterwards I dropped Hiromi off at home. She still had school tomorrow, and I headed to my netrunner cave.


    Pulling a fresh batch of hacks off my server when I got there, I spent a little bit installing all of my normal hacks so I was back in action. Yet even with all the hacks installed I still had a lot more space in my new deck.


    I made a mental note that I should buy some new hacks and fill it out¡­ In fact I should do that right now.


    I jumped onto my netchair and started hooking myself up, before wincing at the smell.


    I had sweat like a pig while overheating.


    Grabbing a scrubby brush I found under the sink and a bucket I got to work. Cleaning out the pads and making the chair not smell like a locker room.


    When I was done, bucket emptied I looked over the chair. It would take a bit to dry, which sort of stymied my plan¡­ I sighed, and grabbed a roller chair, then another, and with a bit of work was able to plug myself in while laying across the roller chairs and leaving the pads on the netrunner chair to dry.


    Then I closed my eyes and opened them in the net.


    I sighed in relief at returning here. Walking over to the window I looked out over the digital cityscape for a while.


    The streaming lights of digital information flowing through this world was as always an interesting sight.


    So¡­ Here I was. Back in the net again. With an upgraded Cyberdeck, hacks installed, but¡­ Was I better than I was?


    Sure my Cyberdeck was better, I would be able to send out far more hacks before overheating, but¡­


    I had basically been killed if not for my fast healing.


    Again.


    I¡¯ll admit I hadn¡¯t really worked overly hard to improve my netrunning recently. I enjoyed casually playing around. Making eddies doing some grinds from time to time¡­


    But I was kind of sick of nearly getting killed.


    I looked at my stats.


    Level 17


    Body 8(16) Due to Cyberization, Maximum value has increased by 8.


    -Athletics 7


    -Street Brawler 8


    -Annihilation 5


    Reflex 8(14) Due to Cyberization, Maximum value has increased by 6.


    -Blades 7


    -Handguns 7


    -Assault 8


    -Driving 7


    Intelligence 11 (14) Due to Cyberization, Maximum value has increased by 4.


    -Breach Protocol 10


    -Quick Hacks 9


    -Programming 11


    Cool 9


    -Ninjutsu 9


    -Cold Blood 8


    -Rockerboy 9


    Technical Ability 7 (11) Due to Cyberization, Maximum value has increased by 4.


    -Crafting 6


    -Engineering 6


    0 Stat point.


    6 Skill point.


    Perks.


    Ambidextrous Blades 2


    Quickdraw Handguns 2


    Gun Nut Assault 2


    Parkour Athletics 2


    Grappling Street Brawler 2


    Drive By Driving 2


    Cat-like Athletics 5


    Cool Nerves Cold Blood 2


    Danger Sense Ninjutsu 2


    Wall Breaking Breach Protocol 2


    Cyber Security Quick Hack 2


    Recoil Reduction Annihilation 2


    Cyber Ninja Ninjutsu 5


    Fearless Chill Cold Blood 5


    Improvised Weapons Street Brawler 5


    Parry Blades 5


    Robotics wizard Crafting 2


    Drifting Driving 5


    Rapid Reload Handguns 5


    Design Wizard Engineering 2


    Rifle Ace Assault 5


    Ghost touch Breach 5


    Perfect Musical Memory Rockerboy 2


    Debug Programming 2


    Siren Song Rockerboy 5


    Hacking Wizard Quick Hacks 5


    Inspired Programmer Programming 5


    A.I. Whisperer Programming 10


    Slam Fire Annihilation 5


    Enduring Builds Crafting 5


    Robotics Engineering Engineering 5


    *Unselected* Breach 10


    Cyberware:


    Arasaka Corporation Cyberdeck ¡®Shadow¡¯ Mk.4 *Adaptation ¡®Shadow¡¯ Mk.4 0/0*


    Kiroshi Mk1 *Adaptation Kiroshi Mk1 1/2*


    Militech Condor *Adaptation Militech Condor 6/6*


    Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    Arasaka Smart Link System. *Adaptation Smart Link 0/0*


    Arasaka Ex-Disk *Adaptation Ex-Disk 0/0*


    Militech-Armalite Ballistic Guard *Adaptation Ballistic Guard 1/2*


    Serano Air-Groove Ankles *Adaptation Serano Air 1/1*


    MoorE Titanium Bones (Shoulders, back, and ribs. +Legs, Pelvis, and Ribs.) *Adaptation Titanium Bones 0/2*


    Biotechnica Muscle and Bone Lace *Adaptation Muscle and Bone Lace 0/0*


    Arasaka ODA Neural Link Mk3 *Adaptation ODA Mk.3 1/2*


    Dynalar Sandevistan Mk.2 *Adaptation Dynalar Sandevistan 0/4*


    I needed another 9 adaptation to cover my chrome. I had no idea if it was going over 10 ¡®open¡¯ adaptation had caused the issue, or if it was just my own issues coming to light¡­


    At least my neck didn¡¯t bother me anymore. I shook it off and focused on what was important.


    Obviously the first thing I needed to deal with was my perk. Breach 10. That was gonna be a big upgrade. Not least because Breach was so integral to net running.


    In the end, there was only one that still stuck out to me, at least only one that I could unlock without prerequisites.


    Strong Breach: A door is only as strong as the wall. Damage code, break data make your own path.


    It would allow me to break into nearly any system, only it would definitely alert anyone on the system something was wrong. Like taking a canon to the front door.


    I picked it anyway.


    I shivered as the knowledge flooded me. I had a new understanding about server architecture, how fragile it really was. How easy it would be with a virus, to delete just one bit of code and have all the defenses tumble down.


    Every system had a weakness. Every system was just code iterative on top of older code, and older.


    That would be useful for the future. With that done I focused on everything else.


    Eleven was my highest stat. Before I had nearly got killed in the net that hadn¡¯t bothered me. Now it did, but I also knew I still had stats that needed to catch up. I was close to bringing a lot of my stats and skills to ten.


    I had been playing around a lot recently.


    The fact was that playing around let me stay happy. Let me live a life that I wasn¡¯t ashamed of so I wasn¡¯t upset at the fact, but in order to continue to be able to play around, I needed strength.


    I stepped back from the digital landscape.


    ¡°Spend some time improving.¡± I whispered a promise to myself.


    Then I stepped out, and jumped to the Kabuki Roundabout.


    The digital server welcomed me, and I walked up into the Dewdrop Inn. Rolling my eyes at the music that played loudly in my ears, I tweaked my connection, shutting it up to almost nothing, and moved on.


    Where was Yoko? I wondered, looking, I didn¡¯t see her, but I hadn¡¯t exactly been hiding my connection request. A few moments later I saw her, stepping out from a door that led to nowhere. Or to her private space if she wanted. Our eyes met and I nodded to her, and she jerked her head to follow. Back through the shrine door.


    I hurried to catch up and stepped through, transferred to that same shrine space I had seen before. ¡°Your deck seems to be serving you well.¡± She offered and I nodded.


    ¡°Thank you.¡±


    ¡°It was nothing. I got something as the middleman, and paid a debt to you.¡± She waved off, her tails around her twitching as she shifted.


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t nothing to me¡­ It¡¯s nice. To be on the net again, to have a Cyberdeck again. Feels like I just got an arm back.¡±


    ¡°Heh. It¡¯s been so long since I¡¯ve disconnected completely I don¡¯t think I could properly contemplate it.¡± She agreed and I moved to settle beside her on the stone bench she was resting on, right inside her little shrine space.


    ¡°I was hoping to get some¡­ Well information, but more advice than anything.¡± I said and she looked at me, her eyes twisting in rainbow colors.


    ¡°Oh?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to nearly get killed like that again. I¡¯ve spent enough time playing around. I need better weapons. I need information on how netrunners fight, both normally, and in the Combat Zone, and hacks that you¡¯d suggest that I can rewrite for myself.¡±


    ¡°Well well. This is unexpected. But not unwelcome. I¡¯ll give you all of it for a cheap price. I have a hack I am putting together I could use some debugging on. A new set of eyes to clean it up.¡±


    I wanted to groan but nodded. ¡°Deal.¡±


    ¡°Well then, Ghost in the Shell. Let¡¯s get started. Let¡¯s talk about your own performance.¡± She said and with a wave of her hand the space between the Torii gates shifted into a screen.


    And I was there. Just my digital avatar, but it was the battle with Sasha.


    I settled in despite not getting tired by standing, to watch. But as it went on¡­ It wasn¡¯t¡­ Fun.


    It was really not fun.


    I watched it all the way through from the outsiders perspective. There was a lot I could have done differently, but mostly it was preparing things. I wasn¡¯t set up to face Netrunners in that sort of battle.


    But to my surprise Yoko didn¡¯t share the same thoughts. ¡°Explain your movement here.¡± She asked, and I looked as I saw myself run from the Balrog.


    ¡°I moved myself through breaching the server to a new position.¡±


    ¡°Yes, but why? Why run?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think I can take that thing.¡±


    ¡°Why? Because it is fearsome? Because you have no defenses? Why did you run?¡±


    I blinked. ¡°That Daemon would have beaten me.¡±


    ¡°You believe so?¡± She asked, and I was almost wondering if I was wrong, but no.


    I was sure. My instincts and knowledge all knew that facing the Balrog was a bad idea.


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    ¡°Hmm. You are correct. [HELL FLAME Anh. 2.132] Would not have beaten the Balron in any length of time.¡± She said and I blinked as her speech had shifted from her to a sort of digital statement of what the hack¡¯s name was.


    It was kinda silly, but okay sure, I wouldn¡¯t want to remember the version for something either. But more interesting was that the Balrog was called a Balron? Okay sure.


    ¡°Yeah, the Balron had a defensive hack, the fire. The Hell Flame would have just eaten at that, leaving the Daemon plenty of time to do whatever it wanted.¡± I explained, the knowledge I had followed instinctively coming out.


    ¡°Indeed. You were able to notice that, that¡¯s good. You have good eyes. But why Breach Jump? You could have likely outran the Balron normally. Your speed was greater than the daemon.¡±


    I blinked, thinking back to what I had been thinking at the time.


    ¡°I think I just wanted to lead it around back to Sasha?¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­ Your first instinct was the Breach Jump?¡± She questioned, but it was quiet more to herself.


    ¡°I guess?¡±


    ¡°Breach Jumping is a skill. An advanced skill. You used it before, when I let you access the damaged server.¡± She reminded me. ¡°But the use of it then, and the way you used it now are two very different things.¡± She muttered staring, but then she waved and shifted the screen again.


    This time, to when I hacked into the server at the start.


    ¡°You breached the server quickly. Your opponents hadn¡¯t even gotten ready to try and you were already in. Can you do this while defending yourself?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, maybe? Depends on how much defenses I put up, and how much this new deck speeds me up.¡±


    ¡°Little to moderately depending.¡± She answered back.¡±With your skill likely little. The Seacho was already good at that.¡± She answered before shrugging again. ¡°My suggestion to you, Motoko? Gaining knowledge of the net is the best thing you can do. Breach whatever server you are on first. Cracking the server means you crack the world itself. You can alter the battlefield, or at least see the battlefield for what it truly is if the defenses are too great.¡±


    I nodded, taking that information in.


    Slowly Yoko ran me through the battle, questioning different things I did, mostly to see what I thought about them, and offering her own advice after.


    It was¡­ Surprisingly useful.


    In the end Yoko dumped a lot of data onto me, which took a moment to save it to my server¡­


    Then I narrowed my eyes and glared at her, which she noticed and smiled happily.


    ¡°I was wondering if you would catch that.¡± She admitted shamelessly as I cut the Daemon she had sent through, to spy on me.


    ¡°Well it¡¯s squished now.¡±


    ¡°Good. If you only ever listen to one thing from me, then listen to this Ghost in the Shell. Never trust any data you are given by anyone, even someone you trust. Check, double check, and then assume you missed something. Always.¡± She told me, and then suddenly I was forcefully moved outside the Shrine back at the entrance to the roundabout.


    I nodded. Good advice.


    I jumped back home. Time to get some work done.


    ¡ª--


    I had worked through the night debugging the program Yoko had needed work done on, and I wasn¡¯t even going to point out to her that it wasn¡¯t her work.


    Whoever originally programmed it and then handed it to Yoko for a check over was in for a treat, because I had done a great job fixing all the problems it had.


    The program was a virus meant to shut down power supply to an entire building for about five minutes including the back up power.


    I wished them luck at whatever gig they were planning. It wasn¡¯t my business.


    That took up a while but now that it was the next day I was working on the programs that Yoko had given me.


    She had sent me a few low level scop hacks. Stuff new runners would use, and I was going through one of them, an offensive hack that was designed to force a logout onto whoever it infested.


    Basically against Daemons, it would delete them, as it caused their connection to whatever server they were on to be canceled, kicking them off which would lead to them just being deleted as data.


    Netrunners would be harder to deal with, but it was basically the most basics of netrunner battle hacks.


    Hack the runner, boot them from the server.


    Of course against a runner it would be a fight to see who was the most skilled to get it to work. As any netrunner beyond a complete beginner would be able to try and cancel the forced boot.


    I had already considered ways to mitigate it outright, a good Breach Jump would put me in a different section of the server, and so break the servers ability to try and force me out.


    Once again Breach showed itself as an incredibly powerful skill while on the net.


    Anyway, I was working on making it faster, more compact, and more likely to work when I decided it was probably a good idea to get some food and get away from the net.


    Standing up and stretching I took a second to look at my Tachikoma. Its block Pyramid was finished, and it had moved on to exploring different things in my room. Picking things up and examining them. Its system was full of queries about what each object was. I might actually need to connect it to an encyclopedia soon.. Or maybe start adding the system to develop a personality?


    The idea of a Tachikoma talking to me asking questions was pretty fucking cute.


    I headed out throwing on my jacket and taking the elevator down to the garage. My neck was feeling better, but I still felt more tense than I liked.


    The need for more adaptation points was on my mind as I slipped onto my bike and roared out of the garage.


    I was thinking back to the Netrunner combat zone. But I felt awkward about it.


    Maybe if Sasha hadn¡¯t been so Sasha I would have asked her to show me it.


    But that was rather burned at the moment. I don¡¯t really feel like talking to her. I thought about a few other contacts I had, but none were someone I would really trust like that.


    I sighed as I pulled up outside the Sakura market and found a spot to park before heading in for a meal.


    I was on the stairs when I got a call from someone that I couldn¡¯t just leave hanging.


    Especially since she probably knew exactly where I was.


    *Hi Wakako.*


    *Stop in. Now, I have a job for you on a time limit.*


    The call clicked off and I turned and bounded back up the stairs and across the street. Jig jig was the same as always and I jogged to Wakako¡¯s parlor, but for once Wakako didn¡¯t keep me waiting, she was actually standing outside, smoking a cigarette and making everyone extremely nervous with her glare.


    ¡°Say nothing. Take this. Complete the task, I will make it worth your while.¡± She said simply handing me a shard, and I nodded, slotting it.


    Hmmm..


    Oh. Well that explains the rush.


    ¡°I¡¯m on it.¡± I said turning and jogging off.


    I almost felt like whistling, because this was going to be fun.

 Chapter 170

    Susan Shinama. She was a contact for Wakako. The type that would slip into gangs and send her information. Quite literally a spy.


    And right now she was in deep shit.


    Someone had caught her, or at least she had sent a message saying someone had blown her cover, and then she had gone radio silent.


    That meant Wakako needed her recovered, and the best part? I didn¡¯t even need to go do netrunning crap to find her! Wakako had her location.


    I had almost gone straight there, the urge to potentially get some xp incredibly tempting, but I had taken a breath, and actually remembered what Jun would say if he found out I ran off by myself without even gearing up.


    So I drove home, raced up to the apartment, got armored up, and then switched to the Quadra as I drove to where Susan had gone missing.


    It was¡­ A night club.


    It felt almost cliche, but she had picked up a gig at a night club run by the Valentinos.


    El Jefa. It wasn¡¯t like the usual tino bars. The quiet sort of dive bar, Like the Coyote.


    No, this was more of a strip club, or a BD bar. The entrance was a set of stairs set into the ground floor of a building that was crowded by other businesses, a Strip Mall. The information Wakako gave me was pretty complete, but it wasn¡¯t like I was going to walk into the entrance in broad daylight.


    I pulled up to a parking space, and was doubly glad that my Quadra had armored everything, So I was able to see out, but no one could see in.


    With Wakako¡¯s information I was already in the perfect spot. Right across from me, just over a bunch of plants and junk in the middle of the strip mall''s main path was the entrance. Disappearing down into the darkness, but the reason I had parked here? My eyes locked onto a camera just above the entrance, and after a careful moment to breach as quietly as I could, I was in.


    The camera didn¡¯t pan. Just locked in place above the entrance to the club, but of course it shared the system with all the other cameras in the network. I made to swap over, but mentally stilled.


    The server I was in? I wasn¡¯t alone.


    Very slowly I did everything I could to diminish my presence on the network. The quality of the camera image dropped in quality, sending me far less data so I wouldn¡¯t show as large as a blip.


    Then I switched to the next camera, and waited. I couldn¡¯t swap rapidly through the network without creating additional drain.


    So I was staring at the next camera, the bottom of the stairs, an entrance way into the club. A few people walking in. Stopping to pay, and then going in.


    I waited for a while just letting the load of the camera be normalized before finally switching.


    Next camera was in the club proper. There wasn¡¯t the massive dance floor I would see in most TC clubs. Instead it was smaller booths, some set up like BD booths, with a fully closing door. It reminded me of the Heavy Hearts. Private rooms to spend private time in.


    The club was a strange shape. A sort of curved hallway that led in a big circle. In the middle there was an elevator. Which was interesting. I wonder where that led. But as I swapped camera¡¯s I noticed another room that was sort of like the VIP section.


    Ah, I found someone on my info sheet. Julio Hernandez. The man that was in charge of the club. If nothing else, he would know where Susan is.


    But then I stilled as I switched to the next camera and I found my current difficulty.


    There was a security room that had a netrunner jacked in.


    I watched him for a few minutes. I couldn¡¯t poke any further into his current actions without alerting him, but at least I knew where he was. First floor, through a security door.


    Now how was I going to get to him?


    This club had two entrances. The main club entrance with the stairs, and the elevator, which I wasn¡¯t sure where it connected to.


    I tapped a finger on my knee as I pulled out of the camera system as quietly as I had entered it. How did I want to handle this? Susan was inside somewhere, and I couldn¡¯t find her without getting rid of that Netrunner somehow.


    I was staring at the entrance to the club when I saw it.


    One of the workers there walked up the stairs, pink heels clicking. Pink plastic miniskirt, her top nearly see through. She looked exhausted as she headed out and towards the parking lot¡­


    ¡°Well that¡¯s certainly an option.¡± I muttered considering it.


    On one hand infiltration. On the other stripper clothes¡­


    Ah who was I kidding. Doing a stealth infiltration was always hilarious. I hurriedly pulled my gear off.


    Time to stealth run this bitch.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°Stupid lady stilts.¡± I mumbled as I walked back onto the strip mall.


    Melody would wake up eventually with a bit of a shock, being almost naked and all, but I had stuffed her into her own car, and left her with a grand in eddies as an apology.


    Wearing this stripper outfit was a bit awkward, the worst part was Melody had a much bigger chest than I did, so I had to stuff the damn top.


    It was super embarrassing, especially since my muscles made the rest of the outfit stretch.


    I really felt like I was going to tear my way out of it.


    This was a stupid plan. I decided as I reached the steps down.


    I took a second, adjusted my stance, to add a sexy sway, shifting into Sexy Motoko voice so I wouldn¡¯t get called out stupidly, and sauntered down anyways.


    The Stealth Daemon I had uploaded on breaching the camera system should help keep the netrunner from noticing me until it was too late.


    The steps led into the entrance lobby, and I walked right through it. The worker only looked up to notice me as I was already through the door on the way into the long halls that made up the club.


    I took a left and continued on my way. There weren¡¯t a lot of guards around or anything, this was a club after all. I walked past guests sending a flirty smile as I was called out to, by a guy way too drunk for me to want to deal with.


    ¡°Sorry darling!¡± I called back, walking right past him then around the corner.


    Security door spotted.


    Realizing I was going to have to figure out a way through I walked past before smiling and stepping into one of the side rooms. This one was empty, and I stepped inside using the lack of line of sight to turn around and start slowly hacking through the security door across the hall.


    I was slowly hacking my way when someone walked into the room I was in.


    ¡°Ah. Someone already got this room¡­ Wait, I don¡¯t know you.¡±  She asked, looking me up and down.


    ¡°I¡¯m new, covering for Melody.¡± I said with a warm drawl thanks to my Sexy Motoko voice on full blast! I just needed to get this woman to go away and keep hacking the door at the same time.


    ¡°Hmm, well don¡¯t slack off. C¡¯mon start cleaning up already we need this room ready for the next customers.¡± She said haughtily and I smiled despite wanting to do anything but, as I turned and started gathering up the leftover garbage, mostly empty bottles, as the older woman threw her long pastel pink hair over a shoulder and started helping.


    ¡°I¡¯m surprised they hired a new person, I mean, I guess it makes sense, we lost Susan.¡± She sighed, shaking her head, and I twitched at that.


    ¡°Oh? Someone decided to find better work?¡± I asked teasingly.


    ¡°Pfft. Please. No, Susan did something, not sure. They dragged her downstairs last night.¡± She whispered, giving me a serious look. ¡°So make sure you don¡¯t fuck around. The boys treat us alright, we aren¡¯t joytoys after all, but they find you fucking around they¡¯ll replace you too.¡± She said enunciating ¡®replace¡¯ heavily.


    This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    I nodded along seriously, playing into my roll as I continued to help clean up. Grabbing bottles and trash and even using some wipes hidden in the seating that ¡®Mariana¡¯ showed me.


    Then it happened. I reached out, and she did the same for a bottle, and our hands bumped into each other.


    I didn¡¯t notice it right away, but as I pulled up the bottle I looked at her, and I knew.


    My arms, I had covered them in the plastic jacket thing, but my hands were still visible. A girl working at this sort of place would have Synthskin, or chrome that looked pleasing.


    My Condors were military issue completely out of place.


    She looked at me. I looked at her. I considered what to do. She must have realized it as well.


    ¡°You aren¡¯t covering for Melody.¡±


    ¡°No. Melody is sleeping in her car right now. She¡¯ll be fine.¡± I answered simply, still holding the bottle¡­


    The door to the room was closed. I could knock her out, and these rooms were soundproof for a reason.


    She realized what danger she was in. She swallowed and I could see her mind running through choices.


    ¡°Relax. I¡¯m not here for you.¡± I offered, but it didn¡¯t help.


    She made a break for it trying to scream for help.


    I was on her a moment later, long before she reached the door. Her hands reached out at empty air, scrambling to open the door as I locked my arm around her throat. She gasped and then twitched as I pressed just the right way.


    Huh. It¡¯s been a while since I did a lot of takedowns, but my Condor actually made it a lot easier.


    I brought her to the ground as I considered what to do..


    I dropped a Optica reboot on her and then just stuffed her into the corner.


    That should keep her out of trouble for a while. Especially since these booths were sound proofed.


    Now that I had some time to actually work, I refocused on the door across the way.


    Forty uninterrupted seconds later I was through. Taking a moment I casually walked out of the room, no one was looking down the hall, and I walked across. The security door opened as I approached and closed behind me.


    ¡°Hello.¡± I whispered to the netrunner. Poor guy had no idea what was about to happen to him.


    Luckily for him, I had learned something important a while back from Blazed. Netrunners tended to have a code around each other. This guy didn¡¯t look like he was Valentino, probably just a rando. Hired on to watch their stuff in exchange, for security to surf the net without worrying about his body.


    His poor defenseless body. I almost giggled as I walked over. I wasn¡¯t going to kill him, but he definitely wasn¡¯t going to appreciate what was about to happen.


    I found the system his net chair was hooked into, and with a few presses began emergency booting him.


    Being forced out like that would be disorienting, as his mind was pulled right back into his body uncontrollably.


    Then just before he would have woken up, I reached over and yanked his connection.


    He spazzed out. If I had done that without forcing the boot he would¡¯ve had a stroke. But I was being nice.


    Then while he was absolutely defenseless I sent a gentle and non-lethal Short Circuit.


    He spazzed out worse as electricity started frying him, jerked out moans escaping him randomly as he was rather completely rendered helpless.


    I was just about to get into the system to find Susan when I noticed it.


    An xp alert.


    I looked right towards the netrunner seeing he was still alive and frantically checked the alerts before seeing what it was, and relaxing.


    *250 XP Gained.*


    *250 XP Gained.*


    *Level up achieved!*


    *One Stat Point Gained.*


    *One Skill Point Gained.*


    *250 XP Gained.*


    ¡°That¡¯s right. I get XP for knockouts! I realized I had just gained enough for a level up! Suddenly feeling much much better about everything. I walked over and patted the netrunner on the head. ¡°Just for that, I¡¯ll not trash your stuff.¡± I told him not that he heard me, as he was still unconscious and jerking randomly as the short circuit caused another surge.


    ¡°I almost feel bad about the headache you¡¯re gonna have.¡± I explained and then turned to get back to work. I accessed the system and since I was in the security center that meant it was all open to me. I added myself into the elevator security with a thought, and checked for additional security cameras.


    There were none. Whatever was down stairs was going to be entirely up to me to handle.


    Adding in a few adjustments to the security system for the future I was ready to go.


    Walking out without a care having direct access to the cameras meant I could walk through the whole place without anyone seeing me. The elevators opened as I approached and I slipped in.


    Flipping up the plastic skirt I had been wearing I pulled out my Unity and a few mags from my thigh where they had been hidden.


    Adjusting everything to be easier to work with, I slipped the silencer onto the barrel while whistling a few notes and just waited for the doors to open to the sub floor 2.


    They opened to a well lit hallway and carpeted floors. Some sort of office space. I walked out slowing as I came to a set of windows looking into the hallway, old blinds failing to properly hide what was inside.


    First room was an office. A desk and computer with a guy glaring at the screen.


    I considered moving past him. I considered just opening the door and popping him, but honestly?


    I walked over hiding my pistol in the the small of my back and knocked.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s Melody from upstairs?¡± She called out waiting. She could hear the man get up and stomped to the door.


    ¡°Dumb bitch! What part of ¡®don¡¯t come down here¡¯ was too hard to understand?¡± He demanded as he slammed the door open.


    ¡°Sorry Sir. I was told to, by Mr. Hernandez? He¡¯s been trying to reach you?¡±


    ¡°What? My Agent is fine! What shit is this?¡± He demanded and turned around to head to his desk.


    The door closed behind me with a click as I was already on him. Slipping out of the heels I slammed a foot into the back of his knee at the same time as I wrapped my arms around his throat.


    He struggled for a few seconds, but he didn¡¯t have the chrome to protect his throat, and with my chrome arms, there was no chance of really resisting. A few seconds was all it took. The blood interrupted to his brain and he passed out.


    I dropped him and dropped a reboot optics on him too.


    Mostly just cause it was funny.


    *250 XP Gained.*


    I smirked as I turned and strutted back out. The next office was empty, and I strolled past, then down the hall I came across my prize.


    A hidden party room. The VIP of VIP spaces.


    The place made me want to gag, it was gaudy and looked cheap, but it also had a stripper pole surrounded by couches, and handcuffed to the pole hanging limply, was Susan. I grumbled, she had definitely been beaten.


    I glanced around. Getting eyes on everyone inside. Eight guys? That¡¯s a lot for just watching a kidnapped girl, but I realized after a moment of watching, no. It was two guys watching Susan, and the other six partying.


    But any threat these people might have been was already gone.


    I had eyes on them.


    Weapon Glitch was activated, disabling weapons in the room as I sauntered over to the door. Stopping just before entering, how did I want to handle this?


    I considered guns blazing. Extra XP would be nice, but this wasn¡¯t an assassination. I sighed and nodded, entering the door, and striding in. I was noticed as the door opened, but I walked in casually straight towards the two hanging around Susan, like a working girl just coming in with a message, I leaned in behind one of them like I was going to whisper in his ear.


    The man even tilted his head to hear what I was going to say, and instead got a pistol against his throat.


    ¡°Evening gentleman. You have something of mine.¡± I whispered to him, and I could see the way his eyes flicked from me to Susan.


    ¡°You¡¯re crazy. You can¡¯t just wander in here like this.¡± He said voice level, but incredibly tense. I could see his buddy realizing what was happening going for his gun.


    That of course caused the other guys that were just here having fun to go for their weapons, but I had confirmed all of their weapons were glitched out already.


    ¡°You boys are all very very lucky.¡± I explained, keeping the gun right into the man''s trachea. ¡°I¡¯m not here to kill you all.¡± I offered out with a smile and a sultry tone.


    ¡°What do you want?¡± The man I had at gunpoint asked after a moment, I could see the boys start moving surrounding me.


    ¡°Susan here is a package, I¡¯m here to collect. She comes with me, we both part happy and with all of our blood on the inside. Sounds good?¡± I offered cheerfully, almost hoping they refused.


    ¡°Fuck no. You aren¡¯t going anywhere.¡± One of the boys called out confidently. ¡°Look around bitch!¡±


    ¡°Yeah I know. That¡¯s why I walked in here without any fear. You¡¯re missing at least a dozen guys to make it a more fair fight.¡± I offered haughtily, practically daring these gonk gangsters to come at me.


    Wait¡­ No, that was exactly what I was doing. I should have walked in, dropped a short circuit on them and moved on.


    Why was I talking to them?


    Ah, because a part of me wanted to punch someone. I rolled the thought around in my head for a second and sighed.


    Dammit.


    ¡°Get the bitch!¡± Too late to fix my situation. The boys'' guns clicked empty, but the fact they were about to fire caused the two actual men in the room to flinch. The one in my arms wasn¡¯t going anywhere, but the other moved to leap out  of the way when nothing happened catching him by surprise.


    Well then.


    I squeezed his neck feeling him slump practically instantly, and then I rose up.


    Mine was the only gun in the room that still worked.


    ¡°Surrender.¡± I offered, and that only made the boy who had been calling the shots angry.


    He threw his gun at me, which I jerked to the side to avoid and he pulled out a knife.


    I really wished I was still wearing my gear now.


    It was the only thing I could think  of as I moved in to counter the attack. I slipped my gun in between my tits so I could use both arms. His knife swept horizontally out, but I blocked his wrist with my forearm, avoiding the blade as I reached out. He was pretty strong. A big guy. Worked out, or had some bioware to buff him up.


    But he was an amateur, and his wrist bent nice and easily backwards as I pressured him, his knife fell out of his hand with a cry of pain, and I snatched it out of the air before it hit the ground, flipping around, I used his arm to slam him into the couch and brought the knife down with brutal force.


    Right through the collar of his jacket and into the couch.


    ¡°Now boys. As much as I enjoy a good dance, you aren¡¯t nearly ready to be my dance partner.¡± I offered, slapping the boy on his ass as I turned towards the others, most had hesitated when their choom started swiping a knife around. The others had been ready to jump on me to help, but when I had the knife they had also hesitated.


    Boys playing gangster. Sure I had no doubt they would kill me given a chance, but risk to them? They were cowards. Here for the fun, not the danger.


    They milled around me, not sure what to do without their leader.


    So I made the decision for them, pulling the gun out and leveling it right at the back of the dumbasses head.


    ¡°Unless you want to let this dance continue to play out?¡± I asked and the room stilled.


    This guy? I wasn¡¯t sure who he was. Not important to me, but the other guys around his age had all been following his lead. He was definitely the leader of this little group.


    Other than the other guard. The one watching Susan. He was on his feet, still clutching his pistol, but he was watching me with a controlled glare.


    ¡°Alright.¡± One of the boys said, arms raising up. ¡°Chill choom. No need to get worked up yeah? Carlos? Tell her to take the girl and get out of here.¡± He called out, but Carlos wasn¡¯t listening. Practically snapping as he was trying to get the knife out of the couch with little success. He had almost no leverage from his bent over angle.


    ¡°Carlos?¡± I called and pushed the barrel against the back of his head. ¡°Your choom asked you a question.¡±


    ¡°Fuck off¡­ Take the bitch!¡±


    ¡°Excellent! See how easy that was?¡± I offered cheerfully as I stepped away, gun still at the ready and moved over towards Susan.


    ¡°Where are the keys for the cuffs?¡± I asked, and the guard took a moment to pull them from a pocket and chuck them at me.


    Catching them easily with one hand as the other pointed my gun. I threw him a wink and took a few seconds to pop Susan loose.


    She fell and I caught her. The girl was still unconscious, face beaten in. I wasn¡¯t surprised she wasn¡¯t awake.


    I hefted her up over my shoulder with a bit of work and looked around the room. Everyone was still standing looking pissed, but not sure what to do.


    ¡°Boys.¡± I offered a farewell as I walked out the door, and then hurrying to the elevator.


    Thankfully I had already infested the security, so the elevator was already open and waiting to send me up to the next floor.


    I could practically see the calls being sent out from the boys as they called the men upstairs to let them know what was going on.


    The elevator doors closed and I prepared. Checking the camera systems through the direct access I had to their security seeing the people upstairs were already frantically moving towards the elevator.


    Then before the doors opened I dropped Optic Reboot on the entire place. I watched through cameras as men previously hurrying towards the elevator stumbled and tripped over each other.


    The doors opened and I sauntered out, glad I wasn¡¯t wearing those stupid lady stilts anymore. I should have just kept my damn boots on. Going barefoot was so weird in Night City I was constantly worried I was gonna step on something gross.


    I walked out, only slowed a little by the stairs that took me out of the club.


    Then I hurried over to my car, ignoring the looks people sent me.


    Packing Susan into the passenger seat, I was off not long after.


    *Wakako. Package retrieved.* I spoke as soon as Wakako picked up.

 Chapter 171

    ¡°You handled that without killing anyone¡­¡± Wakako spoke the not quite question, as I was sitting across from her, not at our usual spot.


    Wakako had sent me a drop off that ended up being an old apartment complex. A few men, obviously TC, or at least with their looks helped carry Susan out of my car and into an apartment that had two other people.


    One was a ripper, and the other was Wakako.


    ¡°I thought about it honestly. I could have killed them all, almost did. But they weren¡¯t Scavs, even if they tortured your contact. I uh¡­ Figured it was cleaner this way.¡±


    ¡°You did well.¡± She said after a while, taking a puff on her cigarette. ¡°Padre is already annoyed with the discovery of my agent. The lack of bodies to clean up will make our next communication more civil than it would have been.¡± She explained casually.


    ¡°Those guys were Padres?¡±


    ¡°They were Valentino.¡± She responded as if that answered the question and I guess it did.


    Every Tyger Claw was probably under Wakako¡¯s thumb in a similar way at least to her mind.


    ¡°Should I call him and apologize for roughing up the guys?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± She answered back simply and I nodded. ¡°Motoko.¡± Wakako said suddenly as I was looking over at the ripper taking care of Susan, making sure she wouldn¡¯t die.


    ¡°Yeah?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t enjoy offering surprise gigs like this, without warning and demanding it from you. It¡¯s unprofessional. You took it without complaint and did what I needed.¡± She took another puff of her cigarette. ¡°You¡¯ve grown from the fool who walked into my office earlier this year.¡±


    ¡°Oh, thanks.¡± I said, a little happy despite myself. Wakako was like my strict asian Grandma¡­ Well my Yakuza Grandma.


    ¡°You haven¡¯t done any work at the Afterlife yet.¡± She said suddenly, and I perked up and looked over.


    ¡°No. Rogue gave me the invite, but I haven¡¯t really needed to do much work. Recently. I¡¯ve been doing other things.¡±


    ¡°I suppose you wouldn¡¯t,  with Ms. Mitsunashi¡¯s jobs keeping you busy.¡± She said and I smiled as Hiromi was acknowledged.


    ¡°The last one was pretty fun.¡±


    ¡°I heard about it. 6th St. Were quite unhappy with your interference. Although none of them wanted to interrupt, considering the armament you brought along.¡±


    ¡°The Minotaur is so cool.¡± I replied back smiling because it fucking was!


    ¡°Wakako? The patient is waking up.¡± The ripper called and Wakako turned her attention away.


    ¡°Motoko. Payment will come through soon, Just give me a few hours.¡±


    ¡°Hey, don¡¯t worry about it. You got something else to do first.¡± I assured  her and got up, stretching a bit, and accidentally hearing a tearing noise. ¡°Dangit, this stripper gear is shit!¡± I cursed earning an actual scoff from the older lady.


    ¡°That isn¡¯t stripper apparel, dear. You are far too dressed for that.¡± She snarked at me, and I couldn''t help but laugh at the older woman''s words, but I also really didn¡¯t want to ask how she knew that in case I would be subjected to mental trauma so I headed out with a wave.


    Wakako seemed pretty gentle with Susan¡­


    She wasn¡¯t a relative or something¡­ Right?


    ¡ª--


    ¡°Please don¡¯t ask any questions.¡± I sighed. I had decided to change once I was back in the apartment. Changing in the car hadn¡¯t been very comfortable the first time, but even with  my normal jacket over my shoulders, and carrying my gear in my arms. I still looked like I just left my job as a stripper.


    And Jun was not just home, but had been walking back to the couch with a burrito in his hand when I opened the door, no chance for me to sneak in.


    ¡°I have so many questions.¡± He said going directly against what I had asked as he turned away from the couch towards me. ¡°Let¡¯s start with-¡±


    ¡°Nope! No, questions. I need to get changed and throw this away. It¡¯s not mine, and doesn¡¯t fit.¡±


    ¡°Well yeah, of course it doesn¡¯t fit, you had to stuff the shit out of that top.¡± Jun snarked back and I felt my jaw drop as I brought my holsters and leotard up to my chest to hide it.


    ¡°No I didn¡¯t!¡±


    ¡°Motoko.¡± Jun said in a monotone, and then added nothing else. As if saying my name would make me realize how silly I was!


    But jokes on Jun! I¡¯m capable of bringing up his weakness! The nuclear option in this situation!


    ¡°We are not talking about my tits right now.¡± I demanded, and Jun flinched, deciding that the better part of valor was to run away.


    Which I also did hurrying to my room to take off the stripper wear and get dressed in comfortable leotard.


    Definitely covering more skin¡­ I looked down. Actually when I didn¡¯t wear the jeans with it, I think I actually showed more skin¡­


    Nope. That thought was going to be shoved into a dark corner and never thought of again.


    Stepping out fully dressed I noticed Jun was still waiting for me, with a look on his face demanding answers.


    ¡°Ugh! Okay I¡¯ll say this once, and we never talk about it again! Wakako called for an emergency gig. Had to pick up a contact that got ratted out. They were holding her in a club, like a BD bar. I had to sneak in. They had a netrunner watching the cams, so I couldn¡¯t just walk in normally. I saw one of the girls leaving and¡­ acquired her uniform. That¡¯s it. We are never speaking of this again.¡±


    ¡°Motoko.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°You looked like a stripper.¡±


    ¡°Jun.¡±


    This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.


    ¡°Yeah?¡±


    ¡°You look like a two bit yakuza.¡± I offered back and Jun actually flinched looking down at his clothes.


    ¡°What part of me is two bit? Motoko! Hey don¡¯t walk away, what part of me is two bit!?¡±


    ¡ª--


    Tachikoma was doing well. I had spent the night after the gig working on building a personality kernel. The small seed wasn¡¯t anything big yet, still far too early to really do much, but of course I wanted my Tachikoma to be cute when it was done!


    I couldn¡¯t run it yet. I didn¡¯t have the processing power on my hardware on hand. But I had a plan for that.


    Long before the sun was rising, I was heading out. Driving across the city to the netrunner cave!


    There I plugged not just my laptop into the server, but the Tachikoma as well.


    The server synced in just a moment, and I edited my lobby to allow the Tachikoma access. With a bit of work it was ready, and I went and plugged into my netrunner chair. Making sure to fully hook in. I wasn¡¯t doing a deep dive, but I was going to do a lot of work.


    A moment later I was in a digital landscape.


    There was a¡­ Well it was more like a mess of squiggles than any specific shape. The Tachikoma didn¡¯t have a sense of self, or even a digital avatar. It wasn¡¯t even at the level of a Daemon yet.


    It was probably about 70% on its way to having enough data to be considered an IMP. Of course unlike an IMP it would be capable of improving.


    I was going to speed that up. First thing I did was bring in the dimensions for the Tachikoma and sync up the digital connection.


    The digital mess buzzed for a second as it shifted into the form of a Tachikoma.


    It took a second, but the learning module activated as it took a step. And then another, and then it was walking around.


    It wasn¡¯t quite right to call it exploring, there was no impetus in the motion yet.


    That was what I was here for. Personality was actually really easy. Anything digital had some personality now after all. The thought made me think of Brendan the SCSM capable of so accurately pretending to be alive people thought it was a full AI.


    There were even personality systems for Agents, to let them talk to their users.


    I didn¡¯t have one, myself, or at least I had never activated one. I didn¡¯t need a second voice in my head.


    Anyway, with the Tachikoma settled I pulled up a digital screen.


    There were plenty of personality matrices out there. I could go to any shop and buy one that would let my agent, or my clock, or whatever talk to me in some famous actor''s voice.


    But that was crap. I wasn¡¯t making some dirt tier program.


    I was raising a Tachikoma! Settling into the lounge chairs I started working. Mentally running multiple keyboards as I used my new cyberdeck to modify the personality kernel.


    It was actually pretty easy. It was just a seed. The beginnings of how the Tachikoma would develop its personality. It was easy to start, but it would take a long time to grow.


    But I stopped as I was just starting to get going.


    A long time.


    I don¡¯t think I wanted to wait a long time. The longer it took the longer I would be without my backup Tachikoma squad.


    I looked at the little digital avatar wandering around. Completely without awareness, completely without a ghost.


    I knew how to make an AI grow faster. I just couldn¡¯t do it yet.


    Lack of equipment, lack of skill. The fact was, I couldn¡¯t think like a digital entity. I had started moving towards that with Intelligence, over 10. That was basically what Intelligence did once it went past the human limit. It let me act as if the digital was my native space.


    It¡¯s how I was able to run multiple keyboards at once despite how difficult that was.


    I pulled up my stat screen.


    One Stat point.


    Sighing, I shook it off. Decisions decisions. Make myself stronger, or make myself mentally safer? I didn¡¯t exactly want another episode. Burning my cyberdeck out for nothing wasn¡¯t a fun experience.


    I hummed as I settled back, letting myself just think.


    My neck didn¡¯t get tense on the web. My body was far enough away that sort of thing wouldn¡¯t be noticed. It hadn¡¯t been as bad since I dropped a stat point into my neural link, but I really wanted to get stronger too.


    Cyberware, or advancement? It was a choice I was coming across more and more, and once all my stats were over ten¡­


    Yeah that was going to be tough to choose. I really needed to figure this out.


    So I decided like all important choices.


    ¡°One for you. One for me.¡± I said. Unless something crazy was happening I would spend my stat points like that. Last point had gone into Adaptation, and I was feeling better with that. So the next point was for stats.


    Nodding, I dropped the point into Intelligence. Bringing that up to twelve!


    But that was only the stat. It was time to level the skills, I was about to dump points into stuff before stopping.


    ¡°Dumbass, remember what happened last time?¡± I cursed myself. No more leveling stats more than one at a time with long rests in between.


    One point went into Breach Protocol. Bringing me up to 11, and another in Programming keeping me at my max of 12.


    The influx was intense, and I felt the way I programmed change irrevocably.


    It was one thing to still use a physical system as preference. It was another to know that you didn¡¯t need them.


    I had programming on my mind.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°Motoko!¡± Hiromi cheered as I opened the door, earning an arm full of my bestie as she hugged me.


    ¡°I¡¯m free!¡± She cried out and I nodded.


    Friday afternoon. No more school.


    ¡°I have good news as well.¡± She offered as she raced over to the couch and leapt onto it flopping down and sighing in relief.


    ¡°Hello to you Hiromi. I¡¯m glad you had a good day at school. Oh you had that for lunch? That¡¯s nice.¡± I teased as I joined Hiromi who just grumbled at me.


    ¡°Business Motoko! Business! We have a meeting tomorrow, to finalize the sale of your song.¡± She explained and I nodded remembering that was a thing, yes.


    ¡°Okay? You need me?¡±


    ¡°You have to sign it over. We haven¡¯t entered any official paperwork on the books to make me your manager.¡± She explained and then rolled over to look at me with a firm look.


    ¡°So I have to go?¡±


    ¡°So you have to go!¡± She demanded pointing at me. ¡°And to make sure you do, I¡¯m spending the night and hanging out with you all day! Hiromi time!¡± She demanded and I acquiesced easily. Hiromi had it hard with school and all the responsibilities that I heaped on her.


    ¡°Hiromi time.¡± I agreed, and the bright smile told me I had made the right call. ¡°So, shall we go out, get a bunch of food, hang out on the couch?¡±


    ¡°Oooh that does sound nice!¡± She sighed, raising her hands. ¡°Help me up?¡±


    I grabbed her upraised arms and easily hauled her to her feet. Hiromi was so light.


    ¡°C¡¯mon I¡¯ll drive.¡± I offered, and Hiromi whined.


    ¡°But you drive slooooow.¡±


    ¡°I drive safe.¡± instantly replied back.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°So you need better data storage?¡±


    ¡°At least for the Tachikoma.¡± I admitted. Hiromi was playing with my Tachikoma as it walked around in her lap, interested in my drone experiment.


    ¡°Hmm. That¡¯s tough, not as easy to get off the back of a truck as weapons.¡± She explained and I nodded.


    ¡°It¡¯s not a rush, but I can¡¯t really make them smart and autonomous at the moment. I can basically just do one or the other.¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t you do a remote connection and control them that way?¡±


    ¡°Yeeees?¡± I offered. Technically that was the Militech solution to their Flathead. Just remote connect it, and don¡¯t worry about needing an on board AI.


    But I didn¡¯t want a Flathead, I wanted a Tachikoma.


    ¡°I can do that for a stop gap, might even be a good idea to do it, so I can help teach it what I need it to do, but I¡¯m looking for an autonomous system.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll keep an eye out. Maybe we¡¯ll hit a storage yard, or just knock over a transport?¡±


    ¡°Pfft!¡± I giggled at Hiromi¡¯s words. ¡°Just knock over stuff huh? Steal it? You¡¯re so bad!¡±


    ¡°What? That¡¯s literally what we do!¡±


    ¡°I know! But it sounds funny coming from you and saying it like that!¡± I giggled as I turned to my noodles and kept eating. The TV show currently playing was honestly being ignored by both of us.


    Me because I didn¡¯t like it, and Hiromi, because she was showing that corpo personality. Always wanting to push more.


    ¡°Hmph! Maybe I will make sure when I find the chips you need, the gig requires a transport truck heist! Just to show you!¡±


    ¡°That would be cool. Ichi could be the driver in the Behemoth, and Malcolm could use his Nomad car, the one with the rockets. I could do a cool jump from Ichi¡¯s truck onto the transport and take it over.¡±


    ¡°Or just make them pull over so you don¡¯t get yourself killed!¡± Hiromi shrieked at me, and I just laughed.


    This was nice, the stress from the week disappeared off my shoulders as Hiromi and I hung out making fun of bad TV and eating ourselves sick.

 Chapter 172

    Hiromi the next day marched me down to City Center. Practically buzzing with excitement, as she guided me towards a specific building into its garage, using an access code she supplied, to enter into the building''s garage.


    ¡°Must be exciting. To be doing like a real business deal.¡± I offered to her, as we slipped into the elevator.


    ¡°I¡¯ve done business deals before.¡± She replied semi distracted, but I could see her cheeks flushing.


    ¡°Yeah but that was on the street, this is like the real deal. Bet no one in your class has ever gotten even close to this sort of thing.¡± I whispered teasingly at the end.


    ¡°Definitely not. Those losers and over inflated egotists!¡± She chirped, pleased, and then focused up as the elevator ride ended, the doors opened onto a fancy upscale reception, carpeted and warmly lit. At the end of the hallway was a woman with tasteful cyberware, elegant and attractive sitting behind a desk.


    The big company icon above her head was rather telling.


    I followed along after Hiromi, who had shifted her face into a mask of confident arrogance.


    Neither woman spoke up at first. Hiromi¡¯s eyes flashing, and the womans did as well, before her cement-like smile broke.


    ¡°You are right on time Ms. Mitsunashi. Keiko will guide you to the conference room.¡± She replied and another woman dressed in the same way stepped out of a side door throwing a fake smile and bowing.


    We both followed Hiromi staying confident and cool, but I could see the tension in how she walked from knowing her.


    I was basically uninterested in the pageantry. I wouldn¡¯t even be here if not for Hiromi asking me to.


    I just didn¡¯t need the eddies, or the fame, but if I could help out Hiromi¡¯s dream by giving her access to the rich and powerful, I wasn¡¯t going to deny her.


    We were guided down the hall, Keiko smiling fakely, her voice chipper and happy as she talked up her company.


    Blah blah blah. It all went in one ear and out the other.


    I''ve heard enough corpo jargon in my life. I didn¡¯t need more.


    Finally the door was held open for us, and we walked into a brightly lit conference room. An entire side of the wall were open windows showing the towers of City Central.


    But I was more interested in the other end of the table. The one man sitting. Expensive suit, and more expensive smile.


    But it was the two standing behind him that caught my eye.


    They looked like accountants. Standing behind him with tablets, and even some actual papers in their arms.


    But I recognized the stance, the way they held their arms.


    They were armed. Bodyguards?


    I stopped behind Hiromi as she took a seat across from the man, earning a confused look from her as there was a chair beside her for me, but I was fully in bodyguard mode myself now.


    ¡°Ms. Mitsunashi. I am Sam Henson. It is a pleasure to see you face to face. Rarely do I get such riveting back and forth for something so simple as a small music deal.¡±


    ¡°Small or large, hardly matters. Not when it comes to who is asking for this deal.¡± Hiromi seemingly reposted, bringing up Denny in her first line.


    Ah, if Hiromi had been getting back and forth, then likely the company was trying to screw me?


    Heh.


    ¡°Our contract is welcomed by many up and coming artists.¡± He replied back, but Hiromi laughed fakely.


    ¡°Artists, am I right? They never know what they want. Or what they need.¡± She shrugged, and I actually almost looked at her myself, because that almost sounded like a bit of a dig towards me.


    I¡¯m sorry Hiromi, I just don¡¯t like all the attention!


    ¡°Well, we¡¯ve run your contract edits through legal, and they were denied of course.¡± He offered casually. ¡°I¡¯ve taken the liberty of going through the edits you desired and altering them into something that will work for us.¡±


    Hiromi didn¡¯t frown, she didn¡¯t smile either. Simply waited, as the man''s eyes went blue as he sent over a file to Hiromi.


    I could practically see the file transfer over, but before Hiromi could open it I attacked.


    Slipping into the network transfer to Hiromi, I popped up a small text file on her agent into her sight.


    *Motoko: Give me a second. Checking the file.*


    *Hiromi: Okay.*


    ¡°A moment then to look it over.¡± She replied verbally, and I checked over the file searching through it before deciding it was clean. Yoko was right, checking file transfers first was a good idea.


    Hiromi nodded, popping it open, and I pulled out of her system leaving her to check it over.


    The room was quiet as Hiromi¡¯s eyes continued to glow telling everyone she was reading through a document.


    I kept an eye on the other guards, but neither seemed to register me as an actual threat.


    Which was kinda hilarious, but I just took it as a good thing and continued to stand guard as Hiromi browsed, finally she slapped a hand onto the table.


    ¡°Ridiculous.¡± She said instantly. ¡°We are selling a song to Master-Space Records. Not selling the musicians rights. You want to be able to sell the song without giving attention to its songwriter. That doesn¡¯t work for my client.¡±


    ¡°It''s a standard part of our contracts Ms. Mitsunashi, we need to be able to sell the song without any issues from a musician''s public stunts. The contract will make ¡®Tank¡¯ a full and complete ownership to Master-Space.¡±


    ¡°You want to have someone else ¡®create¡¯ the song and sell it as theirs.¡± Hiromi argued, and I was just following along not really seeing the issue.


    Wasn¡¯t that what selling the song to them meant? Hiromi, stop getting fiery!


    ¡°Correct. That is a standard in our business Ms. Mitsunashi, we understand that you are new to the music industry, and not properly licensed to deal in contract law, so we are being understanding of your limitations.¡±


    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.


    Wow, what a great way to belittle someone. I was really starting to not like this guy.


    ¡°I have enough experience to see when my client is being taken advantage of. We are here at the request of your company, as you wish to purchase my client''s work. If this is the best you can offer. I can reach out to other agencies. It honestly isn¡¯t an issue for us.¡± Hiromi states plainly.


    But Sam wasn¡¯t seemingly intimidated.


    ¡°The door is behind you Ms. Mitsunashi.¡±


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll leave explaining the situation to Denny to you.¡± Hiromi added, rising up, and there was a tension in the room, the two guards behind Sam shifted.


    I didn¡¯t move. Better to let them think I¡¯m nothing in case I needed to move. If either of them reached for a weapon they would be dead before their hand touched it.


    ¡°Hold on Ms. Mitsunashi.¡± Sam demanded and Hiromi calmly finished rising to her feet.


    ¡°Do we have any further business Mr. Henson?¡±


    ¡°Allow me a few moments to make a call. It would be a shame to lose your client out of such a profitable enterprise.¡± He explained with a smile that was as fake as his attempted kindness.


    ¡°I can wait a few minutes.¡± Hiromi replied back drily, confidence in every inch of her. She had definitely won that exchange.


    ¡°Enjoy some snacks while we wait.¡± Sam offered. Pointing to a table that had¡­


    I guess they were snacks? I don¡¯t really get it. Hiromi nodded, and actually walked over. Grabbing a soda out of a mini fridge I hadn¡¯t even realized was a fridge and then taking some of the weird¡­ Wafers?


    Rich people food was fucking weird.


    She grabbed one and bit into it, and looked to me, but I just shook my head and remained standing in place.


    I still didn''t like the look of the guards.


    Time stretched on and eventually Hiromi got sick of standing so she retook her seat.


    And then Mr. Henson¡¯s eyes finished glowing.


    ¡°We will acquiesce on the matter of copyright, Ms. Kusanagi¡¯s name will be attached to the song. In regards to your second alteration which I know you will harp on. We will allow a royalty payment into the contract. Although the gross will drop significantly.¡± He replied with an unhappy smile.


    ¡°I will be happy to look over the contract again.¡±


    Sam nodded and instantly Hiromi received another file. After checking it again, I allowed Hiromi access to it.


    She looked it over for a good five minutes. Much longer than she had the first time.


    ¡°One minor alteration to line 140b.¡± She demanded, and the two played back and forth file sharing for a minute before Sam nodded.


    ¡°Master-Space records agrees to the alteration.¡± And then to my surprise an actual paper document was put forward by one of the guards onto the table and Hiromi, took it, looked it over and nodded.


    ¡°Sign here.¡± She told me, and I hesitated, looking it over for myself.


    It was basically a paper sign of ¡®You agree to the terms of the digital agreement.¡¯ Seemed sort of extraneous to me, but I shrugged. Looking to Hiromi she nodded, looking pleased.


    Alright.


    I signed my name.


    ¡°Thank you ladies.¡± Sam said as he stood. ¡°The deposit will be made promptly, Ms. Mitsunashi, the Royalty processing system will be opened to you and your client. Master-Space Records welcomes you both to a fruitful partnership.


    There was a lot of back and forth between Hiromi and Sam after. They both made snide remarks hidden in flattery thing, but Hiromi was happy, and I didn¡¯t think Denny was trying to play me.


    And really in the end? If they did play me, I would either shrug and go on with my life because who cares, or decide to bomb their offices or something.


    It¡¯s kinda funny how little things like being stabbed in the back hardly mattered when you knew without a doubt you could murder everyone in the room without breaking a sweat.


    In the end Hiromi accepted the lack of a congratulatory party as was the norm for these types of meetings. And we left the tower the same way we came in.


    Hiromi was quiet all the way down the elevator and then into the car.


    Only when the doors shut did she instantly start squealing and bouncing around.


    ¡°I did it! I did it! Motoko! We just made a huge deal! Oh my god! I have to tell my parents! I have to tell the school! I did it!¡± She cried out bouncing around all the tension in her leaving her a mess of over excited feelings.


    I grinned and gunned it. Time to get out of here, and party. Section 9 style.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°Whoa.¡± Malcolm offered, looking surprised. We were all at my apartment. Having called the boys on the way home, they were surprised at the sudden party until Hiromi had shyly explained what she had done.


    ¡°Damn.¡± Ichi exclaimed. ¡°That¡¯s big times for sure. Was it a lot of eddies?¡±


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t as much as it could have been.¡± Hiromi responded. ¡°But I got a royalty agreement, and they have to acknowledge Motoko as the original creator.¡± She looked pleased at this.


    Honestly I didn¡¯t care much. I still wasn¡¯t sure if I even wanted to have my name out in the music sphere.


    Seemed like a good way to get the wrong sort of attention, but I shrugged, it was good for Hiromi.


    ¡°Damn.¡± Ichi repeated, and I laughed at his shocked look.


    ¡°Here choom, have a drink, this is a party for Hiromi after all! Doing such a great job with her business deal!¡±


    ¡°What? No, Motoko you gonk, this is your party! You made a song and sold it to a major label! You, you!¡± She said, poking me in the cheek with an outstretched finger.


    ¡°Eh.¡± I responded with a shrug. ¡°I think going through a contract and forcing a major label to accept the changes is more impressive.¡± I said, meeting her eyes and smiling. ¡°So proud of you!¡±


    ¡°Hiromi flushed at the praise and looked away.


    ¡°That¡¯s crazy. I mean, I know Motoko picked up the whole music thing. She¡¯s played her songs for us a few times, but wow.¡± Malcolm added looking at me, and this time it was my turn to be a little shy. ¡°Guess I know a future Rockerboy.¡±


    ¡°Not.¡± I denied crossing my arms in an X. ¡°I just do songs sometimes. Being all famous and stuff would be awful. It would be so hard to go around and kill people for a living like that.¡± I offered, and Ichi instantly broke into a laugh, and then louder.


    ¡°Jesus Motoko, only you would turn down a nice gig making music being famous and everything so you can keep being a merc. You know some Rockerboys still act as mercs and stuff right?¡±


    ¡°Rarely, and that¡¯s not what I mean¡­ I just don¡¯t like the idea of being famous.¡±


    Ichi just shrugged. ¡°You do you. But it¡¯s preem regardless.¡±


    ¡°Thanks.¡± I said, happy that Ichi at least wasn¡¯t going to keep poking.


    We ended up partying all afternoon, and then Jun walked in, he came inside to the sight of us laughing hilariously at the stupid show that was on.


    Well the others were laughing. I was mostly just groaning in horror at how terrible the jokes were.


    ¡°Jun!¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s going on¡­ You guys have another gig?¡± He asked as he pulled himself slowly out of his jacket and threw it on a table.


    ¡°We are celebrating. Tired?¡±


    ¡°Just a bit. Sensei called me in for slacking.¡± He replied and I nodded at that. Good. Jun needed the exercise.


    ¡°He said you should go in soon.¡± Jun said, and I slumped.


    ¡°I guess I can go in tomorrow¡­¡±


    ¡°So what are you celebrating? Oh, pass me those?¡± Jun asked as he slumped onto the couch and Malcolm handed over the carton of fried rice to Jun.


    Well they called it fried rice anyways.


    ¡°Motoko sold a song to a record label today.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Jun asked, looking up from the food, Rice falling from his chin in surprise.


    ¡°It¡¯s not that big Jun. Remember when I met Denny at the recording place? You already knew I sold her the song, we just finalized it today. Hiromi helped me deal with all the contracts and corpo stuff. So we are celebrating her work.¡±


    ¡°You had to do like a contract and stuff? Why didn¡¯t you just get the eddies?¡± He asked and Hiromi groaned.


    ¡°Jun! Business is more than just eddies swapping hands!¡±


    He just shrugged. ¡°I guess.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t bother trying to argue with him Hiromi. Jun is a dummy.¡± I offered, knowing that I would get a reaction as Jun glared at me.


    ¡°Motoko.¡±


    ¡°Yes Jun-nii?¡± I chirped teasing and he glared before scoffing.


    ¡°Well it¡¯s good. You going to try and write more songs to sell, or play? You should. Hiromi, get Motoko to put on a show or something.¡±


    ¡°Jun! Stop trying to make me a Rockerboy! I¡¯m a mercenary!¡±


    ¡°Got it Hiromi?¡± Jun asked, ignoring me. I threw a pillow at him, but he just grinned ignoring my refusal.


    ¡°I¡¯ll do my best Jun!¡±


    ¡°Hiromi!¡±


    ¡ª--


    The next morning as the sun rose, I changed into workout clothes and headed out for a jog. I had enjoyed the party with my chooms, but it was nice to have the whole selling the song thing not hanging over my head anymore.


    Even if Hiromi refused to stop bugging me about it.


    I jogged all the way down to the Sakura market, enjoying the early morning sounds of Night City. Once there I stopped for some breakfast, and then jogged back. Warmup complete. I hit the Gym area.


    ¡°Haven¡¯t seen you in a while.¡± John found me an hour in, as I was using some free weights and squats.


    ¡°Been busy.¡±


    ¡°I see that. New chrome.¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Got. A. Sandy.¡± I told him in between squats.


    ¡°Heh. The kid¡¯ll be happy to see that. Or she¡¯ll be annoyed. You talked to Hayato recently?¡±


    ¡°Not. For. A. Bit.¡±


    ¡°You should call her up and set up another spar or something. She¡¯d appreciate it.¡±


    I heard what the real words were behind John''s offer.


    ¡°I¡¯ll. Text her. Now.¡± I offered and John smiled, nodding and moving away, letting me refocus.


    A spar did sound nice.


    *Motoko: You want to meet up for a spar?* I sent out, and nearly instantly got a response back.


    *Hayato: That would be acceptable.*


    I chuffed out a laugh. Hayato and her Keren were kinda funny to deal with.


    *Motoko: Working out now, but I can head to the Dojo anytime.*


    *Hayato: I¡¯m already here for my morning workout. Do not keep me waiting.*


    Nodding at that, I racked the weights, rose up and stretched. TIme to go play.

 Chapter 173

    ¡°Late.¡± Hayato snapped at me, her voice coming out too fast, in a rush. She was obviously getting antsy.


    I nodded. ¡°Traffic was slow.¡± I offered, as an explanation, although it didn¡¯t satisfy her.


    Hayato, like me, already had a layer of sweat on her forehead. A Shinai in one hand that she was still going through a slow, set of motions for.


    ¡°Sensei has you practicing super slow?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± She snapped out, and I could see her face shift between irritation, before blanking. ¡°I would enjoy a spar.¡±


    ¡°Sure, want to do brawling, or Shinai?¡± I offered pointing at her blade.


    She reddened and reacted instantly.


    ¡°Do not speak with such disrespect to the art of swordsmanship!¡±


    ¡°So you want to fight me with the Shinai?¡± I repeated and she pointed the blade at me.


    I nodded, walking over and grabbing one off the rack. As I walked back I noticed Sensei watching us both, only once I stood across from Hayato did I shift into an actual stance.


    If I remember right, she had seen me doing forms under Sensei¡¯s eye before, but hadn¡¯t seen me actually fight.


    My Blades skill might not be as good as Street Brawler, but I wasn¡¯t a slouch.


    Especially since Parry, my second Blades Perk was perfect for this sort of thing.


    Nodding we both understood the spar was on, and she charged.


    Once more relying on her Keren to be able to adjust to any incoming change I just breathed in and out, and started parrying.


    Swing after swing, I guided Hayato¡¯s blade away from me. It wasn¡¯t easy. I think I was actually better skilled when it came to pure blade work, but she was so damn fast.


    Still, I kept her back. The clack of Shinai that she continued to hammer against me, never reached its target.


    I was really really good at deflecting blades. Parry coming in clutch, completely negating Hayato¡¯s speed and skill.


    And she wasn¡¯t happy.


    ¡°Stopthat!¡± She yelled, speaking so fast her words blended in together.


    So I did. Pushing her back after another parry, I activated my Sandevistan.


    Time stopped. The warmth spread from my neck, and I moved.


    I could see the moment Hayato realized what had happened, her eyes widening, but her Keren only gave her the chance to realize what was happening before it was over.


    With a flick of my wrists her Shinai was launched out of her hands, and mine was thrust just past her head.


    I turned off my Sandy, feeling everything go back to normal, even as the uncomfortable warmth continued to hold across my neck.


    ¡°Wha-You got a Sandevistan! You should have told me!¡± She broke out of her surprise quickly slapping my Shinai away and poking me. ¡°If I had known I would have held back less! So you chose a Sandevistan in the end?¡±


    ¡°I needed to get used to it. And the sooner I started. The more experience I would have.¡± I offered and she nodded.


    ¡°Good! Excellent! You have just become a useful sparring partner then! I need more practice against another using boosterware.¡± She nodded, hands on her hip and nodding with an imperious look.


    Honestly it just made me want to pat her on the head and give her a cookie or something.


    ¡°Yeah. I could use more practice with the same. More Shinai work, or switch to fists?¡±


    ¡°Hmmph! I will strike you before I allow this spar to end.¡± She decided, turning and stomping over to her Shinai.


    I nodded, and we got back to it.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to talk to you.¡± She argued as I offered her a drink.


    ¡°C¡¯mon don¡¯t be like that. Defense is something I¡¯m really good at with a blade.¡± I offered, but she refused to talk to me¡­


    So I pressed the cold can against the side of her neck.


    ¡°Eeee!¡± She shrieked loud enough everyone in the hall jerked, and a man I noticed along the edges reached for a gun in his suit before calming as Hayato turned to glare at me. ¡°Don''t do that!¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. That was kinda cute. I¡¯ll have to do that more now.¡± I decided and settled in beside her, popping the can of my soda as well.


    ¡°You! Utterly outrageous!¡± She snapped but grabbed the drink and popped it open to drink from.


    ¡°It¡¯s your fault. I told you I was ambidextrous.¡±


    ¡°Outrageous!¡± She repeated, and I had to smile. I had made a crack about how I was better with two Shinai and she had demanded that I did so.


    Hayato hadn¡¯t done well after that.


    ¡°How is your Sandevistan? You didn¡¯t use it again.¡± She asked, and I felt my fingers reach up to my neck. Chrome digits touching against the chrome. I felt a bit of the heat still there.


    ¡°I¡¯m not really used to it yet. I feel like I burn myself each time.¡±


    ¡°Hmph. That is normal.¡± She offered and I nodded.


    ¡°I know, my ripper said the same, but it makes me uncomfortable.


    Especially since when I used a maxdoc it went away, which meant it was some sort of injury.


    ¡°You will adapt, an-I have to leave.¡± She said, her speech cutting off for only a millisecond as she changed what she was saying. Her guard along the walls was already moving over as well.


    ¡°Sure. Chat with you later Hayato.¡±


    ¡°Motoko.¡± She agreed and then hurried away.


    I rested for another minute just to cool off before rising up. Time to head home.


    A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    ¡ª--


    When I got home I made a meal and was humming a song, all while I was programming.


    Hiromi had mentioned why I didn¡¯t just remote control the Tachikoma, and I couldn¡¯t deny it was a good idea.


    While I wouldn¡¯t always be as confident in controlling their bodies as they would eventually become. I could show them how to do things it might take a while to develop naturally.


    So I was working on the control interface. It wasn¡¯t simple tech, but I had the copy of the Minotaur system, and was basically copying Militech¡¯s homework while changing it enough the teacher wouldn¡¯t mind.


    Progress was going pretty fast, as I was going through the code and setting it up. I finished eating, and even went and took a shower while I was working on it, just tapping away in my mental digital space as code flowed over my eyes.


    Then, as I was drying off it was finished.


    I looked over at the Tachikoma, and slipped the update for the control access, and then took it over.


    I went to take a few steps and instead of moving it just sort of twitched and then fell flat.


    Right. The Minotaur used a control crown to better handle the human to machine interface.


    I sighed as I considered what to do. I could probably put one of those together? No, that sort of defeated the whole point of being able to use the Tachikoma stealthily.


    I shrugged. I would just have to adapt the learning system to learning how to handle my own inputs now.


    Not a huge deal, just another little thing I would need to work on¡­ Unless I went and bought an off the shelf drone? No, I realized, it might help, but even then, it wouldn¡¯t have the same control system. The Tachikoma¡¯s unique design would make it a bit more complicated.


    I shrugged, deciding to just open a new branch of the AI learning, for it to adapt to the new concept.


    I looked at the laptop. It was doing an acceptable job of giving the Tachikoma the extra processing power it needed, but it was an issue that was going to become more and more of a problem.


    Might need to actually go out and find some leads apart from Hiromi. Might lead to some fun gigs or something I guess.


    I flopped onto the bed and continued working on the Tachikoma remote connection.


    ¡ª--


    The next morning I woke up and stretched. Ignoring the Tachikoma that was laying on my stomach I moved it over and set it on the ground as I left the room looking for breakfast.


    ¡°Motoko.¡±


    ¡°Oh hey Jun.¡± I muttered sleepily, as I stared at not just Jun but like. Four TC gonks all hanging out on the couch.


    Eddies, drugs, and guns were all over the living room table, and I could tell from one look that Jun hadn¡¯t slept yet.


    I blinked at him, and he winced as he realized how it looked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to know.¡± I decided and Jun looked relieved, and sort of broken at the words.


    ¡°Hey! It¡¯s little Motoko!, heh! Haven¡¯t seen you in a while, kid! Why don¡¯t you come over here and say hello to Big bro Yuto!¡± He called out happily then turned to Jun. ¡°When¡¯re you going to finally bring her in eh Jun? She¡¯s old enough now! Looking like a real woman already.¡±


    ¡°Never. Motoko doesn¡¯t have much interest in this stuff.¡± He said, with a bit of a growl in his voice as a warning. ¡°So drop it.¡± Jun snapped, and the man sort of flinched back at Jun¡¯s tone.


    ¡°Hey, no worries Jun-chan, no worries. But Motoko, not into the Claws? When did this happen?¡± The man asked, waving his hands trying to keep Jun¡¯s burning glare to calm down.


    ¡°Yuto.¡± He snapped, but calmed down after a second. ¡°I told you Motoko was in a coma.¡±


    ¡°Yeah yeah, I remember just shit. She used to be the one pushing you into shit. Whenever I had trouble getting you involved, I¡¯d just poke Little Motoko!¡± The man laughed uproariously at the joke.


    Jun just rolled his eyes, but I noticed he was actually pretty comfortable with the guy.


    I shrugged. None of my business. Wandering into the kitchen I threaded my chrome fingers through my hair, straightening it a bit as I pulled out a soda and started drinking it down.


    Come to think of it, as I watched the men on the couch. I hadn¡¯t seen Jun bring over friends much.


    ¡°Chooms of yours Jun-nii?¡± I asked and he looked back towards me, as did the boys.


    ¡°Oh shit, you really don¡¯t remember eh Little Motoko? Come over here and sit down, Let big Bro Yuto see how much you¡¯ve changed.¡±


    I continued to sip my drink as I threw a look at Jun.


    ¡°Yuto was my best choom growing up, Motoko. We ran together when we were kids.¡±


    ¡°Hah! We still run together Jun-chan! Now that I¡¯m out of the slammer!¡± He cheered and the boys around him cheered alongside him.


    ¡°Huh.¡± I muttered wandering over. This wasn¡¯t entirely uninteresting.


    ¡°How long were you in jail?¡± I asked as I hopped over the couch settling in besides Jun.


    ¡°Three years, time served! More like time taken.¡± Yuto muttered darkly. ¡°But I¡¯m out now! Jun-chan is a Kamikaze! Bozo and dipshit are still just shit-muscle.¡±


    ¡°Hey! Fuck you Yuto!¡±


    The other guy just flipped his choom off and they all laughed, even Jun.


    Huh.


    ¡°Well boys and bitches, this was fun. Fuck I haven¡¯t had a real drink since they locked me up.¡± Yuto offered with a tired grin as he stretched towards the ceiling.


    ¡°Heh. Fuckin¡¯ hell Yuto, it was never the same without you.¡± One of the other guys mentioned with a grin.


    Then Jun spoke. ¡°Yuto. I¡¯m glad you¡¯re out.¡±


    ¡°Well shit Jun-chan you are going to get me crying if you keep that shit up. Although boys, there is something you can do for me, you know, as a favor to an old choom.¡±


    The three boys all looked curious, and Yuto smiled. ¡°Help me flatline the gonk fuck that stabbed me in the back and got me sent to the slammer eh?¡±


    I watched on as the three boys all reacted. Jun didn¡¯t say much. Just sort of frowning seriously, while the other two were a bit more argumentative.


    ¡°Fuck Yuto, we can¡¯t do that shit.¡± One of them offered, and the other nodded along agreeing.


    ¡°Fuck you both then! No wonder you gonk fucks aren¡¯t anything but lackeys still. Jun-Chan. Bro. I need this.¡±


    ¡°You know I can¡¯t. Kisaru is high up. The whole reason you got pegged with it, was because he had the power to get out of it.¡± Jun said softly, uncomfortable at what he was saying.


    ¡°Exactly! He thinks he¡¯s all that hot shit! Made me take the fall for the drugs! Just because I was carrying them to the fucking buyers! If the fucker had just kept his mouth shut, that¡¯d be one thing, but he fucking squealed. You know he did!¡±


    ¡°Kisaru was cleared of that. Besides, Kisaru is a Lieutenant now. We are honor bound not to touch him. You know what happens if we do. They¡¯ll kill you. Us.¡± Jun offered weakly.


    Very weakly.


    ¡°Don¡¯t fucking-No, you know what¡¯s up. Jun. I¡¯m calling in the favor. You owe me for this! You come with, I can get to Kisaru easy as shit and flatline that gonk.¡±


    ¡°Yuto.¡±


    ¡°You fucking owe me Jun! You don¡¯t have a choice! So don¡¯t be a bit-Fuck!¡± He squealed when I came up behind him and stuck my knife right into his trachea.


    ¡°If you¡¯re dead, then Jun-nii won¡¯t owe you shit. Can¡¯t owe something to a corpse.¡± I explained simply.


    The room went silent, and I was getting looks from everyone, but I wasn¡¯t playing this game.


    ¡°Motoko.¡± Jun said, but I ignored him, because was about to be talked into stupid shit by a fucking gonk ass old friend.


    Shit like this was how everything always went wrong.


    ¡°H-hey, Little Motoko, we don-¡± I jabbed a bit harder.


    ¡°You shush. Listen to me now. Jun is doing better, but his life doesn¡¯t need this sort of shit. He is way too connected to the TC to go murder someone high up and not have some shit fall on his head. So no, Jun isn¡¯t going to help you get revenge. If you ask him again, I will remove you from the entire situation. Permanently.¡±


    ¡°Motoko.¡± Jun muttered, but I noticed wasn¡¯t actually trying to stop me.


    ¡°Do you understand Yuto?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, yeah I hear it.¡± He said a little strained. For a guy that went to jail he wasn¡¯t really all that strong willed.


    ¡°Good. Jun, having chooms is good, but you aren¡¯t allowed to ruin your life because of revenge. We both¡­ We both had to put revenge behind us yeah?¡± I told him seriously, then I let go.


    ¡°Fuck. Holy shit.¡± Yuto muttered rubbing at his neck, checking for blood.


    Which was silly, I didn¡¯t want to cut him, so I didn¡¯t.


    ¡°Then fuck was that?¡± He demanded, and I just stared at him blankly.


    ¡°A warning?¡± I answered truthfully wondering how that had somehow gone over the guys head. Deciding that my point was made I spun the knife on my fingers and then holstered it away before stretching out a bit. ¡°Gonna do some more programming, have fun with your friends Jun¡­ Just not too much fun.¡±


    ¡°Motoko. Go to your room.¡± Jun said grumpily and I nodded, yeah that sounded good.


    I really wanted to do some work on my net hacks.


    ¡ª--


    I looked at the code as I did a final scan.


    Overheat was a pretty common online hack. There were a few different versions. Some were a virus causing Cyberware to basically go crazy overclocking themselves, and some like this one, dumped a huge amount of junk data into the netrunners connection making their system overheat them and lag out at the same time.


    The original one Yoko had given was pretty terrible. Large RAM cost, Slow upload rate, easily stalled out.


    I needed a hack I could use on a netrunner so it had to be more than just a baseline hack.


    So I had sat down and decided to improve on every aspect of the hack.


    Reducing its size with a few alterations to the code. Massively lowering the RAM cost. I was pretty proud of that one.


    Instead of sending a large packet of data over with the upload to lag the system, instead what this version did was alter some of the configuration settings of the enemy netrunner.


    It caused their own system to fill with junk data on their own side. Much faster upload, much cheaper to do, and much more effective.


    One small protocol alteration caused everything to come crashing down.


    It was¡­ Well it wasn¡¯t amazing. I wouldn¡¯t call it anything more than a middle of the road hack.


    It wasn¡¯t as powerful or effective as my Hell Flame hack.


    But it was also much much smaller, and more focused.


    And I could rapid fire the hack without nearly as many issues as Hell Flame gave me.


    It was an easy go to hold out weapon. I stretched out satisfied as it finished and I installed it into my deck.


    [HEAT Bullet Mk.01] Installed and looked like it would work just fine.


    Stretching out I wandered back out of my room. The living room was still a mess. Empty cans, trash, and some what I think was leftover drugs?


    Jesus Jun, this is way worse than my firearms mess.


    I wandered around cleaning most of it, but leaving the drugs alone. Can¡¯t say I was happy about it, but I was assuming the boys would be back to get their shit.


    I finished cleaning up and decided to test out my new hack.


    Down in the garage, sliding onto my Kusanagi, I hesitated. Forgetting something important. I had promised to be more careful.


    So I sent out a text and when I got a response I smiled and gunned it. Heading out into the city towards my netrunning lair.

 Chapter 174

    ¡°Okay, you had me at Netrunner Combat Zone.¡± Malcolm said after I had gone on a long explanation of what I would be doing.


    ¡°That was easy.¡± I muttered as I settled onto the net chair, idly grabbing the cooling cap I had hanging from the chair now. I had bought it before coming in, since this was my first time doing some real netrunning since I lost my Seacho Netdeck.


    And maybe Hiromi¡¯s remarks about it being like armor had hit their mark, but I would never admit that.


    ¡°C¡¯mon Motoko, netrunning is wild. I mean I don¡¯t have a Cyberdeck, for me, netrunning is just¡­ Some weird thing some people can do. Getting to see it in action? That¡¯s pretty nova.¡±


    ¡°Well you know what to do if something goes wrong, right?¡±


    ¡°Activate the disengage, and pull you out only once it allows¡­ And if I have any issues, call Yoko.¡±


    ¡°Great. See you on the web.¡± I offered and flopped back. When I opened my eyes I was in my lobby.


    I looked around and then stopped.


    The Tachikoma data kernel was growing quickly.


    The Tachikoma was wandering around, and as I watched it even did a little leap to climb up on top of the small table in the center of the couches.


    *What is that?* Malcolm asked, as I was streaming my sight to the laptop.


    ¡°A digital form of the Tachikoma AI I¡¯m developing. It¡¯s growing really well over here. I¡¯m going to need to do something about that soon.¡± If I didn¡¯t get some better hardware for the Tachikoma to run off of, it would slow down its development pretty soon.


    Shaking it off, I disappeared into the net. A few quick hops and I was then walking down the dark corner of the web into the netrunner bar.


    *Whoa. It looks like a normal club.* Malcolm chattered in my ear as I walked into the lobby.


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I agreed, but this time I wasn¡¯t going to listen to Sasha that jerk! I walked up to the woman at the counter. ¡°Hi. Umm. I¡¯ve been here before, but I¡¯ll be honest, my¡­ Choom brought me in without explaining shit to me.¡±


    The woman behind the counter blinked from her quad eye set up. Each one blinked in a different pattern.


    ¡°Saw your match. Surprised you are still alive, hell of a burnout.¡± She said suddenly and then nodded. ¡°Heard that you were new, and the Stray Cat dragged you in without giving you a heads up. Not supposed to do that. Talk to Admin. Follow the IMP.¡± She offered, and opened her eyes, a small IMP Daemon appeared.


    It looked like a hovering ball of light and spiraling data, but it floated around and then started into the club.


    ¡°Thanks.¡± I followed it in, as it led me through the light crowd of the place before floating over to a man, alighting onto his outstretched hand and disappearing.


    ¡°Well if it isn¡¯t Ghost in the Shell herself.¡± he greeted, a deep brassy voice, but not unkind. He sounded older than even his digital avatar portrayed though. ¡°Surprised you are still alive, after you got Derezzed.¡±


    ¡°I had some chooms keeping my brain from melting.¡± I explained as I walked over, but hesitated before sitting.


    ¡°Slide in, slide in. You wanted some data on the rules and regs? Good idea. It was a real shock when you fried yourself for the win.¡±


    ¡°Yeah well¡­ I wasn¡¯t intending on jumping in head first like that.¡±


    ¡°No, nor should you.¡± He added, sounding unhappy. ¡°Normally, I don¡¯t just offer easy answers. Young runners come in all the time and the usual path is for them to trade for info, but as an apology for what happened, let me give you a simple run down.¡± He offered, flicking his fingers, and a Shard appeared in his hands.


    Obviously a digital representation, but it got the point across.


    I took it, and did a thorough scan before accessing the data. It was clear, but not entirely bug free. I wiped what I found and then did another pass just to be sure. Before accessing it.


    ¡°Heh, you have no idea how often kids just jam whatever data is offered to them right into their brain.¡± Admin said almost wistfully.


    Ignoring the old man''s words I instead checked over the data.


    It was a¡­ Brochure? I mean that wasn¡¯t quite it, but it was close enough. Basically a spiel on what the netrunner Combat Zone was and how it worked.


    The dive into the combat server had a protection system built in. Anything too bad would be stopped before it could reach a user, unless of course the user did something stupid and overheated themselves.


    That part wasn¡¯t in there, but I read between the lines.


    It also taught me there were a few access commands I could have used things like auto logout, and a few other features.


    ¡°This would have been nice to know.¡± I snarked and the old man hummed in agreement.


    Then when he spoke next he didn¡¯t sound pleased at all.


    ¡°What that Stray Cat did broke multiple rules. She isn¡¯t welcome around here at the moment.¡± He said his deep voice sounded rather ticked off.


    And for just a moment I felt some sympathy for Sasha. Sure, she wasn¡¯t my favorite person at the moment, but¡­


    ¡°It¡¯s not¡­ Entirely her fault? I don¡¯t think she is handling her current situation very well. I hope it¡¯s not a permanent ban? Although I actually don¡¯t know how often she comes here.¡± I admitted. Was this like a normal thing for Sasha, or just something she does to blow off steam sometimes?


    I knew so little about the woman despite¡­ Well despite seeing her die.


    ¡°It¡¯s not permanent. She was simply told not to come back until she cooled off.¡± He replied firmly. ¡°Does this satisfy you? Normally one would request more of a harsher punishment.¡±


    ¡°No. That¡¯s more than enough.¡± I waved it off.


    If any punishment was going to be meted out, it should be from me, not some random guy I¡¯ve never met.


    ¡°Thanks.¡± I offered and rose up, receiving a single nod from the man as I wandered over to one of the other booths and settled in, a screen popping up as I settled showing the inside of the arena. It was quiet currently, no battles taking place, but there was an option to view past matches.


    ¡°You getting this Malcolm?¡±


    *Fuck yeah I am.¡± Malcolm replied back instantly, as I started the most recent match, settling in to watch how they fought, and generally how this whole thing worked¡­


    You know without being dropped into it.


    ¡ª--


    Junichirou Kusanagi


    ¡°C¡¯mon Jun-Chan!¡±


    ¡°Yuto. You know I want to help you.¡±


    ¡°Then just do it!¡±


    ¡°Motoko will literally kill you.¡± Jun offered, as he reached up and rubbed at his face.


    Yuto getting out of jail was a surprise, he hadn¡¯t even remembered his old choom. Not with everything that had happened in his life.


    Moving up in the TC, breaking out of the low level runners that he and his chooms had done for so long. The Casino. Kasumi. He stilled as the name ran through him. The white hot rage that had once consumed him, feeling like it was burning him alive was only embers. Still there.


    Always there.


    But it didn¡¯t fill every moment with rage and hate anymore. It couldn¡¯t. Lashing out at everyone around him, had almost¡­ Almost hurt Motoko.


    This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    So he had let the fire dim, learned to keep it down, how to breathe and for the first time in his life, Jun had learned how to control his anger.


    What was the point at getting angry with minor things? Not after he learned what true anger was.


    It was why Fujimura-Sama had grown to trust him so much.


    From kid drug runner, to Casino worker, to Kamikaze, to trusted lieutenant. And now, an old choom was asking him to potentially throw it all away.


    Motoko was right.


    Yet, Jun owed Yuto. The boy had saved Jun¡¯s life more than once. He owed him. Honor and Jun¡¯s own wants to help a friend.


    But trying to murder the kid of one of the higher ups was suicide.


    ¡°Yuto, let it go. Fuck him. You¡¯re out now. You got the whole rest of  your life ahead of you. Go find an output and live.¡±


    ¡°Fuck that! He disrespected me Jun! You can¡¯t let that kind of shit go! You know that!¡± The boy, no¡­ The man. Yuto and Jun were both men now.


    One through death, one through prison. Both had changed, and yet.


    Yuto wasn¡¯t being reasonable. His desire to flatline Kisaru Moritaka was shortsighted.


    Jun sighed, looking around the bar. Thankfully while  it was a TC bar, no one really knew who Yuto was yelling about. Yuto was pretty drunk at this point, enjoying his freedom.


    And so quick to throw it away.


    ¡°Yuto.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t fucking Yuto me Junichirou! We swore to always back eachother up! I know you couldn¡¯t do shit to get me out of the slammer, but fuck man! You¡¯re borged out! Fucking cold blooded killer now, help me kill this fuck!¡±


    Jun just sighed, looking down into his drink.


    Motoko was going to kill him. Or Yuto.


    Probably both.


    ¡°Yuto. How about we do this the right way. We go down and talk to Wakako. Motoko has a good connection with her.¡±


    ¡°Fuck man. What kind of bitch brings a fixer into this shit? I¡¯m not some punk Jun-chan! I can kill a gonk fucker!¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but if you do, you spend the rest of your short life being chased around. Get Wakako in on it, and problem solved.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t have that kind of eddies. Fuck man, you know that.¡± Yuto snapped obviously frustrated with Jun¡¯s constant attempts to get him to calm the fuck down.


    ¡°How about we try it? I have eddies.¡±


    ¡°Fuck Jun. I feel like everything is crazy now. Used to be, you would be the first to jump at a chance to flatline some fuck that crossed us. Now you are arguing against it, and¡­ Everyone else already left.¡±


    ¡°They have jobs Yuto.¡±


    Yuto looked at Jun with a look that would have killed if it could. ¡°You gonks were my chooms. What happened?¡±


    Jun flinched at the accusation for a moment before firming up.


    Things had changed.


    But Jun wasn¡¯t sure it wasn¡¯t for the better.


    ¡°We grew up Yuto.¡±


    The man exhaled like he was punched. Jun sympathized.


    ¡°Come on choom. Let''s get out of here, get some sleep. We''ve been celebrating you being back all night.¡±


    Yuto was quiet, staring down into his drink for a long while.


    ¡°Do you remember Jun-chan, when we knocked over that Tino shipment?¡±


    ¡°Of course. Craziest night of my life until then. We stole a truck smashed into them, and flatlined them. Stole the drugs and sold it all. Made enough eddies we could buy our own rides.¡± Jun said fondly. Motoko¡­


    The old Motoko, had been absolutely awed at her brother''s payday. Had been so proud of him for doing it, and proving he was worth something.


    That was the start of his rise in the TC.


    Yuto had been the one who planned it all. Jun had just been the muscle. A boy, gonk enough to climb into a stolen truck planning to crash it.


    ¡°We didn¡¯t used to think. We didn¡¯t used to let death scare us. We did it, because it was how we made the world see us.¡± Yuto went on, and Jun frowned.


    They had done it to be rich. To be famous. Back then Rep had been all there was.


    ¡°Rep is everything.¡± Jun said and Yuto looked up and both men¡¯s eyes met.


    Jun had believed that for so long. He still did¡­ To an extent.


    Jun had once believed nothing was more important. That rep was your life, and without it, you were nothing.


    But Jun had come to a realization that he would have burned his rep to the ground to protect Motoko. That he would have left the TC in a heartbeat to protect her.


    So rep wasn¡¯t everything.


    ¡°Rep isn¡¯t everything to me anymore Yuto. I found things in life that were more important.¡± Jun stopped as he realized what he had just said.


    What it meant for him. He had lost Kasumi, and thrown it all away, but Motoko had made him realize he still had things to live for.


    Jun¡­ Jun wanted more than to just burn out into nothing. When he was younger he had been too angry and brash to really live. Raising Motoko had been a constant struggle. But it was worth it.


    He felt his lips tugging up into a smile. ¡°I made a life for myself, Yuto. C¡¯mon, I¡¯ll let you crash on my couch. I¡¯ll introduce you to my boss Fujimura-Sama. We can find you some work, and you¡¯ll realize there is more to life than rep too.¡±


    Jun tugged Yuto along, regardless if the man wanted to or not. Yuto was half Jun¡¯s size now.


    Yuto was his choom. He would show him how to live his life too if he had to.


    ¡ª--


    Rebecca


    ¡°Any issues?¡± Hiromi asked, and Rebecca just stared at the younger girl like she was some sort of fucking Hydra.


    ¡°Choom, I thought Kitten was the weirdest of your little group, but I think you take that cake.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not weird! And neither is Motoko!¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡± She replied back with a scoff. She looked down at the box of equipment that Hiromi had just dropped off.


    ¡°It¡¯s not as good as what we have of course. But I figure if there is an emergency gig over the next while until we get the full package, this will help. Let me know if there are any issues. We can send it to Motoko for alterations.¡±


    Hiromi had put together an armor kit. Actual armor, expensive shit even, just handed over. To her. Given to Rebecca who wasn¡¯t really a full timer in their group. She hadn¡¯t asked, or even known about this until Hiromi had called asking for a meeting.


    Rebecca nodded, feeling a little weird. She wanted to thank the girl, and also she wanted to run away. So instead Rebecca fell back on what she always did.


    ¡°Thanks Choom! I¡¯ll pay you back.¡±


    ¡°Why? It¡¯s part of our Section 9 funds, and Motoko wants you to go out with us. She¡­ Is always happy to chatter about you coming with.¡± Hiromi added, sounding a little peeved.


    ¡°Heh. Still can¡¯t admit your crush huh?¡±


    ¡°Shut up! Don¡¯t! Don¡¯t say that! Motoko might hear! You never know what she is doing, she could be testing a new listening bug or something!¡±


    ¡°I kinda doubt it.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t! Just don¡¯t¡­ Okay? Don¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Alright just teasing Crush, just teasing. What¡¯s this then?¡±


    ¡°Oh! Motoko mentioned she scrolls BD¡¯s of the gigs she does right?¡±


    ¡°Oh, yeah. This them?¡±


    ¡°Yep! And the newest one! Sorry to say, you only show up as a blur. You¡¯re a bit too distinct, but you are on that one.¡±


    ¡°Wait, there''s a BD of the raid?¡±


    ¡°Yep! But all of Motoko¡¯s BD¡¯s are in there. Anyway Rebecca, I need to go. I have class in twenty.¡±


    ¡°Well shit choom don¡¯t let me keep you¡­ Class? Fucking weird.¡± She muttered as Hiromi jumped back into a sleek corpo car and drove off.


    The fucking kid had a personal driver and shit. Some ganger kid Rebecca hadn¡¯t seen before. And Crush thought she wasn¡¯t the strangest of the entire group?


    ¡°Heh.¡± She turned around and walked back inside. Her apartment was the same as always, quieter with Pilar still in hiding, but that was looking to end soon.


    She dropped the box on her bed and grabbed her BD wreath.


    What was Kitten up to?


    She settled in and popped in the first BD.


    Instantly Rebecca was staring at glowing letters.


    Section 9


    And then it started. Rebecca felt her heart calm as she settled into a new skin.


    She was Motoko she realized, the thrum of her Quadra suddenly revving up.


    She felt the way her arms shifted, her feet pushing the gas and brake, pressing the clutch and then they were sideways. Rebecca remembered it herself, but where she remembered being startled at the motion, to Motoko it felt¡­


    Perfect. She knew exactly what to do. There was no confusion, no unintended motions. The entire drift had been perfectly controlled.


    Rebecca felt herself already moving. The sound of gunfire, an Ajax, her Ajax going but only after Motoko had already left the seat and leapt, one jump taking her over the Quadra onto a broken wall, and then leaping across to another broken segment, letting her practically walk into the second floor of the destroyed building.


    In her vision she suddenly saw a netrunner protocol, slipping into the Scavs system, and her own voice, husky and sexy slipping out.


    *I plucked their eyes. Go.* Rebecca didn¡¯t remember Motoko sounding like that¡­


    She was pretty sure she would have remembered.


    Her rifle was brought up casually and fired, and the first Scav took three shots before Motoko walked over and casually kicked them off the edge.


    No. Before Rebecca kicked them off the edge. She couldn¡¯t even properly keep herself separate, whoever edited this BD was a master. Rebecca moved, firing a few times and then seeing the Minotaur. Its twin guns spooled up and then the HMG fire got everyone''s attention.


    But there was no rush of fear, just excitement, as she leapt. The jump was intense, the feeling of her belly doing flips, but that was all Rebecca, because the BD just sent a sense of pure confidence.


    No fear.


    She landed, bounced, and then was on top of the Minotaur firing into the Scavs.


    Fuck, Motoko was right. This was preem.


    She watched through the rest of the BD ending before they even went underground.


    Ending with another little message.


    Section 9


    Do you want to know more?


    NETDIR://Section9.Web


    ¡°Fucking corpo!¡± Rebecca wheezed as the BD ended, laughing as she realized just how fucking crazy Hiromi was. ¡°A fucking website!¡±


    Rebecca continued to chuckle as she lay on her bed. Feeling the sensation of Motoko¡¯s movements still shadowed over her body.


    Rebecca had experienced a lot of BD¡¯s. She liked the combat ones of course. To experience battle, feeling the adrenaline slam through her, shooting anyone and everyone.


    Unfortunately they usually ended with the poor gonk who scrolled it getting flatlined.


    Rebecca wasn¡¯t a fan of that.


    So Rebecca had used a lot of BD¡¯s, she knew good ones. The ones that had a real Maestro editing them together.


    Motoko had a serious BD editor working with her. ¡°Holy shit.¡± She muttered as she pulled out the BD and swapped it for another one.


    ¡°Inner Universe?¡± She muttered, wondering what this one was like.


    Rebecca started it, and instantly wind brushed across her face. She opened her eyes to the city skyline. Far above the streets.


    Her eyes tracked down to a shard in her hands.


    Inner Universe. It was even etched in the same style that the BD came in.


    Heh.


    She slotted it and music started, an interesting song, but not really her thing. Yet she didn¡¯t get time to enjoy it, as suddenly she was moving. A shift in her muscles, that made her want to gasp even as her heart refused to beat out of rhythm.


    Motoko had jumped off a fucking building!


    She was free falling, motionless as the wind whipped past her, and then it was all action.


    Reaching out to break her fall on a pipe, she grinded herself into slowing her speed and then once more into nothing. She landed in a roll and then leapt to her feet rushing across the top of one of the walkway bridges between scrapers.


    Rebecca forgot herself. Lost in the motion of the world around her, being so unthreatening.


    There was no fear, just a self assuredness that flowed into everything.


    Rebecca wasn¡¯t there anymore. She didn¡¯t exist. Just the movement.


    She didn¡¯t really remember herself until Ramen hit her taste buds at the end of it. Startling her a bit as the salty splash of broth pulled her out of the intense feeling of her body moving perfectly.


    She pulled off the wreath with a gasp. Body shaking and shivering as she lay on her bed.

 Chapter 175

    Malcolm


    ¡°You¡¯re actually going to take part?¡± He asked as he continued to look through Motoko¡¯s eyes.


    *Yeah. I want to practice it a bit. They have an external connection here. So I¡¯m going to disconnect and let you watch through their cameras. If you see me start dying or something you know what to do.*


    ¡°I¡¯ll watch your back.¡± He assured her as he threw a few more Shwabshwab back. Blue was the best flavor after all.


    *I know.* She replied back with a surety that would have made Malcolm blush if she was looking at him.


    Motoko was pretty intense, but there wasn¡¯t anyone that Malcolm trusted more. When it came to a serious situation Motoko was the most reliable person he knew. Which still freaked him out sometimes but that was just life.


    The video on the laptop shifted loading for a few seconds before it showed an arena. It loaded for a few seconds, terrain forming up until it became a desert space. Bushes and hills becoming the only cover.


    *Ghost in the Shell Vs. Hamm3r.* A pop up appeared and then it was on.


    A fucking netrunner match. Malcolm popped more ants into his mouth chewing as he watched.


    Malcolm didn¡¯t even know you could see this sort of shit!


    The arena started and Motokoed instantly started moving. Rushing forward, and to the side, once she was a ways away she kneeled down and started¡­ Doing something?


    He wasn¡¯t sure, but it only took her about thirty seconds before whatever she was doing was complete. He watched as the opponent was moving cautiously out of his spawn point. Looking all around him, and even behind him, as he started activating Daemons.


    Glowing orbs appeared around him, and then set off. Seemingly searching around while stopping to scan anything and everything.


    They didn¡¯t look very smart. He saw the same Daemon scan the same bush twice as it backtracked.


    Motoko stood up and Malcolm now knew what she had been up to.


    *System Breached!* Appeared on his screen attached to Motoko¡¯s half, and suddenly a Minimap was on the screen he could see.


    So¡­ Motoko had breached into the system? That was good, he guessed. It must be if Motoko had decided to do it, but it was still weird.


    Then Motoko seemed to explode, from her form something hard to see popped out, and scattered, seemingly vanishing into the floor of the server.


    It looked kinda gnarly, and there was no update about what Motoko had just done. Instead she started moving. Slowly circling around the arena, seemingly purposefully in the opposite way that the opponent was going around.


    Malcolm kept expecting something exciting to happen, but¡­


    It was slow.


    Motoko was stalking around. She didn¡¯t seem to have any interest in attacking, instead she just seemed to follow in the shadows of the arena, not that there were any, but she seemed to keep a hill between her and the other guy at all times.


    Then Motoko came across one of the Daemons. The orb literally floated right past her.


    ¡°What?¡± Malcolm had to wonder, because those things had scanned literally everything. Motoko seemed to be testing it. Walking around it, even moving in front of it, but the Daemon was stupid. When it bounced into her, it just shifted directions to wander further.


    Motoko shrugged, something he had seen her do pretty often, and then in her hands a burst of fire slammed into the Daemon.


    It melted. That¡¯s the only thing Malcolm could think of. The Data steaming from it, as it melted away.


    Motoko was obviously pleased. She had a little smile on her face, the most amount of emotion he usually saw from her, when she was in serious mode.


    But the attack had an effect. The other guy. Hamm3r? He must have been alerted to the Daemons attack.


    Instead of wandering, all of the orbs started rushing straight towards where she was.


    She obviously noticed it, as she looked over but instead of running she just took a step back and waited.


    The Daemons all floated over a hill. Looking red and angry as they started scanning around, but to Malcolm¡¯s surprise they continued to just miss Motoko. Like she was a Ghost standing among them.


    They floated towards where the burning remains of the other Daemon was, and it took a few moments, as Motoko wandered around them. Obviously preparing something.


    And then it happened.


    As the Daemons gathered closer to the flaming Daemon corpse she sent seemingly multiple bursts of her fire into them from different directions. The Daemons reacted, but it was too slow. Only one of them turned and actually started trying to attack back before they all burned.


    The one attack was blocked by a wall of weirdness Motoko made, that took the hit and just seemingly fizzled it out.


    The enemy runner obviously noticed what had happened, as he stopped charging towards where Motoko was and instead started summoning in even more Daemons. This time they weren¡¯t small orbs exploring. He instead took longer, slowly forming a Daemon that resembled¡­


    A thug? It looked kind of like a gangster, but Malcolm realized why this was the Daemon that was summoned, as a moment later it pulled out a gun.


    This Daemon seemed to be smarter, instead of running off, it stuck to the runner guarding his back. Satisfied, the runner started forming another one.


    It took a while and Motoko was seemingly watching what was happening through the mini map, content to give this runner time.


    So Malcolm watched as nothing really happened. Motoko seemed satisfied to wait, and the runner seemed content to spend time generating more and more of his Daemons.


    *FlAm3r: Both of these n3rds need to get on with it.* A message suddenly popped on the side of the screen, and Malcolm almost freaked out wondering if someone was hacking him, when a second message happened.


    *B/\it: Tell me about it. Ghost is acting weird, but Hamm3r is a fucking noob. Stop playing with the little shit. I saw her last match, she could easily wipe this kid.*


    And Malcolm realized there was some sort of chat? He typed into the keyboard and the words instantly went into a previously invisible chat field.


    If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    Huh.


    He noticed he didn¡¯t have a username, and just before he started trying to make one he realized he was literally talking about a netrunner system¡­


    He decided to not respond and just continue watching, even as a few more runners shit talked about the situation.


    Finally Hamm3r started moving. Groups of his Daemons gathered together and started hunting. Leaving four of them with him, while an equal sized group left.


    He waited and watched as Motoko finally reacted. Moving steadily towards the Daemons.


    *B/\it: Why is she focused on the Daemons? If she wanted to attack him, she should have done it while he was summoning. Fucking loser.*


    *R0ck4tr3ss: Shitstain fuckin shut up. You always complain and whine about other people but bitch out and never step into the arena. It¡¯s obvious she is testing to see what Hamm3r can do.*


    Malcolm nodded as he watched the fight continue. Motoko hunted the four Daemons down, murdering all of them with fire seemingly without any real issue. Especially since they couldn¡¯t seem to see her.


    *R0ck4tr3ss: Why aren¡¯t the Daemons responding to her? Some sort of optical hack?*


    *Admin: Ghost dropped a Daemon into the arena when she breached the system. I don¡¯t want to go poking too deep while she is actively battling, but it seems to remove her from the sight of digital constructs. It does seem to work on Hamm3r as well to an extent.*


    *B/\it: The lord speaketh! Hail the Admin!*


    *FlAm3r: I¡¯ve never heard of a hack like that. You got any deets @Admin?*


    *Admin: You don¡¯t have the funds to pay for such information. Best to leave it.*


    *FlAm3r: Fuck off!*


    *B/\it: LEL Flamer more like Flamed.*


    Malcolm looked away from the chat as it was filled with people laughing and not much else, to focus on Motoko.


    He looked over and she was still laying seemingly asleep on the chair. Completely calm. A quick check and her Cyberdeck was still just warm and not overheating her. Everything was fine.


    She finished fighting the daemons, and then slipped away. Seemingly waiting to see how the runner would react.


    Angrily it seems.


    Hamm3r rushed towards where Motoko was. The wait seemingly getting to him as he reached the bubbling mass of his former Daemons burned into flaming puddles he looked around.


    *Come out! Stop sneaking around!* He roared looking around but then. Nothing.


    Motoko definitely heard him, but she wasn¡¯t moving. Pissed, the guy summoned up another mass of Daemons, the orbs again, appearing much faster than the guys in suits, and then they sent out again. Searching.


    But it was obvious to Malcolm that Hamm3r was seething.


    Once a dozen of the IMPS were summoned, he stopped and started creating the larger Daemons again.


    Though Malcolm noticed summoning each one was much much slower than before.


    He looked towards the chat wondering if anyone would talk about it? Maybe he could get some answers.


    Nothing. They were all just arguing about some random shit Malcolm had no idea what about.


    So he just settled in to watch.


    ¡ª--


    Hamm3r I decided was really easy to piss off.


    I felt a little bad for Malcolm as he was probably a bit bored, but grinding XP was not for everyone.


    I was settled in a corner of the map just letting my deck stay cool, as I watched Hamm3r struggle to summon more Daemons.


    Which was weird? I hadn¡¯t done much with Daemons, besides the free code for the facehuggers that I got from the perk, but I knew the basics. Each Daemon took a certain amount of Space on your deck to summon. But in exchange you had a program backing you up. Usually with a built in hack of its own to attack with.


    Some were of course specialized like my face huggers, or the IMPs that were summoned to search for me. And yeah there was a limit to how many Daemons you could run at once off a deck, but¡­ Was Hamm3r already hitting his limit?


    The last two guys hadn¡¯t had any issues, but they had both been way more skilled than this guy.


    Hamm3r was sort of outclassed. I had realized it when he had tried to breach into the system, and I hadn¡¯t even needed to intrude for him to fail.


    It was kind of embarrassing.


    Still, he was angry, and doing exactly what I wanted. Summoning XP for me.


    I followed an IMP as it wandered around until it was far enough away and killed it. Hell Flame ending deleting its data too quickly for it to start any hacks against me.


    Once again this set off the IMPs, but I noticed instead of all charging at the last spot they gathered up with Hamm3r as he hurried towards the spot.


    I considered leaving a trap, but he would see it, and that would just be a waste of heat.


    It was funny but I had learned something from the last time I was here.


    RAM might be mana, but the heat of your Cyberdeck was mana burn.


    You can¡¯t just go all out constantly, or you¡¯ll burn yourself out. So I just had to balance my cooldowns, and adjust my mana spending!


    Thinking about it like a game, or like how I would if I was playing a wizard or something in an MMO helped.


    Besides, I had a different objective than poor Hamm3r. I was here to farm him.


    When he reached the burned corpse of his IMP he found nothing.


    And that made him even angrier.


    The poor kid was already overheating. While he had tried to breach into the server to get the Minimap info. I had breached him back.


    Something he hadn¡¯t even noticed considering how sneaky I had been.


    To my surprise though, when I breached, a lot of stuff had been blocked off by a firewall, and instead I had been given a screen just like the Minimap.


    Which had things like his Cyberdecks RAM usage, and current temp.


    The arena was an interesting bit of code. I was gonna have to speak to Admin about seeing under the hood. It was kinda cool.


    But regardless, each Daemon he summoned cost him a chunk out of his Cyberdeck¡¯s RAM to keep up, and it was heating him up constantly.


    He wasn¡¯t overheating himself yet, but he was getting close.


    But still I didn¡¯t approach.


    I just kept poking.


    His IMPs once more wandered around, this time in sets of twos, trying to track me.


    He seemed distracted, instead of summoning more I noticed on the minimap the Daemons were moving with more intelligence.


    I guess he decided to switch to an RTS?


    Finding a pair of IMPs that were far enough away wasn¡¯t hard, and once again I snuck up on them, and then blasted them with Hell Flame.


    *250 XP Gained.*


    *250 XP Gained.*


    Smirking, I hurried away once again as all the Daemons rushed towards their death once again.


    Poor Hamm3r.


    I could hear him cussing at me through the entire arena. Digital shit talking that I just ignored.


    Hamm3r tried. He loaded up more Daemons together. I killed them.


    He tried staying with them, but after a while where I just didn¡¯t do anything he split them up and tried keeping them in larger groups again.


    In the end, Hamm3r started absolutely raging at me. At the lack of my appearance, or doing anything.


    I noticed he stopped summoning more Daemons.


    Which was the moment he rang his own deathknell. If he wasn¡¯t going to give me more XP to farm? Then this match was over.


    Slowly I came out of hiding, just approaching the man that was pissed and fiery, shouting expletives into the air.


    Walking closer and closer, it was inevitable that he would notice me, even if he wasn¡¯t looking, the digital scape wasn¡¯t like the real world. You didn¡¯t entirely see with just your eyes.


    He jerked away from me, shocked and startled, and that was when I moved.


    Sandevistan activated. A Breach jumped, and a moment later he was down, and his Daemons were burning.


    *Ghost Wins!*


    ¡ª--


    When I reappeared in the club I was met with looks of both amusement, and irritation.


    ¡°You sure took your time!¡± One of them yelled out and I just shrugged, but it was a curse from behind me that caught my attention.


    ¡°Bitch!¡± Hamm3r was there, red in the face and really pissed. ¡°What the fuck is wrong with you!¡± He demanded as he charged forward, but he stopped when Admin was suddenly there hand in front of him blocking him from advancing.


    ¡°No fighting here.¡± Admin demanded the older man firm and then he looked to me, and Hamm3r to make sure we both understood.


    What could I say? What should I say?


    I sighed, really wishing I could run a hand through my hair.


    ¡°Sorry, I was trying things out. I didn¡¯t think of the time it might take.¡± I offered but Hamm3r just scoffed and flipped me off.


    ¡°Never going in a match with you again.¡± He threw out as he turned and headed away quickly disappearing in a log out.


    ¡°That was rather cruel of you Ghost.¡± Admin offered and I flinched.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t mean it like that. I was just¡­¡± I trailed off, because how do I explain that I was hunting his Daemons?¡±


    Admin shrugged. ¡°It was a competition, and you just showed how time can be an advantage netrunners often don¡¯t get the chance to take advantage of. If you continue to battle in such a way, just be aware of the effects it will have on your reputation.¡±


    ¡°Right.¡± I offered quietly.


    Because honestly I probably was going to act like that as long as I was fighting someone that used Daemons.


    The XP had been too good to ignore. Over 5000xp from all the Daemons in just one match!


    It was a massive increase, and if not for the fact Malcolm was waiting on the line I would be tempted to throw myself into another match.


    Which is probably why it was such a good thing he was here. I should cool off and take in what I learned.


    ¡°Thank you for the opportunity. This was actually very helpful.¡± I offered to the older netrunner and I could see him react with a blink before he formed a smile.


    ¡°Well that isn¡¯t something I hear often. You are very welcome, Ghost.¡±


    I nodded at that and disappeared in my own logout.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°That was kinda interesting, and kinda boring.¡± Malcolm offered when I sat up, and I winced at the words.


    ¡°Sorry. You were really useful to have here though.¡±


    ¡°Hey don¡¯t take it like that. I got to see a netrunner battle on the net, you have any idea how rare that is?¡±


    ¡°Is it?¡± I asked confused. ¡°I mean, if that combat zone exists, then shouldn¡¯t there be recordings?¡±


    ¡°Never seen one.¡± Malcolm replied with a shrug. ¡°It was kinda cool though.¡±


    ¡°Huh.¡± I muttered, maybe I¡¯d talk to Hiromi about it. Could be something interesting for the BD market? Or at least a video side of it.


    I shrugged and got up stretching, feeling pretty good. A big chunk of xp always left me feeling better.


    ¡°Want to get some food?¡± I asked, and Malcolm nodded instantly.


    ¡°I could eat.¡±

 Chapter 176

    I can¡¯t believe this was happening.


    ¡°The Caliburn is the best!¡± Malcolm argued with this random gonk at the diner pointing at him with a french fry like he was going to stab him,


    ¡°Bull shit. It¡¯s overpriced, over hyped garbage. Also it¡¯s digital acceleration is fucking broken!¡±


    ¡°The fuck it is! It drives perfectly!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s complete dogshit, and you would know if you weren¡¯t some gonk fuck street kid Rayfield fuckboy that has never been in a Caliburn.¡±


    ¡°Bitch I own one!¡± Malcolm roared standing up and I just put my head in my hands.


    I just wanted lunch. I was even paying. So why couldn¡¯t Malcolm just leave the stupid looking guy at the diners bar talking shit about the Rayfield commercial alone?


    ¡°What is your last name Arasaka or something? Bullshit lying little punk!¡±


    ¡°Oh I¡¯ll fucking prove it choom, I¡¯ll have you apologize and grovel to the best car in Night City when it arrives!¡± He called out, I could already see his eyes having flashed to call his Caliburn here.


    Dammit Malcolm, I didn¡¯t want to stay here all afternoon. I had¡­


    Okay I didn¡¯t have anything else to do, it¡¯s not like I had a normal job, but the point stands!


    In the end I just flopped my head onto the table as I waited for the car to show up, and did my best to ignore the fact that Malcolm and this random gonk would not stop fucking arguing about it.


    Gearheads are the most obtuse of all super fans I decided.


    Besides everyone knows the Quadra was the best.


    The arguing continued and I was sure both of these idiots would have been thrown out if we weren¡¯t the only people in the diner at the moment.


    Then about twenty minutes later Malcolms Rayfield pulled into the lot.


    ¡°What the fuck.¡± The guy said as he had been looking out the window behind Malcolm and saw it arrive.


    ¡°Hah! Get ready to weep choom, because I do own a Caliburn!¡± Malcolm crowed out his Victory as he sauntered out the door and walked up to the car. The door opened at his approach.


    ¡°No fucking way.¡±


    ¡°Way.¡± I answered as I rose up and threw some eddies at the owner for the food. I walked out and Malcolm was leaning up against the car with a cocky grin staring at the windows of the diner.


    ¡°Malcolm, your ego is showing.¡± I muttered as I walked past him to my Quadra. Right next to the rather modded out Quadra Sport R-7.


    I had a feeling I knew the other guy''s choice in vehicles.


    ¡°Alright choom. Alright. You win on this one. You¡¯re daddy certainly has a lot of eddies.¡± The other guy calls out, and that just sets Malcolm off.


    ¡°Fuck you! This is my car you gonk bitch!¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I doubt it kid. How about we prove it. A nice little race, my R-7 and your Rayfield, you know how to drive that thing don¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Course I do!¡± Malcolm said knowing damn well that he didn¡¯t. I sighed as the two boys got into an argument that led to me sitting in the Rayfield next to Malcolm as he squeezed the steering wheel tightly. The R-7 was beside us, engine rumbling as we waited for the light to change.


    ¡°I turned on launch control. I¡¯m gonna blow this gonk fucker away.¡± Malcolm muttered and I hummed a bit.


    I had a feeling Malcolm was about to get left in the dust.


    ¡°Just don¡¯t risk your car for a race that doesn¡¯t matter.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯ll be fine Motoko! Just trust me!¡±


    I very specifically tugged on the seatbelt reminding him I was wearing it.


    ¡°Fuck off.¡± He grumbled, but then he focused up.


    The lights were changing, The R-7 rumbled its engine and I instantly knew what was about to happen.


    The Rayfield¡¯s launch control relied on the engine being idle before it activated.


    Instantly Malcolm, rumbled his engine back, The Turbo charged V10 of the Caliburn roared up, and the launch control activated trying to launch the car at the same time as the brake was held down, then the light changed. The R-7 was gone, burning rubber off the street line, as Malcolms Caliburn sputtered forward and nearly stalled out, before he managed to adjust it and take off.


    ¡°No no no no!¡± He howled as he roared after, but the R-7 was modded and it was obvious that Malcolm wouldn¡¯t catch up before they hit the next light.


    ¡°That¡­ Was both very smart, and an asshole move.¡± I mentioned as I considered how much car knowledge it took to do that kind of shit.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to hear it!¡± Malcolm snapped as he continued trying to catch up, but by the time we got anywhere near the R-7 it was already slowing down after the next light and pulling over. Then Malcolm pulled in behind the R-7, and jumped out


    ¡°What the fuck!¡± He yelled at the guy that was also, stepping out, with a cocky grin.


    ¡°What? You got smoked kid. Better learn to use Daddys car before trying to race it.¡±


    ¡°You fucking asshole!¡±


    ¡°Hey Malcolm, chill.¡± I demanded as I hurried around the car and grabbed him. Malcolm was seething, looking like he was going to throw fists over this.


    ¡°Hey brats. Watch yourself, or else.¡± The man demanded and I stilled.


    Turning around I saw the man holding a gun in his hand having drawn it.


    A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    The Nova he was using to intimidate a couple of brat kids. Okay. At this point in time the guy had passed over the realm of acceptable conduct.


    He forced Malcolm into a race, tricked him, and then when Malcolm was pissed pulled a gun despite Malcolm not being anywhere near him.


    It took half a second to turn his gun into a nice paperweight as my eyes flashed into hacking the damn thing, and then I pushed Malcolm back and stalked forward.


    ¡°What? You some crazy bitch? Don¡¯t think I-Hey!¡± He yelped as I continued to approach, he aimed the gun at my center mass and pulled the trigger without hesitation.


    Which is right when I grabbed his outstretched wrist, twisted, pulled, unbalanced him and launched my other fist right into his face.


    Ignoring the scream from inside of his date I enjoyed the moment as he crashed into the asphalt.


    ¡°Fuck you asshole.¡± I said simply as I turned back to Malcolm. Malcolm who looked a little conflicted.


    ¡°I really wanted to do that.¡±


    ¡°Eh, you shouldn¡¯t have tried to  punch him for tricking you. That was a dick move, but acceptable. Live and learn. But some gonk pulling a gun is a different story. C¡¯mon let¡¯s get out of here.¡±


    Malcolm didn¡¯t move at first. The guy cursed and thrashed as he rose back to his feet, blood pouring down his nose, but eventually Malcolm scoffed and smirked and walked back to the Caliburn.


    Then we were off.


    ¡°Satisfied?¡± I asked as he floored it past the R-7 and the fucker.


    ¡°No. Not at all actually. I¡­ I got tricked like a fucking gonk, and it¡¯s my fault.¡±


    ¡°Mistakes happen.¡± I said as comfortingly as I could.


    ¡°I just¡­ I feel like a fucking gonk. I should have known better.¡±


    ¡°Experience is important¡­ Why don¡¯t you start racing and stuff. Practice it I mean?¡± I remembered there were races all over the place.


    Didn¡¯t I get invited to a race once? I vaguely recall it happening.


    ¡°Maybe I will! Thanks Motoko. For¡­ You know, backing me up.¡±


    ¡°No problem.¡±


    ¡ª--


    It was kinda weird, but I felt a bit bored.


    I had spent some more time once I got home fixing up the Tachikoma AI some more. It was growing as well as it could, but honestly I was just bored.


    I considered calling up Wakako for a gig, but the idea struck me as I was looking out the window and I made a decision.


    Getting dressed, arming up I headed out grabbing a bit of my secondary kit. I dragged my armor kit with me to the car but didn¡¯t put it on yet.


    Then after a quick drive across the city, I walked down the steps into the Afterlife. The pounding music, the Edgerunners all working and planning and plotting. I smiled and ended up settling at the bar.


    Then I just waited for a while. Idly I continued to do some more programming work, just some leftover stuff from Yoko as I waited for time to pass.


    I was sucking a soda through a straw the bartender had given me when it happened. The whole room went electric, everyone looked up from what they were doing.


    Rogue arrived. Just like last time she strode through the bar like she was Queen and the rest of us mere mortals. Groups of edgerunners hurried after her, looking for work, and then either rushed back to their little teams, or started calling out for additional skills.


    Then a call came out and I knew I had to accept.


    ¡°I need an infiltrator!¡± The call went out and I turned to look.


    Black man, punk style, big trench coat. I nodded. Rising up I decided to avoid all the difficulty with my age.


    A slight adjustment, and when I spoke a much more mature, sexier voice came out.


    ¡°I can cover that.¡± I called and his eyes turned to me. They instantly glowed as he scanned, but for some reason despite my age, he didn¡¯t hesitate to nod at me. ¡°Names Bishop. Give me a minute.¡±


    Then he turned right around to talk to Rogue. Two minutes later he came out and jerked his head to follow.


    I sauntered after, towards the side room right near the entrance. The tables were mostly empty as it was still midday, but a group of edgerunners were already gathered up.


    They looked me over at the same time I looked them all over.


    They were an eclectic group.


    One guy was in a business suit. He reminded me of Hiromi¡¯s dad. Only this guy was armed considering the bulge in his jacket. Also his arms were definitely Mantis Blades. He looked up as Bishop walked over and then looked at me.


    Instantly his eyes flashed, and I could tell he was scanning me.


    I looked away and at the rest of the group. If he wanted to scan before introductions that was fine.


    The next woman was¡­ wild.


    A tattered T-shirt showed her bra at multiple points. The image of shark teeth on the front of the shirt looked unique. Maybe something she had made herself? Her jacket was a pretty standard Street Samurai coat, the sort of thing game V always wore, but the big case next to her was definitely her weapon.


    The last was another guy. TC? He reminded me of it. Even had a Katana at his hip. His hair reminded me of Juns, only it wasn¡¯t fire, and instead some electronic effect. He gave me a once over and didn¡¯t say anything, nor did he give off any emotion. Simply observing.


    ¡°Alright. This is Motoko. She¡¯s an infiltrator. Rogue approved so she¡¯s on the team for the gig. Introduce yourself.¡± Bishop seemed to order as he looked over the grouping.


    ¡°Samuel Perry.¡± The corpo introduced himself, and then he looked to Bishop. ¡°Are you sure? She¡¯s young.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s also here.¡± Bishop waved a hand as if it didn¡¯t matter. ¡°Rogue vouches for her. That¡¯s that.¡±


    ¡°Very well. I¡¯m the one that handles diplomacy and my former employment with Militech left me with plenty of contacts.¡± He introduced himself with a casual air, but his eyes were sharp, always staring at me.


    ¡°Call me Mira. I¡¯m the sharpshooter.¡± She said, all teeth, which I then noticed were shark teeth.


    Bit on the nose, but okay.


    ¡°Hakase.¡± The Street Samurai introduced but then an echoing void came up after. Luckily Bishop spoke up.


    ¡°He doesn¡¯t talk much, but he¡¯s damn good with that blade.¡±


    ¡°I can tell.¡± I answered, giving the man a look over. ¡°I¡¯m Motoko. I¡¯m an infiltrator, but I¡¯m also a solo, and Netrunner. I look forward to working with you.¡±


    ¡°Jeeze, where did you find this kid?¡± Mira called out but I wasn¡¯t really bothered. It¡¯s hard to be insulted by someone you don¡¯t know, and don¡¯t care what their opinion of you is.


    ¡°Right, let¡¯s get down to it. Two days ago a Kang Tao scientist jumped ship. He is trying to sell some info for protection to the corps, obviously Kang Tao isn¡¯t letting this go, but that isn¡¯t our concern. Rogue wants the guy gathered up, the info is Rogues to sell as far as she¡¯s concerned.¡± Bishop spoke with a confident cadence, and his crew all nodded in understanding.


    No confusion, no hesitation. They had worked together for a long time then.


    ¡°The problem comes in the pick up. The guy is hiding out in a high end apartment building here in City Central. Normally not an issue, but our target wasn''t entirely stupid. He hired some animals for protection.¡±


    Bishop handed over a shard, first to Samuel, the corp who plugged it in looked it over for a few minutes and nodded, frowning a bit. Then to Mira who barely glanced at the shard before tossing it to Hakase.


    He looked it over for a while before handing it to me.


    Inside I understood. It was details about the building, the target, and some information about the animals protecting him, and why this was a problem.


    Squad of twenty animals had locked down the top floor of this apartment building. From a tiny clip of camera footage that was on it, it showed the animals carrying LMG¡¯s checking the elevator every time it stopped on that floor.


    The place was locked down, and  somehow we had to extract the guy in charge.


    ¡°So can you get to the security system? We¡¯ll need a distraction while we get up in the elevator.¡± Bishop asked and I nodded idly as I looked through things.


    ¡°You plan on going in guns blazing?¡± I asked, and the team nodded confidently. ¡°Then I can definitely get you onto the top floor, can probably blind and disable the elevator guards as well remotely.¡±


    ¡°You weren¡¯t kidding about being a netrunner huh?¡± Mira asked, and I shook my head.


    ¡°No, I¡¯m pretty good. Not elite tier, but good. Only issue is if the security is protected by a netrunner as well. I don¡¯t see any information if the Animals brought one, or if the hotel has one on site.¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t know, so we go in with a blank spot. Will that stop you from infiltrating and getting us up there?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± I answered back. I could do that even if there was a security runner, but something caught my eye.


    ¡°Hang on. Why don¡¯t we skip the elevator entirely.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not walking up twenty stories.¡± Mira denied instantly and I smiled as I shook my head.


    ¡°Not what I mean. North east side of the building, there¡¯s some heating units sticking out, should be an easy climb up to the top floor. Quieter than using the elevator.¡±


    ¡°Let me see.¡± Bishop called, and I popped out the shard and handed it back over. He slotted it and started examining the data, going over it much longer than the first time.


    Then slowly he nodded.


    ¡°Could work. Would leave the initial arrival a lot less dicey.¡±


    ¡°Aww I like Dicey.¡± Mira mocked, and then Samuel was handed the shard to look as Bishop popped it out.


    ¡°Doable I suppose. Doesn¡¯t really change much. We still need the security opened so we can use the elevator.¡±


    ¡°The elevator, is a E6-551. It¡¯s got a backdoor by default. I¡¯ll be able to unlock the elevator even without touching security. Although I¡¯ll still need to infiltrate, unless you want NCPD arriving at the sound of gunfire.¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t.¡± Bishop confirmed.


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll head in and shut down the silent alarms as planned, get you elevator access. Might be able to join you if you like?¡± I offered, but Bishop shook his head.


    ¡°Better to stay with the security and pull netrunner shit from there.¡±


    I considered arguing, but shrugged. ¡°Sure.¡± Bishop¡¯s group was his group, and I was intruding. Better not to push it.


    With that settled the group started moving.

 Chapter 177

    The security on the hotel wasn¡¯t impressive. Pressing myself against the rear door as the camera swiveled above me, I took a few seconds to breach the security pad, I knew the design, and I knew how to get through without problems.


    They all had a factory default admin code from the producers.


    I entered it and it popped the door open without even needing to breach it.


    Sliding inside, I ducked down and hurried down the hall, the large window that had a staff break room didn¡¯t even see me as I moved right past.


    The security room was three doors down, and I made it without seeing anyone.


    Security here was tougher, whoever had set up the secure room knew what they were doing.


    Unfortunately, the security guy was probably from ten or more years ago and long since fired.


    The security panel was top of the line about that long ago. I hit the button on the bottom of the panel, flipped it open, licked my fingers and pressed against two of the wire ports.


    A zip went through my arm, and the door popped open.


    Security, security never changes.


    Flipping the panel closed again, I slipped inside, and pushed the sliding door closed. Then as the room was empty I walked over to the rolly chair and slipped inside.


    *I¡¯m in the security room. Giving you all credentials now. Go ahead and move towards the elevator.* I spoke into the call that all of us were in.


    I did a few checks to find out if there was a netrunner connected to the system, but after nothing pinged me back I relaxed, mostly.


    Time to get to work. Entering in elevator credentials was super easy, something done hundreds of times a week.


    I easily added the group in, and then started accessing the rest of the system. Locking down any NCPD alerts that would be sent out was almost childs play. It was literally on a toggle. I guess the hotel owner wanted to be able to ensure that sometimes his residents weren¡¯t able to call for help through the hotel security.


    Moving on I accessed the camera system, and hooked in.


    I was the eye in the sky, looking through the camera system on the top floor. The animals were still wandering around, most of them were doing a pretty good job on keeping watch, but at least half were fucking around. One was working out, pumping a dumbbell, another was making a sandwich.


    It worked for me. Made it easier.


    *Pinging all enemy locations now. Please let me know if there are any optical glitches.* I spoke into the call and then sent a ping through. The golden lights were a bit weird from my perspective, considering I was so many floors below, but it would look fine for the team.


    *Wait, each of these lines is an Animal?* Mira asked, suddenly sounding eager.


    *Or the target, he is on the security channel with the Animals as well.*


    *Huh.*


    *Never worked with a runner before Mira?* Sam asked over the line and I heard her scoff in return.


    Then it went silent, as I watched through the cameras as they accessed the elevator.


    *Straight run to floor 19, best access point looks like room 196. It¡¯s empty at the moment, door is unlocked.* I mentioned, as I prepped their path forward. Then I had nothing else to do but focus on the top floor.


    Switching between the different cameras I checked where all of the Animals were located as best I could.


    Unfortunately there weren¡¯t a lot of cameras to access up there.


    Instead I started getting things ready.


    Weapon Glitch uploaded and sent, letting it bounce around the animals up there. Preparing for the eventual gun fight.


    Then I waited. I lost the team on cameras, so I just followed them with what I knew of their route.


    Waiting wasn¡¯t fun, but it was what I had to do. I was the woman in the chair this time. It was an interesting experience, but I didn¡¯t much like it.


    The sound of a gunshot coming through the camera meant it was time.


    I dropped the Short Circuit into the group, and watched multiple Animals fall over.


    Waiting, I saw Hakase for a moment, his Katana shining as it cut through an Animal like butter.


    Then it was basically over. I watched on the elevator camera as they dragged an unconscious man into the elevator, and then they were down. The Animals were injured, dead, or still being shocked prone.


    I quickly cleared footage, deleting the entire days recordings, and left a small apology message for the netrunner they would bring in to find out what happened.


    Then I disconnected from the system and walked back out the way I came. Hitting the alley, I jogged down a bit and slid into my Quadra.


    *I¡¯m out.* I confirmed into the line, and started driving. The meeting place after was the Afterlife.


    Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    ¡ª--


    I got there first, which wasn¡¯t a shock. They had to drop off the package for Rogue to pick up. Waiting for only ten minutes was no big deal when finally Bishop and his crew came sauntering down the steps. Swagger on full blast.


    ¡°Gig complete!¡± He called out as he walked past the bar, and grabbed a bottle of Brosef that the bartender passed him, then another couple for each member in his gig.


    Then Bishop walked over and stood on top of a table bottle in the air.


    I was kinda curious about what was going on as he raised the bottle up, his team mimicking him.


    ¡°To another gig! To survival for another day! For another blaze of glory!¡±


    ¡°To another!¡± His team repeated at the end, and I watched on a little discomforted.


    Edgerunners.


    But I was alone. The other edgerunners around us raised glasses, or clapped a few times at his announcement, a few even wolf whistled.


    This was the culture that I missed out on, that I never really understood. To these men and women, it wasn¡¯t a celebration of their life, but that the gig didn¡¯t have the blaze big enough to end them.


    That they could go on to bigger things.


    That was what I picked up from them, and this group I had just met that I barely knew¡­ I felt so completely apart from them it was almost enough to make me nauseous.


    ¡°And there is our newest assistant! Infiltrator!¡± Bishop called out, and the team looked at me as I spun slowly around on the bar stool, a soda in my hand. ¡°You do good work.¡± Bishop decided, finally stepping down from the table and walking over with his team.


    ¡°Thanks.¡± I offered back, sipping my drink again.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be straight with you. You handled everything perfectly, no complaints from me. I ran it past the group, and we wouldn¡¯t mind running another gig or two with you. See how you fit, if you¡¯d like to join more full time.¡±


    I blinked at the offer, glanced over at the faces of the other members, I only saw a smattering of respect.


    I was young, but they acknowledged I had done the job.


    ¡°I appreciate it. I wouldn¡¯t mind backing you up in the future, but I don¡¯t think I''m really a joiner.¡± I decided. ¡°I have my own crew that I work with usually. Today was just me being bored and deciding to earn some eddies rather than be lazy on the couch.¡± I explained honestly.


    Bishop blinked his glowing eyes flickering for a moment before he chuckled.


    ¡°You hear that? The infiltrator takes gigs to not be bored.¡±


    ¡°Well damn, I can¡¯t blame her. Sneaking into a comfy office and watching through the cameras must be a real preem gig. Kinda wish I was a runner now.¡± Mira offered, but it was joking, she smiled toothily, which I returned in kind.


    ¡°It was an easy gig for an infiltrator, but it could have taken much longer, and been more difficult for the rest of us.¡± Samuel the corp offered nodding towards me, as he raised his Brosef taking a seat a few down the bar. ¡°To long developed skills.¡±


    I raised my drink in exchange. ¡°To no doubt dealing with really annoying people on the daily. I don¡¯t envy your skills.¡± I sent back and the previously cold man, broke into a smirk at my words.


    ¡°See at least someone acknowledges the difficulty of working with people.¡±


    ¡°Oh God, don¡¯t get him started. He¡¯ll whine for hours about all the assholes and make us listen to it.¡± Mira begged.


    And slowly the group melded into the bar, and I realized why on the flipside why Edgerunners were what everyone wanted to be.


    There were few friendships stronger than those forged in the heat of combat.


    ¡°So what¡¯s with all the chrome anyways? No Realskinn?¡± Mira asked a few minutes later as the conversation turned to everyone simply chattering about the gig. I had thought about leaving, but I was being included enough that it felt nice.


    ¡°I like chrome.¡±


    ¡°Gross. Should get some Bioware! You¡¯d look great as¡­ A lizard maybe? Get some scales? Oh no! I know, maybe a wolf, there is something lovely about a cute wolf girl!¡± Mira gushed and I realized with horror what she was.


    ¡°Exotic!¡± I snapped finger pointing, she didn¡¯t just have shark teeth as an aesthetic choice, but because she was one of them!


    ¡°Heh? Yeah duh? Didn¡¯t the teeth clue you in.¡±


    ¡°No! Ugh.¡± I groaned as I remembered the stupid Exotic club, and the failed gig. How annoying that had been. I had been forced to watch that club for hours trying to find a way in!


    ¡°Oooh? You got a problem with Exotics?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s so annoying! Can¡¯t hack them, can¡¯t stealth by them unless you do something about scent. They tend to have upgraded bioeyes, so even normal stealth isn¡¯t as good. Again, you can¡¯t blind them with a quick hack! It¡¯s so frustrating!¡± I whined and looked at her, eyes meeting hers with a glare.


    Her own glare went from harsh to blinking in surprise and then fighting back a smirk.


    ¡°Wait¡­ So you don¡¯t like exotics cause-¡±


    ¡°Cause they are so hard to stealth around! I had a gig I failed because it involved an exotic bar that I couldn¡¯t infiltrate! I ended up having to call Regina and tell her I couldn¡¯t do it. Never heard from her again.¡±


    ¡°Wait. The Lions Den?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t remind me! I spent so long trying to find a way in!¡±


    ¡°Pfft! Ahahaha!¡± She broke into laughter and I glared at her, but she didn¡¯t care and just laughed harder.


    ¡°It¡¯s not funny.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s hilarious! Okay! Okay! You are officially invited, you should join me at the Den sometime. You¡¯re a bit young, but fuck it, you¡¯re an Afterlife merc. You should enjoy yourself. I have to bring you around, and tell everyone!¡±


    ¡°Hell no.¡±


    ¡°Aww c¡¯mon it¡¯s great! So many people to pet!¡±


    ¡°Mira, lay off. The kid¡¯s a teenager.¡±


    ¡°So? There are kid¡¯s her age that are Exotic!¡±


    ¡°You know that wasn¡¯t what you were offering.¡± Bishop responded rolling his eyes, and I just huffed.


    ¡°If I ever have to sneak in, I¡¯ll remember you.¡±


    ¡°Hah! Good luck. We got some great security¡­ As you know!¡± She cackled teeth flashing wide.


    Tsk!


    ¡ª--


    Back home with a fresh pocketful of eddies, I realized that my sense of money was skewed.


    I had been given a couple grand of eddies, not a bad payout I think? But for me it was kinda light for a full gig.


    If it had been Section 9, the weapons, and equipment the Animals had ¡®left¡¯ behind would have been another couple grand easy.


    But that was fine. We were a bit different, more willing to scrounge for the eddies. I had a feeling it wasn¡¯t considered ¡®cool¡¯ to do that sort of thing.


    I shrugged. I didn¡¯t care about being thought of as cool, as long as people know I wasn¡¯t someone they could fuck with.


    Home again, I noticed Jun wasn¡¯t home, and I was once again feeling bored. Grabbing my guitar I strummed a few notes thinking about what to play.


    I was feeling pretty mellow, something chill¡­


    Fingers started strumming and I smiled as I heard the notes. I knew what to play.


    ¡°Underneath the bridge. Tarp has sprung a leak. And the animals I¡¯ve trapped. Have all become my pets.¡± I mumbled aloud, as I just let myself remember another Nirvana song.


    ¡®Something in the Way¡¯ was very simple, but it just¡­ Felt nice.


    I played through the song once, and then just let it trail off.


    ¡°Need to actually record that¡­ And the rest of the Nirvana songs.¡± I hummed a bit, a familiar refrain and I laughed as I decided I might as well.


    I grabbed my music box, plugged it all in, and started working. My Cyberdeck handled the cutting and editing of the tracks, adjusting the sound levels as I sang and sang and sang.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°No, I don¡¯t have a gun! No, I don¡¯t have a guuuun!¡± Come as you are belted out with all the emotion I could pack into the song continued on. Every riff was locked into my brain, burned into my memories and the emotions I remember with every sung word coming out as heavily as I could.


    Which is when the door opened.


    ¡°Sorry.¡± Jun greeted me as I stopped mid word.


    ¡°That¡¯s okay. Welcome home!¡± I greeted as I stretched, but then I looked over and frowned. ¡°Jun?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing Imouto.¡± He responded back, but I could tell he wasn¡¯t okay. I rose up and padded after him, as he went to the fridge and grabbed some food, and he rolled his eyes as he noticed me looking at him. ¡°It¡¯s just Yuto, I tried calling him, and haven¡¯t heard from him¡­ I¡¯m worried he¡¯s doing something stupid.¡± He tells me and I relax.


    ¡°Oh okay then.¡± I moved away, if it was just worry about his choom that wasn¡¯t something I could really help with. I headed back to the couch, and picked up my guitar might as well finish the song, when Jun settled in.


    ¡°That tune¡­ You played it before right? A long time ago. You¡¯ve improved a lot.¡±


    ¡°It¡­ Yeah, I¡¯ve gotten a lot better. Figured it all out basically.¡± I muttered, feeling my ears redden, Jun remembered me playing badly!


    He laughed at my embarrassment and then settled onto the couch, but I could see that he wasn¡¯t relaxing, his eyes flashed as he was making calls.


    So I did my best not to disturb him, focusing on editing some tracks and getting it right.


    I had finished Something in the Way. So maybe I¡¯ll play that for Jun once he was done?


    But before I could jump into it, Jun stood up with a sigh, and started leaving.


    ¡°Jun?¡± I asked, but he didn¡¯t say anything just dropping a heavy hand on my head to reassure me, before heading right back out.


    It was going to be one of those days then huh?


    Jun left, and I got back to it.

 Chapter 178

    The next morning I was attacked first thing in the morning.


    ¡°Motokoooo!¡± Hiromi whined as she launched herself at me as soon as I opened the door. Swinging the Motoko seeking ballistic missile around to bleed off the momentum, I closed the door with a kick and settled the Door Shotgun back in place as I hugged Hiromi tight.


    ¡°Fun day! I demand it!¡± She said while her face was buried in my shoulder.


    ¡°Okay. What do you want to do?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. You decide.¡± She responded back and I just laughed.


    ¡°Well I¡¯m afraid I wasn¡¯t planning on much today, I got the music bug and I was just recording some songs, but we can go-¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± She demanded and rushed over to the couch to flop on it. ¡°Serenade me!¡±


    I scoffed at her demand but smiled regardless. ¡°Okay, this is Come as you are.¡± I informed her and set up the song to play through the music box as I settled in, and then I started up that famous intro. The deep tones were good. Not perfect, I really needed something acoustic, if I wanted to really hit the best notes, but my guitar could fake it well enough.


    Well enough for this anyways.


    Then I opened my eyes, locked them onto Hiromi, and crooned. ¡°Come, as you are, as you were, as I want you to be!¡±


    The song ended with me letting the last note drift for a while, and then I smiled at Hiromi, because playing music like this was just¡­ Fun.


    It was fun.


    ¡°God Motoko.¡± She breathed and then shook herself off. ¡°Okay that¡¯s it! I¡¯m done! That¡¯s it!¡± She nearly screamed as she rose up and paced and I blinked, nearly stepping back in shock.


    ¡°What? Hiromi? What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    ¡°The fact you don¡¯t do this more! You¡­ Motoko. You sold a song to Denny! To a major label! I mean¡­ You should do this more! It¡¯s amazing! Put a band together! Put on shows!¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t¡­ I like music as my hobby, Hiromi, but I¡¯m not really¡­ Crowds and stuff you know?¡±


    ¡°Ughhhhhh.¡± She whined, smashing her face into the couch and screaming. ¡°Why are you so¡­¡±


    ¡°You just gestured at all of me.¡± I joked, heh. Hiccup. Aw man, I haven¡¯t seen that movie in¡­ Well it¡¯s gone now I think..


    No, I shook it off, focus on Hiromi.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what to say Hiromi.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t say anything just¡­ Listen for a second? Put some songs together. Like just a few! And let me set up a gig for you. Pleeeease. If you have stage fright, we can work with that. But Motoko! You have so much talent here, it¡¯s killing me to see you just not use it.¡± She pleaded and I looked away.


    ¡°Hiromi. I¡¯m a merc, not a Rockerboy.¡±


    ¡°Be both!¡± She denied my argument instantly. ¡°You like Silverhand! You can¡¯t argue this. You like him!¡±


    ¡°Comparing me to Johnny Silverhand is pretty rude.¡± I muttered, but Hiromi wasn¡¯t having my nonsense.


    ¡°Motoko, I¡¯m serious. Please for me? As a super special present, let me put together a gig for you. A real one, on a stage somewhere. I¡¯ll set it all up, all you have to do is prep the songs, and then I¡¯ll do the rest.¡±


    ¡°Hiromi-¡±


    ¡°For my Birthday!¡± She demanded and I blinked. What?


    ¡°Wait, is your birthday coming up? Hiromi! You have to tell me these things, I don¡¯t remember anything!¡±


    ¡°Yep that¡¯s right! My birthday is coming up!.¡± She begged and I flinched because¡­


    Super uncomfortable, Hiromi! This¡­ I wasn¡¯t comfortable with this!


    She realized it at the same time, something on my face showed it and she slumped.


    ¡°Nevermind.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not¡­ I don¡¯t¡­¡± I shut up, and actually considered it. I had started the music thing purely for myself, a hobby, and a remembrance of what I had¡­ Lost.


    And also as a way to return myself to who I should be. A reminder of the good things in life, and that I shouldn¡¯t just drop into the endless void of chrome and combat.


    It was great. I loved it¡­


    But what was the reason I didn¡¯t want to share? Guilt? None of the songs were really mine, but I was the only one that knew them. Was it worse to let them never be, or claim them as my own?


    Difficult, but not really that hard for me in the end.


    No, the real reason? It was because I was fucking scared. Me. Badass, Afterlife Merc. I¡¯d gone toe to toe with borgs with a smile on my face, been shot and just glared or cussed out who had done it, but I was afraid of people listening to me play a song.


    Hiromi, wasn¡¯t being fair trying to push this either, but at the same time.


    I knew Hiromi. She wasn¡¯t doing this because of eddies, she really thought it would be good for me to do it. She was proud of me, and wanted to show the world. She was excited to be there.


    Dammit.


    ¡°O-one gig.¡± I agreed, and suddenly Hiromi who had been looking dejected as she realized she had pushed too much jerked up.


    ¡°Really?¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­ I, I¡¯m afraid, but it¡¯s stupid fears, not real ones. You can set up a gig¡­ I guess I need to figure out a set.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll do it! You won¡¯t regret this Motoko. I swear it. You¡¯ll love it! The crowd and the music, and everything! Oh! I¡¯m so excited! We need to figure out an outfit for you too!¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with my outfit?¡± I asked, looking at my super cool tactical leotard, and jeans.


    ¡°Nothing, for merc work, but it¡¯s not Rockerboy! Don¡¯t worry I¡¯ll help! No! I need to call the boys! They need to get in on this, and I¡¯ll need their help as muscle! Eeeee!¡± Hiromi bounced around the room, and all I could think was that this was a mistake.


    ¡ª--


    The embarrassing level of excitement from everyone was getting to me. Malcolm had arrived not long after the call went out, but Ichi was working so it took him a while, but Malcolm had only thrown fuel on the fire of brazer Hiromi.


    So now I was dealing with her absolutely freaking out, as I went through my list of recorded songs to make a playlist¡­


    What songs should I pick?


    I had made a pretty good selection by now. Rise was definitely going on the list, I really liked it.. Maybe This Fffire next? It was a very Cyberpunk song¡­


    Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    Let you Down. It had to be on the set. Probably towards the end was the best bet, then Nirvana after? I could start with Smells like Teen Spirt, and end with Come as you are?


    No, I should do The Pretender¡­ But where to put it? Just after This Fffire? No wait, Smells like Teen Spirit¡­ I had to move it.


    I groaned. Rockerboy was actually helping me here. Setlists, performance, was all part of the skill, but a part of it that I pretended didn¡¯t exist most of the time.


    Looking up from my Music box, I winced and looked away from Malcolm and Hiromi colluding, They were both standing close to each other with toothy smiles as they plotted.


    This was my life now¡­ Wasn¡¯t it?


    I sighed, and finalized the list.


    Smells like Teen spirit, Rise, This Fffire, The Pretender, and Let you Down


    Five songs that I could play together¡­ Now I just had to psych myself up for an actual concert¡­


    No, I should probably edit the songs, with better equipment. I could really bring a lot out of them with some real instruments.


    ¡°Hiromi.¡± I spoke up for the first time in a while. ¡°I think I¡¯m going to need a recording studio, to clean these songs up if I¡¯m going to play them on stage, so-¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± Hiromi cheered. ¡°Okay! Let¡¯s go! We can text Ichi the new meet up spot. C¡¯mon!¡± She demanded pulling at me, and I sighed as Hiromi tugged me away.


    ¡°Do you even know of a recording studio we can use?¡± I asked, and Hiromi threw me a grin.


    ¡°Of course I do! Denny¡¯s one! The one you wrote Tank at!¡±


    ¡°That place is expensive.¡± I muttered as Hiromi continued to drag me along Malcolm following along nothing but amused.


    ¡°It¡¯s not that expensive, Motoko! Besides, you get a deal for use of the rooms. It was part of the contract I put together for Tank.¡±


    ¡°Wait, why don¡¯t I know about this?¡±


    ¡°I sent you the contract Motoko.¡± Hiromi reminded me with a flat face, and I did my best not to look away awkwardly. I had read through it¡­ A little. At least enough to know I wasn¡¯t selling my soul.


    ¡°This is why I¡¯m your manager.¡± She said and this time she said it with a happy smile. Hiromi was happiest, when she was showing off her skills after all.


    ¡°You know I¡¯ll need my guitar and stuff.¡± I mentioned, as Hiromi had pulled me out of the apartment and down the hall by this point. She turned, realizing I didn¡¯t have my instrument.


    ¡°Ah.¡±


    ¡ª--


    We drove through the city, finally reaching the parking spots near Denny¡¯s recording studio, and I felt kinda awkward, carrying my equipment, down the alley way and into the same blank faced door. Somehow during the drive over Hiromi had already scheduled one of the studio¡¯s for me, and so we had access. The door opened and we walked into the same long white hall.


    ¡°Room 1-16.¡± Hiromi called out as I headed that way, and slipped inside.


    The studio was empty. Just for me. Staring at the space I felt myself actually warm up. Sure my Music box was good, but electronic simulation of different instruments was only so good.


    There was nothing quite like the original.


    I settled my guitar and Music box to the side and headed out immediately for the instrument room.


    ¡°Motoko?¡±


    ¡°I need some stuff! Malcolm, I could use some hands.¡± I asked, and he followed after. It took a while to move and set up the drum set, but it felt great to have it there set up and shiny.


    Then I checked over and grabbed a few more instruments, once that was done it was time. I settled, pulling up the tracks I had already recorded. I went to work.


    The quality of the microphones alone made a massive difference, better instruments would enhance that, and finally the actual recording equipment, was much higher end, than the program I had made my music box out of.


    But it didn¡¯t matter. The Music box was still incredibly useful, saving the recordings for later.


    And I went to work. Playing through the songs over and over, removing errors from the early tracks I had recorded, adding some flare to each instrument, in a way I couldn¡¯t before.


    The vocal tracks were sung, recorded, and edited with much finer equipment than I had before.


    All the while, I let myself fall into the utter focus required to handle all the tasks. I lost track of my friends.


    By the time I was doing the drum track for Smells Like Teen Spirits, and just absolutely going to town on for it, I noticed Ichi was standing in the recording room as well.


    So I hit it even harder. This was the first song of the story I was telling, I had to draw attention while playing it, otherwise I might not keep them for all the songs.


    And so I continued on, hammering through the songs over and over, cleaning every technical piece of the song I could, over and over and over.


    It all ran into itself and it was only when I had to stop to go to the bathroom that my chooms grabbed me and sat me down.


    ¡°Easy Motoko, you need anything? Food? Here, have some water.¡± Hiromi demanded, while Malcolm handed it over.


    I rolled my eyes at their worry, but drank down the water anyway.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine. Just in the zone to get this all done.¡±


    ¡°You got some time Motoko, it¡¯ll take me a while to find a location and set it up.¡±


    ¡°Red Dirt.¡± I finally said, decision made. ¡°Can you set up the gig for that bar?¡± I asked, and Hiromi blinked, looking confused.


    ¡°Maybe? Where is it?¡±


    ¡°Arroyo.¡±


    ¡°Wait, I know that place. It¡¯s fucking ancient.¡± Ichi spoke up and I flashed him a smile.


    ¡°Yep. It was the first place Samurai ever played at.¡±


    ¡°Ugh.¡± Hiromi groaned, but she nodded. ¡°Okay fine. If that¡¯s where you want to play¡­ I was going to try Lizzies or something.¡±


    ¡°Nah, maybe after, if I do another gig.¡± Red Dirt wasn¡¯t just the first place Samurai played, it was also small¡­


    Hopefully the smaller crowd would help.


    I stood up and went back to work. I didn¡¯t want to keep spending money considering I knew just how much these recording studios cost.


    ¡ª--


    Malcolm


    ¡°You know¡­ I knew Motoko¡¯s kinda bullshit sometimes. Sometimes I wonder, how the fuck did she do all this. How can she learn all these crazy skills so fast¡­ Then I see her do shit like this, and I don¡¯t think it¡¯s that crazy anymore.¡± He uttered, staring at Motoko, just a teenager same as him.


    A girl that has less than a year of memories? He watched as she didn¡¯t just play multiple instruments, but absolutely destroyed them. Energy she usually reserved for the middle of combat, coming out as she sang and played with a frantic energy that she had kept up with for hours already.


    Just watching her made Malcolm exhausted.


    ¡°She¡¯s amazing.¡± Hiromi added, which was just such a Hiromi thing to say. Of course the girl with the biggest crush in the city would think her crush was the best thing ever.


    But fuck if Malcolm wasn¡¯t feeling some feelings for her right now either.


    The energy, and force Motoko put into the songs, and he had listened to the complete track of the first few she went through was already amazing.


    Dammit, why did his best friend that was a girl have to be kinda hot?


    He shook it off. If Hiromi found out he even thought that, she would make his life hell.


    He glanced to Ichi, who passed over a look.


    Yeah.


    They both looked away, knowing Hiromi wouldn¡¯t have noticed, she was the one most enthralled with Motoko¡¯s inexhaustible energy.


    ¡°So¡­ I¡¯m gonna call everyone I know and tell them to show up for this gig. You?¡±


    ¡°Obviously. We have to tell Jun. He¡¯d kill us if we kept him out of it.¡±


    ¡°Oh don¡¯t worry.¡± Hiromi added. ¡°I have complete confidence in Motoko. I¡¯ll throw up some fliers as well. We¡¯ll turn Motoko¡¯s first gig into a blast!¡±


    Malcolm winced. He knew Motoko well enough to know she had liked the idea of the gig being in a small place to get away from the massive crowds.


    Sorry Motoko. You shouldn¡¯t have stolen Hiromi¡¯s heart if you didn¡¯t want her to use her massive corpo powers to your benefit... Or detriment.


    ¡°I like this one.¡± Ichi offered, and Malcolm listened in nodding along as Motoko had switched to singing, and absolutely roared along to the rock song. Taking the headset he put it on, and listened to the song playing along as Motoko sang.


    The lyrics¡­ Yeah that was a cool song, felt very old school. No electronic beats or anything just pure instruments, and lyrics, but it still felt exciting, there was so much going on.


    ¡°I called the Red Dirt. Got a slot. They agreed pretty quickly, the pay is shit though, but they wouldn¡¯t budge.¡± Hiromi grumbled suddenly and Malcolm realized that while Hiromi was staring at Motoko like a particularly nice looking XXL burrito, she was also handling business.


    Hiromi really scared him. It was a good thing she was on their side.


    ¡°Want to tell Motoko?¡±


    ¡°After this, she¡¯ll get distracted if I tell her now. Best to let her finish.¡± She offered and Malcolm had to nod. For a girl that was so confident, she got embarrassed easy.


    But Malcolm went back to just listening to the song and nodding his head along with the beat.


    Preem.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe you already set it up!¡± I whined, as I wiped a towel over my head.


    Not sure where Hiromi had found a towel, but I wasn¡¯t going to question it.


    ¡°Of course! I¡¯m your agent, and manager. It¡¯s my job.¡± She said and I took particular note of the additional title Hiromi had given herself, but didn¡¯t bring it up.


    ¡°I thought I would have a bit more time to settle with the idea.¡± I grumbled, but Hiromi shook her head.


    ¡°You already made the decision, and I¡¯ve never known you to back off once you make one!¡± She said looking proudly, and I didn¡¯t have the heart to tell her, I had been thinking of calling it all off.


    Dammit.


    ¡°So you finished all the songs?¡± Ichi asked, having been looking at my Music box as it beeped away.


    ¡°They were already done, but with actual instruments, and better equipment. I was able to clean them up.¡± I walked over and picked up the music box, the update was complete. ¡°I¡¯ll need to do some hologram work, to make sure everything matches up, but I can do that anywhere.¡±


    ¡°So who are you going to tell about your gig, other than Jun?¡± Ichi asked, and I hissed, feeling the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, which was impossible as that Neural Link covered the whole section, but I still felt it!


    ¡°No one! Tell no one! Especially not Jun! Never Jun!¡± I demanded, and got kind of awkward looks in turn.


    They wouldn¡¯t tell Jun, or else!


    Sending a firm look to all of them, I nodded and then looked at all the equipment left in the room.


    ¡°I guess I have to clean up.¡±


    ¡°Leave that to us.¡± Ichi offered instantly, standing up. ¡°Just make sure we don¡¯t break anything?¡± He asked as he headed into the room, and I smiled.


    ¡°Sure.¡±


    Hiromi I noticed was distracted on a call, so I left her to it, as I went to help the boys put everything away.

 Chapter 179

    I had finished the modifications on the holograms that night, before finally going to sleep and enjoying my eight hours of instant sleep. Waking up feeling refreshed, I knew I would need to get out of the apartment, or I would pick at the songs trying to fix them, when they were already great.


    Feeling antsy, I knew that I needed something that would keep me moving.


    Squats while holding dumbbells ended up being the exercise of choice. Hidden away in the TC gym downstairs in a corner, I was given some privacy so no one could see just how much effort I was putting into the work.


    Dripping with sweat, my legs felt like they were butter, but I needed just a few more reps to be satisfied.


    I didn¡¯t exactly enjoy the exercise, but there was a knowledge that if I could just hit the next level, and then level 10, I wouldn¡¯t need to do this ever again.


    Perfect physical fitness for as long as I lived was a very tempting proposition to just keep pushing a few more.


    I winced as I felt my leg finally give, unable to keep myself going.


    I gently placed the weights down and took a second to stretch.


    Then because muscle pain sucks, I pulled a MaxDoc out of my pocket, I took a second to huff it, and instantly felt a tingle go down my legs.


    Muscles abused and at their utter limit, tingled as they were refreshed, feeling like I had just gotten up that morning.


    Stretching my muscles I let myself get ready, and then picked up the weights again.


    I had checked, and John, wasn¡¯t around today and so behind the little corner, out of sight I went back to it. This time doing crunches.


    Body 9. The plan was I would earn it today! I went at it. Inhaling and exhaling as I moved, abs hauling me up and down, the extra weight in my arms making it all the harder. Slowly my muscles refreshed from the MaxDoc started to burn, started to weaken and tire, but pain was temporary, especially when you can literally just take some medicine and feel fine a moment later.


    There was something very freeing about knowing that any pain I had to deal with could end in moments.


    Something that you knew would end, and end quickly had less fear to it.


    What was my body besides just a machine? What was Motoko, but a girl in the shell?


    I changed exercises, push ups were easier, as my arms were chrome, but they still worked the core, and some of the muscles in my back.


    I was sweating, as I lowered myself to the concrete over and over. Drops falling down my nose, running over my eyes, but my Kiroshi didn¡¯t sting from the sweat, so I ignored it, and just continued on, down and up. Up and down.


    Muscles pushed to their limits and their limits ignored.


    I was cool, frozen solid as I continued to work.


    *100 Body XP Gained*


    *Body Leveled up!*


    Collapsing onto the concrete I lay there for a minute just breathing trying to catch my breath. I had done it.


    Body 9.


    I struggled for a few moments to pull another MaxDoc out of my pocket and huffed it down, and then I rose up and stretched feeling just fine.


    Frowning at how sweaty I was, I decided it was time to get a shower¡­


    I pressed a hand along my Leotard¡­


    Gonna need to get this adjusted a bit. It was kinda tight all of a sudden.


    ¡ª--


    Spending the day getting my outfits adjusted to make sure it fit wasn¡¯t what I had planned, but it kept me out of the apartment.


    But only for so long. As I walked inside, I stared at the guitar sitting innocently against the living room table, and felt it creeping up my spine. The realization of what was coming.


    I had agreed to go out on a stage and play songs for people. Living actual people.


    People I didn¡¯t know!


    I walked over to the couch, fell to my knees, grabbed one of the cushions and slammed my face into the cushion as I screamed.


    What was I doing!?


    Only once I was done did I rise up gasping for air and then centering myself. I had agreed to do this. Hiromi was right, I was being such a gonk about it. There was nothing to be afraid of, and there was a part of me, that wanted to get up on stage and be a fucking rock star.


    But that part was currently quivering behind a mental couch pretending it didn¡¯t exist for getting me into this!


    I shook it off. Slapping my cheeks with my cool chrome hands and breathing in and out. ¡°I¡¯m not fucking Bocchi.¡± I reminded myself. If that girl could do it, so can I! Totally ignoring Bocchi being a manga character!


    It still counted!


    ¡°Shake it off.¡± I ordered myself. Having gone over all the songs already I had cleaned them up as much as I could. Each of the five tracks were ready, I was ready¡­


    Well, the songs were ready anyways.


    Stalking around the apartment a few minutes later I realized I was getting lost in my own head and I needed to do something.


    I got up and walked straight out of the house. I didn¡¯t want to bother Hiromi or the boys, they were supportive about this, but also a bit too close.


    Jun was out too, because he couldn¡¯t know! So who else could I go and chat with¡­ Wakako?


    The fact that thought had gone through my head told me how rattled this had made me. No, that was silly, but I did have someone else I could chat with.


    Jumping into the Quadra I gunned it out of the garage, heading straight towards Kabuki.


    ¡ª--


    Lizzies was active, the start of their after work rush was just starting as I arrived, but I managed to slip into a spot without trouble and then went hunting.


    Rita should be here¡­ Well if not Rita, then Judy, but honestly Judy wasn¡¯t one I would really go to for advice. Girl doesn¡¯t exactly have her own shit together.


    Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    She wasn¡¯t the outdoor bouncer, and there wasn¡¯t a line yet, so I was able to walk up to the woman at the entrance.


    ¡°Is Rita here tonight?¡± I asked, and the woman looked me up and down.


    ¡°Who wants to know?¡±


    ¡°Motoko! Rita¡¯s a choom.¡±


    ¡°Hmm. If you say so. She¡¯s inside, check the roof.¡±


    ¡°Thanks!¡± I called out rushing past and doing just that, hitting the stairs up and then bursting outside to see a basketball game going full blast, and Rita watching over the roof.


    Why the Mox had someone up here keeping an eye on things didn¡¯t make sense to me, but I wasn¡¯t about to question my good luck.


    ¡°Rita!¡± I called out as I hurried over, she had been leaning up against one of the AC units just watching the game.


    ¡°Motoko? Haven¡¯t seen you in a while kid.¡±


    ¡°Yeah it feels like it¡¯s been forever. I haven¡¯t really done gigs that work as BD¡¯s so I haven¡¯t stopped by for Judy in a bit¡­ But um¡­ You got a minute?¡±


    Rita looked me over not seeing me injured or anything and she shrugged. ¡°Sure, you want some privacy?¡± She offered and I waved her off. It was fine.


    ¡°No it¡¯s nothing like that. So¡­ I¡¯ve been making some songs and stuff. One of them I made got the interest of Denny! The drummer from Samurai, it was Jazz and fun and stuck in my head, but she wanted to buy it, so I said yes.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ Preem!¡± Rita offered perking up in surprise.


    ¡°Yeah, Hiromi did a great job getting a good deal too, but that¡¯s not it¡­ Hiromi talked to me, after hearing another song I was making a new one technically¡­ She convinced me to¡­ Well get up on stage. I have an actual gig scheduled and everything, but I¡¯m totally freaking out about it!¡±


    I turned to her, sort of looking for something, advice, wise words, anything!


    Instead Rita started laughing at me.


    ¡°That¡¯s amazing!¡± She said, offered out between giggles. Actual giggles.


    ¡°I was really hoping for more than that.¡± I pouted.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry! It¡¯s not! You just look so freaked!¡± She continued to giggle and I pouted, and finally she managed to control herself wiping a chrome hand over her mouth to try and stop the smile across her lips. ¡°Okay, I¡¯m good. Sorry.¡±


    ¡°Mean.¡± I mumbled back.


    ¡°Oh come on, it¡¯s funny! Motoko, I¡¯ve heard you play before, you¡¯re good. And if you already sold a song, that¡¯s amazing. You have nothing to worry about, and hey, even if you fumble it, or make a mistake it¡¯s fine! You¡¯re a kid. You can only do well out there.¡± She offered, trying to sound mature, but the way she kept wanting to break into laughter wasn¡¯t helping.


    ¡°Thanks I guess.¡± I mumbled. So much for Rita¡¯s big sis energy¡­ No wait, this was literal Big Sis energy. Fuck, I needed like, Mom Energy right now or something.


    ¡°So you are going to play your songs? Where at. I¡¯d have heard about it if it was here.¡±


    ¡°No, I don¡¯t know if my stuff fits Lizzies. I picked a bar, Red Dirt in Arroyo. It¡¯s where Samurai had their first gig, so it¡¯s special. I wanted to play there.¡±


    ¡°When at?¡±


    ¡°Tomorrow night.¡± I whispered, revealing the truth. I had so little time to mentally prepare myself! Or as was probably more likely, time to find a way to run the fuck away. ¡°I don¡¯t feel like I¡¯m ready for this. If I¡¯m really cut out to be a Rockerboy. I don¡¯t even like crowds!¡±


    ¡°Alright, I see you need some real words here. So here it is. Tomorrow night Motoko, take your guitar and get up on that stage and play your songs. Play them, loud and with all the emotion you can so that even the corps at the top of their towers hear you. That¡¯s what it means to be a Rockerboy.¡± Rita said, her tone serious as she reached out and put both hands on my shoulders.


    Chrome to chrome.


    ¡°I will. I just feel anxious.¡± I said and then I stopped and took a breath in and out. ¡°No. It¡¯s not anxiety¡­ It¡¯s excitement.¡± I told myself. Good advice from a past life.


    ¡°Hey! That¡¯s what I want to see. That¡¯s right!¡± Rita agreed, smiling. ¡°Of course you realize I¡¯ll have to show up now.¡±


    ¡°I mean¡­ If you want? You were the person that gave me the idea to play music, so if anyone deserves to hear it¡­ It¡¯s you.¡± I told her, looking up into her eyes, and I watched as her chrome face normally still shifted, into a look of surprise.


    ¡°God kid. Pull shit like that tomorrow, and you won¡¯t have any issues.¡± She said, and then so quiet I couldn¡¯t quite make it out, and I¡¯m sure I heard it wrong, she said something that sounded like. ¡°Damn Heartbreakers.¡±


    ¡ª---


    My luck of course didn¡¯t hold out.


    I kept expecting there to be some random occurrence, a Scav attack. Maelstrom war. Or anything that would interrupt the time of the gig.


    Or maybe I just hoped it would, but nothing happened.


    So I slipped into the Quadra, guitar in the passenger seat, music box on the floor and drove over to the Red Dirt Bar.


    It was time to head over, talk to the owner, and set up. At least that is what Hiromi told me. She was already there apparently?


    I have no idea what madness Hiromi was plotting, but the fact she was there already told me a lot. The drive over didn¡¯t last long enough, and before I knew it I was pulling into the little parking lot beside the Red Dirt Bar. I could even see Malcolm already out there¡­


    Beside his Rayfield¡­ Malcolm you fucking gonk, you¡¯re gonna get that thing stolen out here!


    I pulled up beside him and stepped out.


    ¡°Malcolm, why did you drive that?¡±


    ¡°Heh! You¡¯re kidding right? I¡¯m going to a rock party tonight! Of course I need to show up!¡± He said waving his hand at the car.


    ¡°Malcolm if someone steals your car I¡¯m not hunting it down.¡±


    ¡°Okay one¡­ Please? And two, I doubt it! The Rayfield has amazing security!¡± I just stared at him for a while, before he sighed. ¡°Should I send it home first? Catch a ride home with Ichi or something?¡± He asked quietly, like a kicked dog.


    I stared for a while, there were people starting to arrive, and it was obvious Malcolm was getting attention¡­ I sighed, running a hand over my face to keep myself from smiling.


    ¡°If someone steals your car I¡¯ll help you get it back. Go get ¡®em tiger.¡± I said, slapping him on the shoulder.


    There were quite a few people looking at Malcolm with interest. Good luck buddy.


    I headed to the passenger seat and pulled out my Guitar and Music box.


    Deep breaths. I turned and headed inside. The bar was tiny. One main room, a set of stairs to the second floor that was just a viewing level.


    One tiny bathroom, and a small storage room that led back outside. Bar to my left, and there it was¡­


    The stage looked so much smaller than I remember.


    The massive Samurai mural was there, but the rest of it felt like it was barely big enough for me, much less an entire band.


    ¡°Motoko!¡± Hiromi cheered at me from the bar. ¡°Come over! Meet the owner!¡±


    Walking over the older man behind the bar gave me a look over and a nod. ¡°So you¡¯re Motoko Kusanagi. Well, I wish you luck kid. Payment¡¯ll get sent to your manager when you¡¯re done.¡± He offered and then turned to take an order from an early patron.


    ¡°See! All set!¡± Hiromi offered and I nodded, looking away over the bar.


    Why was I doing this?


    ¡°Just relax Motoko! Here, c¡¯mon!¡± Hiromi demanded pulling me away and towards the little storage room. I let her lead me away and then once the door was closed she spun on me. ¡°Motoko! You can do this!¡±


    ¡°I know! I¡¯m just¡­ It¡¯s embarrassing!¡± I whined childishly rubbing my face.


    ¡°Pfft. I guess even you lose some of your cool sometimes too huh?¡± She teased and I stuck my tongue out at her which she returned, and soon we were both giggling.


    ¡°You can do it.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡±


    ¡°Good! Then get dressed. Where is the outfit we got for you.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not wearing it.¡± I told her firmly. The monstrosity that Ichi, Malcolm, and Hiromi had decided was somehow going to be my Rockerboy outfit was a definite no.


    ¡°Aww, it was sexy though.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine. This is what I¡¯m comfortable with anyway.¡± I was wearing my jeans, and Leotard, with my jacket on top, and I even had my fingerless gloves. Hadn¡¯t worn them in a while since I didn¡¯t need them anymore, but it felt right.


    ¡°At least the-¡±


    ¡°Hiromi, I know you think it¡¯s sexy, but it¡¯s really not me.¡± I denied her. The less said about the hat the better.


    ¡°Fine, it¡¯s your gig after all. We have a seat up front, you should come hang out for a while.¡± Then she leaned in with a smirk. ¡°Ichi has been flirting with a waitress for the last ten minutes, and fumbling with it every time.¡±


    ¡°Okay, that I have to see.¡± I agreed and we both smirked as I followed Hiromi back into the main room. I looked around and nodded. It wasn¡¯t very active, less than twenty people so far.


    Everything was good. That size of a crowd I could deal with.


    Settling onto the table I noticed that Malcolm was inside now, and both boys jolted as Hiromi and I arrived, and then pretended nothing was wrong.


    ¡°What are you two up to?¡±


    ¡°Nothing!¡± Both boys denied at once, only making it more obvious they were hiding something.


    ¡°Okay sure.¡± I argued with a snort, and slipped onto the stool seating. Heaving my guitar on top along with my Music box.


    Now¡­ Now I wait.


    It was actually pretty fun.


    Ichi was failing at flirting with the waitress indeed, his own overeagerness was hilarious, especially since I could scan the woman and know she was twice his age.


    Double hilarity.


    Malcolm actually had some attention from the men and women that had seen him come in with a Rayfield. Although to Malcolms annoyance, it was mostly questions about what his dad did for a living.


    Hiromi though was busy, barely taking any part in the conversation as she was constantly on calls.


    Then, it grew closer. Twenty minutes until I was up.


    And in walked Junichirou Kusanagi.


    ¡°Who squealed?¡± I demanded, harshly looking at my chooms. ¡°Just tell me, I¡¯ll only kill you a little!¡± I hissed at the little traitors, and all three of them looked away.


    ¡°So it¡¯s treason then.¡± I whispered out, realizing they had all betrayed me.


    ¡°Of course we had to tell Jun, Motoko! He¡¯d have killed us if we didn¡¯t!¡± Ichi finally squealed first, as Hiromi waved at Jun but was distracted on a call still.


    I growled at the two boys before flushing as Jun walked over and pulled me into a tight hug.


    ¡°I¡¯m so proud of you.¡± He whispered into my ear, which was just outright breaking the rules!


    ¡°So why this shit hole?¡± The person that had accompanied Jun asked. Alice looked over the place with a look of distaste.


    ¡°Hey!¡± The owner called out, but Alice just ignored him as he turned to just grumble to himself instead.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect you Alice¡­ And I wanted a small place for my first gig.¡± I answered back. She nodded at that.


    ¡°Well it is small. And Jun asked me to come, when I heard it was you playing I had to come.¡± She offered, but I could tell that wasn¡¯t the truth, she was making eyes at Jun the whole time.


    Fair enough. Jun probably asked her to come since she was more musically inclined, and she knew me, not realizing Alice didn¡¯t give a shit about me.


    But Jun was here now! Dammit!


    This was supposed to be a small event!


    Minutes passed as Jun and Alice settled in, at another table. There wasn¡¯t enough room at the one my chooms had claimed.


    To my discomfort more people were coming in, already the stereo was playing Samurai songs, and the noise was drawing in the crowd.


    My fingers tapping away at the table must have been obvious but not one bothered me.


    And time moved ever closer.

 Chapter 180

    I was just starting to relax when even more people I knew came inside the small bar. At least this time some of them were expected.


    ¡°Rita!¡± I called out to the woman who was already making her way over, although Nox alongside her was unexpected, along with a few of the other Mox members I didn¡¯t know.


    ¡°Hey kid. I¡¯m on time right?¡± She asked, and I nodded.


    ¡°Yeah about ten minutes until showtime.¡± I answered back weakly, and she sent me a gentle smile and a pat on the back.


    Then Nox was there.


    ¡°Nova! Motoko! You didn¡¯t tell me you were playing a gig! Sup ¡®Romi.¡±


    ¡°Call me Boss!¡± She demanded and Nox just scoffed ignoring her. I was distracted from their little spat though because Rita had seen Jun.


    ¡°Hey Tyger Boy.¡± She greeted with a sultry sound that every Mox jerked at including Nox. All of them staring in shock.


    ¡°Hey Mox Girl.¡± Jun greeted back, maybe for the first time ever making me willing to admit that Jun might, for just a little bit, have some actual game.


    Rita looked at me and I shooed her off, knowing what she wanted.


    Besides, I was too anxious to deal with this right now.


    I idly watched as Alice and Rita realized they were both at odds, and the awkward atmosphere that Jun completely missed as he happily chatted with both women.


    Jun was so dense.


    ¡°Motoko?¡± Hiromi asked, and I looked at her. Nox was also looking at me eagerly.


    ¡°Sorry, I was distracted, what¡¯s up?¡±


    ¡°Tell Nox that I¡¯m his boss.¡± Hiromi demanded, and then Nox interrupted.


    ¡°You aren¡¯t my boss! Motoko and I are partners! Tell her Motoko, we had a good thing right? I handled distribution!¡± The boy pleaded and I looked at both of them for a moment before just laughing at their silly argument.


    It helped ground me a bit, reminded me I was just a teenager, and it was okay to have teenager problems.


    ¡°You¡¯re both great.¡± I told them instead with a smile, and that at least stopped the argument, although why Jun was rolling his eyes at me was annoying when he was the one with two girls currently flirting with him!


    I rolled my eyes at him back which had him chuckle.


    The time ticked down and down, and finally.


    I rose up, guitar in hand, music box in the other.


    ¡ª--


    The bar had gone quiet. The stereo behind me playing Samurai had turned off, and it was now under my control as I plugged my Music box into it.


    The lights were off, and there were more people here than I would have liked. I peeked behind me as I fiddled with the music box and could make out the crowd in the shadowed bar.


    A general murmur was going through it. I could hear a lot of people asking questions about my age, and why I was at this sort of bar.


    Lot of people were wondering if I was going to play some shitty pop music or something. This was a rock bar after all.


    I pulled out the personal link cord, and stuck it into the Music box, then I pulled another one and slipped it into my guitar I was hooked up.


    Deep breath.


    Exhale.


    I stood up, and looked up at the lights, technically I had been given access to the lighting system, but I had no set up for it. So I just hacked into the equipment, and threw a few changes at the rather straightforward program it was inbuilt with.


    The lights shifted, most of them angling sort of around the stage, as my holograms would work best in lower light.


    It was time.


    Turn on my BD Recorder. Take a few steps towards the mic, feeling my Personal link stretch a bit, but it was fine, I had plenty of cord left.


    ¡°Hi, I¡¯m Motoko, and I¡¯m going to play a set tonight. I uh¡­ Don¡¯t really have a band name picked out yet¡­ And uh, I¡¯m a solo act for now until I get some band mates. So for tonight uh¡­ Just bear with me.¡± I offered, feeling like my throat was dry as I spoke in front of the whole crowd.


    Come on! I¡¯ve murdered more people than this in one go! Why was I so worked up?


    Cool. Be Cool. I stretched a bit and then it was time, behind me the holograms activated.


    Images of me, showing much more confidence, than I felt right now appeared. Drummer Motoko even spun the sticks like I had programmed her to, showing an easy confidence.


    ¡°This first song is called, Smells Like Teen Spirit.¡± I explained, then without waiting my strumming began. The opening chords that Kobain had wowed the world with so long ago.


    A few moments later the drums started, and the energy of the room picked up. Then mellowed for a moment, as it was time to sing.


    ¡°Load up on guns, bring your friends! It¡¯s fun to lose and to pretend!¡± I sang, and there was an electricity in the room.


    I realized then, just how much Rockerboy taught beyond just music. My eyes roved through the crowd, settling on faces, as I sang directly to them, drawing them in, the music distracting them from everything else until it was just them, and me.


    I shifted the way I moved, a motion almost like dancing, a consistent motion that mirrored the song, a motion that drew people into following along.


    Yet without a full band, I was climbing uphill. I should have the rest of the band showing off their energy synergizing, but the music box holograms could only show what I had programmed, and I hadn¡¯t considered everything that I would need.


    So it was all on me, the energy, the motion, the song.


    And I didn¡¯t let myself hesitate, or slow.


    I was the front runner, and I could do this.


    ¡°Our little group it¡¯s always been, and always will until the end.¡±


    These lyrics I emphasized heavily, singing them loud and clear.


    Smells Like Teen Spirit had a lot of nonsensical lyrics, it was supposed to, but until someone understood that, it was a bit weird. But here? With those lyrics, they all understood.


    Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    All of the people in this club had probably been Street Kids. Had lived with a crew, and had probably lost some of them.


    I called to them, a siren song to their past, I played the song of teen Spirit, and the crowd reacted.


    More and more people were head banging along. I glanced up and the second floor were actually coming from their tables and resting against the bannister, and I sang to them all.


    My friends, my family, were an oasis for my eyes, because they were into it entirely. Hiromi was practically falling off her stool with how much she was into it. Jun had the biggest smile on his face.


    Rita looked shocked and was head banging along with the rhythm.


    It was right. This felt good. Even with everyone else around.


    ¡°A DENIAL!¡± I roared out the last lyric,  as the music finally came to an end, the last chord slowly fading away in the bar.


    It was quiet, for a moment, and then Hiromi practically jumped up on her stool and whistled, and the crowd reacted cheering and pounding feet, or slapping brosef bottles on the bannister.


    ¡°This next song.¡± I started, because I didn¡¯t want the energy to fade, and instantly the crowd was quiet. ¡°This next song, is called Rise. Little less Rock, but bear with me.¡± I added, again, and got a laugh from Ichi at my remark, so it was good.


    I activated the Music box, selecting the song. Rise, was a weird song. League of Legends hadn¡¯t been my game, but the song was pretty nova.


    Then holograms changed, different instruments, mostly electronic sounds now although it still had normal instruments as well.


    Then the sound started, without waiting and the crowd watched as I walked to the mic.


    ¡°Welcome to the world, no heroes and villains!¡±


    I could see the more pop sounding song wasn¡¯t as instantly engaging, as Nirvana was to a dive bar, but that was fine.


    It was my voice that was going to drag them in this time.


    When I sang, I saw the shock on everyone''s face.


    Smells Like Teen Spirit, was a ballad about teenagers. So of course I had let my voice out as a teenager.


    But this? This was the next step. When a teenager becomes something more.


    My voice was huskier, deeper, no longer the same, and the obvious change had dragged all the attention on to me as I sang. As my own voice played back up for me from the speakers, I sang, drawing them into the story.


    Drawing them into what they had all seen.


    ¡°Prove yourself and Rise! RISE! MAKE THEM REMEMBER YOU!¡± I roared, my voice changing again as the song hit its apex. Getting older, getting stronger!


    Making them see the connection between the songs, letting them know, I wasn¡¯t just playing random songs, but telling a story.


    The moment the song was over, I walked away from the mic. Showing that I was doing something else. Quickly changing the lights to a different hue, the sudden shift startled everyone, but I had to capitalize, before they could even process, I started again. The tapping of cymbals was heard.


    ¡°Eyes, burning away to me.¡± I crooned as I turned, my voice sounded older again, husky and mature, and as I turned I dragged their attention onto me again.


    The more pop sound of Rise, into the rock of This Fffire, by Franz Ferdinand echoed off the walls.


    ¡°Noooow there is a fire in me! A fire that buuuuuuurns!¡± It was perfect, I had drawn them all in, all eyes were on me, and they were all listening.


    So I gave them it all.


    ¡°This fire is outta control! I¡¯m gonna burn this city! Burn this city!¡± My gaze went out over the crowd, and I sang to them all, releasing my emotions onto the crowd. Cool and Rockerboy Synergizing letting me go full out.


    I demanded their attention, my motions forced them into my rhythm, my siren song stole their minds. It was more than just playing. Rockerboy wasn¡¯t just playing a song, it was a performance.


    Although I was alone, It was enough. The unexpected songs, the tricks with lining them up without rest. The way I kept the noise lively and new.


    Then it ended, once more the note trailed off, and I had sucked in the wonder of everyone present.


    ¡°That was This Fffire.¡± I said, and the crowd roared. The song was a titular Rockerboy song. The exact sort of thing a bar dedicated to Samurai would die for.


    Realizing my thirst, I looked over and saw Hiromi, I made a grabbing motion to her, and as always she was right on it. She grabbed a bottle of water and chucked it at me, I fumbled the catch with only one hand as I had to leap for it, a moment later I managed to snag it, and earned a laugh from the crowd.


    I spun the bottle around popped it open with a thumb and chugged the water down for a few moments, before placing it on the floor and then getting ready.


    ¡°The Pretender.¡± I whispered huskily as the lights shifted to red, and white, and then the gentle strums of the Foo Fighters song began.


    ¡°Keep you in the dark, you know they all pretend.¡± I sang softly, like a lullaby, once more the shift in tone drawing eyes as people wondered what was going to happen, but then drummer Motoko started absolutely beating the shit out of the drums.


    The speed picked up, and I stopped singing softly.


    ¡°Send in your skeletons, sing as their bones go marching in! Again!¡±


    The pick up and return to rock had absolutely enthralled the crowd, and I was in it, going full out, letting my real anger seep through as I roared it out.


    ¡°What if I say, I¡¯m not like the others!? What if I say I¡¯m not just another of your plays!? You¡¯re the Pretender! What if I say that I¡¯ll never surrender!¡±


    And soon the crowd was actually roaring back. Singing along to the refrains they knew, as I thrust a fist into the sky watching as they all copied me. From Hiromi to Jun, to every nameless face.


    First time the song had ever been played in Night City outside of my room, and the crowd was already going wild.


    That¡¯s Dave Grohl for you I guess.


    Then it cut. Going quiet, as I whispered the lyric, I could see the crowd go silent to hear, and then my eyes flashed. The lights above me went from red behind me, and white infront  to nothing but red as the song went full out.


    ¡°What if I say I¡¯m not like the others!¡± The crowd roared back, I wasn¡¯t roaring at the crowd, I was roaring along with them, against the bullshit day to day, against the corps pushing down.


    ¡°SO WHO ARE YOU!?¡± I screamed pointing out over the crowd and they roared right back.


    I was on my knees, finger pointing as the song ended, and the crowd was into it. I was breathing heavily despite how fit I was, that was a lot of yelling and moving around.


    Now¡­ Now to end it.


    The lights flashed off, then slowly, they each shifted behind me, each of them a different color, and pattern.


    A Kaleidoscope, as best as I could make one.


    The song began. The massive change from the rock track grabbed attention, and I saw some of the mood bleed out of the room.


    That was fine.


    It was actually better. This was the ending. The eventual path that all those that try to be Edgerunners find.


    Teenage arrogance. The Rise of someone walking the path. The Fffirey heart of someone at the top. The anger at the betrayal of a Pretender¡­ And the heart crushing realization of when you are let down.


    Let you Down by Dawid Podsiad?o. Sasha¡¯s song. The emotional connection I had to Sasha was complicated to say the least.


    So I used it.


    ¡°Feel the rhythm of the streets. Neon lights, and neon dreams.¡±  I crooned, this time my Sexy Motoko voice on full tilt. I made my voice as husky, as mature as I could.


    This was the end.


    ¡°Forgive me for letting you down.¡± I crooned, and I met Jun¡¯s eyes. He remembered this song. I remember he thought it was for him, not realizing just what it truly was.


    But that¡¯s okay. This isn¡¯t just Sasha¡¯s song anymore. It¡¯s a song for any Edgerunner.


    The end of the path.


    ¡°They will finally feel the flames, the flames that run down through my veins. I will make the city burn.¡± I sang a fun call back to This Fffire, but then it continued. ¡°We¡¯re not planning to return.¡±


    And that was it. The moment that every song built up to.


    The moment some Edgerunner decides to make a statement in their death.


    Dawid had certainly written an amazing Cyberpunk song.


    Slowly, as the song ended, The Kaleidoscope of lights died out.


    One by one the colors faded. Then as the last note died, so did the set.


    I took a step away from the mic. Even as the crowd realized it was over stirred and roared their approval. I stood there, sweaty, and out of breath, and just took stock of how it had gone.


    ¡°That last song is called Let you Down.¡± I spoke into the mic using my normal voice, and then it was over. ¡°Thank you all for listening. That was the end of my set.¡±


    I turned away from the crowd feeling floaty as I kneeled down by my music box to unplug it, even as the crowd cheered my chooms loudest of all.


    My mind was filled with what I had just done, but most of all. It was towards an alert I had received.


    *100 Cool XP Gained*


    *Cool Leveled up!*


    Cool 10.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°That was the craziest thing I¡¯ve ever done.¡± I told my chooms as I stared into a soda.


    ¡°It was amazing!¡± Hiromi argued, and Malcolm nodded but I couldn''t look at them.


    We were still at the bar, hanging out at the table we had claimed, but it was just too much. Jun had taken to shooing away the strangers that had come up to congratulate me, because it was just too much.


    I felt hot, my ears were burning, and I couldn¡¯t believe I had actually done that.


    Hiromi had talked me into it, I had agreed, but I couldn¡¯t believe I had gone through with it.


    ¡°I made a complete fool of myself.¡± I whispered, and Jun suddenly dropped an arm over my shoulder.


    ¡°Never. That was the most amazing thing I¡¯ve ever seen. You were perfect. What was that you did with your voice?¡±


    ¡°I just altered my voice a little, it¡¯s not that hard.¡± I whispered, unable to tear my hands away from my face.


    ¡°Heh. I can¡¯t do it.¡± He offered, and then Malcolm was there, punching me in the shoulder, which had him wince a moment later as he hit my chrome.


    ¡°Ow¡­ Don¡¯t freak out Motoko. That was amazing. Those songs were absolutely nova. I hadn¡¯t heard all of them yet.¡± He offered but I just kept my head in my hands.


    Everyone was staring at me! Everyone had heard me play.


    ¡°Aaaaaa.¡± I whispered, and a moment later Jun chuckled at me.


    ¡°It¡¯s cute how embarrassed you get about this stuff.¡± He explained to me, and I finally jerked up to glare at him.


    ¡°I¡¯m not cute when I¡¯m embarrassed!¡±


    ¡°Kinda.¡±


    ¡°Yep.¡± Hiromi and Malcolm both cut in and I turned to glare at them, but both of my chooms just sent me smirks.


    ¡°I¡¯m back!¡± Ichi called out dropping off some more drinks for everyone including a new soda for me. ¡°You know if nothing else. Getting Motoko to play so we get free drinks is pretty nova.¡±


    ¡°Oh! Yeah! We should make Motoko play every time we go to a bar so we all drink free!¡± Hiromi chirped, and I sent her a look of horror that only had her smirking at me all the wider.


    ¡°You have my vote.¡± Ichi offered, and Malcolm, despite already chugging his drink, threw up a hand to signal he was agreeing.


    ¡°Hey!¡± I snapped, but none of my chooms seemed to mind my existential breakdown!


    ¡°Hey kid.¡± A voice from behind us drew my eyes away from my chooms. Jun looked the man over and stepped aside, letting me see the barman.


    ¡°Yeah?¡±


    ¡°You did good work. Wasn¡¯t sure about it when I heard you didn¡¯t have a full band, but you did a good job bringing the energy up.¡± The older man offered, rubbing at his chin. ¡°You ever want to play again, you call me up. The Red Dirt will be happy to host you, but if you want some advice? Get a band to play with. I think you got something there, and a real band will really bring it out.¡±


    I felt my throat clench up as the idea of having a band was a little too much, instead I just nodded at his words. He seemed to pick up on my anxiety and just laughed.


    ¡°You¡¯ll get used to it. All the great¡¯s do.¡± He assured me, then he looked over to Hiromi, and his eyes flashed. ¡°Payment for the work.¡± He offered and Hiromi had a look of the cat that caught the canary.

 Chapter 181

    The next morning I woke up to stare at the sunlight coming in through the armored blinds and just wondering what the hell I had done.


    I wasn¡¯t being sarcastic either.


    The fact was, going up on stage like that was a fundamental change to what music was to me. Before I had done it purely for my own relaxation, and now? Now it was something more, maybe something I wouldn¡¯t be able to control.


    I shook it off and got up. There was no use in worrying about what was already done. I had a lot of work to do today.


    Getting dressed I headed out, and straight towards Lizzies. While Nox had been at the Red Dirt last night, I hadn¡¯t decided whether I would do this or not then.


    Honestly after sleeping on it I still wasn¡¯t sure, but I knew I should. That it was silly to be so embarrassed about my playing in front of a crowd.


    As I pulled up to Lizzies, I frowned when I didn¡¯t see Rita, which wasn¡¯t unusual. I would have liked to talk to her about everything though, get some of her big sister counsel.


    I entered without any trouble, and headed down to see Judy.


    ¡°You¡¯re here early.¡± I commented as I entered into her little sanctum, seeing her working her way on a computer already. Honestly I had just expected to do another drop off.


    ¡°Huh? Oh, it¡¯s morning. Been here all night.¡± She finally replied, blinking at me with a face that spoke of lack of sleep. ¡°Haven¡¯t seen you in a while.¡± She offered and I winced, at the judging tone.


    ¡°Yeah, I haven¡¯t had any BD¡¯s that I could let out¡­ And I guess I¡¯ve just been focused on my own stuff¡­ How are you? Edit any interesting XBD¡¯s recently?¡± I asked as I moved into Judy¡¯s basement. Settling on a chair.


    She gave me a look of amusement at my question. ¡°None that I¡¯ll share with a kid.¡± She offered and I couldn¡¯t help but laugh. True enough. I wasn¡¯t very interested in hearing about her weird porn.


    ¡°I have a BD¡­ This one is a bit different than before, so I¡¯m not sure. How much would it cost to have this BD edited, for like¡­ Personal stuff?¡±


    ¡°How long is it?¡± She asked instantly all business.


    ¡°Oh¡­ Um¡­ Just over twenty minutes?¡± I offered, trying to think how long each song took.


    ¡°Hmm. Alright, I¡¯ll do it, but it¡¯s not gonna be cheap. What¡¯s it about?¡±


    ¡°I did a gig.¡± I answered back, and Judy blinked at me.


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t explain anything.¡±


    ¡°Oh, not that kind of gig. I did a music gig. I played on stage. It¡¯s the BD recording of it.¡±


    ¡°What? Let me see!¡± She demanded and I flushed at her interest.


    ¡°It¡¯s not that interesting.¡± I tried to demure, but she wasn¡¯t having it.


    ¡°Sure it is. I liked your other music. I pulled a copy of Inner Universe and listen to it sometimes.¡± She answered, back.


    ¡°What why?¡± I said almost strangled, and she just laughed at me.


    ¡°Cause it¡¯s a good song you gonk. Besides, it¡¯s interesting knowing the person who wrote a song. Alright, I¡¯ll edit this one.¡± She waved at me, and I pulled the shard free.


    She took it and quickly inserted it into her system looking it over.


    ¡°Some interesting emotion patterns on this one.¡±


    ¡°Well, I was pretty nervous.¡±


    ¡°Not really seeing that, emotion profile shifts rapidly¡­ Were you singing the emotions of the song?¡±


    ¡°I guess?¡± I answered, I suppose I had done that. When the song was sad, I was sad, when it was angry I¡¯d been angry.


    ¡°Huh. Alright this¡¯ll take a while. I won¡¯t be good company while working on this. Want me to call you when it¡¯s done?¡±


    ¡°Sure!¡± I stood up smiling at Judy¡¯s offer. ¡°Thanks, I appreciate it.¡±


    ¡°Eh, it¡¯s fine. It¡¯ll be nice to edit something that isn¡¯t hardcore fetish shit.¡± She offered and I flushed a little at her words.


    ¡ª---


    When I got back home, I was surprised to see Jun and Akari together. Considering the last time I had seen Jun wa with Alice, and Rita.


    But something was wrong. Jun was brooding in his stupid bad boy way. Something was wrong. ¡°Hey Akari. What¡¯s going on?¡±


    ¡°You remember Yuto?¡± Jun asked after a moment, and I felt myself frown.


    ¡°Your choom. The one that got out of prison.¡±


    ¡°He went through with it.¡± Jun said as if that should explain anything to me. ¡°He tried to murder Kisaru. He flubbed it though.¡± He explained and I shrugged.


    ¡°Okay?¡±


    ¡°Motoko. I¡¯m his friend. Fujimura is already getting some questions on if I¡¯m involved.¡±


    ¡°Okay? But you aren¡¯t. Tell Fujimura he tried to get you to help but you said no.¡±


    ¡°Motoko. Just being involved in plotting to kill a higher up in the Claws is enough to lose your head. I should have told Fujimura as soon as Yuto asked me about it. I didn¡¯t. Which makes me part of it.¡±


    ¡°Shit. Stupid fucking gangster politic bullshit.¡± I cursed then I realized that Akari was here. ¡°And Akari is here to help?¡± I asked, only to get a flinch from the woman, who had kept her face onto Jun this whole time without shifting.


    ¡°Not exactly.¡± Jun explained, my confusion must have been obvious as I turned to Akari.


    ¡°I¡¯m Jun-Boys Guard dog. Bark bark.¡± Akari cut in. Her voice was decidedly flat. ¡°If he tries to help Yuto, or I find proof he was involved¡­ I¡¯m his killer.¡±


    The next moment I realized I had activated my Sandevistan. Without thought, pure instinct I had moved. A threat to Jun. I reacted to neutralize it.


    I slammed into Akari, faster than she could react, knife flashing, it was only the woman''s own sandy activating that kept my knife from plunging straight into her eye.


    It was the only weak point in her chromed out skull to get to her brain and kill her instantly.


    The mental calculus was processed without a thought, without higher thinking.


    It was only Jun that kept me from drawing my Burya and finishing the job as Akari struggled to keep my knife from plunging in. He grabbed me from around my chest, seemingly purposefully holding tight against my holster so I couldn¡¯t draw it as he dragged me away.


    I slumped a bit in his arms, but mostly to make him think I wouldn¡¯t struggle.


    She had threatened Jun. So she would die. Simple. Life was really simple sometimes.


    Then Akari started laughing.


    ¡°Oh fuck! I forgot how much of a crazy little shit you are! Is that a sandy? You got one! Haaaah! How fun!¡± She offered despite still being half splayed over the couch.


    This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    ¡°Motoko. Akari doesn¡¯t think I¡¯m involved. She told me what she was ordered to do, and we were trying to figure out what to do when you came home. I trust her. She isn¡¯t going to hurt me.¡± Jun whispered to me, but I only had eyes for the threat.


    Then to my shock, Akari actually raised her hands up into the air.


    ¡°Not about to kill Jun-Boy. He¡¯s too cute to kill.¡±


    ¡°My brother isn¡¯t cute. He¡¯s a burrito goblin.¡± I told her bluntly, and then wiggled. ¡°Let go Jun, I won¡¯t kill her.¡± I told him, and when he didn¡¯t release me I looked up at him and glared until he finally released me.


    I sheathed my blade and looked between the two. There was a moment where Akari was staring at me, and we both had a silent understanding.


    My threat ranking had just gone up substantially in her eyes, and there was actually a bit of fear in her motions now.


    I wasn¡¯t the cute kitten scratching her, I was a big cat with capability. It changed our relationship in a way, but that was for another time. It¡¯s not like we were that close.


    ¡°So if you just do nothing and Yuto gets caught?¡±


    ¡°Then probably nothing.¡± Jun offered smiling, he patted me on the head. ¡°But, if Yuto manages to kill Kisaru? I don¡¯t know. I told Fujimura I knew about it. I¡¯ll probably pay for not speaking up.¡± He mentioned, and I glared.


    Not acceptable. Stupid Yakuza bullshit. I didn¡¯t want Jun to have to injure himself for these fucks.


    ¡°Then why don¡¯t you just hire Section 9 to track him down. I¡¯ll even give you a family discount.¡± I offered and Jun looked like he was considering it but eventually he shook his head.


    ¡°Motoko. I owe Yuto. More than I can say. I refused to help him with this¡­ But I can¡¯t¡­ I don¡¯t want to catch him. I know what¡¯ll happen if we do.¡± He answered truthfully even with Akari right there. ¡°I hope he realizes this was stupid and leaves. Maybe if he gets out of Night City¡­ I doubt it though. Yuto was always a dumbass.¡±


    Jun sounded fond when he said that which only made this more uncomfortable.


    Cause I was honestly considering taking care of this problem. Then Jun looked at me, and despite being blank faced, Jun somehow knew what I was thinking.


    ¡°Motoko. Promise me to leave this one alone. It¡¯s fine as it is, and I won¡¯t be part of taking him out. I owe him too much for that.¡±


    Was Jun reading my mind? I looked at him with an intense stare, imagining throwing out his Burritos and he didn¡¯t flinch or glance at the fridge.


    Yet somehow he knew what I was thinking!


    ¡°Stop looking at me like that. It¡¯s creepy.¡± He demanded and I looked away. Okay, he hadn¡¯t gotten mind reading powers, yet how had he known?


    ¡°You two are still a riot.¡± Akari commented, looking more at ease. ¡°Aaah I missed this, Little Killer, you should join us more often. I¡¯d love to do some work with you again. You little monster.¡± Akari uttered, but I scoffed at her, and ignored her words.


    ¡°Maybe I¡¯ll talk to Fujimura about this. I don¡¯t like it.¡± I muttered, but Jun just dropped a heavy hand on my head.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. That¡¯s my job.¡± He said and then to put word to fact he turned and settled back on the couch nearly instantly turning back into his brooding mode¡­


    Dammit, now I understood. Akari hadn¡¯t been brooding alongside Jun when I got home. She had been staring at him while he brooded, just enjoying the view.


    Ugh. Jun¡¯s bad boy vibe was so dumb, cause I knew how many burritos he ate in a day!


    ¡°Promise you¡¯ll tell me if something happens.¡± I demanded and Jun nodded.


    ¡°I promise.¡± Then he waved me off, returning to his brooding over his choom.


    Ugh.


    I headed into my room.


    ¡ª--


    *Judy: Don¡¯t worry. You won¡¯t need to pay. Nox and Mitsunashi both wanted to sell it. It¡¯s ready if you want to pick up a copy.*


    I blinked at the message, as I was tinkering a bit with a quick hack. I wanted to try and get more functionality out of my net hacks, so I was tinkering with them. The only reason I was getting anything done was my Inspired Programmer. I was literally using the inspiration the perk gave me as a distraction from what was going on.


    Then I read the message and knew something was wrong.


    *Motoko: What? No, I just wanted a copy for myself, it''s not for sale!*


    *Judy: Too late for that Nox already picked it up, looking eager.*


    *Motoko: JUDY!*


    *Judy: Sorry not sorry. It was¡­ Interesting.*


    I jumped up and called Nox.


    *Motoko! The BD is noooova!*


    *Stop! You can¡¯t sell it!* I demanded, but then to my horror Nox scoffed.


    *Sorry. I already got orders from Mitsunashi. Full production is underway. You¡¯ll have to talk to her.*


    *It¡¯s my BD!* I demanded.


    *Heh. Sorry Motoko, I agree with the bit-Hiromi this time. This has got to get around.*


    I hung up on him and called Hiromi.


    *Motoko! I¡¯m so-*


    *Call Nox and tell him to stop! You can¡¯t sell my music gig BD! Hiromi!* The line went silent for a minute.


    *Motoko? But it¡¯s amazing! A live concert BD? Sure there are a few out on the market, but these are brand new songs, and they¡¯re good!¡±


    *Hiromi¡­*


    *Motoko, if you really don¡¯t want it to spread it around, I¡¯ll stop Nox¡­ But can you tell me why?*


    *I don¡¯t want people to see!*


    *People already saw during the gig. You did great!*


    *But¡­ But!* I stalled out. I didn''t have a good reason not to do so other than I was embarrassed.


    I was embarrassed because¡­ Why?


    I don¡¯t know, but it still made me uncomfortable.


    *I¡¯m not comfortable.*


    *Is there something I can do to make you more comfortable with it?* She asked and I paced around my room for a minute. Then I took a deep breath, and let it out.


    No. I was anxious about nothing.


    I took a breath.


    Instantly my discomfort disappeared. As I forced myself to feel calm.


    *No. It¡¯s just my own anxiety about the whole thing. Music is personal to me, me playing it I mean. A BD with me murdering Scavs or something I don¡¯t mind¡­ Is it weird that¡¯s sort of how I want the world to think of me?¡± I asked, almost laughing at the idea.


    *No, it¡¯s very you.¡± She said with a laugh. *But I think this is a good thing. Motoko you¡¯ve got amazing talent. I want to hear you play more. I want to see you up on stage, and have thousands of people cheering you on. I think you can do it, and I¡¯ll do my best to help! I want to help.*


    *I don¡¯t really see myself as a Rockerboy Hiromi.*


    *Then maybe you just need to expand who you think Motoko Kusanagi is, because last night, up on that stage, that¡¯s what I saw.*


    I didn¡¯t have a good riposte for that.


    *Motoko, it¡¯s just a BD. You¡¯ve even done music BD¡¯s before.*


    *It¡¯s fine. Go ahead Hiromi. I don¡¯t really see any negatives from releasing it. I¡¯m just uncomfortable with the whole thing, but it¡¯s nothing but nerves. I¡¯ve already taken the step onto the stage. I shouldn¡¯t¡­ I shouldn¡¯t run away from the aftereffects.*


    *Nova! Absolutely Nova! I¡¯ll take care of it! I¡¯ll make sure you don¡¯t regret this!*


    *I already do.* I teased, but I honestly wasn¡¯t that bothered anymore. I had made the decision, and that was that.


    Now, I just wanted to get out of the house and do something active.


    Ending the call after a few moments of goodbyes, I rose up and started grabbing some gear.


    ¡ª--


    I fired half a magazine before realizing it wasn¡¯t what I wanted. I was at the range, and wanted to shoot some guns to distract me, but the silencer was sort of ruining it.


    There just wasn¡¯t the loud bang I needed.


    I paused, taking a moment to unscrew the silencer from the Lexington, and then putting it away in my holster, before lining the gun back up and firing.


    The rapid fire retort of rounds flying was much better, and I soon fell into the rhythm, using the sound of the gun shots to stop thinking about music.


    This was the music I wanted to share with the world.


    Round after round, target after target. Until finally the alert I was waiting for came through.


    *100 Reflex XP Gained*


    *Reflex Leveled up!*


    No wait¡­ I had been trying to level my Handguns to 8! Not Reflex to 9!


    Not that I was complaining, but that wasn¡¯t what I was working on!


    My own exasperation disappeared in moments as I luxuriated in the feeling. I felt looser, quicker, my body felt more able to respond to what I needed it to do.


    It felt great.


    Still, I was pretty close to a handgun level up¡­ I raised the pistol and started firing.


    When I burned through all of my magazines, I took a moment to reload, and fired again, until they were all empty. With that I ran out of the ammo I had brought with, and went to the owner of the range, and bought more.


    Fired again.


    It felt good to let Cold Blood take over and just feel nothing as I fired over and over.


    It was interesting that Cool was a rather subtle stat. It had been pretty high level for so long I had forgotten how it felt when it changed.


    Rank 10 Cool.


    It wasn¡¯t that I couldn¡¯t ¡®lose my cool.¡¯ I could still get upset, I could still get anxious, and not want to deal with something.


    But the moment I decided. The moment I decided to stop letting my emotions control me, it was like everything changed.


    I was in control.


    It felt good. One of my favorite things the system gave me, and something I often didn¡¯t think about as time went on. It was simply a part of me. Experience, and surety of self that didn¡¯t override who I was, but was simply an additive. Something I could fall back on.


    Just like someone could practice controlling their anger and still fail to follow through with their practice when the moment came.


    ¡ª--


    I didn¡¯t go home after the range. Instead I made a call and went to my netrunner cave.


    Thankfully the boys responded, and before I even arrived Malcolm and Ichi were both hanging out downstairs.


    ¡°You guys got here fast.¡± I mentioned as the elevator opened, and both of them were camped out in the chairs food strewn about them.


    ¡°We were already meeting up to get some food.¡± Ichi explained as he stuffed some chips into his mouth.


    They were definitely chips. Yep, couldn¡¯t see what it was exactly, definitely. My eyes could magnify my vision? Don¡¯t be silly, why would I do something so simple to look at what Ichi was eating.


    ¡°Well thank you for showing up. It probably won¡¯t be too exciting? I just want to get some more practice in, and maybe offer some services. See what interesting things I can get offered up in exchange.¡±


    ¡°Hey, it wasn¡¯t the most thrilling thing I¡¯ve ever seen, but it was still interesting.¡± Malcolm replied.


    ¡°And I haven¡¯t seen the Combat Zone thing. Malcolm told me about it, but I¡¯m interested.¡± Ichi added.


    ¡°Thanks boys.¡± I said earnestly, and then nodded. Settling into the chair I closed my eyes and then opened them on the net.


    I checked everything as I noticed Tachikoma¡¯s digital avatar wandering around, seemingly much more capable of determining if something was new or not.


    It was evolving. Slowly but steadily.

 Chapter 182

    I stepped down into the bright light of the netrunner club, waving a hand at the woman that was seemingly just watching the door. She didn¡¯t bother to look away from her file but I knew she had seen me regardless.


    Walking inside I quickly found a booth and accessed the system, taking a look at the battle that was currently being shown. It wasn¡¯t anything special, but I knew Ichi would enjoy it as I kept half an eye on that screen, so he could see it, while I opened up another part of the system.


    A chat layer.


    There was a main discussion, and then sub chats, for offers, and discussions. Many of them were battle requests, or sales, and purchases of things that were needed.


    While I waited, I browsed through what was being sold, and what was being asked for.


    Unfortunately it didn''t seem like anyone really used this place for programming help. But I did see a few interesting offers on netrunning equipment.


    *So who do you think is going to win?* Ichi asked me, and I looked over at the battle screen for a moment.


    *Hard to say.* I admitted, although I did pay more attention to the battle since it was giving me plenty of ideas on how a normal netrunner battled.


    It reminded me of why I was really here.


    I started checking the battle request section, searching. I had just battled whoever I wanted last time, but I was here for a reason.


    I found it.


    A netrunner looking for a battle, that was a well known for using Daemons. Exactly what I wanted.


    I smirked as I sent the request, and waited a bit before it was confirmed, Our battle would be three more down.


    *I got a match.* I told the boys and settled in to wait.


    St33lSister huh? This should be fun.


    ¡ª--


    An hour later I left the arena with a bit of a wince.


    St33lSister had not been happy to deal with my sort of netrunner shenanigans.


    I had gone into this battle for two things. One, some experience to level up even more, and two, a test to see how long I could remain completely out of sight against someone that was considered actually skilled.


    I uh¡­ Hadn¡¯t kept in mind this was supposed to be a fun game, and what happens when gamers stop having fun.


    St33l had spent the last two minutes cussing me out in broadcast over the entire arena before retiring.


    Definitely going to have to offer an apology to the woman.


    But on the other hand? I had killed a lot of Daemons. She had summoned a custom version of the hound daemons, and then backed them up with an array of IMPS and Soldier types.


    She was a one woman army. Of course it wasn¡¯t extremely efficient, she was obviously using the battle as a way to show off her daemons. Something I had only realized after I had spent thirty minutes tearing through her summons, and forcing her to keep resummoning them.


    I had turned the Digital Jungle into a death trap for anything that walked inside, and St33lSister wasn¡¯t happy about it.


    I kinda was though.


    With my HEAT bullet hack, I was taking out Daemons very quickly, with very little RAM usage. The real trick had been keeping out of sight as I continued to mulch her little army.


    Two levels.


    I had killed over a hundred Daemons, and gained two levels from this battle alone. When I exited the arena, I looked around for St33lSister, but didn¡¯t see her unfortunately. I felt kind of bad, but at the same time it had been so incredibly profitable for me I couldn¡¯t help but want to do it again.


    *That was awesome.* I sent the boys reconnecting as I once more took a seat around the club. I noticed I had eyes on me, but no one had come to talk to me this time.


    *That was kinda boring to me, but it was still cool.* Malcolm offered, trying not to offend.


    *It was cool for the first bit, but eventually it was just kinda there. The other runner got pissed, what happened?*


    *Well normally you aren¡¯t really supposed to just kill the Daemons over and over like I was. I was sort of being weird.*


    *Motoko weird? Never.* Malcolm responded back and I promised myself I would slap the back of his head when I left the server. I considered joining another session, and started looking through the network. There were a few that used Daemons, not nearly to the same extent though. But as I sent out a request for a match each of them denied me¡­


    I think I might have over done it a bit.


    ¡ª--


    After realizing I wasn¡¯t getting any more matches today, at least not without putting up some sort of anty to drag someone into it, I logged out.


    The boys were happy to eat on my dime, but eventually we split up. I went back to the netrunner cave while they headed off doing whatever boy things they got up to when Hiromi and I weren¡¯t around.


    I wanted some peace and quiet to get my stats figured out.


    Two level ups was a lot. More than enough to get something good.


    But I had made a promise, one for adaptation, one for levels, now just to figure out what I should upgrade.


    I was tempted to put another point into my ODA Neural link, but the first point had cleared up most of the constant issues.


    Instead I dropped one into my Sandevistan.


    Despite being such a high adaptation, I didn¡¯t really have any day to day issues with the Sandy. It was just a chip after all, and I wasn¡¯t using it constantly.


    But turning it on was an issue, if not for my ability to heal so quickly, it might have been dangerous just to use it.


    Dynalar Sandevistan Mk.2 *Adaptation Dynalar Sandevistan 1/4*


    Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    One point was added, and then I added the other stat point I had free into my Intelligence.


    Intelligence 13 (14)


    The only issue here, was that I was getting close to maxing out my available Cyberization. I would need some more chrome that enhanced my netrunning to be able to level it higher.


    Which only opened me up for more adaptation costs and the spiral continues.


    Either way. The points were gone, and I still had lots of skill points.


    I dropped another point into programming. Programming 13. I couldn¡¯t help but hiss as the knowledge flowed into me, it was so much the density of the information actually made me stop and take a moment.


    There were structures, on structures. Tricks, and pathways. Digital understanding that could write code in a way a human mind couldn¡¯t reach, and I was starting to touch on it.


    The Tachikoma might be a solid seed for a mortal created AI, but what could it do, if I created it fully as a digital entity?


    Could I ever understand the ocean better than a fish could? Could a human ever understand the digital sea, as well as an entity born into it?


    But it was possible. I had taken another step closer to being able to do it.


    Eventually I shook it off and stood up from the couch, pacing around a bit just to let the feeling of my brain filling up cool down. I walked to the fridge, opened it, ignored the many burritos and grabbed a soda, taking a drink of it, and letting the cold liquid ground me.


    I was okay, that had just been a lot. I couldn¡¯t believe how much more I was gaining in programming. I had thought myself a master when I hit programming 10, but now? I think I was only a master of one way of looking at the programs.


    There was a whole other frontier to learn about.


    Once my head stopped buzzing, I used a second skill point.


    Breach Protocol 12. Technically I could level it again, my Intelligence was 13 now¡­


    I hummed as the knowledge flowed into me. I would take a rest, get some food, do some other things and then put another point into the skill. I hadn¡¯t leveled it up to max like I should have last time I really thought about my stats, and it was too important to not keep maxed out.


    Satisfied by my improvements so far, I decided to get some other work done.


    My 3D printer was set up, and I went to work, grinding out some more grenade cases for now. It wasn¡¯t anything special, but it would keep me occupied, and help me level up while I let my brain cool down.


    ¡ª---


    I got a bunch of Crafting and Tech ability alerts, but no level ups when I was interrupted by a phone call.


    *Hey Hiromi, what¡¯s up?*


    *I got it! The armor for Rebecca! I put in an order through the Arasaka channels, and finally got confirmation! Well¡­ Technically Papa ordered it, but it¡¯s in! I even got an ECM package, although this one is a Kang Tao version not the Militech system. Will that be okay?* She chattered away excitedly and I felt my own grin spreading at the news.


    *Yes! FInally! I¡¯ve been waiting forever! Yeah that should be fine! Okay! Meet me at the Netrunner cave. I have my equipment here. Have you called Rebecca yet?*


    *Okay! No not yet.*


    *Alright I¡¯ll take care of it. You¡¯re the best Hiromi!*


    *Hehehe!*


    We hung up and I made a call to Rebecca, it took a few rings before she finally picked up.


    *Yo. What¡¯s up Choom?*


    *We got your armor in! I¡¯ll need you so I can fit it to you.*


    *Wait what? What armo-Oh shit. I thought you guys forgot!*


    *Nope! It¡¯s just taken a while to get in! Can you meet me?*


    *Ah, my brother has the car right now. He¡¯s the least known in Maine''s crew, so they got him doing supply runs now.*


    *Okay. How about I pick you up?*


    *Yes. Sure! Definitely.*


    I grinned at Rebecca¡¯s excitement, and headed out. Hopefully I could make it back before Hiromi did.


    ¡ª--


    I arrived at Rebecca¡¯s home parking out front and waiting just a bit before she came rushing out. Her jacket flaring out behind her, and instantly I noticed she wasn¡¯t the exact same as before.


    ¡°New chrome?¡± I asked, and she grinned, flexing her arms for a minute, even if I couldn¡¯t really see through her jacket.


    ¡°Got some quick change mounts!¡± She offered, as she pulled down her jackets sleeve and showed the seam along her upper arm.


    Something that was familiar to me from her design in the future.


    ¡°Interested in different Cyberarms?¡± I asked, smiling despite already knowing the answer.


    ¡°Hell yeah choom! Gonna get some big beefy fuckers so I can properly control all the kick.¡± She said, holding her hands in front of her as if holding an HMG, and holding the recoil.


    ¡°Preem. You know what you want yet?¡±


    ¡°I have a few ideas. I got my eye on these older Militech Cyberarms. They¡¯re absolute monsters. Pre Gorilla arm, but they do the same shit.¡± She went on and on, about the chrome she wanted as I started driving back to the netrunner cave.


    It was hilarious that I knew exactly what she wanted, and what they would look like in the future.


    It felt kinda nice as Rebecca and I chatted, about chrome and things we wanted in the future.


    And not once did she bring up Sasha. I wasn¡¯t sure if I wanted that conversation or not, but she avoided it.


    Instead something more interesting came up.


    ¡°Fucking Pilar, that-Ugh! If he wasn¡¯t my brother I¡¯d blow both his knees off.¡±


    ¡°So he took the car without even running it by you?¡±


    ¡°He does this shit all the time! Any time he wants it he just takes it! Never bothers to let me know. It¡¯s not like I didn''t put eddies into that thing!¡± Rebecca grumbled, arms crossed as she leaned back in the seat, her feet rising up to barely rest against the dash.


    Rebecca really was smole.


    ¡°Why not just get another car?¡± I asked, I mean. It wasn¡¯t like it was hard?


    ¡°Rides cost eddies choom.¡± She replied back with a snort and then I opened my mouth and closed it and then when we came to a red light I stopped and looked at her.


    ¡°I got this car for free by murdering the previous owner. Hell we sold dozens of vehicles to Dakota. If you want a car Becca, we can just go get one. Like¡­ It¡¯s easy.¡± And then as my smile shifted into something wicked I leaned over. ¡°The corp¡¯s don¡¯t want you to know this, but the cars in the badland are free.¡± I said, barely holding myself back from laughing. ¡°I have a bunch of cars at home.¡±


    I didn¡¯t actually have cars at home, but a meme was a meme.


    Rebecca blinked at me with those big red cybereyes, and then just burst into laughter. ¡°What? That¡¯s crazy choom, the Nomads get pissy about their rides, you know!¡±


    ¡°Not if you flatline them first, hard to get pissy when you¡¯re dead¡­ Well, yeah, they piss themselves when they die, but that¡¯s neither here nor there.¡±


    ¡°Heh. Well if it was that easy I would totally do it.¡± She said, still giggling at my offer, which is when I decided right then and there, that it was in fact happening. As we drove to Straight Lane Apartments, I sent out a text to Hiromi and the boys letting them know the problem.


    Pulling into a parking lot down the street, I guided Rebecca inside, all the while explaining to her what this place was, and telling her the story of how it became mine.


    ¡°Wait, your Choom bought the basement of this place?¡±


    ¡°Technically? I don¡¯t know if she has the actual deed or anything, but I control the elevator access, and no one else can get in unless I want them to.¡±


    Rebecca looked around in interest as we entered the apartment complex, and headed towards the elevator.


    ¡°I¡¯d uh, appreciate, if you didn¡¯t tell anyone about this place? The less people that know about it, the less I have to worry about someone trying to kill me while I¡¯m netrunning.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, course. I won¡¯t tell anyone. Promise.¡± Rebecca offered as the elevator doors closed and I smiled down at her in thanks.


    Then the doors opened to a party.


    ¡°Motoko!¡± Hiromi cheered as Malcolm, and Ichi were already here as well. The three of them already half dug into cartons of food.


    ¡°Hi!¡± I greeted and hurried out of the elevator, heading straight for the case. I flipped it open, and started scanning checking out the Arasaka armor in the same style that we used. It didn¡¯t take me long to go through it, checking it over and noting happily that everything was there.


    In fact it was in the same condition our armor had been when we first got it, right out of the box.


    ¡°Satisfied?¡± Hiromi asked, and I nodded at that.


    ¡°Very! Okay Becca! Before you get comfy, come here, I need some measurements!¡± I called out, noticing that she had already taken a seat and was digging into the food the boys had brought.


    The fact she looked like she fit into the picture only made it better! Steal the smole girl!


    I grinned at the thought and then stood up holding the chest rig up. ¡°Let¡¯s see what I need to adjust past what it already comes with.¡±


    ¡ª---


    While everyone settled in to enjoy themselves, I went to work.


    Rebecca really was small, and this armor was not made for someone her size in mind. Even the adjustable straps would have left the armor swallowing her.


    Not exactly efficient. So I would need to cut it down heavily, and then re-adjust where the armor padding would cover.


    But honestly, it wasn¡¯t bad. I had a full scan of it from my Kiroshi, and a model of Rebecca, and I could easily use the Arasaka CAD software to compare the two, and make the digital adjustments.


    I even got a Technical Attribute alert from making the changes!


    Then I got to work cutting, between my 3d printer, and my own knowledge of crafting, I actually made the adjustments pretty quickly, under the interested eyes of my chooms I cut, and burned, reshaped the armor, re-used cut armor to alter the shape and in the end came out with a chest rig that when Rebecca put it on, it actually fit,


    ¡°I did alter the adjustment straps, so if you need you can mess with it a bit. Also, the arm sections are heavily adjustable, so when you get those new arms of yours they will still attach.¡± I offered to the girl with a wink as she was checking herself out as shifting left and right noticing the fit.


    ¡°Damn, this actually fits really good.¡± She whispered out surprised and I just laughed.


    ¡°Of course it does! I wouldn¡¯t make something that didn¡¯t fit you! I still need to work on the rest of it, but this piece is done¡­ Mostly. The ECM hasn¡¯t been added, or the lights needed to run it.¡± I explained ticking off points on my chrome fingers for what still needed to be done.


    Rebecca just whistled, and the rest of the chooms smiled.


    ¡°Anyway! That can wait until after though!¡± I explained and my chooms all smiled like sharks as the plan we had been cooking up while I worked was brought forth.


    Hiromi had called Dakota and Saul, Ichi and Malcolm, had kept Rebecca distracted, and I made her armor so it would fit.


    All so that when I was done, the plot could happen.


    ¡°Huh?¡± Rebecca asked, looking around at everyone''s smiles that were maybe a bit too shark-like.


    ¡°So Becca, you doing anything for the next¡­ twelve hours?¡± I asked, and she blinked a bit in surprise at that length of time I requested.


    ¡°No?¡±


    ¡°Perfect.¡± I added, and then all my chooms rushed off. They would have to get their own stuff after all.


    Time to go Raffen Shiv hunting.


    Poor Rebecca just didn¡¯t understand yet.

 Chapter 183

    ¡°Ugh. This is why I don¡¯t go out of the city. The sand is fucking everywhere.¡± Rebecca grumbled. We had taken a pit stop a few hours into the drive to let everyone hit the bathroom if they needed, and poor Rebecca got the worst of it.


    ¡°Well you aren¡¯t supposed to press your ass into the sand.¡± I joked back, and she glared at me.


    Rebecca¡¯s squeals as she had lost her balance while out squatting in the desert had gotten me to come running, only to break down into a laughing fit when I found her on her back legs in the air after falling over.


    ¡°Fuck off! How much longer anyways?¡± She grumbled at me, arms crossed, but it wasn¡¯t very threatening, more cute.


    ¡°Not too far. Dakota gave us the exact info. Seriously, these Raffen should know better.¡± I offered back. The gig was easy enough. A small band of Raffen had kidnapped the daughter of some rich woman in the city. The stupid girl had come out to party in the badlands, and the Raffen had gone through and took everyone mid party to ransom them back.


    But this girl''s parents were more interested in sending a message, than sending eddies.


    Which worked for me.


    I waved at Hiromi who waved back at me. The whole crew was moving on this gig, just in different cars, but this time Rebecca was with me instead of Hiromi. Ichi once again was stuck driving the truck as we headed out.


    I wasn¡¯t sure how much loot these Raffen would have, but I was going to find out!


    ¡°All done?¡±


    ¡°As done as I can be.¡± Rebecca grumbled, as she climbed back into the car. Then we were off. Our little convoy continued on. As we moved, I went over the information Dakota had given me. Like normal the Raffen had taken over some old buildings in the desert and were using it to hold their hostages.


    Technically the gig only cared about the one girl, but I planned on cleaning up the entire group, and so I would have to worry about the hostages as well.


    I had come up with a plan that I think would work, and this time it really would be mostly about me.


    I would go in first, infiltrate, find the hostages, and then secure them, then once I was done, I would call it in, and the rest of the team would move in, and all together we would take out the rest of the forces with me working as netrunner support to ensure the hostages wouldn¡¯t be harmed.


    As we turned off the main road, and onto a dirt path I kept an eye out for our contact. Dakota had been keeping an eye on the Raffen for the last three days after the kidnapping, she had been putting together a team to rescue the hostages, but hadn¡¯t taken care of until we had shown up.


    Seriously, I was going to have to talk to her, she could have let me know about this gig without us reaching out.


    Or more likely I knew, I needed to talk to Hiromi about setting up a fixer connection. If Hiromi was talking to all of them, or seeing what gigs they needed done, she could poke me about good gigs and Section 9 could take them on.


    I was lazy when it really came down to it. I had plenty of eddies, and not a lot of things I was planning on buying so I kept putting off taking more and more gigs.


    Which thinking about it was rather stupid. I did want to get a Full Body Conversion at some point, even with all the politics involved in that level of Cyberware.


    Stupid full body restrictions. Blah blah had to have someone vouch for you, blah blah.


    I¡¯d probably just put in the paperwork saying I worked for Hiromi and that would be that. One of the benefits of having a choom so into the Corpo network.


    I slowed and pulled off, seeing the man sitting at an old bus stop with a dirtbike that was our contact.


    ¡°Alright we¡¯re here.¡± I muttered, and Becca perked up. Looking suddenly excited.


    ¡°Finally! I was waiting for this!¡± She cried and stepped out as soon as my car stopped. Really I was going to have to talk to her about the seatbelt thing.


    I stepped out and noticed Malcolm¡¯s car pulled up behind us. The rocket launchers on the top of the thing always distracted me whenever I saw them.


    Stupid dibs, that was supposed to be my rocket launcher car!


    Ichi¡¯s truck pulled up behind that, and Hiromi behind him.


    ¡°You lot¡­ Section 9?¡± The man asked, and I felt my face brighten into a smile before I calmed it, and went stone faced.


    ¡°We are. You are Milton, Dakota¡¯s contact.¡± I greeted him in turn as I approached him. ¡°Where is the compound?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s an old farm house. Just up the road. I¡¯ve never been in it before, but from what I was able to gather, it has a basement. That¡¯s likely where the hostage is.¡± He explained, sending over some fairly basic data about the insides, but brand new pictures of what it looked like from the outside and above.


    The man must have a drone or something.


    ¡°Alright. We¡¯ll take it from here, unless you have anything else?¡±


    ¡°Nothing that Dakota wanted to pass along.¡± He offered with a shrug, and then just settled back into the bus stop. Feet up on the bike. Relaxing back as if planning on just waiting to see what would happen.


    I thought about commenting, but it wasn¡¯t worth it, or important.


    ¡°Alright, suit up!¡± I called out as I turned, and I got nods from everyone besides Rebecca, who looked confused, before I smiled at her, and took a moment to pull out the case of her armor from the trunk right alongside my own.


    ¡°Suit up.¡± I told her and she looked a little hesitant, as she took it. ¡°Hiromi and the boys can help you get it on.¡± I told her.


    ¡°Don¡¯t stress about it, it¡¯s pretty easy once you get the hang of it.¡± Hiromi added as she walked over to help.


    ¡°Yeah sure. Can¡¯t be too hard.¡± Rebecca admitted, sounding more sure of herself.


    ¡°Alright go ahead and arm up as well I¡¯m going to head in first.¡± I told them already, pulling on my chest rig, strapping it in, as I started securing my weapons and equipment.


    Everyone got to it. Hiromi walking Rebecca through suiting up, it thankfully let me focus on preparing.


    Attaching the silencer onto my Copperhead, I nodded as it was secured. Time to get to work. I made the call connecting everyone together and then headed out into the desert.


    These guys wouldn¡¯t likely have any sensors in the desert, but I would still be heading in alone on foot, so I could try and find out before we got closer.


    Stomping through the desert once again I wanted to laugh to myself at how often I found myself sliding through the sands outside Night City. The Raffen just couldn¡¯t help themselves, and I guess they were an easy target considering how rarely they would go into Night City. Low risk, high reward.


    I controlled my breathing, moved cautiously, and let myself fall into a rhythm, checking everything as I stalked closer and closer. Soon enough I crested a ridge and could see the farmhouse, and the cars surrounding it in the distance. Staying low and hiding in the shadow of a bush I sent up to date information to my team, marking the cars to focus on.


    More interesting was that I couldn¡¯t see any defenses, this place didn¡¯t even have cameras set up that I could see.


    Moving over the ridge after making sure no one had eyes on me, I moved closer and closer, lining up with a section of the back side of the farmhouse that didn¡¯t have any windows. I approached closer and closer, until I quietly leapt over the fence that surrounded the property.


    Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.


    *I¡¯m in.* I confirmed to the team. There was no hesitation, this wasn¡¯t my first, infiltration. I followed along the back of the house until I was on the shadowed side, Then slowly peaked in through the armored windows.


    It was a Kitchen, and it was empty so far that I could see. Taking a moment I gathered as much about the layout of the house as I could before moving on.


    I didn¡¯t trust the window guards to not squeal if I opened them, so that wasn¡¯t my entrance. Everything was so old and rusted, that I would have to worry about noise, which meant the front was the best access point.


    Sliding along the wall, I peaked around at the cars. None of them were on, but with their Crystal Dome it was impossible to tell if someone was inside them with their doors closed.


    This would be so much easier, if I could get eyes on someone and just ping them.


    Slipping through the shadows, I crouched and made my way to the front door. It was unlocked, and an old style door, instead of one of the electrical doors that were so popular in Night City. I crouched up to it, and slowly opened it, peeking inside.


    The front hallway was empty, but I could hear sounds of a TV playing. Obviously these guys had gotten some power going. I slipped inside, closing the front door silently behind me.


    I felt the cold flow through me. Time to move and find the hostages. The assumption was they were downstairs, but this farmhouse did have a second floor as well.


    I¡¯d check down, but have to be careful about what was above me.


    Sliding along the wall I came to the first opening. On the right the hallway opened into a living room, where the sound of the TV was coming from, and there was a small door to the left to the kitchen I had seen before. Further down the hall was a few other rooms, and stairs up.


    Where was the basement entrance?


    I prepared myself and peeked around the corner into the living room.


    Instantly I engaged my Sandevistan.


    The couch was facing the doorway, the TV was up against the wall I was against, and there was a Raffen sitting on the couch drinking a beer.


    I moved, even as his eyes widened in surprise at seeing me, my knife came out and before his voice could make a sound I chucked it, the knife moved through the air like it was in slow motion.


    Then it crashed into the man''s throat. I was right behind it, the metal cut off his cry of alarm, as I grabbed the hilt of the blade and jerked it out, tearing his throat out and silencing him permanently.


    My Sandy turned off and I pushed the man down into the couch so he would bleed out into it, instead of on top of me.


    *100 Blades XP Gained.*


    *500 XP Gained.*


    I waited, listening urgently for any noise. A ruffle, a cough, the sound of a boot on flooring.


    Nothing.


    I released the corpse and turned up the TV a bit. Unfortunately I hadn¡¯t pinged him before the murder so I was still going in blind. Idly I noticed my Sandevistan didn¡¯t feel too bad. It was still warm, but that was the actual chrome''s heat, and not my nerves on fire. I shifted my neck a bit as I I checked the room. I felt good.


    My eyes roved over the room, before I noticed that it had a strange shape. Instead of being square or rectangular, there was a harsh angle in the corner. The same corner that would be across from the stairs up.


    I think that was where the basement access was.


    Heading back out of the living room I moved quietly down the hall, Copperhead raised. Knife was quieter, but if things got bad I was ready to fire. There across from the stairs, was a door, and as I gently opened it up, I found the basement stairs.


    *I found the basement. Heading down now, move in.*


    Then I slowly went inside, testing each step to make sure none of the construction creaked as I slipped down. It wasn¡¯t dark though. No, the lights were on, and as I headed down I heard it before seeing. The sounds of quiet crying.


    I slipped farther down and caught sight of the situation.


    A large basement, well lit, with a pile of teenagers tucked into a corner sitting on the floor.


    It looks like they had been given access to a small bathroom nearby, but that was the extent of their comfort.


    Then there were the Raffen watching them. One guy was sitting at the base of the stairs in a big chair with a tactician.


    No one saw me yet as I was just peeking through the small gap where the stairs left the ceiling. I quickly breached into the Raffen, and then when that was done, sent a ping through.


    The golden light branched off and I noticed that he wasn¡¯t alone. There was another light leading near him in a corner of the basement I couldn¡¯t see.


    Two of them.


    Then another three lights upstairs.


    I connected the information into the network with my chooms, so Section 9 would have the information on where the Raffen were.


    Now what to do?


    Even silenced my Copperhead would make noise. A bullet smacking into concrete tended to make noise¡­


    Then again the hostages would make noise when I appeared as well. They always do.


    I gave myself four seconds to come to a decision, and in the end got up and moved bouncing off the stairs so I landed at the bottom skipping everything in between, and giving the Raffen no time.


    Sandevistan activated, and I once again felt the warmth on my neck, but it wasn¡¯t as bad. Then I moved. I back flipped, landing on the back of the large chair, behind the first Raffen, my knife slipping into and then out of his throat in a single motion as I kicked off again, bouncing off the wall I saw where the second Raffen was. A couch settled into a corner facing a TV although it wasn¡¯t on this time.


    He was just starting to react, as I leapt, his eyes dilating, in slow time as his brain registered the movement. Registered that something was there. Something dangerous. The adrenaline spiked, his brain sparked, but it was all far too slow. I landed on top of him bodily pushing him into the couch for a second before simply stepping away, his throat now ripped open leading his life to trail out over his dirty shirt.


    Sandevistan off, a burning fire up my neck told me I was at my limit.


    *500 XP Gained.*


    *100 Athletics XP Gained.*


    *500 XP Gained.*


    I almost laughed at the odd XP. I guess doing backflips counted.


    Focusing on the hostages, who were also just starting to react and raised a hand to where my lips were hidden under my helmet.


    A single finger telling them to be quiet, I didn¡¯t move for a few moments letting them all register what was happening and see my motion.


    It mostly worked, a few gave squeals of shock at the sudden death, and at my appearance, but the ones that were smart shushed their fellows and soon the entire room was quiet again.


    Taking a few quiet steps forward I returned to the stairs and waited, my directional microphone pointed upwards, trying to catch anything.


    It was quiet. The three lines of light leading above didn¡¯t shift. Nodding, I turned to the hostages.


    That¡­ was more people than expected.


    I had thought we were talking about four or five, but this was more like twenty hostages stuck down here. I ignored them though, instead focusing back up the stairs as I could hear the sounds of vehicles approaching.


    Section 9 was here.


    I felt myself grow a sinister grin as I raced back up the stairs, setting up at the entrance to the basement with my Copperhead pointing towards the stairs.


    I could hear the Raffen upstairs tumbling around hearing the sound of approaching engines that weren¡¯t their own.


    And I prepared myself.


    ¡°LET¡¯S GO! Ahahahaha!¡± A familiar voice rang out and suddenly a roar started up. I could hear the rounds slamming into the second floor as Rebecca opened fire with the Ichi special.


    Ichi had set up the behemoth for a quick mount of his HMG¡¯s. So of course that would be where Rebecca ended up.


    I could hear the hostages below cry out in fear at the sound, but they were completely safe. The HMG was firing up into the second floor, I could see the golden lights flicker out as the HMG rounds punched straight through the old farmhouse.


    In the end, two of the lights flickered before the HMG went silent.


    *You know it¡¯s a pain in the ass to reload those things right?* I asked over the line as I raced upwards.


    *Aw, C¡¯mon! Do you have any idea how long I¡¯ve been wanting to let loose with one of these baby¡¯s! Militech¡¯s Mark thirty-one, is practically my dream! Aaaah! I want to keep firing! Ichi! Reload! Pleeeeease!*


    *Not a chance. I¡¯m safe in here. Armored Cab.*


    *Alright, alright, clear comms. I¡¯m going after the last one.* I offered back fighting my desire to laugh at Rebecca¡¯s cherry sweet pleading towards Ichi.


    Malcolm had rushed in as soon as the guns stopped and formed up behind me as we went upstairs. Might have to talk to him about getting some Lynx Paws, he was a bit loud, but it didn¡¯t matter.


    We found the last Raffen hiding in a bathroom that somehow had kept the rounds from reaching him.


    He died quickly enough with a couple shots of the Copperhead.


    *500 XP Gained.*


    ¡ª--


    ¡°This is a mess.¡± I grumbled as I grabbed what was left in the fridge the Raffen had stored up and took it downstairs. These kids weren¡¯t just from one kidnapping. It was more like three. The Raffen had the bright idea of setting up parties in the Badlands and then coming in and kidnapping anyone that had eddies.


    So some of the kids had been stuck out here for more than a week, and the Raffen weren¡¯t doing a great job of feeding and watering them.


    Made worse with the fact those that were still here after a few days meant their parents weren¡¯t able, or planning on actually paying the ransom.


    Why waste food and water on dead kids after all?


    Fucking Scum.


    ¡°Alright, I got some more food here.¡± I called out as I stomped down the stairs. Technically we were only here for one person, but I wasn¡¯t so cold that I would leave these people to die.


    Malcolm was actually doing a damn good job playing hero, having gone downstairs to check on them, he had worked to get them all comfortable, getting them food and water.


    More than a few of the teens closer to our age were making doe eyes at the big damn hero.


    It was cute.


    On the other hand¡­


    As I walked down, there was a sudden tenseness in the atmosphere. I guess my cold blooded murder of the two Raffen had left an impression. None of the teens seemed brave enough to want to interact with me.


    ¡°Thanks.¡± Malcolm offered, grabbing the food and drink from my arms and starting to pass it out.


    Ichi had already commandeered Rebecca, and they were going through everything they could find for loot. Although I had noticed Rebecca giving the vehicles outside strong looks.


    I already knew which one she would take too. There was a nice Archer Quartz that she had been keeping an eye on. The little two seater would fit Rebecca perfectly.


    Either way I was more focused on helping Malcolm.


    After the food and drink was handed over, Malcolm continued to act as the face, calming everyone down as he assured them he would get everyone back to the city without any issue.


    Eventually everything calmed down. I found our actual target, and sent a picture to Dakota confirming rescue.


    She would be sending a truck to pick her up, and then the rest of the kids were our responsibility if we wanted to do something.


    I headed back up, to check in with Ichi, who didn¡¯t look enthused.


    ¡°We aren¡¯t getting much out of this one Motoko. The vehicles, a few things of value inside, what they were wearing, and that¡¯s about it. They didn¡¯t bother to set anything up here.¡± He explained as I met up with him and Rebecca searching through the old rooms.


    ¡°Eh, can¡¯t win them all. It¡¯s fine we did this mostly for Rebecca anyways.¡± I offered shrugging, and the girl looked up as her name was called, before looking a little pleased.


    ¡°Thanks Choom.¡± She offered and I smiled back at her before remembering I was wearing my helmet still. Taking it off I gave her a smile in return.


    ¡°Alright, find what we can, and load it up in the other vehicles first. I think the behemoth is mostly going to be full of our friends downstairs.¡±


    ¡°Dakota isn¡¯t going to take them?¡± Ichi asked, and I shook my head.


    ¡°Apparently she was only paid for the one, and doesn¡¯t care. They are our responsibility.¡± I answered back with a grumble. It would have been a lot easier if we didn¡¯t have to transport twenty two people.


    ¡°Well at least we¡¯ll have room?¡± Ichi said looking around the room and the complete lack of loot piles.


    ¡°Yeah, alright you two finish up, I¡¯m going to make sure we have water for our friends on the trip.¡± I headed back out, and went in search. It¡¯s not like I could use the taps. The water was awful, so I would have to find something else. There was probably an old SCSM somewhere.

 Chapter 184

    ¡°Alright, everyone up. Slow and steady now.¡± I called out as we were guiding the people into the Behemoth. There was an understandable hesitation in wanting to enter the massive truck.


    ¡°Hey, it¡¯s alright! We¡¯ll be heading into Night City to drop you all off, it¡¯s not like there are buses out this far yeah?¡± Malcolm called out, reassuring everyone as he even ran up and climbed onto the back of the behemoth. ¡°I¡¯ll be in the back with you. Come on. Let¡¯s go home!¡± He shouted and that got them moving.


    I shrugged. Malcolm had done a better job than I had in getting the hostages to relax. He jumped into the back of the truck with them, to be their contact as Ichi started up the truck. I would drive my Quadra, Hiromi would drive Malcolm''s car. And Rebecca?


    I looked over and blanched.


    ¡°That is not what I expected you to pick.¡± I whispered to myself Rebecca had not jumped into the Archer Quartz, the little two seater that I thought she had been eyeing.


    No, she had jumped into a massive Thorton Mackinaw. The same truck Panam drove, only Panam was normal sized. Rebecca looked like a kid while sitting in the drivers seat, but I couldn¡¯t deny her massive grin was rather telling.


    I walked over and climbed up to see what she was up to. And I laughed as she was working on the switches and things on the dash.


    ¡°Trying to figure it all out?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a lot!¡± She argued, flushing a little embarrassed at her confusion.


    ¡°No worries. That one is the Crystal Dome Opacity. That one is the wheel differential. That ones the scanner.¡± I started, and each time I waited for Rebecca to play with the switches to get a feel for what it did.


    ¡°That one I have no idea. Some custom option probably.¡± I offered and of course Rebecca flipped the protector on the steering wheel and hit the switch.


    The roar of two machine guns built into the front of the truck went off and absolutely destroyed an old shed next to the farm house.


    We both went silent for a moment.


    ¡°Ffff-AHAHAHAHAHAH!¡± Rebecca broke into horrendous Goblin laughter as she realized her new truck had weapons.


    ¡°Of course it has weapons.¡± I mumbled, why did my Quadra not have weapons!? I should attach weapons!


    ¡°This is awesome!¡± Rebecca roared out and I couldn¡¯t help but smile at her.


    I was just happy, she was happy.


    ¡ª--


    The trip back to the city wasn¡¯t too bad. We had to stop a few times for bathroom breaks for the hostages, but Malcolm had stayed with them specifically to be able to reach us in case something like that was needed.


    Ichi didn¡¯t want someone peeing in his truck.


    When we all reached the city we released everyone at the first bus stop, which while half were relieved we weren¡¯t kidnapping them, the other half complained about us leaving them on the edge of the city and not driving them all home.


    Pretentious little shits.


    Luckily no one pushed past complaining and we were soon on our way. The small bits of loot we had gathered would be dropped off for Hiromi to sell, and Dakota had already taken the other vehicles we had left behind, adding a bit of eddies for the gig.


    More interesting though was Rebecca.


    We had given Rebecca a monster truck.


    ¡°I kinda regret everything now.¡± I mumbled, as I watched her drive off, nearly driving over another car that was driving too slow.


    Rebecca was splitting off to get her car painted and registered. And then she had said she really wanted to show it off to her brother.


    In the end I was pretty happy with how everything had worked out.


    Dropping off the loot didn¡¯t take long and twenty minutes later we were all gathered up at Lizzies for an after gig party.


    ¡ª--


    After the party I headed home. Flopping onto my bed and passing out for the night. I woke up the next morning without much to do, so I ended up settling onto the couch and messing around with some Quick Hacks.


    There was a lot that I still wanted to work on, my netrunning resources still weren¡¯t complete, but the fact was, a lot of the high end stuff I wanted to do was out of reach still.


    My mind often ran back to the Laughing Man, from Ghost in the Shell. The ability to in real time hack into someone and change what they were seeing.


    The Major even used it to make herself invisible in a later episode, but the complexity of something like that was beyond me. If I wanted invisibility I would need to somehow hunt down some Optical Camo, which was basically impossible to find. It was a cyberware that was rarely put out on the market, as it was highly coveted. Any stealth solo wanted Optical Camo.


    Imagine a thief that could go invisible. Of course they would want it.


    Unfortunately I would have to take out some Arasaka ninja, or Militech hitman to get my hands on it at this rate.


    So since neither option was reasonable, I was stuck doing something else.


    Currently I was cleaning up another request from Yoko. Someone wanted a skeleton key to a network. Basically, they didn¡¯t have a netrunner good enough to breach into the system themselves, but they still needed to get in.


    That¡¯s where I came in. They sent the data to Yoko, and she passed it off to me, as a test.


    Well, really it was more that she just didn¡¯t want to do the work I think. But it was alright. She promised me some favors for the work, and it wasn¡¯t really hard.


    Stolen novel; please report.


    I knew exactly where the security system was weak, and with a bit of work, I had a quick hack that was small enough even some rezzer could breach through the system.


    I sent it off to Yoko, but only after sneaking a little bit of code into it, that would basically blow confetti into her face when she opened the file.


    She might have thought it was slick to send along a Daemon into the information packet she had sent me, but I was pretty sure she wouldn¡¯t catch my little present until it blew up in her face.


    I could only hope she was around other people on the net when it happened.


    Stretching as I rose up from the couch I noticed Jun was missing. Him and Akari had been disappearing together a lot recently, but it was all because of that little shit that tried to get Jun into trouble.


    Jun might not want me tracking him and killing him, but I swear if Jun had any further blow back over this nonsense, I would hunt that little shit down. Old friend or not.


    I was just thinking about going out and grabbing a bite to eat when I got a call from Hiromi.


    *What¡¯s up Hiromi?*


    *Motoko! Okay, listen! You need to turn on the radio! Right now! Go to Growl FM! 89.7! This is huge! Aaaah!* She squealed into the phone, and suddenly I felt¡­ A disturbance.


    *Hiromi, what did you do?*


    *I talked to a ton of people! Radio now! It¡¯s almost time! Ash said it would be coming up next!*


    I blinked, because¡­ What station was Growl FM? I don¡¯t remember it from the game, was it gone by then? Then because I knew what I was going to hear, I glanced over to the radio and flicked it on with a quick breach.


    ¡°Of course that doesn¡¯t mean Biotechnica are innocent in this. The Securicine reveal will be a black mark the corp may never recover from. Or from their last stock prices, they already have. That¡¯s the truth of the game folks. Anyway, here is an amazing amateur track that was played last week at a little dive called Red Dirt. I want to introduce the whole city to Ghost in the Shell, and this will be, Smells Like Teen Spirit.¡±


    I need to sit down. I stumbled over and managed to flop into the couch as my song started playing.


    I could hear Hiromi chattering away in my ear, but I was too shocked at what was happening to properly hear her.


    My version of Nirvana was on the radio and Hiromi had set this up. It was a copy of the BD track. I could hear the distortions of the club, people chattering and talking and singing along in the back.


    It was like a live track almost. Well, the quality wasn¡¯t all there, too much deterioration from the mediums, but it was¡­ Okay.


    It was okay.


    I¡¯m okay. This was okay.


    Right. If I told myself that, I would believe it¡­


    The song finished.


    ¡°So that¡¯s the first track that was played, and I¡¯d say the artist Ghost? Ghost in the Shell? Apparently it¡¯s the whole thing? Whatever, it¡¯s nova. I liked it. I¡¯ll probably try out the other tracks from this set as well, quality isn¡¯t great, but that¡¯s the name of the game with our pirate station isn¡¯t it? Anyway, let¡¯s switch over to something a bit older.¡±


    I flicked the radio off.


    *-Believe she agreed! I talked to Judy, and she talked to Rita, and Rita apparently knows Ash, which I guess should be obvious, she is a Mox after all. So Rita put the-*


    *Hiromi.*


    *Motoko! You are still there, I was starting to get worried you know?*


    *Hiromi.*


    *Yes?*


    *I honestly don¡¯t know whether to cry or scream at you right now¡­ I¡¯ll talk later.* I hung up.


    Then I flopped over into the couch and screamed into the cushions.


    ¡ª---


    A few hours later after ignoring phone calls I had told Hiromi to meet me. The fact was I didn¡¯t wait for her to come up though.


    The moment she had parked her car and headed the the elevator I was inside, as the doors opened she startled for a moment seeing me right on the other side of the metal doors.


    ¡°We need to talk.¡± I informed her, and then hooked my arm around her elbow and tugged her inside.


    ¡°Wha-Motoko, hey.¡± She muttered before realizing I was smiling at her. ¡°I¡¯m sorry I didn¡¯t ask before going through with it, but I was put in touch with Ash, and it was a one in a million chance! I had to accept¡­¡± I didn¡¯t answer as the elevator started up without me pushing a button.


    As if I hadn¡¯t hacked into the building security and had my own overrides by now.


    The elevator ride was quiet as Hiromi seemed to realize I wasn¡¯t responding and she started fidgeting.


    Finally the elevator reached our floor and I dragged Hiromi along, her faint resistance no where near enough to slow me down, before I entered the apartment and finally let her go.


    Then I started pacing, not even heading to the couch.


    ¡°What the fuck Hiromi?¡± I demanded, and she jerked.


    ¡°Wha-I, I just wanted your song to get big!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not the problem here.¡± I told her. ¡°You know I¡¯m uncomfortable with this, I only agreed to the Red Dirt gig because¡­ I think I was ready for that. I was ready to try it, and see how it worked, but this¡­ I wasn¡¯t ready for this Hiromi. You pushed past my boundaries and you didn¡¯t even ask.¡±


    She opened her mouth to respond before closing it. ¡°I know. I didn¡¯t ask, because if I did, I knew you wouldn¡¯t be ready for it, and the opportunity would be gone. So I just¡­ Did it. I knew you¡¯d be mad¡­ But I hoped I could convince you this is a good thing. An opportunity like this was huge.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not mad it¡¯s on the radio Hiromi, I¡¯m mad you did it behind my back! I trust you. Completely. You handle all my eddies practically, and I never second guess, or check to see if you are cheating me or something, because I don¡¯t have to. Because I trust you.¡± I told her, and my words had their intended effect.


    Hiromi flinched, her face paling a bit as I stopped pacing and just stood in front of her, glaring at her until the overconfident demeanor shifted into the real Hiromi.


    ¡°I just wanted to¡­ I wanted to be your manager, and get your career started, and¡­ I wanted it.¡± She slowly whispered out, and I nodded.


    ¡°I know. Your desire to keep pushing for more is one of your cute points.¡± I admitted, then I stepped in to wrap her in a hug.


    Honestly I wasn¡¯t that mad. Not really, not about the song on the radio. My words had been the truth, I was more hurt Hiromi would do this behind my back, despite knowing I wouldn¡¯t be okay with it.


    But I also knew that Hiromi wasn¡¯t perfect. She made mistakes just like I did, and she wasn¡¯t trying to be malicious.


    She was just fixated on improvements, and growth, and sometimes that blinded her.


    ¡°Hiromi. You¡¯re one of the few people I trust completely. I don¡¯t, no, I won¡¯t break that over something like this, but¡­ I hope you¡¯ll treat my trust  with a bit more gentleness from now on.¡± I told her, still hugging her tightly.


    ¡°I will.¡± She whispered into my neck, hugging me back tightly.


    ¡°Great. Good.¡± I nodded and stepped back. ¡°You¡¯re my manager after all, I don¡¯t think I can find a better one, especially one that I can actually trust, so¡­ We¡¯ll have to make this work.¡±


    She nodded her eyes watery, but not quite falling into tears yet.


    ¡°Okay. Okay. So, my song. On the radio.¡± I started pacing again. ¡°You said, they wanted a studio version? Ash?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, she said the live version is okay, but if you want it to really blow up, we need a studio version.¡± Hiromi spoke softly, her voice gaining strength now that I wasn¡¯t letting what happened come between us.


    ¡°Fuck. I don¡¯t know if I want to do this.¡± I muttered still pacing.


    Okay Motoko, cost benefits. The costs are, people might start knowing me. The benefits? Eddies? Hiromi will get more experience dealing with high end deals with something I don¡¯t really care that much for.


    If someone tricks us and ends up with lots of eddies or something, I¡¯ll just let it go, or kill them depending on how bad it is. The benefits of my wide range of skills.


    So¡­


    ¡°Okay. Let¡¯s set up an appointment for Denny¡¯s studio?¡±


    ¡°I can do that.¡± Hiromi confirmed with a fierce look on her face, excitement filling her now that I had accepted.


    I watched as her eyes flashed gold as she started making a call and I kept pacing for a while. I never expected this Rockerboy thing to get this big! I was just doing it for fun, and I mean, sure hearing my own voice on the radio had been¡­


    Well It was kinda flattering, and cool. If horrifying as well.


    But was this what I wanted? Rockerboy Motoko? I considered it, Cold Blood flowing over me for a second. I wanted to think about this without a single emotion getting in the way.


    I had decided to become a merc because eddies, and because it seemed to be the right path. I liked it. I enjoyed the challenge, and the growth and the killing. As fucked up as that was.


    Music? I enjoyed that too. I liked it, it was a rush, and fun, and it was the only way I would be able to hear some songs that I missed.


    So was I going to try it out as a career? It would take a lot of time away from¡­ Well¡­ I blinked, realizing my schedule wasn¡¯t limited by anything. I mean eventually I was planning on getting a Gemini, and with my healing, and with technology improving, I might end up living for a very very long time¡­


    I looked down at my hands. They weren¡¯t shaking or moving, I didn¡¯t do that anymore thanks to the Cool Nerves perk, but even without it I don¡¯t think I would be showing any signs.


    I would do this, see how it goes, let Hiromi push it as hard as she could and in exchange I would spend some time, make some music, and if it doesn¡¯t work? I just go back to killing like normal. Who cares if I succeed or fail?


    The fact that it didn¡¯t matter, that I didn¡¯t need to be anxious about trying out a new career, that its success simply didn¡¯t matter?


    It was kind of freeing.


    ¡°Okay! I got a slot in an hour, all paid up-¡±


    ¡°Hiromi.¡± I cut in, causing her to stall out and stare at me wide eyed as I looked at her confidently, hands on my hips. ¡°I¡¯ve decided. We aren¡¯t going to play around with this. Let¡¯s hit this hard. I¡¯ll start doing songs, you start pushing it, and I¡¯ll even do some more gigs. I want to see how far this Rockerboy thing can go.¡±


    ¡°Oh my god.¡± Hiromi whispered her eyes practically had stars in them considering how excited she looked at that moment. ¡°This is going to be the best!¡±


    I nodded. Glad I still had my best Corpo in my corner.

 Chapter 185

    "A deniaaaal!" I hit the last note, letting it sound clean and clear.


    Technically I didn''t need to do much work to get a studio clean track prepped for radio release. I had technically done it all before, but if I was going to make an official track I wanted to spruce it up a bit. This would be the version of this song everyone considered as the official one after all.


    So I took some time and cleaned everything up, using the instruments in the rental room to make sure all the songs sounded as good as I could make them.


    Then with Hiromi watching eagerly I created five copies on five shards.


    "There." I told her, as I handed them over. "That''s the best I can do-"


    "It''s amazing! You''re amazing Motoko! Now it''s my turn. I''ll talk to Ash again, but maybe I''ll try to contact Morro Rock as well!"


    "Okay. Whatever you think is best." I decided and Hiromi perked up at my acknowledgement.


    Nope. I wasn''t uncomfortable. It was fine. If everyone started noticing me, I''d just change my face or something¡­ Laughing man hack to make myself look like someone else. Boom. Problem solved.


    Nodding at that, I decided since my job was done to go celebrate.


    Hiromi and I split up, she was going to track down Ash, and try to get the songs on the air, while I decided it was time to do something completely different.


    I pulled up to the Deravaja Dojo and stepped out nodding at how there were plenty of people around. Walking inside, I headed to the back and found Sensei as usual standing on the Tatami glaring at people until they did better.


    He noticed me with a glance and then I enjoyed the fact he gave me a sort of double take with just his eyes as I approached his side calmly.


    "That corner. Forms."


    "Understood Sensei." I agreed easily. I was here to grind. Blades 7 was a disgrace especially since my Reflex stat which governed it was already at 9.


    What kind of ninja was I with a low Blade skill?


    I grabbed one of the shinai and found the corner he had ordered me to, and fell into the forms, moving through each movement with a cold blooded focus.


    ¡ª--


    *100 Blades XP Gained.*


    *Blades skill level up!*


    I nodded, as I finished the forms, taking a moment to breathe deeply. I had earned the level up half way through, so I had used the rest of the forms that I needed to finish under Sensei''s eyes to adjust to the new knowledge. It felt good. Great even. I felt better, just with that one level up, proof that I was improving myself. Blades 8 was a good level.


    "Musashi, you are against Kusanagi." Sensei suddenly called out and I looked over, the man really did have good timing. I had just finished the warm up, now time to put it into practice.


    "Huh? I don''t see the Oni." A young man called out, looking around in surprise. I took a moment to look him over. He was in a Gi, and I could tell at a glance, he was good with the Shinai he held in one hand.


    He was definitely one of the main students of the Dojo.


    "Sensei was talking about me. Motoko Kusanagi, Jun is my brother." I offered as I approached the man and he looked me over for a moment.


    "I remember now. I''ve seen you around before." he greeted, as he looked me over. I could tell there wasn''t much awareness in his eyes. He knew nothing about me, and didn''t seem to care. But a moment later he shifted, giving me a small bow which I realized was actually the start to the bout. Musashi didn''t care much for talking apparently.


    I returned the bow and then he engaged bringing up his Shinai and moved, his feet barely leaving the floor as he rushed in.


    Parry guided me in, locked my blade on his strike and forced it down, away from me. It didn''t surprise him, or even make him hesitate, a moment later he continued on shifting his blade up and in a strike that I deflected back with a firm guard, and gave him my own swipe, which he seemingly disappeared from taking a few very fast steps back to dodge it.


    This guy wasn''t a joke. He was damn good.


    Then he was back in, blade swinging and I let myself go on the defensive. The boy was good. Not overall as good as I was of course, definitely not as good on the defense especially, but he had a good enough foundation, and a reach advantage I found myself either needing to take risks to attack, or just falling back on the defense.


    Stupid tall idiot.


    Why does everyone have to be taller than me? I wasn''t that short to start with! I was going to master the blade and cut everyone down at the knee so I was the tallest! I shook off the silliness and grew cold to focus on the battle in front of me.


    Once more his attacks became relentless using his reach to strike in ways that if I was any less skilled would hit me, but I could hold him off, but couldn''t push forward. Then I noticed something amusing. I was in better condition than he was, his relentless attacks wore on him, and his breath was coming out harsher and harsher.


    If I couldn''t defeat this incredibly skilled guy outright, then I would just let him wear himself out and defeat him that way.


    Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.


    We continued, and I could watch as his frustration mounted, his continued failure forced him to try new moves, angles, He suddenly shifted, locking blades, and trying a trick to disarm me.


    It wouldn''t have worked, I know how to disengage, but he had made another mistake on top of that, so I decided to punish him for it.


    He twisted, and it should have ripped the shinai from my grip, only my wrists were chrome. My entire wrist spun around, and since he had left himself open, I bonked him on the shoulder as I returned to my guard.


    "Musashi. Fight your opponent, not who you want your opponent to be." Sensei called out and I could see the white hot rage flow up the young man''s face, his neck, then cheeks, then ears all went red.


    He took a few steps back and shifted back into a stance showing he was ready for another round.


    "You''re quite skilled." I offered, and instead of actually being taken earnestly, he very quickly lost his cool. I felt my amusement flicker into irritation, as he didn''t even wait for any further acknowledgment before he rushed forward.


    Striking in a flurry, using his height and weight to try and batter through my defenses. He gave up completely on anything but force.


    But this guy was no Darth Vader. I deflected, and since he was going to be like that. I decided I would purposefully taunt him now. I started getting showy, parrying his blade away with a twirl, my shinai flashing in front of his eyes, before resuming my stance, to show how little he was pushing me.


    Musashi, seeing me taunting him as he continued to fail, completely lost what little was left of his cool, and at that moment, I struck. My blade slammed into his wrist, and then I moved, angling my blade in and around and when we disengaged, his shinai came flying out of his hand. The same move he had tried against me, but against him it had worked.


    He didn''t curse, or do anything like I expected as I caught his blade and offered it back to him.


    Just stared at me with a blank face as if everything that he expected had shifted.


    "Kusanagi, forms." Sensei called out and I slumped. He had seen my flourishes and stuff to piss off Musashi and was punishing me for it.


    I offered the Shinai back again and this time the young man took it, but he didn''t thank me for the match when I offered my own. I shrugged and hurried to the corner to get the glare of Sensei off my back.


    I watched out of the corner of my eye as Sensei pulled Musashi aside, and after a few quiet exchanges, I watched a glare be sent towards my body from the young man.


    That could be trouble later.


    ¡ª--


    Taking a quick shower at the dojo I was heading back home. The exercise had actually done a good job of taking my mind away from the whole Rockerboy drama.


    Thankfully I was feeling better about it once I came to the realization that if it failed it was literally a none issue.


    So stopping for food, I headed home and came into the apartment with a bag of take out smiling a bit as Jun was there, along with Akari.


    "I got food!" I called out and Jun grunted from the couch, but did look interested as I walked over with the bags and started putting everything on the table. "Hungry?" I offered Akari and she looked at me for a minute before breaking out into a smile.


    "Sure, I can eat."


    "Something going on?" Jun asked me and I smiled at him a little.


    "Good and bad I guess. Hiromi went a bit crazy. You ever listen to Growl FM?" I asked, and Jun shook his head.


    Which was obvious, it didn''t play enough Us Cracks or other pop.


    "Sometimes." Akari added and I settled onto the couch.


    "Hiromi talked to Ash, the host and she played some of my songs." I explained and Jun suddenly started coughing having been half way into a box of fried rice already that apparently he started choking on.


    "Hoo? That''s pretty interesting." Akari offered, but Jun, after coughing and banging on his chest, looked to me in shock.


    "Seriously!?"


    "Yeah. I chewed Hiromi out for doing it without my permission, but it''s done. I spent most of the day at the music studio making studio versions of the songs I played during the Red Dirt Gig, so Hiromi is probably currently calling up every radio station to try and get them played."


    Suddenly I was swamped by massive arms as Jun lifted me right off the couch and started spinning me around.


    "Motoko! That''s amazing!" He shouted up to the ceiling, utterly pleased as he spun me around over and over.


    "Okay enough! Put me down! Grrrr!" I growled as Jun continued spinning me seemingly refusing to let go. Before I finally started kicking a bit to show I was done and he let me back onto my feet.


    "Will they play your song again? If they do, I want to hear it." Jun offered and I just scoffed.


    "If you want to hear it, I''ll just play it, or give you a shard or something. The current version doesn''t sound great, since it''s from the live show."


    "I still want to hear it." He argued, going to the Radio to turn it on. I turned to Akari and rolled my eyes.


    "Heh. Don''t worry little killer. Jun-chan is just happy."


    "I know that." I Responded back grumbling as I settled in, watching Akari reaching over and snagging all the good stuff out of Jun''s meal¡­


    I allowed it. Punishment for spinning me around like that!


    "Any news on Yuto?" I asked, Akari quietly as Jun fumbled with the radio. His trouble not at all because I was purposefully fucking with the channel select making him go past the correct channel every time he tried to go to Growl FM.


    Definitely not.


    "Oh? Interested in hunting him down, little killer? Want to add another to your score?"


    "I don''t keep track, that would be tedious." I answered truthfully as I ate some food. "But you are still hovering around, and you aren''t doing it just to hang out with Jun, you still have that air about you. Like you are here because you were told to."


    "Hah! You have sharp eyes as ever! Yep. I''m still guarding your bro. But I''ve told Fujimura-Sama that nothing is going on, so I''m mostly here to cover Jun now, in case the Sushi shows up and tries to talk to him again."


    "Sushi?" I asked, not sure why she used that word.


    "It''s what we call guys that are dead men walking. Uncooked, but still dead. Getcha?" She asked and I snorted at the term before nodding. Yeah I get it.


    "Well that''s certainly a visual." I muttered, but Akari just grinned at me.


    "Motoko! They aren''t playing your song!" Jun whined at me, and I gave him a bland look in response.


    "Jun, my songs aren''t the only one the station plays."


    "It should be!"


    I just rolled my eyes as I settled in to finish eating. Jun spent most of the meal bothering me about my music.


    Stupid Oni-Chan.


    ¡ª--


    "Wow, you do need practice." I told Malcolm as I stared at his electronic score at the shooting range.


    "Oh come on!"


    "Yeah Malcolm! You need practice!" Hiromi teased beside him as her own score was much more respectable.


    "Yeah Malcolm." Ichi joined in as well with a smirk that Malcolm almost punched him for. Ichi hadn''t even done a round yet.


    "You three are a riot." Rebecca offered standing in her own lane, her Ajax in hand as she was reloading it. Rebecca had definitely been more¡­ Eager, than even Hiromi, but it didn''t mean she was actually more accurate. Of course Rebecca had also fired all of her rounds in seconds, where Hiromi had plinked down the range.


    This whole chain of events that led to all of us gathered at a gun range for practice had been simple enough. Malcolm had mentioned to me after meeting up with him for lunch that he felt like he needed more, to really act as a Solo, so I had invited him for a range day.


    Then since range days were fun I had invited everyone else too.


    I hadn''t intended on inviting Hiromi because of school, but she had found out somehow and had decided this counted as a Section 9 activity so had joined us.


    Honestly I just expected she wanted a break from class, but I didn''t call her on it, I could understand being frustrated with a classroom.


    "Rebecca, how quickly can you reload that thing?"


    "I mean¡­ Fast enough?"


    "Get a few mags together and try to work on quick reloading as you run out of ammo, okay? I can give you some tips for faster reloads as well if you want." I offered, miming the motion with my own Copperhead as I aimed it down the lane, and then dropped, the mag flipped the other mag on the table into the receiver without any fumbling and mimed firing again.


    "Sure Kitten, I''d appreciate that." She said quietly, then turning it into a smirk as I pouted at her.


    "Yeah Kitten." Malcolm teased jumping on his chance for revenge.


    I turned to glare at Malcolm who just smiled at me, but Rebecca had my back.


    "Don''t need to hear that from you, Stick."


    "Stick?" I interrupted smiling because the moment Rebecca had said it Malcolm went a little red.


    "Oh he didn''t tell you?" Rebecca asked with a smirk and I looked at Malcolm, my face straight just waiting for the story to come out.


    "Oh no. I''m not saying shit." He grumbled and glared at Rebecca who just cackled at him, before turning to the group and looking pleased to share.


    "Stick here tried showing off his baby to me, and missed the gear shift, nearly sent himself into a pole." Rebecca explained and Malcolm moaned as I turned to him to give him a look.


    "Really Malcolm? Again?"


    "Again!?" Rebecca asked before cackling even louder and Malcolm''s ears were turning red, which meant it was time to stop teasing him.


    "You''ve been doing that race practice?" I asked, and Malcolm perked up a bit.


    "I have! I asked around and got in touch with a guy that sets up some street races. Mostly I''ve just been checking out the routes they take, and racing through them, getting used to my baby." He explained and I just smiled at him in turn.


    "Just make sure you don''t miss the ''Stick'' this time." Ichi razzed him and then Malcolm actually did lash out punching Ichi''s shoulder sending the other boy away with a wince as he started rubbing where he was struck. "Ass."


    "You''re the ass!"


    "Boys, you''re both beautiful." Hiromi added, having turned back to the lanes. "Besides Ichi, Malcolm isn''t the only one with a new nickname." Hiromi added, and I looked to the boy who instantly faced away, but I was insistent, and eventually Ichi slumped. Rebecca was too busy giggling into her arms as she was doubled over.


    "It happened when we were moving stuff, and uh. Rebecca was with me. I was distracted and didn''t notice the speed bump." He explained, and Rebecca then finally cut in.


    "Yep, So he''s Speedbump, now." Rebecca offered, and I just laughed at his nickname giving Ichi a commiserating smile and then whipped them all back into firing down the lane.

 Chapter 186

    ¡°So there we are, Pilar, is acting like a gonk, and this borg is just looming over him. Pilar looks down to the electronic key he had to Maine''s car and he says, ¡®Well you can¡¯t really blame me for this, your security sucks.¡¯ And Maine just glares.¡± Rebecca spoke standing on top of the couch we were all sitting around at.


    Somehow after the shooting range Rebecca had decided we all needed to party some more and here we were.


    ¡°Did Maine bash his head in?¡± I asked, and Rebecca started cackling.


    ¡°No, it''s better! Maine looks down at the electronic key, and hits my bro where it hurts, he says. ¡®Your toy didn¡¯t work, so I can.¡¯ And PIlar the fucking Gonk, gets outraged. ¡®It would have worked if it wasn¡¯t for that fucking kid!¡¯ And points at Sasha.¡±


    I chuckle at the image of younger Sasha being a little shit as Rebecca continued.


    ¡°So Maine basically dragged Pilar to the car and forced Pilar to try again, and it actually worked! Pilar really did make a working hack key for Maine''s car. So Maine decided if he could do that, he could do it for other rides, and so Pilar was brought into Maines crew.¡± Rebecca explained and I laughed at the end of the story.


    I looked over and saw that while I was interested in Rebecca¡¯s story the rest of my chooms weren¡¯t that into it. They were each distracted by their own thing. Hiromi had disappeared at some point, while Malcolm and Ichi had both been distracted by one of the girls on the dance floor.


    I smirked at their very obvious stares, and the fact she was at least a few years older, and obviously not interested.


    ¡°How¡¯re they doing anyways?¡± I asked, trying to sound casual, as Rebecca took a sip from her drink.


    ¡°Same old. Sasha is getting more freedom, things are cooling down. Maine even traveled to the Afterlife to check in for some work. They didn¡¯t tell me if something came up though.¡± She explained, but at the end I picked it up. A hint of bitterness.


    Rebecca had been a bit squirrely about joining us for range day at first. I looked her over and she noticed before sighing.


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing. Just pissed that Maine is still treating me like a hanger on, and not a member.¡± She offered, and I nodded at that. It must grind at her, to have us accept her so readily, and Maine still hesitates.


    I would just have to keep offering her honey until she was fully a member of Section 9, and Maine could go jump off a bridge.


    I nodded. Yeah, Operation Steal Rebecca was working out wonderfully.


    Movement to the side caught my eye and I looked up to see Judy approaching suddenly.


    ¡°Hey, I heard you were up here.¡± She greeted, and I offered her a smile and a wave.


    ¡°Yep. We are doing a celebration day. Hey Judy, how¡¯re you?¡±


    ¡°Tired.¡± She decided after a moment and without a word she sat down. A drink in her hand earned her full attention for a few moments, and then she sighed as she finished. ¡°I really liked your music BD.¡± She finally said and I blinked in surprise at the response.


    ¡°Oh.¡±


    ¡°So uh. Here.¡± She said, pulling out a shard and offering it to me. I took it and realized with a quick scan that it was just my Red Dirt Gig BD on a shard. I looked at it in confusion and turned to Judy and she sort of sighed. ¡°Would you sign it?¡± She asked, and I very slowly blinked. Forcing my eyes to close and then open to make sure this was reality.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°What Music BD?¡± Rebecca asked, interrupting my own confusion as she stood up on the seat and peered over the table at what I was holding.


    ¡°I did a performance, like up on stage a while back.¡± I explained, a little awkwardly. ¡°I just played some songs, but I gave Judy the raws for my BD¡¯s and I scrolled one then.¡± I looked up at Judy. ¡°You want me to¡­ Sign it?¡±


    ¡°Please.¡± She agreed. ¡°That thing is going to be worth eddies in a few years.¡± She said surprisingly confidently and I felt a little odd.


    ¡°What?¡±


    Judy just rolled her eyes at me. ¡°Motoko, you have technical skill, and you¡¯re good at writing songs. You sing with emotion, you play well, you¡¯ve made new songs, songs that aren¡¯t corpo trash. People are already starting to like your music.¡± She explained and I just looked away awkwardly, which didn¡¯t help, but Rebecca was right there.


    ¡°Okay this I want to see. You mind letting me see?¡± Rebecca asked Judy, who nodded waving her hand. ¡°Sure, but only if Motoko actually signs it.¡± She said again, smirking at me, as I looked at the shard.


    I breathed in and out.


    ¡°Sure.¡± I said after a moment. It didn¡¯t matter. I took the marker Judy had and signed it, and a moment later, she took the BD and popped it into a BD case, and then pulled out a different one and handed it to Rebecca.


    ¡°Here.¡± She offered and Rebecca grinned as she took it, and grabbed one of the BD wreaths that were all over the bar, and settled in. I watched as she slipped the shard inside and then as she slumped back into the world of the BD.


    ¡°You doing alright?¡± Judy asked suddenly. I looked at her in confusion and she looked a little bashful.


    ¡°Yeah why?¡±


    ¡°You looked pretty uncomfortable when I asked for your autograph. Figured¡­ Nah it¡¯s nothing. You being careful? New artists can get in trouble in Night City. Especially ones that don¡¯t have backing to protect them.¡±


    I opened my mouth to blow off the question, but instead took it seriously. Breathing in and out I figured out what to say.


    ¡°I¡¯m not extremely worried. Hiromi has good Corpo training. She¡¯ll see most of the traps coming¡­ I hope. And it¡¯s pretty hard to threaten me physically. I¡¯m confident in killing anyone that tries to make a run for me, unless they are absolutely top tier mercs¡­ But yeah. I¡¯m still a little uncomfortable with it I guess.¡±


    Judy nodded, sipping at her drink some more. ¡°Well, I can¡¯t offer much.¡± She admitted softly glaring towards the corner of the room which I followed her eyes and saw none other than Suzie Q. ¡°Suzie¡¯s been pulling back on a lot of our work helping people lately. She¡¯ll just say you aren¡¯t one of us, so why should she offer to help.¡±


    ¡°I appreciate that you want to help Judy, you¡¯ve always been cool with me, even with all my crazy shit. Well other than when you sold my BD without asking.¡± I said pointedly.


    ¡°Just don¡¯t dump another Only Thing BD on me without a fucking warning, you cyberpyscho¡­¡± She said purposefully avoiding what I said. ¡°But just because the Mox won¡¯t help¡­ Doesn¡¯t mean the Mox won¡¯t help. Maybe even as an apology as well.¡± She offered, and I nodded, she was basically offering what she could, and I appreciated it a lot.


    We both went silent after. Judy relaxing and enjoying her drink, and seemingly absorbing the atmosphere of the club, while I went back to watching the boys who had both been shot down by the girl they had their eye on. Both boys had deflated pretty badly when she had gone for some older pretty boy with a fake platinum chain, who was trying too hard to look rich.


    Which is hilarious, because if the girl was interested in eddies. Ichi and Malcolm definitely had more, my chooms were loaded thanks to me.


    Well, I looked over at Malcolm. His tendency towards expensive cars might mean he wasn¡¯t as loaded as he appeared.


    Did my chooms have money problems still? We hadn¡¯t really discussed it much. I mostly let Hiromi handle money and I expected my choices to be good, but I was also weird about eddies, and Ichi had his Grandma, and Malcolm had his family¡­


    I moved around the still Braindancing Rebecca and settled in next to the chooms.


    ¡°Hey guys.¡±


    ¡°Motoko.¡± Malcolm greeted with a grumble. The boy was practically face down on the table.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it choom. She wasn¡¯t the sort of girl you wanted anyways.¡± I offered, but Malcolm just sent me a look.


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    ¡°I wasn¡¯t going to marry her Motoko.¡± Malcolm replied, and Ichi and I both snorted at the same time. Ichi¡¯s failure as well, seemed to weigh on him less as he patted Malcolm on the back.


    ¡°It¡¯s alright Choom.¡± He offered and Malcolm sighed.


    ¡°But we both failed. I really wanted to beat you.¡± He whined and Ichi laughed.


    ¡°Not all bets work out.¡± Ichi replied and I blinked at that.


    ¡°You guys bet on who could pick up a girl?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ Yeah?¡± Ichi said, blushing a little. ¡°It was just a bro bet.¡± He offered and I looked confused as Malcolm sort of faux coughed.


    ¡°It was just to mess with each other, Motoko. We would have teased whoever lost, but uh, We both did. Bummer.¡±


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m kinda glad you did. That girl looks like trouble.¡±


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t going to date her either.¡± Malcolm whispered into a sigh, looks like Malcolm didn¡¯t care if she was trouble or not.


    We all relaxed, and eventually Malcolm perked up, returning to shooting the shit with Ichi, and girl watching.


    I mean Lizzies was a BD bar, so I wasn¡¯t sure if this was really the best place to try and pick up girls, but boys will be boys.


    ¡°Woo!¡± Rebecca suddenly cried out and I jumped a bit reaching for my gun before relaxing. ¡°That was NOVA!¡± She cried out jumping up onto the table as she pulled off the Wreath, I noticed Judy grabbing it and taking the shard a moment later.


    Then Rebecca turned to me.


    ¡°What the hell!? You¡¯ve been holding out on me, Strings!¡±


    ¡°Strings?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, you definitely ain¡¯t a kitten! You played those strings like a pro!¡± Rebecca offered and I smiled at the fact I had apparently earned an upgraded nickname before Rebecca flopped onto the table in front of me, staring me in the eye.


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t I get an invite huh? Your choom Becca wants to go to a fucking awesome concert you know?¡±


    ¡°Sorry.¡± I answered back, but I was definitely a bit uncomfortable. Rebecca was a bit close. ¡°I just didn¡¯t really want to invite anyone for it? It was supposed to just be a me thing, and someone invited Jun, and then it spread.¡± I said giving a side eye to my chooms who looked away.


    Rebecca glared at me for a moment longer before switching into a smirk. ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll forgive you, but I get free tickets to all your shows!¡± She demanded and I just laughed back.


    ¡°Sure Rebecca. All of my many future shows that I¡¯m totally planning.¡± I said with a roll of my eyes. How many gigs would I really do in the future? Like¡­ Two? I was really only doing this for fun.


    ¡ª--


    That night I spent a while working on the Tachikoma. Cleaning up more of its code, slimming it down again, making sure what it actually needed to know was saved while junk code was removed.


    I was basically letting the Tachikoma tell me what it had learned through the day and then I was cutting or reinforcing the data to make sure it was accurate.


    No Tachikoma-chan, Jun¡¯s head wasn¡¯t a good place to place the metal blocks. I literally have no idea where you came up with that idea¡­


    Okay so I may have saved that particular data and might maybe use it later, but that was beside the point!


    Random processes could pop up with decisions that I had to remove because they were absurd.


    And so the night went. Tachikoma was currently inhabiting its actual shell, and I was pruning its decision making as I also sometimes took control, and practiced moving around. It was a good combo, letting me teach the Tachikoma directly what I wanted it to do.


    I was idly listening to the radio as I worked, my mind a blur of programming meaning I wasn¡¯t really paying attention, until suddenly I heard it. A familiar set of chords.


    The intro to a song that I was incredibly familiar with, because I had played those chords.


    I turned away from Tachikoma, as Growl FM began playing The Pretender.


    To hear Foo Fighters on the radio? It was nostalgic, it was¡­ Nice. Even if I couldn¡¯t stop shivering at the sound of my own vocals.


    That was me.


    I listened until the song ended, until it moved onto another song from someone I¡¯ve never heard of.


    But¡­ That was going to keep happening. I was on the radio now.


    The sound of something falling over had me turn and I stared at the Tachikoma. I was still plugged into it, synced in, but I had stopped acting, so it had taken over its controls again and followed through with the instructions I had been giving it. The set of blocks were pushed off the edge of the table.


    I let myself refocus, smiling at the little bot correctly doing what it was supposed to.


    ¡°Good job Tachikoma-Chan.¡±


    ¡ª--


    The slap of fists into the padding was filling the air as Hayato and I went at it. I had woken up feeling like doing some fist fighting, and invited Hayato for a workout.


    She spun, letting off a spinning kick which was pretty outside of her normal move set, as she usually didn¡¯t like taking her eyes away from her enemies thanks to her Keren giving her increased perception.


    I could only assume it felt like a long time as you spun around that you simply had no idea what was happening.


    I braced letting the kick land on my forearms, which if not for her shin padding she¡¯d have felt it more than I would before, charging in to grapple.


    ¡°Nooo!¡± She howled rapid fire as I grabbed her and lifted her bodily off the floor before slamming her down into the tatami mats.


    The sound of her breath blown out of her was my signal for victory.


    I gave her a few moments to catch her breath before I had to tease her a bit.


    ¡°That was an impressive kick.¡± I offered and she pushed me away with a scowl.


    ¡°You and your stupid defense! Moron!¡± She yelled at me, and even sent a faux kick from the floor that made me jump up and away laughing.


    ¡°That was a bad time to kick.¡±


    ¡°It should have worked! You don¡¯t have a Keren, and you aren¡¯t using your Sandy!¡±


    ¡°You practically told me what you were doing. Your eyes kept flickering, and you were light on that leg, it was obvious you were psyching yourself up for a big kick.¡±


    ¡°Ugh!¡± She hissed glaring, standing up and wiping some of her hair from her forehead. Strands sticking with how much she was sweating. We had been at this for a while. The two of us, going at it, and to my surprise Hayato hadn¡¯t cut it short like she had last time.


    We were just pitting ourselves against each other for the win.


    ¡°You will have to tell me what make of Syn-Lungs you are using.¡± She said, sounding a little out of breath as she stood up and resumed her stance.


    ¡°I don¡¯t have any. I¡¯m still using my natural ones.¡± I said as I retook my stance as well.


    For a moment Hayato looked irritated, before it disappeared. But I still caught tiny snippet of her cursing under her breath. ¡°-StupidExcercisenut!¡±


    ¡°Hayato?¡±


    ¡°Prepare yourself!¡± She shouted out and then charged, and we were back at it, blows coming in, once again I was on the back foot from her Keren¡¯s speed, giving her so much time to adapt and adjust for each of my blows, whenever I did go on the offensive, she was frustratingly elusive, slipping and ducking each blow as casual as could be.


    I jerked back and she got a nice punch through smashing into my cheek, but I jerked with the hit and retaliated by grabbing onto her extended arm.


    ¡°Ohnotthisagaiiiiiin!¡± She yowled, as I gave her a nice hip toss sending her tumbling onto the mat, and once I had her down, her enhanced perception wasn¡¯t strong enough to stop me from pinning her again.


    ¡°This is supposed to be a match for good martial arts, not dirty grappling.¡± She grumbled, and I just laughed at her.


    ¡°Grappling happens in every fight once you aren¡¯t in a ring. You¡¯d best get used to it. Make sure it doesn¡¯t catch you by surprise. Besides, Jiu-Jitsu is a great martial art.¡±


    I ignored her grumbling as I let her up and once again she rose up to her feet to go again. I laughed and we went back into it.


    Whatever had happened in her life to give her this much energy was pretty fun.


    I just continued fighting, enjoying the slow trickle of Street Brawling, and Body alerts I was getting as we smashed into each other.


    ¡°Hayato-Sama.¡± Her guard called out suddenly and I pulled back, I saw the flash of fury over the girls face before it blanked out.


    ¡°I ordered not to be disturbed.¡± She spoke simply quietly, and actually slow paced. It told me she was honestly pissed.


    ¡°Forgive me Hayato-Sama. Nakagawa-Sama demanded I interrupt. You are requested at home.¡± He offered apologetically even bowing to the girl as she glared and just breathed in slowly in and out.


    ¡°Very well. I will have to cut our match short.¡± She told me, and I nodded.


    ¡°Till next time.¡± I offered, and she nodded seemingly pleased that I wasn¡¯t upset at her sudden leaving. I took a moment to put our pads away in the storage chests around the area, and then headed for the showers.


    A quick shower to wash the sweat away was enough for me to feel better as I left the dojo, I would have to come back again tomorrow for another match with someone. I really wanted to get my Blades and Street Brawling skills up. Relying only on guns was the hallmark of a bad assassin after all!


    What was the movie again? Leon the Professional? Yeah that sounded right. Sure taking advice on assassination from Hollywood was a mistake, but it sounded right, so I was going to go-


    I stopped. A horde of TC gangsters were sitting on my car. I took it all in, reading the body language, and instantly knew shit was about to go down.


    What the fuck?


    ¡°Go on. Don¡¯t stop walking.¡± A voice behind me had me turn and there was Musashi, and a few of the guys from the Dojo. All of them with live blades at their sides. Well now, this was unexpected.


    I went to start hacking into everyone around me as I slowly turned to keep both groups in sight as if I was taking in what was happening and not already plotting to kill them all, when I felt it. A Netrunner was in their system protecting them. They hit me with the equivalent of an electronic slap, trying to push me out of the system and give me a warning that they were there.


    I might be able to break through their defenses and attack, but I had no connection to them, even while they had one to me.


    I was on the defensive until I could get them in sight. Thankfully they were attacking me, and I could back trace it easily enough. A line of golden light went through the walls around the Dojo. They were there.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± I demanded, trying to get some information about what the hell was going on, but Musashi behind me scoffed. He took a few steps forward that told me he was some sort of ring leader here.


    ¡°That is none of your concern. You will be coming with us. Perhaps if you are quiet, and do not irritate me, I won¡¯t get to enjoy showing you true talent with a blade?¡± He asked aloud, looking at the gangsters around us that were all grinning amused.


    I glanced back at him and just had to wonder. What were these idiots thinking? I wasn¡¯t important to the TC, but I had connections.


    ¡°You realize my Brother the Oni, won¡¯t take this lightly. Nor will Fujimura-Sama.¡± I spoke, and then to my surprise I was slapped. I had seen it coming. Musashi had telegraphed the move just fine, so I jerked my head as he struck to lighten the hit, but he still did it.


    ¡°Don¡¯t bring up Fujimura-Sama¡¯s name so casually. Your Brother is one of the reasons we are speaking. You will come with us. Moritaka-Sama commands it.¡± He continued calmly, and I realized that Musashi for all his Samurai aesthetic was a dirtbag.


    ¡°If Moritaka wants to speak with me there are proper ways to do this. Are you sure this is how this needs to go down?¡± I asked, but I was already ready.


    ¡°You are nothing but a welp, and Moritaka wants to ensure the Oni knows his place. You will-¡±


    I leapt bouncing well past Musashi¡¯s reach as he tried to reach out. I flipped, landing on the edge of the wall surrounding the dojo and then flipping inside, out of sight of anyone.


    So this was about Jun? What he had done? Who was Moritaka? And most importantly¡­ How many of these fools should I kill for this?


    As I landed I faced a woman, early twenties probably? She glanced up in surprise at my sudden appearance.


    And then I leapt forward pushing all of my power into a punch slamming her stupid face into the concrete wall behind her.


    The golden light connecting me to the Netrunner that was trying to protect these fools cut off.


    Getting your ass knocked unconscious will tend to disrupt hacking attempts.


    I watched her slump, blood already gushing down her broken nose.


    *250 XP Gained.*


    So she was still alive. I ignored her and leapt again, this time just avoiding the first gunshot from one of Musashi¡¯s goons.


    Looks like despite carrying blades they had guns too.


    Screams of surprise from the vendors that surrounded the inside walls rang out, and suddenly it was a madhouse.


    But I was leaping up onto the roof of the Dojo and from there I disappeared. Time to get to work.

 Chapter 187

    ¡®Musashi¡¯ Daisuke Smith


    ¡°Where the fuck did she go!?¡± He yelled out as he raced back into the walls of the dojo.


    Fucking dammit. This was supposed to happen outside the dojo! Sensei wouldn¡¯t interfere, but there would be trouble after if they caused trouble here!


    ¡°She jumped on the roof! Misaki is fucked!¡± One of his chooms called out in Japanese, looking over Misaski was indeed fucked. The girl looked like her face was punched in.


    Fuck. Moritaka was not going to be pleased about his Netrunner getting hurt.


    ¡°Find the bitch! Block the entrance, keep an eye on the walls. There is no way out except through here! Watch her car!¡± He called out and the men all nodded.


    Musashi wasn¡¯t the highest ranked member in the TC, but his Grandfather was well respected, and that carried a lot of weight.


    It was why he could take on the name Musashi and no one argued against it. He would live up to it regardless. Fuck all those fools that mocked him for his choice.


    He would show the Tyger Claws his worth.


    But first he needed to beat this girl black and blue¡­ Maybe take one of her legs. She had already lost both arms, so what was one more limb?


    If that Bitch hadn¡¯t tricked him and beaten him in the match in front of everyone, then maybe he wouldn¡¯t need to cut her to make sure she understood. He had only lost because they were fighting with stupid Shinai and not live steel!


    Fucking Sensei. That old man didn¡¯t understand that a true Samurai needed live steel to show his true talent!


    And fuck that little whore for mocking him! Him! She was nothing! A fucking street rat that was only allowed around because her brother was a weapon for the Kamikaze.


    ¡°Find her!¡± He yelled and his men ran off. A few were helping each other to climb onto the roof to find her.


    He stomped around. Already he could see Sensei coming out to the front of the Dojo but with a look the older man took in what was happening and he stopped. He didn¡¯t interfere but his eyes went yellow as he made a call.


    Tsk!


    They needed to find her. Now, before Fujimura-sama was informed, and that fucking trash Oni showed up.


    Moritaka-Sama would not be pleased if his desire to have leverage failed. Moritaka-Sama¡¯s son, Kisaru, had nearly been killed by some trash wannabe, and he was not pleased. The Oni had known, knew the assassin in question. Now Moritaka-Sama had plans to force Fujimura-Sama into something,, but it would all fail if they didn¡¯t have the girl!


    What the fuck was she made of? Who just leapt over ten foot walls without trouble!?


    Of course she had chrome, her brother was the Oni, but this was too much!


    ¡°Where is she!?¡± He yelled again but received no response. Only confused looks from his chooms as they hadn¡¯t found anything. ¡°She¡¯s not a fucking ghost find her!¡±


    *Is that what you think?* He stilled, nearly jumping at the voice in his ear. He glanced around in shock before calming realizing what had happened. A call had gone through his agent without even ringing, and the girl was talking to him!


    *Give up, when we find you I will ensure you will not escape again. Surrender now and perhaps it will not be permanent.*


    *That¡¯s cute coming from some nobody.*


    *You dare! I am-*


    *A dead man.*


    ¡°Fuck! Musashi! Brian is dead!¡±


    ¡°What!?¡± He cut the call and rushed over around the corner in the alley was Brian. Brian who was stupid, but good muscle. Musashi kept him around because the boy had no ambition. He just liked hurting people and that was good enough for him.


    He was dead. Throat cut open and left in the middle of the alley.


    ¡°The basement! She went into the Dojo!¡± He yelled out, noticing some blood stains on the door.


    ¡°Can-should we even go in?¡± One of his men asked, and he scoffed.


    ¡°Let me handle the thinking, get the girl!¡± The boys rushed in to find her, and Musashi grimaced. This was already becoming an issue.


    *You won¡¯t find me in there.* The call hadn¡¯t ended. He had ended the call, and yet it was still connected.


    *You¡¯re a netrunner.* It clicked and he grimaced. That was bad.


    *Oh? You didn¡¯t know that? No¡­ No, I refused to believe you morons didn¡¯t do any research into your target before you tried to kidnap me. Maelstrom did more research when they tried it, are you stupider than a bunch of Maelstrom goons?*


    *You¡¯re a nobody. You may have some talents, but they don¡¯t matter. You won¡¯t escape.*


    *Escape? Oh you poor fool. I¡¯m not running.*


    ¡°Musashi! Carter! He¡¯s fucked! S-stabbed through!¡±


    ¡°What?¡± He looked towards his men, the idea of Carter dying¡­ That was impossible. He followed towards the other side of the dojo and there was Carter. His own Katana stabbed through his heart. ¡°How is this happening?¡±


    ¡°Musashi. This isn¡¯t right. Something¡¯s wrong!¡±


    ¡°Shut up! I know that!¡± This was falling apart, and he had no idea how!


    *You should call for help. You¡¯ll need more men at this rate.*


    *Fuck you! I¡¯ll cut off one of your limbs for every one of my chooms you¡¯ve killed!*


    *Unfortunately for you, I don¡¯t have that many limbs left. So I guess there is no point in me stopping.* He blinked at her tone. The amusement was obvious.


    This fucking whore. He was going to-


    ¡°Musashi!¡± A voice called out and he looked away. And he already knew what he was about to be told.


    *You¡¯re trying to distract me. Keep me from focusing you down!*


    *Is that what you think? You really don¡¯t understand what kind of situation you¡¯re in.*


    *Fuck off!* He forced the call to end and focused.


    ¡°Stay together! She is picking us off one by one! Move in groups! No one gets left alone!¡± He roared and then despite himself he did something she had suggested.


    *Moritaka-Sama Forgive me for the impudence. We have a problem.* He began once the ringing ended, and the call went through.


    *Explain. Now.* Moritaka growled and Musashi felt his status plummet.


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    *She¡¯s dangerous. She¡¯s killed some of my men, I need more people here to make sure she can¡¯t slip away¡­ She¡¯s a netrunner, and already knocked out Misaki before we could react. My apologies.*


    *Foolish. I should have sent someone competent, if this is the result. I am sending Komorebi. Hold her until he gets there if you can do at least that.*


    *That won¡¯t be a problem, I have no intention of going anywhere.* A voice cut in and Musashi stilled. The girl. She was on the line!


    *Who is this? Musashi?* Musashi tried to speak, but instantly he realized his line was cut off his voice wasn¡¯t going through his own agent!


    *This is Motoko. Musashi is still here, but I hacked into his agent forever ago. So you¡¯re the one that wanted to kidnap me huh?*


    Moritaka scoffed before responding. *You are being ordered to appear before me.*


    *You could have just called, instead you sent a hit squad my way. I¡¯ve already killed a few of them. Why should I not continue?* She asked, still sounding mocking.


    *Killing a few pathetic boys that can¡¯t even complete a task isn¡¯t my concern. You will come one way or another.*


    *Once this Komorebi gets here you mean? I don¡¯t like threats. You wanted to play it this way, so I¡¯m treating it like that. I¡¯m going to kill all the boys you send here. Then, once you stop sending them, I¡¯m going to come for you.*


    The call went quiet for a while and Musashi eventually tried to continue.


    *Is it working?*


    *I hear you Musashi. Find her. Collect her be as brutal as you like.*


    *Yes Sir.* Musashi agreed, and the call ended.


    Fuck, she had just challenged Moritaka-Sama. She was going to die now.


    ¡°Musashi?¡±


    ¡°Just find her already! Moritaka-Sama says not to be gentle! Collect her! Are you a Tyger or not!¡± He roared out and his men got back to it. He started looking as well, but as he searched, he only found dead bodies, and the cowering fools that Sensei had gathered into the dojo.


    ¡°Have you seen her?¡± He demanded loudly and no one spoke. Not even Sensei who just looked on with a firm look. Derision evident.


    ¡°Speak! Moritaka-Sama has given these orders!¡± he yelled out to the group, but no response came. Just the students who were cowering in fear at the death surrounding them, and those that were calmly sitting seiza waiting, for they had protection, or had felt danger before.


    It kept growing quieter. He looked around, checking the room but found no one. Only Carlos, who had stuck to his side when he ordered everyone to go in pairs.


    He charged out, but as he went from room to room he realized with horror.


    Josh was dead neck cut hanging over the railing for the stairs.


    Mitchell, his partner, had his brains blown out over the wall.


    Everywhere he went he found his chooms dead, not a single one of them seemed to have been alive long enough to call for help.


    Musashi felt fear, and he realized that there was almost no one left. ¡°Follow!¡± He demanded and Carlos did. The half Mexican boy was quick on his feet, and he had long put away the blades he had handed out for the reassuring weight of a Unity.


    Musashi raced through the dojo for the front, ignoring the look Sensei had left him. The man''s heavy gaze didn¡¯t matter to Musashi. He had outgrown this place!


    He raced out and then through the gate to find¡­


    He stilled, as the loud ringing noise of metal on metal rang out.


    The girl was here, back to him, and the ringing noise was her cleaning the blade of blood, by placing it into the crook of her elbow and sliding it through. Chrome on blade had left the noise loud enough that no one could have missed it.


    Carlos beside him pointed his gun.


    But a moment later she was there, a Sandevistan!? She had moved so fast, Carlos had fired twice and missed and then he was dead.


    The blade she held cut his head off in a single move as she blurred past him practically brushing him without actually touching him.


    He jerked around, almost happy to look away. His chooms that had been left behind to watch her car were dead. She had been cleaning their blood off her blade when he arrived.


    He only had his sword and he drew it as he spun preparing for an attack, but it didn¡¯t come.


    She was standing there a few feet from him. Far enough to give Musashi a moment, but close enough to be dangerous.


    Her eyes, her face, her body language all spoke of how calm she was. Despite blood splashing across her cheek giving her a sinister edge, she didn¡¯t seem bothered, her breathing was even and relaxed, and the blade she held at her side didn¡¯t waver.


    He shivered, was it cold here?


    He felt cold. A chill. Was this Sakki? The air of murder? He knew some of the true samurai in the Tyger Claws spoke of it at times.


    But¡­ To feel it from this girl? She was just a kid! This was¡­ Insufferable!


    ¡°I¡¯ll kill you for this.¡± He hissed rage, taking away the fear. He aimed his blade knowing the girl was at least honorable enough for this. Trash that she was.


    ¡°Hmm. You know? I haven¡¯t actually had a real sword fight before? I wonder¡­ Are you enough to test my limits?¡± She asked, as calm as ever and completely unbothered by the death surrounding her.


    ¡°Say that again when I have your limbless body on the ground.¡± He growled out, but unlike any normal fool that heard his words she just smirked, seemingly amused more than threatened.


    Musashi breathed. He had subtle chrome, things that a good swordsman needed. He could do this, he simply needed to surprise her. That shouldn¡¯t be hard. He hadn¡¯t used his best moves on her during their one spar.


    He wouldn¡¯t waste such things on trash. Not when he wanted to aim for the top. To defeat Sensei. To defeat Norio-Sama. To defeat them all, and become Musashi.


    ¡°Are you going to stare at me? Or are we-Oh there we go.¡± She muttered as Musashi charged at her taunting. He would silence her!


    His blade flashed, calm swipes, gently scraping along her blade, neither of them unskilled enough to have the actual edge of their blades touch, The sides of their swords used to deflect and adjust cuts, keeping the killing blade fresh.


    Again and again he swiped in, pushing, trying to use his strength and fury to intimidate to dominate.


    Yet it failed. She was like water. Sweeping his blade aside without struggle. And already Musashi knew to his fury that she was actually winning on technicalities.


    But this wasn¡¯t a spar!


    He locked the blade with her own trying to catch her off guard and pushed. He was bigger than her, stronger! He forced her back, and ran with her. While the street behind her was long, there were obstacles, and of course the Dojo wall that he planned on bashing her against.


    He almost felt victory but just as she was about to be pushed into the wall his charge was stopped.


    ¡°That¡¯s bullshit.¡± He growled into her mocking smile. She had stretched out, right as she should have been pushed into the wall, and extended her right leg against the wall and his charge had stopped cold as her chrome arms were more than enough to hold his blade from pushing her back any further.


    He had her on mass, but braced against the wall she stopped his push cold.


    ¡°Losers always call bullshit when they are losing.¡±


    ¡°Losing? You are pinned. Die.¡± He growled, throwing a forearm against the other side of his blade to push even harder, as he used his now freed left hand to dig into his jacket.


    She would die from a gun as easily as a blade!


    Before he could grab it, she scoffed and suddenly she moved.


    Kicking off from her leg on the floor she spun, causing his blade to arc through where she had been, but earning her freedom despite his wild swipe.


    If his other hand had been on the blade she¡¯d be dead.


    Instead her blade flashed.


    ¡°Aaah!¡± He shrieked as flesh parted under the blade. He flinched away forgetting his pistol for a moment as he swiped blindly to force her back as she stumbled away.


    She cut his cheek.


    No. No no! ¡°No!¡± He screamed as his face bled. This was impossible! He couldn¡¯t be cut by some no name punk!


    ¡°Oh no, I think I broke his little fantasy.¡± She muttered to herself and then sighed. ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Did you just realize that things aren¡¯t going the way you expected?¡±


    ¡°Fuck you.¡± He hissed once more reaching for the gun, but a moment later she was there. His arm pinned down and blade against his throat.


    No. No! Her Sandevistan! She had moved too fast!


    ¡°Now now. You¡¯re only keeping yourself alive because I¡¯ enjoying something new.¡± She offered as she slowly reached into his jacket and pulled free his pistol tossing it up over his head over the wall. Then she backed away, adjusting the blade so it was at his throat until it was the very tip and then he swiped it away, earning space from her.


    He was breathing heavily. His hands were shaking¡­ He was afraid. This girl. This tiny miserable slip of a girl was going to kill him.


    He could see it. His arrogance had been cut from him. He was going to die.


    He was going to die.


    He was going to die!


    ¡°Oh?¡± She muttered her head cocking to the side slightly seemingly amused as she watched him with those unblinking red eyes. ¡°Did you realize what sort of situation you are in now?¡± She asked almost mockingly, as if his realization of the danger was funny.


    But before it could get worse. Before she could finish him, he heard it. Motorcycles! He knew those engines, he just had to keep her distracted for a bit longer!


    ¡°Y-you know what¡¯s going to happen to you for this? I¡¯m a Shatei! You struck me! Killed my men, you¡¯ll be punished, and so will your brother! Unless you surrender now kowtow thrice! I¡¯ll grant you forgiveness if you do!¡± He taunted, knowing she would respond. C¡¯mon just don¡¯t kill him act like the superior bitch you¡¯ve been acting up until now!


    ¡°Shatei? Some bullshit title or something? Whatever, just sounds like I have more people to kill after this.¡± She replied drily and took a step forward, he stepped back, but his back hit the wall.


    ¡°Do you-¡±


    ¡°Listen if you are just buying time until they show up, I don¡¯t mind. I¡¯ll wait if you like, just shut up. You¡¯re voice makes me want to kill myself.¡± She replied back, cutting him off and Musashi just felt his jaw drop. Was this girl a moron?


    He kept his blade up, and his mouth shut and then it happened. The sounds of bikes finally reached them. From around the corner a small squad of Tyger Claw killers came around. Engines rumbling as they drove up and parked.


    ¡°Ko-Komorebi-Senpai! Please! She¡¯s-¡±


    ¡°Silence.¡± The man barked out cutting Musashi off completely. He looked around, his face covered by his Menpo, a sinister grin hid most of his emotion away as he looked from the dead bodies, to the girl, to him.


    ¡°You fucked this one up.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s! She¡¯s!¡± He didn¡¯t have the words. How could he describe a girl that murdered all of his people? That had proven his¡­ Superior with a blade?


    ¡°I said silence. You girl. Kusasngi¡¯s sister. You will come with us. Moritaka-Sama wants words with you.¡±


    ¡°And I already told your boss that I would kill this sniveling trash, and any men he sends after me before hunting him down.¡± She answered as calm as a summer shower. No hint of fear despite four real Tyger Claw killers here.


    Despite Komorebi-Senpai. The killing flash standing against her.


    ¡°Heh. You got a mouth on you. Your brother isn¡¯t here to save you, nor will he. He¡¯s in enough trouble. Put the blade away and let¡¯s go. I have more important things to do, than rescue a fuck up from his failures.¡±


    ¡°Senpai.¡± Musashi muttered weakly, but no one looked at him, only the blade still pointed at him kept him still.


    ¡°Make me.¡± She replied back just as calmly. ¡°Frankly, I was having a nice day until some dumbasses with more balls than brains decided to threaten me. I don¡¯t react well to threats. So unless someone starts giving me nice apologies the only thing that is going to happen is me getting in some more fun sword fights.¡±


    Komorebi looked between Musashi and the girl before nodding.


    ¡°You were in a match. Very well. Go ahead and finish it.¡±


    ¡°Wha-Senpai! You can¡¯t-¡±


    ¡°For the last time! Silence! You fucked up! You even got yourself into a true battle and you beg for help! Either succeed and get the girl like you were supposed to, or die.¡±


    ¡°Harsh.¡± The girl offered, but then to his horror she turned her full attention to him.


    ¡°You can¡¯t! I¡¯m still a-¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true.¡± Komorebi-Senpai spoke, cutting him off. ¡°If you kill him it¡¯ll be trouble. His grandfather has-¡±


    Then Musashi blinked as there was a flash, a cold bite of something and he blinked as the world around him spun around a few times.

 Chapter 188

    *750 XP Gained.*


    I swiped out cleaning my borrowed blade of blood as I took Musashi¡¯s Katana in my other hand.


    ¡°Sorry, I¡¯m so tired of hearing people tell me how important they are. You were saying something?¡± I asked the man that oozed danger. Even with the Menpo he wore I could tell his jaw was open a bit as he realized what I had done.


    This had already gone way too far for me to care about future trouble.


    Tyger Claws had come to kidnap and harm me. To hold me against Jun. As far as I was concerned. Everyone needed to die.


    ¡°Well, I¡¯ll be damned. This might actually be interesting.¡± He offered as he stepped forward idly pulling off his Menpo and tossing it behind him where one of his men snagged it. ¡°Komorebi Izuku. I have some stupid nickname that I don¡¯t care for.¡± He greeted me slowly drawing a pretty nice Katana from his hip.


    ¡°Motoko Kusanagi. I like to go by Ghost in the Shell, but some of the Tyger Claws that know me call me the Onryo, or Yurei I suppose.¡±


    ¡°Heh. Fitting.¡± He agreed, glancing at the dead bodies around me. ¡°You certainly are. I¡¯ll try not to kill you, but I can¡¯t allow you to resist. Those are my orders.¡±


    ¡°When I take your life, I¡¯ll ensure your family know, you died with a blade in your hand.¡± I responded back just as smoothly, and the man actually looked pleased by my words.


    Fucking sword maniacs.


    Then again I was about to have a Katana battle myself so how much room did I have to talk?


    I breathed in and out, and settled my stance. I would be on the defensive at first. I had no idea how good this guy was. Luckily I had two blades, and no one really expected the Dual Wielding to be effective.


    There was a flash of a headlights, a car traveling the street behind us, that set us off. He moved. Sandevistan. I recognized it and activated my own.


    He was still fast. Definitely a higher end Sandy, he blurred, but the reaction time I gained was enough. His blade flashed, glowing under the streetlights and I deflected it off with a twisting parry, and pushing him back with a swipe in turn.


    He stepped back, both of us turning off our Sandy as it would be needed for the future. The men behind him gasped in surprise.


    ¡°She blocked it!¡±


    I blinked, was that¡­ Was that supposed to be some super move or something? Like ¡®Light Speed Flash¡¯ Or something?


    Oh fuck. Right. These were Tyger Claws. I was dealing with a bunch of weebs.


    But the two of us didn¡¯t say anything, he simply went in again. This time he attacked with skill and not just speed, a surprisingly dangerous series of moves, twice I had to actually step back despite having two blades to keep myself from being cut.


    This seemed to push him on, but as he continued he quickly realized the truth.


    He couldn¡¯t touch me. My defense was simply better, no matter how hard he tried to batter through, or slip a blade into openings there simply wasn¡¯t enough for him to make the strike.


    Which is why I was watching calmly and prepared for when he would activate the Sandevistan again. Because that would be what determined the winner here. Who activated their chrome at the right time to slip a wound through before the other could activate their Sandy and defend.


    We continued our battle, him hammering away, his endurance far greater than Musashi. Either good Syn-Lungs, or just trained endurance.


    But the difference between Musashi and this guy was night and day. Musashi was a skilled arrogant kid to Komorebi¡¯s actual worked in talent.


    Plus he had good chrome.


    This was much more fun.


    I felt myself growing a smile as we battled, a web of steel around us as I deflected and swiped making sure he couldn¡¯t go entirely on the offense. The sing of steel scraping against steel filled the street, the sound of cars and people still all around us.


    For a moment I wasn¡¯t Motoko the Merc, I was Motoko the Street Samurai.


    Then it ended, not because one of us activated a Sandy, or because a blade found flesh, but because suddenly Komorebi¡¯s eyes went yellow as he stepped back, getting distance before meeting my eyes.


    ¡°Do you mind?¡±


    ¡°Oh no please go ahead.¡± I offered back just as cooly, neither of us out of breath or even seemingly tired from our match.


    He nodded and took the call that came in, while I focused on what I had earned.


    Dozens of alerts flickered through my attention, but the ones that most interested me were Ninjutsu of all things. I had felt it while hunting all the boys down, acting as a shadow killing them one by one.


    *Ninjutsu skill level up!*


    *1 Perk Point Gained.*


    Ninjutsu 10.


    I had felt it, and used it in the last little fight. There had been no doubt in my mind while ripping these idiots apart that they could find me unless I wanted them too.


    Now I had an extra perk. To grow even further beyond the skill. I looked through the list while Kemorebi continued to have a seemingly serious conversation.


    I searched, using the time to try and find the perfect option considering that there wasn¡¯t much else to do. There were a few things that caught my eye, but one of them finally made me lock it in.


    Ninja Running: Not being seen is stealth as well. Move quietly, and quickly.


    I blinked and a whole world of information slipped into my mind. I knew exactly how long it would take to move out of someone''s line of sight, and how to move fast enough to escape it. I felt myself smiling despite the situation when I realized that I could go full Batman on people and disappear as they looked away.


    How fun.


    I also had a half dozen Blades XP. Which was a lot for just one fight.


    *100 Blades XP Gained.*


    Komorebi spent a little longer on the phone call before finally his eyes blinked and the light disappeared.


    ¡°It seems this situation has reached the higher ups.¡± He offered with a sigh. Looking almost disappointed. ¡°Our little match is over.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± I asked, not bothering to hide the sinister edge to my words. I had promised to murder anyone that stupid mob boss sent after me.


    ¡°Apologies, but I am being recalled. A meeting has been called about this situation. I no longer need to bring you in.¡±


    I felt like twitching even if I didn¡¯t move.


    Of course I would find an actual sword battle to the death and it would end early. I wanted it to continue. To cut down this fucking gangster and his men, and then go and assassinate the man that was responsible for all of this.


    But a moment later I got a call, my eyes turned yellow. I closed my eyes for a moment and when I opened them I offered an apologetic look to the man. ¡°Give me a moment?¡±


    ¡°Take your time.¡± He replied back and I nodded.


    The person on the line was Jun of course.


    *Motoko! Thank God you picked up, you need to run now! Something big happened, and some of the Tyger Claws will be after you!*


    *I know. I¡¯m fine Jun, I¡¯m standing across from a Komorebi, but he jus-*


    *Run! Motoko run right now! Komorebi is-*


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    *Already leaving!* I called out speaking over Jun¡¯s freakout. *He just got a call to head to a meeting and he isn¡¯t going to force it with me anymore. What¡¯s going on Jun. I was jumped by a bunch of shitlings, and-*


    *They dared!?* He roared into the phone then he went really quiet. *I¡¯m sorry. This is my fault Motoko¡­ I¡¯m¡­*


    *Jun, apologize if you need to later, explain now. Please?*


    *It¡¯s Yuto, he made another attempt on Kisaru. Kisaru was injured and Moritaka-Sama is friends with¡­ It doesn¡¯t matter. Some of the people involved decided to bring me in front of them as punishment, but Akari¡­ She backed me up. Told me what was up, and we got to Fujimura-sama. He demanded a full meeting, and so things should be calmer, but¡­*


    *She okay?* I asked, realizing that Akari could be in a lot of shit for going against orders.


    *That¡¯s up to Fujimura-Sama¡­ I hope so. But this is getting big. They are holding a meeting. Like I said, a lot of the Oyabuns will be there¡­ It¡¯s about Yuto, and what punishment I will be given for allowing this to happen¡­ Motoko I got¡­ I got a message from Fujimura-Sama, he is saying you need to come to the meeting too? Why do you need to come?* I could tell Jun was talking outside of the call, sounding distracted.


    *Tell him to fuck off.* I grumbled still staring at Komorebi who was patiently waiting for my call to finish, his hand near his blade in case he needed to draw again.


    *Motoko! Be polite!* Then he went silent again and I just rolled my eyes. *Motoko¡­ Did you kill some gangers?*


    *Yeah? There were like a dozen that went after me.* I replied back instantly. Best if Jun understands.


    *Fuck.*


    *Language.* I instantly teased back, but Jun didn¡¯t respond.


    *Motoko. I¡¯m going to this meeting, and you need to come too. We need to offer an apology for you to the higher ups so they don¡¯t put out a kill order for you.* Jun said, sounding serious, but I just scoffed.


    *I¡¯m getting real tired of Tyger Claw assholes telling me what to do today Jun.* I snapped back, making sure my anger and frustration was apparent.


    *Please, Fujimura-Sama says we can get this handled tonight, but you need to come.*


    I tsked, as I considered it but eventually my desire to not have to fight for my life constantly won out. *Fine.* I looked around and walked over to Musashi¡¯s corpse pulling the fine scabbard for the Katana I had been using out of his belt. A moment later it was sheathed, and I had to look towards the corpses of the assholes around my car to try and remember which one of them I took the second Katana from¡­


    I slumped and just tossed it aside. It wasn¡¯t high quality like Musashi¡¯s anyways.


    ¡°Looks like I¡¯ll be seeing you again soon.¡± I called out to Komorebi as I ended the call with Jun and sent a last glance towards him and his chooms all standing near their bikes.


    ¡°Perhaps we will get to finish this match another time then.¡± He offered with the sound of someone looking forward to it.


    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ll kill you later.¡± I mumbled back, but instead of offending the man he only grinned at me before turning and climbing atop his bike.


    This whole situation was a fucking disaster. I looked down at the blade in my hand. Well at least I got some loot out of all this.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°Motoko!¡± Jun rushed me as I parked and practically dragged me out of my car as he pulled me into a hug.


    ¡°Juuun!¡± I whined, but let him check me over. Finally seemingly satisfied he looked almost constipated as he tried to find the words.


    So I ignored him tilting my neck to look at Fujimura standing behind Jun.


    ¡°I told Moritaka¡­ Moritaki? I forget, I told him I was going to kill him for trying to kidnap me. I mean it.¡±


    Fujimura didn¡¯t frown or shift at all at my words. Instead he did something much more powerful. He ignored me.


    That kinda hurt Fujimura.


    ¡°Motoko! You can¡¯t kill Moritaka-Sama! Don¡¯t say that again, you¡¯ll just cause issues.¡±


    ¡°Do I give off the vibe that I hand out death threats and not mean them or something? It¡¯s annoying! When I threaten to kill someone everyone should be shitting themselves!¡±


    ¡°I take your threat seriously. But you will not unless you wish your brother¡¯s life to be forfeit. If you wish to protect him, then come. And do little, and say less.¡± Fujimura finally spoke and I scowled at his words.


    But he hit my weakpoint which pissed me off.


    ¡°It¡¯s okay Motoko. Fujimura-Sama is angry as well. I¡¯m his underling and for another Boss to try and go after you and me¡­ It¡¯s bad. There might be killing tonight.¡± Jun whispered the last part and I nodded.


    Great. Yakuza politics. Just what I didn¡¯t want to deal with.


    ¡°Slayed a whole bunch of Tygers tonight did you little killer?¡± Akari said as she sidled up to me, now that Fujimura was walking off.


    ¡°A bunch of kids led by a moron, yeah. Musashi.¡±


    Akari stilled and hissed a bit through her teeth. ¡°You don¡¯t think it was?¡± She asked Jun and Jun didn¡¯t react instead just nodded.


    ¡°Oh that¡¯s bad.¡±


    ¡°Yeah Komorebi said he was important or something. I wasn¡¯t listening. The moron threatened me with shit he shouldn¡¯t have.¡± I defended myself, and Jun just wrapped an arm over my shoulder and Akari just ignored me.


    Great.


    ¡°Come.¡± Fujimura called and I scowled at being called like a dog, but Jun was moving and dragging me along. I was pulled in behind Jun on his stupid Mizuchi while Akari got on her own, and we all followed behind Fujimura¡¯s car.


    While we drove I sent a message to my chooms that stuff was going on with the TC. Just as a heads up stuff might get crazy.


    The return messages were soothing as I read their outrage and support.


    Finally we pulled up to a large skyscraper. Each of us stepped out and into the entrance way and then into an elevator that went all the way to the top.


    Jun and Akari both bracketed Fujimura like they were guarding him which was funny to watch while I stayed aside, giving them all space.


    I wasn¡¯t looking forward to this. Not at all.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°Just¡­ Don¡¯t talk unless you are asked a question, okay?¡± Jun whispered to me as the elevator opened to a pretty high end penthouse. As we stepped out, we walked down a short hall that had plenty of Japanese aesthetic choices, up to a door that was already bracketed by guards. To my surprise they weren¡¯t wearing Tyger Claw colors, besides a few tiny things I noticed. These were the black suited Yakuza types instead.


    They both stepped aside as Fujimura stopped forward. Jun and Akari on each end, and me taking up the rear, which didn¡¯t give me great sight of things considering Fujimura and Jun were both big guys.


    Stepping in, I noticed to my right there was an outdoor area of the penthouse with an actual sand garden, but my eyes were more caught on the security suite that met us.


    Jun and Akari began handing over weapons, although Fujimura I noticed didn¡¯t have to.


    ¡°You too Motoko.¡± Jun offered and I scowled at the demand, I wasn¡¯t about to disarm right now! But Fujimura looked to me, and offered me words that surprised me.


    ¡°Trust me girl. You and your brother will be safe. Keep the Katana, put the rest away.¡± He offered and I was surprised at the authenticity in his words.


    I sighed and walked forward pulling free my Burya and placing it into the small cubby they had opened up to store weapons. Lexington went next, along with my knife after they looked at it, and the second knife I kept strapped to the back of my belt. And the third knife that was hidden in my thigh ammo pouch.


    I had found a lot of knives from Raffen over the time, it was funny how I hadn¡¯t really needed them until now.


    I was going to end there, but Jun nudged me and I glared at him, before huffing and opening some of my pouches.


    Frag Grenade one. Frag Grenade two. I looked to Jun and asked him with just an eyebrow if he was satisfied.


    Then armed with just the katana just like Jun and even Akari we headed further down the small hall entrance and into the main room. It was set in a very traditional Japanese style, but I could see the modern peak through. But more interesting was the large Tyger Claw symbol set into the wall. Done up to look more like a traditional emblem than normal, and under it sat a very good looking older man.


    He might have grey at the temples, but he wore his age like aged whisky, a calm air around him and a very expensive looking Kimono¡­ Yukata? I always forget which was which.


    It looked Japanese and expensive.


    As we entered Fujimura walked very slowly and calmly as if following a path before stopping before the man and offering him a full bow. Jun and Akari joined him, although I pointedly didn¡¯t.


    I didn¡¯t even know who this was, and I don¡¯t bow to some random gonk.


    The three rose and moved across the room. Passing many other men already waiting, seemingly for us, including Komorebi who I recognized despite the man having changed into a Kimono as well.


    Fujimura guided us over to a section where a few of the traditional cushions rested that Fujimura settled all of us on.


    For once I didn¡¯t fight it, and settled into a seiza that wasn¡¯t too bad and just watched the show.


    I looked over the crowd, old men in suits or Kimono all looking at the man at the front. Waiting, although a few glanced our way seemingly irritated.


    Everything went quiet when the man at the front raised a hand carrying a paper fan. A moment later a group of women in fancy Kimono came out, passing out a saucer of Sake to everyone. Only once the fan dropped did everyone drink.


    I wasn¡¯t sure if it was rudeness that I was excluded or kindness since I didn¡¯t like alcohol. So I decided to not worry about it.


    Then a moment later the man at the front started speaking.


    ¡°I have been informed about the situation. Normally such things would not require my direct attention, but the seriousness of the allegations merit my personal attention. Moritaka, how is your Grandson?¡±


    ¡°Kisaru is alive.¡± One of the old men spoke, his voice like gravel, and familiar. Considering I had heard that name before I looked over. The old man was grizzled, and had very obvious chrome over part of his face, a neck replacement, and very high end Kiroshi as well. Wealthy and old. That¡¯s the sense I got from him. ¡°But this is the second time my son has come under threat! There will not be a third.¡± He added petulantly, a threat that was eye rolling.


    One of the few that didn¡¯t look irritated by the threat was a familiar man sitting next to him. Komorebi, the Tyger Claw I had fought, was sitting next to him. Our eyes met and I knew the man wanted to continue our fight.


    Yet despite the petty threat the man at the front of the room nodded. ¡°I agree. This matter must be put to rest. But first, there is the matter of honor. Fujimura.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Shinobu-Sama.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re man was aware of these assassination attempts before they were acted on?¡±


    ¡°Not as such Shinobu-Sama.¡± Fujimura offered with a bow. While still sitting.


    ¡°Do not lie here Fujimura!¡± Moritaka interrupted and Fujimura simply remained bowing as the¡­ Leader? Was that guy really the head of the Tyger Claws? Well he just looked on for a while before nodding.


    ¡°Explain.¡±


    ¡°Junichirou knew the assassin from their youth. Before the man was sent to prison while covering for Moritaka Kisaru¡¯s actions.¡±


    ¡°My Grandson did no such thing!¡± The old man growled, but no one seemed to be interested in that. I guess Yuto was right, everyone knew Kisaru was a piece of shit.


    ¡°Moritaka.¡± Shinobu I guess his name was, said bluntly, and then he looked back to Fujimura.


    ¡°When Yuto was released, he reached out to Junichirou, and did bring up desiring vengeance¡­ For the perceived slight.¡± Fujimura added, stopping Moritaka from interrupting again with a quick addition.


    ¡°The boy was not taken care of? Threatening to assassinate one of my lieutenants was not enough to act?¡±


    ¡°Junichirou owed much to the assassin from their youth, and has assured me he denied any willingness to help, and had directed the assassin away from his quest. Hoping to stop this entire series of events.¡± Fujimura offered, ending with a bow.


    ¡°And yet my Grandson twice now has nearly been killed!¡±


    ¡°Junichirou had no involvement in that.¡±


    ¡°So he says! I want the assassin, and I want something done about this! For a member of the Tygers to allow an assassin to continue to act without stopping them! There is no accepting this!¡± He rumbled glaring with his beady eyes.


    ¡°Hmm. Junichirou, that is true. You knew this man was plotting murder of a lieutenant and did nothing?¡±


    ¡°When Yuto brought it up, he was very drunk. Nakagawa-Sama. We were celebrating his release from prison. I denied him, explained to him the foolishness of his words, and instead pressed him to live his life. I even offered him work, as he was once an apprentice to the Tygers as I was.¡± Jun offered, sounding calm, but there was a hint of nervousness in this voice.


    ¡°So a man calls for the murder of my Grandson and you do nothing? Are you a Tyger, or some Maelstrom plant?¡± Moritaka cut in, and Fujimura twitched as Jun slowly turned to the older man.


    ¡°I am not Maelstrom. I have always been Tyger Claw.¡± Jun offered cooly, surprising me at how calm he was. That was definitely a targeted insult.


    ¡°So you say.¡±


    Nakagawa, the man in the front grunted, and everyone went silent turning to him. ¡°And then, today I am informed that there was more trouble. Moritaka?¡±


    ¡°I sent a group to collect the boy''s sister. I wanted to ensure I wouldn¡¯t have some Cyberpsycho breaking down my door to finish what his friend started. My people were killed.¡± He had been blase about the response until the end, when his voice turned dark.


    He looked over at me, and our eyes met.


    I allowed nothing to show, but my brain was processing ways to murder the guy. Just for fun. This wasn¡¯t the time or place for it, but I went through all the ways I could end this man''s life.


    There were a lot.


    Instead of acting on it, I simply continued to stare, eyes promising death.

 Chapter 189

    ¡°You had no right to call for the girl''s presence.¡± Fujimura interrupted my staring contest with his words, as everyone in the room''s attention shifted to him. ¡°The girl defended herself from a threat, and was right to do it.¡±


    ¡°Is that so?¡± Moritaka asked, turning to Nakagawa. ¡°Is it normal for our men to be killed when demanding compliance from those under us?¡±


    I turned to Fujimura to see how he was reacting, and he gave me a very tiny shake of his head. Telling me to stay out of it.


    ¡°Hmm. Fujimura?¡± Moritaka demanded as Fujimura didn¡¯t speak.


    ¡°There are proper channels if a meeting is needed. Kidnapping the family of our associates at blade point is not one of them.¡± Fujimura replied and then looked to Moritaka. ¡°In this case, I ask for censure in turn. Going after one of my lieutenants by targeting their family can only cause strife in our organization.¡±


    ¡°The girl murdered one of my up and coming! Daisuke Smith is the son of Robert Smith. A man you are well familiar with! I had to assure him I would take care of this matter to keep his respect from wavering.¡± Moritaka hissed out. Then pointed right at me.  ¡°My own man confirms the boy she killed was already disabled!¡± Moritaka hisses back and I felt a few eyes turn to me.


    I kept silent for now. If someone wanted to talk to me, then I would be happy to explain that I would kill anyone that attacks me.


    Anyone.


    ¡°Mr. Smith is important to our current production, but he was told when his son was inducted there would be dangers these he now learned. Moritaka, targeting family members is unacceptable. There will be censure for this.¡± Nakagawa replied, I could see Moritaka go a bit pale at the words, but his anger seemed to keep the flush to his skin lively.


    Then Nakagawa turned towards Fujimura¡¯s group, straight at me. ¡°And you are Motoko Kusanagi. Daughter of Natasaha and Kuze Kusanagi.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s me.¡± I agreed blandly, looking up at the man and wondering what exactly was really going on. Politics obviously, but I was wondering how much danger I was in here.


    ¡°You killed the boy? ¡®Musashi¡¯ I believe he called himself?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± I said without hesitation and I could see Jun wanting to shut me up, but I wasn¡¯t about to try and hide it. After all, the reason I was putting up with all this was to make sure I wouldn¡¯t have assassins coming after me constantly.


    But if I was going to have assassins anyways, it was going to be for something I did.


    ¡°He is the son of an important assistant to our work.¡± Nakagawa offered and I just stared blankly at him because that wasn¡¯t a question or anything I cared to respond to. Finally he spoke again. ¡°Do you know the cost of his life? What will need to be paid for his death?¡±


    ¡°Nakagawa-Sama the-¡± Fujimura spoke but quieted instantly as the old man held up a fan.


    ¡°I was asking the girl.¡± He said and there was silence and so I spoke.


    ¡°No, I just know that I value my life more than his. He came at me with a blade. He wanted to live by the sword. So he died by one.¡± I shrugged, ¡°I¡¯m more surprised that him getting himself killed is such a shock to everyone.¡±


    Jun sent me a glare at my casualness, and it wasn¡¯t the only glare I received across the room. Moritaka seemed to be pissed as well.


    Fujimura then sat up, a signal that he wished to speak and Nakagawa lowered his fan.


    ¡°Motoko Kusanagi was involved in this entire situation as an attempt to blackmail one of my men. As you all see, even after this attempt was a failure, I brought both with me for this meeting. If a meeting had been called, Junichirou would have come as his duty. The girl is a family member, and not a soldier. She should never have been involved. I ask for acceptance in her defending herself in this situation.¡±


    ¡°You dare?¡± Moritaka called but Nakagawa raised his fan.


    ¡°Her defense of her life is not my concern. The death of Musashi is. Punishment will be meted out.¡± Nakagawa spoke. ¡°But that is still secondary to the problem that brings us here today. Kisaru Moritaka, and the assassin.¡±


    ¡°Nakagawa-Sama. I ask that any punishment that would be placed upon Motoko be placed upon me instead. As her older brother I am responsible for any of her actions.¡± Jun suddenly spoke up as he fell into a deep bow while sitting, and I felt myself frowning.


    The room was silent for a moment and I noticed Fujimura didn¡¯t look happy either.


    ¡°I think that will be acceptable.¡± Moritaka suddenly said, surprising all of us. ¡°The girl¡¯s mistake is her brothers in truth. I believe we can convince Mr. Smith we acted appropriately to punish the one that cost him his son''s life.¡±


    What? That made no fucking sense to anyone! Why would Jun pay for this bullshit? I glanced over and noticed Fujimura looked pissed.


    The glare that went between Fujimura and Moritaka made me realize what was really happening.


    Moritaka was trying to hit Fujimura. Jun and I were just in the crossfire. We were being used as pawns to damage Fujimura, either his reputation or his powerbase.


    This whole thing was literally just yakuza politics.


    I was going to murder that man, but first I had to figure out how to get Jun out of this without a punishment he wouldn¡¯t survive.


    ¡°I disagree.¡± A voice called and everyone turned to another side of the room. If Fujimura, and Moritaka had their own little faction groups, then this guy was in charge of another.


    But¡­ I recognized him? Where did I know this guy from?


    ¡°Okina-dono?¡±


    ¡°The boy Junichirou, and his sister both have proven themselves before. I owe my life to both of them. I believe this situation has gotten out of hand. Perhaps punishment can be put aside as simply the folly of youth. No harm was intended. Only self protection.¡± The man offered casually and I could see the heated glare Moritaka sent him.


    I blinked. Okina? Where¡­ Ah! It was Sushi Boss! The Tyger Claw boss Jun and I saved from the Edgerunner borg that we both had to work together to take out. Holy shit!


    He looked over and gave me a small tilt of his head, and I was actually kind of blown away.


    A Tyger Claw boss that actually remembers a favor he owed to someone? Completely unexpected!


    Nakagawa nodded at the man''s speech. ¡°I will take it under consideration. For now, Fujimura. You were placed to hunt down this assassin. Why is he still at large?¡±


    ¡°Forgive me Nakagawa-Sama. I did hunt him down, but his trail grows cold with a connection to 6th Street. I informed Ichida-Sama about this just yesterday. We were discussing what should be done considering the involvement of an enemy.¡±


    ¡°Is this true?¡± Nakagawa asked, turning to one of the men closest to him. Dressed in an actual red suit and not Japanese formal wear.


    ¡°It is Nakagawa-Sama. The matter would have been on today¡¯s docket.¡±


    I could practically hear Moritaka¡¯s teeth grinding as Fujimura proved he had been doing his job hunting Yuto.


    ¡°Then we will-¡±


    ¡°Stand aside!¡± A voice yelled from the entranceway, and everyone went for their weapons before finally a form walked into the main room.


    I blinked.


    Dressed in a very fancy Kimono, hair done up in an elaborate style was none other than Hayato. Wow. She cleaned up nicely. I had to admit that the elegant look suited her¡­ Well maybe not the angry face, but the rest of her sure. Okay maybe the angry face was cute too.


    10/10 angry Yakuza princess.


    But what was she doing here?


    ¡°Hayato, what is the meaning of this-¡± Nakagawa went utterly silent as not only Hayato entered, but so did Wakako.


    I blinked. What?


    What?


    I had the same feeling you got when you saw your teacher outside of the classroom. Something about this was wrong. Wakako was best when she was sitting in a scummy Pachinko parlor smoking up a storm, and watching midday TV.


    ¡°Father! I demand an explanation for this!¡± Hayato spoke clearly but faster than perfectly normal, she was obviously upset, but while Hayato was talking everyone was looking at Wakako.


    ¡°Mother?¡± I heard whispered aloud from more than one man in the room.


    The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    I blinked because the Ichida guy had also said something similar. So he was one of Wakako¡¯s sons?


    I blinked, remembering that Wakako had like nine children? I got the feeling more than a few of them were in this room.


    And wait. Did Nakagawa just call Wakako Mother in law? But if Wakako was Mother in Law, what did that make Hayato?


    I looked at my friend. Huh.


    That was about the same moment said friend noticed me, blinked once, and a myriad of reactions all ran through her face before she seemingly couldn¡¯t stop herself.


    ¡°Motoko?¡± she said in a blurst of sounds talking much faster than normal.


    I considered what my reaction should be. Polite?


    Nah.


    ¡°Sup Hayato.¡± I offered with a raised hand. Greeting her happily.


    ¡°Hmm. I got a report that you caused trouble.¡± Wakako interrupted before Hayato could respond, as she walked over, walking right past the still confused looking Hayato as she approached me.


    ¡°I just defended myself.¡± I responded back a little darkly. I was getting pretty done with everyone blaming me for not letting some arrogant little shit kidnap me.


    ¡°Is that why my Son in Law dragged you here? Because you killed Daisuke Smith?¡± She seemed to ponder the crowd. Then to my surprise she reached out and patted my shoulder. ¡°I can already see what is happening here. Son in Law, there seems to be some confusion, so let me clear it. Motoko Kusanagi works for me.¡± Wakako said bluntly and the room went silent at her proclamation.


    Moritaka I noticed looked pretty irritated, but said nothing in response.


    ¡°The girl works for you? Truly?¡± Nakagawa asked.


    ¡°She does.¡± Wakako said in a tone of voice that was very evident she was wondering why he was questioning her.


    ¡°But that still doesn¡¯t explain this interruption.¡± He seemed to grumble looking at Wakako and Hayato. ¡°Hayato, you should have been here an hour ago.¡±


    ¡°I would have been father if not-¡± She trailed off in a splurge of word vomit, her face red, telling me she was very irritated. Before she paused, took a breath and continued.


    ¡°If not for the message that I was given that requested my presence at home. When I arrived, there was nothing happening, and I was hurried away by my guards¡­ I called Grandmother to try and figure out what was going on.¡± Hayato explained and Nakagawa looked less than pleased as he turned to Wakako.


    ¡°The message was sent from a burner account. More interesting is where my Granddaughter was when the message came. Tell him.¡± Wakako called and Hayato looked confused.


    ¡°I was at the Deravaja Dojo. I was sparring with Motoko.¡± Hayato said slowly, her confusion for once making her speak at a normal rhythm.


    ¡°You were¡­ With the girl?¡± Nakagawa demanded, pointing at me, and she nodded.


    ¡°Yes. Motoko is my sparring partner now. John introduced her, and set us together¡­ She challenges me well.¡± Then Hayato looked from Nakagawa, to Wakako, to me. ¡°I was with Motoko, and she is now here¡­ Motoko, what happened after I left?¡± She demanded from me instantly.


    So I shrugged. ¡°I took a shower to wash up and left the Dojo, on my way out Musashi and a bunch of his punks jumped me. They were trying to kidnap me. So I killed them.¡±


    ¡°Musashi? I saw Musashi as I left! Are you telling me this message was from him? Did that pathetic fool send me on a wild chase just to get to you?¡± Hayato sounded pissed as she spoke, she turned to her father¡­


    Holy shit. That was her father. Hayato was literally the Tyger Claw Princess¡­ I mean I had called her the Yakuza princess, but she literally was!


    I really hope no one found out that I punched her in the face pretty often.


    ¡°Father!¡±


    Nakagawa raised a fan and she fell silent. ¡°Mother in law. This girl Motoko murdered one of my lieutenants.¡±


    ¡°So?¡± Wakako asked in response, seemingly completely uninterested in the accusation. ¡°She is one of mine and should not have been bothered with this nonsense from the start.¡± Wakako said, making me look up at her, in a slight bit of relaxation.


    It was unexpected, but it was flattering that Wakako was speaking up for me. I mean I didn¡¯t even really do many gigs for her. For her to act this way, she must actually secretly in her cruel dark heart care.


    It was sweet¡­ And terrifying because I was sure I would be paying for it later. She was going to work me to the bone or something.


    ¡°Then we will speak about the costs of the girl''s actions later Mother in law. The Assassin must die. Fujimura, this is your people''s mistake. It is on you to fix it.¡±


    ¡°Understood Nakagawa-Sama.¡±


    ¡°Good. Hayato, come with me. Mother in law, please join us.¡± Nakagawa then stood and everyone besides Wakako and I bowed, and then Wakako dropped one more pat on my shoulder before following the man into another room.


    Only once they were gone did everyone rise. Before anything else Moritaka stood and walked over.


    ¡°Do not think this is over. Your Kamikaze group won¡¯t last. Not with the constant mistakes like this.¡± Moritaka said to Fujimura, but the man just looked him over for a moment.


    ¡°Moritaka-Dono, my securing of the Japantown Projection has already been decided. The Kamikaze completed their task as required. And I have few complaints about their after war actions. Today is a mistake that we will pay for, but it will not stop my work.¡±


    ¡°That you think this is something that will be brushed under the rug shows your ignorance Fujimura. I will be watching you closely from now on. Any mistakes will not be allowed to hide in the shadows.¡±


    ¡°You have your tasks Moritaka-Dono, and I have my own.¡± Fujimura replied and I had a feeling a lot of undercurrent was going on, but I wasn¡¯t entirely in the know about what the fuck was going on.


    Was this really all Tyger Claw Politics? If it was, I was going to murder some fuckers.


    Moritaka looked me over a moment later, and scoffed. ¡°Wakako will not protect you either. You will pay for your actions today, murdering a member of the Tyger Claws will not be forgotten, or forgiven.¡±


    I just stared at the man, and wondered if I was really going to have kill this guy right in front of all of his people, when Jun stood up.


    ¡°You go too far. My Sister is only here because you decided to put her in the crosshairs of loyal men. Tyger Claws doing their duty trusted by their higher ups. You forget that Nakagawa-Sama already stated you would be censured for this!¡±


    ¡°Fool boy. Watch your tone.¡± He spoke and I noticed Komorebi had followed after Moritaka was now close enough to react with his blade.


    A threat. That¡¯s fine, I was about ready to make my own threats.


    I stood up slowly, wiping my jeans a bit as I stretched my legs. ¡°I don¡¯t take it lightly when people try to have me kidnapped. Moritaka, right?¡± I asked and Jun was there, hand on my shoulder holding me back.


    ¡°Don¡¯t Motoko.¡±


    ¡°Tsk, a child playing at being a gangster isn¡¯t anything new girl. Be silent, or I¡¯ll have you taught a lesson.¡±


    ¡°By who? Your guard Komorebi? The guy that wasn¡¯t able to beat me before when I was alone facing all the men you sent after me?¡±


    ¡°Heh.¡± Komorebi chuckled at that, cutting of Moritaka who had looked like he was going to demand my head right there. ¡°You sure got some steel in your spine. Motoko Kusanagi. I¡¯ll remember that. I think I¡¯ll end up crossing blades with you again.¡±


    ¡°You won¡¯t.¡± Jun said, then rumbling and furious. ¡°None of you will ever touch my sister.¡± Jun took a step forward, but it was Fujimura that stopped him.


    ¡°I agree. You already face censure for getting a family member involved in our business. Perhaps I will push for a more direct punishment. My boy might have made a mistake in not stopping the assassin, but he is just a boy. Well known for making mistakes, what man in this room hasn¡¯t when he was that age? But you? Men our age don¡¯t make mistakes. You flaunt your disrespect of the rules blatantly.¡±


    ¡°Watch your mouth Fujimura. Watch it close. You may be high after the tiff between the Maelstrom, but you are not at my level yet!¡±


    The whole place shifted when a door opened and out came Nakagawa. ¡°I see my men are getting along.¡± He spoke coolly after a moment receiving bows from everyone as he walked closer. ¡°Fujimura, I want this issue taken care of.¡±


    ¡°Yes Nakagawa-Sama.¡±


    ¡°Moritaka, allow Fujimura and his boys to clean up their mess with no further issue. My sympathy to your son''s injuries. I am glad he is still alive.¡±


    ¡°He is strong. An Assassin will not be his end.¡± Moritaka said with sudden confidence.


    For a moment he turned to me with a look but he said nothing.


    Instead he turned to others and began speaking to everyone. Giving them orders, or asking them to assist others.


    The TC were mobilizing.


    I guess finding out an assassin targeting a higher ups kid was with 6th Street would do that.


    ¡°Fujimura-Dono, and Jun-Kun.¡± A voice spoke and it was Okina. He looked then to me, and offered an actual smile. ¡°And Motoko-Chan. It is nice to see you. Even in these circumstances. I never got the chance to thank you for you and your brother''s actions that night.¡±


    ¡°Ah.¡± I said because he was talking to me. ¡°Well it was nothing, we were involved from the start.¡±


    ¡°Perhaps, but not many would, or could have done anything. These circumstances are¡­ Unpleasant.¡± He decided on after seemingly tasting the word. ¡°But have no fear. Even without Wakako-Sama, you and your brother have others behind you.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡± I offered, because it was actually an earnest offer.


    ¡°Will you need any assistance, Fujimura-Dono?¡± He asked, turning to the older man after.


    ¡°No Okina-Dono. I believe once we decide on a path forward through 6th Street or not, my men can handle this problem.¡±


    ¡°Good. Don¡¯t hesitate to call if you need assistance.¡±


    I stood there for a while as more and more conversations broke out over the room. None of it interested me, instead I opened my agent and made some texts to my chooms. Just letting them know I was alive, and that things were okayish.


    As I was responding to the third text from Hiromi in our group chat of her freaking out, I noticed someone approaching.


    ¡°Hey Hayato.¡±


    ¡°Motoko.¡± She greeted back and looked at me for a while before seeming to firm her resolve. ¡°Come with me.¡±


    I looked to Jun who was distracted and shrugged. Following her, we walked into the same room Nakagawa had entered before and I wasn¡¯t surprised to see Wakako inside, already smoking a cigarette while sitting on a couch and looking annoyed.


    ¡°Good. Motoko come sit. Hayato child do not frown so. This situation is irritating but no longer unstable.¡±


    ¡°Yes Grandmother.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s so weird.¡± I muttered and Hayato turned to give me a glare while Wakako just put out her cigarette.


    ¡°Weird?¡±


    ¡°Just¡­ I knew Hayato for a while, and I didn¡¯t know she was your grandkid. And I¡¯ve known Wakako forever. It¡¯s just weird to see you both together, and to know you are related.¡± I answered and Wakako just scoffed, obviously uninterested in dealing with my nonsense, while Hayato huffed.


    ¡°I told you who I was!¡±


    ¡°You never told me you were Wakako¡¯s grandkid.¡± I denied laughing, cause she really hadn¡¯t.


    ¡°My name! Hayato Nakagawa! Na-ka-ga-wa!¡± She growled out enunciating each syllable.


    I looked at her blankly for a minute before I chuckled out a laugh. ¡°Hayato, I didn¡¯t know the leader of the Tyger Claws was named Nakagawa until like twenty minutes ago?¡±


    ¡°How!? Everyone knows that!¡±


    I just shrugged. ¡°I didn¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Then¡­ Then why did you agree to spar with me?¡±


    ¡°Cause you¡¯re fun to fight? I didn¡¯t have a lot of practice against someone using a Keren, and it¡¯s kinda nice to fight someone my own age and stuff you know?¡±


    My words had an odd effect on Hayato who looked flushed for a moment before seemingly growing angry. ¡°You¡¯re an idiot!¡±


    ¡°Little rude.¡± I mumbled, but that only set her off more.


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe someone so stupid is able to challenge me! This¡­ This shouldn¡¯t be possible. You¡¯re too stupid to be this skilled.¡±


    ¡°Super rude.¡± I added.


    ¡°Hayato.¡± Wakako offered and Hayato went silent. ¡°You are allowing your emotions to overcome you dear. Breathe, you should apologize. Motoko is an idiot, but it¡¯s rude to tell someone that to their face.¡±


    ¡°Is this gang up on Motoko day? First Musashi and his group, then this whole bullshit, and now you two?¡± I grumbled at the two, but Wakako just gave me a look telling me she was very amused to be able to torture me, and Hayato while not amused, didn¡¯t seem to disagree.


    Fuck they were related!


    ¡°You¡­ You really didn¡¯t know that I¡­¡± Hayato asked and I just looked at her for a while and she then scoffed and laughed and just broke into laughter.


    ¡°She! She has nothing between her ears! Grandmother! She¡¯s!¡± She started laughing then. Practically dying of laughter as she bent over, and Wakako had to look away to hide her own amusement.


    ¡°Okay if everyone is just picking on me, I¡¯ll go.¡± I grumbled because wow super rude you know?


    ¡°Motoko.¡± Wakako spoke and I stopped my attempt to leave. ¡°There is something I wish to discuss with you¡­ Outside of my granddaughter''s realization.¡±


    I sighed for a moment. ¡°Fine, can we make it quick? I didn¡¯t exactly plan to deal with all this Yakuza politics bullshit today.¡±


    ¡°Yakuza! We are not Yakuza!¡± Hayato snapped, unbending from her laughing fit at my words but I rolled my eyes at her, and focused on Wakako but she waved at me, and I sighed and settled into a chair.


    This wasn¡¯t going to be something I liked.

 Chapter 190

    ¡°Hayato, sit down dear. Motoko, child. Politics will not go away, take it from me. Once you are involved you will be so for a long time despite your wants.¡± Wakako offered and I grimaced. Yeah that was what I was afraid of Wakako! ¡°Now, despite the difficulties it will bring, I wish to hire you for a long term gig.¡±


    ¡°Okay?¡±


    ¡°I wish to hire you on a long term basis, to not assassinate Moritaka Kuwabara.¡± She spoke the words that instantly made me frown.


    ¡°Okay one. I¡¯ve never taken a gig to not kill someone before.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not so unusual when dealing with a skilled mercenary that has come into their reputation.¡± Wakako answered and I was frowning because this was weird.


    Hayato thought so too. ¡°Grandmother? What are you talking about? Motoko is skilled, but she couldn¡¯t kill Moritaka-Oji.¡±


    ¡°Oji?¡± I whispered to myself, but Wakako looked at Hayato for a moment.


    ¡°It would not be the first member she killed.¡± Wakako said, and I had to use Cold Blood to freeze myself solid so I didn¡¯t give any tells.


    Instead I raised an eyebrow. ¡°News to me.¡± I spoke plainly. Wakako looked to me at my words, at the same time Hayato looked justified and looked back at Wakako as if she was right.


    ¡°The only thing that is news to you girl is that I am speaking of it. Jotaro was cleanly done, to this day only a few select people know about the situation.¡± Wakako added calmly and I noticed Hayato looking between us in confusion.


    Her head shooting back and forth rapid fire was pretty funny.


    ¡°Jotaro? The club owner? Ichi¡¯s Boss?¡± I questioned purposefully acting confused, controlling my emotions to fake it, but Wakako just smiled at me, as if she didn¡¯t believe me at all.


    Hayato though was looking between the two of us confused.


    ¡°Grandmother?¡±


    ¡°Motoko Kusanagi, is a very competent killer Granddaughter. An Assassin by trade in fact. If she sets her mind to it, I have no doubt that Moritaka will die.¡±


    The room was silent for a moment. ¡°I am an assassin, yes.¡± I said more for Hayato¡¯s confused look than anything. ¡°But that has nothing to do with Jotaro, which I was definitely not involved with. I have an alibi.¡±


    ¡°Of course, I am sure it is quite solid.¡± Wakako offered casually. ¡°The issue has long been resolved, and assumptions on who did it have spread. None expect the teenaged assassin I employ from time to time. Nor will they.¡± Wakako added waving a hand and sending the smoke of her cigarette swirling.


    ¡°Good.¡± I said back a little defensive cause I really didn¡¯t need more shit.


    ¡°You¡­ Are an assassin?¡± Hayato asked, the surprise in her voice making me focus on her.


    ¡°Sometimes.¡± I answered Hayato¡¯s question with a shrug. ¡°I mean, technically I prefer to think of myself as an infiltrator. I like sneaking into places, but killing someone after sneaking up on them is kind of assassin one-oh-one.¡±


    Hayato looked at me. Up and down, and her face shifted into a look of disbelief.


    ¡°Hey! That¡¯s rude! What part of me makes you think I¡¯m not an assassin! Wakako you tell her!¡± I demanded, getting a little outraged about the disbelief on Hayato¡¯s face.


    Wakako just rolled her eyes, ignoring me, and then snapped. ¡°Focus. I am hiring you for a job.¡±


    I tilted my head at her.


    ¡°One condition.¡± I demanded and Wakako nodded as if it was expected.


    ¡°Jun stays safe. If Moritaka leaves Jun alone, I¡¯ll consider the gig in place. He causes any more trouble for my brother and the bets are off.¡±


    ¡°I will speak to my son in law. Junichirou will face no repercussions for his failure, and Moritaka will settle down from his aggressive actions against Fujimura. He¡¯ll likely already be getting a talk about that. Foolish man.¡± Wakako grumbled and I nodded slowly.


    I did want the man dead, but doing so would just cause more trouble in the long run. So if we could end any trouble now? I sighed. It sucked, killing leveled me up, but also time gave me time to kill more and get stronger. One day I¡¯d be Adam Smasher. Able to simply kill anyone I please without considering repercussions, but I wasn¡¯t that yet.


    ¡°Okay fine. Deal. I¡¯ll let him live.¡±


    ¡°Let him?¡± Hayato continued to sound disbelieving about my skills which kind of hurt, but Wakako nodded.


    ¡°In that case, I believe your brother is already leaving.¡± I perked up at that and decided it was time to go then.


    ¡°Alright Wakako. I¡¯ll leave¡­ Thanks, for helping out. I was starting to consider drastic actions.¡± I said and earned a glare at the very idea.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be a fool. You are useful, and I will not allow you to throw away your life so pointlessly.¡±


    ¡°Yes yes. I understand. I have no intention of dying.¡± I said to Wakako as I rolled my eyes, but I did send her an honest thankful smile as I stood. ¡°See ya later Hayato.¡± I waved with a happy smile to the girl''s irritation as she glared at me at my chipper tone.


    Outside I saw that Fujimura was leaving. Jun and Akari at his side and I hurried over.


    ¡°Good. We are leaving.¡± He said and just rolled my hand at him because that was obvious.


    And we left. I collected my weapons and Jun was quiet as we headed down the elevator.


    ¡°I wish to hire you.¡± Fujimura said suddenly and I frowned.


    ¡°What is it with everyone wanting to hire me today? Maybe I¡¯m not in the mood to take gigs for the Tyger Claws right now? Ever think of that?¡± I grumbled and Jun reached out and cuffed the back of my head. I retaliated with a swipe at him in turn.


    Fujimura just continued, as if Jun and I weren¡¯t being siblings in such close proximity to him. ¡°Yoto needs to die, your capabilities in tracking would make this easier.¡±


    ¡°Fujimura-Sama.¡± Jun offered a token protest but it sounded weak. Pathetic.


    I instantly hated hearing my brother sound like that.


    ¡°Kusanagi.¡± Fujimura snapped back and Jun flinched, and I glared, but I closed my eye and thought it through.


    I considered it. Just saying yes. I mean, I had offered to do that for Jun before, but this was different now.


    Everything was different now.


    The Tyger Claws had made their mark on me, and I wasn¡¯t going to let that go for nothing.


    ¡°You¡¯ll have to reach out to Hiromi Mitsunashi. She¡¯s Section 9¡¯s Fixer contact. She¡¯ll quote you a price. Don¡¯t expect any discounts this time.¡± I said firmly. I could trust Hiromi to make sure this sort of thing didn¡¯t come cheap.


    ¡°If Yuto strikes again, or in the worst circumstances manages to finish his goal, Junichirou will not be let off.¡± Fujimura reminded me sternly, but I just threw him a raised eyebrow.


    ¡°That argument would have worked better this morning. Before I had people I thought I had some level of trust towards trying to use me as a political piece. I don¡¯t take kidnapping attempts as a joke, Fujimura.¡±


    The elevator was quiet, and I hadn¡¯t actually turned to look at Fujimura the whole time. Using a piece of the reflective stainless steel in the elevator to get just a bare hint of his face.


    ¡°I understand. You hold me to blame, and there is truth to that. But I wasn¡¯t the one that caused this. Your brother is a useful subordinate, I wish to keep him alive.¡±


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    ¡°Maybe a small discount then.¡± Was what I said as the elevator opened and I walked out.


    ¡°Motoko?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll talk to you later, okay Jun? Take care of yourself.¡± I said, I needed some space from all of this.


    *Motoko!* Hiromi yelled as I called and noticed that all my chooms were already on a line.


    *Hey everyone, sorry about the scare. Everything got crazy for a while.*


    *Are you okay!?* Hiromi demanded and I laughed as I settled into the Quadra and started driving. I wanted to get out of this TC bastion as fast as possible.


    *I¡¯m alright, and unhurt. I¡¯ll give you a full rundown, but Hiromi you might get a call from Jun¡¯s boss Fujimura. It¡¯ll be a Section 9 job to hunt down someone¡­ Don¡¯t hesitate to grill him a bit, but offer him a discount at the end¡­ A small one. The gig is for Jun, but I¡¯m pissed with them right now.*


    *Got it, but-*


    *Are you all together?*


    *Yeah we met up at Hiromi¡¯s place. Considering your warning.* Ichi cut in.


    *Alright. Should I head there, or should we go somewhere else? Things are calm now.*


    *My rents are out, so come over Motoko. Besides¡­ It¡¯s safe here, so I want you here.*


    *Alright. Since I¡¯m driving let me give you a rundown of what happened.*


    ¡ª--


    ¡°Huh, is that new?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, the Rents always buy new entertainment systems. I don¡¯t use them much.¡± Hiromi said and I chuckled because they were certainly getting some use now. Ichi and Malcolm were both playing some VR game.


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe they would do that!¡± Hiromi vented at me as I followed her inside. ¡°How dare they!¡±


    ¡°Well the gonks that tried it are either dead, or in a lot of pain, and the one in charge¡­ Well I can¡¯t touch them. So I¡¯m just ignoring it.¡±


    ¡°I got a message from Fujimura already.¡± Hiromi added as I walked over and flopped onto the couch.


    ¡°Well, you know my opinion on it.¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Looks like we¡¯ll need to do some hunting, but it¡¯s very likely, if Yuto is with 6th St. right now. That we are going to be the ones to take him out. To avoid any TC connections.¡±


    I just shrugged. ¡°We¡¯ll kill him then. He caused enough trouble to piss me off.¡±


    ¡°Hey Motoko!¡± Malcolm called as he pulled off the VR set. ¡°Didn¡¯t hear you get in. Ichi, finish up Motoko is here.


    I laughed at the boys as they disentangled themselves from the game they had started.


    ¡°I see you boys kept busy while I was dealing with things.¡± I teased.


    ¡°Nah, we only started after you called. We were worried.¡± Ichi said as he took his headset off. ¡°You okay? No injuries?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine. Just casually getting attacked by a squad of Tyger Claw brats, and then sword fighting one of their elite. I¡¯m okay.¡± I bragged a bit before going very very cold. ¡°But I don¡¯t take this as a joke. The Tyger Claws are on my shit list.¡± I spoke practically arctic air as I looked at all my chooms to make sure they understood.


    Hiromi was the only one who looked as furious as I was on the inside.


    ¡°All this because they wanted Jun?¡± Ichi asked.


    ¡°I think¡­¡± I muttered trailing off as I sighed letting myself get warmer. ¡°I think there is more going on that I can really understand. Wakako specifically wanted me to not go after revenge for this, and I think the fucker that did this got in trouble for it¡­ I think this all stems from the stupidest thing humanity ever created¡­ Politics.¡±


    Hiromi spoke up then. ¡°I don¡¯t think we have the clout to really let the Tyger Claws know our displeasure¡­ Yet. Don¡¯t worry Motoko. I¡¯ll remember this.¡± I almost felt bad because Hiromi was much more vindictive than I was.


    I waved it off. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ That¡¯s later stuff. What did Fujimura say exactly?¡±


    ¡°The hit for Yuto Gonzales. Fujimura wants him found and killed. Proof of death is required¡­ Bring him in bodily or at least his head. They want real confirmation of his death here.¡±


    I waved it off. I could do that. ¡°The problem is where he is.¡±


    ¡°Right, intel that Fujimura provided.¡± Hiromi said her eyes glowed blue as she started sending me a file transfer request.


    I of course accepted, but went through the file very very carefully before opening it. Only the normal sort of bugs were on the program and those were zapped. Hiromi wouldn¡¯t have even noticed them with her Arasaka soft protecting her.


    I¡¯d really have to do something about that though. I didn¡¯t like how trusting Hiromi was with just taking files.


    That was for another time though. Browsing through what Fujimura had sent me I nodded. It was actually not bad. He must have found someone solid to hunt down Yuto, or more likely the TC as a whole were pissed about this and they pulled their serious runners.


    They knew where in Arroyo he had been hiding out, at least as of the day before he tried again to kill Kisaru.


    So that meant I would have to check if he was still there, and if he was, finish this. Otherwise start hunting.


    ¡°Alright. This safehouse he was at. Ichi, what do you know about the area?¡± I asked and instantly as Ichi checked out the cleaned file I sent over he shook his head.


    ¡°Not much. I sometimes do some stuff in Arroyo, but not up there. Rancho Coronado is mega 6th St. Territory. Anything in the shadow of the damn belongs to them.¡±


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll have to go in on foot and check it out.¡± I decided. I tapped at my thigh for a while. I remember how awful hunting shit down in Arroyo had been last time, and that had been in industrial areas. They might have more cameras, but I could guarantee they¡¯d have a lot of netrunner defenses.


    ¡°I¡¯ll head in from the highway. Not a terrible jog over from a good way away. I¡¯ll do it tonight.¡± I decided and everyone nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll want some backup just in case¡­ And then I actually smirked. ¡°I know the perfect thing.¡±


    ¡ª--


    Fully equipped, relying on the night vision of my Kiroshi and doing my best to avoid any sensor nets that might be put up. I was slowly creeping down the desert mountain around Rancho Coronado. RC was surrounded by a mountain that a dam was built into, but it meant that other than some drops, there were plenty of places I could sneak into the area from once I was dropped off on the freeway above.


    The others were close by including the secret surprise in case I found any trouble, but hopefully that simply wouldn¡¯t be needed.


    I needed this to go clean. The best resolution for this entire series of events was me killing Yuto, Fujimura taking credit for it, which would help balance out Jun¡¯s ¡®mistake¡¯ which was a bullshit thing to blame him for.


    Then it would be square, Jun could continue his life without this bullshit, Wakako would clear up the issue with Moritaka, at least she said she would, and I could go back to being proud of myself for never really joining the Tyger Claws after all.


    Because this was all bullshit.


    I dropped down and used some old shrubs for cover as I noticed a light. Just someone smoking on a balcony, but if they had good Optics, or just happened to catch some moonlight they could spot me.


    I flipped on my directional mic, just in case anything was spoken aloud and waited. Five minutes later, without more than some grumbled curses at some game on their agent. The cigarette was put out, and the person headed back inside their little apartment.


    Then I double checked to make sure I hadn¡¯t missed anything and continued on.


    Slipping out of the shadows like a snake I continued moving. I hadn¡¯t noticed any sort of sensor defenses so far. It was a far bet that 6th St. would bother considering in turn they¡¯d get hits on their net every time a kid ran around to play, but it was better to be safe than sorry.


    And this time I was in luck. I made it all the way to the back yards around the ramshackle housing and from there, it was practically childs play to start slipping into the shadows and staying out of sight.


    Luckily Yuto had been hiding out in one of the basement sections along the outer street.


    At least if the intel was good, and I wasn¡¯t going to walk into an ambush or something.


    While there weren¡¯t a lot of people out and about on the streets this late at night, on the floors above there were.


    Small gatherings around burn barrels, and kids playing along the rooftops under the watchful eyes of their parents. The whole thing had a very run down feeling even for Night City.


    For all the 6th St. Gang talked about improving neighborhoods, the fact they had fallen into drug dealing and other gang activities meant any improvement they had made to their homes had eventually dried up.


    It was sad.


    I kept moving, making sure to hide not just in the shadows, but behind objects as well. The quality of optics in the area could be terrible, or ex-special forces depending on who is around.


    So I took it slow and careful and made my way to the building that Yuto might be in.


    Crawling on the ground wasn¡¯t fun. But it did make use of the two foot wall that bordered the building just before Yuto, so I was crawling along when I heard.


    A noise that wasn¡¯t odd anywhere else, but was here. A vehicle.


    I laid lower, blending in with a bunch of garbage which was gross, but it let me break up my outline even more as I felt something approaching.


    The noise of the truck marked it as something big. I heard it getting closer and closer, and just really didn¡¯t want it to be some pickup for Yuto or something, but then it came right past me, and then kept going, towards the the other side of the block.


    I peeked up and narrowed my eyes as a horde of 6th St. Guys climbed out and headed into one of the hab blocks.


    Eventually everything went quiet again.


    Whatever that was, it wasn¡¯t for me.


    I moved on.


    I didn¡¯t head directly for the stairs leading down into the basement area, instead I crawled around the outside of the building looking for any windows into the basement, or something.


    Other than one window that was completely covered there was nothing.


    Irritated at the failed attempt I headed back towards the basement stairs. Giving it a slow approach I kept an eye on the roofs around the building so no one would accidentally see, and then slowly slipped down the stairs brutal concrete stair ways were actually good for hiding, as the light that should have shined down on the stairs was long burned out, or broken.


    I approached the bottom, and there was a monstrous steel door. Armored and secured, and I glared as I realized this might take a while.


    I quickly scanned it through and realized with a relief that it had electronic security.


    If it had been an old style key, or worse relying on someone on the other side to open it, this could have gotten irritating. I found the security pad and hummed.


    Militech base, slightly modified, but old even so. With a moments work I popped open the metal front and looked into its guts, careful not to let it separate too much or else a wire might come loose and send an alert. Carefully taking my knife I slipped it into the gap careful not to cut anything wrong and slipped it in deep. Until the tip touched one of the connections deep inside.


    With my other hand, I licked my thumb and awkwardly slipped it in, until my thumb touched another connection and then I tapped my knife against my thumb for just a second.


    I heard the security lock release. And pulled my knife free and resecured the security case.


    With a bit of work I quietly slipped the security door open, and moved inside, Copperhead brought up leading my way.


    The hallway inside was dark, but quickly opened into one massive basement that had been converted into a studio apartment. The open space had a few couches around an entertainment system and a bed in the corner.


    But otherwise it was empty.


    I hugged the walls before checking the one other door in the room, but it was a bathroom, and was also empty.


    So where was Yuto?


    The room had no signs of where he could have gone at a glance. So I started digging.


    Buck a Slice box on the table. Along with some half drained Brosef.


    No easy laptops, or security systems to hack into. I checked around the bed, but didn¡¯t find anything obvious. Just old bedding that hadn¡¯t been made.


    I explored the whole room without finding anything.


    Honestly it didn¡¯t look like Yuto had been here at all. I narrowed my eyes, it was always possible this was a trap, or at least bad intel. I hadn¡¯t gathered it myself after all.


    Finally I gave up finding any clues and was about to head out when I heard it. Bootsteps on concrete. Looking around I realized there weren''t any good hiding places in the mostly bare room. The entire place was too open.


    Then I looked up.


    A moment later I leapt up into the ceiling, where old pipes, and A/C vents spiderwebbed across. With a bit of work I wedged myself inside, and went quiet. Time to see who was visiting.

 Chapter 191

    I breathed in and out, utterly silent. As I watched what happened out of the corner of my eye keeping my body blended with the shadows.


    The man that opened the door had a Militech Crusher Shotgun, and was sweeping the room. Obviously concerned. Had I set off an alarm, or been seen?


    After a minute of following a similar path I had taken clearing the bathroom, he lowered his gun and just cursed.


    ¡°Fucking assholes not locking the door.¡± He said aloud as he finally relaxed. Ah, just bad luck then. I would have laughed if I wasn¡¯t in complete control of every muscle in my body keeping myself perfectly still. Even the best infiltrator could be beaten by bad timing.


    He took a moment to place his gun beside the couch and then headed back to the entrance. A moment later he came in carrying a bag full of food, and he flopped onto the couch.


    Hmm.


    I wasn¡¯t really in any hurry, but I didn¡¯t want to be stuck here either, especially since this guy wasn¡¯t Yuto.


    Intel had probably been wrong. Dammit.


    Maybe another of the buildings or something had been where he is staying?


    I prepared myself as the man turned on his entertainment system to watch TV. The noise would easily hide me while I escaped, but then I heard him curse a name that suddenly had all my attention.


    ¡°Fucking Yuto. Prick! I told  him not to log me out!¡± He grumbled as I looked down a bit and saw what the problem was.


    Television channels in NC used a subscription service. The ads that played around the system was one of the ways poor people paid for the service, basically making it free if you allowed the ads.


    Right now the TV was covered in ads, and I saw that the user logged in was listed as [YUTO] which meant I was in the right place after all. I felt my smile tug up into a grin that only grew wilder and wilder as I realized that this wasn¡¯t a complete failure.


    I watched the man work on the system for a bit, but he seemingly couldn¡¯t find the remote, or access to the account. So he cursed a ton and started searching for a show without it.


    But more importantly, it meant Yuto had been here, and this guy knew him.


    Since he was just sitting there, I started breaching.


    As the man turned on a recording of Watson Whore Season 1 episode 6. Which jumped straight into a sex scene¡­


    Lovely.


    I breached into his agent, and quietly stalled out any ability to make calls.


    Once I was sure, I dropped from the ceiling, and the loud moans from the screen hid the small noise I made as I touched down and spread out to dampen the noise.


    Then I crept right up.


    One of the reasons that Fujimura had handed this whole gig to me and Section 9 was because the TC didn¡¯t want a gang war with 6th St. So they wanted this completely detached from them.


    That was why I had hoped to go through this entire gig without being seen¡­


    Well there were ways around that. I snuck around and disappeared his Crusher, and then approached from behind.


    I waited for it to get loud again and reached out.


    Chrome arms wrapped around his head and pressed my knife against his throat.


    ¡°Quiet.¡± I demanded not in my own voice, and while he surged upwards in surprise I was more than strong enough to ride it out until he had a moment to realize what was happening.


    He opened his mouth to shout, but ¡®sharp¡¯ was a sensation that tended to quiet screaming.


    I gave him a few seconds long enough to realize what situation he was in, to realize his gun that was on the other side of the couch was gone, I noticed by the way he slightly twisted his head.


    And then he relaxed.


    ¡°Good. I¡¯m not here for you. Or for your chooms.¡± I told him confidently. Sexy Motoko Voice whispered in his ear. ¡°So you should know what I am after. Yuto. Where is he?¡±


    Slowly I eased off enough the blade could still be felt, but that he could swallow a bit.


    ¡°Don¡¯t know. Honest. I was letting him crash here for Roger! They met in the slammer. I know the kid met with Captain Sherman, made it all good. So I just said yes. You uh¡­ Tyger?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± I told him truthfully. ¡°I¡¯m just a merc. Just doing a job to catch an asshole. Which is why I need to know where he went.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know! Roger¡¯s the only one that¡¯d know. He and Yuto left yesterday! Haven¡¯t seen either of ¡®em since.¡±


    ¡°Roger huh?¡± I spoke as I breached back into the man''s Agent. Finding a listing under Roger.


    ¡°Roger Almeda?¡±


    ¡°Y-yeah!¡±


    ¡°And you don¡¯t know where they went?¡± I prodded poking a little tighter for a second so he couldn¡¯t just instantly respond. ¡°Because there are a few ways this encounter ends. One of them ends with me appreciative of your candor. The other doesn¡¯t.¡± Then I gave a little so he could speak again.


    ¡°W-What¡¯s candor mean?¡±


    I blinked. That was not the answer I was expecting, and I think dipshit realized that too as he went real quiet.


    ¡°Answer my question first.¡± I demanded cutting to the point with a gentle nudge of the blade.


    ¡°I don¡¯t! I swear! Roger¡¯s thing with Yuto was approved, but it was his Op. They figured hey, TC knocking off TC¡¯s not really a concern ya know?¡±


    ¡°Yeah well shit has a tendency to spread.¡± I grumbled a bit as I considered what to do. I had a phone number, which I could track if I went into the net, but that would require the guy to even pick up.


    Which meant killing this guy was the best bet¡­


    But that sort of went against the idea of trying not to cause a gangwar.


    I was about to decide when I noticed it. Pushing my hostage''s vision down so he couldn¡¯t see I took note of something interesting.


    The account on the TV just got kicked off, because someone else had logged into it.


    I stared at it for a bit long enough my hostage started getting visibly nervous, but a plan was coming together. I breached the TV and confirmed the account details, saved it to a shard, and smirked once more full of teeth.


    Well that just made my life easier.


    ¡°Alright pal. Here is what¡¯s going to happen. We are going to make a call to your choom. Stay quiet okay? I¡¯d hate to make this friendly phone call a homicide.¡±


    ¡°S-sure.¡±


    I hacked once more into his agent and routed my call through him.


    A few moments later the call picked up.


    *Grant what¡¯d ya want?*


    *Hello Mr. Almeda.¡± I answered using my Sexy Motoko Voice. *You are currently harboring someone that I would very much like to find.*


    *Shit. What¡¯d ya do to Grant? Huh, you asian cunt! I¡¯ll fuckin¡¯ kill you!*


    *Currently nothing. Nor do I really have much desire to harm him. I¡¯m a professional. I don¡¯t leave a trail of corpses. How much for you to walk away and let Yuto meet his fate?* I asked, because as funny as it was to remember from time to time. I was doing pretty well for myself. And eddies could save me a lot of time.


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    *Fuck you. I¡¯m not accepting shit from some corpo bitch.*


    *I¡¯m a freelance merc Mr. Almeda. Hardly a corp. C¡¯mon what¡¯s the point. You know Yuto is going to get what¡¯s coming to him. Just walk away you can make some eddies, and go back home to your real chooms, and not the gonk Wannabe Tyger Claw.*


    *Fuck. You.*


    *Well it was worth a try. Just so you know, while I don¡¯t kill anyone outside my target, if you are protecting him, that does put you under the scope.*


    *Heh! I¡¯m a Lieutenant. You want to try and off me? Come and get it bitch. I have an army at my back!*


    *I doubt 6th Street will do much more than a meager amount to protect Yuto. We both know that.*


    *Then come and try bitch!*


    *Tell me where you are, and I¡¯ll happily do so!* I mocked, knowing the coming answer.


    *Fucking find me!* And the line went dead.


    ¡°Alright¡­ Grant was it?¡±


    ¡°T-that¡¯s me.¡±


    ¡°Alright. I¡¯ve gotten everything I can here, which is disappointing, so it¡¯s time for me to leave. Luckily for you, I have nothing against you, so we can make this easy. I have two ways to keep you out of the way for a bit. One is painless, but lasts longer, the other hurts, but you¡¯ll be good to go in about ten minutes. Your choice.¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­ Painless?¡± He asked, and before he even finished his optics went out, and I rose up, he jerked away and swept his hands around as he realized what had happened, but I was already heading out.


    It didn¡¯t take me long to slip through the security door, and lock it behind me.


    Maybe a bit mean, since with his optics out, there was little chance he would be able to get out without assistance.


    But I¡¯m pretty sure he had lied to me, so fuck him.


    With that I slipped back out of the building. Grants muffled yells for help well hidden by the building''s thick floors and walls. Without eyes, and without any ability to call someone, he¡¯d be stuck in there for at least a while.


    ¡ª---


    ¡°So we don¡¯t have anything?¡± Ichi asked, and I shook my head.


    ¡°Actually, I think I know exactly how to track Yuto right to his safehouse, but it¡¯ll take some netrunning, and maybe some favors. The NCTV service could be protected pretty well.¡±


    ¡°NCTV?¡± Hiromi asked. I nodded looking around the gas station across the Arroyo. We had stopped here to discuss what I had found. Turbo¡¯s bright light hung down on us, but thankfully the place was quiet.


    ¡°Yuto the dumbass is still logging into his NCTV sub wherever he is. I literally saw him do it in real time, because Grant the guy in the basement logged in, and it kicked him out. That means he¡¯s actively using it wherever he goes¡­ Even if he bolts I¡¯d put eddies that Yuto is a complete dumbfuck and so we¡¯ll always be able to track him given enough time¡­ If I can get into the NCTV system and track the address.¡±


    ¡°Fuck yeah!¡± Malcolm shouted, startling all of us. ¡°That¡¯s what I¡¯m talking about!¡± Malcolm whooped as he jumped and cheered.


    I blinked at him, before laughing, I couldn¡¯t help it. All of this shit going on, but Malcolm was just excited to do our job.


    ¡°Alright. I need to go into the net, so I¡¯d like at least one of you with me. Malcolm, still needs to put his car away.¡± I said, eyeing the rocket launchers set up on top of Malcolm''s car.


    That was the secret to my exfil if shit had gotten bad. 6th Street would have faced heavy artillery if I ever needed a real escape.


    ¡°Aww. Alright. I¡¯ll probably catch up with you after though.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll go with you Motoko! Besides, I¡¯ll be the one to inform Fujimura about when we complete the gig so it¡¯s best if I stay close.¡± Hiromi added with a smile.


    ¡°I¡¯ll come with.¡± Ichi offered with a shrug, and with that everything was decided.


    We drove off not long after, and I sent a text to Jun to let him know we were on the trail.


    *I¡¯m glad you¡¯re safe.* Was all I got back and I knew from the lacking response that Jun was still feeling conflicted about this.


    Yuto was his choom. What if someone told me I had to hunt down Malcolm or something?


    I¡¯d refuse and start shooting, but¡­


    I wasn¡¯t Jun, I had no attachment to this guy, and this all could have been avoided if the dumbass had just not decided to get revenge against an important guy in a powerful gang with no backing.


    Hell, I could have assassinated this guy without any real problem. Yuto just didn¡¯t have the skills to back up his actions.


    I felt a momentary conflict myself.


    I didn¡¯t like the TC. I didn¡¯t like killing someone for them, after what they had done. And this was Jun¡¯s old friend.


    There was a bit of history there with old Motoko as well¡­ What would she have felt? Would she be calling for Yuto¡¯s head, or would she be trying to protect him?


    I shook it off.


    That was that, and this was this.


    I was me.


    Shaking off the moral concerns, I focused on what I was going to do. Which was the job I had agreed to do, and the Tyger Claws would uphold their side of it. Wakako had my back, and Fujimura¡­ Well he obviously wanted Jun as an underling. So Yuto would die, and things would go back to normal.


    And maybe in the future I would assassinate someone once Wakako stopped paying me to not do so.


    I could wait.


    Tomorrow. A year, ten? What does it really matter? That was the thing about revenge, people were always in a rush to get it, but I felt my blood pump through my heart cold.


    I could be patient when it came to revenge. When I wasn¡¯t being paid, and it really didn¡¯t matter if they lived or died. A little wait to get them later when they weren¡¯t expecting it? That was no problem to me.


    As long as they didn¡¯t cause any more problems I was content to wait.


    I wondered¡­ When they saw me ten years from now, what would the person I killed face look like? Would they even remember? Would they realize that I had patiently counted down the time?


    ¡°Heh¡­ Hehehe!¡± I laughed to myself as I drove through the Neon of Night City.


    ¡°Huh? Motoko?¡±


    ¡°Urk, Nothing!¡± I assured Hiromi as I waved off her concerns at my sudden evil laughter.


    ¡ª--


    I slipped into the web with a blink and let myself adapt for a moment before jumping out into the web and heading towards my first stop.


    The NCTV Services Site, just needed to check it¡¯s security and if I could slip in I would, if I couldn¡¯t I could always go talk to Yoko.


    The site was huge, which was well within my expectation. Practically everyone in Night City needed a sub to watch TV. So of course the server would need the capacity to handle all of that traffic.


    I slipped into the main entrance along with normal traffic. Just accessing the website. Yep, just going to check my bill. Nothing to see here.


    The server was pretty bare bones visually. It certainly wasn¡¯t a site meant to cater to Netrunners. So the front page looked like an empty room with a few options to access symbolized by a terminal, and then doors.


    Locked doors. I took a moment in the lobby just to feel around. I had no doubt there would be a runner on this server. The question was how active they were, what kind of security they had, and if they¡¯d notice my increased load.


    Probably not considering how large the server is, but you never know. Some people kept an eye on the smallest of things.


    Walking around since the lobby was netrunner-less, I pressed a hand against the locked door. This was a login terminal. But instead of even trying to enter credentials. I just started breaching in. It was hard, really hard. Instantly the security didn¡¯t so much fight back, as just act as a nearly impenetrable wall.


    The login system was the biggest entry point for normal people after all. It had to handle a crazy amount of traffic.


    Slowly I seeped in tendrils. Bit¡¯s of data accessing through the Login systems, UI. The redirect to access the password reset system was where I made my entry point, and a moment later I was in the door and into the main server.


    Already my facehuggers were dashing into the server to try and hide me, and I did everything I could to limit my impact on the server. Slowly I let my sense of the server around me grow, and I realized that I wasn¡¯t alone.


    There were definitely netrunners here.


    I didn¡¯t have long then. I quickly started breaching into the admin section of the server.


    I needed to access Yuto¡¯s account data. They¡¯d definitely have the address where the service was going to on the backend. I just needed to find it.


    I moved, going through a few hallways full of daemons that thankfully didn¡¯t notice me as I crept through their guard and into another section of the server, I found it. The admin access point.


    It looked like a cube, with a bunch of chains around it securing a big lock. A bit on the nose, but I started hacking, doing my best to keep it subtle.


    The security was good, but wasn¡¯t the best. I realized pretty quickly it was an old security program. One of those corporate programs with catchy slogans like ¡®Ultra-secure¡¯ or something like that.


    I cracked it in forty seconds taking a look around and not seeing anything paying any attention to this section of the data fortress I poked my hand in.


    Finding his account was easy since I had his information from seeing him log in. A few moments later I gathered the address data including the most recent activation.


    Saved and stored I pulled free and took two steps before I threw up an ICE Barrier.


    The splash of code that sizzled off it was a fairly nasty worm that would happily chew your data into junk.


    ¡°Got you.¡± A netrunner said and even as I watched another showed up, and I could practically feel the attention of more coming.


    ¡°Not bad.¡± I commented in turn as I poked my head out from behind my shield. ¡°Let me guess, some sort of additional code required when accessing the admin server?¡± I questioned realizing the truth of it instantly.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Now you are going to tell me exactly what account you gave infinite access to, otherwise I¡¯m going to trap you here until you squeal.¡±


    I blinked.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean what? What account did you just give an upgrade to? If you make me search through the server myself I swear to god!¡± The Netrunner growled practically sending death code at me with just his eyes.


    ¡°Okay hold up. I didn¡¯t alter any account data.¡±


    ¡°Bullshit!¡±


    ¡°No, seriously. That¡¯s now why I¡¯m here. Let¡¯s talk, yeah? I¡¯m already done, so we can be cool.¡± I stepped out from around my data and held my hands up. Not quite the same thing as it was in the real world, but netrunners were human. We all understood what it meant.


    ¡°Talk then. And tell me what you did.¡± The netrunner that caught me glared, the guy had a visor over his eyes, so I couldn¡¯t see that. But his mouth was caught in a snarl.


    ¡°Right. I¡¯m a merc. Hunting down a guy that kept trying to assassinate some guy he shouldn¡¯t have. I managed to find where the guy had been before, but he was already gone¡­ But he¡¯s a moron. He had logged into his NCTV account at his safehouse. Guess what I saw while looking for clues? He logged in at his new safe house.¡± I laughed, because it was still hilarious. ¡°So I just grabbed the address from his account. That¡¯s it.¡±


    The Runner looked to his chooms that still looked ready to attack before he waved them back a bit.


    ¡°Prove it.¡±


    I rolled my eyes, and pulled up a file of what I had grabbed. It appeared in my hands as a shard and I tossed it over.


    He didn¡¯t touch it at first. Letting it sort of hover in front of him as he scanned it down before eventually he risked it and seemed to nod.


    ¡°It checks out?¡±


    ¡°See, not a scammer, just a headhunter.¡± I offered. ¡°Listen, I want to go and catch this guy, but I know you guys catching me here is a bunch of work. How about I give you the log of my access points, you can do some cleaning up and you can tell your bosses you ripped the data out of me or something?¡±


    The three men and one woman all looked at each other before sort of shrugging.


    ¡°Gonna cost you more than that.¡± The lead runner said after a moment.


    ¡°Alright. How about a code debugging for each of you. I¡¯ll give you an RSS, you send me the code, I¡¯ll clean it up for you, and in exchange we¡¯re square.¡±


    ¡°Seriously?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s something I¡¯m pretty good at. Yoko, from the Roundabout uses my services.¡± I enticed them and that seemed to get them all looking around in surprise. I guess Yoko was known to them.


    ¡°Deal, and I¡¯ll be contacting Yoko if you flake on us! She¡¯ll enforce the deal!¡± The main runner demanded and I shrugged.


    ¡°That¡¯s fine. Here. Use this, send the code over whenever. One program each.¡± I offered flicking some deets, and then I threw my access log over as well. ¡°There. We good?¡±


    It took a moment, but he nodded. ¡°Yeah. We¡¯re square as long as you leave and don¡¯t cause any-.¡±


    ¡°Perfect.¡± Then in a blur I vanished, Breach jumping four times straight through them and through their security pretending it didn¡¯t even exist, until I was back at the lobby and then out.


    They probably got a huge surge from that move, but I had things to do. I jumped back home.


    Time to hunt down Yuto.


    ¡ª-


    NCTV Corporate Security Netrunner Andrew Markone


    ¡°The fuck?¡±


    ¡°Dammit! That was a huge surge in traffic. I¡¯m going to need to check the servers!¡±


    ¡°No seriously, what the fuck, did she just vanish?¡±


    ¡°I think that was¡­ Holy fuck, that was multiple Breach Jumps through the server and security instantly. She¡¯s gone. Long gone.¡± He muttered to himself staring at the server data and just¡­


    ¡°Glad she didn¡¯t fucking flatline us.¡±


    ¡°Yeah. I don¡¯t get paid enough for that.¡±

 Chapter 192

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe this jackass was trying to hide under our nose.¡± Malcolm grumbled. I had been gone long enough for him to catch up, as we gathered  in the netrunner cave.


    ¡°Tell me about it.¡± I hissed. Yuto had been hiding in the same apartment complex that Jun and I had used to live in. Right in the middle of Japantown!


    Yuto was lucky that he hadn¡¯t actually bought our old apartment. If he had I would have taken that a bit personally¡­


    It made me think back to our old home. I still kinda missed it, but¡­ I did like all the extra room in the new apartment, and the nicer building.


    Dangit. I could never let Jun know that I agreed with his decision about the new apartment now.


    We were moving in to take him out. Yuto and Roger were both hiding out inside from what I could gather, so it made things complicated.


    Would killing Roger cause issues with 6th St?


    Would disabling him even be possible, the guy was mid way up in 6th St. he could be borged out, or just a guy with some army training. So we set up the plan. Ichi and Malcolm would stay at the bottom floor in full rig while I went up to the second floor to find these assholes.


    I had my quick hacks ready, but I wasn¡¯t going to hesitate to fire as well. I¡¯d rather they both be dead and have this issue solved with some Tyger-6th St. issues, then let it continue on.


    I parked my Quadra while Ichi¡¯s van parked behind me and all three of us jumped out with Hiromi staying in the Quadra as overwatch for the boys.


    Then we charged in. Just as planned Ichi and Malcolm both took the entrance, one facing out, and one facing inward. While I rushed the stairs.


    The security remembered its master, and opened without hesitation as I rushed up to the second floor on silent footsteps. Rushing to the room at the end of the hall, I posted up.


    There was a security pad, but this apartment''s entire security system had been under my thumb for a long time. I prepared and the door popped open as I charged in rifle raised.


    Empty?


    I quickly checked the bedrooms, and even rolled into the kitchen to sweep the bathroom.


    Empty!?


    I rushed back to the main room and looked around. This apartment was empty. Not lived in¡­. Something was wrong. The address for the access had been here.


    I looked over at the entertainment system and scanned it. Nothing, but no. There was something.


    The cable line that ran to the wall! I scanned it and followed it along and instantly noticed it was running into a black box before splitting off¡­ Someone stole cable from this apartment in the past, rerouting everything through. This was old work. So likely Yuto wouldn¡¯t have even¡­ The next door apartment!


    I heard a crash and instantly Hiromi spoke up.


    *I see him! He just jumped out of the second floor window!*


    I heard gun fire and cursed as I rushed to the other apartment down the hall, it opened just as quickly. I rushed to the open window and jumped out. A second floor drop was nothing, and as I fellI caught sight of him across the street.


    Yuto leapt into a beat up car, parked down the street. One that I hadn¡¯t registered as anything unusual and started driving away.


    I hit the floor with an easy landing.


    *Hiromi!*


    I called out, but she was already on it. The Quadra roared to life, and the passenger door opened as she spun the wheels to let me enter. I jumped in, and we were off.


    I glanced back at the boys and Ichi and Malcolm were rushing for his truck.


    *Try to catch up!* I called to them and heard their acceptance as we were off.


    I focused on Archer Quartz that Yuto had leapt in that was tearing up the road ahead of us.


    My Quadra was faster, but I also wasn¡¯t driving. I threw on the seatbelt and leaned out the still open door bracing my Copperhead on the edge of the car.


    Unfortunately I couldn¡¯t get a shot. Hiromi was playing catch up, and the heavy traffic meant I was being careful with my aim.


    When Yuto hit the first red light, he just drove up onto the sidewalk to avoid the traffic, scaring off pedestrians, and I winced as one person got clipped.


    ¡°Careful!¡± I called out to Hiromi as she went to chase him.


    Ahead Yuto floored into the street and cut off another car, the Galena spun out to avoid him, and Hiromi slowed to avoid it, giving Yuto another lead.


    I lined up a few times and fired a few bursts into the back window, but it cracked across the armored rear glass, and caused Yuto to drive even crazier.


    The Quartz he was in was definitely modded. Probably Rogers.


    I growled as the asshole literally just turned off the road and drove straight through a strip mall.


    ¡°Don¡¯t follow him!¡± I yelped as Hiromi made to follow, but eventually decided not to, instead staying mostly on the road as she gave chase.


    I kept my rifle pointed, but between the pedestrians stalls, and the chairs and tables sent flying as he rammed them I couldn¡¯t get a clear shot.


    ¡°Try to stay on him!¡±


    ¡°I am!¡± Hiromi snapped back and I nodded, as I watched his Quartz hit a set of stairs a bit roughly, but managed to drive up and then skid back onto the road.


    I glared at the red that stained the front of his car. He hadn¡¯t cared about not hitting people.


    Then he took off, and despite our efforts, he was getting a strong lead as we were stuck weaving through traffic.


    Slowly though we started catching up. Yuto faced the same traffic and crowded streets that we did, meant that we were able to make use of the paths he created through the sidewalk or through muscling against cars pushing them out of the way.


    I brought up the Copperhead and aimed.


    We had a straight away, and ahead Yuto had to slow to push a Galena out of the way.


    I fired, then again, and the passenger windshield cracked but held.


    It also startled Yuto into accelerating and just bulldozing his past a few cars.


    It wasn¡¯t exactly doing well for his car though. And I could see sparks underneath as something was hanging down and scraping now.


    But I felt my eyes narrow as I realized where we were going.


    Arroyo.


    Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    ¡°He¡¯s making a break for 6th St. Territory.¡± I told Hiromi, who cursed.


    ¡°They might interfere if he gets there!¡±


    ¡°Then let¡¯s not let him.¡± I took aim again and breathed in and out. I pulled the trigger and his back window gained another spider crack.


    Just had to keep it up.


    Every time I got a shot I took it. Even if it wasn¡¯t a good one. I just needed enough to stop Yuto one way or another.


    He started taking more and more risks, and his Quartz suffered from it. His front wheel started rocking badly after he slammed into a concrete barrier trying to push through a traffic block.


    The Quartz started losing a lot of oil or gas out the back when he hit a curb and he nearly lost control as the Quartz bounced around.


    The Quadra handled it all better even if it was a bigger car, and so it took us time to get through the same spaces he had punched through.


    The game of cat and mouse continued with the shots of my Copperhead weakening the armored glass more and more.


    Finally Yuto made it out of Japantown and across the bridge to Arroyo, and we chased after him. The roar of the Quadra catching us up much faster than Yuto¡¯s damaged Quartz Archer.


    Finally we got close enough and a straight enough path.


    I flipped the selector and braced and opened up. The Copperhead roared as round after round smashed into the back of the Quartz.


    More and more until finally the rear windshield broke, it simply couldn¡¯t take any more and Yuto jerked as rounds started firing into the cabin and into the front windshield and hopefully into him.


    I reloaded but he spun the wheel and took a turn much faster than he should have.


    He slammed into a wall protecting an industrial park, and Hiromi slowed to keep from crashing and then we were there.


    It was time.


    The Quadra slowed to a stop. I kept the Copperhead up as I started walking over to the seemingly disabled car.


    But before I could get there. Cars rumbled down the road and I glared.


    6th Street was here.


    The trucks had men hanging off the side assault rifles ready and I glanced around realizing what the situation was.


    Hiromi was here, and while I was kitted up. This was a major move from 6th Street.


    I¡¯d have to take this carefully.


    The trucks rumbled to a stop before I could get to Yuto and suddenly I was surrounded. But no one had started firing yet.


    ¡°Howdy.¡± One of them called out as they walked over and I took in his cocky confident stride and Overture on his hip.


    A cowboy.


    Great.


    I tilted my copperhead a bit making sure to show that it wasn¡¯t pointed at the guys.


    ¡°Can I help you?¡± I asked loudly, even as the soldiers turned gangsters approached.


    ¡°Sure, head on out and lose yourself in someone else''s turf.¡± The Cowboy offered as he settled into an arrogant stance, his thumbs dug into his belt.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be happy to leave¡­ Once this one is taken care of.¡± I offered, but from the ways the men continued to approach me, I knew that wasn¡¯t the plan they had in mind.


    ¡°¡®Fraid that ain¡¯t happening. This is 6th Street turf, if we had random Tyger Claw fuckers showing up and just let them cause trouble it wouldn¡¯t be our turf for long.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not Tyger Claw. I¡¯m a merc. Just doin¡¯ a gig. I don¡¯t think we have any business unless he¡¯s one of yours.¡± I pointed and Yuto was struggling to climb out of the Archer Quartz he had absolutely mulched.


    ¡°Maybe we do.¡±


    ¡°You sure?¡± I asked pointedly. ¡°Because that gonk¡¯s been trying to assassinate a higher up in the Tygers over the last couple weeks. I was told 6th Street had nothing to do with it when I took the gig to hunt him down. It¡¯d be really strange if that wasn¡¯t the case.¡± I said coolly, even as I had started working, I needed to disable as many of the weapons pointed at me as I could. Just in case.


    ¡°Well you heard right. But I still stand by what I said. We don¡¯t let other punks show up and murder gonks in our territory.¡± I noticed two of the soldiers grab Yuto and drag him out of the car. He was bleeding, I must have winged him at least once. ¡°So I think it¡¯s time for you to head off. Unless you want trouble.¡±


    I kept my face blank as I heard Ichi and Malcolm arrive, but thankfully he had been smart enough to park as he turned the corner and not charge in. It added another element into the situation, hopefully a good one. I sent him a quick message to sit tight.


    ¡°No, but maybe an offer. How much to let me take that one?¡± I asked and that caused the Cowboy hat to shift a little. Surprise. He hadn¡¯t expected a monetary offer.


    ¡°Yeah? I don¡¯t think you got the eddies for it.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯d be surprised. Rogue pays well.¡± I said throwing out her name to try and keep them off balance.


    So far more than half the group''s weapons would be disabled at a thought. But the question was if I should even let this come to combat.


    Thinking it over I realized that the gig wasn¡¯t to shoot up a bunch of 6th Street thugs.


    At least not this time.


    ¡°Well I do. C¡¯mon he¡¯s nothing to you or 6th Street. The guy is former Tyger Claw.¡±


    ¡°Yeah maybe.¡± The Cowboy said before shrugging. ¡°But no matter what he was, right now, the fact is this is Arroyo, and we don¡¯t let shit like this slide. It¡¯s part of our good neighbor program.¡±


    I caught his eye, staring him down and knew that this guy was feeding me bullshit. They had been called in to save him, and were throwing their weight around to keep him alive.


    For some reason. Why does 6th Street want Yuto?


    ¡°Alright then. I¡¯m not paid enough to fight 6th Street over it.¡± I lied, with a smile on my face as I backed up.


    I could see a few of the gonks wanted to push. To get into a fight, or maybe take us along, but Cowboy just smiled and waved as I slowly walked backwards to the Quadra. And slipped inside the passenger seat.


    ¡°Get us out of here. Drive slow, casual.¡± I told Hiromi who nodded and started doing just that. The Quadra slowly backed off and then out onto the street and rumbled past Ichi who quickly followed us, all of us heading down the street until we once more crossed the bridge out of Arroyo.


    ¡°Motoko?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± I answered back. While I knew we would be able to find Yuto again, especially through his NCTV access. That didn¡¯t mean this wasn¡¯t a problem.


    ¡°We need to tell Fujimura.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll call him.¡± Hiromi confirmed and I nodded while still glaring out the window.


    ¡ª--


    We didn¡¯t head back to the netrunner cave, instead we headed home.


    Yuto was injured. He wouldn¡¯t be active for a while, likely if 6th Street wanted him alive, they would want to take him to a ripper and put him back together first.


    We had a bit of time.


    That was why Jun suddenly had four annoyed teenagers armed in heavy equipment drag their feet into the apartment and flop around the couch.


    ¡°Hello Motoko. I¡¯m glad you are having a nice day. Oh my day? It¡¯s been fine.¡± Jun said after about thirty seconds of all of us flopping around on the couches.


    ¡°We almost had Yuto.¡± I answered back and Jun flinched, bad.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Oh you ¡®almost¡¯ caught him?¡± Akari asked, almost mocking.


    ¡°He managed to get into a car and made it to Arroyo. 6th Street jumped in just as we had him, and protected him.¡± I said, a little annoyed at Akari. ¡°Which means that this is even more complicated than we thought. 6th Street are protecting Yuto. What do you think that means?¡±


    ¡°Shit.¡± Jun curses and stands up pacing. ¡°Did you tell-?¡±


    ¡°Fujimura was informed.¡± Hiromi spoke up from where she had been laying flat on her back. FInally she grumbled and sat up pulling some of the gear free. ¡°He isn¡¯t happy, and is going to send a few messages to his contacts in 6th Street, to try and find out what is going on.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not a good look.¡± Ichi said then. ¡°If that starts spreading, and the low totem Tygers start thinking 6th Street is behind the assassination attempts¡­ It means they will retaliate, which will drag everyone into a new war.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not going to happen, because we are going to catch Yuto and the whole thing will end with that.¡± I said instead.


    Jun though was throwing puppy dog eyes at me. He hadn¡¯t had the will to tell me to stop chasing Yuto, but he still didn¡¯t like it.


    But while he had tried to get me to promise to leave Yuto alone, I hadn¡¯t actually done it. So that means I wasn¡¯t bound by it! That¡¯s sibling rule number four!


    But I had no doubt that if 6th Street wanted him alive, they¡¯d be guarding him¡­


    Fuck.


    ¡°What¡¯s on TV?¡± Malcolm asked, and a few moments later Jun turned on the TV and everyone seemed to be satisfied to drown themselves in stupid for a while.


    I closed my eyes and just let myself process what had happened.


    Why had Yuto been in the wrong apartment? If he had just been in the right apartment when I came in that would be it.


    My frustration at the completely random freak chance of some old apartment dweller stealing cable meant that I hit the wrong place, and somehow Yuto had known. That was the part that pissed me off the most. How had he known? I hadn¡¯t exactly been loud when I entered the apartment.


    ¡°I should go check out the apartment. Maybe find out what was going on, how he heard me. Did he have a camera or something? It-¡± I started to say, but Hiromi waved me down.


    ¡°Motoko.¡± Hiromi said and I stopped. ¡°It was just a freak accident. Fujimura will send people to the apartments to look around. If you want we can ask them what they find, but¡­ It¡¯s not your fault. We¡¯ll get him next time.¡±


    I swallowed the words that wanted to bite out of my throat and nodded. Flopping back down.


    ¡°I hate losing.¡±


    ¡ª--


    ¡°Roger Almeda.¡± I growled glaring at the dossier that Fujimura had sent over.


    Turns out the guy wasn¡¯t just some off the street 6th Street gonk.


    He was apparently ex-Militech Special forces. He was the crazy kind of Solo that followed Blackhands words religiously. The whole sleeping in a new location every time, and sometimes that meant sleeping in a cardboard box in an alley that¡¯s even better because people can¡¯t track you to it.


    ¡°He¡¯s known to us. Dangerous and methodical.¡± Fujimura of all people said. He had arrived at the apartment and handed over the information they had gained himself.


    ¡°How did Yuto of all people meet this guy? I thought they met in prison!¡±


    ¡°They did.¡± Fujimura agreed and then there was a glare on his face. ¡°This is conjecture, but Yuto meeting Roger Almeda in prison could have been targeted. He isn¡¯t the first young man in prison that has been filled with poison for his arrest.¡±


    ¡°Yeah well. Great job.¡± I grumbled as I stared at the info in my Agent.


    The second apartment had been heavily secured, and it turned out Yuto¡¯s apartment had been watched by some small spy cameras not in the apartment, but secured to the outside of the building across the street.


    Roger had an eye on the apartment, and when we arrived it had sent an alert to Yuto causing him to bolt.


    Great. I had flubbed it too.


    ¡°Whatever.¡± I decided, shaking it off. ¡°I¡¯ll find him soon, and this time I¡¯ll just put a bullet in him.¡± I said and Fujimura nodded.


    ¡°While we would prefer him delivered to us¡­ I¡¯ll accept the contract if you can secure his death. We will still need proof.¡±


    ¡°Does a BD recording work?¡± I asked, and Fujimura after a moment, a slight twitch to his lips.


    ¡°It does.¡± He finally said after a few moments and Hiromi snickered as she watched on.


    ¡°Alright. Then we are back to waiting a bit to see when Yuto pops up again. I¡¯ll keep an eye out, but I¡¯m pretty sure our current way of tracking him will still work.¡± I said and Fujimura curled an eyebrow at me, but I refused to say more.


    As it stood only my chooms knew how we had tracked Yuto, and I was going to keep it that way.


    ¡°You should have called in assistance once you realized where he was.¡± Fujimura suddenly said, causing the room to go quiet as everyone looked between us.


    I sighed, raising my hand up I ran my fingers across my face, scratching idly against my forehead with my cool chrome.


    ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± I acknowledged. ¡°This gig wasn¡¯t just for reputation, it was personal. I should have brought you in the moment I realized where he was. More people would have kept him from escaping.¡±


    ¡°Hmm. Then I will leave it at that. In this instance. Kusanagi. I want this completed. No matter what resources are needed.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡± With that Fujimura turned away from me and walked over to Jun. They spoke quietly for a bit, but I purposefully didn¡¯t listen in.


    Time to get back to work.

 Chapter 193

    The next day I went into the net, and checked the NCTV server. Thankfully, thanks to my Perk gained knowledge I had slipped a few backdoors into the server as I breached it, so the netrunners never noticed me peaking in again. I was able to slip in without issue and double check the information.


    Nothing yet. Yuto¡¯s subscription was still set to the Japantown apartment.


    I decided not to waste time trying to find him through cameras considering the sparseness of good cameras in Arroyo, and instead focusing on other things.


    It turns out, I had a problem, and it was time to solve it.


    While at the netrunner cave I opened up the batch of files that Yoko had sent over to me, and pulled out a quick hack I hadn¡¯t really considered using before.


    Vehicle hacks.


    They were¡­ Different from normal quick hacking, but vehicles did have computers that could be hacked just like anything else.


    They just also tended to have much stronger defenses, but almost never outright Black ICE.


    The idea was simple. I was going to take a Quick Hack that would make the on board computer think there was an emergency and brake hard.


    That way no one would be getting away from me like yesterday again.


    The hack, like most of the stuff Yoko had sent me, was pretty rough. Full of extra data, or just terrible coding cycles.


    I ripped out the important bit and started re-writing it from the ground up, not in the real world, but in my Server Lobby.


    That way I could also sit down and finally do some more work for my Tachikoma as well.


    I hadn¡¯t been giving it the full attention it needed, so I was doing that while programming.


    Sitting in my server lobby, feet up on the high end table, one hand programming what I needed my Tachikoma to do, cleaning up junk data, while the other worked on the hack was a pretty fun experience.


    The cooling cap kept my Cyberdeck cool enough I wasn¡¯t having any issues and it felt good to just sit and do some work.


    ¡°Why the hell does this code have data on heating seats!? It doesn¡¯t fucking matter!¡± I yelled planning on sending Yoko a piece of my mind for always giving me such garbage to work with.


    The hack really was simple enough. I would breach in using my own skills, so my knowledge from Strong Breach would let me just hammer through a vehicles defenses. This let me slim down the program by removing all the insertion protocols from the hack. Then I would dump it into the car¡¯s processor. It would slam on the brakes thinking the engine was damaged.


    It created a very slim program in the end, but I continued tinkering with streamlining the process. The many differences in car manufacturers was an annoyance, but even the cheapest Galena had an on board computer.


    I just had to adjust the hack to be able to activate regardless of system. Locking down brakes was actually really easy, because anti-lock brakes all used computer systems.


    I glanced over at the Tachikoma.


    It was currently set up in a server section. A small maze I had created and it was navigating it.


    For the first time the Tachikoma truly needed to use its intelligence to explore the maze, learning to move in a space that wasn¡¯t clear to the poor thing¡­


    Well right now it was just going in circles only taking the left path¡­


    I sighed and sent an adjustment order, and it stopped letting the process get logged realizing it wasn¡¯t going anywhere.


    Then it took the left turn again.


    Well¡­ It was a learning process.


    ¡ª--


    I slurped up some noodles staring blankly at the television that was playing above the ramen bar.


    Boring news, but whatever, it wasn¡¯t like I was actually focused on it. I was just decompressing from staying twelve hours inside the net.


    It wasn¡¯t¡­ Terrible. And I felt okay, but I definitely felt a little burned out.


    Sluuuuurp.


    I had checked on the NCTV connection again before logging out, but didn¡¯t get anything. It wasn¡¯t that much of a surprise. He had gotten in a nasty car crash and I probably shot him at least once. Healing, especially fast healing, was expensive. He was probably put together with tape and spit and left to heal naturally.


    I doubt 6th Street cared that much about him after all.


    Whatever plot they had for him was likely purely selfish. Yuto was a dead man walking. I could only wonder if he knew it already.


    News flicked onto commercials and I ignored the stupid thing trying to sell me Buck a Slice and continued to zone out.


    Stupid Yuto. I could be doing more important things than hunting his gonk ass down.


    Suddenly notes startled me out of my reverie and I jerked as I stared at the TV.


    At the sounds of old brass and thrumming strings.


    A song I recognized because the only reason it existed in Night City was because of me.


    ¡°Mr. Stud, All night. Every Night. Don¡¯t be soft, upgrade to version 2.3 now.¡±


    I spit Ramen. Noodles escaped me, and one particular one went straight up my sinuses and out my nose.


    The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    No.


    No no no no!


    Not Tank! They couldn¡¯t have! They used Tank to sell Cyber Dicks!?


    ¡°Hey, watch it!¡± The owner of the stand yelled at me waving a ladle at me, but I was too busy coughing and hacking and pulling a noodle out of my nose.


    This was¡­.


    I stood up. Appetite completely killed. Tossing some eddies to the chef I stomped out.


    What the fuck?


    ¡ª--


    I knew Hiromi wouldn¡¯t be entirely sympathetic, so instead I went looking for a kinder touch.


    ¡°It¡¯s not right!¡± I whined, and Misty nodded at me slowly, fighting off her obvious amusement as she tried to be understanding.


    ¡°I can understand how it might be embarrassing.¡± Misty added, doing her best to keep her lips from twitching.


    ¡°I¡¯m really not feeling the love Misty.¡± I grumbled, but her grin just got a little wider.


    ¡°It¡¯s not something I have any advice for, but if you want to hear something¡­ Let it go. It¡¯s gone and done. You already said you didn¡¯t feel like you could do anything about it, right?¡±


    I grumbled poking at the mystic stuff Misty had on her desk, but in the end she was right. I wasn¡¯t going to go killing people for this, and I had sold it. I just didn¡¯t expect to hear my song on a- I shook it off. ¡°It just sucks.¡±


    ¡°Well if you don¡¯t like it, you should make enough songs that you never have to mind if one of them is used for something you don¡¯t like.¡± Misty offered almost too casually.


    I felt my eyes narrow as Misty did her best to continue to look casual.


    ¡°Did Hiromi put you up to this?¡± I demanded quietly and Misty finally broke, her forced casualness breaking into giggles.


    ¡°No, but she did mention about your big concert and all the songs you wrote.¡± Misty said as she pouted at me. ¡°I wasn¡¯t invited?¡±


    ¡°I-it isn¡¯t like that! I wasn¡¯t planning on inviting anyone! It was supposed to be¡­ Just me really, but my chooms have no respect for my imminent mental breakdowns.¡± I grumbled continuing to poke at the golden faux-Buddha on her desk.


    ¡°Hmm¡­ I¡¯ll forgive you¡­ If I get invited to the next one.¡±


    I groaned, flopping onto the table. ¡°I¡¯m not sure if there will be another time. This was supposed to be just a one off thing.¡±


    ¡°Hmm.¡± Misty very overdramatically hummed as I looked up from the buddha to glare at her.


    ¡°Stop psychoanalyzing me.¡±


    ¡°Me? Never, but your Chakras fluctuate every time-¡±


    ¡°Oh no you don¡¯t! Calling it spiritualism doesn¡¯t change anything. I don¡¯t need a psychologist¡­ Well I probably do, but that¡¯s another story, and not for this. I just wanted the musicI make to not be about dicks!¡± I said and then sighed. ¡°And I only planned on it being a me thing.¡±


    ¡°And if that is all it ever ends up, that¡¯s fine. But I did see the Concert Brain Dance. I don¡¯t usually like them, but Hiromi gave me one and I checked it out.¡±


    ¡°Ughhhh.¡± I whined embarrassed.


    ¡°You had fun. I know because I had fun.¡± Misty said and I puffed out my cheeks as I glared at her.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what you are talking about.¡±


    ¡°Okay. You don¡¯t have to accept your own feelings yet, but the longer you wait, the more your chakra will be thrown out of alignment. And¡­ If you can accept my own thoughts? I think you should explore this aspect of yourself. Instead of trying to hide it away.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll think about it.¡± I grumbled, but Misty just smiled as if she had already won, which annoyed me because she was likely right.


    ¡°Fine! I¡¯m going to go check in with Vik, get an exam done while I¡¯m here.¡± I grumbled, and Misty just laughed at me, as I very obviously fled. Maybe Vik would commiserate with me?


    Then I considered Vik¡¯s dad-energy and I felt like he would probably laugh and tease me more than Misty. Best not to mention it.


    ¡ª--


    I felt looser after Vik checked me over. Routine maintenance was actually, a pretty nice feeling. Well that and Vik had poked me about how rough I was with my hands. I had worn down my grippers faster than normal.


    I looked at my new fingertips plinking them together enjoying the dull sound as the ruber-ish tips gave me extra grip.


    ¡°Having fun?¡± A familiar voice called out and I only took a second before flipping the bird at the approaching man. ¡°That hurts Hermanita.¡± Jackie offered, hands to his chest pretending I had struck him but his smile ruined it.


    ¡°It¡¯s been a while Jack, going to see Vik?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right! Got a delivery for the old man.¡± He said, patting the bag in his hand and I couldn¡¯t help but look at it curiously.


    ¡°Yeah? What is it?¡±


    ¡°Ah ah ah. Can¡¯t reveal that Hermanita! Jack¡¯s on the job. Confidential stuff.¡± He said waving his eyebrows and I just quirked my own eyebrow back at him.


    ¡°But if the old ripper opens it, then it¡¯s up to him to keep it secret eh?¡±


    I smiled as I turned and waved at the steps down to Vik''s lair. I followed Jackie down and Vik looked up at the sudden entrance, his smile turning deeper as he saw me and Jackie.


    ¡°If you broke something already, I¡¯m not fixing it.¡± He said directly at me, and I just huffed as Jackie started chuckling just as loud. The two men¡¯s laughter syncing together into a mock track.


    ¡°Whatever.¡± I demanded arms crossed and glared until Jackie raised his arms in surrender.


    ¡°Alright, alright Hermanita put the phasers away.¡± He begged and then turned to Vik. ¡°Delivery for you, you old ripper. Compliments of the Dragon of-¡±


    ¡°Jack, stop making up names for Mrs. Okada. She doesn¡¯t like it.¡± Vik cut Jackie off, but took the bag and opened it up. ¡°And as always her contacts are good.¡± Vik said.


    ¡°What is it?¡± I asked popping up at his side to try and peak in. But despite Vik¡¯s flinch at my sudden appearance the glance inside the bag wasn¡¯t fun. ¡°Oh it¡¯s just some parts.¡±


    ¡°Heh, certainly nothing that will interest you Motoko. Just some parts for a client.¡± He said as he placed down the bag and started pulling out pieces.


    I took note of them, but it really was just civilian stuff. Even a canister of Real Skinn.


    ¡°Well that¡¯s it for me.¡± Jackie offered stretching out. ¡°Don¡¯t usually like being a courier but.¡± Jackie trailed off shrugging and I nodded.


    Wakako was like that.


    But considering Jackie was here, and I was still waiting on Yuto¡¯s reappearance¡­ ¡°Hey Jackie. Want to grab a drink, on me?¡± I asked, and Jackie looked hesitant, obviously but in the end he seemed to pull himself together.


    ¡°I¡¯m on my way back to the Coyote, meet me there?¡±


    ¡°Sure!¡±


    ¡ª--


    ¡°So this gonk is being hidden by 6th Street!¡±


    ¡°Heh, you certainly don¡¯t have much luck with them do you?¡± Jackie joked as he tipped back his drink.


    ¡°I guess not.¡± I agreed, remembering the last time I had called on Jackie had been for trouble in Arroyo. ¡°Don¡¯t suppose you have any 6th Street contacts that could find out why they are protecting Yuto?¡±


    ¡°I know some chooms, and some gonks sure.¡± Jackie said, tipping back another swallow.


    ¡°Don¡¯t listen to him, Jackie has chooms all over.¡± Pepe the bartender cut in, the man smirked at Jackie¡¯s scoffing retort.


    ¡°Jackie is good about making allies out of the strangest people.¡± I said, thinking about V.


    ¡°Yeah well, this time I can¡¯t help. Everyone knows this is a 6th Street and Tyger thing. If I asked around people¡¯d start asking why I want to get involved.¡± He said to me, and I nodded.


    ¡°Thanks anyway.¡± I said, but then I looked him over and decided to peel off the bandage. ¡°You know¡­ You never got back to me, about working with me more.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve been busy.¡± He said pointedly and I just nodded letting it go.


    I wasn¡¯t here to push anyways, but if Jackie was satisfied doing courier work¡­ Which I knew he wasn¡¯t.


    ¡°Well if you ever need any backup, don¡¯t hesitate to call. But I still need to figure out this 6th Street thing.¡±


    ¡°Wait.¡± He said reaching out to touch my shoulder but he didn''t actually grab me. ¡°Definitely seems like trouble. Gang politics, not just scraps between the pendejos at the bottom? Risky shit Hermanita. You be careful. Be ready to bail at the first sign something is off.¡±


    ¡°I will Jack. I got my chooms with me too. I¡¯ll be careful though.¡±


    The older man nodded, and then seemed like he wanted to say more, but instead of continuing he just reached over and slapped a meaty hand on my shoulder in goodbye.


    ¡ª-


    *Motoko: I got him. Going to do some recon, but everyone should get ready...*


    The message was sent. I had checked into the NCTV system again and found that Yuto had once again accessed his TV sub.


    It¡¯s always good that people are too stupid to really keep themselves off the net.


    I got the notifications back and then I sighed as I readied the next message.


    *Motoko: I got Yuto¡¯s current position.*


    *Fujimura: Excellent. I will assist.*


    *Motoko: Feel free to send some people to come along if you want, but he isn¡¯t in a position to really get. I¡¯m going to have to hit Yuto like this is an assassination. Sorry you are just going to get a BD of his death. I doubt I¡¯m going to be able to drag him out from where they got him hiding.*


    *Fujimura: Very well. Just make sure the kill is obvious through the BD if you can.*


    *Motoko: That I can do.*


    I rose up and stretched, disconnecting from my Netrunner chair. I had the address, it was time.


    I headed out to the Quadra already considering the best way to do this. I¡¯ll admit, I was pretty angry about this entire situation. From the start I didn¡¯t like it, and this had gone on long enough.


    I slipped into the Quadra after the short jog to the parking lot I had left her in.


    My chooms had already sent me a marker for a meetup point, but I was going to be a little late. I needed to do some scouting first.

 Chapter 194

    I ¡®borrowed¡¯ a cheap looking car as I traveled over. I knew my Quadra would stand out, since I had chased after Yuto in it last time.


    Since I knew where he was, and I knew how hard it would be to get close without being seen, I had come up with a brilliant plan!


    ¡°Alright. Everything looks good¡­ Alright Tachikoma-Chan. We are synced up. Time to see what you can do.¡± I whispered to it as I opened my car door and plopped it out on the dirt.


    This section of the city was dirty little suburbs of sorts. Run down houses and apartment blocks packed around the canal, and that was what caused the problem. Yuto was in a house down in the canal, and I couldn¡¯t get anywhere near it without someone being able to see me.


    I scanned around with the Tachikoma as my actual body leaned back in the back seat. I had some practice using the Tachikoma, but this was going to be the first time I had given it a real test drive. I started moving, the Tachikoma¡¯s legs mostly noiseless on the grass besides a few difficulties keeping all four legs in mind.


    But I quickly got the hang of it, and crawled past the two run down houses and looked down. The Canal area was more than a twenty foot ramp down into another suburb. And that was where Yuto was. The house he was hiding out in was right there, but I had to get Tachikoma down there without breaking.


    Nothing for it. I climbed over to the incline and hunched down, and just let Gravity take control.


    My Tachikoma didn¡¯t have any wheels installed yet, and so I winced a bit at the noise, but it wasn¡¯t overly loud for the area. Cars and people, and music played from radios filled the air, so as my little drone slipped down it only made a modicum of noise before hitting the end and rolling a bit.


    Using its arms I flipped it back onto its legs and looked around. Success. I scurried over to a pile of garbage to hide out in for a bit in case the noise had alerted anyone, but after a few minutes I slipped out and started towards the house.


    Tachikoma stealth!


    I actually started feeling pretty happy about this. The movement was working pretty well and I was getting to use a piece of my arsenal that I hadn¡¯t gotten a chance to use yet!


    Crawling up to the back door I connected into the back door hacking through and accessing the controls. Unfortunately it was a closed system, and wasn¡¯t connected to anything else, so I ran into the first problem.


    The Tachikoma was a prototype. And because of that, she had a bit of an issue.


    She couldn¡¯t hear anything. I hadn¡¯t actually installed any sort of microphone receiver in the prototype.


    Something I decided I would have to fix asap, but until then I would have to rely on my other senses, and whatever I could hack into.


    To be careful, I retreated and then had the door open. Waiting for a while to see if anyone came to see why the door opened.


    A few minutes later it looked clear and I had the Tachikoma slide inside. Looking over the kitchen I entered, I took in the situation and grinned. With a quick motion I had the Tachikoma open a cupboard and slip inside, as I started hacking into all the electronics in the house.


    Most things had some sort of microphone and so without much difficulty I hacked into the radio that was on the kitchen counter, and suddenly with a bit of digital work I was able to hear.


    The sound of a TV blaring in another room made me smirk. I did a quick sweep to check for any cameras or something, but this was just a residence, not a gang base.


    It wasn¡¯t going to be that easy.


    Now that I could hear I slipped back out of the cupboard, gently crawling across the kitchen doing my best to stay in the shadows, funnily enough, while it wasn¡¯t perfect ninjutsu was transferring well enough I was able to be ninja Tachikoma.


    Considering how useful this was, I might have to start running the AI through some stealth programs teaching it how to sneak around.


    I peered out of the kitchen into a hallway and realized the sound was coming from my right. A living room space set up with a large entertainment space, and the man I was after sprawled across the couch.


    Along with two goons as well.


    Target confirmed.


    I considered a few things. Could I hack Yuto right now to kill him? I didn¡¯t have anything installed that was lethal though.


    I grumbled, if I had a more lethal hack this entire issue could be resolved right now.


    Shaking it off I noticed something interesting. The two 6th Street goons that were also in the room. They weren¡¯t there hanging out with Yuto.


    They were there guarding him.


    And I don¡¯t think it was for his protection. Yuto had the look of someone being held.


    I don¡¯t think whoever was running this little trouble between 6th Street and the TC, really cared for Yuto.


    In fact considering he had failed twice, he might be on the gonks shitlist.


    I moved the Tachikoma under a coffee table in the corner and settled in as I started hacking.


    I knew Yuto¡¯s contact was Roger, but I wanted to know what the fuck was really going on.


    So I quietly slipped into the goons'' agents.


    It was going to take a while, but I wanted all their calls and records.


    Knowledge was power, and I would like to find out who was trying to cause so much trouble between the gangs.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°Motoko!¡± Hiromi called as I finally arrived at the restaurant that was in City Center, just across the bridge from Arroyo.


    ¡°Hey Hiromi. Sorry I¡¯m late¡­ I thought they¡¯d send someone else.¡± I mentioned looking at Jun and Akari sitting in the booth behind my chooms.


    ¡°I was ordered to come.¡± Jun offered weakly. Far too weak for the man that I knew.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine Jun-nii. You won¡¯t have to do anything. I scoped out where Yuto is currently staying, and honestly¡­ Neither you or Akari can really help.¡±


    I pulled up a picture I had taken and sent it to everyone.


    Instantly Ichi noticed the issue, Malcolm right behind him. Jun was frowning heavily.


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡±


    ¡°Right in the middle of 6th Street territory. Practically impenetrable. Especially for a couple of very obvious Tyger Claws.¡± I agreed and everyone was angry to hear it.


    Rancho Coronado¡¯s strange little section that was technically the dams wash zone, but it had been completely converted into a little suburb. And every inch of it belonged to 6th. Street. The place was packed. Massively populated, and nearly impossible to get into without everyone and anyone knowing about it.


    It was also ironically where Maine had set up his little hideout.


    There was no easy way to do this without going up close. So that was what I was going to do. ¡°So that¡¯s the plan.¡± I finished and got nods from my crew, but looks of concern from Jun and Akari.


    The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    ¡°That¡¯s dumb.¡± Jun finally said. ¡°How are you going to get out? You can¡¯t do this!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll have a car parked close by. Malcolm will be my wheels in, Ichi and Hiromi will be parked here.¡± I highlighted the location and sent the update to everyone''s agent. ¡°If everything goes well, I¡¯ll be out before they can do much. If something goes wrong, and I get chased, Malcolm will be racing to meet up with Ichi, and then Ichi and Hiromi will have the heavy weapons ready.¡±


    ¡°This is crazy. Do it.¡± Akari said, reminding me that she was crazy, because this plan was crazy and only a crazy person would do it.


    Our eyes met, and I nodded.


    Oh yeah. I was not happy with this situation. Yuto needed to die. Plain and simple.


    ¡°Going in alone is dumb. I¡¯ll come with you.¡± Jun started, but I cut him off.


    ¡°Denied.¡± I refused, crossing my arms in an X. ¡°You are too slow, and too obvious. This is absolutely doable. This time, speed will be my advantage. They can¡¯t formulate a good escape if I hit them faster than they could hope to respond. I won¡¯t fuck up this time. I know exactly where Yuto is, I have a direct camera looking at him.¡± I could acknowledge last time I had been too hotheaded. Rushing in myself instead of doing some searching around before we hit Yuto.


    But this was different. I had properly scouted the place this time.


    I looked around at everyone. ¡°Any questions?¡± I asked, and only Malcolm raised his hand. ¡°Yeah, I think we should call in more backup. Rebecca¡¯s a good shooter.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s do that right now.¡± I agreed with a smile, having once again forgotten that I had more than my small group of chooms ready for war.


    Time to fuck shit up.


    ¡ª--


    Malcolm¡¯s Caliburn got a lot of attention, and that was intentional. I could have used the ¡®borrowed¡¯ car I had picked up before, but I wanted eyes on the ride instead of on me.


    With the Tachikoma in place, I already had all the control over the situation I could ever need.


    As we drove up, I reconnected to the signal, and saw that while a few things had moved the three of them were still downstairs watching TV.


    It was time.


    I was in full kit, although I had considered going either way, but this was 6th Street we were dealing with. I didn¡¯t want to end up shot and not having something to protect me.


    Besides, as much as I wanted to do this as a full stealth run¡­ That wasn¡¯t likely just because of all the eyes on Rancho Coronado to start with.


    And there was a part of me that just wanted to send a message.


    You can¡¯t protect some gonk from me.


    That was what a part of my mind wanted to tell 6th Street.


    I had pushed it away and ignored it, because getting this done and getting out was more important¡­


    But it would always be there.


    I shook it off as Malcolm hit the point and I nodded. To him.


    *Go time. Everyone get ready.* Then I opened the door of his Caliburn that had slowed to a crawl and leapt.


    I was up on the upper level above the canal, on a street that had a few run down houses overlooking the lower suburbs. As I jumped I raced between two of the run down homes, and in the backyard was a drop leading straight into the backyard of the house Yuto was in.


    I hit the canal edge and slid down in an easy motion, riding my momentum until I nearly hit the bottom as I leapt again.


    *100 Athletics XP Gained.*


    While in the air, the Tachikoma camera gave me access and I pushed through the hacks.


    The two gonks with Yuto both went blind and shocked in a few seconds and started crying out as they dropped to the ground.


    I saw through Tachikoma¡¯s feed the moment Yuto seemed to realize what had happened, and how much danger he must be in. He rose up and made it two steps towards the exit of the living room as he tried to escape.


    I had activated my Sandevistan as I reached the door. Speed was my ally.


    I caught him before he even made it a few steps, sliding through the kitchen and into the living room as I brought up my Copperhead. I took a moment to really get a good look at him.


    There was a moment where he saw me.


    His eyes widened, he wouldn¡¯t know who I was. My helmet blocked my face, but for just a second I considered the fact he had a past with who I had once been.


    Motoko Kusanagi, the wild child.


    Then I lined up my shot and pulled the trigger. The Copperhead barely jiggled in my arms as I watched the bullet shoot out in almost slow motion.


    My Sandy wasn¡¯t that fast after all.


    A moment later I turned off the Sandy and it was over.


    Yuto crumpled.


    I walked over and just to be sure, shot him three more times in the head.


    *250 XP Gained.*


    Then I was gone. Ignoring the two screaming 6th Street gonks on the floor. I grabbed my Tachikoma and rushed out the front of the house. My escape car already waiting for me. A little Mizutani Shion Reaver. One of the cars that we had stolen from the Raffen. This one was one that Hiromi had nabbed although she barely used it. But it wasn¡¯t my Quadra.


    I could hear people pointing out my appearance, and I knew I wouldn¡¯t have much time.


    I slipped inside, throwing the Tachikoma into the passenger seat before hitting the gas. I struggled to get my seatbelt on as I floored it down the street.


    There would be people chasing after me, but I had come up with an exit strategy.


    I drifted around the corner of the street, avoiding a few civilian cars, with a gentle flick of the steering wheel sending me around them, and then the engine rumbled and I was gone. Straight up the ramp out of the canal and onto the highway.


    Traffic was pretty bad, which wasn¡¯t a good thing, but I wasn¡¯t staying on the road for long. The Shion¡¯s ending whined as I jerked onto the shoulder, ignoring the honking and angry looks from those slowed in heavy traffic as I hit the gas, and took the first ramp back off. New Pacific Highway was the road that went past the Biotechnica flats, and out to the customs checkpoint.


    But it was also a long distance road that would let me get out of the city and lose anyone following me because without any trouble I hit the gas straight down and flew down the road.


    *I¡¯m out and on my way. Target neutralized.* I finally sent over the open line.


    *Great job Motoko!* Hiromi cheered.


    *So¡­ Yuto?* Jun asked, suddenly and I went quiet.


    *I made sure it was painless.* I offered back the only thing I could really say to comfort my brother.


    I checked my rear view not seeing any 6th Street cars chasing after me. Likely left behind in the traffic if they tried.


    I shifted gears to get that little bit more speed out of the Shion.


    ¡ª--


    I pulled into the parking lot seeing Malcolm already here which was a relief.


    As I parked I noticed a few familiar Tyger Claw vehicles parked nearby, including Fuijmura standing over by Jun and Akari.


    I guess he had wanted to come check.


    Walking over I pulled out a shard and offered it to him. ¡°Proof of the contract completion. BD recording.¡± I explained and he nodded pleased and pocketed it.


    ¡°You solved a lot of trouble with this. I¡¯ll make sure everyone knows that Junichirou is no longer under investigation.¡± He offered back and looked to Jun.


    Jun that looked¡­ Tired.


    I walked over and hesitated. I had killed one of his chooms. Should I touch him? Would that be a good, or a bad thing? Should I just let him take some time?


    But it was taken out of my hands as he reached out and gently pulled me into a side hug.


    ¡°Don¡¯t overthink it.¡± He said finally. ¡°I¡¯m not¡­ I wish it didn¡¯t have to go this way, but I don¡¯t blame you for doing it Motoko. Yuto made his choice.¡±


    ¡°Indeed.¡± Fujimura offered, but he wasn¡¯t saying it to be gentle to Jun. ¡°Yuto went too far, and he is now an excellent example for the future.¡± He offered, and then looked at Jun with an almost glare.


    Ah. I had thought for a moment Fujimura was just being ignorant of Jun¡¯s difficulty here, but that wasn¡¯t the case. He was actually well aware, but trying to berate Jun about it.


    I felt my own glare towards the man come on, but instead of what I expected Jun stood up straighter. ¡°Understood Fujimura-Sama. Thank you.¡± He offered back and then he turned to Akari, and the few other gonks that Fujimura had with him. Some guards of some sort?


    ¡°Yuto is dead! Drinks are on me!¡± He called out, and the gonks cheered, and Akari nodded.


    I watched Jun¡¯s back as he walked away stepping into a position of mob leader. My confusion was pretty strong. Jun¡­ Wasn¡¯t hurt about Yuto? But he just was!


    Then I saw it.


    Jun looked away while in the middle of the group, and his face told it all.


    Hurt, and pain.


    He wasn¡¯t unbothered, he was playing his part¡­


    ¡°Jun has to pretend to be okay with this, proof that he wasn¡¯t involved.¡± I spoke quietly.


    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Fujimura spoke back just as quietly. ¡°This will get out. Make rounds, that the Oni celebrated the death of the traitor. It will be good for his rep, clear him of some of the suspicion.¡±


    I watched on, and realized I would have to do something.


    But not here. Not when Jun was trying to regain his position with the Tygers. The very idea of it sickened me more than before, but that was Jun¡¯s choice, not mine.


    Instead I turned away and headed over to my chooms who had been hanging back. Hiromi was smiling proudly as I approached, and Malcolm looked very pleased by even the random people stopping at the gas station checking out his car despite all the Tyger Claws around.


    Ichi nodded, but Rebecca pouted.


    ¡°I thought there would be more shooting?¡±


    ¡°There might have been.¡± I offered instead. I was surprised at how well this had gone. I expected a car chase and a shoot out and everything too. ¡°C¡¯mon! We just finished a big gig! Foods on me!¡± I called out and thankfully that was the right call Rebecca cheered and Malcolm joined her.


    Everything was¡­ Okay. Not great. Not perfect, but this was Night City. Sometimes good enough was good enough.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°Mother fucker!¡± I hissed as Ichi Malcolme and Hiromi all grabbed me and held me back as I kicked at the stupid advertisement.


    ¡°Whoa, Motoko!?¡± Malcolm called out, absolutely shocked at how I had just been beating the shit out of the advertisement.


    ¡°Calm down!¡± Ichi called out, but I shook a bit.


    ¡°You calm down!¡± I hissed, unfortunately I wasn¡¯t interested in hurting my chooms, and so they managed to drag me away a bit.


    ¡°What¡¯s got into you?¡± Malcolm asked, and I shook my head, not wanting to answer.


    ¡°Fuck yeah!¡± A moment later a voice called out and even I stopped pulling to look over as Rebecca drop kicked the ad as well laughing hysterically.


    ¡°Rebecca? Why are you trying to destroy it?¡± Hiromi asked, and Rebecca wiped herself down.


    ¡°Huh? Oh I don¡¯t have any reason, Motoko was doing it, so I thought I might as well, you know?¡± She said looking like she was going to continue smashing the thing, but Hiromi shook her head and looked to me.


    ¡°That was your song wasn¡¯t it? Why are you freaking out?¡± Hiromi asked and I stopped pulling and looked at her with a glare. I watched as she shifted back a bit.


    I wasn¡¯t angry with Hiromi though. I was just angry.


    ¡°Tank, isn¡¯t dick ad music!¡± I demanded and Hiromi just blinked in surprise at my words.


    Then Malcolm started laughing hysterically, Ichi looked away from me as he let go, and his shoulders were shaking.


    ¡°That was your song?¡± Malcolm managed to gasp out and I growled looking back at the damaged ad sign.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to break it.¡± I growled and Hiromi jumped on me again. Rebecca just started cackling and looked about ready to start smashing again.


    ¡°We have to go. NCPD will be here soon! C¡¯mon!¡± Hiromi demanded and I growled, but when Rebecca whooped and started running, I figured it was fine.


    To my surprise, I could hear the sirens of the NCPD already starting to come closer.


    Huh. I guess advertisement boards were something they took seriously. I glanced back and took a moment to hack into the advertisement''s camera system and deleted the recording.


    No reason to let the NCPD target us.


    Then I started running, and soon I was laughing along with everyone as we ran through an alley to escape from the cops.


    We ended up down the block and then through a little shopping strip. Stopping to let Ichi grab some candy from a vendor and then continued on.


    I wasn¡¯t sure where we were going, as we weren¡¯t really going anywhere, but that was okay.


    The five of us were just¡­ Walking through the city.


    Rebecca was ahead of us, arms behind the back of her head as she walked along, and all of us were just shooting the shit.


    Then a familiar jingle came over a nearby ad again.


    ¡°Mother fucker!¡± I yelled as my chooms leapt on me to keep me from committing murder on another ad board.

 Chapter 195

    The next morning I groaned as I sat up. We had all crashed on my couch watching TV and hanging out, and I had definitely not gotten my full eight hours, but the sun was out coming through the window waking me up.


    Stupid California sun.


    I looked around. Hiromi was curled up beside me. Rebecca looked like she had kicked Ichi in the face at some point in the night as she looked like she was ready to fight ninjas in her sleep.


    Ichi was on the floor looking a little pitiful, and Malcolm had started on the floor and was happily drooling away.


    Using Ninja reflexes to switch my leg that Hiromi had stolen with a pillow I got up and stretched. I should get some breakfast for my chooms.


    I headed around the room quietly, making sure not to make a single noise as I got ready and then while everyone was still sleeping I slipped out.


    There was an okay food stall just down the street. I hit the ground level, and walked out. The morning was busy. People heading to jobs. Heads down beaten by the daily grind.


    I walked over to the food stall and slipped into the line. Yawning a bit as I felt sleepy, not something I usually had to deal with, but that was fine, a bit of more natural sleep every once in a while wasn¡¯t a bad thing.


    I passed over the eddies and started piling skewers of meat into my hands when I heard it.


    Gunfire.


    I looked up as did everyone. One or two shots was normal, but full auto fire was unusual, especially this early in the morning.


    I could see tension rising, but no one started screaming or running off, they just hunched in on themselves and got on with their day.


    As the gunfire continued I felt a frown growing on my face.


    Then I heard explosions, grenades if I was right.


    Something bigger than normal was going on.


    I took a bite of my meat skewer and chewed slowly.


    Oh well!


    I turned and headed back upstairs.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°Not bad.¡± Rebecca offered as she chowed down on her breakfast after I woke everyone up. ¡°Not as good as the old lady that cooks around my place, but not bad.¡±


    ¡°Nah, the old guy around my apartment has the best skewers.¡± Malcolm denied, and I had to jump in with a scoff.


    ¡°No, the old guy around my old apartment had the best ones.¡± I argued and soon all of us were pointing out where the best meat skewer places were in Night City.


    There must be drugs in the skewers because everyone argued that the place nearest to them had the best ones.


    We were getting rowdy arguing when suddenly Jun popped out of his room. Already fully suited up in his Tyger Claw stuff.


    ¡°Jun?¡± I asked, because it was unusual to see him dressed up this early in the morning.


    ¡°6th Street just did a raid on one of our distributors.¡± He offered as he hit the kitchen and grabbed a burrito obviously for the road.


    ¡°Shit. Does that mean there¡¯s going to be another gang war?¡± Ichi asked, and Jun stopped for a moment.


    ¡°Not sure, but we won¡¯t just let this one go.¡± He looked at me. ¡°This is probably retribution for¡­ Yuto.¡± He explained and I frowned.


    6th Street wouldn¡¯t react this strongly to just some gonk getting flatlined. Not unless they wanted an excuse to do this anyways.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to call Wakako.¡± I said, and Jun shrugged before heading out.


    ¡°Motoko?¡±


    ¡°Just give me a second Hiromi. Wakako will know what¡¯s going on¡­ Actually I¡¯ll send her a text, she might be busy.¡± If there was a surprise attack, Wakako would definitely be busy handing out information.


    *Motoko: I¡¯d like any information on what is going on with 6th Street you can give me Wakako. Attacking because of Yuto sounds wrong.*


    I nodded as I sent it off, and I was about to bite into my meat stick when Wakako suddenly called.


    *Wakako?*


    *6th Street are claiming that the multiple dead killed by a Tyger Claw hired assassin are the cause of the attack. At least that is what their lieutenants are saying.*


    Wakako dropped that on me for a second and I could feel my jaw drop.


    *But I only killed Yuto!?*


    *They are claiming multiple other deaths.*


    *I have a BD!*


    *I¡¯m aware. Fujimura handed it over right away, I didn¡¯t see it myself, but it was checked over. I¡¯m trying to confirm if the two men actually are dead, or are just being hidden as an excuse. You want work?*


    *I¡¯ll help.*


    *Good. I¡¯ll be in contact with your little fixer.*


    The call ended and I rolled my eyes as Wakako still hadn¡¯t learned how to say goodbye.


    ¡°Motoko?¡±


    ¡°6th Street is retaliating, they are saying I killed some of their people, trying to frame me. I only killed Yuto and had a BD of it. Something is fishy. Wakako is going to give us some work.¡± I looked around the room. ¡°I think we should get suited up.¡±


    Ichi, Malcolm, and Hiromi nodded right away, but I saw Rebecca looking a little blank at the whole thing.


    But then she firmed up. ¡°No fucking way we just let them blame us for shit.¡± She decided and I smiled at her.


    Everyone got moving soon after and we started gearing up.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°Overdressed?¡± Wakako asked me and I scoffed at her.


    ¡°Not with this shit happening.¡±


    ¡°Do as you like. Here.¡± She threw a shard at me, but her words stopped me from slotting it. ¡°That¡¯s the delivery item. Meet up with Muamar Reyes, a Fixer in Santo Domingo.¡±


    ¡°Sure. Anything else?¡±


    ¡°Answer any questions he has. It¡¯s a copy of your BD.¡± Wakako offered and I blinked looking at the shard.


    ¡°Letting him see what happens so he can pass the information on?¡± I asked, breaking down what was happening.


    ¡°Exactly. He might request some assistance, that¡¯ll be up to you, but he doesn¡¯t want a gang war any more than I do.¡±


    ¡°Understood. I¡¯ll see what he needs.¡±


    ¡°Good. Motoko.¡± Wakako said as I made to turn away. ¡°6th Street likely already knows you were involved yesterday. Your information has been spreading for some time. Be careful on the drive through. Perhaps take another vehicle.¡±


    ¡°Understood. Thanks Wakako.¡±


    This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.¡°Hmm.¡± She scoffed, but to my surprise spoke again. ¡°Hayato has enjoyed having a friend. The girl is pressured to act a certain way because of her status. Thank you.¡±


    Honestly it felt more awkward to be thanked than anything else! It was like the hairs on the back of my neck were rising up, which was impossible since my Neural Link covered the entire back of my neck.


    She glared at me suddenly. ¡°Don¡¯t look at me like a scared cat. Get out of here.¡±


    ¡°Yep!¡± I agreed and quickly ran away.


    Time to get back to work.


    ¡ª--


    Rebecca was driving. We had all piled into her truck as I took Wakako¡¯s advice seriously. Since Rebecca¡¯s truck was the newest, it would have the least connection to Section 9.


    I had even swapped out my helmet, and was just wearing my Net Gogs to hide my eyes as we drove through Rancho Coronado onto an overlook.


    That was apparently where Muamar Reyes the fixer hung out.


    I vaguely remembered this was where you could find him in the game too. So I guess it was just his favorite spot.


    Rebecca pulled off the road and onto the sidewalk as she slowed to a stop, and I stepped out.


    ¡°Hoh? A whole group coming to meet El Capitan?¡± The man with the goofiest haircut I¡¯ve seen in a while called out as I approached.


    ¡°Delivery from Wakako. Mr. Reyes.¡± I informed him professionally as I held out the shard.


    The guy blinked a bit, seemingly surprised at my courtesy before he just huffed and took it. Interestingly he didn¡¯t check it himself, but passed it off to a woman that was in his car who promptly put on a BD wreath and started watching.


    ¡°So. You¡¯re the real hot shot that caused that trouble yesterday.¡±


    ¡°I only completed the job I was hired for.¡±


    ¡°Yeah well, you are shaking up a real hornets nest. Offing four 6th Street gangoons is really increasing tensions.¡±


    ¡°I only killed one person, Yuto, and he isn¡¯t 6th Street. That BD will prove that.¡±


    He looked over at the woman before looking back at me. ¡°If you say so.¡± Then he crossed his arms and reset back against the side of his car and seemed content to just wait.


    Hiromi joined me and threw me a raised eyebrow, but I just shrugged at her.


    Not sure what Reyes was playing at.


    Finally not long after the woman took off the BD.


    Reyes glanced to us and then leaned into his car, where the two started talking quietly.


    I didn¡¯t bother to listen in, and not long after he stood up.


    ¡°Well unless you somehow managed to fake a BD, you¡¯re right. Dammit.¡± He cursed as he took the BD and tossed it to me. ¡°Wakako said you¡¯d be interested in a gig to help out with this.¡± He spoke and I nodded.


    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±


    ¡°I need to put this into the hands of some people that can do something about it. I¡¯ll need some guards, and¡­ Well frankly, I can¡¯t promise you¡¯ll be safe, but if you can explain it¡¯ll help.¡±


    I was about to accept it off hand before I stopped.


    ¡°Motoko?¡± Hiromi asked but I stayed quiet.


    ¡°I¡¯m not Tyger Claw, and frankly, this entire situation isn¡¯t my problem. I did a gig, I got paid. Problem is over.¡± I offered, and Hiromi looked surprised before she slowly nodded, raising her dark chromed fingers up to her lips as she tapped them.


    ¡°You¡¯re right. If someone wants to cause a war between the TC and 6th Street, it¡¯s not any of our business.¡± She replied and I nodded as she realized the same thing I had.


    We could walk away.


    It was obvious Muamar Reyes the Fixer was going to speak to someone big in 6th Street. That could easily lead to a shoot out, but for what? I doubt the guy was going to pay us anywhere near what such a thing should be worth.


    So was I supposed to do this pro-bono?


    Hiromi hounded me about getting paid for things. This was one of those situations.


    Tyger Claws had tried to kidnap me, why should I do my best to keep a war from starting? I mean, I would always worry about Jun, but I was a merc.


    War would be good for business if I was willing to be mercenary about it.


    ¡°There is something you¡¯re maybe forgetting.¡± Ichi whispered as he approached from behind. ¡°If 6th Street believes you were responsible for the deaths, then you¡¯ll be a target.¡± He added and I grumbled, and even Hiromi nodded at me.


    ¡°Fine. Hiromi, talk to Mr. Reyes, figure out how much this is going to cost him?¡±


    ¡°On it!¡±


    ¡°Ichi, Malcolm. Just keep an eye out. We are still in 6th Street territory.¡± I added and both boys nodded. I turned to Rebecca and just threw her a thumbs up, because Rebecca was looking fucking nova, her arm up on the window of her truck a big pair of mirrored shades on her face.


    She threw me a thumbs up back.


    Ten minutes later we were preparing. We would be working as a guard and offering intel to some member of 6th Street that was showing up.


    I stared down the road, until I noticed a trio of trucks with 6th Street tags heading our way. I glanced over. Rebecca was inside her truck, machine guns at the ready in case of any trouble. The others were spread around, while Hiromi stayed in the truck with Rebecca, and I stood beside El Capitan.


    I was still wearing my Net Gogs, hopefully they would give me enough time to speak before they just started firing when they saw me.


    The trucks pulled up and out came a half dozen gangoons. All armed, but looking pretty calm, none of them seemed to care much about the fact me and my chooms were around.


    ¡°Alright, then. You called us up here. What is it?¡± The one who spoke, wasn¡¯t anyone I recognized, and with a quick scan I realized who I was dealing with.


    Rick Morton stomped up. The man had the physicality of an ex-soldier. Old fatigues, with the red white and blue, and his jacket had a large eagle on the shoulder.


    This was the General of 6th Street. The main man. The leader.


    I was standing in front of one of the most powerful people in the city, and he very likely thought I was the killer of some of his boys.


    Fucking El Capitan, when this was over, if I was still alive I was going to punch him in the dick. A little warning would have been nice!


    ¡°General! Good to see you are still healthy, I got some intel for you. Preem shit.¡±


    The man continued to stomp over and glanced me over for a second. Thankfully his eyes refocused on Muamar instead.


    ¡°You better not be wasting my time. Talk to me.¡±


    ¡°Me? Never, you know I don¡¯t waste time. I do real business. I heard about your little issues yesterday. Couple of your men killed in your own territory, Tyger Claw action was it?¡±


    ¡°Get on with it, Muamar, I¡¯m busy.¡±


    ¡°Well, I got the real story of what happened. Straight from the source.¡± He offered doing the one thing I wish he hadn¡¯t, patting me on the shoulder.


    A moment later guns were up, and I was staring down a man that would kill me without hesitation while I was in a sub optimal position.


    Two dick punches, if I survived this.


    I slowly reached up and pulled the tech gogs up over my forehead so my eyes were clear, staring down the rather large Malorian Overture that was pointed in my face.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t kill your men.¡± I said firmly and clearly.


    The silence between the three of us carried on, even as his men continued to point guns at Ichi, Malcolm, and even Rebecca as things grew tense.


    ¡°Hey! Hey now, easy! C¡¯mon now General, you know me! I wouldn¡¯t put you in this situation if this wasn¡¯t serious. Intel remember?¡± Muamar called out hands raised at the angry 6th Street goons that were still very hostile. I hadn¡¯t actually expected it. The guy actually stepped in front of me, covering me here¡­


    Okay, I¡¯ll forgive the dick punches.


    ¡°Explain. Now.¡± Rick demanded, but not to Muamar, but to me.


    ¡°I¡¯m a merc. I was hired to take out Yuto, a Tyger Claw goon who kept trying to assassinate a member of the TC. Yesterday I tracked him down to a home in Rancho Coronado, and I took him out. Simple clean. This morning I find out that somehow multiple 6th Street bodies were found.¡±


    ¡°You saying that wasn¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m saying I killed one person yesterday.¡±


    ¡°Likely story.¡±


    ¡°How about plain and clear evidence.¡± I cut off as the man looked like his patience was ending. Muamar then came in, holding out the shard in his hand.


    ¡°She¡¯s right General.¡±


    ¡°This is?¡±


    ¡°A copy of the BD that I scrolled yesterday. I scroll all of my gigs. Call it a hobby.¡± I explained and I could see behind the mans Kiroshi eyes, that he was considering.


    Did he want a war with the TC? If he did, killing all of us would give him what he wanted regardless.


    But I had to hope that the man wanted to know who had lied to him more, because he definitely didn¡¯t know that I hadn¡¯t killed his men.


    ¡°Carlos!¡± He yelled, and a man ran up. ¡°Check this BD.¡± The order was followed and while guns didn¡¯t lower everyone was more interested in what was going on as Carlos rushed the truck and settled in to check the BD.


    Our eyes never left, and I made sure to not show a hint of fear.


    I wasn¡¯t entirely confident I could grab the overture pointed at my face before he fired. Not even with my Sandy, he was the leader of 6th Street. No way he didn¡¯t have his own speedware.


    But I wasn¡¯t going to let him intimidate me.


    A few minutes later, Carlos was out of the Brain Dance, and he hurried over.


    The General took a few steps back and Carlos whispered into his ear. I watched on as the man''s face remained blank throughout, but when it was done he waved a hand, and all the guns suddenly dropped.


    I supposed he got what he wanted.


    ¡°Muamar, you confirmed this?¡±


    ¡°Got it direct from Old Wakako.¡± He offered waving at me.


    ¡°And this was you?¡±


    ¡°It was.¡±


    ¡°And the reason I shouldn¡¯t flatline you for coming onto my turf, and committing a murder?¡±


    ¡°Yuto was Tyger Claw, and someone in 6th Street was hiding him. Imagine what would have happened if on his third assassination attempt he succeeded.¡± I countered with an arched eyebrow at the older man.


    If he wanted to play threatening games I could too.


    ¡°Then the Tygers would get sent back to their fucking Pachinko parlors in body bags.¡± The General countered to some grumbled appreciation of the men behind him.


    ¡°And some of your men would have gone back to their family in the same. Because someone decided to play games. I don¡¯t know if you knew about this. I don¡¯t know if this was planned, but frankly. I don¡¯t care. I took a gig to kill a man, and I did it. I got paid. Gig over. But I didn¡¯t kill your people. I¡¯m a professional.¡±


    ¡°Yet my boys are dead.¡±


    ¡°But not by my hand, and not by the Tygers.¡± I argued back and the men around us were frowning. Unhappy.


    ¡°And I¡¯m supposed to take the word of some Asian kid, that it wasn¡¯t the Tygers?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t believe your lying eyes?¡± I asked, after a moment. ¡°That¡¯s not my problem then, I took the gig from Wakako to deliver that shard, and I took the gig from Mr. Reyes to be his bodyguard and explain my side of what happened. If you don¡¯t want to listen, that''s not my concern.¡±


    ¡°You think you are above this? That I won¡¯t send men against you?¡± He asked in turn, almost amused as he questioned me.


    ¡°I think that I¡¯ve done everything I can to prove that I¡¯m not your enemy, but if you want to waste men on killing some gonk kid while also starting a war with the Tygers, that¡¯s your choice. Just don¡¯t expect to get those men you send after me back in one piece.¡±


    Things got quiet for a minute, and I could practically see the thoughts running through the Generals head.


    ¡°You got some balls kid.¡± He finally said as he came to a decision. ¡°Don¡¯t usually see street rats your age pull off actual hits.¡±


    Thinking about his words and the amused tone he said them in, I shrugged.


    Hiromi would be happy.


    I reached into my back pocket and wormed around a bit to find it. Managing to snag it even though the pocket was barely large enough for a finger I pulled out a slightly rumpled business card.


    ¡°Section 9, is always looking for more business.¡± I offered and handed the slightly rumpled card.


    There was a sense of confusion, but eventually General Morton took the card and flicked it over. It was still pretty fancy even though I¡¯ve been sitting on it for a while and I think I ran it through a wash at least once¡­


    He showed it to Carlos, the guy he had sent to look at the BD and both of them chuckled.


    ¡°You¡¯re a funny one.¡± He seemed to decide on, and then turned around. ¡°Let¡¯s roll!¡± He called out and all the 6th Street goons rushed back to their cars and soon the cavalcade was on its way.


    ¡°Well I think that went well.¡± El Capitan said seemingly pleased, and I shrugged.


    ¡°We aren¡¯t dead or in a firefight, so I guess so.¡± I agreed and he nodded as I seemed to get it.


    ¡°I¡¯m out of here too.¡± I decided then. I was sort of done dealing with Gang leaders today.

 Chapter 196

    My breath in my ears was all I could hear as I moved. Up and down, over and across. I raced across the city. Legs pumping, and arms pushing and pulling as no obstacle slowed me.


    I had felt constricted after everything. Between the Tygers bullshit, and now 6th Street trying to frame me?


    So once everyone had split up I had headed outside and just started running. I wasn¡¯t sure why I had selected Athletics as my grind for the day, but maybe I hadn¡¯t. Maybe I just needed to get away.


    So I ran. Heading through the dense urban jungle with no direction in mind. I simply let Parkour guide me over all obstacles..


    There were a lot of people I suddenly wanted to kill. I still needed to flatline the stupid old man that thought kidnapping me was acceptable. But I had told Wakako I would let it go.


    I needed to kill the gonk fuck that had tried to frame me for killing 6th Street gangoons. Not that I wouldn¡¯t have killed them, but I didn¡¯t like the fact it seemed planned. Someone had wanted a war between the two gangs, and had done a lot to set it up.


    Yuto. Then framing the merc that killed him.


    And I had to consider how much I wanted to get involved.


    I paused breathing heavily, sweat streaming down my forehead as I leaned against a wall for a moment. So much trouble because some gonk wanted to kill another.


    So much trouble for something I didn¡¯t care about, and wasn¡¯t even involved with. I wiped my forehead and stalked around a bit, cooling down my muscles as I considered.


    I hadn¡¯t heard anything about the 6th Street and TC thing yet. I would have to stop by Wakako in the morning to find out if everything was back to normal, or if the TC were planning to retaliate back as well.


    This could easily turn into another gang war.


    I shook it off. It would become whatever it would become.


    Wandering over to a few SCSM¡¯s I started browning. I could use something to drink.


    ¡°Hey Chika.¡± A voice called out grabbing my attention. A tino teenager was sauntering up to me, a few of his boys that had been sitting on a pile of tables in front of a small food place were sauntering up. ¡°Never saw your chrome down this way before.¡± He offered with a smile that made me realize he was trying to be charming.


    ¡°Sorry, choom. Not interested.¡± I offered clearly and went back to picking a drink. Ugh. Most of these tasted like cough syrup. Stupid NiCola. I¡¯d kill for just a Coke, or a Dr. Pepper or something.


    ¡°Hey c¡¯mon Herman-URK!¡± He choked out, his reaching hand had grabbed my shoulder, so I grabbed his throat. With a shift of my hips I slammed him into the SCSM I was looking through and held him in place.


    I decided on a Grape NiCola. Yuck, and fished out the drink as it came through still holding the boy against the SCSM.


    He was scrabbling a bit, but I let him breathe at least.


    ¡°I¡¯m not interested, and don¡¯t touch me.¡± I told him as I slammed my thumb through the top of the can and started drinking, chugging it down I crushed the can and forced it into his hand. ¡°Throw that away for me, and next time take a no.¡±


    Idly I noticed his boys were rushing over, but they weren¡¯t a threat. I shifted back, turned away and then leapt.


    Backflipping onto the SCSM I let the force push me even higher and jumped upwards again.


    Hands reaching out and grabbing the guard rail of a street that ran over the area. With a quick flip I was standing on the guard rail a dozen feet above the boys and looking down on them.


    I spun and with a bounce of my ankles to start up, I started jogging up the rail.


    And out of sight, ignoring the calls of surprise from the teenaged boys.


    I leapt up,  jumping nearly on top of a light pole that was lower than me, and hefted myself up, then I took a few running steps and leapt.


    The street below me might be filled with cars, but for a moment I felt utterly alone in the entire city.


    Then I landed, slipped a little as the light poles weren¡¯t designed for people to run on then, and ended up spinning down the entire pole to keep myself from falling.


    I stepped off, and I realized I was actually in City Center.


    Damn. That was a hell of a run. I looked around at the Corpo suits that were staring at me in surprise as I had appeared from nowhere.


    Deciding I had run enough for now, I called for my Kusanagi, and walked over to a bench and took a seat.


    What a day.


    Since I had nothing else to do, I went ahead and sent out some texts.


    *Motoko: Hey Wakako, you know how the 6th Street, and Tyger Claw thing is going?*


    I sent the text and sat back expecting to be waiting for a while, but Wakako responded back pretty quickly actually.


    *Wakako: There has been a meeting called between bosses. Cease Fire has been called until that is over. You should avoid their territory, but neither side truly wishes for a conflict. Well done.*


    *Motoko: Didn¡¯t do much.*


    *Wakako: You were targeted by a gang, and stood in front of the leader of that gang. You did much. Speak to Hayato in the morning. She was worried.*


    I laughed at the last bit and couldn¡¯t help but respond.


    *Motoko: Are you trying to set up a playdate with your granddaughter? You know I didn¡¯t know she was your Granddaughter.*


    *Wakako: I¡¯m aware. It is why I allowed your continued contact. Don¡¯t disappoint me.*


    I blinked because that was definitely a threat. I wisely dropped the conversation there.


    My bike pulled up a while later and I rose up, sliding onto the seat and throttling the engine I grinned. It had been a while since I took my Kusanagi out for a spin.


    I gunned the engine and let the front wheel kick a bit as I took off, quickly blurring into the traffic and enjoying the feeling of the motorcycle cycling gears as I slipped through the City Center traffic.


    I let my body act without thought as I weaved through traffic. I still felt like moving. I didn¡¯t head home. Instead cycling up and heading north out of the corporate district and into Watson. Traffic got worse, but for once I wasn¡¯t following laws.


    I weaved in and out, jumping onto the sidewalk when I needed, I kept moving. Ignoring the press of traffic around me. To my surprise I got an alert.


    *100 Reflex XP Gained*


    That was handy, and I was smiling happily as I finally made it to a more open area. My engine whined and roared as I raced through the emptier streets of Northside. Up and down ramps, through mostly empty streets. I just felt¡­ constricted and irritated.


    I finally slowed and parked on the side of a road overlooking the area.


    Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    Neon lights in the distance, and farther City Central in the far distance sending lights into the night.


    It was Lucy that thought the lights looked like a prison.


    I scoffed as I stepped off the bike and jumped up onto the concrete barrier.


    This place didn¡¯t look like a prison to me. It looked like¡­


    Opportunity.


    The thought made me nod, and I nodded again as I realized it was the truth. Lazy. I was lazy, always had been. But it was time to get some shit sorted.


    I plotted as I looked over the city until the plan in my mind was at least a plan and not just a thought.


    ¡ª--


    The next morning I sent a text out to my chooms asking if everyone minded meeting up for dinner tonight.


    We had been running around so much together, I wanted to give them some personal time, but I think this was important enough to need a real meeting.


    I got an agreement and it was settled.


    But first in the morning I reached out, and set up a meeting like Wakako asked. To my slight discomfort the meeting place was the Dojo once again.


    Hayato had agreed to a meeting and so I headed over.


    I pulled my Kusanagi up onto the sidewalk in front of the Dojo, noticing there were plenty of other bikes parked together.


    I stepped out and adjusted my holster. Mostly just to make sure my guns and knife were still in place.


    As I walked in I glanced at the spot where Musashi had died, but not even a blood stain remained. Stepping inside, I found no trouble which I had almost expected but as I entered the main room, I did see Hayato, but before that I saw Sensei.


    His focus shot to me the moment I stepped inside, and there was something in his eyes. For once, he didn¡¯t just point and demand, but actually walked over and approached me as I entered.


    ¡°Kusanagi¡­ A moment.¡± He requested, and it really was a request.


    Huh.


    I nodded, and he stalked off, back into the office section of the dojo, and I walked with him into what was obviously his business office. He didn¡¯t speak at first, instead holding himself solidly and then turning to face me.


    ¡°The attack on you at this Dojo was unacceptable. While I was not able to defend you at the time. I have spoken my displeasure, but that means little to you. This place is meant to be a secure location. The sanctity of my dojo was broken.¡± Then he bowed low and I realized he was being serious.


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t your fault.¡± I argued but I knew that just that wouldn¡¯t be enough. ¡°I accept your apology, Sensei. You¡¯ve treated me well. I won¡¯t hold this issue against you.¡±


    ¡°You will always be welcome here, Kusanagi.¡± He said and I nodded, getting the feeling he wasn¡¯t talking about just coming to train. This was a sort of hideout for the Tyger Claws as well after all.


    With that concluded I headed back out to finish my actual meet up.


    To my surprise Hayato wasn¡¯t suited up. When I found her she was sitting in the main Dojo room on a chair, a chair that wasn¡¯t usually there. In a full Kimono? Yukata? One of those. She looked like an actual Japanese Princess if I was honest. Although the chrome of her Kerenzikov stuck out and gave her a cyberpunk feel.


    I approved and threw her a thumbs up.


    ¡°You look awesome like that.¡± I told her as I approached and her mouth had been half open as she was about to speak sort of flapped as she took in what I said and seemingly had no response.


    ¡°What? No! No nonsense right now. Sillyfoolwhydoi- Motoko.¡± She started rambling before shaking herself and stating my name in a serious matter.


    ¡°Hayato.¡± I instead greeted her with a wave of my hand and a big smile that had her once more breaking her serious character for half a second before firming up and glaring.


    ¡°Motoko! I¡¯m trying to be serious! Sit!¡± She demanded and pointed at another chair beside her. I laughed instead and walked over to sit.


    ¡°Sorry sorry. What¡¯s got you so serious Hayato?¡±


    ¡°I need to hire you to kill someone.¡±


    ¡°Sure, who?¡±


    I blinked as she blinked. Her face cracked once more as she seemed to have no idea how to respond.


    ¡°How are you so calm! I just asked you to flatline someone!¡±


    ¡°Yeah? I do that for a living Hayato. I¡¯d be weird if I wasn¡¯t comfortable with it.¡±


    ¡°I-Wha? You!¡± She eventually decided on and glared before calming, closing her eyes and breathing in and out rapidly, which I assumed was meant to be calmling breaths. ¡°I thank you for accepting. This is important, and I don¡¯t like having to ask a-a choom for this.¡± She added.


    And I did my best not to snicker, because that sounded like something she had practiced saying so she could get it right.


    ¡°If you can¡¯t ask your choom to flatline someone for you, are you really friends?¡± I asked jokingly, but Hayato just looked blank as her mouth fell open as she once again seemed to fail to find the words.


    Ah I should probably stop teasing her.


    ¡°Okay hold on. I¡¯ll stop being so casual about this. I¡¯ll accept it provisionally. I don¡¯t really care much about the eddies, but Hiromi will literally flay me alive with her words if I don¡¯t mention payment and stuff. But we can worry about that after.¡± I added as Hayato seemed to pick up on that and looked ready to speak again. ¡°Who do you need killed?¡±


    ¡°Kanada Tsukimura.¡± She said with almost a hiss saying his name with more real anger than I¡¯ve ever heard. ¡°He is¡­ One of my potential Fiance¡¯s.¡± She admitted and I blinked because wow. Wasn¡¯t expecting that. She noticed my shock. ¡°He has done something I can¡¯t forgive.¡± She added after a moment.


    ¡°You don¡¯t need to make any reasons to me Hayato.¡± I said after a moment. ¡°I¡¯m a merc. I kill people for a living. If you want him dead because he smells, then that¡¯s a good enough reason for me to kill him.¡± I explained and the idea made her snort into a rapid fire giggle before she realized what she was doing and gained control of herself.


    ¡°Then¡­ That is it?¡± She questioned and I smiled, because this was definitely the first time she had ever ordered someones assassination.


    ¡°That¡¯s pretty much it. Other than payment stuff, but blegh.¡± I stuck my tongue out at that. ¡°But any information you can give me will make it easier. Where does he hang out, a picture of him would help a lot.¡± I explained and she nodded, her eyes flashed and suddenly I received a package.


    A very familiar style of information packet. ¡°Wakakos work?¡±


    ¡°Eh? Yes¡­ Grandmother helped me put this together¡­ How did you know?¡±


    ¡°The way the information is structured is her style. It¡¯s a good thing. Wakako¡¯s gig info packets are pretty clear.¡± I explained and that had the girl relax. I took a moment to look over the information and whistle. ¡°He¡¯s a big shot alright.¡±


    ¡°He is.¡± She added after a moment with a disgusted look. ¡°I¡­ I spoke with Grandmother and she¡­ I want this done without any question as to what this was¡­ I need everyone to know that it was me that caused his death.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ Complicated. You realize that doing it that blatantly will make people look at me?¡±


    ¡°Do not worry about that! If he is dead I will make sure it is known that it was my hand that called for his death.¡± She said and I looked at her. And smirked a bit because she was once more saying something she had practiced.


    She noticed and looked away with a glare, but it made me laugh regardless.


    ¡°Okay. Then Hayato Nakagawa, you¡¯ve hired yourself an assassin.¡± I confirmed for her and she looked surprised at my words. ¡°This is actually going to be fun. I¡¯ve never done a really blatant assassination before¡­ I think It¡¯ll be a good thing for me actually. Maybe I¡¯ll finally convince the Tyger Claw goons to stop poking me if I prove I can eviscerate them?¡± I wondered and Hayato did a little scoff laugh.


    ¡°I believe that no matter what you do someone will still think they can ¡®poke¡¯ you.¡± She said with a grumble that told me she had experience with this.


    ¡°Fair enough. Any particular death you want for this guy? Gun, blade, bomb?¡± I asked, and she flinched at the question that apparently came out of nowhere.


    ¡°Ah. Uh. Whatever you think is best?¡±


    ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll figure out something with a statement then.¡± I assured her, and she nodded. Then she got quiet like she didn¡¯t know what to say. ¡°Want to be involved in the whole thing?¡± I asked suddenly and she jerked like I had struck her.


    ¡°What? You mean?¡±


    ¡°Well I¡¯ll be calling in my chooms to get this done, everything is easier with a crew, and it¡¯ll probably be an all day thing before we get everything locked down. So¡­ Do you want to come with?¡± She blinked and then her head surprisingly slowly nodded up and down.


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Preem! C¡¯mon! I was already planning on meeting up with everyone for dinner, but for a gig that changes things a bit!¡±


    ¡ª--


    ¡°Sorry about calling you all in early! As I said we got a surprise gig offer.¡± I said as Ichi and Malcolm both arrived first. We were at my apartment, since I didn¡¯t think I would need to do much netrunning since Hayato knew where the guy¡¯s house was.


    ¡°No problem. I was just hanging out with the folks today.¡± Malcolm offered and Ichi shrugged. ¡°I was going to mow the grass¡­ I uh, paid some kid up the street to do it instead. So I can¡¯t complain either.¡± They both offered and then as they came around they noticed my third guest.


    Hayato was sitting a little stiffly on the couch, still in her fancy Kimono.


    The fact there was a Tyger Claw guy in the corner that I had kindly offered a seat too when I realized he was going to just stand there was the next thing they noticed.


    ¡°Motoko?¡±


    ¡°Right! So meet, Hayato! She¡¯s our client for this gig, and a friend of mine! We punch each other!¡± I explained happily and the two boys looked at each other before shrugging at my statement.


    ¡°What Motoko means is that she is my sparring partner!¡± Hayato cut in, in a rush of speech before slowing as she realized what she had done.


    ¡°Makes sense. Motoko is a gorilla.¡± Malcolm offered and I scoffed at his words, and watched as he came in and settled on the couch without a care.


    ¡°I¡¯m Malcolm, and that one is Ichi. Nice to meet you.¡± He greeted Hayato with feigned casualness.


    ¡°Hayato Nakagawa.¡± She greeted and Malcolm twitched and practically jumped off the couch in shock like he had just been burned


    ¡°Holy fuck, you¡¯re the Tyger Princess!¡±


    ¡°Malcolm! Language! This is our client.¡± I grumbled and he looked at me and then at Hayato who wasn¡¯t looking very comfortable.


    ¡°How do you even know her Motoko? Why didn¡¯t you tell us you know Hayato Nakagawa! The second!¡±


    ¡°Malcolm, you say her name like I should just know anything about what that means. I only found out she was important during the whole kidnapping attempt.¡± I waved it off and then Ichi was there beside me.


    ¡°Hiromi is going to kill you for never explaining you knew Hayato Nakagawa.¡± He whispered to me, and while I felt an uncomfortable premonition go down my spine I still jabbed his ribs a bit.


    ¡°It¡¯s just Hayato. Stop saying her name like she¡¯s a thing.¡± I whispered to them, and then looked to Hayato. ¡°Don¡¯t mind these gonks, they act like morons, but are actually surprisingly competent!¡± I said lying through my teeth which I happily noticed both boys had picked up on and threw me a betrayed look.


    ¡°I see?¡±


    ¡°Anyway! To business! Hayato needs someone killed.¡± I explained and she did sort of wince at my blunt statement, but a moment later the boys nodded at that.


    ¡°Well that¡¯s something Motoko can do.¡± Ichi whispered, and then Hiromi entered the apartment.


    ¡°Hey, I¡¯m here! We have a client?¡± Hiromi asked, looking excited but keeping her pace and speech calm as she entered.


    ¡°Yep! Hayato needs someone killed.¡± I explained once more being blunt about it.


    ¡°Section 9 specializes in asset removal!¡± Hiromi said, as she settled onto the couch near Hayato, and to my amusement offered her a card. ¡°Have no fear, we will ensure complete customer satisfaction for your needs.¡±


    Hayato took the card almost without realizing it and then blinked as she looked it over, and then at me.


    ¡°Section 9 is our merc company. Hiromi is our corpo, don¡¯t mind her corporate speech it¡¯s just how she is.¡±


    ¡°Rude.¡± Hiromi whispered under her breath and I flashed her a smile in apology.


    ¡°Very well?¡± Hayato added, still looking a little confused. But then she straightened up. ¡°I understand that you are the one Motoko said would handle payment?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s me!¡± Hiromi said cheerfully, and then pulled out a shard and handed it over. ¡°And here is our pricing, and plan structure.¡± She said just as cheerfully, and I rolled my eyes as Hayato now looked a little uncomfortable.


    I walked over and bent near Hiromi¡¯s ear and made a little cough. ¡°Friendship discount.¡± I whispered and then moved over towards the boys. Both of them looked to Hayato to me, and then to Hiromi.


    ¡°Hiromi has no idea who she is talking to, does she?¡± Malcolm whispered to me, and I shook my head.


    ¡°No? Why would she?¡±


    ¡°You realize, no you know what. It¡¯s better this way.¡± Malcolm said, smiling as he turned his attention back to Hayato and Hiromi hashing out things.


    To my surprise, while Hayato had looked uncomfortable at first, she was easily keeping up with Hiromi and arguing back just as easily.


    They were getting along surprisingly well.

 Chapter 197

    ¡°Kanada Tsukimura.¡± I started off. Eventually payment had been decided and Hiromi looked pretty happy about everything, even if I had to nudge her and remind her about the friendship discount.


    With that, Hayato had left having other things she had to do, and left the gig to us.


    We were officially on the job.


    Rebecca had arrived after a while looking pissed at first, but as soon as she found out what we were doing she had laughed and lost most of her irritated frown.


    I guess flatlining a gonk brought a smile to her face too!


    ¡°What do we know about him?¡± Malcolm asked, getting to the real point.


    ¡°Not much. But we know where his house is, and I don¡¯t think he has any girlfriends, or kids, considering he is trying to get with Hayato.¡±


    ¡°Wait¡­ This guy is trying to¡­ Holy shit.¡± Malcolm whispered and Hiromi looked confused about the whole thing before I just shrugged.


    ¡°It¡¯s not relevant except that he¡¯ll likely be alone, but that¡¯s part of the problem. Client wants this to be noticeable. So I think I¡¯ll check out his home now, if he is home, then we can track him somewhere. If not, then we just wait for him to come home and do the same thing. I figure we stake out the garage of his building, place a tracker on his car?¡± I said looking to Malcolm for that, and he nodded.


    ¡°Great idea.¡±


    ¡°Then we just follow him to somewhere busy. Goal is to make his death very poignant. Rebecca, I¡¯m not sure how much shooting we will do, but I¡¯ll probably rely on you as part of my escape plan okay?¡±


    ¡°Heh! Sure I¡¯ll cover you Strings.¡± She said with a smile that I quickly returned.


    ¡°Ichi and Hiromi will be our exits, with Malcolm as cover as well. But I don¡¯t want to overplan yet. So let¡¯s go find this gonks house and sneak around!¡±


    ¡°Hell yeah!¡± Rebecca cheered.


    ¡ª--


    *Well well, Kanada is a wealthy guy.* I spoke over the line that everyone was connected too, not that they didn¡¯t already see that.


    *No kidding. That¡¯s a hell of a building.* Ichi added.


    I was looking straight up the very ritzy skyscraper, from the rear loading dock.


    It was funny how often I infiltrated apartment buildings from the rear, but it really was useful. I could easily move a camera into not looking at me, and electronic locks were meant to keep out drunk, or high gangoons, or street kids.


    The security simply wasn¡¯t capable of stopping a real netrunner.


    I left the others in the alleyway, I would code them into the garage area, but first I needed to infiltrate in.


    As soon as I was inside the small back door I shuffled out of sight, there was a hallway leading straight from the front entrance beside the teller desk to the back door.


    It was also thankfully where the elevators were, but that wasn¡¯t what I was looking for.


    I slipped across the hall and into the door that had an Employee Only sign. It was thankfully empty, first leading to a small storage room, which I noticed was full of supplies the front desk would need, including extra security shards for new renters, but I wanted all access. I slipped into another small security door, finding the small security room running along.


    I flopped into the seat, and started Breaching.


    *Okay, you¡¯ll all have Garage access, get down there.* I heard some returning confirmation as I worked the system. They would find someplace close to the entrance and keep an eye out for our target.


    My goal was¡­


    *Uploading a picture of the target.* I added, and then went on to search the camera records to see if I could find if he was here¡­


    No, I shook that desire off, and placed an access shard into the system in a slot, and then hurried back out of the security room.


    While my netrunning instincts told me to stick to the security center, Ninjutsu reminded me that keeping control wasn¡¯t the goal. I had access to what I needed, now I needed to get out before someone noticed.


    Slipping back out the way I came, I continued to work through my Agent, before just walking to the already opening Elevator and walking inside.


    The door shut instantly, and started taking me up.


    From there I accessed the camera system again as I waited and found my target.


    *Kanada left his apartment this morning. He¡¯s driving a yellow Shion. Sending a picture.* I uploaded it to our network and then smirked as the elevator opened to his floor.


    I didn¡¯t whistle, but I was tempted, as I walked down the hall. Mostly to keep anyone from wanting to check out who was whistling. He wasn¡¯t a Penthouse gonk, but his apartment was definitely the more expensive units. The entire place reminded me of Jun and I¡¯s apartment. It was clean and had a certain level of expense in the flooring and walls.


    His door slipped open without hesitation as I approached and I walked in and ducked to the side, in his little nook he had set up to drop off shoes.


    I started scanning. Had to make sure whatever security he had himself wouldn''t catch me.


    ¡ª---


    Rebecca


    ¡°Damn she¡¯s fast.¡± Rebecca muttered as they headed into the garage.


    ¡°Hmm?¡± Malcolm asked as he looked up from checking his gun. The two of them were stuck in the back of Ichi¡¯s truck, the two HMG¡¯s ready for their use if they needed.


    ¡°Sasha, the runner that Maine uses? She¡¯s good, and likely would have gotten access just as fast¡­ But only with prep beforehand. I¡¯ve never seen her actually sneak into a place without prepping the place first.¡±


    Malcolm was quiet for a minute before he nodded. ¡°Yeah, I guess it is kinda weird. Motoko is really good at sneaking around though. Has she popped up behind you yet?¡±


    This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    ¡°No?¡±


    ¡°Yeah she does that. You¡¯ll be hanging out and all of a sudden you¡¯ll have her hand on your shoulder or she¡¯ll crack a joke right behind you.¡±


    ¡°What a bitch.¡± Rebecca said laughing and Malcolm smiled along with her. These kids were so weird. The lack of constant ego trips was pretty intense.


    That she was the oldest out of all of them, even if she was the shortest also meant they treated her¡­ Differently.


    Sure Ichi and Malcolm both had done the teenaged boy thing and checked her out, but Rebecca was fine with that, and wasn¡¯t really interested. Neither of them were really her type. Which was a shame, cause finding a cute merc boy was harder than you¡¯d expect. Most of them were jerks.


    Like Pilar.


    Fucking Pilar.


    She was still pissed at him, how dare he say that shit. That she was playing with kiddy shit, and she¡¯d never make it onto Maines crew if she didn¡¯t stop playing.


    Agitated, she rolled her legs, as she grit her teeth. Swapping what leg she was holding herself up with as she flashed back to her brothers stupid fucking mocking voice.


    Saying she would never amount to anything again. Well not in so many words, but she knew that¡¯s what he meant. Just because she fucked up a few gigs by being late. Or that time she saved that stupid sad puppy eyed gonk, even though they were supposed to flatline him¡­


    ¡°Hey you nova?¡± Malcolm asked, and she almost lashed out at him, but there was a weird culture with Motoko¡¯s crew. They didn¡¯t do that shit. Teasing was always light, and often if Motoko, did go to far she¡¯d apologize after which was fucking weird.


    ¡°I¡¯m just dealing with shit.¡± She decided. ¡°And so sitting here without anything to do is shit.¡±


    ¡°Ah, gotcha. Why don¡¯t we step out then? There¡¯s some food places out of the garage.¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t we supposed to be keeping watch?¡±


    Malcolm looked at the nearly closed truck rear door that he was sitting nearly flat enough to look out.


    ¡°Can¡¯t see much from here, Ichi and Hiromi are still on duty, and we are just waiting for the guy to show up.¡±


    She hesitated before shrugging.


    ¡°Sure I could use a bite.¡±


    ¡°Cool. I think there was a buck a slice down the block.¡±


    ¡°Gross, I¡¯m not eating that slop. I think I saw a Kabayans.¡±


    ¡°Eh. I guess that¡¯ll work. Hold up, let me ask if anyone wants anything.¡± He said before his eyes flashed yellow. *Hey chooms gonna go on a snack run, Kabayan¡¯s looks like. You want anything.*


    Rebecca relaxed when nothing disparaging came through. Just a few requests then to her surprise Motoko cut in too.


    *Ramen if they have anything good? I¡¯m in the mood for some noodles.*


    *Sure sure. I¡¯ll look.* Malcolm said with a roll of his eyes. ¡°Motoko always wants noodles. She¡¯ll offer other things, but don¡¯t ever offer a Ramen place, or that¡¯s what she¡¯ll jump on.¡±


    ¡°Good to know.¡± Rebecca said, then she couldn¡¯t help but laugh at the silliness of it all. They took this work seriously, but they weren¡¯t¡­


    Uptight? No it was more that with Maine everything had to be done like the big guy wanted. Everything was meant to make them look like edgerunners. Section 9, for all they dressed up in armor and high end equipment, were so much calmer about it.


    Ah well. Fuck Pilar. She hopped out with her much smaller legs and put her hands behind the back of her head as she followed Malcolm out of the Garage and onto the street.


    Just a bit more, and she¡¯d have the eddies for her chrome.


    ¡ª--


    The problem with stakeouts is that they were boring.


    I was currently watching Kanada¡¯s TV while slurping my Ramen bowl that Malcolm had delivered. I had sneaked a peek at the cameras and noticed my chooms had all set up a cute little picnic in the back of Ichi¡¯s truck as well.


    Once more changing the channel I sighed as there was nothing on.


    Kanada¡¯s apartment was now completely subverted. Not that he had much. Just a security system on a separate system from the main buildings.


    Slurping up the last bit of broth I sighed.


    Waiting around for people was so boring.


    Since my meal was finished I went ahead and dumped it into a trash can that wouldn¡¯t be noticed if he returned, turned the TV back to the channel it was on, and switched it back off.


    With a soft leap, I climbed into the space I had found that was perfect to hide in. Pretty sure it wasn¡¯t supposed to be there but the guy had definitely had an entrance way modified when he moved in to have a small area to take off shoes and things, but it had left an empty space above that entrance way.


    So I climbed up there, and laid flat staring at a ceiling in boredom.


    I idly switched between some programming that I was tinkering with and checking all the cameras as I waited.


    A long time passed and I was definitely bored when finally I got a message.


    *Yellow Shion just pulled in.* Ichi¡¯s voice was excited and I checked the cameras.


    Well hello there Kanada.


    *Once he is clear, place the tracker.* I reminded them and got a few affirmatives from my chooms as Kanada came up to his apartment.


    I watched through the cameras as he slumped in grumbling about something under his breath. He threw his jacket over a chair, grabbed some food from his fridge and threw it in his microwave.


    It would be stupidly easy to kill him right now.


    Unfortunately, client wishes come first.


    Hayato wanted his death to be public. So I waited as he made himself a meal and settled on the couch for a while.


    Finally something happened. He got a call. I quickly hacked in and listened.


    *What is it?* Kanada demanded and I noticed the call ID registered the call coming from Hiko.


    *Nothing big boss, but we had an issue with the Delivery. Some product is missing again.*


    *Kuso! I told you to keep an eye on it!*


    *I did! You have my word I did! I think the product is going missing upstream. I swear I¡¯ve been with the package from when it was delivered until we opened it.*


    *Fine. Keep an eye on it, and get the camera records ready. I want proof it wasn¡¯t us. I¡¯ll go talk to Moritaka-Sama.* I blinked at the very familiar name, and then felt myself smile.


    Oh¡­ Oh this was an opportunity!


    Kanada got up and got ready grabbing his jacket and keys, slowly he put back on his shoes, and I grinned at what was happening.


    *He¡¯s coming down. Everyone get ready, we¡¯re going to leave first and follow.* I called out. Already knowing exactly how to get ahead of him.


    He left the apartment, and I slipped off the hidden area and waited at the door for the elevator to come, I had actually called up both elevators, and when he stepped inside once the door closed I was out and moving.


    The second Elevator opened and I was inside, the doors closing and sending me down to the garage as Kanada¡¯s elevator made a few extra stops.


    Once out, I raced across and leapt into the back of Ichi¡¯s van which closed just after me.


    ¡°Motoko?¡±


    ¡°Just got great news Malcolm. Kanada is about to go visit an old friend, one that I would very much like to make a point to.¡± I said with a grin as the truck started up and pulled out. The sound of a Shion engine starting up behind us, meant it was right behind us as we started out of the garage, and then he was gone, but easily tracked.


    We tracked him just a few blocks away to some business that was definitely owned by the TC. Plenty of people going in and out meant it was impossible for me to just stride in through the entrance.


    *Got it. It¡¯s an upscale bar, second floor is VIP seating.* Hiromi added into the comm and I grinned. While it wasn¡¯t anything I couldn¡¯t have gathered from a bit of netrunning, Hiromi was much faster at getting basic information about a building or business.


    Second floor huh?


    I glanced up from a ways down the street and took in something interesting.


    That was a mighty large window you had there. A quick scan told me it wasn¡¯t bullet proof.


    ¡°Okay. I know how this is going to go.¡± I said aloud and looked to my chooms who were all sitting around the back of the van looking around just like I was, and with a smile I told them my plan.


    ¡ª--


    I waltzed inside without any hint of fear. The bar was upscale all metals, and glass. The sort of place that I didn¡¯t really enjoy, but no one stopped me.


    Why would they? I walked in, and glanced up, the  VIP area was a second floor ring that ran around the sides of the building, leaving a large space they could look down onto the people below.


    I already knew where everyone was, and I knew where my target was standing.


    A camera was pointing right at him, and with the Ping I had on him, I had his position.


    I had a Katana on my hip, the same one that Musashi¡¯s gangoons had tried to kill me with. I had pulled it out of the Quadra as I called my car for an update to my armory.


    This was meant to be loud, but it was meant to be a statement. I still had my professional pride.


    Quick and clean, and very poignant.


    I stepped forward a few steps and loosened up my shoulders.


    I lowered myself and leapt.


    The second floor was well within my reach, as I leapt up and grabbed onto the guard rail and threw myself over.


    I activated my Sandevistan, to make sure everything went smoothly, and as I landed I could already see people sitting around the boss Moritaka rising up in shock reaching for weapons.


    None of which would fire, but my target was too slow.


    My katana was unsheathed and before he could turn, before anyone could shout a warning I was there.


    Kanada Tsukimura gasped, a weak sounding wheeze as my Katana slipped in, cutting through his heart, and with a gentle move I made sure to cut his spine quite badly, even as I let my momentum carry me on as I pushed him straight forward until I simply stopped letting my Katana slide out of his back as he slammed face first into the glass and out.


    The crash shattered an entire pane and glass splattered all around me, but through the whole thing my eyes were locked onto Moritaka Kuwabara.


    I held my dripping Katana even as my eyes remained locked onto the man.


    Just to let him know I had seen him. I didn¡¯t move. This wasn¡¯t just a statement for Hayato, but one for me too.


    Gangoons stood up and raised weapons that clicked or simply refused to fire.


    I gave it long enough for the realization set in, and then I finished what I was here for. With a gentle sweep I completed a Chiburi. A blood shake. Moritaka flinched at the motion, and then I sheathed my blade.


    ¡°Hayato Nakagawa sends her regards.¡± I finished and I saw the flinch through the crowd as I simply turned.


    The massive glass window was now open and clear and I stepped out. Ichi had pulled the truck up as the glass shattered and I stepped off, basically onto his truck, as he started driving off.


    *Kanada Tsukimura is dead.* I sent the text to Hayato.


    Gig complete.

 Chapter 198

    Hayato wanted to meet up for the completion of the gig. So rather than party, or split up we all headed across Japantown back to the expensive highrise where the TC bosses had their meeting.


    Taking the elevator up with the entire crew was interesting. I could feel the tension ratcheting up from Hiromi and Ichi, while Malcolm was more calm, and Rebecca was expecting trouble, and seemingly happy to pull her gun.


    The door opened to the same hallway and as we stepped out the TC guards in suits seemed to make a call, and before we reached security Hayato was there stepping back through dressed up as fancy as I had ever seen her.


    ¡°Motoko?¡±


    ¡°Hey Hayato.¡± I greeted back as I pulled up the net gogs from my eyes. I was still mostly fully kitted out, just the helmet left behind. She took a moment to look over me, and the rest of my chooms before seemingly smiling instead of looking uncomfortable.


    ¡°Good, you will make an impression.¡± She said and made to turn away but I coughed grabbing her attention.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t tell me why we were here?¡±


    ¡°When I told Father I was responsible for Kanada¡¯s death, he wanted to speak to me. You are here as I explain my actions, and proof to father that I am not without my own assistance now.¡± She told me and I quirked an eyebrow.


    It was as Hayato moved forward, and we were about to go through security when a strong hand clamped down on my arm.


    I followed the pretty chrome fingers to Hiromi who was looking as jittery as I had ever seen from her.


    ¡°M-Motoko?¡±


    ¡°Yeah Hiromi?¡±


    ¡°Is that¡­ Is that Hayato¡­ Nakagawa?¡±


    ¡°Mhmm!¡± I confirmed looking at her, and then watching as Hiromi just stilled and obviously short circuited.


    ¡°H-h-h-hayato n-naka, naka, naka! Why didn¡¯t you tell me!¡± She suddenly came too and started hissing in a whisper as she grabbed me and shook me harshly.


    ¡°It didn¡¯t really come up?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the Heir to the Tygers! The Tyger Princess. Hayato Nakagawa the second! And you!¡± Hiromi backed away and started rubbing her face.


    ¡°Ah did she finally figure it out?¡± Malcolm asked, and Hiromi stilled as she turned to him at his words.


    ¡°You knew!?¡±


    ¡°Yeah she introduced herself, you weren¡¯t there yet though. Ichi! I owe you twenty eddies.¡± Malcolm called out as Ichi was disarming to get through security.


    ¡°Nice!¡±


    ¡°B-b-but!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it Hiromi.¡± I said, deciding to take a bit of action. ¡°Hayato is a friend, and so we are going to just treat her normally. She¡¯s our client right now, so that¡¯s that.¡±


    ¡°Yes, but I didn¡¯t know!¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ You do now!¡± I laughed and guided her forward. Watching the rest of my chooms hand over their guns and weapons.


    Soon we were through and into the large meeting room. I noticed it was much emptier than before, but some of the people sitting in the front were people I recognized from the last time, as well as another familiar face.


    ¡°Hey Wakako.¡± I greeted reflexively, and she turned and gave me a look before nodding.


    ¡°Motoko. Everything went well, no further bloodshed than what was expected?¡± She asked me loud enough that everyone was looking towards us.


    But I had no shame!


    ¡°Tsk.¡± I offered her in turn, actually still annoyed. ¡°As per your instructions. Moritaka is someone I can¡¯t target, as much as I might like to finish that loose end. He¡¯s still alive, and I¡¯m a professional. No one else besides the target was touched.¡±


    ¡°See?¡± Wakako said, turning to a bald man covered in tattoos beside her. ¡°The girl is competent, and does not allow foolish things to interfere in her professionalism.¡±


    ¡°As you say Mother.¡±


    I blinked because the big tatted out TC guy didn¡¯t look anything like tiny Wakako, but then again that fit as well.


    Hayato did her own fake cough and glared at me, and I noticed that while I had wandered off to see Wakako, she had gathered the rest of my chooms behind her.


    Nodding, I waved goodbye at Wakako and headed over. Earning a particularly amused scoff from the woman.


    ¡°Try to stay close.¡± Hayato whispered to me, and I nodded apologetically.


    Then suddenly as if a switch flipped everyone stopped talking and in came Shinobu Nakagawa.


    Hayato¡¯s dad, and the leader of the TC. Which was still weird to think about.


    He entered without a word and took his seat, and instantly got down to business.


    ¡°Hayato. You had Kanada Tsukimura killed.¡±


    ¡°I did.¡± She said without hesitation. Confident as she offered a bow in her¡­ Kimono? Yukata? Okay seriously one of these days I was going to have to spend a few minutes and learn which was which.


    ¡°Explain.¡± He responded instantly with a bit of harshness.


    ¡°While you were fond of Tsukimura the elder, his son is not the same man.¡± She argued instantly and I watched as she straightened her back and continued. ¡°The power went to the boy''s head. He spoke words that should not be spoken. That he would be the Fourth Shinobu.¡± She offered and there was actually a flinch among the room at her words.


    ¡°You have proof?¡±


    ¡°I do, recordings of him saying it to his soldiers while they played. It was his intention to marry me, and attempt a takeover.¡±


    The room was quiet and then the man looked at Wakako with an upraised eyebrow.


    ¡°Don¡¯t look at me. Hayato came to me requesting an assassin, and I provided. I am simply here to see the after effects.¡± She offered as catty as ever, and then continued to watch over the proceedings.


    ¡°Mother in Law.¡± Shinobu started wearily before shaking his head. ¡°Please do not give Hayato access to an assassin.¡± The old man actually pleaded.


    ¡°I did nothing. Hayato created her own contact, I simply reminded her of the fact.¡± Wakako denied any wrongdoing with a smirk.


    ¡°The girl. Kusanagi is one of your mercs.¡±


    Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    ¡°Yes, but the meeting between Hayato and her was not my doing, and was actually a pleasant surprise. Motoko is rough around the edges, but is a professional within Hayato¡¯s peer group. It¡¯s good for them both to meet and create connections.¡±


    Wow, that was almost a compliment from Wakako.


    ¡°Otou-Sama. You called me here to discuss why I had Kanada removed. I have.¡±


    ¡°And this evidence wasn¡¯t given directly to me because?¡± He asked back with a glare, and Hayato almost wilted, before firming up.


    ¡°Because, I am Hayato Nakagawa, and I can handle business for the family as well.¡±


    The older man sighed, rubbing at his salt and pepper temples that once more made me stare at his face.


    He was crazy handsome and it was cruel that he was like an evil gang boss.


    Then again he was probably crazy handsome because of all the eddies he had because he was an evil gang boss.


    ¡°Then the evidence for Kanada¡¯s death will be handed over. Unless Mother in Law has already?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s real. I confirmed it myself.¡± Wakako offered and the men around the room all frowned looking pissed.


    Yeah I guess if some early twenties gonk went around saying he was going to marry the daughter of the leader, kill the leader and become the next one, and I was one of those leaders already I¡¯d be pissed too.


    ¡°Then the assassination will be condoned¡­ Forgive me, old friend.¡± Nakagawa whispered aloud and many of the men bent their heads.


    Tsukumura¡¯s pops must have been important.


    ¡°It seems you have an assassin on hand, Hayato. Make sure to use such a thing sparingly.¡± The old man added and Hayato practically buzzed.


    ¡°I will take that into consideration Otou-Sama¡­ But I will not hesitate to call upon skilled mercenaries when needed.¡±


    Papa Nakagawa sighed again at Hayato¡¯s words and I had a feeling she might be using her newfound freedom and connection to an assassin to remove a few more people.


    Which was nothing but an awesome thing in my book.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°Waaa, I can¡¯t believe we were just standing in front of Shinobu Nakagawa!¡± Ichi whispered once we had left the building proper and stepped into the garage.


    ¡°Nerve wracking.¡± Malcolm agreed but he stretched and seemed less bothered.


    ¡°Ugh I¡¯m just glad we got out of there. Talk about tense!¡± Rebecca added as well, before slapping Ichi on the back. ¡°And don¡¯t think I didn¡¯t notice you practically shivering as you stood there in your armor!¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t!¡±


    ¡°I have a contact with Hayato Nakagawa.¡± Hiromi whispered as she followed robotically behind us all. She had been doing that since she had worked up the nerve to speak to Hayato on the way down and mention she was the one in charge of setting of gigs.


    ¡°So Hayato. How¡¯d we do?¡± I asked, she had followed us down and seemed set on speaking to me about something but having difficulty beginning.


    ¡°You were perfect. Grandmother will ensure word gets around that you were operating under my orders, so no one will cause any issues for you.¡±


    ¡°Eh, I¡¯m more irritated that more people are going to know what I¡¯m capable of. I hate people that don¡¯t underestimate me. It¡¯s so much easier when they think I¡¯m just a brat.¡±


    ¡°You will be known as working under me personally. That will do a lot for your rep. Isn¡¯t that a good thing?¡±


    ¡°Eh, fifty-fifty. It means I have a better chance of being known while doing something, which is good or bad. Being able to intimidate is useful. But being unknown or underestimated is often better in my view. But it¡¯s nothing to worry about!¡± I continued on when I noticed her frowning. ¡°It was inevitable, and getting known as working for you is a good thing. It means the Tygers should be less of an issue in the future.¡±


    ¡°Are we often an issue?¡± She asked me with an honest curiosity in her voice. ¡°I would expect, with your brother and legacy status. You should be treated well?¡±


    ¡°Not really.¡± I offered back. ¡°Jun¡¯s rep helped yeah, but most Tyger Claw guys at the bottom are jerks and don¡¯t really think before speaking.¡±


    I looked back and saw her frowning. ¡°That is not how it should be. They should have nothing but respect for you, since your parents and brother were Tygers!¡±


    ¡°In a perfect world.¡± I replied back with a smirk, saying obviously that the world wasn¡¯t perfect. ¡°Besides I know my way around a blade and more.¡±


    ¡°Indeed you do.¡± Hayato confirmed actually smiling, which was a rare sight on the serious girls face. ¡°I will have to face you with Shinai again next time we spar. If you were able to stand against Komorebi, then you were holding out on me!¡± She said suddenly going on the attack and pushing at my shoulder with a finger, but that didn¡¯t do much thanks to my chrome!


    ¡°Hey! I wasn¡¯t! Not really. I had two blades when I faced him and I¡¯m good at dual wielding. I¡¯m ambidextrous.¡±


    ¡°Tsk. I will test that myself!¡± She argued back and I just laughed at her eagerness for more spars.


    Then we stopped. We had wandered off a ways farther from the rest of the group, as I let Hayato guide us, and it seems we were far enough. ¡°Hayato?¡±


    ¡°Motoko, you did a favor for me that I will not forget. Freeing me from that filth Kanada.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not like I did it entirely altruistically.¡± I explained but she shook her head.


    ¡°You did it when I had no one else to do so. And Grandmother has already denied me her own contacts for this business. I was stuck attempting to find my own¡­ I will owe John-Sensei much for letting us meet.¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ Glad I could help.¡±


    ¡°I know¡­ Which is why I feel cruel for speaking further. I need to solidify my place in the Tygers. I am a daughter, and while we are not yakuza, few would see me rise up to be the next Shinobu.¡±


    I blinked because¡­ I thought Shinobu was his name? It was a title?


    Nevermind, I decided I would ask Ichi later or something so that Hayato didn¡¯t start trying to slap me again.


    ¡°You need more help.¡±


    ¡°I would like to continue our relationship. As Client and mercenary.¡± Hayato confirmed sounding very official.


    ¡°I don¡¯t mind.¡± I decided. ¡°If you need someone killed, rescued, something torched, or just a big gun fight, you know how to reach me. Maybe we¡¯ll talk to Hiromi to set up some for of retainer? Is that a thing?¡±


    Hayato looked very pleased for half a moment her smile bright and happy before she instantly shifted back to her official face.


    ¡°I look forward to your future performance.¡± She spoke and I shivered because I had a moment where I felt like I was working an actual job instead of doing whatever the hell I wanted.


    ¡°Sure.¡± I offered, deciding that was the correct response and she nodded.


    Unfortunately Hayato needed to head back up, so once she was gone I jumped into Ichi¡¯s truck and we all took off. Time to celebrate!


    ¡ª--


    ¡°Woo!¡± Rebecca cheered as she showed off with her Ajax. I had intended on going to Lizzies or something, but Ichi had made a good argument.


    It wasn¡¯t a good idea to party at Mox HQ after doing work for the Tygers. Even if it had been an assassination of one of them.


    So instead we were out at Turbo¡¯s of all places.


    Rebecca had suggested it, and since we didn¡¯t really have a hangout that wasn¡¯t just go home, or Lizzies I had no reason to argue.


    It turned out to be a good idea in the end, Ichi and Malcolm both quickly fell in love with the attention, as Rebecca was a familiar enough face since this is where Maine celebrated. She was able to start the process of a party.


    As everyone gathered around as Rebeca regaled them of the most recent gig. With lots of extra bits added on. I certainly don¡¯t recall her gunning down the security guards for instance.


    But I guess that was half the fun of being a merc. The tall tales.


    I blinked surprised as I noticed Hiromi walk over to the Turbo¡¯s little attendant, and not long after come out with a few packs of Brosefs she walked over to Rebecca.


    ¡°Hell yeah! Free booze for everyone!¡± Rebecca cried out and everyone cheered as the crowd Rebecca had gathered turned into an actual party.


    ¡°I didn''t expect that.¡± I told Hiromi as she wandered over and sat on the seat beside me.


    ¡°A small cost for a post gig party.¡± She said confidently, and then stilled a bit and sent me an honest smile. ¡°Rebecca suggested it. Apparently if you turn this sort of thing into an open party it helps with your rep. Tomorrow everyone here will be talking about the cool merc party the night before and telling everyone what we did.¡±


    I nodded at her explanation. I guess that all made sense. For a group of mercs, normally their rep was their guarantee, their hope of future work depended on it.


    I was just so weird, and we had built up enough of a nestegg thanks to the helpful contributions of Scavs and Raffen that I never worried about where the next chunk of eddies would come.


    ¡°Do¡­ Do you or the boys worry about eddies? Like¡­ Do we make enough?¡± I asked, and Hiromi hummed.


    ¡°Not recently. There was Ichi¡¯s thing with his grandmother, but since we got the big truck, his morning job has paid out well.¡± Hiromi mentioned I could see the way she was looking through me that she was doing calculations in her head.


    ¡°Before all this happened, I wanted all of us to have a meeting.¡± I mentioned, and Hiromi blinked at my words and nodded at the memory.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Anything in particular?¡±


    ¡°Us, our future.¡± I mentioned as I stared off. ¡°What our relationship will be like in a few years.¡± I glanced over and Hiromi looked super red. Before I could ask her what¡¯s wrong she spoke.


    ¡°A-are you sure it¡¯s t-time for that? Are we ready?¡± She stuttered and I laughed a little and nudged her.


    ¡°Section 9 has grown so much already. I think it¡¯s time we start formalizing things. It¡¯s nothing to worry about.¡± I explained looking over at Malcolm who was actually seeming to get some attention as he held a brosef in one hand and talked about some adventure he had.


    ¡°A-ah. Section 9! Of course! Right. The future of Section 9. That future.¡±


    ¡°Hmm?¡± I asked and Hiromi shook her head wildly and then ran a hand over her face.


    ¡°Right. That makes sense. We¡¯ve been growing a lot. The Behemoth. The Minotaur. Rebecca joining more full time.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m glad she wants to work with us.¡± I said as I turned to look where she was. Rebecca was throwing her weapon grabbing it and throwing a mag into the rifle looking pretty cool while she did so.


    ¡°You know¡­ You never did tell me why you wanted her to work with us so much? She¡¯s admitted that she¡¯s barely got any experience with her current crew, but you threw her into a solo position.¡±


    ¡°I just know she has it in her.¡± I admitted purposefully not meeting Hiromi¡¯s eyes. ¡°Plus we needed more people. I had met her, and I knew I could steal her away from Maine and his crew.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s also a lot older than us¡­ She¡¯s pretty. Mature.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know of anyone that¡¯s ever called that gremlin mature before.¡± I whispered back and Hiromi snorted and slapped my shoulder.


    ¡°Don¡¯t call her a gremlin!¡±


    ¡°I say it like I see it. But yeah. Rebecca is cool, and I think she¡¯s perfect to balance us out. A bit older, but that¡¯s not a bad thing, even if she doesn¡¯t look it, which sort of ruins the chances of her doing any infiltration we can¡¯t handle because of our age. I¡¯ll just have to dress up again.¡±


    ¡°Dress up?¡± Hiromi asked and I realized I fucked up!


    ¡°Nothing important!¡±


    ¡°I think it is!¡± Hiromi argued with a grin and I was quick to jump off the bench and make a run for it, Hiromi right behind me shouting for answers.

 Chapter 199

    I woke up the next morning feeling well rested and ready to take on the world. A full eight hours and I was ready to hammer life.


    I hit the gym first. That final level for Body would mean I never have to stop at a gym again in my life. Which was a temptation that was too strong to put off.


    The weights let me push and I found a good chunk of the morning disappear in a haze of aching muscles and willpower overriding my tired body.


    No level ups, but it was all about the slow inexorable grind!


    I spent most of the morning after that doing some clean up for the Tachikoma. Their brain was growing well, if slowly, but they were at the point where it was easy for them to follow a thought or assumption and come to incredibly wrong conclusions.


    I considered calling for that meeting between my chooms that I had planned, but honestly we had been working for days straight.


    Today was a rest day for sure. Plus Hiromi had school, which I really should try not to interfere with all the time. Better to give her some school time before I finish calling the meeting and get everyone on the same page.


    Of course I wasn¡¯t really feeling like putting my feet up and wasting the day. So instead I pulled out my laptop and started working on some design work.


    The initial use of the Tachikoma had been an amazing success, but I still needed to get their mobile function working.


    Getting them capable of climbing walls was going to be complicated, although the tech definitely existed out there already. I remember the Flathead was easily doing it.


    But for now I needed speed.


    Wheels.


    Tachikoma were supposed to have wheels on their legs and that was a skill they would need to learn to use.


    Adding wheels was easy. Adding wheels into their already packed together legs while somehow powering them was harder.


    But it was the fun kind of harder.


    ¡ª--


    When the door opened and Jun wearily stepped into the apartment I was still a long ways from completing a working design.


    So I happily pushed it away and looked over at my brother.


    ¡°You look tired.¡±


    ¡°Yep.¡± He muttered and stomped over to the fridge.


    ¡°Any reason why?¡±


    ¡°Been busy.¡± He finally offered after grabbing an XXL and throwing it in the microwave. But he wasn¡¯t going to elaborate.


    ¡°Okay?¡± I mentioned realizing Jun wasn¡¯t in the mood for conversation.


    A minute later he settled on the couch and chomped into his burrito and life seemed to return to him.


    ¡°I¡¯ve just been busy Imouto. A lot of issues came up, and I wasn¡¯t able to handle them because of¡­ Yuto.¡±


    ¡°Ah.¡± I looked away. We hadn¡¯t really had a conversation about this yet. The room grew a little awkward and I considered what to do. For Jun Yuto was a friend, a companion, a brother in some ways.


    And I had killed him.


    ¡°Hey Jun?¡±


    ¡°Hmm?¡±


    ¡°Do you want to set up a space in our shrine for Yuto?¡± I asked and Jun definitely wasn¡¯t expecting that as he choked a bit on his burrito.


    I patted his back a bit and he got himself under control again. ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°You heard me. Despite everything¡­ He was a choom right?¡±


    Jun blinked and just looked over to our shrine.


    We didn¡¯t use it much, it mostly stayed in the corner and we just left it as is.


    Finally Jun nodded slowly. ¡°Yeah. I¡¯d like that.¡±


    I smiled as Jun¡¯s mood improved and we made plans to head out to get everything we would need. I might have zero connection to the man, but to Jun¡­ This might be the way to get over the guilt he obviously felt.


    ¡ª--


    As we left the apartment to head to some shops it was obvious that things had changed.


    I was getting stared at. Normally when Jun and I walked around, he got all the attention with his reputation out there, but this time it was something more.


    I was getting looked at, and people were whispering.


    ¡°Looks like I¡¯m not going to be able to stay low key anymore.¡± I muttered as we passed a few TC gonks sitting on a set of stairs and all of them jumped for Jun but ended up flinching when they saw me.


    ¡°Well you did start working with Hayato Nakagawa-Sama.¡±


    ¡°Ugh. Don¡¯t call her that.¡± I cringed, because it was hard to keep in mind Hayato was important when she was sort of a mess.


    ¡°You should start speaking about her with respect. It could cause issues.¡±


    ¡°Nah. I¡¯ve punched her in the face too many times to do that.¡±


    ¡°Motoko!?¡±


    ¡°We spar together Jun. What do you think? I just didn¡¯t touch her?¡±


    ¡°No! But¡­ I forgot you sparred with her¡­ Is she any good?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s a pain in the ass with that Keren of hers. Not as good at grappling though, but if she can set the pace of the fight she¡¯s solid.¡±


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.¡°Huh.¡± Jun muttered as we reached the street and headed down the sidewalk.


    ¡°Whatever happened with the 6th Street attacks?¡± I asked and Jun winced looking around a little before leaning in.


    ¡°Higher ups are spreading the word it was a false flag, and that 6th Street already apologized. They didn¡¯t but they also don¡¯t want to admit they were tricked. Apparently there was a big clean up among 6th Street so they are focused on internal matters.¡±


    ¡°Just like the Tygers then.¡± I muttered, and Jun didn¡¯t comment, but it was what he didn¡¯t say that mattered.


    The reason the Tygers weren¡¯t retaliating was because they were dealing with internal trouble just as bad as 6th Street.


    So both gangs were apparently happy to just ignore the entire situation. Of course neither would admit weakness, and neither would actually apologize.


    Gang Wars were bad for business though, and 6th Street had already long ago become a business rather than the protectors they tried to pretend they were.


    Jun switched to more casual conversation after that, as we entered the store and bought some stuff for the Shrine for Yuto, mostly just new incense.


    ¡ª--


    I was driving to the gun range, planning on getting another session in when the radio started a new song that made me twitch.


    My voice, singing This Fffire. It was so eerie that it kept happening, but I didn¡¯t change it. Just letting the song finish.


    ¡°And that was This Fffire from Ghost in the Shell, been getting a lot of requests for that one. So I hope all you choomers enjoyed it.¡±


    I heard Ash say over the radio before finally turning off the car. I was here.


    So weird.


    I still wasn¡¯t sure what I was going to do about all that mess, but I did know that I would have to come up with something soon.


    I can¡¯t believe I was on the radio.


    Shaking it off I headed inside and started shooting. I was focusing on my Handgun skill today, as it was pretty low for one of the skills I used a lot, and I could get a lot of work done.


    As I was shooting I noticed one of the other shooters eyeing me and I stopped and shifted so I was looking them straight in the eye. They flinched and looked away and I glared.


    Tyger Claw. So he was staring because he had heard about me.


    Stupid rep. It was better when everyone just ignored me.


    ¡ª--


    *100 Handguns XP Gained.*


    *Handguns skill level up!*


    Handguns just hit 8!


    I cheered internally even as I groaned and stretched my slightly aching shoulders. I had been at it for hours!


    But I really wanted that level up!


    Looking around for the first time in a while I relaxed as I was alone and I took a moment to start packing up.


    Processing the odd sensation of gaining muscle memory that I hadn¡¯t actually done before. Slight changes in how to hold and point, a slight shift in how I would register when to fire while aiming.


    It was all good stuff.


    Packing up I decided to grab some food and probably flop on the couch for a while.


    As I headed out, I caught the issue. Once again a couple of Tyger Claw gonks were standing around my car.


    I shifted my shoulders, giving me easy access to the Burya and stalked forward.


    ¡°Hey! Get off my ride!¡± I demanded and watched the men all shift to stare at me.


    Weapons visible.


    ¡°Chill choom.¡± The lead Gonk offered and actually raised his hands, but his smile told me he was mocking. ¡°We¡¯re just here to talk.¡±


    ¡°Talk to someone else then. Fuck off.¡± I demanded, I didn¡¯t know who sent these fucks, but it wasn¡¯t anyone that I wanted to talk to. Everyone in the TC that I wanted to chat with had my number.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be like that, we are here with business.¡± He explained his smug smile still stretched across his face. And when I just stared blankly he smiled like he won some game. ¡°Here¡¯s the deal. You pissed off some important folk, and in exchange you need to work it off. See?¡± He explained and I nodded.


    That was what this was about. I breathed in and out. My blood was boiling. It would take just a choice to calm down, handle this rationally, call Fujimura or Jun, and make sure these guys regretted trying whatever this was about.


    Or I could just not.


    I activated my Sandy. Everything slowed down not because I expected trouble, but because I wanted to memorize the look on this smug pricks face when my chrome fist smashed into his face. My ankles gave me plenty of force to truly lay one on this guy.


    I moved on.


    ¡°Get you ass off my fucking car!¡± I roared as I smashed into them, one of them let out a girlish shriek as I twisted and leapt then landed a flying kick right onto his face knocking him off the hood of the Quadra.


    Then I moved again, a gun was drawn, Sub-Gonk number 2 drew a Shiny Omaha, it was whipped out with far too much wasted movements, by the time the gun was clear of his pants, I had already rolled off the Quadra and lashed out, my foot smashing into his wrist and sending the pistol flying. Then I smashed another fist into the gonks chest.


    ¡°I am so sick of this shit!¡± I yelled out as I switched back to the leader. He was rising up shakily holding his mouth, but I didn¡¯t care and slipped into his guard and reached up grabbing the side of his head while my other grabbed under the Quadra¡¯s bumper giving me all the leverage I needed to bounce his head off the solid titanium hood.


    Then I flowed into another move. The fucker that had been sitting on my car was getting up and I smashed a knee into his face putting him back down on the asphalt.


    I drew a blade, not my normal knife, but a throwing dagger that was tucked into my little strap on pouches, and chucked it.


    Sub-Gonk number 2 had scrambled for his dropped Omaha and now had a knife in his shoulder. Ninjutsu made the throw so easy I could have lodged it right into his eye if I wanted.


    His scream of pain was all the work I needed to do. Kind of hard to pull a trigger when you disable their arm.


    Wise words from a movie drill instructor.


    Walking over I kicked the gun away, he had dropped it anyway unable to grip it, and reached down, jerking the knife back out earning another scream.


    I stared down at the three crying injured men.


    I should kill them.


    I wanted to kill them. Instead I closed my eyes and made a call.


    *Fujimura. You have about ten minutes to send someone to pick up these Tyger Goons that just tried to have a chat with me, before I slit their throats and let them bleed out in the streets and carry on with my day. Here¡¯s my cords.* Then I hung up and sat my own ass on the hood of the Quadra my Burya visible and keeping the goons on the ground.


    ¡ª--


    I guess I shouldn¡¯t be surprised.


    ¡°Motoko!¡± Jun roared as he nearly jumped off his Kusanagi and rushed over. Akari, I noticed had been riding bitch behind him. Heh.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine Jun. Just pissed.¡± I explained calmly. The three men were sitting on the ground in front of my Quadra, the fight thoroughly kicked out of them.


    Jun looked me over and seeing the only blood I had on me was my chrome knuckles nodded.


    Then he turned slowly, practically looming over the three gonks.


    ¡°Hey, c-chill Oni, we were-URK!¡± Jun didn¡¯t finish listening. The man was lifted off the ground with one hand wrapped around his throat.


    You know¡­ Maybe I¡¯ll let Jun stay tall instead of cutting his legs off to make him more normal sized. Because watching my Ogre of a brother hold a struggling dumbass aloft with one hand was really funny.


    ¡°Pfft.¡± I tried to restrain my laughter, the man''s legs were kicking in the air, unable to find the ground that was a good foot away.


    ¡°You. Dare.¡± Jun rumbled his voice deeper than normal, a rumble in his chest adding bass to the worse.


    ¡°Oh my.¡± Akari whispered faux shocked, but as I looked her over I noticed she was very much enjoying Jun¡¯s actions.


    Ugh. Gross.


    ¡°Kushan-i.¡± The leader spoke in broken syllables still holding his face.


    I might have broken his jaw.


    ¡°We-sh ¡®ad o¡¯rers.¡±


    ¡°What orders?¡± Jun rumbled the guy in his hand still struggling but I noticed Jun wasn¡¯t going easy on his throat. He was turning blue.


    ¡°Jush a talk!¡± The leader spoke quickly hands raised as Jun looked like he was about to beat a motherfucker with another motherfucker.


    I watched and sighed, because Jun wasn¡¯t going to do that, or rip these guys apart. Honestly I¡¯d have been mad if he had, because they were my XP if they were just going to be killed.


    ¡°Fujimura-sama will want to hear exactly what your orders were.¡± Jun finally said with a growl and dropped the other gonk. Who landed badly and rolled into a ball as he gasped for air. ¡°Motoko, Fujimura-Sama will be here soon. And we¡¯ll get to the bottom of this.¡±


    ¡°Perfect. I¡¯m out then.¡± I decided as I stepped off the hood fo the Quadra. ¡°I¡¯ve wasted enough time on this shit. Let me know what three dumbasses were supposed to tell me later or something.¡± I offered with a wave and then Jun looked like he was going to say something but ended up nodding.


    ¡°Sure.¡±


    I hesitated and sighed turned around and to Jun¡¯s surprise hugged him tight. ¡°Thanks Jun.¡± I told him and ran away before he could get mushy.


    Jun was always Mushy.


    ¡ª--


    I got home and took a shower, and as the water ran over my head, I came up with an idea.


    A sinister, evil idea.


    It was an idea for a quick hack.


    I considered it for a while, it wasn¡¯t functionally any better than Optic Reboot, but sometimes you just needed to utterly fuck with someone.


    I found myself in my room, Tachikoma beside me going through a small series of digital testing grounds for it I had set up, while I used both my hands and my agent to program at rapid speed.


    The fact was, I was starting to build a rep. I had to accept that it was what it was, but I wanted something that made people think twice before ever, even considering messing with me.


    So I needed to start becoming something more than just an assassin.


    I needed the reputation of a monster.


    Optical Hack Daemon: Onryo.


    I pulled the data for my stealth daemon, as the base, as the Daemons carrier function was really really good. Then instead of simply focusing on making me invisible, I had it carry a holoimage.


    The program came together without any issue, and by the time the sun rose it was done.


    I installed the completed hack and then just stared at the wall for a second.


    ¡°Pfftt Hahahahaha!¡± I broke in evil laughter at the horror I was about to unleash. Now I just needed to find some targets.

 Chapter 200

    I considered going out and using it right away, but I needed to test it first, and I had perfectly good guinea pigs.


    I mean friends!


    Ichi and Malcolm were summoned!


    The little food place I had called them too was nice enough, but I wasn¡¯t inside. Instead I was on a roof across the way watching the two boys arrive, look around not seeing me, and slide into a booth.


    I quickly hacked into both of them and slipped in the Daemon , making sure to set it to the lowest setting.


    I didn¡¯t want to give them a heart attack after all! This was just some minor fuckery-Teasing. Just minor teasing! Between chooms!


    Watching the two it didn¡¯t take long before Ichi jerked in his seat and looked around as if searching for something.


    Malcolm asked him a question and Ichi just shook his head and they went back to their discussion. Then Malcolm jumped nearly out of the booth as he patted at his legs and then ducked under the booth but came up looking confused.


    The two boys settled back in, and then it just kept happening. Odd twitches, or slight movement.


    Closing my eyes I opened it again, connecting to the Daemons so they¡¯d send the data to me as well.


    I thought about the Laughing Man a lot when it comes to hacking. The ability to just remove yourself from someone''s vision, or change how you look in real time is incredibly powerful in a world where everyone has cyberware vision.


    I wasn¡¯t at that point yet. Altering someone''s vision in real time was insanely resource intensive, at least as far as I understood it. Of course that understanding could change as I leveled up more and more.


    But that didn¡¯t mean I couldn¡¯t touch on that sort of Hack.


    Onryo was very simple. Slowly over time the user''s vision would have flashes of something, in the corner of their eye, or in the shadows of a table below them.


    A ghostly shadowed version of me with white hair and glowing red eyes, and claws and fangs.


    I had gone all out.


    If the Tyger Claws wanted to call me Onryo, then I was going to scare the shit out of my enemies.


    So I watched as a faint version appeared over Malcolm¡¯s shoulder, a hand reaching out, not in Malcolms vision, but in Ichi¡¯s. He twitched and called out, Malcolm reacted, his hand slapping his own shoulder right through the image making it vanish. Not that Malcolm saw it¡­ Hmm.


    Both boys looked at each other and then spoke.


    Then I got a call.


    Oops. I think they figured it out.


    I leapt off the building without answering and crossed the street before entering the diner.


    ¡°Motoko! Was this you?¡± Malcolm demanded and I raised my hands in surrender.


    ¡°Sorry! Sorry! I¡¯ll pay for lunch so forgive me okay?¡± I pleaded giving the boys a cute look.


    ¡°You were already going to pay for lunch!¡± Ichi joined in as I joined them and slumped.


    ¡°Dinner?¡±


    ¡°And snacks!¡± Malcolm added and I nodded in surrender. I had been fucking with them after all.


    ¡°So what was that?¡±


    ¡°My new quick hack! Version 1, anyways. While watching you all react, I realize it has some weaknesses. Shared network alterations are a must if this is going to work on a group of people, and I need something to induce a physical feeling.¡± I muttered, already my vision was covered by the code as I started fiddling with it.


    ¡°Jeeze. That scared the shit out of me. Why make a quick hack that just makes you look like a ghost?¡±


    ¡°Mostly to terrify my enemies. It¡¯s an Onryo.¡± I explained and both boys nodded. They had heard that nickname for me before. ¡°Basically I don¡¯t even have to attack a group. I can just hack them, and if they don¡¯t have a netrunner capable of realizing what¡¯s going on. They¡¯ll be too busy chasing ghosts to stop me from doing whatever I want.¡±


    The boys both nodded along as I spoke, but then I revealed the truth. ¡°Of course an Optic Reboot would be more efficient. Just blind them and get to whatever I need to do, but sometimes you just want to scare the shit out of a group of assholes.¡±


    ¡°Hear hear!¡± Ichi cheered and the boys clinked their glasses together.


    Great, I was forgiven.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°Ah, there you are.¡± Jun greeted me as I got home. I threw my jacket over the back of the couch as I leapt over to flop into the cushions beside him.


    ¡°Sup, Jun?¡±


    ¡°Those fuckers that were trying to mess with you? Don¡¯t worry about it. Fujimura-Sama made sure that it won¡¯t happen again.¡±


    ¡°Yeah? The fuck did they want anyways?¡±


    ¡°Nothing. Just¡­ Stupid shit.¡±


    ¡°Blackmail?¡± I asked, because it had felt like I was about to be blackmailed.


    ¡°Not, exactly. I think he wanted to try and weaken Fujimura-Sama by stealing you away. I think he was trying to recruit you.¡±


    ¡°What? Why? I¡¯m pretty sure he hates me.¡±


    ¡°Motoko, Moritaka isn¡¯t the sort of man that would allow his feelings to get in the way of his goals.¡± Jun said and I frowned a bit at that.


    He didn¡¯t seem that way when I met him.


    Jun noticed my disbelieving look and just rolled his eyes at me.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. I took care of it and Moritaka is getting talked to by Nakagawa-Sama. He overstepped a bit this time. Especially since they started a fight with you.¡± Jun said idly, and then threw me a wink.


    Ah. I see. ¡°Yep. They started the fight. Definitely.¡± I assured him having picked up the context.


    He smiled and that was that.


    I relaxed the irritation of it all sliding off my shoulders. I knew that I wasn¡¯t done with  Tyger Claw nonsense again, but at least I could kick it down the road a bit more.


    That was the goal. Just keep pushing the things I can¡¯t deal with safely now until later, until I could deal with them.


    The fact lit a fire under me again and I hurried to my room.


    Time to get some work done.


    I scooped up the Tachikoma that was practicing something with its blocks and shut it down for a bit. I needed to do an upgrade. Luckily I had the parts from when I made the directional mics.


    Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!


    I popped off the out shell with a few screws and looked at the internals.


    Flashed my eyes at my laptop and accessed it remotely pulling up the CAD software. As I worked I rolled around my room grabbing the parts from different places. A spare mic that had rolled under my dresser.


    Some wires in the top drawer right next to my underwear. The soldering iron was somewhere, and it took a minute to find it in my closet hidden under some clothes.


    Grabbing everything I rolled back to my work desk as I finished up the design.


    I really just had to make sure it had some room, everything else was already in place. An hour later I was done.


    The Tachikoma now had access to a microphone. Able to pick up sounds, so it wouldn¡¯t be deaf. A few holes drilled into the case would let it hear, and it was done. Put back together. I set it on the table and started programming.


    Just because it had the hardware didn¡¯t mean it knew how to use it.


    Luckily I didn¡¯t even really need to program the whole thing. Microphone software to let a program ¡®hear¡¯ was old code.


    I ripped it from a few different devices just in the apartment, including the TV and my radio. Fiddled with the code so it was actually functional to my needs, and not full of garbage and then updated the Tachikoma.


    I accepted the alerts that popped up over the little project.


    *100 Engineering XP Gained.*


    *100 Crafting XP Gained.*


    *100 Technical Ability XP Gained*


    I got a few alerts for each one. But no level ups.


    That was fine. It was an easy project, and the system always liked when I finished something, but it wasn¡¯t exactly complicated.


    Just a minor update to the Tachikoma Chassis.


    I wish I had the hardware upgrades for its mind. I hadn¡¯t heard anything from Hiromi about it since I brought it up a while back.


    Sure, the Tachikoma were functional as scouting drones right now, but if I wanted a scout drone, I¡¯d have bought some off the shelf garbage. The Tachikoma were more than that.


    Shaking it off, I made a note to bring it up with Hiromi sometime soon, and instead rolled over to my programming laptop.


    I turned on the Tachikoma, and basically pushed it through some tests for its new mic. While I went to work on the Onryo Hack.


    Like I had told the boys it wasn¡¯t really that efficient. Blinding people would work better than just fucking with their vision. But efficiency wasn¡¯t always the right path in every situation.


    Now I had to figure out how to craft a hack that had another sense involved. Touch was¡­ Difficult.


    Sure, if they had Real Skinn, or other similar products, it would be easier. Real Skinn had sensors to transmit touch, but tapping into that and keeping it all in sync with the visual changes¡­


    No wait. I didn¡¯t need to have it actually interact with Real Skinn.


    The flash of inspiration had me cackling as I checked my own hardware to make sure it was functional.


    Funny thing about Neural Links, and Agents. Agents had silent alerts and notifications integral to the system.


    Guess what it could do? It could make a buzzing, or a shock feeling on a palm, or something like that, but it wasn¡¯t really doing anything to that part of your body, it was just sending an electrical signal to the brain.


    I could co opt that. Agents were touted as being pretty difficult to get into, but it just wasn¡¯t the case. The on board AI wasn¡¯t really great. They were good at learning habits and behaviors, and assisting their user, but they weren¡¯t intelligent enough to counter a foreign install.


    I went to work. Watching over the Tachikoma with one eye as it ran around exploring sounds and registering them into its system.


    I winced as I noticed the file growing exponentially, and had to take a break to stop it and work with the Tachikoma, to register an easier way to process sounds.


    I couldn¡¯t have it create a file library of every sound it heard. If the Tachikoma did that, it would bloat so large the Tachikoma¡¯s mind would break under the weight of its own memories.


    Well. It would crash until I fixed it, but the point remained.


    So instead, I needed it to process sounds not as a copy pasted registry, but as an inquisitive module.


    Take in the sound, Look to register what it was and process accordingly. Except for speech, which would be in a registry library.


    Those were pretty small though. People were more than capable of fitting an entire language software in their agents alone¡­


    I should probably get more languages myself actually.


    It almost made me stop working, but I shook it off. I¡¯ll make a note to pick up a few of the common ones. Japanese would probably help a lot when dealing with the Weebs.


    ¡ª-


    ¡°Hey, Motoko! Your song is on!¡± Jun called out suddenly and I looked away from my programming to faintly hear my own voice coming from the living room. Rising up I stepped outside and indeed it was true.


    This Fffire was playing. And Jun was doing his proud older brother thing as he looked from the radio to me.


    It still felt weird to hear my own voice.


    Jun was quiet as the song played through, just looking all proud that it was on, and only when it was over and Ash came over the air did he turn to me.


    ¡°So? What do you think?¡±


    ¡°I think it still sounds awful and I hate it.¡± I told him, but that was actually lying, and he caught that. Giving me a look.


    ¡°C¡¯mon don¡¯t be like that.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s weird.¡± I answered truthfully. ¡°I should probably do some more songs soon.¡±


    ¡°Oh!? You have some more ideas?¡± He asked, sounding interested which made it a bit awkward when they weren¡¯t exactly ¡®ideas¡¯ in the creative sense.


    ¡°Yeah something like that. I¡¯m sure Hiromi is going to bug me soon about putting out more songs¡­ Or doing more gigs.¡± I groaned at that idea.


    ¡°Heh.¡± Jun just chuckled at me and stood up throwing an arm over my shoulder pulling me in for a hug. ¡°I think you¡¯ll somehow live.¡± He teased and I gently elbowed him, but didn¡¯t really pull away.


    ¡°Shut up. It¡¯s not like I want to come up with an entire new set list or anything¡­ Even though I have some ideas.¡± I mumbled, and that was my mistake.


    Talking to Jun. That was the mistake.


    ¡°Hehe!¡± He said and suddenly I was lifted up, hands under my armpits as Jun spun me around in the air. ¡°I look forward to hearing it! When are you going to be done? Need any help?¡±


    ¡°Nooo!¡± I groaned as I kicked a little, but Jun was lifting me up and it wasn¡¯t like I wanted to really dick kick him or something. So I could only really pout and look away from him as he hefted me up like I was a toy.


    Stupid light body. I was going to get a full body conversion and weigh a ton or something and laugh as Jun failed to mess with me like this!


    Then Jun put me down and sort of looked embarrassed. ¡°I was uh, talking to Alice the other day. She mentioned that she wanted to ask if you wanted to play a song with her band sometime.¡± He offered and I blinked.


    ¡°Really?¡±


    ¡°Really. Her band, Violet Hemorrhage is going through some shit. So she¡¯s looking for people to play with. You know?¡±


    ¡°Violent Hemorrhage.¡± I corrected him, and shook myself a bit after he put me back down, adjusting my clothes. ¡°And I don¡¯t know Jun. If they are having band trouble. I don¡¯t want to stick my nose in it.¡±


    ¡°Maybe just a jam session then? I bet she¡¯d be happy to help you play some of your songs.¡±


    I narrowed my eyes at him. ¡°You just want me to focus on Rockerboy stuff so I¡¯m not getting into fights.¡±


    ¡°I think you have an amazing talent, and want you to be happy¡­ And  I want you to focus on Rockerboy stuff, so you aren¡¯t getting into fights.¡± He said and I scoffed but couldn¡¯t help but chuckle. I¡¯m pretty sure I had used that one on Jun before.


    ¡°Tell her, I don¡¯t mind jamming or maybe doing some stuff together sometime¡­ I guess.¡±


    ¡°Preem. I¡¯ll call her and let her know, but before that. Tell me about this new set!¡±


    ¡°Ugh. I don¡¯t¡­ I haven¡¯t really thought about it.¡± I said truthfully, but now that I was¡­ I could pull something together¡­ Or I could fuck with Jun. ¡°I¡¯ll write some love songs! All about love and sex and-Urk!¡±


    ¡°No love songs!¡± Jun demanded grabbing for me which I ducked and dodged, he swiped at me, getting more serious as I started humming a tune as I slipped around, and then jumped flying over his head in a flip.


    ¡°You can¡¯t stop me!¡± I called out, and starting singing. ¡°I¡¯m in love with the shape of you! We push and pull like Magnet do, although my heart is falling too, I¡¯m in love with your body!¡± I sang running around and struggling not to die laughing as Jun groaned with every line chasing after me, he was far less nimble over the couch.


    ¡°Motoko!¡±


    ¡°C¡¯mon Jun. You know I¡¯m not really interested in doing a love song.¡± I offered, laughing, and Jun sighed out seeming to relax a bit.


    ¡°Thank God.¡±


    ¡°But I¡¯ll likely put one out eventually. I mean, love songs are super popular.¡± I admitted and Jun just glared at me, but I laughed at his look. ¡°Relax Jun. Maybe I¡¯ll get someone else to sing it, and I¡¯ll just give it to someone.¡±


    ¡°No love songs.¡± He grumbled at me, which made me cackle and I shook my head refusing to accept his demand. Not that I had much interest in them.


    ¡°Alright. I¡¯m getting back to work. Talk to you later Jun.¡± I waved him off laughing at our little rough housing as I headed back into my room.


    ¡ª--


    I pulled up to the parking area near the Straight Lane Apartments, and hummed the first few bars of a random song.


    I had spoken with Hiromi about formalizing stuff, so here it was.


    The first official gig day of Section 9.


    Grabbing some gear I headed down the street humming all along as I reached the entrance, and noticed some familiar faces hanging around. The girls that tried to get overly protective of their gang leader. They noticed me and sort of looked away.


    Preem, not dealing with that today.


    I walked past and to the elevator heading down not surprised to see Hiromi already there, along with someone that did surprise me. Rebecca.


    ¡°Hey Becca.¡± I greeted happily and she looked up from where she was sort of looking over Hiromi¡¯s shoulder at the laptop she was working on to wave. Hiromi quickly looked up and smiled.


    ¡°Motoko! Great timing. We got the work details. This should be something fun. We are retaking some data that some Maelstrom stole.¡± Hiromi offered and I perked up.


    Hey, that sounded like fun. Also fuck Maelstrom.


    I walked over and stood behind Hiromi to look over her other shoulder from Rebecca and see. ¡°Hmmm. That¡¯s not a large group either.¡±


    ¡°O-of course! They brought a lot of heat on their heads. So they are hiding out. We can move in and clear them out and make some good eddies.¡±


    ¡°Preem. Who''s the Fixer?¡± I asked and Hiromi went a bit quiet so I looked away from the computer to her. ¡°Hiromi?¡±


    ¡°Regina.¡± Hiromi finally said and I blinked in surprise.


    ¡°Huh, I didn''t think she wanted to work with me.¡±


    ¡°I uh, don¡¯t actually know. I didn¡¯t tell her that you were involved.¡± Hiromi admitted and I shrugged.


    ¡°Okay. That¡¯s fine. I don¡¯t like dealing with that part of the gig anyways. I¡¯ll leave it to you.¡±


    ¡°Yeah! You can leave it to me!¡± Hiromi said with a big dopey smile. I smiled back and heard the elevator start up.


    ¡°That¡¯s the boys.¡± I confirmed it with a quick check of the lobby camera.


    ¡°Good, I was about to start puking.¡± Rebecca said and I shifted to her.


    ¡°What? Are you sick?¡± I asked worried and Rebeeca stilled before looking away.


    ¡°Nah, just I¡¯m good. Don¡¯t worry about it. We¡¯re about to kill some gonks, and make some eddies!¡± Rebecca cheered, sounding normal¡­ She didn¡¯t look sick¡­


    I shook it off as Ichi arrived, with Malcolm in tow, both of them looked ready. Already mostly kitted out.


    ¡°Perfect! Everyone suit up. I¡¯ll do an initial sweep of their system before we hit them.¡±

 Chapter 201

    The intel was good. An old ripperdoc shop, long abandoned by the owner, had been taken over. The group had klepped a shipment from Kang Tao. Some proprietary data or whatever, and they wanted it back, but hadn¡¯t managed to track down who stole it, so some middle manager had hired Regina who hired Hiromi.


    Honestly I was pretty relaxed, slipping into their data stream was tetchy. Maelstrom always had more potential for running into a Netrunner than some other gangs.


    But as I slipped inside, and did a quick numbers check from a rooftop across the street, looking through the interior camera from their unblinking eyes everything kept coming back as just like the mission prep.


    About fifteen Maelstrom. No one with a massive danger level, all worked out of this shop gathering chrome from all over the city and using this place to chrome themselves up.


    I had a bad feeling they weren¡¯t professional rippers, and were probably just doing it through their amateur skills which was horrifying.


    I¡¯d have to visit Vik after this and pray to the prophet of safe chrome use.


    *Okay, I¡¯m in their security, uploading Ping.* I sent out, and my eyes were filled with golden lights that I uploaded to my team. Out of the corner of a camera I caught Rebecca and Malcolm huddling in the alley behind the shop, both of them ready.


    *I¡¯m moving.* Ichi confirmed, a moment later and I looked with my actual eyes to see his Van pulling out of the spot he had parked down the street and drove closer.


    *We¡¯re ready!¡± Rebecca called out and I nodded.


    *Alright. Everyone! Operation Begin!* I demanded as I stood up and started running.


    A lot happened right away.


    I leapt, landing precariously on the traffic light across the street, balancing a little for a moment and then running across.


    Ichi stopped his truck with a little tire squeal and the back doors opened up, both HMG¡¯s activating.


    Rebecca hopped up, using a bit of garbage they had piled up to climb up onto the trash bin and heft her LMG onto the old fence pointing into the building.


    I was glad I had made sure there wouldn¡¯t be any chance of Ichi¡¯s HMG hitting them, thanks to the weird shape of the building they were at an angle to each other.


    Then I leapt, and as I did I uploaded Weapon Glitch.Then I landed on the roof, rolled forward and the firing began. My Lexington raised up already silenced and I started firing, destroying the glass of the skylight, and sliding to a stop. My Burya raised to match my Lexington, and I started firing from above into the Maelstrom that were still alive taking cover behind what little they could find.


    *500 XP Gained.*


    *500 XP Gained.*


    *500 XP Gained.*


    *500 XP Gained.*


    I smirked as the XP came in, four shots each confirming a kill with the Burya as the Lexington did what it could as well, and then I rolled away from the window as return fire hit my position. Rolling a bit to get some distance I confirmed everything was working well.


    *Grenades.* I called over the line, and Malcolm did his job. He wasn¡¯t just there to help Rebecca after all. A moment later the inside of the shop started exploding as he tossed grenade after grenade inside until every golden light went out.


    *I¡¯m going in to clear, safety those HMG¡¯s Ichi.*


    *Roger that. Going to move so I¡¯m not in the middle of the street.* He called out, and I already heard his roller door on his truck coming down as he started driving away to keep an eye out.


    I jumped down through the skylight. Weapons raised as I checked the corner, but I was already fairly confident it was clear.


    I looked over the bodies and whistled. That wasn¡¯t just normal Maelstrom gear. They had some actual hardware. Must be what they klepped from the Kang Tao.


    Looks like Section 9 was getting some more gear. I ignored that for now, and started searching. Plenty of equipment was destroyed from our surprise attack, but I had found what I suspected was the laptop that they had checked the stolen data from, and it was in a small side room. It had been safe-ish from grenades.


    I finished checking all the rooms and joined up with Rebecca and Malcolm as they came in, before I relaxed.


    ¡°Looks all clear.¡±


    ¡°Preem! Look at that! Eee! I¡¯ve always wanted a Zhuo!¡± Rebecca actually squealed as she set her Constitutional Arms Defender LMG onto the concrete barely treating it gently as she hefted the Smart Shotgun and started cackling.


    ¡°Keep an eye for traps!¡± I reminded her and Malcolm before I turned towards the small office and slipped inside.


    The laptop inside was hooked up to all sorts of firewall hardware. Honestly all this equipment was expensive stuff, and I was already planning on calling for the boys to haul it all away.


    Additional computing hardware to protect yourself while checking on a dangerous shard? That was valuable.


    I did one quick check using the data Regina gave me, confirming the data file I was looking for was present, and popped the Kang Tao Harddrive that they had rigged up to everything. Slipped it into a pouch in my armor. *Hiromi we have retrieved the target.*


    *Nova. I¡¯ll message Regina. We didn¡¯t get a-*


    *Shit! Incoming!* Ichi shouted out and I moved. Bringing my Burya up as I raced out of the small room. Rebecca was already jumping into cover. The same cover the poor Maelstrom had used until I attacked from above, but Malcolm was sort of hesitating.


    I took it all in and my eyes caught what was happening. I activated my Sandy and moved.


    Bullets started shooting through the front window, but it wasn¡¯t normal gunfire. Smart rounds. I took it in, and turned up my armor''s ECM, the light would make me a bigger target, but if bullets were homing it was better than nothing. A moment later I was hitting Malcolm, both of us went sprawling, but hopefully behind enough cover the rounds would miss.


    *ACTIVATE ECM!* I roared over our line and rose up realizing I was still in Sandy time.


    Fuck.


    I fired ,Kang Tao orange armor not standing up to angry Burya fire and dropping soldiers with every shot.


    As I fired I started hacking. Weapon Glitch would certainly help, but Kang Tao weren¡¯t off the street gonks. They had some actual defenses, and before I could finish it happened.


    I didn¡¯t make it back into cover without return fire. My ECM was working. Smart Rounds went wide and spiraling off, but that wasn¡¯t a perfect solution. I felt a round impact my chest rig, right around my ribs, and then as I was knocked sideways, a spider crack blurred my vision. I landed hard, but rolled into cover.


    Return fire started Rebecca firing her new toy, and Malcolm scrambled for his gun. I was a bit stunned for a moment as the Sandy cycled and I realized the reason my vision was so fucked was because a smart round had hit my helmet.


    I pressed a hand against the hole and relaxed as I realized while I felt a bit concussed I wasn¡¯t bleeding.


    *Incoming!* Ichi called out again and I really worried that we were about to be hit by more enemies when I heard a massive crash outside. I peaked up and then started firing.


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    Ichi had crashed into the Kang Taos stupid little orange minivan they had come out of, and that had been enough of a distraction. Then Malcolms grenade went off and I flinched back.


    Oh. He hadn¡¯t been scrambling for a gun, but for another grenade.


    ¡°Good job.¡± I called out a few moments later when I realized they weren¡¯t getting back up. And then I activated the Sandy again and charged.


    The Kang Tao van was still occupied, just busy dealing with Ichi¡¯s less than an accident. I pulled one of my own grenades from my chest rig and jumped, landing on the hood of Ichi¡¯s Van.


    *Ichi! Reverse!* I demanded and a moment later the truck peeled backwards escaping the Kang Tao¡¯s van. With a little extra that I tossed in once there was an opening. The grenade popped and the entire little orange van bumped and I got a surge of alerts that I would check later.


    Instead I raised my gun pointing at the van.


    *Let¡¯s go! In the truck now!¡± I demanded and not long after Rebecca and Malcolm both pulled themselves out of the shop, Both of them looked like they had been hit, but that would have to wait as they hurried as fast as they could and jumped into Ichi¡¯s truck. I crawled over to the passenger side and slipped in, as Ichi floored it.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°An explanation would be nice!¡± I growled holding an ice pack to my head. I hadn¡¯t managed to slip a Max Doc between Ichi in the cab, and Hiromi fussing over me at Viks.


    Malcolm was okay, just a big purple bruise growing across his shoulder where a round had slammed into him, but Rebecca got actually nicked.


    I looked over at her, where she was doing everything she could to not pay attention to the way Vik was cleaning out a bullet hole in her leg.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know either!¡± Hiromi said back, but she was just as pissed as I was. ¡°Regina hasn¡¯t gotten back to me since the attack.¡±


    ¡°That bitch. She¡¯s the fucking cursed fixer. If I find out she did this, all those defenses at her stupid little hidey hole aren¡¯t going to save her.¡± I promised, and despite the fact I just threatened a fixer, Hiromi nodded.


    Then her eyes went gold and she held up a hand, her face turning into an angry glare as she spoke.


    Ah, so Regina had called us finally.


    I looked over, and everyone was okay. So I rested back and closed my eyes.


    *500 XP Gained.*


    *750 XP Gained.*


    Two XP alerts for the grenade I had thrown. So the boss of the little hit squad had been inside the Kang Tao van?


    Then a good bit of odd alerts, and of course I had leveled something.


    *100 Engineering XP Gained.*


    *Engineering skill level up!*


    That had me snorting back a laugh. Killing people with explosives was engineering still made me laugh.


    Engineering 7 was solid, I could feel the information leaking into my brain as I let myself decompress.


    ¡°Good news and bad news.¡± Hiromi called out and I looked up, that had been to everyone. ¡°The good news? Regina wasn¡¯t the one that tried to backstab us. The bad news? Kang Tao aren¡¯t gonna drop this.¡±


    ¡°Not our problem.¡± I denied instantly. ¡°You tell Regina that as the fixer we are dropping off the data and our side of this is done. She handles it.¡± I argued but Hiromi shook her head.


    ¡°Kang Tao went after her too.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± I asked, actually surprised. Regina wasn¡¯t the oldest fixer, but she¡¯d been Media before this, had plenty of connections, and¡­ You just didn¡¯t go after Fixers like that. But I still shook my head. ¡°Still not our problem. Not unless she¡¯s paying more.¡±


    Hiromi nodded and went silent as she still had Regina on a line.


    We were all quiet as Hiromi¡¯s face went through a variety of responses before settling on a bit of anger and then she nodded. Grimacing which made the black EMP threading on her cheeks shift.


    ¡°Fuck you too then!¡± Hiromi yelled out, shocking everyone including Vik who looked up with a judging eyebrow raise at Hiromi who looked a little bashful. ¡°Sorry.¡±


    ¡°What happened?¡±


    ¡°We need to get the data to her so she can finish the gig from Kang Tao and turn off the heat for this, but she says we need to get it to her, and that it¡¯s not going to be easy.¡±


    ¡°Again that sounds like a her problem.¡± I added bluntly.


    ¡°She mentioned that she can get Kang Tao off our ass, but she needs the data first.¡± Hiromi added and I rolled my eyes.


    ¡°Fucking hell.¡± I grumbled and shrugged standing up. ¡°Okay I¡¯m going to get this to her and get out. Stay here, while¡­ No, go to Hiromi¡¯s place once you are patched up. We don¡¯t want to bring any heat down on Vik.¡± I added looking to the older man, who hadn¡¯t turned from his work while I spoke, but I got the feeling I had done right.


    ¡°Yeah. We can crash at my place¡­ Probably.¡± Hiromi added and I shrugged. While I didn¡¯t want to make her parents pissed, I didn¡¯t exactly care about that as much as I cared about my chooms.


    ¡°Alright Hiromi, send me whatever Regina sent you about the drop off. I¡¯m out.¡±


    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you recover a bit more?¡± Hiromi asked, pointing at my head and I shook it off.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine. Really.¡± I added throwing up a smile. ¡°Alright guys. I¡¯ll keep in touch.¡±


    ¡ª--


    Regina was still up in her little hidey hole of a floor in a skyscraper. The problem came that Kang Tao also knew that, and they had moved into the area to watch her.


    She couldn¡¯t leave to get the data to get them to back off, and they wanted the data and the carriers of it dead.


    Fucking hell.


    I was going to tell Hiromi no more Regina after this. She was just bad luck.


    I parked a long way away, and ended up getting to the rooftops so I would have a better view of everything. Looking across the street at the building Regina was in, I kept my head down low, because even on the rooftop there were Kang Tao Snipers.


    This¡­ This was going to be difficult. They definitely had a runner here too, so I would either need to sneak in and get to her, or disable the runners while I did so¡­ I considered the options. I could probably start flatling gonks on my way in, but¡­


    Kang Tao was not the sort of threat I wanted to keep poking. Killing a single hit squad they sent after me wasn¡¯t a huge deal, but wiping out more of them after? That¡¯s the sort of thing that could get them to decide to make an example out of me.


    So stealth it was. From the rooftop I started marking targets, not through Ping or anything as that might be noticed, but just using the old ninja skills. Slowly in my mind a layout came into place. With each of the Kang Tao grunts forming a web as I took in their routes, and paths.


    Slowly I got a solid image of the whole place. Instincts had me focus on areas that I could sneak through, and places that would be impossible to move around, but slowly it all came together.


    I sighed, taking a moment to just take in the annoyance and what I was being forced to do. Then I stepped off the building.


    It felt like flying every time I did this. I landed silently on a sign and stayed there for a minute. Then moved again. Leaping from the sign onto the street light, something that was starting to become a fun trick I kept pulling as street lights were high enough most people weren¡¯t going to notice me traveling across them if I moved fast enough. With a leap I crossed the street and landed on an overhang of a building next to Regina¡¯s.


    Then I crouched down and waited, adjusting myself so my body would blur into the shadows, and hopefully keep me concealed even from Kiroshi if they were looking around.


    I counted the time.


    One. Two. Three¡­ Sixteen. Seventeen. And I rose up and leapt. This was the hardest part. I hit Regina¡¯s building, my feet just landing on a tiny ledge as I jumped again backwards crossing the alley that hid Regina¡¯s entrance, I jumped over the heads of the Kang Tao guards that were standing at the exit.


    I hit the other building and this time let my momentum stall as I simply dropped straight down. Right in between a very lucky garbage bin. Then I waited. There was a guy directly in front of me as I looked towards the opening to Regina¡¯s little private elevator.


    He was inside the little elevator room and just idling around. Waiting. C¡¯mon. C¡¯mon. I thought to myself as I waited for the time. He would move soon, I just had to hope I got the timing right. I waited and then like every person he shifted as he started to move. My Sandy activated.


    I ran forward on silent feet as I slipped right into his shadow. The heavy Kang Tao helmets weren¡¯t great for peripheral vision even with good optics. I slipped straight behind him as my Sandy turned off, and turned along with him using him to block vision of myself from the exit.


    Then I waited a few moments, as he looked and started moving. I rushed forward. I didn¡¯t have long. I ran over and pushed the call button on Regina¡¯s elevator and then leapt into the same place I had once hidden to ambush her guards the first time I had shown up here.


    To my complete lack of surprise with a very quick scan I noticed the new camera that was hidden in the ceiling pointed at this location. I looked right into it, and with only a slight difficulty I pulled up my netgogs and threw the camera a wink.


    Then I waited. Securing both arms into the concrete I managed to pin myself in place pretty comfortably, as I waited.


    Another Kang Tao guard came in and I waited. The cycle would repeat soon. And so I held myself in position. I could stay up here for a long time, but not forever. Even with my arms, there were still muscles being strained to keep me pinned in place.


    But I waited. Regina would have to open the elevator for me¡­ Right?


    I once more realized that this could all just be Regina fucking us in someway. This was Night City after all. But I waited, and finally as the guard moved back out to cycle through the routine, I saw the elevator doors open silently. Not a sound giving it away.


    I dropped, and hit the floor as I rolled backwards avoiding my hands as I tumbled, and rolled into the elevator I stopped waiting to draw if someone saw me, as I waited and waited, and almost too long the doors started closing and the guards either just saw it too late, or missed it as they closed and the elevator shifted bringing me up.


    I rose up and prepared myself.


    Regina had defenses and this could still be a giant weird trap.


    The doors opened and to my surprise the HMG¡¯s weren¡¯t pointing at me, but were still active. And in front of me was Regina, and her¡­ Chooms? Workers? Guards?


    ¡°Yo.¡± I greeted her because I didn¡¯t know what else to say and she was giving me a complicated look.


    ¡°Motoko Kusanagi.¡±


    ¡°Yeah I know, bet you never expected to see me again.¡± I offered as I reached into my pouch to grab the data and the two guards both jerked up with weapons so I stilled.


    ¡°Relax.¡± Regina ordered and they did and so I finished bringing out the Hard Drive.


    ¡°Here¡¯s the data Kang Tao are so finicky about. I expect this will solve this issue?¡±


    ¡°It should. Come on.¡± She demanded as she took the hard drive and walked inside.


    I sighed. I knew that another issue was here. There was no way I could get out of  here with the Kang Tao right outside the exit so I had no choice but to follow her inside.


    Her guards were shooting me odd looks as I walked in, following after the fixer. She moved until she was facing out the window, her eyes golden as she was on a call palming the data drive.


    I found a box to sit on because Regina had this place set up like some crazy ass hobo encampment and I just sat back against the wall before remembering my chooms and sending them a text.


    *Motoko: Regina has the data drive. Just waiting now.* I sent into the group chat and sat back as everyone responded. Rebecca¡¯s grumblings about this made me want to laugh, but I kept my face blank as I was right in Regina¡¯s citadel.


    Then finally Regina slumped a bit and reached for a drink on a desk and took a sip.


    ¡°Kang Tao are backing off. In exchange for the drive like they wanted. They¡¯ll pretend the rest didn¡¯t happen.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, say that to me and my chooms that got shot.¡±


    ¡°Dangers of the job¡­ Shouldn¡¯t you know that by now kid?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve never taken a gig from a fixer that ended up this fucked up before. You tell me.¡± I snapped back and Regina definitely didn¡¯t look pleased at my tone.


    ¡°I don¡¯t hire kids for a reason.¡± She countered back and I rolled my eyes. Hiromi probably didn¡¯t inform her about how old Section 9 was when she got the gig.


    ¡°These kids performed your gig perfectly, survived an ambush and brought you the data so you could save your ass from a pissed off Kang Tao middle manager. You can mock us all you want, but we are the side that did our job here.¡± I pointed out and Regina went blank before she breathed in and out.


    ¡°You¡¯re right. This was my fuck up, not yours. You did the gig you were hired to, and did more. Can¡¯t deny that.¡± She said suddenly to my surprise, then she pinned me with a stare from her one eye. ¡°You did well, but I still don¡¯t like hiring kids for this kind of work¡­ Call me in a few years if you¡¯re still alive.¡±


    ¡°Pfft.¡± I scoffed at her and settled back. ¡°I¡¯ll think about letting you send me a gig that long in the future. You might have to work for it.¡±


    ¡°Arrogant brat.¡± She muttered but turned away and continued her work.

 Chapter 202

    An hour later Kang Tao headed off having retrieved the data and everything was settled.


    Just another night in Night City where the corps felt that killing anyone that had even touched their data was the better course than just trusting some mercs to have not read it.


    I didn¡¯t, but I was tempted to after they screwed us like this, but Regina had gotten paid and then some for all the trouble, so I was just going to let it go. I didn¡¯t want to deal with Kang Tao right now.


    Getting to Hiromi¡¯s apartment I was let in quickly as Hiromi opened the door before I even got there.


    ¡°C¡¯mon!¡± She urged me, grabbing my arm and pulling me inside. It was a bit tense in the apartment. It looks like Hiromi¡¯s Mom was here, and she was giving the group a little bit of a stink eye as the group of teenagers splayed out on her fancy couch.


    ¡°Mother! Motoko is back.¡±


    ¡°Hello again.¡± I greeted the stern looking woman, who looked me over, and I noticed her optics locking in on my new chrome as well. But then she nodded seemingly pleased.


    ¡°This issue with Kang Tao is dealt with?¡± She asked and I nodded.


    ¡°Yep. They backed off, everything is settled.¡±


    ¡°Good. Hiromi, dear, be more careful.¡± She said in a tone that was actually a bit softer than I¡¯d ever heard from her.


    ¡°Yes Mother.¡± Hiromi said, without even a hint of irritation. Which surprised me, because we were careful.


    Then Mama Hiromi walked out of the living room for her office, and the atmosphere calmed down.


    ¡°Whew.¡± Hiromi sighed a bit as she left.


    ¡°Be more careful?¡± I prodded quietly, and Hiromi just shook it off.


    ¡°She worries. But she lets me do this.¡± Hiromi argued back, almost snapping at me, and I nodded, raising my hands.


    ¡°Got it, sorry.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± She whispered back, and then she turned to everyone. ¡°Okay! Motoko got everything settled!¡±


    ¡°Finally!¡± Malcolm called out, but I realized he was teasing. ¡°Gosh Motoko, taking so long.¡±


    ¡°Yeah Motoko.¡± Ichi said distractedly as he was currently eating some food that was on a fancy plate and looking shocked at what he was eating.


    ¡°Oh fuck off!¡± I told Malcolm laughing, as I walked over and pushed his head. ¡°I had to sneak past an entire team of Kang Tao to get that data drive dropped off.¡±


    ¡°Pfft. Just one team? Are you getting slow in your old age?¡± Malcolm teased, so I just flipped him off and Rebecca¡¯s laugh made me laugh along with her.


    ¡°Funny as fuck chooms. But we¡¯re good? Vik did good work, but I¡¯m still feeling sore.¡± Rebecca said, pointing at her leg that was currently resting on the glass coffee table. That might have been why Mama Hiromi was hovering.


    ¡°Yeah, Kang Tao agreed to back off on this one. Regina brow beat them with the data.¡±


    ¡°Nova. Alright then. I¡¯m out.¡± Rebecca said and groaned as she started to get up. I frowned.


    ¡°Want a hand?¡±


    ¡°Ehhh¡­ Yeah.¡± She admitted as she winced a bit as she put weight on her leg.


    I walked over and scooped her up gently, earning a yelp of surprise from Rebecca as I slowly made sure she was comfortable.


    ¡°Jeeze choom! I¡¯m not that small!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re pretty light Rebecca!¡± I responded back with a laugh showing her how easy it was to lift her. Honestly the weight was mostly on my back thanks to my arms being chrome, and my core handled the rest just fine.


    ¡°Fuck. I forgot all those muscles you got Strings.¡±


    I just laughed at Rebecca¡¯s surprised sound.


    ¡°C¡¯mon I¡¯ll help you get home. Oh before I forget.¡± I mentioned stopping my turn towards the door. ¡°We didn¡¯t get to loot the place with everything that happened. But I¡¯m amazed at how well everyone handled today. Ichi, your van okay?¡±


    He gave me a small grimace. ¡°Repairs aren¡¯t going to be cheap.¡±


    ¡°It was during an OP, and it saved our ass, so Hiromi? Can we make sure that gets squared away? I can pull from my eddies if that would work.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it Motoko.¡± Hiromi said, although she was giving me a strange focused look. ¡°We have the company account for that sort of thing.¡±


    ¡°Okay¡­ Just let me know if there are any issues. Thanks everyone.¡±


    ¡°Pfft. We all did what we could.¡± Malcolm said surprisingly blase about the whole thing. ¡°I¡¯m gonna head out too.¡±


    And with that other than Hiromi giving me a strange look, and Rebecca giggling for some reason. Our first official gig day ended.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°So Ash has been reaching out. She¡¯s had a few people reach out to her, music people on the down low trying to get contact information.¡± Hiromi informed me the next morning.


    I blinked at her as she had just walked into my bedroom as I was being a bit lazy and still in bed without a word and just flopped down and started talking.


    ¡°What? Hiromi!¡±


    She rolled her eyes but she was trying to keep from breaking out into a smile so she was definitely fucking with me. I just rolled my eyes back and waved my wrist for her to go on.


    ¡°Okay so. People are interested. Interest is good. It means we have leverage. I want to set up some meetings. Some DJ¡¯s for different stations want your music, and some producers, I think they want to add you to their label!¡±


    ¡°Sounds horrible.¡±


    ¡°It has its drawbacks.¡± She admitted a little too quickly. ¡°But the eddies would be much better!¡±


    ¡°Hiromi.¡±


    ¡°Motoko.¡±


    I sighed. Working with some corpo middleman music producer sounded like a horrible idea. I could tell Hiromi knew what I was thinking as she added.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be with you the whole time. I¡¯ve actually been studying. Arasaka does have a Music section, and I looked over their course load. I know what to look out for!¡±


    I side eyed Hiromi because she probably didn¡¯t realize how little that reassured me. I wasn¡¯t worried about how good she was, I was worried about how evil whoever we were talking to was.


    I shrugged it off. I could always just kill people.


    That familiar mantra left me feeling more at ease. ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll leave it to you.¡±


    ¡°Yeeees! Okay can you get ready? I want to set up a meeting!¡±


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    ¡°Alright, sure. Tell me who you want us to meet.¡± I asked as I got up and stretched, groaning a bit as I let my muscles stretch out, with a hop I jumped off my bed and started grabbing clothes. Fighting my ass into my jeans I turned to Hiromi who seemed a little distracted. ¡°Hiromi?¡±


    ¡°Wha? Yes! Okay so. First meeting is with Richard Fox. He¡¯s actually a DJ for Morro Rock.¡±


    ¡°Yeah that name sounds familiar.¡± I muttered, I think I¡¯d heard him on the radio? I did listen to Morro. It was where I had originally listened to Samurai and played along with.


    ¡°He wants to play Pretender, at least mentioned it to Ash directly. So we are going down to the radio station to talk eddies.¡±


    ¡°Do they even do that? Just buy singles?¡±


    ¡°Not usually, in fact I doubt we¡¯ll get any eddies from this¡­ Sort of the opposite.¡±


    ¡°You want to pay him to play the song?¡±


    ¡°Yes. More people listening to the song means more people interested. It¡¯s advertising!¡±


    I looked at Hiromi and she was firm about this.


    ¡°Okay.¡± I agreed. If Hiromi thought this was the best path, then I¡¯d play along.


    ¡ª--


    The station wasn¡¯t anything super fancy, a pretty normal building in City Center, near the Mayor''s office.


    We parked the Quadra and headed in through the armored glass doors with the Morro Rock Logo on it.


    The inside didn¡¯t even have a secretary. Instead Hiromi walked up to the computer at the desk and typed in some information before getting a guest pass.


    I followed her into the elevator and then up we went.


    We were both quiet as we went up. I could feel Hiromi getting a bit nervous, so she was shifting into her corpo mode. Her face smoothing out and getting an almost haughty tilt to her head.


    Then the door opened and we walked out into a room that actually had a secretary.


    ¡°Hiromi Mitsunashi?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Fox will see you now. First door on your left.¡± She said, the secretary was lazing back practically with her feet on the desk, and I was shocked she wasn¡¯t blowing bubbles with bubblegum.


    Hiromi strode down the hall head high and I followed in her wake just enjoying the way Hiromi had shifted from nervousness to full confidence.


    Inside was a personal office. A big desk, with a man sitting behind it. Lots of records on the walls, and a few pictures of famous musicians shaking the man¡¯s hand.


    ¡°Ah excellent! Richard Fox, and you¡¯d be?¡±


    ¡°Hiromi Mitsunashi, Manager. This is Motoko Kusanagi, Ghost in the Shell.¡± Hiromi introduced us, and the mans smile was bright and wide. He was gregarious, happily shaking both our hands and offering us a drink as he settled us into the chairs across the desk.


    ¡°Well can I just say before we get to business? Pretender, absolutely banging track. That opening guitar pick? Really drew me in.¡± He offered and I blinked and couldn¡¯t help but smile at his compliment.


    ¡°Thanks.¡±


    ¡°Well let¡¯s get down to it yeah? I want your song on my station. The first time I heard it from Ash I thought it would do well here. I¡¯ve already thrown out my first offer to Ms. Mitsunashi.¡±


    ¡°I want the number of plays to go up. Ten isn¡¯t enough.¡±


    ¡°Ten is pretty reasonable for an unknown artist.¡± He replied back instantly, and suddenly I was ping ponging as I looked between the two.


    ¡°An unknown artist that came to you with their offer. You came to us. We know how things work, but in this case you want the song to be able to play it, so we want it played. Fifteen. Minimum.¡±


    ¡°Hmm. Tell you what. I¡¯ll agree to Thirteen, but three of them will be on the big midday show, and of course on that show call-ins happen, so if someone wants to hear it again I won¡¯t count that against you.¡±


    Hiromi was silent for a moment as she seemed to have nothing to argue about.


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ A surprisingly good offer.¡± She eventually said almost pointedly.


    ¡°Heh. Kid, you gotta realize I run a radio station. I¡¯m not a record label. My greatest ability isn¡¯t locking everyone into iron clad contracts that only benefit me, but by being the nice personable music connection for the up and coming artists. In twenty years Ghost in the Shell might just remember good old Fox on her favorite station.¡± And he stopped to throw me a wink. ¡°And threw me an early track.¡±


    Hiromi I noticed was actually starting to smile at the man. Her body language shifting from confident corpo, to a more relaxed position.


    ¡°Well I can¡¯t promise anything, but I¡¯ll make sure you are on the short list if things go well.¡±


    ¡°Well that¡¯s a deal I can get behind!¡± He said cheering and I couldn¡¯t help but smile at the over the top energy of it. ¡°But before we finish¡­ You mind?¡± He asked me and pointed at a guitar in the corner. ¡°It¡¯s one of my things. I always like to do a little jam session with fresh artists.¡±


    I barked out a laugh. I couldn¡¯t help it. ¡°Sure choom. What do you want to play?¡±


    ¡°What do you know?¡±


    ¡°Everything. Well if I¡¯ve heard it before I can play it.¡±


    ¡°Yeah?¡± He asked taking me seriously and I nodded, as I grabbed the guitar and he grabbed another. ¡°How about this.¡±


    He started playing a song I didn¡¯t recognize but as he played through it, I just nodded after and mimicked him perfectly he broke into a laugh.


    ¡°Well I know for a fact you¡¯re being honest Motoko, mind if I call you Motoko?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s fine.¡± I shrugged it off, and he continued.


    ¡°I wrote that myself, it¡¯s nothing special but it¡¯s mine. How about this then?¡± He asked and started up something I did know. I immediately mimicked him, taking on the role of Johnny to his Eurodyne, as he started up Chippin In.


    We jammed through the whole song. I even sang it along which surprised him and I could tell the guy might be a corporate Radio Host, but he did love the music.


    When we finished he started laughing.


    ¡°Holy shit. You got the gift kid, you didn¡¯t miss a single transition!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve done my own covers of the Samurai songs.¡±


    ¡°Yeah?¡± He asked and then grinned. ¡°You know I do amateur oldie hour Sunday Night at 3 am. Send your covers in, I¡¯ll throw them on. No charge.¡± I grinned at the offer and Hiromi looked smug as well. We shook hands.


    ¡ª--


    The sound of gloves hitting gloves echoed out as I pushed. Left, left, low right, grapple. Activate Sandy. Step back as a blow skims my nose.


    Fast as always. I had started trying to activate my Sandy in a flash while sparring, giving me a second that turned into a bit more whenever I expected a counter attack. I hopped back and Hayato glared at me, huffing in irritation.


    I danced backwards a bit letting the feel of my Sandy cycling count me down before I rushed in again.


    Hayato had great stamina thanks to her Synth lungs but I had discovered that she could be worn out as the rest of her didn¡¯t all share the same endurance.


    ¡°You are so annoying.¡± She said, her cadence consistent which told me she had taken a moment to specifically share this information with me clearly.


    ¡°I aim to please.¡± I teased and then charged in and I wanted to laugh as her irritation shifted to surprise before focus all in a single moment as we once more began slamming into each other.


    For a pampered princess she certainly knew how to fight. I guess that had been intentional. You couldn¡¯t lead a Gang if you couldn¡¯t fight


    I shook off that thought as I didn¡¯t want to really think too hard at the fact she was so important.


    She¡¯d always just be the weirdo with a Keren to me.


    I blinked in surprise as instead of me initiating a grapple she did. Grabbing my wrist and shifting into a judo throw. I let her hip toss me, but shifted my arm so I landed on my feet and then yanked her off her feet as I had more mass than her¡­


    Earning a momentary shocked look as she yelped as I slammed her into the mat.


    ¡°I think that¡¯s my-¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯tsayit!¡± She demanded in a rush cutting me off and I just laughed as she threw me off her and regained her feet. Stiff backed and obviously frustrated.


    ¡°C¡¯mon Hayato, don¡¯t act like that.¡±


    ¡°I had you!¡± She grumbled and I laughed.


    ¡°We need to work on your grappling a bit more before you can take me with that. Nice throw though. You just forgot my arms are chrome.¡±


    ¡°Oh trust me, that isn¡¯t something I forgot.¡± She snapped back. ¡°I have the bruises to prove it.¡± She muttered rubbing at her arms.


    ¡°Hehe!¡± I laughed at her pouting face and that shifted it into a glare.


    ¡°You are so annoying! I refuse to believe someone like you is an assassin!¡± She called out quite loudly, and I laughed even harder, because half the dojo had shifted to look at her.


    Realizing she was the center of attention for yelling so hotly she huffed and purposefully sent a glare over the room that had everyone turning away. Must be nice being the future boss.


    ¡°Believe it or not.¡± I shrugged. ¡°Now, you going to end this with me still in the lead?¡±


    My words had the desired reaction as she turned and instantly leapt into a boxing pattern to try and bash my face in. I just laughed as we got back into it.


    That¡¯s right Hayato, keep fighting and let me get more and more of those lovely Street Brawling alerts.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°Alright try it now?¡± I asked and Ichi nodded, the Minotaur stood up and I sighed in relief.


    *100 Technical Ability XP Gained*


    *Technical Ability Leveled up!*


    Tech 8. Now just to hope my repairs had worked.


    ¡°Feels fine.¡± He offered and I felt myself relax.


    ¡°Looks like it¡¯s holding. Stupid proprietary bullshit.¡± I grumbled. The Minotaur had needed some maintenance, and it had needed it badly. One of the leg joints had been getting stuck. Turns out the damn things were designed to wear out after only a few uses.


    What a shock.


    I had to pull apart the entire assembly, as using some gathered intel from a certain Kitsune I had been trying to repair the damn thing.


    I glanced up and smiled as the door to the little rear garage opened up and Ichi¡¯s Grandmother stepped in holding an actual jug of lemonade.


    ¡°You kids thirsty?¡± She asked softly. And I couldn¡¯t help but cheer both hands in the air.


    ¡°Thanks Grandma.¡± Ichi said, as he took a second to pull off the headset for the Minotaur and went to grab the jug from her.


    She was old. It was one of those things you don¡¯t think about, but I could tell she was out of breath just by walking the jug across the back yard.


    Ichi was a good grandson doing what he could to take care of her.


    I walked over and pulled one of the chairs over. ¡°Want a seat?¡± I asked and she laughed and waved me off.


    ¡°No, thank you dear. I¡¯ll head back inside.¡± She said and started sort of hobbling back out as Ichi found a place to put the lemonade and started pouring for the two of us.


    ¡°She¡¯s nice.¡± I told him, and he nodded absentmindedly.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been able to buy her medicine. She¡¯s doing a lot better.¡± He said and I winced a bit at that. She was a bit¡­ Absent minded, so the fact she was doing better?


    I sighed. Man that sucked. I reached out and gave Ichi a ¡®good job¡¯ pat on his shoulder and then grabbed some lemonade.


    It wasn¡¯t real lemons but it tasted good.


    ¡°C¡¯mon I want to finish going over this thing.¡± I plopped back down and grabbed my tools. This was great Tech XP.

 Chapter 203

    ¡°Don¡¯t slow down now!¡± I called out and Malcolm grunted as he continued jogging, although I could tell he was flagging.


    Eventually he gave up and walked over to lean against a SCSM to gasp for air.


    ¡°Don¡¯t stop moving. Keep walking around a little.¡± I warned him, and after a glare he did so.


    ¡°I-I should get some Synth Lungs.¡± He gasped out and I laughed and just shrugged. While it wasn¡¯t something I would recommend as the exercise was sort of the point, extra stamina would mean I could work him harder. ¡°This sucks.¡±


    I just laughed at his defeated tone.


    ¡°It gets easier! Besides, it''s good for you! Exercise is something everyone needs.¡±


    ¡°No. Food, drink? That¡¯s stuff we need. Exercise is a mistake.¡± He grumbled and I just sent him a smirk.


    He was saying that, but it had been his idea to ask me for help, and there was no way he was going to give up now.


    I wouldn¡¯t let him for one, but more importantly, I don¡¯t think he would let himself.


    I reached past him and hit the button on the SCSM and he jerked a bit as a drink popped out.


    ¡°Take that and cool off, but don¡¯t stop walking, you don¡¯t want to cramp up.¡± I told him and he nodded but followed my orders.


    Then while he was doing that I started my own exercise.


    We were in a quiet spot under an overpass, so I was going to use it to my advantage. I started running and then started tumbling. Back flip after backflip into a spin and I landed and then turned around and did the same thing back.


    I was pushing for that next level of Athletics. Plus it might get me some Body xp too. I continued pushing, warmed up from the run. I pushed myself hard, using the stretch of sidewalk to just move as much and as fast as possible.


    I only paused, finishing a fun spin to land in front of Malcolm. ¡°You ready to continue?¡± I asked him cheerily.


    ¡°Fuck that.¡± He said instead and I laughed at him, despite the fact my own breath was coming out a bit hard.


    ¡°Relax choom. That¡¯s my exercise, not yours. C¡¯mon you¡¯re breathing more normally, time to jog some more.¡±


    ¡°Fuuuck.¡± He grumbled and we both started running, I would break into flips, or start doing some parkour on things whenever I could just to get a bit more out of it. Much to Malcolms grumbled dislike. ¡°Show off.¡±


    ¡°Keep working out and you¡¯ll be able to do it too! You¡¯d be amazed at how often a flip, or just coming at someone from a weird angle will give you the advantage in a fight.¡± I commented, breathing a little hard with how much I was going at it.


    ¡°Motoko, I¡¯ve seen you fight before. Hell, I''ve cleaned up after your fights before.¡±


    ¡°Cleaned up? You mean looted.¡± I teased.


    ¡°Tomato, Tomato.¡± He gasped out and I couldn¡¯t help but laugh, slowing down a bit to match his slowing pace.


    ¡°How¡¯re you feeling?¡± I asked quietly, and Malcolm stopped again and started bending over to breathe.


    The Kang Tao attack had been a shock.


    ¡°I hate¡­ I hate getting shot at.¡± He eventually said, an answer to a question I hadn¡¯t really been asking.


    ¡°It does suck.¡± I agreed, bullets hurt.


    ¡°No, but¡­ I couldn¡¯t do anything. You fought back. You got us out. Ichi reacted. But I froze up and took cover.¡±


    ¡°Taking cover is a good instinct.¡±


    ¡°But I couldn¡¯t¡­ I should have got up and fought back, but I was freaking out. Becca got shot and I just.¡±


    ¡°You reacted just fine. No one was expecting that sort of shit¡­ If you¡¯re that worried then we¡¯ll keep training. I can probably find some paintball guns or something, and do some tactical training.¡±


    ¡°Motoko, you¡¯re such an old lady. Just get a training shard. Or a BD.¡± He said, giving me a look and I just huffed.


    ¡°Doing something yourself is more valuable than some shard or Braindance.¡±


    ¡°Says the girl that makes BD¡¯s?¡±


    ¡°Which goes to show I know what I¡¯m talking about!¡± I called out proclaiming my victory.


    He rolled his eyes which meant I won.


    ¡°C¡¯mon. Get moving again.¡± I demanded and he groaned and started trotting after me.


    As we carried on, I finally got what I wanted out of it.


    *100 Athletics XP Gained.*


    *Athletics skill level up!*


    Athletics 8. I felt my breath even out, and the way I breathed shifted to make intaking oxygen easier.


    Yeah. That would be useful.


    ¡ª---


    ¡°You already decided that Section 9 should have an actual work day. So what¡¯s the difference here?¡± Hiromi asked and I sighed as I was defeated by my own logic.


    ¡°Fine. I¡¯ll let you schedule some time weekly where I do music stuff. I mean. I have some songs I could put together, but I¡¯m not really in the mood for like, a big gig.¡± I reminded her and she waved it off.


    ¡°Of course not! I¡­ I messed up before, so I¡¯m not going to push for that sort of thing again. This is your pace, but as your manager I still want to make sure you get everything out of this you can. Which means more songs and practice. And we can use that to meet other artists!¡± Hiromi cheered at the end.


    ¡°What does that have to do with anything?¡± I asked confused and Hiromi gave me a superior look before stopping and seemingly catching herself.


    ¡°You might need actual bandmates for some songs, or just want to play with other people. You really enjoyed jamming out with Mr. Fox¡­ And if you meet another artist that likes you, we might get you a spot as an opening act!¡± She admitted and I laughed at her minor reveal.


    Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    ¡°Let¡¯s table that last bit for a while¡­ Jun did mention that Alice wanted me to play some music with her band. But there might be some trouble with that. The Band might be going through some drama.¡±


    ¡°Ooh! Drama means an opening!¡± Hiromi said and I snorted.


    ¡°It means a massive pain in the ass that I don¡¯t want to deal with.¡± I countered and she opened her mouth to argue before sighing.


    ¡°Yeah that¡¯s fair. But still! Music time?¡±


    ¡°Fine. I have some ideas for something more electronic than my rock stuff.¡± I said and Hiromi was interested immediately.


    ¡°Tell me everything!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure yet¡­ It¡¯s kinda complicated¡­ I¡¯ll need my music box, but I might be able to generate what I need? I kinda need some specific samples that I might have to make myself¡­ Which is kind of a weird thought.¡± I mumbled, but Hiromi thankfully wasn¡¯t a music person so she didn¡¯t understand how weird what I just said was.


    ¡°We can reserve a sound stage if you want?¡± She said already looking like she was about to do it.


    I hesitated but nodded. I¡¯d need better recording equipment anyways.


    ¡°Go ahead. I¡¯ll grab my stuff.¡± I said pointing to where my music equipment was sitting in the corner, including my music box.


    ¡°Yeees!¡± Hiromi cheered as she turned away to start making whatever calls she needed.


    ¡°Makes us, Harder~¡± I sang quietly to myself. Yeah that should be an interesting chore.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°Like this?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, go ahead and pull that out, We¡¯ll need to rebuild it.¡± I confirmed as I was already putting the information into my 3D printer.


    ¡°Preem.¡± Rebecca said as she pulled out part of the gas exchange system on an old HMG. I wasn¡¯t going to question where she got one, not with all the different paints covering it, she must have had it for a long time, but she had mentioned she was struggling to get it repaired and I had offered to help.


    ¡°You really know your stuff.¡± She said as she finally got the piece disassembled and we could both see the crack through the part.


    ¡°I¡¯ve had to fix up my HMG after a gig before.¡± I explained simply.


    ¡°Heh. You want a drink?¡±


    ¡°Oh please.¡± I answered back even as I was still working with the CAD system to get the 3d Printer to print out what I needed.


    Rebecca got off her couch and headed to her fridge. I was over at her apartment. The one she shared with Pilar, and boy was it a bit weird to see the place.


    I remember seeing it in Edgerunners. Although that had been a long time now, and then afterwards I had gone into the game and checked out the place as well, even if it had been owned by a corrupt cop by then.


    But it was still kinda weird to see it for real.


    Then the door suddenly opened and I blinked in surprise as Pilar himself stepped in.


    ¡°Whoa. Who the gonk?¡± He called out a little startled at my appearance.


    ¡°Pilar!¡± Rebecca called out in surprise and actually ran up to him, but stopped before she seemed about to jump into a hug. ¡°What are you doing here?¡±


    ¡°Eh, finally got the all clear from Maine. We¡¯re free from any issues with Biotechnica. So I¡¯m home to enjoy my own bed for a change.¡± He replied lazily, but I could tell his optics visor was focused on me.


    ¡°Preem! Motoko was just working with me on fixing my old HMG.¡± She explained to him, at his obvious interest at my appearance.


    ¡°Hey. Nice to see you again.¡± I greeted calmly, but I was still focused on getting the part printed.


    ¡°Huh. Well whatever. Don¡¯t break that shit. I¡¯m not fixing it.¡± He said and Rebecca instantly started glaring.


    ¡°It¡¯s already broken you gonk! Remember! You said you¡¯d fix it like a year ago!¡±


    ¡°Eh, I¡¯d get around to it.¡± He replied, but that was definitely a lie, even I could pick up on it.


    ¡°Whatever. Motoko and I are doing it. We need my HMG for gigs anyways.¡±


    ¡°Fuck that. Do you remember the last time you took that thing on a gig? You nearly flatlined Maine!¡±


    ¡°I did not! There was a Strom sneaking up on him!¡±


    ¡°You lost your footing. Nearly blew Maines hair off.¡±


    ¡°Fucking! That¡¯s not what happened!¡± She screamed back at him in anger, and then Pilar scoffed.


    ¡°Dammit Becca, You¡¯re too emotional for this shit! You yell and scream and freak out on gigs!¡± Pilar snarled back, but where Rebecca was furious he was more cool.


    Ah. He was doing it on purpose, to show the difference, his cool anger and her boiling rage.


    ¡°Fuck off!¡± She snapped and Pilar just scoffed.


    ¡°See? You¡¯re just like-¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t fucking say it!¡±


    ¡°Our Mom.¡± He finished and Rebecca went quiet, but her jaw was clenched and her teeth barred.


    The room went quiet and Pilar just scoffed. ¡°Cut this shit out, you don¡¯t have the damn brain to be an Edgerunner. So just chill.¡±


    ¡°Fuck you!¡± She snapped out finger up and out, but Pilar was walking away.


    ¡°Rebecca has what it takes to make a great Solo. Edgerunner or not.¡± I called out, knowing getting involved was probably a bad idea, but fuck it.


    ¡°And you! I don¡¯t give a shit, but stop dragging my sister into shit.¡± He said, ignoring my words and instead pointing with his long fingers.


    ¡°She¡¯s not dragging me into shit! Fuck you Bro!¡±


    ¡°Whatever. You heard me.¡± He demanded but it wasn¡¯t like I was going to listen to this guy.


    ¡°That¡¯s up to Rebecca. I don¡¯t take orders from you.¡± I said simply.


    He didn¡¯t respond but I got a look that I¡¯m pretty sure was a glare. But it was hard to tell with his visor obscuring his face.


    Rebecca growled, started pacing back and forth and I considered what to say but instead of trying to comfort her, or anything. I instead pulled out the completed part.


    ¡°Done. Let¡¯s get this HMG fixed. Yeah?¡± I offered instead. If Rebecca wanted to be an Edgerunner she¡¯d always have a spot with me. She was skilled, and more importantly loyal. There weren¡¯t a lot of people in Night City I¡¯d trust with my back more than her.


    She blinked at my words, seemingly trying to figure out what they meant before scoffing.


    ¡°Yeah. Gotta get it ready for next time.¡± She said and I nodded. Exactly.


    ¡ª--


    I didn¡¯t want to admit it, but starting this song had left it itching in the back of my head, so I was once more at Denny¡¯s studio slowly reforging a song piece by piece.


    Cutting and sampling in a way. Despite the fact I was actually sampling music for the song I was going to create outright


    Ugh. This sort of work was so complicated, and I really did prefer just old Rock, but some songs were just more than a genre.


    I was actually making the bones for multiple songs as I worked. Jumping on a guitar and just making the samples I would need for more than just one.


    It was more efficient than just focusing on one song at a time.


    Of course I was surprised as I moved into the actual studio to see a familiar face.


    A face I wasn¡¯t happy to see.


    ¡°Denny.¡± I offered back, and there was obviously some unhappiness in my voice. The woman raised an eyebrow at me from under her massive afro.


    ¡°What¡¯s got your panties in a bunch?¡±


    ¡°You turned Tank into a dick ad music!¡± I snapped back and she blinked before letting out a chuckle and then to my annoyance just shrugging.


    ¡°Is that what they used it on? Ah well. It happens.¡±


    ¡°The fuck it does.¡± I grumbled at her, and was annoyed that she was in front of the equipment that I needed to use, looking over the tracks I was recording.


    ¡°It does. Even Mr. Studd needs jingles. Trust me kid, you make music, you¡¯re going to hear a song you slaved away for that took all your creative energy used to sell scop burgers, or worse. It¡¯s just how it is.¡±


    ¡°Tank¡¯s a good song, and I¡¯ll never get to play it again without people thinking I¡¯m the Mr. Studd artist.¡±


    ¡°Pfft. Yeah. Yeah.¡± She agreed and there was some obvious melancholy there but just because she sympathized somewhat didn¡¯t mean I was happy.


    ¡°Can I help you? I¡¯m kind of in the middle of something.¡±


    ¡°Yeah I noticed your name, and thought I¡¯d step in, check what you¡¯re working on, but this¡­ This isn¡¯t a song.¡±


    ¡°It is, but I¡¯m certainly not selling this one to you.¡± I offered and made it pointed by stopping the playback she was listening to by hitting stop.


    ¡°Oh it¡¯s like that? You think there are other people interested in buying?¡±


    ¡°Denny I don¡¯t care if no one ever buys one of my songs again. I¡¯ll still play them. I¡¯ll still scream to the heavens every note. I¡¯m a merc. I¡¯m not in this for eddies.¡±


    ¡°Yeah? You mean that don¡¯t you.¡± She offered with a little smirk on her face, but in the end she shrugged. ¡°Keep that fire kid, but be prepared for everyone to try and snuff it out. This industry doesn¡¯t make firebrands like that anymore.¡±


    ¡°Maybe it should.¡± I argued back. Not that I was interested in burning down the music industry if I had to.


    I¡¯d rather just turn the entire thing into a bloodbath if I was honest.


    Hard to kill an industry, much easier to cut out the rot.


    ¡°Maybe it should.¡± She agreed and then waved behind her shoulder as she walked out. What an uncomfortable meeting.


    She¡¯s lucky I didn¡¯t break her stupid face for buying my song to make dick music. That was something I would never forgive.

 Chapter 204

    *Thanks again for watching over me.* I called out as I slipped down into the Netrunner Combat Zone through the bar-like entrance.


    *Hey no problem. You bought food. So I¡¯m just hanging around. Besides, it¡¯s still interesting.* Malcolm confirmed and I nodded.


    I had come to earn some XP. Or try to. I had maybe burned some bridges a bit too much trying to get every ounce of XP I could get last few times.


    So I was planning on taking a different tact.


    I slipped into a booth and like I expected, when I put my name up for combat. No one seemed interested.


    That wasn¡¯t entirely unusual though. Not everyone wanted to fight everyone. So I had to put up something a little extra.


    *Reward: 1 hour code debugging assistance.*


    Then I settled in. Most of the time people put up eddies if they were really new, or information. Some put up hacks, or things. But every netrunner I had run into had some deep desperate need to debug their code.


    It didn¡¯t take long before I got a message.


    *Vortex: Debugging assistance. The fuck does that mean?*


    I laughed at the question and responded honestly.


    *Ghost in the Shell: Exactly what it sounds like. I debug code as a side gig. You can check with Yoko if you don¡¯t believe me, she¡¯s never complained about my work.*


    *Vortex: I will.*


    And the chat was closed. I shrugged and settled in. Answering a few questions from similar messages, but an hour passed without any hits.


    Then I got a response.


    *Vortex: Okay. Yoko confirms you aren¡¯t a rezzer. I got a program I¡¯ve been tinkering with.*


    *Ghost in the Shell: Tell you what. I¡¯m looking for something specific. I¡¯ll look over your code, win or lose, in exchange, I want you to spam any Daemons you have at me.*


    *Vortex: Okay what¡¯s the scop you¡¯re selling here?*


    *Ghost in the Shell: Not Scop. I¡¯m working on something, but I need more practice against every type of Daemon I can find. You can think of it like debugging. I¡¯m trying to find the weaknesses in my skills.*


    *Vortex: You know what? I don¡¯t care what scop you¡¯re shoveling. Yoko vouched and I need a set of eyes on my code. Deal.*


    I smiled as the request for a duel went through.


    Excellent.


    It seems a bit of honey was all I needed to get the flys to show up.


    ¡ª--


    I raced around smiling as another group of Soldier Daemons came around the corner.


    This had been a really good idea, not just because I was getting XP, but because I had come up with a really interesting thought.


    My Yurei Hack. I had originally came up with the idea to fuck with people, but you know what it would be extremely effective against?


    Daemons. I would need a few adjustments, but Daemons weren¡¯t smart enough to realize what they were attacking wasn¡¯t a real netrunner!


    Once this was over, and once I finished debugging whatever Vortex wanted, I was going to spend some time updating my hack. Making it a bit more flexible would be nice.


    I turned and started uploading [HEAT Bullet Mk.01] over and over, the tiny fire balls appearing, waiting for me to launch them.


    Then as I was hitting the maximum I could handle, I sent them all off at once, and the Soldier Daemons were smashed apart.


    *250 XP Gained.*


    *250 XP Gained.*


    *250 XP Gained.*


    *250 XP Gained.*


    Hehehe!


    I moved on. Vortex might be willing to upload Daemons into the server while we fought, but she was still being aggressive too. She wanted this match to end.


    A moment later where I had been was hit by an AOE virus, and the whole place started melting for a few seconds. But I was long gone, and I could  hear her grumbles over the server audio as I moved on to harass her a bit more.


    ¡ª--


    I blinked as between one moment and the next I was out of the server.


    Huh. She had actually managed to launch an attack that hit me. It was another large scale attack. She was good at them, that really surprised me. I would have to adapt some better defenses just in case someone like that tried to do it again.


    Either way, this had been entirely worth it. After a long list of XP alerts I had earned it.


    *250 XP Gained.*


    *Level up achieved!*


    *One Stat Point Gained.*


    *One Skill Point Gained.*


    It had been what distracted me enough that I hadn¡¯t moved fast enough.


    I stretched as I walked out of the lobby room and back into the bar like server level. There Vortex was already waiting for me, looking like she was going to attack me at any minute.


    ¡°Relax Choom, a deals a deal. Good hit by the way. I got distracted.¡±


    ¡°Hmm. Well come on then. Let¡¯s use a private room. And don¡¯t you dare start the clock until we actually start!¡±


    I just raised my arms at the woman with glaring red eyes and gave her a calm down gesture.


    Geeze did everyone just flake on the net when they made a promise?


    I entered a small side room, and it was a cozy little lounge. I could feel the security on the space, and I took a moment to look it over before nodding. It actually was pretty safe as long as someone wasn¡¯t watching through your line, like Malcolm was.


    ¡°Here¡¯s the code. It bloats and fails to run after a certain point.¡± She said, sounding pissed, and I just nodded as I took her data transfer, ran it through every security check I had before being satisfied it was safe, and popping it up in a test environment.


    ¡°Hmmm.¡± I muttered as I looked it over. Nearly instantly seeing the problem.


    Vortex was shit at coding.


    90% of this program was frankensteined together with other code. ¡°Okay I¡¯m going to pause your timer here.¡± I said and she twitched as I looked away from the code. ¡°Gonna be honest this is a mess of code, so you got two options. I can either start fixing it, from start to finish, which I¡¯ll doubt I¡¯ll finish in one go. That means you¡¯ll need to fight me again in the arena another time. Or I start highlighting and giving you advice about errors I¡¯m seeing and you can try and use that to fix it yourself.¡±


    ¡°Can you actually fix it?¡±


    ¡°This is¡­ Some kind of skimming code right? To-¡±


    ¡°Hey! Don¡¯t fucking talk about it!¡± She snapped and I raised my hands.


    ¡°Okay choom. I¡¯m a professional, and I don¡¯t care what you do with it. Yes I know how to fix it.¡±


    ¡°Then do it. I¡¯ll throw daemons and nukes at you as much as you want.¡± She snapped, and I just laughed.


    ¡°Alright let me get started. You want my commentary or for me to just get at it?¡±


    ¡°Just do it.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡±


    ¡ª--


    ¡°So what¡¯s the deal with Vortex?¡± Malcolm asked and I shrugged.


    ¡°Pretty sure she¡¯s trying to skim eddies out of some machine. Maybe she works at a bank or something.¡± I offered. ¡°She had the machine code in the program, but I¡¯m not going to stick my nose into it.¡±


    A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    ¡°Gotcha.¡± He offered and then to my delight offered me a plate of still warm noodles.


    ¡°Thanks choom.¡±


    I dug in and the two of us chatted for a while as we ate, but my mind and eyes were on my stat screen.


    Level 21


    Body 9(17) Due to Cyberization, Maximum value has increased by 8.


    -Athletics 7


    -Street Brawler 8


    -Annihilation 5


    Reflex 9(15) Due to Cyberization, Maximum value has increased by 6.


    -Blades 8


    -Handguns 8


    -Assault 8


    -Driving 7


    Intelligence 13 (14) Due to Cyberization, Maximum value has increased by 4.


    -Breach Protocol 12


    -Quick Hacks 9


    -Programming 13


    Cool 10


    -Ninjutsu 10


    -Cold Blood 8


    -Rockerboy 9


    Technical Ability 8 (12) Due to Cyberization, Maximum value has increased by 4.


    -Crafting 6


    -Engineering 7


    1 Stat point.


    8 Skill point.


    Perks.


    Ambidextrous Blades 2


    Quickdraw Handguns 2


    Gun Nut Assault 2


    Parkour Athletics 2


    Grappling Street Brawler 2


    Drive By Driving 2


    Cat-like Athletics 5


    Cool Nerves Cold Blood 2


    Danger Sense Ninjutsu 2


    Wall Breaking Breach Protocol 2


    Cyber Security Quick Hack 2


    Recoil Reduction Annihilation 2


    Cyber Ninja Ninjutsu 5


    Fearless Chill Cold Blood 5.


    Improvised Weapons Street Brawler 5


    Parry Blades 5


    Robotics wizard Crafting 2


    Drifting Driving 5


    Rapid Reload Handguns 5


    Design Wizard Engineering 2


    Rifle Ace Assault 5


    Ghost touch Breach 5


    Perfect Musical Memory Rockerboy 2.


    Debug Programming 2


    Siren Song Rockerboy 5


    Hacking Wizard Quick Hacks 5


    Inspired Programmer Programming 5


    A.I. Whisperer Programming 10


    Slam Fire Annihilation 5


    Enduring Builds Crafting 5


    Robotics Engineering Engineering 5


    Strong Breach Breach Protocol 10


    Ninja Running Ninjutsu 10


    Cyberware:


    Arasaka Corporation Cyberdeck ¡®Shadow¡¯ Mk.4 *Adaptation ¡®Shadow¡¯ Mk.4 0/0*


    Kiroshi Mk1 *Adaptation Kiroshi Mk1 1/2*


    Militech Condor *Adaptation Militech Condor 6/6*


    Arasaka Smart Link System. *Adaptation Smart Link 0/0*


    Arasaka Ex-Disk *Adaptation Ex-Disk 0/0*


    Militech-Armalite Ballistic Guard *Adaptation Ballistic Guard 1/2*


    Serano Air-Groove Ankles *Adaptation Serano Air 1/1*


    MoorE Titanium Bones (Shoulders, back, and ribs. +Legs, Pelvis, and Ribs.) *Adaptation Titanium Bones 0/2*


    Biotechnica Muscle and Bone Lace *Adaptation Muscle and Bone Lace 0/0*


    Arasaka ODA Neural Link Mk3 *Adaptation ODA Mk.3 1/2*


    Dynalar Sandevistan Mk.2 *Adaptation Dynalar Sandevistan 1/4*


    All in all it looked pretty good.


    That stat point was calling me, and there was no point in holding onto it. Last time I had leveled Intelligence, so this time it needed to go into Adaptation. That was the deal. I instantly put one into my Sandy.


    Dynalar Sandevistan Mk.2 *Adaptation Dynalar Sandevistan 2/4*


    I didn¡¯t feel any different right away which was a bit unusual, but the Sandy itself wasn¡¯t some massive piece of Cyberware, it was just a chip that unlocked functionality, so it would only really make a difference when I used it.


    ¡°Well that was fun.¡± I told Malcolm, and he looked at me for a  moment before laughing. ¡°I liked when she made the world melt.¡± He offered and I scoffed.


    ¡°That was such an overcompensation! She could have made it more targeted and got something out of that!¡±


    ¡°I thought it was nova.¡± He offered and I scoffed.


    I¡¯d show him Nova!


    My hacks would be far superior!


    ¡ª--


    ¡°Hey choom!¡± I greeted Rebecca as she arrived and she was grinning happily as she entered the apartment.


    ¡°Sup Strings.¡± She greeted back and hefted the duffel bag on her back through the door which had me grinning.


    ¡°We¡¯re just waiting on Hiromi. She apparently had a big thing for us.¡± I explained, and Rebecca nodded as she headed over to the couch and flopped back, dropping off the duffel bag and reaching to grab some of the snacks I had spread out.


    ¡°Yo Becca.¡± Ichi called out looking away from the game that Ichi and Malcolm were both playing with.


    ¡°Sup chooms. Who¡¯s winning?¡±


    ¡°Me!¡± Malcolm cheered out as suddenly Ichi¡¯s distraction cost him a round.


    I rolled my eyes at the boys breaking into a scuffle and instead continued to wait.


    It was time for Section 9 to take on another gig. Hiromi said she had found something, and so we were all gathering up to take part.


    I rested sitting on the back of the couch watching the boys play, and Rebecca eventually jumped in fighting for a turn as well. Then finally the door opened, and Hiromi walked in. She was dressed up in her corpo attire, looking like a miniature Arasaka Corporate stooge as she stalked around the couch and then to everyone''s amusement she stepped up onto the table in the center


    ¡°I just got out of a meeting with Padre, and we have a gig. And it¡¯s gonna be a nova one.¡± She said and I clapped to show my appreciation which had her blushing a bit in embarrassment, from my teasing.


    ¡°Alright Crush, don¡¯t leave us all waiting, what¡¯s the deets?¡± Rebecca demanded and Hiromi glared at her for a moment. Obviously she didn¡¯t like the interruption to her little performance.


    Also that nickname was still weird.


    ¡°Fine. So Padre needs someone removed.¡±


    ¡°Assassinated.¡± I cut in, and Hiromi stalled a bit as she was caught off guard.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Assassinated. You shouldn¡¯t use euphemisms when talking about work like that.¡± I explained frankly. ¡°We get hired to do a job, and we shouldn¡¯t shy away from what that really means. After all. Removed, and Assassinated are two different things.¡± I really didn''t want to end up having some confusion on what a gig actually was some day. Best to be clear.


    ¡°Pfft. God Motoko! You¡¯re such a gonk! Fuck yeah. Tell ¡®em straight Crush! We assassinate gonks in this house!¡± Rebecca added cackling.


    ¡°That¡¯s right!¡± I said and then looked at Hiromi who was looking irritated.


    ¡°Okay fine. Assassinated. Does anyone else have any critique about my explanation of the gig?¡± She asked the room which really, was just a mistake on her part.


    ¡°Yeah, can you hurry up?¡± Malcolm said instantly, and I barely moved out of the way as Hiromi charged, and launched herself at Malcolm.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°So Padre hired us to Assassinate someone that is causing trouble. In this case, we are hunting Miguel Hernandez. Here¡¯s his dossier.¡± Hiromi continued, her sharp corpo outfit a mess as she and Malcolm had rolled around as they tussled.


    I looked over the information packet, which was familiar enough, and there wasn¡¯t anything that interesting¡­


    Oh wait.


    ¡°Huh. He¡¯s a rich boy?¡±


    ¡°Worse, he¡¯s a rich boy with a father that wants to protect him.¡± Hiromi added, and a second file was sent over to us, and after scanning it I opened it to confirm.


    ¡°Animals.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. He¡¯s got an entire squad for bodyguards, at his home up in North Oak.¡±


    ¡°This seems like it could be hot. What if the father wants revenge?¡± I asked and Hiromi smirked.


    ¡°That won¡¯t be an issue. Padre is also putting out a hit on the old man, so while we take care of the son, the father will also be removed.¡±


    ¡°Nasty.¡± I mumbled, but nodded, that seemed like Padre¡­ ¡°So¡­ That means we¡¯ll have looting time?¡± I asked and Hiromi nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right. With the father flatlined, and us taking care of the son, we¡¯ll have time to go through and acquire some additional resources.¡±


    ¡°Did Padre say when the father would be assassinated?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Hiromi added. ¡°Only that it was part of the plan, when I pushed him on the dangers involved.¡±


    ¡°Okay in that case, let¡¯s start building up a plan¡­ Malcolm? I think you¡¯re going to be integral here.¡±


    ¡°What? How?¡± He asked and I grinned.


    ¡°You¡¯re going to be our camouflage.¡± I explained simply. Time to get this going.


    ¡ª--


    North Oak, was the hollywood hills of Night City. Full of million eddie mansions, and celebrities around every corner. It wasn¡¯t a place a bunch of street kids could just walk around without worry. Which is why Malcolm¡¯s Caliburn was actually important.


    With his car he was able to drop me off near the target''s compound without anyone caring. Then Ichi and Hiromi worked in tandem. Ichi¡¯s truck set up on the side of a street, with Malcolm driving down the road close to it, while Hiromi had picked up an actual video camera from somewhere to sell it all the more.


    Anyone noticing the kids would think they were just rich brats making videos of their parents Caliburn.


    So they wouldn¡¯t notice the fact we were set up up the street from Miguels mansion compound, that would let us see directly into it.


    Rebecca was set up for an emergency hiding in Ichi¡¯s truck with full equipment, the HMG¡¯s could be pulled over and she could start firing into the compound in case they caught me or something.


    Hiromi¡¯s ¡®Camera¡¯ was actually giving me a real time look from the air of where the Animals were so I could make my attempt at infiltrating the place.


    It was actually a lot tougher than you¡¯d expect.


    The mansion had its own security room, and its own group of patrolling robots. Along with the Animals all over the place. It was a lot of security for a residence.


    But it wasn¡¯t enough. I was pressed against the side of the outer wall, well outside any view of the cameras, and just sitting in the shadows as I waited.


    Then at the perfect moment, as a Robot passed by my location giving me a minute or so until the next patrol, I picked up the Tachikoma from my lap and gave it a toss over the top of the wall.


    I smiled as I heard it land safely in the bush, and then closed my eyes, giving me the Tachikoma¡¯s sight.


    Crawling out of the bush I followed in the path of the Robot, tiny legs skittering quietly after it.


    Hmm. But not that quietly. I¡¯d have to get some better rubber friction pads for the feet to quiet the movement even more. I noted it to myself for later and then focused.


    There was a side door the animals were leaving open as they came and went. That would be my entrance point.


    As the Robot walked past it, I pushed the Tachikoma to the side and waited.


    Hiromi¡¯s camera that I was watching out of my left eye showed me what was about to happen.


    An Animal stepped out and stretched. Massive muscles stretched over Chrome and biotech, and drugs anything and everything they could get to pump themselves up. They finished stretching and walked on.


    The Animals weren¡¯t the most alert. Most of them were either working out, pumping iron, or just lazing around it seemed. But actually doing their job was left mostly to the robots.


    From their point of view, they weren¡¯t there to find the enemy, just to fight them after they had been found. Which was perfect for me, because they weren¡¯t ever going to find me.


    Tachikoma slipped inside the open door and I had it shift over to hide under a coffee table quickly. As the room wasn¡¯t empty.


    A few Animals sitting around, this was the room they were coming in and out of, and it showed. Their stuff lay all over the room, but I ignored that because I had what I needed.


    We had been watching them for a few hours, so I had their approximate numbers. And here were the rest of them, at least I¡¯m pretty sure.


    Which meant. I could infiltrate the building to try and get to the security room, while knowing where almost all the Animals were.


    *I¡¯m moving in. Give me another pass.* I called out and grinned as I heard the sound of the Caliburn roar up the road, attracting attention away from the back of the compound. I rose and leapt, clearing the edge of the wall, and landing in a crouch on the other side. I had already hacked into the camera systems, so I should be mostly a blur, but I still needed to try and access the security room as soon as possible.


    I didn¡¯t wait long, and moved, running straight across the small side path and then up, climbing up onto the second floor, and using the inbuilt little bar area to hide me from the front of the house as I crept over towards the door that would lead me inside.


    Sliding the door open I slipped in, and instantly rolled behind a plant to keep myself hidden from the people on the bottom floor. The mansion had an airy main room, and I could be seen from the bottom floor if I wasn¡¯t careful.


    Which is why I slowly crawled along the carpeted floor towards the door I needed to access. Security room was hidden inside the main office.


    I reached the door without any issues, and slipped inside, before rising up and brushing myself off.


    Now to find the security center. It was somewhere in here. I glanced around. High end office, everything was expensive but not wood. Meant to look wealthy, but not actually reach that point. One wall had all sorts of little awards, and diplomas? Ah. I see, they were work commendations. The guy was a corpo after all.


    But I found the door across the room. No way to access it, just a door shaped outline in the wall. Scanning around I didn¡¯t see any readers, or set up. So either the man had no access to his own security system, it used some weird off location unlock system, or there was something else.


    I wasn¡¯t seeing any obvious cords or cables with my scans, but that wasn¡¯t unusual. Kiroshi Mk.1¡¯s could only do so much. Instead I walked over to his desk. Rule of overconfident bad guys they¡¯d have some switch on their desk right? I checked all over, but didn¡¯t find anything, and there was a nice desktop system, but it didn¡¯t have the actual tower. There was a section where he could place a computer in and hook it up to the system.


    I looked around, not seeing any other option to open the security room.


    Dangit.


    I walked over to the door again and just looked it over, trying to find something. Why not have an extra scanner? If the access point was his attached computer, what happened if his computer stopped working? He¡¯d never get inside his security room again.


    I reached out and rested my hand on the hidden door and stilled, as it sort of shifted¡­.


    I pushed harder and it slid back and then sideways opening the office to the small security room with a server for the security system.


    ¡°He opted for the mechanical door?¡± I asked myself breathlessly, because that was the stupidest thing I¡¯d ever seen! There wasn¡¯t even a lock! It was just a facade door? This guy for all that he owned a big mansion was cheap!


    Shaking my head I entered in, and within a minute had taken over the entire security system. There would be no alerts to NCPD if there were any problems, and more importantly, it gave me direct access to all the Animals, Robots, and Miguel who was currently pacing around in one of the main rooms.


    *Alright everyone. Get ready. I¡¯m in.*

 Chapter 205

    Miguel Hernandez


    Everything was falling apart! Just because he had taken the drugs! They should have been his anyway! Who cares that Daniel that Tino fucker thought it was his. Miguel was important, not some street scop fucker!


    But now, despite having flatlined the gonk for refusing to do what Miguel wanted, everything was going wrong.


    The first attack had almost worked, if not for his bodyguard. And now Father hired an entire horde of Animal Hustle to protect him¡­


    But now Father had gone quiet.


    ¡°Well!?¡± He yelled at the Animal that was the leader of the Squad.


    ¡°Told you already. We were hired to protect you. Not to find out what¡¯s up with your pops. Eddies are already paid, so we do our job.¡±


    ¡°And I¡¯m telling you to find him!¡± He yelled, but the animal didn¡¯t even acknowledge his words, just going back to pumping weights.


    Fucker.


    Father was an important man! He had ties to the mayor! There was no way some street trash Valentino would touch him! He¡¯s probably just¡­ Busy.


    His thoughts were interrupted once again by the sound of a loud engine roaring up the street,


    ¡°Someone kill that fucker driving the Caliburn!¡± He screamed. It had been hours where the same Caliburn would drive up and down the street outside revving the engine and making noise.


    Miguel had no idea who it was, probably some rich brat driving his fathers car that he had no right to. But it was infuriating, as the engine was loud enough it was constantly disrupting Miguel''s thoughts.


    Then it happened, just as he was going to start yelling for the Animals to go do what he said for once, the animal that was with him suddenly rose up. ¡°Runner!¡± He managed to shout just before he roared and groaned as the spark of electricity ran up the Borg''s body and he tumbled onto the floor shaking.


    Then the gun fire started.


    Adrenaline shot through him, and he reached for the engraved Overture he had left on the table beside him, but it was gone.


    Nothing was on the table.


    ¡°Wha-¡± He was cut off as everything ended.


    ¡ª--


    *Target Eliminated.* I confirmed into the group comm, and then turned. Overture raised I dropped two rounds into the Animal that was protecting the target.


    *250 XP Gained.*


    *750 XP Gained.*


    Hmm. That Animal was probably the leader then.


    I stepped over the bodies and left the room, entering in the mansion''s massive open floor plan to see my team clearing up already. The sound of gunfire as they peppered twitching bodies coming out in short bursts.


    Well that was easy.


    I walked past my team, and dug under a table to pull out the Tachikoma that was hiding there.


    Well that had been pretty easy. Blinding and locking down the Animals with Short Circuit, letting my team move in and kill them easily.


    ¡°Clear over here!¡± I called out having checked my little area and making sure all the animals were dead. My call prompted everyone to join in, calling out that they cleared everyone.


    I wasn¡¯t seeing any more lines from Ping either, so we had gotten everyone.


    I looked outside and noticed the robots slumped over. I had turned them all off from the security center, meaning all of them could be recovered. THose were expensive, and Hiromi would be very happy we had snagged them intact.


    Plus robots were neat!


    *Alright Ichi, let¡¯s bring in the truck.* I called over the line and I turned around and just smiled as Rebecca and Malcolm both looked over the mansion and all the stuff that was just laying around.


    A few moments later Hiromi pulled in with Malcolms Caliburn, and then the massive Behemoth Ichi was driving came in, and turned for easy loading.


    I really did love it when everything came together.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°Cheers!¡± I called back as I smashed my soda into Rebecca¡¯s drink.


    ¡°That¡¯s right! We¡¯re the best!¡± She shouted out and more people called out their agreement as they raised the alcohol we paid for to celebrate our gig.


    It still felt weird to me to do this, but Rebecca ran with Maine and had a better idea on how the normal edgerunner celebrations went.


    Once again we were outside Turbo¡¯s and cheering our success to the world. I suppose in this case, considering the Animals were used to working as mercs, and weren¡¯t known for holding grudges against that sort of thing, and the target and family already flatlined, I felt pretty comfortable with talking about our success.


    We were now once more flush with eddies, the small amount from actually completing the gig, and then a whole lot more for stealing everything of value in the mansion.


    I had even stripped the security system server and packed that away, because that sort of thing was good eddies.


    I watched on from the top of the Quadra enjoying the atmosphere, even if it wasn¡¯t really my thing.


    It was purely by chance. A headlight turning off the ramp flashing a bit of light into the sky, causing a reflection that had me glancing over.


    Rainbow pastel colors.


    I stilled as I looked up over the city skyline and there it was.


    A familiar hair color that stood out in the colors of Night City. Waving gently against the stars as a familiar women leaned on the wall of her apartments roof, smoke trailing slowly into the sky.


    Before I could think I stood up, reaching over and grabbing one of the Brosefs, already planning my path.


    I raced up the street towards the familiar apartment complex, and then smiled as I started moving.


    A food stand onto a rooftop, then taking a moment and jumping across to a windowsill then across to another and then back and forth until I climbed up onto the roof of the apartment complex.


    I sauntered over and let myself go cold as I wasn¡¯t sure how to do this properly. So I figured, fuck it.


    The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    I walked over making sure to scuff my boots loudly so she wouldn¡¯t startle at my sudden appearance.


    That was something fun to do to fuck with my friends, but not her.


    ¡°You know. There¡¯s a party going on. You¡¯re welcome to join. It¡¯s open to everyone.¡± I offered openly as dropped the sweating bottle of Brosef onto the ledge beside her arms. Our eyes met. And I nodded, not wanting to push it. There might be time for that another time. ¡°Well, offers open. Feel free to enjoy the beer.¡± I offered and then since I wasn¡¯t in the mood to take the long way, I put my hand on the railing, and just leveraged myself over.


    ¡°Wait!?¡± She gasped as I disappeared over the edge, and I flashed her a confident smirk upwards as she suddenly reacted as I fell.


    Lucy Kushinada. A little different than I remember. Her outfit was a bit less confident. But it was definitely her. I sent her a cheeky wave as I fell, before I stopped my descent, by bouncing off a ledge, hitting a street light spinning around it a bit and then landing softly on the sidewalk and sauntering back to the party.


    ¡ª--


    I pushed myself hard once again. The weights went up and down as I worked myself as hard as I could. That final level up for training Body was constantly teasing me. I wanted that little bit more!


    Sweat poured down my face, across my Kiroshi, but the feeling didn¡¯t matter. There was only one more push after the next. And the one after that.


    What was discomfort?


    What was tiredness?


    Both only lasted moments, while improvement lasted forever. Temporary pain was something I could deal with.


    So I pushed once again. The weights held in my hands tightly as my core screamed, and my legs felt numb.


    I was back in my little corner of the downstairs gym area. The TC guys once more ignored me as I claimed a back corner, hidden away and just worked out for as long and hard as I could.


    I needed just a little more.


    Then finally as I pushed myself up from another crunch it happened.


    *100 Body XP Gained*


    *Body Leveled up!*


    I felt it, a shift in my muscles, and strength. I slowly let the weights touch the ground and just sat there for a while breathing in and out, as I felt my body shift under my clothes.


    Body 10.


    I exhaled, and felt my breath come out cool and strong, without wavering despite how tired I was.


    I had finally managed to do it. The final point. My body that was still flesh despite being tired and numb in places, felt strong.


    I was now more than I had been just before that point.


    And more importantly?


    I¡¯d never have to hit the gym again! Gonna go get something sweet and pig out to celebrate! Weee!


    ¡ª--


    ¡°So you had another gig?¡±


    ¡°Yep! Assassination for Padre.¡± I answered back as I ducked to avoid another fist. Heh. Hayato was so cruel! She¡¯d ask a question and attack just after to try and get an advantage!


    Sneaky! I approved!


    ¡°Padre? The Valentino Fixer?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the one. Interesting gig. We killed this guy and looted his mansion, got a ton of stuff. You interested in richy-rich booze or something? The guy had a major liquor cabinet and we took it with us. Hiromi is trying to sell it off.¡± I explained as I activated my Sandy and burst into motion and started jabbing over and over pushing Hayato back as she struggled to keep up with my Sandevistan speed.


    But I turned it off pretty quickly and backed off giving Hayato a chance to recover.


    ¡°Bit-Do you have to do that?¡±


    ¡°Keeping you on your toes!¡± I said with a happy smile and then we went back at it.


    ¡°I¡¯m not really interested in alcohol. No thank you.¡± She admitted a breathing heavily, answering my question.


    ¡°Ah well, I tried. Hiromi will be happy that I did at least.¡± I said with a smile as I ducked and blocked Hayato¡¯s returning blows. Then she shifted, and I activated my Sandy for a split second to dodge back as her foot swept up and nearly took my face off, but instead I avoided it and swept out my own leg hitting her on the back of her knee and sweeping her right off her feet.


    ¡°Fu-Owe!¡± She cursed as she hit the mat.


    ¡°Too aggressive. But good job trying to keep your tells down. I almost didn¡¯t spot that!¡±


    ¡°Ughh.¡± She groaned for a moment before taking my offered hand and rising up.


    ¡°Again.¡± She demanded and I nodded, backing up and we went back into it.


    Hayato was a good partner, Street Brawling alerts kept coming in, as every time I faced her she tried something new.


    I was pretty sure she was getting actual training from someone in between our little sparring matches and was being taught things to try and beat me with.


    Heh. It was pretty fun though.


    We went at it again, and I was delighted in the way my body felt so strong. I was able to block her blows nearly without effort as I simply powered through. Hayato might have more chrome than I did, but I was stronger than she was now and it showed, when I punched and she blocked it knocked her back.


    ¡°Stupid!¡± She hissed at me, and then went aggressive and I laughed as I shifted to duck under more of her jabs.


    Hayato had a tendency to go on the offensive whenever she got angry. It was cute, but I needed to work on her for that. Her temper was going to get her in trouble at some point.


    When she jabbed I flashed my Sandy, and of course she was pushing a bit too much, so instead of blocking or dodging, I grabbed her wrist, which meant I got to see the way her face shifted in rapid speed into shock and then outrage, and then her mouth opened.


    ¡°YouBitchNotThisAgaiiiiiin!¡± She screamed as I once more hip tossed her until she stopped with an oof as she hit the mat.


    ¡°You got a bit too aggressive in your anger.¡± I told her, and reached down and poked her forehead, letting my cooler fingers feel the warmth of her forehead. ¡°Cool and calm, especially on the attack.¡±


    She looked up at me, her eyes practically glowing under the lights as our eyes met for a while before her face scrunched up in embarrassment and she looked away, flapping a hand at me to push me away.


    ¡°Stop that!¡± She demanded and I just laughed.


    ¡ª---


    ¡°Yo.¡± I greeted, and looked over at the woman that had requested a meeting with me.


    ¡°Ghost. Glad you arrived.¡± Vortex greeted me. I was back on the net. Vortex had messaged me about the debugging I had done for her, and wanting to talk.


    I slipped into the seat, and looked around the club. We were at Yoko¡¯s place and as I sat, she waved a hand, and the area locked down, giving us some privacy.


    ¡°So. You fixed my code. Thanks for that.¡±


    ¡°It was part of the deal.¡± I answered back and she nodded before getting serious.


    ¡°I need some more work done on the program. But uh¡­ I¡¯ll need to do some reveals about what it¡¯s for. So before we get started. I want to hire you.¡±


    ¡°Hmm.¡± I offered in reply the woman was sort of desperate and I wasn¡¯t sure I liked it. Frankly the code was pretty obvious. It was an eddie skimmer. Take some eddies off the top of some sort of transaction system.


    I didn¡¯t know, and didn¡¯t want to know, and didn¡¯t want to get involved. That¡¯s the sort of crime that corps send hit squads after. Kill some of their guys? Meh. Take their money? Get ready for an apocalypse.


    ¡°Honestly. I don¡¯t know if I want to get involved.¡±


    ¡°Hey, I get it. I¡¯m not asking for a partner though. So as you know I¡¯m trying to make some eddies with it, so I¡¯m not exactly flush, but I do have other things. I¡¯m a programmer too. I have some code.¡±


    I very pointedly didn¡¯t mention that her code was dogshit.


    But she got my disinterest.


    ¡°Listen. I got data you might find very interesting. I just need some more debugging help.¡±


    I considered it. Honestly I wasn¡¯t in a lot of danger even if I helped on this.


    And I could use more XP.


    ¡°Do you still want to derez Daemons?¡± She asked suddenly and at my interest she started smiling. ¡°I know of a server that''s infested with old Daemons. It¡¯s safe-ish. As much as any server can be, but I checked it out myself. How about it? I¡¯ll give you the deets, in exchange, for the debugging.¡±


    ¡°Hmm.¡± I offered again, and she seemed to realize that I wasn¡¯t all that interested. A random server full of Daemons? That could be seriously dangerous, and it might not even be as useful as just going into the netrunner combat zone.


    ¡°On the server. Rumor is it has some interesting data. I found it but couldn¡¯t get through the architecture. The place is a bit of a mess. But it could be valuable!¡±


    I sighed. ¡°Okay, fine. Give me the server address, and tell me what you know about it. And then tell me what your program is supposed to be skimming eddies off of.¡±


    ¡°Casino machines. See, it¡¯ll skim an integer off the profits!¡±


    I nodded. Well it wasn¡¯t corp, but Casino? That meant gang, which was bad in a different way.


    Whatever. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me any more, and just give me the code. I can figure out what you neeeeed¡­ Are you dumb?¡± I asked, looking over what she had done.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°This integer is waaay too high. Do you want whoever you are trying to steal from to notice instantly? Hell, with this, over just a hundred transactions, You¡¯d be taking like one percent. That¡¯s crazy.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m trying to make something here!¡±


    I looked at the code and realized that this woman was a moron. I was going to have to explain this like I was talking to a kid.


    ¡°You either have a large surge, or you have stealth. Pick one.¡± I said, and she twitched.


    ¡°It¡¯s stealthy!¡±


    ¡°There is no way, the casino you are stealing from isn¡¯t going to notice this much theft. You want to make eddies? Do it over a much longer period, and you¡¯ll be much safer.¡± She didn¡¯t really answer, but I shrugged and started working.


    I poked at her code, pulled up a screen right there, and going to work. Altering numbers, and values until I was satisfied.


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ Nothing!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s safe. But the input numbers are variable. If you want to be crazy and go higher, that¡¯s on you.¡± I mumbled, as I continued cleaning up the code errors I was seeing. Talk about a bloated mess.


    ¡°Why are you deleting that!?¡±


    ¡°Because it¡¯s pointless and it¡¯s going to cause errors in the machines if I don¡¯t.¡± I mumbled distractedly.


    I noticed she didn¡¯t argue though as I continued cleaning up the code. Minutes flew by as I altered the whole thing. Ripping parts of the code apart that I had already removed the last time she had sent me the program.


    I gave her a bit of a glare through the transparent screen as I removed the garbage again.


    She looked like she wanted to argue for a moment, but instead as I continued to alter the program she shifted to watching avidly. Unable to tear her eyes away.


    Finally I was satisfied and compiled, handing the much neater code back to her.


    ¡°There. That¡¯s my side.¡±


    ¡°Who are you?¡± She asked after a moment and I just gave her a look but that didn¡¯t satisfy her.


    ¡°Listen I know how to code-¡±


    ¡°Arguable.¡±


    ¡°-But you¡­ Yeah I know. You¡¯re something else. I¡¯ve never seen anyone go through a program that fast!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s my special talent.¡± I offered jokingly, but then held out a hand. ¡°My payment.¡±


    She looked from my hand to me, and then nodded. ¡°Sure, Ghost in the Shell.¡± She said my name formally. And then passing over some web address and a small file with some data from the server she had found.


    I looked it over and shrugged.


    ¡°Alright. See you around.¡± I offered as I slipped out of the booth and jumped out of the server. Back to my Lobby. I¡¯d check it out later if I even cared that much.

 Chapter 206

    ¡°Motokooooo!¡± I blinked looking away from my lunch.


    ¡°Hey Hiromi.¡± I greeted as she rushed inside the apartment and leapt onto the couch. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you be at school?¡±


    ¡°Noooo!¡± She whined and I just watched her until finally she stopped. ¡°Yes, technically. But more importantly, Section 9 needs to sell some of the goods we picked up, and I set up some sales today. Guard my body?¡± She asked, suddenly throwing her head back as she lay on the couch. If this was an old movie, she¡¯d have asked me to paint her like a french girl or something.


    ¡°Goof.¡± I told her as I reached out and poked her nose causing her to shift a bit more backwards and end up flat on her back. ¡°Let me finish my lunch?¡±


    ¡°If you must! Ichi is downstairs in the truck.¡±


    ¡°Poor Ichi.¡± I said and then grabbed my lunch and took a big bite.


    I continued to eat as Hiromi lay on the couch looking up at me upside down and it took until she reached out and poked my side that I realized she was focusing on something.


    ¡°Hiromi? I¡¯m not ticklish, you know.¡± I said as her fingers were exploring my side. Showing no signs of stopping.


    ¡°Shush Motoko. If you are going to make me wait, then I¡¯m going to enjoy the view.¡± She said and I laughed at that, but she was pressing against my side with a look of something on her face.


    ¡°You could get muscles if you exercised too.¡±


    ¡°Shush.¡± She instantly hissed and then shook herself off as she sat. ¡°I don¡¯t think I could get those kind of muscles even if I worked out a lot Motoko. Jeez. What did you do to yourself?¡±


    ¡°Yesterday was a big workout day.¡± I said blandly, not giving anything away. ¡°I¡¯m pretty satisfied though.¡±


    ¡°Yeah me too,¡±


    ¡°Hmm?¡±


    ¡°Nothing! You done yet?¡±


    ¡°Ugh.¡± I grumbled as I grabbed the remains of my food and started stuffing it down. Can¡¯t even enjoy my own lunch in peace!


    ¡ª--


    ¡°-Should cover the entire purchase.¡± Hiromi offered, smiling at the Tino gangsters. They looked over the array of junk we had laid out. Although Hiromi had called it valuable merchandise, it was stuff like entertainment systems, and other electronics from the mansion.


    I was keeping an eye out as the bodyguard, but was fighting my own boredom as Hiromi worked.


    Just as I was thinking this entire thing was going to be boring. I noticed trouble.


    A vehicle, the low riding Villefort Alvarado pulling into the parking lot, and then another pickup behind it.


    I instantly sent a call to Ichi, as I casually started scanning and preparing to breach into targets.


    I was still leaning against the van behind me, and I smirked as I felt the shift inside as the HMG¡¯s activated. The door was still up, but it would only take a moment.


    ¡°Hiromi. We have company.¡± I called as the vehicles approached, and she went still glancing at me, and I nodded, as I walked over beside her, and made sure she was in reach. I might need to pull her out of danger if this went bad.


    Out from the front vehicle jumped an obvious Tino. Gold and chrome on full display as he looked around, including at the stuff we had out for the gonks we were selling to to look over.


    ¡°Well ain¡¯t this interesting!¡± He called out, and I knew from his tone this was going to be trouble.


    ¡°Good afternoon!¡± Hiromi offered chirping happily. ¡°We have plenty of things for sale! I hope you find something you like!¡± She chirped, as if chocolate wouldn¡¯t melt in her mouth.


    But I was focused on the men getting out of the truck, a little too casually.


    ¡°Yeah? Chica, you think you have anything I want? Hell, you even know what I want?¡± He asked mocking, and I glared at his tone.


    Yeah this wasn¡¯t good.


    Hiromi realized it too, as her smile shifted from fake saleswoman to a more serious stare.


    ¡°Then excuse me, I obviously misunderstood. What do you want?¡±


    ¡°I want to know why a couple of chinks are on my turf with a shit ton of scop!¡± He growled and kicked one of the bottles of booze we had been hawking.


    It shattered against the van after sailing past Hiromi and I. Suddenly the air stank of fruit and alcohol. And I realized this wasn¡¯t going well.


    ¡°We¡¯re leaving.¡± I said, and stepped in front of Hiromi a bit pushing her back towards the van. But the leader of this Tino group wasn¡¯t going to let that stand.


    ¡°The fuck you are!¡± He pulled a Nova out of his jacket, and pointed the revolver at us, and it was only because I had already started breaching into him that I was able to upload a weapon glitch. The moment he drew, my hands grabbed Hiromi and pulled her away, the only reason he didn¡¯t get a bullet immediately back.


    I continued to keep Hiromi behind me as I stared him down, realizing with pleasure he wasn¡¯t pulling the trigger yet. I went to work, uploading weapon glitches into the group as fast as I could, letting him have what he wanted.


    Time to monologue.


    ¡°You fucking chink bitches! You think you can come on down to our turf, and flash your scop, like you some high tower, Clouds fucking dolls?¡± He snapped and it took me a moment to parse that I think he was calling Hiromi and I whores?


    Man sometimes people just didn¡¯t make a lick of fucking sense.


    ¡°We work with Padre. Not sure what the problem is here.¡± I offered, and Hiromi thankfully was remaining huddled behind me.


    ¡°Fucking Padre? The fuck you take me for? Some dumb cunt like you? I¡¯m going to send a message to you chinks about coming out here!¡± He scoffed and it was only then that I heard it, that we all heard it.


    The click of his Nova failing to fire.


    So I reacted. I activated my Sandy, to give myself just a moment longer.


    I moved doing everything I could in the short time I had with the Sandy active, continuing to  hack as many of them as I could. I started to push Hiromi back and drew my Burya, but I aborted it and instead grabbed Hiromi and leapt, pushing my body between hers and the gunmen.


    While their leader''s gun failed, Where a few of the others weapons failed to fire. Some of the others didn¡¯t have any such trouble, I had only gotten through about eighty percent of the group.


    I managed to just get around the Van, when I heard the rear van doors open, and the cries of shock from the Tino¡¯s. I rushed, pushing Hiromi with me towards the cab. We piled inside, Hiromi screaming out in shock and fear at everything and Ichi didn¡¯t even need to hear my order to start driving as we basically jumped half in before he hit the gas, and his Van peeled out, the HMG¡¯s firing behind us, and I had no idea how effective it was, because not long after I heard the noise, we were down the street.


    I had pushed Hiromi into the passenger seat and I was holding on mostly by digging my hands into the furniture of the cab, but as we managed to get mostly away I felt it. A pain that ran up my back.


    ¡°Fuck fuck fuck!¡± Hiromi was screaming aloud, absolutely freaking out as she started to adjust herself so she wasn¡¯t just half pushed over the center console. I looked her over, my eyes scanning and felt relieved when I realized she hadn¡¯t been hit.


    ¡°Fuck is right.¡± I said, and was surprised at how weak my voice sounded in my own ears, I reached back and when I brought my hand back it was covered in blood.


    Owe. Getting shot stings.


    ¡°Motoko!?¡±


    ¡°Gonna need to hit Viks.¡± I said, as strongly as I could as I just managed to adjust myself and reach into my pouch for a Maxdoc.


    I don¡¯t know how many times I had been shot, but I definitely had been.


    I popped the Maxdoc and instantly everything became clearer.


    Grunting a bit I shifted, getting myself better wedged inside, so I wouldn¡¯t fall out and so I could look out the van to check behind us.


    Looked clear.


    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.


    ¡°Oh my God. Motoko!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine Hiromi.¡± I said without even looking. ¡°Just get me to Viks.¡± I assured her, even though I knew it had been a bit more serious than that. I felt her hand leaping onto my bag and looked over to realize she had taken off her jacket and was holding it against my back.


    Oh. She ruined her jacket. I didn¡¯t have any way to tell her I was fine, so instead I just flashed her a smile.


    ¡°Looks like they aren¡¯t chasing.¡± I said towards Ichi, and I took in his pale face, and white knuckled grip on the steering wheel. ¡°Ichi, you okay you didn¡¯t get hit did you?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine! My cab is armored.¡± He said back sounding frantic and I relaxed a bit enough to close the door and lean back a bit into Hiromi.


    ¡°That sucked.¡± I decided and Hiromi gave a sound between a sob and an agreement all at once.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°She¡¯ll live.¡± Vik assured Hiromi who had been hovering since I climbed down the steps despite her fussing over me the whole time. He looked to me, then to Hiromi. ¡°Her subdermal caught it, and she didn¡¯t bleed that badly. She¡¯ll be fine. I¡¯ve already given her some stuff to help heal it up.¡±


    Vik¡¯s words finally seemed to get through and Hiromi slumped, and I stepped out of the section he had covered off with a curtain already putting my jacket back on.


    Dammit. The bullet had gone right through my jacket and leotard. I¡¯d have to fix that. Again.


    ¡°See? I¡¯m fine.¡± I said with a chipper smile.


    ¡°Motoko!¡± Hiromi leapt at me, but came up short and sort of dithered, so I pulled her into a hug.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine. Just a scratch.¡± I told her, and looked past her shoulder to see Vik and mouth a thank you towards him.


    He nodded, and that was that.


    ¡°Now, we have something a bit more important than my scrapes to talk about.¡± I said and Hiromi pulled away looking like she was going to argue with me about downplaying my wounds, but she stopped when she saw my face.


    ¡°They die. I¡¯m going to kill them. Every single one of them.¡± I told her, and I noticed Vik looking back over in surprise at the tone of my voice.


    ¡°Yeah. They¡­ They can¡¯t get away with this.¡± She said and I nodded.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. We¡¯ll need to hit my netrunner cave. I need to know exactly who needs to die.¡±


    ¡ª--


    ¡°Shit choom, you alright?¡± Malcolm asked, and there was something in his voice. I nodded and threw him a thumbs up.


    ¡°It was minor, and Ichi drove me to Viks. I¡¯m fine Malcolm.¡±


    ¡°Good, that¡¯s good. Don¡¯t worry me like that.¡± He said and I just nodded, because I could understand why Malcolm was twitchy about it.


    We were all gathering at the Netrunner cave. Because of course I was going to have to do another dive.


    I dropped the to-go order of Ramen on the table and dug in, as Malcolm greeted Ichi and Hiromi, checking in with everyone.


    I needed to eat, and then I was going to dive. As the broth hit my tongue it let me think for a moment about what had just happened.


    Was it just a normal theft? My instincts said yes, but either way it wasn''t acceptable.


    Those men and women that had jumped us were going to die, and it was going to be loud, and obvious.


    Hiromi had nearly gotten shot, and I took it personally whenever I took a bullet.


    ¡°I got a response back from Padre.¡± Hiromi said, as she settled into the table opposite me, she pushed around the food we had grabbed on our way over but didn¡¯t look interested in eating it.


    ¡°What did he say?¡±


    ¡°Nothing important, but he isn¡¯t going to get involved one way or another. The guys might have misstepped but he isn¡¯t going to do anything about it.¡±


    ¡°Well if he doesn¡¯t want to get involved. I don¡¯t want to hear him complain aftwards about any damage we do.¡± I replied with a shrug.


    ¡°I want to pilot the Minotaur.¡± She said suddenly and I looked up at her in surprise.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°I know you Motoko. You¡¯ll want to bring it along, but Ichi won¡¯t be driving it this time. I will.¡± Hiromi said firmly. And there was a deadly edge to her voice.


    That¡¯s right. I might have been the one shot, but Hiromi had almost been shot, and she didn¡¯t handle that well.


    ¡°Sure. You have to tell Ichi though.¡± I teased, but she just nodded without rising to my teasing.


    Fair enough. If Hiromi needed some safe revenge, then she would get it.


    ¡°Alright, catch Rebecca up when she gets here, I¡¯m going to jump into the net.¡±


    ¡°Got it. Be safe.¡± Hiromi whispered and I just flashed her a confident smile as I walked over, settling in and putting on my netrunner cap to keep my brain cool.


    Then I blinked and I was in my lobby.


    The room greeted me like usual, and I noticed the Tachikoma were still doing the learning tasks I had put them towards, so with that I jumped into the net itself.


    I remembered the area, the fact was there were plenty of shops in the area for me to get some camera perspectives from.


    I wasn¡¯t going to let these gonks get away.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°I¡¯m back.¡± I called out and stretched, folding over a bit to touch my toes with a grunt before rising up.


    ¡°Jeeze Strings, should I start calling you Stretch?¡± Rebecca asked, and I just laughed.


    ¡°What you can¡¯t touch your toes?¡± I asked innocently.


    ¡°Sure I can, but like hell I can bend myself in half like that.¡± She grumbled and I just laughed a bit. My mood had improved now that I knew where the gonks had gone.


    ¡°Okay so we have their names, their homes, and where they are.¡± I said and Ichi and Hiromi were still going over the data on the laptop both looked up and nodded. Hiromi looked furious as she read over the information I had gathered.


    ¡°A bunch of overconfident dolts? This is what nearly¡­¡± Hiromi trailed off, and I nodded.


    I didn¡¯t have the heart to explain to her, that sometimes that¡¯s all it took. A single idiot with a gun can do a lot of damage.


    ¡°A bunch of dead men.¡± I said instead, catching Hiromi¡¯s eyes as she nodded firmly. ¡°Alright. We got the data, and we have the target. Let¡¯s lock in our plan here.¡± I offered and everyone gathered around.


    The boys had an old abandoned shop they had taken over. At least the records didn¡¯t indicate anyone should be in there.


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe they took everything.¡± Hiromi grumbled, and I shrugged. Looking at the video of the Tino, after shooting at us, picking up and taking everything we had come to sell.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine. It¡¯ll be our loot twice over. Nothing better than double looted loot.¡± I said jokingly and she sent me a smile that didn¡¯t last.


    Yeah Hiromi was still bothered.


    It pissed me off too.


    I was strong, skilled enough I could fight entire groups of people, but as a bodyguard I was limited. I wasn¡¯t bullet proof.


    I was no Adam Smasher. Not yet anyways. I couldn¡¯t block bullets¡­


    Yet.


    I looked over, at my equipment piled up on one of the tables.


    I needed to level up Blades to 10, to unlock the perk that would teach me how to deflect bullets¡­


    Yeah, I needed to get my skills up to ten, to get more perks. A lot of my strength came from the perks. So I needed more of them.


    My Reflex Stat was still stuck at 9, and it was taking forever to level up. That would be my hyper focus from now on.


    ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s take these gonks out. I want to get our stuff back.¡±


    ¡ª--


    It was time.


    I nodded to Malcolm and Rebecca, both of them loaded and armored up.


    We had pulled up in the alley behind the supposedly empty store front the Tino boys had taken over and were just waiting on the signal.


    It didn¡¯t take long. The sound of a big truck braking was rather unmistakable. Then the sound of the doors opened.


    *Go.* I ordered out and lept, crossing the barbed wire fence in a single leap. Malcolm and Rebecca both pushed through a cut through the fence we had made and we rushed in.


    The Tino inside still had no idea what was happening, and it was too late for them.


    I had breached their security. Each of them had their weapon glitched out, and I had already prepped a Short Circuit in case they actually tried anything.


    Then we reached the back door, and I entered the old storefront with a bang as I kicked in the door.


    I didn¡¯t bring my Copperhead like I normally would have. Instead one of my hands held my Katana, the fine blade cleaned and ready, the other my Lexington.


    Then it was on. The back room was mostly empty, but the golden lights of Ping gave me easy paths straight towards the enemies.


    I leapt, clearing the six foot tall shelves, and then spinning around to the other side.


    The first gonk was rising from an old couch that had been hauled back here facing a TV and he screamed as my Katana flashed out.


    Then he stopped screaming.


    *500 XP Gained.*


    Before I turned I already heard gunshots.


    Smart Rounds shot over the shelves towards the front where one of the men had opened the door to find out what was going on, Malcolm took him out. The homing rounds thunked into his head and chest and he went down.


    I charged, sword leading the way as I burst into the main room, to find all of the others. Our loot was laying on a table in the center being picked through, some of it I noticed already damaged, or in use, as the alcohol was obviously being used.


    I charged not towards any of the normal gonks, but the one that I wanted more than any other.


    The leader. The one that had dared to start all of this.


    He yelped as he saw me charging with an open blade and brought up his Nova, which once again clicked as it failed to fire.


    Then I tackled him to the floor.


    ¡°Aaaaahahahahaha!¡± Came out a moment later, as Rebecca had used the time to get herself set up.


    Suddenly the wall between the back of the store and the front was swiss cheesed as HMG rounds blasted through it, and the gonks turned into blood chunky salsa as high explosive rounds ripped into them.


    But my gonk was on the ground, avoiding the bullets Rebecca was sending through as I started pistol whipping him in the face over and over. While using my sword to keep his hands back by just putting it into the path of his fists as he tried to lash out.


    The screaming got loud, and I heard at least one of them try to make a break for it, only for even more noise to echo out and the front of the store to shatter as Hiromi was there in the Minotaur. Twin HMG¡¯s turned one specific gonk into nothing but mist as Hiromi made sure to vent her frustration.


    Then as I continued to beat the gonk until he stopped I looked up and realized it was over.


    Standing up, I sheathed the Katana, and holstered the Lexington.


    ¡°Clear!¡± I called out, and heard the repeated phrase from the back section of the store.


    I reached down to the still moaning gonk and grabbed him by his stupid overly product filled hair  and started dragging. Ignoring his moans of pain and cries as I dragged him out of the store through the broken front and right in front of the Minotaur.


    Hiromi looked down in the massive machine for a moment, and he blinked through his bruised face looking up into the face of a massive robot and he raised his hands probably to plead for his life.


    Hiromi lifted a large heavy foot and stomped down.


    I winced, because that was going to take forever to clean out.


    ¡°Alright! Let¡¯s get looting!¡± I called out, turning to Malcolm and Rebecca. Already plenty of Tino toughs were around looking at what was going on, but none seemed to want to approach.


    Which made sense.


    The Behemoth moved closer, practically right up to the now broken windows as it opened up to allow everyone to start looting, while I walked over to the cab.


    ¡°You good?¡± I whispered quietly to Hiromi who was still controlling the Minotaur.


    ¡°I¡¯m good.¡± She said firmly, none of the waver in her voice. ¡°Thanks Motoko.¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡± I responded back as gently as I could. ¡°Talk to me if you need to.¡± I demanded and then climbed back out and adjusted myself. Wiping a bit of blood off the front of my helmet I looked over at the audience.


    I took a breath and then pulled off my helmet. Jerking my head a bit to settle my hair I dropped the helmet on the ground and sauntered over to the watchers.


    I could see the surprise run through them as I approached.


    It didn¡¯t take long as I crossed the street before one of them stepped forward a bit more than the others. The leader.


    ¡°This was personal business. Has nothing to do with the rest of you.¡± I called out a bit loudly. ¡°We won¡¯t give you any trouble, if you don¡¯t start any¡±


    ¡°You just walked in and killed some chooms on our turf. You think that¡¯s just gonna be dropped?¡±


    ¡°It will. We took a job from Padre. Went above and beyond.¡± I continued to speak loudly, and at the name drop faces shifted. ¡°Everything went nova. We flatlined his target, like requested. And grabbed some spare loot. We were selling it to a client. Normal shit, no trouble, everyone was going to walk home happy. Until these gonks showed up. They pulled iron. Shot at me and my chooms. I still have a bullet hole in my ass because of them.¡±


    I got a few actual snorts of laughter from the boys at my joke, but then I went serious.


    ¡°They died. All of them. Badly.¡± I said, and the leader took a step back as my casual voice shifted into something sinister. ¡°So take it as the gonks getting a direct lesson on not fucking with someone out of their league. Now. My chooms and I are going to clean up our stuff, and get out of here. If we aren¡¯t bothered. It¡¯ll be quick. If we are bothered. We brought enough firepower that we won¡¯t be running.¡±


    I think Hiromi in the Minotaur still stomping around gave my point rather direct connotations.


    A moment later the leader guy nodded.


    ¡°I¡¯ll talk to Padre.¡± He offered instead of any agreement. Not showing weakness, but not stepping on my toes.


    I nodded and just walked away.


    Thank fuck that worked. I didn¡¯t look forward to starting my own gang war today.

 Chapter 207

    ¡°Oh¡­ Uh, hey Alice.¡± I greeted as I opened the door to see our neighbor.


    ¡°Hey, Motoko. So yeah. Umm, you had time to think about that offer?¡± She asked and I blinked and rubbed my head. I felt like I was still pulling blood out of my knuckles despite a shower.


    ¡°Yeah I thought about it. Yeah¡­¡± I said despite not having thought about it at all. I¡¯d been focused on grinding skills this week, and then our scheduled Section 9 work.


    ¡°So, uh hey. We have a meeting tonight. Just to play some songs and get some things worked out for a gig. Figured I¡¯d invite you.¡±


    ¡°Did your band figure out the problems you guys were having?¡±


    ¡°Not exactly.¡± She said and I looked her up and down and winced.


    ¡°I¡¯m not exactly looking.¡±


    ¡°I know. Listen. Come play with us, some of our songs, some of yours? We¡¯re looking for another, for the gig I mentioned, but it¡¯s not a forced thing. Just come play. See if you fit?¡±


    I ran my hand through my hair. It had been a stressful day. I had gotten shot after all. I really could use a distraction.


    ¡°Alright, fine, let me grab my guitar.¡±


    ¡°Nova!¡± She cheered out and I had a feeling she was banking on me for more than just a one night jam session.


    I shrugged and grabbed my stuff, before meeting her at the door and following her down.


    I ended up going with her, in her little van, which wasn¡¯t the most comfortable ride, but I didn¡¯t have room in the Quadra for her equipment and mine.


    She made pretty shit small talk as she drove, mostly about Jun to my amusement. But I wasn¡¯t really interested in that, so I decided to get to the point.


    ¡°So what¡¯s the deal with your band?¡±


    ¡°You remember Carmen?¡±


    ¡°Nope.¡± I answered back, and she snorted.


    ¡°He was the lead Guitarist of VH. That gig we did to help him out with his NiCola song? Well afterwards he bailed on us. I¡¯ve been trying to get him to stick around at least long enough to get a replacement, because we had gigs coming up and we need someone.¡±


    ¡°Ah, but he refused, and now you are desperate to find someone that can play.¡±


    She was quiet for a while but as we stopped at a red light behind a few trucks, their brake lights lighting up the vans cab she turned to me.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. I¡¯ve dedicated everything to be a musician. To get VH going, to try and do something. So I¡¯m willing to try anything¡­ So please. Just, jam with us. See if you like it, and maybe do a gig or two? No contract shit, we¡¯re street Rockers, but we need someone until we get a replacement.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not really the band type.¡±


    ¡°Maybe not, but there are eddies in it, and more.¡± She offered and the light changed, so she focused on driving instead of answering my raised eyebrow, what was ¡®more¡¯ about being in a band?


    ¡ª--


    We didn¡¯t go to Denny¡¯s place. Which made me remember how expensive it was supposed to be¡­ Had Hiromi tricked me into spending lots of eddies for something I didn¡¯t really need?


    I decided I would try to remember to ask her about that later, but we were meeting up in a storage unit of all things.


    It was one similar to the Tyger Claw place we had used when we did the yacht gig. But closer to our current apartments.


    I had a feeling it was something Fujimura, Alice¡¯s Uncle, had set up for her.


    But we parked and as I stepped out I noticed the unit was open, and I guess it was cold enough being winter, that it wasn¡¯t that big a deal.


    ¡°Yo yo! I got us a temp!¡± Alice called out and I rolled my eyes at her as she called out waving her hands up in the air.


    ¡°Finally!¡±


    ¡°Hell yeah!¡± I looked at the other two. I recognized both men from when I saw VH play, and when we went to Denny¡¯s for the first time, but I had never spoken to either of them.


    ¡°Alright everyone, this is Motoko, she plays Guitar and?¡± Alice looked at me, and I just blinked.


    ¡°Anything really.¡± I confirmed and got a blank look but a nod from her at that.


    ¡°And can cover pretty much anything.¡±


    ¡°Yeah? Well I got some things that I could enjoy if I was off the drums.¡± One of the guys called out and then looked me over and I could see his lips quirk up.


    ¡°Well damn, Alice. Where¡¯d you get this one? Some Animal convention?¡±


    ¡°Fuck off Klein, you ass. Be nice. Motoko does merc work.¡± Alice offered, but she glanced at me, and then down as well.


    Unfortunately I wasn¡¯t exactly blowing anyone away with my massive chest, so I knew it was my well defined abs stretching my Leotard. I hadn¡¯t gone to get them updated again after hitting Body 10 so the leotards were a bit tight.


    ¡°I work out.¡± I offered blandly.


    ¡°Yeah no shit. You want to drum?¡±


    ¡°Sure I could use some stress relief.¡± I offered, and that was that. Sticks handed over and I spun them with the same dexterity I used while cutting gonks into pieces.


    Yeah I could do this.


    Hmm. I hadn¡¯t done much drums, mostly sticking to electronics. What could I do¡­


    Well I did like Dave Grohl.


    I settled into the seat, and checked the equipment, as the band got together.


    ¡°You know our songs?¡± Klein asked, as he switched over to a guitar.


    ¡°Violent Hemmorage? I heard you guys live once.¡±


    ¡°Alright, then we definitely played Spilled Blood. You good?¡±


    ¡°Should be.¡± I said with faux casualness, and before they could even start playing the first strings I started in on the drum intro much to their surprise.


    I had to play it twice before they caught up and started playing. And then I just lost myself in the tune. I remember the rhythm, had it memorized in my brain thanks to Perfect Musical Memory.


    It wasn¡¯t exactly a thrilling song to play, but I kept it going even when the other band mates flubbed things, or Alice made me cringe from her singing.


    It was alright. It was¡­ Therapeutic to smash the drums. I was even getting into it, before the other guy suddenly stopped with a curse.


    ¡°Fucking hell Jared? Why¡¯d you stop?¡±


    ¡°Cause you keep fucking it up!¡± He yelled at Alice who cursed him right back, and I relaxed and settled back a bit. Looking around I noticed a SCSM across the way, and I was thirsty. I headed over and no one noticed me, and then got back while they were still arguing.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    Friction in the band huh.


    That¡¯s fair, but I wasn¡¯t here to fucking listen to it. Hmm, I could play some Nirvana, but I had done most of those myself.


    Then I remembered another band that I liked.


    Heh, that could work.


    The song started in my head, and I just took on the drummer. Dave was a legend, and I was just a copy cat, but hopefully I could make the sound right.


    No One Knows, was a Queens of the Stone Age song. Definitely a fun band, and the song was a really interesting rock song.


    So I waited and ignoring the gonks arguing about stupid shit, I just started. Feeling a smile come over my face, as I let myself enjoy the song in my head.


    I hadn¡¯t heard it in over a year after all, but as I played it was like listening to it back.


    Only when I finished did I pay any attention to the band, who to my surprise had picked up their instruments and played along.


    Badly, but they had tried their own additions to the beat.


    ¡°Nice.¡± Klein offered me as the song finished. ¡°Okay, you¡¯re the better drummer. What was that beat?¡±


    ¡°Here I¡¯ll show you. I have no idea what the official name of it would be. It¡¯s a three beat with a delayed fourth. Here.¡± I showed it slowed down to the drummer, and soon we swapped spots as he started tinkering with it¡­


    Well if he was going to try and drum it.


    ¡°Mind if I sing?¡± I asked Alice and she blinked before hesitating and shaking her head.


    ¡°This an actual song?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, It¡¯s called No One Knows. I mean, unless you guys want to play something else?¡±


    ¡°Nah fuck that. I¡¯m sick of our shit anyways. Let¡¯s hear it.¡± Jared called as he grabbed his bass and I nodded. Alice picked up a Guitar and I grabbed mine, and I started.


    ¡°Yeah, follow this beat for the first half.¡± I instructed Jared, and then walked to Alice. ¡°Can you do this?¡± I offered, and she nodded with a bit of hesitation.


    And then once I got them all synced up I started singing.


    ¡°We got some rules to follow, that and this, these and those!¡± I started and despite multiple stops soon we were actually jamming.


    They weren¡¯t terrible musicians, they were just terrible song writers I decided.


    Alice, I noticed wasn¡¯t very happy about me singing, so I shrugged and walked over to her, standing in front of her, as we did a restart, and this time I played the guitar and she hesitated, before starting the song herself.


    Her version was more electronic, her cyberware picking up, but that was fine. It was about having fun anyways.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°Fuck Alice, where¡¯d you find this one? Hey Motoko right? Fucking join the band, no scop you rock girl.¡±


    ¡°Thanks. I¡¯m not sure, I¡¯m really a band type though.¡± I offered, waving my hands a bit.


    ¡°Aww fuck. Alice! You know her! Tell her she has to do some gigs with us! She¡¯s a monster!¡± Jared demanded, and Alice still looked a little irritated at my performance, but at the same time, she knew how skilled I was, and was swallowing it down, not letting it influence her.


    ¡°Motoko, we have a gig, Saturday and we need another member. Please.¡±


    I definitely still hesitated even with the begging. ¡°Listen, I¡¯m just not that interested.¡±


    ¡°How about a trade then?¡± Klein offered, and I looked over as he walked to a section of the garage that had a bunch of junk stacked up. Old equipment that was dusty and abandoned, and I was about to make some sarcastic comment about it when Klein pulled out something that actually had me sit up.


    ¡°Noticed your guitar is store slop, it¡¯s alright for minor shit, but it¡¯s not gonna serve.¡±


    ¡°And that¡¯s supposed to be better?¡± I asked, looking at the incredibly expensive piece of trash. The guitar was broken. Which was a real shame, because it was a DeLuze Orphean. The color wasn¡¯t to my liking, a sort of orange, but that was the same type of guitar that Johnny used. Old, retro, but solid, a real playing guitar.


    ¡°Hey, even jacked up, this thing is worth eddies¡­ Carmen¡¯s. He wrecked it when he left the band.¡±


    ¡°The fuck he do that for?¡± I asked as I walked over and took the damaged axe. Looks like he tried to smash it, but the neck was strong enough to take it. Chipped the fuck out of the body though, and the Bridge was bent in, did he hit it against something? I looked it over, the ports were fucked too, two of them were bent in, would need a full replacement.


    ¡°He just didn¡¯t need it anymore.¡± Alice offered bitterly, there was more to the story, but that didn¡¯t matter to me.


    Because the fact was, while it was damaged, I could replace it¡­ Probably. ¡°How much are these things normally worth?¡±


    ¡°A preem good condition one? 5 kay, easy.¡± Alice offered and I blinked, looked at the guitar in my hands¡­


    That¡¯s all?


    I thought back to my Guitar that I bought and winced as I realized I hadn¡¯t really bought anything good. Just a cheap off the rack. Sure I made it work, I had the skill thanks to Rockerboy to tune it and set it up right, but I could do better with better equipment.


    ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll take this as payment then. You said the gig was this weekend?¡± I asked and Alice nodded while Klein looked pleased with himself.


    ¡°That¡¯s right kid. Now we¡¯ll need to get our set list going, hey you slackers, let¡¯s play some music we need to make sure our new guitarist knows what to do.¡±


    I rolled my eyes at the drummers words, but set the broken guitar to the side and picked up my own.


    Time to make sure I know all the Violent Hemorrhage songs¡­ Blegh.


    ¡ª--


    *That¡¯s amazing!* Hiromi cheered to me, as I informed her about the new update


    *It¡¯s okay. I¡¯m mostly getting paid in an old guitar that I really didn¡¯t need, but I figured it was¡­ It was enough to make me do it.* It was hard to admit that I could have just turned around and bought a brand new guitar no problem for just 5 grand. But¡­


    I was going to fix this guitar, it would be a good week project while I prepped for the gig, and¡­ It was a good enough excuse.


    Maybe I needed the excuse to get up on stage again. At least this time I was just playing some garbage songs, and not ones that I have any real emotional investment in.


    *Hmm, that¡¯s no good, make sure they are paying you eddies as well! I¡¯ll talk to them if I have to, as your manager.*


    *Thanks Hiromi, I know you got my back. Anyway, you have school right?*


    *Yeah, I¡¯m getting ready for it now.* She muttered darkly, and I looked out the window to see the bright california sun glaring down on us.


    *Alright, how about we meet for lunch then?*


    *Yes! I¡¯ll see you then?*


    *I¡¯ll see you then.* I confirmed, and the call ended.


    I guess I should go get this guitar fixed up then. I got dressed noting that Jun was still passed out, it was early for him though.


    A quick stop on the way out to grab some food and I went looking for a shop.


    The first place I stopped in was the shop I bought my original guitar from. It only took me pulling out the guitar before the old man took one look at it and shook his head.


    ¡°You can¡¯t just go to some scop seller like this place for a DeLuze you gonk.¡± He said quietly but firmly glaring at me, over the top of the guitar. ¡°Damaging a fucking DeLuze. Brats these days. That thing needs real replacement parts you won¡¯t find in this sort of place.¡± He whispered, his face locked on me, but I could tell he was keeping his boss in his periphery.


    ¡°Any idea where I could go to get replacement parts?¡±


    ¡°Pfft. Course I do. Can¡¯t tell you though.¡± He offered, and I smirked as I walked over and grabbed three shitty albums off the side of the wall.


    ¡°Course not, only paying customers am I right?¡±


    ¡°Heh.¡± He finally cracked a smile and he rang me up, and only as I was leaving did I get a message from the grumpy old man.


    *Martin: Time Machine. Near Senate and Market, Glen.*


    Well I guess I knew where to go.


    A quick jump into the Quadra and I was across town, checking out Heywood and finally I found it. A corner store with a big neon strip going around the building. ¡°Time Machine Huh?¡± I wondered, there was something familiar about this place. Was it a game location?


    I honestly didn¡¯t remember and so took a parking spot and stepped inside.


    Oh wow. This was a high end shop. I glanced around and noticed that despite being a much more expensive sort of music shop, the guitars on the walls were¡­ The same sort of scop I¡¯d find in the other shop.


    But he said I should come here?


    I walked up to the counter and a moment later a woman with an unfortunate haircut noticed me and sauntered over.


    ¡°What can I get ya? Oh shit, who wrecked the DeLuze?¡±


    ¡°The former owner.¡± I answered her question as she was looking at the guitar I had settled onto the counter. ¡°I¡¯m looking for some replacement parts to fix her up. The Bridge is wrecked, and the-¡±


    ¡°Yeah I see it. Smashed it hard by the looks of it, the frets look good, the neck isn¡¯t damaged.¡± She started to mutter and I relaxed, she knew what she was talking about. Going through the guitar and cataloging everything.


    ¡°It¡¯s gonna be expensive to repair this. At least a month to do it, I¡¯m backlogged.¡±


    ¡°I can do the repairs, just need the parts.¡± I answered and she looked at me like she wanted to argue.


    ¡°Yeah alright¡­ Just don¡¯t break it, if you think you can¡¯t handle something just hand it over.¡±


    ¡°I can do it. Thanks though.¡± I answered back because I wasn¡¯t going to take her concern about the expensive guitar against her.


    ¡°Alright, let me grab what you need. You got the eddies?¡±


    ¡°I have the eddies.¡± I waved her off, and she nodded. A few minutes later she came out of the backroom, which I noticed as she opened the door was full of much more expensive guitars than what was out here.


    Now I understood. Sell the scop to normal rockers, and keep the expensive stuff safe.


    I took the parts, checked them over, my Kiroshi scanning the parts confirmed they were good, and a few checks verified even that.


    ¡°Preem. Thanks Choom.¡±


    ¡°Sure kid. Remember! Bring it in if you can¡¯t handle it! Those DeLuze are classics!¡±


    ¡°I waved her off and headed out of the shop.


    ¡ª--


    Pulling the bridge out of the guitar I winced at how much damage it had taken. Luckily, the internals were easy enough to fix, and I had the replacements. Slowly I started putting the expensive guitar back together. Piece by piece.


    I laughed as almost instantly I got a Crafting Alert.


    I hummed some old songs as I worked, using some tools making sure the internals still worked. With the bridge out, I started replacing the connectors that were broken, unscrewing the section, and then pulling out the two that were damaged, and putting the new ends on. Slowly it all came back together. A guitar no matter how expensive had nothing on the complicated internals of a Tachikoma.


    And then I put the new bridge into place, and restrung the guitar.


    Looking it over I nodded. It still looks a bit rough. The body was chipped, and the color was faded. Also it wasn¡¯t a color I really liked.


    I ran my fingers over it, the sensitive pads letting me feel all the indents and damage¡­


    Repainting it wouldn¡¯t be hard.


    I sighed, and started dismantling the entire thing. I¡¯d have to do a full restore on this thing.

 Chapter 208

    ¡°Yo!¡± I greeted the group of classy Arasaka students all wearing their fancy uniforms as I walked up.


    ¡°Motoko!¡± Hiromi cheered her previous flat look shifting into the smile I was so familiar with.


    ¡°Hey Hiromi. Hey David. How¡¯re you?¡± I asked, the boy had been standing beside Hiromi.


    ¡°Who is this trash?¡± Answered another boy instead, surprising me. I looked over and¡­


    ¡°Wow, that''s a shitty haircut. You should fire your hairdresser.¡± I said instantly, before I could think on it, and then I blinked, wait wasn¡¯t that David¡¯s Bully. Kat¡­ Katsu? Katsu-


    ¡°See Katsuo, even someone off the street instantly knows your haircut is shit.¡± Hiromi said, and I could see the boy''s face twitch as rage ran over his features.


    ¡°Shut your mouth Mitsunashi! You dumb whore, the onl-¡± He was cut off as I stepped forward and suddenly he was lifted off his feet.


    ¡°Apologize.¡± I demanded simply, my voice calm as I held the boy by his jacket''s Lapels.


    ¡°Wha- Let go of me your street bitch! Do you have any idea who I am?¡± He argued and I could see his chooms, two stooges that previously had his back had stepped back.


    Heh. Scaredy cats.


    A moment later he lashed out.


    Slow, weak.


    I ducked his punch if you could call it that, and dropped him, grabbing his wrist and twisted. When I had his arm held behind his back I reached out and grabbed him by his shitty bowl cut mullet thing.


    Then I forced him to stare right into Hiromi¡¯s face.


    ¡°Apologize to Hiromi for calling her a whore. That was rude.¡± I said simply, and Hiromi looked tied between wanting to stop me, and wanting to egg me on.


    In the end, I didn¡¯t get what I wanted, as two men dressed in Arasaka suits stepped forward from the building.


    Dammit.


    They approached calmly, showing no rush, but also complete intent. I caught them quickly thanks to my Kiroshi, but while Katsuo was hissing and cussing me out, he didn¡¯t notice until everyone else turned to the two men.


    ¡°Let him go.¡± I was threatened, and I made no move to release the brat, who now noticed he had saviors.


    ¡°Kill this street rat! Get her filthy hands off me!¡± Katsuo yelled, and I noticed his friends had come back forward looking ready to ¡®help¡¯ by looming.


    Menacingly. I¡¯m sure.


    But the two guards had all my attention.


    ¡°Wait!¡± Hiromi called out and leapt forward, getting between me and them. ¡°This is my Bodyguard, she was defending me. So this matter is resolved. Motoko release Katsuo.¡±


    I did so and he stumbled forward for a moment before rising up.


    ¡°Ms. Mitsunashi. There is to be no problems on Arasaka Tower Property.¡±


    ¡°I understand. I believe the issue is resolved.¡±


    The two men looked from Hiromi to me, and I could see it in their posture. Both had either cyberware or glasses hiding their eyes, but they were thinking of making something of it.


    But then as they looked at me, and scanned me suddenly they shifted and nodded.


    ¡°Very well.¡± And both turned to walk away. I blinked actually surprised. I expected there to be-


    ¡°Wait! I am Katsuo Tanaka! I demand you to do something! Or my father will hear of this!¡± He said not quite shrieking, but it was close.


    ¡°The matter is resolved.¡± One of the guards said and I continued to be surprised.


    Huh.


    ¡°Well since that¡¯s been resolved. Let¡¯s go Motoko!¡± Hiromi said with a fake smile on her face as she ignored Katsuo who was looking at the retreating backs of the guards with real anger.


    I followed along, and stopped when David was still just standing there, under the three gonks glares.


    ¡°David. Let¡¯s go choom.¡± I said and he twitched a bit at his name, but decided to walk after us.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t really intend for David to come.¡± Hiromi whispered to me, and I just smiled at her.


    ¡°Can¡¯t just leave him there. I think Katsuo was going to start screaming.¡±


    ¡°Nah, he¡¯s full of hot air, and his dad doesn¡¯t really care that much. Not that it stops him from name dropping him whenever he can.¡± Hiromi spoke but I shrugged, turning to David who was walking behind us with hesitant steps.


    ¡°Hungry? Hiromi and I were going to get some lunch.¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­ I could eat?¡± That taller boy offered a bit awkwardly.


    ¡°Preem! Let¡¯s find something! My treat!¡±


    ¡°Then I can definitely eat.¡± He said almost too quickly and I chuckled as I turned and started searching for food.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°So those guards didn¡¯t shoot me.¡±


    ¡°Of course they didn¡¯t!¡± Hiromi argued as we settled around a bench in the little park area to eat.


    ¡°Yeah it¡¯s weird.¡± David offered and I smiled as at least one of the people that go to Arasaka Academy understands exactly how untrustworthy Arasaka is.


    ¡°It¡¯s not!¡±


    ¡°They scanned me and decided to leave me alone which is a bit weird.¡± I offered as I took a bite of my lunch.


    ¡°Hmm. Maybe your Counter Intel¡­ Contact?¡±


    ¡°V?¡± I asked suddenly and blinked¡­ That was certainly possible, so I decided to find out.


    *Motoko: Hey, just had a minor run in with some Arasaka Security outside the tower, they scanned me and decided to drop it. Was that you?*


    This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    I blinked away the text I just sent to V, and looked over at our newest guest.


    ¡°How¡¯s work been David? Making Eddies?¡±


    ¡°Some. Not so much recently, things have been slow¡­ You uh. Doing anymore Ghost BD¡¯s?¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± I realized at that, It had been a while since I¡¯ve bothered to record any BD¡¯s that I would actually want to hand off.


    The fact was, most of the gigs I had done recently had been the TC and 6th Street ones, or when Kang Tao attacked us, and fact was, I didn¡¯t want to sell a BD of me hitting a corp. That just ran too much risk of the BD¡¯s being taken as an insult, or something.


    ¡°I¡¯ll have to prep some more. I hadn¡¯t really been thinking about them.¡±


    ¡°Me either.¡± Hiromi added with a shrug. ¡°Business has been good, so I wasn''t pushing you for more.¡±


    ¡°Hmm. Maybe our next gig then.¡± I decided and Hiromi nodded looking happy as ever at the idea we might make more eddies.


    ¡°Preem.¡± David whispered a bit breathily, and then I looked to David.


    He might go a bit overboard with the Sandy, but he had become an acceptable Solo. His experience had shown through in a lot of ways.


    Should I try to bring him in? I¡¯m sure Rebecca would thank me, well¡­ Maybe. There was no telling if Rebecca would have the same thoughts about him she had in the anime.


    People were funny like that.


    But then I shook it off. I wasn¡¯t really looking to hire just another Solo to Section 9. I¡¯d be more likely to try and hire Lucy if anything. Another netrunner would be nice.


    Sorry David, if you want to be an Edgerunner, it won¡¯t be because of me, or a Sandy this time. But I did plan on making sure Gloria survived. I¡¯d already decided to do that much in exchange for making sure that Sandy ended up in my hands.


    I hummed a little thinking on it.


    ¡°Motoko?¡±


    ¡°Just thinking about what day it is.¡± I answered Hiromi¡¯s question. It would happen in the next couple months at least. I¡¯d have to set up a few things to make sure I didn¡¯t miss it. Luckily it was pretty unlikely anything I had done would change what¡¯s his face from being the test dummy for the Prototype Sandy that would drive him to Cyberpsychosis.


    All I would have to do is set up some Daemons to alert me for specific Cyberpsycho attacks, and maybe a camera or two right here in City Center.


    That would be enough. I¡¯d just have to be there before Gloria makes a call to Maine to plan to sell it off. I hummed feeling a smile cross my lips as I imagined having such a nova piece of tech.


    Aaah! I wanted to be perfect! And that might just be the first big step towards getting there


    ¡ª--


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Jun asked as he got home and I looked up from the living room table where I was watching paint dry.


    ¡°The most boring thing in the world. Welcome home Jun-nii.¡±


    ¡°Hmm.¡± He responded with a suspicious noise as he entered the apartment and started getting comfortable throwing his jacket over the back of the couch and heading for the fridge.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t usually call me Jun-nii anymore. Are you trying to butter me up for something?¡±


    ¡°Pfft.¡± I responded, breaking into snickers at his words. ¡°No, I¡¯m good. I just felt like it was right. I talked to Alice.¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah?¡± He asked, suddenly interested as he poked his head out of the fridge.


    ¡°Did a jam session with her and her band last night. They were nice enough, they invited me to play with them on their gig this weekend. They needed a temp.¡±


    ¡°Did you say yes? You should say yes!¡± He said ignoring the fridge and hurrying over.


    ¡°Gonk. I already said I would, they paid me in a nice Guitar.¡± I explained waving at the Orphean. ¡°It was broken, so I¡¯ve been fixing it all day.¡± I explained and Jun was suddenly there, grabbing me up and lifting me off the couch.


    ¡°Motoko!¡±


    ¡°Hey! Idiot! Watch the guitar!¡± I growled as he spun me around, if he smashed me into the guitar after I just spent all this time fixing it I was going to be pissed!


    ¡°You¡¯re gonna be an awesome Rockerboy!¡±


    ¡°Shut up! Alice¡¯s band sucks, and so do you! I¡¯m just doing it because I figured I might as well. Idiot!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m so happy! When is the gig? I want to come?¡±


    ¡°Ugh, yeah I know. I¡¯m sure Alice would have invited you anyways.¡± I grumbled and Jun finally let me down as I stood on the couch glaring at Jun for once actually being almost as tall as him.


    ¡°I¡¯ll come to see you play.¡± He assured me with a big goofy, stupid, idiot, gonk smile.


    ¡°Do what you want. Now get out of the way, the paint is still drying.¡± I told him and made sure he wasn¡¯t touching the guitar with his legs or something.


    ¡ª--


    Finally that night I put the guitar back together and hooked it up to the amp. The guitar was newly painted. I smirked at the colors. White and Blue. ¡°It¡¯s a TachiGuitar!¡± I whispered to myself so Jun wouldn¡¯t hear and giggled at the thought.


    But then I took a breath and slowly adjusted the volume, and the tone knobs. Altering the sound a bit, as I started strumming.


    A few more adjustments, and I had the sound as I wanted for the song I was going to play, and then started up Never Fade Away.


    I made it halfway through the song before stopping and making some more adjustments. The pickups on the treble side were a bit low, so I adjusted them and went back to it. The smooth sound of Samurai came out and I couldn¡¯t help but get drawn into the song, singing along softly as I played and gave the repaired guitar a bit of a chance to stretch its legs.


    ¡°Yep. Sounds good.¡± I muttered looking at the guitar and I couldn¡¯t help but be a little irritated at how much better the sound was.


    I¡¯d have to redo a ton of songs now!


    Grumbling, I rose up and stretched. Now I had some other work to do.


    I headed into my room, and pulled up my CAD program and got to work on another project I had put on the back burner.


    My Tachikoma had proven itself on a gig, and I needed to keep improving them, and getting them ready.


    Wheels.


    I had started the project to make the Tachikoma more mobile but had gotten side tracked with all the shit that kept happening.


    So I settled in and started adjusting the design. The same problem hit me though. The Tachikoma was already too compact. I couldn¡¯t fit more things into the legs without removing functionality that was already there.


    At least not yet.


    I hadn¡¯t had any idea how to get around the problem but that had been a while ago. I had weeks to sleep on it, and I came up with an idea.


    I started work on a new device. A battery pack, a small electric motor and a wheel.


    And a place for the Tachikoma to lock its feet in, so that it could drive around, equipping the wheels, or losing them as needed.


    Detachable wheel modules.


    I hummed pleased with the idea as I went to work. I would need to do some slight modification on the grippers of the Tachikoma, but after that, I could just manufacture the wheels and the Tachi would have some temporary mobility.


    I hummed some more as I went to work.


    Ignoring the soft drip of alerts that came through as I worked.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°Okay, so test one on the Tachikoma Wheel extensions.¡± I whispered to myself as I placed the Tachikoma on the floor of the living room, and then settled in cross legged behind it.


    With a nudge I prompted the Tachikoma to use the newly installed hardware, and software drivers and a moment later the quickly noise of tiny engines activated and the Tachikoma started rolling forward,


    Then about .5 seconds after that the engines went to absolutely max RPM and the Tachikoma shot off losing control of the torque and suddenly back wheels shot out from under the poor thing and it flipped onto its back.


    I stared at it.


    It stared at everything, its tiny little optic looking around as the wheels continued buzzing at max speed.


    I quickly ordered it to stop, before it burned out the motors, and pulled up the laptop.


    Going to have to work on that.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°No, no that¡¯s the-Fridge¡­¡±


    ¡ª--


    ¡°Well got that dent buffed out, okay let¡¯s try-No slow down that¡¯s the¡­ Shrine¡­ Whew. Nothing was broken.¡±


    ¡ª--


    ¡°Okay. Trial nineteen. I¡¯ve adjusted the Tachikoma¡¯s internal speedometer, which isn¡¯t something it even had before, but now that it can internalize how fast it¡¯s going, it should¡­ Should! Work.¡± I set the Tachikoma down and it wheeled forward looking around, then it started moving not nearly as fast as before, but soon enough it was driving around the apartment, and after a minute of it not smashing into anything I relaxed.


    And then winced as it took a turn going full speed without bothering to brake or slow down.


    Hmm¡­ the Tachikoma¡­ Needed driving lessons¡­ Actually! That was doable!


    I scooped up the Tachikoma and hurried over to the entertainment system. There was something¡­ Here!


    Malcolm and Ichi had played a racing game! I quickly paid the eddies for the subscription to the racing game, and set up an account.


    Hmm, normally it was a VR game, and the Tachikoma wouldn¡¯t really interact with that right, but I was a netrunner!


    Grabbing my laptop I started programming a VR emulation program for the Tachikoma. Which wasn¡¯t hard. I was already dropping them into my Net Lobby, so this was just a emulation of that. I did have to set up the laptop to run the emulation though as the Tachikoma¡¯s hardware wasn¡¯t strong enough on its own.


    I still needed to get it some upgrades.


    Shaking that off, I set it up so the Tachikoma was dropped into the VR, and did a few clicks.


    The game had a race practice sim. So I set it up, and added some code so the Tachikoma would know how to restart the practice. With that I looked at the laptop where an emulation of the VR was displaying and watched as the Tachikoma just sat there in its little beat up Thorton Galena starter car.


    The ghostly race instructor was already off, taking clean racing lines as it disappeared.


    But the Tachikoma just sat there.


    I reached over and hit the gas for a second, and the car jerked forward, and the Tachikoma finally reacted.


    The virtual wheel turned all the way around and it hit the gas.


    I watched as the Tachikoma spun in circles for a minute before realizing it wasn¡¯t quite understanding the instructions.


    I reset the track and told it to follow the Ghost.


    It sort of started out, and then fumbled into a wall¡­ But it was learning now.


    Rising up I stretched, enjoying the feeling of the muscles between my shoulders extending out. Time to get some lunch.

 Chapter 209

    ¡°You got it?¡± I asked Hiromi who nodded firmly. I took that as the truth and moved away from her.


    Malcolm was already shooting away. He wasn¡¯t using his Shingen since smart rounds were expensive, but a Shigure he had pulled out of his truck.


    He was firing away, which I nodded at his accuracy. He could use some work, but that was why we were here.


    I hadn¡¯t really planned on a group meeting, but Hiromi had requested it, and then the boys had joined in, and so instead of a normal weeknight doing whatever, we were at the shooting range.


    ¡°Ichi?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to practice with this.¡± He said pulling out a Kenshin of all things. I don¡¯t even remember him picking that up. But at least he wasn¡¯t shooting his Yukimura. Again, smart rounds were expensive.


    ¡°Sure, make sure you practice drawing it from your holster. You¡¯re going to be in the truck most of the time, so maybe even get a chair in here and draw it sitting.¡± I added and he looked amused at my words, and didn¡¯t look like he was going to listen, but I shrugged.


    I turned to my aisle, and pulled up my Copperhead. I took a breath, activated my Sandy and raised the copperhead, firing as many rounds as accurately as I could into the target, before turning off the Sandy.


    The score popped up shooting up rapidly as rapidly as I had just unloaded into the targets.


    ¡°Cheater!¡±


    ¡°What?¡± I looked over at Malcolm who was pointing a finger at me from across the range.


    ¡°I¡¯m not cheating!¡±


    ¡°Cheater!¡±


    What? I turned to look at Ichi who also was now pointing at me, and Hiromi looked over, looked between all of us, and then sighed, stepping away from the range, and then pointed at me. ¡°Cheater!¡±


    ¡°Fuck all of you!¡± I shouted out barely able to hide my laughter, as all my friends picked on me.


    ¡°Who¡¯s cheating!?¡± A new voice called out as Rebecca came in clutching a Carnage shotgun in her arms and looking ready to start swinging.


    ¡°Motoko!¡±


    ¡°Motoko.¡±


    ¡°Motoko.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not!¡±


    ¡°Punishment!¡± Rebecca screamed as she charged and I yelped as the midget tackled me right then and there. The two of us went down in a tangle of limbs and curses and she started trying to pin me to the concrete.


    My shock and surprise at this betrayal was complete. I grabbed Rebecca and my eyes narrowed at her as she wiggled against my firm grip on her shoulders and realized I had her completely pinned.


    ¡°Help!¡± She called out, but it was too late. I roared as I benched Rebecca right off me, getting my feet and holding her way up off the ground.


    ¡°Rebecca missile!¡± I called out my special attack and spun around before launching her at Malcolm who released a girlish scream and went down.


    ¡°Ch-cheater!¡± Hiromi called out, but it was disrupted by how much she was cackling.


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe you threw me!¡± Rebecca called out, jumping up from Malcolm while unfortunately stepping on his stomach knocking the wind out of him.


    ¡°You deserved it!¡±


    ¡°You! Well that¡¯s fair.¡± She replied suddenly completely calm as she started cackling and walked over to pick up her discarded Carnage.


    ¡°Ow. Why me?¡±


    ¡°You started it.¡± I answered back instantly and earned a middle finger in my direction in exchange.


    ¡°Okay! So what does the winner get?¡± Rebecca asked, pumping her Carnage, and then smirking evilly. ¡°What does the loser get?¡±


    ¡°Oooh!¡± Hiromi said grinning just as evilly and I had an uncomfortable feeling about it.


    ¡°No, no bets.¡± I decided nipping that in the bud. ¡°We all need some range time, and while competition is good, we are trying to work on improving not just beating others.¡± I called out, arms crossed and firmly giving everyone a look.


    ¡°Fiiiine. Boring.¡± Rebecca said and I nodded pleased.


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯m going to start getting some practice in, don¡¯t get distracted!¡± I called out, and everyone nodded. I turned towards the range and picked up my Copperhead. Right. Time to do some practice.


    I reloaded, and flashed my Sandy once more, raising the barrel up and firing everything as fast as possible.


    ¡ª--


    *100 Handguns XP Gained.*


    *Handguns skill level up!*


    I blinked coming out of the zone. I had switched from my Copperhead after a while and started practicing with my Lexington, either doing bursts of Sandy, or not depending on how warm it was feeling.


    But to hit a new level up!


    I grinned happily as I stretched and let the knowledge flood through my neck, down my shoulders, and to the tips of my fingers.


    Handguns 9 was already maxed out since my Reflex Stat was only 9 as well, so I slowly put the gun down mind already set on switching back to the Copperhead. I could use more time with Assault skill, and maybe even get my Reflex up!


    Of course as I was now stopping I looked around and scowled as all my friends were gone.


    Where had they gone? They were all supposed to be practicing! Hiromi had even wanted more range time!


    I grabbed my stuff and headed out, only to instantly see them all outside the range sitting around a table. I pouted as I walked over and flopped beside them.


    ¡°Motoko! Finished up?¡± Hiromi asked and I pouted at her harder. ¡°What?¡± She asked.


    ¡°We were supposed to be training!¡±


    ¡°We did?¡± Rebecca offered, looking confused. ¡°We all shot a bunch, I burned like a hundred rounds through my Carnage. And called it good.¡±


    ¡°You should really be firing even more¡­ Well maybe not with the Carnage. But you should all be practicing more!¡±


    ¡°Sorry Motoko.¡± Hiromi said, but she didn''t sound sorry. ¡°I¡¯m just not as dedicated as you are. I can¡¯t just do something like that for too long before I get tired.¡±


    I opened my mouth to argue that it was really easy, you just kept going, but then again.


    Before the Gamer System. Before all of this, I had been the same way. Keeping consistent in practicing something was¡­ Pretty tough.


    Huh. I guess I did have a rather skewed perspective on it, considering that I could easily practice something all day if I had to.


    ¡°Alright. You¡¯re right. But, if we aren¡¯t going to have a single long practice session we need to do some more short ones¡­ Every couple of days maybe? We get together at a range?¡±


    ¡°Hmm.¡± Rebecca was the first to speak. Hands on her chin as she looked me over. ¡°It¡¯s pretty unusual, but practice is good¡­ As long as I¡¯m not footing the bill, I guess I don¡¯t see a problem.¡±


    A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    ¡°It¡¯s a Section 9 activity!¡± I argued and Hiromi nodded slowly.


    ¡°We can do that. Although ammo costs can shoot up there.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve been collecting plenty of ammo from our gigs, are we even close to running out?¡±


    ¡°No, but it¡¯s just something to keep in mind.¡± Hiromi mumbled, and I couldn¡¯t help but giggle at her pout. That was our Corpo, always trying to save a dollar, even when we weren¡¯t spending anything.


    ¡°Alright shooting practice, sounds fun I guess.¡± Rebecca offered and I nodded. Then I remembered.


    ¡°Hey Rebecca? Any word on those Gorilla arms you wanted?¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± She said, blinking in surprise. ¡°Umm. Yeah I¡¯ve got a contact that I¡¯m talking with. I¡¯ve been saving up some eddies for it.¡±


    I blinked, while we hadn¡¯t done a lot of big gigs together. We had just recently done a huge one. ¡°Do you still need more eddies after the mansion gig?¡±


    ¡°Oh! Well, not exactly. But I had a bunch of stuff I had to take care of before that.¡± She explained and didn¡¯t go any further into it, I could see she was getting cagey so I shrugged.


    ¡°Fair enough. Let me know when you get them! Oh! And you should visit Vik! He¡¯s the best ripper in the city!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll think about it.¡± She said casually smirking at me, and I realized she was humoring me.


    ¡°He is!¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡±


    I glared at her, and decided to steal some of Malcolms fries!


    ¡°Hey!¡±


    I settled into the casual atmosphere. Rebecca was cackling as she prodded Malcolm about his racing experience.


    Or lack thereof.


    But as we were getting close to finishing up I remembered I had to mention something.


    ¡°Oh, so I¡¯m going to be doing a Rockerboy gig this weekend.¡± I said, and suddenly the boy''s attention was on me.


    ¡°Yeah? Where at?¡±


    ¡°Ooh, I want to come!¡± Malcolm added instantly to Ichi¡¯s question.


    ¡°I have back stage passes for us already.¡± Hiromi added suddenly. ¡°I was actually thinking of trying to get us added on as security, but the Venue wasn¡¯t interested, so we¡¯ll just be there to support Motoko.¡±


    ¡°Security?¡± I asked, almost laughing but Hiromi shrugged.


    ¡°Rockerboys have security, Motoko. If you keep doing gigs, I¡¯ll be hiring Section 9 to do some of the security.¡± I blinked at the statement and then chuckled as I looked at the group and realized that meant Rebecca would be trying to bounce drunks or something and the idea was incredibly funny.


    ¡°What?¡± Hiromi asked.


    ¡°Nothing!¡± I answered back instantly, waving my hands. Rebecca would not react well to the thought. ¡°But that¡¯s¡­ Okay, sure I¡¯m actually okay with that. It¡¯s actually kind of a good idea even.¡± I offered thinking on it further.


    ¡°Hmm! Of course it is! I can even hire out some of the SLS gang on as well if we need more security as your fame grows!¡± Hiromi said with a tone in her voice that made me a little nervous.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure I won¡¯t become that famous Hiromi¡­¡± Yep. Definitely not worried about that considering I was able to remember some of the most famous songs ever written¡­ Yep.


    ¡ª--


    The clack of shinai on shinai echoed through the room as Hayato came at me with all the aggression she had in her.


    But my defense continued to be a wall too much for her to break through and that was irritating her.


    ¡°This is!¡± She cut off a curse and glared at me.


    ¡°Sorry. I told you, duel wielding is my speciality.


    ¡°I know! But it¡¯s still!¡± She argued again, glaring at the two blades in my hands.


    There was something really cool about being ambidextrous, like this. I flourished the blades and put myself into a stance daring her to continue but she scoffed and wandered over to the chair next to her bodyguard and grabbed her water bottle.


    ¡°Tired?¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± She snapped and I just laughed at her tone.


    ¡°You did really well though! I like that one move you tried.¡±


    ¡°I learned that from Sensei.¡± She reveled after a moment and then glared at me. ¡°It didn¡¯t work!¡±


    ¡°Well it would have but my wrists aren¡¯t natural, so my range of motion is much higher.¡±


    ¡°Indeed.¡± A new voice popped up and we both looked to Sensei who walked over while we were talking. ¡°That move will not work on someone with cyberware, as I informed you.¡± He told Hayato who flushed a little at the reminder.


    ¡°I thought I could surprise her with it.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve seen that one before though.¡± I answered with a shrug. Musashi had done something similar.


    ¡°I asked you to teach me something I could use.¡± Hayato said a little too petulantly, and Sensei just raised an eyebrow at her.


    ¡°And I did. But anything taught, needs to be used correctly. And against the correct opponent.¡± His rebuke made Hayato look away and I could see her neck get a little red as it ran up her pale skin.


    Hehe.


    ¡°Kusanagi.¡± Sensei suddenly spoke and I jumped as everyone''s attention was on me.


    ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°A spar.¡± He demanded, requested, and it took me a minute to realize he meant.


    A spar with him.


    I wanted to glance at my system. To see how close I was to another Blades skill, but you know what would be great way to improve?


    I loosened up my shoulders without hesitation and that was all the agreement he needed.


    We walked over to the center of the tatami and he pulled a shinai off the wall racks.


    Then he brought his shinai up to a normal stance and he nodded, which I matched.


    He stepped in, a simple but incredibly smooth cut that I pushed away with more effort than just a simple move would normally take.


    He knew what he was doing. Refined skill. Not something I had faced much yet. I felt my smile widen as with that the battle was on, he struck with forceful super fast blows attempting to knock me back, but between my two Shinai I had enough to parry away his blows.


    The smack of shinai filled the air as we went at each other, nothing fancy, just strikes and parries between the two of us, until I proved that I was at least on this point his match.


    Then he shifted, and started poking holes right through my defenses.


    Even with the Parry Perk, and being level 8 in Blades I found myself nearly instantly on the back foot as he went at me with a dogged determination of someone that had dedicated his life to the blade.


    I could have felt shocked at the change. Gotten outraged that this man was showing me up, but I wasn¡¯t like Musashi, I only felt my grin grow wide as I doubled down on fighting back.


    This was a spar so I didn¡¯t use my Sandy even if it was tempting, instead I fixed my footwork and pushed into the attacks, blocking them with sharp clacks of the shinai beating into each other as I pushed him back, trying to find a weakness in him.


    I could get the truest sense of the man. Old wood, hardened over time. That was what I felt as our blades smashed into each other.


    And then as I pushed away another attempt to force a shinai from my hand, I felt it.


    A level up.


    Blades 9.


    Gained almost purely through being challenged so hard by a master of the blade.


    And then I pushed back, doubling down. My attacks were wild, duel wielding was tiring, if not for my physical condition I¡¯d have slowed down. If not for Parry ensuring I was always ready for that instinctual block, I¡¯d have lost.


    If not for the combination of so many skills and tricks I would have been whacked upside the head like a foolish child.


    Then the clash was over and Sensei took a step back his feet never leaving the floor as he moved almost like a ghost himself.


    ¡°I see. You adapt quickly, and you learn even quicker. It is no wonder you¡¯ve improved so rapidly.¡±


    ¡°Thanks.¡± I replied back because what else was there to say.


    ¡°Hmm. Again. This time I will strike you.¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah?¡± I asked, taunting him a bit. ¡°You certainly tried before.¡±


    ¡°Yes. I tried. Now I will.¡± And then he rushed in and I laughed as our weapons once more clashed. Then as if what he said was simple truth, as I went to block his blade, his blade shifted and struck and I yelped a bit as I was knocked right on the side of my head.


    ¡°Ow!¡± I recoiled and hissed a bit, he hadn¡¯t held back on that at all!


    ¡°Hmm.¡± He offered and then bowed to me, and walked away.


    Asshole! I didn¡¯t need a lesson like that today! I know I¡¯m not perfect!


    ¡°Wow.¡± Hayato said from behind me and I turned, wiping a bit of sweat from my brow as I did.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°You forced him to use his Cyberware.¡± She said and I blinked¡­


    ¡°Wait? He cheated!? He has a Sandy!?¡±


    ¡°Of course. A good one too. He used to-¡± She cut herself off as the bodyguard beside her coughed and she blinked before nodding. ¡°Never mind that. Sensei is a skilled warrior, even if he now teaches. You forced him into going beyond just traditional sword play.¡±


    ¡°Tsk. If I had known that I¡¯d have used my own Sandy and he wouldn¡¯t have hit me. I was playing fair!¡±


    ¡°Ah the feeling of losing? I know that feeling well.¡± Hayato grumbled and I laughed as she was still annoyed that I was winning so often.


    ¡°Forget that then. You want to grab some food? My treat?¡± My offer surprised her so much that Hayato actually had a moment where her jaw dropped before she recovered, and then huffed a little. As she looked away.


    ¡°I believe a meal would be acceptable.¡± She added and I nodded happily.


    ¡°Let¡¯s clean up and get out of here then.¡± I hurried over to drop my shinai off. Some food sounded great right now!


    ¡ª--


    The knocking at the door had me roll my eyes as I walked over and opened it.


    Alice, nearly about to smack the door again, stopped and then looked me over.


    ¡°You¡¯re wearing that?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m wearing this.¡± I said back without hesitation. ¡°Relax, I¡¯m ready.¡± I offered throwing a hand behind me at the small stack of my music equipment.


    ¡°Okay. Good. Right. Let¡¯s get moving, we need time to set everything up!¡± She argued and I just nodded along as I walked over to grab some stuff, but Jun was there and he hefted my music equipment up without effort.


    ¡°Show off.¡± I grumbled at him, but I flashed him a smile anyway in thanks. That was taken care of. I followed Alice as the three of us left the apartment.


    It was gig night, and I had discovered Alice was the type to overly worry about things. I had just stopped answering her calls after a while.


    But it was time. And I followed her down to her little minivan, which I rolled my eyes and walked to the Quadra. The trunk was mostly full, but there was still plenty of space for the extra stuff.


    ¡°Jeeze Motoko, stuff enough weapons into this thing?¡± Jun asked as I opened the trunk and I just gave him a look.


    ¡°Stuff enough burritos in your ass?¡± I grumbled and Jun sent me a look that had me turn away.


    ¡°Sorry.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re more worried about this than you let on. Relax.¡± He said calmly and I just ignored his advice. I wasn¡¯t worried!


    That was stupid, this was just a stupid gig that I was only doing because Alice had given me a guitar and that¡¯s it. Once this was over, it was over, and I¡¯d never do this again.


    Yep.


    ¡°I¡¯ll see you later.¡±


    ¡°Try to enjoy the stage. I wish I could be there, but I have a job.¡± Jun once more repeated and I just rolled my eyes as I slammed the trunk shut and headed to the driver seat of the Quadra. A short drive over to the bar and this whole thing would be over after a few songs.

 Chapter 210

    The bar wasn¡¯t the same japanese themed bar I had watched the Violent Hemorrhage play at last time. It was actually more like a dive bar.


    Jeez. Were they struggling to get gigs or something?


    I shrugged it off as I found a place to park and just settled in. Alice drove slow so I had time, which is of course when I recognized a very familiar Caliburn in the lot.


    Smirking, I got out and headed over, to see Malcolm trying to play up his coolness by leaning against his car as some of the club goers were standing around checking out the expensive car.


    I decided not to interrupt as he was definitely flirting with a girl right now.


    Good luck Malcolm. I mentally offered him as I turned around.


    I knew Hiromi would be here, with everyone as well, but it was still embarrassing to have all my chooms show up.


    Felt like some weird school recital where your parents appeared.


    I shook off the odd thought and instead decided to start unpacking.


    ¡°Hey! Motoko.¡± A voice I recognized called out as I grabbed my guitar out of the trunk.


    ¡°Hey Jared.¡± I greeted the other band mate. The guy was decked out in Rockerboy gear, his hair flashing in a pulse with his heartbeat and sticking up in a mohawk.


    ¡°You got your stuff?¡±


    ¡°Got it.¡± I offered as I hauled the Orphean out of the trunk along with my amp and gear.


    ¡°Preem. Come on, I¡¯ll show you our space.¡± He offered and I nodded following after as he led me to the back of the bar and through an employee only door that was propped open.


    Inside was a back room that was messy and covered in old Brosef bottles and a few Rockerboy types sitting around.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get the gear checked, we¡¯re on in thirty.¡± He explained and led me over to where the other member of Violent Hemorrhage was sitting next to his gear. His drums mostly put together and just waiting to be transported out onto the stage.


    ¡°Hey kid.¡±


    ¡°Klein.¡± I greeted back and he flashed me a smile, that was that. Now just time to wait for the big show¡­


    I plopped my amp down and then put my guitar in my lap. I had played with the Deluze through the week to get a feel for it, and I couldn¡¯t complain. She sounded preem compared to my off the shelf guitar I had bought back at the start of my musical grind.


    Hilarious that I hadn¡¯t even thought about upgrading. Maybe that was why I was so willing to go along with this¡­


    Yep. That was it, definitely no other reason.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°Next up is Violent Hemorrhage!¡± The club owner called out, and the lights went on, showing us to the club.


    It was a dive bar. Probably slightly up scale from the Red Dirt bar I had played in before, but this certainly wasn¡¯t a high end joint.


    But that all went out of my mind when Alice sauntered up to the mic.


    ¡°Our first song! Bloody Cry!¡± She roared out and a few of the crowd cheered.


    I shrugged and as the drums began, I looked down to the guitar in my hands and breathed in and out. Cold suffused my veins.


    And I played. The song was scop. Repetitive noise, and shitty screams interspersed with Alice trying to sound sensual.


    It honestly reminded me of what Evanescence would sound like if it was written by an idiot, and performed with someone that only knew how to sing through autotune.


    But I wasn¡¯t thinking right that minute. I was just playing, letting the song rumble through the Orphean strings.


    It wasn¡¯t any real effort to play, so I played, doing everything I could to keep my face away from the crowd as I just played.


    It was practically effortless, the songs were simple, and with my chrome arms I could have played the songs forever without getting tired.


    There just was nothing to it. But despite how nice it might be, it was also boring.


    Repetitive music with no real soul.


    And then after a half dozen songs it was over.


    Alice cheered towards the crowd who clapped, Hiromi and my chooms most of all, but then it was just a casual walk off stage. Of course Rebecca was howling the loudest. Good old Rebecca, always quick to be the loudest supporter in the room.


    But unlike when I played the Red Dirt, I just felt¡­ Kinda bored.


    Where was all the excitement? The Anxiety, the tension of playing music in front of people. I wasn¡¯t even embarrassed, just¡­ Bland.


    ¡°You did great!¡± Alice cheered towards us as we fell off the back stage and into the back room dropping the start of our equipment down in a pile. ¡°We can do this without Carmen!¡±


    ¡°Do what without me? Play shit dives for the rest of your life?¡± A voice interrupted and I looked over and narrowed my eyes¡­


    Yep I had no idea who that was.


    ¡°Carmen.¡± Alice hissed.


    Well now I had a name¡­ Had we met before? I ignored the back and forth just focusing on my head. I remember the name I think. Wasn¡¯t he at Denny¡¯s place the first time? The one that was being scoped out by some music guy or something¡­


    I shrugged. Whatever, I focused back around me on the argument taking place.


    ¡°And you pull some bitch to take over guitar? C¡¯mon! Don¡¯t think I didn¡¯t notice the girl playing my guitar as well!¡±


    ¡°You fucking left it after breaking it, don¡¯t blame us for giving it away.¡±


    ¡°Whatever. I don¡¯t need that scop anyways! Simon hooks me up with everything I need, and Tessa is with me!¡± He yelled out, and Jared I noticed looked ready to throw some hands but just looked away in the end.


    Ah. Drama. This is what I didn¡¯t want to deal with.


    ¡°Hey! I don¡¯t know you lot, but unless you want to get up on stage and play, get out of here!¡± A much older guy came around the corner calling out glaring at the stand off between former bandmates.


    I shrugged. Set was over, my gig was done. That was¡­ Way less fun than I had kinda secretly hoped it would be? Sure, I still felt the butterflies up on stage, but even if I would never admit it, partially even to myself, it had been fun to get up on stage and sing my heart out.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    Violent Hemorrhage just didn¡¯t quite reach what I was looking for.


    ¡°Pfft as if I¡¯d play some shitty dive bar like this! Get a fucking clue!¡± Carmen threw a finger at the bar owner who looked pissed at the response.


    ¡°Oh get that arrogance out of here Carmen, even if you held a set here, you¡¯d be booed off the stage before you made it to your third song! You¡¯re a hack!¡± Alice cussed loudly, suddenly getting close to the bigger guy.


    Shit. Was I gonna have to flatline this guy? I didn¡¯t really want to, but Jun liked Alice. Ugh. Nah, looks like she was alright, Jared, and Klein were both standing beside Alice looking pissed.


    Cool they¡¯d take care of it, and so I turned around to pick up my stuff and get out of here. Hiromi and everyone were probably wai-


    ¡°Please. I just listened to your shit set, you still can¡¯t sing. You still can¡¯t play the drums, and that new bitch can¡¯t play the guitar!¡±


    ¡°The fuck you say?¡± I asked, hissing as I turned back around.


    Carmen, this Rocker Boy wannabe turned from Alice and gave me a once over up and down.


    ¡°Get lost kid. The adults are talking.¡±


    Huh. I pushed down on the urge to simply flatline this gonk and go home to a nice nap.


    I considered instead how to best roast some stupid corpo wannabe rockerboy¡­


    ¡°Go back to your studio and sing a song for Mr. Studd Ads or whatever it is you do. The real musicians are here.¡± The words came out of my throat raw and cold. Exactly how I wanted them.


    From the way his jaw dropped, and even Alice turned to look at me in surprise¡­


    Well it hurt my feelings when it happened, I can completely imagine how much of a burn it would be.


    ¡°You little bitch!¡±


    ¡°Yeah yeah, whatever loser. Go back to your corpo ads.¡± I shooed him away with a silver hand waving for him to go.


    ¡°Whoa!¡± One of the boys he¡¯d walked in with grabbed him as he made a motion at me, and I almost wished he had missed. I¡¯d have loved to take this guy apart.


    Calling me a kid¡­ Just because I was.


    Asshole.


    ¡°Fuck you bitch!¡±


    ¡°I guess I hit the mark then. When is your Mr. Studd jingle coming out?¡± I asked, and Alice snorted, unable to hold it in.


    Carmen stopped fighting against his boy and instead shifted, doing something I didn¡¯t expect.


    He opened up his jacket and showed off an ostentatious Malorian in his jacket.


    It took about three seconds as he was trying to show off how cool he was to disable it. ¡°Wow. I¡¯m so scared. Like. Totally.¡± I told him flatly, just begging for him to pull on me.


    It¡¯d make the bullet that would go through his head super satisfying.


    But then something happened I hadn¡¯t exactly planned.


    ¡°Hey! Drop the threats or I¡¯ll take out the trash.¡± A thick voice called out, and one of the security guards for the club stepped around. The guy was an animal, with arms wider than Carmen''s torso and he looked ready to prove that fact.


    ¡°Fuck off rent a bitch. I¡¯m not the bottom scop wannabes you deal with.¡± He said flipping off the animal that only raised an eyebrow and waited, obviously the guy was used to drunk assholes. He looked at me but then turned to Alice and the others. ¡°That¡¯s right. I almost forgot, but you¡¯re all nothings. Playing dirt holes and worthless trash heaps. You¡¯re nothing, and will never be anything but nothing.¡±


    ¡°Fuck you!¡± Alice shouted rising up but her bandmates held her back. ¡°You stepped on our backs to get where you are! You¡¯re the fucking wannabe!¡±


    ¡°Please I have a career and eddies, and no one is coming to listen to your Violent Regurgitation.¡± Damn, if it wasn¡¯t the asshole saying that I¡¯d be tempted to snort. That was kinda funny.


    Carmen turned and brushed past the idiots that followed him around as he left. Well that was that.


    ¡°Fucker!¡± Alice hissed, turning to kick at an amp knocking it over.


    ¡°Hey, kick your own amp.¡± Klein muttered, but it sounded like he didn¡¯t have his heart in it.


    I just stood there, watching this crappy band splinter apart even more. On one hand, I didn¡¯t really care. On the other, for the reason the band splintered because of that asshole?


    It kinda pissed me off. Ugh, this stupid shit.This is why I didn¡¯t want to deal with bands and people and stages!


    I looked towards the stage, the empty stage and the sound of people outside. There wasn¡¯t another act tonight. That¡¯s how shitty this fucking dive bar was. It wasn¡¯t even that late. The owner would just put on a radio station or something for the rest of the night.


    The sigh that left me was full bodied, what a disappointing night after the excitement of my first gig. Was this what it would really be like? Playing shitting songs without emotion or care?


    ¡°Alright well¡­ It was a nice¡­ Night.¡± I said looking at Alice who wasn¡¯t quite crying, but was obviously emotional.


    ¡°Yeah.¡± She offered a bit weakly, but to my surprise Jared gave me a legit nod.


    ¡°Thanks for coming out. Think about that offer, we¡¯d be happy to play with you again.¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I said in a similar tone to Alice because that probably wasn¡¯t going to happen, this hadn¡¯t exactly filled me with happy fun feelings.


    I went to grab my kit, my guitar in one hand and my Amp in the other hefting both up without issue when I suddenly heard something that left me with a full body shudder of absolute horror.


    The radio had turned onto the stage. I turned slowly wanting to stare in horror because¡­ That was me.


    ¡°I feel stupid! And Contagious! Here we are now!¡± Smells Like Teen Spirit came out, then shifting into the final bits of the song and to my even worse horror. People seemed to like it, but it was ending and so most didn¡¯t show any attention.


    ¡°I gotta get out of here.¡± I muttered, shuddering in horror, but then I heard it.


    ¡°Motokoooo! Encore! Whooo!¡± Hiromi screamed at the top of her lungs from inside the club as the song ended, and¡­


    My eyes flashed.


    I hacked into the system and turned it the fuck off. No more radio, and then because fuck it, I spun and tossed my Amp onto the stage. It squealed as it went rolling across the way and suddenly the club went quiet as it stopped at just the right spot.


    My music box joined it a moment later sliding out to stop just as it tapped the side of the Amp.


    The whole confusion was obvious and I could see the club owner coming out from behind the back wondering what the fuck was going on, but I moved stepping out onto the stage.


    There were no bright lights, although it was bright enough. I could see the crowd clearly as I stepped out, Cool, the only thing keeping my face from heating up as I walked up to the microphone still there on stage.


    As I passed my Music Box woke up, and even as the lights above me dimmed a little, as I hacked in, and took control, it started sending out the holograms on the stage.


    ¡°The fuck?¡± I heard the owner say as I walked up and stopped at the mic.


    ¡°If you all are going to be forced to listen to my songs, since I¡¯m here, at least you¡¯ll listen to them live. This is Smells Like Teen Spirit.¡± I spoke using my most sexy of sexy voice to mask my own anxiety.


    The tinny chords echoed out over the room, as I started and I could see Hiromi lighting up like Christmas came early as Malcolm and Ichi both inside now perked up, while Rebecca looked up from a drink in absolute surprise.


    I had a brief moment to wonder how Malcolms flirting had gone before I started singing.


    It was easy. Almost absurdly so, to get back into the rhythm, the feelings these songs gave me, like sliding into well worn jeans, and I shared that emotion with every note.


    Teen angst, something I was well aware of considering I¡¯ve gotten to experience it twice now, and so the sound of Nirvana through my throat and guitar echoed out, and the club partied.


    This was a rock club after all. What dive bar wouldn¡¯t get into a rendition of Smells Like Teen Spirit?


    I hadn¡¯t planned on doing a solo act tonight, but dammit if I wasn¡¯t going to do it! It was less embarrassing to hearing my own song playing at a club I was currently at on the radio¡­ Probably.


    ¡°A Deniaaaaal!¡± I finished, and even as the crowd cheered for the song the next on the set list was already queued up and going.


    And so I sang. Rise went well, as I put myself into the song. That desire to rise, to grow to be more than what I was!


    ¡°Push through hell, and! RIISE!¡± I sang letting my voice fry letting that desperation in.


    I took a moment pause after finishing, I was sweating, the room was hot, and I¡¯d been playing now for a while. Hiromi as always was there and tossed up a bottle of water for me just like she had last time.


    I took a moment to drink before pouring some over my hair and tossing it away, along with my jacket a moment later.


    ¡°This Ffffire!¡± I called out, and then started jamming out giving the intro riff my all really flourishing it as I reached the vocals and crooned out the lyrics.


    The frantic energy of the song ending had the club go quiet before once again I got the excitement and cheering from the crowd, but I didn¡¯t start the next song, instead I brought the mic in, and said something I really needed to say.


    ¡°This next song is going out to all those wannabe asshole Rockerboys that give in, that become corporate stooges, those that end up serving, ¡®The Pretender!¡¯ I said, and started playing again.


    I played with all my rage when it came to the aggressive sections. Really throwing my all into it, because fuck Carmen and all those like him! Fuck Dick ads, and asshole old washed up crusty fucking has been Rockerboys!


    Fuck them all!


    I had to stop and cool off for a second to put myself in a different mindset for Let you Down.


    But I took a breath and breathed out arctic and then started playing Sasha¡¯s Song.


    When I finished I stood there before the crowd. I was tired, and my throat was tired. Yeah that had probably been a little brash¡­


    At least I got the feelings out.


    ¡°That¡¯s the set for tonight.¡± I rumbled into the mic feeling much calmer.


    ¡°Encore!¡± Hiromi screamed wildly from her position and to my surprise there were more than a few shouts for the same. It spread until more people were calling for more.


    Fuck.


    I blinked, staring across the groups of people. This was a dive bar, there was no sea, and it wasn¡¯t even that packed¡­


    ¡°Motoko! Encoooore!¡± Rebecca shouted standing on top of a chair and waving her arms.


    Jeez that girl.


    ¡°You guys want more?¡± I asked, and the crowd of people shouted back that they indeed wanted more.


    ¡°Well, I have a few other songs, but I¡¯m not sure what¡¯s really ready to play¡­¡± I trailed off but Hiromi shouted.


    ¡°Something new!¡± I rolled my eyes at her shout and just considered it. Something new huh?


    What hadn¡¯t I showed Hiromi? Would could I play without any real accompaniment, and what could I do with just a guitar. Acoustic cover?


    Well, I did know of one Acoustic cover, and Dave Grohl was one of my favorites.


    ¡°Alright, This is something new, bit slower paced since I don¡¯t have a full set for it. It¡¯s called¡­ Everlong.¡±


    A soft few chords shifted into a gentle repeated pattern.


    ¡°Hello, I¡¯ve waited here for you¡­ Everlong.¡± I crooned softly, which was actually nice because I didn¡¯t have to strain my throat anymore and just sank into that familiar song.


    It was¡­ A love song, of sorts, and so I crooned to the room of rockers and partiers. A love song not just to a person, but to the loss of love.


    Despite being a chill song, I played my heart out. Trying to let every ounce of emotion drip through my lungs onto my tongue.


    ¡°The only thing I¡¯ll ever ask of you, you got to promise not to stop when I say when.¡±


    And then it was over. I breathed out and took a moment as I took off my guitar wiping a hand through my sweaty hair. I lifted it into the air.


    ¡°My name is Motoko, and this isn¡¯t the last you heard of me!¡± I called out, not arrogantly, but angrily. Because fuck this music culture!


    But the people reacted in a way I probably should have expected.


    They cheered.

 Chapter 211

    ¡°She¡¯s okay.¡± Hiromi assured everyone as I sat face down on the table in the back of the club. The cool towel over the back of my head helped, but¡­


    AAAAAAAAAAAAH!


    What had I just done!?


    ¡°Well, normally I don¡¯t let randoms steal my stage, but damn if that wasn¡¯t an act. Hell, pretty funny to be playing some amateurs songs only for her to be there.¡± The owner of the club mentioned laughing a bit.


    ¡°Well if she¡¯s on the radio, and she sent your club pounding, she¡¯s not an amateur is she?¡± Hiromi argued a bit hotly.


    ¡°Heh, maybe, maybe not. Solo act didn''t do her any favors, but she at least knows how to play and sing. Wish I could say the same for most of the live bands I pull in.¡±


    ¡°Well maybe we can talk about another gig, say next friday night?¡±


    ¡°Hmm. I might be tempted.¡±


    ¡°Hiromi.¡± I said rising up and rubbing the damp towel over my head. ¡°Leave it.¡±


    ¡°Okay Motoko, but think about it.¡± She needled just a little and I nodded¡­


    Honestly other than the embarrassment, and the desire to curl up in a ball and scream¡­ I felt better than I did after finishing with Violent Hemorrhage. At least, at least I could admit I felt some pride from the songs now. And not just a bitter boredom.


    ¡°I liked the new song.¡± Malcolm offered, as I took in the fact both boys were sitting across from me. The first time I realized they were even here. Jeez. I¡¯d really been freaking when I finished up.


    ¡°Yeah it¡¯s¡­ Well I played a more acoustic version, but it¡¯s a rock song actually.¡± I stood up. ¡°I¡¯m gonna head out. I¡¯m tired.¡± I decided, and Malcolm and Ichi sort of checked each other before shaking their heads .


    ¡°I think I¡¯m going to stay for a bit.¡±


    ¡°Me too.¡± Both boys confirmed, and there was definitely a hint of excitement.


    ¡°Don¡¯t get robbed or worse.¡± I ordered and then picked up my equipment, and headed for the back door.


    ¡°Hey wait up!¡± Hiromi called out and I hummed as she held the door open for me which did help out.


    The parking lot was half full, people hanging out doing drugs that would get them kicked out, or just saying goodbyes, but I ignored that and popped the trunk on the Quadra to throw my equipment inside.


    ¡°Hey, Motoko.¡± Alice called out, the boys with her just outside of her little van as they both walked over as they saw me.


    ¡°Jesus what is all that?¡± Jared asked as he looked into the trunk and saw my ordinance.


    ¡°Work equipment.¡± I answered jokingly, as I threw everything inside and closed up. ¡°What¡¯s up Alice?¡±


    ¡°Fuck, just¡­ Let us work with you.¡± She asked, begged, and kinda demanded. All of it was there. A need.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°You need a band, you¡¯ve got the songs, you got the talent, but solo acts aren¡¯t gonna get you what you need. We got a drummer, a Bass, and I play guitar¡­ You can sing. Better than me, I¡¯m fucking done playing¡­ I want to be more than just some scop no life band. We¡¯re all dedicated, we all play.¡± I realized that these three were serious.


    ¡°Listen that-¡± I started off uncomfortable at the idea of what Alice was saying.


    ¡°We can talk about it, but now isn¡¯t the best time.¡± Hiromi called out saving me like usual. ¡°Here¡¯s my number. I¡¯m Hiromi Mitsunashi, Motoko¡¯s Manager. I¡¯m sure we can have a few practice sessions, see if you¡¯re a good fit for Motoko¡¯s songs and style before we lock anything in.¡±


    I turned to look at my corpo, and couldn¡¯t help but relax a bit.


    Of course Hiromi would see the situation and just hammer through it in her most corpo style.


    ¡°Ah.¡± Alice muttered as she reached out and took the card.


    ¡°Preem. I¡¯m getting out of here.¡± I decided and started to do just that. Heading straight for the driver seat. I wanted to get far away from this club.


    ¡°I¡¯m coming too!¡± Hiromi called out and I just shrugged as she climbed in.


    ¡°I¡¯m not really heading home, want me to drop you off?¡±


    ¡°No way!¡± She cheered, smiling and I just shrugged. ¡°Wherever you¡¯re going is fine with me!¡±


    Alright, I guess¡­ Yeah that works.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°When you said you were tired, I wasn¡¯t expecting this.¡± Hiromi muttered.


    ¡°I am tired, but I feel¡­ Too wired to really relax, so I¡¯m doing this.¡± Then I struck and she deflected the blow and retaliated.


    I¡¯d ended up at the dojo, figuring that swinging a stick around for a while would help me calm down.


    Hiromi had followed me inside, and now I was facing her with shinai in both our hands.


    It had been a long time since I¡¯ve seen her really use a sword.


    I struck out a few testing pokes, and she retaliated, and then responded in kind, the clack of the shinai filling the empty dojo as only a few people were still around exercising at this time of night.


    Hiromi responded competently, but I recognized quickly that despite her practice with a blade, she wasn¡¯t a Musashi. She was competent enough though, and so I decided to enjoy the motion of my body. I felt my shoulders relaxing from the tension I¡¯d had on them, and my face broke into a smile.


    ¡°Don¡¯t smile like that while whooping my ass Motoko, it¡¯s making things difficult!¡± Hiromi eventually gasped out, and I chuckled as we stopped clashing.


    ¡°You¡¯re doing fine. When''s the last time you really practiced?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s been a while. Too long obviously, if you can beat me now. Ugh.¡±


    ¡°That was fun, thanks Hiromi.¡±


    ¡°Yeah yeah, you seem better¡­ Want to talk about it?¡±


    ¡°I-¡± I started only to stop so I ran my fingers through my hair scratching at my scalp. ¡°I don¡¯t know. It was unexpected. Jumping up onto that stage, no time to plan and just playing¡­


    It felt good. Better than playing for VH. Better than playing some boring song that had no soul. Eh. I was being a bit toxic, the VH songs were still songs, still written by a bunch of young musicians wanting to play through soul out.


    It just kinda wasn¡¯t good.


    Ugh, I felt like some stuck up asshole. Maybe I just wasn¡¯t into whatever genre VH played.


    ¡°You were amazing up on stage you know?¡± Hiromi offered and I just¡­ It was nice to hear. I liked being good at things, but it felt so weird to do musician stuff.


    ¡°Thanks.¡± I decided to say but then held out my Shinai. ¡°But you need some practice.¡±


    Hiromi looked from me to the Shinai and her shoulders slumped.


    ¡°Go easy on me.¡±


    ¡°Never!¡± I cheered and we began again. The movement and action, carefully tracking Hiromi¡¯s attempts to bat my shinai away from poking her continuously, was quite fun.


    It¡­ Was a nice stress relief. I could be good at this without the feeling of anxiety. I could just let my body move, my brain didn¡¯t need to worry.


    I saw it, Hiromi was tricky. She lashed out with her blade below my vision, well it would be if not for my Kiroshi, and I tapped it twice, once on the top to knock it away and then another lower done causing her to stumble.


    Then tapped my blade on top of her head.


    ¡°Boop.¡±


    I laughed at her stupified look as she glared at me for a moment.


    And then I stilled.


    *100 Reflex XP Gained*


    The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    *Reflex Leveled up!*


    I felt my muscles tense and relax, a shift in how I held myself, and Hiromi seeing me stalled out for a second lashing out.


    I bent backward almost casually, and then stepped past her, my shinai not even raised as I spun with her as she tried to swing down on me, Another duck to the side and the blade went past without even ruffling my hair.


    And then again.


    ¡°Okay, now you¡¯re just being mean.¡± Hiromi huffed out as she stopped swinging. I reached out before she could react and lifted her up and spun around.


    ¡°Hahaha!¡± I cheered happily ignoring Hiromi¡¯s squeak of surprise before setting her back on the ground. ¡°Hiromi, you¡¯re the best.¡± I told her.


    Reflex 10 was¡­ Huge. I¡¯d finally done it! I could grind out Handguns, or Blades! And all the other skills!


    Maybe I¡¯d finally take the time to grind out Driving as well, that skill had been on the back burner for a while¡­


    Hmm Blades first.


    ¡°Again?¡± I asked eagerly as I took a few steps back and held my shinai out, but Hiromi just huffed and hugged herself. Her face was a bit red, did I surprise her that much? Was she angry because I had beaten her?


    ¡°I¡¯m good for now Motoko. You seem to have cheered up.¡± She said, and I blinked¡­


    I guess I had.


    ¡ª--


    We left the Dojo not long after and I drove Hiromi around to grab some food and we just ate it while parked laughing at drunk people stumbling out of clubs and puking all over the sidewalk ruining any hope of them being cool.


    ¡°Look at that one!¡± I cheered as a lady completely bent over in half, her massive stilt heels keeping her upright and she puked basically backwards through her own legs.


    ¡°Gross!¡± Hiromi cackled as she stuffed some fries in her mouth.


    I grabbed some and joined her, both of us laughing at the disaster people.


    ¡°Thanks Hiromi.¡± I said after a while as we ate.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°For saving me when Alice asked to join ¡®my¡¯ band. I don¡¯t even have a band!¡±


    ¡°I thought you wanted to be called Stand Alone Complex?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s!¡± I looked away. I had said that. ¡°It¡¯s different when it¡¯s just like a solo band name, and an actual band name.¡±


    ¡°Honestly Motoko I don¡¯t really get your discomfort. I mean it¡¯s funny, and cute, but you have nothing to be embarrassed about. You rock.¡±


    I didn¡¯t know how to explain it. I had no talent with music before. In my last life, I was tone deaf. I mean sure I wanted to play the guitar or something as much as the next teenager, but I was no good.


    ¡°I just¡­ You remember when you first heard me sing and I was super bad?¡±


    ¡°Yeah! That was hilarious!¡±


    ¡°... Mean.¡± I mumbled and Hiromi just laughed for a moment as she leaned over and poked at my cheek.


    ¡°It¡¯s funny because you got good so quick. Don¡¯t pout.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but whenever I sing, whenever I go up on stage I feel like that person that couldn¡¯t sing. I know up here, I can do it.¡± I said poking at my head for a moment, and then I looked over and caught her eyes. ¡°But I feel like I¡¯m about to sing my heart out and show my emotions and just end up laughed at.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯ll never happen. You¡¯re so good now, no one will laugh at you.¡±


    ¡°Yeah I know¡­ But my heart doesn¡¯t. When I played with Violent Hemorrhage it was like¡­ I didn¡¯t care, it wasn¡¯t my music, I had no attachment, so I didn¡¯t care that it kinda sucked, and I didn''t feel much. But then I played my songs and I felt so much more. It was better, I liked it, but it also makes me feel anxious.¡±


    ¡°But you liked it?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. A lot more than playing for VH.¡±


    ¡°Well I¡¯ll never stop trying to get you to play more. You¡¯re too amazing. I want to see your name right there.¡± Hiromi said, pointing out the window. There in the distance at the top of a building was one of the giant ads.


    Right now it was playing an ad for Lizzy Wizzy.


    ¡°Right there?¡±


    ¡°Right there. I¡¯ll make sure of it. When it happens I¡¯ll bring you right here and we can watch it together.¡± Hiromi said confidently, and I couldn¡¯t help but laugh.


    ¡°I¡¯ll cry.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m willing to accept that.¡± Hiromi said almost stuffily, so I poked her just below her ribs making her squeal. ¡°Nooo!¡±


    ¡°I guess I¡¯ll just have to keep playing music so your little idea comes true.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right! I promise! So you can¡¯t make me a liar Motoko!¡± Hiromi offered back and I couldn¡¯t help but laugh at her.


    ¡°You¡¯re such a corpo! Making me live up to a promise you made.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m your manager, that¡¯s my job. Gotta whip the talent into action.¡± She teased me and I just laughed along with her.


    It was¡­ Nice. To think about the future like that.


    ¡°Well you¡¯ll have to schedule stuff around my mercenary contracts.¡±


    ¡°Pfft. They won¡¯t be able to afford you, once you get going.¡±


    ¡°I like doing it though.¡± I countered, and she scoffed.


    ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll just set up a group to watch your back. We can call them Section 9, or something, a couple idiots, one with a car, the other with a car that he doesn¡¯t know how to dri-¡±


    We both stopped and started cackling wildly, as Malcolm still had a tendency to lose control of his Caliburn.


    ¡°Really need to get Malcolm some lessons.¡±


    ¡°Yeah really.¡± Hiromi agreed. ¡°Oh look! He¡¯s losing it!¡±


    We both turned to watch another drunk or drugged guy stumble out of the club and after a few moments blew chunks over his expensive boots.


    Hiromi and I laughed at his misfortune.


    ¡ª---


    With Reflex complete, I had a new grind to get through. I had a goal, one I¡¯d wanted to do since I first picked up a Katana.


    I was gonna deflect bullets. I was gonna do it!


    The dojo had been fun the night before, but it was empty even Sensei wasn¡¯t around, but today was a bright day and I was going to get this shit done.


    I drove the Kusanagi out of the apartment''s garage enjoying the feel of her under my legs as I cut into an empty spot in traffic, my signals alerting everyone which way I was going, and I accelerated to the speed limit.


    Yeah, a nice morning drive was perfect.


    It felt like it had been a while since I just drove my Kusanagi around. I was always in my Quadra for the extra space for everything.


    The californian wind in my hair felt great even if it was more chilly than normal since winter was definitely here.


    Stopping at a red light, I sat up and stretched a bit as I waited, looking around as I took in all the people living here in NC. The sidewalks were packed, and I had to wait a long while even after the light had changed for people to finish crossing.


    Lot of people wandering around today. I guess it just meant it was a good day.


    No gang wars or the like heating up. The 6th Street, TC thing had calmed down and so NC was¡­ Well as peaceful as it ever got right now.


    The way cleared I hit the gas accelerating faster than I would since I was at the front of the pack. Shooting off until I hit the speed limit and I matched it, still more than enough to fly down the tight NC streets.


    The dojo came up sooner than I would have liked. If not for my eagerness to jump into a grind I¡¯d have just driven past and continued on, but it was time to work not play.


    I parked next to the other batch of Kusanagi, all of them with the stupid upgrades, or alterations. Why they¡¯d destroy a beautiful Kusanagi with all that junk I will never know.


    I headed inside, and quickly found what I came here for.


    ¡°Sensei.¡± I greeted the stoic man as I headed straight at him.


    ¡°Kusanagi.¡±


    ¡°I need a sparring partner, someone to push me to my absolute limits for as long as I can take it. Please.¡± I asked, actually giving him a bow as I did so.


    He was quiet as he seemed to consider what I¡¯d just said. ¡°Very well. Gather your blades.¡± He ordered before turning to the room, and releasing a single shout. Not a word but just a noise that stilled everyone even me for a moment at it¡¯s force. ¡°A challenge has been issued. The one who cut down Musashi will be faced. Come forward.¡± He called out his voice loud enough to echo around the entire room.


    Well. I had wanted a challenge


    I took the shinai and gave them a single flourish to feel their weight before approaching the mats.


    Already not just students but some of the Tyger Claw full gangers that hung around walked over to join.


    Time to get to work.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°Do you need a rest?¡± Sensei asked as another of the students stumbled away. I¡¯d learned quickly that this was full contact sparring not kendo.


    The Shinai were struck full force and I¡¯d matched it, quite a few bruised limbs or faces had stumbled off the mat away from me over the¡­


    I focused on my system. Been about an hour and a half? Not bad.


    But to answer Sensei¡¯s question I shook my head, I was sweating from the exertion, and my chest was working faster, but I was controlling my breathing, and my body was more than ready for more.


    ¡°No. Next.¡± I demanded and he nodded looking pleased as the crowd that had only grown larger as I continued to beat every challenger.


    There had been some trouble. Some had their feelings hurt, but sensei had been quick to fix that, and some of the TC guys had shut up the rest.


    I was known well enough now that what I was doing was seen more as something cool, than as insulting.


    The crowd was quiet for a moment as everyone seemed to try and figure out who to bring out next, but then Sensei himself stepped forward and faced me.


    We began without a word, his single shinai against my dual wielding. He stepped forward and struck and our match began. I¡¯d fought him before, but I was much more competent now. My body easily deflected his quiet powerful blows, and my skills were high enough that he wasn¡¯t just teaching me but actually facing me fully.


    The clack of our Shinai was quite loud, a repeated noise as I swung and stabbed and deflected. Forced back, before shifting my style a bit to focus on more fast paced swings.


    Back and forth, and neither of us actually got a hit on the other. Sensei was truly a skilled Swordsman. It made me wonder what he was doing at this small dojo instead of as some Arasaka ninja or something, but then again.


    Who says he wasn¡¯t?


    I wasn¡¯t the only person that moonlighted as something else.


    But I was also tired, hours of fighting was enough to drain anyone, and I miss timed a defense and got a bonk on the head that sent me stumbling back a bit.


    ¡°I believe that is my win.¡± Sensei offers out, noticeably more out of breath than normal.


    ¡°Heh!¡± I offered him with a smile because he¡¯d gotten me another XP alert. ¡°Seems so¡­ Again?¡± I offered and I noticed he actually seemed surprised.


    ¡°Still more?¡±


    ¡°Yeah? I¡¯m close. I can feel it.¡± I told him, lying, but it was accurate enough.


    ¡°I see. Then you will face the challenge again.¡± He called out and everyone looked surprised but eventually one of the first boys I¡¯d fought stepped forward and bowed to Sensei and then me.


    Oh we were going through the whole thing again?


    Okay.


    I grinned and raised my blades.


    The other guy swallowed and raised his.


    ¡ª---


    A towel dropped over my face wasn¡¯t exactly the most comfortable thing.


    ¡°Thanks.¡±


    ¡°You hit your limit. There is no shame in it, but do not overdo it again. You gain nothing from this.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I gained a lot.¡± I spoke through the wet towel. I felt rough. Muscles in my chest and back that were attached to my arms were really sore. I reached up and dragged the towel off. The cool towel was actual heaven as I ran it over my forehead and across my cheeks. Couldn¡¯t run it over the back of my neck for relief as that was all chrome now.


    I hadn¡¯t reached the level up I¡¯d sought, but swinging my sword until I dropped put me a good way towards it.


    ¡°But not what you came for.¡± He stated, and I looked up. I sat up with a groan, my abs were killing me.


    ¡°No. I¡¯m close though.¡±


    ¡°Then you will come back when you have recovered.¡± He demanded and I couldn¡¯t help but smile at his words.


    ¡°Yeah I¡¯ll do that.¡± I agreed as I slowly rose back to my feet. Ow. I still felt like I had a big bump on the top of my head. Sensei really had to strike the same place twice in a row?


    ¡°Recover before you attempt to drive. I will not condone you dying in such a way.¡± He told me, surprising me as he turned and walked away.


    Huh.


    I think¡­ He kinda liked me?


    ¡°Finally up Motoko?¡± One of the boys I¡¯d fought twice called out as I stared at Sensei¡¯s back.


    ¡°Uh, yeah, not feeling so overheated anymore.¡±


    ¡°C¡¯mon then, we¡¯re grabbing some lunch from the stalls. It¡¯s on us, as thanks for the lessons.¡± The much older guy smiled at me happily and I had a serious sense of disconnect because usually the TC guys were glaring at me at this point.


    ¡°Sure?¡±

 Chapter 212

    I slurped the soba noodles as the Tyger Claw guys around me all joked and chattered about whatever their discussion drifted to.


    The Soba was good, I¡¯d had noodles here before, but it had been since Jun and I stayed at the Dojo, so it was a good memory.


    The weirdness of all these gangsters joking around me without issue was a bit strange.


    ¡°Did you see his face, when she just locked his blade and slapped him in the face with it?¡±


    ¡°Oh, shit I was howling inside. Couldn¡¯t actually laugh in front of sensei, but if I didn¡¯t have some chrome, I think I would have broken a rib.¡±


    The boys all laughed and joked as if they were normal people and not well, murderers and gangsters.


    What a weird situation.


    I slurped my noodles, and looked over. Men that would happily do terrible things to others were joking and acting normal¡­


    It reminded me of a song.


    ¡°You¡¯ll never know the murderer sitting next to you.¡± I half whispered and half sang before stuffing my face with noodles.


    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡±


    ¡°Hmm?¡± I asked, looking up before quickly swallowing the mouthful. ¡°Nothing, just a song stuck in my head.¡±


    ¡°Oh that¡¯s right. I heard the Oni mention it, you¡¯re a Rockerboy too right?¡± I blinked at the tattooed man that was probably ten years my senior who seemed to talk to me like he would his own kid sister.


    Fucking weird.


    ¡°Yeah something like that. Alright. I¡¯m done. Thanks for the meal boys.¡±


    ¡°Anytime Yurei!¡± One of them called out and I winced at the name before waving and heading out.


    The situation with the Tyger Claws was¡­ Different now.


    Was it Fujimura, the fact I was working with Hayato, or just my general actions?


    Either way I was too tired to train anymore without a nap so I slid onto the Kusanagi, and enjoyed the way my girl rumbled to life.


    Another thing to consider, but not worry about at the moment.


    The streets were busy as I slipped into the traffic, and I ended up caught in light after light. The slow stop and go traffic gave me plenty of time to consider what I should do from here.


    Probably needed to set up the next Section 9 training day. Maybe some sniper training? I bet I could get an Ashura and train everyone in using it, giving Section 9 some low level sniper support if needed?


    I was just about to start moving again when gunshots rang out, and like many of the people in cars around me we ducked down. I took cover on the other side of the Kusanagi, as I was already drawing my Burya ready to fire, but the bullets were coming my way.


    A gangoon came stumbling down from a building, his feet practically slipping and failing to catch the steps as he held a Unity up towards the door before just rocketing away with the gun pointed in the general direction of the doorway as ran.


    I considered taking a shot.


    He was right there. Probably some gangster causing issues. It was free XP.


    The Burya was out and pointed and his stumbling run wasn¡¯t enough for me to miss but¡­


    I holstered my gun as two goons stumbled out of the entrance. Some minor gang I had no idea of, shouting and cursing at the running man.


    Yeah, not any of my business. I slipped back onto the Kusanagi and hit the gas.


    Just another day in Night City.


    ¡ª--


    I was tinkering with some songs at home, I¡¯d had plans for something big, but it turns out that even with my memory getting the whole thing put together was a big mess.


    So I was mostly putting off that and playing with the song that had popped into my head at the noodle stand.


    ¡°All my friends are heathens, take it slow.¡± I crooned as I strummed the chords. Heathens was a great song, and it really fit the dangerous gangoon lifestyle. I had no doubt it would be popular if I ever played it.


    I hesitated mid chord.


    Would I play it? I shook off the thought. That was a problem for future Motoko.


    Instead I kept playing the song, recording it into my music box as I suddenly got a call.


    I checked the number and frowned.


    That wasn¡¯t someone I expected to see again.


    *This is Motoko.*


    *Kid. It¡¯s Bishop from the Afterlife. Got a situation. You open for work?* Bishop. The Afterlife merc and his Edgerunner team I¡¯d worked with a while back. Bishop the solo that reminded me a lot of someone trying to be Morgan Blackhand too hard. Mira the Sniper Exotic¡­ Stupid exotics. Sam? It was Sam something, their corpo front, and Hakase the Street Samurai.


    *I¡¯m kinda just hanging out, what¡¯s the sitch?*


    *Sam got klepped trying to have a meeting with a corpo contact. The meeting didn¡¯t go well. We need to bust him out. We¡¯re on a time limit, before Ion Frontier decides he isn¡¯t worth trying to get info out of. I remember you¡¯re good at sneaking around.*


    *Pay?* I asked, instead of what I really wanted to say which was hell yes.


    Rescuing a gonk from some corpo sounded like fun.


    I was already setting my gear aside, and reaching for a maxdoc. My muscles were still sore from earlier, but a maxdoc, would make up for not taking a nap.


    *I¡¯ll pay at the Afterlife rate, with hazard pay.* I hummed, because frankly I had no idea what that was like, but I was already in my room grabbing some stuff. Copperhead? It was bulkier, but corpo security tended towards body armor. All the better to take out any street kids causing trouble.


    No.


    I looked at the two Katana I had resting against the corner of the room. My older Thermal Katana, and the much higher quality, but also more brittle Musashi blade.


    Infiltration Ninja?


    *So you in?*


    *I¡¯m in.* I agreed, grabbing my Thermal Blade, I liked the brutality of it more. Sliding it into my belt.


    I turned and headed out to the living room, and slipped on my boots.


    *Where are we meeting?*


    *I¡¯ll send you the deets. Talk to you when you get here kid.*


    *Yeah yeah.* I grumbled as the call cut off, and I hurried out of the apartment.


    Time to have some fun!


    ¡ª--


    Normally I would have taken the Quadra but traffic was still pretty rough right now, and with a time limit I couldn¡¯t just amble along.


    My Kusanagi roared as I lane split, and then cut into a turn lane as they had a green and then cut over to keep going straight.


    The maneuver had me laughing a little.


    *100 Driving XP Gained.*


    An alert meant it was well done I guess? Either way my unsafe driving cut off at least a few minutes from the drive as I pulled off the street and into an alley that my GPS was guiding me towards.


    The small pack of vehicles and familiar faces father inside meant I didn¡¯t hesitate in driving right up.


    ¡°I¡¯m here.¡±


    ¡°Good timing.¡± Bishop offered and Mira, despite how she had acted last time just gave me a single nod before turning her eyes back up to the sky. The joking shark girl was gone, instead a much more worried woman took her place.


    We were in an alley that connected a lot of office buildings, and the one she was focused on was probably where the target was.


    ¡°Got any data on this Frontier Ion?¡±


    ¡°Ion Frontier. They¡¯re a small corp. They produce some of the EMP equipment for Militech. They¡¯re not big, but we were on a gig to pull some data from their server. Sam got grabbed while he was holding an above board meeting with them. He got an alert off.¡± Bishop started explaining as I arrived.


    ¡°Can you get us in?¡± Mira asked, and I shrugged, as I looked up at the building.


    You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.


    ¡°Do you have blueprints or anything? What floor the corp is on?¡±


    ¡°Seventh.¡± Hakase offered, while Bishop handed me a shard. I slotted it, and instantly firewalled it and checked it over verifying it was clean before I accessed it.


    Hmm. They controlled all of floor seven, and it had security, turrets, and goons. Nothing like Kang Tao, or Arasaka, but big guns, and at least some military surplus.


    Of course this data was old. I could practically taste the netrunner who had pulled this data, some little net rat grabbing data from everything and anything they could get their hands on. The way the data was formatted meant for quick infiltrations and grabs.


    I unslotted the shard and tossed it back to Bishop.


    ¡°Okay, I can help with this. Instead of getting you all in. I can get in and get to him, but it¡¯s the exfil that could be sketchy.¡± I offered as I looked at the group. Hmm. A Sniper, a Solo, and a Samurai. Another Netrunner would make this more comfortable, but I¡¯d deal with what I had.


    ¡°Are you sure? We can¡¯t take any risks with Sam.¡± Mira asked, and I waved her off.


    ¡°Infiltrating is my speciality. You want him to get out and fast? Without the corp that captured him just finishing him off when they notice you try to rescue him? Then I go in alone.¡± I stated the fact as confidently as I could as I met the woman''s eyes.


    ¡°We¡¯ll hold the lobby. We can lock it down and give you an exit.¡± Bishop offered already formulating some sort of plan.


    ¡°No.¡± I denied instantly. ¡°If I¡¯m infiltrating the moment anyone in that building gets a whiff something is up, they¡¯ll lock it down or worse. Mira is already looking at our exfiltration point.¡± I said and everyone looked to Mira who had looked back down, then she looked back up.


    ¡°No fucking way.¡±


    ¡°Fucking way.¡± I denied as I looked up at the large glass windows. The buildings were tightly packed next to each other, and would be more than capable of giving sight lines. There were even old fire escapes on the other building.


    I was already off. A single bounce hit a concrete wall and then another had me over the guard wall around the building and I was off, with another jump I hit the bottom of an old fire escape, and with a bit of muscle got the ladder to descend to let the others follow.


    ¡°Seventh floor.¡± I reminded them, not wasting any more time, as I jumped off and headed towards the building¡¯s back door. Time to infiltrate a corpo building!


    The rear door was just like every rear door, locked, but that barely slowed me down. My Kiroshi scanned the door and confirmed a security trigger. If the door opened it would let out an alarm, but I didn¡¯t even have to do anything to disable that, I popped open the security pad and licked two fingers, and a moment later the door unlocked, I quickly checked inside the long hallway wasn¡¯t empty unfortunately, and I just huddled down fingers pressed against the pad keeping the lock from activating and watching through the tiny crack as the worker of the place walked down the hall and then into one of the rooms.


    Once he was gone, I slipped in, noticing the foil taped over the security system that would sound the alarm in case anyone opened the door.


    Workers making sure they had rear access no doubt, likely a smoke break if the cigarette butts littering the alley told the story correctly.


    I was in with a whisper, I crept down the hall and checked into the room the worker had just left. Breakroom. Perfect. I went past and right into another door that said employees only. The workers were rent a cops. The cheap kind. Nothing better than greeters at the front desk. So I wasn¡¯t worried about them, but unfortunately, this wasn¡¯t just a motel or something. Corpo rented space meant security was tighter.


    I needed a jack in point. Something in the building, so I could slip into their security. Unfortunately the room I was in was nothing but a storage room. There wasn¡¯t even a computer, or security access point.


    I flashed my Kiroshi as I started scanning. They had some security obviously, where did they keep their security room?


    Not on the ground floor, which is already impressive for building security. Someone knew what they were doing¡­ I turned around and after checking slipped into the hallway and went back the way I came.


    Only one way forward.


    I opened the breakroom, and sauntered in like everything was normal. The casual movements gave me the few seconds I needed to approach the worker. He looked up from his coffee and then back down, and then jerked up just as I reached him.


    One hand around his mouth giving me half a second to muffle his shout as my arm wrapped around and secured his larynx, I leapt a bit to get the right grip so I was practically monkeying on his back, but he choked out his cry for help and as I adjusted my grip I cut off the blood to his brain and he dropped. I made sure he didn¡¯t break his skull on the way down and laid him out.


    *250 XP Gained.*


    ¡°Sorry buddy.¡± I whispered as I started undressing him while grabbing his ID shard which would give me access to the elevator.


    I ended up tying him up as best I could with the crap in the breakroom and stuffing him in one of the cupboards around the room. That should at least slow him down when he woke up.


    I headed out, and pulled the security guard¡¯s cap lower over my face as I walked past a security camera, and towards the elevator.


    My finger hovered around the 7 for a moment, but I ended up hitting 2 instead.


    The shard Bishop had given me, had shown there was a set of stairs on the seventh floor. There just weren¡¯t any matching stairs on the bottom floor.


    Definitely a fire hazard but the exact sort of security concern NC cared more about.


    The elevator opened and it hit what I expected. It was a large room that had doors connecting to multiple different businesses. I walked around for a moment as if just doing checks as a security guard, until I found what I was looking for. The black ¡°Security Only¡± Letters on the door told me I¡¯d found what I was looking for. I tapped my badge against the security panel and the door unlocked.


    I stepped in, and instantly I was moving. The small security room wasn¡¯t empty, and the second rent a cop never even got time to yelp as I wrapped my arms around the second guy.


    *250 XP Gained.*


    I looked around the room and grinned. Here was the security access point. I pulled the Katana out from under my jacket and in my pants and put it to the side as I secured the second guard with his own belt and pants and then stuffed him into a corner.


    Now let''s find out what kind of security we¡¯re dealing with here.


    ¡ª--


    Mira Carcharodon


    ¡°See anything?¡± Bishop asked, and Mira just snarled at him, showing her teeth. They were stuck up on the stupid fire escape while Sam could be tortured to death and the only thing she could see was a fucking hallway.


    ¡°Get a new pair of Kiroshi if you can¡¯t see the same shit I am!¡± She snapped and Bishop stepped back a bit, but all of them were tense.


    ¡°Peace. She will succeed, or she will fail. We will act when the time is right either way.¡± Hakase offered and Mira rolled her eyes.


    He¡¯d heard that from some old mystic and often repeated it in slightly different terms whenever the chance popped up.


    ¡°Where is she? What¡¯s taking so long?¡± Mira whispered, but then stalled out because someone sauntered down the hallway. Someone that didn¡¯t fit. ¡°That¡¯s her.¡± She whispered and Bishop jerked to look. Watching as our infiltrator walked down the hallway calmly without trying to sneak or anything until she hit a door, she looked it over for a second and then knocked¡­


    ¡°Did she just fucking knock? How is that sneaking around!?¡± Mira hissed and Bishop had no answers as the door obviously opened, a moment later there was a blur and the girl was no longer unarmed as her Katana was out and having just finished a cut.


    ¡°A fine cut.¡± Hakase muttered the blade obsessed gonk, sounded seriously impressed. Mira could just make out the blood as the girl walked into the room.


    ¡°I guess she¡¯s doing okay then.¡± Bishop whispered and Mira took a breath. Okay. The kid was good enough to be in the Afterlife. Trust in that.


    ¡ª--


    The slump of the body hitting the floor would have alerted the other two guards in this security room that something was up, if I hadn¡¯t already moved through the room.


    Thrown knife, into Guard two. He was stupid enough not to have his helmet on, and the knife thunked into the back of his head, as the Katana slipped through the spine of gonk three.


    *500 XP Gained.*


    *500 XP Gained.*


    *500 XP Gained.*


    I drew out my blade, and retrieved my knife as I walked over to the security terminal.


    The second floor mall cops had some of the building security, but this floor was a black wall to their systems, but between their data, and the shard that Bishop had given me, I¡¯d had everything I needed to get around up here.


    Corporate office¡¯s weren¡¯t exactly black sites. It wasn¡¯t hard to slip onto the floor through the stair access and head straight for the security office. With these three gone, and the security terminal, I should be able to disable all the rest of their defenses.


    I looked over the gonks for a moment.


    Yeah the armor was crap. Old Militech stuff, but I doubted they¡¯d even bothered to change the inserts since they bought them. On top of that, these guys weren¡¯t ex-soldiers. Just hired goons.


    I slipped into their network without any trouble. Old Militech firewalls. Nothing that would slow me down, especially not from inside the network.


    I blinked my eyes and had access to all the camera systems, as well as the personnel ID¡¯s.


    Hmm. The data shard from Bishop had mentioned the corpo that Sam was coming to meet, and¡­ There he was. Alongside two other security guards.


    Well now¡­


    I pulled out of the system and walked back out to the hallway. I was clear for now so I checked out the window. I could see Mira, and the others looking at me but I ignored them. I could take the elevator, the stairs, or right here. The window wasn¡¯t bullet proof, we were too high up for that to really be needed.


    My Katana heated up as I slowly poked it through the glass, cutting out a weak point I could use.


    I could see the three of them watching me, probably thinking I was crazy as I cut through the glass to weaken it for later.


    Once I was satisfied I headed back and turned a corner. Slowing a bit to stay silent as I approached an open room.


    There were two more inside. I did a quick peek and then I was across the door without anyone noticing and moving on.


    As much as I wanted the XP, no point in killing a bunch of civvy workers. Sneaking around this office was kinda odd, but now that I had vision on everyone it was a simple job to just keep moving.


    Finally I reached where I needed to go. A hallway that had a locked and secured door. Two security guards outside, and another couple in, along with the man that had last been with Sam, so probably he was inside.


    I loosened my Katana in the sheath and then simply activated my Sandy.


    Everything slowed as I rushed out down the hall. A blur of motion that the guards'' organic, or cybernetic eyes were just starting to catch when I reached them. I skipped the first guy, instead my cut as I pulled my Katana from the sheath went through the second guard just under his helmet and all the way out and through.


    The return cut had me bouncing a bit back slicing through the second guards throat before bringing it back around and stabbing through.


    The quiet gasps as both men died and slumped to the floor was quiet, but I still waited to see if there was any motion from inside.


    Nothing.


    *500 XP Gained.*


    *500 XP Gained.*


    I took a breath, let the Sandy cycle a bit. The warmth on my neck telling me I¡¯d be getting close to my limit soon.


    I took the moment I had to check the guards.


    Again shit quality equipment. Nothing worth even looting at this rate, although I took a moment to adjust the Ajax the guard had been carrying up against the wall that would come in handy.


    Then I rose up and opened the door.


    ¡ª--


    Samuel Perry


    This had not gone as planned.


    He spat blood, truly Hanson hadn¡¯t changed at all from when he was just an up and comer.


    ¡°Now my old friend, you know I don¡¯t like doing this, but I need to know what gonk fuck shitstain thinks they¡¯re going to steal from me? Just give me the name and I promise I won¡¯t just throw you in the trash. As a respect for an old boss.¡±


    Hanson was lying of course. The moment he cracked he would get a bullet and a quick toss into the nearest trash can.


    Hanson had always been a piece of scop.


    He breathed out, painfully, his ribs were killing him. His Pain Editor was working, but he didn¡¯t want to turn it on fully.


    The fact was, letting it hurt meant that Hanson was enjoying playing with him, and if he thought it wasn¡¯t working, worse things than just pain would be in his future.


    ¡°Just tell me Sam, that¡¯s all I want.¡± Hanson lied with a smirk that wasn¡¯t even trying to hide that fact.


    C¡¯mon Bishop. I have enough contacts, I¡¯m valuable enough to get out of here. C¡¯mon Mira, I know you like me. Force that cold bastard to come rescue me.


    The door opened, and for a moment Sam didn¡¯t really register it. Why would he? It wasn¡¯t the first time the guards had swapped out, or Hanson had left to take a leak.


    But then as Sam opened his one good eye, he couldn¡¯t help but blink at what he was seeing.


    Who was that?


    There was a blur of motion that Sam had to slowly replay in his mind to understand.


    She stepped in, and cut with her Katana, drew a knife and tossed it at another guard, before spinning around using the guard she had just cut down as a shield to draw close and cut off the arm of the third.


    His scream was silenced before it could even begin. And as Hanson reached to pull his pistol suddenly a Burya of all things was pointed at him, as the girl had simply followed the motion her blade still stuck into the second guard¡¯s chest where she had cut into him from shoulder to chest.


    There had been no hesitation. Just a single constant movement that left death in her wake.


    ¡°Don¡¯t.¡± She offered simply as a Burya pointed at Hanson¡¯s head.


    ¡°H-Hey we can talk about this!¡±


    ¡°Sam. Nice to see you again. I¡¯m your extraction, are you able to move?¡± The sound of a confident woman cut off Hanson entirely, and it was a cut off.


    Hanson for once in his life had a brain and shut up as Sam blinked weakly.


    ¡°Shoot him.¡± He said instead of answering her question and to his surprise the sound of a Burya echoed out through the room making him flinch and Hanson splattered across the wall.


    ¡°Are you able to move?¡± She asked again as she finally pulled her sword out of the dying guard, and holstered her pistol and sword in a single movement.


    ¡°Yes.¡± He hissed, but he was still tied to the chair. She gathered her thrown knife and quickly cut his bonds, and Sam rose before almost instantly falling forward into a much smaller body that hefted him a bit.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take that as a no. I¡¯m afraid that my shot has set off the alarms. This isn¡¯t going to be an easy path for you. Here, put this on.¡± She plopped him lightly back into the chair and a moment later put something  on his head¡­ One of the Guards helmets?


    ¡°Alright time to go.¡± She said and hefted him up into a shoulder carry that knocked the air out of him, but to his surprise she started moving just a moment later.


    He really wanted to tell her he could probably walk, but she didn¡¯t seem to care. Grabbing one of the guards Ajax at the door and instantly firing down the hall. Sam couldn¡¯t see anything other than her back as she started jogging which hurt, but he could hear a scream of people not used to being shot at.


    She hurried on and then around a corner. And again firing every once in a while and sending people screaming.


    ¡°Okay hold on.¡± She ordered a bit strained as he heard gun shots the rest of the magazine going off, and the sound of shattering glass. ¡°This is going to hurt.¡± She said and he wondered what she meant, before he managed to just see past her and¡­


    ¡°No no no!¡± He managed to gasp out, but she didn¡¯t stop as she raced for an open window and leapt.


    Her shoulder plowed into his stomach as she leapt and that hurt,. But then they were weightless for a while before suddenly they slammed into something metal and very painful.


    ¡°Ow.¡± She muttered after a few moments when to his surprise they didn¡¯t keep falling despite the fact he was looking down at  a long drop. ¡°Hold on.¡± She grunted, he moved up a bit and then more and then he was thrown over a metal railing landing painfully, but¡­


    ¡°Sam!¡± Mira was there grabbing at him and Bishop and Hakase too.


    Fuck. The woman rolled over the railing and then slammed into the ground next to him. She was breathing heavily and she rose  wincing as she grabbed her ribs.


    ¡°Not doing that again.¡± She muttered as she stood.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± Bishop ordered and he and Hakase grabbed him and then there were a lot of stairs, but he was free.

 Chapter 213

    I ended up following the group to their ripper, in some upstairs clinic. Sam was put into a chair and instantly filled with drugs which had the man relaxing and falling into a listless sleep.


    ¡°Thanks again.¡± Bishop said to me, as we all watched the Ripper go over Sam scanning and looking him over.


    ¡°It was fun. Don¡¯t get to sneak into a corp office like that very often.¡± I said simply before looking at the older man. His eyes hidden behind a set of glasses might give him some protection, but I could see the relief in them even so.


    ¡°Still. It was an emergency job. I tried a few others but everyone told me no. So thanks. We all appreciate it.¡±


    ¡°Eh, it was a job and I said yes.¡± I offered and grinned as I looked at all the XP alerts. It¡¯s not like I wasn¡¯t double dipping here. I was getting paid twice.


    ¡°An emergency job¡­ The offer is still on the table. We¡¯d be happy to work with you.¡±


    ¡°I appreciate it, really, but like I said last time I¡¯ve got my own crew.¡± I shrugged as I pushed off the wall I¡¯d been leaning against. ¡°This was fun, feel free to call me if you need some help but I¡¯m not really a joiner. Later Bishop.¡±


    ¡°Motoko.¡± He waved goodbye back and I headed out. That was fun, the XP especially so, but I didn¡¯t like the idea of working with Edgerunners.


    They were all crazy.


    I jumped onto my Kusanagi and started driving, not sure where to go. I wasn¡¯t sore anymore, after a sneaky Maxdoc on the drive over, but I felt a bit mentally tired.


    Training all morning followed, by doing some music work, only to get called into a rush job. It¡¯d been a busy day.


    I headed home.


    Even if Traffic was rough once again.


    Night City traffic never ends.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°Motoko. Welcome home.¡± Jun offered from the couch, which I instantly walked over and slumped over it.


    ¡°Hey Jun.¡± I yawned and laid down to watch whatever trash Jun was binge watching today.


    ¡°Long day?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. I fought the entire Dojo today. I asked Sensei for some hard practice, and he basically had me fight everyone.¡±


    ¡°You challenged the Dojo?¡±


    ¡°Hmm?¡± I asked, opening my eyes, I¡¯d closed them because I was tired.


    ¡°The Dojo, with Sensei. You challenged the Dojo?¡±


    ¡°I guess? He called it that. I¡¯d just asked if he would find someone to spar with me. I needed a push to go past my limits.¡±


    ¡°How far did you get?¡±


    ¡°How far?¡±


    ¡°Through the challenge?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know?¡± Was this an actual thing? It sounded like a thing, and I hated things. ¡°I just fought everyone twice.¡±


    ¡°Twice?¡±


    ¡°Well I fought Sensei, and he beat me cause I was tired, but I wasn¡¯t like, tired tired, you know? So I asked for more, and Sensei said the challenge was happening again.¡±


    ¡°Motoko¡­ Challenging the Dojo is how the students at the Dojo determine their place in the hierarchy. You fought Sensei?¡±


    ¡°Yeeeeah?¡±


    Suddenly a big stupid gorilla hand was on the front of my face and Jun was mashing me into the couch. ¡°You¡¯re so unaware! That¡¯s a huge deal.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just a Dojo!¡±


    ¡°The Deravaja Dojo is not just a dojo.¡± Jun countered and then sighed, looking at me with pity in his eyes.


    Which was unacceptable! Only I got to pity a sibling! Mostly for his shit taste and lack of awareness! How could a guy with so many girls after him, barely notice!


    ¡°Idiot!¡± I grumbled fighting off his hand, and then shooting up a kick over my head which he dodged.


    ¡°Hey no kicking!¡±


    ¡°Then don¡¯t start shit!¡±


    To my surprise Jun stalled out for a second, and despite looking like he was about to start throwing hands, he instead nodded.


    ¡°Alright sorry. Shouldn''t have grabbed your face.¡±


    I stared at him, eyes wide, taking in every detail.


    This was a trick. Jun didn¡¯t have the brain power to stop from being an idiot. What was wrong here.


    ¡°You look like a startled cat.¡± He said flatly, and I shot up, sitting up so I could climb up onto the back of the couch and narrow my eyes at him.


    ¡°You¡¯re acting weird.¡±


    ¡°I just don¡¯t want to fight. I¡¯m¡­ Proud of you and stuff.¡±


    My eyes narrowed even more. Something was sketchy here! This wasn¡¯t like Jun at all. I climbed over the back of the couch and glared at him with just my eyes in case I needed to dash for the exit or something.


    ¡°What are you freaking out for?¡± He said grumpily and I just continued to glare at him over the back of the couch.


    ¡°Who are you and what have you done with Jun?¡± I demanded and Jun just stared at me for a moment before his face shifted into a glare. Then he threw a pillow at me.


    I of course dodged it! I¡¯m too fast!


    ¡°Stop being a moron!¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t trick me! Jun doesn¡¯t have the brain power to stop himself!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll show you brain power!¡± He roared and jumped over the back of the couch. I of course laughed in delight as he tried to grab me, as I bounced around and soon pillows were fired from both of us as we attempted to get the other.


    Jun was puffing and he finally had his arm wrapped around me holding me up sideways. ¡°Finally¡­ Caught you!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just tired and decided I was done playing.¡± I informed him instead. ¡°You''re missing your show.¡±


    ¡°What? Aw fuck! I wanted to see this episode Motoko!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t blame me. Just re-watch it.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not a recording! This is a new release!¡±


    ¡°Ugh. Then just find a copy of it.¡±


    ¡°I wanted to watch it now!¡± Jun yelled and then slumped and dropped me on the couch and grumbled a bit as he headed for the kitchen¡­


    Ugh fine. I guess it was my fault.


    ¡°Alright, fine. I¡¯ll go get you a recording of it. Just chill.¡± I stood up and headed out. Stupid Jun. This was totally his fault, and not mine at all.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°Satisfied?¡± I asked as I yawned and really wanted to go get my eight hours.


    ¡°Very. Thanks Motoko.. Even if it was your fault I missed the show.¡± Jun added because he was a butt.


    I just ignored him and rolled over on the couch.


    ¡°Going to sleep now!¡±


    Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    And then did just that. Closed my eyes and set myself for eight hours.


    I blinked awake, and noticed the sunlight coming in through the curtains. I had a blanket over me. Jun must have wrapped me up.


    I stretched and yawned, feeling so much better.


    Sensei would expect me over again¡­


    Well fuck that for now. I didn¡¯t feel like fighting the entire dojo especially since Jun had hinted there was more than just letting me get some training in.


    Seriously, why does everyone have to make things more complicated than they needed to be! I just wanted to sword fight people without it being like¡­ A thing.


    I looked around and noticed Jun¡¯s boots were at the door so he was still home.


    Yeah breakfast sounded good.


    I quickly got dressed and headed out, jogging a bit to find a ramen stand and getting enough for two before heading home.


    Things felt normal in Night City today. No unusual amounts of random shots echoing off the buildings, and people were moving around and acting normally. So no gang war, or random issue popping up.


    I carried my bowls of Ramen home and up to the apartment.


    ¡°Jun! Breakfast!¡± I called out as I dug in, and soon enough Jun blinking sleepily stepped out of his room, hair completely sticking up on one side making me snicker, but chose not to tease him as he flopped down and started eating.


    It was a quiet breakfast for a while until Jun opened his mouth. ¡°Motoko, you shouldn¡¯t eat so much Ramen, it¡¯s not good for you.¡±


    I felt my jaw drop as I stared at the audacity of this bitch!


    ¡°Coming from your burrito filled ass I don¡¯t want to hear that!¡±


    ¡°Do as I say, not as I do. Ah, I¡¯ve achieved wisdom.¡± He said sagely, and considering how much I was tempted to dump the rest of my ramen on his head. I think his ¡®sage wisdom¡¯ was a bit more lacking than he expected.


    But I wanted to eat my food so I just ignored him and finished slurping up my noodles. Hmm¡­ I should get some more songs ready. I¡¯ve been playing with a few different tunes, but most of them are half finished.


    I tossed my trash, and grabbed my guitar and prepped my music box.


    ¡°Going to work on a new song?¡± Jun asked, with a smile and I scoffed, before nodding.


    ¡°Yeah. I was¡­ Well I was invited to lunch with all the dojo guys after I fought all of them, and it made me¡­ Well listen to this.¡±


    I didn¡¯t have everything finished, but I started the music box for some of the backing track, and pulled up the guitar.


    ¡°All my friends are Heathens, take it slow.¡±


    I started singing, and gently tapping the chords. The snare and drums kicked in, but still lightly, as I got into the groove. I didn¡¯t have the drum track finished, but, if I did this, and this I could keep playing and just loop some of it¡­


    ¡°But after all I¡¯ve said, please don¡¯t forget.¡±


    I hit the drop and stopped.


    ¡°Hold on.¡± I said as the music stilled.


    I rushed into my room and found my carnage, emptying it out I brought it out.


    ¡°Motoko?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s empty. Let me restart that section.¡± I told Jun, as the drums kicked back in, and I started singing again. But this time on the drop.


    I cocked the Carnage, the heavy mechanical grinding noise of a carnage came through very clearly, and I nodded.


    Yeah the Carnage was definitely the instrument of choice for the cocking noise.


    ¡°You might be one of us!¡± I crooned out the last lyric, as everything went silent.


    That came out pretty well. Of course I still need to actually record all the tracks. The drums could use an actual drum set, I might need to get a few hours at a studio to clean it up, but the new DeLuze had a much throatier purr that just sounded so much better than my old guitar.


    Jun though was quiet and as I looked up from my stuff to see him. I saw him leaning back and trying to look cool¡­


    ¡°What¡¯s with you?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s gonna be my song from now on.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s my song.¡± I denied him instantly.


    ¡°Nope. I¡¯m stealing it. It totally fits me.¡± He argued and I resisted smacking him over the head with my Carnage that was still in reach.


    ¡°You aren¡¯t nearly cool enough for that song!¡±


    ¡°Watch me!¡± He taunted, and I just scoffed and flipped him off instead. Before we could actually start fighting any further a knock at the door had both of us looking up.


    ¡°I¡¯ll get it.¡± Jun offered before I could say anything and since I still had my guitar over my shoulder I couldn¡¯t just bounce past him to open it.


    ¡°Oh Alice.¡± Jun greeted with a happy smile, and I could see the woman shift from whatever was on her mind to Jun.


    ¡°Hey Jun, I was hoping to see you today¡­ But uh. I¡¯m here to talk to your sister.¡± She admitted a bit embarrassed and Jun just smiled and opened the door for her.


    ¡°Alice.¡± I greeted a bit awkwardly, as I realized this was that thing.


    The band thing.


    ¡°I heard you playing. Sounded preem.¡± She offered as she walked over and awkwardly took a seat after a moment. ¡°Uh. You uh, thought about things?¡±


    ¡°The band thing.¡±


    ¡°Band thing?¡± Jun interrupted and I was actually thankful, because this was super awkward!


    ¡°After the last gig¡­ It didn¡¯t go well¡­ No, I mean, the music was good. Motoko knows how to play, but uh¡­ Violent Hemorrhage is on life support. The band is falling apart¡­ So, after I heard Motoko play a solo performance, I asked her if she wanted some backup. We can play her songs and stuff¡­ Jared and Klein are good on drums and Bass, and I can Sin-Well, I can play guitar.¡±


    Oof. That catch was rather telling wasn¡¯t it.


    I ran a hand through my hair trying to avoid the atmosphere. I really didn¡¯t want to deal with this.


    ¡°Well that sounds great! Motoko is super talented, but she¡¯s been trying to do everything on her own. She¡¯ll need an actual band to play. And Alice, you and your band are great. Sorry to hear you guys are going through some scop.¡± Jun offered sympathetically, and Alice soaked up the sympathy like a flower soaking up water.


    Which was nice for her, but didn¡¯t really fix things for me.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure I really want to do the band thing Jun. It¡¯s¡­ Awkward.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re shy about the weirdest things.¡± Jun instantly shot back and I felt my hackles rise up.


    ¡°I¡¯m not shy! I¡¯m an awesome badass! Look how cool I am!¡± I waved at myself.


    Jun looked me up and down then snorted.


    I was reaching for my Carnage to start beating a dumb brother''s head in when Alice spoke up.


    ¡°I think I get it. It took a long time before I decided to turn my music into a career. Before that I just played and sang for myself and my family. But if I can say Motoko, you obviously love it. Playing music, getting up on stage.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if I do love it.¡± I denied, but the girls knowing look was hitting a bit too close to home. I didn¡¯t need her telling me what I liked!


    I just thought¡­ It was exciting sometimes.


    ¡°It¡¯s not like you have to listen to us¡­ Violent Hemorrhage as a band is done. We¡¯re falling apart at the seams, but we can be your backup. It¡¯s better that, then nothing.¡± She admitted with a rather painful sigh. ¡°Listen. I¡¯m a musician. I¡¯ll do music work for cheap. I¡¯m not ready to give up on my dream of being a musician.¡±


    I stayed silent, as Alice finished her offer, and I could see Jun looking from me to Alice, and seemingly waiting to see what I would do.


    My hand went through my hair.


    What to do about this?


    There was a large part of me that wanted to deny her right now. Part of it, I just wasn¡¯t sure if she could keep up.


    I had a lot of songs, different genres and more that I wanted to play and I wanted them to be perfect.


    But¡­


    There was an element to a band that I would always be missing.


    So instead I played the opening chords to Heathens.


    ¡°Copy that.¡± I told her, and offered her the guitar.


    If she wanted in, then she could help.


    She blinked and nodded. Taking my DeLuze, and throwing it over her shoulder. Soon she started the chords, and I clicked when she flubbed it.


    ¡°Do this instead.¡± I guided, and soon she got it, and so I readied the music box, set up the drums that I was controlling through my connection, and the apartment was filled with music.


    Did I want a band?


    No. Did I need one? Also no, but should I get one if I was going to play music on stage again?


    Yeah. I probably should. It was a bit of a bitter pill to admit to myself that I wanted to be on stage again. That I liked it.


    I didn¡¯t appreciate my nose being pushed into something I was trying to pretend didn¡¯t exist.


    Fine, whatever. I¡¯d whip this band into shape, and we¡¯d play some music soon.


    But first I needed Alice to prove she could play this song.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°So you decided to accept?¡± Hiromi asked, practically buzzing. I¡¯d picked her up after school and I was driving her home while we chatted about the Violent Hemorrhage issue.


    ¡°Yeah. I wasn¡¯t sure, but okay don¡¯t give me a look or say anything I know¡­ I liked getting up on stage. It¡¯s embarrassing and I feel like I want to die every time I think about it, but when I was up there playing music, it just¡­ clicked.¡±


    ¡°Okay I won¡¯t say anything. Eeeeee!¡± She instead squealed which was just as bad, but that was Hiromi after all.


    ¡°Yeah yeah¡­ Anyway, I agreed to bring Alice and her bandmates on.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll get a contract set up.¡±


    ¡°Do we really need that?¡± I asked, and instantly quailed at the look Hiromi sent me.


    ¡°Of course! What happens if you write a song and perform it, and blow up, but they argue that it¡¯s their song? A contract will make it clear that the music you perform is yours and they are just musicians attached.¡±


    ¡°Well if they do well, I don¡¯t mind them getting something Hiromi.¡±


    ¡°Ugh. You¡¯re so nice¡­ Fine I¡¯ll make sure they get something, but they still won¡¯t be able to claim the copyrights! That stays with us!¡±


    ¡°Us?¡± I asked, smirking as I stopped at a light and looked Hiromi over.


    ¡°Of course! As your manager, I¡¯ll be in charge of handing out the copyrights to new businesses looking for your music.¡± Hiromi said, eyes twinkling and a distant look in her eye.


    Pretty sure she wasn¡¯t even thinking about the here and now, but was instead drooling about all the eddies she¡¯d make in the future through business deals.


    That¡¯s my Hiromi though. So I rolled my eyes and focused on the drive home.


    ¡°We¡¯ll need to have a meeting. So they can all get on board.¡± Hiromi said out of the blue and I just hummed, Corpo¡¯s were gonna corpo.


    ¡°I¡¯ll message Alice about it.¡± I accepted. My eyes flashing as I sent off a text to do just that. I got a message back really fast. ¡°She says she''s good now. The whole band is with her.¡±


    ¡°Excellent! Tell them¡­ No, we should make them meet us someplace.¡± She muttered and it took me a second to realize why she¡¯d said that.


    ¡°Hiromi, this isn¡¯t some mega corporate deal. It¡¯s Alice and a couple of street Rockerboys.¡±


    She looked at me for a moment or two before nodding. ¡°Right. No point in needing an advantage, we already have all of the advantages anyways!¡±


    Sure Hiromi, whatever helps you justify it.


    ¡°Want to stop and get food?¡±


    ¡°Oh yes!¡±

 Chapter 214

    I clicked onto the Comm call we were all using as I looked away from rechecking the scope. *Check in.*


    *All clear.*


    *Nothing here either.*


    *Same as before.*


    I nodded and continued to scan the area. It was Section 9¡¯s work day, and we¡¯d gotten a bit of a different gig than normal.


    Fujimura was our client this time. Apparently a few too many of his shipments of product had been hit, a bit too routinely.


    Shipments of drugs of course, but I was doing my best not to think of that. Either way, he¡¯d wanted a group off the TC radar, as he suspected another internal issue. Basically he thought he had a mole, so he was doing the old tell different people different things trick.


    Rebecca and Hiromi were across the street, hanging out inside a shop, snacking and chattering away.


    Malcolm and Ichi were both in vehicles, Ichi was in his box truck, and set up down one side of the street, and Malcolm in an old beat up clunker was down the other. If there was an attack they¡¯d either block the street, ram them, or just start shooting.


    While I was sniping.


    One hundred feet off the ground, dangling upside down from a walkway between two buildings.


    I had planned on something a bit closer to the ground, but honestly, this was the most out of sight location to snipe from.


    Blending in among the shadows of the bottom of the walkway I side eyed the strap that was my fail safe. Luckily there was a bunch of piping under this thing that I could cling to, and strap myself into.


    Hanging by my legs from some old electrical conduits wasn¡¯t the most comfortable thing, but no one could argue that I wasn¡¯t in the most literal overwatch position of my life.


    Far down below was a row of street shops. Including the TC¡¯s little drug operation.


    It was quiet, I reached over to the bag I¡¯d carried up here, and fiddled around without looking away from the ground, grabbing a soda.


    I¡¯d been up here for a while, so as I¡¯d learned from the few other times I¡¯d done any sort of overwatch stuff. Bring snacks.


    My eyes narrowed as I stilled.


    *We¡¯ve got movement. Hiromi get secure.*


    I listened as everyone confirmed and moved to their positions. A trio of Tyger Claw vehicles had just pulled in, but Fujimura had been very clear. No one should be arriving here unless they were the traitor.


    I quickly checked my scope, and took a few pictures through the amplified image and sent them to Fujimura.


    *Motoko: Movement, and people.*


    *Fujimura: They are traitors, take them out.*


    *Fujimura: Where are you taking this image from?*


    I ignored his question as I realized I wasn¡¯t in position, hand not on my rifle, and holding a can I couldn¡¯t easily get rid of¡­


    Well actually. I took aim, this wouldn¡¯t be an easy shot. Narrowing my eyesI tightened my legs to keep myself stable and fired my shot.


    The Ni-Cola went flying through the air, freeing my hand, as I adjusted and brought up the Nekomata.


    Malcolm and Ichi would be moving into position, while Rebecca opened her bag with her HMG she would be opening up with from across the street.


    I took aim¡­ Then adjusted a bit so I could watch the can.


    ¡°Come on¡­ Come on!¡± I whispered, waiting as it sailed down and down and-smacked into the ground at one of the idiot''s feet.


    Fuck.


    Okay it was fine, no one would ever know. I took aim, charged my rifle and fired.


    The Nekomata slug nearly instantly smashed into one of them from above.


    *500 XP Gained.*


    I shifted and fired again.


    *500 XP Gained.*


    The rest scattered, but Rebecca was soon joining in, and the Tygers took cover from her, meaning that they were easy pickings from me.


    We didn¡¯t take long to clear them out. One of them jumped into his Shion, escaping from Rebecca¡¯s HMG by driving as erratically as he could until he came back up onto the street.


    I tracked him the whole time. Nekomata on target just waiting, and then Malcolm was there slamming into the side of the Shion¡­ Honestly that was a bit of a mistake probably, that Shion would be good loot.


    But Malcolm opened up with his Shingen and I watched the smart rounds battered into the damaged glass, and then¡­ Well considering the car just sort of drifted until it hit a post from there Malcolm got him.


    Nice.


    *Check in.* I called out just to make sure.


    *I¡¯m fine.*


    *Not even a scratch.* Rebecca and Malcolm called out, and Hiromi and Ichi both checked in just after.


    *Great. I¡¯ll let Fujimura know, let¡¯s lock our loot down. Ichi bring in the truck¡­ I¡¯ll be down soon.* I said as I looked around my little hidden space, grabbing my little bag I put it on my back, and tightened it down while strapping the Nekomata down a bit more as well. Then I slipped out, hanging a hundred feet above the street by my hands. I slowly monkey gymed my way down towards the building, and then slipped onto the small ledge at the end, and used that to slide along until I could jump fully onto the walking path.


    I adjusted my netgogs, so I could ignore the people that were looking down over the side to try and find out where the gunfire had been coming from, ignoring the gasps I turned and headed into the building where I had already set up an elevator access key.


    Not long after a quiet ride down to the ground level I met up with everyone.


    To my irritation NCPD actually showed up.


    To my relief Hiromi was already throwing paperwork at them and the two cops seeing the carnage didn¡¯t look very interested in pressing into things.


    I walked past, to meet up with Hiromi getting a bit of a startled jump out of one of the officers as they hadn¡¯t noticed me approaching from behind.


    ¡°Got everything here?¡± I asked, and Hiromi nodded.


    ¡°Yes, everything is in order. NCPD are just verifying.¡± She offered with a smirk, and I knew she would be fine.


    Hiromi had done a ton of paperwork in setting up Section 9 as a merc company. The fact we had actual paperwork and weren¡¯t just a group of street kids meant we were already a step ahead of the norm.


    Walking over I caught up to Rebecca who was keeping an eye on Hiromi, but hiding her HMG under a small barrier so the cops wouldn¡¯t notice it.


    ¡°Everything good?¡± She asked me and I nodded.


    ¡°Yeah Hiromi has got it. How¡¯s clean up?¡±


    ¡°Not great. The cops got here quick. We didn¡¯t manage to get the good stuff just yet. Malcolm and Ichi managed a few chips, and the weapons. We might lose the vehicles.¡±


    ¡°Maybe.¡± I agreed and walked on, to check on the boys. Both of them were sitting in the back of Ichi¡¯s truck and I noticed a pile of boxes and things stacked up just behind them¡­


    ¡°What¡¯s behind the boxes?¡±


    ¡°Nothing. Especially if it¡¯s a cop asking.¡± Malcolm told me with a smirk, and I couldn¡¯t help but snort. The two HMG¡¯s that were in the back of the Van just in front fo the boxes would make a pretty firm fuck off, for anyone that wanted a peek.¡±


    ¡°Alright. We might go light this time, but I¡¯m going to see what Hiromi can do.¡±


    ¡°You got it.¡± Ichi agreed, already looking bored, but pleased.


    This would be good eddies for us.


    Now it¡¯s just time to wait.


    ¡ª--


    ¡°Uuuuugh.¡±


    ¡°Sorry.¡± I told Rebecca who was hissing and spitting in irritation at the NCPD.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine. Whatever.¡± She grunted as she continued to kick out with her legs like she was killing someone.


    Hiromi had got us out without issues, but the bodies, and vehicles had gone straight to the Lotto. Well the bodies and cyberware anyways, I¡¯m fairly confident those cars would end up sold back to the TC or something.


    If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    Either way we got out with some loot, and we had completed a gig, quick and easy eddies were my favorite.


    Especially when I got to kill some gonks for XP for it.


    We were set up down the street, having left the crime scene as the cops called it once everything was cleared up just to avoid any officers deciding to search us, or something.


    ¡°I¡¯ve spoken with the client, payment has gone through, he is very happy.¡± Hiromi called out as she stepped out of the Quadra that she¡¯d been camping in.


    ¡°Hell yes!¡± Rebecca was the first to jump up and shout. Her previous bad mood completely disappeared as she laughed into the air as Hiromi started passing out Eddies.


    ¡°Well that was fun. Glad this wasn¡¯t like a multi day thing again.¡± Malcolm called out stretching as he threw a soda into the trash. ¡°We wanna have a party tonight?¡± He asked, but the general sense was pretty meh.


    ¡°While this gig was easy it wasn¡¯t like we did anything super cool.¡± I offered, only to get jabbed in the ribs by Rebecca.


    ¡°Says the insane girl that was hanging from the sky!¡±


    ¡°Yeah that was pretty cool.¡± Ichi added, ¡°And Malcolm flatlined a gonk.¡±


    ¡°Hell yeah I did!¡± Malcolm laughed thankfully unbothered by his murder.


    ¡°Sorry everyone! Motoko already agreed to something if we finished fast enough! Right? Right? You¡¯ll still do it? You aren¡¯t too tired?¡± Hiromi jumped on me, literally jumping on my back as she hugged me tightly and begged.


    ¡°I¡¯m not too tired. So I guess I¡¯ll still go.¡± I agreed and Hiromi cackled in my ear as she kicked her feet.


    ¡°What¡¯s got Hiromi in such a good mood? Eddies?¡±


    ¡°Motoko is going to finish a new song! It¡¯s gonna be a hit! We got Violent Hemorrhage to help play it! I¡¯ll call Alice.¡± Hiromi said and out of my extended vision I could see her eyes go yellow as she made a call.


    ¡°When did you get close enough to just call Alice?¡± I whispered, even if I knew. Hiromi had forced the poor VH guys into a meeting for a contract.


    The fact they¡¯d all signed had been surprising to be honest, but well¡­ I had a band¡­


    I exhaled, not even bothered by Hiromi¡¯s weight as she continued to hang from my back and giggle into my ear as she spoke to Alice.


    ¡°New song?¡± Malcolm asked, looking interested and I just shrugged.


    ¡°It came to me the other day while I was hanging out with a bunch of Tyger Claw guys after I hit the dojo. I got it all ready, just need to play it all out, and record it.¡±


    ¡°Huh. Mind if I come?¡± He asked and I blinked and instantly nodded.


    ¡°Course you¡¯re always welcome, Malcolm.¡±


    ¡°Oh me too! Me too!¡± Rebecca called out and I turned around to see her jumping up and down on the back of Ichi¡¯s truck. ¡°I mean¡­ If that¡¯s cool, like Malcolm.¡±


    ¡°Rebecca, Choom, you¡¯re always welcome as well.¡± I said and then I slumped. As I felt my cheeks redden. They were going to hear me play again. With other people!


    ¡°Aww, Strings is all shy!¡± Rebecca teased and I just walked over ignoring that Hiromi was still on my back and picked her up, tucking her under my arm like a piece of luggage.


    ¡°Wha-Hey! Put me down!¡±


    ¡°Kids shouldn¡¯t talk shit unless they want to face the repercussions.¡± I told her, and she wiggled, disrupting Hiromi a bit who slapped my shoulder.


    ¡°I¡¯m older than you!¡±


    ¡°Details details.¡± I offered airily, as I walked around a bit just to prove that Rebecca was completely trapped.


    Heh. No wonder Jun picked me up like this so much it was funny¡­


    He can never know.


    ¡ª--


    We arrived at Denny¡¯s music studio. Honestly we could probably go somewhere cheaper, but something about the place really called to Hiromi, so here we are.


    A bunch of street kids, half the age of normal men and women that would walk these halls. Luckily Hiromi had already paid for our time, and so there was no issue with security or the people already here. I did get like usual an upraised eye as I moved to the room we had rented.


    I stepped in and noticed that thankfully it was already full. Alice and her chooms were already here.


    Jared, Klein, Alice.¡± I greeted as I stepped in and settled my music box and my DeLuze to the side.


    ¡°Motoko, and chooms.¡± Alice greeted, her two chooms nodded as they looked over my chooms.


    There was tension, as two groups met each other and realized there would have to be some relationship but no trust yet¡­


    That actually fit the song we were going to play all the better¡­ Hmm.


    I might have to figure out some way to use that, for now I nodded at the three. ¡°Okay I got a song all set, I¡¯ll need drums, bass and guitar, I¡¯m going to be doing a lot of synth and some piano work. Hiromi, can you get a keyboard, and drums from the instrument room?¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± She cheered and instantly reached over to grab Ichi and Malcolm and pulled them out.


    I looked back over the three. ¡°Any questions?¡± I asked and the three all looked to each other and then to me.


    ¡°A few.¡± Alice decided to speak and I nodded. As I headed into the recording studio.


    ¡°Alright, well, get asking. Rebecca, chill anywhere.¡±


    ¡°Hell yeah I will!¡± She said smirking as she took a seat on top of an amp looking around the room.


    ¡°So you already have a song? Prepped?¡± Alice asked me as I started hooking up the music box, into the system.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. You ever walked into a room, and sat down next to someone you realized was super dangerous?¡± I asked her, and she blinked before rolling her eyes.


    ¡°You know my Uncle.¡±


    ¡°Exactly. The song is about that. Let me play what I have so far.¡± I set it up and soon the guitar track for Heathens began.


    What I didn¡¯t have was a good recording for vocals, so I grabbed one of the mics, and started singing.


    ¡°All my friends are heathens, take it slow.¡± I crooned, going through the first stanza along with the guitar track, before stopping, as Malcolm was carrying in a drum set and I went to help him.


    ¡°That''s definitely a sound. Not quite my usual.¡± Klein said to me as I moved and I shrugged.


    ¡°The song is already done, I just need to play it. You guys wanted a job, so you¡¯re saving me some time, that''s all.¡± I explained and the three all looked at each other.


    ¡°And we¡¯re okay with that. Hiromi already talked about Eddies, so we¡¯re in.¡±


    ¡°Cool.¡± I said, smirking as I looked over the three. ¡°Listen, I get this is a bit out of the usual for you, it is for me too. So¡­ We¡¯re just here to test things out. See how it goes.¡±


    ¡°Not for us Motoko.¡± Alice said, and I looked up at her in surprise. ¡°This is serious for us. All three of us are musicians first and only. We need work, and we need a band. For us? This is as serious as it gets.¡± She said looking at her chooms who nodded in agreement with her.


    ¡°Well¡­ Okay.¡± I said a little lamely looking at Rebecca who just snorted at my look.


    ¡°Actin¡¯ all shy again Strings?¡±


    ¡°Shut up!¡± I hissed at her, before sighing, as Hiromi got back. ¡°Hiromi, I forgot, can you grab the Carnage out of the trunk of the Quadra? Go ahead and unload it first.¡±


    ¡°The Carnage?¡± Hiromi asked, and I nodded.


    ¡°Yep!¡±


    The carnage was a real piece of shit grinding and grating when it was pumped..


    Klein started setting up the drums, thankfully we all got to work, and soon it was time to start making music.


    Klein on drums, Jared on Bass, and Alice taking main guitar, while I did synth and vocals. It was¡­ Weird.


    ¡°Alright. We¡¯re going to get the drums down first, let¡¯s start on the opening.¡± I started and basically guided Klein on what I wanted. It took a few times, but he was competent enough to get started.


    Jared was already strumming along to the track I¡¯d had playing along, and I basically wandered between the three as Alice joined in, showing them what I wanted, making adjustments.


    Putting together a song in a different way.


    And I winked at Rebecca nodding her way at the right times as she cocked the Carnage. I did have to remind her not to cackle afterwards, but she was into it, and soon the song started coming together.


    It wasn¡¯t quick. I definitely could have finished a full track by myself faster, but¡­


    If I ever wanted to play live, then I¡¯d need a band that could play with me.


    I was¡­ Satisfied with Alice and her band¡­ My band.


    It had been a few hours, and I sat back taking a drink that Hiromi had ordered from upstairs, as we all listened to the mostly completed song. It was getting there, a few adjustments, some alterations, some flubs fixed, enough that the non-Rockerboys could hear the full song and get the idea.


    ¡°Ooh, I like this one.¡± Rebecca said smirking casually still holding the carnage and cocking it along with the song.


    ¡°Well, all of you are mercs with plenty of kills under your gun. I¡¯d be surprised if you didn¡¯t like the theme of the song.¡± I told her, casually, purposefully making sure Alice and her chooms heard and they all realized.


    I¡¯d sent a message to my chooms earlier. So they all played up the fact. Smirking and Ichi even winked at Alice, although she rolled her eyes, her two chooms didn¡¯t.


    Good. It might come out in their playing a bit if they felt that same emotion, and of course it was also useful for them to know I had a crew of mercs.


    Sure they might still just see kids, but a gun was a gun. Hopefully it would keep everyone honest.


    ¡ª--


    The next morning I was looking through the fridge, realizing it was full of Jun¡¯s stupid burritos and realized I would have to go out for food again.


    Grumbling, I stretched and started getting ready. Noticing my Tachikoma was racing along in the video game I¡¯d set up. They were getting better. They weren¡¯t just crashing constantly and actually following the track.


    I popped open my system as I left the apartment, checking everything over as I hit the elevator and headed down.


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    Why did I have a Stat Point?


    I had zero yesterday I was pretty sure.


    I looked over the entire character sheet.


    Level 21


    Body 10(18) Due to Cyberization, Maximum value has increased by 8.


    -Athletics 8


    -Street Brawler 8


    -Annihilation 5


    Reflex 10(16) Due to Cyberization, Maximum value has increased by 6.


    -Blades 9


    -Handguns 9


    -Assault 8


    -Driving 7


    Intelligence 13 (14) Due to Cyberization, Maximum value has increased by 4.


    -Breach Protocol 12


    -Quick Hacks 9


    -Programming 13


    Cool 10


    -Ninjutsu 10


    -Cold Blood 8


    -Rockerboy 9


    Technical Ability 8 (12) Due to Cyberization, Maximum value has increased by 4.


    -Crafting 6


    -Engineering 7


    1 Stat point.


    8 Skill point.


    Perks.


    Ambidextrous Blades 2


    Quickdraw Handguns 2


    Gun Nut Assault 2


    Parkour Athletics 2


    Grappling Street Brawler 2


    Drive By Driving 2


    Cat-like Athletics 5


    Cool Nerves Cold Blood 2


    Danger Sense Ninjutsu 2


    Wall Breaking Breach Protocol 2


    Cyber Security Quick Hack 2


    Recoil Reduction Annihilation 2


    Cyber Ninja Ninjutsu 5


    Fearless Chill Cold Blood 5.


    Improvised Weapons Street Brawler 5


    Parry Blades 5


    Robotics wizard Crafting 2


    Drifting Driving 5


    Rapid Reload Handguns 5


    Design Wizard Engineering 2


    Rifle Ace Assault 5


    Ghost touch Breach 5


    Perfect Musical Memory Rockerboy 2.


    Debug Programming 2


    Siren Song Rockerboy 5


    Hacking Wizard Quick Hacks 5


    Inspired Programmer Programming 5


    A.I. Whisperer Programming 10


    Slam Fire Annihilation 5


    Enduring Builds Crafting 5


    Robotics Engineering Engineering 5


    Strong Breach Breach Protocol 10


    Ninja Running Ninjutsu 10


    Cyberware:


    Arasaka Corporation Cyberdeck ¡®Shadow¡¯ Mk.4 *Adaptation ¡®Shadow¡¯ Mk.4 0/0*


    Kiroshi Mk1 *Adaptation Kiroshi Mk1 1/2*


    Militech Condor *Adaptation Militech Condor 5/5* (1 Stat Point Redeemed.)


    Arasaka Smart Link System. *Adaptation Smart Link 0/0*


    Arasaka Ex-Disk *Adaptation Ex-Disk 0/0*


    Militech-Armalite Ballistic Guard *Adaptation Ballistic Guard 1/2*


    Serano Air-Groove Ankles *Adaptation Serano Air 1/1*


    MoorE Titanium Bones (Shoulders, back, and ribs. +Legs, Pelvis, and Ribs.) *Adaptation Titanium Bones 0/2*


    Biotechnica Muscle and Bone Lace *Adaptation Muscle and Bone Lace 0/0*


    Arasaka ODA Neural Link Mk3 *Adaptation ODA Mk.3 1/2*


    Dynalar Sandevistan Mk.2 *Adaptation Dynalar Sandevistan 2/4*


    Near the end I finally saw it. A shift in adaptation, and a little message next to my Condors.


    ¡°Point redeemed¡­ Huh?¡± I hadn¡¯t expected that. Sure I¡¯d lowered Adaptation before, but¡­ So if I pushed a bunch of adaptation points into a stat before I¡¯d settled it, I could get those points back?


    That was honestly a huge relief, even if I had decided a long time ago to just accept losing them, getting some points back?


    Hehe!


    What should I level up? I¡¯d done my Sandy last time¡­ Ugh, the deal I¡¯d decided was Adaptation and Stat, but I was really tempted to put another point into my Sandy now!


    The elevator opened and I headed out, half skip in my step as I was quite happy with the update. No, I should stick to stats for now. Besides I had a lot of stats maxed out without using a stat point¡­


    Do I level Intelligence, or start pushing another stat beyond 10?


    I instantly looked at Cool, but unfortunately, I didn¡¯t have any of the cyberization for Cool to go beyond 10 anyways.


    My eyes drifted to the small hud that I had for my Kiroshi, it was pretty early, but Vik would be awake by now¡­ Did I want to go on a new cyberware hunt?


    I sighed and shook it off, no. I would need more stat points for more adaptation for that. What I needed more than anything was cold hard numbers.


    The idea sent a thrill up my spine.


    Numbers? Numbers I could do. I dropped the point into Intelligence. Enjoying the nice 14 (14) number listed.


    I had plenty of skill points, and I could easily pump up my netrunning now, even Programming could go up!


    But more importantly, I had a lot of netrunning stuff I¡¯d been putting off including the IP of an old server I could explore, and the Netrunning arena, which I¡¯d been basically ignoring for a bit.


    I¡¯d been planning on focusing on my blades for a bit, but¡­


    Well! This was fine too! Let¡¯s get some lunch, and bug one of the chooms to come watch over me! Time to dive into the net!

 Chapter 215

    ¡°So you¡¯re basically exploring a haunted house?¡± I sent a very flat look over at Malcolm who from the smirk he was sending me knew that wasn¡¯t what I had said at all.


    ¡°It¡¯s an old server.¡±


    ¡°So like an old house, abandoned and alone.¡±


    ¡°Full of old data.¡±


    ¡°Good stuff hidden in the attic.¡± He added and I felt my eye twitching.


    ¡°And full of Daemons to protect it.¡±


    ¡°Ghosts there to kill trespassers.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll kill you.¡±


    ¡°You love me.¡± He offered instead and the elevator opened to the netrunning cave.


    I, being the bigger and better person, ignored him, and didn¡¯t punch him in the arm. The fact he was carrying the food had nothing to do with it, but I did notice that when he put the food down he pointedly moved out of my reach.


    Smart boy.


    ¡°Alright, let me set up. You need anything?¡± I asked him, as I wandered over to my netrunning chair.


    ¡°Nope. All good.¡± He said, tapping on the bags of food.


    ¡°Preem. It might take me a while to get going, so feel free to relax.¡± I told him as I went through some checks. The chair coolant was a little low, I¡¯d likely need to update it soon, but it was still good. Everything was set. I leaned back, hooked myself up and closed my eyes.


    Then opened them in a new room. I walked over to the nice couches and flopped in, which didn¡¯t really feel like anything since I was now in the net.


    First thing first? I needed to finish leveling up. I was going to pump some numbers up, but I remembered previous issues.


    Glancing at my current netrunner stats it really proved the issue.


    Intelligence 14 (14) Due to Cyberization, Maximum value has increased by 4.


    -Breach Protocol 12


    -Quick Hacks 9


    -Programming 13


    Other than Programming everything was way too low! As much as my fingers itched to put a point into Quick Hacks, I skipped it, and instead put a point into Breach Protocol.


    I shivered as I suddenly had experience in skimming data centers. Cutting back traces while digging through data, and moving through server architecture.


    Sorting the feeling I processed it and only when I was feeling like it had all settled did I pull up my system and drop another.


    As I knew getting too many skill upgrades close together was a bit intense. The second data drop gave me even more on moving through the net, the sense that what we saw wasn¡¯t the truth, and if you looked at it in different ways, you could move and slip through things as if they were simply suggestions.


    There was knowledge touching on something big I felt, but it wasn¡¯t quite complete. Not ready.


    I started looking, just without my eyes, noticing how¡­ Fragile this lobby room was. The walls, despite looking like warm woods, and stone, were¡­ Fragile. Cardboard with pictures on them. There was no durability. I could break them down even without my admin access.


    A server was a series of data points but¡­ The connections between them were only natural suggestions. It wasn¡¯t like data on a hard drive was stored in rooms to access only through a door. No, it was all data, and the access was usually the knowledge on how the computer could process the data listed, where to find those numbers to represent-


    I shook off my thoughts and stood up. Internalize the information and move on.


    Pulling up the old data that Vortex had given me, I found the IP for the server she¡¯d told me about and I slipped out of my lobby and into the net. Then instantly into a leap across the city along the web lines taking me far out of the normal connection points. If I had to position this from reality¡­


    Not out of the city, but deeper than normal, like it was buried under ground as the new net was built upon the old.


    I checked the details she¡¯d given me, and looked down, huh. That wasn¡¯t actually a sewer along the street, but an old door that now only showed a sliver of what it had once been, a data access point.


    I squatted down and sent in a Ping, watching my data stream through without too much disruption. I can see why Vortex might not have wanted to check this place out for long before leaving. A squeezed data point like this would make latency increase inside¡­


    Unless you fixed it. Hmm. I looked over the connection. Technically it was being overlaid with a more modern data net, which is what the street I was standing on represented.


    Technically it was a programming issue, rather than hardware, or else this connection wouldn¡¯t even exist.


    Could I reroute the data stream to give better access? Yes. Could I do it without pissing off whoever owned this data stream?


    Hmm¡­ Maybe. As long as the adjustment was short term, and I kept it from causing too many ripples. A data choke point would be noticed pretty quickly.


    I looked around, confirmed no one was around so to speak, and dived into the data.


    Slow and steady, I hacked in. The router that controlled this data area was accessed as quietly as I could, then with just a little work, I made a single adjustment on the router''s workload.


    The net around me shifted, the small door that led to this server was now bare, a set of ancient steps leading down into it, as the street had seemed to split open.


    There was no hesitation as I entered, time wasn¡¯t on my side. I didn¡¯t need to rush, but the longer I waited the higher chance someone would fix what I had just done and cut me off while in a dangerous server.


    I slipped through the door and instantly stilled.


    This server was old. The architecture didn¡¯t¡­ I looked around, but even that caused some visual issues. The server was¡­ Flat? Like a 3d person looked at 2d. That¡¯s what the sense it gave me was.


    *Whoa what is that?* Malcolm asked in my ear and I shook my head.


    ¡°Some sort of weird server architecture¡­¡± I explained as I looked around. I was in a lobby structure, but it wasn¡¯t anything like the servers I¡¯d been in before. I remembered the white empty room that the idiots that had tried to kill Malcolm had used for their car dealership website.


    I remembered the fractured distorted realm of the broken server Yoko had showed me.


    This wasn¡¯t like either of them. A distorted low res area, that my display was struggling to properly convey.


    Almost instinctively, I pulled open my Cyber Decks systems, and clocked back some settings, and suddenly the area reshaped itself correctly.


    Comparing it to 2d had been correct.


    I realized what I was seeing, this was an old school server. Back before netrunning had gotten as advanced, this server didn¡¯t have the architecture for the sort of interactivity I was used to, so everything showed up as data lines, and untextured shapes.


    *Jeez, this is crazy, I feel like it¡¯s giving me a headache.* Malcolm added, and I nodded but remembered he couldn¡¯t see that.


    ¡°Yeah, old server, see that? That¡¯s the data line to the server data.¡± I pointed out a sort of hallway made out of glowing lights. But¡­ ¡°Fortunately this server is so old a lot of the security won¡¯t even work on modern netrunners.¡±


    Instead of heading down the hallway, I simply walked over and walked up the wall as if it was the ground, and then ¡®out¡¯ of the room that was meant to keep runners inside.


    Standing on top of the hallway I simply walked over it, bypassing the access and security restrictions, by jumping over the data node.


    Digital architecture had changed drastically with the advent of netrunners. Just putting a password on a file wasn¡¯t going to stop a netrunner. You needed to build server fortifications, and defenses from entities that were partially digital.


    It was funny, but the same advancements meant to stop Netrunners were how AI could be stopped as well. Even if Netrunners were nothing compared to a proper AI.


    I had a thought that maybe it had been the AI that had pushed the advent of these defenses instead of netrunners, and it was the netrunners that came after that had run into AI defenses.


    Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!


    Either way it didn¡¯t matter. I walked over the hall, and the next ¡®room¡¯ although really it was more like a mess of data points was supposed to be some sort of hub page. Unfortunately it wasn¡¯t unprotected.


    I could see four IMP Daemons wandering around. The Daemons were old, slow and stuttering along pre planned paths, not the sort of thing that would be a danger to a modern netrunner¡­ Well, only if they knew how to move out of the architecture.


    I poked my hand into the room, the security of this room already bypassed meant it was less a solid wall, and more just a data processing node.


    Then I started uploading and after everything was ready I sent off my [HEAT Bullet Mk.1] the attack was registered by the server and the entire glowing lights shifted to a darker red. Huh an early alert system for the Daemons inside the server.


    Neat.


    But it was too late, the attack was too strong for old Daemons.


    *250 XP Gained.*


    *250 XP Gained.*


    *250 XP Gained.*


    *250 XP Gained.*


    They burst into sparkles of broken data and that was enough for me.


    I started hacking now that I was past the security and the Daemons were gone. Sending in a Ping to the data node, and watching as the my own light, a purple hue burst out and started pinging through the server. Lines of purple light shifting and spiraling all  over as I stood up and just watched as the lights showed me an outline of the entire server¡­


    Hmm. Okay over there was data storage. But I narrowed my eyes¡­ I pinged again as the light faded after a while and watched again.


    Something was off. There was definitely¡­ There. A data node that had multiple pathways, but only one lit up, the others remained dark.


    Definitely a security feature. Something keeping files off the root access?


    I blurred as I Breach Jumped along the server. There were some defenses here and there, but not any other Daemons. Just old server traps that I bypassed by literally walking over the normal access channels.


    I arrived at the data node, and slipped inside. The channel had four pathways. Normal entrance, and exit, and then two that¡­


    There was a bit of floating data hidden within the data of the structure, it would be difficult to see. I imagine if I was using old Netrunner decks using a small screen as my visual point.


    So was it added after the server had been created to mitigate Netrunners?


    Either way I was able to access it, and with barely a thought cracked the security that it represented and then opened up a new path.


    I once more jumped out of the server architecture as I headed through the path. Another set of Daemons, were guarding this section of the server, and once more they were destroyed without being able to register I even existed.


    *250 XP Gained.*


    *250 XP Gained.*


    I slipped back in, and accessed the data. ¡°Malcolm, I¡¯m going to download this. You might see some lag distortion.¡±


    *Sure Motoko, find something good?*


    ¡°Yeah actually. This is old weapon data, and it was stolen from its source.¡±


    *Oh yeah?* He prompted and I could hear him breaking up a bit as the bandwidth was used up as I started downloading.


    ¡°Yeah, Militech Electronics looks like. Someone really wanted their laser technology.¡±


    *Laser tech? Why bother with that garbage?*


    ¡°It¡¯s only garbage because the tech got stuck after the datakrash. This looks like pre-Datakrash files, so someone might be interested.¡±


    *Whoa, what? You think it¡¯ll be worth a ton of eddies?*


    ¡°Nah, probably not. This is all stuff Militech already has I think. I recognize some of these weapons.¡± I looked through the blueprints, and yeah, I think that was a Militech Electronics Laser Canon? Yeah definitely the laser canon.


    It was just too bad Militech gave such a cool sounding name to a weapon that was notoriously bad. Not only was it incredibly unreliable, the effect of the laser was¡­ Not great¡­


    I mean, I was still tempted to get one, but they just weren¡¯t sold over the counter at gun shops or something. Lasers were cool, and I really wanted to pew pew at people with one, but they just sucked, and no one even sold them anymore.


    Militech was one of the few companies that had worked on laser tech before the datakrash, and they hadn¡¯t really kept up with it. Too many other projects to try and focus on in the meantime.


    Still this data could definitely sell to someone. Arasaka probably already had it. It¡¯s been more than fifty years after all, but other smaller corps? Newer ones?


    Anyone that still had ideas for making laser weapons might want Militechs old weapon blueprints¡­


    Hell, I wanted them too.


    Definitely going to keep a copy.


    The lag ended as the download ended, and I jumped back to the previous node, and broke into the second hidden data point.


    Once again I simply walked outside of the pathway, avoiding whatever nonsense danger existed within until I reached the data node. This one didn¡¯t have any obvious defenses, no patrolling Daemons, or anything¡­


    I slipped inside, keeping myself aware even with the stilted way of looking at things. But when I accessed the data point there was nothing, at least nothing bad. Just another file repository. I brought it up, swiping through it, and quickly realized this wasn¡¯t something I had any interest in, ancient, billing and sales. I quickly noticed plenty of blackmarket dealings, and illegal goods flowing through this ancient corporation, and finally an actual name.


    Elite Electronics.


    Never heard of them, and they probably didn¡¯t exist anymore. I copied the data, and then once the lag ended I disappeared out of the server back to the street. A few moments tp fix the data adjustment I did, and I disappeared from the area.


    ¡°Going to see if I can sell this stuff. Just a bit longer Malcolm.¡±


    *Take your time ¡®Toko. I¡¯m just hanging around.*


    Honestly I was kind of disappointed. I¡¯d wanted XP, which I guess I¡¯d gotten a little of, but I wanted more than what little I¡¯d found in the server. Oh well, not all of them could hide Balrons, or be full of distorted Daemons looking to murder whoever slipped inside.


    I popped back out at the facsimile of Kabuki Roundabout. Yoko was my first stop.


    Taking a slow path up to her club, I looked around, nothing really changed here it seems, but at least it felt like there were three dimensions, and textures existed.


    I felt almost light headed after being in that old server, the flatness of it, and the flowing lights felt like a Tron movie.


    The first one, if that.


    I slipped into the club bobbing to the music, and spotting Yoko without issue, as I threw up a hand in hello at her, she nodded, but went back to the conversation she was having. She wasn¡¯t alone with a few Netrunners sitting around her and they were obviously having a thing.


    There wasn¡¯t any rush to sell ancient data so I took another seat, and waited.


    I took in the music that was playing. Not a band I recognized, and it wasn¡¯t terrible. Very electronic, but it sounded alright. I was tapping my finger to the beat, processing the changes and already figuring out the pattern when I stilled, as I realized someone was there beside me.


    Our eyes met, and I realized this wasn¡¯t a conversation I really wanted, but¡­


    ¡°Hey.¡± I greeted Sasha who seemed to my surprise to hesitate for a second before building herself up.


    ¡°Hi Kit-Uh, Motoko¡­ Uh, you might if we chat?¡± She asked with a smile that was trying to be confident, and not too much.


    I waved at the seat across from me, and she slipped in. We stared at each other for a while but I realized I really should start.


    ¡°Hey listen, about what happened-¡±


    ¡°No, wait, please¡­ I¡¯m sorry I pulled that scop on you. Like¡­ Yeah it was a rezzer move.¡± She started cutting me off and even waving her hands at me, like she would have covered my mouth if she could. ¡°I screwed up, I wasn¡¯t¡­ No, I don¡¯t have any excuse. I was showing you around, but wanted to play. It was stupid.¡±


    ¡°It was¡­ Well yeah don¡¯t throw me into stuff like that, but what happened was my fault. Not yours.¡± I offered, and the older woman brightened up at my response.


    ¡°Thanks Kitten.¡±


    ¡°Sure thing Pain in my Ass.¡± I offered back smiling and she flashed a look of shock for a moment, before smiling, her lips quirked into that very cat-like smirk.


    ¡°Hehehe!¡± She giggled in return. ¡°I¡¯ve been called worse!¡±


    ¡°That I believe.¡±


    ¡°Preem. I was honestly¡­ I¡¯ve been in touch with Becca, she mentioned you were okay, but like¡­ That was a lot of damage.¡±


    ¡°It was fine I had backup. It gave me a good excuse to go get an upgrade.¡±


    ¡°Yeah I can see, you¡¯re not skezzing as much anymore. What is that?¡± She asked, obviously interested.


    ¡°Arasaka Shadow. Mk.4.¡±


    She whistled at my answer. ¡°Really? Where did you get your cute little kitten paws on one of those? Arasaka are protective.¡±


    ¡°It was stolen, and my choom is an Arasaka student. She got it covered in their logs, so I won¡¯t have any ninjas sniffing around for it.¡±


    ¡°Nova!¡± She cheered. ¡°Well oh my, that¡¯s quite a jump from that Seacho you used to have! That¡¯s great! Maybe that whole thing wasn¡¯t so bad after all!¡± She offered and I realized what kind of person Sasha was.


    She was the type to accept any instance of a silver lining to excuse bad actions¡­I considered calling her on it, but I¡¯d been honest. My freakout in the netrunner arena was my thing, not her.


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t great, but it¡¯s over. No lasting harm done.¡± I agreed and she once more smiled sunnily.


    ¡°Well well, if it isn¡¯t a certain mangy stray cat.¡± Yoko suddenly broke in her body, more detailed and formed than both of ours loomed over the table glaring down at Sasha.


    ¡°Nuh-uh! Motoko forgave me!¡± She looked at me, with big pleading eyes and I snorted.


    ¡°I don¡¯t remember asking.¡± Yoko offered, not quite hissing, but there was a threat in there.


    ¡°Yoko, I was looking for you.¡± I said interrupting the two netrunner women.


    ¡°Oh?¡± She asked, and instantly slid into the seat, pushing Sasha back as she basically took her place¡­


    Pfft. I held back my laughter as the noise Sasha made in turn really was like a cat.


    ¡°Don¡¯t push my avatar around you bitch!¡± Sasha grumbled, and Yoko just quirked an eyebrow.


    ¡°Vixen is more accurate.¡± She offered then turned entirely to me.


    ¡°I just came out of an old server, ancient really. Pulled some data, some tech, and some finance crud. Wanted to see if you had any interest.¡±


    ¡°Alr-¡±


    ¡°Ooh! Let me see!¡± Sasha begged, jumped up and waved her hand doing gimme motions.


    ¡°I¡¯ll throw the flea ridden stray out.¡± Yoko said and Sasha only had a moment to yelp before vanishing.


    I blinked and realized Yoko had force booted Sasha¡­


    ¡°She¡¯s not going to be happy about that.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine. The Stray knows what she did.¡± Yoko offered simply and then held out a hand. So I pulled a bit of the data for the laser weapon blueprints, and handed them over.


    She looked them over and I could tell from the smirk on her face that she found it cute rather than interesting.


    ¡°Old data.¡±


    ¡°Yeah I know. Don¡¯t look at me, like I¡¯m a pre-schooler showing off a finger painting, that¡¯s rude.¡±


    She chuckled deep throated and amused at my description, but honestly it was true.


    ¡°Unfortunately this isn¡¯t worth much.¡±


    ¡°Yeah I figured. Not many into lasers, and anyone who is probably has it.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I can sell it though.¡± She added and I perked up.


    ¡°Yeah?¡±


    ¡°Yes. I know a company netrunner that would be interested, you have the rest?¡±


    ¡°The whole lot I think.¡± I offered, and then pointedly didn¡¯t offer it to her, just smiling.


    She responded to my smile with a smile of her own. ¡°Good, if you had just handed the data over I¡¯d have disappeared just to teach you a lesson.¡± She said without any shame and I scoffed.


    ¡°I know where you are in the real world you fox.¡± I reminded her, and she just smirked, her face shifting in a way a humans couldn¡¯t.


    ¡°That would be a fun time.¡±


    I returned her smile, and then waved a hand at her. ¡°I¡¯m looking more for server locations than anything.¡±


    ¡°Ah, decided to do some more diving?¡±


    ¡°Something like that. The more full of Daemons the better.¡±


    ¡°Hmm. I see¡­ I¡¯ll give you a nice bonus for this, if you tell me why you¡¯re so fascinated by destroying Daemons.¡± She added slyly, and at that, I knew she¡¯d been keeping an eye on me.


    ¡°Is that knowledge something netrunners at the arena have been asking about?¡±


    ¡°Just one or two. Vortex is one of them.¡±


    ¡°Ugh. Not her again. But no, I¡¯m not telling you.¡±


    ¡°Very well. Let me pull up some servers I know about that fit your bill.¡± And so we got to haggling, and as always I was sure I was being swindled.


    Should have called Hiromi for this.

 Chapter 216

    When I exited the club I was struck with by the image of Sasha hissing and cussing as she actively was trying to breach into the club, despite¡­ No, she was playing more than anything, like throwing rocks at a wall. It would send a message to Yoko every time no doubt, but it wasn¡¯t enough that the defenses started up.


    ¡°Sasha?¡±


    ¡°Huh? Oh Kitten.¡± She stood up from her slightly hunched over position and wiped herself down like she hadn¡¯t been doing anything weird before looking at me with a smile. ¡°You free for a minute?¡±


    I blinked at the sudden request and realized she said with actual maturity. She wasn¡¯t kidding.


    ¡°Sure Sasha.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s still Neko-Nyan<3!¡± She reminded me, once more enunciating the heart, and I still flinched at her response. Her cackling didn¡¯t make me feel any better. But then her kitten face smile shifted back to a mature look. ¡°I¡¯m happy you¡¯re okay. I just¡­ If you ever need any help you can call me, okay Kohai? I know I didn¡¯t exactly give a good impression, and I¡¯m upset at myself for that.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine Sasha. Like I said, that was more of a me thing than anything. I could have just left.¡±


    ¡°But you didn¡¯t and I threw you into it. Sorry.¡±


    ¡°Okay. I accept your apology.¡± Again. But¡­ ¡°How''s the arm?¡±


    ¡°Huh? Oh, yeah that.¡± She replied and I noticed she didn¡¯t flinch to grab her arm or something like she had before. ¡°Got a proper replacement. Flash cloned. Lost my scratchers, but honestly, I just like flesh and blood more.¡± She offered a smile that didn¡¯t quite reach her eyes.


    ¡°I¡¯m glad. I was worried about that.¡± I offered back and there was a moment where Sasha looked like she was going to deny what I had meant, but instead she sent me a bashful smile.


    ¡°Yeah. I¡¯m doing better. Maine complained about it, but most of the time I just do the opposite of what he recommends when it comes to chrome.¡±


    ¡°Yeah that¡¯s probably a good idea.¡± I accepted, and looked around, we weren¡¯t really surrounded by anyone but we were on a public server. No doubt someone was listening in.


    ¡°I have something I want to ask you about, but not here. Follow?¡± She asked, and I took a moment before nodding.


    Then we were off, jumping off the Kabuki Roundabout server and then across the city jumping from net space to net space, until she sent me a private access code, and I slipped into¡­


    ¡°I¡¯m leaving.¡± I said flatly and turned to do just that, but Sasha was there unable to grab me she still jumped in front of me and made a yowl like a cat.


    ¡°Nyoooo!¡±


    I groaned and looked around again.


    It was very pink¡­


    And full of anime cat stuff. I like cats, I like anime cats, I don¡¯t cover literally everything in them.


    ¡°Welcome to my lobby Nyah!¡± She offered, when I didn¡¯t run away and even did a cat motion with her hands like they were paws.


    I moved to slip past her and leave and she once more yowled.


    ¡°Nyoooo! Sorry! Sorry!¡± She begged and I sighed and looked at her.


    ¡°Alright, we¡¯re as private as we¡¯re likely to get, what¡¯s up Sasha?¡±


    ¡°Okay! Serious time. See? Serious face.¡± She pointed at her cheeks which were still fighting to shift into a smile.


    I just waited.


    ¡°Right, so¡­ I¡¯ve got a gig, Maine jumped into it, and it¡¯s going nova for something easy to slide back into, but the client is a total Corp type, and wanted his pet netrunner to take part. You know how it is.¡± She grumbled, and I very much did not know how it was, but I just nodded along and made accepting noises.


    ¡°Right right.¡±


    ¡°Right? So this total ugh type, she¡¯s so uptight, anyway¡­ She has a cadet Netrunner and totally showed off their teamwork! This kid is like Nova. I¡¯ll admit, she¡¯s definitely got some real hardware under the hood you know? But it¡¯s not faaaaair!¡± She whined at me. Looking at me with big watery eyes.


    I just sent her a flat look ¡°Sasha. The point?¡±


    ¡°Right, serious! I can do that.¡± She said and her serious face lasted half a second before she smiled. ¡°Anyway, the gig is going fine, but I got a little heated, and made some remarks to the other runner. And I maaaay have a bit of a challenge on my hands?¡±


    I blinked slowly, very slowly, letting Sasha know exactly how little I cared about this.


    ¡°Nyooo! Don¡¯t look at me like that! I said, I¡¯m sooooorry!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure if you¡¯re more annoying now or before.¡± I commented and I watched her jaw drop for a second before she went full pout mode, her cheeks puffing up and she glared at me with eyes that were about to start crying.


    Which was literally something she had to choose to do, the avatar didn¡¯t replicate tears.


    ¡°Kiiiiittten!¡±


    ¡°Sasha, did you come find me just to ask me to help you again?¡± I asked and she instantly shook her head back and forth.


    ¡°Nooo! Sashanyan wouldn¡¯t do that!¡± She stopped and seemed to regain herself. ¡°It was just coincidence Motoko, I was there to grab some data for Maine, and saw you and had to take my chance to apologize, you haven¡¯t been answering my calls. You can ask Yoko if you don¡¯t believe me!¡±


    ¡°I do, it¡¯s fine. Okay so what is this challenge, and why do you need me?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ That old bitch! She said that since her having an apprentice was part of her talent that her apprentice could help! She tried to say I didn¡¯t have an apprentice because I¡¯m a scop runner¡­ I just yelled that she was dumb, but¡­ Pleeease! If you back me up we can totally derezz this bitch! She¡¯ll have to apologize and everything!¡±


    I looked at Sasha. I honestly wanted to just tell her, no thanks. That I wasn¡¯t interested, because I wasn¡¯t. I had my own things to deal with but¡­


    ¡°This netrunner that the client pulled in. Do I know her?¡±


    ¡°Oh, some uptight bitch called Kiwi¡­ She¡¯s alright, honestly, but she¡¯s got this ego! Ugh!¡± I breathed in and out, a sympathetic response, as I wasn¡¯t actually breathing as my Avatar¡­


    ¡°Okay fine, I¡¯ll help.¡±


    ¡°What, really? Yes! Kitten!¡± She jumped around like a happy cat that was getting a treat and I just rolled my eyes.


    I did want to see Lucy again, but more importantly?


    I really really wanted to do something to Kiwi. She¡­ I really liked her in the show. Cool trench coat. Mysterious mask, spider web chem skin, like she was cool.


    Then she turned traitor.


    It was a complicated feeling, but if I could ruin her day by letting Sasha one up her? Well that was worth a bit of time.


    I glanced at my stat sheet.


    Intelligence 14 (14) Due to Cyberization, Maximum value has increased by 4.


    -Breach Protocol 14


    -Quick Hacks 9


    -Programming 13


    That was¡­ Solid, but nothing amazing. Not if I was going to face a top netrunner in some challenge, so I¡¯d need to put in a lot of extra work. Maybe make a slight change and put a few extra stat points in just to really build my netrunning up. But that reminded me that I needed to know something.


    ¡°Sasha. What¡¯s this challenge all about?¡±


    ¡°Oh, breaking into some corpo security. We each try from different angles. Pretty standard Netrunner challenge.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ I can probably sneak into the location if we need.¡±


    ¡°Hiss! Bad Kitten! You can¡¯t cheat at a netrunner challenge!¡± She cat scratched at me, and I continued to just look at her blankly until she stopped. ¡°But uh¡­ Yeah it¡¯s not a good idea, the location is tight, but we can get in from the net for sure. It¡¯s just a matter of who can do it faster and with less trouble.¡±


    ¡°Alright. Well I guess I¡¯ll be helping you out then Sasha.¡±


    My words didn¡¯t get the response I wanted as she shifted to looking at me with once again teary eyes as she begged for something¡­ I had no idea what she wanted.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°My Kouhai! You should! You should call me Senpai! How can I show off to that nasty old hag without my cute Kohai calling out to m-¡±


    ¡°Not a chance.¡±


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    ¡°Nyoooo!¡±


    Motoko, Motoko why do you put yourself into these positions? I sighed, and just shook my head as this stray cat that apparently adopted me continued to badger me. This was such a stupid waste of my time. I should be leveling up like I had planned for today-


    ¡°Sasha.¡±


    ¡°Yeah Nyan?¡±


    ¡°I need a server full of Daemons to test some things on. You know of a good one?¡± I asked, and she instantly nodded and opened her mouth to tell me, but then her brain caught up and she shifted back to that look.


    I sighed.


    ¡°Please help me Senpai, you¡¯re my only hope.¡± I said, maybe a little flat, but it worked and Sasha cheered as she once more bounced around.


    ¡°Yes! Nyahahaha! Don¡¯t worry! Sasha Senpai will hook you up!¡±


    ¡°I regret asking. I¡¯m gonna go.¡±


    ¡°Nyoooo!¡±


    ¡ª--


    *Sooo.*


    ¡°Sorry Malcolm. You good still?¡±


    *Yeah Choom, just checking in, that was quite¡­ An experience?*


    ¡°Tell me about it.¡± I grumbled as I appeared at the IP address that Sasha had sent me.


    ¡°Welcome my Little Apprentice Kohai-Kitten-Chan!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t call me that.¡±


    ¡°You wanted a server that has a lot of defenses? Welcome to the old No/Brainer corporate access server!¡± She waved her hand, shaking it around as if unveiling something at a circus.


    ¡°Okay? Never heard of them.¡±


    ¡°Course not. No/Brainer¡¯s been scop for like twenty years kid.¡± She teased with a stuck out tongue. ¡°They used to make agent progs. Stupid shit, but they had a prog called HusTool.¡±


    ¡°Hustle?¡±


    ¡°Basically. You¡¯d sign up and it would connect the gonk doing it to someone that needed something ran. Packages, food pickups. All sorts of things.¡±


    ¡°That sounds¡­¡± Like UBER, or DoorDash. I didn¡¯t say, but I got the idea.


    ¡°Exactly! Stupidly dangerous! What kind of gonk would run packages across the city for like 10 eds? You¡¯re likely to end up walking through territory you shouldn¡¯t be in, or some ganger sees you walking with a package. Easy mark.¡± She explained making a throat slicing motion.


    ¡°Right, and this server is theirs?¡±


    ¡°Yep! See the gonks needed a server that could process the calls and requests. All good, but they expanded a bit too much. They tried to move into Pacifica, and well the VD boys at the time didn¡¯t like it. No/Brainer though they¡¯d just harden up their server. Didn¡¯t work, not really. They lasted a while until their whole corp crashed down, and then the server got bought up by a new corp but the server was fucked with by the VD.¡±


    Sasha waved for me to enter and I took that with a lot of hesitation as I moved into the server lobby¡­


    ¡°Wow.¡±


    ¡°Right? The server is still up, let¡¯s just say one of the big netrunners tricked the current owners into not realizing they¡¯re powering the thing, but it¡¯s an absolute jungle. Not quite as bad as going over the Blackwall, but for just a random run? It¡¯s pretty intense.¡±


    I looked over the lobby. Multiple IMP¡¯s wandered around, along with Static ¡®turret¡¯ Daemons, just waiting for an alert. I could see that the pathways out of the lobby were also pretty well secured just from a glance. That would take time to break through.


    ¡°Well? You wanted a mess of defenses.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­¡± I didn¡¯t want to say perfect, that would give Sasha too much credit. ¡°Is there anything good on the server? Data or something?¡±


    ¡°Nope! There¡¯s a reason no one comes here. Everything¡¯s been pulled, this entire server is dead code. But hey, it¡¯s what you wanted¡­ Now can you tell your big Senpai Mysterious Neko-Nyan! Why you want to fight Daemons? Pleeeeease.¡± I ignored her and moved in, HEAT Bullet already loading.


    Time to get to wor-¡±Waaaaait!¡± I was halted as Sasha jumped in front of me with her arms out.


    ¡°What?¡± I stopped in surprise, not sure what she was doing but she smiled.


    ¡°This is the perfect chance for us to get a bit more used to each other! If we want to beat that bitch Kiwi, then we need to know how to netrun together¡­ So let Senpai help!¡±


    I blinked, and realized she¡­ Yeah okay. This wasn¡¯t just for me to grind some XP, but also to get used to working with another netrunner, something I hadn¡¯t really done before.


    The Arena with Sasha had just been the two of us splitting up and that was it.


    ¡°Okay. You¡¯re right. We should do this together. It¡¯s a good time to figure out how to work together.


    ¡°Yay!¡± Sasha bounced up and down and then threw me a wink while trying to act cute. ¡°Then as your Senpai-Sensei-Sama I¡¯ll guide you in the first steps of working together as netrunners!¡±


    ¡°I regret everything already.¡±


    ¡°Nyoooo!¡±


    ¡ª--


    Sasha Yakovlleva


    ¡°ICE is down.¡± She called out and looked up, as Kitten finished off another Daemon giving Sasha time to break through. She stepped into the data path and Motoko joined her in moments.


    Seriously even after burning herself out, she still tended to Breach Jump around like a rabbit.


    Maybe Usagi-Chan should be her new nickname? No Kitten-Nyan was much cuter!


    The path behind them closed blocking the resurging Daemons from following.


    ¡°That worked well.¡± Motoko said as always her Avatar had a tendency to look around, her eyes checking every corner as if just waiting for something to pop out.


    ¡°Yes! You¡¯re little sight Daemon was cute. Wouldn¡¯t mind trading for some data.¡±


    ¡°No. That ones private.¡± Her very uncute Kohai responded back instantly.


    Mooooe! Always so mean to her Senpai. Not that Sasha didn¡¯t deserve it, she looked away. She¡¯d never tried to take another netrunner under her wing like that, but cute little Motoko with her obvious crush had just been too much to ignore!


    Only for her to fuck it up.


    She squeezed her arm and relaxed. All good. Everything was good. She was flesh and blood. It was her, and not a monster under her skin.


    She wiped that thought from her brain, and focused on the here and now.


    ¡°Next room will have a data moat. You ever came across one?¡±


    ¡°I know what it is.¡± She said but didn¡¯t really answer the question.


    ¡°Nova-Preem! Okay I¡¯ll get the bridge rezzed, and you just keep the Daemons off me, good?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, leave them to me.¡±


    ¡°Yay! Usually baby netrunners hate being on Daemon duty! I¡¯m adopting you forever!¡±


    ¡°Denied.¡± Motoko offered back with her arms crossed, Sasha just cackled at the fact that Motoko was such a fluffed up kitten absolutely denying attention.


    She should invite her to hang out in real skin. That would be nice. The door opened, and they both entered the next security room.


    The data moat was just as she remembered a massive chunk missing from the bottom of the room, it wasn¡¯t just a visual thing, even Motoko¡¯s little Breach Jumps wouldn''t be able to cross it, not until the servers bridge was reconnected. It was a literal hardware disconnect.


    Turrets dropped from the ceiling. The IMP¡¯s controlling the servers attack programs already opening up. While a Succubus also manifested.


    Oh no! That was the old school fully nude ones! Good luck Motoko! Don¡¯t fall for her Digital whiles!


    Senpai Sasha was busy!


    Sasha focused on her task, a Succubus was a bit much for most newbies, but Motoko was a bit more than that.


    Okay access node, entered, ICE bypassed, there¡¯s the Bridge connection, but it¡¯s behind a whole lot of protections. Whoever designed this room wanted to keep a netrunner stuck here for a while.


    Sasha looked over and relaxed. Motoko had already ripped the Succubus apart, despite the Daemons four programs, it didn¡¯t matter to Motoko¡¯s speed. That girl really was quick. Not quite as fast as some of the best with a Keren, or Sandy setup for a real connection. Or those that went all out and got Deep Net Dive equipment.


    Sasha didn¡¯t have that sort of eddies, or a hospital she trusted to actually do that to her.


    Such was life.


    Another ICE wall was cleared, and Motoko had wiped out the turrets, but the second wave had already activated. A small army of Soldier Daemons. They were battering down Motoko¡¯s own ICE that she¡¯d surrounded both Sasha and herself with.


    Sasha had been ready to raise her own, it was rare to be able to truly trust your back on the net to another runner.


    Sasha was going to have to give her Kohai lots and lots of affection for being such a good girl!


    ICE cleared.


    ¡°Bridge is loading!¡± She called out as she rose up, and set her own hacks to wiping Daemons to clear the path.


    Motoko¡¯s rapid light hacks were very clean. Low Ram, high output, but Sasha liked things a bit beefier. She started loading, relying on Motoko to keep her safe, three seconds, five seconds.


    Ten seconds.


    Upload complete.


    The wave of fire that exploded out of her hands wiped the entire group of Daemons, even causing some discoloration on the server walls.


    ¡°Hah! Take that!¡±


    ¡°Sasha¡­ Don¡¯t kill steal.¡± Motoko replied back, cutting the wind out of her sails.


    ¡°Wha! I was helping!¡±


    ¡°I almost had them all.¡± Her Kohai grumbled like a grumpy little kitten and headed for the bridge.


    Oh no! ¡°I¡¯m Sooooorry!¡± She called out rushing after. She¡¯d ruined her little Kohai¡¯s big moment! She¡¯d need to work extra hard to build up her confidence! Don¡¯t worry Kitten! Sasha is here!


    ¡ª---


    *250 XP Gained.*


    *250 XP Gained.*


    *250 XP Gained.*


    *250 XP Gained.*


    The numbers flowed, and I was a happy Gamer.


    ¡°And here is the end! Like I said, just an old data processing server, but it has crazy defenses huh-huh! I was right, right?¡±


    ¡°Yes Sasha, this was actually surprisingly tough. It was good training¡­ We work well together.¡±


    ¡°Hehe! Well next time we should switch jobs. I want to see how well Kitten does breaking down ICE instead of slaying Daemons.¡±


    All I could do was nod, it would be a good idea, but¡­


    ¡°How about we call it here for today though? I¡¯ve been on the net all day, and my choom has been watching for me.¡±


    ¡°Oh that¡¯s so smart! What a good girl! Having a choom watching out for you! Aaaa! You¡¯re such a good Kohai!¡± She squeed at me, and I once more got the feeling Sasha was sort of overcompensating a bit.


    ¡°It¡¯s just a good idea.¡±


    ¡°Mhmm! It is, it is! I wish Sasha could trust Maine or one of the others to watch over her, but they¡¯re no good.¡± She admitted, and I actually felt kinda bad.


    Sure, it was a big ask to have Malcolm basically sit around all day, and I was kinda-sorta his boss as well, but he could say no, but hadn¡¯t so far¡­


    I would have to thank him when I logged.


    ¡°Well thanks, Sasha, I appreciate this.¡±


    ¡°Yes! Want to meet up with best Senpai tomorrow? Oh! Or is that too soon?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s say the day after at least. I have other things to do.¡±


    ¡°Yes! I¡¯ll see you then okay?¡± She asked and I couldn¡¯t help but send her an actual smile.


    ¡°Yeah see you then.¡±


    ¡°Hehe!¡± We both disappeared from the server not long after and I arrived back at my Lobby, and logged out.


    ¡°Malcolm?¡±


    ¡°Here ¡®Toko.¡± Malcolm called out as I rose up blinking my eyes and stretching. Malcolm was laying across a few chairs with the laptop in his lap as he played some game on his agent while he watched.


    ¡°Hey, uh¡­ Thanks Malcolm, really. I appreciate you covering me.¡±


    ¡°Hey, it''s cool choom. Seeing netrunner stuff is neat, and I don¡¯t like the idea of you laying there without someone covering you anyways.¡± He offered as he sat up placing the laptop on the chair he had his legs up on as he rose up and stretched himself. ¡°Oh man. I¡¯m ready to move though.¡±


    ¡°Yeah me too. Want to grab some food?¡±


    ¡°Ah, I can''t, I ate like everything. I¡¯m stuffed.¡± I looked towards the bags of snacks we¡¯d brought with and yeah he¡¯d demolished it all.


    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s get out of here anyways.¡±


    ¡°Definitely.

 Chapter 217

    I¡¯d hung out with Malcolm for a while, but we eventually split up as it was getting late.


    Giving me time to look over my updates.


    *Quick Hacks skill level up!*


    *1 Perk Point Gained.*


    This was big all on its own. I¡¯d finally managed to get Quick Hacks to 10. That last level up from 9 to 10 was really a slog, but I¡¯d managed it.


    The feeling of surety in how to twist and alter Data on the fly felt surreal. What was a Quick Hack, but a long hack already programmed and ready, why not alter some variables when needed on the fly?


    It was a big jump, but as always the perk was even bigger.


    *Level up achieved!*


    *One Stat Point Gained.*


    *One Skill Point Gained.*


    I had leveled up once after killing so many Daemons.


    Dozens of the things had been spawned in that Server, it wasn¡¯t quite as crazy as that first Server that Yoko had tossed me into, but it was still an excellent spot for some practice.


    I¡¯d have to see if I could go through it solo at some point. Sure, balancing defending against Daemons, and clearing server fortifications like that Moat room would be a bit more than normal, but it was still just a server.


    Most importantly though, I needed to choose with my Stat point. Aaaah! It was always so hard to choose! I wanted more Adaptation for my Sandy, and I wanted more numbers for everything else!


    I sighed and just looked at Intelligence.


    It was probably the best choice. Start getting some real specialty with Netrunning, especially since Sasha had asked me to join in her little challenge.


    Honestly, I did want to impress Lucy. Although she was probably my superior in netrunning. Ugh. She probably wouldn¡¯t be using her deep dive port, but the girl was trained to dive beyond the Blackwall. She would be scary to deal with.


    I sighed and just decided. Pushing the point into Intelligence.


    I startled as I heard a negative tone and then looked at my Intelligence still at 14¡­. Wait.


    Intelligence 14 (14) Due to Cyberization, Maximum value has increased by 4.


    ¡°Ah.¡±


    I was already maxed out without more cyberware¡­


    I forgot.


    Looking around I relaxed, driving through Night City meant no one had just seen me do something so stupid.


    Ugh. Okay, so should I go get something new to pump my Intelligence Cyberization, or just start leveling another Stat? Or I could put another point into my Sandy¡­


    I sighed, I really should focus on getting my netrunning up. I closed the stat page as I was at a red light and made a call.


    *Kid everything alright?*


    *Hey Vik, everythings fine. I¡¯m on the lookout for something. You know of any good Ram Upgrades, or something? I¡¯m getting ready for a netrunner challenge in a week, and I want to boost myself as much as I can.*


    The light changed and I started driving.


    *I don¡¯t have anything in stock, nothing that would be compatible with your netdeck. Let me put out some calls, for my favorite customer I¡¯ll see what I can do.*


    *Thanks Vik. I¡¯ll try to look around as well, if you find something let me know?*


    *Sure kid. Talk to you soon.*


    *See ya!*


    I changed my calls as I drove through the city.


    *Motoko?*


    *Hey Hiromi, I need some new cyberware, I already asked Vik about it, and he¡¯s looking around, but I¡¯m looking for a Ram Upgrade.*


    *Oh! Okay, let me see. I have a list of Rippers that we worked with last time, I¡¯ll ask around.*


    *Okay just don¡¯t promise anything right away unless it¡¯s really good. I have Vik looking too.*


    *Don¡¯t worry Motoko! I won¡¯t let you chip in some scop chrome! Just give me a minute! Bye!*


    The call closed and I couldn¡¯t help but chuckle, as always Hiromi was so energetic.


    Alright that gave me time to look at the last reward.


    The perk.


    Quick Hacks 10, it honestly felt amazing to reach. An offensive skill finally reaching 10.


    The list of perks as always was long, and I browsed through them as I drove, as I parked, as I rode the elevator up, as I flopped on the couch.


    There were a lot of amazing options, but I had to pick just one.


    Ninja Hacking: Learn how to slip hacks below notice.


    The perk¡¯s knowledge flooded me, and I had to stop for a moment and just close my eyes to process.


    Mostly because it was just full of mathematics, and ways of thinking. Netrunning wasn¡¯t a science really. There was an art to it. An understanding of how to insert a program to get the longest amount of time before it was noticed, ways to bypass human perception, and more.


    It was all one more step to being able to Laughing Man anyone I came across. I was getting closer to being able to truly alter someone''s sight in real time, closer and closer to simply being a Ghost.


    Hopefully Vik or Hiromi would get back to me soon.


    ¡ª--


    Despite having spent all day active on the net, my body didn¡¯t get the message and I felt antsy as I paced the apartment. Hiromi had only sent a single update text that she was working on a lead, so I didn¡¯t want to just go to sleep.


    The information from the new perk still flowed through me, I was processing it, but I couldn¡¯t relax.


    My pacing stopped as I headed into my room and pulled out Musashi¡¯s Katana  and headed back to the living room. Drawing the blade I slipped into the forms relying on instinct to swing the blade.


    I¡¯d need to make some adjustments to my quick hacks. While the perk was mostly knowledge of what I could do, there were things I now understood about netrunning that meant with a few tweaks I could make all of my hacks more stealthy.


    I wonder if I could entice Yoko with an even more stealthy Ping? I¡¯d already called my older Ping a stealth Ping, but that had been arrogant. I could make it even less impactful on a network, I could upload it right to the face of a netrunner protecting a network and they probably wouldn¡¯t even notice.


    Well unless it was someone like Yoko.


    The fact was she was still better than I was, I still had heights to reach.


    I stalled, my blade held for a cutting strike above my head as I held it. There was a moment, a stirring along the back of my neck, I shifted, adjusting to face the door and then it opened a moment later as Jun walked in stopping as he noticed me with my Katana out.


    ¡°Motoko?¡±


    ¡°Hey Jun.¡± I greeted back and lowered my Katana, shifting into a completely casual position  ¡°I¡¯m feeling antsy.¡± I told him and he just nodded.


    This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.


    ¡°Well, be careful in the apartment. I don¡¯t want to explain to Fujimura-Sama why he needs to send someone to fix a cut in the wall.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d never! What do you take me for some sort of gonk, drawing a blade for the first time?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    I narrowed my eyes and lowered my sword before pointing the sheath at him threateningly.


    ¡°Those are fighting words.¡± I said eyes narrowed, and he smirked, drawing his sheathed sword from his hip, pulling the blade out and laying it gently on a table near the door. I walked over and put my blade on the kitchen counter and then we both shifted. ¡°Prepare to die.¡± I told him, and he snorted.


    ¡°Prepare to be humiliated.¡±


    We charged and the sheaths smacked as we instantly fell into a rhythm.


    ¡°Foolish Nii-chan, you will be a good test for my progress!¡±


    ¡°Motoko¡­ You¡¯re embarrassing.¡± He told me to my face and I responded hotly, our ¡®blades¡¯ crossing and searching each other for weaknesses.


    Jun was stronger. Annoying. But he was also more limited, his muscles, and strength were limited. Like a bodybuilder going for absolute gains, without realizing that he couldn¡¯t even scratch his own back anymore.


    I abused that, coming up from angles, where he couldn¡¯t bring his strength to bear, and most importantly, I was just better than him.


    I could taste his instincts, Jun had definitely been taught by Sensei, but I¡¯d fought the entire Dojo.


    I knew all the common motions and movements that sensei taught, and it was child''s play to put Jun right into a position where suddenly I flicked up and his sheath was flying out of his hands.


    ¡°Hah! I¡¯m invin-Hey!¡± I growled as he grabbed my wrist while I raised my hands in victory. ¡°That¡¯s a real bit-Eeeee!¡± I went flying as he spun, lifting me entirely off my feet and flung me like a ragdoll towards the couch.


    I spun, shifting my angle and landed feet first spread out and staring right at him.


    ¡°No, that¡¯s bullshit.¡± he grumbled pointing at my successful save. ¡°How did you do that? I just threw you!¡±


    ¡°Motoko is a ninja, Nin nin.¡± I informed him, giving a big smirk and that only made him glare harder.


    ¡°Ninja my ass. Alright I¡¯m done.¡± He went to grab his sheath and I stood up and wiped myself down to do the same, we both put our swords away and honestly I did feel a lot better!


    ¡ª--


    *Thanks Vik.* I confirmed, as my favorite ripper had found something. A Ram Upgrade that would be a solid upgrade. It wasn¡¯t top of the line, and it wasn¡¯t bottom of the barrel, but anything was better than nothing to be fair.


    I pulled away from the couch where I¡¯d been lazing around and sent a text to Hiromi.


    *Motoko: Vik pulled through, He found a Zetatech 6.5 RAM. It¡¯s usable.*


    *Hiromi: Hold on.*


    I blinked at the quick response, but Hiromi was going to Hiromi so I headed into my room to check some stuff. My Tachikoma project was doing well, I noticed. The little drone was wheeling around doing much better than it had when I first put it down. It still spent most of the day exploring my room, but that was fine.


    Wandering around, I snatched up some equipment, grabbed my guns and such. Before stopping and grabbing a Katana.


    I was so close! Just a little more and I could finally level it up!


    Then I headed out, Jun was in his room napping so I left quietly and headed towards the elevator. I could go see Vik while I waited for Hiromi, probably go check out the RAM he found. I¡¯d hate to find some scop shit from another ripper.


    Just as I was unlocking my Quadra I got a call back from Hiromi.


    *Motoko! Okay listen! I just got a contact, someone is selling some really nice netrunning cyberware! A whole batch!*


    I blinked at how breathless she sounded coming through the agent, and then felt excited.


    *Really? Do you know what?*


    *Somewhat, I got confirmation on some RAM, a Raven Micro RAM, T3716.* She offered, and honestly?


    I had no idea if that was good or not.


    *Whoa! That¡¯s great Hiromi! Okay give me a second to check in with Vik, but I still want to check on this sale. Meet up?*


    *Yes! Sending my cords!*


    I nodded, and ended the call as I jumped in. Sending Vik a message asking about the T3716


    ¡ª--


    I pulled up to find Hiromi waiting on the side of a road, obviously having just come out of a market area in City Central, and sliding into the passenger seat. She was practically bouncing showing how excited she was.


    ¡°I talked to Vik, he said the T3716 is top of the line. Way better than the RAM he managed to find. Great job. Thanks Hiromi.¡±


    She sent me a big toothy smile, but then shook herself. ¡°Don¡¯t thank me yet, we still need to actually buy it¡­. Uh, the dealer is in Dogtown.¡±


    ¡°Fuck.¡± I grumbled, but I nodded and turned towards Pacifica.


    ¡°Yeah I know. But it¡¯s a stand in the old stadium. I got confirmation they sell amazing stuff there, and they¡¯ll be there today.¡±


    ¡°Alright. Well¡­ We probably don¡¯t need to call everyone.¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t. It¡¯ll be fine. Barghest are focused on trying to make themselves official, they want things peaceful especially when it comes to trade.¡±


    ¡°Yeah yeah.¡± I grumbled, as I turned towards Pacifica. I still didn¡¯t like it, but Hiromi just shot me a triumphant look and I had to shift my grumpy face to something accepting.


    ¡°Thanks Hiromi, I know I bug you all the time.¡±


    ¡°Pfft. My number one most trusted agent deserves the best of the best. How will I earn eddies, if my money maker doesn¡¯t have what she needs?¡± She said completely straight faced and I had to shift to look at her before she started giggling.


    ¡°Funny.¡±


    ¡°I know! It¡¯s fine Motoko. We make so many eddies, and this is a great experience. My classes at Arasaka are good but¡­ They leave a lot of things out. Like making contacts on the black market.¡± She said and I heard her irritation. ¡°Stupid formulaic classes. They tell you that having Black Market contacts can be useful, but don¡¯t actually teach you how.¡±


    ¡°But you figured it out.¡±


    ¡°But I figured it out! It¡¯s something I can put on my worker log. I¡¯ve had some of the teachers pay a lot more attention to me after everything.¡±


    ¡°And that¡¯s good?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s great! I¡¯m actually treated as an important student. You remember Tomaru?¡±


    ¡°Uhhh.¡±


    ¡°You pulled your gun on him when he tried to touch you once. It was a while ago.¡±


    ¡°Yeah I don¡¯t. Sorry.¡± I made the turn onto the freeway.


    ¡°Heh! No it¡¯s better that you don¡¯t. He used to cause me a lot of problems, thought he was hot shit, but the teachers actually stopped him from fucking with me after class.¡± She smirked. I could see it out of the corner of my eye as she told the story.


    ¡°Want me to kill him?¡±


    ¡°Nah.¡± She denied and there was a sinister edge to it all. ¡°He isn¡¯t worth it, and he¡¯s below me now in the hierarchy, everyone knows it. His father is a bit higher than my parents, but now I¡¯m above him from my own work. It¡¯s made things interesting.¡±


    ¡°Well I¡¯m glad classes are going well.¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± She trailed off, but I didn¡¯t press. Hiromi had never really enjoyed her schooling. I think the only reason she even went is because of my urging her to go.


    But if some shit lord corpo was fucking with my choom, I¡¯d visit him and make sure that problem was nipped in the bud.


    We made it to the massive wall around Dogtown, and went through their security with Hiromi handling the pass and then we were through. The badly maintained streets rumbled beneath the Quadra as we turned towards the old stadium. We found a parking space, and I locked up the Quadra and even activated the Tachikoma, just in case.


    I wanted to know the moment someone stupidly tried to steal my Quadra.


    I looked around double checking the wandering people around us, as I stuck close to Hiromi.


    Hiromi didn¡¯t seem to mind my presence at her side as I stayed close. At least she understood this place was dangerous even if she constantly argued the opposite.


    We headed up the long stairs, past more than a few Barghest troops. Most of them were street kids dressed up like soldiers. New recruits instead of the original unit that had turned traitor and took over Dogtown.


    Walking inside, I let Hiromi guide us, keeping a close watch on everyone that even walked near us. My eyes locked open, and hand on the Katana at my hip. I watched, ready and willing to cut down anyone that caused trouble.


    No Cyberpsychoes jumped out of the woodwork, and no one tried to pickpocket, or worse.


    It was just a normal trip through the stadium as Hiromi guided us to a corner where an old van had been parked. An actual van¡­ I had no idea how it had gotten up here, there must be some sort of vehicle entrance down the way.


    The side door was closed and resting against an old beach chair was¡­


    A netrunner? I guess? It felt like someone trying too hard to appear to be a netrunner than anything. Netrunning suit, goggles, that were pulled up, and some older equipment, an actual external cyberdeck, a Zetatech Micromate if my quick scan told the truth.


    ¡°I¡¯m Mitsunashi, here to see Koko.¡±


    ¡°Yeah?¡± The boy asked, his eyes flashing as he scanned over Hiromi, and looked at me. I just waited, letting it happen before he nodded. ¡°Alright then chooms. Let me introduce you to the product.¡± He waved behind him, and the door opened. And inside, there was a lot of gear.


    Cyberware hung from little hooks through the van, plastic bags sealed and hopefully secure. Either way I¡¯d be doing a full clean before installing any of this.


    I had a feeling I was dealing with a scav seller now.


    ¡°Good. I¡¯d like confirmation on what we discussed.¡±


    ¡°Yeah yeah, Corp, I get you.¡± He grumbled, seemingly annoyed at Hiromi¡¯s professionalism.


    He stood up and stepped into the van, pulling a few packages off hooks more than what I had originally asked for, what was Hiromi up to?


    Then he laid them all out and I looked it over.


    There was the Raven Microcybernetics RAM. I looked over the package doing a quick scan, and it looked functional. ¡°You wanted the T3716 right? Good shit right there. Real top of the line. Its former owner was a runner, got derezzed going up against corpo security, his chrome is going out to the public now with a bit of his anti-corpo spirit along with it¡­ Or I guess if you¡¯re corps, then you can do something good with his chrome, or whatever you corpo¡¯s believe.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not!¡± Hiromi started, but then just shook it off. ¡°Motoko?¡±


    ¡°Looks good. Nothing on my scan shows damage.¡±


    ¡°Course not. I don¡¯t sell scop, Hansen would flatline any dealer here selling like that. I pay good eddies for a space right here.¡± He grumbled at me, but I just nodded, uncaring about his opinion. As if that would stop him from selling me something not working if he could.


    ¡°And the other pieces?¡± Hiromi asked hesitantly, and I took a look away from what I had wanted to see what else Hiromi had found. The first that caught my eye was an Ex-Disk. Something I already had, but¡­ Well mine was scop, literal trash I pulled from a Scav den.


    This was another top of the line. Same company too. Raven Microcybernetics put out good equipment. It only took a glance over the cyberware to confirm they were functional. It¡­ Yeah I wanted it.


    I reached over and shifted the package on top of the other, then looked at what was left. Two packages and both¡­


    Okay that was a good selection. I looked at Hiromi and she smiled as I gave her a nod in thanks.


    ¡°Is that Camillo?¡±


    ¡°Course it is.¡± The seller commented. ¡°Top of the line!¡±


    ¡°Well, top of the line for stuff that isn¡¯t super rare. It¡¯s a RAM Manager, and not a Reallocator.¡±


    ¡°Pfft. If you think I¡¯d be selling a Reallocator off the back of the van and not just calling up some top runners to bid it away you¡¯re crazy.¡± He responded back and all I could do was chuckle along with him.


    Fair enough. I looked it over. Camillo was not what I would call top of the line, but¡­ It was functional, and it did what it said on the tin. More Ram, and a faster restore time. It meant more hacks, less heat.


    I scanned it over, and once again everything seemed in order. Even the cords inside the packaging were individually wrapped so they wouldn¡¯t cause any issue for the delicate cyberware.


    I put it on top of the pile. This was going to cost me, but¡­


    I looked at the last thing and¡­ I put it on top as well.


    Not as needed, but this was definitely a Hiromi thing. Self-ICE. Protection against quick hacks, at least somewhat. I¡¯d have to check what sort of ICE it was using, and probably program in something even better. Something more personal, but it would give me automatic protection without me needing to constantly fend everything off myself.


    Plus it also came with an additional bit of RAM.


    Literally everything here did. My Arasaka Shadow had eight RAM, I¡¯m used to an extra bit from my EX-Disk, but all of this equipment together? I¡¯d probably be doubling the available RAM to work with¡­


    I couldn¡¯t help but think it was time to start installing some bigger hacks as well. I still had ¡®that¡¯ hack that Yoko had given me so long ago. She¡¯d wanted to see what I could do with it, with my programming so far.


    I put the other package with the others.


    ¡°Alright. Seems I got some interested customers! Let¡¯s talk price!¡± The runner said with a smile, and Hiromi of course had her smile grow even larger as she stepped forward, nearly into the man''s space as she went to work at what she was best at.

 Chapter 218

    Hiromi as usual haggled fiercely, but even her best wasn¡¯t enough to really give us much, if any, sort of discount.


    It was fine. I¡¯d been making a lot of eddies, and never really spending it. Buying new Cyberware was basically my main cost anyways.


    Hiromi and I were leaving the stadium, she was holding the gear keeping my hands free as I kept my eyes on everyone and everything.


    ¡°Relax Motoko.¡± She whispered to me voice teasing, but I just smiled at her, and then ignored her anyway.


    We made it back out to the setting sun and I had a moment of realization that despite how dangerous this place was, and it was, no doubt about that. It still had its own kind of life. I watched people camping out all along the sort of valley that Dog Town was built into. Campfires, and parties.


    Stupid to do it here, but I guess some people preferred Barghest to NCPD.


    Just as we were about to hit the top of the stairs I heard it, and stilled.


    The noise was familiar, perfectly tuned Quadra Super 640 Hyper engine.


    My engine.


    ¡°Fuck.¡± I whispered as I raced forward for a moment ignoring Hiromi as I jumped up, getting as high as I could to watch as my Quadra, my baby, with it¡¯s pretty black paint raced out of the parking area, slamming into a bit of abandoned junk along the sidewalk and then roared forward down the main boulevard away from the stadium.


    ¡°Motoko!¡± Hiromi called out from below me, but I waited, eyes locked, as I went to work. It was already almost too far. I sent a Ping and activation code to the trackers that littered the car.


    I watched as golden spider webs stretched out as the trackers reached out for open network nodes to transmit to me, and then just a bit more the car was too far and my Kiroshi stopped tracking the access lines.


    But I watched on anyways, come on.


    Come on.


    I waited. There were only a few streets in Dog Town, and the biggest issue was my car was heading right towards the turn off towards the exit.


    If my car turned off into Night City proper¡­


    It would take less than ten hours for my car to be turned into scrap and disappear. My network tracking method would be too slow.


    I saw brake lights as they came up to the turn and felt my stomach drop, but a Barghest truck drove in front of them, and the Quadra¡¯s lights turned off and rushed forward.


    Driving right past the entrance to Dog Town, and farther in.


    I breathed a sigh of relief, even if the air passing my lips came out feeling like arctic cold.


    Turning back I jumped down from the top of the kiosk I¡¯d leapt onto. ¡°C¡¯mon Hiromi. We need to move.¡± I told her, and reached over to help push her forward.


    ¡°Motoko? Was that your car!?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I confirmed and she had a look of real anger spreading across her face.


    ¡°Those bastards! Hey you!¡± Hiromi called out to a Barghest guard that was leaning against the concrete wall of the stadium. ¡°Someone stole my chooms car!¡± She called out and I watched as the guy just looked at her blankly before shrugging just once. Then ignoring her.


    ¡°Yeah. That¡¯s what I thought would happen.¡± I confirmed, still moving her down the steps of the stadium. I needed¡­.


    ¡°Fucker! Aren¡¯t you- Motoko!¡±


    ¡°There, let¡¯s go.¡± I said pushing her along away from the Barghest guard that would more than likely just shoot her than listen to her.


    ¡°What? Motoko? I should call everyone! We need a ride-¡±


    ¡°We have a ride. I need to get you somewhere secure, and then I need to go get it.¡± I told her back and pushed her forward, right towards the Heavy Hearts.


    It would be safer inside there, a booth and time would keep Hiromi safe while I took care of things.


    Hiromi looked like she was going to argue with me, but instead she simply nodded and put some effort into hurrying up. Good, that gave me time to think.


    I had my weapons. Lexington with two spare mags on the back rig, my Burya with two replacement mags, and my Katana at my hip.


    It would be enough, and if it wasn¡¯t, I¡¯m sure whoever was stupid enough to steal my car would have some more weapons. We crossed the street and then ran up to the Pyramid entrance. The Barghest guards looked like he was going to stop us, but thought better of it, as we slowed and I walked Hiromi inside. ¡°Just find a quiet place, let everyone know there might be trouble.¡±


    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you wait for backup? Isn¡¯t that what you always tell us?¡± Hiromi reminded me as I was already half turned away.


    ¡°Yeah probably, but if I don¡¯t hurry they might start taking apart my car. I¡¯ll keep you updated with my location just in case.¡±


    ¡°Alright. You¡¯ll have backup soon, but be safe.¡±


    I nodded and hurried out the door, breaking into a light jog as I started moving across Dog Town. I didn¡¯t know this area at all. I had no idea the safe places if you could call it that, or the gang territory. The only thing I knew was that at least one person was about to die. When I found out who stole my car I was going to make it painful.


    I paced myself perfectly, and wasn¡¯t bothered by a light jog. Across broken sidewalks and over old graffitied benches I crossed the area as quickly as I could on foot. Luckily Dog Town wasn¡¯t that large.


    I made good headway, ignoring the looks I was receiving from the natives. I raced along the street until it ended, which was annoying, but I was still getting a few stray pings from my trackers. Further forward.


    As I ran I ended up running right into what looked like a little shopping district. A large tree of all things, a real tree stood in the center. I looked around for a moment, but the ping which was coming from what looked like a netrunner center in a cargo container kept pointing me forward.


    I jogged through and finally I found it. Turning a corner I heard it first. Russian voices. There was a chair set into an old container that was looking out over the gap in between two containers and a Scav was sitting there keeping watch¡­ Mostly on his TV.


    Okay. My breath was good, but I had exerted myself. Calm. Cool.


    I sent a ping to Hiromi giving my location and a brief description of what I¡¯d found. I activated the BD recorder, opening my eyes to a world recorded. Then I peaked out from around the container and pinged the Scav.


    Lights splashed across my vision. More and more as the stealthiest Ping I could do stretched its web between all the Scavs connected to it.


    I added onto the message to Hiromi that I was looking at fifty plus Scavs¡­


    I reached up and realized I was smiling, my heart hammering in my chest in a completely different way from exertion.


    An excuse to murder an entire Scav den, and a big one? Oh I was going to really enjoy this. I took a moment to upload another hack into the gonk.


    [Onryo]


    I installed it at a very low setting, basically it would slowly propagate along the network for now, but not actually do anything. Just enough that when I needed I could start really fucking with everyone.


    Then I moved. Stepping back I took two leaps, once against the wall and then over the container. Getting above the guard they had posted. I hunkered down already cataloging the moving pieces all around me.


    Okay, the first target was clear. I leapt across the gap, landing without a sound, and slipping in through the back of the container behind the Scav.


    My knife came up and I muffled his mouth as steel slipped into his jugular, ending his life.


    *500 XP Gained.*


    I dragged him out of the plastic chair and tucked him into a corner out of sight. No one would even notice he was gone until long after I was done here.


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    This gave me an open view down a ramp and into a broken construction area. The large towers that I was shadowed by were skeletal things, incomplete and this was where the Scavs had set up their home.


    There she was. Right down in the open my Quadra sitting at the base of the ramp and people were looking her over.


    She was still complete. They hadn¡¯t started ripping her apart yet.


    I moved. Leaping off the container, and slipping into a crouched position on an old rickety walk way. Using the covered railings to hide myself as I got closer and closer, until I could hear them.


    ¡°I said six kay, that¡¯s all I¡¯ll do.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a fucking modded to fuck Quadra! She¡¯s worth more than that!¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s also klepped. Six Kay.¡± I watched as the guy who obviously stole my ride haggled with a full faced Scav.


    The kid¡­ No I shouldn¡¯t call him that, he was older than me, probably late teens, and he was a target anyways.


    He would die.


    He looked like he wanted to argue even more but eventually just tsk¡¯ed and nodded, holding out a hand. He shook with the Scav, and the deal was done.


    Six thousand eddies¡­ For my car? My baby?


    The shit in her trunk was worth more than six thousand eddies!


    I watched as the thief handed over a shard¡­ He¡¯d already copied the shard? That was¡­ Actually impressive. I could do it¡­ Probably. Never had before, but that was impressive considering it hadn¡¯t even¡­ Well he probably started stealing my car the moment we went into the stadium.


    The little thief turned and walked up the ramp, six thousand eddies richer.


    I followed him.


    ¡ª--


    Tony Gonzalez


    Tony walked calmly out of The Scrapers yard and only when he was sure that he was out of sight did he hurry a bit more to get away, finding a quiet corner to duck into and catch his breath.


    Selling to Scavs was always a danger. Tony kept his Lexington visible in his waistband just in case.


    He checked his account, six kay¡­ That was a lot of eddies, not as much as the car was worth, but it was good eddies, more than he¡¯d make in a couple of months working some scop job or worse.


    Easy eddies. He¡¯d go buy Melissa that skirt she¡¯d been looking at. He wouldn¡¯t mind seeing her in it.


    He patted his jacket, the car cracker was still there. It was his key to a good life. He¡¯d klepped it from a dead runner. Old Etienne was a VDB, Tony did some work for him, moved things and the like, but he¡¯d gone to pick up a new package only to find the old runner fried.


    So Tony had helped himself, getting the fuck out of there hopefully without anyone noticing. He hadn¡¯t gone for any of the gear. Nah, that was shit that the other Boys would notice missing. No he klepped the little things that Etienne made. A car cracker, a runner stunner, and all the eddies he knew the old man kept around as he didn¡¯t trust virtual eddies.


    It worked out for Tony. Months of living real quiet, letting old Etienne¡¯s death blow over until no one would ever think Tony had anything to do with it, or that he had klepped something from the old man.


    Then when his eddies were running out, he¡¯d gone out to keep an eye on the stadium lot.


    He couldn¡¯t klep a ride from locals, or anyone too important. There was a way of things, and pissing off Barghest would end with him dead in a ditch, but some outsiders coming to use the blackmarket? Outsider kids even?


    Just a couple girls, corpo and street rat, coming to the black market to feel the thrill probably. Buy something illegal, get into some trouble. Now they¡¯d have a story to tell about their stolen suped up car. Probably daddy¡¯s or something.


    Tony nodded as he made to move on, only he couldn¡¯t. His legs dropped as quickly as his blood pressure, as his throat was opened up.


    ¡ª--


    *250 XP Gained.*


    I took a moment to look through the gonks pockets, a stun stick, nasty fucker too, and a Car Cracker. It¡¯d sync up to a vehicles on board computer override the key system, and with just a press of a button most cars would flash a new key and you¡¯d be off.


    The only problem was, my Quadra had good security, it probably took a while to crack. When I got out of here, I was going to update the security even more. Fucking hell.


    With that cleared up I headed back to the tower that was basically a massive scav den. I looked over the numbers from back on top of the storage containers hidden among the refuse.


    There were netrunners around, but not good ones.


    These weren¡¯t security runners, but thugs. People with Quick Hacks meant to try and disable their targets, and while normally I¡¯d be a lot more wary, with my Stealth Quick Hacking Perk that I¡¯d just picked up, I felt like a Ghost as I uploaded more hacks through the gonks I could see standing around my Quadra.


    There were a lot of people just inside this construction area, and it was a surprise just how many more of them lived inside the half finished skyscraper.


    This was a nest. Maybe even a distribution center for a massive Scav Gang.


    I¡¯d never heard anything about this place, but then again if the data I¡¯d gathered led to DogTown I¡¯d also ignored it and moved on, thinking it was insane to follow it.


    Good thing I was feeling particularly insane at the moment. Onryo had spread to everyone. Time to initiate level 1, I sent out the code that would cause her to start getting a bit more aggressive.


    I needed to clear out the stragglers first. There was a Sniper along the side, he¡¯d be my first target, just to be safe.


    I moved, jumped up and onto the rooftop, only taking a moment to look up, to make sure I¡¯d be out of sight of anyone on the upper levels of the scraper.


    Then I moved, sticking to the shadows cast by the setting sun, and moving across the construction site unseen.


    I heard it as I approached, one of the guys around my Quadra yelped and started yelling at his buddies.


    Onryo was doing her job.


    I slipped down from the Containers that surrounded the area, landing without a sound right behind the sniper Scav. He had good gear even walking around with a Grad of all things. Not really beating those Russian connections there pal.


    It¡¯s fine. He was hidden up above the rest of the construction site, and so when I slipped behind him, and l ran my sword through his heart from behind, grabbing his mouth to quiet his startled gasp he died easily.


    *750 XP Gained.*


    Nice. Extra XP.


    With him dead, I had superiority over the entire area. No one else was really on overwatch.


    It was time to wipe out some Scavs.


    I heard the first real scream as I was making my way through the shadows, unable to hide my grin as Onryo was working.


    Sure, going completely stealth would probably have been better, but¡­ I wanted to see how Onryo did. I still needed to do more updates to it, but a little field test was a good idea.


    That and I didn¡¯t want them to focus on my car.


    I¡¯d already tried to call for it to come to me, but the car cracker that little shit had used, had overwritten the key shard I still had.


    I¡¯d have to override whatever bullshit this thing had done. But first I needed to clear out some assholes.


    I slipped down among the shadows even as the cries of panic grew louder.


    Onryo was working hard. Grabbing at hands, or legs, or running fingers over cheeks from behind. Which the poor bastards agents all made them feel.


    The network integration was working too, as I started hearing the gonks scream at each other when the Ghostly form of the Onryo would slip out from behind someones back with her claw-like hands.


    Of course there were a few working to fix the issue.


    The Netrunners were already trying to hunt down the Daemon in their network, but like I said they were thugs.


    I pulled out my knife readying myself as I took over the Daemon and set up a vector.


    The Netrunner had a moment to see Onryo slide up from below his sight, climbing out of his shadow and then clambering up onto his chest. Each time she touched him as she climbed he¡¯d feel it and then it was revealed the massive knife in her hands.


    ¡°Oh fuck off! Whoever is doing this! I know it¡¯s just a fucking trick!¡± He yelled out, trying to act tough, trying to act like this was nothing so his chooms would calm down.


    Which is why when Onryo thrust a knife into his throat. I made my throw.


    There was a moment, I could tell a dichotomy where what was happening to him didn¡¯t make sense and he tried to deny it.


    But the blood flowing out of his mouth as the blade stuck through his throat stopped all of that.


    The Onryo laughed, warm and sinister and disappeared.


    Which revealed the truth to all of his chooms.


    The screams¡­ Well, I had to admit it gave me warm feelings inside as the Scavs went from reacting to some weird shit, to realizing they were in a horror movie.


    *750 XP Gained.*


    I had one more knife, and then I¡¯d have to start collecting more.


    I grinned.


    The shock, the fear, it already affected their ability to try and pin me down. Instead of sticking together, or sending out groups, the Scavs were splintering, some were running in fear back into the building, some some together, and some started firing randomly.


    One Scav actually shot one of his chooms when the Onryo was sliding along that guy''s face.


    *500 XP Gained.*


    I guess if I got some idiots to kill each other it still counted? That was nice.


    There were about sixteen Scavs in the area at the start, two down, fourteen more to go, and then however many were in this building.


    Time to get to work.


    I started running, rushing through the maze like stacks of containers, and trash that was built up all around the area.


    I knew where they were, but they had no idea where I was.


    The first Scav I ran into was hiding. Shotgun pointed towards the only area where he¡¯d jammed himself. The Pozhar was shaking and wavering.


    Unfortunately I had just leapt above him and was looking down on him now.


    I pushed up the Onryo¡¯s effects on him. Suddenly, hands were crawling up his face, scratching, and clawing at his eyes. Agents weren¡¯t meant to cause pain, but well¡­


    His scream was pretty horrible, and while he was blind and scrabbling at his eyes I leapt down, kicking the pozhar as I landed, knocking it up and out of his hands, until I grabbed it out of the air and pointed it.


    The blast echoed in the little cubby between two containers he¡¯d tucked himself, and then I just dropped the Pozhar and leapt back out.


    *500 XP Gained.*


    Gone like a ghost. I decided to wait and see, laying down on top of the container and just letting the chaos continue.


    Three Scavs came to check on the noise, and when they found their choom, or what was left of him. I adjusted their own affect.


    The feeling of the Onryo scratching at their eyes, gave me all the time I needed to leap in between all three of them.


    My Katana was shifted, and in a single move I drew my blade, three bodies and three heads fell.


    *500 XP Gained.*


    *500 XP Gained.*


    *500 XP Gained.*


    I once more disappeared, slow and steady, lure them away. Get them into smaller numbers, and then blind and remove them.


    Honestly when I¡¯d originally come up with Onryo, I hadn¡¯t thought of its effect of being able to cover some poor gonk''s eyes.


    Adding in the pain mechanism, and using that like an Optical Reboot? I had to admit, this was much more powerful of a hack than I¡¯d expected.


    ¡ª-


    Daniil Antonov


    The screams as the setting sun was coming through the open spaces in the half built skyscraper were not something he wanted to hear.


    ¡°Fucking hell. What is going on now?¡± He grunted as he left his own little room. Being the boss of the place had its benefits and a bit of privacy was one of them.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± He called out, looking around as more than a few others were coming out of rooms to find out what the hell was going on.


    He hurried down when no response came.


    Shit.


    ¡°Grab your weapons!¡± He roared to everyone grabbing his own Pozhar and hurrying towards the elevator.


    When he arrived he slowed down so he could process what he was seeing.


    One of his men was shaking and disturbed, scratches ran across his face, and they looked self-inflicted.


    Cyberpsycho? He gripped his gun tight, just in case.


    ¡°What the hell is going on?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re under attack!¡± The man checking on him called out. ¡°Some Runner is fucking with our boys! They¡¯re seeing ghosts, and more and more are showing up dead!¡±


    Daniil considered this. There were two paths forward for him. Send more men downstairs, maybe even start ordering everyone down to kill this scop sucker.


    The other was to wait it out. Netrunners had to see you to hack you out. He didn¡¯t have security cameras up here, and his boys had every route up, locked down. Some one dangerous enough to start slaughtering his men was dangerous enough to just let them do what they wanted.


    But that would make him look weak.


    ¡°Dmitri. Take your squad, clean up this mess.¡± Daniil ordered, and looked up at the man.


    Dmitri was his group''s heavy hitter. The most borged out fuckers in the group. Ex-SovOil special forces. They were what Daniil used when shit got bad. The guards he used when he had to deal with Barghest, or any of the other players here in Dogtown.


    ¡°You heard him!¡± Dmitri didn¡¯t wait, roaring out and holding that massive HMG of his.


    His squad of killers clambered into the elevator. There whoever was stupid enough to fuck with him was dead. Now to deal with these idiots getting scared of some piece of trash causing trouble.

 Chapter 219

    I dropped down right onto the poor unsuspecting gonk. Knife into the eye socket, slight jerk to scramble everything and other hand grabbed tight onto his throat, squeezing to make sure not a sound could escape.


    The death rattle practically squeaked out, and I held the body in the shadows as it twitched its final times.


    Only once I was sure it wasn¡¯t going to kick hard and hit something or make too much noise did I lower it to the metal grating. Taking just a second as I pulled free my blade to wipe it on his shirt, removing as much of the blood as I could. Kiroshi could track blood stains if I wasn¡¯t careful, so it was a good idea to remove as much extra blood to keep it from dripping as I could.


    *500 XP Gained.*


    I¡¯d been slowly picking off this group one by one. Onryo was pulling her weight, and I had to admit, while I usually like to think complete stealth is better. There is definitely something for causing so much chaos that your enemies are just as unable to deal with you as if they didn¡¯t know you were there.


    I¡¯d circled the entire area, and was hiding in the darkness of a few pallets when I heard the cry that they found my most recent kill.


    The fear that I could hear in their voices was delicious, and I couldn¡¯t help but smile as I fucked with the one screaming.


    Out of the corner of his eye Onryo would flash past, and the cry that he¡¯d seen her was all I needed.


    It gave me all the opportunity I needed to move. I leapt and slid into the open vent that ran above the hallway they¡¯d all been coming in and out of.


    I¡¯d heard the elevator inside going up, and I¡¯d now heard it coming back down.


    I slid quickly on my belly along the metal venting until I found a spot I could peak down from.


    A long hallway, and I could now see the targeting laser of an HMG turret going back and forth¡­


    Heh.


    I wormed my way forward, until I could see it, and slipped inside.


    One moment to the next I opened my ¡®eyes¡¯ but I was the turret, slowly arcing back and forth, giving me a view of the tunnel from the end, and a few Scavs that were huddling down at the end of the tunnel guns pointed and whispering to each other.


    The temptation was there to just turn the HMG turret, but I held off, the elevator was coming down.


    I couldn¡¯t see as the elevator dinged open, but I heard it, with my real ears.


    ¡°Get the fuck up! The fuck are you cowering for!?¡± Roared a booming voice, and the steps soon followed sounded like the footfalls of an elephant.


    The man that walked past the turret was huge, borged out to hell and back. So I slipped through his security, I realized I was literally laying calmly just above this idiot, practically smiling as I felt like humming, but I never would, as I breached into his system.


    Hmm. This had been an excellent test of the Onryo, but she still needed some work.


    I ended up turning over onto my back relaxing as I used the turret to breach into each of the new Scavs systems, uploading Onryo and making some active adjustments. All I really needed was¡­


    That should work, Agent vocal methods. Yeah that would do it.


    Actively altering a hack as I listened too what the Scavs were up to.


    ¡°Well Where is this Runner fuck? Why isn¡¯t he dead yet!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s like a ghost Dmitri! Nothing we do works!¡±


    ¡°A fucking ghost! Fuck off! Well! Runner come out so I can murder you already!¡±


    I closed my eyes and smirked, overriding one of the Scavs that had been down here the whole time.


    Time to make a show.


    ¡ª---


    Dmitri Agapov


    ¡°Fuck off! Well! Runner come out so I can murder you already!¡± He roared, his eyes scanning. Third gen Kiroshi let him find even sneaky fuckers, or so he thought, as he looked around and didn¡¯t get anything but the scan pinging the dead bodies.


    Who the fuck was this? Barghest? No, those fuckers would have crashed in with an APC and started shooting.


    This stunk, and Dmitri hardened his grip on his HMG.


    ¡°What do you mean I¡¯ve been here the whole time.¡± Whispered a sultry voice from behind him, and Dmitri shifted.


    One of the fuckers, he hadn¡¯t bothered to remember the name of, had just spoke, the look of horror on the gonks face was registered. But his optics flicked to the woman that was wrapped around his throat, sharp claws clutching the man''s throat.


    ¡°The fuck?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the ghost!¡± Cried one of the others, and to his irritation opened fire.


    The woman cackled as the gonk fuck shot their own men.


    The ghost was untouched. Not a drop of blood, or a bullet pierced her. And then as the gonk slumped having been shot up, she slipped behind him, and as he fell the fucking bitch was gone.


    That was not normal.


    ¡°Naughty.¡± That sultry voice echoed out and he turned, another of his men, was now clutched by the ghost, the voice coming out of his throat not his own. ¡°But you can¡¯t stop me. Not until I get what I want.¡±


    The man screamed flailing around despite the grip the¡­ Ghost? Had on his throat and she cackled as she vanished once he broke contact.


    Did you have to stand still to be affected?


    ¡°Boss!¡±


    ¡°Stay close.¡± He demanded, Dmitri had seen open warfare, Sov Oil and Petrochem had been in a cold war with each other for years. It wasn¡¯t Arasaka, and Militech, but the two companies knew who their rival was.


    He¡¯d stared down Dragoon FBC¡¯s. He¡¯d rode atop a Tank piloted by insane Panzer Boys, and yet¡­


    He¡¯d never fought a ghost.


    This was bullshit. He could feel the red rage flooding him, his biomon beeping informing him of another fit.


    Yet, he didn¡¯t see an enemy. How could he fight with a ghost that disappeared before his eyes?


    His HMG shifted the barrel slowly scanning. Trying to find his target.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Whispered in his ear, and he shifted, fingers scraping on his cheek, the sharpness so very very real.


    He roared, pulling the trigger as he shot at the woman that had definitely just touched him.


    The HMG chugged, throwing the rounds through her body until she vanished before his eyes.


    He¡¯d just mowed down Ivan.


    ¡°Bitch!¡± He roared out, blood rushing through his ears. ¡°I¡¯ll kill you!¡± He screamed.


    ¡°Oh but why? We¡¯re becoming such good friends! Kill that one next. His ugly face annoys me.¡± She whispered sweetly into his ear, and pointed at¡­ Some fucker he didn¡¯t actually know the name of.


    His eyes widened behind the Scav mask and he stepped back.


    Dmitri wanted to murder him just because he acted like he was going to kill the gonk.


    ¡°Fuck off!¡± He roared, punching at the stupid ghost woman on his shoulder only for faint laughter to come to his ear.


    Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    His Biomon beeped.


    What? He felt his heart pick up, adrenaline spike and he roared as rage washed over him.


    How? What? Where was the enemy? What was- His Kiroshi shifted, the fuckers around him! All of them had their IFF change to red! Enemies!? HERE!?


    ¡°FUCKING DIE!¡± He screamed as he unloaded, the sound of his biomon beeping in urgency was silenced never to reach through his agent as he killed the traitors. Yes. This was their plan to kill him. A Ghost? Nonsense. These were just traitors!


    ¡ª--


    I was honestly a little surprised at just how effective that had been.


    Hacking into the borgs agent, had given me access to some of his cyberware, and well¡­


    His Biomon had actually already been shrieking about panic attacks of all things. Trying to keep him calm, so I¡¯d just¡­ flipped it around. A real big shot of adrenaline and a few other things the man kept his Bloodpump, and he¡¯d flipped out.


    I think I¡¯d just sent the guy into a full on Cyberpsycho event¡­


    Cool!


    I still felt like humming but kept it to myself as he did all the work in murdering a few scavs. I was a bit disappointed not to get XP from the kills, but that was fine. There had only been a few left, and they did fight back.


    The borg was bloody, a few of the scavs had fired on him when he started attacking them, and well¡­


    That was all to my benefit. He continued to pace around like a bear screaming for the traitors to come out. For them to reveal themselves¡­


    I thought about taking him out. Burya would do it without much issue but¡­ I had a nice situation here.


    The appearance of Onryo flashed in his optics, the IFF in his optics marking it as an ally. She waved for him, and headed back inside.


    This was just¡­ Fucking sinister. I felt myself grinning like some evil villain as he followed in a rush not sure whether he was going to try and kill her or not, but he followed, all the way back inside, past my overwritten HMG turret, and into the elevator as I lured him in again.


    Then¡­ The elevator went up.


    ¡°Look at them. Traitors, they¡¯re going to kill you. Kill them.¡± Onryo whispered in his ear, using his agent to speak to him, as she lured him into a bloodbath.


    Unfortunately I opened my eyes and sighed. I couldn¡¯t see what was happening through his optics, I¡¯d  have to work on something that let me do that, so this game was over.


    I slipped back out of the vent and took just a moment to activate the HMG to fire at any of the scavs that came down. Then I looked over the now dead quiet construction site.


    I took my fingers and used them to make a little square like I was filming a movie and pointed them right at my Quadra, still sitting there nice and pretty.


    ¡°Don¡¯t steal my car.¡± I whispered loudly enough my BD recorder would pick it up, and then I hopped down to make sure everyone was actually dead.


    Stupid scavs.


    I kept a slight bit of attention on the connection I still had to the poor gonk that I¡¯d just sent upstairs, and the alerts on his biomon to new injuries.


    Huh. That had actually worked out pretty well.


    I looked at the Quadra.


    I looked back up at the building behind me that I could hear gunshots hammering¡­


    I should just leave. I had my car. I¡¯d killed Scavs, earned some XP¡­


    Hiromi was probably worried¡­


    This was Dogtown, I had no idea what the politics of this place was like. I should just leave¡­


    On the other hand?


    Fuck Scavs. Fuck this place, and fuck people like them.


    The Biomon confirmed my poor Cyberpsycho was dead.


    That meant there were more scavs. Disrupted confused scavs. Easy to surprise and kill scavs.


    I turned and headed for the elevator.


    Just a few more murders wouldn¡¯t hurt.


    I headed back into the little pathway reaching the HMG turret, and the elevator, but I left the HMG where it was, as much fun as it would be to bring that up with me, she¡¯d do a good job making sure no rats ran away.


    Besides, I was on a quest.


    The elevator closed behind me, and I closed my eyes to focus myself. My hand reached over and grabbed at the hilt of my Katana.


    I was close to reaching that final number. Sensei would be very surprised if I manage it before I have to head back to the dojo.


    So now was my chance. I¡¯d let Onryo play out down below, but here? Where things would be closer? I was going to be the deadly flash of a blade.


    ¡°The perfect cut.¡± I whispered to myself, and the elevator opened revealing the first room. The dead bodies of scavs already lay around, my pet Cyberpscyho had done his job. But I moved forward, calm strides, as I was on a sort of walkway around a lower floor room. It might have been pretty fancy if it wasn¡¯t half complete, and covered in scav entrails.


    I stepped forward and looked down, instantly seeing a few scavs, and my poor cyberpsycho. He¡¯d been shot to hell laying in a slump in the center of the room.


    Ping went out, spreading golden lines across my vision, as I instantly started breaching into the Scavs system.


    [Weapon Glitch] Uploaded into their network, and then I readied the next hack. Stepping up onto the railing I stepped over and into the air letting myself drop.


    Calm. Cool.


    The Perfect Cut.


    My foot touched the ground, and I activated my Sandevistan, Instantly I shifted my momentum forward and launched at the Scavs that hadn¡¯t even registered I was there yet.


    The blade slipped from my sheath, with a whisper, flash of steel and I was through the first Scav.


    *500 XP Gained.*


    ¡°Wha-¡± Their eyes went out, and a moment later my blade slipped through an open neck, sliding out, to cut through the second Scav¡¯s arm that had been raised up to fire a Omaha, which never fired, limb and gun flipped away as I finished the final cut, and all the Scavs in the room slumped dead.


    My neck burned lightly, but¡­


    I breathed in and out.


    More. I needed a bit more to find that perfect cut. To push myself just a little bit farther. I turned towards the hallway leading out of this lower room, and followed the golden lights.


    The next Scav I found never even realized he was dead as I simply cut through him and moved into the room he had just left. Sandevistan activated, giving me the time I needed as I rushed forward. The two scavs in the room shifted up in shock, crying out rising to their feet, before I made them blind and I reached them. First the  arm to remove the gun and then a single strike through the neck, head flying, I considered it for a moment a blissful perfect moment as my Sandevistan kept everything still.


    My hand reached up grabbing dirty hair and I spun sending the now decapitated head soaring through the air right into the blind face of his compatriot, I gave it a moment mostly because I wanted to see what would happen.


    I watched as he stumbled back sputtering and shrieking blind to the world.


    One step. Two step. Three step.


    One step too many.


    There was a hole in the wall, and nothing but open air. He fell back screaming for a long while.


    *500 XP Gained.*


    I turned and moved to keep killing. To keep hunting, and more importantly, to find that perfect cut I needed to improve my Blades.


    I cut through scav after scav. Blind flailing, weapon failing Scavs, each of them nothing but bodies to cut down as I systematically removed their ability to harm me, and then simply removed them.


    Until I was chasing the last golden light, leaping down I found a bridge just settling and a Scav rushing across a sort of draw bridge of all things.


    I chased after, easily catching up foot steps utterly silent as instead of simply cutting him down I kicked him square in the back sending him smashing face first into the metal grill floor.


    ¡°Going somewhere?¡± I asked, Sexy Motoko voice, active and sinister.


    ¡°Fuck! Bitch!¡± He cursed me as he spun around and raised a Burya himself, the borg killer pointed and nothing. A noise of failure as he pulled the trigger a few times earning the same thing.


    ¡°Mines better.¡± I offered and drew my own Burya and fired, his shriek was music to my ears as I shot the Burya right out of his hand, the shrapnel sending his flinching back and screaming.


    So this was it? A pathetic Scav crying as he held his bloodied hand. No grand battle? I mean this would be an awesome place to have a cool sword fight or something. I realized that I was expecting too much. This guy wasn¡¯t going to give me anything worthwhile.


    So instead of listening to his blabbering anymore, or even giving him the benefit of my own words, I just pulled the trigger.


    *1000 XP Gained.*


    Wait that meant he was the leader? That guy? Crying on the ground guy? Jeeze, what a waste.


    That guy was good enough to take the entire scraper under his control, and craft it into a fortress¡­ Of sorts anyways.


    That guy? How embarrassing.


    Too bad their little fortress wasn¡¯t good enough to even slow me down. I looked out over Dogtown from a few stories up and just watched all the people move around.


    Then I blinked as I recognized something.


    Huh. I blinked my eyes as I made a call, and then used that to route through a connection.


    Ichi picked up the call.


    *Motoko! There you are! Hiromi is freaking out, but we got a location. Everything good?*


    ¡°It¡¯s fine choom.¡± I replied, not through the call, but as the Onryo, sitting right beside him in his van. I smirked as I watched the van jerk a bit as Ichi definitely freaked for half a second before getting control so he didn¡¯t smash into the little side street he was heading down.


    *Jesus Christ Motoko! What the fuck!?*


    ¡°Sorry choom, just trying out a few things. I¡¯m fine. Head straight from where you''re going and then hit a right when you can¡¯t go anymore, there¡¯s a drive down into an old construction lot, I¡¯ve cleared everything so get looting.¡±


    *Loot-Alright well you sound good. You found your car?*


    ¡°Yep. Killed the gonk that stole it, and the gonks that he sold it too. Anyone with you?¡±


    *Yeah I got Malcolm and Rebecca in the back. Hiromi is still at the Heavy Hearts, she demanded I come help you before we pick her up.*


    ¡°That¡¯s sweet of her. I was pretty mad so I rushed off, I¡¯ll give her a call now. Just start grabbing stuff. They took over this entire scraper so there might be a lot of stuff up here to grab too.¡±


    *No shit?* He asked, obviously sounding very interested.


    ¡°No shit. Alright I¡¯m out.¡±


    I hung up and instantly called Hiromi, who didn¡¯t hesitate before picking up.


    *Motoko! Tell me you¡¯re okay!?*


    *I¡¯m fine Hiromi, everything is cleared up here, and Ichi is pulling up too. Good timing on his part.*


    *You sure? It¡¯s been a while Motoko! You had me worried!*


    *Sorry Hiromi, it just took me a while to clear this place out. Ichi is pulling up in his van right now, so we¡¯re going to loot up. You want me to come pick you up first, or just get looting?*


    *It¡¯s best to just loot things. I¡¯m fine here I guess. I¡¯m glad you¡¯re okay.*


    *No problem choom, we¡¯ll talk soon, bye!*


    ¡ª--


    ¡°Yo.¡± I called out as I stepped out of the entryway path to the elevator to see Rebecca, Malcolm, and Ichi all already looting.


    ¡°Motoko! Yo!¡± Malcolm greeted grinning like a loon. ¡°Looks like you had a hell of a scrap.¡±


    ¡°It actually wasn¡¯t that bad. I used a new quick hack, and basically made them go crazy. Remember my Onryo hack?¡± I asked him, and he blinked and just shook his head.


    ¡°Nope.¡±


    ¡°Remember me now?¡± Whispered my voice in his ear as my claws ran up along his throat.


    ¡°Frgle! Fuck! Motoko!¡± Malcolm hissed, waving his arms as if trying to dispel the illusion that was already gone.


    ¡°Hehehe!¡± I cackled and Rebecca looked from him to me confused.


    So I winked at her, and started hacking, which she noticed and instantly crossed her arms.


    ¡°Hey! Don¡¯t even think about it Strings, no hacking!¡±


    ¡°Aww.¡± I whined at her while smirking evilly. ¡°It¡¯s really funny though.¡±


    ¡°Nuh uh! No!¡± She pointed and I raised my hands in surrender.


    ¡°Okay okay. So how¡¯s looting coming?¡±


    ¡°Eh. Mostly trash so far, that guy had a Grad.¡± Rebecca pointed at weapon resting against Ichi¡¯s truck as Ichi stepped off the truck grabbing a few weapons and then bringing them into the back to store away.


    ¡°Preem, there¡¯s a ton of stuff upstairs too. We¡¯ll need to gather everything we can.¡± I said loud enough for all three.


    ¡°One step ahead of you, Motoko.¡± Ichi called out, and came around the back of the truck pushing a loader.


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll show you both where the elevator is.¡± I called out to the boys and guided them back to the tunnel, making sure to disable the HMG turret. Which both boys were already eyeing.


    ¡°Go on, get that later if you want it.¡± I told them laughing, and went back to help Rebecca.


    ¡°Hey Strings! Come nab these will you?¡± She called out waving as I approached where Rebecca was squating over one of the corpses. It was one of the more borged out guys that came out with my pet Cyberpsycho.


    ¡°Oh Eddie shards?¡±


    ¡°Yep! You can get them right?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I confirmed, although I didn¡¯t usually think about it. I leaned down and after a few seconds the shard port popped the shard out, which I collected, Rebecca grinned seemingly pleased at the minor eddies on shards like these, and immediately started grabbing guns.


    I shrugged if it made her happy.