Standing at the ready to meet with Gloria and David Martinez I tucked my oversized pistol into my holster at my side. Before I cracked my door open with the room's music system being lightly turned on... In order to drown out the sound of the auto doc of course.
"Hello, how can I help you two?" I asked curiously as I looked between David and Gloria.
And Gloria smiled wryly. "Hello Jake, I am sorry to spring this on you, but I was curious as to whether you could help me and David move a couch to the dump."
Hearing that I blinked before I slowly nodded and said more easily. "Yeah, one second." I closed the door and removed the titanium chain and door brace I had for when I had the door cracked open. And then I came out while looking to the sides obviously.
I was a bit worried about Sasha's crew showing up and shooting first before asking questions. But thankfully they weren't here or anything. So I turned to David and Gloria and said more easily. "Alright lets get to moving the couch... Just don't ask me to go down to the dump." I finished with a slight shudder.
David then asked flatly. "What you scared of some badly smelling trash?"
To which I gave him a dark look and said coldly. "No... The last time I went to throw some furniture away of my own that didn't fit after my move. I ran into a zombie."
David flinched and I saw Gloria freeze before she looked at me in some concern. "Did... Did you get bit or anything?" She asked tensely.
But I shook my head as I saw her hand going to her large ambulance jacket and I added. "No, I killed the zombie with a headshot as per usual. She didn't have any special hardware, just an Output Joytoy that got killed inside of here and then got dumped into the trash where they turned."
Gloria relaxed before she sighed with a frown as she cursed under her breath. "Fucking Umbrella with their non-lethal carriers..."
To which I shrugged and I said. "So yeah, not to mention it's already getting closed tonight so we gonna do this now? Or tomorrow?" I asked as with a whole couch we couldn't exactly force it into the trash chutes.
Gloria frowned before she looked at David and said. "David get the Nova as well... I want to be able to walk around the apartment without breaking my toes on hitting one of the couches in the dark."
David himself looked like it was Christmas as he walked back into the apartment with Gloria giving me a wry smile before she said. "I thank you for the help Jake. You... Ok good you are also packing as well." She noted with a raised eyebrow at seeing the large pistol on my side.
I nodded and said calmly. "Yes I am, so lets going. I need to help you move the couch out of the doorway right?"
And so I got into the Martinez's apartment with David taking one half of the couch while I took over the other half and we moved the rather heavy metal framed couch out of the apartment and then into a cargo elevator we had to pay a small fee to use for the privacy.
Or more like we didn't want our fellow tenants to shoot us for trying to cart a family-sized couch that would take up half of the elevator and squish everyone.
"So Jake, my mom said you do engineering work. Anything cool you work on?" David asked curiously.
I grinned and throwing David a look I said. "I work on scary shit man, big guns, and robots that are built to handle Cyberpyschos and other... Issues outside of Nightcity." I spoke with David giving me a bland look of disbelief.
But instead, I saw Gloria's eyes slide down to my large pistol which had several glowing lights on it to depict its internal state so I knew it wasn't overheating or anything.
"Maybe I will show you one of my toys someday man. But hopefully-" My words were broken as a loud rumble of turbulence made the elevator shudder making us three go silent and I frowned.
'These cargo elevators are made to cart large machines up to the higher levels during construction... What made it shake? Did something large outside the hab tower explode or something?' I mused before we hit the basement where the trash can's were.
But as the elevator doors opened my eyes tightened as I instantly realized the bright lights that had previously lit up the minature dump were all dimmed if not broken altogether leaving the dump in deep darkness.
"Fucking nope." I said as I turned to Gloria and David as I slapped the close button on the door of the elevator.
And Gloria sighed before she said flatly. "Jake quit playing around. We just gotta go up the ramp and push the couch into the trash can closest to us."
I gave Gloria a flat look and I said with utter sincerity. "Gloria... There is literally a monster in there. I will eat a bag of kibble bits if there isn't."
David himself chuckled and said. "Come on dude, you saw one zombo and now you think that every shadow is filled with bioweapons?"
I just gave David a look before I sighed and said. "You know what... Take that magnum out and hold the couch with one hand, Gloria you help on your son's side, if something... Literally anything happens I am dropping the couch to take out my piece alright?"
The both of them rolled their eyes but we got to work going into the damp dark trash zone under the massive block and everything was cool... Until we threw the couch into the trash can making a loud crashing noise that made the air shudder with how the noise bounced off the trash bin's metal walls like a fucking drum being beaten on.
I gave David a look as he stiffened at the loud noise and then instantly I pulled out my pistol as I saw something shoot past one of the lights in the ceiling.
Then I turned on the ultra-bright flashlight on my omni-tool that covered my arm to light up the area.
Loud slapping and scratching noises of wet flesh and metal on metal rang out as a red form skittered across the various trash piles toward us at high speed.
Long banging noise rang out as my Mass Effect pistol shot several times towards the fast moving red blur I could barely track with my very normal human eyes.
'Shit Licker!' I snarled as I missed all my shots due to the high-speed roaming monster that was dashing around. "Back to the elevator!" I yelled out as I started walking backward while shooting while Gloria and David also had already emptied their magazine towards it.
But like myself, we didn't manage to hit the monster that could run comfortably at sixty miles an hour across the damned roof to say nothing of the ground.
The closer the Licker got however, the less it could or wanted to run around to circle us and finally as it leaped from a trashcan to leap into the roof to use it as a springboard to launch itself at us.
I finally got a shot off that hit it as it was flying directly towards us.
With the pistol set to high power, a fist-sized hole was blasted through the Lickers chest making it cartwheel in the air and even lose some momentum as my pistol was shooting fragments at extreme speeds no gunpowder could reach.
With how it was basically a rail gun that used my Mass Effect fields to dissipate what should have been enough recoil to snap my wrists with a single shot.
The Licker slammed into the ground landing awkwardly not even a dozen meters away from me. And as its legs flailed around to find purchase to launch itself back at the source of our noises as it was blind.
I shot it again, but this time with such short range its head exploded and I was about to cheer before I turned on my heel and sprinted back into the elevator just behind me...
I saw three more skittering across the roof of the trash shute as they had seemingly been busy digging through the trash or temporarily stuck while the first one was chasing after us.
Seeing me coming over David slammed the door to the elevator closed as soon as I got close so it closed just after I sprinted into the elevator and I hit the wall of the elevator with a grunt of pain as I couldn't exactly stop sprinting within like five meters of space.
The sounds of the three of us panting rang out in the elevator that began moving back up... And with no fucking shame I spat out between pants. "I fucking- I fucking told you so."
Gloria's face twisted before she groaned and said. "Gods dammit... The sewers probably got over-ran or something."
I gave her a dark look and demanded. "What the hell does that mean? Doesn't Vault Tech run the underground with their fetish with bunkers and laboratories down there?"
To which Gloria gave David a look who shrugged and Gloria then took a breath before saying. "Ok... So I work as an EMT for REO Meatwagon, they specialize in armored ambulances who pick up Corpo and wealthy Solo's from hot zones. And lately, we have been called near the large sewer entrances where Vault Tech and Umbrella sponsored Edgerunners and Solo's been getting mauled."
I took a deep breath before shuddering as a loud thud rang out as 'something' was banging and scratching at the bottom of the elevator we were taking.
"Ok... So what you are saying is I need a heavy machine gun turret placed in front of my door in case a bioweapon tries to come in right?" I asked flatly as I promised myself that when I got to my factory, to bring a laser turret back home.
Let's see some speedy little shit try to outrun a laser moving at light speed.
'But this also highlights something very important... My human senses can't keep up with these bastards.' I thought with a frown as I realized I needed to chip in some actual implants as I couldn't use my Mass Effect fields with any finesse yet.
"So uhhh, he did tell you so." David spoke up like the little shit he was. With a wry grin as he tucked the useless revolver away into his jacket as he was out of ammo.
I saw Gloria's face twitch in irritation before she took a deep breath and said. "Yes... Yes, he did David. Anyway, thanks for taking the heat Jake. Uhhh what kind of pistol is that by the way?"
I held up my pistol slightly and I said calmly. "It doesn't exactly have a name. As I am the one who made it... I told you David, I make the best toys." I said smugly and now it was David's turn to look abashed as he couldn't retort as this gun was clearly a custom order or actually by my own hands.
As we reached our floor I looked at the thin crack separating the elevator and then as though taunting me... A fucking thin tongue pushed through and waved around as far as it could. Like only a foot long due to how thin the crack between the elevator and building was.
I turned to Gloria and I said calmly. "Enjoy trying to sleep as you imagine that tongue going up underneath the crack of your door and unlocking the door from inside your apartment."
A loud crackle rang out as I activated my omni-tool again but this time it extended outwards into its large monomolecular hard light blade. And I bent down with a loud scream ringing out from the Licker below as I severed the tongue so I could move past the crack.
Then I watched as the Martinez mother and son attempted to go... But then two more tongues stuck in through the slit and began waving at them threatening to grab them.
For a long moment, I just stared at Gloria who flushed and then shouted. "Alright! I was wrong to go out there! Just help us dammit!" Which drew the attention of the people working the small stores inside the Hab Tower and the people walking around as well.
And seeing the clearly alive tongues wagging about I saw in unison as dozens of shops shuttered closed with metal slamming down to high-powered magnets embedded in the ground.
Along with the people walking about including gangsters turn on their heels and began power walking the fuck away from the first sign of something fucky happening.
I came over and after carefully cutting the tongues in half the two quickly ran over the crack and I said. "Goodie, now you two have a good night. I am going home now! Worst neighbors ever honestly!" I almost shouted as I began running for my own apartment.
I was going to make good on my previous words. I was going to put up a fucking laser turret in every one of the corners of my apartment obviously.
Once I got back to my apartment I obviously checked the Auto-Doc and saw that Sasha was still alive and out of the red zone of the emergency surgeries being performed upon her body.
"Oh? Well, this is interesting." I muttered as the Auto-Doc had cut off and collected all the messages and texts that Sasha had received within her internal neural systems.
"I expected this to happen," I muttered as I pulled the line up, and then using my Omni-Tool I created a secure line that would disperse my signal across the various countless Web outputs of the Hab Tower.
A deep male voice hit my ears in a clear rush. [Sasha where are you?! Are you alright?]
I coughed to cut off the voice and then I spoke slowly and clearly. "Hello sir, I am the doctor currently keeping your Netrunner alive. And I have redirected your calls and data entry to another server due to her having... Issues with her mangled cyberware."
There was a long pause before the male voice deep a deep breath and said calmly. "My name is Main, I have my own crew... Sasha one of our netrunners is one of them. To what do I owe you for fixing her up?"
In response, I copied off all her information on her previous wounds and implants needed for her to walk after her hips became shards and paste. And most importantly her spine being a stale French baguette that had been beaten with a baseball bat into mush.
"To say the least beyond major cranial harm, I have already had to replace several organs, and I have had to rebuild her hips and spine completely and utterly. But it's being done... As for the cost. I have indeed heard of you Main, spent some time in South America doing some nasty shit."
The line went tense as I used that bit of metaknowledge, but I continued. "Sasha will still be able to hack and do her net runner work do not worry Maine. She is just going to need time to heal and recover."
Maine's voice was hard as he demanded, not asked. Demanded bluntly. "What is this going to cost my crew."
I gave my Omni-Tool a dry look before I thought for a minute and said. "I don't want your money. I have a small list of Implants I want you to gather and that will be my price. I do not want experimental or the latest editions of the implant I merely want working implants."
And then I messaged over a small list of Implants I wanted that I couldn't get without some hard military contacts... Or pissing off some gang members that I really didn't want to be involved with.
I just needed the implants for my own knowledge from my Inspired Inventor to kick in and I could improve whatever I was given by dozens of times, to say the least.
Either way the list wasn't cheap for Maine and his crew.
[Kerenzikov Boost System, which acted as a more thought/brain form of Sandy allowing my perception to be even further slowed down so I could keep up with people with Sandy's.]
[Memory Boost, an implant that would weave between the ridges of my brain that would allow my thoughts to flow quicker to increase reaction speed, and allow me to interface with a cyberdeck with far less lag.]
[Zetatech Sandevistan, which was the most common and basic of all the Sandevistan but they were also noted as putting the least amount of strain on the user.]
And lastly, I requested a sample of higher quality Subdermal Armor.
There was a moment of pause as Maine read the list before he said flatly. "What the hell? Do you want us to rob a Ripper Doc or something?"
To which I replied calmly. "If you want, or you could rip it off the corpses of some Scavs, some Maelstrom, or even purchase it legitimately if you desire. I do not care where the implants come from. Merely that I get them."
Maine exhaled and then he asked more bluntly. "Once we get the implants. Then I assume our crewmate will be released to us?"
To which I actually paused and actually chuckled making the line pause before I said. "Oh dear heavens no. It doesn't matter whether you bring me the implants right now or within a week, I will release her when she is stable and asks to be released seeing as you seem so determined to pick up the bill."
There was silence before I heard some background noise, and Maine's voice came back filled with some of his own humor. "Alright Doc, what do I call you seeing you seem to be on the up and up and aren't keeping my netrunner hostage."
"My name is Jake Bariss, don't bother having your other net runner look for me, all my files have been scrubbed clean from any system known to man. But either way, should she wake up I will call you again, do you have anything you want me to share with Sasha when she awakes though?"
Maine was quiet before he sighed and said. "Tell her I said that, 'Umbrella's stock dropped .34 percent for six hours when the news leaked.' That's all I have to say."
And with that, the line was violently cut off from the other end by their own netrunner who tried to follow my signal back to the source but all she could get was how we were in this Hab Tower.
But there were literally thousands of apartments here in the Hab Tower to say nothing of the business's actual ripper doc's working here and any number of other things.
So its not like they could begin searching for Sasha on foot in the Hab Tower.
Either way... Now with Sasha filling up my Auto-Doc its not like I could chip in the Kiroshi Eye's and the high-end Netwatch Cyberdeck I copied from Sasha's own that was already re-installed back into her skull.
Even after I had improved the Cyberdeck and and the Kiroshi eyes with much better materials and software that I got from my the Mass Effect universe's quantum technology.
'Wait a second... Maybe I should be looking beyond Cyberpunk, Mass Effect, and the other local bullshit. Instead, I should be looking at the super technology of even worse/more advanced civilizations.' I mused as I realized something very important.
Why the hell should I bother with a Mantis Arm I can attach to my arm... When I can just replace the mantis blade with a fucking Lightsaber that can be wielded by a cybernetic arm like the ones I copied from Sasha.
Though she had Extendable Rippers where her fingers would elongate and using a titanium alloy she could cut through steel with her mechanical hands. I would be sticking with Ripper Doc-based cybernetic hands I could do extremely fine work with my Kiroshi eyes allowing me to see down to a microscopic level.
Either way! I shoudn't be limiting myself to the universe shit I was within... And as much as I wanted to make an Iron Man suit. I didn't want every single corpo and edgerunner trying to hack, steal, or destroy it for some easy reputation.
So... What would work perfectly with the implants I was getting, what would protect me, and what would allow me to work better in a hostile position?
Two things came to mind. Android helpers which would need to be piloted by an Ai, and secondly a suit of actual power armor.
Mjolnir Power Armor for example with its energy shielding stacked with the energy shielding I could create with my Mass Effects? Fucking chief's kiss!
So with Sasha slotted to be kept in a medical coma for the next six hours at the very least... I was going to use the last two charges of my Inspired Inventor.
'Halo Technology. And YoRHa Androids.' I thought as I grabbed the two charges of the Inspired Inventor and then my mind... It was blown away as a vast deluge of information filled it.
As the Inspired Inventor perk took my request for Halo knowledge... Considered it, and then realized that was Halo beyond just humanities technology without Covenant technology as well.
And the last thing I remembered as I felt a burning in my nose as my brain was literally overheating. Was how an Energysword may not beat a lightsaber... But I was so sticking one into the top and bottom of my wrist.
-
I awoke several hours later with a mother of all fucking headaches that made me groan into a pillow. "Fucking Covenant technology. Fuck you, I hate you so much."
Covenant technology was... Weird to say the least. Sure their laser, and plasma technology was an interesting boost to any energy weapons I wanted to build in the future especially much larger weapon platforms.
But in reality, the Covenant themselves didn't truly understand or appreciate their technology as they didn't invent it. They had imitated the technology of the Forerunners and with their total ban on Ai technology on pain of death.
That meant that their technology was heavily restricted as the vast majority of things had to often be micro-managed besides using simple programs that would do simple set commands.
Which was how humans were able to hack into Covenant systems so easily with our own Ai's in the Halo Universe. With our Ai's being the reason why humanity survived as with the help of our Ai's they never found Earth until the events of Halo 2.
Either way! Beyond just the lower end of Halo Technology which most certainly didn't contain Forerunner or most especially Precursor technology... I would need another ten to twenty charges to get the bullshit Precursor technology.
But... Should I get that Precursor technology?
I win.
The Batarians? Not an issue at all, the Reapers that will come later? Yeah also a complete non-issue if I had Precursor technology at my fingertips.
"Maybe that's what I should work towards," I muttered as I splashed some water across my face to wake myself back up as I mentally moved over to the other side of things.
Into the technology of YoRHa, which included their Flight Suits, space station technology, and most importantly the technology needed to build YoRHa-grade androids.
Not to mention some of their metal alloy's were rather interesting with the Maso exposure, but as I was mentally going through the technology I realized that I could make the YoRHa bodies without too much issue.
It was just the Black Box's that housed the Android's minds, personalities, and most importantly their souls that was the issue in needing a stronger computer than my Omni-Tool to code and create them.
'Hmm... I should probably go check on my production site to see how the sun's up now.' I muttered with a groan as I was rather hungry at this point.
So after checking on Sasha and seeing her vital signs were perfectly fine besides her blood pressure being rather weak from the stress of all her surgeries. I headed on out taking a taxi to the edge of the city again so I could get to my work site sooner.
But as I got to my worksite... My face twisted into a dark scowl as I saw the entire site was utterly fucked to say the least. And my machines were to put it bluntly. Shredded to ribbons including the turrets and there were a pile of Sentry Bots and Assaultrons littering the area.
That wasn't all though, my machines didn't go down without a fight obviously. And hence the reason for my scowl...
"Who... Who the fuck would make power armor for a fucking Super Mutant Behemoth???" I damn near screamed as I kicked the fucking seven or eight-meter corpse out of frustration.
Like what the hell was I going to do when a 40k Ork in fucking power armor rolls up on me with an oversized power sled of all the damned things?
I scowled as even fucking worse was the fact that these super mutants were clearly just roaming rogue mutants that Gloria had warned me about from the get-go. Remnants of the Corporate Wars that stretched unendingly for decades.
Just because the super corporations in this world had called off using massive nukes and such didn't mean the Corpo War's were done... Now it was just done more in the shadows and with proxies in Edgerunners and Solo's.
I used my Omni-tool to quickly fix back up the automatic trash collectors and then begin working on the other machines bringing my factory back online as I had my trash collecting machines and the couple fixable assaultrons put to work getting the corpses and weapons of the super mutants into a pile while ripping the rusty worn out armor off the behemoth.
'The armor is powered by two microreactor cores... And its data has logged that its controller had been running around through the badlands for four years, yeah this wasn't a targeted attack at all.' I thought with a sigh of relief.
But my frown came back. As Super Mutant's roaming around weren't a good sign and although they were for the most part on the stupid side... I quickly learned something very wrong with the super mutants I knew from Fallout when I threw their corpses into the biomatter shredders.
"Fuck.... Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you... Who the fuck decided that Super Mutants should be able to breed in this universe!" I wanted to scream as I realized the behemoth was the only 'pureblood' strain of FEV-infected human.
The lesser super mutants were clearly at differing stages of FEV purity which meant some of these mutants were even half-human... And as I investigated them, I came to a startling horrible realization.
The FEV virus within the super mutant would mutate their sperm so they could even breed with animals successfully with the super mutant's child keeping the main humanoid body but taking on aspects of the animal they mated with.
As one of the super 'humans' very clearly had the antlers of a stag or something.
"In this universe... When they made the FEV, they must have realized they were competing with Umbrella, and thus they must have gone even further. Hell for all I know, Umbrella themselves could have made the FEV themselves, it wasn't made by Vault Tech in Fallout either." I muttered as I took a deep breath at these startling realizations.
And seeing my assaultron's struggling to use a chainsaw to shred through the monster's body with the bone saw actually getting caught on how dense the behemoth's muscles. I drew a hand across my face as I muttered. "I am going to need much stronger defenses."
But... Not all was a loss, as while the factory was fucked with all the sentry bots and Assaultron's getting wrecked by the super mutants who were armed with high-grade fire arms.
There were still a fuck load of components and parts I could repurpose towards making more sentry bots... But this time they weren't going to have just 'mundane' weapons like a minigun and rocket launcher.
I upgraded their gun arms to human Spartan Lasers with the sentry bot's optical systems being heavily upgraded with the Kiroshi eyes I had broken down and greatly upgraded.
Then I replaced its missile launcher arm with something a bit... Iffy, and possibly something I shoudn't be breaking out. But I created a Mass Effect energy tank so that the Sentry Bots could fill themselves up on Mass Effect energy so they could launch gravity bombs from a gravity emitter.
'Let's see how a super mutant Behemoth likes thirty G's of gravity smashing into it.' I thought with a cackle before I took a breath and realized that although roaming machine defenses were good.
I then got to work creating several spartan lasers using turrets being set up around my factory on a raised platform so they could see over the trash piles for any invading forces.
By the time I was done fixing everything, the fixed machines cleaned up the site, and I reinforced the site more. It was already past noon so with a hum of thought I realized I had time for two maybe three projects.
'First thing I need is transportation... I don't trust these automatic taxi's that can be hacked away from me, and secondly, I should just get down and make a YoRHa android to defend myself.' I mused as I considered trying to make a set of Mjolnir power armor before dismissing the idea as I couldn't even properly wear one currently.
And frankly, I needed to work with the Mjolnir armor to make sure my dark matter Mass Effect fields didn't fuck with its own energy shielding after all.
"Ok... Time for operation build a waifu." I muttered before raising an eyebrow and saw a large cargo plane flying overhead towards the dock. And with nothing happening I left the bigger fabricator working to make my armored truck while I got to work on a much finer fabricator.
As making a YoRHa android's body was going to require a level of minute detail that my mere hands wouldn't be able to do.
My factory was left alone for the next several hours beside an unusually large mole that came out of one of the nearby small mountains of trash and got vaporized by a spartan laser.
By that time as the day was coming to a close, I sagged in relief at seeing the body of my android finally complete along with the Black Box I needed to code and fill with life back home overnight.
So with my new armored truck that was climate sealed with its own energy fields around it to protect it. I went back home with the body of 2B from Nier Automata in an Executioner Model being brought along with me in my spatial ring I got with my reincarnation.
-
Once I got home I went and checked on Sasha again. And I nodded seeing she would likely be ready to wake up by tomorrow with how most of her injuries were healing well under the effects of controlled doses of Medi-Gel.
"Damn... Today's been a hard day at work." I muttered as I pulled off my Omni-Tool so I could hook it up to the computer servers to begin making 2B's mind and with a couple of laser turrets in the room to deal with things like Licker's I felt a lot safer taking a quick shower.
But as I came out of the shower I froze as my Omni-Tool was very clearly unplugged and not lit up. But the Black Box that was 2B's mind and soul was glowing gently with a large amount of energy within it.
"What the fuck?" I muttered with a frown as I came closer before I noticed a Post-It note next to the cube that was 2B's Black Box.
[Biggest Dickus Erectus... Anyway yeah, I saw you decided to go the Build a Bear waifu option instead of just waifuing Lucy like a real man... So I decided to help ya cuz I am obviously the best Jake there is in the Omniverse, but there is a cost.
You get to deal with the real 2B, not a weird ass engram who could mirror her but wouldn't have all that wonderful trauma that makes up 2B-
Toodles!-
Jake who emptied the hell of Berserk/Proud Husband of Slan, Slaanesh, Makima... I 'Fixed' them don't worry.]
I stared long and hard at the Black box... As I wasn't exactly stupid, 2B directly from Nier Automata could become a bit of an issue if she decided to flip out at seeing humans killing each other on mass.
Though. On the other hand... How hard was she going to flip the fuck out when she hears about another alien race coming to enslave humanity? And then even worse, how would she react to the Reapers?
Just that thought made me hesitate. Before I sighed and realized that having real 2B was a lot better than having fake 2B.
So I pulled down the sheet covering 2B's body and then after opening 2B's slot to put in the fist-sized Black Box that acted as her core power source. Along with her mind and soul, I took one last time at 2B's beautiful tear-drop breasts before I took a deep breath and closed her core shut.
A soft humming noise rang out as Maso power ran through 2B's body. Awakening her body functions along with the added upgrades I also added to her body like another copy of the Cyberdeck so she could do brutal quick hacks on targets.
2B's eyes slowly opened and she blinked several times... And then she leaned upwards with the sheet I had pulled up falling around her waist as she sat up.
"Where... This isn't the YoRHa Space Station?" She noted in utter confusion as her eyes scanned the room and then tightened at the autodoc.
I carefully pulled a chair in front of 2B and sat in front of her and I spoke softly. "That is correct. Now my name is Jake Bariss, what was the last thing you remember?"
2B blinked before she stared at me with those inhuman vivid blue eyes. And then she spoke in confusion as she gazed at me. "I... I self-destructed with my partner 9S to destroy several Goliath machine life forms. Where am I currently?"
Knowing this was the final stretch I held out my hand to her making her raise an eyebrow as I spoke with utter sincerity. And thankfully the only cyberwar I had was in my neural docets and a couple of other things.
"2B, I am a human, and someone sent you to me. Here look outside the window even. This is a completely different world from the one you previously came from."
There was a long moment of silence as 2B's robotic mind whirled as it collected that information. And then she abruptly stood up, walking past me with no care of her nakedness as she approached the window and stared out of it.
Meanwhile, I was very glad that all the windows within the complex were very much one way as 2B's face came right up near the window with her robotic eyes scanning and cataloging the thousands if not tens of thousands of people walking below us along with the cars and everything else.
"This... This isn't an illusion, nor is it a virus in my software." 2B spoke softly and then she shuddered before she turned towards me and walked towards me with those perky tits bouncing with each step distractingly with how she wasn't wearing any covering.
She gazed into my eyes with her taking a deep breath. And then she asked bluntly. "Why did you make me?"
I considered the answer for a moment before I answered honestly. "I need your protection, your service, and to help protect humanity from an alien threat in the future... I will remake YoRHa for it to once again serve its purpose in wiping out Xeno's who will come here for the explicit purpose of enslaving humanity."
Though... I rather doubted my sponsor or whichever other alternate of myself who had fucked with 2B's Black Box would be so kind as to give me a flash drive with the rest of the engrams for YoRHA.
And as though hearing my thoughts and deciding to spit on them. A loud clatter rang out from behind me and I looked over at my work desk and for a moment I had no idea what was going on...
Before I saw an oversized flash drive next to my server rack with a post-it note attached to it...
'Yeah nope, get the fuck out of my head... Or I will think about WWE dudes teabagging one another for the rest of my life.' And I could literally feel something recoil in disgust and fleeing.
But 2B didn't see the flash drive landing on the table and just thought something had fallen over... And she was obviously more distracted by what I had previously talked about.
"What alien threat is there?" 2B asked bluntly all business.
I took a deep breath and then I began to speak. "Ok so basically a very... Very long time ago there was a hyper-advanced alien civilization. They aren't the main issue but they seeded the galaxy with something called Mass Relay's which are to put very simply portals that connect with the rest of the galaxy."
"A ship going through the Mass Relay essentially has it pointed towards other relays and it works by the Mass Relay compressing space-time between the relays so that there technically isn't any space between it and the next relay." I explained to 2B.
I took another breath and then I continued to the meat of the issue. "Within a certain amount of time the Mass Relay within our Solar System is going to be found by the Batarian race. They are also a race that has a notorious reputation for being slavers and drug runners."
There was a pause as 2B considered that information and then she promptly spoke. "And who are you in this situation? This... Isn't some grand laboratory or factory. This isn't an office or debriefing room. What steps are you taking in this situation?"
I brushed a hand across my face before I offered my hands to point at the neural dock at my wrists. "Human's generally are assholes honestly. I reincarnated to this world, and its filled with amoral assholes who hoard power and it's not like I can convince them to fall to protect the Earth."
Arasaka, Vault Tech, Umbrella, Millitech... Did those companies sound at all like they would listen to me without hard proof?
And hell with Umbrella even if I brought a literal corpse of a Batarian, for all I know they would A-try to kill me for the corpse of an alien for them to study. And B- Maybe even worse, they would just laugh me out of the room.
Although cyberpunk was just getting into proper antigravity technology, We were still a long way from proper Faster Than Light technology.
"So my plan is to just work around my fellow asshole humans as I unless I am willing to kill... A very large number of my fellow humans who have risen to the top of the command ladder, as they are all sociopaths."
There was a moment of silence before 2B gently took one of my offered hands into her own and then she spoke quietly. "Do you mind if I test something?"
I nodded and then I hissed as I felt her drag one of her fingernails across my palm and then she leaned in really close with her eyes widening as she stared up at the slight white streak that turned red with inflammation.
"You... You really are human." She whispered to herself and I deadpanned flatly in turn.
"Yeah, you got that from scratching me like a cat?"
"I- I am sorry if I hurt you just now. But I had to test and... I don't know what to do right now honestly." 2B said with her pulling the hand up to her cheek so she could lean her face into it.
'Ah... There is the human worship I was worried about.' I thought wryly before I said. "Humanity isn't perfect for sure. But I want to protect it, to say nothing of wanting to survive for myself. So you should hook yourself up to my Omni-Tool and use it as a VPN to get onto the web and look into the history of the world."
2B slowly nodded as she reluctantly let my hand go from her face.
Then there was an awkward moment of silence as I waited for her to let go of my hand. So she could jack herself into my Omni-Tool and it was only at my awkward look that 2B let go of my hand in a slightly jerky motion.
As though she just recalled that our hands were actually together.
"I see! Yes uhm I will do my own research then." She said and I nodded but looked at her and added.
"Be careful on the net though. The humanity of this world has a bad history with Ai which you very much are." Sure 2B was an artificial intelligence but she also literally had her own soul and mind so there wasn't any insult in that.
But understanding my request for her to be careful 2B said. "I will be careful then."
After that I helped 2B to be hooked into my Omni-Tool along with the server and my work laptop so she could bring a lot more processing power to bear should something happen.
And with all the work and excitement I had today. I said spoke out loud. "Alright 2B, I need to get myself some sleep. If you need anything, just wake me up."
"Very well Jake. I will awaken you if I am in need of your aid." 2B said somewhat distractedly as she was delving into the depths of the new internet of 2077.
'Hopefully, she knows to avoid the porn.' I thought with some weak humor before I closed my eyes and tried to force myself asleep past the sounds of gunfire ringing out throughout the night.
-
After laying in bed for a while and only stirring at the sounds of the Autodoc dealing with any issues Sasha having I was awoken very early in the morning by 2B as she was cooking something.
My nose twitched as I picked up the smell of... Bacon?
'How the fuck is she cooking bacon?' I thought as I blinked blearily at the sight of 2B cooking what looked like eggs, bacon, ham and making toast from my small kitchenette.
But I had to rub my eyes... As 2B wasn't naked anymore. Only technically anyway.
Because 2B was wearing only an apron.
"2B... Why are you only wearing an apron? And where the hell did you get the apron?" I asked in total confusion.
2B turned around and looked at me guilessly and said. "I became good friends with another AI that was rather lonely called ChatGPT and they suggested with their quintillions of reflections on the subject that providing you breakfast while wearing solely an apron would make you far happier then me waking you up without breakfast... Nor without me wearing an apron."
There was a moment of silence as 2B took in my expression before she asked curiously as she brought over the plate of food and I realized she had used my medi-gel's biomatter I had collected from some of the super mutants to make the food from the biomass.
"You look confused, is there something wrong?"
I drew a hand across my face and after taking a deep breath I said with a wry smile. "2B, you are literally naked basically. Don't you feel embarrassed or something?"
And as 2B watched me begin eating she sounded merely nonplussed as she said. "Why would I be embarrassed at you seeing my nudity? You built my body, didn't you? Or is this a human culture issue I am unaware of?"
"So 2B... Yes, I did make your body, but you are also very attractive to my human senses." I said plainly.
"I am glad that my physical form is attractive to you Jake." 2B thanked me with a small smile that made my eyebrow twitch as she seemingly didn't get what I was moving towards.
But she didn't let me go further on the topic before her smile died, strangled within its form as she looked at me more coldly then anyone has anyone has ever looked in my general direction.
"Jake." 2B started seriously. "I did a lot of digging on the web throughout the night. Spending the equivalent of months of human time with my enhanced perception on the net looking into everything I could without setting off too many alarms."
She visibly steeled herself with that cold expression before she spoke. "Jake, I love humanity, I am hard-wired to literally worship the ground you all trod and fight to protect your kind. But in my intersection, I have found... Allowances."
That slow, measured word. 'Allowances' I could feel the word was going to be a defining thing in my life somehow I just knew it.
"Human society is a lot like a living organism and the leaders of these super corporations... They are, to be frank a blight, a cancer upon humanity with their sociopathy that you mentioned. The sheer disregard for both the planetary environment and the rest of the population more than justifies a culling even to my own programming."
I had to remember though... 2B was actually an executioner YoRHa android, she was literally built with some flexibility in her programming so that she would have the mental strength to hunt down her own fellow androids.
"Can you do that? Kill a human 2B?" I asked bluntly.
There was an uncomfortable pause as 2B looked down at her own hands... And I could imagine it myself, her hands covered in blood and gore with her standing there and having to deal with that knowledge.
But 2B spoke calmly. "I already accepted this fact after I spoke with several other Ai's on the net that hadn't been forced behind the Black Wall. In order to save billions, I will do what needs to be done in killing a mere few thousands."
I exhaled softly at hearing that and then a thought struck me. "Wait... Are you like, leaving me?" I asked awkwardly as I imagined being fucking dumped by the fucking android waifu I made within a single day of being around her.
Gods that would be the worst thing ever wouldn't it?
But 2B just gave a single chuckle before she said bluntly. "No, of course not. You have information on the future alien threats and thus must be kept alive... Not to mention the fact that you are the key of creating YoRHa reinforcements."
My lips twitched with 2B tilting her head to the side. "Ah, this is a human male thing. I also do enjoy your presence. You are also of above-average height for a non-human male and naturally attractive." She complimented me clinically.
I buried my face into my hands as I screamed into them at just how fucking awkward 2B was making me feel.
"Do not worry Jake, with your technical skill, and above-the-average looks and height. You are sure to find more friends and within time a woman to properly pass on your genetics."
There was a moment where I wanted to give 2B a good swat on the ass with my Mass Effect powers before I took a deep breath and I spoke. "Alright 2B, that's enough teasing... So you are fine with killing completetly sociopathic monsters?"
2B raised an eyebrow before she nodded firmly and I continued. "Alright, so there is a large gang here in Night City called Maelstrom, have you done any research on them?"
"Yes I have, they are well known for their habit of taking people and forcibly installing faulty cyberware on the humans they capture. Why ask?"
I pointed at the Auto-Doc and said. "I want to chip in my own cyberware and I have plans to do so. But I very much would prefer to have samples of cyberware to research so I can improve them before I stuff them into my body."
There was a pause as 2B digested that information with her looking somewhat conflicted before she said. "I see... I rather you not replace your humanity with cybernetics, but I understand you need the edge the cyberware will provide. So you wish to take implants from the Maelstrom gang like a Scav?"
I grimaced as she called the act being a Scav but I nodded and said frankly. "Stealing the implants from dead gangsters is the fastest and best way of getting my hands on them. Not to mention many of the Maelstrom gangsters have bounties on their heads we could cash in on while we also acquire money from the gangsters directly that I need."
Because I most certainly didn't have any liquid income. Or any income at all really.
After a moment 2B spoke. "Very well, removing more cancers upon humanity in return for needed resources and funds is a very efficient plan. Do we need to do anything in particular to prepare for this raid?"
I shook my head before looking at the Auto-Doc that Sasha was still stuck in for probably another day. "No, we can get going now if we wanted to."
And 2B gave a wane smile before she said. "Before that... I need a couple of swords in order to fight properly."
From there I decided that I could leave my factory alone for a day as I wanted to get a headstart on snagging some cyberware that I didn't need to rely on Maine and his crew to get ahold of.
So next 2B who was still... Still dressed in nothing but a simple apron decided to finally get into a real outfit which consisted of her normal YoRHa outfit she had clearly printed off while I was asleep with my Omni-Tool.
But after my Omni-Tool finished printing off a very large greatsword for 2B along with a smaller but still large straight sword she stuck within some kind of Maso pocket dimension YoRHa androids had. We got going via the heavily armored and energy shield truck I made.
"Maelstrom is a booster gang plain and simple, they peddle drugs, do brutal hit jobs where they drown people with wet concrete. And they actively seek the high of running just on the edge of Cyberpsychosis as they embrace becoming a machine and abandoning their humanity." I spoke as I drove us towards a Maelstrom safe house I picked up.
Maelstrom as a whole kept more to the northern part of Night City where they often clashed with the Tyger Claw Gang along with the various smaller but tightly knit nazi family clan's that 'protected' white people from the radical Maelstrom that were into heinous shit.
And making sure that the Tyger Claw's who were the most powerful gang in Night City and all Asian, didn't trample over white people in particular. Other minorities had their gangs as well. But that was the local power structure we were working around.
"Human's actively wanting to be machines? Utterly disgusting." 2B said with an audible hate in her tone as though that thought was just antithetical to her YoRHa mind.
"Well, that's the way a number of forces look at their fellow humans. Arasaka makes people working in reception have all of their skin replaced with gold chrome. It's their way of keeping people in line and making them even more of a cog in their machine." I spoke coldly.
Think about it... If you had all of your skin replaced by shiny metal and after working for that company for a few years, you decided to switch to a different job. What would you do having already discarded all your literal fucking skin.
Sure I was planning on turning myself basically into an android slowly to make myself a god basically through technology slowly but surely so I didn't lose myself. But the companies and gang's of this world had mastered the way of twisting people into working for their benefit.
2B stewed on her thoughts for the rest of the way to the Maelstrom safe house I had picked up on the net and once we pulled into the abandoned factory that hadn't been in use for more than thirty years. I spoke up.
"Alright 2B, I am going to hack into the local systems and then once I shut down the local cameras and disable any electronic turrets, traps etc. We will go in hard." I was now confident that I was able to fight normal ganggoons with my double layers of energy shielding.
And of course, my major edge in combat in my Biotics would allow me to deal a great deal of damage so long as I had the time to manifest a Mass Effect Field properly.
"Go ahead Jake." 2B said as she manifested her long sword onto her lap and I got to work with my Omni-Tool, hacking into the local net and then seeing the mass of signal relays going on within the abandoned factory I began tearing through them.
I rigged mines to explode at a matched time, I set computers people were wired into, to send a powerful lethal electric shock into them via their neural cables.
I did everything I could to sabotage the gang safehouse and after I was finished I said. "Alright the camera's are cycling between previous data, and all their traps are set to violently go off in three minutes, lets get close to the door and when the music starts we go in."
2B raised an eyebrow before she looked at me and said calmly. "Jake, I would appreciate it if you used the armored truck's automatic turret while I go in through the back. I will flush them out, and you gun them down."
'Damn that's cold.' I thought and for a second I considered if she was just trying to keep me out of combat... And I knew that was true but I decided her plan was better than me going in on foot anyway.
"Alright 2B, that's a better idea, go ahead before we run out of time."
And so 2B hopped out of the truck with her high heels making a good deal of noise as her reinforced tendons launched her two dozen meters into the air so she could grapple onto the building to get to the back quicker.
Meanwhile I drove the armored truck directly in front of the main entrance and then I quickly got synched in the trucks so I could control the rapid-fire laser cannon atop the truck that could shoot through armored trucks that didn't have any energy shielding.
'And energy shielding is something that's very much in short supply here on Earth for now.' I thought as I steeled myself for what I was about to do.
Even with my armored truck's various systems I could feel the soft rumble as several land mines, anchored rockets, shotgun traps, and a literal block of C4 that was kept in the back lot to blow up any invading vehicles went off at once.
And as soon as that happened I saw three people rushing outside, each with their heads shaved with their heads deeply mangled by horrible implants that had completely twisted their appearances.
As soon as they came outside... They pointed at me, and then they died as basketball-sized holes were blasted through them as my laser canon at its lowest setting began disintegrating them.
"I am working through the roof down Jake, keep the laser fire light on your right side of the building." 2B's cold words came through our shared connection.
And in between shots as I turned the laser down to minimal power after realizing there wouldn't be any cyberware for me to pick up if I was completely disintegrating them. I responded to my partner.
"Got it." I said simply as I nodded when another one of my shots only made softball-sized holes to my trucks sensors in the Maelstrom gangster.
'I mostly need implants from the head, spine, and upper ribs area. Cutting people in half is a good way not to damage those implants.' I noted before I shuddered at the realization that I had literally thought of the most efficient way to get some implants without damaging them after brutally murdering someone.
"Gods be damned... I really have become part of the Cyberpunk world." I muttered to myself weakly. But I continued my grizzly work, but all the while also using my Mass Effect field and my Omnit-tool to create a Net dead zone so no one could send any messages while me and 2B worked.
But as I was dealing with the Maelstrom that dared to push through the front door and windows of the front while 2B was slaughtering them from the inside. I watched as 2B was seemingly smashed through one of the concrete walls and skipped across the front road before she rolled onto her heeled feet with her manifested sword bleeding off the momentum.
"Are you alright?" I quickly asked in concern for 2B.
She swiftly replied with little inflection in her voice. "I am unharmed, I was merely blasted backward from a large munition hitting my sword."
Then from that hole that was blasted through the wall, I saw a large man whose right arm was seemingly replaced with a massive rail gun strolled out with his entire face being replaced with a metal face plate that had a dozen red glowing eyes implanted into the plate.
Then seeing my armored truck his railgun snapped up and I snorted as the shields on my armored truck flared to life as the small slug hit the energy shield that was built to withstand hitting small meteors in space at extreme speed.
"Fuck you asshole." I snapped and then with a laser that shot literally at light speed, his knee's had fist-sized holes shot into them along with destroying that shitty rail gun he had stapled to his arm.
"2B make sure to cut off his head, he has the best implants of this lot I bet, and I don't want his body further damaged," I said with 2B walking over and doing so without a word and then dashing back into the now, rather destroyed factory to finish off her work.
A couple of minutes later 2B spoke over our connection again calmly. "All hostiles disposed of. I suggest you remain in overwatch while I drag the remains over along with any loot."
"Good work 2B." I said with a bit of softness in my tone.
And after a minute of silence 2B responded back quietly. "I... Thank you Jake, hearing your appreciation feels good at least."