The meeting ended much faster than everyone expected, and the group of people left Afterlife under a few curious glances.
Most mercs and edgerunners worked in small teams, three or four people. Seeing six meant it was a big job.
Still, it didn't shock everyone either. After all, at this point, Maine and his companions' reputation hadn't grown much. At most, they were average mercs: decent, strong, but nothing impressive.
On the other hand, Allen himself was a complete unknown. Of course, once everyone found out what had happened on 6th Street, no one would remain indifferent.
While fights between mercs and gangs were as common as clouds in the sky, they rarely escalated to the point of reaching the leaders of these major gangs. This was for a reason so simple that it had practically become a joke.
In Night City, life was worth nothing.
It might sound like an exaggeration, but it was the harsh reality.
Take the Scavs that Allen and Rebecca had taken out before coming here, for example. Those killers had bounties of only 150 Eddies. That's it. The lives of three killers were worth just enough to pay for one month's rent in the building where Allen, Rebecca, and Pilar lived.
Of course, it also showed how little people cared about human life in this era.
Killing someone only put a hundred-Eddie target on your head. How ridiculous! What truly increased your bounty was how much cyberware you had installed.
Getting back to the point, the thing was that the major gangs didn't care if some low-level goons were killed here and there. In the end, there were always desperate people willing to join them every day.
It was a vicious cycle. Gangers died every day, and others took their place. Only those who survived long enough to rise above the bottom were entrusted with positions of responsibility, and in those cases, the gangs would actually mobilize.
That's why people would be shocked when they found out what the hell Pilar, Rebecca, and the still-unknown Allen had done to anger the current leader of 6th Street to such a degree.
General Rick Morton.
There was also the matter of seeing how the Valentinos would react to Pilar's theft. If the number of 6th Street members was already terrifying to hear about, the Valentinos had even more: a total of 6,000 active members. While most of them were small fry, they were still enough to make any merc sweat, no matter how strong they were.
Despite all that, there were Pilar, Rebecca, and Allen, as carefree as a fresh morning, walking around as if they had no problems or enemies.
....
Obviously, they weren't going to fight inside Afterlife. When they reached the door, the bouncer frowned.
"Maine?"
This man had seen many things and was accustomed to seeing all kinds of mercs coming in and out of Afterlife. He knew when something was going on.
Allen and many people in the Chat recognized him, of course. He was Emmerick Bronson, someone who, even in Cyberpunk 2077, remained guarding the entrance to the famous Afterlife.
Maine smiled. "Don't worry, Emmerick. We're just going to practice a little outside."
Emmerick frowned.
"Villefort Alvarado V4F 570 Delegate... Herrera Outlaw GTS... they're both outside. Can you afford it?"
Maine paled. He wasn't the only one. Both were expensive high-end cars.
The Villefort Alvarado was mainly inspired by American luxury sedans from the 1970s, such as the Cadillac Eldorado and the Cadillac Coupe de Ville. It cost 62,000 Eddies.
Meanwhile, the Herrera Outlaw GTS was a futuristic mixture of limousines and high-end European supercars, with strong visual influences from models such as the McLaren Speedtail. Its price was even higher than the Alvarado, sitting around 92,000 Eddies.
However, the problem wasn't just how expensive it would be to damage one of those vehicles, but the fact that they would be pissing off their owners. Even in this bar full of mercs, most of them only made a few thousand per job, sometimes just hundreds after splitting the payment. Who could afford something like that? Obviously, people shouldn't provoke.
"Hey, Maine, stop this," Dorio said with a bead of sweat on her cheek.
They had potential as mercs, but right now they were still building their reputation, contacts, and funds. Risking everything out of pride wasn't worth it. Besides, Dorio suspected this was all a misunderstanding after seeing Allen's reaction when he learned what Pilar had said.
"Haha, don't worry! We'll take responsibility if anything happens to the cars!"
Dorio, Pilar, and Sasha were surprised to hear this. Allen and Rebecca exchanged glances. Neither of them believed Maine was an idiot. After all, the Edgerunners events would take place in three years, not a decade. He shouldn't be that different from the Maine of 2075.
....
Everyone went out into the parking lot.
Allen saw the vehicles in front of the entrance. He had seen them when they arrived, but hadn't paid much attention to them. They really weren't vehicles just anyone could own.
Fortunately, the parking lot was large, and to the left there was a 15x15-meter space before the exit to the street. There were no vehicles there, only some overflowing trash containers.
Allen said nothing and walked until he was standing with the next building behind him. Maine did the same, but with Afterlife behind him.
"Are you sure about this?" Allen asked indifferently. "You should already know that Pilar was just being an idiot."
"How cruel, Lil bro!" Pilar exclaimed dramatically.
"Stupid Aniki!" Rebecca, annoyed, kicked him in the balls, and he collapsed to the ground.
"Ahh! Rebecca, wait! Someone help me!"
Sasha mocked him while sticking out her tongue. "You deserve it~."
Dorio crossed her arms and sighed exasperatedly. "Just accept your fate."
For a moment, everyone thought the matter had been settled, but neither Allen nor Maine reacted to this.
"Are you seriously going to do this?" Allen asked one last time, narrowing his eyes.
"Nonsense!" Maine smiled mockingly. "After coming here to plunder my crew, you're going to back down?"
Everyone fell silent as Maine cracked his neck.
"Even though we haven't been together for long, Pilar and Rebecca are my crew. However, it's pretty obvious that they're more with you than with me."
Whether consciously or unconsciously, Rebecca looked at Allen whenever she made a decision, as if asking for his opinion. And despite his personality, Pilar was clearly following Allen's wishes. Even this meeting had been arranged by Pilar at Allen's request.
"There can't be two tigers on the same mountain... huh."
"That's right. Or are you willing to join my crew?" Maine narrowed his eyes without stopping his smile.
"..." Allen sighed. This was complicated, and he hadn't even had time to consider it. Just a few hours ago, he hadn't even expected to find all these people alive. Now that things had reached this point, he had no choice but to get involved.
But what should he do? Join Maine?
Allen didn't hate Maine, but the future proved that both he and David Martinez led their crews to annihilation. Letting Maine lead Rebecca and Pilar, who was now his brother-in-law, was out of the question.
"Fine. Either way, I really wanted to beat you up." Allen's eyes became more serious, wiping the smile off Maine's face and putting him on guard.
The tension immediately increased, and even the mercs who had been watching with smiles and mocking remarks were surprised.
Maine, the talented merc on the rise, versus an unknown young man. It seemed to be a confrontation far beyond what they had expected.
"Enough talking! Let's do this!"
Maine stomped hard before launching himself toward Allen like a bull. His fist clenched with enough force to rip a metal door off its hinges, and his mechanical arms carried the strength of a bulldozer.
"Take this!"
None of those present had expected Maine to be so decisive when attacking.
In a matter of moments, Maine closed the distance.
At that moment, Allen's eyes flashed with a mechanical glow, and Maine's vision went dark.
"Shit! A Netrunner?!" Maine immediately switched to defense, crossing his arms and waiting for Allen's attack. However, it never came.
"I wasn't interested in having a crew, or anything like that, but I can't leave Rebecca in the hands of someone like you," Allen said.
In an instant, his right leg rose and kicked Maine, sending him flying several meters before he crashed onto the ground.
Everyone was left in shock upon seeing Maine on the ground. Seeing such a fast and precise quickhack, combined with the fact that the same Netrunner possessed such powerful close-combat abilities, was shocking. For starters, the first part made no sense!
Quickhacks weren't instantaneous or magical. They required time to break through ICE, the enemy's digital security, and hacking someone's mind or body took valuable seconds of extreme concentration. How long had it taken Allen to do it? Tenths of a second?!
Even near the end of her life, Kiwi was barely capable of stunning her enemies for a second, and she only managed to kill one using quickhacks.
"Ugh..." Maine stood up in pain. Even though a large portion of his body was made of implants, his organs were still flesh, and that kick had shaken them. Even so, he looked at Allen seriously. "Someone like me?"
Allen tilted his head and scoffed. "You're looking for death, aren't you?"
"What?" Maine opened his eyes before laughing. "No, chump. Like anyone in this city, I just hope to live long enough to leave my mark... but I don't want to drag my crew into hell!"
Maine's words earned the approval of many mercs. Many newcomers arrived with the idea of working as mercs for a few years, making money, and then retiring. However, that way of thinking was naive and dangerous. It was better to accept that your end would come in some shitty alley, riddled with bullets, without anyone crying for you.
The only thing you could hope for was that future mercs would respect you and tell stories about your life while having a drink in your name at Afterlife.
A truth so harsh that it made you wonder: was a profession worth it when most people wouldn't live for years, but only months or even weeks?
Well, the reality was that yes, it was worth it. The other option for most people was to live miserably in a coffin-sized capsule, having to work all day for a few dozen Eddies.
Knowing that, living comfortably for one year sounded better than spending ten in misery, didn't it?
"That's not what I'm talking about," Allen said irritably. "Your words sound great and all, but how much can I trust you? How can I entrust my life to someone who doesn't value his own?"
"..." Maine seemed confused about what Allen meant by his words.
Allen shook his head. His eyes flashed once more, but Maine was already prepared. He grabbed a smoke grenade from his belt and threw it onto the ground.
It exploded, creating a smoke screen that he used to attack. Everyone thought this was the end. In close combat, without the possibility of using quickhacks, Allen didn't stand a chance.
Soon, the sound of metal striking metal was heard, followed by a figure flying through the air and crashing into a trash container.
"What?!" Sasha exclaimed, covering her mouth.
"Impossible!" Dorio said in shock.
"Wow. As always, he has no mercy," Pilar said with a smile.
"Of course!" Rebecca said, puffing out her chest proudly.
'What happened?!' Maine pushed aside the garbage bags as he looked incredulously toward the smoke that was clearing. 'I was sure I had him!'
Allen's footsteps could be heard within the smoke, and he walked out until he was three meters away from Maine, completely unharmed.
"What is the main cause of someone becoming a Cyberpsycho?"
"...?!"
"The number of implants? Using second-hand garbage? Some kind of cybernetic contamination? Willpower?" Allen smiled. "Maybe a little of everything, but that's not the main thing."
Maine's expression became uncomfortable, and he didn't answer Allen's question.
"No. It's the mindset."
"What are you talking about?" Maine frowned.
"You know what's funny? In this world, you're capable of cloning organs with ease, yet when people get injured, many of them use it as an excuse to chrome themselves a little more."
"...!"
"When a person stops valuing their own body and starts seeing it as disposable, that's when you begin taking a step toward cyberpsychosis."
Everyone present fell silent as they listened to Allen's words, and several became embarrassed, because getting injured was common in this line of work, and more than one person, instead of getting proper treatment, had chosen the easy path of adding more chrome.
"Everyone wants to be stronger. You need to be stronger. That's directly connected to survival in this world. How are you supposed to worry about seeing ghosts when there's constantly a gun pointed at your head?!" Maine said, but some noticed that his tone was different, almost as if... he were making excuses.
At his words, Allen remained calm. His gaze was serene, yet there was something in his eyes that made Maine uncomfortable.
Pity...
Maine became angry. He raised his arm, from which the muzzle of a cannon emerged, and fired.
Many thought Allen was going to die. It was a point-blank shot from the "Projectile Launcher." Who could survive that?!
However, everyone was left in shock when Allen moved and used his left arm to literally slap the projectile, destroying it in midair.
Sasha was in shock.
Pilar, Dorio, and even Maine were in shock.
"The answer is quality!" Allen said, showing his silver-colored arm, which reflected the light. Then he advanced toward Maine, lifted him by the neck, and threw him toward the ground. "Instead of trying to replace your entire body with metal as if you despise it, improving the quality of your implants should be a priority."
Allen had already scanned Maine's implants and discovered that even his best ones were only green rarity, meaning Tier 2.
But of course, this was only natural, taking the Gorilla Arms as an example, which were everyone's favorite.
Gorilla Arms.
Tier 2 Uncommon €$ 15,250
Tier 3 Rare €$ 25,250
Tier 4 Epic €$ 45,100
Tier 5 Legendary €$ 100,250
Tier 2 alone already costs enough to pay three years of rent or buy a decent car.
Maine groaned in pain as he leaned against the floor. "Ugh, hey, brother, we're people fighting to survive. Not all of us have the opportunity to buy good stuff."
"I'm not denying that chasing quality is a bottomless pit. That's why I chose to be a Netrunner. I don't need many implants. As for this arm, it's just personal preference." Allen smiled, but then his expression turned stern. "However, I don't want excuses from someone who prefers quantity over quality. You're not a damn Lego set. Respect your body, bastard!"
"..." Maine shut his mouth. Being scolded by someone younger than him was extremely humiliating, but he couldn't come up with a rebuttal.
People looked at Allen's arm with greed. An arm capable of blocking a cannon shot without a scratch had to be military-grade.
However, no one dared to take a step forward, because they all saw the shadow of a legend in Allen. They remembered that other merc who used a silver arm, the man who had left his mark on the world.
Johnny Silverhand.
"Even though this world is going to hell, we're still human!"
====
A/N: If Maine is still the same after such a physical and mental beating, there's no hope for him. 🗿