Not edited.
Serena Pov.
Luckily, the journey didn't take too long and in about 15 minutes we were already in front of Empathy, in all its neon light glory.
"Should we go with you?" Lucy asked simply. I shrugged.
"If they want. Although I shouldn't get into any trouble." I said honestly. Lucy nodded and got out of the Maimai. Rebecca practically bounced out of the car. I didn't grab my swords or the cyberdeck; I just got out and started walking.
The three of us entered the club without any problem. I ignored the men who were standing guard; the night had just begun, but the club already seemed packed. I walked past everyone and approached the bar.
"drinkslinger!" I yelled at the bartender, not caring what he was doing, I held up four fingers in his direction and turned around to lean against the bar.
"So, who are we looking for?" Rebecca asked as she looked around.
"Ruby Collins, she's one of the dancers," I said immediately while looking around.
"Over there, it's that one." Lucy pointed after a few seconds, her eyes sparkling slightly. I saw one of the platforms where a woman in her underwear was dancing. I nodded just in time for the bartender to place the drinks behind us.
I didn't even look at what I'd ordered; I simply sent the money with my phone, grabbed two of the glasses, and started walking toward Ruby. I saw Lucy grab one of the glasses and follow me, while Rebecca quickly downed hers in one gulp and placed the glass on the bar before following us.
"Hey! Beautiful Lady!" I shouted jubilantly, raising the glasses above my head in Ruby's direction. The woman didn't even flinch when she looked at me; she simply smiled seductively. "Could I convince you to a more... private dance?" I purred happily, passing one of the glasses to Rebecca while laughing.
I grabbed the phone and sent a small sum of 10,000 Edis to Ruby. Ruby's eyes sparkled and she smiled more widely as she continued to dance.
"Well, beautiful, I'm sure we'll have a good time." Ruby purred as she approached my side. I laughed happily, put the glass down on the platform, and extended my hands in her direction. Ruby seemed to understand and gave a small jump.
I easily grabbed her by the hips and set her down. I picked up the glass I'd left on the platform and the one I'd given Rebecca, then laughed happily, downed one of the glasses in one gulp, and raised the other towards Ruby.
Ruby smiled seductively before taking the offered glass with a smile, just a small sip, but it was enough. I smiled broadly as her eyes blurred slightly. I let out a cheerful laugh and placed my hand on Ruby's shoulder, then started walking toward a secluded corner of the club.
"Tell me, do you have a lover named Jeremiah Grayson?" I asked in a low voice. Ruby, under the influence of Veritaserum, didn't hesitate to answer.
"Yes," she said, her eyes glazed over.
"Is Jeremiah Grayson in Night City right now?" I asked once more.
"Yes," Ruby replied again in the same way.
"One last question, darling, will Jeremiah Grayson be working at the Ebunike tonight?" I asked with a wide, expectant smile.
"Yes," Ruby repeated, and my smile widened. I moved quickly and placed a small amount of the antidote in her mouth without anyone noticing, while casting a light Obliviate to erase the last few seconds from her mind.
"Thank you, beautiful, that was all." I said cheerfully while smiling, I left it in a hidden corner before turning around and seeing the incredulous faces of Lucy and Rebecca, I laughed slightly as I started walking towards the exit.
I cast a light confusus on the guards so that they wouldn't even bother to notice why we weren't inside for more than 10 minutes.
Even though they were confused, to my surprise, both waited until they boarded the Maimai before exploding.
"What the hell was that?!" Rebecca asked, turning around in my lap to stare at me. I raised an eyebrow in her direction and smiled.
"What thing?" I asked playfully.
"Whatever you put in her drink! And when did you spike the drink?!" "I never saw anything! " Rebecca said incredulously. I smiled slightly.
"Like I told you, I'm good with my hands, and that was a little Truth Serum I like to make, pretty good for interrogating people," I said simply.
"Are you sure you don't work for any corporation? You're a really excellent ninja." Rebecca remarked, almost accusingly. I sighed.
"No, none, just a simple mercenary." I said jokingly.
"And what does a 'simple' mercenary want with another mercenary affiliated with Arasaka?" Lucy asked cautiously. I could see her eyes sparkle as she searched for information about Grayson. I smiled slightly.
"Well, if you want to find out, we have to go all the way to the docks in Northside," I said playfully.
"For that Ebunike thing? Is it a boat? " Rebecca asked, starting the vehicle. I nodded.
"Yes, DV Ebunike, it's a freighter docked at the piers, it's been docked there for over 30 years, over time, it became a personal hideout for a high-ranking officer from Arasaka. We're stealing something important from that place," I said simply.
"Sounds perfect!" Rebecca said, laughing heartily. Lucy just narrowed her eyes but didn't say anything, only frowned. Rebecca started the vehicle and began driving once again.
"By the way, who wants some food?" I asked as I pulled another burger and fries out of my Pocket Space when they weren't looking.
"What the hell, where did you get that from?" Lucy asked incredulously.
"I don't care, but I want some! Feed me." Rebecca ordered, her mouth eagerly opening. I huffed, but still grabbed the hamburger and brought it to Rebecca's mouth, which she simply took a big bite of before moaning with pleasure. "This is really delicious, I'll never get tired of eating this." Rebecca sighed.
I chuckled and tossed Lucy her portion before joining Rebecca in the meal. For every bite I took, I offered Rebecca one, and she ate happily. Lucy, on the other hand, eyed me suspiciously until she finally gave up.
The journey wasn't long enough to bore us, but we finally arrived at Northside Port just as we finished eating—or as close as we could get without drawing attention. Rebecca hid the Maimai and stopped it.
"Is this okay?" Rebecca asked as she tried to look outside, I nodded.
"I should, let's go." I said simply as I got out of the car, this time grabbing all my belongings. "It won't be necessary." I told Rebecca, who was about to grab her guns; she looked at me, confused.
"What? Why not? " Rebecca asked, frowning.
"You won't get into a fight. It's best if this is done... discreetly. If we make too much noise, we'll attract the attention of someone quite dangerous," I said simply.
"Oh, come on! You told me it would be fun." Rebecca complained while huffing, I gave her an apologetic smile.
"Unfortunately, this is too important to ruin." I told her honestly. Rebecca snorted and closed the Maimai while glaring at me.
"This is turning out to be the worst date ever." Rebecca grumbled as she crossed her arms, and I burst out laughing.
"Sorry, sorry, I'll make it up to you. There's something at Ebunike that I think you'll really like, you can keep it," I said honestly. Rebecca's frown softened, but she was still grumbling.
"You'd better, gonk." Rebecca snarled under her breath. I chuckled and saw Lucy standing beside me, barely listening to our conversation.
"Come on, stay close." I said simply before starting to walk along the docks. It wasn't hard to pinpoint exactly where I was; I pulled out my Cyberdeck and began pressing keys so fast my fingers blurred.
A small beep signaled me to everyone present. I almost gasped at the sight of over two dozen guards. And finally, I spotted Grayson atop the Ebunike. I smiled slightly.
It was actually good luck that he was on the Ebunike. The only reason I went to Emphaty was to find him. I had plans for Grayson that had nothing to do with raiding the Ebunike; after all, I didn't need him to steal the entire cargo.
I continued manipulating the cyberdeck, turned off all the cameras and prevented them from being turned on again, and cut off communications.
I preloaded several Daemons before looking at my two companions.
"Stay behind me." I said simply before I started running quickly, took Kanshou out of its temporary case, activated all the Daemons I had left in the queue, placed the cyberdeck on my hip and took out Bakuya as I moved quickly.
When I saw the first guard, I cut off his head without hesitation before he even saw me. His body didn't even fall when I changed direction and went to the next one. This time they both saw me, but their weapons discharged a small burst, rendering them useless.
Bakuya cut them both down with extreme ease. Once I changed direction, I zigzagged from side to side, killing them before they could warn the others. All my Daemons had been charged with enough precision that their weapons or cyberware would fail when I approached them.
So it was easy to get rid of them one after another, leaving a trail of corpses.
Finally, we reached the Ebunike ship and I stopped. I looked behind me and saw Rebecca and Lucy catching up with me, both breathing heavily.
"Damn it, Gonk! Next time slow down, not everyone is that fast or uses a Sandy! " Rebecca muttered under her breath as she punched me in the stomach. I smiled apologetically.
"You're not using a Sandy, it's a Kerenzikov, right? " Lucy asked, catching her breath. "You kept it on too long to be a Sandy. You literally operated on Maine for hours, and your hands were moving faster than they should have."
"But the Kerenz don't do that, didn't they do that super weird thing of only increasing reflexes? You can't go faster like with a Sandy." Rebecca retorted, Lucy shrugged.
"She's able to acquire military equipment with ease, her wife seems to be an excellent Ripperdoc, a techie and netrunner, she might be a heavily modified Kerenz or fused with Sandy or something, I have no idea," Lucy remarked with a grimace. "All I know is that she moves too fast for too long to be a Sandy."
They both looked at me as if they were waiting for an answer, I just smiled broadly at them.
"Now, that would be revealing." I said playfully. Rebecca groaned in frustration.
"Someday I'll get all the information out of you." Rebecca growled, and I chuckled.
"I'll be waiting for it," I said honestly, before glancing at the ship. "Now, come on, we're almost there," I said simply before starting to climb the stairs that led to the top of the Ebunike.
Once at the top, I activated my cyberdeck one more time before stowing it and launching myself at all the guards inside. The place was packed with cargo, enough to easily hide and ambush them all while silently taking them out.
Once I killed the last guard without making a sound, I looked at Rebecca and Lucy and signaled for them to hide. Finally, I approached the last point.
"Ah, Grayson." I said loudly as I approached Jeremiah Grayson, who jumped and reacted instantly, reaching for his gun as he turned around. I quickly stepped in front of Grayson and placed Kanshou against his neck, freezing him in place. "I wouldn't do that if I were you," I said playfully.
"Who are you? What do you want? " Grayson asked as he slowly removed his hand from his hip and stared at me. I had to give him points for staying calm.
"When will HE come to Night City?" I asked directly. Grayson seemed confused before letting out a laugh in recognition.
"Are you looking for him?" Grayson asked playfully, not caring that Kanshou had lightly bitten his neck.
"Answer me." I said impatiently.
"Fine, fine, fine, who am I to stop another idiot from committing suicide? He was assigned as a bodyguard, can you believe it? He's doing dirty work here and there, if you know what I mean." Grayson said nonchalantly. "But he should be back at NC in a few weeks."
Look Grayson straight in the eyes and mentally probe his thoughts. He wasn't lying. It seemed Adam had already been assigned as Yorinobu 's bodyguard. But that wasn't important; Smasher would be returning to Night City in a few weeks, which was good.
I could wait for him calmly and hope he comes without having to track him all over the world until he decides to come to NC.
In Edgerunner, he was hired by Arasaka's counterintelligence, but he had no idea whether he was already in NC at that point, or if he'd simply returned for that reason. And the other point of reference was when I arrived at Konpeki Plaza with Yorinobu several times during 2077.
I would have to have GLaDOS keep track of the guests at Konpeki Plaza, and she should also start tracking Evelyn Parker. I had no idea when Yorinobu would hire her, but she ran into Smasher several times.
"Thanks for the data." I said before punching his jaw hard, knocking him unconscious as he fell to the ground.
"Who are you supposed to be looking for?" Lucy asked, frowning as she emerged from her hiding place.
"You'll find out soon enough. Now let's go, it's time to find what we came here for." I said, lifting Grayson's body onto my shoulder and starting to walk with ease.
"I still don't see what's so special about this ship," Rebecca said casually, looking around. "Yes, it's full of weapons. I think I saw some Kang Tao and Militech shipments there, but they don't seem like anything special," she added.
"We're almost there," I said playfully. I walked down the long ship, stepping over the corpses of the security guards, until I finally reached Smasher's storage room. I dropped Grayson to the floor. "Okay, what we came for is in here," I said, looking at the bunker door.
"You need an access code," Lucy said dully. I sighed.
"I know, now turn around, I'm going to do something you can't see or I'll have to kill you." I said with a smile. They both huffed, but turned around.
"You're really doing a terrible job of convincing me you're not from a corporation. Hiding their secrets is typical of them." Lucy sneered, and I rolled my eyes.
I clapped lightly and placed my hand on the door, immediately turning all the mechanisms that blocked the door into dust, then with a simple push the door opened easily.
"ready." I said nonchalantly.
"Already?!" Rebecca asked, turning around incredulously. Even Lucy looked at me confused as she turned her gaze back. I chuckled.
"I said they couldn't see, I didn't say it would take a while." I pointed out playfully.
"Great! Let's see what's in here! " Rebecca said excitedly, stepping past me and opening the bunker door completely. She froze when she saw inside. "Oh my god, is that... is that what I think it is?" Rebecca asked, trembling slightly as her legs shook with excitement.
Rebecca was ignoring all the weapons in the room, focusing solely on the front, where Dragoon's fully transformed body stood. Lucy approached and peered into the room above Rebecca's head.
"A Dragoon body?" Lucy murmured in complete shock. I pushed Rebecca inside, snapping her out of her shock. Without hesitation, she ran towards the Dragoon and practically pressed her face against the glass.
"Mmmhhh, I think I cheating you." Rebecca murmured as she moaned against the glass, squeezing her legs together while lightly rubbing them. I burst out laughing.
"No," Lucy murmured, letting out a gasp of horror. I turned and saw her approaching the computer on the desk. "Did you bring us to Adam Smasher's hideout?" Lucy hissed, her voice trembling slightly.
"Does this belong to the fucking Smasher?" Rebecca asked, turning around quickly while looking at me incredulously. I looked at both of them with a mocking smile and pointed at the Dragoon.
"Who do you think that heavily modified monstrosity belonged to?" I asked dryly. They both stopped stiffly and looked at the Dragoon once more, this time registering exactly what it meant.
"Oh god." Lucy murmured incredulously.
"There was a reason we had to do this quietly. If we sounded the alarm, all of Arasaka would be here faster than Trauma Team." I said dryly, and they both shuddered slightly.
"Why the hell are we here?" Lucy asked forcefully. I hummed as I looked at the Dragoon.
"I think I told you I had some missions and business to take care of here in Night City, right? " I asked Rebecca, who just nodded carefully. "I have a mission to kill Adam Smasher," I said honestly, and they both took a deep breath.
"Impossible, nobody kills Smasher," Rebecca growled immediately. "You told Maine it wasn't anything special, that you've heard the story of someone becoming a psychopath a hundred times and it wouldn't end any differently."
"Well, I heard this one too, a Gonk thinks he's stronger than Smasher and that Gonk ends up crushed under the metal foot of damn Arasaka's dog." Rebecca growled, sounding terribly worried as she looked at me.
"No... wait, wait a minute." Lucy said, covering one eye in disbelief. "The Chimera you stole from Hansen, this Dragoon, your wife's abilities, you... you really plan to kill him and... you have a damn good chance." Lucy said incredulously, looking at me incredulously, but she continued talking.
"Smasher, however strong and resilient he may be, is still a human being; he's not designed to withstand fire from something like a war tank. And even if he were, now you have an exact replica of the body Smasher uses, down to his exact specifications."
"Your wife will be able to find all the weaknesses within Smasher's body and exploit them more easily. You can prepare traps or attacks that will work against Smasher. This... you're really doing this, and you might just succeed." She murmured as she stumbled slightly backward.
I blinked slightly and stared at her, almost incredulous. How had she come to that conclusion?!
"That's it... you're going to kill Adama Fucking Smasher." Rebecca murmured in amazement as she stared at me intently. I almost wanted to sigh, but I just grimaced.
"Let's just say yes... I can't confirm or deny anything," I said curtly. Rebecca squealed with excitement. I sighed. "Well, putting all that aside, come on, we have to leave. I already called someone to come and pick everything up," I said simply, looking around.
Both girls didn't even protest, they just nodded excitedly as they walked behind me.
"By the way, why did you bring that Grayson guy here?" Rebecca asked, confused, as she pointed to the unconscious body she had left to the side. "I suppose you were looking for information on Smasher, and now it makes sense, but I don't understand why you dragged him here," she added, confused.
"Oh yeah! I was almost forgetting. Well, today was a boring day, and since you couldn't kill anything here, I wanted to give you a little something to make up for it." I said playfully as I rummaged through Grayson's clothes for the weapon. " And here it is." I said as I pulled out the Malorian.
"It's a Malorian?!" Rebecca squealed excitedly as she grabbed the gun and began to look at it as if it were gold. "And not just any gun! It's a Malorian 3516!" You know how rare these beauties are!! Oh god, these are preem!! "It's Johnny Silverhand's iconic weapon! " Rebecca said quickly with a huge smile.
I grabbed the weapon and began to twist it before gripping the handle and pointing it skyward. Without hesitation, I squeezed the trigger. The distinctive sound of the Malorian 3516 echoed throughout the ship as the bullet fired. I could see the strong recoil jolt Rebecca's entire arm up to her shoulder, but she didn't even seem to mind.
" Ohhhh ! It sounds beautiful." Rebecca moaned, shuddering slightly. "This is the best gift in the world! Thank you! Being able to use the same type of weapon as Silverhand is so preem! " Rebecca laughed happily, and I looked at her amused.
"I admit it, I'm impressed," Lucy said with a smile. I smiled even wider.
"Not the same type, THAT'S Silverhand's weapon," I said playfully. That stopped both of them in their tracks, and they looked at me, confused.
"What?" Rebecca asked, confused.
"It turns out that Adam Smasher got hold of Silverhand's Malorian when the Arasaka Tower explosion happened. He kept it safe for years before giving it to Grayson for a job very well done."
"I traced it back to Grayson, and I can say with certainty that this weapon is the same one Silverhand held and used 50 years ago." I said playfully, and Rebecca froze completely.
"Are you telling me... that you didn't just give me a Malorian 3516, but that you gave me THE Malorian 3516, the same Malorian that Silverhand uses, right? " Rebecca asked slowly. I blinked.
"Yes, that's what I said," I repeated to myself once more. Was it a bad gift? I was about to open my mouth when Rebecca took two long strides until she was in front of me. With her free hand, she grabbed the collar of my shirt and pulled me down.
Thanks to the force she used, since she took me by surprise, I leaned forward enough for Rebecca to use her other hand to wrap it around my neck and pull me into a kiss. My eyes opened slightly as Rebecca kissed me fiercely.
I quickly began to return the kiss with the same intensity.
"If you don't fuck me right now, I'll be very upset. I won't spend two nights in a row masturbating alone in my bed." Rebecca growled, biting my lip. I burst out laughing.
"Here?" I asked playfully.
"Please no, I'm still here," Lucy grumbled, looking very upset.
"Join us, or turn around, or go home, or keep watch! I don't care!" "But I'm having sex! " Rebecca growled at Lucy. I laughed.
"Let's go home," I said jokingly.
"No, no, no, no, you're going to screw me over, right here and now." Rebecca growled, glaring at me. I raised an eyebrow.
"I never said I wouldn't, but I prefer to do it in my bed, for hours," I said huskily, staring intently at her. Rebecca shuddered slightly, biting her lip. She grabbed my wrist and began to pull me along.
"Wait! Don't we have to take our things out of here? " Lucy asked as she quickly followed us.
"I don't care!" Rebecca shouted as she walked quickly.
"I already told you to call someone to come and pick up the things! Don't worry!" " They'll clean the whole ship in no time! " I said, glancing over my shoulder. Lucy sighed and quickened her pace. After several turns, we finally arrived back at where we had left the Maimai.
"Give me the keys, I'll drive." Lucy grumbled, standing in front of the driver's side door. "I won't let you drive like this, I want to live," Lucy said curtly. Rebecca didn't even hesitate; she tossed her the keys and dragged me to the other seat.
I pushed myself onto the Maimai, and as soon as I finished sitting down, Rebecca was about to get on, but I stopped her immediately, grabbed Rebecca, quickly took off her black jacket and threw it to one side, then grabbed Rebecca by the waist, turned her around and sat her on my lap in such a way that Rebecca was facing forward, with her back touching my chest.
"No, no, no, the other way around." Rebecca grunted, trying to turn around. My hands tightened on her hips, holding her in place. Rebecca groaned in frustration.
"Drive." I told Lucy, who got into the Maimai more calmly; she just sighed and started the vehicle.
Author's Notes: Please excuse the unedited chapters. My editor, Scott, is having some personal issues and hasn't been able to edit and proofread the chapters for the past month or so. When he's able to work on them, I'll update the chapters accordingly, sorry!