Chapter 19 –
Anger is about the right word to describe what I am feeling right now.
Anger… can be a phenomenal tool for motivation. Especially, righteous anger. It can be unfathomably deep, cutting and extremely raw. The chilling nature of anger can even blind a man with fury.
I have experienced such anger a number of times in my life. Everybody does at some point. In hindsight now, after all that had happened in Night City, the root causes behind my experiences with anger before everything almost seem …. mundane, insignificant, small.
The most angry I had ever been in my life, before arriving in this god forsaken city, was the time I was humiliated in high school; being labeled a cheat, having gotten my term assignment stolen word for word by somebody I had once called friend. I didn't make an out of state university because of that, and I was so lost in rage that I broke that friend's teeth in.
I had felt angry, heartbroken, and pathetically sad over the betrayal that I lost control of my temper and ended up lashing out at anybody and everybody, even hurting my sister when she tried to be there for me. I ended up telling her that she had everything easy in her life because I thought that her scholarship into UCLA was the result of our mother pulling some strings.
She had gotten a scholarship on merit. Alongside partials into UC Davis, Berkley and more.
That is why … I can only imagine what Archie must have felt, finally confronting the killer of her father. The man that shattered the quiet life she enjoyed in this beautiful little hellhole of a city. The blinding anger she lost herself into. The things she did when lost in that rage….
But that does not mean I can brush aside the pain she caused to the people undeserving of that anger.
Anger can be a powerful weapon, if you control it, use it. Not the other way around. Archie clearly cannot.
Even through all the agonizing pain I was feeling due to the giant bruise that I now called my body, or the six or so ribs that I was sure were cracked or at least out of place, and that sickening numbness that permeated my back, I could not get the faces of the people she had dismembered, she had torn right through without hesitation back on those damned rooftops of Allen Street.
Nobody had uttered a word as we had driven off, following Ethan's black Thorton as he guided us to the No-Tell Motel.
The motel wasn't very far at all. Frankly, it was ridiculously close by Allen Street. Just a couple levels above the crisscrossing multi-leveled district that was Watson. I did not like that proximity one bit.
But my discomfort with its proximity was far outstripped by the hundred other things characteristic to the place that any sane person from back home would have labeled a serial killers wet dream.
"Yoko's on the upper floor" Archie said as she walked ahead of us through the place, after we parked the cars in the back. "Room 203. Let's see what sort of scopshit we're looking at."
"Lead the way, Arch" Ethan nodded and followed after her while Becca kicked a can out of her way in annoyance, as she grumbled under her breath but gave no other sign of disagreement.
We had all ditched our masks in the vehicles, and Becca had unceremoniously torn off her new pair of pants at the first chance she had gotten, leaving them in my car. I had dropped my mask in the boot of as well, while I had grabbed the suitcase with Yoko's SMG. All of the rest of our weapons were adequately concealed as well, with mine surreptitiously returned to tattoo form.
Our identities were flimsily protected as they were, but we didn't need to make it easy for anybody connecting those to the cars or the place at all.
Hopefully, if Yoko had been thorough about everything as she had shown herself to be, all footage that would lead back to us from any Camera connected to the Kabuki's subnet would have been wiped clean. Nothing to lead back to us from that angle in any way possible…. unless somebody had been recording and following us through the entire thing as closely as possible from before we even started using their optics or whatever else we couldn't possibly sufficiently cover for.
The motel Yoko had chosen was even more seedy from the inside… and I didn't even think that was possible.
It had everything, blacked-out junkies, a throuple having sex right on the stairway in the middle of the damned main hall, and if I wasn't mistaken, a very loud orgy happening behind one of the ground floor doors.
We all collectively ignored all that as we made our way to the room at the far end of the hallway on the first floor to room 203.
The room looked like it had seen better decades. The keypad was cracked, and the door opened with a reluctant hiss, and the walls stunk of sex. Though I doubt it was due to the most recent occupant of the room, that being Yoko.
Neon red light bathed the circular bed in the back of the room, while sickly blue from the strip-lights in the corners fought to cast the rest in a dark cold shadow. The walls covered in graffiti were tacky, made of faux-leather and peeling in places, like they hadn't been cleaned since the last decade. Zebra print accents framed the bed and ceiling fan in the most gaudy way possible.
Yoko had set up a large portable plastic cooler, the kind you'd expect to find at a meatpacking plant for giant carcasses, sitting dead center of the floor. It was filled to the brim with an ice bath that still hadn't fully melted, steam curling up from the top.
Several thick insulated cables trailed across the floor from what I could sense were the mains, looping around stained carpeting and feeding into a portable cyberdeck.
The deck itself looked as if it been set on fire and shot up right after, the bullet holes were visible beneath the small fire.
Was that to make sure nobody could …. what? Trace the Cyberdeck back here, after she had used it? I can only guess.
Standing just a few feet from the busted, burning cyberdeck, in front of the TV on the wall, naked, dripping wet, and seemingly unconcerned about all of it was Yoko.
Her eyes flicked toward us as we filed in behind Archie. She didn't even flinch or bother covering herself.
"It's almost like half the city's shown up to see our work of art," she said, voice hitching just a bit. "We're everywhere, so I suppose congratulations are in order!"
Right.
There's that bit of nuisance to worry about too. Always ten things to be worrying about in this damned city.
"What are they saying?" Archie asked as she joined the woman in watching the TV while I approached the table by the couch, placing the suitcase with Yoko's SMG on it.
"What aren't they saying is a better question," Yoko responded glibly, moving to the couch to gather her coat. "A spec ops corporate team gone rogue with an experimental cryo-bomb going off, more live weapons test by some corporation or… if WNS is to be believed, experimental corporate weaponry in the hands of Cyberpsychos."
She looked at Archie with saccharine, faux amusement "Which honestly isn't too far off the mark, if the nomad kid really lifted all his tech from some corporation like I think he did."
Cyberpsycho. A very common term here, at least so far as the 'Scream Sheets' are concerned.
…. And Yoko really thinks I stole all this tech from a corporation? Well, if nothing else, I can see where she's coming from.
"What are you trying to say?" Archie retorted defensively, "What happened back there was a mistake, you were watching everything! There was no other choice!"
Yoko stared impassively at Archie for a few seconds.
Is that what Archie was becoming? A Cyberpsycho?
I have come across the term in the news here quite often. There's not a day that goes by without an incident with some Cyberpsycho rampage popping up on the news here. There's at least one mention of one on the radio. But I never cared to bother researching deep into the topic myself.
Now, I will have to figure out what the fuck is a Cyberpsycho? And what the hell even is Cyberpsychosis?
Mental health is not something I would say I am an expert at. Who even really is? So this… is going to be a challenge.
"You're right," Yoko finally said, donning the synthetic leather coat with a lazy flick of her arms. "I did see everything that happened. Every angle of it, in ultra-high definition. Yes, the bastard was throwing people at you, and yeah, if you'd hesitated, he might've slipped away."
She turned to face Archie fully now, finally losing the thin veneer of cool she had kept up, her coat draped loosely over her shoulders, still dripping. "But you still had the choice not to cut down innocents. We would have found the fucker again… or fuck! I would have sicced my fucking drone on him… I don't know!"
She paced the room in front of Archie, broiling with anger and disappointment at the chromed up woman "Either way, with all the damage I had done to him, he would have died. If not by your blade, an hour or so down the line to my fucking daemons. But you went through those people anyway and that's on you. And because of that, it's on all of us."
Archie's jaw clenched. Her fists balled at her sides, chrome digits creaking faintly.
"I… I was careful," she insisted, her voice tight. "I went for non-lethals. I aimed away from vitals when I could."
She is deflecting, making excuses. This is infuriating.
Does she even care?
"Archie, stop." I stepped forward, not hiding the anger in my voice. "We planned this thing so thoroughly with two things in mind. To get the bastard who killed your father, and to make sure we don't hurt innocent civilians in the process. Becca and I argued specifically for just that. But you lost your cool out there, and innocent people got hurt"
She didn't look at me at first, eyes closed as she heaved her shoulder heavily, body trembling.
Yoko was watching her reaction impassively, as was Becca as she leaned on the wall. Ethan hovered beside Archie awkwardly, he looked as if he was unsure what to do here.
"You think I don't know that?" Archie snapped suddenly, rounding on me. "You think I don't remember every fucking face that got caught up in that hellhole? I hurt people. I know and I am sorry about it. I don't know what else to do!"
Is she sorry about it?
Does her being sorry even matter? People have been hurt. People have lost limbs, some were skewered through and in shock.
Fuck!
There hadn't been any time to stop and help. Sorry does nothing for them!
Ethan stepped in, raising both his hands placatingly stepping between Archie and me.
"Alright, that's enough. All of us need to cool down. Fighting each other after everything that just happened is not going to help." He sounded tired. "We have more pressing issues to talk about."
He's right. I need to make this … better somehow.
No, that's delusional. There is no making it better, or right. I simply need to go and help the people we ended up hurting.
My healing potions? Could those regrow entire limbs? Does that fall under the description of 'Best for the drinker'? Fuck if I know!
God, this is all kinds of fucked up. How am I even supposed to go out and help them?
'Hey, yeah. Hi. We came here last night. Remember that …. incident… where you lost your limbs? I can fix that. Just drink this suspicious as fuck regenerative experimental compound that doesn't exist anywhere else in the world, and you'll be fine.'
Before I could say something, Yoko cut in.
"What is there to talk about?" She rounded on Ethan with an intensity I hadn't seen from her before. "Archie's like a fucking daughter to me. I was chooms with her mother. I held her when she was a baby, watched her grow up. And now I'm watching her lose herself to chrome! I'm not going to pretend it's fine."
Archie flinched like she'd been struck.
Lose herself to chrome? What the fuck does that mean?
"I'm not going crazy, auntie. I'm not some Chrome-drunk cyberpsycho. I've had these implants for barely a week. A week. Cyberpsychosis doesn't show up that fast. Hell, there are gonks out there with more chrome than I do, and they're just fine. You know that, Yoko. Stop calling me something I'm not."
Holy shit.
Does merely having implants like Archie's and Ethan's mean that somebody can become a Cyberpsycho? How the fuck does that work? Do implants mess with the brain, mentality, personality, whatever the fuck else that it'd cause people to become psychos?
What the fuck exactly is the cause of Cyberpsychosis?
Becca finally moved off the wall. She shoved her hands into the pockets of her jacket, and winced at the pain the action caused in her broken arm, jaw clenching tight.
And there's that too. Becca has a fucking massive hole in her hand, her fucking fingers are unresponsive, and the connection nodes that mimic nerve endings in her false arm are all bust.
That is on me too. I need to fix that.
"Do you know what kind of hell Cyberpsychosis is?" she said, annoyed and ignoring the pain.
Thank you, Becca. For always asking the most pertinent questions possible.
"Does anybody here? Nobody? Let me tell you something, the shit you've seen in the media about the fucking thing? It's all a lie. Nobody knows Cyberpsychosis. Not the suits. Not their fancy-ass shrinks. And sure as hell not chooms like you and me." She waved an arm at us all.
So, nobody knows? … That doesn't seem right.
…. I need to read up on Cyberpsychosis and the established theories behind the damn thing myself.
If implants themselves are the cause behind Cyberpsychosis, then I can't sense that sort of thing by just focusing my fucking tech senses on their implants.
I can sense the overall purpose behind any tech at a glance, how its meant to function, how to use it, figure out the basic principles behind how they work and make a simpler standardized versions of it, and fix it to some usable degree if I don't exactly know the complete workings of that tech thoroughly.
Sensing something like this is beyond me at the moment.
… I need to wait for the forge to hand me something for that… or perform a thorough analysis of implants and tech like this myself.
Where would I even start with that?
…. The cyberware I have in the boot of my car for the patients over at Vik's seems like a good bet.
Becca stepped forward, eyes locked on Archie as she went on. "But let me tell you something. I've seen what Cyberpsychosis does to gonks up close and personal. I've lost people to it. Choom who swore he was fine right until he lost his fucking mind and turned people he loved into meat."
This seems like it's very personal to Becca. She's been hurt personally by the effects of the damn thing. She shouldn't have to be exposed to old wounds.
Archie opened her mouth, but Becca kept going, her voice rising.
"The only reason you're standing here, breathing, is because Zain stepped in when he did back there. He sold you that cryo piece and trusted you with it. You almost… no, fuck that, you did shoot him! Right in the back. If he didn't pull off another fucking miracle out of his ass, and get up for you, he'd be a frozen corpse on that fucking rooftop, and you'd have been dead."
My back tensed involuntarily at the memory, the echo of that impact still numbing my nerves. I could still feel the phantoms of the frigid, deadly cold seeping through, biting at the flesh in my back, and feeling it straight in my bones.
The only reason I survived that shot, and was because the forge guaranteed that my clothing could make me feel cozy in environments with temperatures far colder, far deadlier than what my cryo-tech could produce.
Archie turned to me. Finally, for the first time tonight, her expression cracked. She looked at me like she was trying to find something in my face. What it was I don't know.
Forgiveness? I am not the person who she should looking to for that. I was able to walk away … unhurt. Well, at least permanently anyway.
"Zain, I…. I didn't mean to. You know that, right? I thought … I thought," She wrung her head in her hands in frustrated, anguish "And I just … my hands moved before I could think."
I didn't say anything. I couldn't. This was mind numbing.
"I didn't know it was you until after you dove in and I…. I was already firing. I didn't mean to hurt you. I would never...I didn't mean to hurt you," She kept going, her voice barely a whisper now. "I thought I had the shot."
I looked at her. "You thought you had the shot… while he was holding a kid and her mom?"
Her gaze dropped.
"He had a gun to her head," she said, pleading. "I thought I could end it."
"And instead, you almost ended them."
She flinched, and looked away in shame.
I didn't let it hang. "I dove in because you weren't thinking. I took the hit. I made sure they lived and you didn't end up making a huge mistake. Not you."
Silence stretched, heavy.
"Fuck" Archie repeated the words she had uttered back then as well, wringing her head in her hands, her eyes moist. "I… I am sorry. I…"
Was this entire thing a result of her Cyberware? Could the entire blame be placed at the feet of the tech implanted into her?
That feels … cheap. A cop out. An easy explanation.
But if its something that's considered so widespread in this dark future, that people are willing to paint the label of it so quickly… there has to be some basis in it.
But I am not going to put water to that angle regarding Cyberpsychosis so easily. Take out the Cyberware from the entire equation, and this feels like she's lashing out in anger, due to fraying mental health.
I don't consider myself an expert in taking care of my own mental health, let alone helping someone else suffering from trauma, abject loss and so much more. The extent of my understanding of mental health came from fucking social media, and just about everybody there considered themselves an expert of the subject matter.
Becca leaned back against the doorframe, arms crossed. She winced at the pain in her fucked up gorilla arm, but kept her voice cool, "Maybe you should cut back on the chrome."
Would that really help? Would it really be so simple as removing the cyberware, and she can say goodbye to Cyberpsychosis like nothing ever happened?
… I don't think so.
Archie's head jerked toward her, like she'd just been slapped. "What the fuck does that have to do with anything?"
"You say you're sorry," Becca said evenly. "You say you didn't mean it. Show it. Get rid of the fucking chrome, you're not a merc. Cut back, go shack up with your input or whatever, I don't care. What use is all that combat ware to you anyway?"
Archie stared guiltily at her for a long moment, as she shuffled on her feet.
"I'm not…" Archie's voice cracked, then came out low and bitter. "I've never felt more …. myself than I do now…."
That does not sound good… I don't know Archie that well, but she's never said she was uncomfortable in her own skin before.
Is this an effect of the chrome? The addiction to power, to modularity and change that Misty had been talking about?
…. Fucking hell, I am not qualified to deal with this shit yet! She needs help, that much is clear.
I don't even want to imagine how much fucking therapy costs here in this dark ultra capitalistic hellhole.
So, what can I do to help her?
Can my potions help?
…. Maybe….
I can brew a potion to make a person feel at peace, induce a sense of serenity and calm…. Maybe even brew something to deaden the weight of negative thoughts…. like a magical antidepressant?
Am I seriously considering this?
This would be potentially messing with people's minds, their very psyches, if definitions are stretched maybe even their very personalities….
But damn it, once again, I have to do something. I am not going to sit there twiddling my thumbs, while my friend spirals out of control into a hell of her own making.
Ethan stepped in, hand instinctively resting on Archie's shoulder as he turned to the rest of us. "Look, she made mistakes. Yeah. People got hurt. But labeling her a Cyberpsycho for a mistake she made in desperation is not right. She doesn't deserve that."
He looked over at me, then Becca, then Yoko. "You think she doesn't feel it? You think this isn't eating her alive?"
Archie did not say a word.
"She's not a cyberpsycho. She's not losing herself. It's just…" he exhaled sharply, "….unfair to her."
Yoko scoffed, sharp and dry. "Spoken like someone who hasn't had to watch it happen a hundred times before. Tell me, how often do corpos like you have to suffer through shit like this? All the implants you've ever gotten were carefully monitored, well looked after by teams and teams of experts, shrinks, and doctors worth more eddies than all of us combined could ever hope to see."
Ethan's expression hardened. "You think I don't know what it looks like? You think just because I worked for a fucking corp, everything I had was easy? I didn't grow up with a fucking silver spoon in my mouth. I have seen the best and the worst that life had to offer… and I-"
He stopped and took a deep calming breath "You think I'd let her do this to herself if I thought she was slipping?"
"Let her?" Yoko snapped. "That's rich." She gestured at Archie. "How the hell did she even get her hands on that much chrome? Implants like those don't come cheap, not unless someone's got deep corpo pockets or a death wish."
She rounded on Archie again. "How did you pay for all this?"
Archie looked away, her throat bobbing.
Yoko narrowed her eyes. "Archie…"
Ethan stepped forward, his voice going a notch colder. "That's none of your business."
"It is when it's my goddaughter," Yoko shot back. "She's not some chrome-wired merc who's been in the game thirty years like I have! All she's done in her life is work the diner for her dad, the most she's ever come close to this kind of life is having to carry the piece of iron her dad got her after she changed schools to fucking Rancho Coronado!"
This fight was getting personal, this isn't going anywhere.
I stepped forward before it could spiral. "Archie."
She looked up at me. Exhausted.
"What's going on?" I asked, as plainly as I could. "I just want to understand. I'm… worried. We all are."
She swallowed thickly, watery amber eyes flicking toward Ethan who deflated and nodded wearily.
She turned back to me. "I sold the diner."
Yoko and I were both stunned into silence.
"I-I've moved out of the apartment," she added after a second. "We've been staying in Arroyo since last week."
Nobody spoke for a long moment, as we all stared at Archie and Ethan in incomprehension.
Yoko shook her head slowly, muttering something under her breath in defeated exasperation. The fight in her stance was gone, replaced by both disappointment and fatigue.
She turned away from the group and walked away. Likely to get some space from Archie.
Becca frowned, pushing off the wall. "Wait, wait the both of you … in Arroyo? Seriously? That dump? Ethan, you're loaded. The fuck happened to that swanky ass place up in the Glenn?"
Ethan sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "…That apartment was provided by Zetatech. Corporate housing. And, well… I left."
… So, Ethan's been burning money… for what? That one gig that both Archie and him have lined up?
"…Guys," Yoko said suddenly. "You need to see this."
Arif Iqbal was standing on Bellevue Overwalk, a few paces away from where Becca and I had been just a couple hours ago.
"…in response to the unprecedented destruction and chaos caused in the Allen Street slums earlier today, Mayor Lucius Rhyne has officially authorized the NCPD to place immediate checkpoints across all entry and exit points of Watson, with additional restrictions in Westbrook and City Center."
Footage played behind him, NCPD AVs sweeping the slums, injured and terrified civilians being interviewed, the ice-covered ruin of the scav hideout. Scattered bodies, blue-lit barricades, yellow holo-tape.
"The short disruption in the day to day lives of Night City citizens, according to the Mayor's office, is aimed at apprehending the individuals responsible for the use of prototype cryo-weaponry, who are suspected to be highly dangerous, armed, and with members of the team potentially Cyberpsychotic and an active threat to the lives of the common public."
This was bad….
"The criminals were remarkably thorough in covering their tracks," he said, tone way too calm for the kind of shitstorm he was describing. "Suggesting a high level of operational, and tactical skill."
The screen behind him flickered, as infographics displayed a blurry, distant still likely taken from somebody's optics….
The image was of me; masked in my wolf mask, and armored clothing, standing at the edge of the ice wall holding my SMG at the ready.
Then another image popped up, this time of Becca; luckily with her balaclava on, and it was distant enough that her eyes were not clearly visible, but her chromed arms were glinting pink and blue, mid-sprint.
And finally a third image taken from a different angle from on high, this time of Archie, wearing a red bandana with her blonde hair whipping back as she launched forward with a bloodied mantis blade, frozen in a frame as clean as a goddamn wanted poster.
"However, with the aid of a specialized team of experts in security led by Frank Nostra from Arasaka has managed to uncover these images from some local sources. These individuals are believed to be key suspects in the incident," The host of WNS continued. "Although, preliminary NCPD and Netwatch reports suggest the presence of one additional combatant, who is yet to be identified, as well as netrunner support assisting the group remotely."
The screen flickered back to Arif, who had now moved slightly closer to the edge of the overwalk, the icy ruins of the rooftops clear in view.
"In a joint statement issued earlier today, Mayor Lucius Rhyne's office, working in conjunction with Arasaka Security, assured citizens that this disruption will be short term," he went on, voice unwavering, almost smug. "The individuals responsible for this incident will be apprehended within the week. That, according to Deputy Mayor Holt, is a promise."
The word promise hung in the air like a threat.
Ethan let out a low whistle "Well… we all knew what we were getting into, right?" he said, forcing a crooked grin. "On the bright side though… at least we're all famous now… in a way."
Archie didn't even look at him. She just reached up and cuffed him in the back of the head with a muted thud.
"Idiot," she muttered, keeping her attention on the news channel. "If anyone's famous, it's Zain. It's his tech they're all after. Besides, it's not your face plastered all over prime-time TV!"
…. If Ethan wants this kind of notoriety, he can bloody well have it.
Becca's eyes flashed a sudden gold, indicating a holo-call.
She stepped aside, to the far end of the room and muttered. "Kiwi, I'm busy."
She rolled her eyes.
"No. 'S not me…" She bit her lip, and let out an exaggerated. "No way… Hundreds of others out there who probably have em."
Another pause. "Do me a favor and keep David off my back? I'm a little busy with some shit. Just with that choom of mine I told you about. It's going fine… No, not fine fine! Shut up, you old hag! Yeah…. Alright fine… Thanks for letting me know. Yeah, I'll show it to you when we meet up. Promise."
She ended the call with a blink, her eyes shifting back to that vivid pink-green hue as she made her way to me and said with some concern "We need to delta. The TV's underselling it, the badges are crawling all over Watson, looking for all of us."
This is fine. I don't need to get back home anyway. I just need to find a hole with four walls and a door, and I will be fine in my pocket dimension for the night.
"I don't think, you'll be able to make it back home today…" Becca continued worriedly, "Why don't you crash at my place for the night… You were coming over to talk anyway, you can stay till its clear for you to leave again…"
God, I don't know how much more indebted I could be to this fucking godsend of a woman.
Yoko, who had remained near the TV the entire time, finally tore her gaze away from the screen.
"Well, looks like Ethan was right," she said, folding her arms. "We've got more immediately important scop-shit to worry about. The merc's right. We need to delta. We can't stay here any longer"
She spotted the suitcase I had placed on the table and quickly sat on the couch in front of it.
Her eyes turned to me, regaining the fierceness that had waned slowly through the entire argument as she opened the suitcase and smiled slightly at the weapon, and cartridges inside
"I don't know about you," Yoko said, snapping the suitcase shut with a dull clack, "but I'm gonna go to ground with this thing. Let the heat die down."
Her eyes found mine again. "You've got plans to deal with all the scop-shitting heat this mess is bringing down, right?"
…. Right.
I can't keep postponing this issue infinitely any longer. I had hoped for a little more time to be prepared, but once again Night City was closing its walls on me.
And now, it is undeniable that my friends have the same level of prying eyes on them, as I have had the past couple days. They had known that this would be coming, but I need to make sure they come out of this unscathed.
But for that…. I need to be able to trust them with some level of the truth of the situation. Something to finally demystify the mystery behind the insanity of the technology I have shown.
I am sure they all have made assumptions, hell I don't know what the fuck Becca thought of me walking through those awful 50 cal rounds head on. Or taking a cryo round from Archie's revolver to the back and walking away with a few bruises, and a frigidly numb back.
But do I even have the luxury to do that?
Archie fucking shot me in the back for fuck's sake, albeit accidentally... I am not even sure if selling the revolver to her is even the right call anymore.
"For the time being, I am gonna lay low," I responded, "Let things blow over… but in time… I want to get into business with the things I have to offer. I have some contacts that I'm hoping will help me weather the storm all this is generating."
At least there's nothing wrong with admitting that. I do want to get into business, with the mox, with whoever that'll let me finally make some positive fucking change in society…
Ethan tilted his head slightly. "You mean the cryo-tech? And the material that let you survive taking that thing directly? If its biz you're after, I am sure Reyes will be more than happy to accommodate you over in Arroyo…"
I let out a sigh, dragging a hand through my hair.
"A lot of that's on the table, sure," I admitted. "But honestly? I wanted to get into the business of making life easier for everybody, man."
Ethan hummed, folding his arms. "That sounds good and all…. but it also sounds expensive too. You're gonna need backing. Serious backing. And people willing to look the other way when the corps start sniffing around. I could help you out….if your contacts don't pan out?"
His corporate contacts? Or is he talking about somebody else?
I do think he is well connected if he can get access to expensive clubs like Empathy, and afford armor and chrome that he already has implanted… but he's also burning through all that quickly, if I read him correctly.
It is worth looking into at least…. If only to get opinions off him about the bureaucracy behind the kind of stunt I am looking to pull.
Money isn't much of an issue to me, nor are the resources for such a thing. But he is not wrong about me needing backing regardless.
"Believe me, I know…" I said, calmly. "I just… want to build something real. Something that lasts."
Ethan nodded once. "If you need help," he said simply, "just say the word. I'll do what I can."
I gave him a small nod in return. "I appreciate that."
Yoko glanced between the two of us, then turned to Archie and Ethan, her shoulders rising and falling with a tired breath.
"Look," she started, tone softer than before, "I know shit got heated earlier. I said things I probably shouldn't have. But I meant what I said, too. I'm worried. And after everything that's happened tonight…" she hesitated, then added, "I want you both to crash at my place, it'd be difficult getting past those checkpoints. Just for tonight. It'd put me at ease."
Archie blinked, then shook her head with a faint, tired smile. "Thanks, Aunty. But we'll be fine. We'll make it home."
Ethan gave a small nod and placed a reassuring hand on Archie's shoulder.
Yoko frowned, clearly not convinced. Her eyes lingered on Archie for a moment longer, before she sighed in quiet defeat. "Alright. Just… be careful, both of you."
"We will," Archie said, softer now. "And… thanks. For everything."
Ethan gave Yoko a nod, and the two of them turned to leave, the weight of everything unspoken following them out the door.
Becca pushed herself off the wall and looked over at me. "We should delta out too. No point standing around waiting for the badges to close in."
I nodded. "Yeah. Go wait by the car. I'll join you in a sec."
She gave a quick nod, then turned and stepped out, leaving me alone with Yoko.
"You're going to keep an eye on her, aren't you?" I asked.
Yoko didn't look at me right away. She stared at the suitcase, fingers brushing lightly over the latch.
"It's the only thing I can do," she said quietly. "After what I saw tonight… I need to."
"Just… tell me if she gets worse," I said. "I'm worried about her."
"You and I both," Yoko muttered. She shook her head slowly, then slowly sighed. "But I'm done worrying for one night."
She gave the suitcase a gentle tap. "How much do I owe you for this?"
"For everybody else, I've been asking twelve K," I said, "but with the discount I offered you… nine."
Yoko nodded. Her eyes flashed a soft blue for a second.
My phone buzzed in my pocket, no doubt the notification from Marmur bank about the payment.
"What a shit show of a night," she murmured leaning back on the couch.
I exhaled. "You're telling me."
She looked at me, her expression more relaxed now, grateful even. "Thanks… for looking out for her. For Archie."
"She's my friend," I said, with a small shrug.
Yoko nodded once, then glanced toward the still-smoking cyberdeck on the floor. "You should go. I am staying to dispose of that thing and making sure the coast is clear for us on the net."
She gave me a faint smirk. "And you shouldn't keep Becca waiting on you all the time, or she's gonna get the wrong idea about us."
I let out a quiet chuckle. "Yeah, wouldn't want that."
Then with a grateful nod I turned, and stepped out into the hall. Just as I did, a familiar heavy presence built in the back of my head.
A vibrant galaxy of stars materialized in my mind's eye, a cluster of stars rotated towards my soul, and a single star in that cluster pulsed brightly.
It pulsed once, twice and finally light burst forth from it, and I felt a comforting warmth soothe my soul.
The forge, my one unquestionable friend was once again covering my back, after the events tonight. I didn't need to question what this one was.
A cosmic failsafe.
A quiet little word. But in Night City, it might just be the difference. It at least took away one of the major fears I'd had in the back of my mind.
Now, shit like what happened tonight will never be repeated again. My weapons, my tech will never work to harm me anymore.
If there was one thing I could trust here without any doubt, it was truly the forge.
As I made my way to the parking lot in the back, I reached into a pocket of my of my jacket retrieving my healing potions and sent a cheers to the eldritch god above in gratitude, and took a sip, and enjoyed feeling the pain I had been since the fight at the slums leave me at last.
∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞
(A/N)
Hello!
This chapter took me way too long. I was on a small vacation!
… and I had to rewrite large parts of this twice because of issues.
Even now, I didn't include a major scene I had planned for this chapter, involving Becca and Zain's discussion at her home, because of reasons, but I wanted to finally get something out at least and think on that whole thing with a fresh mind, and fresh eyes.
Rolls for this chapter:
Domain: Protection
Failsafe (Supergod) (400CP)
It might be worth just taking a step back from this all. This superhuman arms race, is it really all a good idea? I guess not. You may not have the power to stop your country from foolishly creating a weapon of mass destruction but with this, you'll at least be able to stop that weapon from being the thing to destroy you all straight away. Your experiments and efforts at crafting or creating something never backfire on you. When they fail, be it a self-destruction or turning against you, they will instead shudder to a stop and deactivate harmlessly. You won't automatically know what caused them to go wrong, though you can probably find out with some effort, but with this no process or invention you make and are in the control of will end in your harm or death. Others can still be harmed a plenty though, so long as it wouldn't harm or endanger you as well.
Zain opened the chapter with 100 chapter points, had about 400 by the time of roll. Used up all for the perk and is closing with zero.