My mind was still reeling as my wheelchair was carefully lowered into the unassuming basement entrance of an even less assuming back alley in Little China.
Leaving the apartment for the first time had been... eye opening.
I may have caught only a few glimpses before my perpetual fatigue dragged me back into dreamland but the image of the outside world as always remained seared into my mind.
It was noisy, it was chaotic, and far more dangerous than the net and news said.
Seeing two shootouts and four brawls just taking the lift to the garage would surpass anyone's expectations, I suspect.
And yet I still found myself no less eager to jump straight into it.
Despite the chaos and danger, it was life. And I wanted in.
"Ah, he is awake." An unfamiliar young woman spoke up softly and looked at me "No pain or discomfort I hope?"
[M'fine] The datapad beeped with no conscious effort from me.
"Good." The blonde with a tad too much black eyeliner nodded and turned to my parents "I will be upstairs if you need me."
"Thanks for your help, Misty." Mom said.
'Misty' smiled "Always happy to." Before directing me with a look I'd almost dare call anticipatory "See you later, little Chariot." And promptly leaving.
"What?" [What?] Gregor and I asked.
"Don't worry about it." Mom chuckled awkwardly "Misty is, well... She is a good person."
Ah, so she is mad then. Useful for surviving this place.
"Right..." Gregor pretended to agree and shook his head "Are you really fine, boy?"
I was almost too stunned by him showing actual concern to answer but despite the constant stinging on my skin and the sloshing antibiotics flowing through my everything I only pinged him with an affirmative [Never better.]
Neither of them believed me for a moment.
"Just tell us if you start feeling too bad." Mom squeezed my shoulder slightly and began pushing my wheelchair.
'Ah, so just every day of my existence then?' I scowled internally but quickly stopped myself from saying anything. Lashing out like that was pathetic, and they did not deserve it.
The 'clinic' inside looked to be a repurposed garage, a properly sanitized and equipped garage mind, but still not anywhere near a proper sterile room.
A bunch of medical equipment both biological and cybernetic was spread out in a well organized fashion, and the many posters and other memorabilia relating to boxing? made the space feel properly lived in, and not just another work office.
In short, just another place the residents of Night City came to replace parts of themselves as if they were buying groceries.
"Hey, Vik" Mom greeted the well built caucasian man currently rolling his chair around to face us "How is biz?"
"A bit slow today 'Lana" The man shrugged in an easygoing manner before looking at me, a flash of pity in his eyes "So, this is your boy, huh?"
"My little genius." Mom nodded immediately.
"I will be outside" Gregor interjected and left without another word.
Dick.
'Vik' gave his retreating back a long look and shook his head.
"Don't mind him" Mom waved it all off "He has just been high strung recently."
"If you say so" Vik slowly nodded, then looked back at me "So, kid. I hear you are looking for a cyberdeck?"
[Yes.] I responded immediately.
He considered me briefly, and his voice turned serious "As your doctor, I will have to recommend against it. Your mom sent me the details of your condition, and increasing your chrome strain by even a little bit could have negative consequences."
[An understatement] I interjected [Adding any chrome to my body would probably be fatal at this point, except for the head.]
He crossed his arms and gave me an expectant look.
[My brain is the only exception to my condition, my affinity for cyberware around it is much, much better.]
'Affinity', a rather archaic word that encompassed anything between your immune system's reaction to cyberware and your nerves' resilience and ability to connect to machinery.
Researchers tended to agree that cybernetic affinity was something of a 'sideways' evolution that came about in the recent decades, but that was mostly theory, or at least the information that was publicly available.
Vik hummed as he looked at my big head "You may be right there." Then he shrugged "I will still have to run some tests."
[Obviously.]
He exhaled, amused "You are a riot, kid."
Mom smiled at our interaction and pushed me up to the operating chair, just close enough so that the ripper's instruments would be in reach "So, Vik. What do you have for me?" She asked.
"Impatient as always" He 'complained' before pulling out two transparent containers, one holding a block of circuitry I knew to be a cyberdeck while the other held a single optical implant.
An eye.
He unpacked them and attached both to scanning equipment "This here" He pointed at the block "Is a Militech Primedec Mk.1, came out in 2045. Its not top shelf stuff, but it is reliable-"
[And has been hit with so many iterations over the years there is almost no chance of malfunction.] I interrupted excitedly [Low capacity, lacking in tricks, but reliable. Said to be one of the best starter decks because killing yourself with it is almost impossible.]
Well, except if you got hit with Black ICE, but that was just natural selection at that point.
"That's right" Vik chuckled "Maybe 'Lana isn't just bragging when she talks about you."
She just stood behind me, smirking in smug victory.
"Alright kid" The ripper nodded and picked up the eye, playing along "What can you tell me about this one?"
I couldn't scan it but the simple connection ports and relatively robust design made it hard to miss the model.
Well that, and the logo at the back of the box helped.
[Techtronica Office Suite Mk6.] I 'voiced' [No fancy scanners, no 10k viewing resolution, and no gimmicks either. Just a quality optic that is perfect for data reviewing and civilian use] My eyes narrowed [And known to run almost perfectly well with Militech chrome.]
And most importantly of all, both implants were as cheap as one could get without forking over real eddies.
Looking up at the doc's smirking face I couldn't help but throw his words back at him [Maybe you weren't bragging when you said you were a doctor.]
He huffed amusedly and looked at his screen "Glad to have your seal of approval, kid. Looks like there are no problems on my end either. You ready?"
[More than you can imagine.]
"Don't worry, dear." Mom placed a hand on my shoulder "Viktor is the best ripperdoc in Night City. He will take care of you, and I will be here with you the entire time."
Unable to reassure her in any other way, I said [He won't be the best for long.]
"Hah" Vik chuckled and injected me with some light sedatives "Sure kid, I am looking forward to it."
Before I could say anything more, the medicine did its work, and I was out cold.
The Ripperdoc
"Bright kid." Viktor Vektor muttered as the poor thing finally fell asleep.
He looked at Svetlana "You sure you want to do this?"
She looked obviously hesitant but shook her head "He has been all but begging for it for years now, and he won't stop experimenting anyways. This is the only way he will feel safe."
Vik nodded, and started applying deeper anesthesia "Still shaken from the attack?"
She blinked and shook her head "I am used to it by now. I am more worried about Michael."
"Eh, I wouldn't worry too much." Vik shrugged and with steady hands started cutting into the child's eye "With how much time you say he spends on the net I wouldn't be surprised if he is jaded to everything by now. Especially since he saw it through a camera."
"A mother can't help but worry." She crossed her arms.
"In Night City?" Viktor raised an eyebrow "You might as well be an angel."
She didn't answer, but he knew she heard him.
Seeing as the anesthetics were working as intended, Viktor Vektor got to work, injecting himself with a cognitive booster just in case, he began cutting away while avoiding the nerve endings like he had done so many times before.
Two hours passed by before he was done, and finally inserted the Techtronica optic into its new socket "Everything seems to be fine." He said, looking at his diagnostic tools "No immediate rejections."
He ignored Svetlana's concerned questions and began a deeper examinations, growing both concerned and fascinated as he saw something downright unnatural going on "That is odd." He muttered unconsciously.
"What is?" And of course the concerned mother immediately leapt at it.
"The implants are settling far quicker than even my best work." Viktor answered, eyes still firmly on the diagnostic tools "They are sending signals to his Neural Link and receiving them back at ridiculous speeds..." It finally clicked for him "How old is he again?"
"Sixteen, approaching seventeen." She answered immediately.
Viktor's eyebrows rose and he did another scan just in case "His neuroplasticity just slightly below that of a five year old..."
Of course, that meant nothing to the woman "What do you mean?"
Viktor sighed "You weren't wrong to call him a little genius. His brain forms connections far quicker than it should, his learning speed should be off the charts."
Svetlana's concerned expression flickered briefly into pride as she nodded "He is taking three university courses from home at the same time, of course he is my little genius!"
All the ripper could say to that was a dumbstruck "Damn."
"So he will be fine?" Svetlana pressed.
"More than fine" Vik reassured, blinking out of his stupor "He is taking to the cyberware better than anyone I've ever worked on."
The woman slumped her shoulders in relief.
A light beep coming from the diagnostics "He is waking up."
Michael Sobronov
I woke up feeling like I had just gained another limb, the constant buzzing of my Neural Link had grown from a distant white noise to something I could now direct and control, and without much thinking I immediately leapt at the connection and was greeted with an entire new world.
Lines of code only somewhat resembling the ripperdoc's clinic surrounded me, and I saw multiple access points that I could just reach out and touch.
Then I realized I was actually able to move around and gasped.
Though no real breath came, as my current form merely released a line of ones and zeroes.
I looked down to see what was going on, only to pause as I saw a trio of flickering connections just below me, one of them joined to a much bigger grouping of connections next to it.
My personal link? And were those Vik's tools?
No matter how much I wanted to keep poking around I could see the vague outlines of Vik and mom through their implants, they were shuffling about in concern and had probably realized something was happening to me.
And so, like the greedy person I was, I decided to have my cake and eat it, lowering myself to the connection in front of both my Primedec and Neural Link, and connecting to it directly.
Immediately I saw numerous lines of code I almost subconsciously translated to proprietary Techtronica programming, and followed it along to the activation executable.
A single mental flick was enough, and I could see my optic activating.
Before doc and mom could get too worried, I said goodbye to this wonderous new place and sunk back into my Cyberdeck, feeling the connection break and myself fall back into my prison.
I truly woke up now, feeling a slight warmth in the back of my head and blinking rapidly as I saw multiple information alerts through my right eye, said eye now being able to see with perfect clarity unlike my natural one.
But before I could experiment further, Vik's voice drew me out "-Kid! Can you hear me?"
Hesitating only for a moment I answered [Yeah.]
Mom practically crumbled on the floor in relief.
"Damn, don't scare us like that." Vik chided "What were you thinking, activating the optics on your own?"
[...I wasn't.] It stung to admit, but lying to one's doctor was idiocy.
He exhaled and shook his head "How did you connect anyway?"
[I...] I hesitated briefly but saw mom give me a reassuring nod [I woke up in a different space...] I went on to describe the experience.
"You full-dived on instinct?" Vik looked at me like I was an alien "Just like that?"
[I don't know what to tell you doc.] I wished I could properly smirk at him [Maybe I am just that good.]
He huffed "Yeah right, kid." Then shrugged "Oh well, I am not the one who is going to have to deal with mama bear here when you get home, so just keep that in mind the next time you start experimenting with something that can fry your brain."
What was he ta- Oh boy.
Mom looked pissed.
I gave the ripper a pleading look but all he did was smile and start going through routine testing without bothering to listen to my now audible pleas.
When we got home, I was grounded from netrunning for a month.
-----
The 3D printer I saved up for churned along as it slowly filled up a small plastic cup with drops of grey goop.
The Cyberdeck and Optic were game-changers for everything I did these days, even if I was still not allowed to full dive.
The connectivity and access to direct data through my new right eye allowed me a much wider degree of fine control, which I of course immediately used to reprogram and rebuild the printer almost from ground up.
My two servo-arms almost felt like actual limbs now!
It took me a good day to stop constantly tapping them around.
Anyway.
The new fine control allowed me to experiment further, and the streamlined programming of the printer let me use it to split materials apart from junk and spare parts mom brought from her work.
With enough trial and error, I was able to transform simple SCOP into usable material for my nanomachine project. The idea of safe and dissolvable nanites just refused to leave me, especially if it would serve as a stopgap against my constant need for medication.
The final drop of goop fell into the cup and I immediately got to scanning it, both seeing and feeling the small strings of code buzzing through the tiny machinery and confirming that as usual only a small percentage of them were in proper working order.
No matter how good I was, the lack of specialized equipment was still as prohibitive as ever.
'But there is a way to make it better.' A traitorous part of my brain reminded.
And in my excitement and impatience, I listened.
My right servo arm whirred and drew out my Personal Link cable, connecting it to a nearby net port, just as my Primedec got to work uploading [MustHaveBeenTheWind.exe] to said device.
Sorry mom, no alerts for you today.
My perception shifted, and I was once again floating in the land of freedom that was the net. The 'walls' around me were far less directly saturated than those at Vik's clinic but instead of being in their own semi-isolated bubble I could see the outward connections to the rest of the megabuilding.
It was like seeing a mountain-sized spiderweb of ones and zeroes, and it was magnificent.
Immediately, I got to activating the preparations I had totally been making for when my grounding ended.
Just because I couldn't full dive didn't mean my access to the net was cut, mom wasn't that cruel, and with access to a proper Cyberdeck I could now connect to a much more exclusive source of information.
The EdgeNet shop atop the Kabuki roundabout was rumored to be a gathering spot for netrunners of all kinds, and a bit of 'innocent' questioning and showing off soon had me invited to their lobby.
They weren't all that open with their information, not even bothering to give their usernames until I 'proved myself' but they were willing enough to offer some basic advice in their free time.
The most important of which was creating an ICON, or an avatar, which would allow you to 'walk freely' through the net and which could be programmed to mask your presence and keep you relatively safe so long as you weren't bothering anyone.
Essentially it was a complex program that allowed one to dive deeper into the net without drawing too much attention, and a status symbol at the same time.
I could have probably made myself look nearly invisible and unassuming with how easy it was to disassemble the basic program and rebuild it, but when in Rome and all that.
Besides, it was always nice to have a backup plan, and why settle for only one?
[Freedom.exe] uploaded and activated, pinging through my Cyberdeck and uploading the structured command.
The amorphous blob that represented my presence on the net shifted and momentarily buzzed, and then in a blink instead of a cloud of ones and zeroes there stood a tall figure hidden behind a red robe, joined by arms and legs of chrome and an eerie blackness under the hood save for two glowing optics.
[Magos.icon successfully compiled] My Cyberdeck informed [Username set: Magos]
Yes!
At first I was going to call myself Magus, because being a netrunning wizard was preem as fuck, but something about Magos just... tickled my brain in all the right ways and the rest as they say, was history.
The eyes below the hood shifted, and I felt my artificial cheeks widen painfully into a rictus grin.
Shaking my head, and marveling at the free movement, I decided to leave further experimentation for later, and focused on the small pile of connections I could see just in front of the much larger representation of the 3d printer.
Floating my avatar closer, because I couldn't risk stumbling, I approached the nanites and after a brief consideration, sent strings of code through the upload programs acting as my hands, connecting to thousands of the little things at once.
I felt a slight heat tingling the back of my physical head, but kept going anyway, going through the slew of error messages and warnings.
Merely compiling everything I saw in cyberspace took me hours, but when I was done even more hours later, every single nanomachine had a fresh [Relief.bat] and [Repair.exe] combo perfectly installed into their tiny, primitive processors.
Feeling the heat in my back grow more insistent, I hesitantly disconnected from the net, and was immediately slammed with a massive headache, one that nearly sent me directly into dreamland.
But I was too focused to let that happen. I waited long enough and I wasn't about to stumble now.
My servo arm moved with perfect precision and took the cup of goop, slowly bringing it up to my feeding straw.
The cup loomed above its target and I hesitated slightly.
Mom said I should experiment and ensure it could work, that I should keep things safe...
No.
If I failed at doing even this, I might as well just let death take me because I would never reach my goal of freedom.
Besides, she said it herself. What she didn't know, wouldn't kill her.
The servo-arm tilted and slowly the grey goop started flowing down that damn tube.
It was tasteless, and kind of grimy as it flowed down my throat, and immediately I felt my stomach start bubbling in protest, my sense of touch immediately setting itself on fire just to spite me.
But I refused to let it bring me down, not this time.
What felt like hours passed as the disgusting goop settled, before finally I began feeling a tingling sensation all across my torso.
With a slowness that was nearly as torturous as its absence, my heartbeat just ever so slightly smoothened out, and my breaths came clearer than ever before. Other parts of my body began working more efficiently and for the first time in my life I felt like I wouldn't keel over if I missed my medication.
The sheer reduction in costs would save us tens of thousands of eddies a month, even if I'd have to perfect my 3d printer if I didn't want to directly reprogram the nanites every single time.
Finally, my parents would be able to live a little despite me.
I closed my eyes and simply let myself revel in the success.
Then a sudden beeping noise dragged me awake and I saw a message form Nicholas' father.
[Neville Werner: Your services are no longer required. Do not contact my son again.]
...What?!
Immediately, I tried calling my 'choom' but my number was blocked, and my Deck allowed me to see a surveillance program on the other end.
Of course the little shit snitched about the hacking.
I immediately went to call mom, but she preempted me, her panicked voice echoing in my head.
[Lana: Dear, please tell me you are safe!]
[M: What is going on? I just got my tutoring job cancelled with no explanation.]
[Lana: Lock the doors first, and take over the cameras. I am coming home now, do not let anyone else inside! Do you understand?]
[M: I will, but tell me what is going on?] Even as I sent the message I was already connecting to the local net and doing as I was told, even preparing a full message to a bunch of Tiger Claw gangoons squatting on the lower floors in case I needed to pay for some protection.
It took mom a full minute to answer.
[Lana: Your father...]
Her tone shifted from one of sadness to one of helpless fury.
[Lana: His boss fucked up like the idiot he is, and instead of owning up to it he blamed it all on your father!]
[M: Where is he now?]
[Lana: They.... They deactivated his heart replacement and just watched him die.]
The words simply refused to sink in as mom grew increasingly worried at my lack of response.
I felt my heart twisting, and my heartrate jump far beyond what I could usually take and remain conscious.
But the nanites did their work, and I was unable to pass out even if I wanted to.
Success was a bitter fruit now.
All that remained was drowning helplessness.
--------------------
An: Well boys and girls
Welcome to cyberpunk!
Should you desire to avoid my endless cruelty, gimme those stones!
As always the dread Patreon exists if you want to read ahead, currently we are 15 chaps ahead but the end goal is to make it a nice fat 10 in advance (there are as well as advanced Sorcerer's Tale chapters of course.) patreon .com/Rastislav156
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