The Following Day
The square three-floor building hiding my target loomed above me as I considered how to deal with the day's gig.
Either Ms. Jones was more irritated at my words yesterday than I thought, or she wanted to see if I was capable of any level subtlety because the only job she was willing to offer me was a retrieval gig for a stolen infochip.
Only it had the irritating caveat of me not just bulldozing my way through the place since a bunch of Tyger Claw associates were currently squatting on the lower floors, and killing those would be... irritating.
The thief herself lived on the top floor, hiding within her apartment and actively blackmailing the client with the aforementioned clip.
I could just intimidate my way past but that sounds like it would just annoy me later...
Or...
I looked up to the final floor, and grinned.
Every single camera in the vicinity was set to loop, all the Tygers were detected to be sitting in their own little corner of the building, and I was prepared.
With a singular breath of excitement I readied myself-
And sprinted.
Ignoring the near-stumble at the sudden burst of speed, I ran up to the wall and leapt up while using a trash container to bleed off the momentum, launching me a dozen feet into the air.
The low grade concrete of the building was pasted under my iron grip, and after firming my balance and settling my overactive Cyberheart, I began climbing up the wall like a lunatic.
A very, very pleased lunatic, mind you.
So pleased that I stopped bothering with subtlety as I finally reached the third floor, and simply pulled myself up into a short hop, just enough for me to roll through the shitty glass of the window with all the weight of my body.
The Asian woman inside screamed her lungs out at the sight of me, hands grasping for her holdout gun as she fell over herself, but one quick smacking disarm and a Liberty pointing at her forehead was enough to shut her up.
"Mr. Asuhiro's data. If you please." I ordered flatly, most of my mind still buzzing from the glorious feeling of climbing a building.
The woman trembled, slowly raising her finger to point at a nearby closet.
I just stared at her blankly, waving my pistol for her to get on with it.
Instead of going to fetch it like an intelligent person, she just kept trembling in fear "...Please don't kill me!"
Her cadence was particularly grating on the Audioreceptors
"Shut up and fetch the data" I repeated "I am only getting paid for retrieval."
That seemed to jog what little brain she had left and she quickly scrambled to grab it like her life depended on it.
She guessed well.
A moment later she gave it to me, and after confirming it was what I needed, I simply scanned the localnet for threats and finding none, jumped out the way I came, just as a small commotion rose on the other end of the apartment's entrance.
The trash container crumbled under my weight, and I quickly rushed behind the nearest corner, timing my exit perfectly as the outline of one of the local Claw wannabes peeked out of the ruined window.
Grinning to myself, and feeling a bit curious about what was worth the 1.2k eddies I was being paid (And that was with the Fixer's cut of course), I decided to check on what I just stole.
It was a low grade chip so it wasn't like any hacking would be noticed.
Three seconds later, my Cyberdeck was through without even the slightest damage to the code.
And inside I found...
It was porn.
Revenge porn to be exact.
...
Fuck this city.
-----
The drop box a few blocks south of the Kabuki Roundabout closed shut, letting out a merry artificial beep and signaling that it had accepted deposit.
My work complete, I buzzed my Fixer.
[Magos: Job is done.]
[Jones: Just got the confirmation, closing the gig.]
She sent me the money but didn't end the call.
[Jones: Good job on not clearing out the Tyger kids. Compared to what you did to those Maelstrom, this was downright stealthy.]
[Magos: Stealthy enough for a bonus?] I suggested.
[Jones: In your dreams, M. I'll keep you in mind if I need someplace climbed again from now on.] She smirked and only then ended the call.
'Can't let me get the last word in, huh?' I sighed, and then promptly decided to forget about it.
Naturally that decision was gone with the wind the instant I realized she had somehow learned of exactly how I finished my job.
I will need to pay more attention from now on.
Shaking my head I got into my van, and made for home.
---
The doors of my apartment shut close behind me as I overviewed the floor cameras' recording data, quickly detecting another attempt by a dumbass netrunner who got a bit too big for their breeches and tried to defeat the 'legendary' Magos.
Hope their Cyberdeck wasn't shit because they were just about to be playing host to around a dozen daemons playing the shittiest most earwormy songs from Us Cracks directly into their brain.
I almost pitied the fool.
Almost.
Mostly because now I would have to do my due diligence and actually check on every single bit of my defenses just in case someone managed to slip something by.
A few of the irritants already managed back in 2074 and I didn't hear the end of it until I counter hacked their asses and permanently changed their Internal Agents' ringtones to maximum volume NUSA propaganda speeches.
Many of the patrons of the EdgeNet suggested I rebrand to the Literal Devil Himself but the poor fools did not yet realize, Magos was already far worse.
"Good times" I chuckled, and simply plopped my ass onto the couch, ignoring how the plastic construction cracked under my weight.
Moments later, the far too long Servo-Arm freshly hung off the apartment ceiling brought me my lunch, half frozen but still tasty enough for me.
And as the literal dogfood derivative aptly named Kibble crunched between my teeth, my mind wondered back to my aforementioned newest 'invention' and a stray thought occurred-
'Wouldn't it be amazing if I had a few of those on me at all times?'
---
I got so distracted by the idea of numerous highly powerful and maneuverable limbs that I didn't even notice the entire hour pass me by.
Not until a familiar ringtone blasted me in the head and I remembered Jackie was supposed to be here a few minutes back.
Grumbling complaints at my attention span, I quickly opened the door up for him and was greeted by the sight of a surprisingly nervous ex-Valentino.
"Hey Jack, sorry about the wait." I waved him in "You ready?"
"Still not sure about this, choom." He answered hesitantly "I got all I need, really!"
"There is nothing to be scared about" I patted his shoulder a bit too hard and leaned in so our faces were mere inches apart "Or are you trying to say I don't know what I am doing?"
This made him let out an uneasy chuckle "I'll admit, watching you shove yourself into a box was impressive but even I know that is different to actual ripper work."
"Quite right" I agreed, much to his surprise, before immediately adding "It is around ten times as complex."
"Alright, alright" He raised his hands in playful surrender "I throw myself at your mercy, senor death borg."
"As you should." I faux sniffed and we both chuckled.
The door of my workshop hissed open and I showed him in "Here it is." I waved at the... reappropriated mattress I was forced to use until I got a proper ripper chair "It isn't much for now but it will be enough."
"Right" Jackie nodded, his previous hesitance returning "So, what do you got for me?"
I turned to a nearby cupboard and quickly pulled out a trio of tiny nondescript boxes "One evening wasn't really enough for me to go wild but I managed to put together a few basic pieces."
His eyebrows rose expectantly.
I placed the first box atop the work-table next to the improvised surgical bed, opening it to reveal a seemingly simple chip "This is the least potent of what I've made, but it could easily be the one that saves your life if you are unlucky."
"A skill chip?" He asked.
"No" I shook my head "A low durability, high-powered SelfICE chip. Once I go through your Neural Link and copy down the base software, any non-authorized intrusion will be completely annihilated." I tilted my head "Downside is the chip isn't made from the best materials so it is likely to overheat and warp quickly."
"I'll just pull it out if it gets too bad" He nodded before grinning "You really went out of your way, huh?"
"Consider it an apology to Ms. Welles for my rudeness" I shrugged it off.
"Don't even think about it." Jackie immediately said "Mi mama didn't mind, and I am not giving you an excuse to give me handouts."
"If you insist." I huffed.
He just looked at me smugly.
Ignoring the overproud gonk, I took out the second box, opening it to reveal what looked to be a large number of simple metallic spikes "A Bone Lace reinforcement of my own making. It will let you resist blunt force much better, make falling less deadly, and even allow for a greater exertion of strength."
Jackie shifted, hand instinctively scratching the side of his arm "I dunno about this one, Mike. My current Bone Lace already makes me feel bloated as hell."
"Why didn't you say so?" I asked, confused "I could have fixed that for you the moment we came back from Vik's."
He shook his head, even as he smiled "Don't worry about it choom. I got used to it."
'We will see about that' I stared for a moment longer "Fine. Do I have permission to do my thing or do you prefer to keep the skinning to Vik only?"
His smile disappeared as quickly as it came as he did a full body shiver "Fucking hell! Go ahead, just so long as you never repeat that shit."
It was now my own turn to look smug.
"And last, but most certainly not least" I opened the final box "A pair of Occulus Mk0.5 Optics. 8k display, internal data display, a 5 times zoom function at perfect definition, and a marking ping subroutine for keeping enemies in your sights."
To my surprise, he did not look terribly excited at that "A 0.5?" He muttered "You trying to shove some kind of prototype into me here?"
Tilting my head I just looked at him in confusion.
He slowly palmed his face "Mark 0 'ware is notorious for being deadly, Mike."
"Ah" I tapped my hands fist to palm "This one is just the dumbed down version of my own eyes adapted to normal Neural Links, so no worries there. And that is without the fact it was me who built it."
Jackie once more playfully rose his arms in placation.
I patted the box "I wanted to make you a pair of mark ones but transitioning to a much higher resolution would take too long and you'd have permanent headaches until you adapted.
"Yeah, best not risk it then" He chuckled "How much better is your version?"
"Just double everything and you should be pretty close" I waved it off like it was nothing.
Naturally, that only served to make the poor man stare at me like I had grown another head.
...Now there is a thought.
"Oi, Mike!" Jackie waved a hand in front of my face "You with me?"
Lightly swatting the hand away I absently answered "Yeah, yeah, just thinking." I focused fully back on the present "You ready?"
"Just about" He still didn't sound too certain "How much will I owe you for all this?"
"Well, with the non-negotiable favored friends discount" I gave him a pointed look as he went to protest "Everything will run you some 25000 eurodollars."
He nodded a few times before directing giving me a warning look in turn "And how much would the non-discount version cost me?"
"Sixty thousand"* I answered bluntly.
He hissed "Yeah, that sounds about right."
"Jack" I began, quite irritated at this point "I am not giving you a handout."
"And what else do you call a 35k gift?" He shot, nearly spat, back "A fucking handout."
I rolled my eyes "Fine then, you rep obsessed gonk. You found a choom in need, you helped said choom in need, and thus you earned yourself his help. It isn't a handout, it is a powerful contact for Night City's newest Legend."
By the time I was done I was once more in his face "You happy now?" I asked "Is your fragile ego satisfied?"
His face reddened, his jaw clenched, and his entire body tensed as he glared at me.
But then, just as I completely expected him to explode at me, he deflated "Fine" He huffed "I get it. I am acting like a gonk." And just as I gained hope, her raised a finger "I will pay the 25k but when I get back I am doubling it."
Once more, I found myself lamenting the fact I lacked the depth of expression fleshlings had for my desired deadpan merely looked like my usual expression and I failed to transfer just how utterly unimpressed I was by my choom's idiocy.
So unimpressed in fact, I just gave up.
"Fine, whatever" I huffed "Get your clothes off and lie down on the mattress."
He chuckled at my tone but did as he was asked, and soon he was laying on his back, staring into the ceiling "So uh, you going to knock me out or?"
"No" I deadpanned "We are doing this live."
Just as his panicked face was about to round on me, I injected his arm vein with a powerful anesthetic, the increased blood flow from the spike of fear helping me knock him out in moments.
I flicked on the radio, mood immediately rising as a soothing melody of a pipe organ I discovered in one of the abandoned corners of the net began playing, and began arragning my surgical tools.
"Sorry Jack" I said, not feeling sorry in the least as I tested the sharpness of my titanium scalpel "I lack the equipment to insert the bone lace cleanly" An excited grin spread on my face "Guess we will just have to do this the old fashioned way."
Wasting no more time, I injected him with an infusion pack, a blood pack I just happened to... acquire from the Scavengers, and finally a dose of nanites to keep him from dying, and then I began cutting.
A small foolish part of me wondered if it was wrong that I was currently cutting up the man who had quickly become my finest friend as if he were a simple piece of meat...
The much larger one shrugged it off, he was in fact meat, and I was helping him out of the disability one cut at at a time.
'How generous of me' I thought merrily as I peeled off his bicep like it was so much fiber.
With methodical precision, I disassembled his musculature before splitting his bones open, integrating the reinforced carbon tubes over his already existing Bone Lace and adding from scratch on critical spots that the non-invasive installation most Lace versions were incapable of reaching.
Some parts of his existing Lace were poorly installed, likely the reason behind the feeling of bloating, and I spent an extra hour simply integrating the rudimentary chrome perfectly into his bones.
It was a good thing I remembered to prepare an extra dozen nanite doses since putting him back together was difficult even with effective internal regeneration.
Thankfully the Optics were much easier to replace, a simply plug and swap anyone could theoretically do in their homes.
The hard part came when I realized the optical connection of his Neural Link had at some point been misaligned and the optical nerve had been getting hit with a minuscule burst of electricity for over a year now.
'Blindness in around five years' I scoffed 'Hope it wasn't Vik who installed this.'
Happy to have headed off this problem I finished the repairs, set his old Optics into a plastic container, and began the software cleaning.
And for once positively surprised to find only a minor infestation of ad viruses.
---
Hours later, after torturously washing out the utter bloody mess my workshop had become, Jackie began waking up.
He groaned and mumbled half asleep before suddenly jolting and sitting up, his now golden eyes snapping open and then immediately shutting closed as he was no doubt slammed with his new vision.
"Keep the eyes closed for now" I said as I began scanning him just in case his brain signals scrambled something. All was perfect, as expected, but I needed to do my due diligence.
"No pain?" I asked and he shook his head.
"Twitches?" Another shake.
"Muscular tension around the jaw?" Yet another shake.
"Good" I nodded "You can open your eyes again."
"Mierda!" He did so and immediately cursed as he began rapidly blinking "Shit, I see why some fuckers go crazy over this..."
"As if your eyes have been opened for the first time, no?" I probed.
"Yeah..." He exhaled "Didn't know Optics came with crazy definitions though, I gotta admit."
"Didn't I tell you they had an 8k display?" I tilted my head.
He just blinked "Do I look like I have any idea what that means?"
I turned around, and quickly smacked my forehead into the wall, denting it slightly.
Jackie laughed.
"You can change your eye color at will" I said, deciding to ignore Jackie's... Jackiness for now "Other settings should be pretty intuitive on your Neural Link so just explore them while you travel or something."
"Yeah" He absently nodded as he stood up, and then paused, directing me with a look of genuine bafflement "Why do I feel lighter?"
"I fixed your bone lace"
He ran his hands over his body, a frown on his face "That's possible?"
"I did say I could" I pointed at him "You are the one who lacked faith."
"Lo siento" He chuckled "Maybe Vik was right, you may just be that good."
My head tilted up without my prompting.
Something that only served to amuse the Latino to no end.
We chatted on for a bit longer as he got dressed, me giving him a quick breakdown on how to use the Optics' minor Cyberdeck function of the Ping Mark subroutine while he got used to seeing the world like a proper non-meat person.
...Good thing he was the first one I gave a pair. I took the world standard for Optic resolutions and applied it to what was available to the streets of Night City like an idiot.
Most of the people in NC didn't even know Optics could improve your resolution to begin with...
"You are heading out in the morning, right?" I asked as we reached the door, shoving his old Optics into his arms.
"Yeah" He grinned, shrugging as he put the box in his pocket "Time for Jackie Welles to make a name for himself!"
"Heh" I chuckled "Just make sure not to die like an idiot"
"Oh" I perked up "And make sure to give Misty a visit. Who knows, maybe her 'magic trick' will help you out or something."
His once more dark green eyes brightened as he clapped my shoulder "You know what, I just might. See you when I come back, Mike."
"We will celebrate at Lizzie's" I patted him back, making him nod and turn to leave "Good luck Jack"
He just waved behind him.
Shutting the door behind me, I allowed myself to once more drop onto the couch.
Part of me still felt a bit bad at how I downplayed the invasiveness of the surgery, but I knew his mental health would thank me in time.
Damn, I should have prescribed him some light medicine so he didn't spread rumors...
Oh well, nothing for it now. Hope he knows when to keep his mouth shut.
-
My eyes snapped open, ripping me away from a beautiful dream of my future limbs as a boxing gong rang out in my brain.
'Really need to stop doing this to myself, even if it is funny.'
[Magos: Hey Vik]
[Vik: Hey kid] He greeted [You woken up?]
[Magos: Yeah] I answered as I checked the time, it was early morning [Why?]
[Vik: She is awake.]
And just like that I was already running out of the apartment.
-----
Blessed is he who casts all of his stones.
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