And we are so back!
Was on a holiday break for the past week so fear not, schedule is going back to normal (probably should have made the announcement more visible than just yeeting a comment onto the previous chapter but hindsight and twenties and all that)
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Rebecca
"No Rebecca, please don't bring Guts into the night club." Mike sighed over the wheel, his steering remaining perfectly straight despite it "Take your Saratoga. You bought it for a reason."
"But you said the corpo bitch was suspicious." Rebecca grinned, purposefully leading him on as she leaned in "Shouldn't I bring the big guns just in case?"
"Any corpo bitch is suspicious." He retorted, leaning back against his seat and looking up to the smog covered sky for salvation "But all I said is we should keep our wits about us. I doubt Jackie's choom is stupid enough to try shit at Lizzie's."
"Knowing Suzi, she might just be bitch enough to let her." Rebecca laughed, ignoring the twinge of pain she felt at the thought "She never liked me talking back to her."
"She isn't that bad." Mike assured "A bit of a hardass bitch but-" He shrugged as she snorted "Everyone in her position has to be." He gave her a quick sideways look "Besides, she didn't exactly ban you from Lizzie's so that's got to be worth something."
"Don't use logic against me." Rebecca pointed up at him accusingly "It doesn't work!"
"My apologies madam." He said dryly.
Rebecca raised her nose and smirked.
They drove in silence for a while then, the van's radio playing 'Who's Ready for Tomorrow.' at a barely audible volume as the streets of Little China whizzed by them like a stream of neon light.
"Man." Mike sighed as he drove into a parking lot "I just hope Jackie is doing fine."
"Why wouldn't he be?" Rebecca asked.
He cringed slightly, the movement barely even noticeable on his metal face if not for his mouth twitching oddly "Not sure if I should be talking behind his back." He muttered before immediately maturely doing exactly that "But he has a bit of a chip on his shoulder."
"Oh?" Rebecca's eyes widened before taking on an irritated glint "Think he got jealous or something?"
"I mean I sincerely doubt that but." He exhaled "I can't help but think abut it."
"If he stops being your choom over that, then he wasn't ever your choom." Rebecca said almost immediately, voice serious before it turned slightly teasing "Also, didn't he just call you over?"
Mike looked away "I know, I know, I just-"
Rebecca smirked, hopped up on her seat, absently noting how oddly easy the movement felt, and surprised him with a quick peck as he turned back "Stop thinking about it, gonk. It will be fine."
"Gah." The cyborg twitched before sighing and allowing a smile to spread on his face "Alright, alright. You win."
"Best remember it, mister!" She smirked in victory.
Only to have her freshly dyed black hair messed up in retribution as the van stopped.
Michael 'Magos' Sobronov
"You can stop glaring at me now. It isn't that bad." I chuckled as we approached the crowded entrance to Lizzie's.
"Hmmm." Rebecca crossed her arms, eyes narrowing.
Just as a bit of hair she had spent the last minute forcing down sprang up again.
I tried keeping my chuckles down and failed miserably.
Thankfully we had already reached the entrance by then, where a familiar bat-wielding bouncer stood guard, the sight making Rebecca forget her grievance instantly as she visibly perked up.
"Back again borg boy?" Rita Wheeler smirked "Knew you couldn't get enough of us."
"My poor reactor dims at your absence." I said dryly before smirking and giving her a lazy wave "Sup, Rita. Doing good?"
She rolled her eyes "Hadn't had to break any bones yet but the night is still young." She said and was about to keep going when she noticed Rebecca standing next to me "And who is this? Borg boy finally got himself an output?"
"Seriously Rita?" Rebecca deadpanned.
The bouncer paused at the voice before her eyes widened "Holy shit, 'Becca?"
"Sup!" The diminutive gremlin waved.
She was wearing a simple hoodie and jeans combo, her eyes were brown instead of bright red/orange, and her hair was black instead of green. The only thing that remained the same was her skintone.
"Told you the disguise would work as a charm." I said a bit too smugly.
"Yeah, no shit..." Rebecca muttered before pointing at Rita accusingly "And I thought we were chooms!"
But the bouncer just rolled her eyes and the two shared a quick laugh "Still hiding out from your gig?"
"Know about that, huh?" Rebecca asked, giving me a quick side-eye.
"Not too hard to find out about it." Rita shrugged "If you know where to ask."
"And where better than at NC's premiere public house?" I quipped, much to her momentary confusion "Did you see Jackie come in yet?"
"Nope." She shook her head, leaning her bat across her back and then her hands against the bat "I'll shoot you a message when I see him. Think you can do me a quick favor while you wait?"
Hm... Why not?
"Need someone thrown out?" I asked.
"Why would I share the fun?" She smirked cockily before shaking her head "But no, I need you to go downstairs and talk to the twins. They got some kind of chip Judy has been trying to decrypt for days, think you can give it a shot?"
"They going to be as eager as I remember?" I asked, already dreading it.
"What's the matter?" She leaned in with a shiteating grin "Big bad Magos can't take some heat?"
"No." I said simply "You just weren't wrong about the whole output thing."
Rita's eyes widened before snapping to a beaming Rebecca, who was currently looking away, her visible ear slightly red.
"Damn girl!" Rita whistled "You work fast!"
"Ritaaa." Rebecca groaned.
Before I could speak up, the bouncer grabbed me by the shoulder and started pushing me inside "In you go, borg boy! I have questions that need answering!"
Not moving an inch, I gave Rebecca a questioning look "Wanna stay and catch up for a bit?"
She was fully red in the face by now but still nodded "Yeah, I don't think I'll survive the twins if I go with you."
"Oh shit didn't even think about that." Rita chortled and I let her push me along inside, the last I heard before the doors shut behind me was "Now I want details girl, all of them!"
Rolling my eyes, I waved off the BD seller at the entrance of the night club and made my way through the crowd. It wasn't yet the sea of bodies it was known for but it was getting there quickly.
A few of the Mox bouncers gave me evaluating looks, doubly so those who didn't know of me and saw my color scheme, but I quickly detected a few calls going to an office above the club proper and they quickly calmed down, even if I could feel dozens of Optics following my every step.
The Mox standing guard at the entrance to their BD workshop in the back frowned as she saw me approach, her shoulders tensing and a light shiver of fear passing through her spine as she realized a fullborg had approached her and she was now obligated to stop him.
Luckily for her, I was not enough of an asshole as to try and force my way in "Rita told me to give Judy and the twins a visit." I spoke "I go by Magos, give them a call and they'll clear it up."
The poor woman's shoulders sagged in relief and she quickly did as I asked, and she almost fell over as the call was answered and she most likely got the confirmation.
She let out a long exhale before waving me in "They said to let you in."
"Thanks." I nodded "And sorry about that."
"Ha!" The woman huffed self deprecatingly "My fault for getting shit scared over nothing."
"True." I agreed, and promptly ignored her look of irritation as I shut the door behind me.
The back rooms of Lizzie's were far less colorful than the night club itself, and the number of grey almost bunker-like hallways seemed like it would be incredibly easy to get lost in.
Thankfully I detected a suite of BD workshop hardware nearby and simply followed it to my destination.
"I tried everything." An unfamiliar lightly Latino accented female voice greeted me over the din of distant club music "I just don't have the kind of hardware needed to get into this thing."
"It's fine Judy." The far more familiar voice of one of the twins came in response.
Her sister finished for her "Help is on the way!"
"Tremble in awe." I deadpanned as I entered the BD workshop at that exact moment.
The twins, knowing I was coming, simply grinned at me playing along.
Seeing two people I rescued from an... unfortunate fate made me feel oddly annoyed for whatever reason.
But I was not given the time to ponder it.
Judy Alvarez, the Mox's resident BD artist, was quite obviously not informed of just who was coming.
She went to get up in a sudden spike of panic... and tripped over the mess of cables below her, stumbling back and tipping her rather heavy wheeled chair back.
'Shitty cable management will do that to you.' I tutted.
Or she would have tripped if I didn't grab her hand at the last minute, thankfully being cognizant enough to keep my Mechadendrite hidden this time.
The BD artist looked back at me in confusion before her eyes flashed in annoyance "Thanks." she muttered as she let herself be pulled back up and glared at the twins
"You two are not nearly as funny as you think you are!" She snapped at them.
The two just giggled like schoolgirls.
"Our knight in shining armor." Melody sang.
"Is quite the sight." Melony went on for her.
And then as one ""Right?""
"Right." Judy grumbled as she disentangled her feet "How nice of you to warn me."
"But Judy." Melody smirked and Melony added "Where is the fun in that?"
All the BD artist could do to that was sigh in defeat.
"As fun as this is." My lip twitched as I finally decided to cut in "What did you need my help with?"
The pair turned serious as if a switch had been flipped "We managed to get our hands on a chip." One said and the other continued "A careless client we 'chose' to entertain left it, and didn't ask for it back."
Judy made a noise of frustration "I've been trying to get into it for days but nothing seems to work."
Absently I scanned her setup and nodded "Second gen. Pretty robust for BD scrolling but not really made for modern chipping."
She nodded in agreement, her expression shifting as if to say 'What can you do?'
Instead, I turned to the twins "And dare I ask who this chip is connected to?"
Melony and Melody shared a look before they both answered "Shobo, the Claw that tried to take us."
"Ah." I voiced, showing nothing "Want me to give it a look?"
They both quickly nodded and immediately turned to Judy expectantly.
"Be my fuckin' guest." The woman shrugged and pulled the chip out of her computer.
Picking it up carefully as to not crush it, I gave it a quick scan before inserting it into my Neural Port.
I had never stopped gathering information on Shobo in simple hopes he'd give me a way to grab Werner without me needing to go the more riskier route, so breaking through the protections on his chip was even easier than usual, as some of his codes were used by his subordinates.
And what I found within was exactly what I expected.
And yet not what I wished for. It was another contact, no info on my true target.
"An xBD recording location, or at least the general area of one. Some kind of hotel I think." I said after about five seconds, making the twins frown and Judy goggle at me like I had two heads or something "Over in Kabuki again."
Both of them sighed, and Melody said "Not much we can do there."
Melony drew her into a hug "We will make him pay, one day."
"Apologies ladies." I began spinning the lie as I ejected the unlocked chip and placed it in Judy's hands "I'm under a lot of scrutiny from the Tygers at the moment so I can't really go in guns blazing, drew a lot of attention when pulling you out of the fire."
""We understand."" They both said ""Thanks for helping.""
My previous twinge of annoyance returned for a flash but disappeared just as quickly "Always happy to ladies." I tipped my invisible hat.
I'd have to involve them both when I inevitably ruined that man's entire career.
A message appeared in the corner of my eye just as the twins turned from serious to mischievous again "And as much as I'd like to stay and chat, I have prior arrangements."
""Awwww."" The duo pouted but didn't try to stop me.
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The night at Lizzie's had started in full by the time I returned from the back rooms, and I had to literally wade through the writhing mass of dancers and partygoers, slapping away curious hands as I did.
At the fifth attempt I got slightly annoyed, and may have twitched my hand a bit too hard, and my Audioreceptors were filled with a satisfying crack as the drunken offender reeled away in pain.
I didn't bother looking back as I finally found my way to the booth area, near which I could see Rita talking to Rebecca who was now far more at ease and immediately grinned as she saw me.
The bouncer quickly noticed my approach after that and gave me a wave before lightly pushing Rebecca my way and leaving. Rita had a lot of leeway within the Mox, but she couldn't be seen as doing too much slacking.
I put it out of my mind as Rebecca hopped over to me and we made our way to Jackie and his... choom.
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Jackie Welles
"Relax, chica." He smiled at his newest choom "No need to worry, the two are good people."
Well he barely got to know the latter but he was sure she was fine.
"Damn it Jackie, I'm too tired for this shit." The voice of the Arasaka operative carried a light tired rasp as she spoke, her face still half buried in the crook of her left arm as her right held up an emptied shot glass.
'Man, those fucking corps really drain the soul out of a choom.' Jackie shook his head silently.
His corpo choom pulled herself up slightly, the black mess that was her hair falling to the sides to reveal her thoroughly exhausted expression.
Her eyes, a sharp red that would usually be far more threatening, had bags under them and drooped even as her gaze remained focused. Her face was sharp and angular to the point it was probably biomodded at least a few times but still had a few light freckles spread about, just enough to be tasteful.
She wore a black neomilitaristic Arasaka office suit, the sleeves of the vest rolled up to reveal arms with multiple cybernetic grooves running down their length.
"You can't just keep sleeping in your office, V." Jackie said cheerily, ignoring the light glare directed his way "You gotta live it up a little, or else you are gonna burn out!"
"Ugh." V groaned back into her hand "You have far too much energy for this early in the day."
"You mean late, right?" It wasn't even midnight yet.
She didn't answer.
"You mean late, right V?" Jackie repeated, now a bit more worried.
The only response the woman gave was the slightest upwards twitch of her lip, before she buried her face back into her arm.
Or at least that is what she would have done, if Mike and Rebecca didn't choose that exact moment to enter.
And Jackie was immediately reminded why he thanked his lucky stars every day that he somehow managed to stumble his way into surviving his first encounter with the corpo, as she immediately tensed, her entire body shifting from relaxed into aggressive and she prepared to lunge.
He probably should have told her about the fullborg thing.
Michael 'Magos' Sobronov
I barely had the time to finish my scan of the Arasaka rat before she lunged at me with fucking Mantis Blades springing out of her arms, every move aiming for the kill without an ounce of hesitation.
My right hand whipped forward, slapping away her right into her left with enough force to throw her aside, just as my Cyberdeck began churning out heat.
To my momentary surprise, the corpo had enough chrome in her arms to only be moved and not thrown and she immediately went for a counterattack with a stomp-kick to my left knee.
The attack simply bounced off, even if it would have definitely cracked through human bone, and she used the 'distraction' to go for my throat with her blades but by that time my Daemons had already bypassed her ICE and her Mantis Blades deactivated before they were summarily expelled by her considerable protections.
She adapted near-instantly, just barely managing to redirect the punch heading for her throat with her right hand, paying for it a painful groan of metal coming from just below her fake skin.
At that exact moment my left hand Burya came up, aiming for her center mass, while she quickdrew a Nue at my chest.
"My win." I grinned down at her, knowing she couldn't damage me, and feeling my Cyberdeck hook a deeper connection to her cyberware.
"You sure about that big guy?" She smirked without an ounce of fear.
My Mechadendrite twitched as I became cautious.
"Holy fucking shit!" That was just about the time Jackie managed to finish getting up.
And Rebecca whipped out her SMG "Sit your fat ass back down bitch!"
The corpo's eyebrows went up as she mouthed "fat?"
"Let's all calm down now." Jackie said slowly "This is all one big misunderstanding!"
"Misunderstanding?" The rat glared and asked "What am I supposed to misunderstand about a fucking FBC popping up when I go for drinks?!"
"Seriously Jack?" I deadpanned, surprising the woman "You'd think this is something that would pop up."
"Yeah Jack." The corpo nodded along, tension slowly leaving her "Seriously?"
"Yeah." Even Rebecca was looking at him like he was a dumbass.
Jackie groaned and flipped us off "Oh fuck you all." And then promptly decided to ignore us as he poured himself another shot and downed it.
The corpo snorted, quickly followed by my own amused exhale and Rebecca's snickers.
"Name's V." She relaxed, returning her weapons to their holsters, and I did mean weapons because she somehow managed to grab a stun baton without me seeing it, and pointed a thumb at Jackie behind her "This gonk's choom... apparently."
"V?" I asked, my amusement clear as I slowly let her go "If we are doing nicknames then I guess I'm Magos."
Rebecca rolled her eyes good naturedly and gave her a quick wave "I'm 'Becca! This gonk's output."
"Huh." V, or Valerie as her Agent provided "Interesting."
"So." Rebecca said to Jackie as we all slowly took our seats "How did you meet a corp slave anyway?"
""Down girl."" Both V and I said at the same time.
Her eye twitched as she looked between V and myself, and Jackie choked on his drink.
The poor Latino man spent a good twenty seconds coughing his airways clear before shaking his head and muttering a few curses in Spanish.
"I guess I can tell you about it." He said as he finally relaxed again "If you don't mind, V."
The once more half-asleep corpo just shrugged "Not like I am the one sharing it." She said with a yawn "Go for it."
Jackie's expression turned wry and he began his spiel about the gig at the Mexican border.
The tension from our original 'greeting' disappeared quite quickly after that, and ever so slowly 'V' seemed to start relaxing in our presence. She was obviously heavily overworked and I could already see the signs of overreliance on stimulants on her face, but felt it wasn't really my place to point it out.
Besides, the corps didn't really give you much of a choice when it came to these things.
I already knew the broader strokes of what happened, but Rebecca had a great time asking questions about everything, and then teasing Jackie whenever he told us about a mistake he made.
Naturally he didn't think it was a mistake but both Rebecca and V were more than happy to point it out for him, and I graciously spared him of my own commentary and simply enjoyed myself as the two of them seemed to hit it off.
Though I did make sure to give him a rather smug look when V pointed out he only managed to get one over her because she didn't expect him to shrug off a direct hit from a foot away, to which he just laughed along.
Not once did Jackie mention The Afterlife, and I was more than happy to leave it that way.
"So, what's your story?" The corpo, or V I supposed, turned to me "Not often you see an FBC in a place like Night City."
"Not many of us outside of orbit, true." I nodded "But I don't really think-"
Before I could redirect the conversation, an angry voice cut me off "There he is bro! That's the motherfucker!"
As one, all four of us turned to the entrance of the booth where a group of what looked to be Sixth Street gangoons were gathered and glaring up at us.
Or at least they were until they realized they were currently staring up directly into the annoyed golden eyes of a 7ft tall full cyborg.
Now usually I am more than happy to deescalate things when necessary, but I was still a bit revved up after nearly entering a murder battle with a corpo, so when the dumbass clutching his broken hand decided to start throwing insults at me I didn't give his 'bro' a chance to back away with grace.
Instead, I reached forward faster than most of them could follow, and yanked the sack of meat towards me, smashing his head against the booth table and knocking him out instantly.
The gangoons were surprised by the sudden aggression, and all flinched away as one of them was taken out.
And it would seem I wasn't the only one still strung up about things because in the next blink, V was kicking the 'bro' in the face, Rebecca and Jackie looking at us with surprise before the former grinned and hopped in to join the 'party' and the latter groaned into his hands.
Half an hour later, the four of us were sitting atop a slab of concrete a few minutes away from Lizzie's bar, and holding bottles of beer each.
V sighed in contentment, looking far lighter despite the small splotches of blood on her hands "You have no idea how much I needed that."
"Something tells me it was 'a fucking lot'." I quipped.
"Damn, girl." Rebecca laughed "And I thought Mike was brutal."
"You kicked the poor hombre in the balls, chica." Jackie shook his head in faux lament "That just isn't done."
"Gonk shouldn't have been in ball kicking distance then." Rebecca shrugged, much to V's amusement.
"Well." Jackie exhaled "That didn't go as I thought it would but still, all is well that ends well!"
"We got banned from Lizzie's." V pointed out dryly "For a month."
"Yeah." Jackie scowled lightly "And whose fault is that, huh?"
Without an ounce of shame in her dead corporate heart, she pointed at me.
"Worth." I simply shrugged and sipped my beer without a care in the world.
"Why do I even bother?" The Latino grumbled to himself before picking up his bottle and raising it in a toast "To you, you bastardos locos."
Nodding along, I raised my own bottle, with Rebecca following suit.
V looked almost lost for a moment before hesitantly rising her own "To this." She said and took a quick awkward sip.
The look of unbridled horror on Jackie's face as she said that was something I immediately burned deep into my memory banks.
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The cult is back, and so too is the stone tax!
14 glorious chapters await for those wise enough to seek them upon the forbidden Patreon (at patreon .com/ Rastislav156)
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