"So, what do you say? Should we make a move?"
The darkness stretched wide and deep—clearly, more than one person was hiding inside.
A woman answered, her voice cold and sharp, like a snake coiled in its den.
"Make a move? Not yet.
With Abernathy gone, Jenkins has been itching to crush us.
After all, officially, we're under his command."
"Then... we just wait?
Until Abernathy comes back?"
He spoke with extreme caution, careful not to provoke her.
"Wait? Night City won't wait for us.
Plenty of strays are circling the tower, just waiting for scraps.
Find some fool desperate to climb the ladder—and tie a leash to the meat we hand him."
The silence returned, heavy and absolute. Arasaka's agents always did prefer lurking in the shadows.
...
Westbrook, V's apartment.
Sunlight poured through a wall of glass, casting shimmering reflections from the massive pool outside onto the pristine white walls.
V lounged on the sofa, bare feet propped on the coffee table, swirling the wine in her glass.
Her mood was far from bright. Tomorrow her vacation ended, and she'd be back in that stiff uniform, running around nonstop with no rest.
A few of Abernathy's people still lingered in Counterintelligence. Jenkins had ordered her to clean them out—quietly, without leaving a trace.
She tipped the rest of her wine into the potted bamboo beside her, stretched, and stood.
"Shit. Always too much damn work."
Shaking her head, she decided tomorrow's problems could wait. For now, she wanted a little fun.
Maybe visit Arthur—he still couldn't even stand. At least it would pass the time.
...
At Vik's clinic, the cyberware for Arthur, Jackie, and Rebecca had already been installed.
Jackie and Rebecca were nearly back to normal, but Arthur still needed to lean on the table just to walk.
Right now, he half-reclined in the MedPod, staring blankly ahead.
Behind him, Vik worked busily, still analyzing the contents of that mysterious vial. Most of his recent days had been consumed with installing and tuning the trio's implants.
Arthur's state was the result of relentless pain. His bloodshot eyes looked ready to burst.
"Vik, are you sure I'm okay? Feels like I'm falling apart."
His voice was weak; sleepless nights had drained him completely.
Jackie had already recovered—he was even hanging around the Devil's Boxing Club again—while Arthur looked like the walking dead.
"Your cyberware works more like a booster. It bonds with your bones, then slowly builds a gravitational field.
During that process, you'll feel it. That's normal."
"Feel it?"
Arthur shifted uncomfortably. The sharp pain had faded, but now his body crawled with an itch that seemed to come straight from the bone.
Their conversation ended as the clinic door swung open.
V walked in, bright-eyed and grinning.
"Arthur! Let's go for a drink. Vik, you coming?"
"Me? This clinic doesn't run itself. I'm out."
Vik refused without hesitation. Once he was working, nothing could pull him away.
Arthur glanced down at his wreck of a body, his voice heavy with resignation.
"Listen, V... I don't know what grudge you've got with me, but...
Honestly, maybe you should just put me out of my misery."
But his frailty didn't change V's mind. With Jackie busy bothering Misty, she needed a drinking buddy.
"Come on, Arthur. It's just cyberware.
What you need is a distraction—and a proper night's sleep."
...
Later, outside Lizzie's Bar, a man in a wheelchair rolled up.
"Damn it...
Look at me. What a wreck."
Arthur muttered as he pushed himself forward.
"They're staring like I'm some monkey on a bike."
"Hey, Arthur, just drink yourself unconscious. Then you won't see a thing."
V followed behind, unfazed by the stares, and walked straight inside.
Under Lizzie's trademark purple glow, Arthur's vision blurred—and this time, he truly slept.
...
The next morning, the clatter of glass jolted him awake.
Only then did he realize—the agonizing sensations that had tormented him for days were gone.
In their place was something new.
A sensation... like controlling one of his own arms.
He tested it. His body responded with shifting weight—sometimes heavy, sometimes light.
More than that, it felt like his body had gained an extension.
He followed the sensation to his lower back. The hard object there—the dagger.
When he gripped it, the feeling of controlling its weight surged into his mind again.
But only while he held it.
Just as V had explained, his bones were now as strong as top-grade alloys. A massive enhancement—along with the absurd ability to bend gravity at will.
Arthur rolled his neck and stretched in front of the mirror. His joints cracked in a series of pops, and he felt utterly refreshed.
...
Outside TURBO Restaurant, Maine had made the place his regular spot since going half-retired.
Dorio was practically retired too, and together they lived a quieter life.
Maine lounged under an umbrella, oversized shades on his face. Beside him lay David.
"I just want Mom to wake up. Compared to that, nothing else matters."
David looked relaxed too, no longer clinging to his mother's jacket or throwing himself into endless missions to prove something.
"It's like me—only after retiring did I realize how small those old goals really were.
Compared to Dorio, Pilar, all of them... being a legend...
It's like a dream, fading too fast."
Maine's voice was calm now, almost like that of an ordinary old man.
"Yeah. Compared to your mom's life, standing on top of Arasaka Tower doesn't mean shit."
The two talked easily, more like old friends than mercenaries.
They'd just finished lunch and were taking it easy.
"By the way, that medicine you found—are you sure it's reliable?"
Maine asked casually. He'd had his own history with Gloria.
"I had Vik check it. He should be done soon.
Honestly, if you'd met Vik earlier, you wouldn't be in this mess."
He meant Cyberpsychosis.
A good ripperdoc could measure a person's tolerance and pair them with implants that boosted their strengths instead of breaking them.
Thinking of Vik reminded Maine of the man's steady hands and calm skill.
But that was life. Since retiring, Maine had come to see things more clearly.
Being alive was already a blessing. And some things mattered far more than others.
He felt no regret—only gratitude. At least he'd turned back in time.
"David, if your mom woke up, would you still be an Edgerunner?"
Maine asked, half-curious.
"Probably... yeah?
But Mom wouldn't approve.
I just want to save enough to stop living broke all the time."
In Night City, starving to death was common. Plenty more died fighting for scraps.
Even fake meat made from cockroaches was more than some people could beg for.
In Night City, poverty was the only real crime.
If he couldn't eat, he'd have no choice but to go back to being an Edgerunner.
David and Maine kept talking easily, their rhythm relaxed.
Until—
A stretched sedan rolled up in front of them.
Dust from its wheels hit David's face, and he frowned.
In the sunlight, a tall, thin man stepped out.
...
(70 Chapters Ahead)
p@treon com / GhostParser