The older man looks pleased. Maine's attention fixes on the new clinic across the plaza.
"Any more info?" he asks Kiwi.
"Not much. Most customers look like Tyger Claws. Word of mouth seems decent."
"I will take a look."
"I am going too," Rebecca says, hand up.
Kiwi waves them off. "You two go."
Dorio starts to rise, then sits when she sees Rebecca is already going. Two people are enough to check it out. If something happens, they are close enough to support each other quickly.
Maine and Rebecca walk side by side toward Rocky's clinic.
At the door, a man with a lot of chrome steps out. He stares at his left palm, squeezes the air a few times, and smiles, happy with his newly installed grip kit.
A heavy hand lands on his shoulder.
He looks up into the sunglasses of a dark-skinned man.
"What do you want?"
He sounds annoyed but not hostile. This is Night City. You do not start a fight without a reason, unless you are already cyberpsycho.
Maine lifts his other hand, lowers the shades just enough to show his eyes, and smiles. "Relax. I want to ask about this ripper clinic."
The man's shoulders ease. "It is fine. Wakako sent me here. If you two are edgerunners, you should know her. The clinic is solid. Prices are slightly higher than those of other back-alley shops. The install skill and medical level are first-class in Japantown. I heard the maintenance is good too, but I have not tried it."
"Thanks," Maine says with a nod.
Three days open and already getting this kind of feedback. That reads like a real shop. Maine presses the visit button on the clinic panel.
Inside, Rocky has just finished an installation and hasn't cleaned up yet—a visit request pops up.
Is the last customer unhappy?
He checks the door cam and blinks when he sees who is at the door. Maine. He figured opening here meant they would meet sooner or later. He did not expect it to happen so soon. He accepts while clearing the tools and wipes.
The door unlocks. Maine and Rebecca step in.
"Welcome."
Rocky looks toward Maine, then notices Rebecca beside him. On the camera, her small frame vanished behind Maine's bulk, so he assumed Maine came alone.
Twin green ponytails, petite frame, jacket worn over black underwear, red cyber-eyes, and pink ink that should be too much but somehow lands perfectly. Cute and sharp at once.
Rocky's heartbeat climbs and then settles. He has seen plenty in two years of Night City. He has ridden XBDs and seen dolls. This is different. When the girl he remembered from another life stands before him, something old inside him awakens, but his hands do not slow.
"What do you need?" he asks, eyes on Maine.
"Show me what cyberware you have."
"Give me a moment."
Rocky finishes straightening the operating space and gestures to the chair.
"Plug in your personal link. The clinic system will analyze what you can install from the current stock and display the options. Choose what you want."
Maine takes the cable, slots it into the port behind his ear, and begins browsing the inventory on the operating table's display.
[ Clinic Inventory ]
[ Detected user: Maine ]
[ Available: Projectile Launcher, Gorilla Arms, Reinforced Legs, Subdermal Armor, and others ]
Rocky checks Maine's body data from the side.
Projectile launcher, Gorilla Arms, leg mods, subdermal armor. He frowns.
As a ripperdoc, he knows the load that a normal body can carry. He knows the edge cases and the slope that ends in cyberpsychosis. It is why he only wears the arm he needed on day one and a single Kiroshi ocular. He is not David. He is not special. Talent is not his bet. He chose to build the rest with Vik's boxing and slow strength.
What sits in Maine is less than Adam Smasher and less than a chrome-mad V, and still more than most edgerunners. In Rocky's experience, people with this much chrome often end as cyberpsychos if they do not step back. Maine is already at his limit. If he does not downgrade, time alone will push him over. If he adds more, the fall only comes faster.
Maine finishes scrolling through the list.
"The cyberware here is too weak. Do you have anything stronger?"