Chapter 51: Last Rights
"Yo... Six..." Ori subduedly greets the merc as he approaches, already finding the man standing before a large bit of disturbed earth with a shovel in hand. "You already buried him?"
Six gives a small nod before stabbing the shovel into the dirt. "He didn't have a place in mind for when he died. He won't be disturbed here."
"It's good... Peaceful." Ori offers sincerely. Six had picked an area near the Tama Viewpoint, south of Rancho Coronado which overlooked the whole of Night City. While the area was completely devoid of most plant life due to the sun perilously beating down on it, it was also one of the least travelled areas in the region, despite the nice view.
Ori did take notice of the lack of any gravestone, however, but discards it thinking Six did it on purpose. "An unmarked grave suits him...? I doubt he'd have liked people gawking at him..."
Six huffs, "He hated people, despised them. Barely tolerated speaking with most..."
Ori crooks a brow at him, "Max didn't seem like that to me?"
"He liked you, for some reason..." Six shakes his head almost mirthfully, "His name isn't 'Max', either..." he trails off, taking a glance at Ori, "Bailey Rice."
"Bailey Rice...?" Ori parrots, "Doesn't suit him at all..." he remarks.
"It doesn't..."
"There a reason he used a different name? Solos like us don't really need it. Though, I can tell 'Six' ain't yours either." he questions.
"To protect..." the merc steps backwards and moves towards the cliff overlooking the city. "I've said my piece. I have something to show you when you're done." he states, leaving Ori on his own.
...
Ori looks down at the disturbed earth and rubs his arm anxiously, feeling the area where the Smart Link implant had been installed under his skin. With the nanites, surgery was only as harmful as a paper cut, that didn't mean he wasn't left with phantom pains. After all, you needed to be awake for my Cybernetic instalments, to make sure it's hooking up with your brain and Interface correctly...
He shakes his head, forcing his mind not to drift. "Hey Max... Or is it Bailey..." he pauses, "I... Got you killed... I've gotten a lot of people killed... Not scum like Maelstrom, but innocents, family... Friends..." he sighs, "Guess I'm just waiting for when it's my turn... Wonder what you'll say when I see you again? Something sappy like 'It ain't your fault'? Something resentful? Uncaring?..."
He lets out a shuddering breath, only now spotting the glint of metal coming from the ground... Old coins?... Had Six put them there? He shakes his head and smooths over the dirt, burying them from view.
"All I want to say is, sorry. Sorry for getting you involved in my personal shit... Sorry for relying on you... Sorry for getting you killed... Not like it means anything now. I-I'll look after Six, who knows what he'll do without you there keeping his head on... See you later, rest in peace, Max."
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Ori glumly walks over to Six, sitting himself next to the merc who presents a cig to him. He takes it, releasing a few puffs before letting out a long sigh and admiring the view.
"You done...?" Six asks after a couple minutes, the almost full-borg look at him.
"...What'd you want to show me?"
Six grimly nods, "You got your car?"
"Yeah, why?"
"We're headed somewhere... the Metro Med Center."
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Ori awkwardly follows Six as they make their way through the sprawling hospital, the sparkling clinical white walls making it almost impossible to tell where you were, with only the small glowing signs atop each door indicating the general area you are... Honestly, he felt like a map was required to navigate the place, it was as big as Megabuilding but condensed, leaving no room unused.
He almost headbutts Six's back when the merc abruptly stops in front of a door, using an access card to gain entrance to the room. Inside, lay a gaunt-looking child hooked up to too many machines to count.
She looked dead, the heart rate monitor beside her bed was the only indication to the contrary... She must've been, what, under ten years old? In a world where you could replace your entire body with Cyberware, why was she confined here...?
"Who is this...?"
"Charlie Rice."
"M-Bailey's daughter?" Ori chokes out. So he'd not only killed the man, but ruined the life of his daughter... It sounds about right for how well he is at destroying everyone around him...
"Adopted daughter..." Six sits on the edge of her bed taking one of her pale hands into his own, "She's been here for two years, no sign of her waking up."
"What's wrong with her?"
"A genetic disease, they say the neuroplasticity of her brain is stunted. Her nerves aren't developing properly, and even if she did wake up, she wouldn't be able to learn anything..." Six trails off.
"There's no cure?"
"No 'official' cure... There's Cyberware in development in Japan designed to fix this, somehow... There is a reason Bailey never installed Cyberware. All of his funds went into this, keeping her stable, and saving enough to buy a prototype."
Ori wets his lips, "And you spent yours on yourself, I'm guessing...?"
Six nods, "I thought it was better to keep us both alive, instead of putting everything on the prototype. We can't work if we're dead. That ends now though. She's my responsibility."
...
"That why you brought me here? To help you out?" Ori questions, not really knowing how to respond. He was barely keeping up with shit himself, he still had Cat to find and he didn't have the time or Eddies to look after Max's kid, as much as he wanted to.
Six shakes his head, "For now, no. I just want to ask... If I die, will you look after her?"
...
"You aren't planning to anytime soon, right? I need to find my sister, how much is the prototype tech anyway?"
"One hundred thousand Eddies."
"One hundr-!?" he stifles his shout, "T-that's too much! How could they charge that amount for anything!? Let alone some Cyberware!?"
"They have a monopoly on the tech. The Corp decides the price. Anyone who needs it is desperate enough to pay anyway..." Six explained with a severe scowl.
"Why am I not surprised..." Ori mutters before firming his expression, "Forget being dead, I'll help once I've found my sister... Okay? I owe M-, Bailey that much."
Six lets out a sigh and acknowledge him with a small nod, not seeing the need to verbalise his thanks. Ori could tell the guy was grateful regardless.
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