Waking up from the anesthesia was one of best and worst things he'd ever dealt with. On one hand, there was that sheer … fear. Fear and desperation that told him he couldn't sleep. He could barely even close his eyes, because if he did, he would wake up with Adam Smasher looking down on him with that forearm cannon aimed at him.
But when he finally did wake up, this time facing the ceiling, reclined on the chair that he'd been led to,he found that he was holding Lucy's hand still. And even when she noticed him stirring and blinking she didn't go to remove her hand immediately.
"Hey."
She said quietly, her thumb stroking the back of his hand.
Love almost choked him, tears wanting to well up and pull her into him, and never let go. God he'd missed her. He thought he'd never get to see her again. She'd brought him back from the very brink of insanity and cyberpsychosis. And all he could give her after that was the ability to go to the moon.
….but he couldn't take her.
Breathe. Just breathe.
"Hey…"
He said a little bit croakily, his throat feeling dry when a glass of water was handed over to him by Vik. And as he did, everything slotted into place. His Sandy, Vik seeming freaked as fuck, and the knowledge that he really had been a fucking gonk for staying with Doc for so long.
"... Thanks Choom."
He said quietly as he took the water and sipped it, Lucy and his hands slowly pulling away so that they could focus.
The cool water soothed his parched throat, and helped clear his head as he rolled his shoulders …. And huh. How about that? The Sandy felt a lot more comfortable. Like… like it was barely there. And his nausea and overall feeling of wrongness was gone as well.
"So….. what's the word Vik? What's going on with the Sandevistan?"
Viktor snorted and took a seat on the rolling chair, and looked him dead in the eyes.
"Kid, I have no idea how you are still alive. Let me tell you how you fucked up. Firstly, your dumbass Ripper did not use perfectly sterilized tools. I'll be giving you a small regimen of antibiotics. Secondly, he didn't use anesthesia. Do you know why that's bad? Other than the fucking obvious?"
He grimaced. Apparently he'd missed something. Because he honestly didn't know.
".... No?"
"Christ kid … you're lucky you have the highest fucking cyberware affinity I have ever seen. I legitimately don't know if there's ever been one this high, except for Adam Smasher. And that's only because Arasaka keeps their Boogeyman's details as tightly locked as possible. The reason why operating without fucking anesthesia is a BAD idea, is that trauma, both mental and physical, when combined with chrome that taxes your system so badly? Is one of the most common causes of cyberpsychosis. "
His breath caught. He'd known he'd brought this on himself. But he didn't know that his decision to stick with Doc had been so detrimental.
"So…. When he chipped in the Sandy…"
"The vile little bastard was likely just waiting for you to go Psycho on the operating table so he could Zero you and take the Sandevistan off your still warm corpse."
….. you know. With how shit Doc had always been to him, and how he'd always done sketchy shit…. He probably shouldn't feel as betrayed as he did at the moment.
"... Oh. "
"Yeah. Oh. Hell I might put a hit on the bastard myself after this. I can't fucking STAND unprofessional and malicious rippers. Now where was I. Oh. Finally, you fucking had this same fucking idiot implant a PROTOTYPE Sandy. Something so fucking advanced that it's its own barrel of fucked up that I have yet to get to. Normally, when a Sandevistan is implanted, it gets connected to the spine and your neural ports. Not a non-invasive operation certainly, but sure as shit not REMOVING YOUR SPINE."
Viktor was in fine form tearing a strip off of David's hide as Lucy watched with a mix of amusement, fury, and worry.
"I've never seen a Sandevistan that required a spine replacement. For better or worse, this thing IS your spine. So keep good care of it."
David nodded, as Vik moved to a locked cabinet and removed two inhalers, one blue, one red.
"Take two puffs of the blue in the morning. Take two of the red when you're going to bed. These are a special blend I cooked up. Should help smooth out the physical degradation that quack caused you. And speaking of that, I don't want you going back to him for chrome from now on. You hear me? I'm not gonna demand that you only get your chrome from me, but for fucks sake gonk, at least make sure they're reputable."
"... I think I'll probably stick with you Vik."
"Good. Now. The Sandy itself…."
Viktor shook his head.
"I ain't ever seen specs like this. Legitimately, this shit seems like a fairy tale. The time dilation this thing can get to… supposedly it can maintain a 5 percent time dilation for 30 seconds at a time."
".... That's..not true. It goes way slower than that."
When he'd gone after the chips on the tram, it had seemed… slow. Almost like time had frozen.
Viktor frowned.
"How slow?"
"Felt like I was in it for minutes at a time, and that the world just… didn't move."
Vik shook his head, seemingly struggling with how to explain what he was thinking.
"Look kid. There's something else you should know. Just…. Look."
He pulled up a couple of charts and pictures of before and after the tuneup.
"So you see here? This is how it was before I was able to redirect things. A big old mess. But the crazy thing, is that it seemed to be…. Trying to fix itself. Like it was trying to adapt autonomously. Even without a biometric sync."
He flipped to the next page, and…. Wow.
Everything was far neater, far more compact, and untangled. It looked good. Natural almost.
"This is after I did just the basic manual Biometric syncing. Once it had your baseline, it fixed itself mostly. And seemingly only needed my help for a few delicate maneuvers."
Lucy looked spooked at that. I wonder…. Oh. Right… she had experience with old net Daemons and AI.
I swallowed as I attempted to process this. Sandy…. Was trying to work with me?
"What does this mean Viktor?"
Vik spread his hands out in a helpless shrug.
"I've no clue kid. Like I said. This looks like a prototype. Arasaka prototype at that, and you know they keep their shit on lockdown. I don't know that this was ever meant to be in the public eye. As best I can tell…. This thing will get better as you get better. But if you start adding new chrome before it even begins to understand you?
You'll stunt its ability to adapt and grow in ability. So for at LEAST 2 months, no new chrome, no synth organs, no nothing. Get used to the Sandy. As for how often you can use it…. Come back tomorrow, and we'll do some tests. You might be able to use it more often than I expected."
David was a mix of emotions about the whole scenario. On one hand… this sounded fucking Nova. He'd been damn good with a Sandevistan to begin with. The idea that he could be better?
… better than Smasher?
He liked it. He liked it a lot for if he ever had to face the Borg'd Legend.
But…. Shit. No chrome at all?
He wanted to complain. His brain was already thinking of other rippers to go to… when the image of the crew flashed through his mind. Pilar. Dorio. Becca…. Kiwi. Maine…. Oh God Maine.
He…no. No, he knew where that route would lead. So he needed… he needed to do this.
So David nodded reluctantly, taking heart when Lucy seemed to smile at the sight of him being reasonable. And that immediately made it worth it.
"Um… doc? I'm also kinda noticing that I...well…"
Viktor sighed.
"That you got all the beginnings of being a chrome fiend? I know. I see how you keep looking at the stuff."
David looked away embarrassed. No. More than embarrassed. Ashamed. Definitely ashamed. And Lucy looked so sad. Like she already knew how things would end.
"Yeah so… since you're gonna be my Ripper.. can I trust you to try and make sure that anything I want, you… I don't know. Try and make sure I really need it before you chip me in?"
Vik looked at him emotionlessly for a moment, before a slow approving smile grew on his face.
"I can do that kid. Alright… I've got your meds… Here's your antibiotics…. Alright. That should do you."
Lucy frowned.
"What about Immunosuppressors?"
She asked, a bit of disapproval in her voice.
Vik snorted.
"Lucy, unless he goes full Borg and doesn't give his implants a chance to adapt, he won't need em. When I said his cyberware affinity was fucking insane, I meant it. I've never seen someone not have any form of rejection with a major implant like this. Especially with no pre-op preparation. They'd honestly do way more harm than good. Especially if used too much as a crutch for delaying the symptoms of cyberpsychosis."
Viktor said as he gave her a Stern look that had Lucy looking away with frustration.
Maine. He was absolutely on the edge, if not one step over it. Some people would think he was too far gone to save. To worry about others.
David had two words for that.
Fuck. That.
They were all gonna get out of this alive dammit. If he had to kill Adam Smasher to do it, they were going to live and live well.
It was then that Viktor frowned as his eyes flashed lightly.
"Ah… excuse me for a moment. An old friend wants to chat with me upstairs. Can I trust you two not to leave any messes for me to clean up?"
Vik said with a shit eating grin causing David's face to glow a bright red, and for Lucy to glare at him, though her own cheeks seemed to gain a dusting of red.
"Shut it Vik."
She said, voice like ice as Viktor just laughed as he went upstairs. Now that Viktor had left of course, both of them became very aware that they were alone.
"So…..I…. I need to talk to you about something." Lucy said finally.
David blinked. He'd not expected that.
"What's up?"
He said rolling his shoulders to get more comfortable, not wanting to get out of the chair until he worked out payment with Vik.
"..... Ok. So you know I'm an Edgerunner. More specifically, I'm a Netrunner. I work with a crew led by a guy named Maine. That Sandy? Maine bought it off your mom. Your mom is Gloria Martinez right?"
He swallowed even as his heart aches still at the loss of his Mamá.
"... Yeah. That was her name."
Lucy winced, And looked away for a moment before looking back at him.
"I didn't know Gloria well. Not like Maine or Dorio did, but she was nice. Always did right by us, and could be relied on to offer us good chrome, without any viruses. She bought me noodles once. Said I needed more meat on my bones."
She said with a little scoff/laugh combo.
"Thing is, Maine bought it. Paid in advance a fairly hefty sum. So he's gonna need to know about this. But… I think you guys could work something out. If…. If you really want to be an Edgerunner I mean."
She looked at him with conflicted eyes. Like she both did and didn't want him to take that plunge. To be honest? Being an Edgerunner had been fucking Nova. It was rarely boring, they got good money, and Maine's crew had been… well they'd been like family.
But being an edgerunner was…. Well it was a siren's call. Promises of wealth, glory, while also quietly reminding you that you will most likely die.very few ever got out of the job alive.
Going out in a blaze of glory? That had seemed like the only way to live life before. That he would… Die Historic on the Fury Road as that old old movie said.
But now? He couldn't care less about that. His Chooms living, breathing, and smiling. Kissing Lucy… having a life with her, treating Becca with the fucking respect he should have given her the time before.
That was everything to him.
But…. He could do all that while still being an Edgerunner.
He just had to look at the legends who survived. Not the dead.
Like Rogue, the owner of The Afterlife, or Morgan Blackhand. The gonk who fucking faced Adam Smasher and lived to walk away.
He looked at her, before a playful grin played across his face.
"Does that mean I'd get to work with you on a regular basis?"
As soon as he said that, her face lit up in a flush, even as she maintained an emotionless mask in response.
Hah! Fucking Nova.
"Maybe if you're a good boy…"
She shot back, the little bit of teasing in her eyes again, not willing to let him have the last word at the moment.
"Well then…. Yes Ma'am…."
His face lost some of the flirtiness then as he realized…. He didn't have any money. And someone like Vik? Vik was sure to have higher prices than Doc. Unless Doc was even more of a greedy bastard than expected.
…. Which with all the realizations that had come forth from his conversation with Viktor? Wasn't exactly an impossibility.
"So… Lucy… do you know how much I'm liable for Vik's expertise?"
She shrugged at his question, fingers twitching for a cigarette, but seemingly out of respect for Viktor not pulling one out.
"It usually depends on the difficulty of the job and your ability to pay. What's your financial status like?"
".... 40 percent of whatever those chips bring in."
She grimaced.
"That bad huh?"
"... Mom died today so they're hitting me with the crematory fees, the documentation fees, mom died outside of work so there's no compensation, and the meat wagons aren't going to give me whatever money she made between paydays. Oh. And rent is due."
"..... Wow. I… that's not great."
He laughed, a humorless hollow thing.
"Yeah .. yeah you could say that. Look… I've seen you with the Sandy. You're solid, so I'll back you up if Maine seems like he's not gonna give you a fair shake. You good with setting up the meet tonight?"
David nodded. …. But was he really?
Fuck… seeing Maine… Dorio… hell even Pilar. Seeing them would probably be a punch to the gut. And Kiwi…
He swallowed as he fought to avoid showing the conflicting emotions.
She'd sold them out. He should want her head on a fucking Pike. But…. If he forced himself to look at things objectively… she saw him going down the same road as Maine. And didn't want to get dragged down with them.
Was that an excuse to betray them? Of course not.
But… he couldn't bring himself to hate her.
…. he'd see how it went. If it looked like she was going down the same road, even after he helped make things better….
He'd deal with her then.
"Those are some stormy eyes Davey. What's got you worked up?"
She never missed a thing did she?
"It's… well it's not nothing. But it's not something I want to talk about. Maybe another time. Ok?"
He said quietly, and Lucy nodded.
"So… Do you want to come over to my place while I message Maine? I'd…. I'd like to show you something."
His throat bobbed. When she'd first tricked him into coming over, showing him that BD, he'd thought he was gonna get laid, and had been disappointed but also excited to spend time with her.
Now…. Fuck he could spend eternity with her in that BD. And it would be all he needed.
But so as to not fucking bawl in front of her, he cracked a grin.
"So forward… can't I take you to dinner first?"
Lucy's face froze before she looked at him with those wild eyes as they flew down the highway, and walked over to him, rocking her ample hips back… and forth… and back… before leaning over to whisper in his ear, her breath hot.
"Maybe I just want to eat you up now?"
His breath caught, and fuck him, he was hard as a rock, his pants suddenly feeling way too fucking tight.
She tittered lightly at his reaction before bopping him gently on the nose.
"Get things settled with Maine…. And then maybe we can talk about dinner. K?"
"... Nova. Just fucking preem."
He said, his eyes molten with lust and love once more.
She seemed to stagger for a moment…. Before pulling back a little as Viktor made his way back down.
"Huh… so I don't have to buff any stains out of the floor. Good. Alright kid, I want you coming in at least once a week after your diagnostic tomorrow until I'm sure this thing isn't going to kill you somehow."
David let out a breath and nodded. That... that seemed reasonable.
"How much do I owe you?"
"Kid, if you promise to never use Doc Borg as a fucking ripper ever again, we'll call this one on the house. Alright?"
Holy shit. Was this dude a fucking saint?!
"Seriously?"
"Seriously. Now get out of here. I'm closing down for the night. And remember! Two puffs of the red at night. Two of the blue in the morning."
He said waving at the two of them. Lucy and David quickly got up, and made their way out, with David giving Viktor a heartfelt thank you before making their way back through Misty's Esoterica.
Misty looked up and smiled.
"Hey there. You doing better kid?"
David grinned and rolled his shoulders, barely even feeling the Sandy on his back.
"Like a billion eddies. Doc Vik is fucking Nova."
She laughed and shuffled a deck of cards that she pulled from underneath the counter.
"That he is. Oh… could I trouble you for a moment? I'd like to do a reading for you."
David frowned.
"Uh… I don't have any eddies, and I'm not really into the….New New agey stuff. " He tried to be polite but really, it all kind of seemed hokey as shit to him.
Misty brightened up and waved her hand dismissively.
"Oh no charge. I just get curious occasionally about people who come through. You don't have to."
He looked over at Lucy who shrugged.
Well...the lady was really nice.
Ah what the hell.
Not like it was real.
-----------------------
Lucy was burning up on the inside. She… she'd never felt like this before. Sure, she'd been lusted after before. Pilar did so every time they were in the same area. And it wasn't like she hadn't had sex, though it was generally unfulfilling and just convinced her to masturbate.
But she'd never seen someone look at her like this. Like she was… cherished.
Like she was…
… she couldn't even say it.
… David Martinez… What was he doing to her?
But her own emotional and lustful thoughts were disrupted when Misty offered to read him.
Misty… was odd but her Tarot predictions tended to be honestly fairly on the money.
So she watched, curious to see what he had in store.
"Alright honey. Most people don't want you to touch their deck, but I tend to feel that if the person being read is the one to place the cards .. it gets a stronger touch…"
David looked nonplussed but did as she asked, cutting the deck, and then taking three cards placing them face down before him.
… he was so cute when he was confused.
"The first card is the past. What you have experienced and how it shapes you."
Misty flipped the card and…
"Oh my…. The World, in reverse. A completion of a journey, but done in a way filled with regret. A butchering of what could have been. That's… rough.im sorry sweetheart."
Lucy was a bit surprised. She'd never seen that card before when Misty did a reading. And ..
Wow. David did not look good. His ever so lightly tanned flesh seemed to go pale.
"The next card is your present. What you're living through now, and how your mental state is currently."
A skull. She knew that one.
"Death…. Though often misunderstood as a card heralding misfortune, the truth… is that it's a card that means change. And as it is upright… you are aware of the mistakes and regrets of the past. You know what needs to be done to avoid your past becoming your future, and you are doing your damndest to maintain that mentality."
David looked… less pale, but incredibly spooked now. She'd seen reactions to Misty's hobby here, but never one as strong as this. It honestly worried her.
"And finally… your future."
That one. She knew that one as well.
"The Fool…. Limitless possibility and untapped potential. As it is upright, If you stay on your path… you will bring a new path forward. One without regret, loss, and pain. The possibilities are yours to command."
And this time… David looked still incredibly spooked, but also… desperately hopeful.
"Wow… this is the first time I've done a Major Arcana only reading in a while. This… is a powerful one. And one I am very confident in."
Misty smiled softly looking at David.
"Keep doing what you're doing kid. It's rare I see a fortune this hopeful in Night City."
David nodded almost absently, before going to leave.
"Oh and Lucy?"
Misty says as he leaves the store and she went to follow him.
"Yeah?"
Misty's face turns wicked.
"He's cute….. you should make a move. He never looks away from you."
Oh my fucking GOD.