章 27: Chain Sword and the Elder Blood
It can't be that simple. I took the fission battery out of my arm, the mechanical limb going stiff with the loss of power then slowly going slack, then replaced the battery and felt Atomic! activate.
The metal limb is me, the batter is part of the limb, the battery is getting bombarded with radiation, thus I am getting bombarded with radiation even though none of it is getting to my meat bits. By the laws of algebra my powers awaken!
Honestly going to pop three more into my other limbs and never need to replace my batteries ever again. Well, technically my batteries will last roughly five to six thousand years, but with Endurance at 11 those numbers jump to eleven to thirteen thousand years. The idea of being alive for that long is unappealing, so someone is going to inherit some really kick ass cyberlimbs in the distant future, or some post human society will unearth some neat tech.
"Ahhh!" Ciri hissed and I turned to see her pulling her thumb back from one of my vanity projects.
"While the paddle shape of this sword is very strange, the teeth are the sharpest things I've ever encountered." Ciri declared as the tip of her thumb bled freely.
The girl cut herself examining the saturnite chain sword I built in my private workshop. The beast was made to be a longsword for someone of my build, the entire saw portion of the sword built without guards that would interrupt the cut bore a gleaming silver saturnite chain with monomolecular razor sharp teeth. The wide crossguard came with thick rings to prevent the hilt from sliding down in the hands and to provide additional hand holds for possible cutting angles. The hilt itself was built with Smart Link technology to turn off the motor should the sword bounce back on the user or come near him due to user error.
The whole thing is fucking terrifying to both look at and wield as even with all my defensive upgrades it'd slice through me like I'm not even there, and with the materials and construction I'd put the house on it in a battle against any of the other mono blades available in the world, most being quite prone to breaking when used incorrectly.
"You're lucky you didn't press harder." I told her as I got ready to slot in the other batteries, "Those razors would cut right through your bones without you even feeling it. You'd see the damage before your body would even understand what happened."
"Incredible, but why this specific shape? Is the material too hard to make a proper sword length?" she asked, revealing a solid understanding of material properties in sword making.
"No. Saturnite would make a fine sword, but this is a beast in a far higher weight class." I told her as I slotted in the last of my new batteries and felt the zip in my system from such an upgrade to my power supply. No amount of heavy use would burn out this system.
I stood up and hopped around, getting used to the incredible boost from Atomic! Throwing a few punches after jumping up a quarter in speed was a thing of beauty, the blows so fast that the human ear would only hear a single impact.
I had a big grin on my face as I came over and put a hand around the long hilt of my chain sword. Despite the weight it was not a problem to lift the weapon in a single hand, and as I held it away from Ciri the keening wail of the system coming to life cried out across my quiet shop.
"Those teeth that can bite into flesh and bone and stone and metal are now producing hundreds of draw cuts a second." I explained to her.
Ciri stiffened in understanding and primal terror at the hypercutter sword. A thought from me engaged the mag breaks - bringing the system to a near instant stop - but it took her a while to adjust to the existence of such a powerful weapon in such a familiar category for her. I don't know how well she understood guns, how many worlds she'd seen with them, but this chainsword was a terrible bridge between high technology and her familiar medieval roots.
"Knock knock!" Announced Jackie as he stuck his arm around the doorframe carrying two bags and a sword dangling from his hand in a scabbard, "Get dressed now, thank me later. I subscribe to the school of thought that any biz that can be conducted with pants on should be conducted with pants on."
"You're the best, Jackie." I told him as I took our stuff and immediately pulled my revolvers out and rubbed them on my cheeks, "Oh my sweets, you make combat so easy. Never leave me again."
"I'm sure that they appreciate how much you missed them." Ciri commented as she pulled on her white linen undergarments and top.
"I'm still researching the nature of the machine spirit." I nodded, "But if it does exist then my sweets will truly be pleased with our session tonight. Just us under the light of the candles and the scent of incense. Heated oils and microfiber cloths. Ouuuuu! Decadent!"
"I'm going to steal that idea for me and Misty, hermano!" Jackie called from beyond the door frame, "Just don't tell her that I'm just copying how you treat your guns. Want her to feel special."
"You are loyal and stable in your affections, bro. Already hitting it out of the park. My lips are sealed so long as you do the same. Don't want the ladies expecting that kind of sacred ritual." I told him as I finally put down my guns to get dressed.
"Deal. Mutually assured silence." Jackie agreed.
"Golden." I grunted as I reached down to pull on my socks.
I finished dressing when I pulled on my heavy pozer jacket and holstered my revolvers.
"You're good, Jackie!" I called out to him and the man came around into the shop.
"You'll be happy to know that the radio news accurately ID'd you as Juan Welles this time." Jackie smiled as we bumped fists, "You're a big naked hero who people suspect escaped a Japantown sex trafficing operation with an undocumented foreign girl. People are already speculating on the value of your pecker on the blackmarket."
"HAHA! Finally!" I shouted as I went to my special supply cabinet and pulled out a beautiful golden bottle of Centzon Totochtin and three glass tumblers.
"So many crazy things I did, and they make something up for me!" I laughed as I poured heavy for us.
"You gotta bottle of this too?" Jackie asked as he stared at the golden bottle.
"Mhm." I sounded as I took a drink.
A little chocolate, a little vanilla, some spice in a smooth and rich profile.
"Perfeccion." I declared as the drink settled in me."
"Damn." Jackie stated with wide eyes.
"That old lady you got it from, she was dad's Aunt." I told Jackie, "Had a bottle for each of us to take when we turned eighteen. I got Ramon and Sergio's in here too. You can take one of them... if you want."
"No. No I do not." Jackie declined as he looked at the lockbox I kept them in, "You keep 'em, Juan. Crack them out on big occasions like this."
"We need to find a reason for you to crack open your own bottle sometime." I said as I slapped his shoulder, "Maybe you and Misty can take a trip down to the courthouse and we can toast to your health and happiness at the afterparty."
"I listen to you, cabron, and I'll never hear the end of it from Mama." Jackie shook his head.
"She just doesn't see what I see. Five years time and you'll still be together. I'll put a fat stack on that." I told him with the full sincerity of meta knowledge behind me.
"That's… a lot of faith, Juan." Jackie nodded his head slightly as he mulled it over, "Most people don't think anyone can make the distance."
"Well, even if it doesn't work out, your passing resemblance to me will see you well set on the life of a playboy." I grinned, "We'll go out together like a one two punch and the ladies will all be seeing stars and dropping their panties."
"I prefer to keep my women and my punches separate." Jackie smirked, "But I'm grateful for the sentiment."
"Sometimes a trollop needs a good punch." Ciri weighed in, causing Jackie to chuckle.
"Ain't that the truth." Jackie muttered then finished his drink, "Doesn't mean I have to like it. Hey, pour me another for the road."
As I refilled his tumbler I sang, "Have a drink, have a drive, go out and see what you can find."
"And you laugh about my taste in old music. Later, hermano. Chica." He laughed as he took the drink and left.
I looked at Ciri for a while, the tension building, and I asked, "So how bout that Elder Blood?"
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A few of the comments made me laugh last chapter, but I also assume that most people reading this only have played the 2077 game or watched the anime and aren't aware of how deep the deep end of Cyberpunk is. It's not a table top game that you are supposed to rush into combat every chance you get and there are many many enemies that one shot players.
I guess the massive overkill you can pull off in 2077 actually is indicative of that, but all the enemies can do that too, not just V. Basically in the table top you are either curb stomping the enemy or they're curb stomping you.
Juan punching his way out of Tyger Claw central naked and hungover makes him one of the scariest monsters in Night City.
You can support me and my family at
ko - fi . com / jmanm
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