บท 49: Punishment...?
"What in the FUCK were you thinking!?"
"Chill out Q, nothin' bad happened!" Rebecca casually offers, and in response Susie throws the chibi's beer across the room, hitting an unfortunate guy getting his rocks off with a BD.
"How's that for chill!?" she seethes while jabbing a finger at Rebecca's face, "Tell me what happened right now and I might be more lenient... Why did you have a small army of Maelstrom shits chasing you!?"
Rebecca shrugs after ordering another drink, "I was on a job with Ori here to rescue their buddy, we hit a scav workshop, they called for more guys and we got chased over here. See? Nothin' to worry about."
A vein on Susie's forehead visibly throbs, "I was gonna be lenient if this shit WASN'T your fault. If they attacked you outta nowhere or something... But it looks like you guys are to blame after all!" she looks over at Ori, "Is this it kid? Your revenge for me not helping your sorry ass when you came beggin' for it!?" she questions but Ori just shrugs and sighs at in her general direction.
"Your brain misfirin'!? Speak up! Why shouldn't I have my guys beat you up and throw you into a dumpster like trash!?"
"You really think you're important enough to me to give a shit about?" he quietly responds while rolling his glass around on its sides, "The scavs tore apart my father, and did the same to a friend after capturing him. That's a me problem, fine. But what I don't get is how fucking weak you are."
Susie sends a scathing glare at him as she slowly walks over, looming over him, "Say that again you daddy-issues gonk-punk!"
Ori returns the glare, "You like to act like big shit, but all we did was give you courtesy of a heads up. You, the Mox, should have been prepared to fight off Maelstrom when they entered your territory anyway. Since you're making a big deal of this, sounds to me like you're scared of them..."
The gang leader grips the back of Ori's neck and turns his head to face her, "You lookin' for a fight? You can be pissy because of your dead buddy but keep talking like that and I'll take you up on it." she lets go of him, almost causing him to topple off of his chair.
"He ain't wrong though, even when I was in the Mox you guys stepped around Maelstrom like they were fresh shit on the road..." Rebecca wonders aloud.
"Don't be stupid. The Mox protect, only attack when attacked. You lot bringing them to our turf just worsens shit! We're already struggling with the fuckin' Claws, we don't need another enemy while we're at it!"
"From what I've heard, you haven't been protecting all that much either..." Ori adds with a drawl, downing his shot.
"Yeah, because you've been listening to 'Bleeding-Heart Judy'. She don't know as much as she thinks she does, and that guilt trip she's been riding for years now is only making her worse. Should just open up a damn orphanage or something and get it over with." she grouses before falling onto a chair next to Rebecca and ordering a drink of her own.
...
"What's the deal then? You gonna spank us for being bad boys and girls?" Rebecca questions, resting her weight on the bar and looking at her.
"I'd kick you out of the gang if I could..." Susie mutters before shaking her head, "Lucky for you, none of our guys died, so I ain't callin' for blood... From what I saw you did some good work though. Not many folks can handle that amount of shit and come out of it still kickin'." she pauses in thought, idly sipping her drink.
"I'll have you work off the debt. No shortage of work around here, and you've shown you can handle yourselves... 'Specially you kid, you've honestly surprised me..." she admits.
"Not to be ungrateful but doing unpaid labour after most of my favourite guns got fried? Yeah-no, you can roll that offer up and shove it in your cooch for all I care." Rebecca remarks.
"Who said unpaid? You'll get the same as the other solos we work with do."
"... Huh... Doesn't sound like much of a punishment then..." Rebecca hums.
Susie shrugs, "Ain't like I don't appreciate the chance to knock some Maelstrom skulls together, no one died and we got a chance to show why Kabuki is our turf. What I hate is how suddenly it happened and the lack of choice, note that shit down and we'll be able to work together just fine..." she stands from her chair, "You guys are still on a short leash though. Try this shit again and I'll send you on a one-way ticket to the river with concrete boots."
With that warning given she departs, leaving the trio sitting there quietly as the BD club's music goes on.
Six finishes his drink and stands, shooting Ori a text as he leaves.
[I will send you the location of Max's burial tomorrow morning.] - Six
...
[I'll be there.] - Ori
Ori spends another ten minutes silently sitting there, four more shots sending him into a comfortable if tipsy mood. His head rolls around atop his shoulder as if his neck had turned to jello as he stands, "I'm gone too, bye, Rebecca." he quietly offers, but pauses when he feels his sleeve get grabbed.
"He-ey, I amm sorry y'know, about Marv..." she admits, slurring her words, "Getting your kills stolen is annoying for rando' dudes, it's probably much worse for someone like that asshole... Ri-ght?"
"Yeah-... Maybe..." he replies, "I'm still mad, but I'll get over it..." he says while pulling his arm away, only for her to grip him with both hands, almost causing her to fall out of her chair as he steps away.
"Yo-u're realllly gonna leave a cute drunk girl here all alone in this scummy bar...? What if I get taken advantage of...? Keep me company...?"
He shakes his head, "Then let the guys who try rest in pieces. I still got stuff to do anyway. Goodbye, 'Becca." he states, finally managing to leave. He needed to get the Cyberware he stole from Marv's crew put on ice. He wasn't sure if any of it was temperature sensitive or not, but he wasn't going to risk it...
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บท 50: Big Haul
Ori gets home still slightly drunk and calls Bats over, shoving the Cyberware into the surprised Ripperdoc's arms.
"Ori... Is that blood...?"
"Not mine." he retorts, "Not all of it at least..."
"I think you should sit down-, have you been drinking...?" he utters in bewilderment.
"Yeah, and? Can you just look over that Cyberware, please? The sooner we know their worth the better." he states before stumbling into the front room and falling onto the couch.
Ah... He still needed to do that, right...
[-8000§]
[-5000§]
Six and Rebecca's pay... While the job hadn't gone right, not paying them was the worse option he had. No point turning allies... Friends, into enemies for something like simple cash, not this amount anyway...
...
Also...
[-5000§]
He stares at the transaction completion and lets out a sigh, Max was dead and they don't need the Eddies... But Ori had sent him to his death, so paying him what he was owed was the least he could do... Or maybe that's just his guilt talking...
[15000§] his balance wasn't looking all that hot anymore... Hopefully the Cyberware he stole was worth something...
Bats returns from his makeshift workshop an hour later with a list of what they had... Since the scavs didn't, or couldn't, target higher value targets, most of the Cyberware was low-tier stuff. Smart Links, extra Interface Ports, Interface Network connectors, a pile of Shards that may or may not be worth something...
There were some valuable pieces however...
A Detoxifier worth around eight thousand, maybe less considering it was second-hand. An implant that renders any known poison, venom, or other unwanted substances in the body null. These were usually tailored to suit their owner obviously, not being to get drunk, high, or whatever else was usually seen as a big downer to most residents of Night City.
This particular one didn't touch alcohol, THC, Psilocin, and some other harmless substances... Of course, this could be exploited, getting killed via alcohol poisoning was certainly possible. Not to mention having alcohol already in the blood while ingesting something that reacts to it, like painkillers for instance.
A Bioconductor worth around four thousand. These things basically streamline the operation of other Cyberware the user possesses. Making them more reactive, sensitive, and allowing them to be used more often without short-circuiting.
Some Nanorelays worth around five thousand. They increase the speed of which nerves can respond, these are only really used when combined with brain processing upgrades to allow the body to keep up with the upgrades. Like the next thing on the list.
A Reflect Tuner worth around three thousand. An augment that speeds up the brain's processing speeds during Stress Threat Responses, essentially slowing time to the user's perspective when in danger. Rather dangerous considering you could burn your brain out if overused.
A Visual Cortex Support unit worth around three thousand. An aim-assist essentially, helping the user target and visualise their shots, trajectory, etc. It wasn't anywhere near what his nanites were able to do, to be honest, almost no Cyberware was.
The nanites directly interfaced with his brain, working with it to shoot as accurately as possible. Cyberware designed to do the same thing was less effective as it'd usually work against the user's own muscles. It was like trying to do weighted push-ups as opposed to regular ones.
The only people who could get around this were full borgs, as they didn't have organic muscles to fight against. Their general lack of flexibility however left weak points that more experienced mercs could exploit.
Last on the list were a bunch of miscellaneous parts, replacement joints, hips, limbs, etc. Particularly attention-grabbing was the overabundance of 'sexual' Cyberware. Ori wasn't sure why so many people felt the need for such things, especially some of the shit laid out before him.
Implants that made your cock vibrate, Interface ports on your actual dick, internal storage for your balls... The female ones weren't any better, suction units, warmth breast implants, tongue implants... Hell, there was one implant that zapped your clitoris with electricity every couple of seconds...
All in all, these parts made up nine thousand eddies...
"That's... A big haul..." Ori mutters as he looks up from the list to Bats.
"Yeah, haven't seen this much tech since Casinha... You gonna sell all of it? Cuz I wouldn't mind installing some if you wanted, might help you out there..." he offers.
...
What would he even want... The Reflex Tuner seemed good but as soon as he had that thought the nanites made their opinion known.
[Collective Requests not installing Reflex Tuner unit: Flex Administrator]
"Why?" he mentally inquires.
[External technology will impede Collective's ability to coordinate host. Host reflexes can be improved without installation via organic modification: Flesh Administrator]
Yeah, they still wanted to alter his brain... Still, he gave them control earlier to help him aim, didn't he?... It might not have saved Max, but it had probably saved his and Rebecca's life, especially against that sniper.
Hm...
"We can talk about those... Modification later. For now, is there any implant you would recommend?" he mentally asks, acknowledging the fact that the nanites knew his body far better than he did.
[Detoxifier unit would allow Collective resources to be focussed on other tasks: Flesh Administrator]
"Alright..." he turns to Bats, "Install the Detox and Smart Links in each hand. I'm not getting fucked again because a Smart Gun refused to work for me."
"Okay... That leaves us with... Twenty-eight thousand eddies?" the Ripperdoc concludes. The multiple Smart Links, Shards, and other things added the last few Eds.
Ori nods, "Give us a total of forty-three K..." his lips thin, "Think that's enough to post a job at the Afterlife...?"
Bats smiles slightly, "Yeah, definitely... If not then they're ripping us off." his grin gets wider, "We'll do it, Ori, not long now til' we find Cat. We'll get her back, deck her out in the best clothes and Cyberware money can buy, then open the largest restaurant in Night City and call it 'Quadrano-something'." he eagerly says.
"Cat's Diner... No, not classy enough... Cat's Nourriture?" Ori offers, pulling up some words via his translation software.
The duo spend the rest of the night picking out names they could give Cat's restaurant. A surprisingly wholesome end to an utterly terrible day... Not that Ori thought the next day was gonna be any better...
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