บท 186: Loss of All
After Rebecca performed a 'thorough' check of his new chrome, joking noting he hadn't gotten a ginormous horse cock installed. She explained what'd been happening since he left, which wasn't much if you exclude the Cyberware heist she'd been forced to conduct.
Hearing that Rebecca and Sasha had infiltrated an Arasaka freighter had been a surprise, especially so when he was told why. To think they'd go so far for him and Charlie had been a nice revelation, even if Rebecca seemed more jubilant about the Cyberware she'd absconded with.
After delivering Charlie's Cyberware to Bats to get it prepped, he and Rebecca ventured to the desert to show off their new kicks.
He thought he'd had the upper hand after punching a boulder in two, but she'd just grinned and raised her left arm, causing it to separate into segments and reveal a rather large barrel.
*THWOOM!*
A big bullet of some sort fires out and digs a hole into the boulder, but before Ori could remark on how unimpressive it was, the whole thing suddenly burst into flames.
"What is that!?"
Rebecca shoots him a smug smirk as she blows smoke from her gun, allowing it to fold back into her arm, "Thermite Launcher."
"Huh, never heard of that before, must've been a prototype or something, you sure it's safe to use?" he questions, not wanting to know what'd happen if it ever detonated on its own...
She shrugs, "I'm sure it'll be fine. The ammo for it is a bit expensive since it's a mix of Thermite and some other shit compressed into a bullet, but you can't argue with firepower!"
"I guess... Say, did you get word from Q or Wakako yet?"
She shakes her head, "Nope. Tyger Claws have been pretty quiet too. I'm guessing they're planning something big."
"Wouldn't surprise me..." he rolls his shoulder, "Alright, I'm been putting it off too long. You wanna come to the Med Center? I gotta stop off at Bats' to grab the Cyberwaare first."
...
"Do you want me to come? 'Cuz I'm not sure if I want to..." she admits unsurely.
"I don't know. Do you want anything to do with Charlie?" he questions.
...
"I'll be an aunt, but I'm not playing 'mommy' to some brat. No matter whose she is." she folds her arms as if waiting for an argument.
Ori just shrugs, "That's fine. I've been planning to leave her with Cat anyway, punks like us can't raise someone well, I know that much."
----------------
Later, Ori found himself standing outside Charlie's room. He'd been in the waiting room for two hours as the surgeons installed it, but he was hesitant to show his face at all... What could he even say to her anyway? 'Sorry I got Max and Six killed? Sorry that I'm the reason you're an orphan?
"Hey, man, relax and go see her. You don't want one of our ugly mugs to be the first face she sees." one of her doctors says as they walk past, patting him on the shoulder encouragingly.
Corpo asshat.
Shaking his head, he musters his courage and steps inside. He's greeted by the sound of medical equipment and doesn't make a sound as he silently drops into a chair opposite the young girl's bed, causing it to creak from his weight.
...
He wasn't sure how long he waited, but after some time she lets out a low groan with fluttering eyes. She slowly sits up, grimacing from the effort it takes due to her atrophied muscles. "Hm?"
"Hello..." Ori quietly greets her while making his way to her bedside.
"Who?"
"Do you know where you are?"
"Hospital...?" she mutters, glancing around unsurely.
Ori nods, "Good. What's the last thing you remember?" he asks.
"Uhm...? I-... Don't know?"
...
"Do you know why you're here?"
She shakes her head.
"Do you know your name?"
Again, she shakes her head, forcing Ori to turn away and run a hand through his hair. This was the worst-case scenario... She didn't remember anything! Sure her brain had basically turned to jello, but the Cyberware should've fixed it!... Unless the damage had already been done...?
"Do you know anyone with the name, Baily?" he asks, and his heart almost breaks when she shakes her head. She didn't even remember Max...
Letting out a long sigh, he places a hand on his chest while resting his other on hers, "My name's Ori, I was a good friend of your dad."
"My dad?"
He nods, "His name was Baily Rice, yours is Charlie Rice," he forces a smile out, "It's a pretty name, don't you think?"
"Charlie..." she mutters to herself, still looking thoroughly lost.
"Are you okay?"
...
Ori nods and squeezes her hand tighter, "Don't worry, everything'll be alright. Give me a minute, I need to talk to someone outside, call me if you need anything, alright?"
She nods and he exits the room, promptly punching a hole through one of the walls. "Fuck!"
"S-sir!? Is something wrong!?" a nurse comes running up.
"My-, niece. She's lost her memories!"
The nurse blinks, "I-I'll grab a doctor, surely they'll be able to help." she says while running off.
-------------
In the end, Charlie was diagnosed with 'Comprehensive Amnesia', or the loss of most knowledge, memories, and experiences. The nine-year-old girl had essentially been reduced to so someone half her age...
Ori was distraught, of course, but there was little that could be done about it. The condition that caused her coma had also been the cause of her amnesia, and without the Cyberware she'd have died in her bed.
After some tests which came back negative or inconclusive, Ori discharged Charlie from the hospital in a wheelchair and sat her in the passenger seat of his truck. "Alright sweetie, we're gonna go see your Auntie Cat now, okay?"
She nods but still refuses to relinquish her grip on his hand, forcing him to drive one-handed to Bats' apartment. He just hoped Cat wouldn't be too mad that he'd put distance between them, after all, he had a good reason for it, hadn't he?
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บท 187: Adopted?
*Knock, Knock, Knock*
...
*Click!*
"Oh, it's you..." Fujino impassionately states, eyes trailing from Ori to the wheelchair-bound girl he was pushing.
"I'd say the same but you already know how I feel about you." he lowers his voice so that Charlie would be hard-pressed to hear, "So grab my sister or I'll visit another time, but not for my sister..." growls.
Fujino sighs and walks inside, gesturing him to follow. New arm and Cyberware or not, he was well aware he stood no chance if he tried to fight Ori.
Ori wheels Charlie inside as they enter the main room of the apartment, spotting Bats slouched on the sofa watching TV. "Sup, Bats."
"Ori!" the man blurts, quickly standing and then pausing as finally spots the new additions to Ori's body. "You updated your chrome without telling me!?"
He shrugs, "It was deemed 'necessary'." he states with a meaningful look, which Bats just nods at, getting the gist of it. "Oh, this is Charlie by the way," he rests a hand on the curious girl's shoulder, "Say hi to Uncle Bats."
"Hi Uncle..." she quietly says, embarrassed at being the centre of attention.
"Oh, you're cute aren't you." Bats can't help but smile at her, causing the girl to shrink further into her wheelchair. "Don't you worry, we're all family here."
"Fujino, go grab Cat." Ori all but orders and the reluctant man enters his and her shared bedroom, soon coming out with a very pregnant Cat who immediately locks eyes with her brother.
"You!" she angrily waddles down and begins smacking him over the head, "You haven't visited in months! And don't think I buy that crab about wanting to keep us safe! That's just an excuse!"
"A good excuse! Stop being violent in front of my niece!" he says, catching her arms and nodding down at Charlie, who was just looking between them in confusion.
"Oh!-, hello there!" Cat stutters out despite being out of breath from trying to beat her brother. "What's your name muffin?"
"Not muffin... Charlie..." she grumbles out.
"Charlie... Has your uncle been behaving himself?" Cat sends a glance at Ori.
She nods, "He got ice cream in his truck..."
Ori blinks, "Couldn't you have worded better, now I send like a kidnapper or something..." he shakes his head, "Bats, could you take Charlie for a minute, I need to talk with Cat."
He shrugs and leans next to the wheelchair, "I don't know, you wanna see my 'super-cool' lab, kiddo?"
"Name's Charlie..." she stubbornly retorts.
"Ah, sorry, I'm old and my brain can't keep up." he grins, "Still, wanna see it?"
At that, she nods, and Bats wheels her into his bedroom/lab to show her his equipment. This leaves Ori with Cat and Fujino, and the former just drops into the sofa with a long sigh. "Grab me a beer," he shoos Fujino away.
"Ori..."
"I'm not actually trying to be an ass, I'm just tired and thirsty, get me a drink and I'll update you..."
"Fine..."
-----------------------
"So, you abandon us then come back to drop a kid in our laps..." Cat bluntly sums up.
"If you wanna put it that way then yeah, I am. She's lost all her memories and I can't exactly stay around to look after her. I figured you'd want to, consider a demo in motherhood."
Cat rests a hand on her large belly, "And your plan if I refused?"
Ori chews his lip, "Well, I guess I'd hand her to Susie or Judy? I did kinda make you her guardian though..." he sheepishly admits.
"What?"
"When I signed her out of the hospital, I don't really exist currently so I used your name. Best to keep up appearances, no?"
...
Sighing, she leans against the couch with a hand to her face, "I have some conditions..."
"And they'd be?"
"First, I need a monthly stipend to pay for Charlie's essentials. Fujino's started work again but we're not gonna drop all our plans for you, not for this at least."
Ori shrugs, "I can work with that, as long as Fujino doesn't see a cent. How much you want?"
"Five hundred a month should cover everything, plus some trips to a shrink to see if she can remember anything... Second, I want you to visit more-"
"No. Cat, I wasn't lying about keeping you safe, the other day Arasaka dropped a fucking cruise missile at me in the Combat Zone." he firmly argues.
She shakes her head, "I don't care, even if we have to meet in secret in the sewers, I'm not letting you abandon me! We're family! Say no and I'll find you myself!"
...
"I'll think about it." he relents, maybe he could just use optical camo the entire way and sneak into the apartment? He himself wasn't too happy about the distance he'd had to put between them, even if that was partly to stop himself from hurting Fujino. "Next?"
"I-, haven't thought of it yet, but I'll tell you when I have..." she blushes lightly and shakes her head, "Since you're already here, tea?"
"Sure... Say, what's this about 'plans'? You've got me curious now."
"Well, since the Market got destroyed by Tyger Claws, I was thinking about getting a loan to open a restaurant..." she admits.
"While you're pregnant? You know that won't work, right?"
"Well it's now or never, all the vacancies will be taken if I don't go for it..." she retorts.
"Can Fujino even cook?"
"No... But he can act as a waiter or man the till."
...
"How much is it? For the downpayment at least." he inquires after some moments of thought. He was sitting on quite a lot of Eddies right now, and didn't have anything to spend it on, aside from funding Rebecca's new creations. It wasn't like he needed to buy Cyberware anymore either.
"Twelve thousand at least, but I'm not asking you for-"
[-12000§]
"Don't worry about it. If you want just consider it a loan, pay me back when you make it big. I'll be expecting to see the Quadrano name next to NiCola on the listings."
"O-Ori!" Cat bursts into tears and wraps him in a hug, he reciprocates of course, still cautious of her large belly.
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