บท 127: Rule Ruler
The revelation of the bounty hunters had the group somewhat wary of things, despite the 'Cruisers' ineffectiveness. The group had ambushed Ori and Rebecca while they were drunk, lacked their main weapons, and did so without Sasha nearby. By all accounts, they should have won the encounter, fortunately, the merc group turned out to be subpar in combat, even if they were rather good at tracking.
With the threat known, the trio took a trip to some local Ripperdocs to find some good Cybernetics to help them out. Sasha upgraded her RAM, enhancing her Netrunning and hacking capabilities. Rebecca, remembering her physical disadvantage against the large merc had her musculature enhanced with some synthetic muscle fibres.
This didn't make her anywhere near as strong as Ori of course, simply due to her lithe body type and the spec of the actual Cyberware. Still, she could probably beat any unenhanced human, barring those at the level of Olympic athletes.
As for Ori? Well, he wanted to get some subdermal armour, but the nanites informed him of yet another problem with that. Since they were unable to alter or modify the Cyberware, any damage taken might just cripple him, regardless of his regeneration. It was like having shards of glass in a wound, it wouldn't heal, even if it did it wouldn't remove the problem... Now imagine that but a glass layer of skin around his entire body...
To put it simply, it was strangely more effective to just let himself get shot to pieces and heal it afterwards. Which wasn't really a problem now that he couldn't die from having his head explode or something similar.
The only Cyberware he ended up getting was a cheap Biomonitor, that would instantly translate the state of his body to nanites, allowing them to heal him far more effectively.
The trio continued doing various gigs, though, they only took ones that were relatively easy to deal with, allowing them the ability to retaliate should the bounty hunters make a move. Always sticking together and carrying their best gear on them was a must, and the precautions only felt more and more important as time went on... After all, a hasty ambush like the Cruisers had failed already, who's to say the other groups would be that easy...
---------------
"Bats, why'd you call? Something happen?" Ori questions as he sits next to the Ripperdoc at the small ramen stall next to Kabuki Market. He'd left Rebecca at Sasha's place to continue browsing apartments...
They'd looked at the available joint in the H10 Megabuilding, but the state the previous owner had left it in made it a quick 'NO!' for the duo. Used needles covered the floor along with split-open rotten bags of trash, rotting low-tier wall paint, and bug-infested furniture. Seriously, it'd cost more to have someone clean it than to rent it for a year!
Bats sends him a slight smile, "Just wanted to update you on things at home."
"You could've done that over the phone..." Ori retorts suspiciously, he could be chilling with Rebecca and Sasha right now... Not that Bats was bad company, it's just that he preferred his girlfriend...
"And miss out on the chance to have a meal with my nephew? You've been ghosting me." he states matter-of-factly.
"No, I came now didn't I? I just didn't want to hear you talk about Cat and 'Fuji'." he spits, the last name. "You ask me to help pay for that cunt's Cyberware again and I'll buy a spare arm just to beat you with it." he warns.
"Noted." Bats chuckles, "Besides, I was just asking for a loan, that guy can't exactly work with one arm and no fingers... It's tough enough covering the rent without him sitting around like a deadbeat."
Ori sniffs sourly, "Just kick his ass out then."
"Cat would follow, I'm not letting her roam the street. We only just got her back..." Bats mutters.
...
"She doin' fine then?"
Bats shrugs, nodding forwards at the stall, "Ask her yourself."
Ori crook a brow and turns, finding his sister standing in front of him with an apron on, and short black hair covered by a hairnet. She looked better, slightly less gaunt and now lacking the deep black bags under her eyes. "Cat. How's working life treating you?" he demurely asks.
"Fine. Easier than cooking for you and dad, people aren't so picky." she states, "And please don't talk like that about Fuji."
"Fuji? That some kind of shit-tasting ramen? Must be something only retards would tolerate... Or, a singular retard." he stares pointedly at her.
"Ha, funny..." she deadpans, "I'd rather have crappy food than no food at all though. Doesn't matter if the ramen's bad if the soba runs away like a bitch."
"Bitch? You're the Ungrateful-" Ori glowers, but Bats interjects, throwing his hands between the siblings.
"Hold it! We don't need to talk about that guy right now, it's just family here. Can we stop going at each other's necks and relax for once!?"
...
""Fine."" they both say simultaneously.
"Jinx!""-Jinx-Shit!" Cat exclaims first, prompting a curse from Ori.
"Promise to stop being an asshole to Fuji!" Cat states, attempting to use her authority as 'Jinxer'.
"Impossible. Ask for something else." Ori sharply retorts.
"Then... Pay for F-"
"No."
"Oh come on! Where's your honour, 'Mr Bigshot Merc!?'" she complains.
"You can't win a 'Jinx' and ask a guy to give you his kidney!"
"It's not that bad!"
"Yeah it is!"
Bats just groans and slumps on his stool as he watches the siblings bicker... Still, like this, they kinda reminded him of the old days...
"As victor, I order you to get on your knees and kiss my feet!"
"Just ask for something normal! Or Jinx wars are over!"
"You can't do that! War never changes!"
"Tell that to Hiroshima!"
"Hiroshi-what!?"
"God damn! Did dad drop you or something, you dunce!"
"Fuck you!"
Bats sighs, "How'd you handle this, Eman...?"
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Niggross
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