C176: 1st Big Job
Alt Title Teaser: Show Biz
Overall Word count = 4118 on 1/10/2025.
A few more new terms and information at the bottom but there is also a small 'giveaway', essentially if you answer correctly to a hidden reference i have related to one of the new terms, I could try to create a custom character for one of you, my lovely readers. into the book for a few chapters. if your in my discord then we can coordinate more details to better flesh out your custom character.
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The final member of the crew finally showed up at the location. With short pink-blue hair with a single strand on the left side of her face that flows from the previous blue into green, then yellow, then pink for the tip of her hair. She wears a black net-runner leotard and a cropped white jacket that leaves her shoulders and sides of her waist revealed. Her eyes match her hair in color, giving her a cute but strict appearance.
Lucyna Kusinada, or simply Lucy, is a half polish Japanese girl who was originally a child soldier for Arasaka (major Japanese Corporation) in their research into the old net beyond the Blackwall. A metaphysical firewall to block out 'entities' of the old net. Essentially a gathering of rogue ai which Arasaka had attempted to capture but after nearly dying to one, she and her fellow war orphans had fought to escape but unfortunately only she survived and had been in hiding since.
In the original timeline, Kiwi is supposed to have met Lucy and trained her in proper hacking methods and operations, also introducing her to the Maine crew but Axel had found her early and after making up a small story about how to stole something from him, Sasha had tracked her down but it was quickly found that Axel lied. Regardless Sasha was now the one who trains her instead of Kiwi after being impressed by her skills and instincts. Though for a while both girls held a grudge against Axel for his lies and deception.
Though Axel did give some feeble responses about how having more cute girls on the team would be better. Yet that instead backfired as somehow Dorio took offence to his words which seemed to insinuate that Maine might be attracted to them. Axel wisely shut up and accepted his punishment. Yet here everyone now is, Axel waves at the quiet netrunner but she just turns her head away from him as he gives her a cheeky grin.
"Hey hey, ready for your first job? AGH" Axel greets her before being bonked on the head by Dorio who says, "Just leave her be, all of us are nervous, we haven't had a big gig like this for a while. Besides, we still have a few hours until we head out to get it done. And besides that, how did you get us a job in HeyWood?"
"I just found out who the local big name fixers are, just walked up to him and proposed our team to them. Maine took care of the rest, though how we handle this job will determine further work so are you sure you don't want me there to play momma bird on overwatch?"
Axel explains in more detail about his encounter with the kind Padre and then shows off his shiny pure black cyberdeck, a specialized hacking tool for netrunners roughly the size of a 2020s steam deck. It has some preset hacks on it like: Short circuit [1], Reboot Optics [2], Weapon Glitch [3], and finally Ping [4].
Just these 4 hacks are enough, afterall, when he first entered this world, his [Rhongomyniad] immediately got to work on accepting all of this current world's man made laws, amongst these is the law of Hacking, a minor law of the greater natural law of Augmentations and the intermediate man made law of Cyberware.
These laws greatly would have boosted his abilities if he actually had cyberware but his slime physiology makes it completely incompatible with his body. So he can only continue to fake it while amplifying his actions with laws or just the natural power of his body.
Dorio is split on her choices but Maine speaks up at this moment, "You're not coming with us."
"Yes I am"
"No you're not"
"But you can't keep me away, I'll be there whether with you or without you. I can easily do this gig all by myself no problem. I just didn't want you all to feel useless which is why I recommended the crew and not myself" Axel states factually but the group has weird looks on their faces as they think Axel is just bragging, already getting high on his cyberware. Pilar is about to go on another rant about being safe with his new Cyberware when Maine simply responds with.
"Alright, show me what you got!" Putting up his hands into fists, his tanned gorilla arms appearing far more intimidating than Axel himself. Yet the child boxer simply walks up to Maine with ease in his steps. He lifts his right arm for a formal punch when Maine responds by dropping his own right fist like a hammer on Axel's head to teach him a lesson.
The result is surprising but not how anyone expected. Instead of a head on collision, Axel moves his left hand quickly to slap the big man's hand away, grabbing onto it and his right hand also grabbing onto his left hand. Axel lifts himself upside down, in the process, the tip of his foot slams into Maine's chin which disorients him as his head is shocked upwards but he isn't down for the count, at least not yet.
From the upside position, Axel drops down to the floor where he extends his 'monowire' to entangle Maines right foot, then with a pull. Maine is lifted upside down from the ceiling rafters. Dangling by his foot while Axel is lying down on his side with a look of boredom on his face.
The group all have looks of surprise, especially Falco who just walked in and is confused by the commotion and Maine hanging upside down. He leans over to Sasha, "Am i interrupting something?" Sasha just shakes her head and she explains the situation to him. Understanding that it's just 2 'children' being petty and stuck up. He heads over to the bar and gets a drink while Dorio is still distracted.
"Alright alright man, just let me down. You've made your point Choom[5]. Just let me down nice and easy. AH" Maine says and he holds up his hands in surrender and lets out a gasp as he nearly plummets but stops a few inches away from the floor where Axel instructs him on how to catch himself before releasing the wire and having it retract.
"Monowire isn't that long, no?" Lucy can't help but ask since she too has monowire but hers is for much more close quarters combat while Axel had a free design of hanging it around the rafters before even tying up Maine's foot. Sasha just shakes her head again while rubbing her head, she then goes on to make a bunch of complaints about how many eddies Axel wasted on an extra spool of wire for something like this.
Maine gets up and reluctantly Axel with them, but he remains adamant that Axel has to stay in the car which the polymorphed child accepts and peace returns to the base as everyone goes about their own things. Dorio makes sure Maine isn't too hurt as he gets a bandaid on his chin for the bruise. Sasha continues teaching Lucy and overall explains the current plans format for the gig. Falco, having already finished repairs on his car, happily rests his cowboy nerves with a few drinks that he had to steal since he isn't supposed to work whilst hammered but Axel helped him get drunk anyways.
A few hours pass as the gang simply rests and relaxes before hopping into Falcos van and making their way to heywood. Stopping some distance outside a certain Valentino bar. Sasha and Lucy get to work on taking over the nearby cameras and pinging the location of any gangsters. Within a few moments, the crew learns of the location of 7 guards scattered around the building. 2 in the front as store guards, 2 in the outer perimeter, deterring anyone from trying to make trouble for them or simply acting as scouts.
There is one guard on the upstairs balcony, keeping overwatch and then temporarily accessing the indoor cameras allowing them to learn another is by the stairs and the last is hanging out by the bar, protecting the barkeep on this busy evening with a packed crowd of drinkers.
With the layout mapped out and shared with the group. A plan of action stacked on top of the information they already had is made. The mission requires secrecy so the optimal candidate is to simply send Sasha out there and infiltrate. Through the cameras, the gang found an opening in the surrounding fence that was broken. Through this opening and by dodging a few of the guards in the perimeter, she could get inside and inside through the backdoor which doesnt have a guard due to it being locked.
This requires Sasha to pick the lock the old fashion way and then make her way inside to the second floor and to the computer the crew needs access to which has confidential information on a few politicians that are supporting the Valentinos, specifically the support is through illegal embezzlement of tax payer Eurodollars.
Now Axel could simply use his powers to hack into the cameras and then backwards trace to the computers inside the building but this gig is more for the crews development and cohesion.
As for Lucy, her job is to play overwatch for Sasha. She does this by doing it one of 2 ways: using [bait] a quick hack that lures people towards said cameras or just overloading the cameras, causing small scale explosions that draw attention to them. Both are capable of lasting a while but too many such events will inform the Valentinos that they are being stalked by a netrunner and try to counter hack or trace where Lucy is.
Axel's job is to be lazy and just watch the group. But through his cyberdeck, he has access to the cameras as well and can help out there as well. Dorio and Maine are standing guard by the car, simply flirting but it reduces suspicion of a car simply being on and standing not too far away from the restaurant. Falco remains in the driver's seat like usual. Pilar and Rebecca didn't join this job since they didn't expect any fighting which completely bummed out Becca' to the point of nearly going into a depression as she flopped onto her bed back at base.
With the plan formed and everyone knowing their roles, Sasha left the group, sneaked around to where the hole in the fence is and after waiting a bit for a wandering guard to pass, she headed to the door. With a mix of picklocking and hacking, she gets the door open and then makes her way up the stairs. But once there, she runs into a situation.
There are another 4 valentinos sitting around playing cards and other games. One is even on the computer they are planning to hack. Clearly the person is not looking at the cameras they had hacked or is just incompetent that they didn't notice anything but until all 4 move they would get caught and possibly alert the rest, causing the espionage mission to turn into a bloodbath. They would also be penalized for getting caught because their investigation might tell the valentinos about the info they took and warn the politicians to keep a low profile or something else.
Seeing the situation, Axel decides to give a helping hand. After looking through the disgusting search history of the valentinos, he finds that quite a few of them are fans of his. A rare trait due to how long his matches typically are. With a grin on his face and after putting on a pair of gloves which Lucy gives him a weird look for. He adjusts his appearance to be more clean as he kicks the door open.
"Axel!, what are you doing?" Maine asks out in panic as they try to have him go back inside the car.
"Sasha needs help" He simply tells them in a quiet voice before raising his voice that even the guards can hear, "I feel asleep in the car and you shits didn't even notice me. I don't have my meds on me, so I'm gonna go get a drink for the pain. I'll be back later, lovebirds."
While he is talking, one of the guards from the second floor and another near the main gate zoom in on his face and quickly ID Axel. The balcony person goes inside and informs the quadruples indoors that Axel is right outside. The one on the computer, who is the furthest front he stairs is the first down them as he is the biggest fan here. The others also begin to hurry down, leaving the area empty as the balcony person is not as much of a fan but he is at least looking out for his buddies. Returning to the balcony, he sees that the 4 of them had alerted the others indoors and now there are 6 of them running outside to the gates. Sasha takes this time to get to the computer and begin hacking.
Axel approaches the 2 guards, clasping his hands together with an awkward smile, "hey there fellas, Any chance I can come inside for some 'juice'. I swear I'm not a child, I just have dwarfism." His child-like voice makes the lie completely obvious that the other guard, who didn't pay much attention to the situation, bursts out laughing while he quickly covers his mouth to hide poorly as his shoulders shake.
The other guard shakes his head and is about to say something when the group of 6 arrives and slams him into the pole he was leaning against. "Fucking hell guys" "Come in, come in champ. We're gonna party like no one ever has." They quickly invite Axel in but Axel gives them a few weird looks like a kid who is suspicious of others. "Too much energy, you're not planning on cutting me open right?" He voices his suspicion and the local netrunner slaps his face as he takes out his phone to showcase his collection of Axel figures and even a limited edition poster.
Seeing the fanboyism being clearly displayed, Axel 'lowers' his guard and decides to follow them inside but he refuses to enter the private rooms upstairs as he wants to enjoy the local atmosphere. As such the group gets a side booth and to start off everyone gets a few normal drinks. At least normal and non alcoholic for Axel but the others start drinking. They engage in a few questions about his career and childhood. Axel answers all their questions with ease as he already created a proper identity for himself.
After a while, he gets a private message from Sasha that she has already gotten out with the info. He sends one back that they can just chill as he makes up a few excuses to get out. He does that by swiping a drink from one of the guys and chugging it down in front of them. Because of his grand display, one of them notices his new tech in the neck.
"Hey champ, since when did you get implants?" he asks Axel
Axel acts like a rookie drinker that has a look of disgust on his face before slamming the glass so hard it shatters, "Cheap, get the better stuff out. I need to not feel anything, at least for today." He announces which gets one of them pumped up as he gets some higher quality stuff and pours Axel one. Then after slamming down another drink but not shattering the glass, he lets out a cheer. "WOOHOO, now that's better. Some high class Esmeraldwa ya got there." He says, slightly looking drunk as he flops back down onto his seat. The others now have a bit of a panicked look on their faces as they ask, "Are you sure you should be drinking?"
Axel makes some bland excuses but after a bit of time he is leaning against the table, seemingly chilling or burnt out. One of them decides to reask about the implants and with Axel still being 'drunk'. He decides to take off one of his gloves, better showing his new implants.
"Second one so far, gyot them after the last fight. First was basic but this second one was so much rougher, Im tyold my towerance is pretty low since im still a kid but I needed to defend myself after learning some shit fuck put a bounty on me. Probably the old champ. Asshole." he gives them a sob story of how he has low tolerance for implants of any kind and how they hurt so much that he is constantly on pain meds for a whole week after surgery. His words are slurred and sloppy sometimes but not too much that they understand himThey buy his story and a few cry on his behalf and others get angry.
After a while more he is led outside by the squad as they help him back to Maine and Dorio who are still watching over the car. They see Axel is drunk and being helped by one of the squad. He at least had the decency to pay for the alcohol they drank tonight which makes them like him more. Once they get there, Axel just orders the awaiting duo, "get the car moving in a moment" he then turns to the flock following him, extending his hand towards them he says, "hand it over"
"Hand what over?" the netrunner asks, confused.
"What you want me to sign, ya Gonk"
In his words they light up like a christmas tree before one of them takes out some paper they had in their pocket. It's a report they were planning to send to the higher ups but it has a more useful purpose now since it can be remade. Axel fetches his special glowing pen from inside the car, where Lucy and Sasha nearly yell at him before he informs them that they are not in the clear yet, they remain silent as he gives them a sloppy autograph that they see is lit up in the dark by a bit in dull green.
He tells them to not reveal too much info about him getting implants yet since the official news would be in a few weeks before his next match. He then sends them a link to a website where they can make a bet for him under more official rules which means a larger betting pool. He advises them to make a new pool for a less than 5 minute fight. Saying it would be a happy surprise for them.
Getting into the van, the crew makes their way home and the two girls officially berate him for his actions and taking so long. Dorio does try to have him lie down since he is drunk but they quickly see him shed his little drunk act as he tells them this, "having more allies is always better, we now have a connection to the Valentinos if we ever need help. Afterall, one of them was related to a big shot of the gang which could be good for business and extra money.
With his declaration, they lower their anger but still annoy him for a while as they make their way back to base. They already got the payout from the Padre. Hearing about how there was no alerts from his spies, he decided to give the team a bonus for a job well done.
Axel refused his share since he isn't lacking money and he is lined up for at least 2 fights for the next few months, maybe more.
As such, the group splits the 30k eddies for the gig with a small bit going to the inactive duo back at base so they can survive for a while. Dorio and Maine split Axel's share since they didn't do much of anything, while Sasha who took the greatest risk got the most. Lucy also got her first payment which made her nearly turn into a devout believer of capitalism.
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Alt Title: New Fixer, Lucy's First, Big Money.
Drop a comment if you wanna judge my writing or the story. I'll try to respond, especially if you're confused or anything.
(Next chapter text, cut it before posting this chapter, then repaste)
Some time passed since Axel got his 'augments', after some tests when the marks 'healed', it was determined that Axel was easily able to contend with any member of the crew
[1]Short circuit-a lethal quickhack that delivers 2m volts of electricity to fry cyberware, it also extends the duration of 'control' type quickhacks like reboot and weapon glitch. (was my main quickhack for the game, I actually believed it was non lethal when i first got it but I was wrong, granted I quickly learned that being lethal or not didn't change anything much)
[2]reboot Optics-a control type quickhack that temporarily turns off a person's eyes if they have custom optics of any kind. This makes them blind and they cant shoot at you or see you if you are sneaking by them. (another classic I used)
[3]Weapon Glitch-a control quick hack that causes weapons to jam or if they are using smart guns (type of auto aiming gun-divided we stand my semi fav along with Skippy) then it causes them to explode and malfunction, causing the user to switch to secondary which is has a negative aim debuff. (never used, optics or short circuit and just shooting a hoe is faster than this waiting for an aiming debuff.
[4]Ping-A classic covert quickjack you start out with or get for free in the story. It just tells the user where all connected electronics are to whatever was pinged. This can reveal light switches, hidden doors and buttons for them, or just people so you know where all enemies are (had this but barely used until later in the game when I was getting lost in some buildings or an enemy was hidden somewhere and I was too blind to notice where)
[5] Choom = friend, buddy, pal. Typically it's a type of hoodlum styled speech that most upper class people won't ever say, especially since Corpos don't have friends.
[6] Valentinos is another gang of Night City. Jackie Wells, best friend to Cyberpunk 2077 mc, V. had used to be part of the Valentinos, and even though there are typically repercussions for leaving a gang like this, Jackie left mostly scot clean after some sort of larger fire fight. In the game itself, there are limited interactions with this gang, limited to small scale in game gigs like this one that is played out in this chapter (A variation of Fifth Column).
In this original quest, there was a part where V could approach one of the valentino guards and reminisce about Jackie which gives you easy access to the second floor of the building. I only learned this through the wiki since I'm the weirdo who permanently had the Optical Camo for pretty much all gigs the moment I got it to get through all the locations with ease. I even used it during the final mission a few times to get a few moments of rest to regen hp or reload since enemies do lose track of you for a bit even when shooting at you.
if anyone knows the south park reference to the [5] and your in my discord then we can talk about potentially making a small oc for you in either this cyberpunk world or one of the later ones
(yes the person would receive spoilers for the later worlds and their potential role but a few guidelines would need to be filled in for their character and they would have to join the discord if they haven't already. Then that is just a matter of actually responding to me. We got time)