Chapter 11 –
The moment I think, that things can't possibly get worse than this, somehow Night City finds a way to prove me wrong.
We had checked all the containers in the yard. There were three containers chock full of emaciated, partially unconscious, terrified people. A total of thirty-two souls that I had no idea how to deal with, would have had no idea had I been on my own.
They were all trying to get what little warmth they could from the few dumpster fires that the scavs had going on around the place. The night was frigid otherwise. The ice practically coating parts of the container yard did not help matters at all.
There wasn't enough room to accommodate for everyone to get adequate warmth between themselves. Even so, the youngest of the lot, those who seemed to be barely high-school-aged aged were placed the closest they could.
I had removed my mask a while back, as it seemed to cause a level of distress to those younger in the group. Though, I don't think it did any help either way. The anger clear on my face was not any better.
"Right," I heard Becca say, as she spoke to someone on the holo. "I've zipped you the coords…. Alright, we're waiting. I'll ring her up too in any case."
She was on call with some of her contacts, a fixer I think to get this mess sorted. It's redundant at this point to even consider the badges. Apparently, they don't even bother this far Northside of Watson.
I made my way toward Archie, and the rest while Rebecca sorted out the call.
I approached the huddled victims, where Ethan was crouched next to a boy who looked to be around sixteen. The kid's wiry frame was trembling, his eyes wide and glassy as he stared into the flickering fire. Ethan's calm, steady demeanor seemed to help, his voice low and reassuring as he spoke.
"Hey, kid. You're gonna be alright," Ethan said, holding out his personal link. He connected the cable to the boy's neck. "We'll figure this out and get you somewhere safe, I promise."
The boy trembled, his lips quivering as he nodded slightly while trying in vain to show a brave front. His shoulders were tight with tension, as Ethan finished the check and disconnected the link. "Stick close to the fire, okay? It's cold out here."
The kid managed a small, shaky nod and shuffled back toward the others around the fire. Ethan stood, his expression heavy as he turned to meet me.
"I didn't know you had medical experience," I said, raising an eyebrow as he reached me.
Ethan paused mid-step, a small, tired smile tugging at his lips. "For a second, I forgot you were ganic."
I blinked at that, and he continued. "I wasn't really doing anything special. Just pinged his biomon for anything urgent or significant."
We started walking toward Archie and Yoko, where they were standing over Peter's incapacitated body. "And? What'd you find?" I asked, keeping my voice low.
Ethan hesitated, running a hand through his disheveled hair. "It's bad," he said finally, his tone heavy. "Real bad."
I stayed quiet, letting him gather his thoughts.
"A lot of them are in shock," he said, his voice rough. "Almost all of them had their cyberware ripped out. And then given substitute gear to make sure they don't die. Half of them aren't even stable. That boy I was just talking to? He was one of the more lucid of the lot. He's from LA, doesn't wanna talk about his family… but at this point, he's likely never going to see them again."
My stomach churned at the finality in his voice. My rage simmered at the scavs even deeper.
"There's a girl, Annie—about as old as him," Ethan continued, his voice tightening. "Somehow, her optics are linked to an older man's. They're seeing what each other can see at the same time. They can't even move more than a few feet apart without their visuals shorting out in a very painful way."
He stopped walking, dragging a hand down his face before continuing. "And that's not even the worst of it. Some of them… they've been patched up just enough to keep them alive. Piss-poor animal bioware jammed into them like patchwork replacements for muscles and ripped-out implants. Hamstrings, biceps, triceps, even organs like kidneys, lungs whatever else—ruined and replaced with synthetic animal tissue at least a couple generations old."
He swallowed hard, his voice dropping lower. "One of the women—her legs are completely replaced with feline bioware. All the muscles in her thighs and hamstrings are that of…. I believe it's a faulty Lynx implant."
I didn't know what to even say to that…
Bioware was a sketchy enough concept on its own. Even if I was talking about the mass market, widely reputed versions of such technology. The most famous examples that I knew of were Mr Stud and Midnight Lady. At least based on the ads that blared around the streets of my apartment.
Both were sex implants; or well at least sex-adjacent implants.
Mr Stud was the quintessential Penis Enlargement solution. Their products were extremely famous, both for their size and shape modifications but also for their exotic line-ups.
Horse cocks, Bull penises, fucking Duck penises, and so on to some of the more fantasy-based Bioware like Unicorn Dongs, Dragon Dicks, and Centaur Penis; all implants that were supposedly designed to fulfill the most bizarre and niche fantasies imaginable, yet remained widely in demand across Night City and beyond.
I mean, I get it.
Back home, a lot of men fell for the almost Snake Oil-esque ads for Penis Enlargement pills. Insecurities are a really insidious thing, and those ads were often just preying on such people to scam them of their money.
If a corporation could provide an actual viable product that directly does exactly what those ads say they do, it made sense they would be profitable and somewhat mainstream, to say the least.
But one would think, with all of that ginormous amount of profits, they would at least try to have some form of quality control to ensure their products are safe? Right?
Nope.
I considered Bioware to be the sketchier side of cybernetics and implants in general because almost all product lineups came with massive risks as a consequence of the very nature of those implants.
I don't understand what causes these implants to malfunction. For cybernetics, I can think of various reasons like poorly written software, buggy coding, or what have you.
But I am not an expert in biology. Human or otherwise. Yet.
Even so, I can see the effects these implants have had on people around me. It's not a big secret they are trying to hide.
Just off the top of my head, there have been news reports of people with Mr Studs that caused their dicks to catch on fire, their semen to become almost equivalent to highly potent toxic acid, or cause their children to be born with significant genetic disorders some even showing animal parts of their own.
How the fuck that happens, I have no clue.
Midnight Lady was not that far behind. They offered the expected breast augmentation, and reduction implant alongside tits that eke out fruit juice when sucked on, or had actual lickable candies for nipples, or had a different 'hole' in the place of one entirely for whatever the people wanted to do with them.
They even provided fucking security implants, like boobs that shock the person touching them, or cause corrosive acid to burn them, and so many more.
The less said about vaginal implants the better.
Again.
I understand the concept behind why these implants exist. Providing tangible solutions to insecurities and added safety against creeps and perverts was a good idea in theory.
If that really was the motive for these corporations to sell these products, then it would all be fine and dandy. The problem was these corporations weren't producing these for those understandable motives. They were purely after their increasing their bottom line and maximizing profits.
The effect of this was suffered by the people who were foolish enough to actually acquire these products from these corporations.
It isn't a one-off, once-in-a-million case where a faulty implant causes a person's life to get fucked six ways to Sunday. The newspapers screamsheets were full of such cases. Often reported in ways that make light of the situation while painting the corporations in a way where they seemed to be at no fault at all.
It was sickening.
The corporation that had the lowest Bioware implant failure rate seemed to be Biotechnica based on what little the news had on them. And even they were reported to have a significant many cases of such implant failure. The most famous of those cases was a woman's fur shedding off in huge chunks during a live broadcast showcase of her new body sculpt that was meant to have looked like a real anime cat girl.
I mean, she did look like one. Cute cat ears, tail, voice, and all.
But she was a very high-focus client of theirs, essentially the brand ambassador at the time for Biotechnica. She had been worked over meticulously to look as perfect as possible.
More often than not, people who opted for Exotic Body Sculpting often looked like the characters from that one Cats movie I had watched on a dare during high school…..
I had not come across any during my time in NC.
The way Ethan was describing the situation these people were in, it was obvious that they weren't even given the courtesy of proper medical safety necessary for such surgeries. These were rushed, slapdash modifications done with no regard for their health or well-being—just enough to keep them alive and functioning as commodities rather than people.
If there was anything I was taking away from tonight; is that I would shoot every single scav I see on sight.
I had been lamenting the fact that I would be taking a shit ton of lives tonight just before this whole operation. Now, knowing what I do about the scavs…..
Fuck those guys. Some people deserved a bullet to the head, and then some.
"Fucking hell" I said, glancing back at the people in question.
Ethan mimicked the sentiment. I could see the disgust, pity, and horror on his face.
The man exhaled sharply, his breath visible in the cold night air. "Best we focus on what we can do right now. Let's see what Archie and Yoko have for us."
I nodded, glancing back at the people huddled around the fires. "Yeah, good idea. let's." Whatever to get my mind to focus on something practical than pondering the …. everything of this.
We made our way toward Archie and Yoko, who were standing over the beaten and bruised form of Peter Upmann.
The man was a mess—his right arm had been completely severed, and his left foot dangled by a wire, blood pooling beneath him as he was propped up against a frozen container. Archie had bandaged him haphazardly just to stem what little blood that was keeping him alive.
His face was slack, eyes unfocused and glassy, his breaths shallow and labored.
Yoko was crouched next to him, her personal link connected to the port on his neck. Her expression was neutral but her glowing eyes, visible beneath her sunglasses, betrayed her focus as she sifted through whatever data she could pull.
Ethan spoke first. "What've you got for us?" he asked, his tone clipped but steady.
Yoko didn't look up immediately. She shook her head slightly before responding. "Not much," she said, her voice carrying an edge of frustration. "I can't get everything without a proper bath. Guy's soft security is light, but it's still enough that I'd need to deep dive for full access."
Mind reading….
Another list in the long list of reasons why I was apprehensive of Cyberware.
Ethan frowned, crossing his arms. "Even so. What've you found so far?"
Yoko's eyes flashed brighter for a brief moment as she focused. "I've zipped the last few archives I could pull from him to you all. Should be in your messages now," she said, as I felt my phone buzz in my pockets. "For now, I'm just making sure he doesn't bleed out on us. He's no use to anyone dead."
Archie snorted, shifting her weight as she tapped the hilt of her mantis blade against the ground. "Make sure he feels every wound on his body in the meantime," she muttered, glaring down at Peter. "Scum like this doesn't deserve to breathe. A little hurt will soften whatever hold he has on his soft for you to run through later."
Right….
Ignoring Archie's increasing glee at causing her tormentor even more suffering; I got out my smartphone and opened the file Yoko had forwarded to us.
I think, I need to build a way to extract surface-level files and archives myself. I can't rely on runners acting as go-between on information like this.
I had relied on Kiwi a few days ago, and now Yoko. I can't expect to have a hacker on hand to handle such things for me.
I suppose I could incorporate a cable like the personal link, that most people have, into my smartphone. It seemed like an important way to access information at the very least from people that I may need to find shit from while they can't provide it by themselves.
[ARCHIVED CONVERSATION: PETER AND JOTARO
PETER: I have the merch ready for your boys
JOTARO: finally, choom! what do you have for me?
PETER: mixed bag this time, covered most of the varieties that you requested. got a couple locals—black, asian, chicano. The rest are from across the border.
JOTARO: did you make sure they're of the right age?
PETER: covered most of the range like you asked. there are a few gaps here and there, but nothing that'll stand out.
JOTARO: they're clean at least I take it.
PETER: yeah. I covered the usual. all UPs. should have no follow-ups
JOTARO: good. this batch better be fresh. I need fresh talent, people want more raw creativity.
PETER: I get it. Lee checked this batch himself. clean, solid variety. he signed off on it.
JOTARO: Lee's approval only goes so far. you know how picky this crowd is.
PETER: trust me, I know what you want. I'm sure you'll like these talents.
JOTARO: oh, so you know what I like, do you?
PETER: sorry, didn't mean to offend you.
JOTARO: oh, you think I'm offended?
PETER: I'm sorry, really.
JOTARO: whatever for?
PETER: look, I don't want any trouble. we're here, waiting for your people, OK?
JOTARO: choom I'm messin with you! chill! sending my chooms your way.]
"Who the fuck is this Jotaro character?" I asked, hoping that one of them would have an answer for me.
Yoko sighed, shaking her head slightly as she glanced at Peter's mangled form. "Jotaro Shobo's a big name in the XBD industry," she said, the strain from searching through whatever it was that she was searching was clear on her. "Right up there with Jimmy Kurosaki, Robert Malone, Kajetan Zilevski, and the rest of those sick fucks."
I frowned, the names meaning absolutely nothing to me. "That doesn't really tell me anything," I said, crossing my arms. "By XBDs, you mean…?"
Yoko's glowing eyes flicked toward me from beneath her sunglasses, her expression uncharacteristically grim. "Not your average X-rated street porn," she said quickly. "Kinks and shit are in there, sure, but these guys? They're on a whole other level. We're talking rape, murder, torture—that's entry-level. They get really creative for whatever gets the blood pumping. The kind of shit that brings out the most raw, powerful, and unique emotions from the sick bastards doing it."
My stomach churned at her words, a cold, heavy weight settling in my chest as the implications sank in.
I finally knew what XBDs were.
BDs were neural-interfaced porn, which if it told me anything meant that it had an actual tangible emotional response that was experienced by whoever was watching the BD. At least, I think so. Why else would a neural interface be necessary?
I suppose if that was correct…. Then the illegal variety of such BDs are those that would exhibit the more darker aspects of emotions, resulting from the most gruesome of acts physically possible…. It's obvious now, in hindsight…
And I had been marked for that…. If I hadn't already vowed to kill all scavs on sight I would have done so right about now.
I took a deep breath, trying to calm the storm of rage and revulsion boiling inside me. "Alright," I said finally, exhaling through clenched teeth. "What are we doing about this? Is Jotaro a possible lead... or someone to go after to get Lee? Because he seems like someone who'd know where Lee is."
The rest looked at me for a moment, exchanging glances with each other. Archie was the first to speak, her voice tinged with a sense of detachment I hadn't expected from her.
"That'll depend on what we get from Peter," she said, her eyes narrowing as she glared down at the mangled man. "Going after Jotaro is like going after a shark to get the fish from its jaws. If we don't get a lead on Lee from him, then we'll see. For now, we've got more immediate shit to handle—like checking the trucks and vehicles the Claws and scavs showed up in."
Ethan nodded, already moving into action. "I'll get on that," he said, his voice steady. "I've checked all the biomons for the victims. The most critical ones are around the fire. The rest are huddled near the containers in Red Sector A."
Archie gave him a quick nod, her attention shifting briefly to Yoko. The runner adjusted her sunglasses and glanced over at me.
"Zain," Yoko said, motioning toward the deal site, "there's a laptop set up on some crates where the deal was supposed to go down. Go through the files in it. Emails, messages, whatever else is on it. It should be unlocked. See if you can dig anything up."
I frowned, a little disappointed that we weren't focusing on Jotaro Shobo immediately. But I could understand the reasoning—Jae-Hyun Lee came first. "Alright," I said with a nod. "I'll check it out."
I headed toward the laptop, which sat precariously on a couple of battered crates a few paces away from where Becca was still on the holo with her contact.
The laptop sitting on the crates was a bulky piece of gear. A Cytech 700.
It reminded me of the Alienware laptops from back home, with its aggressive bulky design. The difference between these and Alienware was, of course, the operating system and the price.
Cytechs were practically a bargain compared to what Alienware used to go for back home.
It was unlocked like Yoko had said it would be.
I started sifting through emails first. Most of it was inane, useless chatter. Memos about ripper equipment up for grabs somewhere in Pacifica, reminders to restock on synth-blood, and updates on bioware shipment movement of what seemed like Biotechnica. None of it seemed immediately relevant to our current situation.
Then finally I found something relevant.
[Subject: Up for Grabs
From: Peter Upmann
To: Jae-Hyun
Here's the list of potential marks for next week:
Elena Rubikov – Eastern European, 28, dockworker from Nevada, in NC 3 weeks.
Raul Ortega – Hispanic, 19, orphan from Chicago (got a few screws loose this one, but chooms chromed the fuck up!), in NC 2 weeks.
Tina Wu – Asian, 22, Kabuki squatter from Vegas (possibly running from debt the gonk), in NC 2 months.
Zain Vargas – Caucasian, 23, Nomad? Likely Red Ochre (all those fuckers died out, need to verify), in NC 1 month.
Jerome Clayton – Black, 18, Six Street put a hit on him, in NC 3 weeks.
-----
From: Peter Upmann
To: Jae-Hyun
Boss,
Got a problem. A couple of the marks slipped through:
Zain Vargas – this one was the worst. Boys jumped him in an alley. Choom killed 3 of the 5.
Raul Ortega overdosed on Baloperidol
Elena Rubikov gonk jumped straight into traffic. suicide me thinks.
Petrova says she's out. Shaken up from the shit show with the Red Ochre choom. Says she's going to Canada.
What's the call? What are we telling the client?
-----
Subject: RE: Slipped Through
From: Jae-Hyun
To: Peter Upmann
Zain goes on the kill list. No need to waste time tracking him, but if anyone stumbles across the choom, put a bullet in him.
As for Petrova, kill her. Who the fuck does she think she is? "Out"? There's no "out." Make sure she understands. I'll smooth things over with Shobo. Probably will sell him some of the gonks we had for simple extract and dump.]
Jesus Christ.
So, evidently, my assumptions about being put on a list for people to kidnap to force into porn were not completely off the mark. I was up there for Porn alright. I was merely off on the kind of Porn it would have been…..
And Petrova was probably dead….. and I was on a hit list now. Upgrades!
Jokes aside. I welcome them to come at me. I will be prepared. I was going to go on a preparation bender right after this. I will not be caught unawares. No sir!
Rebecca finally approached me, her pink-green eyes still faintly glowing as the call ended. She sauntered over, a curious grin already tugging at her lips.
"Hey," she said, crossing her arms. "How you holding up… you know, with all this? I gotta say…. That SMG of yours was absolutely nova! Never seen gonks like these just drop so easily like they did!"
I turned toward her, tapping the side of the laptop. "Oh, you know. Just found out I'm on a kill list. Positively ecstatic. Glowing with pride, even. So much so that I am certain I'm about to have an entire lineup of customers wanting to get a first-hand experience with the damn thing!"
She raised an eyebrow at me and leaned over, glancing at the laptop. "Ohhhh, I see," she said, her amusement growing as she read through the emails. "Congrats, Zain. First kill list, huh? This calls for a celebration. The Mox are on their way anyway—how about a couple of cold ones at Lizzie's to celebrate you making your first?"
I raised an eyebrow at her, not quite sharing her enthusiasm. "Tempting, tempting…. but I'll have to take a rain check tonight. I've got prep work to do, you see. Need to make sure I roll out the red carpet for the assholes trying to off me. Wouldn't want to give them an improper welcome, now would I?"
Rebecca sighed, clearly exasperated. "Chill out, choom. They're not even looking for you right now. It's no big deal. We're gunning for this Lee choom anyway, and Peter's too busy moaning somewhere back that-a-way." She waved vaguely toward the rest of the crew.
"Soon enough, Lee'll be dead, and no one's gonna care about some stupid list." She grinned again. "Trust me, I've been on so many hit lists I've lost count. Pretty sure the Valentinos wanted me dead the second I joined Maine's—" she stopped herself mid-sentence, her face flickering with something unreadable before she continued, "—David's crew. No, wait, scratch that. That was last week. Padre sorted it out for me."
She waved a hand dismissively. "You get the idea."
She wasn't wrong. I agreed with her, at least in part.
Jae-Hyun would be dead soon, and the Scavs' list would become a thing of the past.
The kill list was just a minor thing. If I kept going after people like Jotaro Shobo, I'd inevitably land on the Tyger Claws' hit list too.
Meh. Problems for later.
Celebrating this with Rebecca didn't seem like the worst idea. The Mox were already on their way, after all. A drink or two wouldn't kill me.
Wait, why the hell are the mox on the way?
I voiced my question aloud, unable to mask my confusion. "Wait, aren't the Mox a gang? I thought you were on a call with a fixer."
Rebecca looked at me for a moment, "I was," she said. "I called Regina. She gave me a line to Susie, the current boss of the Mox. Turns out, a couple of the people we rescued today are family of their boys and girls. The Mox take care of their own, even after the member's gone. They look out for the family too." She smirked. "The rest of the rescues? Just icing on the cake for Regina and Susie."
I blinked, turning her words over in my head. Regina was likely the local fixer in Watson. Another crime boss? For the Mox?
Huh.
I had always thought the Mox were just another gang in the endless lineup of NC's underworld. A name among many, vying for power, territory, and eddies.
But if what Rebecca was saying was true… then the Mox were something else entirely. More like a safety net for sex workers, prostitutes, and anyone involved in the industry.
Considering the way Night City operates, calling them a "gang" might even be selling them short. Rebecca's description made them sound more like a union. A sex-workers' union, and for Night City those might as well be gangs at this point….
Wait, does that mean the Valentino's are Hispanic rights activists? Or 6th Street the local Murica fundamentalists?
…. I don't think that's right…. I suppose I can take what Rebecca's saying at face value and go along from there.
The Mox ran a radio channel. They had a couple of other legitimate businesses to their name.
The newspapers barely mentioned them in any controversy unless you were really paying attention. And even then, they were clearly protecting sex workers from whatever bullshit the people of NC put them through for whatever.
For NC, that was practically glowing praise.
I nodded at Rebecca. "I suppose if what you're saying is true, then calling them was the right move."
She flashed me a quick smile, her eyes sparkling with genuine adoration. "Don't worry, choom. You'll like 'em. Rita's good people. Totally a choom."
We both began walking back towards the rest of the crew.
Ethan was still running through all the equipment, and vehicles the claws and scavs had showed up in. I believe Archie planned to sell it all to whoever. We had gotten no Cyberware for her to pawn off, as had been her plan to fund whatever was the next part of this whole shebang.
She was making do with whatever else she could salvage from this.
The forge churned to life again in the back of my mind, its quiet hum rising to a steady rhythm. I never quite understood why it decided to stir when it did. Sometimes it would remain dormant for an entire day, while other times it would blaze to life multiple times in rapid bursts, seemingly at random.
Another enigma of the eldritch overlord tethered to my soul. A mystery I was unlikely to solve anytime soon. Still, I welcomed the forge.
I quickly averted my gaze from Rebecca, feigning interest in something Ethan was doing. Last time, she'd seemed to notice something in my eyes when the forge had activated. She hadn't said anything—thankfully—but I wasn't eager to invite questions now.
In my mind's eye, the galaxy began to turn, stars twinkling faintly as constellations shifted into motion.
A cluster of stars revolved, slowly drawing closer to the core of my being. One star pulsed brightly, a vibrant golden light flaring out from it like the radiance of a miniature sun. Its warmth poured over me, seeping into the edges of my soul.
A newfound sense settled over me, like a piece of a puzzle I hadn't realized was missing suddenly clicking into place. It was strange; like I could look at any piece of tech, no matter how mangled or alien, and immediately know whether it still worked. I didn't need to think about it; the knowledge was just there as if it had always been part of me.
I could see how to use it, how to make it function. If something was broken, I could pull apart its guts, spot the pieces worth keeping, and maybe even Jerry-rig a temporary fix. Sure, it wouldn't last long, and whatever I patched up probably wouldn't be salvageable afterward.
But in a pinch? It could make the difference between life and death.
I glanced over at the vehicles Ethan was inspecting, their frames battered and scratched from the earlier skirmish.
My eyes lingered on a truck near the edge of the lot.
At a glance, I could tell the fuel injector was on the brink of failure, probably a hairline crack in the housing. A deeper look told me the cooling system wasn't cycling properly, either. The issue wasn't obvious; likely a clog in the CHOOH2 lines buried deep in the engine, but I just… knew.
I didn't need to take it apart to confirm it. I could see the faults, sense how they fit into the larger picture. The systems were like open books, each issue laid bare without the need for scans or diagnostics. If I got my hands on the tools, I could fix them, even patch up some of the bigger issues well enough to make them run again.
This wasn't just intuition. It felt like a skill honed over years, an instinct sharpened by practice I'd never had. My lips quirked into a faint smile. In a city like Night City, where half the tech lying around had been left for dead, and still was some of the most cutting edge…. this was going to be useful.
Very useful.
We reached Archie and the others just as Yoko turned to me. "Find anything relevant in the laptop?"
I shrugged. "Not to finding Jae-Hyun, no. But I did find out the Scavs want me dead." I smirked faintly. "Though, to be fair, that's not surprising. I imagine they'd want me dead after tonight either way."
Archie gave a single nod. "Figures. Well, we're about done here, too."
Rebecca chimed in, her tone light as she spoke. "I called Regina earlier. A few of the Mox are on their way to take these people off our hands. When I was on the holo with 'em, they said they were a couple minutes out."
Archie let out a sigh of relief. "Good. I was worried about how we were going to handle this mess. That's one less thing to deal with." She looked around, her gaze hardening. "I would rather we not get distracted now."
No sooner had she said it than the sound of heavy engines rumbled toward the courtyard. Three large trucks, their sides scuffed and dented, rumbled in first. Behind them, neon pink and green vans and a handful of bikes followed, their glossy paint catching the dim light.
All of these trucks needed an oil change, had issues with the slip disks and brake pads – probably from overuse and rough braking and also needed to get their bodywork handled to patch out the dents.
Archie stiffened instinctively, her hands cycling through their respective implants as she eyed the convoy. But as the vehicles rolled to a stop, she forced herself to relax when she noticed the signature markings of the Mox.
Ethan jogged over from where he'd been working on the scav vehicles. "They're all clean," he said, slightly out of breath. "Got rid of the trackers with a signal jammer. They're isolated now."
From the newly arrived vehicles, at least a dozen men and women spilled out. They moved with an air of swagger, their cyberware gleaming under the sparse light. Each had their own style, courtesy of their shiny chrome implants. Spiked jackets, neon hair, tattoos, and brightly colored cybernetics seemed to be their trademarks.
A woman with striking purple pigtails stepped forward, her chrome torso gleaming under a plastic finish. The word MOXES was tattooed in bold lettering across her chest. She carried a spiked baseball bat in one hand, the pink and blue cybernetics of her arm making it look almost delicate despite its brutality.
Her wide grin widened further when she spotted Rebecca. "Hey there, doll face! Heard you were looking to run solo from your crew, didn't think you'd be joining another one. Whatever will your old chooms? Big fuckin' bust you've had here!" she said, her voice rich with amusement. "Tell me what's happened—and why the hell's friggin' ice all over the place everywhere?"
Rebecca's expression brightened at the greeting, and she waved excitedly at the woman. "Rita! Forget about my crew! I didn't leave 'em. You need to meet this new choom of mine!"
Before I could protest, Rebecca grabbed my hand in her massive gorilla arms and practically yanked me forward. "This is Zain! He's the one who caused all this ice. His friggin' gun is next-level nova. You've got to see it!"
"Oi! Slow down! Becca! Dammit!" I protested in vain.
She turned toward me, her grin impossibly wide. "Zain, this is my choom, Rita Wheeler. She's a Mox, if you didn't notice already, and she's also the most preem party girl in town, no questions asked!"
Rita laughed at Rebecca's enthusiasm, her cybernetic hand resting lightly on the handle of her spiked bat. "Calm down, small bean."
Rebecca pouted, crossing her arms.
"I'm not as preem as you're making me out to be," Rita continued with a smirk. "'Sides, we've got biz to take care of."
Rebecca huffed but nodded. "Alright, alright." She took a moment to compose herself before launching into an explanation.
As Rebecca spoke, the rest of the Moxes moved toward the people huddled around the dumpster fires. They checked biomonitors and examined injuries, a few of them moving quickly to stabilize the most critical cases.
Rita listened intently, nodding along as Rebecca finished. She glanced over at the rescued victims and then back to Rebecca. "Quite the gig you landed for your venture back as solo. This is a fair big number, and with such interesting little finds too. Jotaro Shobo…" She whistled softly. "I must say, Becca, you've got a talent for finding rare people. We've been searching for Shobo for over a year now. A bust like this will definitely hurt him where it matters most."
Her gaze shifted to me, her neon-purple eyes scanning me up and down. "And there's this new choom of yours, Zain."
I felt her scrutinizing me, her sharp gaze lingering a moment before a sly grin tugged at her lips. "Ice rounds… Tell me, input—how much would you want to sell some of that tech our way? Completely disabling cyberware with each round…. Susie's sure to cough up stacks of dough for shit like that."
Her tone was casual, but the look in her eyes carried a weight that told me she wasn't entirely joking. There was a keen edge to her, a mix of curiosity and shrewd calculation.
This…. was an opportunity. One that Rebecca had essentially thrown at my feet. I had wanted to start a business anyway. But did I want to start a business selling guns? Supplying arms to …. Whoever showed up to buy from me?
Well…. no.
I did not want to somehow make the already devastating crime rates in the city worse than it already was….
Guns were already devastating enough as they are. The guns I can build are capable of damage on a completely indiscriminate devastating level.
I mean, eventually, the mega corps are going to be gunning for me if I can churn out weaponry on a scale far deadlier than this. I was certain they would be able to replicate my Ice Bullets after significant examination, testing, and whatever else. CETN-3 was a chemical compound after all…
A chemical compound that I could synthesize purely because I had a bullshit matter generator in my lab….. they would probably take a while before they replicated any of this.
Could I patent the tech? That required knowledge of synthesis, I think. The actual chemical process for synthesis which does not rely on my matter synthesizer. So that's a no-go for now.
At the same time…. I had no issues arming people with such weaponry if they truly were to be used in defense of people, or with people I cared about. I had no issues arming Archie, and my crew. Even Rebecca was a friend, that did not extend to the moxes.
Though…. If Rebecca endorsed these guys, and they were a glorified sex-workers union…. That changed a lot of things entirely. Even then, did I agree with all the things they were doing? Should I be empowering them with power of that kind?
This required more thought. I was somewhat annoyed with Rebecca for putting me on the spot for this.
I crossed my arms, thinking for a moment before responding. "I'm not looking to sell this yet," I said, keeping my tone measured. "Besides, I don't even have the means to mass produce any of it."
Around us, the other Moxes had begun loading the rescued people onto their trucks, moving with quick efficiency. Rita didn't seem fazed by my hesitation. Instead, she tilted her head, considering her response.
"The Mox can provide whatever you need to make this shit on a larger scale," she said after a pause. "Shit, we'll even give you protection if you need it—from whatever gonk-brained corp comes sniffing around for your tech. And trust me, they'll be coming. I'm just being nice here. After tonight, people are gonna talk. They'll want to know what caused all this ice to show up."
She wasn't wrong.
The people we'd rescued would undoubtedly spread the word of what happened tonight, and curiosity from the wrong parties was inevitable. The offer for protection was tempting, especially given the prospect of corpos taking an interest in me.
I had never thought I would have to face the very real possibility of getting kidnapped…. Apart from the scavs' entire shtick. And even then, that had come out of the left field for me.
I glanced over at Ethan, the closest thing to a lawyer we had. He gave me a casual shrug, a small smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. "Hey, I was gonna ask you to build me one anyway. The offer's good, but if you really want my suggestion? Check all your options first."
Sound advice, that.
I don't even think supplying weaponry is the kind of business I want to run anyway.
I didn't even know how much I'd charge for these rounds—or for any of my weaponry, for that matter. My lab gave me a nigh-infinite supply of ammo, but what did that entail in terms of pricing? All I would be charging for would be the price of using my synthesizer, and the labor for lacing the bullets with the compound in question.
Hell, did I even want to sell these things? There was an opportunity to make money here, but money had effectively become a non-issue a day ago, logistical issues aside. Moral concerns amounted to the effect such bullets have on the world around me, and I don't think I want that on my soul.
Not selling these delays their production by other corps for a significant time. They'll be coming for me soon enough for these, if not anything else either way.
For that at least, the Mox' offer of protection sounded good to an extent. However, the practicality of how well they could protect me against corps was seriously in question. A gang cannot take on a military and expect to win after all.
I glanced at Rebecca. She was looking at me expectantly, practically vibrating with anticipation. She didn't need to say it, I already knew she'd be asking for a gun of her own. I didn't mind arming her; she'd gone above and beyond for me tonight. Still, I couldn't shake my annoyance at her for putting me on the spot like this.
Next, I turned to Archie and Yoko. Archie leaned back slightly, her mechanical cybernetic arms glinting faintly as she folded her arms. "It's a good offer," she said plainly. "But hey, if you don't want to go with the Mox, I could set up something with the Valentinos. There are options."
The Moxes finished loading the last of the rescued people into their trucks as I turned to Yoko. She raised an eyebrow at me, clearly caught off guard. "You're asking me too?"
"Well, yeah," I said. "You're part of the crew, after all."
She blinked at that, her glowing eyes flickering faintly before she shook her head. "It's up to you. If it were me, I'd take the opportunity. Biz is biz, after all. I want an SMG of my own by the way."
Well, that was certainly pragmatic.
And showed that my weapons would certainly be in demand too. If the eagerness with which they were asking me to make a few was any indication.
Finally, I turned back to Rita, her purple eyes watching me closely. I let out a slow breath. "Well, you heard them. I don't know if I'll actually be selling these or what my other options even are."
Rita shook her head slightly, a small grin tugging at her lips. "Tell ya what," she said, her eyes glowing briefly as she tilted her head. "I'm zipping you my contact info. Reach out if you change your mind. The Mox takes care of our own, and you'll appreciate our hospitality if you decide to work with us. Trust me."
Right….
At this point, all I wanted really was to head on home and think with a calmer head. I was angry at the scavs, at Jotaro Shobo, at Night City, at Jae-Hyun.
I had been put on the spot for this and was annoyed at Rebecca for this. She was a blunt person, and I can see that she's just jumping the gun at an inevitability. She is also giving me possible options to manage the fallout from all this better…..
Rita nodded toward her crew, who had efficiently loaded the last of the rescued people onto the trucks. "Alright, my chooms have everyone on board," she said, her gaze shifting back to me. "Think on my offer, input. I meant what I said, reach out if you change your mind."
"I will," I replied, keeping my tone even. "If I do, the Mox will be the first I reach out to."
With a final nod, Rita turned and walked back to the convoy, her spiked bat resting on her shoulder.
Rebecca shifted beside me, glancing my way with an apologetic look. "Hey, I'm sorry for putting you on the spot," she said, her voice softer than usual. "But I saw an opportunity to help out both of my friends, and I took it. The Mox could really use that kind of firepower these days…"
I let out a quiet sigh, still annoyed at her for throwing me into this situation, but I couldn't ignore what she'd done.
"….I didn't appreciate how you went about it, Becca," I told her finally. "A heads up, or a couple days for me to think would have been neat."
Rebecca nodded, her eyes dimming slightly. "…you're right. I'm sorry, Zain. But… this kind of thing's gonna get out anyway. I figured it was better to just rip the bandaid off now rather than let it blindside you later. This way I wanted to help both my friends…"
She wasn't wrong—it was an opportunity, and she had gone out of her way to give me options. For that, I was grateful. Even if I wasn't thrilled about how she'd gone about it.
Archie broke the moment with a sharp tone. "Alright, now that that's taken care of…" She jabbed a foot into Peter's side, eliciting a weak groan from the man sprawled on the ground. "We need to head out and get a deep dive set up to run through this gonk's archives. No more wasting time."
Right.
Time to deal with Peter Upmann and get this over with. I glanced down at him, his half-delirious state almost pitiful, but the lingering rage at everything tonight pushed away any sympathy.
Oh, joy of joys. Mind-reading a human trafficker.
I let out another sigh and shook my head, glancing at the others. "Let's get this done with..."
Despite everything, all I could think about was getting back home. Back to my lab, where I could think with a clearer head. Away from the chaos of Night City, away from the noise, away from the endless barrage of complications.
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(A/N)
A lot to cover here.
Rebecca made a faux pas, because of her blunt approach to things. She doesn't do beating around the bush.
In her mind, she's helping Zain. Which in a way, she is. Zain just has moral hang ups to deal with, and figure out if selling weapons is really something he wants to do.
NOTE: There was an error in calculation of CPs last chapter. Zain had ended with 350, not 550.
Rolls this chapter:
Domain: Quality: Resources
Scavenger (Generic Space Opera) (600CP)
You have an excellent intuition when it comes to finding and salvaging still functional technology. You can see at a glance if a device is still functional and have a general intuition on how to use it and what the effects would be. You also have the uncanny ability to pick out still functional components of unknown tech and can kludge together temporary fixes of technology vastly beyond your understanding, though those will break down and make said technology unrecoverable after a while.
Zain opened with 350 CPs and earned 250 by the time of roll. Used all and has 0 in reserve.