new 5

David Martinez 

"I should probably take a break." He thought as he leaned back from the terminal he was working on, "Maybe take a ride on that bike Falco hooked me up with, maybe max out my Driving skill?" While a nice thought, he didn't actually know what the skill cap for his skills even was! 

David really didn't want to pay to refill the tank three or four times, even if he had the eddies for it. 

Well you do have that Treasure hunting quest. 

"I actually forgot about that." David thought as he scratched his cheek, "I think I could make Kiwi's rebreather-vent thing from memory…" Given how high his Crafting was he could probably make it a lot better. 

Pushing himself away from the terminal he got up and made his way to his workshop, Butterbean following after him curiously. 

Stepping into his room and picking Butterbean up and placing him in a little bed David made for him to watch, he took a seat and started to collect his tools and pull out the components he'd need from his Inventory. 

"So how overengineered do you think I'm going to make this, Bean?" David asked the cat curiously, who just meowed in return, "Yeah you're probably right. Probably painfully over the top. Think it'll look cool though?" 

"Purr!" 

David just chuckled and scratched Butterbean behind the ears, "You always got my back don't you, cutie?" He said with a smile, "Kinda wish I could understand you." 

Fairly sure there's a perk somewhere for that… 

"... I'll consider it later." David thought before he focused on the task at hand, "Come on level 15 Crafting show me what you got!" 

 David Martinez 

The Municipal Landfill is the single largest landfill in Night City, spread out mostly through Red Peaks and a portion of Rocky Ridge. It's only been growing since it was originally started because the laws of Night City are stupid and convoluted in the extreme. 

Sitting on his bike looking towards the Landfill, David pondered how to best approach this. Due to the asinine laws involved, salvaging anything from the landfill is illegal, and it's probably one of the few things that will get the N.C.P.D. to get off their ass and move. Can't have the with-outs trying to salvage to make some eddies, after all the landfill and all trash within belong to the city which in turn belongs to the Corporations. 

It's a vicious cycle. 

"Hmm, I can't really fry the security, cause that'd just make them move faster. So, stealth it is." David thought as he put on his rebreather (which was more of a full gas mask but with all sorts of nifty utility), "Oh this is good, I'm going to have to harden this and make it a regular piece of my kit!" 

It was nice to find a use for all those targeting mods he'd been collecting, it certainly saved him from having to visit Vik to have the cyberware mods installed. Now if only he could find a goddam fucking smart gun already! 

After a few seconds, the visors lens polarized, becoming a solid black from the outside, though David could still see perfectly fine from the inside. Getting back on his bike, he resumed driving to the landfill. 

Driving skill up x7 

Cleaning skill $#*(&*(@# 

I should've expected that. Should've disabled the Hoover function before you left. 

It was only through sheer bullheaded stubbornness and pure willpower that allowed David to keep from collapsing as the [SYSTEM] itself glitched. It was a truly hellish feeling, as if he'd gotten bloated from hammering down a dozen XXL burritos! Groaning, David started to look around, but quickly decided to wait for the [SYSTEM] to calm down before even attempting to scrap anything. 

"The fuck happened anyway?" David thought as he waited for the feeling to subside. Only after close to 10 minutes passed without anymore rumbling, aches rocked him did he decide to risk looking around. 

The combination of the 'hoover' function and auto-scrapping junk grants a miniscule amount of XP for the Cleaning Skill. You've never noticed any growth because the amount barely registers. However, entering zones like a landfill… Well, I'm sure you understand where I'm going? 

David nodded absentmindedly as he opened the trunk of a surprisingly intact car, "Looks like it's a Nomad model…" Closing the trunk, he went and opened the hood, "Never mind, stripped to hell." He could probably find replacements for the stripped elements, but where the hell would he even take it? 

Sure, there was the warehouse in the badlands the crew had, but how would he even get it there? 

Grumbling, David walked off and resumed looking around. There HAD to be something interesting here! Why would he get a freaking Treasure Hunt quest that singled this place out in the first place?? Eventually, he found himself looking at what might've been a Saka AV if the emblem was any indicator. The thing looked like it went through a war zone, one of the thrusters seemed to have been blown away, and the entire side was peppered from what looked to be constant HMG fire. 

"Huh, let's see if this is hiding anything…" He couldn't move it, so he had to scrap it. 

With a blink, the scrapping mechanic triggered, and a faint overlay fell over everything he could see, due to his recent perks everything registered as scrapable. Organic and inorganic alike, honestly, he dreaded looking in his Inventory to see just how much components and bio-sludge he'd already amassed! Looking at the AV, he blinked again, causing it to blink out of existence. What surprised him however was what looked like a hatch under it! 

"Huh, cool. But what's this doing here?" He wondered as he opened the hatch and climbed down, "So glad this Visor has night vision mode." He thought as it automatically switched over. 

Pulling out a modded Sagata shotgun from his inventory, David stepped into the darkness. 

"Why is there a bunker under a landfill? Which was here first? The landfill or the bunker?" While the entryway was cramped, the entrance into the bunker proper was far more open. 

There were no lights however the NV allowed him to see clearly, though the green filter was annoying, and he could tell the place hadn't seen any recent habitation. CGI had already engaged his hoover function, so with every step, he could see trash and junk being scooped up and scrapped. Thankfully, that bloated sensation had long disappeared and didn't seem to be making a comeback since he wasn't driving through a Junkyard with his auto-hover and scrapping on. 

Though, despite the occasional bit of trash and junk? The place looked amazingly intact, probably because the entrance had been hidden for… decades at the very least? Shaking his head, David found himself at another bulkhead door. Grabbing the door handles and straining to pull the old, rusted doors open, David finally succeeded. Wincing as the metal groaned in protest after possibly decades of disuse, he shook off the flakes of rust and dust that had fallen on him. 

Stepping through, he found himself in… what looked like a Netrunner den! The walls were covered in blank monitors, and David was fairly sure that he spotted a medical station with monitoring equipment. As well as what must've been a very nice massage chair years ago. However, that wasn't all, David spotted various faded posters dotted throughout the building along with the emblem of a Spider on the ceiling. 

"Huh." David muttered as he looked around and found a single switch. Putting the shotgun back into his Inventory and giving it a flip, he heard buzzing before the lights flickered on, and the monitors came to life and were filled with static. 

Turning off the NV, he started looking around again before finding a gun. Hefting the gun, David started examining it for a few moments before putting it in his inventory, he could look over it at home. 

"Hello there…" David muttered as he opened a drawer and pulled out what looked to be a heavily customized cyberdeck with an arm unit! 

Definitely putting that in his Inventory, he looked around for a few more minutes. Even stepping out of the Netrunner den and seeing if there were any other rooms. Which there was, a bathroom that had severely been neglected in the passing years and what looked like a small bedroom for a woman, if the bras were any indication. 

Well, a woman or trans. Could be either, really. 

However, he did find a well-worn copy of Rache Bartmoss' Guide to the Net in the small bedroom, which he put in his inventory to read later. 

"Hmm, wonder what's in memory?" David muttered thoughtfully as he made his way back to the Netrunner den and went over to what looked like a terminal. After a few seconds, he managed to boot it up and after some fiddling, he managed to open a browser and started browsing. 

"Why are there so many cat videos, memes, and porn?" David muttered, "I… have no idea what this is, honestly." 

Shutting everything down, David started unplugging everything and putting it all in his inventory, all the while ignoring CGI's silent judgment. He even started taking the various other monitors and anything else remotely used for Netrunning until all that was left was a very old massage chair. 

"... I'm still a teenager, dammit!" David exclaimed. 

A teenager with three outputs, one of which is living with you that you're regularly intimate with… 

"... Shut up…" David muttered maturely as he decided to leave the bunker and head back up to the landfill, "I'll give this place one last look before I leave, I'll come back again sometime if the quest doesn't finish." He decided. 

On the way back to his bike, David spotted an old Frederator and decided to open it. Honestly? He figured why not, it was nice to be able to do things on a whim, and the worst he could find was moldy some body parts. Yet, when he opened it, David paused as he stared in shock. Not quite believing he was kind of right. Looking into the open fridge, he found himself staring at the partially frozen and slowly rotting form of the most infamous Netrunner in history. 

Rache Bartmoss, the one that destroyed the Old Net and cause the DataKrash. 

All David really knew about the guy was that he was a wizard in Netrunning circles, his skills were still talked about to this day in fact. Creator of the Demon and Hound series of programs. Arasaka did their best to make the guy seem like a minor nuisance at best, but they failed. 

All you had to do was look at Netwatch, and you'd know this man hurt the Corporations, and hurt them badly. Granted, he was also kind of the one who fucked the world over as well. But, well, shit happens. 

What was David to do with this legend before him? 

… He looted him of his Cyberdeck, any valuable the man had on him, stripped him of his Netrunner suit. Then for good measure proceeded to scrap his body as well as the refrigerating unit he was in, before David continued on to his bike. 

A worthy fate for the legacy Rache left behind, after all, shit happens. 

Getting back on his bike and firing the engine up, David took off from the Landfill and made his way back home. 

 Kid! Where the hell are you!? 

 On my way home, actually, something wrong Maine? 

 Bunch of Maelstrom gonks got the drop on Becca and abducted her. We're getting together to work out a game plan. Get your ass to Turbos! 

Quest ping! Massacre the Maelstrom- The Chrome Cultist poked the wrong dragon! Make them regret this! Bonus Objective: Kill the entire gang of thirty (30) gonks with extreme prejudice! Rewards: +5 Body, +5 Tech, 1500 exp Bonus Rewards: The Operator schematics, Silence and Damnation schematics, [Random Title] 

 Kiwi 

The entire meeting Kiwi kept her peace, as is her way, but she did however keep an eye on Da- the kid. She wasn't watching him because of her mission from that chrome-sucking Faraday, but because it was a natural inclination on her part. While she preferred the soothing dataflows of the Net, she did enjoy observing people in their 'natural habitat' so to say. It was one of the reasons she was such a successful lookout and Runner. 

She already knew that the kid had issues, not that he was special in that regard as this city had a habit of traumatizing anyone and everyone, but what did interest her is how the trauma he had gone through shaped the kid into the… thing she had seen back on that mission. She was no stranger to seeing people go on sprees, but seeing a lone gonk going all cyber-ninja? That is strange, and after further observation, Kiwi came to the realization that the kid had issues that the rest of the crew were either ignoring or simply didn't notice. 

The compulsive collecting, tinkering, Fucking Cleaning all suggested moderate to extreme OCD. Frankly benign and honestly hardly the worst thing, granted if his collecting turned to hoarding that may be a problem but so far it seemed that everything he collected was either broken down or repurposed. PTSD from what happened with his mom, possibly exacerbated by getting his spine replaced while he was still a-fucking-wake! 

"Why was Becca taken?" David asked. 

"It's business as usual, choom." Maine answered, "Maelstrom does stuff like this on occasion for some quick eddies. And if they don't do it well…" He just shrugged. 

*twitch* 

Kiwi wasn't sure if anyone caught it, maybe Lucy, but she certainly did. And while she wasn't as close to him as Lucy or Rebecca, Kiwi knew that David was going to do something drastic. He clearly didn't give a shit about rocking the boat, the only thing he cared for was Becca, Lucy, and… herself. The extreme levels of care and devotion he showers on them, suggest a deep level of obsession and some form of dependence. 

"Ah… is it getting hot?" David asked as he started tugging at his shirt before shrugging off his jacket. 

"D? You, okay?" Pillar asked as he reached over only to yank his hand back, "Christ choom! You're roasting!" 

Lucy leaned forward clearly worried, and David just took off his shirt revealing rivulets of sweat rolling down his surprisingly chiseled physique. But what primarily caught Kiwi's eye was the LEDs on the Sandy. 

They were burning red. 

"Where are we meeting them?" David asked, "Let's get this over with already." 

With that David got up and after getting his shirt and jacket he quickly left Turbos. 

"... You know he's going to kill everyone right?" Kiwi asked, getting a look from everyone. 

"Wasn't we going to do that anyway?" Pilar asked, though he wasn't showing it Kiwi knew he was furious and blood-hungry. 

Asshole he maybe but no one ever doubted how much he loved his sister; the gonk had killed people that tried to get too fresh with his sister! 

"Yeah, but the kid has the Sandy." Dorio pointed out, Kiwi nodded and added with a thoughtful tone "And… I'm not sure how stable he is. Wonder how he sees the world?" She added, sounding rather sad at the end. 

"People he likes, People he's devoted to, and Dead Gonks Walking." Kiwi said without a single trace of humor in her voice. 

The ride to the meeting place was tense, or so Kiwi assumed. She, like Da- the kid, decided to ride their bikes. Following Maine's car silently. Every so often Kiwi would glance over to the kid just to check on him, her optics allowing her to see him in rather sharp detail despite the distance and speeds they were driving. 

"He's controlled, too controlled. He's not showing any signs of aggression or losing it, but his eyes betray him." Kiwi thought, "He's taking Becca's abduction personally, I wonder… would he…? No, stop it. Things between Faraday and I are personal, he doesn't need to get involved." 

Thankfully, they got a shot from another Fixer out in Watson, so at least now they didn't have to wait on that four-eyed fucker to give them a job. They didn't involve David on the job because he was busy working on some guns for some big shot solo, and the guy paid for the preem treatment so David couldn't really take a break to run a job. 

While she and Da- the kid had a thing going on it wasn't like with Lucy or Becca. Sure, the guy helped her out a lot and helped her with anything she asked, and even fixed her mask and cleaned the filter, but it didn't mean she trusted him. He was just a big softy and that'll get him eaten alive in this city! Everyone betrayed each other in this city, in the end. 

"But… it wouldn't hurt to talk to him more. Yeah, yeah… just to get more information on him. That's all…" 

Shaking her head, she focused on the street. Wondering what exactly was going through David's head at the moment. 

 Hey, Kiwi? 

 Yeah, what do you want kid? 

 After this I was wondering if you could help me with something. I found an old Netrunner den, and I scavenged a lot of preem stuff, and I need some help setting everything up. Hmm, should probably check the terminal for any traps now that I think about it. You think you and Lucy would mind helping me out? 

 ... Sure kid. Now, how badly are you going to fuck these gonks up? And don't bother denying it. 

 Well, the Sandy is going to get a very good workout. 

The call ended before Kiwi could ask what David meant by that. 

 David Martinez 

They arrived at the meet-up and were met by a group of gonks with absolutely obscene amounts of cyberware, David, of course, already knew that Maelstrom practically worshiped chrome. They saw Cyberpsychosis as some sort of 'ascension' or whatever but seeing people with multiple optics not even vaguely designed as eyes was disgusting. He was pretty sure he saw one gonk with an LCD monitor replacing his entire face! 

"God, my chrome addiction was fucking benign compared to these fuckers." Again, he knew this already, but still. Knowing about these borged out fuckers with their inhumane amounts of chrome was one thing but seeing the freakshows in person again was another thing entirely! There were also more of them then there were last time, a few he recognized as former Rippers and a lot more with the same ascetic as the now defunct gang. 

The Rippers being a minor poser gang that were too similar to the Scavs for their own good. Honestly they weren't even on the level of notoriety as the Trekkies or Kennedys! 

It seemed he missed the chaff of the Rippers since they weren't part of the Ripper Gang anymore. On top of that, he thought he misremembered how chromed this group was at first when he heard of them again, but no. In fact, it might have been worse than he remembered. Maybe that had something to do with his stint as the Boogeyman, making these guys desperate and scared enough to go further than they would've otherwise. He hadn't even been targeting this group, but he supposed rumors of his brutality and methods might've had more of an impact than he thought. 

Was the entire gang like this? Or did he just have the shit luck of running into the deranged ones? 

User David the [SYSTEM] has detected an extensive surveillance system. 

"... Can my hoover combined with auto scrap deal with them?" 

Yes. 

David tried to relax as much as he could as they were all led into what must've been a RealMeats factory once. Glancing around he spotted dozens of dead gonks walking, but after a short trip, they were led into a room with the 'leader' of the gang… along with a fridge. 

"Heh, pity. Kinda wished you weren't invested." The leader jeered, "Shortie here as some nice chrome. Anyway, pay up and she's yours, a little worn but nothing a visit to a ripper won't fix!" He added with an ugly laugh as the fridge was opened and David quickly looked her over without moving. 

Her mouth was taped but that didn't bother David, the faint scratches and bruises upset him faintly, however, what made him start seeing red? 

Her hands, or rather her lack of them. 

David's optics glitched faintly, and the only one to even notice was Rebecca if her own eyes widening was any indicator. 

Knowing the rest of the crew was about to start firing David looked around quickly, his eyes still faintly glitching before he looked at the leader straight in his optics. 

"Whatcha want meat sack?" He asked with a scoff. 

"... I want to know what color you bleed." David said as his Scratchers slid from his hand with a click, and he lunged forward faster than anyone could react. 

Just as the first shots were fired from Maine's gun David's clawed hand swung up and easily pierced the leader's jaw and before he could do more than scream David ripped his lower jaw off before slashing out carving out trenches out of the other gonks face. 

Ignoring the blood covering his face and chest he quickly grabbed Rebecca and used the Sandy to quickly relocate behind cover and sat his Gun Gremlin down. All within the space of a second. 

Removing her gag David looked at her, "I'll be back." He said before his Sandy triggered again and the world froze. 

Already feeling the implant heating up and his body creaking with the strain, he grabbed the kukri strapped to his leg with his organic hand and started running. Turning into a whirling dervish of bloodshed as he killed everything that wasn't a part of his crew. His hoovering destroyed all surveillance systems he came across as he focused on one thing. 

Killing 

KillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKill! 

The [SYSTEM] dinged but it wasn't important. 

They tried to take his Rebecca! He wouldn't let them! No! No one is going to take his loved ones again! 

*̸̲͉̋́͛͌̔̒̌̇̿̐̾̕͜ĝ̶̨͓̗͕̱̂̊͌̽͠l̶̨̹̘̼̤̍͋̂i̴̖̜͙͙̩̗̱̖͓̋̔͗̚͠ţ̸̗̝̇̋̑̊̓c̸̰̥̜̰̽͆̌h̴̡̜̖̭̣͔̀̓̀̎͛͊͒͗̅̊̊̉̆̂*̴̢̜͚̠͙̘͙͓̫̗́̒̀͛̓͌̄͐̽̅̈̕̚̕͠ͅ 

The Animals took his mom! 

*̸̲͉̋́͛͌̔̒̌̇̿̐̾̕͜ĝ̶̨͓̗͕̱̂̊͌̽͠l̶̨̹̘̼̤̍͋̂i̴̖̜͙͙̩̗̱̖͓̋̔͗̚͠ţ̸̗̝̇̋̑̊̓c̸̰̥̜̰̽͆̌h̴̡̜̖̭̣͔̀̓̀̎͛͊͒͗̅̊̊̉̆̂*̴̢̜͚̠͙̘͙͓̫̗́̒̀͛̓͌̄͐̽̅̈̕̚̕͠ͅ 

The Maelstrom tried to take his Rebecca! 

*̸̲͉̋́͛͌̔̒̌̇̿̐̾̕͜ĝ̶̨͓̗͕̱̂̊͌̽͠l̶̨̹̘̼̤̍͋̂i̴̖̜͙͙̩̗̱̖͓̋̔͗̚͠ţ̸̗̝̇̋̑̊̓c̸̰̥̜̰̽͆̌h̴̡̜̖̭̣͔̀̓̀̎͛͊͒͗̅̊̊̉̆̂*̴̢̜͚̠͙̘͙͓̫̗́̒̀͛̓͌̄͐̽̅̈̕̚̕͠ͅ 

The fucking Arasaka tried to take his Lucy!! 

Overclock mode disengaged, User David they are all dead. 

David didn't hear CGI as he collapsed onto his knees breathing heavily, every muscle in his body screaming in agony even as his muscles spasmed from overusing his Sandy. At this point in time his body could withstand nine to fourteen uses before his body began breaking, and he'd just blown past the thirtieth time. 

He was sweating like he ran a marathon under the Badlands sun during high noon! It wasn't like he had to use the Sandy so many times either, especially in succession, he could've cleared the entire base with four to five uses if he was conservative and thinking straight. Especially with his augmented affinity for Cyberware. The problem was that…he wasn't thinking straight…he wasn't thinking of anything at all, except that they wouldn't take his family from him again. 

User David focus on your breathing, your heart rate is spiking. Pinging Kitty Kiwi and Luna Lucy. 

 Lucy 

 This is Experimental Direct Neuralink Apparatus or EDNA if you prefer, User David requires assistance. Please provide aid, his heart rate is dangerously high, and his entire body is under strain. The structural integrity of his cyber hand has failed, this unit's Sandevistan requires maintenance, and User David is dangerously dehydrated. 

Part of her wanted to ignore the message from the unknown contact until it mentioned David, then she was on alert. Part of her wanted to overthink what the message said that it was an exaggeration, David could be a gonk at times, but he wasn't that bad. But then again David was pretty devoted to Becca, and seeing her hands stripped would probably make him do something rash. 

A person in complete control doesn't skip straight to ripping a man's jaw off before carving canyons into another's face after all! 

"I'm going to find David." Lucy said with Kiwi nodding as well. 

"Becca is just outside the room." Kiwi said, "The others can take care of her. Let's find the kid." 

Lucy nodded and the two Netrunners quickly left. 

"Well… finding David will be easy…" Lucy said quietly, her eyes widening in surprise, "Just… follow the trail…" 

Kiwi just nodded. 

 Maine, bring the car around! David's in bad shape. We need a Ripper! 

 Dorio, help us with David please! 

 Pilar! Don't be a gonk and keep an eye out! 

 Becca, don't do anything stupid! 

After firing off those messages Lucy knelt down beside David, ignoring the dozens of bodies surrounding him. All ripped apart, like a psychotic cyber ninja with mantis blades came whirling in. Without even jacking into his BIOMON Lucy could tell David was in a bad way. His muscles were all twitching and spasming even as he focused on breathing and the Sandy was hot to the touch! The seams where flesh and metal met were blistering due to the heat, she could only imagine what it looked like on the inside! 

"You better not die on me gonk!" Lucy whispered harshly, "You promised me!" 

 David Martinez 

SYSTEM errors corrected 

[Cleaning] Skill MAX 

Two Titles unlocked 

The Butcher [Blade skill gains increase by %50] 

The Recycler [Components gains increased by %50] 

Quest complete! 

Calculating User damage 

… Calculations complete 

Estimated recovery time… five (5) days 

The Operator, Silence, and Damnation schematics unlocked 

Warning Damnation requires twenty (20) Body minimum to use to the fullest potential 

Nervous System Damaged 

Calculating… 

Estimated recovery time three (3) days 

Does User David wish to claim the Spider Den? 

"Those… those are words. Spider Den?" 

Does User David wish to claim the Spider Den? 

Y/N 

The Spider Den is the name of the bunker you discovered, User David. You should officially claim it to grant the [SYSTEM] access to it, allowing you access to the Base Building mechanic. As well as will prevent it from being discovered by anyone that you don't allow. 

"Base building? Then why can't I do that to my apartment? Or… I don't own it, that's the problem, isn't it?" 

Correct User David. The requirements to access the Base Building mechanic require the space to be either abandoned or you acquire the deed to the property/land. However, given scans of NC laws, the chances of you being able to acquire property through legal means are fairly minuscule. The Spider Den has been forgotten and abandoned by the previous owner and is thusly Free Real Estate for you to claim. 

"Cool. Yeah, I'll claim the Spider Den. Now I'm going to get some more sleep…" 

Sleep well User David, it will take six hours for the Spider Den to be claimed. 

 Afterlife 

(After David went on a rampage) 

Most of the crew were sitting in Afterlife in a booth for privacy; only Rebecca, Lucy, and Kiwi were missing. Not even Kiwi was a surprise, given how much the gonk had done for her. However, instead of celebrating a successful rescue as or anything that they'd prefer to be doing, the air surrounding them all was contemplative and somewhat awkward. There was also a sense of unease settling around them as they all considered what they had witnessed and the parallel with Maine. 

The level of homicidal rage David had unleashed towards the gonks that hurt Rebecca… Well, they all knew that David had issues, but… none of them ever imagined just how much the kid kept bottled up inside him. Everyone figured that after talking down Maine from Borging up and risking Cyberpsychosis, that David would take care to do the same. Maine especially felt conflicted, as everyone had seen the danger in him Borging up. Yet, the same symptoms David displayed were noted but brushed aside by everyone, even Maine himself. None of them were even sure if it was Cyberpsychosis or another type of mental break, David had so little chrome that there was doubt about the cause. He, out of their entire group, should've known better though either way. But, David was so confident and sure of himself that even he'd been fooled in the end. 

The silence continued for a few minutes longer until Maine gave a sigh, ending the awkward and tense silence. 

"Well, we already knew David had issues." That was a painful understatement in all honesty, "Though we've found out what triggers his issues, so that's good." Though he tried to look unfazed, Dorio and Pilar knew that the giant of a man found the level of carnage that David released unnerving. They both felt the same way. 

"Wah? So, he went psycho on a bunch of Chrome junkies? Who gives a shit!? He didn't so much as give any of us the side eye, despite that!" Pilar said hotly, possibly the only one that was unfazed, perhaps even approving of what happened, "Fuckers hurt my goddamn sister! They brought it on themselves!" 

Dorio raised her hands placatingly, deciding to play mediator between the two, "Pilar, chill. Maine isn't suggesting we drop David." She said calmly as she gave her Input a side eye, "If anything, we need to figure out what to do so this won't happen again. While he's apparently not dangerous to us," Dorio carefully left out the Yet," What if he fully burns himself out next time? I like the kid, but we can all agree he needs some kind of help. Putting aside what he did, you know what I saw? I saw a scared kid, terrified of losing someone he cared about as much as he did his mom. He overreacted, but I can hardly blame him for that." 

"Shit, you right." Pilar said, scratching his cheek, catching what Dorio didn't say. "Eh… I know this guy. Real Zen as fuck, used to be a Corpo life coach before he quit that life. Real legit, too, never talks about what he learns from his clients." Pilar would forever deny that he used to see the man about the trouble his parent's absence left in his and Rebecca's life. It was something he was glad she was too young to remember, he hated being vulnerable like, which was why he hadn't seen the man since he left with Rebecca, even if he still did keep in touch. 

"You got his contact?" Maine asked, "We can't let the kid fly off the handle like this again. If he needs help, he's gonna get it, whether he likes it or not. Especially since the brat did the same thing for me." 

That got a chuckle from Pilar and a faint smile from Dorio, which confused the giant man. 

"What? I say something amusing?" He asked with a huff. 

"Nah, you just sound like a dad right there." Pilar teased with a grin, "Should we all call you Daddy Maine and Mommy Dorio? You two have Big Parent Energy, after all!" He added before he let out a cackle of genuine amusement. 

Maine just grumbled and took a swig of his Broseph while Dorio just shook her head in amusement, glancing at Pilar with a faint smile. 

"You really like David." She commented, "You haven't been as manic as normal." 

"Eh, I finally have someone to talk tech with." Pilar shrugged, "And, he's been bouncing ideas off me and vice versa. I mean, I'll always be my loveable asshole self. That's who I am, but it's… nice, you know?" 

Dorio nodded with a chuckle, "You've been backing off the drugs too." She observed. 

Pilar just shrugged and looked at his drink thoughtfully, "Funny, when I heard Becca got herself an Input, I figured it'd just be another bang buddy, you know? The next thing I know, she's moving in with him and shit… kinda missed her shooting at me. Then I finally met the guy, and he impressed me." He paused to take a drink, "I ain't gonna lie, while I appreciate what he did back there, it scared the piss outta me. But goddammit, if he put a baby in my sister the next day, I would throw him the biggest party I could! But enough of this mopey shit! Dorio, how many gonks did you say D flatlined?" 

"Safe guess? Probably around one-hundred and fifty, give or take a few. Four-fifths of the guys there were former Rippers from the state of their chrome. If David hadn't gone psycho when he did, we would've had to fight our way out of a nasty ambush. While they were trash fighters, quantity has a quality all its own." Dorio said solemnly before she resumed her drinking. 

 Misty's Esoterica 

Rebecca sat in Misty's shop with a fresh pair of 'loaner hands' the Doc Vik had provided her with before running them out. Sitting to her right and left were Lucy and Kiwi. There was a tense silence between them all as they all processed what they had seen during that rescue mission. Kiwi herself had been the most affected, as she'd seen the scared kid that David kept hidden to the best of his abilities just before he lost it. 

Despite Kiwi's attempts to brush it off, the lingering notion that he would do the same thing for her wouldn't leave her alone. Kiwi knew from bitter experience that you couldn't trust anyone, but what she'd seen in David's eyes during that mission, was causing that conviction to wither. 'Why are those eyes so damn familiar? Why am I filled with such haunting regret at the thought of betraying him, Lucy, and even Rebecca? I told them not to trust anyone, especially me! Then, why can't I… Why can't I do it anymore, why do I know that I can't live with betraying them? How am I so certain, damn it!' Maybe she should talk to him about Faraday, Kiwi thought morosely. She personally saw him slaughter 150 gonks with her own eyes, and that was with him not thinking straight in the midst of an episode of Cyberpsychosis. If she couldn't live with betraying them, then her only choice was to betray Faraday. She didn't exactly have any problem with that. If David knew about Faraday, about his hold on her, maybe together they could rescue the one person she cared about more than anyone. 

Lucy was thinking about EDNA; who was it? Was it a sympathetic Runner? That was unlikely since Kiwi and Lucy herself scoped out the place beforehand and didn't spot the signs of another active Runner. A benign Rouge AI if there was such a thing? Was it some sort of experimental OS for the Sandevistan? She just didn't know, there just wasn't enough information. 

"Goddammit!" Somehow, no one was surprised at Rebecca's outburst, "Why the hell did Vik run us out!? We're just worried about the damn gonk!" 

"I'm no Medtech, but when I jacked into David's BIOMON… He's in bad shape." Lucy said, putting a hand on the shorter woman's shoulder, "He probably doesn't want any distractions. He's probably fitting the gonk with a Cyberspine, so he can run a full diagnostic on the Sandy." 

Kiwi was leaning back in her seat against the wall puffing away on her third cigarette in the past ten minutes, "The gonk will be fine." She said, trying to sound aloof and failing, "If anything, he'll probably need two hands instead of one replaced. Honestly, I think he'll be more upset over his Kukri. It was his mom's, I think." 

Rebecca snickered at the thought, "Yeah, that sounds like the gonk- wait a minute! How do you know that?" The gremlin gave Kiwi a searching look before she gave a smug grin, "Did the gonk worm his way past the ICE of Ms. 'Trust No One' like a cyber-ninja in the night? He did, didn't he!?" She laughed. Kiwi just shifted awkwardly, her mask hiding most of her blush. 

"He's… very hard to dislike." She admitted reluctantly, "That doesn't mean I trust him, though!" That sounded weak even to herself… Maybe it was time to trust them. She apparently couldn't live with betraying them for some reason, might as well open up. 

Lucy snorted, "Kiwi, this gonk cleaned my entire apartment and organized everything. I have no doubt he didn't do the same for you." She deadpanned, "Kiwi, it's okay. Between us, Misty, and the walls, no one's going to judge you." She teased her mentor with a small smile. 

Kiwi just grumbled as Rebecca laughed and Misty giggled faintly. 

"Fine! I… kinda like the gonk." Kiwi muttered with a huff, "He just so… so him! And well… he kinda helped me straighten my back out…" She added awkwardly. 

"Me too/Me too!" Rebecca and Lucy said in unison before looking at one another with a smile, or a grin in Rebecca's case. 

The tension broken with the banter, things relaxed slightly, though Rebecca sighed. 

"Girls? What are we going to do about David?" She asked, "I… I really like the gonk. But something is seriously wrong with him." 

She bit her lip and considered mentioning seeing his eyes glitch, something she would normally keep to herself. Yet, that strange feeling of familiarity… 

Lucy nodded slowly, "He's just a kid… the way he acts, you can easily forget he's not a veteran Cyberpunk." Lucy paused, choosing her next words carefully, "You can forget the fact he's been traumatized like we all have been and along with who knows what else to hell and back." Her face was a mixture of worry and sadness. 

Kiwi let out a long, tired sigh, staring blankly into the space in front of her for a long moment before breaking the silence, "The way he clings to us tells me he's terrified of being alone." Kiwi said, "I'm fairly certain that this extends to the rest of the crew. I don't understand how, but the whole crew became family to the kid, and we became the kid's family. He's desperate to make sure it isn't taken away from him like Gloria was without being able to do anything. I looked into it, Kid had to watch his mom die while trapped in their car after they were abandoned by the Trauma Team. Not that it's surprising…" Rebecca and Lucy watched Kiwi for a time, seeing how concerned she was for David and how tired her eyes were. 

 Girls? Rebecca messaged Lucy and Kiwi, This… this stays between us, alright? The rest of the crew doesn't need to know, okay? 

 What's up, Becca? Lucy replied as she closed her eyes to relax.. 

Misty looked curious but decided to give them privacy and focus on her cards, not like she could listen in on their comms anyway. 

 Well, back there before everything went to shit? Rebecca scratched her cheek, I saw… D's eyes. They glitched. 

"Cyberpsychosis?" Lucy whispered, "But with so little chrome?" 

Misty looked up at that and Rebecca gave Lucy a flat unamused glare, making the Netrunner rub the back of her neck sheepishly in response. 

 One of those pieces of chrome is an experimental mil-spec Sandevistan. Kiwi messaged, deciding not to break the secret despite Lucy blurting it out by accident, The fact that after his first use it didn't scramble his brain is a statistical miracle. That he can keep using it and repeatedly at that for as long as he does is… Kiwi trailed off as she contemplated whether David's father was some kind of Biotech abomination, and David was the result. 

 He needs to slow down. Lucy messaged as she rubbed her face. 

"I'll ask Rogue to blacklist him for a month if I have to!" Rebecca said out loud, crossing her arms, "The gonk needs to heal anyway, the problem will be getting him to relax." 

"I'll stop by and help when I can." Lucy said with another small smile. 

Kiwi just crossed her arms with a tired sigh, "I'll drop in occasionally as well. Besides, he kept a lot of Netrunner gear from a den, and he wants me and Lucy to check it out. Help him set it all up." 

"Really? Think it's from anyone we know?" Lucy asked. 

"Not sure. Probably from a Netrunner that died or moved to another city." Kiwi said with a shrug. 

"Sorry Misty, private convo. Though I guess you got a good inkling about it" Rebecca said with a smile, though she did eye Lucy for a few moments, "Say you wouldn't happen to have any advice on how to make your man actually stop and relax would you?" 

"I did, though his cards implied the same." Misty said, "David's a man haunted. Ghosts of another life continue to hound him. And, I may have some suggestions." 

However, before any suggestions could be made, Doc Vik walked in through the back of the shop and rubbed his face. Grumbling 'fucking kid' under his breath like he was want to do with the stubborn patients. 

"So, what's the verdict Doc?" Rebecca asked, "The gonk going to live to spoil us rotten?" Which made everyone just roll their eyes at her comment. 

"That kid has to have all the Angels and Devils looking out for his ass, that's all I can say." Doc Vik said as he took a seat, "By all rights, he should be dead, but here he is still kicking. I'll give you the contact details of a friend, former Corpo life coach. Good man, got out of the corpo rat race, and best of all he doesn't talk about what he learns from his clients. Misty, you mind driving the gonk back home?" 

"No problem, Vik." Misty said, "I guess that means you have him on some of your top-shelf stuff?" 

"Yeah." Vik said, "I swear, the kid's pain tolerance has to be the stuff of legends. After I removed the Sandy I swear he looked charbroiled!" He just shook his head, "All the drugs and his cyberspine are on his tab, when he's clear headed we can work out a payment plan." 

"You're too good for this city Doc." Rebecca said with a smile, "Now let's get the gonk home." 

"Well, have at him ladies." Vik said with a chuckle. 

 ??? 

"Sir, we lost visuals when the Subject started moving after he saved the hostage." A suit reported, "However, given the estimated casualty count, I believe it's safe to say the Subject will be vulnerable. Shall I arrange a retrieval?" 

"No. We will continue observing." 

"Sir?" The suit asked, "Do we need any more data? Already we've seen evidence of heightened learning ability as well as physical growth." 

"True, however, I want to know everything about him. I feel that we can learn more from him through longer observation." 'Besides, I don't want to waste the manpower and let him know we're after him if he has some sort of regenerative ability we don't know about. Unlikely, but someone like him is unlikely in the first place.' 

"But sir-" The suit was cut off by a wave. 

"Don't question it. Just do it, before I have you replaced! Understood?" 

"... Yes sir, Director." The suit said with a bow before leaving the office. 

"David Martinez… What more can you show us?" 

 Kiwi 

Kiwi learned early on to never trust anyone in Night city, it was the only lesson Faraday ever taught her that she was grateful for. To further build on that lesson, she learned to read people and taught herself how to anticipate their actions. Then she used that base to expand her skills further, by hook or crook, teaching herself how to code. Then how to hack. Finally, eventually, how to Netrun. 

Kiwi was no Spider Murphy, and she definitely would never be the second coming of Bartmoss, but she was damn sure she was one of the best self-taught Netrunners in Night city. Then she found this kid wandering the landfill, and despite her reservations, she found herself taking the kid under her wing. 

Kiwi personally blamed it on some unburnt maternal instinct, but whatever the reason it still happened. Perhaps she was trying to fill the void that she left, but it didn't matter really. Kiwi became the mentor/role model of one Lucyna Kushinada, and despite what Faraday taught her about betrayal, Kiwi couldn't find it in herself to regret it in the slightest. 

Now again Kiwi was going against that lesson, she was thinking of putting her trust, her very life in the hands of another... of telling David. Maybe, David could help Kiwi reconnect with her again? But… would she even know who Kiwi was? No… of course, she wouldn't 

Why did that make her heart hurt so much, though? 

(She knew the answer, but it was too painful to acknowledge…) 

Rebecca, Lucy, and Kiwi had a time of it getting the gonk David out of Misty's ride, but it wasn't that difficult. Mainly just awkward. Maine, Pilar, and Dorio were at some bar, probably trying to figure out where they were going to go from there. David's new Cyberspine wasn't as bulky as the Sandevistan, but still. Deadweight was dead weight. Still, they managed and got the gonk into bed before they all collapsed on the couch. They had all discussed further plans to keep David benched, and collectively decided that calling or visiting Rogue in the Afterlife was a good, solid option. However, none of the girls thought it would keep David from causing some sort of trouble or mischief. 

Plus, it wasn't like he relied on the Sandevistan. If anything, without the safety net of the Sandy David, was likely to become even sneakier than he already is! The gonk is already a ghost if he really doesn't want to be noticed, so Kiwi wouldn't be surprised if he got himself a new nickname like 'Shadow of Death' or something else cringingly edgy. 

Rebeca, while Kiwi was lost in thought, had gotten three glasses and a bottle of what looked like whiskey. Pouring them each a glass and setting the bottle on the table with her loaned hands, Rebecca took a sip of the amber liquid and looked up at the ceiling for a few seconds in thought. 

"So, our Input went psycho and the final tally has it that he flatlined over a hundred gonks. Honestly, if I wasn't so worried, I'd be horny." It was honestly such a Rebecca thing to say Kiwi nearly laughed but didn't, barely anyway. 

Lucy had no such constraint and snorted freely, then again; she was more Rebecca's friend than Kiwi's. Though, she had to admit that Rebecca did have a way of burrowing into her life… Kiwi blinked when she realized that she really did consider Rebecca a friend... When had that happened? "That's one hell of an understatement." She said, "The meat wagons are going to take forever to clean that up. Forget about the body lotto, though I kinda hope they get overtime for their trouble." 

Kiwi nodded in agreement, normally David operated like a cyber-ninja. Seeing him go full-on Ripperboy honestly made Kiwi feel a bit nauseous. While she didn't see much of it with the cameras somehow being disabled, potentially by this mysterious Netrunner Lucy mentioned contacting her, the carnage in David's wake was evident. Being an NC native she was pretty used to bloody spectacles but seeing someone who was not even in his twenties just… blending over a hundred gonks? That was kinda disturbing. Reflexively, Kiwi shuddered at these thoughts, getting a sympathetic look from her other two friends… but was that all they were now? They all had feelings for the gonk, who was obviously willing to go on a massacre for any one of them. Kiwi wasn't entirely sure, really, but the thought of being closer to them really didn't bother her as much as she thought it might. 

She decided that she would think on that further at a later date, preferably with Faraday's skull ventilated, or his whole body turned into mulch. 

Regardless of her personal feelings, Kiwi knew that people would request David to go loud or make an example. Before she joined the crew, she had some jobs that would require her to do a little extra to send a message. She just hoped that when it happened, David would have a better handle on himself and not learn to enjoy the slaughter like a certain Arasaka-employed nightmare. 

If anything, the clusterfuck told Kiwi that David possibly didn't see people as human if they threatened people he cares about. Or that maybe only the people he cared about were human? She was just thankful that the gonk had his head mostly screwed on right and didn't pile on chrome like Maine. Honestly, the fact that he's an admitted chrome junkie made that sound rather impressive. She didn't even question if David was exaggerating, she'd seen enough recovering Chrome junkies to recognize the signs and knew the kinds of people who would do so. Besides, chrome usually didn't make legends. 

Guys like Adam Smasher? They were the anomalous exceptions that proved the rule. 

What made Legends were skills that chrome could augment, but someone who relied on chrome to carry them would be torn apart by someone with chrome and skill. 

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Kiwi looked at Lucy and Rebecca. While she liked Lucy and trusted her as much as she could trust anyone... It was hard not to like Rebecca, despite the gonk shit she does on the occasion, Kiwi would reluctantly admit that Rebecca had her respect. But… this was her darkest secret, could she really trust them with it? Her mind was screaming at her not to, the thought of opening up and making herself so vulnerable went against all of her experiences. Kiwi would be going against every hard-earned victory and bitter loss in her life. The thought left her with a sickening feeling of nervous anxiety and an impression of impending doom. Yet, her heart was telling her she had to open up to them, like that night years ago when she found Lucy on the street and found herself at a similar crossroads. 

"I can do this… best do it now before I lose my nerve…" 

As Kiwi gathered her courage, she listened absentmindedly to Lucy and Rebecca talk about what they could do. Having Rogue bench him for a month would do him good since he needed a break, and it'd restrict him to his guntech work. While Kiwi hadn't checked David's BIOMON since Lucy beat her to it, she knew from what Lucy reported that David nearly fried every synapse in his gonk brain! 

"Girls?" Lucy and Rebecca looked at Kiwi, who had taken her mask off and rubbed her face, "I… I need help." 

"Eh, what's wrong, choom?" Rebecca asked while Lucy looked curious as well, "You know that anyone in the crew would help ya out!" 

She knew that. She knew the entire crew would, but… this wasn't something the crew could help with. Despite how the crew was now running jobs for Jones between jobs with Faraday… the four-eyed bastard had his hooks dug deep in Maine. Kiwi couldn't risk asking him for help, Faraday was a bastard, but he paid well and was more importantly reliable. 

"I have never told anyone about my life before becoming a Netrunner, but…" Kiwi awkwardly paused, shuddering again, and taking a ragged breath. 

"I used to be a Corpo Joytoy." Kiwi kept her eyes closed and focused on getting the words out, "The eddies were good, but…the bastard started doing things I wasn't comfortable with. Forcing implants, I didn't want. State-of-the-art Midnight Lady, biomechanical womb, tweaked my nerves, all sorts of shit." 

She heard a gasp but wasn't sure who did it. If she opened her eyes to check, she knew that she would lose her nerve. 

"Then he started lending me to his… 'Friends'… and even let their friends use me." She heard someone shift but continued, "It was after one… incident with my 'owner' I… I needed to get out." She paused and rubbed her face again, only now had the girls noticed how awkward the motion was. It was like Kiwi wasn't used to her face, "During the rare moments when I wasn't with him, I reached out to Faraday. Begged him to get us out, that I would do anything. I told him I wouldn't be able to work until… afterward. But he agreed, I knew I was making a deal with the devil, but I had to get us out of there." 

"Us?" Kiwi stiffened, why was David awake? He should be three sheets to the wind! 

Suddenly, her theory of him being the product of some kind of generational Biotech experiment didn't seem that crazy. 

Still, unlike what she expected when David interrupted her, she found her nerves steadying instead of fraying. She knew herself enough to know that it meant David had somehow come closer to her heart than she'd thought possible after everything. Still, Kiwi ignored the question, she was getting to it anyway. If she drew strength from David's presence, then no one else had to know right this second. 

"Faraday got me out, and I spent the next year in recovery, both to have all the Joytoy implants removed except the Midnight Lady and the womb and… giving birth…" Kiwi's voice hitched, "I… I don't think I even had the chance to name her. Faraday took my baby away and said I owed him, that she would be placed in a good home. As long as I was working off my debt my baby would be able to live a good life, but if I tried to run or work against him... He gave me enough eddies to get a place to stay and… that was that." 

A long awkward silence followed Kiwi bearing her deepest secret, she opened her eyes slowly to see how they were reacting. Lucy, the girl Kiwi mentored and practically raised, was in tears at her confession. She looked ready to tackle and hug Kiwi as she realized the likely reason she took her in. Rebecca had what Kiwi could only describe as 'tranquil fury' all over her face, she vaguely recalled Pilar saying that when she was yelling and waving her gun around it was mostly an act. But, when she got all silent, she was contemplating murder. 

David, however? He looked like he was regretting something, but before Kiwi's mind could start drawing negative conclusions, she heard him sigh. 

"... Kinda wished I planted that bomb on his car at the party now…" David muttered. 

"Wait. What?" Everyone, especially Kiwi, looked at David, who just scratched his head. 

"I kinda… was planning to murder him?" David said awkwardly. 

"... D. What did you do?" Lucy asked. 

David scratched his neck awkwardly, "I… kinda made a bomb. A very… overengineered bomb…" He said sheepishly, "But… well, I didn't want anyone caught up as collateral, so I kinda put it away." 

"... Kiwi no!" Lucy said. 

"Kiwi yes!!" Rebecca and Kiwi said in unison 

"... Sorry, Lucy but… I think you're outvoted." David said with an amused if faintly bewildered expression on his face, though he did grimace at Lucy's unamused look 

Lucy just sighed, "Gonk…" She muttered with a fond but annoyed smile. 

"Yeah." David said, "But I'm your gonk, the three of you." 

Kiwi just flushed and looked at David with wide eyes, she… didn't expect to hear that. From her understanding, most guys didn't like having outputs with kids. Given the circumstances, Kiwi knew that many who learned of her life as a former Joytoy with a kid no less, as 'damaged goods'. So, the fact that David didn't react like that left Kiwi massively relieved... in fact, she was feeling giddy! 

"Don't say stuff like that, you gonk!" She sputtered, making them laugh, which even she eventually joined in on. 

It felt… good to have friends. 

"So, where's the bomb exactly, ki- David?" Kiwi asked correcting herself, sure she could probably get away with calling him kid given that she was nearly thirty, but it felt… inappropriate somehow. 

"Ah, give me a second." David said as he got up, and went to his little workshop, only to return a few minutes later and gently set a 6-inch chrome half-sphere down on the coffee table, wincing and rubbing his arms as he sat back down. "Here it is." 

Rebecca leaned over to look at it, while she specialized more in guns Kiwi knew the gremlin was more than familiar with demolitions. In her own words, 'Who doesn't like the occasional explosion?' and after a few minutes, she returned to her seat with an expression that could only be described as amazed horror. 

"D, my man, my best-est input and choom…" What Rebecca said next made Kiwi and Lucy stare at him as well, "That can blow up a whole city block! What the actual fuck choom!?" 

"Hehe… um, oops?" David said sheepishly with a shrug. 

"... We're sleeping with a potential terrorist." Lucy deadpanned. 

"... At least he's our terrorist?" When Lucy turned her stare to Kiwi, the older Netrunner just shrugged, "It's true." David blinked, "Huh…?" His eyes flashed as he accepted a call. 

"Man, I hope that isn't a job…" Rebecca muttered. 

David glanced at his arms, "Huh, that's why my arms hurt, fractures? Hey guys, apparently I fractured my arms and while Doc said he treated them he said I shouldn't be using them for a week or two. Apparently, he was so busy with the spine transplant and all the other patients that he forgot to tell you guys about my arms." 

Kiwi, Rebecca, and Lucy stared at David in surprise. This was the first they heard of fractures! Though it made sense really, David was still almost entirely organic and normal Sandevistan users were pretty borg'd out, well either that or they had shit-teir Sandevistans. So, it wasn't a surprise that his organic parts couldn't keep up with the strain. What was a surprise was that this was the first time it happened! Never mind the sheer bullshit David pulled off back at the factory! 

With that David ended the call only for his eyes to flash again as another call started right after the first ended. After a few minutes of patiently listening David finally ended that call too and glanced towards them. "Huh, do you guys know a guy called 'Zen Master'?" 

"Oh! He used to help Pilar out!" Rebecca said, "When he ran away from our parents he started spirling hard, it's actually the reason I split to join the Mox. Anyway the guy's a Life Coach with a weird habit of knowing when he's needed. No appointments or anything, he either calls or shows up. Fucking freaky how he knows shit he shouldn't." 

 Maine 

"Okay, choom, tell me more about this Life Coach guy," Maine said after he finished his Broseph. 

"There isn't much to tell, honestly." Pilar said, "All I know is he does his job well and no one's decided to flatline him yet. That alone should tell you he doesn't spill secrets. I wouldn't be surprised if he helped the spooks in Saka Counter-Intel." 

Dorio just hummed at that as she sipped her own drink, though Maine had the feeling that they were gonna have an argument over getting him to talk to the guy. Not that Maine was against it, especially after seeing someone with so little chrome lose their shit like David, but Maine felt like he was improving already! He wasn't piling on any new chrome, hell, he even had some excess synth-muscle removed! 

Never mind getting everything tuned up, and his Projectile Launcher replaced with a model that wasn't obsolete! Sure, everything cost a pretty eddy, but he and Vik worked out a payment plan! 

"So, what's the guy's name?" Maine asked curiously. 

"No idea. I just called him Zen Master whenever he helped me out." Pilar said with a shrug, "The guy puts you through some relaxing BDs and calmly guides you through meditation. I'm not much for introspection, but goddamn does that shit help you out. The weirdest thing though, he usually contacts you… usually right when you go through some serious shit. Never did figure out how he did that." Pilar added thoughtfully. 

 David Martinez 

After learning that his bomb was actually much more powerful than he thought, along with calls from Vik and the Zen Master, they all sat down on the couch. After all that, the rest of the evening was spent chatting and drinking whiskey, on second cups for the girls. David mainly stuck to RealWater because he wasn't sure if the medication Vik had him on interacted with alcohol poorly. 

David surprised Rebecca however by agreeing to her request for him to take a month off from running jobs. Once, he probably would've just shrugged the pain off and gone off to get more chrome to help compensate, but David liked to think he had learned his lesson honestly. Besides, nothing like having your nervous system feel like you've interfaced with a transformer to make you decide that you needed some time to rest and recover. Though he wouldn't lie, Kiwi's story made him want to go out and rip his way through Night city to find Faraday. 

Sadly, while the spirit was eager, his flesh simply wasn't up for it. Never mind the fact that his arms ached just from carrying the bomb, which weighed around ten to fifteen pounds! Yes, first things first, recover and heal. Afterwards, he could rip and tear his way through the city to find the four eyed fucker! 

David woke up pinned, and momentarily freaked out before recalling that Lucy and Kiwi opted to stay over… mainly because between the two of them, they got pretty hammered. Not that Rebecca was any help in that regard. David clapped his hand over his mouth to stop himself from groaning, only letting out a hiss of pain escape his lips. He wasn't really able to think straight yet, the meds were clouding his thoughts, which was why he preferred to get chrome instead. To avoid the months of downtime that a normal runner couldn't afford. He would've gotten up to take his next dose of meds, but he couldn't move without waking his bedmates. So, he decided to suffer in silence instead. 

He supposed this was what it was like to recuperate naturally, after so long replacing injured body parts with chrome, he'd forgotten what it was like to recover naturally. 

"Mmm?" Lucy opened her eyes and looked at David, apparently his hiss was enough to wake her up, "Oh… let me get your next dose!" She whispered quietly, an expression of mortified embarrassment on her face that David, in his foggy mind, thought looked cute. 

She clumsily rolled out of the bed and barely managed to land on her feet, taking a few moments before she stood up. Rubbing her head and smoothing her bed-hair, if it was not for the pain David was experiencing, seeing her naked body in all its nude disheveled glory would have got him hard and desire to make love to her. Shaking her head, she went over to a bag of meds Vik sent along with them and fished out a clear orange pill bottle with a white lid. Reading the label for a minute, she opened it and got out two pills before returning. 

David was pretty sure he heard her mutter something about, 'fucking Biotechnica' for some reason. 

"Let's get you up." Lucy said, "Don't want you choking on these." She added with a small smile as she leaned over and helped him sit up. 

David hissed the entire way, desperately wanting to scream but refused, and instead giving Lucy a thankful smile as he took the pills and swallowed them dry. Closing his eyes firmly, he, with Lucy's help, managed to get out of bed and over to the couch. Gently setting him down, she let his head rest on the back. 

"Oh, this month is going to suck." David groaned, despite the [SYSTEM]s estimated recovery time, he knew that he needed to take more time to recover fully and not just regain functionality. Not just physically either. 

He nearly lost it yesterday, even with all his perks preventing him from going psycho, and that scared him. Something was wrong, he should've been able to handle far more chrome than what he had. With all his perks allowing him to rise his resistance he shouldn't be having any problems with Cyberpsychosis. Did he ever really recover from his Cyberpsychosis when he awoke in the past or was there something else that was going on with the [SYSTEM] itself. The red haze that fell over his vision, never mind the visual distortions and glitches he experienced… It wasn't full on Cyberpsychosis, he knew what that felt like, but it was far too close for his liking. There were too many questions and the [SYSTEM] was silent on the topic, which wasn't unusual per se, but usually when he had important questions, it answered. So, he decided to refocus his thoughts and energy elsewhere, for now. At least he never so much as looked at the crew while buried in that fury. He didn't think he could live with himself if he lashed out at anyone in the crew. 

"You know… it's okay to admit you need help." Lucy said as she sat beside him nursing a cup of synth-coffee, "You don't have to act all tough. Maine does that enough for everyone." She quipped, getting a pained chuckle from David. 

"I know." David said as he tried to relax, "I came by it naturally. Mom always tried to act like nothing was wrong when I found her sleeping on the couch." 

"What was she like?" Lucy asked curiously, "I only knew her in passing. Though we did meet once outside of work, bought me a pack of beef noodles cause she said I needed more meat on my bones." She added with a faint blush. 

"Heh, yeah. That sounds like her." David said with a smile as he held the amulet that contained her ashes around his neck, "Shady things she did aside, mom was… generous. She'd help anyone in need, but she wasn't a gonk about it. She had a sense for when people genuinely needed help, and when she was being scammed. 'The Lessons of the Street' she called it." 

"She sounds like a remarkable woman." Lucy said with a smile as she looked over at his mother's Urn, "When you feel better, do you want to ride out to the Badlands? There's something I want to show you… and I think it would be a good place for you to lay your mom to rest." 

"I'd… I'd like that." David said with a sad but appreciative smile, "Are you going to head home after waking up?" 

"No, we talked about it when you stepped out last night." Lucy said, "Me and Kiwi will switch up every other day to help Becca, keep our gonk in line." She snarked playfully. 

"You wound me." David said in mock distress, "I'm not as stupid as Becca thinks. Well, for the most part, anyway." He admitted, after some consideration, the painful memory of dragging her down with him in his last life, agonizingly clear in his mind. 

He did do some rather boneheaded things at times. At least this time, he avoided getting Arasaka on his ass by KO'ing that cunt, Katsuo. Oh, and wiping out on the stairs when his nose burst after overusing the Sandy the first night, he met Lucy and finished picksocketing. That was embarrassing, and as he thought back to that time with nostalgia and regret, he found that he was sad that it never happened! 

Honestly, any amount of embarrassment would be worth reliving those moments, memories of riding down the highway strapped to a gurney with this manic pixie above him, still persisted in his dreams. 

"Huh, well, I suppose we could still do that…" 

David opened his mouth to say that they didn't have to keep an eye on him, only for a shuffling sound to distract him. Turning around he saw a very much bare assed naked Rebecca wiping her eyes, walking into the living room, and plopping down on the couch beside him. 

"To be fair, David, we don't trust that you'll rest unless constantly supervised." Lucy said without a hint of sheepishness, "Becca is more likely to assist you in whatever mischief you get into, rather than make you rest." 

"... She ain't wrong." Rebecca mumbled. 

"... I'm still going to work on my guns." David said, unwilling to budge on this subject, "I need to do something to pay the bills." 

"Wasn't going to suggest you don't." Lucy said with a smile, "If anything, you can take this time to come up with… a signature look." 

"Hmm?" This was the first time he heard something about that, "Like how Morgan is known as Blackhand?" 

"Yeah." Lucy said, "It's not something many people worry about, but I figure a project like that would keep you out of trouble." 

"Hmmm…" Already, ideas started to populate his mind as he recalled what he said to Maine… honestly it felt like it was months ago! 

"Who says Edgerunners can't wear suits?" 

"Hmm, I have been meaning to ask Falco where he gets his suits…" David mumbled thoughtfully, "Whatcha think, Lucy? Think I can pull off the 'Smooth Criminal' look?" He added with a playful grin, only faintly twitching in pain. 

"Dork." Lucy said with a huff, "Ancient musical references aside, I think you could. Not sure if you could wear a fedora with your hair and not look like a try-hard, or something." 

Rebecca giggled at the mental image as she drifted back to sleep by his side, she really wasn't much of a morning person. Rolling his eyes with a smile, he grabbed a blanket on the end of the couch and with some help from Lucy, they managed to throw it over the naked gremlin. 

"Is she always like this in the mornings?" Lucy asked with a faint smile. 

"Yeah. She doesn't come to life without a few cups of coffee." David said with a chuckle. 

"She's lucky she's cute when she's like this." Lucy commented, getting a shrug from David. 

"Yeah. Hmm, what time does Afterlife open anyway?" David asked, "Wanna call Rogue and ask her to put me on the bench for the month, so I can heal." 

"Well, Afterlife doesn't really 'close', but it does slow down during the day." Lucy said, "Your best shot would be some time this evening. That's assuming she doesn't already know about yesterday and already has you benched. She does have eyes and ears everywhere." 

David just hummed thoughtfully at that, remembering all the camera's in the Ripper base, "Well… want me to make you something simple for breakfast?" He offered, "Can't just sit on my ass all day." 

"Just be careful." Lucy said with a faint frown, "Don't want to have to haul you back to Vik's because you did a gonk move." 

David just grumbled with a faint smile before he got up, slowly with a groan, before he started making his way to the small kitchenette he built. Knowing how much Rebecca could put away he started getting everything together for half a dozen pancakes. He could've made anything else, but he got the impression that the [SYSTEM] needed the carbs and shit to help him recover, so pancakes it was. 

"That's a nice ass…" He heard Lucy mumble. 

David just chuckled as he started mixing the batter up. 

Quest alert! 

Happy Ending - The pieces are in place, the stage is set, but the ultimate question is… can you achieve the Happy Ending you desire more than anything? Objectives: Ensure the survival and happiness of Kiwi, Lucy, Rebecca, and yourself. Bonus Objectives: Ensure the entire crew survives and remains intact. Mission Time: Until 2077 Rewards: Happy Ending, ???, ???, ??? Bonus Rewards: ???, ???, ???, ??? 

"No pressure, huh?" David thought, staring at the time and wondering what was so significant that was going to happen at that precise year, "Perhaps to symbolize me surviving so long? I can't remember the exact date I attacked Arasaka tower…" 

 Lucy 

Watching the gonk with a smile on her face Lucy couldn't help but contemplate just how lucky she was, granted she was still nervous about everything. The odd déjà vu she kept feeling whenever she was around David made her more cautious, a paranoid part of her thinking this was all some sort of elaborate trap by them to regain their escaped Netrunner. 

Never mind the odd dream she had last night! Though it was strange, it was honestly nice. She dreamed that she and David were dancing on the moon, with the black sky lit by stars! But… they, David and herself, were made of light and there was this strange sense… of tragedy that she couldn't figure out. Honestly, Lucy had dismissed it as dreams being dreams, but it still stuck with her when she woke up when normally she forgot her dreams rather quickly. 

Shaking her head, she got up and went to wake up Kiwi. The older Netrunner was more of a night person and hated sleeping in, oddly enough. Lucy figured she had some sort of Cyberware or an exotic Bioware to help manage her lack of sleep, or something. Walking to the bedroom, she saw Kiwi had managed to cocoon herself in the blankets. 

Lucy giggled at the sight of her mentor so relaxed when she was normally so closed off, before she went through the process of waking her up. 

"Come on Kiwi, don't want to miss breakfast do you?" She asked with an amused smile as Kiwi groaned and started to fight with the blankets. 

"I'm up…" The mound mumbled, "Just give me a few… wait. Lucy? Did you sneak into my apartment again?" 

Lucy laughed, "No! I'm not surprised you can't recall. After you told your story, you drank a lot." Lucy said, "We're at David and Rebecca's place. Do you need anything?" 

"Just… just a few minutes." Kiwi said, sounding uncharacteristically vulnerable, "But, I… actually told everyone?" 

"Yeah." Lucy said, "And after David recovers, I bet you all the eddies in the city that he'll be baying for blood." 

"You think?" Lucy frowned at how Kiwi sounded, almost, like she couldn't believe it. 

Moving to sit beside the mound, Lucy collected her thoughts. She liked to think she had a good handle on her mentor's personality, so it didn't take much thought to realize why she was like this. Ever since Kiwi found her and took her in, she had preached that she should never trust anyone in Night city, herself included. Honestly, she always thought Kiwi was paranoid, but now knowing some of her history she understood why Kiwi preferred to keep everyone at arm's length. 

One never knows when someone will stick the knife in your back. 

It also explained why Kiwi took Lucy in, despite her trust issues, her unresolved maternal instincts. Instincts that had denied her because Faraday was using her daughter as leverage over her mentor. It also explained why Kiwi swung between being a mentor and a maternal figure. 

"No, I don't think, I know." Lucy said, "Kiwi, you saw what that gonk did. What makes you think he wouldn't do the same for you? Or me? Or anyone else on the crew?" She questioned, "I know you don't trust easily, but trust me, okay? We'll find your kid, and Faraday will die screaming." 

Lucy heard Kiwi sigh, "I'll try." She mumbled. 

Lucy, knowing she wouldn't be getting anything better, accepted it. 

"Okay. I'll let you sort yourself out." Lucy said before she smirked, "Though… I wonder how David will react if you walk in with nothing but your mask?" She added thoughtfully with a coy expression on her face. 

That got a laugh out of her mentor, and knowing that she was going to be fine, though before Lucy could get up and return to the living room, Kiwi gently reached out her hand from under the blankets, to grab Lucy's. It was obvious the older Netrunner needed her friend's reassurance, and Lucy squeezed Kiwi's hand to give it. 

David turned to Lucy as she returned with a smile only to blink, "Huh, I… didn't notice how beautiful you are, naked, till now." He mumbled as he started blushing, but he didn't look away. 

Lucy almost shivered, she never understood why she reacted like that whenever David paid attention to her. Despite her feelings, she enjoyed it, knowing that someone coveted her and the knowledge that it wasn't just her body he appreciated! That look of… sheer devotion he gave her always made her weak in the knees. 

"Well, you were pretty out of your head with pain." Lucy retorted, "So, I'll give you a pass this time. Besides, what's a little skinship between friends?" 

"F-Fair enough." Lucy almost grinned like a cat that got some cream, she loved how easily he got embarrassed sometimes, "A-Anyway, after breakfast I'll call Suzie Q and tell her that I'm free for the month, so I can work on their guns. Then I'll call the Zen Master to arrange a meeting." 

"Sounds like you've got a full day ahead of you." Lucy commented, "You sure you shouldn't just relax? I mean… you did nearly burn out your nervous system." 

"Probably should." David admitted, "But… I prefer keeping my hands occupied. Something to focus on. I… kinda don't want to dwell on what happened." 

Lucy nodded as she sat down and watched him cook, she understood his reasoning. She could only imagine what was going through the gonk's mind, the man tipped over the edge and dipped his toe in Cyberpsychosis. She honestly couldn't even begin to imagine how you even begin to process that! 

She really hoped that Kiwi was feeling better after their talk. 

Eventually, David finished cooking and started stacking pancakes onto four plates, the mess was enough to stir Rebecca out of her hibernation and even drag a naked Kiwi out of the bedroom. Lucy giggled when she noticed David's eye immediately latched onto Kiwi's purple nipples, she nearly laughed when Kiwi just crossed her arms in an oddly bashful move. 

"Choom! You know I would've taken care of this!" Rebecca exclaimed as she smothered her stack in synth-syrup, "I didn't spend a couple of years in the kitchen with the Mox for nothing, you know!" 

"Becca, I wouldn't trust you with a plastic knife when you wake up." David said with a chuckle, "What makes you think I'd let you near a kitchen when you're barely coherent." 

"Gonk's got you there." Kiwi snarked as she sat down and removed her mask. 

David just sat down with a sigh, "Heh… I wouldn't have her any other way, really. Any of you." He said making Kiwi and Lucy blush while Rebecca laughed. 

 David Martinez 

As they all set down to eat breakfast David got a call… from Rogue? 

"Oh boy…" Knowing that not accepting the call would be worse for him, he answered, his eyes glowing orange as he did. 

 Martinez. Afterlife. One hour. Was all he heard before the call ended. 

"So what's up D?" Rebecca asked. 

"Ah, that was Rogue. She wants me at the Afterlife in one hour." David said, sounding somewhat dazed. 

There was a beat before Kiwi broke it was a chuckle, "Someone's about to get a browbeating from the Queen. Though, I'm not sure if it's a good or bad thing to have the Top Fixer so interested in you." She said as she took a bite of her pancakes. 

"Well, I can catch the NCART to Watson and-" Rebecca cut him off. 

"Not happening choom!" She said with crossed arms, "I need to show these bitches I'm not always irresponsible! So, I'm driving…" 

"... Fine." He said eventually, "Though, can you please show me how to adjust the damn seats?" 

That broke the tension, and everyone had a good laugh, though David was blushing in embarrassment over having to ask in the first place. 

"Just eat, you goof." Rebecca said with a smile, "Becca will get you there safe!~" 

"Why does that make me feel anxious?" David muttered. 

"It means you actually do have some survival instinct." Kiwi deadpanned, "No matter how underdeveloped it is." 

"Lucy, help, the girls are picking on me..." David childishly whined. 

"It's not picking on you when they have a point" Lucy playfully quipped back. 

David just grumbled, though he couldn't help but smile all the same time, if it felt good knowing people actually care. 

The ride to Afterlife wasn't that bad, all things considered, especially since Rebecca showed him how to adjust the seats between teasing him horribly. That didn't mean he wasn't grateful when Rebecca parked, and he climbed out of the car. He loved Rebecca with all his heart, but goddamn, the woman drove just like how she was in a gunfight! Wild with little regard for other people. 

Regardless, they both got out and made their way to the Afterlife, thankfully the usual guards weren't present, so they entered without problem. Entering the Afterlife was honestly rather strange as neither had seen the place so quiet. Other than a few people lingering, the place was essentially abandoned! 

"Looks like an entirely different place in the morning…" David muttered. 

Any further talking was cut off by Rogue's voice from the back, "MARTINEZ! GET BACK HERE!" 

"Somebodies in trouble~" Rebecca teased. 

"Shut it." David grumbled as they headed into the back, ignoring the pitying glances they got from the few that were still lingering. 

"Dead gonk walking." They heard someone mutter. 

"No one upsets the Queen and leaves walking…" Another muttered. 

David easily ignored them all and entered Rogue's private booth. 

"Sit." She ordered. 

They did so without question. 

Rogue drained her Johnny Silverhand, an arrogant bastard he may have been… at least as far as David knew according to what he heard about the infamous rockerboy. She no doubt dreaded another coming of Silverhand. and while he may have at a grudge about Arasaka, David had no plans on emulating the dead terrorist. The bomb he built that could apparently destroy a city block might have indicated otherwise, but he didn't use it!. 

She pinched the bridge of her nose as a call came in. And If David was any judge, whatever she was hearing didn't please the Queen of the Afterlife in the slightest. 

"Do you know just how much heat you've brought on Watson?" She hissed, her tone and pitch never raising but it was evident that it was rhetorical. "It's to then point that N.C.P.D, MaxTac and fucking Corpse brigades are sniffing around. So, Boogeyman...explain before I shoot you." It was quite obvious Rogue was pissed. 

"... You have to have a kid." Rogue's eyes narrowed dangerously, "Cause that's exactly the same tone mom used whenever I did something stupid. Honestly, I'm trying not to look around for La Chancla flying at my head." 

Rogue blinked, and she snorted with a sigh, "Fucking hell, kid." She said as she massaged her forehead. 

"I guess this is a good time to mention that I'm asking you to blacklist me for the next month, so I can recover and lie low?" Rogue just chuckled but nodded her head. 

"Good, you're not a total gonk, then." Rogue said with a snort, "Now get outta here." 

"Sure." David paused before deciding why not, "So should I call you auntie?" 

That got Rogue to bust out laughing while Rebecca gaped. 

"You got balls of steel, kid!" Rogue said with an amused smile, "Now get out of here! I have a reputation to uphold you know, and you are not helping today!" 

As the two left, they did however hear, "YOU'RE GOING TO DO MAINTENANCE ON THE ENTIRE ARMORY HERE! DO YOU HEAR ME MARTINEZ! AND YOU WILL DO IT PRO BONO!!" 

"Yeah! I hear! I'll be back in a few days!" David retorted as they walked out. 

It wasn't until they were in the MaiMai did Rebecca speak up again, "Choom… that was the single biggest example of testicular fortitude I've ever seen in my life." 

David just scratched his cheek. 

"But you know that was a gonk thing to say." Rebecca continued, "I don't know what's all in their armory, but I have no doubt all of its top shelf preem shit. And you lost out on who knows how much." 

David did wince at that, "Win some, lose some." He said, trying to ignore the fact that he just… threw away a potential massive payday that could've paid for a ride to the moon for all four of them plus extra… maybe. Then again, he would be getting to see how all of that stuff was built and maybe even get their blueprints! If he played it right, he could walk away with more than maintaining all that tech would normally cost, and begining to sell higher level gear. 

At least it would help his rep as a gunsmith, soooo… silver linings? Maybe not… 

"Rebecca…" David started to say with a groaning sigh. "Next time I do something so stupid, just shoot me…" 

This was going to be a VERY long month