Cyberkid

Blood and oil. That's what I smelled when I was freed from my chains. It was a woman who caused this. She was 5 feet and 9 inches tall, carried a sword on her back, a pistol on her right and a knife on her left hip. She wore black cargo pants that covered the top of her military-grade black boots. She also wore a black, button-up shirt - probably to look presentable for certain, spontaneous occasions. Above the black shirt, she wore a bullet-proof vest which was also black. Adding to her outfit was also the decolorization of it, which stem from the people who were next to me until a minute ago. The woman's hair was also black and short, it went over her forehead effortlessly and didn't dishevel from the fighting she did before. Her eyes were purple, ‚Kiroshi, must be,' I thought. Immediately after seeing what this woman looked like, I passed out.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The sound of buzzing and beeping filled my mind, causing me to awaken from my slumber.

I opened my eyes. I found myself at some Ripperdoc. I don't know how I knew, but I recognized it by the description I had learned. ‚How do I know that this is a Ripper's clinic," I wondered.

The realization that I didn't remember anything about my past and myself set in and I began to panic. Fortunately, my intellect was sharp and I was somehow familiar with the world I was in, but didn't know anything about it.

The woman that had appeared before I had lost consciousness approached me.

„You woke up. Some never do after getting chipped an implant like that. ‚NetData F1: BW' - a new Cyberdeck perhaps? Never heard of a deck like that ever being produced by NetData. I slowly understand why I was hired to capture you. I had hoped you'd tell me what you knew," the woman said.

At the mention of my Cyberdeck, I activated it. The woman was the first "victim" of my superior scanning ability. 'I can see what others would see with their optics, but I can do even more than that.' Instead of only seeing the target's name, affiliation, outer Cyberware and their police records, I could decide to dive even further and get more information. 'Level 4 classification, huh? Interesting,' I thought to myself and cracked the classification lock. 'Worked at Arasaka Counter Intelligence. An ex-corpo...'

"I'm sure you want some detes, but how about introducing yourself first," I asked, feigning ignorance.

"Name's V. I am a mercenary - Afterlife affiliated. Think of it how you please," V answered.

'Not Valerie? Maybe V is just her merc name,' I wondered.

"Nice to meet you, V. Can you start by telling me how I got here? I only remember you entering the truck I was chained up in."

"Slow on the gas, kid. The facts speak for themselves. In my sitch, I rescued you from a convoy which was Dogtown bound. And judging by your implants, Barghest and NetData must've made a deal or something."

"All this information - ain't familiar with any of it. Look, this might sound like a lie, but I don't remember shit. The only thing that I still posses is my intellect and my personality - which I am sure is also moulded to someone's desires," I revealed, hoping that it would open up a path of clarity and more information.

Back then, when I said this to V, a certain someone spoke in my favor, telling V to trust me. 

After more than 30 seconds of silence, V opened her mouth to speak. "Look, I don't really know what to do with you. The Fixer who hired me didn't tell me what to do with you. Even the contractor personally asked me to 'rescue' you from NetData, not telling me what to do next. And as for your memories, are you a gonk, or do you really remember nothin'?"

"I... I honestly don't remember anything. My head, neck and shoulders stark aching when I try rememberin',"

"Honestly, what to do with you?"

Another person approached us. This man's arms were inked, he wore glasses and had medical equipment attached to his medical gown.

"Kid woke up, finally. V stood by your side for three whole days, ya know. I told her 't was a risk, told her that NetData goons would storm my clinic every second, but fortunately, no one other than my patients came here. Oh, and I'm Vik by the way - Little China's, no, Night City's best Ripper," the man said, revealing his identity and boasting. 

"C'mon, Vik. I'm sure he'll pay his medical fees once his dome starts working properly again," V responded. 

"So, what's your name," the Ripper asked.

"I don't remember, honestly. I don't remember anything - like, at all."

"Huh... weird. Neural scan's showed perfect functionality -  too good in fact. Only thing that might prove it is you neural capacity, which is like one fourth of someone your age. I wasn't sure while I treated you, I wanted to ask you after you woke up. And by the way, what kind of fucked up implant you got there?! Nothin' similar on the market. Even Cyberware that is still in production and is still to be produced gets leaked together with its information and specs. You do know that your Cyberdeck is 5 times better statistically than any other on the market right now? Even the most recently produced Netwatch Netdrive Mk 5 is trash compared to yours. I had hoped I could get more information about its specs, but your deck's anti-ICE was too overwhelming and almost fried my equipment."

"I wish I could say that I was sorry, but I am not, Vik. I don't think I feel any type of feelings when looking at me, you or our situation. To me, I was thrown into a situation - just like a BD - and am now livin' with no purpose or possible future. What should I do? Look for my past? Try to find out who I am? Or go a completely random path that seems worth it? I feel like it would be too easy for me. Even now, I feel like I could short-circ you lot with a mere signal to my deck - which is in fact loaded up with some Quickhacks. But be at ease, you have not done anything to hurt me, you did the exact opposite. Who knows what would've happened to me once I was brought to Dogtown?"

Vik sat on his chair and rolled of to his desk while V sat down onto a chair which was next to my bed.

"Searchin' for a purpose? I'll give you somethin' to do. Pay Vik what you owe - your treatment wasn't free, you know. I advise you stick with me for the time being. You can also pay me back for saving yo ass. And once you pay what you owe, you go from there. But be beware, you will not have the chance to live an ordinary life. Your implants and your mere existence is reason enough to be hunted down," V suggested.

"Yeah," is the only thing that I could muster. It only made sense. A 'new' life started, but I was marked without having a choice. "I will pay you back. Just show me how I can make some eddies."