Back to 'gig'

Author; This is one of the long ones, I hope, as always, that you like it! Greetings too XD

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"I was thinking... about leaving him in a decent motel, and if he really wants to become a mercenary, I wouldn't mind taking him along on some simple jobs from time to time to gain some experience and a few Eddies,"

Sora's words excited Mathew. He had been hoping for exactly that when he sneaked into Afterlife: to meet a mercenary who could guide him on his path.

After Sora's offer, Morgan looked at Mathew, who was visibly thrilled, and commented, "Kid, if you genuinely want to become a Merc, like him or me, then I recommend you take him up on his offer. But if you're doing it for the promise of quick Eddies to get off the streets, there are better options than becoming a Merc. I warn you, this job is tough. You'll see and do things that make you question and lose your humanity."

Morgan's warning made Sora recall David and his life as a mercenary, whom Mathew had reminded him of from the moment he saw him at the bar, which was one of the reasons he approached to help him. Sora nodded in silence, knowing that Morgan was right.

Mathew, after Morgan's warning and Sora's nod of confirmation, looked at the two mercenaries in front of him with a certain skepticism: one was a legend known even to a vagabond like him, and the other was a successful mercenary who had defeated Adam Smasher in a fight.

Seeing Mathew's expression and understanding his doubts, Morgan sighed and clarified, "Kid, we're not a good example, and we don't represent the norm among mercenaries." Pointing a thumb at Sora, Morgan added, "He was trained by the old man you've seen since you were a kid, and I'm just an experiment of a 'mad scientist' who, against all odds, didn't kill me."

Sora added humbly, "Actually, I'm also a 'bit' of an 'experiment of a 'mad scientist.'"

Without taking a second to respond, Morgan said wryly; "No shit!" about something he already knew, without needing Sora to admit it, looking at Sora's left arm in a split, capable of sending the Tin Man of Smasher flying with a single punch.

"What? I'm just being humble and supporting your point!" Sora responded, only wanting to help, annoyed by Morgan's irony.

"Anyway, kid, if you only want to be a Merc to earn Eddies and get off the streets, then I'll give you another alternative: come with me. I work for a corporation called Lazarus. Don't make that face; even though it's a corporation, we don't behave like one. There, you'll be taught everything from combat to self-defense, and even driving and piloting," Morgan commented, being specific in his last example, causing Mathew's dark eyes to light up upon hearing it.

When the elevator doors opened, as Sora exited, he asked Morgan, "Are you really going to take him to Lazarus? I thought they didn't hire people."

"That's why we don't normally. We pick up street kids, usually younger than Mathew here, but I can make them make an exception for him. Plus, I was thinking that it would be easier for you to work in Lazarus if you have at least some familiar face." Morgan replied, killing two birds with one stone. 

Then, he asked as he exited the elevator, "What do you say, Kid?" 

Waiting for a response that didn't come, made Morgan and Sora turn to find the young Mathew frozen inside the elevator. Paralyzed by disbelief, he couldn't believe the two incredible opportunities in front of him, after four years of enduring hardships on the street, being treated like trash... or forcing himself to sleep amid tears he refused to shed when he remembered his father.

Seeing how Morgan approached the emotional Mathew, Sora thought he would lean in and say something heartfelt in a fatherly tone, but Morgan, being Morgan, slapped the boy on the shoulder and said, "Kid, I was a fan of your father! Nobody got me as excited on the circuits as he did, and as a simple fan, I want to repay him in some way. So, trust me and follow us. Women like tough guys... believe me."

"That's right, listen to the almost 100-year-old bachelor" Sora chimed in, finding Morgan's words amusing.

"What does age have to do with being single?" Morgan asked, annoyed, receiving an unforeseen response from someone he didn't expect.

When finding it obvious. "Well, that you've had plenty of time to find one, haven't you?" Mathew interjected, growing a pair and responding without his usual fear of being thrown out.

Mathew's sudden and sincere intervention, where he genuinely only stated the obvious response that came to his mind without intending to be funny, made Sora burst into laughter at Morgan's expense as they left the building, having to stop abruptly due to the recent injuries on his face.

Before getting on Morgan's copper-accented Calibur, Sora looked one last time at the rooftop of the building, seeing his grandfather still leaning on the railing through the shared view of fool's crow he had left watching over him, still trying to process everything Sora had told him and feeling guilty... for how he had lost control, after doing so.

-

A few minutes earlier, on the rooftop.

Sora, with a heavy heart, shared his thoughts: "I believe Saburo, in the face of the damage to Tashin's hippocampus and frontal cortex, responsible for memory storage and personality, attempted to use fragments from two engrams with compatible memories and personalities to... fill in the missing parts of Tashin, hoping to wake him up.

In a way, he succeeded, but just barely. If I were to describe it in any way, I'd say it was more by sheer chance. The fragments aren't synchronized with the rest of Tashin's brain, likely even creating redundancies and conflicts among them."

The first thing Musashi asked was; "Do they feel? Are they conscious?"

"No, I don't believe so. Their activity is too faint for consciousness. I would have to examine it to be sure, but I think they're some kind of incomplete extract of his memories," Sora speculated.

Musashi, unable to finish forming his question, said, "Are they from...?"

Recalling Jackie's case in the game, Sora, fearing his grandfather's reaction, responded, "Yes... I think they are fragments from the Soulkiller readings of... the deceased brains of Miyamoto and Ishida."

Musashi, confirming his fears about what Saburo had done with his sons' bodies behind his back, felt betrayed, disappointed, and disgusted. But these emotions were nothing compared to the sorrow and anger he was feeling. A wave of anger, that made him strongly recommit to seeking out his son himself, even if it meant storming Arasaka Tower or any other place they might be holding him.

And, a profound sorrow reflected in his eye as he looked at his grandson, who was watching him firmly, clearly determined to stop him. Musashi, seeing that look, asked with apparent calmness, "You had this planned, didn't you? Is that why you brought Morgan?"

Sora, in the face of his grandfather's apparent serenity, which he perceived as the calm preluding the incoming storm, nodded seriously. "It was pure chance that I ran into him, but since I did, I brought him as a precaution, just in case you lost control. I think I can handle you, but it's better to be safe. Besides, Morgan isn't the only one I've called to make sure you don't do anything foolish," Sora said, subtly pointing with one finger to the sky.

This caused Musashi to raise his head and see more than ten of Sora's crows flying overhead. Looking back at his grandson, and in the face of his clear intention to stand in his way as a father, Musashi warned him, his uneven breath increasing, making him breathe through his mouth, "Sora, get out of my way before I can't be held responsible for my actions."

Sora sighed at what he was about to do next, seeing Musashi's state, 'more beast than Ojii', knowing he needed to release the anger that was consuming him in some way, or he was sure his grandfather would do something reckless.

To get his grandfather to release his anger, Sora couldn't think of anything else but to make him release it on himself. With that in mind, he said, "I need to talk to Mother, with her help and Cortana's, I think we might be able to 'fix' Tashin after all... Saburo's idea wasn't so-"

Sora couldn't finish his cruel sentence, deliberately using words like "fix" as if Tashin was a thing, and falsely agreeing with Saburp's despicable act of creating and using the Soulkillers in the two deceased sons, to provoke his grandfather.

When Musashi, as he couldn't hold back any longer, struck his grandson in the face, knocking him to the ground, and having ceased to be "responsible for his actions," he was also unable to stop himself when he rushed at Sora on the ground, who allowed himself to be struck by the painful cybernetic fists of his furious grandfather. Feeling guilty for everything his grandparents had given him... and for all, that a part of his blood had taken away from them.

To the point, despite his nanobots protecting the bones of his skull and beneath his skin, Sora was forced to dodge his grandfather's blows by moving his head and causing them to hit the ground instead, leaving marks of his fists on it. He also had to raise his guard to silently continue receiving the blows filled with anger and sorrow from his grandfather.

When the blows slowed down, Sora opened his bloodied mouth and asked, "Are you done, old man?"

This prompted Musashi, after briefly losing control of himself, to regain his composure. Seeing himself above his injured grandson with his bloody metallic fists, he instantly understood what he had just done. He couldn't articulate a coherent sentence, even so, he managed to say with guilt, "S-Sora, I... I'm sorry."

Spitting out the remnants of blood in his mouth, Sora paid it no mind "It's nothing, Ojii, that's what family is for... not the beating part, I mean, stay there to prevent you from doing something crazy, and it's not like it's the first time you've left me bleeding to shit with your blows, heh" Sora said, displaying a bloody and sincere smile, devoid of resentment or blame, to his grandfather, while intentionally, in front of him, closing the wounds on his face with a faint black cloak of nanobots, almost as if nothing happened.

Still on the ground, Sora turned to the Fool Crows that had landed on nearby surfaces, restraining themselves from intervening as they witnessed Musashi beating his creator. Aware of this, Sora addressed them with gratitude, saying, "And you guys, scram. I told you there was no need to interfere."

Then, Sora, gazing at his still-shocked grandfather for what he had just done, spoke. "Now that you've calmed down, I want to apologize for my earlier words, but I needed to relieve some of the 'pressure' that was pushing you toward doing something irrational. Although I'm not exactly sure how, I was sincere when I said I believe I can and intend to assist Uncle Tashin.

However, if you insist on a face-to-face meeting with Saburo, demanding Tashin's return, and things don't go well, which I anticipate due to how he left Tashin in Yorinubo's hands, possibly harboring some resentment toward you for your abrupt departure from Arasaka to raise me in Night City—That, something as self-absorbed as Saburo surely perceived as a form of betrayal or dissatisfaction that grew over time.

He may take steps to ensure Tashin's safety by relocating him to a more secure and secluded location, making it more challenging for us to recover him than if he remains with Yorinubo. So, Ojii, please trust me. When I have the necessary safeguards in place to confront Arasaka, I will personally inform you of Tashin's whereabouts." Sora concluded, looking earnestly at his grandfather.

"What are you talking about?" Musashi asked, bewildered, as he stood up and extended his hand to help Sora to his feet, while struggling against the guilt, looking at the wounded face of his grandson.

"I'm talking about elevating Iron Beast's position, their two creators, and their families to a point where it doesn't matter whether it's Militech, IEC, or Saburo Arasaka himself—they'd all have to think twice before unleashing a corporate war... by attacking us. That's the kind of protection I'm talking about," Sora said as he got up, holding onto his grandfather's hand.

With Musashi able to see how the blue rings in his grandson's eyes shone intensely, as if lending weight to his own words, he asked, "Sora... How do you intend to do that?"

"Thanks to Arc," Sora said honestly. "I believe I can create something so valuable... that it would be worth going to war to protect the only company that can provide it!" Sora revealed, with a wide grin on his face, like a 6-year-old, except for the traces of blood on it.

-

23 minutes later, having been confined in a two-seater sports car filled with men and a robotic pup.

Morgan emerged from the car visibly irked in front of the Night Corp headquarters. As he closed the door, he exclaimed in frustration, "Stay in the car, kid, and if you mess with the chains I've stashed in the radio, I'll think twice before taking you with me."

"Do it, and when I die in the streets, I'll curse you and tell my father's ghost to hunt you down together" retaliated the young voice, taking up the empty seat in front of Morgan at the wheel.

"Very well, Mathew, summoning your father's ghost was a nice touch to annoy his fan part. You know you've done a good job when the vein on their foreheads swells like Morgan's does now," remarked Sora, sharing some of his wisdom with the younger generation before exiting the car as well. He heard a proud "Thanks" before closing the door.

As Morgan complained to Sora about his unhelpful teachings for Mathew, both entered the towering skyscraper that served as the Night Corp headquarters. It was located near Corpo Plaza, north of the Jinguji store and west of the Arasaka Tower.

The entrance and lobby of the building were heavily guarded due to recent attacks on Night Corp's servers. Sora and Morgan approached the reception, identifying themselves as Lazarus agents. Immediately, a couple of security guards guarding the entrance approached and led them to the elevator area.

In the elevator with the two guards guiding them to one of the upper floors, Sora took the opportunity to inquire through a call via his IDn ["So, are you going to at least tell me what this gig is about?"]

["I've already told you, haven't I? The Night Corp server mess that's in the news,"] replied Morgan, accepting Sora's call through his IDn.

["But you must know more, right? Lazarus must have given you some information along with the client's request and background on the problem?"]

["To be honest, not really. It's all very mysterious. The report they gave me said I'd be informed in person by the client due to the sensitive information they had to share, which is why they turned to Lazarus."]

["So, Lazarus is like the premium fixers for the corpos? Fixing their shit discreetly?"]

["And sometimes not so discreetly, but we do keep our mouths shut. For now, it benefits us to have our finger on the corporate world's pulse and be aware of the messes that get out of their control, and if we have to keep quiet for that information... so be it."]

Morgan, recalling something that didn't seem important, added, ["Speaking of which, there was something else in the report... Night Corp wants us to find something."]

["What...?"] Sora asked.

["No idea!"] replied Morgan before the call ended as the elevator doors opened with an elegant "Ping."

The two guards led them to a large reinforced door, which, after scanning them for a few seconds, opened. It revealed a control room filled with screens and operators working, with a subtle slope where different operators and their desks were arranged in consecutive rows, giving an organized and efficient impression.

The wall in front of them was occupied by a huge screen displaying a city map, with a facial recognition program running on one side, attempting to identify the highly modified faces of the culprits from the last Night Corp attack.

On the map, ten illuminated buildings were visible, with small windows around them providing real-time updates on Night Corp's highly protected servers, monitored both by the corporation's security team and the NCPD in case of another possible attack.

Sienna, the CEO of Night Corp, dressed in a Night Corp officer uniform, was in the elevated area of the room, personally overseeing the situation. Seeing the Lazarus agents she had been waiting for enter, she welcomed them with a nod and invited them to follow her as she headed towards one of the adjacent rooms to the control room.

Inside the dimly lit room, which had doors at both ends, Morgan stood next to Sienna, who was waiting for them in front of a large one-way window. They observed the interrogation being conducted by her viperine assistant with the sole survivor of the last attack, a Netrunner employed by Night Corp.

Meanwhile, Sora positioned himself behind the two operators in the middle of the room, responsible for monitoring the Netrunner's biological data displayed on the screens.

Without further delay, Sienna greeted them and said, "I'm glad you've arrived. We can't afford to waste any more time, as we did at the Gala... so let's begin." Placing a hand on the command diadem she wore, Sienna contacted her assistant in the adjoining room to initiate the interrogation once again.

The Netrunner's nervousness, in response to Sienna's assistant's questions, led him to recount what had happened once more. He explained how he had been oblivious to everything while the attack was underway, as he was connected to the network performing server maintenance. Then suddenly, while still connected, he heard something resembling a murmur or melody, and the next thing he remembered was waking up in Night Corp's infirmary.

As the interrogation continued, Sienna elaborated on the case that had led Night Corp to seek Lazarus' assistance. She began to lay out the details of the incident, saying, "As you may already know, after it was leaked to the press, Night Corp's city-controlling servers were attacked, resulting in 17 casualties—8 of them NCPD agents who responded during the attack, and 9 Night Corp employees responsible for maintaining and safeguarding the server."

"We found this device connected to the Neural Port of the sole survivor," she said, as a unidirectional window displayed an image of a small black cylinder with one end being a smooth silver structure, resembling a magnet. "We believe it's what they used to connect with him," Sienna continued, looking at the lone survivor behind the glass. "They used our Netrunner's credentials and access permission to initiate the data theft."

"Can't you trace the signal's location to which the stolen information was transmitted?" Morgan asked, examining the image on the glass.

"It wasn't used to transmit, based on our investigation. It only functions as a receiver for the signal sent to our Netrunner, who ended up being the one to download the server data voluntarily. Beneficially for him, as you've heard, he doesn't recall anything." Sienna explained.

"It seems like they hacked him instead of the server," Morgan remarked.

After Sora had been scanning the operator's screens and couldn't find what he was looking for, he asked, "Any traces of malware or daemons in the Netrunner's software?"

"We found scattered lines of code that we couldn't identify from any registered program, supporting the theory of the Netrunner being hacked. Additionally, from the transmitter we found, we managed to extract a fragment of a file." Sienna responded.

"Night Corp contact Lazarus before this attack. How many attacks have occurred in total?" Morgan inquired.

"This has been the eighth attack we've suffered in the past two and a half years, to be precise, with the first attack occurring 34 months ago. In the previous attacks, we managed to 'contain' them discreetly," Sienna explained. As she spoke, unidirectional windows began to display images corroborating her statements about the previous attacks.

"Initially, both the city council and Night Corp didn't give it much importance due to the sporadic nature of the attacks, and the attacked servers had little security because of their low importance and ease of replacement in case of loss."

"However, over time, the attacks have escalated, with two more occurring just this month and posing a danger to our citizens as well. The previous attack a week ago nearly caused one of the city subway's cars to derail. It could have potentially killed all the passengers if it weren't for the subway's safety system activating at the last moment," Sienna said, relieved that the worst-case scenario had been averted.

Seeing the familiar images of the motionless subway car anchored on the tracks prompted Sora to speak up, pointing at the images, "Ah! I was on that one!"

Sora's words made Sienna and Morgan turn towards him, as Sienna exclaimed, "Impossible! We obtained the identification of everyone on that—"

Interrupting herself, realizing that his careless comment might reveal the mysterious Mercenary's identity, Sienna instructed the operators in the room, "Show me all the data from last week's subway incident, along with the names of all the trapped victims."

When more than 20 faces appeared on the glass, Sora clarified, "You won't find me there. I wasn't on the train; I was on top of it and bolted after activating the car's safety system 'at the last second,' by the way!"

"Was it you?" Sienna asked with a hint of gratitude in her surprise before adding, "We thought the system... wait! It can't be; it happened between the district sections. There was nowhere you could have gone, unless you jumped from more than 100 meters high into the water."

Morgan, always astute, said, "Kid, you ran above the tracks and until used your grapple, didn't you?"

"Exactly!" Sora replied, pleased that Morgan had guessed correctly.

Shaking her head at the idea of running along tracks hundreds of meters high, Sienna refocused and continued her briefing, "In the last attack, the blueprints for Night City's underground structure were stolen, including the sewer and drainage system. We believe the group behind the attacks plans to use this information in future attacks, especially considering how they used the sewer system to escape after the last assault."

"Could you show us any images you have of the culprits?" Morgan asked, to have something to start investigating.

Sienna replied with regret, "All security cameras were destroyed, and the footage was erased from the building's servers. This method has been repeated in all the attacks, making it challenging to identify the culprits."

Morgan, searching for alternatives, pointed his thumb towards the entrance they had come through and asked, "So how are you identifying suspects outside?"

Sienna explained, "We don't have camera recording, but since this last attack, we have something better. We obtained a Braindance from one of the security members who died in the hospital. We managed to create an incident recording before he passed away." Then, addressing the operators, she ordered, "Provide them with a copy."

With some reluctance, Sora commented, "Oi, Morgan, isn't it your job? Wouldn't it make more sense if you were the one to review it?"

Morgan, aware and in agreement with Sora, responded, "No, I don't like Braindances as much as the young folks do; it's all yours."

"I don't like them either," Sora quickly added.

"You're the Street Kid of Night City. Maybe you can recognize some faces. Besides, you have a talent for these digital things, don't you?" Morgan insisted.

"Tch, that's not gonna happen; I'm not the most sociable," Sora replied, turning annoyed towards the operators who offered them the chip and a reader. He opted to take just the chip, as his helmet already had a built-in Braindance reader."Giving a pat on the shoulder to one of the operators to signal him to make room and free up one of the two available seats in the room.

Once seated, Sora inserted the chip into his helmet's slot and activated the .Bd file within the chip. As soon as he activated it, the lights on the reader inside his helmet began to flicker until his consciousness faded from the room with Sienna and Morgan.

Transferring to a long hallway inside a building, where the lights were malfunctioning, and the few that worked kept flickering. The viewpoint of the memory's owner continued to run down the long corridor, breathing uncontrollably through his mouth, accompanied by the sound of heavy footsteps and labored breaths, making Sora realize he wasn't alone.

Several people were running alongside him, all of them in the same security uniforms as the memory's owner, their faces covered in sweat and fear.

As they ran, they shot sloppily their weapons into the darkness of the deep corridor that seemed to be pursuing them, as the lights they passed went out one by one. This caused the multiple eyes, or rather lenses, hidden in the darkness, which were pursuing them and being shot at, to shine brightly.

Lenses even glowed from the ceilings, as if they were walking on it like a spider. In the face of this chilling image that would leave most people sleepless, the frightened guards ran with all their might.

One of them was encouraging his terrified comrades to run faster while staring directly at Sora, or rather the deceased owner of the memory. Just as he was opening his mouth, Sora could even see and feel the splashes on his face when a rusty metal bar pierced through the back of his companion's head, coming out through his mouth.

Still alive, he looked at Sora with eyes filled with pain and terror for what was about to happen to him when the rusty metal that impaled him opened up like an umbrella, expanding in all directions like a macabre metal flower. In the next instant, it was pulled into the darkness, taking the impaled guard with it.

As Sora's vision blurred with tears from the memory's owner, he heard his companion's muffled screams through the metal piercing his mouth before disappearing into the darkness of the corridor.

["Stop!"] Sora ordered vocally, freezing the frame just before the guard disappeared into the darkness. Sora approached him and examined the four metallic arms that were holding the guard and leaving him suspended in the air, with an expression of pain, tears, and desperation, creating a nightmarish cybernetic image.

Nevertheless, Sora noticed the unconventional designs of the four cybernetic arms that emerged from the darkness. They were rusty and seemed to be made from scraps, yet well-crafted, giving off a dangerous vibe. Sora recognized them from what he had seen in the Night City junkyard.

"Master, Master... it seems that despite not knowing who you were... you certainly don't mind killing..." Sora said aloud before commanding ["Play"], returning to his viewpoint following the Bd's owner.

As they ran down the corridor, the group headed for an imposing armored door, managing to open it just in time before the darkness caught up with them. The first person to enter quickly closed the door, barely allowing the last person, the memory's owner, to slip through at the last moment.

When they were all inside, they nervously aimed their weapons at the closed armored door. Their bodies tensed with each scratch, blow, or shot that echoed behind the door as they attempted to open it. Sora could see that they were in the server room, with the surviving Netrunner still lying connected, confirming what he had said in his version.

When the attacks from outside ceased, everyone inside the server room breathed a sigh of relief, believing they were safe. However, that moment of relief was short-lived, as calm was shattered by an unsettling hum echoing in the room: "♩ Hum, Huum-hun-hmm-hum ♩."

The guards desperately searched for the source of this sound, their gazes fixating on one of their visibly disturbed comrades who was stumbling toward the Netrunner connected to the server while continuing to hum.

His comrades, upon witnessing his strange behavior in this moment of crisis, ordered him to halt, pointing their weapons at him. He disregarded their warnings, and before they could open fire, the guard who had been humming grabbed the small black cylinder that no one had noticed on the back of his head. Removing it, as if it were his final command, he brought the cylinder towards the Netrunner's head.

His companions prevented him from doing so, opening fire on him before he could touch the Netrunner's head. However, despite their right decision to prevent the cylinder from touching the Netrunner, the black cylinder, in the guard's lifeless hand, activated itself before hitting the ground, immediately magnetizing to the Netrunner's neural port.

The other guards watched in horror as the Netrunner, the instant the cylinder connected, started convulsing before abruptly ceasing, only to start humming "♩ Hum, Huum-hun-hmm-hum ♩" in an unsettling tone, too.

Following this, to the astonishment of his comrades, the Netrunner, connected to the server, unlocked the sealed doors of the room. The other guards, confused and terrified, turned towards the newly opened door. At first, nothing seemed to happen, until the lights in the server room abruptly went out.

Amidst the darkness, the assailants stormed into the room, briefly illuminated by the guards' gunfire. It was during those fleeting flashes that the owner of the memory witnessed the gruesome final moments of his comrades as they were impaled, decapitated, and dismembered by the attackers.

A figure emerged from the shadows, barely discernible except for its multiple glowing red lenses on her face. With sharp claws, she impaled the memory's owner and hoisted him into the air. The guard's final moments were filled with a bewildering mixture of terror and agony as they gazed upon the two crimson arms, now further stained with scarlet from his own blood coursing through them after piercing his stomach.

Stopping the BD, when the guard finally lost consciousness.

"Ahmm.... Gear," Sora said with a tinge of sadness, recognizing the crimson arms and the positioning of the lenses that matched Gear's cyberware – Jackie's girlfriend.

He ordered, ["Rewind"], in a hushed tone, and the Braindance rolled back to the point where the Netrunner and the security member were humming. Repeating the hum over and over, hoping to recall where he had heard it before.

Striving to grasp the meaning behind those discordant notes, Sora raised his hands, summoning a holographic blue screen in front of him by connecting the Braindance to his Okami-puter, buried in the "basement" of Iron Beast.

From it, he extracted the strange signal he had copied from Jackie, that prevented him from waking up. Sora took the wave frequency of Jackie's signal, making it audible, and then superimposed it with the wave frequency of the hum from the BD. Playing it monotonal, like a hum, gave rise to an inharmonic cacophony, no matter which side Sora joined them.

Despite the results, Sora remained convinced that Jackie's signal and the humming were related, thinking that perhaps another piece could help. Sora raised his hand while still seated in the operator's chair and requested, "I need a copy of the signal fragment you've recovered from the cylindrical transmitter."

"Why?" Sienna asked, taken aback by Sora's sudden request.

"I want to overlay it with the melody's frequency from the humming, with one more part I found on one of my jobs in the city."

"You've encountered this signal before?!" Sienna exclaimed, pleasantly surprised, instructing the two operators to make a copy as Sora had requested.

"Yes, I think so," Sora replied, avoiding, for now, mentioning his encounter in the Landfill.

"What are you talking about?" Morgan asked, bewildered by the conversation he couldn't follow.

"Fuck you, you should be the one stuck in this BD for gore fans..." Sora responded while still seated, connected to the Braindance.

"A lot?" Morgan asked, somewhat curious about the BD's content.

"Pretty much!" Sora replied, recalling the guards' fates as he reached out to the operator who approached him, surprising him, thinking he wouldn't be seen while still connected to the Braindance.

With the chip in hand, Sora inserted it into the other port of his helmet. Using the blue screen in front of him in the Braindance, he extracted the waveform of the new signal and when he brought it close to the others... they aligned themselves.

"♩ Nhm, NHmn-hmn-hnm-hnm-NHmn-hmn, Nhm-hmn-hnm-NHmn, NHmn♩" Creating an eerie monotonous harmony that increases in tempo with each repetition.

Sora was undecided on whether he should stop the unsettling frequency that mysteriously started moving on its own, as if it yearned to complete itself. With a quick gesture of his hand, he removed the waveform from the blue screen and disconnected the interface from his Qpc as a precautionary measure.

He allowed the frequency to continue running, but this time within his helmet, specifically in the Braindance.

Inside the Braindance, in [Stop], Sora explored the holographic representation of the enigmatic frequency that had been looping. In one of the repetitions, Sora felt a strange déjà vu sensation, recalling when he was still sick and Night City and its citizens were nothing more than characters in a video game.

Recalling his memories, almost in a déjà vu form, of the Peralez's BD, with the attempted assassination of the mayor that Detective River Ward thwarted by neutralizing the categorized cyberpsycho who carried out the attack. Specifically, recalling the eerie hum that cyberpsycho had performed before the attack—interestingly enough, the same melody that was now repeating in front of him.

This made Sora wonder if the Master he met in the Landfill... was also indirectly represented in the game. He also remembered the ending of Pilar in the series and found similarities among the three cases.

As Sora delved into these reflections, the virtual representation of the Netrunner, which had remained in [Stop] like the rest of the Braindance, suddenly came to life. Its movements were unsettling, something no human could achieve. It moved swiftly and appeared right behind Sora, who seemed completely unaware of its presence, examining the frequency. With a fist wrapped in green code, the Netrunner pierced Sora's consciousness from behind.

-

At the same time, in the observation room, Sienna and Morgan watched Sora, waiting for him to finish his Braindance session and share his findings. However, something alarming happened: the fine blue and red lines flowing from Sora's helmet, along with the two intense blue lines representing his eyes, unsettlingly faded away, replaced by lines of green code, while Sora clenched his right fist tightly, shattering the armrests of his chair.

"So- Kid, are you okay?" exclaimed Morgan, his concern evident in his voice, almost calling him by name.

"Okami, what has happened? Are you still there?" Sienna asked, quickly calling her assistant in case the situation turned violent. Well aware of how dangerous the signal used by the culprit was, seemingly capable of controlling people.

"...," After a few seconds of alarming silence, Sora opened his mouth; "Hm-pt," clearing his throat before adding, almost in a whisper as if he were hiding, "I've got the culprit, they're attacking me through the network."

From behind Sora, the Netrunner sneered, "You should have appreciated the opportunity I gave you, Mercenary, and not crossed my path again. Now you'll be just another casualty, like the rest," as the code he used to impale Sora extended, immobilizing him.

However, the attacker made a mistake by wrongly categorizing Sora as 'just another.' When he, still impaled, responded, "I can be spooky too," turning his neck 180 degrees as if possessed, and glancing at his attacker, he added, proving his point, "See!"

Simultaneously, a logical white code surrounded him, pushing back the green code that had immobilized him enough for him to take advantage of his new head position with a headbutt to the Netrunner behind/(in front?) of him, who was impaling him.

The Netrunner, surprised and staggering backward, heard Sora's voice again, but this time from behind him, in the dimly lit part of the server, saying, "And I can also strike from the shadows."

Emulating the attackers who hid in the darkness, Sora emerged from it, appearing behind the Netrunner, gripping the sheath with one hand and the hilt of the recreation, made of white code, of Getsuga with the other, squeezing the sheath's trigger, executing a swift unsheathing cut, severing one of the Netrunner's limbs.

With one less arm, the startled consciousness behind the Netrunner, unable to entirely dodge the dangerous attack, heard Sora say again, "See" with White Getsuga resting on his shoulder.

At the same time, his Soulcode, which had been impaled, turned into white code, rejoining Sora after successfully completing its role as bait, causing White Getsuga resting on Sora's shoulder to shine even brighter.

Sora, as if meeting an old friend, said, "Yo! Master, it's been a while! We need to stop meeting like this!"

"You've fooled me," Master replied, infiltrating the network on the device that was broadcasting the signal he himself had created.

"No kidding? I'm sure you'd have loved to really nail me from behind, but sorry... I don't swing that way," Sora said as he spun Getsuga in his hand, gripping it invertedly, ready to launch at him.

"Mercenary, this won't end like last time," Master said, looking at his missing arm as he reconstructed it from code. Then, on the [Stop] frame of the BD, he made the rest of the recreations come to life, including those of the guards, the cyberpsycho, and the recreation of Gear.

Seeing what was coming, Sora took the opportunity to ask, "What are you seeking?"

As a large number of hostile projections gathered around him, Master replied, "I seek to be whole again."

"And you're going to achieve that by attacking Night Corp's servers?" Sora asked rhetorically.

"It's none of your business what I do with my property!" Master responded firmly, controlling the Netrunner's projection.

Disconcerted, Sora asked, "Your property?"

The master fell silent for a moment before responding honestly, "I... have memories... of running Night Corp!"

"What?" Sora exclaimed, unable to believe it.

"Tell me, Mercenary, are you going to continue getting in my way?" Master asked one last time.

Causing Sora to respond in kind, "Are you going to stop killing people?" As the impending threat loomed, he spun Getsuga in his hand again, elegantly sheathing it.

"So be it... I don't want to kill, but I also don't care if that's the price of being whole again... you've made your decision. Die here, Mercenary! I'll use your body to kill as many as I can at Night Corp, where you are. You'll just be another cyberpsycho." Master declared, raising his hand, and as he lowered it, the rest of the projections lunged at Sora.

Faced with the familiar sight of a wave of Master's puppets rushing toward him, Sora slowly assumed a sheathing position, planting his feet firmly on the ground, with both hands on Getsuga and in its sheath. Before unsheathing, he said to the Master, who was behind the wave of puppets, "Just Fucking Try It! Especially here...!"

Without squeezing the trigger, Sora slowly unsheathed White Getsuga in what seemed like a harmlessly slow horizontal cut. However, contrary to appearances, the resulting cut, made of pure white code from his Soulcode, divided the server room and everyone in it, slicing through all the walls in front of Sora, even cutting part of the braindance code outside the memory.

Without finishing, Sora raised White Getsuga, shining intensely over his head, and then, closing one eye, he made a second slow vertical cut right where the two divided halves of the astonished Master were, who couldn't process this kind of power from a human in the digital world.

He grasped the sheath, pulling it away from his waist, and just as he sheathed Getsuga into it with a 'Clink!', the scene and the Master divided again, ending in four perfect parts. 

Sora's attack extended beyond the digital recreation of the guard memory, reaching again the Bd code behind the scenario. Causing a massive failure that made the Bd begin to collapse. 

As it did so, Sora looked at the remnants of Master, and with Getsuga sheathed in his hand, made a slight bow, saying; "Looking forward to seeing you again... next time, I'll be the one paying you a visit!"

"You'll regret it-" Master replied, moving the two divided parts of his mouth without being able to finish before the BD finally collapsed completely.

-

In the observation room, where previously only Sora, Morgan, Sienna, and the two operators were present, it was now crowded with Night Corp security personnel, led by Sienna's viperine assistant. All of them had their weapons trained on Sora, who remained motionless while still immersed in the Braindance.

Suddenly, a small burst of sparks erupted from the chip slot on Sora's helmet, causing everyone in the room to tense their fingers on their triggers.

The situation relaxed when, within seconds, the serene animation of blue and red lines running across Sora's helmet returned, along with the two stripes that once again shone brightly as eyes.

However, the tension rose again when Sora suddenly began to move, raising his black arm and removing the fried chip from his helmet, which contained the Bd, now collapsed. He tossed it onto the floor, still emitting smoke, in front of the guards with their nerves on edge, who were still pointing their weapons at him

Noticing the guns pointed at him, Sora, unfazed by it, opened the section of his helmet covering his mouth and lit a cigarette as he calmly asked, "You don't mind if I smoke, do you?"

Morgan, upon hearing this, didn't hesitate and said, "Kid, you're back! You had us worried. They said you could go crazy all of a sudden. Are you okay?" He holstered the weapon he had aimed at Sora, at least having the courtesy to switch to one with paralyzing bullets.

"Next time, it'll be you going into the Bd..." Sora responded with an annoyed tone after everything he had been through by being the one to enter the bd.

"Hahaha, of course, kid, of course... not!" exclaimed Morgan, relieved to see Sora unchanged but still refusing to be the one to enter the Bd in the future.

Sienna's viperish assistant added abruptly, "Mercenary, what the hell just happened?" while his boss ordered the security team to leave the room, now that the danger had passed.

"Something interesting," Sora replied while smoking, getting up from his chair and taking out the other chip given to him by the operators, now with a complete copy of the Master's "song".

Sora placed the chip in the slot below the one-way window of the room and, with some resentment towards the Netrunner for how the Master had used his projection, said to the operators, "Block any signals inside the interrogation room, and this one too, then play the audio file from the chip, let the Netrunner enjoy it!"

Before doing anything, the two operators turned to Sienna, who, before confirming anything, asked, "Does this have anything to do with what you've found out? Have you really encountered the culprits?"

"Culprit, in singular, everything has been carried out by one person or... thing." clarified Sora between puffs.

Finding it hard to believe, Sienna said, "So all the cyberpsychos that appear in the Bd... are..."

"Victims of the signal, practically like puppets, I don't know if there's anything conscious left inside them." Sora replied with a heavy heart as he thought about Gear.

Sora's revelation caused Sienna to affirm to the two operators that they already had the signal blockades of the two rooms ready, waiting only for her confirmation. To leave everyone inside the two rooms, outside the network.

Before activating the file, Sora turned to the two operators and added, "You two, keep an eye on the unidentified remnants of code on his cyberware and the Netrunner's IDn, understood?"

Both nodded, and then they activated the audio file only in the interrogation room with the Netrunner. Within seconds of hearing the melody, the Netrunner grabbed his head with his hands, and when it finished, he started humming the same tune as he approached the one-way mirror. Without delay, he began banging his head against it, in front of the stunned gaze of almost everyone in the adjacent room.

Amidst the silence in the room, as they couldn't believe how the Netrunner had turned into a cyberpsycho before their eyes, Sora, while smoking, said right in front of the Netrunner, who was now pounding the glass with blood, "Interesting, isn't it?"