Chapter 1: The Beginning

?-"Micheal get up, I'm not gonna wait all day!"

I open my eyes and stare at the dirty ceiling of our camper for a moment before grumbling "Alright Alright don't need to yell". I lean up into a sitting position for a moment before standing, looking around I notice the sun sneaking through the cracks in the blinds, lighting up the fairly small interior of the camper.

'We really need to clean this place up a bit' I think before kicking a can out of the way while walking over to my footlocker. I get dressed while trying to remember what was so important about today. 'Oh right what was it' I pause for a moment "Oh shit, DAD I'LL BE RIGHT OUT"! I put myself into overdrive after remembering that today may very well be the best day ever. After getting dressed in my favorite pair of pants I run out the door and see my dad packing up. ?-"what took ya so long shorty". "I told you not to call me that dad" I look over and see him grinning at me while folding a table we had set up next to the camper, Dad-"And why would I do that" he said while carrying the table over the the camper and strapping it to the side. Dad-"Now go grab those chairs and hurry up we don't want to take to long, I don't want those scavs noticing us while we head to the city". I smiled when I heard him mention the city, I've only ever seen it from the outside, I've dreamed about it ever since my mom first told me the stories of the sleepless city shrouded in light and smog 'Night City here I come'.

After Loading up the rest of our stuff we enter the camper and sit for a moment while my father tells me more about the city. Dad-"Okay boy, I need you to listen cause while I know Marie got you all hopped up on how great the city is, there's a reason we left" I look and him for a moment before sighing ' I miss her' I think while holding my belt buckle, feeling the word carved into it, 'Marie', noticing me hold my buckle my dad says "I miss her too champ but we gotta keep movin forward... that's what she would want." He puts his hand and my shoulder squeezing it firmly, "I told her to stop with all that netrunning shit but she just wouldn't listen" He pauses for a moment to collect himself "I guess besides us the things she loved most were the city and that deck she always carried around.". I put my hand into one of my pockets and pull out the cyberdeck she gave me, staring at it I say "She did love to talk about the city"....

"Come on how about I just tell you about the city while I drive." We move to the front of the camper and when I sit in the passenger seat and he starts to dive towards the interstate. Dad-" Okay bub while we drive I'll tell you more about the city and some rules to follow. First, always keep your head down, I've seen too many people lose theirs cause they werent smart. Second, dont look at people for too long I've lost a buddy before cause they were stupid enough to stare at one of those maelstrom cunts mods for a half a second to long." He grumbles something I cant hear before continuing on "Third, and this one is important cause your mom got you into that netrunning crap, don' piss off any runners, while your mom tried to keep you safe from stuff like that even the best defense cant keep everything out forever, I learned that from your mom." I knew what he meant when he said those words, mom always went on and on about staying safe on the net and never getting caught but even then we lost her all the same. We both sat in silence as I watched the clouds of smog in the distance.

'Hopefully things turn for the better in the city of dreams'