The Cyberpunk, Lucy
"Who are you!?" The girl crawled back, avoiding me and shrouding herself in the shadows of the night.
'Oi, this girl...' she hits hard you know? this is definitely leaving a bruise, who slaps someone with a fist?
I backed off and allowed her to wear the clothes on her own, cleaning the blood that poured from my nose. Standing in front of her without saying anything, she recollected herself and looked around and even at herself.
"Y-You, what did you do, where are my enhancements?!"
"..."
"What is this place?!"
"Stop shouting, you're going to attract people..." I sighed in exasperation the least I want is a bunch of vagrants thinking that there is some easy prey here.
"You don't want anyone to come just so you can abuse me, huh?" She said with a hidden glint.
"What...?" I frowned in her direction, I'm literally standing like ten metres away from you, does any of this scream abuse?
The beauty stood up and looked around, there was nothing, well... if you looked far enough and with good eyes, you'd be able to see some crackheads smoking weed. But aside from that, nothing else.
"Have you calmed down? I'm not going to do anything to you... do you see my clothes and yours?" I pointed at us
"..." She followed my indication and frowned in confusion, her clothes were identical to mine, and it didn't make sense to her.
"They're identical; I wasn't undressing you, I was putting some clothes in you because we're in the middle of the night, in a public park, you understand now?"
"Who are you and what is this place? this doesn't look like night city..." She seemed to have calmed down a great deal.
"Night city? this is Japan... the year is 2015".
"J-Japan...? 2015?! n-no way..." She gasped, aghast... why is it that surprising? could it be that she's some time traveller? I started to think about Chun Li, what time would she have become from?
"Before you lose your mind, tell me what is the last thing that you remember?" In order to make things easier for us, I asked her.
"I remember... doing some job... stealing ships, then... out of nowhere someone pulled a gun to shoot at me, that shouldn't have happened... then... I recall... Brand Mercer?"
"That is my name..." I don't know why she'd have heard my name wherever she was.
"You are Brand Mercer? w-what did you do to me, why am I here?" Her apprehension levels seemed to increase again when she realised I'm Brand Mercer.
'Hollow, I thought you said they'd be more conscious...'
[She has a certain degree of attachment towards you, it is artificially constructed, and it will stop her from attacking you under extreme circumstances; she will trust you if you speak to her lightly, however, if you use the wrong combination of words, it will still trigger her].
"Listen to me, Lucy. I mean no ill to you. You were taken from your world to assist me in a mission, no more, no less... I summoned you here, you were naked and I gave you clothes to wear. I only know your name is Lucy, I know nothing else... I don't know what you mean by enhancements or night city. But regardless, this place is without a doubt Japan, Tokonotsu City and the year is 2015."
"..." She seemed to be considering her options.
"W-What if I want to go away, are you going to restrain me?" There was a threat in her voice.
"If you want to go away, it is within your spectrum of choice... I have the power to erase you" I shrugged my shoulders, unashamedly stating my capabilities, it is better if she knows this from the get-go.
!!!
As I expected she stood on guard.
"But I won't do so... Lucy, if you're not going to be my companion, then you can keep living here... so long as you don't stand in my way... if you do, then I'm going to erase you" I stated my intentions, if she wants to live a peaceful life in this world away from me, well that would be regrettable, it means I'd waste a hundred gacha points, but this was at the end an experiment; now I know what to brace for next time.
"..." She frowned towards me, likely not up to the tone that I used.
"Where can I stay?" She asked.
"I can't take you to my place, I don't trust you, but... I can rent a hotel for you, follow me..." I began walking away, not even checking if she was following me or not.
We walked in silence, I felt her sharp glare on my back at all times. After several minutes we reached a hotel, the manager looked at us sassily until he saw Lucy wasn't wearing shoes, he likely thought her to be a vagrant or something. What a fool, as if a vagrant could possibly look this gorgeous and godly.
Lucy is no doubt the most beautiful woman I have ever seen... her body might not match Shizuka's but her face... I have never seen anyone so pretty.
The manager completely misunderstood everything, but I don't care.
"I want a room for a whole week," I asked him, aware that more than that would be an outrageous price that I can't afford.
"It will be fifty thousand yen," He stated, extending his hand forward, his eyes fixed on Lucy.
I paid and got the keys, going to the room I entered and it looked decent.
*BAANG!*
The doors closed abruptly and Lucy pinned me to the wall, her face so close to me that I thought she was going to kiss me for a second.
"..."
"..."
"What? Do you want to do it?~" I asked her teasingly, she merely placed her finger against my neck as if it was a knife before retreating it.
"Stop joking, I want to see if you're lying to me, Brand Mercer..."
"How are you going to know that? by looking into my eyes...? here, take the keys..." I pushed her to the bed, surprising her with my explosive strength, she bounced a few times on it and I threw the keys at her.
[-5 gacha points]
Then I made five bills of twenty thousand yen each, which is about half a thousand dollars, enough for her to live for a week considering I already paid for the hotel. I wrote a phone number on paper and left it on the table before leaving.
"What's this?" She seemed to look at the phone number as if it was some sort of cryptic code, where did she come from? the caves?
"If you're smart enough to stay by my side, then you will at least be able to decipher how to contact me on your own, Lucy... until we see each other again".
Having dropped those words I began my departure, closing the door behind me.
If she's going to be of help to me... I don't know, but at the very least I made it so that she can survive for a week... if she needs my help and she's smart enough, then she will contact me again and ask for more, if not... then it can't be helped.
I'm not here to babysit anyone other than Shizuka, and she's an exception. I don't know her capacities, perhaps she will give me a surprise.
In any case, tomorrow I have a date with Saya and it is already past midnight.
**
**
[Lucy's POV]
What should I do? I don't understand anything that's happening. I was doing some of my own work, stealing some ships to sell them away from Maine and his Cyberpunks, when all of the sudden, someone shoot me in the head, I'm sure I died, but... I ended up here and the only voice I can hear in my mind is his, Brand Mercer. To help him.
Am I being manipulated? it feels like that, but that man only left me clothes, money and a place to stay before leaving, it doesn't look like he's taking advantage of me at all. That said, what am I supposed to do? help him or not?
I don't have my enhancements, my guns, or even my ship or interface, in front of me there is nothing more than the clear gaze bereft of chrome. There is not a single ash of chrome in my body.
I was cloned by Arasaka and have chrome in my brain even before I gained consciousness, yet this feels so... refreshing. Is this how it feels to be human? completely human? it is like... taking a bath after being completely sullied in the dirt.
It feels magnificent. The air, is hot, is it summer or spring?
I stood up with a smile on my face and looked through the window, there it is.
The moon.
This place is not a night city, this place is Japan.
I was finally able to escape that city, but... under which circumstances?
Taking the keys and the money he gave me, I disposed myself to go out and explore this world. He didn't force me to do anything, he merely gave me the resources and allowed me to do whatever I wanted, is there any more freedom than that?