Solo Techie in NC

What does one make of their life once it has been torn apart?

Many would say there is nothing left, however, there is only one choice for a son of a dessert or a nomad, some would say. To take to the road and stop only once the fuel tank is empty and the car is beyond repair.

Even then take to wandering the lonely road in search of the future and freedom.

Others would seek out ways to rectify their loved one's death whether that is through revenge or trying to rebuild and start anew in a new place with no ties to what their life once was.

That is where Alexander currently stands, a crossroad between revenge and salvation. As he speeds through the great American planes he once called home, sand and wind buffet his car. Many options on what he can do pass through his mind as he considers how he wants to live the rest of his life.

'I guess the decision has been made for me, already' I think as I check the front passenger seat of my van to make sure the storage container is still stable. This is the last job the Journeyman will ever fulfil, after this, it is just me.

The storage container is a large box two feet long, three feet wide, and two feet high. It has a sleek design with no rough or rigid areas, it is coloured matte black with "JOURNEYMAN" in a box with a border to then have different tools of different crafts fanned out behind the name. There are highlighted tools that are larger and closer to the Journeyman name, they are a hammer, needle, and chip, with smaller tools fanned out beneath. This is all done in white which has been etched into the box. The box is made of reinforced metal, with silver inlays around the edges, and corners, and a security pad which can be in the centre of a long side. The security pad is slightly raised, having a touchpad that provides a variety of security features that need to be fulfilled in order to open the box. There are also two covered ports seen in the bottom right of the pad.

'We really should not have taken the job to make this' I thought to myself while passing into the border of Nevada from Utah.

Slowly driving through Nevada after taking a short rest on the side of the road behind an abandoned gas station. I do a quick check over my van to make sure everything is in working order for the final leg of my journey.

The van itself was custom-made by my family and I, and bore our crest which is similar to the crest on the box but it says "HAMES" with the highlighted tools being a syringe, hammer, needle, and wrench. Is twenty-eight feet long and five and a half feet tall. The front cab is six feet, the rest being the body. The van's ride height stands three-quarters of a foot off the ground, with one forward and two rear axles.

The van's colour is a scratched black with raised areas that are heavily equipped with armour. The handles are inlaid in the vehicle to prevent them from being damaged. There is a cage on top of the roof, half a foot tall with gear, and a stationary platform, that can raise to reveal a heavily modified Mk. 31 HMG that fires armour penetration or fragmentation. It extends above the van and is heavily armoured, the casing is ejected and stored in a compartment to be reused. Around the turret, there is extra storage, and gas tanks as well as other sturdy materials are often strapped to his area, however, there is only extra fuel there right now.

The van is heavily modified on the inside as well, it has a bigger gas tank, a turbocharged V10, an updated ECU, a new gearbox and transmission, increased suspension, off-roading tires, better brake pads and lines with as much of the internals protected, and a sturdier frame.

When it comes to security there are reinforced doors and joints along with a mechanical and digital lock. Along with cameras on all four sides that give a 360-degree view, the only windows are in the cab of the vehicle.

The downside is that there really is not that much space to actually deal with high-end manufacturing, medical procedures, or other equipment heavy tasks. It does have the basic equipment for manufacturing guns and simple cyberware, along with a limited supply of medical supplies.

'Guess that's why we usually move around in massive trucks' I think to myself as I check out my van to make sure, the tires have pressure, fuel levels, and other maintenance checks.

When going to bed I activate my security systems.

Overnight I am awoken multiple times to engines roaring and soaring past the gas station. By the time the sun finally rose above the horizon, I had awoken 3 times throughout the night.

With the sun up I hit the road again, with daylight it is a lot safer to travel when not in a big group or heavily equipped, as those that would attack are often attacked in return as no one likes Raffen Shiv no matter the person. Other than travelling during the day and sleeping at night it is about making sure the stops that need to be made are quick especially when picking up supplies.

Spending the majority of the day speeding through the remainder of Nevada and entering North California. When it comes to eating and taking breaks, it was basically munching on the shit known as kibble, which is basically just nutrition chunks that taste horrible. It is similar to the dog food of old. Food is something many do not get to enjoy unless someone is rich. One of the things I'm looking forward to is things to actually cook with when I get to Night City. Not taking long I start seeing signs of getting closer to Night City. Getting close to dawn I see the massive ad panels that travel up into the night sky.

Eventually, I see tall metallic pillars that jut up into the sky of Night City illuminated by the setting sun just beyond the horizon. When I get closer I get to see the distant oceans and waves buffeting the coast and casting reflections across the vast expanses of the open ocean. It looks calm as I stop my van atop a boundary cliff of Night City to watch the sun go down.

I step out and sit beside my vehicle, as the wind blows through my hair, and the sounds of barren plains of America whistle behind me, bringing the smell of dust and storm. Looking upon the Night City it looks calm and almost majestic as I consider the choices that were made to get here and that I may actually come to enjoy my time in Night City.

I slowly get up and decide to find a better place to stay the night, somewhere that is not as exposed. As I travel around the edge of Night City finding old roads, and trash I zone out and just drive.

With the setting sun disappearing behind the horizon I get to watch as all the lights turn on illuminating Night City in waves of artificial lighting that bathes the city in light.

It truly is a city of the night as ironic as that may sound. Night City the "city of dreams" in reality is a lot worse with corporations and gangs running the city. However, it is a great place to just become another nobody in a city of nobodies. That is what I need right now. As I find a decent spot in an outcropping from an old workyard, it is very hidden and has multiple escape routes.

There are many abandoned sheds and other equipment that may have been useful at some point but are nothing but scrap now. The only thing of prominence is an old water tower, that is no doubt empty but it will give a nice view of the surroundings.

Climbing up is quite easy using the old struts and ladders to scale the tower, reaching the top I find a great spot that shows all of Night City from the distant hydroponic fields to the rising megatowers to the rolling hills of greenery and fancy villas.

"Sigh" I guess this is how I spend the new year of 2073 at the ripe age of 16.

I think back to what I went through to end up here all the training, whether that be physical to academic, as I learned the skills that my clan came to offer. I really am lucky to have had such a great place to develop, especially from a young age. As my body has been genetically enhanced in a variety of ways, nothing drastic just enhances natural processes in the body. This led to me being 5 '11 and still expecting to grow, getting the beginnings of a beard, and having decent definition from all the hard labour and training I have gone through. Even with the full days of tinkering with cars, building weapons, taking apart and maintaining gear, helping with systems, and extra hours of study to understand the vast knowledge that the Journeyman had access to. I wouldn't give up those long and hard days for anything. As they were always done with a purpose, for another, for family.

I'm just glad I could make away with most of our system data so that those corpo, fucking shiv bastards couldn't get their hands on it. All the hard work we put into building up the family and clan was gone in mere minutes as we were raided mid-setup of our new camp site. "FUCK" I scream into the distance of Night City as I realize that we were setup someway somehow. I clench my hand and can feel my short nails slowly slice through the palm of my hands.

The next few hours feel like a blur as I watch Night City come alive from a distance as the desert winds blow through my short messy caramel brown hair. With the light from the city reaching out and shining upon my pale ivory skin, and reflecting in my green almost hazel eyes. Many would say that I am someone who would turn into a looker as I age, I'm not sure how I feel about my looks. I only know that I will never change them or change what has happened to me as I feel it would be dishonest to myself and those I grew up around. As I slowly feel the scars that I have gotten on my short journey in this life. Many are small from work accidents with small equipment or from hishaps. That will slowly fade as time goes by, even though I hope they remain forever and I have something to remember the time spent with my clan other than the pictures and memories we made. Several are larger and unfortunately they are the ones I hope fade such as the time another family tried to sabotage one of our projects and I was injured resulting in a large scar almost entirely crossing my chest from shoulder to abs.

This world is not a friendly one but I hope I can find another family whether that be here in Night City, somewhere along my journey in this life, or rejoin my family once this life is over.