Gear*

Upon hearing Wrench's words, Sora widened his eyes beneath his helmet and looked at the person who was blocking. And after seeing the sorry state the person was in, Sora said sadly, "You're... Gear."

A woman more metal than flesh, dressed in dirty and worn-out clothes. Her few organic parts malnourished and marked with small bite wounds. She had four red cybernetic limbs and all sorts of visible subdermal implants on her torso, covered by a dirty tank top that exposed the sides of her ribs with metallic air vents at the height of her lungs.

With a cyberware replacing her entire neck and extending through her shoulders, extending upwards to her chin. On her face stood a prominent cyberware, with eight red lenses of varying sizes, resembling spider eyes, in a bulky rectangular frame that covered more than half of her face, where her eyes and nose should be. Only her mouth was visible and intact.

Gear paused for a moment upon hearing her name before attempting once again to end her father's life in the trunk of the car, with her cybernetic fingers sharpened like claws.

But just as they were about to tear Wrench's head off, Sora closed the trunk/hood striking Wrench on the head, causing him to dodge the attack of his daughter's claws, enclosing him once again inside the trunk.

By saving Wrench's life for the second time, Gear stared at Sora with her eight red lenses, and without warning, she pounced on him, frantically moving her claws in complex and unpredictable patterns that exceeded the human body limitations.

Attacking in all directions, with strange and twisted movements in her metallic joints, she even went as far as fighting with her back facing forward, twisting her neck 180 degrees and her limbs following suit, creating a disturbing image that made Sora unable to help but think that he was fighting the girl from The Exorcist.

Nevertheless, Sora blocked and dodged Gear's frantic attacks without retaliating, forcing her to take a step back when he stopped her claws with his sword and repelled her by pushing her back with Getsuga.

Upon landing after being pushed, seemingly having calmed her mind a bit. "Let me do what I must, mercenary. I have no problem with you and I don't want to make the master upset by fighting you," Gear said with a metallic tone as her new voice, after losing her natural vocal cords, against her will by her own father, who she wanted to kill, trying to get the Mercenary in front of her to stop getting in her way.

Sora listened attentively to Gear's words, and grabbed Getsuga with both hands, and moved into position like a response.

Seeing him, Gear said, "You will regret it," as she stopped fighting against the continuous and deafening noise she heard inside her head, generated by her own cyberware, which she never wanted.

Regretting fighting against the Master's stories since 'he' left. Now eager to return to the only place where she didn't hear the deafening noise of her Cyberware. The reason why the Master had ordered her to watch over the Landfill... so that she would appreciate their stories and wouldn't fight against them.

This caused Gear's consciousness to fade in front of Sora, leaving something else in control, something that, if Sora had to put into words, he would say Gear had become a... Cyberpsycho in front of him.

And if before her movements were already unpredictable and hard to follow... now they were on another level, attacking as if each cyberware in his body moved on its own. Moving again with all four limbs like a spider.

Attacking with his metallic legs, which twisted at her knees, resembling the tail of a scorpion and producing powerful stabs with the blades that emerged from them.

Sora demonstrated surprising patience as he was surrounded by sparks, blocking the relentless barrage of Gear's seemingly endless attacks with Getsuga, defending himself while waiting... for a mistake. This made it seem as though his sword and his eyes, beneath his helmet, had life of his own, moving quickly to follow and block all of Gear's frantic attacks.

Until Gear, in his current state of madness, made a mistake and left a gap between his attacks. That Sora didn't miss it and took advantage to launch a single attack.

His imitation of his grandfather's cut.

Grasping his sword with both hands, Sora closed one eye as he imagined himself as his grandfather, performing the simple yet powerful vertical cut he had seen hundreds of times. This was also demonstrated in his Okami helmet, where his left eye went dark, leaving only the right stripe of his helmet glowing, intensely...

Unleashing a powerful vertical attack that fell mercilessly towards Gear, who seemed to regain consciousness in the last moments before the sword struck... fearing the impending death, thinking of Jackie and wanting to close her eyes, but... she no longer had eyelids or eyes to close, forced to watch from eight different angles through her repulsive cyberware as the sword was about to kill her. However, contrary to what she thought, when the sword struck her shoulder with force... it didn't cut her.

Getting hit by the blunt side of Getsuga, with the intention to knock her out. The force of the blow traveled downward through Gear's body until it broke through the ground beneath her, leaving her on her knees, unconscious.

However, before Sora could touch her, dozens of strange wires of different thicknesses emerged around the ground and garbage. Like snakes before striking, all of them moving at once pouncing on him and entangling around Gear, pulling her away from Sora.

Sora had to jump back to defend himself against the cables that tried to immobilize him, cutting them before they could.

When an acceptable space was created between Sora and Gear, the cables stopped, remaining around Gear while they looked at Sora with the same type of ends. Round with three small hooks coming out of the sides and what looked like a lens, like a camera in the middle.

When Sora was about to launch himself at the strange cables that were watching him, something made him stop when... they spoke to him.

"I apologize for Gear's behavior. Its orders were to observe and not interfere... I'm sorry, humans can be... too unpredictable. If my apologies have been sufficient... to resolve this fruitless event, I advise you to leave, now that you have obtained what you were looking for," said the cables with a distorted and somewhat feminine voice, moving as if gesturing with each word, while politely apologizing and asking Sora to leave. Aware of what Sora had been doing in these 20 minutes.

Sora "Shhss!" whistled impressed by the peculiar sight of the talking cables. "The master, I suppose?... why were you watching me?" Sora asked, assuming the identity behind the cables based on Gear's previous words.

"That's what some call me. As for why I watch you... it's purely self-preservation. Anyone who enters my territory and may pose a threat is... supervised," sincerely responded the distorted voice.

"Your territory, are you talking about the entire landfill?" Sora said, somewhat surprised by the large size of Night City's landfill, larger than any of its districts, and what it means to monitor it completely.

"Yes, I was born here," said the cables, responding truthfully, having awakened/been born in Night City's landfill.

"What are you?" asked Sora, not believing that the strange voice behind the wires was human, because of the way he spoke and not expecting a baby could be born and grow here.

"I... don't know," admitted the distorted voice before adding, "I only tell stories to the lost ones... They were the ones who called me master when I did."

"Great! Nothing creepy! As you say, I'll leave your charming territory without causing any trouble...." Sora said sarcastically, pausing without finishing his sentence.

"That will be fruitful for both parties," replied the voice behind the cables, misunderstanding Sora's pause. Being interrupted...

"I haven't finished... give me Gear," demanded Sora.

"I don't think you're the kind of man who likes unconscious women, right?" surprisingly, the distorted voice behind the cables responded with a joke.

"Oh! how funny the snake" Sora exclaimed at the sense of humor of the voice behind the snaking wires, before adding by raising the tone of his words "Bitch I don't know what the fuck are you and what the hell have you done to Gear but-"

Now, Sora was interrupted by the distorted female voice changing her tone accordingly.

"You're wrong, human. I haven't done anything to her, I've only provided her with the comfort and help she needed so she wouldn't take her own life. The torments that haunt her were inflicted by other humans, her own progenitor. I won't accept your demands, human. I have been patient and polite enough with you. Leave my territory!"

"Huh? And tell me what will happen if I don't leave as you say?" Sora defiantly replied.

"That would be unfortunate," said the distorted female voice, regaining her cool, steady tone.

"Oh, would it?" questioned Sora, demonstrating his willingness to challenge the warning.

"Yes, it would," affirmed the voice, as the final part of her warning.

Shortly after... on top of the garbage mountains surrounding Sora, people began to emerge, all of them like Gear, heavily modified, some even carrying cyberware made from scrap parts... but not appearing poorly designed or constructed, giving off a dangerous vibe.

A group of 10 individuals appeared, which did not change Sora's confident expression... but that soon changed when their number doubled to 20.

Seeing the number increase, Sora took a more aggressive stance, gripping the gun at his waist while holding his sword in the other hand, but... the numbers didn't stop there.

They kept growing, 30... relentlessly, 40... making Sora nervous... 60, and continued to increase until reaching the intimidating number of 80, perched on the mountains around Sora, completely surrounding both them and the Porsche.

Upon seeing the overwhelming tide of opponents, Sora nervously exclaimed, "Oi, oi, oi," within his mind, aware that to defeat them all at once, they would need Eco and not just Eco, but all the Fools. With 14 of them already gathered, hovering over the Landfill since the Master's appearance, with Sora having called in reinforcements as well....

And not only call for reinforcements... he also prepared his ace in the hole... quite literally.

When from inside his cybernetic forearm, a bolt raised, like that of an old action rifle, which Sora unhesitatingly ran backward in one swift movement.

As the bolt slid back, three high-performance rectangular batteries protruded at an angle from the outer part of his cybernetic forearm.

When the latch closed, an electric hum resonated, due to the powerful electric current from the batteries literally passing through and lighting up the interior of Sora's arm, which came to life, glowing blue from within and the resulting light escaping between the joints of the armor of his metal arm.

Various sections and mechanisms within his arm activated, accompanied by the faint hiss of a small Xenon gas cylinder inside his arm, filling a compartment with a complex system of precision-calibrated lenses.

When the electric current from the 3 batteries was released inside Sora's arm. Small electric discharges emanated from it. Some of the discharges heading towards his body, but first collided with the conductive nanobots of his armor, which redirected the discharges towards the ground.

Visually, it appeared as if the discharges generated by his arm surrounded him and passed through him without causing any harm.

This shocking change in Sora did not faze or carer any of the 80 enemies surrounding them, all of them seem lost, as if in a trance while humming the same disturbing melody.

Disturbing Sora as well when he heard the melody, seeming faintly familiar to him, as if he had heard it fleetingly in the past. However, he couldn't remember where or how, but knowing it had something to do with the state they were in. Which made him remember the strange signal transmitted by Jackie's IDn that was somehow "screwing" with his consciousness.

As the number of crows soaring above the Landfill increased to 24 and the weapon on his arm was almost ready, he cracked his neck, with a small smile of excitement and nervousness forming beneath his helmet, anticipating the impending fight, where he was not entirely certain how it would end, causing his heart to beat strongly, driven by the desire to find out. with not so many opportunities to use everything he has got.

Meanwhile, the Master behind the cables was genuinely surprised by Sora's shocking change and the dangerous technology he was preparing in his arm.

With a cold sense of curiosity, the Master issued the command to attack, subtly adjusting the frequency of the signal that controlled the movements of the 80 individuals, whose consciousness was absent, lost in one of their stories. This directive set the 80 individuals into motion, jumping and descending from the mountains of debris surrounding Sora.

As the 80 individuals charged toward Sora and he extended forward his illuminated black arm, while at the same time the 26 crows dove toward his creator...

Someone halted them all with a metallic voice, shouting, "STOP!", causing the 80 individuals charging towards Sora to freeze in their tracks, just like the crows under Sora's command. As for Sora, he kept his arm extended forward without any intention of lowering it.

Gear awoke once again, stopping everyone with her shout, as the cables surrounding her lowered and slowly planted her on the ground. She turned towards Sora and asked, "Mercenary, why do you want to take me with you?" It seemed Gear was aware of everything that had happened while she was unconscious and understood the reason behind the confrontation between the Master, the mercenary; herself.

Sora... feeling slightly disappointed that the imminent fight had been halted but also seizing the opportunity to avoid killing anyone, responded, "I was hired by... your boyfriend's mother... Jackie, to take your father to them... for your revenge, for you, for the other dead Valentinos who tried to help you, and for Jackie's injuries. But that's not the reason I stopped you from killing him yourself. I did it to knock you out and avoid this conversation. Taking you directly with them-"

Cutting Sora off with a shout "Stop!" Gear interrupted, not wanting to hear anymore. She added, "If that's what you wanted, you can leave without harming anyone else." Gear touched her sore and dented shoulder, saying, "No one here is against their will... we are all staying here for the Master... go away, mercenary, and... don't tell them that you saw me or that I'm still alive..." Gear said, turning around and caressing the end of one of the cables surrounding her before turning one last time to Sora and pleading with sadness, "Please...."

As Gear moved, the others followed suit, even the numerous cables reburied themselves in the ground along with the garbage mountains.

Within seconds, Sora found himselves alone and bewildered, with his illuminated arm still emitting electric discharges. "Eh?" muttering, unsure of what the hell had just happened. A moment ago, he was surrounded by over 80 cyber-psychos, ready to risk his life, and now...

"FUCK!" Sora had to eject the three expensive batteries that had started to overheat and burn. Due to the potent electric current coursing through their arm, which had not been released in the shot of his...

---

When Sora was left alone in the Landfild, he got into the car and drove away, leaving behind the contaminated and sinister place, along with the strange things that were happening there.

Driving the Porsche through the bustling streets of Night City, he headed towards the meeting point his mother had given him before handing over Wrench, who remained silent in the trunk of the car since he saw his daughter.

Upon reaching the meeting point in the Wellsprings sub-district, Sora drove the Porsche into one of the dark alleys around the massive H2 Mega-Building. The car lights illuminated the alley, revealing a group of black-clad corpos waiting for him. Sora sighed at the sight of their stiff postures as if they had "a stick up their ass," he thought to himself.

When he got close enough, Sora turned off the car engine and stepped out with a simple black bag containing Johnny's remains. He tossed it to the man in the middle of the group, apparently the leader, receiving a scowl as the corpo opened the bag and checked its contents. "The cyberware is missing!" he exclaimed.

"Tch," Sora muttered, annoyed that his mother had been so specific in giving instructions to her minions. He knew how irritating corpos could be when they followed orders, especially if they came from someone like Hanako Arasaka. "Tell your boss... that's my payment," Sora replied, not expecting it to work.

"Mercenary, do you know the kind of person you're sending this message to? he kind that it's best not to bother or contradict... I assure you," warned the corpo, giving Sora a threatening look, while his companions placed their hands under their jackets.

"Really?" Sora thought as he looked at them. "His mother had perfectly warned them about what they would receive, but not a word about him or what?" Sora wondered in his mind.

Not wanting to have to shoot any of his mother's lackeys, somewhat disappointed that his mother had chosen this low level of personnel for something as important as Johnny's remains.

"Well, mercenary, will you give us what's missing or do we have to take it ourselves?" said the corpo, pulling out his gun and aiming it at him, making Sora "Ahmm" sigh

When the corpo extended his arm, pointing his gun at him, in a matter of seconds his arm was cut off, but not by Sora, who did nothing, but by the individual who landed in the middle of the group of corpos.

This mysterious individual used his mantis blades, shining as if they were red-hot with thermal blades, to jump from one of the adjacent buildings of the alley, driving his Thermal Mantis into the facade, burning the surface they touched on the building, reducing his speed and jumping nimbly at the last second, landing in the middle of the group of corpses.

Making all of them nervous when they saw him, and without a word, the individual cut off the cybernetic arm from the elbow of the person aiming at Sora, saying, "Bastard! Do you know who you're aiming at?" with a young and irritated voice.

The individual was wearing a mix of modern clothing with loose dark pants and light, tight armor without markings. He had an illuminated mask covering half of his face, with a red illuminated Oni jaw, resembling one of Arasaka's Cyberninjas but without any marks or symbols of the corporation on his armor, only betraying his affiliation with Arasaka through his half Oni mask. He also wore a black cap that left his young Afro-American features, with a Chestnut skin tone, exposed.

After the "Cyberninja with a cap," as Sora had named him in his head, severed the cybernetic arm of the corpo aiming at him, tension filled the air between them, leaving Sora somewhat forgotten as he leaned against the car, amusedly observing the scene.

The injured corpo, still stunned by the loss of his limb, cast a furious and disdainful glare at his attacker. "scumbag!" growled the corpo, his voice dripping with anger and resentment. "Who do you think you are to cut off my arm? Do you think any of us will accept you as our leader? We will never accept an insolent brat like you who shows no respect for the corporation. How the hell are we supposed to promote with you as our leader?"

The "Cyberninja with a cap" remained unperturbed by the corpo's insults, his cold gaze turning comical upon hearing his supposed subordinate's words. "Heh, do you think I care if you consider me your leader or not, of the bunch of cockroaches that you are? The only thing that should matter to you is that Hanako-sama has put me in charge. And the only thing that matters to me is whether you can or cannot follow my orders, not your insignificant careers. What did I tell you when Hanako-sama's order arrived?"

The "Cyberninja with a cap" asked, amusing Sora with his unconventional tone in the corporate world, but not so much to the other corpos who dared not respond, forcing him to answer his own question in the silence of the corpos.

"None? I told you to wait for me and not to disrespect the mercenary, and look what I find when I arrive."

"What the hell does a fucking mercenary matter... he's just a damn messenger!" shouted the frustrated injured corpo, not understanding why it mattered how he treated a mere mercenary when he himself was a member of Arasaka on an important mission given by Hanako Arasaka herself.

"Ahem," the "Cyberninja with a cap" sighed upon hearing the stubborn corpo who still refused to correct his behavior despite his warnings. He swiftly made a move, unfolding his mantis blades and executing an almost invisible strike that none of the group of corpos noticed, putting a serious expression on Sora's face as he watched.

Severing the head of the injured corpo with his thermal mantis blades, which cauterized the wound on both sides of the cut, causing the body without a head and the head without a body to fall lifelessly to the ground, barely releasing a few drops of blood.

With a certain pleasure in his voice and his mantis blades still deployed, he added, "Congratulations, you've exhausted my patience! Well, do you now understand what will happen to those who disobey my orders from now on?"

Causing all the still-living corpos to respond by bowing, not daring to lift their heads, staring at their former "leader's" body and head while answering in unison """YES!""" to the rhetorical question of the "skillful Cyberninja with a cap"— the new name that Sora gave him after witnessing the technique and speed of his attack.

Upon seeing the outcome of the entertaining scene, Sora laughed, catching everyone's attention. "Hahaha, when I always think the corporate world can't dislike me more... Arasaka always comes up with a 'hold my beer'... it doesn't surprise me that they have the reputation they do," said Sora, finding it amusing to see corpos killing each other but feeling somewhat disappointed because his mother's faction didn't seem much different from the rest of the corporate world.

The "cyberninja" observed Sora laughing at the corporations and chuckled under his mask, agreeing with him. He took the bag containing the important remains that Hanako-Sama had ordered to be delivered as quickly as possible. Without looking at the still-bowing heads, he sarcastically ordered them to "Get lost and don't forget your charismatic 'Leader'"

Once the Corps had left with the body, he approached Sora with determined steps and removed his mask, revealing the lower part of his face, with cybernetic implants around his jaw, chin, and part of his neck, with small metallic elements at the corners of his lips and the bridge of his nose. These implants were of top quality, following the natural lines of his face and features, but without hiding the Cyberware with an artifactual skin.

Sora could observe through his nanobot-filled eyes, the bones of his skull and the marks on it. All the cyberware he carried was meant to replace the parts he had lost due to severe injuries, when he was younger.

"Okami, or should I say... Sora Inuzuka? I'm Chancelor Laurence Bennett, a member of Team Kurauda under direct orders from Hanako-Sama. It's a pleasure to meet the grandson of Musashi Hatake himself. If you only knew how many times I've heard about your grandfather from Oda-sensei... And please, don't associate me with those corporate cockroaches... I despise them... killing them is something I do purely for pleasure, not for my twisted ambition or my desire to climb the putrid corporate ladder!"

Said Chancelor, a 19-year-old African-American who had been under Hanako's care and protection since he and his companions attempted to escape from an Arasaka facility where they were forced to hide behind the Blackwall and were hunted by something. Out of sheer desperation, the few survivors tried to escape the facility, with only one of them managing to escape, and the rest being saved by Oda when, on Hanako's orders, they went to stop what was happening in that installation.

Sora widened his eyes upon hearing Chancelor's words and the duality of his arguments, aligning with him on the topic of corporate life, but at the same time working directly for an Arasaka, his mother.

Sora remained silent for a second, removing his Okami helmet, also revealing his face, curious about the person in front of him and the Cloud/Kurauda group, which Sora could imagine based on the peculiar name and after witnessing Chancelor's abilities, what his overprotective mother's intentions were.

"Heh, do you realize that you work for Arasaka?" Sora said as he removed his helmet, highlighting the duality/hypocrisy of Chancelor's argument, and taking advantage of not having the helmet on... to light a cigarette.

"Meh, I don't care. She saved my life and my brothers', and she treats us with care and respect. I don't work for Arasaka, I work for Hanako-Sama," Chancelor responded without concern for appearing hypocritical, while he looked at Sora's cigarette with a certain curiosity, as a young man who had spent most of his adolescence trained and this was the first time in his life that he had... the freedom to try new things... to "finally live!"

Seeing the expression on Chancelor's face following his cigarette, Sora was reminded of Eco when he asked for his favorite snack... a charged battery.

"Here," Sora said, pulling out the pack of tobacco again and offering one. "I.... shouldn't if Master Oda saw me... does your grandfather smoke?" Chancelor asked, hesitating to pick one up.

"He would love to... but he quit. He was forced to by my grandmother, Aoi. I don't smoke in front of him because he gets weird about it. He just stares at you, slowly approaching, until he ends up smelling the smoke," replied Sora as Chancelor took a cigarette while listening.

"Hahahaha, the legendary Musashi does that!? Master Oda always portrays Red-Oni as the perfect warrior with an iron mindset, unwavering determination, and great wisdom," Chancelor laughed upon hearing Sora's description of his grandfather, contrasting with Oda's intimidating and respectful stories about his master, Red-Oni.

Politely declining Sora's offer to use his Zippo to light the cigarette, Chancelor unfolded his mantis blades once again and lit the cigarette with his thermal blade.

"Haha... Please say that again. I'm going to record it and play it for that pervert," Sora responded upon hearing the description of Red-Oni.

"Pervert!?" Chancelor exclaimed, drawing attention to Sora's adjective.

"Yeah, I imagine that in the information Hanako..."Sama" gave you about me, It should mention something about Iron Beast, right?" Sora asked before answering.

"You mean the robotic pet company that Hanako-Sama is an investor in?" Chancelor said, after coughing with his first puff of the cigarette. Recalling the entire report Hanako had given him.

"Yes, due to certain... incidents, our first group of employees were all women. When that old pervert found about, he had the sudden idea to teach them martial arts for protection. And since then, it's been three years. He's become the 'Perverted Sensei' in my opinion, for a bunch of women in their 20s and 30s," Sora explained.

When Chancelor listened to Sora and imagined himself being the "Sensei" in that kind of environment, he exclaimed, "So Red-Oni really knows how to enjoy his retirement... Hahahaha." He rejoiced at the thought that the person he admired, and whom he had heard had experienced a difficult life from his teacher Oda, was now able to savor the joys of life.

Upon hearing the comment about his grandfather, Sora responded, "Heh, you're alright. Let me ask you something, is the Kiji faction full of people like that?" Sora motioned with his head, indicating the fresh blood at the end of the alley.

Understanding what Sora meant, Chancellor replied, "What do you expect?, that just because they're part of the 'Peaceful' faction of Kiji, they're saints? These are people who first entered Arasaka and then joined the Kiji faction. Of course, it's filled with people like that." Chancellor was slightly surprised by the question, and observing the subtle disappointment in Sora's reaction, added "But within Arasaka, the Kiji faction gives the least freedom to these kinds of people, and they have the toughest time climbing the ranks. Let's just say Kiji uses them as labor."

Sora didn't say anything more on the subject, gaining a better understanding of his mother's faction within Arasaka. They continued their conversation while smoking, with Chancelor asking about Night City and the best places to visit and eat as a newcomer in the city. Sora shared his extensive knowledge about Night City in response. The cigarette burned down, and with one last drag, both of them extinguished their cigarettes.

Chancelor took the black bag containing Johnny's remains and handed Sora his IDn number, as a sign of trust and willingness to assist him in his "important mission" assigned by Hanako.

It was a false reason Hanako had used to justify Chancelor's orders as her representative in the city and to provide support to her son without revealing too much information.

With a firm handshake and a knowing look, Sora and Chancelor bid farewell to each other. Chancelor turned around and walked away, fading into the shadows of the alley while carrying the bag with Johnny's remains without his Cyberware, trusting the excuse Sora had given him, claiming it was needed for his "important mission"

Soon after, Sora climbed into the Porsche, letting out a sigh as he drove towards Heywood, specifically the Glen sub-district to deliver his last package of the night a - Wrench - to the Wells' house, unsure what to tell them about Gear.