5

 ...Maine... 

Despite what happened at the factory, Maine still liked David. Sure, he slipped and went psycho, but he didn't so much as look at the crew and stayed focused on his job. Other than killing the leader in an admitted savage fashion, and fucking up the gonks SIC, he got Rebecca out of the line of fire before he went off the deep end. That it was only then that he went all Ripperboy on the rest of the gang in the building was incidental to that. 

While Maine's primary focus was getting everyone out of there, he did catch a glimpse of the carnage David reaped… and honestly it kind of put him off Gore XBDs. The level of slaughter he caught a glimpse of suggested that David on the Cyberpsycho spectrum was at a high level. Normally, that would scare any Edgerunner, and they would ditch the psycho as fast as possible. However, in this case Maine found it oddly comforting in a way. 

How many crews can say they have a lucid high-functioning Cyberpsycho? And not have to worry about keeping their insides from becoming outsides like the Scavs? Besides, his crew liked the gonk; Pilar finally found someone to do techie shit with who could stand being around him, the gonk brought maternal instincts out of Dorio… who was also eager to teach him how to fist fight. Hell, since the kid joined the crew Maine had been feeling oddly paternal regarding David. He would never tell Pilar that his stupid jokes were right for once. 

Never mind Rebecca, Lucy, and Kiwi's opinion on the gonk. How he got through to Miss 'Trust No One' is a mystery that Maine wasn't all that interested in learning about. While the older Netrunner was still aloof, Maine figured it was only a matter of time before she opened up to the rest of the crew and not just Lucy, Rebecca, and David. Though, he did wonder what was holding her back, if it wasn't her 'Trust No One' philosophy. 

She'd eventually open up about it, though the fact that they were doing jobs for Regina Jones instead of Faraday seemed to make her relax. That implied to the giant chrome junkie that Kiwi and Faraday had some history with each other, and probably not the good kind either. 

...Hey bossman! Can you and the rest of the crew swing by David's apartment? Got some news to share!... Rebecca messaged. 

Maine grunted for a moment and sent back, ...Sure, be there in a few hours.... 

Gloria's, well, David's apartment was pretty well… It used to be bog-standard. It used to be just one room, but sometime in the past the wall separating it from another apartment was knocked down. Seeing as the Landlord didn't really want to buy the supplies to fix it, the man just had it turned into one massive apartment. At least that explained why the rent was higher than other apartments. 

So with Rebecca, her armory, and the adorable fixture that is Butterbean the entire place felt cozy. Even the addition of Lucy and Kiwi didn't make things awkward, much. But, that was neither here nor there. 

Currently, Maine was trying to figure out if he should laugh or punch David for being a gonk; Dorio and Pilar, however, were laughing hard at the story Rebecca shared. David looked mortified, apparently he didn't realize how everything looked at the time. On one hand… he was mad as hell because for the next month his crew will be denied the added security of having a lucid Cyberpsycho watching their backs, which is a double-edged sword in all honesty. 

On the other hand… Maine was impressed by the sheer testicular fortitude David showed! Honestly, he had the feeling the gonk might have a few shorts in his brain, newbie or not, you don't just walk into Afterlife and treat the fucking Queen like a choom or call her auntie! The fool was lucky Rogue didn't have him shot on sight for that! 

Though knowing Rebecca as good as he does, Maine just smirked at David, "Well son, I hope you're ready for what comes later." 

"Wait. What do you mean by that?" Maine just smirked, while Dorio laughed and Pilar snickered. 

Pilar walked over and ruffled Rebecca's hair, "Go forth! Make me an uncle!" He said with a cackle that not even a dick punch could fully stop. 

"Oh." David went red, making everyone laugh harder, "OH!" 

"Yeah D. As soon as Maine, Pilar, and Dorio leave Imma suck your soul out!" Rebecca said with absolutely zero shame or hesitation, "Lucy and Kiwi can watch or help me out! I don't care either way!" 

"I… need an adult…" David squeaked. 

Maine laughed, "Hey! Your Outputs are adults, so you're safe!" He teased with a grin, "Just don't put him in traction for longer, girls. Message me the deets on David-Watching duty, so we can work out a rotation for you three. Have fun, you four!" He added with another laugh as he, Pilar, and Dorio made their way out of the apartment. 

"Heh, I think we should get a drink." Maine said with a chuckle. 

"Sounds good bossman!" Pilar said with a cackle. 

Dorio just rolled her eyes, "I wouldn't say no to a few drinks." She said before giving Maine a sly smile, "Then later I intend to rock your world, Mr. Studd.~" 

Maine just gave a dopey grin as they all piled into the Quadra Type-66 and pulled out. 

...Rebecca... 

After Maine, his Output, and her gonk of a brother left, Rebecca was more than ready to do what she said she was going to do. The sheer balls of what happened back in the Afterlife got her motor going in a way that she never experienced until she hooked up with David. However, she needed to address something before they moved on to more pleasurable activities. 

"Listen D." Rebecca tried to think of how to say it before going fuck it and decided to wing it, "We've all got secrets. But if you ever need to get something off your chest, I think I'm right to say we're willing to listen." 

"... I told you all my secrets." Kiwi said, rubbing her shoulder, "It's only fair we listen to yours. And… I owe you." 

Lucy, figuring out what Rebecca was doing, quickly joined in. 

"Though only when you're ready." Lucy said, "It's not easy to share secrets." 

"T-Thanks girls." David said, though Rebecca caught a quick flash of confusion followed by uncertainty that disappeared so fast she wasn't even sure she actually saw it, "I promise. It's hard, though, so just… give me some time. And I swear I'll tell you." 

"Good." Rebecca said with a smile, "Now that, that's outta the way… girls? Wanna help me suck his soul out!~" 

Lucy and Kiwi nodded slowly, with a look matching Rebecca's, a look that could only be described as hungry lust. 

...Maine... 

Working out a schedule with Kiwi, Lucy, and Rebecca was easier than he expected. Personally, he felt it was a little overboard. But David was a few hacks short of a full cyberdeck, so it was warranted. If anything, he was proud of the boy. He wasn't sure if it was the Martinez charm David inherited from his mom or his own gonk charm, but the kid definitely had more game than he ever did. Especially at that age! 

"Heh, hope that kid enjoyed himself after we left." He thought with a snort. 

"You look like a Proud Papa." Dorio teased with a smile, making the chrome junkie scratch his cheek, "Not that I don't get it. The gonk certainly has a way of getting under your skin." She added with a fond smile. 

"Humph, you sound like Pilar when you talk like that. Anyway, his real dad either did a runner after getting Gloria pregnant or he died in a ditch somewhere, he has to learn to be a man from someone, or he's going to end up like Pilar." He said gruffly as he crossed his arms, awkwardly avoiding the topic of being a father himself, especially to David. 

Dorio just laughed in agreement, but didn't push. 

He always had a hard time with showing his emotions but with Dorio he knew he could be more open, but even with her there were limits. He was raised to believe that a Man should be a rock for others to lean on, someone that could be trusted to be reliable and strong even in the toughest of times. This was reinforced during his time as a soldier when he and unit worked together before he left Militech to be a Solo after a heated 'conversion' with his captain. He honestly forgot why he'd gotten so mad, but then again he was a gonk kid at the time, and he got to meet Dorio in the process, so it was fine. 

Honestly, he was still trying to come to terms with David being choomy with Rogue, of all people! Shaking his head, he checked to see what was on the agenda for the day, reaching over to a Datapad, he booted it up and started checking his planner. 

"Mmm, looks like we're mostly free today, outside some minor jobs from Regina and the one from Faraday. Need to get Lucy and Kiwi to look at the data, so we can plan how to nab this Tanaka guy." While initially hesitant to work for Regina Jones, Maine had warmed up to it. What really sold him was the fact that Regina actually gave them all the deets of whichever job they were running, and even paid extra when they did it clean with no casualties. Well, other than occasional idiot gangoons! 

While Faraday paid well and his bonuses were preem, the Fixer was cagey as hell with information, and stingy with his bonuses when things didn't go exactly as planned. But, when they did get those bonuses… well, it's hard to just drop the Corpo-wannabe. 

He heard Dorio move and glanced over his shoulder, "Looks like we're in the clear today." She said, "Say, you think those three are decent? We could go over and take Gloria clothes and stuff to charity or something." 

"Heh, and the crew thinks I'm the brains? Anyway, let's talk to the kid before we do that, he might want to hold on to that stuff for sentimental reasons or something." He advised with a chuckle. 

"I'm the power behind the throne." Dorio said with a cheeky smile as she gave the giant a kiss, "But you're the organizer and motivator. Now, go get a shower, I'll get us something from the vendor." 

"Sure." He said with a chuckle as he got up and went to take himself a shower. 

The drive to David's apartment was peaceful enough, well given the value of 'peaceful' in Night City, that is. At any rate, he didn't have to take any detours due to; gang fights, traffic accidents, or drivebys. So, all in all, he called that a win in his book. Though, he admitted to himself that it was somewhat boring. 

Though that was mostly a passing thought, he was primarily trying to keep up a brave front. He still couldn't believe the spitfire that never hesitated to give him sass or launch a damn slipper (or boot now that he thought about it) at his head was really dead. Even seeing the Urn with a picture of David and Gloria, a part of him wished it was just a terrible joke. Despite how their relationship ended, and all the arguing, he still loved her. He was still kicking himself for not trying to be there for her more. He knew she wouldn't let him, but he still should have tried, so she didn't have to fight life on her own. On some level, seeing how strong and mature David is, and knowing David is Gloria's son? It made him feel like he needed to be there for him more than David's gonk dad ever was, he owed that much to Gloria. 

Dorio easily saw past his facade but didn't comment, he knew Gloria and Dorio may not have known each other all that well. Despite Gloria being so secretive about her personal life, or the deets on the work she did, she and Dorio had chemistry. They were fast chooms from the moment they met, and it softened Dorio some from how she was when they first met. Sure, Gloria taught Dorio first aid and some more advanced care skills, but that aside? If it wasn't for Gloria and Sasha, him and Dorio may not have gotten together like they are now 

Even now, the thought of Sasha brought a surge of guilt and pain. He shouldn't have let her go solo, he should've known better… he knew the Netrunner had a grudge with Biotechnica, but he'd assumed she wouldn't let her emotions get the better of her! It was an old pain by now, and he took it as a lesson to never let another of his team go anywhere solo, they almost lost David the same way even! He was just glad he learned from that whole mess. 

"Heh, who would've thought an ex could be such a good wing woman?" Maine thought with a melancholy and nostalgic smile, "At least Dorio never picked up how to swing La Chanala as good as Gloria.". He'd much rather take her punches than those damn heat-seeking flying footwear! 

"You know I can do this." Dorio said, "I know how hard this is for you, there's no shame in it." 

"I know." He said gruffly to hide his feelings, mainly out of habit than actually trying to hide them, "But I have to. I owe it to Gloria, and… I need to make peace with her being gone. Actually… how bout sometime next week we all gather at the warehouse and have a wake for Gloria? Yeah, I think David would appreciate that." 

Dorio just smiled, "You're just a big softy under all that chrome, aren't ya?" She teased lightly, making the man bluster. 

He knew it was all a part of the game they played, but sometimes she did get under his skin with her little digs. 

When they arrived and entered the apartment, they both found themselves amused at the sight of Lucy smacking David upside the head and Kiwi just shaking her own head in amusement. 

Clearing his throat to get everyone's attention, he chuckled as he asked with mirth heavy in his voice, "Do I even want to know?" 

"Gonk klept a terminal from a Netrunner den and brought it back." Kiwi said, "Must've been a talented runner, the ICE and other security measures were impressive for their age. Turns out it was filled with memes, cat videos, music, and porn. A lot of porn. Terabytes on top of terabytes of very raunchy ass porn." Kiwi grimaced at her comment on that last part. A traumatized expression glazing over her eyes. 

"And… Why is Luce hitting David?" Dorio asked with clear amusement in her eyes, "Where's the tiny terror anyway? I expected to hear her laughing bout now." 

"Eh, said something about a job from the Old Man." Kiwi said with a shrug, "She'll be gone for a few days, babysitting duty, but the eddies were too good to pass up apparently. As for Lucy hitting the gonk? In her words, 'You have three sexy outputs, why do you need so much porn!?' and this is where we are now." 

Kiwi then gave David a baleful glare, "I'm tempted to let Becca see that gonk!" She said with narrow eyes. 

Lucy smacked him again, "This is Becca, she might enjoy that." She snarked. 

"Heh… our little Boogeyman is a porn addict!" He teased. 

David huffed, but his eyes were sparkling with mirth, "As for why I have so much porn...you've got 5 petabytes of old net data, and you're fixated on the three terabytes of porn." David protested, wrapping his arms around Lucy's slender porcelain arms to prevent her hitting him anymore. 

Then David looked at him, then to Kiwi with a smirk, "Keys? Show him 2G1C…" He said with a hiss. 

Dorio caught the look in David's eye, there was a glimmer in it that suggested that his suggestion was not something for the faint-hearted. "Babe, I'm going to skip you watching 2G1C. You enjoy." 

"Eh, what's the worst that they could show?" He said with a shrug, "We've seen some pretty freaky stuff already." 

Dorio just decided to drag Lucy away and do some girl talk or something. 

He was confident that this 2G1C wasn't as bad as they made it out to be. 

"This shit… this shit deserves to be forgotten!" He cursed himself for his earlier confidence as he went to delete the abomination. 

Only for David to stop him with a devious gleam in his eye, "I have an idea." He said, "The crew is trying to find this guy Tanaka, right?" 

He nodded, "Yeah, but what's this abomination to do with it?" He asked as his stomach roiled just thinking about it. 

"You know how Lucy trolls Arasaka suits in her downtime?" David asked with a gleam in his eye. He nodded, you'd have to be blind and deaf to miss the massive grudge she had against that corporation, "What if… Lucy takes this and sends it to Tanaka's server with a virus? The virus deletes everything, including his BD's. Wouldn't that draw him out?" 

"Kid, shit like that's going to make me think you really are a psycho." He said shakily, unable to believe that someone would use this against anyone, "That's the most evil thing I've ever heard… and yet, I can't help but think Arasaka deserves it." 

"Also, Lucy told me he likes XBDs from JK." David said, "I've seen some of his stuff, can't really enjoy them anymore though, but that's not the point. Anyway, we find out where his studio is, and turn it into a haunt. Then just wait for the guy to come get his XBD fix." 

"What about the XBD freak?" He asked, looking interested if still a little queasy. 

"Well, I wouldn't be surprised if the freak had a TT plan, but given he's famous for making Cyberpsycho XBDs? I wouldn't be surprised if he had something to defend against people who might not like that. Maybe some sort of EMP, so… you'd have to bring him down with a tranq. Or, just take him anywhere else in the city and zero the fucker." 

He looked at David closely, but ultimately decided that David's reasons for wanting the freak dead weren't anything he should worry about. Instead, he slapped David's shoulder with a chuckle. 

"You're a devious little shit, aren't you?" He said, shaking his head in amusement, "Anyway, Dorio and I came over to help you with Gloria's stuff. We're going to have a wake for her as soon as I work things out at the warehouse." 

David just nodded, though Maine could tell he was trying not to get all emotional. 

"Son, it's okay." The former soldier whispered too low for anyone else but David to overhear, "Gloria's your mom. If you can't cry over her, then who can you cry over?" He added, patting his shoulder as he looked at Lucy, "Can you show us where Gloria's stuff is? Kiwi can keep David company while we get this stuff moved out." 

"Sure." Kiwi said as she moved and pulled David into a hug, which was enough to make him cry. He pretended he didn't see anything as he followed Lucy out of the room. 

...Dorio... 

It was easy to forget that David was a kid with how responsible and reasonable he is, well, for the most part. It's so easy to see David as just another abnormally competent solo that's dancing on the edge of psychosis (he doesn't have enough chrome to call it Cyberpsychosis, but she was sure there were people that would disagree). Likewise, it's moments like these when she saw him break down that she saw the traumatized, broken, kid trying to cope with the hand he'd been dealt that brought everything back into focus. 

Not that she'd ever fallen under any misconceptions, she had the kid pegged that night in Afterlife when he and Maine came to an agreement. What the other's saw was one thing, but she saw a kid who was thrown into the deep end and was trying to swim. How much of his success was innate talent and dumb luck, she didn't really know, or care. 

All she saw was a kid that still hadn't fully processed that his mom was gone and never going to come back. 

"Come on Maine." She said as she dragged her input away and followed Lucy. 

"Yeah." Her giant gonk of an input said gruffly, making her roll her eyes as they followed Lucy. 

Turning her gaze to the pearlescent Netrunner, she smiled. David, for all his issues, was good for the young woman. Since she joined the crew with Kiwi, the young woman had either been indifferent, aloof, or apathetic to everything. She figured that was Kiwi's influence honestly, however since she met David she seemed more… lively for the lack of a better word. Like, she decided to stop being a passive observer, and decided to actually try living. 

"Besides." She thought, "The girl needs to do things other than mess with Arasaka suits. Just cause she hasn't been caught yet doesn't mean that one day they won't wise up." 

Lucy showed them where David kept everything before quickly returning to help Kiwi comfort their input. And that was still somewhat surreal for her. While she and Maine weren't against spicing things up occasionally, the notion of having two other women in their relationship on a permanent basis never even crossed their minds. There had to be a great deal of trust for that to even work, yet somehow, they were pulling it off without any sign of the usual tensions that would normally be showing by now. 

While she knew that Lucy trusted Rebecca and both trusted David, Kiwi was the odd woman out in her opinion. As she continued to ponder over the unlikely relationship, she started moving boxes to make things easier to deal with. All the while, Maine was dealing with various Dataslates that David seemed to have just put away without looking into them. Either because they were too painful or he couldn't guess the password. 

A password that Maine easily guessed judging by the look he was giving the slate, having been together for so long she'd learned how to read the gonk like an open book. The only one that was better was Gloria, and whatever Maine was reading was upsetting the gonk. Most wouldn't see it, but she could tell how he was subtly tensing up, like he was about to rip a gonk in half! She could only imagine what he was reading. 

Maine let out a sigh, but she could tell this was not his normal one, this was full of white-hot anger at what he had read. "Damn it Gloria…" It was all Maine said before lightly pounding his fist on the floor next to where he was sitting. 

Deciding the boxes could wait for the moment, she went over to Maine and forced him into a hug, "What is it?" She asked. 

"Gloria was raped, she couldn't bring herself to abort the baby." Maine said, "In her diary, she said it wasn't the baby's fault. Fuck, how did I not realize that? I would've fucking helped her! Is that why she broke up? Or is it because I was a fucking chrome junkie! Jesus Christ, how the hell do I tell David?" 

She considered it and agreed, the situation was fucked up. 

"I can't answer most of those." She said honestly, "But the last one? Does it matter? Let him believe whatever he believes. Who knows? Maybe the gonk actually died in a ditch already." 

Maine just clenched his hands, effortlessly crushing the slate. Normally, he'd be shaking, and she would ask him to take his meds, but she could tell this shaking was from pure cold anger. Anger at himself, anger at the bastard that raped Gloria, and anger at Gloria for being too stubborn to ask for help! She, hell the entire crew, honestly, would've done anything to help the woman! 

"The past is past." She finally decided to say, "Let's focus on the here and now, and look to the future." 

"Yeah, yeah. You're right." Maine said with a sigh, "Let's get this shit over with… I need a couple of drinks." 

"Agreed." She said, "Have you ever considered it, though?" She added as an afterthought, mostly to distract him from his rage before he did something foolish. 

"About what?" Maine asked. 

"Getting out of Edgerunning." She said, scratching her nose, "I've thought about it sometimes, leaving this city and joining a Nomad clan." 

"Honestly… that doesn't sound bad." Maine eventually muttered, "Helluva lifestyle change, though… I'd have to chrome down quite a bit." 

"Heh, it's just a thought." Dorio said before smacking his shoulder, "Come on, let's get this out of here." 

"You're right." Maine said, taking a few breaths to reel in his anger, "Though, I'm going to keep an eye out for the fucker. I will zero him." It was more of a promise than anything else. 

"Fair enough." She said, "Hell, I might take a few swings at him myself." 

"Heh. Come on." Maine said with a smile. 

"Say, what was the password?" She asked curiously, only to grin in amusement when the big chromed bear blushed! 

"Um, Big Bear… it was Gloria's pet name for me…" He mumbled. 

It took all her effort for her to keep from falling over from laughing. "Big Bear? Hehe… I can see it." She snickered. 

Maine just shook his head and grumbled. "Yeah, yeah… Laugh it up." 

She gave Maine a quick peck on the cheek. "It fits you. I like it." 

All Maine could do was smile that goofy smile of his. 

...????... 

"Eh, talk about a blast from the past…" 

He didn't expect to ever see Martinez again, not after she spurned his advances after he went out of his way to pay off her debt. You'd think she would gladly accept his advances, after all, he got her out of debt from that Scav she owed. He recalled not taking her denial well after having an already rough month after he almost failed to hide evidence linking him to the latest victim, and being overcome with frustration. Then just taking her. He thought about killing her to silence her, but she didn't fit his taste in victims, not nearly enough Cyberware in the places that counted, which was why he approached her in the first place. It was rare to find a mostly organic woman in this city that he could tolerate and wasn't too poor. 

She'd been a Med student and was intelligent enough to catch his interest in the first place. It was just a shame it had to go the way it did, he really was interested in seeing what a relationship with her would be like… But, if he was going to lose her anyway, she couldn't complain if he had a taste in exchange for her debt being paid off, even if he only came up with the idea afterward. If she hadn't bought that load of bull, he would've had to kill her to keep his little misdeed quiet, no matter how beautifully organic she was. It made the effort and risk of altering her father's records after he died and pocketed the money he was saving to pay off his gambling debts to put Gloria into debt, so he could play knight in shining armor mute. 

A simple obfuscation that never had to be revealed, they could've lived happily together and even raised a family, and they clicked so well too. He still couldn't believe that the reason she turned him down was that she got a boyfriend the day after he finished investigating her and approached her after buying off her debt. 

He really thought he would never see her again after he forced himself on her, until a couple of weeks ago, when his team responded to a call out on the highway. They got there, and who did he see sprawled out on the tarmac? Gloria Fucking Martinez! He recalled crouching and 'checking' her, a part of him that still burned at her rejection rejoiced at her suffering, even as another part regretted that an organic woman like her had to die. The part of him that was still ruled by jealousy was only a whisper these days, after he took steps to alter his brain to gain better control of himself. That impulsive action had nearly ruined him, he was only saved because he didn't have to kill her back then after he was seen entering her home. The fact that her brat was screaming for them to help her made him glad that he never actually got into a relationship with her... Still, he cursed his younger self when his radio beeped and his partner informed him that her insurance expired, even though it had to be good when they left to pick her up. It was something he used to do to those that he didn't like, and what almost got him caught the month leading up to him forcing himself on Gloria. In Gloria's case, it was also so that if she ever got a Midnight Lady, he could stage an accident and 'collect' it to add to his extensive collection. 

It was with a sense of regret that he told his team to leave her for the Meat wagons, something he tried not to do with organic women. But, if he attempted to interfere, it would be suspicious enough that they might look into why her insurance failed when it did. He only got away with that beforehand because he set up cat paws ahead of time to take the blame, something he hadn't done in years since he stopped such visible stunts. 

Now, here he was at TT Debt Collections control center, trolling through the files to see if anyone had 'defaulted' on their coverage. Honestly, being in TT was essentially the same as being a Corp-Sanctioned Scav. We save the idiots with a plan, but if they don't have enough to cover their rescue, we're allowed to strip off their Cyberware until the debt is paid. We can't let them die, which is a shame. So, we had to fit them with the budget models and knock-offs of what we took, meaning less money from the collection. Even that said, the cut from the sales were still preem enough to make the hassle worth it. It was a shame Gloria was almost purely organic except for a few things, he was looking forward to having an excuse to 'salvage' her Midnight Lady if she had one to add to his collection. Still, it was his one regret that he let Gloria walk away with the information she held which she could possibly use to blackmail him, so hired a Netrunner to hack her life support. As far as the hospital was concerned, she died of natural causes. He was doing her a favor anyway, they were going to move her into 'a hospital' that he happened to know through his contacts was a Militech Asylum. An organic woman like Gloria didn't need that in her final days, it allowed him to soothe the part of him that rebelled at killing an organic woman by telling himself that it was a mercy. 

When he looked into her life after she died to see if she had some next of kin he could dump more debt on, he discovered her son, David Martinez. However, by the time he got around to checking, the boy had dropped off the radar. Probably getting killed chasing down the people who did his mom in, typical Latino, they were all easy to fool that he almost felt bad for doing it. His hopes to cleanse at least his and Gloria's child by adding his genes to it were stillborn due to her rejection, just proving that you couldn't help those kinds of people. He didn't care enough to look further into it to find out for sure, since that's when he was distracted by this whole Boogeyman nonsense and had to pull out his investments from the Scavs. 

He used to have a nice little side hustle with the street Scavs, but ever since the Boogieman began tearing them to pieces, he cut contact to avoid drawing any undue attention. His prudence turned out to be correct when the Scavs set an ambush for the psychopath with over 150 men, and all of them wound up dead. It was all over the news and had made top headlines for god's sake, and if rumor was to be believed, it had attracted the attention of one of the big names in Arasaka. Some rumors from the very top where he had ears even said that it was Adam Smasher that had taken a personal interest. That was enough to soothe the ruffled feathers in the international community and the various Big Tech heads. Now, while his gig with the local Scavs was just a sweet, sweet side bonus that put a little extra spending money in his wallet, it wasn't worth staying involved in that mess. The eddies he made with TT easily covered all his expenses and allowed him to enjoy life. Now, it was true that it was important to remember your roots, and in his case he would remember the Scavs fondly as they were murdered. Better them than him, after all. 

"Hmm, got some time off coming up in a month. I suppose I should visit the gang and see how they're doing. Maybe show them some of what I learned working for TT. Heh." Provided the Boogeyman doesn't get a short in his britches and decides to go on another spree. 

...Rebecca... 

If there was one job-type she hated more than anything else, it was what she called 'babysitting'. She hated them because either nothing happened, the person she's watching was an insufferable pain in the ass, or she spent the whole time keyed up waiting for an attack. Due to the specifics of this job, she knew that it was more of the latter than the first or second, which was the worst kind of job. She couldn't just put on her BD wreath and watch movies to pass the time, like she could with the other two types of jobs! No, for this job, she had to be fully alert and aware. Which also meant being aware of the whining of the spoiled baby she was sitting on. Rebecca could not help but groan internally at this. 

Rebecca flexed the new hands Pilar gave to her. His old ones after he ordered a new pair a week ago, after getting Vik to thoroughly sanitize them before installing them, obviously. 

Rubbing her face with her brother's old hands, she cursed her luck. Of course, the solo job she'd taken from the Old Man to help pay the upkeep had to deal with both the waiting to be attacked version of the babysitting, and with an insufferable client. Grumbling, she decided to check her trunk, spotting her Gorilla hands safely tucked into their new case David made to make sure they weren't stolen. The beauty was that they were ready for her to hot-swap them out in, or if in an emergency just stick her current hands in the box they were in, to instantly install them. It would hurt like a bitch and probably destroy her current hands, but everyone decided they would rather her than a pair of hands after David explained how it worked. Just in case she needed to handle anything massive like a HMG in a hurry, or if she needed to give a bitch ass gonk a fisting if she lost her current hands! Vic even gave her the Boxer's discount for buying recoil compensators and extra synth muscle to deal with the recoil of firing her big guns or punching gonks. Probably Vik giving her some boxer's love; Rebecca couldn't resist a smirk at that thought. 

Her prized shotty Guts was waiting and eager, "Here's hoping this won't be an absolute bore before the action starts." She thought as she considered her heavily modified Carnage shotgun. David had really outdone himself with the modifications on this beast, he even designed a clip that held mass reactive explosive Thermite rounds in case she had to deal with a Borg! 

Bringing up the deets again, Rebecca decided to review them, figuring it would be a better use of her time than just sitting around bored. 

"Okay, Ivanka Akilisov… Russian native. Corpo brat… model… heir-apparent… great. Just what I needed. An entitled rich-bitch treating NC as a vacation…" Why so many gonks with more eddies than sense treated this hellhole as a vacation spot, Rebecca never understood! 

It couldn't be the excitement, she liked having a gunfight sometimes, but that didn't mean she went out looking for them! Well… most of the time anyway. 

Just as she finished reviewing the deets of the job, one of those high-end fancy cars pulled up. Rebecca didn't know the make or model, guns were more her speed, but the hoity-toity rich bitch who got out and looked at Rebecca with a disdainful sneer. 

"This is the one who's supposed to protect me?" She said with a derisive scoff that Rebecca easily ignored, "What? Too poor to actually look like a real woman? Or do you prefer looking like pedo-bait, plastic child? Are you just naturally short, or do you enjoy being child-sized?" She mocked. She noticed out of the corner of her the driver discretely lean against his seat, putting his frame out of view of the window and behind the likely bulletproof car's exterior. 

Rebecca narrowed her eyes, and the fact that the Corpo-brat flinched told her all she needed to know about the brat. She may act high and mighty, but she was just another limp wrist pussy that this city liked to eat alive like a fucking snack! Probably never even handled a real gun in her life, likely prefers techie magnet guns! 

But the plastic child comment deserved some clap back! 

"Listen here, you Corpo Slut, I can care less what you say about me, but never call me plastic. Unlike you bitch, all my curves are natural. Can you say the same? Skin job..." Rebecca retorted with narrow eyes, "So how about you just keep your opinion to your fucking self and let me do my goddamn job! Also, about size? Bitch, this city couldn't handle a full-sized me!" 

"Well!" The brat reared up as if to intimidate the 'lesser creature' or whatever helped Corpo's feel important. 

"Well, what?" Rebecca bounced back. "You didn't hire me to like you, you hired me to keep you from being grabbed or zeroed, so let's get this job started…" Many things could be said about Rebecca, diplomatic would never be one of them. 

The bitch made some complaints about her pay getting cut or something, but Rebecca was hardly listening, she wasn't worried honestly as the brat wasn't paying for the job in the first place. No doubt she was so self-assured in her superiority because she thought that no one would dare attempt to harm her. Honestly, if it wasn't for the massive payday the job promised, Rebecca would've loved disabusing her of this foolish notion that she was untouchable personally! But no, the eddies were too good and promised to cover the expenses for a while, at least until David finished his pro bono work for Rogue. 

Assuming he didn't get Gloria's workaholic tendencies, then everything was just synth-gravy! 

"Listen, if you wanna stay here sputtering and making limp wrist threats, then you do you. I'm still being paid either way." Rebecca bluntly stated, cutting the Corpo off, "But ain't you got some modeling shit to do or something?" 

The brat just got all huffy and went back to her car, "Just keep your distance, slutrat!" She spat. 

"Wish I could." Rebecca retorted, "But a job is a job. And your sugar daddy or whoever paid for it wants you protected. So, unless you wanna shill out more eddies than them, Imma be shadowing you." 

The brat seemed frustrated at that, not that Rebecca blamed her. She wasn't too excited about the arrangement herself, in all honesty. 

"So, you got two options." Rebecca said, "Either, let this 'street rat' do her fucking job, or not. I'll be honest, I couldn't give two shits if you got nabbed and taken to a Scav chop shop, if any of them survived the purge at least." 

"Fine!" The Corpo bitch snapped with a scowl, "Just… get whatever you need and get in…" Rebecca would deny it if asked, but a part of her really enjoyed how her face twisted in distaste. 

"Sure, give me a sec." Rebecca said as she walked to her MaiMai and opened the trunk to switch out her hands and get her duffle bag with her guns. Since it wasn't an emergency, she only had to open the box and switch hands one at a time. It was much slower, but also didn't risk destroying the hands Pilar gave her. 

Then, after locking the car up, she also sent a message to her gonk brother to pick up the MaiMai. He was the only other person that had the key to her car anyway, though if David finished his pro bono work soon, she'd probably give Pilar a loan, so he could get his own damn car! 

She may have her reasons for not liking the gonk, but he was still family, and she loved him. Even if he regularly pissed her off. 

"Alright, let's get this shitshow going." Rebecca said flippantly. 

The Corpo, however, stared, "Is that a Machine Gun in your bag!?" 

"Well, yeah, sometimes you need an HMG." Rebecca said with a shrug. "Sometimes you just need a big fucking gun. One that shoots a lot of big fucking bullets really fucking fast, just to tell the fucking fucks messing with you to fucking fuck off." Internally, Rebecca had to stop and count how many fucks she said out of mental curiosity. The look her statement garnered from her client made her want to laugh. 

"Just… just get in already." She said, clearly unnerved by the amount of firepower Rebecca had with her, and how unstable she seemed. She pointedly didn't mention the magazine of anti-Borg thermite rounds in her coat pocket, she didn't want to scare away the money, after all. 

Rebecca allowed herself a brief snicker as the two got into the car, thankfully it was roomy, so they weren't side by side. 

"Just, don't talk and watch." The brat said eventually. 

Rebecca just shrugged, "Easiest order I've ever had. God, these coming days are going to suck so bad… well, the food is preem at least?" 

The first stop in their 'tour' was a photo-op in Corpo Plaza that snowballed into a massive thing, honestly it bored Rebecca to tears, but she did her job and kept an eye on her ward… no matter how much she disliked the brat. Though Rebecca wouldn't deny that she appreciated the eye candy, for all her personality reminding Rebecca of a backed-up sewage line she looked damn good! 

Having stupid amounts of eddies and being able to afford the best Biosculptors must be hella nice. Still, thankfully the much anticipated after-party came, Rebecca didn't get it, but she wasn't going to complain as she got a chance to try the preem food the Corpos kept to themselves. Though, she would admit, Real Meat is a lot better than the vat-grown paste that's available to people on a budget. 

Overall? Rebecca gave it a five out of ten, fantastic, but overhyped and just made you hungrier. 

"Seriously, why the fuck are the portions so goddamn small? You can't even get full off these bite-sized snacks!" She knew she'd never understand, but the question still persisted. 

Then again, that just might be a strategy they use to make money. Rebecca honestly had no idea how these Corpo fucks worked. Anyway, she had resigned herself to vegging out on Corpo food. That and trying to figure out if she could get David to set up a saving for real sweets and actual meat for special occasions. While it was overhyped, it was actually good. 

"We should also find an apartment with an actual kitchen… but those would be high-end apartments for Corpos." Rebecca scratched her cheek in thought, "Maybe… we can find an abandoned building and claim it as our own? Between Luce and Kiwi, we can spoof the deed and everything. Honestly, David is a clean freak anyway, so yeah…" 

Honestly, the only other thing that'd make this party more tolerable would be if they played some real music! Not that Corpo sponsored shit, but some classic stuff like… anything from Samurais (though that probably won't happen with Johnny Silverhand being a domestic terrorist and everything) or some good hip-hop! But, none of that was likely to happen, so Rebecca resigned herself to suffering in silence. 

Though, she did occasionally stick her tongue out or flip off sneering Corpos that glanced her way. 

Then she heard it, the blessed sound of panicking Corpo pussies and gunfire! Finally, some action! 

With a grin that made more than a few Corpos nervous, she got her trusty Guts ready and ran towards the sounds of sweet, sweet gun play! Just as she turned the corner she saw some Maelstrom gangoons and her grin became painful with how wide it was now and just as she brought her heavily modded Carnage shotgun to bear the Maelstrom noticed her! 

"Shit! That's the Boogeyman's output! Let's get the fuck outta here!" Guts went limp in her hands, "I sure as shit don't want that fucker to go on a bigger spree! Lets delta!" 

Which they did, leaving Rebecca confused and horribly, terribly angry! 

She was twatswatted by her input's goddamn reputation! 

"MOTHERFUCKER! COME BACK HERE! SHOOT AT ME GODDAMMIT, I'M SO FUCKING BORED!!!" Rebecca didn't care if she sounded like a child denied a piece of synth-chocolate, she was angry. 

After venting for a few more minutes, literally hopping mad to get rid of some energy, she stomped back to the main party. Most of the suits had disappeared (she pinged her wards locator and found her hiding in a bathroom) so Rebecca helped herself to the snack bar, granted the food was far richer than her normal comfort food, but goddamn she needed this! 

Then, much to her displeasure, her ward came out of hiding like she wasn't just trying to hide herself in the bathroom like a bitch with one of those Omahas that Sasha favored. At least Sasha's was modded out to be a beast! Then, the bitch had the audacity to actually act like hot shit! 

"Ah! Those gangoons knew better than to come after me!" Rebecca just stared at the brat like she said something idiotic, which she did before sighing and decided to set the brat straight. The Maelstrom gonks had shouted why they ran to high heavens after all, and if they knew who she was, then there was no risk of letting this little Corpo doll know. 

"Shut up, you spoiled Corpo Baby Cunt, before I crush you with my Juicy Latina Ass. It will be like Adam Smasher himself landing on you after jumping from the top of Arasaka tower, and it will bring a whole new meaning to the term "Babysitting." Rebecca snapped, ignoring the odd feeling of grim déjà vu her words brought up. 

"You shut up, foul-mouthed slut!" The brat fired back, "At least I know what a real man is like! You probably only have toys or pedo-freaks!" 

Rebecca's eyes narrowed, and she briefly considered shooting the bitch before giving a smirk, "Lemme tell you something you Corpo Slut, I'm only doing this because the eddies your sugar daddy is offering is far too good to pas up. I'd rather be back home snuggled up with the Boogeyman… yes, I have the Boogeyman on speed dial… So let me do my job and protect your gonk plastic ass." 

The corpo blanched, as she should. After all, who hadn't heard of 'The Boogeyman'. The Boogeyman; the bane of Scavs and Maelstrom anywhere. Rebecca had heard an amusing rumor that he's the unholy lovechild of some unlucky woman and Adam Smasher. Though oddly enough, when Rebecca shared that one with David, he just looked disturbed. 

Rebecca just gave the stunned Baby Corpo a smug grin, "And yes, this pint-sized woman is regularly interfacing with him." She stated smugly. 

"Is there...is there any chance I might be able to hire the Boogeyman for close protection?" The Baby Corpo asked. 

Rebecca paused, on one hand… she really didn't want the slut near David. She could see the scheming look in her eyes, probably planning on trying to steal her input. Buuuut… 

"Not on his own. If you reach out to a Merc called Maine and offer him big eddies for his crew, whom Boogeyman is with, then quite possibly." Rebecca said, "Might as well give the crew some more work. Cause fuck Faraday…" She never liked the four-eyed corpo-wannabe, even more so now given what Kiwi shared with them! 

Honestly, if the bomb David made wasn't a Block Buster, she would've complained about him not using it to zero the fucker! 

However, Rebecca just loved the idea of David being hired by this trashy bitch, just so her attempts to steal him could come crashing down with him rejecting her. Rebecca knew David had standards, none of which this woman met. The only way the devastation of rejection could get better is if she had popcorn to eat while watching the show 

Still, deciding to leave the woman to her scheming, she decided to message Maine, at least to give him a heads-up on some potential work coming their way. 

...Hey choom! You ain't flatlining on the job, are you?... 

Rebecca rolled her eyes as she ate before firing back, ...Nah, I ain't letting you guys off that easy. Besides, can you imagine the terror David would unleash if some gonk got a lucky shot off? Nah, I'm giving you a heads-up on some work that might be heading your way.... 

...Oh? What's the deets?... 

...Meh, Baby Corpo. She just learned my input is the Boogeyman and is interested in hiring him. But I told the bitch he doesn't do solo requests, so I told her about you. So, she'll be hiring the crew in hopes of meeting the Boogeyman and getting him to agree to be her personal bodyguard/joytoy.... 

...And I suppose you wanna see the rejection in person? You know he won't be back until next month, right?... 

...I know but I figure it'd be easy eddies, well relatively speaking. It might be easy honestly, a bunch of Maelstrom gonks saw me and took off running. Not wanting to set the Boogeyman off again.... 

...Haha! Got twatswatted by your input's rep, huh? Well, he did put the fear of god into them. Anyway, thanks for the heads-up.... 

...No sweat bossman. Take it easy!... And with that, Rebecca ended the convo and focused on eating. 

...Rebecca... 

Rebecca had gotten used to waking up with David, well, sometimes since the gonk is an early riser occasionally (heathen that he is). In this case, it was a good thing. While he directed the bitch to Maine, she still didn't want the woman near her David! Sure, he'd shoot her down, but still, the thought of letting the sleazy Corpse near her man left a very foul taste in her mouth. 

Grumbling, she rolled out of her surprisingly comfy bed. It would've been better if she had David with her, but she'd rather suffer than let the brat near him, she moved around the rented apartment, quickly getting herself some synth-coffee and a breakfast burrito from the convenient vendor, thankfully due to the contract all expenses were paid by the brat… not that a burrito was a huge expense or anything but still, it is what it is. 

Besides, it's not like Rebecca would be going to the nearest 2nd Amendment to actually make use of the little fact, sure if she had to restock on ammo then she'd try to get a few goodies on the side. But, given how the Maelstrom gonks acted yesterday? She doubted she even had to replace a single bullet! 

In fact, that the Maelstrom reacted like that still surprised her, sure David ripped apart a hundred-plus Maelstrom and former Ripper gonks but still! Maelstrom is a psychogang in the first place, all of them (for the most part) were a single step away from full-on Cyberpsychosis! The fact that the mooks of the Chrome Cultys even had self-preservation instincts alone surprised her! 

"Well, under all the chrome they're still human, no matter how much they deny it." Rebecca thought as she drank her coffee. 

After she finished her drink and ate her food, Rebecca decided to give Guts some maintenance, sure it didn't get any action, but habits are habits. The fact that David taught her how to do it when she was out on jobs like this made her smile, though now that she was thinking about the loveable gonk, she found it amusing how quickly he seemed to pick up things! 

"Heh, like one of those video games I see advertised from time to time." She mused with a smile, "Hmm, I hope everyone else is having a better day than me…" 

Grumbling to herself, Rebecca decided to just focus on her work, the brat would message her if she was heading out.