6

...David... 

"Morning." He said as he entered the Afterlife. 

"Fucking hell, do you ever sleep?" Clarie asked looking at him, "If you're wanting a drink, tough, I'm heading out." 

"That's fine, I'm just going to get back to work on the armory." He said with a smile, "Hey, is Nix still around or has he already disappeared?" 

"He's actually just about to leave." Clarie said with a shrug, "Head on back, you'll find him." 

Understanding that he wouldn't be getting any more information from the woman, David headed past the bar and deeper into the Afterlife. Like the last time he was at the Afterlife in the morning, the place was nearly dead. Oh, he still spotted the usual groups around the place, drinking RealWater or synth-coffee. Maybe eating some SCOP from a vendor. He was pretty sure he saw some fixers around as well, but he wasn't entirely certain. 

Shaking his head, he entered where Nix had his Netrunner set up and saw the man getting ready to head out. 

"Hey Nix, before you head out, interested in earning some quick eddies?" David asked. 

The Netrunner glanced at him, "Sure. Though I hope you ain't expecting me to do it now." He said as he crossed his arms. 

"Nah. It's not time sensitive or anything." David said as he pulled a datashard from his pocket, "You mind cracking this for five thousand?" 

"Ain't one of your outputs a Netrunner?" He asked as he took the shard. 

"Two of them, actually." David corrected, "Normally I'd agree, but I got this from some dumb Merc the Scavs hired. I don't know what sort of security is on it, so I didn't want to risk it. Besides, I figured you being a part of Rogue's crew could handle it easy." 

Nix snorted, "Fine, whatever. Easy eddies." He said as he pocketed the shard, "Payment after it's done?" 

"Yep. I'll throw in extra if you don't make a copy to sell or whatever." David said, "Let's say… two thousand?" 

"Make it three and I'll consider." Nix retorted. 

David shrugged and agreed; besides, it wasn't like he was hurting for eddies. Honestly, he could quit Edgerunning entirely and just work as a tech, not that he would. David had long since realized he was a thrill seeker. 

"I must have some kind of danger fetish…" David muttered to himself under his breath, snickering and shaking his head. 

With their business concluded David made his way to the armory, if he kept going at the pace, he had been he might finish before Rebecca got back! That way he can be free to show her some love she most likely will be needing. 

...Lucy... 

Glancing over at her Kiwi, she considered what she was to her. At once a mentor, pseudo mother, and now fellow output, it was difficult to define their relationship these days. She didn't care though, to her Kiwi would be Kiwi and that was all she needed her to be, her role in her life didn't matter these days. She'd spent enough time around and with the older Netrunner to be able to somewhat read her with a degree of accuracy most others couldn't, despite her mask and emotional control. However, doing so was never easy and was more difficult on some days than others. Still, she was relatively sure about her conclusions that Kiwi was a thorough mix of bored, lonely, and horney. Mainly because the older Netrunner wasn't trying very hard to hide it. It was the fact that Kiwi was still instinctively hiding her emotions despite being somewhere she considered safe and relaxed enough to be bored that bothered her. Still, she was relatively sure about her conclusions, since Kiwi wasn't trying very hard to hide it. 

Maybe she should get Kiwi to join her in tormenting a few low-profile Saka suits? That'd certainly help Kiwi's feelings of loneliness since it was easy enough and low risk while still being good practice and a fun bonding exercise besides. Tormenting Arasaka was pretty cathartic for her, but she never figured out why it was so cathartic for Kiwi. Now that she thought about it, she always thought it was because everyone hated Arasaka, she hadn't ever really asked. It was best to leave that option then to avoid bringing up any trauma she may have with them so soon after she bore her heart to them. 

But the horniness… well, she knew that Kiwi was bisexual, even before she came out and told them all she was a former Corpo Joytoy, but she didn't really join any group activities. Well, outside of when they all tried to 'suck David's soul out' in Rebecca's words. 

"Hmm, well… I've been meaning to test this out anyway. And it has been a while since Kiwi, and I did anything together." Her plan slowly forming in her head, she wondered how to best broach the subject to Kiwi. 

If anything, now would be a perfect chance to offer the idea, a quick glance confirmed that Butterbean is dead asleep, and that David is out doing his biz in the Afterlife. Butterbean would be out for a bit so that point of interruption was out, she still hadn't quite forgiven Rebecca's cat for interrupting her private time with David, he'd been far too proud. That David had gone to play with the cat instead of her had been a blow to her pride as a woman, but she was too ashamed to have been beaten by a cat to mention it. The thought was something she still cringed thinking about it, how low could she be, being jealous of a cat that wasn't even theirs! 

That she might've only given the Butterbean half a bowl of food while she was taking care of him was immaterial. The fact that David had seen and wordlessly filled it the rest of the way while that insufferable cat watched would forever be ingrained in her memory, despite her best efforts. 

"Hey, Kiwi, I've been thinking about trying something out." She said, desperately trying to distract herself, "Wanna help out?" 

Kiwi looked away from the TV, it was droning off about some cyberlimbs or something, she wasn't paying attention. She primarily focused on Kiwi and trying to figure out a way to ask this and not make it awkward for the both of them. That it also let her distract herself from Butterbean was just bonus points. She knew Kiwi was still getting used to having people to actually trust, so she didn't want to spook her. 

"Sure, what do you have in mind?" Kiwi asked curiously. 

After a few moments of attempting to think of how to word it without sounding weird, Lucy decided to just say it, "Well, I was thinking about syncing up our sensory inputs. An experiment that we can surprise David with when Becca gets back." She said. 

Kiwi blinked before she started laughing lightly, "I was actually considering something similar." She said, "Just… didn't know how to bring it up." She added, sounding rather shy at the admission. 

"Great minds think alike, then." Lucy said with a smile, "So, you interested?" 

"Yeah." Kiwi said, "Just… It's been a long time. Since I was with another woman." She added. 

Lucy didn't comment, nor did she desire to bring the mood down. Instead, she just got up and motioned for Kiwi to follow. 

Leading the way to the bathroom, she spotted the white container of the inbuilt Ice Maker she asked David to install earlier that day before he left hung over the side of the Bathtub. An emergency measure in case she or Kiwi needed to cool off while Netrunning at his place. It gave her the inkling of an idea that germinated into a plan when merged with what she was thinking about doing. As she and Kiwi began undressing, she could feel a sense of bubbling excitement building in her as her plan developed into something workable as the various elements slotted into place. 

Once they took off their clothes she led Kiwi into the bath, but before she went in first to be the big spoon, Kiwi placed her hand on her shoulder silently asking her to wait. Curious where this was going, she was surprised when Kiwi decided to go first, and although she didn't say anything, she was a little miffed. This was supposed to be a reminder to herself that she wasn't a bottom after the whole Butterbean fiasco! Kiwi sat down in the tub, taking the big spoon spot and turned on the water with a quick hack even though she could've just reached over and turned the dial. With an internal huff, she was cautiously meticulous to keep strictly internal to not break the mood, she decided to lose with grace and got into the tub. Leaning against Kiwi with a sigh as the hot water slowly began filling the tub, she felt it as Kiwi began initiating a Brain Dance, waiting for her to accept. When she accepted, instead of being mentally transported to a BD, she felt the program she'd been working on for this activate and mesh with another similar program from Kiwi. 

While there was a moment of worry and consternation at two programs that hadn't been expressly designed to fit together interacting, it turned out to not be a problem. They knew each other well enough and the way they each approached software work that rather than get tangled up, the two programs meshed well, a bit too well in fact! 

They both shivered as they both felt what the other was feeling, but due to Kiwi's greater experience, she had the foresight to include a cutoff switch to avoid a feedback loop. Both of their programs were only supposed to let them both see and hear what the other did, but the way they meshed also let them feel what the other did. She had a passing thought about the nature of programs and that it wasn't how it worked before she was distracted. 

"This has potential," Kiwi whispered down to her, sending a shiver down her spine as she saw what Kiwi was imagining, felt her trepidation and excitement at allowing herself to open up like this. They glanced towards the Ice Holder off to the side of the tube on the wall. She nodded slightly, finally accepting that she wasn't going to be the top in this relationship. In her mind, she cursed Butterbean for causing this in the first place. Not too much, though, because the darn cat finally pushed her to go through with this. A hint of foreign curiosity trickled in her mind before a bloom of humor joined it, along with her very own sense of impending doom as she realized that their minds and emotions had also somehow become linked. 

"Oh, so I have Rebecca's cat to thank for this happening, then?" Kiwi whispered in her ear, causing her to remember that not only were their senses and emotions linked, but their minds as well. She forgot to suppress that thought as deeply as she did her others! "Oh, no… You can't David!" She silently screamed, trying to keep her voice down while also screaming, making her voice raise several octaves. 

Kiwi just smirked at her and reached out, embracing her with both hands as her hands began to play along her arms, leaving goosebumps where her delicate fingers lightly traced. She noticed with a mix of shameful lust and modification that the thought of being humiliated by someone she loved was turning her on. 

"There we go, you see, trust me," Kiwi whispered, causing her whimper as Kiwi began kissing the side of her neck, she realized what sort of monster she unwittingly unleashed. 

As Kiwi's hands moved to their sensitive breasts, a whimper of pleasure escaped them, even as she saw from Kiwi's point of view their left hand reaching for the ice holder. They felt the chill on their hands as Kiwi reached in and grasped a single piece of ice and brought it back, holding it in front of their faces to show them for what they both were in for. 

With that, Kiwi began toying with their body, what one felt the other experienced just as keenly. They lost count of the number of times they lost themselves in gentle orgasms of sensations of touch, mixed with the pleasantness of the water and the chill of the ice. The ice had to be replaced several times, but over that time Kiwi and her experienced what the other felt and slowly allowed both of them to experience the tragedies of the others. It allowed them to grieve for each other since neither could bring themselves to do so themselves, all the while being comforted and distracted, so they never lingered longer than they had to. 

By the end of it, both Kiwi and her were an emotional mess of tears, but the wounds they both had that had never been allowed to heal had finally been cleansed. It would take work, and it would be difficult, but the process of healing could finally begin. 

By the time the program that allowed them to share who they were ran its course, both of them felt cleaner than they had felt in a long time. But the thing was, as both of them went their separate ways to tinker, they would both discover that neither of their programs had the framework to do what happened. At least, not at first. They did discover that their programs had been heavily modified, but the tags in the programming indicated that the only ones who had access to them had been themselves. Although the time stamps did have something wired about them, rather than just a date and time, it had a third unknown indicator that neither recognized. In the end, they both concluded that the other had the better program, had installed an auto installer in case the other had one like it. They both decided to ask each other about it later, unaware of the hidden hands working behind the scenes that brought them to this point. 

...Rebecca... 

Groaning in irritation and hopeless impotent anger and frustration, Rebecca collapsed on her bed, any thoughts of how comfy it was not even registering to the irate petite gun nut. Not even a steady supply of Real Meat and genuine sweets was enough to brighten her foul mood! She just wanted to scream and rant, maybe pump a magazine from Guts into the wall! Anything to vent her frustration she felt roiling in her! 

Again! A-Fucking-Gain! She was fucking twatswatted! This time it was a bunch of Tyger Racketeers! Gangoons that David hadn't even given more than a passing glance at! 

It was supposed to be HER TIME! Her chance to have some sweet orgasmic relief on this hellish job! It was there! That sweet release she craved more than anything! It was fucking tickling her clit; it was so close! 

But no, fucking no! She was denied her release because the fucking Gangoons were fucking lost! Apparently, they came to the wrong goddamn gathering! And they were fucking so… so… 

Rebecca just covered her face with a pillow and screamed in pure, unrestrained fury! 

Why!? WHEN THE FUCK DID GANGOONS EVEN FUCKING CARE!? THERE WAS A CORPO AND OTHER PLEBS RIPE FOR MUGGING! GODDAMMIT!!! 

"David is going to fuck me, and if I don't wake up in Vik's goddamn chair, I'm going to be pissed!!!" Rebecca thought as she continued to rage and cry her frustration into the pillow. 

...Rogue... 

"The body count over the past two days since Russian SovOil Heiress Ivanka Vasilov has hit an extremely sturdy 30, quite frankly since this is Night City, we call 30 dead Gangoons Monday Breakfast, but what has caught this reporter's interest isn't the drop-dead gorgeous Corpo who's visiting our lovely City with its 24/7 entertainment...but rather her bodyguard. She might have the frame of a child, but this woman is no ordinary woman from four anonymous sources, a gang of Maelstrom had gate crashed an event that young Vasilov had attended. The phrase 'Shit! That's the Boogeyman's output! Let's get the fuck outta here!' was recorded by all four of these sources. So, my avid listeners and viewers, just who is this shotgun lady that has snared the Boogeyman?" The brain-dead presenter declared before he continued, "And if that wasn't enough, the SovOil Heiress was at another function that was gatecrashed by a group of Tyger Claws! And while there was no acknowledgement of being spooked by the Boogeyman's output, they all left in a surprisingly polite fashion, so… who knows!? This has been your Man, Stan!" The channel changed before the gonk could go further on his moronic talking points. 

Rogue chuckled, it was always entertaining watching Gangoons crash a party only to run across a living legend, or in this case, the Output of a Legend. Perhaps it'd be a good idea to give Wakako, Former Queen Tyger turned Fixer, a call before letting the Boogeyman loose in her neck of Night City. It was never wise to issue an order that you knew wasn't going to be followed in cases like these. It was better to reinforce her air of authority by getting him to wait, so she could profit from his inevitable rampage, and let him get a cut as well to appease him. The thought of turning his madness or backers towards her and hers must never be allowed to cross his mind, so she would have to make doing so unthinkable to him. She hadn't had the need to seduce people for a while, but every edge would be needed for this one. 

"Nix!" The Netrunner appeared like a shadow. 

"Boss?" He asked, though Rogue could clearly hear some curiosity in his voice. 

Rogue paused to collect her thoughts, "Contact the Tyger Queen of Westbrook, call it a courtesy call." She said after a few moments. 

Nix nodded, "Any particulars?" He asked 

Rogue shook her head, "No, just tell her from one Lead Fixer of a District to Another that I wish to break bread with her." 

Nix shrugged before his eyes lit up with understanding, telling her he was making plans to give Rogue a few moments of peace, which truly weren't all that peaceful in her mind. 

That fucking boogeyman. 

That unfortunate son-of-a-bitch fucking Boogeyman, the Scav Cleaner of Night City, the Maelstrom Mangler, a kid for whom the Angels and Devils fight to keep on the mortal coil. Some days, Rogue was only slightly regretting admitting him into her demesne, while other times like now she was relieved that he wasn't out there as a free agent doing who knows what. The only upside so far, was that only one of his Outputs was publicly known, the other two were still remarkably well obfuscated for those without direct eyes on them, like she had. More evidence the Boogeyman was a mad genius, or he was being guided by a third party. The most galling thing she discovered so far was that there were plenty of fingerprints left over from third-party interference, but she couldn't find neither hide nor tail of them! It almost made her suspect AI interference, but they had no reason to back a kid like David, unless it was one of those damn decades long plans that only made sense in hindsight. That line of thinking didn't bear thinking about, though, since there was nothing productive she could do about it if so. One didn't interfere in the plans of the AI without good reason. 

Would it be a blow to his reputation that one of his Output's was now publicly known? Probably not, considering he butchered a hundred and fifty Maelstrom gonks for abducting and harming the Output in question. She was considerably annoyed at their idiocy, those idiotic Tyger Claws had lit a fuse in the heart of the Night City Underbelly. The murder spree would likely follow his previous pattern of escalation similar to the hunt of the Scavs, a few small groups here and there, until on the last day he took out a large, prepared group. However, unlike the Scavs, the Tyger Claws were a large and organized group, and there wasn't enough information to predict how he would act with them. Luckily, the fuse could still be doused if she could meet with Wakako and arrange for a cease fire before the Boogeyman turned Westbrook District into a cairn built of the blood and bones of the Tyger Claws. 

Rogue sighed, she needed to work swiftly; she'd need every second of the remaining time to ensure the Westbrook District didn't wind up on the news as the sight of another massacre on the same level as the Maelstrom Massacre. There were already far too many eyes on Night City from that fiasco as it was, she didn't want the entire alphabet soup of government agencies sticking their noses here, thank you very much! 

"Claire, three Silverhands and keep them coming." Goddammit, the Boogeyman was causing more problems than Johnny fucking Silverhand! She hadn't thought that was remotely fucking possible, but this was Night City, the home of Adam Smasher, of course someone could make more problems than Johnny. She'd need to check that David wasn't able to get his hands on fissile material… and that if he could… he wouldn't. 

The absolute worst part? Rogue knew the gonk clearly didn't mean to be a pain in the ass! 

VIP Suits 

After going upstairs and into her room while telling the guard to keep anyone from coming up, she went over the information gathered during her investigation into the mysterious backer. For the third time now, in the hopes of drawing anything more out of the information available, she began flipping through piles of paper. Antiquated, but you couldn't hack paper. 

Her investigations revealed that a man called Marcus Frux seemed to be the main ringleader of a small cabal of Corpo types; Faraday: Militech Fixer, arrogant rung climber with large ambitions and the brains to get there, looking for some kind of secret tech for Militech in the Dark Web, secretly looking for a higher position of prestige in Arasaka; Silverback: Former Animal, sadist with a temper, Chief of security for Night Corp Konpeki Plaza. Elizabeth: Former Maelstrom, now Corpo Gun Runner for black ops, a sadist that derived joy from torture and off the books chrome work, on the job or as a personal project. Kun Lee Shu: Kang Tao expert in Inter-Corporation relations, Major investor in NC branch of Jinguji. Marcus Frux: Freelance Import/Export luxury goods and chrome specialist, friend of Elizabeth. Jerome Lobe: Militech NC Branch, in charge of Corpo/Fixer relations, Grew up alongside Faraday, secretly is why Faraday did not get into the Corpo life sooner. He and Faraday went to a Corpo school together, when Lobe was caught cheating on an exam, secretly pinned it on Faraday. Faraday never found out, but Lobe keeps Faraday around as a "Friend" to help get jobs done, or procure items quietly, also is one of Faraday's Militech handlers. Jerome Lobe was also Kiwi's former owner, having bought her from Clouds, by paying off her debt to the Tyger Claws. 

Out of all the members of the cabal, Marcus was the most fun out of all of them to dig up dirt on, he tried so many methods to keep his skeletons hidden, but for someone of her ability? That amount of obfuscation only made him stand out all the more and made him a fat, juicy target. It was adorable, really, if only the Boogeyman was as easy to read. 

Normally, the information she dug up, especially about Marcus, would take years to gather if she was careful about avoiding the various traps and firewalls. But then, the Boogeyman himself asked Nix to crack a chip with a rather nasty virus that provided her the information she needed to root them out wholesale while circumventing all of it. The idiot the Boogeyman got it from never bothered to erase their contacts or texts, giving her everything she needed to root them all out. To be fair, he had a program doing that for him. Only, his version of the program was inactive and had been for a while, and he never noticed, so she still felt justified in calling him an idiot. The virus on it was a vicious thing that almost looked like the work of an AI specializing in Cyber Warfare, and was just as difficult to deal with. It would've easily overwhelmed a single Netrunner, if Nix hadn't gotten help he would be in recovery for a while. Luckily, since the request came from the Boogeyman Nix had gotten back up as a matter of course, it was known that any job the Boogeyman wouldn't do would require extraordinary means. This just proved it, fucking Boogeyman. Anyway, Nix used it to help break the defenses of Militech a few hours ago, it was the main thing their hackers were distracted by since it wasn't constrained in a single chip like in Nix's case. 

According to the hacked records they gained access too, Jerome used to own one of the Boogeyman's Outputs, Kiwi, who wound up in Faraday's pocket with a clever scheme on Faraday's end with Kiwi's help. Although, the picture of what Kiwi looked like before becoming a Joytoy and after getting free of Jerome was striking. Especially the obvious pregnant belly she had from a picture taken from Faraday's files when he first got her in his employ; she looked like she was about to give birth by the look of her, covered in bruises and scrapes, probably scared out of her mind. 

It was like looking at two wholly different people, but the DNA results confirmed that they were one and the same. Poor girl must have been heavily Biosculped, but such a fate wasn't uncommon for a Joytoy, just not usually to this extent. Nix left a note that the lower half of Kiwi's face had to be removed due to extreme damage, but there wasn't any indication of what caused the damage. A hint lay in one of Marcus's inner circle, Silverback, known to be a former Animal and have a violent temper. Jerome apparently liked to share his Joytoys with his friends due to a particular NTR fetish he liked to indulge in. The link was obvious, almost too obvious, making her wonder if she was missing something... 

Having it be known that Marcus let one of Jerome's Joytoys get damaged to that extent would put him in hot water. Both due to the bad press it would bring and the attention it would bring to his little cabal. It would also ensure that he would never get another willing Joytoy, which was probably the main reason why the damage was covered up. Although paying for the surgery with his own account was an uncharacteristically sloppy move, a clear departure from the careful and calculated steps he'd taken to hide his crimes so far and afterwards. He must've been in a rush, meaning the damage to Kiwi's face would likely have been lethal without immediate medical care. A lot of money was paid to instead install a modular implant in place of her mouth and nose to allow for multiple types of cyberware to be slotted in as well. So, he wasn't worried about Kiwi as a person but as a prized commodity because right next to the medical bill was a recite showing the purchase of a Midnight lady, designed with the very same modular implant in mind. She grimaced at the implications, but such was the life of a Joytoy. 

The reason she even did this, in this case, was because she was sending a message to those who thought they could cut her out of the underworld, and partly because she'd missed them until now. Things like this shit only vindicated her in the eyes of those who would doubt whether drawing heat like this was necessary. While it was immaterial to her decision to attack or not, it never hurt to have a bit of a PR win fall into her lap. While she was sure the various Gangoons did worse things, it was bad optics to publicly admit that. You might get something like the Boogeyman after you, as the Scavs so generously demonstrate. Besides, this little shadow cabal had gone unannounced and unanswered too long for any other response, unfortunately. She would've loved to bring them into her fold after seeing how well they did in veiling themselves, so masterfully that even she didn't see them without being first tipped off. But, if it was a choice between a group of upstarts that didn't respect her authority and the rising legend that did, the choice was obvious. Besides, this way, it would seem like she'd just been giving this group enough rope to hang themselves by and cement her reputation as Queen of the Underworld to those who doubted her due to 'missing' them for so long. 

For this reason, she hadn't bothered with the stealth approach, she had a reputation to maintain after all. She had the Netrunners under her influence and all the freelancer Netrunners she could afford on short notice to stage a large-scale cyber-attack on the Militech NC Branch mainframe. It was one of the biggest DDoS attacks since the Corporate Wars. Last she heard, the Militech branch was still down, even after close to five hours past the start of the attack. They would likely be down for the next year with how many Netrunners she hired. Meanwhile, her personal Netrunners snuck in through the chaos during the first ten minutes, leaving her signature behind in Marcus's server, so he would know who had him by the balls and why. Marcus would be panicking since his personal server was the only one left untouched, with a large transfer of money from Militech's account transferred to him. The frame job was a good touch in her eyes, but her favorite part was the juicy information she got on his dealing with Faraday, which she had Nix copy in an obvious manner. Just to show him how screwed he was if he went against her after this. 

Marcus would likely distance himself from Faraday and the others in her list. A reasonable conclusion, since in case they found out that the leak came from him, then others would be scrambling to be the first in line to kill him. The fact that she revealed why she attacked would ensure he kept it quiet to avoid being blamed by Militech and likely killed. She could even boast that this was why even the Boogeyman heeded her when she called, tying her reputation with his own growing legend. It was risky, especially this early in his career, but if he truly did have the kinds of backing she thought he had, then it was a gamble worth taking. 

Focusing back on her investigation, she discovered a name she overlooked since it was only referenced once and vaguely, Oleg. A serial killer that worked as Trauma Team Medic and Repo man, who liked to stage accidents involving heavily augmented women and zero their insurance, adding pieces of them to his collection. He was useful for when she needed someone with Trauma Team insurance to die quietly. 

It was a name that made her feel the unpleasant feeling of shame. She remembered a woman paying her more than most could afford to pay, outside of Corpos, to keep him away from her. A task that ultimately failed entirely because she was in the wrong place at the wrong time, Oleg's signature, but also something that was plausibly an unfortunate accident. Even though she hadn't found out whether he killed her or not, she blacklisted him anyway to be safe and altered every security agency and firm in Night City that would take exception to his activities, which caused him to go to ground. 

"Wait a minute…" Rogue said as a memory surfaced, of reading a report on David's life before beginning his journey as the Boogeyman, of the Trauma Team sent out to rescue the Corpo that Gloria got caught in the crossfire of the hit on. A name… Oleg… 

"Oh, you poor son of bitch…" Rogue whispered in fascinated horror, not quite believing that someone could be that unlucky. Then she only laughed as she realized that intentionally or not, Oleg drew the attention of the Boogeyman in his attempts to avoid her, or would soon. Now he would have to deal with someone so much worse than her. 

The thought that David was as kind and genuine as he seemed to be had crossed her mind, more than once. The problem was everyone and their mothers could tell he was a terrifying lucid and coherent Cyberpsycho, and that was the problem. He seemed to have two faces, the sane young man grieving for his mother and just trying to live, and the merciless killer who would sooner cut your throat and make you literally disappear, on the other side. It was perfectly possible that David was all that he seemed while at the same time the Boogeyman was also a truth of his existence, at the same time. Thus, she deemed him mad. It was also true that he seemed to have some kind of backer that was by all indications invisible and intangible, yet present, nonetheless, thus the AI theory. Revealing this to him would further inform her about his nature and tell her more about him and those who backed him. If these mysterious backers were going to remain silent and hidden, then she would let their actions speak instead. 

...Rebecca... 

Finally! 

It was in sight! 

Release from the purgatory of boredom that Rebecca had found herself trapped in all from the moment she took this damned job! All she had to do was make it through the day, and then she would be in the free and clear! Was all the frustration worth the boatload of eddies this job promised? She honestly wasn't sure anymore. 

In the past two days, Rebecca had come to the unwanted realization that her gonk brother… may have had the right idea when he took her and ran away. Sure, Biotechnica wasn't a viper's nest like Arasaka, but… a Megacorp is still a Megacorp. While her life was so much easier, she wasn't really living, she could see as much in her charge. 

She didn't remember a lot of her life with her parents, and she was woman enough to acknowledge that she probably suppressed more than what's healthy, of her time with them. But, when her gonk brother took her and ran away when they struggled to make ends meet? When her brother went off the deep end and joined Maelstrom, and she joined the Mox? Working the kitchens and eventually security when she found her talent and fascination with guns? 

She never felt more alive, something she never felt with their parents. From what little she could recall everything was scheduled, there was no spontaneousness. There was no room to be herself. 

"Whoa there, calm down. Your brother is still a gonk!" Shaking her head, she pinged the brat to get the day's schedule. 

Shaking her head, she made her way to the couch to watch TV until the brat felt like either waking up and sending today's plans or until seven pm when her job would officially be over. Honestly, she was fine either way. 

Absentmindedly munching on a breakfast burrito, Rebecca turned the TV on and started channel surfing before settling on the Nostalgia channel and settling in to watch some Looney Tunes! She had fond memories of watching this with her brother growing up. Humanity had been thankful that a Smithsonian film vault built into an old salt mine in Kansas rated for surviving a Nuclear attack made it through the Corporate War. 

She started grinning when she realized she caught her favorite episode, Duck Amuck! 

Not even the brats eventual reply was enough to ruin the wonderful nostalgia she was experiencing! 

… That said, she did wonder why anyone would want to hold a concert in the Badlands? At least in Night City you didn't have to worry about Shivs and Wraiths, unknowns were a pain in the ass no matter what situation. At least, she may actually get a chance to have a proper fight! 

"Hmm, I should bring my HMG too. Guts is wonderful, but I don't know how it'll handle cars unless I use the Borg rounds…" She considered it, she didn't have to worry about ammo considering that loading an HMG in the middle of a firefight was just asking to be zero'd so that wasn't what was on her mind. 

What was on her mind was how cumbersome it would be in a gunfight where she would need to rely on her mobility. Sure, during her time with the Mox she got some subdermal armor, and it was enough to deal with small arms fire, but the armor wasn't the best quality. Plus, Rebecca's fleshy insides still had to deal with the shock from the impact. 

"Maybe I should replace it with that customized Defender David made me a few days back?" It certainly made sense, sure it was still cumbersome but not nearly as much as an HMG. 

Ultimately, she decided to take it on the off chance she needed something heavier, and she had yet to see anyone Borg'd out enough to just tank a stream of HMG fire! Though she definitely was going to invest in a Tactical Vest like she saw David wearing occasionally. Her jacket had plenty of pockets, but sometimes you just gotta swap a mag, and you didn't want to fight with your jacket! 

Double-checking the time, Rebecca settled back to watch her cartoons, she had another couple of hours before the brat had to leave anyway. 

The Badlands 

The concert wasn't too bad, truth be told. While the music wasn't to her tastes, she was woman enough to admit that the performances she saw were remarkable. Though, the experience was somewhat soured due to the knowledge that this whole thing was arranged as a thirtieth birthday gift to herself from the brat. It'd certainly explain why the only other guests were other Corpos. 

Wouldn't do to have the plebs be entertained, or whatever. 

Still, while the music was okay and the food was good, Rebecca honestly couldn't wait for it to end, so she could get paid and go home. Most likely have David fuck her into the next week at the very least! However, before she could start falling into lewd daydreams, not fully cause she's still on the job frustratingly enough, she started to hear screams. One roaring voice in particular caught her attention, "Find the Boogeyman's Output, we got orders to drag her ass back to the boss, dead or alive!" 

Getting Guts ready, she quickly ran towards the screaming, expecting to see Wraths or Shivs, but what she didn't expect to see was a small gang of Animals! What were these muscle-bound gonks doing in the Badlands in the first place!? 

Though honestly, after realizing they were attacking and seeing that they weren't going to run away after seeing her, Rebecca stopped caring entirely! With a savage, gleeful grin, she shouldered Guts and started blasting away! Her gorilla hands along with all the recoil-dampening and synth-muscle implants made the monstrous recoil of her precious shotty seem mild in comparison. The trail and bright flashes of intense white light that accompanied each shot was new, but David did say that he made her new ammo, though. 

By the way, the one Animal she loaded six solid slugs into was screaming as his Cyberware melted and his flesh burned away, it looked like her squeeze had added Thermite to her bullets. The way he burned, and his gunshot wounds also vented thick seemingly poisonous choking white smoke also looked like he somehow added White Phosphorus into the mix as well. While it was nice that he thought to preserve her preference for poison rounds, this was just… 

"Jesus fucking Christ, D…" Rebecca thought as she saw the effects of her shots, "Okay I'll admit these are nova, but goddamn that's horrifying!" 

Rebecca had seen some pretty nasty things since she began running the edge, but this honestly took the cake! The question is: Would she get a chance to talk to David first, or would Rogue do it? It could honestly go either way! 

Oh, she knew her arms would be sore later, but compared to before she got the implants, when shooting Guts, her arms would feel like they were about to fall off! 

The other Animals who were reaching for their melee weapons as they got in closer saw this happen with wide eyes, and instead began scrambling for cover while firing their hand cannons. Their accuracy was shit due to using such oversized guns, plus of all gangs the Animals seemed to prefer melee to ranged combat for the most part for reasons that escaped Rebecca. 

Some stupid macho reasoning no doubt… 

"Fucking hell! Oh, that guy's got to be the leader!" She thought when she saw a large muscle-bound guy with silver hair and eyes at least half as big as the other Animals with him and almost twice as wide. His arms were more like something found on an Ogre than a human, with proportionally larger hands and equally oversized gun. 

Her eyes winded when she recognized it as a Ba Xing Chong, an iconic Shotgun variant that she only ever read about, which she was so going to nab and give to David! He'd been wanting a shotty himself anyway, besides she was wondering how he'd mod the beast! Though he'd probably have to do some retooling to make it more manageable, give that he wasn't a giant 

The guy, however, did make Rebecca think of those 'Reject Humanity, Return to Monke' memes that infested the Shallow Net for a few months a year or so back, "Huh, wonder if the guy has a bounty on him?" 

Focusing on the apparent leader to scan him, glad she got Vik to install that N.C.P.D. file search, she was surprised by what info was revealed! 

"He's worth three times the amount I'm getting for this job!" Rebecca thought excitedly, "Come to Becca you glorious payday you!" 

Cackling like a gremlin, Rebecca continued firing into the mountains of flesh that were the Animals, who were trying to keep her head down with suppressive fire to get a chance to charge. Their accuracy suffered from being forced to blind fire except for the big guy, but that made sense, she remembered reading that the Ba Xing Chong was a smart gun, which soured her interest in it. Though she figured David would still like it, if he started to rely on tech over skill they would be having words! 

She laughed in victory as she got two hits on one of the Animals besides the big guy and saw him go up in flames even as the places where he was hit began melting. It forced the big guy to dive out of cover to avoid the poison smoke, but she had to duck back behind cover when that damn shotgun almost clipped her, the bullet more like an RPG than a bullet due to its size. 

If anything, the muscle-bound steroid freaks answered her challenge with the same fervor as their namesake. It certainly didn't hurt that she tossed the HMG aside, allowing her to move around much quicker as she slammed back into hardcover and reloaded, giggling as she heard the rapid fire firing of the no doubt furious Defenders. 

She easily popped out of cover to blast any Animal that charged ahead with various melee weapons, mostly two-handed hammers or Konobos. She had to be fast and pop out from different places to avoid the Smart Rounds of the big guy's gun, cackling at the thought of such a big guy using a Smart Gun, yet calling himself an Animal! Eventually pulling out a grenade that her Input made with worrying frequency, she chucked it over her cover towards the big guy and waited for the sound of everyone panicking as an earth shaking boom sounded out before popping out of cover again and opening fire. 

She noted in the instances before firing and shooting that her 'grenade' had left a five-foot crater and tossed the big guy away from his gun, in the process tearing a hole in his cover. It was probably the only thing that saved his life. A quick snapshot kept him from getting it back, making him scrambled back into cover, cursing and swearing up a storm. Once again, she reminded herself to thank David for converting her shotty to firing slugs instead of buckshot, or else gunfights involving any sort of distance would be troublesome. 

With Ba Xing Chong out of the way, it was easy to take out the rest of the Animals, even when the big guy got another gun from his pals. Turned out he was so used to using a Smart Gun that his aim was worse than his buddies despite the gun being perfectly sized for him due to his size compared to the other Animals. 

Eventually, she got all the gonks, leaving only the Payday… Silver or something. She didn't really care about his name, just the number of eddies flatlining the guy would net her! Unfortunately, Guts was finally empty, and she didn't have any more ammo… which had never happened to her before, it certainly felt odd to the compact gunslinger. 

Peaking over her cover she giggled, "Oh, Payday looks pissed!~" She thought before looking at her gorilla hands, "Well, I guess I'll be putting those street fighting lessons to work after all." Yet another situation she never found herself experiencing. 

Shrugging, "Momma will be right back~." She said as she sat Guts to the side and glanced out once more too, yep. Payday wasn't packing any Iron beyond a fuck-off huge hammer! 

"Typical Animal." Rebecca thought with a snort before she took a breath… and jumped out from her cover and ran at Payday. 

Then in true Animal fashion Payday ran at her, already raising his hammer to crush her in an overhead swing, not even bothering to go for his smart gun. Pity for him, Rebecca was infinitely more nimble than the musclebound gonk. 

Rebecca just grinned before she hit the gonks elbow, easily breaking it with her upgraded arms, quickly swinging around screaming "Becca Smash!" before punching the giant straight in the dick! Wouldn't you know it? The saying the bigger they are, the harder they fall was right! It was only due to how quickly she could move that prevented having who knows how many pounds of gonkzilla fall on her! She laughed in victory as she watched the gonk try to cup his ruined joystick while trying to fix his fucked elbow! 

"Puny Animal." Rebecca scoffed before she grabbed him by the leg and started to rag doll the fucker until he stopped moving and making noise! Ending it finally with a punch to the jaw that smashed his face with a crunch. 

"Here, now I just need to confirm with the NCPD and that sweet, sweet bounty will be mine!" Rebecca exclaimed happily as she sat on the back of the dead Animal and called the NCPD dispatcher to verify everything. 

The rest of the day went as smooth as synth-silk. It certainly didn't hurt that her Corpo charge, Ivan-something, gave her a small bonus for hazard pay. Hazard pay, in Night City, it was almost as funny as the ditz thinking that existing in Night City wasn't hazardous! All in all, the bonus didn't amount to much. Between the job itself and the huge bounty she got, she was set for the month if not longer, but she wasn't about to turn down the free eddies. Besides, as much as she didn't like to think about it, there was a chance that the crew might be doing some security work for her eventually. The pay was too good to avoid working for her just because she was annoying, and she didn't like the ditz. 

So, Rebecca didn't share her thoughts and opinions of the brat when the job ended, providing once and for all that Rebecca could be diplomatic when she needed to be! Or, well, when she felt like it at least… 

At least the brat did her a solid and dropped her off in Night city proper before leaving after the Animals attacked. Now on the NCART, she closed her eyes and relaxed, deciding to get a few winks before she reached Sando Dimingo. 

"Mmm, wonder if David would mind moving somewhere else?" She mused, vaguely recalling her thoughts about them all finding a building and claiming it as their own. 

"Home sweet home!" She thought with a grin as she entered her and David's digs, dropping a duffle bag with her guns off to the side as she walked further in, "Where's my Butterbean!" 

There was a meow before the cat in question came running, Rebecca laughed and scooped the cat up easily and started hugging him. 

"Have you been keeping an eye on David?" She asked as she walked further into the apartment, she didn't see David or either of the two Netrunners, but figured they were doing whatever they did when she wasn't here to liven the place up. 

Sitting on the couch, she gave Butterbean a kiss on the forehead, "How bout we play some? Mama's missed you!~" She cooed. 

The cat just meowed again before booping her nose while purring loudly, making Rebecca grin happily. 

Rebecca was drawn out of her state of relaxation with Butterbean asleep and curled up on her belly, by the sound of the door opening and three sets of footsteps entering. Looking over from her spot, she saw the Kiwi, Lucy, and David enter. The gonk himself was carrying some heavy boxes, probably more Netrunner equipment or weapons. Rebecca once again found it odd just how quickly David could recover from nearly frying his nervous system. He was as steady on his feet and as sure of his steps as he was before he almost literally burned his spine out. 

It had been a while since she had a use for her Corpo education, but she knew that damaging the nervous system isn't something you just recover from. Even if the damage is limited, it will still leave severe issues behind. There were too many for her to think of offhand, but she knew that even the slightest bit of nerve damage would end the career of an Edgerunner unless they opted for expensive Cyberware or Biotech replacements. Physical therapy didn't even enter the equation. 

"Actually…" Rebecca paused in thought as she watched David sit the boxes down, "Is David chipping Biotech? He looks a lot… buffer than he did a few days ago… Is he a little taller too?" Not that Rebecca minded in the slightest! But; between his time working in the Afterlife's armory, interacting with herself, Lucy, and Kiwi, as well as designing and creating ammunition and munitions for the three of them? There shouldn't have been enough time for him to do that, and the lack of extra meds supported that. 

Carefully moving Butterbean onto a cushion, so she could sit up, after ensuring he was comfortable she got up… and proceeded to run at David, launching herself at him. David caught her with a faint ooph but otherwise wasn't bothered, if anything he looked amused as he returned her hug. No sign of pain or weakness, or any sign that he was recovering, it was like in the week that had passed he had almost fully recovered. By the end of the month, she doubted there would be any indication that he was injured at all. She knew he didn't go to a different doc to get a new spine since she could feel it was the same model when she hugged him, it was the same spine too, she could feel the get well sticker she left on the Cyberspine when he first got it. 

Lucy and Kiwi looked rather amused themselves. 

"You. Me. Bedroom. NOW!" Rebecca demanded, deciding to take advantage of his miraculous healing, thinking could wait! "I had to put up with a stuck up Corpo cunt for three days! And your rep twatswatted me twice! And while that fight with the Animals was satisfying, and the bounty from Silver-whatshisface was nice, Becca needs some Latino meat now!" 

Instead of waiting for a reply from David, Rebecca dropped from her hug and proceeded to flex her implants by picking the tall loveable gonk and carrying him off! 

...Lucy... 

"Well, that happened." She said with a faint smirk, "I think Becca missed him." 

"Yeah…" Kiwi said distractedly. 

Lucy looked at Kiwi with some curiosity, "Something wrong?" She asked. 

"No, no… just that name. Silver… can't be who I'm thinking of…" Kiwi said quietly as she rubbed her jaw as if remembering something painful. 

"We'll ask when she's done." Lucy asked, "So… movies and chill?" 

"You don't want to join them?" Kiwi asked. 

"Nah, I think Becca needs this." Lucy said, "Can't remember the last time she was this wound up, apparently that last fight was nice, but it wasn't what she needed. Besides, David can give her an excellent alternative." 

Kiwi chuckled lightly, "I guess she and Butterbean are more alike than we previously thought. She needs a lot of affection from our favorite Gonk, too." 

Lucy laughed and grimaced equally at that comparison, remembering how said cat smugly stole David's attention from her on more than one occasion, but the comparison was uncannily spot on. 

"Maybe we should start calling Becca Gun Kitty instead of Gun Gremlin?" Lucy commented with a faint grin. 

Kiwi laughed lightly, "Maybe if she got some exotics or chipped in some hologram projectors of a pair of ears and tail." She said with a smirk in her tone. 

"You laugh. But I honestly wouldn't put it past Becca." Lucy deadpanned, making the older Netrunner laugh more. 

A loud crash could be heard from the bedroom and Becca screaming a horny, feral scream, causing Lucy and Kiwi to look at the closed bedroom door wearily. "I think we should give them some privacy…" Lucy said with a surprised deadpan tone that said everything. 

As the two turned to leave, Lucy noticed Kiwi pause, her eyes focused intently on something behind them. Turning to look, she noticed the butt of a silver chromed Shotgun with a strange design she couldn't remember seeing. She wasn't a Gun nerd like Rebecca and knew that Kiwi only ever carried her Smart Pistol, so she couldn't have been interested in its model. Maybe it reminded her of something? Either way, Kiwi broke the strange atmosphere by turning away causing Lucy to follow with a final curious glance back, before putting it out of thought, but not out of memory. 

"Probably the safest idea from the sounds of it." Kiwi deadpanned as much back as they continued walking, not mentioning the incident, so Lucy didn't either. As the two women walked out the front door, Kiwi still could not help but run her hand along the line on her cheek of the facial socket. 

"If it was him, whatever Becca did to him, it was better than he deserved." Kiwi muttered with venom, unknown to her that she had whispered it aloud, something Lucy knew she only did when shocked or stressed. For that reason, Lucy decided not to mention that Kiwi vocalized her thoughts as she did. 

As the front door closed, Becca's roaring orgasmic screams and the sound of a bed breaking could be heard, like a wild animal had been let loose in the bedroom of this one Megablock apartment. It worked to distract both women from the strange scene. After this evening, even the neighbors will need a smoke, Lucy's thought with amusement. 

"It's not even me and I need a smoke." Lucy said with a shake of her head as she pulled out a cigarette. 

An action Kiwi mimicked, shoving the butt through the grill of her mask, still looking distracted before she pulled out a lighter to light her smoke. Instinctively, Kiwi leaned forward for Lucy to light her Cig off the Cherry of Kiwi's own, as if a form of smoking kiss. 

"So, how long do you think they'll be?" Kiwi asked, getting a raised brow from Lucy in return. 

"Eh, let's give them two hours." Lucy said as she observed her mentor, "Something about Becca's bounty and that silver Shotgun is bothering you, isn't it?" She added, after all, she only rubbed her face like that when uncomfortable. 

"... Yeah." Kiwi said eventually, "... Let's get some noodles. Probably troll some suits. We'll talk about it when the lovebirds are done." 

Lucy just nodded, "Fair enough." She said before she snorted, "It's a good thing David is such a clean freak. Otherwise, the apartment would smell like a room on JigJig street." 

That got a laugh from Kiwi, "So true. So, bikes? Or you wanna take the NCART?" Kiwi asked. 

"Eh, bikes." Lucy said, "I think I can spare the suits another day for having their sockets picked." 

Kiwi just rolled her eyes as they headed down and out to their bikes. 

...Rebecca... 

Pleasantly sore and aching in all the right spots with her legs feeling wobbly and numb, Rebecca, leaned against David, who looked like he got into a fight with a feral wild cat, before looking at Kiwi oddly. 

"The bounty? Yeah, I got it from this big guy." Rebecca said, "An absolute unit of a gonk, looked like the manifestation of that 'Return to Monke' meme a year back. His name was Silver… something. Honestly, when I saw his bounty, I just assigned him the name Payday. Gonk was worth triple what I got from the job itself!" 

Kiwi just continued rubbing her jaw and David reached over and squeezed her hand, "What's wrong?" He asked in that genuine nice guy way of his. 

Rebecca just watched Kiwi, while she didn't know the woman as well as Lucy she did pick up enough to tell when she was upset and generally annoyed. Granted, those tells normally involve how hard she smoked, when she's annoyed the cherry of her smoke burns brighter from her pulling harder. But when she's upset, she smokes like a factory chimney! And given that she had smoked half a pack already? 

Something was upsetting Kiwi bad. 

Though before Rebecca could ask, Kiwi sighed, "His name is… was Silverback." She said, "He was one of the guys that would… 'borrow' me." She said her breathing quickened slightly and Rebecca could tell the older Netrunner was on the verge of having an anxiety attack, "He… his, his temper… one time he…" She just trailed off, as if the memories were too much to think of, as she held her jaw, shaking. 

"Kiwi…" Lucy said quietly as she gave the older Netrunner a one-armed hug, giving Kiwi the support she needed. 

"I… I needed facial reconstruction." She couldn't bring herself to talk about what happened, so she skipped it, but everyone had a good idea what happened, "I had to get fitted with a Cyberthroat and socket… that's why I wear my mask so much. I… don't like people looking…" 

Rebecca almost said something like 'where's the seam' but stopped herself. But apparently Kiwi knew her better than she expected, judging from the awkward laugh she let out. 

"My… owner paid out the nose for the preem top shelf implants." She said, "I only since… Since we have been together like this, been socketing in the face." She said awkwardly. "Otherwise, I just used the mask and nothing else." Kiwi seemed like she was lost for words to explain her thoughts. "He, my former owner… He got so many other things to socket, I left them with him when I ran." 

"Oh, I can only imagine what sort of implants you had…" Rebecca thought as she fought her own shudder of disgust. 

After all, this city is filled with all sorts of sick freaks! 

"He's dead now." David said, "He won't be able to hurt anyone else." He added as he motioned for Kiwi to come over. 

She did, almost shyly, and was immediately pulled into a hug that made her squeak in surprise. And while he didn't say anything more… Rebecca and Lucy no doubt knew what David was planning. 

"Heh, looks like the Boogeyman is going hunting next month." Rebecca thought as she pulled Lucy into the hug as well. Whelp, they could go check if Rogue had any idea who was behind this and if she had any leads, that woman was scary with how aware and perceptive she could be. 

It went without saying that Rebecca didn't have a problem with this. 

...Lucy... 

Rubbing her arms, Lucy looked at Kiwi and Rebecca as they all boarded the NCART, it was simply too cold for the two Netrunners to ride their bikes. There was no way they could ride in Rebecca's MaiMai. Besides, the car didn't have good heat retention anyway, so the NCART called to them. 

"So you two hear anything about David?" She asked as she rubbed her shoulders again, even with the thick coat and pants she could still feel the biting cold. 

"Can't say I have." Kiwi said, also bundled up like Lucy, "Kinda weird for him to just disappear like that and not hear about some sort of massacre." 

Rebecca snorted, the gremlin looking more like an oversized toy rather than the petite gunslinger, "I think I heard Dimples talking to Maine about a tradition Gloria did every year around this time? Well, when she wasn't dead tired, anyway." 

Lucy just hummed as she closed her eyes and relaxed, she knew what the tradition was… honestly most people would. However, the Corporations have co-opted other holidays, so most people didn't celebrate any more unless they actually had money to afford it. And while David had the money, he never struck her as the type to celebrate what has become a Corporate-sponsored holiday. For some though, a rapidly disappearing few, the Holiday's still meant something other than Corpo Gonk Shit throwing off Eddies. Maybe David was one of those few. It did fit the guy, being the giving sort he is. 

Kiwi shifted her stance to better look at the short co-output. "Regardless, I think we all can agree, this silence is concerning, remember the last time he disappeared on us, that was a mess I never thought we would see the other side of. So let's get back "Home" to see if the repairs are done, and if our Gonk is in one piece. Agreed?" Kiwi said, showing her protective mother hen side. 

Lucy just chuckled and nodded with a smile. No one would believe Kiwi was so untrusting, if they saw her now and did not know her before. But after the year everyone has had, it was no longer in doubt, Kiwi has a family she can trust, and with that, she has opened up a lot. For better or worse. 

"Mostly better…" Lucy thought, though she had no doubt Rebecca would agree as well… thinking of Rebecca, Lucy glanced at her thoughtfully, "You hear anything from our gonk?" 

"Other than the occasional message? Not a peep." Rebecca said as she adjusted her toboggan, "Though I have no doubt he'll do something special. Honestly… kinda hoping he got some preem food, or even candy!" Lucy could imagine seeing stars in her eyes. 

Oh, did Rebecca constantly talk about the food she had on the one Babysitting job. Well, when she was feeling particularly petty or spiteful, anyway. Lucy wasn't sure if she could stomach such fancy food, but then again, David could probably make anything tasty. His freakish learning ability constantly surprised them all. 

Honestly, she remembered when he messaged Lucy and Kiwi for Netrunning lessons, apparently he got a Cyberdeck chipped in about a week after the beginning of his benching. Lucy was honestly starting to think David was some sort of Corpo experiment that got loose and went native with how quickly he learned, never minded how quickly he healed! 

When Rebecca mentioned he'd been bulking up, Lucy couldn't help but consider those theories, and even got into a debate with Kiwi over it. She is still firmly of the opinion that his father was some sort of Biotechnica abomination that Gloria found and decided to get freaky with before it disappeared. Lucy, on the other hand, figured David was a mind wiped Militech bioaugmented test tube baby that replaced Gloria's stillborn child. 

Rebecca still teased them over the whole thing, she's just lucky they both liked the gremlin and not just because of her stupid talented tongue… 

Lucy blushed, "I didn't just think that." 

"Man, this cold!" Kiwi complained. "I thought all the global warming had ended cold days for everyone, but this week… What the hell!" Lucy and Rebecca could not help but agree. "This cold snap hitting all the Pacific Territories this week just made no sense. " 

"Probably a weather control experiment gone wrong, knowing the Corps." Lucy chimed in. The cold was bad enough that both Lucy and Kiwi were debating taking back up smoking just to warm up. 

"I don't see the problem, I'm liking the cold, I don't feel as sweaty and gross thanks to it." Chimed Rebecca, earning her a mildly annoyed look from her other two Partner Outputs. 

"Of course, the one who gets her barrels cherry red-hot likes it cold. I bet it's the only way you can stick it in your holster without getting burned." Kiwi retorted with some heavy sass, honestly impressing Lucy, while Rebecca blustered. 

...Respect, choom.... Lucy messaged Kiwi as she tried to look aloof as if she didn't listen in. 

...Heh, looks like Chat77 taught me something useful after all.... Her mentor messaged back. 

"And you call me lewd..." Rebecca muttered with a huff, "At least I don't use David like a giant heat pad!" She retorted. 

Kiwi was not taking this lying down. "Better that than a heated Mr. Studd." A playful mirth in the Fruit Bird's voice. 

Rebecca just blew a bubble with her gum, eyeing Kiwi sharply. "Still better than as a heating pad. At least as a Mr. Studd, it goes both ways. It's as pleasurable for him as it is for me." A Cheeky smirk on the Gremlin's face. 

There was a beat. 

"... She kinda has a point…" Lucy said, Kiwi resigned herself to losing this battle. "But honestly, though, I thought the Sandy was the reason he was always running a little hot. Yet, no, even with the Cyberspine he's still toasty as hell. Think we should get Vik to check the gonks' metabolism? I don't think the human body is supposed to run that hot all the time." 

"That's not a bad idea, honestly." Rebecca said, "Besides, maybe he can figure out why D is bulking up so damn much! I swear I keep thinking he's pulling a Maine, but I can't find a single sign of him chipping synth-muscle!" 

For some reason, Kiwi just rubbed her jaw. 

Regardless, the rest of the ride passed with the three outputs sassing and joking. 

The trio eventually arrived and came into the apartment, "Yo David!" Rebecca called in her usual 'devil may care' manner. 

Lucy and Kiwi just entered while rolling their eyes, though they did start removing their extra layers given how warm it was inside. Everyone could clearly see where the repair work was done, but they were mainly distracted by the various decorations that were put up all over. 

"Guess he's one of those." Kiwi commented with a chuckle as she spotted a very funky looking tree. 

As Rebecca unzipped her coat, Butterbean jumped out of his hiding place in her "not" cleavage, landing on the floor with a light thud, yawning and shaking his fur out. The cat soon was meandering around, sniffing the apartment to learn the new smells from the repairs and decorations. 

"I think he's happy to be home." Lucy spoke up, smiling as she watched the smug little shit investigate every little thing. 

"Yeah, just like the rest of us." Chimed back Rebecca with a homely smirk. "Now, where is our D?!" Rebecca spoke up, more in character with her loud, rambunctious self. 

"Looks like Butterbean has an idea." Kiwi commented as the cat looked at the funky tree only to take a run and pounce on it! 

"Gah! Goddammit Bean! I was trying to surprise them!" The 'tree' grumbled as it hugged Butterbean, "Anyway, happy holidays girls!" 

"Holy..." Even the muscles have muscles!" Rebecca nearly yelled seeing David as he pulled the tree costume off, Lucy and Kiwi both just stared at the man who was their mutual input. 

"David, Did you chrome up hard while we are gone?" Lucy asked. 

"If you did, this is a bit much for one week…" Kiwi continued with a mix of concern and annoyance. 

"What do you mean?" David replied. "What chrome? I've been here all week making sure we didn't get screwed on the repairs. I mean, maybe I had a small growth spurt, but it can't be that much. My clothes still fit." All three ladies looked at each other, debating with the looks they were giving whether David is that oblivious, or an escaped biotech experiment. 

"That's it, after New Years, you are going to Vik, and he is doing a full physical on you." Kiwi said in her "Mother Hen" voice. Showing she was the den mother of this family. 

"Mom, Dad… don't fight!~" Lucy nearly groaned, not realizing what she said, nor even having to look at Rebecca she could feel that shit eating grin on her face! 

"No, no, I didn't blush!" Lucy thought in denial of how embarrassed she felt over what she said. 

What worsened it was the fact that Kiwi decided to play along, "Honey, I'm not fighting with your Daddy. I'm just making sure the gonk takes care of himself." 

"Soooo, the repair guys didn't try to cheat you, did they?" Lucy said, desperately trying to derail things before Kiwi and Rebecca really got going. 

To think Lucy thought Kiwi was a straight woman! No, she's just as much an Agent of Chaos like that goddamn gremlin! 

"Eh, they would have." David shrugged, "But they came in on me when I was doing some maintenance on an RT-64 Burya. Though I think the second one, I had on the table, convinced them not to try." 

"D, have I told you how hot you make me when you're accidentally intimidating?" Rebecca said with a wide grin. 

"Only every time I scare someone when I'm being friendly." David said dryly, "Honestly, I still think that guy was overreacting. What was his name? We met him at the Afterlife a few days after I finished going over the Afterlife's armory." He added, as he tried to recall the guy's name. 

"It was Dexter DeShawn." Kiwi said dryly, "He used to be a big name in the game, but got muscled out by Faraday, or at least that's how it sounded to me. Fucker wouldn't stop gloating about it for some time." She added with a faint scoff. 

"Didn't he zero some Solo's that botched jobs real bad?" Rebecca asked, scrunching up her nose, "That's like… hella bad for business." 

"I don't know the whole story, but from what I heard like all the Fixers in the city united with Rogue to oust the fat fucker." Kiwi said, "Then the Queen divided up his contacts and network." 

"Okay! Enough history lessons!" David said, "I've been making a special meal for everyone, Becca, could you call the rest? They should be here too, I would, but I got to watch the stove." 

"Have I told you how adorable you get when you're all domestic and shit?" Rebecca teased with a grin before her eyes glowed faintly as she contacted the others. 

David just blushed before he walked off to the kitchenette. "I'll never get used to these three women." He says under his breath with a happy dryness, shaking his head and smiling. 

"Okay, while the gremlin is busy making calls, how about we look around, Luce?" Kiwi offered with a chuckle. 

"Sure." Lucy said, "So what do you think David's making?" 

"No idea, but it'll be spectacular." Kiwi said without an ounce of shame, "So glad I started wearing my jaw. SCOP never tasted so good. Think we should ask Misty what sort of Black Magic she's teaching our man?" 

"Probably." Lucy said with a faint amused smirk, "And see if she's interested in more students." 

The rest of the crew showed up a few hours later, Lucy and Kiwi were watching movies while David messed around in the kitchenette. Though, Lucy and Kiwi did watch Rebecca and Pilar have an amusing encounter. 

"Bro, you will not pull your usual shit." Rebecca said with narrow eyes, "D clearly wants you all to share this day with him, and if you pull your usual shit, I'll show you the new features D gave Guts. Capece?" 

Pilar just raised his hands, "Sure! Sure I gotcha!" He said, "I'm an ass, I know, but I do know people who actually treat this holiday seriously! Jeez, chill sis!" 

Dorio was busy laughing at Maine, who got run out of the kitchen area by David at knife point. 

"I didn't know the boy had it in him!" Dorio laughed, "Clearly takes after Gloria! Didn't she do that to you with a sandal? You're lucky he didn't take off one of his boots!" 

Maine had just snorted as he massaged his head, "You're telling me. Night City will know fear if the boy ever learns La Chanala." He said, "I swear wouldn't be surprised if Gloria could've browbeaten fucking Smasher with that thing… still whatever he's making smells amazing!" 

"Well, his girls have been saying he's a wizard with SCOP." Dorio said with a chuckle. 

"Least he could've done is let me get a taste…" Maine grumbled, "Brat is a sadist… Gloria did the same goddamn thing…" He muttered with a huff as he crossed his arms. 

"... Are you pouting!?" Dorio laughed even harder now, wheezing, "Oh god, you are!" 

"SHADDUP!" Maine retorted only to make her laugh harder, "Grr… no respect in this goddamn fam… crew…" 

"Even after everything, after making him my son like I should have from the start, he doesn't let me sneak a taste of something that smells so divine." Maine pouts so hard, even a single tear falls from his eye. 

"With how you are acting, I think who is the parent, and who is the kid may be reversed." Dorio says with an amused sigh at the absurdity of this situation. 

"Dad, stop your bitching! You'll eat with everyone else!" David retorted from the kitchen area. 

That actually set the entire crew off, even Maine joining in after a few moments of embarrassment. 

"Okay, serious, D. My main man. My cuddle bud!" Rebecca said, "I am by no means upset or even jealous. But what the actual fuck!? Where the hell did you get an actual HAM, let alone a goddamn TURKEY!? And are those actual-mashed potatoes and gravy!? What the actual fuck!?" 

"While I agree with the gremlin without the hysteria and jealousy, seriously where did you get this and how much money did all this cost?" Lucy asked with a concerned frown. 

"Well… a kind and generous Corpo decided to donate it out of the kindness of the heart." Everyone, even Butterbean, stared at him. 

David snorted, "Nah, I decided to visit an old buddy from Arasaka Academy and help myself." He said with a smug grin. 

"... Fuck the food. I am fucking him. Right now!!!" Rebecca exclaimed and tried to jump David only to be caught by a laughing Maine, "LET ME GO YOU LIMP DICK CHROME SUCKING MOTHERFUCKER LEMME GO!!!" 

"So, you only stole food?" A very amused Dorio asked, while Pilar was wheezing trying to catch his breath. 

Maine honestly looked bored, but then again he had been dealing with Rebecca for some time, so he was used to her moods. 

"Nah. I rob them bitches blind." David's smug grin only grew, "It's only right for them to help the less fortunate, right? I 'donated' the rest of the food to a homeless shelter." 

"Dickens would be proud." Rebecca said, earning her a number of perplexed and surprised looks. "What? I may be a horny gun nut, but I like to read. How else do you think I know what I do?" The short young woman said flatly. 

"Never underestimate the Gun, Loli." Kiwi said deadpan. 

"Shut up, you overgrown fruit." Yelled back Rebecca, with no malice, but all bark. 

"I would've said an overgrown flightless bird." Lucy commented with an amused smirk. 

"Sis, you have to make me an uncle!" Pilar exclaimed, "Imagine how awesome a crotch goblin would be from you two! Hell, all three of you! Your crotch goblins would be the terror of Night city!!" He added with a cackle. 

"Will you all just shut up and eat!" A blushing David blustered, "Keep going on, I'll keep the gifts I intended to give you gonks!" 

"You heard the man!" Maine barked as he sat Rebecca back in her chair, "Save fucking him senseless for after we leave. Besides, I don't think Pilar wants to watch his sister ride David like a pony." 

"I don't know, Pilar is the level of degenerate you only see once in a hundred years." Rebecca said with a leery eye towards Pilar. "Never underestimate a pervert." She sighed. 

"Becca, sis, I love you. While I'm a degenerate, watching bro clap your phat cheeks ain't gonna get me hard." Pilar said, "Now if you were wearing a gimp mask or a bag over your head…" He just trailed off with a snicker. 

"... Just eat your goddamn food…" Rebecca grumbled. 

"Okay so presents!" David said as they all sat on the couch. 

On the table there were some cases and a small box. 

"Firstly; Luce? Kiwi? These are for you two." He said, gesturing to two cases, "Hope you like them. I worked pretty hard on them." 

Lucy hummed as she took her gift and opened it, only to gasp in surprise as she pulled out a Unity, though it was heavily modified. Glancing over she saw Kiwi holding a heavily modified Liberty, and though she was no guntech just from appearances alone she figured they had very similar modifications, but with Kiwi's being lightened more and having a heavier recoil absorption system and not much beyond that. David probably gave Kiwi the Liberty to make up for her lack of hand-to-hand skills, Lucy thought, she couldn't help but love him more at that moment for his thoughtfulness and consideration of such things. 

Maine whistled, "Not bad. So whatcha do to them?" He asked, "Don't get me wrong, Unity's and Liberty's are solid guns. But they're kinda basic bitches compared to everything else." 

"Well, first of all, they're rivet drivers now." David said, "Not literally of course, but they can punch a hole through a wall, but not to the same degree as a Burya or Omaha. I fitted them both with red dots, compensators, extended the clip, increased the barrel length, molded the grips, so they won't slip, no matter how sweaty their hands get. Overall, alloy reinforced the frame to lighten and strengthen them and barrel, so they can serve as bludgeons if circumstances called for it." He explained, "I would've made Antibody rounds, but that would force me to rebuild them entirely, and I don't think you two would appreciate them as much as Rebecca does." 

"I'll take your word for it." Lucy said. 

"... This means Becca's going to be on our ass about going to the shooting range, isn't she?" Kiwi grumbled. 

"Bet your pert ass there, birdy!~" Rebecca teased. 

Everyone just had a good chuckle as David went over to get a large case, "This is for you, Becca." He said as he passed it over to her. 

"Ooo! Whatcha get me!?" Rebecca said excitedly as she opened the case and pulled out Guts, "Whatcha do!?" 

David just snorted, "Mainly spent the last few months trying different mixes for your Antibody shells, so they wouldn't damage the barrel. I also replaced and reinforced the barrel as well and replaced the recoil compensators since you got Vik's Boxer love and added some mods. Guts was already a Vibe check, but now it's even more so, you can also use it as a baseball bat to beat a bastard senseless if you have to." 

"You're going to get your world rocked, Dimples." It wasn't even a promise, it was a statement of intent. 

David just chuckled before he grabbed a smaller package, "Here you go, Pilar. A new wreath with custom virus protection, a pause and rewind function, and it lets you self-edit BD's. You better appreciate it, cause I owe the Mox a few favors now." He said with a chuckle as he passed it over to the techie. 

"Thanks bro!" Pilar said as he pulled it out and started examining it, "Now go make me an uncle and everything will be preem!" He added with a cackle. 

Dorio and Maine snorted while David blushed faintly, which Lucy found adorable. Honestly, she was surprised that he hadn't gotten used to Pilar teasing over making him an uncle. Rebecca certainly did, but then again she hoped he didn't. His blush is adorable! 

"Ah, well." He shook his head before reaching and grabbing another package, "A bottle of scotch for the boss-man. Authentic, too, from before the first corporate war. So save that for a special occasion." He explained with a grin. 

"Son, I don't know what to say!" Maine said as he took the package, "Thanks, maybe we'll share a drink one day!" 

"Looking forward to it." David said before looking at Dorio, "Had to get Viks help with this one." 

"Oh?" Dorio just raised her brow as he grabbed another package and passed it to her, "Some boxing gloves autographed by some famous lady. I don't know the specifics, never was too interested in boxing." David explained with a shrug. 

Dorio hummed and opened her package and pulled the boxing gloves out as she checked the signature only for her eyes to widen, "These were signed by Sue Carlson! The Top World-Class female boxer! How the hell did you get this!?" 

"Vik helped." Is all David said with a chuckle, "I've got a few more surprises, but they're still in the works. Girls, how about you familiarize yourselves with your guns? I'll get some ammo for you to load them." 

"You didn't preload them?" Rebecca asked. 

"By the time I got them in their cases it had slipped my mind, honestly." David said, "We'll go on a job after this cold snap passes, I wanna see if I'll have to adjust the Antibody shells or not." 

As David got up and went to his workshop to get some ammo, the three outputs started checking their guns, Kiwi herself looking fairly awkward having relied on her Netrunning skills for so long even having a gun looked awkward. Rebecca pumped the action to open the chamber of Guts and stared into it. 

"Girls? Check out your clips." She said distractedly, Lucy could hear something in the gun nut's voice, but she couldn't figure out what it was. 

Regardless, the two Netrunners did as the gremlin suggested and started. 

"Are these…" Kiwi started sounding shocked. 

"Yep." Rebecca said absentmindedly. 

"Do you think…" Lucy trailed off. 

"Possibly…" Rebecca answered as she pulled a ring off the extractor of Gut's bolt. 

"Damn son, the balls!" Maine laughed. 

Only for Dorio to smack him in the back of the head and just glared at him. Pilar just laughed. 

"Jeez bro! Now the boss is gonna have to do something or else he'll be sleeping on the couch for the rest of the month!" He exclaimed, "I approve! And I will be the Best Man!!" 

It was that moment David returned with a blush, obviously hearing what Pilar said earlier, with a few boxes of ammo. Boxes that went flying when he was hit by a tactical, Rebecca in a full-body hug. 

"I guess you found the surprise?" Rebecca just hit the gonk and kissed him. 

"This just reminds me how much older I am…" Kiwi muttered, only for Lucy to shove her. 

"Do you think that gonk really cares?" Lucy said, "Besides, I'm going to need someone to keep the gonk in line. Mistress Kiwi is up to the task!" She added with a smirk. 

"Mistress…?" Maine just laughed, "It's always the quiet ones…" 

...Rogue... 

"This goddamn kid." Rogue grumbled as she eyed the package. 

A package that was just outside her apartment door, with an obvious To: Auntie Rogue From: David. Paranoia drove her to check the package, despite knowing David wouldn't do anything like sending her a bomb, especially in such an obvious manner. No, if the Boogeyman decided to zero her, he'd either do it himself or he'd turn the entire Afterlife into a crater. 

Such is the madness that drove the brat. 

After staring at the package for the better part of an hour, debating if she was truly willing to take a gift from the Boogeyman and wondering what sort of strings that came along with it, she sighed and opened it, revealing a gun case. Curious despite herself, she unclasped the case and opened it, revealing a near-perfect replica of her own iconic gun along with a datashard possibly containing the specs. 

While no guntech she could tell the gun had been heavily modified, and considering the monster David turned his output's shotgun into, Rogue was rather interested to see what the brat had done. Taking the datashard and slotting it in, she started reviewing the specs. 

Ten minutes passed in silence… 

"Fucking hell kid!!"