Big Haul

Ori gets home still slightly drunk and calls Bats over, shoving the Cyberware into the surprised Ripperdoc's arms.

"Ori... Is that blood...?"

"Not mine." he retorts, "Not all of it at least..."

"I think you should sit down-, have you been drinking...?" he utters in bewilderment.

"Yeah, and? Can you just look over that Cyberware, please? The sooner we know their worth the better." he states before stumbling into the front room and falling onto the couch.

Ah... He still needed to do that, right...

[-8000§]

[-5000§]

Six and Rebecca's pay... While the job hadn't gone right, not paying them was the worse option he had. No point turning allies... Friends, into enemies for something like simple cash, not this amount anyway...

...

Also...

[-5000§]

He stares at the transaction completion and lets out a sigh, Max was dead and they don't need the Eddies... But Ori had sent him to his death, so paying him what he was owed was the least he could do... Or maybe that's just his guilt talking...

[15000§] his balance wasn't looking all that hot anymore... Hopefully the Cyberware he stole was worth something...

Bats returns from his makeshift workshop an hour later with a list of what they had... Since the scavs didn't, or couldn't, target higher value targets, most of the Cyberware was low-tier stuff. Smart Links, extra Interface Ports, Interface Network connectors, a pile of Shards that may or may not be worth something...

There were some valuable pieces however...

A Detoxifier worth around eight thousand, maybe less considering it was second-hand. An implant that renders any known poison, venom, or other unwanted substances in the body null. These were usually tailored to suit their owner obviously, not being to get drunk, high, or whatever else was usually seen as a big downer to most residents of Night City.

This particular one didn't touch alcohol, THC, Psilocin, and some other harmless substances... Of course, this could be exploited, getting killed via alcohol poisoning was certainly possible. Not to mention having alcohol already in the blood while ingesting something that reacts to it, like painkillers for instance.

A Bioconductor worth around four thousand. These things basically streamline the operation of other Cyberware the user possesses. Making them more reactive, sensitive, and allowing them to be used more often without short-circuiting.

Some Nanorelays worth around five thousand. They increase the speed of which nerves can respond, these are only really used when combined with brain processing upgrades to allow the body to keep up with the upgrades. Like the next thing on the list.

A Reflect Tuner worth around three thousand. An augment that speeds up the brain's processing speeds during Stress Threat Responses, essentially slowing time to the user's perspective when in danger. Rather dangerous considering you could burn your brain out if overused.

A Visual Cortex Support unit worth around three thousand. An aim-assist essentially, helping the user target and visualise their shots, trajectory, etc. It wasn't anywhere near what his nanites were able to do, to be honest, almost no Cyberware was.

The nanites directly interfaced with his brain, working with it to shoot as accurately as possible. Cyberware designed to do the same thing was less effective as it'd usually work against the user's own muscles. It was like trying to do weighted push-ups as opposed to regular ones.

The only people who could get around this were full borgs, as they didn't have organic muscles to fight against. Their general lack of flexibility however left weak points that more experienced mercs could exploit.

Last on the list were a bunch of miscellaneous parts, replacement joints, hips, limbs, etc. Particularly attention-grabbing was the overabundance of 'sexual' Cyberware. Ori wasn't sure why so many people felt the need for such things, especially some of the shit laid out before him.

Implants that made your cock vibrate, Interface ports on your actual dick, internal storage for your balls... The female ones weren't any better, suction units, warmth breast implants, tongue implants... Hell, there was one implant that zapped your clitoris with electricity every couple of seconds...

All in all, these parts made up nine thousand eddies...

"That's... A big haul..." Ori mutters as he looks up from the list to Bats.

"Yeah, haven't seen this much tech since Casinha... You gonna sell all of it? Cuz I wouldn't mind installing some if you wanted, might help you out there..." he offers.

...

What would he even want... The Reflex Tuner seemed good but as soon as he had that thought the nanites made their opinion known.

[Collective Requests not installing Reflex Tuner unit: Flex Administrator]

"Why?" he mentally inquires.

[External technology will impede Collective's ability to coordinate host. Host reflexes can be improved without installation via organic modification: Flesh Administrator]

Yeah, they still wanted to alter his brain... Still, he gave them control earlier to help him aim, didn't he?... It might not have saved Max, but it had probably saved his and Rebecca's life, especially against that sniper.

Hm...

"We can talk about those... Modification later. For now, is there any implant you would recommend?" he mentally asks, acknowledging the fact that the nanites knew his body far better than he did.

[Detoxifier unit would allow Collective resources to be focussed on other tasks: Flesh Administrator]

"Alright..." he turns to Bats, "Install the Detox and Smart Links in each hand. I'm not getting fucked again because a Smart Gun refused to work for me."

"Okay... That leaves us with... Twenty-eight thousand eddies?" the Ripperdoc concludes. The multiple Smart Links, Shards, and other things added the last few Eds.

Ori nods, "Give us a total of forty-three K..." his lips thin, "Think that's enough to post a job at the Afterlife...?"

Bats smiles slightly, "Yeah, definitely... If not then they're ripping us off." his grin gets wider, "We'll do it, Ori, not long now til' we find Cat. We'll get her back, deck her out in the best clothes and Cyberware money can buy, then open the largest restaurant in Night City and call it 'Quadrano-something'." he eagerly says.

"Cat's Diner... No, not classy enough... Cat's Nourriture?" Ori offers, pulling up some words via his translation software.

The duo spend the rest of the night picking out names they could give Cat's restaurant. A surprisingly wholesome end to an utterly terrible day... Not that Ori thought the next day was gonna be any better...