Chapter 23- Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger

"So what exactly is this job Maine? And why'd Dorio tell me to bring a duffle bag with gym clothes?

David asked as he met both the crew's leader, and his second in command at Aldo's. He'd gotten a call earlier in the day that they needed him to show up.

As David took a seat across from the two, Maine gave him a little grin as he kicked his feet up on the table in front of the couch. Despite the display of relaxation and calm, the man's eyes were a bit unfocused and his fingers were tapping the back of the sofa.

"Well choom, I told ya that we were gonna start going up the ladder once we got someone's nod right? Well this right here is the beginning. Got a call from a guy called Dino Dinovic. Choom has a fair chunk of City Center dancing to his tune, and he keeps his fingers on the pulse of the underworld. Us? We're making our name more well known. By now, Faraday has gotta know we're branching out… but fuck him."

That was certainly a sentiment he could get behind… though David knew for a fact that the four eyed bastard was never the kind to take what he perceived as an insult silently.

They were likely going to be dealing with some bullshit of his at some point.

More than that though, was the wariness he was beginning to feel as he saw the tremble in Maine's hand as he continued a staccato rhythm against the couch.

"Anyway, Dino's client said that the guy who has their vehicle is an Animal, which is lucky for us as Dorio has an in. Dontcha babe?"

What?

Dorio hummed and nodded as she brought up the location. A private gym in the City Center it looked like.

"Hercules's Labors it's called. Always thought it was kind of… high brow for the kind of meatheads who worked out there but, heh. Just cuz someone is on the Juice doesn't mean they're completely stupid. Anyway, we're in luck, because this? This is my gym. The one I work out at regularly."

David's brow furrowed slightly at her words, something about the whole situation just not adding up to him… but he decided to bring it up later as he looked at the bag that they'd told him to bring, seeing a similar one next to Dorio.

"Means that you wouldn't be a new sight there, shouldn't draw any attention."

Dorio gave him a small satisfied smile.

"Mmm. Precisely. I've taken people with me in the past so it won't seem odd me bringing you along with me. The only problem is, if I bring you with me, we're going to be needing to go through my usual workout. Think you can keep up?"

She said with a playful tone that just made David grin, and Maine shot her a knowing smirk.

"Won't know until I try. But I'll do my best."

She laughed softly, and nodded.

"That's what I like to hear."

David frowned for a moment again before looking over at Maine, his eyes focusing on Maine's hands. They would tremble, and then stop, and start again.

"So… why aren't you going? I mean, being her input you probably go more often right? You'd look less out of place."

"Mmm. You'd think so right? But this is a hybrid gym. Mix of light chrome and Juiced up meat. It's not built for people like this lunk."

Dorio said affectionately, smacking Maine roughly on his chromed up torso, causing a dull clang to fill the room.

Maine just bellowed in laughter.

"Nah choom. I work out at The 'Shop. The only place where chromed up badasses like me can properly do their fucking thing choom. Nah I can't go with. Falkins was right. Any place that needs us going low key? I'm not a good fit."

He finally pulled his feet off of the table, and set them down on the ground with a dull thunk.

"Besides, Wakako has us doing another job. Wants us to take out some group of gonks that thought they could rip her off, so I'll be taking Pilar, Becca, and Falco with us. Kiwi and Lucy have some Netrunning thing going on, so they won't be joining us."

He nodded.

"Makes sense. Though, is it just me? Or are we doing jobs like… a lot lately. Like almost every day we do at least one or two jobs. I mean, it's been good for the account, but aren't we running the risk of burnout?"

It had been almost a week since he had picked up his guitar with Kiwi, and the two of them had developed… an odd companionship. It wasn't as warm as he and Becca had been but ever since then she'd made the effort to speak to him, and be more… genial.

It had been odd but he returned the favor as well, making Lucy a very happy woman. Unfortunately, none of the new Triad had been able to enjoy each other's bodies as, like he'd said. They were working constantly, job after job.

Maine grimaced as Dorio looked up at him with a glare.

"I told you we were pushing everybody too hard. We need a break Maine."

The big man sighed.

"I know. Just… Faraday has been getting mouthier lately. He's finally told me what the eventual plan is in regards to Tanaka."

David stiffened even as Dorio looked up at him with interest and surprise.

"Oh? What's the plan for that?"

Maine hesitated, but eventually spoke.

"... He wants us to kidnap the man, and hack some data from the gonks systems."

Dorio looked spooked, and David could feel the Cold claws of dread reaching up and tearing at his stomach.

"Maine… Do you have any idea who this guy is?"

Maine grimaced as the trembling and tapping became more apparent, almost audible.

"I didn't at the time but… I did some digging myself."

Dorio looked between both David and Maine, and began to get a deeply annoyed look on her face.

"You two cryptic gonks want to fill in the clueless woman here?"

David raised an eyebrow at Maine, and Maine grimaced and shook his head. With nothing forthcoming from Maine, David took the reins.

Again. He thought with some resentment.

"I know about Tanaka through his son, cuz I went to school with him. Katsuo is a piece of shit… but his father? I looked up his dad. Jinta Tanaka. Latest member of the Tanaka family to work with Arasaka, and current Director of Research and Development."

Dorio's eyes widened.

"Holy fucking shit. So you're saying… this ain't just some corpo. This is an executive. Someone Arasaka will be searching high and low for."

David let out a breath of frustrated air, as he tried to impress upon her just what exactly they were being asked to do.

"It's not just that. This guy has his fingers in every piece of prototype tech that Arasaka might be developing, sabotaging, or trying to obtain for themselves. The kind of secrets this guy might have? Are enough to cause wars, much less an assault on us by 'Saka elites. I'm talking like the Main Office from Tokyo operatives. "

Dorios flesh lost even more color, making her normal healthy skin seem sickly.

"... Holy shit. And what is this fucker offering us?"

Maine looked away, his own jaw clenched and muscle spasmed, the tapping of his fingers rapidly increasing in tempo.

"100k. Each. With the possibility of the usual 10x bonus he said."

David snorted as Dorio scoffed in absolute disbelief and fury.

"Are you fucking kidding me Maine? 100k isn't nothing but this is trouble we'd be borrowing on an international kind of level. And you know just as well as I do that that scum sucker isn't going to pay us a goddamn bonus. Shit, the only person who's gotten paid a bonus in the past 6 months has been Kiwi! He deliberately shafted David on his part, expecting her to never say a word."

Throughout the entire tirade that Dorio was going through, David could see that Maine was getting more and more agitated, the tapping growing faster and faster until finally he blew up, his jaw clenched, his hand tight in a fist as he slammed it on the back of the couch, crunching the frame under the upholstery.

"I FUCKING KNOW ALRIGHT?!"

He snarled and David was gone once more, lost in his memories.

M̸̡̫͚̦̝̑̓ȧ̷͚̙̙̥͍̈́͌̏̈́y̸͓͔͛̿b̸̛̖̰̣͂̂̑ĕ̵̡̥͉͎̩ ̵̞̓̈̉͑̚͜m̵͇̟͙̲̟̓́͑ĭ̵̝̟͐n̴͈̺̄̆d̸̩͔̱̳͑ ̸̗̻̣̲̿̏͗͠ỳ̵̪o̶̻̯̊ű̷̖͕͚͖r̶̜̞̘͇̥̄̈́ ̴̧̠̫̋ǫ̴̃̍̿w̸̛̜̱͑͗͒̚n̴͓͔̋̊̀͒ ̷̨̛̰̻̊̚͠f̵͇̬̹̩̩͌̊ŭ̵͕̖̒͋c̶̘͕̗̜͈̅̌̅k̷̹̻̅̍̽į̷̡̼̟̼̃́̎n̷̻̆̌g̷̛̬̫͑ ̸̧̭̤̼̎̄́̚͝b̵̯͎̼͆́́̈͛u̴̡̾͐̔̓ŝ̶̺͖͖ỉ̷̬̙̳̦̞̈́̾̽͠n̶̛͓͑͜e̷̛͓͆̈́̚͜͝s̶͈̄̀̍̇͘s̵͉͓̟͗!̸̯̯́͌͑͘͝ͅ

̴̹̮̩̄͆

̴̡̲̝̞̌Y̵̢̥̞͉̗͊ỏ̴̧̘̳͖̟̊͐͊u̴̥̇͊̾̕ ̷̺̜͙͌͊̋̇̈́ṭ̴̓̒ḩ̵̻̯̄̇͗̀͘i̶̖̬̿̕ṅ̷̢͇k̴̡͍̃̕͝͝ ̸̺̠̐̿̊y̸̳̳͑̿̐̂̕ǫ̸̙͙͓͒̃̒̎ͅu̴̧̓̃'̸̭̟̥̱̓͠r̴̬͍̦̹͓̅̿̕͠e̴̡̟̲̕͜ ̵̨̰͍̏́͗b̸̧͔̭̀̽͜e̷̹͆̀̀̈́ţ̴̝͖̣̒̐t̶̨̪̪͓̑ͅḙ̵̦̪̽̂̈́̐̾r̵͍̼̦̾͘͜ ̷̭̤̜̪̺̍͠ţ̵̧̻̲̬̐̌̈́͒͒h̴̬̪͎̼̏̓̚͝ȁ̶̱͑̽̆̕ͅn̶̺͓̰̎͘ ̸̮͖̠̊̓̚̚m̵͍͊e̵̪̦̭͕̗͌̈́̽̾?̵̹̱͇͔̌̄̉̕!̶̢͔̥̙͇̓

̴̳̝̩̟͆̈̊͘͘

̵̯͑Ḩ̸̟̩̈́͗̔̐͝e̷͈̓́ ̵̜̜͖̹͌͌̄͋̏d̷͍̈́i̸͔͗̑͝d̴̪̹̿̎̂n̸͈͖͕̹̓͆͊'̵͙͚͉̳̬͌̈́͊̕ţ̶̢̧̭̟̋̆̽ ̸̼̠̺͐ǩ̵̜̙͉͙̔͑ṋ̴̢̢̲̽ó̸̹͒̒w̴͖̬̬͑̓̚͠ ̴̧͎̞́̀h̵̰͕͔͖͂̿̈́͑̃ǫ̸̭̩͐͊͘̚ͅw̷̯͋̈̐̌ ̶͚͊̕l̸̲̝̟̆̎̚o̶͙̣̿̎͊n̴̬̥̟͒͂͐͗͊g̸͙͎͎͈̐͝ ̴̯̪̓h̷̬̩̦̻̆͗̄e̴̢̮̫̬̓̅̿̓͘ ̴̖̚w̸̨̙̦̗̎̇͒a̸͉̫͖͇̬̋s̷͙͆̽ ̷̡̣̟̈́̇͐ṭ̴̱̎̾̎͠ḩ̸̳̂̒e̸͖̼͗r̶̲̩̪͈̓̔̓̿̍ḙ̷͍́̆͗̓,̵̖͕̣́͂́̑ ̸̼̦̹̙̋̈͠i̴̢̟͎̞̒ņ̸͚̘̱̉̊͝ ̸̟͆t̵̗̑h̵̳̣̣̉̐̑͒͋ä̸̰́̎͘t̸̮̭̲͑͛̎͌͊ ̴̡̈́͐̇h̸̛̰̠̥͋̆̃̕ã̴͙̅̽̊̐l̴̫̞̖̭͂̎͂ḷ̸̕ẅ̸̱̯̅ã̶͙̀̽͒y̴͖̘͔̜͓͗̂̆͘,̶͋̃̈́͌̕͜ ̴̢̫͈̑͆̊h̵̭̝͉͔̹́ô̷̬̱͋l̶̛͚͊͂̚͝d̷̻͋̏͜ỉ̷̛̙̟͔̙̎́̆͜ǹ̶̤̫͉͈̩̌̐g̴̡͎̙͆ ̴̧̦̰͋͜h̷̨̡͇̒i̴̡̢̖̓̿ͅs̷̲̮̕ ̷̰͕͗͋͗c̵̡̛̬̽͂̎h̵̤͛͌̿͌ę̶̣͓̈́̆͛̈́̄ĕ̷̙̼̰͐k̴̪̐ ̸̤̮͗́͋a̵̡͇̹͗͛̏̃͘s̵͔̻̐ ̷̘͎̰̘͑̊̄̈́͜ḥ̶̑ë̶̯́͝ ̴̟̪̭̗̝̄͊̈́̈́̍l̴͛̑̾͘ͅơ̸͉̘̠̟̞̂̿̒̇o̶̮͔͗̒̓̚͝ͅk̵̼͙̯̞̊̔̉͝e̷͍̿d̸̪͈̈͑̿̕ ̴̧̲̤͌͂ǘ̸͖̫̭͓̳͂p̶̮̮͙̀̚ͅ ̶̗̮͠a̴̱͚̖̳̐́t̷͇̒̑̐͂ ̵̧̬̞̊̚M̴̩̼̂́a̵̻̔̉̕̚͘͜ǐ̴͕̫͉̜͛n̶͇̉̑͝e̶̡̹̠̬̖͛̂ ̵͖͆̕͝ŵ̵̬̖̼̭̣̓̽͆h̷̲̲̯́̚ö̴̡͔̯́̒̅͋ ̴̖̎̀̚g̵̡͚͕͈͆̔́͒̓ą̵̈́ẑ̷͍̼͚̘̭̀͋̐ë̴̼̞͍́͝ͅd̵̢̡̪͓̑̃͜ ̴̠̝̿ă̴̢̮̗͒͋̕͘ṯ̷̡̦̬͊ ̸̢̩̜̿̓h̵̨̗̻̰̯̉ï̸̢̥͙̮̺m̷̠̫̪̼̻̉̒́̾ ̶̢̣͑̀ẃ̸͙̪̼̬i̶̡̫̠̝̣̽͂̅̚ț̸͍̱̦̅̋͌h̴̬̾̀̓ͅ ̵̜̊̈́̐̎͝ṣ̸͓̥̌́̌̌͘ͅu̶͈͈̖̺̙̇̅͌ć̷̭̻h̴͎͋ ̴͇̞̳͉̼̍̂̽̋ď̵̳̖̜̫͋ḯ̷̹͚͊s̸̜̣̮͘d̸̪͆̀̍̿͗ȧ̵̙͗̿͑͜͝i̷̝͓̔ṉ̵͙̉ ̶̭̥̗̜͗̎͊̇a̷͉͋́́̆͑n̵̗̟͍̓̄̎͝d̵̨̙̙̖̞́̃ ̵̦́̏̽ḏ̴̤͇͓̄̿̍̈́̓͜i̷͔͂̊ͅş̴̨̯͔͔͗̾͒g̷͉̎̒̈u̷̡̮͕̔̑̄̕͠ş̶̱̑̕t̵̛͓͔.̵̢̗̙͙̑͊ ̸͍̏̀̐͂́ ̶̢̩̠̍͑̀I̵͎̾̃t̴̗̟̦̀̓͜ ̵̡͕̺̓̀́͜w̴̥͈̩͋̀́̉̋ą̷̻̩̻̠̄̿͊́s̵̢̀̈ ̴͕̥̫̗͎̌̾̄͂̓l̵͕̏i̴̤̠̰̘̹͒k̴͕̀̓̆̽e̸̟̅̇̌̆ ̶̧̖͖̓̾̂͝i̷͖̗̲͖͗͝t̷͙̳̻̎͌͆̅̀ ̷̤̍̔̆̒ͅw̴̖̠̟̗͚͗̍̑a̸͈͙̖̐́s̵͔̖̠͓̮̒̎͝͝ ̷̧̥̻͔̓̊å̸̡̭̬̯̈́̀̔̀ ̸̘͚̹̯̯́̄n̷̦̔̉͊̈́͌e̵̗̯͓̮̰͐͒͑̕v̸͍̯̯̭̀͑̂ḙ̶̛̫̖̽͜ͅṙ̸̝̄̉̓ ̶͍͈͉͉͗e̸̤̤̙̘͋͌̑͛̓ń̸͕͙̙̿̉͠d̸͕̠̺̥̟͗̏͂͛̚ȋ̸͙͌̆͆n̶̺̠̫̔́̕g̸̢͎̈̚ ̸̜͗̓̂̈̍ń̷̨͚͍͊́͊i̴̙͌̆̽͑͝g̵͍͔̗̝̋ͅh̶̎̃̓̇͘͜t̶͍̥̬̝͙̽̒̈́͐͑ḿ̵̤͔̙̻̙̂̑̈ả̶̠̤̯̼̃̀́r̸̥͔̀͂͒ȅ̶̡͍͍̟͓̓̅͝.̸̹̟̜͎͙̆̐̏ ̶͔͈͙̥̇̾̎͌͜͝ ̵̪̒̒̎́̚Á̶̝̞̟͂ ̸̥̞̄̑c̴̜̳̦̉̚ḗ̵͙̙̓ą̵̺͍̤͙̍̉̾s̶̟̳̼̰̻̓͗e̴̖̮͔̤̅̌̒̚͝l̸̼̰͛ĕ̵̢̝͈̳̖̾̃̒s̷̢̜̍̈́̓͝s̴̋̀̈́ͅ ̷̧̰̹̓̈́͐f̴̨͉̺͐ͅu̷͕̘͐̀c̴̜̫̜̈́̓̌͑k̸̥̭̬̝͈͗̂i̶͈͐͒̂̂̌n̸̜̔ģ̷̺̔̂ ̸̱̉͜c̷͔͇̜͕͈͊̊̔̓á̸̞͈͒͊̓v̶͔̝̦͖̈́͛͝ǎ̸̲̘͍̖͋̈͠l̷͓̫̋̑̂c̷̭̾̓a̷̗̖̘͌̊́d̵̦͇̦͌̍̓́͜ͅe̶̮̿̐ ̷͇̩͓͛͒̚͘͠ö̷́͜f̸̺̓̏̓̓̈́ ̶͈̬̌̾̆m̴̞͂̌͛́̋ḯ̵̥͐̍s̷̪̰͝ę̸̡̖͇̽r̸̛̙̪̈̕ỹ̶̨̜̇̕͠ ̴̣̍̐̋̃a̵͇̝͓͎̮͆ǹ̷̝͆̾͝d̸̖̳̲̙̖̏̈́ ̷̧̠̑̐̑͂ģ̸̱̹̆͑ư̸̗͙̖̥̈̓̎ì̸̢̢̮̈́̿̆̚l̵̡̙̘̝̈́̃͆t̴̖͚̫̲͐ ̴̠̥́͠a̸̡̤̹͒̒̓̚n̵͉̹̂̎d̴̨̡̤͊͗ ̶͓̎͂͗͝r̷̨̆͐̈͗e̴͚͔̱̥͎̾̇̀͝g̷̲̞͂̄̍ṙ̴̰̿̓́͠e̴̯̝̣̹͗̓t̴͎͍͂̐̾͒͝.̷̨̮̈͗͛̽́ ̷͕̭̋͐̚

"-vid? David!"

He blinked as he looked at the source of the voice, Dorio shaking his shoulder gently as Maine was standing off to the side, looking awkward and guilty.

How had he gotten there? Did.. fuck how long was I in this?

"... You back with us, choom?"

Maine said quietly, his hand steady for the moment, a nearby immunosuppressant having been emptied.

David grimaced and rubbed his forehead.

Shit. Shit shit shit!!! I keep fucking doing this.

(Host mental trauma substantial. Flashback symptoms align with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.)

Yeah I'm fucked in the head. Kind of figured what with the going Cyberpsycho.

(Host traumatized before cybernetic overload. Loss of mother, loss of Pilar, loss of surrogate father figure and pseudo surrogate maternal figure all added up.)

...you saying I was crazy before I started going psycho?

(Saying… that host has been through much trauma in short period of time. Total time since initial loss of Gloria Martinez less than 13 months. In that time, host has killed, witnessed depths of human depravity, suffered many injuries, and gone through a severe addiction. Culmination of traumatic journey ended in betrayal, death of Becca, and loss of Lucy. Finally own death. Then waking up at the beginning. Sandy have no clue how it happened. But David having issues understandable.)

… but I can't keep doing this. Freezing up, freaking out. I'm scaring the girls, I'm making the rest of the crew worry.

What happens if it goes off while we're in a fire fight?! ... What if I get everyone killed again?

(David will not.)

How can you be sure?

(Data is on my side. But more than that… Sandy… believes in David.)

He swallowed hard as Dorio looked at him with concern and Maine's look of guilt intensified.

… thanks Sandy.

(Always...David.)

"David… Are you ok?"

Dorio said softly, her strong chromed hand grasping his shoulder softly, her eyes filled with concern as she leaned in just a touch.

David finally looked up, and gave her a sheepish little smile.

"Yeah. Sorry about that I guess I just… got lost in my head."

She let a little breath of relief escape her as she sat back, looking up at Maine who still seemed… a bit off but seemed to have pulled himself together.

"Glad to hear it choom. Look… we'll all talk about the Tanaka job another time. Right now, we're doing biz for fixers who actually have some form of fucking reliability. Maine, are we good to get moving?"

With a deep breath, the leader of the crew seemed to bring himself back into focus, nodding.

"Yeah. I'll be heading out. See you when you get done… alright babe?"

She hummed softly, and got up from the couch before gripping the large man's collar, pulling him down for a deep passionate kiss.

"You'd better come back in one piece you Gonk… I'll be real pissed if you don't."

She whispered to the big man, who caressed the side of her face with one of his massive chromed up digits. If there was one thing that David never questioned about the relationship that Maine and Dorio had, it was whether they really cared about each other. He hadn't been as observant the first time around, but he knew one thing. They loved each other. It was why when Dorio had been zeroed by NCPD, Maine had given up on the concept of getting out alive. He'd decided to go out with one last stand. One last chance for everyone else to get out alive.

The two of them whispered to each other for a moment, before Maine just laughed out loud, and gave Dorio's ass a playful little swat.

"God I love you woman. You'd best be careful David. She's feeling feisty today."

Maine said with a little wink before moving to the door.

"Alright, I'll message y'all in a couple hours."

Watching as the man strode away, Dorio grinned as she moved to sit down on the couch a bit away from him.

"In the meantime, we'll be heading off in about 20 minutes… I figured you and I could shoot the shit for a bit. Been with us for a little over 2 months now, and I haven't gotten a feel for how you're doing. I've been slacking."

He was honestly a little surprised. She hadn't tried talking to him at all like this last time around. Then again, he supposed they had… a lot happening all at once, and they had to focus on more pressing matters.

"Yeah alright. What do you wanna talk about?"

She considered the question, before grimacing slightly.

"... Well. How are you doing? Since Gloria died I mean."

He nodded slowly, the question still bringing to the forefront the aching in his chest. His hand gripped the sleeve of his *(his mom's)* jacket before answering.

"...I miss her. Ya know? It's… I don't think I'm ever going to stop missing her. Even beyond her being my mom, it's only after she's gone that I started to understand just how… good of a person she was. How much she tried. How much she cared."

Dorio nodded her head slowly, her eyes soft as her eyes gleamed with memories. Regrets. Little joys.

"Gloria was like that, yeah. I was a bit leery of meeting Maine's ex-output at first. I'd heard horror stories of how shit like that could go down. Never expected her to be a friend."

David hadn't expected to hear that. He was still finding out stuff about his mom as time went on. He just wished he'd known her better when she was still alive.

"I never… I never knew much about my mom other than what she showed me. How long had you two known each other?"

The large blond muscular woman nodded knowingly, reclining along the back of the couch as she listened to him. She seemed like she had been expecting the question.

"Would have been 5 years this August. Maine told me that we had a new black market supplier, and that it was his ex-output, and that he wanted to meet with her."

She laughed then.

"I was expecting some sort of… low-key cattiness,or some kind of passive aggressive bullshit. Nah. Your mom was the nicest fucking lady I ever met. Complimented me on my muscles, and asked me if I was eating right to maintain it all."

He smiled as he played with the hem of his sleeve some more.

"Seems like mom was always being a mom to people. Becca and Lucy both said when they met Gloria that she made sure they ate some more. She was… she was the same with me. Always saying I was too skinny."

He had been too. He could have bullshitted and just said he was lean, but the fact was he had been a scrawny little shit.

Dorio looked him over with… appreciative(?) eyes and smirked.

"Wouldn't say you were skinny anymore. You've been hitting the gym regularly eh? I remember hearing you had had your first fight a bit more than a week ago. Started rough, but you started cleaning up house soon after."

He felt a bit flustered as her eyes traced along his arms and chest, covered by his mom's jacket and his black t-shirt, but… well. He had put on some muscle recently and the t-shirt was a fair bit more snug on him than it had been. His hand gripped the strap of the duffle bag, letting his thumb rub against the textured strap.

"It wasn't that big of a deal. He was just some corpo brat. Never had a real fight before in his life."

She hummed as she considered his words.

"Still… heard that he was chromed up with some decent custom Gorilla Arms and some * preem* chipware. Don't knock it just because he was some corpo tool. That kinda stuff can't be beaten unless you know what you're doing. And seems to me, you knew * exactly* what you needed to do once you got your head on straight."

David supposed she was right. Giving her a nod of acknowledgement as she seemed ready to continue speaking.

"So, if I remember correctly Vik wants you to lock up with Jackie? Have you taken him on yet?"

David grinned as he stretched out on the couch, not catching how Dorios eyes carefully traced along his abdomen and chest.

"Yeah… I took Jackie on. He says I gave him a couple of good shots, but that big fucker layed my ass out in one good punch. "

He said with a rueful smile, remembering how it felt to get knocked out. Keeping humble despite his successes. Dorio didn't look disappointed at all, just nodding in confirmation.

"Yeah… Jackie isn't an easy fight even for somebody like me. So don't feel too bad about that."

"You've fought Jackie before?"

"Mmmhmm. Couple years back. He was just starting to get into the edgerunning biz after rolling with the 'Tinos for a while. He wasn't quite as big as he is now, but he still managed to knock me flat. He's good choom. Even Vik says if he'd fought Jackie when he was in his prime he's not sure he could have won."

She had a little wistful grin on her face before shrugging.

"Anyway… you ever beat Jackie… you give me a call David. I'd like to see you in action."

There was a lilt to her tone that gave him the strangest sensation that… hell. If she wasn't mainline with Maine, he'd have thought she was flirting with him. Having had to address the rather obvious signs that Rebecca had been displaying this time as well as the last go around, David would say he had at the very least a rudimentary ability to recognize flirtations now.

And Dorio was tripping all those signs. But then, she and Maine had an interesting relationship it seemed if they were open to threesomes. And who knows, maybe he was completely overanalyzing the situation.

"I'll… uh… I'll do that then. But what about the job? Do you have more details about it?"

Dorios eyes lit up with a different kind of interest then, her face broadening into a more innocent joy.

"It's a 2020 Harley Davidson Thundergod. It's… oh my god choom, you have *no* idea just how awesome this bike is. It's rugged as hell, with a top speed of about 120 miles per hour and a cargo hauling of 50 kilo and that's including a second passenger!"

She animatedly described the vehicle they were supposed to klep from the Animal, even going into more and more mechanical details that David personally wasn't all that aware of.

He was mostly caught up in smiling and watching her seem just so...uninhibited. It wasn't as if she was super stuffy or a killjoy, but there was always this somewhat serious energy around the large blonde women.

But right now, she was just… she was geeking out like when Rebecca would talk about her sci-fi authors or old editions of a tabletop game. It was fucking adorable.

And it ended far too soon for his tastes as she finally seemed to twig to the fact that he had absolutely no damned clue as to what she was saying.

Her cheeks flushed light red as she drew herself up, and looked away from him.

"Ah… I…didn't mean to get us off track. Sorry about that..

David shook his head fervently.

"No no, it's completely fine! You seemed like you were having a lot of fun! I had no idea that you were so into motorcycles."

Her cheeks were still a bit rosy, but she at least looked at him again with a smile as she got to her feet. David followed her example, the both of them slinging their duffle bags over their shoulders.

"Heh… yeah. When I was a little girl, my dad was a manager at NightCorp. Nothing special. But it did let him have a bit of income just for himself, so over the years he bought himself a bike. I can't even remember what model it was, but he spent hours working on it, talking with me about what made things work for a bike and what were terrible ideas. The best models and brands, and his favorite model of all. And that one is the one we're going to be grabbing. The Thundergod. Dad used to go on and on about that bike."

She said with a little laugh before the smile turned to a sad sigh.

"... He would have loved to see this bike."

Oh.

"I'm sorry."

He said softly as Dorio led the way out of Aldo's and into the daylight.

Dorio raised her arm to block out the sun for just a moment before shrugging.

"It's alright David. He's been gone since I was 10. I've gotten past it as best I can."

"How… did he die?"

Dorio turned back to him and snorted.

"Some higher up framed my dad for industrial espionage… and they terminated him. In all senses of the word. Soon after that… mom just… stopped caring about everything. Even me. She was already working as a Joytoy, but she just stopped caring about everything. Just kept taking more and more drugs, and basically told me to either start selling myself with her or get out of her house."

"Jesus fucking Christ Choom."

He hissed in absolute horror.

"I'm sorry Dorio. That's… Jesus Christ that's unbelievably fucked. I wish you hadn't had to go through that."

Dorio looked like she was about to just push it to the side, before pausing as they walked towards the nearest NCART station.

"... It's not a pretty story, no. But it's something that I had to learn to deal with, or I'd have died on the streets. But… still. Thank you. You're a sweet boy."

A comfortable silence filled the air as they boarded the NCART, broken slightly by David receiving a call.

Lucy:"Hey David. What's Maine got you doing today?"

*David: "property retrieval from some Animal. Heard you and Kiwi are heading deeper into the 'net with some 'runner Chooms?"*

His girlfriend let out a little sound of disagreement before shrugging.

*Lucy: "More or less. I wouldn't exactly call them Chooms but they follow the runner creed. When you dive together, all arguments don't exist til you come back out."*

He hummed silently at that concept, figuring that it probably helped keep the peace as best it could. And if Kiwi seemed to trust it, it wasn't one of those things you could Idly break without bringing down hellfire upon yourself.

David: "glad to hear it. You know I worry about you."

There was a moment of silence before Lucy spoke once more.

Lucy:"... I miss you. I just saw you last night and I miss you so much. Sometimes I feel like… nothing is real unless I'm holding you. And it makes me feel like I'm being so… ridiculous. Because it's not… it's not *normal* to feel like this right? To want to be around someone all the time? It makes me feel like I'm being clingy, an-"

David: "Look… I don't know about normal, or healthy, or any of that shit. I don't even know if it's possible to be healthy in this world anymore. Or if it ever was. What I **do** know, is that I love you. And that every single moment I spend with you is worth more than the entirety of Corpo wealth."

As Dorio and he traveled through the city on NCART, Lucy finally spoke..

Lucy:"...thank you David. I… Rebecca has been telling me that I need to tell you when I'm feeling stuff like this but it's still… hard. So thank you for being patient with me."

He smiled softly at the message, his heart aching as he stared out towards her apartment.

David:" I'd do anything for you and Becca. And I'm glad she's helping you with this stuff. Sometimes I feel like I'm completely out of my depth, you know? But then… sometimes when we're just… sitting on your couch watching something… it feels like everything's alright. Like we just need to trust each other, and we can work stuff out."

Lucy:" I'd do the same for you. Well… as much as I'd like to keep talking to you, Kiwi just pinged me to start diving and you probably need to get started on that job right?"

David:"Yeah. Plus I've been silent this whole time, so I'd probably better make sure Dorio doesn't think I'm ignoring her."

Lucy chuckled softly before teasing him again.

Lucy:"you know, I still never heard what you like about Dorio's body~... I'll be sure to quiz you on that later."

She'd caught him off guard with that commentary as evidenced by his now red cheeks. Doing his best not to look over at Dorio, he gave the visual representation of Lucy a playful glare.

David:"Lucy, I swear you are angling for a spanking."

Lucy just gave him a cheeky little grin and shrugged.

Lucy: "maybe…. But we'll talk about that sort of thing later. Have fun. Be safe… I love you."

David's eyes went soft as he gave her a smile.

David:"You stay safe too… I love you too."

As he ended the call, he finally looked over towards Dorio who had a little smile on her face.

"One or both of your outputs?"

She said amusedly, watching the buildings pass in the tram cart. They were about halfway to the City Center at the moment.

"Just the one. Lucy called to find out about the job and wished me luck. Becca is probably already doing the job with Maine or she would have called me too."

She nodded in agreement.

"Mmmhmm. Sounds about right. Gotta say… pretty fascinating you managed to make this work for as long as you have without any end in sight." She said with an honest smile in her voice.

"But I gotta ask… what would you do if one of the girls wanted to be with another guy?"

David blinked as he considered the question. It wasn't one he liked, he had to admit. If he was honest with himself, he didn't want to share with another man at all. That…. Wasn't something he would look for. But if one of them did want another guy… well. He couldn't be a hypocrite could he?

"I wouldn't try to stop them or anything… but I can't say that it's something I'm hoping for. I guess… I guess I'm selfish in some ways I suppose."

He said with a shrug.

She chuckled her head and nudged his shoulder with her gorilla armed knuckles gently.

"Oh it's alright David. Not all relationships are the same, and that goes double for shit like this. Not everybody's like me and Maine."

He raised his eyebrow, and for once a little smirk crossed his face as he addressed the amazonian second in command.

"Is that why you ended up having a threesome with Pilar?"

Her face heated up and she hastily covered it in embarrassment.

"It was one time!!! I was drunk and it seemed like it might be fun! It's not my fault he couldn't keep up!"

She moaned in shame, and a little bit of humor, laughing at the question.

"Shit… how'd you find that ou- ah. Of course. Pilar couldn't keep his mouth shut again."

He grinned slightly and shrugged.

"Yeah. He ended up telling me when you and Maine went to go fool around a bit when we did the Maxim job."

He thought a little bit more about her words as she bemoaned the sheer amount of libations required to make her think that fucking Pilar was a good idea.

"So, are you and Maine like… like me and the girls?"

She hummed softly, reclining a little, her abs on display and his eyes dipping a little to admire them.

"Not exactly. But sort of at the same time. Maine and I… have an open relationship with some caveats. We talk about shit regularly, and we tell each other when we're planning to try something with someone new. Sometimes it's threesomes. Sometimes it's just hooking up on our own. It also depends on the person I end up looking at or he does cuz what they want matters too ya know?"

David nodded slowly as he considered what she said.

"Makes sense I suppose. So… there's no real jealousy for you guys?"

She made a so-so noise while waggling her metallic hand slightly.

"It wasn't as easy at first. Had a fair few missteps. But we found our rhythm and now, we just… we're happy for the other having some fun with someone else. Lets you appreciate what you have as well."

David nodded as he took in her words. It wasn't a terrible way to do things he supposed. But honestly it just… didn't seem to mesh with his own preferences.

"I don't think I could do that sort of thing to be honest. I… I'm not one for one night stands or the like I don't think. The idea of sleeping with someone just to scratch an itch or satisfy a craving… kinda makes me feel sick. Oh, no Insult meant toward you, I'm just… giving my thoughts you know?"

As they finally began to slow down and reach the City Center, Dorio waved him off, an understanding little smile gracing her face.

"It's not for everybody. And it's not always for me either. I have high standards, the Pilar incident withstanding. But… we'll talk about that another time. We're almost there. Switch to comms if you have any more… pertinent questions."

Yeah that made sense. As David got to his feet, her height became… rather apparent. Lucy was tall, and Kiwi was even taller than Dorio, but Dorio had a… presence the other two tall women of the crew didn't.

She had power in her stance. Strength and femininity and confidence all wrapped in one very well muscled package. Goddamn she looked good.

Christ Choom. Stop staring at the Amazon and get to fucking work.

(Hormones strange.)

You're telling me.

Disembarking from the train cart, he sent a message to Dorio as she'd suggested to finally ask something that had been niggling at him.

David:"So, what did Maine mean by the fact that you had an in with the Animals?"

Dorio looked over at him surprised.

Dorio:"you didn't know? I used to be an Animal till about a decade ago."

He froze at those words, his blood rushing, and jaw clenching.

David: "You were part of…. Of those bastards??

Dorio stopped and turned around, her face screwed up into a frown.

Dorio: "David? Are you alright? You're shaking."

He blinked as he looked down, his hands gripped so tightly that they were starting to hurt, his arms and hands shaking as he finally released his grip, his breathing trying to stay level but…

Fucking Animals. Animals killed his fucking mom. Fucking bastards *ripped* her away from him.

David: "... Mom was killed by Animals on the highway. Didn't give a shit that we were there. Didn't try to tell us to move. Just let loose with the bullets, using us as fucking cover."

And she used to be one.

She didn't say anything for a moment, before her jaw clenched. She looked… furious actually.

Dorio: "you're sure it was Animals? Not just some big Maelstrom Gonk?"

David:"they were big walls of meat,not a scrap of cyberware in sight. They were Animals."

She cursed quietly as they came to a halt outside a building about a block away from her gym.

Dorio: "Ok look David, I'm going to level with you. I was an Animal for a fair amount of time. And in that time, I did some shit I'm not proud of. It's one of the reasons I ended up leaving. The other… shit I'll tell you the other later. But for the most part, Animals don't operate like most gangs. They don't have lieutenants, underlings, or a strict structure. They have cells, or 'Packs' all ruled by the biggest, strongest, and most deadly gonk in the group. Call them the Alpha. And above all else? They don't do shit like that. Drive-bys and vehicle bullshit. Doesn't fit with the philosophy you see. An Animal has to be strong. Self sufficient. Deadly. You have to show the power of your meat. Of your primal side. Can't do any of that in a car."

David frowned as he felt his temper not really rising, but not lowering either. Of course, as she spoke he started to wonder if he even had a right to get angry about the fact that she was an Animal at one point.

Logically it didn't make much sense, but he just.. he kept seeing his mom's terror as she tried to keep the car from flipping or getting turned into scrap.

David:"So what are you trying to say?"

Dorio: "I'm trying to say… that not all Animals are like them. Not gonna pretend that they're all nice, friendly people. Most of my experience with them was pretty negative to be honest. But the ones who go to this gym? They're alright gonks. They actually talk to me after I lost my arms and legs instead of telling me to figure shit out myself."

She sighed and closed her eyes as she spoke once more.

Dorio: ".... Do you hate me now? Cuz I wouldn't blame you. I know how it feels to have that rage. That fury towards everything to do with the group that hurt those you love."

He blinked, the rage cooling a little as he came to a realization.

David: "Your dad?"

She sighed, and nodded silently.

Dorio:"My dad. And Sasha. Both were killed by Biotechnica. And I have to go through every day driving cars with fuel they produce, take medicine they manufacture, and all in all justwatch them… profit. While my Dad and that sweet fucking girl are a pile of ashes in the NC columbarium. So I get it if you don't want anything more to do with me. We'll do this job and just keep things professional. No hard feelings."

And the warm smile she gave him tinged with the smallest hint of disappointment made it clear to him that she meant it. She'd leave him alone if he couldn't let go of that hate. That anger and pain.

Part of him wanted to do so. It was a selfish, awful, unkind part of him that wanted it, but it was a part of him nonetheless.

(Sandy… support David.)

The tone of Sandy's soft murmur of support was comforting. That no matter what decision he made he could count on them.

But even as a part of him wanted to deny any and all association with her anymore, the bigger part of him. The better part of him knew that she had nothing to do with his mom dying. That she was just part of a group, trying to survive. If anything, he had far more to answer for, getting so many of the people he cared about killed.

He inhaled deeply before exhaling.

"We're ok Dorio."

He said softly, looking up at the larger woman, his eyes steady even as his heart still ached in the memories of his loss.

"...besides. It's kind of shitty for a gonk like me to try and pass judgment on some shit you weren't even a part of. My mom would probably slap me silly with her sandal when I die for being a shithead to an amiga of hers."

Dorio chuckled softly.

"God, wouldn't want that to happen. Those fucking sandal slaps hurt! Saw Gloria pull out a sandal once when Maine was pulling some Gonk shit, and man I've never seen Maine settle his ass down quicker."

David grinned as his heart ached a little.

"La Chancla is to be feared and respected choom. All Latino families know this."

She hummed softly and shook her head.

"... I miss her ya know? We used to tease her that when you graduated we'd take you both out on the town, celebrating the start of your big Corpo career. Course she always shut us down. Didn't want this life anywhere near you. But I don't think she'd be mad at you. More mad at Maine or me than anything."

She sighed and looked over at the gym.

"Come on David. We should get started."

He understood the need to get started on their cover… but a part of him wanted to keep hearing things about his mom. Anything he could learn just made him feel closer to her. Like she was still around and he wasn't alone.

"Could… we talk about my mom some more later?"

Dorios eyes softened as she reached down to ruffle the side of his head gently.

"Of course. Anytime. And hell, depending on how you do at the gym, maybe you could come work out with me more often. We could make it a thing. Workout, and then lunch."

He swatted at her hand goodnaturedly before taking a breath.

"Alright.. let's do this."

As they went to enter the building, David, being just a little bit ahead of Dorio, went ahead and opened the door for her.

"Ladies first."

He said with a little grin. Dorio just looked at him for a moment, long enough for him to wonder if he'd made a mistake.

Her face slowly broke into a small but fervent smile.

"Thank you."

She said quietly, quickly walking through the door and leaving him to follow her inside.

Huh… What was that about?

It was much the same as the Iron Stallion except this gym catered to the more bioware, chemically enhanced and cybered up gonks.

That didn't mean he wouldn't be able to keep up of course. It was just going to be pretty hard.

(Require large heavy meal. Filled with protein.)

Will do choom.

"Heeeey Dorio. Good to see you again. You're in luck. Most of the folks here are more borged or Juice'd than you so you should have that section all to yourself."

Came the friendly deep voice of an older man seemingly in his 60s but with the body of a competitive bodybuilder. He could have sworn he'd seen an anime where there was an old man that was that muscled. Something to do with a turtle?

He couldn't remember.

Dorio grinned and offered her arm and the muscled old man gripped it tight as they shook.

"Niles. You're looking good! Still keeping off the Juice?"

The older man laughed and nodded his head.

"Yeah… especially what with this latest batch. Sure you got a 30 Percent chance of Increasing your muscle density, but on the other hand a lot of the other Packs have been complaining about outbreaks of Gyno and worse rashes than normal."

She snorted.

"Everybody's trying to get swole as hell, and they're still acting like some swelling of the breast tissue is the worst thing that can happen to a gonk. The rashes though sound bad. Glad I went natty. Anyway, I'm bringing a guest for the day. Having him try things out here.

Niles hummed and looked David up and down.

"Bit scrawny, but he's not as lanky as that one gonk you brought with you. The one with the long arms. But… come here boy, let me look at you."

Dorio moved to the side so as to give David the full extent of Niles attention.

David stood there, still wearing his coat. He didn't attempt to flex or try and show off. This kinda man? He probably had seen way more muscular figures, and plenty of gonks with more ego than brain. And besides…

David wasn't here to impress anyone.

Niles nodded after a moment.

"You're training with a boxer ain't ya. Ya got the tight core, the broader shoulders. You need to work your thighs a bit more and definitely strengthen your calves a bit… How long you been doing it? 6 months? A year?"

David shook his head.

"2 months."

The old man gave a low whistle at that.

"You on some shit kid? None of my business, but there's no shame in it. You just gotta be careful you ain't fucking your hormones up so bad your dick and balls shrink."

He blushed and shook his head, eager to get the topic off the topic of his junk.

"No chems, no cyberware, no nothing. Just working out and eating."

And a badass SI making me better but it's not like I could tell him that.

(Smug)

Niles shrugged.

"Well, like I said. None of my business really. Guests are free on their first visit, but if you wanna make use of the facilities after today, you'll need to pay for a membership. Have fun girl. And good luck kid. Dorio likes to push em hard."

And just like that, the old man went back to what he was doing beforehand at the front desk, which was… whoa.

Fucking… whoa. A real book. A paper book.

Where had he gotten that?

Unfortunately, he didn't really have time to ask Niles where he'd gotten a physical copy of a book as it seemed they were on the clock now.

Giving him a nudge toward the locker, she led the way inside. Oh… oh fuck they had a unisex changing room didn't they?

David: "you didn't tell me that there weren't separate changing rooms!"*

Dorio frowned as she turned back to face him as she led them closer to the locker room.

Dorio: " Separate locker rooms? Why would there be separate locker rooms?"

Ah… right. He'd been a member of Arasaka Academy for so long that he'd forgotten that most places not in the corporate level didn't care as much about propriety. Nudity, sex, violence, blood, it was all so commonplace in the grunge of Night City that most people didn't really give a damn. Especially not people obsessed with the enhancement and perfection of the physical meat form.

David: "... right. Okay then."

Dorio continued to look at him for a moment. seeming a little bit confused, but letting it pass.

Dorio: "You know, ya dont have anything to be embarrassed about. You were a bit scrawny at first but you've put on some impressive size since you first started working with us. You might not be built like Maine, but you're really starting to fill. or…"

She grinned and nudged him as they finally made it inside the locker room where they found a number of available lockers and a couple of people in the process of dressing, showering, or undressing.

Dorio: "or maybe you're just worried about showing off your junk? Don't worry about that bigger is better shit. I've fucked people with 4 inchers that felt fucking amazing compared to some foot long gonk that tried to just rearrange my guts without trying anything else."

Oh Jesus Christ.

David glared at her exasperatedly.

David:"I'm not worried about my junk dammit!I'm more worried ab-"

On second thought, perhaps he should just shut the fuck up and strip down.

Deliberately facing away from her, he quickly changed from his normal Everyday wear to his workout clothes. And just like every other time, he found himself reluctant to put his jacket in the locker.

(David Martinez has psychological fixation on mother's jacket. Reinforcement of fabric in attempt to maintain structural integrity)

I know

(...Sandy sorry mother gone.)

He sighed as he finally managed to place it in the locker, securing the mechanism to deter any foolish dead man who might try to do anything with his things.

So am I.

A low whistle caught his ear,causing him to turn around and…

Oh fuck me.

Dorio wasn't… naked per SE. But she was wearing a different outfit from Her usual large jacket and shorts look, which already showed off a fair amount of well muscled abdomen and barely covered modest chromed bra was changed out for a pair of tighter and shorter shorts that clung to her ass and a crop top. And while it didn't show off any flesh, it didn't really need to with how it molded to her skin like there was nothing else in the way.

As for her eyes Dorio had obviously been looking him over while changing. Part of him felt… really quite embarrassed about it while another made him feel kinda proud that even if Maine was chromed up and essentially a cyber muscle god that Dorio still found his more natural physique appealing.

His cheeks were a light red, but David was tired of constantly being on the back foot so he lifted his chin in a bit of a challenging posture.

"You want to say something?" He asked her bluntly.

His challenge took her slightly off guard, but a slow pleased smile took over her face as she nodded her head, looking him in the eye.

"You've got a good body. It shows that you work hard. You have a well balanced musculature. I'm thinking I'm not going to have to take it as easy on you as I was thinking…"

He didn't brag though a part of him wanted to. Fighting his ego had been something he had been starting to have issues with again as he'd been doing so well. It was something he was terrified of actually. That he would get ahead of himself once more. Think he was untouchable, and once more lose everything because he didn't recognize his limits.

(Sandy not let happen. David not that way. Not anymore. Should be proud of accomplishments, but aware of improvements.)

... Yeah I suppose.

(All accomplishments current timeline done through hard work. No cyberware except Sandy. David refuses to overuse Sandy. Trains. Studies. Asks for assistance when needed. Will be okay.)

David swallowed as he took in the words that Sandy was speaking, attempting to get through to him. Eventually, he just had to admit the truth.

I'm just so scared.

(Fear ok. Understandable. Sandy afraid too. But both Host And Sandy have to keep going.)

"David?"

Dorio frowned as his attention was suddenly shifted back to her.

"You alright Choom?"

He exhaled softly and nodded.

"Yeah. Just distracted. Let's get going. I'm following you, so what do you do on your usual workout?"

Dorio hummed as she looked at him, seeming as if she wanted to question him further, but thankfully it seemed she was willing to let it pass.

"Alright… let's do this. Let's get some stretches going and then we'll start pumping at the iron."

The next 35 minutes were some of the most exhausting he'd ever had since coming back. Dorio took her routine very seriously and didn't take any shortcuts, always making sure that both of them were receiving the most efficient possible movements and gains from the workouts.

He'd never really worked out with someone before and he had to admit… This was fun.

"Come on David, I can see those muscles tremble! Show them you're stronger than your limitations. Push baby! Bench that fucking weight!"

So there he was, pushing 280 pounds and he could feel his body straining and stressing. Not to failure, but definitely to his max.

"Come on David, one last rep! You've fucking got this!"

His focus was on the weight as it should be, but fuck it was nice to have someone cheering. To have someone patting him on the back and telling him to go farther.

With one last snarling breath, he pushed upward with the weight, and brought it all the way up, Dorios hands quickly moving to grip the bar and help him rack the weight.

"Fucking yes! That's what I'm talking about David!"

She crowed in approval, offering him her metallic hand and pulling him up into a sitting position.

David laughed as the blood flow from being on his back to sitting right side up briefly made him feel light headed.

"Heh… thanks. You helped me get that little bit extra I needed to push through."

She grinned and patted him on the shoulder, getting him to get up and let her take his place.

"That's what a workout buddy is for. Could you go ahead and throw about 200 on both sides? Wanting to go ahead and get my own reps in here."

He whistled slowly as he went ahead and grabbed the required plates to add to the bar.

"Goddamn...that's impressive Dorio."

She snorted and looked up at him from where she was getting comfortable, gripping the bar firmly.

"David, you've been lifting for 2 months, you're not taking any boosters, you don't have any chrome that just gives you strength, and you're already in the fucking 1000 pound club. A little bit of extra work, fixing your form just a bit and putting some emphasis on your lower body? You're gonna be stupidly strong."

Her praise made him feel rather good about himself… but he also felt a bit guilty as.. well. He might not have a pair of gorilla arms, but he sure as shit did have chrome that was helping him get strong as shit.

I feel kind of bad. They keep giving me all these compliments thinking I'm just some normal gonk when… when I've got all these advantages that other people don't.

(Paid for advantages. Blood and Pain.)

... You're not wrong.

"Still. Watching you bench over double my bench for the same amount of reps is pretty crazy."

She laughed as she started to pump the bar up and down in a fluid manner, her chest flexing slightly as she did her reps, bringing her decently sized tits to his attention.

"Choom, I got chrome, and I'm on a few boosters. Nothing crazy like the Juice, but I'm still not operating under factory fresh standards. Heh… it's crazy what's considered natural nowadays."

His eyes widened. He hadn't thought she was on anything.

"Oh wow really? I never… well I never saw any needle marks or anything."

She laughed as she racked the bar, taking a moment to rest, looking up at him from where he was spotting her.

"That's cuz I don't use needles anymore choom. And I only take some of the safest oral tablets. Shit that I talked with my ripper about, and make sure it's not fucking with my body. Not every steroid or booster comes in a needle after all. Some are inhalables like Black Lace, though seriously David. Don't fuck with shit like that. Side effects aren't worth the boost."

She sighed in satisfaction as she began to lift once more, her eyes focused and sharp.

"So… why'd you get chrome? If you used to be an Animal I mean."

She frowned, and her lifting hitched a little bit before she continued on, not saying anything for a moment.

Dorio: "... Not comfortable talking about that right now...but… ok. Tell you what. It's a very long story. One I'll be happy to tell you after we complete the job and drop off the bike. Deal?"

David: "We don't have to talk about it if you don't want to. You can tell me to fuck off."

Dorio: "Oh I know. If I didn't want to I would have. But… I don't know. I have a good feeling about you."

He was starting to wonder about that. Everybody seemed to trust him or connect to him way more than last time around. Was he the only one who'd been sent back? Or did they remember things?

Maine knew he didn't like carbonated drinks along with Becca and Lucy. Lucy had stopped smoking around him. Nobody had tried telling him to drive… all things that had either happened or taken a while for people to realize the first time around.

…Part of him hoped they did remember. It would be nice to be able to talk about the hell that was the first time around. But… no. If any of them had known, they would have known he was different from last time.

Lucy would have said something. Becca definitely would have said something.

David just shook his head briefly and responded.

David: "if you're sure Dorio. Come on. Next set."

She gave him a little grin, having finished the last set and taking another small break to prepare.

"Yes sir."

She said in a teasing manner, her cheeks going just a touch red when he just raised an eyebrow.

Watching her lift, he wondered when the guy was going to get here. Hopefully as they were getting done.

"What happens if we get done early?"

He said casually as he watched her arms pump smoothly and her chest muscles contract slowly.

"Well, if we finish up a bit early, I'm pretty sure we can find a few things to check out and talk about."

She said just as casually as she racked the weight, her breath a little heavy now.

"So David...I heard from Maine that you'd been picking away at a guitar? Planning on being the next Kerry Eurodyne?"

She teased playfully, taking the moment to steady her breathing.

David snorted and shook his head.

"Nah… just… plucking at strings you know. Trying to learn my scales. I'm not doing bad though! Finding the right pitch is a lot easier than everybody seems to say it is so… maybe it's just me. I play about an hour a day when it's just me."

(David learning at heavily accelerated rate.)

I am? By how much?

(Factor of 10. More, possibly.)

Jesus christ. More of your work?

He'd just wanted something of his own. Whether it was to fuck up and get better over time or to be completely useless at it and just enjoy the routine.

(Negative. David Martinez's perfect pitch and other musical ability seemingly completely natural. All you.)

Oh. That… was unexpected. He supposed he could be satisfied with that. Nobody *wants to be terrible at a hobby they pick up afterall. heh. maybe he'd be able to play for Lucy and Becca within a month.

Dorio hummed softly, catching his attention once more as she began to work on her next set.

"I think it's good you're learning to play. Too many gonks would think it takes too long to learn to play and just chip in some high end package and call it good. Being able to do something that isn't related to this life we lead is good. Keeps your brainpan healthy. Think you could play something for me sometime?"

She grinned up at him from where she was lifting the bar, her cheeks starting to flush with effort as the last rep caused her to tremble a little.

David hummed in consideration at her words. Was playing guitar something he wanted to show to people? Or was it just supposed to be something more meditative? Something to center himself?

(Could be both. Organics crave social and emotional connections. Synthetics… not so different. Nobody meant for solitude.)

Dorio seemed intrigued that he hadn't just turned her down, even postponing her last set of reps to look at him quizzically.

He wrestled with the answer for only a moment before finally answering.

"Sure. But…"

He gave her a wicked little playful grin.

"Lucy and Becca get to listen first. Output Privilege you understand."

Dorio pouted exaggeratedly, (which was an intriguing and amusing visual on her usual more confident and stoic expression) but accepted his response.

"oh fiiiine. I suppose that makes sense. These Output Privileges sound intriguing, I've got to admit. What other things do those two get that us lesser mortals don't?"

She teased as she began lifting her final set, arms already beginning to tremble.

David blushed at her easy ability to retaliate, and bemoaned the fact that he was surrounded by women who were more than happy to attempt to make him blush. At least with Rebecca and Lucy he was capable of his own brand of retaliation that left either or both of them into a puddle of delighted pleasure.

"Uh…."

Shit what did they get out of this relationship?

Oof. That's a bad one for the self-image. Note to self, maybe talk to the girls about how I don't feel like I bring a lot to the table.

"Me I guess?"

For whatever that'sworth.

(not healthy. Self-deprecation not conducive to stable mental state.)

He held back on lashing out, that it was just a joke or he was just coping as best he could.

He knew he was lying.

So with a fond tiredness he responded to Sandy's statement.

What are you now, my therapist?

(Sandy non-organic mentality sufficiently different to not be adequate therapist. Problem, current issues complex enough that standard therapist would not believe. Secondary problem. Therapy costs astronomical. Per session can cost ten thousand Eurodollars. Summation… Sandy trying their best to help.)

Oh. that… was incredibly humbling.

Thanks choom.

(Thanks unnecessary but appreciated.)

"Heh… that… ain't… too shabby at all. a gal could get… envious!"

Dorio had started to grimace and speak a lot less fluidly as she came up on the last two reps.

Trying not to think about what she had just said and what it suggested, he focused on the lifts. She'd helped him get through his set. Now it was his turn to pump her up, to get her fucking burning to finish the last rep.

"Come on Dor! you can do this. You were fucking flying with this weight just a set ago. You can do this!"

Despite his encouragement however, he could see that she was losing ground. Struggle and trembling arms, sweat breaking out heavier on her brow as she struggled.

Not wanting to have failed her, when she had helped him push harder where he would have failed he took a different approach.

He knelt down next to her so he could whisper in her ear.

"Dorio, you're the strongest fucking woman i know. from the moment I saw you, I admired you because I could see that it wasn't just chrome that made you powerful. all those muscles? You worked for those and I think that's goddamn amazing. So come on. Ehow me how much stronger you are. Show me how farther I need to come."

Her eyes blazed with a warmth that caught him off guard as he finished speaking, focusing like a beam of light.

She almost roared with the effort it took to finish, but she eventually managed to get her final rep, racking the weight and shooting up to a sitting position in exultation.

"WOOO! God fucking damn that feels good! I finally finished that fucking routine! I-"

She faltered briefly, her eyes getting unfocused as the blood rushed through her head, seeming like she might fall back or pass out.

David was on the case immediately, his arms moving to her shoulders to steady her. Checking her pulse with his fingers, he tilted her chin up firmly from where it was lolling slightly to make her look up at him.

"Easy there Dorio. Look at me… you're alright. Just take deep slow breaths for me ok? In…. through the nose… Out… through the mouth."

Within a few minutes of helping her focus, she was fully coherent once more. Her eyes gained focus but her cheeks were even more red. She really must have pushed herself to the limit to still be this flushed in the cheeks.

"thanks Davey… but.. um… I'm ok now. You.. can let go."

He blinked, realizing that his hand was still at her chin, making her look at him.

He blushed and pulled away with an embarrassed groan.

"... shit. I'm sorry about that. I guess I just panicked, and the basic first aid Mom taught me took over."

She just laughed it off and patted him rather gently on the shoulder.

"Nothing to apologize for David. You kept me safe after helping me push my limits. You did exactly what you were supposed to."

He sighed in relief, even as a part of him questioned the choice of words. That kinda… almost sounded like something else didn't it?

"Heh… ya know Da-"

Her eyes sharpened as she looked past him to the open door of the gym.

Dorio: "Look alive. Target's walking through the doors now."

Carefully turning to look at who said target was, he couldn't help but suppress the desire to give off a low whistle.

David: "Jesus Christ, he doesn't even look real. How does he even move with how big those muscles are?"

The gonk in question was almost as tall as Maine, though he didn't have the cyberized bulk that Maine did. Regardless, the overall presentation of musculature was almost grotesque in its size and vascularity.

Dorio grimaced briefly before looking away, and beginning to put her weights away, keeping an eye on the Animal who had just walked in, filled with swagger and arrogance.

Dorio: "That's what the Juice will do to you if you also add in a bunch of other steroids to the mix. Gonk is probably taxing his heart something bad. If he doesn't get regular checkups from a ripper, it'll likely end up the same as any other Juice-head. Cardiac arrest by 30."

The tone of her voice was that of disdain, not a little disgust, and something that David was more than passing familiar with.

Self loathing.

She sighed and shook Her head briefly before signaling to David to follow her.

Dorio: "Shower time. We'll catch the gonk when he's getting undressed. You'll make use of that Sandy, get the key for the bike, and we'll be on our way. You ready?"

David nodded. They'd just about finished everything exercise wise, and they were here for the job above anything else.

David: "You got it Choom."

As they made their way back to the locker room, David mulled over what he'd learned as they'd made their way through Dorios hardcore set.

There were a couple of different kinds of lifters here.

You had your aesthetics freaks. The ones that felt the need to work hard to look good for whatever reason. Something he could understand he supposed but they were certainly a minority when all you needed to do is pay for a good bodysculpt and you'd be as trim or built or thick as you wanted to be.

Then you had a good amount of people like himself and Dorio. Just normal people who were trying to lift heavy weights and get stronger.

Then there was the larger group that existed in this gym. The ego lifters. The ones that wanted to lift the heaviest weight and have the rest of the gym swiveling their head to marvel at their physical prowess.

This man? He was obviously the latter, making comments and snide jokes when he saw someone lifting something he had moved past.

Quickly moving to the showers, Dorio and David both stripped down efficiently, and began to wash. David did his best to avoid looking at her, but… damn. That back… that ass. You could probably bruise yourself spanking an ass that muscular and tight.

I have a friggin problem.

(Hormones inconvenient.)

Dorio: "You can look you know. I don't mind at all."

His eyes widened a bit before looking away, blushing.

Dorio: "I'm not teasing you by the way David. I'm proud of my body. The hard work it took me to get to this point. The scars that remind me of my mistakes and push me to do better. As long as you're not being a creep, I personally enjoy being looked at. So… seriously. If you want to look… look."

The steady and firm tone of her voice overrode any of his own worries, and made him feel… far more confident in the situation.

Looking back at her, he felt his cheeks heat up a bit as he saw her bend over to scrub down her chromed legs, removing any traces of sweat from the metal. His eyes however were fastened firmly on her sizeable muscular ass. Goddamn… she didn't have the sheer size of Becca, but she also didn't have the lithe suppleness of Lucy. What she had… was muscle and tightness with the perfect layer of fat to look (and feel most likely) absolutely mouthwatering.

That continued when she turned around to face him, her hands thoroughly scrubbing her torso and underarms, showing off the soft yet defined abdominal muscles. Like at the barest of touches it would feel very tender but if you pressed down, it would be pure power. That wasn't even counting her sizeable breasts that were roughly Lucy's size though seemed to be a bit firmer.

David:"... You worked really hard to get to this point didn't you?"

Because it wasn't just her standard sexy bits he observed. She had scars and puckered marks on different parts of her. It… well. She also seemed to be missing an organic pussy, seemingly having a more heavy duty one as well, not quite looking like the standard Midnight Lady implant.

Dorio: "A lot of work… and a lot of stupid mistakes too. Stuff I'll have to live with for the rest of my life. But… I'll talk about that later. We need to finish."

He nodded. He could hear their target making his way to the locker room, loud and bold as brass. Quickly finishing the rest of his cleaning, he exited the shower followed by Dorio. As they were putting on their street clothes and placing their gym clothes in their duffels, the target finally was in position for him to search them.

David: "Going for it now."

He said briefly before triggering Sandy, and everything slowed down to a standstill. The gonk was in the process of stripping down, revealing an ungodly and almost grotesquely muscular physique that was covered with all manner of rashes and bumps.

Yikes. Alright… let's find this thing.

Checking through the pockets, he found a few things. A pair of old school brass knuckles, condoms, and…

A key fob.

Do you think this is it Sandy?

(Scanning… match confirmed to make and model of motorcycle target acquired. Acquire and leave.)

Taking the fob and replacing all the other items, he quickly moved back to Dorio, and placed the fob in his duffel.

Dropping the time dilation and not having drawn any attention from their target he caught Dorio's eyes and nodded. Seeing her relax just a touch, he took the lead and walked out of the locker room, the amazonian woman quickly following behind.

Dorio said her farewell to Niles and once they'd exited the building they both released a breath of apprehension.

"Alright… time to get the hell out of here. Any idea where the bike would be?"

He asked Dorio curiously.

She nodded, and gestured over towards an abandoned looking lot with a number of cars and bikes there. How the hell hadn't he noticed that before?

"Most Animals prefer to stay out of the line of cameras. It's where I…"

She hesitated before sighing as she gestured for him to follow.

"It's where I used to stash my bike too."

"You had a bike?" He asked curiously,never having seen her ride one before.

"Key word, 'had'. Ended up having to sell it to pay for some… important procedures."

There was a tone of regret and resignation as she spoke, walking into the lot looking around for the bike.

Quickly scanning through the vehicles on display she came to a stop in front of a bulky and powerful looking bike. It was definitely retro as hell but had a durability that was insane compared to the more flashy and intricate designs of the modern era.

"Well damn… here we are. Harley Davidson 2020 Thundergod… never gotten to see one of these in person before…"

David grinned as she looked over the bike with open awe and envy, pulling out the key fob.

"Well…then why don't you drive us to the drop-off point then?"

Her eyes quickly snapped to him, A bright smile making her usual mature stoic visage break into a giddy almost girlish vigor.

"... Choom, you are so on my good list."

Tossing her the keys, David carefully got into position on the back of the bike watching as she did a quick system check. Once that was done, she mounted the bike like it was second nature,and started it up. The sound of the engine was a deep bellowing thing, and it sent a thrum of primal satisfaction through him, and from her little shudder, her as well.

"Hold on tight David."

She called back cheekily to him, before revving the engine again, and peeling out of the lot, the sudden shift in inertia causing him to have to grab around her strong waist,his fingers actually feeling the ridges and divots of her well developed musculature.

She was laughing with utter glee, weaving in and out of traffic like it was nothing, and the sudden heart poundingness of her acceleration eventually wore off enough that David could begin to catch his bearings.

David: "you really like riding bikes huh?"

He sent her with a laugh, his hands very much aware of her strong yet pleasurably textured abdomen.

Dorio: "hell yes I do. I've missed this so much… there's nothing like feeling the wind blow against your face as you speed down a road at top speed."

She continued on and on about how much fun and freedom she felt while riding… but David didn't hear a word of it. No. His eyes had been caught by a… familiar van. Now, it wasn't just the van itself that caught his eyes, the odd pink color and Animal logo on the back denoting its origin rather plainly.

No. It was the black man with the gorilla arms driving the van, and the shirtless gonk with a minigun for a right arm riding shotgun.

He knew them.

He knew them.

*Y̷̖̖̦̰͒̊́ọ̴͖̈́͘͠ͅǘ̷̙̘̪̰ ̴̙̖̳̐́̚c̸̨̨̱̩̎ạ̸̢̨͇̉̈́̓͝n̴̺̖͋̑̇ͅ ̴͍͗͆̕d̸̨͕͍̟̈́̆o̷͇̻̗̾̈́ ̷̢͉̦̀͝i̶͙̟̮̔̋͗̕t̴͓̥͍̎̊̑̔ ̵̬̲̃̊̊D̴̟̆̅̓é̴̼͒̔͘ẹ̶̆͐̕.̴̢̅̔́͠ ̴̬͆̚Y̶̼̣̮̪͒̑̚͠ò̶̢̤̱̇̐̚ū̸̧̙̞̻̋́̇'̷̯̀̓̅ĺ̶̬͖̠͗͝ͅl̶̝̣̑ ̵̡̖̽̽r̵̻̰̫͆̃̀è̸͎̓͗͠a̸̘͙͗͠c̴͎̅́͜h̸̲̗̫͌ ̷̡̣̟̤̊̒͛̽ṱ̴͎̈́́̇͘h̵̺̆̐̀̎ẹ̶̢̺͎̒͊̾́ ̷̡̜̦̓̓̿v̴̹̪̞̬̎̎è̶̤̝͕r̶̨̦̓y̸̡͊̋̚ ̶̭͊͛̽t̷̹̪̿̂͑ơ̴̝͊̾p̴͕̊̒ ̴̪͓̮̫̑o̴̼̊̃̿f̸̹͚͑̎̆ ̸̭͚̙́͐̿ͅA̵͍̍̄r̸̹͎̚̚ả̷̧̲̀́͠s̴̞̏͋ḁ̴̠̅̃̀k̴̞͉̲̃̿̌͒å̷̛͎͝ͅ ̴̧̛͕̫̩̃̂T̷̞̊ó̴̼̊ẉ̵̌e̵̙̘̗̫͋r̸̛̥̙̫͔̍̅̑.̷̣͔̋̂́ ̵͕͇̭̗̊̐̋̕M̷̹̠̼̊̕y̶̩̎̇̈́ ̴̰̜͐̂͝ͅs̵̞͎̾̓̔o̴͔̜̗͗͜n̵̨̦͖̗͒,̷̣͋ ̴̙̳̒͆̑̾r̶̠̅i̸̟̺͕͇̒̀̃̀s̴̠̜͂i̴̡͔̺̜̔͠n̷̯̟͗̍͝g̵̦̜̊ ̴͚̫̅̆̓͘a̶̳̝̻̼̅̈́͘͝ḇ̸̢͕̃̈́̆̚ỏ̴̡̯͕͊v̷̬͍̔̈e̸̢͖̊̀ ̴̻͈̿͊ȃ̴̜̭̽̀͌l̸̠̲͆̓l̷͍͙̲͂ ̷͚͇͙̇̔ơ̵̢̦̘͔͂̐ḟ̷̡͙̈́̿̚ ̷̬̣̖͔͋t̸̝̦̱̓͠h̷̦̆̃ȇ̵̬̗͝͝m̷̊́͜,̸̳̕ ̷̗̯̫̂̈̇͠ͅḿ̸̠͓à̶͔̠͕̩͌͝͝k̵͙͙̍ï̴̡̜n̴͚̈́͝ĝ̷̨̡̙͖̎̚̚ ̵̮̥̇̎̅h̴̦̀́̕i̴̛͈͔̱̩̐́s̵̠͍͚̕͘ ̸͔̹̣̄̇͠m̵̢͉̥̱͑̓̌a̶͚̬͆́̏͘r̶̛̯̯̈́͘k̶̛̝͚̝̖̈͂ ̸̠͇̱̃o̷̳̅̅̌ͅn̵̡̉ ̸̝̱̉͂t̶͙̱̊̐̀͛h̶̭͓̚ḙ̶̛͖͕͎͋̄ ̶̮̳̪̑̆͠w̷̨̞͍͊͜o̸̞͛͊̀̉r̴̹̹̞̺͊̎̈́͘l̵̮̊d̵̯͂.̴̜̈͂͘̕͜*̵͙͕̱̫̒

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(Host!!!! Host respond!)

His eyes were coated with tears, dead to the outside world, caught up in that moment. That stupid, godforsaken, horrific moment.

He'd lost her. The woman who had done everything to give him as much as she could provide. And he just kept fucking taking and taking, and worse than, he took it all for granted.

She wasn't even supposed to be there. She was supposed to be working a shift. But no, he had to try and get around things. Oh, he had said he was trying to save money. And he was. But it was also to say fuck you to the Corpos who wanted to control every single aspect of his life.

And then… and then…

"David!"

He was shaken into the present moment by a powerful set of hands gripping his shoulders. Looking up at the owners of said hands, he dully realized that they had come to a halt in an abandoned warehouse parking lot.

"... Dorio.."

He murmured softly as he tried to piece together what had happened. And why his hands felt… sticky…

A bright flash of color had caught his eyes as he looked at Dorio, her face screwed up in concern.

Red. That fucking color that wouldn't stop haunting his dreams.

Her torso had deep lines of red on her lower abdominals where he…

...he..

Heh

Heheh.. it was almost funny. No matter how hard he fought, no matter how much he worked to do things better...

".... I always hurt the people I care about."

He said quietly, every bit of negative emotion he'd been holding back over the past couple of months overtaking him in this moment.

"David, look at me."

Looking up with a little bit of effort, Dorios face was an obvious mix of worry and resolve.

"David. What happened? You were doing alright and then you just blanked out for a solid 5 minutes. I couldn't even reach you through the Holo."

(Host in dissociative state. Sandy couldn't communicate either.)

"...I'm sorry."

The apology was meant for the both of them, but it was obvious that wasn't going to be enough for Dorio.

"David…." She spoke quietly, seemingly hesitant to say what she was about to, but felt it was necessary.

"... You've done a really good job in making sure this stuff doesn't affect the job, but I'm getting worried about you. I've seen you freeze up like this before but never multiple times. And never for as long as this one. What happened?"

He didn't… he didn't talk about this shit. Because how could he? How could he drop on them that this life was a redo? That for some unknown fucking reason, he'd been given a chance to do everything right that he'd done wrong.

And yet still the failings of his first time around haunted him.

"... That van we passed on the street. The pink one. It…"

Dorio said nothing, her grip on his shoulders light and yet… comforting in their weight.

"...it was the same one as that day on the highway. The Animals that attacked that corpo limo, and caused the accident that killed my mom. I… I saw them in that piece of shit Van and…"

And he saw it all over again. All the guilt, the rage, the heartbreaking sorrow.

It was his fault.

"Shit."

She cursed softly as her body slackened slightly.

"... Do you remember what the guys driving it looked like?"

He blinked, and looked up at her, not comprehending.

"... A black guy with some gorilla arms, and a white guy with a beard who had a minigun for an arm."

Her eyes widened further and she cursed especially vilely, to the point that even Sandy was impressed.

(Impressive vitriol. Russian interesting for curses.)

It took a moment but she managed to catch her breath and calm down a little bit.

"...look, David. We still need to drop off the bike. Can I keep talking to you through the Holo?"

David nodded, his entire body feeling heavy and tired from a mix of physical exertion and mental exhaustion.

She sighed in relief as she mounted the bike and waited for him to get secured.

"Oh… and feel free to hold on tight again… don't worry about my belly… I like a little pain."

She said with a cheeky grin.

He flushed at that, his hands tentatively moving back to their original place around her waist as they drove off.

Dorio: "... Ok… so… here's the thing. I know those guys. Remember I said most Animals don't do the whole driveby thing? There's an exception. Sylvia's pack. She's…. Well. Shes a pragmatist. She's almost as muscular as Sasquatch the Alpha of the Animals, but she doesn't really care about the other shit. Not using excess cyberware and the like I mean. It makes her effective if not very popular. Those two? I'm betting that's Gat and Knucks. Two gonks that are Sylvia's boytoys along with her second in commands."

David frowned. That was… really detailed information. Far more than he'd expected to be truthful.

David: "...How do you know all this stuff?"

She sighed as she turned a corner.

Dorio: "Because Sylvia is the one who made me an Animal. I was her right hand for years until… well. Until I lost my arms and legs."

He blinked, though that ugly anger didn't emerge once more. Maybe he just didn't have the energy to do so. Maybe he'd come to terms with it.

David: "How'd you lose your limbs?"

She laughed a pained bark of humor.

Dorio: "... The drugs the Animals put together? All this shit is Homebrewed. No scientist or lab studied this shit. Just a bunch of muscle freaks trying to get more and more jacked. So… I had a bad batch. Injected it multiple places. First couple of days? I felt swole. Strong. Breaking PRs like they were nothing. And then I started getting this… darkness around my joints. Didn't pay it any mind. And then I started losing feeling. Soon after that I couldn't even move my arms and legs. I ended up in a hospital where they told me I had almost killed myself with this cocktail. It was necrotizing my tissue and liquefying my limb bones. So they had to amputate all of it. Fuck they ended up even having to get rid of my pussy and hips. All replaced with cybernetics."

His eyes widened as his grip softened on her waist, the firm but still warm natural flesh radiating heat under his hands.

David: "That… Jesus. I'm sorry."

She snorted and shook her head.

Dorio: "Don't be. I was a moron. Turns out, Sylvia wasn't sure this latest batch of Juice was stable, so she had me try it. And after I lost everything...and she didn't even try to come see me, apologize or do anything to help me? I quit. I stopped being an Animal and made my way into Edgerunning. Fast forward a few years, I met Maine and the rest is history."

She finally pulled into the dropoff area, waiting for him to get off before dismounting, sighing as she gave the bike a longing pat.

"... So yeah. If you want them dead David… I can help you. But… revenge isn't gonna feel good. It's stereotypical to say, I know. But… all it's gonna do is leave you empty and searching for something else to fill the hole that the fight for vengeance used to be in."

David… honestly didn't know what to say. He wanted them dead. He wanted them gone. They had no right to breathe when they'd taken his mom from this world.

But… another part of him. Another part of him wondered if maybe she was right. Maybe he should do things like he'd done in the ring.

If the opportunity arose, sure. Take the chance.

But… don't go looking. Focus on the now. His goals.

… his friends and family.

His loves.

"... You… you're probably right."

"I know it's hard David. But to be honest, I don't think it's vengeance you need. I think you need to talk to someone. Really talk to them, tell them all the hard stuff because… this freezing up thing? I don't…"

Dorio paused and turned to face him, her own face looking oddly vulnerable.

"... I don't want to bury another member of the crew. Especially not one with so much potential. Ok?"

Shit. Goddammit she was right. He needed to talk to someone. This… holding back all his regrets and pain, it was making things worse. He just… didn't know who to talk to.

"... I will. Alright? I'll work on it. In the meantime… thanks… for having me along. And… again. I'm sorry about your stomach."

She laughed softly and patted him on the cheek..

"Don't worry about it. It'll heal up in no time… but for future reference… I prefer choking and hair pulling to getting scratched up."

Oh goddammit.

____

It… had surprised Dorio just how much fun she'd had at the gym with David. Maine always looked bored anytime he came. No wonder really, the weights just weren't enough to even make him strain at all. But it was still… disheartening when she was trying her all and he wasn't. Theyd long since talked about it and agreed they should work out in their own gyms.

The one time she'd brought Pilar, he'd spent more time flirting with the women there than working on his form, so she'd never invited him again. Falco politely declines, Becca was never one for hardcore workouts and the other two Netrunners preferred their aerobics to strength training.

… Sasha used to go with her, working hard to strengthen her legs and thighs for the acrobatics she liked to work with on the job.

But once Sasha was gone, she rarely ever had a workout partner.

That had changed this day. Sure, they were working out as a cover but… she'd actually managed to finish her last set. She'd thought she'd maybe finally reached her limit. That she would have to intensify her intake of boosters to go further. But… those beautiful fervent words of his…

She'd felt strong as a Borg pushing the weight up. Fuck the rush when she'd sat up to celebrate...it was only comparable to the rush from when he'd gripped her chin to make her look up at him.

Fuck but that had gotten her blood pumping. It had been a while since she'd felt so small and dainty with anyone. She felt it with Maine on a fairly regular basis, especially when on occasion they would just cuddle for a little bit, his massive arms wrapped around her and they would touch foreheads.

She'd never felt it with someone both shorter and less muscled than her. And he even treated her like a lady, opening doors for her and the like! That combined with that firm piercing gaze, that steady tone… oooh…. It was making her wet just thinking about it.

That wasn't to say of course that David had been unmuscled of course. He had certainly thickened up quite a bit from the scrawny young man he had been only a few months ago. Now he had strong arms, powerful thighs, a tight ass, well defines abs.. and what looked to be like a very sizeable cock. She hadn't lied before. Cock size wasn't everything, and one of her worst experiences had been with a gonk who'd had 13 inches of Mr Studd and just rammed it up into her.

Not fun, and not pleasurable.

And she'd had an amazing time with a man who had felt insecure about his 4 incher and had worked with her so they could both cum hard.

So if David was good with that pipe… well. He might be just as fun as Maine.

It definitely had been fun to show off in the shower, drawing his attention her her ass and tits… it was even more delightful that he seemed to really like her muscles.

She sighed softly as she thought of David, and how sweet yet damaged he was.

He was really working hard. He had so much potential and he was honestly a lot of fun to hang with. She honestly didn't know how he was able to look past her connection to the bastards who'd killed Gloria.

Fucking Sylvia… she never did care about collateral damage, did she? Gat and Knucks too. Those three…. God she was glad she wasn't an Animal anymore.

She was also glad that David seemed to not be interested in pursuing vengeance. With how emotionally fragile he seemed at times, it would have made her worry. It did not escape her that her Mainline along with her prospective possible input both had mental issues. One dealing with the possible onset of Cyberpsychosis and the other dealing with some major trauma.

Damn, she really was looking at David as a possible boyfriend already. She hadn't even fought him yet… but… with that big heart, that strong body, and that stern look?

It seemed like he might have just what she'd been craving.

But enough about David. For now, she needed to focus on her man.

Dorio: "Hey baby you t-there?"

Maine: "Always babe. Job go well?"

Dorio: "without a hitch. Now… why don't you let me take you out? Art museum?"

She would keep him together. She had to keep him together, at least until she could get him to chrome down. She couldn't let the nightmares she'd been having come true.

Couldn't let him become that unfeeling hunk of metal.

She didn't want to bury anyone else.