THUMP, BA BUMP

As I was leaving the building where my apartment is, I took a deep breath, filling my lungs with the hot, violent, and corrupt air of Night City, as if it was trying to warn you how dangerous this city was. It was as if the air itself was telling you, "FUCK YOU."

"FUCK YOU AIR!" I shouted, making people turn to stare at the foul-mouthed young man shouting in the middle of the street. I didn't care. I focused on controlling my iDneural, also known as IDN, to send a message to Judy's IDN.

["WAkEy-WaKeY 📎-(IDnSora/memory/sound-133.wav), WAKE UP. I'm on my way, I'll be there in 20."]

I laughed as I thought about the message I had sent to Judy, who I was sure was still asleep. In the message, I had attached a sound file (sound-133.wav), which was a fire engine horn. As sleepy as she was, I was sure it annoyed her. It wasn't just for laughs; it was to remind her what we had to do today. TODAY we were going to fire up the old beauty, our summer project, our baby, a beat-up fire truck next to Judy's and her grandparents' apartment.

After yelling and sending the message, I reached into my jacket pockets, pulling out a pair of small, wide rings not completely joined together, and a rubber band. The rings were black with metallic edges. I put them on the top of my ears and used the rubber band to tie my not-so-long black hair into a ponytail. It was something like a short ponytail. I wanted to cut it, but both Aoi-Obasan and Oji-san did not let me, something to do with the hair belonging to the parents, not the children, according to Aoi-Obasan. According to Oji-san, cutting the hair symbolizes defeat and loss of honor. I tune out when he tells me his tales of honor this, courage that, in his fortune cookie mode.

Adjusting my jacket, I touched one of the jacket's saved settings, and a red Oni face with a mechanized part appeared on the back of my jacket. With no time to waste, I hopped on my magnetic levitation hoverboard, MLH, or as people call it, AirBs—Air-boards. I started heading to Judy's house on my AirB while listening to music from my semi-rings, which used imperceptible vibrations in my ear, making my eardrums vibrate to hear the music without generating noise.

As I moved around the city, I put on a very special song.

I played "Who's Ready For Tomorrow" by Rat Boy & IBDY. Yes, they existed in this world. I discovered them when I searched for music from my past life on the net, when I started to make and upload my versions to Cybertube.

When the song played while I was gliding on my board, I just enjoyed the experience, moving through the city while Eco chased me with a holographic tongue hanging out of his mouth to the side. I just watched the city and its people while...

[♪I was a teenage outlaw♪]

"♪I was a teenage outlaw♪"

[♪With no worries on my mind♪]

"♪With no worries on my mind♪"

[♪And now I'm getting older♪]

"♪And now I'm getting older♪"

[♪My heart is growing colder all the time (woah)♪]

"♪My heart is growing colder all the time♪"

I started to sing. How many times can one enjoy such an experience, listening to the song of a great character from a series while you really move through that same city, full of neon and shadows?

While I was enjoying the trip, I passed by the Zero District and the square of the Corporate Center, aiming to get to the bridge that connects to Watson, to reach the Kabuki district, more specifically Charter Street. As I was passing by the giant square in the Corporate Center, I received a notification in my head. It was a message from Judy in response to mine. I took off my music and got off the AirB, attaching it to my back where it connected to the magnet I had installed on the inside of my jacket. I was now carrying my 80cm steel board, with the dark grey almost black interior floating about 3 centimeters from my back.

I stopped to check my IDN so that I could read Judy's message.

"tch, you're already coming here.... today is Saturday you know...we don't have to get up so early ¡¡¡¡BOOOM!!!! (Max-TAC siren noise) Hahaha gotcha, I wasn't asleep, I've had breakfast an hour ago and I'm out next to our baby, checking the wiring, DON'T BE LATE Sora, we still have a lot to do."

"Tch," I muttered, knowing that my joke hadn't surprised an awake Judy. I stuck a finger in my ear as a placebo relief for the blaring Max-TAC siren that Judy had attached to her message, although I hadn't really heard it with my ears. It was a bit to ease my mind that was still beeping a bit from her joke.

The message also reminded me of the breakfast that Aoi-Obasan had prepared for me. When I rummaged through the backpack she had given me, I found two bento boxes that I imagined to be our food that Grandma had prepared, and I came across a cylindrical container. When I unrolled it like a map or scroll, there were four snow-white balls with a black rectangle on each of the rice balls. "OH, Grandma's onigiri." I don't like store-bought ones, but Grandma Aoi's were delicious.

While having breakfast, I moved around the pedestrian part of the square, enjoying the views. When I got to the center of the square, I could see the glass dome where, in 7 years, the final battle of the Edgerunner show will take place. That made me think about the characters of that show and where they would be now...

When I thought about that, it also made me think about how their charac—NO! Not characters, not anymore. For me now, they are not. They are flesh-and-blood people...well, and metal. I know their destinies, their sad and violent fates...

Like Rebecca, a foul-mouthed and energetic girl, loyal and violent, in love but alone...

Rebecca's brother, who loved jokes but died as a bad one.

Maine and Dorio, a couple who would sacrifice themselves for each other, and who died together because of Maine's stubbornness for cyberware...

Lucy, a beautiful woman broken inside who finally found her moon only to explore it alone.

David, a guy with tremendous humanity but who burned it to live other people's dreams...

and Kiwi...a serene woman with too much experience, especially of the bad kind, dying alone thinking of the friends she had betrayed.

When I thought about those people and their bad destinies, I felt helpless. Do I really believe that I can fight against Smasher? Or save David from Cyberpsychosis? Or change Maine's mentality so that he doesn't lose himself?

Shaking my head, I felt lost for the future...and what would come next. V...Johnny...the death of Saburo...a possible 5th Corporate War. Could I survive all that? Could I keep Grandpa and Grandma safe in this cold world? Or Jackie's fan, my mother...Judy if the information that she created a chip that can create soldiers in seconds...she won't be safe.

With my head full of doubts, losing even the appetite for Grandma Aoi's food, I stopped walking and looked at the sky with a desperate look, thinking about what the future held. Trying to find an answer to all my doubts, I looked at the sky without knowing why...how much time passed...at some point, I realized that I had a hand on my chest and I could hear my heart. Stopping thinking, I only heard...

thump thump, ba boom, ba bump...

When all of a sudden!

THUMP THUMP, BA BOOM, BA BUMP, THUMP THUMP, BA BOOM, BA BUMP, BA BOOM,

THUMP THUMP, BA BOOM, BA BOOM, BA BUMP THUMP THUMP, BA BOOM, BA BUMP

THUMP THUMP, BA BOOM, BA BOOM, BA BUMP, THUMP THUMP, BA BOOM, BA BUMP

THUMP THUMP, BA BOOM, BA BOOM, BA BUMP, THUMP THUMP, BA BOOM, BA BUMP

THUMP THUMP, BA BOOM, BA BOOM, BA BUMP, THUMP THUMP, BA BOOM, BA BUMP

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA..." I started to laugh like a maniac, but I couldn't control it. I knew what it meant. My heart had answered me, and I couldn't control myself when I understood it.