Rastislav
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Chapter 18: Visitors
🕑 Added 2025-09-01 17:09:34 +0000 UTCBig thanks to our local witch, Aliya Genesis, for not cursing these scribbles with her meddling.
Much.
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"This might sting a little." I told the battered woman and poured the Tygers' synth-sake on her heavily bruised shoulder, ignoring her hiss of pain and quickly covering it with some sterile gauze before simply sticking it on with some tape.
It wasn't my best, but it would work.
"That should do it." I stepped away from my frightened patient "You should catch no infections but I still recommend visiting a doctor after this."
She nodded shakily, pulling the jacket I looted off a Tyger around her, and rasped out a short "Thanks."
Satisfied with my work, I gave the rest of the eleven kidnappees another quick scan and seeing no further emergencies I walked over to where Rebecca and the two Moxes we rescued were chatting with each other.
The blue-haired pair of twins were surprisingly calm despite everything and both grinned widely at my approach "Our knight in shining armor~" One purred.
"'Becca was just telling us how you were the one to find us~" The other added.
And both stepped up to me, far too close in fact ""Does our hero want a reward?"" They asked at the same time.
Before I registered it, I had taken a couple of steps back "I am on the job." I said quickly, and the duo pouted, while Rebecca just began laughing her ass off.
"Oh this is precious, choom!" The shortstack wiped away her false tears "Too bad Rita didn't see it!"
"I am sure you've already recorded all of it." I deadpanned.
She grinned.
"You two really alright?" I looked back to the duo.
"Oh don't worry, darling." The one to my right smiled "This isn't the first time a fan got..."
"Enthusiastic." The left one finished.
That was my chance "And did you hear the Tygers mention who this 'fan' was?" I asked.
The duo shared a look and the left one answered "Some 'Saka fatass." She shrugged "We've heard the spiel so many times we barely bothered listening anymore."
'At least that confirms one part.' I noted, even as I felt annoyed at their nonchalance "Seriously?"
The two shrugged but then I noticed it, despite the front they were putting on there were still micro-halts in their movements as the conversation progressed, ones that only grew as I questioned them.
"Apologies." I quickly said "There is no need to think about it anymore."
The duo smiled, genuine thanks in their eyes.
The awkward (for me) silence that followed was thankfully cut off as the familiar groan of my Supron's engine reached my Audioreceptors, and before long the bucket of rust entered the bloodied compound.
Getting all of the women to fit inside proved a bit of a challenge, especially when the space in the van was even more cramped than the crate, but they understood the necessity and only two of them got minor panic attacks on the way.
The rest were kind enough to calm them, and we drove out of Kabuki's Junktown without catching any further attention.
Knowing I had performed a genuinely good deed today left me feeling... oddly at peace with myself.
I think I liked it.
---
Rita exited the back of Lizzie's Bar with a deep scowl on her face, followed closely by the familiar dark-skinned owner of the famous locale.
Suzie Q looked halfway between thunderous and apoplectic as her eyes fell on Rebecca and myself, first facing the shortie with a glare "'Becca."
"Sup Suzi." The shortstack gave her an outwardly bored wave.
"What are you doing here?" She demanded.
"One of my chooms asked me to come and help out." Rebecca glared up challengingly "You want me to tell her to fuck off?!"
The older woman scowled and pointedly decided to ignore her, something the girl took as an immediate victory judging by her smug look.
"And you." Suzie turned to me but unlike the other two her posture was pointedly not threatening.
Despite her being a known and experienced combatant, there was something instinctually terrifying about standing in front of a person as openly inhuman as I was. Only a few could resist the uncanny valley effect that brought.
"Why stick your nose in Mox biz?" She asked.
"The client went through the proper channels." I answered with cold neutrality "My job was escort and protection, not intergang political drama."
"Oh how professional." She scowled "Do you have any idea what kind of shit you landed me in?!"
"Landed you in?" I tilted my head, eyes flashing with threatening gold "As the leader it is your duty to stick your neck out when those relying on you are in danger. Or has the low corpo existence already eroded the soul of the Mox?"
The woman was shaking by now.
"I wonder what Lizzie* would think if she heard this." I 'considered' aloud.
She clutched her fist and for a moment I almost believed I was about to get shot at, but then with a final hateful glare she said "I will take care of the girls, now get the fuck out of here."
"That was all we needed to hear." I nodded.
Behind the hateful stare I could have sworn I noticed just a twinge of begrudging respect.
"Come Rita." Suzie ordered "We need to have a talk."
To her credit, the bouncer didn't look bothered in the least, staying behind for a moment "Thanks for helping, both of you." She looked at me while pointing her thumb at where Suzie was already starting to turn back in annoyance "We'll catch up later."
"Sure thing." I nodded "Be seeing you Rita."
Rebecca gave her a cheerful wave and soon the two of us were left alone.
"Damn, haven't seen her that pissed in ages." Rebecca muttered.
"Not even when you turned off all the music at Lizzie's?" I asked, sending a quick confirmation and report on the job to Ms. Jones.
"Saw that, did you?" The shortstack grinned.
Instead of answering, I simply pointed at the back of my head where my Cyberdeck was.
She pouted, but then her eyes momentarily brightened "Hey uh, wanna grab a drink?"
"Sure." I nodded, a bit confused by her awkwardness.
She grinned and soon we were driving away to a spot she supposedly liked.
And of course, I was once more forced to explain why my van was a perfectly fine vehicle.
One day they would understand...
Though I could convince them by making the bucket of rust better.
Now there is a thought!
---
"Ahhh..." Rebecca sighed contentedly as she downed her beer "Just what the doctor ordered."
Despite Broseph being just another bottle of shitty chemicals, I found I couldn't disagree.
The silence didn't last long "So, borg-"
"Michael." I interrupted, staring out across the channel "The name is Michael."
She paused "That is way more normal than I expected."
"I am perfectly normal." I stated the truth.
"Uh huh." The shortstack gave me a half-lidded look "Suuuure."
"So, shortie-" I began on purpose.
"I am not short I am fun sized!" She immediately yelled.
"-What's your deal?" I finished.
"My deal?" She tilted her head, though with her height it looked more like she tilted.
"Yes." I nodded "What do you do when you are not failing to use your oversized arsenal?"
"Don't talk shit about my babies!" She huffed, crossing her arms "And I am a merc!"
"A merc?" I deadpanned "Didn't you just leave the Moxes like... less than a week ago?"
"I work fast!" She shot me a finger gun but shook her head "Met my bro who has been gone for a while, got me into his crew. They mostly have me doing overwatch and staying out of the way but they are a good bunch."
"A crew, huh?" I said "I've been working mostly alone."
"Of course Mr. I can do everything also works alone!" She threw her hands up in exasperation "Buletproof, scary ass netrunner, super-borg doesn't need shit. You sure you aren't Blackhand's secret lovechild or something?"
"You'd think the first comparison would be Smasher." I chuckled, doing her the mercy of not telling her about my non-combat skills.
She stuck her tongue out.
"You know the funniest part?" I asked, unsure as to why I was suddenly feeling so talkative.
"Hm?" She looked up with curiosity.
"That night at Lizzie's?" I asked, eyes fixated on the distance "That was my first gig celebration."
"Bullshit!" She pointed at me accusingly.
"Real shit." I corrected smugly "Though that is all you are getting."
"Asshole." She flipped me off "Melony and Melody were lucky you pussed out."
Tilting my head and looking at her, all I could ask was "Who?"
She actually gaped at that "The twins, you gonk!"
"Ah." My eyes widened "Right."
And now Rebecca was back to laughing at me.
"You know I thought you were scary as shit at first." She wiped an actual tear now "But you are alright."
"I'll have you know I like being scary." I rose an index finger "But for a half-insane jailbait gremlin, you are also alright."
Instead of being insulted she just grinned widely, and rose her bottle.
I clinked mine against hers and downed my beer.
We simply sat there silently for a good five minutes after that. It was oddly relaxing.
Remembering I should check on my mother I let out a final sigh of contentment, and slowly got up from the bench "I should be heading back home now. Want me to take you somewhere?"
"Nah." She waved me off as she also got up "I'll just take the NCART* but thanks."
"Sure." I nodded and quickly sent her my contact info "I'll give you a call if I ever need a distraction."
"You better!" She grinned, just a bit more animated than a moment before "Might even introduce you to the crew if you are lucky."
"How generous." I chuckled and began walking away "Be seeing you 'Becca." I gave her a backwards wave and left her behind in the loud din of Night City.
---
All of my newfound calm disappeared the instant I approached Megabuilding H11, as a quick habitual scan revealed a few fresh additions to my territory.
Namely a group of some five armed Tyger Claws squatting it out in a secluded corner, one that gave them a perfect view of one of the lifts.
The lift I always used when coming back home.
How irritating...
With barely any hesitation, I shifted my route, circling the whole building and entering from the other side, ignoring the filthy little cretin occupying the elevator for his... relaxation time, and entering my floor from the opposite end.
The crowd immediately noticed me, and a good number of them seemed like they wanted to inform me of the threat.
Good, I liked loyalty.
But it was unnecessary as I simply put a finger to my lips and kept moving, hacking into an apartment just behind the small terrace-like position the Tygers were holding, and stalking through the thankfully empty home before simply exiting behind the group of gangoons.
The first thing they heard of my presence was the distinct click of my Crusher's loading mechanism.
"Do not move." I said in stilted Japanese "What is your business here?"
"No need to butcher my language." The woman who seemed to be the leader was the first to raise her arms in surrender "You 'Magos'?"
"I will be asking the questions." I shook my gun threateningly, even if they couldn't see it, the slight rattle was useful to keep them in line "What are you doing in my territory?"
"This entire building is Tyger Claw territory." The woman countered.
"And I thought we had an understanding." I said with narrowed eyes "You don't shit on my lawn, and I don't burn yours to the ground."
One of the other Claws twitched and began reaching for his weapon.
But before I could paint the wall with him, the leader barked out "Halt!"
The man stilled and twitched his head into a nod.
"We aren't here to threaten or extort you." The woman's tone returned to her previous calm one "Our boss has a proposition for you, and sent us over to invite you."
"And he couldn't have just sent a message like a normal person?" I narrowed my eyes.
"Jugo-sama must present himself as strong and unshakeable." She said "Someone of your rep should know that."
"I do." I nodded and slowly lowered my weapon "What does he want?"
Hearing my movement she ever so slowly turned around, slowly lowering her hands as she saw my Crusher pointing down, though she tensed all over again as she saw the face below my biker helmet.
She made a barely audible gulp and kept her hands in front of her just in case "I am not sure what exactly my boss wants, but it is probably a business proposal."
"What kind?" I asked.
She looked at me with visible annoyance, reminding me she is just a pawn of the real mover, and shrugged "You have a rep as a netrunner, figure it out."
Unable to contain it, I chuckled, the noise sending shivers down the Tygers' spines "Fair enough." I nodded "When and where does your boss want to meet?"
"There is a club on floor 50 called the Blossom Boutique, he wants you to be there at 7 sharp." She answered "It's invitation only but they will let you in if you have one of us with you."
"At least he isn't trying to have you march me in there." I hummed.
"Strongarming potential allies is bad for business." The woman smiled lightly.
"How flattering." I drawled, and waited.
The five of them looked relieved for a moment but as the silence stretched they grew increasingly tense.
Finally, my patience broke "What are you still doing here?" I asked.
The woman shifted on her feet "We were told to wait until you were ready."
"Do I look like a fucking idiot to you?" I demanded immediately "You think I will just allow you to come in here and take over?"
"All we are supposed to do is wait for you and ask around." She raised her hands placatingly "We'll be gone by evening, I swear."
I stared down at her for a few no doubt torturous moments before slowly nodding "Fine. Just remember-" I rose a finger and all five twitched as microshocks passed through the backs of their necks "You fuck around, you fry."
Their rapid terrified nods were finally enough to assure me of their good behavior.
"I'll be watching you." I motioned between my eyes and them, and then walked off back home.
Not before installing a listening daemon of course, but beside a single message to inform their boss I accepted all five sent no traffic in our out.
Maybe they weren't such idiots after all.
But that left the consideration...
Did the Tygers already find out about my slaughter of their men?
There were too many women we rescued for it to remain a secret for long...
And if they did, did they simply not care?
...I should probably give Ms. Jones a call and ask about this.
But first! I needed to fortify the shit out of my apartment.
If they tried anything, none would survive.
--------
*Lizzie was the first owner of Lizzie's Bar and she got ganked by Tyger Claws in 2070 for trying to stand up to them, leading to a bunch of riots and the Mox forming in her memory as a way to protect themselves (The protection is majorly aimed at "entertainers").
*Morgan Blackhand is the closest Cyberpunk in its entirety has to a protagonist, he is the best merc, dude with barely any chrome who 1v1d Adam Smasher (the big scary borg man) at his most powerful and won.
*Night City Area Rapid Transit network, future trams basically.
Comments
Rastislav
1. Only a bit of old lore just to top up my cyberware ideas. 2. It is definitely something that influences whether someone goes psycho or not but I am not going to make it rigid. 3. Sandy and katana monkey.
No_Sleep
Few things I wanna ask if you would kindly be able to answer.(you don’t have to) 1. Are you using any information from the lore books ie. Red or 2020. As both are considered canon for cyberpunk in general. 2. What your thoughts on the humanity (empathy) feature for how much cyberware a person can use. 0 being Adam smasher and 20 being a Saint. 3. In your playthrough(s) of Cyberpunk what build did you usually go with?
StarlightGhoul
Cha duuude. Smasher board!! Cowabunga!! Thank you for the absolutely wonderful chapter I’m glad Becca will be a ongoing character.
![blue[k]nights from fantia](https://patrefans.com/kistorage/49226.jpg)
