3

Three days after he'd started practicing with Vik, Maine had called him. Said they had a job.

David:"so, is it Faraday, or someone else?"

Maine: "Nah dog. Got us a different one now. Won't stick with him long term, but that's ok. We just gotta build us a rep outside of Faraday. Didn't know this going in, but Cyberpunks running for Faraday exclusive got a reputation as desperate or stupid. So unfortunately we gotta build us a strong rep 'for I go looking round someone like Regina Jones or Wakako. Might be able to work something out with Padre though."

David: "sounds good. Four eyed bastard gave me bad vibes."

Maine: "heh. You really don't like him do ya?"

David had tried his best to hold back his feelings on the traitorous fixer but when pressed at all, he could never hold back.

But it's not like he could explain WHY he hated the man with such a passion. So he had to make things up or mislead them. He really hated doing that.

David: " Well, I mean… he talked to you like you're trash. And screwed us out of the big payday even though we did everything right?"

Maine:" aw don't worry about it kid. This was my fuckup. I thought I'd developed enough of a relationship with the guy that he'd treat us right. Don't worry. Gonna be way more thorough in getting shit going forward."

He smiled softly at that. Last time around, Maine had been adamant about sticking with Faraday. Not that any of the others had tried to convince him to find another, but Maine seemed certain that once the Tanaka job was finished in full, that they'd be rolling in the scratch.

David: "alright Choom. So, what's his name?"

Maine: "Jeff Falkins. Low level Fixer operating in JapanTown. Dunno how he operates in Wakako's territory, but I was assured that he isn't stepping on any toes. Jobs not gonna be a lot. But it's our first step. Ya get me David?"

David: "yeah-yeah, I get you Maine. So what do you need from me?"

Maine: "gonna be taking you with me along with Dorio and Lucy. Don't need more than that, and the others have shit they need doing anyway. Meet me near Nakagumi Business Plaza. Dorio and I will be there, so that'll give you time to go pick up your output. Heh.. you been treating her right Davey?~"

David groaned in embarrassment, glaring at nothing as he continued the call, making his way to Lucy's apartment.

David: "That's none of your business boss."

Maine: "heh.. just busting your balls kid. You two are good for each other. I ain't ever seen her this happy before. Got Kiwi all flustered over how her little protege is all twitterpated over you. But I gotta ask… are you gonna be able to deal with her being in the line of fire?"

For a short, horrifying second his mind flashed with Adam Smasher there once more, but instead of himself being the target of the arm cannon… It was Lucy.

Everything stopped.

No.

The world swam in front of him, and he had to brace himself as everything in him felt like it was running at max capacity, running to destruction.

But he forced it down. Ripped his panic and his fear away, as he forced himself to answer.

David: " I'm not… gonna pretend I like it. But she's been doing this longer than me, and I'm not gonna disrespect her by pretending she's some civilian little girl. So… no. I'm not ok with it, but I'm not going to try and stop her or baby her. I'll follow your instructions Maine. Told you I wouldn't make you regret letting me on."

It was a far calmer and reasonable response than the one his heart and soul demanded. That he steal her away from all possible danger and never again do another job.

His heart was still racing like mad as he came across Lucy's apartment, listening to Maine's final message.

Maine: "I get it kid. And you're doing better than I did with Dorio. First couple jobs we did when we got together, I took a bunch of bullets trying to protect her instead of trusting her to do her job like always. Heh… cracked my jaw, then kissed me. Told me if I wanted to keep her I had to let her be an equal, not a weight. So… just do right by her. Or anyone else you might come to be with. You do that, you'll have a good relationship. Alright kid, see you at the Plaza."

David: "got it. And Maine… thanks."

Ending the call, he knocked on the door to Lucy's apartment, and was quickly knocked back as Lucy launched herself into his chest, squeezing him tight, her face in his neck.

"David! I missed you."

Heh… they'd only just seen each other the other day. But that was ok. He'd missed her too.

"You too beautiful."

He whispered softly as his body relaxed, the residual tension of his panic attack draining from his frame as she pulled away eventually, looking down with that small smile and faint dusting of red on her cheeks.

They'd honestly lost a little something when he'd gained so much height and size from the chrome. He never got to enjoy the sight of her gazing down at him with those intense beautifully made up eyes after that.

With a move inspired purely by his own love and hunger for her, he pressed her up against the wall on the outside of her apartment, feeling her breasts press firmly against his collarbone and kissed her deeply, his hands tightening on the exposed flesh of her hips.

Her eyes had gone wide, but the moment he'd taken the lead and pushed her into the wall, she'd started to make that cock throbbingly delicious whine, her hips grinding into him unconsciously.

Her breathing became uneven as he let his tongue slide along her own, sucking lightly on it before nipping at her bottom lip.

Her hands gripped the back of his coat as he moved from kissing her plump gorgeous lips, to that graceful pale neck, his tongue lavishing every bit of that mouthwatering texture.

She shuddered, her legs trembling, and wasn't even able to speak. She had to open a call as he began to suck lightly on her throat.

Lucy: "D- David…. We-we need to stop-stop. Maine-Maine needs us, remember?"

She wasn't wrong. But damn did he suddenly want to say FUCK the job, and keep her here so he could make her squeak and squirm.

He sighed, and gave her one last loving kiss to her neck, seeing the flesh having darkened by just a shade from his ministrations.

"Fair enough Lucy. Continue later?"

She laughed a bit shakily, taking a moment to recover, and gave him a little smile.

"Yeah .. yeah maybe. We'll see after the job, ok?"

He gave her a smile, and offered her his hand, his entire body filled with joy and love as they made their way to the NCART.

Once ensconced in the tram car, they'd taken a seat, his arm around her shoulder, and her head leaning against him. A picture perfect vision of young love.

Wanting to keep things quiet, and not wanting any passengers to hear, he gave her a call.

David: "So, how have you been? I know Kiwi tapped you for some NET diving excursion."

Lucy chuckled and hid her face deeper into his shoulder, inhaling softly.

Lucy: "oh it wasn't anything major. Just a… kind of group dive that some other Netrunners were pooling resources for. It's more of a little activity for the group to do."

David: "other Netrunners? You keep in contact with other Runners?"

Lucy: "Yeah. On 77chat. Got our own channel. They're kind of assholes, but they're good to have when you need to bounce ideas off of."

David: "assholes?"

Lucy audibly growled in frustration as she responded.

Lucy: "Well, I brought up the fact I've got you now right? And they insist on saying you're a Joytoy! Even Kiwi is feeding them this shit instead of backing me up!"

David had to try fairly hard to keep his face straight as he wanted to laugh but she seemed upset.

David: "Well, I mean, if thats-thats the worst of it, I don't see why this bothers you so much."

She looked at him with a dry glare.

Lucy: "Kiwi sent them your records, and now they're calling me a child predator because you're 17. It's been nothing but nonstop pedo jokes."

He chuckled quietly before leaving a soft kiss on her lips.

David: "Well screw them… I might be 17, but I've got a taste for older women. You're alright with that… aren't you Miss Lucy?"

She shuddered a little at that, her thighs squeezing before she gave him another glare, but this time it was tinged with a little bit of amusement and hunger.

Lucy: "Mr. Martinez… you should know better than to tease your teacher in public."

Ooh… roleplay. That could be fun. Unfortunately before he could tease back, and work the whole student Domming the teacher angle, the train came to a stop.

"Alright… time to get to it."

He said with a sigh, as the both of them got up, and disembarked from the car, wandering towards the plaza. It was easy to pick out Maine and Dorio, because Maine was chromed to hell and back, towering over everyone at damn near 7'5" and Dorio of course had her classic jacket no shirt look that showed off her abs and her tits.

"Yo. We're meeting with him at a food stall. Y'all hungry?"

David looked at Lucy, then back at Maine and shrugged.

"Not really. I figured I'd eat after the job."

Maine nodded approvingly.

"Good man. But eat something small. Some crackers or some shit. Eating a too little can fuck ya up same as eating too much."

David nodded, yeah he'd learned his lesson the first time around. Never eat a full meal before a job. Shit could get nasty quick.

Maine's eyes lit up for a moment, and he nodded, ushering them all into an out of the way building with blackout curtains.

They were greeted by a few armed men, but there was no air of restrained violence. Only professionalism as they were led into a meeting room where their fixer sat, looking through files before looking up.

He was a middle aged looking white man with a cyberhand, and a few unidentified pieces of hardware.

He had the look of a man who could be jovial, but there was no sign of that here.

"Good morning. As you are aware, I am Jeffrey Falkins. I work with permission from Wakako as long as I do not stray from what purviews I've been allowed."

Maine nodded, and offered a hand to the man.

"And I'm Maine. Big woman is Dorio, my second. The kid is David, and the other girl is Lucy. One of my Netrunners."

The man did not smile, but did take his hand briefly and they shook perfunctorily.

"Now, I tell this to every group or lone mercenary who walks through my doors. Do not misunderstand things. I am not your friend. We will never be friends. But what I am is a good fixer. You do the job for me with the Intel I provide, I continue to give you work, and eventually even higher percentages and bigger jobs. You fail because of bad Intel? I will help you as best I can. You succeed despite my Intel being faulty? My sincerest apologies will be provided, as well as bonuses. But if you fail because of a fuckup on your part? You will likely not get another job from me. Any questions?"

David blinked, but he couldn't help but want to smile at this. It reminded him of the few jobs he'd gotten from Wakako the last time around. The old woman could be cold as ice, but she kept things simple, and did not make excuses for when her Intel failed.

They could work with this guy.

Maine seemed to also agree.

"Only one. What's the job specifically? You mentioned dealing with some Scavs."

Falkins nodded and projected a location above the meeting table.

"You see this abandoned building here? It's owned by the city, but reconstruction efforts have been hampered by Scav presence. I want you and your crew to handle them. There should be less than 20, so there isn't a need for a full complement. The only requirement is that it's done within the next few days. Ideally today."

Maine nodded.

"And the Pay?"

"20,000 eddies for the completion. Split however you want."

Maine frowned, but he nodded.

Falkins noticed the frown however and spoke.

"Consider this your audition. I'm taking a risk on you here. Faraday's contractors tend to be…"

Maine grimaced.

"I get it. Feel like a gonk for sticking with him so long."

Falkins grimaced and for once seemed to become more of a person than a Fixer.

"Loyalty is worth something, but only when it's reciprocated. Now, Mr. Nelson-"

"I prefer just Maine if you don't mind."

Falkins didn't even hesitate.

"Now Maine, if there's nothing else, please go forth and finish the job I have given you, and do not call unless the job is done, or something incredibly significant about the job has changed."

Maine nodded.

"Will do. We'll call when the job is done."

Leaving the Fixers domain, the moment they walked into the sun, David spoke.

"Well, I liked him. Didn't seem the kind to screw us."

Dorio hummed.

"If he's connected to Wakako, his reputation affects her reputation. So he's almost obligated to be a good fixer."

Lucy however had been looking through what information she could find on him, and nodded approvingly.

"Well Boss, everything I can find on this guy says that he'll be a straight shooter. Just looking to make money and carve out his own little sphere of influence."

Maine, who had been taking all of it in, also seemed to approve.

"Already less of a shit head than Faraday ever had been. So let's do this. Kid. You got your iron?"

With a quick flick of his mom's coat, he showed off the Unity on his hip.

"Never leave without it anymore. I'm ready to go if all of you are?"

With a quick consultation of the group, it was decided they'd deal with it then and there.

The trip itself was quiet as everyone else seemed to focus on making sure they were loose and ready to deal with the Scavs.

Once they got to the compound, Maine grimaced.

"Kid… you gonna be good here?

Scavs do some fucked up shit, and they don't much care about cleanup."

David knew that well. He fucking DESPISED Scavs almost more than the Animals who'd gotten his mom killed. Fucking bottom feeding cunts.

"I'll be alright Maine. Just give me my orders, and I'll do what you need."

Maine frowned but jerked his thumb inside.

"Can you get her in somewhere she can jack into the Net? Make it so they won't see us till it's too late?"

David nodded confidently.

"Not a problem. I'll do a quick scout, and then come back and bring Lucy in."

"Do it."

Flicking that mental switch, he resisted the urge he had to press a kiss to his outputs lips, and kept on target with the job. Heading inside, despite the fact that everyone was running around at practically a crawl, David did his best to operate like they could see him. Wouldn't do to get cocky. As much as he hated Smasher, the Borg had taught him something. Don't relax until the objective has been handled.

Otherwise, your overconfidence could send you flying over the edge into complete and abject failure.

And this time around, failure was not an option.

Looking around, he found a couple locations, but the connections would have been out in the open.

But finally… he found a connection in a supply closet.

David: "Found a place Maine. Out of the way, and Lucy can block the door until we're done, focus on the quickhacks."

Maine: "Good work. Lucy. You ready?"

Lucy: "I'm Nova Boss. Come get me David."

And like that, he flicked the Sandy again, marveling at just how smooth everything felt. He'd already liked his chrome beforehand, but honestly, with how preem this piece was? He was starting to feel better about not getting new pieces of chrome.

As he was finishing his thought making his way out of the unfinished compound, he felt… odd.

Not bad. More like he'd been given a friendly squeeze.

Weird. Something to bring up to Vik at his next checkup.

Once he got outside, he swiftly picked up Lucy in a princess carry, retracing his steps until they were back in the closet.

Dropping the Sandy, her eyes flashed around in shock, before looking down at him with an appreciative smirk.

"You certainly do work quick David. Give me a second. "

He nodded as he kept one eye on the door, his Unity pulled out and at the ready, finger not along the trigger and one eye on his Lucy.

As always, Lucy worked wonders. Maybe not AS fast as she would come to be in the future, but close. But goddamn, he really needed to get her a new deck. From what he remembered, she'd not upgraded since she'd escaped Arasaka many years ago.

Maybe a one month anniversary gift?

Yes. He was that sentimental of a fucking gonk. If he could make every single day a celebration of them being together, he would.

But one month was more acceptable, thus the plan.

Lucy's eyes glowed with the influx of data, letting her witness the entirety of the Scavs operation.

Lucy: "17 Scavs. They've converted some of the larger backrooms into their chop rooms. They've already got a number of people there. No living victims thank fuck. Poor bastards."

Maine: "Good… alright… What support can you give us?"

Lucy: "What do you need?"

Dorio: " What weapons do they have?"

Lucy: "pistols mostly. Leader looks like they're carrying a tech Shotgun. More of them are carrying hatchets or machetes."

Maine: "alright…. When I give you the word, cut the cameras, and then blind the leader and however many other fools you can. Dorio and I will try to eliminate them asap. If it gets sticky however, I'm gonna need David to come support us. Can I rely on you for that Dawg?"

It wasn't even a question really.

David: "yes."

Maine: "alright. Let's do this quick and clean and let's get paid.

And like that, it was a go.

Having been given the signal by Maine, Lucy had gone into overdrive, firing off hacks left and right, always maintaining enough RAM to be able to pull off an emergency shutdown or two if things got bad.

Meanwhile, Maine and Dorio were making their way through the off-guard forces no problem.

But, unfortunately as things tend to happen…. Things went south. The Scavs began to rally, and were fighting back harder, pumping dozens of rounds down at them, forcing Dorio and Maine to get into cover. It wouldn't have been a problem to handle… except for the bad news that Lucy had to bring up.

Lucy:" Maine, there's reinforcements on the way into the building. This wasn't just a scav outpost. Looks like they were trying to set up a home base here."

Maine: "Fuck! How many?"

Lucy: "Another 15. Maybe 20. But these ones are armed heavier with revolvers and Shotguns, and a fair amount of chrome. I think… shit. Yeah one of them has Mantis Arms and a Sandevistan."

Maine cursed over the comms as they could hear over the comms the taunts and jeers as the Scavs pressed their advantage.

Maine: "shit. Kid, I didn't want to throw you in this deep, but this is heavy shit. I need you harassing them as best you can. As long as you can keep that fucking Sandy going without frying yourself."

David hesitated looking at Lucy, and Lucy looked at him oddly back, before giving him a confident nod.

"Go help them. I'll be here."

David hesitated for just a second before gripping the back of her head roughly and pulling her down so that he could kiss the tall Netrunner deeply.

Her cheeks flushed but neither of them lost their focus.

David: "I'm on my way now boss. Taking out the Sandy user first so that he doesn't take either of you out."

Dorio: "David are you sure? He'll be operating on your level."

David smirked then.

David: "No…. No he won't."

And like that, he cut off the call, and triggered his Sandy to 10 percent as he usually did. It brought things down incredibly slow, and made it easy for him to unblock the door, and exit in what to Lucy would have been less than a blink of an eye.

Afterwards, he raced down the halls of the building that would likely require even more reconstructive efforts after all this. Moving into the atrium, he walked straight into a bullet hell. He could see the bullets in the air, but everyone was moving so damn slow.

Except for one. One was moving twice as fast as the others. It was still a crawl compared to him, but the fucker was zeroed in on Dorio, already leaping into the air his arms unfolding into Mantis Blades.

Not today bitch.

Pushing his body into a sprint, he danced across the battlefield, his Unity at his side. Now, shooting at this scav could possibly do something. Or it could just impact the fucker in the obvious dermal armor he was wearing. And while his Unity wasn't total trash, it sure as shit wasn't a heavy enough caliber for getting through armor. So instead he had to play things smarter. He just had to wait…. Yes!

The scav had opened his mouth to yell in some stupid roar of violence. Unfortunately, that just made it possible for David to handle him.

He shoved the barrel into the Scavs mouth, none too gently, and pulled the trigger, the scav barely having enough power in his own Sandevistan enough to realize he'd been outgunned.

With one squeeze of the trigger a bullet began exiting the barrel. David flicked the Sandy on and off in his head to get the bullet out faster to his perception before moving on to hand the fuckers looking to reinforce the rear. Specifically any that would attempt to line up a shot from a distance.

The more he thought about it, the more he came to realize…. He needed to pick something else other than a gun.

It seemed crazy… but a gun just didn't work fast enough. And sure. Maybe he could pull off his little trick of flicking the Sandy on and off, he didn't want to somehow wear it out. Honestly it just felt like he would be abusing it then. And part of doing better this time around was to treat his chrome carefully, and not beat it to shit.

Another little… approving sensation. Yeah no, he needed to talk to Vik as soon as possible.

Where was he? Oh yeah.

So it came down to it… what could he do?

The simplest answer?

…. Melee weapons.

And luckily for him, Maine and Dorio had managed to take about 7 of the original Scavs down before backup had arrived, and one of them had been carrying a hatchet. Scooping it up, he started going about his bloody work.

The first one he just swung for the fences in a baseball bat like grip and the hatchet chopped the Scavs head off like he was chopping synth vegetables.

Didn't feel a lick of resistance either.

The blade didn't look too great admittedly however. The edge looked a bit flattened. But even a blunt lump of metal could do wonders if applied properly.

Fucking Scavs. Hated these sick sons of bitches. He had no fucking sympathy for anyone who sourced their materials from these bastards, nor for anyone who joined up with them.

As he continued to swing the hatchet into the nearby heads and faces of the Scavs who posed a risk to Dorio and Maine, David remembered some of the rumors he'd heard the first time around. That these bastards didn't just butcher people and corpses. That they also used people for XBDs. Torture, snuff porn, shit involving kids.

Fuck this shit made him sick. It made him feel even more sick that he used to love that shit. Especially Kurosaki's Edgerunner series.

Having been over the brink of Cyberpsychosis, and come back due to his beloved Lucy, his taste for XBDs like that was fucking gone. He hated that shit. Hated it so much.

Hated himself for falling into that pit of scum.

So killing a bunch of scum who also might be involved in that?

Fucking bonus.

Having dropped 14 of the remaining 23, he took a breath, and tossed the busted up hatchet away, his hands trembling not with nerves or cyberpsychosis. But out of pain from the vibrations he got as the hatchet became duller and duller. Ok so, the blunt weapon was probably out, unless he could get used to it.

Or chrome something to handle the vibrations…

Shut. UP!

Taking the opportunity to breathe deep, he darted out of the atrium, and into a side hall. Carefully looking up and down it he dropped the Sandy, and messaged Maine.

David: "got the fucker who was coming at ya Dorio."

Dorio: "much appreciated David. That's… Jesus Christ kid what did you do??"

Maine: "holy shit. Did you just… wipe out damn near everybody? Scavs are fucking FREAKING."

David: "I would have taken them all out, but I didn't want to overstep. I helped with the cavalry so that should make things easier. Right?"

Maine: "yeah Choomba, we'll clean up this shit. Go check on Lucy."

David: "will do. Lucy?"

Lucy: "I'll unblock the door again. Give me a moment."

Gunfire continued, but at a lower level than had been before, and he could hear the scrambling panic at the revelation that more than half their fighting force was decimated.

Lucy: "Done. Hurry back."

Taking no chances, David flicked the Sandy again, racing back and set up the room to be blocking the door as he dropped the time dilation effect in front of Lucy.

She flinched slightly before looking down at him, her hand moving to touch his cheek.

"David… Are you ok? You…. You have blood everywhere."

He blinked and caught a glimpse of himself on a reflective surface nearby.

Oh shit. He looked like a slasher victim, or a fucking psycho.

"Ah…. Sorry."

He said trying to step back so as not to get blood on her skin or clothes. Her grip on his cheek firmed up however, and she stepped with him.

"Hey… it's ok. I don't mind. You did really good. How are you feeling?"

He blushed lightly, a dopey smile crossing his face as he looked up into her eyes.

".... A lot better now I'm here."

Her cheeks flushed dark and she couldn't keep contact with his eyes.

"... Gonk."

She said affectionately, a little grin on her face before looking back at him and kissing him gently.

Every kiss with her had its own little beauty to it. And this one was no different. It wasn't the heated and hungry kiss of earlier. It was soft. But not tentative. It was comforting above all.

It was as they stood there, his hands on her hips, her hands on his cheeks that he noticed. There were no more gunshots.

Maine: "Lucy. Need a sweep. Any other scavs in the building?"

Lucy sighed and pulled away reluctantly before engaging with the systems again, checking all the cameras, and checking with a Ping quickhack.

Lucy: "not as far as I can tell. I doubt that any of them could have good enough ICE that I couldn't spot them, but you should still do a sweep manually. Just in case."

Maine: "Way ahead of you. Your input basically did half the job for us. Good work David. You feeling alright? First time you've had to flatline a gonk."

David shrugged, not noticing Lucy looking at him slightly worried.

David: "I'm fine boss. Scavs are scum, and I'm ok with cleaning up scum."

Maine: "Truer words never been said. But for real dawg. You need someone to talk to… well. Try Lucy first. But if you need to talk about it, I'm around. Now, let's finish this up, and talk with our new fixer.. see if he walks his talk or if Faraday is actually the fucking standard around this town.

Hanging up the call, David started removing the stuff blocking the door as Lucy leaned against a wall.

"... Really don't feel nothing about killing David?"

He grimaced as he struggled with some crates that had been shoved against the door.

"It's… well. It's not that I don't feel anything. It's just…. Hard to feel anything other than satisfaction in the fact that they can't hurt anyone anymore."

"... you're so odd."

She said quietly, seemingly satisfied with what she heard.

He blinked as he finished clearing the way.

"What do you mean?"

"You don't flinch from killing or getting blood on you despite being 17. But you also don't look at people like meat. You're so sweet. You care about m- the group. You're just… odd."

He turned to her, his throat tight.

"Is… is that bad?"

She looked him in the eye, and…

His chest felt really really tight.

"Not at all Handsome."

She said with love in her tone, plain as day.

As they left the building, Lucy for once felt completely unhindered, holding her Inputs hand, the smallest hint of a smile across her usually stoic face.

David was almost scarily good at this. She'd expected him to be good what with the specs he'd shown her.

He showed her everything. Never hid or lied. Why did he trust her so much? It wasn't naivety. Those eyes saw too much for that.

But this good? He'd slashed through the battlefield light a scythe through grain. She'd been watching through the cameras and it was… God. It was humbling to witness. This sweet boy, this amazing young man… he could be the most dangerous member of the team. A bit more experience and his rep would start building like crazy. As long as he didn't start chroming up like crazy aga-.

Huh. That was odd. She shook it off.

She wished she could say that she paid attention to the conversation between Maine and their fixer but she just didn't. She paid enough attention to realize they were getting paid double due to the faulty Intel, along with Falkins apologizing profusely along with giving them the all clear in terms of work.

Instead, she was focused on stroking David's hand with her thumb, marveling at the natural heat coming through the natural skin. No Realskin, no dermal implants, no nothing. Just natural human flesh.

Perfect.

They left soon after, Dorio and Maine heading off to get an early dinner while David looked up at her with a wicked grin that made heat pool in her belly.

"So.. want to hang out at your place?"

She swallowed as her lust went into overdrive. Oh fuck. If he kept this up she couldn't hold out much longer. But.. oh god he was so sweet and loving. What if she ruined it? What if she showed just how much of a slut she wanted to be for him and he got disgusted? What if he left?

Oh god she couldn't do that. She couldn't be alone again.

What…. What was that?

"... Lucy? You ok?"

She blinked.

"Hmm? Oh. Yes I'm fine. And… sure. You can come over. But… just to snuggle ok?"

And bless this fucking Santo Domingo boy… but he didn't even look disappointed. He just looked happy to be with her.

"Of course!"

She squeezed his hand, thankful he was willing to wait.

But as they boarded the NCART to her apartment… a nasty voice whispered to her.

But for how long?

"For fucks sake kid, keep your hands up!"

Viks usually comforting and gentle tone was completely absent in the gym which he had learned recently was called Stallion Boxing. Something about an old movie? Like before the first corporate war old movie. Regardless, his nature almost immediately changed once David entered the ring. He'd learned enough of the basics and had kept up with the conditioning that he was at least passible to begin his training.

"Alright kid take a breather."

With those golden words ringing, David had to fight every instinct in him to just drop to the ground, desperate to get more oxygen.

He'd begun sparring with Vik but the doc had said he was looking into trying to find a better sparring partner. Someone who could take a bit more punishment, and didn't have to worry about taking enough damage to the head to make their hands shaky which of course would be a death sentence as a ripper.

Raising his arms above his head, he scanned the gym. Once more it was full with mostly 'ganic types. Not that there was anything stopping someone with a lot more chipped in of course. But there wasn't really anything that would appeal to more chipped in folks. No super reinforced punching bags, no 1000+ pound dumbbells or power racks that were reinforced to hold absurd amounts of weight.

But that was ok. It was all he needed. He didn't need more chrome. Not yet. Maybe not ever.

Sure…

He didn't even respond this time.

Looking over at Vik who was reading his scans from earlier, David took a breath again, and leaned against a wall nearby.

"So… Vik. What do you think? Am I just crazy? Or Is there something there?"

Vik hummed quietly as he finished going over the results. Earlier, before his practice with Vik, he'd told the Ripperdoc about the weird sensations when he had a few thoughts during the Scav job. Vik had taken him at his word, and went over the scans, having him think about those things he had before and registering when he said he felt the same sensations.

"Ok…. So remember kid, this is prototype tech. Stuff I've never even dreamed could hit the testing phase, much less an actual workable model. But from what I'm reading here, you aren't just imagining shit. I need you to be calm for a moment, ok?"

David of course was not calm. Any time someone asked a person to be calm before hearing them out, that almost IMMEDIATELY made it impossible to be calm.

But he tried his damnedest.

"Ok…. What is it, Vik?"

Vik looked down at the young cyberpunk, and sighed.

"I think your Sandevistan has an AI attached to it. And I think it likes you."

What?

"What??"

That was all he could really manage to utter at that point. An AI??? In his Sandy?

But…

"But it's a Sandevistan. Where does it have the processing power to handle a fucking AI as well as the ridiculous fucking power it had?"

Vik threw his hands up in complete exasperation.

"Kid, if I knew that, I'd tell you. Ya gotta remember, that piece of chrome you're carrying is something beyond anything else I've seen. And I've seen a LOT. But as far as I can tell, and after taking a look at some old scans of some of the more higher end AI processing networks...and this thing isn't quite there."

Relaxing just a touch, David took a deep breath. Ok… ok. Good. No AI taking over his body.

He felt what almost felt like emotional hurt radiating quietly through him. Oh dammit. Now he felt bad.

It wasn't like he really thought the tech was going to take him over. He was just… terrified of not being in control of his own actions.

He felt a… quiet acceptance then.

"So… a mid tier AI Is in my Sandy?"

"Mm… no. This thing is definitely one of the highest complexity synaptic processors I've ever seen with the examples on hand." Vik shook his head as he rolled his shoulder.

"Luckily, I managed to find buried in the data, scans of what the Sandevistan looked like when I first helped put you back together. I'm sending you the deets now."

Viktors eyes lit up briefly and David accepted the file transfer, and began looking.

Huh… ok. Kinda looked like a… raggedy spiderweb there.

"What am I looking at Vik?"

"You're looking at the initial AI processing when you first got the cables and everything synched up with your physique properly. Low tier AI. Has enough processing power to understand your preferences and attempt to make them easier to access and perform routine maintenance on the software. But this… this is what I found just a few hours ago when we did your usual checkup."

He said sending over the next file.

And…. Huh…. That's… way more complex. If the earlier one was a raggedy spiderweb, this was a fresh one with intricate webbing.

".... Vik… are you saying what I think you're saying?"

"That that piece of tech appears to be growing in complexity with you? Yes. That is exactly what I'm saying. Hell, maybe someday in the future you'll talk with it proper. But for now… it seems to really like you. So just keep taking care of it, and maybe you'll have yourself a synthetic Choom."

…. Seriously?

"... Vik are you fucking with me?"

Vik shrugged.

"Maybe a little. But kid… all I can tell you is that this thing is smart. And it's learning. So unless you want to get rid of it, and get yourself a medical grade spine to replace it I don't really have other options for you."

A feeling of sheer panic and sadness flooded his brain so strongly that he actually stumbled physically.

Viktor was by his side in an instant, his warm eyes concerned as he placed a hand on David's shoulder.

"David. David! You ok kid? What was that?"

He couldn't even say anything. The feeling of sadness and longing was too strong.

Hey… hey! It's ok. I'm not gonna get rid of you. I'm just… I'm just scared.

The feeling eased off… but with it… almost an imprint in his brain was left behind.

(Stay)

Woah…. Damn… Vik was right. It was smart.

It seemed to preen almost at the compliment, and David couldn't help but laugh a little.

"David if you don't respond I'm gonna knock your ass out, give you a system reset."

David pulled himself together and breathed in, a little bewildered and overwhelmed.

"I'm ok Vik. I'm ok. Just… guess Sandy here didn't like that idea. At all."

(Affirmation)

Vik blinked and sighed before smacking David on the back of the head.

"Fucking hell you Gonk. Terrify your output not me. Alright, enough of this fucking weird tech shit. We're here to teach you to box. Back in the ring."

David rubbed the back of his head sheepishly as he did just that. But before they could get back into the sparring, he heard a familiar voice ring out.

"Hey! So this is where you've been going, Dawg?"

David turned in confusion to see Maine and Dorio in the building, Maine giving him a cheeky little grin with Dorio gazing with her steady eyes and small smile.

"Maine! Dorio! What are you guys doing here?"

Dorio smacked Maine's chest hard enough with the back of her reinforced hands to make Maine's chromed up dermal armor clang and Maine just chuckle.

"This Gonk here wanted to make sure that you were taking your training seriously. And I was curious to see how you were handling boxing as I like to hit the ring myself every now and then."

David could see what she was getting at. He was still pretty new, but he didn't get the feeling that they didn't think he could handle himself. He had proven that with the Scav Job. But when he wasn't using Sandy… well. He wasn't exactly Morgan Blackhand reborn. That was why lessons like these were so important.

He should probably also get back to the gun range and practice more. He'd ask Becca if she wanted to go. That gremlin always liked shooting the shit. Heh. Literally shooting.

But then you'd have to think about her… and what you've been avoiding…

He grimaced silently and pushed that away. Not today. Not...not right now. He needed to focus.

"Well, I don't really know. I've just been letting Vik guide me with everything. Vik what do you think?"

It was only then that David realized that Vik was staring at Maine with that analytic gaze mixed with frustration.

"..... Your newest recruit is doing well Nelson. He's a good student. Good patient too."

That last sentence seemed to be aimed rather sharply at Maine and the big man glowered back Darkly.

"I'll tell you what I told ya last time Vik, ain't nobody know my body like I do!"

"Then I'd love to know why you're not listening to it when it says you need a damn tune-up. I'm looking at at least 4 different manufacturers as is."

Viktor eventually just shook his head and turned back to David.

"I need to get back to the kid's training. It's good to see you two, but if there's nothing else…."

Maine scoffed and looked at David.

"When you chrome up and put some weight on your frame come see me. I'll get you to a proper gym with some real weight to it. You coming, Dorio?"

The amazonian-like blonde looked steadily at David for a moment before looking back at her Input.

"Mm… not yet babe. I'll catch up. Ok?"

Maine raised an eyebrow, before looking at David and giving the young man a cheeky grin.

"Sure babe. You have fun. I'm gonna go get my tuneup."

He said with a pointed glare at Viktor before waving his goodbyes, walking out of the 'ganic gym. The other gym members had either been not pleased that someone so chromed up had been dissing their gym, or they just didn't care and were focusing on their own gains.

Viktor meanwhile just raised an eyebrow.

"And what can I help you with Ms. Levinya?"

She gave him a raised eyebrow, and a displeased expression.

"Vik…. Come on."

He just stared at her for a moment before sighing and waving her over.

"Alright then come on over Dorio. Seriously though, what do ya want? The kids got another couple rounds to go before we're done. And you've got a date don't ya David?"

He blushed and nodded.

It wasn't anything special, but he wanted to take Lucy out to eat. Despite the general state of Night City, there WERE a few places out there that while inexpensive still served decent food and had a good ambience.

Dorio just gave Viktor a little grin.

"So who's the kid's sparring partner? It's not you is it? You're always saying you don't want to run the risk of getting your bell rung too many times."

Viktor gave her a wry glare before relenting and nodding.

"Yeah it's been me. I've been trying to find a good partner for him, but I'm not looking to give him a proper boxing partner. I'm looking to get him used to fighting a street fighter without losing the fundamentals of boxing. Unfortunately that's harder to find then you'd think, and Jackie hasn't been around lately. I think he's in Mexico right now."

Dorio nodded understandingly as David frowned looking at Vik.

"Who's Jackie?"

Viktor grinned.

"Jackie Welles. Big motherfucker, Latino like you but built like a bull. Man managed to knock my ass out in one punch. I figure he's probably the best bet I could put you up against. I get you to the point where you can hold him off, or hell, even beat him? Then your training will be complete. I'll just need you to keep up the drills. But that's a ways off. "

Dorio hummed as she moved closer, her eyes steady, and… gazing at him occasionally. The large blond was always somewhat inscrutable… so he couldn't really figure out what was in her eyes. Eventually however she looked over at Vik.

"Why don't you put me in the ring with him? I'll turn off the actuators in my Gorilla Arms so I don't accidentally punch his head off."

David's eyes widened in alarm. He still remembered very well that last time around one of her uppercuts was good enough to launch the bag up to the fucking ceiling.

He looked at Vik hoping that he would speak some sense into the situation, but his stomach sank as his traitorous Ripperdoc seemed to like the idea. He was already heading over to the equipment wall, and picked up a pair of gloves, throwing them to Dorio.

"Yeah alright. But start him off easy. He's only been doing this for about a week, and I'm not trying to beat him down. Just push him. Think you can do that Dorio?"

She chuckled as she tightened her mitts, and rolled her shoulders, removing her jacket. She only wore a chromed bra to keep her tits in place and despite her muscled form? She had PLENTY of curves up top that it… well.

David had eyes.

"Yeah Vik… no worries. I don't have any plans to beat him into a pulp… I wanna see how far he can go before I take him on seriously."

Something about what she said twigged David's brain. He didn't know why… but there was something there that wasn't being said. And he didn't know whether that was a good thing or a bad thing.

Vik also looked at her sharply, his expression a mix of surprise, Incredulity, and…. Amusement?

"Seriously?"

Dorio just gave the old Ripper a smirk.

"Remains to be seen."

David just looked between them.

"Um…."

"Don't worry about it David. Not right now at least."

Vik said, shaking his head with a little smile, and gesturing for him to square up. It was a bit… nerve-wracking admittedly. The last time around, he'd never once actually set foot in a ring with Dorio, ready to actually face her in a spar.

She seemed to get that, and relaxed a touch, lowering her mitts.

"Hey… you don't want to do this, you don't gotta. I get it's weird stepping up to someone not your trainer."

The warmth and steady understanding coming from the middle aged blond woman actually kind of settled him down. His heart stopped doing a fucking Samba and his gloves stopped the shaking that he only just realized he was experiencing.

He didn't even really know why he was nervous.

It wasn't like something bad was going to happen.

For a moment the last time he saw her flashed through his brain..

"David?"

He inhaled deeply, his throat tight, as he forced himself to raise his mitts.

"I'm ok. Let's do this."

He had to be ready.

__

Dorio Levinya had always been a physical woman growing up in night city. Fighting. Fucking. Foraging. As a girl, her father had been a low level Corporate employee, while her mother was a Joytoy. Independent for as long as she could make it last before some 6th Street gangers made it clear that she'd have to have a… manager, if she wanted to work her corner.

Soon enough, Papa had taken the fall for some bullshit that upper management had done, and they'd… terminated him. In all senses of the word. Mama basically just shut down afterwards, losing herself in drugs and debauchery.

Dorio never blamed her mama for losing herself. But she did blame her for leaving her all alone in a city that cared for no one. Some women would have become Joytoys. Maybe become a Mox if they were lucky. But while she held no disdain for women who did so, Dorio was a fighter.

So within a few months of punching and beating down anyone who thought the scrawny blond Russian teen was easy pickings, she'd met Sylvia. A hulking mass of a woman, with a torso more like a man's with only one the woman's massive tits belying some femininity.

Sylvia had been part of the Animals, and they prescribed to a different line of thought than most of night city. Instead of getting huge with Chrome… they got huge with hormones. Steroids. More and more tailored chemical injections.

So when she recruited Dorio…. Well. There were good times and there were bad. For what it was worth, she liked her body now. She was big. Strong. And had tits like watermelons and thighs that could crush a man's head even chromed.

Well. She had before she'd had her injury. But regardless…

She was happy. She had a good mainline who kept her satisfied, he was just like her in her willingness to look outward for romance or sex occasionally. She had a good squad.

She had good Chooms.

And now… heh…. As she was leading the spar against the newbie, she realized she might have herself a new target. David wasn't a natural at boxing it was obvious. But what he was good at… was taking instruction… and then expanding upon it. He didn't need to be told what to do or how to do it every single time.

And as she let him get a couple shots at her torso, she grunted in approval that he seemed to be gaining physical strength as well. Not enough to knock her down… but give him time…

Was she seriously considering pursuing something with their newest member? Whether that be just a romp in the hay, or seeing how he felt about something more substantial?

… yeah. She thinks she might just do that. Something about him gave her a good impression. That she could trust him. That he had a spine of steel.

Well… all of that was up in the air anyway. She'd worry about it when he knocked her down or out.

For now, she already had one Gonk to worry about in her life…

…. Maine was starting to shake. And it was starting to worry her.

D̸̝̯̍ȁ̴͉̙ḿ̶̱͐͜n̶͍͇͝ ̴̨̕i̵̹͝t̴̝͔̋,̵̟̠̈́ ̷͓͈́y̵̙͐o̵̧̬͆̿ṷ̸̃'̶̘̄͝r̸̠̆̑e̷͔̍́ ̷͖̠̋͠s̸̤̦͐̎ȟ̴̘̲̈́a̶̛̤͎k̸͚̞̆i̴̊̓͜n̴̓ͅg̴͖̳͒̒.̷̧̦͑̇ ̴̧́Ḁ̶̌̕ͅl̸͎̋̕l̷̩͝ ̵͙͙̔͊t̶̫͔̒h̷̨̰́̏a̶͈̍t̴͎̓͜ ̷̗͌c̸̬̦̆͐h̴̤̥̎͠r̷̨̙̀̀ǫ̷̟̋̎m̸̰̬̿e̷̦͘'̶̨̣̑s̴͖̑̕ ̸͖̺̋m̴̮̍͂ě̷̻͆s̸͉̎s̶̘̊̎i̸̹̙̅͋n̴͉̗̉̂g̴̩͙͘ ̶̻͐͠w̵͕̘̌̏i̴̡̜͋͝t̴̥̐h̸̬̠͗̄ ̵̬̄̊y̵̘͉͂̚ō̸̼͐u̴͈̚r̴̩̂ ̸̡̾n̷̰͎̐e̶̝̿͆r̴͍͇͌̊v̸̘̍̍è̴̡̃ş̷̎̃.̷͗̐͜

̷̗̖̅̚

̵̛̙̜I̶̩̠̕ẗ̷̰́ ̶̘͔̈́͝s̵̺͙̋h̶̝̀̌o̴̱̊u̷̯̳̒̊l̷̦̽̿d̷̲̰̀'̷̭̇͆v̶̭̇e̴̩̪̐͛ ̷͚͍̋n̷̢̔ê̶̬̝̾ṿ̶̡́ë̶̟̯r̸̃ͅ ̷͕̠̄̊ẖ̴̾̀a̵͓͆͆v̵̡̳̋e̶͚͊ ̷̣̽t̴̝͛̚ö̵̺̊ ̸͊͝ͅc̵̣̒o̵͚̘̾̃m̷̹̜̀e̸̙͝ ̸̣̪͆͊ṫ̸̩̪o̷̹̱͋̕ ̸̳͋̋ṯ̷̓h̶͎͗i̶̱͒͝s̷̢̝͘͠.̶̢̀͑

̶̈́̈́ͅ

̶̱̝͆̍T̷̫̋ḥ̶͒̈á̷̹t̴̠̜̚ ̴͖̚f̸̗͈̈́ụ̶̫̂ç̴̲̈́k̶̢̟̈́̍ḯ̶̩n̷̜̘̉g̵̝̳͆͊ ̴̬̔́G̵̜̠͒͝ǫ̷̀n̶̘̲̐͂k̵̘̎!̴̟̈́

She blinked and found Viktor calling a time out.

"Alright you two, that's going too far for a spar. Let's call it for the day. Dorio? Remember I said ease him In. Kid? Let's go ice you down."

She cursed quietly at the sight of David looking far more bruised than she'd meant to leave him.

"Hey don't worry about it. No pain no gain right?"

David said, giving her that bright little smile with those warm… warm eyes.

That cute little shit…

She smirked as she unlaced her mitts, letting her hand trail down her torso, briefly cupping a tit.

"Thanks Davey…. Till next time choom."

His face just flushed a bright red and she cackled to herself as she turned to leave.

She still had it.

It was a day like any other day. Take a job. Work with the crew. Complete the job. Get paid. They'd taken a few jobs for Falkins at this point, and while the scratch wasn't anything special, the professionalism on his part was something very much appreciated. No one seemed to have a bad word for their fixer as the man always paid on time, and was exceptionally meticulous in his preparations.

They were in the interesting position of taking two jobs at once, the teams having split down the middle with Lucy Becca and Pilar going with Maine, while David was going with Dorio nd Kiwi.

Working with Kiwi was…. Odd he had to say. As time had passed, he had fallen into the usual rhythm he'd had with the exceptionally tall Netrunner. That is one of mutual wariness. The first time around, he'd had the feeling she looked at him as an amusing stray that Lucy had brought in. At least before Maine….

Breathe….

After Maine had died, he'd had to step up. As no one else was either willing or capable of taking over, he'd had to do it, which… fuck that had been a lot of pressure to put on himself. And hell, he wasn't even able to say that he'd handled it well enough.

Not when he'd ended up almost completely eschewing his humanity for more and more chrome.

But this time around… she'd taken him a lot more seriously from the get go. Why? He didn't know. But her eyes kept following him whenever they worked together, and it was starting to be a bit… unnerving. If it weren't for the fact that it would be hilariously unbelievable, he would assume that she was developing a crush on him. But no. That was absolutely ridiculous.

Especially seeing as how she kept narrowing her eyes at him whenever he caught her looking at him.

But regardless he was starting to feel kind of stressed with how intently she monitored him, especially when he was on edge with every single interaction. He just didn't know how to handle her.

But as they finished up the job,(a simple data retrieval and VIP rescue orchestrated between the teams) he relaxed as Lucy came walking seemingly as fast as she could without coming off as rushing and immediately wrapped her arms around his torso, burying her head into his neck. He'd been waiting for a few moments at the bar they'd celebrated his first job with, and it seemed like they were gonna have another little party to celebrate a flawless gig.

Soon enough, the rest of the crew showed up, all of them speaking quietly with each other, before going to get drinks, pump up the music, and do party tricks if that was your thing. (Pilar…)

"Hey Luce… heard everything went Nova on your end. Are we about to get paid?"

She nodded against him, not bothering to pull back to look down at him.

"Mmmhmm. Nothing special, but 10k eddies each for an hour's work wasn't too bad. The jobs are a lot easier to go through than Faraday's with how detailed Falkins is. Probably why we've been able to take so many."

David hummed in acceptance, letting his arm reach up to stroke the back of her head, his fingers trailing through her white hair.

"You think that we're starting to build our rep up again? I mean… from what I've heard and seen, despite Faraday, Maine had a pretty good reputation for getting shit done."

She sighed In satisfaction at the sensation of his fingers along her scalp, before pulling away, her hand snaking its way into holding his own.

"Mmm.. he's been doing this a long time. Long enough that the fact that he's still alive is…. Impressive. He's a Merc who's been around for almost a decade. That means something in this town. Unfortunately that compounds with the fact that he tanked his rep by working with Faraday for a few years. We're lucky that the asshole tipped his hand by not paying us our bonus. Finally opened Maine's eyes."

It was then as they were about to cuddle up in a corner and listen to music that Maine's eyes lit up from a call.

And by the looks of it, he did NOT look pleased.

But with a growl, he hung up, and made his way over to David and Lucy.

"Sorry about this Lucy, but I'm gonna need your input. Got a job for you."

David frowned as he sat up straight, Lucy also not looking pleased as she clung to David's arm, burying it deep between her large breasts, raising her voice in dissent.

"We just got done with a job though Maine. What's Jeff need from us so soon?"

He grimaced.

"...it's not Falkins. It's Faraday."

David's eyes narrowed immediately. That piece of shit??

"I thought the whole purpose of this was to get out of Faraday's pocket."

Maine nodded, taking the criticism on the chin.

"It is. But when I first started working with him, I made a guarantee. That when working towards bigger jobs, I wouldn't consider the job done, until the overall goal was completed. In this case? Until we get the data from Tanaka that Faraday wants, the job isn't totally finished. Once that's done, I can cut ties entirely. But our… my… rep is at stake. I can explain to the other fixers that I'm still doing jobs for him because of previous guarantees,but if we ghost him completely before this is done?

Well, they might not like him, but he'd have cause to say we abandon jobs. And that's a BAD rep to get."

Yeah no kidding. You get a rep for quitting a job, and no one will even bother to look at you. You need HIGH level Fixers to be able to counteract that kind of shit. And they didn't have that yet.

David wanted to sigh… but he knew the life of an Edgerunner was never predictable.

"Ok then. What do you need me for?"

"Faraday wants us to spike Tanaka's kids ICE. Essentially put a bug on him, let it feed us any information the Corpo Fucker might have. Guess he figured that since you're similar in age, you could get close enough to him to do so. "

David blinked.

"Wait… wait, Katsuo Tanaka? You want me to spike Katsuo Tanaka's ICE???"

Maine blinked as Lucy looked at David as well, concerned.

"Wait… Katsuo Tanaka? Isn't that the corpobrat that you told me about? Insulted Gloria?"

David growled lightly at the memory.

"Yeah… little fucker called me up after mom died, and mocked her and me. Hell, I originally chipped Sandy so that I could beat the shit out of him."

Maine looked like he could bite through steel with how stiff his jaw was, before blinking.

"... Really kid? You couldn't beat up some corpo brat without experimental military chrome?"

Lucy also seemed askance.

David blushed in embarrassment.

"... He's way more chromed up than I am, and had some premium kungfu chipware. He uh…. He kicked the shit out of me when I tried to punch him for suggesting my mom was a whore."

Lucy stiffened and Maine…

Whoa.

Maine looked fucking pissed. He'd not seen Maine this pissed since…

No. He'd never seen Maine this furious.

Even when Maine was….

Losing it.

He'd just been surly. Mildly hostile.

But this? Maine looked like he was about to go and strangle the corpobrat himself.

"...Maine? You ok?"

His voice seemed to cut through the rapidly building rage in his system and the big man looked down at David.

".... Yeah. Just…. Fuck. I got no clue how you didn't fucking flatline the little shit."

.David grimaced..

".... Because Mama wouldn't have wanted that. Especially if it got me on the radar of the cops and Katsuos father."

He shook his head with a sigh.

"Alright….where am I going?"

Maine actually looked apologetic now.

".... Right um.. we're going to need you to get his attention. Keep his thoughts and eyes firmly on you."

"Wait I have to interact with the fucker? Why?"

That was when Kiwi had snuck up on them from behind Maine's back.

"Because I'm going to be the one to slip the spike into his systems. No offense Lucy, you're stronger than I am at breaking ICE but I'm better at slipping in unnoticed."

The white haired Netrunner didn't look upset, just nodding and leaning her head against her Inputs shoulder, seemingly missing the fact that Kiwi's eyes narrowed minutely before turning to David.

"Too many cooks in a kitchen and all that. So you and I are running this on our own.. it'll be…. Fun. Illuminating."

David's own thoughts were nothing so bright.

Instead, he was wondering if he'd be able to keep his mouth shut around the other Netrunner of the crew. He'd managed to keep things mostly… cordial? If not friendly, and Kiwi had done much the same. But the two of them could feel the tension the other had, and it had led them to being wary of each other. Luckily, no one seemed to notice it, and almost silently and unconsciously, the two of them had agreed to not make their… contention more public.

Working together? Only the two of them however?

That didn't exactly give him the best of vibes.

Lucy just nodded, and gave him a small smile, her eyes lighting up with a call.

Lucy: "You should accept it David. You haven't really gotten a chance to interact with Kiwi one on one and…"

For a moment she looked shy.

Lucy: ".... She's kind of my mentor. A big sister kind of. Regardless, she's helped me out a lot before. She was the one that vouched for me to join Maine's crew, so it would mean a LOT to me if you'd get to know her. She's a bit… sharp. But I'm sure once she gets to know you she'll like you almost as much as I l-... Like you."

He was never able to deny Lucy anything. Not even this.

David: "ok beautiful… I'll do the job. Try to get to know her."

He looked up at Maine and nodded.

"Alright. I'll do it."

Kiwi cut Maine off from responding and gripped David's EMT jacket by the collar and tugged him onto his feet, casually and cooly forcing him to follow as Lucy and Maine looked nonplussed.

"Good. We'll be done in an hour or two. Come on, newbie."

His protests were ignored until they boarded an NCART where they both sat down, Kiwi finally letting go and reclining casually as she crossed her legs. For once the NCART was completely empty. They had the entire car to themselves.

"Really? Was that necessary?"

He groused as he also got comfortable as they made their way closer to their destination… wherever that was.

"No."

She said simply, her voice entirely uninterested as she looked out the window.

David wanted to just be calm, to keep quiet and finish up this job and go spend time with Lucy again. But something about Kiwi was getting under his skin.

"Is there a problem Kiwi?"

She glanced over at him with a well developed sense of apathy.

"Why would there be a problem, Newbie?"

His jaw clenched.

"First off, you keep glaring at me when I'm not looking. Secondly, you keep calling me Newbie when everyone else calls me David. And thirdly, because you answered my question with another question. So what's the issue?"

"There isn't one. You're imagining things."

"Bullshit."

She affected a tone of wry surprise.

"Oh my. So forceful. It's a wonder Lucy puts up with you."

He blinked.

"... Wait… this is about Lucy?"

She stiffened for a moment before looking away.

"I said nothing of the sort. Let's get down to biz."

David however plowed right through her attempt at redirecting the conversation.

"No fuck that. Why do you have a problem with me and Lucy?"

Kiwi finally turned to him, her body tense, and her eyes narrowed.

"Because you don't make SENSE. You're just some 17 year old punk kid, and yet you can wield experimental cyberware like nothing? You're acing every job you get put on? And on top of that, you basically have everyone in the crew eating out of the palm of your hand."

His blood ran cold. Of fucking course the one person who would notice and decide that she couldn't let it go would be fucking Kiwi. Not like he didn't have enough to stress about as it was.

"I'm just trying to do a good job! Why's it so hard to believe that I'm just taking Edgerunning seriously?"

She shook her head in disgust before turning her head to face the opposite side of the NCART, her legs crossing as she said nothing for a moment.

"....you say that you've noticed me glaring at you. Well right back at you punk. Everytime I'm around and you look at me, you look like you're holding yourself back from Flatlining me. And I know I've never met you before… so what is it? Don't like someone getting in between you and my protegee?"

David hissed in dismay. Course she would notice that. He had to come up with a lie. Something that was..

Fuck. He just didn't know what to say.

"... You… you just don't seem like you care about anything. Whether we live or die, whether we're happy or in pain. You only seem like you care about yourself. So it's hard to trust you."

Kiwi turned her head deliberately then, slowly and the pure anger in her eyes was…. Shit. He'd never seen her express that kind of emotion in either timeline.

"You don't know a goddamn thing about me. But as for the trust thing? Good. Don't trust me. I certainly don't trust you. Shouldn't trust anyone. All it'll do is get you burned. Now, are we done talking about how we don't like each other, or do we need to bitch some more?"

His jaw clenched and it took everything he had not to glare at her. But fine. They were getting close to the NCARTs stop.

"Fine. What's the plan?"

"Tanaka's kid has a routine. He drops by JigJig street, flashes some cash and buys new XBDs, before heading off to Arcade arcade to wind down for a few hours before he goes home.

We're going to intercept him at the Arcade. So you need to get his attention, and keep it for about 5 minutes. That's how long it'll take me to slide through his ICE and plant the spike."

David made a sour face but nodded.

"Honestly I won't need to get his attention most likely. All I'll need to do is just walk in front of him. He has a seemingly never ending desire to fuck with me."

Kiwi's eyebrow raised slightly but mercifully she kept quiet.

"And for the bonus requirement…. You can't touch the kid. You beat up Tanaka's kid, and the spike will have to reduce itself to its most basic features to go undetected by Trauma team. You do that, and we get our bonus."

"What's the pay?"

"10k each since it's a last minute job. With Faraday's usual bonus… we stand to make 110k each for a bit of work. Not a bad haul."

David snorted.

"If he pays us our bonus you mean."

She looked annoyed...but notably she did not deny what he'd said.

"We'll keep in touch through Holo. Calling now."

Kiwi's eyes glowed briefly and he got the notification almost immediately after.

Accepting the call, he tested it briefly.

David: "alright… we good? Call is stable?"

Kiwi: "solid as rock. We'll be going to ArcadeArcade. You'll need to get inside, it only costs about 100 Eddie's, so I'll send you 50."

His account showed up on his HUD briefly and an extra 50 Eddie's was deposited in the account.

David: "got it. I'll go inside and wait, I guess?"

Kiwi: "play some games, but don't get too sucked in. We're here for a job not for fun. You can come back another day."

David: "not really all that interested. Unless it's with Lucy or Becca maybe. Never came to one of these before. Mom never had the cash, and I didn't want to bother her."

He didn't really know why he was telling her that. Maybe he was just trying to fill the silence. Maybe he was trying to reach out to her. To try and find some kind of… shared ground.

Kiwi didn't say anything for a moment.

Kiwi: "....I never went to a place like this either as a kid. My family we….moved around a lot. Never had the time to just relax and be a kid. So you're not alone there."

David: ".... Do you want to come here another day? With me?"

He could almost feel her eyebrow raise looking at him as he disembarked from the NCART as it stopped and he made his way to the arcade.

Kiwi: "Didn't we just have a rather spirited argument about how we don't trust or like each other? I'm pretty sure we did."

David: "well… you're not wrong. But I'm not gonna be able to trust you or figure out if I like you if I just keep avoiding you the entire time right? So…. Figured I'd just put it out there. If not, no skin off my nose. I gave it a shot."

He had no idea why he was saying this. To be perfectly honest he didn't want to spend any time with her. Despite the seeming shared experiences they held, he just… couldn't stop thinking about her betrayal of Lucy over to Faraday.

…. But he needed to try. Kiwi had been an ally. Sometimes she'd felt like a friend. He didn't want to just give up on her without having given it his all. If she turned out to actually be a piece of shit, then he'd just… let things take their course, and hope that Lucy wasn't heartbroken when he got rid of her.

Kiwi: "I see… and my own dislike and distrust of you?"

David: "look at it as a chance to keep a closer eye on me. On my Eddies at that."

There was silence as David paid for his entrance and began puttering around, checking out some of the stuff on hand.

There was of course some of the higher end stuff. Brain dances, virtual reality, etc.

But there were also some old school activities that not a lot of people did. Like basketball hoops for digital tickets.

So while he was getting ready to try his hand at that for a while, Kiwi finally said something.

Kiwi: "Look alive Newbie. Katsuo Tanaka is heading inside, and he has a few of his hangers on with him. I'll be hacking into the subnet now to connect. I'll tell you when to get his attention."

David: "telling you… I'm not even going to have to do anything. Just watch."

And sure enough, as he steadily began racking up shots from the hoops, a voice he'd been hoping he'd never have to hear again spoke.

"Martinez! I'm surprised to see you here. Shouldn't you be working as a cashier for Buck-a-Slice? Or did you manage to find a more lucrative career selling glitter?"

David took a deep breath in as Sandy gave him a concerned sensation.

I'll be fine.

"Katsuo."

He said as he turned around, not having to hide his annoyance at the fact that he was going to have to deal with this fucking corpo brat and his terrible haircut.

"I see you finally did as I told you and quit. It's really a good thing you did, you would never have made it in the Corporate world. All people like you are worth…. Is cleaning the shoes of people like me."

David just rolled his eyes, almost feeling bored at this point.

David: "Kiwi, please tell me you're almost done here. The shit spewing from his mouth is so boring and cringe that I feel like I'm going to die."

Kiwi: "not yet. A few more minutes."

He sighed internally before addressing Katsuo.

"You say the same shit every fucking time you speak to me. It's getting boring Katsuo. "

The corpobrat sneered at him then.

"Only because street filth like you is so fucking retarded that I had to explain over and over and over that you didn't fucking belong. But now… now I think you need another fucking lesson taught."

David just shook his head, and made to walk past him..

Kiwi: "what are you doing? You need to stay! I only have one more minute needed."

David: "relax. If I didn't try to leave, he'd get suspicious. It's how I always reacted."

"Ok, you know what? I don't need to listen to this shit anymore. We're not even classmates, and we're sure as shit not friends. So really, fuck off!"

"Oh but don't you want to try and get me back for all the nasty things I said about your mommy?"

Everything froze for a moment. Not due to Sandy, but even Sandy seemed to have froze up.

" Katsuo. If you have any sense in your head, you'll keep your fucking mouth shut."

Kiwi: "... David…"

Sensing that he'd hit a very very raw nerve, Katsuo didn't back off. Instead, he doubled down with Gusto.

"And why should I? Honestly, you should be happy your gutter trash of a mother is dead. Now you don't have to live with the shame of knowing she was sucking every corporate cock she could to keep your stupid ass in the academy. Hell, she wasn't too bad looking either. Actually you know what? I take it back. I'm sad she's gone. I would have loved to give you a sibling to look after."

Kiwi: "shit! David just… Fuck! Give me just 30 seconds!"

He felt numb almost. The cold, malicious rage he felt was so… so sharp it almost cut him. He could pull his iron right now.

Use Sandy to abduct him and slowly pull him apart with all manner of implements.

"And just think… all that effort…. And you basically betrayed her by dropping out. Guess you're stupid, and a terrible son. I bet she's glad she's dead. That way she didn't have to live with the disappointment that was having you as a son!"

Kiwi: "Done! I'm heading your way David. Just keep calm."

"You…. You don't know a goddamn thing you piece of shit."

He whispered, the words almost a hiss of hate as he looked away, knowing if he were to look the fucker in the eyes, he wouldn't stop until his skull was a pile of mush.

"Hah… guess you learned your lesson about raising a hand to me after I kicked your street trash ass all over the place. God, why didn't you just zero yourself after all that? Mom dead, ass got kicked, can't pay for school…. What an absolute pathetic wa-"

It was then David was saved by the last person he'd ever expected.

"David! There you are...sorry I made you wait."

Kiwis tone was far more bubbly than it ever was in everyday conversation. The tall woman raced right past Katsuo, and her slightly cold fingers intimately and almost seductively caressed his cheeks.

"Mmm… forgive me baby?"

Kiwi: "play along you Gonk."

David plastered a small smile on his face, and let his hands grip the blonde Netrunners hips firmly, causing her to blush and gasp quietly.

"Of course. Wanna get going?" He said far more casually than he felt.

Katsuo of course wasn't taking this very well at all.

"Oh so I see where you're spending whatever money you must have gotten from selling everything you own. A Joytoy? Really? Well then, I should relieve you of her as well. You. Woman. I'll pay you twice whatever Martinez paid for your time."

Kiwi just glanced at him with disinterest and disdain.

"Hm… corpobrat waving around daddy's credit shard. Not interested."

And with that, she left the corporate asshole behind, holding David's hand as she pulled him out of ArcadeArcade.

The look on Katsuo's face… oh David would remember that look of entitled anger for the rest of his life. What a laugh.

But as Kiwi dropped his hand once they were about a block away, David had only two things to say.

"... Thank you. But…. Why did you help me?"

She could say that she just didn't want to risk her bonus. Sure. That was partly true. She could also say she didn't want Lucy's input to end up in jail for the night.

Also true.

But the real truth was…

"....you kept a tight grip on yourself while he was saying some…. Really rough things at you. We're partners on this op…. So I supported you as best I could, getting you out of there."

And she had to admit, if only to herself…. She'd liked getting cuddly with him. She ran naturally cold, bad circulation mixed with her regular ice baths while Netrunning.

He was a good heatpad… and his body was almost totally 'ganic… so plenty of soft flesh instead of unyielding chrome.

".... thanks Kiwi."

He said quietly, giving her a look that was…. Unbelievably warm, completely devoid of his usual disappointment that seemed etched in his gaze when looking at her.

And just like how the disappointment stung her, his warmth and approval made her happy. And she just didn't know why.

…. It was times like this that reminded her of where she came from. From her family. The Whirlwind Nomad Clan. They had been a small group. Not as big as The Aldecaldos, but big enough that they'd managed to eke out a decent living. As a girl, she'd trusted them all with her life and liberty. Like a good Nomad did.

Until the last year… everyone just seemed to get angrier and angrier. Like they were sick of working with others, and just wanted to take and take.

…. They'd murdered other Nomad families and stolen from the clans. All but decided to go Raffen Shiv themselves. And then when she'd spoken her mind? Tried to get them to remember themselves?

…. They'd sold her to Scavs. The Scavs might have taken her jaw, but it was her FAMILY that had broken her trust. They'd broken something in her that day. Nomads were built around trust, family, and freedom.

The loss of all of that in one go from the very people meant to protect her?

…. Well. Now she knew better.

She blinked before shaking her head briefly and addressing the new- No. David.

"You're Welcome David. And as for that offer to go to the arcade? I'll think about it.

She knew better now.

….right?