290 Kid-Napping

"Choom, I hate to be that gal, but if we have to stay in this cramped hole any longer I'ma go nuts!" Rebecca says with legs squished against her chest in the rather small compartment in the centre of the giant mecha. The size was an unfortunate side effect of how large the machine had gotten, the sheer mass and weight of it didn't allow any open space larger than this, not without risking it collapsing in on itself, plus the building heat from friction was also a factor.

"If it's bad for you, how do you think it is for the rest of us?" David asks behind him, his head literally between his knees. "I feel like I'm gonna suffocate in here!"

"Look, it's either this or I give you a place that's vulnerable near the exterior. Trust me, this won't take long." Ori assures.

"Where are we even going?" Kiwi mutters while connecting to nearby systems outside the robot. "What do you need in Kabuki?... Where can we even go, honestly?"

"After all this? Nowhere." Lucy huffed, she'd been on the run enough to know there was no escaping that now. She had just been an escaped 'experiment', even when they'd gone to Vegas they hadn't had so many eyes on them. Right now, she wouldn't be surprised if the rest of the world considered them 'threats against humanity'.

Well... At least Arasaka was done for...?

"I need to collect some people. Don't worry, I've got a basic plan for the future, hopefully everything'll go well." Ori states.

"Nuh-uh, cut the mysteries bullshit and tell us straight. What're we doing?" Rebecca seriously questions.

...

Ori lets out a sigh, "Fine. First, we'll be picking up my family. Cat, her kid, Bats, and Charlie. After that we'll head down to the Biotechnica Flats, or whoever owns that now-"

"Wait, why? There's nothing there." Lucy mutters.

"Plus, doesn't your sis have a boyfriend or something?"

Ori allows a weak smile, "Honestly? I was hoping he'd be outta the picture by now, but if he's there we'll have to take him anyway. As for the flats? Well, I need organic material, specifically growable plants. There was enough vegetables and seeds in Arasaka tower but I wanna cover our bases."

"Again, why? You're not planning to start a farm in butt-fuck nowhere right?" Rebecca grouses, only to frown when Ori doesn't reply. "No, really!? Are you serious?"

He shrugs, "Yeah... Night City's fucked, everywhere else'll be hunting us. Since the nanites broke their restrictions, we've basically become a one-man construction company... Hell, we could probably make a new Night City in a week, depending on how much the nanites expand."

"Again, are we trusting those things to not go crazy and eat the world...?" David queries.

"I trust 'em... Enough...?" Ori states, "'Sides, they're the best way forward and if they intended to betray me we're fucked regardless. As is we'll be meeting up with the Aldecaldo's to pick up Sasha and Falco."

"T-they're alive!?" Rebecca squeaks at that.

"Yeah, they barricaded themselves in the security room after you got nabbed and I got there just in time." he shakes his head and sighs, "God there's so much shit to do."

"At least we're all alive, right?" David tries to lighten the mood but doesn't achieve much due to everyone feeling like they were in a car crusher.

"David, I love you, but please be quiet." Lucy mutters.

-------------------------

"HOLY SHIT! IT'S COMING RIGHT FOR US!" a civilian screams as the giant, skull-like head of the mech peers down the street, prompting everyone in sight to flee in a panic.

A dozen or so Mox run out to fight it off, but they're completely ignored by Ori, who moves past Lizzie's Bar and into Kabuki Market. It'd already been emptied of screaming civies outside of the few more stubborn and adamant ones continuing their shops.

Ignoring all that, he moves the mecha's head to a 'newly' opened one that made food from a variety of cultures. There, through the window, he spotted Cat, his sister, standing frozen like a deer in headlights.

He hadn't kept a close eye on her, but through the Mox he knew she owned and lived above her store with Bats and the kids. She looked good, healthier and happier, though, the obvious fear striking her features reduced it somewhat.

Shrugging, he has the mech spit himself and the crew onto the street, inwardly smiling at Cat's shocked expression as he steps into the store. "Hey sis, time to go."

. . .

"Oriiiiii..... What the HELL are you doing!? Why did you come here!?" she shrieks, grabbing a burrito and flinging it at him.

He ducks, allowing it to hit David instead, "I'm here to pick you up, it ain't safe in this city anymore, so we're going. And I ain't asking."

"He isn't wrong side-sis, those assholes in Arasaka knew you were here the whole time, and if they knew then everyone else will too." Rebecca adds.

Cat scowls, "So, what? We just have to throw everything we've built away!? How is that fair, especially after you abandoned us!?"

"You know why I left-"

"Do I look like a fucking care!? You're crazy if you think I'll go! Just leave!" she all but shrieks.

"Not an option."

"Y-you... W-why couldn't you just-, stay dead!?" she shouts despite herself, drawing a glare from Rebecca.

"You ungrateful-"

"Stop." Ori interjects, halting Rebecca from her rant, "Think what you want, I'm kidnapping you either way." he says as a black tendril crashes through the wall and grabs Cat as she kicks and screams.

"Oooh, she isn't gonna like that." David remarks.

"Tough shit." Rebecca spits.

Shaking his head, he turns his attention to the others in the building, sadly, Fujino was in the back working in the kitchen with Charlie, and Bats was in the apartment above with little Emil.

It doesn't take long to grab them too, and soon the group was on their way to the Biotechnica Flats.