Log inIt's About Saving Yourself Ch 20
Howdy folks. Hope y'all are having a good weekend.
Work was, as usual, rough, but I was able to get this written to the point that I managed to finish the editing early! (Famous last words, I know)
I have a good feeling about this one. But if you spot something wrong, do please let me know.
Now, for the chapter itself, this chapter kicks off what I want to say is likely to be the final arc of the fic. Boy howdy will fun stuff happen on this arc! We're getting close to the scene that essentially inspired this whole story!
Can't wait to share that with you lot!
Now, as usual, if you like it, do drop me a comment and let me know! Or not, I'm not the boss of you, but a comment is always appreciated.
Hope you enjoy!
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I drove to the pickup area of Arasaka Academy, rain falling hard enough to be heard through the CrystalDome panels, and waited, it wasn’t long before David stepped inside, put on the seatbelt, and crossed his arms.
I took off at a sedate pace. “So uhh…I saw that you got straight A’s on the latest round of tests. That’s pretty nova.”
David, as had become depressingly usual, said nothing.
“You must’ve worked pretty hard; those tests were fuckin’ murder.” I continued into the ringing silence. “You uhh, you wanna go to a restaurant? I know a place with good pizza, has actual ham, like from a pig, not reflavored SCOP or canned eezybeef, legitimate ham. Yeah the cheese is still fake but, ham.”
David said nothing, staring forward into the projected street as I drove.
“Just saying, you deserve something nice cause you did good! After if you’d like, we could, I dunno, catch a movie or something, maybe go to the range?”
David remained still as a corpse, his neuroport self-diagnostic the only thing that let me know he wasn’t a statue.
I waited a long while for his answer. “Okay, you uhh, let me know if you change your mind. I’ll try and keep my schedule open, you know? Anything you need.”
David said nothing.
Same as he had every time I gave him a ride to or from school.
At least he was still talking to mom.
Most of the way home, I got a call from Rogue. I answered while broadcasting audio only. “Go ahead.”
[Hey Redeye. Got something for you, easy eds, but a bit weird.] Rogue said affably. [Got some fancy asshat calls himself Jimmy Kurosaki, XBD peddler, he paid good eds for a consultation, and is requesting a meeting, asked for you by name. Says he just wants to ‘talk’.]
I scowled. “Anything suspicious about him?”
Rogue snorted. [I wouldn’t let him babysit, but he seems genuine enough. Seems he just wants to meet the infamous Redeye. Ball’s in your court kid. You know the drill, you show up, you get paid. Whatever else you two agree on? That’s between the two of you. So, you in, or should I kick him out?]
She sent me a number for the proposed fee, and it was substantial. Nothing close to what I usually got paid, akin more to the milk runs I used to train Apex, but for zero work the sum wasn’t bad at all.
“Alright. I’m in, I’ll be over there in about an hour.” I said.
[Very well, see you when you get here.] Rogue said and cut the comms.
“Hey so uhh, you probably heard. But something came up for work. But I’ll be open after if you need anything okay?” I said into the sound of the car’s engine running.
Ultimately, not a word was truly exchanged between David and I, not even a goodbye as I dropped him off at the apartment building.
I closed my eyes with a sigh, then stopped feeling sorry for myself and made my way to the Afterlife. My one saving grace that Apex had wanted to spend the day with Lucy, and so I wouldn’t have to deal with her questions about why David was being so mean to me.
Fuck me sideways I just cannot fucking think when I’m angry.
Bright side, over the last few weeks, barring his hair style, David had become the very picture of a model student, he came home on time, did his homework, studied for tests, and had stopped trying to join the Valentinos.
Overall, a win.
And it had only cost me possibly permanently damaging my relationship with him. But joke’s on him, statistics dictated I would not live long enough to have to truly worry about it!
I just hoped I didn’t get a drink named after me at the Afterlife, the very prospect was just fucking embarrassing.
The traffic was heavier than usual, the rain causing the usual increase in accidents, crashes, and road rage induced shootouts. People seemingly forgetting how to fucking drive the moment it started raining.
Which, considering Night City literally had an ocean all along one of its borders, leading to a high humidity, and frequent rain, was goddamn stupid and somewhat depressing.
A car turned the corner skidding on the pavement, bounced off a light pole, and slid sideways into mine at a thankfully low speed. But considering my car was almost three and a half metric tons, and the car that skidded into mine wasn’t, I didn’t worry overmu-
Five Maelstrom gangsters piled out of the car and started unloading into my car with assault rifles and ten aught slugs.
Fuckin.’
It was going to take me hours to buff out all the dents in the CrystalDome panels!
I grabbed my shotgun from the rack behind me, and didn’t have to wait too long for the inevitable.
The five dumbasses finished emptying their magazines and all started reloading at the same time.
I opened the door, stepped out, and fired four times in quick succession. The four slugs in the shotgun meeting four heavily chromed heads and rupturing three of them. The fourth ricocheted off into the sky, but in the process dented the skull assembly so hard that the brain inside it would die in time.
I finished hacking through their ICE and uploaded Synapse Burnout to finish him off just in case.
For the last dumbass, I deactivated his optics and jammed his gun. It was child’s play to flip him to the ground as he failed wildly. He was still screaming about how he would prove himself the worthier herald (whatever the fuck that meant), when I unloaded my Tsunami Nue into the center of his forehead.
It took two magazines, but the cumulative kinetic energy transfer imparted by the twenty-one .45 ACP slugs turned his brain into mush, even if they failed to penetrate the armor plating of his skull.
Unfortunately, Night City’s Finest had arrived while I was busy flatlining the dumbass, so I sent Rogue a text message to let her know I was going to be delayed because Maelstrom happened and I had to give a statement to the badges who happened to be around.
I finished reloading my pistol, then holstered it, but did not move to reload my shotgun yet. “Good day officers.”
“You’re the electrician!” Said a small slip of a girl dwarfed by her armorjack.
I blinked and looked her up. Akane Tsunemori…oh right, miss rookie cop I yelled at. She was already graduated to patrolling in a car? Man, baby’s new cop, moving up in the world. I was almost impressed.
“I have no idea who you are.” I lied.
“Wha!? Yes you do! I’ve seen you before!” She yelled while pointing her finger at me.
Well, if at first you don’t succeed, lie lie lie again. “Ma’am, we’ve never met before.”
“Yes we have! I recognize your outfit?”
“Oh!? You watched Raiden Rising Revengeance The Reckoning?”
She faltered. “Huh?”
“My cosplay.” I said, tapping my chest. “I’m dressed as Raiden Sentai Neo Kitsch, specifically from the fourth Revengance remake second reboot, the best of the lot. You’re a true connoisseur to recognize it.”
“Huh?” I got to see doubt creep into her features on real time.
It was immensely satisfying.
“Tsunemori!” A man called out, making the girl squeak and stand at attention. “Get in the car and call it in!”
“Yes sir!” She said as a muscular man of Japanese descent two inches shorter than me stepped up. He had an aquiline nose, messy black hair and sharp brown eyes.
He held his silence until the rookie was in the car and chattering at the radio. “Redeye.”
Well shit. A cop who actually keeps a finger on the pulse of Edgerunning. Still, two can play that game, and I had the cheat sheet. “Kogami Shinya, congratulations on achieving the certifications to become a detective.”
The skin around his eyes tightened, but he didn’t otherwise react. “I won’t know the results for another two weeks.”
“I see, my apologies.”
“This what it look like?” He asked, looking around at the five dead ‘stromers and their dented-up piece of shit car.
“If it looks like entirely justified and necessary self-defense, then yes, yes it is.”
“Maelstrom’s been strangely active for the last couple weeks. We’re hearing reports that someone sparked a civil war within the gang…you wouldn’t happen to know anything about that.”
“No idea whatsoever, officer.” I lied.
The look he gave me informed me he absolutely did not believe me, which, fair, but he had nothing and if he tried to take me in, I could call Rogue who would fall on his boss like a ton of bricks.
The detective grunted, then glanced back at the rookie. “You’ve met?”
I fully intended to give him another non-answer, but the edge of concern I could hear in his voice made me change my response. “Only in passing, I was working a job to rescue a kidnapped corpo kid. She ran into me while I was running down a lead. Managed to convince her I was just some random jackass in cosplay.”
“Cosplay?” He asked, arching an eyebrow.
“Cosplay.” I repeated.
“Gonna have to teach her to spot an obvious lie better.” He muttered.
We stood in awkward silence for a few seconds before he spoke. “You’re an agent of chaos, Redeye. But all evidence points to you doing what you can to minimize hurting the uninvolved.”
A mother’s terrified face flashed in my mind.
“Still, the city is a slightly safer place with all the Animals that are no longer a factor, or the Maelstromers and Scavs that have gone missing. Still, try not to kick off another gang war.”
I grunted, glanced at the comely young woman chattering away at the radio, and sighed. “Look after her.”
His eyes snapped back to me, sharp as a knife.
“She’s one of the good ones.” I continued. “Exactly the kind this city chews up and shits out. She doesn’t have the luxury of being the wide-eyed rookie.”
Thankfully, the detective had the wisdom to take my words in the spirit they were meant, instead of as a threat, and relaxed as he gave me a nod.
The rookie in question came back, huffing. “Kogami-san! We’re ordered to secure the scene; a meat wagon is on its way to pick up the wounded!”
I snorted.
“There are no wounded, rookie.” Shinya said, never having taken his eyes off me. “You’re free to leave.”
I nodded. “Have a good day, Patrol Officer Tsunemori Akane. Detective Kogami Shinya.”
“Have a good day, and stay safe!” The rookie said, completely missing the implied threat of a big scary guy with a shotgun knowing her rank and full name.
How in all that is holy, seriously.
The detective sighed. “Tsunemori…that was the ‘electrician’ you ran into, he’s an Edgerunner.”
“WHAT!?”
My car’s door closing shut whatever else might have been said out. I was tempted to roll down my window and wave as I drove out, but refrained. And after several more minutes arrived at the Afterlife.
Emmerick gave me the side-eye as I stepped forward, he used to be an Animal, and finally took notice of me as someone to be wary of the second time I decimated the gang.
He was fine though, he hadn’t been in the gang for years by the time they hurt my mom, he didn’t share in their collective sin. So I would only end him if he decided to get handsy with my mom. Unlikely, as my mom and Rogue had struck a rather public friendship. Something that thankfully warded off more threats than it caused.
People gave me a wide berth as I strode into the club, no idea why, I showered every day, unlike some of these barbarians.
Rogue looked up from the client she was speaking with, waved at me from her booth, and transferred thirty thousand Eurodollars to me. “He’s waiting for you in the back!”
I nodded my thanks and made my way to the private booths. Stepping inside the refurbished autopsy room I spotted a man with an almost elegant looking mullet, his hair was long, silky, and blue-black, his kiroshis were top of the line, the sclera looked entirely natural, though the iris was blue, and instead of a pupil, his eyes had a pink power-button symbol on them. His skin had a fairly natural-looking tan, his face was angular and somewhat gaunt, and he had gold plating on his chin, nose, and gold studs where his eyebrows should be. And he wore quite a bit of gold jewelry.
He was wearing a shirt that cost more than what I paid yearly for my apartments and safehouses combined, and a genuine, one-hundred percent organic, blue wool cloak with white fur, also organic.
He bore my scrutiny with easy confidence, sitting calmly on the sofa, his silver fashion-ware hands crossed on his lap.
Genuine silver, not silver steel.
Whatever this jackass did. It paid well.
And he had the presence of mind to stay quiet, no matter how long I stared at him.
A slight shrug of my shoulders assured me that my Omaha was indeed easy to draw from its holster. “I’m told you wished to speak to me, mister...”
His smile widened, he leaned forward and removed an imaginary hat as he gave me a seated bow, when he spoke, his voice slid into my ears with the silken smoothness of poison. “Oh, where are my manners? Jimmy Kurosaki, Braindance Editor, at your service.”
I sat on the couch opposite him, and did not touch the drink in front of me at the table. “Redeye. What do you need from me?”
His eyes glinted as he took me in from head to toe. I felt the need to shower just from bearing his regard. “Truly? I wished merely to meet you. That Sandevistan in your back drove poor Lieutenant Colonel James Morris insane in a manner of weeks, yet you’ve had it for months and are seemingly just fine!”
A chill went down my spine as the Sandevistan thundered on, my hand clenching as it readied to claim the life of the threat before me.
I forced myself to remain seated, not to react any further than I already had. I unclenched my hand and steadied my breathing. I made certain I was in the same position as when the Sandevistan activated, and forcefully deactivated the cyber-ware.
“The late Lieutenant lived and breathed cyber-ware, and while your build looks robust, common knowledge dictates that you should not have been able to withstand that monster of an implant for longer than a few days, yet you handle it with the skill of a violinist in his prime! It truly is remarkable!” Jimmy continued. “When you continued to appear in my work, I could not help but recognize that rather iconic piece of equipment. I just had to meet the man behind the mask.”
“So, this isn’t a meet for a job?” I asked, forcing myself to sound calmer than I was.
His grin took on a dangerous edge. “Well, not one that you would want to do any time soon I’m certain.” He leaned forward and rested his chin on his hand. “No, you will be the star in time. I came to thank you for the impact you have inadvertently had in several episodes of my work!”
My right arm itched.
He leaned back and closed his eyes. “I still remember the first time like it was yesterday. It was with that cybered-up brute, Lance Corporal Maine, formerly of the NUSA Special Operations. The nail-biting back and forth between the two of you as he tried to kill your crew while you kept most of them safe by the skin of your teeth! The moment of triumph as he severed your right arm, the immediate reversal as your hacker finally cut through his defenses! The heartfelt apology as you stuck your gun in his mouth and ventilated his skull from the inside!” He noisily kissed his finger tips and gestured at the ceiling in a chef’s kiss. “Absolutely astounding cinema!”
My right arm didn’t hurt even though a part of my brain told me it should, I could feel the arterial spurts spilling out of where my arm used to be. Kiwi taking off her belt and tying it around the stump made my eyes white out with pain, but the arterial spilling ended. I wanted nothing more than to curl up and cry, but I pushed myself to my feet as I finally broke through Maine’s ICE and immobilized him. I should have done more, tried harder, now I would settle for ending the threat.
Oblivious to my discomfort, Jimmy continued. “Or more recently, miss Betany Anderson! The way you were a black blur, where you passed, the heads of her friends and family exploding! And the way you took her down and tortured her! Making demands she could not meet, knowing every secret she tried to keep from you and punishing her for her terrified lies! Giving her a long enough reprieve to feel hope that you might spare her, only to so callously end her life without even granting her the dignity of looking at her as you killed her!”
I felt myself wilt under Apex’s scrutiny. My daughter’s presence forcing me to see what I had been doing in a new light, forcing me to confront the fact that I had failed her, that the example I set was not good enough, that I had to, needed to be better. To be the father and example Apex deserved, not the monster the Animals tried to turn me into.
“Or even more recently! At the Ho-Oh (鳳凰) Club! Not only did you shut down an attempted competitor! But what you did to the Tyger Claws there! I could only assume that one of the joytoys was a personal friend! The brutality you showcased as you literally tore the Devil of Kabuki limb from limb! I must say, there was some poetic justice to his end, that braindance of mine has sold very well indeed, in particular with his former audience.”
Shobo Jotaro wept, begging for mercy as I slowly applied ever greater torque to his other testicle. He screamed as the scrotum tore, wailed as the testis was crushed into paste in my metal grip. I didn’t care, he needed to suffer more, he needed to scream, and wail, and cry. I wanted him to shit himself so I could rub his face in it and force him to eat it. Only a random bad feeling had spared Apex from seeing what this repulsive creature had done. The sick things I’d seen in his various ‘studios.’ I grabbed his Mr. Studd, upped the sensitivity of it to the maximum setting, then tore through his ICE and increased it further, beyond the point where it would permanently damage the pain and pleasure centers of the brain, and sank my metal claws into the meat of the cyber-ware organ. His scream was deafening.
But it wasn’t enough. I pulled.
Jimmy Kurosaki cleared his throat. “My apologies, I got a little overexcited, I must admit to having become something of a fan of your work. I finally understand how random passerby who recognize me feel! A mixture of elation and awe, quite the experience if I do say so myself!”
“How.” I rasped, worked my jaw to get some moisture back into my mouth, then tried again. “How do you know...those details?”
He blinked, then chuckled, his cheeks coloring. “Oh my, truly how gauche of me. You see, many pieces of cyber-ware scroll the death of their user, it’s a practice that began in the military, those braindances are then used to analyze the death, to learn from it. I take those scrolls and fine-tune them to elevate them into art!”
“And...and you’ve seen me in a lot of these XBDs you’ve put out?” I asked, my mind reeling.
“Yes! I dare say, by now, I’ve died at your hand several dozen times! And no two of them has been the same! I felt my work had reached something of a plateau, one production the same as the last, the same as the next. I must commend you, truly! Your artistry has inspired me! Reignited the flickering flame of my muse! It is for that reason that I wished to meet you. Because I wanted to offer my most sincere gratitude!”
“I...” I swallowed. “I see.”
“Well, I am certain you are a busy man. I thank you for your most valuable time.” He said, standing up and sweeping into a deep bow, once again flourishing an imaginary hat. “Have a wonderful day, mister Redeye. I look forward to tuning your own scroll. I assure you, I will revere it and apply the greatest care, it shall be a piece of art that will be appreciated the world over!”
He swept out, his cloak swishing behind him as he left.
I worked my jaw, I felt filthy, like some disgusting substance coated me from head to foot, and debated the merit of running out and putting the fucker permanently out of my misery.
But ultimately, decided not to.
If I killed him, someone worse would step into the vacuum he left behind. At least the ones this bastard profited from weren’t innocents.
I stood up, I wanted to leave, to take a thousand showers in the hope of feeling clean again, but didn’t know where to go. I couldn’t go to my mom and talk this through with her, there was too great a danger of calling attention to her if I approached her as Redeye in the middle of the Afterlife.
I didn’t want to go home, that way lay David.
I yearned to be with Lucy, and Apex, but I didn’t want to ruin their day together.
I’d love to hang out with Rebecca, but she was still angry at me since I ‘went on a Nova-As-Fuck rampage’ and didn’t invite her.
And Kiwi wasn’t the kind to hang out outside the Net, and I didn’t much feel like setting up an ice-bath so I could do a deep dive safely.
I growled and strode outside.
Vik was always down to chat, worse came to worst, I could work a few hours helping him in the clinic.
