True to their word, the Moxes escorted Belladonna to a place called Lizzie's Bar. Lizzie's Bar was a two-story building wrapped in colorful lighting. A sign of a dancing skull-faced dancer propelled a leg up and down through some technological means Belladonna couldn't identify. Once inside, Victoria and her crew took her to their leader, a woman named Susie Q. Susie Q sat behind a desk as the motley crew walked in. Victoria relayed their encounter with the Maelstromers and Belladonna's rescue in hushed whispers before Susie Q turned her attention to the elven mage herself.
"Aight kid," Susie Q said, "What's your story?"
Belladonna performed a slight bow to the Mox leader. "My name is Belladonna D'Gardenia and I thank you for the rescue by your Moxes, ma'am."
Susie Q made a cutting motion at her throat. "One, you're welcome, but none of this "ma'am" shit around me, I ain't that formal. And two, the fuck you doing struttin' around Maelstrom goons with fancy cyberware anyway? Gotta death wish or something?"
While taken aback by the Mox leader's bluntness, Belladonna recovered quickly. She took time to explain her life as a [Spellcaster], the final conflict with the Demon King, and her transition to this world and a shipping container. Several of the assembled Moxes looked on in bewilderment at her tale, but Susie Q listened intently.
When she finished, Susie Q stared at Belladonna and said simply, "Okay then, welcome to the Mox."
Both Belladonna and the other Moxes reacted with similar confusion.
"You really buying she's an elf from another world?" one Mox asked.
"You blow a circ, Q" asked another.
Susie Q simply held up a hand to ask for quiet. "Ya'll, I once serviced a john who augmented his dick to be a semi-auto in a pinch. Night City ain't short on weird stuff. Chick says she's an elf who can cast magic spells and shit? She can believe whatever she wants, but I'd be stupid to not take advantage of the chrome she's got under her hood."
Now it was time for Belladonna to chime in. "But I never agreed to join your gang."
"Listen, girlie, you are a little fish swimming in a pool of sharks. The Moxes might be small-time, but we got a reputation that makes few of the other goons roaming Night City fuck with us. Seeing as how my girls just saved your ass, you should be grateful."
Victoria said, "If she's going to be with us, my crew can take her under our wing."
"Sounds fine to me," Susie Q agreed, "Here, take these eddies and get her squared up with a room and some new duds."
The eyes of both Susie Q and Victoria flashed blue for a brief moment before the latter motioned for Belladonna to follow her. As the two left the Mox leader's office, one of her underlings asked, "Since when do you take charity cases, Sus?"
Susie Q sighed and rubbed the polished metal that made up most of her forehead region. "Make no mistake, this ain't charity. I said what I said because it's true, she has the potential to be useful and she needs help. I hate to admit it, but I think after all these years Judy's bleeding heart for strays rubbed off on me."
"Judy?" the Mox asked.
"A person from before your time, kid," Susie Q said, "Used to edit BDs for us, but couldn't stand the sight of anyone in trouble so she frequently overstepped her position to bring in folks off the street with nowhere to go. Left for Washington ten years back and I haven't seen her since."
The Mox decided to leave it at that with a nod and left the office. Susie Q opened a window to see night rapidly consuming the city and the crowds teeming to her establishment. By chance, she saw the elf girl and Victoria enter the new apartment complex set up for Mox members across from the bar.
"This one's for you, Jude," Susie Q said with a chuckle, "Miss ya, girl."
---
Several hours later, Belladonna was finally settled into her new home for the time being. The apartment was small and sparse with furniture, but it would do.
Stayed in plenty of inns worse than this and ended up fine, she thought.
Victoria had provided her with a small object called a shard that could be slotted into a spot in her head. Belladonna was told it was a combat training shard to help her learn how to fight without the need for her "magic or whatever it is you used on that Maelstrom goon."
Belladonna quickly learned the basic principles of "firearms", or guns. It was fundamentally similar to using a wand, but instead of spells being cast the gun would launch projectiles at high speeds at targets. She handled several varieties from small handguns to larger shotguns that launched a spread of pellets for wider coverage. Admittedly, she missed the overwhelming majority of shots she fired, but Victoria assured her that with practice she'd be a pro in no time. Her life would depend on it.
After another quick bout of training, Victoria offered Belladonna a bottled beverage and the two sat at the table located in the room's center. To Belladonna's satisfaction, it was alcohol. After the day she had, Belladonna was grateful for it.
"So was that story you told Susie Q true?" Victoria asked sipping her drink.
"It was," Belladonna responded, a hint of frustration creeping into her voice.
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"Meant no offense, B. Just not every day someone strolls on out of a fantasy BD and into real life, you know?"
"I know, I just have a feeling that's going to be something I have to deal with from now on."
"Well, in our line of work, you don't really have to worry about chit-chat."
Belladonna wrestled with a question of her own, thinking on the most tactful way to ask before deciding to settle on being straight and to the point. "Are the Mox a gang of prostitutes?"
Rather than reacting with what she thought would be anger, Belladonna was surprised to see Victoria give a nod. "Some of us are or were sex workers, but a lot of us were just tired of being pushed around by the scum of this city. The Mox gang gives us an opportunity to feel empowered. That a problem?"
Shaking her head, Belladonna responded, "No. I met plenty of prostitutes in my adventures. They were a mainstay of any big town or city."
"Ever partake?"
Blushing, Belladonna said, "No, no, but I know plenty of folks who did. I'll admit I looked down on their line of work at first, elven culture is fairly conservative and not exactly very intimate so I carried that with me for a long time."
"What changed?"
"The war against the undead. As the forces of the living campaigned there were always followers trailing behind the camps of the warriors. Cooks, traders, and prostitutes were the most common. Yet when the camps were inevitably attacked by the enemy I saw many prostitutes stand and fight back or provide [Healing] services to the wounded."
"Really?"
"Indeed. After fights ended I'd be helping with first aid and got to know many on a personal basis."
"See any exploitation?"
"Sadly, yes. Town guards certainly prioritized certain murders and disappearances over others. War orphans also tended to be easy prey to the more underworld sex rings.
"Sounds like deja vu to me."
They remained in each other's company for a few more bottles until Victoria decided it was time for her to head home. She said she'd swing by and pick up Belladonna in the morning and brief her on her first job as a Mox. Belladonna was due for a crash course. Unable to sleep, however, caused Belladonna to get out of bed and climb the stairs to the apartment's rooftop. She gazed out at Night City, its numerous tall buildings illuminated in brilliant lights while three beams of light carrying images penetrated the sky into the clouds above.
[Night City hasn't changed much ten years later, I guess.]
Belladonna turned to see the form of Johnny Silverhand sitting on the edge of the roof behind her.
"Johnny, is that you?" Belladonna asked.
[Yup, not quite in the flesh, but live and in person.]
"Have you been able to just appear this whole time?"
[Yeah. Rang you up on the phone to get you used to that, but I prefer this manner of contact best.]
Silverhand took out a cigarette from his pocket and took a long drag. While the smoke wasn't real, Belladonna couldn't help but instinctively swipe at the air to disperse it. Her ally Chaucer had a bad habit of smoking a large pipe that billowed a nauseating amount of smoke that annoyed her great.
Chaucer. Cain. Bonderous. Her party member's faces flashed before her then cut to their last moments of life at the hand of the Demon King.
Belladonna quickly turned away from Silverhand all the while trying to force back tears.
[Can't hide the pain from me, kid. We're linked, what you feel I feel. Believe me, I know how it feels to lose people you care about.]
"I just don't understand the point of all this," Belladonna said motioning all around in no particular direction. "Why am I here and my friends dead? Why couldn't I just die alongside them? Why am I in this hellhole of a city and world?"
[You're barking up the wrong tree. You don't think I'm just as lost? The same higher power that fucked with your life fucked mine too.]
The two sat in silence for a long while, Belladonna twiddling her thumbs while Silverhand chain-smoked. Finally, Belladonna suggested, "Maybe I'm here to save Night City?"
[HA! Good luck. Better folks than you have tried and all they have to show for it are a nice memorial at the Columbarium or a drink named after them at the Afterlife. Hell, I cast a big "fireball" myself at the tower of a megacorp that did me wrong and got fuck all out of it.]
"You know, if you're supposed to be a guide, you're really bad at it," Belladonna huffed.
[Just don't feel like entertaining any Chosen One, bullshit. Some Maelstrom gonks nearly flatlined 'ya today, so what good of a messiah could you be?]
"I'm going to bed, bother me in the morning if you must," Belladonna said marching towards the stairs back into the complex. Before she could cross the threshold, Silverhand materialized in front of her.
[Wait.]
She crossed her arms and said nothing. Silverhand paced a bit before clearing his throat.
[Okay, so you had a bad first day, but I think Susie Q is onto something. Still don't think you can save Night City, it's like trying to detox a junkie who ain't having any of it. But maybe you can settle for making things a bit better.]
"Is that your big motivational speech?"
[Listen, try and clear your mind and focus. Folks with cyberware can usually monitor their bios and other systems with a menu they can basically pull up from their noggin. Try and see what you can do.]
Belladonna did as instructed and was indeed able to pull up a semi-transparent rectangle that stated:
BODY REFLEXES TECHNICAL ABILITY INTELLIGENCE COOL MAGIC
She saw the tile marked "magic" and once more focused with an emphasis on accessing it. A new transparency opened up and she was shocked to see it contained every single [Spell], [Buff], [Debuff], [Summon], and other magical abilities she learned in her life. She could also see a bar titled [Mana], it's numerical value reading 0/30 MP.
She scrolled to [Fireball] and saw the number 10 followed by MP. She did the same with [Holy Light] and saw it read 20 MP. Her early years of training came flooding back as she remembered the limits to casting for novice mages. Every living caster had limits to their [Mana] and once exhausted would have to wait 24 hours before being able to cast again. As she got stronger this limit gradually fell away and even the most draining of spells could be cast in quick succession. She only occasionally had to swig a [Mana Potion] in a pinch in dire circumstances.
It looks like she was now back to square one. Everything she knew was before her eyes, but now she could see the costs involved.
[Well?]
Johnny's question brought her back to the present. "I guess I have all the knowledge to use whatever I knew back in my world, but I don't have the [Mana] to really do much."
[So you'll have to be careful, but if you could do it before you can work your way back. Get some chrome in you and increase your magic and Night City will be your bitch in no time.]
"I'm happy to see I still have some magic, but I thought you got rid of it all back when we first met?"
[The higher power that recruited me only said something had to go so you could get chipped before coming to my world. Guess I only reset you back to level one so to speak and that was good enough.]
"Now what?"
[Now? Now, we got a city to burn.]