I woke up instantly blinking and feeling just fine, I sat up nearly instantly and noticed I was covered in a scratchy blanket.

“Well looks like we got the time right.” Vik said noticing me wake up.

“You got everything done in time?”

“Yeah, no problem on my side. How do you feel kid?” Vik rolled over and started examining me.

“Fine. Actually… Hmm, I feel like my weight is off a bit.”

“Yeah well, that’s what happens when you change out most of your bones for Titanium.” I nodded, I looked at my limbs at my body only for there to be nothing there. No scars or anything but I knew there where Vik had cut into me to replace my boney bits.

It wasn’t a complete conversion of course, but last time I had only really updated my chest and back to better integrate my Condor.

But it had gone so well. With just what I had done, it was only one adaptation point, although I hadn’t put it in, but what if I finished what I started.

Legs, pelvis, ribs, toes and things like that too.

All titanium now.

I would be a lot harder to break from now on, and more importantly. I would have a stronger platform to place more chrome into.

“Well the wounds certainly healed up.” Vik grabbed my attention though as his face was serious. “I wouldn’t normally let someone walk out after a surgery like that. I want you to know the only reason I’m not holding you in an actual hospital bed for a week, is because of your healing. But really kid. Take it real easy for a little bit. This… This sort of thing is stressful on the body. Healing or not.”

“I’ll be super careful Vik, promise. We just finished a massive gig, so I’m mostly on tech duty right now anyways. It’s why I thought it was a good time to finish this.”

“Alright. Let’s do some tests. Wiggle your toes.”

I laughed at the sudden random question and did as ordered my toes moved without any issue. As I ran through the tests I checked my system to see what it had to say about it.

MoorE Titanium Bones *Adaptation Titanium Bones 0/2*

Well the Adaptation went up, but otherwise I was looking good.

“Well, everything looks good, your little secret nanomachines do good work. Still got nothing about where they came from.” Vik muttered, rubbing his face a bit. “Alright. Easy does it for a few days, and let me know if anything starts feeling weird.”

“Will do Vik. Thanks!” I chirped happily as I got up, and after getting dressed walked right out. Stretching as the evening air hit me, I decided to do as ordered and head home.

I still had a lot of stuff to build.

—--

I spent the entire night building new directional mics, then installing them into the housing I made for the other three helmets.

It was a lot of work, and despite making something I had already completed. I was improving a lot!

*100 Crafting XP Gained.*

*Crafting skill level up!*

*1 Perk Point Gained.*

Crafting 5! I had once again maxed out the skill, giving me a surge of new tricks up my sleeve. Which was good, because my next batch of work was all going to be design work. Hopefully I would get my Engineering level up from it.

Of course first, I had to select my perks! I ran through the list of options, with an eye to what I would want long term. Sure something like Salvager would give me more resources, but I made enough eddies now, that wasn’t really a concern.

No, the option I decided on was a much better idea for the current me.

Enduring builds. You can make it stronger. Tougher. You know the tricks of the trade to make your product rough and tumble.

Accepting the perk flooded me with all sorts of things that I could do to make sure my crafting didn’t fall apart. Ways to make my stuff stay working even if you beat the shit out of it first.

I shook it off, and refocused on what I was doing.

Helmets done. Most of the extra work would be on the chest rig. I would need to modify them a bit to shrink them down, but luckily they were designed for a one size fits all, so that wouldn’t be too hard. No it would be integrating an ECM system into them that would make them a pain in the ass.

Hiromi had done as I had asked, and reached out through her growing list of contacts and got specs for some ECM systems that weren’t just cyberware.

The Militech personal ECM unit was a neat little pre-unification war military surplus. Honestly it was probably about the same age as my arms.

Either way I had the scans for it, that Hiromi sent over, and she was in talks about getting enough for all of us.

I just had to figure out how to integrate it.

The biggest issue was how the ECM systems worked.

See there actually was a reason that the Tyger Claws integrated the ECM into tattoos. The ECM was a visual deterrent. The smart round would be scanning its target, hit the visual ECM and when scanning it, would either be infested with a virus, or simply get so much junk data the targeting would fail.

A literal memetic hazard.

So this version actually needed a visual component.

Unfortunately the main way to use it was a holographic light that the smart weapon would glitch out when scanning.

I didn’t really want a holographic light on my chest. That sort of defeated the whole stealth thing. So my first thought was to hide the light.

Could I set the ECM’s light to infrared? Or use a non visual light band?

Probably not. I realized that Kiroshi and other optics kind of took that option away. So I couldn’t just alter the light to be non visual, how else could I hide it?

I was spinning in my chair round and round as I considered it.

I would need some sort of hardware, or programming solution… As I spun the neon lights outside my window flowing into my optics over and over.

On and off. On and off.

On and off?

I continued spinning as I considered it. Sure, turning it on and off would solve part of the problem, but the system would have to be smart enough to turn itself on when smart rounds were targeting it…

I could program that.

A few extra sensors integrated into the armor, and you could easily have it turn itself on and off, and a simple switch to turn it on yourself as well…

Because I know my chooms were extra and would probably want to leave it on.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Okay that was doable. I had most of that… I would need an actual ECM unit to do the programming to turn it on and off though. So for now, hardware. How to integrate it.

I pulled up the CAD and went to work. The easiest place to integrate the ECM system was just on the back of course, it wasn’t very large, and I could easily just place it in the armor. Powering it would just be an extra battery system. Easy peasy, and then the lights.

I would need to integrate holo emitters into the armor.

Those weren’t super cheap, and it made me realize why Arasaka didn’t have them integrated as standard.

But for the safety of myself and my chooms, a few eddies were fine.

Placing a few emitters around, I could even have my chooms make their own holo images if they wanted something unique.

I would figure out my own once I had it all put together.

Either way. The CAD process was going well, earning a few alerts in engineering and even another Technical Ability alert just through figuring out all of these different systems.

I pushed away from the desk. That was the chest rig done, apart from the programming, but that would need time.

I walked out to the living room to see Jun was gone. I sighed as I instead flopped onto the couch and reached for my guitar.

—--

The call that came in as I was lazily strumming a few chords to Chippin ‘In surprised me. Especially since the caller ID was someone that should not have my number.

*Ringing.*

*Ringing.*

I considered just not answering, but that was probably a bad idea.

I answered.

“This is Motoko.”

“Good. Come by the Afterlife. We should talk.” Then the call hung up.

Okay seriously old ladies hanging up on me must be some weird generational thing, because now I had Rogue of all people doing it.

I tapped a finger on my guitar as I considered what the hell was going on.

The Arasaka gig? Something about it must have caught Rogues attention. Did she know about the listening post? Was she working with Militech to get info? I sighed as I rose up and got dressed, holstered and armed I left the apartment.

Headed to the Afterlife. It wasn’t a long trip, it never was in Night City.

—--

Sauntering down the steps to the club, I moved past the flunkies that hung around that couldn’t actually get in. The sort that would hang around and wait for the rich mercs would leave to flirt with them.

No one paid any attention to me. Despite having been inside a few times, I wasn’t known. The door guard saw me coming and moved to stand in front of me, but to my surprise he visibly stepped aside as I walked past, giving me a nod. He was actually moving to stop someone behind me who had been walking down after.

They were stopped and soon thrown out from the sounds I was hearing.

The music soon muffled that as I entered Rogues domain.

It was just like how it was the last few times I entered, teams of mercs discussing gigs or hanging around and this time I walked over to Rogues little area.

Her huscle Crispin Weyland was there as always, the big guy acting as her bodyguard, and he did stop me, a single raised hand, which I stopped at.

We both could hear Rogue on a call, and I realized I was to wait.

Nodding to the man which he returned, I moved across the way and rested against the wall. My vision instantly shifted to my programming. I was fiddling with some of my work on the ECM system when I got the signal to speak to Rogue.

Walking into her little area she waved me at a seat.

“Motoko Kusanagi. When you first walked in here with Panam, I didn’t expect to ever have this conversation. At least not while you are still just a kid.” Rogue started, but I didn’t speak, because the way she was looking at me?

She was assessing me.

“But kids don’t go out into the badlands and massacre A growing Wraith Clan like they were a bunch of Yo-gangers on their first street beat.” She flipped a shard at me, sending it rolling across the table, and I picked it up without any issue casually slotting it.

Pictures. Very familiar pictures of a certain electrical substation, or at least the crowd of tends and dead bodies that surrounded it.

There were a few dozen images, a few of them noting a few of the corpses if they were important, or well known.

“I hope Dakota made some good eddies for this.” I told Rogue, instantly knowing who it was that sent this information to her. Rogue just smirked and continued on like I hadn’t spoken.

“I looked into your gig. Arasaka, hunting the thieves. The loot you pulled out. Dakota confirmed it was just the four of you pulling all of this off. That’s a clean operation. Swift, concise, and professional. You’re wasted as some street thug.”

Was that a compliment? I could tell Rogue noticed my confusion because she was smirking a bit. “Don’t let it go to your head kid, but I can recognize an operation that was professionally done. You’ve been in the bar before, but now you are here because of your own merits. I’m formally welcoming you to the Afterlife.”

I blinked in surprise. On the list of things I expected today, this wasn’t even on the list.

“Oh. Cool.” I muttered thinking it over. This was… Well it was a positive. The Afterlife was a massive hub of some of the best runners in the city. I could definitely get some contacts for preem equipment here.

The negatives? Reputation spreads. If I’m seen walking in and out of the Afterlife, people will start wondering why. Otherwise there wasn’t much.

I didn’t have to do gigs for Rogue, or anything. It was just an invitation.

“Not the most emotional response I’ve ever gotten.” Rogue said casually as she took a drink.

“I’m just surprised and processing. My chooms, my team I mean, can they get in too?”

“As long as you vouch for them, you can bring them in. But keep in mind what is expected of everyone here. Quality.”

“Got it. Right… Preem. You think my gig was that good?”

“It’s not the sort of thing a kid off the street can do.” She said, and I caught the hidden context.

This wasn’t just an attempt to bring me into the fold for my performance. It was also an attempt to keep an eye on me.

“Alright kid. Enough playing around. Go on, enjoy the Afterlife. I don’t have any work for you right now.”

“Alright. Thanks Rogue. I look forward to working with you.” I said, the first thing that came to my mind as I rose out of the seat and headed into the bar proper.

Huh. “Major Leagues, Huh Jack?” I whispered to myself before frowning. Jackie wouldn’t take this well, but… It might just give me a chance to pull Jackie into the Major Leagues and fulfill his dream.

But for now. I wandered around the place. I hadn’t really explored the Afterlife the last times I had been here, but if I was officially in, officially welcome, then no one could say anything about me walking around.

Mercs. Lots of high end mercs. Most of them carrying enough chrome to fight off a small army.

I’m glad I had just chipped in more, because I was going to need some upgrades to keep up if this is my peers.

No, I shook my head. I should chip in when, and what I wanted, not to keep up with some gonks that I had no reason to keep up with.

In the end I circled the whole club before coming back to the bar, and then I caught sight of a familiar group.

I was planning on just walking out, but well…

I turned and headed over to the section that had Maines crew hanging out around a table.

“Hey. How goes?” I greeted as I walked over, although I didn’t sit down, just hanging out at the edge of their table so I could leave if I was intruding.

“Heeey! Motoko, you’re here? I didn’t get a call from Emmy to let you in.” Sasha greeted her face instantly morphing into a cat like smirk at the sight of me.

“Ah, well I just got finished with a big gig in the badlands, and Rogue invited me to the Afterlife. So I got my own access now I guess.” I explained, and the noise I earned in return surprised me.

Maine, Dorio, Sasha, Pilar, and Rebecca were all here, all looking like they were waiting on something, probably a client?

But the noise the small group made was pretty loud.

Okay mostly it was Rebecca.

“Eeeeeh!? The hell!? You!? Rogue. The Queen Bitch of the Afterlife gave you an invite?” Rebecca had stood up and was palms on the table, standing on the seat, and I was still pretty much on height with her.

Rebecca smole. It was literally all my brain could process.

“That’s impressive.” Maine offered in that rumble of his as he jerked his head sliding his glasses down just a tad on his nose to look me over. “You impressed Rogue?”

“Wow! Toko! That’s nova! Come sit! Tell us everything you can about your gig yeah?” Sasha offered, but I was mostly keeping an eye on Becca who looked like an angry honey badger ready to tear my throat out.

“Seriously!? I haven’t gotten my own invite yet!” Rebecca growled but it was Maine that reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder… Well more all around her shoulder considering the size difference.

“You’ll get there Becca.” He calmed her, his voice rumbling, but a moment later he turned to me. “If you can or want to, wouldn’t mind hearing how you got in.”

“Ah well…” I shrugged, nothing about our gig was that sensitive other than the listening post which I obviously wasn’t going to mention. I slid in next to Sasha who had made room for me and was urging me on as I shrugged and started explaining.

“So we got this gig from an Arasaka manager. An AV was downed in the badlands and he wanted some of the supplies inside recovered. We were told we could have whatever we found as long as we brought back what he wanted.”

“Damn. A direct gig from an Arasaka corp? I don’t know if I would have taken that.” Sasha offered and that is when I had to blush a little.

“Well… The manager is actually my chooms father, she’s part of my crew so sort of got the gig straight, and we could be fairly confident it was safe.”

There was a round of surprised expressions on the faces of Maines crew, but it was Rebecca that broke first.

“Pfft! That’s so fitting! So that’s how you got into the Afterlife? A baby gig handed out by the corpo father of your choom?” Rebecca scoffed downing a hit of her Ni-Cola without really looking at me.

“Becca.” Dorio started but I waved her off.

“Honestly it was a really tough gig. We had to track down who did the attack. We hit a normal Rafffen camp first and managed to figure it out from some information on a computer there, and then we hit their main camp, this group was fifty plus strong. I snuck in flatlined their leaders, then dropped some hacks on their camp and shot them up. We got most of them.”

My explanation earned a nodded head from Maine, but Rebecca was still seemingly irritating, and I just shrugged it off. I guess I’d be annoyed if a kid got into the afterlife when I didn’t have access.

“Taking on a Raffen camp isn’t a joke. I see why Rogue let you in.” Maine replied earning another scoff from Rebecca, but he ignored her. “To the newest merc in the Afterlife.” He said raising his glass and his team, even Rebecca did the same which had me blushing a bit.

“It’s not that big a deal… Anyway we found the supplies and managed to loot practically an entire Arasaka AV worth of equipment. So I’ve mostly been setting up equipment for the last few days.” I offered trying to change the topic.

“Yeah? You tinker and program?” Sasha asked with a laugh, “You sure spread yourself around don’t you?”

“They are pretty closely connected. I’ve had to do programming for some gadgets I’ve made. I just want my team to be ready in case something bad happens.”

“Heh. A good Techie is worth their weight in gold. Too bad all we have is Pilar.” Dorio offered, the last bit teasing, and dragging the techie into the conversation.

“Fuck off!” He offered both middle fingers to Dorio. “I’d like to see you gonks do half the work I do!” He snapped, but everyone was just laughing, and soon enough he was smirking too.

I guess despite everything, Maines crew got along well.

It was cute.

“So you tinker with stuff too? What have you been working on?” Sasha prompted me, even as Dorio and Pilar got into an arm wrestling match that was obvious to everyone who was going to win.

“Oh I picked up these sets of Arasaka troop rigging. The armor is good, but its… Cheap isn’t the right word, but they keep things pretty cheap. I updated the helmet with a direction mic, so we can listen in on conversations, and I’m updating the chest rigging with an ECM system. So we’ll have some protection against smart weapons.”

“Wait, what?” Rebecca asked suddenly, having been focusing on Pilar’s suffering at being thrown around by Dorio.

“I’m adding an ECM system into my chest rigging, for me and my chooms.”

“What system? Please don’t tell me, it’s some Tyger Claw thing.”

“No. Militech, the Light Aegis. Three-seven.” I said, recalling the name from memory.

“Huh.” Rebecca suddenly was focused on me. “You got the deets on that?”

“Yeah.” I shrugged and flashed a shard with what I had for the ECM system and the chest armor so far and handed it over. After a few moments she nodded.

“Three-seven is solid, I like your integration. Customizing the emitters is preem. You could use a KangTao Battery bank. The new ones they’ve been putting out? It’s flexible, used in armor and stuff you could probably attach it to the bottom of the chest rig. Probably won’t hurt as much if you fall on it.” She offered and I was instantly there, hands grabbing her own.

“That’s so smart! I’ve been working on some other stuff too! We should talk shop!”

“Ah?” Rebecca squirmed as I practically bounced in my chair.

Becca was tech talking with me! So preem!

“Uh, sure I guess.”

I gave her a big smile.