*750 XP Gained.*

I nodded as I turned away from the corpse. I slipped into the Quadra Type-66. The “Reaver” Variant. It was a design that altered practically everything to make it a vehicle that can survive in the desert.

But then again. It was still basically a muscle car. It looked… well the base model was awesome, but this one looked a little worn.

I shrugged still a car. Still cool.

I quickly took control and reversed it back towards the gas station that had the underground basement. What kind of gas station had a basement? I had been looking for twenty minutes for Scorpion, only to find out there was a basement when the gonk I just flatlined had come up probably looking for a snack or something. I was lucky I had been able to jump behind a cabinet as my danger sense alerted me to him coming up.

Then of course he had subdermal armor which made my Unity nothing but a pea shooter against him.

Ugh. I was really getting tired of dealing with people in armor.

My wrist hurt. It wasn't broken, not this time at least. I could actually fire the Burya without breaking my arm thanks to Recoil Reduction giving me some serious tips on saving my bones. But it still hurt!

I shook my irritation away. Pulling up to the building I jumped out and rushed downstairs. My limp was starting up again now that I wasn’t in combat and the adrenaline and Coolness flowed away.

I was going home, taking a shower, and taking a nap. Right after I rescued Scorpion. I walked down the steps into the little basement section I hadn’t known existed.

I winced as I saw him. Scorpion looked bad. Hanging from the ceiling by his wrists, and it looked like they had worked him over bad. His face was a mess.

“Fuck Scorpion. They really took you apart.” I told him as I approached looking for the controls to drop him down.

“Whazt?” He jerked awake a bit looking up through only one eye that wasn’t swollen shut and I saw as he realized who was there, could see the shock in his eyes.

“Mot’ko?”

“Nice to see you survived as well Choom. C’mon let’s get you out of here. I don’t suppose you know where the Aldecaldos are camped? You are gonna need some medical attention.” I told him as I finally found the release for the chains and grunted as I did my best to slowly lower him but it wasn’t easy. He weighed a lot more than I did.

Finally he was on the ground and he was looking at me like he had seen a ghost. “C’mon now Scorpion no time for naps. Here huff this.” I pushed a Maxdoc I had found in the camp into his mouth and after that at least he seemed more alert even if it was obvious I was now on a time limit. He was bleeding bad. “Let’s get you moving.” I told him as I did my best to heft an arm over my shoulder.

Only to wince as he brushed against the gun shot wound.

Yep, that was still there.

“You g’ shot.”

“Just a flesh wound.” I assured him as I hauled him up and started dragging his weakly working legs.

It was a struggle up the stairs but I got him in the passenger seat and settled in myself.

“Now Scorpion, where do I take you?”

A few moments later his eyes shifted yellow, and I got a text.

Coordinates I could use in my GPS.

Cool.

And with a nice purr that I could get used to my new car rumbled to life and I hit the gas.

Seriously, Scorpion needed a doctor. He looked like shit.

—-

He passed out on me during the drive even as he moaned in his sleep at the rough terrain.

Nothing I could do about that. The roads out here were more suggestions than anything.

Still having a GPS meant I could zone out and focus on everything that had happened.

I had killed a lot of wraiths in that camp.

Eight men had died without any alarm being sent. Eight men that I had murdered as quickly and completely as I could. My knife had seen a lot of work, but so had anything I could get my hands on.

I was kinda proud, in a horrible way, of the screwdriver kill. That had been a tricky set of movements that I only barely managed to get through without anyone screaming.

I looked through the stack of alerts and sighed.

*Street Brawler skill level up!*

*1 Perk Point Gained.*

I guess the improvised weapon counted as brawling, and now I was at Street Brawling 5.

*Reflex Leveled up!*

This must have happened early, because now that Reflex was at 5, my Reflex skills got room to advance.

*Blades skill level up!*

*1 Perk Point Gained.*

Blades had maxed out at 5 as well. I guess it made sense considering how many throats I had slit.

But killing had repercussions.

I had gained 4750XP for killing everyone in the compound.

*Level up achieved!*

*One Stat Point Gained.*

*One Skill Point Gained.*

And now I was level 5. I shivered a bit as I thought about what that meant, but also how awesome it felt. Gamer brain loved leveling.

Motoko loved leveling too.

I sighed.

I liked Murder.

It was fun. Challenging. Thrilling. I pushed away the stat menu to focus on the road.

Fine. I liked Murder. I liked killing.

But I liked killing bad people. That was the part that I could accept. I wasn’t killing innocent people, and I wouldn’t. I killed the worst sorts. The ones that prey on others.

Just because I enjoyed it… Doesn’t make me a bad person.

It didn’t.

—--

Pulling up to the Aldecaldos camp in a Raffen Shiv Wraith marked car might have been a bit… Well I could have done it better. I had just been in a rush.

But now I had an army of angry nomads all pointing rifles at my car as it came to a stop inside their camp.

Probably should have stopped outside.

But then again Scorpion looked really bad.

I turned off the engine letting the Nomads hear it die out as I popped open the door and slowly revealed my glove clad hands. Showing I didn’t have a weapon in them.

Not that it mattered. Quickdraw could handle that easily enough.

“Scorpion is in the passenger seat! He needs some medical attention.” I called out once I was out of the car and the nomads could see me.

It took a moment but someone came up behind me putting a gun against my back as they peeked into the car.

“Fuck! Get that door open! Scorpion needs help.” A gravely voice called out behind me and I just waited as a few Nomads rushed up and opened the door and quickly started hauling their family member out of the car.

“You gave us all a scare… girl.” The voice behind me said although not unkindely.

“Yeah sorry. Was in a bit of a rush. Scorpion passed out on the way over and it worried me.” I could feel the gun removed from my back then and most of the nomads lowered their weapons as well, although a few kept their guns aimed.

I turned around to see a cowboy.

Look he had an Overture and a cowboy hat. He was a cowboy.

“Motoko Kusanagi. Merc.” I introduced myself as I slowly lowered my arms.

“Cassidy Nomad. Thanks for bringing Scorpion in, what happened?” He asked in a drawl that I couldn’t help but pay attention too, he had a nice voice.

I sighed. “Long story. I’m a merc that Scorpion, well I’ll let him tell that part. We got noticed by some Raffen, and chased down. They caused us to crash, and well. I couldn’t kill all of them before they put a bullet in me.” I gestured to my shoulder which had the bandage bleed through a bit with all the work I had been doing.

“Need a Ripper, least we could do for bringing back our boy.” He asked but was already sort of trying to guide me over.

Guess looking like a kid did have some advantages.

“No. No thank you. I’ll head back to the city. I have my own doc I trust.” I countered instantly. I didn't want to get into that rabbit hole. It would just be easier to heal after a nap. “Anyway they left me for dead and took Scorpion. I bet you would have heard from them sometime soon asking for a ransom.”

“Yep, likely.” He said simply although I could see he wanted to argue with me still, but I continued my story.

“Anyway I tracked them down, took them out, and pulled Scorpion out. He gave me the coords for your camp. Here we are.” I answered of course instantly glossing over everything that I had done. Which Cassidy obviously noted.

“Well thank you for pulling Scorpion out of a bad situation. We won’t forget it.” He said with a tip of his hat and I shrugged.

“I was hired and contracted to be his security. It was my failure that left him captured in the first place.” I waved off any appreciation for what I had done.

Fuckers deserved it. I noticed, but didn’t pay any attention to the mans raised eyebrow.

“Oh here.” I looked to him and felt my eyes go gold as I sent him a text. “That’s the camp I cleared. Might be useful to grab some stuff yourself. I know there were more vehicles parked in their garage, and I didn’t get a chance to loot much once I noticed that Scorpion was in bad shape.” I offered after the message went through.

“Mighty kind of ya.” Cassidy agreed, looking me over again. “You sure you don’t want to see our doc? We don’t have the best gear, but he is competent. It’s a long drive back to the city…”

“Nah. Other than the fleshwound I’m fine.” I told him, gesturing at the bloody hole in my shoulder. I could see that there were plenty of nomads listening in as we talked, and since I had passed on everything I felt like sharing I gave him a final nod.

“Well that’s my job done. I’m outta here.” I told Cassidy as I moved to slide back into my ride. Cassidy moved to stop me but didn’t quite finish the action.

“You’re an odd one, since you ain’t accepting any help, drive safely. The Aldacaldos will remember what you did for them today.” He offered as he bent down to talk to me as I belted myself into the drivers seat.

“Thanks Cassidy, but I just did a job. Nothing more.” I answered as my new car came alive in a rumble, Cassidy pulled back and gave me room as I pulled out of the Nomad camp.

Too bad I hadn’t seen Panam, she was cool.

And I hadn’t managed to loot the Raffen camp. I sighed, saving Scorpion was more important. And I was at least an hour away from the camp now. Might as well just drive home. Recover. Besides, I revved the engine a bit as I put my foot down.

I got a nice bit of loot.

—--

I drove fast on my way home. The long roads let me absolutely gun my new car.

Which is how I learned I got more Driver experience driving fast. Which was cool.

Half way back to the city I got a Driving level up. Putting me at Driver 3. Which was pretty helpful, because future cars were not the same thing as cars I am used to. At all. At least it was fast. I sailed over the dunes and into the city without any trouble as I pulled into the daily grind in the city.

I got some looks as I drove through the streets. The side of the car was painted with “Wraiths” after all. But as long as I wasn’t pulled over I didn’t care.

I had sand in places I didn’t want to have sand. Shower first.

I pulled into the parking garage near our home and paid out a bit for a permit to actually park there.

I took a moment once the car was off to just sigh and breath.

I was home. Not dead. Job done.

I rose and headed into the apartment stopping to grab a snack from mystery meat stick guy as I headed inside. I knew I was getting looks. Sure I had washed my face in the wayhouse. But I still had blood caked to the side of my head, and I looked like I got in a fight with a dust devil.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

And lost.

Everything was going to need to be washed after this.

That and repaired. My poor Netrunner Leotard was getting a little rough.

I felt that small surge of hope as I entered the apartment looking around for Jun, only to find out once again he wasn’t here.

I sighed and walked into the bathroom. The first blast of water came off red and brown, and it took a minute before it started showing at least mostly clear.

I checked out the bullet hole that went through my shoulder and winced.

Yeah that was bad.

I was really glad I could recover with a nap. Otherwise I probably would have died. I can just imagine how much dust and grit got in the wound over the hours trip through the dust storm.

I shook it away. Nap first. Deal with my situation after.

—--

I woke up hungry.

Made sense. I barely ate the day before and I had gone through some shit. I stretched as I slipped out of bed and groaned pleasantly when nothing ached. My leg was fine. My shoulder was spotless.

I grabbed some clothes wincing at how dusty my jacket was.

I decided to leave that on the floor until I could give it a deeper clean. Instead I was wearing some older clothes as I slipped out of the apartment.

I wanted Ramen.

I walked over to Cherry Blossom market. Down the stairs and slipped into a chair at the counter ordering what sounded best as I settled in for lunch.

Figuring I might as well, I sent a text to Scorpion.

*Hope you're still alive. I did see the trailer with your bike at the Wraith Compound. So if your people went, and picked the area clean you should at least have your Preem ride.*

I was just stuffing some noodles into my mouth when I got a return text.

*Scorpion: Still alive. Bike was secured. Bit of an awkward explanation about everything. Heard from Cassidy you left before you got patched up. You already get looked at?*

*I’m preem. Gonna spend a bit of time taking it easy. Eating Ramen right now. After I think I’ll go home, put my feet up and enjoy… The AC.*

*Scorpion: You just had to say it! Joking aside, glad you’re okay. Thank you. Really. Not a lot of people, mercs or not would have come back to pull my ass out of that. I’ve seen the pictures of the Wraith camp. Wakako undersold you. If you ever need backup. Call me. I owe you.*

*Just doin my job.*

*Scorpion: I’m alive. Not many Aldecaldos get to say that after getting captured by the Raffen. So again. Thanks. I’ll message Wakako that the Gig is over. Also Saul, wants to thank you. I passed him your number, so you might hear from him soon. Take it easy Motoko.*

*Anytime.* I left my last message back short as I slurped the last of my Ramen. Dropped a little tip to the chef which earned me a bow as I headed back out. As much as I wanted to go do some more netrunning grinding, there was something I really couldn’t put off anymore.

“Excuse me. Do you know where I could pick up some clothes patches and tools… And maybe some advice for fixing bullet holes?” I asked one of the ladies selling self adjusted clothes in the Market. Earning an odd look before I explained I was a merc.

After that I got some brief explanations, and after a small loss of eddies I had everything I needed to do it myself. The lady even sat me down and started me on how to do it on some scrap cloth she had. I definitely overpaid for the equipment she gave me, but the instruction sped things up. It was definitely worth it when after a few minutes I got an alert.

*100 Crafting XP Gained.*

I couldn’t help but laugh, forcing myself to wave away the lady who had been helping me learn. I was in a Cyberpunk world, but I was gonna get my first level because of sewing?

Hilarious.

I smiled as my attention refocused. Let’s see what I could do once I get to Crafting 1.

I didn’t quite make it. Practicing with old cloth and making stitches meant I wasn’t getting alerts super fast. But the lady kept helping me out until she decided it was late and time to close up.

I was only one more alert away!

I sighed, thanked her and took my new tools back home.

I had plenty of old clothes to mess with after all.

—--

Wakako Okada

Wakako had been a fixer in Night city for decades. She had seen it all. She had seen the fall of Arasaka tower. Had been alive before the Data Krash.

So when she sent out a young girl with a bit of potential out on a gig it was mostly because Wakako needed someone rookie enough to handle a bodyguard job for low pay.

Edgerunners didn’t take bodyguard gigs for low pay. Bodyguard was one of the hardest jobs to do. Especially when your client was running straight towards danger.

Wakako hadn’t lied when she said Motoko was her suggestion to take along. She just hadn’t informed the man she was his only option. A rookie like her could do well on a job like this, long travel times low pay, high risk. It was the perfect chance to teach the girl not to jump on every gig offered, and learn when to say no.

Wakako wouldn’t ever feel a connection with the girl. Wakako and Natasha’s… Friction made that impossible.

But Wakako was old. She wouldn’t hold her mother against the girl.

But this was out of her expectations. First came a text from Scorpion long after she should have gotten an update on the gig.

*Gig is finished. Here is the final pay. Wakako. Thank you. Motoko saved my life out there, and I know if you had sent me anyone else they wouldn’t have bothered coming to my rescue. Make sure your girl is taken care of. Not many people would have walked into a Raffen Shiv camp alone to save someone.*

Wakako was a woman that knew things. It was half the job of a Fixer. A good one anyways.

So this created questions needing answers.

*Explanation is requested. Motoko hasn’t contacted me yet.*

It took a while and this time Wakako was tapping her fingernails along her desk. She was not used to being kept waiting, and even less used to waiting for something that actually sparked her interest.

Then a bigger message came through. Full of images, but not just images. It looks like the Aldecaldos had looted the place to the bedrock, but also had poked into everything doing the same thing Wakako was. Trying to figure out what had happened.

Scorpion had even added in a file that he must have made after Wakako asked about what happened a text document recounting his experience. To her amusement it read like an army report.

She read it all, Scorpion's account. The images, the Aldecaldo scouts looking over the absolute carnage a Raffen Shiv camp had been left in.

Wakako had to admit the sight of a man with a screwdriver in his ear in a room full of dead bodies gave her a feeling she didn’t often have.

She was impressed.

Motoko had run into the sort of luck most Solo’s pray never to find a mission going completely out of control. Yet the girl hadn’t bailed out. Hadn’t given up, or even called in reinforcements, or even Wakako herself to update.

She had just gotten up after being shot and hunted down a pack of Raffen scum.

Motoko’s first mission had given Wakako reason to give her some minor tasks. Going through a scav hideout had opened the girl up for more dangerous moves. This job had been a test, to see if she was worth giving any trust.

A Fixer needed to trust a solo can do the job. A solo needed to trust the Fixer not to screw them over. It was a relationship, and it was important.

Wakako had been throwing the girl a bone with barely any attention, because she didn't’ expect anything from her. She had seen a thousand Motoko Kusanagi’s. A thousand young men or women that came to her looking for work. Some even with a modicum of skill or potential.

But this?

This altered Wakako’s entire understanding of Motoko Kusanagi.

That was unacceptable. Wakako prided herself on knowing who she had working for her.

So she sent out a message.

*Gig closed. Confirmation from the client they are very happy. I have questions. Come to my office.*

—--

So I was heading into Wakako’s office wearing a new bandage that I had bled on a bit from the inside to pretend to still be injured.

Dammit, I hadn't expected Wakako to want a face to face.

I slipped into her office making sure to keep my arm rigid as I had it in a homemade sling.

“Wakako.”

“Motoko. Sit.” The older woman demanded as she looked me over with sharp eyes. “I’ve heard about your gig from everyone but you. Explain.”

“Uh… Sorry I was taking a nap after getting checked out. I got shot you know?” I offered trying to defend myself.

“I am aware. Next time message me when a gig is finished regardless… It was foolish. To go back after him. You do realize that don’t you?” Wakako asked me as she put out a cigarette into an ash tray. “No. I see that you don’t. Taking a mission for two-thousand eddies isn’t the sort of job you should be risking your life on.”

“I was hired to protect him. So I did.” I mumbled a bit. Not sure what else to say. I had a job to do, so I did it.

“I see, you will end up used up until you die then. That is your future if you keep going down that path, but you are your own person. Do as you like. Until you end up dead in some blaze of glory though, I will use you. Congratulations Motoko Kusanagi. You are no longer someone I consider a minor agent. I will have work for you. Dangerous work. But work that will leave you with more than two thousand eddies for risking your life.”

“Oh… thanks?”

The older woman chuffed at my response as she looked me over. “One last thing, I need to know what you can do if I am going to set you up on jobs. You’ve used stealth to your advantage. The scavs, and now the Raffen. If I asked you to sneak into a highly secure building could you do it?”

“I don’t know. Maybe. I guess it depends on how fast you need it done…”

She waves me off. “It’s not a real gig. But I need to know if your talents lay in espionage more than combat. You hacked into the Raffen's security. Uploaded a Daemon. A nasty one too from my reports.”

“Ah it’s…” I hesitated, not sure how to explain how a rookie netrunner like me has something so good. Daemons were… weird.

“No, don't explain you don’t have to. From everything I have heard you made it through the whole camp without alerting anyone until the end. Could you do that with a corporate factory? An office? An apartment building?”

Ah. I realized Wakako wasn’t asking for details. She wasn’t asking for my stats. She was asking if I had faith in my own abilities.

“Yes. I am confident in my stealth. I’m good at it.” I assured her showing every ounce of confidence I could convey.

“I’ll keep an eye out for a job for someone with those skills. If you can accomplish it… I don’t have anyone with that skillset under my employ currently. Prove you have what it takes and I will have more work than you can ever accomplish for you.”

“I will.”

“Good. Rest. Recover. I will be in touch soon.” She offered before waving me away.

I slipped out of the chair and left feeling pretty good. Stealth missions could be fun!