Despite being midday, Lizzie's was already busy.
That’s just Night City for you. As I pulled into a parking spot I could see Rita the bouncer throwing some drunk out of the club. The poor guy not able to fight back against the borg woman who happily tossed him on his ass onto the asphalt.
I walked up stepping over the groaning drunk as I headed up to the door only to be stopped by Rita as she sauntered into my path.
“Nox finally found ya huh?” She seemed to question her eyes locked on mine.
“Yeah, I had someone let me know he was trying to get in touch.” I told her as I stopped, as the way she was looking told me she wasn’t happy.
“We aren’t the type to be pissed with avoiding someone you aren’t interested in, but it’s fucked not to at least let him down easy.” She said with a little glare. Telling me in no uncertain terms that my disappearance wasn’t taken well.
Jeez what is it with these Mox? “There was nothing like that. I was out of touch because of some Maelstrom trouble. I was under a jammer. I didn’t even know he was trying to contact me.”
She snorted a bit but stepped aside letting me in. Thankfully it seems she wasn’t taking the matter into her own hands.
I decided to ignore every Mox’s weird assumptions and just get back to business.
Side Quest!
I walked through the entrance without stopping at the desk. I wasn’t here to buy BD’s after all.
Honestly BD stuff kinda creeped me out. The fact that you could feel other peoples emotions during a BD, rather than your own? It was like…
Art that forces a perspective on you. Which was sorta weird. Imagine watching a TV show, but instead of enjoying it from your own perspective, you felt the emotions of the main character, watched from their eyes.
It was just weird.
One of the reasons I hadn’t done any Brain Dance stuff since I woke up in Night City, normal TV and games was good enough for me.
No need to stick other people's emotions in my head.
The main room was actually surprisingly full. Again the fact it was mid day seemed to have no effect on Night City debauchery.
But I didn’t see Nox.
So I did what any gun toting merc does when you enter a bar.
I walked up to the bartender and settled into a chair, waiting for him to finish an order before walking over.
“What can I get you?”
“Just information. I’m looking for Nox, he asked me to meet him.”
“Ah. That’s right, you’re that one girl.” The bartender gave a chuckle as his eyes went yellow. “I let him know, he’ll be here in a minute.”
I shrugged, I could have sent a text too.
“So Mox tends to be defensive about the kids… Might be a good idea to let the kid down flat if you aren’t interested instead of ghosting him.” The man offered as he wiped a glass clean.
“Wait.” I couldn’t help but ask as I brought up my hand to the guy to stop him from saying anything further. “Did Nox tell everyone that I ghosted him or something? You’re the third Mox I’ve met today that mentioned that.”
“Well less he told us, and more he has been mopin-”
“THANKS MATEO!” Nox yelled as the boy practically jumped the bar to try and shut the bartender up. “Hey Motoko! Glad you made it. C’mon I have something preem to show you.” He said glaring at the bartender who was smiling behind the teenager's hand as waved his hands in a ‘go on then’ motion.
“Sure.” I offered shrugging which grabbed Nox’s attention.
“Whoa. That’s fresh chrome. Double full arm replacement?” He asked, looking curiously at my arms.
“Yeah, the reason no messages went through. I got kidnapped by Maelstrom. Ended up needing some ripper work done after. Been under a jammer for the bit. Sorry about that.” I explained. Hopefully the explanation would stop making every Mox I ran into tell me off for ignoring Nox.
Seriously Suzie didn’t seem to be too happy with Nox, but considering everyone's reaction, he must be pretty loved by the Mox.
“Damn.” He muttered looking shocked as he took in my arms.
But I wasn't about to get into it right now, especially with someone I wasn’t super close to. “So the gig?”
“R-right. Yeah c’mon it’s this way.” He offered slowly seeming to come to some conclusion as he finally slipped off the bar and waved me to follow.
We went through the back down some halls until we came to a place I actually remembered.
Down a set of dark steps into a server room. The room that carried all the Mox’s BD’s probably, considering they literally ran a BD club it made sense they would need a ton of storage, and processing.
But this was the realm of a certain character.
“Judes!” Nox yelled out as he hurried forward rushing into the next room as I hesitated.
I don’t know if I was ready to meet Judy!
I’d seen her naked!
Well I mean. It was a video game but still!
She was real here. How do you respond to someone that you’ve basically seen in a porn!?
I resisted slapping myself but only just, as I shook my head. “Focus Motoko.” I demanded as I let cool slip over. Then I walked into the room where Nox was standing next to Judy Alvarez.
She was… Younger. It struck me then, that Judy was pretty young in 2077. Right now, she practically looked like a teenager, or only just out of it.
“Motoko! This is Judy, she is absolutely NOVA at anything tech, but she is the best BD Maestro in Night City. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Jude, this is Motoko, she backed me up before, didn’t even try to cred me. She is running as an Edgerunner, and would be perfect for that idea I talked to you about.”
“Yeah I remember Nox. Didn’t she ghost you?” Judy asked as she pulled up a BD wreath set and set it on the desk she was sitting at.
“N-no! It wasn’t like that. She got into some trouble that’s all… Her arms weren’t chrome before.” He offered the end quietly, practically whispering it, but I picked it up without much trouble.
Judy’s eyes shifted to me, to my arms back to him, and I could just make out through a side profile that Nox was looking… Worried?
“Right moving on from that.” Judy grabbed her wreath and sort of pointed it at me. “You know anything about Virtue?”
I blinked at the random question, I opened my mouth to answer then closed it. The word was familiar, and it was on the tip of my tongue. But Judy didn’t wait.
“Virtues are raw BD’s unedited. The base recording. Then a BD editor like me goes through, fixes it up, gets rid of the dangerous highs, or the uncomfortable lows. Makes it usable for people.”
“And Judy is the best!” Nox offered with a grin as he sat back on the desk. “But there are a lot of markets for BD’s. Not just… Porn.” He offered chuckling a little with a blush across his cheeks.
“Right. I get that… So what’s the gig?”
“Nox’s idea. Wants to move into Edgerunner BD’s. They are extremely popular, although usually, they are snuff films.” Judy offered looking at me.
Oh!
“Oooh. You want me to record BD’s?”
“Exactly!” Nox offered rushing up to me practically bouncing on his feet. “You were nova when you fought Ian and his assholes. It gave me the idea see! What if we start putting out Preem BD’s of Edgerunners on gigs. With the best BD editor in Night City cleaning them up, we can offer the experience to people that they can’t get outside of XBD’s.”
“Not that we expect you to do something crazy right away.” Judy interrupted, waving her hands a bit as she tried to calm Nox down. “We don’t want you doing something crazy and flatlining, but whatever is normal is fine, the goal is to sort of…” Judy trailed off as she rolled her wrist as she searched for the right word.
“My goal is to build up a catalog, and brand. Right now there aren't really any BD’s of Edgerunners working that isn’t an XBD. The only BD’s that come close are like Jimmy Kurosaki’s Edgerunner, but those are all Cyberpsycho shit.” Nox said, shaking his head as Judy nodded along.
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
I guess the Mox had an issue with that sort of BD?
“I mean sure, sending out an edgerunner to do gigs while we record is asking for some deaths. But I want to make a BD that a normal person can enjoy, a taste of, ‘What it's like to be an edgerunner.’ Nox said, speaking quickly and almost rambling, I could hear the excitement in his voice as he talked.
“So you want me?”
“Of course! You’re preem! You fight really well, you’re a good person, and…” Nox trailed off blushing a little as he tried to figure out what to say.
“You are good looking.” Judy interrupted with a smirk causing Nox to jump and glare at her. “You’d be surprised how many people enjoy a BD from the perspective of someone good looking.”
“That… and the pay probably won’t be great at first?” Nox added, looking apologetic. “It’s gonna cost to get everything started. Shards to store it on, Judy’s services, which aren’t free.”
“Hey I know I’m good, and I already work all day doing this.”
“I know I know!” Nox offered hands up. “Anyway, yeah… So the pay is gonna be shit?” He said questioningly looking towards me.
Ah I see.
The real reason behind choosing me.
“I’m a young Edgerunner, someone you know, and probably the only person that heard your deal and then heard the pay and didn’t walk out.” I said, smirking myself as Judy chuckled as she seemed to watch what was happening with no intention of getting involved.
Nox on the other hand was going red in the face from embarrassment.
“I…”
“Sure. Sounds fun.” I interrupted as I looked around the place. “So this is your setup? Preem, Judy very preem. I don’t even recognize all of this stuff.”
“Most of it is tweaked under the box, only the cases are standard.” She offered with a grin as I seemed to ignore Nox’s confusion as he looked around like the world wasn’t on its right axle.
“You will?”
“Sure. It’s not like I don’t already go out and take gigs. Making extra money on the side for some of them? Sounds like a good idea. Just as long as the eddies do end up in my pocket once everything has started.”
“Deal! I promise you won’t regret this!”
“Cool. So what do I need to record a BD, I don’t have the Cyberware for that.”
“Right… About that?” Nox asked, once more wincing.
“Kid’s broke, and a good BD recorder is about 500 eddies.” Judy interrupted with a flat response.
I gave Nox a scowl that he looked like he desperately wanted to do something to fix before I sighed.
“I’ll go talk to my Ripper.”
“You do that! Come around once you are chipped.” Judy says waving from above her chair as the woman had put back on her BD wreath and was getting back to work.
“Thank you.” Nox said as he sort of followed me as I decided to leave Judy to her work.
“Don’t worry about it. Besides… It’s smart.” I turned on him suddenly poking my finger right into his face which had him freak as he backpedaled in retreat. “I respect the entrepreneurial spirit. Honestly it’s a nova idea, something I can do, and it’s extra eddies for something I’m already doing. But Nox. I like blunt honesty more than hype. Next time if you have an idea and there is a problem just talk to me.”
Then as he stood that mouth opening and closing trying to find the words I held out my hand. “Partner?”
His mouth clicked shut and his spine straightened out.
“Partners!” We shook hands and I gave him a firm nod.
“Now I’m off to my ripper.”
“Oh! Mind if I come?”
“Sure.” I agreed. It would be nice to get to know Nox more anyways.
—--
“Your taste in music is kinda bad.” Nox told me as I puffed up my cheeks a bit. He redened a bit too as his words finally seemed to reach his brain. Realizing he was being rude!
Just because I thought the Samurai songs were still cool. It wasn’t my fault! He grew up in a world where they were old before he even was born! For me they were catchy new songs, and while Silverhand was a jackass, he was a talented jackass.
“I just like what I like!”
“Right.” He muttered, trying to awkwardly end the conversation he was kinda fidgeting which I could see out of the corner of my eye thanks to my wide vision. I let it go Ididn’t really feel like arguing my music preferences. Instead I found a parking spot in front of Misty’s Esoterica.
“C’mon this is it.” I told him as I slipped out of my car, watching as he looked around confused.
“I thought you said you were going to see a ripper?”
“I am.” I replied smiling as I stepped into Misty’s shop and called out. “Misty?”
“Oh is that Motoko?” Misty’s voice called out from the back as her fluffy hair poked around the corner with the rest of her following as she stepped out I noticed the… Buddhist? Statue she was carrying?
I noticed she was struggling and instantly I was rushing up to her, easily grabbing the statue and lifting it out of her arms.
Misty really needed to work out more, even before I got my arms, I could have lifted the statue.
“Oh! Thank you Motoko. You’re pretty strong huh?” She asked, looking surprised as I lifted it up and I just shrugged.
“Cyberarms, and healthy exercise.” I gave her a response with a big smile. “Where does this go?”
“Oh here, thank you… Oh and you have a friend? Welcome to Misty’s Esoterica!” She called out to Nox who was looking around with the same look Hiromi had on when I first brought her here. I was giggling as I placed the statue down in the place Misty wanted it.
“Is Vik in?”
“He is! Watching the game from what I heard when I walked past the stairs… Are you okay?” Misty asked suddenly as she seemed to appear in my personal space and place a hand on my shoulder. “You don’t seem to be in any pain anymore, but…”
“I’m great Misty. Vik took perfect care of me, and I healed all up.” I assured her with a smile, pulling up my leotard around my shoulder so she could see the connection of Chrome and flesh.
I let her poke her nose in for a moment before she nodded “I don’t see any injury. You healed quick.”
“Yeah well. If I’m honest I was having a rough time of it at first, but I stopped trying to think of my arms as the same as my flesh ones… I realized I was different now, but my ghost can’t be hurt with a little metal.” I told her, even if it still wasn’t 100%. I still had flashes of discomfort, not pain, but shoving heavy metal arms into my shoulders left me with plenty of little issues.
But Adaptation had helped so much, I felt incredible. More… Normal.
Misty looked into my face for a moment before she nodded. “I’m glad. If you need some spiritual guidance… I would be honored if you let me help in any way I can. I’m not Vik. I can't fix your body, but there are plenty of options to help fix your spirit. Or your ghost? I’m not familiar with that belief.” Misty said but it was definitely a question.
Shit did I say Ghost? Oh fuck, what do I do? I can’t be honest then I would have to admit I’m a fucking nerd!
Like a super nerd!
“Ah-Eh, well, it’s…” I stuttered along before Misty seemed to get my discomfort and just sort of chuckled at me… No with me. I broke into a laugh along with her. “I’ll tell you about it sometime. It’s kinda embarrassing.”
“I look forward to it. Hearing about different beliefs is why I opened my shop.” She said waving her arms a bit showing off the decor.
“So she isn’t your Ripper?”
“No, Misty is just awesome.” I told Nox as Misty laughed at my response before throwing me a wink.
“I sometimes work as Vik’s nurse, but I’m not a ripper. C’mon I’ll walk you down.” Misty offered, threading her arm with mine. I happily joined her laughing as we walked out the back and down the steps.
“Vik? You have customers!” Misty called down which again made me think she was more than just a sometimes nurse.
More like a nurse, assistant, and secretary all in one. Well plus his Landlord, as if I remembered right, she was the owner of the little basement storage that Vik used.
Nox was frowning in the same way Hiromi did as he followed us down.
Vik, we need to talk about your aesthetics! I couldn’t help but joke in my head as the gate was unlocked and Vik saw me.
“Motoko! Glad to see you up and about, how’re the arms, any weakness, flashing pains? Come sit, I’ll take a look.” He offered instantly swiveling his chair to his ripper seat as he waved me forward.
Could I admit that I absolutely loved these two? Vik was total dad energy, and Misty was total big sister energy.
That’s it. I’m adopting them both.
I barked out a laugh to my own thoughts confusing everyone, but I didn’t care.
I happily walked over and plopped in the chair. “Vik, Nox, no Nox I refuse to introduce you using your tagline.” I offered at the boys pout but to my distress he interrupted.
“Nox the Mox!” He threw a wink at Misty which…
He was cruising for a bruising flirting with Jackie's girl…. Well soon to be girl I am pretty sure they weren’t dating yet, at least I hadn’t seen him… That just meant I would have to protect her for him then! Jackie Misty OTP!
“Hmm. That’s odd.” Vik muttered beside me, and I realized he was checking my shoulder.
Fuck of course he would notice how fast I healed.
“Hey Misty, can you do me a favor? Take Nox upstairs for a few minutes?” I asked with an apologetic smile, and the boy despite being a teenager seemed to realize that I was asking her to get him out of here for a bit.
Misty nodded once sharply. “Course! C’mon Nox, have you ever had your fortune read?”
“Umm, no. But it could be fun?”
“That’s the spirit!” Misty offered with a grin as they headed up.
Vik though hadn’t been looking at the byplay, no he was already grabbing multiple other tools and taking a look at my shoulder very closely.
Finally he pulled his face from the little pad he had his nose buried in, as his other hand pushed a weird probe against my shoulder scanning it.
“Motoko. How are you completely healed? There isn’t even any scar tissue left.” He asked, his hand on the prob still.
I opened my mouth to answer then closed it.
I had kinda thought I would eventually be asked about all my weirdness, I just hadn’t even thought about it this time. But of course Vik would notice, I could have come back in six months, and he likely still would have noticed something was weird.
“Fast Heal, or other drugs don’t heal like this, completely. I would swear if asked that you were born with this chrome. Which is impossible.”
I opened my mouth again, to say something, to come up with some answer that would make sense.
I just didn’t have one. Instant healing… No instant perfect healing? There wasn’t anything quite like it.
“I know it’s weird, but I can’t really explain it.” I decided instead. I just… Didn’t want to lie to him. Vik was a good person, had done me a serious favor when he fixed up my arms.
He sat back a bit looking me over as he ran his hand over his cheeks and chin, I noticed it was not the hand covered in Ripper gear.
“You in any danger kid?”
“No! I uh… I’m safe Vik. No one knows I can heal fast. I even kept it from Jun… I uh… When I woke up from a coma? A year long coma, I was able to walk again in like a week.” I told him and I watched his eye brows come together in shock.
“Impossible.”
“I heal fast… I can basically fully recover from just about anything with a full nights rest. Eight hours of sleep, and pop, I’m good to go.”
“Fuck.” He whispered, causing me to giggle as he realized what he had said. “Shit.. No wait. Sorry. Sorry Kid. Okay you can’t tell me how?”
“I know how… But I really can’t talk about it. I trust you Vik, don’t think I don’t, I mean, you’re basically my full time doctor now. But I just can’t really explain it.”
“Healing at this level? Hell kid that would put me out of a job, in a good way. You can’t tell me anything?”
“It’s not transferable, and there isn’t any way to copy it as far as I know.” I offered, actually sad at the idea. I hadn’t really considered how useful Gamer Healing could be, but Vik had instantly gone to other people, about how this could help them.
I really wasn’t a hero I guess.
“Alright.” He took a deep breath and shook it off. “If you want me to be your ripper, I’m gonna need to know what this is. Maybe an overnight after an injury so I can get some scans, or figure out what is happening, it makes me nervous to do anything if I don’t know how the healing process will be.”
“Okay.” I told him which must have surprised him at my easy agreement. “I trust you.” I answered by giving him a thumbs up. “So yeah… That’s my big secret. I heal fast, that's one of the reasons why I’m not afraid to work as a merc.”
“Well kid, for a secret, it’s a hell of a big one… Alright. Alright. Enough of this, Your shoulder looks great. And you obviously came here for something?”
“BD recorder.” I said laughing at Vik’s surprised look before he flushed.
Literally the guy went fully red. “Kid… I get you might be getting a good deal with the Mox, but maybe… Is that kind of work really what you-”
“Vik. My friend, doctor, and someone I respect. Before you embarrass yourself anymore. The idea is to record while I’m on gigs for a sort of softcore XBD release. Killing and doing Merc work, not normal Mox stuff.”
“Oh thank Christ.” He exhaled practically whooping as the air rushed out of him, but that was completely muffled by my absolute giggle fit.
“Oh also… Can you check my arms? I got a bit dinged up by some Maelstrom the other night, and my right arm has this hitch when I try to-”
“Yeah kid, shush, I’ll take care of it. Giving me a heart attack…” He grumbled but he was hiding a smirk.
I matched him. It was nice. To be able to just… Reveal the truth. “Thanks Vik.” I whispered, feeling my eyes water a little as he took care of me. Total dad energy.