I spent the rest of the day resting. No grinding, no plotting. Just hanging out at the apartment and watching TV, or even reading a few shard books. I finally finished another chapter in the Solo’s guide, but decided to put that to the side soon enough because it too felt a little too much like training still.

I had never been a particularly focused person in my last life. I wasn’t dedicated to self improvement, I liked TV shows, and games, and movies far too much for that.

So why was it that I barely did any of my favorite things in this life? Was it a good thing? Some people would say yes.

But I wasn’t sure it was healthy for me. The closest thing I had done creatively had been working with tech, but that was just another aspect of grinding to grow stronger.

Every aspect of my life was rotating around improving my ability to kill… Was that right? It didn’t bother me exactly. I liked it. I liked fighting, and I loved being better than others at killing. Anyone who played nearly any video game could attest how great it felt to be strong.

But was that all I wanted out of this second life? Was all the freedom I had thanks to my growing skills, only meant to create paths towards more killing more death?

No.

I realized that my life wasn’t just this. As much as I enjoyed it, I shouldn’t exist solely as a merc. I mean this wasn’t a game, even if I was a gamer. Did I want to spend the rest of my life as nothing but a killer for hire?

No.

I had just been having so much fun I hyper focused!

Oops!

So I took the rest of the afternoon to watch future TV shows, some of which were at least interesting, and some awful. I didn’t really like TV in the future. I didn’t really like the books… But I also hadn’t really searched for things I would like. It’s like watching daytime TV and thinking that was all that was on the TV.

As I explored the different channels and read, I was texting with Hiromi who confirmed she had gotten permission to skip school to come along to the Aldecaldo BBQ!

Road trip with the best choom is a go.

—--

“Finally!” I groaned as I pulled out from Hiromi’s garage the next morning. I had been running late as Jun had gotten all protective when I told him what I was up to.

It had taken me a few minutes to remember I was fourteen, and heading out to the badlands to party with a bunch of nomads.

So okay, when you put it like that Jun had a point.

But when I explained it was mostly about what we had done that night, and that I certainly would shoot anyone that tried something, plus Hiromi was coming. He had finally loosened up and I had managed to escape his clutches.

Hiromi hadn’t taken long to flop into the car, her bag of snacks she was bringing along dropped onto my own bag of goodies once she settled in.

“Wooo!” She screamed out the window as we headed out onto the city streets, “Freedom!”

“Don’t be too happy yet, choom. We have a long drive to get there.”

“It’ll be a lot shorter if you let me drive.” She grumbled at me, and I just chuckled.

She had no idea.

I drove safely, and followed all the laws within the city, but as soon as we started hitting dirt?

Well I waited for Hiromi to be slightly distracted, with nothing on the road in front of me, when I suddenly floored it.

Her jerking reaction to my sudden acceleration was great, her mouth full of some chips, or some snack food meant her shocked gasped sent her into a coughing fit as I tore down the road.

“Motoko!” She said in delight when she finally got herself back under control, and seeing me absolutely flooring it over the desert road.

“Hiromi!” I chirped back, completely at ease despite going so fast.

“You’re going fast!”

“So I am.” I said smiling which had her giggling in delight.

“So there is a troublemaker in there!”

“I’m not in the city, and there is no longer a posted speed limit. Of course I’ll drive how I want.” I said simply but my firm tone was ruined by my lips fighting back more smiles.

“You are such a gonk. You should just drive like this from now on.”

“Nah. Jun made me promise not to drive fast in the city, I apparently scared him the last time I did it.”

“Aww I wanted to see that.” She said laughing, and I just shrugged as I noticed my turn off. With a casual press of the clutch, shifting slightly, and then pressing on the break I was in a perfectly controlled drift.

Hiromi couldn’t enjoy the look as she wasn’t wearing her seat belt properly, despite my multiple warnings to stop taking it off. So she soon found her face pressed up against the passenger window for a few moments until I finished the drift and was heading straight down the new road.

“Wha… Wha?” She muttered looking delightfully confused at her new situation.

“I told you to put your seat belt on. Hold on.” I said as I was coming up to the next street I needed to turn onto.

This time Hiromi was actually able to realize what was happening.

I ended up pouting from then on, because she didn’t scare like Jun instead whooping and hollering in delight every time I drifted,

It wasn’t fair! I wanted to mess with her!

—---

I pulled up to the Aldecaldos camp going a much more sedate speed. Despite Hiromi’s badgering to speed up again. I didn’t want to come in too hot with the nomads. I pulled up to the camp and parked off the road near where a few of their cars were parked including a few familiar and freshly painted cars.

I stepped out, Hiromi following me a moment later. Her head was practically on a swivel as she took in the new location.

“Be cool Hiromi.” I reminded her as I walked up to a familiar face who was walking up to greet me.

“Motoko!”

“Scorpion!” I greeted right back smiling as the older man laughed and to my surprise instantly invaded my personal space pulling me into a hug and literally spinning me around.

“Nice to see you too Scorpion.” I mumbled a little dazed as he set me down.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

“I still owed you that from when you pulled my ass out of the Raffen nest. Who’s your friend?” he asked, pulling away a bit giving me some space.

“I’m Hiromi! Motoko’s best Choom!” She said suddenly at my side and grabbed my arm.

“Hey, nice to meet you. Any friend of Motoko is one of mine.” He said with a smile before turning and waving me on. “C’mon I bet you’re hungry the drive out from the city takes forever. Let’s get some food in those bellies. Saul is distracted right now, so it’s the best time to meet everyone.” Scorpion offered with a laugh as he guided us deeper into the camp.

A few minutes later with a plate full of barbeque ribs, that were definitely not actual meat, but was tasty. And something that looked sort of like pulled pork, but wasn’t. I was sitting around a table with a few nomads all tossing around stories of their own run-ins with the Raffen, made me realize how nice it all was.

I get it. I understand the reason Nomads live like this. Out on the plains and deserts of America. The freedom was only part of it. The other part was the connection you feel with everyone. These people weren’t all blood related, but they were all family. All lived together, got along, and knew each other's jokes.

There was an actual connection between them. something that was missing from Night City.

It was nice.

“And then she sits in the closet and waits for the guy to ‘finish’ up if you know what I mean.” Hiromi’s voice suddenly pulled me away from hearing about other Raffen raids over the years.

“Hiromi! Don’t tell people about that!” I called out as I quickly put down the pretty tasty BBQ I was eating to yell at my choom.

“Motoko you literally recorded it. You can’t complain about people talking about it.” She offered looking to Scorpion who was sitting beside her, and who she was telling the story about.

I don’t know how but the two had swiftly started swapping stories. Mostly about me, and seemed to be getting along.

“You really hid in the closet?” Scorpion asked, looking half a second away from bursting into laughter.

“It was the only other door in the room. They didn’t catch me or anything. And he was fast… At least.” I grumbled a bit but Scorpion was already chuckling.

“You said this was a BD. Where can I get a copy. I gotta see this.”

“Motoko gave me my set, but it’s the Mox right?” Hiromi asked and I sort of twisted my hand.

“Honestly, I’m not sure it’s officially a Mox thing. Nox is the guy selling the BD’s. It was his idea and well, he is a Mox, but I’m not sure how official it all is. If you really want a copy, I can figure something out?”

“Eh. I’ve been to Lizzies before… I mean-”

“Oooh. When did this happen Scorpion?” A voice called out and I looked up only to be forced to fall into Cold Blood to keep myself from gasping in delight.

Panam!

I watched in delight as she threw an arm over Scorpions shoulder and teased him about having visited the BD bar when in the city.

She glanced over Hiromi and me with a curious look, before it suddenly struck her. “Oh! You’re the one that cleared up the Raffen! And saved Scorpion.” She said, a teasing in drawl added on the end, but I could tell it was to tease Scorpion, not because she didn’t care.

“I’m Motoko, this is Hiromi my Choom. Yeah. That’s me.” I added smiling at the older woman. What else could I do? Panam was cool.

And we wore similar outfits! She had a leotard and jeans on too! She was obviously a woman of excellent taste!

“Then I guess I owe you one. Name’s Panam. You saved Scorpion, so you’re owed one in my book.” She said reaching over and pushing Scorpion a bit on the shoulder earning a slapping hand in return, a few moments of nearly siblings squabbling went on much to my delight.

Yeah, I guess I kinda liked the Nomads. It was cozy.

Then, a voice cut through all the chatter. “So this is her.” The man was instantly recognizable to me. Saul. The head of the Aldecaldos. Or at least this group fo them. The man in charge.

“Saul! Yeah this is Motoko.” Scorpion called out pushing Panams hand away where she had been messing with him. “Motoko, this is Saul, Leader of the Aldecaldos.” He introduced me and I nodded, grabbing a napkin and wiping away as much of the barbeque sauce around my mouth as I could.

Thanks Aldecaldos, couldn’t have introduced me to your leader until after I was two hands deep into a plate of barbeque huh?

“Nice to meet you.” I added once I was cleaned up.

“Walk with me.” He suddenly said and while he didn’t quite start walking away he made it obvious it was more command than request.

I kept a smile on my face even if I wasn’t the biggest fan of being ordered around. I let it go. Just couldn’t take it personally. Saul was used to getting his way, that’s all. Besides, I wanted to know what he was thinking.

Nomads didn’t usually welcome people into their camp like this, at least as far as I could pick up. It’s not like most people in Night City even gave more than a passing thought to the Nomads. They were a different breed as far as Night City residents were concerned.

I rose up waving off Hiromi, as she was rising to stand up as well, “Scorpion keep Hiromi company okay?” I asked and he gave me a nod and the table seemed to relax as Scorpion started up another story to Hiromi who looked conflicted but settled down.

I followed after Saul as he started walking through the camp, not really seeming to head anywhere in particular, just walking around.

“Twice now you’ve done us a favor, and that I can’t just ignore.” He finally said as we came to a quiet part of the camp, empty tents and places where people slept setup all around. “Not a fan of outsiders doing us favors. Always leads to some sort of trouble. But I also can’t just let it go. You saved Scorpion. Even if he was doing something he wasn’t supposed to, he is one of us.”

“I was just hired for a job.” I demurred, but Saul just ignored it.

“You don’t know, but the Wraiths have been in a frenzy since then. Twice now we’ve been raided. You saved Scorpion, but threw the Wraiths into a frenzy. Now you did it again. You helped us, gave us access to new vehicles, but the fact is, you also made living out here more dangerous. With so many cars lost the Raffen will seek out new ones. See the problem?”

“I guess I understand what you are saying. Poking the Raffen means they try to poke back.”

“Exactly.” He stopped walking, turning to me. Which was annoying as the guy was pretty tall. And I was only fourteen.

“I appreciate your help. I do. You did us a favor with good intentions, but good intentions can still cause us problems.”

“The Wraiths really that big of a deal? I’ve killed a bunch of them by now. How many more do they have?”

“Hundreds. Thousands.” He answered simply to my surprise. “You city folk think the Raffen are just another street gang, but they are worse than that. They hunt anyone on the roads. Doesn’t matter who. The Wraiths circling Night City are more than a thousand strong. My clan only has five hundred and some extra.”

I blinked at that. Those numbers were crazy. The camp here only had what, maybe a hundred?” Seeing my confusion and looking around he scoffed.

“We don’t all stay together at once. Too many mouths to feed in one camp. Split up it’s easier to keep everyone fed, but makes us easier prey.”

“So why not gather all together and wipe out the Wraiths?” I asked the question that had been bugging me for a while. The Aldecaldos were a massive group, even if they were spread out across America.

“They have backing kid. You think the corporations aren’t more than happy to have a bunch of sociopaths like the Wraiths willing to hunt people for them? You noticed all the equipment they had at the camp you rescued Scorpion from didn’t you? Ever wonder where they got all the expensive sensor gear for their camp? Millitech, Arasaka, Kang Tao or any of the others. Any corp that wants a competitor to have some trouble, to have shipments suddenly stop arriving through the badlands.” Saul grunted scratching at his beard for a moment.

“I see. The Corps use them as deniable forces, hit their enemies… it’s not like the Raffen are considered a threat to anyone outside the badlands.”

“Exactly, but that’s not what we are here for.” He looked to me his green eyes dark. “The Clan owes you a debt. I don’t like owing debts to outsiders. Twice now you’ve helped us. I can’t pay you for the vehicles not fully. Not in eddies.” He said bluntly.

“Okay? So what can you do? Honestly. I’m not bothered about it… I don’t much like the Raffen so just hurting them was good enough for me.”

“Well I am. We pay our debts. Always. I’ve been forced to think about what we can do. What we can afford to offer in exchange for the cars… Damn Scorpion for being so stupid to take them without asking.” He cursed suddenly to my surprise the man looked…

Stressed.

“Saul?”

“Not your fault kid. Not Scorpions either. He was right to do it. This is my problem. The vehicles were needed, but now I’m stuck trying to figure out how to pay for them.” He grumbled, looking down at me with a look in his eyes that expressed his frustration.

Yeah Saul wasn’t having a good day.

“Okay so let’s push eddies off the table. Again, I only called up Scorpion because I knew he needed a ride. And that he could get the vehicles out of Wraith hands. You guys did me a favor that night.”

“Hardly. Wraiths are a nomad problem. Not exactly something Street Kids have any issues with.”

“They shot me. So Yeah. I have an issue with them. Getting shot makes me testy.” I countered instantly, a little heated. “But fuck it. You don’t have eddies? Fine. I’m not really hurting for eddies anyways. Merc work pays well. So what do you have? You want to pay me back? What can you offer?”

“Membership.” He said suddenly, surprising me. “You’re young. Gotta know how shit it is in the City. Join our Clan. Become an Aldecaldos Nomad. We’d welcome you. It might take a while to adjust, but you’ve proven yourself to my people. You’d fit in here.”

“I can’t.” I refused instantly, shaking my head.. “I have family in Night City, friends. As nice as it sounds to wander the desert, living life as it comes, it’s not for me. I’m a city girl.”

“Well I expected as much.” He said with a shrug. “But still. You’re welcome here. That offers some benefits. You might not realize it, but most of us have military experience. You want to be a merc? Then you’ll need knowledge, stuff you can’t just get on the street. We can help. Will help. We have stuff we make that can be useful to someone looking for a fight.” He tilted his head over and led me to a truck, which when he opened up I understood what he was saying.

“That’s a lot of guns.”

He nodded, having flicked on the lights to the moving truck, showing me the inside was literally an armory. “We keep well armed. Even have things you can’t find easily in the cities.” He said, pointing out a beautiful Techtronika SPT32 Grad.

It was an anti-material Sniper Rifle.

I want one. I want one sooo bad. Bitches love cannons!

Instantly I walked over to it, it was resting on a bench tool strewn around. Someone was tinkering. No, I noticed as my eyes scanned it down. Someone had already tinkered. This wasn’t just any Grad. It was the fucking Overwatch.

I instantly hyper focused on the Suppressor attached to the end of the thing. I didn’t remember the exact name of the nomad, but one of them had managed to get a Suppressor working on the AT rifle.

“Okay who did this, and where are they, because they need to teach me.” I told Saul as I started taking scans and checking over the Overwatch.

“Mitch. He made that during the war. Saved his hide a few times from the stories he tells. Not for sale.”

“Don’t want it. You wanted to pay me back? Then, I’ll consider it a fair trade, if you have Mitch teach me about his work on this baby.” It old him, my hands already feeling over the suppressor as my eyes scanned it down.

“Huh. Bit of a tinker are you?”

“Yeah! Just a bit.” I mumbled. Looking over the Overwatch. Normally a suppressor was either screwed into the barrel, or an attachment you would hook over the edge of a muzzle break and lock in.

This one? There was no separate attachment. The entire barrel was a custom job, suppressor included. Which was crazy. Suppressors didn’t last forever. So Mitch would have to replace the entire barrel pretty consistently.

Unless he figured something interesting out.

“I’ll talk to him, see if he’s willing. But that alone doesn’t square us. So let’s talk.”

I would be happy with a few of the shinies that were hanging around the armory, but as my eyes scanned the inside of the place, something caught my eye.

“That.” I demanded with a pointed finger.

“Hmm? What? Kid. What would you even use one of those for? We don’t even use them.”

“Those of the words of a man who has never created a situation to shoot a rocket launcher before. That’s the deal.” I said hungrily looking over the stack of boxes that had “Techtronika T40 Uragan” Stamped on the side. I recognized the name. They were rocket launchers.

10 shot homing rocket launchers.

Why didn’t I have a 10 shot homing Rocket Launcher!?

Saul let out a sigh and shrugged.

“Fine. But if anyone ever asks you didn’t get them from us.”

“Deal.”

I didn’t have any real use for a Rocket Launcher, but being able to say “Hey I have a Rocket Launcher.” Is all the reason I could ever need!