One month has passed ever since I and Elpis landed here in Night City, the name of this desolate cesspool. It was rough and harsh but manageable mainly because of magic. I still can’t believe I have mana and the time spent has not gone to waste so I’ll put up the important events during my month-long stay here.
First was my inventory.
Because of this absurdly broken ability, I’ve been stealing many objects to sell them for petty cash. Eddies, I was told. Short for Euro Dollar. These range from food, valuables, street merch, knives, guns, ammo, and a whole bunch. I got some decent cash for it, not enough to rent an apartment but well enough to keep me fed and for some new clothes.
I may have splurged a bit in that regard but my old ones stink as hell and were uncomfortable in this weather. This screwed-up weather of post-apocalypse Earth.
So long as I briefly touched the object, it gets sent straight to my inventory with no one none the wiser of whom took it. Someone did catch me in the act but since it was instantaneous and can’t be tracked by normal conventions, they’d let me go with a warning as they couldn’t find it no matter how hard they tried.
Another ability is that I can glean any information from the objects in my inventory. Unfortunately, this relates to my knowledge of the item so if I don’t know much then the description won’t show much.
Next was my magic training. Elpis has been beneficial in that regard as without her, I might have been boiled alive.
So this body isn’t mine. It is but it’s not as well. Elpis said that this body is the most suitable for handling magic and if it were my old one then simply touching mana would be like touching lava. I mean, it still burns whenever I use mana but the training helps mitigate those effects.
Now I can coat my body with mana, acting as an armor that strengthens my body and increases my speed as well. I’ll call this [Armor I] for now.
And I did do some basic mana attacks. Simply shaping it and then throwing it was the simplest but one skill was hard as hell to recreate and I have to thank Elpis for guiding what I wanted to make.
That skill was [Mana Sense]. Basically letting my mana spread around me and giving me a mental map. It was hard to let mana seep out of me as this body was designed to keep the mana from leaking but Elpis helped in that regard.
Using my [Armor I] as a basis, I spread the mana like a sphere around me and thus my [Mana Sense] skill was created.
This really helped me since the images allowed me to sense other people in case someone was stalking me or something.
Magic is awesome, as always.
Lastly was gaining information. Apart from a few small talks here and there, I barely know Night City. That was until I stole a phone. And dove deep into the internet to gain any kind of information I needed in this city.
And my rough estimation of this city was just proved wrong. It wasn’t just wrong but proved how depraved human life this city seems to enjoy.
Megacorporations with inhuman work hours and unethical principles, violent gangs that deal with all sorts of illegal activities, and corruption seeped into everyone that any shred of goodness is instead shot dead and picked apart by vultures.
This place, Night City, is literal hell on earth. And I don’t want to be here at all.
So my goal in this city is this: Leave.
Grab as many Euro Dollars as the inventory could carry. Pick a destination far from Night City. And never go back here again. Any other place might be as equally dangerous but a far cry from here.
This is what I did during my one-month stay here and I will continue to work towards my goal as survival is my number one priority in this hell hole.
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Watson was the name of the district I landed and lived in for the past month. This place was always booming with thousands upon thousands of people, acting as the main hub in this city of dreams. Skyscrapers, nightclubs, jobs, all sorts of stuff happened here. Including the bad ones.
I walked through the tight streets and smelly pavement, my location towards Kabuki. The place is home to numerous medical centers, with the biggest one nearby. I am there for one thing only and that is to get Neural Links.
Cyberware is a main component in this world. Almost everyone I saw had some kind of cybernetics installed into their bodies. Some are as small as an eyeball but as grand as a new arm entirely. I’m not one looking for those kinds of cyberware, magic is better anyway, but I do need a neural link as it is a common piece of cyberware needed for everyday life.
Apparently, local resources like paper are not commonly found. Typical pollution is in play. Everybody resorted to digital currency and it is housed in shards. Small chips meant for your neural port.
But paper cash is still viable.
I went into one of the medical clinics nearby. Folks I’ve talked to claim that Dr. Jinsei is the best for neural link installation. Because if I were to go to the corporate-sponsored medical facilities then the payment would be much higher.
“Need to chip in, kid?” Dr Jinsei, a rough-looking man smoking a cigarette, wearing an apron with cybernetic hands, asked me as I nodded.
“I need a neural link. Got the money as well.” I placed a couple of eddies at his desk. This took a sharp dip into my reserves but the long-term investment was worth it in this world. Of course, to hide my inventory, I grabbed myself a satchel and reached my hands inside to grab the money.
Dr Jinsei grabbed the stacks, ran his fingers through them, and nodded. He took a drag before killing his cigarette as he walked towards the medical chair I was gonna be in.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
“Take a seat.” He said and I complied. He went to the back before pulling what I assume to be the piece of cyberware I requested. He set them down before pulling out a syringe gun and sat next to me.
“Procedure and installation will take roughly 4 hours. I am going to inject you with anesthetic and sleeping drugs. The neural link will be properly installed by the time you wake up.” Dr Jinsei explained. “You ready?”
I took in a deep breath in and confided to my advisor. ‘You sure cyberware won’t affect me in any way, magical as well?’
Elpis, my pillar and guide in this unforgiving world, responded in her comforting and deep voice. Mana is energy and the body acts as the conduit. In time, we will learn what we can and cannot do with cyberware. However, based on the information we have studied on the subject, it will not interfere with your training or magical abilities.
“Alright. I trust you.” I responded, to both Elpis and Dr. Jinsei.
“Take off your shirt.” A quick removal left me bare-chested. My training with magic had the unique side-effect of purifying and beautifying my body, which is a great fucking cheat, which means my chest was starting to harden and compact.
6 pack, here I come. Of course, I could get cyberware that does it for me, but again only the neural links will be installed.
I felt the cold steel of the needle gun in my neck and felt the needle prick me instantly before the drugs started to flood my system.
As soon as it did, my vision felt woozy and I started to drift to sleep. My last sight was Dr. Jinsei preparing the neural link before I lost consciousness.
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“Oohhh… waaa…” The words coming out of my mouth were slurred after I just woke up post-surgery. My body felt heavy and lethargic, likely high from the drugs still. Mana welled up and started flushing away the drugs since I was feeling a bit better.
Then Dr. Jinsei walked over to me, his hands on the screen beside him and tapping on it. “Surgery was successful. Your body seems to have taken the cyberware well but I’d advise you to rest for a day before any extraneous activities.”
I nodded weakly, feeling more strength coming back with each second. “Thank you.”
Dr Jinsei waved me off as I slowly stood up. My neck felt pretty stiff and heavy, likely from the neural port and I noticed an outlet with a wire coming from my left hand.
“Hey Doc, do you mind giving me the basics of a neural port?” I asked as Dr Jinsei looked at me.
“Sure. And about time someone asks these kinds of questions. Had too many gonks go in blind not knowing how to use their cyberware.” Dr Jinsei nodded.
“Alright. Basics are, well basic. You just chipped in a neural port, a main component needed to access other cyberware. Think of it as a pillar, on which each cyberware rests. Now there are differences between other neural ports but they operate the same and have the same capabilities. A shard slot and neural wire.
The shard slot, under your right ear, holds shards that contain various data. You eddies, info, contacts. Those sorts of things. If you had an eye cyberware then you’d also take calls, text messages, transfer money, and so on. But since you don’t, best to keep your eddy shard close and not get nicked.
Your neural cable is more direct, sending data to terminals or receiving them. And because it's more direct means more risk coming into contact with daemons. Nasty little things. But if there are no daemons or viruses on terminals, then it's hack-proof.”
I gave a nod at Dr Jinsei. By the time he finished explaining, I felt back to my old self and flexed my body a bit. This body of mine is a cheat in itself with how fast my recovery is. Sufficient food and rest and I’ll be 100% in no time. The cyberware still felt stiff but I could manage just fine anyway.
“By the way, what are daemons?” I asked Dr Jinsei before he shook his head. “Is something wrong?”
“You planning on netrunning?” I don’t know what that word meant and he picked up on it. “Then don’t ask. Just know if you're infected by it, it’s gonna hurt badly. So watch out.”
Still don’t know what he’s talking about but I nodded anyway. I left Dr Jinsei’s clinic and took a look at my phone, the same one I stole a month ago.
It wasn’t all too different than my old one, just with fancier features. Good thing this doesn’t come with much security so I was able to configure it on my own.
A couple of news articles popped up, mainly about another war happening soon but I pushed those aside as my text messages appeared. There weren’t many, only having 2 contacts but one of them did text me as soon as I left.
[Got chipped?] I quickly replied to my contact and he responded. [Good, head to these coordinates. We’ll meet.]
I pocketed my phone and took notice of the time. I arrived around 7 or 8 and now it was noon, meaning lunch. The good thing about Kabuki is the amount of Japanese food available.
It didn’t take long for me to find a nearby vendor selling food. It was a small cart with its product on display, along with some other items for sale as well. I took a seat on one of the empty ones and the man noticed me.
“Regular or special?”
“Special.” He nodded as I gave him the eddies. “What’s the special anyway?”
“Just some scop-dogs and a Broseph. With some chili as well. You sure you want it?” Well, with a description like that, why shouldn’t I?
“Give it to me.” The man then got to work as I waited.
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No matter how pristine and functional a city may look, it’s all but a carpet with undesirables underneath it. Kabuki is not safe from the underworld of crimes, with some places dedicated to criminal activities. But this city’s prospect for human lives is concerning to anyone not native.
Every morning I’d hear from the radio or news, It was always about the number of bodies piled up from yesterday and they talk about the outcome and effects rather than the people who died from the attack.
This city has no respect for human life, treating it as mere numbers rather than a unique experience.
But so long as it doesn’t concern them, they simply cheer or stare from the sideline.
And that’s what I’m doing.
Across from me was a car crash on the road. And both owners are fighting it out on the streets like they own it. If it were my old world then people would break those two apart and await the law. But now, they just stare.
Not from a lack of empathy but fear. Fear of being targeted by mega-corporations, gangs, or any other scary organizations. And they would become another number to the pile.
Soon enough, NCPD came rolling in with their sirens blaring and brakes screeching. Officers ran towards the scene tackled both drivers and arrested them. The crowd near me was already scattering, me included as I continued towards my destination.
Nearing the location, I was greeted by the sight of a door and pressed the call button beside it. My phone buzzed as a code was given to me, which I punched in and the door opened.
I walked up the flight of stairs and knocked on one of the apartments. A few minutes later, a man opened the door.
He looked like your typical resident of Night City, with a scowl on his face addressed with his brown hair that swayed to the side, along with some shades as well. His attire doesn’t look much but his metal arms were beefed beyond normal and had knuckles that were chrome as well.
“Got the Neural Link?” He asked and I pointed to my neck, the tell-tale signs of my cyberware fully installed. “Step in and take a seat.”
He allowed me inside the apartment and we both took a seat on the only table there. He crossed his arms together at the table and began explaining the gig.
“Target we’re klepping is Marvin Dinger. Formo-Corpo of Militech. A couple of days ago, he klepped some high-end intel from them and went into hiding. Now he’s selling the info and agreed to meet with me on the final sale. Your job is to klep the gonk’s laptop, ‘s where he’s keeping the intel all stored away. Do that and the gig’s complete. Any questions?”
“Why do we need to steal it? Who’s ordering the steal?” Formo-Corpo or not, intel coming from one of the top corporations in the world is not easy to come by. Militech is many things but vengeance is among their best.
The government turned corporation, Militech acts as the NUSA’s military movement, akin to my world. It works like my own government but more business oriented but they are still one of the main components in arms dealing.
High-end intel coming from them is bound to put targets on my back.
“A local fixer from Westbrook. She’s legit and doesn’t want to give a single enny to him. Trust me on that.” He said as I sighed.
“If you say so. Our target, Dinger, why’d he leave Militech? Seemed kinda odd to sell when you can earn as much working there.”
“Struck me too. Guess I’ll find out when I’ll ask him.” He shrugged it off but my anxiety was telling me otherwise.
“We don’t know how high-end the info is. Is it worth it if Militech comes after us as well?”
“Then you better step up. Cause if you slip up, we’re all going to be flatlined. Not a bad way to go, if I do say so myself.” Ah, that’s the dream of every mercenary. Being remembered. As if this city even cares about that.
“Sure, being killed by Militech sounds cool and all but I prefer to live to tell the tale. So I just, grab the laptop and bolt while you smooth-talk the guy? What if he’s carrying the laptop? How will I steal it from him?”
He paused for a moment and tapped on the floor. We both were thinking of any ideas on that scenario and he sighed.
“Fixer said to get the intel, doesn’t mean we let him live. If he’s carrying the laptop then we dispose of him, quietly. No traces, no nothing.”
“Damn it. Alright, that sounds like a plan. When’s the meet?”
“Tomorrow, near Charter Street. Tones of overpasses and not a lot of cameras. We need to flatline him, rivers nearby. I’ll text you soon.” With that, I nodded and walked towards the door before I heard from him again. “Take care, Deus.”
“You as well, Mack.”