Considering she hadn’t truly gotten time to experience Night City before the events that led to her capture by the scavs, Sophie was taking in the city and more specifically, her surroundings.

Immediately noticeable was the elevated highway that sat in the sky above her. Even at night, there was a noticeable amount of traffic, evidenced by the vehicle sounds. In a different direction, a massive tower rose high into the sky. Megabuilding H6. The massive, glowing white letter and number gave the girl a clear landmark.

“I can’t quite remember where H6 actually is. I wonder if it’ll have a map?”

With no way of knowing where to go, heading towards an obvious landmark felt like the right thing to do. If she was lucky, the building may even have a map of the city which would help her figure out where she was going.

It was a deceptively far distance to reach the tower, though Sophie made good use of her time. While she walked, the young teen tried to figure out how the Interface System Cyberware she had received from the Welcome Gift worked. Nothing popped up in her vision, nor were there any sounds. Is this thing broken? System?

The Interface System Cyberware is intact and functional.

Then why doesn’t it work? There was no reply. Feeling frustrated, she turned her attention away, instead continuing to look at the city around her. It was surprisingly much quieter than she had expected, though part of her was glad. It meant there was less risk of something going wrong.

The industrial district she had found herself in gradually opened up and the girl found herself standing on the edge of a main road. Not too far away was her destination. She quickly found herself standing under the Megabuilding’s looming shadow. Following the stairs up brought her face to face with an…empty area. Weird. I’d have thought there’d be some people or shops open at least.

Her eyes lit, however, when she spotted the exact thing she was after. Ignoring the oddity of the building’s ground floor, Sophie made her way over to the city map.

“So I’m on the edge of Arroyo, close to Charter Hill. Mmm, I think I could get to the sewer system before morning rolls around,” she murmured to herself. “So, I’ve got to go right, left, left, right? Hopefully that’s correct.” She was slightly nervous. Navigating a foreign city is always nerve-wracking. Doing it in a city where even the ordinary people were often armed and slightly crazy? It made things a bit worse.

Still, she had a direction. The teen set off, walking alongside a tall wall, especially considering her fairly small stature. Even with the wall however, Sophie could see the massive, blocky buildings with Petrochem labels. Offices, maybe? Some kind of facility? God, I really have so much to learn about this city. On the other side of the road, there was almost nothing. Occasionally, a small building could be seen but for the most part it was a whole bunch of dirt, sand and hardy grass.

She judged that she was around halfway through her journey when a particular building made her pause. It was a regular looking industrial building, almost no different from any of the others. However, the words ‘Electric Corporation’ drew a small gasp. That’s from the game! The place where V rescues Evelyn from the scavs with Judy! I recognise this place!

However, the logo seemed to be the only similarity to Sophie’s memories. The building was in no way rundown; in fact, it was in pretty good condition. That meant the place wasn’t abandoned yet, nor had a group of scavs taken up residence to make XBD’s. Just the thought made the teen’s teeth audibly grind together. I’ll have to pay very, very close attention to this place. I’m gonna kill those scav bastards if they dare show up. As long as I have the skills to do it.

Realising there was currently nothing to do with the building, considering it was still operational, Sophie continued on. After seeing the Electric Corp facility, she was confident that the canal and sewer system she had in mind was nearby.

The faint sound of water caught her attention, and she paused, tilting her head. It wasn’t loud, more of a distant whisper, but it was enough to guide her. Sophie turned down a side street, coming face to face with a massive Kiroshi logo. The sight of it immediately made her cover her face in embarrassment. Optics. I need optics to interact with the Interface System. I feel so dumb. With that realisation, the girl decided she’d have a look for cyberoptics in the system store once she found her destination.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

The sound grew louder as she moved, eventually leading her to a small, open area where the canal stretched out before her.

The canal wasn’t much to look at. Dirty, sluggish water flowed between cracked concrete walls and she spotted a couple of ladders that would allow someone to get out of the canal. Trash was piled up on the wet ground and graffiti covered the walls on both sides. Sophie wrinkled her nose at the smell. It wasn’t as bad as expected, but it was still rancid, a mix of rot and chemicals. Still, the filth wouldn’t stop her. In fact, it would likely help her. Nobody wanted to hang out in the dirty water.

She clambered down into the canal carefully, her oversized boots crunching against the loose debris that had collected at the bottom. The water wasn’t high, but if she could avoid stepping in it at all, she would. Thus, she stuck to the dry patches along the edges as she made her way forward. The weight of the Copperhead and bag was becoming more of a burden with each step, the strap digging into her shoulder. Sophie adjusted it with a grunt, muttering to herself about needing to find a better way to carry her gear.

As she made her way along the canal, she kept her eyes peeled for anything unusual. A few rats scurried along the edges. Sophie grimaced but ignored them. She passed under a bridge, the supports covered in wet, peeling posters and faded advertisements. One caught her eye; a bright red poster with a stylized skull and the words “Smasher Lives” scrawled across it in black. She snorted.

“Yeah, he sure does,” she said. “Working for Arasaka too, most likely.” The thought made her pause. What year is it? I’ll have to find out soon.

Finally, after over an hour of walking, Sophie spotted something promising. The water level in the canal disappeared completely, and at the far end, a large pipe jutted out from the wall. The pipe’s cover grate was damaged, bent and rusty in places, leaving a small opening.

The teen approached cautiously. The pipe was massive and the opening looked like it was just wide enough for her to squeeze through. However, the smell was worse up close, the stench of sewage filling her nostrils. She examined the grate, noting the jagged edges and the way it seemed to groan when she pushed on it.

“Guess being so malnourished has its advantages,” she muttered. It took a bit of struggling but eventually, she was able to push her bag into the pipe. She slipped the Copperhead off her shoulder and did the same, then peered into the darkness beyond the opening. It was pitch black and the lack of light at nighttime didn’t help, but she could see just enough to tell that the pipe led deeper into the sewer system. Exactly what she was hoping for.

Sophie took a deep breath and hauled herself up to the opening. It was awkward. Her lack of muscle made pulling herself further into the pipe difficult. She had to roll over and grip onto the grate, then wriggle her way through the opening. The jagged edges of the grate snagged on her jacket, and she winced as a sharp piece of metal scraped her arm. I just healed myself too, she complained. She landed awkwardly on the damp surface inside the pipe.

She took a moment to catch her breath, laying against the bottom of the cold pipe. The darkness inside the pipe felt all encompassing, the faint light from the canal barely reaching her. Further in, it got even worse.

“I can’t see a thing in this darkness.” She grit her teeth and navigated over to the system store. Her eyes found a pair of basic cyberoptics from the Cyberpunk world with a dark vision modification for 1500 L-Coins. Expensive. I could buy a flashlight or something instead…But then I won’t be able to use my interface. I don’t have the cash to have a ripperdoc install a pair either.

Reluctantly, she made the purchase.

Would you like to install your Basic Cyberoptics now?

Yes.

Immediately, a burning sensation rushed through her mind, culminating in her eyes. She was hit by a sudden, excruciating pain. Then her vision disappeared. Fuck! My eyes! The system burned her eyeballs out, including the nerves. She rolled around in the pipe, screaming herself hoarse as her eyes disappeared.

Then a new pain appeared as a pair of new cyberoptics seemed to grow inside her eye sockets. Sophie wasn’t sure how long the pain lasted but eventually, light began to appear in her vision again. She blinked as the world came into sight. Her optic nerves still felt inflamed and there was a thumping headache but that seemed to be it. There were no other signs that her organic eyes had just been burnt out of her skull.

“Holy shit. That was scary. I’m never doing that again. Definitely going to a ripper when I need more chrome. Fuck…”

After a few minutes, she finally sat up, examining the pipe in front of her. There were a bunch of blinking icons in her vision, likely from the new link between her optics and interface but she ignored them. The pipe extended ahead of her, sloping downward into the depths of the sewer system.

“Safe,” she whispered to herself. For the first time since coming to her new world, she felt a small amount of safety. At the very least, she didn’t feel like she was in immediate danger. The sewer wasn’t a nice place, but it was hidden, and she could make it work. Sophie adjusted the strap of her bag and her fingers brushed against the Nue pistol at her side, feeling the comfort it brought to her.

With all her gear strapped on, the teen walked further into the pipe. The dark vision feature of her optics was a lifesaver as it allowed her to navigate the winding pipes with greater ease. She didn’t forget to make small marks on the pipe walls with her knife, so that she didn’t end up lost when she tried to leave.

By her estimates, it took around an hour to find exactly what she wanted. A moderately sized, abandoned maintenance room expanded before her. Clearly, nobody had been down there for a long time. Everything was covered in a thick layer of dust and the only visible footprints were her own.

“Perfect. This will be my home from now on.”