Sewers

October 23rd

2069

The following morning, Sophie woke up to a message from Vik telling her he’d gotten his hands on some cyberdecks and that she could come in whenever she had time. She quickly got herself ready, wearing a casual outfit rather than her combat gear, although it did go into her inventory for later in the day.

She had multiple things she needed to do aside from the installation of the cyberdeck which meant she needed to get going early.

Sophie rode her bike through the eerily silent streets of Watson only half an hour later, the sound of its engine unnervingly loud in the absence of civilian chatter or the usual clamor of vendors. Burnt-out cars lined the curbs or blocked off entire streets, their twisted frames still smoldering in places. Bullet holes riddled walls and storefronts, and more than one shattered window revealed ransacked interiors.

She tightened her grip on the bike’s handles, forcing herself to stop thinking about the conflict too deeply. At one intersection, she slowed down as her optics caught movement in the distance; a group of Tyger Claws racing toward a cluster of Maelstrom gangers, weapons drawn. Sophie didn’t stick around to see how it ended. She revved her engine and turned down a side street, avoiding the firefight entirely.

The closer she got to Vik’s clinic, the more surreal the environment became, considering the conflict hadn’t actually been going for long. Bodies lay abandoned in the middle of the road, their gang affiliations evident from their clothing. The streets felt like a graveyard, oppressive and deathly silent. Fortunately, there were far fewer civilian corpses around compared to when she showed up previously.

When she finally reached Misty’s Esoterica, she parked her bike in the narrow alley beside the shop and stared at the entrance for a moment. The blue neon sign above the door cast an uneven glow on the desolate street. Sophie hesitated, her hand lingering on the doorframe. She hated this part; the way Misty always looked at her like she was some long-lost friend, eager and full of warmth that Sophie didn’t quite know how to reciprocate.

But Misty deserved better than complete avoidance.

With a quiet sigh, Sophie pushed the door open. The soft chime of the bell overhead was immediately followed by Misty’s voice.

“Welcome to Misty’s Esoterica, where—” Misty stopped mid-sentence when she saw Sophie, her bored expression transforming into one of delight. “Sophie!? You actually came by!?”

Before Sophie could react, Misty darted around the counter and wrapped her in a warm hug. Sophie froze for a beat, then awkwardly patted Misty’s back.

“Uh, hi, Misty,” she mumbled, shifting her feet slightly.

Misty pulled back, her hands resting lightly on Sophie’s shoulders as she studied her. “You look tired! Are you okay? Have you been eating properly? Sleeping?”

Sophie offered a small, uncomfortable smile. “I’m fine. Just... busy.”

“Busy? Always busy. That’s still your excuse?” Misty shook her head, an amused smile on her face. “I’ve got this new herbal blend that’s supposed to help with stress. You definitely need it.”

Sophie shifted on her feet, feeling cornered. “I’ll... keep that in mind,” she said lamely.

Misty beamed, seemingly satisfied. “Good. Don’t forget, okay?”

“Yeah. Sure.”

After a few more minutes of stilted small talk, she managed to excuse herself, mumbling something about needing to see Vik. Misty let her go with a cheerful wave, though Sophie didn’t miss the way her gaze lingered, seemingly planning their next conversation already.

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Sophie descended the stairs to Vik’s clinic and peeked into the room, confirming it was just him before stepping inside. Vik glanced up from his workstation and grinned.

“Well, look who it is,” he said, setting down a tool. “Didn’t expect you to come running just for a ‘deck. That’s what you’re here for, right?”

Sophie approached the man, feeling more at ease dealing with Vik’s straightforward demeanor than Misty’s energetic personality. “Mmm, that’s right. I need more options for my gigs.”

In response he reached into a nearby drawer before retrieving a small black case. He placed it on the counter and opened it, revealing an array of compact, entry-level cyberdecks.

“Do you have any recommendations? I don’t actually know much about ‘running.” Sophie asked, unsure what the differences between them were.

Vik raised an eyebrow, before leaning over to inspect the options. After a moment, he plucked one out.

“This one,” he said, holding it up. “It’s a Militech Paraline MK.1. Good choice for a beginner. Reliable, no unnecessary bells and whistles. Militech’s solid tech.” The name was familiar and she realised it was the same cyberdeck V would start the game with in 2077.

Sophie nodded. “I’ll take it.”

Vik smirked. “Knew you’d go for the practical option.”

She hesitated before speaking again. “Also... I, uh, need some patching up. Took a few hits yesterday.”

Vik’s expression shifted to concern as he gestured toward the surgical chair. “You don’t even have to ask. Sit.”

Sophie obeyed, easing into the chair as Vik grabbed his tools. “I’ll work on those injuries first, then install the cyberdeck,” he said. A few minutes later he spoke again.“Good thing you’ve got that new subdermal armor. Without it, you’d be in way worse shape. Got hit by a couple of shotgun blasts?” She nodded.

As Vik worked, they chatted. Sophie found herself surprisingly at ease, despite her usual discomfort with small talk. Vik’s voice was steady and reassuring, his hands deft as he cleaned and sealed her wounds.

“What happened?” he asked eventually.

“First job with Padre,” she said, wincing as a piece of pellet she’d missed during the previous night’s first-aid was scraped out.

Vik chuckled softly. “With Padre? I didn’t realise you were looking to work with him.”

“It’s a recent development. The Mox don’t have many gigs going at the moment and he was apparently interested.” She paused, slightly hesitant. “How are things going for you? With the gang war and everything.”

He looked at her oddly before giving a small smile. “Everything’s fine ‘round here. For Misty and I, at least. No gang affiliations, so as long as we keep our heads down, they won’t bother us.” Another pellet was scraped out and Vik didn’t miss the wince.

He continued speaking, “y’know, I’m surprised Padre threw you into something so intense. Was it a hard gig?”

Sophie shook her head. “Nope. It went... fine. Mostly. Just a surprise attack.”

“Well, you’re lucky. Like I said, that armor saved you. Next time, try not to get hit so much, yeah?”

“Working on it,” she replied. They fell into a relaxed silence as Vik worked his magic. The cyberdeck was easy to install because in his words it’s ‘fairly chip-like’.

By the time Vik finished, Sophie felt quite happy. Her wounds were patched, the cyberdeck installed, and she even managed to hold a conversation without feeling completely out of place.

Vik leaned back, giving her a once-over. “You’re good to go. Just... take care of yourself, alright?”

Sophie nodded. “Thanks, Vik. Really.”

“Anytime, kid.”

She had a couple more destinations to visit for the day.

-----------------------

Her first stop was a massive store that seemed to sell everything. There was food, guns, clothes, hardware and furniture, among other items. However, Sophie was interested in a very specific device.

After spending nearly 20 minutes lost amongst the towering aisles, she finally found the section she was searching for. The 3D printers.

The Engineering skill was something she’d bought specifically to renovate her sewer home but also so that she could make adjustments to her gear. In fact, she was hopeful that the skill would eventually enable her to modify or build her own custom weapons and armour.

Unfortunately, she’d hit a wall regarding what she could make considering she only had scavenged scraps. Hence, she needed something that could make things in a far more precise manner.

Hmm, what kind of features do I want for my printer? I want to be able to print metal as well as plastic, so that’s probably the biggest requirement…If it’s easy to use, that would be for the best. And I don’t want it to be super small either. So a medium sized printer is what I need?

The medium sized printers all had dimensions around 50cm, compared to the smaller and larger models at 20cm or over a metre respectively. With that done it wasn’t too difficult to pick out the specific model she wanted.

MoorE had a basic, dual material printer available. It was expensive, around 50k eddies, but Sophie had the cash and the printer would offer significant utility in the near future. She hoisted it up and slowly wobbled to the register, almost getting lost amongst the shelves again.

However, she made it out of the store in one piece and after finding a hidden space, shoved the entire box into her inventory. She quickly resolved to get herself a car soon, as she was finding some of her activities to be quite awkward with just her beloved bike.

On her ride back to the sewers, she stopped in at Ricky’s store with a bag of looted guns. The man himself wasn’t there, seemingly busy, so she had to deal with a temp worker who’s mouth wouldn’t close as she piled up guns to sell.

Thankfully, she was able to leave the store quickly with her eddies filled up once again. She was, however, disappointed that Ricky hadn’t been there in person. She’d wanted to buy herself a new set of armour considering the state of her current gear.

Hold on. Could I make repairs with my new printer? I’ll have to test it out later. For the rest of the day though, I want to get started with my netrunning practice.