Japantown's Cherry Blossom Market was crowded as Sophie strolled in. Bright lights reflected off puddles, a result of the drenching rain the previous day. The air smelled of grilled meat, spicy noodles, and something faintly metallic that Sophie couldn't quite put her finger on. She stood at the edge of the crowd. At only six years old and with dirty, wet and bloody rags as her only set of clothes, Sophie blended in perfectly. Nobody would look twice at a random scrappy kid scurrying through Night City’s streets.
But Sophie was on a mission. She wanted new clothes. Her sandevistan, currently unusable, was a magnet for trouble and she desperately wanted to change her torn shirt in order to properly hide it.
Part of her was quite disappointed in the ragged clothes she had arrived in this world in. Her filthy shoes, filled with water after the rain the previous day, squelched faintly as she shifted her weight, scanning the market. Rows of stalls stretched out before her, vendors hawking everything from knockoff electronics to bootleg braindances to clothes.
Sophie didn’t want to be picky, but she didn’t want to keep running around looking like the poster child for a charity ad.
She was also hungry. Her stomach had been growling all morning, but she ignored it. Food could wait. Clothes were more important.
The knowledge skills she had received from the Thief class were put to use as she looked for a target. Stealth techniques, parkour tricks, and tips for pulling off a successful robbery offered the ability to slip in and out of the marketplace without being caught. Unfortunately, she had never put any of it into practice, and she was nervous. Taking a deep breath, Sophie pushed her way into the crowd.
As she slipped into the throng of people, she quickly set up her Trait, Ghost. Considering she had no allies or friends in the city, she ensured no electronic devices would spot her. That was why she targeted a clothing store who’s owner had obviously cybernetic eyes.
The vendor was an older woman, attentively watching her wares on the display table. A thin metal stand behind her held more clothes, and Sophie could see a black jacket swaying in the breeze.
Perfect.
The small girl slipped behind a food vendor's cart, keeping an eye on the old woman. When she turned slightly to face a customer, Sophie activated Ghost. She reached the jacket and, just before she could take it, the older woman turned, heading directly towards her. The woman reached out her hand, a hair’s breadth away from Sophie's face before grabbing a garish red shirt and pulling away. With a quick sigh of relief, Sophie grabbed the black jacket.
Quick Hands showed off how helpful it was as her hands didn’t shake; they moved precisely and rapidly had the piece of clothing off the metal rack.
Before she left, she spotted a grey t-shirt and, ensuring the woman was still looking away, Sophie grabbed the shirt as well.
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The young girl slowly backed away, her prizes clutched tightly in her small hands. She was almost clear when she heard a shout.
“Hey! Stop right there!”
Fuck. Sophie didn’t stop to think. She bolted. A brief glance back showed a man with organic eyes pointing at her as he shouted.
Pushing her way through the startled crowd, she slipped both pieces of clothing on and sped up as fast as she could. Behind her, two men, both dressed in Tyger Claw apparel, chased after her. Fortunately, it seemed only one of them could actually see her as he kept directing his friend in towards her, slowing them down significantly.
Her feet pounded against concrete as she darted into a back alley behind the market. The shouts faded quickly, and she glanced back. She’d managed to lose her pursuers. Still, she continued moving to put more distance between herself and the angry Tygers. Finally, she reached a narrow gap between two buildings and paused to take a deep breath.
She ran her fingers over the black jacket she now wore, her lips twitching into a small smile.
She looked back toward the market, her smile fading slightly. She’d be more careful next time.
Mission Complete
First Robbery: Successfully steal an object from someone.
Difficulty: Medium
Reward: 100 M-Coins, 500 Eurodollars, 1 Thief level.
A small datashard appeared in her hand, something she assumed carried 500 eddies.When she brought up her status, her thoughts were confirmed.
Name: Sophie Mortimer
Age: 6
Class: Thief - Lvl.2
Profession: Available
Traits
Ghost
Skill
Quick Hands: Lvl.1
Parkour (Basic): Lvl.1
Stealth (Basic): Lvl.1
Thievery (Basic): Lvl.1
Cyberware
Chronos Sandevistan: Unavailable (Requires Interface System Cyberware) (God)
Store: Available
M-Coins: 1100
Sophie realised she hadn’t actually looked at the system’s store, but before she could do so, her body grumbled, clearly hungry. The small girl blushed to herself, then set off on a quest for some food.
-----------------------
Sophie eventually found herself in another abandoned store after deciding to only stay a night in one spot before moving on. She’d managed to swipe a small box of noodles that had been left on a food cart while the owner was turned and although they were terrible, Sophie was just glad to have found food.
She settled into a corner of the store, facing the single entrance. Rain had once again begun to fall heavily across the city and the girl was glad to have stolen the jacket. It offered some warmth in the cold, hostile city.
“System, show me the store please.”
Her system panel suddenly expanded, turning into a massive page reminiscent of a shopping website. Sophie quickly realised that the system hadn’t lied to her. There was so much on offer. Skimming her eyes over different options, she spotted dozens of items that intrigued her, each with an absurd price tag.
“God Potion? A potion that would just turn me into a god? Wow, that’s way too many zeros.” Similar to when she was creating her Chronos Sandevistan, she began to filter things such as magic out. Then she filtered by price.
“Right, this is…not much. Extra Special Ramen? Fancy Toast?” Turning away from her own perusal, she decided to ask her system for recommendations. It hadn’t led her astray yet and she had such a small amount of purchasing power. She wanted to make the most of it.
It is recommended that the host purchase a basic Interface System Cyberware. It will serve many purposes, including the ability to digitally store your money rather than keep it in on a shard.
Sophie quickly located a few options for the Interface System Cyberware, all costing around 600 M-Coins.
“Hmm, the ‘Secure Interface’ cyberware seems pretty good. Makes my digital profile slightly harder to hack. Let’s go with that one. It seems like they’re all pretty similar at this level anyway.”
Confirm Purchase: Secure Interface (Interface System Cyberware)
Y/N
Accepting, she was greeted with another prompt.
Would you like to install this cyberware?
Quickly arranging a good sleeping position, Sophie clicked yes, asking it to install the cyberware while she sleeps in the hope it wouldn’t be as painful.