Sophie’s eyes gradually opened to a familiar roof. Surrounded by a soft red light, she knew she had made it safely to Vik’s. A small sense of relief escaped her. Then she heard footsteps. She tried to turn her neck but couldn’t, stopped by something holding it in place. Vik’s face appeared in her vision, a frown turning to a small smile when he saw her open eyes.
“Welcome back kid,” he started fussing around and with a small click, he removed a brace from around her neck. She tried to speak but all that came out was a series of croaks. He rushed off, bringing back a small can of water. She took small sips until her mouth and throat were no longer dried out.
“Thank you, Vik. I’m sorry for all the trouble.” His face softened before he sighed.
“That’s what I’m here for. Someone’s gotta keep you patched up with all the trouble you get into.”
“How long have I been out?” She could tell it had been a little while. Her body was completely stiff and there were sharp spikes of pain radiating across her body.
“It’s been a bit over three weeks. It took a few days to stabilise your condition before I could operate. The rest was recovery time after the surgeries.”
“I see. Is Misty okay? I’m sure I gave her quite a fright when I showed up.”
“She’s fine. Worried but fine. She’s spent at least a few hours everyday looking after you. Rita too.” He pulled a chair over and sat down next to her as he spoke.
“Rita’s been here too?”
“Came as soon as she heard the news. She was pretty distraught seeing you in that condition.” Sophie didn’t know how to respond. She had a lot on her mind at that moment. “Look, there are a few things we need to talk about.”
Sophie turned her attention back to Vik. She nodded slowly, and he continued.
“You…You’ve got people that care about you Soph. Misty, Rita and I all care about you. None of us want to see you get hurt. Obviously you’ve shown up injured before. Hell, I’ve seen you shrug off more damage than a lot of grown men. But you’re not invincible. This time, you were a hair’s breadth away from leaving us forever.” He paused. “Once you’re home, you need to take a moment to think about what you’re doing with your life. Take the time to figure out what you want.”
Sophie felt something wet trickle down her face. It took her a moment to realise she was crying. “I’m so sorry Vik. I’m so, so sorry.” He looked at her, then leaned in and gave her a hug.
“I know you are. You’re a good kid. Just don’t want to see you fly too close to the sun.” He leaned back. “Now, there’s a few things I need to tell you before I let you go home.” Sophie nodded. “I’ve had to replace a few things that were too heavily damaged to keep. Your lungs and liver have been replaced, but I was able to get the MoorE type that you wanted. I’ve had to replace your shoulders and collarbone however. Whatever you did, they were almost entirely shattered.”
Sophie thought back to her pursuit by Hansen’s goons. Must have been when I jumped and grabbed that cable. The way it went taut just before I hit the ground might have broken my shoulders. Her thoughts were interrupted by Vik’s voice.
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“Lastly, I stripped out the subdermal on your back and replaced it with cyberware. It should have a similar amount of protection but obviously you’ve lost that ‘human’ look. There was simply too much damage for me to redo the subdermal.” Sophie nodded as he spoke, then froze. “That’s the last thing I wanted to speak about.”
“Ahhh. I’ll uhh, answer what I can.”
“Since when have you had a sandevistan? I know it wasn’t me that installed it but I’ve known you for years now. Not to mention it’s a full spine replacement.” Sophie hated that she had to lie. Sadly, there was no way to explain the existence of the system without sounding like a lunatic.
“I’m not really sure when I got it. My best guess is some corp stuffed it in me when I was younger, before meeting you and Misty. But I don’t remember anything. I just woke up, my memories were gone and I had it in my back.” He didn’t look particularly satisfied by that answer. “Is that the reason for the unusual amount of stress I found across your body?”
“Probably. I’ve only used it a few times and every time, it drains me of all my energy. It normally takes me a bit over-”
“Over three weeks to get back to normal. That fits with how long it took for you to recover. Will it improve? The recovery time I mean.”
“Yeah. The more chrome I’ve got, the shorter the recovery time gets. Like when you replaced my arms and put in the subdermal. The recovery time dropped from a month to about three and a half weeks.”
“Fuck me,” he breathed. “I’ve never seen a sandevistan like that. I could attribute part of it to your age but still. A month between uses? How long does it last when you activate it?”
“Five seconds at best.” Clearly, that wasn’t the answer Vik was expecting. He started muttering to himself.
“Alright, well. Be careful with that thing. Whichever corp put that in you must be paying close attention to it. I’m not gonna ask for specifics because I don’t want to know. Now, Misty will be here shortly. I’m gonna run a few scans, make sure you’re alright to go home but she’ll take you back. And please, Sophie. Rest for a bit. Think about what I said before. Figure out what you’re doing with your life.” The girl hated lying to him like that but she appreciated the concern he had for her safety.
The silence of the basement was eventually broken by Misty, who practically stole Sophie away from Vik and bundled her into a car.
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The car was silent the whole ride to Sophie’s apartment. She had looked at Misty a few times but was discouraged from speaking due to the white knuckle grip the older girl had on the wheel.
Once they arrived, Sophie was once again picked up and brought into the apartment. Vik had told her she would need at least a day to recover from the week of bedrest hence she wouldn’t be able to walk for a while.
Misty took her straight up the stairs and lay Sophie down in bed, then sat next to her. The injured girl waited for her friend to speak. A few minutes later, she began.
“Whatever you were doing. Was it worth it?” Misty’s voice was soft, almost afraid of the reply.
“No. It wasn’t worth it at all.” That was the truth. She had been in the pre-dogtown area to level her Markswoman class faster, thinking she had plenty of time before Hansen would arrive. Ultimately, he arrived earlier than she thought he would.
“Where were you Soph? What happened?” Thus, Sophie explained where she had been and the events that nearly led to her death. Once she was finished, Misty spoke again. “Are you going to keep doing things like this? Are you gonna keep making me worry about you, that I might never see my precious little friend again?” As she spoke, tears started running down her face. “I don’t want you to disappear Sophie. You’re my best friend in this damned city.” Sophie started crying as well.
“I’m sorry Misty. I really am,” she sniffled a bit. “I’m gonna keep doing stupid stuff. I can’t stop, not if I want to be the best damn merc Night City has ever seen. But, I’m going to take some time to figure out a better way to do it. I keep hurting you and Vik and Rita. I don’t wanna see you crying, not because of me.” She paused. “I’ll do better from now on. I promise.”
“You’d better.” Misty stood up. “I’d better let you rest now. I’ll come by tomorrow, check on you. Take it easy for a little. You’re still a kid, you don’t need to push yourself so hard.”
“I know Misty. Don’t worry, I’ll look after myself from now on.” The older girl gave a murmur of acknowledgement. Before she could leave, she stopped and looked back.
“I’ll do my best to support you Soph. Always. If you need help, you can come to me. Don’t forget that.”
“You too Misty. You too.” The girls said their goodbyes. After Misty left, Sophie lay in her bed, wondering about what kind of changes she could make.
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The following morning, Rita showed up. The Mox girl began checking her over, as if she was worried Sophie would suddenly shatter into a million pieces.
“Y’know Soph, you really had me worried for a while. You always seemed so…invincible. Seeing you knocking on death’s door like that was scary. Don’t you worry though. I’ll keep a much closer eye on you from now on. I’m not gonna let you go galavanting off without any help.” Sophie was stunned by the change in demeanour. “But for now, how about you tell me all about your little adventure.” Ah. There’s the Rita she knew. Sophie smiled, telling her the same story she had told Misty the night before.