Night city had to be one of the worst places to find yourself in. People died left and right every single day, and life had little value in this overpopulated hellhole. I was in the most dangerous and trouble-ridden area on the planet from what I knew, and it damn well looked like it. It was hard to stay alive here. The food was expensive, the air was shit, and the people shittier.

Like the Scavs.

One of the many pieces of shit in this city. They take advantage of the chaos here, existing to fuck people over. By yourself in an alley? Scav’d. Drink a little too much? Scav’d. Have some cyberware on ya and you’re not well known? Scav’d. All they do is take. Even if it disgusts me, it was just part of the ecosystem here.

Which meant that having to deal with gangs was inevitable. The few people I could see loitering around, and the traffic in and out of the strip club was proof of that. I had dragged myself into a plastic chair near the machines, and took a few minutes to catch my breath. My body being out of shape was yet another reason to feel off. Might need to work on that if I’m stuck here.

I caught a woman getting kicked out of the strip club in the corner of my eye. She was chromed up. Would bet my last Eddie she's in a gang.

She was wearing a blazer that had the sleeves ripped off, showing off her tattoo covered chrome arms. She seemed to be exchanging heated words with the bouncer at the door, who was probably twice her size. I couldn’t make out what she was saying, but it was definitely slurred. I watched her as she argued with him about something, tossing a cigarette onto concrete in anger, the rain promptly putting it out.

“UGHH. I’m gonna’ kill em’!” She yelled, stomping on the cig repeatedly.

The top half of her face looked like what I could only describe as unsettling. It was indented and filled with red cameras, dimming and glowing in unison as they took in the world. She stumbled down the steps and walked towards her trashy car, pausing at the door.

My hand trembled at my side as I recognized the cyberware.

The Maelstrom were human garbage, I remembered. That dead bastard was talking about joining the group back in the car, and if he was struggling to get in while kidnapping and murdering people, this insect in front of me is just as bad as him. The anger had me clutching my gun before I even noticed it. I was glaring at her in rage.

Her optics were pointing directly at me.

“The hell you lookin at, bloody bitch?” She spat.

I spat as I aligned the iron with her head, the kidnapping was fresh in my mind, and it was egging me on like a crowd roaring in my head. All I had to do was pull the trigger.

She blurred, and all I could make out was a massive splash of rainwater in her wake. My stomach lurched as my body folded itself around a roundhouse kick that dug into my abdomen. All I could do was grit my teeth as I was launched into the wall behind me, the plastic chair coming apart with a crunch, its cheap material parting easily as my form tore through it.

My gun clattered on the floor.

I slid down the wall. My legs were numb, completely ignoring my commands to move.

“Oops. Hahaha, sorry about that dollface!” She slurred. “Firgot how flimsy you meatware fucks are. But anyways, “ She trailed off “That was dumb as shit choom, you really thought that thing could punch through my skull? You think I'm weak?” She said as if it was the funniest thing ever.

She was right, I was not thinking straight.

Tears welled up in my eyes as I watched her kick my pistol away. It wedged itself between two vending machines. I was doomed.

She stepped closer.

“You have no clue… No clue! You're like Max, huh? Think you're better than me? Please.” She said, her voice oozing frustration. “Everyone thinks they're better than lil ol Pammy!”

I regretted touching my pistol. It wouldn't have hurt her anyway, seeing as she had a god damn Sandevistan chipped in.

I opened my mouth to respond, and a wet hacking cough left my mouth instead of words. It felt like my guts wanted to come out of my back. I'm dying. Can I call anyone to help? Please tell me I have trauma team. As I finished that thought, a screen flickered into my vision, and a sharp electric pain erupted in my neck.

FUCK FUCK FUCK

The pain obliterated that train of thought, and I felt the shock disperse itself throughout my body as the screen fizzled out. It felt like I had a million ants running through me.

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

My brain was clear enough to know what that was. I had a fucking jammer in my neck port. I'm stuck here dying.

Pammy was staring at me, her cameras glowing brighter.

“Oouuu yippie! Would you look at that?” She walked in front of me and squatted down, her face inches away from mine. A wave of electricity assaulted my nerves as I felt her yank the shard out of my neck. “gots me a scav tag from a cutie. Thanks dollface.” She chuckled and kissed the bloody hole in my cheek.

Another screen popped into my vision. It felt ethereal, like it both was and wasn't there. It wasn't in a language I understood, but the meaning seared itself into my mind.

[Initializing…]

[Initializing 30%... do not shut down]

[Initializing 90%... do not shut down]

[Initialization complete.]

[Loading history…]

[Name: Scarlet]

[Age: 20]

[Level: 2 0/1000]

[Stats]

[Perks]

[Skills]

[Cyberware]

[Notificati–

The screen faded as Pammy flicked my forehead with her steel fingers, jolting me back into awareness.

“Nopeee. Nunna that. You're staying awake.” She quipped “I gotta tell you what happened! And you gotta listen to mee– *hic*” Pammy said with a hiccup.

“It was bullshit. Max fancies himself a fixer now. Paid me 10 percent and hid behind the fucking borgs like the tinydick he is. The ungrateful fuck. I was with him before his shitty club took off, and he aint get through his skull where he came from!” She ground out, and I could smell the alcohol in her breath as spittle mixed with the blood on my face. She paused, and her expression became venomous.

“I'm gonna flatline him.” Pammy chuckled again, and it dragged on, turning into a belly laugh. Her blood covered teeth were on display, and it was my blood on them. A shiver ran down my spine as I looked at her, “Least the shard will net me a nice helping of Eddies. Not sure how the hell a bitch like you got away from em, but Imma take it, okay? Yeah.”

I gurgled.

I could feel the greed in her voice as she grabbed my aching jaw and craned it up, looking at me as if I was a chunk of change. “mmmhm, you a pretty bit of meat girl, I can see why they took you.” I could see her smile grow even wider at the bottom of my vision as the terror in me fused with disgust.

“Who did it? Was it the Russians? Those fucks are everywhere, but you don't got much chrome on you babes. Oh! Was it Marcus?” Greed all

My eyes widened, and she seemed to notice.

“Ha, so it wash him! In that case, sucks to suck cuz’ it doesn't matter. Him and his steel-whatever group shit their pants when they see us. Bunch of low-tier gonks that sell shit chrome and braindead whores for the BD rings,” She spat, “I can do you better sweetheart. Maybe I can sell you off? Eh?” the emotion left her voice, “You'd make a nice gift for Boss. Maybe he'll finally put me on. Though, you're a bit torn up, so I’ll be kind and we'll get you to my ripper. But before that!” She looked at me with dim optics.

Her eyes flashed, “Ha, hilarious! I am so damn smart. Sent the little wannabes a picture of you! It's gonna be preem. Wanna rile them up a bit, been wanting to off those idiots for a while now.”

When I didnt respond she flicked me again, this time right on the hole in my cheek. “Thanks again dollface! But anyways, how bout’ it then? You excited for your new life of–”

I coughed in her face. I'd rather die than be used. No one tells me what to do. Especially this bitch.

The hand on my chin squeezed. Hard.

The bones in my jaw creaked and I felt the muscles holding it bruise. I think I cried out in pain, but I could only feel the pressure as she squeezed harder.

“You think I'm playing around choom?” Pammy yelled, her voice frigid. “I can't take those borgs, but you? You're baby food to me. Nameless. Nothing.” she spat.

“F-Fuck you.” I managed. My hand was pushing on her wrist. It didn't even move.

Pammy stared at me, and the seconds stretched on like hours.

Her optics changed, radiating a pale and sickly green. She seemed to be doing something important, going by the myriad of shapes her lips were making.

Her optics shifted back to red, and relief washed over me as she let go and got up.

“It’s your lucky day bitchhh! My chooms need me.” She popped a tablet in her mouth. “Wooo! That's better. Tell you what, I'll forgive you for hacking your guts out on me. I guess that was my bad choom. I'll even give you a gift as thanks for the stress relief and the shard.” She said as she pulled out a tube from the inside of her blazer.

It looked very familiar.

“Think fast!” She threw it straight into my nose and it bounced off, landing between my legs. I grabbed it.

“Hahahaha, it was fun! Bye~” Pammy trailed off as she jogged back to her car. I looked at my gun and quickly shook the thought away. Tears ran down my cheeks, burning as they ran over the wound.

I let her leave. She deserves to die, but I couldn't do it. Not yet. I'm too weak.

Her beat up car revved up, and I sat there as Pammy left in a hurry.

I stabbed the Maxdoc into me and felt a surge of energy as some clarity was restored. My chest puffed up as my internals shifted back into place. I let out a breath as I felt the bones in my jaw shift and the hole in my face slowly knit itself back together through the coagulated blood.

The feeling was coming back to my legs, and I found myself wailing as I watched the sunrise.

My stomach rumbled, uncaring of my emotions.