Chapter 159

Chapter 159

Its not too bad.. Right?

I think it suits you. Misty assured me. It was a full twenty hours after I went under the knife. Vik had done a lot of work, and after eight hours I felt Perfect.

My neck was a little weird, but that was something adaptation would help with.

I looked in the little hand held mirror and what gazed back at me, was something more than human.

The Neural Link Vik had chipped into me was an Arasaka brand. So the chrome was the usual black with little red ports for everything.

I knew Hiromi would love it. But it wasnt just a few chip slots hidden beneath the flesh that had long grown over it.

This was heavy duty chrome, and I didnt like hiding my chrome.

So the entire back of my neck, from just above where my Occipital bun as Vik had called it, but it was just the bump on the back of my head. Everything below that was chrome to just above my shoulder blades. I even had some cool chrome stretching into the sides of my throat giving me a bit of flash there.

And now Misty was cleaning up my hair on the back of my head, and there it was.

The largest chunk of myself other than my arms, that wasnt natural, something I wouldnt be hidden away beneath my boots like my ankles.

And I low key fucking loved it.

Vik did a great job. It looks amazing. I said Okay so maybe it was more like high key I loved it.

Hehe, it really suits you. You always carried that Neo-Mil look. Well it looks even more so now.

I felt myself smiling even wider as I turned the mirror so I could see Misty.

Thanks Misty.

Of course. Youll make sure to take all the drugs Vik gave you in exchange.

I kept myself from laughing too hard as Misty was cutting my hair a bit but I flashed her a smile. Sure you bet.

Good. Youre one of the patients that actually listen to all the recovery instructions. You have no idea how hard it is to get a bunch of gonks to take their medicine correctly.

I giggled all the louder as Misty ranted, happily telling me horror stories of idiots not listening to Viks orders and coming back with their body rejecting chrome or worse.

All done It looks about the same as before, but from the back Well it definitely stands out In a good way!

Hold the mirror? I asked her and she nodded as I walked over to a wall mirror and with Mistys help was able to actually see it.

Heh. Im really glad that Vik or whoever owned it previously got rid of the Arasaka symbol on the back, instead of looking tacky, my chrome looked Sinister.

Cool.

Remember to follow Viks instructions! Misty demanded, and I nodded in agreement, the feeling felt weird as my neck no longer moved in the same way.

But I would get used to it.

Finally Misty let me free, and I would follow Viks instructions, only the actual instructions he had given me. We hadnt wanted to tell Misty that I had already healed post surgery, so Vik had given me different instructions before I had left.

I walked out and breathed in the Night City air. People walked past me, in a blur of neon and suspicion clad faces.

But I didnt care. Because today? I had just done something amazing. Time to go home. Despite the heal, I was still ordered to go very easy on my Cyberdeck, and not to even think about using my Sandy.

Even if the urge was there.

--

Youre staring.

Of course I am. My little sister got a nova upgrade. Jun agreed as he had intercepted me as I got home.

Shouldnt you be at work? I said, flushing a little at the attention.

I have the day off. Show me. He demanded but it was with a gentle smile and I huffed and did just that. Settling onto the couch.

Its an Arasaka Neural Link, an ODA apparently. The Sandys a Dynalar. Just a Mk.2.

Nova. Thats good chrome. Jun confirmed as he spun around me so he could get a better look.

He did a good job on the install, I can barely see the wounds. I nodded slightly at that. He had done an amazing job, but the real reason there werent any wounds was because I had slept eight hours after the install.

Anyway, I havent used it yet of course. I need to give it some time for everything to settle in. Docs orders. So Ill be working on stuff around the house Do you need anything done Armor for instance. I hinted and Jun just happily ignored me as he patted me on the shoulder.

Nah dont worry about it. That armor just got in the way. It was interesting, but not for me-Ow! Motoko!The initial instance of this chapter being available happened at N0v3l.Bin.

Im sorry I just happened to hit you right where you got shot the other day! Oops! Wow too bad you werent wearing the armor properly or it would have blocked that bullet and only given you a bruise! I hissed at him, and while Jun looked like he was about to pick me up and throw me, he hesitated, glancing up at my neck.

I reached up and rubbed my neck too and that put a damper on it. Jun wasnt going to rough house while I was healing.

I wish you would wear more armor. I told him seriously. Look at how effective it was for us. I got shot a few times in that fight Jun, but it didnt even slow me down.

He didnt say anything in turn at my turn towards the serious. Instead just patting me on the head. Dont forget to call Hiromi. Shell freak.

Hehe! Ill do that now. Maybe she wants to spend the night? I wondered and jumped off the couch to run to my room to make the call.

--

That kinda tickles.

Its so cool. Arasaka brand and everything! Im so proud. Hiromi said faux sniffling as she continued to poke at the back of my neck. I rolled my eyes.

Another eight hours would make the time until Sandy usage go down a lot.

So I closed my eyes and drifted off.

I awoke instantly and blinked. The light in the room was off, not that there wasnt enough light from my printers and laptop. So I rose up and blinked.

That Isn't quite it little guy. I muttered staring at the Tachikoma that had failed at lifting the block It was using its little grippers on the block and was just Sort of jerking itself forward and back. But the block wasnt going anywhere, because it was using the extension I had built into the grippers Kinda cute though. I stood up and moved to the computer. Oh yeah, that was a glitch alright.

A few moments later I sent the update and the Tachikoma stopped and then with a bit of prodding on my behalf through code, it finally managed to lift the block. Then it started walking and dropped it.

Ganbatte, Tachikoma-chan. I whispered to my drone and looked at the screen. I really should sit down and put in some actual work on the Tachikoma interface

Just thinking about it instantly brought ideas to my mind thanks to inspired programmer And it was like 2 am so I might as well get something done.

I shrugged and even if I couldnt program with my cyberdeck, I could still do it the old way.

I started typing, getting lost in the synergy between the VI I was creating from the Tachikoma, and a program to manually control them.

I would need to get the Minotaur interface tomorrow to look that one over as well. I could copy some of the program

Where was the Minotaur anyways? Last I saw it, Ichi had Ichi! That little sneak! I realized that Ichi had definitely stolen the Minotaur away from me! Well we would see about that.

I knew where he lived!

--

Ichinose

Ichi woke up to his alarm blaring.

Sighing into his pillow he blinked up his agent and then shut it down. He sighed into his pillow as he mustered up the energy to get up. Slowly he rose, eyes blinking, one of the benefits of optics, is that he didnt feel like he could barely see anything when he first woke up, everything was clear from the light coming in from his open window.

Which was weird, Ichi never left his window open. Something he had learned as a kid. He narrowed his eyes at it, and reached over to flip the switch, closing it back down. Nodding at that, he rose unsteadily to his feet, and took a few moments to stretch and groan.

He didnt want to get up this early, but Hiromi had dragged him into that SCSM job, and well

It wasnt about the pay so much, but it was a good experience. Ichi really liked driving through the city, seeing new places, and meeting people.

Malcolm might talk up his massively overpriced supercar, but he was also the idiot that could barely ever drive his car anywhere.

Ichi drove through the whole city whenever he wanted.

As he slipped into the bathroom he made the call to his new partner. even if the guy liked to try and get Ichi to call him boss.

Max was the guy that ran the SCSM shop. He was alright, but since Hiromi was technically Ichis boss, it gave him a lot of leeway.

*Hey kid! You coming in today or not? You caused a real issue yesterday!*

*Hey Max, yeah Im getting ready to come in. Ill have the Behemoth. Wont have full capacity though.*

*Fuck. How much room do I got?*

*About seventy percent, maybe eighty.*

Ichi ignored the cursing coming over the line, quickly washing up his hair and then once he was soap free stepping out, and grabbing a towel, quickly drying off he checked his mirror, doing a bit of work on his hair to even it all.

*Fine. But well have to haul ass to get a full route done in that case! I expect you in soon kid!*

*Itll be about thirty minutes Max. Ichi refuted the man's demands casually, pretty used to him now. It was kinda cool to be a teenager able to tell grown men to fuck off. It wasnt like Max had any other trucks with the same amount of armor, or capacity. And Hiromi had made it clear to the man that Ichi was the one in charge of the truck, full stop.

Not that Ichi went out of his way to piss him off. The extra storage area and secure holding for the truck was worth a lot on its own.

He stepped out of the bathroom, glad he had his own private one since this was an older style home pushing the beads out of the way he made two steps and then stopped cold.

M-Motoko? He asked, because there sitting on his bed, with her feet up was Motoko. Along with his Yukimura in her lap, that she was fiddling with.

Ichi. She greeted back calmly and Ichi felt a bit of discomfort, because Motoko was acting weird.

For one she was literally in his room.

Motoko? Whats going on? He asked a little awkwardly, making sure his towel was properly tightened around his waist. Dangit Motoko he just got out of the shower! Had Grandma let her in!?

She rose with a predator's grace, something she had started to show more and more lately, and almost languidly stalked him across the room.

Ichi felt his back hit the cold wall as she stalked him right into a dead end, and then she grabbed his hand and put his Yukimura into his palm.

You should really have more weapons on hand Ichi, I was able to take your pistol while you slept and you didnt even notice. She said almost jokingly and he relaxed a bit about to make a joke before asking her to get the hell out but suddenly her palms slammed into the wall beside his head.

Oh.

Oh no.

Ichi?

Y-yeah?

Wheres my Minotaur? She said with sinister intent and all Ichi could do was swallow, the emotions running through him in that moment complicated and unknowable.

I uh Can show you?

Perfect, get dressed. She agreed back to happy Motoko as she walked out of his room.

Ichi slumped nearly sliding down the wall.

What the fuck?