What They Want IV

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"Ngh..."

Through Rebecca's blurred vision, a man with roses and Spanish lettering tattooed on his arm moved busily beside her. When he saw she was awake, he plugged a human-machine interface cable into her neural port and muttered through a string of data.

"You're awake?" Vik smiled faintly.

The yellow-pink optics in front of him were full of confusion. She had clearly just come out from anesthesia.

Another face leaned into view. His brows were slightly drawn, and sweat had made a few strands of hair cling to his forehead.

She murmured, "Cade...?"

Cade glanced at Vik, who was operating the instruments with practiced hands, then quickly asked Rebecca, "You okay, Rebecca?"

Rebecca nodded on instinct and lifted her arm.

A rough-styled mechanical hand entered her view.

Hm?

Rebecca jolted. Since when had her hand turned into a giant robot hand?

Cade saw the shock on her face and felt his expression darken.

Rebecca probably would not like this style of cyberware. It made sense. She was small, and now her hand was almost as big as her head. Anyone who had not prepared mentally would be startled.

After all, in the future Cade remembered, Rebecca had only installed Gorilla Arms that could handle Guts's recoil after losing Pilar.

Vik watched Rebecca's emotional response while keeping an eye on the machine data.

Cade also clenched his fist slightly, unsure what to say.

Rebecca stared at her arm in shock. "Holy shit. Cade, my arm..."

Cade hesitated, not knowing how to explain.

Rebecca burst into laughter.

"This is fucking nova!"

She was thrilled.

What?

Cade froze.

Vik smiled. "Looks like your decision was correct. This patient likes the arm very much."

The anesthesia had not fully worn off, so Rebecca's legs and waist still could not move properly. Her expression, however, was lively enough. She looked at Cade as if he had finally done something smart.

"Not bad, Cade. How did you know I wanted these for ages? That Dogtown arm was garbage."

Fine. Be happy, then.

Cade realized he had worried for nothing. He dropped onto the surgical bed beside her with a helpless look that said she could do whatever she wanted.

Everything felt strange now. If Rebecca installed Gorilla Arms in 2075, and V had already connected with him in Dogtown, would the future still follow its original path?

Then again, Cyberpunk aesthetics were hard to judge.

Rebecca admired the arm like a masterpiece. For a moment, Cade almost saw an ordinary woman admiring the manicure she had always wanted. He must have been losing it. These days, he could crack someone's skull open with his fist without much mental burden, yet this still gave him a strange feeling.

These cyberpunks rarely showed much emotion outside combat and gunfire. That made Cade feel dazed, as if this world were almost normal.

"How much was this chrome?" Rebecca suddenly remembered and looked up at Vik.

Vik pursed his lips toward Cade. "Cade already paid. No need to worry."

Rebecca slammed her head back into the surgery chair and stared wide-eyed at the ceiling. After a long while, she said, "Cade, are you trying to get with me? Pilar does not even know I like this arm."

Cade nearly choked.

'What am I after? Your flat chest? The way you slap my head when you get mad? If not for the panel rewards - forget it.'

The longer Cade stayed silent, the stranger the atmosphere became.

Vik could not hold it in anymore. He laughed twice and pulled out the soft cable.

"Try moving. The arm should be fine now, but pay attention to system self-checks. Understood? If anything feels wrong, see a doctor immediately."

Rebecca, who usually talked loud and rough, nodded obediently this time. Her voice softened.

"Thanks a lot."

Vik gathered the packaging and materials from the cyberware and told Cade he was taking the trash out. Cade tried to help, but Vik refused. In Cade's old culture, helping with small things like that was basic courtesy. Here, in this social atmosphere, reaching in to help with someone else's minor task could be intrusive.

Rebecca hopped down from the surgery chair. Her mechanical fingers opened and closed with soft metallic clicks. To Cade's surprise, she ignored him completely and started playing with the arm by herself.

"Whoa. This thing has so, so much power!"

Then she started punching the sandbag hanging inside Vik's clinic.

Only after she had enough fun did she bump her fists together and bounce over to Cade. When she noticed him staring at her expressionlessly, she gave him a teasing look.

"You embarrassed?"

Cade sighed. "That was too dangerous. Maine and the others could not cover you in time. You nearly died. You know that?"

Rebecca slowly put away her smile and waved it off.

"We all got here like that. If the problem does not get solved, someone dies. But that person cannot be Pilar. Only I get to kill Pilar. Nobody else."

"Pilar's aim is terrible, you know that? My dumbass brother should be staying home building parts and hanging off pretty rocker girls in bars."

Cade sighed. "You were afraid Pilar would die there."

Rebecca buried her face in her collar. Her voice sank.

"There were too many people, Cade. I knew we had taken a job we could not handle. Mr. Rook told us to grab Marta, and Dorio said it would be dangerous. But people like us go out to make money. That is how it works. In Night City, everyone wants to get through the Afterlife door and become someone with a fast car and a real name."

"We wanted to make a name in Dogtown too."

Cade folded his arms and felt complicated inside.

He had known the crew had a high chance of dying there. Cade was not heartless, but if he wanted to compete with Hands, he could not afford soft mercy.

The netrunner had been an accident, and the crew's performance had exceeded his expectations. But surviving did not mean he could only celebrate. This was also a reminder: could this crew really become his foundation?

He fell into thought.

Rebecca flexed her arm like she was showing off muscle. "With arms like these, I can use heavy firepower without worrying. I am not Pilar. I can actually shoot."

Cade looked at this unpredictable little storm of a merc and smiled helplessly.

"At close range, if the other side has smart weapons, good aim stops being much of an advantage."

Rebecca clicked her tongue, irritated. "Hey, hey. Stop looking down on people, asshole. Not everyone can afford smart weapons. Speaking of... where are Maine and the others? They are not getting repairs here?"

Cade shook his head. "One doctor cannot handle everyone. They found a fairly experienced ripperdoc in Japantown."

Rebecca nodded. "Oh."

"Money's sent. I do not like owing people. But thanks. Next time we can dance together."

Rebecca's optics lit up. She stood on one foot, spun once, and looked deeply pleased with herself.

Cade found her personality impossible to predict. Cloudy one second, sunny the next.

A transaction notice appeared in his account. Cade planned to ignore it, then noticed the number of digits was wrong. His dull eyes suddenly widened.

How much?

[System Notification]

Account Transfer: +60000 eurodollars.

Balance: 320000 eurodollars.

She had not spent a single eddie from the salary he paid her.

A crew member like her had managed to save that much money. Looks like her hobbies were drinking, dancing, and not much else.

For some reason, the sound of money entering his account felt unbelievably good. Even if he did not spend it, just looking at it had power.

Rebecca saw Cade stretching his neck and staring at her with a strange expression. She burst out laughing.

"Take it, take it. Consider it a reward."

She really was like Maine had said. A miser. No car, no guns, just chrome.

Kind of cute.

Cade was, of course, dissatisfied with her attitude. A reward? What was that supposed to mean? He was the boss here.

While the two of them traded verbal blows, a new message rolled across Cade's Arasaka subnet feed.

[System Notification]

Night City News: On October 13, a netrunner attack struck City Hall's information database. Some Arasaka business data was lost. Estimated Arasaka intervention probability: 30%.

NCPD Warning: Cyberpsycho incident reported in Westbrook, Japantown. MaxTac is en route. Nearby employees should protect personal safety and verify Trauma Team procedures.

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