Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The time had finally come. Something that David had been avoiding thinking about for a long Time.

The Tanaka job. Now… They weren't ready to go after Tanaka himself, but they were ready to start acquiring him once they had the proper lead. That lead was of course JK. Jimmy Kurosaki. The creator of the Edgerunners XBD series that David had been so obsessed with long before he ever got involved with Lucy and Maine's crew. The shit that David was frankly ashamed that he'd been so into. Especially after experiencing what Kurosaki had done to him in the Before, it was…

It still left him with an elevated heart rate, with Sandy gently soothing him, calming him down from the leftover trauma and fear.

(Kurosaki not touch David this time. Sandy applied bio-shielding to keep from losing functionality again.)

You're sure? No chance his EMP shit won't wipe you out temporarily?

(Not a chance. Since undercover gig, Sandy been developing this defense while David sleep. It why David eating even more. Developing defense expensive metabolically.)

He breathed in deep, and exhaled slowly, the apartment empty except for himself. It was a little lonely, but made it easier to have a panic attack without worrying the girls. Especially when the two of them had decided to go on a date for themselves for a few hours. They'd offered to have him come along, but he'd supported them working out their relationship without him there.

So we're safe.

(Safe as you can be in Night City. Sandy will protect you, like you protect everyone David.)

Well then… time to meet up with Maine and Kiwi. They'll be going over the information at our little headquarters.

Sandy gave him one last night squeeze, before David got up to get dressed once more, having only been in a pair of black cotton boxers. Walking by the mirror, he marveled for just a moment at his frame. He was no taller than he'd ever been, sure. But he was muscular. Holy fucking shit he was actually hench. He had traps, he had lats, he had abs. He had all of that, and he wasn't even at a super low body fat. He felt strong. Fast. And he'd worked for it all, long hours working out with Dorio multiple times a week. Growth that was fast, but done purely through hard work instead of replacing bits and pieces of himself with cyberware.

I… I actually did this. I didn't… need cyberware did I? Not more than you, anyway. I just… needed to work hard. Didn't I?

(Sandy… great equalizer. But yes… you worked so very hard. Sandy proud.)

He smiled, and with a new vigor, picked out his clothes. A pair of black slacks with plenty of stretch and give for if he needed to run or kick. A dark red long sleeve shirt as for whatever reason, today was actually a bit nippy. And of course, it was all lightly armored. It wouldn't stop a shotgun slug or a round from an assault rifle, but most pistols would at least slow down, divert a lot of the penetrating power into a broken rib or massive bruises. Of course he'd need to get his gear repaired…

But hell. He'd take it.

Once he'd finished pulling on his clothes, he took the time to pick up his mom's jacket, wrapped around her decorated urn, and brought it to his face, hugging the rugged fabric, breathing in deep. His mom's scent was still strong in the fabric… and to be frank he wasn’t sure if he was imagining it, or if Sandy was imitating it in his brain to be more comforting to him… and he didn't want to know. He was just grateful that she wasn't gone in another way.

Miss you mamá.

He could almost feel her stroke his hair, and whisper that she loved him. Almost. But she was gone. And he had to deal with the mortal realm, and what they were going to do. So reluctantly wrapping the jacket around the urn once more… he turned to call Maine.

David: Alright bossman, what are we doing here?

Maine: Head over to Aldo's. Kiwi's diving to see if she can figure out an approach that will allow us to snatch Tanaka without making a lot of noise. I want your opinion on some stuff… oh. And Pilar wanted to talk to you when you get here.

David: What's he need?

Maine: I don't know dawg. Choom got a lil’ closed lipped, but he said he really needed to talk to you.

David:... Hmm. Alright. You want me coming ASAP or take my time?

It had become a bit of code, just in case there was someone listening to their transmissions so as not to talk about Sandy.

(Nobody be able to listen… Sandy good.)

The pouty prideful tone of his choom made him laugh softly, and project a sense of a headpat which Sandy grumbled at, but projected its own sensation of pushing against his hand.

Maine: Take your time dawg. We ain't time critical at the moment. You getting here quicker isn't going to change anything right now.

David: Alright then. I'll hit the NCART and head on over. Shouldn't be more than 20 minutes or so.

Maine: See ya then David.

Ending the call, he secured his Nova to his hip like always, and walked out of the apartment once more, the door locking behind him. The halls of the complex the three lovers lived in were honestly… well it wasn't the worst, but it certainly wasn't the best. Hell, it was honestly starting to bother him enough that he was considering cleaning up the damn place himself. But if there was one thing that was endearing about the place, it was the kids that played on the stairs and hallways.

Ever since he'd gone home covered in blood after saving Dean and Claire's life, the kids of the complex had started to watch him with a little sense of awe and wariness. He'd of course been friendly whenever one of them would come up to say Hi, dared by one of their little friends.

The fact that he'd never gotten mean or pissy with them, along with the fact that he was closer to their age than their parents made them warm up to him quite a bit. Lucy found it amusing and Rebecca actually played with the kids occasionally, the chaotic little gremlin.

"Mr David! Mr. David! Are you going out on a job??"

"Are you gonna fight Morgan Blackhand??"

"Blackhand is dead stupid!"

"Nuh uh! It's just nobody can find him."

David laughed, his face breaking into a smile as he leaned against a wall, looking at the gaggle of adolescents before him.

"Well then, how am I supposed to fight Morgan Blackhand if I can't find him?" He teased the young boy playfully

The boy screwed up his face in concentration before shrugging.

"Miss Lucy can find him on the Net!"

David nodded seriously at this, before asking his next question.

"And what about Miss Becca?"

A girl next to the boy grinned in a very similar manner to his shortstack output. Ah Rebecca… corrupting the youth of NC.

"She'll be blowing up all the corpos that try to come after you while you fight!"

He considered this, cupping his chin with a hand, and nodded approvingly.

"Sounds like what Becca would do. But if my memory is correct, you kids should be doing some school work right now hmm?" He said, giving them a mildly baleful eye. The gaggle of children shifted nervously, no longer looking at him.

"... It's boring Mr David. Besides, I'm going to be an Edgerunner like you! I won't need to learn math or any of that!"

David snorted and shook his head.

"You think I didn't go to school guys? I did. I was top of my class. Mathematics, linguistics, business strategy, history and more. I was the top scoring student in Arasaka Academy. And while I might not have graduated, that doesn't mean that the things I learned there haven't continued to help me throughout the rest of my life. If you can't read well, how are you gonna manage a contract? A Corpo will have you sign away your freedom in an instant. If you don't know your numbers, how are you gonna be able to tell if your manager, your boss, or your fixer is cheating you out of your pay?"

The looks of discontent but acceptance on their faces made it clear that they got the point he was trying to get across.

"Now go on… go work on your homework. If you have trouble with it, when I get back I'll see if I can help you. How's that sound?"

He said with a grin, enjoying how they all seemed to perk up.

"Hell yeah! Thanks Mr. David!" There was a chorus of such words spoken, and the assembled children scattered to go do their homework, leaving him to start making his way down the street to the NCART.

The streets of Japantown were slowly becoming more and more familiar to David as he walked them daily, though not to the memorized level that wandering the streets of Arroyo was. Which of course made sense comparing how long he'd lived in the Santo Domingo sub-district.

Watson was still his favorite place to walk around in, as most people weren't looking to rob you every 100 feet there. Unfortunately, Japantown had Tygers everywhere. He didn't really have too many opinions on Tyger Claws, as he'd never really interacted with them much in the Before beyond the two who'd come after him and Lucy when they'd stolen Maxim's car. And now, the only interaction he'd really had was a job or two of clearing out bases, and the one personal interaction he'd had with them were the two muggers.

He'd not even thought of them ever since it had happened, but as he turned down an alleyway that would give him a straighter shot to the NCART station, he was suddenly aware of multiple people converging on him.

(Connected to cameras. Tygers. Two of them are familiar.)

With some tech wizardry, Sandy managed to project the images it was seeing directly from the cameras in front of his eyes, kind of like a Holo screen. And yep… it was those two dumbasses.

Coming to a slow halt, his hands in his pockets, he looked around lazily at the… yep. Eight people surrounding him, all wielding some kind of weapon. A few were holding clubs and bats, while at least two were holding swords.

The one who was most obviously in charge however was holding one of the biggest guns he'd ever seen.

What the fuck? I never used one of those but I could swear I've seen it before…

(RT-46 Burya. Tech revolver made by Techtronika. High caliber, dense weapon. Durable and reliable.)

Stronger than my Nova?

(Much. You'd be better off with an overture, or even a Burya yourself now. Body is much stronger now, can handle strain.)

"So… you're the moron who decided that he could step up to my boys hmmm?" The Burya wielding Tyger was walking around him slowly, giving David a good look at him.

Fucker looks like he's got a linear frame.

(Feasible. Would explain the ability to use the Burya without injury.)

"And you must be Sazawa-san then." David said easily, watching the man carefully, in agreement with Sandy that the moment one of them began to aim their guns at him, it would be time to go scorched earth.

"Ah… Sora mentioned you could speak Japanese. So it turns out he wasn't bullshitting. You fucked up big time boy."

David rolled his eyes at the posturing, already tired of this entire situation.

"And how did I do that exactly?"

Sazawa leveled an annoyed glare at him, but continued his circular pacing.

"You disrespected a Tyger in his own hunting grounds. That is unacceptable."

David's jaw clenched a little, his eyes beginning to flare in annoyance and a slowly building rage.

"If your men hadn't tried to mug me while I was walking home, this wouldn't have been an issue. You're going to tell me I should have simply let them rob me?"

"Mmmm… they've been punished for their unauthorized activities, be sure. But that doesn't change the fact that when you disrespect the Tyger… you get the Claws."

Jesus Christ this guy is full of himself.

"So, what exactly happens next?"

"Well… we give you a choice. One… you get on your knees, and my boys beat you to within an inch of death. We'll call you an ambulance after, and I and the Tyger Claws will consider this situation settled. You won't be bothered going forward by any of my boys if you survive."

What was weird was that Sazawa was selling this as the preferred method of dealing with this situation. Like he actually believed it.

"And if I decide that that doesn't sound like a good time?"

Sazawas face became more stone-like. Cold and professional.

"You've got a nice little apartment don't you. Hear you've managed to get a couple of girls staying with you regular. Impressive. Wouldn't want something to happen to you and for them to find employment in one of our… pleasure houses would you?"

Everything froze.

Sandy…

(Got rid of recording software in cameras for the next five minutes.)

Thank you.

(Hurt them.)

"I'm going to give you… one opportunity to walk away, Sazawa. One opportunity to realize that you just fucked up, apologize… and leave, never to bother me again. If you insist on continuing… I will hurt you. And I will hurt you badly."

There was a moment where David believed that maybe… just maybe he was going to listen.

"Bet you think you're all tough what with your Sandevistan. But guess what punk… you're not special." Sazawa suddenly blurred in his vision, moving quickly towards David. The celerity of the Tyger Claw was overwhelming for a moment.

But a moment only.

Activating his own Sandevistan, time slowed to a crawl, and then a crawl of a crawl. He looked around, the array of enemies more a targeting range than anything. Drawing his Nova, he slowly and methodically checked the barrel, the cylinder, and the hammer. Everything in order.

Fire, drop, cycle, and reestablish aim. That work for you?

(Do it.)

He turned his gaze to one of the Tygers surrounding him, took aim at the man's left knee, and fired. The flicker on and off of Sandy managing the Sandevistan allowed him to pull the trigger in the slowdown, the cylinder to cycle in real time, and find a new target. It was always strange to do this… the cycling effect on his sense of hearing was always weird. He would go from hearing nothing except Sandy's voice In his head… only to suddenly have everything rush in for a fraction of a second, to then go back to nothingness.

He could imagine the effect of the bullets on their knees, the blood, the bone, the cartilage. The sickening crunch and pop. The screaming of agony and fear. Multiply that tenfold, all of them shrieking their sudden fear and agony. He didn't flinch, nor hesitate, simply aimed and fired. He had to reload halfway through, but Sandy made doing that a cakewalk.

Looking back at Sazawa, he idly noticed that the man had yet to even finish taking his second step. Raising his Nova, he prepared to shoot out the Tyger Lieutenant's knee, only for Sandy to stop him.

(Nova ineffectual to body like that. Weapon would hurt but not debilitate. Need to aim for weaker targets. Eye sockets and inner mouth.)

He considered that, and nodded, moving forward to the Tyger lieutenant, and placed the revolver barrel a half inch from the man's eyes.

Cut his Sandevistan.

(Brute job, but it'll get done.)

The crawl that Sazawa had been operating at suddenly stilled to nothing.

(Done.)

Gratitude.

(Awww! Sweet!)

Dropping the dilation, Sazawa came to a stumbling but sudden stop, eyes wide and sweat beginning to build up around him as he heard the screams of pain, the pulse and splatter of blood on pavement, and whimpers of fear.

"Wh-what the fuck?" The man whispered in English, disbelief evident in his eyes as David’s arm never wavered, not even a centimeter.

"Give me your gun." David said, not bothering to speak Japanese now, the barrel oh so close to his eyes. The man's jaw clenched, but the disbelief and fear overpowered what pride he still had, and slowly, pulled the Burya from his hip, and even slower handed it over.

David could feel the difference in the weight of the guns as he took it in his left hand. It still was pretty light to him but it had solidness and heft the Nova just didn't have.

"Look man… we can just let this go. You've proven your point, just walk away… and nothing more needs to happen." Sazawa said slowly, never moving his gaze away from the barrel of the Nova.

"It's funny, Sazawa. That's what those two said to me when they tried to mug me. They said it was over."

He gestures the Burya around at the groaning and bleeding Tygers around him.

"This… pretty much proves that that was a lie. So now, here you are, after threatening me, threatening my girls…" His voice deepened to an almost savage rumble as he leaned in. "And you're telling me… now… after I've proven that I'm better than you, that you'll take the lesson learned… and stay out of my way. Is that about correct?"

The Tyger swallowed, sweat beading up along his flesh again as he struggled to find an answer.

"I… look choom, it's all business. Reputation! We couldn't be seen to let some no-name punk get away with stepping to the Tygers."

"Well see, there was your mistake. I have a name. It's David Martinez. And I think I need to leave a warning to you, your little peons, and your supervisor about what will happen if you ever try to hurt me, my girls, my friends, or anyone I might have a fondness for."

And before the man could reply, David shifted the Burya in his left hand and shot Sazawa in the knee, severing the limb.

Sazawa screamed in agony, falling backwards into a crumpled heap as he clutched at his leg, the blood pumping freely, before seemingly clotting rapidly. Hm… must have been some precautionary cyberware installed. Good. Meant that he wouldn't have to tourniquet the limb to make sure he didn't die.

"You fucking son of a bitch! My fucking leg!! Oh god… the Tygers aren't gonna let this pass!"

David paused, looking at the lieutenant and crouched down so that his words could be heard without him raising his voice.

Sandy? Details.

(Repeat after me.)

"Your name is Sazawa Hirohi, you are one of three children, the only boy of the group. Your mother died three years ago, and your father is still working at a noodle stand close to Westbrook. You've got a partner who lives in the city center and you're looking at the birth of your first child. Oops. Guess you didn't know that yet. Your girlfriend planned to tell you when you got home. Your banking ID number is 555-890385-20, and you're currently in hock to a pachinko parlor for thirteen thousand eddies. Do I need to go on?"

As he spoke, it was interesting to see how the color just fully drained from Sazawa's face, leaving him pale and silent.

"Answer me Sazawa."

"No… you don't… fuck!- need to go on.I'll.. no one will bother you man. They won't. It's over. Nobody touches you, or the girls."

David nodded in acknowledgement to what he said, and continued on.

"Good. That's good Sazawa. Because if anyone… anyone from the Tygers, or connected to the Tygers in any way bothers them? Inconveniences them in any way? I'm going to make it your problem, Sazawa. And I think that you and I have an understanding. That there's nothing you can do to escape me, if you make me angry again."

Sazawa was the picture of a broken man, and it made David marvel briefly about how quickly a man could be brought from the heights of assumed superiority to the crushing reality of inferiority in mere moments. He couldn't even look at David, the shame and frustration plain on his face.

"...You've made yourself clear… David Martinez."

"Good. Now get yourselves patched up. I've got an appointment, and I can't be wasting my time any further here."

And he just walked away, still carrying the Burya as he made his way to the NCART, finally exhaling, the cold void that had filled his core slowly becoming something more human.

Did I go too far?

(No.)

I didn't think so. But I don't…

(They threatened Rebecca and Lucy. Their lives were forfeit. You were merciful.)

As he entered the car on the NCART, he could finally feel the effects of the adrenaline that had been flowing through him slowly bleed off. He wasn't shaking much, he noted idly as he took a seat. Not too crowded today. That was good. He needed some space after the event that took place.

In the meantime, he needed to warn Lucy and Becca. He might have warned Sazawa, but that didn't mean that nothing else was going to happen. If either of them got hurt because he didn't tell them about the shit that had happened, he'd never forgive himself.

David: Sorry to interrupt ladies, but I needed to let you know about something kind of important.

He quickly explained the events of the first confrontation with the Tygers a while ago, before reciting the series of actions he committed when dealing with the most recent.

David: I told him that if he tries anything further, or if the Tygers hurt you two or anyone else in an effort to mess with me? That I would hold him personally responsible. But pride and fear of his supervisors might break the fear I had on him just now… so I wanted to warn you, to keep an eye out. Ok?

Lucy: you're a fierce one, my love. Are you alright? Not your body, but your mind.

Rebecca: mmm. What Ice Queen said. You okay Davey? You did some kickass shit from what you said, but if you're feeling rough…

David: I'll be honest. I don't feel anything about what I just did. I was pissed when they approached me, and annoyed as fuck when they spouted their whole reputation shit. But when they threatened you…

He shuddered in remembrance as the fury once more dissipated into something much more dangerous.

David: I felt nothing. I maimed and at least temporarily crippled eight people, and I don't feel a damn thing.

Rebecca: You're a good guy David. But ya shouldn't feel bad because you put some scum who wouldn't get out of your face down. Me? I'd have shot their fucking nuts off at a minimum.

Lucy: I'd have made their brains melt from the inside. Slowly.

David: It's not that I feel bad. I guess… I feel bad that I don't feel bad. Does that make sense?

Lucy: Only in the sense that I understand what you're trying to get across. David… I love you. And to protect you, I would do vile things. And I don't feel bad at all about it. Rebecca's nodding her head right next to me.

David exhaled and smiled softly.

David: Thanks girls… It means a lot that I have your support. Now, go on and continue with your date. I've got to meet up with Kiwi and Maine, see what we can do in regards to Tanaka.

Lucy: mmm. Alright David… but stay safe. Ok?

Rebecca: Say hey to the crew for us. We'll be home later.

Finishing up their goodbyes, David ended the call, making his way outside of the car once it stopped. Making his way to Aldo's, he wasn't stopped. Whether that was because of his facial expression which was very unwelcoming, the new heavy gun that he still had in his left hand, or just that nobody felt like testing their luck, he was unaccosted the entire trip.

After his first couple of times struggling with the memories of the Before, he no longer began to break down when entering the crew's headquarters. In general, he was slowly starting to acclimate to the reminders of his failure, but there were some things that still brought him to a standstill. Things he hadn't addressed at all.

He just hoped that today wouldn't be a day where he had to.

Stepping into the room attached to the diving bath, David caught sight of the big man himself fiddling with a… was that a drawing tablet?

"Hey Maine. How you doing choom?" Maines eyes, which he now realized had been emitting a low blue glow dissipated before turning to face him, a relaxed smile on his face.

"Hey kid. Kiwi's still diving in the data we retrieved from Maxim, looking to see if there's anything we can find. I'm just messing about with this tablet Dorio got me. Seems I still got the touch." Maine smirked, before sending an image of what he'd been working on to David.

Huh… not bad. It was something out of a rock album art, filled with demons, big breasted muscular women, and skulls galore.

"Badass choomba. You got a talent. "

Maine snorted.

"Yeah it's alright. Tell you what, you become a big Rockerboy Star, and I'll do your first album art for you." The big man said jokingly. David rolled his eyes at the concept. Right. Him, a Rockerboy. Wouldn't that be the day?

(David getting very good.)

But not that good Sandy, come on.

(Not yet.)

With that ominous sounding comment, David decided to take a seat next to Maine and wait for Kiwi to get finished.

"Where's Pilar?" He asked curiously, not having talked to the Techie for a bit, wondering if maybe the guy had been… avoiding him. He hadn't tried ludicrously hard to get in touch with him, but with how Pilar had acted when confronted with Schneider… It left David with some incredibly heavy suspicions. But suspicions were not confirmations, and with Pilar still not communicating with him at the moment, it was hard to do anything except worry. And Maine had said he wanted to talk to him.

"Where he's been since we last saw him. He got in contact with me, said he'd be busy working on some project of his. Said you'd know the one he was talking about. But that he would show up in a few hours."

Well… that helped ease the tension a little, but only by virtue of the idea of having his Mom's jacket constantly around him once more. He'd had an underlying level of stress ever since he'd been unable to wear his mom's jacket with him all throughout the day. The dream was that the jacket would be able to regenerate itself of any damage done, so he'd never be afraid of bullet holes or general wear and tear.

If Pilar managed to actually pull that off, David would never be able to pay him back.

"Mmm. Well… that's good. Anyway, what's the news from Regina?"

Maine's eyes had lit up once more and his big mitts were again working the tablet as he answered David's question.

"Good stuff. Seems the guy is a textbook class of cyberpsychosis. They got the guy chromed down, and they're putting him through regiments of anti-psycho drugs along with a bunch of therapy. Regina didn't go into a lot of detail, but she seemed hopeful. Oh, and she said that when you're ready, she's got that information you were looking for."

He supposed that was why Regina Jones was the fixer in Watson. The former Media really wasted no time in making sure she had everything she needed in a short period of time.

"That's good. So… how do we know that she's actually following through on her end of the deal to talk us up? Like, I'm not saying I don't believe her, just how do you measure that… ya know?" Maine looked over at him briefly with an approving smile before continuing his artistic endeavors.

"Mmm… real good question kid. Now… Some of that is up to faith. You can't ever be hundred percent when it comes to determining if someone's fulfilling their end of the bargain unless you're monitoring them every moment of every day. But I have been receiving more offers of work from some of the bigger names in the city since we made that deal with Regina. Even had an uptick in interest from folks since Regina picked up Schneider. Now eventually, that's gonna level out, because though Regina is good she's not the best in the city. But once we start working in those echelons… the last bastion is Dexter DeShawn, and Rogue. DeShawn has been gone for a year and Rogue is picky. She only picks the best of the best."

Which said something that no matter how high David had risen… he'd never gotten an offer of work from the former Solo turned Fixer himself in the Before.

"So… where in comparison is Four Eyes?"

Maine grimaced and shook his head.

"... Middle tier. At best. Motherfucker knew how to bamboozle me, thinking he was the best fixer I'd be able to get offering me work in NC outside of Rogue. Shit, I've heard that he's pissed off Rogue bad enough that he's not even allowed into the Afterlife anymore. I'll be fucking glad when we're done with this gig so I never have to look him in his smug ass face ever again."

The light avalanche of ice and dripping water caught David's attention, only just now remembering what that would mean. Kiwi in all of her naked glory stepped out of the ice bath, her skin tinged slightly blue but whether that was from the tattoos or just the sheer cold, she looked amazing. Full perky breasts that were seemingly a little smaller than Lucy's, a svelte leanish body along wide hips and corded thighs. All in all, the body of a fit woman, covered in a delicious spider-web tattoo that left him salivating slightly.

(David salivating over Bird. Kiwi has evolved into Great Tit.)

David had to fight everything within him not to react to that comment.

"So Kiwi, what have you got for me?" Maine asked casually, the woman's nudity not bothering him at all it seemed. Kiwi took a seat next to David, her body trembling slightly as she tried to warm up.

"More than we feared, less than we hoped for. Got confirmation that switching drivers is just something Tanaka does occasionally. We just had the bad luck to be in between his usual patterns. But in terms of his usual patterns… man is consistent. He works a minimum of fourteen hours a day… six days a week. Only thing I'm seeing here is the occasional charge to an account. Still digging through it a little bit to see if I can find the name it's attached to." She shrugged, and in that shrug she rubbed up against David and groaned in a very… satisfied manner.

Kiwi's eyes widened as she turned to him.

"...You are so warm." She said with a hungry tone that David was somewhat familiar with when it came to Netrunners and their ice baths. Well, the girls would honestly just find a way to tease him over this scenario… so…

"Wanna leech my warmth?" He said in an amused tone, which almost turned into a startled yelp as she took the offer immediately, wrapping her much taller body around his smaller but broader one in an instinct. She let out a guttural sigh of satisfaction as she nuzzled into his heated body.

"Christ Choom, you looking to add another output to your collection? You're gonna be drained dry kid." Maine cackled as he watched the events occurring before him, having put his tablet away as Kiwi spoke.

David snorted, but before he could say anything, Kiwi spoke up, grumbling.

"If he becomes my heat pad, it would be negotiated. Christ I'm always so cold after a dive… never felt this toasty before. Thanks David."

He blushed just a little before letting his hands and arms go to wrap around her body to give a hug only for her to grunt in pleasure and surprise when his hands touched her skin. She still felt ice cold to him, so to her…

"Oh god your skin is like a lit furnace… Lucy you lucky bitch." She said in a playful, almost rueful tone. Maine was almost dying of laughter at this point, but was slowly pulling himself back together.

"Alright alright, I usually don't care about seeing a skin show take place in front of me, but we need to focus. You found out the name on that account yet?" Kiwi sighed, but shifted slightly so that she was still draped over David's frame, but was now able to look over to Maine with a baleful eye.

"Fuck you Maine. But yeah, I found a name… turns out Tanaka has a hunger for XBDs. More blood and gore than brutal sex though. That's there but his focus seems to be… a guy called Jimmy Kurosaki."

Maine frowned and shook his head.

"Never heard of him… but that doesn't surprise me. There's a metric fuckton of XBD editors in Night City, and trying to pick them out is like finding a specific grain of fucking sand on the Coronado Bay beach."

This unfortunately was where David had to chime in.

"I know who he is." He hadn't meant for his voice to have such a tone of self-loathing, but he supposed it was going to bleed out. Maine raised an eyebrow while Kiwi’s eyes narrowed in her version of a frown.

"Jimmy Kurosaki makes a series called Edgerunners. Over a couple dozen XBDs filled with the perspectives of people who've gone cyberpsycho, killing cops, corpos, and civilians. Cyberpsycho shit isn't too hard to find… but JK always managed to get the freshest stuff out there, tuned for insane synaptic responses. I used to sell XBDs when I was at Arasaka for Doc, and the JK Edgerunners series was a popular one."

Maine crossed his arms, no judgment in his eyes as he spoke. "... XBDs are messed up kid. Even for full grown gonks. Taking that shit when you're not even 20 yet could really have fried your brain."

David shrugged, having come to terms with the fact that he'd like fucked himself up mentally taking that shit. But it's not like he'd had much choice.

"I needed to make money, and this was the only way. Doc wouldn't let me sell them unless I sampled them. Hated ‘em at first, and then for a while it felt like the XBDs were all that was real. Normal life was dull and boring. I got real messed up for a while, and Mom was beside herself. She… she never knew about my hobbies. Otherwise she would have taken that chancla upside my head so quick…"

His heart squeezed slightly at the thought even as he closed his eyes, his lips contorting into a sad smile. After a moment of silence, he shook his head lightly to focus up.

"But my point is, if Tanaka has charges to JK's accounts, then that means that Kurosaki is almost certainly tuning custom XBDs to push things to the limit for Tanaka. Which means that he's got to be there in person, otherwise it won't be as potent."

Maines eyes widened before a big old grin filled his face. "Which means, if we nab Kurosaki, we can make him call Tanaka and have him walk right into a trap. Which means we can end this gig either today or tomorrow if we can locate Kurosaki.

"I already know where he is." Kiwi said with a satisfied tone, sending the location to the two of them. "He's got a reservation for Ember's tonight. Table for one. 6pm."

Huh… last time it was the day after tomorrow. Are we late this time, or did we show up for an earlier reservation?

(Behavior suggests he dines there regularly. We are roughly three days ahead of where we were in the Before.)

Maines eyes practically sparkled at that.

"Well then… I think we've got ourselves a target. David. What would you do going up against this guy?" He asked, his tone one of a test.

David considered it briefly before speaking. "Well, this guy is big in the XBD scene. Makes a lot of money if he's going to Ember's on the regular. Which means he's probably got the money for chrome. And since this is Night City, I wouldn't doubt that he's strapped. Best option would be for me to just jab him with some kind of sedative and take him to a second location. Barring that…. We gotta be worried about defensive measures. EMPs maybe. Shielding for cyberware is expensive, so not a lot of people get it for every piece."

Maine nodded approvingly before looking sheepish when David brought up the shielding problem.

"It's not just the price that's a problem. Shieldings just like any other cyberware. Takes a toll on the system just like anything else. You get shielding for a piece of chrome, it might mean you can't get another piece that could make you more effective. It's a risk a lot of folks take. I don't got any shielding." Kiwi nodded at Maine's words, still pressed firmly against David even as her body slowly started to absorb his warmth.

"Even me, the only piece I have shielded is my vocal synthesizer. Lets me speak without a tongue or lips. Don't even have my deck shielded. Really should get some more… Don't plan on getting any more pieces implanted anyway, so I should be good. What about you David?"

David hesitated.

Should I tell them?

(No lies to team. Not like this. Even Bird is trustworthy… for now.)

"Sandy managed to develop shielding organically. So there's no chance of me getting zapped."

There was silence, and Kiwi even pulled back, her eyes blank as she looked at him.

"...Let me get this straight Dawg." Maine began, his face screwed up in confusion and dawning comprehension. "Sandy's capable of making 'ganic versions of fucking chrome???"

"Uh… yeah. Some pieces anyway. I mean, Sandy can't make a PLS out of my arm, but when it comes to shielding, or adjusting the function of my limbs, muscles, tendons…yeah. Sandy's got the ability. It just costs calories, time, and the willingness to give up standard functionality which…at the moment I'm not."

There was a mixture of jealousy and awe in Maine's eyes before the big man managed to scrub the jealousy from his expression until there was only awe.

"... God fucking damn. That's pretty goddamn crazy kid. You lucked out when it came to that piece of chrome. Well… in that case, I still want everybody on standby, but I believe we have ourselves a plan. Kiwi, get a hold of Falco and Pilar. I'll call Dorio, and you get in contact with your outputs David. We're getting this shit done tonight."

__

Things moved rapidly after that, the calls being made and the gang gathering together. Pilar had even brought his own beater car with him so that they could be mobile with the whole crew. Didn't want to be sticking around for very long after nabbing Kurosaki after all.

David was riding with Maine, Dorio and Falco for the moment while Pilar, Becca, Lucy, and Kiwi were in the other car. Both Netrunners were in the local subnet making sure that any surveillance cameras or outgoing emergency calls in the parking deck would be…diverted. Couldn't have Kurosaki calling Trauma Team, could they?

Maine: Sound off, everyone.

A steady reply of Holo messages went off, making sure everyone was in the loop about how things were gonna go.

Maine: Good. Plan's simple. We operate under the idea that this fuckers got some defenses that could knock us for a loop if we just tried to jump him standard. David has shielding thanks to his little friend, so he'll be doing the takedown. Once that's done, we'll get him secured, the netrunners and Pilar will strip him of his defenses and we'll be taking him to his studio. You can narrow down where that is Lucy?

Lucy: In seconds once I get access to his systems. Since I don't have to worry about being careful, I'll just rip through everything.

Pilar: Just make sure the jackass is still capable of unhindered speech. Don't want to spook the corpopig.

Lucy: It'll get done.

Becca: We're zeroing this gonk once Tanaka shows up right? We don't need a fucker like him in the dust with a grudge.

Dorio: Correct. I don't think anybody here will be shedding tears to see him dead. And he'd be too much of a liability to leave alive.

David: No tears here.

If anything, David would probably feel a sick sense of satisfaction at the death of the man.

(Kurosaki tortured David. Sandy would strip him of his sapience and consciousness inch by inch so he could feel the impending ego death.)

David shuddered at the very concept. That was fucking brutal.

(David most important person to Sandy.) Was all the SI would say, as if it was the only thing that needed to be explained.

Falco: Right. So we putting him in my car, or elsewhere?

Pilar: Welllll… he does happen to have his own vehicle…

Kiwi: Seriously? You want to take his car too?

Pilar: You said it was a Caliburn! Of course I want to steal his fucking car. That vehicle is unreal! One of the fastest land vehicles around. I really want to get under the hood of that thing.

Kiwi: You realize if we do that, the one driving it is gonna be David… right?

David: Hey! What's that supposed to mean?

Kiwi: David, I've watched you drive cars in ArcadeArcade. You will demolish that vehicle.

There was a chorus of agreements and laughs at that, leaving David to pout.

David: Fuck y'all.

Rebecca: Mmm… later. But seriously, what are we doing?

Maine: Fuck it. David, take the guys car. We know Faraday isn't gonna give us that bonus, so we might as well make our own. A Caliburn factory fresh is worth a couple million eddies. We flip that to one of the local fixers we could get a nice little bonus, even if it's busted up some.

David: You got it boss. Do we have visual on the target?

Kiwi: I've got him on the Embers cameras. He looks like he's about to finish up. Let's be ready people. David? Get into position.

David: You got it Kiwi.

He took a deep breath as he exited the car, turning when there was a tug on his shirt. Maine had a grip on it, and looked David in the eye.

"You got this David. I got faith in ya Dawg." David swallowed hard as warmth filled his chest, looking at the steady and confident gazes of Falco, Dorio, and Maine. He wasn't the stumbling rookie of the Before. He was experienced. He was steady. He wasn't convinced of his own invincibility. He felt like an Edgerunner again.

"Won't let you down Boss." He promised the man, before activating his Sandy, and racing off to the corner of the parking garage. Once there, he pulled out the hypo he'd been given, looking it over.

(Fast acting sedative. Should cause unconsciousness in less than three seconds. Last for ten to twenty minutes maximum.)

Same plan as last time? Play the eager fanboy?

(David stomach that?)

…I wouldn't want to, but if it'll make things go smoother, yes.

(Camera's knocked out for foreseeable future. Don't need to hide speed.)

Jab and wait?

(Simplest approach, yes? Wouldn't have to talk to him.)

…But this is also the safest instance we could have of checking out if the bio-shielding works. If it doesn't, we'll have the entire team come after me. Never took out my locator shard remember?

(Sandy not like plan. But… accept reasoning.)

I'll be ok. We'll be ok. Alright… think I see him coming out now.

A figure had stepped out into the parking garage, a coat with a fur lining, the tall man thin and chromed up with gold playing on his face. And even from here, David could see the cold indifference in the man's snake-like eyes.

Alright…. Action.

"Oh wow! Are you…? Jimmy Kurosaki? Holy crap!"

He said as he stepped out from behind a car, the man stopped immediately and turned swiftly to face David.

"... Ah… do I… know you?" The man asked, David's further experience with both this exact situation and Edgerunning in general telling him that the XBD tuner was looking for whatever backup David had brought with him.

"Oh! No, you probably wouldn't sir. There's a guy, Doc? In Arroyo? He distributed a lot of your work, especially the Edgerunner series. He had me hocking your XBDs, and I became a big fan! Just wanted to let you know I really appreciate your work." The words that would have at least been mostly true in the Before left a sick twisting feeling in his stomach, hiding the disdain and hatred he now held for the man.

"Ah…Always good to meet a fan. But I'm a busy man, and I need-"

"Oh right of course, of course. Sorry, I just got excited. Do you think I could shake your hand before you go? Just as a bragging rights kind of thing when I go see Doc again."

Take the bait you slimy fuck.

Kurosaki was still looking all over, his eyes flickering here and there, before finally gazing at David again, a look of sickly pleasure. Seems he felt he wasn't going to need to worry about getting trounced.

"Oh but of course… anything for a fan…" And with a thin spindly limb, JK reached out to grasp David's hand… and just as David had suspected, the man let off a powerful EMP blast in a five meter radius.

Status report!

(Sandy is untouched. Bio-shielding working perfectly. David will bleed it off naturally.)

Oh it was fucking priceless witnessing Jimmy Kurosaki's slow realization that his EMP had failed, and the rising panic that was beginning to fill his eyes at the loss of control. He began to try and pull away, his eyes already turning to face his Caliburn when David's hand squeezed down on the man's wrist, letting a slow creaking sound be heard throughout the parking structure.

"Leaving so soon?" David said placidly, using his hand to reach into his pocket to grip the sedation hypo. "Cuz see, I was getting the feeling that you were planning on taking me with you somewhere, what with the EMP blast you tried. It’s a good defense not gonna lie. Most folk don't bother with the shielding. Unlucky for you…I did.

Before Kurosaki could try and reach for a weapon or say anything else, David swiftly jabbed him in the neck with the hypo, the XBD tuner quickly dropping to the ground in a heap as the young Edgerunner took a deep breath.

David: Target acquired. I'm going to get into his Caliburn, and connect the systems so the Netrunners can look through it.

Sandy: (Can help.)

Pilar: whoa… wasn't expecting you to pop in.

Lucy:No. Absolutely not.

Kiwi: Lucy?

Lucy: I already said I want you nowhere near my systems. This is already pushing it hard.

Sandy: (Understood. My apologies.)

Lucy:...Thank you for the offer.

Maine: This is fascinating and everything, but can we focus on getting the fuck out of a parking garage please?

Kiwi: Right. Lucy?

Lucy: Jacking into his systems now. Come on through.

Meanwhile, David and Sandy were working together to get the Caliburn to open up without setting off alarms, and setting Kurosaki in the trunk. Settling into the driver's seat, David couldn't help but whistle at the sheer quality on display here.

This is a hell of a car… Too bad I'd wreck the damn thing. Sandy, could you…?

(Likely so. Sit back, relax, connect your personal link.)

He did just that, extending the cord and sighing as he closed his eyes, letting Sandy take control of the vehicle.

("I have control of the speakers as well as the vehicle in general.")

"Preem."

David: Well? What are we working with?

Lucy: Ok… he's got a couple of studios, but the one he's met Tanaka at previously is in Northside in Watson.

David: Heading there now. Everybody follow me.

And follow they did. Sandy was a… surprisingly competent driver. Nothing amazing, but competent.

(Driving boring. But will do to give David some time to rest, and to make sure Bonus is as big as possible when flipping vehicle to Fixer.)

You're the best Sandy.

(Smug!)

He laughed out loud at his closest Choom's antics, before taking a moment just… breathe..

We're here… aren't we Sandy. We're finally at the turning point. I saved Pilar, but this… this is the real testing ground. The point where I can finally… finally save everyone. I can kill Faraday, keep everyone alive and…

(And finally tell them?)

He shuddered because…yeah. It was almost time. It was almost time for him to have to reveal to everyone his failures. His mistakes. The way he'd gotten basically everyone killed. He just had to hope that they didn't think he was crazy… he had little hope that they wouldn't blame him.

Afterall…He did.

(Stop.)

…sorry. I'm trying. I really am. It's just hard not to blame myself.

(David always take on too much. Not blameless but not sole cause of all hardship. Sandy hope when you tell crew everything, it make things easier for you.)

Maybe. But no matter what happens… I know I've got you, Lucy, and Becca.

(Always.)

He felt a little better with that, David finally opening his eyes so that when Sandy pulled the Caliburn to a stop, he was ready to step outside. Falco and Pilar soon pulled up alongside him, and everybody exited the vehicle.

"Huh… not a scratch on her. I thought you were supposed to suck at this." Pilar said, half salivating over the sight of the supercar, half amused at the disgruntled look crossing David's face.

"... Sandy was the one driving."

Laughter broke through the silence, and it was a testament to everyone's professionalism that they recovered in seconds. Even Falco seemed amused, as he leaned against his car.

Maine was the first to get ahold of himself, and in a flash had a serious look on his face.

“Alright…we need to get moving. We're on the job people. Biggest job we've ever done. If we don't keep this nice and clean, we'll be hunted down by ‘Saka ninjas for the rest of our lives. No shortcuts. No half measures. We do this professionally, and we keep the chatter to a minimum. Got it?” This was a Maine David rarely saw. He had to wonder if… if maybe this was Maine when he was in the Army. No nonsense, calm, collected, and efficient.

He liked it. It was a far cry from how things had been in the Before.

A chorus of affirmations answered the big man, as they stood before him, waiting for their marching orders.

“Pilar, Lucy, and Kiwi, I want you all going through his systems. Make sure we don't have any surprises waiting for us when we head into the studio. Dorio, you and Falco take our cars and park them a block or two away, and stay there. I hit the panic button, you two come in hot to pick us up. Becca, David and I will bring Kurosaki to his office and make sure that he calls in Tanaka.”

Everyone straightened up and were moving to do their jobs as Maine switched his instructions to HoloCall.

Maine: The survey team, once they're done, will huddle up in a side room, keeping a lookout through the cameras. Once Tanaka is inside the building, you three will set off the net to keep any of his transmissions from going through.

Rebecca, David and I will take out the Corpo from there, dispose of Kurosaki, and then we'll start splitting off. Gonna keep the teams lean for this second part.

Pilar: I should take the Caliburn after we get Tanaka. I know the perfect place to store it until we're in the clear.

Maine: Sounds like a plan. But if you're taking the car, once you do, you go silent, you hear me? This is the most delicate job we've ever been on, and we can't have messages coming in. Communications are to be considered compromised until we're done with this.

Pilar: You got it, Boss. I'll just work on my projects at home. I've finished it… just need to do my final testing.

Rebecca: Anybody else getting sent home?

Maine: No. For all that once we grab Tanaka, this should be a job for the runners, I want us at full power and readiness. Never know when something can-

Maine paused for a moment, and it was the lack of the man’s instructions that David turned back, having been opening the trunk of the Caliburn. It wasn't an encouraging sight. Maine’s eyes were twitching, and the hand that had the PLS in it was spasming. It was only for ten seconds… but it was putting a cold, sinking feeling in his gut.

Dorio for her part didn't look shocked or scared. Just… sad and resigned as she placed a hand on her man's arm. It did nothing for a moment, until finally alertness and steadiness filled his gaze once more. As always, Maine never addressed his freeze, and whether it was due to the importance of the job…or just overall fear of what it could mean, nobody commented on it.

Maine:-can go wrong. So I want everyone available. And I want Falco to keep the engine hot, ready to peel out in seconds if we end up needing to bail.

Falco: Mmmhmm. Don't need to tell me twice, boss.

Maine: Everybody know their role?

A chorus of affirmative responses answered him, and Maine nodded.

Maine: Good. Let's go!

David grabbed the thin XBD tuner and threw him over his shoulder, heading up the stairs and into the studio at large, as tension began to grow in his stomach.

(Maine starting to snap.)

I fucking know ok?!

It was as if his self control and temper had been a rubber band, suddenly stressed beyond his limit and snapped.

There was a hint of shock, and hurt in Sandy's emotional broadcast, which made David feel like the biggest piece of shit in the world as he entered the studio proper room by room as the Netrunners and their Techie declared them either neutralized or safe.

I'm sorry. I'm so sorry Sandy, I'm…I thought things were going better. But if he's freaking out… I don't know what to do. He won't call the job off to chrome down. Hell, despite what he told me, I don't even know if he's actually going to follow through.

The hurt was still able to be felt, but it was tempered with understanding and he felt the comforting embrace of his closest choom simulating a tight warm hug against him.

(He's not as bad as he was. Still saveable. Possible we get through this and force him to chrome down.)

…That's basically the only choice left if I don't want to see him die, isn't it?

(Very possibly. Unless he makes the choice against all prior examples of Maine's behavior.)

David sighed as he sat Kurosaki roughly down on the chair that the man had restrained him to in the Before, shackling him down as Becca came inside to take up watch with him.

“You okay Babe?”

Ok…he wasn't sure he'd been ok for a long time. The trauma from what Kurosaki put him through, Maine starting to lose it again, the specter of his first set of failures all around him…it was starting to get to him.

M̴̫̙̩̐̆͊̀ę̵̘͉̙͚͛̇̔͊̓́̽̎͋m̸̢̗̟̳̘̣̗̹͙̱̿̀̎̔̿̀̈́͘ò̸̧͎̫͔̺͔̘̼͐̒̀̊͝r̶̺̣͈̻̞͇̘̜̿͛̒͋́͊̿͒͋í̴̳͂͠ẻ̷̱̦̻͚̦̆̂͆͋͝s̵̢̟̙͍̭͇͍̘̟̮̑̊̑̇̅͌̌̆ ̶͚̦̹̩͕͎̱̬͗́̆̓͐̄̀͠ó̶͕̭̓͂̂́͠f̴̨̪͓̞͉̖̀͂͛͐̔͜ ̶͕͇̹͖̞̞͝t̴̨̖͚̜̼̫̊u̴͉͍̥̻̮̖͐̈́͜ͅr̶̡̻̹͇̺̥̩͓͝ņ̷̡̜̥͙̳̹̱̓̌͌̏̎̒͒͜͠i̵͚̪̠̙̞͛̀͋̽̊̌̀̚n̴̛͍̼̻̲̖͚̼̼͒͌͆ģ̷̣͙̩̦̹̲̅̑͠ ̵̛͈̝̆͊̾́̊̒î̸̥͙͐̓̇͝ņ̶̟̦̥̭̥̀͛̓̅̂͑́̕͝t̴̻̯̗̻͑͛̽̇̂̊ő̶̬̱̒̀̊̍̆̑̋̈́ ̵͈͕͍̗͔̤̑͋̽͂͘̚a̶͈̺͙̭̖̪̔̈́̅͜ ̷̟̖͕̗͓͓̄̃̔̿̊̾̆̋͝͝w̷̦͚̽̄̀̏ȩ̷͇̰̪̺̐̓̅̾͝͠a̴̛̾̀̏́̃͘͜͝ͅp̵̻̳̩̦̤̬͖̏͊͗͝o̶̩̣͓̽̒͋͂͌̃͜͝n̶͎̕̕͝,̸͈̻̭̝͔͖́̇͆͐͌̔̈ ̸͙̝̥͓͖̉̓̒̿̊͌̈́͝͠g̶̢̬̝͔̙̊̅̄͒̋̂̇͜ͅu̴͇͉̻͙͈̥̓͐̐́́̓͜n̴̡̟̮̼̯̹̣̾̑͐͑͝s̴͕̤̘͙͉͈͐̃́͑̔͌͘ ̸̢̧̧̝̠̟̜̺̈́͊ả̸̻̳̏̿̉̒̈́́̌̕n̵̰̝̥̙̘͈̪̯͒̈́̎͋͗d̶̦̊͊ ̸̗̖̼̪̻̼̐͜a̴̯̒̏̀̇͌̈́͝m̵̨̛̱̥͍̥̊̃́́̄̈͌͠m̸̢̛̛̥͔̹̟̰̈́̾͆̚͜ͅo̴̫͔̤̙̗̬̭̥̩̝͋̏͛̇ ̶̯͉̻͍̟͉̇́̍́͗̔w̸͓̺̲͉̙̒̂̑̈́̈́̓̈́̔̀h̷̨̛̘̣̟̲͈̭̠͋͐̈́ę̴͇̞̫͊̓͒̔ͅr̵̙̓̾̀̃̔̀̿͝͝è̸̥͉̳̻̯̠̘̌̎̌ ̸̞͊͒͑͝ͅl̴̛̻̗̀͑͠͠e̶̫͔̞͊͊̊̃̊̄͛̈́͆g̷̡͎̮̝̘̥̽̓̽͜ș̷̞̥̭̂̂̌ ̵̦̳̠̙̪͉̲̠͇̩̊̇̏̀a̶̛͙̟̤̺̪͈͍̋͂̍̿̍̂͆ń̵̢̙̼̦̭̤̟ͅd̸̛̹̬͖̞̦͇̣̭̲͗́̄̿̈̐́ ̶̢͚̺̥̼̖̖̞̑͒̌͊͊̚͘̚a̶͚̭̪͎̩̭̓̒̌͑̆̄̍ͅr̶̤̤͍̪̙̎̈́̔͒́̾͒̂m̴̜̤̼̻͉̺̠̠̀̇͆͐ś̶̛̩̫̗̝̮͚̳̏́̾̕͜͠͝ ̵̼̹̊̾ų̶̡̭͗̈́̿̔̕͘s̶̫͚̩͎̦̗͎̣̻̈̓̿̽ͅë̷̢͉̜̰̝̯̬͍͔́̿͆d̸̨̧̡̠̼̗̮̝͙͖̐̽͐͗́̋̈̽͝͝ ̶̳͈̮͓̗̇̍͒̄̔̐̈͝t̵̤̙̺͔͆͠ỏ̶̟͔̊̋͆͋ ̴̗̮̯̪͎̱͓͆̄͒̈̈́͊͗͌̊b̷̧̢̡̹̻̣̳̙̾̈̚e̴̬̭̺̲͕͓̤̊͌́̇́̅̆̕,̶̰͓͕͕̽̑̑̀́͌̀͝ ̴̼̗͓̬̘̝͍̗̪͕̿̏̽̇͠͝ḣ̸̢̧̳̝̖͖̹̯͒́͆̾̊̀ͅĩ̵̩̥̲̦̽͌̓̋̈́̈́ș̴̹̣̼͔̺̣̍̆͐̅̈͜͝ ̷̧̧̩̹̥͙̯̠͕̓͋̚͝j̸͇̩͙̗̐a̵̖̟̭̬̘̱̩̙̎ͅẅ̵̭̟͔̰́͋́̑̅͒̆̀͒ͅ ̶̝̖̘̼̦̦̎̎͐ṡ̵̡̛̜̞͍͙̥͎̘́̈͋͌͜͝t̵̠̗͍̉ͅr̴͖͂͑̍̄̐̓̔͛̕e̵̜͎̔̓̉̿̋̽͗̚͘ͅt̶̡̗̭͇͎̱̪̳͊̊͊̆c̷̬͇̟͈͍͌̑͛̑̀͛͘ḧ̵̥͉̲̼͚́̏̿̃́̈́͐̄͝͝i̶̘̼͎̬̖̅͝ń̴̢͖̼g̷̜̺̥͋ ̶͓͚̰̿a̵̰̞̰͈̤͉̣̎͘͜ǹ̷̨̹̥͔̯̽͒̅̎̃͝d̸̛̹̤͕͖̩̘̪͙̈́͗̈́̽̃̈́̓̕͝ ̵͉̰̱̓ͅȑ̴͔̭͑̀̿͗i̶̹̹͙̎̀p̷̙̯͖̻̖̲̼̎͌̎́͋̓͘̕͝͠p̶͔̜̪͖̮̱̟̮̂́̊ȉ̸̝̤̦̐̂̽́̔͌̇̐͝n̵̛̘͓͈̔̈́̐̋̿͛ġ̵͇̙̝͓̹̼̣̣̀̀͂̈́̌̐͝ ̴̼̤͙̼̰̝́̓̈͐̎̽õ̶̹͔̘̳̤̠͔̩̝̣p̶̹̦͌̑̔͊͠ȅ̴̛͍͚͚n̶̢͈̩̺͓̟̖͗́͗͆͠ ̵̡̨̧͖̤̟̟̝̩̍̈́̊͆̉̉̋̾̚t̵̛̟̼͎͛͌̏̌̈́͗̀̀͠o̷̪̮̫͈̍̈́̒͒͛̑̀͗͝ ̴̨̛̟̋͋̂͐̎͋ử̸̢̨̰̰͇̣͚͔̪̲̎̌͑͌̋̐͝n̸̰͎͋̑̓͗̈́͐́̓̋͌ͅĺ̷͈͔̭̙͓̝̏̏͛́͑͘e̶̡̧̢͕̰͍͍̐͗̒͗́͐̇̽ä̷̢̘̺̺̈́̏̀̆̚̕͝s̴̲̾̓̆ḧ̴̖̜́͐̌͜ ̵̨̢̛̥̯͙̘̝̰̙̲͑͐͐̉̀ã̶̡̻̹̦̼̺̝̤̰ͅn̵̨̞̜̱͔̈̃̋͆̐́͝o̶̡͖̙̖͉͂̐ṱ̴̫̝͚̣̺͉͇͚̻̉͂́̈́͑̆̔͐͝͠ḩ̴̦̥͇͚̟̝̇̈̅̂̆͂̌͛̉͜ę̸̞͙̰̦͕̏r̸̡̰̮͈̋̅͛̔̅̕͝ ̸̛̛̲͓͚̱̲̟̠͍̟̉́͋̓̉͠b̸̼̫̼̝̺̈ą̷̖͚͓͇̠̮̒͂͐͋͋͐͊̽̕͝r̸̛͖͒̀̚r̶̨̘͎̬̦͙̯̓͆͜͜͠e̸̯̟̞̣͉̙̔̇̈́̑̍̏̚ͅl̷̨̯͓̂ ̶̡̫̺̄̏͂̀ą̵̧̧̖̯̲̘͎͐̆̀̆͆̾͘ͅs̴̡̢̘̝̬͎͈̻̩̃̋͂̓̏̆͂̽̉ ̷̢͍̟͔̫̼̋͗͆̊̃̀͝h̵̢̢̢̘̫̤̗̪̙̾̎̃̈́͗̂̕͝͝ͅe̷̝͊̐̓ ̵̗̮͔̑̒͒͛̇̓͗̔f̵̡͕͍̳̦̊e̵̫͇͆̾̑̈́̾̊̑̑͘͝ḷ̴̺̤̹̏̋t̵̢̜͇͕͉͈̞̱͚̒̒́̂̑̏ ̶̡̨̣̦̰̲̻̥͍̗̍͐́̊̅̆̊̎̏͠h̶̡̘̦̗̥̱̞̟́̏̂̉́ͅi̵̧̛̛͓̯̗̺͖͗̇̈͑̍͋s̶̢̨̛͙̼̮̝̹̪̒̋̓͋͌͑̌̏ ̴̗͖͓̅̒͂͆̆͜b̴͔̤̾́̽̉̕l̶̡̢̦̜͍̦̻̼̓ò̵̧̨̯̭͚̙̿̓̈̔̔̊o̵̢̰͛̿͝d̷̨̢̠͔̳̖̯̼̊͝ͅ ̴͖̺͈͗̔̀̓̓͆̆͊͠͝t̴̙̗̫̟̒͋̌̒̇͝ŕ̶̺̱̪̭̙͙̗͎̌̀̂̌̐͘ì̴̟̑ç̸̨̜̠͚̙͌͐̈́͒k̴̢͕͕̜̹͍̰̺͑̑l̴̺͍̀͑i̷̛͕͕͛͗͛̚͘ṋ̴̤̫̓͂̽̓͘̕͝g̵͓̃̐͌̾̓̕ ̷̥̖͎̗̈́̾̀̈́̃̓̑͜͝͝d̴̗̥͈͔̪̼͍͍̔͂́͂̃̽̅̏̕͝ỏ̸̢̢͕͈͎̣̘͂̈̐̀̃̊͊ͅw̴̧̨͔͙͈̳̱̮̯͖̎̌̔̽͑̀̈̕n̸͕͓̝͗͊̊̚ ̷̦͖̣̞͇̻̆ͅh̴̭̗̝̪̒̇̃͗̆͋́̾͂̔i̸̛̭̮̹̒̑̌̐̏̇̊̕͝ṩ̴̅̎́͑͠ ̴̗̣̗̎̉͑̐̋t̶̨̯̘͖̫̺̹̿̽͂͑ͅḫ̵̛͙̠͖̲ŕ̸̼͍̫̦͙̇̈́̄͒̈́̆̚ŏ̷͇̣a̸͉̖͇̹̺͒̽̄̀̀̏̓̅̈́ͅṭ̸̨̮̮͈̥̈́̈́͂,̴̢̘̯̭̑̈́͊̑͑̓͝ ̷̧̛͓̗̠̭͚̟̫̪̓͐g̶̥̳̏̂a̸̲̦͒͊̋̀͆̔͂̾̓̽g̷̝͎͚̳̀̂͐͌g̷̨͖̬̮͉̃̽̀̑̂̀͂ï̵̢̨͓̣͉͎̼͎̩̌n̷̡̥͍͙̥̽̾͒̍̕̚ğ̴̡̜͇̞̪͙̥̟̤͑͛ ̸̧̻̬̦͂̅̃͂͝a̸̧̧͖͓̻̙̫͆̽͌́̒̂n̴̝̥̊̋̃̾d̷͍́̇̐̀̐̆͑̂̍̕ ̸̡͇̖͖͈̔̅c̷̡̝͖̗͔̟͈̋́̓̔̏̚͘h̸̢̡̼̲͍̟̺͐̈́̅͜ơ̷̙̤̼̏ͅk̴̻͉̻̊̅̈́͝͝į̴̈̌̇̄́̍́̌̉̍n̴̗̩̪͚͖̜̥̹̔̿͂̇̀̒̂̎̄͘g̸̢̡̪̙̣͕͎̝̜̳̍̊̚ ̷͙̄́̔͋̍͒̕̕h̴̰̲͋͑́̂̎ì̴̡͔̝̯͉̠ṁ̷͎̳̳̘̤̟,̷̙͓͎̖̗̟͍͈̙̒̋̆͜ ̵̧̤̳͕̾̉͜c̸̘͑̌r̶̛̲̹̗̭̭̔͗͌̿͂͗̿͠y̵̨͔̬̱̮̙̱̝͖͕͗̄̎̎̈̍̕̚͠ì̴̲̗̝̺̬̜̽̆ņ̶̺̘͙̲͝g̷͈̜̜̻̹̅ ̶̗̥̫́̐a̴̺͍̅͗̌̇̽̅̈́̀s̴͉͔͎̱̟͙̺̆͊̔͑̑͛̕͠ͅ ̷̨͇͚͓̯͆̌ḥ̷̨̥̩̯̆̊̿̊̉ȩ̵̢͍̜̮̻̭̖̫͒͗̽̓͗̽̂̆͘̕͜ ̵̜̮̩̮̆̃̈̽̀̎̚ͅf̸̢̨͔̱͕̈́́̆̒̐̀e̸̢̳̳̎̒͌͆̕͝ͅḷ̴̱̠̔̇͑͑͋̏̒t̴̨̢̧̛̪̖̊̾͛̋͝͝ͅͅ ̵̩͇͌̓̾̀̇̂͆͌͆͜͝ẗ̵̨̪̘̻͚́͌̕͝h̵̻̮̀̍͐̐̄̽̈́̚ẹ̶̥̠̮̺̏͐͘͘͠ ̷͉̟̼͕̰͔͖̈́̈́̇̉̉͘͘͘p̶̬͉͍̬̻͋̿́͗̎̌͘̚ͅr̷̛̫̞̓̍̋͂̅̕ě̶͖̰̝̬͉̙̗͋ş̵͔̳̼̹͍̗̇̐̌͠s̸͖̹͇͇̞̺̜͝͠u̷͔̣͍̭̫̯̪̇͜r̴̥̲̻̱̘̈̾̓͗̐̏̌̕͜e̴̢̺̗͉̠͕̜͙̽̏̓̿͑͂̔͘͝ͅ ̷̧͉̖̥̹̙̜͇̚͝ḃ̶̫͍͕̠̭͉̦̼̈́̏̂ȅ̸̡͉̙̘̞̮͎̺͇͌̈̅͌̿̑͠͝h̵͇̣̎̂̅̈́i̶̞̙̪̤͇̺̓̉̾ͅn̷̩̪͕̠͕̗̞̍̓̀͋͆͆̈́͗d̴̨̛̠̦͌̀̓͛̓ ̴̛̞̝͂̔̽̎̓̎̂̕ḥ̸̢̭͕̞̫̇̒̎́̏ï̵̻̻̼̠͔̑͑͒̉͐̒͗s̸̨̻̫̯̲̤͒̍̿͛̉̀̓̚͜͜͝ ̶̙̬͈̰̃̿̂͜ͅě̵̝͓̫̥͉̪͌̋̄y̵͚̲̦̳̖̓̓̽͂̋̑e̷̢̱̜͕͈̖͔̙̬̥̾͒̂̓̔͋̈́s̴̛̯̼̻̹̬̈̄̎̄̐̏͊͆ ̸̨̱̩̳̺͉̩͕̮̔͐̊͒͌̽ͅa̸̢̞̼̟͍͔̞̓̈́̎̈̆̇͐͜ͅs̶̓̍̌͌̑͑͒͝ͅ ̸̧̨̹̮̥̼͇͎͎̼̓̋̒̏ğ̶̢̗̘̠͔̃̓͋̔̂̽͆̋ͅǘ̵̦̫̬͖̟̔͑̈́̎͝͠ͅn̶̞̱̙̪̻̟͔̟̖̳͛̚̕s̴̢̢̩̙̘̟̘̒͋̌̂͂ ̴̡̞̥̹̲̂͊̉̀̏̃̓ẅ̷̡̰̣̝̩̤̱̪͈̭́ẽ̵̻̹̯̈́͝ŗ̴̩͚̰͇̖͈͋̔ẻ̶͓̓ ̵̳̑̈̒͗͆͂̈́͛͠͠p̸̨̤̗̼̹̄̄̍̚ư̵̳̭̼͋͆̏̄͐͝s̷̱̈́̋͛̓h̸̯̘̞̗̊̑i̶̡̡̜̖͉̗͈̙̞̟̓n̸̤̯̒̅̄̇͊̿̿̆̕͜g̷̥̱͙̩̏̍̽̔͐͗̅͋̿͘͜ ̸̨̯̫̙͔͓̹̜̪̮̓̈́͋̓͂̈͋̑ẗ̴̪̬h̴͓̰̭̦͆̈́́͛̂͆͠ę̶̼̘̗͙̩͇͈́̈́̔͛̉̑̈́͌̉͜i̷̬̫̇̔̍̔̓̎͂̕̚r̵̹̲̟̬̳̖̟̩̼͈̎̌̅̒̒̚͠ ̵̡̳̦̣̣̪̜̦͚̐͘͜w̶̢̢̝͙̞̹̥̻͒͊̈̇͆ͅȁ̴͉͕͚̲̋̄͌̒̅͗͝͝ỳ̶̡̜͉̺̬̼͉̇̅̃͜ ̴̧̨̫̜͔͍͔̘̗̞̄͆t̵͖̘̅͗́̄h̸̤̘͕̯̅̂̒̅̂̇̌̾̚ṛ̴̯̬̉̈́̃͐̈́̿̎̄͋o̷̼͚͉̳͊͊̇u̴̮̪͕͓̇̀̒̾͗̇̐ġ̴̭͚̯͉̺͎̝̱̮͉h̶̢͓̯̘͌́́̌͑́́̕͝…̵͕̻͈͇̋́̐̿ͅ

̴̡͔̲͇͐̂̋͒͌̈́

(DAVID!)

He was brought back to earth as Rebecca gripped his hand tightly, and Sandy managed to call to him through that fog.

“David? Baby, are you okay?”

He took a deep breath, and squeezed his shorter output's hand and smiled at her wanly.

“No. But I'll hold until we finish this gig.”

Rebecca didn't like that answer at all, squeezing his hand and bringing it up so that she could press a deep kiss to his wrist.

“When we get home, you are so getting cuddles. Titty pillows and ass stress toys galore.” She promised with a cheeky little smile. David couldn't help laughing at the concept but also couldn't deny that it did seem like an excellent and comfortable way to spend an evening.

“Mmm… I'll hold you to that then.”

Maine stepped into the room, his overall demeanor professional… but David now that he couldn't deny the symptoms was able to see the cracks in his presentation. Mild trembles. Flickers of hazy gazes.

“You want to put his feet to the fire Maine?” Rebecca asked, still holding David's hand, pressing kisses to his arm. Maine shook his head, leaning against a wall as he looked the man over.

“Don't think it'll be necessary. Man like him probably thinks he's got all kinds of options. He'll go along with our demands, just waiting for his opportunity to screw us over. Just keep an eye on him. Should be waking up soon.”

As if triggered by his words, Kurosaki started to groan, his eyes blinking slowly. Rebecca let go of David's hand as the two of them checked their pistol and crossed their arms respectively.

“Hey you. You're finally awake.”

Kurosaki groaned for just a moment, before taking a deep breath and opening his eyes, his gaze steady and cold as ever. A hint of wariness was mixed in with the cold amusement but overall he presented an image of a man who wasn't really bothered by the position that he found himself in.

“Mmm… you know, I usually charge for personal trips to my studio…but I suppose I can waive that surcharge today. How may I help you sir?”

It was almost impressive how Kurosaki managed to turn sir into one of the most disrespectful words David had ever bore witness to. Maine didn’t even blink as he spoke.

“You're gonna call Jinta Tanaka, your Arasaka exec man. Say you got something fresh for him, and that he'll need to come to the studio. And don't think that we won't be able to tell if you tip the gonk off. I've got multiple Netrunners just waiting to see if they need to melt your brains. Ya dig?”

Kurosaki bared his teeth in what was too sharp to be called a smile.

“And what do I get if I do?”

Maine was supremely unimpressed with his words, not reacting emotionally at all, while David's dislike stewed and fermented.

“I won't kill you.”

Kurosaki shrugged as best as he was able, affecting a presence of disinterest though David could see the sweat slowly starting to build up…

“Fair enough. Shall I make the call?”

Maine nodded, and Kurosaki's eyes lit up. The man was good at schmoozing when he wanted to, it was almost impressive. But with a little bit of his honeyed words, they were on their way.

“He'll be here in 30 minutes.” Kurosaki said with his sickly smile. Maine nodded in satisfaction, and made to leave the room.

“David, you keep an eye on him. Becca, you come with me. We're gonna prep for Tanaka. Gotta be ready to take him down quickly and quietly.”

Rebecca nodded and gave David one more hug, before following Maine out the door, the big man all business.

“So…~ big fan huh? I don't see any of that energy now. You lie pretty good for a kid.”

The smart thing to do would be to ignore him. To say nothing. David was a very intelligent young man.

“I used to be. Not anymore.”

He was also, unfortunately, Built Stupid.

“Mmm… What was to your taste? Flayed Alive Bitches? Amputation Aromas? Oh no… a young man like you? Sporting a Sandevistan? No… no you… you were an Edgerunner series fan weren't you?”

Oh David really did not like this guy.

(Don't engage David.)

Trying my best.

“Nothing to say? Well, I feel like talking enough for the two of us…I bet I know why you stopped watching. You chipped in that Sandevistan, and started to realize that going psycho was closer and closer than you ever imagined…But no matter how fast you might be, you can't escape the fact that one day, the price is going to come due… and you're going to go flying over that edge…”

Kurosaki let out a bright uncaring bark of laughter as he squirmed a little to get comfortable in the chair he was bound to.

“Hell, maybe if I'm lucky, I'll be the one to find you, twitching and losing all your marbles. I'll be sure to set you up as the latest entry of Edgerunners. I've been looking for a new subject…oh I tell you. Finding organic cyberpsychos out in the wild is a bitch. I've been trying with the idea of simply…creating my own. I probably would have made you my first test subject if you hadn't been able to shrug off my EMP. Impressive by the way. Not many Edgerunners think ahead with that… I know that big Colossus probably doesn't have any shielding. Oh now him… he's about to snap.”

That was enough to get David to finally snap at the man in a fury.

“Shut the fuck up.”

Kurosaki just grinned in triumph.

“Can't handle the truth David? I know my cyberpsychos. They're my bread and butter after all…He's tap dancing on the bleeding edge of sanity and psychosis. I wonder if he'll snap now… or later.”

David stopped responding. If he said anything else, he wouldn't be able to keep himself from losing it, and they couldn't afford that at the moment. He was wrong. He had to be wrong. David had to be stronger. Be smarter, be better. Otherwise this entire second chance of his had been absolutely worthless.

“Touched a nerve I see~. Well, that's alright. Your nerves will be firing in agony later. Do you have any idea of the kind of hell you're bringing to your doorstep? Messing with Jinta Tanaka? The man is connected. His family's old blood with ol’ Arasaka, which means he has DEEP pockets and a deep well of favors.”

David said nothing, and instead attempted to drown out Kurosaki's voice by messaging Lucy.

David: What's our ETA babe?

Lucy: A couple more minutes at most. He appears to be traveling in a Delemain. Means we won't be dealing with any bodyguards. How are you doing with JK?

David: He likes to y-yap. It's irritating, but we'll be done with all this soon enough. If we can, I think we should set this entire studio on fire. Place is a den of horrors.

Lucy: We're almost done my love…we do this, we'll be free of Faraday, we'll have a good hefty chunk of change padding our accounts, and maybe we can just… take some time off. We'll go somewhere. Stay in a fancy hotel or try out some real food. Or maybe…~ maybe we'll stay in bed for days… and you'll wear us out until we're begging for mercy.

David smiled reluctantly, love in his heart and arousal flowing through his veins.

David: That sounds absolutely perfect Lucy. I love you. I love you so much.

Lucy: And I love you more than I can begin to describe. My moon…my man.”

A shudder went through his body as he felt the weight. The impact of those words. He knew what going to the moon meant to her. He'd always planned to get her there. To take her with him this time, instead of leaving her the money to get there all alone up in the coldness of space.

But before he could respond, Kiwi spoke, her voice cool and professional as she relayed her information to the entire crew.

Kiwi: We've got Tanaka pulling in now! Look alive folks.

Maine: This is it! No screwups people. David, bring Kurosaki out. If he tries anything, kill him.

David stood up, Kurosaki's eyes sharpening as he realized something had changed.

“Let's go.” David spoke, voice as cold and unyielding as steel undoing the restraints, and pulling his new Burya out, the massive hand cannon drawing Kurosaki's eyes, and impotent fury.

“Oh? Are we going for a trip?”

“Just down the stairs.”

JK shrugged as if he was unbothered, slowly getting to his feet, rubbing at his wrists.

“By all means. I could get some exercise.” He mused as he was led out of the room and downstairs.

David's heart was pounding as he made the XBD tuner walk down the stairs… and… there. There he was. The target of their job. The source of all of this stress…

Jinta Tanaka. If Kurosaki had the cold eyes of a snake, Tanaka had the dead unfeeling eyes of a shark. There was no softness, no emotion. Only a hunger… and that hunger was especially prevalent when he was looking towards David. Why? He had no fucking clue.

The corpo exec was a thickly built man. Not especially tall, but not overly fat either. He was dressed immaculately, as if he had stepped from a Corpo expo for the ScreamSheets. Oddly enough however, the man was not wielding a weapon as far as David could see.

As Rebecca and Maine blocked the door behind the corpo, he looked around dispassionately before addressing Kurosaki.

“What is this?”

“Ah, my apologies Tanaka-Sama… I appear to have found myself in a rather untenable position. These ruffians decided that they needed to set up a meeting with you, and were not taking no for an answer.” Kurosaki as always seemed supremely unconcerned with his situation…but David could see the rapid tattoo of his carotid artery pulsing against his flesh.

He was scared.

Tanaka took the revelation with a stoicism that was almost impressive.

“We will discuss your continued services after I've dealt with this annoyance.”

Maine took the opportunity to attempt to take control of the situation, stepping forward and speaking.

“Alright, enough of the chit chat. Tanaka, you sit your Corpo ass down, let my people do what they need to, and maybe you get out of this alive.” Everyone knew it was a lie. An op like this? No witnesses.

So when Tanaka’s eyes lit up blue, only for them to go orange and the man to grip the side of his head in annoyance… that was when everything began to devolve.

David: Disable his cyberware! He doesn't have a weapon, means he's got Corpo cyberware!

Fucking bless Kiwi and Lucy for listening, as they seemed to operate synchronously, shutting down pieces of cyberware that would have otherwise made Tanaka a very annoying opponent. Honestly, it was especially worth it just to see the man's eyes go wide in disbelief.

Maine took the opportunity to just punch out the Corpo bastard, the impact of his massive Gorilla Arms leaving the corpo out cold with what looked like a bent fractured jaw on the ground. Maines arms were still shaking a little… but with a clenched fist, he seemed to come back to himself again, and looked up at David.

“Good work kid. And good work covering the door Becca. Alright, I'm gonna get Tanaka loaded up into the car, David? Get rid of Kurosaki.” As he was speaking, he had already slung Tanaka over his shoulder, and was heading outside.

This… was a lot smoother than last time. Hell, in a way, it was almost anti-climactic just how smooth it had gone. Nobody was hurt, nobody dead, and they were on to the next stage of their gig.

“Ah… well that didn't go the way I thought it would.” Kurosaki mused, before turning to face David, the cold claws of fear becoming apparent even as the XBD tuner kept that cold smile on his face.

“So now what… you kill me? Well, let me give you some adv-”

The shot rang out before David even had a chance to respond, JK falling to the side in a crumpled heap as Rebecca holstered her pistol.

“Too many gonks like to try and throw off your game when they're staring down the end of a barrel Davey. Best to ignore them.” She said, cocking her wide hips to the side, giving him a cheeky smile.

…Holy shit I love this woman.

(Sandy really like her.)

He smiled softly and bent down, Rebecca hopping upwards in response, picking his vertically challenged girl up by her thighs. She wrapped her arms around his neck, cocking her head to the side cutely.

“See now, this is what you should be focusing on.” She said before leaning forward to capture his lips, their tongues sliding along each other in a deep, passionate kiss.

“Gross.” Came the lightly synthesized voice of Kiwi, as both she and Lucy entered the room, Lucy crossing the room, stepping over the corpse without a second thought, nuzzling into both him and Rebecca, sighing in satisfaction.

Rebecca smirked and she pressed a kiss to Lucy's temple, before addressing Kiwi.

“You're just jealous~.”

“Wasn't talking about the kissing. Was talking about kissing almost on top of a corpse. Gross.”

“Still jealous.”

Kiwi rolled her eyes, but there was a hint of amusement that belied the usual cool apathy.

“Everybody did a good job for this gig so far. Between Lucy and I, we should be able to slice through Tanaka's corpo ICE with no problem once we get him to the secondary location. Shouldn't need everybody… might even be a bad idea to keep everyone in one location.”

Setting Rebecca down with a pout from the gremlin herself, David shrugged.

“We'll figure that out once we get there. Where's Pilar?”

“Salivating over the Caliburn. Think he's about to head out and store the damn thing until we're done with this job.” Lucy piped up, having buried David's head into her neck once Becca was set down.

Maine: Alright folks, we're ready to roll. Pile on in, and let's get this fucking gig done.

David felt… calm. Everything was going according to plan. Maine was… better than he was last time it seemed, Pilar was alive, and they were close to being done with Faraday.

So why did it feel like it was about to all go tits up?

__

Maine: So that's the progress report. We've got Tanaka, disabled his ability to request backup and his combat cyberware. My Netrunners are gonna be going through his systems just as soon as we can get him to our designated location.

Hmph. Faraday had to admit…this was the reason he'd headhunted Maine all those years ago. The man got results and had a habit of acquiring very skilled members to follow him. It was a shame that he was no longer going to be able to make use of such quality pawns after tonight.

Faraday: Good. Make sure to handle this with a little more delicacy than normal Maine. The information in Tanaka's head is worth a fortune. As soon as you get it to me, I can get yours to you.

Maine: You'll get your data. I always follow through on my promises. But once this gig is over, me and my crew? We're not at your beck and call. You want us? You're gonna need to compete with the offers from everybody else.

He had to bite his tongue to keep from snarling at the sheer impudence that this low born farm boy thought that he could set conditions. That he could escape and do as he pleased.

Instead… he kept a neutral face and nodded.

Faraday: That certainly seems to be the case. Ever since you added Mr. Martinez, it seems you've begun to rise higher and higher once more. I can only imagine how your fortunes will rise as he becomes more… experienced and ready to take on leadership.

He knew the knuckledragger. He had a fierce sense of pride that would eat away at him, and even if he had plans to deal with him, didn't mean he couldn't cause some distress in the meantime. Unfortunately, the man didn't want to cooperate.

Maine: David's a good kid. Learning quick. I'll get in contact with you when we have your information.

Faraday: Very well.

As the big man cut the call, Faraday sneered. Oh yes… he would get his information, but he'd be damned if he was going to let that up jumped bastard think that he got to make his own decisions.

He sent a call request to a number he only used on occasion, due to their expense.

Mascha: Sir.

Faraday: Converge your team on these coordinates in 1 hour. Wait for my confirmation, then enter and eliminate all members of Maine Nelson’s crew. Dossiers being forwarded to your team. You will retrieve data on a shard collected by one of the Netrunners, so leave their heads intact. And if at all possible, get a hold of the Sandevistan on the boy. It intrigues me.

Mascha: Yes sir.

The professionalism and subservient actions calmed him as he reached for a glass of scotch.

You shouldn't have tested me, Maine. You should have known your place.