Chapter 158

“Jun? You’re home already?”

“I told you it was just scratches.” He grumbled at me. I had dropped off Rebecca at home after we stored the Behemoth for the night. All of us too tired to want to unpack everything just to pack it all back up again.

 

Hiromi had apparently made a deal with the SCSM company for a garage to store it. Which we could use as a space for our loot. So it was secure enough.

 

Now I was home ready for a shower but Jun was already on the couch.

 

I walked over and inspected him and narrowed my eyes at the very obvious bandages on his chest.

 

“Yes I’m sure scratches bleed even after being checked over by a ripper.” I said snidely, noticing red on the white bandages.

 

“It’s fine.” He grumbled looking me over. “You?”

“Nothing went through. Armor worked like it was supposed to.” I assured him. Although I had gotten a few scratches, a Maxdoc had cleared that up.

 

Satisfied my brother had actually gotten his medical attention I wandered into the bathroom to take a shower.

 

This whole situation had gone really well. Even if the fact Sasha had survived was setting in. What was going to change from that one act?

 

Maines crew had made an enemy of Biotechnica. I had no idea how much, or if they would be able to let everything cool off, but Kiwi and Lucy might never be hired by Maine now.

 

This was… Going to be an interesting situation.

 

Also, the most important thing. We were only a few months away from a very important point. The start of Edgerunners.

 

I would need to figure out what to do about what’s his face. The original owner of David’s Sandevistan. The fact was, I wanted it. That wasn’t some run of the mill street sandy that I could pick up. That thing was absolutely top of the line.

 

And I wasn’t David, I wasn’t going to lose my mind to chrome and overuse and turn the biggest advantage into a weakness.

 

But until then…

 

I looked down at my body as the water flowed over me. Muscles and chrome, but I was flawless. No scars, or markings. Vik and my sleep healing had taken care of me.

 

I looked at my alerts. Plenty of killing had been done. Plenty of XP.

 

*500 XP Gained.*

 

*500 XP Gained.*

 

*500 XP Gained.*

 

*500 XP Gained.*

 

On it went.

 

Fourteen kills directly to me. That wasn’t a lot, and yet it was all at the same time.

 

7000 XP.

 

I hadn’t gotten any direct level ups, Assault was unfortunately already maxed, but I did get a Quick Hack alert. So that was one more step closer to a level.

 

But as I looked away from the alerts and back to my body…

 

I think it’s time to get some more chrome. I’ve been doing a lot of prep chrome. My Titanium bones were great, but I wanted something with a bit more….

 

Flash.

 

The idea stuck with me, as I finished the shower. Undecided. I could probably get some Gorilla arms mods for my Condor. They were already a bit full though. The EMP and Armor took up a lot of room.

 

I walked out of the bathroom clothed and drying my hair, and then decided since I couldn’t figure it out on my own I was gonna ask the chrome head.

 

“Hey Jun?”

 

“Motoko?”

“I’m trying to figure out what chrome I should get next. Any suggestions?”

“Extra heart?”

“I do want one, but I’m thinking more flash. All of my chrome feels like just…”

“Ah I see. Get a Sandy. It’ll make you killer.” He said without missing a beat.

“I kinda have one lined up, but it’ll be a few months before I can get it.” I answered honestly. Admitting it aloud made it more real.

 

I was going to take ‘Davids’ Sandy from him. He would never chip it in. In exchange I would make sure Gloria survived. I’m sure he would trade the chrome for his mother alive and well.

 

“If you have to wait so long, just chip in a sandy now, get used to it, and upgrade later. You have the eddies.” He said it like it was that simple.

 

“I just… I don’t want to chip in some scop Sandy Jun. The one I have my eye on is like… Super top of the line. I just have to wait a bit.”

“Dummy.” He said and to my surprise reached out and tapped me on top of my head. “Speedware is useful shit. The only reason I don’t have one is because I stopped chipping in new chrome for a while to get used to everything. But you… You’re fine. Go chip in a Sandy, get used to it, for when you chip in something real nova.”

“But that’ll…” I stopped. How do I explain the idea of how I understood adaptation, and Humanity loss by Cyberware without explaining it’s all a game.

“Motoko? You handle chrome better than anyone I’ve ever seen.” He said, his eyes locked on me. “You’ve been a little skittish about it. I get that. But you’ve got nothing to be afraid of. Besides, Hiromi already sent me a quote on what we made today. You can get plenty of good chrome with just your cut of today’s profits. Hell, it’s more than I make normally by a long shot.” He said almost laughing. “Who’d have thought little Hiromi would some day be bossing me around on a gig?”

 

I blinked at the almost wistful tone before Jun looked to me and smiled.

 

“Spend the eddies. Get an upgrade. At least it’ll increase your chances of surviving until you get your hands on the Sandy you really want. Upgrades are normal, they won’t hurt.”

 

I blinked and realized that… I really should be upgrading my chrome. I had a lot of eddies just sitting in my account. And a lot of chrome that could use an upgrade. My Cyberdeck was a midline at best for instance.

 

An upgrade to my Cyberdeck would do a lot in making me even scarier.

 

But I also wanted to spend more money on tech stuff… No, I realized. I had eddies. I had a ton of eddies. That was just an excuse. I was letting my fear control me. I was afraid of chrome in a way. Sure I was feeling much much better about it now, but the kidnapping still haunted me.

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I hated that idea.

 

I breathed in and out. Being wise about chrome wasn’t bad though. Balance. I just needed balance.

 

“I’m going to bed. I’ll probably be working with Hiromi all day tomorrow to sell the loot.” I said instead, rising up.

“Nice! I’m looking forward to my cut! Going to buy an upgrade for my ride. But you should set it up Motoko. Call your ripper, Vik. Give him time to find some chrome. Go on. Go to bed.”

I just rolled my eyes at Jun’s stupid Mizuchi.

 

“I’ll send a message to Vik.” I decided, even sending him a message about what I was looking for and a request for a checkup and new install.

 

“Good night Motoko… And hey. This gig you pulled off today? I was impressed. Super impressed. You didn’t even need me, you could have done it without me… It was a relief.”

 

I scoffed even as I felt my cheeks heat up. “Section 9 is amazing! Of course we don’t need a gonk like you! Even if you were a big help and it was cool how you worked with us, when you weren’t charging ahead and getting shot at! Maybe Section 9 will offer more gigs to you in the future… If you get some armor!” I yelled and then stomped away into my room. Jun was laughing.

 

I checked on Tachikoma before I went to bed. Its walking process was starting to really come together. It was moving at a much faster rate now. Much more confidently.

 

“Good job.” I told it despite not being able to hear me, and did some quick pruning of the process before slipping into bed.

 

——

 

The next day was a barrage of running around. Thankfully since Ichi could drive the Behemoth. I was mostly the bodyguard. Keeping Hiromi safe as she sold equipment all over the city. The eddies flowed in as we dropped off piece after piece.

 

While we drove around, I spent some time going over the gig with everyone. With the BD recorder I could even review things I had seen.

 

Talking to Malcolm about when he tripped. Telling him to remind me sometime for some practice with walking through a dark space with a rifle in hands.

 

Ichi mostly got a slap on the back.

 

Hiromi too.

 

Jun I just sent a picture of him getting shot with a quick caption. ‘Don’t be the idiot that runs ahead.’

 

He didn’t respond with anything useful. Just a glare emoji.