Chapter 20

Of course, unlike Hiromi I wasn’t crazy. I followed all the traffic laws.

“Ugh, why are you the most boring crazy person ever!?” Hiromi whined at me as I pulled out onto the street going a normal speed as I started driving around. Mostly just enjoying driving my new car with my best choom riding with me.

“We should stop by the club. Ichi will lose it when he sees your new ride.”

“Really? Why? He already has a car.”

“Oh my god Motoko. You are such a gonk. This is a Quadra Type-66! It’s a preem ride… Well I mean not this one exactly. The Wraiths did a hack job on it, but it still is a monster. What’s the top speed on this thing?”

“Don’t know.” I muttered although I was shifting a little as I lied.

I didn’t know the exact top speed, but there was nothing but open roads on the drive into the city.

“Ooh did my cautious driver Motokoooo drive fast?”

“Only out in the badlands.”

“How fast did you get? No, don’t give me that flat look tell meeeee!”

“Fine. I hit about one-eighty before I let off the gas and coasted back.”

“Yeah! That’s what I’m talking about! This thing can go! C’mon hit it.”

“Hell no Hiromi, I’m on a road with traffic!”

“Fuck ‘em!”

“Not a chance choom.”

“Ugh boring.”

“But we can stop by the Ho-oh club and show off to Ichi.”

“Yeees!” Hiromi said breaking into giggles as I maneuvered to hit the freeway connecting Little Chinatown and Kabuki.

I smiled as I got a little alert for driving XP. I was smiling as we turned stopped out on the road to the Ho-oh club. They had actually blocked off the little alley entrance which led to the club.

Instantly as well I could see Tyger Claws looking alert and concerned.

Wraiths weren’t often seen in the city. But it’s not like anyone living in the city wouldn’t have heard of them.

Thankfully as usual, Hiromi took care of that, popping out of the car and waving around and acting like all the Tyger Claws knew who she was.

“Hey hey! Where is Ichi! He has to see this!” She called out practically dancing towards the entrance to the club.

I stepped out and settled against the car Ichi would be out soon, and I didn’t want to leave my new car alone in the middle of a Tyger Claw club.

I got some odd looks from a few of the people hovering around.

Obviously they were guards. Looks like the club really had pulled in more people to guard it.

Shoba either was paying the Claws to do it, or his club was more important than I expected since there was a gang war going on.

I was distracted from waiting when I got a text.

*Vik: Hey kid. Sorry it took so long I decided to check in on your request. Took a bit but I found what you were looking for. Come on by. But I need to say this. The chrome you dropped off has been going to a good use. I have to admit I kept expecting some kind of trick in the days after like you would show up to try and force me to pay more or set me up against a gang, but I was wrong. Listen kid. You did a solid good deed. I’ll send some pictures just so your good deed doesn’t just disappear into the wind.*

I blinked in surprise at the heartfelt message.

Then I started getting pictures. Little kids with new chrome. Chrome I recognized. Little kids that looked poor, but now had legs. Where in the picture before they had none.

A boy who was showing off his arm to his mom. His obviously full prosthetic arm.

And they kept coming.

I had been right. When it came down to it. Vik was the sort of guy that did real honest good, in a city that had almost no one doing that.

Damn. I wasn’t crying. You’re crying!

“See Ichi! Look at Motoko’s new ride! I told you it was preem, Sh-Motoko?!”

“Wha? Oh. Jeeze Hiromi you startled me.” I snorted trying to keep my nose from running.

“Why are you crying! Was someone mean? What happened?… Jun?” She asked quietly as she hurried up close to me.

“No No.” I waved my hands as I wiped my eyes stupid sudden rain showers getting my eyes wet. How rude! “I just got a message from Vik. It’s good news.”

“Who?” Hiromi asked and it took Ichi a minute to remember.

“Wait, that weird Ripper?”

“He isn’t that weird.” I grumbled at them, my eyes turned yellow as I forwarded the pictures to both of them. Bombarding them with tons of pics.

Hiromi went silent for a bit as she looked through them, Ichi just seemed to glance over them confused.

“Okay?”

“Those are the people that we helped by handing over the Chrome we didn’t need.” I informed him, but he just seemed to shrug.

“It was your chrome. I still would have preferred selling it.”

“Huh. I didn’t expect this.” Hiromi said after a bit looking me over as if she had never seen me before. “I honestly never took you for someone that would do something like that. Or get tearful about it. You’ve changed so much Motoko. Sometimes I forget, then moments like this happen.” She snorted a bit before waving it off. “So Ichi what do you think of Motoko’s wheels?”

“Preem. I’m jealous. I’d ask where you got the money for it, but considering I don’t think you paid for it.”

“Not an enny.” I offered with a smile he snorted.

“You hit a Wraith driver?”

“He hit me first, I hit him last.” I said a little darkly before shrugging a bit. “It’s a long story. I was on a job for Wakako. I was an extra to cover my client’s back. Things got… a little out of control.”

“She fired that HMG she found, out the car, while running away from Wraiths.” Hiromi added. “She’s been quiet about the rest though. She is terrible at telling stories.”

“Really? That’s… Nova.” Ichi offered blinking as his eyes went a little distant imagining. “I’ve been stuck here. You really got a job from Wakako? The Wakako?”

“Yeah. It wasn’t that hard. I walked in and asked if she had any work that needed doing. Then I had to break into a Tino’ chop shop and steal an info shard. It got a little-”

“Out of control?”

“No, I kept control just complicated. I can’t say much but let’s just say another fixer was involved.”

“Ouch. “ Hiromi winced at that. Probably imagining way worse than it was.

“It was okay. I got in and out without any trouble and Wakako was impressed.”

“Damn.” Ichi whispered, his voice sounding a little rough as he seemed to shake it off. “So you’re gonna let me drive this thing right?”

“Hahaha. No.” I deadpanned which he tsked at.

“Damn.”

“I mean you are a better driver than Hiromi.”

“Hey!”

“Nah. Hiromi is better than me, you just have to get her drunk first.” Ichi said and it took me a second before I realized he was actually being serious.

“Being drunk doesn’t make you a better driver!”

——

After we hung out with Ichi for a while we split up. Ichi was still on the clock in a way, and Hiromi and I now had an appointment.

“No way am I letting some back alley Ripper work on you and not be there to keep an eye out.” Hiromi argued as she refused to let me drop her off back home once I told her what Vik had told me through text.

“Vik isn’t like that. He’s good people. And a good ripper. I’ll be fine.”
“You aren’t going without me. Besides we are almost there so stop arguing. Gonk.” She pointed out as I sighed and nodded simply driving quietly through the city towards Misty’s Esoterica.

We pulled up out front and Hiromi and I headed in. Before we slipped through the back gate though I wandered into Misty’s shop.

“Hi Misty!”

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“Oh Motoko. And… Hiromi?” She hesitated as she tried to remember Hiromi’s name.

“Yeah you got it.” Hiromi confirmed although she was still not being friendly.

“Hey Misty, I’m going down to see Vik, but can you keep an eye on my car? It has…”

“A bunch of gang ink?” She asked with a kinda stilted smile.

“Yeah. So can you make sure no one damages it? I really need to find someone to repaint it. Or do it myself.”

Misty looked a little conflicted, before she nodded. “I’ll try to warn anyone away. Might be a good idea to get it painted though… You’re not a Wraith… Are you?”

“No way!” Almost shouted waving my hands a bit. “I was on a job working for a nomad, and we got jumped by the Wraiths… Its previous owner doesn’t need it anymore.”

Misty nodded, releasing a sigh of relief. “I’m glad. You kinda scared me for a minute.” She smiled at me as she waved me towards the back. “Go on. I’ll make sure everyone knows you klepped it from a Wraith if they come around.”

“Thanks Misty, you’re preem.”

Hiromi followed me as I practically hopped along. Finally going to get a good set of eyes. I was gonna be able to see through walls! and my hacking would be so much easier! My current set of some no-name company eyes or whatever were okay. For Civilians. They had the basic stuff, and even let me do the calling thing without needing a phone.

Jun must have splurged to make sure I could do that. My guess was that my old ones before the scavs had the same functionality and Jun wanted to make sure I could still do it.

Anyways, Kiroshi were the top of the line optics. There simply wasn’t much better than a set. Scanning mode. Near instant net code connection. Hookup for Smart weapons.

Color options.

My current eyes couldn’t change the eye color. They were the color Jun must have chosen for me when he bought them. A sort of blue.

Maybe it was my natural eye color? Or maybe Jun thought I would like the color? Anyways. I couldn’t actually change the color of this set. I would have to go to a ripper and have them take them out to change the color.

They were cheap optics. Like the bargain bin phone at a phone store. Sure it might be a smart phone, but it had none of the options a real smart phone would have.

I hurried down the steps to the clinic, kind of excited.

Sure having my Cyberdeck installed had been awesome as well, but it was like… It barely made any impact. I just had a little port hidden on the back of my head now.

This was new eyeballs.

Not just new ones, but some of the best I could get. A real serious upgrade. My first step on a path that I was going to have to come to accept.

Transhumanism.

It made me want to ask a question that many Motoko before me had asked.

I had a Ghost. Right? No matter how much of myself I carved away my soul would still be there. A human had a ghost, a sentience, that couldn’t be removed by simply stripping the body away piece by piece.

It was the very essence of what made Motoko… Special? Well Special-ish. She wasn’t alone in being a nearly complete cyborg. It was her talent that pushed her to be amazing. But it was her Ghost. The question if she had one, if she was really the same Motoko as she had been born as that made her… Compelling.

“Motoko?” Hiromi asked, I had stopped before I entered the bottom of the steps. I had gotten lost.