[TN: Today's chapter]
"Holy shit… Maelstrom."
Brick stood by the window, Fire-Eye Golden Gaze cranked to maximum sensitivity. From far down the street he could already see that someone in this building had turned on a high-power street lamp.
Scary as hell.
Still, a few guys—no idea if they were drunk or just high—wandered in without even lifting their heads.
Boom!
The ground suddenly shook, jolting their nerves awake. They stared around blearily—
Brick locked eyes with one of them and slowly opened his mouth. A jagged row of uneven metal teeth reflected faint light. At a distance of about twenty meters, those teeth flickered in and out of view.
Like a beast in the dark.
"G-GHOST!!!"
The big guy spun around and bolted. His foot caught the curb, ripping open skin, and he went down face-first, smashing his head open as he crawled across the street.
Anyone who didn't know better would've thought someone had just been dragged to death here.
Brick spat. "Fuck. They say Westbrook's got good security—never see drunks like this in Watson."
[V: You kidding? Watson doesn't have drunks because you guys drag them all away.]
"…That one's not on me."
Brick paused, muttered under his breath, then grabbed the wall edge and jumped down.
Moments later, the ground began to tremble continuously. The uneven dirt shook harder and harder, until—
Boom!
A metal drill bit punched up through the surface.
The drill stopped almost immediately and retracted. Four metal digging arms flung dirt aside with a clatter, opening a hole big enough to stick a head out of.
Then Dum-Dum's head shot up, covered in mud and dust.
His Fire-Eye Golden Gaze had seven sensors total. Only three were still lit, one flickering weakly. When he saw Brick and the machines waiting above, he felt a surge of emotion and yanked hard, trying to pull himself out—
Bang!
A whole finger snapped off and went flying, spider-webbing a nearby window with cracks.
"Boss!"
"Get up here first."
Brick kicked open the lock on a nearby metal restraint crate, revealing what was inside—
An engineering power exoskeleton designed specifically for cyborgs. From the outside it looked somewhat like the powered gauntlets Jackie used.
But as construction equipment, its hands were replaced with bulldozer-blade-like tools.
Click—
Brick stepped into the portable dressing rig. Mechanical clamps slammed into their designated ports with a heavy thud, like a machine expanding itself.
This kind of portable rig normally inflicted direct bodily damage during donning. Depending on how "important" the operator was, there were also more comfort-oriented versions.
Clearly, this one was meant for people who didn't care whether they lived or died.
Maelstrom had owned this thing for a while, but never really knew how to use it. Before, Brick was already a walking tin can—but still far from this form.
Now it was different.
Metal existed to be reshaped.
Hiss—
Power surged. Steam vented from the seams as the rig compressed and locked. Brick took a step back, adjusted his stance, and the stabilizers under his feet slammed into the ground.
Boom!
Two massive excavation fists drove deep into the soil.
"Holy shit… that's badass, boss." Dum-Dum's three eyes sparkled. "We got stuff like this now?"
"Idiot. Rented it from the choomba. The kid's still down there, right?"
A muffled voice echoed from underground—
"Yeah, boss!"
"Good kid. Knew I wasn't wrong about you—tough fate line." Brick took a deep breath. "Dum-Dum, pull your head back in!"
Brick inhaled deeply—
Air rushed through the intake, turbo-compressed into the combustion chamber. Dust tinted the airflow, making it visible—like a giant beast breathing.
Boom—
The engine roar thundered through the street!
Dirt parted like the Red Sea under the raw force of the engineering exoskeleton. The core engine spun wildly, glowing a dark red.
Underground, Joestar and Dum-Dum watched as the soil was pushed aside, light-polluted sky gradually appearing above them. Their legs went weak and they leaned back against the dirt.
Dum-Dum grinned. "First time I've ever thought Night City looked kinda nice."
Joestar smiled too, patting the pod behind him—
The pod was wrapped in black shock-absorption padding. Very secure.
"Mom, this is my big bro… if you saw him you'd probably—"
[Mom: Hiroichi, you've made good friends. Of course I'd be happy for you.]
Joestar froze. "Mom?"
Dum-Dum climbed out of the dirt. Brick glanced at Joestar, who was standing there stunned.
"What's with him?"
"Ah. Joestar's mom got tricked by Brainiac into becoming a bio-mainframe. White-matter psychosis—almost didn't make it."
"And now?"
"Not yet. Choomba said the rest depends on Joestar himself. Daily thought-syncs and all that."
While they talked, Brick grabbed Joestar and hauled him up.
"Boss, this is my mom. She's just… not quite right right now. I was thinking—"
Dum-Dum patted himself off and leaned in. "Boss, his mom's insane—she can do full-body cyber-surgeries."
Brick's eyes lit up. "Alright. I don't have a mom, but a brother's mom is my mom. You want a room for her, we can keep her. But the gang doesn't feed freeloaders."
"Heh. Got it, boss." Joestar scratched his head. "But—"
"Enough yapping. She's your mom, not mine. Quit whining. Get ready—we've got work."
"Got it, boss."
Joestar shook the dirt off himself and jogged after Brick.
The next second, his mom's voice echoed in his head again.
[Mom: Hiroichi, are we going home now?]
"Yeah, Mom. We're going home now."
Brick walked ahead, ears twitching. He leaned toward Dum-Dum. "What's with this kid? He's been talking to himself nonstop."
"Boss, choomba said after that special surgery, this kid's basically 'acting up' every second."
"Oh. That so."
"Boss, what're we doing next?"
"See this?" Brick removed the power exoskeleton. It burned energy fast—if you weren't using it, it had to go back in the box.
"So?"
"Choomba's setting up some kind of racing event. We handle construction—and we race."
Click.
As they walked, Brick's body suddenly sagged on the left shoulder. He frowned. "This cyberware can't take the load. Back we go—got new parts to swap."
Hiss—
A mechanical arm suddenly extended from the pod behind Joestar and fixed Brick's shoulder on the move.
"Holy shit… that's crazy. Repairs while walking?"
"Crazy good," Dum-Dum smacked his lips. "Can do surgery while working."
"Hm." Brick looked at Joestar. "What was your mom's name again?"
"It was—"
"Forget it. Let's call her Cereborg. Sounds intimidating. Remember to swap your eyes back when we get home."
"Got it."
Click—
Click.
The three walked down the dark street. Every step rang with metal-on-metal impacts. It didn't sound like three people walking—
It sounded like three machines.
The drunk who'd just crawled onto the sidewalk covered his mouth, praying those three demons had been fooled by his playing dead.
In fact, he was worrying for nothing—
The footsteps faded into the distance.
Maelstrom didn't care about him at all.
But the silhouettes they left behind froze him in place.
He saw three figures with barely any flesh striding openly down the street. Behind them, a mysterious pod extended mechanical arms, freely modifying and carving into their bodies.
Cybernetic modification wasn't a glamorous word.
For people at the bottom, it usually meant being forced by life to sell off parts of yourself, permanently altering your body just to work.
Over-modders were never objects of envy.
They weren't symbols of cool or strength.
They were always outsiders.
[Brick: Choom, Watson's ready to break ground.]
[Leo: Good.]