The Swordsman
He looked his most willful student over with narrowed eyes and held back the twitch threatening his face before calmly noting "You didn't bring your sword."
Much to his complete and utter lack of surprise, his reproachful tone did absolutely nothing.
"That tiny thing?" The cyborg tilted his head, his smile showing off his maw just a bit "Realized it was too light for my tastes. Don't worry though, I brought something much better for today."
The child made good use of terror as his weapon, to the point the rank and file had already started coming up with foolish stories and epithets about the Captain's unusual ally, each more stupid and premature than the last.
They were obviously given too much free time if they could waste it like that, but it was sadly not up to him.
'Iron Asura indeed...' Master Takeda thought though only half mockingly.
Without his prompting, the boy opened the case he was carrying and brought out a ridiculous mockery between a proper blade and a chainsaw, shaped vaguely like an old European straight saber.
"Hmph." The Swordmaster pushed all of the disdain he felt at the sight into that one simple noise, and then wisely returned his usual blade to the stand, replacing it with a cheaper, more expendable version.
"Did you think to surprise me with this... thing?" He asked, unsheathing his weapon and taking a half stance "This isn't the first time overeager children thought to replace skill with fanciful toys."
"The right tool for the right job." The boy shrugged without a care "Now how about you stop preaching and help me come up with a way to actually use this thing without looking like an idiot?"
'Much too willful by far.' Takeda tsked to himself, but couldn't contain his curiosity "Very well. Let us see if your 'tool' is worth as much as you dream."
His eyes narrowed as the boy began twirling it around like it weighed nothing, quietly staring him down for a few seconds.
Then the silence was broken by the loud roar of an engine, and the two charged.
Immediately, Takeda felt his hands nearly buckle as he deflected the first strike land on the side of his blade, followed by a loud screech of metal as they quickly disengaged from each other and made some distance.
He forced the tremble down and his eyes briefly flickered to his blade and narrowed as he realized it had been nearly sheared in half by the smallest moment of contact.
Those teeth were more dangerous than they first seemed.
He wasn't about to admit defeat just like that though, and just as the boy went to open his foolish mouth, he dashed forward, his katana swiping out and forcing the monstrous weapon down just long enough for him to feint upwards and smack the fool boy's head with the flat of his blade.
The cyborg's annoyed response died in his throat as a loud ting rang out across the dojo, the upper half of Takeda's sword bouncing off the hard metal and flying off to the side.
The boy broke the staredown first "Right, guess we both proved our point there."
Takeda said nothing, merely looking up at the arrogant youth with all the stern pride of a master who knew better.
Michael 'Magos' Sobronov
The old fart was way too smug for someone in smacking distance.
Just because he got one lucky hit off didn't mean I was talking out of my ass about my chainsword being better than his flimsy little knife!
But I knew that if I pointed that factoid out the little shit would just take it as a win, so I continued practicing in relative silence as he helped me beat the most egregious kinks out of my makeshift style.
He did acknowledge the fact my new sword was a very efficient weapon breaker and had me flick the chain off before we continued, treating every full-toothed contact that lasted longer than a touch as a disarm while we sparred.
Naturally I recorded every well executed attack I made onto my Agent for later use.
All in all just smacking the old coot around for a few hours probably helped me more than a full month of gigs would. Fighting someone while you were moving at inhuman speeds was one thing on paper but a whole different beast in practice.
Especially if they were spazzing around as much as you were.
"That will do for tonight." Takeda spoke up suddenly, making me stop my backswing "Your weapon is effective, and you wield it with surprising grace."
"That sounds almost like praise." I noted as I kicked my case up and returned the chainsword inside.
"Because it is." Takeda said pointedly "It will make for a powerful tool of terror in your hands, despite the clear barbarity of the design."
"And there it is." I sigh playfully before going still 'Did he just 'So uncivilized...' my ass?'
My scanners showed no microexpressions on the old fart's face but I could swear I saw his mouth twitch there for a second.
'You're probably just projecting there.' I decided "So, is Jugo still busy with the Waterfront fuckup?"
"It is being dealt with." The old man responded with complete calm "The Maelstrom counterattack took us off guard, but the Captain's advance keeps whoever is organizing them from being able to act as they wish."
"That doesn't sound particularly certain." I point out.
"Merely a question of time." He hums, unmoved.
"Riiight." I said 'So long as they don't bother me with the inevitable fallout, I don't really care.'
"Catch." Takeda calls out suddenly and I find myself holding a datashard.
"What's this?" I ask, scanning the oddly advanced-looking chip over.
"A training shard for grappling modified for full cyborg use." He says "Merely the basics from one of the highrider satellites but that is the most you will get outside orbit."
"Huh..." I voiced dumbly and looked up "How much did you pay for it?"
"I was owed a favor." Is all he says.
"Alright..." I trail off "Why?"
"What a foolish question." He hums.
And again, says nothing else.
Smug little shit.
"Fine, be that way." I huff before adding "Thanks, old man."
He nods and instead of acknowledging it further goes into lecture mode "Cyborgs who have mastered their form are true terrors in battle. You would be wise to dedicate yourself to pursuing this mastery."
"If only I had infinite hours in the day." I grouse.
"The longest road is started by a single step." He hums, making my eye twitch ever so slightly "But so long as you make the effort I trust you will manage it. Even that brute Smasher did after all."
"Really?" I blink "All the vids just show him blowing everything around him into tiny pieces."
"Subtlety is a weapon in its own right." Takeda says "There are rumors about which means there is some truth to them, and you seemed to lack in motivation."
"You think just pointing out 'The Cyborg' does it will be enough to motivate me?" I ask dryly.
Smug little shit just stares blankly "Is it not?"
And I sigh in defeat "...Yeah, it is."
"Hmm." He hums, totally not hiding his laughter "I believe that will be all for today."
"Yeah, its well past your bedtime old man." I drawl and turn to leave "Thanks for the lesson as always."
"Hmph!" He huffs.
'Well, that was productive.' I consider as I step out of the TC base, the guards barely paying attention to me anymore 'Now what is this about 'Becca finding me an assistant?'
---
Gloria 'Dead On Her Feet' Martinez
"I'll be fine by myself, mom." Her son grumbled "It just a long walk, s'supposed to be healthy anyway."
"If you're sure." She slumped back against the couch, pulling her boy in and kissing his forehead "Study hard mi hijo. And no more getting into fights."
"I didn't start it." He mutters grumpily.
"No more fights, David." She repeated harshly "We don't have the money to fight them if they press charges. You know they will look for the tiniest excuse."
"Alright, fine." He crosses his arms and looks away with a huff "I'll keep my damn head down."
She narrows her eyes "You better."
"Just make sure to get some rest." He says quietly, before adding a barely audible "Love you mom." And leaving.
The brief smile on her face flickers off as she covers her eyes with her arm and groans tiredly, each passing second tempting her to actually sleep one of her rare free days off instead of chasing ghosts.
She wanted to ignore Rebecca's proposal at first, but no matter how much she tried she just couldn't get it out of her head, especially whenever she was elbow deep in some poor soul's guts, rummaging around for parts she could sell just so David could keep going to school in his already worn down uniform.
She lasted for all of one week before she decided to give it a shot.
It was ultimately a simple question of numbers.
Even with her almost constant 16 hour overtime and occasional injection of money from her 'side job' she was earning 5000 eddies a month on average, just barely enough for her and her son to survive while never fully leaving the red.
She feared that if nothing changed, David would ruin his future trying to help her, and that was just not something she was ready to accept.
So she decided to take the leap of faith.
Just then, her cheap agent rang and she quickly picked up "Rebecca." She mumbled, arm still covering her face "Is it time already?"
[Yup! Waiting for you downstairs. Come on Glori, hurry it up!]
She wished she could be that energetic.
With a force of will, she made herself get up, made sure she looked halfway decent for a meeting with a prospective boss, and rode the creaking elevator down to the ground floor.
Rebecca was waiting outside, leaning against an expensive looking car and grinning up at her.
"Is that... yours?" Gloria couldn't help but ask.
"Borrowed from a choom." The young woman shrugged and waved dismissively before then waving for her to get moving "Come on, get in quickly. He doesn't like it when people are late."
Briefly frowning she did as she was told and moments later they were trailing down the streets of Night City at what she was pretty sure was well beyond the speed limit.
Unable to just calmly listen to the music she spoke up "So what can you tell me about the job? You were pretty vague."
"Ripper's assistant is all the details I got." Rebecca repeated her first 'pitch' with a shrug, keeping her eyes on the road "Dunno anymore than that but I'm pretty sure you get paid a lot better."
"Hopefully." Gloria muttered "And the employer?"
"Hmmmmmm...." Rebecca hummed overdramatically "He's pretty serious about his work but don't let that fool you. Deep inside he's just a big old goofball."
"You still didn't tell me how you know a ripper." She said after a minute of relative quiet.
"Oh, he's my input!" Rebecca chirped without an ounce of shame "Heard him grumbling about needing some extra hands that won't yap about what they see and then bam, there you were!"
She kept her immediate thoughts to herself. Rebecca was a good person, she knew that as a fact, but she was also an ex-member of the Moxes and those had a rather clear reputation.
Which inevitably left her spiraling in her doubts about her potential new boss.
Exactly why she didn't bother giving her notice at the EMT just yet.
A few minutes later they left the car near Megabuilding H11, and entered through the main entrance. It was a bit cleaner than H4 but it seemed to be completely the same until they approached their destination.
"Are those Tyger Claws?" She whisper hissed to her mercenary friend.
"Oh them?" Rebecca blinked "Just ignore them, they're fine."
She didn't ignore them.
To the point she started drawing eyes with her staring, but for whatever reason the usually rowdy gangoons just flickered their eyes at Rebecca before shrugging and ignoring them both.
They exited the lift and stepped onto the sixteenth floor, and Gloria immediately noticed something was off, but she wasn't given time to guess at just what was going on as Rebecca suddenly realized they were starting to cut it close and began dragging her towards a unassuming but perfectly clean multifloor complex tucked into one of the corners.
She would have probably missed it was an actual clinic if not for the sign above the entrance.
'Probably only does commissions if Rebecca's hype isn't just her gushing over a boy.' Gloria thought as se was pulled inside.
The contrast there was even more pronounced than outside, as she was definitely no longer on a lower megabuilding floor but something much closer to the NC Medcenter's entry hall.
"Come on in." A vaguely familiar synthetic voice called from what she guessed was the actual clinic.
"Hey Mike!" Rebecca waved as she dragged her in, leaving Gloria no time to prepare herself for what awaited inside.
Standing beside a ripperdoc chair holding an Asian man with his chest open loomed a familiar metallic figure.
The same figure that effortlessly got into her head and threatened her not too long ago.
The only difference was that this time he was dressed in some odd cross between a red white rimmed monk robe and a neomilitaristic surgical gown.
"You're here. Good." The cyborg nodded, voice completely flat "You can go upstairs Rebecca, mom and Misty said they were having girl time or something. We'll probably be stuck here for a while."
"Okay!" The merc chirped and hopped outside.
"Wait-" Gloria turned after her only to have the doors closed in her face.
"Ms. Martinez." The synthetic voice broke her from her stupor "If you would kindly fetch the spool of biodegradable wire from the third shelf to your right, we can begin with your interview."
For a moment, she stood there unmoving, unsure what to even think.
But no matter how uncomfortable, needs must.
She had no idea how but she somehow managed to push through the terror she was feeling and robotically did as she was told.
Which painted a pretty solid picture of how the next twelve hours went by as the cyborg ripper would give out simple commands, not even bothering to look at her most of the time as he performed what she could only call techno-magic on his patients.
Before promptly medically resuscitating them and shoving them outside, giving her just enough time to clean everything up for the next patient as he went to fetch the needed 'parts' from his storage room.
The customers seemed just as unsure of her presence as she was.
But on and on it went anyways.
Fetch, clean, greet guests, repeat.
She had just finished wiping off the blood from one of the ripper chairs and left for the reception hall to bring in the next customer when she blearily realized there was no one waiting outside.
"Come back inside, we are done for the day." The synthetic voice of her boss shook her out of it and she quickly listened.
"Want anything to drink?" He called out from... somewhere?
"Ice coffee." She said before she even registered it.
And blinked as a moment later one of his odd snake-like limbs deposited a can into her hands.
At this point she was too tired to care, so she just shrugged and took a deep gulp.
"So." The ripper, whom she learned went by Magos for most people, pointed for her to take a seat at the unused ripper chair "What do you think?"
"I'm sorry?" She asked and immediately started kicking herself.
"Was the workload too demanding?" He elaborated.
Immediately she felt a flash of panic 'Can't look too tired now, Gloria!' She hissed to herself and forced her eyes to focus "I'm used to working longer, sir. This was easy."
"Uh huh." The cyborg drawled before pointing at his odd triple-eye "This is a bioscanner."
She went still.
"Which is why I'm not taking your current exhausted state into account, as that is how you arrived." He went on as if he didn't see a thing "And it is why I'm asking you what you think. Can you keep up like this?"
"It took some getting used to." Gloria quickly said "But it was just a normal shift."
And working under an AC beat the heat of the sun any day.
"Hm." Magos voiced neutrally and shook his head "Well I for one think you were perfectly passable, and your deficiencies will settle themselves through familiarity."
He paused and his eyes flashed "However before we go into the job offer proper, I need you to understand something."
The sudden shift in tone ripped away whatever relief she was starting to feel as she gulped "Yes?"
"I perform many... delicate experiments here." He spoke slowly "If you leak anything you see while working for me." He leaned in, opening his mouth for the first time "You will not live to regret it. Understood?"
As one might expect, the fight or flight instincts of her lizard brain fired, and settled on 'flop' instead, and she immediately locked up.
'Shit, shit, shit.' She began panicking 'What the fuck kind of place did I get baited into!?'
"Calm down now Ms. Martinez." The cyborg raised what she was pretty fucking sure were clawed hands pretending to be normal ones "I'm not exactly demanding anything more than trust here."
She took a sharp breath and nodded "Of course." She forced "'Becca did say you were looking for someone discreet."
"Excellent." He clapped his hands and ignored her flinch "You pass. Here is the job offer."
With no prior warning, her retinas lit up with a line of text and she would have no doubt locked up again if not for what she found written out.
Paid out severance for her previous job, 12 hour work days, 30 thousand eurodollars a month to start with, family healthcare coverage, no work on the weekends, and all she had to do was assist with operations and deal with waiting customers.
"Is..." She croaked "Is this some kind of prank?"
"I'm sorry?" Magos blinked.
"This." She pointed at her eye "This is-"
"Ah." He interrupted her "It seemed you were under the impression I'm the usual NC slave driver." He chuckled "You will find that so long as you do not do anything to cr-"
'Holy shit he is serious?!'
"Where do I sign?"
-------
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