Chapter 57: But... That's Arasaka
RRING-RRING—
First, the alarm clock. Then, the room's television automatically flickered to life, and that asshole Stan's voice filled the room, shouting his way through the daily Body Lotto.
"Gooood morning, Night City!"
"Yesterday's..."
The annoying voice, combined with the incessant ringing, dragged Rhys from sleep. He instinctively slapped at the nightstand to silence the clock. Who the hell still uses an old-school ringer in 2076? Oh, right. It was the standard-issue apartment package. In Night City, everything cost eddies. This clock wasn't his; it came with the megabuilding. And the most disgusting part? If you didn't pay the subscription fee, you didn't even have the right to turn the damn thing off.
He'd gotten used to waking up this way, just slapping the snooze button.
But in the next instant, the ringing stopped.
Rhys opened his eyes, sat up, and saw the person sleeping beside him.
She had her back to him, her skin pale and smooth. A silver line ran down her spine—a high-grade neural implant. But other than that, her beautiful back was marred by several dark, conspicuous bruises, spoiling the view.
"You're up?"
Sasha pulled the blanket up, playfully tossing it over Rhys's head. By the time he pulled it down, she was already stepping into her black netrunner suit. She zipped it up, pressed the fasteners, and the thermal-regulating suit was on.
Fuck, that's somehow even hotter.
To maximize skin contact for better cooling, most netrunner suits were designed with... minimal fabric. To put it simply, it was a high-tech, crotch-hugging leotard. If that didn't paint a picture, just imagine a racing swimsuit. The stark contrast of the black material against her pale skin was ridiculously distracting.
Sasha stood by the bed and began pulling on her undergarments. She didn't shy away from Rhys's gaze. He watched as she slipped on a pair of pink, cute-patterned panties, pulling them up over her pale, reflective synth-skin legs... on top of the suit.
Realizing her mistake, she quickly unfastened the suit, put her underwear on correctly, and then fastened the suit back up.
Synth-skin... besides the creepy name, it really was superior to organic skin in almost every way. But the fact that she'd put her clothes on in the wrong order told Rhys one thing: she was incredibly flustered.
He didn't look away. He took in the view.
"Get up. Time for food," Sasha said, noticing his stare. She rolled her eyes at him, her cat-like lips pursed. But as she walked towards the food dispenser, her brow furrowed, and she bit her lip, one hand instinctively going to her lower stomach.
God, it hurt... Her sister had told her guys were always quick. Bill, her brother-in-law, definitely was. He'd even whined about getting a 'Mr. Studd' implant to last longer, right before her sister slapped some sense into him.
But Rhys... Rhys was like a fucking animal!
The thought just made her more annoyed. She jabbed at the food dispenser's buttons, venting her frustration.
Rhys got dressed and walked over as Sasha pulled the breakfast packets out and tossed them in the microwave. He thought for a moment, then said, "You know, you weren't exactly an expert yourself, pretending to be some kind of..."
"So?" Sasha spun around, that mischievous cat-smile back on her face.
"...Never mind. Just saying," Rhys quickly backpedaled.
Teacher? Expert? Hell, she was even less experienced than he was. At least he'd learned a few things from braindances. With good hardware and a high-quality BD, the physical sensation was indistinguishable from the real thing; it just lacked the emotional connection. That, and the senseis back at the Mox had "educated" him on the subject.
Why? Because in the early days, Rhys was being groomed to be a Mox doll... That's right. If the system hadn't juiced his stats, he'd probably be one of Lizzie's top organic joytoys right now. Who knew he'd turn out to be a Solo-class operator?
So, to reiterate: before last night, Rhys was a virgin. But he was a very knowledgeable virgin. Hell, David Martinez was sixteen and watched XBDs all day. Was it so wrong for Rhys to have done his homework?
After breakfast, it was just past seven. Rhys got a call from Maine. Looked like the crew hadn't slept a wink. With that many eddies burning a hole in their pockets, they were probably too wired. Maine said he was coming over, and then they'd all head to Vick's to get their new implants installed and talk about Rhys's new weapon. Vick had apparently heard and was willing to help, though he wasn't a weapon designer.
Vick was a preem ripperdoc; the fact that corps were constantly trying to recruit him proved that. But it didn't mean he could forge a legendary blade. That was a different skill set entirely.
After eating, Sasha pulled on her pants and jacket, zipping it up high to hide the various marks her "student" had left on her.
As they stepped out of the apartment, the door to 604 opened at the exact same time. A weary-looking Gloria, her red hair tied back, emerged, followed by David.
"Good morning, Mr. Rhys," Gloria greeted him politely, then turned to say something to David.
David, however, was staring at Rhys and Sasha, a strange look in his eyes. Didn't they say they weren't... a thing? Coming out of the same apartment, this early in the morning? It could only mean one thing: they'd slept together.
He tuned out his mother's worried instructions, his expression turning impatient. Gloria gave up, patted him on the shoulder, and went back inside. David walked over to Rhys.
"Off to school?" Rhys asked, grinning. He was in a fantastic mood.
"Yeah. Gotta try out the new software from Mr. Viktor today. Hope it works," David replied.
"Good luck," Rhys said, clapping him on the shoulder. "Call me if you run into any trouble."
David nodded, waved to both Rhys and Sasha, and headed for the elevator.
Rhys and Sasha leaned against the hallway wall, waiting for Maine.
"What trouble was he talking about?" Sasha asked.
"He's at Arasaka Academy, right? The official software is too expensive, so he got his hands on some pirated version to get through his classes. When I met him at the diner, he was on his way to see a ripperdoc about it."
Rhys explained, "Ran into that BD dealer, things got messy. After, I introduced him to Vick. He's the most trustworthy ripper I know."
"..." Sasha's expression turned... weird. She thought for a second. "Rhys, I'm not questioning Vick's skills. He's a great ripper. But... are you and that kid completely insane?"
"Huh?"
"It's Arasaka Academy. Arasaka. You get me? Their security and firewalls are probably tighter than most of Arasaka's actual corporate divisions. The only kids who go there are the sons and daughters of high-level politicians, execs, and corpo-dogs. And you think some pirated software from the street is going to bypass Arasaka's security scans?"
"I don't know what magic Vick performed, but as a netrunner, I'm telling you, you're thinking way too simple. That kid is going to get absolutely fried today. I'm willing to hack Biotechnica, but I wouldn't go near Arasaka. Their netrunners are the best, and their tech is light-years ahead of everyone else."
Seriously... a piece of pirated software to fool Arasaka's AI? What kind of netrunner would have to have written that code? A reincarnated Bartmoss?
As for Vick... Sasha figured he'd probably just scanned the software, maybe cleaned out a virus or two. But was a virus the only problem? Sure, a virus would trigger an alarm. But so would a non-matching version number, a failed authentication... the AI would spot it in a nanosecond.
Rhys froze. A fragment of a memory flashed in his mind, something about David... but before he could grab it, the elevator dinged, and Maine's voice boomed down the hall.
"Rhys! We're here!"
"Wait, Sasha? What are you doing here?"
Rhys and Sasha looked over. Maine, Dorio, Rebecca, Kiwi, and Jackie had all shown up. Pilar was back at the hideout, sorting the weapon haul. Lucy, not being an official member, wasn't there (though she'd be there for the payout).
"Let's go, time to see Vick. Pilar will meet us there. You can give him your ideas for the new weapon, and he and Vick can figure it out."
"Okay," Rhys nodded.
But... he thought, what was it I was just about to remember?